Sophie was visiting from Glasgow, so Neil and I took her for lunch today.

I took the tube to meet them both at Covent Garden and, on the way, noticed a man sitting opposite me staring at the festival wristbands on my arm (there are four of them, three from last year). I thought nothing of this and changed trains at Picadilly. I was suprised to bump into him again in the elevator at Covent Garden station although, again, this was no huge coincidence.

Anyway, I met Sophie and Neil and we wandered around for a good while before we realised we had ended up in Soho (the plan was to get lunch in a restaurant in Covent Garden). We found an amazing deli where we picked up baguettes, puddings and smoothies before making our way to Soho Square for a picnic in the sun.

Towards the end of our meal, the same man from the tube walked up to me to say that he "couldn't help but notice my wristbands", and could I tell him what they were all for. He recognised the Glastonbury one immediately as he had, apparently, been at the festival too (though I saw no wristband on his arm). We chatted for a few minutes about various festivals and he told me a little about his experience of Antiworld last week. Next thing I know, he has a camera from his bag and is asking if he can photograph my wristbands to "show [his] friend". On reluctantly agreeing, he asked for both hands and wrists to be in the photo (there were lots of bracelets on my other arm), took a quick snap and disappeared away through the crowd.

Summary: man stalks me for 45 minutes through the streets of London to take a photo of my hands/wrists.

Uni

I started the year at Northwick Park hospital (not the most attractive place in the world) where I was either learning cardiology or building snowmen, depending on the weather. We also marched through the streets of London to protest against the new MTAS application system for Junior Doctors.



Snow at Northwick Park Hospital (left), MTAS March (right).

After my four day Easter holiday, I started surgery at Hillingdon hospital where I was asked to assist in several operations including a six hour ileal conduit construction (tiring, but the suctioning was mesmerizing). I passed my end of year exams and am currently grumbling about having to start my 51-week long 5th year this Monday.

Nights Out

I spent an evening being harassed and groped by strangers in The Loop and decided to never go there again. A few weeks later we made an hilarious attempt at the RAG Circle Line pub crawl.



The Loop (left), RAG Valentine's Ball (right).

The masquerade Imperial Valentine's RAG ball took place in a Leicester Square penthouse club which had fantastic views and cocktails at £300 each. We spent the rest of term in the pub, supposedly "discussing house arrangements".

Culture

We saw my friends John and Deji perform Haydn's 'The Creation' with the Imperial Medics Choir and it was nice to see some of Banksy's best known works in 'real life' at his exhibition at the Andipa Gallery. In February, my parents took me to see Richard III at the RSC Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.



Bansky exhibition (left), The Fountain (right).

I also caught a few films at the cinema including Pan's Labyrinth, Bobby, Hot Fuzz, Pirates of the Caribbean III and Zodiac. Jonathan and I saw Aronofsky's stunning new film The Fountain at the Mezzanine before taking a midnight stroll along the Thames to watch the lunar eclipse. Later, in June, we saw some impressive 'Super 8mm' shorts at the Strawberry Fair in Cambridge.

Parties



Trypycyty (left), LGP Afterparty (right).

We saw Mr. Burns, M?, LuvLea, and Lysergic at Trypycyty in M?'s squat in the Cambridge suburbs. Sunday during daylight was an interesting time to go to a party, but we had lots of fun at the LGP + Organized Kaos Afterparty at Hidden (4th March) until it was closed two hours early - annoyingly right in the middle of Mood Deluxe's rocking live set. We danced to Psymmetrix (live), Agent Orange (live), Nagual Sound Experiment (live), Mr Faster, Pocket Fluff, and Beardy Weirdy.



The Paradox (left), Pimlico Squat (right).

On 23rd March, we made our way down to The Colosseum for Crystal Field and Divinemusictribe's 'The Paradox'. This was a rather messy night (see photo above!) with the likes of Wizack Twizack (live), Procs (live), G.O.W. (Grapes of Wrath) (DJ), Gacid (DJ), and Elden Acid Bear Strangler (DJ). Two friends from Imperial came with us and were utterly ridiculous.

