The iPod nano and the Rehydrated Alien...

I hope you have all had a lovely Christmas and are enjoying the lull before the New Year festivities get under way.
We have had a great time and enjoyed a relaxing break, spending time with the family, and playing with all the new toys that have accumulated around the house.
Son number one is now the proud owner of an iPod nano, and I must say that I have been delighted with his choice of music.

As you would expect he has added the soundtrack for 'Doctor Who' and 'The Simpsons Movie', but, there are also many fantastic tracks, that I'm proud to say he has chosen.
The artists are diverse, Aretha Franklin, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Cecilia Bartoli, Genesis, Green day, Santana, Tower of Power, Van Morrison and John Rutter, to name a few.
But I happened to notice one piece that has found its way on to the iPod, much to son's amusement, John Cooper Clarke, 'Evidently Chickentown', which, whilst not particularly suitable for a boy of 10, (although it is the cut version) it is an incredible poetic accomplishment.

Today alone he has requested 'Walton: Crown Imperial', oh, and of course, not only his Dad's 'Virtuoso', but, also his 'Concerto Primavera', but then it was composed for him.

We have also been enjoying a very generous gift of a voucher for iTunes. So far, Flora Purim has made her way to our collection, and we are enjoying the sound immensely.

Whilst we listen to 'the beats' as son number one now refers to his music..., I can also report that son number two received a triangle, which he did request on his Christmas list, and is now practicing daily...for lengthy periods.....

But now, I have to rehydrate an alien that we are currently growing in a test tube, another Christmas gift....

A Sting in the Tale

I have had no news yet whether the suitcase arrived in time although I suspect that it didn't. I'll update you as and when I can.
Meanwhile, at home, I was pleased to read an article by Amy Iggulden on the Classical Brit Awards. Sir Paul McCartney and Sting have both been nominated for an award in the best album category. I'm sure that this 'classical crossover' can only help introduce new fans to the whole area. So good luck to them both!
There has been so much happening here over the last few days, that I didn't have the chance to tell you about an evening out we had, prior to Robin's latest trip.
It was the Spring Concert at son number ones school. It is a chance for many of the children to demonstrate their musical skills, with many solo performances, on a variety of instruments. The guitar was well represented, and the drums seemed very popular this year...
However there were two highlights for me.
The first, was the recorder group, 'Mary Poppins Medley'. It wasn't so much that 'proud parent' moment, as the antics on stage. As they progressed through the piece one boy started gyrating, completely out of time, and I was trying to remind myself that he was only 10. They all kept playing, right through to the end, although there was quite a lot of smirking going on, which isn't easy when you are playing the recorder.
I found out later that son number one had spotted a wasp crawling up the trouser leg of this unfortunate boy. He had a dilemma. Did he try and knock it out of the way, or could this have been seen as an unprovoked attack, culminating in a very public battle, which wouldn't have gone down well with the Headmaster.
He chose to wait and see what happened. Consequently, the poor boy was trying to shake the wasp out from his trouser leg whilst continuing to perform. All credit to him, not a wrong note was played!
The second highlight was the upper school choir singing 'All Things Bright and Beautiful', arranged by John Rutter.
The arrangement was fantastic and it was beautifully delivered. We were so impressed at the quality, and amount of work that must have gone into training these 9/10 year olds, that we sent a card in to the music teacher the next day. Unfortunately son number one forgot to give it to her. Oh well, I'll tell her next term.