Monthly Archives: April 2007

Apr 28 2007

Quarantine!

When I picked the boys up from daycare the other day, I was informed that Kieran could not return until he had been cleared by his doctor. The staff feared he had…fifth disease.

So, I quickly ran home and looked it up at emedicine.com. The results were chilling.

Background: Erythema infectiosum is a common childhood exanthem caused by human parvovirus B19 (PV-B19), in which a classic 3-phased cutaneous eruption follows a rarely noticed prodrome.

Pathophysiology: The development of erythema infectiosum in children is a normal response to infection by PV-B19. Acute infection in a host who is immunocompetent leads to a Th-1–mediated cellular immune response, with the production of specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies and subsequent formation of immune complexes.

Oh no, I thought, our little boy has parvovirus B19 and he’s going to have a cutaneous eruption. Why, God, why?

It turns out that fifth disease, or “slapped-cheek disease”, is actually kind of wussy (unless you’re a fetus, in which case it’s really serious). In the early stages, the symptoms are identical to the common cold. It’s not until the child’s cheeks turn bright red that you can recognize the infection, and by that point it’s too late – the infection has run its course.

So why is it called fifth disease? Good question, loyal reader. It turns out there are six traditional childhood rashes, including measles (first disease), scarlett fever (second disease), rubella (third disease), Duke’s disease (fourth disease), and roseola (sixth disease).

So now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

Apr 26 2007

Housing Frenzy

Now that Spring has fully arrived, the thoughts of the animal kingdom turn to housing. Birds are building nests, bees are building hives, rabbits are looking for more spacious warrens in a hipper neighbourhood.

Judging from the number of For Sale signs that have sprung up all over town, humans are no different. In fact, B and I have recently succumbed to the housing frenzy.

One of B’s colleagues is moving and just put her home up for sale. It’s a 1918 semi-detached three bedroom, which normally would not be enough to quicken our pulse. However, it’s located in Old Ottawa South – the promised land for middle class families like us. It’s a great neighbourhood with lots of trees, excellent schools, and a huge park. It’s close to the canal, trendy shops, good restaurants, and…Starbucks. Sigh.

The thought of moving is both exciting and terrifying. I am not ready to have strangers walk through our home during an open house, tsk tsking at our decorating choices (or lack thereof). I can’t even imagine trying to pack up all the stuff we’ve managed to accumulate in five short years. And yet, it’s something we’ll have to do sooner or later.

In a weird coincidence, the other side of the house belongs to my colleague Genevieve, who has the office right next to mine. So, if it all works out, we would share a wall at work and a wall at home. I hope she doesn’t mind drummers…

Apr 20 2007

The 29 Hour Tour

Well, that was fun. Over the last 29 hours, I traveled with the orchestra to Toronto, visited Steve’s Music, went to a nice reception at Glenn Gould Studio, heard the orchestra perform at Roy Thomson Hall, enjoyed a few drinks in the company of colleagues and musicians, stayed up too late, got up too early, walked through St. Lawrence Market, mingled with the thousands of worker bees streaming out of Union Station, and returned home. Now that’s a tour.

Actually, it all went really well. The buses were nice, the drivers were polite, the hotel rooms were ready on arrival, and the orchestra gave a great performance. Other than a missing wardrobe box (which contains, among other things, a trombone, reed-making tools, and my new suit), it was almost perfect.

I have a bit of a ritual on tour. When I wake up after a concert, the first thing I do is go on-line to see if there was a review. I’m just naturally curious what critics in other cities, with different interests and opinions, think. Usually the reviews are positive, which is a nice way to start the day.

The only review of last night’s concert so far is in the Toronto Star. It is probably the worst review I have read in quite some time. Mr. Terauds just hated everything about the concert. Click here to read it (Warning: this review contains graphic and disturbing language that may not be suitable for all readers.)

Apr 18 2007

Pre-tour Jitters

I’m travelling with the orchestra to Toronto tomorrow morning for a concert at Roy Thomson Hall. It should be an easy tour – bus down, concert, sleep, bus back. Simple, right?

Regardless of how many tours I’ve done or how long they are, I still have the same uneasy feeling the day before we leave. There’s a bit of pressure knowing 70 people are depending on you to make sure everything runs smoothly. Some of my fears are well founded, based on negative experiences on past trips, while most of my worries are completely irrational.

In order, here’s what I worry about on tour.

Buses  Nothing gives me nightmares more than buses. While most of the buses we get are nice, clean, modern coaches, I have had the unpleasant experience of getting crappy buses. The door didn’t work on one of them, you couldn’t turn the heat off on another, one of the buses in Mexico didn’t have a bathroom while another broke down outside Mexico City. I practically beg for the best coaches a company has, but sometimes you are simply at the mercy of the faceless dispatcher.

Drivers are another variable. Most are nice, but some don’t appreciate that the orchestra has a schedule to keep. One guy stopped by his home to pick up some luggage, another guy wanted to do a little detour on the way to Montreal to pick up some upholstery. Unbelievable.

I take notice of buses almost every day as I drive around town. I know which companies have nice Prevost H3-45′s and which are using MCI Mirage. The best buses by far were in Germany. They were big and comfortable, with a washroom downstairs by the rear exit so nobody was forced to sit by the toilet. The driver also sold water and beer at the front of the bus. Very civilized.

Hotels  I try to put the orchestra in nice hotels. It’s tiring being on tour, and I think it’s a definite morale-booster when you walk into a really well-appointed hotel.

Ideally, I arrive at the hotel about 20 minutes before the group. This gives me time to collect all the keys, check them against the master list, and fix any errors that the front desk has made. If some rooms aren’t ready, it gives me a few minutes to look sternly at the front desk staff and implore (beg) them to get me more keys before the group arrives.

My favourite tour hotel? I have a soft spot for the Grand Hotel in Locarno, Switzerland. It wasn’t the nicest hotel, but it had Old World charm. The worst? Probably the Hotel Moderno in Pontassieve, Italy. It was moderno in about 1924…

Planes  Fortunately we’re not flying on this little tour, so I’m not freaking out about that. I am always nervous about flying commercially with the orchestra as you can never get a straight answer about whether some instruments will be allowed on board. It’s never gone horribly wrong, but I have had to intervene on occassion to make sure a cello actually gets a seat.

Back in the “good old days”, I would show up at the airport an hour before the group and get all the boarding passes. When the orchestra arrived, I’d hand out the boarding passes, the musicians would drop their luggage, and we’re done. Needless to say, that doesn’t happen anymore.

Those are the three big things I worry about. Of course, there’s also stuff like visas, sick musicians, damaged instruments, missing pants (don’t ask), blah blah blah that can really ruin your day.

So it’s about 12 hours until showtime. Will Coach Canada come through with nice buses and put a smile on my face? I’ll keep you posted.