Ashurst Stroll

We’re into October now, but the weather is still nice, so we thought we’d take advantage of it while it lasts and have a day out yesterday. We decided on New Forest and settled on Ashurst in particular – only a ten-minute train journal from Southampton Central (£4.10 each for a return with a railcard).

We left around 12, so we could start our day out with lunch. We had a walking route for the ‘Ashurst Stroll’ (with a guide here) which started at the station then went past the Happy Cheese (TripAdvisor), so that’s where we stopped for lunch. (It was fine but not particularly remarkable.) Then we set off again just after 1.

We started following the Stroll but decided to head off in another direction, which took us to a bench labelled Gulliver’s Rest. This is a landmark on another walking route. I gather Willy Gulliver was a New Forest keeper. From there, we found our way back to the original route.

We did catch a brief glimpse of some deer. At least, I think they were deer – they were so far away I couldn’t really see what they were. Shortly after, we crossed the railway line at Crooks Hill bridge, after which we had a much closer encounter with a horse.

The last stretch of the route took us along the A35, which seemed a shame when we could have been walking through the woods. I think if we want to walk round Ashurst again, we’ll perhaps look for a slightly different route. The good news though is that we made it back to the station just after 14:30, so only had to wait 5 minutes or so for a train back to Southampton. (That was pretty good, given that the trains are only hourly – though we could have stopped in another pub if we’d needed to pass time.)

Federalism in football

It's common in politics for constitutions to entrench certain 'rules of the game'. Making amendment more difficult, for instance by requiring a supermajority rather than a mere majority, is supposed to make things more stable and predictable. This isn't confined to political constitutions though. Similar things are true in football governance as well.

In the English Premier League, rule changes require a supermajority of 14 out of 20 clubs. (I'm not clear, from the article, how abstentions are handled. Would a 13-to-4 vote be enough?) Recent changes on Associated Party Transactions, for example, were approved by a vote of 16-to-4.

The Scottish Premier League is - or at least was (the source cited here is from 2012) - even more biased against change. Certain major changes require(d) support from 11 of the 12 clubs. That article reports on a proposal to change this to 75% (9 of 12), which failed.

I just saw an article on the BBC about German lower leagues. There were plans to replace the five current regional divisions with four. There was a recent vote on this, but change required not only an overall majority but also a majority in each of the five regions.

While the overall majority was reached (50.9%) only three of the regions (West, North, and Northeast) back the change. The Southwest voted for an alternative option and Bavaria for 'further talks'. Thus, the change was defeated - for now at least - despite majority support.

Lotteries in football (again)

Before the introduction of penalty shoot-outs, lotteries were sometimes used to decide football matches. This isn't necessary now for individual matches, but lotteries can still be used to decide group standings. This just happened in the Gulf Cup, after Oman and Iraq were level on all other criteria (points, head-to-head, goal difference, etc).

A plant-based nudge

I recently learned that all Student Union catering outlets on campus, including the Stags and Redbrick kitchen (aka chip van), have gone plant-based by default.

(Edit: I was obviously a bit behind, because this decision was actually covered by the BBC earlier in the year.)

To be clear, this does not mean that they are 100% vegan. They still serve meat and dairy, but you have to request it as a substitution. Otherwise, even pepperoni pizza will be a plant-based version. (At least, this is the theory - I'm curious how long this will last.)

The links above may not last if the menu changes, so here's an example:

This is a nice example of a nudge. People can still have either the plant-based option or the real chicken, but making the former the default is likely to increase consumption. At least, that's the theory.

The move follows a couple of petitions - here and here - calling for a more general move towards plant-based catering. ('Follows' at least in the sense of 'comes after' - this move delivers less than was asked for, but is perhaps the most that's realistic, at least for now.) So, it's also an example of student voice/democracy in action.

Music in the City

Hot on the heels of the Shirley Fringe, this weekend is Music in the City. This year, almost everything was on the Saturday, with only a DJ and some classical music on the Sunday, but there seemed a lot more on the Saturday.

