Many thanks to those kind East Devon folk who sat so attentively through my recent set at the mighty Budstock. The sun was shining, the real ale was lukewarm (I get very upset these days when you order a pint of ale and it's as cold as the lager) and the metal was heavy. A good show all round. As for the next month or so, well, I'm off to even sunnier climes. Don't despair, dear reader, for I will return in anticipation of the End of the Road festival on the 14th of September where you might well find some friends and I performing country music in a large tent for your listening pleasure.

I haven't got round to reading the boy wizard yet, but you can expect a comprehensive review when and if I do manage it. I'm taking rather more edifying literature with me Stateside: some Borges; Jan Neruda's Prague Tales; perhaps even the second volume of Simon Callow's Orson Welles biog, 'Hello Americans', which I've been dying to read, oh, ever since I finished the first one. You might think all this reading has something to do with the imminent completion of my PhD thesis. Oh no. I just like the feeling of superiority which swells through me like good whisky as I ponder everyone else ploughing through HP.