The goose is getting fat.

With most of my assignments out of the way and Christmas just around the corner I have been getting into the festive spirit, uploading my christmas music collection onto my Ipod and putting up tinsel.

Last week saw the ceremonial buying of my advent calendar with Jo and Sheri - something I forgot to do until the 10th December last year! - It only cost 98p! - Gotta love Lidl - and I spiced up my room a bit adding tinsel here, there and... well... just about everywhere.

After Mike left the house on Thursday, leaving us one house mate down, myself and Charlie felt a bit low so we decided it was high time to decorate the rest of the house. So, off to Asda we went!

Our bikes got us there pretty quickly and we started to fill up a trolley with Christmas tree and appropriate decorations. Now, it is fairly easy to get carried away when christmas shopping. We filled the trolley with festive fancies, we even bought a tin of celebrations - most of which are gone already! Once we had enough we got to the checkout and I handed over my debit card. £36?!?!?!!?! Ooops... Well at least there is two of us to split the price and we can use the decorations each year.

Or not... After riding home, we got into the house to find out the lights on the tree didn't work - well it was a fiver... not exactly high quality - then promptly snapped the tree in half. Charlie had ridden back with the tree shoved down her coat, the packaging completely blinding her peripheral vision for nothing!!!! We managed to cello-tape the trunk back together and it actually doesn't look too bad with all the decorations on it. But really! I mean, could it have happened to anyone else?

However, the house now looks lovely and festive and in my bed-ridden state, I am, as I speak listening to christmas tunes on my laptop, glad to be out of the infernal rain and observing the world go past my ridiculously extensive window under my newly bought fairy lights :) All I need now is snow!

Spare Clothes.

Rain is shit!

I have been sitting here for the past 10 mins trying to figure out how to start this blog and I finally decided to take Dan Hogans advice to be to the point, make it 'whizzy' and use known facts. Imagine that sentence being said to you in his eccentric tone and were away!

Monday morning I woke up feeling quite chirpy - an unusual feeling for 9am in the morning - and prepared for Dan's lecture by reading the Independent and sipping a cup of tea - sure as hell i'd need the caffeine! Dan's lectures often consist of running up and down various floors of the Media school, going outside in the freezing cold to observe imaginary news stories and interviewing tens of people that are uncanny to Dan himself! Fun packed and frivolous, but bloody tiring.

For once, I felt like I looked fairly representable as I left the house and had the idea that today was going to be a gooden. HAHA! Half way to uni it started to rain. Now I don't mean like the heavens are spitting at you, I mean like the bloomin' Niagara falls following me round on my bike. I pedaled, found shelter and stopped, pedaled a bit more, found shelter and stopped, but no matter how hard I tried there was no staying dry.

At one point, the wind was so strong and the rain so heinously torrential that I skidded into the church wall. But, as there was no one around, I ended up hysterically giggling to myself... I really hope there was no one around!

I finally got to uni, got my bike into the bike shed and squelched into the media school. I actually couldn't have been more saturated had I of got into a bath tub fully clothed. People at the entrance were lovely, one said how impressed he was as he would have just gone home. But I had bothered to come in so I was staying! Dripping, I headed towards the lift where I left a puddle of water as I left.

Walking into the lecture, my seminar group looked shocked and amused by my state of dress and I am not joking when I say that I nearly destroyed the News room computer as I dripped water onto the keyboard. Dan took one look at me and laughed, but then promptly offered a choice of various items of spare clothes. For the rest of the 3 hours I was dressed in my lecturers dashing attire. T-shirt, Fleece, Trousers and Socks. What confused me though, was why there was such a collection of clothing in his office? He even provided me with a belt and a towel to dry my hair!

Unfortunately, the embarrassing bit is yet to come. Instead of spending most of our time writing articles, this week Dan had us out and about for the whole 3 hour lecture. OH MY GOD! We went everywhere in Uni and I was seen my a number of people that looked at me as if I was bloody insane. We even went across to the Arts Institute and as I walked past the fashion rooms I wanted to curl up in a hole and die.

