Jazz star Tommy Smith sacked from Conservatoire role
A spokesperson added: "RCS has robust policies in place to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students and staff."Smith has had a prolific and successful music career and in 2009 was appointed as the inaugural head of the first-ever full-time jazz course at the RCS.He has been approached for comment.
Who is Tommy Smith?
Tommy Smith has been a star of the jazz world since his teens.He was born and brought up in the Wester Hailes housing scheme in Edinburgh and began playing while a pupil at the local secondary. He recorded his first album - Giant Strides - when he was just 16.He won a scholarship to study in the United States and was signed to the Blue Note jazz label at 22.He went on to found the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and has worked with many jazz greats including Johnny Dankworth, Cleo Laine and Miles Davis.A noted composer and arranger as well as a performer, Tommy Smith was awarded the OBE in 2019 and holds honorary doctorates from Heriot Watt University and the University of Edinburgh.
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The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
The thong bikini boom: why the skimpiest swimwear is back
There are plenty of places where no one would bat an eyelid at the sight of a thong bikini; on a beach in Brazil or around the Love Island fire pit, visible butt cheeks are practically de rigueur. But my first sighting this year was not while surfing in Australia or sunbathing in the Caribbean, but at an open-water swimming spot, on a rainy day in Scotland. I should not have been surprised. Tiny swimwear is huge news this summer. It is no longer confined to sunny climes, but cropping up everywhere from lidos to leisure centres – and lochs, apparently. The trickle down from catwalks and influencers to holidaymakers and shoppers is notable. A search for 'thong bikini' on Asos yields 187 results, ranging from high-leg styles, to side-tie, to tanga (somewhere between a thong and a standard brief), while high-street outlets including H&M, Calzedonia and Zara all have thong bikini bottoms in their collections. And, as with any trend, there are plenty of celebrity forerunners, including gymnast Simone Biles, model Heidi Klum, actor Sofía Vergara and singer Nicole Scherzinger. Rapper Lizzo is a longtime fan. 'I won't lie, it was nerve-racking initially,' says Victoria, 29, who wore a thong bikini for the first time on a recent solo trip to Naples. As for many new converts, part of the appeal lay in the fact that she would be able to avoid the significant tan lines created by fuller coverage swimwear. 'I saw thong bikinis everywhere and wished I could wear one. But then I thought about it and was like, it's just a bum. Men wear those teeny-tiny trunks where you see everything, so why can't I wear this? Plus, it was really comfy.' The itsy-bitsy bikini revolution may have come to the fore this summer, but it has been rumbling for some time. In 2023, the New York Times declared that 'more women are adopting the 'less is more' philosophy' when it comes to beachwear; the same year, fashion site Who What Wear called thong bikinis the 'controversial swimwear trend you'll see on every beach this summer'. In 2024, New Zealand site The Spinoff asked: 'Why is every bikini bottom a thong now?' 'I think we've moved into another age of body consciousness – a much more expressive moment,' says Shaun Cole, associate professor in fashion at the University of Southampton. 'People are saying: 'It's my body and I can show it off in ways that I choose to, and if that involves wearing clothing that is sometimes deemed socially unacceptable then I'm going to do that.'' Gen Z, in particular, are less inclined to restrict themselves to clothes deemed to be 'flattering' – a term that has fallen spectacularly out of favour. Thong bikinis, once the preserve of those who conformed to a particular body type, are now being manufactured in a more inclusive range of sizes and marketed more diversely. 'Women of all shapes and sizes are leaning into bolder cuts with real confidence as part of a wider cultural shift towards body positivity and self-expression, which is great to see,' says Aliya Wilkinson, founder of luxury swimwear label Ôsalé. Her brand doesn't yet offer thong styles, but she plans to introduce them in the future. 'In the west, fashion has long found ways to augment the butt, to make it look bigger and put emphasis on this part of the female body,' says Roberta Sassatelli, professor of sociology at the University of Bologna and co-author of Body and Gender. 'This is perhaps because the butt is deemed to be very sensual but is not related to reproduction. Because it is totally related to pleasure, it feels more liberated.' The trend is reflected in the popularity of potentially dangerous cosmetic procedures, such as Brazilian butt lifts. Sculpting the perfect behind has also become something of a fitness obsession. In 2018, sports writer Anna Kessel noted that 'the emphasis on a firm, or 'juicy', bottom has now overtaken the flat stomach as the fitness holy grail in mainstream women's health magazines', with an increasing number of gym classes dedicated exclusively to the posterior. Seven years later, could it be that gym-goers are keen to display the results? 'I think the popularity of thong bikinis exists at the convergence of a focus on building glutes in the gym, a kind of exhibitionist creep in which the butt is one of the last frontiers that had remained mostly covered in public, and a greater cultural acceptance of a range of different body types,' says historian Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, author of Fit Nation. 'The low-slung jeans of the early 2000s were certainly correlated with the age when flat abs workouts were all the rage.' Cole suggests there may be another reason why more people are choosing to wear less. 