"I wouldn't insure you!"

Jamie started tonight's rehearsal by torturing us physically. He was unimpressed with our bodily flexibility, hence the quote in the title. There was the evil exercise where you put (and keep) the palms of your hands together and stretch in various directions; tonight this was followed up with an even more sadistic one which involved putting our elbows AND palms together and then stretching. Oh, the pain! I still ache now.

I really didn't enjoy tonight's rehearsal very much - not because of the pain at the start, but for all sorts of other reasons. It was the piano rehearsal for Messiah, with Nicholas Kraemer (NOT "Nick", as he pointed out when Jamie called him that). He was fine, but he made us stand up for a large proportion of the time, and I couldn't see him at all when we were standing, as all the people in front of me were taller. And my aching shoulders ached even more as a result of trying to stand in twisted positions so I could follow the beat. Add to that the fact that my feet, which had just about recovered from Saturday, were soon aching again; and also the fact that Mr Kraemer spoke fairly quietly, so that I couldn't hear what he was saying unless (a) he happened to be facing towards me, and (b) no-one was coughing. (Luckily there wasn't a lot of talking in the altos tonight, thank goodness.) Given all these factors, and the fact that I've had very little sleep this week, AND the fact that I had to miss a United match to be there tonight, I think my foul mood is excusable! And don't get me started on the people near me who seemed unable to sing quieter than mf...

Anyway, I wasn't going to post because I had nothing to say other than to whinge, but a couple of people told me they were disappointed that I keep not blogging till the weekend, so I thought I'd make the effort and at least share a couple of links! Firstly, I'd like to point out that my online choir schedule (link deliberately not given; email me if you don't have it) is still online, as it has been for years, and it does include football fixtures, which I don't think the official one does. (I have offered to supply the info, but haven't been taken up on this.)

(In case non-choir people are wondering why on earth the football fixtures need to be on a choir schedule, it's because of the traffic - if United are at home, people have to allow more time for their journey.)

Only two more things. If you're interested in the Mike Golding/Alex Thomson sailing drama that I mentioned last time, you might like this blog post written by Mike Golding shortly after everything happened. (Mike and Alex are still making their way - slowly, in a badly handicapped boat - to Cape Town.)

And finally - on the day of our last carol concert, it seems there'll be a very large pillow fight in Albert Square that afternoon :p