gothams3rdrobin (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gothams3rdrobin) wrote2009-04-22 07:01 pm
gothams3rdrobin) wrote2009-04-22 07:01 pm
Oh my god I am so TIRED!!!!
Today was the annual Staff General Meeting at work. As some of you may recall, I've been taking part in a singing group at work and our first goal (aside from the brief gig we did at the Winter Wonderland at Christmas) was to perform a few songs at the start of it, while people were finding their seats.
We've been rehearsing like mad; it started off fortnightly, but it's gone weekly over the last month or so and last week we met on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. (I wasn't at all three myself, but that's by-the-by.) We had another rehearsal yesterday, and then today was when we got to show everyone what we'd been working on.
Of course, if you were walking past The Friary during rehearsals, you couldn't help but hear us! *grins*
Now, the staff in Cardiff and Swansea get split in half, with one lot from both buildings attending the morning SGM at the Grand Theatre in Swansea, and the other half go to St David's Hall here in Cardiff in the afternoon. Which meant we had to get down to Swansea ourselves, with enough time to warm up, do the soundchecks and whatever.
Our coach was collecting us at 7.15 am....
This, of course, presented me with a problem as I had to get Rowan to school for 8.55. Mam was working in Swansea herself today, having to get an 8am train, so she couldn't help me. I asked George and Andrea, the musical directors, if they had any suggestions and Andrea suggested I arrange for Rowan to sleep over at a friend's house, as that's what she would have had to go with her eight year old son if his Dad hadn't been able to look after him. Rowan's never had a sleepover before, and I've been nervous about the idea, but I thought it was worth a shot; Tuesday evenings is when he goes to football with his friend Isaac, whom he's known since they were eighteen months old and there've been many occasions when Isaac's visited us for the day or Rowan's gone to play with him. So, while I'd never take it for granted, the odds were in my favour that Isaac's parents would be willing to help me out. Thankfully they were, so I took him to school on Tuesday morning with a packed back. Still went with him to football, but then Jen dropped me home before continuing on with all three kids in the back...I didn't envy her, but apparently it went pretty smoothly.
That tends to happen, mind, when Rowan's visiting friends houses. He only acts up when he's with me, his grandparents or his godparents. Maybe it's because he feels more relaxed in our company? :-p
Anyway, this meant that I could go to bed when I was ready, rather than wait for him to go to sleep first, as I had to get up at five! That, for me, is totally unnatural - I don't know how my Dad does it, day in and day out. Had a really hard time falling asleep; couldn't get comfortable and my brain wouldn't shut down. Ended up setting my TV to turn itself off after an hour, and put ESPN America on - Pardon The Interruption was on, so I drifted off to sleep to the dulcet tones of Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon *chuckles*
Managed to drag myself out of bed at around five past five the next morning and got through the morning routine of breakfast and shower okay. I'd ironed my smart black trousers on Monday evening while I was sorting Rowan's bag out, and I'd run round the clothes shops in town last night looking for a plain black top so that didn't need ironing either. I was amazed to realise that I didn't own anything that was plain black.... managed to find a decent, long-sleeved top in Next for seven quid though, so all's good.
Managed to get myself out to the bus stop in plenty of time - there's very few buses running that time of the morning. My colleague Suzi had told me she was going to be on the 6.10 am bus from her place, and she's on the same bus route as me so I aimed to leave the house just as she would have been getting aboard. We had a nice chat on the way in to town, and she had a quick listen to the practise MP3s on my player - us Altos have been having a bit of a struggle with the harmonies, as we still haven't quite got the hang of keeping hold of our note despite the overpowering sound coming from the guys and the soprano females. We had just about enough time to grab some hot chocolate from Starbucks before meeting the others outside the office. The coach was there nice and early, but there were a few stragglers - and one poor woman missed the bus entirely 'cause her car broke down on the way in - so we were a little late setting off.
