Concrete issue 045 08 March 1995

'THE EVENT'

WHO? WHERE? WHY? it's the Sabb Elections! We've 11ot all the essentia/1nfo inside...

ACADEMIC bosses have acted to avoid an Admissions Day protest... by offering a concession to those affected by the EUR grade fixing exercise.

Cartoon by Tony Lansdowne

They revealed on Monday that their committee of inquiry into the affair which has affected more than 200 students will report on March 20- weeks earlier than anticipated. The announcement of this interim measure came after negotiations with the Union, who had organised a day of action to coincide with Wednesday's Admissions Day. The protest was designed to embarrass the University on a day when it attempts to impress potential new students. But now, a special Union meeting in the Hive at 12pm will call for the protest to be abandoned during the afternoon. Said Academic Registrar, Dr Tony Rich, "The steps we've taken prove we're serious in our intention to let all students have a statement from the Committee of Enquiry. "There's no simple solution [to the reassessment affair] - we just want to maintain the high standards of UEA's degrees." Daniel Owen, Union Academic Officer, stated that the University's move marks some progress in addressing the issue. "UEA have offered a significant step forward and are giving the matter great consideration and have shown a willingness to listen - this should be acknowledged", he said. "lt's the first indication from UEA that they recognise this is an urgent matter. lt's an acknowledgement of the level of feeling that students have expressed." Daniel also voiced his concern that EUR 's grade fixing - which saw coursework marks fall by up to nine per

8 y ------. N. II H 18 ampton cent - would not be repeated in other

schools, something that Dr Rich refused to confirm or deny. "I wouldn't like to comment on thar, he said, adding, "I hope we can move forward constructively in our discussions with the Union." â&#x20AC;˘Those wishing to join the Union's protest should gather in the Square at 8.30 am to meet for a sit-in and leafleting campaign. An EGM has been arranged for 12pm in The Square, or if raining, in The Hive. And Daniel Owen hopes that as many students as possible will get involved not just those from EUR, but across the whole University. "We're trying to put pressure on the University to meet students' demands to have their grades restored: marks hard work." that they've earned

+++EUR MARKS SCANDAL +++ EUR MARKS SCANDAL+++

LOCAL environmental eyesores could be wiped out thanks to cash from a new green initiative, writes Keith Whitmore. For British Telecom are offering grants totalling £5000 in a photographic challenge being run as part of BT Environment Week '95, which begins on May 19. The 'Eyesore It First' challenge invites individuals and groups to capture an environmental eyesore in a photograph. Ten winning photographs will earn grants of £500, awarded to local voluntary groups, to help remove the eyesore from the local environment during BT Environment Week. To enter, simply send two copies (colour or black and white) of your chosen eyesore, with a completed registration form before Friday 31 March. •Forms are available by writing to BT Environment Week '95, PO Box 4666, London SE! 2ZB, or by phone on (0171) 403 5050.

'Vote for Me!' ELEVEN candidates have been nominated for this week's Sabatical Electionswhen UEA students have the chance to choose their Dream Team for the 1995-6 Union Executive. And voting for the posts of Academic, Communications, Finance and Welfare Officer will take place this Thursday, from 9am 5pm in the Bill Wilson Room, Union House, The successful candidates will find themselves responsible for two commercial companies - Students Union Services (East Anglia) Ltd and Waterfront (SUS) Ltd- and a large number of staff in addition to their obligations to members of the Union. DNominations this year are down on 1994-5, which saw fifteen hopefuls run for the four posts, currently remunerated at 7,002. D The candidates: Academic Adam Bowden, Gehrett Ell is; Communications - Jake Blatch, Stuart Carnpbell, Simon Coggins, Damon Roddis; Finance - John Holmes; Welfare- BalbinderChopra, Esther Jillett, Rebecca Rees, Lara Wool ford . • T urn to page 21 for Concrete's in depth analysis of this year's Sabbatical Elections. We preview who's standing and why- plus all the other essential information you'll need to pick your sabb Dream Team for 1995-6.

000 Students at Warwick University have chosen to change the name of their Mandela Bar to the Des Lynam lounge. So how did they do that? Well ...

Snap a local eyesore to win£500

voiced their fears and dismay over the grades fixing scandal last week at a meeting arranged by the Union. Over 120second and third years crowded into LT2 to hear Union Academic Officer, Daniel Owen, offer his response to the affairwhich first came to light a fortnight

ago. Many seemed dejected over losing up to nine percent oflheirfinal grade for the Autumn Semesteraround a quarter oftheirtotal honours courses- after the University adopted marking moderations made by external examiners. Some spoke of their anger and frustration : "I don't think anyone has any idea of quite how angry everyone is, because we don't know and nobody will tell us anything", said an EUR third year. "Lecturers are just saying there's no point doing anything about it, because we don't know and nobody will tell us anything.

"I think we're going to have to make more noise." Said another: "One of my courses came down by about five or six per cent - I'll definitely be appealing and will probably get my parents to write as well. "I think that if a big fuss is made now, things might be alright next semester. This mightn't help the finalists, but at least it'll give a bit more help to students who are still here now." Most students felt that going through the Union offered them their best chance of appealing against EU A's reassessment of their marks, although some pointed outthatlast week's meeting with Daniel Owen should have been convened earlier. 'We don't know where we stand, wedon'tknowwhattodo, and we need a bit of guidance from the Union to help us to resolve this with the University", said one.

Wotta -.6 lotto luck! CONCRETE'S Editorial Team thought their numbers were up when they failed to win any cash on the lottery after forming an office syndicate four weeks ago. But on Saturday night their luck changed as the 13 strong team won more than £200 between them! Their combinations of nine different numbers meant they won two prizes for four numbers and six £10 prizes for three numbers. Explained Assistant Editor, Michele du Randt, who eagerly watched the activation of Gordon Kennedy's balls: "We had 11, 17,26 and 42 ... I couldn't believe it!" But she added that the staff, who each win a total of £15.69, would still te here k> produce Concrete next term .

Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1994

L PAl Thafs afinding ofLib Dem traffic suiVeY. ANGRY local residents are fed up with students parking outside their homes - according to a Norwich Liberal Democrats report, writes Adrian Steel. Homeowners living on Bluebell Road, The Avenues and North Pari<Avenuewerequizzedonthe current off-road pari<ing facilities available to them. Their responses revealed that astaggering90percentthinkthat studentsshouldparl<atUEArather than outside their homes. And annoyed at the increasing numbers of students who pari< directlyoutsidetheirhouses, some residents have issued a torrent of complaints to local Liberal Democrat Councillor, Diane Hume- who herself lives on North Park Av-

enue. "I often get home phone calls from peoplecomplainingaboutstJJ. dentsparkingoutsidetheirhomes, and then verbally abusing homeowners who ask them to move", she said. "Students should have more consideration in using pari<ing space, as BluebeH Road is becoming unbearable." Councillor Hume added however that most locals blame UEA

UEA 's main car park: it's the biggest one of its kind in Norfolk, but still insufficient for the University's needs, as parked cars on Bluebell Road (right) suggest...

-.P"P--.....-!.-..

Parking on Bluebell Road: 'It's a problem' say residents rather than the students for the problem, and have called for University authorities to allow more students to pari< on campus. "The results of the survey show clearly the amount of feeling of anger the residents have", she said. "lt is very clear that UEA has to make available more space for student cars, especiallythosewho live on campus." But when asked about Councillor Hume's demands, Registry

bosses pointed out that UEA already has the biggest level car pari< in Norfolk. Said campus security chief, Maurice Morson, "The University would have difficulty with planning permission for a new level car pari< due to Green Belt restrictions. "And making the current car pari< multi-storey would mean we would have to mari<edly increase charges for parking", he explained. Mr Morson also conceded that the situation in nearby roads was a problem but pointed out that the issue had been examined in detail over the past years. UEA officials have met residents and the police to discuss the current situation, but, added Mr Morson, "UEA does not have jurisdiction over a public road." "The current sytem of fines for pari<ing close to UEA included in the traffic regulations are the best that can be done, and these were introduced after the University had taken legal advice", he said. •Whatare yourviewsoncampus car parking? Write to us at the address given on page 10.

FIVE STAR TAXIS NORWICH CALL US FREE ON FREEPHONE

Which lemon hasn't got an Apple? ,

Do you know the feeling? Evel)'one else is out parrying and you 're still hard at it. Life could be so much easier with an Apple Mac from Norfolk's only authorised AppleCentre. Call Nuala now on 0603 630252 to talk about special student rates. Then look forward to a few more nights out

(or 664664)

NO EXTRA CHARGE AFTER MIDNIGHT ~

CITY to UEA

UEA • to Stataon

£3

£3.50

tl. Jarrold AppleCentre,. Norwich No-one knows more about Macs. B:uTack Street, Norwich NR3 1TH Telephone 0603 630252 ApplcCatae is ascMacmatk rJ Apple Oxnpuu:r U.KLid.

Apple and the Apple qo lJC Uldcnwks rJ Apple Canputa,l ne.

J J

- ~~

-- ~

--------

- - --

Concrete. Wednesday, Ma rch 8, 1995

Resident pays for mis-guidance

Andy

• scoops silver Natural Law college to be built disc on former US airbase in SuHolk PLANS TO build another university in East Anglia have taken off, quite literally.

UEA STUDENT Andy Morton knew how to make friends and influence people ... she won Concrete's competition to bag a silver Terrorvision disc! The competition was run in October last year by numerous other student newspapers at universities all over the country and Andy's winning postcard was draw n from hundreds of entries. The silver disc- the only one of its ki nd - was awarded to rocksters Terrorv isionon selling 60,000 copiesoftheirdebutalbum, 'How To Make Friends And Influence People' . "I'll be fighting with my brother over thi s," said an ecstatic Andy.

For in a multi -million pound surprise deal last month. a disused American airbase near Woodbridge in Suffolk was sold to In dian re ligious guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi . The 1.000 acre Bentwaters site which contains a ci nema. library, sports complex, hospital, church and even its own courtroom, will become the Mahari shi Uni vers ity of Natural Law. Or Geoffrey C lements, ViceChancellor elect of the new institution said, "The new cam pus at Brentwaters wi ll fill an important need in the fie ld of higher education in East Anglia." The un ivers ity promises a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in management, science, hu man ities, technology and public administrati on. But all COlfrses have time set aside to study "the unique Natural Lawbased program mes of Mahari shi

Could disused Fifers become th e next 'flying ' university ? Mahesh Yogi" which teach followers how to achieve inner peace through transcendental meditation. Dr Clements added, "The effect of the univers ity' s unique teachings on meditation and yogic flying would reduce the country 's crime, improve health and boost educational attainment. " The university is expected to take in its first students by early summer, with 2,000 students on campus with in 12 months and over

THE LATIN SOCIETY

H'rPE

PRESENTS

A NIGHT FOR NICARAGUA AT THE WATERFRONT, KING ST ~~~

\)~~~~ FIESTA LATINA DJ 'DON PICANTE' CASAL INTERACTIVE SALSA DANCE CLASSES 8.30PM- 9.30PM

THE KNOW BABA YAGA OCHRE MOTHER CELL JONDOE DOORSOPEN7.30PM TICKETS £2 ADVANCE (UH LUNCHTIMES) £3 ON THE DOOR ALL PROCEEDS TO SUPPOR T SOCIAL PROSPECTS IN NI CARAGUA

4,000 expected by the year 2005. Suffolk Coastal District Coun cil ' s economic development officer, Phi! Watkinson, welcomed the development, brushing off suggestions that the base had been taken o ver by a rel igious cult. "We want to look beyond the name at what they are proposing", he said. "It 's a mass ive economic boost which has been a long time coming but it will be well worth it for the community."

