Cinema sale would be a terrible scene

It doesn't seem that long ago since I was joining the huge queue snaking down Morrison Street to get into the ABC to watch ET . . . or that I was sniffling most of the way home at the thought of the little alien's near-demise.

Can it be more than 20 years since I sat giggling with my mum when we realised that the Odeon had put dust sheets over its statues while Ghostbusters was playing? Surely it can't be almost a quarter of a century since I hopped on the bus after school to take me to the Caley Cinema on Lothian Road to watch Return of the Jedi? Or more than 15 years since I fibbed about my age to get in to see Fatal Attraction?

Sadly, however, thanks to the rise of video in the 1980s, most of these cinemas have either shut or else have changed beyond all recognition. The Odeon may have moved to the old ABC site, but somehow it just doesn't feel the same as it did in the old days.

Multiplexes have sprung up all over the city - which is proof of the enduring appeal of the silver screen - but they are utterly soulless in comparison to the character of the old ABC or the Caley.

Thankfully there are two city cinemas left where I can still feel I am being transported back to the entertainment of childhood: The Dominion and The Cameo. But for how much longer?

It has been confirmed that the 91-year-old Cameo, Edinburgh's oldest cinema, is up for sale. Worse than that, a planning application has been submitted which, if approved, would see half of its seats ripped out, transforming the main auditorium into a giant bar. The cinema would be left with only small screens.

Now some might argue the survival of the cinema in a competitive marketplace is more important.

But I fear destroying the main auditorium would tear the heart out of this picture house. I doubt many of its loyal filmgoers - including myself - would want to go back again.

This cinema is more than a place to watch a movie, it has a unique place in the hearts of many Edinburgh people. It's somewhere that you can watch films that are a bit too quirky for mainstream cinemas, but not so arty that they only appeal to the absolute film buff. And you don't feel you are being ripped off in the process.

But if those of us who love the Cameo want to see it survive in its current form, then I think we're going to have to do two things.

One is to make sure the planning committee at the city council is left in absolutely no doubt that we object to the cinema being turned into a glorified boozer. There is a good chance its members might listen - the council must already know if there is one thing that Edinburgh does not need, it is another super-pub, and certainly not in Tollcross, which is already well served with bars.

The other thing is to show your support for the existing owners of the cinema by making an effort to see a film there. I hope with all my heart that I'm wrong, but soon it might be your last chance to catch a picture show, before it's turned into a saloon.

HIV miracle leaves no room for complacency

THE news that Andrew Stimpson appears to have beaten HIV and is now free of the virus is fantastic - for him personally, for the scientists who hope he can help them develop a vaccine, and perhaps eventually, the rest of the human race.

But there is a cloud attached to this particular silver lining. What the Government can't afford to allow is for a perception to form that HIV is no longer a threat to public health. The fact that Mr Stimpson contracted the virus at all shows that a new generation of young people, who weren't targeted by those 1980s tombstone adverts, are putting themselves at unnecessary risk.

The reality is that people are still dying of ignorance - and unless the right message is sent out, then this young man's seemingly miraculous recovery could mean a few dying of complacency as well.

Chubby cheeker

WATCHING Sky News yesterday I wondered if I was still half asleep as Eamonn Holmes started wittering about Madonna's appearance on Parkinson.

When his co-presenter Lorna Dunkley commented on how great Madge was looking for a woman of 47, Eamonn had the cheek to slag off her "flappy, dinner lady bingo wings".

Ooh, pull your claws back in Eamonn. And sook your belly in while you're at it.

A Manhattan transfer for me come the World Cup

MY blood pressure has only just about returned to normal following the shenanigans at Tynecastle, and I'm not even a Hearts fan. But now World Cup Fever has infected a certain member of my household, and I have discovered that it is not catching.

This time, without the problem of preferring rival teams to separate us, I had thought I could share in the excitement. How wrong could I be?

My hopes were raised when the other half was browsing on the internet, desperate for information on the fixtures in Germany next summer, and I was bombarded with questions about direct flights from Edinburgh to Hamburg or Munich. Then he said wistfully: "Hopefully I can find someone to go with me."

Sensing a not-to-be missed opportunity, I replied: "I'll go with you!"

"No way!", was the horrified response. "Blokes only - I'm not going to the World Cup with a bird."

That's me put in my place. But it reminds me that I've been meaning to save up for a shopping trip to New York.

Girls only - of course. Two can play that game.