tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95001492011-08-04T17:16:07.666+01:00Dear Mom...Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.comBlogger8181100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-77232350336857911842010-02-20T23:19:00.001Z2010-02-20T23:19:07.307Z

Had a lovely night last night at the London Oratory School Theatre; Cygnet Players were doing Thoroughly Modern Millie.  Stuart B was the choreographer and Johnny C (his partner) was directing.  It turned out to be a bit of a Chorus night too; there were about twenty of us in the audience. The show was excellent; fantastic costumes, great dancing and Olly and Mark A in the cast too.  Rather

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-43256666396756077072010-02-18T23:39:00.000Z2010-02-18T23:40:01.245Z

Had a lovely dinner tonight at The Spread Eagle in Greenwich.  It is Rod’s forty-first birthday today so the four of us went out for dinner.  Excellent cuisine which we all agreed we should indulge in more often. I also managed to get through the whole evening without thinking about the Velma Kelly quote from Chicago! Before dinner I’d been at Karen L’s leaving drinks at work and got the gossip

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-23251678775586306242010-02-12T23:59:00.000Z2010-02-18T23:45:16.000Z

So Wednesday we got an email, Thursday we had the rehearsal and Friday evening forty of us were in a recording studio.  Mark Ronson had asked us (the Chorus) to do some backing vocals for the title track of his new album, ‘The Business’. Hard work both Thursday and Friday nights, but I think in the end we gave a good performance.  Am curious to see how it sounds when it’s all properly mixed.

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-114126764199426262010-02-10T23:30:00.001Z2010-02-10T23:30:06.829Z

Monday happened but I wasn’t much chirpier.  Chorus perked me up a bit with the good music. Tuesday I spent the morning at a Vodafone event in the City.  It turned out to be a plug for their latest brainwave; a cheap SoHo femtocell.  It’s a good idea but not much use to us at the moment; we don’t need one anywhere in the UK and they can’t be used abroad.  The event did give me a chance to get

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-16092108393507060162010-02-07T23:09:00.001Z2010-02-07T23:09:16.492Z

Took Friday off work.  Whatever I’ve got is really sapping my energy.  Napped through half of the day.  Friday evening we had tickets for Macbeth at the Broadway Theatre.  I’d been quite looking forward to it, but it was a rather average production;  too many people reciting Shakespeare rather than acting it. Saturday evening we had dinner with Rod and Jess and friends in Wimbledon.  An

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-91217458089465176452010-02-04T23:30:00.001Z2010-02-04T23:30:32.844Z

Tuesday was tedious at work.  Also I’d cycled in for the first time in over a week and was feeling a little the worse for it.  Having another workout session with Lee S didn’t help.  Need to plan me fuel intake more carefully I think. Had a positive piano lesson in the evening though; I still need to practice, practice, practice but I am making progress – albeit slowly. Wednesday had a nice

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-7590962932099631472010-02-02T22:54:00.000Z2010-02-03T08:21:40.781Z

What a week it’s been!  I’ve had very little time off since last Tuesday.  After a busy Monday and Tuesday and a long day at work on Wednesday,  I skipped the Gay Photographers Network event and just came home and vegetated in front of the TV.  Rowan had come back from Beverley suffering from the ‘flu and so was in a bad way on the other sofa. Thursday was quite a busy day at work, with a

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-11382168327132108732010-01-26T23:09:00.000Z2010-01-27T00:03:08.753Z

Started the day in Brick Lane today.  I was doing a market research interview about what would make me (as an business IT purchaser) feel inclined to choose one of the Linux brands over Microsoft.  These sessions are often interesting not because of the product they’re having me look at but because of what the questioning reveals about the way I think – or rather don’t think, but react. Today

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-493541750826441762010-01-25T23:01:00.001Z2010-01-25T23:01:52.345Z

Productive day at work today; got lots of stuff done on the Windows 7 Roll-out Project. Had Sectionals tonight for Chorus so it was a pretty intense rehearsal.  Still loving Dies Irae, but finding Carousel a bit repetitive now.  Didn’t get to sing the Money Song though.

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-16340954578993105792010-01-24T23:59:00.000Z2010-01-25T08:19:44.871Z

Not many notable points in the remainder of the week.  It turns out that RADA’s production of Company is already sold out and I’ve had to put my name down on the waiting list for us to have a hope of getting tickets.  Since when do student shows sell-out a month in advance?  Since the Sondheim Society got wind of it I suspect! Met with Lee S, my new personal trainer, on Wednesday for a

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-4290665983995706242010-01-19T23:57:00.000Z2010-01-20T00:00:22.345Z

Last night was our first look at the new repertoire.  This season’s Chorus show is themed around the Seven Deadly Sins and it is promising to be quite exciting.  It will certainly be an interesting sing as the music is both varied and challenging; ranging from The Drinking Song from La Traviata and Verdi’s epic, apocalyptic Dies Irae, through Kander and Ebb (Money Makes The World Go Round, All I

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-71126334640278520932010-01-18T23:59:00.000Z2010-01-19T23:56:58.607Z

Saturday was a mostly domestic day, with shopping bought, dishes washed and laundry done.  I also picked up a copy of Attitude as I’d been tipped off that the BBC Weatherman, Tomasz Schafernaker, looked better than the average meteorologist in a pair of AussieBums on the cover.  And indeed he did. Coincidently on the front cover was Gareth Thomas whom, if I hadn’t seen him on the cover, I