THE Drtl'r i:DlUmrt UJHH BU.ll-•rt DB5DlE5i:Erti:E

f Commentary: Big Brother Is alive and well in living In Pennsylvania NEVER one to beat about the bush or evade contentious issues, this weekHypelaunches t itself into the censorship de% bate by reporting on recent . events at Camegie Mellon Uni,1 versity (Pittsburgh, PA) . Basically' the situation is as follows: last November CMU ~< banned the distribution of l. Usenet Newsgroups that contained materialthattheydeemed to be offensive. Allverywell,yousay, butwhat the hell's a Use net Newsgroup anyway? This is an electronic cross between a pin-board and a relay " race - if you want to know any more than that you'll have to come and visit Hype 's Web pages for an explanation, or wait until we get around to pub' lishing it in Concrete... Back to the story: the university's rationale is that it has an obligation to protect minors (under 18 in the US) from "sexually explicit" material , and everybody else from "obscene" material. Their lawyers are terrified of being made a legal example of

when a student sues them for having polluted his o r her mind with filth , and so have advised the powers that be to censor the newsgroups accordingly. Unsurprisingly, many students of the "information wants to be free" persuasion were rather miffed about this, and you can see a run down of the events that followed the university's decision by visitingHype'sWebpages. We will also be providing excerpts from a speech given at CMU by a member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation's legal staff. You can also find out what the fuss is all about by having a look at the material itself. To do this, visit Hype using the Netscape programme {you will need to shove a disk into the drive before it lets you use it, but it's worth it as Mosaic tends to get a little hot under the collar when you ask it to look at lists of newsgroups). There you will find links to the contentious newsgroups, as yet unbanned by UEA. However, BE WARNED: there are odd people out there and .a..1QlQf the messages will offend ! Please read UEA's Introduction to Usenet News {also linked from Hype) if you are a newsgroup neophyte.

ACCOM MODATION~

have c harged a student over the odds for his rent .. all because a UEA brochure was pri nted wrongly, writes At/stair

Cushion. Angry Village resident, Mr Chow, was told he would have to pay for electricity even though a UEA guide said it was included in the rent. The 1994 Mature Students' Guide stated that the family homes: "cost £350 per month, but hot water and heating are included in the price." But last month Mr Chow received a letter from the Accommodation Office warning him he would be invoiced for all the charges, without any reductions for hot water or heating. Confused and disgruntled, he wrote back citing what the Mature Students Guide had said. But the reply from the Accommodation Office stated that some details printed in the guide were incorrect. "At the time the guide was written, the information about the Village was still uncertain." Accommodation bosses first became aware of the mistake in the guide when MrChow wrote to them in February, yet they still refuse to offer any form of compensation for the error. "I am now considering living elsewhere", said MrChow.

~~t:. ~~~~~=:~J4 linkstothosenewsgroupssolely concerned with UEA, as well as t allowing you to check out the complete list of newsgroups, of '

=~·there are several thou- ,.. Newsflash: Dr. Net hits town Hype is delighted to announce a new arrival at our staff HQ -the

eminentDr. Net! Thevenerabledoctorstartedher career as a neurobiologist and made such significant advances in her field that she accidentally discorporated two years ago. Since her demise she has been living as a fluid, self-aware entity on the highways and byways of the computer networks. Wrth a HBE (Human Brainsize Equivalent)ofseveralgigatonnes she possesses a vast amount of net. knowledge, of which she is

preparedtodedicateasmallfrao.. tionto YOU, the reader. So whether your question is excruciatingly technical or profoundlyphilosophical, Dr. Net can field them all. Email her c/o Hype or visit her clinic on our Website to have all your net-related fears allayed

andnigglirYJproblemsputtorest .. Hype is currently experiencing a

growth spurt, and can be reached (using Netscape if possible) as '!. follows: ~

~UEAWelcomePage=>UEAin- ~

formation Page ~studen ts ' ~campus TV, Radio and PublicatioOS=>Hype. ..,

Emailusatsu.hype@uea.ac.uk f' or via internal mail d o Concrete. "

Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1994

RESIDENTS at Bristol University's Durdham Hall are due to receive compensation totalling £23,000 after suffering problems similar to those By encountered at UEA's own Mlchele du Randt University VIllage. . .

ForafteracampaignbyBristol students union, 250 rent bills for the summer term are be reduced by around £100 each. StudentsmovedintoDurdham Hall last October before it was completed - a delay due to the construction firm going bust New contractors were called in to finish off the project, but complaints started to flood in from disgruntled residents. These included: •Mouldy walls, ethe invasion ofprivacy by builders, and •severe noise disruption from building work. Said Bristol's student union vice-president, Ed Hopper, "[This victory] is proof positive that undergraduates, and particularly first years, can achieve re-

suits when their interests come into conflict with the university as a whole." The Durdharn decision comes as the UEA Union have started their own attempt to seek compensation from the Registry over University Village. SaidJazlhenacho, Union Welfare Officer, "From what I've

heardofDurdham, ourdampproblems are even worse than theirs." "We wrote to UEA asking them for a rent rebate, but they didn't even bother to reply. I don't think they've taken us seriously enough." She added, 'The University talk about 'teething problems' at the Village, but whenever something's corrected, something new happens." "Maybe once they see what

ENTERTAINMENTS In the past three weeks, the GSA has hosted a variety of bands.

How Bristol's student paper; Epigram, first broke the news has happened at Bristol, they might buck their ideas up. I'm trying to get in contact with Bristol's Student Union to find outiftheydid anything I haven't tried yet." Jaz urged those living at the Village who are still dissatisfied with their accommodation to complain, and if necessary, get their parents to write to UEA. • Thanks to Epigram for their help in researching this story

The first of these was the popular 'Wake', who attracted in excess of 300 fans. After this great success of modem indie music, "lndy Clark and the Expressions' provided an interesting alternative of independent/ 70s influenced music which was well appreciated. Following that, the GSA featured the folk rocky band 'Kross the Dog', who provided lively entertainment for all those present. And following this string of bands, we will be finishing off the pre-Easter period with:

An Irish Night featuring 'Celtic Spirit' Friday March 17.

APPLICATIONS All the remaining associate memberships have now been allocated. Staff and full memberships are still open.

GENERAL

Eatupforcash

•Our lunchtime openings have been very successful so far, but we will still need volunteers amongst our members.

THE NORFOLK based Institute of Food Research are looking for student guinea pigs for their projects. And they will pay between £25 and £200 depending on the type of project concerned - some of which offer free food and accommodation at their Colney Lane site. •For further information, contact Dr Linda Harvey at the IFR on (01603) 255308.

•For those who haven't been up yet, we provide the best coffee, tea, hot chocolate, cappuccinos, espressos and sandwiches on campus. We also provide you with a good selection of newspapers .. •After having linked up with Nexus UTV, we have successfully sold our TV set and plan to purchase a new set within the next two weeks. •The satellite dish and decoder are still for sale. Please address all offers to Anthony.

This section is written and paid for by the Graduate Students Association

Snoo\{er... \o\ Ano..1 a H•ho\e ....

Your· 24 hou·r a day, 7 ·days a week .c lub ·• Hot & cold food •lw•ys available , ··Satellite TV • · Licenced Bar (normcil hours) • 21 ~nooker ·t ables & 4 pool tables Plain OFF TOP OF: Duke Street Tel 627478·

more\

r-------~-------------------~~-------

- - ·-

~ -

-- ---

Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995

AND

A BRAND new liberation campaign group gained recognition last week, writes Dawn Emery and Matthew Day/e. Following its acceptance by the Students' Union, The Special Needs Awarencss Society opened its doors to UEA students. Joe Hemington (SOC I), one of the founder members and recently elected chairperson of SNAS, outlined the society's role at UEA. "The main aim of SNAS is to raise awareness of the issues facing students with special needs and to then set in place the apparatus to help them", he said. A motion was unanimously passed at Student Forum to have SNAS recognised as a Liberation Campaign, which gives the society the same status in the UnionastheLGB, Race Awareness and W AC groups. A spokesperson for SNAS said, 'The SNAS campaigns will be to promote awareness amongst the general student population of the issues facing those with special needs inside the Union, the University and the wider society." The society is looking for new members to get involved in their work. The SNAS pigeon hole is upstairs in Union House.

Channel Four debut for l?_ostgrad•s winning flick EAS FILM postgrad Tom Shankland has been celebrating after landing a prestigious slot on TV for his latest directorial effort. For his 1994 Lloyds Bank Film Challenge entry. 'You Know My Story', is one of eight shortlisted films to be shown on Channel Four thi s spring. Tom's film tells the talc of a teenage girl sent to a chi ldrens home, who comes to terms with her feelings towards the abuse she suffered as as child, through the figure of a ghost. "Through the use of magical and supernatural qualities, the film shows how children. who are not as rational as adults. come to terms with trauma" . explained Tom . "The film tri es to stay in the realm of the child's perception of the ghost and its relationship to her past and not rationalise the ghost away with 'adult' explanations." Citing the work of British director Michael Powcll as one of the major influences on his direction of the film script, Tom 's winning formula has already earned him the Fuji

By----. Khushwant Sachdave Film Award for Best Screenplay for his movie, ·Brotherly Love'. But his most recent achievement, 'You Know My Story' boasts an impressive cast including actor, Michael Maloney, best known for his role in 'Truly , Madly , Deeply ', Henderson. Or Andrew Hi gson, Chair of the EAS film sector, said, " His success is evidence of the high quality of teaching on film and video-production courses, aswell as that of the MA in Creative Writing, which continues to attract high -quality students to UEA." " it shows success is still possible despite the low level resourcing of practical work'', he added. •·Y ou Know My Story' will be screened on Channel4 between late April and mid June. The series of eight films and documentaries cover su bjects from teenage mu sic fanat· ics to suicide spotting .

LOOKING FOR SOMEWHERE TO LIVE NEXT YEAR?

This is the last edition of Concrete before Easter - we're back on May 3 with a bumper issue~

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL OUR READERS!

....~

~ CD

Tom Shank/and pictured (top left) on location

aswellasSarah-JancPotl~andShirley

Read Concrete's Accommodation Guide, coming in our next issue - a must for anyone looking for a house in NoriNich.

Wed Mar S Wed Mar 22 Thu Mar 23 Sat Mar 25 Thu Apr 6 Wed Apr 19

Special Needs Soc launched

Soaping up for Success TilE SPIRIT of Doctor Who is coming to UEA, writes Caroline Ad/em. For the campus will form the backdrop for 'The New World University' · a spin-off from the popular 50s television series. And up to 50 extras are need~d to feature as actual students at 'The New World University', a psuedo-institution run by 'The Great rntelligence' . the obligatory evil enemy. Consequently. Reeltime Pictures are targeting UEA in their

search for extraS, and are paying out

£25 per day to any student takes part in the filming.

~ho

Said spokesman, Keith Barnfather, "We need to sustain a public awareness of the classic timelord in order to keep Doctor Who alive now that the BBC are no longer making the series", he said. The small-budget production is being aimed specifically at the fan market, and, according to Keith, couldn't be made without UEA's co-operation. ''The company aren't looking

for experienced actors, and !here won't be any auditions, but extraS should be game for a laugh and prepared to stand around a lot during filming." The new episode will feature some of the cast from the original series, and the fmished product will be screened at .the Doctor Who convention to be held in Coventry on September 2. • Filming takes place on March 27 and 28. Anyone interested should conlaet KeithBamfatheratReeltime

Productions on 0171 620 3102.

'SCIENCE IN The Supermarket' is the title of a talk being given next week, writes Peter Elliott. UEA's own Chancellor and former director of the Unilever conglomerate, SirGeoffrey Alien, will be giving a lecture which aims to give an insight into why 'Dove' soap is curved and how washing powder really works. A spokesman for The Society of Chemical Industry said, ''The talk should provide an interesting insight into the development of soaps and margarines." Set to be an informative, yet imaginative and lively talk about soap products, 'Science In The Supermarket' takes place on Monday, March20at4.30pm in LT2.

