so i don’t drive..so there are a lot of trains in my life!

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Oh I do like this cartoon one of my tenors GA sent me. He drew it after last month’s singing adventure by the sea in  Wales  organised by the marvellous Roxane Smith.  We were a mixed bag of singers from  all parts of Wales, Lancaster, Exmoor, London and other exotic places.

It was billed as a weekend of ‘pop,’ led by ‘yours truly’. A very small handful of people seemed a bit shocked that we were singing pop and not gregorian chants…strange – possibly not read the small print. Some great new friendships were made…some were not…ha ha. That’s me in the middle, waving my arms about, trying to be in charge, drawn to a ‘T’… with my regulation check shirt on…( note to all arm wavers, check and tartan are good patterns to wear – disguising  buckets of sweat in their multitude of colours and stripes. ) GA has possibly gone for a  little exaggeration in the ‘swooning’ of the sopranos over the basses, but there was a little going on, one particular bass  nearly got kidnapped and taken to Lancaster.

SONG OF THE DAY   Viva La Vida -Coldplay

We learned and  sung this in 4 part acapella during the weekend. For some reason a couple of men, closer to the age of Coldplay, took a dislike to this song. When I went back to London and I told a bunch of kids of about 8 and 9 olds from an inner city school that some people did not like this song, they were disgusted! How could anyone dislike ‘Viva La Vida!’? Ah!!!!

So 2 versions today. The original( 99 million hits on youtube!!) and the other by PS22, a bunch of fantastic inner city kids   in New York ( nearly 3 million hits)…well worth watching both as it gives you a focus on the song…..which is, in my humble opinion a great piece of writing.

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…..and it is so quiet! Ahhhhhh! I am here with my laptop checking if I can actually ‘post’ on the move. Yup bit behind with my ‘travelling’ technology, as I still do not have a smart phone, but my old lap top is not going to let me down. I am supposed to be doing loads of work here, but things are not going well. I have resorted to taking photos of myself on ‘photo booth’…a nostalgic Woolworth’s moment  – the only thing I have not done yet is put them into ‘comic life’ and given them silly speech bubbles….but the journey is not over yet! oops! ah well…good to know I am still in touch with my inner teenager ( thank goodness). Radio 4 mid-week was really lovely this week. Touching and funny…well worth a listen if you missed it. I was particularly taken with Rudi Richardson (and remembered his name all day, which is really unusual for someone with no short term memory) who runs a charity for the homeless in London called Streetlytes…ok I am pressing publish….now!

SONG OF THE DAY -The Korgis -Everybody’s got to learn sometimes

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So far the train etiquette has been fairly good. Nice quiet reading and working on laptops going on. There is someone who has a very loud ping every time they get a text, and a couple of people have made loud ‘I think I am in my office’ phone calls. I am going to Sheffield for the weekend and feeling a bit  wobbly about being away from home and Mr P. It often happens after the  winter bunking down holiday. I find it quite hard to leave home. Usually fine by the time I am on the train and zooming through the countryside. I do like a bit of train travel, as long as people behave themselves. This weekend I get to see loads of my favourite and closest ‘singy’ friends and colleagues at our Natural Voice Practitioners annual gathering of about 80 people, which is very nice, but also a bit daunting, as I do get a bit overwhelmed- I am much more your six people dinner soiree type of girl rather than a big party girl.

I am leading one of the morning vocal warm ups, but mostly it is catch up and socialising, and of course singing! Few noisy people got on at Leicester….let’s hope they get off at the next stop. Now back to that arrangement,

SONG OF THE DAY -The Chambers Brothers -People Get Ready

Just another excuse to post a song about a train.

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Coming home on the train last night was lovely. It was quiet, I just turned on my laptop and did some work for a couple of hours. We have been so lucky with all our extensive train manouvers over the festive period, and have seemed to be going the opposite way from the larger body of travellers.

I am a terrible people watcher. One thing I notice on trains is young  trendy men who have obviously been to visit their parents for the festive period, and are returning to the big smoke. It makes me smile when they get out a packet of very nicely packed sandwiches that their mum must have made them for the journey home. Sweet.

I have been wondering again about having a go at getting in an aeroplane again. It has been a long time ( 1987 to be exact) and I would not even know how to book a flight on line. I am wizzy at booking train tickets, but just would not know how to start. I am off to Dublin to run  a days workshop at the end of feb. and would go on the train and the ferry, but am thinking the ferry might be a bit rough at that time of year, and if you do the ferry and the train its about 7 hours, but once you have got to the airport and hung around, I am not sure if you would save much time anyway. I also have a problem with flying  hither and thither for ecological reasons….though I have saved up a few carbon footprints over the last 24 years! Help needed please…..

SONG OF THE DAY-  Can’t Speak French – Girls Aloud ( and a version in french)

This is to cheer up my blogger mate Seycen.  Miranda Eleanor De Fonbrune Cooper is one of the co-writers of this song…what a fantabulous a name, and a great pop songwriter! I wish I could speak french, but I can’t…… so  I ‘ll  just have to let the funky music do the talking now. One to three…hit it! quick pogo round my office. x x x

and in french…….