In the morning, we stopped off at Sainsbury's for a tankard of extra strong Scrumpy before moving on to the Gaia Squat in Pimlico to celebrate Jonathan's 21st birthday. Aphid Moon, Beardy, and Apex played and the venue was one of the best I've seen yet, with stupendous views of the river, sparkling as the sun rose over Battersea.



Omniscience (left), Hadracadabra (right).

On 7th April, we missioned it down to Royal Tunbridge Wells for the Omniscience outdoor party. I had a drowsy hour or two, and the Freedome filled with pikeys, but we had a great time dancing to Psymmetrix (live). Organismic (live) was utterly superb despite opinions to the contrary from other party-goers. We also saw Tim McGregor, Rob Triskele, Moonquake, Ipcress and Beatnik (live).

A few weeks later, I took Mo to Hadracadabra at Jack's Club. The place looked enchanting and more beautiful than ever. Psylent, Shotu, Slack Baba, Beardy Weirdy, Driss, and Sine Die entertained us lots, but were beaten in every way by Digital Talk and Moonquake.

Gigs

In January, my brother and I saw The Blood Brothers play an impressive set at Islington Academy, followed by an average gig in the Scala by The Boy Least Likely To, The Little Ones and Lonely Dear. Forget Cassettes and Trail of Dead played KoKo and we watched them from a box.



Fell City Girl (left), Pure Reason Revolution (right).

I saw Fell City Girl at my favourite pub, The Portland Arms, and then again at the Barfly supporting the prodigious Pure Reason Revolution on 11th March. I was later heartbroken to discover that this had been FCG's last ever gig.



iLiKETRAiNS (left), Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies (right).

In March, we met up with hannah459 at KOKO to see Alexander Tucker and Explosions in the Sky. I discovered another London venue, Dingwalls, where I saw the HOTS-spawned Troubles and iLiKETRAiNS, whose fanbase seems to have quadrupled since I last saw them.

In Cambridge's Junction 2, we saw 65daysofstatic give a substandard performance made worse by gay synth introductions. Cats and Cats and Cats supported, followed by Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies who later sold me their Homeless Musics CDs at bargain prices.

On 4th May, Jonathan and I celebrated our two year anniversary at Maroush Gardens on Edgware Road, and the following day we travelled down to New Cross for the Rocklands Party. This was rather exciting and we ran all over the place, from Goldsmiths Tavern to see DJ Rum and Shitmat to The Birds Nest to see Art & Visuals, then over to the New Cross Inn to watch Wrong Animal, 586, and Pink Grease before returning to Goldsmiths Tavern to catch Rob Stow and Rory Moronik.



The Apples in Stereo at Bush Hall.

Later in May, I took a break from revision to catch The Apples in Stereo and Chow Chow in the rather splendid Bush Hall and, a few days later, Of Montreal and The Video Nasties at Cargo.

To celebrate the end of exams, Jonathan and I went to Strawberry Fair on 2nd June and saw a variety of performances including a fantastic set from Uprizing Sounds Feat. Life4Land (Green Stage), a horrendous performance by Selfish Cunt on the East Stage, terribly cheesy 'psytrance' from Neil Pepi (Green Stage) and a magician doing impossible things with a bucket and a pole.

Recent



My 22nd Birthday (left), St. John's May Ball (right).

Either side of my birthday, which I spent at home and in The Pig with Tom, Big Dave, Bob, French and Ad, I've been in Cambridge. A group of us went punting to Grantchester and the following day Jonathan and I made another 'trip' to Grantchester on 2CB foot.

On 19th June, we worked at St. John's College May Ball. Voted the 7th best party in the world by Time magazine (or something), it was spectacular. Working was utterly miserable as it involved heavy lifting and getting messy, all in the pouring rain. However, our breaks were fun - we sampled every type of food available, danced to a cheesy set by Friction and SPMC and stood in awe to watch the stupendous firework display along the Backs.

