Friday, April 26Royal Holloway's offical student publication, est. 1986

Tag: Culture

How to Capture Stunning Cityscapes at Night
Culture & Literature, Music, Visual Arts

How to Capture Stunning Cityscapes at Night

There's something mesmerizing about cities at night. When the sun is replaced with a stream of fluorescent lights and neon signs, it’s completely different to anything you’ll see during the day. Capturing this on camera may seem hard, but shooting nightscapes can be very simple, and something that every budding photographer should try. Most smartphone cameras now have a long exposure mode, so you don’t even need a professional-level camera to get those Instagrammable photos after sunset. Equipment Most tutorials will tell you to buy both an expensive tripod and high-quality ND filters, but neither of these items are necessary. A tripod – which can be bought second hand for as little as £10 – is advisable for keeping the camera still, but you could always stabilize the camera by rest...
A Christmas Carol review: Does Christmas Actually Come from Books?
Culture & Literature, Literature

A Christmas Carol review: Does Christmas Actually Come from Books?

Every year, we belt it out to Mariah Carey and count down the days until we can justifiably put the tree up (November 1st, of course). But do we ever stop to consider when or how Christmas became Christmas? Of course, the holiday was originally a celebration of the birth of Christ, but Christmas as we know and love it has far more recent origins. You’ve most likely heard of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol – maybe you studied the book at school, maybe you’ve watched The Muppet Christmas Carol so many times that you know the script by heart – but did you know that its publication in 1843 established a whole new literary genre: the Christmas book? Dickens’ fame and the advance in mass printing during the Industrial Revolution made the book a fast hit. Its cultural impact is still being...
Marginalisation Of The Kurdish Identity: a human rights violation
News

Marginalisation Of The Kurdish Identity: a human rights violation

Amongst all these humanitarian agencies who seek to protect and aid those suffering or victims of mistreatments, it is unbelievable to think that there are still constitutional restrictions entrenched to eradicate a cultural identity. Especially when it comes to a sensitive issue such as the Kurdish Question; a minority ethnicity that has fought endlessly to protect their rights, with many activists, politicians and lawyers currently imprisoned as a result.  The spiralling political crisis that the question elicits today stems from nothing more than a backlash from the past. Following the break-up of the Ottoman empire in 1922, the many different ethnic groups living in the newly formed Republic of Turkey were forced to comply with ‘Turkification’ policies: a homogenising stance t...
Beautiful World, Where Are You? review: Rooney’s best book yet?
Literature

Beautiful World, Where Are You? review: Rooney’s best book yet?

Whether you read a hundred books a year or struggle finishing just one, you’ve probably heard of Sally Rooney, or at least her second novel Normal People. In the four years since the release of her 2017 debut, Conversations with Friends, Rooney has made herself a household name, and her third novel is acutely aware of it. Beautiful World, Where Are You? follows university friends Alice and Eileen, both on the cusp of turning thirty and both navigating romances that form the basis of the novel’s plot. Famous author, Alice, has moved back to Ireland after the pressures of celebrity life in New York proved too much to handle. Despite their less-than-perfect Tinder date, she invites local warehouse worker, Felix, to join her on a work-trip to Rome. Eileen lives in Dublin, flitting betwe...
10 films and TV shows that would be better if they were gay
Culture & Literature, Film & TV

10 films and TV shows that would be better if they were gay

Love Island It would just be better, right?   High School Musical If Chad and Ryan's homoerotic performance of 'I Don't Dance' in HSM 2 didn't convince you something steamy was going on in the locker room after that baseball game, I don't know what will.   Titanic ‘Jackie, I want you to draw me like one of your French girls’.   To All The Boys I've Loved Before This could be a great bisexual one. Stick a few girls in. You'd have to change the title I guess, but it would be worth it.   Gilmore Girls Some people preferred Dean, others preferred Jess, and Logan was there too, but there should be one thing that we can all agree on: Paris should have been gay. Whether or not Rory should have ended up with Paris is up for deb...
Social Psychology in The News
Science & Technology

Social Psychology in The News

What is it? SPIN is a new discussion group formed of students and lead by Dr. Samuel Fairlamb. The group meet up once a month to talk and debate about current issues in the news and cultural trends from a social psychological perspective. Started this academic year, the group is always on the lookout for fresh faces, keen to put their stamp on the latest news stories surrounding Social Psychology! Who is in it? The students in SPIN range from first years to master’s students. Although predominantly Psychology students, everyone in the group has a keen interest in Social Psychology and its various applications to current news stories and today’s cultural trends. The group is run by Dr. Samuel Fairlamb, a Postdoctoral Teaching Associate in the Psychology department, who completed...
Carlos Acosta: from Poverty to Ballet Stardom
Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

Carlos Acosta: from Poverty to Ballet Stardom

“Passion meets power and precision”: Victoria Bastable explores the career of Carlos Acosta In October I was honoured to see Carlos Acosta perform in ‘Carlos Acosta: A Classical Farewell’ at The Royal Albert Hall. His ovation lasted for at least 20 minutes, and the whole audience was on their feet, not just for the performance that evening, but for his career. Acosta has brought passion and charisma to dance in Britain and throughout the world. There is no adjective to describe watching Carlos dance, because the sensation is visceral. Passion meets power and precision. His incredible jumps and charismatic stage presence combined with technical skill and athleticism acquired over 17 years as a principal dancer at the Royal Ballet and as a Guest Principal Artist in all leading Ball...
You’ll be tongue “Thai-d”
Lifestyle

You’ll be tongue “Thai-d”

Thailand is one of the many places that people regard as a massive tourist attraction but it isn’t. You have to dive deep into the culture to truly experience its beauty and not just settle for seeing the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. Yes, you can swim in the warm Gulf of Thailand and eat insane cuisine at a 5 star spa resort and lay blissfully in 40 degree heat all day topping up your tan; but wouldn’t you rather party until sunrise during the full moon on KoPhangan, travel through the mountains of Koh Smaui, walk bare foot across scorching stone to see Buddha, dance with elephants, see a ping pong show or even eat the best stir fry of your life from a small family stall in a street market at midnight? I wanted to do all this and much more so I did. Not only this but I visited night ma...
Cultural and Interfaith Calendar
Features

Cultural and Interfaith Calendar

The Cultural and Interfaith calendar shows some important events across 2015 and 2016. Many events are celebrated here at Royal Holloway due to our multi-cultural and diverse campus. We have decided to highlight a few so that students are aware of their meanings and dates. Last term, the Holi festival was very successful and saw many students celebrating with the powdered paint! There are many events throughout the year and this calendar highlights a few of those. To over two billion Muslims, Eid al-Fitr, also known as The Feast of Breaking the Fast, is an important celebration to announce the ending of the fasting, Ramadan, but also to thank Allah for the strength he has given them throughout Ramadan. They start celebrating by sighting the crescent moon after sunset on the last day of ...