Friday, March 10, 1989

Some Much-Needed Comic Relief ...

I went to my early morning Social/Political Structures seminar, where we watched a video on racism in the media, and then held a discussion (minus Roz Billington). It was pretty interesting.

After lunch, I checked out some books that I figured I would need to read over vacation, then returned to my room determined not to do any more work today.

Today is Comic Relief Day - the third annual - which is a day to do goofy things for the benefit of various charities. It's been quite successful thus far, and quite fun. My unscientific poll determined that 50% of the British population was wearing a Comic Relief red clown nose today (it's also known as Red Nose Day), as well as various t-shirts, hats, etc., with two-thirds of the proceeds benefitting African charities. The remaining one-third remains in Britain. From what I heard, by the end of the evening the effort had raised over £10 million.

Well, with my goofy attire (hand-drawn Yokel t-shirt, nice pants, my "kick ass" boxer shorts over those nice pants, a cap, a tie and goggles I borrowed), I set off with J.P. to the Student Union. We left a little early so that we could get in for free, before they start collecting admission at the door. It was good fun. I drank two pints of bitter and a gin & tonic, and we played a few games of poor-man's pool (you only use the cue ball). We danced, talked, and had a grand time.

While we were there that evening I managed to find two red noses. I wore one for the rest of the evening, and I gave the other to Big Jon, who was dressed in drag... as were J.P. and Neil.

At one point we got on the stage to dance, during which time a girl named Emma started to dance with me, which caught me by surprise... for about two minutes. Also, a girl that was snogging with Kenny absolutely insisted that she wanted to wear my Yokel t-shirt. (Hey, a fan!)

Also, a scuffle broke out on the dance floor that somehow involved Little Johnny, Mousey and Paul. Fortunately it broke up before anyone got hurt or thrown out of the Student Union.

I left the Uni at about 1 a.m. with Big Jon, Matt and Steve, returning to the Common Room where we watched some of the Comic Relief special on TV, as well as an episode of "The Young Ones" and "Monty Python's Flying Circus."

I finally returned to my room at about 3 a.m., where I found a note on the door telling me to call Viv at 9.30 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Pictured celebrating Comic Relief Day are (top photo) me, Big Jon (in drag), Kenny and Andy; (bottom photo) the hottest couple in St. Hilda's, Sid and J.P. (also in drag).

Wednesday, March 1, 1989

'Vote for Jon Whalley, 'Cuz He's Jolly' ...

Jodie told me that on the first day of every month, you are supposed to say "Rabbit" before noon to get good luck. Never heard that one before. It's silly, but I'll try it out anyway. Couldn't hurt.

There was a student demonstration this morning because Education Minister Kenneth Baker was in Hull today. Needless to say, I went to class and ignored the ramblings of the left, as did about a handful of other students.

After class I went to the library for awhile, returning to hang around St. Hilda's until J.P. and I went to see "Die Hard" (my fourth viewing). I still love that movie! After we caught the bus back and ate dinner, I returned to my room to write letters and wait in case Viv called. By 7.30 p.m., I decided that she wasn't going to call this evening, so I went over to J.P.'s room, where he and some others were getting ready to go to the Student Union. At first I said no, but then I decided to go, and had a pretty good time. Played some pool for awhile, even winning a game.

But it was here that I hatched my brainchild to disrupt the political scene at Humberside College of Education. Nominations and elections for next year's student government are coming up, and while I won't be around to run for office myself (and my political leanings would've made winning virtually impossibly anyway), I convinced Big Jon Whalley that he should run. It was here, over a few pints, that his campaign for Union President officially kicked off.

Being his campaign manager, my first order of business was to start spreading the word: "Vote for Jon Whalley, 'Cuz he's jolly." Since Labour will have it's own candidate hand-picked already, and labelling someone a Conservative is a death knell here, I suggested Jon run under the ambiguous "Progressive" title. It sounds interesting and appealing, yet actually means nothing. Perfect! If he actually wins, I will have left my mark on this godforsaken Union. Heh heh!

Later I walked back to The Grange with Kenny, Corrinne (pictured, right, courtesy of J.P.), Mousey and Paul (while Andy walked a bit ahead of us), and it got a little strange. While people were lying down in the streets, I was singing proudly and loudly with Kenny.

When we got back, we hung around in the common room at St. Hilda's until I returned to my room to let Shannon run around in her hamster ball. During this time, I fell asleep, and when I awoke about a half hour later, Shannon had managed to break out of her ball and got herself stuck in a box in my closet. It was 2.30 a.m., so I put her back in her cage and went to bed.

I'm completely deaf from the Disco tonight.

Pictured at top are some protesters from a Student Loan demonstration a few months back, one that turned into a riot. If they spent half as much time actually studying as they did causing their civil disobedience to get a free ride through college, perhaps they would have earned a scholarship. Probably not, though.

Tuesday, December 6, 1988

The Importance of Finishing 'Earnest' ...

Missed most of my classes, except for Soc/Pol Structures, in order to work on my report... and to be honest, I shouldn't have even bothered with that worthless class.

I finally finished my report on "The Importance of Being Earnest," so that was an accomplishment!

Hung out with Viv later in the day. Really, that's about it.

Photo: J.P. and Malcolm, or "Mousey," check out something interesting on the floor.