HT17 Wk. 8 Ed. 9
Happy 8th week Pembroke! The vac is fast approaching and soon the year will be two thirds done (!!!) While the Freshers can’t believe that it’s barely been six months since they first nervously crossed the metaphorical Pemb threshold (the pemb-hold, if you will), Finalists are frantically clutching at their final few weeks of carefree youth (*cough* apart from finals *cough*) before entering the big wide world. So enjoy the final Hilary edition of the Pink Times (treasure it while you can Finalists), have a glorious vac, and don’t miss us too much! Lots of love, Sophie and Lily
Contents Doppelgangers bop
pg. 3
Interview with Ball Presidents
pg. 4
Bop Memes
pg. 5
Art Fund Anniversary Exhibition
pg. 6-7
The Night Darts Won
pg. 8-9
Charity Photo Competition
pg. 10-11
A Russian Winter
pg. 12-13
Hope
pg. 14-15
Torpids
pg. 16-17
Spot the Panther
18-19
Front and back cover: Wanda V. Knobelsdorff
Exclusive Interview with Ball Presidents Ella Siney and Isobel Frankis! What’s the biggest disaster you've had to deal with so far while organising the ball? Karl posting a picture of a naked man (who was pulling Bianca Jagger’s horse) on the Facebook page.
Have you encountered any problems with college in the process of organising the Ball? They immediately shot down our plans for a roller disco
What are the high (and low) lights of the job? And lastly, any exclusive’s that you can reveal to the Pink Times? The highlight is definitely a free ball ticket, We’ve hopefully secured the Mirror Man! but the lowlight is having to work for the entire ball.
What aspect of the ball are you most excited about? The music
If you could have anyone, living or dead, perform at Pembroke Ball, who would it be? The Beegees
We look forward to welcoming you to the Pembroke Ball on the 12th of May, 2017. Tickets are still available.
Welcome to Memebroke Hazel Ellender and Rebeccah Williams As of 6th week, Pembroke has become the first Oxford college to elect official Meme Reps (we always have been at the cutting edge of student politics) and so now there’s a new reason to dread the uploading of pics post bop...
Art Fund Anniversary Exhibition Meris Ryan-Goff
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The anniversary exhibition - which opens on 24th April 2017 - will form a narrative to guide the viewer through the progression of the collection, from the Art Fund’s formation to the ‘Bacon years’, until the present day, with out latest acquisition, ‘Basketball Court’ by Grace Thompson (pictured). We have chosen some of our favourite pieces, and the works that we see
he Pembroke JCR Art Fund has been an integral part of college life and cultural experience for 70 years: founded in 1947 by mature as the ‘highlights’ of the collection, but this student, Anthony Emery, who was appalled selection is by no means comprehensive of a at his contemporaries’ lack of knowledge of collection of more than 200 works. contemporary art. The legacy of this inspired and ground-breaking project is even more visible in 2017 than ever before.
“This art deserves to be celebrated.”
Emery’s intention to promote and educate students about ‘the art of our time’ continues to be at the heart of the Art Fund’s endeavours. The art of Emery’s time now stands alongside the art of 2017, and the art The Art Committee looks forward to of each of the seven decades in between. welcoming you to this exhibition, and to launching this landmark catalogue!
“Promoting and educating students about ‘the art of our time’ continues to be at the heart of the Art Fund’s endeavours.”
Our special-edition 70th Anniversary catalogue commemorates both our founder, Anthony Emery, as well as tracing the rich and sometimes surprising history of the collection. With works by Minton, Piper, Calder, Wyndham Lewis, Chadwick, Cooke and Fedden among the highlights of the Pembroke collection, this art deserves to be truly celebrated.
Meaningful Vision will open in first week of Trinity Term 2017
Wanda V. Knobelsdorff
The Night Darts Won Patrick Kenny
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scalating rumours of a fresher consistently hitting 20’s, the launch of a frenzied social media campaign, and a palpable buzz throughout the college culminated in a Friday night sporting event of colossal proportions: the annual Pembroke Darts Competition. Despite Jos “The Elder Statesman” McShane’s senile moment with a misspelled – though still impressive – snapchat filter, a strong contingent of competitors and supporters arrived at the college bar to cheer on some cracking matches. The darting gods/Issy Darby had drawn a number of filthy first round clashes: the battle of the freshers between Casini and Foulkes, the engineering duo of Bernon and Ehr, and the bookies favourite, Chaube, throwing against a promising Henderson.
