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