According to my calendar it is kino_kid's birthday today, so i'd like to wish her a happy one.

Happy Birthday Kid!!

Ta ta for now.

Since I started the piano lessons I realized why I wasn't progressing any further in my playing.

I had lost most of the basic knowledge of piano playing.

You can't do the fancier bits of an instrument if you can't even do the basic moves properly. So right now I am back at square one, relearning all the old scales and tempos and fingering.

And even though it is far from where I want to be right now, I know that it will make it easier for me to do the stuff I want to later.

So I am happy with what is happening right now. My teacher is a good and knows his stuff and is encouraging.

Still going over all the old stuff is a little frustrating, especially when I realize how much I've forgotten and can't do anymore.

But I am still glad I started up again.

Ta Ta for now.

So I have taken up new piano lessons.

It's been about three or four years since I have any formal lessons, and before that it had been a couple of few decades, but right now I feel that i have hit a plateau in my playing (I still can't do two different things with my hands).

I am going to need a professional to continue and improve. So I am taking lessons, starting today, from my singing teachers regular accompanist. Not the one who played at my concerts.

Here's hoping the lessons stick.

Ta Ta for now.

It seems I have the Asthma.

So now I have a tubular inhaler and something called Singulair which is a pill for allergies but is used by Asthma sufferers as well. It is used mostly by singers because it is less irritating on the throat than the inhaler is.

Oh well. I am just slowly falling apart. :)

But since starting this stuff I am feeling way better.

So life continues unabated.

Ta Ta for now.

The anthology Misspelled in which my short story Eye of Newt appears is now officially on sale in stores and at Amazon online.

Now I am officially published (go me)!

I'll sign anyone's copy if you'd like :)

He He He. I am so cooled out right now.

Ta Ta for now.

Now that is fast.

The CD box set I ordered from Amazon UK was in my mailbox. It had shipped on Monday so it only took four days. Not bad.

I am listening to it right now.

It is the Flanders and Swan CDs. There are four CDs.

The first is the Mono recording of the first year they did their "At the Drop of the Hat" show. So it is interesting to hear the earlier versions of the songs that appear on the Stereo version found on the 1999 release (which I have). Plus there are a couple of extra songs in the original shows that were edited out of the record in 1959 and are now put back into these releases. They are digitally remastered and sound really good for a mono recording.

The second CD is a compilation of several recordings from several shows they did all over the world, including their show in Toronto. So you get a couple of songs from the Australia show, a couple from the Toronto show, etc. etc. So there are a few songs on the second CD that are on the first CD. But they would sometimes change the lyrics to reflect the times they are singing or the place they are singing in. So that is interesting. But the quality is all over the place depending on the original media used to record the show. These weren't remastered.

The third CD is songs they wrote but were performed by other people.

The last CD is a compilation of private recordings of their work that they recorded on their own. Again the quality varies widely since some were on tape and others on acetate discs and some were recorded by someone backstage at the show or through the theatre PA.

I am pleased with the purchase as a bit of history of these very good song writers.

Ta Ta for now.

Have any of my North American friends ever bought anything from Amazon.co.UK?

There is a new CD set out that I'd like to get, but it is only available from the UK amazon. I was wondering if anyone here in North America had ever bought something from them to find out how long it took and was there a lot added for shipping, etc. Would it be cheaper to ask HMV to order it or would t be better for me to order directly from them. That sort of stuff.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Ta Ta for now.

Well, I have been known to say that most of network TV doesn't thrill me these days. I prefer to watch the shows on the specialty channels like Discovery and History etc.

But this week an old guilty pleaser of mine crept back onto the TV.

In the 90's I used to watch American Gladiators. It wasn't the best show by far at the time and I knew it even then. But something about it just kept me coming back. Probably that train wreck thing.

So now they have a new American Gladiator. And it looks pretty much like the old one. I even believe the producer is the same producer of the original series, which would explain the near identical look of the show.

And just like before I find myself watching it.

I still don't know what about it makes me watch. Maybe it's the really buff women (I have a small crush on Crush and Hellga frightens me. man she's a big girl), or maybe it's the absolute silliness of some of the show. You can tell that no one is really taking this too seriously, especially the Gladiators. You can tell they are just playing for the audience. Sort of like in Wrestling where there is a lot of Drama and overacting. Yet that never made me want to watch wrestling but that same sort of acting in American Gladiators makes me stay.

Go figure.

And Hulk Hogan is the host and doing the Hulkster thing. And Layla Ali, the daughter of Mohamed Ali and a professional boxer in her own rights, is the second host.

Oh well, I am ashamed but I shall still watch the whole series. :P

Ta Ta for now.

I was finally able to get around to tidying up my place a little last night.

After several days of being stuck doing shoveling when I got home and then dragging in all the snow into the house, my entrance was really bad. And since I had no energy left over afterwards to clean, everything just got left around. Dishes were in the sink, the kitchen counter tops were messy from leftover supper preparations, the living room was a mess and I had no food.

So yesterday I finally did some grocery shopping and when I got home and did a little more snow blowing, I found I had some time free, so I went about cleaning.

Now you don't trip over things when walking into my house and my kitchen and floors are clean again.

I'm feeling quite accomplished today.

This afternoon we are going to the Firegrill restaurant for a Christmas lunch here at work. Then one more day until Christmas vacations. I have only two people left to buy for so it is not very hectic this year.

Ta Ta for now and happy holidays everyone.

Amount of time spent outdoors shoveling:

4 1/2 hours broken down the following way. 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM; 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM; 11:00 PM - 12:00AM. Monday morning 8:00 AM - 8:30 AM.

Amount of snow moved:

Approx. 35 cm (13 1/2 inches) I now have two huge mounds of snow at the end of my driveway where my bushes are. I now have room for only about 5 cars not 6 anymore, but what can you do? There are only so many places you can put the snow.

Snowfall for December so far as of December 17:

100 cm (39 inches)

Average snowfall for all of December:

40 cm (15 inches)

Average annual snowfall for Montreal:

214 centimeters (84 inches). this means we have nearly reached half our annually snowfall and it is not officially winter yet. That hurts my head as well as my body.

What I watched between the snow shoveling:

NFL football, The Polar Express (which I really liked a lot) and Mythbusters.

Let us hope there is normal snowfall from now on. I can't take another of these anytime soon.

Ta Ta for now.