RVHS EXPOSED CHRISTMAS EDITION!!
Merry Christmas December All the months go past, Each is like a guest, December is the last, December is the best, Each has lovely things, Each one is a friend, But December brings, Christmas at the end!! I like this poem because I find that it’s very true. And I hope you all do too. I hope you have a very good Christmas and happy new year.
By Jenade Rayment : Year 8
By Nicolae Perju (7be)
Did Oasis really copy The Beatles? By Ellie Wakinshaw There’s no denying that Oasis took inspiration from The Beatles. They were referenced in the band’s style, interviews, their lyrics- sometimes sections of their songs sounded like they were ripped straight from Beatles classics. But was it stealing, or just inspiration? If you listen to Oasis’ single “Don’t Look Back in Anger”, the opening piano riff might sound familiar. That’s because it’s almost identical to the piano riff of John Lennon’s “Imagine”. When asked about this, Noel Gallagher (Oasis’ lead guitarist and songwriter) said, “In the case of ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ – I mean, the opening piano riff’s ‘Imagine’. 50% of it’s put in there to wind people up, and the other 50% is saying ‘look, this is how songs like 'Don’t Look Back in Anger’ come about – because they’re inspired by songs like ‘Imagine’. And no matter what people might think, there will be some 13 year old kid out there who’ll read an interview and think ‘Imagine? I’ve never heard that song’ and he might go and buy the album.” In this case, the use of “Imagine’s” piano riff was more of a homage to Lennon - Gallagher took the riff and made something new out of it. But Oasis’ Beatles influence wasn’t just shown through lifting riffs from songs. They were often much more subtle. For example, Gallagher often referenced the band in his lyrics “Tomorrow never knows what it doesn’t know too soon,” “Fool
on the hill and I feel fine,” and “You can sail with me in my yellow submarine.” The bridge section of “Don’t Look Back in Anger” (mentioned above) used a John Lennon interview “Gonna start a revolution from my bed, ‘cause you said the brains I had went to my head.” This is referencing John and Yoko’s 1969 “Bed-Ins for Peace” protest. The band would also use instruments closely related to The Beatles, such as the mellotron, and effects, such as backwards guitar. Oasis’ style was Beatlesque too; they wore round Lennon-style glasses. This all comes back to the starting question - did Oasis really copy The Beatles? Well, my answer is yes. But they weren’t blatant rip-offs; they had their own style of music, and helped kick off the short-lived Britpop craze. They just wore their inspirations on their sleeves.
How did robins come to represent Christmas? By Skye Haddadi
We’ve all seen them: robins on Christmas cards, robins on wrapping paper, robins on adverts, robins on crackers - anything that could be associated with the holiday by any stretch of the imagination. They’re everywhere. And while they’re no unwelcome sight, it can seem strange that they are so prevalent when they live in the UK year-round and aren’t much more common than their fellow, and much more overlooked, passerines. So what’s the history? A variety of explanations have been offered. A notable subset of these is the religious stories: one describes a small brown bird in the stable when Jesus was born, noticing the fire that threatened to go out. The bird then flapped its wings in front of it to bring the flames back to life, and a stray
ember scorched its breast bright red. The mark was declared a sign of the bird’s kind heart, to be passed on to its descendants to wear proudly forevermore. An alternate variation of this instead places the brown bird in front of a fire burning too high, protecting the baby from it while having its feathers scorched, but the message of the kind act remains the same. The other commonly cited Christian tale is of a bird resting on Jesus’ shoulder while he was on the cross and singing to relieve his suffering. Blood from his crown of thorns is then thought to have stained its feathers red. However, the strongest explanation is likely to link directly back to Christmas cards - in the 19th century, the newly created postal service dressed its workers in red uniforms. This led to them gaining the nickname, ‘Robins’, and the birds soon began to appear on Christmas cards to represent the postmen that delivered them. Despite this fairly clear and rational history, there is also something to be said about robins’ inherent atmosphere of cheeriness. Linking to the holidays in multiple ways with their festive colouring and being voted the country’s national bird on multiple occasions, it is clear that these sweet-sounding, fluffy little birds are a staple in our yearly celebrations and will remain so for many years to come.
