25th December: Just another winter’s day?

On the 1st December, when many people open their advent calendars, the countdown to Christmas has begun. Television adverts are Christmas themed, shop music plays Christmas hits and Christmas jumpers are proudly on display. However only 60% of the population of the United Kingdom are Christian. The Gryphon investigates what Christmas means for the remaining 40% of the country.

I am by no means Christian, but yet here I sit typing this article, donning an ugly Christmas jumper and sparkly gold lipstick. My premature excitement isn’t caused by the thrill of celebrating Christ’s birth, but is more symptomatic of the rampant commercialisation of Christianity’s premier holiday. I revel in the German markets, a piece of chocolate every day, and presents under the tree on Christmas Day, but violently resist Midnight Mass with every fibre of my being. Who’d have thought that a socialist like me would revel in so much capitalism?

Although Christmas seems like an almost irreplaceable part of British winter traditions, it has not always been at the forefront of our calendar. Despite the 13 year ban on Christmas during Britain’s brief stint as a republic, Christmas wasn’t really celebrated in the manner we know it today until Queen Victoria’s reign. It wasn’t until this era that trees, greetings cards and turkey dinners were introduced into our Christmas celebrations.

However, while I still celebrate Christmas, there are millions of people across the country – either atheist or of non-Christian religion – for whom Christmas day will be nothing more than another winter Thursday. When mince pies, carol services, and the Doctor Who Christmas Special are as much a part of British culture as tea and imperialism, is it intimidating or excluding to be surrounded by something you’re not a part of? Zayd Rehman, Vice President of LUU ISoc, thinks not. ‘I don’t feel excluded, in fact its quite the opposite.’ Zayd continues, ‘It’s always fun to see the Christmas lights going up and hearing the Christmas songs on the radio. I associate it with winter, holidays and general merriment!’ He concedes, however, that there are downsides to being a Muslim at this time of year, ‘… admittedly it does start to get a little tiresome closer to Christmas time itself, but I wouldn’t say I feel excluded.’ We also spoke to Max Sherrard, president of JSoc, who had this to say, ‘I don’t really feel intimidated but I suppose it’s just something I never really thought about. Maybe Christmas has been commercialised to the extent that it is no longer a religious holiday as much as a national festive season; so the celebration is similar to Thanksgiving in the US, Guy Fawkes Night in the UK or New Year’s Eve.’

While many non-Christians celebrate Christmas in some small way, whether it be eating a Christmas dinner or watching the Queen’s Speech, this isn’t the case for Zayd. ‘Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are essentially regular evenings and days for me. I don’t really do anything for them, but there’s always nice stuff to watch on TV!’ Max also has a fairly low key day, ‘On Christmas day we, as a family, gather together and just simply have a family day, be it go for a walk, chill at home, have other families round for tea or have our extended family round for a big meal.’

But do people who don’t celebrate Christmas buy presents for people who do? ‘I never buy people Christmas presents’ says Max. ‘As a Jew we celebrate Chanukah at a similar time, and as custom we give presents on each night of Chanukah. Our equivalent of Secret Santa is Mystery Maccabee’. Zayd also rarely buys people Christmas gifts, ‘I don’t normally buy Christmas presents other than maybe a box of chocolates, but I do give Christmas cards most of the time to my friends celebrating Christmas.’ However, he still gets stuck in with some Christmas festivities, ‘I get involved in Secret Santas, sometimes Mum makes a Christmas themed dinner, sometimes we listen to the Christmas songs on the TV. We never really exchange gifts between ourselves though, or go to the mosque.’ Max comments on his involvement with Christmas festivities, ‘Getting involved in festive things, such as Christmas markets, I suppose comes down to the commercialisation of everything. Also it is somewhat hard to not get involved in all the Christmas sales, festive markets, seasonal food menus in bars, etc.’

When asked about the possible commercialisation of Islamic religious holidays, Zayd expressed doubt, ‘As much as I would love to see adverts on TV for Eid-ul-Adha and Eid-ul-Fitr, it wouldn’t really be practical as their dates differ from year to year between countries. This is because Islam follows a lunar calendar and the date of both Eids is purely dependent on the position of the moon in your area.’ However, Max sees a possibility in the commercialisation of Jewish religious holidays, ‘I suppose we could have some of our festivals commercialised, but that is because there is a lot of symbolism around them. Family time and community are central to our festivals, and so in a similar way to Christmas being a day for families to get together, Chanukah could -together with the tradition of present giving- be commercialised.’

A notable exception of Christians celebrating Christmas is Jehovah’s Witnesses, who abstain from Christmas festivities due to the holiday’s origins in pagan traditions. Our Jehovah’s Witness source says that while she isn’t intimidated or offended by the Christmassy imagery around this time of year, that she does feel like it is far too over commercialised. However, she does admit that she would buy presents in the January sales for her children if they felt left out of the celebrations.

In many ways, Christmas is about as secular as Christianity can be. Even the staunchest athiests will celebrate with their loved ones around the winter solstice. Richard Dawkins himself has even admitted to breaking out into a carol or two around this time of year,

So it appears that regardless of beliefs, the 25th December is a good excuse to eat copious amounts of food and spend time with family. With Christmas Day and Boxing Day being Bank Holidays, almost everyone is off from work and school, and if you have no major religious holiday to celebrate, you may as well use these days to reconnect with loved ones. However, the pure saturation of Christmassy things for practically the whole month of December comes at a price. Are the endless parades of sales, Christmas markets, and premature decorations devaluing one of the most significant days in the Christian calendar?

Christmas Day may well be being ‘devalued’ as a religious holiday, but maybe we should be considering how non-Christians feel about it? I propose that we should only start being worried once the Christmas juggernaut starts erasing other religion’s and culture’s traditions. Despite the excess of Christmas spirit, non-Christians remain unintimdated by the mid-winter capitalist behemoth, and that can only be a good thing.

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Features Editor Brigitte Phillips Gets the Chop!

It has finally happened, something I have been building up to for well over a year, I cut off all my hair. Well, not exactly all of it, but a significant chunk of it. My long hair has always been an integral part of my identity for as long as I can remember, and now it’s completely different to how it has ever been before. But this new look of mine isn’t in the aid of fashion or preference, I have donated approximately 10 inches of my hair to a charity that makes wigs for children who have lost their hair.