We spent the vast majority of the ride from Cardiff to Swansea warming up and practising the songs. Still made the odd mistake - some of them rather schoolboy errors - but we are getting better every time. I quite like travelling by coach or train - spotted the Swansea warehouse for Amazon.co.uk this time out, at Amazon Park no less! *laughs* I really wish they'd chosen to come to Cardiff instead - would definitely have applied to work there.
The acoustics in the Swansea Grand are pretty good, from the performers perspective as well as the audience. I was able to hear my fellow Altos quite well and I think that helped a lot. Our set got cut in half though, as they were determined to start the regular programme on time - Andrea looked pretty frustrated with that. So were we, really, but everyone was happy at not having to do Outkast's 'Hey Ya' - we really struggle with the harmonies in the chorus. We went straight into our rendition of Queen's 'Somebody To Love', which got a very good reception, then finished with our Welsh Medley of 'Diamonds Are Forever' by Shirley Bassey, 'What's New, Pussycat?' by Tom Jones, 'Mercy' by Duffy and 'Have A Nice Day' as covered by The Stereophonics. I really enjoy that medley as, once you get past 'Diamonds' - which is still fun - it's pretty smooth sailing for the altos :-)
We were in Swansea for about ten minutes before we got back on the coach! :-p We got back to Cardiff just after 10am and had to go straight in to work - Suzi and I nipped up to the canteen first as we were starving and there would be no opportunity for lunch since we were sound-checking at St David's Hall at noon. I have no idea at this point how my productivity was for today, but to be honest I don't care! There was no way my head was going to be in the game today - not with a 7am start!
I've sung in St David's Hall several times as a kid/young teenager, but this was the first time I was actually on the stage itself since we were previously in the choir stalls to the rear. George was right when she said that the acoustics in there were shit from the performers perspective! We ended up dropping 'Hey Ya' entirely as we just could not get in tune. Mind you, we were all starting to flag a little by this time anyway, as it had been a very hectic morning.
The SGM's organisers made us wait till almost all the staff were seated - the Hall's massive compared to the Grand - so we were stood on the stage like lemons for ages. At first Andrea and George tried to get us to keep quiet, for professionalism's sake, but in the end even they started chatting and giving quiet pep talks.
We opened with Ray Charles' 'Hit The Road, Jack', which is quite funny. The girls had to face the guys as the songs very much 'call and response', and poor Suzi was in the front row and practically eyeball to eyeball with Costas - who pulls some incredible facial expressions during that number. He kept cracking her up in rehearsals! *laughs* It's also a little difficult as the girls do a kind of sweeping 'get out of here' hand gesture at 'Hit the road' and, since my lot came in a bar behind the rest of the girls it felt kinda messy to me - like we were constantly missing our beat, when we really weren't.
'Somebody To Love' went down a storm once more - especially when Costas did his big 'Freddie' bit near the end. We kinda messed up at the very end - I think Andrea miscounted how many 'Find Me Somebody To Love's we'd done and gestured for the finale one line to early, but we just did it again and seemed to get away with it. *crosses fingers*
I really hope they let us have copies of the recording they made at St David's Hall for the shareholders - we're dying to know how we actually sounded!
After that, of course, we had to actually take seats and attend the SGM ourselves. That's rarely too much of a chore as they try and be witty and interesting, and quite often just about manage. Plus the staff-made film at the end is a popular highlight. This year it was on the theme of a guy flicking through cable channels, and the guys involved were acting out the various programmes. The effects were good as they made it genuinely looked like he was channel-hopping through a satellite or cable TV subscription, though some of the production on the actual programmes were severely lacking. Mustn't complain too much though, since this is an amateur, voluntary effort which I've been involved in myself in the past.
By the time we got out of there my shift was over, so I headed off to get Rowan. I was absolutely knackered by the time I got to the school as I'd already been up for over ten hours - and it was only half past three! I've now been awake for fifteen hours and would quite like to go to bed but Rowan's still very much awake; he got sent to bed early 'cause he tried to steal one of my left-over easter eggs. His own got confiscated a couple of days after Easter as he snuck into the kitchen while I was still asleep and stole some. I found the remains of his chocolate rabbit under his duvet! He's very upset at being sent to bed though, as he's 'not tired' and it's 'not dark out'.
