...The term 'Beefeaters' apparently comes from the traditional meal given to Yeomen of the Guards, and reflects their regular culinary habits. In these more enlightened times, however, most people think it is cruel to serve up the feet of a bee, which are needed as part of the bee's distinctive walking style. Today's Guards tend to prefer a more ethical bee foot substitute that, while similar in looks and texture, in made of cow...

For more of this, head over to Project Brainstorm, later today or in the year, and learn.

Went to watch a few bands at the Wheatsheaf last night. There was a clear split in the lineup between bands made of kids and bands made of adults. The first two, Fee Fi Fo Fum and The Youngs Plan were probably fine at what they do, if I had any interest or connection to either Biffy Clyro-like indie rock (the latter) or what I am going to label wank-core (the former). The drummer in Fee Fi Fo Fum was pretty good though. As Charles said, its hard to talk about the band, because you knew all their friends were probably standing by you.

Red Paper Dragon were great, and their burly, bearded slabs of heaviosity in between the more delicate softer builds made me think of bands I love (Isis, Cult of Luna). Their set marked the point where the children left, which tells me that they were not as rock as maybe they would like to believe. I bought their CD, and I'm sure I'll have it playing a lot over the next few weeks. This band should be big.

City Lights Just Burn were a lot of fun, combining punk and post rock traits to varying degrees and making a sound that didn't fit under any label I'm familiar with. I would go watch them again, and if they had any CDs to buy (even though it was their EP launch party) I'd probably have picked one up as well.

More gigs in Oxford, please.

I am engaged to be married.

Cath is as well.

We are thinking about doing it together.

A small pin fell from then power socket of my laptop. Hewlett Packard believe this should cost £385 to replace. I tend to disagree. A man in London says he could weld it back on for £140. I have sent it to him in a box. I hope he is right.

I wish I was in Edinburgh. Everyone seems to be having a great time. I could be performing at the Cellar one Monday night, but I seem to be having a case of performance jitters that I'm sure the only way to combat is by going on stage. Ain't that always the way?

There are a whole host of US series that I should watch, of which 24 and Sopranos are on the drama list, and My Name is Earl, Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm are on the comedy list, but they require a large time and money investment, and I don't always get around to it. That said, I started watching Prison Break today, and it is really compulsive viewing. I have no doubt I'll fly through the DVD just like in my early West Wing watching days. Speaking of which, although I have had the final series since Christmas, I still have Tomorrow to watch. I can't bring myself to finishing it. I think I need help.

Americans make better TV than Brits. Furthermore, Americans make worse TV than Brits. Discuss.

As yet, we remain on dry land. We took a quick walk down to the end of Marlborough Road, where the Isis is just below the edge of the bank for the most part, but some of the towpath has been flooded. I don't know exactly how these things work, but the people of the news tell stories of how fast the water rises once a river bursts its bank. On the other hand, the Thames is supposed to peak within the next two hours, so we may be lucky.

If anything changes, I put it here. Thankyou to the people who asked after us and volunteered their help. Should this become necessary, I'll send word by carrier swan.

Just so you know, I wrote something for Project Brainstorm, for the first time in almost a year. I plan to do a lot more this summer, but it is a start.

Over the weekend, I was delighted when all my grandparents, aunts and uncles took time out of their day to tell me they thought I was looking, variously, "healthy", "like I'd put on some weight", "fatter", "chunkier", "like a human meatball Sub" and "in the wrong direction". I especially enjoyed how each comment was individual, spread carefully during the cause of the afternoon, rather than a collective opionion as the result of a debate, where it was at least theoretically possible for some people to dissent, though be outvoted.

It should also be noted that my nan did not think this made me any less a nice person. That would only happen if I developed a stutter.

No matter. I am the ostrich. I am the ostrich.

Mostly everyone who reads this does not watch the professional wrestling, so if this is hard to understand, I apologise in advance.

Chris Benoit was a favourite wrestler of mine. Never my all-time favourite, just a guy who you knew would put on good-to-great matches every week. He made other guys looked better by being in the ring with him, and helped them reach the next level. He worked hard and always gave the impression that he would do anything for a business that he loved.

