Debate | Issue 20 | Where Do We Go From Here?

DEBATE ISSUE 20 | SEPTEMBER 2016

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

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CONTENTS 4

14 Cool Shit

24

The Edge of Greatness: Generation Zero

5 Prez Sez

16

Online Schooling: Yay or Nay?

28

The Future of Cinema

6 Alternative Energy

18

Toy Infinity and Beyond

30

You’re Superman, For God’s Sake

8

20

In Short

3 2 Fashion: Roses

22

The Big Six

32

Editor’s Letter

Graduated Guru

10

Gender Neutral Bathrooms at AUT

Reviews

C O V E R I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y R A M I N A R A I

EDITOR Laurien Barks lbarks@aut.ac.nz SUB - EDITOR Amelia Petrovich DESIGNER Ramina Rai rrai@aut.ac.nz

CONTRIBUTORS Emma Wingrove, Amelia Petrovich, Reegan Hill, Kieran Bennett, Ethan Sills, Chantelle Cullen, Conor Leathley, Shivan, Benjamin Matthews, Natalie Lim, Tyler Hinde, Caterina Atkinson ADVERTISING Harriet Smythe hsmythe@aut.ac.nz

PRINTER Debate is printed by Soar Print DISCLAIMER

Material contained in this publication does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of AuSM, its advertisers, contributors, Soar Print or its subsidiaries.

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3

EDITOR’S LETTER Hi All, Welcome back! I hope you had an incredible and, at least mildly, productive break. Mine was filled with uni assignments, and putting this themed mag together for y’all to enjoy.

These pages are filled with answers to the question “Where do we go from here?”, with all things progressive and futuristic brought to the table.

I want to see a lot of things in the future.

I’d like to finally see the hover boards Back to the Future promised. I’d like to see a lot less ‘this animal has been declared extinct’ articles. And I’d particularly like to see a lot more lines being drawn when it comes to medical/biological science.

If that sounds anti-progressive at the moment, just give me a chance to explain.

Two huge issues spring to mind in this ridiculously broad topic, so I’ll use my limited 500 words or so to focus on them.

Assisted suicide, and genetic engineering.

Do we, don’t we? I’ve had countless discussions about both issues, with people of varying mind-sets, and one of the main conclusions I receive from people opposed to these ideas, is “but where do we draw the line?”

I understand this thinking. I understand being nervous about mucking around with human life, and I can see how it could easily get out of control if proper lines weren’t

drawn. But…why sit there whimpering ‘no no no’ about processes that could be so incredibly beneficial if used correctly, if all you’re worried about is boundaries? I mean, one thing if you’re opposed because you just hate the ideas in general and have your reasons for it. That’s completely your right and I will respect it wholeheartedly. But for those who dislike the ‘what if’ of the matter; who see the positives but are scared of the potential negatives…I challenge the angle of the stance you’re taking.

I think there’s a lot of beneficial progression that’s failing to happen simply because people are chanting ‘Hell no!’ when they could instead be chanting ‘Only if!’ Be an advocate for boundaries you want to see.

Vocalize the conditions of your agreement.

Don’t ask ‘where will we draw the line?’, tell us where it needs to be drawn. The more people open-mindedly talking about these kinds of things, instead of straight-up opposing them fearfully, the better.

I don’t think these mystical lines are as hard to bring into existence as we’re all making them out to be. If we legalize assisted suicide, Doctors are not going to be handing out pills left, right, and centre to depressed teenagers. It’s not going to become this weird, self-inflicted plague on the human race. The assistance will not come in chewable orange-flavoured tablet form that you can buy over the counter.

There will be extensive research done into

each and every case, there will be therapy, it will all be handled incredibly sensitively and individually. This is not a willy-nilly squiggly line, it will be a clear cut, deeply drawn indentation in the sand that actually has the potential to end a lot of suffering and help a lot of people.

Same goes with genetic engineering. I think if we draw a line between aesthetics and health benefits, we’ll be okay. Why wouldn’t you prevent genetic disease if you could?

It’s advance treatment. It’s cancelling out suffering before it starts. It’s saving money and resources that would be spent on treating the inevitable disease, for someone else who couldn’t have their ailment prevented. Genetic engineering is not going to be doctors and rich couples making it rain with blonde haired, blue eyed babies. It’s a form of treatment that eliminates physical and emotional pain. I don’t think it’s hard to draw a line when it comes to GE, and I think the more people who realize this, the better the world’s potential will be.

It’s important to have a think about why we’re against what we are. Is it because we don’t like it, or because we don’t like what it could turn into? We have a lot of power over that ‘could’, and simply opposing it because you don’t feel like mapping it out, is a dangerous stance to take. Do some research, have some thinks, and, of course, have an excellent week!

Laurien

AuSM SRC

U R S H U LA A N S E L L AuSM President

B I A N C A C O X- H O H A P A T A S o u t h Ca m p u s Re p

Kia ora guys,

Hi everyone,

Already back from our two week study break! Yes, it was a study break, not a holiday. In saying that, I hope you did take time to relax and regain some sanity - I wish I could have! The break time is put aside for us to catch up on everything - our readings and assessments. It’s like a two-week-long get out of jail free card! In my current job as President, I don’t get time off, which sucks, but I guess it’s the “real world”. Before this, I used to work during the holidays so I’d have some more money to get me through the semester.

When I moved to Auckland I had big dreams. Why? Well the biggest city I’d ever lived in (Rotorua) had a population of 60 000. So the idea that the bus runs past 5pm, Kmart is open 24/7, and there are more people than dogs; it meant that the world was my oyster.

Did you know that AuSM pays a fee to Student Job Search so you don’t have to? That means you can use them for free to find any type of job. The jobs they have range from one off, casual, part time, full time, and graduate. You’re only competing with other students, so why not?

I was very excited to head down with the University Challenge team for the filming of the show. I was very confident in the team we had this year, they trained very hard. Wellington was a great experience and I got to know the result before the show even comes out! You will all need to stay tuned to watch them on TV!

But the question on everyone’s mouths is always, what will you do once you finish your degree? Will you stay in Auckland? And my answer is: my plans constantly change, but in the near future, yes I will be staying here in Auckland.

However, like I said, my plans are always changing.

Two years ago I applied to AUT for a BhSc Paramedicine, as AUT is the only university to offer paramedicine in NZ (no publicity intended). After an awful interview with a woman (who shall not be named), being told I would probably not get in, and many tears, I decided to apply to other places.

In high school they tell you to apply to as many places as possible just in case you don’t get into some of them.

And that’s what I did. I applied to two other places. The first was Lincoln University, where I was looking at wine making (horticulture) with my best friend. The second, was a combined Degree in Māori and Law at Waikato.

Welcome back everyone, have a great second half of semester!

Ursh x

Fast forward six months, and I was accepted into all three.

SPOILOR ALERT, it was the big city that sold it to me, and here I am.

Until next time home dogs, Bianca

5

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Emma Wingrove Illustration by Tyler Hinde

Currently we rely predominantly on fossil fuel, which supplies us with approximately 80 percent of our energy throughout the world. Fossil fuels come in the form of oil, coal, or natural gas (primary energy), and it is estimated that we are burning approximately 21.3 billion tonnes per year.

