'I don't bother chasing mice around'

Well, another Wednesday, another Rudsambee rehearsal and as always much to report.


There has been a running theme of nursery rhymes during warmups over the past few weeks. Tonight was no exception as Ollie led us in a rousing rendition of This Old Man and Michael Finnegan... combined... in a round! Some dispute over the lyrics to the latter: apparently there are multiple verses. Goodness, I never realised that these old rhymes were so multi-faceted... wouldn't surprise me if they were constructed in a weird time signature. 14/8, perhaps?


Anyways, we continued with our preparation for the recording. We have a big day coming up on the 14th June when we are back to St Peter's for our final day 'in the studio'. Rather frighteningly we are starting the day at 9.30 with Ernst Toch's Geographical Fugue - now that's a wake up call! If you don't know this piece then check it out! Why haven't MTV cottoned on to this! We are loving the video especially.



The title of the blog post is taken from the rather brilliant Stray Cat Strut. Generally this song is sung late at night usually after some of the members of our group (who should know better) have had one a few too many shandies. Hence it is, more often than not, a shambles; we are trying to get a bit more accuracy into it for the official version.

Our evening finished off with two key insights into Rudsambee life. Firstly, to Japanese beans (I know, that wasn't what you were expecting huh?) which Helen described in brutal detail... I think mucus came into it somewhere... not literally of course (although...). Ollie was persuaded that they would taste 'rather like the smell of a fart'. Well that really gets you thinking! We are nothing if not educational at Relative Pitch. Reminded me of parma violets which taste like the smell of old ladies' soap [Chris says: Parma Violets taste of old ladies!]

Secondly, Ollie proceeded to tell us about his week's 'phone problems. He was trying to ring a friend and only ever connected to the O₂ lady (imagine, if you will, if you had embarked upon a disastrous relationship with said lady which ended tragically. Every time you rang a friend who was out you would be connected to the dulcet tones {Moment of pondering: what else is described as dulcet? Hm.} of the one who broke your heart... gutting! You'd just never get over it. I guess it could be a similar problem for the exes of the speaking clock man, or the station announcer, or the young lady who gives the recorded safety advice on RyanAir - this musing is from an original idea by our illustrious Director, who has had far too much time to think in the last week apparently). Well anyway, Ollie was trying to ring a friend. Now the English language is a funny old thing which led us to consider what would happen if you tried to wring your friend. Mangles are now out of fashion (due I think to the advent of the tumble dryer... a mangle is surely the Al Gore option in this day and age) but it left us with an interesting, if potentially painful, image.

Anyways, it is late and this wee blogger needs to get some rest. Prog-rockers Yes may have cancelled their tour due to illness this evening, but Rudsambee are counting down the days until their Czech gig!


CSW