A Whole New World (without the magic carpet)

Since Tour, I've helped host the SRA Conference 2011, attended Sports Colours 2011, celebrated my 21st birthday, finished my degree at UH, started full-time at The Grapevine as a Reporter, and best of all, had my Summer Ball!

Westwood with the Crush Team.

Sports Colours 2011

The first picture of all my Final Year housemates (Kela Lewis-Morin, Claire Brookes and Davut Unsal) and I together at All Bonked Out! (The last of three years of "Bonk!"-ing)

Summer Ball 2011 with Letara Buckley (my shirt is PURPLE, despite what it may look like in pictures)

But after all the fun times, I now feel like I deserve my grey hairs - I feel so old! The only way I can describe the feeling of leaving university is like this:

Imagine it is autumn, a pile of dead leaves are on the floor, and you and your friends are insects living in the pile. You know that sooner or later the seasons will change and your temporary home will be gone, but sooner than expected a leaf blower comes and "whoosh!" everything has separated. You and a few others managed to cling to the same leaf, others maybe didn't get blown too far away, but the pile is gone! Sad times.

Although comparing myself to a bug living in a damp rotting leaf-pile isn't the nicest way to describe things, it is just a metaphor and I will always hold on to my university experiences. Even if I have to visit the Forum again when I'm 45.

What happened on Tour...

...will stay on Tour (as the old saying goes) - mainly to protect others' crimes rather than my own. However I can still give a brief description of the events that occured at Salou Fest 2011.

The first thing to realise is that the coach journey there and back was 26 hours each way. I tried to bring a Literature book to read for my course but probably read about 30 pages over the whole holiday. Instead the time was killed through random conversation, meeting people on the coach and sleeping on the floor in the aisle. Films were also put on, and on the way back we managed to get through Rocky 1-4 - to the joy of some of the girls!

I was the only kickboxer to go on tour and so I was put in the cheerleaders' list. This meant not only was the only guy I knew on my coach but that my hoodie and polo shirt had a pink female cheerleader logo on the back. Luckily I got to know the basketballers who also came on our coach.

We arrived after other coaches, but left before, as we had to pick up Bucks Uni women's football, and once in Spain it was such a relief to be able get into my room.

After a bit of dispute between some of the girls (they were fighting over who could share a room with me of course...) I ended up bunking with Christina, Seren, Dolly, Ruby and Angelina (who arrived on the plane after us).

-

The first night was UV themed and after getting dressed up we headed to Charlie Chaplin's - a bar round the corner from our hotel. Charlie Sheen was the drink of the night (a mix of vodka, whiskey, rum and everything else). We ended up spending most of the night there and in another bar nearby.

The night ended reasonably early because people were tired from the journey. But back in the hotel I ran into Carly and Darryl. Conversation turned to Darryl's need for a haircut, and the next thing you know Carly is using kitchen scissors to "neaten up" the back. TOO FUNNY.

-

The next morning everyone had to wake up to compete for their sports - except me. So I had a beautiful lay-in, attempted some sunbathing and generally did nothing until the others got back. That night it was Caveman theme - my favourite. For the second night in a row I didn't make it to a club, just stayed in nearby bars, one of which served "buckets" of alcohol (as seen in the guys hand in the back of the picture below).

-

The third night was Where's Wally theme, and it was a lot more dramatic. With the rest of the basketballers, I headed to get the shuttle bus to Pacha - a nightclub on the other side of Salou. However this was what EVERYONE in Salou was doing and so it was a melee of people trying to squeeze onto these buses. Naturally a a guy from Westminster Uni started a fight with one of the ballers, but half of the squad was stuck on the bus at the time. Police got involved and freely hit people with their batons. The crowd became a whirlpool of violence and eventually we were all told to get off the bus and go back home.

We soon returned to the bus stop to explain the situation and one of the workers that saw it all helped us out and got us to Pacha. Once there the other university was waiting for us to settle things. Surprisingly things did get settled and it ended with a joke. We then went inside the spainish nightclub.

Wow.

The club was a village surrounded by a wall. At the centre stood a giant central "trunk" that held the massive venue. Around the central club was miniature bars and pools with bridges to cross in order for you to sit down or buy a drink. It was unlike any club I had seen before. The venue was amazing, but the night wasn't too special.

