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…

Fringe benefits (part 1)

Today was the start of Shirley Fringe. We had dinner at What a Pizza, then headed over to Clockwork bar for music. There had been a late tweak to the line-up, so we’d just missed the start of Simon Maggs and People Like Us, but we were just able to get a seat. They weren’t really my thing, though not bad either. A cover of Glory Box was a surprise.

The main thing we’d gone for was to see the Guillotine Union Boys again. 

We’ve seen them a couple of times before at Urban Wild festivals, so we knew what to expect and weren’t disappointed. Perhaps the most notable point of the set was Bound to Lose dedicated (in a fashion) to Nathan Coftas, for his part in the Jason Arday case.

For those about to rock(grass)

I'm heading back to Southampton today, after a couple of weeks in Essex/Norfolk, but last night we finished our holiday by seeing Hayseed Dixie at Sheringham Little Theatre (a complete surprise to us - we didn't know they were playing until we arrived in Sheringham).

I think it was my first experience of an all-seater gig and, unfortunately, we were near the back (there weren't many tickets left when we bought them). Consequently, we didn't have the best view or photos (heavily reliant on zoom).

I think they only played three AC/DC songs: Dirty Deeds; You Shook Me All Night Long; and Highway to Hell. (Links are to Youtube videos of live performances, but not from this show.) There was a smattering of other rocking songs from the likes of Guns n Roses, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, and Motorhead.

We did manage to get closer after the show though - I bought a CD (also available on Amazon) and managed to get all four members to sign it.

This is the end of this leg of the tour, but they have more shows in the autumn, including one in Southampton. I don't know whether we'll bother seeing them again so soon, but it was good to catch them once.

Farage beats Bin(face)

As widely expected, Nigel Farage won the Clacton by-election, securing over twice as many votes as his nearest rival.

The contest was interesting though, not only for marking Count Binface's best performance, but also for featuring a modern record 34 candidates. (This BBC page says 35, in the caption below the picture at the top, as well as 34, but I believe it's 34 that's right.) 

While this is a lot for the UK, it is far from a world record. The 2023 Toronto mayoral by-election featured over 100 candidates (see here and here). It's a good job that voters weren't required to rank all of the candidates! But I digress...

Since the 'main' parties decided not to stand in Clacton, most of the 34 are independents or fringe parties. Some are serial candidates and/or arguably part of a tradition of joke candidates. Interestingly, they include three candidates from the Monster Raving Loony Party - which makes sense only because voters vote for a candidate, rather than a party. (This kind of thing doesn't happen in Australia, for reasons discussed here.)

Most of these were largely irrelevant. Besides Farage and Binface, none received the 5% of the vote needed to return their deposit. Indeed, none of the others received even 500 votes, with 3rd place on just 492 votes. I make it that 21 of them received fewer than 100 votes and three of them received fewer than ten votes (which is the number of signatures one needs in order to stand, as documented here).