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-48885023607029662822010-01-15T22:30:00.001Z2010-01-15T22:30:57.489Z

Wednesday was another snow day; it came down suddenly over Tuesday night and by the morning, trains were few and far-between – and not even the station staff knew if or when.  I worked from home. Got stuff done but was getting cabin fever by the end of the day. The piano lesson that evening was a bit of a pro-forma as I hadn’t done any practice since the last one.  It’s frustrating but I have

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-29379296088038357972010-01-12T23:36:00.001Z2010-01-12T23:36:25.341Z

So Monday was mostly about SharePoint and what we might do with it.  It was a freebie session with some consultants as the previous one hadn’t gone terribly well and we’d had words with the suppliers.  This one seemed more productive though. In the evening it was the first LGMC meet of the year; tonight was an intake evening though, so I was on camera duty alongside the voice tests.  After a bit

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-9416562481654800632010-01-10T21:38:00.001Z2010-01-10T21:38:48.740Z

The first week of the year was all about bad weather.  Work started quietly but picked up as the week went on.  Midweek there was more snow and a cold snap.  The trains were trashed.  On Thursday they weren’t even keeping to the reduced timetable and I gave up and worked from home.  Friday, I cycled in and it was a dream; the roads were all clear. Tuesday night we had a bit of a rude awakening;

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-31238571554882549362010-01-01T01:30:00.000Z2010-01-03T19:41:40.523Z

New Year’s Eve was a bit of a damp squib.  Brett was at work again and Rosie had managed to damage one of her teeth and had to go find an emergency dentist.   I watched the BBC’s retrospective on Not The Nine O’Clock News on iPlayer (great memories!) then headed into London. Spent a while wandering aimlessly around the South Bank before retiring to the foyer of the National Theatre where I drank

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-7805226678088824262009-12-30T23:59:00.000Z2009-12-31T01:24:02.601Z

The drive south could have been a nightmare; the traffic was heavy and very slow moving all the way down to Birmingham but Brett had volunteered for the first shift of driving, so I napped through it and took over as the traffic cleared.  There was plenty of fog along the way but London was fairly empty of traffic as we came through.  It took us seven hours in the end. Tuesday, we were home and

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-40631515860900307382009-12-28T13:11:00.001Z2009-12-28T13:11:26.788Z

Had dinner with Rod & Jess at the Wimbledon Wagamamas before we went to see Avatar.  Rod’s finally doing the job that he wanted and that they wanted him to do, but which they kept on not appointing him to because of HR cock-ups.  Jess has also got another inter-parliamentary job which sounds like it’s going to get her a pile more travel.  The flip-side however is that it’s probably put the kybosh

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-2875103145147914892009-12-23T15:12:00.001Z2009-12-23T15:12:24.691Z

Tuesday was my last day in the office before the new year and it went perfectly. I got some useful stuff done, finished off a couple off issues that have been dragging for a while and had enough time left over to give my desk a proper tidy and clean. The only downside was an increasing feeling of malaise accompanied by a chesty cough. By the end of the day I was sure I’d picked up another cold.

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-43576313943680441312009-12-21T22:57:00.001Z2009-12-21T22:57:29.909Z

Fairly quiet day today; the office is definitely winding-down for Christmas.  Did a bit of informal business planning ready for when the budget process kicks off in January, met up with our new Head of Finance to discuss our budget/spending and how the two teams (technology and finance) interact, which was all very productive. Did various home chores as well… the car has a slow puncture in one

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-86966653209946757422009-12-20T23:52:00.001Z2009-12-20T23:52:12.179Z

The lovely weekend actually started on Friday. Snow had been predicted and Mikey had suggested I take my camera up onto Hampstead Heath to get some Christmassy pictures. I arranged the morning off work (well, I told Rob that I wasn’t going to be in and he should call if anything came up!) and hopped on an early train into town. Both the train and the tubes were uncommonly empty – probably lots of

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-50338706415785815842009-09-19T23:14:00.001+01:002009-09-19T23:14:23.085+01:00

So the end of the week felt a bit hectic as there were lots of things waiting to be done when I got back from the seminars.  Most of it is mundane management but there is one issue that is an old problem coming back to haunt me.  It’s simmering at the moment; just remains to be seen whether it boils over or fades away.  Not sure how soon I’ll know either. Had rather hoped to spend today

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-47312342608293617702009-09-16T22:50:00.001+01:002009-09-16T22:50:02.883+01:00

It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster over the last twenty-four hours.  Yesterday evening Brett came home from a Chorus Membership meeting with the news that his new boss had messaged him to say “it wasn’t working out” and that he’d effectively been fired little more than a week after starting.  It seemed to be part of a pattern as he’d been employed with a two-week probationary period and, the day

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-53641914687924071802009-04-03T21:59:00.000+01:002009-04-04T11:51:34.044+01:00

Chris laid on another stupendous breakfast for us this morning.  Fruit salad, yoghurt, muffins, scrambled egg with smoked salmon, coffee and juices; all very tasty and set us up for the day.  The plan was just to go shopping today.  Chris was busy, so couldn’t accompany us, and Mark had meetings throughout the day but Chris jotted down a list of places we might want to visit and organised us a

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-8714951840559330322009-04-02T21:59:00.000+01:002009-04-04T11:47:22.015+01:00