We started with brunch at Thrive, then I went to 94 High Street—the designated ‘rock vault’—to catch Charmtype (Youtube), while my partner went to the medieval merchant’s house for a mix of protest songs, folk, and sea shanties.

After this, I went to the bandstand in Palmerston Park, which had been named the Andrew Cummings Stage. (I have no idea who he was.)

First up there, I caught Exhilaro, who opened with a cover of Metallica’s ‘Creeping Death’, then played a bunch of their own songs, including I think ‘Chains’, before finishing with another cover (Sepultura’s ‘Territory’). I guess we were lucky to get these old school covers, because a Youtube recording began and ended with KoRn and Limp Bizkit instead. Anyway, not really the kind of thing I listen to much these days, but they were pretty good, especially given that they seemed fairly young. (They were also on a ‘teenage bands’ bill at Planet Sounds later in the afternoon.)

Next Hail, who are a symphonic metal band, in the style of Nightwish. Again, maybe not exactly my cup of tea, but I thought they were quite good. After that, I took a quick break to nip to the loo/shops, so I missed most of the Andrew Cummings Tribute (which seemed to be performed by a mix of individuals from various acts), though I did return in time to see a male-female duet of ‘Love You to Death’ featuring the singer from Hail. The last of the acts that I caught at the bandstand were Shiversa (Youtube).

After that, I headed to HMV for Dandelion Chain, a post-punk/goth outfit who probably would have been better suited to one of the underground vaults (or a crypt…) rather than performing in daylight. Youtube clip here, though it doesn’t capture the frontman’s more energetic dancing.

Finally, for me, another set from Beardos and Weirdos. Unfortunately, it was basically a truncated version of the Fringe set that I’d seen twice last Saturday (though we did get the uncensored version of ‘You Oughta Know’). They left a few songs out, presumably for time reasons, though it turned out that they had time to add ‘Gone Away’ and ‘Weak’ at the end (but we still missed ‘Plush’ and ‘Today’).

Fringe benefits (part 3)

We did catch a couple of bands on Friday, though I don’t think one of them was actually part of the Fringe – we were mainly out to watch the football. But we completed our Fringe experience on Saturday.

First, back to Clockwork (again) for a solo session from Waldo Salt’s frontman, which featured a good few covers (my favourites ‘In Between Days’ and ‘Enjoy the Silence’) alongside originals. Then it was down to the Wellington Arms for cover band Beardos and Weirdos. I’d been listening to them a bit on Youtube, so wanted to catch that set.

After that, we took a quick shopping break, before going back to Clockwork. First up was a singer-songwriter Roger Shephard. I’m not sure how old he was, though he told us some of the songs he played were written (by him) in the 1970s. He did open with a cover of ‘All the Small Things’ and close with ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’. He was followed by a second set from Beardos and Weirdos, though it was the same set list as before. At least they had a bigger audience this time around.

B&W setlist (from memory):

You Oughta Know (Alanis Morisette)

Man in the Box (Alice in Chains)

Weak (Skunk Anansie)

Gone Away (Offspring)

High and Dry (Radiohead)

Drive (REM)

Plush (Stone Temple Pilots)

Today (Smashing Pumpkins)

This is Love (P J Harvey)

Glory Box (Portishead)

Fringe benefits (part 2)

Day two of the Fringe. Today, we had dinner at Bites of India, before heading back to Clockwork for three more musical acts, interspersed with poetry readings.

First up, Scarlet Grig. Not really my thing. I found her vocals a bit screechy on the high notes. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the poetry, but enjoy Andy White’s slot, especially his care instructions for a small rocky planet. The second musical act was Wonderlux, though it turned out to be just the singer performing solo. She told us she was performing mostly new material, but it was all new to us anyway.

 

Then there was another poetry slot, read by Anita Foxall, which I didn’t think as good as the first. Finally, Teenage Waitress, which it turned out was also a solo act. Our favourite of the three musical acts, though I can’t remember what many of the songs were about, besides for one about a headless chicken…