Based on that calculation, we don’t have enough to get us through to the end of this century.

Alternative sources of energy has become a pretty hot topic over the last few years as we become more and more aware of the damages caused by fossil fuels, and the fact that we’re running out of them, but there’s a lot of controversy as to whether or not they are a viable solution to climate change. Controversy and negative impacts on human health caused by fossil fuels aside, here’s some information about some of our other options.

Wind energy, in which kinetic energy is harnessed by a wind turbine to produce electrical energy, has been around for donkey’s years. We just don’t realise it because instead of the streamlined modern day wind turbines that are popping up in wind farms around the world, we used to use windmills. Wind energy gets a lot of crap for not being able to produce enough energy, as scientists predict only a supply of six terawatts per year (we currently need a supply of energy at rate of 18 TW) but just ask anyone in the Netherlands and they’ll disagree. In fact, the 19 wind farms in New Zealand are already supplying enough energy for 300 000 Kiwi homes, and there are more wind farms consented and even more proposed.

Geothermal power is considered to be a cost effective, reliable, and sustainable alternative power source, but is somewhat limited to areas of geothermic activity with thin enough crust to drill into (although recent technological advances have extended the scope). This type of energy sourcing has similar potential hazards to fracking, and is therefore opposed by many environmentalists and local residents.

Despite this, geothermal sources are currently supplying New Zealand with 14 percent of our energy.

Hydropower currently contributes 50 percent of New Zealand’s electricity supply, but the risk of over-exploiting our rivers and groundwater is ever present, especially with random weather events occurring more frequently.

Bioenergy from the biomass of crops, wood, manure, straw, agricultural byproducts, and even algae is a great energy source, particularly for fuel. The amount of energy that can be produced from by-products is fairly insignificant, so many places have started growing bioenergy-specific crops. Although the energy required to produce these crops is minimal, it still takes away from the land and resources that could be producing food crops instead, and that makes it a poor contender for replacing fossil fuels.

NIWA is currently working on lab-produced algae for biofuel, as algae is low energy to produce and requires very little space to produce a large yield.

Water + gravity + a turbine = hydropower.

Hydropower currently contributes 50 percent of New Zealand’s electricity supply, but the risk of over-exploiting our rivers and groundwater is ever present, especially with random weather events occurring more frequently. Do you remember a few years ago we had a few “lights out” campaigns across the cities? That was because our water supply used for hydropower was worryingly low.

Solar power is probably where it’s at, given that the sun’s energy hits the earth at a rate of 98 000TW. Solar energy can be converted to useable energy through photovoltaic cells, which harness, store, and convert the energy. Solar water heating is becoming increasingly common in the world of camping, where now you can even have a hot shower thanks to the sun’s rays. Despite being a free source of energy, only around two percent of homeowners in New Zealand have solar water heating systems, and only 0.2 percent of homes have grid connected PV systems. This is due in part to so much of our electricity coming from renewable sources, it renders the use of solar power somewhat unbeneficial to the environment, but also because of the cost of solar panels.

Given what we know, I think it’s fair to say the best solution is to not pick one source to replace fossil fuel derived energy with, but replace it with a combination of all of these renewable sources. Doing so will keep the associated risks at a minimum, and prevent the depletion we are currently experiencing with fossil fuel. So keep this in mind, not just as energy consumers, but as students of a university of technology… this could be a great opportunity for some of you science and engineering students to really make your mark.

7

Graduated Guru

Everything you need to know about life after graduation

Amelia Petrovich | Photo by Caterina Atkinson Ever since forever, the chronological stages of my life have been punctuated by futurefishing questions from mates and relatives.

I left intermediate and they asked me what college I was off to, I went to a dance and they asked me if I had a boyfriend yet. Yep, every step of the way there’s been a handful of well-meaning people worried about how I plan to attack the next societally prescribed ‘stage’ of my life.

But now, nearly graduated and about to work out what the fuck to do with the rest of my life, it’s me who is actually worrying the most…about everything… I mean it; there isn’t a thing about leaving uni that doesn’t freak me out to the point of nausea.

I haven’t receded into a cavern of despair just yet though; I figure there’s one last beacon of hope. Desperate and frantic, I contacted the All-Knowing and Ever-Calm Workforce Guru to help ease and offset my panic. Knowledgably and calmly, The Guru agreed. Thank fuck, this is stuff I’ve been needing to offload for a while…

Not being able to find a job is one thing, but what if I do find a job?

In some perverse way, walking out of uni straight into employment seems more terrifying to me than finding nothing. At least if nobody wants me, I’ll know what to do, y’know? I’ve spent three years being mostly unwanted by my industry of choice, if it happens again next year I’ll just spend a bit more time being a hospo-nobody.

Actually having an actual job though… that’s something really different. Does it mean I’ll be enslaved in one spot for the rest of my life? Does it mean I’ll never have holidays? Will I ever get to do random shit like leave town for a weekend and miss my flights home? Do I have to stay in one city? Heck man, having a big kid job must be strange.

The Guru says: Signing a contract is a scary thing. A few initials here, a signature there, and you’re bidding adieu to 40 hours of your life. Every. Fucking.

Week. Until you die. Right? Well… Sort of.

Joining the 9 to 5 club is a big step into adulting, and it can leave you feeling trapped and helpless, a slave to the grind.

But, I promise you, youngling, it doesn’t last. As the money starts to stack up, you realise your imprisonment brings with it opportunities. Your fat stacks will begin to represent escapes from your weekly work life, be it a weekend away, an OE, a new pair of shoes or all you can eat ribs night.

And realistically, no employer expects graduates to stay with their first jobs forever, so don’t ever feel you have to stick around.

What even are my hobbies?

In all those Hollywood movies, when an adult introduces themselves on a dating site they always start with “My name is Harry. I am a bricklayer and I am really into hunting rabbits”. It’s a very specific scenario but I think about it a lot, the moment where I’ll have to introduce myself and my

‘hobby’ all in one breath. When you’re at uni, all the time you spend not at university is taken up with either doing uni work or harbouring guilt about not doing uni work… what is it like coming home at the end of the day and just being at home? Am I going to be able to entertain myself? I can’t even remember what it is I like to do in my downtime. Do I draw? Do I read? Can I read? Have I forgotten how to read? If I can’t read, should I really be graduating?

the job done and drive home to Parnell to help their gorgeous partner put their two precocious children to bed? That sounds harsh actually, I know most people have mates… but will I have them too? If everybody is off during the week at their respective workplaces, even if most of us end up having weekends off, how do fun weekday bonding times happen so that when Friday night rolls around, it’s not awkward to text Dennis From Accounts and ask him to come get crunk with you?

Your fat stacks will begin to represent escapes from your weekly work life, be it a weekend away, an OE, a new pair of shoes or all you can eat ribs night.

