Well, it was a hot ol' day in Auld Reekie today. And we Rudsambee-lets were encamped at the Reid Hall for a run through of 'Cloudburst' with pianist, cymbalist and big bass drummist...drummer - sorry. Well I tell you what, two weeks ago this piece sounded like a jumble of random notes, today it sounded bloomin' brilliant. It is a very exciting piece to sing and we are loving it. I had a bit of a struggle with a rogue music stand, we are still battling through with a smaller thunder sheet than we would like and a loud band (plugged into a generator no less - eh?) were playing in Bristo Square, but largely we had a terrific rehearsal in the lead up to next week. My vote for funniest moment of the afternoon award goes to Anne for finding a jingly piano-like instrument to play in place of bells. The gentlemen of Rudsambee moved said instrument closer to Anne so she could play it while watching Maestro Boy. Her stance and one-handed keys playing reminded me of a proper rock synth star - brilliant!
Well after spending most of the practice bashing through 'Cloudburst' we moved on to 'Green Fir Forest' (actually I was impressed with how much of this we remembered - on a painful-listening gradation system of 1 to 10 it only ranked a 6 1/2...you've got to be pleased with that!). We then sang a bit of Tormis. 'Lulling' has now been offically re-Christened 'Baa-Ram-Ewe' due to the support parts. A sheep-based song for late Spring.
And in a final note, big congratulations have to go to Maestro Boy and Soprano extraordinaire Helen who both passed their degrees with flying colours this week. To have two real musicians with certificates in our ranks is very exciting for us mere mortals who will always struggle with sight-reading and identifying an harmonic forth.
Put next Saturday in your diaries folks. It is going to be fab! More on Wednesday.
CSW
Saturday, 30 May 2009
Thursday, 28 May 2009
It's starting to sound like an actual piece of music!
A pertinent reference to Cloudburst. Last night we sang it right through minus the bells (the bells, the bells!) and we (shock horror!) can actually sing it. Different Rudsambeelets had a chance to sit in the audience to listen to the rest of us and all looked thoroughly chuffed/moved/excited by this incredible Whitacre piece.
In fact, a week on Saturday will be a proper Whitacrefest (like Woodstock but without the long hair and pot. Probably.) with both Cloudburst and Five Hebrew Love Songs. We rattled through the latter last night as well. Now we hadn't sang this since last summer and Rudsambeelets have notoriously poor memories, but honestly, it sounded t'riffic. Can't wait to add a couple of instruments to the melee. Theremin anyone? (see a previous post for an explanation of this jolly instrument of brilliance. Ah, the cyclical nature of conversation a la Rudsambee).
Now last night the sopranos were branded as 'vicious' by Maestro Boy. Unfair you may think but the poor Bass1s (I hasten to add that all basses were present and correct last night) looked thoroughly forlorn while the sops bashed on through. As well as Whitacre-excitement we sang Jede Sedlak without music - sounded dreadful the first time, better the fifteenth. And we tried En Une Seule Fleur again for the first time since the heady days of 2008. A brief heads up to Mirren here as we had a couple of very jolly French pronunciation queries which I won't share with you. Suffice to say "fois toi" is very difficult for this Anglo-Saxon tongue to sing quickly... and in tune. "Devinir" also caused a little contention. Currently it sounds like a description of an inhabitant of of a southern English county (try saying it with flat North English vowels and you'll see what I mean). We'll get there eventually. Again, we were all a little amazed that we could remember this one, particularly Kay2 and Oliver2, neither of whom has ever sung it.
So we're now looking forward to Saturday for a rehearsal at the Reid Hall. Muchos jolliness. Bells, drums and jingly percussive sounds. What larks! Put the Saturday after in your diaries as you don't want to miss the excitement of Cloudburst. It is going to be brilliant.
Until Saturday
CSW
In fact, a week on Saturday will be a proper Whitacrefest (like Woodstock but without the long hair and pot. Probably.) with both Cloudburst and Five Hebrew Love Songs. We rattled through the latter last night as well. Now we hadn't sang this since last summer and Rudsambeelets have notoriously poor memories, but honestly, it sounded t'riffic. Can't wait to add a couple of instruments to the melee. Theremin anyone? (see a previous post for an explanation of this jolly instrument of brilliance. Ah, the cyclical nature of conversation a la Rudsambee).