Senseless Things+ Ac Acoustics +Minxus £5 Radiohead +Marion£7 Blue Aeroplanes+ Boo Hewerdine +Animals that swim £&.5o Meltdown with Delicatessen +Oogger +Starlings £3.50 MoiSI£5

Nitzer Ebb

S'J'OJ• •••u~ss Fri Mar 17

£5

Tickets: Soundclash, UEA Union, City Ticket Shop, HMV, Andy's, Our Price. Credit Cards: (01603) 764764/505401 .

Back due to popular demand. 'Leave My Wife Alone': Jazz Funk Night from the Wag Club and Mimstry of Sound.

•Ul

. Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1994

TWO UEA RAG members were kidnapped and driven to Manchester after a recent fundralslng trip to London, writes Allstalr Cushion. Law first years Russell Chambers and StevenJackson were collecting with 300 RAG members from other universities for the Winged Fellowship- a charity for the disabled on February 17. But after a party in the University of London Union that evening, they encountered RAG members from UMISTwho lured them onto their coach after confiscating their collection tins. The two were then driven to Manchester where they stayed with friends, returning to Norwich four days later. "It was all good fun in the end", saidRussell. "Manchester's a really good place, so we didn't mind staying for a few days." Added Steven, "We met some mates who happen to live there they just couldn't believe it when we turned up. 'The worst thing though, was

Russell and Steven pictured in Concrete's reconstruction of the incident last week that we only had one set of clothes and our socks were a bit smelly by the time we came back." But UEA RAG, not knowing of Russell.and Steven' s willingness to take part in the stunt, claimed

they had been kidnapped and issued a press release to this effect. Some confusion remains about the incident, however. For on being told of the allegations of kidnapping, UMIST

, r.stcard lrr.nt, arts Halfwaythrough his year abroad in France, Tim Walesdonshisberet, bicycle clips, Breton shirt and a string of onions before telling all •.. GOTO PARIS, they said. You'll haveagreattime, they said. You'll speak a lot of English, they said. And they were right. Butwhafs it really like though? Well, for starters, Paris stinks (literally). Although everyone maintains that the removal of the old iron pissoirs to be· replaced by the concretebunker-likesanisettes wasaQOOdthing, lcan'tspotthe difference. The smell of urine still wafts along certain boulevards because some blighter seems to delight in jamming 2 franc coins in the slots of the new toilets, rendering them inoperative. So men (at least) have to resort to urinatingagainstthem rather than in them, as if they were the old pissoirs! Super! Then there's the Metro, which isnothingbutavastunderground toilet for the multitude of tramps who dwell there. ltis advisable to avoid sitting on any ofthe bucket seats in some

stations and to avoid stepping in any puddle down there too. As for late at night on the REA trains (on the fast Metro lines), watch your step and be prepared for a nasty surprise and a smell between the seats- I kid ye not! Having said that, the Metro is more efficient the Tube in London, though women are likely to be hassled by lechers and perverts, if not by the occasional chat-up line. Paris is expensive, even more so for students. I mean, £4 for a pint of beer! And£10todancetoWhigfield's "Saturday Nighr -I can do thatfor free at the Ritzy's in Norwich! I'd like to be able to buy some bread and cheese and still get change from a fiver, sorry, a twenty franc note. Needless to say, the (relatively) cheap bars here are very much en vogue with English students doing their bit for Heineken and country. The only other option is to get

some cheap plonk from the supermarket and have a party at

tone. As you may have gathered, the night-clubs are terrible. Theydon'thaveacluewhatto play, except Europoppytechno. I even heard "Yallow Submarine" in one club. And if there is a half-decent dance tune playing, you're likely toseeatleastoneFrenchcouple doing Rock 'n' Roll/Jitterbug type dancing to it. · Let's not forget, the word "rock" still has "hip" connotations here. Smashie and Nicie would be French radio superstars, mate. Ifs been sounding a bit negative up to now, so what about the good points? Apart from French women, I would have to opt for cinema, and, er, the food and wine. Forgetalltherubbishaboutthe French being really patriotic when it comes to films, one glance at the films on offer for a

RAG's response was somewhat unprintable. They added, "[Russell and Steven] paid to go to Manchester, although they did have second thoughts when they got there."

weekwouldsatisfyeven Ouentin Tarantino - the film buff's film buff. Japanese to Iranian to... English (hurrah!), shorts to comedies to pom, they're all here, uncut. "Of course one has to see A Clockwork Orange, doesn'tone, it's banned by the director in England, don't you know". Natural Bom Killers came out here without any hoo-haa about its content. Don't forget that Paris has some of the biggest screens in Europe. Thefoodandwineneed no explanation; you can appreciate them without having to go to a restaurant tres snob. Butwhataboutthefine sights, I hear you cry? Hang on, I'm a student not a tourist. But the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower is beautiful at night... the La Defense complex is very interesting, it's true, and the cemetery of Pere Lachaise is a must see. Oh and ... if you really wantto know what Paris or the year abroad is like, ask the person next to you. Chances are, he or she have just come back from abroad for the nth time, either to see their loved ones or to get away from wherever (insert appropriate countl}1 for a while - bunch of lightweights that they are.

Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995

ConcreteS alt~rnative view of campus life 1

Choose from X-Crete•s bunch ofsabbs T HIS WEEK sees t he elections for 1995-6's Union Executive sabbaticals. And it's there for all to see- you can vote for your Academic, Communications, Finance and Welfare officers. Ho hum , you might say. You vote for the same type of people every year, for people to represent you in Academic, Communication, Finance and Welfare type matters, funnily enough. But isn' t it reall y becoming a bit of a routine? What X-Crete thinks the Uni on should do is to change the positions and responsibili ties slightly, to have a bit of variety for a change. We ' ve mentioned thi s already

this year. A few issues ago, we put the case forward fo r a sabbatical National Lottery Officer. And fo llow ing the unprecedented amount of debate this provoked, we' d like to put forward our proposal s for the rest of the posts. Firstly, weneeda sabbaticaJBooze Officer. He or she would make sure that alcohol awareness is increased on campus. Like making clear when the Union have their Happy Hours for exampl e. Next, they' d have to make sure that the current - and extremely laudable - initiati ve to have£ I per pi nt lines is increased as much as possible.

And finall y, they' d have to convince Union bosses to re-introduce that legendary offer made at UGM s a coupl e of years ago - that of offerin g half price drinks. In the event, everyone ordered half pints and made a killing ... Secondly, how about a sabbatical Hi ve Officer? Duties wou ld include giving advice on whattowearin UEA ' s most happeni ng cafe-bar, as well as suggesting possible ranges of conversati o n. This would be a full-time position, from when The Hi ve opens at 9am to closing time at 6pm (overtime would be avai lable on Tuesday and Thursday nights). They ' d also be responsible for

N OW AVAILABLE AT ORFORD PLACE (Oppos ite Pilch, Gentlmans Walk)

perfecting students' walk-through tec hniques, li ke how to swagger down the red-lined path to the bar without noticing anyone. Lastly, he or she would also be responsible for offering counselling for those too nervous to sit in the circular bit in the middle of the Hive bar before their friends arrive from the Sainsbury Ce ntre. Third! y, we need a sabbatical LCR Disco Officer. The lucky incumbent would have to ensure that the th is truly 'legendary' event is promoted as vigorously as possible. Next, that the standard of music played remains at its current high levels. In addi tion, he or she would be responsible for the nice new decor to be kept in trim. That's surely not too much to ask, is it ?

PHOTO: KEITH WHITMOAE

Union House

Two reasons not to stand as a sabb: •Your stress count will rise to unbel ievable levels, and •You 'll develop a stabbing pa in in the back.

And two reasons why you should: •You can serve your fellow students, and •You can still swan around as if you own the place when your term of office has actually finished. Not bad huh?

AUDITIONS FOR MODELS to be held on Thurs March 16

Registration in Room 1.28, Union House, at 6.30pm. Auditions in LCR 7.30pm onwards. Performances will be May 31 and June 1.

Enthusiasm and ideas more important than size and shape.

Anyid eas fo r da nc~

singing/ entertainment sets - please come to auditions ...

Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995

obs

pag~ No 4: The Fountain in The Square Also known as: That thing in the Square that only works for a few months each year. Age: About as old as the Plain itself ' probably getting on for 30 years. Origin: The idea for the UEA fountain probably came from some tacky 1960s shopping precinct built in one of the new towns.

The column that reveals how what happens really works ...

New T owns? Yes, those valiant at-

No 4: Filling empty rooms in residences

t~mpts to provide different and inspira-

tional places to live for the disaffected ~stwar generation. Usually concrete

Q: So how do they do that?

.LNOO A3Hl.

Ju.ngles, like UEA for example, NorWlch'sown 'academic homestead' . So what's the fountain supposed to d o? Basically, it's for decoration -like UEA really ... When does it look at its best then? During the better weather, when some ?ri~t wag usuaJJy squirts Fairy Liquid in 11. Cos then the fountain effect is truly spectacu~ar, similar to that seen in your average mdoor shopping centre to be exact. But what's that bit at the bottom that s hallow pudd le? This is a good question- it's rumoured to be the UEA swi · It may be small but it's got a water slide bu~7r:~~~~~~eo~~::~-::~;~ recognised it yet. How a bout a p roper swimming I? u ~ . · due to budg tary . poo . n ortunately, thJs was left out when UEA was built c?nstramts. You got the Chaplaincy instead ... . e Worst msult possible: Chucking your mates in it. A popular end of year ritual.

NIGHTCLUB

INOW UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT I ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

:NOW OPEN MONDAY, .WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY : :•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 1:1 ~ ~ ••111i 1111 't!l ~ 1~ i111 ~ 1i:1~i 1~ 1m: 1~• ~ ~ 1o1l1] ~ ~ 1a•J ~ tJ 11 1'j ~i j(I1~ 1:tJ l11 ~ ~ 1: I

~----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- -

Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995

·Letters

What a fix The University's line over the EUR marking affair thus far has been to defend its actions and offer assurances that an inquiry will take place. They claim that they are acting to ensure the value of their degrees in the Higher Education marketplace is not undermined. This is all extremely commendable, given the current competitive climate both in higher education and beyond. But it would seem to imply that the University is happy to protect standards for future students at the expense of those who are al ready here; and they, as far as the Registry is concerned, have no redress. And nearer to home, where does this leave the recipient of a re grade? Possibly wondering why they went to all that trouble in the first place. Not very encouraging is it? Especially not when it's clear that any school at UEA could reassess its marks- not just EUR. So once again. students carry the can for the University's cock-ups. Surprise surprise.

lt's driving us mad A local survey reveals that homeowners are becoming increasingly frustrated with students from UEA parking outside their houses. It's quite understandable really. Anyone driving to campus after 11 am stands absolutely no chance of parking here - the main car park is bursting to the seams and overflow measures can't accommodate everyone. It's equally annoying for car drivers when they have to park off campus - the problems clearly affect both parties. But finding a solution to the problem won't be easy - it's not simply a question of enlarging present facilities to meet the growing demand. Perhaps the amount of cars coming on to campus needs to be addressed in the first instance and local tran port improved. lt sounds familiar but some would argue this route to be the only way forward.

A ComP.ensating issue This issue. we reported how students at Bristol University's Durdham Hall are to receive rent reductions totalling £23.000 after suffering problems in the bodged residences. The problems experienced at Durdham Hall are not totally dissimilar to those experienced by UEA students at University Village- their complaints, however, seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Let's hope that our Union's campaign to seek some compensation for Village residents meets with success comparable to that seen at Bristol.

