So after two weeks of intense competition, the London Olympics were brought to a close on Sunday night with four hours worth of entertainment. It was another successful olympics for team GB, who ended up third in the medals table with 65 medals, surpassing Bejing's 47, along with new world records and some of the most successful athletes ever.
After the hype of the Opening Ceremony, it was slow going to GB, who's first gold medal didn't come until the women's rowing, thanks to Heather Stanning and Helen Glover, but the gold rush continued after that. It's fair to say that Team GB excelled in the rowing in London.
Bradley Wiggins, Chris Hoy, Ben Ainslee and Jessica Ennis are sure to be the stars people will most remember in 2012 after all four of them picked up gold medals. Chris Hoy became the most successful British athlete in terms of gold medals with six gold medals in track cycling, beating Steve Redgrave with five. Hoy and Bradley Wiggins are now Britain's most decorated Olympians with seven medals each.
However, lets not forget the international stars of 2012. Michael Phelps became one of the greatest Olympians in history with 22 medals, 19 of which are gold. Phelps' last medals were won in London as he now goes into retirement.
Although he got no individual records this time round, Usain Bolt kept his fastest man title, picking up gold in the 200m and 100mm, beating rival and teammate Yohan Blake who beat Bolt at the Jamaican trials. Together, along with the rest of teh Jamaican relay team, they did get a knew world record time for the 4x100m sprint with a time of 36.85.
Kenyan David Rudisha became a star by setting the fastest time for the 800m with five of the athletes running under 1.43. China came second in the swimming after the USA with 16-year-old Shiwen Ye winning gold in the 200m and 400m IM, but American swimming star Missy Franklin, 17, walked away with five medals, four golds.
As a whole London 2012 has become the biggest TV event in the US, as NBC announced that more than 219 million viewers tuned in for the games compared to 215 million in Bejiing. Worldwide polls have suggested that London 2012 is the most successful Olympics in 20 years.
The games finished with the closing ceremony of Sunday which featured a whole range of acts, showcasing Britain's talents, also proving that Britain is still making great music. Among some of the artists were: Ed Sheeran, Emile Sande, The Who, Spice Girls, One Direction even John Lennon made a appearance in video. However for me, one dissapointing performance (that didn't feature George Michael) was Queen's collaboration with Jesse J. Let me first say that I do not dispute Jesse J's talent - she is one of our better vocalists of the 21st century, but for a legend like Freddie Mercury to be replaced with a star who has only really become a hit with all ages thanks to a TV talent show, it left me a little dissapointed. Personally I cannot suggest a suitable replacement for Freddie Mercury. If it were practical I would suggest the hologram technology that brought Tupac back for California's famous Coachella festival eariler this year. Despite this however, and George Michael (let's not go there), the closing ceremony was a spectacle, one of the best moments coming from Boris Johnson dancing to the Spice Girls.
Its strange not waking up in the morning, looking at the TV guide and seeing that the Olympics is no longer taking over the BBC, but I think its safe to say we won't be forgetting London 2012 in a hurry.
For video highlights/interviews of London 2012: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/
Tuesday, 14 August 2012
Thursday, 21 June 2012
Has Rihanna gone too far?
We all know Rihanna is someone who pushes boundaries and usually everyone loves her for it, but now she has been photographed going into a studio in London wearing a T-shirt saying C*** Life along with a gun logo. It comes days after her tweeting a picture of her new tatoo `Thug Life' in memory of Tupac.
When leaving the studio the singer seemed to have realised her mistake and covered up the slogan, but it still begs the question - why wear it in the first place? It's not like she is so naive not to expect photographers to get a shot of the t-shirt.
Rihanna has previously said to critics who believe she is too sexual in her videos and other such things that she doesn't see herself or want to be a role model. Well here's some words of advice RiRi - you're a role model whether you want to be or not. Fact. It was so the moment you signed a recording contract with Jay-Z and Def Jam and even if you decide not to be one, thats not going to stop young fans wanting to be you.
My words to Rihanna are this:
Stop being so selfish and just accept the fact that you ARE a role model and start thinking about what you're showing to your loyal fans and how you represent yourself. Grow Up.
When leaving the studio the singer seemed to have realised her mistake and covered up the slogan, but it still begs the question - why wear it in the first place? It's not like she is so naive not to expect photographers to get a shot of the t-shirt.
Rihanna has previously said to critics who believe she is too sexual in her videos and other such things that she doesn't see herself or want to be a role model. Well here's some words of advice RiRi - you're a role model whether you want to be or not. Fact. It was so the moment you signed a recording contract with Jay-Z and Def Jam and even if you decide not to be one, thats not going to stop young fans wanting to be you.
My words to Rihanna are this:
Stop being so selfish and just accept the fact that you ARE a role model and start thinking about what you're showing to your loyal fans and how you represent yourself. Grow Up.
