Pembroke Street 2 0 1 5
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Part 1 : Maydays 1. Sunny afternoon : The Kinks
2. Signed, sealed, delivered (I’m yours) : Stevie Wonder
3. Meet me there : Nick Mulvey
4. Forty Day Dream : Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
5. Ooooh La La : Faces Part 2 : Nights Ballin’ 1. Handsome : The Vaccines
2. We play the Music : Ed Solo & the Skool of Thought
3. Sufferagette Sufferagette : Everything Everything
4. Soundtracks and Comebacks : goldfish 5. Flashlight : Parliament
Playlist : Jamie Billington Photo : Matt Harrison Cover Illustration : Hannah Stewart
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Editor’s Note Sitting at my desk in 5 Pembroke street, I look out over your russet- coloured rooftops, wondering just how many chimneys you have. Perhaps forty? Fifty? As a photographer, your architectural beauty has been a great source of inspiration these past three years. I provide a few examples of some of your more intricate features on page 19. Despite being in plain sight, these are all too frequently overlooked when rushing about daily Cambridge life. Of course, there is far more to you than the bricks and mortar which form your physical exterior. In the midst of a hectic exam term, I interviewed some of your longer-term occupants, asking them to reflect on their experiences as a Valencian. They spoke of how unpredictable, varied and homely life here is: from all-nighters in the
computer room, watching friends get in from Cindies (John King), to summer evenings lying on the bowling green eating fish and chips under the stars (Alex NicolHarper pg. 8), and to that classic ‘Angels moment’ as bop draws to a close (Rose Naing pg. 20). It's hard to imagine how we would navigate the stresses of Cambridge life without you. These pages are a testimony to just how special you are. So, here's to you, Pembroke.
Holly Clothier JPC Publications Officer Easter 2015 Photo: Matt Harrison
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Contents Mindfulness Matthew McConkey ............................................6 Freshers to Finals Charlotte Chorley ..............................................10 Pembroke Portraits Finalists..............................................................14 Porter Love Finalists..............................................................16 Hidden Pembroke..............................................19 Bops: An Anthropological perspective Jess Farmery .....................................................21 Ivy Court Katharine Griffiths..............................................22 Photography by Matt Harrison, Mark Nelson, Holly Clothier & Gwilym Rowbottom
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Mindfulness in Pembroke
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“Can you hear the raisin?” Matthew McConkey, founder of the Pembroke Mindfulness Circle, reflects on his first experiences with meditation
Thirty people are sitting in a circle. Some look interested, some amused – most just look a bit puzzled. We have each been given a raisin, which we're now appraising with an odd kind of ceremonial reverence. "How does the raisin look?" asks a soothing voice. We duly inspect the raisin. "How does it feel?" A few people start stroking the raisin. Then there's a pause. "Can you hear the raisin?” There are a few giggles, and the atmosphere lightens as we look around at each other. We're gathered here for an eight-week introduction to mindfulness, run by the newly appointed University Mindfulness Practitioner, Dr Elizabeth English. 'Mindfulness' is a bit of a buzz word at the moment, and its popularity is only increasing. It has been integrated into an range of practices, from counselling to investment banking. This great success can only be attributed to the simplicity of the idea, which is simply paying attention – to the present moment, to yourself. And accepting what you find.
