Dissipations

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

That was our last rehearsal at the New Horizons hall.  One more rehearsal at the McPherson on Friday, two shows on Saturday, and then it will all be done.  I can sense the end of the run approaching and, although there is a cast party on the Sunday after, oddly I am already anticipating the sense of loss that may accompany the closing.  And perhaps there are other reasons for anticipating a sense of loss when the show's glowing luminosity dissipates.  But by then spring will have proclaimed itself in full bloom, or nearly so, and training runs and rides in the sun and warmer weather will beckon me, and the transition from one focus to another will be seamless, I'm sure.

We have learned that ticket sales for the evening show are somewhat slower than originally thought, although the matinee looks better.  Typically, Victorians are last-minute show attendees, so we shall see how many more appear on the day. 

Sidney was such a success that it may be disappointing if the crowds are sparse on the last day.  There is much competition for performances of all kinds, and one can't realistically expect all the various and sundry performances to be always sold out, but nonetheless we won't know what the final tally is until the day.  Personally, I think the McPherson ticket prices are a tad steep, putting it out of the range of affordability for a large segment of our market, but obviously that isn't my call.  

There were a few antics during tonight's rehearsal, including some of my own, and at one point I had the chuckles with such ferocity that my spoken lines came only in fits and starts until I finally managed to compose myself.  Tom reminded us that when this happened last year, it brought down a notch the first of the Saturday shows, and we need to remain sharp.

______

O last night I dreamed of you, Johnny, my lover,
You'd the sun on one arm and the moon on the other,
The sea it was blue and the grass it was green,
Every star rattled a round tambourine;
Ten thousand miles deep in a pit there I lay:
But you frowned like thunder and you went away.

    -- Johnny, W.H. Auden

Iolanthe review

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Today, with no rehearsals or other commitments, it was nice to get out for almost an hour of running along a chilly and windswept, but sunny waterfront.  I stopped in briefly at the Oak Bay rec centre for 10 minutes on the rowing machine, some core exercises, and stretching.  Yesterday, I found myself on the bike again, this time only for about 40 minutes and felt reasonably strong, which is a sign that last week's sensation of good form on the bike was not a fluke.

Yesterday morning, CBC radio Victoria broadcast a review of our Sunday Iolanthe performance.  The theatrical reviewer (whose name, unfortunately, I've forgotten) provided some background for the operetta, noting that there are many features which remain relevant today, such as the references to our Commonwealth parliamentary/democratic institutions, the references to the legal profession, and one of the underlying themes that involves a battle of the sexes. 

The reviewer noted that the performance featured strong leads and mentioned us each by name.  After noting that Stephanie, the female en jenoux (sp? meaning romantic lead), is well known to the local theatre world, the reviewer then noted for me that, as the male en jenoux, I was a newcomer to the scene, looked and sounded good, but that I needed to move around on stage more.  That is not such a bad review - she could have said that I looked and sounded bad, but moved around on stage well!

Here also is a link to the web copy of the front page of the Peninsula News Review, on which Stephanie and I were shown.

http://web.bcnewsgroup.com/portals-code/list.cgi?cat=23&paper=24&id=859147

Tomorrow we will do a full run through rehearsal at the New Horizons hall, with a dress rehearsal on Friday.  It behooves me tonight to get a good night's sleep.

None of this or that

Monday, March 26, 2007

And all we can do is to accept the decisions of others graciously; to learn to give our love as freely as possible, to seek mutual understanding as much as we can, and to exalt and revere the experience of time shared when it is done.  

And so it is, amid the glamour and beautiful intensity of preparations and performances, another parting tempers the stars and shades the sun. If I were not so used to it by now, I might be stunned by its swiftness and precision - the surgeons' knife, we are told, is often kinder than the tourniquet.  And the surgeon's knife leaves no room for negotiations, no chance to suggest that, once it is done, oh but there is this, and there is that; but did you consider this, or reflect upon that.  Perhaps some would wish more of that from me: more protest, more struggle - more that I would move mountains and heaven and earth, to follow their journey set, if it did but mesh with mine.  It was ever thus.