This last match was of particular note: with little regard to perceived pedigree, the “Banter King” was ruthless, and Chaube confirmed himself as the tournaments biggest fraud early doors; echoes of ‘How’s your bottle?!’ quickly evolved into ‘You’re utter scum!” from punters who had backed the pre-tournament favourite at 5/1 odds. As the tournament progressed, debates grew heated among the increasingly rowdy fans in the bar: would Henderson be able to continue his form? Would Mohsen retaliate to the ‘You’re a shit bloke’ chants? Is Rich “Mysterious” Griffith actually Ellen Degeneres?
Although Alicia “Ali G” Glennon failed to follow up on her Facebook fighting chat, Romy “The Cat” Catmull had an exceptional run, dominating Southworth, Doyle, and Wragg, before falling in the semis. On the other side of the draw, last year’s finalist, Lawrence “The Lion” Wroe’s roar was a mere meow, while James “Robbo” Robson was efficiently dispatching anyone who dared cross him.
“The night climaxed with what can only be described as a worldie of a final” Throughout the evening, Pascal “The Triangle” Foster, Jack “King in the North” Harrison, and Issy “The Destroyer” Darby were masterfully compèring the evening: walk-on tunes and repetitive renditions of “Chase the Sun” had the crowd buzzing with infectious energy, only briefly dampened by a performance of “Movement” (https://soundcloud.com/ richardgriffith - apparently you can even donate to him). Harrison’s scoring displayed his E&M credentials – best of luck with the Desmond avoidance – and Eggy “Egg Man” Eghleilib kept on top of the complicated darts machinations.
The Pembroke Darts twitter account was kept active with frequent tweets from the ecstatic fans, including some international appreciation and a coveted retweet from MvGStats, while “The Elder Statesman” continued a steady production of amusing placards, to ensure everyone knows how politically erudite he is. The night climaxed with what can only be described as a worldie of a final. The “Banter King” and “Robbo” marched to the far end of the quad, for a live-streamed walk-on. Robson went to work on BK straight away: asked why he was keeping his darts in the crook of his arm he pointed out that the warmth would give better grip – Henderson knew he was dealing with a legend in the making. The tension intensified as these two titans of the darting world marched into the dark arena of the bar, lapping up the adoration of the fans as the historic chamber resounded with the chants of “BK” and “Robbo”. The first darts to be thrown would decide who would go first and the closest to the bullseye would make the call. Robson stepped up, dart in hand: Bull. Henderson turned, his face contorted into momentary consternation: “Faaaaack”. Henderson’s own dart landed an inch away, and Robson held up two fingers – Henderson would throw first.
Henderson’s first darts totalled a strong 68, a real marker set down to his opponent. Robson was unfazed and took the first three legs; Henderson took the next leg but it was soon 4-1 to Robson, going into what he hoped would be the final round. But what drama: a tie after three darts. Each combatant threw one dart each to see who would take the round. Robson hit a strong 18, and Henderson stepped up to the oche announcing that he would take a 19. The dart spun away from his fingers and thudded into the bottom left-hand side of the wheel – a triple three.
There was a moment of utter calm before a cry from Harrison pierced the silence: “Robbo’s won it!”. And a storm of joy and noise broke throughout the bar. Chants of “Robbo’s coming home” rang out as the Pembroke Darts Champion rose above the masses to take a glorious video-selfie of a crowd briefly unshackled from the demanding schedules of student life, and who were instead giving voice to the unbridled spirit that can arise from only the greatest sporting contests.
Arise, James “Sir Bobby” Robson.
Charity Photo Competition All proceeds going to The Oxford Dignity Drive
Third: Wanda V. Knobelsdorff
Winner: Wanda V. Knobelsdorff
Second: Irene (submitted by Anna Yamakoa)
The Oxford Dignity Drive is a University wide student-led initiative, which aims to increase access to sanitary products for homeless people in the city. We have all been confronted with Oxford’s growing homelessness problem, often on Pembroke’s own doorstep, and such a simple project can make a huge difference to those
that we see suffering on the streets every day. As well as having a charity pub quiz and a collection point in our JCR and MCR, Gender Equalities Rep Rebecca O’Brien launched a photography competition, raising £60 In total.