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Do you have a memorable Pembroke experience you can share? What randomly springs to mind is an evening last Easter term, when I'd just got back to college with a couple of friends after getting chips from Coast for dinner: we took them out onto the Bowling Green and lay on the grass looking up at the stars and listening to the hustle and bustle of others out enjoying the warm evening - a seemingly insignificant moment but one which will always be very evocative of Pembroke
- Alex Nicol-Harper
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The eight-week course at Pembroke and a few other colleges is a bit of a guinea-pig run. Dr English has been appointed for one year to undertake research on the effect of mindfulness on the wellbeing and academic achievement of students. So the course is "intended to support well students to study and thrive." And it's evident that this goal is on the students' minds as well: when asked to explain our motivation for joining the workshop, a lot of people talked about focus, productivity and attention. These are all cultivated my mindfulness – if you can concentrate on your big toe for minutes at a time you'll have no bother wading through a history of Irish independence for an hour. I came in wanting to improve my attention, but more than anything I wanted to learn how to switch off, or maybe switch gears between work and play. Mindfulness was enormously beneficial in this respect. It is a practice which you undertake in isolated and integrated ways, as it involves 'proper' meditation, as well as just feeling an awareness of walking, playing sport, taking a shower. It teaches you that you are not a study robot, a Cambridge student, a future head-exec or anything else: you are a being. If I'm going a bit airy fairy, it's because I'm a convert. And if your reaction to this is scepticism, I can only urge you to give it a go. This term I've set up the Pembroke Mindfulness Circle. It's an informal group meeting a couple of times a week for thirty minutes at a time: to meditate together, and talk about our experiences. If you'd like to know more about mindfulness, you can contact Greg Drott, our college rep for the CU Mindfulness Society, at gjwd2. It could be just the stress reliever you need. And in case you're wondering, you can hear a raisin when you squeeze it.
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Freshers Winter nights like white wine who cares for what we talked of in those hours that broke back against the sun and moon and stars.
Finals Summer nights and city lights remind us how to say goodbye to who we were and what we've learnt in the artefacts of angels.
By Charlotte Chorley
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Do you have a favourite photo from your time at Pembroke?
This photo is from Halfway Hall, and those in it with me are friends I made in the first week; most of them lived on my corridor. Although we all made other friends and formed new groups, it was lovely how close we all stayed. Pembroke has been an amazing place to call home for the last three years. Not only for the beautiful gardens and the supportive staff, from porters to supervisors, but also due to the fantastic people I've met here and the tight community of the college. I hope they all, and Pembroke itself, remain a part of my life. - Emily Whettlock
In the
other people sleep... Cambridge peo ple don’t real a s we d o - A l is o n Humphreys
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Ph o
to
:
ly wi
m
om ott b w Ro
e last three years I’ve lear n t
lise that it is n o t no rm a l to talk about sleep a s m u c h
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PEMBROKE PORTRAITS Do you have a favourite place in Pembroke? Liam: The IT room, simply because it's got me through the worst times in my life. I know that if I can conquer the IT room I can conquer anything. Chloe: Someone likened the IT room to the torture rooms in 1984 because of the artificial lighting. It totally dysregulates your sleep cycle. Liam: I think that's the beauty of the IT room. You just lose track of time. Which Hogwarts house would Pembroke be? Chloe: I think it would be like the illegitimate love-child of a Gryffindor and a Ravenclaw. You know, charming but also really really smart. Like if Cho Chang and Harry Potter had a baby... that would be us. John: I feel like Pembroke has to be Griffindor. And for it's character I'm gonna say Ron. He's lovable. Or maybe Neville actually, because it got better as time went on. Can you share a memorable bop experience? Alex: For the Out of this World bop I died my hair red in service of my costume. It was supposed to wash out in 2 days. 3 months later, still red. Liam: My sweatiest bop memory was in my first year. I was wearing a jungle onesie and it got so hot that the fire alarm went off and we all had to vacate the JP. Which food item will you miss most in trough? Spence: This is slightly controversial, but I actually really like heated canned tomatoes at brunch. Do you think you’ll come back to Pembroke? John: I'm sure I will creep around the place nostalgically if I ever stop into Cambridge. I think it'll be an obligatory pilgrimage. Photos top and bottom left: Mark Nelson Finalists: Chloe Ramambason, Liam Dauns, John King, Alex Kemp, Joseph Spencer (Spence)
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... I couldn’t disclose my favourite porter, I love them all - Rose Naing
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PORTER LOVE If you were stranded on a desert island and could have one porter with you who would it be?
Sarah
Chris
Steve
Paul
Chloe Ramambason Definitely Sarah... she’s just a new level of witty, and kinda cray. I mean, she’s chased me round college with a hammer before. If it was us versus a lion she would win.
Jamie Billington I think I’d champion Chris. He’s got the right level of sass. He never questions it when I turn up again with a flat tyre asking for the bike pump... sometimes for the third time in a fortnight.
