It must be awkward playing a gig in front of a small crowd of University students; this probably isn’t aided when the necessity to begin a show by asking the audience to move towards the stage arises, but this evening’s compere Marlon Davis certainly made it work for him. However, his initial success diminished slightly as the audience was incredibly hesitant to interact. Of course this is often the case when warming up a crowd, but it seemed to knock his confidence slightly as pauses between sections began to feel hesitant and even a little awkward.
Over time though, Davis’ performance gained momentum through his use of relatable anecdotes and a few well researched and executed snipes about the area along with his friendly personality and appearance which he certainly knows how to use to great comic effect.
Matt Forde, of Talk Sport fame, had great presence on stage despite initial hesitance from the audience. His clear observational skill is weaved into fairly topical material in a way that makes even political-based remarks funny and accessible to all. Forde’s personal stories were also told in a way that made them hilarious even to those who might not have been able to fully relate as his honesty and openness allowed everyone to feel part of them.
Headliner, Josh Widdicombe (Live at the Apollo, 8 out of 10 Cats), blended both tried-and-tested and new material in his performance to great effect. Using his improvisation and observational skills, he delivered a set that was both personal to the audience and entertaining in a way that would be appealing to anyone. His normal smoothness, however, was diminished by his lack of links between each section of his new material but this created its own comedy that kept up the great energy his performance provided.
In all, a hilarious and well received show by three clearly talented comedians.
Whilst audio books have been around since the early twentieth century (Joseph, 2009), recordings on cassettes and CD is still relatively new, despite it often being seen as old technology in this digital age. Cassettes began to be used in the 1960s, largely as part of collections in libraries but were not popular until the 80s, where “the audio publishing business grew to several billion dollars a year” (Anon, 2006). Although CD audio books were available as early as the late 1980s, they were not initially successful (Markovic, 2011). This is often thought to be because early CD technology was unable to remember where in the story you left off, unlike tapes which would be at the same place you left it the next time it was used.
Originally, audio books were developed for the blind and vision impaired to be able to ‘read’ books (Philips, 2007). The market then expanded into read-along books where those learning to read can hear the story as they read the book as well as books for commuters to listen to whilst on the train or home-makers whilst cleaning and so on. Of course, commuters were unable to listen on the train until the development of portable CD and cassette players so before this, audio books would be played in living rooms and perhaps bedrooms for all in the room to hear, tying them to a physical location and meaning that they needed to be suitable for anyone who might be able to hear, from young children to the elderly. This could also lead to differences in interpretation of the stories, as the situation surrounding the listener could alter their perspective.
In the 80s, when this technology first became popular, though many were unemployed, more people were going to work, particularly in professional sectors, and society became more focused on making money than family (Hicks, J and Allen, G, 1999). This can be linked to the way in which this medium was consumed and its rise in popularity. With more people, particularly executives with disposable income, commuting and working longer hours, people had less spare time in which to read. Audio books were practical ways of consuming literature whilst on the move, either in car cassette or CD players or on the train on Walkmans or similar devices. Read-along books could also have gained popularity around this time as parents had less time to spend with children and these would provide both entertainment and education.
From a technological determinist perspective, this would suggest that the format of audio books developed as technology improved. For example, as the technology became available for them to consume texts whilst on the move, they began using this and it became the norm. However, using Whig theory, you could suggest that people wanted their audio books to be more portable and durable. Compact Disks are less likely to get damaged than cassettes and are easily portable and the development of CD players and tape decks meant that both became equally portable. This was desired by the public as they spent less and less time at home.
Market theory could also be shown as a factor as the audio book industry realised that tape recorders meant that people could record copies or their own versions of book and so using CDs could combat this. This also meant that they could charge more for their product as CDs would last longer than tapes and therefore companies could make more profit. It would also suggest that the desire for portable audio books for commuters came as a way for companies to expand their market and therefore achieve greater profits.
