2014 kicked off with my annual physical because nothing says "Happy New Year" like a finger up one's arse.  I seem to be in reasonably good shape bar this cough that won't go away and rather high blood pressure.  Those two mean I have the bumper fun bag of inhalers and meds to work with for the time being.  Also I'm being good about exercising again (so far).

Work now includes a rather intimidating strategy project on top of everything else but no definitive word about my future post March 30th.

Recent DVD reviews include Busoni's Doktor Faustus; a christmas present from the lemur, a rather unthrilling Elektra from Baden-Baden and Puccini's Il Trittico from the Royal Opera House.  Live performances are a bit thin on the ground right now but I'll kick into high gear on January 18th when COC starts up again with Così fan tutte.  I'm hoping to interview Sir Thomas Allen ahead of the premier.

Otherwise it's snow, freezing rain and arctic temperatures.

You probably have to be canadian to realise just how weird this is. It's almost the end of November and here in Hogtown we are heading for a high of 14C. Meanwhile, in Victoria, the town all Canada and half of Japan retires to because of its benign climate, there's a foot of snow on the ground. And there are floods in Ethiopia.

Last night it was -27C in Volgograd so I celebrated by watching Stalingrad. As taelle points out, it's a pity no invaders are approaching Moscow. Such a waste of a cold snap!

This is not right. It's 0550 and the humidity is 86%. Sweat is just pouring off me and this is as cool as it will get for the next 24 hours. I also have multiple scratches on my legs and hands from overenthusiastic kitten climbing attempts. My "to do" list is made up entirely of items that are either depressing, deadly dull or both. Bleh!