Awaiting Sunny Central

Last night was a rather different experience at the Undercroft as there wasn't anyone spinning the discs and there weren't even any bouncers at the entrance. It was still moderately full and I managed to find the two Phils and Stoobie at a booth with a few members of bar staff.
Stewart was speaking to Sarah about different levels of geekiness whereas Sarah had found different types of "fives" as opposed to high fives and Stoobie was on about the which series of Star Trek was better, i.e the original or TNG and so on.

I happened to be wearing my Happy Mondays t-shirt which for some reason Stewart didn't seem to get but for some reason it seemed to go down rather well.
When everything shut down at around 1am I headed back with my flatmate Tom and we went into a few other flats including Flat 17 where a lot of toast and marmite was consumed as well as messing about with a skateboard.

As for tonight I will be heading into London to see two gigs, the first being a free 20 minute set by Incognito in Fopp near Covent Garden and the second one being Fertile Ground at the Jazz Cafe.
However, as the weather is absolutley stunning I may walk from Baker Street station all the way to Fopp going across Oxford Street.
Definitely one of the main high points of living in London around this time of the year.

Marathon Madness Revisited

It's been rather quiet here although there's been stunning weather good enough for me to have the windows open. I've spent the majority of today listening back to the shows from our 24 hour Marathon Broadcast back in March enjoying such highlights as the Death Metal Karaoke competition on Tudor Rock where Stoobie completley messed up a rendition of "Rock Me Amadeus" inevitably turning into the "Dr Zaius" song from the Simpsons.

Other bizarre moments included Phil H on his Monkey Beats Drum show mixing clips from Trumpton and The Clangers against "Doom's Night" by Azzido Da Bass and Mattie from
"You Heard It Here First" making a return appearance to step in for a show meant to be playing chill out tunes, by playing a selection of rock anthems, at around 5am in the morning.

So far this has been the highlight of Smoke Radio this year for me although next week looks set to be really big with SO4S 2 where we've got plenty of events each night including our second Messy Monday at the Undercroft where it's likely I'll be doing the top slot again on the CD decks.
There's also another pub quiz taking place on the Tuesday where the team I've been in have won twice consecutively so here's hoping we can make it three.

As for tonight I may be heading to the Undercroft where I'm hoping everyone will be in the mood for May Day drinking and having a boogie as per normal.

Birthday Bundles

Last night's party at Flat 59 started off with Troy and a few of the others having a go on Guitar Hero 3 on the Wii that Troy had bought along with him. As the night progressed we saw arrivals from Jake, Oli P, Sophie and both the Phils from the second year where things started to get a bit more chaotic.

I didn't really get drunk at all last night, just a bit queasy instead which resulted in me not really wanting to take part in the drinking games that were happening including
"Ring Of Fire".
One of the rules for getting the king was for Phil Landers to sing any Dizzee Rascal line from one of his songs although he seemed rather reluctant to do so.
There was also a plastic funnel which we used quite a lot for people to drink through and inevitably resulted in a few spillages.

By the time I left Troy, Will and Jake were mucking about on the grass outside the flat and bundling each other so I reckon that Troy was celebrating his 20th as he wanted to.
Hopefully things won't be as chaotic for my 23rd although that's the same day as the Smoke Radio Awards which will probably be one the classiest birthday do's I've had.

Boozed Up (Hopefully Not Out)

It's been a rather quiet one once again today although tonight looks set to be interesting. I spent the afternoon listening to Stephen on Grooveline where it sounds as if he's still enjoying the new Incognito album, and had a listen to Sam do her stuff on
Mix 107. That won't be the case for much longer however as they're dropping her show in favour for a networked sports show going out on Saturday afternoons across the majority of the TLRC stations.

I'm more or less sorted for tonight's do at Flat 59 where I will be bringing a box of Red Russians with me although hopefully I won't need them too much in order to enjoy the goings on.

Live And Unplugged

It was pretty bare again today although this time round I didn't end up sleeping halfway through the day. The show tonight went reasonably well with quite a good response on the shoutbox although I forgot to mention the free Incognito performance at Fopp that will be taking place on Tuesday although I'm hoping that will turn out well.

I managed to book tickets for another gig that's happening all the way into September, Frankie Beverly and Maze at the Hammersmith Apollo. The band are responsible for a well known live album recorded in New Orleans with one of the highlights being
"Joy And Pain" which is a favourite with anyone into 80s soul or the genre overall.
To be in the crowd when they do that live and getting the audience to sing at the end will definitley be something and an ideal way to start my final year at University.

Tomorrow I may buy a few things at Wenzel's as I'm running out and I may head over to Sainsbury's to buy some drinks for a do at Flat 59 tomorrow to celebrate Troy's 20th birthday.

Mundane But Coping

Barely anything of interest has happened today, it was probably the first day in a while that I went to sleep in the middle of the day because there was hardly anything worth doing. That probably means it will be a bit of a struggle sleeping tonight although it's the London Mayor elections so with 5 Live's coverage of that on in the background it should make things easier.

Tomorrow should be different as I'm doing the radio show again, after about a month and they've got Brian Blessed presenting Have I Got News For You later on which should provide a bit of light entertainment. Otherwise the rest of the day should be more of the same.

Last Minute As Per Usual

Today was slightly quieter than the last two days which was spent going to Wenzell's and then to the radio rooms where a few of the first years were completing and printing out their final essays of the year to hand in.
Spike in particular had only done about 1,100 words out of 2000 by 4pm with the essay due in within an hour and there were rumours that one of the other students had got his dad to write one of his essays and was being investigated for plagiarism.
Other than that things were looking pretty much OK.

I plan to spend tonight on Audio Surf which I've managed to get round to buying and should be good fun overall. It's taking quite a while to download however so I'm not sure if it will even be complete by tonight.

Beautifully Retro

That's how I'd sum up the latest Swing Out Sister LP "Beautiful Mess" which I've spent the last hour listening to. To be honest the album's actually less than an hour long and two of the tracks on their are rather poor remixes of ones that are already on there but that's not important.

The album itself definitley progresses throughout with the trademark SOS sound reminscent of Dusty, Bacharach and so on with album highlights for me including
"All I Say, I Do", "Seacret Love" which has shades of "Move On Up" by Curtis Mayfield,
"Out There", and "Butterfly Lullaby" which like the majority of SOS instrumentals comes up with the goods.

Whilst this album is just about worth the wait after their last release 4 years ago it's not as consistent and exciting as the latest Incognito release "Tales From The Beach" and that's from a band who within 4 years have released 4 albums and have continued to come up with the goods every time.

This Friday should definitely be an interesting show.

Messy Monday, Tiring Tuesday

It's been a rather busy and exhaustive 24 hours but I'm hoping it will be the first of many enjoyable experiences this semester. As planned I started off at Spoons in Kenton where Chris, Pete, Phil H and birthday girl Sam were present and I enjoyed a chilli that thankfully wasn't as lethal as the last one I had in there.
We then stopped off at Chris, Phil and Stoobie's new house which is just superb with a nice conservatory and a TV with Sky Digital on there. They've yet to sort out their internet but apart from that they've done well.

Housemate Danielle got us a taxi which took us to the Undercroft and as the night progressed there was quite a good turn out and people enjoying the enjoyable if at times bizarre DJ sets. My set at the end of the night went pretty well throughout with the dancefloor packed at most times and once I got all the usual stuff out of the way such as Hanson and the Jackson 5 I decided to try out a few of my own choices including the now infamous Incognito mash-up which went down well blending "Everyday" with "Hips Don't Lie" and "Baby One More Time" to name a few tunes. I finished off with "Bohemian Rhapsody" although Phil Harris decided to step behind the decks near the end of the song and play James Brown's "I Feel Good" which didn't go down too well with the bouncers.

By this time Sami was desperate for some grub, and trundled along back to Chris and Stoobie's house and I decided to tag along with them. Sam didn't stay for too long but Oli P had managed to wrangle his way over as well as a few other people who wanted to get in but weren't so succesfull. Especially as they had a long way to walk back.
I didn't really get any sleep during the night as it was spent watching the Vault, and old episodes of Family Fortunes and Catchphrase on Challenge. They kept me going until around 7am when I eventually crashed out.

The majority of today was spent as part of the recording for a scene of a BBC Three drama called "Freshers" where I was one of the extras at the Smoke Radio stall at a Freshers Fayre. Some of the others managed to get more bizarre roles courtesy of the props department of the drama society including Miles Blayden Ryall as a Judo instructor, Troy dressed as a giant whopee cushion and Spikey G dressed as a giant mushroom. The shooting took quite a long time as a drama shoot would with multiple takes recorded at different angles but we were eventually allowed to go when they started shooting from our angle in front of the Smoke Radio stall.

Tomorrow should be less exhaustive although I may go and kill a bit of time up in radio where Oli P will be doing his request show as normal. I also need to have a listen to the new Swing Out Sister album which I plan to play along with the new Incognito album on Friday's soul show, the latter of which is due out on Monday.
It's definitley looking hopeful.

"Let's Twist Again"

The plans for tonight have changed slightly as I've been promoted to the top slot at midnight for our Messy Monday where I'll be spinning the cheese to finish off the night. This is because Chris and Phil who normally have this slot want to get rat-arsed for a change and Sammy C who was meant to be in their place has dropped out.

Beforehand I'll be heading to Kenton Spoons for a few drinks and to see a certain Miss Impey will be celebrating her 23rd birthday. Everyone's hoping for a good turn out at the Undercroft at what looks set to be a really good night and an eclectic set of DJs including Oli P who's now doing my old slot, Mattie who's going to be providing visuals as part of his rather rocky set and Stevie McIntosh who'll be spinning his R'n'B gems.