I first got the idea over a year and a half ago, when singer Jessie J donated her hair to The Little Princess Trust after cutting it live on Comic Relief. This nucleus of an idea was solidified during a craze that swept the internet after actress Shailene Woodley cut her hair for the role of Hazel Grace in The Fault In Our Stars. While I still have not seen the film, I thought that Shailene’s idea to donate her long her to charity was really admirable, and I decided to do the same.

This was a pretty big step for me, as I’ve always had a strong attachment to my trademark long hair. It’s been one of my only features that I’ve been consistently proud of over the years, and I have drawn a lot of my confidence from it. When things got hard, I could always hide behind it. If I were to have lost it when I was a child, it would have been devastating, and probably incredibly traumatic.

Now I’m 21, and while the emotional connection to my hair is just as strong, I have realised that there are some people out there who need my hair more than I do. This is why I decided to donate my hair to The Little Princess Trust. They give human hair wigs to children all over the UK that have lost their hair due to cancer treatment, alopecia, and other conditions. The Little Princess Trust tailor-make the wigs for each child, in order to minimalise trauma and leave the wig looking as similar as possible to the original hair.

The Little Princess Trust was launched in 2006 by Wendy and Simon Tarplee, who had lost their daughter Hannah to cancer just the year before. During Hannah’s battle with cancer, they realised how difficult it was to find high quality wigs for children, and only found a suitable supplier (which has now become one of the suppliers for the charity) after a long search. Due to the difficulty in obtaining a wig for Hannah, her parents set up the charity after her death, so that high quality children’s wigs could be more accessible in years to come.

If I were to have lost my hair when I was a child, it would have been devastating, and probably incredibly traumatic.

After researching the charity, I decided that it would be the perfect way for me to help children in desperate need of hair. However, I didn’t feel like giving my hair was quite enough, I also wanted to do some fundraising for the charity itself. As there is a great need for wigs at the Little Princess Trust, they often have to buy wigs from their suppliers in order to fulfil the demand. However, these wigs don’t come cheap, and can often cost as much as £350 each.

Being an impoverished student, I originally set my JustGiving target as £100, expecting that to be a very modest and achievable goal for Student Finance-starved pockets. What I didn’t anticipate was that my target would be smashed within 18 hours of the page going live. So I doubled my target to £200, which was met even quicker. For the next 2 months, I watched the money roll in, until I had raised almost £500. I was completely astonished and thankful for the generosity of my family and friends, but I still felt like I was able to do more. With just one week to go until the Big Chop, I upped my goal to a whopping £700, enough to buy two extra wigs on top of my hair donation. While the donations have slowly been trickling in, there is still a way to go.

In the meantime, in a bid to boost the charity funds, I organised a fundraiser to coincide with my 21st birthday, which would culminate in the Big Chop itself. What originally started as an intimate celebration of the charity and the anniversary of my birth spiralled out into a hairdressing bake sale with a live band and a make-shift photo booth! There goes my plans of having a quiet Thursday night in.

But through all this, I have still been battling with my childish emotional attachment to my hair. Despite the fact that I have been resolved on the chop for a very long time, as the date draws closer I become more and more aware of the decision I’m making. But ultimately, I always come around, and remember why I’m doing it; for the children who would have been just like me at that age, devastated at the loss of their favourite part of themselves, their confidence, their identity. They really need my hair more than I do.

I am still just £70 short of my target; if any of you would like to donate to this wonderful cause, please feel free to go to www.justgiving.com/Brigitte-Phillips, and contribute what you can!

Brigitte Phillips

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Sam Pepper Exposed

There’s something wicked in the state of YouTube. Those of you who have spent any time on the website on the past year or so will know the problem. Starting with Ed Blann (Eddplant) in Summer 2013, at least 5 prominent members of the British YouTube community have been outed as sexual and emotional abusers, with many pressuring fans and underage girls into performing sexual acts. With this many incidents of sexual abuse being revealed in the past 14 months, it is clear to see that it’s a serious problem in the online video community.

One of the most recent outings has been Sam Pepper, although his apparent disrespect for women has hardly been kept a secret, his past videos include “How To Get A Girlfriend Easy”, in which he handcuffed himself to unsuspecting women and told them that they are ‘[his] girlfriend now’ (even forcing one woman to kiss him in order for him to remove the handcuffs), and ‘How to Pick Up Girls With a Lasso’, which pretty much does what it says on the tin. Despite the women involved in these videos looking clearly distressed, comparatively little was done about it in the YouTube community until one of Sam’s more recent videos ‘Fake Hand Ass Pinch Prank’ was uploaded. This ‘prank’ featured Pepper wearing a fake arm to fool women he groped with his real hand into thinking the sexual harassment was being perpetrated by innocent passersby. Many of the women angrily confronted him with one woman telling him, ‘I don’t like that’. However, despite her protestations, he laughed and continued to grope her.

Understandably, the YouTube and wider internet community was in uproar when ‘Fake Hand Ass Pinch Prank’ was published, resulting in an open letter from prominent sex education YouTuber Laci Green. This open letter has now been cosigned by numerous heavyweights in the online video community, such as the vlogbrothers, Tyler Oakley, and Grace Helbig.

Following the open letter, Pepper went on to upload a ‘second part’ of his video series, in which women groped men, and a final video explaining that the previous two had merely been ‘social experiments’ that had been staged and scripted to highlight domestic violence. However, several women featured in the first video have since come forward on twitter and revealed that prior consent wasn’t obtained before filming.

While Sam Pepper’s videos grabbed media attention, his response to Laci Green’s open letter was kept under wraps.

While Pepper claimed that his emails had been hacked, it appears that this isn’t the first time that he has sent inappropriate messages to women. The Gryphon speaks to Emily* about her experience with Sam Pepper:

I was a fan of Sam at the time, it was 2012 and he’d just started a business selling his own hats. He put a status on his Facebook asking for girls to send pictures to his email address to be considered to model the hats on the website. The website already had photos of a girl wearing underwear and some of his hats.