The Guru says: Keeping your gaggle

The Guru says: Fear not! Work may steal 40 hours of your week, but it also gifts you the remaining 128 hours to do with whatever you please (assuming you don’t bring work home with you…) This means free weekends, void of ‘I should probably be studying’ guilt. It means no homework, assignments, or, God forbid, group work. It means the money to do the things you always dreamed of while you procrastinated at uni, like, you know, eating three square meals a day. It’s a beautiful thing. I have more weekends away as a full time employee than I ever did as a student, and I have the funds and time to splash out on little treats and hobbies throughout the week to keep me on the path to sanity.

Do real adults have friends?

It’s taken me three years of study to make a cute cluster of uni buds. They’re fun and I love them, but do people make friends in the workforce or does everybody just get

of uni pals 5eva feels like such an attainable goal when you’re horsed at a bar, crying together on your last day. But unfortunately, staying in touch with your tutorial crew is quite a feat. International travel or work beckons for some, and many return to their home towns as soon as their sentence at university is up. Of course social media will always give you the illusion of friendship, but reality is, when you stop seeing your uni chums every day, your relationships are bound to drift. Be picky though, and choose your battles.

Some kids will be worth keeping around, others not so much. And, you might just find yourself with a whole new bunch of brothers at your newfangled job. Just be aware that drinking in your lunch breaks with colleague buds tends to be a bit more frowned upon in the work force...

Tax returns.

What the fuck?

The Guru says: Free money! Don’t ask questions. Find yourself a third party tax return company to do the dirty work for you if it doesn’t make sense. They’ll take a cut, but if accounting doesn’t flow through your veins, the convenience is worth it. After years of tax returns, I still have no idea what they are all about. I’ve had woohoo moments of $1500 returns, and wtf woes of $40 - there seems to be no method to the madness. Just roll with it, kid. Free money. Or is it free? Not a clue.

9

The Next “Change Bulldozer” Gender-Neutral Bathrooms at AUT Amelia Petrovich | Illustration by Tyler Hinde Sometimes you step into a new place and find yourself instantly.

Starting a new job is always a daunting thing, but for Lexie Matheson, day one as a transgender member of AUT’s teaching staff made it apparent that this place was something a little bit different.

At a time where anything outside the stagnant, rigid Kiwi gender binary came served with a side of fear and uncertainty, Lexie remembers being put at ease right away during her first stroll around campus.

“I wasn’t looking at the bathrooms but a co-worker saw me standing there and must’ve thought I was. They put their hand on my shoulder and pointed at the female stall and just said ‘you go in there’.”

AUT’s progression towards gender inclusivity, while immense, hasn’t been perfectly linear. As a Rainbow Communities Advisory Panel and perpetual support person for non-binary students at AUT, Lexie is now part of a team (closely associated with LGBTQIA+ student group Out @ AUT) aiming to aid awareness and visibility of gender diversity.

“Obviously you’ll always have people who are uncomfortable and will protest… I’ve started to avoid bathrooms in some buildings because I know there are people there who disapprove,” says Lexie.

Lexie says this attitude reversal is a flow-on effect from attitudes in the United States, where recent rigorous debate has lead to eleven states suing the government over the existence of transgender bathrooms.

“Historically though, the bulldozer of change has kept on rolling though and in New Zealand this is where it’s at right now,” says Lexie.

Lexie says that the new focus for AUT’s own ‘change bulldozer’ is gender neutral bathroom facilities. Following the example set by secondary schools like Wellington’s Onslow College and Wellington High School, it’s high time New Zealand’s only Rainbow Tick certified university kicks off some serious discussion about how best to provide inclusive bathroom areas for LGBTQIA+ students.

“I’m assuming things here, but you’ve probably never had to think about which bathroom to use,” Lexie says to me, completely correct.

For transgender, intersex and gender non-binary staff and students though things are very different, Lexie explains. What should be a simple, stress-free decision becomes a choice fraught with worry and the constant fear of having to discuss your own gender stuck between the sink and some hand towels.

While currently AUT has regulations around bathrooms to facilitate the disabled, people like Lexie are working on a university-wide policy specifying that any future building plans or developments must include gender-neutral bathrooms as part of the final blueprint.

It’s a policy suggestion that has been met with predictable and fervent enthusiasm from AUT’s LGBTQIA+ community, Out @ AUT Communications Co-ordinator Blair Speakman keen to be involved right from the get-go.

11

“I’m really passionate about making our bathrooms gender neutral because I personally find it so silly that they’re segregated into male and female, because if you’re at home and you go to the toilet you all use the same one anyway! [When I was] asked to get involved, it kind of just made perfect sense to say yes,” says Blair.

What should be a simple, stress-free decision becomes a choice fraught with worry and the constant fear of having to discuss your own gender stuck between the sink and some hand towels.

For Blair, a staff member and student at AUT, working towards becoming a more inclusive tertiary education environment for transsexual and non-gender binary students would add gravity to the university’s status as a Rainbow Tick earning institution.

“AUT’s really good at [supporting people] in terms of sexuality and sexual orientation, they make people who are gay, or lesbian or bisexual- all those kinds of people- feel comfortable. But those who are non-gender binary [currently] can’t go to the toilet without feeling uncomfortable every time and that’s such a basic human right… to be comfortable and to not have anyone question your gender or why you’re in that specific bathroom,” says Blair.

“Gender neutral bathrooms would go a long way in terms of making those students feel comfortable, it’d make people who are part of

the Rainbow community at AUT feel more accepted rather than just being tolerated… it’s a bit ironic being this big champion for LGBTQIA+ rights when there’s a whole link there that’s [previously] been ignored.”

It’s not simply irony that is staved off by gender-neutral bathrooms, but illness too. The Williams Institute (UCLA) released a study in 2013 positively linking elevated levels of bladder, kidney and urinary tract infections in the transgender community with a tendency to avoid trips to the bathroom during standard work days.

The report said 54 percent of transgender respondents reported health problems from ‘holding it in’, concluding that gendered spaces in built environments put people in real physical and emotional danger, the onus of responsibility currently forced upon the individual in absence of inclusive facilities.

For Lexie though, gender-neutral bathrooms are only one item on the dynamic list of ways to dismantle past attitudes.

“What I’d love to see is for the university to fly the Rainbow flag permanently too, but that’s a little way off,” Lexie says.

Still, with a student body increasingly accepting of diversity and difference, things look encouraging.

“I’ve never experienced any discrimination from students. I normally out myself at the start of every semester with a new group, but they all just go ‘oh, okay’ and we get on with things. [Attitudes at AUT] are something I am very proud of.”

Perhaps AUT will someday be a pioneering pot of gold at the end of New Zealand’s human rights rainbow… and if that day comes, one can only hope every uni will throw binary to the wind and follow the colours of progress.

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COOL SHIT Where do you go from here?

We’ve got a few ideas! Sit back, relax, and let this week’s giveaways guide you.

Go Away An STA travel voucher is up for grabs this week!

With a value of $100 dollars, this giveaway will help get you wherever you need to go. Simply email lbarks@aut.ac.nz with your name, campus, and dream getaway.

Go Healthy

Go Thrifty

Go Healthy’s Go Immune Protect is designed to be taken daily to support the immune system’s natural defences. During the winter ills and chills season, it supports immunity when germs are most present.