A Russian Winter
One of the essential and much-loved features of these stifling classrooms is our Kamchatka-born literature teacher, Olga, who will fight anyone who dares so Rebecca Boyd much as raise a cynical eyebrow at her assertions about Russian politics and culture. As soon as she catches a whiff of disagreement, she will not rest until ne of the main reasons why I was excited she has exposed to us why we are wrong to doubt for my year abroad was to be able to tell what she is saying, whether it be that Pushkin’s wife people that I survived the real Russian did not cheat on him or that Russian circuses’ winter, and when we first saw the treatment of animals is completely ethical. But Olga temperature forecasts drop to 0º in October, and soon and others like her, for all their ardent patriotism, are –18º in November, our frozen solace was indeed that treasure troves of knowledge, and it’s a delight to we would be able to show off our stoic heroism on listen to them talk about Soviet life, from the banned Snapchat. Since those early, endearingly innocent books their uncles lent them in secret to the reddays, we have seen temperatures low as –35º and necktie uniforms they wore as Young Pioneers. lived to tell the tale – but the Russian winter is really much more homely than the extreme figures make it seem. For one thing, the temperatures only drop really low for a day or two at a time; and for another, we have only to walk the brief distance from our trolleybus stop to the university building before we are forced to shed our coats and, incidentally, almost every layer covering our bodies in the ridiculously overheated classrooms. Russians may be hardwired to endure the cold, but they also really like overheating interiors, and then promptly complaining about how stuffy it is.
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“When asked how we would describe the Russian character… the first word which came to mind was ‘proud’.”
Naturally, a lot of aspects of Soviet culture have endured and still have their place in everyday life. The food, for example. Where to start. One of the most amazing traits of the Russian babushka is her ability to fry things you would never have thought to fry – syrniki, one of the most classic dishes, is quite literally fried cottage cheese. And after decades of a shortage of meat, they know better than to be fussy about the particulars; when I once asked what the meat on my plate was, the blunt answer was, “Meat.” If you’re not fond of pasta dripping sunflower oil and mystery meat, don’t assume you’ll be able to stuff up on your greens: some hosts claim they can’t buy vegetables because the sanctions have made them so expensive. Meanwhile, others claim they have barely noticed the difference. “Sanctions? What sanctions?” as Olga would say.
“They can be incredibly generous, in ways which I have rarely witnessed in Western Europe.”
This kind of political bravado is commonplace here in Russia. When one of our teachers asked us how we would describe the Russian character, which Churchill lazily labelled as enigmatic, the first word which came to mind was ‘proud’. Russians are first and foremost a fiercely proud people, with a strong sense of their own worth – but this does not exclude curiosity and interest for the unknown and the unfamiliar. And despite their not-unfounded reputation for coldness towards strangers, they can be incredibly generous, in ways which I have very rarely witnessed in Western Europe. Russia may be mad but, at the end of the day, we’re all mad here, on this planet we call our own.
Maisie Vollans
#2BD1
to gain promotion from Division Four. Had there not been an incident on Day Two Justin Sutherland involving a slightly enthusiastic pull on the rudder strings, the bank and a sudden loss of momentum, W2 would surely have won their orpids, the winter version of bumps blades but mishaps are a part of the rough held every March on the Isis, was a and tumble of Bumps racing, as the name success for Pembroke again this suggests. year. Following a training camp in Seville at the end of last term, it comes as no surprise as the general spirit and attitude The next best placed second within the whole club has once again been exemplary. men’s boat is some twenty places
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below Pembroke 2” The leading men's boat, M1, finished top of all boats racing, first in Division One with the second boat, M2, finishing eleventh in Division One. To give some context, the next best-placed second men's boat is Wadham 2, who are seventh in Division Three, some twenty places below Pembroke 2.
Speaking from the coach's perspective I must record how impressed I continue to be by the bonhomie and commitment shown by the Pembroke students I coach. Not only do newcomers to the sport disregard the cold, dark winter mornings as inconsequential but it is a thrill to deal with such an unremittingly Over on the women's side, W1 finished fifth in positive bunch of people. Division One and W2 rocketed up four places
overall, the crew did just enough to keep But we did not have everything our own way thoughts of blades (and the elusive Double Headship) alive for next year. this year. The Boat Club's lofty intercollegiate ranking brings with it a certain attention, most often from the likes of our closest rivals like Wadham and Christchurch on the women's side and Oriel foremost amongst the men's.
This year Oriel's M1 were hot on our heels from Day One and closed by half a length on Wednesday and a length on Friday before we pulled away again. On Thursday we had opened up a gap so the final day was delicately set up for a showdown. In the event, my early nerves proved unjustified as we rowed beautifully off the start, finishing three lengths clear and going away at a canter by the end. Despite their thumping, Oriel were good natured after the event and generous in their praise - as we were of them.
W1 had a harder ride but, despite losing two places and ending up a creditable fifth
“But we did not have everything our own way this year…” Special thanks are due to Chris Liang, who has done a remarkable job in managing the men as Captain this year despite only taking up the sport last year and to Claire Smark who has once again provided the necessary organisation for the women's squad.
The next task is to plan for the Summer campaign, starting this week.