So, after one final sunrise from the comfort of my bed, it was farewell to Kandalama this morning. On our way back to Colombo we took a detour via the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage.  After seeing the hotel’s elephant yesterday and then reading in the Lonely Planet guide last night that there had been complaints about the way the mahouts handle the elephants at Pinnawala, I was really in two minds

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-79507447496471124252009-04-01T17:03:00.001+01:002009-04-01T17:03:37.801+01:00

Sigiriya this morning.  We had the hotel phone ahead and they were more informative today; we could go to the top if we were accompanied by an official guide (the cynic in me imagines that requirement is because the official guides won’t have been earning while the site was closed…) It is an impressive sight and rather put me in mind of Lord of the Rings; an oval platform of rock, just thrusting

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-82640880413918063842009-03-31T19:29:00.000+01:002009-04-01T08:17:00.237+01:00

When I was a tour guide myself, I led a group to Cuba.  We stayed in fancy hotels were Cubans were allowed to work but not stay – not that they could have afforded them.  One morning, I received a strong complaint from one of my group about the hotel’s inadequacies because they didn’t have English Breakfast tea on the buffet. I was quite dumbfounded; there was perfectly good local tea available,

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-17224228909005323132009-03-30T19:29:00.000+01:002009-03-31T17:58:04.360+01:00

From Kandy we headed north again towards our next hotel, just outside Dambulla.  En route, we passed by the headquarters of the Special Forces Regiment and, in amongst the additional road-blocks we had to navigate, there were cotton trees all along the road opposite, dropping puffy little cotton balls on to the road.  It seemed incongruous somehow. Dambulla is known for its cave temple, created

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-11681473487166646752009-03-30T19:28:00.000+01:002009-03-31T17:50:23.323+01:00

Breakfasted on the terrace; all very pleasant.  The view was initially obscured by mist (smog?) but that slowly cleared as we ate.  We checked-out and met Maliq for a 9am run down into Kandy.  He’d stayed with his family rather than in the staff quarters; he didn’t say why, but I wandered at the quality of the spaces for the workers. We had decided to take a walk around central Kandy to get a

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-32439986711591794962009-03-29T19:29:00.000+01:002009-03-31T17:48:58.220+01:00

We were up even earlier this morning to walk one of Norwood’s trails.  They have several treks of varying lengths marked out through the plantation.  We picked the 8km one which Mark & Chris had run the previous morning. As we set off from the bungalow, the sun was just about to crest the mountains opposite, so we got some lovely early morning light on the tea bushes and trees as we walked.  The

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-5108872893386035752009-03-28T18:29:00.000Z2009-03-30T18:24:07.393+01:00

We had a late breakfast this morning, not eating until 8am.  It was a beautiful scene though; sitting at the table on the terrace I could look out over the lawns and the flower beds to the mountain vista just beyond the garden, all partially lit by the morning sun.  Breakfast was all cooked to order and was pretty much whatever we wanted; the fruit plate looked like an architectural concept model

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-41484860120018473662009-03-27T16:21:00.000Z2009-03-28T09:28:53.030Z

We left Galle early as the drive up to Tea Trails was expected to take us about six hours.  Rather than retracing our previous route through the centre of the island, Maliq took us up the coast road northwest back towards Colombo and later turned inland again. We stopped at a turtle hatchery on the way; set up some years ago to help conserve the several species of turtle existing in Sri Lanka

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-55472196619180348422009-03-26T13:17:00.000Z2009-03-26T13:32:00.109Z

After some discussion, Brett and I decided to have a quite day today. Ping went off with Maliq to explore Galle while we lazed.  Brett did some reading and I wandered round with my camera, capturing brochure shots… Brett had a massage, we both swam in the pool and watched the sun set over the ocean from the terrace.  This is pretty much the dream that Travel Agents promise you; long may it

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-23682633631216346892009-03-25T17:20:00.000Z2009-03-26T13:31:47.600Z

Having said our goodbyes to Mark and the staff of Kulu Safaris, we were reunited with Maliq for the drive down to Galle and our time by the beach. Our itinerary is not the most logical, as we’ll have to go back past Udawalawe to get to our next destination, Hatton, but the safari shuts down now for a fortnight for the Buddhist new year, so it had to be the first item on our itinerary or we would

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-51366438471516230992009-03-25T16:37:00.000Z2009-03-26T13:31:27.579Z

We were up at 5am again this morning for our final trip into the bush.  We did well again today with more elephant close-encounters, one of which was particularly photogenic, another of which involved a game of ‘chicken’ with a playful young bull.  There were also buffalo, pelicans, woodpeckers, eagles, monkeys and a peculiar black bee (that may have been a beetle) with diaphanous wings

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-50662873028220687512009-03-24T16:46:00.000Z2009-03-25T16:57:30.583Z

We were up before dawn at 5am this morning.  The humidity means that absolutely everything around camp is damp, but the temperature makes that not unpleasant.  The porcupine had been back during the night and been gnawing on Brett’s sandals, so we are going to be more careful what we leave out tonight. Mark brought us all coffee which was quickly supped and then we were on our way. Today was a

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-82599814521355765172009-03-23T16:13:00.000Z2009-03-25T16:57:08.251Z

The morning started early as we had a 7am departure organised.  Mark and Chris laid on true feast for breakfast; lots of fresh fruit, yoghurt, scrambled eggs with cheese and ham and home-baked pastries and muffins (I hate to think how early Chris was up to prepare them!) and plenty of coffee to perk us up.  It was a great way to start the day. We met our driver for the fortnight, Maliq, and set