Jack Oades I'd bring Steve. It would be fantastic to see him slowly gain control of things and ask if I had 'booked the beach'.
Liam Dauns I’d probably take Paul with me. I think he was one of the first porters I met and he’s always been so nice to me. He’d look out for me.
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What will you miss most about Pembroke? The spontaneity. When people go from asking you to do some chin-ups on a door-frame to inviting you to watch Brave with them in the same conversation. When the best, most energetic crowd you've ever had for a gig is in the JP, (with no amps working) and all the sound is just from one speaker. When a live music night is organised in your back-garden just for 20 people. It's constant. - Jack Oades
Can you identify where pictures 1-5 were taken in Pembroke? (answers on back cover)
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1 HIDDEN PEMBROKE
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5gold, this one for them hood girls them
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Do you have a favourite bop memory? Consistently it's singing Angels at the end with your friends. Without a doubt. No matter what other sort of crazy stuff goes on it's always that moment where everyone chimes in. You end up linking with someone. Even if it's not someone you really know, you become friends in that moment, just by virtue of being in Pembroke and sharing that end-of-bop moment. That's by far one of my favourites. - Rose Naing
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Bops: An Anthropological Perspective By Jess Farmery In this article I shall attempt to prove that two years of tuition fees have not entirely been wasted on me, as I utilise my anthropological and ethnographic skills to analyse the social phenomenon that is the Pembroke 'bop'. I argue that bops serve to cement social ties amongst attendees, whilst providing a safety valve release mechanism for the pressure which builds on students during termtime. It enables students to step outside of their socially constructed roles, and the night serves to break down interpersonal walls whilst providing a cathartic opportunity for childish behaviour. The first aspect of bop which should be addressed is the fancy dress theme. A balance must be struck between putting in absolutely no effort (which makes you seem lazy and boring), and going totally over the top (which makes you seem like you have too much free time and an unhealthy relationship with glitter). The perfect costume must be eye-catching, witty, innovative, and sexualwithout-being-slutty. The costume which an attendee chooses can serve as a communicatory tool, providing clear cues to other attendees about the wearer'spersonality, humour, and intentions for the night. The wearing of fancy dress is also a crucial component of the 'regression to childhood' element of bops- it can all become slightly reminiscent of a primary school birthday party. It is of near universal agreement that bops are a lot more fun when enough alcohol has been consumed to ensure that inhibitions are relaxed or abandoned by all. British reserve mixed with the awkwardness and embarrassment of the occasion is not conducive to the ideal bop atmosphere. Therefore alcohol is regarded to be of vital importance as social lubricant, and is generally consumed in an attempt to achieve a state of drunkenness rather than as part of an enjoyable drink. The reasons students often have such enthusiasm to become inebriated may be due to the effect of shared drunken experiences contributing to the creation and maintenance of group bonds, via the creation of stories which establish a sense of commonality and group belonging. The re-telling of such tales in the future cements this group solidarity. Often social status and peer respect can be achieved by consuming large quantities of alcohol, especially amongst males. Additionally, one is able to absolve oneself from any embarrassing or otherwise ill-advised behaviour by blaming the effects of one too many 'boptails'.
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Sketch: Katharine Griffiths
Ritualised behaviour is meant to inspire 'transcendence of the self' and generate feelings of belonging to some larger reality. In this case, that larger reality is the college. The singing of 'Angels' is an example of a ritualised, collective practice which serves a similar purpose as the singing of a national anthem at sporting events. It encourages the singers to lose their individuality within the totality, whilst generating emotional attachments to this totality. Bops provide opportunities for undergraduates from all years and subjects to participate in a common celebration of the college as a social unit, thus reinforcing this unit. Although the above analysis addresses only a select few elements within the total phenomenon, I hope that when you embark on your next bop you will feel able to appreciate the complex symbolism and social dynamics of the event.
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learnt in the artefacts of angels- Charlotte Chorley
goodbye to who we were and what we’ve
Summer nights and city lights remind us how to say
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Answers: 1. Old Court, 2. Chimney Court, 3. The Library, 4. Ivy Court, 5. The Library
To get involved in the next issue, email jp-publications@pem.cam.ac.uk