Once that embarrassing ordeal was finally over I had to change back into my sopping wet clothes and go to my 2 hour MJS lecture where we watched a film. A film!... I could have done that at home!!!!!!

I finally got back to the house, leaving my bike at uni and getting a lift from Tom - thank you very much. I hung up my wet blazer which didn't dry for a further 24 hours - even though it was next to the radiator - and changed into my trusty 'comfies' which consist of a pair of massive grey joggers and a hoody.

After I managed to dry off I had a nice evening avoiding Shorthand and watching TV. If I have learned one thing from this experience it is that I will never again will I try to ride my bike in the rain. Oh... and that I fit into Dans trousers.

Public Transport

All I can say is, what a load of bollocks. Public Transport?!! Public hold-up more like!

In all honesty I have never once caught a bus when it has been on time. Whether early or late it will be sure to drive off as it sees you running to hop in the double doors... and even when you manage to hop on you end up running head first into the post in the middle of the entrance!

When I am running late the first thing I think is 'oh well i'll have to catch the bus'. This is probably the worst decision I could make, yet I still make it every time.

Having a car at home, I got used to never having to rely on buses or trains to get anywhere, so after moving to university I have mostly used my bike to get around. However, my hatred of public transport began a couple of weeks ago. I was going to a fireworks display at Castle point which started at 9pm. Myself and my housemate Daisy got to the bus stop for 8.20pm to catch the bus, however by 8.45pm it still wasn't there! Suddenly the screen flashed and a big sign saying delayed pops up just to spite us. We ordered a taxi, costing £5 more and got there just on time.

The fireworks were wonderful and Daisy and Myself had almost forgotten the hassle of getting there, even so, instead of catching the bus back we thought a taxi would be the better option. How wrong we were. After half an hour of waiting we rang again, 15 minutes later... nothing. So we started walking and eventually hopped on a passing bus, getting home a grand total of an hour and a half after leaving the display.

My next incident with public transport was the following week, when after arranging for a lift into Uni with Ash. He managed to over sleep - be it my fault or his! - so I had to run into uni with my laptop and heavy bag full of books. On the way I figured I would hop on the Uni bus as I missioned along the road. As I got to the bus stop the bus flew past not even contemplating stopping for me. Stressed and in pain from the weight of library books on my shoulders I managed to flag down the next bus that went to the university. I handed over the money for my ticket, only to have 'why don't you have any bloody change?' yelled back at me. 'Everyone has given me bloody notes today and it is NOT funny!!!!!'. Well that isn't my fault Mr. Bus Driver man!!!! I should have said, but politely I replied with 'I'm sorry, I don't normally catch the bus, it's been a stressful morning'. 'Hasn't everyone's!!!' was snapped back from behind the glass panel and the Queen's face was promptly embedded in my hand as it was shoved forcefully full of change.

Catching the train to Fareham to interview my profile subject wasn't much more fun! I only just got to Southampton and on the train to Fareham in time for it to pull off from the platform. Red faced and out of breath from running up hundreds of stairs to the platform I sat down and got out my shorthand work, preparing myself for the interview ahead. Why when you book a train are the changes so bloomin' close to each other? The worst experience I have had in this instance was catching the train to Swansea. By the time the train had pulled into Bristol Parkway I was 10 minutes late for my train to Swansea and had to wait around for two hours nearly making myself late to the open day! Anyway, where was I? Ah yes... I got into Fareham and had to catch the bus to a little village called Stubbington - a place where only two buses travelled to - and I had no change. Due to previous experience there was no way I was getting on a bus without that!!! So I headed into the town to find a cash point.

Finally, getting to the bus stop I had arrived 3 minutes late and the bus only came every half hour. Balls. Ah well, I had Kings of Leon and a Pastry and I sat on the bench and waited. For 50 mins... It was a half hour bus service... ?!?!?! The same happened on the way back and I missed the fast train back to Bournemouth making me late for my audition. However, after explaining my situation I suggested I help backstage at West Side Story and I may have accidentally found myself in the position of Stage manager. I've never done backstage. Ever. Help!

