Revision and Exams: The Necessary Evil
Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could just go to class, have stimulating discussions about what the subject might be, is or ought to be and just leave it at that? Cases can provide great entertainment value – reading about the crazy, tortuous or just plain stupid things people do is always good for 10 minutes of guilt-free ‘work’. But alas work it ultimately is and we have to get through those exams. So make it as pain-free as possible for yourself… Continue reading “Exam Hell? Let Kb relieve the pressure…”
Solesmes
Earlier last term I set out across the channel to a place that felt like another world away. After seven hours, one Eurostar and a terribly efficient trip across France’s train network, I arrived outside the gates of St. Peter’s Abbey, Solesmes. This monastery is one of the most famous of its kind in religious and musicological circles – not due to a trendy beer quaffed by the after work regulars – but due to its dedication and sound of one of the Catholic Church’s most ancient and beautiful heritages: Gregorian chant. This is what had consciously lead me there this autumn, yet in such a short time, so many more things became apparent as to why I might be there. Continue reading “Music Related Religion”
To many, University is remembered nostalgically as an era of freedom and discovery, where we are suddenly thrown headlong into a melting pot of concepts and ideas, debates, strong black coffee and Marxist rhetoric. Certainly, that is the romantic vision tied in with the de facto expectation placed on us, as the world’s young minds, to be raging left wing political activists. The highly politicised socialist student stereotype has existed since time immemorial (or at least as an heirloom inherited from the 60s alongside acid casualties and Bob Dylan) but how much of it has been betrothed to us by history? How much of student politicisation and activism is a result of genuine concern for major issues, and how much of it is hot air engendered because otherwise we wouldn’t be very ’studenty’? Continue reading “Lectures, Libraries and… Liberalism?”
On December 30th 2006 the execution of Saddam Hussein came to many as a hasty surprise. Three years after being caught, it almost never felt as if the infamous ‘dictator’ would greet the inevitable. Then suddenly… a hanging. Continue reading “Saddam Hussein – Lifting the Veil of Conspiracy?”
If glossy magazines are to be believed, size 0 women are more reviled in Britain than tyrannical dictators. As if their international fashion careers weren’t enough, it seems that today’s models are inspiring a generation of extreme dieters who, as well as igniting the frustrations of the slimming-challenged, are also apparently making us late: the headline of AM New York on 2nd January was ‘Rail Thin’; according to the Metropolitan Transport Authority, women fainting because they are on a crash diet are a top cause of subway delays. Continue reading “Do These Laws Make Me Look Fat? A bill of rights for the beautiful but dangerously thin”
The European Union has seen many ups and downs in its history, yet one that struck at the very core of its existence was the French and Dutch rejection of the EU constitution during the two referenda held in May and June 2005. The failure to launch a new stage in the European integration process has not only harmed the Union itself but also its credibility within the European and the international scene. Yet, with the accession of new member states, Bulgaria and Romania in January 2007, the necessity to revive the dead treaty seems more urgent than ever. Continue reading “EU Constitution”
‘Nothing is permanent, but change.’ A compelling statement. Does that go for themes of discussion too? The ably and elegantly crafted articles submitted on this subject have interpreted this statement as something akin to Change is the only permanent thing, or have certainly implicitly affirmed that idea. But is not the most traumatic interpretation simply Nothing is permanent, where ‘nothing’ denotes a state of non-existence or nothingness? Continue reading “Nothingness”
In writing this passage, I have been inspired by Deepak Chopra’s book ‘Seven Spiritual Laws of Success’.
Please read carefully as although these Words today may appear lengthy, I have thought about them for quite a while and they are spoken straight from my heart to yours: Continue reading “Yoshi Words of Wisdom”