It's going to be a good one.

"Down The Tubes"

It was rather hard yesterday trying to cope in halls without internet access but it meant I could have a few walks outside halls where it wasn't as wet as expected.

As planned I went to see "3 And Out" at the VUE in Harrow and it turned out to be quite a good film with Mackenzie Crook in the lead role of Paul, a tube driver and wannabe writer who had already run over two people within a month and needed to find a third person to be ran over in order to be let off with 10 years wages.
There were a few familiar faces including Imelda Staunton, Kerry Katona, and Annette Badland who once appeared as a nurse in Victor Lewis Smith's first TV series and more recently as one of the Slitheen in Doctor Who.

Tonight's going to be a good one hopefully as Smoke Radio will be taking over the Undercroft once again with our "Messy Monday". I've got a few good tunes in my set such as Matt Bianco's "Wap Bam Boogie", Marcos Valle's "Parabens" and a rather rare groover from Grey and Hanks called "Dancin'". I've also got another mash-up I've done with the rather original title "Jungle Boogie". Probably one I'll slip in near the end.

Slightly Cloudy

I was expecting it to be raining heavily today but as I'm writing, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. It's starting to get rather overcast however so it could turn bad later on.
I haven't really got anything planned for today apart from going to see Mackenzie Crook's film "3 And Out" at the VUE in Harrow later tonight which should be interesting.
I also need to sort out my setlist for tomorrow's Smoke Radio Messy Monday at the Undercroft but otherwise there's nothing really happening around here.

This lunchtime Radio 4 are broadcasting an edition of "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue" in tribute to Humphrey Lyttleton which will incude Willie Rushton as one of the panelists. I'd reccomend anyone who has never heard the show before to buy volume 1 of the series from the BBC Radio Collection which contains some of the funniest moments such as the Modern Nursery Rhymes round, "Gargle Gargle" and an amusing round of "Cheddar Gorge" about exploding trousers.

"I've Been Playing A 'Bored Game' For Over 30 Years"

I found out on waking up this morning that Humphrey Lyttleton, the chairman of Radio 4's "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue" had died.

Humph managed to make the programme entertaining by having a rather reluctant persona as host and could deliver some of the wittiest lines either about scorer Samantha searching for "7 inches" or about Lionel Blair having to "do 12 Angry Men".
Personally I think it would be impossible to continue the show as Humph managed to stay on as host for 50 series and nobody would be in a position to match the style he had alongside team members Barry, Graham, and Tim.

It could be seen as fitting that the last show broadcast with Humph was a special on Christmas Day last year called "Humph In Wonderland" where the host played the part of the lead character in an adaptation of the fairy tale, which included a "Queen Of Farts" although it was never referred to by name.

Overall it's a great loss to a brilliant broadcaster and possibly one of the funniest programmes on radio.

Done And Dusted

I finally managed to complete my Broadcasting essay and get it handed in at the Undergrad Office which means there are now no more assignments until next year. Well, October to be more precise and that is a long time.

Whilst on my way to handing it in I came across Phil H and Stoobie who were trying to take down the Smoke Radio banner that has been hanging on the metal bridge in the street for quite a while.
They need it for this programme that they're helping out on which will be transmitted on BBC 3 where it's meant to give an account of a Fresher's Week at a University.
Hopefully I'll be able to help out as an extra especially as I wasn't around for the majority of this year's actual Fresher's Week.

There's also the Messy Monday night at the Undercroft which the station is holding and I'll be DJing there again between 9 and 10pm. For the first time in quite a while however I won't be the first one on as Oli P has finally got the chance to do a set and will be spinning his selection of tunes. I'm hoping he won't try to impersonate Westwood which is what he's become known for doing especially by shouting "LEEETTS GOOOO!".

It will probably be a quiet weekend beforehand but at least I don't have any more pressures to worry about until the Autumn.

Home Cooking In Halls

There was a visit yesterday night from Michael's mother who had come over to stay the night in halls. Michael had made a roast lamb which was really good although I didn't have too much because I had already made a meal earlier.
They're planning to go back home later today to Mersea near Colchester although if Michael's paying rent for his room I reckon he'll be back sometime within the month.

The plan for today is to finally hand in my essay and then I'll be done with all my assignments for this year. Otherwise it will be another quiet one probably.

Enjoying The Outdoors

Last night went slightly different than planned as a few people decided to start a fire under a hill outside halls. They included Joe, a commercial music student who does a show on the station and George from the Bamboozle team. We were later joined by Oli P from first year radio and a few others who brought a few musical instruments with them including what looked like a tribal drum and a mini accordian as well as quite a few acoustic guitars.

It didn't last too long as the Chinese security guard came up and threw a bucket of water extinguishing the fire which according to Joe was the fourth one they've had in a row this week.
I then went back to the Kodak Court with Oli and someone else who lived there, where they decided to have a throwabout but I decided to head back to halls at that point as I didn't want to get any more injuries to my hand.

I'm in a bit of a reluctant mood this morning knowing that I need to get the assingment done but I can't be bothered to go to the library. I'm sure I'll get somewhere with it however and I'm aiming to get up to 2,500 words which shouldn't be too big a problem.

Puppets In Power

Once again nothing's really been happening today apart from my visit into Harrow as planned.
I did manage to find this rather amusing video of Rainbow dubbed with the voices of the candidates for the London Mayor elections due to take place on the 1st of May.
Personally I reckon there isn't really any difference between the voices of Zippy and Ken Livingstone

The plan for tonight is to hopefully get through tonight's episode of The Apprentice and tomorrow I'll be back in the library aiming to finish off my Broadcasting essay.
I'm really hoping things pick up once the assingments are done although when the loan arrives it may result in everyone being more outgoing.

Warm April Conditions

There's been an improvement in the weather today with a few of those living in halls making good use of the grass outside in the good weather. Hopefully when a few more people arrive back who I know I'll be able to enjoy it too but I did make a visit to Sainsbury's earlier today without needing to wear a coat as I went out.

Asides that I managed to get just under two thirds of the way through my Broadcasting Essay writing about what sort of content ITV had to offer and how the BBC initially responded. I also need to register for the modules I'll be doing next year although SRSweb doesn't seem to be working on the University website which may mean I have to choose the modules by writing them down if that method still works.

I'm not sure how I'll spend tomorrow, probably another visit to Wenzels although I may go a bit further just to get more exercise.

A Summer Without Radio Laughter?

That's what I've found out today via the Media Guardian website as it's revealed that there won't be a series of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue this Spring/Summer due to Humph being admitted to hospital. Basically it means my Monday nights are more or less empty for longer than normal until Nicholas Parsons and the team return around July time with Just A Minute, although it doesn't really have that many funny moments as often as ISIHAC mainly because one host is more irreverant than the other.

I'd planned to go and see the stage show of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue in Oxford last September but because of what had happened the month before it made things tricky. That's still going on however with Rob Brydon in place of Humph in the chair.

On a lighter side I managed to find this Album Chart rundown from the Chart Show as transmitted on the 15th of May 1987! My second birthday nonetheless.
I swear that the music in the sting for this rundown sounds very similar to Level 42, who are featured with their album "Running In The Family".
And rather fitting to find Swing Out Sister at Number 1 with their debut "It's Better To Travel" with the video for "Twilight World" being shown, complete with late 80s clothes and hairstyles.

Plenty of gems on that album overall including the hit "Breakout", "Blue Mood"
as mentioned halfway through the video (and I happen to have the video for that song somewhere) and "Fooled By A Smile" which was covered by Julie Dexter along with Incognito a couple of years ago.
I've yet to listen to the current SOS album which I'm keeping safe until I've got all my assignments done but I've seen plenty of good reviews on Amazon so it will hopefully be worth the wait.

Backspamming

I got quite a bit of stick from a few people on Facebook when my profile was hacked into and sent out links to a site advertising illegal drugs. I've no idea how it happened but I know that I'm not the only one to have been hacked on the site.
The rest of today has been pretty quiet as always, not much eventful going on apart from a visit to the library to work on my Broadcasting In the 20th Century essay where I'm now up to just under 1000 words out of 3000.

It's the BAFTA TV awards tonight which should cover my evening although I'm not expecting nothing too interesting to happen. There were a few surprises last year however such as Mitchell and Webb's sketch show winning the comedy award despite quite a few people critisizing compared to Peep Show which they don't write.
I've heard that the BBC have approached them to write their own sitcom pilot which I'm looking forward to seeing the results of.

I may make another visit to Wenzels tomorrow to get some bread as I'm pretty short of that at present and if I'm up for it I'll try and make the halfway mark with my Broadcasting essay. The deadlines not until next Monday anyway so I'll go about it steadily.

Messy May

Still a rather run of the mill day as always, just finished watching Doctor Who and waiting for Britain's Got Talent to start which should be enjoyable if last weeks was anything to go by.

It looks as if I've got quite a lot of diary dates as soon as the assignments are handed in as Sami's using the Smoke Radio Messy Monday night at the Undercroft as the destination for her 23rd birthday. Also on the 5th of May Incognito will be performing at the re-opened Fopp in Central London for a free 20 minute gig which I'll need to plan around as I'll be seeing Fertile Ground at the Jazz Cafe on the same night, provided the tickets turn up in time.

Then of course on the day after it's Dissertation Deadline Day so I reckon they'll be a few drinks and another journey into Central if we're lucky. Just a case of getting the assignments or should that be assignment done which is my broadcasting essay so I'll start on that tomorrow morning.

