A Winter's, er, Post...

Despite the fact we're only about ninety minutes' drive from a major European mountain range, this city practically never gets snow. Winters oscillate around 0° centigrade and it drizzles consistently from December to March. This year, though, has seen a cold snap that has even got the old guard chattering: two lots of snow (including one bout that settled for three days) in December, another lot in January and a sprinkling just the other day. I'd like to ascribe it man-made global warming, but that theory seems to be under major scrutiny, right now.

Following my abortive attempts to get French citizenship with a view to voting in the 2005 Presidential Elections, here, I'd resigned myself to being voiceless for the duration of my prolonged expatriation. However, I learned the other day that you can still get a postal vote if you register within 15 years of leaving Britain. I left Highgate for Los Angeles in 1997 so that gave me two years to get myself mobilised. Off went a filled-out registration form to Haringey Council, oh they of the Loony Left, promptly followed by another this morning when I realised I hadn't put enough postage on the first one. It might still get through, but I'm not so sure La Poste will not shrug, say 'bof' and just chuck it in the nearest bin when they see it's 14 cents short. I looked at the candidates that stood in 2005 and, apart from getting a nice, warm fuzzy feeling when I saw that Labour had been ousted in Hornsey and Wood Green in favour of the LibDems, realised I wasn't getting excited about any of the candidates, least of all the less-than-zero chance the least noxious parties have of getting elected.

What result will 2010 bring? Dave, the re-suited Blair? Gormless Brown and his ragtag- and-bobtail assortment of liars, freeloaders, patronising social engineers and morally and intellectually bankrupt cheats? Sadly, it's going to be one of those two charlatans, so the best we can do is vote strategically. Compared to their German counterparts, the Greens are a joke, UKIP appears to be a one-policy stand-up act, the LibDems wouldn't know what to do with power if it came up and abused their Human Rights and the BNP still turn too many people off, though I'm sure many will vote for them in secret. It's impossible to guage how much support they're likely to have: those who express themselves on the internet are either hard-line anti or worshippers at the shrine. Now that the party has chosen the path of least resistance and opened itself up to ethnic minorities some of the stigma attached to their image may dissolve, particularly if they capitalise on Mr. Singh, the 78-year-old retired maths teacher from Northamptonshire, who has been an unconditional fan of Griffin's party since 2001.

That time of year, again...

Yup, nearly Christmas and the whole thing starts all over again: resolutions to not buy anything made in China, to eat less, to be nicer, blah blah blah. Never works, but it's the thought that counts, eh? Not really, thought is cheap and actions do tend to land us back at square one, no matter how noble the intentions. Still, I've never been one for New Year's Resolutions and that certainly won't change as we exit the Noughties (who invented that word? Has he/she been executed, yet?). The Fingernails are going to love their gifts, as will Mrs. F, once she's got over the shock of the prospect of six months' worth of acting lessons. She's been banging on about how much she'd like to do it for so long that I felt it was high time to indulge her and fast-track her consciousness to something a little more edifying than the daily routine of keeping house and child-rearing. Nothing wrong with any of it, of course, but everyone needs an outlet, a means of self-expression, and my dearly beloved hasn't had that for many a good long year. It's extremely eco-friendly, too: just a few sheets of paper with the enrolment details and requisite scripts, then it's off to a local basement for a bit of sisterly theatre.

My choir is now 27-strong and sang magnificently this last Monday evening. We now have a strong backbone through accomplished singers in every section, allowing us to undertake much more ambitious and interesting repertoire than ever before. When I think what we started with, back in 2007, and what they're capable of now, my mind boggles. It's not as if we rehearse all year round, either; just five evenings before each service.

Tomorrow heralds the end of piano rehearsals for La Vie Parisienne. Not the greatest piece in the world, not the best actors in the world, so not really the best reason in the world to get out of bed in the morning, either. Still, it's work and I'm fortunate to be in enjoyable, gainful employment. And a very merry Christmas to you all, those unseen masses who never read my blog because I've not told anyone about its existence. That's quite a concept.

Show Time, again

Just got back from the premiere of Poulenc's extraordinary 'Les Dialogues des Carmelites', which tells the story of an order of carmelite sisters in Compiègne who get beheaded in the aftermath of the French Revolution for, er, well, it's never really made clear. Still, it's a tear-jerker, rendered more powerful by Poulenc's piano-bar harmonies. So if your taste in theatre extends to nuns being killed to a backdrop of Erroll Garner, this is the show for you. After a bit of research we might discover Dave Brubeck's setting of the Treblinka massacre; you never know.

Still nobody out there

It really has been a long while since I posted anything here, but life has gone on just the same: joy, disappointment, gain, loss and everyone's a wee bit older but not necessarily wiser.

My personal plus for 2009 was getting back on the conducting podium. I honestly hadn't realised how much I'd missed it since stepping down off the box and easing myself past the violas after a performance of Madama Butterfly in 2004 before taking my bow on stage. The fare this time was nowhere near as well-known or acclaimed as Puccini's megahit, but Alfred Bruneau did write some good tunes and his works really do merit a bit more attentione than they currently enjoy. The icing on the cake is that I've recorded it, the CD to be released in early 2010. And it sounds incredibly good.

Future possibilities include appearances in Rotterdam, Spain and Canada. I love life.