Guide to the Kent Summer Ball 2013

With the likes of Labrinth and Chase & Status all taking to the stage, or rather car park, this year’s Kent Summer Ball looks set to be a night of fun, bad dance moves and lots of alcohol to celebrate the end of the summer term. 

Details for forthcoming Medway Summer Party announced

The Medway Campus Summer Party will return to Coopers this year with a promise that it will be “bigger and better”, The Medwire can exclusively reveal.

Last year’s event was held at Coopers and featured live music, food and plenty of sunshine.

It was also widely heralded asa success by students from all three universities on the Medway Campus.

Looking to succeed on last year’s event, Coopers manager Gareth Gay, music student and Kent Union Vice President (Activities) candidate Jack McDonnell and Activities Officer Clarissa Place will be organising the festivities.

Talking about the plans for this year’s party, Clarissa Place said: “We are hoping to make the event bigger and better than the previous year, hopefully with more societies able to take part.

“The event is for students from all the universities on campus to celebrate the end of term and hopefully they’ll come down whatever the weather.”

The summer party is expected to take place on Saturday, May 18 and will include 12 hours of live bands and DJs throughout the day.

The theme is set to be “Exam Buster”to celebrate the end of exams.New additions to the party this year will include a planned marquee allowing for bands to play outside, as well as various showcases and displays from the campus’societies.

The popular Coopers BBQ and cocktail bar will also return, with a range of drinks deals to be revealed closer to the event.

Coopers will also be hoping to provide a range of summer themed refreshments, including ice cream.

A motion to charge students to go to the event has, however been scrapped, The Medwire understands.

A consultation meeting for the Summer Party is scheduled to take place later this month, with more details to be released in the coming weeks.

Article written by Kieran Watkins for The Medwire

Hello 2013 - message from the jourknow

Happy New Year everyone. I hope you all had a lovely New Year, partying hard and downing vodka like it's 2012. I certainly was, dressed up as Where's Wally in a bar in Devon, looking after my drunk friend and watching the fireworks. Sounds like fun right!?

It's hard to believe that 2012 has been and gone, it really was a fantastic year. Sporting success, London in the spotlight, a surge in popularity for the Queen, Britain out of the recession etc...everything looked promising for once.

Let's hope the good luck will continue for 2013. I wish you all the best of luck with work, school, uni, college, future travel plans etc. Good luck!

As for the jourknow, I will be continuing on into the new year with more blog posts. Last term was a busy one for me at University, so I hope to spend more time this year with creating and uploading fresh blog posts. Keep on checking the site for updates :)

Thanks for your support, I really appreciate it.

Kieran Watkins

Post-Olympic blues

Alas, it’s one week now since the Olympics graced our screens for the last time (or at least, in London for the foreseeable future.) It was a day that saw Britain win a few more medals to round off a fantastic haul in London, and culminated in a fantastic party featuring the likes of George Michael and Kate Moss.

And I, like many other people it seems, just can’t get one act out of my head. Yes, this last week I’ve been reliving my inner-Baby Spice (I was always the Baby one) and singing ‘Spice up your life’ at any given opportunity.

It doesn’t help that the girls have been teasing the media, with suggestions from Mel C that she’d “do it all again” and “never say never”. Oh Spice Girls, won’t you reform once more?

Thank the lord for the new Spice Girls musical, Viva forever!, which looks set to hit the West End later this year.

In the meantime, you can dig out the leopard print and that oh-so-short union jack dress and reminsce over last Sunday night’s fantastic performance from arguably the world’s best ever girl band here.

And don’t forget, the Paralympics are just around the corner. Tickets are selling quickly, so keep on checking the website for availability. No doubt Britain will lay down the foundations for another great games. You can find out more about the Paralympics here.

Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia

Get this party started...

The Olympic Games has finally arrived in London! After seven long years of organising, anxieties and dreams, the games have finally arrived for the third time in the capital of Great Britain. Marking the opening, the opening ceremony on Friday, July 27 celebrated the flame being lit at the Olympic Park, along with the arrival of athletes and the IOC president, Jacques Rogge.

