Alex Harries's diary

I've just come out of the Pure:FM Candidates' Question Time show. That has to be one of the scariest hours of my life, with the first question - along the lines of, "Introduce yourself and tell the audience a bit about why they should vote for you" - completely throwing me, and I found myself rambling like a loon in the first few minutes of the show. Never a good start, but I know all of the candidates were equally nervous.

As the show went on, we all settled down into the Fraggy banter. I think I managed to get a couple of key points about my manifesto aims across and, hopefully, I didn't come across as a complete numpty.

It didn't help that Hannah P was doing her best to put us off while we answered her questions; to be fair though, I probably was rambling on and on and on and...

This afternoon I've got to put together a 3 minute speech for tonight's Hustings, and then I need to go and finish off my t shirts (Want one? Let me know! alex.harries [at] upsu.net) - wish me luck! ;o)

Peace out //al

I barely slept last night - six hours in bed and I reckon I counted more sheep than I've had hot dinners (but I *am* half-Welsh, so counting sheep is at least 50% more satisfying for me than it is for most people...).

I don't often feel pressure, but I think it's fair to say that there's a certain - unavoidable - element of stress connected to this whole elections campaigning thing. That's not to say I can actually identify when I'm stressed; I don't have that kind of introspective ability, but I do tend to wake up very early. Shame I was never really that stressed at school then... ;o)

Anyway, this nightmare: at one point in the night, I bounced myself awake after dreaming that I'd I slept right through Candidates' Question Time. After that, there was no hope for me getting a good night's sleep - despite it being dark outside, every time I woke up after that I checked the clock to make sure I wasn't going to be late.

Of course, not actually *having* a clock in my bedroom meant I had to crawl over to the laptop, wiggle the mouse to wake it up, remember my password, check the time, then try and get back to sleep with the screen flooding the room with light... Maybe I should get a proper, real clock?

Peace out :o) /al - off to boil the kettle...

This coming Monday marks the first and most public test of the Media & Publications candidates' abilities and knowledge.

First up is candidates' question time, broadcast live on Pure:FM - the Union's student radio station - at midday.

The basic format for this is an hour of the elections candidates being questioned live on air by a (probably equally nervous) Pure:FM presenter.

I don't know if there have been any great revelations over the last few years, but I must admit to being more than a little nervous that I'll find a beautifully elegant way of inserting my foot so far into my mouth that I'll be able to tickle my appendix with my big toe... I do hope they have a swear button...

(Find out more about Question Time times here).

In the evening, Hustings is where each candidate has to get on stage and give a short speech about themselves, followed up by questions from the floor - an ideal opportunity for a good old fashioned bit of heckling.

Do tune in and come down if you have a chance, even if it's only to hear me making a numpty of myself ;o)