h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Cynth

I’m sure you must have made quite an impression with that dance! Shame you didn’t have any energy dome hats to go with the music!

I guess you must be preparing yourself for a battering with all those performances this week. Did you say the Cinnamon Girl routine is only marginally as violent?


I picked up my guitar for the first time in a few days today. I know! I want to make sure my hands and arm have plenty of time to recover before I start practicing properly again. I read some nightmare stories about musicians who’d just ignored those symptoms, and while I’m probably overreacting a little, I think its wise to take it easy for a while and be mindful about how I practice.

Today, I just worked on building some chord voicings, which wasn’t very intensive on my picking hand, which is where I’m having problems. Most of my playing over the last year has been focussed on playing melodic lines, and this is a huge area of playing I need to catch up on and develop. I spent months trying to find a good book on jazz comping, and I’ve finally come across one that deals very effectively with it. A bit *too* effectively though - there’s years of work in there! *looks slightly dismayed*


I spent the day finishing reading the comping book through (with lots of head-scratching) before I started work on it, and I’ve been reading a book that’s been on my bookshelves for a number of years now, The Tale of Genji. Have you come across it before? It’s a huge book, written in Japan in the eleventh century. I think its claimed by some to be the worlds first novel, but that seems a bit unlikely to me. I guess it depends on how you define a novel.

I’m about two hundred pages in, and its been a bit uneven so far. Some of the chapters have been fantastic though, and it’s a fascinating picture of Japan in the Heian period. Reading that Jeff Noon book last month has whetted my apatite for some more fiction. I’ve read hardly any at all this year since One Hundred Years of Solitude. Not very like me at all. Have you had the time to read anything decent lately?

Catch you later

*slides in to his office to make sure he doesn't feel ignored...*

Hello Wile E!
How are you?

That's not a very earnestly-diligently-at-w*rk-look you've got on your face...

Bear in mind that a much more composed look would be something like an amalgamation of
...
if you could manage to pull it all together at once!

I missed chatting with you last night. I was on the go all day yesterday. Quite a few volunteers at the homeless shelter kitchen were out with a cold virus of some sort. So I came in to make sure that all the food supplies were available for Thursday's Thanksgiving day dinner.
I ended up driving a van all over the place, loading up on all manner of ingredients that were being donated by restaurants and grocery stores.
Then I had to stay at the kitchen to receive additional deliveries of turkeys, hams and vegetables. I stayed there until 11:30PM making pies and doing paperw*rk(mostly thank you notes to sponsors and drawing up vast inventory lists)....

*sigh*Now I'm thoroughly knackered because I had a rehearsal before I headed over to the kitchen. Loooooooooooooong day!

Hope you're keeping busy actually w*rking or ...at least looking composed and lurking!

See you later, Wile E!

Hello m’dear

Hope you’re having a nice Thanksgiving today. I know it’s a busy one for you!


I still don’t do a very good job at staying composed when I read your posts at work:

*ducks behind monitor* *composes self* *ducks behind monitor* *straightens face*

My colleagues don’t say anything. They must be used to it now and just assume I’ve got a screw loose. With all those emotions and silly looks flashing across my face, I imagine I must look a little like you!


How did the rehearsal go? Does the maestro seem pleased with your progress when he’s not lecturing you about cultivating an artistic sensibility? What kind of challenges does singing a Vaughn Williams piece pose? I don’t think I’ve heard any Vaughn Williams, but I imagine it must feel very different to what you’ve been performing recently.


I had my first long practice session on the guitar since last week, and my hand feels ok. Its taking a while to adjust to the way I hold the pick and that’s slowed me down a bit, but otherwise I’m pretty happy. My forearm is still sore, but that’s more to do with computer use than the guitar. Not a great deal I can do about it, other than make sure I’m not using it unnecessarily when I’m at work. I think it’ll take a while for it to heal properly, but it feels better than it did last week.

