21 - 23 September

Real good release, which I went to (almost) straight from my presentation - celebrating Pete's birthday at Martyn's in Nottingham. We went out on Friday night, getting suitably wrecked ready for Alton Towers the next day. I have never seen Martyn look quite as rough as when we arrived, ready for a day of rollercoasters and the like. He was fine at the start of the journey, but then fell deathly silent for the last hour, and I think the fact he didn't chuck is a remarkable achievement.

We saw Doors Alive (tribute band) in the evening, which were good despite the fact I hardly know any Doors stuff. Went out in Nottingham after that, to either the Cookie Club or The Social (we went to the other on the Friday, but not sure which is which!)

20 September

Dissertation Deadline. After working pretty hard over the summer (more so in the few days before this), and finishing it at about 2:00 the night before, I managed to hand my dissertation in just three minutes before the 12:00 deadline. Good timing!

I also had to give a presentation the next day which, despite Virginie Ruiz's (mostly) incorrect corrections, didn't go too badly. Ignoring technical glitches.

Basically I was just very happy to have this over with, so didn't care much how well or badly it went - this was the last thing I would have to do for the MSc, so it felt good to have a year of hardcore work officially behind me.

14 - 16 September

Although it almost turned sour due to several money issues, a good weekend was certainly had (hopefully by all), surfing in the Gower. Having said that, my surfboard remained firmly attached to my car the whole time, as the water was flatter than Holland. Laura organised a cottage for a bunch of us, and I spent enough time on the beach to get a bit pink. Spending your time reading, lying just on one side, does not make for a good tan. Neither does putting no cream on.

1 - 2 Sept

Saw Ferret first (which was real good as I hadn't spoken to him for ages), then went to Martyn's for the evening. We watched, of all things, the Eurovision Dance Contest - the first spin-off competition (perhaps of many) from the entirely non-political campfest. It was suitably awful, but entertaining.

24 - 27 August

Katie (SB's) birthday weekend, surfing in Cornwall. Was mondo-radical - it had been ages since I'd last surfed (last time was in Costa Rica), and (at least on the first day) the surf was good. It was so good to see people I hadn't seen in ages too - all the usual Bristol suspects, although conspicuously missing Tim (as he was off being French).

I was having an amazing weekend, but then there's nothing like having your car clamped and being fined £85 to really put a dampener on things! This was due to parking confusion and was nobodies fault really, except the sneaky money-grabbing campsite.

Still, all in all was a really good weekend, the sun was doing its job well, and what with the extended (Bank Holiday) weekend, the consensus was that it had felt like a real holiday somewhere faraway.

20 August

Saw Interpol with Dave Hill, Andrew and a few of his buds. They rocked! A lot more than last time I saw them anyway (when they were rubbish). And, totally unexpectedly, The Maccabees were supporting, which was a pretty good bonus. Even though I was going to see them a few weeks later.