"Oh Josh....Oh Pete...."

I just got over another migraine headache, ouch. So this past Thursday was a complete wash. I did absolutely nothing but sit in and half sleep, in the dark. I couldn't watch tv, use the computer, NADA. But, as luck would have it, I was coerced into coming out of my bat cave on Friday night. I met up with Stephanie and Sahrah around 10pm and went to this touristy lounge/pub called Copa :) I'm really trying to finish up and visit ALL of Oxford so I won't feel too bad leaving prematurely. Anyway, as I did not want to further upset my pounding brain (cheap Hugo perfume already did a number on me before I walked out of the friggin flat), I drank good ol' Coca Cola all night- Nerd Alert! After Copa, we had the munchies and unfortunately, I broke my NO McDonald's vow. I ordered chicken mcnuggets and french fries, hmmmmm. I'm still hoping it was chicken....

On our way out of Micky D's, we saw hundreds upon hundreds of Harry Potter fans queuing up at several books stores to buy the last book. It was released at 12:01am. However, the fans were a bit nutty and dressed up, like it was Halloween. One fan wore a Draco Malfoy get-up, and I was so impressed I screamed "Oh my god, look, it's Draco Malfoy!!!!!" And all my friends cracked up. Pictures will follow, once Sahrah comes out of her own bat cave and posts them (she is currently reading numero seven). After calling every Potter fan a 'DumbleDork' as we walked by, we checked into the Living Room lounge, but it was beat. Then we tried to get into an Irish Pub, but it was closing down. It's too bad because there were some fiddler guys playing Irish jig music inside, oh well :(

So as a last resort, we went to Thirst, and it was awful. Since the no smoking ban went into effect early in July, every pub/bar/club smells disgusting, like hot BO sweat mixed with vomit. The only comparable smell is the smell of a New York City gay nightclub's bathroom: Splash to be specific. (Jennie and Matt knows what I'm sayin yo) As the night progressed, we found some outdoor seating and stayed there for a while. We met some random drunk Scottish guys and they kept us laughing pretty much all night. Again, you will see the funny pics once Sah posts them :) After that, we all went home and then from 1:30am to 5am I had a marathon talking session on the telephone with my girl, Miss Rosie :) HOLLA!!!

I woke up this morning and made some brekkie (as the British call it). I also spent way too much time deciding on a myspace song to use. I decided on some Freestyle. Later, I met up with Sah to get some studying done at our favorite hangout, the QI www.qi.com We had cappuchinos and Earl Grey teas, scones etc. etc. Then, suddenly, Sah shows me this amazing website:

www.thefrontlineclub.com

From that point on, my day just got a whole lot more exciting. The FrontLine Club is an independent venue for members of the media, specifically journalists and policy makers. They hold debates, discussions and movie screenings all about topics related to WAR..... It took me a while to actually get into it because as we scrolled down the events listings, every topic was particularly atrocious: Repatriation, Gordon Brown's foreign policy, Palestine, North Korea, Russia, Boliva, Turkey, etc. etc. The only topic that remotely 'personally' interested me was:

British civil rights lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, talks about the fine democratic line between defending civilians from terrorist attacks and violating the rights of terror suspects. Clive Stafford Smith OBE is most famous for representing Guantanamo Bay detainees, an experience he describes in his book Bad Men: Guantanamo Bay And The Secret Prisons.

This partic topic interested me because it was similar to a suggestion Jakey made for my dissertation topic!!!! Hmpppp :) But I'm not a fan of war history, in fact I really don't like it. But, hey, it comes with the territory of being an historian....I guess :P

Make no mistake though, The Frontline Club is world renowned. In fact, a mere ten days before Alexander Litvinenko's radiation poisoning, he was a guest speaker at this club, taking about the Russian Government (and how Putin is a paedophile)....scarrrrrry*

Anyway, so me and Sah decided that instead of having brunch over my flat, we would go to London and make a day of it. I'm leaving the decisions to her, (since it is her colossal find) but we are most likely going to a museum and then will do a little shopping, possibly down Carnaby Street :) Then, we'll hit up our chosen event:

Circles of violence: a return to Sri Lanka is a personal exploration of the island’s dark history, which tries to make sense of the deeper processes beneath the violence. The film raises some fundamental questions about Sri Lanka’s future, by interviewing religious leaders to explain the conflict that has continued to devastate the island and finding solutions to it that fit Sri Lanka’s culture and belief system. Followed by Q&A with filmmaker Sam de Silva.

I am so excited to break out 'Renegade Sam'!!! And if the day couldn't possibly get any better, we are going to meet up with my friend Romish for drinks and dinner :) He's a Sri Lankan rugby player buddy of my Philly friend Christos :) They met while studying and playing rugby together at Buckinghamshire. I HAD to call him considering he is Sri Lankan and what not. Also, (and here's some Sammy trivia), my parents were THIS CLOSE to naming me Sri Lanka.....god I love irony :)