So, at my leisure, I thought I'd elaborate on my pain in the neck. Because you all want to hear about my soft-tissue maladies, right?

Hah. I seriously considered not coming in to work today, but annoying neck pain met none of the key criteria: I could still do my job, my neck wouldn't get appreciably worse at work, and I wasn't infectious.

And you know, as long as one guy is coming to work with a broken foot (hi Kim!), I don't think "sore neck" is worth much.

Oh, let's talk about something more fun. I've been on a strange classical-music jag this week, partly because I'm driving a lot more, and the car now has a pretty nice CD player.

The experience has left me with a few delightful amateur impressions. Debussy's string quartet (he only wrote one) continues to be one of my favourite works. I love string quartet pieces, and this one feels so perfect. But The Lovely One, somewhat understandably, requested something less depressing (I don't think it's sad, but it is minor-key-wacky). so back to Vivaldi's Four Seasons, a standard part of the classical canon. Why? Because it's wonderful and accessible. I loved it too.

Right now, one of my favourite films is playing on the TV in front of me: Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould. It's about Glenn Gould, which is great. It's incredibly good (at least in its best parts), and it is structured as short films, which is very convenient for a short-attention-span type like myself. When one of the boring short films is playing, you won't have to wait long before something more interesting starts. It was co-written by Don McKellar, the official star of serious Canadian films (if it doesn't have Don, it's not a serious Canadian film!) It stars Colm Feore, an actor so malleably Canadian he has played both Gould and Pierre Elliot Trudeau (and D.W. Griffith).

Oh. And Tafelmusik is coming at the end of next month. Get your tickets now.

It's not so bad lying up trying to rest my neck. It gives me a an excuse, and some narrative drive, for my usual sloth. Thus, extensive essay-length blogging.

It's also worth noting that n the bicycle front, one of the three great grand tours is on now: the Vuelta Espana. It looks to be a barn-burner of a race, with no decisive favourite and some strong teams. despite the fact Lance isn't there, the US Postal team is still a strong force in the race, and has some Canadian content in the form of domestique Michael Barry. Barry is even diarizing the experience.

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