Is Christmas what it's cracked up to be?

Obviously with age you lose a bit of the magic of Christmas and I think that my current age (27) and current living situation (living with two lads) doesn't serve to help this illusion. So in an attempt to kick-start my Christmas (I've been making cards for like 2 months!?) I'm going to post up my five favourite Christmas songs, counting down to make it "more exciting". Also a side note, I realise I've not blogged in a while but believe it or not I was WORKING which zapped all my energy (easy to get out of the habbit!) but I am hoping to come back to it properly in the new year!

5. Aled Jones - Walking in the Air

I used to LOVE the Snowman and one of my favourite memories was playing an arrangement at Brass band when I was 10. It is classic Christmas and anyone who dislikes it needs their head examined!

4. The Pogues - Fairytale of New York
Yes, I know "what a surprise" he's gone and picked the Pogues. The song shows Christmas in a more realistic light in some ways, it isn't all mince pies and presents. The song itself is just good listening and overplayed tho it is I still like it and it has definitely earned it's place on this list.

3. Michael Buble & The Puppini Sisters - Jingle Bells

I know quite a few people aren't huge fans of Mr Buble but everyone should like the Puppinis. I saw them live a few weeks back for a special Christmas show and it was a fantastic evening. The song itself is very relaxing and a great way to bring yourself a little Christmas spirit so go ahead!

2. The Wombats - Is this Christmas?

This song appeals to my inner child, listening to it I am transported back to the time when I used to get excited about Christmas. I'm not saying it's not exciting now...well actually I am. I like the Wombats and find their brand of happy god lucky pop-rock a good listen and it has something I always like in a song a bit of instrumental colour. Couldn't get the proper vid on here but you'll get the jist of it I'm sure!

1. John Lennon - Happy Xmas War is over

I've always been a huge Beatles fan and althought John isn't my favourite (George all the way) I do like his solo stuff. The song is touching and given the troubled times we live in seems pretty apt.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Trending in my generation

Lots of people have suggested that the current generation of young people are at risk of becoming a lost generation, we can't get jobs, we can't afford houses and many of us are leaving Uni thousands of pounds in debt.  I could just go on and have a moan about all this but I won't instead I want to take a minute to look at what our options are. More on the whole lost generation idea can be found here.

Go back to Uni

I've seen lots of people doing this, they have taken a variety of options from Journalism (practical), Business (a bit practical) to History (interesting but less likely to open doors to a new career). However even those with postgrads seem to be struggling for work, too many qualifications not enough experience. There are some exceptions to this in particular Journalism, the course most people take is very applied and there are still jobs if you are willing to slog it out as an intern for a while or work on minimum wage. I guess the thing that really comes out from this is the importance of experience. Degrees with a year in industry seem very good value for those doing them, I know a fair few people who've had this option and it has worked for them. The real thing is, doing a postgrad will not be the same as your treasured undergrad years, the work is harder and there are no student loans to fund your way. Career development loans are an option but for me I'd rather avoid them as they are much more imminent debt than your easy going undergrad loans.

Take a "crappy" job

Most of us have to take this option at some point, I don't know about everyone else but I would rather have a low-paid job than be stuck on the dole, it also looks better when you are going for jobs. The sad thing is that most of the work you are going to do won't really help you in the long run and most graduates have the problem that employers will look at your CV and be instantly wary, "they're just going to leave" and to be honest much of the time this is probably true.

Leave the Country

Seems a bit extreme but I'm not sure if it really is. Other countries do have more opportunities at times but with much of the world experiencing the same problems we are you probably won't have all that many options. If you've got good languages skills you've more of a chance but this is something our education system has been poor at for years and years.

Sit on the dole

Keep plugging away, do what's required of you but be prepared to see savings evaporate and to live what to be honest is a bit of a depressing life. As time goes on you find yourself being able to do less and struggling to find any saving that you can. To be honest unless you can do something like live with your parents it's going to seriously affect your quality of life. For me I don't see this as an option, in the short term the dole is there for a reason as are housing benefits but in the long term it's really not that appealing.

Films and Music

I'm currently mainly listening to film soundtrack albums, obviously from films I enjoyed so I thought I'd chuck a couple of recommendations out there...

Across the Universe

The film is based around Beatles tracks in a similar way to Mama Mia for ABBA, the difference here is that this was never a stage show just a film. I didn't realise it existed until a friend lent me the DVD (which I really need to return...).

