Alcohol

This has, perhaps more than anything, defined last week; Wednesday had a nice alumni dinner (they might have almost put a begging bowl on each table). On the up side there was plenty of free wine - necessary to deal with the one or two of people who were clearly distraught at having paid £45 for a networking dinner only to be sat next to a lowly LLB student (I'd have personally asked for my money back - but in the LSE this tactic rarely works). Our esteemed head of department was very modest in his assessment of his own views on the legality of the Iraq war ("I'm right, everyone else is wrong") to be perfectly honest he's beginning to remind me of the lunatic one sometimes encounters on the N29 nightbus, who tried their hardest to convince you that, whilst they are 100% sane, the entire rest of the world is off its rocker (occasionally you're so pissed you actually believe it)...in fairness another four years of Bush bodes well for the salary and reputation of Wars R Us QC - and I guess this can only be good for LSE.

Ultimately the evening was salvaged thanks entirely to a trip to a local Brazillian joint with (very) cheap cocktails...and gullable, er nice, people to buy rounds of drinks

Roll on Thursday and the annual law-soc black tie ball. Always fun, this years did not disappoint -the opulent setting of a posh hotel, trays of champagne and the eclectic crowd of immaculately turned out undergraduates and the occasional optimistic ageing professor never failing to provide entertainment...the only downside was the painful hour-long lecture the following morning (well 12 o clock to be fair).

Needless to say the weekend will be about detox...