We’ve got a bottle of 30 Go Immune VegeCapsules to give away this week! To be in to win, email lbarks@ aut.ac.nz with your name and campus – first in wins!

Student Card has a double give away this week to help with all of your thrifty needs! We have two Student Cards, each with a $20 value, to help you start saving with all kinds of sweet deals. To be in to win, Facebook message us your name campus, and what you would do if you won the lottery. facebook.com/ausmdebate

Go Soak Parakai Springs has given us a pass to give away this week, so you could be relaxing in no time! This pass entitles one adult to full day access to the hot pools, as well as a 30 minute spa! If this sounds like the treat you’ve been waiting for, Facebook message us your name, campus, and favourite chillax tune!

Go Eat Go eat and save money at Lone Star Newmarket – we’ve got two $20 vouchers to give away to whoever emails lbarks@aut.ac.nz with their name and campus first. The first two emails win!

Go Drink Drink your coffee on the go with Cuppacoffeecup’s gorgeously designed portable coffee cups! We’ve got two to give away this week, so Facebook message us your name, campus, and favourite hot beverage to be in to win! facebook.com/ausmdebate

15

ONLINE SCHOOLING Yay or Nay? Reegan Hill Wouldn’t it have been awesome as a kid to never actually have to step foot into a school? All you’d have to do was classes online, at home or wherever you wanted. There is a new form of schooling being proposed for New Zealand: Online Schools.

Obviously it has good and bad aspects, like you’d never meet your best friend from primary school, never play in the sandpit together, never fight over the crush you both have on the same dirty little boy. All those friendships and social developments wouldn’t happen.

Think of all those small things you learned about interactions, the way you learned to read faces and gestures. Unless the children are from a massive family, the ability to learn how to socialise will be taken away.

But when you look at online schooling from a subject point of view, it looks a lot more appealing. You’d have your usual English, Math, and Science, but what about the other subjects schools select for you right now? In high school you’re forced to take a language instead of an extra arts class or an extra science class, you have a set number of classes you can attend, which means even though options are numerous, you’re still limited in what you learn. Online schools can take that away - if you want to learn everything you can, you will be able to jam pack your head with as much information as you want.

You can take as many classes as you like.

Another good thing about online schools is they will reach as far as the internet, all those kids living out in the middle of nowhere will have an educational tool which is government sanctioned, designed, and proposed in legislation. What is being proposed, is called COOL. now it’s not going to let you get out of going to school completely, but it does let you ‘skip’ part of the day - which let’s face it, unless you’re an ultra nerd you’ll probably use that time away for nothing to do with school.

Obviously attendance will be measured, but the enforcement of attendance would be left down to whom? The parents. Now I’m not trying to knock down any parents, I’m just going to say that there are parents who are so lenient, or are working and unable to police attendance, so this may lead to kids doing whatever they like – which probably won’t be attending online school.

This whole thing is still in the works, but it’s already had concerns voiced, in particular by the Labour Education Spokesman, Chris Hipkins, who says, the lack of social interaction could cause damage.

Part of the reason cited for these online schools, is Digital Fluency, which sounds all good and great on the surface, but what is it? Are they just meaning being able to use computers and apps, or do they want to introduce tech classes far more advanced than what can be taught in school? Like perhaps coding and the construction of computers, do they want to teach animation?

This whole thing is still in the works, but it’s already had concerns voiced, in particular by the Labour Education Spokesman, Chris Hipkins, who says, the lack of social interaction could cause damage. Another MP says it’s a social experiment and it’s building upon the thought of ‘anyone can teach’ and the children will end up with a subpar education.

Here are the thoughts I have, the kids will love it, they’ll be far happier and will have freedoms we didn’t have as children. But if these online schools are just teaching the same things as you learn in the classroom, what is the point? There will be some children with difficulties who would work well with these programmes. If these schools are introduced, they will need to have content which is hard to access at the moment, content which can make our children brighter, stronger people.

17

Toy Infinity and Beyond For our sex issue this year, I wrote a little number all about sex toys that were out of this world (or at least we wish they were). Well, I’m back on the toy buzz again this week, and I’m here to give you the low down on the not-so-sexual (mostly) toys you can be expecting to see a lot more of in the future!

Laurien Barks | Illustration by Ramina Rai

Virtual Reality

Remote Control iBird

Touch Based Videogames

We’ll start with the most obvious, existing, and broad toy of the future (I’m counting the entire concept of virtual reality as a toy instead of the actual VR enabling objects because I want to). Games, films, pornography – the entertainment options are endless! And with the added bonus of being able to use VR as a teaching tool…I don’t know about you, but I’m hella impressed. Practical knowledge can start in a classroom setting, surgeons can be trained in huge numbers, students have a learning method to get really frickin’ excited about. Yes it’s a toy, but it’s a toy that’s going to change education in the coolest way.

I adored my remote control cars when I was growing up, and when remote control helicopters made it to the scene, it blew my freaking mind. I can’t even imagine how little me would have handled the announcement that a remote control bird was in the making, because even big me is struggling to keep it together. This thing is pretty damn lifelike for a bird robot, and all the fluttering, flitting, and soaring is yours to control – it’s like a pet bird you don’t always feel mildly guilty about owning.

While I don’t think these touch-based games will have me banging down the video game stores quite like VR might, they still look pretty amazing. Future gamers could be experiencing a lot more than button textures when this concept comes to town. In the form of a pad-thing, and with the help of a lot of sensory science stuff, gamers will have the ability to feel, touch, and experience their virtual worlds on more than an audio/visual level.

Pair that with VR…hell, you’d never need to go back to the real world.

Water Powered Toy Cars

Interactive Lego

Milo

Aww this one looks adorable, and I can totally picture wrapping it up for a lil bub somewhere down the line. The biggest thing that stood out to me about these hydro cars was one site saying something like “no more disappointment when you open a new toy only to realize you don’t have the batteries to make it work”. Right in the feels, random website, right in the feels. Even if these hydro cars turn out to be complete and utter crap, it balances out because at least you get to avoid the battery-less heartbreak, and find out right away that the toy sucks. Hopes don’t get a chance to rise on the way to the battery store, and consequently don’t come crashing down when you realize the thing can’t even do wheelies. Low hopes, immediate results, spoiled brat opinions… they make the world go ‘round.

This one is cute, but in my opinion, kinda weird. I mean, half the fun of Lego is making up your own adventure and dialogue to go with the sick rockets you build. With Interactive Lego, they kinda do it for you. The little Lego characters can sense when they’re by another character, or some other inanimate object, and have the ability to converse and comment. So, for example, if you placed your Lego person next to a TV set (I’m assuming the TV would come with a Lego set…I don’t think you can just build a TV and have them comment even though that’d be awesome), the thing will tell you what it’s watching.

Cute, creepy, and I think it might get old too fast. I think Lego should remain in the make-your-own-adventure genre, it keeps it fresh.

Milo’s the interactive friend every lonely child has dreamed of. Either that, or the reason for thousands of future lonely children because they never learned to socialize with anything other than an interactive friend named Milo. Apparently he’s like a robot on a screen. So Milo can have a chat, he can help you with homework, he can play games with you.

