This Life, Take That & the Retro 90’s

So it has begun: the 90’s, the decade of my adolescence has now become retro cool.

Double episodes of cult favourite This Life are being re-run on BBC2 in anticipation of a Christmas special. Take That have reformed, and judging by the amount of supposedly credible TV personalities salivating at their performance on An Audience With…, much to the delight of many.

(By the way, I just happened to be transfixed to the first few minutes of the show in the same way that people stare at a car crash – I was shocked by what I was seeing.)

There seems to be genuine delight, not just by soap actors, but by thousands of (mainly female office workers) people at a certain age (25-35) throughout the country. Fair enough, people want to re-live their youth, but however hard they try surely it is never the same the second time around?

When I was 15 I was a big This Life fan. Staying up after 11 (on a school night! ;o) to watch the 20-somethings drama seemed to add to the edgy nature of the show. I was pleased when I saw that it was being re-run in its entirety on BBC2, and enjoyed the first few instalments of the drama. However, as the series wore on, something struck me: Although it can be enjoyable to re-live your past, it is never as good the second time around.

Nothing is ever as good as you remember it to be. It never can be as the rest of your life has changed. So I stopped watching the re-runs, and to be honest, I really don’t see the point off the Christmas reunion special. The show was very much of its time: when scenes sex, drug taking and alcohol consumption can now be seen on any soap opera, they loose the edge that they had 10 years ago.

As far as Take That are concerned, they have just seen an opportunity to make some money and be celebrated for a while and they have grabbed it with both hands. Which is fair enough, but don’t think for a minute that they are ‘Back for Good’, because they’re not. A new album, best of and a tour and that will be it. Not through lack of trying, but because even their fans will have had enough.

Because although it can be fun to re-live your past, it is only fun for a while. Soon the excitement wears off and you realise why your life changes, why you don’t stay the same forever.

They’re not alone though: Even Oasis have released a best-of this Christmas, after Noel Gallagher once vowed that the only time the band would do such a compilation was when they split.

There clearly is a market for nostalgia and surely it won’t be long before we see an advert on the television along the lines of:

“NOW! THAT’S WHAT I CALL THE 90’S! – BLUR! OASIS! TAKE THAT! THE PRODIGY! BOYZONE! THE SPICE GIRLS! ALL ON ONE DOUBLE ALBUM!”

It won’t be long, because it will sell shitloads. But amongst the best-ofs and the ‘complete series’ DVDs, remember that there are plenty of exciting media around today.

I loved a lot of things about the 90s: of course I did it was the decade of my adolescence. And if I was to hear a track off Parklife or watch an episode of Game On, for example, then I’d still love it. But it doesn’t mean that I want to re-live these experiences for the rest of my life.

So, as enjoyable re-living your past can be, it can be even more enjoyable to discover new bands/TV shows/films etc. And while the marketing machine knows an easy few million can be made repacking our past and selling it back to us, I’d rather live in the present.

ARU: A Change For Good?

(My University is getting hard on students. These are my thoughts on the matter).

Returning ARU students will have witnessed many changes to their University in the last few years. Although these changes have given the University a more professional edge there is a danger that they will not all be beneficial for students.

This year returning students in Cambridge may have noticed that there have been significant changes to the rules regarding the submission of assignments. Previously if students missed the 3pm deadline, then their essay would have received a LATE stamp and an automatic 10% deduction. Now students who miss the deadline, even by one minute, will receive an automatic mark of 0% for their work. Yes that’s right; hand in your essay at 3.01pm and you will receive a mark of 0% for all your hard work. Obviously the University wants all students to comply with the hand-in regulations, but surely these new rules are going a step too far?

If you walk around campus on an assignment hand-in day you will witness hundreds of students frantically trying to finish their work, struggling with those last 100 words and the temperamental nature of University printers. Go to the Student Information Centre and you will see students desperately trying to find module codes and completing their hand-in sheets in time. Clearly, the University wants to see the end of this hand-in day chaos, but knowing the nature of students it will be interesting to see the number who receive a 0% mark because they miss the deadline.

Another significant change to the rules and regulations at ARU is the new 15/30 curriculum, which has been backed by both students and staff alike and is now in force. However, this streamlining of subjects has meant that many degrees that final year students are taking will not be available to future new students. There have also been rumours about the restructuring of degrees. For example, it has been rumoured that the practical modules on some degrees may be moved to other degrees. Whilst these are rumours, it remains to be seen the full impact that this restructuring will have on student’s education.

It is clear that that the University is becoming more professional: streamlining degrees in an attempt to become a more efficient, cost-effective university. However, whilst many of these changes are welcome, there is a danger that they may have a negative impact on student’s education. The University is now being run more and more as a business, rather than a centre for learning. This may just be the hard facts of the modern education system, but it is important that the University takes into account the affect on student’s university life that any future changes may have.