Eben's Labyrinth of the World

A pleasant discovery in the shape of Petr Eben's prologue to his adaptation of Comenius' The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart. It's an interesting piece — although Eben suffers rather from not being Olivier Messiaen — and the rafter-rattling dialogue between the tuti and the récit in the opening is particularly satisfying on the dramatic modern organ of Evreux Cathedral:

Busy, busy Sunday

Very busy day rushing around trying to sort out a few much-needed necessities — principally a new pair of trail shoes following yesterday's mud-fest — before grabbing a quick bite to eat and rushing down the river to drop in on C's birthday celebrations at Samuel Jones. Arriving much later than planned, I only managed to fit in half an hour of socialising before rushing off to meet E for a trip out west.

After a good drive out, despite all the standing water, we passed an enjoyable afternoon trying some of the problems from the pre-christmas comp — all of which are due to be stripped on Wednesday — during which I finally managed to send one of the problems I'd messed up at Boulder Beats. It transpired that I needed to have my hands further right on the middle hold before rocking over, and once I had that nailed & swapped my feet to prevent myself from barn-dooring, the rest was easy.

On the way back we stopped in our local for supper and played with E's late Christmas present — a Powerball gyro — which turned out to be a great hit. Not only is it much quieter than my light-up one — enough to convince me to get myself another one for my desk at work — but more importantly E, who is a total gadget girl, liked it. So: success.