Mmmm, it’s not the worst idea if you’ve got a shy kid who needs the practice, but I think some stellar parenting needs to be accompanying Milo and his friends, otherwise we could have some seriously stunted, Her-like crazies running around (actually probably not running…sitting.

Sitting around). I will always be of the mind-set that kids need to be kids, they need to play outside, have other kid pals, and stay away from computers in the early years as much as possible. So while I’m not opposed to Milo helping out a lonely few, the idea of him being marketed as a household addition makes me nervous.

19

IN SHORT New Planet Filled With 60 Percent More Wasted Opportunities

‘Future’ Redefined To Only Include Next Three Weeks

Kieran Bennett

Kieran Bennett

New information has come to light around the planet marked Proxima B, as scientists assemble a more complete picture. Experts now estimate that the planets’ atmosphere contains at least 20 percent oxygen, and has at least 60 percent more features to be squandered.

Following poor performance on a number of long-term and short-term targets, the government has announced that it will be redefining the official New Zealand definition of the future to only include the next three weeks.

Proxima B, the most habitable planet orbiting Alpha Centuri was discovered approximately two weeks ago and considered a prime location for the possibility of life. Now, however, experts have discovered that the planet is, in fact, riddled with ways for humans to not take advantage of things and generally muck it up.

Over the last six months, a period now known as last century, the government has come under fire for failing to meet a variety of targets. In an effort to create more achievable goals for not only themselves, but other organisations, the government passed under urgency the Time Redefinition Bill 2016. Under the bill, the time period known as the future will now only include a maximum of 21 days. Prime Minister John Key has been openly supportive of the bill saying that only looking at the next three weeks would make measuring progress far easier.

“When there’s only 21 days to worry about, there’s less to do, less to measure and ultimately, less to worry about” was part of a statement that, under new law, technically lasted for eight days.

Head of the research team, Richard Wilson, has said that this makes the planet more appealing to future teams. He’s said that the idea of generally making a mess of things on Earth is one thing, but the chance to “really screw the pooch 4.2 light years from Earth is pretty exciting”. Mr Wilson said that he expected extra funding for the mission to be promised and ultimately fall through “any day now”.

He further said “I think that having our hopes raised like that and then crushed mercilessly as we think on what could have been is really in line with our new discovery and the spirit of modern science in general”.

Scientific and political organisations around the world have applauded the discovery, saying that the opportunity to visit a world potentially capable of sustaining life and botch the entire thing, was the next great step in the human journey.

The country has seen changes throughout the nation, with businesses unsure of what the far future will bring seeing as financial plans are really only good for, under old law, four days. The country is expected to settle sometime in the next millennium.

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According to Baba Laurien Barks Y’all may or may not have heard of Baba Vanga, the Bulgarian clairvoyant. She’s said to have predicted events such as 9/11, the Boxing Day Tsunami, and the rise of ISIS, and whether you’re a believer or not, it’s all a bit creepy. We gave her name a quick Google this week to see what kinds of predictions she’s made for the future – the good, the bad, the ugly – to entertain/warn you, depending which side of the belief spectrum you’re sitting on.

oouuu o y y ee r r e e he hh w w ovvee LLLoo

i ttiti o c c c e e le

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11666 LLLooc 0 2 1 2200

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ct t t 8 OOO cc 8 t 8 p S e tt- -

1 6 ep ep 1 61 6SS

2025 - 2028: A new energy source will be created and global hunger will start to be eradicated. A manned spacecraft to Venus will be launched.

2033 – 2045: The polar ice caps will melt, causing ocean levels to rise. Meanwhile, Muslims rule Europe and the world economy is thriving.

2072 - 2086: A classless, Communist society will thrive hand in hand with newly-restored nature.

2170 – 2256: A Mars colony will become a nuclear power and demand independence from the Earth, and underwater city will be established, and something “terrible” will be discovered during the search for alien life.

2262 – 2304: We will crack time travel. Meanwhile French guerrillas fight the Muslim authorities in France. The “secrets of the moon” will also be unveiled.

2341: A series of natural and man-made disasters will render Earth uninhabitable. Humanity will escape to another solar system, but the resources will be scarce, and wars will result.

3815 – 3878: Civilization will be destroyed, and people will live like beasts until a new religion rises to lead them out of darkness.

4302 – 4674: The concepts of evil and hatred will be eliminated, humans will be immortal and have assimilated with aliens.

5079: The universe will end.

From 16 September voting documents arrive in the post.

Keep an eye out.

Find out more at

THE BIG SIX

Reegan Hill The first thought I have when looking at the future of publishing is: eBooks, the accessible, cheaper and interactive way to read. Selfpublishing is hitting the big companies hard; demanding manuscripts be submitted by an agent is becoming something of a hindrance.

Authors want to be in control of their work, they want to negotiate, they want to help with every process – their work is their baby, a labour of love, their pride and joy.

The big companies, Penguin, Random House, HarperCollins, Simon and Schuster, McMillian, and Hachette, are the standard of publishing, the ones looked up to, but also the ones who seem to be struggling to adapt. New companies, the ones just starting up, have to work hard to keep up to trend, to do what the author demands, or they will go out of business, unlike the six doing what they want.

It’s hard to see where the influence of the Big Six stops and where the independent publishers start. Penguin, in particular, owns or has shares in numerous (250) smaller publishers, and in 2012 Pearson acquired US based Author Solutions – a self publishing empire in its own right – basically giving it to Penguin. Being so big, Penguin could get Author Solutions out of their legal troubles and turn them into a reputable company, or that’s at least what it looked like they were going to do. In January, it was confirmed Penguin-Random House sold Author Solutions and quickly exited the selfpublishing industry.

HarperCollins has seen the light and has a few companies accepting unsolicited manuscripts. Avon Impulse is an imprint specifically for romance-based manuscripts,

and HarperLegend – Visionary Fiction, books about human consciousness growth – is another imprint accepting unsolicited

The future of publishing is going to look something like Amazon Kindle Direct and CreateSpace. A fast, self-publishing method,

manuscripts.

one where eBooks and hard copies are pumped out just days after the author decides it’s time to publish. It’s not going to be just plain eBooks. When they were released, people thought the end was coming, it was controversial and a big change that people leapt off with abandon. Sales went wild and the hard copy was neglected, until around February this year, when for the first time ever, eBook sales started to fall. The only conclusion for this could be the fact that while it is far easier to publish an eBook, and a load of authors are using just eBook, the books themselves may not be up to the same standard. People are reaching out for the hardcopy to find that solidity that comes with a professionally published novel.

The thing is, they work too slowly for the modern world; it takes up to three months for a manuscript to be accepted, which is a long time for an author to wait.

The future of publishing is going to look something like Amazon Kindle Direct and CreateSpace.

A fast, self-publishing method, one where eBooks and hard copies are pumped out just days af ter the author decides it ’s time to publish.