Now last night the sopranos were branded as 'vicious' by Maestro Boy. Unfair you may think but the poor Bass1s (I hasten to add that all basses were present and correct last night) looked thoroughly forlorn while the sops bashed on through. As well as Whitacre-excitement we sang Jede Sedlak without music - sounded dreadful the first time, better the fifteenth. And we tried En Une Seule Fleur again for the first time since the heady days of 2008. A brief heads up to Mirren here as we had a couple of very jolly French pronunciation queries which I won't share with you. Suffice to say "fois toi" is very difficult for this Anglo-Saxon tongue to sing quickly... and in tune. "Devinir" also caused a little contention. Currently it sounds like a description of an inhabitant of of a southern English county (try saying it with flat North English vowels and you'll see what I mean). We'll get there eventually. Again, we were all a little amazed that we could remember this one, particularly Kay2 and Oliver2, neither of whom has ever sung it.
So we're now looking forward to Saturday for a rehearsal at the Reid Hall. Muchos jolliness. Bells, drums and jingly percussive sounds. What larks! Put the Saturday after in your diaries as you don't want to miss the excitement of Cloudburst. It is going to be brilliant.
Until Saturday
CSW
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
How to carry a big bass drum...
…this is out current Cloudburst dilemma. How can a big bass drum (um tiddly um pum pum) be transported from Tollcross to the Reid Hall? Answers on a postcard please – my current favourite solution is hoisting it from a helicopter but I am open to other suggestions.
Well, another Wednesday night has been and gone. Last night’s rehearsal was a tiring one as we prepare for the jollies of two June concerts. We began with a Rachel led warm-up in which we sung Hebrew with a Brummie accent. Don’t ask!
Last week we were without our two Bass1s; this week the two Bass2s had gone AWOL, leaving us a little thin on the bottom (oo-er). But Maestro Boy stepped up to the plate and sung the low notes (quietly!); as Angus said, “being a bass isn’t that easy”. Cloudburst is really coming together. Our only slight concern last night was the whispered "la lluvia" which comes immediately after A-L’s beautiful wee solo line (after a prompt from Kay, A-L is now singing this line in time though I must admit I quite liked her dotted take on it). We hardly ever practice this whispered moment and are in constant fear (ok, that may be a little strong) that we will entirely forget it on the night. When we do attempt it we all sound like Lord Voldemort from ‘Harry Potter’. It should be noted that Helen does a quite terrifying impression of said Lord of Darkness – quite uncanny!
We also (joy upon joys) got our thunder sheet out last night for the first time. After a quick rendition of the Rolf Harris classic Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport (a thunder sheet is not a wobble board – is that the right word? I’m doubting myself now) we sang the ‘stormy bit’ with the excitement of a real thunderclap or two. It was noted that the thunder sheet (which is just a big sheet of metal really) might be a little small when it comes to the big storm. It was suggested that we find a sheet we can "do a roll on”. Of course that leaves you with a wonderful image of gymnastic moves and expressionistic dance, though I think it was a drum roll not a forward roll that was expected. Anyways, we are on the look out for a bigger metal sheet... just in case anyone has one lurking in the garage.
With the Wexler’s away (and Christopher looking after the house - just in case anyone reading this is intent on robbing Chez Wexler while the owners enjoy a break, Christopher has a very mean tickle!) Rufus is pining and sounded as if he was screaming almost the entire evening. Christopher decided he needed a cat gag. I have a great cat gag for you: What is the difference between a cat and a comma? One has the paws before the claws and the other has the clause before the pause. Brilliant! Thanks to online cat jokes for that one - yes, there really is a website devoted entirely to jokes about felines - whatever next?
May I conclude with a response to our esteemed Editor’s comments of last week re vinyl? Though I manage to look extremely youthful, I do actually remember records and can exclusively reveal here that my first single (the highly acclaimed Cliff Richard Christmas classic, Mistletoe and Wine) was indeed in this format, played on a red record player I bought for a few pounds at a Guide jumble sale. Furthermore, when on Bleecker Street, New York just last year (man, that sounds incredibly cool!) we purchased two old records. We don’t actually have anything to play them on but the artwork is brightening up our spare room. I am glad to have had the opportunity to respond.