TIME PLEASE • OR IS IT?

t is approximately midnight on 24th February. I am sitting n my room. Why aren't I out partying? I just have been. I was privileged enough to find a 60s, 70s and 80s disco on campus, at the Thursday night price of £2 entrance. I went along and must have arrived at about IO.SSpm. Luckily for me, I brought a drink to the disco. On sitting on the floor, an announcement was made for the bar shutting in five minutes. I refused to push, barge or haggle my way to the bar, believing there may be some leeway. I stood still for approximately two or three minutes. With IS people to serve, the bar closed. I am writing to ask why a disco - "a club or party etc." (Oxford Study Dictionary) - lets people (Union members at that) pay £2 to enter without telling the entrant the bar will close shortly (by shortly I mean 'If you queue up now you will get served'). I am thirsty, and would like to buy a drink. The Union has therefore lost approximately IS x £1 (£15), but not to worry, they were letting people into the 'disco' after 11 pm (presumably without telling them the bar had closed). This information has to be published. We should be told these things. I will not be going either to a Thursday or any night LCR in the future. Shame really, because it is my Union. Jeffrey Hanger DEVJ

PHOTO: STEVE HOWARD

Students enjoying an LCR disco

LGB Soc's response to campus graffiti A

Dead on your feet ....

.r· ·.

LGB Officer it is my reponsibility to promote nd raise awareness of LGB issues. I am the member of the Union Exec utive who liases with the LGB Society. I am not their ' leader', but rather thei r represe ntati ve. It is for that reason I am writing thi s letter.

COiil'lC rt~ite UEA'S Independent Student Newwspape• INCORPORATING

Dead worried.

The event PO Box 410, Norwich NR4 7TB (01603) 250558

The Union Exec utive and the LGB Society do not condone comments that are discriminatory of any person-gay or straight. The grafitti that covered both Union House and the Square was not sanctioned by the LGB or the Union Executive, but it did happen to coincide with the start of LGB Week. While some of the remarks were

considered offensive by people, they obviously raised the profile of the LGB in both a negative and positive manner. It is unfortunate that some of the grafitti was considered offensive. It is my view that despite negative reactions LGB Week has been successful and has made students AWARE.

I encourage people to question and debate. The events I organised provoked thought and allowed people to take notice of the issues. I am doing my job as LGB Officer and will continue to do so in an effective and thought-provoking manner. Gehrett Ellis Union LGB Officer

•Editor: Niall Hampton •Assistant Editor: Michele du Randt •Features Editor: Mark Austin • Go-Sports Editors: Nik Davy & Jane Homer • Screen Editor: Caroline Jenkinson • Stage Editor: Joanna Stubbington •Music Editor: Peter Hart •Special Projects Editor: Caroline Adlem •Picture Editor: Keith Whitmore •Chief Cartoonist: Tony Lansdowne •Chief Features Writer: Seth Levine !Chief Screen Writer: William Neil •Assistant Music Editor: David Hall •Chief Music Writer: Sam Richards •Editorial Contributors: Paul Collins, Andy Tyler, Tom Geoghegan, Bruce Rhodes, Rob Mullarkey, lan Reynolds, Anna Currie, Nicola Hutchinson, Kala Duffey, Khushwant Sachdave, Alistair Cushion, Dawn Emery, Matthew Doyle, Johnny Boyne, Joanna Emsley, Peter Elliot, Joanne Robertson, Adrian Steel, Tristan Roddis, Simon Mann, Rebecca Curran, Liz Mills, Alberto Lopez, Philip Miles, Nicola Daley, Tim Wales, Martin Plant, Sally Rose, Jess Morriss, Nick Amies, •Chief Photographer: Sam Jary •Photographers: Mohamed Hassan, Jo Stubbington especial Thanks To: UH Stewards •Advertising Manager: Simon Mann •Production Manager: Stephen Howard •DTP Assistants: Niall Hampton, Peter Hart, Nik Davy, Michele du Randt •Concrete is published by the Union of UEA Students. Opinions expressed are those of the Contributor and not necessarily those of the Publisher or Editor. Use of the name 'The Event' appears by arrangement with the copyright holders, Planet Zog Ltd. No part of this newspaper may be reproduced, stored in an airtight container, or transmitted by any means, electronic, technotronic featuring Ya Kid K, mechanical, orchestral, agricultural, channel tunnel, Eiffel Tower, Easter bunny etc. •Printed by Eastern Counties Newspapers, Prospect House, Rouen Road , Norwic h • Concrete is printed on recycled paper © 1995

- -

- - --- -- -,

-. Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995 11

Letters

--~------------------------------------------------------------------------~--------~------------------~

WE ARE NOT A-MUS-ED I

he question arises how it is possible for two students to become locked in the Music Department until 6.30am despite continuou~ attempts to attract attention. Is our university security really doing their job? Two undergraduate students, Nikki Webb (EUR I) and Tim MacLachlan (MUS3), who had been rehearsing their dance routine late in the Concert Room, with lights on, music blaring loudly, were not noticed when the security guards supposedly checked the building thoroughly before final Jock-up. The students assumed they

would have been warned that the department was going to be locked, but the room they were in was never checked. Since all exits were alarmed, the students decided to try and attract attention by switching on all the lights of the department, banging loudly on the entrance and sticking SOS notes on the main doors, hoping that a passing security patroller would notice their dilemma. After Jam, they lost hope, and spent the rest of the night in the Concert Room, until a security guard released them at 6.30arn. When the students raised the question why their notes had not been read earlier, despite the se-

curity's claim that all the windows and doors were checked thoroughly at I am, he responded, "We don't take no notice of no silly student notes. They're all over the place." And, also, why security failed to notice all the lights were on, after they had been turned off before lock-up? While they were recovering, the students were treated rudely, and the incident was passed off as their fault: ''I'm not very happy about this", said the guard. Neither were the students too amused for having spent nearly eight hours stranded in a cold building, through no fault of their own.

When students were asked why they had not contacted the Porter's Lodge of their predicament, they pointed out that although that was a marvellous idea, it was a bit difficult since they were unfortunately locked the wrong side of the doors, and as for phones, well, there weren't any that could be accessed. Assuming that security did their job properly the students should have been discovered at Jl.OOpm at lock-up. How easy is it for people to remain in departments undiscovered by our supposed security?

Nilcki Webb EURJ 7im Maclachlan MUS3

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

MARY CHAPMAN COURT CORRECTION S

trange is the only word I can think of to describe some one who insists upon criticising someone who is blatantly supporting his cause. I do not 'hate' Mary Chapman Court, I am aware of the positive attributes that the residence possesses. The rooms are more spacious than those on campus and sharing a bathroom and kitchen with four others is undoubtedly a luxury. My previous letter was not a pathetic attempt to invoke sympathy - far from it. I merely tried to exploit the fact that no matter how luxurious, superbly situated or spacious Mary Chapman Court is - the appalling security problems far outweigh this. I volunteered to steward for two main reasons. When I flfSt arrived at University, it was with mixed emotions. There was the obvious excitement and anticipation of making new friends, indulging in frivolities and being free (at last). On the other hand, I was bewildered and, to an extent, lonely. I found it very reassuring to be met by a friendly face who could give me advice and information on life at UEA. I also volunteered because I had

Mary Chapman Court

UniversifYs not the only place to get lcnowledge

ometimes people tend to wonder whether it's a fal lacy that llford, Romford and Hainault are populated entirely by London taxi-drivers. It's not a fallacy, it's true! My brother-in-law is a London taxi-driver, who understandably loathes mini-cab drivers, particularly when they illegally tout for business at major capital BR termini. He maintains that 'doing the knowledge' -learning every street in Central London, including all major buildings, places of interest, embassies and a good idea of

streets in all London's 32 boroughs - is actually more difficult than getting a degree. I tend to agree with him. Fortunately, for us members of the public, we just have the easy bit, all we have to do is hail a cab is stick our arm out. In fact compared to say buying a house, getting a taxi somewhere is problem-free. Most people hate estate agents, they are pretty fair game. When things go wrong, they always have a credible sounding excuse. My father-in-law is currently

'between houses' -which is even worse than being between warring neighbours, jobs or girlfriends. To solve the predicament temporarily, he is currently staying with a certain taxi-driver. "So, he's in limbo?", I asked my wife. "No, be's in Hainault", she replied. Personally, I think any distinction is purely academic! Tony Crush HJS2 PS Why is UEA holding seminars in broom cupboards? Where are the brooms kept now?

detailed knowledge of the residence - where the closest lauderette is, how to get to the bus stop and where the phones are - these are all boring, but essential questions that needed to be answered. I am not suggesting for one minute that my services were 'indispensible' : simply that only someone who had lived there, would "know the score". Those residing at Mary Chapman Court must be disillusioned - the security is inadequate and underfunded, yet all we seem to bear about is the thousands of pounds that are to be spent on refurbishments. I hope Tim Gowen succeeds in arranging storage space to be made available but just a word of warning - we tried to organise that last year, but were told that it wasn't a feasible proposition. Nothing has. been done, yet something has to be done. Change will only be achieved if those searching for it join forces rather than feuding and fighting amongst themselves. Melanie Levene LA W2 PS I may not be Ms UEA - but comparing me to a horse was a rather harsh gesture don't you think Mr Gowen?

This is the last edition of Concrete before Easter. However, we are still keen to hear your views on anything about UEA life - or anything you read in the paper that you may wish to take issue with. Send your letters to the address above, or post them in our letters box at the Stewards Cabin in Union House.

PHOTO·

people discriminated nst at UEA? Yes in ! I am writing to express my disgust at the facilities provided to left-handed people at UEA . Has anyone, who is left-handed attended lectures in the newly furnished Elizabeth Fry Building? Flip-top desks, back-breaking positions, using two desks. Does this sound familiar? It should for the I 0 per cent of this country who are labelled with this •affliction' . What I'm getting to in an overthe-top way is the awful flip-top desks used in the above mentioned building. I put it to any left-handed person to be able to sit at these desks and write for an hour in comfort! They only flip out onto the right hand side of the desks, therefore making it difficult for lefthanders to write! I know other left-handers feel exactly the same way about this. I've even heard of people using two desks; one to write on, one to

Are we

being left behind? sit in, only for them to over balance and bring them crashing down mid-lecture. What's happened to the old design desks where the top was transferable from one side to the other? Mark Thompson CHE3 PS Since I wrote this letter, it has come to my attention that even the old style desks in the Arts Block are being replaced by the new style. Whatever next?

concrete WOULD liKE TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO WISH All OUR READERS AND CONTRIBUTORS OUR BEST WISHES FOR A

Happ~

Easter

WE1RE BACK ON WEDNESDAY MAY 3

Concrete, Wednesday, March

~--

---~-·

8, 1995 ..

THURSDAY MARCH 9 to celebrate an extraordinary birthday party on Merseyside, but events take wild and unexpected turns .. . £7.50pm/ £5.50concs, 1.30pm (Matinee), 8pm.

Ci nema City Second Best (12), 5.45pm. Barcelona (15), 8.15pm.

Compiled by Caroline Ad/em

Theatre Royal

WEDNESDAY MARCH 8

Boswells The Dalling Brothers. 9pm-midnight.

SUNDAY MARCH 12 ious way of deceiving her husband. 5pm. La Reine Margot (18), 7.30pm.

Cannon See Saturday March 11.

Odeon See Saturday March 11 .

Theatre Royal

Cinema City

The Hollies - £3.50 - £13.50, 7.30pm.

A Stolen Life (PG) - A classic 1940s thriller, staring typically bitchy Bette Davis as a married woman who devises an ingen-

The Dopplegangers (A tribute to U2)

Oval

Hys

Troilus and Cressida- Based on Ch aucer's epic poem, this opera is widely acknowledged as a long-neglected masterpiece . Sung in English. £5-£32, 7.30pm .