My dodgy shoulder seems much better these days though. With the cold weather we’ve had recently, I’d been expecting some aches and pains, but it’s been fine. I’ve got back quite a bit more movement out of it than I had this time last year too, so all the extra physio exercises I’ve been doing are paying off. I remember you saying that between posts, you’re often being all squirrely and doing stretching exercises or asanas. When we’re chatting on IM, I’m often doing the same!

After the accident, I worked hard and got most of the movement back within a year, but then I hit a plateau and I wasn’t sure I’d ever improve it much beyond that. That’s why I’m so pleased to have made progress this year, and now I’m aiming to get it all back in the next twelve months.

I think you're updated with all my aches and pains now! *settles back into armchair and dozes off for a moment*


I just remembered you’ve got more dancing tomorrow. Try not to go overboard on your thanksgiving meal – think of your poor partner! btw, I saw my first Christmas advert yesterday, and it triggered off a mental image of you violently manhandling your partner, backed by Il Divo bellowing out some awful pop song!

See you later

* takes a flying leap at him...*

Hello Wile E!
*dusts him off and reassembles him in his chair*

How has your day gone?

I think I'm all rested and recharged now. I got another 11 hours of sleep after I spoke with you last. I hadn't realised (realiZed) that I could possibly sleep quite so much in one weekend.

I've turned into a sleep junkie!

Hopefully, I'll soon get past this narcoleptic phase. Even my has been affected by my behaviour. She disappears for hours under my down duvet and doesn't come out unless I hunt her down, grab her hind legs and pull her out from under there so she can come out and eat!

*giggles*I think your colleagues might just assume that you're intensely involved in the w*rk that you do on the computer.
might be the marks of a highly dedicated w*rker in some places in this world.

You'd have to w*rk harder on adding fluttering your eyelashes and jumping up to do spur of the moment squirrelly yoga sun salutations if you aspire to look a little like me while reading your posts...

I think you surely must have heard some Ralph Vaughan Williams tunes sometime in your auditory past. He was up there with Holst as a revivalist of English folk tunes in his compositions. 'Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis' is played as background music to a lot of TV offerings and he did film music for 1940-50's epics like Scott of the Antarctic, The Vision of William Blake...
The last piece of Vaughan Williams music that I performed a few years ago was his Mass in G minor which was a cappella. He dedicated the piece to Holst and it had a lot of Holst's orchestral suite, The Planets, elements w*rked into it so brilliantly. It was so trippy. And I performed it in a darkened church in Venice with perfect acoustics. You would have liked that!
Anyway, yes, the Sea Symphony is a much more lyrical piece than the technically impressive vocal gymnastics I'll be performing this coming Saturday. So I've got to pretty much stand back from Vaughan Williams this week to concentrate on keeping Baroque style sensibilities fresh in my head for this next concert.

You've got to get a handle on those mental images that pop into your head from Christmas adverts!
*suppresses involuntary mental images of him in a stripey jumper going through the full spectrum of dedicated w*rker facial expressions set in time to the tune of Jamie Lidell's Multiply...*



See you later Wile E!

Hi Cynth

Your monkey surveillance team made an accurate report - it truly was Day of the Dead yesterday. It was one of those days were I had lots of people coming to see me, asking lots of questions, so I couldn’t just switch off and hide behind the monitor.

You’re probably right; I can’t blame GP for keeping me up late. I think that leaves me no other option but to blame you instead!

When I got home, I vegged out in front of the TV for a few hours (can’t for the life of me remember what I watched) and was in bed before ten. I could’ve stayed much longer, but felt good once I managed to drag myself downstairs for breakfast. Are you still dozing off all the time? Hey! *poke* Wake up and pay attention!

Its good that you’ve had the opportunity to get some rest after last week. It’ll give you the energy for your concert, preparing things for your mum, and any random appearances of cousins or List Guys. Since I met you, I don’t recall you ever having a quiet week!


The smiley is great for yoga! I guess I’ve got a loooong way to go before I could even think about matching you in squirelliness! Thank Bob!

I can’t get Il Divo out of my head! They’re wearing energy-dome helmets!