I thought I’d email some photos, thinking nothing would come of it and, that there’d be dozens of professional models emailing him photos. He emailed back straight away, asking me to take photos in my underwear “like the girl on the website”. I assumed that that would be the brief the model would be given, and that he was talking on a professional level. I was in two minds about it, half-thinking that it could be professional, but part of me didn’t trust him. I told him that I didn’t trust him with underwear photos, and told him that I thought that he might post them to his Facebook and slut-shame me or something. He said “I won’t” and then asked for my skype. The part of me that was a fan of him was quite keen on talking to him on skype, but it just seemed dodgy. I told him I didn’t trust him with photos and he said “I won’t trust me. I want them DIRTY.”

He then proceeded to keep asking me for dirty photos. I said “I’m not gonna do it, obviously” and he said “fair enough. This could have been fun” Partly due to his fame, and partly due to the fact I was still his fan, I didn’t want the conversation to end there. So I asked him if he was doing any fan meet ups soon and if I could have a hug at one. He said “no hugs for you, you’ve not been nice.”

It made me feel pressured to send him dirty pictures, otherwise he wouldn’t like me; being a fan of his, I didn’t want that. I think famous people have power over their fans, they idolise them. I think he was using that power to his own advantage and not thinking about anybody else’s feelings, he got caught up in fame and his power.

I posted the screenshots to Facebook because I found the whole situation a bit unbelievable and laughable. Then I had three of my friends saying that he’d done the same thing to them, one where he’d asked for photos, one where he’d told her she was cute (she was underage), and one where the girl messaged me to warn me off him, because she’d had personal experience of physical relations with him, and she said he “uses girls” and that he only spoke to her when he wanted sex.

As of then, I’ve seen him in a different light to how I did before, I’ve been wary of him ever since. I watched his videos to observe his behaviour, not as entertainment. As soon as I saw the lasso videos, I felt uncomfortable and extremely sorry for the girls in the situation. Imagine feeling a rope around you completely unexpected? You’d feel like you were being kidnapped. I thought it was inappropriate, but since it was labeled as a prank and most people seemed to find it funny, I thought I was just being sensitive and kept my feelings to myself.

I think that that is part of the problem of the power famous people have. You feel as if you can’t say bad things about them. You follow them completely blindly. I’ve read what some of his supporters are saying on twitter. Like “oh Sam, I’d let you assault me” and I think that they’re so blinded by it all that they can’t think straight. Celebrities shouldn’t use their fame in this way, they shouldn’t use it to get people to do whatever they say, they should use it to change the world. People listen to their every word, they could make such a difference. But instead, he seems to use it to make girls do what he wants. I think that he’s lost sight of himself. He needs to look in the mirror and bring himself back to humanity, and think about other people’s feelings. I think that goes for any celebrity,they have followers. and should inspire them in a positive way, not use them and then throw them away once they’re done with them.

In my opinion, the way he’s trying to cover up it all is him panicking, hoping he can make things right for himself again. He knows he’s done something wrong. But he’s chose the wrong path and tried to get out of it by lying and acting like nothing has happened, pretending that he was in the right all along. I feel sorry for him, because he’s got himself into a difficult situation, and saying sorry is so incredibly hard, but it was the right thing to do, and I don’t think he was strong enough to come out with it. I don’t think he quite knows what it’s like to get hurt and used. I feel like I’d have so much more respect for him if he’d just said “Sorry.” And I hope that he gets the strength to do that, rethink his life choices, and move on.

I think that it’s important for people to not keep quiet about any opinion they have, I think if something makes you uncomfortable, you should voice your opinion, because there will be other people who think the same way as you that have also been too scared to say anything. And you can make a difference to the way things are if you’re strong enough to say what you feel. It’s a domino effect and I think that’s exactly what has happened with Sam. One person has had the strength to say he was being inappropriate, and other people have followed. And that’s why everybody is coming out with stories about him now. Power in numbers. Not because they all want fame or are attention-seeking. Because they were too scared to do so beforehand.

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9/11 Survivor: ‘I thought it was the end of the world, that’s what it felt like’

Thirteen years on, the events surrounding the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center still affect us today. The Gryphon spoke to Ian Robb, Leeds Graduate and 9/11 survivor, about his experience.

On the evening of the 10th September, Robb had a meal with colleagues in the city, but the dinner didn’t finish until fairly late. He fell asleep in the taxi home to New Jersey, and didn’t get home until 1.30am. ‘I set the alarm, it went off in the morning and I had slept right through it,’ said Ian Robb. ‘I was always very fussy about getting to the office early, I’d like to get there at around7.30am.’

After the late start, and a delayed train, Robb arrived at the World Trade Center over an hour later than usual. He narrowly missed catching an elevator to the 99th floor of the North Tower, where he worked at the time; this saved his life. ‘I waited for the next one and about six of us got into it, the doors closed and that’s when everything started to happen. There was a tremendous vibration, the whole lift was shaking wildly and there was a rushing of wind sound all around us.’

‘We were all pretty terrified,’ said Robb, ‘I thought it was the end of the world, that’s what it felt like. It stopped after what seemed like 10 minutes but was probably no more than 15 seconds. We were all down on the floor cowering at that point wondering what was going to happen next. We could hear things dropping onto the lift, and dust was coming in through the doors. After it stopped, we dusted ourselves off and could hear the alarm bells ringing, some of us thought there was something wrong with the lift.’ The passengers tried unsuccessfully to reach someone from the outside world. ‘We waited and waited, we kept yelling and banging on the door and pressing buttons but nothing happened at all.’

‘After an hour or so, the noise above was increasing. We could still hear all this rubble falling. As we were banging, rubble started falling from the top of the door and it seemed to be jamming the door mechanism, because we were able to get our fingers inbetween the doors and pull them apart. We were in the lobby again, we had no idea how we got there. We may have gone up or gone down, we’ll never know.’