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-8155168249061640782009-03-23T00:57:00.001Z2009-03-23T00:57:33.735Z

The onward flight was unremarkable.  We arrived at Colombo about half an hour early and were met at the gate by Mark.  We were first off our plane and our plane was about five minutes ahead of a packed Sri Lankan Airlines slight from London, so we were ahead of the crowd at Immigration.  Our luggage was amongst the first ones which came through.  All in all we managed to exit the terminal

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-5318004421471906982009-03-22T04:00:00.001Z2009-03-22T04:00:11.366Z

Apart from traffic delays on the way to Heathrow, the holiday  has started quite well; we flew Business Class with Qatar which made the overnight flight much more bearable, although the flight wasn’t long enough to really sleep well.  As they were serving breakfast we were able to watch the sunrise over the desert of Saudi Arabia which was quite lovely.  (Note to self; avoid Arab Meze Breakfast

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-68653492308296338272009-03-21T08:52:00.001Z2009-03-21T08:52:54.962Z

Well, after a mammoth catch-up on the last two weeks in the previous post, here begins the holiday blogging.  Yeay! We’re flying this evening, so we’ve just got a shedload of household chores and some packing to do and then we’re off to Sri Lanka for a fortnight. Rosie is house-sitting for us and providing us  with airport transfers.  Ping, who’s travelling with us, is meeting us there. In

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-22923420943662638632009-03-21T08:45:00.001Z2009-03-21T08:45:56.639Z

It’s been nearly two weeks since the last posting – I’m backsliding again! Then again, most of last week was pretty much the same as the week before, so you don’t really want to hear all that again, do you? Notable differences were going to see Radio 4 Stands Up (A Stand-Up Comedy programme) being recorded last Tuesday. Another trade show on Wednesday; this one about Unified Communications which

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-24049268259628663652009-03-08T23:12:00.002Z2009-03-08T23:20:55.533Z

Chorus on Monday was rehearsing at the Roundhouse. We were trying it out as an alternative rehearsal venue and we had four DMDs auditioning. It was a really nice venue, if a little monochromatic. Generally a good night apart, from Martin B having a real go at Mikey for our talking. He was quite threatening, so during break lots of words were had with Anthony and Sacha; Mikey and I may talk a

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-57468474151465647072009-03-01T23:30:00.001Z2009-03-01T23:38:25.383Z

And another week has gone by; this one just as crazy as the last. Monday, as ever, was Chorus; sectionals this week. Still doing the part new/part familiar repertoire. Tuesday I was up early to catch a train out to a supplier’s offices for a seminar on Software Asset Management. It was an interesting day but principally reassured me that we don’t have a need for that particular area of

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-3220668050508730482009-02-22T00:26:00.002Z2009-02-22T00:31:57.734Z

Monday; winter blues seemed dissipated. Work okay. Chorus okay too. Tuesday; good day at work, went talk to a man about a play and some photographs in the evening. Wednesday: Spent the morning doing market research and the afternoon doing my own research. Left work late as a result and then got delayed on the way home. Thursday: Was so-so. Friday: Lunched with Ping which was pleasant.

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-61831120947174371842009-02-14T23:59:00.000Z2009-02-15T10:11:00.984Z

It’s Valentine’s Day today, also Brett’s nephew John-Paul’s birthday. The trip to the Alhambra wasn’t as enjoyable as I’d hoped. Arriving early meant we missed the worst of the crowds as planned. We didn’t miss all the crowds however and I found myself continually frustrated as other tourists kept getting in the way of my lens. In fact, as a photography outing it was really disappointing; I

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-31244145748754176662009-02-13T23:59:00.001Z2009-02-15T10:11:42.631Z

Woke up at the usual time but before everyone else. Showered then breakfasted continental-style. The apartment is cold when the sun isn’t on it but there was plenty of hot water so the shower wasn’t unpleasant and the heater unit had warmed the lounge by the time I sat down to eat. After breakfast I grabbed my camera and wandered down to the beach. It’s a bit dirty, but not unusable and I was

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-14329758962154173192009-02-12T23:59:00.001Z2009-02-15T09:57:10.513Z

The journey out here was uneventful. We timed our departure so that we got to Heathrow in time for a coffee and twenty minutes relaxing, before heading to the gate just as they began boarding. The flight was fine – apart from the fact that Brett’s luggage wasn’t on board; the curse of Terminal Five clearly hasn’t been completely lifted. On arrival we picked up a very sporty Seat Leon from Avis

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-16358846937761346962009-02-09T23:12:00.002Z2009-02-09T23:15:31.490Z

Not a bad day today, although my early good intentions were whittled away by trivia that consumed a lot of the day. When I did look at that damned strategy paper, I only managed a few sentences before the pavlovian aversion took over and I found excuses to do other things. The weather has been heavy rain all day and because it was Chorus this evening I was on the train, resulting in damp

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-43895790229882248212009-02-08T23:58:00.000Z2009-02-09T00:43:54.001Z

Friday was a strange day. I started the day really not wanting to play; on the train into work I was contemplating whether to just phone in sick and spend the day messing around in the city. In the end I just took a slow stroll along the riverfront to the office, enjoying a mocha and Danish along the way and got on with it. The day turned out okay in the end – I got stuff done. Gavin brought

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-36303955056406399982009-02-05T23:13:00.002Z2009-02-05T23:18:11.633Z