You’re right, I’m sure I’ll have absorbed some Vaughn Williams over the years, without knowing what it is. Even when I purposely listen to a specific composer, I don’t usually remember the names of the pieces. I just remember is as “the one that goes Dum, de de dum dum, Dum Dum… ” *starts humming and waving his finger around*


I’ve not been reading much through the week, but I got further along with The Tale of Genji at the weekend. It gets much better and more interesting as it goes along. As a Guide Entry on Yukio Mishima doesn’t seem to be forthcoming, I think I might do one on Genji once I’ve finished it. I want to read more Mishima books before I start an entry, but I just don’t feel in the mood to read any more of him for a while. I tend to leave long gaps between his books as I find him more interesting than pleasant, and can’t just jump into one of his novels at any time.

I’ve got lots of books of my shelves that are waiting for me to find myself in the right mood for. Genji has been there for six years, Gormonghast has been there for more than ten! I really want to read that, but I always find something else. *thinks* I got Seven Pillars of Wisdom after watching Lawrence of Arabia so many times, and even made an abortive attempt on it, but it was very heavy going and is still languishing after about five years. Still think it looks interesting though. One day…

There are a few volumes of Proust’s In Search of Lost Time that I should get around to – I knew someone at uni who was obsessed with it, and kept nagging me to give it a go. I bought a few volumes of a new translation eighteen months ago, but I’ve only managed Swanns Way so far. I find his writing enthralling, yet tedious and frustrating in turns. I’ve been assured it gets better as it goes along, and Swanns Way was fantastic in places, but those books feel like a big undertaking to me. I should tackle the next one before I forget Swanns Way.

The problem is, I don’t buy books when I need some to read, I just buy anything that looks interesting and amass a big stockpile. I keep the shelves from collapsing by giving away books away that I don’t think I’ll read again. Moving house a few times has taught me about the weight of books! Oh, I ordered Love in the Time of Cholera btw – I’m hoping to read that one next. Maybe!

It sounds like you read a lot; I bet your house is teaming with books.


I should be around a bit later, See you soon.

I have oodles of books. Five bookcases and counting. And we have to move them all this weekend!

JEllen

*sends the reformed kissy monkey to give the well on his way to feeling ignored and unloved Wile E. a reverential bow, thoroughly mindful hug and a caring ...*

Hello Wile E!

Sorry about that kissy monkey's kiss. He's still programmed to be kiss specific. I'm sure the bruises will fade with time. He means well!

I'm wide awake and ready to wait... wait... and wait some more at the airport. Most of the flights have been delayed or cancelled because of extreme weather situations. But my cousin, who is a pilot for the airline that I'm flying with today, says that I should be able to make it to Washington today. If my flight is cancelled, I'll just try to get another one and wait it out at his house(he lives 25 miles away from the airport) if I have to. The concert organisers are in a bit of a panic right now. If the weather gets much worse and flights cannot land there, they'll have to cancel the perfrmance. It's another benefit event for breast cancer research and education sponsored by the same fashion company that held the Colorado one.

Proust's A la recherche du temps perdu was something I went through a phase of obsessing over, too. I read it in French and in English. There was no stopping me until I got it out of my system. Then I got obsessed with reading all of Flaubert's works. Then all of E.M Forster's... then Evelyn Waugh...then the Mitford sisters...
I was 16 at the time. Thank goodness I went to university then and had no more time for obsessive reading. But I still have all those books on the shelves of my library. I've mostly got fictional novels, poetry and art books, philosophy and religion tomes. There's a whole case of thick binders of musical scores and sheet music that I'm constantly fighting to keep organised and tidy...but it's really never going to happen in my lifetime unless I stop practicing music.*shrugs* I'm terrible about filing things away properly there.

I can't imagine having to go through all of them to pack and organise, JEllen! Best of luck on your moving day tomorrow!!!

I've got to admit that you'll find books in nearly every room of my house. And I really have no idea what I actually have. Which is why my brother nicks my stuff with abandon and I don't really miss any of those books until I discover them at his house...