After the fiasco of getting to Stubbington I had a rather good weekend! Hadouken was awesome but by the way Ash if you are reading, I hate you for getting to Interview them! Can't believe yet another article was snatched from under my nose. Then again... I have a feeling my profile is going to be a gooden. I hope :S

The wrong place at the wrong time.

So I finally finished my Law assignment, almost the full 10% allowance over the word limit, but hey, at least it is done!

The weekends festivities were multiple.

My housemates had a row, bad times!

I went out for the first time in an aaaaage! Very good times :)

Walking through the storm we saw a fence break in half and hit a car. Bloody scary!

I locked my bike to a bike rack in town and then realised I had lent my keys to Mike.

I missed out on a huge journalistic opportunity. Annoying, extremely annoying.

We had Sunday Roast :D - Nom nom nom!

After Josh came to my rescue on friday night, cycling down with my keys, myself, Daisy and her friend Lauren were abandoned with three bikes, Lauren's luggage and a load of shopping to transport back to the house in the storm. That's the last time i lend my keys to anyone for a good deed! The walk was pretty scary! Bins were over turning as we walked past them and we even saw a plank from a fence flying through the air only to hit a car parked in the road.

It was evident that there would be a fair bit of wreckage, but I didn't expect to hear the the roof of the halls had caved in!

That's right, after deciding to take a break from the monotonous Law essay, I switched to Facebook to check my notifications and scrolling down the page I saw comments saying that the roof of Lyme Regis car park had fallen down! A pretty big story considering the halls have only just been built! This automatically sparked up my journalistic brain - competitive and determined - jumping up, I knew I had to get down there! But as I took a second glance at the screen, the time on the status left me crest fallen. It had happened over an hour ago! I promptly went and sulked with my housemates, bitter and twisted. Yet again, in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Saturday night however was much more fun, the night out in Lava was the perfect cure to the essay-induced stress which all 'BAMMJ' students have been suffering from. After working until 10.30pm I jumped in a taxi and headed to town to join my housemates and start drinking - it certainly didn't take long for me to compete with their lack of sobriety! Although, I hope the Smurfs I saw walking across the dance floor were not figments of my imagination or I was more inebriated than I originally thought.

Sunday saw a lot of tension between housemates who had rowed the night before. I can only describe the atmosphere akin to a comedy gig showcasing Gordon Brown. Trying to keep the spirits up, I suggested we still cook the planned Sunday Roast and it was almost a success! The food was scrumptiously hot and tasty, but unfortunately the atmosphere remained as icy as the weather outside!

Finishing off my law essay should have taken a huge weight off my shoulders but what it actually left was a strange feeling in my stomach. I felt odd... like I was forgetting something. Oh thats right... I was! A bibliography! Though I wasn't reminded of this until after the submission time. I have footnoted... I hope that will be ok! The rest of the essay I am actually not displeased with, unlike MJS I actually had a vague idea of what I was writing about!

Fortunately, today has been more bearable, having yet again a hilarious News lecture with Dan and a lovely evening at number 81, I was able to escape from the tension and have a night off.

Now, what's next? Ah, yes... Shorthand!

Sweet Charity.

This is for the purposes of 'No Shave November' participants. If you could all hold off shaving a bit longer, until the end of term that would be great.

This email came through and I thought it would be really cool if we all tried to help out.

Hopefully you all agree?

This is your one and only chance to help shave the world this Christmas.
Do you want to:
• Make a difference?
• Make sexy women laugh?
• Help a child in need?

GOOD!

