29.1.1976

Today was our region’s coldest day of the winter; I can well believe it. A cold wind bites finding spaces in the seemingly impenetrable fabric of woollen greatcoats. In this way, I can thank my god that I do not live in Vladivostok or Novgorod.

Had an amusing dinnertime, recording a few things here and there on Stevenson’s tape recorder. Hogg doing his Hitler was superb, although the translation of what he was shouting demonically was something like “Dover is equal distances between London and the coast of France. There is a little wood…”. Tomorrow I am going to bring my own recorder, because I want to capture my friend’s maddest moments.

I know I shouldn’t think of it in this way, in one year and a term or so, we will all go our separate ways to University etc. and never be as close knit again. We will be reduced to meeting each other at get-togethers at holidays and after University ……well who knows if the bulk of us will ever see each other again.

But that’s life, because new close friends are made again among your colleagues. Still, I don’t think anything could supersede our sessions when drunk with laughter; we would try to stop us rupturing ourselves; only to burst out in more laughter after some statement. Well, I’ll have some of it captured on tape.