Speaking of the ! Here he is now to take me to the airport.

Hope your Friday is turning out to be a lovely one!
See you later, Wile E!

Hello cynthesis!

for the email.

Good to hear things went so well! Yes, that big bopper tune is quite memorable, isn’t it?

Did you go out and do anything interesting with the List Guys who made it? I’m quite impressed they managed to turn up unannounced in Alaska! Hope you’re enjoying the environment before you return to California, and that the List Guys find lots of stuff to protect you from!

Yeah, its been a much calmer day, today. Asides from taking out for a walk through gale-force winds, I’ve just been lounging around listening to music and reading.

I had another look at the car, and in daylight, the damage doesn’t seem quite as bad. We’ve not heard anything from her or her family today. I wonder if she’s even told her mum. The damage to the other car was minimal and her mum might not even notice if she isn’t told. Unfortunately my car isn’t as sturdy as that. Looking back, the whole incident seems totally unnecessary and farcical. *shakes head*

I hope *I’m* not going to have to go to them to sort this out. They should be coming to us.


You read Proust in French! I’ not sure if I’m impressed, or if I think its plain masochistic!

I find his style of writing hard enough to decipher in English. If I was reading it I another language, I’d never be able to remember the beginning of his sentences by the time I got to the end! Once I got used to the way he structured his sentences, I thought his writing had a nice, kind of naturalistic flow to it, but it took some getting used to. How good was your French when you tackled it? I bet it was a lot better by the time you finished.


I saw that April 28th was the winner by a long shot. When you told me you’d signed up to the event, I assumed that date was already settled! It’ll be hootoo’s eighth birthday too!


Predictable as ever, I’ll be on at the usual time tonight, if you’re free.

Catch you later m’dear!



Oh, you’ve probably done it by now, but with the move and all those books, JEllen! As a *very* skint student, I once moved house with only a shopping trolley to move my stuff!

All my unneeded books found their way to charity shops in the weeks leading up to that!

Hello Wile E!

I've had the monkeys drag in the festive parasite tree and boxes of ornaments from the garage today, seeing as...'tis the season!

*tinkly musicbox sounds of Jingle Bells played in a very minor key...*

How are you feeling? Better?<fruit>
Did you get to hear any of GP's show? I thought it was cool that he played Alice Coltrane after speaking with her nephew, Flying Lotus. *giggles* Did you read GP's MySpace blog where he 'fessed up about not remembering that he had met him before? If not, you should! It's classic GP uncool coolness!

Yes I was enough to read Proust and Flaubert in French. I'm quite okay with literary non-colloquial French. I was much better with my French comprehension and speech when I was 16-20, but after that,it all fell by the wayside. If I don't speak and read it regularly I lose massive chunks of my ability to utilise it. Nowadays, I only use it to sing lyrics and to communicate with my colleagues. I dusted it off and used a bit when I was in Montreal. But mostly I use it with that Carry On colleague of mine when I'm frustrated enough to tell him to stop being such a pain and get to w*rk! Of course, he thinks it's all tres charmant and makes more chauvinistic comments to rile me. But as you know, from seeing my personality test results-I'm not easily moved by that kind of thing. But he claims to like seeing me pout. Thank goodness I won't have to be collaborating with him until March of next year.

I guess having some time off will be advantageous enough for you to get your car all sorted out. Hope so, anyway!

The List Guys have been calling and dropping by to check up on me.
Right now, there's a rift between some of them because the 2 guys that went to Alaska didn't let on that they were going up there and the others seem to think that the two were taking an unfair advantage by doing so...I hope they're reading this and realising just how silly it all is!

Because the only one they should be worrying about is you!!!

*giggles*

I have a feeling I'll be fielding more telephone calls from disgruntled LGs soon...not that I've ever seen them in a gruntled state before

I'd better go answer the phone now.
See you later Wile E!

Hi Cynth!



Feeling much better today!


