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Last night the Carling Academy played host to Mr Scruff. The unique character is a Hip Hop DJ, cartoonist and tea maker. A delicious mix.    Scruff proved to be extremely diverse. From a mellow, soulful beginning of the set, he went on to seamlessly merge more upbeat genres. From funky to jazz to dubstep, Scruff covered it all with his typical hip hop overtones. All his classic songs were played: Fish and Jazz Potato in the middle with a perfect transition to Get a Move On near the end.   However, Mr Scruff is not just all about the music. He was located at the centre of the stage, sandwiched between two large screens. These projected Scruff's distinct cartoon drawings and writing during the set. Phrases such as "warning incoming bassline" and "get those knees up" flashed up with perfect timing. There was even a tailor-made reference to the "Oxford Massive"; followed by a list of areas in Oxford. The predominantly stud

Author of Flat Earth News speaks today at 1.30 in the Union.   Churnalists beware. 

So delicious they printed it twice.

Even saints get things wrong sometimes.  Mr Omkar insists that he did not ("repeat, not") give the OxStu that Stoppard photo.   Krishna's speedy response comes courtesy of Google News OmkarSearch™, as used by the great man himself:   PS: Aldate now has an RSS feed

Aldate was somewhat underwhelmed by both news sections this week.   Stu    The OxStu’s front page story on the changing status of JCRs might have been vaguely interesting, had it been written in February 2007.  The story seems to be based almost entirely on an NUS document published over a year ago .  The only ‘news’ – that Queen’s JCR is to address the issue next week - comes halfway down on page 2. Hardly groundbreaking stuff. John Hood’s address leak is quite an entertaining story, but what’s that banner running across the top: ‘security’? And similarly, ‘health’ and ‘press’ elsewhere. Bizarre. Page 3 makes it look like the meningitis girl has actually died.   'well Cherwell’s splash is ok, but if you’re going to put something on the front page the copy needs to be tighter and bolder.   The ongoing Chinese/Tibeta

On Tuesday 29th April the Carling Academy played host to the legendary DJ Yoda. I had few preconceived ideas about what to expect. All I knew about DJ Yoda was that he is a ‘Hip Hop Turntablist’ and that this was the first night of his nationwide tour dubbed ‘The Magic Cinema Show’. I was not quite sure how these two briefs would be brought together. DJ Yoda, real name Duncan Beiny, is a Londoner who specialises in mixing 80s classics in a distinctive Hip Hop style. He is eminent in the Hip Hop world; having been nominated for Best Hip Hop DJ in the UK Hip Hop Awards, and been tipped by Q Magazine as one of the ‘Top Ten DJs to See Before You Die’. What sets Yoda apart from the crowd, however, is that he doesn’t just scratch music. He scratches film.

Why is it that exams are always during the time when you want to be outside the most? Whoever initially made that decision was either malicious or just liked a laugh at all of our expenses. Yesterday epitomised the dilemma that is going to dominate this Trinity term. The sun came out (just) so we all went out (a lot). Aren’t we just English through and through? First stop was some delightful G and T’s in Trinity Gardens. Small groups lounged on the grass, basking in the sun with Gin and Tonic or Pimms in hand. Others chose to mingle and make some small talk. The outward “How are you?”s probably just about masked the inward: “My sunglasses are definitely bigger than yours.” Delightful. Once my small talk was diminished and my £2s all disappeared it was time to go – definitely in a much improved state from the post-fashion-show mood of the morning. So what next? I went to the library for the rest of the day. I watched a film.

One commenter has had cause to question Aldate's independence.  Be assured that this blogger maintains a professional distance from all Oxford media outlets... unlike some.   Word reaches Aldate that Martin McCluskey and his in-house newspaper are getting a little too close for comfort. It would seem that the OUSU President is a regular attendee at OxStu weekly meetings, 'just for fun,' and a recent sneaky peek at his mobile revealed his inbox to be full of texts from:   - Holehouse - Holehouse - Holehouse - Mum - Holehouse - Holehouse - Holehouse - Mum Let's hope the Stu's star reporter isn't being influenced by those in need of some positive PR.

Full breakdown and comments after the jump.   OxStu still don't send Aldate their front page, so here's another artist's impression.   Aldate was most disappointed not to be invited to HK's house party last night.  Here's hoping she went easier on the juice than she did at last term's "Tell us what you know" party...   Front pages:   Aldate would argue that bursars searching rooms is more interesting than Proctors, on the basis that everyone within two light years of Carfax has been invited to McCluskey's Facebook group.   Both go for the obvious Langham pic, although "Union cancels Langham" invite is a little snappier than "Union courts more controversy as charity condemns invite to convicted sex offender Langham" (and take a breath).  Bad luck for the Stu with the cancellation timing though.   OxStu animal testing puff is very effective an

More contemplative readers might take a break from salivating over this week's Cherwell centrespread to consider the fate of that tasty-looking Chercake. Now we know what the Chief's on about when he mentions news feeds. 

