Well I know we haven't had anymore replies here, but I thought I might stick my noggin around the door as things have been good recently.
I've been at Aims international music school for a week which means lots of hard work singing. I've been a bit disappointed that with my voice, but it eventually got into gear which was good.
This time around I was doing Orphius in a version of Orphius and Euridice by Offenbach, though in this version Orphius isnt' actually that fond of Euridice and doesn't want her back, but is forced by his mum, Calliope to go and get her back anyway including a flight on balloon to Olympus piloted by Icarus where Orphius suffers an upset stomach and complains a lot, (I got to wine).
What was doubly amusing is in some fit of weird casting Mrs. dark was cast as calliope; Orphius's mother, which I think the director was having jokes about (him and Mr. Freud).
I also got to sing Erantry, a setting of one of Tolkien's poems since the theme this year for the music school was myths and legends.
I really need to remember to practice though, since I can really get my voice sorted when I do, hopefully I'll have time when we've moved house, indeed it'd be great to get more opportunities to sing though we're still looking for an accompanist so we can do more stuff since it's generally a good thing to do, also horribly muscular exercise, one reason I enjoy it so much.
Unfortunately, now we literally have four days to pack up all the stuff and move house, which is not so good, so no chance to just crash out and play some games which I would like since methinks I'm in something of a mudding mood and as usual the db needs more work.
Also my IPhone really! needs a battery, my mum was attempting to video the performance and wasn't able to due to the battery dying in seconds.
I just hope they're not too expensive since I will need to change from my IPhone 5 but was hoping to keep it going until around Christmas whne the 7 series will be on sale.
In other news, before we left Mrs. Dark and I finished the green mile by Stephen king which was great, and hear at music school since I wanted some fluff to relax to I did ready player one by Earnist Kline, which I know people have read.
I really liked the eighties references, though I wish he'd included more of the console wars, Nintendo and sega etc, indeed it seemed a lot of the references were very much of things that Kline himself liked, though I got the Zork clue straight away .
My problem though is that the book itself had far too many holes. It's interesting that in a cellibration of Geek culture, that the actual main character is an over opinionated, actually quite unpleasant in who winjs about his lack of skill with girls and actually behaves like a total arse, even to his friends in the guise of competition.
I'm about as Geek as they come, I got most of the references (accept those to American tv sitcoms and a lot of the heavy metal stuff), but there is no reason to be an arse to people.
Oh, and also I happen to be married to someone who is pretty much as Geek as I am in terms of literature, scifi etc, even if Mrs. dark is less of a gamer (though she is definitely getting into tabletop rp games).
I also didn't like the fact that basically the book's female character had to apologise to the annoying hero when he! had a go at her, indeed the characters were rather typical in a lot of ways, though at least said girl wasn't kidnapped.
so, a good book for references, albeit references that rather missed one major area of eighties geek culture, but really in terms of actual literature.
In other words, pure and total fluff, good fluff to read when singing for eight hours a day, not really serious fiction.
With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)