Each of these perspectives have their own merits when looking at the progression and development of the audio book industry, with no particular argument seeming any more plausible than the other. However, what can be seen is that the technology, particularly in the audio book’s format, has been a natural progression through the improvement of technology. CDs surpassed cassettes as they could fit more content on them and were much more durable; they are less likely to deteriorate or be damaged than cassettes and are equally as portable.
Since then, downloads have become a popular medium for audio books amongst commuters; now you can fit hundreds of books onto your mp3 player, iPod or phone which can my played on headphones or through the speaker system of most modern cars. However, CD and cassette audio books still remain popular (Philips, 2007) and even vinyl audio books have made a comeback in recent years, in much the same way they have in the music world.
Sources:
Anon. (2005). Audio Publishers Association (APA) Fact Sheet. Available: http://www.audiopub.org/LinkedFiles/APA_Fact_Sheet.pdf. Last accessed 25th Feb 2012.
Anon. (2006). Evolution of Audio Books and Media Players. Available: http://booksalley.com/bAMain/bAlleyT02_Museum.php. Last accessed 25th Feb 2012.
Donalds, R. Ph.D. (200). Media and youth: access, exposure, and privatization. Journal of Adolescent Health. 27 (2), 8-14.
Francis, D. (2005). Changing Work Behavior of Married Women. Available: http://www.nber.org/digest/nov05/w11230.html. Last accessed 28th Feb 2012.
Hicks, J and Allen, G. (1999). A Century of Change: Trends in UK statistics since 1900. Social and General Statistics Section. Hous of Commons Library. p10-26.
Joseph, L . (2009). Cylinder Recordings. Available: http://www.cyberbee.com/edison/cylinder.html. Last accessed 26th Feb 2012
Kozloff, S. (1995). Audio Books in a Visual Culture. Journal of American Culture. 18 (4), p83-95.
Markovic, P. (2011). Audiobook CD. Available: http://audioforbooks.com/2011/01/cd-audio-books/. Last accessed 27th Feb 2012.
Philips, D. (2007). Talking Books : The Encounter of Literature and Technology in the Audio Book. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies. 13 (3), p293-306.
Whitten, R. (2002). Growth of the audio publishing industry . Publishing Research Quarterly. 18 (3), p3-10.
“The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.”
– Karl Marx
Born in 1818 in Germany to Jewish parents, Karl Marx studied law but went on to study philosophy then revolution instead. In 1844 he met Fredrich Engles in Paris and together they wrote the communist manifesto in 1848. Marx was also a journalist and editor of a radical newspaper in Europe. He later fled to London until his death in 1883.
Marx believed that you could learn anything about a society by analysing the way its economic forces shaped social, religious, legal and political processes. He was a technological determinist and took a teleological approach to history (i.e. that everything is moving towards and end point).
Marxism fuses Hegelian philosophy, British empiricism and French revolutionary politics and tried to use scientific method to prove points, showing Darwin’s influence at the time. It centers on the idea of dialectic materialism – where two opposing ideas or things clash:
Thesis + Antithesis => Synthesis
In the case of the lead up to communism, the thesis would be the Bourgeoisie, the antithesis – the proletariats and the synthesis (or resolution) would be socialism.
Karl Marx thought that capitalism was not sustainable (as commodities cost more than wages due to profit margins) and that society was moving towards communism. In his eyes, social and political history was structured as such:
1.Communal living (such as prehistory when everyone worked together)
2.Slave society (where one group or individual took over)
3.Monarchy (where one person was in charge and this power was hereditary)
4.Capitalism (where everything is driven by profit; where we are today)
5.Socialism (where everyone works for equal wage and all wealth is divided equally)
6.Communism (where everything is shared equally via the state – “to each according to his need, from each according to his ability”)
(I.e. social conflict drives history)
To ‘achieve’ communism though, proletariats would have to ‘over through’ capitalism. However, proletariats do not do this due to alienation, meaning that people are seen as commodities. Whilst those lower in the social/economic order have less to lose by rising up against capitalism, they do not. Many will argue that this is because they aspire to be like or become one of the bourgeoisie. Marxism argues that this is not possible as, although the media depicts some proletariats ‘swapping class’ this is not the case; the media provides part of the ‘infrastructure’ capitalism is built upon and can portray people in ways which support this. For example, whilst Alan Sugar can be seen as part of the bourgeoisie, he is still a proletariat as his wealth and power can be taken from him and he will, therefore, lose this status whereas this is not possible for the bourgeoisie.