The next day, at King's Affair, the cocktails were so strong that I felt drunk after just one glass. I nearly beat Jonathan on the inflatable assault course and we saw Shitdisco, Hot Chip (DJ set), Beatnik, Metaflux, Laura Hocking (acoustic set), Q Project and Sub Focus.



Glastonbury Festival

Glastonbury Festival was wet, cold and very muddy but absolutely fantastic. It was mindbogglingly HUGE but we managed to do lots of everything including the stone circle, circus areas with Trash City by the Mutoid Waste Co., green fields, Lost Vagueness and Tipi village as well as the usual stages.....Ozric Tentacles completely won the weekend, closely followed by Eat Static and Björk. She had a bizarre twiddly-mixing-radar-table machine called a ReacTable which spurted out a load of yummy techno beats at the end of Hyper Ballad. Biggest disappointment of the weekend was the Scotch Egg Band (Drumize) on the G stage, which was painful to hear and bore no resemblance whatsoever to the fun gabba gameboy music of 'normal' DJ Scotch Egg.

Apparently a "very, very special band" are headlining next year.....fingers crossed for Radiohead. They do have a new album out soon after all.....

I'm sure I shall write more about Glastonbury soon but, for now, here's who we saw:

Friday
The Earlies (Pyramid)
Gorgol Bordello (Pyramid)
Annuals (John Peel)
Good Shoes (John Peel)
Tokyo Police Club (John Peel)
The New Pornographers (John Peel)
Eat Static (Dance West)
The Fratellis (Pyramid)
Arcade Fire (Other)
Björk (Other)

Saturday
The Pipettes (Pyramid)
Brakes (Other)
The Long Blondes (Other)
Electric Soft Parade (Guardian Lounge)
You Say Party! We Say Die! (John Peel)
Noisa (G)
Shitmatt (G)
Scotch Egg Band (Drumize) (G)
Paul Weller (Pyramid)
Liquid Ross (ID Spiral)
Dreadzone (Glade)
Mr C (Dance West)
Bong Ra (G)
Ozric Tentacles (Glade)

Sunday
National Youth Orchestra (Pyramid)
The Waterboys (Pyramid)
Gaudi (G)
Shpongle (G)
Beirut (Jazz World)
The Go! Team (Other)
Tron (G)
Tristian (G)
Gaudi (ID Spiral)
Chemical Brothers (Other)

The House

After four months of searching, one failure and a spot of bother with some Australians, we finally managed to get our house sorted for the end of July. We're living in Hammersmith and our house is beautiful!



Our house.

hannah459 is correct - I desperately need to update this - and now I'm back at home and completely unpacked, I finally have some time and effort to do so! I'll write about the past term in a later post, and cut straight to graduation. But first...

Football is boring.
Tennis is boring.
Please shut up.
Thank you.

Writing about work should be on that list too, but I'm afraid it's rather necessary here so I'll try to be brief.

With the exception of writing my dissertation, I spent my first two years and two terms in Cambridge being lazy to a great extent, achieving a low 2.ii two years running and failing first attempts at several modules. After meeting some wonderful (and some not-so-wonderful) people, seeing many live bands and having lots of fun indeed, I decided it might be an idea to attend some lectures. I worked hard this Easter writing countless revision essays and spent days (weeks, almost) revising with Jonathan who stopped me from being distracted too much during the build-up to exams [I can't use "procrastinating" anymore - it's such a shit, wanky Cambridge word]. And the plan worked, and I can now look back on my Cambridge days and remember a good result and a fantastic time.

I got my results on Monday, by the way. Class 2.i in Biological & Biomedical Sciences! I now get to put BA (Hons) Cantab after my name, if I so wish. In another three years, I'll have MBBS there too.

