So the big story in the past couple of days is that two of the five from the pop teen heartthrob boy band, One Direction, Louis and Zayn, have been caught on video smoking a spliff.
Oh the horror! Two twenty-something-year-old guys having a casual joint! Because that doesn't occur on a daily basis everywhere in the world.
At no point am I condoning the use of marijuana, it is of course illegal in the UK, but is it really that surprising that two of the richest under 25-year-olds in the world are smoking weed? Rock bands of the 1960's would laugh in the face of One Direction and other 2014 celebs thinking they were so hard as to smoke a class C drug.
Yes, 1D are the idols and fantasies of millions of young girls, but so are Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus and yet no one at The Sun is reporting their use of marijuana. Then again, we are still waiting for one of One Direction to be arrested or gyrate with a massive foam finger.
The fact is that when your absolutely loaded and have forgotten what the word 'no' means, smoking a joint is nothing compared to what they could (and probably are) doing.
So lets not get caught up in the idea that this is the start of another clean cut celebrity meltdown until one of them is caught in a hotel room Rolling Stones style filled with smoke, hookers and cocaine.
This is simply two guys having the time of their lives being part of the most successful boy band of the 21st century, doing something that most guys and girls of the same age do. This, if anything, is their normality.
Thursday 29 May 2014
Monday 19 May 2014
No Longer a Fresher…
Time flies when you’re having fun. My first year at uni
certainly has and all in all it’s been a good year. I’ve learnt things about
life, myself and of course journalism.
There are certain things that I think just have to be done
in your first year at university to be a top fresher. I’d like to think I’ve
done a few of them.
Joining a society is definitely something I would encourage
to any first year. It’s just another new group of people to mingle with. The
Winchester Volleyball team has given me a lot of entertainment over the past
few months and holds several of my highlights from the year.
The great thing about joining a society, particularly sports
is that at Winchester at least, and I’m sure at other universities, it’s not
all serious and competitive. People do join for the social aspect which is
definitely what I did and it’s fair to say that volleyball is a team that
prides itself on being more of a social team.
For a lot of sports societies the big event is sports tour
which I decided to buy a ticket for just a few days before the January deadline
and I’m so glad I did. It was one of the best weeks ever and a proper boozy,
student time. It’s even quite fun as a fresher to get dicked on by seniors. I
would advise anyone on a sports team to go on tour, it’s not to be missed.
Of course it’s not all fun and games. One of the major
factors of being a student is finance. I was one of the lucky ones in that my
loan and grant covered my accommodation with a good amount left over for
myself. I also had a fair bit saved up from my job back home. Seriously though,
never underestimate how much money you will need as a student. A tenner here, a
fiver there, it all adds up. I just about survived until the end of second
semester and came two pounds from my overdraft. Luckily I now have a job in
Winchester and its treating my bank account nicely.
I really wouldn’t wait around to get a part time job. I
started looking properly in January and didn’t have one until the end of March
and looking at the circumstances, it was pure luck that I went there for lunch
with my mum and happened too ask about any jobs.
Although it may not be the most fun summer, I’m staying in
Winchester for the majority to work and save for year two. Also I don’t know
how long I’m going to be able to keep it once second year starts. With 9/10am
starts every day I don’t know how long I’ll be able to cope with getting home
at 4am from working at a bar. I do love the job though and I definitely prefer
the people to
my last job.
Let’s now not forget the reason I’m at university; the
degree. I think you know after the first few weeks if you made the right choice
or not and I know I did. The course itself is awesome and the people on it are
also great. The good thing about doing journalism at Winchester is that it’s
not a big course in terms of the number of students. There’s about 40 of us
which means there’s no excuse to not at least know everyone’s name. The great
thing about a smaller course as well is that it’s much easier to be social with
each other outside of lectures. There have been many a pub trip and nights out
to the SU with journalism.
Now that first year is coming to an end it’s a weird feeling
knowing that I won’t see my closest uni friends for three months. It’s also
weird to think I’ll be moving into a proper house in July. I think that’s when
it will hit that I am no longer a fresher and everything piece of work I do
actually matters, so it’s not okay to scrape through with a 40% because I was out
the night before.
However, if this year’s anything to go by, second year’s
going to be a blast (okay, with a bit work work!)
R.
Monday 10 February 2014
Money, money, money
Being a university student that is almost halfway through their second semester, I have noticed that the main topic of conversation, other than drunken stories, is money.
I am now reaching the point where I have to except that my overdraft will be in use by the end of term.
The bulk of my money this term has been spent of tour in April. Don't forget about all the extras that come with it. I'm now having to spend £80 on a passport renewal.
Then there is the ridiculous amounts that get spent on takeout. It may seem like just a fiver at the time, but trust me you will regret it later.