Arrrgh! ‘Tis the season, already!











>> *tinkly musicbox sounds of Jingle Bells played in a very minor key ...* <<

*puts Blue into the stereo and selects River*


No, I haven’t read any of his MySpace blog entries yet. I keep meaning to set up Lewi on MySpace so I check things out properly, but haven’t got around to it yet. You know what I’m like – I don’t rush into things, I stroll into them!

I haven’t listened to the podcasts on his new homepage either. Have you checked them out yet?

The possibility of Flying Lotus collaborating with his aunt is very intriguing. Do you have her recent album? Any good? The one I have is Journey In Satchidananda, from which he played the cooler than title track.


The car is currently at the garage and I’ll pick it up tomorrow. They had a quick look at it while I was there, and there’s no serious damage. I got a letter regarding the prosecution – she’s been charged for taking the car, driving without a licence, driving whilst drunk, and damage to property. If she tells them about her drinking problem, its likely they’ll put her on a programme of some sort, which is definitely a good thing and will hopefully curtail the chances of any more knife-wielding moments!

Have the disgruntled List Guys been up to anything? I imagine some of them will want to counter the efforts of the other two by descending on you at some point!

Catch you later

I got kicked out of yahoo, so I thought I’d leave my message here before I go to bed.

No, it’s not an ideal situation, but everyone’s keeping their distance for now. No bells around necks so far though!


Unless you feel a pressing need to see that film, I’d avoid it if I was you. I haven’t seen Oliver Stone’s World Trade Centre, but I got the impression it was a very Hollywood and filmic version of events. United 93 is painfully hyper-real, and although Paul Greengrass is probably best known for the Bourne Supremacy, he’s a very experienced documentary director for the BBC’s World in Action. There was no mythologising and very little fictionalising as far as I could tell, and that made it all the more harrowing to watch.

There was a feature on the disk about how the filmmakers went through a long period of consultation with the families of the victims, and in my opinion, the whole process seemed very un-exploitative.

I’ll be heading of to bed now. See you tomorrow! *monkeygrunt*

Well... Yahoo did warn us.

Sleep well and I'll ee you here tomorrow!

Nighty night, Wile E. and sweet dreams!

...ee!*giggles*



*makes sure the monkeys tuck him in by being his blanket for the night..again.*

*rocks himself to sleep in the foetal position, waiting for the flying monkeys*

*Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree sung by David Byrne accompanied by hurdy gurdies in Indonesian gamelan tones drifts festively about the thread...*


Hello Wile E!

So glad to know you're so much better and ready for holiday fun, like... office parties!!!

I didn't expect to actually keep the MySpace account that my mischievous cousins set up for me. But now I use it to access music and message with musicians, mostly. I'll probably go private later.
It's nice to get GP's blogs and I've had free tickets to concerts offered to me (that I gave to friends) from musicians I've met on MySpace. And I've given tickets to my performances to them also. So, it's been a surprsingly nice exchange between the people I've met there.

And it took me 2 months to even set up a page over there!
So stroll on in whenever you're ready to, Lewi!

I think you'll find GP's podcasts to be excellent supplements to his radio show.

I've got Alice Coltrane's Translinear Light(2004), Journey In Satchidinanda and Ptah, The El Daoud albums. She's quite amazing. Did you hear how she doesn't practice but just goes out to do brilliant improvisations while jamming? Hmmmmmm.
*...thinks sacriligeous squirrelly thoughts that would undoubtedly upset the maestro...*

Is your car all fixed now?

I'm sure the lurkers are wondering about your comment>>>> knife wielding moments<<<<!!!!
Suffice to say, that you *do* live in a most interesting neighbourhood.

My cousin kept the List Guys in line the other day. It was so sweet of him to visit when my big bro was out at a conference in Chicago this weekend. Although, my big bro really isn't any help at all since his stance on the List Guys is "I'd be proud to have any of them as a brother-in law..."*sigh*

Take it easy on those s!!!

See you later Wile E!

