Saturday the twenty-seventh of February in Oxford Town Hall held host to a clash of titanic forces, as four teams from Oxford and four from Cambridge faced each other off in the eightieth annual Varsity Judo match. Following a disappointing overall loss to Cambridge last year, Oxford University Judo Club, the collective name for the men’s, women’s and city teams, arrived at the Town Hall fully prepared. After weeks of rigorous training, they had no mind to take any prisoners. OUJC President Andrew ‘Bone-Quaker’ Stewart admitted that there were no guaranteed wins, as the Town Hall began to fill with spectators and the teams started to warm-up. Stewart said, ‘Our women’s team is incredibly strong, and our men’s teams are much stronger than last year, but I was less sure about the city team because I knew Cambridge would be fielding a few international-standard players.’
Judo is an Olympic sport which involves throwing, hold downs, locks and strangles and has always had a strong body of participants, or ‘Judoka,’ at both Universities. This resulted in an unprecedented tie between the Men’s blues teams in 2009 which Oxford lost by a hair’s breadth in a rematch. This year, the atmosphere in the Town Hall reflected the strong support given to the Oxford teams on their home turf; Stewart noted that ‘every Oxford win earned us a huge roar from the crowd.’ This surge of adrenalin echoing from the players into their supporters suggested that this year, Oxford were firmly focused on bringing all four team trophies back to their Dojo at Iffley Road.
A minor delay due to a Cambridge coach malfunction resulted in an impromptu display of Judo techniques by city player Henry Winney and female coach and third Dan Carol Doherty, generating a fever pitch level of excitement in the crowd for the fighting to begin. The first contests of the day were Oxford and Cambridge’s city teams, each consisting of seven men and one woman, fighting in order from the heaviest to the lightest player. Oxford’s city captain was their talented female competitor, England squad member Jordan Doherty. An extremely close round of contests, many lasting the full five minutes of the match, saw Oxford down six-one as the last contest between the teams began. Despite some impressive performances, from Oxford’s ‘man of the match’ Henry Winney against a strong French International player, and a confident win from first Dan Luis Poyatas, Captain Jordan Doherty’s well-executed arm lock against a larger female opponent was not in time to clinch the City trophy that the team fought so hard for.
However, the high standard of Judo exhibited by both teams set a precedent for the rest of the matches, as Oxford Judo coaches Chris and Carol Doherty focused their attention on the three remaining teams. The men’s B teams then took to the mat area, determined to see the trophy back in Oxford after a crushing one-seven loss to Cambridge the previous year. Captained by James Fowler of St Catherine’s College, and consisting of seven players, the team ranged in ability, from experienced competitors to those who had taken up Judo only in the last year. Skillful fighting led to an impressive five-three win for the Oxford team, including some excellent throws by Oxford players Frank Curry and Nick Rounthwaite.
The men’s B team barely had a minute to celebrate their success before Oxford and Cambridge’s Women’s Blues teams were approaching the contest area. Women’s captain Karen Kruska, a first Dan, said that she was ‘overwhelmed by the atmosphere in the town hall’ as her team prepared to fight. On the eightieth anniversary of an event that has always demonstrated a great standard of Judo, the Women’s team were the strongest many people had ever seen them, as the five-player team included two first Dan (black belts), a first Kyu (brown belt), and two second Dan players, one of whom was Becky Bayliss, former OUJC President and Commonwealth bronze medalist.
The team stormed through their fights, winning quickly and decisively by ‘ippon’ or ‘full score,’ surrendering only one loss to their Cambridge opposition. Cambridge’s Women’s captain was thrown in six seconds, and the President of Cambridge Judo, Catharina Casper, lost to Bayliss for the third year in a row. The support for the team was extremely strong, as the players celebrated the ninth consecutive year the Women’s trophy would be on display at Iffley Road. Kruska added, ‘I was confident that my team would win at every stage of the competition, but I still felt very proud,’ also commending coaches Chris and Carol Doherty for all their hard work and expertise.