The thing that I love about the music apart from the fact it's all Beatles tracks that I know and love is the way it is all performed. So much music is just performed to be perfect and lacks character but in this film the characters themselves come out not just in the songs but in the way they sing them. My favourite character from the film is probably Jo-Jo.  I also find the setting very enjoyable, it all takes place around the time of the Vietnam war giving good usage of the music. Favourite song found below...

Scott Pilgrim VS The World

This quite simply is one of my favourite films and as with many other great films it has a soundtrack that really fits in. Lots of the films is based around the music so it's pretty fertile ground making a soundtrack. The film has so many pop-culture references that are bang on for my generation its amazing. As soon as I heard it was coming out I heard nothing but good things, I know some people haven't enjoyed it but I have (and that's what matters).

The chosen song is a bit of a classic from Frank Black, hope you are a fan too.

Obviously there are a huge number of films with great music, Romeo and Juliet stands out as one, some of the music from 28 Days Later is also very good but for my final choice I'm going to suggest Badly Drawn Boy's soundtrack for the film About a Boy.

About a Boy

The film is quite cheesey but the whole way through you are greeted with the sound of Badly Drawn Boy. I am a big fan of BDB with The Shining probably being one of my favourite songs ever mainly down to the intro. For About a Boy the music fits well and he manages real variety, lots of instruments and a few different styles. I still remember seeing about when he tried busking and everyone thought he was rubbish but that for me just added to the quality.

Chosen track this time is File Me Away, it's something a little bit different but still pretty damn good IMHO.

One blog... delayed

So, It's been a rough couple of days and a strange couple of weeks. The blog has sadly taken second place to job hunting and more lately some minor health issues (probably gallstones). Hopefully things will kick off again later this week once I've caught up with everything else! More soon...

Why you watch it?

I am by no means a proper film buff but I do enjoy films. I've seen three films in the last few days that I feel are worth talking about mainly because I enjoyed all three but for different reasons.

Jackass 3

Okay, so it's totally stupid but that is the whole point. I watched this after a few beers and it is a perfect drinking film as long you aren't too squeamish. I laughed lots and lots... particular favourites for me were them messing around with lots of superglue and one of them dressed as a gorilla. Also worth watching simply to see Knoxville get completely destroyed by an American football player. Jackass has always been a bit over the top and this unsurprisingly continues the theme from the other films of just taking it a bit further. You can see they are obviously loving just playing pranks on each other as well as the usual set piece stuff. I'm not saying you *MUST SEE* this film but if you have had a couple of beers and fancy watching something for a laugh then this is a great choice for you.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

I saw this on Friday with my brother down at Chapter Arts Centre, the films is based on a book by John Le Carre. I spoke to my dad about the book yesterday and he said he'd enjoyed that when it came out. The film is a gem, great story, great writing, great acting and great cinema. Gary Oldman plays the lead role and he much like his accent is fantastic. I love the imagery of the film and the period it's set in is one I've always been interested in. You see what I'm sure is an intriguing view into how our intelligence services used to work. The cast is brilliant with Mark Strong and John Hurt both fantastic. I don't want to ruin this film for you so won't get any further but I will say you *REALLY MUST MUST MUST SEE THIS FILM* catch it at Chapter this week or at various other cinemas but really do catch it.


Transformers 3

Stupid, stupid, stupid and really really stupid! This isn't a great piece of cinema it's a barrel full of special effects and some kind of story that you don't notice much of thanks to all the stuff blowing up. I loved transformers as a kid and I quite enjoyed the first film. The second was a bit silly and this one takes silly to a whole new level. New bad buys, massive robot fights and even a bit of action on the moon. My best mate Dave has refused to watch it claiming it's just too stupid for him and making so quite funny comments about director Michael Bay. If you do watch this it won't be for the cast, the writing or the story it's just for a laugh. It's trash in many ways but when it comes to film I love a bit of trash, nothing better than a stupid story, wooden acting and pointless amounts of action to help you chill out.

Is it time to listen to...

I went to see Bob Dylan last week, the gig itself was a bit of a disappointment, the great man doesn't sound so great anymore. Still it's one of those things I can say I've done, bucket list achievement!

So the gig has set me a-thinking (a dangerous proposition) about music again so I thought I'd share a few thoughts (and by thoughts I mean artists/songs).

