Refreshing

I was up bright and early to watch qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix live. TV coverage began at 6.00 am, and I was in front of the TV by 6.45, in good time for actual qualifying at 7.00. Im glad I made the effort. It was great to see Sebastian Vettel do so well and take an unexpected pole position, especially when he did it on the strength of just one flying lap in both second and third qualifying stints.

A quick return to pillowland after that, then a spot of ironing to get the glad rags on for the Music Group session. In Ballsbridge today, with two of us taking charge of the whole thing with one of our quarterly 'concert' programmes. I was responsible for the first half, and Tony took charge of the second. All went well, and our choices worked well together.

Glorious sunshine. That's it shining through my glass of Bulmers cider in the Merrion Inn after the music session. A nice bite to eat there, then over to Carl's place for 'a glass of wine' and a chat. We finished off watching Oliver Stone's W. (not in Carl's Kino this time; just on DVD on the little telly downstairs). We weren't especially impressed. There was some dreadful acting/characterisations (Jeffrey Wright's portrayal of Colin Powell was hugely disappointing, and Thandie Newton's Condoleezza Rice was just plain bad), but the fatal flaw for us was the over-emphasis throughout on the whole Bush Senior/Bush Junior relationship. Not convincing, and pretty badly mixed up in the final ten minutes or so, when it seemed as if the director couldn't decide how or when to finish.

I was back home around 10.30 pm, after an excellent day.