Beth Carr, Author at The Orbital

27Jan

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Features

Meg Radios for Rob

Beth Carr reports on Insanity Radio’s recent 36 hour radio marathon for charity. What would it take for you to do an all-nighter? For alumni Meg Walker, not sleeping for two days is just a part of raising money for CLIC Sargent - and we got to experience the whole 36 hours of ‘Radio Robbie’ with her, live on 103.2FM and via rhubarbTV’s live stream. It’s certainly not the most usual fundraising method, but this isn’t the first time Meg’s been on air for a long time. The idea of doing a marathon started after her helping with the 128.7 hour marathon back in 2014 and when the opportunity came up last year to be part of the annual Insanity Radio marathons at Easter she jumped at the chance and took on 26.2 hours of live broadcasting, raising just shy of £1000. The duration of her firs...

9Jan

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Lifestyle

Exploring Egham on a budget

You don't need lots of money to enjoy the local area, writes Beth Carr Returning to Egham after Christmas you may be short of money and searching for things to do, especially when most activities are getting more and more expensive. However, if you know where to look, Egham and the surrounding area is full of places to explore and spend quality time with friends, or take the opportunity to spend some time alone. Virginia Water Lake Take a short stroll down the A30 and be transported to the grounds of Hogwarts with amazing views at every turn. Virginia Water Lake is the perfect place to picnic with friends or challenge yourself to get fit by walking the 4.5 mile circuit of the lake. Turn left out of the main entrance in front of Founders and cross the road and within 15 minutes you...

28Dec

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Science & Technology

Stop the Free From fad

Beth Carr on why going 'free from' should be a permanent choice, not a diet fad. Have you ever looked at the 'Free From' aisle at the supermarket? Do you even know where it is, or if your chosen supermarket has one? Wherever you shop, it's likely that this section has become far more noticeable in the last few years, as more and more people seek a 'free from' lifestyle. Whether its gluten, dairy, soya or a combination of the many food types people cut out of their diet, there are now options to cut these out without having to resort to just eating salad for every meal. However, has this change sprung out of a medical need, the fact that more people are being diagnosed as intolerant to these things or from conditions such as Coeliac Disease? Or is it more because people are seeing thi...

20Dec

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Literature

Diary of an Ordinary Woman Reviewed

Background reading for your course can equal enjoyment, writes Beth Carr. In the midst of a reading-heavy degree it can be a struggle to find time and energy to delve into books for leisure, but making an effort to do so can be captivating and refreshing. This is exactly how I felt reading Diary of an Ordinary Woman, a book retrieved from my bookshelf after years of sitting there, since my mum passed it on to me as something I might enjoy. She was certainly not wrong and this is a book I would thoroughly recommend to anyone. Charting one woman's life through the twentieth century, Margaret Forster's novel reproduces extracts from the diaries of Millicent King, dating from 1913 to 1990. At first it was an ideal choice to relate to my course on twentieth century women but my interest s...

31Oct

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

Stranger Stranger Review

Beth Carr reviews Stranger Stranger’s recent set at the Students’ Union. The third Coffee House Session of the year welcomed duo Stranger Stranger to Tommy’s Kitchen, an ethereal and mesmerising performance. As with all the artists so far this was the second show in the tour and of the day, but firmly their first (and probably only!) performed on the landing of a staircase. Our quirky setting was a great accompaniment to their quirky set, and its unearthly quality resonated across the SU. Stranger Stranger’s style of music is hard to pinpoint. Full of dissonance and harmonies, it’s a concept that doesn’t sound like it would work but, in fact, it brings a unique tone to the saturated world of music. It was clear that the duo were incredibly immersed in the music and performance and ge...

31Oct

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Anti-Halloween Film Picks

The Orbital's Arts journalists give you their favourite films to watch to combat the spooky season of Halloween and the cold wintry nights to come! Beth Carr - Love Actually You can't not smile while watching a load of people fall in and out of love and connect their lives in unexpected ways. The music is sublime and the storyline is extremely clever, brought to life by a stunning cast of cinematic favourites. Plus, Halloween means it's basically almost Christmas, right? Isabella Mansell - Mamma Mia Who doesn't love an Abba singalong? The feel-good plot of love and comic wit leaves everyone with a smile on their face and a toe-tapping experience! Why not escape the British cold and drizzle through the Grecian Summer and nothing could be further away from the t...

Coffee House Sessions brings free live music to Tommy’s Kitchen

25Oct

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

Coffee House Sessions brings free live music to Tommy’s Kitchen

A revived, rebranded SU seems like the perfect place to kick off the brand new season of Coffee House Sessions, and, ignoring the lack of coffee house status, Tommy’s Kitchen provided a near perfect setting for the first of these. Sharing a name with our founder (and therefore the venue), Tom Walker stepped naturally into his second show of the day and performed a stunning original set - the audience may have arrived hungry for a Colossus burger but I certainly left with a hunger for more of Walker’s original songs. The set was fresh but full of cultural references, including Katy Perry, the Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Spotify: it provided something to relate to even though you were hearing completely new content. We sat down with Tom Walker before the set to discover more about his ba...

21Oct

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

Warner Newman: Runaway

TRIGGER WARNING: MENTIONS OF ABUSE Catchy yet harrowing, Runaway brings the deep issue of domestic abuse to the urban-pop scene. This is the debut single from Warner Newman and one that promises great things for his debut album, The Death of Warner Cornish, set to be released in March next year. From the first verse it is clear that this song was born out of personal experience and Warner’s gritty spoken word is perfectly juxtaposed with a beautiful female vocal that brings food for thought to the listener. Despite the deep, haunting subject matter, there is a glimmer of hope to be found from the song: themes of running away, as the name suggest, and victims as fighters permeate the lyrics. It is a song that demands to be heard and the message stays with you long after the first ...

University operating as usual after Russell Square attack

4Aug

By Beth CarrNo Comments

News

University operating as usual after Russell Square attack

One woman has died and a further five injured in a knife attack in Russell Square last night, close to Senate House Library and 11 Bedford Square. Now seen as a random attack by the Metropolitan Police, a 19 year old man was arrested at the scene and investigations are continuing into the man's background and motivations for the attack. Despite initial fears of terrorism, the police have deemed that there is enough evidence to suggest that the incident was spontaneous and motivated by mental health issues of the suspect. The attack comes as more armed police have been announced to patrol the capital's streets after European events have increased the terrorist threat. In London the number of armed officers will increase to 2,800 from the current 600 and 900 more officers will be deplo...

25Jul

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

New Blood: A new concept for BBC One?

I was introduced to New Blood by the Metro, promising a fantastic foray from Anthony Horowitz into the gritty side of London's policing and fraud investigation. Once a friend from the capital mentioned the show and its greatness, I knew I had to 'tune in' and find out for myself. I use 'tune in' in the figurative sense because the first I heard of the show was as a box set on BBC iPlayer, not realising it had a prime time slot on BBC One. The way this works is that the series is made up of three cases, each consisting of two episodes (except the first which has three instalments), and released on a case by case basis. The episodes are also aired weekly over seven weeks on BBC One on Thursday evenings. A strange idea, some might think, considering that the episodes are already available ...