Armed In London

I managed to hand in my Advertising case study today which means I've only got the Broadcasting essay to get done before I'm done for the year.
Apart from that it's been rather quiet here although I'm looking forward to the current series of Have I Got News For You which starts tonight with Jack Dee as the guest host.
Hopefully if Boris Johnson isn't succesfull in his bid for London Mayor they'll get him back again although every series has it's fair share of strong and weak people hosting the show.

They showed Boris's campaign broadcast on television earlier and it appears that he wants to cut down on muggings that happen on public transport by putting police on buses. This reminds me of when I was in Venice and a few of us were on a bus when a load of policemen rushed on aiming there guns at what appeared to be a criminal which looked like a mugging itself. Hopefully it won't get as violent as this although from personal experiences Harrow's rather dangerous in itself at night time.

I need to do some shopping tomorrow as I'm running out of my usual wares although that should be good as I'm attempting to lose a bit of weight. It may be an idea to consider joining the gym next year.

Bow Of Bliss

Jamie Cullum used to be referred to as "the David Beckham of jazz" although I reckon the equivalent for classical music has to be Nigel Kennedy judging by his appearance on the One Show tonight. If anyone saw it they could probably tell judging by his voice sounding very similar to the football player, why he's better known for playing the violin although they did show a few clips of him in action. These included his arrangement of the Doctor Who theme, set to be performed at this years Proms.

I reckon his finest television moment however, had to be on Going Live! back in November 1989 when he made an appearance with Jason Donovan and the Singing Corner for a rather crazy rendition of "Hound Dog".

As for the rest of tonight I've reached the final episode of Skins series 1 which should provide me with entertainment. My favourite episode from that series would either be the first one or the one when they went on a trip to Russia which happened to be co-written by Simon Amstell.
Definitely one of the better dramas I've seen recently.

"Make Believe Not War"

Once again another empty day with not much worth doing apart from reading or should that be skimming through the books I've borrowed from the library for the advertising module.

As planned I went to see "Son Of Rambo" which turned out to be a very entertaining film about a young boy from a Plymouth Brethren family becoming the star in an amateur video from another boy at his school, with a good blend of funny and downbeat moments.
There weren't many well known actors in the film but there was an appearance from Adam Buxton as a science teacher who once again ended up in a rather painful scene. However this was nowhere near as violent as his role as a newspaper journalist in
"Hot Fuzz". Also appearing were Jessica Hynes from "Spaced" as the mother of the Plymouth Brethren family and Anna Wing as the grandmother, better known as Lou Beale from Eastenders.

There was good attention to detail with the time period of the film set in the early to mid 80s with not just the music from that era but a couple of Radio 1 JAM jingles were also used in one of the scenes.
They even mentioned the jingles in the credits with Jon Wolfert and composer
Chris Kershaw getting a mention which helped to make the film for me although overall it's definitely one of the best I've seen this year.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get my advertising case study completed which I hope isn't going to be too hard a task and I need to go and get some drinks as I've had to survive on water for the majority of today.

Settling Back In Speedily

I felt rather unsure about coming back from Canterbury this morning and have felt that I should have stayed for a bit longer but it's not too bad now as I've managed to get three quarters of my advertising case study done. It's rather quiet on campus however although the only place that's really full of students is the library where people have been working on assignments. I don't want to rush completing the case study so I may spend tomorrow looking at some of the books that I have got out to help me write the essay and try and have it completed by Thursday or Friday.

My aim is to stay here in London until they throw us out of halls at the beginning of June although I have to go back to Canterbury sometime in May to the Fracture Clinic at the hospital to check my finger and I'm hoping that it doesn't happen during Smoke Radio's final week of broadcasting.

The weather here looks set to be rather mixed as earlier today it was sunny but not really the sort of weather to be without a coat as the temperatures haven't really got higher since the snow just over a week ago.
Tomorrow evening however I may go to the VUE in Harrow to see "Son Of Rambo"
which I've been waiting to see for quite a while and is about some young boys who try to recreate the film Rambo to amusing results. I reckon it will be one of the highlights from our shores to hit the screens this year.

A Hopeful Return?

It's been my last full day in Canterbury and I spent part of it visiting Dad in hospital. He's starting to feel better than he did before although he's still having trouble moving one of his feet. I feel rather bad leaving at this time but Mum's still visiting him at least once a day so things should slowly progress even if it's rather difficult for Dad.

On a lighter note I've found out where we're going to be holding the annual Smoke Radio Awards and it's at this place called "Paradise" in Kensall Green which isn't too far from Harrow. I've had a look at the menu which I'm not 100 percent about as there are things that I like and things that I don't like on seperate dishes. That's not too good although on the plus side the awards themselves should be a good laugh and Chris and Phil will be DJing after all the gongs have been given out.

And it's taking place on my birthday of all days which should be fun and it means I can do my show live on the Friday although if that is the case it will be following the final show from our Smoke Radio stalwarts Goodlass and Marshall. Then again they've always given me the nerves and energy needed before a show that in the end, ends up going even better than it normally does.

We've also got another Undercroft night in two weeks in what's going to be called the "Messy Monday" which I hope to be DJing at. That will be on the day when I've got all the coursework for this year completed and this semesters loan will be in my bank account. Things should continue to be messy from there onwards.


RIP Mark Speight: 1965-2008
"If You're Glued To Art, Stick With SMart!"

Still Unsure But Coping

It's still been rather quiet in Canterbury as Mum's been at the hospital seeing how Dad's getting on. As for me I've only really been into Sainsbury's and through Canterbury on this rather mixed day as far as the weather is concerned.

Right now I've spent time playing Bejeweled and listening to the Soul Cellar on Time 106.6 which will be including some new stuff of the Incognito album which should be interesting. I may do a show in the first week of May playing my personal favourites off the latest album "Tales From The Beach" alongside stuff from the new Swing Out Sister album "Beautiful Mess" which I haven't listened to just yet but I'm hoping it will be worth the long wait since their last album "Where Our Love Grows" which brings back memories of Summer 2004 and Jonathan Ross playing it on his Radio 2 show.

They were going to get Andy and Corrine to come in to do a live session for them but they didn't end up coming in the end and on the day that they were scheduled they had Lisa Stansfield instead! There's someone who I've yet to see perform live in London although I've seen quite a few individual performances on her DVD.

Awkward Circumstances

It's been rather difficult for most of today as my dad's been taken to hospital because of breathing problems and pains in his leg. They're currently doing testing on his medication so I'm guessing that means he will have to stay there overnight so I hope nothing too serious happens.

I went to ASK in Canterbury at lunchtime with friend of family Concha where we both had a Penne Polo De La Casa although I thought my one was more creamier than hers and it was pretty hot as well meaning I had to have a few more drinks.
Non alcoholic obviously.
I'm still feeling rather uneased about the summer once the year has finally finished and my concerns about that were probably why I didn't really enjoy the visit into Canterbury as much as I should have done.

I've spent the evening watching the second episode of Doctor Who followed by the opening episode of Britain's Got Talent series 2. On the latter they had a rather embarassing 20 year old who gave a tuneless rendition of "Valerie" but the highlight had to be a contortionist who managed to keep herself up in mid air aided only by her mouth.
It maybe a good time to stop there I guess.

Still Dull In Canterbury

Haven't really had much of a day apart from a visit to Morrisons to do this week's shopping.
Whether this weekend will get any better I'm not too sure about as I just want to get the next few days out of the way before going back to London where I will want to get my essay assignments out of the way.

April's never really an easy time at University although I imagine next year will be even worse with the dissertation in full flow although the big date in everyone's diary is May the 7th when quite a lot of drinking will be going on after they are all handed in.

Honestly this does seem like the longest month at the moment although I'm sure it won't be anywhere near as bad when the summer arrives.

Unmendable?

I went as planned to the hospital where I hoped I would get my finger sorted out but it turns out I still have to have it bandaged. It's not as tight as it was before as they want me to "exercise it" in order for it to get better and I have another appointment in Canterbury due in 4 weeks.

Also, before I go back to London on Tuesday I've got another appointment at Laurel House with probably the 6th consultant I've seen since being put onto medication. I'm certain that what I'm on at the moment is doing it's job but I reckon I'm going to have to have a rather mundane summer to avoid what happened last year happen again.

Remains Of Winter

After seeing it on television on Monday I made a visit to Old Wives Lees where we went for a walk on a nearby footpath. There wasn't really anything there that stood out but we went past an Oast House that was having an extension built and there was still some snow that hadn't melted which included what appeared to be some snowmen without heads.
Dad told me about this place called "Womanswold" which as I understand is near Dover although I'm not sure whether I want to go there after todays visit. Or maybe it's because I'm starting to realise how dull things can get in Canterbury and am missing some of the comforts of Harrow, even if there are such things.

I've stumbled across a documentary celebrating the 25th anniversary of
County Sound Radio in Surrey and Hampshire which includes an item about 13 minutes in with Les Reed who composed the theme and jingles used by the station when it launched back in 1983.
The theme went on to be adapted by Alfasound a year later for the first of many jingle packages throughout the 80s including some stunning ones recorded in America.
County Sound happened to be one of the first radio stations in the UK to use a computer controlled record selection system back in 1986 athough Selector back then only sorted the playlists out as the records themselves were still played on turntables.

Definitely a testament to a station that in recent years has avoided being brought by larger companies.

Skins and Starvation

Haven't really had much of a day in all honesty. I made an appointment with the fracture department of the Kent and Canterbury Hospital for Thursday although it took a very long time to do so going through their automated phone system.

I've managed to spend the rest of my time discovering "Skins" on 4oD after seeing it at Ross Powell's house last week, where I've started on Series 1 with a guest appearance from Harry Enfield swearing his head off as one of the character's dads. I'll give the second episode a go tonight although like most dramas I'm not sure if I can last through a whole series.

