Posts Tagged ‘ Oxford ’

Magdalen goes Harry Potter

+++ Apologies for the lack of blogging this month: there are busy times, there are less busy times, and I’ve had the former for the last few weeks +++ Yes, that’s right, my Oxford college‘s JCR has finished off the 2009 committee session with a set of light-hearted motions in the final General Meeting of [ READ MORE ]

John Bercow is the next Speaker

Epic Commons fail. He’s barely even a Conservative, seeing as he apparently tried to defect to Labour not so long ago… I reckon Sir George Young would have been a much better choice (and not because he went to Eton and did Philosophy, Politics & Economics at Christ Church), not least because Bercow is also [ READ MORE ]

What’s that coming over the hill, is it a rise in university fees?

In amongst the charmed halls and dreaming spires of this country’s universities, there is trouble brewing. The specific concern is  that the higher eduation sector is running out of money, and something has to be done about it. One option, naturally, is to raise the cap on university fees, enabling institutions to charge up to [ READ MORE ]

Fleecing the taxpayer

Just back from winning (for the first time) the jackpot at the pub quiz at the Old Black Horse pub down St. Clement’s, Oxford. Depending on whether anything got won last week, myself and my team are either due £30 or £400. Either way, it’s a couple of pints gratis, and a sum that NO-ONE [ READ MORE ]

May Morning YouTube joy

  • May 1st, 2009
  • Posted in Oxford

For those unfamiliar with Oxford or its many bizarre traditions, there’s an event that takes place overnight from 30.iv to 1.v of every year called May Eve/May Morning. Essentially, it’s an excuse for students to stay up all night dressed in black tie or some ludicrous themed bop-/clubbing-outfit and party the night away, generally fully [ READ MORE ]

Back to the Stone Age?

O for goodness’ sake. A euphemistic approximation of my initial reaction when I saw this article on the BBC this morning. Apparently using the internet is now harmful to the environment – no, this isn’t another one of those stories about how our broadband connections are killing off all the bees (a novelty I was [ READ MORE ]

Student relief?

Well I never. Will wonders never cease?! Universities Secretary John Denham has had the glimmers of what is almost unambiguously a good idea! Students who can’t find themselves a job after graduating because of the current problems (if not to say ‘cataclysm’) in the economy are going to get offered 3-month paid internships as a [ READ MORE ]

Is it because I is at Oxford?

I was just wondering this morning whether I could go up to uni this weekend without having to wrap up the holidays with an article about one of my political bugbears, but then this bombshell descended on me shortly after breakfast. The jist of the story is that the Education Commissars up at Whitehall have [ READ MORE ]

Day 84 (18.ix.08)

Well now that’s a pleasant surprise – my hostel room in Toronto is absolutely amazing! It’s technically a two-person suite (i.e. there are two beds) but I’ve only been charged the ‘single’ rate (a healthy $60 a night), which for two nights is pretty damn good – the whole place is exceptionally clean and quiet, [ READ MORE ]

Day 74 (8.ix.08)

I did make it to breakfast this morning, which meant that by the time I’d finished my lunch – for which I went to a very good Mexican place called Qdoba, near the far end of Massachusetts Avenue – I was feeling absolutely stuffed. So stuffed, in fact, that I felt sure my centre of [ READ MORE ]

Day 69 (3.ix.08)

Shock announcement: I’m in a good mood!! And there are only three explanations why: the first is that I have (through my trusty brother-in-arms Dhan S) got a ticket to watch England at Wembley on 11.x. Yes, I know that’s the end of Freshers’ Week at Oxford, yes I know that I should be getting [ READ MORE ]

Day 67 (1.ix.08)

Boston. What a way to mark (just about) two months since I boarded the plane to Toronto all but clueless as to what awaited me on the other side. The city where the War of Independence kicked off with Paul Revere and the tea-party, guaranteeing it iconic status in the eyes of all later generations [ READ MORE ]

Day 51 (16.viii.08)

So, the last day in Toronto has finally been and gone. I didn’t do anything particularly interesting or glamorous to mark this event, since packing everything together was my ultimate priority, so that I wouldn’t have unnecessary stress tomorrow. It’s truly bizarre how, every time I go on holiday, packing up before I leave is [ READ MORE ]

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