The Pessimism and Occasional Optimism of Juvenile Adulthood

During my first two years of University, this blog entry served as my ad hoc portfolio of articles for The Student newspaper in Edinburgh. Articles were arranged from newest to oldest and are still listed below. Following upgrades to The Student's own website, my profile there now provides links to my articles for the newspaper. Also detailed there are my roles within the newspaper, including spells as Editor-in-Chief and Deputy E-i-C during the Edinburgh Fringe Festivals of 2022 and 2023.  Year Two Come Dine with Us - thoughts on a student experiment  (Lifestyle) June 2022 Sentimental kitsch - the wonders of Eurovision  (Opinion) May 2022 Zelenskyy: A true Servant of the People  (Opinion) March 2022 The tragedy of Ukraine and the demise of meaningful dialogue  (Opinion) February 2022 The battle the BBC didn't want  (Opinion) January 2022 A cop-out COP  (Opinion/Satire) November 2021 A Green Quandary: Slater, Harvie and Government  (Opinion)...

 Since starting University in the strangest of times, the reality of higher education has simultaneously bowled me over and left me distinctly underwhelmed. Maybe as the intensity slowly winds up (with first assessments due in 4 weeks time) things will feel different but for now, I feel in a unique state of limbo, one worth expressing in words. Words which will certainly not be my best, but words better out than in, in any event. Today (Thursday 1st October) began for me at 5:10 AM when I was woken up by my alarm to go and play badminton. Why anyone would choose to play badminton at 6 AM would normally be beyond me, but the opportunity to leave my flat is simply too great. But after the early start, I soon settled into a inherently unsettling routine of productive morning (pre-recorded lectures, notes, cups of tea etcetera), lunch, procrastinating patch of DOOM! Perhaps I'm being melodramatic but I doubt it. This is a period, where I think for prolonged periods about the merits of ...

Saying that this year’s Tour de France had the most dramatic climax of my lifetime is not anywhere near the compliment it deserves. As Tadej Pogacar made fellow Slovenian Primoz Roglic walk the plank of Belles Filles, we were witnessing not only the emergence of a new precocious talent, yet to turn 22 by the time he stands on the top step of the podium, but perhaps a symbolic changing of the guard in Grand Tour racing. The 2020 tour will see Pogacar claim three of the four jerseys, all in which we can see a clear pattern favouring new emerging talent – many of whom are just experiencing their first Grande Boucle. After dramatically losing the yellow jersey to Greg LeMond and his aero bars in 1989, Laurent Fignon cut a disconsolate figure, finding himself subsequently unable to seriously challenge for the overall title in subsequent years. Roglic is older than Fignon was back then, and whilst he remains an undoubtedly strong rider, it is easy to draw comparisons between the two runner...

  This article was initially written for an openDemocracy competition asking for my vision of the world post Covid-19 (however difficult this may be to actually envision at the moment). As you can imagine, I took my entry down a political route. Thanks to all those who voted for me at the time, and stay safe! Slippery slopes of democracy. It can take the most tragic of circumstances to bring people together, to establish a communitarian spirit otherwise suppressed in times of peace. War and murder used to be what did the trick but now, a global pandemic can count itself part of this most infamous of clubs. However, in many parts of the world, these liberties and freedoms which can build such spirit, will continue to be repressed long after this pandemic, as governments have sought to assert themselves over their electorates – bypassing democratic norms and offering a vision of a world growing progressively more regressive and illiberal – with states of emergency the route one carte...

Since I last wrote anything here, this blog has had an enforced minor rebrand, and the owner has spent much time procrastinating about doing something meaningful with this time off from normality. I have continued to enter writing competitions when they emerge and I am grateful to all of you who voted for my article in openDemocracy's competition about the state of the world post-Covid. I will no doubt upload that at some point, but first I want to share my entry to this year's Political Studies Association competition in association with the Financial Times. Some of you may remember that my entry to last year's competition was rather well-received, with a trip to Parliament corresponding with my second place overall. Whilst I won't be off to Westminster this year, I'd like to share my article here - first written in April of this year - for you to formulate an opinion on it for yourself. Stay safe! Does the public expect too much of UK Politicians? The p...

This Friday marks many things - just like any other day. But the 8th May, as well as being the anniversary of VE Day, and the birthday of David Attenborough, is my birthday, and my 18th no less. The result of this is that I will have to close the door on my childhood and make the short walk down the corridor into adulthood, where my childhood will only be subsequently viewable through my memory window, which will inevitably be blurred and misted by time. Therefore, I've decided to write about my adolescence as a whole before I'm compelled into either renaming or archiving this blog. Treatise One - Reflections on my evolution in Blogs I think I continually underestimate the way in which Explorers, and indeed Scouting has shaped my life, even if I think about it frequently. I joined Explorers a slightly insular eccentric - bereft of meaning but able to make people smile either with my eclectic interests or my peculiar mannerisms, many of which I retain today. I've alw...