I need to do some shopping tomorrow as we don't have any bread or apples which I've been finding it rather hard to manage without although I normally find myself to be more hungrier when I come back to Canterbury. However as I'm back in London in just under a week I'm sure things will be OK again soon.

Undiscovered Areas Of Canterbury

There was an item about a village near Canterbury called "Old Wives Lees" on The One Show earlier tonight which I've never come across before but it's near Chilham which is a nearby historical village.
It was part of a series of items about unusual place names and they found out that the place was nothing to do with old wives themselves but with old woods.

I went for one or two walks in Chilham whilst I was recovering last autumn although it didn't look as if there was a lot in this village from what was shown in the feature. But then again just because somewhere has an odd place name doesn't mean the place itself will be too exciting.

Tomorrow I need to sort out what I need to do about putting my finger into it's correct place as to whether I need to arrange an appointment at the hospital or if I just need to go in. As long as I can get it sorted out soon I'll be happy as I want to get these plasters off as soon as I can.

Uneventful Goings On and Lie Ins

I let anxieties get the better of me whilst I was in bed last night which meant I probably didn't get to sleep at all until about 1am. This resulted in another lie in despite being woken up by a mobile phone reminder I put in about a week ago to sort out an appointment at the clinic to get my dislocated finger sorted out.

When I finally got up I made my way into town to get my credit card bill paid and I'm not really sure how I'm going to spend the rest of today. It's definitley a lot brighter outside than yesterday and there doesn't appear to be any shades of winter at all now.
I'm guessing most days spent here in Canterbury until returning to London will be more or less the same.

"I Bet They Read Blammy's Blog"

Since my last post we've had a bit more snow in Canterbury to the point in which the rooftops are covered. I haven't really been out though apart from a visit to ASDA to buy some new trousers from George during which I've realised that I need to lose a bit of weight.

Aside that I've been working on my advertising case study looking at the John Smith's "No Nonsense" campaign featuring Peter Kay from 2002-2004 where I'm now up to around 600 words explaining why advertising was used.
I got distracted however whilst writing it however upon discovering several ads for another drink, in this case Carling Black Label and their "Best Bet" campaign used throughout the 80s into the 90s.
It's probably a good time to share a few of them so here as follows:

Airplane (with the full rendition of the jingle)

Popeye

Surfer

Sheepdog

Levis Pisstake

Mind Reader

Cowboy (One of the more memorable ones)

Treasure Hunt Pisstake

And my personal favourite,

If you consider the jingle it replaced from this earlier ad it's very similar to Invicta Radio's mid 80s strapline "You've Got It Right Across The County".

And speaking of similarities I'm sure anyone from London or at Uni who reads this will have seen these ads on the Underground or around London for an exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts.







Personally I think the "A" reminds me of the "V" in LWT's variant of the 1989 generic ITV logo as pictured below:











There's a logo I remember from many a happy weekend in London when the tall building on the South Bank provided them.

The Underwater Birthday Do At Buff

It was Charlotte's "Chunder The Sea" party last night and I arrived with Jane at the "House Of Buff" where among those their included Sarah wearing orange face paint as tan along with a few tentacles, Emma with a jellyfish umbrella, Tudor dressed very smartly as 007 because he was a "navy agent" and birthday girl Bracey wearing an orange nylon jacket covering a swimming costume which we eventually got her to reveal.
The house was decorated specially with netting made to look like water and we even had a bubble machine that made the floor slightly slippery allowing me to do one or two falls in the style of Peter Simon.

Fashion student Kat was also there with her boyfriend Rob off the Film course who chatted to Tudor about his idea for a dissertation analysing the Beatles films.
Pete, one of the other guests got a bit too queasy than the rest of us and ended up spending most of the night in the toilets although by midnight, about half the guests had gone home and I ended up sleeping on the couch in the front room.

By the time I woke up it was snowing outside and I made my way back to halls despite having to wait 15 minutes for a bus and another 15 minutes at Harrow on the Hill tube station, leaving me tired enough to have another sleep before heading back to Canterbury around 10am.
How I'm going to spend my time here I'm not too sure so expect these posts to quieten down over the next week or so.

A Tiny Bit Hungover

After everyone had got their podcasts completed we headed down the Undercroft for a few end of semester drinks with Matthew, and Dave Sharp joining us in the proceedings. We were later joined by Tudor as well at which by this point I was slightly tipsy and I thought it was the best way to be set to do a radio show which probably proves a point towards a few things.

The show went pretty well and it was nice to be back in the bigger studio once again although I accidentally played one of the tracks at the wrong pitch because someone had left the pitch control button at a lower tempo and I forgot to check it beforehand. After the show had finished and we had struggled to transfer the recording onto my hard drive due to the network being slow, myself and Tudor went to Sainsbury's to get some drinks and then went to Denis's for his leaving do and spent most of the night watching music videos on the Vault, and episodes of Family Guy.
It was during the videos that I was making a big deal about whether they were all
"Chart Show Teritory" i.e. released before late 1998 and I kept on going on about trying to stay around until 3pm this afternoon when they would be showing a classic countdown on the channel.

We were joined by Steven and Caroline, Ross and Jane and a few of the first years
including Lottie, Dean and Sophie at which point I was more or less wasted and had drunken just about all my bottles of Red Russian. It wasn't really a good state to be going home in especially as I was rather drunk to the point of being unable to open the door to my room in halls. I finally managed to get in so I didn't have to spend the night lying down in the corridor which I almost ended up doing.

There's another do going on tonight in the form of second year TV student Charlotte's "Chunder The Sea Party" for her 20th birthday which is going on all the way up in Harrow Weald of all places. Luckily the N18 starts near their house so if anything similar happens tonight I'll be covered.

Pop Without Fizz

There were a few visitors to the flat tonight in the form of Keeley and Joe, two first year radio students who along with their friend Fran who does TV had a meal prepared by flatmate Michael who's on the same course as Fran.
We had a chat about a few things concerning radio and our hopes for next year and it has to be said that Keeley and Joe have one of the best daytime shows on the station with highlights being interviews with people such as Mr Motivator, Dave Benson Phillips and Geoffrey from Rainbow.

Michael even brought out a bottle of Bucks Fizz for us which went down pretty well and while all this was going on we had one of the music channels on the television counting down the 20 Most Disastrous Bands which included such delights as B-Witched and "C'est La Vie", Adam Rickett's "I Breath Again" and One True Voice's debut "Sacred Trust".
I'm hoping to have a rather quiet night tonight, as it's been rather hectic for most of this week although I'm hoping the last day tomorrow will go down alright.

Uneventful But Hopeful

Barely anything's been happening today, I spent most of the afternoon asleep in bed as there wasn't really much going on. I did go to Sainsbury's to get a few things which I reckon will be my last visit there before coming back in two weeks to get my essays done.

It turns out that Grooveline will still be continuing on Blast but in a new timeslot on Saturdays between 12 and 2pm and with less emphasis on features, but what's more important is that the shows will be live! This will only be for a few months as Stephen's planning to move into Central London later in the year but I'm sure it will go out in style.

As for my last day in London tomorrow, I reckon it may involve a few drinks before the show as the plan is to drink the bar dry down at the Undercroft which I'm hoping most of the second years will be doing after uploading their podcasts which are due in.
And that's just about everything finished as far as Uni work goes for 6 months which this year really will seem like a long time due to the shortened semesters.

Bail For Ale

Just as I got in last night I got a call asking if I wanted to go down to Kenton Spoons again so I went down there and oh my, it was rather packed. This was because of the Arsenal V Liverpool game which was being shown but I managed to find Chris, Pete, Stoobie, Dean, Denis and Lottie amongst everyone in there. After the game had finished things got a bit quieter and Chris and Pete started to record or should that be fake vox pop interviews for their podcast based on the Ale Festival.

Pete left us at around 11pm to go back to Aylesbury and everyone started talking about things such as the origins of middle names and painful places to get hurt. After closing time we headed back to Chris and Stoobie's house where Stewart was playing on this rather amazing game called Audio Surf which involves racing across this track trying to match colours set to music that you have on your computer.
Some of the tunes that were played ranged from "Ghostbusters" to "Mars" from the Planets suite by Holst. The tune I chose when I had a go was "Walking On Sunshine" by Katrina and The Waves which went rather well without too many sharp turns.

I'll try and spend today being a bit more relaxed although I may go up to M-Block just to see what's happening.

Further Uncertainty

Nothing really eventful has happened today, there was the final advertising lecture which was just a few guidelines on writing the case study. Why it has to be handed in on the 21st of April is nonsense as it's during holiday time and not many people are going to be around.

I recieved an e-mail earlier mentioning that Grooveline on Blast 1386 has finally drawn to a close due to Stephen's hectic work schedule since switching jobs from Reading to London and the fact that listener interaction has virtually vanished since the show became permantley pre-recorded last September.
I almost got to sit in on one of the shows as a guest last August although I was unable to do so in the end because I was "recovering" in hospital. I was gutted about that especially as it was the final live show.

However this allows me to move on to something that has been concerning me for quite a while and it's whether I want to continue doing my own show on Smoke in my final year. It was the encouragement and constructive comments from fellow radio students that kept me going, especially in the first year but I really don't think that I'm regarded that well on the station now, especially with those in the year below.
Also, since moving to Fridays I haven't really enjoyed as much as I've used a smaller studio and the atmosphere in the radio rooms has been virtually dead. Hopefully I'll be able to move back to Wednesday's next year which would give me an excuse to bring back
an old promo for the show which I reckon was one of the strongest I've done.