'It could be linked to what's been called the 'pornification' of culture and style,' he says, citing an idea put forward by fashion historian Pamela Church Gibson. '[It is] modelled on a style that has come out of pornography – at the points where pornography stars are dressed – which involves garments such as tiny bikinis or thong-style underwear. There's an acceptance of that style without people really realising where it originated. The popularity of shows such as Love Island, where people are there to show off their bodies as a way of attracting a partner, again ties to that pornification of style.' After years of falling audience figures, Love Island is also experiencing a boom this summer: increased numbers tuned in to watch the UK and US versions, with the New York Times attributing the popularity of the latter to its ability to offer reprieve during 'times of societal and economic hardship'. As dress and design historian Amber Butchart put it when curating Splash!, a recent exhibition on swimming and style at the Design Museum in London: 'Swimwear's close relationship with the body means it reflects changing attitudes to modesty, morality and public display. From the 18th century, bathing machines were used to protect sea dippers from prying eyes. But throughout the 20th century, a number of boundary-pushing designs challenged previous ideas of decency while also courting controversy. For the last century, what we wear while swimming has been used as an excuse to police bodies.' While it is predominantly women who are opting for poolside thongs today, this wasn't always the case. The earliest iteration of the style is thought to be the ancient loincloth, worn by men. Modern thongs are said to have been adopted in 1939, when the mayor of New York, Fiorello La Guardia, ordered that showgirls must cover themselves rather than perform nude at the city's World's Fair. When it comes to swimwear specifically, Austrian-American Rudi Gernreich – the fashion designer behind the monokini, or 'topless bikini' – is most often credited with creating the thong bikini, in response to Los Angeles city council banning public nudity, including naked sunbathing, in 1974. The thong bikini has prompted similar bans more recently. In January, a council in Greater Sydney, Australia, banned thong and (even skimpier) G-string bikinis at its public pools. A number of women have also been arrested for wearing thong bikinis in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where the style is banned. In the UK, Greenwich Leisure Ltd, which operates 240 leisure centres under the brand Better, requires swimmers to wear 'full-coverage bikinis', which a spokesperson previously indicated did imply 'that thongs wouldn't be acceptable'. But even when thong styles are not prohibited, many bikini-wearers remain nervous. 'I do own one, but it's only been worn once, when my partner and I had a private villa in Portugal,' says Rebecca, 33. Even then, she says, she felt a little too exposed. 'I don't understand why someone would wear one on a family holiday, for example. Thong bikinis feel quite sexualised, so to me it seems inappropriate. Give me high-waisted bikini bottoms that cover your cheeks any day.' For Sassatelli, the reason thong bikinis are in vogue is not so surprising. 'The thong has never gone away completely,' she says. 'But for people who are in their teens and 20s, they haven't really been 'in fashion'. Once [the fashion industry] has forgotten something, then it can be recuperated – and it makes for a little sense of novelty.'
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Horoscope today, August 22, 2025: Daily star sign guide from Mystic Meg
OUR much-loved astrologer Meg sadly died in 2023 but her column will be kept alive by her friend and protégée Maggie Innes. Read on to see what's written in the stars for you today. ♈ ARIES March 21 to April 20 The sun focuses on the positives in your career, and so should you. Even if a dream is taking longer than you expect, it can still happen – meanwhile, enjoy the journey you are on, and the opportunities that every day can bring. In love terms, too, what you have now can be all you need, when you choose to see it that way. 2 ♉ TAURUS April 21 to May 21 A new ray of creative light shines through your chart – highlighting a unique skill you may never have rated. This is your moment to take everything you can do, and start building it up into something special. A family-minded moon reminds you feelings do not need to be obvious to be real – look a little closer. Get all the latest Taurus horoscope new s including your weekly and monthly predictions ♊ GEMINI May 22 to June 21 The right home for your heart might not quite match what your head expects – but you can be happy. Acceptance is high in your chart, so show you value love exactly as it is. How far a conversation has strayed off course might concern you, but it still says so much that's worth hearing, and acting on. Get all the latest Gemini horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictions ♋ CANCER June 22 to July 22 An open-air meeting can lift any sense of restrictions – and get to the result you need faster. So don't be bound by what everyone else assumes to be the 'right way' to live, or love. Cash calculations can get derailed when too many emotions are involved – ask a calm friend to help you out. Get all the latest Cancer horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictions ♌ LEO July 23 to August 23 Pluto's take on connections might be unexpected – and it can make you work harder to get a deal done or a decision shared. But in the end, you can sense this was so worthwhile. If you feel a friend or partner is putting too much distance between you, say something and act, rather than stay silent and hope. ♍ VIRGO August 24 to September 22 As confidence rises with the sun, so does your inner courage – no challenge is too great for you today. But choose wisely, and marshal your energy well. Scoring points, or stoking rivalry, is not a good use of this. In love? Mars' heat is so strong, and attraction is irresistible. Single? Mistakes make you human. Get all the latest Virgo horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictions ♎ LIBRA September 23 to October 23 You have X-ray vision when it comes to other's motives today – and you can see through pretence of all kinds. So conversations can get back on the right, shared, level that gets results. If you start the day single, someone who loves to quote from a favourite TV show can be quite the catch. ♏ SCORPIO October 24 