By Frankie Jude and Isabelle Harriott
The Cryptocurrency Boom By Sebastian Vidojevic-Nash Cryptocurrency is a mystery to most and often seen as a scam to the older generations. When in actual fact cryptocurrency is real and is increasingly becoming a threat to real currency. Different cryptocurrencies offer different utilities within the ecosystem and all come together to build a functioning financial economy. Let me first try to break down cryptocurrency in simple terms and then dive into a few and explain their limitless potential. What is Cryptocurrency? Cryptocurrency is formed from two words “crypto” (data encryption) and “currency” (medium of exchange). Thus, a cryptocurrency is a medium of exchange (like conventional money) that exists in the digital world and uses encryption that ensures the security of transactions. Cryptocurrency is an alternative form of payment in cash and credit cards. In simple terms, cryptocurrency is a type of digital or virtual money. It serves as ordinary money, such as dollars, pounds, euros, yen, etc. But it has no physical counterparts — banknotes or coins that can be carried around whereas cryptocurrency only exists in digital form. What are the main Cryptocurrencies? There are now thousands and thousands of crypotocurries circulating around digitally from some having a circulating supply surpassing one trillion coins to some having market cap flirting around one trillion dollars. Some to largest cryptocurrencies in the space are: Bitcoin Almost everyone’s heard of Bitcoin at this point. It's the most valuable coin and arguably the coin with the most upside financial potential and most potential to impact all of our
lives. It’s a bold statement however one that does have substance. From Bitcoins inception in the January of 2009 it has grown exponentially from being below $1 in 2011 to now being valued north of $40,000. It’s often compared to Gold in the sense that influences the prices of other cryptocurrencies like Gold's price influences commodities, companies and fiat currencies value. Bitcoins core purpose lies within developing the transaction economy further, an economy which needs an update. It's an alternative to avoid a central control, an example is conventional currency that is transferred from person to person, the value of the currency is controlled by a central entity that is the Bank of England in the UK in England. Bitcoin is an alternative that most people in the crypto ecosystem support as there is no one person / group that has full control of the currency.
Ethereum Ether (ETH), the cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network, is arguably the second most popular digital token after bitcoin (BTC). Indeed, as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, comparisons between Ether and BTC are only natural. Ether and bitcoin are similar in many ways: each is a digital currency traded via online exchanges and stored in various types of cryptocurrency wallets. Both of these tokens are decentralised, meaning that they are not issued or regulated by a central bank or other authority. Both make use of the distributed ledger technology known as blockchain. However, there are also many crucial distinctions between the two most popular cryptocurrencies by market cap. One distinction is that the Ethereum network may contain executable code, while data affixed to Bitcoin network transactions are generally only for keeping notes. Other differences include block time (an ether transaction is confirmed in seconds compared to minutes for bitcoin) and the algorithms that they run on are very different.
Christmas Recipes By Samanta Daci
Brownies Ingredients ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
185g unsalted butter 185g best dark chocolate 85g plain flour 40g cocoa powder 50g white chocolate 50g milk chocolate 3 large eggs 275g golden caster sugar
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan forced). Spray a 20cm/8 inches square tin with oil and line with baking/parchment paper with overhang (Note 2). Place butter and chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl, microwave in 30 second bursts (takes me 1m 30 sec) until melted. Stir until smooth. Add sugar and vanilla, mix, then add eggs and mix well until smooth and molten. Add flour, cocoa and salt and stir until smooth. Stir in chopped chocolate, pour into the pan. Bake 24 minutes for really gooey in the centre, 28 minutes for fudgey but still very moist, 32 minutes for moist fudge-cake-like. If you don't use the extra chocolate for stirring, reduce cooking time by 2 minutes.