Having said goodbye to Jonathan and his family on Saturday with a tasty lunch and punting, I was mostly left with the thrilling company of Newnham medics for much of last week. I sent mum home with the contents of my room, practiced blowing smoke rings with my hookah pipe, watched lots of TV from my new harddrive and earned some money doing a psychology experiment - enough to pay for me to see The Boxer Rebellion on Tuesday 27th. The Loft at The Graduate has a slightly greater capacity than The Portland Arms and, with "over 60 gig requests a day", I can't believe I hadn't been here before. It has a friendly atmosphere which The Boxer Rebellion filled with wonderful soundscapes. The lead singer Nathan Nicholson has become a million times hotter since the gig at The Soul Tree, and the band are sounding superb. Described by Drowned in Sound as "post-rock with vocals", The Boxer Rebellion are shy, modest, and very underrated. The rock 'n' roll debut Watermelon was released on Poptones back in 2003, and they have yet to receive the attention they deserve. There are snarling, layered guitars and a menacing, stormy, distorted bass in the manner of The Cooper Temple Clause and BRMC, combined with dark vocals that remind me of The Music and Sigur Ros with Led Zep-style squawking and sneering. I was treated to feedback, fuzzy synth, tribal drum beats, sultry and mournful lyrics, and blissful melodies. A perfect live band.

I wanted to see The Resistance the next night but I couldn't make it due to a sudden and rather unexpected attack of vomiting. I did get a visit from a pervy conference guest who decided to walk straight into my room at half four in the morning though.



Graduation Formal Hall.

We had graduation dinner (formal hall in the marquee - with chandeliers!) on Friday, and I gave back my dirty bed linen and towels to ms_lebowski (who it was a pleasure to meet - in the Linen Room!) before graduation on Saturday. The whole affair would have been utterly hilarious had it not been for the heat combined with excessive layers of clothes involving tights, dress, cardigan, gown and fur hood. We had to process in full academic dress in our alphabetically-ordered rows of four from Newnham gardens outside Sidgwick Hall, through Pfeiffer Arch and along the roads to the Senate House. The traffic was halted, people stopped to watch, and even the bollards on Silver Street were raised for us! Being a relatively new college (1871), our graduation was at 10am on Saturday morning, with other colleges presented from Thursday until Saturday afternoon, in order of foundation.



Elle, me, and Angelina in full academic dress.

Embarrassingly, my dad stood up and gave a huge wave in my direction when we arrived. I shouldn't have been surprised, as he did the same in all prize-giving services throughout my time at school. The ceremony was fortunately very brief, although the St. John's Ambulance man hovering behind us was reassuring when the heat began to make me feel faint. The proceedings began when the Vice-Chancellor's procession entered the Senate-House, led by the Esquire Bedells. The Vice-Chancellor was our college principle, Onora O'Neill (Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve). The congregation were welcomed by the Proctor with a "good afternoon". Oops. All of the following formal proceedings were in Latin. We were presented in groups of four, each 'graduand' holding one finger of the Praelector's right hand while she said, to the first row of graduands:

"Dignissima domina, Domina Procancellaria et tota Academia praesento vobis hunc virum (hanc mulierem) quem (quam) scio tam moribus quam doctrina esse idoneum (idoneam) ad gradum assequendum (name of degree); idque tibi fide mea praesto totique Academiae."

Which translates as:

"Most worthy Vice-Chancellor and the whole University, I present to you this man (this woman) whom I know to be suitable as much by character as by learning to proceed to the degree of (name of degree); for which I pledge my faith to you and to the whole University."

Each graduand's name was then called and they stepped forward and knelt. Clasping the graduand's hands, Onora said:

"Auctoritate mihi commissa admitto te ad gradum (name of degree), in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sanctii."

Which means:

"By the authority committed to me, I admit you to the degree of (name of degree) in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (The 'Trinitarian formula' may be omitted at the request of the graduand but, frankly, I didn't have the effort to go and ask).

The graduate then stood, bowed to Onora, and left through the Doctor's door of the Senate-House to receive their degree certificate and wait in the garden until the end of the ceremony.

