Why old music is always best

I won't lie: I like a mix of music, including both new and old bands.


What really gets to me though is when people scream and rave about bands like One Direction, but don't even consider some of the bands which made it possible for them to exist.


My friend Bradley hates it whenever Chase & Status's latest club hit, "Hypest Hype" (featuring Tempah T) is played, as it features sections from the song, "Been Down So Long" by The Doors. Despite large amounts of the song being composed by Jim Morrison and his colleagues, they are never once credited - is this really fair?

Photo: Hannah O'Brien

This is why I love Reading Festival. Last year I had the good fortune to go, and my mind was blown. New and old acts were mixed together, with the likes of My Chemical Romance duetting with Queen's Brian May to create a new version of "We Will Rock You". Likewise, The Strokes and Pulp's Jarvis Cocker blew the crowds away, although you could say that Pulp themselves had done that just 20 minutes earlier.


This year, I am very much looking forward to The Cure's set, and all the surprises it will bring.


Festivals and concerts are not just for new and upcoming bands - they are a chance for us to celebrate and revel in older bands too.


Last night, I went to see The Stranglers in concert at the Engine Shed in Lincoln. I was pleasantly surprised. After talking to my mother before the concert and establishing that she had in fact also seen The Stranglers while she had been at university, I was expecting the concert to lack some energy.


I was wrong. Seeing The Stranglers perform proved to me once and for all that you do not have to be young to produce good music - which was enforced by their supporting act, The Popes.

Old music will always be the best because these acts know what they are doing, and actually enjoy creating amazing music (rather than posing around on a stage like One Direction).

Thunderbirds are go!

Today was my first time featuring on the Midweek Drive show on Siren FM, and already I know I'm going to love it. 

Being on the radio for the first time is a bit nerve-racking, but I got a brilliant surprise!

I got the opportunity to help interview Shane Rimmer, who voices the character of Scott Tracy in the well-known 1960s TV series, Thunderbirds. This may sound like a small thing to anyone who has not heard of the Thunderbirds (although, really, who hasn't?), but the Tracy family were iconic characters in my childhood. I still remember watching the TV show with my family.

I was just a little bit starstruck - thanks to having younger brothers, I spent a lot of my childhood surrounded by various starships and rockets, but the Thunderbirds are certainly the ones I remember the most (other than Star Wars Lego...). 

So as you can probably understand, talking to Shane Rimmer was a big moment for me.


In fact, that was the only time once we'd started the show that I actually felt nervous - not a great feeling when you're live on air, but adrenaline got me through!


All that remains now is to see who is on the show next week... I honestly can't wait.

Open days

Ok, so all universities have open days, just like schools. What I want to know is this: why does the University of Lincoln have so many?


It seems like every few weeks we have new "potential students" looking around.


As an average student, I'll establish right now that I have had no contact with next year's intake. But, bearing this in mind, surely I should still have some contact with future students?


You can only get a real feeling for the university you're going to if you actually have some experience of living there. That's why I decided to come to Lincoln - I stayed with a friend here and experienced how it really is to live as a student here, if only for a weekend.


But, really, that's what university is all about - living away from home and learning about how to live on your own. Fair enough if you want to live close to home, but in my opinion it's better to learn how to stand on your own two feet.


I feel that living four hours away from my parents has really benefited me, and I've learnt more about myself as a person (as well as learning how to cook for myself!)


For a start, I've become more independent. Then of course, there's making new friends - I know that I can completely rely on my closest friends here, because I live with them and know everything about them.


This is something that open day students don't completely understand. Living at university is completely different from living at home - living in close conditions with other people you don't know (at least to start with) and gradually learning about each other. It's part of the whole experience.


In summary: come to uni for an open day, yes. But talk to real students, not the reps. Talking to real students gives you a real idea of living at your uni. Fact.

Why do students do what they do?

It's 4am.

Right now, the average student is either sleeping, partying, or is on the Internet for some reason.

But why?

Obviously, everyone understands the need for sleep.

Partying? I think everyone can understand that too, to an extent. I mean, everyone needs to let their hair down once in a while. And with the growing list of student offers of today, why not?

Photo: Hannah O'Brien

A large part of the student culture of today involves clubbing as the main form of socialising. Well, actually, clubbing has become a central focus in socialising for young people, whether they are students or not. But drinking and dancing seems to be a good way to meet new people – if the example of fresher’s week is anything to go by.

Drinking seems to relax us and make us all more open to meeting new people. So, obviously this is ideal for a first-year student who is hoping to meet more friends.

But now I’ve come to surfing the net – why do we do it?

Quite simply - it's an escape from reality.

On the internet, it's easy to not only be someone you're not, but also to let go of the stresses of real life - but then again, I guess you could say that drinking has the same effect.