long as I'm singing my song
Jun. 1st, 2023 09:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pensnestLast weekend was the Men's Barbershop Convention. Beast was competing with his chorus, we were both competing with the Mixed chorus.
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We headed down on Friday. Our two passengers arrived promptly, but about ten minutes into the drive, one of them realised she had left her crutch in her husband's car.... cue desperate phone calls to a husband who doesn't use his mobile and apparently doesn't always pick up the house phone. Well, eventually he responded, and drove back to our house, as did we.
So we started an hour later than planned, and had a hellish journey—*so* much traffic! The weather was lovely, though that isn't particularly useful when you are being baked in a car. The car, though, performed well, and gave a very smooth and comfortable ride.
We got to the hotel at about half past six. Seven hours to travel two hundred and forty miles (with a 25-minute break for recharging ourselves and the car). Americans, take note: seven hours of driving in the UK does not necessarily take you very far!
There was a meal with the men's chorus, which was pleasant. We also trotted down (and up, and down) the hill to the conference centre and picked up our tickets. Too weary to bother watching the quartet semi-finals.
Saturday was competition day for the guys. I didn't want to sit and watch barbershop all day, so I wandered about the town. Went into a couple of art galleries, looked for charity shops and couldn't find any, but there were a horrendous number of boarded-up shops, cafés and so forth. There's a pretty park between where I was and the sea front, so I wandered through that and then found myself Too Hot.
Beast's chorus was performing after lunch, so I went in to watch—they did so well! Some cheeky choreography, and all of them seemed to be enjoying themselves. Plus, they ended up getting their best score yet, so everyone was very happy.
Our mixed chorus MD having come down with Covid last weekend, she could not be with us, so we managed to squeeze in an extra practise with our deputy MD, and it worked very well. She was nervous about the whole deal, of course, never having conducted us in public before—what a debut to have to make!
The evening show was okay in many parts, and there was a 'boyband' performance from a mixed quartet which I will link to and recommend to you when it is available to watch. But I was tired, and we were on early the next morning, so we skipped the second half.
Breakfast was arranged for us in our rehearsal room (I don't think the hotel's breakfast hours started officially until 0830), then we warmed up gently, ran through our numbers a couple of times, and went to the conference centre. NOT in a crocodile, though that would have been very cute. Everything was quite calm and enjoyable, and we did (I think) the performance we meant to do, and our Dep MD survived it all very well! We didn't get a particularly good score, though—our lowest, out of our three convention appearances, but hey. Went off afterwards to have a very enjoyable lunch together.
I was still pretty weary that evening, and did not fancy the idea of an Open Mike Night (seriously? at a barbershop convention?) so we stayed in our rooms. I tend to miss a lot of the actual Convention goings-on because, well, there is only so much barbershop a person can take in a day. But it was a pleasant weekend, and our journey home on Monday was accomplished in a gentle five hours, with no noticeable hold-ups.
Sable was pleased to see us, and has been quite affectionate.
\
We headed down on Friday. Our two passengers arrived promptly, but about ten minutes into the drive, one of them realised she had left her crutch in her husband's car.... cue desperate phone calls to a husband who doesn't use his mobile and apparently doesn't always pick up the house phone. Well, eventually he responded, and drove back to our house, as did we.
So we started an hour later than planned, and had a hellish journey—*so* much traffic! The weather was lovely, though that isn't particularly useful when you are being baked in a car. The car, though, performed well, and gave a very smooth and comfortable ride.
We got to the hotel at about half past six. Seven hours to travel two hundred and forty miles (with a 25-minute break for recharging ourselves and the car). Americans, take note: seven hours of driving in the UK does not necessarily take you very far!
There was a meal with the men's chorus, which was pleasant. We also trotted down (and up, and down) the hill to the conference centre and picked up our tickets. Too weary to bother watching the quartet semi-finals.
Saturday was competition day for the guys. I didn't want to sit and watch barbershop all day, so I wandered about the town. Went into a couple of art galleries, looked for charity shops and couldn't find any, but there were a horrendous number of boarded-up shops, cafés and so forth. There's a pretty park between where I was and the sea front, so I wandered through that and then found myself Too Hot.
Beast's chorus was performing after lunch, so I went in to watch—they did so well! Some cheeky choreography, and all of them seemed to be enjoying themselves. Plus, they ended up getting their best score yet, so everyone was very happy.
Our mixed chorus MD having come down with Covid last weekend, she could not be with us, so we managed to squeeze in an extra practise with our deputy MD, and it worked very well. She was nervous about the whole deal, of course, never having conducted us in public before—what a debut to have to make!
The evening show was okay in many parts, and there was a 'boyband' performance from a mixed quartet which I will link to and recommend to you when it is available to watch. But I was tired, and we were on early the next morning, so we skipped the second half.
Breakfast was arranged for us in our rehearsal room (I don't think the hotel's breakfast hours started officially until 0830), then we warmed up gently, ran through our numbers a couple of times, and went to the conference centre. NOT in a crocodile, though that would have been very cute. Everything was quite calm and enjoyable, and we did (I think) the performance we meant to do, and our Dep MD survived it all very well! We didn't get a particularly good score, though—our lowest, out of our three convention appearances, but hey. Went off afterwards to have a very enjoyable lunch together.
I was still pretty weary that evening, and did not fancy the idea of an Open Mike Night (seriously? at a barbershop convention?) so we stayed in our rooms. I tend to miss a lot of the actual Convention goings-on because, well, there is only so much barbershop a person can take in a day. But it was a pleasant weekend, and our journey home on Monday was accomplished in a gentle five hours, with no noticeable hold-ups.
Sable was pleased to see us, and has been quite affectionate.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-01 12:26 pm (UTC)Now I'm imagining the open mike night to be like the ones in Pitch Perfect. No idea if that's true but it's a pleasing mental image.
You're honoured with Sable affection after time away.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-01 04:07 pm (UTC)I think Sable misses the chance to sit and snuggle next to my knee when we're not here, or out at meal time. She does seem a bit put out!
no subject
Date: 2023-06-01 02:40 pm (UTC)In the US, it's pretty standard to drive about 10 mph above the speed limit. Many of the highways in less populated areas are 75 mph (121 kph), so people drive about 85-90 mph (137-145 kph). If you drive the speed limit in some places, cars are just zooming by you. I remember going to France with my parents, where Dad rented a car. He's the only one who could drive as it was a stick shift (although, I could if I had to). I remember a lot of traffic and narrow streets.
I'm sure Sable misses her people when you're away. >^..^
no subject
Date: 2023-06-01 04:09 pm (UTC)It would have been nice to drive *at* the speed limit, which mostly happened on the way home.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-02 08:10 pm (UTC)Aww, Sable missed her human cuddle partners!
no subject
Date: 2023-06-02 09:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-02 09:35 pm (UTC)Hurray for good singing, and good times!
no subject
Date: 2023-06-02 09:50 pm (UTC)I hadn't thought of charity shops like that, but you're right. I shall have better luck in Harrogate in the autumn, I suspect.