Cameo Toddler Time: short screenings for pre-school children and their parents and carers. Today’s film is Q Pootle 5: Programme 6 (U). Friendship is at the heart of this CBeebies series, set on the wonderful planet of Okidoki where Q Pootle 5 and his friends find fun and adventure. 11am, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets cost £3 per child, accompanying adults free, and may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0871 902 5723 or online here: no adult will be admitted without a child.
Edinburgh Book Fringe: daily events – all of them free (donations appreciated) – for two weeks at Word Power Books, Edinburgh’s independent radical bookshop. Today: former Guardian journalist Murray Armstrong discusses his historical novel The Liberty Tree, ‘the compelling story of (Thomas) Muir’s trajectory as radical agitator and democratic hero’, and Muir’s legacy, on the 250th anniversary of his birth in 1765. 1pm, Word Power Books, West Nicolson Street. All welcome! No booking required, but arrive promptly as space is limited.
St Mary’s Cathedral Lunchtime Recital: Momoko Sakai (cello). 1.10pm, St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place. Free.
St Mary’s Cathedral Coffee Concert: John Bryden plays Elgar on the Cathedral Steinway. The recital will be followed by coffee and shortbread. 10.30am, St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place. Free.
Curated by…. a season of films hand-picked by invited Festival regulars. Each screening will feature an in-person introduction by the curator, revealing their passion for the film and their reasons for choosing it. Today: Alan Bissett presents Jaws (12A), Steven Spielberg’s classic that gave millions of us an insurmountable fear of swimming in the sea. 9pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.
St Martin’s Art Exhibition:Â work by over 35 local artists and craftspeople, including photography, painting, glasswork, woodwork, knitting, upholstery and quilting. Cafe with homebaking. Opens today 12 noon-7pm, at same times every day until Friday 28th and then 10am-12.30pm on Saturday 29th August, when there will also be a coffee morning. St Martin’s Community Resource Centre, Dalry Road. All welcome!
Grassmarket Community Cinema: The Kite Runner (12A).  The harrowing and painful, but also heart-warming and uplifting, story of two boys, wealthy Amir and Hassan, the son of a servant, growing up in Afghanistan.  The boys’ friendship is shattered when Amir fails to protect Hassan from a brutal attack and later drives him away to conceal his shame. After years living in exile in America as a writer, Amir returns home to atone for his sins by finding his old friend’s missing son. Based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini. 7pm, Grassmarket Community Project, 86 Candlemaker Row. All welcome; free – donations to the Project also very welcome. The cafe will be open – please use it!
Lee Miller: Wonder and Horror. Richard Calvocoressi, Director, Henry Moore Foundation and author of Lee Miller: Portraits From A Life (2002), discusses Miller’s career as a war photographer and as a correspondent for Vogue. 12.45-1.30pm, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed.
The Big West Fest: Active Inquiry Presents Resilience. The Edinburgh-based drama group presents a piece of legislative theatre exploring how community groups can survive and thrive in the current economic and political climate. 6pm, WHALE Arts, 30 Westburn Grove. This event is part of The Big West Fest, WHALE’s on-site festival offering a programme of free performances and activities from today until Saturday 29th August for anyone over the age of 16.
Thomas Muir Memorial Lecture: Alex Salmond MP delivers the inaugural lecture on the 250th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Muir, Glaswegian-born lawyer, political reform campaigner – and Australia’s first political prisoner. 7pm for 7.30pm, St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place. Free but tickets are required and may be obtained from Word Power Books, West Nicolson Street (0131 662 9112) or from the Cathedral office (0131 225 6293 – open mornings only); a suggested donation of £5 (or more) per person is invited to cover costs. Organised by Word Power Books and supported by Friends of Thomas Muir.
For Crying Out Loud: exclusive screenings for parents and carers and their babies under 12 months. Baby changing, bottle-warming and buggy parking facilities are available. Today’s film is She’s Funny That Way (12A) starring Imogen Poots, Jennifer Aniston and Rhys Ifans in ‘a frothy tale of romantic misadventures’. 11am, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4.50/£3.50 per adult (maximum 2 adults per baby) and may be obtained from the Box Office in person or by calling 0131 228 6382.
The Otesha Project UK: Otesha are a mobile community of young people who are spending four weeks cycling through Scotland, visiting schools, youth clubs and communities to perform the Otesha UK Play and run workshops on how global issues affect everyday lives. ‘Otesha‘ means ‘reason to dream’ or ‘to plant something and watch it grow’, and the project’s aim is to create a movement of young people with the power, skills and creativity to make a fairer, cleaner and greener world. Come and find out how to live in a way that makes good things happen without harming others or the planet. North Edinburgh Arts, Pennywell Court, Muirhouse. The performance will take place after school – please contact NEA on 0131 315 2151 for more information and time.
Come and See: one-off screenings of classic films. Today: Dirty Harry (15) – tough, sardonic San Francisco police inspector Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is assigned to track and apprehend an unhinged, manipulative killer, and finds himself forced to go beyond the stringent limits of protocol to do so. Don Siegel’s fourth collaboration with Eastwood is a ‘crisp, suspenseful cat-and-mouse thriller that manages to raise difficult questions about the ethics of law and order in the process’. 8.15pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be obtained from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 6382 or online: prices vary.
LGBT Spiritual Space: Mindfulness Meditation. Maxwell Reay, NHS Mental Health Community Chaplain, offers a supportive space for people to discuss and develop ideas of spirituality and identity. For people of all faiths or none. Today: a group opportunity to discover what is meant by mindfulness, and how it relates to spirituality and positive mental wellbeing. 6.30-7.30pm (within weekly Drop-in, which runs 5.30-8pm), LGBT Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. For more information please contact Alison Wren on 0131 652 3283 or alison@lgbthealth.org.uk.
Ragged University: To Space – The Human Costs of Space Exploration. Dr Niamh Shaw, performer, scientist, engineer and former full-time academic and peer-reviewed published author, is now in training to go into space. She will talk about MarsOne, a non-profit organisation based in the Netherlands that aims to establish a permanent human colony on Mars by 2025 and to document the process on a reality TV show that will begin airing in 2015. 7-9pm, Leith Beer Company, 58 The Shore. Free, no need to book – just turn up; food will be provided.
