venta

Last night was the Apocalyptica gig in Camden. Having managed to hitch a lift with

lanfykins and Frances, we got there in time to grab some food. Then managed to find

davefish, which was a bonus as he had my ticket.

As a side issue, I was impressed with the food... a takeaway called "Thai-Veg", to which I gave £3. In return they gave me a plastic box, and let me trot round their buffet filling it up with stuff. All veggie and, though it wasn't stunningly good food, I didn't think it was bad for £3. I certainly approve of the concept.

Anyway... I've only heard occasional bits of Apocalyptica, and wasn't too sure what to expect. If someone told me that there was a string quartet covering the likes of Metallica, Sepultura and Rammstein, I'd expect them to suck royally.

They don't.

As far as I can tell, Apocalyptica are four Finnish guys (with outrageous accents) who desperately wanted to be metal gods, but could only play the cello. But decided to try anyway.

The result rocks surprisingly. They get an impressive range out of sounds out of their cellos (celli?), and manage to reproduce the atmosphere of the likes of Enter Sandman remarkably well. I don't know anything about the cello, but I'd suspect them of being pretty technically competent, too. They certainly handle the 15-fingered screaming solo aspect well.

Mind you, when I've been saying to people recently that my neck is sufficiently recovered that the only two things that cause me trouble are sitting in a car or sitting at a desk, I've been wrong: piling about in a mosh pit is not a good idea either. Which I really should have guessed. Ouch.

Tonight was cookery. I decided to make myself a large chicken, ham and apricot pie for tomorrow. Then, in the interests of self preservation, I made a large chickpea, vegetable and apricot pie for Frances. I made a big cheese oggy to use up the leftover pastry. And I made three-bean ~~vomit~~ casserole to go in the freezer. And I froze lots of spare chicken and ham stock.

Not exactly awe-inspiring stuff, but I hardly ever seem to find time to do anything other than chuck the dinner in the oven. And I need the practice... my pastry still sucks.

Oh, and tonight was slightly car maintenance too. Poor old William is still not well, the sunroof still leaks despite Andy fixing one hole in it. And it's raining :( Does anyone have any recommendations for drying out a distinctly dank car ?