Natalie Vincent

So we are now two weeks away from the most radical referendum this country has seen - the outcome of this vote could potentially change the way our General Election votes are counted - not, if you vote no. This isn't a blog post designed as propaganda for the Yes vote, by the way. I might as well say straight off the bat that I will be voting YES, purely as the NO camp haven't come up with any decent or considered arguments for their cause. And the less said about the Tories or the BNP's involvement the better.... No, this blog is not pushing for YES or NO, just for people to get out there and VOTE. There is a worrying amount of voter apathy in the air - brought on in part by the leadership of one Mssr Clegg. As hated as he is by students, liberals alike, some quarters are considering avoiding the vote altogether. WHY??? Yes, it would be a good kick in the nuts to Clegg for whoring his soul away for some Downing St action, but we run a very real risk of cutting our noses o...

I wanted to write a response to this Guardian article I saw. However, I just kept writing and that I actually wanted to write this for my blog. As we now approach the summer 'blockbuster' film season, the final instalment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows beckons, feverishly anticipated by millions of fans. Of course, fans of these and other books already know what becomes of their heroes; so why must we anxiously see it on the big screen? For me, it boils down to a conflict between wanting to see if a director's vision for a book plays out with mine on-screen, and then resignation at how much of the story is cut out from the final edit. For example, my first disappointment in the Harry Potter series came in Alfonso Cauron's The Prisoner of Azkaban when he switched the mysterious gift of a Firebolt broom to the closing scenes. It removed much of the suspenseful build-up to revealing Harry's 'would-be' murderer, and replaced it with a rushed, smug...