Get some 'real-time' DB feedback.

The watch command is really awesome, it essentially replays a command every 2 seconds (the interval is configurable), and the output looks really nice as well.

For near real-time db feedback, I've been using watch "drush sqlc 'QUERY'"

You can also do something like watch "mysql -u root -pwhatev -e 'QUERY'" as well, if you dont' have drush.