What�s snew?

As if we hadn�t already had enough, we got more snow last night. This in itself would not necessarily be a bad thing; it makes work for the snowplow operators and gives the little children a handy and free form of entertainment. But why does it have to fall on a Friday evening when we have a concert at the music department, a concert being recorded by the Soci�t� Radio-Canada (the technicians risking life and limb to drive here from Montreal), and no audience due to bad road conditions? The hall was only half full, the patrons all choosing to sit on the side where they could get a good view of the pianist�s flashing fingers. Only a handful of people sat on the other side, those who couldn�t find seats in the �preferred� half.

The pianist was very good, but did have some technical difficulties at one point. Here�s what our brochure said about him: �One of Sh�brooke�s own, Jimmy Bri�re has moved onto the world stage after completing his studies at Indiana University. Winner of several piano competitions (Hong Kong, Porto in Portugal), Bri�re will present a dazzling programme of piano virtuosity, with works of Haydn, Ravel, Liszt, and Rachmaninoff, and two superb contemporary studies for the instrument, by American John Corigliano, and Canadian Marc-Andr� Hamelin.� He substituted a Bartok piece for the Ravel, and had the technical difficulties in the Hamelin, a prelude and fugue. He started the fugue too fast, his fingers got tied up in knots, and he stopped, turned to the audience, and said, �I�m going to start over.� He did, and it was fantastic. The Corigliano piece dated from 1976, five studies running attacca, and was really very fine. He�s a young fellow, and Hubby was calculating that when we first moved to the area would have been 12 years old. Now he�s all growed up!

An interesting aside, a couple who have not been all that nice to me in the past sat near us, and I actually had a conversation with the wife. We stayed on �safe� topics, namely the weather and driving long distances, but that was a nice thaw in our relationship. She even said goodbye to me before they left, which she hasn�t done in months now.

By the way, I�ve joined my first diaryring. I am now a grammarbitch, as you can see by the link at the bottom of my page. I considered all the possibilities (there are diaryrings for Canadians, Quebeckers, musicians, singers [who technically speaking are not musicians, go figure that one out], vegetarians, non-smokers, people with toenail fungus, and incorrigible nosepickers) and decided that this most reflected my on-line character. If anyone feels like starting a diaryring for people who cry when they hear bagpipes, I�ll join that one like a shot.

|

<~~~ * ~~~>