*falls into the thread*

Hi Cynth! *smiles weakly*


It’s the full zombie experience today, so I’m going to head off and get an early night. I’m going to be out in Nottingham tomorrow, but I should be back on Wednesday night. I'll have a full report ready for you by then.


See you later

Hello Wile E!*feverish*

*pouts*I'm on penicillin and it gives me a low grade fever and asthma.
But I'm still going to perform on Saturday! The maestro is going to w*rk on emergency breathing techniques with me today...and he's going to be at the concert venue to make sure I'll be alright. My cousin will be there, too. It seems I'm going to have a full entourage. Some of the List Guys have stated that they've been worried about me and will be there for "moral support". *sigh*

What did DJ Shadow's setlist look like? Was there more of his hyphy stuff ? Who else was with him? What kind of parka was he wearing?*giggles*

Thanks for your cute get well card!
I felt alot better after receiving it!

How did that interview go? I still think that's ridiculously silly to put you through! Mere formality that it is...I hope they didn't grill you!*shakes head indignantly with various rattle and squeeze toy accompanying sounds...*


I'd better get going and off to bed before my cousin realises I've sneaked online again.

Hope your day is turning out to be a lovely one(despite the silly protocol).

See you later Wile E!*wheeze*

Hi Cynth!

Hope you’re feeling a bit more with it today. Good to hear you think you’ll be able to perform. And its good to hear the maestro will be accompanying you to the concert and keeping a close eye on you. That’s what’s keeping the piercing eyes of off you right now!

How did the breathing exercise session go? Did the maestro show mercy? What kind of techniques will you be using to counter the asthma?


I ended the run of concert disasters, and actually made it to one!

SS asked me if I wanted to go and see Casino Royal before heading off to Nottingham, so I ended up getting up even earlier than I would if I was going to work , in order to make it to Lincoln by noon. It was totally worth it though – I love Bond movies! Not the kind of thing I’d usually go for, but they’ve always been one of my guilty pleasures when it comes to film. This latest one is particularly good, the best since the 60’s I think. I would go into a long detailed review telling you exactly why I think it’s such a great Bond movie, but as you’re feeling ill and I don’t imagine you’re a big fan of Bond Movies, I’ll spare you this time.

Uncharacteristically, I arrived on time, SS met me on time, and we only had to wait for UF for ten minutes before we set off. We got there without incident (I wasn’t so sure we would when I saw SS’s latest clunker and he nearly crashed into another car while waving at me), and before long, we were inside Rock City, waiting for Shadow to make his appearance.

Rock City was a great venue to see someone as big as DJ Shadow. It’s a bit old and scuzzy, but it has a nice feel and only holds a couple of thousand and didn’t look like it had sold out, so we managed to get right in front of the stage without getting squashed. I’ll be surprised if he’s playing anywhere smaller than that on his UK tour, so we were lucky to see him in a more intimate environment like that.

Being so close to the stage enabled me to get a proper look at the parka he was wearing. It was the first thing I looked for! Unfortunately is wasn’t pink – it was dark brown, with a extra-big furry trim.

The show started with him walking onto stage, taking a mic and explaining his setup and what he was going to be doing that night. One of the things I like about him is how uncharacteristically egoless and friendly he comes across as for a hip hop producer. I was wondering if he might be performing with some musicians as he’s moved away from using so many samples on his latest album, but he was using his usual DJ setup of turntables, CDJ’s and an MPC sampler. He said everything he was going to play would be a reworking of his own material over the last ten years, and he mainly stuck to the more familiar tunes from Endtroducing, The Private Press and his UNKLE project with James Lavelle. I only noticed two tunes from the new album.

All his gear was spread out in a row along the stage, and he had a huge screen behind him. Visuals really help DJ sets, as I don’t think DJ’s are as interesting to watch as musicians, and the visuals made for his show are amongst the best and most detailed I’ve seen. There was lots of political stuff to do with the Iraq invasion and continuing troubles, synching up bombs with explosive beats in the music. On the more atmospheric tunes, the visuals were mainly trippy computer graphics, the best slowly moving through the undergrowth of a forest at night with weird animals staring out from the trees and bushes. On the more upbeat tunes, the visuals were more , like Dubya running amok with a chainsaw!