I found myself really very nervous and sweaty-handed before moving to the front, but I managed to kneel gracefully and not trip on my gown when standing. After the first group of four students were presented, an abbreviated formula was used - this is the presentation I received, being midway through the alphabet. The Praelector, as we each held a finger, said:

"Hos etiam praesento et de his idem vobis praesto."

"These I also present and of them I give you the same pledge."

And Onora, holding my hands, said in turn:

"Te etiam admitto ad eundum gradum."

"I admit you also to the same degree."

A photo was taken, Terri Apter (Newnham Senior Tutor) shook my hand, and I left clasping a yearbook and my rather unimpressive looking degree certificate (for only twenty five pounds, I can order a replacement certificate with "University of Cambridge" written in blue rather than silver!). At the end, Onora left the Senate House in procession led by the Esquire Bedells and followed by the Registrary, the Proctors, the Pro-Proctors and the University Marshal. Since it was her final graduation before her "quasi-retirement", we lined up and cheered as she left (yet more tradition).



Mum and I at the Senate House (left); Dad, me and Mum back at the Newnham garden party (right).

Mingling and congratulations were attempted on the lawn, though Cate and I were plagued by our camera-armed parents which became increasingly irritating and we soon made our way back to the delicious spread of food back at college. We spent many hours lounging under trees on the lawn until it was time to pack up my room, hand in my keys to the Porters for the final time, and leave Cambridge. I'm not sad to be leaving Cambridge although there are plenty of things I will miss, not least my beautiful room, the Grantchester Meadows, walks along the river to the nature reserve, The Portland Arms...While I'm sure I shall find adequate replacements for these in London, I'll be glad to go back to visit Cambridge and, in particular my irreplaceable JoJo, at the beginning of next term.

I came home and, forgetting about the amphibian infestation that is my house, stood on a newt in the hall which promptly emitted a terrified squeak and reduced me to uncontrollable squealing for some time. It lived, you'll be pleased to hear. I also discovered my new nextdoor neighbour is the Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police Constabularly, so no raves in the back garden then, damn!

Speaking of which, I have Glade festival the weekend after next to look forward to. This time last year, I had just made a last minute purchase on ebay of one ticket for a festival I knew nothing about, playing music I had only experienced at a party once. It completely blew my mind, which most likely explains how excited I'm currently feeling about this year's festival. I've already started packing! It's also Truck festival very soon, with lots of indie bands.....and Carlos Santan! I hope the weather stays as wonderful as it is, although our trip to Brighton a week on Wednesday (?) couldn't come sooner - I need to be in the sea! Instead I shall be spending this week lying in the hammock in the backgarden, sunbathing, reading, watching Storm salivating over the cat nip tree, and looking forward to making giant UV dreamcatchers with Jonathan next week.

That's all for now - hope everyone's well :)

PS. There's a thunderbug right in the centre of my laptop screen and little bastard has gone and died. It's stuck outside the LCD but under the protective covering bit. Anyone know how I can remove it?!

I can't be arsed to update this during exams, but here are some songs by a band I recently discovered:

The Spinto Band.

Hope everyone is super :)

I attended 47 of the 68 lectures scheduled for Lent term. A summary of the the remaining hours spent in Cambridge would include 19 gigs, 3 psytrance parties, 6 birthday celebrations and 5 formal halls. I had 2 articles published in TCS, made 3 trips to London, acquired 2 new hats and went punting once. Medically speaking, I had 3 eye tests, 4 blood tests and 2 injections. My dietary and chemical intake consisted of, but was not limited to, 800g Chicken crisps, 32 bacon sandwiches, 48 veggie burgers, 177 pints of tea, 2 ProPlus tablets, 100mg ephedrine, countless pints of Strongbow, 14 Simvastatin tablets. I made 60 hot water bottles and worked my way through 72 episodes of Futurama.