But yesterday's performance was amazing, and my own performance was the best yet!  So nice to see Lorinda Crouch (John's wife) and her friends there, and more flowers for the vase.  When driving Scott home, we discovered Ben riding his bike after the show with a second one in tow.  His date, Cheryl, had to leave quickly afterward and so Ben kindly took her bike back for her!  We stopped and put it in the trunk of my car. 
...
Only later was the sun's halo hooked away.

Much ado

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Last night's performance went well, despite fears my voice was a bit on the fritz.  All the leads were sounding excellent, and I thought Scott Vannan was sounding particularly stellar in his role as Tolloler.  We could have used a full run through during the week, since the week inbetween performances did leave us all perhaps a tiny bit shaky in a couple of areas, but nonetheless it still went well, and the audience seemed to really enjoy it. 

Rachelle and Kim, run leaders with the clinic I am assisting with, were there with Crystal and her husband, from the last run clinic I was involved in, and I was welcomed with another bouquet of flowers, which was wonderful.   It was nice to see Mike Ellis there too.  Stephanie and I did indeed make the front cover of Friday's edition of the Peninsula News Review, with a photo from the dress rehearsal of the two of us during the first duet - really quite amazing to see ourselves there. 

Apparently a reviewer from CBC Victoria will be there for this afternoon's performance, and the review will be broadcast tomorrow morning at 8:15.   So - the pressure is on a bit for a really stellar performance this afternoon.  There are also going to be a few other friends in the audience - all very exciting. I ran this morning for 45 minutes, and now am setting down for a short nap before lunch.  Last week I waited until after the performance to run, although I think I should be ok with a run before this time.

Also, welcome, Ased, to the blogosphere:

http://nomad4running.blogspot.com/

How my alms give me some relief

Saturday, March 24, 2007

No, I am not Mother Theresa, nor was meant to be.  Ultimately selfish, I recognize it fully; lack the desire or capacity, or both, to offer much in the way of assistance to those who express a need for it.  Indeed, there are few, or none, among us as selfless as Mother Theresa, so I am in good company of those who are not her.  But nor am I entirely bereft of compassion or sympathy; not completely ignorant of the misfortunes of others.

So what of the gesture to give a coin or two to those who, for whatever reasons, may seek it from us?  Is that an act of real compassion and charity, or is it perpetuating and enabling the "negative lifestyle" choices these individuals make, such as their drug and alcohol addictions or their refusals, in whatever forms they come, to integrate into mainstream society?  This was the subject of a recent discussion in which I engaged, and the answers are not easy ones, if indeed there truly are answers.

For myself I am prepared to give money to some of those who may request it from me.  Generally I am not prepared to offer food, though I have done so in the past; further, I will never be prepared to offer shelter, although it has occurred to me to invite "street people" into my home for a meal and to hear from them a story or two, but have never quite summoned the resolve to do so.  And besides, why should I insult them - why should I believe they would find such a gesture as anything other than to insinuate that I presume to know what is good for them?

There are some, such as my counterpart in my recent discussion, who argue that to give money to a street person is to perpetuate the unhealthy living choices they have made - the worst of which is surely drug and alcohol addiction, they may say; that there are better ways to assist these people - even to offer them food is preferable to money, and, some may ask why don't more of us do that?  Perhaps to give money to a street person is not an altruistic act at all, and is primarily selfish in the first place: it eases our own discomfort or guilt, or it presents well in the eyes of colleagues and friends.

The argument that giving money enables addictions can be convincing, and on one hand I agree with it entirely.  But I begin with a series of questions: how do we know who has an addiction and who does not? Do we judge by the person's age, by the number of hand tremours we may count?  Are we certain beyond all doubt that every person to whom we give money is using it for drugs?  And then I ask: and if they do, and it provides them some temporary relief from their condition, then so what if they use it for drugs? Why should I presume to dictate what they ought to use their money for?  And on a broader scale, what are the conditions that we as a society have created that drive some people to "destructive" behaviours like drug addictions, and if we cannot prevent those conditions from arising then why should we presume to say "I cannot give you money because you are a drug addict"? 