Monday night didn’t freeze as hard as had been expected so there wasn’t much ice around on the roads and I cycled to work, not really wanting to risk reduced rail services and packed ice on the pavements. Everyone made it in okay. The only non-standard note in an otherwise mundane day was Mikey calling me up mid-afternoon to join him for a coffee. He was showing his friend Shlomi around London

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-8185975913609662642009-02-02T23:28:00.001Z2009-02-02T23:31:29.728Z

Well, after a heavy night and only four hours sleep, I was remarkably compos mentis on Sunday morning which was a pleasant surprise. Kosmic Karma was not to be outdone though as sobriety brought the realisation that I’d fired off random stream-of-consciousness emails to a couple of people whilst sobering up in the small hours; the email equivalent of drunk-dialling. It was nothing

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-67265539766157418912009-02-01T02:12:00.000Z2009-02-01T02:13:55.987Z

Today was a good day; late start, then spent a while clearing up the living room. Brett had left early to audition for Big Brother and I had my sister coming over for a portrait shoot. All went according to plan and had a good session with Rosie. I found I got more out of the low-key section than the high-key section, probably because high-key feels like it needs more energy and there just isn

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-8248820595438506692009-01-30T23:31:00.001Z2009-01-30T23:34:38.535Z

Wednesday was another tedious day at work. In the evening I was along at the Gay Photographers’ Network – at a new spot near Vauxhall, just fifteen minutes walk from work. It’s a lovely venue; an LGBT community centre with a café on the ground floor and lots of brightly-lit space downstairs. The group’s organiser Dave had brought his home studio kit along and set it up downstairs and persuaded

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-31668659451419816512009-01-28T01:08:00.001Z2009-01-28T01:11:56.214Z

Work on Monday was frustrating. Firstly I was meant to be meeting my boss at 3pm to go over the first draft of my budget and the notes I’d developed on the strategy paper I’m supposed to be writing. The budget is reasonably in hand but the strategy definitely isn’t, so I spent a lot of the day trying to knock my thoughts into some kind of coherent shape. I got to somewhere approaching

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-86627495770480364572009-01-25T22:30:00.001Z2009-01-25T22:33:09.524Z

I wonder sometimes whether it’s a wise policy to blog late at night. Is it just fatigue making me overly effusive or is it really my subconscious sneaking out to tell you things I would otherwise hold inside me? Well whatever the depression was last night, I seemed to mostly pull myself out of it today. Activity was the key; I realised I hadn’t done anything with the photography for a while,

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-63328448263184080032009-01-25T01:11:00.002Z2009-01-25T01:23:56.934Z

I had three things in the diary today. After a late start we headed to Greenwich for brunch (a very good one in the Organic Café opposite the Picture House!) before going on to watch Frost/Nixon. A compelling docu-drama that I’d not been able to get tickets for at the Film Festival last year. It’s well worth watching. I knew that the Nixon interviews made David Frost’s name, but I hadn’t

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-69301390514478161972009-01-22T22:29:00.002Z2009-01-22T22:35:03.822Z

In my diary at work, I have designated this as “Budget Week”. I’ve been doing the job for two years now and this is the first time I’ve really got down and dirty with my budget. Last year I was too busy with project work and left it mostly to the Finance department. Turns out that was a bad idea as they missed off a lot of overheads that we couldn’t avoid spending on and, as a result I am

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-27061468385377092009-01-20T09:29:00.000Z2009-01-20T09:28:28.027Z

Schadenfreude: The A2, stationary traffic along most of its length with me zipping in and out of it along bus lanes.   "I feel better now!" :o)

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-32210596114982821892009-01-20T08:04:00.001Z2009-01-20T08:05:42.899Z

Disillusioned with the world today. The news is full of the Coronation of King President Obama. It pushes to second spot the UN statement about the billions of dollars needed to rebuild Gaza. What do you think the chances are that Israel will be made to pay any of it? The collapse of the talks in Zimbabwe is even further down the list. And our major banks are on the verge of insolvency!

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-91579828418858535842009-01-18T23:25:00.000Z2009-01-18T23:26:34.224Z

Had a very enjoyable day. Mikey & Rosie came over for lunch. Bottles were brought. Bottles were consumed – along with a tasty steak and ale pie, fruit crumbles, a sizable piece of blue stilton and a fair number of After Eight mints and chocolate liqueurs. There was some movie watching too (A Few Good Men) and a walk in the park. Perhaps a little bit more self-indulgent than the usual Sunday,

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-59714233143219165992009-01-17T22:38:00.002Z2009-01-17T22:43:59.625Z

So Friday was all about Boston. As of today our company has formally acquired the Boston team. Lots of to-and-fro on Friday to get the last minute details in place and there will be more on Monday to make sure the transition is smooth and our new colleagues feel welcomed and included in the company. Oh, and I have to have the first draft of my budget ready to go by Friday. I could say it isn’

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-90340468007463447942009-01-16T07:52:00.001Z2009-01-16T07:56:10.366Z

Felt quite rough yesterday. Apparently Mikey had some ‘flu-like symptoms after the other night so I think I might have picked up a bit of that, but so far am surviving it without too much pathos. Had a reasonably productive day at work; another graduate lunch was the only remarkable event though and even that wasn’t as useful as the previous ones. Left work a bit early but had a reasonable, if

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-30259087376456292442009-01-14T19:27:00.001Z2009-01-14T19:27:51.483Z