( Events of the last few weeks of term... )

I've been home for nearly two weeks now. I finished my dissertation which is a huge relief. Also went to the Thai Gallery for a meal with my parents, and to the theatre to see the Reduced Shakespeare Company's The Complete Works of Hollywood. Jonathan visited and beat me at pool a million times. We drank cider in my local The Boot, walked through the puddles in the countryside surrounding my house, ate far too much food including a delish Mexican 'buffet for two' at Chester's, drank in Wetherspoons, Heroes and The Pig, and spent the last hour of Saturday night failing to progress along the Marrs Bar queue.



A sign we found (and moved) on our walk.

We also saw Mogwai at Wulfrun Hall in Wolverhampton, which was a nicer venue than expected: less Corn Exchangey, more Junctiony. The Magnificants supported, playing a decent but rather uninteresting mix of Joy Division and Kraftwerk. Mogwai sounded fantastic and I'm so glad I've finally seen them play live. Most impressive song of the night was obviously Sine Wave during the encore. I was disappointed by the lack of EP+6 material though.



Mogwai at Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton

I need to update more often....I have too much to say! Work is going well: I had a supervision on Trypanosomes (parasites) the other day, and I gave a twenty minute presentation with Julia about herpes to our pathology class – we had to present a paper published in one of the medical journals about the pathway herpes virus takes from it’s origin in the nucleus of an infected cell to the cell exterior...we didn’t really understand it but somehow managed to convince the class/distract everyone from our ignorance with stupid power point 'special effects'.

Mum came to visit a few Saturdays ago (11th). We had lunch at Fitzbillies (a tiny restaurant I always pass on the way to my lectures which I’ve always wanted to go to) and then walked round the Botanical Gardens. One of the greenhouses had a Belize Room with native plants which made mum very emotional because she's missing my brother who is currently on his two-month gap year experience in Belize. We've heard from him a few times via email and it sounds wonderful (although he caught impetigo which is a bit skanky).


Tropical "blue toenails" Jade Vine

Mum stayed the night in my room and went to visit Ely the next day, while I went to Downing College to the Third Year Medics Farewell Dinner. It was very formal, and we had four courses, lots of wine, followed by more wine in the bar afterwards. I spoke to two medics who go to my pathology classes from Girton, Neil and Chloe, who also got offers from Imperial for clinical school. Sophie knows them and might be doing a PhD in London next year, and Peterhouse John might be coming to Imperial too, so hopefully we'll all get a house together in London in September if things go according to plan (apparently Chloe has already found a house she wants in Hammersmith).


Left: Cate, Ruth and me - Medic's Farewell Dinner. Right: Lauren and me in Downing Bar

Valentine's Day this year began with notes and riddles leading me all over college to find gifts and instructions for afternoon plans. CDs, chocolates, icecream and Jonathan's last Rolo in the morning were followed by a rose and punting along the Backs in the warm sunshine of the afternoon. We moored illegally in front of John's for champagne, strawberries, cherries and chocolate fudge slices. It was idyllic. We spent the evening in my room with candles, films, a meal cooked by me (crisps, curry and chocolate, haha), and icecream. Best Valentine's Day ever <3


Left: Jonathan punting under the Bridge Of Sighs (St. John's College). Right: Too much champagne

The weekend before last, I went to NatSci Naomi’s 21st Birthday meal. She hired out the whole of Newnham Formal Hall and Radeel (a friend of Jonathan and an old school friend of Naomi) and Louise were invited. There was a champagne reception, followed by the meal which was delish (smoked salmon and avocado, lamb, mango mousse) – we worked our way through a bottle of wine between us before the meal, two glasses of champagne each, two bottles of wine between us during the meal, a drink in Newnham bar involving very drunken conversations with Peterhouse John, and a drink at Disintegration at Queens'. When we returned, Jonathan made me some toast which I buttered using the wrong end of the knife :p I went to another formal with Jonathan and his friends at King’s College this Wednesday. It was St. David’s day so the food was Welsh (cheddar and leek soup followed by lamb cawl). We sniggered at the table next to us which was full of members of the Buffy society dressed as goths/vampires. I was pennied far too many times and nearly vomited everything back up again afterwards.