And even broader still, why does the cultural paradigm in which we live imply that those who are addicts, mentally ill, ostracized, or otherwise have lifestyles which are devalued and deligitimized by mainstream society, ought not to be valued and legitimized?  In other words, why is it that we feel we ought to change street people, to mold them in the image of the majority, to determine how they can live in order to find "happiness" or respect?  

In my view there are no easy answers to these questions.  They strike at the root of how we have evolved as biological beings; how civilizations and cultures have evolved.  They force us to examine closely held culturally-specific beliefs; and force us to distinguish between biologically derived behaviours, and ones that are cultural fictions.

As I must attend another performance this evening in Sidney, I leave off for now - with questions only.   By the way, Iolanthe made the front page of the Peninsula News, I have heard - I am in the photo apparently!
____________

"I was in pain to consider the miserable condition of the old man; and now my alms, giving some relief, doth also ease me."  Thomas Hobbes

The framework for the structure

Thursday, March 22, 2007

An easy run this evening with Cliff was all the doctor ordered for me, since I'm feeling yet again like I'm cutting the edge between health and fighting some sort of bug again - yay!  For Cliff that was his second run of the day, after a crisp 45 minutes earlier.

I'm a bit worried about what shape my voice will be this weekend, but I can only but do my best at the moment to stay rested and to hope like heck the chords will be functioning well enough for a reasonable performance.

Yesterday was a mid-week rehearsal, where the focus was on some of the chorus parts. Chris Moss noted he thought the leads were giving it their all, while the chorus perhaps lagged a wee bit during the performances on the weekend. I don't envy some of the choreography the chorus must do.  My character, Strephon, fortunately can get away with relatively little dance choreography, and the directors have not given me much, knowing full well my limitations in that regard; but the chorus has quite a bit.  For me the key is to be sure I don't go on in to Saturday's performance too cold - it will be easy to let the guard down a bit, and we must be sure not to let that happen. 

______________

"Objective: to establish the framework for the structure and populate it with the information for the process and design strategy to target implementation."  

 -- fictional bureacracy-speak, based on real discussion, the likes of which I've heard much of lately.

The hand of humility

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Sometimes life seems to be going nearly too well, until the hand of humility rises up and slaps you across the face just to wake you up and test your ability to adapt and handle disappointment.  There are a few professional opportunities that have seemed within my grasp, but which have since appeared to slip right through, meaning it appears imminent I'll be returning to the Attorney General to my base position there as a paralegal with the constitutional/administrative law group. 

This comes after having been on a Temporary Assignment for over a year in a legislative analyst position that has been somewhat more lucrative than my position with the AG, and which seemed to hold the promise of longer term, similarly lucrative opportunities.  My TA expires March 31, and there are still some possibilities for me, but there are human resource issues I am facing and some ethical dilemmas that appear to me to be resolvable only by a commitment to remain with my base position for a while should I return to it.  This is all rather ironic after I turned down an offer a while ago for a longer term position that would have been similar in pay to what I'm earning now. 

In any event, I can spare the details of the delicate negotiations I must now undertake, but at least I still have a job, and a very interesting and rewarding job at that, for which I can be thankful - but we become used to the greater payscale, and we think we need it, and we certainly want it. 

The key in handling disappointment is in our attitude towards it - is it an opportunity to change something - an opportunity to upgrade our skills, or to alter some approach that isn't working for us?  Are we thankful for what good things we do have? And if we want to move in a different direction from where we find ourselves, what must we do to effect that change, and is the effort worth it to us? Ultimately, if we are unsatisfied, then we should recognize the effort will indeed be worth it.

In any event - some things to think about.  This is not yet the final word on my current professional status, but it is appearing more that way after I learned of certain decisions today. Should it become as it appears it will, I will consider more fully what things I must do (such as some additional schooling) to ensure I am better positioned for the types of positions I want to move into in the future. There is an imminent resource crunch both in government and generally, and I want to be well positioned to take advantage of the higher management positions that arise when they come.

