Good morning. The sun's shining, my office is empty and I've some enjoyable work to do (research, proofreading, and allied tasks).

Apart from the Chilean earthquake (donate to the Red Cross here), it's been a good weekend. Friday night saw me sipping a single pint while listening to Cruel Brother (consisting of friends/colleagues) at an open mic night in a suburban pub. They were good - but were overshadowed by the next act. This unnamed duo consisted of a fantastically cool, dreadlocked Afro-Caribbean blues-jazz guitarist with a great voice, and a 6ft tall woman with flowing blonde hair, big hands and a bigger voice - she is either a transexual or a transvestite - who is also a stunning guitarist. I should admit that I admired their technical skills more than I enjoyed what they played, because 'noodling' isn't my preferred style, but they certainly had stage presence.

Saturday saw the arrival of Cynical Ben and Kerrywoman. Off we trotted to an art gallery in a beknighted hole: Four Ashes, the Mordor of the West Midlands. The gallery is owned by Frank Cohen, a hugely rich businessman who buys a lot of art. It's an odd place: 2 units on an industrial estate, currently hosting a collection of British and Scandinavian minimalist art, some good, some not so good. I did like the cupboard designed for hiding in by people scared of alien invasion though. The guy on the desk hadn't had any visitors for a while, and seemed grateful for human interaction, so go there!

Then to the pub to make the English amongst our group watch their egg-chasers lose to Ireland's egg-chasers, and we saw the first half of Stoke-Arsenal. At 84 minutes, we were on for a satisfactory 1-1 draw. By 90 minutes (+et) it was 3-1 to them and a Stoke player had inflicted an horrific, accidental, leg-break on one of their players. What a way to end an unbeaten run.

The rest of the night consisted of Thai food and lounging around playing amusing music and talking nonsense - perfect. Sunday consisted of much the same - lots of newspapers and enduring Emma's triumphalism as Manchester United stole the FA Cup from Aston Villa.