Saturday, May 3, 2025
Blog Page 885

Single of the Week: Calvin Harris’ ‘Slide’

Natalia Bus
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Single of the Week: Calvin Harris’ ‘Slide’

“All my songs in 2017 have been sonically designed to make you feel fucking incredible” the EDM giant, Calvin Harris, announced just before the release of ‘Slide’, his collaboration with the recently risen from the dead Frank Ocean, and trap super group Migos.

For a track projected to meet such high expectations, ‘Slide’ is three minutes and 50 seconds of pure feel-good fun. The funky vibes of the clap-beat intro immediately ground it a Calvin Harris production, but Ocean’s honey-sweet deadpan soon takes over and dominates.

Ocean’s lyricism adds subtlety and sleekness to the sunny surroundings and ensures a catchy, dance-inducing end product. He croons on the hook: “Do you slide on all your nights like this? / Do you try on all your nights like this?”—it’s a simple chorus on a record made for continuous radio-play (like all other Harris hits) and it is certain to stay in your head all day, trust me.

‘Slide’ is a welcome transportation to the sun-kissed tarmac and lush palm trees of California during an especially rainy British spring and is definitely up there as one of Harris’ better musical collaborations.

Coldplay: ‘Something Just Like Piss’

Will Cowie
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Coldplay: ‘Something Just Like Piss’

Some say that pointing out the ridiculous nature of Chris Martin’s lyrics is like shooting into either an open goal or a bound, gagged, unarmed man. This sort of analysis usually brings to mind that famous scene from The Simpsons: “Stop! Stop! He’s already dead!” This is completely true.

The latest Coldplay single, ‘Something Just Like This’ is jointly credited with The Chainsmokers, best known as being just one more of those things Chris Martin will never do. Did you know that when Coldplay formed they signed a pact saying that if any of them did hard drugs the others would automatically boot them out of the band? It’s listening to the single that you really start to hope that one day Chris will try some lovely lovely drugs.

The title of the song is, in a word, tantalising—what might Chris Martin be referring to? It goes down as one of their more intriguing lyrics, alongside “I want to live in a wooden house, where making new friends would be easy” (a statement widely believed to be referring to the Defenestration of Prague) and “My drunken hazard Daniel in a lion’s den” (widely cited in Philosophy of Linguistics as a prime example of a category mistake—I prefer to think of it just as a mistake).

The song starts, and Chris jumps in with his first few lines. Apparently he’s been “reading books of old—the legends and the myths”—in fact, he’s been reading about “Achilles with his gold, Hercules and his gifts”. Remember, Chris did Classics so he’s a very smart guy. Very smart.

So, Achilles, Hercules, all well and good. It makes you wonder—which other myths and legends has he been reading about, maybe Hector, or Theseus? Don’t worry, for Chris tells us: “Spider-Man’s control, and Batman with his fists.”

Chris has cleaned up the myths section of the library with the first two lines, so presumably that makes Spider-Man and Batman the ‘legends’. There I was expecting King Arthur, but no, Chris has really pulled the rug from under all of our feet there. What a deviant.

Chris identifies each character with a key skill and, of course, referring to Spider-Man’s “control” is what many people think of when they’re asked to describe his super-power. Not the ability to shoot webs from his veins, no—his control.

I’m sure it takes all of us back to that moment in the (criminally underrated) Spider-Man 3 where the Green Goblin shouts after Spidey, “Curse you Spider-Man, and curse your control!” And actually, Spider-Man must have great control—great bladder control, that is. After all, I can’t remember a moment in any of the films where he needs a wee.

And this is where the sad part happens as Chris remarks “Clearly I don’t see myself upon that list”. I always thought the rumours of Chris’s degenerative and explosive bowel condition were fake news. Saying that, the qualification of the statement with “clearly” gives the impression of a man eager to cover up the fact that he obviously does see himself standing alongside Achilles and Batman. Sadly for Chris, I don’t think that’s true—he’s only the fourth most famous Martin in the music industry (after Dean, George and, of course, Ricky).

But as Chris breaks up the octave into the EDM chorus, and screams “I want something just like this/Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo/Doodoo-doo, doo-doo-doo/Doo-doo-doo, doo-doodoo” it’s clear that he’s so happy churning out mediocre lyrics (unless “doo-doo” is a reference to the aforementioned bowel condition) that there’s something rather charming about him.

Maybe the song’s a mess, and maybe he’s an odd guy, but I don’t think I want Chris to ever change. That doesn’t mean this song is worth any more than one lowly star though.

