If only i could discover the kind of devil's work my idle hands would be set to. My rallying cry of late has been a call for a month or two of ... well ... absolutely nothing. My motivation is at an all-time low at the moment. Two months to play Halo 2 and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, play with my iPod, and watch The Family Guy. Basically, to find out how the dogs live. If only.

Last Wednesday Veronica and i met up in the city for another yummy Chai Yo dinner with Geoff and Naomi before hopping off to Slim's to see the Psychedelic Furs. We'd seen them a few years back at the Inland Invasion 2003 debacle and before that opening for the B-52's and the Go-Go's. A theatric live band with a collection of gripping songs that haven't aged too badly, certainly worth inspecting in a smaller venue. The great thing about Slim's is that when it's not sold out, it's fairly easy to get a spot close to the stage, and on this occasion we found ourselves in touching distance. Richard Butler and co. powered through a set featuring the requisites "Heartbreak Beat", "Love My Way", "The Ghost In You", and "Pretty In Pink", as well as standouts like "Highwire Days", "Sister Europe", "Heaven", "President Gas", and "Dumb Waiters". All in all a good show, despite the fact that after two or three songs i realized Richard was coked out of his mind. A benefit of being so close: the nervous energy and darting eyes are plain to see, even through the black sunglasses. A bit sobering to think the man is still living the rock star lifestyle at ~50, but hey ... he did put on a good show.

V and i caught Million Dollar Baby with Becky and Louie on Saturday. Very good film. It's almost impossible to sit down at the theater NOT expecting a boxing film, but as it turns out roughly halfway through the movie suddenly shifts to a much larger scope. I've always liked Clint Eastwood, and he's fantastic here as a grizzled boxing trainer. His directing is excellent as well, although he is guiding the ever-brilliant Morgan Freeman and rising star Hilary Swank. Highly recommended. After the flick we stopped by Pete's for some coffee, then Louie and i split a great bottle of Unti wine before he and Becky headed off to an office party. V and i met up with Geoff and Naomi for some pizza and hanging out with the doggies.

On Sunday Geoff had resolved to use our facilties to wash his motorcycle, so i headed out back and resumed painting the rec room. Before long Geoff joined in the fight, and pointed out that i was using very thin rollers. After a quick trip to Home Depot (also picking up a rotary lawnmower and some hedge trimmers), we resumed our work and i was amazed at how quickly and evenly Geoff painted with a 3/4" roller. Tonight he's again trekking down the peninsula so we can wrap up the task and get on with using the room for some actual rec. Geoff and i also got in quite a lot of Halo 2 killing over the weekend, staying up until 4am on Sunday morning. I finally recorded my second victory in an online match, highlighted by an excellent double kill where i leapt a railing and pounced on two opponents with my dual-wielded SMGs. Our skills are slowly improving, but we still frequently encounter foes that have us awed by their dominance.

The topics of choice in the British tabloids lately have been A) Chelsea's chances of winning an unprecedented quadruple (that is, titles in the Premiership, the FA Cup, the Champions League, and the Carling Cup), and B) potential illegal transfer negotiations between the Blues and several Premiership players including Liverpool's England midfielder Steven Gerrard and Arsenal and England left-back Ashley Cole. My thoughts ... A) all signs so far are good, but i'm more than happy to enjoy the success as it comes and not fall into the trap of polishing the trophies before they're won. B) The English media has a long and storied tradition of printing wild speculation, and here they go again. Gerrard may come to Chelsea in the summer, particularly if Liverpool yet again fails to rejoin the footballing elite. It's not our fault the scousers can't get their act together well enough to keep their star midfielder content. As for Ashley Cole, that story strikes me as pure bullshit. First of all, we're not hurting for left backs and if we were, Cole is not near the top of any list i would draw up. Second, the timing of this news is all wrong. Arsene Wenger analyzed the news as being organized to have a psychological effect on his Arsenal team, especially just before their second-third place showdown with Manchester United tomorrow. If Mourinho is behind it, he's again beating his rivals at their own mind games. Third, the rumor is Cole met with Mourinho. This is a two-way street. If Cole is so sympathetic to the Arsenal cause, why is he off meeting with other teams? This is a question Wenger has refused to ask, instead calling for Chelsea's head on a platter over what is still very much a baseless allegation. Wenger better worry about why his squad is developing Grand Canyon-esque cracks and not some back-page musings in the Sun.