OR LOSERS?

THUMBS UP

JENNIFER LOPEZ has made a heroic stand for female empowerment, she says, by taking off most of her clothes for a magazine photoshoot this week. A long green sparkly drape and a discreet hand on her derriere barely covers her modesty but the lady proclaims that, in revealing herself to the world, she’s “hitting out against double standards in the industry”.

HATS OFF to the new singers brought in this week to replace Wets frontman Marti Pellow and Spandau Ballet’s Tony Hadley. But somehow you know it’s only a matter of time before the originals decide they’re missing the bright light their old bandmates once generated.

THUMBS DOWN

THE BBC SOUNDS app comes at a perfect time for the corporation, given the controversy surrounding the departure of Radio 2 successes Chris Evans and Simon Mayo and criticism over Lauren Laverne’s temporary stewardship of Desert Island Discs.

But will the podcast app, with its 80,000 hours of programming, be enough to keep the Beeb’s board happy when next year’s plummeting listener figures are announced?

THE NUMBER of children who have given up on learning a musical instrument at school has quadrupled, but a sharp rise in hopeful ukulele players could help cut losses. George Formby will be offering a toothy smile from above.

It was a challenge, stepping back into a classroom environment after being out of education since school in 1950. Those were the glory days for me, but university never seemed like an option at that time. When I was a child I developed epilepsy and hearing problems after a bomb hit my home in Maryhill during the Blitz. Studying at university meant I would have to prepare myself for listening and using the computer every day in classes, which made me nervous.

I enrolled at Strathclyde University’s Centre for Lifelong Learning in 2008, aged 75. Learning has always been important to me, whether it’s reading books, writing stories or picking up new hobbies, though I didn’t know what to expect from university. My friends and family were quite surprised when I told them because it was a whole new ballgame for me. My children and grandchildren have all been, so I felt it was my turn.

On the first day, the lecturer asked each person in the class to share their story and I met people from all walks of life. Most of them were in their fifties upwards; if we finished class early we would enjoy a coffee and listen to each other’s stories. Everyone had something interesting to say about life in the past and we had great discussions.

Class term lasted eight weeks and it was one subject from 10am until 4pm. The classes were geared towards learning later in life and at the end there were assessments. I passed each one, which encouraged me to start other studies, including classes in creative writing and genealogy. Genealogy involved searching for death and marriages on Scotland’s People and using diagrams to trace the family history. I learned all about my