The elevator passengers were told by security that there had been a terrorist attack, and that they had to evacuate the building immediately. ‘We had to run across the lobby to an escalator that took us up to the Plaza level. The plaza level was between the two towers, probably four or five storeys of marble and glass, quite a beautiful place. The windows were all red, I hadn’t realized that the red was blood. The outside was just a battlefield; bits of bodies, bits of everything lying around. We ran out of the building and heard this huge roar, I looked up it came from the fire on the top of the building where my office was.’

‘Then the South tower began to collapse. There was a dreadful rumble, dust and rubble falling everywhere so we ran. I was on my own, I didn’t know where everyone was at that point. I ran towards the ferry and jumped on just as it was leaving the dock. It pulled out into the river and I just watched this tower collapse behind us. Later I managed to watch it on television and think, “my goodness, that was where I was”’.

‘I lost a lot of friends and acquaintances, something like 360 people from the company that I was with, killed. Everybody above where the planes hit at around the 93rd floor was killed, including all the people who worked on my floor who were in the office that day. One of the fellows who I’d been out with for dinner the night before was also lost. I think about them still, I think about them rather than the incident, because they were very close friends and colleagues.

‘The next day, I managed to get a hold of people in the main office, which was in midtown Manhattan, and they thought I was lost. I got to the office and there was a whole list of people who were dead, and my name was on it.’

When asked about the biggest change in post-9/11 America, Ian Robb had this to say, ‘The most lasting change has been much tighter security, on planes in particular. The events since have increased animosity towards those who might be likely to be terrorist. Immediately afterwards there was a dreadful backlash against Muslims which really irritated me, but I suppose people were just lashing out. But in New York itself, oddly enough, it was a great city to be in the weeks afterwards. People’s attitudes towards one another were ones of helpfulness, graciousness.

We asked Robb who he thought was to blame for the rise in Islamophobia after 9/11, the media, politicians or the general public? ‘I think the answer is yes to all those. My personal view for what it’s worth, I think if America and probably the West as a whole has been a little more forceful about trying to engage some of the more fractious Islamic countries in dialogue, it might not have come to that’.

Despite all he went through, Ian doesn’t see life any differently after escaping death, ‘I’m a spiritual person but not a religious person. I put my escape down to good fortune, but I don’t think it’s changed at all. In fact, one of my immediate responses to the tragedy was one of determination not to be negatively affected. People say to me ‘oh you probably won’t go on a plane again’, I say I’ll go on a plane as soon as possible. I’ll go in a lift as soon as possible. I am not to let the terrorists think they’ve won.’

Abla Klaa and Brigitte Phillips

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Pulling up the curtain: Behind the scenes of the Edinburgh Festival

The Edinburgh Festival is one of the most important cultural events in the United Kingdom, a behemoth that almost completely takes over the city for the month of August, and features some of the biggest names in entertainment. However, what we often forget while watching endless Culture Show coverage of the event is that Edinburgh’s population of nearly half a million people pretty much doubles for three and a half weeks of the summer. The festival has a massive impact on the residents of Scotland’s capital, but is this largely positive or negative? As the festival draws to its conclusion, LS asks the students and residents of Edinburgh for their views.

If you’ve never been to the festival, let us paint a picture for you: crowds of people who will do anything either to give you a flyer or avoid taking a flyer, food vans and places to drink dotted everywhere, and a constant bustling expectation to witness the next fantastic production. The Edinburgh Fringe collects an eclectic combination of acts: Comedy, drama, cabaret and spoken word; mixing amateur performers with big names. Whilst the festival has come into criticism for its commercialisation (some of the big comedians expect £18 a ticket), access to free shows like the ones involved in PBS’s Free Fringe allow easy access to performances, meaning the Fringe continues to be loved by tourists and participants alike.

One thing you can take from the Edinburgh Fringe, as a visiting admirer, is the distinctive ‘festival atmosphere’ it possesses. This is not just a dull, dragged-out event; it’s a conventional yet diverse answer to a countrywide craving for culture. This atmosphere can’t quite be described as transient, as the festival lasts up to a month, yet there is something notably passing about its feeling. The intense number of people, the pop up food outlets, the crowds of performers and artists – they all add to a sense that this has to end.

Inevitably, this impermanence sits awkwardly with those who have to regularly get up and trudge to work, having to avoid being leafleted for dear life. Douglas Grant, a resident of Edinburgh, explains that “It’s obviously frustrating for people traipsing to work through crowds of tourists…some residents sing its praises when they’re in the mood for a show, but grumble about it the next day when they actually have to go get something done.”

But how does it fare for students, who may not have to study or go to work during the festival? Hazel, a third year Biomedical Sciences student at the University of Edinburgh says, “I think the most positive change is actually the atmosphere; the whole place is buzzing and the festival has an air of friendliness”.  Josh, a fourth year Environmental Geoscience student who has lived in the city his whole life, agrees, “The atmosphere is improved hugely during [The Edinburgh Festival] too. It is exciting during ‘Fringe’ time.”

However, Gage (a 3rd Year Chemist at Heriott-Watt University) admits that it can be a mixed bag, saying, “The atmosphere depends on where you are and what your mood is; it can seem hectic and a pain, or a lot more vibrant.”

All three students interviewed agree that the Edinburgh Festival has a largely positive impact on the city as a whole. Josh suggests “something that brings that much tourism can only be good.” Gage agrees, citing that “Edinburgh becomes a kind of cultural hub for that period of time in the sort of way you don’t see much outside of London in the UK.”

While there appears to be several pitfalls to living in the city during the festival – the price, the crowds, the attitude that “the city pops up every August and then sinks back into oblivion when the crowds are gone” as Doug suggests – the overwhelming feeling seems to be positive.  Even if the residents had a problem, it’s hard to argue with the economic boost the Fringe brings to the city. The festival itself has been found to contribute alone a massive £142million over the month, whilst widening access to the arts and contributing to a strong national identity. With its unique standing as one of the most culturally diverse events in Britain today, Edinburgh fringe seems to have, for now, won the votes of its residents.

