Now this was going to take some RAPID organising. Pushing the initial "It's too far, it's too short notice" thoughts aside I set about finding out how I could get up to Glasgow the next day. It had to be done! It's not every day you get invited to meet the Bits gang and I wasn't going to let this chance slip by. Fortunately I'm blessed with flexible time so I could basically put Binary Zone Interactive on hold and then run around like a blue arsed fly trying to organise everything.

First order of the day was travel arrangements. A quick drive into the nearby city of Worcester was needed as they have a decent travel shop at the train station. It's not actually that expensive to go up to Glasgow - as long as you book several days in advance! I didn't have the luxury of time so I took the details of the ticket prices and train times and had a wander around the city mulling it over. I popped into 'Antics' (a shop where some of my chums work) and told them about the party. They basically convinced me (not that I needed much convincing!) that I *had* to go. So I went back to the station and bought my ticket ... The adventure begins!

After a BAD nights sleep thank to mounting excitement and my brain going at 4 zillion miles an hour Friday 12.01.01 eventually came around. I got to the train station just as the Birmingham train arrived (perfect timing) and was soon on my way to New Street Station in Birmingham to catch my connecting train to Glasgow. As I had a few minutes to spare in Birmingham I spent the time getting essential supplies for the trip - munchies for on the train, film for my good old camera and a mag to read (PlayStation World - the one with the Bits feature ironically). The train came in on time and so I found my seat and immersed myself in my mag, assorted GameBoy games (I did actually do some playtesting on the train to wile away a few hours!) and listened to some quality CD's. I was totally unable to get any kip on the train which was probably a good thing - I'd probably wake up to find I'd been drooling over myself and that all my belongings were gone. Hehe!

After an eternity of travel through increasingly nice scenery (it seems to get more picturesque the further north you go) the train arrived in Glasgow bang on time (kudos to Virgin!) A quick call to Ideal World informed them that the Eagle (well, the Kenz) had landed. I was invited up to the Bits offices so I hopped in a cab and soon found myself stood outside Ideal World. *Gibber!* I ventured inside and was pointed in the right direction by the bloke at the desk. Up the stairs I went and I soon found myself at the heart of the Bits HQ. I had made it!!

So what are the Ideal World offices like then? I think the phrase "organised chaos" sums them up nicely! You can definitely tell this is where Bits is made! I was introduced to various members of the Bits gang (including the legendary Aldo!) and had a quick cuppa. The girls were in the office although Bouff looked somewhat busy on the phone (raving on about multiplayer games or something) so I didn't bother her. Emily was wandering around looking for a scart lead for a PS2 and Aleks was ensconced on the Internet. Although I didn't get to see the actual studio where the filming is done I did manage to have a quick chat with Aleks and Emily. They were VERY nice (of course!) but I'll go into more detail about them in a bit. I then departed from the offices to find the hotel that Amanda had kindly organised for me. I was feeling a tad knackered and fairly bewildered at that point so it was nice to chill out for an hour or two before the party. The hotel was rather nice and I spent quality time bouncing on the bed, trashing the rest of the room and ended up throwing the TV out the window. Actually I didn't really. I had a refreshing shower, sent some messages on my phone and watched Robot Wars. (Sad!)

And then it was PARTY TIME!! A brisk stroll back up to Ideal World and I met more of the Bits production team. We jumped into cabs and zoomed across Glasgow to 'The Lighthouse' - a deceptively large building which involved escalating up SEVERAL floors before finding the Bits bash right at the top. My little group got there quite early so there weren't too many people around at the start. The room was nice and spacey without being overly large. Lots of gadgets and gizmo's (Lava lamps etc.) were displayed in cabinets along one wall and the DJ had set up a couple of decks to spin some vinyl later in the evening. I found Matt at the bar who you may remember seeing on Bits testing those snowboard peripheral doohickies in a pub. He was waiting for the rest of his chums to arrive so we had a natter about the software industry and whathaveyou while enjoying the FREE (at that time anyway) bar! Lots of nice cold Buds™ soon slaked my thirst which I'd worked up from the travelling I'd been doing today.

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Pictured above you can Matt on the left, Sam (who has appeared on Bits a few times) in the middle and the lovely Pamela on the right (who worked as a researcher on the T4 series of Bits amongst other things). Right, back to the party! The room soon started to fill up and it was really neat seeing people I recognised from the show. Sam soon arrived complete with his pals, a snazzy suit and his girly. I also got to meet the delightful (D'OH!! Now I'm in trouble for saying that!) Sunni who you may remember was the "Porno Lady" in the final show of Bits series 4. It was nice seeing her with clothes ON for a change. Hehe! Anyway, more drinking and chatting ensued and then the Bits girls arrived ... !