Properties in Oxford named the most expensive in the country outside of London for second consecutive year

Daniel Curtis
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Properties in Oxford named the most expensive in the country outside of London for second consecutive year

Oxford is the least affordable place to live in the UK, outside of London, for the second year in a row, according to research by Lloyds Bank.

The study compares the average house price against the average income in the city for an ‘affordability rating’.

The research found that Oxford’s average property price, £385,372, is 10.7 times that of the city’s average earnings, £36,033.

Oxford University Labour Club (OULC) condemned the findings. They said: “It is a scandal that we see yet again house prices in Oxford outpacing what ordinary people can afford.

“We already see rising homelessness in our city, and if we don’t invest in more affordable housing we will see Oxford become a place where only the richest can live securely.”

The study also found that, over the last five years, average house prices nationwide have increased by 32 per cent, from 2012’s £169,966 to 2017’s record high of £224,926.

The city of Cambridge was found to have seen the fifth-highest rate of increase on the average house price, at 46 per cent.

The results show a clear split between north and south: all five of the least affordable cities were in the South of England, while cities in the North and Midlands of England, as well as in Scotland and Northern Ireland, were found to be the five most affordable.

Oxford City Council said: “Tackling the city’s housing crisis has been a top priority for Oxford City Council for the last decade. The key elements of our strategy over that period have been to build as many affordable homes as possible, to unlock a series of major develop- ment sites, to work with private landlords to raise standards in rented homes, to retain a signifi- cant stock of social housing and to work with neighbouring councils and central Government to meet our housing need. The housing strategy has been the top priority in our Corporate Plan throughout this period.

“The City Council is seeking to deliver housing on the remaining available large sites within city’s boundaries by working in partnership with private developers to deliver homes at Barton Park, the Northern Gateway and Oxpens.”

Felix Bunting, a second-year Physics student at St Anne’s, told Cherwell: “Oxford being the most unaffordable city makes things dif- ficult for students and residents, and speaks of broader concerns about inequality.

“I hope Bradford being one of the most affordable will encourage investment in the city, and more people to consider living in a beautiful and thriving area, with the youngest population of any UK city and an enviable record as Curry Capital of Britain.”

Eimer McAuley, a first year English student at St Peter’s, told Cherwell: “As a Northern Irish student living in Oxford, I have found it to be an expensive area, which has made budgeting difficult.

“I do feel that the affordability of Belfast could influence my choice in whether to return home after University. For Northern Irish students, if the more expensive tuition fees weren’t already an unattractive prospect, the idea of budgeting in a place as expensive as Oxford could mean that Queens University Belfast would seem the better more practical option.”

William Shaw, a finalist at Corpus Christi, said: “In my opinion this is a real shame. As someone who’s about to graduate I would love the opportunity to stay in Oxford, but that’s simply never been on the table.

“I think this is a reflection of the gross over-investment in London and the Home Counties at the expense of the rest if the UK. We either need more affordable housing, or for the economy to not be so obsessively clustered in one corner of the UK that it creates these awful living costs.”

Stephen Hawes, a second-year historian, told Cherwell: “I think that renting as a student in Oxford is made much more difficult by high house prices.

“In order to rent somewhere affordable, students often end up in properties that are cold, poorly furnished, cramped or otherwise unserviceable.

“Letting agents are very hit-and-miss, and as people on a budget and inexperienced in renting a property, students are quite often at their mercy.

“Personally, I think that colleges should prioritize acquiring accommodation for all their students for the duration of their courses.

“Even if you’re renting experience is otherwise fine, there’s only so many times one wants to walk up and down Magdalen Bridge on the way to Cowley.”

Balliol second year Nicola Dwornik commented: “Living out in Oxford is incredibly expensive, especially given that most of us are used to the comfort of having highly subsidised college rents.

“For Balliol students, our rental costs and bills increase by about 40 per cent during the year we live out in private accommodation—this doesn’t produce happy parents.

“But, I guess, what should we expect? Oxford is 30 minutes from London, rather ‘charming’ and there’s a Waitrose in Botley; of course house prices are expensive. My main grievance is that some colleges provide accommodation for all years of your course, even if its off-site, which makes things a lot cheaper. Conclusion: I should have applied to Trinity.”

 

David Cameron to chair Oxford University commission

Katherine Pye
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David Cameron to chair Oxford University commission

Former Prime Minister David Cameron will chair a new LSE-University of Oxford commission based at the Blavatnik School of Government to guide policy on economic growth in fragile states.

The commission will find solutions to fragile states and conflict across the world, and Cameron will build on his work as Prime Minister, in which his government increased UK aid spending to the UN target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income and allocated 50 per cent of the aid budget to fragile states and regions.

