Bollywood

Posted by: Pritpal Sembi

This year is the 100th anniversary of the first Bollywood movie. I was never a fan of Bollywood as a kid. In fact, I hated it. We had one TV and video recorder in the house (not like today) and the last thing I wanted was such dull competition for its use.

Way to Blue: Happy Birthday Nick

Posted by: Matt Bellingham, Lecturer in Music Technology

Nick Drake was one of several wonderful musicians to emerge from the fertile folk and folk-rock scenes of the 1960s and early 1970s. While always a solo artist he worked with some of the great musicians of the time; Richard Thompson played on his first album, and John Martyn’s Solid Air was written for and about Drake. Nick Drake’s work is intimate, intricate and highly personal; the themes are universal and the performances captivating.

Faith-based school selection

Posted by: Dr Mahmoud Emira

Before I attempt to answer this controversial question, I’d like to re-phrase it into this instead: “Why do parents want to send their children to a ‘faith-based’ school?”

The Queen's Coronation

Posted by: Paul Brighton, Head of Department of Media and Film

I was born in 1959, and, like most people of my age group, can remember watching the big Royal media events of the 1960s and 70s: the “Royal Family” documentary of 1969, followed by the Investiture of Prince Charles (clustered round the school TV set at St Michael’s Primary in Tettenhall). Then came the wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips in 1973, and the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977. But I was always conscious of having missed The Big One: the Queen’s Coronation of 1953.

What makes a winning team?

Posted by: Andrew Lane, Professor of Sports and Exercise Psychology

Around this time of the sporting calendar, talk invariably comes round to the issue of what makes a winning team. Pundits start picking their dream teams. Various combinations of players are suggested but being individually brilliant is only part of what matters. “We all dream of a team of Carraghers” is a song lovingly sang by the Liverpool fans; a song that pays testament to the fighting spirit of Jamie Carragher. Would this team be successful?