Tuesday 30 November 2010

November retrospective video


The music for this month's video is Earth, by Imogen Heap, which I sang with her at the Royal Albert Hall on November 5.

30 November


I should have checked this photo more carefully before putting my camera away and considering photography done for the day - it seems I had some settings wrong on the camera.  Still, it captures the fact that mum and dad came for lunch at OUP today, and that I made them pose for a silly photo afterwards, at 13.55.

Monday 29 November 2010

29 November


A very nice evening round at Fran and Craig's house for delicious dinner, leftover wedding wine, and Catholic chat (hilarious Catholic chat, I should add).  Photo at 22.16.

28 November


We woke to excellent news from Brisbane, which was a great way to start the day.  We then rehearsed hard, and parts of our final run-through went so well that we were worried we'd peaked!  In the end, there were of course a few hiccups in the service but they were mainly logistical, and we sang some things really really well - particularly Poulenc and Dove.  That's why we're all looking pretty pleased with ourselves in this photo, taken by Clare after the service, at 18.10.

27 November


Jo and I are really spinning our birthday out this year!  Pete's birthday's coming up too, so there was lots of cake ahead of Betsy rehearsals today.  Thanks to Sarah for baking.  We're posing at 13.25.

26 November


It's Betsy weekend.  As is starting to become a(nother) Betsy tradition, I got the train up to Macclesfield after work to stay with Nat and Gareth.  Jo came too this time, and we all had a lovely dinner, during which I took this photo at 22.11.

25 November


Harry Potter day: here we are after the film, at 23.07.  I thought it was good but not great, but it's certainly set things up for what I expect to be a brilliant final installment of the series next year.

Thursday 25 November 2010

24 November


Rich took Leen and I for dinner on high table in Worcester college tonight which was, as always, a fantastic treat.  Lovely food, and very good wine.  Great company too, with loads of other people I know in for dinner.  Becky took this photo in the bar afterwards, at 22.56.

Earlier in the day, we launched a new website at work, and I'd love you to take a look.  It's called withink, and it's an ecommerce site selling customized business stationery.

23 November


Jubilate rehearsed in Keble chapel tonight, which will be the venue for our advent concert on December 11.  It's going to be a good one, so I hope you can make it.  Photo after the rehearsal, at 21.30.

Monday 22 November 2010

22 November


Jo passed her DPhil viva today!  Well done, Dr Jo.  Celebrations happened in Manos, where I got this photo at 21.22.

Sunday 21 November 2010

21 November


Breakfast at Lower Blackaton, at 10.24.  This was followed by a drive on Dartmoor and a pub lunch in Widecombe before heading back to Oxford.  I really enjoyed the weekend: thanks for John for organizing, and to everyone there for being fun.

20 November


Today's big excursion was a less-than-sensible but lots of fun walk on Dartmoor, with John in a totally unsuitable wheelchair.  Dragging him across a muddy moor was not easy, but we made it to the pub we were aiming for, and even the wheelchair survived.  Obviously, it was fun to leave John in a puddle and take a photo at 13.43.

19 November


This weekend, we're away celebrating John's birthday.  We're staying at Lower Blackaton, which is a lovely house on Dartmoor.  Photo at 23.38.

18 November


I was very tired after yesterday's late night, so failed to go to any of the gigs in Oxford that I'd hoped to see.  Instead, I took the last chance to see The Kids Are All Right at the UPP.  It's a fantastic film which I'd very highly recommend.  Definitely one of my favourites of the year so far.  I got this photo of the Christmas display in the Westgate centre when I was buying cookies for the cinema at 18.54.

17 November


Stornoway's biggest headline gig yet happened tonight at a sold-out Shepherd's Bush Empire.  They were brilliant, of course, and the show got some well-deserved great reviews.  I got this photo at 21.42.

16 November


My 30th birthday!  Mum and Dad came to Oxford, and took Leen and I out for a delicious birthday lunch at the Mole Inn in Toot Baldon.  Dad took this photo of me looking happy with various presents, cards, and my birthday ice cream scoop at 15.26.  In the evening, some friends came round to help me with some birthday wine and some excellent birthday cake (thanks Mum!).

Thank you to everyone who has helped me celebrate my birthday this year.  I had a great party, a lovely actual birthday, and some amazing presents.  I feel very lucky.