What has also been bugging me is the amount of indie shows on the station and the constant backside licking around them from the comittee. Some of the shows aren't bad such as Mattie's show on Monday, but I think some of the others are going a bit too far getting rather big for their boots.

A few people in the Undercroft last night said that they'd heard my show which was rather surprising considering they're not radio students and I'm pretty confident about the music on offer in this weeks show such as Moses Mayes and that track from Neo which I ran out of time to play last week. I may even try and get back into Studio 6 as I'm bloody tired of using Studio 4 where it's so easy to cock up on any given occasion.

Tuesday Escapades and Uncertainty

Going into Central with a jacket on wasn't such a good idea as it was pretty warm and very good walking weather compared to what we've been having. I met up with dad to collect my tablets and we had a meal at Prezzo's near Victoria station before I headed back up to Uni and to M-Block where a few of the second years were working on their podcasts.

Some of us decided to go up to the Kenton Spoons to watch the Manchester United V Roma game and we were later joined by Sam, Kelly and Danielle, the latter two who would be leaving for the sports tour the next day.
After the game had finished the plan was to head up to the Undercroft where the CMP students were holding their April Fools fundraiser although we stopped off at Chris, Phil and Stoobie's to drop a few things off and Sam and Danielle waited for Kelly to drive up to Kenton station to pick them up, meaning only a few of us got there.

I really wasn't feeling it at all to be honest despite the special attractions such as jelly wrestling and the magic tricks. One of the doors back into the bar was specially decorated into a curtain made to look like something suggestive.
Luckily two members of the Beer Pong team arrived, my flatmate Tom, and James who judging by his iTunes playlist has a fantastic taste in music and we spoke a bit about Earth Wind and Fire and George Benson who he happened to be bought up upon.

The music that was played in the bar was more or less the same as last night with one of the DJs trying to mix a D&B beat over Tom Jones's "You Can Leave Your Hat On" whilst a number of third year CMP students were stripping, although they did play a rather good mash-up of the acappella of Lily Allen's LDN over Chad Jackson's
"Hear The Drummer Get Wicked".
We stayed until around 2:30am and I'm now feeling rather unsure about things as always that are mostly radio related but I'll save those thoughts for a later post.

After An Extended Lie In...

Yesterday evening consisted on sitting in on Ross and Paul's Live Variety Show, before heading back with them and Jane to Ross's house where we had a few home made pizzas. To be honest I thought they had a bit too much tomato sauce on them but Paul tended to find my reaction hilarious when I described it as "messy".

We then made our way up to the Undercroft where quite a lot of people were present including the members of Team Beer Pong UK with specially made t-shirts. Some of the CMP third years were DJing where they played a few odd choices such as Fatboy Slim's "F***ing In Heaven" and Mr Oizo's Flatbeat although it got really chaotic when at about 00:45 the music disapeared for a short while until they started playing Tom Jones'
"You Can Leave Your Hat On" and we managed to get someone to strip off completely with quite a big crowd amongst the goings on. Towards the end they played "Killing In The Name Of" which got a similar reaction and a D&B remix of "Ready Or Not" which resulted in everyone singing the chorus way after they faded the music out at closing time.

Most of us went to a flat party afterwards where the Beer Pong boys were attempting throws, only with a crushed ball and myself and Jane spent a bit of time with this fella who had been in the army and had a few scars on his hand to prove it. I left at around 3am although it's going to be quite odd without the usual Monday night carnage for the next few weeks. Hopefully I'll save a bit of money.

Still Tied Up

I couldn't remember anything from between leaving the hospital and going back to my flat last night. It now turns out that I have to give some notes that Lottie collected as we left, to the doctors at the clinic in Canterbury in the next two weeks, and I have to keep my dislocated finger in its plaster for about the same amount of time.

Today saw the final lecturer in the Broadcasting in the 20th Century module where we looked at the digital age and the many different methods of broadcasting used on said platforms. These included video blogs and the example that David Hendy used was noneother than one Ross Tilley who luckily wasn't in the lecture to try and defend himself.
As for tonight it will be the final Happy Mondaze of the Spring semester, although to be honest I don't think you could really call it a spring semester judging by the not so warm temperatures we've been having.

Sprung and Damaged

As quite a few of the first years were outside playing frisbee, I decided to go down and see what was going on. This was until someone decided to add a football into proceedings which I attempted to catch but ended up dislocating my little finger.
This meant that I had to make a visit to the A&E department at the nearby hospitial where I went with Lottie, Dean and Alice.

Whilst waiting I became rather addicted to the gas they had on offer which I had to breath in and made you feel slightly drowsy, whilst at the same time it
made your voice sound like Frank Bruno.
It took quite a while to get the x-rays sorted out but as soon as they were done they began a short operation that resulted in my little finger being plastered with the one next to it.

I'm not sure how it's going to go from there but I hope it won't get in the way of desk driving even though next Friday's show is the last one of the semester.

Finally Sprung

I ended up making two visits to Sainsbury's today as a result of forgetting to buy any drinks first time round. Apart from that it's been a rather quiet day although it's nice to see people outside on the grass near halls as the days are getting longer now.

I've not been too well myself as I have a bit of a sore throat although I don't think it's to the point of needing to buy Strepsils so I'm hoping tomorrow I'll be in a better state. Especially as I'll be making my final visit to the Undercroft this semester although as I've said before, the turn outs this semester haven't really been as good as last year, which could be due to the lack of Smoke Radio nights that have been taking place.
I'm really hoping we get one in May when we do our final week of broadcasting and hopefully decorate the bar with tropical decor like last year.

Although for some reason there's a straw hat hanging about in Studio 4 for which doesn't exactly make sense, especially with all the clutter around.

Saturday Leisure, Past And Present

Once again I was up in the radio rooms whilst Chris, Dean and Denis did their Saturday afternoon show, reviewing records and giving sports updates. We then went down to the Kenton Spoons where I had another chilli although this time round it was really hot and didn't go down too well.
We were joined by Stoobie and Phil as the Manchester United V Aston Villa game was about to start although I was starting to feel rather knackered and left at around half time.
It turns out that Chris on the other hand hadn't been to sleep at all since after last night so how he managed to stay active must have taken something.

Following the post I made yesterday on the old children's series Double Dare I played part of it to Stoobie as I reckon his voice sounds similar to the show's voiceover man Nick Wilton.
Stewart didn't seem to think so himself, saying that the voice was more like a
hyped up Griff Rhys Jones, although quite a few other people agreed at the smilarities between the two. I do however tend to think that Matthew the senior radio lecturer has similarities between him and Peter Simon for some reason although I'm not sure how he'd take towards that. Especially the slipping over the floor part.

And on the subject of nostalgia The Vault on Sky Digital have brought back the
classic countdowns to their channel at weekends with today's episode according to Digital Spy coming from the 15th of August 1992.
I'm guessing that was the weekend we finally returned from that very wet holiday in Scotland and Snap were topping the charts with "Rhythm Is A Dancer". Hopefully I'll get to see the episodes myself at some point although what I'd really like would be the DVD of the first ever episodes shown on ITV back in 1989, that I ended up losing last August when "that incident" happened.

Why they disapeared I don't know but I still have the DVDs of the ones shown on the Vault last year which helped to entertain me whilst I was recovering from what had happened in August.
These nostalgic flashbacks keep returning in my dreams when I'm in bed which keeps prompting me to ask, were Saturdays back then better than what we have now?
There's nothing worse than waking up in that sort of state although one redeeming part of Saturday apart from Doctor Who returning next week is my brother show Grooveline on Blast 1386 which goes out between 6 and 8pm. Turns out that Stephen is also a fan of Estelle's "American Boy" which admittedly is one of the better records to have been relased this year and has got quite a nice hook to it.

Definitely one to be featured on the long list of songs for this University year that will probably appear on this blog around early June.

Liquid And Locos

I spent most of yesterday in M-Block which included another liquid lunch down the Undercroft and a few moments of hilarity such as Phil Harris making the mistake of confusing Mighty Boosh star Noel Fielding with Noel Edmonds.

I also did my first proper soul show after last weeks Easter break and to be honest it was the first one I sort of enjoyed doing this semester. It was newsreader Dan's last bulletin beforehand and he made a bit of a farewell speech before handing over to my show which meant I had to cut short the final track I was playing and really getting into so as to hand over to the show after me.
The track in particular was by an artist called Neo and "Smile" remixed by some Japanese producer who I can't pronouce for the life of me but it will definitely be featured next week on the final show of the semester.

After the show I got a call from Chris to come down to Flat 59 where Dean a Fine Art student who went with us to Bath was having a birthday do with a few of the first years.
After a few drinks and mixed drinks in my case, we got the tube and headed to Central, picking up Tudor at Wembley Park and getting off at Holborn where we went to the nearby Spoons.
I nearly didn't get in as a result of forgetting my ID but I survived and had a few more drinks before we went to Covent Garden and a club called "Los Locos".

The music they were playing was a mixture of funky house and R&B with a few classics thrown in such as "California Love", "Maria Maria" by Santana and "Shackles" by Mary Mary.
A few people including Tudor and Jake decided to leave at around 00:30am to get the nightbus back but myself Dean, Chris, Lottie, Will and Sophie stayed for another hour and were lucky enough to find a 6 seater taxi outside the club which we got to take us back to Harrow.

We immediately went back to Flat 59 where we were joined by Alice who had been working in the Kenton Spoons that night and Stoobie who was working at O'Neil's, and had a few more drinks before leaving Dean and Chris to crash out in the kitchen.
I don't really have anything planned for today so it's a case of seeing how things go and what others are up to.