Next week we are rehearsing at Priestfield and then we have a Saturday rehearsal as well so brace yourself for a blogging double whammy. Until then...
CSW
p.s. Chris says, if anyone wants to print a flyer, here they are:
And in other news, Eric Whitacre provides a link to this on his blog, saying that he is one of "...a few morons out there who think this crap is among the funniest and most brilliant works of art ever created." A telling glimpse into the mind of a composer:
Well, another Wednesday night has been and gone. Last night’s rehearsal was a tiring one as we prepare for the jollies of two June concerts. We began with a Rachel led warm-up in which we sung Hebrew with a Brummie accent. Don’t ask!
Last week we were without our two Bass1s; this week the two Bass2s had gone AWOL, leaving us a little thin on the bottom (oo-er). But Maestro Boy stepped up to the plate and sung the low notes (quietly!); as Angus said, “being a bass isn’t that easy”. Cloudburst is really coming together. Our only slight concern last night was the whispered "la lluvia" which comes immediately after A-L’s beautiful wee solo line (after a prompt from Kay, A-L is now singing this line in time though I must admit I quite liked her dotted take on it). We hardly ever practice this whispered moment and are in constant fear (ok, that may be a little strong) that we will entirely forget it on the night. When we do attempt it we all sound like Lord Voldemort from ‘Harry Potter’. It should be noted that Helen does a quite terrifying impression of said Lord of Darkness – quite uncanny!
We also (joy upon joys) got our thunder sheet out last night for the first time. After a quick rendition of the Rolf Harris classic Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport (a thunder sheet is not a wobble board – is that the right word? I’m doubting myself now) we sang the ‘stormy bit’ with the excitement of a real thunderclap or two. It was noted that the thunder sheet (which is just a big sheet of metal really) might be a little small when it comes to the big storm. It was suggested that we find a sheet we can "do a roll on”. Of course that leaves you with a wonderful image of gymnastic moves and expressionistic dance, though I think it was a drum roll not a forward roll that was expected. Anyways, we are on the look out for a bigger metal sheet... just in case anyone has one lurking in the garage.
With the Wexler’s away (and Christopher looking after the house - just in case anyone reading this is intent on robbing Chez Wexler while the owners enjoy a break, Christopher has a very mean tickle!) Rufus is pining and sounded as if he was screaming almost the entire evening. Christopher decided he needed a cat gag. I have a great cat gag for you: What is the difference between a cat and a comma? One has the paws before the claws and the other has the clause before the pause. Brilliant! Thanks to online cat jokes for that one - yes, there really is a website devoted entirely to jokes about felines - whatever next?
May I conclude with a response to our esteemed Editor’s comments of last week re vinyl? Though I manage to look extremely youthful, I do actually remember records and can exclusively reveal here that my first single (the highly acclaimed Cliff Richard Christmas classic, Mistletoe and Wine) was indeed in this format, played on a red record player I bought for a few pounds at a Guide jumble sale. Furthermore, when on Bleecker Street, New York just last year (man, that sounds incredibly cool!) we purchased two old records. We don’t actually have anything to play them on but the artwork is brightening up our spare room. I am glad to have had the opportunity to respond.
Next week we are rehearsing at Priestfield and then we have a Saturday rehearsal as well so brace yourself for a blogging double whammy. Until then...
CSW
p.s. Chris says, if anyone wants to print a flyer, here they are:
And in other news, Eric Whitacre provides a link to this on his blog, saying that he is one of "...a few morons out there who think this crap is among the funniest and most brilliant works of art ever created." A telling glimpse into the mind of a composer:
Thursday, 14 May 2009
Sing-a-long-a Starburst...
This was Mummy Elaine’s little syntactical error last night – Starburst rather than Cloudburst. Starburst would certainly be more fruity...
Well, another week, another rehearsal a la Rudsambee. Tonight I am going to try and mentionStarCloudburst as little as possible as no doubt the readership is well aware of its challenges and delights by now. Today’s news is tomorrow’s chip paper. Actually, I’m not sure how that works in our electronic age, but, heigh ho!
