Nick Hornby has been a lifelong fan of the evil Arse. I didn't like the novel High Fidelity, the movie version was only decent, and naturally i ground my teeth hearing his stories of growing up living and dying Arsenal in both the book and film versions of Fever Pitch. I haven't read About A Boy, but i must admit both the movie and the excellent soundtrack by Badly Drawn Boy put a lump in my throat.

So i guess i must give props to the North London side for producing one (and only one) thing of note.

Chelsea effectively duplicated their midweek display in Germany in Saturday's match against Manchester City: forced back on our heels for much of the game, but somehow ended up getting a winner while thwarting all of our opponent's far more numerous attacks. This win also gave me bragging rights for the season over City commiserator Gary. We had a small bet on the game. Neither of the wagers were too distasteful for the loser: if Chelsea lost, i had to buy a t-shirt that said "I Love Aaron Axelson" and wear it to Poopscene, whereas Gary's price for City's loss is to get and wear a shirt that says "Robbie Fowler's Cocaine Dealer".

The wager was made on Friday night when Gary came over for a little Mario Kart Double Dash action. And i must admit that Gary, after weeks of practice, is now clearly my better in that department. Of the roughly 35 races, he won about 20, whereas i managed only 12 wins. Speaking of video gaming, my copy of World Soccer Winning Eleven 7 International (they really need to trim some of the fat in the naming department) arrived last week. The game has evolved sufficiently from WE6 that i was unable to pick it up and immediately dominate. I still have to work very hard to win matches, but i realized last night that the game is stepping ever closer to real soccer. Even the mighty Manchester United doesn't win every match 5-nil ... those are the exception rather than the rule. Most matches are hard fought 1-nil, 2-nil, or 2-1 wins, or god forbid nil-nil draws. The genius of the game is the controls work so well that you're not blaming the game for your inability to score. It's a true test of how well you can break down your opponent's defense. I have yet to unlock the ability to transfer players between teams, which i'm working diligently towards seeing as Chelsea's WE7 roster was apparently finalized midway through their spate of acquisitions last summer.

V and i hooked up with Lance on Saturday night to attend one of the Noise Pop Festival shows, the Wrens at Bottom of the Hill. We first however popped into Chai Yo on Polk for some yummy yummy Thai food with Greg and Roo beforehand. We made it to Bottom and had time to grab a drink before the second band, Low Flying Owls, took the stage. I thought they were great. Short description: "Like BRMC, only interesting". And the bass player was dancing up a storm all through the set. The third opener was The Dead Science from Seattle. They played experimental rock, sort of like Mogwai meets Can. Lance and i thought they were pretty good, but Veronica marked them down as 45 minutes of pure boredom. The Wrens finally went on around midnight, and were fantastic. The set included both the simple but powerful melodies of The Meadowlands as well as the more straightforward indie rock of their previous albums Secaucus and Silver. The boys from New Jersey had a great rapport and were as entertaining between songs as during them. We stood just to the right of the stage (where the band enters and exits the stage, if you're familiar with Bottom) ... some of the anxiety of guessing the next song was dimmed for me because i could see the guitarist's multi-effects pedal, which had a digital readout that said things like "Happy Intro" or "She Sends 1". They somehow managed to avoid playing "This Boy Is Exhausted", but that is my only relatively minor complaint about an otherwise great show.

My extensive cleaning efforts seem to be slowly alleviating the smell in our living room. The dog's daily dose of steroids was reduced by 33% last week, so she hasn't had any recent "accidents" (i'll give her the benefit of the doubt and say they were accidents). Cobi had her second chemo treatment today, so i'll see how she's doing tonight. Poor little doggie.