8. Leave them in for 10 minutes before lifting out of the pan. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting.
Gingerbread Trees Ingredients ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
100g salted butter 3 tbsp golden syrup 100g dark muscovado sugar ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 tbsp ground ginger 1 tsp ground cinnamon 225g plain flour 50g icing sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 170°C, gas mark 3. Line baking trays with baking parchment. Melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a medium saucepan, stirring occasionally, then remove from the heat. 2. Sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ginger into a bowl and stir the melted ingredients into the dry ingredients to make a stiff dough. 3. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and roll to a thickness of about 5 mm. Dip biscuit cutters into flour before cutting the dough, or cut around templates, which you can find at waitrose.com/christmas. Place the shapes onto the lined baking trays and bake, in batches, for 9-10 minutes until light golden brown. 4. Remove from the oven, and put on the side or on a cooling rack. When it’s completely cool, decorate with the icing or any additional decorations you want to add.
By Lesley Aggrey
CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVERYONE SHOULD WATCH THIS DECEMBER Decorating the tree with the whole family, baking Christmas cookies with the grandparents, going Christmas caroling, to quote Andy Williams, “Christmas really is the most wonderful time of year!” Not feeling the Christmas spirit? No better way to embrace the holidays than a Christmas movie marathon? From Christmas classics to sappy Christmas rom coms, this list features Christmas movies everyone should watch this December. The Holiday Two girls from different countries swap homes for the holidays to get away from their relationship issues. However, their lives change unexpectedly when they meet and fall in love with two local guys. Romantic, heart-warming, cosy, when it comes to feel-good holiday films, this one takes the cake.
Home Alone An eight-year-old troublemaker must protect his house from a pair of burglars when he is accidentally left home alone by his family during Christmas vacation. This one probably needs no introduction but for those who’ve been living under a rock there you go.
A Christmas carol Though London awaits the joyful arrival of Christmas, miserly Ebenezer Scrooge thinks it's all humbug. Later, Scrooge encounters the ghost of his late business partner, who warns that three spirits will visit him tonight. The ghosts take Scrooge on a journey through his past, present, and future in the hope of transforming his bitterness. Based on the 1843 play by Charles Dickens, this classic Christmas movie is a must watch.
The Last Holiday Georgia, who leads a life full of unfulfilled desires, is left shocked when she discovers her terminal illness. Soon, she quits her job, gathers her savings, and sets out on a luxurious trip to Europe. A feel-good Christmas comedy with a black female lead, this movie will have you laughing and crying.
EFYC: Climate Action By Erin Weeks Friday 19th November 2021, Epping Forest District Council welcomed four local schools: Epping St Johns, Davenant Foundation, Roding Valley High School and West Hatch High School into their council chamber, in order to hear from guest speakers, participate in quizzes and ultimately have their say on how we can battle Climate Change. The day was focused on climate change and how we, collectively, can make a difference. We heard from a string of guest speakers: from Sustainable Travel officer Nick Hill, to Nutritionist Ashleigh Howard, detailing what initiatives are currently in place and offering valuable advice on how we can all play our part in helping Essex become Carbon Neutral. Promoting active, sustainable travel methods: Championed by Nick Hill, the Cake Escape is a cycling initiative which encourages residents to cycle to their destinations with the promise of a sweet reward with each journey. Despite the “Average price of a bike (being) £233” , the county has developed a ‘Cycle to Work Scheme’, which allows employees to purchase a bike at a discount price and spread the cost over a fixed period of time. Buy local and seasonal food: Endorsed by Ashleigh Howard, she advised that people aim to buy seasonal and local produce or to grow their own food in order to reduce the carbon emissions emitted by food transportation. Yet, we understand that ‘one in eight British households has no garden’ or access to an allotment so these recommendations may not be accessible to you. However, the BBC provides more cost effective and attainable solutions to living greener, and we encourage you to check that out!
The Waste Action Hierarchy: Promoted by Francesca Edmonds: The diagram illustrates how instead of disposing an item, we should instead try to prolong the life of the item, which can be done by reselling the item or repairing the item. The county also encourages the use of a website called ‘Freegle’, which promotes the donation of items instead of disposal.
