The Mini has performed admirably so far, following its valve replacement and reprogramming earlier this week. I really hope those fixes addressed the root of the problem, as it royally sucks to be wondering every morning and evening if i'm going to get a call from Veronica telling me the car has crapped out on the freeway again.

Been exploring the formative days of electronic music lately, getting the "classics" from Cabaret Voltaire (a band who i'd appreciated in small doses from their contributions to the soundtrack to the awful film Salvation, which also boasts some forgotten gems by New Order), Throbbing Gristle, and Chrome. I'm seriously in love with this mid-90's alternative/shoegazing outfit Revolver now, particularly after finding a copy of their ep compilation Baby's Angry featuring the entrancing "Red All Over". Speaking of music, the final somewhat underwhelming Coachella lineup was released the other day. No MBV. There are plenty of worthwhile acts, to be sure ... the mesmerizing Sigur Rós, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Editors, Mogwai ... but to reiterate i feel like i need to be afraid my life will be worthless if i don't go in order to put up with all the crappy aspects of festivals. V is pushing for my attendance, my current response is "sure, i can go play video games in a hotel room for two days". As i've agreed to at least make the trip, she's now turned to persuading me into going all the way to the Indio polo fields for the show.

As soon as i compliment Arsenal and England defender Sol Campbell, he has a horrible game for his club, making mistakes directly responsible for two goals. He gets subbed at halftime and storms out of the stadium, and has now been dropped from Arsenal's squad for the weekend. Hrm. Looks like England's central defense may not be as set as i thought. I hope Eriksson doesn't return to former mainstay Rio Ferdinand for the job. I watched the entirety of Blackburn's 4-3 defeat of Manchester United last night, and he looked awful, eventually being sent off for a series of stupid fouls that could most likely be chalked up to frustration. Exactly what England doesn't need. Chelsea could only manage their third successive 1-1 draw against Aston Villa, but with Arsenal and United both losing and third-placed Liverpool giving up a shock late equalizer against 10 man Birmingham, we actually distanced ourselves even further from our chasers.

United, though. My god. What an awful performance against Blackburn. Alex Ferguson tried to do his usual spin ... "the refs held us to a different standard, the penalty we conceded should never have been given, Blackburn was fouling us all game long" are sounding more and more hollow. I didn't notice any serious referee bias. The penalty that was given against them was because Wes Brown literally threw his arms behind him to block a cross ... as clear cut as you can get. The United defense is in shambles. With the departure of Roy Keane, Rio Ferdinand is filling the defense midfield role, and becoming increasingly marginalized. New wing back Patrice Evra was mostly anonymous, while their recent central defender purchase Nemanja Vidic was terrible. Totally ineffective in thwarting runs by Shefki Kuqi and Morten Gamst Pedersen, he also made a ridiculous back header that if not for a poor finish by Kuqi would've gifted Blackburn a goal. That would've been on top of the gift they received when poor communication between Ferdinand and keeper Edwin van der Sar allowed David Bentley to waltz through the defense and tap the ball home. I was amazed when they failed to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League, but on this evidence, that was totally deserved.

Still haven't given Shadow of the Colossus a spin. I'm a bit worried. I'm not a big RPG enthusiast. While SOTC isn't really an RPG, it bears similarities to games like Final Fantasy VII in that it's a sprawling adventure epic. Therefore i fear that, as with that game previously, it's going to suck me in and dominate my thoughts for a few weeks. Hopefully the release of Winning Eleven 9 next week will inject a dose of more compact gaming excitement to prevent such an addiction.