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Apologies to those who thought I'd come over all prima donna on my last posting - or indeed pre-Madonna as an ex-colleague memorably described it (presumably in the era before lacey gloves and conical bras).

It just seems ironic that the protocol for a celebrity interview is now twice as complicated as one with a government official, a foreign ambassador or even a royal.

A couple of points of order. We did interview Sharman MacDonald, Kevin, she appeared on Shereen's Show on Sunday and she's done a number of interviews with Radio Scotland over the years.

It's just a shame her first interview for TV in a while was so so short. And much as I love a good gander at Grazia - I don't think you could accuse any of our other featured film actors (the cast of Trouble Sleeping from Edinburgh's Theatre Workshop, Ian Hamilton - the 82 year old inspiration for Stone of Destiny and high-wire artiste Phillipe Petit) of being regulars in that publication!

As for worrying about what the film festival thinks, Beeblog, I don't think they've even noticed.

We certainly haven't been banned from anything yet, although according to Mark Lawson in this week's Guardian, there's a growing trend for film companies to freeze out cantankerous critics.

So I'm not alone, I guess. At least we can keep each other company, sitting outside on the pavement.

Southsidequeen is absolutely right - the best stuff is happening off the red carpet - and long may that continue.

We're all complicit in this obsession with celebrity nonsense - and the more we can persuade programme editors to look beyond the razzamatazz to genuinely interesting film-making, the better coverage will be. Although sometimes, it's a good way of elbowing the other stuff onto a news agenda.

And good to hear from you MT. It seems a lifetime ago since we were getting dolled up for a night out at Akrams! Glad to hear you're settled and enjoying life in the US of A.

To a slightly less glamorous location, a peeling close in Glasgow's Parnie Street, temporary home to the Glasgow Women's Library which has just been given a £410,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to establish the first Women's Archive in Scotland.

It looks like an extension of the neighbouring Barras - stacks of plain cardboard boxes full of books, magazines and papers - but this is quite an amazing collection. Gathered over the past 20 years, it shows a chapter of social history which might soon be forgotten.

In these days of blogs and websites, who still recalls typing up their own newsletter and dilligently running off some photocopies?

Hundreds of women's aid groups did, as well as campaigners and protesters.

Now their clumsily stapled magazines are to be catalogued in the new archive - along with badges from the anti-nuclear protests of the 80s, postcards from the suffragette campaigns and family planning material from the last five decades.

There's one eyebrow raising leaflet from the 50s in which a Q&A session includes the question "are homosexuals dangerous?" the answer begins "yes, they can be".

As Sue John, strategic development manager of the archive says, it is a view which may still be held today.

But it is unlikely to be found in any official government-sponsored publication.

For women like Anne, Catherine and Beatrice - who all regularly use the library - it's more than just a pile of paperwork.

It's a place for social networking as much as academic research - and they're hopeful its new location in Glasgow's Mitchell Library will find it an even wider audience.

They reckon the Glasgow Women's Library is a misnomer anyway - they're already reaching a wider cross-section of the country and men are always welcome.

The campaigning isn't over yet. The heritage lottery money is just a third of the cost of the project - so they still have another £800,000 to raise before the archive officially launches in 2010.

And finally, good luck and fingers crossed for Evelyn Glennie - soon to be Dame Evelyn Glennie.

Originally announced in the 2007 New Year honours, she's been struggling to find a gap in her schedule to get to the palace.

Currently in the states on tour, she's due to fly in to London on Wednesday - just hours before the investiture.

Her team have their fingers well and truly crossed - her transatlantic flight was nine hours late on the way out!

It probably sounds like the most glamorous job in the world - but let me tell you, the red carpet gig is the world's dullest.

Corralled into pens by bossy London PRs - who make the rules up as they go along - only to snatch a glimpse of a celeb fall out of a taxi and dash for the front door.

Those who do stop will have nothing more profound to tell you than the creator of their frock, the make of their shoes or of course reiterate how much they love coming to Edinburgh/Cannes/Venice - delete as appropriate.

I can say all this quite candidly because - aside from a brief flurry at the and one very memorable trip to the Oscars - I don't have to get on the film industry carousel.

It's an endless round of bored actors, answering the same questions, in hotel rooms - which apart from the strategically placed film poster, look exactly the same.

It's a thankless task for which you'll have to jump through hoops, fill forms and agree questions with an equally bored collection of PR people.

