Greetings: it's The Masked Barfly here, and I've been keeping my compound eyes peeled for drinky stories to keep you informed, entertained and inebriated. With the Fest about to kick off, and the Fringe well under way, it's going to be a busy time out on the town for a while.

Bars near the Fowl-house and Town Hall are likely to be humming, and while I don't expect the luvvies and K-block matrons to be hitting Blend or Downtown Local (now, that would be a scene to see!), cafes like Felix, Finc and The Lido will be crammed with ethically-faux furs and rented tuxes. Poncier bars such as St Johns will be taken over for sponsors' drinks, such as for tonight's opening Ornette Coleman, though I wonder what most of the braying suits would make of the squawking sax?

While there's nowhere brand-new to take advantage of the free-spending boomers, the fly is noticing a buzz building around the Courtenay Place and Blair St area, and is getting quite excited. No, not over The Temperance (while any barfly can appreciate the ironic moniker, three floors of tanked-up boofheads is not my idea of fun), but over a couple of highly-anticipated and long-rumoured openings. UU (did anyone ever call it that?) has been closed for renovations, and a sneaky peak revealed the mirrors giving way to brick. That, combined with the appearance of bullfighting posters in the window, has me wondering: could this be a proper tapas bar at last. And as for what's happening in Blair St ... well, my mandibles are sealed.