I thought i was in the clear when we flew back from Europe, and i managed to stay up until 11:30pm that night and sleep all the way to 7am the next morning. But the sinister jet lag seems to have crept up on me, as i've found myself completely sapped the last couple of days. It's not helping that i also brought a nagging cough back from Germany, one which appears to be viral as no amount of Nyquil or aspirin are knocking it back. As my doctor said during my last illness, just grin and bear it. Oh well. It hasn't knocked me on my ass, so i've mostly been able to just put up with it.

Bloc Party on Wednesday was just as brilliant as their last show at Slim's. V and Jenz were down in the floor, just a few feet back from the stage in an effort to attract the attention of their Brit heroes. I was happy to head up to the balcony, and had company from V's friend Raffi. After sending the girls inside so they could stake out their spots on the floor, i got to wait in front of the Warfield for Raffi to arrive. As such, i got to enjoy the parade of minivans dropping off 15 year olds, with parents giving last minute warnings and orders to meet them back here at 11pm sharp. Straight out of Almost Famous. While waiting, i ran into Nathan and Summerlea and got to chit chat for a bit. When Raffi arrived, we headed inside and grabbed a drink, and lo, ran into Nathan and Summerlea again. We got to our seats during the interval before second openers the Kills, and amazingly, there on the other side of the aisle were Nathan and Summerlea again. The Kills were great, a two person grungy blues/punk outfit. Most of the set was the guy playing guitar, both singing, and a tape playing drums and other assorted backing noises, but it was fantastic nonetheless. The girl tried to climb one of the PA stacks but was shooed off by a worried stagehand.

Raffi and i occupied ourselves discussing fantasy sports until Bloc Party arrived. The set was much as before, but no less entertaining. A few unplanned events livened up the evening. At one point just before the end of their main set, an unruly fan made it onto the stage. For some reason, instead of the security guy ushering him offstage, he ran straight at him, all but forcing him to stage dive into the crowd. Thankfully away from V and Jenz, but unfortunately he kicked some girl right in the face. Kele immediately put down his guitar, causing the rest of the band to stop playing moments after, and pulled the girl onstage to send her off for treatment. Amazingly, the crowd booed. I was dumbstruck ... how can you fault a performer for stopping the show to help out a fan who's been injured? Something similar happened at their show at Slim's, causing the bass player's last words of the evening to be "that's just not cool". When the band emerged for an encore, Kele made a brief statement about enjoying the show but using common sense at the same time. During their first song of the encore, he wandered in front of the monitors to interact with fans in the crowd (unfortunately not close to V). Backing up, he tripped over the monitor and fell right on his butt. He laid there for a while as the band played on, then got up, wandered over to the other side of the stage, and did the exact same thing again. He then took a page out of the Kills' book and climbed the PA stack, this time ignoring the worried security person's pleas to get down. He looked like he was going to swing on a set of cables from the ceiling lighting, but then apparently took his own advice about common sense. Anyhow, a great show and a band to keep an eye on. V, Jenz, and i got a late meal at Mel's and then went to the Arrow Bar to see if the band were at the after party. The answer was no, so we headed home.

That late night excursion destroyed me on Thursday though, as i could just not shake the drowsiness incurred by only getting five hours sleep. I made it to a 9-10:30am meeting and to a 2-3pm meeting, but got precious little work done on my grant. Luckily, i was super-productive Wednesday so i think i'll be able to meet my self-imposed deadline of next Friday. V caught the band's second show Thursday evening and then hung out with them at Popscene, while i vegetated in front of the TV. I got a little free reading done ... i got interested in a book called Did Adam and Eve Have Navels?, a collection of essays by Martin Gardner "debunking pseudoscience". I read the chapter on intelligent design while in Barnes & Noble and my curiosity was piqued enough to buy it. Unfortunately, many of the chapters contain little debunking and end up being a cataloging of all the instances a particular misconception has taken hold. I'd like more science on why urine therapy doesn't work, and less indexing of all the incarnations of urine therapy. Oh well. I also bought Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, hopefully that will be more thought provoking.

I'm seriously considering trading in my Jetta for a hybrid. Given the tax benefit (although not as big a tax break as owning a hummer ... great idea, George W.), superior gas mileage, and recent law changes allowing hybrids to drive in the carpool lane with only one passenger, i think it's the way to go. Of course, V and i first need to replace the Tercel and get her something. She's been scouring for used Minis lately. I just got my yearly bonus as well as a nice raise, so now's the time to rectify our automotive situation.

I'm eager to see Green Street Hooligans, out in major release in the US today. The film is about soccer thugs in England, with former hobbit Elijah Wood as an American who gets sucked into the world of a West Ham firm. Looks very good, although the screenplay was written by Dougie Brimson, self-professed hooligan expert and author of the rambling, nonsensical Barmy Army. Apparently the movie is only playing at the UA on Sutter in the city, so i'll have to rally the troops over there sometime. Kevin is up from LA this weekend so i imagine there will be lots of partying with him over the next two days. Also on the cards is lunch with my parents tomorrow, and a BBQ in Concord on Sunday celebrating the marriage of Donna and Jove, two of my partners in crime from grad school. It'll be good to see the old gang after being out of touch for a while.