Here’s how. This Friday we are launching Shave the World – AKA the BAMMJ Beardathon. And we need you to join up and stop shaving until the end of term.
FAQ: “Why would I make myself look like a silly goose for Christmas?”
Answer: Charity begins at home, or to be precise in Weymouth House. Your beard-growing is in aid of four-year-old Sam Svatos. His dad Elliott is the genius who sorts our Macs in the Media School and owner of one of the best anagram names in the western world. Sam needs our help. He is completely blind, epileptic, and has severe Cerebral Palsy in all his limbs, needing 24-hour care. That’s not all – but it’s enough to go on with. Sam needs a new state-of-the-art wheelchair to help his loving parents look after him, and guess what? You and I are going to get him one for Christmas!
So get involved and stop shaving for Sam. Of course it might appear only men can participate, but girls we need your support, and would love you to get involved and help fundraising. You are vital.

So please come to the Screening Room on the Second Floor of Weymouth House this Friday the 13th at NOON. Show your support for your fellow BAMMJs, and most importantly, let’s start raising some serious cash to give this little boy a brilliant Xmas present.

So email me back to say you are going to take part. Sam Rowe and I will write a list, we’ll check it once, then we’ll check it twice and by Christmas, Santa Claus WILL be coming to town. Remember not only will we be giving an amazing gift to a special little boy, we'll all look like the big bearded one himself!

Tell your friends, get involved and we’ll see you Friday @ NOON.

Be there, or be square, or shaven, or something.

Cheers
Fat Danny and Big Sam Rowe

Relentless.

I feel like I've been neglecting my blog writing duties of late. Unfortunately the mass of assignments have left me, as Jo so perfectly put it, 'drowning in a pile of books' and although I have a number of things to 'blog' about they shall have to wait a couple more days to be put onto paper. As of now I should be working on Shorthand, another aspect of my life which has fallen behind due to the monstrosity of the relentless MJS assignment.

You see, those of you not of the 'BAMMJ' persuasion will glaze over this blog, dismissing me as a whining first year making a big deal out of nothing, but this is just not the case. The situation got so bad last night that a Facebook group 'MJS can go do one' was actually created and within seconds there was 28 members!

The lack of sleep however is the main issue. It is due to lack of sleep that I discovered the unfortunate effects too much relentless and pro plus have on my body. I don't think I have ever done so much involuntary shaking. I nearly took out poor Ken as I flew out of my law lecture to chuck up. Sorry, I tried to think of a non-vulgar way to say that but failed to come up with even one option!

After arriving at Uni at 9.00 am yesterday morning, I had no idea what the night had in store for me. I had already spent most nights this week in the News room until late at night with 'study buddies' Parch, Willis and Stass and I had no intention of repeating this the night before it was due to be handed in. FAIL.

I arrived home from Uni at 7am this morning after turning in the disappointingly shabby piece that is my assignment in at 6.15am and doing a celebratory dance down the corridors of the media school. To anybody reading my assignment, they would be surprised to discover that it hadn't in fact been written by a 5 year old, but a Journalism first year. I don't care. It's done.

The nights frivolities included trying to find the man delivering my pizza to the Uni and discovering him with the security guards, listening to copious amounts of disney tunage and typing so much that i'm convinced I have repetitive strain syndrome in my fingers.

Myself and Sheri walked out into the fresh air practically bouncing and trundled on home. Celebrating with a chunk of Yorkie and the remainders of my take away pizza I fell into bed for a few hours before getting up to start my law assignment.

Its going to be another long week.

Facebook IQ Increase.

We all realised that the first BNP appearance on Question Time would be controversial to say the least, but when your whole Facebook thread is filled with witty remarks and academic debate it does come as somewhat of a surprise. My list of friends on Facebook is largely made up of young people between the age of 16 and 21. People who are considered to have little interest in politics. It became apparent to me between 10.35pm and 11.35pm on 23rd October, that there can be very little basis in this argument! Here is just a few comments that caught my eye:

"Nick Griffin - "I was never convicted for holocaust denial" ... :/" - Bob Bamber.

"and apparently the BNP is all about preserving the rights of the Irish people in England... Celts are the indigenous people, silly..." - James Flemming.

"why are people applauding his anti-islamic statements?!" - Mark Allaway.