Friday, 8 June 2012
Prime Minister David Cameron and other political leaders to appeat at Leveson
The Prime Minister, David Cameron is to appear at the Leveson inquiry next week to further investigate press standards and the relationships between politicians and the press. George Osborne, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg are among others to appear at the Royal Courts of Justice next week.
Gordon Brown and George Osborne will both appear on Monday. Tuesday will be former PM John Major, deptuy Labour leader, Harriet Harman and Labour leader, Ed Miliband. Deputy PM Nick Clegg and SNP leader Alex Salmond will appear on Wednesday. David Cameron will spend the whole of Thursday at the inquiry.
The Leveson inquiry is to continue on Monday after a week out.
Last time the inquiry was in session, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt spent six hours in front of the inquiry to discuss his input into the News Corporation BSkyB bid.
Next week will focus further on the relationships between politicians and the press stirred up by Prime Ministers' past and present, relationships with the main culprits, i.e. Rebecca Brookes, who opened the lid on her relationship with current Prime Minister David Cameron when she was at Leveson last month.
The Leveson inquiry, set up by David Cameron last July, is looking into first the culture and ethics and practices of the media in general and secondly unlawful activities by journalists which will begin when detectives have finished looking into phone hacking and police corruption and prosecutions have been concluded.
Gordon Brown and George Osborne will both appear on Monday. Tuesday will be former PM John Major, deptuy Labour leader, Harriet Harman and Labour leader, Ed Miliband. Deputy PM Nick Clegg and SNP leader Alex Salmond will appear on Wednesday. David Cameron will spend the whole of Thursday at the inquiry.
The Leveson inquiry is to continue on Monday after a week out.
Last time the inquiry was in session, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt spent six hours in front of the inquiry to discuss his input into the News Corporation BSkyB bid.
Next week will focus further on the relationships between politicians and the press stirred up by Prime Ministers' past and present, relationships with the main culprits, i.e. Rebecca Brookes, who opened the lid on her relationship with current Prime Minister David Cameron when she was at Leveson last month.
The Leveson inquiry, set up by David Cameron last July, is looking into first the culture and ethics and practices of the media in general and secondly unlawful activities by journalists which will begin when detectives have finished looking into phone hacking and police corruption and prosecutions have been concluded.
Sunday, 29 April 2012
Disney's 'John Carter' flop
Disney's latest film John Carter is set to lose around $200 million after the film became one of Hollywood's biggest flops and an embarrassment for Disney.
The head of Disney's film-making studios, Rich Ross, and the man responsible for giving John Carter the green light, has resigned since the film has been released.
The sci-fi film starring Taylor Kitsch cost a whopping $250 million to make and only made $30,180,188 in the USA on the opening weekend. Worldwide it made $179,300,000 on its opening weekend. Doesn't sound too bad, but when considering that a film needs to make at least twice the budget overall to be considered a success, its not looking great for Disney.
The film has recieved at best mixed reviews, many saying the film is dull or messy when refering to the plot. Although some say the film isn't a total failure, when looking at the extortionate $250 million budget it doesn't fair well, especially when looking at the latest box office smash, The Hunger Games, produced by Lionsgate, which made over $150 million on the opening weekend. Yes, less than John Carter worldwide, but meaning by now the profit the studio needs has already been achieved, seeing as the film cost a measely $78 million to make when compared with John Carter.
Also consider the fact that 3D was pushed onto the film by the studio, not director, Andrew Stanton who didn't want it. The 3D itself is poor, and leaves us asking, why did Disney insist on using 3D in the first place?
Clearly, Disney made a massive error with John Carter and hopefully they can try and make something back with new action film The Avengers, (Marvel being owned by Disney), which is meant to rival the likes of The Hunger Games at the box office this summer.
The head of Disney's film-making studios, Rich Ross, and the man responsible for giving John Carter the green light, has resigned since the film has been released.
The sci-fi film starring Taylor Kitsch cost a whopping $250 million to make and only made $30,180,188 in the USA on the opening weekend. Worldwide it made $179,300,000 on its opening weekend. Doesn't sound too bad, but when considering that a film needs to make at least twice the budget overall to be considered a success, its not looking great for Disney.
The film has recieved at best mixed reviews, many saying the film is dull or messy when refering to the plot. Although some say the film isn't a total failure, when looking at the extortionate $250 million budget it doesn't fair well, especially when looking at the latest box office smash, The Hunger Games, produced by Lionsgate, which made over $150 million on the opening weekend. Yes, less than John Carter worldwide, but meaning by now the profit the studio needs has already been achieved, seeing as the film cost a measely $78 million to make when compared with John Carter.
Also consider the fact that 3D was pushed onto the film by the studio, not director, Andrew Stanton who didn't want it. The 3D itself is poor, and leaves us asking, why did Disney insist on using 3D in the first place?