Be mindful of our environment: Advocated by Jess Hodges, Countryside Officer for the Epping District, she informed us of the vital role that our environment can have in helping
combat climate change. The Climate Action Youth Debate: The conference hosted a debate, which saw the attendees discussing the motion: ‘This house believes that the blocking of roads and other disruptions, is the right way to get climate justice’. Epping Forest Youth Councillor, Bianca Nedelcu proposed the motion, detailing in her opening statement the efficacy of ‘disruptive’ forms of protest, giving examples like the Suffragettes to demonstrate how unconventional methods garner government attention resulting in productive reformation. Opposing the motion was, Epping Forest Youth Councillor, Martin Prinsloo, who presented the opposition's opening statement arguing that ‘disruptive’ forms of protest was ‘demoralising’ people who do want to
bring about change in an efficient way. He proposed the motion: groups like Insulate Britain and Extinction rebellion should come into schools, colleges and work spaces in order to talk about the effects of our carbon footprint. Concluding that these measures would enable people to ‘talk’ about climate change in a ‘constructive’ and ‘peaceful’ manner. However, proposition delegates argued that in light of the recent COP 26 conference, where 118 private jets were used to deliver the leaders in attendance, Prime Minister Boris Johnson repeatedly claimed that the time to combat climate change was ‘one minute to midnight’, exemplifies the inefficiency of a passive ‘talk’ and alluded to the fact that dire consequences require drastic solutions. Awkwardly, the opposition compared the Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion movements as acts of terrorism, yet if we were to believe such a remark then we should be considering road maintenance acts of terrorism. A poor attempt at tarnishing eco-activists as eco-extremists. The most haunting argument the opposition made was advocating that ‘the problem isn't us, it's the countries that couldn’t give a monkeys about politics, couldn't give a monkeys about climate change’ and how ‘we should be focusing on them’. The obvious deflection of accountability was further fortified with their motion to ‘get the protesters and rather then protest here in London, a place which is fair (and) just. Go to Russia. Go to China, where there is actually a problem, where they still emit ⅓ of all world climate change emissions’. To clarify, please do not be disillusioned into thinking that the UK is an innocent bystander in regard to climate change emissions; how many products that are sold in the UK have ‘made in China’ stained onto them?
However, the debate concluded with a 60% to 40% against the motion. How can you get involved? After the rousing debate, we heard from Seb Maxam and Tom Yiangou, who informed us of an exciting opportunity for local schools to take part in: to help make schools carbon positive! The aim is for schools to become carbon positive, where they produce their own renewable energy. There is a £20,000 fund, which can be used to make your proposed campaign a reality. The deadline is Friday 11th February 2022. https://www.essex.gov.uk/news/new-fund-offers-gbp20-000-grants-for-pr ojects-tackling-climate-change Moreover, if you are interested in learning more about how Essex plans to become carbon neutral in order to meet the 2015 Paris Agreement, ask your teachers about the Essex Climate Change Commision Report, which details all the initiatives that the county plans to put in place and encourage. Moreover, if you are unsure about about the life threatening consequences that climate change poses to the future of human civilisation, read here for more information: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/climate-change-explained#:~:text=On%202 7%20June%202019%20the,UK's%20contribution%20to%20climate%20 change. Lastly, I would like to thank MIss Garip for organising such an insightful trip and to Miss Richards for accompanying us!
Please fill in the questionnaire on climate change https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/YoungPersons1
The Psychology Behind Christmas: Christmas is celebrated all over the UK by every type of person, different races, faiths and cultures, yet over half of the population have said “they don’t belong to any religion”. So, why is it that one holiday is seemingly loved and celebrated in every corner of the UK? What makes Christmas so special? Christmas was originally based on celebrating the birth of Christ however those basic principles, while still there, are not the only reason many celebrate nowadays. Christmas is a holiday every person interprets differently however in every single one of our brains Christmas is associated with joy, warmth and happiness. Whilst we all have our individual traditions there are common processes such as a roast dinner, gift giving, stories of Father Christmas and so on that we all collectively take part in. This collective behaviour and mutual joy we feel every year on the 25th can be traced back to “herd-behaviour”. This herd-behaviour is the underlying cognitive bias beneath the processes in our life. This bias can be applied to the common love we all have for christmas; a common behaviour has set in and now due to herd-behaviour we all automatically are wired to enjoy Christmas and associate it with global happiness and joy. The joy and excitement every person feels at this time of the year is one mutual thing people all across the globe share, which is rare to see! Christmas has a psychological power like no other; only good and positive feelings are associated with Christmas, it is a global phenomenon! It is a holiday loved by children who are excited to hear stories of Father Christmas, adults who give, teenagers who get to see those family members they haven't seen in a while. Everything we associate with Christmas is magical and amazing and therefore Christmas is like no other holiday, it is loved by all and in turn we are all much more loving to each other at this time of year.