Birthdays are another thing. Of course we all want to celebrate our flatmate's and our friend's birthdays, but remember that this does add up. There's the present, the decorations, the meal and of course the night out, and don't forget taxi money.
Its important to remember that there will be payments every few weeks that you weren't anticipating. Just yesterday I had to buy a new pair of headphones off Amazon because mine decided to give up the ghost. ALWAYS go for free delivery, no matter how long it takes. The days of agony, anticipation and disappointment when they don't arrive on the first day stated will be worth it when you review your next bank statement.
There are other small things that can be done for a slightly cheaper student life. I've started buying Quorn rather than actual meat because its so much cheaper and no risk of food poisoning. Also it's so much nicer not having to plan meals in advance in case you need to defrost something.
Buy the supermarket's own brand products and always look for the deals. Just today I saved £7.00 on my food shop from doing this. Also, Poundland is a God send. One pound for a bottle of Heinz tomato ketchup? Yes please.
I cannot tell you how glad I am I saved the majority of my paychecks from my old job for uni. It's the only thing that's got me through this year, because let's face it, student loans are complete bull****. I'm fortunate that I have money left over after my accommodation fee goes out, but some people aren't so lucky. This is the one time in life when you're glad your parents have a terribly paid job and you have younger siblings that live at home.
I think it is important to point out however, that you can be as careful and stingy as you like, but at the end of the day, living without parents and university life in general is expensive. There's simply no way round it. If you can get through uni without having to once worry about money, then every student out there hates you right now.
I think it's safe to say, the adult world can really suck sometimes.
But it's also the best thing ever.
I am now reaching the point where I have to except that my overdraft will be in use by the end of term.
The bulk of my money this term has been spent of tour in April. Don't forget about all the extras that come with it. I'm now having to spend £80 on a passport renewal.
Then there is the ridiculous amounts that get spent on takeout. It may seem like just a fiver at the time, but trust me you will regret it later.
Birthdays are another thing. Of course we all want to celebrate our flatmate's and our friend's birthdays, but remember that this does add up. There's the present, the decorations, the meal and of course the night out, and don't forget taxi money.
Its important to remember that there will be payments every few weeks that you weren't anticipating. Just yesterday I had to buy a new pair of headphones off Amazon because mine decided to give up the ghost. ALWAYS go for free delivery, no matter how long it takes. The days of agony, anticipation and disappointment when they don't arrive on the first day stated will be worth it when you review your next bank statement.
There are other small things that can be done for a slightly cheaper student life. I've started buying Quorn rather than actual meat because its so much cheaper and no risk of food poisoning. Also it's so much nicer not having to plan meals in advance in case you need to defrost something.
Buy the supermarket's own brand products and always look for the deals. Just today I saved £7.00 on my food shop from doing this. Also, Poundland is a God send. One pound for a bottle of Heinz tomato ketchup? Yes please.
I cannot tell you how glad I am I saved the majority of my paychecks from my old job for uni. It's the only thing that's got me through this year, because let's face it, student loans are complete bull****. I'm fortunate that I have money left over after my accommodation fee goes out, but some people aren't so lucky. This is the one time in life when you're glad your parents have a terribly paid job and you have younger siblings that live at home.
I think it is important to point out however, that you can be as careful and stingy as you like, but at the end of the day, living without parents and university life in general is expensive. There's simply no way round it. If you can get through uni without having to once worry about money, then every student out there hates you right now.
I think it's safe to say, the adult world can really suck sometimes.
But it's also the best thing ever.
Saturday 25 January 2014
Formula 1 2014: The Latest
The cars for the upcoming Formula 1 season are finally being unveiled! As a massive fan of the sport this could not come sooner. The months December through to mid-March are so boring for me.
This season is seeing some radical changes to Formula 1 rules. We have said goodbye to the V8 engine which are replaced by V6's and a seemingly bizarre rule change to double points for the last race of the season, among other changes.
From the latest released pictures from Ferrari, Force India, Williams and McLaren, the most obvious change to the style of the cars are the noses that is now being dubbed the 'anteater' nose. This is thanks to new rules that require the nose to be lower to the ground for safety reasons.
One of the biggest questions that have resulted from the changes to the 2014 season is whether or not Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull will continue their dominance that they've had over the past few years.
Either way, there's guarantee that Ferrari and their 2014 drivers Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonnen will both be competing to become world champion again.
Team personnel has also been shifting and changing within the teams. Eric Boullier has left Lotus for McLaren, with co-chairman Gerard Lopez replacing him at Lotus.
The driver line-up for 2014 is almost complete as well, with a number of drivers switching teams and also seeing the return of Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi to Caterham.
