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.

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).

Almost total eclipse (of the eclipse)...

Today was a busy day. We went to Felbrigg Hall in the morning and Cromer in the afternoon. We went out again in the evening, because there was a near-total (90% or so) solar eclipse, but we didn't see much of it - we were outside, but the sun dipped behind some buildings. We didn't have special viewing equipment anyway. We did see an impressive sunset over the beach though.

Felbrigg Hall

This morning, we visited Felbrigg Hall (near Holt). We didn't go in the hall itself, though we did go in the walled gardens.

The dove cote was empty, but there were some chickens roaming the grounds.

We also took a walk through the grounds to an old church. Only on the walk were we told about a recent death due to cattle-trampling, but (perhaps in consequence) we didn't see any cows...