"Take The Physical Challenge!"

I came across another interesting video find last night, a full edition of the popular children's gameshow Double Dare which was featured on Going Live! for the majority of it's run.

This particular edition is the first one from the 1991/92 series although we don't get to see Peter Simon fall over on the floor by slipping over the messy gunge,
a move that I've tended to impersonate myself over the wet floors of the Undercroft and Area 51 when a little tipsy. It does however feature the rather wacky voice of
Nick Wilton "you get to take home your Double Dare t-shirt and trainers!"

Peter can nowadays be found selling items on Bid-TV which I've stumbled across now and again on Freeview although I think the clip above shows him what he was like in his prime. And good to see the video top and tailed by a certain Mr Schofield.

As for today I've more or less got the show sorted out and will probably be spending most of the day in M-Block as normal.

Daytime Intoxications

I spent most of today in M-Block as normal where the second years were getting on with their podcasts and the first years were just hanging about like they do. One of them, Dan almost shocked the everyone by revealing that apparently Neil Buchanan was dead although his source was from a Wikipedia article which someone had messed about with.

I made two visits to the Undercroft today, the first was at lunchtime with Sarah and Emma where I had two VKs, before they went to Camden to record audio for their podacast on the Camden Crawl. The second visit was at around 5pm where I went with both the Phils, Sam and Stoobie where I just had a can of Fanta and everyone else had a coke with ice which Phil Harris very kindly bought us. I may make another visit there tomorrow depending on how things go as I've got my radio show to sort out which is probably the first proper one I've done in a while because of the Smoke Marathon and the Easter weekend.

Tonight though I'll be watching the final episode of "That Mitchell and Webb Look" which I've quite enjoyed despite the poor reviews from critics and forum posters. The sketches like most sketch shows are hit and miss but some of my favourites included one set in a 1970s hospital where most of the staff spoke in innuendos but one spoke in single entendres, and another which was on last weeks show with a "Changing Rooms" style show in which the presenter got irate with a couple who made positive comments about the room they had redecorated.

Overall it's all a bit of good "clean" fun.

Back To The Sixties

Tonight I went into Central to see the musical Hairspray which turned out to be worth the visit.
It took most of us a while to realise that Michael Ball was in drag playing the part of Edna Turnblad the mother of main character Tracy but he and the other cast members gave a very good performance.
It was very fast paced with some spectacular props and some good songs as well, with personal favourites including "Welcome To The 60s" which had a vocal group in red dresses looking similar to the Supremes and "You're Timeless To Me" which was a duet between Edna and her husband.

Overall it was a very bright and colourful show and well reccomended for a good night in London and I hope to go and see more whilst I'm still here although the prices aren't half expensive. It cost us £60 per seat as we were in the Royal Circle but we got a good view of what was happening and it was worth the visit.

Letting It Out

I found it difficult to get any sleep for a while last night because of worries about what's going to happen next year and so on. I thought it would be best to just let them out on here just to give an insight on how difficult things can possibly get.

1: Shortened Semesters
The advanced project conisists of us having to set up a radio station and undergo market research beforehand to see what the proposed target audience want to hear on it.
This is then followed by four shows including a pilot so god knows how we're all going to pull through.
I can honestly say that this is the module that I'm most nervous about now so I'm hoping I get a role that I'm best suited to.

2: Relationships With People In The Year Below
I feel as if I've intruded into someone elses teritory as I've found it difficult to speak to people and establish relationships with those in the first year doing radio and it comes across as if they don't want to know.
I'm mainly worried because they're going to be running the station next year and that they won't let me leave the station how I want to at the end of the year.
Ideally I'd like my show to be moved back to Wednesday nights again as the place is rather dead on Fridays and it would give me the possiblilty of doing a two hour special when I leave next year.
Hopefully I'll be luckier with those who will be starting the radio course in September.

3: University Night Life
The Undercroft has been rather dead the last few Mondays with hardly any of the radio students turning up and with the way the UWSU events and activities are going next year it doesn't look positive. Basically it's because the officers are all based in Central and are responsible for sorting out all the special events that go on at Area here in Harrow, and that they find it hard to reflect what people want from these events.
The way I see it, it seems that fewer and fewer people each year are going to the special events on campus.

4: Is Radio The Right Path?
I really don't know if I want to be having a career in radio now, having looked at what's on offer and the competetiveness of it all. Financially it wouldn't really work out as I don't really have what it takes to be a presenter full time and I'm not sure if I'd be able to take smaller shifts at stations doing various jobs after finishing my degree.
I know it's good experience but I really don't think I'm cut out for the real world of radio.
I find it very difficult to talk about radio in today's society as I don't feel motivated and inspired by it as I should be and am only really interested on what I do here at Westminster and on my own show.
But the problem is, where else should I go and what sort of career path should I take on instead of radio?
It's probably just best to let the next year go by and then see what happens.

FENCE!

There's nothing worse than returning to the flat and discovering a rave taking place for some reason or other. Luckily it can't be heard as far as my room so I'll probably get a good nights sleep after the shenanigans of last night.

It started off as planned at around late afternoon where we got a talk from
Andrew Phillips about the plans for Channel 4 Radio in a presentation called
"Radio: Who Gives A F---". This was particuarly interesting for me as Andrew used to be the programme controller at Invicta FM 10 years ago before moving to XFM in London helping to boost the career of Ricky Gervais as well as sacking Russell Brand.
The actual presentation itself asked questions such as would commercial radio work better with sponsorship rather than advertisements, whether DAB is the right platform for radio, and looked at the plans for the radio stations on offer from Channel 4 which are set to launch later in the year.

This was followed by a short visit to the Undercroft before Kelly drove us into Harrow dropping her bag off at Sam's house and then heading to Wetherspoons.
It was steak night there when we arrived although I decided to opt for the Chilli Con Carne with rice and tortilla chips which tends to be what I normally have when I go to Spoons. The plan then was to head up to the Junction but as there was such a long queue to get in, we decided to go back to the Undercroft for a few more drinks and dare games with a bottle until closing time.
The journey there didn't go without Pete shoving Stewart into bushes shouting things like "BUSH!" or "FENCE!" if he was headed for a metal fence but luckily nothing got too out of hand or on the dangerous side of things.

A few people decided to head off early to watch girly movies with the Freshers in halls but myself, Denis, and Sarah went back up to Spoons for a few drinks before going to Trinity where they were playing the usual blend of indie and rock classics.
Highlights included "Teenage Kicks", "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen and best of all
"Ace Of Spades" by Motorhead.

The night ended with "All You Need Is Love" by the Beatles by which point I'd completely sobered up and just as well. There was definitely no messing about near traffic cones at Northwick Avenue.

Busy With The Fizzy

I managed to get the train back to London at around 9:20 this morning and there's not really a lot going on until this afternoon.

Most of the second year radio students will be attending a talk by some of the people from Channel 4 Radio and after that they'll be going on a visit into Harrow for a farewell do for the year, which I've managed to wrangle myself on to. It will probably consist of going to Nando's and then onto any of the nearby pubs and possibly finishing up in Trinity which is always good fun.

As for now, I may head up to Sainsbury's just to get a few things including a bottle of fizzy stuff as I don't have any drinks. It's always the tricky decision of whether to buy either orange or cloudy lemonade but I'll see what happens.

Eureeka!

An idea came to me whilst I was in the bath of all places. It was a potential idea for my dissertation which I shall be doing next year and what I was thinking was to do an analysis comparing Radio 1's Chart Show with Hit 40 UK which goes out on many of the commercial stations.
I'm certain that with a bit of time and thought, this could spin into several different concepts. It's just a case of finding the right literature but I'm sure that will come about as a few people have done their dissertations on programmes such as Big Brother and have compared Chris Moyles to the many breakfast shows on offer on commercial radio.

There was an interesting programme on Radio 2 earlier tonight as part of the series "The Record Producers" which was on the material produced by Stock Aitken and Waterman. It revealed that Pete Waterman was responsible for bringing in Susan Cadogan to the UK in the mid 70s to record a version of the song "Hurt So Good" which would later be covered be Jimmy Somervile, as well as revealing a few behind the scenes secrets from the Hit Factory.

One of which being that the record company behind Mel and Kim didn't like the "Tay-Tay-Tay" part of their hit "Respectable" and wanted it removed before it was played in a European club and got a great reaction as a result. It also had an excerpt of previously unheard footage of Rick Astley singing Jason Donovan's debut
"Nothing Can Divide Us" and briefly looked at the many established artists who went to the Hit Factory to resurrect their careers including Cliff Richard and Donna Summer.

Overall it was interesting insight to the records that made many a Thursday night for me when I was younger watching them being performed on Top Of The Pops.

Early April Showers

As expected. it's started snowing here in Canterbury although the ground's not completely covered. I'd probably go by saying that it's the coldest Easter I've had although it is a lot earlier than it normally is this time round.
I probably won't go out as it doesn't really look pleasant so I guess it's a case of indulging in the many wine gums and sweets that have been left for me.

It does seem a bit odd coming back here as term doesn't finish at Uni for another two weeks and I'll probably spend less time at home because I've got deadlines towards the end of April. Hopefully I'll manage OK although I'm constantly worrying about my final year and what's going to happen from then onwards. Things aren't looking too good as far as Uni life is concerned with shortened semesters and the nightlife on the decline.
Hopefully I'll try and make the most out of my last few weeks this semester.