-

Throughout the week trips to the beach were daily, and although there was a swimming pool in our hotel, it was way to cold to get in. Whilst on the beach I attempted Lacrosse with Martyn - who was also representing his sport on his own, sunbathed briefly and even attempted cheerleading...

I wasn't the best.

The last night out was Tour-Top night, so teams either put on the yellow "I Love Tour" tops or their team tour tops. I took it upon myself to write on the back of all the guys tour tops and after spending valuable drinking time being artistic, I decided to "catch up". This was a potential mistake.

We headed to Charlie Chaplin's again and pretty quickly I ended up swapping t-shirts with a girl that had cut hers up to reveal more skin - stupidly. So my top went from this...

to a piece of yellow dental floss...

This wasn't helped by a guy trying to start a fight with me, and ripping the top further.

It started because girls and boys ended up sharing toilets due to the massive queues for the girls. One particular girl was unlucky enough to be spat on whilst waiting and I, in my drunken state, challenge the spitter: "That's disgusting what's wrong with you!". The guy responded by throwing a punch my way over a wall of his friends. The next thing I know I was escorted out by everyone in the vaccinity and told to wait outside. The ballers came up to me asking what happened and where the guy was but I didn't know what he looked like.

Over the banister to the club a second punch came my way, as one guy tried to calm me down. At this I ran back in the club but lost the punch-and-run guy. Later on in the evening he approached me with the same friend and apologised, but as soon as I spoke to ask (calmly) "why?", he ran off.

The rest of the night was a bit like the film the Hangover. I remember nothing. I had fallen asleep in just my shorts at the doorway to my room, was told I had done a number of things I couldn't remember, and worst of all had lost the key (an object that symbolised Doug from the film). This was particularly disturbing because I never usually lose my memory!

After a lot of detective work it turned out the key was found on the street outside the hotel (despite me having opened the door to get into the flat before I conked out) - a mystery. But everything was solved in the end and we all headed home.

My memory is still incomplete.

Scooby Doo: The Last Day!

Waking up realising it would be my last day as Scooby was weird. I felt sad, because I had grown attached to the costume (especially the tail),  but I was also relieved that my hair would no longer itch under the fleece hood - no I didn't catch fleas!

I started the day in the LRC doing an assignment, and I think having my peripheral vision obscured by the costume actually helped me to concentrate, like blinkers on a horse. After finishing my assignment in record time I headed to my Native American Literature lecture.

My lecturer asked "who has read the book this week?" and I had to be honest, and shook my head, this prompted my lectuer to say, to my surprise, "bad dog!". You really do have to be on your best behaviour when you stand out so much.

After Literature I headed to Nandos for the third time this week! This time with Letara Buckley. I think the staff where different from Tuesday because nobody seemed to recognise me - although the waiter did give me a Scooby Spud (touching fists, not a type of potato). We were seated right next to the window, which naturally caused a lot of attention, people would walk the whole length of the restaurant following me with their eyes rather than looking where they were going. Tara didn't seem to mind and told me that every time I bowed my head to eat, it looked like Scooby himself was munching the chicken.

I came home to find my friend from home, Amarhl Robinson, with my housemates (he'd been to Batchwoods nightclub the night before). I was planning to drop him back to London on my way home so he accompanied me to the Galleria to buy my mum her Mothers' Day present.

After rushing around dropping people home and to the train station we started our journey home. But first I needed PETrol...

Whilst passing through London I decided to visit my siblings in Chiswick. My sister, Zosia, was on webcam to her friends, but luckily it wasn't working her end so they couldn't see me. My youngest brother, Luca, was just going to bed so I poked my head into his room and probably gave him nightmares for the rest of the night. Meanwhile my brother Alus loved the costume and took a picture with me.

Eventually I made it back to Farnham, my dogs seemed a bit alarmed when I first came through the door but I soon took it off and in the words of Florence and the Machine: Dog Days are Over.

Scooby Doo: Day Four

On the fourth day of Scooby my true love gave to me...  a Great Dane in a Grapevine. That's right Thursday I went to work at The Grapevine Magazine again.

On my lunch break I headed to McDonalds this time and began to realise how obvious I had become when a complete stranger said to me: "you were in the Galleria yesterday".