We began last night in usual surreal fashion by singing a song about pigs and dogs to the Blue Peter tune led by Douglas. All very jolly, and caused muchos hilarity for Josh and Connor (Jen’s two munchkins), who graced us with their presence last night and behaved impeccably. Nice to see you boys!
Although much of the evening was spent on ‘that page’ of the aforementioned Whitacre number, we did concentrate on our new Czech song and the Vaughan Williams, Spring Time of the Year (which Helen rather hilariously referred to as Springtime for Hitler which does indeed change the general demeanour of the song – I’m hoping that everyone got that little cultural reference otherwise you may well be a little concerned about the political convictions of the Rudsambee-lets. Rest assured we are all firmly indifferent to all political parties, especially at present). Both these pieces are starting to sound rather good and we did the first verse and chorus of Jede Sedlak without copies. I for one laa-ed my may through the first chorus but it came back to me as we went along. We also learned the second verse led (in our Slovak-expert Kay’s absence) by Mummy Elaine who, as well as knowing a great deal about music named after sweeties, has also, and I quote “sung a few operas in Czech” over the years. Are there any limits to this lady’s talents? Suffice to say we didn’t do the second verse without music, rather we mumbled along trying to work out how the words could possibly fit in and hoping against hope that the Reid Hall won’t be full of our Eastern European friends for the premier. Our pronunciation may well leave something to be desired!
Comment of the night award (a much cherished accolade…I judge this by the sheer amount of ridiculous things said during a Wednesday night rehearsal) goes to Oliver2. After we took yet another stab at page 7 of Cloudburst and suffered one of those Maestro Boy eyebrow moments (see previous posts), our venerable Editor asked whether the tenors were sharp or flat that time. Oliver 2’s response? “Wasn’t it just the wrong note?” Genius, I salute thee!
We concluded the evening (or at least Douglas, A-L, Natalie and I concluded the evening) finding a gun-like object in the Wexler’s front room. Various suggestions were made, but our eventual conclusion was that it was a gadget for demagnetising cows. A useful device if ever I saw one. If the Chief of Lothian and Borders Police ever takes time out of his busy crime-beating schedule to read this blog (I am assured, BTW, that he probably does) then I believe said instrument was a glue gun, though you might want to look into it further. I have suspected for a while that the Wexler house might be a criminal hangout. I’ll keep you informed about that. [Chris says: The 'gun' generates static to remove dust and grime from the grooves of LPs, but you're clearly too young to know about these things. Vinyl? About 12" across? Played with a needle rather than a laser? Oh, never mind...]
CSW
Her's a non-bursty Whitacre piece, led by the man himself. Our Esteemed Leader swears we will never perform it...
Well, another week, another rehearsal a la Rudsambee. Tonight I am going to try and mention
We began last night in usual surreal fashion by singing a song about pigs and dogs to the Blue Peter tune led by Douglas. All very jolly, and caused muchos hilarity for Josh and Connor (Jen’s two munchkins), who graced us with their presence last night and behaved impeccably. Nice to see you boys!
Although much of the evening was spent on ‘that page’ of the aforementioned Whitacre number, we did concentrate on our new Czech song and the Vaughan Williams, Spring Time of the Year (which Helen rather hilariously referred to as Springtime for Hitler which does indeed change the general demeanour of the song – I’m hoping that everyone got that little cultural reference otherwise you may well be a little concerned about the political convictions of the Rudsambee-lets. Rest assured we are all firmly indifferent to all political parties, especially at present). Both these pieces are starting to sound rather good and we did the first verse and chorus of Jede Sedlak without copies. I for one laa-ed my may through the first chorus but it came back to me as we went along. We also learned the second verse led (in our Slovak-expert Kay’s absence) by Mummy Elaine who, as well as knowing a great deal about music named after sweeties, has also, and I quote “sung a few operas in Czech” over the years. Are there any limits to this lady’s talents? Suffice to say we didn’t do the second verse without music, rather we mumbled along trying to work out how the words could possibly fit in and hoping against hope that the Reid Hall won’t be full of our Eastern European friends for the premier. Our pronunciation may well leave something to be desired!