The earlier loss of Oxford’s city team meant that as the final team contest of the day approached, Cambridge still had the opportunity to create an overall draw. OUJC President Stewart, competing in the eight-player strong Men’s Blues team, described the importance of winning ‘in front of such a large home crowd’ after the close final the previous year, a sentiment echoed by the Men’s Blues Captain Justin Gregory. With five black belts on the team, there was still no guarantee of an Oxford win. Strong performances from the two heaviest players on the team got Oxford off to a good start, but some equally strong Cambridge players, and close fights, meant that for the second year in a row, the two teams were left with a four-four draw, and the necessity of a rematch.
Stewart described the ‘nail biting finale,’ which had every spectator and player in the hall up on their feet and screaming, as three of each eight-player team faced each other off in the deciding contests of the event. Brad ‘The Crusher’ Joyce, Ifor ‘Prince of Wales’ Capel, and Vitek ‘The Barbarian’ Sipal were selected to fight for their team. Joyce provided Oxford with another resounding victory, despite not being as highly graded as some of his teammates, inspiring confidence that this year’s final would go differently to the last. Capel, a second Dan and former President of the club took his strong opponent the full five-minute match distance, resulting in another adrenalin-fuelled win for Oxford, and an overall win for the team. Sipal fought strongly, coming back to win against the opponent he had originally lost to, giving Oxford not simply the two-one victory they needed but the three-nil victory they wanted.
As the Oxford teams began to revel in their three-one overall victory, Stewart ‘felt relieved’ and admitted that seeing the teams fight so well ‘made all the hard work worthwhile.’ However, the teams have no time to lose in celebrating: they plan to step up their training, with minds focused firmly on the British University Championships in Sheffield on the thirteenth and fourteenth of March, at which they intend to continue their Varsity success.
Success for black-belt Blues
The Pro
In William Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor the character Rugby declares “Alas sir, I cannot fence.” Well Rugby can certainly take a leaf out of the book of Blues Fencer, Philip Birget.
Heralding from his native Luxembourg, Birget, a first year undergraduate at St Peter’s studying Biology, only took up the sport at the age of thirteen. Inspired by his grandmother, he began to fence for his local club in Luxembourg. Within the space of a year, his rapid progress saw him move from the local stage to performing on the international arena. As a junior, he enjoyed further success in local competitions and was ranked number seventy in the world. The inspiration behind his success was twofold: firstly, his grandmother and secondly his coach, who he describes as being like a “father figure to me.”
In a matter of months, Birget successfully fenced his way into the University Men’s Firsts Fencing team.
Specializing in Épée, he emphasizes the importance of the three Rs: rapidity, reaction and reflex. Despite the rapid nature of fencing, where attack is cancelled out by counterattack and where fencers are vulnerable at any time, he stresses the need for a calm approach. When analyzing his opponents he looks to exploit their weaknesses and lure them into making mistakes. In other words, “Fencing is like high speed chess.”
Just over two weeks ago he enjoyed his proudest moment as a Blues Fencer. His inspirational performance in the Varsity Match saw him single-handedly steal a victory for the Épée team from the jaws of defeat. As for the immediate future, his focus is on representing Luxembourg in the annual European fencing tournament in Hiedenhiem, Germany, in March. Nevertheless, he does harbour concerns about the future of fencing especially in his native Luxembourg where, despite once being a hub of fencing activity, currently fewer than 120 fencers actively fence.
With all the tradition and historical background associated with fencing, it would be a great shame to see one of sports great arts pale into insignificance. Nonetheless, with committed people like Birget in the world of Fencing, the sport can only go from strength to strength.
Burglaries in SJC and Hilda’s
A burglary in St Hilda’s has led to a finalist’s laptop being stolen, containing all their exam notes and almost completed coursework. In a similar incident, a burglary on St John’s College property led to phones, a laptop and money being stolen last Wednesday.