"Hes a racist yes, but its freedom of speech yes. So let him say his piece, coz hes only gonna mess it up and no-one is really listening to him anyway!" - Lawrence Bolton.

Since the broadcast of this episode of Question Time I personally have never seen such a public interest in Politics. The accumulative IQ of Facebook users in Britain could have tripled in those two hours and I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest. The torrents of updates and the conversing of people who rarely communicate, exchanging their thoughts and opinions was immense. From this we can surely conclude that politics is incredibly important to young people and they recognise that politics is extremely interesting, disproving the bogus idea that young people aren't involved in politics.

In David Marsh, Therese O'Toole and Su Jones', 'Young People and Politics in the UK: Apathy or Alienation?' it is highlighted that Young people in the UK tend to be seen as 'politically apathetic free-riders, taking the benefits of citizenship without voting.' which has lead to a lot of hostility from older citizens towards young people about not caring for their society.

The apparent lack of outward interest in politics from young people has led to the introduction of lessons in citizenship -or PHSE- to the national curriculum. But do these lessons even cover the correct areas of citizenship? And are they needed anyway? My experience of Citizenship at school was a brief outline of the way criminals are dealt with and some aspects of human rights, namely the right to die via euthanasia. This is probably why it became the 'doss' lesson. The lesson where nobody paid any attention and would try to avoid going to at all costs -giving the impression that young people aren't interested in politics! 'I have a music lesson' was a commonly used excuse, giving those of us who actually did have a music lesson no end of hassle and questioning from teachers.

Now, I was one hell of a 'boffin/geek/dork' -whatever you want to call it- at school and I never once heard a word about real, interesting, relevant politics during citizenship. However, just because Political issues are not taught properly at school does not mean to say that young people know nothing of it! Thousands of young people are extremely open to politics and the law, whether it be human rights, financial aspects, criminal cases; they are just not given enough credit to be able to speak up about it!

Although the most recent European election had only a 40% Voter-turnout amongst young people, maybe we should stop to consider why this might be. Politicians themselves have been known to demonise, or worse patronise the youth of Britain. For example; David Cameron's 'Hug a Hoodie' Campaign in which he proposed that 'we have to show a lot more love' to Britain's so called 'hooded youth'. In fact, Cameron's controversial campaign only served to alienate the majority of the political minded British youth due to his cringeworthy attempts to get them involved in politics.

Without a doubt, Britain's youth are far more involved in politics than most would presume and if the opportunity was more readily presented maybe, just maybe, young people would be able to express their views and show their real, interesting, relevant opinions on today's politics.

Time.

I think most people know how it feels to be under pressure and understand the feeling that they have the world on their shoulders when facing the smallest assignment or problem. However, the one good thing about being pressurised at least some of the time, I think is that it makes us aware of how little time we actually have to spend worrying about life, the world and everything. I've recently become incredibly aware that I have spent my whole life worrying that I’m not going to achieve what I want. So I have decided that if I really want it, I have to go for it before it’s too late. That’s why I’m where I am now. To live my life the way I really want to. Getting onto Bournemouth’s Journalism course has given me the boost of confidence I really needed. I know so many people that have gone to University still not sure of what they really want to do in life purely because they have never felt that deciding their future is that urgent and I have made a promise to myself never to be that person. I know what I want and I’m not going to give up without a fight.

About time too.

When looking at my blog history I am ashamed to see that I have attempted to maintain this blog a grand total of 7 times and completely failed. Now that it has been made a course requirement to create and maintain a blog I felt it was about time to start a fresh, delete all my old posts -13 in total- and post my articles and anything else I think is interesting. Since coming to Bournemouth to study Journalism I have already had so many great experiences and met loads of interesting and exciting people. Moving away from home was always going to be a challenge but I definitely feel I've picked the right place to live.

So, to kick off my new blog I'm going to big up an amazing artist who's work I studied for AS Art. Her work is quite graphic but really intriguing! Her name is Jenny Saville - check her work out, it's well worth a look. I copied some of her work to meet the AS criteria here is the result!