Chorused nature

Monday, March 19, 2007

Yesterday's matinee went even better than opening night.  I felt more relaxed, was listening to the orchestra more for timing (although I watched Tom fairly closely on the "my lord of evidence" piece), paced my spoken lines yet a little more smoothly, got all my spoken lines and didn't miss any words in the first duet - a very good performance for me and by all.  We didn't get a standing ovation this time, but the audience, about 300 of the 320 capacity, obviously thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and again many encouraging compliments.  Apparently there was a small group of Peninsula Runners who came out to watch.  Next week, there are quite a number of friends/acquaintances planning to come, as will there be on closing night the following week, which is very exciting.

I'm uncertain what one week in between performances will do for us.  We do have a rehearsal on Wednesday, but it may seem somewhat forced after two full performances in front of an audience and a full dress performance, also with an audience, and we may not be motivated to give it much energy.  Even so, it will be a necessary rehearsal to ensure we don't become rusty in the meantime, vocally or in terms of our memory of things.

Today, I rode my bike for the first time since early January, when I rode it once. Prior to that I rode a bike in Cancun for a few hours one day, and prior to that I rode about four times in December.  So, given the paucity of saddle time I was fully anticipating the "square pedal" sensation and weakness, but was pleasantly surprised to discover a smooth pedal stroke almost immediately, and some good strength over 1hr 25 out the waterfront past Mt Doug, across the highway by Royal Oak and back in along Wilkinson and Interurban.  Obviously a race would not be advisable for me at this time, but I know now that I will acquire good fitness very quickly.  This is encouraging, since I have been worried I may be much farther behind than I might have hoped - but not so - I'm exactly where I would like to be given the circumstances.  I can hardly wait for some fast group rides. 

And on my ride today, I savoured the solitude.  A week of rehearsals and performances and social activity, left me feeling quite comfortable with the "bees, the breeze, the seas; the vales, the gales, the fountains, and the mountains...chorused nature," so Strephon says.

Yippee!

Sunday, March 18, 2007

What an amazing week this has been!  With Iolanthe rehearsals every day this week except Tuesday and opening night last night to about a ninety-percent-of-capacity audience at the Mary Winspear theater in Sidney (seating capacity about 320), it's been exhausting but incredibly exciting. 

Wednesday was our first rehearsal in the Mary Winspear theatre, and being in a new environment where the acoustics seemed muted and strange, things began to go awry right from the start.  It is a nice theater with standard sloped seating, but without people in the seats, there was no resonance, and I could barely hear the electric piano.  Althought that rehearsal was largely for the stage techs, it was nerve-wracking for me to discover how much the new environment threw me off. 

Fast adaptation was the key, and the rehearsals got better after that up to the full dress on Friday in front of the cast members of Oliver, another musical recently performed.  After each rehearsal, Tom, our music director, kept asking for a bit more out of all of us - more sustained energy from start to finish - dig deep.   And if there's something I've learned from many years of endurance sports, is how to dig deep when the going gets tough.

So after the full dress and by opening yesterday I knew I was ready. There was feedback all around that we were all ready.   And an amazing evening it was!  I knew the key for me was to nail my entrance song properly - get the first few lines out confidently and at proper tempo, and the entire show would fall into place.  I needed to block from mind the fact that there was an audience out front, and simply to become my character.  So, when Iolanthe said "nothing easier, for here he comes!" after her reunification with the fairies - my cue to enter - away it went. 

By the end, the only real glitches from me were a couple of words in the first duet where I simply sang vowel sounds (the words are easy to confuse in that part of the song); a bit fast on the "my lord of evidence", which has been troublesome for me - but which was a minor problem in the end; and a missed phrase in one of my spoken lines at the end of Act II, but which didn't alter the meaning, so that was also minor.  

All in all the whole performance was well-received, and about a third of the audience was standing at the end.  Many wonderful compliments were passed our way, and to top the grande evening off, Monique brought flowers for me at the reception!  My brother Harold, sister-in-law Nancy and their girls, Rachel and Emily also came from Nanaimo to watch. 

Apparently, today's matinee will be a full house! I did not sleep well last night, and apparently the second performance can potentially lag after a really solid opening, so it will be important to remain vigilant and focussed.

Only an easy run with the run clinic group yesterday.  I may run after the performance this afternoon, just to give me the luxury of going a bit harder -  if I went before the matinee, I would run easily only, and I'd like to go a bit harder today if possible.