Club Night, 9pm-2am. Admission £2 all night. Happy Hour midnight-1am.

Norwich Arts Centre

Go! £1.50 admission b4 11 pm, £2.50 after. 9pm-2am.

MONDAY MARCH 13

Ritzy The Knocky - A family gathers

FRIDAY,MARCH.10 Cannon See Wednesday March 8. Disclosure and Wagons East also open today.

Odeon See Wednesday March 8. Nell also opens today.

UEALCR Del Amitri - The Glaswegian band bring their versatile mix of folk and pop to UEA. Expect hits from their latest album 'Twisted', as well as old favourites for their dedicated followers . £9.50adv.

Cinema City La Reine Margot (18)- A sumptuous new historical drama, centred round the political machinations culminating in the St. Bartholemew's Day Massacre of 1572. 5.15pm, 8.15pm. Fear of a Black Hat (18)- This 'Spinal Tap' style spoof documentary follows the often hilarious of NWH (Niggaz With Hats), a talentless hip-hop act on tour across the States. 11 pm.

THE JUNGLE BOOK

Cannon Screen One: Star Trek Generations (PG)- Kirk and Scotty make their final (probably) appearance on the big screen . 2.30pm, 5.30pm, 8.30pm. Screen Two: The River Wild (12) - Meryl Streep finds herself in difficulties when baddie Kevin Bacon forces her to raft "The River Wild". 2. 15pm, 6pm, 8.40pm. Screen Three: Interview With The Vampire (18)- Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise bite necks in this latest vampire thriller. 3.45pm , 8.20pm. Screen Four: Black Beauty (U) Horseplay of a different kind in this adaption of Anna Sewell's classic. 1.45pm , 6.15pm. Also: Pulp Fiction (18)- Tarantino's latest hit, starring Bruce Willis, John Travolta and a host of other stars. 8pm . Also: Stargate (PG) - Sci-fi fantasy starring Kurt Russell and Jaye Davidson . 2pm, 5.30pm.

Odeon Screen One : Natural Born Killers (18) - The controvers ial film of many deaths finally reaches the cinema. 1pm , 3.15pm, 5.30pm, 8pm. Screen Two: Shallow Grave (18) - What would you do if your flatmate died, leaving behind a fortune in a suitcase? 2pm, 4.1Opm, 8.30pm. Screen Three: The Jungle Book (PG) - New fi lm version of the classic Rudyard Kipling tale. 1.25pm, 3.45pm. Cinema City Second Best (12)- A gentle drama about a shy, lonely man's intense relationship with his adopted son. Starring William Hurt, Jane Horrocks, Prunella

Scales and John Hurt. 5.45pm . Barcelona (15) - A survey of priviledged yet sympathetically portrayed young Americans, set in 1980's Barcelona. 8.15pm.

Theatre Royal Tosca - Apparently Puccini's grandest and most dramatic work, this opera concerns the proud singer Tosca and her confrontation with the amoral police chief, Scarpia, against a background of Roman politics. Sung in Italian . £5-£32, 7.30pm.

Boswells Lee Vasey Band . 9pm-midnight. Manhattans Sheer Bliss! 9pm-2am.

Samanthas The Fluff Syndicate - Dance/ Techno!Trance music, 1Opm2am.

Hys Club Night, 9pm-2am. Admission £1 all night. Happy Hour midnight-1am.

Ritzy Free admission with any student ID b4 midnight. £1 .50 pints.

Peppermint Park Mr B's Flying Circus. 9pm-2am. Adm ission £1 b4 10.30pm .

Waterfront Senseless Things + AC Acoustics + Minxus Performance by the band whose latest single apparently shows a band with "verve, spunk, a cool twang of guitar and an ability to blow harmonica like the re's no tomorrow". £5, 7.30pm.

Boswells Beyond the Blues. 9pm-midnight.

Waterfront Milky Lunch Dangerous Liasons - Uplifting house. Upstairs - Sub Rosa. Admission £6/£5, 9pm2am.

Hys Club Night, 9pm-2am. Admission £2 (9pm-1 Opm), £3 (10pm11pm), £4 (11pm on) .

Theatre Royal Tosca - see Wednesday March 8. £5-£32, 7.30pm.

Ritzy Fast Trax. Admission £2 b4 10.30pm, £3 after.

SATURDAY MARCH 11 Cannon Some or all of the films from Wednesday February 8 may still be showing . Ring for further details.

Cannon

Ritzy

See Saturday March 11 .

Nth Degree, 9pm-2am. Entry SOp with an NUS card.

Odeon See Saturday March 11 .

Peppermint Park Student Night

Cinema City

La Rei ne Margot (18) , 5.15pm, 8.15pm. UEAStudio Death and the Maiden- A Pilot production in aid of the Norwich Playhouse Theatre. £6/ £3.50concs, 7.30pm.

Boswells Showcase. 8pm-11 pm.

Zoom (nr. Cannon) Student Party in association with the Cow Club. Guest DJs every week from The Cow Club, Milky Lunch, Mr Bumpman & Offeryerface. Bar, Slammer & Cocktail Bar, Chillout Area. Beer £1 a pint. Find it on Prince of Wales Road (next to the Cannon cinema). Admission £2.

TUESDAY MARCH 14

Odeon Some or all of the films from Wednesday February 8 may still be showing. Ring for further details.

Cannon

UEAStudio

See Saturday March 11 .

Death and the Maiden. £6/ £3.50concs, 7.30pm.

Cinema City

See Saturday March 11 .

The Neverending Story 3 (U) The young hero of the first two films in this series now moves to a new school, where he is bullied by a gang of older boys. Desperate to escape from them , he hides in the library, where the librarian re-acquaints him with the fairy-tale world of The Neverending Story. 2.30pm. La Reine Margot (18) , 5.15pm, 8.15pm.

Theatre Royal Oberto - This opera focuses on Oberto's desire for vengeance on his daughter's seducer, unfolding in an intense and tragic drama. Sung in Italian . £5£32, 7.30pm.

Odeon

Cinema City ALLSORTED - PURE POP AND NO EXCUSES AT THE WATERFRONT

Boswells Lena Black Big Band. 9pmmidnight.

Waterfront Meltdown - indie & alternative dance . Upstairs- Allsorted!, Pure pop and no excuses with DJ Bertie Basset!. ARRIVE EARLY! £3.50/£3 cones, 9pm1.30pm.

Samanthas Rock Club. 1Opm-2am.

Norwich Arts Centre

Hys

Vuka Band - Another essential African dance night. £6/ £4.50concs, 8pm.

Club Night, 9pm-2am. Admission £3 (9pm-10pm), £4 (10pm 11pm) , £5 (11 pm on).

Oval

Ritzy

Limehouse Lizzy (A tri bute to Thin Lizzy) plus Well Hung.

Furious Fun. £3 b410.30pm, £5 afte r, 9pm-2am .

La Reine Margot (18), 2pm, 5.15pm, 8.15pm.

UEA Live in The Hive - Wara + Support. Get in the mood for Comic Relief week with the winner of the Hackney Empire's "New Act of the Year".

Theatre Royal Love's Labour's Lost - Shakespeare's story of four men who form an academic group and decide that they will study, fast and give up the company of women for three years ... £3.5Q-£18, 7.30pm.

Boswells Jazz 'n' Blues Jam. 9pm-midnight.

Hys Club Night, 1Opm-2am. Admission £1 all night.

Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995

14 day listings in association with the Theatre Royaf: tickets always from £3 or £4 • WEDNESDAY MARCH 15 Cannon See Saturday March 11 .

Odeon See Saturday March 11 .

Cinema City La Reine Margot (181, 5.15pm, 8.15pm. Theatre Royal Love's Labour's Lost. £3.50£18, 2.30pm, 7.30pm. Norwich Arts Centre Trio Hohensalzburg - Prizewinning young Austrian piano trio whose programme includes Beethoven, Brahms & Schubert. £6/£4concs, 8pm.

UEALCR Livewire's Comic Relief Gig. With: comedian Neville Raven, lmpromania & 80s dance party. FREE, doors open 8.30pm, 9pm start. Mo misers allowed! Boswells Horizon. 9pm-midnight. Samanthas The Fluff Syndicate, 1Opm-2am. Danceffechnoffrance music. Hys Club Night, 9pm-2am. Admission £1 all night. Happy H r midnight-1am.

UEAStudio Death and the Maiden. £6/ £3.50concs, 7.30pm.

Ritzy Free admission with any student ID b4 midnight. £1 .50pints.

UEA Music Society presents Vivaldi Gloria. £5/ £3concs, £2members, 8pm. AT: St. Giles-on-the-Hill.

Peppermint Park 9pm-2am. Admission £1 b4 10.30pm.

THURSDAY MARCH 16 " Cannon · See Saturday March 11 .

Norwich Arts Centre. £6/ £4.50concs, Spm.

Odeon See Saturday March 11 .

UEAStudio Death and the Maiden. £6/ £3.50concs, 7.30pm.

Cinema City La Reine Margot (18), 2pm, 5.15pm, 8.15pm.

lEA Barry Norman talks about the British Film Industry in LT 1. Free, 6pm.

Theatre Royal Love's Labour's Lost. £3.5o£18, 7.30pm.

8os wells Feels Like Rain. 9pm-midnight.

Norwich Arts Centre Robin Williamson- The skilled multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and storyteller returns to the

Hys Club Night, 9pm-2am. Admission £2 all night. Happy Hourmidnight-1am.

See Saturday March 11. Quiz Show also opens today.

7.30pm.

Cinema City Mrs Doubtfire (PG) - Robin Williams stars. 2.30pm. Eat Drink Man Woman (PG), 5.45pm, 8.15pm. Theatre Royal Love's Labour's Lost. £3.50£18, 2.30pm, 7.30pm. Norwich Arts Centre "Offyerface" - kicking in the beats with more unique cutting edge dance sounds, this time from Kent based band CODE, promoting their album. £5. UEALCR Ozric Tentacles. £8.50.

Samanthas Rock Club. 1Opm-2am.

Compiled by Caroline Ad/em

Waterfront The Thatcher Years - The 80s live again! Upstairs - Meltdown - the indie alternative. Adm. £3.50/£3concs. 9pm-1 .30am . Hys Club Night, 9pm-2am. Admission £3 (9pm-2am), £4 (1 Opm11pm), £5 (11pm on). Ritzy Furious Fun. £3 b4 10.30pm, £5 after, 9pm-2am.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK Highlight of Week One Love's Labour's Lost • Shakespeare's a top playwright, as I'm sure you all know. He's not as funny as say, Newman and Baddfel, but he still manages to churn out some wicked comedies • like this one.

Highlight of Week Two

SUNDAY MARCH 19 Cannon See Saturday March 11 .

Odeon See Saturday March 11 .

Cinema City Rebecca (U) - Thi!! landmark movie won director Alfred Hitchcock his first Oscar. 5pm. Eat Drink Man Woman (PG), 8.15pm.

MONDAY MARCH 20 Cannon See Saturday March 11 .

----~ Theatre Royal Hale & Pace - The two comics come to Norwich touring fresh from the success of another hit ITV series. £3-£12.50, 8pm. UEALCR Stiff Little Fingers - £1 Oadv, 7.30pm. Oval The Australian Pink Floyd. Quiz Show • Ralph Flennes Is a babe, and you should go and see this film purrrr-ely because he's In it. (Go take s cold shower, NOW/· Ed).

See Saturday March 11 .

Cinema City Eat Drink Man Woman (PG), 5.45pm, 8.15pm.

UNION BUSINESS CENTRE

Boswells Showcase. 8pm-midnight.

Odeon

Theatre Royal Love's Labour's Lost. £3.50-£18,

Odeon See Saturday March 11 .

NORWICH

8os wells Climaz Jazz Band. 9pm-midnight.

