Tim Cornwell's Arts Diary: Two weeks and no sign of Thom's Toots

Published on Wednesday 11 March 2009 18:35

FOURTEEN days on and Sandi Thom's beloved cat Toots is still missing somewhere near Brechin or Edzell. "We are doing everything we can to find her," the singer texts The Scotsman, having already raised the alert on her MySpace page.

"She's a black-and-white female cat with a black mark on her chin like a beard. She recently featured in the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals calendar. I've hired pet detectives and gone to extreme measures to find her, including enlisting the Scouts, Brownies, ramblers, kayakers, ex-army trackers and wildlife police."

Thom, who lives in Brighton, recently completed her Homecoming Scotland tour and perhaps Toots, who moved in with Thom's mum recently, is trying to do a Homecoming of her own, back to Thom's former London home.

Birth of a nation

This Saturday the Edinburgh Filmhouse hosts a film by "the legendary experimental filmmaker" Jonas Mekas, titled Lithuania and the Collapse of the USSR.

"Although it is a Lithuanian story, it is also a very universal and human story," gushes Daiva Parulskiene, cultural attach at the Lithuanian Embassy.

It had better be. With a total running time of four hours and 46 minutes, the film is presented "in four parts with short breaks for reflection, as a chronological overview of Lithuania's birth as an independent nation".

"The video is made up of footage that I took with my Sony from the television newscasts during the collapse of the USSR, with the home noises in the background," says Mekas. "It can be viewed as a classic Greek drama." Yikes.

Palestine rapping

The Palestinian Cultural Festival in Edinburgh this weekend is proud to be hosting the British-born Palestinian rap star Shadia Mansour. "She delivers her luxurious, velvet voice, both mournful and mesmerising, over Arabic phrases of loss, longing, struggle and life," the organisers promise. Also on the bill: The Lemon Tree and A tale of Three Jewels by Michel Khleifi, the first ever feature film made in Gaza. www.palcf.org

Bid up on Jolomo

Collectors are already lining up for an auction of Winter Falls on Linlithgow Palace by John Lowrie Morrison. The painting, commissioned by Alex Salmond as his first official Christmas card, and donated by the artist, will be sold by the Who Cares? Scotland national organisation for young people in care at a gala dinner in November. It depicts a full moon shining over the palace ruins.