Of course, if society developed into socialism, there would not be these divides. However, socialism or communism does not look like concepts that can be achieved (take Russia or China as examples). Perhaps this because we are too used to capitalist concepts or maybe we are all in essence lazy, but the idea that a heart surgeon would be paid or given equal amounts of things as a cleaner becomes just an incentive not to try and achieve highly as there is no reward and therefore, we would all just become cleaners.
Before I begin, yes I do realise that, technically, I’ve totally failed my lent thing already but I’ve decided this week to swap Friday and Sunday round because, as an ‘adult’ and a student, my life’s rather hectic and unfortunately I don’t have the ability to decide not to do my work just to fullfil a promise I half-heartedly made very late at night after consuming a stupid amount of pizza and pancakes. So there.
Anyway, sticking on the theme of food, I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of students getting a reputation for not eating properly when the large percentage of us do. If you’re one of the few that doesn’t, Dude! You’re letting the side down! Don’t tell me it’s hard work or that you can’t afford it. What’s wrong with you? Learn to budget, jeez…
Prove it? Fine! Here’s a recipe (and Nigela Lawson spoof) for leftover pie. It goes great with vegetables (mixed, frozen, fresh or otherwise) and will totally impress your friends and family of a Sunday lunch time.
Equipment:
·Oven-proof dish
·Mixing bowl
·Spoon (preferably wooden)
·Sieve
·Weighing Scales
Ingredients:
Pastry: (amounts may need to be changed, depending on size of pie)
·4oz (120g) flour
·2oz (60g) butter
·1 or 2 tbsp water
Filling:
·Leftover meats, stuffing, vegetables or vegetarian substitutes*
·Gravy
·Herbs and/or spices (optional)
* Note that these don’t have to be leftovers, often I’ll cook Quorn chicken, sausages and anything else that might as well go in there specifically for it. So long as it’s all cooked and it’s still okay to eat, it’s all good.
Yeah, see, half of that you have scattered around your kitchen anyway, don’t you? …Don’t lie.
Method:
Preheat the oven to about 200°C/400 Fahrenheit/Gas mark 6
Pastry:
·Put small lumps or cubes of the butter in a mixing bowl
·Seive flower on top of this
·Use your fingertips to rub the fat into the flour until it becomes a breadcrumb-like mixture
·Add water a little at a time, stirring between additions until most/all the ‘breadcrumbs’ are stuck together in one big ball.
·Mix and knead the pastry with your hands
·Roll out to desired thickness
Most recipes say to put the dough in a bag and chill in the fridge for about half an hour but I’ve never bothered. It also says roll the pastry above... I don’t own a rolling pin here, so I kind of just stretch it out with my hands… Don’t question it; it works.
Now, if you’re making a proper pie, you’ll need to roll it out thick enough to line the inside of you dish before putting the filling in it. Usually I don’t do this and just make a top to the pie, so the filling just goes straight in the dish.
Filling:
·Make gravy, adding in any herbs or spices to taste (I normally use rosemary, thyme, coarse ground pepper and sometimes a little paprika)
·Cut up meat, vegetables, etc. into bite-size pieces
·Place meats, etc. in dish and cover with the gravy
It’s up to you how thick you want your gravy, but remember it will get thicker as you cook it in the oven.
Now, you simply put your pie lid over the top and place in the oven. Depending on the size of your pie, depends on how long it will take to cook. Generally speaking, it’s ready when the pastry is a golden brown colour but if the dish I particularly deep or big, you may need to cover it in foil part way through to insure the middle is cooked through properly without burning the top.
Take it out the oven & check the pie is piping hot all the way to the middle and serve. Boom!
