Hi for Collectormania

And so it was another Sunday of rising at 4:30 am and the zooming off down the motorway to mingle with the stars and buy silly bits of overpriced plastic at the Collectormania in Milton Keynes. We've been going to these for a while, initially to meet up with hobbits and the like, but now more likely to have a drift around the many stands selling all sorts of stuff. Of course I took a camera (or two)

..of course it is cool - I'm there

Maggie Grace signs her name

Amber Benson tries to get us to sign it for her

They have Krispy Kreme donuts at Milton Keynes now. "A heart attack with a hole in it". And free samples. Yay!

It was very tempting, but it wouldn't fit in our toilet and 60 quid is a bit expensive. I've no idea what the thing on the right is.

Then it was back into the car to trundle back to Hull.

To Durham. And Back.

Took number one son to Durham today for him to resume his studies. Then brought him back to Hull. All rather complicated. Tomorrow we are heading off for Collectormania (one of my dafter pursuits) and as he would like to go too, we are performing this rather strange shuffling of student and stuff.

Means a fair bit of driving though. I reckon that my average speed over the entire weekend will be around 20 miles per hour....

Shiny Doncaster

Went to Doncaster today for a presentation. The university has a relationship with Doncaster College, where we accredit two of their degree courses. The students are based and taught at Doncaster but we award the degree.

Anyhoo, I went down to say hello to the Business Computing crew and give a presentation about final year projects. They are a nice bunch and the talk seemed to go OK, although I may have spoiled the atmosphere a little by telling the undertaker joke right at the end.

The brand new Doncaster campus is very shiny - and this is just the back of the college

Fresher's Party

As part of the fresher's week we always have a party to allow the staff and students to get together. This year we are doing things slightly differently from last time, in that we are taking over a bar, dishing out beer tokens, having a quiz and then playing silly video games.

 
These are the beer tokens being prepared (took ages - won't do it this way again)

The crush at the bar once the tokens went into action

The quiz winners clutching their prize (sorry it is a bit paltry - I spent all the prize money on beer tokens)

I think it is fair to say that a rattling good time was had by all. We had Donky Konga on the GameCube (my bongos got a real hammering), Dead or Alive on the XBOX 360 and dueling Guitar Hero on the PS2. Plus a bunch of folks with their DS machines fighting it out .

Dr. Peter Robinson (right) showing how to lay down some classic riffs in the Guitar Hero duel (not that anyone seems that impressed....)

Way To Park

Our session has started, so the campus is full of people again. I really like this. Although the peace and quiet of summer is rather nice, I don't really think that things are right unless we have students around the place.  The semester starts with a "Fresher's Week" with all kinds of fairs and events. There is a marquee set up outside the union where various organisations are touting their wares. I was walking back to the office when I noticed a brand new, shiny, Porsche Boxster parked right across the footpath in the way of everybody.

In the windscreen was a handwritten note "Driver on the Barclays Bank stand" (or it might have been Lloyds-TSB - I can't tell banks apart any more).

I'm not sure if this is impressive or not. Random thoughts sprang to mind:

• I work for a bank and drive a Porsche so I can park where I like
• I must be a good banker because I have a posh car
• Bank with us and you can have a car like mine
• Bank with us and you can help pay for my car

Very confusing.