Theatre Royal Run For Your Wife! - Eric Sykes and Britt Ekland lead the cast in this long running comedy. £3.50£13.50, 7.30pm.

Cannon See Saturday March 11 . IQ also opens today.

Reservoir Dogs (18) -The most talked about film of recent times, Reservoir Dogs is a controversial, violent crime drama which tests the bonds of loyalty between a group of criminals brought together to commit a major robbery. 11 pm.

Cannon See Saturday March 11.

Odeon

FRIDAY MARCH 17

Cinema City Eat Drink Man Woman (PG)- A genial, intricately plotted new comedy about a revered Chinese chef who, unable to communicate with his troublesome daughters, expresses his love for them by creating fabulous meals every Sunday. 5.45pm, 8.15pm.

SATURDAY MARCH 18

Ritzy Nth Degree, 9pm-2am. Entry SOp with an NUS card.

Peppermint Park Student Night Zoom (nr. Cannon cinema) Student Party in association with the Cow Club. Beer £1 a pint, Admission £2. 1.0 . OPENS TOOAY. BUT WILL MA FAY DO A RUNNER? TURN UP TO FIND OUTI

Oval Primal Instinct plus Riot Act & Punishment (Free Admission). Waterfront , "Leave My Wife Alone" - Acid Jazz and Funk from The Wag & Ministry of Sound. Admission £4.50/£3.50concs, 9pm-1.30am. 8oswells Blues Inc. 9pm-midnight.

Norwich Arts Centre FDN & Reggae.

Hys Club Night, 9pm-2am. Admission £2 (9pm-10pm), £3 (10pm11pm), £4 (11pm on).

UEAStudlo Death and the Maiden. £61 £3.50concs, 7.30pm.

Ritzy Fast Trax. Admission £2 b4 10.30pm, £3 after.

TUESDAY MARCH21 Cannon See Saturday March 11 .

Odeon See Saturday March 11 .

Cinema City Eat Drink Man Woman (PG), 2.30pm, 5.45pm, 8.15pm.

Hire one for only £J 11 11"1 01 £5 lor tbe weekend U:t41J•lMt!1[•1ato a word processing seminar: 'Using the Amstad NC1 00 computer, conductecl by Dr. Pat Swobocla, in the Conference Room, Union House on Thursday 9th March 3pm Beginners welcome

Theatre Royal Run For Your Wife! £3.50£13.50, 7.30pm. Boswells Jazz 'n' Blues Jam. 9pm-12 Hys Club Night, 1Opm-2am. Admission £1 all night.

Opening hours 9- 5.30pm Man- Fri 9- 1pm Saturday

Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995

•Whaaaaaaaaay! Ever fancied trying all the bitters on campus? Concreted id, and recovered to write up the results... ast week, Concrete - in con juncti on w ith the Uni on's bars and the GSA - held a bitter tasting scs ·ion in the Pub. Our testers, who inc luded a member ofCAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale) as we ll as several home brew entHu siast , sampled e ight bitters, all of which are curre ntly available in bars on the UEA campus. These were Bodd ington ' s draught , Courage Direc tor's, Ruddle' s County, Flower's Ori gi nal, Fl ower' s Best and Boddington's (in cans), all of which are ava il abl e in the Union' s bars. We also sampled two loca ll y brewed bitters: Scott ' s Golden Best and Poll y' s Foll y, both of which are o n sale in the GSA bar. Final ly, we assessed Boddi ngton ' s Draught in cans, which uses the ingeni ous widget system to give it its body, and compared it to the cask and keg beers li sted above. The nine tasters had to assess the seven different bra nds of bitter (whose identiti es were co ncealed at the time o f tasti ng) and then rate them out of te n for (a) smooth ness, and (b) overall q uality and taste.

BODDINGTON'S(3.8%ABV) £1.30 per pint, The Pub Marketed as 'The Cream of Manchester' , Boddington' s is brewed at th e fa mous Strangeway ' s Brewery, which is shortl y to undergo an expansion to produce more of thi s increas ing ly popular beer ... Here's what our panel thought: Ni all : " It 's got a ni ce co lou r and a nice crea my head, but a bit on the weak side." Tony: "This one tastes ve ry weak and watery ." To m: " All in a ll , a bit o f a hyped-up prod uct."

DIRECTORS (4.8% ABV) £1.20 per pint, The Pub O ne of the stronges t draught bitters on the market. Di rec tors was. as the blu rb from Courage states, orig inall y brewed for the company'> directors and saved fo r spec ial occas ions. Nowadays, it 's a bit easier to get hold of and i~n' t reserved for th e fat cats, as our pane l fo und out : Ant : " Very drinkabl e indeed, possibl y the hest so far. " Ton y: " It 's not that remarkabl e, alth ough it is quite strong, and has got

a good alcohol to cash ratio." Tom: " Very , very drinkable, and a lot better than some of the others."

RUDDLESCOUNTY (4.9%ABV) £1.20 per pint, The Pub A popu lar hand -drawn beer, the very mention of Ruddles County evokes a pastoral scene complete with dray horses, wooden barre ls and the ploughman 's lu nch. Here ' s how it went down : John: " It tastes like a bitter should taste." Mi chele: ''I'd defin itely get thi s one ifl was buying a pint of bitter. " Matt: " I didn ' t reall y like thi s one- it 's got a bit of a nasty aftertaste."

FLOWERS' ORIGINAL(4.4%ABV) £1.30 per pint, The Pub A li ght and creamy beer from the Cheltenham-based brewers. All in all , a popular traditi onal bitter. Ant : " A basic beer, defini te ly not for the co nno i ~e ur. "

To m: " I qu ite li ke this o ne, it' s got a good body." Craig: " Not bad , a bit better than average."

POLLV'S FOLLY (4.3% AB V) £1.20 per pint, GSA Bar Brewed excl usively to a sec ret rec ipe by local brewer's Buffy ' s thi s beer is described as "a li ght bi tter wi th a nut brown colour, rich head and delicious hoppy taste." But how did it fare? Michele: " It 's warm and quite sour - not one o f the best ones I' ve tasted so far." Stuart : " It 's got a very vic io us fl avour to it. " Tom: "This one's ve ry yeas ty - I'd imagine this was a small run of beer, because you can stiil taste the yeast."

SCOTT'SGOLDEN (3.4% ABV) £1 .20 per pint, GSA Bar A loca ll y Lowestoft brewed bee r, avail able throughou t East Ang li a. It 's a go lden colo ured fu ll -bod ied, tasty bee r ideal for a lu nchtime ti pp le. Inc identally, Scott 's Brewery sponsor the UEA 's Rugby C lu b. Tom: "This parti cul ar o ne tastes li ke it co uld be a home-brewed bitter." C rai g: " It 's quit e strong, but warm ." An t: " Not nice ly done, a ll things cons id-

THE PANEL: Tom Balls (Union Bars Manager), John Holmes (Union Finance Officer), Niall Hampton (Editor, Concrete), Stuart Campbell (President, Nexus UTV), Tony Lansdowne (EAS3), Michele du Randt (EUR2), Matt Harvey (SOC3), Craig Cameron (MTH3) and Anthony James (SOC3).

PHOTOS: KEITH WHITMORE

Get the beers in! ered . A bit of a CA M RA beer."

FLOWERS' BEST(3.4%ABV) £1 per pint, all Union bars Well , there's got to be so mething quite spec ial about thi s bee r, because the Union se ll over 440 gallons a week of the stuff. But is thi s j ust due to the fac t that it's a £1 per pint or is it dow n to the taste? Here's what we reckoned. Stuart: "This tas tes a bit like it' scome out of a ca n." Tony: ''I' m afraid I'd have to disagree there - In my opin ion, it tastes as though it 's been made in a Sodastream because it's so fizzy." Matt: " It ' s the sort of thing you ' d get in Ri tzy ' s really ."

BODDINGTON'S· cans (3.8%ABV) £1.30 per can, all Union Bars This one is marketed as a ca nned version of Boddington's draught - surprise, surprise ... Craig: " it's very smooth, but the n it 's a bit dry." Mic hc le: "This is de fini te ly the best one, not flat or warm at all , and nice and creamy - I think it's one of the nicer ones." Tom: "Very creamy, and qu ite tas ty too ." Nia ll : " By 'eck chuck, thi s one's not bad is it ? Thick and creamy and not too yeasty -very nice indeed. "

THE RESULTS According to our panel, the results revealed that Courage Director's was the best in terms of overall quality and taste, with a sati sfaction rating o f 72 per cent. Ruddles County came a very close second, pull ing in an overall rat ing of 71 per cent, whilst Flower O ri ginal took third place with 60 per cent. In terms of smoothness, Boddington' s in cans surprisin gly topped the tab le , scoring 70 per cent, clearly the result of its in gen-

ious ' Draughtflow' widget. Flowers Original was only one mark behind it though , with 69 per cent - closely followed by Ruddl es County , which scored 65 .5 per cent.

•Concrete would like to thank Tom Balls from the Union's bars and Gripper from the GSA forgenerously donating the beers used in the preparation of this article. •Stop Press: Due to popular demand, the Union will soon be running Courage Director's as a regular line in The Pub.

HOWTHEYSCORED ('Smoothness' first, then 'Overall quality and taste')

Boddington's: 62 °/o /45.5 °/o Director's: 60 °/o /72 °/o Ruddles County: 65.5 °/o /71 o/o Flower's Original: 69 °/o /60 °/o Polly's Folly: 43 o/o /24 °/o Scott's Golden Best: 39 % /21 °/o Flower's Best: 22 °/o I 26 °/o Boddington's (cans): 70 °/o /59 °/o

---- ---

Concrete, Wednesday, February 22, 1995

•

t Is a rainy British evening In February yet while the rest of us reluctanUy accept that we will have to wait another five months for the sight of the sun, Andrew Motion Is getting ready to face it tomorrow. And flying to India to read his poems, he has lltue to complain

about. RecenUy chosen as the new Creative Writing Professor to take charge of UEA's wor1d famous Creative Writing MA, he takes up the £20,000 a year post next summer. He will be taking over from eminent novelist and critic Malcolm Bradbury, who has run the course for more than 20 years. Yet although Bradbury is certainly a hard act to follow, Motion will arrive with a wealth of experience behind him. He has previously taught at both Hull and Oxford, has worked as a publisher with Chatto and Windus, has written two novels, six collections of poetry (winning both the John Llewelyn Rhys Prize and the Dylan Thomas Award), edited several collections of fiction and poetry, written two biographies (the latest of which, on Philip Larkin, won the Whitbread Prize for Biography) and regularly reviews for the national press. Given his versatile background, it Is not surprising there-

fore that this Is something he would like to reflect in the course. "This Is a chance to build on the existing strengths of th'& course, but also to take it in new directions,• he explains. "I've written In various forms and I want to broaden the base of the course to reflect that, so I will be setting up a poetry workshop alongside the existing fiction one, and I also hope that people will want to talk to me about non-fiction as well." lt so happened that I did, and knowing that Motion had a strong interest in biography, I wondered if that was what he meant. 'Well, I don't think it's practical to think that I'm going to be able to teach people to write biography, because they'll need to go off and do the research to write a life In order to make the thing seem sensible, and obviously, In a year you can't do that. "But what I do.mean is that I can encourage people to think about how a biography .might be written, paying attention to the things that 90 per cent of biographies don't pay attention to.• Given that his first biography 'The Lamberts: George, Constant and Kit', published In 1986 and to be reissued later this year, won the Somerset Maugham Award, and his second 'Philip Larkin: A Writer's Life', published In 1993, won the Whltbread Prize

for Biography, Motion is a man well placed to make such assertions. He is currently also working on a biography of Keats - "I've been doing it for the last two and a half years and I'm going to start writing it over the summer" - which he expects will take about 18 months to write and should be published in 1997. In this light, the life will be written after he has taken up the new Professorship, and as a result will presumably involve practising what he preaches to his students with regard to the writing of biographies. He illuminates the link he sees between fiction and non-fiction such as biographies when he expresses the Intention of makIng his future students "think about how purely imaginative fiction depends on and is involved with true stories of other people's lives." "Ifs very noticeable I think that a lot of contemporary fiCtion Is moving in that direction and I want to encourage people to think along those lines, as well as the more conventional ways of thinking things up." His quiet thoughtfulness Is one of the first impressions you gain of Andrew Motion from talking to him. In contrast to his name, he pauses and picks his words

carefully, eager not to rush the conversation and deny you the opportunity to express yourself fully. Yet this quietness belies a progressive mind that typically reflects the versatility of Motion's work. "I do think that linking all these disciplines is important," he says. "I don't think the only way of judging the success or failure of the course is who gets published and who doesn't." He expresses a desire to let students on the course feel able to "go to the edges of them-

that balance is more challenging and interesting in a course like this than it is in conventional academic courses." That he sees the opportunity to preside over the MA course as a "great honour", there is little doubt. Yet the fact that his arrival coincides with that of Elizabeth Esteve-Coll as the new ViceChancellor, Motion sees as "very exciting• and he is "especially pleased" by it. "A friend of mine is the deputy director of the Tate and knows her quite well, and he is very in

a political way." "Not in a narrowly political way, but I don't believe that you can talk about literature without talking about politics," he state$ controversially. But then Motion comes across as an artist quite happy to wear his heart on his sleeve and be judged by results. His own star-studded record bears testament to that, and he describes himself as an artist with •quite a regular strike-rate• when it comes to writing, but that has not always been the case. 'When I worked for Chatto, it