The golden rule with all - just talk about the film - what else would we want to talk about? But somewhere in this mind-numbing process, the film is forgotten, the three minute interview descends into utter trivia and before you know it, a PR is tapping her pen on her clipboard, ushering the star on to the next TV reporter - standing just a foot away.

Until now the Edinburgh International Film Festival somehow avoided all of that. Maybe it's the matter of fact Scots attitude, which means most people - even the cast of the film - would rather side step the red carpet and go in the side entrance.

Maybe, because in the old days of premieres at the Odeon or the ABC, the general public were encouraged to come along too - not be penned in behind fences on the other side of the road as they are in Fountainbridge.

And maybe because when the film festival happened in the thick of August, stars could easily disappear in the crowds and enjoy themselves relatively incognito.

Whatever has happened, it's changed, and not for the better. Don't get me wrong, I think Hannah McGill's programme is a good one, full of witty and interesting films.

I suspect Edinburgh is currently full of witty and interesting interviewees - it's just that in order to speak to them, you have to answer 20 questions, fill in a form and we'll let you know a week next Tuesday.

It's hardly conducive to frank and interesting discussion. In most cases, if you're n not a regular on the film PR conveyer belt, you're lucky to get an interview at all.

There's also the suspicion that the PR teams are trying to ramp up excitement - and therefore press coverage - by throwing circus style events.

Thus, we were all invited to EdinburghCastle to meet and others from the new film The Edge of Love.

We all waited patiently at the esplanade for an hour while three London PR ladies checked our names on three different clipboards - then advanced to the one o'clock gun where we were promptly turned around again because they'd misspelled our sound man's name and they couldn't be sure he was who he said he was [the sound recorder and big furry microphone might have been a giveaway].

Then we were all packed into the Queen Anne Room at the castle - where all the camera men grabbed spots along the best line of vision - only to be told they couldn't stand there after all.

A new PR rule apparently - but one no one could explain. Tempers got frayed, some of the cameramen retired to the back of the room, our man switched off his camera - there are few ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ programmes who'd run footage of the backs of people's heads.

Half an hour later, the "talent" clip-clopped in. The newspaper hacks asked their questions - how did Keira like working with her mum [Sharman MacDonald who wrote the screenplay]; how did Sharman feel about her daughter doing a raunchy sex scene; did Keira like singing? Did she like being naked on film? Did she like haggis? Did she like Scotland?

Poor Sienna just looked on in dignified silence - perhaps explaining why PR rule 261 is that Keira and Sienna are a job lot - to be interviewed together.

A man from Spain asked if Keira would like to work with Pedro Almodovar. She said yes. It was that profound.

Then came the TV and radio interviews - and more rules. No leaving the building (never mind the fact we are standing feet away from one of the most picturesque views of Scotland), no personal questions, no more than five minutes.

No furniture apparently - our first interviewee drowned out by the sound of chairs being clattered away.

Keira and Sienna said they loved their characters, had a great time filming in Wales, didn't like singing, loved Edinburgh...Bing! Time up - and they were on to the next reporter standing just two feet away. Sharman MacDonald wanted to talk about her love of the Traverse - the PR frowned and tapped her watch - another time. Matthew Rhys had loads to say about preparing for every Welshman's dream role - but nothing he could cram into three minutes.

And before we knew it, it was over and we were racing down the Royal Mile with a tape of not much at all.

But having promised the evening news- just as every other journalist there had promised their newsdesk, we had to come back with something.

And so the TV and radio news - and papers next day - were full of smiling images of Keira and Sienna - Matthew Rhys and Cillian Murphy sensibly leaving the red carpet small talk to their leading ladies.

And actually the film was rather good and deserved to be talked about some more - but on this PR carousel it seems that the film is actually the last thing anyone talks about.

At last, I can come clean about Sean Connery.

For five days now, I've been keeping his secret safe - helped along by the confidentiality agreement I signed with the to ensure I didn't blow their big coup before their programme announcement.

Yes, after five years of talking about it, Shir Shon is writing his autobiography, with a lot of help (and going by the DVD message sent from the Bahamas,a lot of golf) from his old friend, the film-maker Murray Grigor.

Murray, you may recall, made the 1983 film Sean Connery's Edinburgh, in which he persuaded the city's best known milk-man to return to his old stomping ground.

Now, the two chums are working on Being a Scot - Sir Sean's first official autobiography.