I could be in for a long night....
We've been rehearsing like mad; it started off fortnightly, but it's gone weekly over the last month or so and last week we met on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. (I wasn't at all three myself, but that's by-the-by.) We had another rehearsal yesterday, and then today was when we got to show everyone what we'd been working on.
Of course, if you were walking past The Friary during rehearsals, you couldn't help but hear us! *grins*
Now, the staff in Cardiff and Swansea get split in half, with one lot from both buildings attending the morning SGM at the Grand Theatre in Swansea, and the other half go to St David's Hall here in Cardiff in the afternoon. Which meant we had to get down to Swansea ourselves, with enough time to warm up, do the soundchecks and whatever.
Our coach was collecting us at 7.15 am....
This, of course, presented me with a problem as I had to get Rowan to school for 8.55. Mam was working in Swansea herself today, having to get an 8am train, so she couldn't help me. I asked George and Andrea, the musical directors, if they had any suggestions and Andrea suggested I arrange for Rowan to sleep over at a friend's house, as that's what she would have had to go with her eight year old son if his Dad hadn't been able to look after him. Rowan's never had a sleepover before, and I've been nervous about the idea, but I thought it was worth a shot; Tuesday evenings is when he goes to football with his friend Isaac, whom he's known since they were eighteen months old and there've been many occasions when Isaac's visited us for the day or Rowan's gone to play with him. So, while I'd never take it for granted, the odds were in my favour that Isaac's parents would be willing to help me out. Thankfully they were, so I took him to school on Tuesday morning with a packed back. Still went with him to football, but then Jen dropped me home before continuing on with all three kids in the back...I didn't envy her, but apparently it went pretty smoothly.
That tends to happen, mind, when Rowan's visiting friends houses. He only acts up when he's with me, his grandparents or his godparents. Maybe it's because he feels more relaxed in our company? :-p
Anyway, this meant that I could go to bed when I was ready, rather than wait for him to go to sleep first, as I had to get up at five! That, for me, is totally unnatural - I don't know how my Dad does it, day in and day out. Had a really hard time falling asleep; couldn't get comfortable and my brain wouldn't shut down. Ended up setting my TV to turn itself off after an hour, and put ESPN America on - Pardon The Interruption was on, so I drifted off to sleep to the dulcet tones of Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon *chuckles*
Managed to drag myself out of bed at around five past five the next morning and got through the morning routine of breakfast and shower okay. I'd ironed my smart black trousers on Monday evening while I was sorting Rowan's bag out, and I'd run round the clothes shops in town last night looking for a plain black top so that didn't need ironing either. I was amazed to realise that I didn't own anything that was plain black.... managed to find a decent, long-sleeved top in Next for seven quid though, so all's good.
Managed to get myself out to the bus stop in plenty of time - there's very few buses running that time of the morning. My colleague Suzi had told me she was going to be on the 6.10 am bus from her place, and she's on the same bus route as me so I aimed to leave the house just as she would have been getting aboard. We had a nice chat on the way in to town, and she had a quick listen to the practise MP3s on my player - us Altos have been having a bit of a struggle with the harmonies, as we still haven't quite got the hang of keeping hold of our note despite the overpowering sound coming from the guys and the soprano females. We had just about enough time to grab some hot chocolate from Starbucks before meeting the others outside the office. The coach was there nice and early, but there were a few stragglers - and one poor woman missed the bus entirely 'cause her car broke down on the way in - so we were a little late setting off.
We spent the vast majority of the ride from Cardiff to Swansea warming up and practising the songs. Still made the odd mistake - some of them rather schoolboy errors - but we are getting better every time. I quite like travelling by coach or train - spotted the Swansea warehouse for Amazon.co.uk this time out, at Amazon Park no less! *laughs* I really wish they'd chosen to come to Cardiff instead - would definitely have applied to work there.