The real test, of course, is if everyone goes quiet when they eat it (or, alternatively, how easy it is to persuade them to do the washing up afterwards).
Leftover pastry? No problems!
·Grate a little cheese and knead into the pastry.
·Roll it out and cut into strips.
·Place on baking tray and in oven until golden brown
Local trade unions are lobbying the County Council today where local budget cuts are being discussed. It is thought that the council will be cutting £100million over the next two years.
One of the protestors, who also works for the council, had this to say:
Google define states that Lent is “The period of 40 weekdays that in the Christian Church is devoted to fasting, abstinence, and penitence.” It is traditional in this time that you give something up for the period from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday, even if you’re not religious.
The vast majority of people will give up something they like in order to be healthier with bread, smoking, alcohol, chocolate and crisps being some of the most common. Others chose things to try and make them better people and give up swearing or teasing their siblings.
The first lent I remember is one where, aged 7, I gave up tomato ketchup; strange, I know, but I was a little bit addicted. It didn’t work very well because I just substituted it with other sauces instead. The same sort of thing happened when I gave up bread both last year and the year before and crisps and chocolate on other occasions.
This year, instead of going for the hat-trick of bread I had been planning since last year, I thought I might do something different…
Remember a few months back I challenged myself to write a blog a day? Well, I did. Anyway, following on from the (sort of) success of that, my promise for Lent this year is not to give something up but to repeat this. No, it’s not cheating because, if you think about it, I’m giving up being lazy and procrastinating (see, clever, no?)
Besides, it’s better than most of today’s lent promises on 3 points
1)It’s possible – so unlike most, I won’t give up after about 4 days
2)It’s not selfish – which I suppose is debatable, but if you think about it, promising to be nice is something you should do anyway and giving up crisps or whatever is usually to aid your own diet and isn’t helping anyone or making the world better which, if you think about it, is kind of the point of all this.
3)It’s positive – because I could have done something similar to what I do for my New Year’s resolution and give up giving up things, which is both pathetic and unfulfilling, plus, it’ll be helping with my degree, which can only be a good thing
I realise they’re fairly weak points, but you can’t deny there’s something behind my bizarre process of thought.
Also, for those of you who will remind me I gave up after about a week and a half of the whole a-blog-a-day she-bang, Lent is only Monday through Saturday, so I can get Sunday off to recover so, who knows, maybe I might even stick at it for longer than the 40 days.
I doubt it though.
(Also, I’m totally counting this as Wednesday’s blog post, even if I did finish writing it at half eleven on the Tuesday)
With a little bit of luck, underneath should (in theory) be a short Radio News piece (in a style of a relatively local station aimed at an aged 25-34 ABC1C2 demographic) and a monologue-like-thing which I'm meant to upload as part of my course. I will put the scripting underneath each one too.
"It’s fair to say that, from time to time at least, everyone is inspired by something. Whether this inspiration has any impact on your life or the lives of others depends on what inspires you and what it inspires you to do. I don’t know if this applies to you, but for me, inspiration can come from anything or nothing, and strike at any moment. Often, this moment isn’t a particularly good one in which to be inspired. For example: in the middle of lectures; in the shower; at the cinema or other times and places where it’s impractical or inappropriate to whip out a note book and write things down. I hope it’s not just me that suffers from this impractical gift or beautiful curse, depending on how you like to look at the world.
A lot of this inspiration is for things to write: stories, poems, articles. I’m a writer at heart. The issue is that by the time I have a pen and some paper to write with, the idea has gone and the spark has faded to a mere ember. This isn’t helpful for me or my goal in life, which has been to be a writer since I was about six years old. After all, do we not all aim to be paid for what we enjoy doing?
Though the dream has always been the same for me, the style of writing I have wanted to work with has continually changed over time. It started with fiction; short stories about Princesses and unicorns or servant girls being whisked away by handsome Princes. I think it’s safe to say that Disney films and fairy tales were a major source of inspiration for my six year old self. So too were the Barbie dolls and Lego that my sister and I would spend hours playing with.