Ruby Lott-Lavigna and Brigitte Phillips

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Days Out in the Dales

Are you in Leeds over the summer? Need to get out of the city for a while? Do you want to do all this without breaking the (very measly, student finance fueled) bank? Well LS may well have the answer for you. In Leeds, we are very lucky to have extraordinarily beautiful countryside within a stone’s throw: The Yorkshire Dales. The Dales can provide anything from scenic moorland walks to picturesque town visits, and its natural beauty has very recently been featured as a very important part of the opening stages of the Tour de France 2014. This guide will tell you how to benefit from this gorgeous National Park and the surrounding areas on a student budget.

Getting There

Thankfully, it isn’t too difficult to get to the Yorkshire Dales from Leeds, and there is a multitude of public transport options available for those of us without cars. By booking your train the day before, you can get a return to Skipton for £6.15, or to Ilkley for £3.90 with a 16-25 Railcard. You can also get to Ilkley and Skipton on the X84 bus, or to Harrogate and Ripon on the 36, and go further into the Dales on local bus services. Additionally, on Sundays and Bank Holidays, DalesBus offers a Student Dales Rover all-day pass for just £5, which covers most DalesBus services.

The Cow & Calf Rocks, Ilkley Moor

Although the beginning of the walk is 30 minutes away from Ilkley Rail Station, the complete trek around the rocks only takes about an hour, and the journey is well worth it. All you Monty Python fans out there may recognise this rock formation, as they have featured heavily in their works! As well as the rocks themselves, the walk takes you through the famous Ilkley Moor, the subject of Yorkshire’s unofficial anthem.

Bolton Abbey and Strid Wood

Bolton Abbey is a ruined 12th century monastery surrounded by 30,000 acres of countryside, including 80 miles of paths and 6 areas of special scientific interest (Strid Wood being one of these). Bolton Abbey can be accessed by bus from Ilkley on the 74, and 75 on Saturdays; however Strid Wood can only be accessed by bus on Sundays and Bank Holidays via the 843 route. To sweeten the deal, entry to the Priory and grounds is free to those who have travelled on public transport. Strid Wood is home to a wide variety of plant species, and is one of the best places to see birdlife in the Yorkshire Dales.

Harrogate

For those of you who aren’t so keen on the whole “nature” thing, there is always the option of visiting one of the many picturesque towns and villages throughout the area, with the most convenient of these being Harrogate in North Yorkshire. As well as the usual shopping experience you might expect, there are also several parks that you could eat a picnic in on a sunny day. If you’re feeling particularly cultured, there is the Mercer Art Gallery, and the Royal Pump Room for those interested in learning more about Harrogate’s history as a spa town. You could also visit the original Betty’s Tea Room if you happen to be the sort of person who enjoys spending extortionate amounts of money on biscuits and queueing.

There are many more places that you can get to in the countryside surrounding Leeds, and if any of the places above aren’t taking your fancy, then make sure to check out the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority website for further ideas!

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My personal run-in with Godfrey Bloom, and why UKIP is so terrifying | Brigitte Phillips

Over the past couple of days I have noticed a lot of anti-UKIP material floating around the internet, which is of course all well and good, but I have noticed that (especially on tumblr), the perpetrators are not being named. This blog post is somewhat of a reply to a very good post I saw on tumblr, outlining some of their worst and most worrying policies, and mentioning some problematic behaviour that their party members have displayed. I found that this particular post mentioned a lot of problematic behaviour from one particular (and so far unnamed) UKIP MEP, from 'Bongo-Bongo Land' to calling women 'sluts'. I’m going to add to this conversation and say that the racist and misogynist UKIP MEP menioned above should be named and shamed; that man is Godfrey Bloom, and I have personal experience of his unique brand of odiousness.

When I was 16, my school was involved in BBC School’s Question Time, and as part of our entry to the competition, we had to organise our own Question Time, and being the politically involved teenager I was, I dragged my dad along. Sonali Shah of Newsround chaired the discussion, and amongst other local representatives from Labour, Conservatives, Lib Dem, and Green, Yorkshire and Humber MEP Godfrey Bloom starred on the panel. The turn-out was great, the school hall was absolutely packed out, people even had to stand up at the back, and as well as the school’s cameras, there were also people there filming from Look North.

I also feel the need to add that at this point in early 2010, UKIP didn’t pose nearly as much of a threat as they do now, and at that point they were mostly dismissed as close-minded euro-sceptics. As I’m sure you can tell, Godfrey Bloom was being his usual unpleasant self. However, he made one point about the justice system, which I couldn’t let lie. If I remember correctly, he said (word for word) that ‘criminals should be left to rot in prisons for the rest of their lives’. I, of course, raised my hand and directed a question/statement towards Mr Bloom, which went along the line of “I’m afraid I can’t agree with what you said there, surely rehabilitation is a highly important part of the course of justice?”.

I don’t know what I thought would happen next, but I didn’t think it would be this; he had the audacity to try to undermine me in front of several hundred people, and several television cameras. Again, word for word (I don’t think I’ll forget these words, actually) he said to me, in front of all of those people, “I don’t think you know what you’re talking about, dear.”

I was furious, and to this day I am thankful that I had the wherewithal to retort, “Oh, I do know what I’m talking about, you’re just wrong.” I then went on to make my point about how in order for people to become productive members of society, blah blah blah, they need psychiatric help. He had nothing more to say on the subject, but I seem to remember the Labour and Lib-Dem representatives backing up my point which was very pleasing. The best part was, once I had finished ripping Godfrey Bloom to pieces, my dad leaned over to me, put an arm round me and said, “I’m proud of you.” If I had managed to impress him, I knew that I had done well.

This is a massive part of the reason why I find UKIP so terrifying on a personal level (there are other things, but those can be said another time). I have first-hand experience of the contempt and lack of respect they hold for women, and if they come into power, it will be terrifying. He felt justified to be a condescending twat to a young, politically engaged woman in front of a massive audience of people. I dread to think what kind of affect it would have on someone who was less confident than I managed to be on that night. Not only was it disrespectful, but it was plain unprofessional. Even if you were somehow awful enough to agree with their policies, there is no way you would want someone so petty and childish to have any kind of power.

This, on top of the rampant racism and homophobia, is why UKIP is as very serious threat to anyone who isn’t a straight cis white male, and it is also why everyone needs to become more engaged with politics, and make sure they don’t take any more power than they already have. The world will become a much more dangerous place for oppressed people in the UK if they win the General Election.