Ground control to Major Tom: David Bowie’s musical legacy By Poppy Tribe The date is July 11, 1969: five days before the moon landing. At Trident Studios in London, twenty-two year old David Robert Jones, known professionally as David Bowie, has just released his first single in two years, hoping it will finally spell out commercial success. His previous works, including his debut 1967 album, went largely unnoticed, leaving the singer still awaiting a record deal. The chances of him breaking through into the music industry are almost entirely dependent on the performance of his most intricate track yet; though his producer already has a hunch that reception would be positive, there are no guarantees. Fortunately for Bowie, his plans work out, and his new single is used by the BBC during their coverage of the moon landing. Later that year, it will rise to No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart. The legacy of this track, however, could not have been anticipated: more than fifty years later, ‘Space Oddity’ remains one of the most memorable songs in music history. ‘Space Oddity’ only marked the beginning of a hugely successful career. Throughout the seventies, Bowie achieved a remarkable number of hits, including but not limited to ‘Life on Mars?’, ‘Changes’, ‘Starman’, ’Rebel Rebel’, ‘Fame’ and ‘Golden Years’ and ‘Heroes’. Later in his career he would make deliberate references to his Major Tom character, for example, the song ‘Ashes to Ashes’ (1980) contains the lyric, ‘Ashes to ashes, funk to funky/ We know Major Tom’s a junkie’. Among the many awards he achieved throughout his career was his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 2006. Bowie’s final album ‘Blackstar’ was released on his 69th birthday, just two days before his death and became his tenth album to top the charts in the UK. Bowie’s aim was never to abide by the social expectations of 1970s Britain, and this became apparent even in the early days. His 1972 album ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’ features the persona Ziggy Stardust, a bisexual alien rockstar. Bowie’s own sexuality came into question numerous times: at first he claimed in an interview to be gay, then later clarified that he was bisexual, before eventually professing that he had always been a ‘closeted heterosexual’. Another area of ambiguity was his relationship with Mick Jagger, which according to Bowie’s ex-wife Angie was at many times more than platonic, though neither party even confirmed this. Many believe that Bowie was in fact attracted to both genders: in a 2002 interview he stated, "I don't think it was a mistake in Europe, but it was a lot tougher in America. I had no problem with people knowing I was bisexual. But I had no inclination to hold any banners nor be a representative of any group of people." Regardless of his actual preferences, his liberal attitudes significantly contributed to growing acceptance at the time, ultimately resulting in improved gay rights and gender equality. Tragically, the star passed away over five years ago, on January 10, 2016 after a long battle with liver cancer. Grief was widespread, with temporary memorials being created in the cities where he resided, including London, New York and Berlin. Mick Jagger, Iggy Pop
and Debbie Harry were just a few of the musicians to pay their respects to the late singer; even Kate Bush told The Guardian in an interview that there was ‘no one like him’. In the following weeks, sales of his records skyrocketed, and his songs once again started to make the charts. To this day, no one has impacted the music industry in the same way as David Bowie, and it is likely that we will never again witness a performer quite like him.
A Big Merry Christmas to everyone here at Roding Valley High School - I hope you all have a lovely holiday and enjoy your time off! Big big thanks to everyone at RVHS ‘Exposed’ who has helped out with this edition, and a special thanks to our editors Joseph James, Tommy Yeomans, Lola Boyle, and Miss Richards