in the air between Ottawa and Halifax
We must be tired, because we were invited to a party last night ('the beers are on us' said Jamie) and we all gave it a miss. I was sound asleep by 10.
I forgot to mention that a friend of Jamie Blachly's had been at one of the DG/DMcG concerts last weekend. He was a bit bemused by the wilfully obscure repertoire (recognised the Bach though), but he liked the playing, and added 'they both seemed a little crazy'.

Humanization of a tedious process: in my experience Canadian airport security are very strict but fair. There were 3 staff guiding the movement of me and my belongings through the x-ray machine in Ottawa this morning. The first was a bass player who pointed out that there are only three kinds of people in the world: the Scots, the Irish, and those that wish they were either Scots or Irish. The second recognised my melodica case, helpfully translated the chinese characters on it for me (one is a brand name, the other bit reads 'very suitable for junior and elementary schools'), and told me she'd had a melodica just like it 24 years ago. And the third should have confiscated the contents of my flask of 1990 cask strength Ardbeg, but allowed me to taste it instead. Nice man.

Meanwhile Chris has borrowed my copy of the Ensemble Ambrosius CD 'Metrix' and said that it had the best possible effect on him. He now wishes he were 25, Finnish and in that band. I've emailed Olli to ask when and where his audition is.