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LSi’s Top Five Nineties Games

We’re all suckers for nostalgia and, as nineties kids, we can’t help but beam with joy as we reminisce about our childhoods spent playing Pokémon and various cute platform games on our Gameboy Colours and PlayStation One consoles. If only we could forget about our degrees and go back to the simpler days of hunting for Pokémon and collecting apples. Instead, LSi offer you some escapism with our top five nineties games.

Pokémon Yellow

What platform?

Pokémon Yellow was published by Nintendo for the Game Boy.

What’s the deal?

Released right at the height of the anime’s popularity, Pokémon Yellow gave us what Red and Blue had deprived us, a little Pikachu to follow you around everywhere. While you had to sacrifice the choice of starter Pokémon that the other games in the series offered you, you could emulate the hero of the TV series, Ash, and have a Pikachu of your own.

Why so iconic?

Combined with the popularity of the TV series, the card game, and all the other merchandise, this era of Pokémon has reached an almost legendary status in the collective consciousness of those who grew up in the 90s. Pokémon has a winning formula; gym badges and the Elite four for the competitive, and the ‘catch-them-all’ mentality for the completionists. With Pokémon X and Y, the most recent games in the series, being as popular as ever, it is easy to see why Pokémon Yellow has a rightful place in the list of most influential 90s games.


Mario Kart 64

What platform?

Mario Kart 64 could be played on the (you guessed it) Nintendo 64.

What’s the deal?

This was the game to play when you went round to a friend’s house for tea. As well as the newly introduced 3D graphics, this addition to the franchise also brought with it the functionality of having up to four players at once.

Why so iconic?

The Mario Kart games have a refreshingly simple premise; win the race. The friendly graphics and the ability to play as your favourite Mario character helps to secure the franchise’s long running popularity, and it must be working! Guinness World Records awarded Mario Kart the Best-Selling Racing Game record. While Mario Kart 64 wasn't the first game in the series, it can be argued that the Nintendo 64 was a far more popular and influential gaming system than the SNES was.


Crash Bandicoot

What platform?

Crash Bandicoot was exclusive to the PlayStation.

What’s the deal?

Crash Bandicoot follows the eponymous anthropomorphic marsupial through dozens of platform levels after being the subject of a scientific experiment gone wrong at the hands of the antagonist, Doctor Neo Cortex. Although everybody’s favourite bandicoot has a somewhat limited amount of moves, especially in the first game of the series, the varied worlds and all they contain are more than enough to keep even the most seasoned gamer happy.

Why so iconic?

Although it’s hard to believe almost 20 years down the line, at the time of its release, Crash Bandicoot had some of the best graphics in the entire gaming industry. It also spawned multiple sequels, and is even one of the few Western games to become a best-seller in Japan, an accolade which speaks for itself.


Tomb Raider

What platform?

The original 1996 of Tomb Raider was released on MS-DOS, PlayStation and Sega Saturn, but several months ago it was also released for iOS.

What’s the deal?

Tomb Raider follows the scantily clad archaeologist Lara Croft as she searches for ancient artefacts. On her way through these tombs, she must kill enemies, collect objects, and solve puzzles in order to retrieve the treasures.

Why so iconic?

While some of Lara’s fame may be attributed to some of the astounding polygons she had on her chest, I’m sure that the 2001 film starring gorgeous Angelina Jolie might have helped secure Lara’s place in the public consciousness. However, despite Ms Jolie's acting credentials, it is impossible to ignore the fact that the game most likely became so popular due to Lara Croft’s good looks, with people even going as far as to call her video gaming’s first sex symbol.


Spyro the Dragon

What platform?

Like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon was also exclusive to Sony PlayStation.

What’s the deal?

The first game in the Spyro the Dragon series, it tell the story of the eponymous purple dragon and his dragonfly companion Sparx as they make their way through progressively more difficult ‘realms’ in order to progress to the next homeworld. The realms all utilise Spyro’s various specialist skills, such as gliding, charging, and breathing fire.

Why so iconic?

As well as the exclusivity to PlayStation, Spyro the Dragon has another similarity to Crash Bandicoot; graphics ahead of its time. As well as a trail of sequels, the little purple dragon has also managed to spawn multiple spin-offs, including appearances in the Skylander franchise. Both the game, and Spyro himself, particularly appealed to children. As the children of the late 90s are now in their 20s, it is easy to see how a game so popular with those children will now have taken a firm spot in the generational mentality.

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Online Dating – A Social Experiment

It was the Christmas Break of 2012, and I had just come out of a long term relationship. In order to combat the boredom of a month in the middle of nowhere after spending my first semester at uni, I decided to do what others have done before me, and make an OkCupid account. At that point in time, screenshots of terrible ‘nice guy’ profiles and creepy messages were making the rounds on the internet and quite frankly I wanted to get in on the action. I decided to turn this venture into my own little social experiment, creating a profile with some of the most ridiculous answers to the ‘about me’ questions possible.

Once I was suitable satisfied with the monster I had created, I sat back and let the magic happen. It was truly incredible how quickly the matches started rolling in. By no means were they all idiots, many lovely people participate in online dating and it is pleasant for everyone involved, however the vast majority of the first people I encountered were, to put it politely, completely flipping bonkers.

What’s worse is a sizable chunk of them didn’t seem to have even read my profile. Despite the fact that most of my profile was at best passive aggressive and at worst completely crazy, I would receive dozens of messages a day telling me that I ‘seemed nice’. I felt judged on a superficial level, and it made me feel incredibly uncomfortable. Wasn’t there more to online dating than the aesthetics of the candidates?

After days of wading through a sea of misogyny, I came across the best message that I think I ever received on that website; a masochist begging me to set him humiliating tasks.

It was like I had hit the jackpot. The sadist in me was definitely tempted to comply, even if it was just to get some good blogging material. However, he became more and more needy, sending me at least one message a day, asking if I wanted to set him any challenges. Through a combination of not wanting to lead him on, and not actually being able to come up with any fun challenges, I let him go.

