Jack Cooper

It's not exactly a hidden secret that I am an obsessive car nut; I always have been, and frankly, I probably always will be. At the ripe old age of 20, I've had my licence for three years now, and yet, curiously, I haven't had a car to my name since summer 2017.

The answer as to why that's so is, rather predictably, university. The hashtag student life suddenly makes you really rather poor, so much so that running a car just isn't economical. But I've finished for the summer, I've got a job, and because of that, I now have a new set of wheels. Read on to find out the good, the bad, and the ugly about my 'new' 2007 Corsa 1.3CDTI Design.

If you have a Facebook account, and live in a place of residence that isn't anything smaller than a hamlet, then chances are you've probably heard of the fabled 'Spotted' Facebook pages.

The 'Spotted' phenomenon really took off in 2013 across the United Kingdom, and has since remained strong for many local communities. Spotted pages rely on the locals to drive their content; residents are encouraged to message the page with anything they wish, and the administrator of the page will forward that message into a post that every member of the page can view. Common posts typically include breaking local news, upcoming local events, and general questions about the local area. For Coventry, posts reach over 60,000 people.

60,000 followers for a page is no mean feat, and it's safe to assume that the people behind running such a page have a lot of maintenance and management to keep up. Bearing in mind that all of this work is selflessly for the benefit of the Coventry community and is completely unpaid, I therefore think that the admins of the Spotted pages are, in my opinion, the hidden local heroes of your community. They go about doing their jobs unnoticed, unpaid, and uncredited. With such selfless and time-consuming work, what is the drive for an administrator to continuously maintain a Spotted page?

316,000 strong population, all connected together by one selfless, generous individual online

I got in touch with the administrator of Spotted: Coventry City to find out just that, and more. They kindly agreed to talk to me, but wished to remain anonymous.

"I think that Spotted really does unite the city, because it gets people who would otherwise never talk to each other to unite over problems and queries"

"I don't have a favourite post specifically, but one of my favourite things that Spotted does is help local residents have a voice, and a platform. There's no better page out there to ask for help about a missing pet, or to help find a criminal who's broken into your car, in my opinion."

It's clear that the administrator really does believe in the power of Spotted, and how it plays a role in the modern Internet-connected local community. But what is their motivation to continue running the page for free?

"Running this page just gives a feel-good factor; it's really nice to know that you're helping the residents of Coventry come together."

"I think [the motivation comes from] the knowledge in knowing that Spotted makes a difference. It brings issues and events into the spotlight. The amount of regular participation the page sees tells me that the people of Coventry do indeed enjoy Spotted, and that goes a long way to keep me motivated to maintain this page." 

Should everyone in Coventry participate with Spotted?

"Certainly so. You never know when your help might be needed for the locals around you, or when you may need help yourself! The Spotted community is a really nice, helpful place for discussion, and even helps grab the attention of the council at times."

But perhaps most importantly: do they believe they are a local hero?

"Ha, I don't think so. I don't think serving the community should be something seen as heroic - it should be something that everybody should try and aim to do."

It certainly isn't surprising that the administrator doesn't want to be known as a local hero. But in my eyes, they are. The amount of time and resources that have to be given up to maintain a 60,000-strong Facebook page that many of whom rely on cannot be downplayed.

So next time you participate with your local Spotted page, pause for a moment and consider the person behind the page. This person will be giving up their time for their love of the local community, and as such, the locals of Coventry and other settlements across the nation have their towns and cities enhanced just that little bit further.

Photo: Coventry City Council

17th March 2018

The 2018 Coventry Half Marathon, which was set to take place on Sunday 18th March, has been cancelled.

To say "life is a blur" is a statement that's all too easy to push away, and disregard as an overused cliché. After all, we all live lives. To say that life is a rollercoaster to a fellow human is not going to be breaking news for them. And yet, it's almost impossible not to say at times - times such as starting your first ever week of Higher Education.

But before I get to that, I want to briefly slam this train of thought into reverse gear and reflect back on my previous form of education - Sixth Form. Right up until the summer months of 2016, I was essentially spoon-fed all my tasks and information; my only job was to memorise all the alphabet soup that was being injected into my brain. All 'reading' was done in class, and all homework was non-critical to the final grades. It was essentially education on cruise control.

Almost whilst sleepwalking, it feels as though I have just stepped into a completely different life. Suddenly I find myself saying goodbye to Bedfordshire (mind you, not much love lost there), and hello to this strange new place they call Coventry. Suddenly I have my own living space, I'm making my own meals, I'm doing all the chores, and managing more bills. It is, understandably, incredibly overwhelming to take in.

Welcome to the Jungle

Thankfully Universities are not oblivious to that fact. One of the major things that occur to help you settle in is something called 'Induction Week', where all the modules and tutors are introduced to you. That has been and gone for me now, so I want to use this little slice of a webpage to reflect back on how this first week has gone for me.

However, as important as Induction is, if I wrote solely about that then I would be completely neglecting the 'other' side to the student life. And no, there's more to the other side than just alcohol. Not much more, granted, but enough to write about.