I still enjoy writing fiction. As I’ve gotten older, my plots have become more complicated with thought provoking meanings. Apparently. I don’t think they’re that good, but then, I suppose I never think any of my work’s very good. Including this. Anyway, I digress; as I have gotten older, my inspirations have changed. This is not to say that I don’t still draw upon the time I spent playing with dolls in front of films because, subconsciously, we are all inspired by everything we’ve ever experienced. However, as I have grown-up, so have my thoughts and feeling and the things that influence and inspire have therefore become more mature. For example, I have a great love for the works of William Shakespeare and I draw upon his plays and poems as a source of inspiration for my own narratives. I also love the style of The Independent’s Robert Fisk. The way he can weave opinion with fact to portray an emotional yet factual account of events astounds me, and so he also forms part of my inspiration in writing.
I suppose you could argue that these examples are more influences than inspirations. Inspiration tends to come as more of a surprise which these don’t. So, if these aren’t inspirations, what are? I suppose I would have to conclude that nothing and everything and that this is what inspires me. After all, an idea can strike you anywhere at any time. Like lightning."
If you have arrived here from google, you’ve forgotten today is Valentine’s Day. Congratulations. Though I’m sure you’re not the only one.
Here’s five quick, last minute, relatively cheap ideas to surprise your other half with (and if, like me, you don’t have an ‘other half’, don’t worry, there’s some pointers on having a great singleton’s Valentine’s Day further down, plus you get to know this bit for later):
1)Picnic it – Assuming it doesn’t snow yet again this month, a nice picnic somewhere scenic is both romantic and cheap. Just make a few sandwiches, grab a bottle of wine, a blanket to sit on and a candle if you think you’ll be allowed and whisk your beloved down to the park or countryside or area of beauty and if it’s cold, great; what better excuse is there to snuggle up?
3)Dinner date – dinner out is ALWAYS an option. Always. It’s not very cheap, but it’s a good last resort, so long as you don’t make it look like you’ve only just come up with the idea.
4)Theme Park – I know it’s not cheap, but it’s fun (if you like that kind of thing, of course) and if you get scared or cold whilst queuing or whatever, more excuses for snuggling!
5)Pamper day – this only works if you’re buying for a girl (or a very effeminate guy): quickly run to somewhere like Lush or The Body Shop, buy up some body butter, face masks and other bits and bobs and tell your girl to treat herself to a selfish day then take her out for dinner or order in later. Maybe get her some pretty clothes/lingerie too (but be careful to get her sizing right or you’re doomed) I suppose, alternatively, if you’re shopping for a guy, get him sports things or something? I don’t know…
And there you go! I hope that helps at least a little.
Feeling lonely this Valentine’s Day? Don’t fret! Here are some ideas to make you feel glad you are… not lonely necessarily, but single… you know what I mean. Anyway, here they are:
1)Girls’/Guys’ night out – who needs a man/woman when you’ve got your friends, some booze, music and the whole night ahead of you?
2)Girls’/Guys’ night in – great to bitch about the opposite sex whilst you eat sugary things, watch films, sing along to random songs and just generally have a bit of a laugh (this is my plan this year, it’s going to be immense)
3)Pamper day – spend the whole day making yourself look and feel amazing, either by yourself or with some friends. Works really well with a girls’ night in. Or, if you’re not into that kind of thing spend the day watching films you love or shopping or something
4)Get ahead – catch up on all your work or get ahead of where you should be; it might not be fun but it means you’ll be able to relax another day!
5)Sleep – because sometimes it’s good to be well rested/lazy
Whilst it is easiest to look at the internet from a technological determinist perspective, it can quite readily be seen from a ‘Whig’ (or Liberal) or Market perspective.
Using a technological determinist approach, the internet was invented in the 1970s and was initially used as a way for scientists to share resources and data. As the internet developed, people began to use it for subcultural proto-commercial purposes and, by the late 1980s, people had begun to use it as a research tool as well, giving way to increasing commercial use. Then, by the mid-90s it had developed to allow companies to sell directly to us and advertise on most sites as well as be used for cultural and civil discourse, though this is far less prominent.
