PRE-DRINK GAME REVIEW - 'WORD ASSOCIATION'

Greetings readers, I have decided to uses this post to review the popular pre-drinking game 'Word Association' which is well known throughout the halls of universities in every locality. Those who know me will be aware that I despise almost every pre-drinking game ever created and the 'Word Association' game provides no contrast to this maxim. Nevertheless I will attempt to provide an unbiased review for my readership.

Take an elementary school wet break time game and combine it with alcohol! If this idea sounds good to you on face value, think again. The rules are simple enough, everyone sits in a circle or round a table and someone starts off by saying a noun of their choice. For example someone may say 'guitar' as a starting point to this monstrosity of a game. The person sitting next to them should aim to say an associated word such as 'music'. Exciting right? The correct answer is 'wrong'. 'Word Association' is one of the most tedious activities I have ever undergone. I simply have no interest in the fact that 'aeroplane' can be associated with 'sky' or that 'kettle' can not be associated with 'water'.

There are always annoying arguments in your group of friends to the question of weather a certain word can be classed as the 'associated' or not. Similarly there will be further arguments concerning the amount of beverage to be consumed upon failure to find the associated word. If arguing with people or being super defensive is your thing (which to some people may actually be the case) this game is for you. If however, when you pre-drink you only care about having a good time and enjoying your drink, do yourself a favour a leave 'Word Association' for the 5 year olds to play whilst eating their school dinners.

Verdict

0/10 DUMB

James Clayton, a member of Teme Halls getting annoyed whilst playing 'Word Association'

Minor Renovations

Greetings Readers, I am happy to report that my blog has now had 370 page views! I am enjoying writing stories and I hope you equally enjoy reading them. I have done some experementation with the website as you probably will have noticed. There is now a small profile section of myself to the right but more imprtantly I have placed a poll on my site. The question is do you think Justin Timberlake has made a successful comeback in 2013? This is a relevant question as I will soon be uploading my longly antcipated review of JT's new album 'The 20-20 Experience'. Please take part in the poll and stay tuned for the upcoming review!

Just handle it!

Greetings readers, on monday I made my return to Worcester for the last 5 weeks of my first year at university! It has been a great week to be back with radical flat parties in Teme halls (the student halls where I live) and inspiring lectures in both my English and History courses. There has already been some hilarious events going on. I would like to share with you my favourite comedic story so far which happened last Wednesday night.

As students who live on university campuses will be aware, there will come a time in which, whether you like it or not, your halls will be hosting a social! This very situation happened to me on wednesday, however for unrelated incidents I decided not to go out. The football society came round to my halls and started to party in flat three upstairs from me. Later in the night some of the society came down and tried to get into flat 1 kitchen where the normal pre-drink session was ongoing. This is where the drama began.

Unwilling to let the social get into the flat kitchen as, among other things, they were armed with piss filled water pistols and bottles, members of Teme used their strength to hold the kitchen door handle up against the society who were trying to push it down and unleash themselves into the forbidden area.

What was the result of the skirmish? Well fortunately for Teme, the social could not get into the kitchen, but unfortunately for Teme, the door handle had totally broken trapping them inside! I came out of my bedroom to see a number of futile and embarrassing DIY attempts to repair the door handle from both Teme and society members which proved to make the situation worse. In order to get out the kitchen Teme were forced to climb out the kitchen window and then through another window to get back in the corridor. It looked like nothing could be done to eliminate the problem so the majority of Teme headed out to enjoy a good night at the clubs.

With great fortitude, on return to the halls, Teme members Adam Smyth and Charlotte Smith decided it would be better to see if the Worcester University security department could repair the door rather than leaving the problem until the next day when this could have resulted in a possible fine due to complaining cleaners. This plan was a success as the security department along with a maintenance worker removed the entire handle from the door leaving the door to be able to be pushed open!

Two days after the event the door handle still has not be replaced but flat 1 are just satisfied to now be able to get into their own kitchen. Well you know what they say about University, it opens many doors! Keep it real!


This photo is of George Mckenzie standing next to the Teme hall sign. He is a Teme hall member who is also in the football society.

BOOK REVIEW - 'GULLIVER'S TRAVELS'

You will be hard pressed to come across someone who has never heard of the Irish writer Jonathan Swift's classic novel, 'Gulliver's Travels'. This is mostly due to the countless film adaptations released which are either aimed at children or of the comedic genre. An example of 'Gulliver's Travels' in popular culture can be seen in the 2010 film of the same title staring Jack Black which, like most other adaptations is very loosely based on Swift's original title. So how does the novel compare with the films? Well, quiet frankly there really is no comparison. Swift's novel is a masterpiece of British fiction and well deserves it place in the literature cannon. But being published in 1726 and pre-dating familiar classics such as 'Wuthering Heights' and 'Pride and Prejudice', does 'Gulliver's Travels' stand the test of time and is it enjoyable for that of an average modern reader?