Now that they weren't in "work mode" it meant I could at last properly meet and have a natter with Aleks, Emily and Bouff!! For the party Aleks was wearing her little black (or was it dark blue?) dress (complete with fluffy trim around the bottom), Emily was looking fine in a smart suit and Bouff went for the casual look with jeans and a sleeveless top. The girls seemed happy to see me (if the lipstick marks on me were anything to go by! Ahem!) it was quite strange seeing them up close in real life. "You're so hi-res!!" I quipped (having spent many hours messing around with 500 pixel wide images of them!) Aleks looks (and SOUNDS) exactly how you would expect in real life. She's so cool! And it must be said that the television really doesn't do Emily Newton Dunn enough justice. She's even PRETTIER in real life! (And that's an understatement!!) I actually noticed this when I first saw her at the office (She may have wondered what my jaw was doing on the floor at the time!) I seem to remember mentioning this to Bouff later in the evening. (Hehe! I must have somewhat inebriated to be telling her that!) And talking of Bouff ... What can I say about her apart from WOW! She's awesome! She's partial to double vodkas (a fave tipple of mine - many bottles of voddie were guzzled during the production of Xmas Chortles 2!) she seems to have boundless energy and absolutely LOVES to dance (she told me that's why she appears on Channel 5's Night Fever show). She gets really excited about things too which is soooo cute! I was talking to her about Speccy games and her legs were practically quaking and she was jumping around!! Classic! Check out the pics below for MINDBLOWING snaps of Bouff and Emily D along with a pic of Bouff having a boogie! These pics are EXCLUSIVE to the Bits Online Grab Fest - you won't find them anywhere else!!

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Now I'd just like to make it clear I did *not* turn up at the Bits series 5 launch party in my fabled 'Retro Jumper'!! I was actually wearing a much more subdued black shirt but I did take the jumper "just in case!". When word got out I had it with me I was constantly being asked WHEN I was going to put the jumper on. So I waited until the time was right (I.E. When we were slightly more pissed) before donning the said garment. What a reaction it got!!! I can't believe the amount of people who wanted their picture taken with me in that bloody jumper! Hehe! Aleks was fascinated by it - she couldn't stop stroking it! (Oo-er). In fact, that's what she's doing in the picture below - she wasn't trying to escape from the wrath of Kenz. And please excuse my big cheesy grin in the pics below. It was caused by a combination of alcohol and being in close proximity to the Bits babes.

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So what else went on at the party? Apart from all the boozing I managed to have a quality chat with Bouff about her hairdo's on the show. She was wearing it down at the party which looked really nice. Especially as she kept doing cool 'hair flicking' things in front of me while she danced around! Another highlight was meeting Stef from Vids who made an appearance. (Well, you could hardly miss him - he's a GIANT!) The party seemed to go well and everyone looked like they were having fun. Fortunately, I wasn't alcohol fuelled enough for any 'Xmas Chortles-esque' antics (anyone who has seen my movie will know what I'm like when I'm full of vodka!) So now I'd like to finish off this section by saying a big "HI!" to everyone I met at the party (sorry if I haven't mentioned you by name - I'm rubbish at remembering names - especially after drinking!) A hearty CHEERS to anyone who bought me a drink when the free bar suddenly became a normal bar and general thanks to the Bits team for making me feel welcome and for putting on a good bash. Special thanks to Amanda for looking after me and for sorting out the hotel etc. and of course to the Bits girls for being so darn nice. Oh yes, and my thanks to YOU for not killing me because I got to meet the girls!! I know, I know, I'm a lucky, lucky, LUCKY GIT!!

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In case you were wondering the pic above (on the left) features Louise on the left (who directed 28 classic editions of Bits last year) Aleks in the middle and James on the right (who looks after the camera and sound equipment). The pic in the middle is of Bouff with Stef from Vids (Bits and Vids joining forces for a moment! Hehe!) and the goon in the pic on the right is a sloshed and bewildered ME complete with Emily Dunn lipstick mark which I've STILL not washed off. (Joke!) Below on the left is a picture of Sharon (who doesn't do much on Bits) and on her right is Gill who keeps the Bits post running smoothly and who gets ranted at by Aldo as soon as anything goes wrong. And talking of Aldo, there he is on the pic on the right!! This wasn't actually taken at the party but he still deserves to be featured in this hall of heroes for helping me put names to faces on all these pics. Thanks old bean!

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There were a few people who unfortunately couldn't make it to the party. Firstly I tried to get my chum FeekZoid to come along (as he was the only person I knew in fairly close proximity to Glasgow who might be able to come along at such short notice). Alas it was not to be. So he never got the chance to grill Emily D for smashing his tune on the show! Hehe! (And I totally forgot to mention it at the party ... D'OH!) I also would have liked to have met John Clarke (the eventual winner of the GeekWatch compo) and of course Butterfly who came third. They both couldn't make it either so I had to fly the geek flag for us all!