It’s hard to believe it’s Wednesday already. Work has been mundane mostly; a bit of bother about email monitoring, all kinds of minutiae about the Boston acquisition, that kind of thing. Monday evening was the first Chorus rehearsal after Christmas. We were also doing an induction for new tenors, so I was on data-processing duty and taking their pictures. Because we were only after tenors

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-35800993160156354322009-01-11T23:36:00.002Z2009-01-11T23:42:43.654Z

It was a lazy day today and I was happy with that. John W came over after lunch to do some Chorus stuff and pick up copies of the photos I took at his wedding. Apart from that I spent most of the day alternating between reading (Bones, Rocks & Stars), surfing the web and watching a bit of TV (more of John Adams.) The news today seems to have been dominated (rightly) by Israel in Gaza and (

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-56534730118056553402009-01-10T23:49:00.003Z2009-01-11T09:39:27.500Z

Friday was a long day, a bit of internal politics erupted and resulted in me spending most the day researching legislation relating to email privacy alongside all the usual items on my to-do list. Today I had arranged with Rosie to help her bring some of the stuff back from her office (she is beginning the clear-out in advance of taking up her new job) so I took the opportunity of taking another

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-13428270008974173742009-01-08T22:34:00.001Z2009-01-08T22:44:41.279Z

The cycling is still going well. Another busy day at work. Problems with the other mail server this morning, plus an issue with the phones in Glasgow (thanks to the firewall again!). Lots going on with the imminent Boston Office too. Lunched with Rosie at the Riviera on Gabriel’s Wharf. She didn’t have a lot to report; working hard trying to tie-up all the loose ends before she leaves next

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-67839672902483496772009-01-06T23:14:00.002Z2009-01-06T23:17:13.508Z

The thing I forgot to note yesterday of course, was that I cycled into work for the first time in over a year. Despite a bitterly cold headwind driving sleet in my face, it was actually a fairly unremarkable ride – maybe I’m not as out of condition as I suspected. As I was out drinking last night, I rode home for the first time tonight. The climb out of New Cross was a bit more of a push than

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-81073032659451595312009-01-05T23:59:00.000Z2009-01-06T08:45:29.985Z

So it’s back to the grind. Work was back in full swing today, but none the more exciting for it. The day went smoothly enough though. No Chorus this evening but met up with Mikey for a drink. Ended up in The Lord Moon of The Mall again and had a pleasant evening polishing off a bottle of wine whilst bouncing rapidly from one topic of conversation to another. Came home and ran off a few

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-71896794976607339202009-01-04T23:11:00.001Z2009-01-04T23:16:40.841Z

Not much to report today. I’m reading an interesting book about how things are dated (the development of calendars, carbon-dating, that kind of thing) and Brett was mucking about on his Mac desktop getting ready to install a couple of extra hard disks. This evening we were over in Bermondsey for Eleventh Night/ Martin K’s 60th Birthday Party. I love his flat; it’s not a big space but it has

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-16500607385875059862009-01-03T18:47:00.000Z2009-01-03T18:51:16.847Z

We were wide awake at 7:30 this morning, so we got to Homebase and back and had the first coat of paint on the bathroom by about 10am. It looks pretty good actually. We’d planned a ride to Greenwich with Mikey but he cried off when I called him so Brett and I went on our own. It was a very pleasant little run. We lunched at Tae Won Mein and then lazed a bit at Costas before heading back. En

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-58393693654200585542009-01-02T23:29:00.002Z2009-01-02T23:32:45.673Z

A bit of a ‘stop-go’ day today. The office was very quiet as most people had taken the day off. Having idled away the morning, I had a meeting with Tim R (Operations Director at work) before lunch. We were doing some long-term thinking for IT and he asked a couple of questions that really kick-started some new thought processes. It was a long but productive meeting and helped round-out my

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-85827677630173502302009-01-01T23:59:00.001Z2009-01-02T00:23:00.436Z

Well, this afternoon we took a short trip out on our bikes; rode through the park to Ladywell and Lewisham and back. All was fairly smooth; the bike was like (to coin a phrase) a well-oiled machine and I didn’t forget I was wearing cleats and topple over at any point. I’m quite out of condition though, so will forgo commuting by bike tomorrow. Instead I’ll bike it in on Monday and (as I have

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-46840494206767686652009-01-01T13:51:00.003Z2009-01-02T10:43:36.693Z

I realised this morning that 2008 made it ten years since Simon died. I was so caught up in work around April that I didn’t even mark the day, let alone recognise that it’s been a decade without him. He was a good friend and the nearest thing I ever had to a brother and, while time may have dulled the sharpness of the pain, I still miss him deeply whenever I think of him. “He died on a

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-55669545914575883232009-01-01T11:40:00.000Z2009-01-01T11:41:03.352Z

Haven’t written much over the last couple of days because there hasn’t been a lot to say; Work has been quiet, I’ve mostly been pulling together information for our new Boston Office and pushing ideas around on bits of paper for the strategy paper I’m writing. Evenings have been quiet, sofa-based things. Actually that hasn’t been a problem because I’ve been fighting a cold most of the week, so

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-3707028354215453812009-01-01T11:36:00.001Z2009-01-01T11:40:07.792Z

So here we are; 2009. I’m not really inclined to make New Year’s Resolutions as these days the term seems to be a euphemism for ‘Never Going To Succeed’ in most peoples’ minds! The resolutions to do more with my photography and more cycling were made before the New Year anyway, so they don’t count. Looking back on last year’s January 1st entry, I was too preoccupied with being in Las Vegas to