( Gigs since my last update: Jeniferever, Elbow, The Longcut, Nine Black Alps, Bromheads Jacket, Diastole... )

Update about Rickling Barn Party and exciting things that happened this weekend coming soon!

I just realised that I haven't mentioned my Newnham friends once in this entry. We cook our dinners in the kitchen together most nights, and we met up for pancakes on Tuesday, but other than that, very little has happened. People are far too busy working on their projects in the lab, or writing their dissertations, or having early nights. I don't understand how they can be so dedicated to work every night of the week. We're meeting up for pizza on Sunday and going for a curry next week, so I guess I can't complain too much.

I finish term in a couple of weeks and I’m coming back to Worcester on the 22nd March to get stuck into some serious revision for my finals. I bought a ticket to see Mogwai in Wolverhampton on the 31st March though which is exciting (if anyone wants to come with me, tickets can be bought here). Jonathan and I also bought tickets for Truck Festival at the end of July, and my mother has six tickets for Radiohead at V (one for her and my brother, the rest to sell for profits - I'm waiting for the imminent and cheaper Radiohead tour). Rumours that The Cure and the Smashing Pumpkins are playing Reading had better be true.

I went to cover the NME Tour at the Corn Exchange for TCS yesterday. My sceptical attitude towards the hype surrounding each band meant that I wouldn't have gone if it wasn't for the free tickets, but (although I'm ashamed to admit it) I had lots of fun moshing with Neil at the front while 'my photographer' Ade was almost thrown out of the venue for not having a press pass. I smiled at the Mystery Jets as I passed them outside the Eagle on my way home, and then stayed up to cobble together a review (rather internet-inspired in places) which had to be in early this afternoon.

( My NME Tour TCS review, with setlists and photos... )

There are too many 21st birthdays happening: too many cake parties, too many birthday meals out, too many birthday formals (although thankfully some are free), and too many presents to buy. I'm taking part in a seventy-five pound medical experiment just to fund it all. I'm selling my blood and my body for you people! I hope to be appreciated....

Since coming back to Cambridge, I have visited the Fitzwilliam Museum with JoJo, handed in the first draft of my dissertation, drunk Strongbow with medics in the Granta (which is apparently "Gay Friendly", haha), bought many nice items I couldn't afford in Camden, been for coffee with TCS Tom, laughed at Jonathan's new radio show Choonage, given a horrendous interview for clinical school at London Imperial, received a free copy of Mary Ann Meets the Gravediggers and Other Short Stories By Regina Spektor from TCS in exchange for a review, worried about my brother who's just gone to Belize for two months, avoided the compere (Rag Blind Date Mic) while enjoying Ian's stand-up at Newnham comedy night, visited my Preparing For Patients woman and her newborn baby girl in hospital, lazed around in Newnham bar avoiding work, and attended the following gigs....

( GIG REVIEWS/PHOTOS: Pure Reason Revolution, Kosmische DJs, Romvelope, Man From Uranus, Sculpture, Um, Dave*s Cousin*s Band, The Vapour Trail, Miss Pain, The Khe Sanh Approach, The Resistance, The Rakes, White Rose Movement, Duels, The Crimea, Clearlake, Mew, The Perishers, The Violets, The Vichy Government, The Resistance, The Fucks... )

I have a ticket for the NME Tour (Arctic Monkeys, Maxïmo Park, We Are Scientists, Mystery Jets) from TCS. I can't decide whether this is a good or a bad thing. It's free which is cool because tickets are fetching up to sixty quid each on ebay (probably due to the presence of the Arctic Monkeys, the band I am least looking forward to seeing). But I have to write a large review and, although I won't be lonely because Neil and people are going, I only have one ticket which means I can't take Jonathan :(

This morning, I received a follow-up letter from my Imperial interview offering me a place at clinical school. I have mixed feelings, but mostly relief.