However, he didn’t truly exemplify what I came to OkCupid for. He was just a guy, who was very open and forward about his kink and knew what he wanted. No, the man I had been waiting for was just around the corner. This profile lived in the magical realm of either fiction, or a genuine actual real life prat.

This guy listed what he required from his fellow OkCupid users: “What im looking for in a girl: you should be someone who isnt gunna cheat on me (come on you wont score a guy like me again lol). you cant be fat no offence but really im not into that at all. So yeah if you are looking for a nice guy to keep you warm on cold nights im your man”. He also told me that I would be a 9/10 if I lost some weight and he also appeared to be a racist; it was like the Holy Trinity of OkCupid. Funnily enough, when asked if his life was a movie, which genre would it be, he replied with horror. A date with him certainly would be my worst nightmare. He even had the audacity to refer to himself as a ‘nice guy’. You couldn’t make it up.

Unfortunately, after a couple of months, the hilarious messages started to drop off and instead I was getting messages from people who were genuinely interested in me, despite the  things I had written on my profile. Even now as I look through the hundreds of unread messages on my now dormant account, I feel a pang of guilt. Yet despite the fact that I have happily been in a relationship for the past few months, I still keep my account open, hoping upon hope that I will get messages as fantastic as I used to back in my halcyon days of OkCupid.

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How Smartphone Gaming Could Make The World A Better Place

     In the last couple of weeks, smartphone gaming has come to the forefront in spectacular fashion with the sudden and skyrocketing popularity of the frustrating retro-feel cluster headache that is Flappy Bird, as well as its catastrophic downfall. There were times at the height of the mania, when you could literally see people walking down the street with Super Mario-esque noises coming from their iPhones. Hell, the creator Dong Nguyen made the claim that Flappy Bird had ‘ruined [his] simple life’. While it has come under a huge amount of scrutiny and criticism, I still maintain an incredibly soft spot for the yellow avian demon, and smartphone gaming as a whole. Even though at times it can almost feel impossible to maintain a friendship with someone who plays Candy Crush obsessively (the notifications alone just make me want to delete all of Facebook), mobile gaming has a way of pervading modern society in a way that just hasn’t been afforded to gaming in the past.

     While the first incarnation of Pong was released by Atari over 40 years ago, until very recently gaming seemed to live very much in the domain of geekdom and was considered a waste of time by the vast majority of the mainstream. However, as smartphones have become more commonplace, and almost expected, in the last few years, gaming has begun to reach a larger audience than ever before. By presenting a pastime (which has the reputation of being somewhat ‘under the radar’) on a platform available to a much larger proportion of the populace, we are taking the whole culture of gaming out of the hands of the people who have illegitimately claimed it as their own.

     While it is true that for the last 30 or so years, gaming has remained a bastion of nerd culture, this may not be the healthiest place for it to reside. Nerd culture has some fantastic assets, such as the creation of communities where people who are normally outsiders can feel comfortable, and arguably nerd culture has helped the internet develop into what it is today. However, despite the seemingly accepting appearance, there is still a shockingly large misogynistic proportion of the nerd and gaming community which treats their valued media and the discussion surrounding it as an old boy’s club. In order to be ‘allowed’ to be a ‘true’ fan of any of these jealously guarded manifestations of creativity, you must first fulfil a highly specific list of criteria that has been created by the other ‘true fans’. It can surely be argued that anything which takes the ‘ownership’ away from these sorts of people can only be a good thing.

     Despite the fact that women account for 45% of the game playing population, and 31% of the game playing population are women over 18, gaming is still portrayed in the mainstream media as being dominated largely by men. Not only does the media perpetuate this stereotype, but gamers themselves do too. In an environment where an extremely popular source of entertainment is dominated by a tiny minority of young, often self-entitled, white males berating others not meeting their criteria as ‘fake’ gamers, the popularity in smartphone gaming almost seems to be giving them the proverbial finger. While the aforementioned gamers are engaged in flame wars as to which next gen console is the best, the silent majority slip by and actually have fun!

     But it’s not just women who will see the benefits from gaming becoming a more accepted part of the mainstream, it will open up opportunities for older generations to join in on the action. As I’m sure any of you with older relatives with Facebook accounts will know, social games such as the dreaded Candy Crush Saga are a positive hit with the Baby Boomers. It is understandable why puzzlers such as these with a simple premise and colourful, friendly-looking graphics would be popular with the inexperienced gamer. Smartphone games don’t seem anywhere near as daunting or intimidating as first-person shooters such as Call of Duty, and appear to be a safe and familiar path into the world of gaming. An added bonus is the relative cheapness of smartphone video games, rarely more than a few quid and often cost nothing; they seem relatively risk free when compared with the investment in a gaming console which may well not agree with you. Coupled with the added simplicity of using a platform you are already familiar with, not having to learn how to use any of those fiddly controllers, the accessibility of smartphone games to the older generation is spelling a success for the gaming world as a whole.

     For me, smartphone gaming is almost a gateway drug into the world of gaming. It is quick, affordable, and accessible for the uninitiated, and a pleasant and more superficial way to pass time for the hardcore gamer. It has opened up a whole universe to an unprecedented amount of people from all walks of life. While the platform is far from perfect, I’d argue that the addictive and slightly obnoxious nature of smartphone games will help to bring gaming to the masses even more, and will be a nail in the coffin of elitist gaming snobbery.

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The top five New Year stereotypes

We are now well into the second month of 2014 and, statistically, the vast majority of people will have already terribly failed their new year’s resolutions. However there are still some brave souls desperate to achieve their objective, battling through each and every day.

The Calorie Counter

You will often see these poor souls skulking around the food establishments in the Union, with haunted, pleading eyes. Determined to drop these last few pounds, and unwilling to accept the long-term downfalls of dieting, they actively shun all fun and pleasurable foods. On the rare occasion that you do see them eating, they are easy to distinguish from other people, mostly due to the light draining from their eyes while mournfully looking at their single toasted cornflake with low fat spread. An additional distinctive feature of the Calorie Counter is their repetitive and slightly panicked mantras. These are most often heard as the Calorie Counter is walking past a particularly delicious-smelling branch of Subway. Some notable weight loss mantras include ‘A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips’, ‘Keep tracking, stop slacking’ and numerous other gems. However, inevitably, there will come a day when they stop counting calories so rigorously and life will slowly return to them once again.