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-25795664348187137952008-12-30T09:37:00.001Z2008-12-30T09:40:32.666Z

Monday didn’t turn out to be the disaster I’d feared. Rob had managed to get the email database restored to the point of last Monday evening’s backup, so only messages sent and received between then and when it failed on Tuesday were missing. In theory, because our email system is transaction-based, we should have been able to just replay the logs from that period and, hey presto!, everything

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-21892307083348269892008-12-28T21:48:00.002Z2008-12-28T21:53:31.727Z

Another late start and then fairly sharply on the train to town with the bikes. Had to drop them into Evans for a service. After that Brett went off to the gym and I headed off around town with my camera. It was supposed to be a day of relaxation but a conversation with Rob S on the train left me with a lot to worry about; the mail server problem which started last Tuesday had still not been

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-78213625215634797912008-12-27T23:59:00.000Z2008-12-28T00:28:11.787Z

Had an all-round good day today; we’d tentatively agreed with Rosie to spend a few hours in the National Portrait Gallery before going on to the matinee of La Cage aux Folles. I called up Ping and Mikey as I thought they may be interested in joining us. Ping was still feeling solitary after Christmas, but Mikey was up for it. When I’ve done the NPG exhibitions in the past, I’ve usually done

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-399187198307317242008-12-26T23:17:00.001Z2008-12-26T23:19:23.602Z

An unpressured day, but got more stuff done than yesterday. The morning was lazy, then Rosie headed off to watch a movie with Ruth & Chris. We declined as there was cleaning up to be done and I wanted to give my bike a once over to see what it needed doing. The cables need replacing but the chain and gearset were all in good order. I’ll see if Evans have a servicing slot open tomorrow before

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-1010176394577716992008-12-25T18:21:00.000Z2008-12-25T18:25:08.059Z

Well, we managed to have a relaxed and luxurious day without the excess that seems to exemplify Christmas these days. A lazy morning, Rosie arrived around 11. We cooked lunch (mostly from M&S); a lovely joint of beef with roast vegetables. There was a choice of dessert but we just had pecan pie, saving the pudding and mince pies for later. We watched Mamma Mia and then took a stroll around

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-83329162437740745632008-12-24T22:01:00.000Z2008-12-24T22:02:59.789Z

The commute this morning was very quiet. Looks like most people have taken Christmas Eve off. Ironically, as I chose my seat in the half-empty carriage, my MP3 was playing Another Hundred People (Just Got Off Of The Train) from Company. Work proved less relaxed. The mail server problem that began yesterday dragged on right the way through today and is still ongoing as I write. Luckily it’s

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-85928075540695246932008-12-23T23:20:00.001Z2008-12-23T23:22:25.107Z

After weeks of nothing much happening, the last two days seem to have been 'karma catchup' at work. Yesterday we had problems with a host server flagging a problem with one of its memory modules. We had to shut down a couple of key virtual servers to check and re-seat the unit. Then today a database became corrupt on one of our mail servers, taking out about 10% of the company’s mailboxes for

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-12822095684843711362008-12-21T18:17:00.001Z2008-12-21T18:19:31.831Z

And suddenly it’s all over. The LGMC Christmas season is done with for another year and I can get on with my life. Despite Friday night’s blues, I feel fine about it today; somehow the extra two shows were enough and I feel that I’ve had a good return on the investment of time and energy in the rehearsal process. Can’t be arsed to give a blow-by-blow critique of another two shows, so I’ll just

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-77823251298424050732008-12-19T23:54:00.002Z2008-12-20T08:12:32.400Z

I have the post-show blues already and we’ve only done number one of three. It’s probably just fatigue, which I had expected, but it’s still pretty miserable. Not sure what state I’ll be in tomorrow. The day started at work as usual. It was quiet as people mostly seemed to have had a good night at the company’s Christmas party the night before. [Brett and I had gone along after Selfridges

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-38859844627853959062008-12-18T07:26:00.000Z2008-12-18T07:27:05.533Z

Had a good day yesterday; started out feeling a bit rough (I keep gettingthe 'first onset of a cold' symptoms, but so far nothing has taken hold) butthat cleared up by the time I got to Selfridges.The gigs today were pretty much the same as yesterday except that in thelater ones we had a larger, more balanced group (more than one Tenor 1 was aresult!) and we included the a cappella Have Yourself

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-49622945668988611142008-12-16T20:43:00.002Z2008-12-16T20:52:53.565Z

An early start today; Rob is on leave today and tomorrow so I went in early to cover for him (and make it look like I was actually spending some time in work this week!) Nothing much happened. Around 11am I headed off to Selfridges to join the boys singing for their customers. I wasn’t on the schedule to sing today but I know that sometimes people don’t turn up for these things when they say

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-22494401590921677102008-12-16T07:28:00.001Z2008-12-16T07:29:33.893Z

For once, yesterday was an interesting day at work. I talked to our license suppliers first thing about our Microsoft agreement, which is coming up for renewal. In the afternoon I spent a while with some guys from Boston whose function we are in the process of acquiring. It’s the first time I’ve overseen a merger of one company into another so there are new challenges to be had out of the

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-55885223662667562132008-12-14T19:48:00.000Z2008-12-14T19:49:29.487Z

Friday ended on a sad note; the compulsory redundancies were announced at work and one of the secretaries who has been with the company forever was on the list. She seems fairly resigned to going but I expect it is a blow to her even if she was expecting it. She has always been close to the IT Team as she is great friends with Henri, who had brought in champagne and cakes to celebrate her