to November 22 To have good friends, first be a good friend – today you get at least one chance to step up and offer your time, skills or care to someone who matters. Try to take it. But it's important, too, to care for yourself – and this can include making space in a schedule just to 'be'. The moon's eye for The Next Big Thing is so sharp. Get all the latest Scorpio horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictions ♐ SAGITTARIUS November 23 to December 21 With the sun at the top of your chart your enthusiasm flows – even for ideas that might have felt they were fading. Your task is to choose a good team around you, even if this means letting familiar faces go. When the time is right, you will do the right thing. Five o'clock can be your key prize-spotting time. Get all the latest Sagittarius horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictions ♑ CAPRICORN December 22 to January 20 Words or pictures from someone's sunshine break carry a message – from a location in your destiny, to a promise that will not be broken now. When you accept the challenge, you can step back into the light. You can't change others, but you can change yourself – perhaps by taking a stronger dating line. Get all the latest Capricorn horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictions 2 ♒ AQUARIUS January 21 to February 18 You have a unique ability to see who you need in your life, and why. This can spark identity switches, but if you have confidence they are right, they can work for you. Your sign's unsettled side can be hard to handle – but go with it and let yourself express disappointment or frustration. What's next can be outstanding. Get all the latest Aquarius horoscope news including your weekly and monthly predictions ♓ PISCES February 19 to March 20 Your chart sees the best in everyone – and believes in success. So recent doubts simply slide away. In love, when you visualise the future you want, your dreams can turn real almost overnight. If you are single, a fun-loving Gemini can surprise you every day in every way. Luck wears a deep, rich shade of red.
BBC News
5 hours ago
- BBC News
A greasy pole, ham and barbed wire - Irvine's unique challenge
Its origins have been lost to history, but this weekend some hardy Ayrshire souls will tackle a unique tradition - and all to win a greasy pole challenge in Irvine sees teams attempt to scale a 25ft (7.6m) wooden pole that is lathered in grease, before unhooking a ham from barbed wire at the curious spectacle dates back more than 100 years and is a key part of the area's Marymass festival - a 12-day celebration of free shows, fireworks and live Green, who works with the festival's two organising committees, told BBC Scotland the greasy pole has an appeal which is unique to the area. Last year the prize went unclaimed, and Mr Green, 30, is optimistic that a winner will claw their way to the top at the event on Saturday."Back in the day the ham was to feed the poor of the town," he explains."Guys would climb the pole, win the ham and then share it out among the town."Now when someone wins they'll go around the festival site or some of the local pubs with the tarpaulin from the ham, and collect donations for good causes. "It goes back at least 100 years but we don't know exactly how far back it goes, or exactly how it started." Saturday marks the main day of the overall festival, including a large parade, horse racing, live jousting and a funfair. But the greasy pole arguably towers above all. Last year marked the challenge's return after a five-year hiatus, partially due to events being cancelled during the Covid pandemic and then due to organisers having issues with insurance costs."There was uproar when it didn't go ahead in 2022 and 2023," admits Mr Green, an Irvine native who works in a gift shop by day. "We had to switch off our phones as we were getting so many notifications coming in from angry people."It is a focal point of the festival and it is something unique to Irvine - Kaleb Cooper from the Clarkson's Farm TV show mentioned it in one of his books as being one of the most unique events in the whole country." The Marymass website settles on "iconic" as a description for the challenge, although Mr Green told BBC Scotland News there is one area for improvement. "We haven't a women's team compete since the 90s, it's usually men who try it. "The usual tactic is to scale the pole on top of one another to retrieve the ham. "Most of the work is just getting up the pole, but once there you have to get the wire off too - that's used to tie the ham to the pole, and it's covered in shrink wrap." The uniqueness of the event is part of the appeal, during a busy couple of weeks in the Ayrshire region. Gala days and weeks occur in areas throughout Scotland, all with their own customs, and Marymass is one of the most Green estimates lines several people deep will form along the streets during the Saturday parade that follows the crowning of the Marymass than 7,500 people attended a fireworks display on Irvine Moor earlier in August - a record crowd, helped by the recent good believes the overall festival - which dates back to the Middle Ages - remains something that can draw a community together, even hundreds of years after it's inception."There remains such an appetite for the festival, It's almost something that's in your blood here," he said."I remember my papa would have us up at six in the morning to see the first horse boxes arriving. It's always something I've wanted to get involved in."It was originally a horse fair, and we've tried to keep that tradition while bringing in modern elements, but things like the greasy pole, the horse racing, and jousting are part of that history." Believed to have started in 1372 as a religious festival, many of the modern Marymass elements like the crowning of a queen are dated to the Green is a member of both the Irvine Carters' Society and the Marymass Festival Committee, the two groups that run the event is something Mr Green hopes will continue for many years to come, even in a rapidly changing world. "The world has changed a lot, but Marymass has been here long before us and hopefully, with hard work, it will be here for many years more. "We are just the custodians of it for now."