Chairing of the Commission on State Fragility, Growth and Development will be the third voluntary role Cameron has taken since resigning as an MP.

He is president of Alzheimer’s Research UK and chairs a panel of patrons for the National Citizen Service.

David Cameron commented: “We can’t tackle global poverty or, indeed, improve our own security at home, unless we address the challenges caused by state fragility.

“How do we help support stronger economies and more e ective gover- nance in these countries? How do we help drive out corruption? How do we promote strong civil societies, the building blocks of democracy and the rule of law?

“The Commission aims to generate innovative ideas to help tackle state fragility and state failure, and I am delighted to be working with such a talented team of people.”

The role involves evidence sessions with policy-makers, academics, NGOs and businessmen experienced in dealing with fragile states and conflict. The Commission will aim to find areas of knowledge that are missing and encourage new research.

In a press release on Thursday, The Blavatnik School said: “Cameron’s commission will address fragile and conflict situations globally—where countries are failing, or are at risk of failing, with respect to political authority and legitimacy, and providing basic services such as health, education, security, and rule of law.

“Violent disorder stemming from state fragility has led to the current migration crisis where 65 million people globally—including eleven million Syrians—have fled their homes, becoming either internally displaced or refugees, the highest number since 1945.”

Alongside Cameron, the Commission will be chaired by Dr Donald Kaberuka, former President of the African Development Bank, and Dr. Adnan Khan, Research and Policy Director of the International Growth Centre.

The Commission will be launched in March 2017 and run until June 2018. Mr Kaberuka commented: “The ultimate aim of the SDGs is to leave no-one behind. The global community’s ability to effectively address state capacity and legitimacy, and build resilience in many regions of the world where millions are trapped in fragile situations is fundamental. The fragility commission will seek to advance this critical agenda.”

Oxford to target “white British” working class areas for admissions

Felix Pope
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Oxford to target “white British” working areas for admissions

Oxford University is set to launch a summer school targeting prospective applicants from “white British socio-economically disadvantaged areas”.

The summer school programme, run in partnership with the Sutton Trust, an education charity that works to increase social mobility, will seek students from disadvantaged rural and coastal areas.

In a statement to Cherwell, the Sutton Trust said that the scheme would specifically focus on “boys from disadvantaged backgrounds”.

An Oxford spokesman told Cherwell: “We are targeting all students from rural and coastal communities (and particular postcode classifications) because we’re keen to attract engagement from those areas given their past under-representation in outreach activities. That will likely include a lot of white working-class students, but it doesn’t exclude students from other nationalities and ethnicities.”

The spokesperson confirmed that it will be the only summer school targeting a specific demographic group this year.

Dr Samina Khan, Oxford University’s director of undergraduate admissions and outreach told the Telegraph: “By working intensively with one of the most under-represented groups in higher education, I hope that we can help students realise their potential and encourage high-achieving students from white British socio-economically disadvantaged areas to aim for top universities such as Oxford.”

“Less well of” white boys are the demographic group least likely to go to university in the UK, according to research conducted by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) based on data from 2012.

In the academic years 2010/11 and 2011/12 around 33 per cent of white British school students enrolled in university, compared to 57 per cent of black African students and 67 per cent of Indian students. The IFS report further revealed that girls are eight per cent more likely to attend university than boys.

In her first statement as Prime Minister, Theresa May railed against this, calling for more to be done to “make Britain a country that works for everyone”.

Black and Asian applicants are however less likely to receive an offer from Oxford. According to Ucas data released in January, 26.3 per cent of white applicants are made offers, compared to 16.8 per cent of Asian applicants and 16.7 per cent of black applicants.

Femi Nylander, a prominent Rhodes Must Fall activist, said if it were the case that Oxford was specifically seeking to improve access for the white working class “it is a particularly strange development”

He said: “[it] plays into traditional tropes of ‘white working class people’ and ‘white working class men’ in particular solely constituting the working class.

“What is wrong with just working class outreach? Oxford’s issues with class cut across racial lines and such programs which solicit applications for specifically “white British socio- economically disadvantaged areas” come side by side with a complete lack of willingness to admit the university even has a problem with race.”

Master of Balliol to retire

Felix Pope
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Master of Balliol to retire

The Master of Balliol College, Professor Sir Drummond Bone, has announced his intent to resign at the end of 2017, having served as Master for just over six years.

Bone studied at Balliol himself from 1968 to 1972 after obtaining an MA from Glasgow University. He went on to lecture in English literature at Warwick and Glasgow universities, before serving as Vice Chancellor of Liverpool University.  

