Another Maggie quilt photo; rehearsals continue; cats are very active

Maggie has had some attention around her quilt show; I thought I'd share another nice photo...

It's also an early happy birthday post as hers is coming up this weekend... we are all high-tailing it out of here as early as we can to beat the friday traffic, and make our way up to Oostende to see the Ry Cooder concert tomorrow night.

I've been a Ry Cooder fanatic since my old friend Glenn Foster introduced me to his music via cassette copies of his albums on vinyl, and at the time, Ry's last solo album was 1987's Get Rhythm.  Ry was disappointed with the lack of commercial interest in what has now been recognised to be an incredibly good album, and he made public his decision to concentrate on film soundtracks, which he did for many years thereafter.  Probably the most famous of his soundtracks is from Wim Wenders' film Paris, Texas, but you have likely heard his work in many films without knowing it was he who composed the soundtrack.

I shared a lot of those cassettes with Maggie when we were first going out, and then when Ry started making records again we bought them as they arrived in stores.  Some of these records marked important episodes in our life.  Buena Vista Social Club was everywhere on the radio and tv in 1997, the year that we were married.  I remember Mambo Sinuendo came out the summer that we were house-sitting in Collingwood, and we listened to that a lot in the car, with both of our little boys in car seats.  Then the year that I was hired to sing Un ballo in maschera in Ireland, my first international opera contract, his album I, Flathead came out.  I bought it in the HMV in Cork, and remember that upon first listen, I had no idea what it was about, and that made me pretty angry.  But after repeated listening it has become one of my favourite records.

This current tour is to support his latest record, made with his son Joachim, entitled The Prodigal Son.  We enjoy it quite a bit, but also really love the older material, and fortunately for us it appears from reports from other dates on the tour that the sets include a good mix of old and new.

After the concert on Friday night we will stay over and have a party on Saturday; as the weather purports to be very good we will likely have a good time outside.  Sunday morning will have to be a relatively early departure as Maggie and Malcolm have to get back to Wavre in time to vote; it is mandatory for citizens of the age of majority to do so.  I am not on the list, nor is Duncan, so we are off the hook, but we have heard that you can even be fined if you don't vote.  That's something that other countries could take a lesson from, I should think...

The cats are lots of fun, but they are getting a tiny bit destructive in their play.  They find the sheer curtains completely irresistible (necessitating some involuntary hemming), and the swan feathers that I collected this past summer in Florenville have been knocked down a couple of times before I got smart and put them away.  Finally this morning I cleaned out and refilled the spray bottle with water, and they each have received a nice solid shot of water in the face when they tried to climb on the mantelpiece, or jump onto the table.  It is crude but effective, but I am not in the habit of having pets walk around on the table or counter.  They will learn I am sure...

We continue to rehearse for the madrigals concert, which is going to be really quite satisfying... the Gesualdo madrigals are very difficult; some of the harmonic progressions sound like something from the 20th century!  But I am sure that we will be ready in time.