Questions are now being asked about the safety of the College-owned accommodation.
The Hilda’s burglary took place on Tuesday evening, when third-year English student Lauren Carter, who lives in the Christina Barratt Building, left her room unlocked and went to “get some fresh air”. When she returned her laptop was gone.
“I’m the kind of person who does everything on their laptop,” she said. The computer contained incomplete coursework, and “the proctors won’t give me an extension.”
Carter said she did not know why her room was targeted. “You can’t just come into college and see it, you have to know your way around college. It is on the third floor.”
However, another student who lives in the same building questioned the college’s security policy. “It’s very poor,” she said. “Anyone can walk into this building. This has happened several times around college now. Everywhere else has fobs – they should definitely improve security.”
Dr Margaret Kean, the Dean of the college, circulated an email among students warning them “to be both extra vigilant and extra careful with your belongings.”
The St John’s incident on Wednesday took place in College owned houses. The victim of the burglary was a second year student.
A Thames Valley Police Spokesperson confirmed the incident. Two mobile phones, a laptop and money were stolen. The spokesperson also said that the laptop was left on a desk in clear view of a window. The spokesperson told Oxford students to be “vigilant” and to make sure that valuables are put away when students leave their rooms.
This serious incident has raised concern among St John’s students. JCR President Martha Mackenzie, speaking the day after the crime said, “This is an upsetting incident which has been very distressing for all involved.”
She added, “This easily could happen to someone else.”
The burglary has lead to a security review at St John’s, conducted by the Head Porter. The JCR committee are calling for the review to be held as soon as possible.
As the richest college in Oxford, St John’s has many individual properties that it lets out to students.
This is unlike the arrangements of other colleges such as Merton, Brasenose and New College who have annexes where students can live. In such situations, the responsibility of securing this property falls with the Colleges themselves who employ security staff and porters to police the accommodation.
St Anne’s JCR sex hustings
St Anne’s JCR hustings have sparked controversy after prospective Entz reps performed as many sex positions they could within one minute.
While this tradition has been in place at the college for a number of years, several students have stated this year that they feel it is inappropriate.
One student stated, “Generally St Anne’s doesn’t have this kind of puerile, rugby boy culture and we pride ourselves on our history as a women’s college and being more progressive and liberal than this.”
The JCR Committee voted on whether this tradition should continue, and there were nine votes in favour with eight in opposition.
St Anne’s JCR President Owen Evans, who voted in opposition stated, “We had a very open and balanced debate on the issue, and although I voted against the challenge myself, the committee passed it by nine votes to eight. We felt a democratic committee decision was the fairest way to proceed on this matter. Each candidate was asked individually before the hustings whether they felt comfortable with this challenge, and all agreed enthusiastically – but it would have only taken one objection and we would not have ran the challenge.”
OUSU recently introduced guidelines on how to run college hustings to try and make them fairer. One of its suggestions was the abolition of any activities that could humiliate the candidates.
However, many students at St Anne’s supported the hustings.
Luke Braidwood, who was a candidate for Entz rep said, “None of us felt awkward or reluctant doing the challenge, and I don’t think it would put people off standing in future as it was a very well-received, and brief, part of the meeting.”
When the current Entz Reps, Andrew Cummings and Kate Hooper, were asked if they thought the hustings would put anyone off applying for the role they said, “The purpose of hustings at St Anne’s is to have a thorough discussion and a good time, and we’ve had a lot of positive feedback on the hustings meeting.”
They also said, “We asked all the candidates individually beforehand whether they were happy to go ahead with the challenge, and they were all very positive about it.”
The nature of hustings in colleges has made news before with The Daily Mail reporting on the Keble college hustings for Fresher’s week president in 2009. These hustings involved two female candidates doing sit ups whilst simultaneously eating a banana placed next to the crotch of a male student.