The acoustics in the Swansea Grand are pretty good, from the performers perspective as well as the audience. I was able to hear my fellow Altos quite well and I think that helped a lot. Our set got cut in half though, as they were determined to start the regular programme on time - Andrea looked pretty frustrated with that. So were we, really, but everyone was happy at not having to do Outkast's 'Hey Ya' - we really struggle with the harmonies in the chorus. We went straight into our rendition of Queen's 'Somebody To Love', which got a very good reception, then finished with our Welsh Medley of 'Diamonds Are Forever' by Shirley Bassey, 'What's New, Pussycat?' by Tom Jones, 'Mercy' by Duffy and 'Have A Nice Day' as covered by The Stereophonics. I really enjoy that medley as, once you get past 'Diamonds' - which is still fun - it's pretty smooth sailing for the altos :-)
We were in Swansea for about ten minutes before we got back on the coach! :-p We got back to Cardiff just after 10am and had to go straight in to work - Suzi and I nipped up to the canteen first as we were starving and there would be no opportunity for lunch since we were sound-checking at St David's Hall at noon. I have no idea at this point how my productivity was for today, but to be honest I don't care! There was no way my head was going to be in the game today - not with a 7am start!
I've sung in St David's Hall several times as a kid/young teenager, but this was the first time I was actually on the stage itself since we were previously in the choir stalls to the rear. George was right when she said that the acoustics in there were shit from the performers perspective! We ended up dropping 'Hey Ya' entirely as we just could not get in tune. Mind you, we were all starting to flag a little by this time anyway, as it had been a very hectic morning.
The SGM's organisers made us wait till almost all the staff were seated - the Hall's massive compared to the Grand - so we were stood on the stage like lemons for ages. At first Andrea and George tried to get us to keep quiet, for professionalism's sake, but in the end even they started chatting and giving quiet pep talks.
We opened with Ray Charles' 'Hit The Road, Jack', which is quite funny. The girls had to face the guys as the songs very much 'call and response', and poor Suzi was in the front row and practically eyeball to eyeball with Costas - who pulls some incredible facial expressions during that number. He kept cracking her up in rehearsals! *laughs* It's also a little difficult as the girls do a kind of sweeping 'get out of here' hand gesture at 'Hit the road' and, since my lot came in a bar behind the rest of the girls it felt kinda messy to me - like we were constantly missing our beat, when we really weren't.
'Somebody To Love' went down a storm once more - especially when Costas did his big 'Freddie' bit near the end. We kinda messed up at the very end - I think Andrea miscounted how many 'Find Me Somebody To Love's we'd done and gestured for the finale one line to early, but we just did it again and seemed to get away with it. *crosses fingers*
I really hope they let us have copies of the recording they made at St David's Hall for the shareholders - we're dying to know how we actually sounded!
After that, of course, we had to actually take seats and attend the SGM ourselves. That's rarely too much of a chore as they try and be witty and interesting, and quite often just about manage. Plus the staff-made film at the end is a popular highlight. This year it was on the theme of a guy flicking through cable channels, and the guys involved were acting out the various programmes. The effects were good as they made it genuinely looked like he was channel-hopping through a satellite or cable TV subscription, though some of the production on the actual programmes were severely lacking. Mustn't complain too much though, since this is an amateur, voluntary effort which I've been involved in myself in the past.
By the time we got out of there my shift was over, so I headed off to get Rowan. I was absolutely knackered by the time I got to the school as I'd already been up for over ten hours - and it was only half past three! I've now been awake for fifteen hours and would quite like to go to bed but Rowan's still very much awake; he got sent to bed early 'cause he tried to steal one of my left-over easter eggs. His own got confiscated a couple of days after Easter as he snuck into the kitchen while I was still asleep and stole some. I found the remains of his chocolate rabbit under his duvet! He's very upset at being sent to bed though, as he's 'not tired' and it's 'not dark out'.
I could be in for a long night....
no subject
Yay, you!
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I hope I can share the video at some point - provided we didn't suck, of course! ;-)
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Go you!
And yeah, I think when kids are with other people, they're less likely to act up because they're not as familiar with the boundaries, and how much they can push them. Whereas with you, well, he knows what he can get away with and what he generally can't.
no subject