The Dry January

These brave souls may be torturing themselves in the name of charity, or they may have come to the realisation that their liver just can’t take another night at Halo; either way, these intrepid folk must be praised for their outstanding willpower. For the first 31 days of the New Year (or for however long they decide to do it), they will be the officially designated ‘sensible adult’ at all social engagements. The Dry Januarys are easy to spot, as they are the ones soberly sipping their fifth diet coke of the evening, looking very bored while their inebriated chums slowly descend into incoherence. As well as not being able to join in on the drunken fun, they may well be the ones tasked with getting their paralytic friends home without choking on their own vomit or getting stabbed. No matter which way you look at it, it certainly looks like they have a fun few months ahead of them.

The Penny Pincher

This person was hundreds of pounds into their overdraft within weeks of the first semester and they have decided to give themselves an intervention. The Bank of Mum and Dad has officially been closed, so until the next lot of student loan comes in, discount chicken ramen noodles are their new best friend. While their peers are having takeaways and paying £5 entry to clubs, they are forcibly smiling at their meagre dinners and are opting for a night in front of 4od. It can somewhat be a nuisance to live under the same roof as a Penny Pincher, as the heating is almost never on and every invitation to do something other than miserably watching Jeremy Kyle is met with a sullen ‘I can’t afford it’. However, this will all soon be over once third semester comes around, when their last lot of loan is safely in the bank. They will frivolously spend, forgetting all that they learned in those tough months, only to leave themselves desperately out of pocket. And so the cycle continues.

The Gym Bunny

Whether they’re aiming to climb the Parkinson Steps without breaking out a sweat, or wanting to further chisel their Adonis-like form, people all over campus are renewing their Edge membership in an attempt to battle the post-Yuletide lethargy. It is normally very difficult to be friends with a gym bunny at this time of year, as every single question about their day or invitation is answered with crazed mutterings about cardio and lifting weights. There is something about the Gym Bunny that almost seems mechanical. The relentless pursuit of a sweet bod calls to mind Arnie’s persistent hunt for Sarah Connor. While the Calorie Counter can almost become atrophied in their quest for health, the struggle seems to make the Gym Bunny more powerful, until they practically become an unstoppable juggernaut. The Gym Bunny may keep up this routine for months on end, but will gradually become more and more human as time goes on, once they learn the correct balance between the treadmill and being a functioning human being.

The Baby Vegetarian

The Baby Vegetarian’s New Year’s resolution is to never eat meat ever again. They will often be found in Waterstones, piles of vegetarian cookbooks in hand as they realise that all cooking experience they’ve ever had has been centred around the preparation of animal flesh. The realisation may also have suddenly dawned on them that all the places that were once their favourite eating establishments now have two, slightly anaemic, dishes to offer them. Another notable feature of the Baby Vegetarian is the inability to not talk about the fact that they have just become vegetarian. Seemingly oblivious about whether their friends care about it or not, they will regale them with stories about how they’re feeling so much healthier now in enviable, moralistic vitriol. Despite their newfound holier-than-thou attitude, you may find Baby Vegetarians eating foods that the Veteran Vegetarians wouldn’t touch with a barge pole, such as Nutella and Tangfastics.

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Why you shouldn't make New Year's Resolutions

It has come to that time of year where it is impossible to watch TV without seeing about 40 different adverts for diet plans and celebrity weight loss videos, and it isn’t just the post-Christmas pudge that can be blamed for this. People all across the planet are desperately clutching at unattainable targets to making themselves into better human beings, and you may be falling under the same spell. But no fear, I’m here and I’m going to tell you why you shouldn’t make New Year’s Resolutions this year.

1. The numbers are against you

In 2012, the University of Scranton found that only 8% of people ever achieve their resolutions each year, and a quarter of Americans always fail to meet their targets. With statistics like these, the concept of New Year’s Resolutions can definitely be thrown into scrutiny. Yet, despite the figures, year after year millions of people still insist on losing weight or being more organised.

2. It’s expensive

You may be promising to involve yourself in a new hobby, or insisting that you make use of your gym membership, but one thing you can be sure about is that New Year’s Resolutions are a money vacuum. Once you’ve covered sign up fees, membership costs, paid for materials and transport, you will have spent an eye watering amount of money. Especially if you are a student, this is exactly the kind of situation you want to avoid;  surely all that dosh would be better spent on nights out and fast food?

3. You’re probably setting yourself up for disappointment

New Year’s Resolutions have an incredibly high failure rates, yet we still insist on giving ourselves seemingly impossible tasks. People have a tendency to set themselves completely unrealistic targets for their resolutions, with a kind of unsustainable all-or-nothing attitude. Whether it is endless lists of minor self improvements, or one huge vague target like ‘EAT LESS’ or ‘WORK HARDER’, you’re going to end up not achieving your goals, and end up feeling like a failure. Save yourself the bother by not setting yourself such unattainable goals.

4. You’re probably fine as you are

Unfortunately, the vast majority of New Year’s Resolutions seems to be targeted at people who are insecure about their appearance, and companies are more than willing to capitalise on that. As I mentioned earlier, you can barely traverse through mainstream media without being bombarded by messages telling you to lose weight especially at this time of the year. However, I am by no means invalidating people’s wants to better themselves, physical or otherwise. Want to eat healthier? Go for it. Need to make more friends? Fire away. Your grades desperately need improvement? Hop to it. However, this does beg the question, why wait for an arbitrary day on the calendar to do this?

5. Why wait for New Year?

I argue that you can take the steps towards being a better person on any day of the year. It can be easy to compartmentalise, and subscribe to the ‘New Year, New Me’ school of thought, but don’t you think that’s limiting? If you want to improve yourself, why wait until it’s a convenient day to do it, and start improving yourself NOW. By waiting until the start of the New Year, you are already confirming to yourself that you are procrastinating, and it increases the likelihood of failure. Self-improvement is a constant, ongoing process, and it doesn’t have to wait until the 1st January to happen.

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