In 2011 he returned to Balliol as Master, and according to the Oxford Student was hailed by students as “an absolute lad” and “a massive pimp, but in a good way” for his relaxed approach towards smoking and drinking in college in comparison to his predecessor, Dr Andrew Graham.

In a statement he said: “‘After six-and-a-bit very happy years back at Balliol, I have informed the Fellowship that I intend to retire from College at the end of December 2017…

“After the excitement of my first year as Master followed by Balliol’s 750th year, more recently we’ve been able to think about the future.

“Largely thanks to the support we’ve received from alumni, but also through more efficient use of our buildings to bring in additional resource, we’ve increased our tutorial strength considerably – something like seven new Career Development Fellows will have joined us by the time I leave, with more to follow in our current plans.

“We’ll also, subject to planning permission, be beginning to build some 212 new student rooms, crucially allowing us to accommodate all our undergraduates for all their time at Balliol, in early summer this year.”

Shark Tales Episode 3 [Season 6]

Cherwell Broadcasting
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Shark Tales Episode 3 [Season 6]

Tomorrow night, Cherwell Broadcasting presents Shark Tales Episode 3 [Season 6].

Concussion: a growing issue across the world of sport

Tom Mulligan Mason
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Concussion: a growing issue across the world of sport

Concussion has recently become a common headline in the world of sport, with experts beginning to question the safety of athletes due to emerging evidence over the last decade. In the NFL this issue was stumbled across by Dr Bennet Omalu who discovered the presence of CTE amongst former players. Similarly in rugby, measures have been taken to reduce head injuries in the game at all levels, a petition was even created to ban contact in rugby until players reach the age of 18. But are such ideas actually realistic in helping the situation? Even football, a non-contact sport, has been subject to criticism regarding concussion due to the frequent collisions per game a player can experience when heading the ball.

Most notably in recent years, the NFL has been subject to the most publicity in relation to the safety of their athletes. In an average game, a player can experience impacts at a velocity of 25 miles per hour, due to the huge size and speed of the players.  The maximum acceleration and deceleration the brain experiences inside the skull can reach a disturbing magnitude of 138 times the force of gravity. Therefore, it is not surprising that in every NFL game there is on average one concussion per team and independent doctors now have to be on the side-line of every game to provide impartial analysis of head injuries.

Recently it has become apparent that many former players have suffered from serious mental illnesses such as depression as a result of frequent head trauma and consequently have even committed suicide in some cases. Dr Bennet Omalu, a forensic neuropathologist discovered the origin for all this by furthering his interests into the brains of former NFL players after an autopsy on an elite former player, Mike Webster, who had died aged 50 of a heart attack. He discovered the presence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, more commonly known as CTE. It is a syndrome that many mental illnesses are associated with such as dementia, anxiety and depression. The type of CTE found in American football players is called gridiron dementia, “permanent brain damage caused by past frequent blows to the head”. A young retired athlete with gridiron dementia in his thirties, forties and fifties will have a brain resembling that of a dementia-afflicted individual who is over eighty years old. However even after this discovery, things did not improve, Omalu himself became a target, the league rejected his claims, to them American Football is a religion and they would stop at nothing to ensure it thrived on. Although in the future the NFL must make drastic changes to ensure the sport can survive as the number of former athletes developing serious mental illnesses is increasing and disturbingly, the suicide toll is too. Troy Aikman, a renowned former NFL star for the Dallas Cowboys stated, “I have complete amnesia of the ’93 title game” and another former player, Bo Jackson, admitted “I would never have played football” if he had known the risks.

Subsequently, rugby has investigated the mental health of it players and measures have been taken to reduce head injury in the sport. Touched upon earlier, a petition was indeed created to ban contact rugby until the age of 18 to reduce the number of concussions in youth. However, I would argue this method of protecting players would actually do more harm than good due to the paramount fact that if you take away contact at a young age, players will be unable to improve and develop their contact technique, therefore leading to  a higher risk of more serious injury when they later play contact at 18 and above, especially with the increasing size of players nowadays.

Finally, the most recent story regarding concussion has been related to football. Shocking to many as it is well known to possess little physicality, but in reality it is has had arguably just as bad effect on athletes as rugby due to the frequent collisions of the ball with players’ heads. The FA itself has promised to investigate this issue and ensure that the sport will improve in its safety regarding their players. Concussion is certainly a massive issue in the world of modern sport, and player-safety is rightly the top priority of all sporting bodies and authorities. Such stories and injuries take away from the beauty of such sports and need to be minimised as soon as possible.

