Sm. Boy Takes Over World

James and I played Risk today - he did much better than the last time we played, about a year ago. He plays more strategy games and is getting better at the 'don't spread yourself too thin' concept.

Here's the board, right before we called it a draw:

I was blue and James was grey, which you can't quite tell from the picture. We were just about tied (with ongoing conflict in Europe).

Yesterday the Bach Choir performed in St Mary's Church in Bury - it was one of the best concerts I've done with them. We sang quite well and the soloists were fantastic. The mezzo-soprano was a replacement at the last minute (the scheduled one was ill) and she had the most gorgeous operatic voice. Our conductor works at the English National Opera and so has a rather large database of opera singers at his fingertips.

We performed with the Suffolk Baroque players, and for one of the pieces had some Baroque trumpets perform with us for two of the pieces. Then the orchestra played an aria from Julius Caesar with the mezzo and the most spectacular Baroque horn that I've ever heard. I heard the horn player warming up and complimented her on her playing, but I was completely unprepared for what she played in the concert. It was a really complex piece, with lots of running scales and trills. All of which were unbelievably hard and beautifully played. I was really glad that we weren't singing while she was playing - it meant that I could watch and drool. I've tried to find the Suffolk Baroque website and can't - I'll have to ask our secretary for their contact info so I can hear the hornist again.

Here's the back of the church before the concert