Scientists come First in Finals
Undergraduates who study maths-based subjects are more likely to achieve Firsts than students on arts or social sciences courses, according to the University’s newly released Finals statistics.
The data also confirms the existence of a continuing gender gap, with men consistently out-performing women in finals.
Males remain more likely to get Firsts than females, gaining almost 200 more last year, with 34% of men getting top honours at finals compared with 23% of women last year.
The percentage of women gaining Firsts has remained at 23% for the last 4 years, while the percentage of men rose 3% from 31% the previous year.
One explanation offered for the continuing gender gap is that men are more drawn to maths-based subjects.
Mathematics & Computer Science students were the most successful last year, with 9 of 11, (82%), gaining Firsts. Of the more widely read subjects, Mathematics and Physics, when taken to Masters, were the most successful, with 51% of 94 students and 49% of 89 students gaining Firsts respectively. Males outnumbered females in all of these subjects.
David Ferris, a first-year physicist, denied that the higher percentage of Firsts meant Maths and Physics were any easier, “I doubt they’re particularly easy compared to other subjects. Maths and Physics are the sort of subject that people don’t just choose in order to get a degree, they do it specifically because they want to do the subject, which usually means they’re pretty good at it.”
Jurisprudence and Economics & Management students struggled most, out of the popular subjects, to gain the top class, with 17% of each gaining Firsts. The most difficult subjects to gain a First in were Archaeology & Anthropology, Classical Archaeology & Ancient History, and PPP, where the percentages of Firsts barely passed 10%.
More generally, students reading in Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences (MPLS) gained over 10% more firsts last year than those reading Humanities, Medical Sciences, or Social Sciences.
39% of MPLS students received a first class degree, in comparison to 26% of Humanities students, 25% of Medical Sciences students, and 23% of Social Sciences students.
However, MPLS subjects also topped the tables for 3rd class honours. Only 3 students of 28 receiving 3rds were from non-MPLS subjects, and there were none from Social Sciences.
A spokesperson for Oxford University commented, “The distribution of firsts appears to have varied by subject groups for a long time and the same sort of distribution appears to occur in other Russell Group universities. Each division reviews the figures across its group of subjects and the Education Committee looks at the figures across the board.
“Research [into the gender gap] has been carried out for over 10 years and has failed to reveal any significant factor that influences examination results…Marking of examination papers has been carried out anonymously for many years.”
Disproven Hypotheses for the cause of the gender gap include such theories as natural differences in intelligence and mathematical ability as well as the effect of PMS. These have been researched by Oxford.
Suggested “Unproven Hypotheses” include teaching styles, examination anxiety and perfectionism.
Louise Privett, an Engineering undergraduate, agreed that the gender gap may be caused by teaching style, “Oxford’s pretty much all taught in lectures and tutes, maybe girls learn better in school style classes – it’s well-known girls do better at school.”
Ellie Kaminski, a first-year biologist, on the other hand, claimed that boys simply work harder, “Boys are more nerdy in general. They spend more time studying and less time washing their greasy nerd hair.”
Only 8% of black students gained first class honours last year, with every other ethnic group gaining 25% or over, according to newly released statistics. This is reinforced by previous year’s statistics, where the split in different classes of degrees were first publicly recorded for different ethnicities, as black students again underperformed, gaining between 4% and 16% firsts (variability having been added for data protection purposes), in comparison with 29% of white students.
Interview: Barry Chuckle
Ch-ch-chucklevision, Ch-ch-chucklevision, Ch-ch-chucklevision ….” Just hearing the theme tune brings back the memories. For anyone growing up in the nineties, Chucklevision was an essential part of their childhood viewing, and, let’s face
it, I’d bet that a good few of us wouldn’t mind watching an episode today.