There is a great irony that Hereford’s most expensive season to date, what with the sacking of two managers, wider coaching staff along with a big turnover of more expensive players, now won’t count. Or, even if it is counted, won’t affect the Bulls in any way. So, finance aside, let’s evaluate where we are at, and where we could possibly go. At various points across the season we have either conceded too much or not scored enough with the pendulum at times swinging both ways. Reece Styche left us, having gone into the long list of in-form forwards who stop scoring upon signing – a list that includes Mika Kottila, Sean Canham, and Rowan Liburd who remains at the club but has fallen down the pecking order behind the veteran goal-getter John Lewis & his Partner Mooney, an emerging talent who can hopefully continue his development with us next season. At the back, things have been shaky. Kieran Thomas has had a good season, as has Jared Hodgkiss, but they’ve both played out...

First-hand, if slightly incoherent, reflections on two of the most unusual weeks. There appears to be a great irony in that being surrounded by the people you love and care for most, can make you want to move apart from them all the more. I guess this is just the principle of moderation, yet it appears to be particularly exacerbated when forced companionship is put upon you. In many ways, I am fortunate to have only my mother in the house for company - her ability to work from home meaning she can self-isolate from me, as well as Coronavirus, with relative ease. There have honestly been moments where I have wanted to self-isolate from myself, days where the minute hand could so easily be confused for the hour. Yet I have made it, as indeed we all have, and this should be celebrated - albeit once again in moderation. Each day has typically consisted of me lounging about the house for half of it wishing I could actually write some essay or another (more about why this is the case la...

A Smith and Jones reference there , not that anyone my age would know who Smith and Jones were. It is clear that the world is currently not in a good place and the government's decisions this week are part of a far broader aim of tackling Covid-19 as effectively as possible.  In critiquing events and governments decisions, I note that there is no easy solution to what is an immensely complex issue.  But I want to talk about school closures, in a far broader context of education as a whole, perhaps offering a perspective that better relates to the experience of students whose lives and entire sense of purpose appear to have been casually disregarded by so many. Some self-inserts may also be referenced.  I am in the cohort which saw the introduction of new harder SATs in Year 6 before being slapped in the face with the new harder GCSEs - gone was Coursework, in was rigour designed to promote the highest level of early academia. In with that came stress, panic, str...

The Bulls seem to be back in the realms of mediocrity, steering clear of relegation, albeit on an ever dwindling budget. However, 2 tiers lower than ‘usual’, fans are turning away from the Street, making the team’s play-off push all the more difficult. How can we end this vicious cycle of lower attendances, smaller budgets, worse players, worse football, lower attendances, smaller budg.... ah even I got stuck in the cycle. It’s a difficult rut to break out of. Josh Gowling clearly appears to be a good man-manager, getting players previously demotivated under Slade to chase more balls, track back quicker, and make runs for each other. The appointment of Steve Burr appears to be an excellent move, with his contacts and experience being a suitable balance to the team’s management. Whichever one of them persuaded Lenell John Lewis and Partners to sign for the club deserves credit for it appears to be an excellent signing compared to the underwhelming striker from The Rock (Gibraltar ...

I never thought my cousin would make it into the pages of literature as prestigious as this, but stranger things have happened. This by virtue of my cousin’s generational support of Leyton Orient, a team which for a slightly glorious few years, was managed by a certain Russell Slade. ‘Hark!’ I thought to myself, ‘What can we deduce from his prior management work at Brisbane Road? Will it indicate any sort of upturn in The Whites’ fortunes?’ The conclusion: meh! Slade did have great success at Orient. He took over a team set to be relegated to League Two and brought them on the verge of the play-offs the following season. A cup run which took them all the way to Arsenal also followed. Whilst the following season represented a disappointment, the team rebounded to finish 3 rd , narrowly missing out on promotion in the play-off final. Slade was also awarded Manager of the Year for that season and later went off to Cardiff on the back of such successes. Most remarkable through ...

It’s back! Following on from the moderate success of my Berlin review last year, I’m back reviewing our cultural excursion to Belgium. Given this is written on a coach journey en route to Blighty, excuse any typos... A long coach journey was passed by reading and listening to my music, interspersed only by listening to other people’s music - some of which I wouldn’t classify as such. By the time we arrived in Bruges, morale was draining and stomachs were feeling empty. Initiative was taken though to ensure we feasted on pizza. Except by ‘we’ I mean the 4 of us in the same room. Everyone else went hungry, not that I particularly cared at that point, the allure of an itchy blanket and a weird pillow somewhat attractive after a long day. Friday started for 3 of us with a jog into Bruges just before the sun rose. Bereft of people, the Belfry tower and Burg square could be marvelled without the prying crowds of selfie-sticks and en masse tour groups. Following a mediocre breakfast, we as a ...

I have not done a film review yet. Music yes, culture even. However, film reviews have thus far eluded my journalistic writings, not least because I've never seen myself as an impartial, well-informed critic on such a matter. Devout followers of my blog will know that my original blog layout featured a motivational image from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, one of my favourite films. That, Waking Ned and the work of Richard Curtis largely makes up my list of favourites. That probably tells you enough about my questionable film tastes. But I want to talk about Jojo Rabbit, a film I saw this week and was enchanted by.  Based on a novel by Christine Leunens, it tells the story of a brainwashed member of the Hitler Youth in the dying months of WWII, who finds out that his mother is hiding a young Jewish woman (Elsa) in their spare bedroom. The film, promoted as an anti-hate satire, focuses on how his experiences and interactions with Elsa undermine the hatred he is relentle...