Let's start with the accommodation. From the very moment I took a step into my private room, it hit me, and it hit me hard. All this is here was mine, and mine only. All of this that I see in front of me is now solely my responsibility to upkeep. I was nervous but damn excited to have my own freedom. The thought of doing what I want, when I want was making me giddy with excitement, but I knew it wasn't going to be plain sailing.

"Home", sweet "home"

With the first day fears quickly eradicating, it was time to tackle Induction. Once again, this was another time to have butterflies in my stomach, simply because I didn't have a hoot of a clue of what to expect. However, there was only one way to find out...

The easiest way I can sum Induction up is this: whoever originally came up with such an idea, I owe my life to them. As someone who is inherently a bit on the quiet side, Induction really allowed me to settle into the groove of things before the modules had even begun. Tutors were warm and friendly, guest speakers were insightful and fascinating, and course mates approachable and funny. I was particularly engaged with the lead editor of Yahoo Movies UK, Tom Butler, whose brilliant combination of humour and intellect provided a unique insight into the world of online journalism, and how the trade works, right down to the nitty-gritty.

So here I am, on the other side of the first week. I now know where my rooms are, who my tutors are, what my modules are about, and even have a few decent friendships forming already. Now, if only someone could teach me how to perfect ironing...

As I'm fairly certain that you as the reader can attest to, no two days are ever the same when it comes to the moods you feel from day-to-day; the world is just way too big and unpredictable to let you go hours and hours without some form of mood change. The thing I find about these changes in emotion is that it doesn't only change your perception of your surrounding environment, but it also affects how you see yourself.

I'm a very tall person, and always have been in the relative sense. Growing up, I was always the tallest in class, or at least in the top 2, and I finally settled at a fairly notable 6"3' when I was around 17 years old. Granted, it's not a crazy tall height, but it's enough to be the subject of all the small talk at family gatherings.

My relationship with my height has very much been one that's love-hate, depending on my mood for the day. On some (predominantly sunny) days, I can appreciate the fact that I'm tall like a stereotypical man, and that I've never had issues reaching top shelves of shops or home cupboards. On the other hand, sometimes I completely and utterly hate the attention that my height brings me. I'm introverted through and through, so sticking out like a sore thumb in a crowd is not something I always want. And that's before we've moved on to my biggest gripe...

Body stereotypes are annoying. These days we're told to more or less ignore them, and that they're just constructed by the media - which is true. But both girls and guys are both equally as likely to fall into the trap of comparing themselves with what the 'ideal' physique is. Some could say it's a far bigger issue with girls, but I'm not here to argue that today. All that needs to be said is that I've fallen into the trap in the past before, and it's not nice.

Damn media and their unreasonable ideal body representations

It is, admittedly, quite hard to become morbidly obese when you grow upwards at a vast rate of knots. To put it crudely, when some people were using their energy to grow outwards, I was still using mine to grow closer to the clouds. And while that's all well and good, the downside of that is you tend to become quite slender.

I without doubt eat well over 2,500 calories every day, but I still look like I can fall through a crack in the pavement. My body is disproportionate; I've done too much upwards growing and not enough outwards growing - which takes me back to my point of 'ideal bodies'. I'm disproportionate compared to the models in magazines, but the mainstream media is powerful enough to convince me - and probably you - that those bodies are the right bodies.

It's hard to wrap this blog post up, actually. Usually I find some solution to the problem, and all is well with the world once again. But this time it's a lot harder, because any solution I do think of will be personal and anecdotal, and would therefore be neglecting the (likely) billions of other people having the same sort of worry. It just makes me wonder how much worse this is going to get, now we have the Internet and whatnot. 

Ahh, life updates, perhaps the ultimate case of getting readers to shout angrily "Who gives a flying fuck?" Indeed, I'm very aware that the market potential for reading into a 19-year-old customer assistant's life is relatively narrow, but at the same time, I sometimes like to use this blog as a bit of a diary-esque kind of thing. If that isn't your cuppa, then I totally get you; I wouldn't give a toss, either.

But anyway, here's a flattering recent picture of me, so the post link on the blog home page has an image attached to it. Professionalism.



The last time I did a post like this, it was last summer when I got my A-level results. At the time, they seemed really important to me, and that I had passed one of the biggest milestones of my life. And while that can indeed be argued for, when I look back on it now, it just seems like a mere flash in the pan. My life has moved on loads since that day, and to even think just 9 months ago I was still at school is crazy. It just seems like such a distant memory.

My plan at the time was to not go to university, because the costs of it all repulsed me. I knew, of course, that it was all on loan, and that if I earned less than £21k it wouldn't be repayable, yadda yadda yad. I just didn't fancy being in debt. I suppose it scared me, in a way. Also, I was in the mindset that what I wanted to do (journalism) was something that's gained through experience, not degrees. Again, there are two legitimate sides to this argument, but I won't waste my typing on that one.