The stars of the show are Paul and Barry Chuckle. One is tall, the other small – both equally accident prone. Who doesn’t remember with fondness the moustachioed pair, bumbling their way through a succession of jobs and catastrophes with bucketfuls of slapstick (and cold water) and pratfalls aplenty? I had the chance to chat to one half of the act, the optimistically daft but loveable Barry, in reality the man behind the character, Barry Elliot, during the rehearsals for their latest stage show, ‘An Audience with The Chuckle Brothers’, which came to the New Theatre on the 28th February.
Hearing his voice over the phone, softly spoken and rather quiet, I must confess that I was slightly surprised not to hear the chirpy tones of the character Barry Chuckle. I am by no means implying that Barry was not a perfectly friendly interviewee, far from it, it was just a bit surreal to hear the voice that speaks ‘To me, to you’ on the other end of the line, a voice that I’d been listening to and laughing at from the age of five. I was half-expecting his on-screen persona, not the man himself on the other end of the line.
But just who are the men behind the mishaps? First things first, contrary to the widely-held misconception the two actually are brothers. Real names Paul and Barry Elliot, at 65 Barry is the elder of the two by 3 years. Born in Rotherham, the Elliots were a showbiz family, their father a comedian and their mother a professional dancer.
The brothers followed in the family line. In 1967 the pair won talent contest Opportunity Knocks and in 1974 triumphed on New Faces. Barry fondly recalls the latter, “It was the X-Factor of its day. There were two rounds, the judges and the public vote. We were one of the only acts to ever win both.” The show launched the careers of stars such as Lenny Henry but failed to kick-start the Elliot’s television success and they continued to hone their skills as variety performers, originally known as The Harman Brothers.
Given that no one would ever be likely to trust The Chuckle Brothers with a pile of crockery it is all the more surprising to learn of their real-life circus skills and plate-spinning act.”We were in a circus with Charlie Cairoli [known as the King of the Clowns]. You pick up little bits from the people you work with. It was a sort of an apprenticeship for us.” After several successful years in variety and pantomime their big television break finally came in 1984. “We were doing a show in Ashton-under-Lyme and we didn’t know that some BBC producers were in the audience. They asked us if we’d like to be in a TV series called Roger the Dog. We’ve got these dogs they told us…It was for 7 weeks and we’d never done kids’ stuff before.” He laughs, “It was like Laurel and Hardy – but we were dressed as dogs!”
The producers were pleased with the results and offered the brothers their own show as The Chucklehounds. This was to finally become Chucklevision two years later, when the dog costumes were at last cast aside and Paul and Barry’s faces seen by their young viewers for the first time. The very first episode was shown on 26 September 1987 and after 22 series is still going strong today, with no signs of finishing. Having been a regular feature of the BBC’s children’s television schedule for 23 consecutive years, what does Barry think is the secret to their longevity and enduring popularity? “It’s ageless, non-offensive entertainment,” he says simply, “It’s a friendly sort of humour.” Added to the charmingly blundering appeal of the brothers themselves, the programme’s low budget has also proved popular with BBC producers.
It is the show’s catch phrases that immediately spring to mind: “To me, to you”, “Oh dear, oh dear” and “Silly me, silly you”. Quote one of those lines to pretty much anyone and they will recognise it straightaway. But just how were such memorable, simple lines originally written? “You can try and think of a catchphrase but it has to come about naturally. ‘To me to you’ was always a family thing, we used to say it all the time at home, when we were moving furniture for example.”
With their relationship being so essential to the appeal of the show, bossy Paul and well-meaning Barry, the two obviously have an extremely strong bond. “I have a great relationship with Paul. We always got on well as kids apart from the usual squabbles. It was the same with Brian and Jimmy too.” But who, you may well ask, are they? Well, this might come as a shock but The Chuckle Brothers’ elder brothers are also in Chucklevision! Brian and Jimmy, professionally known as The Patton Brothers, appear regularly in the show. Remember Mr No-Slacking and Mr Get-out-of- it? Well that’s them.
