Botley crew

[j4]

Whew! Sorry it's taken me so long to get round to posting this announcement, but addedentry and I are now officially resident at:

Flat 6
Elms Parade
Botley
OXFORD
OX2 9LG

[How to find us: google maps]

And I'm coming up to the end of my second week at UCISA.

I'll post more when I get time, but in summary: the flat is spacious, quirky, rather noisy, and full of boxes and badgers; the job looks set to be varied, challenging, and interesting (but is currently feeling quite overwhelming); and Oxford is much as it always was, which is great.

There will be a proper housewarming towards the end of January, but in the meantime, visitors are always welcome (provided they don't mind boxes).

And if anybody feels like giving me a crash course in Zope/DTML (yes, I have found the Zope book) I will pay them generously in beer or equivalent local currency.

Comments

[j4.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry we weren't around when you stopped by! It was all a bit of a faff with moving on two weekends and me being away for most of the first week. You'd be very welcome to come round another time but I should warn you that the house isn't really very child-friendly (or even, to be honest, very adult-friendly!) yet -- it's all half-unpacked boxes and heavy things balanced in stupid places... :-/

Tell me more about the Blackbird Leys choir! When/how often does it rehearse? What sort of things are you singing? (And if you don't need to be able to read music, how does that work -- not singing from music at all? Or just lots of note-bashing in rehearsals?)

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Note-bashing. We're singing from sheet music, and those who don't read music are spending a lot of time listening to CDs (this is mostly sops so it doesn't make too much difference to the tune they learn).

Two Verdi choruses, four chunks of Bernstein, possibly a Nunc Dimittis but I forget whose, and a voice piece (i.e. no words to learn) being written for us, which we should have before Christmas. Director's a lovely chap, professional, and we have various visitors (last night was a professional tenor who's mostly done musicals, who was fascinating; we've had a sop and a conductor too so far). It is a little more enthusiasm than talent, but there are some lovely voices in the choir too. Now the cameras have gone all the 'make me a star' people dropped out and those who are left are those who really enjoy what they're doing. It would be lovely to have you, do come along at least once! (I'm not going to be at tonight's rehearsal; normally it's Wed/Thurs and occasional Saturday workshops, which are a hoot.)

No prob re. visiting, we went down to Argos anyway so figured it wasn't much faff to pop along and see if you were in. :)

[j4.livejournal.com]

I'll come along next week if I can! Just let me know where & what time...

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Wed 6.30-8.30, at Orchard Meadow Primary School (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=sawpit+road+blackbird+leys+oxford&ie=UTF8&z=16&ll=51.72417,-1.199291&spn=0.005809,0.021629&om=1). Parking available, or it's two minutes' walk from a bus stop.

[j4.livejournal.com]

Cool -- looks easy enough to get to (am I right in thinking the number 5 goes from the station to BBL?). If I've got over the cough/cold I seem to have picked up, I will come along on Wednesday!

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Excellent! Yes, the 5 goes from the station up to BBL. You can always give me a call if you get any problems with the geography but it's pretty walkable from all of the stops on the estate TBH. (If in doubt hang on until you get back around to the beginning of the estate and get off there; it's just a short walk back along Cuddesdon Way.)

If you're feeling ok to go out but have little/no voice, do still come along; I think Andy (Choir director) would be pleased to see people anyway, and you can get a feel of what we're like.

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Oh, I should tell you which stop you want really, shouldn't I?

Best stop for Sawpit Rd is on Balfour Rd, the stop immediately after the shops. IIRC you pass Sawpit Rd/the RC church just before it; if not, it's just after it. Walk up Sawpit Rd and the school's fairly obvious on the right. If you reach Cuddesdon Way/the park you've gone a little too far. ;-

[j4.livejournal.com]

Thank you for all the directions! I am going to try to come along tonight but I'll have to see how I feel when the time comes -- I'm still feeling pretty rotten off and on. :-/