"The mood is right... The spirit's up... We're here tonight... And that's enough!"

I imagine I'm not the only one who's already rehearsing Christmas stuff. My band is taking part in the Henry Watson music library's Christmas Music Day on 15th December, so it's sleigh bells all the way till then! Last week I did a new a cappella arrangement of "Wonderful Christmas Time" (which is where the title of this comes from). I'd planned to save a bit of time by adapting parts of the Youth Choir arrangement that we all enjoyed so much (I bet I'm not the only one who surreptitiously photocopied it!) but then I realised that it omitted some of my favourite bits (like the intro!) so I started from scratch. I was delighted to find that it worked perfectly first time, although I'm not sure whether or not we'll include it at the Henry Watson. But I've had it on the brain ever since.

Sorry for the gap in posting. Since I can no longer write about the most entertaining aspect of choir rehearsals, it's hard to get motivated to write at all. But I seem to have accumulated a few links to share, so here you are!

I've just updated my online choir schedule to reflect recent changes. There are several football fixture changes too, for those who like to know about such things. I'm unimpressed that I can't go to any of United's home games in November - 7th and 27th clash with choir, and the game on 10th (which I could have gone to) has now been moved to 11th (when I can't). Argh. Although, I suppose it balances out, because they've also moved a game from 1st December (when I couldn't go) to 3rd (when I can). And I was alarmed to find they'd moved one from 22nd December (which was easy) to 23rd (which is a day featuring 2 concerts). But it's a 12 noon kickoff, so I reckoned I could still go to that *and* make the 3pm concert, if I could get from my seat at Old Trafford to the Bridgewater Hall in less than an hour. I knew it'd be more or less impossible by tram or bus or car (if I had one) so it came down to whether or not I could walk it in that time. So I tried yesterday. The players left the pitch (and I left my seat) at 4.55pm, and I reached the Hall at 5.40. Easy!

I had a couple of unexpected emails this week. The first says "Hi - is the expression 'Halle racket' anything to do with the choir?" to which I replied "Not as far as I know - I have to admit I've never heard the expression, and I've been in the choir for 14 years! I'll ask around though. Where did you hear this expression?" and received the response "It is a very common expression used to describe a great noise, in a respectful way. I was told many years ago that it came from either the Halle Choir or the Halle Orchestra." ... Is it just me that's NEVER heard this expression? I googled it and found nothing. I also asked a few people, and none of them had ever heard of it either. We did wonder whether she'd got it muddled with "hell of a racket".... any other suggestions?

Other unexpected email, which I can only imagine he intended me to mention here (although he didn't say so): "I'm contacting you regarding our forthcoming BBC1 Saturday night primetime television series 'The Ultimate Tribute' - hosted by Graham Norton. We are looking for singers for this new talent show, who think they have what it takes to be transformed into a successful tribute artist for a number of musical icons. And the stakes are high - with a performance contract in Las Vegas for the winner! Auditions will be held around the country from November 2nd 2007. We are looking for both amateur and professional performers around the country - so anyone who may feel that they have a talent can apply to come along and audition. There's not long until auditions, so people who are interested must get in touch soon! Deadline for applications is midnight on Thursday 1st November 2007. More information can be found here. Should you have any further queries, you can contact me on: 020 8222 4786." (I should add, for people who like this sort of thing, that you can also audition for Big Brother soon...)

And one more thing I've been meaning to mention for ages: I heard on the Guardian Unlimited Football Weekly podcast (which I highly recommend to any footy fans) that the Spanish word "cantar" not only means "to sing" (as you'd expect) but also "to make a goalkeeping error". So a few weeks ago, they said, there were lots of headlines in Spain comparing a certain goalie to Pavarotti, because he had a nightmare of a game. However, I can't find anything to back this up - can any of you confirm or deny?

So, finally, those links I promised.

The BBC Phil did The Planets without us! I'm unimpressed. I wonder if we were even asked? We could easily have squeezed it in.

For Harry Potter fans: the Leaky Cauldron has a page where they're summarising all the info released by J.K. Rowling since book 7 came out. They're a little bit behind but they're always very industrious so I'm sure they'll get caught up soon.

Here's a link to a YouTube video that the Guardian blog called the greatest of all time. See if you agree.

Recently I discovered the existence of a company called Big Wilf's Bell Muffles (Big Wilf himself emailed me at work). I found the FAQ - and, in fact, the very existence of the company - totally fascinating! Do have a read.

Also work-related: I discovered an online British Sign Language dictionary (with videos). (It works on mobile phones too.) From this, I discovered the sign for "sing", which amused me greatly!

FreeRice is a vocabulary game (for a good cause) that's far too addictive. Hint: don't waste time, like I did, trying to get higher than a vocab level of 50 - you can't!

We're getting a new Santa on top of the Town Hall this year. About time... although it's never been quite the same since we had the old Santa climbing up the tower and his reindeer on the roof, in my opinion.

Have any of you noticed the huge poster on the side of the Palace Theatre and exclaimed "That CAN'T be David Essex!" Well, apparently there is some discussion going on about how large he is, too...

Kent Nagano's been upsetting his choir in Canada. I can just imagine it - "If only you were as good as that choir I used to work with in Manchester!"

And finally, I'm sure that we all wish Russell Watson a speedy recovery.