Alternatively, you could suggest that the internet was developed to suit the needs of society to be able to communicate instantly with one another and research things quickly and easily. I could also be argued that the internet developed more and more commercially due to the amount of money invested into it both by companies trying to use the internet to expand their business and by those manufacturing the equipment to use it.
Since then, there have been many attempts to try and control the internet’s content by both government and companies but, generally, these plans fall through due to public protests that the internet is meant to be a place for free expression and a gathering of the world’s accumulated knowledge.
With the invention of new technologies, the music industry has had to (and continues to) adapt to ensure that it continues to be profitable and does not lose out to music piracy.
Man of the technological advancements over the past 30 or so years can be seen as the industry attempting to ‘get around’ piracy (depending, of course, from what perspective you look at it from). When people were able to record music off the radio onto cassettes, CDs came out. Then, when you could burn your own CDs, downloadable music came around. Now, when music can be downloaded illegally, it’s fashionable to buy vinyl records though most people don’t – because they’re both ‘vintage’ and stylish they’re incredibly expensive.
Of course, you could argue that people in the music industry could offer their music for free, like it is on spotify and other sites, and make money through advertising, merchandising and gigs. In many respects, this creates a sort of historical loop as, in the past, you could not listen to music at home and had to pay to watch performances which was the only way in which musicians made money.
However, what the industry tends to worry about is that in doing this, no-one would buy CDs or other music platforms anymore. Saying this, they have been continually predicting that these platforms would die out over the years in much the same way people have been predicting the end of the world – with no evidence or success.
For now, at least, the music industry continues to triumph (generally speaking) over piracy with a multitude of different platforms.
What do you think? Do you prefer downloads or owning physical copies of your music? Leave a comment.
Over the past two sessions, we have been gathering and editing audio for radio news and, so far, I’m loving it! Partially because I feel like I’m doing really well and understand it but mostly because I find it both interesting and fun. What I didn’t find fun was talking to actual members of the public…
Let me start at the beginning. After our session on different types of radio news, we were asked to come up with a question and record the answers given to us by ‘the man on the street’… which would’ve been fine if I didn’t hate talking to people I don’t know. Stick me in a room with friends or in front of my own video camera and I can talk for England but ask me to talk to a stranger, whether individually, to a crowd or over the radio or television and you’ve got no chance (though, thinking about it, I read the news on the radio a couple of times before Christmas, so… slight exaggeration)
Before that though, we had to set up the Marantz. People that have only used the pocket tracks seem to be of the opinion that these are big, scary and complicated – they’re really not. All you have to do is put the microphone in the socket saying mono, the headphones in the bit that says headphones and you’re pretty much ready to rock (though you want to check it’s recording in the right format and it’s not set to internal mic). Saying this, we got out, turned it on and decided it didn’t have battery – in the future we’ll remember to check before we leave, though it was a brilliant excuse for a coffee break.
So, once that was sorted and I’d conned Emma into doing the talking, we set off to ask the world, only to be rejected by it. Like, completely. Which is when she decided it was my turn…
We got back with 4 really good responses and, before the next lecture, I got bored and downloaded some free audio editing software to have a go. Apparently, I’m quite good at it. I think this is largely due to my previous editing experience from a-level media and video club (video club = youth group who filmed things and had better equipment than the local TV station place). Anyway, by the time we got to the lecture, I already knew what bits of audio I wanted and roughly how to use the software so creating the voxpops was fairly straightforward. We then recorded a short piece to introduce them, voiced by Emma (because if I had to ask strangers, she had to introduce it – it’s only fair).
How to use the radio booths:
1.Turn on mixer & mic
2.Turn the 2 grey master faders on the right all the way up
3.Ensure mic is plugged in (should be in the far left, the fader below controls it)
4.Turn on laptop & open Adobe Audition
5.Record by pressing red record button on transport controls. Select 44100 stereo, 16 bit
6.Ensure speaker is off/muted to stop feed back
7.To play back, stop recording, switch mic off and speaker on & press play
For next week, we’re finding instrumental music to use as a bed (I would assume that’s what it’s for anyway).