Murray Grigor clearly has the measure of him. Sir Sean has ditched two writers and a publishing house so far, but those in the know say the partnership is working well.

Grigor is one of the country's best known film-makers and an expert in contemporary architecture (he's currently working on a study of the modernist ruin of St Peter's College in Cardross) but he's also one of Sean Connery's oldest friends - and not afraid to shoot the Scots Bond down when he goes too far.

All that was clear from the duo's DVD message, played out to guests at the launch of the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Thursday.

"We're getting there, Sean," says Murray Grigor about the status of the book, which will be launched in Edinburgh in just over two months.
"What's this 'we' shite", growls Sean Connery.

In actual fact, the book is almost finished but Bond fans may have to look elsewhere for kiss and tell material (there are several other Bond-related events including a major exhibition of Bond book covers at the City Art Centre - all marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ian Fleming).

This is a serious tome, as much about Big Tam's views on Scottish sport, culture and politics as it is about his big screen career.

But publishing insiders were still very excited.

"Contrast it with Andy Murrray's biography, written at the age of 21", says literary agent Jenny Brown, "and here's Sean Connery's long-awaited book at 77 - 78 if you count the fact it's launched on his birthday. I know which one I think will have better content."

"Everyone thinks it'll be tales of his adventures with all these big name film stars but from what I understand it's much more about his thoughts on politics and sport and culture and architecture," says Scots author Ian Rankin.

"It's going to be quite a weighty book. He's quite a thoughtful guy."

At which point, I came over all girlie swot and admitted I was carrying - in my very handbag - a copy of Ian Rankin's Hide and Seek.

Last time we met in the National Library of Scotland - then staging a retrospective of both Rebus and Rankin - I announced my plan to re-read all the Rebus books, back from the very first.

Not terribly impressive since Hide and Seek is only the second but there was a brief twinkle from Mr Rankin before he modestly dismissed it as "the first one that was any good."

"I'm still embarassed by Knots and Crosses," he admits.

Anyway, Ian Rankin and Sean Connery are just two of the 800 authors appearing at this year's book festival. Full details available on their website.

Tickets are available from Friday 20th June - and this year, they have an enhanced box office to support the increased level of interest in the event.

Last year's box office went into meltdown on the first day and although they can't promise to have any more tickets, they do assure me there'll be a quick and efficient service to check ticket availability.

Hopefully, it'll rub off on the friinge, who had a disastrous first week with their brand new box office system.

A glitch brought it to a standstill on Monday, just hours after they launched. By the end of the day, they abandoned telephone and over the counter booking too.

Fingers crossed they hope to have the whole ticketing system up and running shortly.

Nobody would argue that Edinburgh's Usher Hall was not in need of a makeover.

Not least Tony Bennett, whose 1986 concert ended rather spectacularly with a piece of ceiling plaster plummeting into the auditorium. Talk about bringing the house down.

The Usher Hall was built in 1914 - with a generous donation from the whisky distiller Andrew Usher (a retort to his rival, the brewer William McEwan, who funded Edinburgh University's McEwan Hall).

It took almost 20 years from that first offer to the opening night concert - Usher himself was long dead - thanks to local politics and the trickiness of building on a site rich in volcanic rock.

Current developments seem to be just as troublesome. Having spent almost £10m on the interior, the dig into the exterior foundations has hit a number of obstacles which have pushed the schedule back by almost six months.

According to architect Colin Ross, they've been able to combine the original plans and modern technology but that still couldn't prepare them for problems as they dug deeper into the foundations.

"Ground conditions were not as we expected," he says, "we did do lots of studies but inevitably things were not as expected so we had to do much more reinforcement, dig carefully, go gently and add more concrete or the whole thing could have fallen down."

Add to that the pressure of shutting down the site to allow the Edinburgh International Festival to move back in.

They did it last year, and having never missed a year in the Usher Hall, they're determined to do so this year too.

Joanna Baker, the EIF's managing director says she doesn't believe the hoardings will keep patrons away.

"They're used to it from last year. It may not look as pristine as it will when it's finished, but the auditorium is as good as it ever was, and at least it will give people an idea of the shape of the new building."

But stopping work for the festival - for the best part of two months, will push the project even later.

The opening was scheduled for winter 2008 but now looks like being spring 2009. that means both the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra will have to relocate their autumn seasons in Edinburgh.

Both orchestras will receive compensation from the council - although the exact sum has to be decided.

Still, both orchestras argue it's worth a winter of discontent.