Despite initial hiccups, I had a very good night on Wednesday. At 11pm I left the college bar and went my separate way from everyone else. They were all off to the first Park End of term (sorrrrry Lava & Ignite) and I was off to Filth for Sex on the Beat. As I entered the delightful Westgate Centre to head to what I thought would be a nice raucous queue I discovered, er, no one. Empty queue. As much as we all moan about being squashed like sardines between metal barriers on the top floor of a shopping centre, the sight of no one is a lot worse. Not looking so good so far. Should I have gone less against the grain and joined the Park End revelries?

It looks like a new lease of life is to be breathed into Oxford Media Society this term, with a couple of good speakers already lined up in the form of John Witherow (Editor of the Sunday Times) and Nick Davies (of Flat Earth News fame). But it's going to have to host something a bit more exciting than speaker meetings if it wants to distinguish itself from the Union et al. Aldate would like to see workshops in law, new media, and perhaps even regular shorthand classes.   Imagine how thrilling* the OxStu/Cherwell rivalry could become if it were extended to competitive speed writing...     *insert pinch of salt here 

Liveblogging as the Pa. returns come in

It's that time of year again: the annual scramble to see who Rupert and his cronies will pick to be one of the chosen Murdoch scholars (PDF). The scheme has an illustrious set of alumni. Well, not really, but a few of the recent scholars are in pretty decent meedjya jobs these days. Last year saw four Cherwellites, two OxStuds, one from someting called Oxide (?) and some randomer that no one knew head off to Wapping, but in previous years it's been weighted in the OxStu's favour. They tend to only pick newsy types, and those with lashings of work experience, but anyone with a hanful of decent news cuts is in with a good chance. Maybe the wide-eyed young hopefuls would like to send Saint Aldate their CVs so we can sort out some odds: [email protected] So the question is, who's going for it this year? All the current editors (Kenber, Cox Jensen and Kuchler) are having a go. So's Lolhouse, who spends so much time on the OxStu front page that he's applied for citizenship. Maybe

While this saint wishes no animosity between our esteemed University and lesser other institutions, is the OXFORD Student not pushing its luck slightly with this week's photoshoot?   It's just that the photographer seems to be at Bristol , while one of the models goes to Loughborough.   (We know, we know, it's all about the fashion darling.)

  In the red corner: Oskar Cox Jensen and Billy Kenber's first issue   In the blue corner: Hannah Kuchler and MattheHannah Kuchler's first issue   Get your commenting fingers ready - what did you like and what would you spike in these honourable first efforts?   More astute readers may have spotted that the Stu's front page is not quite what was delivered to JCRs on Thursday.  Our esteemed editor-in-chief* assures me that Miss Kuchler is consulting the powers-that-be in OUSU towers about copyright.  In the meantime, you'll have to make do with our artist's impression   * He also assures me that ed-in-chief "certainly wasn't second prize you ****"

Ladies, gentlemen, journo hacks - welcome to Aldate's blog about the incestuous world of Oxford's media. This corner of computer interweb will be dedicated to: 1) Filling the Bowden-shaped gap left by OxGoss's weekly "Cherwell vs OxStu" threads. Minus the "crack whore on crystal meth" comments.   2) Scattering sprinklings of derision upon Oxford's more colourful media characters. Which prominent journo hack is depicted here in her younger, more idealistic days (on the left, somewhat appropriately, of the picture)?  First correct email will win a free Cherwell delivered straight to their JCR.   3) Finding out if anyone actually listens to Oxide. Have you?  Help is at hand.      Got journonews? [email protected]

Roundup - So with 99% of results in Hillary Clinton won the Ohio primary by 10 points, and the Texas primary by 4 points. In the results from the Texas caucus Obama is currently leading by single digits with around one-third of the results reported.  What does all this mean? In short, it means the race is going to continue for a while longer. Hillary has survived a night which could have ended her campaign and lives to fight another day, able to claim that she has halted Obama's momentum after he won 12 states in a row. However, everything is not rosy for her. She remains well behind in delegates (still around 80 behind in pledged delegates) and she's running out of opportunities to make up that gap.  Plus, whilst the victories tonight were important, she had long been expected to win Ohio and Texas. Given the demographics in each they were viewed as a Clinton 'firewall' and the fact that Texas was fairly close and Ohio wasn't a total blowout means that she stil

The fun's all over but just in case you missed it the blog is archived after the jump.  Check back here on March 4th when I'll be liveblogging the crucial Texas and Ohio returns.

First up, two confessions.  Number one, I think Barack Obama is a rock star.  Number two, I am a huge fan of Barack Obama.  The two are not wholly unrelated.