Tuesday 16 November 2010

15 November


This is a big yellow pipe ready to be planted underneath Walton Street.  I thought it looked a bit like a fairground ride, and very out of place, and colourful, so I took a photo of it at 19.47.

14 November


Not a very good photo, but I didn't take any of me watching the Formula 1, or evensong at New College, or dinner with Leen, so instead we have tonight's second-placed quiz team at the Gardeners' Arms pub quiz.  Photo taken by someone in the next team, at 21.30.

Sunday 14 November 2010

13 November


Leen and I went to see the choir of Merton college perform a concert of various Palestrina works and Vaughan Williams' G Minor Mass (which I sang with Jubilate in March).  They're a very good choir, and it's a wonderful building, so it added up to a great evening.  Photo during the interval, at 20.16.

Saturday 13 November 2010

12 November


It really is birthday season at the moment: Lydia and John today.  Lydia's in Paris, but we went to the Rusty Bicycle to celebrate with John.  He had an unfortunate accident this week, so is currently crippled.  He drew this illustrative storyboard to explain how he managed to break his kneecap, and I thought it worthy of recording.  Apologies for the language, but it must have hurt a lot!  Photo at 19.51.

11 November


Fun at the Duke of Cambridge for Becky's birthday tonight.  Photo at 21.16.

Wednesday 10 November 2010

10 November


One of the great things about having a Belgian girlfriend is, of course, the chocolate.  Leen's parents brought some over last week, and round at hers this evening I've been enjoying a few!  Photo at 20.22.

9 November


Choir practice tonight.  The date for your diaries for our Advent/Christmas concert is 11 December, and there are more details on the Jubilate website.  Photo at 21.30.

8 November


Bit dark for this photo, but you can still see just how happy I am with my birthday present!  Thank you very, very much to the person who bought it for me.  Taken by John at 20.28.

Monday 8 November 2010

7 November


Here are some fun people playing on the springy platforms in Waterlow Park at 12.38, after we had a much-needed fry-up in Diana's.  A nice day of recovery, and then second place in the quiz this evening and another amazing birthday present.  It's been a fantastic weekend all round.

Sunday 7 November 2010

6 November


Jo and I had the best birthday party ever tonight.  We're not actually 30 for another 10 days, but that didn't stop us!  Thank you so much to everyone who came and helped us have such a wonderful time: I hope you enjoyed it too.  Photo at 23.37, and lots more on Facebook.

Saturday 6 November 2010

5 November


Today was a very unusual day, and a real treat.  A couple of weeks ago, Anni emailed me to say that she was singing in the choir for a new composition by Imogen Heap, and that they needed more basses.  I didn't have to think about that for long!  So today I was at the Royal Albert Hall to rehearse, and then perform this evening Imogen's new work, Love The Earth to a sell-out crowd, as well as an arrangement of Earth.  The second part of the evening was Imogen's normal set with her band, during which I took this photo at 22.12.  I'm feeling very lucky this evening!

Friday 5 November 2010

4 November


Stornoway played their homecoming gig of their current tour tonight, at Brookes University Student Union.  Apparently it will be the last gig ever there, as the building is closing down, which is a shame.  It was a fantastic show, including a magical, completely unplugged performance of End of the Movie, and a first chance in a long time to see them do Beachcomber's Windowsill.  Photo at 21.40.

3 November


A lovely dinner at Jamie's Italian this evening with Leen's parents and their friends.  Great food and good company, and even a gift from Temse!  Photo after dinner, at 21.37.

2 November


I should have taken this photo yesterday, when there were more leaves on the tree and it was sunny.  Francesca did, and has some beautiful photos on Facebook.  Anyway, this is better than nothing, and better than another photo of a choir rehearsal!  Taken at 15.27.

Tuesday 2 November 2010

1 November


This evening I went to Mark's studio to be guest co-presenter on his monthly Eclectronimentica podcast.  It was really fun to waffle on about the music that he'd chosen (some of which was appalling) and the music I'd chosen (which was great).  His podcast is well worth checking out, and can be streamed online at http://eclectronimentica.podomatic.com/ or via iTunes.  My voice sounds weird to me, but I suppose I don't hear it very often.

I forgot to take a photo while we were recording, so here's a photo of some of his many exciting toys, taken after we'd finished, at 19.19.