we've got another clog in the torso chute

Still very much mired in coursework. But it's infinitely better than being struck by earthquakes, tidal waves and nuclear meltdowns; so I'm keeping some sort of perspective about it.

Found the time to attend a couple of electronic music recitals in the past few weeks. First up was yoav at the good ship Thekla. A curious proposition, in as far as the band consists of one guy (yoav), an acoustic guitar, and so many loop stations and effects pedals that he had at his feet more computing power than was used to send the first dog into space (probably). The resultant folktronica made for quite pleasant listening, even if every song had to be started with a bizarre sequence of slapping, tapping, strumming and occasionally murmuring into the guitar as he set up his pick 'n' mix selection of noises. The only real fault with yoav was that he wasn't Electric Wizard.

Later that week I went to see Electric Wizard. Not straight away, of course; first there was the obligatory support act to endure. I wasn't feeling especially enthused by the prospect of seeing a Norwegian band called Devil - the whole thing had more than a whiff of corpse paint and burning churches. My hopes were lifted slightly when I noticed that they were selling cassettes at the merch table; and then dashed completely when they took to the stage and revealed themselves to be little more than a Scandinavian pub metal band with a vocabulary gleaned entirely from Black Sabbath records. Ludicrous black metal would have been preferable, as it turns out.

Thankfully they were reduced to little more than a bad memory by Electric Wizard's first bowel-loosening riff. Electric Wizard play doom metal; like normal metal, only slower, thicker and heavier. Take the doomiest thing you can think of, drown it in the centre of a planet made of tar, and then hurl that planet into the centre of the sun. In slow motion. Hooked up to Orange amplifiers. They sound kind of like that, and smell a bit like weed.

I have also been out and about meeting new people. Like on Wednesday, I met some guy when he reversed his Chelsea tractor into the front of my car when we were queuing at some traffic lights.

I hardly laughed at all, actually. Still, it's infinitely better than being struck by earthquakes, tidal waves and nuclear meltdowns; so I'm keeping some sort of perspective about it.

The rage was further nullified by a housewarming shenanigan hosted by the most talkative and confident of the Pixie's chums, which left me far too hungover the following day to concentrate on schoolwork; so I indulged in some toy soldier based procrastination instead.

These guys are my new Chaos team for Blood Bowl, a spiffing boardgame based around the faintly ridiculous concept of American football in the world of Warhammer. Matt has always been firmly opposed to such rampant diversity, but Dom and I are determined to try to change his mind anyway. Our efforts will almost certainly yield results; but those results are likely to include a lot of shouting at dice, and each other, and everyone hating Blood Bowl.