Three weekends ago, he murdered his wife and 7-year old child, before committing suicide. Some facts that have been reported. Medical reports suggest his wife, Nancy, was bound and strangled on the Friday. His son was strangled late Saturday or early Sunday. He hanged himself on a weights machine on Monday. A Bible was placed next to both his wife and son. He sent a series of odd text messages over the weekend, giving his address to several other wrestlers at shows he had cancelled his appearances over. There has since been a question over his drug use, especially steroids. There has been a further question that his son, Daniel, may have Fragile X Syndrome, a rare condition that causes mental and physical disability.

In comparison to this list, the range of media speculation in the US can not be summarised anywhere nearly so succinctly. The deaths were blamed on roid rage, an unusual suggestion given the deaths occured over a three day period. They were blamed on the parent's struggle with the son's condition. They were blamed on Benoit being frustrated in his career. Stories about divorce and domestic abuse were produced, and connected to other wrestlers' experiences (and those of their familes). They were tied to the deaths of other wrestlers and former wrestlers. The likes of Bill O'Reilly went as far as the blame Nancy for the murders, as she should have "known better" about living with such a dangerous individual and not adequately protecting her child. Most seems, with even a little examination, ludicrous, just further examples of the sort of mainstream reaction everytime professional wrestling receives unwanted spotlight.

There are a million other twists to this tragic tale that have emerged in the past three week, none of which have done anything to make the whole thing seem any less surreal to me. I have found it very hard to get my head around much of it - it doesn't make any sense to me that someone I could enjoy watching work could do this. This being the crazy world of professional wrestling, there is also a small part of me that is mournful for the lost matches, the tainted career and the fact he'll never be doing what he was good at on TV again. And because the more sensible part of me says it is ridiculous to care about this where the events are so tragic, the whole thing becomes even more confusing.

My opinion on crime has always started with the premise that a person's life shouldn't be defined by the very worst thing they did, though this is often the case. I think it is perfectly possible that people that did good in their lifetime can also, for a myriad of reasons, do something very bad indeed. I think this perfectly describes the situation with Chris Benoit. He spent twenty years risking his body to entertain wrestling fans, and in doing this, has probably entertained millions. He was also, by most accounts until this final weekend, a caring father to all his children, and a good friend and mentor to many. The consensus amongst these friend's is that the final few days of his life were without warning, and were completely out of charachter, suggesting that these were not the actions of an innately evil human being, but possible a temporarily deranged one.

I guess what I would like would be, one day, to be able to watch old matches of him and be thankful for his work and his effort, and try to seperate the two people. At the moment, that is clearly impossible, and aside from the horror that developed as I learned more about these crimes, my overriding feeling is that all that went before them is ruined forever.

I am back off holiday, which was lovely. I am enjoying mt internship, I passed my Master's and I have been accepted onto the D.Phil. All of this is excellent. The thing I really want to write a blog entry for, however, is not as yet allowing itself to form words. I will let you know when it does.

Finally got around to watching Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi, the 2005 Wrestling Obsever Newsletter's match of the year and possibly the most hyped match of the past decade. Ring of Honor are the most successful of all the US indy groups, and have succeeded in attracting a number of stars from Japan to perform. Kenta Kobashi is one of the best wrestlers of all time (though if we're talking the big four from All Japan, I will always be a Kawada fan) and at present, with a career revival while his contemporaries have slowed down, is probably the biggest name is Japan. This date marks only the second match Kobashi had in America in that career, and is by far the most high profile of his matches abroad.

Samoa Joe is the top guy in Ring of Honor, and is the natural opponent for the visitor. It could be realistically argued he is the top US heavyweight worker at that moment in time, and with his size and hard-hitting style, is able to meet the older, more celebrated Kobashi on equal ground. Sensibly, the commentators remain silent throughout the match, as there is nothing they could say that the rapid crowd wasn't saying much more effectively: Kobashi's entrance hit the Reincarnated Christ level of audience approval.

This is a simple match, built as an epic heavyweight contest where both men are searching for that knockout blow. Joe starts strongest, delivering several viscious kicks and slaps, while Kobashi retaliates with chops to the chest and side of the neck. Joe has two largely dominant sections in this match - the first near the beginning where Joe lands a greater number of strikes on Kobashi, including a sickening-sounding enziguri kick to the back of Kobashi's head. The second is in the middle, where Joes uses a wider variety of moves and attacks, culminating in an STF submission hold where Kobashi battles to get to the robes, and Joe keeps finding ways of stopping him. Kobashi stops the momentum with first of two nasty looking head-drop suplexes.