We also learnt about techniques for a good radio interview. It is essentially dependant on having good questions and the ability to operate the equipment well.
Equipment:
·Ensure it works before using it (ahem…)
·Hold microphone firmly and keep steady to avoid mic rattle
·Keep recording; pausing it won’t lessen your editing at all and you may miss something interesting or important
Questions:
·Try to make it sound and flow like an unscripted chat
·Listen to answers given and adapt around them
·Research your interviewee and subject first
·Avoid closed questions
·Encourage interviewee to continue by looking interested and nodding (even if it makes you look a bit stupid)
That’s it so far; looking forward to learning more next week.
Due to the problematic nature of proving firsts, it is better to look at popular music history as a series of events without using specific dates.
Modern music revolutions tend to follow the same sort of pattern:
·1920’s – Jazz – originally mistrusted, seen as dangerous, associated with drugs & miscegenation
·1950’s – Elvis & Rock ‘n’ Roll – morally suspect, thought to sexualise young women
·1960’s – Dylan ‘goes electric’ – seen as a betrayal of culture and politics – also a technological revolution
·1970’s – Punk – created fear over moral values, seen as untalented
Nowadays these styles are seen as significant steps forwards in music and are often praised and therefore have cultural worth (often leading to increased prices on related items – ‘vintage’).
This sort of pattern can also be seen in technological revolutions; the use of amplification in music can be debated as either de-skilling or democratising the ability to play instruments such as the guitar in the same way that auto-tune has with singing.
This shows that histories are constructed narratives which can be made to fit the views of an audience to provide evidence for a certain point of view.
In 1698, there was a point where instead of the British Empire, we had the Scottish Empire instead. At a cost of 1/5 of their total wealth, Scots went across the ocean to set up a colony called “New Caledonia” with disastrous consequences – the area was a malarial swamp and many of its inhabitants died. Scotland became essentially bankrupt, making it easy for England to bribe them into signing the Act of Union in 1707.
1746 saw the Jacobite rebellion, ending in the defect of Prince Charles Stuart at Culloden which ultimately established the United Kingdom.
Ireland signed their Act of Union in 1801.
1799 - The government created income tax as a “temporary measure” to pay for the expensive Napoleonic War
In around 1805, British naval power is absolute and blockades French ports, allowing British exports to boom. With Europe at war, Britain is able to build its empire without resistance and creates a monopoly trade with South America – unfortunately this results in the enslavement of millions of Africans in the Transatlantic Triangular Trade.
The end of the war resulted in the end of Britain’s boom and the beginning of widespread unemployment and a dramatic fall in wages. This led to the Corn Laws which were enforced between 1815 and 1846. These laws imposed a tariff on imported grains in an attempt to make British grown produce both profitable and the most affordable to buy and save the British Farming Industry. Industrialists of the time were against the Corn Laws as it meant they had to keep wages higher in order for their workers to be able to afford bread to eat; by repealing the laws, they would be able to pay them far less for the same amount of work as they would still be able to feed themselves.
The ending of the Corn Laws in conjunction with the Enclosures Act forced farmers to move to the cities to make room for more efficient, industrialised farming. For the factory owners at this time, this allowed them to make wages incredibly low due to the affordability of bread and the amount of competition to secure employment but the towns and cities were dire slums and had little or no political representation in Parliament. This created pressure for political reform and after an initially fairly brutal political reaction, the government created the 1832 Reform Act.
The 1834 Poor Laws led to the creation of workhouses which were on the utilitarian belief that people aim to live with as much pleasure and little pain as possible. The solution to unemployment needed to be worse than being employed in the factories as otherwise no-one would work due to the awful conditions.