Bazan Bay etc.

Sunday March 12, 2007

Under skies leaden with rain, the Bazan Bay 5km race went this morning, the day of a time change held three weeks earlier than it has in past years.  The time change seemed not to throw many people off, but made the morning seem especially early.  After the run yesterday with the run clinic, in which Heather (other run leader) left early, and in which I altered the run workout for the group somewhat by taking them through an easy run and a few strides in preparation for the race today, I sensed a certain heaviness in my legs.  Still I have felt that some of my recent workouts have been quite good, so I remained optimistic my time today would be a good one by my standards. 

When I crossed the line this morning at 16:39, a great time it was not, but not a complete disaster. Given the amount I slowed down in the last two km, it was a relief to learn I had actually gone under 16:40 (albeit, not by much!).  After 3km, my legs simply succumbed to a general feeling of weakness - a particular brand of weakness that I've learned accompanies cold/wet weather for me.  That is a convenient exuse, yes, but I do know historically my body does not function as well in cold/wet conditions - this has been true of virtually all my races - all of my best races have been in much warmer, dry weather.  On the other hand, I suppose my training has not really been sufficient to provide me the proper base of stamina to maintain a fast steady pace for anything much longer than about 2km.  There is some speed there, but not so much stamina. Nonetheless, the time was mildly disappointing, but easy to let go.

In any event, as for other matters: yesterday afternoon we did a first run through with the orchestra.  This was a rehearsal for the orchestra (13 pieces, members of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra), so Tom wasn't working too much with the singers.  If our timing was off, he was going to just keep the orchestra playing through.  Even so, it was a bit of shock for me to discover that with the tempo a tiny bit faster on my entrance song, it threw me off and I wasn't hitting it.  I also missed some of the timing on part of our first duet.  Stephanie couldn't make it yesterday, so Lheson stepped in to cover for the Phyllis parts.  Generally everyone else sounded good, and there will be some outstanding performances by the other principals.

Tomorrow Tom will be working on integrating the orchestra with us a little more closely, so hopefully we'll be able to iron out the problems (!).  It is certainly different singing to the orchestra, which I've never done before, and wasn't quite prepared for the change.  So, let's see what happens tomorrow. 

We also had a rehearsal this evening (with piano), which generally went well all around.  Chris said he thought my projection for all the dialogue was good.  Again, let's see how it comes together tomorrow in front of the orchestra.

Sleep.

Microcosms

Thursday, March 8, 2007

A jaunt down to Oak Bay for  2 X 1 mile resulted in a 5:17 for the first, and 5:09 for the second.  Since I'm running the Bazan Bay 5km on Sunday, I didn't want to do too much, and those efforts felt like plenty on the day.  I should note, however, that after warming down a bit with Hicham, who was there for a few shorter intervals, I hopped into the gym for 10 minutes on the rowing machine, 10 on the bike, and some core exercises.  I feel quite tired now as a result, but the two mile intervals felt relaxed without straining, and there was the feeling that I could sustain roughly that pace for 5km.  So, we'll see what happens on Sunday. 

With opening night only a bit more than a week away, I need to make sure I'm getting sufficient rest.  We also have a heavy schedule this week: rehearsal on Saturday with the orchestra, one on Monday with the orchestra, dress rehearsal on Wednesday, dress rehearsal next Fri (I think) and opening on Saturday.  Rather than become more nervous as it approaches, I feel myself becoming more confident. 

I know my first steps onto the stage will be nervous ones, despite mock playing the flageolet (recorder) while doing so. But once I start singing, then it's no holds barred and away we go.  And at the moment I feel as though there is a gentle breeze at my back; somehow it enters into my body and swirls through my centre, up through the caverns of my skull, down through all my appendages lightly, and then it calmly sweeps me forward.  The stage for those short hours will become a microsm of my life - it will be the story of my life, of Strephon's life, in a few short songs and uttered words.  Strephon, this is Hugh; Hugh, this is Strephon: let us unify on stage and become the story of our lives.

