(no subject)

I haven't felt like blogging much recently, so here's just a list of what I've been up to (mostly copied from tea_cantata's entries):

• Attended gerald_duck's birthday party - good food and good company, though there wasn't much chance to talk to those at the other end of the table
• Attended various Debian-related social meets
• Held several dinner parties cum film nights at our house - we were attempting to do these regularly on Fridays but have now switched to Tuesdays. These seem to be a good opportunity to keep in touch with local friends and aren't nearly as expensive as going out on the town.
• Went bowling - I am still not much good and frustratingly inconsistent at this
• Attended tea_cantata's various concerts, which were good
• Hosted tea_cantata's father and brothers when they came to visit Cambridge and London. Took them to London to see the Boat Race and met up with my brother (zzumbouk).
• Booked places and travel for Debconf 5
• Attended the Ubuntu "Hoary Hedgehog" release party, which was cool but did end in a hairy early-morning journey through London
• Attended tea_cantata's graduation. She is now a Master of Arts, though I think it should be Mistress of Arts, and her first degree should have been Spinster of Arts. Unfortunately neither of her parents were able to make it. This left her with a spare ticket, so she invited my dad along. The graduation took place in the middle of town - ceremony Guildhall followed by a reception in the Corn Exchange. After that we went and did photos, she returned her gown, and we had lunch at Cambridge Coffee Company.
• Yesterday we held a barbecue to celebrate the graduation. The morning and early afternoon was spent rushing around to borrow equipment from Sledge and shopping: vegetables, beer and glasses from Tesco, meat from Pete's Quality Meats, and folding chairs second-hand from Emmaus. Then we had to set up the barbecue area, and prepare the vegetables and their glaze. Guests started to arrive shortly before the start time of 4pm and arrived steadily over the next few hours. There was a break for many of us around 7pm to watch Doctor Who (good one this week), then the barbecuing continued until about 10:30pm when we retired indoors. After this came coffee, ice cream and a strange German DVD in no particular order. A good time was had by all, so far as I can see.

Election stuff

I did get my 10 signatures and have been confirmed as a candidate for Cherry Hinton. Following the official start of the general election campaign I delivered about 600 leaflets. More recently I've done some local canvassing and am about to get another canvassing assignment.

Yesterday a few guests who live in Cambridge asked what they could do to help the Lib Dem campaign here, so I thought I'd post in case any other people are interested. One thing you can do is of course to donate money. A serious parliamentary campaign costs several thousand pounds a week. Most of our leaflets include a form you can use to do that. Alternately you can contribute your time, delivering leaflets and letters, preparing letters, or canvassing. If you have free time to do this any time between now and the election, just turn up at our offices in 4 Glisson Road (near the station) or 41 Victoria Road (north of the city) between 10am and 10pm. Thirdly, you can show your support - and help to convince more people that it's worth going out to vote for us - by displaying a poster, available from the same places.

(Updated at 19:05.)

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Published by Ben Hutchings on behalf of Cambridge Liberal Democrats, 4 Glisson Road, Cambridge. Printed (hosted) by Six Apart, 548 4th Street, San Francisco, CA, USA.