As you will probably be aware, In 'Gulliver's Travels', Gulliver goes on voyages to fictional places of the globe, his first being to the kingdom of Lilliput. Lilliput is a kingdom in which everyone and everything is in miniature form with its inhabitants being around a mere 6 Inches tall. Gulliver is at first feared by the people of Lilliput which resorts in there kidnaping of Gulliver when he is asleep. Later however the people warm to his gentle personality, this includes the King of Lilliput who is most impressed when Gulliver helps his kingdom by stealing several battle ships from Blefuscu, Lilliput's rival kingdom. I found this first section of the novel to be very humorous due to Swift's political satire. The reason the two kingdoms are at war with each other is because they disagree about with which end of an egg should be broken first. The people of Lilliput being known as bigendians as they believe the big end of an egg should be broken first and the people of Blefuscu being known as smallendians for contrasting reasons. Swift's creation of these two rival nations signifies the stupidity and absurdity of real wars in a very witty and entertaining way. It is most interesting to see Gulliver's response and reaction to the people of Lilliput and how the jealousy and hatred of a few individuals ultimately causes him to flee from an undeserved prosecution.

The second part of 'Guliver's Travels' could perhaps be described a juxtaposition to Gulliver's prior engagement in Lilliput. Due to a shipwreck Gulliver finds himself in a country called Brobdingnag in which everyone and everything is approximately twelve times larger than that of normality. The voyage to Brobdingnag is equally enjoyable as the first part of the story as this change in the tide really puts Gulliver outside his comfort zone leaving him to struggle to adapt to life in this giant world. Naturally the populous of Brobdingnag are intrigued by Gulliver's size leaving him to eventually become the possession of the king of Brobdingnag. The king is highly interested in Gulliver's story and gets him to recite his experiences of England, this includes politics, monarchy and class. The king concludes, to the dismay of Gulliver, that England is a miserable and harsh place in which the people in high professions or of power have only achieved these statuses through brutality or deceit. Again this gives us another incite to Swift's political message. Gulliver is eventually taken by a hungry giant bird who accidentally drops him out at sea where he is luckily saved by a group of people in scale with himself and taken back to England.

Contrasting the first two exciting parts of Gulliver's story, I found the third instalment rather lacking in entertainment value. The voyages to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrib, and Japan which all take part in this episode of the story are quiet boring in my opinion and have no comedic aspects like Gulliver's prior voyages. I won't go in to much detail but the people of Laputa, Balnibarbi, Luggnagg and Glubbubdrib are all absurdly fearful of the apocalyptic end of the world which astronomers of the nations have predicted and thus they can not relax and enjoy their lives. The people are also obsessed with inventions and are always trying to make creations which will makes things easier for themselves, however they more than often fail at this procedure. The most unappealing part of the story for me was a part while in Balnibarbi, Gulliver converses with magicians of sorts who can create phantoms of people passed away. Gulliver requests to see many dead peoples including the philosophers Plato and Aristotle. As if this wasn't corny enough Gulliver actually gets these two philosophers to debate with each other and states that after much discussion these two men are actually appeased with each others view. Do not get me wrong, Swift has some interesting ideas here in Gulliver conversing with the dead but in the context of the novel which has a focus on travel, society, culture and politics it seems totally out of place and superfluous. I'm sure some Gulliver fans will be wanting to give me a piece of their mind right about now but I digress. I really found these voyages of minimal importance to the story and Gulliver's character development. In case anyone was wondering Gulliver only visits Japan in order to sneak aboard a vessel on route to Europe in order to return back home.

After the slightly bad aftertaste I had from the third part of the novel, the fourth and final part rekindled my love and interest for the story. The voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms, is
undoubtably the corner stone of swifts novel and my personal favourite episode. After leaving England on yet another voyage, even though he told his wife he would never leave England again, Gulliver finds himself in a country called Houyhnhnms Land. On arrival he is attacked by a gang of disgusting hairy creatures known as yahoos. The Yahoos appear to Gulliver as deformed, ape like animals. He is naturally appalled when they start throwing their feaces at him. Fortunatley Gulliver is rescued by the leading race of the country, the Houyhnhnms. The Houyhnhnms are intelligent horses with the ability to converse with each other and sustain a society. Not only are the Houyhnhnms that of intelligent life, from living in their community Gulliver concludes that they are the most noble, rational and high-minded creatures he has ever come across. The Houyhnhnms are equally interested in Gulliver as he is of them, as in an epically well designed revaluation it is revealed that the yahoo's are actually humans despite there animal-like and savage behaviour. Gulliver is of importance as he is the first yahoo that show some elements of reason. Much debate and story telling takes place but ultimate the Houyhnhnms view Gulliver, the only intelligent yahoo, as a threat to the Houyhnhnms peaceful world and he is eventually banished. Swift creates deep emotions at this stage, due to the toll taken on Gulliver in being forced to return to the non-rational world. There is a sense that Gulliver has became insane due to his total lack of faith in humanity and his desire to find a deserted island rather than live among other humans. When Gulliver does eventually return to England the climatic passage of the novel stating that he can not bare to be in the same room as his family and how he spends most of his days talking idley to normal horses in his stables is rather upsetting and solum. It is a dark, but powerful end to a character the reader is most likely become attached to.

If this description has not kindled your interests enough I will conclude that 'Gulliver's Travels' is called a classic because that is exactly what it is. It's greatness recently led an American fan to pay $10,704 for a first edition copy of the novel. An epic story that has not be lessened since its publication almost 300 years ago. Swifts implications on British and European culture through the story creates great depth which allocates literacy critics to endlessly interpret his message and plot. Likewise 'Gulliver's Travels' is an unforgettable story, that despite the one mundane voyage previously mentioned, is ultimately a great and entertaining work that can be and should be experienced by everyone.


Verdict
9/10 - OFF THE HOOK