He had some vocal support from Lateef the Truth Speaker, who came on for about twenty minutes in the second half of the set. Obviously a very experienced MC, he really lifted the crowd and launched into some more upbeat hyphy stuff.

My only complaint about the night was that the sound system was overdriven, and it was hard to hear some of the mid frequencies. It was ok on most tunes, but on the quiet ones, the drums drowned out a lot of the subtleties that make those tracks.

It feels great to have got out and seen someone after a few false starts recently. Shadow hasn’t toured here for four years, and I’ve been dying to see one of his shows.


The interview at work went really well. I was less than thrilled at the prospect at being interviewed by people who know me well. I don’t know why, but being interviewed by strangers seems less daunting to me.

Usually I have problems staying calm in interviews and when I loose my cool, I my mind goes completely blank, or I start waffling like a . I really focused on staying relaxed and taking my time with the answers, and I think it was the best interview I’ve ever given. I bumped into the head of personnel later in the day, and she said it’d been the best interview they’d seen so far.

Having being told that, and also that the interview is just a formality, I’m going to be very if I don’t get it and end up going back to my previous grade. It seems unlikely, but theat element of doubt is in the back of my head.

The best thing about it is that its boosted my confidence with interviews. I had a couple of bad ones at the beginning of last year, and that dented my confidence and motivation, so this was probably a blessing in disguise.


>>>

I'm sure the lurkers are wondering about your comment>>>> knife wielding moments<<<<

<<<



They’ll have to ask me if they want to find out what happened.




Catch you later

*lolls around the hotel suite surrounded by ...*

Hello Wile E!

I can't get to sleep! I'm still too hopped up on and, now, ...!!!
This town is dangerous!

The concert turned out peculiarly well. The place was packed for such a not very well known choral symphony piece. And the crowd was very well dressed as audiences go. Everyone seemed caught up in the Hanukkah and holiday mood and made the event a festive one by arriving with their whole families and couples toppling out of limousines for their special night out on the town kind of dates.

The maestro eyed me closely for most of the night as if I were an invertebrate specimen. He put me through some vocal warm ups that included pounding me on the back and placing his hands like a bandit's mask over my face and having me make sounds like an ambulance siren. Then he profferred a sacred packet of crisps my way and poured me a lemonade before I went to the pulmonary specialist stationed in the wings who made me take a long hit off the nebuliser. I've never been through such a bizarre procedure before taking the stage like this in my entire career.
Stuffed with potato crisps, puckered and smoked up to the hilt and pushed out onto a stage...it was just way strange!

The first movement went as slow as it was written-unfortunately- but the piece really moved well after that when all the relentless waves of voices and instruments washed over the concert hall with abandon. We were well into a third of the symphony when I noticed the baritone's eyes looking a bit glassy and he was turning all the shades of one afflicted with mal de mer.The conductor picked up the tempo and finished the movement with a flourish and legerdemain that allowed the baritone to leave the stage smoothly without attracting undue notice... and disappear into a dressing room while his understudy came out shrugging into his tux jacket and humming something that sounded like the Mighty Mouse tune. The conductor subtly nodded to me to take another hit of nebuliser treatment while I could while he pretendedto turn a page of his score very s l o w l y and inspect his baton for*shrugs* termites and to check that his orchestra weren't replaced by extraterrestrials ...I half expected him to change the stage light bulbs or start casually reading the concert programme.
It seemed an eternity but all of this really only lasted less than 2 minutes. I came out again with a vague halo of smoke about me and the new and improved version of the baritone trotting beside me.

