Last Friday...

...we were at a Toronto Public Library volunteer thingie, to see a performance by Opera Atelier. The performance was open to the public but as VIPs we were treated to a reception before hand - as usual with this sort of thing, I saw a lot of people who looked vagugely familiar or whose nametags rang a distant bell, but who I didn't feel qualified to talk to. Unfortunately, Dora Rust d'Eye, Opera Atelier's costume designer, wasn't there - I actually do know her from having volunteered with them a few years back. The actual performances were good but very intermittent. green_trilobite got quite annoyed at the constant interuptions by the company director to explain every single thing. "Less talk, more Baroque," I whispered.

Interesting Science News O' the Day

They've isolated the gene for FOP! Probably the spookiest of all genetic diseases, it causes muscles and ligaments to change over time into bone, immobilizing the victim (link warning - picture of affected skeleton is slightly disturbing).