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-88179077830016302852008-12-12T17:53:00.001Z2008-12-12T17:55:48.459Z

Slightly more focussed day at work yesterday. My head seems to be settling down again. About bloody time! Got home to find that my studio kit had been delivered so set about testing it. All worked well, although the metal rods which give the softboxes their shape were each 1cm too long in one of the kits, so I had to get a hacksaw out before I could assemble it. Apart from that though, it

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-11050908536137964272008-12-10T23:59:00.003Z2008-12-28T00:07:46.292Z

Today seemed to be a day when nothing went according to plan. It wasn’t a particularly bad day; I just didn’t get to do any of the things I’d planned/wanted to do. Problems with the Glasgow phones following yesterday’s work on the London and Leeds firewalls occupied a fair portion. Mike G came to fill me in on what’s happening in the New York Office (it’s moving to Boston and growing) so

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-32279907525768572662008-12-09T23:25:00.003Z2008-12-09T23:35:10.287Z

Given that I only got about three hours sleep last night, today was remarkably alert. Still no sign of the missing mojo though. This evening after a large helping of Brett’s finest enchiladas and watching the first episode of Little Dorrit on iPlayer, I splashed some cash on studio equipment essentials. Expect to hear whoops of delight and childish glee on Thursday evening. (Repeat after me;

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-51846938831835747802008-12-09T03:36:00.004Z2008-12-09T03:44:02.407Z

It was the Pringles wot dunnit! I got back from rehearsal feeling peckish and dived into a tube of Pringles. Now I can’t get to sleep. Not sure whether it’s the sudden influx of sugars into my system or whatever E-numbers they use in the flavouring, but something is stopping me from slipping into sleep. Hence, here I am blogging at a ghastly hour of the morning when I need to be up for work

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-7098792647037539102008-12-07T22:45:00.000Z2008-12-07T22:46:36.643Z

The wedding yesterday was excellent. The weather was cold but clear and sunny, the ceremony was nicely brief and to the point. Afterwards there was a photo-call at a nearby Jacobean mansion which was lovely. Then we were on to lunch at a restaurant in Bexley which was better than most wedding breakfasts I’ve been to before. There were mercifully few speeches. By the time we were finished

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-85918029242027223572008-12-05T23:08:00.001Z2008-12-05T23:10:09.458Z

Am I up to it, do you think? For someone who claims to be so busy, to start blogging again in the run-up to Christmas – one of the busiest times of my year – seems to be hoping for a little much. But then, I was surfing past entries this afternoon, reliving past glories and thinking how much of it you forget unless you write it down; those inter-neuronal links atrophy if they’re not fired once

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-32552083694639914702008-07-27T23:59:00.000+01:002008-07-28T00:15:00.769+01:00

It’s been a sticky weekend. The flat seems to be a heat trap. It will be a bonus in the winter when it’s cold, but now it just means the house is stiflingly hot all day long. Yesterday we slept late and did house stuff; still trying to organise all the square-pegs into round holes. In the evening we had been invited to Chris P’s 40th birthday party, so we went in to the City early to catch

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-86388045935284760832008-07-25T22:59:00.001+01:002008-07-25T23:02:13.887+01:00

Well, it was a short week at work, but it was certainly eventful. The course I had been on for the first half of the week finished around 4pm on Wednesday and I had a couple of hours to kill before the company’s Summer Party so I took myself off to the nearby Tate Modern to see what was new in art. I must be getting old because pretty much everything I saw was dreadful (in my humble opinion, at

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-57475088694065992102008-07-21T23:17:00.001+01:002008-07-21T23:24:47.935+01:00

The Thursday night in La Garriga will stay with me for a long time. It’s a small provincial town with some lovely architecture and a small, neat auditorium where the chorus sang with a local male-voice choir who I swear did not have a member younger than 50. They were more tuneful than the ladies had been the previous night, despite clearly lacking any true top tenors. The memorable thing

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-46675461390508299952008-07-16T23:59:00.000+01:002008-07-17T16:01:51.632+01:00

Wednesday was another slow starting day. Nothing noteworthy until we got to our evening venue, Castellar del Vallés. There we were met by representatives of the ladies choir with whom we were sharing the show; a lovely bunch of ladies wearing shocking pink blouses which perfectly matched the pink polo shirts worn by a portion of our boys. A photo-frenzy developed once this was noticed. The

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-52754951233296545032008-07-15T23:59:00.000+01:002008-07-17T16:00:57.331+01:00

Monday and Tuesday were ‘free’ days; there was nothing scheduled as a group so people did their own thing. Brett and I had a long lie-in on the Monday morning, and then he sunbathed by the pool while I uploaded the previous day’s photographs to Facebook. Late afternoon we took a walk along the promenade towards town with a few of the other Chorus guys. We were trying to find an old town for a

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9500149.post-74012996042021923272008-07-13T23:59:00.000+01:002008-07-14T15:50:36.046+01:00

This morning was a welcome meeting for the group followed by a couple of rehearsals for the singers. I attended the welcome meeting to pick up my information pack, but ducked-out of the rehearsal; I was happy to wait until they performed it on stage to hear the Festival Anthem. Having some time on my hands also allowed me to upload yesterday’s blog entry and photos. After the rehearsal we

Liamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17992032099109290541noreply@blogger.com0