The rest of the concert went phenomenally well. The replacement baritone was a vast improvement over the first ( he even teared up during a very moving passage) and the orchestra and chorus were doing a great job of balancing the dynamics of the symphony. I felt very focused and did my best to let the lyricism of the piece shine through. There are some parts where I have to sing above an all out raging contrapuntal fortissimo chorus and orchestra that really test my projection and strength but I just gave it all I had, belted it out and hoped I wouldn't provoke another asthma attack. But everything was smooth sailing!

So after 70 minutes, we finished to thunderous applause and a few long ovations complete with floral projectiles. I was really relieved to have survived the night without any honking or wheezing mishaps.

After I met with my cheering section of 4 cousins, 4 List Guys, 2 MySpace musicians and 14 friends who live in that town, the maestro, my cousin and I went to the music organisation's Christmas party held in an Asian Art Museum. It was a very chic catered party held in the textiles section of one of my favourite museums. The decorations were big lighted topiaries that cast dramatic shadows upon the vast marbled rooms and lit candles and potted blooming amaryllises on the mirrored table tops. The food was good too. Chinese and Thai foods. And a big dessert table with tropical fruit, sorbets, 5 big cakes(Fruitbasket, Italian Rum, Red Velvet, White Chocolate Raspberry, Chocolate with chocolate ganache), cookies and sweets. You can guess where I was drawn to. *giggles* The Red Velvet(chocolate with cream cheese frosting) turned everyone's mouth who ate it a startling red so, of course, I went around acting like a and making violinists scream.There was some dancing to a jazz group going on late into the morning hours...

The maestro drove me back to my hotel at 1AM and ordered me to "Thoroughly hydrate yourself and get some rest...you have a heavy performance schedule ahead of you...and *ahem*you did well tonight - but it's back to w*rk on the Bach as soon as you wake up in the morning!
Go straight to your suite ...NOW!!!"

And that brings me up to now. I swear there's caffeine in the air in this town! There's really no getting around it!

I'm glad your weekend is turning out to be much better than if you had to go to an office party. Do you still have one to attend in the coming week?

Okay, I'd better get myself to bed now. Thanks for keeping away from the v o d k a tonight! I hope you won't need to threaten me with stashes of the stuff at the next hotel! The thought of it.. and the consequences are utterly terrifying!*shudders* But effective at warding off asthmatic attacks.

*clears a way to her bed amidst the ....*

Enjoy your Sunday! See you later Wile E!

Hi Cynth

it’s a bit late now, but I’m not going to miss the opportunity to fling stuff at you:











I’m keeping more in reserve for your upcoming concerts this week. I’ll be keeping the vodka in reserve as well. It’ll be there until you make a full recovery, so for your sake, I hope you’re looking after yourself!


I can’t seem to get warm at the moment. We’re not actually down to freezing conditions, but I’m struggling at the moment. I think you asked about my shoulder the other night, and I can’t remember if I answered you, but it seems ok at the moment. The aches I seem to get out of it at the moment are if I overdo it with the physio exercises. Hopefully it’ll stay that way through the winter, without the need to turn to to lubricate the stiffness.

I pointed out to SS that he should be grateful he wasn’t hurt in his crash, as I can’t be sure my arm will ever be as strong as it was before that bike crash. I forgot to phone him today to find out if he was on to his next clunker. How many do you think he can get to by next Christmas?


The office party was cancelled because of illness and a few of the attendees were lured to another work do in Blackpool. I wasn’t up for staying the night in ‘the Vegas of the North,’ so I opted for being a scrooge this year and staying at home. There is no rescheduled party, but there is talk of something being organised in January.

We’re going for our office Christmas meal tomorrow. We’re going for a curry again!

It was great to hear that your mum is going to be back home in time for Christmas. Are you going to be having many people over this year? I guess with everything that’s been going on, you’ll be a bit @-) for the time being. I’ve got used to yahoo enough, that I’m starting to miss a couple of those smileys!

We *still* haven’t got any decorations up yet. I guess none of us are very Christmassy in my house. I’ll probably put a few up on Friday.


I’m not sure about your timing (or even timezones) over the next few days, but I’ll be on at the usual times. with everything.

Catch you later