The best and the worst of the competitors’ band names for BoB 2009.
On Friday night two of my dreams will be coming true: I will be both Hermione Granger and a Zombie.
The Yorker gives you the rundown of what's Hot and what's Not in Freshers' Fortnight.
From fabulous to frightening; frivolous praise and scorn for what’s hot (picnics) and what’s not (exams).
This selection could not be ignored, and it has been chosen for its popularity among the users of Facebook. Yes, thank you, we know he won. Yes, the status option is fantastic, but I didn’t need to know (AGAIN) how happy you all are that he’s got the presidency. 90% of my friends had an Obama-related status, but considering the opinion of most people it’s hardly surprising that supporters of McCain weren’t broadcasting their upset - the general view seems to be that if you didn’t vote for Obama you were either being stupid or outright racist.
Many people are celebrating the election of Obama as US President. Is this because of genuine joy at his victory, or are people thinking in the way that Mitch suggested in his Obama blog last week: “Some are hailing it as testimony to the fact that the United States are shunning the racism of their past”? Like Mitch, I find it slightly patronizing. I’m not sure I’ve heard any of my British friends who are celebrating his win talking about his policies or promises, only his partial black ancestry. I hope for the political future of our own country that my friends, and the American people who voted for him, just didn’t think aspects apart from race were worth mentioning out loud, and weren’t really only supporting him based on his ethnic origins.
Even if you’re just in it for the socials, practically everyone has something extracurricular. When you look at the numbers of sports clubs out on a Wednesday, societies competing for very limited funding, or competing media outlets vying for stories, you get an idea of just how many people do these things. Of course many are the same people doing multiple activities, but that’s a whole other issue.
The AU is now York Sport, Freshers' Week is Welcome Week, and for our sportsmen and women BUSA is now BUCS. Re-branding within university culture is a big thing right now. Whatever the reason, be it political correctness, PR or publicity, it's all the rage. Good for our university spirit? Perhaps… but it sucks for any clubs who have to change their logo to something to do with the white rose, and don’t want to.
Well done Jeremy, another fantastic faux-pas. For those people out of the loop, Mr Clarkson managed to offend lorry drivers recently after suggesting that they were all prostitute-murdering morons. I’m not sure how many lorry drivers called in to complain though; I imagine it was more busybodies who’d run out of American election-related racist issues to whine about that did. Still, consider Jeremy Clarkson out of favour with lorry drivers (the only people who had a right to complain, and only if they were genuinely offended) right now. I don’t know how these people could retaliate, but imagine the irony of Jeremy Clarkson being found wearing fishnet stockings and silk panties…
I know the bar itself wasn’t supposed to be finished yet, but I was hoping that we’d at least get our little coffee shop back this term. There was something about sitting in Langwith bar area and common room; cosier than Derwent or Vanbrugh, and more central than Alcuin or the Roger Kirk Centre, Langwith had a charm that meant you could grab lunch or sit and study with a nice hum of human activity in the background. Other college cafés just aren’t the same. I know we’re going to get a whole new Student Union bar once the building work is completed, but will it be worth the wait?
Possibly the best thing about the American election is that it has made people think. Whether you think it is wonderful that Obama won or if you are sceptical as to the influence of the racial aspect, chances are you have an opinion of some sort; with any luck a logically reinforced one at that. I’m not concerned if we don’t agree about Barack, I’m just happy that all this has got nearly everybody thinking.
With the good Cap’n turning his attention to more serious matters, our influential pirate president is no longer a trend-setter for fancy dress occasions. Look at Halloween: minimal pirate action this year. It’s almost a shame, really, although I have got to express some relief in him taking his presidential post so seriously. Maybe there’s still some room for some light-hearted pirate partying, but good judgement should be employed in deciding when, where, and why.
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