Leonard Cohen - The man is a bit of a legend in my eyes, doesn't pretend he's a great singer but he most certainly is a great lyricist. The first song I heard of by him was Everybody Knows, the circumstances of finding out about this song were slightly strange but I instantly loved it. I had his Live in London album on my mp3 player (note I DO NOT have an ipod!) and one of his songs was featured in The Boat That Rocks (one of my favourite films, largely for the music). The song was Marianne, a world away from Everybody Knows but that just shows the versatility of Cohen. I remember watching a music history show a few months back and it was talking about Cohen and how he developed, good story worth learning. Lots of people just know Cohen from the epic Hallelujah, which was a big hit for another solo star Jeff Buckley but there is much much more to him than that. Here's Marianne for your listening pleasure, enjoy! I know I did when I first heard it.

Ed Harcourt - I've seen Ed live twice although sadly both were a few years ago, still the music is as good now as it was then. Particular favourites include Shanghai, Whistle of a Distant Train and Black Dress. Thinking about it I guess what really interests me music wise are good lyrics, something that can get you in a good mood but also set you pondering all sorts of things. Ed has an ability to do that for me and I have very fond memories of seeing him live with my biggest disappointment being that I was so ill at one gig I had to leave half way through...

For your listening pleasure I've chosen a couple of his tracks, I hope you enjoy! The first is "She fell into my arms" and I really love the trumpet part in this one.

My second choice is from his most recent album, one which I'm sad to say I've not listened to, the song is the title track "Lustre".

The Divine Comedy - Yes, that's right I'm harping on about them again, but as I'm doing video's I thought it was different enough to get away with...

I will get straight into the video's, three Divine Comedy classics coming up... First off possibly their most famous song and definitely the most fun video National Express.

Now for two more quick fire video's... One new, one older.

Long time coming

This piece was originally published in the Freshers Editon of the Courier this September...

So you've just been accepted to the delightful seaside university town of Aberystwyth, just you, the sea, the sun (okay...maybe not) and 8000 other students. It all sounds so good and to be fair it is but the first crisis of the new university term will be upon you before you even arrive. When I arrived at Aber in 2005 there were a wide range of options for Halls, from the seafront to PJM and even halls in Llanbadarn. During four years in Aber however things changed, big time. My first three were spent in the relative peace and quiet of student life, graduating eventually and spending far too much time working on this fine publication you see before you. The 4^th year however was something a bit different, I had somehow managed to wind up as Guild President and this is when the learning curve really shot up. I would sit in a recruitment meeting hearing the various university staff talk about targets for student numbers but the real situation wasn't immediately apparent. Student numbers in Aber have risen hugely in the last twenty years and the current intakes are the largest ever seen.

The problems started in 2006, the university had decided to close the halls on the Llanbadarn Campus, these halls are pretty much gone now mostly knocked down. I had friends who stayed there and they had plenty of good tales about the friendly atmosphere and despite looking a bit faded on the outside the halls they said weren't all that bad. The thing is, it didn't stop there, the university has in the last twenty years gradually disposed of a large number of the former seat front residences as well. New accommodation has been built in the form of PJM, Trefloyne and Rosser but with student numbers rising was this really going to be enough? Fast forward to 2008, just elected as a sabbatical and polishing off my final edition of The Courier I had no idea what awaited students in the coming years. Freshers came and there were no major disasters but there were problems, international students arriving with no where to live and students forced to stay in temporary accommodation. We were told at the time that this was all temporary and that by Christmas it would all have settled down and so it did. Still there was a hint of problems to come, recruitment up, accommodation forgotten. The myth was that the private sector could expand to fill the gap left by higher recruitment and insufficient university accommodation.

Throughout my year we met on a regular basis with the staff of the accommodation office and were briefed on plans for further residences. The plans were grand and very impressive but in the short term the university still had to fit an increasing number of first students into the existing accommodation. Fast forward to September 2009, I'd left the Guild but new president Jon Antoniazzi was friend so I was able to watch the problems of 2008 made to look like childs play. This wasn't something new, I remember being told tales of students camped out in the sports hall while they waited for accommodation to become available. Surely a university that prided itself on it's “excellent student experience” could never have treated students in such a way. And now we fast forward to today, it's 2011 and three years after the I began to see what was really going students are once again getting messed around and the accommodation office is cashing in.

If there is one lesson to be learnt here it's that the university never changes. Students are paying increasingly large amounts to attend university and increasing amounts for accommodation, in the end something will have to give. So next time there is “unexpected levels of recruitment” don't be so surprised, we've been here before and sadly it looks like we'll be there again.

Ben Hallett was editor of the Courier from 2007-2008 and President of the Guild from 2008-2009.