Canterbury Night Life

Canterbury tends to have a rather loud lot of people walking down the city center at night time as I found out after walking back from Pizza Express last night where we went as planned.
I'd imagine that they tend to go to places such as Aubrey's or Bar Bar's which is just opposite the East station.
The restaurant wasn't too bad although I'd say it's not my favourite place to go as they don't really have that many pasta dishes that I like.

Laura told us about her degree in English and American literature and how they don't get to actually do any American literature until next year. Which kind of leads on to the ongoing row about semester times being shortened next year from twelve weeks to ten per semester.
This will be really tough for me in the first semester when we start doing our Advanced Radio module and I know I'm not the only one who is unhappy about the changes.

As for today I'm probably going to go to Sainsbury's to get a few wares for the Easter weekend and lie down as you do.

In Need Of A Sleeping Bag

As planned I left Harrow at around 5:30am although I didn't realise the trains from Victoria Station would be leaving slightly later when I arrived there. There were no trains going to Canterbury until around 8am which meant hanging around in the freezing train station for quite a while although I managed to find a warmer part of the shopping centre where I stuck around half asleep until then.

I got back to Canterbury at around 9:30 and have spent most of the day in bed although we're going to have Oli's birthday meal in town later albeit nearly a year later than planned. My cousin Laura who is studying at Kent University is also here staying for the night as everyone else is going back to her house for the Easter weekend.

Hopefully I'll be able to occupy myself with a few things whilst they're away.

Area Goes To The Movies

Tonight's themed night at Area 51 and the last for quite a while took place tonight towards a reasonably packed club. There weren't that many people dressed up although there were one or two people dressed up as Shaun of The Dead, someone posing as one of the Incredibles, and another dressed as the Johnny Depp Willy Wonka.

The music was on top form most of the night including some bizarre mash ups from Sammy C and Fiz including Missy Elliot mixed in with the Cure and the Gossip's "Standing In The Way of Control" blended in with Liquid's "Sweet Harmony". Deeva Steeva took over later playing his usual selection of grooves including the latest one from Estelle
which I quite like and "Low" by Flo Rida.
Last up were Chris and Phil with their usual dosage of cheese including a few movie themes including "Eye Of The Tiger" from Rocky and "Ghostbusters" which as always resulted in me singing the Bob Holness version as featured on the Central Xmas Tape from 1984 (5:45 in) although I doubt anyone noticed.

On leaving most of us went over to Lottie's where Stoobie fell asleep on the table and Dean felt the need to clean up at any given occasion. After we left, I decided to go to Flat 31 where there was a bit of a party going on there and the floor was covered in popcorn which they'd brought back from Area. I didn't stay for too long as people are leaving and as there are no tubes leaving from Northwick Park on the Met line tomorrow, I'm trying to stay up until around 5am so I can get the Bakerloo line train there and make my way back to Canterbury.
Goodness knows if I'll manage.

Spectator Sport Stupidity

Beer Pong is the new craze around Harrow Halls with a few students on campus finding many ways to get ping pong balls into plastic mugs of water. The latest offering can be found here where one of my flatmates Tom is featured near the end.
In fact a game is taking place in the kitchen as I type although I haven't actually seen any succesful throws. For once.

They've already come up with an idea for one of the throws for the next video which I beleive involves a moving header although another suggestion was to have a training video
with "Eye Of The Tiger" playing in the background. I'm hoping that a few games may be taking place in the cloakrooms of Area 51 tonight.

"Podcasts Schmodcasts"

Rather uneventful day here in Harrow, I spent most of it up in the radio rooms where most of the first years were in a rush to get their features submitted and the second years were starting their podcasting assignment.
This year they get to do it in pairs, the lucky buggers, but I'm certain that they'll come across the usual set of setbacks that tend to be encountered along the way.

Stoobie and Eric are doing their's on computer games and they're hoping to make a return visit to Bath, this time to visit Future Publishing and get a few interviews with journalists from magazines such as PC Gamer. We also had a look at some rather amusing videos including this spoof interview with the Red Hot Chili Peppers which resulted in me laughing out rather loudly.

Another thing that caused some light amusement was this animation from Weebls Stuff called "A Walk In The Woods" which if you're into juvenile humour may be right up your street.
As for tonight, I've not really made any effort when it comes to dressing up although from what I hear, someone's going as Bridget Jones in her night gown whilst another is dressing up as Juno. It should be a rather eventful night.

Back From Bath

The final day in Bath consisted of the SRA AGM where they elected members for the SRA board for next year and Stoobie got his position as regional rep for London and East Anglia. That afternoon some of us went on the train to Bristol where we went round the GWR building and had a look round the studios. We also got to sit in on a session from a musician and songwriter called Tim Daniel who had worked with Gary Barlow and played us some of his own material and a rather interesting cover of ex Blue member
Simon Webbe's "No Worries".

The conference overall hasn't been too bad and it was definitely worth going to see what sort of things were covered. My own personal highlights aside from the actual talks themselves were when Stoobie decided to pass a sheet of paper round in one of the seminars and get us to play a version of the game "Cheddar Gorge" from
"I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue" where we had to write down a word that would make up a sentence. I also enjoyed it in the nightclub on the second night where they followed "Valerie" with Phil Collins' "You Can't Hurry Love".

I managed to get back safely in London at around 7pm and don't really have anything planned for today apart from the Movie Night at Area 51 which looks set to be rather interesting.

Day 2 In Bath

So, how did yesterday go? It was pretty packed but not too bad with some seminars being better than others. The first one we went to was "The Big Debate" on Digital and Student Radio where a few students had submitted videos such as this one.
We also had a rather interesting seminar on creating the perfect breakfast show brought to us by Roop and Tom from XFM South Wales and their producer who seemed to do more talking than them. It gave them an excuse to play a few of their creative features such as Sex Chat Bingo and Coconut Shy, which involved one of the presenters being blindfolded and throwing coconuts at prizes for callers.

The afternoon consisted of amongst other things Demo Idol where quite a few of us had submitted demos to be judged by a panel of radio experts including Sam Gregory, an ex-Westminster student now working as a producer for Wise Buddah. One of the demos that was played came from our very own Goodlass and Marshall who weren't actually present but ended up coming third winning a visit to one of the Galaxy stations.
Some of us also had a go at auditioning to be the voice for this year's Student Radio Awards and Lottie ended up being one of the runners up!

Later on we had a rather delicious meal that night at what looked like a posh building where wedding receptions are held where I had a rather delicious meal with a lamb shank and potatoes.
On returning to Bath city centre we went out to a nearby pub followed by a club where they were spinning a healthy dosage of cheese which went down really well.

As for today it's the AGM where apparently Stoobie is running for the regional officer for the Student Radio Association, and later we'll be going on a visit to either BBC Radio Bristol or GWR.
I'm hoping it will speed by so I can return to London without any major problems.

Bedding In Bath

My initial impressions of Bath on arrival was that it looked rather like Ground Zero and not that nice at all. Luckily there were stewards from URB to show the way to the bright orange buses that would take us to the campus and oh my, it was quite a labyrinth.
I met up with the rest of the people from Smoke in the Elements bar which we would later return to that night for some of the drunken activities that would take place.

The afternoon's seminar's included one called "Radio Is Your Oyster" which was lead by three figures from the radio industry including Bauer's (Emap) Mark Story who used to help produce the Simon Mayo breakfast show on Radio 1 many years ago. The seminar basically looked at the creativity involved in radio and different ways of promotion such as this rather clever video from Alex Zane at XFM.
We also had a talk about the music industry and how to get your stuff well known through the maze of pluggers, publishers, and lawyers which was rather interesting.

The evening was spent at two of the bars on campus and and having a good old boogie the same way as any Monday night. It took quite a while to get back however because of Chilvers, Pete and Stewart messing about on the grass near the coach station and near scaffolding.

My overall impressions so far are that the seminars have been pretty good but I'm still feeling rather left out at times and am finding it hard to blend in with many of those who are with us from the first year. Then again ridiculous in-jokes never have been something I've taken kindly to but it would nice to be acknowledged, even a simple "hello" would be polite.

Hopefully today's rather large amount of sessions and "Demo Idol" will see enjoyment overall.

Crashing Out

I've just woken up from what has to be the longest doze I've had in a while.
I got back from Spoons at around 5:50pm and immediately decided to have a lie down and you know how it goes from there.
Stoobie who was with us watching the rugby had done exactly that earlier after going home from Uni at 7am and lying down although he seemed pretty active throughout.
We watched the England V Ireland game as planned although they decided to swap the TVs over to show the Wales V France game at the front of the bar in favour our one showing the Arsenal V Middlesborough game which didn't make a lot of sense and didn't go down well with some of the other customers.

I'll probably go into Harrow today to buy a sleeping bag to take up with me to Bath tomorrow, although the majority of people who are attending are leaving today to stay over at Lottie's house for the night.
I'll be honest in saying I'm rather bitter about being left out of that, but the conference overall should be good and it will be nice to see what Bath is like as a place.

Reaching The Finishing Line...

We've made it. We've reached the end of our marathon broadcast with our station stalwarts Goodlass and Marshall bringing it all to a close and gathering us all into the studio to say goodbye.
We were treated to this highlights package proving what a fantastic team had contributed to the day of broadcasting that has been building up over the last few months.

Some of my personal highlights for me that weren't included in that selection were around 4-5am when we got an unexpected appearance from Mattie who had presented earlier that evening and took over the slot that was meant to be filled with a chill out show where instead we got a selection of mainly rock anthems as eclectic as
Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy", "Get It On" by T-Rex and even the
uncensored version of "Sexy MF" by Prince.

We were also joined up in the radio rooms by Undercroft manager
Jim "Partytime" Chapman who spent most of the time playing a few tunes on a guitar that was lurking around the studios. Overall it was a really good atmosphere throughout and I'm hoping that we'll be doing the same in 2009.