There have been well over three hundred, but what is Barry’s favourite episode? “Series four when we went to Scarborough to film in a hot-air balloon. But there was also the one we filmed at Rotherham United’s ground.” This episode was ‘Football Heroes’ in which the brothers play for their beloved home team and, typically, score an own-goal. They have since been made Honorary Lifetime Presidents of the club and Barry admits he loves including references to his home town in the show whenever possible. And what would he call the best memory of his career? “When we won the Special Children’s BAFTA Award in 2008.” The award, in recognition of an outstanding creative contribution, was presented by Dr Who writer Russell T. Davies, who himself wrote three episodes in the early nineties. Another highlight was the Children’s Royal Variety Performance and meeting Princess Margaret. Aside from the show itself, the brothers’ theatre career is astoundingly prolific. In 2006 they celebrated their 40th consecutive year in pantomime and tour nationally with their own shows. Recent years have featured ‘Barry Potty and his Smarter Brother Paul in The Chamber of Horrors’ and ‘Doctor What and The Return of the Garlics’.
Chucklevision has without a doubt entered into the national consciousness and become a part of everyday speech. Equally, it has entered into journalistic and even political circles. Search it in Google News and I absolutely guarantee that you will find a report that uses the term. Countless articles refer to “The Chuckle Brothers” of Number 10, Brown and Darling. Other famous examples include Northern Ireland’s Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley. Barry himself chuckles (forgive the pun) at the idea, “I feel very proud. There are thousands of references to us on the internet.”
The Chuckle Brothers are a national institution. In much the same way as Blue Peter, but without the turnover in stars, they have made children giggle for decades with harmless, plain silly humour. To dismiss them as old-fashioned or to sneer at the lack of sophistication as a pie splats yet another irate boss in the face is to completely miss the point. Who needs sophistication and irony aged eight? They are a breath of fresh air and a much-needed dose of fun. Paul and Barry are simply great entertainers and I for one will always be tempted to have a look at their latest disastrous career move – no matter how old I am.
Roberts resigns again
Nathan Roberts has resigned again as JCR President of Queen’s College.
He announced his decision in a letter to the JCR which was sent on Monday night.
In the letter he stated that he was leaving the role because, “I don’t want to be JCR President in the current circumstances. ” Roberts’ decision was influenced by an email sent by the Dean to Queen’s undergraduate body last week, which adocated Roberts’ resignation.
In a statement to Cherwell, Roberts said, “I will definitely be challenging both the decisions made and the way they’ve been made. I’m currently in discussions with OUSU about the best way forward, but any challenges I make will not be in my role as JCR President.”
There has been a lot of support in Queen’s for Roberts, who has now effectively been elected three times.
However, a petition was brought to the JCR meeting on Sunday night calling for Roberts to resign. The student who started the petition claimed that it had sixty signatures, including some from people on the JCR Committee.
One student from Queen’s said that there were vocal supporters on both sides.
They commented, “There was a heated discussion. Some people just want a JCR President who can function and to sort out the issues that surround Nathan separately. There are those who feel that his resignation means the fight is lost, and that the real issue is JCR independence.”
Politics tutor in Brown row
Oxford tutor Dr Stewart Wood has this week joined the group of politicians and advisors involved in the Gordon Brown bullying allegations.
Wood, who works as Brown’s chief foreign policy advisor, explained an altercation with Gordon Brown to journalist Suzie Mackenzie. “[Brown] was in a really bad mood,” he said. “He walked up the stairs. And I leant forward and he went, “Outta my way!” And did that [Dr Wood makes a sweeping gesture with his arm] “Get outta my way!” Then he walked off…He
‘s never punched me. He did push me aside.”
Suzie Mackenzie, a journalist in regular correspondence with Wood, released details of a recorded conversation the two had concerning the Prime Minister. This was despite having an understanding with Wood that he would be made aware of what information she was releasing.
Wood, also a Politics tutor at Magdalen College, had been working closely with Mackenzie over the past few years as she conducted extensive research for her character study on Gordon Brown.