More progress

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

After getting a full night's sleep last night (thank goodness, as two nights like the previous one would not have been good), rehearsal this evening went well all around, and it's finally starting to look like a real performance for all of us.  There was good energy for everyone, though Tom remarked the Peers chorus was bit lacklustre on their entry.  For myself, I was happy with how my entrance song and the first duet went.  Tom said afterward that something went wrong with the duet that we hadn't done before, though he wasn't quite sure what it was, and neither I nor Stephanie could quite remember either.  In any event, it was probably the best we'd done it so far.
 
I missed the entrance of "my lord of evidence" which is my current nemesis - I'm no longer worried about the first duet, but I have to get the vocal entrances right on my bits in the finale of Act I - most are ok - there is a tempo change partway through it, and it never fails to throw me off, and at the moment I have a bit of a mental block over it  - not the end of the world if they're off a bit, but it'll put Tom in conniptions while conducting - I must get it right...will, I WILL get it right...

On the plus side, I remembered my spoken lines almost to a tee, with a small slip up in the last bit of dialogue on the reconciliation scene with Phyllis at the end.

There was a small additional audience of stage crew and others we'd never seen before, and Leah remarked how she thought I opened up to the audience - a good sign that I'll be comfortable in front of the audience.   For every person that was watching tonight, I imagined them flanked by others in seats, and all the seats full as far back as I could see. 

Yesterday was a music rehearsal only, but I felt better tonight than how things went last night, partly because last night I was dog-tired from a poor night's sleep the night before. 

As for running, today I did a 35min easy jaunt, and bumped into Bruce Deacon, who joined me for part of it.  Yesterday, I could only muster the desire to run indoors, despite it being a nice evening, and ran 30 minutes with 5 X 1 minutes at 3:00 pace on the treadmill, followed by 10 minutes of rowing that included two more 1min intervals at 1:39-1:40 pace, and 10 minutes of easy spinning. 

To bed.

Long dark night

Monday/Tuesday March 5/6 2007

The last time I was up at 3:00 am writing here, a few months ago, I seem to recollect summoning  the self-therapist, asking him why I was awake.  I do not propose to scroll through interminable days of blog entries to find that day, or that night, to review the format that I used, the dialogue that I set down, or even to determine if there was anything of value to emulate now. 

Before entering here, here on this webpage, I glanced briefly on my CBC homepage, observing headlines to the effect that Canada and Britain are participating in a Taliban offensive, and all I can think of is "yes, let's be complicit in killing more people, many of whom will be innocent, of that we can be certain." 

There is no response from the self-therapist that will assuage the sense of disgust this conjures up, except perhaps to present the argument that there is more depth to the story than the mere headline, that those involved must truly believe in the necessity of their actions; that there will be much rhetoric quoted in the content of the article to persuade us of the justice of their actions. 

Perhaps the self-therapist will present the argument on the coldest of statistical and scientific levels:  everything is begotten, born and dies, and the time for each varies according to the relative fitness of the individual to its landscape; a species in which mass killing occurs also has its place in evolution, serving as a form of negative feedback to population growth and restoring a species-wide and ecosystemic equilibrium - cleansing, as it were. 

Indeed, he may suggest, war is all about evolution, albeit it is cultural evolution: whatever the current prevailing cultural landscape may be, only those cultures best suited to the environment survive - war is a kind of thermostat that self-adjusts according to whatever the prevailing cultural mutation is at any given moment.  So, he may say, we need see war as neither good nor bad, neither progress nor moral destitution, only as an example of continuous change exacted through the widest angle scientific or philosophical lens.  

There are myriad angles to my response, tacking at propaganda and misrepresentation of facts; consider the toll in human suffering, the alternatives to this suffering that must be available.  Perhaps, says the self-therapist, when dealing with people with whom reasonable dialogue is impossible, there are no alternatives.  From whose perspective, I ask.  

