If the all-nighter in college worked for that term paper due the next day, why not apply the same principle to the state budget?

That's what the Senate tried as the calendar went from one fiscal year to the next. And to stay with the collegiate theme, they ended up having to ask for an extension... having crashed-- and adjourned-- sometime around 2:30am.

For those outsiders who wonder why senators didn't simply get up and leave, it's because they couldn't. The chamber was actually in "lockdown" (although there was access to a few anterooms near the floor). Former Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson did the same thing on the green carpeted side of the Capitol in 2003, and that one continued even after sunrise.

Most reporters who talked to Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata after his meeting with Governor Schwarzenegger on Thursday afternoon thought the lockdown threat had been called off. But after Perata went back to his Democratic caucus something changed, and the sleepover was on... even as the governor and many members of the Assembly had already left town.

So what's it like in the Senate chambers as lawmakers are forced to stay and talk for more than 10 hours? Well, since you asked...

* Food: Staffers kept stomachs happy. Dinner was served in the hallway adjacent to the chambers around 6:15pm, with seasoned chicken breasts, red baby potatoes, pasta, and salad. Around 10:00 pm, almost a couple dozen pizzas from Round Table Pizza showed up. And as midnight approached, a late night supermarket run from staffers produced cookies and cake.

* Entertainment: Make no mistake, there were indeed negotiations underway most of the evening. But in the members' lounges, there were also movies. Among the titles in favor: Blazing Saddles, Fargo, and the TV comedy Reno 911. There was also a DVD of a certain Austrian's breakout performance, Pumping Iron, on hand if needed.

* Two lawmakers, Senator Kevin Murray (D-LA) and Senator Jim Battin (R-La Quinta) took part in a discussion with reporters in the rear of the chambers about what kind of music was on their iPod. Battin's tastes apparently include music from rockers like Korn and the White Stripes, but Murray may have won the contest... with about 7,000 songs on his iPod ranging from 50 Cent to The Beatles.

* And in the "Random Moments" category: young children of staffers sitting in the chamber with pillows and blankets... Los Angeles Times reporter Jordan Rau trying out what sounded like his budding standup routine to anyone who would listen... and Senator Gloria Romero (D-LA), who brought out the formal gown she had been planning to wear that night to a southland party in honor of new LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a party she missed while searching for a budget deal.