Clearly, Disney made a massive error with John Carter and hopefully they can try and make something back with new action film The Avengers, (Marvel being owned by Disney), which is meant to rival the likes of The Hunger Games at the box office this summer.
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Struggling pupils failing at GCSE
Latest data released from the schools league tables show that only 58.2% of pupils are achieving 5 GCSE grades A*-C. The Department of Education has released the information of around 5,000 secondary schools with around 200 pieces of data for each.
Those students that are struggling are those from disadvantaged backgrounds as expected and statistics show that a third of these children achieved the governments benchmark of 5 GCSEs.
Of those students who started secondary school above average (achieving level 5), 95% of them achieved good grades and GCSE and reached the benchmark.
When BTecs and NVQs are excluded, 52.4% of pupils got five passes at GCSE.
Schools Minister Nick Gibb said: "Today's figures reveal a shocking waste of talent in many schools across the country. All too often, pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds aren't given the same opportunities as their peers."
The figures show that those children and teenagers struggling at school aren't being given the attention they need to get them to the government benchmark of at least five GCSE grades A*-C. It is the children that are already achieving highly that are given the attention when they do not necessarily need it to achieve. A lot of the under achievers come from under privileged backgrounds suggesting that these students need as much help at school as they can get as they do not seem to be getting it at home.
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Oscar Nominations 2012
The Oscar nominations were annouced today. Unsurprisingly, silent black and white movie The Artist has a number of nominations (9 to be precise). Other nominees include War Horse, Moneyball, Harry Potter 7 pt2 and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
For a full list of nominations go to:
http://oscar.go.com/nominees
For a full list of nominations go to:
http://oscar.go.com/nominees
Holocaust Memorial Day: Speak Up Speak Out, a Public Speaking Event
On 27th January, Christ Church college in Oxford are kindly hosting a public speaking event, organised by sixth form students of Chenderit School in association with Oxford University Archeaology department.
January 27th is Holocaust Memorial Day, a day that has inspired Oxford archeaology to commemorate the event. They have made an exibition based on Jewish and German refugee, Paul Jacobsthal, who came to Oxford during the war to escape the Nazis. Jacobsthal was an archeaologist specialising in Celtic Art and the people at Oxford have found some of his old works and personal belongings like letters and photographs in his old home. By collecting all of this material, they have put on an exhibition running from January to the 10th of March to celebrate this man and to remind us all of the dreadful events of the Holocaust.
Sixth form students from Chenderit school were asked by Oxford to help them with promotion for their exibition and to organise a public speaking event for sixth forms across the area on Holocaust Memorial Day. What started with about five students has now turned into twelve sixth form students taking the inititive to organise the whole event themselves with help from students of Gosford Hill and Cheney School who will also be taking part in the event. For the past two months preparations for this event have been underway, with some students taking the role of event managing, some in advertising and others in running the event on the night.
The night itself will consist of six schools taking part in the event, with all the topics based on persecution and freedom to link to the Holocaust and the Paul Jacobsthal exibition. As well as this, year nine students from Chenderit school who have just started studying the Holocaust have created timelines and visuals for the event.
On behalf of the Chenderit school sixth form students we would like to thank all the schools who will take part on the night, Christ Church for agreeing to hold the event, teachers from Chenderit, Gosford and Cheney for giving us contacts and links and of course Oxford archeaology department for trusting us to put together this event that we hope will run annually for a number of years.
January 27th is Holocaust Memorial Day, a day that has inspired Oxford archeaology to commemorate the event. They have made an exibition based on Jewish and German refugee, Paul Jacobsthal, who came to Oxford during the war to escape the Nazis. Jacobsthal was an archeaologist specialising in Celtic Art and the people at Oxford have found some of his old works and personal belongings like letters and photographs in his old home. By collecting all of this material, they have put on an exhibition running from January to the 10th of March to celebrate this man and to remind us all of the dreadful events of the Holocaust.
Sixth form students from Chenderit school were asked by Oxford to help them with promotion for their exibition and to organise a public speaking event for sixth forms across the area on Holocaust Memorial Day. What started with about five students has now turned into twelve sixth form students taking the inititive to organise the whole event themselves with help from students of Gosford Hill and Cheney School who will also be taking part in the event. For the past two months preparations for this event have been underway, with some students taking the role of event managing, some in advertising and others in running the event on the night.
The night itself will consist of six schools taking part in the event, with all the topics based on persecution and freedom to link to the Holocaust and the Paul Jacobsthal exibition. As well as this, year nine students from Chenderit school who have just started studying the Holocaust have created timelines and visuals for the event.
On behalf of the Chenderit school sixth form students we would like to thank all the schools who will take part on the night, Christ Church for agreeing to hold the event, teachers from Chenderit, Gosford and Cheney for giving us contacts and links and of course Oxford archeaology department for trusting us to put together this event that we hope will run annually for a number of years.
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