'The Late Edition' with Marcus Brigstocke.

Last night was a laugh. I may have mentioned I had tickets from the BBC to go and see 'The Late Edition', hosted by Marcus Brigstocke and produced by Bill Dare, who is known for his work on Little Britain. I went last night and it was a good, cheap and an all round fun night out.

I went with Dave, Emma and Sam and it was a kinda last-minute arrangement because Olivia dropped out, as did Alec who had tickets for a gig in Nottingham. But Dave, Emma and Sam were greatful for the opportunity and are interested in coming with me to see Never Mind the Buzzcocks as, when and if I get the tickets. I am also invited to their 'Harroween' party on Saturday which I may just attend.

Back to last night though, we hopped on the tube at Northwick Park about eight o'clock and were quite punctual in our arrival at White City at 8:30. We were in the building soon enough once Dave had had his penknife keyring thing confiscated and put to one side for collection on his way out. I was suprised I didn't set off the metal detector with my belt buckle, but then I suppose it only goes off when so much metal is detected. So all a terrorist would need is plastic explosives. The beeb REALLY aught to tighten its security.

I've been to the Beeb before so the surroundings and proceedings were all pretty familiar to me. Though I didn't notice their WHSmiths before or their hairdressers and dry cleaners. Which I suppose is quite handy to have on site with all the various personnel. I might arrange to go on the studio tour one day.

But once in the studio, we were suprised to discover that The Late Edition goes out live, which was exciting and disappointing in it's own ways. Exciting because it was live, but disappointing because it meant we'd only be there for just over half an hour. No where near as hilarious as a recording of Never Mind the Buzzcocks, but still amusing. We left, having had a good time, but wanting more.

Pub Quiz Victory and the Imminent Regret

I was out Sunday night. Went down to the Undercroft, the student union bar, with my mate Chris. I admit it wasn't brimming over with excitement when we first got there. Me and Chris are hardly two of the most exciting individuals in the world when left to our own devices. But it was when Dave, Kate and Emma arrived that we reached the holy grail of five people. Now you may not know this, but five makes for a full Pub Quiz team. We entered, we won, we conquered.

The Quiz consisted of 6 categories, these were: Geography, General Knowledge, Music, History, Science & Nature and Guess the Simpsons celebrity guest, where you had to say which celebrity was being depicted as a Simpsons character (eg. Leonard Nimoy, Tom Jones, Barry White etc.) Suffice to say we achieved a whopping 51 out of 61, beating the second team by a point. We won £25 as a team, which made for a fiver for each of us.

Now, this isn't the end of the story. However it does get a little bit vague after this point. All I can say is that Dave's flat was involved, as was a bottle of Vodka. Having been merry already from the beer, the Vodka mopped the floor with me.

I woke up Monday morning at about 11am, with the waste paperbasket beside my pillow. I had made it back to my flat, vomited in the bin - atop the broken glass I had created when re-arranging my room and passed out on my bed. I think it's important I mention now I didn't make it to lectures that day. Nor did I eat much until about 6pm once my body had stopped rejecting everything I tried to consume.

But hey, I was a fiver richer!

London Zoo & Uni Assignments

So Sunday was pretty cool, was up bright and early (OK, so about 11am) to hop on the tube down to Camden Town where we would then walk the rest of the way to Regents Park, home to the Zoological Society of London, or to put it simply, London Zoo.

London Zoo was the world's first scientific zoo. It was opened in 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study but was eventually made open to the public in 1847. Today it houses a collection of more than 651 different species of animals. I got to see a lot of these species, however the Apes weren't about to be seen as they have a new enclosure being built, due in 2007. I may have to take some chums back next year to see it for myself. It was about £11 entry for students, but about £14 for full adult entry.

It was a good laugh, but it has to be said it's an experience I wish I'd had when I was younger, as something about being older seems to make it less fascinating, less genuinely amazing. I wished I was some of the kids again, seeing their first Giraffes up close and personal. But not those irritating little wankers whose parents have turned them into spoilt brats. Or those babies who always cry in public. I'm suprised the Lions didn't maul them to death. But I wasn't there to watch the kids, I was there for the animals. I was glad I had a camera though, it's definately interesting taking pictures of animals, getting them in amusing poses. I will put them up here once Digi Village, out Uni ISP stops screwing up Photobucket.

I also have my first Uni Assignment to do now, and second including the one I got today. One Radio and one TV assignment, both of which are pretty much the same. Make a suggestion for a program blah blah blah. The Radio one I have put some thaught into, the Television one... well... MTV will show just about any old rubbish these days. The Radio assignment is a show for the 15 minute feature segment of the Radio 4 weekly schedule. Mine is about a Mrs. Elias who has recently been in the news concerning the government failing to pay her compensation after she spent 4 years in a PoW camp in Hong Kong, during the Japanese occupation in 1941. The British Goverment claimed she didn't have a 'blood link' to the UK. Stupid really, considering the Japanese arrested her in the first place for being a British Citizen.

If you ask me, the government is getting a little too tetchy about racial identification. It's worrying.

Speaking of current affairs, I recieved my tickets for the recording of 'The Late Edition' today. For those of you unfamiliar with 'The Late Edition', it's like the news, only funny. It's hosted by Marcus Brigstocke, also starring Steve Furst plus special guests and is produced by Dead Ringers' creator, Bill Dare. It is quite amusing.

Intellectual Debate and Rubbish on Film

Today has seen me in two vastly contrasting scenarios.

A - Taking part in an intellectual debate on the nature of Media 'effects'.

B - Talking about random crap infront of camera to aid my friend Helen's media work.

Strange. Very, very strange.

Coffee.

That's it. I'm an addict. Alec is to blame. He's got me hooked to Coffee and I've never felt such shame.

Ok, so thats a bit of a melodramatic start to this particular post but I got it into my head as I wrote it that it sounds like the opening line to 'Coffee: The Musical', which doesn't exist to my knowledge but I am claiming legal rights to it here and now for all to see, should it not already exist.

I've had two cups today already, probably a bit of an overstatement to brand myself an addict at this stage but considering I, before coming to Uni, was a Tea drinker, I think it holds some significance.

I am SO getting revenge!

I say some weird shit.

'My lectures last a fair few hours. But the lecturers are funny and entertaining and take great pleasure at slagging off Oxford and critics of 'Media Studies' as a subject. Oh yeah, and they teach us stuff too.' - Stewart Paske on Media Studies.

I figured I'd put up that little conversational gem because it made me think how much I am actually getting interested in my course. I mean I have been willingly reading textbooks with no complaint. Hell I spent £40 on them on a whim because I wanted my own copies as opposed to having to check them out in the Library. Is it possible I'm turning into some kind of new-age geek?

Hang on. Stupid question. I am already some kind of new-age geek.

As for today though, despite reading shit loads of stuff (the latest issue of PC Gamer and Total Film to be precise) with todays issue of The Observer looking at me from its position on the bed as if to say 'Why not read some actual news for a change you lazy wanker?', I have been out with my flat mates Alec, Liv and Amelia from down the corridor to have Sunday lunch at the Beefeater in Harrow. It was good to have a decent traditional Sunday Roast. It cost a bit, but was well worth it, though it has to be said the gravy wasn't quite up to standard. I think it had a sweet wine in it or something. I don't like sweet stuff with my meat. It just doesn't work.

We then popped to Sainsbury's where I stocked up on Bacon, Sausages and Onions and the aforementioned reading material which, combined with my new-found caffeine addiction, seems to have turned me into some kind of raving intellectual. I mean I am writing my blog for Christ's sake. I am even considering using the word 'pretentious' in a sentence! *ahem*