Latest driver line-up:
This season is seeing some radical changes to Formula 1 rules. We have said goodbye to the V8 engine which are replaced by V6's and a seemingly bizarre rule change to double points for the last race of the season, among other changes.
From the latest released pictures from Ferrari, Force India, Williams and McLaren, the most obvious change to the style of the cars are the noses that is now being dubbed the 'anteater' nose. This is thanks to new rules that require the nose to be lower to the ground for safety reasons.
One of the biggest questions that have resulted from the changes to the 2014 season is whether or not Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull will continue their dominance that they've had over the past few years.
Either way, there's guarantee that Ferrari and their 2014 drivers Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonnen will both be competing to become world champion again.
Team personnel has also been shifting and changing within the teams. Eric Boullier has left Lotus for McLaren, with co-chairman Gerard Lopez replacing him at Lotus.
The driver line-up for 2014 is almost complete as well, with a number of drivers switching teams and also seeing the return of Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi to Caterham.
Latest driver line-up:
Wednesday 8 January 2014
Back to school for Wills
It’s that time of year again when schools and unis restart
for a new term. Although for many this might not be seen as a good thing,
Prince William can’t seem to get enough of education.
He already has one degree under his belt, but the Duke of
Cambridge has decided to go back to university, starting today, to study
environmental management on a ten week course at the University of Cambridge.
The course is designed to help him when he takes over the
Royal estate in Cornwall.
Wednesday 1 January 2014
Happy New Year
It’s time to say hello to 2014. It’s finally here! The past
24 hours have been awash with tweets and statuses informing the rest of the
world that ‘a new year is a new me’ and all the usual trivial quotes that
usually get forgotten about come January 3rd.
Which leads us to ponder New Year’s resolutions. For me they
are worthless, my rule is if you’re going to break them don’t make them.
Despite this I see it time and again every year from all sorts of people
claiming that they are going to lead a better life in one way or another by
making a new year’s resolution.
But what did we learn in 2013? Well...
In the world of entertainment we learnt that even Oscar
winners aren't afraid of acting like fan girls when they meet their heroes as
demonstrated by Jennifer Lawrence when she met Jack Nicholson mid-interview.
huffingtonpost.co.uk
It also became OK for number one singles to reference sexual
harassment.
alexshye.wordpress.com
Hundreds of journalists and news crews decided to have a camp out in front of some hospital.
telegraph.co.uk
Tom Daley told us what we already knew.
theguardian.com
And we said goodbye to some of the most influential
political figures in history.
Forbes.com
Npr.org
Now as we look back on some of the pinnacle moments of 2013,
we welcome in the New Year and wait to see what 2014 has in store for the next
12 months.
Sunday 22 September 2013
Miley, please just stop
She's been at it again! Miley Cyrus has been twerking her way into my (and I'm sure many other people's) most annoying celebrity of the year list. This time she stepped out at the iHeart Radio festival in Las Vegas in a cringey fishnet dress showing way too much for anyone.
It appears that it can get worse after her awful VMA's performance in which all I could shout at the TV was "who told her that obsessive tough thing was attractive?" and "stop trying to twerk when you clearly can't" Even worse than the Wrecking Ball video which lets face it, is not 'art' or whatever she wants to call it and is just an excuse to cause havoc in cyberspace when there are more important things in the world that need to be discussed, like the fact that people are dying from inhumane chemical weapons in Syria. What makes it worse is I'm now blogging about her, all be it negative, no doubt she find satisfaction in being heavily criticised and bitched about seeing as a lot of people are currently doing it.
I don't buy this "oh, she's just doing what every twenty-year-old does", because being just two years younger and knowing some 20-year-olds myself I can say that no self-respecting twenty-year-old decides to get on a massive foam ball naked and put it all over the internet.
To top it all, now that she's officially broken up with Liam Hemsworth, all I think about is that its only going to get worse from here.
It appears that it can get worse after her awful VMA's performance in which all I could shout at the TV was "who told her that obsessive tough thing was attractive?" and "stop trying to twerk when you clearly can't" Even worse than the Wrecking Ball video which lets face it, is not 'art' or whatever she wants to call it and is just an excuse to cause havoc in cyberspace when there are more important things in the world that need to be discussed, like the fact that people are dying from inhumane chemical weapons in Syria. What makes it worse is I'm now blogging about her, all be it negative, no doubt she find satisfaction in being heavily criticised and bitched about seeing as a lot of people are currently doing it.
I don't buy this "oh, she's just doing what every twenty-year-old does", because being just two years younger and knowing some 20-year-olds myself I can say that no self-respecting twenty-year-old decides to get on a massive foam ball naked and put it all over the internet.
To top it all, now that she's officially broken up with Liam Hemsworth, all I think about is that its only going to get worse from here.
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