But, Pearson PLC, owner of 47 percent of Penguin, in part of the Penguin Random house merge, signed a deal that would mean those 47 percent of shares could be sold at least five years after the merge. Five years will be 2017, which means, if the shares are floated on the Share Market and not sold privately, the public could get their hands on some of the world’s largest and most influential publishing company. This is exciting news, since in the publishing world, it’s hard to get your footing, if the smaller companies, authors or anyone could muster up the money to get their hands on some of these shares, they’re one step closer to getting into a world which, in New Zealand, is so small there are no new jobs going.

Here’s the thing though, publishing hasn’t changed much up until recently, for the past fifty years, there was very little change, The processes may have been refined, the internet made Print-On-Demand far easier, and computers digitised, but the way the company works didn’t change. Eventually the Big Six are going to fall behind. Sure they’ve got imprints doing everything you can think of, but it’s the little independent publishers which have got authors talking.

They’re informal, they’re friendly and they are our future in publishing. Self-Publishing has it’s flaws and unless the author has a marketing team, it rarely works well. The little companies, they’ve got more invested in making it work, more invested in making a name for themselves. The Big Six got their nickname because they’re the biggest and oldest, but when something gets big and old it starts to fail and will eventually die.

23

GREATNESS

OF

EDGE

THE

Generation Zero on what’s next for Auckland Ethan Sills

Young people are generally viewed as agnostic when it comes to local elections. Just 33 percent of 15-24 year olds voted in the 2010 local elections, opposed to 87 percent of 65 and over. That means that older citizens are having a stronger voice in the future of this city as opposed to the generation that is actually going to live in it.

It’s a gloomy figure, but one group is trying to do something about it. Youth lobby group Generation Zero has become a strong voice in local politics, campaigning for better public transport and implementation of the Unitary Plan. Now, as part of the upcoming elections, they are interviewing and scoring a majority of the mayoral candidates and a quarter of those running for local boards to ensure they have Auckland’s future in their best interest.

Auckland director and recent AUT graduate spoke to Ethan Sills about their group and the key issues facing the city.

[Climate change] is scar y, there are a lot of scar y things about it. But if you talk about planning and space, those are positive ways to talk about it. A lot of climate change can be negative, and [Gen Zero] tries to talk about it in a positive way.

Describe Generation Zero for those who haven’t heard of you before.

We are a youth led climate change movement that focuses on climate change in cities because there is a huge amount we can do in cities to affect climate change.

Would it be fair to say you have branched out from your zero emissions beginnings, or is that still your main focus?

Climate change is always our main priority, but we found we’re really effective at making change at a local government level and you can get really big climate change wins there.

We focussed a lot on public transport because the largest source of carbon emissions in Auckland comes from cars. We focus on encouraging cycling and walking as it’s a real easy way to reduce our carbon emissions. We know the solutions, we just have to do it. We focus on housing a lot, especially recently, as the way we build our infrastructure impacts how we get around. You look at a city like Atlanta which has the same population as Barcelona but because it’s so spread out, their carbon emissions are multiples of a more compact city like Barcelona. We focused on housing firstly to try and get carbon emissions down but there’s so many other reasons we need to build more.

[Climate change] is scary, there are a lot of scary things about it. But if you talk about planning and space, those are positive ways to talk about it. A lot of climate change can be negative, and [Gen Zero] tries to talk about it in a positive way.

Most people on local boards and councillors are not exactly on the young side of life. What’s it like being a young person involved in local politics and arguing for changes that will affect the future?

I wasn’t here right at the start, they probably had a tougher time at first, but we’ve been pretty much accepted by the system at this stage. Council really, really wants young people’s input, they know there is a problem. It really is a problem when we are the only young people talking. We have our own views, our own opinions, we’re not the most representative of all of Auckland.

In the city at the moment, there does feel like there is a bit of an ‘us-versus-them’ narrative been drawn between millennials and baby boomers. What are your thoughts on this and how do you think it can be solved?

Housing in particular has been crazy. We’ve been fighting for intensification as young people in particular don’t want quarter acre plots with three bedrooms, we want options. It’s been a pretty unpopular opinion for a while now. It all came to a head in February at a meeting, where a whole lot of primarily older people, the high end of boomers, yelled at council to reject the density provisions. So that was a really big moment, we were quite despondent after that, thinking all the change we had been fighting for would be undone. But in the months since and when the Unitary Plan was passed in August, there had been a radical maturity in the conversation, and it stopped being an us vs them as… it started being about kids living in cars and not a future problem, it is a now problem. This has been a problem for decades and decades in lower classes, but now middle class families are finding themselves locked out and that’s annoyingly when you get change. So the conservation changed and I think that meeting helped, as I think a lot of Aucklanders didn’t want to be associated with [those boomers] as their behaviour was atrocious. It really turned some of the councillors as they did not want to be seen to be representing that view. For the us vs them narrative to change, it [needs to be] about us all coming together and realising there needs to be change.

25

You are probably the most active millennials when it comes to local politics, whereas a lot of young people I know and have spoken to either don’t care or don’t see how it affects them. Do you think that more people need to pay attention to what is happening in their city?

It’s not just young people. A lot of the low voter turnout is that people think the council just does buses and the rubbish, and a lot of those experiences are bad. Every time a bus doesn’t show up, council and AT got a little bit more ill will. It’s a huge problem for people wanting to get involved because you see it’s an issue but no one’s putting forward a solution. Research shows that low voter turnout is due to a lack of information.

People don’t vote as they don’t know what people stand for, they don’t want to make a bad decision. It’s a cycle where the people who vote are older, so politicians go and talk to them as they are the ones who vote, so the only events you have are Grey Power, residents associations and rotary clubs. Young people find those rooms very hard to be in… the issues they talk about are not the ones you are interested in. You get a token AUSA debate here and there, but that’s the candidates going ‘I’m going to talk to you now, but this election isn’t about you’.

Now that the Unitary Plan has been passed, what is the urgency around voting in this election? Are there any threats, do you think, to what has been achieved?

The Unitary Plan was interesting, and we really needed it, but it’s really just the start. We’ve been asking all the candidates what’s next, and no one really has an answer, especially when it comes to housing. It’s a tough one. Now it’s central governments job. There’s stuff the council can do around taxes, land banking stuff, but there’s not a lot they can do.

Transport’s going to be a much bigger issue over the next three years. It feels like there’s been a massive shift in the city, but we’ve barely started. The city rail link will get built, but we need to ensure that’s not the end of it. We need to ensure all the little things get down and not just the big projects. It’s about ensuring everyone’s buses come on time and take them where they want to go. We’ve got a good cycling budget for the next three years, and after that we don’t know, and that’s not good enough. We can’t build all that we need in three years. You don’t fix congestion by building more roads, you stop it by giving people choices.

It’s time to work on the tough stuff, to take out parking and put in bike lanes, and we need a council with a backbone that can do that. We need to start saying yes and stop saying no when talking to residents groups, they need to stand up to them. They need to stand up to business, because if we are going to do this right, it’s not going to be easy.

Research shows that low voter turnout is due to a lack of information. People don’t vote as they don’t know what people stand for, they don’t want to make a bad decision.

You are working on scorecards for all the candidates. What is your view on the mayoral candidates so far and their vision for the future?