Describing their interviews, the journalist said, “We meet regularly, always with a tape on, and I should say here that our understanding has always been that I would not reveal what he has said without discussing things with him first.”
Mackenzie disclosed the discussion of Gordon Brown’s outbursts to The Mail on Sunday, which published an article detailing the conversation last weekend.
The allegations against the Prime Minister of abusive behaviour towards his staff first emerged in political journalist Andrew Rawnsley’s book The End of the Party. Published on the 1st of March, it charts the decline of New Labour and the relationships between the key party figures.
Mackenzie raised the subject of Brown’s allegedly abusive behaviour with Wood over a lunch-time interview at popular Westminster restaurant The Cinnamon Club on 14th January.
The journalist felt driven to publish this information after hearing Brown categorically state that he had “never, never hit anybody” or shoved them, during an interview on 28th February on Channel 4 News.
She was so incensed by his denial that she published Wood’s statements to contradict what she felt was a falsehood from the Prime Minister.
Mackenzie said, “I believe that what is being revealed here is a matter of public interest, that the time has come for transparency and honesty – most particularly in the run-up to an election.”
The journalist acknowledged the moral ambiguity of releasing details of a conversation which was agreed as off the record. “Some people will find what I have done unconscionable. I accept this,” she said.
Dr Wood responded to the media frenzy with the following statement, “Allegations that Gordon struck or punched me are totally wrong. As I recall, he was in a hurry that day, and barged past me . . . but he didn’t shove me. It did annoy me at the time, but it was an isolated incident”.
The Mail on Sunday, which published Wood’s comments, has not responded to requests for a statement.
Heart surgery suspended at JR
John Radcliffe Hospital has suspended paediatric cardiac surgery while it investigates the deaths of four children who underwent heart operations there in recent months.
The deaths have all occurred in the past four months.
In a statement, the hospital said, “The families of children awaiting cardiac surgery are being contacted and we will be placing those patients who need to be seen urgently with other hospitals. We are reviewing each of these patients to ensure that they are not put at risk by any delay in their treatment.”
They further stated that the children had been “very sick”.
An external review will be carried out to see if there are any common factors linking the deaths.
Those requiring urgent treatment have been transferred to other hospitals.
The John Radcliffe Hospital carries out about 100 heart operations on children every year.
Blind Date: Week 8
Blind Date is kindly sponsored by the Oxford Retreat, open for lunch, supper and drinks at 1 Hythe Bridge Street.
John Harwell,
Maths, Jesus
Fresh-faced fresher and gold-star gay, badly masquerading as a mathmo, coerced into this sordid state of affairs…
Armed with an amalgamation of skepticism and apprehension that manifested itself as tardiness, I arrived in a f
luster, to be met by a face I recognised from a queer discussion circle I had attended a few nights before. Conversing with someone you know to be vastly more informed and articulate than yourself is no easy task, but I managed to stand my ground as the conversation flowed from awkward “I know you, but not really” introductions to experiences resulting from our (now discarded) Catholic upbringings; from American congress and voting behaviour to the political implications of economic growth. Dining with Joe was incredibly enjoyable; I invited him to drinks afterwards, my skepticism having all but vanished.
Chat: Engaging
Looks: Charming, but lacks ‘grr’
Personality: Rigorous
2nd date? Likely
Joe Renzullo,
PPE, St. John’s
Quirky 2nd year seeks someone with whom to share the joys of crap
television and the absurdity of the universe – perhaps the odd bit of
home-made brioche, as well.
After quite nearly making an ass of myself by being late – turned out we both were – we sat down to a meal at the Opium Den on George St. The dinner conversation was lovely and I decided to go with him to LGBTsoc drinks afterward (the essay could wait…) Time flew by, and we exchanged numbers at the end of the night. Definitely turned out better than I’d feared – particularly with respect to the absence of a prying journalist at the table!
Banter: Wide-ranging
Looks: Attractive
Personality: Modest
2nd date? Yes