Comment of the night award (a much cherished accolade…I judge this by the sheer amount of ridiculous things said during a Wednesday night rehearsal) goes to Oliver2. After we took yet another stab at page 7 of Cloudburst and suffered one of those Maestro Boy eyebrow moments (see previous posts), our venerable Editor asked whether the tenors were sharp or flat that time. Oliver 2’s response? “Wasn’t it just the wrong note?” Genius, I salute thee!
We concluded the evening (or at least Douglas, A-L, Natalie and I concluded the evening) finding a gun-like object in the Wexler’s front room. Various suggestions were made, but our eventual conclusion was that it was a gadget for demagnetising cows. A useful device if ever I saw one. If the Chief of Lothian and Borders Police ever takes time out of his busy crime-beating schedule to read this blog (I am assured, BTW, that he probably does) then I believe said instrument was a glue gun, though you might want to look into it further. I have suspected for a while that the Wexler house might be a criminal hangout. I’ll keep you informed about that. [Chris says: The 'gun' generates static to remove dust and grime from the grooves of LPs, but you're clearly too young to know about these things. Vinyl? About 12" across? Played with a needle rather than a laser? Oh, never mind...]
CSW
Her's a non-bursty Whitacre piece, led by the man himself. Our Esteemed Leader swears we will never perform it...
Thursday, 7 May 2009
AGM night
Well, you may be bored silly of the political in and outs of our fine representatives at Holyrood, but last night Chez Wexler played host to the political (I use that term in the very broadest sense) night of the year: the Rudsambee AGM.
So, where to start? As per usual we began the evening with a tipple and a nibble. The host (referred to during the night as ‘music monitor’ which is like a school milk monitor except without the milk) provided red grape juice so I felt very grown up. We began with issues arising from last year’s minutes, which I hasten to add were passed without incident. We then went on to the accounts. Muchos thanks to Dick and Gordon who do a valiant job with our piggy bank. I must admit this was the moment I nearly dropped off – I trust our accountants completely you see and am quite willing to defer all monetary issues to them - I can barely count to ten.
Extra, extra read all about it! Subscriptions have been held in these credit crunch times! This was quite a big deal but we got through it in only five minutes or so, for which our Chair (in the person sense not in the wooden-furniture-round-a-kitchen-table sense) Alison deserves all the credit. Hoorah I say! I will spend that extra two pounds very wisely and look forward to next year when (in the best tradition of taxmen and utility providers the world over) there will be an above inflation rise to make up for it. I joke. Another seriously exciting development is that the lady of the house (not just music monitor but also sorts out our uniform) has bought some shirts for the gentlemen. A great day folks! The boys have been wearing varying shades of pink for some time now and we are all relieved that they will from this day forth be in a more manly red. As an aside, at least half an hour of the AGM is generally spent discussing concert outfits. This year? Not a word. Huzzah!
We then appointed office bearers and trustees and stuff, which I won’t bore you with. Suffice to say Maestro Boy continues in his role as Musical Director. He gave an inspired speech in which he told us we were all, and I quote, “very clever” and Helen took the role of Aaron to his Moses (goodness, a Biblical reference for you there chaps) and went through the things Maestro Boy generally moans about post-rehearsal – the usual stuff, not practicing at home and non-attendance without telling him. All vowed to buck up our ideas. Maestro Boy suggested Helen take over as musical director but as she is going to be borrowing some super-duper recording equipment for us to try out, I think she probably has enough on her plate. Speaking of recording equipment, the suggestion was voiced that while we were there we should try and get a smoke machine, some lights or even a laser rig a la Pink Floyd. What larks!
We realised that we may well be having to look for a couple of new members over the next year - especially men! - and Maestro Boy suggested a new Grooming Subcommittee, led by Chris, which of course conjures some delightful images. Combs at the ready…
The final question is one I will leave you with: is Pittenweem highbrow? It is a good question and one that currently I do not have an answer for. We concluded our meeting earlier than usual thanks to Alison’s chairing, Rachel’s minuting and Monsieur Wexler deciding that the rest of his list could be left to another day.