I’m really impressed. The quality of the candidates is really good. We are yet to find a mayoral candidate who thinks housing is bad, who thinks public transport is bad… we are yet to find a candidate who is, at least openly, actively and aggressively against intensification. The trouble is about who will actually stand up, who just says they agree with you and will vote a different way. It’s so great to see so many young people getting out, it’s such a tough thing to run for local boards or mayor, so it’s great to see them stepping forwards and putting themselves out there.

In your opinion, what do you think needs to be done now to ensure that young people are done right by the council?

the best way to do it as they know how to speak to the communities.

What is your ideal for Auckland in 20 years’ time?

I think it’ll be great once we have these public transport projects done and we can work on ensuring they are actually good. It has to be easy. You have to live where you want to live and where you want to spend your time, and getting around has to be easy.

We have to be a liveable, low carbon city, we have to lead the way and realise our potential as a small big city. We have so much opportunity with our growth happening now to become a low carbon, better designed city.

We keep chasing saying we want to be world class. In twenty years’ time, I want other cities to want to be like us.

Process needs to change. They’ve spent a lot of many on youth outreach, which is good, but they need to make voter registration easier. Programmes run by young people are

27

THE FUTURE OF CINEMA Chantelle Cullen | Photo by Caterina Atkinson Being engulfed in the environment that cinema can create is my happy place. Sitting in a seat with an iced coke and two hours of movie bliss is such a peaceful experience.

It’s like the moving images on a screen mould my emotions and create full worlds and adventures. The tears, the laughter, the pure feeling of fear as the movie plays on, the slightly drunk feeling you get as you leave the cinemas slightly disorientated – it’s the best.

Cinema started in the 1890s, when cameras were being invented and production companies were being built. The films didn’t go over a minute long until 1927, and were without sound until late that same year.

We’ve come a long way since the 1920s, some change has been positive, some not so positive, but all indications of the direction film is headed.

have at home or on our smart phones over the past year or so.

The use of 3D cameras to create live action virtual reality is also on the rise, with full 3D music videos and worlds coming to life.

The accessibility of them, and a high number of smart phones being used by the prime audiences is decent enough cause to make them a good way to advertise for companies, movies, etc. Youtube has just become a good base to show them off too, as they have made a way to put virtual reality films on the internet for us to use as we rotate our phones to see around us.

Augmented reality is a bit more difficult to develop. There has been a rise in popularity recently thanks to Pokémon Go. The advancements in using a 3D cameras within a live action space are getting significantly better as time goes by. We do not have the ability to create an augmented world using live action yet, but I am sure we have that in the works. At the moment we do have the use of 3D digital characters and scenes that can be created to look ridiculously real.

The Rise The next step in films seems to be virtual reality and augmented reality. For those who don’t yet understand the difference between virtual and augmented reality (yes Mum, I’m talking to you): virtual reality is where you see the world through a headset and you’re immersed in the world, and augmented reality is when you’re looking at the world through a screen, like in Pokémon Go. Virtual reality is more for sitting down and looking around. This has been around for a few years now, only becoming affordable to

The downside of virtual reality and augmented reality is that we won’t be able to really appreciate the compositions and shots that are so often favoured in a film. At the same time, the free movement of the view for the audience can open a huge range of possibilities.

The Fall The rise in piracy is becoming increasingly more dangerous for the film community.

Hundreds, or even thousands, of people have devoted their time and energy into creating

the film to make an income to put food on the table. And piracy is threatening their ability to do this in the future. It’s really heart breaking to see the hard work of so many be seen my billions of people for free. It takes away the beauty of the movie to see it on a computer screen instead of the big screen.

That being said, the amount of money going into Hollywood films is way too high in my opinion. We have seen that lower budgets spent on movies don’t necessarily lower how well it does in the box office. For instance, did you not see how well Deadpool did? It’s the length of time given to the companies to create films that knocks them down. With the shorter attention span of our generation, we see the length of time between movies is getting shorter and shorter, meaning there’s a higher demand for the films to be made faster. This gives them less time to think the storyline through, which unfortunately leads to a less complicated and interesting storyline.

These factors (and more) are going to play a large role in the future of cinema. In 20 years’ time, the life of cinema is going to be going either uphill or downhill. We have the ability to make it completely immersive for the audience, to really put us into the seat of a character, or we could watch the art of cinema crumble below us as we continue to watch the movies for free online.

In the end, it’s really up to the audience to help bring the life of cinema back up, we’ve already said goodbye to most of our movie rental places, let’s not say goodbye to our cinemas too.

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You’re Superman for God’s sake.

Why so serious?

Conor Leathley After attending the Suicide Squad opening night at Sylvia Park this year, I decided to watch Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition. Yes, I know what you must be thinking. I paid for it with real money too, so I must obviously hate myself.

But I had heard that it was an improvement over the BvS turd, and the Ultimate Editions are something of a Zack Snyder (the director) special. Unfortunately, it was still terrible (Martha!).

But I did have an epiphany after those turgid three hours.

Christopher Nolan is to blame for the problems in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU).

Yes, you read that right. Nolan is one of the most creative writer/directors that is active today. He could be looked upon as the new century Spielberg (sorry M. Night), someone that

creates blockbusters of mass appeal, but that are not reliant on many of the tropes seen in the Bay-esque features. Films such as Inception, Interstellar and hopefully his 2017 release Dunkirk, have been narrative focused and character driven without sacrificing the spectacle.

Of course, he is probably best known for his work in the Batman trilogy, a film series that elevated the comic genre from playtime to prestige pictures. There had been quality superhero films beforehand, sure, such as the X-Men and SpiderMan franchises, as well as the OG Batman and Superman. But the Nolan flicks took them into another stratosphere. Heck, The Dark Knight literally made the Academy change the number of films eligible for the Best Picture Oscar, because it did not make the cut of five for the 2009 awards. Yes, the same Academy that gave the Best Picture Award to a silent film in 2012(!?!?) changed because a film about an orphan in a bat getup didn’t get nominated.

So, why is it his fault then? Because the style of his threesome, especially the tone, was so radically different to anything that preceded it, and Warner Bros and DC have spent the next half decade trying to replicate it. Case in point; Green Lantern was the first film to be released post Dark Knight that DC and WB seemingly wanted to franchise. Starring Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, it was very tonally different to the Batman series.

It featured snappy dialogue and a more whimsical nature, something that was unique to the Hal Jordan character. And it bombed, critically and commercially.

Helmed by Snyder, and with Nolan in the role of producer, Superman changed from the tolerable boy scout who was ultimately endearing, to a mopey dick.

masquerading as an auteur. He attempts to adopt Nolan’s realism without having any ability to actually do so. In Man of Steel, Johnathan Kent suggests that maybe Clark should have let a busload of his school mates die instead of saving them.

That’s not realism – it’s nihilism. He is so obsessed with his signature slow-motion, so that they can make for cool trailer moments, or may one-day feature on a YouTube compilation, that he meticulously crafts the downfall of his films in search of them.