William Cobbett was a Romantic. Romanticism formed a new moral system based on manners, aesthetic motive and the importance of taste. It rejected the Enlightenment and supported organised religion and nationalism. It also led to anti-Semitism; in rejecting the Enlightenment, they also rejected the religious tolerance that came with it. This was further fuelled by pseudo-scientific theories of race and racial inferiority of the time. This is seen in Cobbett’s rural rides when he writes:
“I could not help calculating how long it might be before some Jew would begin to fix his eye upon Highclere, and talk of putting out the present owner.”
Romanticism in England was, essentially, paused during the Napoleonic War for some reason that I personally cannot quite understand. However, this made way for the industrial revolution which romantics were against as it destroyed the beauty of towns and the countryside. After the war finished, Romanticism began to be popular again.
Cobbett set out to ‘tour’ the countryside and document the effects of the Industrial Revolution on farmers in his book titled “Rural Rides”. This is an empirical way of gathering information as it is derived from sensory data and experience rather than thought and logic.
Realism also becomes popular in light of the Industrial Revolution; Charles Dickens in his novels depicts ordinary people in ordinary settings in a way that is both frank and honest and was inspired by the squalor, neglect and abandonment he saw around him. In this respect, it could also be argued that Cobbett is also a realist.
First of all, contrary to my belief, MP’s don’t control the council. Neither do they have any control over the courts, though I didn’t think they did. All MPs do is represent their constituency in Parliament. That's literally it. Well, perhaps not quite literally, but if you had to give the job a four word description “represent constituency in Parliament” would be it.
The council (and therefore not the MPs) control the budget for the area and have all the power. It also has a hierarchy; from most powerful to least, it goes:
County Council
District Council
Parish Council/Town Forum
Large cities, however, often have a Unitary Authority which, essentially, is all of these merged into one.
This table demonstrates the differences in power for local councils:
Hampshire County Council (HCC)
Winchester City Council (WCC)
Turnover £1.8 billion
Turnover £12.5 million
Responsible for: 500,000 homes, Education (170,000 pupils and 10,000 teachers), 53 libraries, 8 County Parks
Bins, leisure, parking, environmental health.
Councillors, much like MPs, are voted for. The area that votes for them is called a ward (for MPs it’s a constituency).
When reporting on Council meetings, you do have qualified privilege but it is subject to explanation or contradiction. This means that you must ask people involved for their stance and give them the opportunity to deny any allegations made against them. This must be included in your story.
It seems that over the holidays WINOL has undergone a bit of a face lift. Whilst this, in many respects, is nice to see in an ever evolving world of media, I can’t help but feel that many of the elements are strange or unnecessary, particularly the “voice of God” at the beginning of the show; for a British audience, which this programme is aimed at, this is particularly unusual and, in my opinion, off-putting. In fact, it made me laugh. I’m not sure if this is because I found it so peculiar or because it sent me into a micro-rage at how everything nowadays is becoming “Americanised” (which is, in itself, an Americanisation – they’re becoming almost impossible to avoid).
However, on the whole it’s still very good, particularly as a student news programme. Of course, there are a few areas for improvement; some of the presenters talk much too fast still and, on occasion, look far too casual in the posture or positioning in front of the camera and there are also a couple of really slight issues with some of the lighting and sound, but perhaps I’m just over scrutinising it.
I also am still having problems with the length of time given to sport. It may be, in part at least, due to the fact that I don’t have any personal interest in it, but I can’t help but think that the amount of coverage given to one individual game of football is a little ridiculous. For example the coverage of the Eastleigh game this week lasted one minute and 28 seconds which doesn’t sound a lot but considering the whole sports section is four minutes 21 long and the entire bulletin is just over 15 minutes, you can start to see what I’m talking about. The same thing goes for coverage of the ice hockey. This is not to say that these aren’t well done, they just feel like they drag on a little. I think this may be largely due to the amount of detail and large gaps between sentences filled with clips that don’t feel overly relevant. The coverage of the Winchester City game I think is done much better; it’s short and to the point, giving enough detail to know what has happened without going into so much that it seems to go on forever…
Perhaps I’m biased with my major dislike for sport (particularly football).