But let me say no more, for as TS. Eliot's Prufrock asked, do I dare disturb the universe...how should I presume?  And besides, this is not at all the reason why I cannot sleep.  The explanation for this is currently mysterious, although there is the vague, but gradually building notion that another attempt is required before morning breaks and the world beckons me back.  My excursion to it done, dreams now call and into that land I return.  Gute nacht, if only for a few short hours.
______
"There is nothing either good or bad, but that which thinking makes it so."
    -- Shakespeare

Weekend round up

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Another weekend has come and gone, each now seeming to accelerate in rapid measure toward two weeks from now when we open at the Mary Winspear theater in Sidney.   The rehearsal this evening was perhaps 75% for the troupe - with only a small improvement over the last one on Wednesday.  I think it works well to do two rehearsals back to back, as we did last Tues and Wednesday, as too much time in between seems to pull everyone back a step.  Even so, there are small improvements happening all the time. 

It also seems that often when some things get fixed, other mistakes are made, not made the last time.  This time for example, I think my voice was not well warmed up and I sounded a bit weak, as in lacking volume and tone, on the first duet; and a bit flat on the part where I am kneeling, I was told.  As much as Stephanie says she dislikes that song for being a bit schmaltzy, I actually quite like it and, of all my parts in the performance, it is the one I most want to do very well.  I want to do all the parts well, but small imperfections that potentially could exist for the the rest don't bother me so much, but for the duet I want it to perfection.   That's why I was so excited the last time when Tom said it sounded great.  But it must have gone to my head or something, since it went back a step tonight.

On the other hand, my dialogue was the best it's been so far, I think.

Tom also reminded me not to be looking right at him for my entry on the "my lord of evidence" song.  It's a tricky entrance which I find difficult to get with the piano cue, and I seem often to count it wrong too. I think it'll be better with the orchestra, since I've practiced the cue quite a lot to a recorded version, and am more familiar with the orchestra cue for that, but we'll see - Tom prefers me to count it.   On the up side, the tempo was better on the second duet, Tom remarked.   Leah Moreau, our choreographer, noted that she thought overall I had good energy, am looking more relaxed on stage all the time, and that my choreagraphy was working for her, which she said not to stress out about too much. 

___________
This morning I ran with Ben for about 90 minutes at an easy pace, out along the Goose and to Swan Lake for three loops of around that, and back.   The run felt comfortable, although I did feel a bit tired.

Yesterday, after the run clinic - where we did a warmup and 15 minutes continuous of hills - I did 4 x 1km intervals.  The first, from km marker 10 through the a twisty part of the trail, I missed the km marker (I don't think there is one on that part of the trail) and so didn't get an accurate sense of my speed, but stopped at about 3:40, as I didn't want to make the intervals too long.   The next three were from the 8km-7km marker on the trail, which is apparently marked a bit long, and one on the 7km-6km marker, which is evidently a bit short; one final one on the 7km-8km (heading the other way). Times were: 3:14 on the long, 2:52 on the short, then 3:11 on the long.  On an accurately marked distance, I'm guessing times would have all been around 3:05, which would be quite fast for me.   I felt good and was able to really get my knees up and the stride long without overstriding.  Total distance on the day about 16km (including time with run clinic).

Later in the afternoon, Scott and I went over some stage movement exercises to help me get familiar with the concept of rhythmic movement - very helpful.

Ah choo

Thursday, March 1, 2007

At the moment I am quite fatigued, despite only a moderate workout that consisted of 5 X 2 minutes on the treadmill at 3:11-3:14 pace, and a total of 30minutes; followed by 15minutes on the rowing machine with one 45 second burst at 1:39-1:40 pace; finishing with 15 minutes of gentle spinning on the exercise bike, with a few core exercises and pushups to finish.  My arms feel heavy, more than anything.  After three fairly easy days this week, and feeling a bit like I'm the edge of fighting some sort of infection again, I did not want to do anything too crazy today. Fortunately it feels like I have whatever began to ail me under control, but perhaps a good night's sleep will make that a certainty.

Why don't I just retire to bed?
___________

The sneezer's song
(expressivo forte, fortissimo)

Millions of minions
Of little white cells
Scatter and batter
Armies of arteries,
Seeking and eating
Millions of minions
Of pages of phages
Picking and poking
Tumbling and tickling
My nose like a coat
Of millions of minions
Of little invaders
Captured and cast
Out as phlegm
And shot to the air!