He expresses the intention of teaching the course in a political way.... 1don't believe that you can talk about literature without talking about politics .. $elves•, experiment and make mistakes, although he immediately points out that making mistakes is a "curious term to use" in the context of creative writing. Yet Motion seems not to be afraid of appearing curious. He sees himself as almost being a father figure, nursing his future students through the pitfalls of writing, yet not afraid to let them wander off the path either. "I think that this is a chance to discover who they really are; not simply a way of wooing publishers' interests, • he muses. "This Is a course that must combine tremendous flexibility on my part with the responsibilities which attach to anybody who is In a teaching role, and I think

favour of her; he explains. Before Esteve-Coll arrived as director of the V&A museum, lt was a "fusty place" in Motion's opinion, which was "full of wonderful scholars who knew a lot about their specialist subjects, but simply from the punter's point of view, it needed to catch up, and that is what she did. • The idea of keeping up with the times is one that is noticeable throughout Motion's thoughts, from his work to his politics - a subject that he is quite happy to talk about, describing himself as "very convincedly left wing." He reveals that his membership of the Labour Party runs to many years and expresses an Intention to teach the course "in

did cause me to dry up somewhat, but one of the great attractions about this job is that the workload, although demanding and challenging, simply is not voluminous enough to stop me writing the other things that I want to do." And so what with his new appointment, work progressing apace on his latest biography and collection of poems and a trip to India less than 24 hours away, Andrew Motion's star is definitely in the ascendant. He ponders briefly on the question of what be could nicer than going to India to read his poems. 'Well, coming to UEAI There you go - thafs your last sentence!". And lo the Motion was approved.

• •

Concrete, Wednesday, March 8 , 1995

Interview

•'Natural Born Killers' has been running nearly two weeks and society is yet to collapse. William Neil rang the film's producer Jane Hamsher for a chinwag about the film, the media, and that cheeky Tarantino. WILL: The film has been described as a ruthless satire on the US media 's approach to violence, and the way that it turns violent crime into entertainment. Is there any sense in which the film indicts the media as a cause of contemporary violence? JANE: "I don't think it does. Personally, that was never my intent, and I don 't think it was Oliver [Stone]'s aim. "The thing that we were most interested in was not the media as a possible cause of serial killers, but simply that people can now become celebrities by becoming criminals. They can shape their images in much the same way that movie stars do. 'We watch that on television as entertainment, and everybody becomes complicit. 'We are all part of this 'culture of violence', and to think we can keep it at bay by building bigger prisons

sion to be as bold as we could possibly get away with. What form that would ultimately take was really determined within the context of shooting the film . "Everyday was an experiment and it changed and evolved as it went along. I still can't believe we got it made under the Hollywood system. "My partner Don Murphy and I were originally going to shoot it for around $200,000. The idea that someone of Oliver's stature would put their weight behind a project which was so non-Hollywood was just astonishing. "lt just shows that he's a great film -maker. He could be making a lot more money doing what Hollywood wants him to do." Given this innovation and the absolute barrage of mixed media images, it looks as if it was a bit of a nightmare to produce. Was this the case?

"I don•t know where Quentin got the idea his words were gospel. .. I think it galls him that the part getting the most attention is not his" and keeping it behind closed doors is unrealistic. it's in our living rooms and permeates all levels." The links between the film and the 10 or so killings that it supposedly inspired have now been deemed unfounded by the FBI, but how would you answer claims that the film is still as culpable as the tabloid media in 'glamourising' violence? "it's a movie that tries to describe how the killers see themselves. "For instance, there's a scene at the beginning where we see how Mickey and Mallory remember their first meeting as if it were a sitcom. lt's shot on video and there 's a laugh-track, but the painful reality of what Mallory's life was really like keeps breaking through. 'What you see in the film derives more from the way the characters see themselves, through the eyes of the media, than anything else." Sequences like the sitcom scene have led to the film being labelled as the most radical experimental film to emerge from a major studio since 'A Clockwork Orange '. Was this level of technical and stylistic experimentation an objective from the very beginning? "Yes and no. We made a deci-

''The technical aspects weren't that tough. The only thing that was really a bummer was the rearscreen projection. 'We had to use these ancient projectors and, shooting it on location, we had to cart them out to the middle of Arizona. They were really slow, took ages to rewind and dragged the production time out. "Aside from that, shooting on super-B and video was no more difficult than film. "In terms of editing the film, it wouldn 't have been possible 5 years ago, but mow with computerised digital editing, though it took a long time, it wasn't too demanding." 0/iver Stone has said that in many ways the film built up a momentum as the project went on, which was fuelled by real-life events like the OJ Simpson case, the sale of Jeffrey Dahlmer's kitechen utensils, and Donohue's aplication to film a state execution. Was this something that you, as producer, were also aware of? "Very much so. That the dynamic we were exploring was escalating as we were shooting was both interesting and ironic. "I'd go home and see something on television that was so wild that if

we 'd put it in the film nobody . would've believed it!" There's been much speculation over the extent to which it retains the spirit of Tarantino 's original script, or has instead become a de facto Oliver Stone film. How would you gauge their relative contributions? "The original Quentin script was a good script, but it focused more on the Wayne Gale character and his TV show 'American Maniacs' . 'When Oliver joined the project, he wanted to focus more on Mic key and Mallory and what drove them. He was trying, as a film-maker, to deal with his 'demon' and his own propensity for violence. "So he was more interested in the perpetrators than the commentators. "The whole first third of the film the sitcom scene and all of the stuff to do with Mickey and Mallory's lives - was written by Oliver and his collaborators. "The later prison break, and the 'American Maniacs' stuff was written by Quentin , but shaped by Oliver." Why do you think Tarantino had such a problem with this? Was it that he didn 't like to see his own work distorted to such a degree, or do you think he's become a bit of a prima donna through his phenomena/success? "I'd say both! You have to understand that in Hollywood it's so common to be re-written . A script is a blueprint, the person who actually shoots it has to go out there and make it their own, and make it work for them. "I don't know where Quentin got the idea his words were gospel. He was not the only writer on that script to begin with. Roger Avary also wrote a few scenes, although only Quentin is credited. "He had initially supported Oliver as director. I would've thought that as a fellow director he would've given Oliver the freedom to discover himself in the material. So I don't know, I guess it was just punkish ." Might it be that Tarantino's script is the least innovative aspect of the film? 'Well, I think that what bugs him the most is that the stuff that everybody comments on is the stuff in the first part of the film - like the sitcom scene. "Quentin had no part in that, and I think it galls him that the part getting the most attention is not his."

Jane Hamsher- producer/ Inset: A scene from 'Natural Born Killers ' How did you come by the script, and how did 0/iver Stone get invo/ved? "My partner and I were just out of film school. we knew that as unknowns we wouldn't get scripts by the Hollywood big boys, so we began casting around for scripts by people without agents and 'undiscovereds'.

"Don knewt h.1s guy w ho wor ked in a video store named Quentin Tarantiro, and we wound up with his script. lt sat on my dining room floor tor a year! "Then 1met Quentin for luch one day while he was writing 'Reservoir Dogs', we hit it off, so I went home and read it. We optioned it, and sent it all around Hollywood, but the response was basically 'You 've gotta be joking'. "Then 'Reservoir Dogs' came out and suddenly everybody became interested. They'd say 'You know that script you sent us? Yeah, I

know we hated it then, but we think we might love it now!" "Then one day Oliver Stone rang, he was willing to direct, with us producing." A lucky break then in many respects? "Yeah, I think there was a lot of luck involved along the line!" Why do you think the film has att'acted such harsh cn"tt"ct·sm ''' ''om "

simply not very palatable to the liberaVconservative press? "Yes. it's funny because we've taken it on the chin most for the film's criticism of the media. it's equally critical of the police, the prison system, the nuclear family etc, but we don't get asked queslions about that!" I understand that you 're wo~ing with 0/iver Stone again at the moment.

the popular press? "I think there's several reasons . I think a lot of people criticise the film because they just don't like Oliver. That's unfortunate since it doesn't allow the film to be judged on its own merits. Secondly, it made for an easy headline, the copy just flows after that. "Thirdly, I think it does disturb people, and I like that. Even if they don't like it, the film has caused them to call into question their beliefs and moral judgements." Surely the message of the film is

"My partner and 1 are producing 'Planet of the Apes' with Oliver as executive producer. it's a re-invention of the orignal story folowing an idea of Oliver's." it's been rumoured that Arnold Swarzenegger's interested, and that Philip Noyce might direct. Can you give us a scoop? "I can agree that it's been rumoured! 1 didn't confirm it, okay? Don't get me into trouble!" By the way Jane, I've written this script... click.. pnr.. Jane are you still there?.. .

- --- --- -- ---- -=---=--------:--...,-:---;----- - - -

If you're just com路ng out you need a good address book. Turn to the listings in any gay magazine and you can make a note of the bars and clubs. But where do you turn if you want to know about safer sex? We can give you the basic facts, but for more detailed advice, make a note of these numbers. (If you're worried that someone else might see the names, you can always list them by their initials as NAH, THT and LLGS.) Whichever one you call, you'll get useful advice and information from people who are friendly and easy to talk to. But what, briefly, does safer sex mean?

It's a good idea also to use a lubricant, but always r

It's any activity where there's little or no risk of

make sure it's a water-based one like KY Jelly. Never

HIV transmission through exchange of blood, semen or

use anything oil- based like Baby Oil or Vaseline as this

vaginal fluid. That's why it's important to use a condom

will damage a condom. If there's anything else you want

for penetrative sex . with a woman.

to know about safer sex, call one of these numbers.

But sex between men is often non- penetrative. For

And keep them in your address book. It's very

instance it might involve mutual masturbation which is

reassuring to know that help and understanding are just

safe as there's no risk of HIV infection through blood

a phone call away. Call The National 'AIDS Helpline

or semen being exchanged.

free on 0800 567 123, The Terrence Higgins Trust on

This can路 easily happen during unprotected anal sex,

0171 242 1010 or London Lesbian and Gay

making it very risky for either partner. So if you have anal

Switchboard on 0171 837 7324. They can

sex you should always use the strongest condoms such as

also give you details of local helplines

Durex Ultra Strong, Mates Super Strong or HT Special.

and servtces. J.