Once I had got my food, I went upstairs in the fast food restaurant and had three different people talk to me - I was starting to feel like a celebrity. College kids and fathers all showed an interest in the real-life cartoon character.

After work I went to LRC and found that I had been tagged in a stranger's photo album - the scary thing was, they had taken a picture of me without me knowing (I was innocently walking down the street!). My friend had come across the picture and tagged me in it, but I'm curious as to how many pictures of me there are floating around cyber space that I don't know about!

If you see any of me... (dog) tag me!

Scooby Doo: Day Three

The first thing I did on Wednesday was head to the LRC to update the blog (see Scooby Doo: Day Two), and no matter how many times I go there people still look confused to see me.

I soon found out that I didn't have my Creative Writing lecture that day (lucky for the lecturer) and instead I met with my group and we went over our pieces.

Afterwards I headed to Galleria, a shopping mall in Hatfield...

While I was there I experienced a new reaction. For the first time since I put this costume on, I was hated - by a toddler. I quote "I hate Scooby Doo", it hurt, and then it was accompanied by a secondary school kid in McDonalds shaking his head at me disapprovingly - ouch!

After shopping we went to the Fame office as we heard that next door there was a focus group for students that involved free pizza and wine (wow I'm getting dictated by my stomach like Scooby!).

After a lengthy discussion about student scholarships it was time to get ready for the night ahead: Bonk! feat. Ms Dynamite @ The Forum Hertfordshire.

It was the kickboxing social and Davut Unsal's birthday celebrations so we decided to pre-drink at the Elehouse, a bar next to the Forum.

Once inside, I was told that Ms Dynamite had agreed to conduct an interview for Crush Radio. I had tweeted her beforehand warning her that I'd be dressed as Scooby Doo, but wasn't sure she would have seen it. Yet, the first thing she said when she saw me was "didn't you tweet me!?". I realised that you're a lot more memorable when you're dressed ridiculously and after a brilliant interview conducted by Lynette Moore I headed to the crowd to watch Ms Dynamite perform!

During her performance she stopped to take pictures of the crowd, said she'd put them on Twitter and asked "who knows about Twitter?"... looking around the crowd she shouted for all to hear "I know Scooby does!" - puppy love!

Can you spot me?

Clubbing in a full Scooby-suit is not the best thing for your health but after meeting the garage legend herself and getting the oppotunity to teach people the "Scooby Skank", it was definitely worth it!

Scooby Doo: Day Two

The second day of being the beloved cartoon dog and I'm still loving the way people smile and wave when they see me. It makes everyone a lot more sociable when there is someone dressed like a dog!

I started the day in the LRC (Learning Resource Centre) on De Havilland Campus and then headed off to my lecture. The problem with being dressed so obviously is that you actually have to pay attention to your Philosophy lecture (that alone is sponsor worthy!).

After lecture, I headed to Club de Hav to sort out my shifts and chill for a bit...

Would you serve Scooby? (Luckily my ID was around my neck!)

Now you may judge me for having so much chicken in the space of two days, but after going to Nandos yesterday I managed to fill my loyalty card and so was entitled to a free WHOLE chicken! So we went to Nandos - in Hatfield this time.

Note: for the second time I was the fifth wheel, Bad times!

Then of course it came to that time on a Tuesday where I present my student radio show on Crush Radio. The studio is normally hot, so being in a Scooby outfit didn't help but the whole show was done while in the costume, whilst shout outs were done in my best impression of Scooby Doo.

and that took me through to exactly Midnight!

Scooby Doo: Day One

So the sponsored Scooby week has begun, and as promised I will be blogging everyday to show you what I've been getting up to!

So Monday 28th March 2011, day one, and I went to work at The Grapevine Magazine...

After the office got used to having a large cartoon dog around, I also began to get used to the costume and forgot I was wearing it for a bit. Until I went to lunch around Welwyn Garden City!

I decided to go to KFC and on the way I had little children pointing, with almost everyone smiling at the sight of me - it was nice!

After work I had kickboxing, so I decided to train with the others for a bit...

but after about two minutes of skipping I started to overheat! So I had to stop to be frank(furter)... HOT DOG.

The 28th was also my housemates birthday - Davut Unsal. So I left kickboxing early and when he arrived home we took him to Nandos in Stevenage and then the arcade.

Watch this space to see what I get up to over the rest of the week!