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I seem to have ever so slightly joined a brass band. It was mostly by accident, honest. I'm not a huge fan of brass music: I think it's a bit droney without the extra precision of the string section, and a bit tooty without the richer tones of the woodwind; and I think it takes a special kind of person to write brass band music.

But my new boss (more on which topic later) is a cornettist and plays with a local band, CSD Brass. When he found out I used to play percussion, he invited me along to become section leader (*cough*, in a section of one). The band seems to be friendly enough, and although I'm very rusty they thought I was better than an empty seat, so it looks like my Monday evenings are now booked.

It's nice to be playing again, especially after such a gap. I just hope I can remember how to do it quickly enough to keep up with the group. It's already pretty hard as they are all in good form and familiar with the music, and last week I was playing by sight for the first time in years. It doesn't help that I don't have my own kit so won't be able to practise at home. I'm off to Miller's in the morning on a mission to buy some things they are missing, so I may fork out for some practice pads and sticks while I am there. (But see below.)

I've just finished my first full week at my new job, and it's going well. There is one oddity: of the many sandwich vans, fruit vans, fish vans, &c. that cruise round the Science Park trying to sell lunch to the workers, one comes round about 0930, sounding his horn — his horn which plays Dixie. It's very kitsch.

I guess I'm enjoying the work, as I find that the end of the day comes much sooner than I expect, but most days I can still look back and think I've managed to do a good day's work. I take this as a good sign.

My other task for Saturday, if I have time, is to shop for a new amplifier and accompanying speakers. I'll be visiting Richer Sounds which is I think the only decent audio shop in Cambridge. (I looked in John Lewis but they had only mini systems and home cinema packages, and besides, I'm disinclined to buy from them now owing to their flagrant disregard of planning conditions and lack of consideration for cyclists.)

I want the amp for hooking up to my computer, mostly for music but also games and films, which means that 6 channel support is mandatory. It seems that this feature is not present in any audio-only amplifiers, but what I need is called an "A/V receiver". As the V in the name implies, I'll be paying extra for video inputs and outputs that I'm not going to use at all, which is annoying. There seems to be a dearth of decent reviews of these things on the internet, which makes it hard to choose, so it looks like I'm going to be a know-nothing customer and buy whatever the salesman offers me. If anyone has any better advice to offer me beforehand, please do. Unlike certain other blogs, I don't have anti-spam measures that completely prevent classes of users posting comments. In fact, you can avoid the CAPTCHA completely by logging in with your OpenPGP key before you post.