However there's May week to be thinking about as well pretty soon where we'll be saying goodbye to a few long standing station members such as said duo Goodlass and Marshall,
Steve Jones and Tudor.
That's due to take place the week beginning on the 12th of May when the dissertations will be handed in and is the same week as my birthday so hopefully I'll be able to do my show on that day!
Well also because Friday is the day we'll be having the awards and I wouldn't want to pre-record my final show of the year.

I doubt I'll be getting much rest for now however as I may be meeting up with a few of the station members later this afternoon to see the England V Ireland game in the Six Nations at the Kenton Wetherspoons.

No Signs Of Stopping

It's approaching the early hours of the morning on Harrow Campus and never have the radio rooms been so packed at such a time. As I type, Sophie and Eric are engulfed in playing Sushi Go Round whilst Phil H is on air blending a weird selection of trippy tunes with Brian Cant's voice excerpts from Trumpton.

My show went well although I'm was a tiny bit gutted I didn't let Jane my main co-presenter have a bit more time on mic than I did during the show despite enjoying the music I had to offer. We may do a show together for the summer broadcast when that comes around in May where I hope to do another show similar to last years summer soul show.
I did however have a bit of success with my feature "Presenters Under Pressure" which in this extract involves my ideal co-host Sami who grasps the concept of the game very quickly leaving me a bit lost with the Bruno Brookes comment.
That's the problem I have with people, I find it difficult to talk to them under normal circumstances but when in a radio studio it's totally different, provided it's with someone you're enthusiastic to work with.

The majority of people overall have been upbeat all night helped by pizzas, episodes of Family Guy and quite a swift intoxication of Fruit Gums.

The Journey Begins

Everything's all go but relaxed up in the radio rooms with the 24 Hour Marathon in full flow. We've got Steve Jones and the rugby team walking from the Marylebone to Harrow campus and Alice from the first year has brought in a Nintendo Wii which other first year Nick is having a go on as I type, to play baseball.

Everything's just about set for my show including a game I'm planning called "Presenters Under Pressure" which involves plastic bags and silly string. Basically I've based it around a game that was on the Noel Edmonds Saturday Roadshow where an unsuspecting victim in a gunge tank would have to guess as many names as they could in 90 seconds which were written phonetically
i.e. Rob-In-Blame-Ires all in 90 seconds otherwise they end up being covered.

There's a video on Youtube of two games, the first of which comes from series 3 in 1990 where the rules were changed slightly from that in the second clip where the contestant had to choose a set of prizes which all had a different value without going over 100. It was basically an excuse overall to use that brilliant sound effect that accompanies the drenching which is missing from the second clip. That's something I'd love to get hold of as quite a few people know but I'm sure what I've got tonight will go down well whatever happens.

It turns out however that I'm not the only one getting messy as Oli P on his request show was pelted with water bombs which resulted in a few four letter words coming out of his mouth. It resulted however in £10 going towards Hearing Aid so hopefully that's not the last of the novelty stunts happening in todays broadcasts.

"Looking For Clues"

Today was quite a long one with the majority of the afternoon spent up in the radio rooms whilst the second year students were completing their websites. I managed to get hold of a free ticket for tonight's perfomance of "Clue" at the Regents Campus which myself, Sirin and Ross Powell went to see stopping off at Ross' house beforehand where Steven and Caroline were with us.

The play itself was based on a movie from the 80s built around the board game of Cluedo and featured Penny playing the maid, Kit playing the butler and Jane (who's blog can be found in the links section) being the highlight as a singing telegram girl who was one of the many murders.
We then went off to a nearby Bar 4 One where there weren't any drinks that took my fancy which meant I resorted to drinking a rather expensive can of Red Bull. This was followed by a tube journey to Wembley and the 24 Hour ASDA as I had some pasta left for my meal but no meat to go with it and it gave me a good excuse to get a few extra refreshments for tomorrow.

Hopefully I'll get some well earned rest tonight before chaos ensues tomorrow.

Excitement Ensues

I honestly just want today to be over with. I barely got any sleep last night although that was partly due to me attending the Sexy Slave Sale at the Undercroft where various members of University Sports Teams were auctioned.

Chris and Phil were DJing again with a really good and wide selection of music with the highlights being the Girls Aloud megamix, "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba, and I strained my throat once again to "Don't Stop Me Now".
I may go into Harrow this morning to get a few things for tomorrow's Smoke Marathon and may spend the afternoon trying to get back the sleep that I didn't get last night.

Putting The "Pop" Back Into Music....

Bit of an early start today to record my promo for the special Bubblegum Soul show on Friday.
It can be heard here just to give you an idea of what's on offer.

Other than that just a normal day apart from a visit to Prezzo where I met up with Dad in Central London. I may go again tomorrow night to see the Drama Society's production of "Clue" if I'm up for it although I may need a bit of rest in preparation for Friday. Ooh I'm getting nervous now...

Monday Carnage (Or Lack Of)

A visit to the Undercroft was the order of last night although to be honest, it wasn't really as packed as it should be. Even by 11pm they hadn't moved the chairs or switched the main lights off and I was considering leaving, until they started playing "Valerie" by Mark Ronson which seems to get everyone going on the dancefloor.
There were quite a few other good tunes as well such as Heatwave's "Boogie Nights" and Earth Wind and Fire's "Let's Groove" which I was really impressed with as well as the usual selection of dance and R&B that gets played every week.

It didn't really do me any good as I barely got any sleep last night and woke up at 8am this morning. To be perfectly honest I want today and tomorrow to be done with so the wait for the Smoke Marathon on Friday doesn't seem that far away.

Taking A Dip In Bath

I wasn't expecting this to be happening at all, this time next week I'll be heading to Bath with a selection of other radio students to this year's Student Radio Conference.
This came about after I found out that there were some extra places going and I texted back and got chosen randomly this morning out of a draw along with a few others who will be going.

This will be interesting as URB, the station for Bath University has won the Marketing and Branding category at the Student Radio Awards for the last 2 or 3 years now and I've never been to that part of the country before so it should be overall interesting.
It will also be a good opportunity in getting to know a few more of the first year radio students and hopefully we'll enjoy some of the nightlife that Bath has to offer.

It's going to be an interesting few days.

"Let's Dance To Joy Division"

Last night was a rather eventful one with the Undercroft Smoke Radio Pub Quiz taking place this time with Chris and Pete hosting. The highlight was a musical intros round where I managed to get all ten that were set which included George Michael's "Faith" and "Good Thing" by the Fine Young Cannibals.
As it was Pete's birthday we decided that we'd make our way to Trinity in Harrow stopping off just before at Spoons where I decided to get rather honest about everything that happened since that incident in August and the running of Smoke Radio since then. I'm hopeful however and with the 24 hour broadcast coming up next week it should be really good.

Along with Bracey, Sarah and Emma we made it into Trinity where they really were playing quite a lot of good tunes mainly current Indie tune but a few classics thrown in such as "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division and "She Bangs The Drums" by
the Stone Roses. Getting out was the problem as a lot of us had quite a lot to drink in there and I'm not too sure whether everyone got back safely. I managed OK however and things are still looking quite positive.

On The Ragga Rocks

Last night there were two birthdays being celebrated in my flat, one being Cat who's studying abroad from her home of Long Island and the other was Emma's sister Laura who's turned 18.
We spent part of the night in the kitchen and I looked after the music with my two hard drives coming up with the goods before heading into Central.

The plan was to go to Old Street but the Northern Line was closed so we got off at Liverpool Street and went to a club called "On The Rocks" where they were playing quite a lot of old reggae and ska. It was rather crowded and dark inside for my liking and around 2am some of us were on our way back despite taking a while to find a taxi that was operating.

Not a lot's been happening recently although we've got a Smoke Radio night at the Undercroft tomorrow night where I shall be DJing for the earlier part of the night when the bar's less crowded. Hopefully it should be succesfull although there hasn't really been a lot of promotion for the night outside of Facebook.

Stand-Up and Skating

Bit of a run of the mill weekend, nothing too special happened although Saturday was the highlight as I went to see Richard Herring's latest stand up "Oh F*ck I'm 40".

I won't give too much away but the routine consisted of the problems of hitting 40 from Richard's point of view, hidden messages on t-shirts and getting involved in fights after gigs.
It wasn't as good as his previous stand-ups but it was definitley worth going to and it gave me a few laughs.
As for tonight it will be a case of a delicious stew and watching tonight's "Dancing On Ice".
It's rather tricky making constructive use of my spare time here.

The Rough Side Of Harrow

So far I've found things rather tricky settling back into University life. My laptop has stopped working again, I'm rather bored, I'm feeling left out most of the time and the only thing I'm looking forward to is starting my radio show again later tonight.

I decided to spend last night at Spoons in Harrow with Bracey, Sarah, Tudor, and two of the first years Lottie and Alice. I later went with Sarah and her housemates to the VUE to see St Trinian's which starred Rupert Everett as the Headmistress of the girls school and Russell Brand as one of the teachers. Sarah was saying at the end how she liked the intertextual references to Colin Firth who also appeared in the film, with the headmistress's dog being called "Mr Darcy".

Then things got worse for me after leaving as I ended up getting hit by a gang of Asians who wanted my money. Have these people not got anything better to do? I've come to the conclusion that Harrow definitley isn't the safest of places at night having seen another beating outside Wetherspoons earlier that night.
This resulted in a rotten night in halls I hardly got any sleep at all.

I guess the question is how on Earth am I going to occupy myself this weekend?
I'm certain that I'm outstaying my welcome here.