Here’s the thing. Nolan’s films weren’t dope because they had the Joker saying a cool line, or because there is that cool pose of Batman standing by wreckage, or because they were ‘gritty’ (arguably the most banal word a reviewer can use. It should be banned). It’s because he created engaging storylines populated by characters worth caring for, not hackneyed ‘geniuses’ spouting platitudes about power and paintings. The films had genuine stakes; people die and Batman loses! They still have the orgasm moments, but they are earned - the film isn’t soiled in the desperate search for them. They were also tonally perfect, as the music aids the dark, urgent atmosphere that is in tune with its characters and the grounded realism of this iteration of Gotham.

That’s important, because the first DC film post The Dark Knight Rises was Man of Steel, a fresh take on the Superman character (by fresh take I mean a total 180). Helmed by Snyder, and with Nolan in the role of producer, Superman changed from the tolerable boy scout who was ultimately endearing, to a mopey dick. Things weren’t helped by the fact that Henry Cavill as Superman has the look and acting range of an Adonis statue. But the fundamental change from his character, from losing the knickers to the disappearance of his disposition that was so crucially different to Batman’s, showed that those in charge did not understand why Nolan’s trilogy was able to succeed at so many different levels.

So where to from here? To ever hope to reach the unassailable heights of the Dark Knight trilogy, Snyder would surely have to go. Besides his film comic book adaption Watchmen, nothing in his filmography suggests that he should be the creative mind behind the DCEU. This move makes sense when you factor in the realisation that there is a much better director on the same set, named Ben Affleck. His Batman take was a miss for me personally (not the acting, just how untactical he seemed to be), but every single movie for which he has been behind the camera has been a success. Give him the reins of the cinematic universe, and live and die by the success of a genuinely acclaimed film maker.

The guy in charge of the DCEU, Zack Snyder, sure as hell doesn’t. All of the Snyder good will that he has stored up with the higher-ups is because he nailed the graphic comic book adaption, 300. You may have seen it; visually appealing, though it is all style and no substance (a Snyder trademark).

He is so obsessed with the climax moment that he skips all the build up. He is an obtuse, heavy-handed director that is

His first piece of work would be the fixing of Superman. They have given themselves a way out by having his character die at the end of BvS. Hopefully when he is somehow brought back to life, he’ll see the error of his mopey dick ways, and become a bit more smiley. You’re Superman for God’s sake.

Why so serious?

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Fashion

Models: Olivia and Belle @UniqueModelManagement H&M: Jamilia Serville Photography: @gathum (www.gathum.co.nz) 33

Reviews

N EW ‘N TAS T Y

S EM I P ERM A NENT

Game Reviewed by Benjamin Matthews

Design Conference Reviewed by Ramina Rai

New ‘N Tasty is a classic reborn. Using Abe Oddysee as a template, the game rebuilds the cinematic platformer from ground-up.

You play as a factory slave named Abe. After he discovers his employers’ plan to cook him and his fellow slaves, Abe escapes.

From there, Abe travels the world of Oddworld, gaining power to defeat his former overlords. The story is pretty standard, but it’s the gameplay that shines.

It was pretty clear that the annual design conference, Semi Permanent, had rolled around again this year. Flocks of bearded men and bespectacled folks gathered outside Aotea Square, armed with coffee and moleskin notebooks.

Abe is fragile, he can’t directly attack. Most enemies will kill him in one shot (depending on the difficulty). What Abe lacks in strength, he makes up for in ability and brainpower. Using a combination of sneaking, jumping, and sheer running, Abe has to dodge all the challenges thrown his way. Throughout his journey, Abe has to rescue his fellow slaves, using the game’s speaking mechanic. Abe is able to order his fellow slaves around, leading them toward bird portals where they can jump to freedom.

Although there’s a limited number of enemy types, ranging from gun-wielding Sligs to dogs-like guard creatures, they are always used in imaginative ways.

The remake is a big upgrade from the original, with more checkpoints and a quick-save option added. The graphics are gorgeous, especially on next-gen consoles. Although the game can be buggy at times, it still plays well. It’s just a shame they don’t make more games like this.

Day one kicked off with Paul Stafford, the CEO and Founding Partner of DesignStudio. His expertise in branding was inspiring, reminding us that “the logo is just the fullstop at the end of a really long story of the brand you’ve built.” I particularly enjoyed hearing about his work for the Premiere League. Paul showed us the process behind the rebranding, and a glimpse of the many hundreds of sketches and ideas that get thrown around before the product is finalised.

Another highlight was hearing from a design and business panel, who explored the importance of creativity and design thinking in the business world. It was pretty inspiring to hear from some well established peeps and their ideas on how to successfully cultivate creativity in todays fast-paced business world.

All of the speakers at Semi Permanent were filled to the brim with passion, motivation and honesty about creating meaningful art.

Being surrounded by this for two days, it was hard not to be doused in inspiration. As one of the speakers, Cleo Wade put it, “Your life is in a constant state of design, which means you can always redesign it”.

S T RA N G E T IDE S

T HE G ETAWAY

Album Reviewed by Benjamin Matthews

Red Hot Chili Peppers | Album Reviewed by Benjamin Matthews

There’s something about garage rock that makes me smile. Maybe it reminds me of simpler times; the days before autotune and the loudness of war sucked the life out of popular music. While mega-rock bands, Metallica and co. crafts overproduced albums that are a shadow of their former selves, newer bands have discovered the joys of not giving a crap. And they sound better for it.

I’m surprised how a band, who’s been around longer than I’ve been alive, has popped out the same album again and again.

Although the band’s done a better job than their last album, which felt so stale anyone would fall asleep listening to it, the music always feels middle-of-the-road.

Kiwi indie band, Shakes, delivers their second EP, Strange Tides.

Sounding as if it’s been recorded on an old 8-track, the EP has a raw mixture of psychedelic and garage rock. The first thing noticeable with the title-track is the organs playing beneath a catchy sing-a-long chorus, before bouncing into a fuzz-toned guitar solo. Foreign Lovers has heavy driven guitar riffs with mysterious-like singing. Thinking of Myself begins with surfy guitar riffs before alternating between soft and loud. The verse starts with only the organ before the guitars and drums come in. During the chorus the backing vocal’s hums ooze. The song is completed with a bluesy guitar solo. Tranquilize is a loud yet strangely dreamy tune with funky basslines.

As stupid as it sounds, the only criticism I have with Strange Tides is its length. That’s the problem with EPs, it’s never enough. When a band is this great, you’d want just a tad bit more.

The album’s title track features trippy guitar, while Anna Waronker, lead singer of the 90s alt band That Dog, adds backing vocals. Go Robot is a funky-bass driven song. It however comes off cringe worthy, with lyrics discussing ‘spanking a robot’s arse’.

That might’ve been funny for a 20-year-old to sing, but not a middle aged man.

It doesn’t really help the band’s newest member, guitarist Josh Klinghoffer; it never really feels as if he fits in. It’s as if one of the band members hired one of their sons to join the band. It feels rather awkward, as if he doesn’t want to be there. Maybe it’s me, but long guitarist Josh Klinghoffer’s departure left the dent that’s obviously there. Although not a complete snoozefest, The Getaway never truly delivers. Only hard-core fans will get a kick out of this one.

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