Back to singing next week. The ‘Cloudburst’ concert is approaching rapidly (too rapidly methinks) and we need to do some practice. Come along and watch it, bring your friends and give lots of money to charity – that, Rudsambee-lets, is my attempt at a hard sell. Hee hee!
CSW
So, where to start? As per usual we began the evening with a tipple and a nibble. The host (referred to during the night as ‘music monitor’ which is like a school milk monitor except without the milk) provided red grape juice so I felt very grown up. We began with issues arising from last year’s minutes, which I hasten to add were passed without incident. We then went on to the accounts. Muchos thanks to Dick and Gordon who do a valiant job with our piggy bank. I must admit this was the moment I nearly dropped off – I trust our accountants completely you see and am quite willing to defer all monetary issues to them - I can barely count to ten.
Extra, extra read all about it! Subscriptions have been held in these credit crunch times! This was quite a big deal but we got through it in only five minutes or so, for which our Chair (in the person sense not in the wooden-furniture-round-a-kitchen-table sense) Alison deserves all the credit. Hoorah I say! I will spend that extra two pounds very wisely and look forward to next year when (in the best tradition of taxmen and utility providers the world over) there will be an above inflation rise to make up for it. I joke. Another seriously exciting development is that the lady of the house (not just music monitor but also sorts out our uniform) has bought some shirts for the gentlemen. A great day folks! The boys have been wearing varying shades of pink for some time now and we are all relieved that they will from this day forth be in a more manly red. As an aside, at least half an hour of the AGM is generally spent discussing concert outfits. This year? Not a word. Huzzah!
We then appointed office bearers and trustees and stuff, which I won’t bore you with. Suffice to say Maestro Boy continues in his role as Musical Director. He gave an inspired speech in which he told us we were all, and I quote, “very clever” and Helen took the role of Aaron to his Moses (goodness, a Biblical reference for you there chaps) and went through the things Maestro Boy generally moans about post-rehearsal – the usual stuff, not practicing at home and non-attendance without telling him. All vowed to buck up our ideas. Maestro Boy suggested Helen take over as musical director but as she is going to be borrowing some super-duper recording equipment for us to try out, I think she probably has enough on her plate. Speaking of recording equipment, the suggestion was voiced that while we were there we should try and get a smoke machine, some lights or even a laser rig a la Pink Floyd. What larks!
We realised that we may well be having to look for a couple of new members over the next year - especially men! - and Maestro Boy suggested a new Grooming Subcommittee, led by Chris, which of course conjures some delightful images. Combs at the ready…
The final question is one I will leave you with: is Pittenweem highbrow? It is a good question and one that currently I do not have an answer for. We concluded our meeting earlier than usual thanks to Alison’s chairing, Rachel’s minuting and Monsieur Wexler deciding that the rest of his list could be left to another day.
Back to singing next week. The ‘Cloudburst’ concert is approaching rapidly (too rapidly methinks) and we need to do some practice. Come along and watch it, bring your friends and give lots of money to charity – that, Rudsambee-lets, is my attempt at a hard sell. Hee hee!
CSW
Friday, 1 May 2009
Bursting clouds and back to Vaughan Williams
Afternoon one and all, well now I am officially a researcher again (or have just joined the massed ranks of the unemployed depending on which way you look at it) I'll get down to updating you on goings-on.
As usual we met on Wednesday for a night of joyful noise, and a bit of singing. We began with an ambitious challenge to our musicianship as Kay asked us to sing harmonic scales and Anne sang loudly (especially on the flattened third note) so we didn't sound too dreadful. Thereafter we looked at a new piece of Vaughan Williams which is a little like 'Dark Eyed-Sailor' (and is in fact form the same set of songs) but a little sadder - in a melodic sense rather than a lyrical one. It is about sailors though. We had a jolly sing through around the piano with Rufus wailing like a banshee (hmmm... interesting saying) in the hall.
A-L had a funny old night. For some reason she came over all diva-ish (must be catching.. like swine flu - ooo topical comment there folks) and kept either adding notes or going up to the top note of the chord for no reason. All very funny!