And even if you don't listen to classical music, there are some benefits.

One of the biggest limitations on pop concerts is the lack of toilet facilities (pop concerts being unseated and therefore having bigger audiences than classical concerts).

If that is sorted out, the Usher Hall can stage more concerts, and other events besides.

You can also see for yourself the ongoing work beneath the Usher Hall - general manager Karl Chapman is .

The Edinburgh Fringe doesn't struggle for a crowd. And neither does . Maybe it's the bacon butties, or the fact that with 2,080 shows, there's no shortage of story ideas for the assembled media.

But some of today's attendees were looking a little hungover. Today's launch wasn't the first - the night before, four of the biggest venues on the fringe had thrown their own party - with dinner too - to launch their own festival within the festival.

The Gilded Balloon, the Pleasance, the Underbelly and the Assembly Rooms say they weren't trying to overshadow the main event - it was apparently the only night they were free.

And their motivation in establishing the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, they say, is simply about getting profile and sponsorship for the increasingly overcrowded comedy market.

But others are less convinced - like Tommy Shepherd at the Stand, whose venue's programme has doubled in size since it first started.

He says, "I don't know why they're doing it. It's so divisive. And confusing for customers because most of the comedy on the fringe happens outwith the so-called comedy festival. My advice is to pick up a fringe brochure and see Edinburgh's whole comedy programme."

American comic Doug Stanhope goes one step further. He's staging a one off show this fringe for just one paying customer.

The prize of the ticket? £7349.00 (£7348 if you're a student or a pensioner) - the average amount of money he claims a comedy show will lose at the Edinburgh Fringe.

He claims the breakaway venues are furthering that divide - and that any sponsorship money is not going to reach the performers, who'll still be out of pocket.

The fringe's mild-mannered director Jon Morgan was playing down any rumours of a rift.

For him, the fringe is merely a big umbrella for a lot of outspoken individuals - and decisions like this only add to the colour.

And those of you with long memories may recall a similar ploy ten years ago when a cigarette brand sponsored the comedy programmes at three of the venues (the Underbelly had yet to come into existence).

Despite the efforts of the "cigarette girls" handing out freebies (what would the current government with their anti-smoking policy think of that!) the scheme folded within a year.

It was called Lighten Up - a message today's promoters might want to take to heart.

Despite their attempts to present an upbeat solution, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama seems far from a harmonious place.

Last Friday, the board and director released details of their .

They will merge a number of departments, including 'woodwind and brass' and 'vocal studies and opera'.

There'll be just one redundancy, they claim, although five staff will go under voluntary redundancy schemes and a number of staff will have their contracts changed.

Considering the high profile campaign, which saw alumni such as James McAvoy, and John Hannah leap to its defence, things were strangely subdued at the academy in the aftermath of the announcement.

Could it be that the management had genuinely found a solution to the shortfall - caused in part by a funding settlement for lecturers, and partly by an anomaly which means drama students receive less than music students?

Not so, says my source in the RSAMD - who says the plans are based on similar moves at the Royal Northern College of Music, where they've been less than successful.

He worries about the reputation of the RSAMD and the morale of staff, who may decide to go elsewhere. Anyone out there who has experienced it first hand?

Student reaction has been tentative - they say they want to hear the detail before the jump to any conclusions.

And Labour MSP Pauline McNeill was even more dismissive.

"I've never accepted the Government's line that all is rosy at the RSAMD and I still don't believe that all is resolved, especially while compulsory redundancy is still on the table, she said.

"We must now wait to see which staff are prepared to accept term-time only contracts."

But by Saturday, there was even more confusion.

While the Daily Mail ran a lovely colour feature about the academy's former students - who with the exception of Robert Carlisle, loved their experience there (Carlisle was quoted saying he disliked the luvvies and spent ages "unlearning" what he'd learnt there), the Herald had two very different tales.

On page 3, the EIS were threatening legal action over the contractural changes while on the letters page, composer James MacMillan was dismissing the whole affair as a storm in a teacup.

Restructuring, he said, was something the academy needed to do anyway and the underfunding issue would be dealt with in due course.

But many of the campaigners feel the management should have waited for the result of the funding council's investigation into grants for drama students, which is due this summer.

And that their unseemly haste to announce the restructuring - just hours after the staff consultation ended - suggests that it is something of a fait accompli.

And while things may have gone quiet, they're by no means over. Watch this space.