Blind Date: Akshay and Lily

Cherwell Life
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Blind Date: Akshay and Lily

Akshay (Second year, PPE, Corpus Christi)

Having raced over after accidentally eating lunch, I spent several minutes looking anxiously around the Turf for my blind date. When, twenty minutes later, I finally met Lily, I was almost relieved not to be dealt the tragic blow of being stood up on a Cherwell date. Both second years, we ended up reminiscing a fair amount about our time as first years, when we both, at times, had two-day weeks. The conversation shifted to become steadily more ‘Oxford’; at some point, we caught ourselves discussing the problem of whether language corresponds to values or objects. We went through the classic topics of blind dates: genres of music, sports, films. As someone who doesn’t pride himself on his small talk, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to keep up conversation. Though my chat probably did veer on the “boring” side, meeting someone new was an entertaining way to spend an afternoon.

Out of 10? 7

Looks? Feel like I’ve seen you before

Personality? Friendly but a bit reserved

2nd date? Would be nice to see Lily around Oxford

 

Lily (Second year, MFL, Pembroke)

When I arrived at Turf, Akshay had been waiting for me outside, freezing cold and unimpressed. We started this Valentine’s day lunch date with an awkward hug followed by a mulled cider to recover. I mean, I thought it was a lunch date, but turns out that he had eaten in hall before running over… (If you organise a date for 1pm at a gastro pub, do you eat beforehand?) I can’t remember what we chatted about while I waited for my lunch, but I can recommend the mac and cheese. They’ve perfected the art of combining that stringy, gooey cheese centre with a golden, crunchy surface: a textural sensation. And they don’t stop there; a buttery toasted slice of homemade ciabatta is perfect for dipping. After a few heavenly minutes of mouthwatering action, I looked up and remembered who the date was supposed to be with. Akshay seemed very nice, actually. I was ecstatic when we admitted a shared love of electronic music.

Out of 10? 7

Looks? 7 (the macaroni gets 9)

Personality? 7

2nd date? Yes, if you actually eat something next time?

Home is where the art is: Yu Hong

Queenie Li
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Home is where the art is: Yu Hong

We all love quizzes. Let’s start with naming some notable feminist artists. The Guerrilla Girls, Cindy Sherman and Frida Kahlo will not be surprises. The second question—which Chinese contemporary artists are the fastest names to swing to mind? It is hard for one to miss blockbuster names such as the “laughing” artist Yue Minjun and the painter who is worth a million, Zeng Fanzhi.

What if we come to Chinese contemporary female artists? Suddenly the examination seems to be much harder. In fact, this group of artists has only begun to gain international spotlight recently with the exhibition Fire Within: A New Generation of Chinese women artists, shown in the Broad Art Museum of Michigan State University from August 2016 to February 2017. To grasp the idiosyncratic traits of the women art collective in China, an inspection of the work by Yu Hong (b.1966), the past Venice-biennale painter, would be a solid starting point. Similar to the minimalist style of another Chinese leading female sculptor, Xiang Jing, the art of Yu is characterised by the brushstrokes of female painters with natural intimacy and obvious tenderness. Xiang interrogates her internal relationship with the traditional means of painting. Her recent work, ‘Youyuan Jingmeng (2015)’, translated as “haunting dream in the garden wandering”, was composed of 19 canvases in odd dimensions and shapes, breaking through the physical limitation of the canvas to induce unlimited space for imagination to the viewers.

Yu’s harmonious colour palette and the delicateness in illustrating body movement stand in stark contrast to the intensive expression of her male counterparts in China. Their works are seen as more context-driven and boldly ambitious in new form creation, while the art of Chinese contemporary women artists is often reminiscent of the subtlety of classical Chinese ink painting and pottery sculptures.

Feminist topics such as stereotyped status and inequality are some heated themes often explored by most successful female artists in the West. Their searing social accusation coincidentally echoes with the lofty political curiosity of the Chinese men artist. Yu and her peers, nevertheless, show a slightly diverted interest.

One consistent focus of the female artists in China is the sensitive relationship with oneself and fragility of humankind. The early monochromic self-portraits of Yu not only reveal the struggling self-perception of young ladies in the post-80 era in a playfully pop approach, the self-reflection indeed injects a tinge of romanticism to the conceit of female artists.

“The macro environment in which one grows up largely determines the destiny of oneself. What we can do is only the slight adjustment in between. “This is the motto of Yu which has constantly been quoted in different media interviews. This unique group of female artists in China to which Yu belongs has been defining a distinctively feminine perspective, yet not limiting itself to a feminist context. They will in no doubts garner increasing curiosity from the art world and sooner or later, the phrase “Chinese contemporary female artists” will no longer remain as an enigmatic conundrum.

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