But that wasn’t the main reason for Friday’s ceremony and why a predicted one billion people across the globe watched the ceremony. You see, the real reason many of us tuned into watch the ceremony was to see the work of director Danny Boyle, famous for directing such hits as Trainspotting and the Academy Award winning Slumdog Millionaire, organise one of the most spectacular and humble opening ceremonies the world has ever seen.

The man behind the ceremony kept quiet throughout the planning and rehearsals, only giving away a few details about what the crowds could expect. The ceremony was based around the ‘Islands of Wonder’, using Shakespeare’s The Tempest as the main theme. There were rumours of Europe’s biggest bell, farm animals and thousands of NHS staff and patients all playing a role too throughout the ceremony (all which did play a role in the ceremony.)

It was a difficult task to undertake, especially when the media continued to undermine the ceremony by comparing in to the Beijing Ceremony. Beijing 2008 may well have had the budget and power for special effects, lights and fireworks, but what did they not have? A heritage, a sense of humour and, most of all, the pride of an entire nation.

You see, what Danny Boyle managed to produce was a humorous, heartfelt homage to Britain. He showed how Britain dominated the world through the industrial revolution, through literature and music, through film and the birth of the internet and of course, through its wonderful health care service. The story and history behind the scenes were emotional and struck a chord with those watching.

He was also incredibly clever too, and used the British humour to the best of his ability. The bit with Mr Bean (played by Rowan Atkinson) and the fantastic sketch between the Queen and James Bond (portrayed by Daniel Craig) were fantastically funny. On the other hand, the one minute silence to those who lost their lives in the war, and in the July 7/7 bombings, was a poignant tribute to a world which continues to be besieged by war.

With cameo appearances from singers Emeli Sande, Sir Paul McCartney and Dizzee Rascal, Kenneth Branagh, JK Rowling, David Beckham and a handful of others, not to mention the thousands of volunteers and audience members who all got involved, the ceremony will go down in history as one which put humans and history before money and jazzy pyrotechnics.

If you didn’t see the ceremony, you can watch snippets on YouTube, or relive the whole ceremony on BBC iPlayer.

The jourknow was lucky to win a ticket to see the rehearsal for the opening ceremony, and the above photos were taken whilst at the venue, or from wikipedia.

Has anyone seen the jourknow?

My dear loyal followers/ readers/ bloggers etc, I owe you an apology. I can only apologise for the lack of content on the jourknow and my absence these past few weeks. Unfortunately, I have been extremely busy with my first year exams, and a few other things as my photos suggest. Thankfully, the exams are all over now so I can resume the jourknow page (yay!)

 Attending the magazine launch of Moda de la Mode at the Piccadilly Institute, London

The jourknow will once again be bringing you the latest articles on topical affairs over the next few weeks. I plan to finish the New Zealand diaries, as well as bring you some new feature pieces and of course, the popular reviews and fashion posts.

Supporting my friend as she triumphs at the annual Medway Universities Boat Race in Rochester

I will then be departing the UK for 16 days whilst I take a much-needed break in the sunny Costa Del Sol. I will, of course, be writing a 'Spain' diary, similar to my New Zealand one.

Looking dapper on the red carpet at the Kent Summer Ball 2012

The summer plans to be a busy one for me. Not only will I be working and going on holiday, but I am also volunteering at the Olympics. I can't wait to update you with all the exciting going's on from London!

Celebrating the Diamond Jubilee with a traditional Sunday roast (cooked by yours truly!)

I hope you stay with me throughout the summer, and can't thank you enough for your continued support. I love you all! :)

Completely 'off my face as I celebrate my belated birthday/ end of exams

In the meantime, remember you can catch up on EVERYTHING I do (I pretty much report everything I do) through Twitter: @kieranwatkins

Have a lovely summer!

Kieran Watkins (the jourknow)