Come September 2016. It was just over a month since I got my results, and several months since I last went to school. All of my friends had now gone to university, which essentially left me alone in my home town, doing my customer assistant job day in, day out.

I would like to quickly interject and say I have nothing against my job. In fact, I really quite like it. But what grates on you after a while is the fact that suddenly I had almost nobody to hang out with whenever I felt like it. And while I knew it was possible to get into journalism through merit alone, it became very apparent as the weeks passed that I was making it far more difficult for myself than it had to be.

By the end of that September, I was talking to my friend Connor in the evening through Facebook when I suddenly declared to him that I was going to attend university in September 2017. Bear in mind I had given no proper prior thought to this - it just burst out. Much to my amazement, I haven't looked back since. If I wanted to be all cringe, I would say this was the 'inner me' finally coming out of its shell. But you and I both know that's bull.

So much of the autumn and winter months were spent researching and applying. Considering, as I said, I made this announcement completely on the whim, I had to sort everything out right from scratch. I had to research dozens of universities, craft a UCAS application without any school support, and (admittedly at my own will) check out some potential unis in person. I wouldn't say it was tiresome or overwhelming, but it is a challenge to make sure you pick the place that's right for you. After all, you would be spending years of your life there, and maybe even be based there for your future living indefinitely.

To save you additional reading, the two places that I'd be really happy to go to is either Uni of Sussex, or Coventry Uni. I place Sussex higher purely based on location and scholarship options, but either one would be awesome. And I can happily report I have received an offer from Coventry!

They call it conditional, but the only condition is I provide proof of my results (the certificates), to make sure I'm not a lying bastard. As long as I do that, I'm in bois. And that honestly makes me really happy. It will be a new, exciting chapter of my life, and I really hope the next 7 months fly by, because I really cannot wait to start.

So what a turnaround. I was adamant just 6 months ago that uni wasn't the way, and that it was best to build money and be lucky with my blog. And, you know what, that may still be the best way. But my gut instinct changed, and I really didn't want to fight against it. I suppose if there needed to be a cheesy ending to this post, Never say Never. Bleugh.

This post does contain spoilers.

I will be the first to freely admit that I'm not much of a movie guy. Sure, I will sit down and watch a theatrical release (and perhaps even enjoy it if the planets align), but they've just never really been my cup of tea. If I did have to only watch one genre of film for the rest of my life, though, I would probably put something light-hearted like a sitcom, or something a little slapstick. Basically, anything that doesn't require me to get invested and think about the plot.

So what was I doing watching a drama film at the cinema today? Well, when you're around your buddies, watching the animated kids' film probably isn't the best step to becoming socially competent. Plus, when you're at the cinema, you want something a bit more than just a production you switch your brain off at. Enter Lion.


I had honestly never heard of this film until today, but we were forced to look through the list of films that were on before entering, because neither of us particularly keep up with the latest releases, and I flat-out refuse to see La La Land. After reading the blurb, Lion sounded engaging - but I knew in the back of my head it had the chance to be cliché central.

The film opens with some beautiful-looking cinematography. Little did I know these exceptional shots would last throughout the entire film. We also immediately get introduced to the main character, 5-year-old Saroo, and his brother, who do hard labour for small earnings to essentially keep their family alive.

I don't want to do the whole plot rundown (even though I will spoil it anyway), but the basic thing you need to know is Saroo gets lost as his brother leaves him on a bench. Saroo - still only 5 at this point - gets back on the train, assuming it will take him back home. Little did he know he would be heading nearly 1,000 miles in the wrong direction.

We follow Saroo throughout the movie with his emotions being very clearly conveyed to the audience. In 10 minutes of movie time we see he goes from homeless, to being kidnapped, to being adopted by an Australian couple; it's quite obviously hectic for him. Upon being adopted, we see he shows signs of adapting to the new culture, before the movie suddenly jumps another 20 years.

All grown up, and on a mission

This was now essentially the 'second half' of the movie. Saroo is in his mid-20s, he speaks fluent English, and seems to have life in order. However, he has a mission: to find his mum. Even at the mature age, he has strong memories of his childhood, and even certain foods give him vivid flashbacks - vivid enough to set himself on a mission to find his real family.

What follows is what I can only call an emotional masterpiece. This movie shows pretty much every human emotion under the sun, and they're always displayed so appropriately, so elegantly, that it really hits you. I know I've already spoilt a lot of the movie, but I won't give away the ending. Just know it was an exceptional bomb of emotion - the cinema room was full of people sniffling. The way the movie showed direct comparisons of real life events at the end is very powerful, too. The characters were spot on. I didn't even know it was a real story, so to drop that bombshell at the end just makes everything more hard-hitting.

The story isn't deep or clever (why manipulate real life?), but the way it's shot, and the way everything is conveyed is nothing short of jaw dropping. This may have the same genre banner as EastEnders, but honestly, it's on another level. Trust me: I actually enjoyed it.

Edit (12/2/17): Lion managed to win two awards at the BAFTAs tonight! Thoroughly well deserved - I'm amazed it doesn't have the attention it deserves.