Handelian musical swag

According to long hallowed local traditions, overtime cannot be spent anything other than inessential luxuries — largely defined in this context as books and music. Thus, on the strength of the last few weeks of extended working, I've picked up:

• Murry Perahia's recording of Brahms' Handel Variations and Op 118–119
• the Dunedin Concort's recording of Handel's Messiah
• the Alan Curtis et al. recording of Alcina
• the next volume Gardiner's Bach Cantatas

Given that I've also recently bought a the Dunedin's version of Esther, I think it's safe to conclude that I'm going through a rather Handelian phase.

A flat warming dinner

A dinner invitation and a chance to check out C's elegantly proportioned new pad — the kitchen was particularly well sized and the living room large enough to accommodate a full gathering of local oenophiles. Over a huge range of salads, quiches and some sort of cooked flesh for the carnivore contigent, we departed from the usual range of subjects to talk about motorbikes, our respective misspent youths, and the works of the late, great Maurice Sendak.