It's the last posting date today!

For second class post, anyway. I'm sure you all knew that and have already sent all your cards. I haven't, but maybe I will before the end of the day.

There's been a lot of singing for me in the past week. Saturday was the day of the two Pleiades gigs (one in Bury for FC United, closely followed by one at the Henry Watson Music Library). There were complicated plans, not only because we only had an hour between the two gigs and had to get from Bury to Manchester in that time, but also because Alison couldn't make it to Bury (and possibly not to the library either) so we had Amy standing in for her. There was also a possibility that Claire wouldn't be able to make it to the library. And there was the fact that part of the Bury gig was outdoors, with no possibility of cover, which meant that if it rained we could probably still sing (if there was an umbrella to stop our music getting wet) but we wouldn't be able to use our guitarist for fear of wrecking his guitar. So I had several different set lists planned - two for Bury (a fair weather one and a rain one) and three for the library (one for if Claire could make it - that list included the ones with the highest sop parts), one for if either Claire OR Alison could make it (there was one song in which Claire's part was vital but not very high, so Alison could sing it if Claire wasn't there, because Amy was still singing Alison's part) and a third for if neither Claire nor Alison could make it.

As it turned out, of course - and I should have expected it, because something like this ALWAYS happens - all five lists had to be scrapped, because on the day Amy woke up with a sore throat and no voice. This meant that some songs had to be left out entirely, and most of the others involved a bit of part-swapping so that all the parts were still covered. But it wasn't as complicated as it might sound to rearrange everything, because I know all the arrangements inside out, so I actually had the new instructions finished before I changed buses in Rochdale. The Bury gig went very well (although it was almost as cold inside the clubhouse as it was outside - Bury FC had turned the heating off for some reason) and we managed to get to the library with ten minutes to spare. By then, there was a new problem - my revised library set list relied on Alison to get there, but she texted twenty minutes before our slot was due to start, to say that she was stuck in traffic in Altrincham. We could still do most of the songs by using the same voice allocations that we'd had in Bury, but there were a couple that had too many parts. They were both towards the end of the set, and as it turned out Alison got there JUST in time for them. In fact, the only thing that went even slightly wrong during the library set was that Nigel started "This Little Babe" at a speed of about crotchet = 3000, and he was concentrating so hard on playing the right chords at the right time that it was impossible to slow him down. We just about managed to keep up, but an accurate description of the lyrics would be "babbled", I think! Not to worry.

Sunday featured a totally different style of singing - I was helping out Susan Oates by singing in the Oldham Hulme Grammar School for Boys carol service. There were six of us forming the alto section, including my friend Lindsey, whose nephew Aidan turned out to be the treble soloist in Once in Royal David's City (and he did it very beautifully). Lindsey's normally a soprano, and she says she now understands why the altos tend to get things right - she hadn't realised that so many of our parts consist of the same note all the way through!

Wednesday was the piano rehearsal for the carol concerts, and it went well, although there was a bit of a surprise when we arrived to find that And the Glory of the Lord (from Messiah) was on the programme, and we were supposed to be rehearsing it that very night... but we hadn't been told it was on the programme, so none of us had brought our Messiah scores. This was actually really good, because the conductor decided it was worth rehearsing it anyway on the grounds that we probably knew it from memory - and it turned out we did! I think a lot of people were quite surprised at how much they knew, and how good it sounded - and the conductor seemed VERY impressed. I don't think there are many choirs that could have done that, with no warning!

This weekend includes an orchestral rehearsal plus three concerts, with the final concert being on Tuesday. I look forward to seeing whether the silliness matches the standards of previous years!

The first of this week's links is the Manchester Evening News story about Pat - make sure you "view gallery" to see all the pictures.

Judy Paskell had a lodger a few years ago - a singer called Ron Samm. She's kept in touch with him since, and on Saturday she went to see him take the lead role in Otello in Birmingham. I was sure she must have been mistaken when she told me that he was the first black singer to take the role in the UK, but she is absolutely correct. The reviews are great, but do get Judy to describe the experience to you if you get a chance - it sounds amazing. In the meantime, here's a Guardian review, and an extra report from Tom Service, and a Times review, and news (from Intermezzo) that there is to be a TV programme about it.

Talking of opera, I was very surprised to learn that Nikolaus Harnoncourt - one of the mainstays of the historically informed performance movement - has recorded Porgy and Bess. (No reason why he shouldn't - it just seems odd!)

And here's a great Spectator article about various modes of transport used within operas.

Also in the Spectator, Peter Phillips discusses whether or not there is still any need for the term early music.

Tom Service discusses baton sizes.

It seems that El Sistema (the Venezuelan music education system) has begun in England, but you'll be shocked - SHOCKED! - to hear that the organisers are worried about spending cuts.

I'm sure most of you knew this, but if not: While Shepherds Watched used to be sung to the tune of On Ilkley Moor.

I really like this Spectator article about how music can help dementia sufferers.

ChoralBlog has a post that includes a spoof video imagining what musicologists might be able to say about the Beatles in a thousand years' time. The video didn't do much for me, but I found Allen's accompanying comments very thought-provoking - what he says is obvious, but I hadn't ever considered it in quite that way before.

You are probably aware of the current chart battle for the Christmas number one single (if you haven't, the short version is that some people have started a campaign to prevent the X-Factor winner from being the Christmas number one, by urging people to buy a specific different single). Freaky Trigger has an interesting post discussing this.

I've often linked to The Big Picture. This week they've published a selection of 120 of their best photos of 2009. Part 1 is here, and there are links at the end to parts 2 and 3. Spectacular as ever.

The Guardian has a list of some of the new words that have emerged over the past decade. I've never heard of most of these! How about you?

BBC News has some interesting comparisons between British and American chocolate. (I hadn't realised there were ANY differences, but then I've only been to the USA once, and that was over ten years ago.)

I mentioned a London quiz a few posts ago - here are the answers.

I also mentioned "Brick Factor" Lego auditions - well, they had a winner.

It looks as if Manchester will get Oyster cards after all! Yay!

And finally, this report of the recent world pie-eating contest amused me a LOT.