The reason for Eugene’s presence? Well his dad has studied more OU courses than any other student (something like 60 of the things since the early 70s). And for having so much time on his hands we named a building after him. I give you – The Phillip Sully building (it’s the one on the right of this map that’s currently labelled “Green”.

OU staff being pretty highbrow characters didn’t know him from Adam. I however was dancing up and down going – look it’s Eugenious from Big Brother! Don’t you guys understand the gravity of this situation? Mint!

I did a little research on the web, as you do, and found generally positive reviews for the Humax F2-Fox. Never heard of Humax before? Me neither. However, John Lewis stock them and they’re never knowingly undersold, you know. So, how did I arrive at this particular decision? Well, being a geek, I made a list of requirements and tested different Freeview box spec sheets against them.

My requirements were

• Good reviews (What Hi-Fi and the like)
• At least one RGB Scart
• A second scart for video
• L/R audio phono style audio outs
• 7 day electronic programme guide (EPG)
• RF modulator (to send the signal up to the bedroom)
• RF loop (to send the analogue terrestrial signals through to the video)
• Usable navigation for on-screen menus
• Upgradable software

The only device to tick all these boxes was the Humax F2-Fox. So off I went, paid my £70 to John Lewis Milton Keynes, went home, plugged it in and bonza! Worked a treat. I didn’t even know if the roof-top aerial was of digital quality but it is. I get a 60% strength signal delivering a 100% quality picture. So now I’m saving about £300 a year in Sky Subscription (plus all the £69 callouts to fix bits falling off my ancient box).

So, what are the negatives? Well you could say less channels ss a negative but I only really miss Sky One and even then only for The Simpsons which I can find on Channel Four daily so it’s hardly a massive sacrifice. In fact less choice is actually a good thing as it means I’ve got to find more interesting things to do in my spare time. Yes it’s quite liberating actually.

Oh yes, negatives.. Erm. Well the EPG is a little crappy on the Humax as it forgets the long programme descriptions due to a lack of memory. Apparently there will be a software update which wipes off the useless games to free up memory some time soon. Freeview could do with a better music channel than The Hits which is bubblegum pap. There’s apparently another music channel on there but it never actually shows any music – just reality celeb tat. Apparently E4+1 might become E4Music, that’d be cool. Cooler still is that from July, More4 +1 is going to be Film4. Film4 with adverts. Yes please. Anything other negatives? Aside from that..hmm. I’ll let you know.

Almost forgot – the radio offering is tonnes better than Sky. Much more easy to find the Radio channels and they all have their own branding graphics which is much better than the Sky Digital uniform blue screen.

Last night at 10pm I was treated to BBC Music Scotland’s The Music Show whilst the rest of the country had to endure Have I got News for You. Belle and Sebastian were the subject of this 30 minute special where they ran through a bunch of new tracks from their forthcoming new album “The Life Pursuit”.

The new material is very strong. I’m not too sure of the number occasional vocalist Stevie sang. As a general rule I prefer Stuart’s voice but Stevie’s songs usually grow on me eventually. “Wandering alone” and “Black and White United” from Storytelling have even become two of my favourite B&S songs over time.

The show had a 70s Old Grey Whistletest feel too it. Even the audience were dressed in tank-tops! I remember the band sending out a group e-mail referencing the TV show with a call to action for fans to turn up in 70s Brady bunch gear. Looks like it paid off.

B&S are certainly doing some good promo work in the lead up to the new album. They played a decent set on Radio 2 on Monday’s Mark Radcliffe Show. Stuart Murdoch also pronounced that the new Southampton-based Delays song “Valentine” is the best song of the last twelve months!

Anyhow, there’s a taster of a few B&S tracks from The Music Show on BBC Scotland so go and have a look.

Full story: Pink Floyd reform for Live 8 show.

Other weirdness has included Matt (who looks like a younger version of the current Michael Jackson face) cutting off his own foreskin with a blunt knife ‘cos his girlfriend thought it was odd he had one. Matt is also now going out with an ‘older’ woman whose son also fancies him (and his own mother it would seem). If you haven’t got Sky, catch it next time round on Channel 4. A strange but enjoyable programme ideally suited to the 10pm Sunday night spot.