Music From The Middle of Nowhere

BCC world service played a series called Music from the Middle of Nowhere a couple of weeks ago. It's hosted by k. d. lang, and it is much more than the "discussion of her musical influences" the online description suggests, delving into the history and music of the Canadian Prairies. I caught most of the first segment, which covered Alberta, on the way to the grocery store, and found it so fascinating I had to sit in the hot car in the parking lot until it was over. The BBC has finally posted more than a brief description of the series on its website; I hope you can listen to the episode and enjoy it as much as I did

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We also found an interesting site called Meebo, which allows you to aggregate all your chat/instant messenger accounts into one place. No more logging into multiple IM programs at once--this is all in one place AND it's webbased so you don't need to download yet more software! Michael and I have signed up and are trying it out.

We had our Eid holiday from Thursday to Monday, which was a relief. We are both feeling more than a little burned out right now. We didn't do much more than go on a picnic on the Corniche and hang out at home working our way through Michael's newly-completed collection of Director's Edition Star Trek movies. It was certainly nice to relax and not have to go anywhere, or even change out of our pajamas if we didn't feel like it!

Life continues to be challenging on the job front for both of us. I have been seconded from my secondment, if that is even possible, and am now answering phones and handling VIP event RSVPs for the Festival of Thinkers that starts next week. Feeling a little squished as I try to essentially do three jobs in the space of one. I keep on telling myself that it won't be much longer, but every time i do that something else comes up! Hopefully things will settle down relatively soon...