So, what can you do with a cat? This was the question on everyone's lips last night after the suggestion that you wouldn't need an electric shredder if you had a cat. John suggested using the cat as a pencil sharpener. The image is a striking one though Monsieur Wexler did not specify where one would place said pencil. I'll leave that with you...
We spent a wee while on 'Cloudburst' (A-L thought it was our best ever clap, with which I concur. One Tenor was heard to remark that it was nice to know we'd really got the clap now) and then to our new Czech song. Now, learning Czech is a jolly jape. Kay, our resident Slovak speaker, gave it a go and did a valiant job though one word stumped her; on the bright side, if you say it quickly enough it doesn't much matter.
It is our AGM next Wednesday, always an enjoyable night of chat. We get to decide whether we should pay Maestro Boy any money, whether to oust our formidable President (she admitted to being fallible by email today so I am considering a vote of no confidence. I jest of course! [looks paranoid] As mentioned previously, the Rudsambee-lets would crash and burn without Anne) and whether the boys should continue to wear slightly pink shirts or should bite the bullet and buy new ones. Oh, and consume lots of wine (and oj for me and Teacher Boy) and crispy nibbles - yum! I'll let you know all the ins and outs as usual. Maybe we will adopt an 'Apprentice'-style board room affair and work out who to fire. On second thoughts...
Hope everyone has a great week. News from the inside (really the inside), if you want to avoid swine flu wear a scarf round your face and wash it when you get home (don't bother with masks, they don't work), wash your hands all the time and only use tissues once. Incidentally, best swine flu joke this week? "I rang NHS24 to ask about swine flu but couldn't hear them because of all the crackling on the line". Genius! If this pandemic gets really bad, I'll look back on this post as tasteless irony. Ah well.
CSW
As usual we met on Wednesday for a night of joyful noise, and a bit of singing. We began with an ambitious challenge to our musicianship as Kay asked us to sing harmonic scales and Anne sang loudly (especially on the flattened third note) so we didn't sound too dreadful. Thereafter we looked at a new piece of Vaughan Williams which is a little like 'Dark Eyed-Sailor' (and is in fact form the same set of songs) but a little sadder - in a melodic sense rather than a lyrical one. It is about sailors though. We had a jolly sing through around the piano with Rufus wailing like a banshee (hmmm... interesting saying) in the hall.
A-L had a funny old night. For some reason she came over all diva-ish (must be catching.. like swine flu - ooo topical comment there folks) and kept either adding notes or going up to the top note of the chord for no reason. All very funny!
So, what can you do with a cat? This was the question on everyone's lips last night after the suggestion that you wouldn't need an electric shredder if you had a cat. John suggested using the cat as a pencil sharpener. The image is a striking one though Monsieur Wexler did not specify where one would place said pencil. I'll leave that with you...
We spent a wee while on 'Cloudburst' (A-L thought it was our best ever clap, with which I concur. One Tenor was heard to remark that it was nice to know we'd really got the clap now) and then to our new Czech song. Now, learning Czech is a jolly jape. Kay, our resident Slovak speaker, gave it a go and did a valiant job though one word stumped her; on the bright side, if you say it quickly enough it doesn't much matter.
It is our AGM next Wednesday, always an enjoyable night of chat. We get to decide whether we should pay Maestro Boy any money, whether to oust our formidable President (she admitted to being fallible by email today so I am considering a vote of no confidence. I jest of course! [looks paranoid] As mentioned previously, the Rudsambee-lets would crash and burn without Anne) and whether the boys should continue to wear slightly pink shirts or should bite the bullet and buy new ones. Oh, and consume lots of wine (and oj for me and Teacher Boy) and crispy nibbles - yum! I'll let you know all the ins and outs as usual. Maybe we will adopt an 'Apprentice'-style board room affair and work out who to fire. On second thoughts...
Hope everyone has a great week. News from the inside (really the inside), if you want to avoid swine flu wear a scarf round your face and wash it when you get home (don't bother with masks, they don't work), wash your hands all the time and only use tissues once. Incidentally, best swine flu joke this week? "I rang NHS24 to ask about swine flu but couldn't hear them because of all the crackling on the line". Genius! If this pandemic gets really bad, I'll look back on this post as tasteless irony. Ah well.
CSW
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