At this point it becomes apparent that while Joe was leading the offence, he was not close to winning, as Kobashi comes back with an INSANE combination of probably 100 chops, leaving the rights side of Joe's chest and neck a hideous purple colour. Joe is basically done at this point, and Kobashi needs to find the final winning blow. Joe keeps trying to get back into the match with more strikes, but after one more suplex where Joe lands on his head, and a blocked lariat, Kobashi hits his own lariat for victory.

The selling is really great, with each man slowing over the course of the match, managing quick bursts of offence when necessary but not being able to maintain the pace and (crucially) demonstrating the adverse effects of this flurries. Going into the final stretch, Joe sells every strike, and bumps huge for the final lariat. The match is elevated by the crowd reaction as much as the wrestling, which while objectively is not a actual positive, makes watching twice as enjoyable. The match is not perfect by any means - Kobashi's offence is limited by his age and past injuries and sections of the middle relies on big spots too much. But it feels momentous and spectacular, and I don't finish watching it feeling the hype has excessively exceeded the actual match. Unusual, considering these are the fans that chant "This is awesome" after the first three strikes, and "match of the year" after everything else.

All done with my Masters. Come check back in early July to find out how I did.

Tuesday was Intrusion - first time I've been since last year. Certainly not the first time I've been out since I moved to Oxford. Oh no no no. Ridiculous notion. Good night, though there was more electronica than fun goth and industrial. I think I may have given Tom a mild surprise with my pretty makeup.

Wednesday was Imps social. So far there is a lack of photos and stories of depravity. There was, however, two young dead pigs to eat.

That is all.

If anyone would like to be outside the exam schools at 12.30pm tomorrow, some seconds after I sit my final Oxford exam, I will probably come and meet you.

I did mean to say that Friday was an excellent night, my own disappointment aside. The important thing was the money, not the individuals of course, and from that perspective, I am happy to have been involved in it.

I had a frustrating gig at Stand Up For Darfur last night. I don't think it was nerves (though you probably couldn't tell from the unintentional frantic pacing across the stage which I really can't explain) but about half way in I went blank. Nothing. I couldn't even recall my emergency backup jokes. I managed to bring it back around when I remembered what I was doing, but for a good few seconds (and they felt lengthy) I was lost. Awful feeling.

The reaction to my set was a little muted as well, though I don't think it fell all that flat. Obviously my own patchy performance was a major contributing factor to this, and coming on and just telling some jokes after Lorenzo's show-stopping sketches also didn't help. I also never felt any connection between me and the audience, and is something I will need to work out. My act should work better if we come together in a kind of "you know this is dumb, I know this is dumb, but being dumb is OK" type of feeling. If I am not charming and likeable or the audience start to feel that this isn't worth their time it'll go badly.

Things to do next time: Stand still, stay calm, don't think too hard, smile.

Cannabis causes harm. Anybody who says otherwise is lying. However, in 2006, alcohol related deaths hit over 8,000. That's just deaths. Not injuries or social problems, just the number of people killed last year due to alcohol drinking. I can't even find any information on cannabis related deaths. The one thing I'm sure about is that if there are any, they have a higher rate of self-infliction than alcohol and tobacco. Most of this is likely skunk-related, rather than the weaker stuff that is more commonly used.

There are 2 million regular cannabis smokers in the UK, so its not as if the smaller number is entirely caused by lower participation. All I would like is a bit of consistency. You want to ban all harmful drugs, then do it. I have never used illegal drugs, I've never smoked, I'm not interested in alcohol, so I wouldn't care. But surely a better solution is to allow individuals to make their own choices about what they do and help ensure they understand the long-term risks. Most drinkers don't drink themselves to an early grave, we provide a safety net for the ones that do, and prosecute those whose use affects others. Treating cannabis similarly would make general use safer and help the police waste less time on non-offences. Furthermore, I've always believed treating it as as illegal as stronger, more socially destructive drugs does more to increase gateway hard drug usage than it prevents.