piles of books

i have three books to read before my meeting with my supervisor on tuesday...meanwhile some heavy drinking has been taking place and my liver is protesting...
i went to my first formal cambridge university dinner last night....and i had to wear a black trousers suit thanks to the damages wrecked by a certain furry creature on the skirts that were formerly in my wardrobe...
the dinner itself was pretty bizarre. the richer colleges have them several times a week, the less rich ones only once a week or biweekly. even if you are a member of the college you have to apply in advance to attend a particular dinner, especially if it is a big important one. they are all formal, which means that members of the college normally wear their gowns and everyone else has to wear dress up clothes. that said, somewhat to my surprise, i noticed that formal ethnic dress was not only acceptable, but fashionalbe...so there were a few guys running around in kilts, and a group of african scholars were wearing their traditional clothes. i talked to them for awhile and learned that they were from a certain state with a particularly notorious leader whom they were joking (i think...or i thought) about overthrowing.....i asked if i could be minister of east european affairs in their new government....
then i got talking to ian who told about growing up in egypt and libiya and losing one of his best mates to .....rabies!
then i talked to a woman whose dream in life was to be....a minister....
so all in all it was a pretty odd assortment of peoples. the meal was, well, as well-done as traditional english food gets. (blob of meat, blob of vegetables) but i waas pretty impressed that they had a lot of variety for people with various dietary needs (vegetarian, gluton free, diabetic and so on)
there were about 80 people in total, including one 5 year old african child who was incredibly well behaved and consequently treated like a princess. she didnt even complain about the endless, overly clever speeches given by members of the college....(lots of rhyming phrases and would be witty puns)
well what can i say, it was a free dinner
fotos of the dinner to follow