The H.EA recognises th" the above trademarks arc the property of the makers or suppliers of the produe1.

Concrete, Wednesday, March

8, 1995

Features

•Simon Mann, who claims to have been there, seen that, bought the T-shirt, spent Christmas backpacking across Indonesia. In the first of a series of travel articles, he tells how volcanoes and buses combined to produce a memorable New Year's Eve journey to Bali...

urely some mistake. I held up both hands, fingers outstretched; 'you mean ten?' He smiled, shaking his head. 'No, twenty; we go when we have twenty'. I eyed the small Toyota jeep; although the back was completely open, there was a sturdy rail all the way round, which would be at waist height when everyone was on board. Packed on board ... Once again, I found myself looking at the only routine danger to face your average backpacker in Asia - travelling on public transport. Going by airconditioned bus to see the Mount Bromo volcano had seemed too tame, so after consulting the traveller 's bible , the Indonesia Travel Survival Kit, I decided to make my own way by jeep up the relatively little used Ngadas route. That would be more like it, I thought; no hordes of tourists, just me and the mountain and the still

morning air spiced with sulphurous fumes , volcanic hissing and a touch of danger... Now, looking apprehensively at the jeep and trying to imagine twenty people getting on it, things did not seem so simple. Speculating whether that aircon bus would miraculously drive by and stop for me, I waited patiently for more passengers to turn up, hoping we would attract an anorexic's group outing ... I had to lean forward; it was the only way to stop the luggage, inadequately strapped to the jeep's cab roof, from sliding into the back. The bags were sliding backwards because we were going up a one in three hill , and you could tell they felt exposed up there , what with the centre of gravity of the whole vehicle being worryingly high (about chest height, I calculated) and the whole jeep swaying 30 degrees every time we went round a hairpin corner, on a road which was seven feet

wide plus five feet of verge, offering superb views down a 200 metre near-vertical drop on either side. Just like the smiling driver had told me, we had left when we had twenty people; twenty-one, to be exact. lt was surprisingly roomy. I found I could breath without too much difficulty, and my shortsightedness helped me to appreciate the view of a wall of smelly backpacks, even then rubbing my nose ; and anyway, everyone was smiling and chatty, as Indonesians usually are. I could take this, no problem ... We had stopped to pick up three more passengers. One of them was carrying 12 dozen eggs, in trays tied together with bits of broken plastic twine. He had ended up next to me, and I had ended up in front of his eggs, which were underneath the tottering backward-leaning pile of backpacks, which I was leaning into so they would not join us,

DON'T FORGET

I t

I I

I t

f I ~ ~

Coming soon! Lottery scratch cards! £10 to £50,000 instant prizes!

l\fj(Jif -fl=~rs fJ fl.~r Don•t forget! 26th March ·wide selection of cards from 49p to £2.65 Open 7am - 6.30pm weekdays, Bam - 4pm Saturday & Sunday

which meant I was pushing the man's eggs into the rear of the cab; and I could tell, out of the corner of the one eye not staring into the anxious luggage, that this man was not happy, that he was wishing I was a skinny Indonesian and not a grossly overweight Englishman, and that he feared for his eggs. However, I knew the journey only took 40 minutes, and I could take all this, no problem ... The engine died surprisingly suddenly, just as the driver gave it maximum welly coming out of a hairpin . A small Toyota jeep carrying 24 people and their luggage up a one in three hill , comes quickly to a stop even when unaided by brakes . In slow motion (slow, because the events occurring at this time were competing with an action replay of my life, which seemed remarkably full of sinful incident and I had suddenly realised there was a vengeful God after all), the eo-driver leapt out of the cab, and dexterously picking up a stone of exactly the right size and weight, whipped it under one of the rear wheels just before we re-negotiated the hairpin. The engine had overheated. The only place to put the last two passengers was to sit them on the bonnet, and as there was really, no really, no more space on the cab roof, the driver had strapped their backpacks, one above the other, to the radiator. As you do ... Exhausted by the climb, I at last looked down into the Bromo crater. There were the authentic clouds of sulphurous fumes, the menacing hiss of high-pressure steam; yes, this was worth the trouble of getting here. Then , peering more closely through the swirling bits of rubbish dumped into the crater by careless sightseers, I saw something odd way down on the crater floor. Someone had spelled out two names in stones. I felt cheated; it is very hard to take seriously a volcano which has 'Tracy loves Kevin ' clearly visible inside its supposedly dangerous belly... Being able to flag down a longdistance 48 seater bus is quite handy, when you think about it; no need to trek to an inconvenient bus station , just step into the road and raise your arm . lt does make for a long journey, though , with the constant stopping and starting, although in this case our driver drove extra fast in the bits between squealing stops, clearly hoping to make up time as we headed for the

ferry to Bali. He had just zoomed past a largish station wagon , when he saw a raised arm. Mercilessly cutting up the station wagon, which was forced partly off the road, we stopped to pick up two more passengers. While our new recruits boarded, Mr Angry, the middleaged driver of the cut-up vehicle, drove round and parked in front of us, shaking his fist out of the window. Our driver (Mr Calm) stared impassively at him, but our conductor, a thin, nervous-looking guy with pebble glasses (Mr Death) became agitated and waved his fist , too. I had a strange foreboding that this would not end well. Finally, as Mr Death was about to get out of the bus and discuss the matter with Mr Angry, Mr Angry moved off. Very slowly. Every time we tried to pass, he would swerve out, often forcing oncoming traffic to mount the verge; clearly, as his choreographed gestures out of the window indicated, we needed to be taught a lesson about safe driving. Mr Angry was quite happy to let other buses by, and their conductors and passengers would wave encouragement or gestures of puzzlement as they passed . This went on for several

Believe me now?

Mr Death was getting very cross indeed, beating the dashboard enthusiastically, and yelling at the impassive Mr Calm, whom it was clear he considered less than a real man in his refusal to run Mr Angry off the road. My fellow passengers, all 30 odd of whom were now crowded happily into the front few rows of seats so as not to miss anything, were themselves passing helpful comments to Mr Calm and Mr Death, and nudging me as my own happy smile began to twitch at the edges. This crowding at the front at least left the chickens on the back seat with the run of the place (they had been loaded on at the start of our journey, at the Problingo bus station); or would have, except that they had all been wrapped, in pairs, in hessian sacks to stop them moving around. Chickens, bound for slaughter, wrapped in straight-jackets for a journey on public transport; a fine example of Indonesian irony. Finally, Mr Angry decided we had been taught enough of a lesson , and magnanimously waved us past. As we overtook him, a steely glint came into Mr Calm's eyes. In a flash, we had not only overtaken Mr Angry, but had screeched to .a halt across the road in front of him. Before you could say straightjacket, Mr Death was out of the

Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995

~-...:;..;,____.........____________.____.....__'""""'-'--'---'""---------o..,;;.;..,;,_;:S abbatlcal

Elections ~-.

Concrete's . independent guide to who's standing and what they're saying to get elected as Sabbatical Officers for 1995-6

~0 Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995

Concrete Wednesday March 8 1995

lili li · · · ··· · ~· -~ ·· · · · ········ ·· · • · ··~···· · · · ·· · ·· · ··· · ·························· ·• • Mark Austin previews the elections, and offers some background information on the posts themselves. ··················· •

••

JAKE BLATCH

•

be a representative of. Upon election, the Sabbaticals receive an annual salary d £7,005 and are automatically put at the top of the priority list for accommodation. They also become automatic (j.. rectors of both Student Union Services (East Anglia) Ltd and Waterfront SUS Ud -the Union's commercial operations. Acting on behaH of students in dealings with the University, t!'eY take decisions based uPQ!Lthepolicies approved at UGMs. This year, the existing sabbati-

•••• • •••••• •• •• • •••••••• •• ••• • •••••••••••••••••• • , STUART CAMPBELL •• • ••

: m m

• : • e • : • • : 111

Why are you standing for the post? lt is a position to which I feel I've got a lot to give. I believe that I could inject many much needed changes and differences that would improve and complement communication between the students and the Union. What qualities would you bring to the job? 1 have extensive experience in the organisation and running of student media. I feel 1can put my contacts and experiences to good use within the'Union. I will always be there to listen to what the students have to say. What will be your alms If you are elected? . To bring the students closer to the Union and its running, and enable everybody to voice their opinion. I aim to make the siudent media a prominent part of Union House and use it to its lull potential.

• • : • • :

111

l.i

• : • • • : •

caJs have had to function for most of the time without a Communications Officer - due to the resignation last September of Polly Knewstub, and the departure of her successor Phil Clegg after three months. So one of the primary jobs for next year's Communications Officer will be picking up the pieces caused by this vacancy. In total, 11 candidates are standing for election this year, with only John Holmes stancing unopposed in his bid to continue his job as Finance Officer.

• : • • • : ~

• : •

THE Academic Officer Is responsible for all academic Issues that affect students and therefore has to coordinate academic policy, a~lc services and casework. Acting as the students' voice In the discussion of academic matters with the University and taking students' academic grievances to the Unlve,..lty's working party Is also a major role. In addition, he or she Is responsible for the running of elections and Union representation.

THE Communications Officer has overall responsibility for Union communication and coordination. He or she coordinates the Union's corporate Identity and the Executive Commmee as a whole, as well as having overall responsibility for the administration of Union policy. Liaising with outside organisations, coordinating Union campaigns and responsibility for the day to day running of Union House also fall under his or her portfolio.

THE Finance Officer has the responsibility of holding the Union's purse strings. He or she Is therefore ultimately responsible for all Union commercial service outlets and accountable for the Union's development. One of their tasks Is allocating, In cooperation with the Union's commercial managers, the yearly £375,000 block grant from UEA. This Is divided between weHare, clubs and societies, staffing and campaigning.

THE WeHare Officer has the responsibility for coordinating the Union's welfare services which Includes dealing with all contentious accommodation Issues. The position also extends to liaising with the University on all non-academic matters. Other duties Include representing minority and special needs groups, coordinating the yearly Undergraduatlon programme as well as taking an overall responsibility for University sport, both on and off campus.

• : • • : • • • : • • • : •

The primary reason students come to university is to get a degree. I wish to persuade the University that its primary role is as an academic institution and that its first responsibility above all others is to the students. What qualities would you bring to the job? 1 have seen how the Union works and am confident I could make it work more effectively for all the students. I am committed to the student body, to a stronger Union and to a more equitable relationship with the University. What will be your alms H you are elected? To redress the imbalance in academic facilities; to reduce seminar sizes to a maximum of 16; to free Wednesday afternoons for all; to make sure there are no seminars after 6pm and tackle the problems that exist with the CCS.

: • • • • • • : • • • : • •

•

i!ll

m s • : a Ill

: a

• : a

~:t

: •

•

Why are you standing for the post? 111 Over the last three years 1 have had a good view of how the• Union works: In the first year, I attended meetings; in the sec-: ond, 1 was on the Executive and this year have been an em· a ployee in the Union bars and Chair of Student Forum. • What qualities would you bring to the job? : Experience, commitment and the desire to bring the Union to• the students. With the skills and the facilities made available, it• is possible to empower the students to make the Union imJrove• their conditions. : What will be your alms H you are elected? • To expand upon the Union Home pages on the World Wide Web• and to use technology so that feedback comes from the mem-111 bership. The job will also mean picking up the pieces left after: the exit of the previous Comms Officer. •

•• • ••••• ~• • ~Qa m ms a mas••• • ••••••••••• • ••••••••••

.•

•

• : • • : • • • : • • •

: •

•

Why are you standing for the post? We have to start focusing on maintaining the high standards of our education and I feel we need to work with the university to ensure that the academic welfare of the students is addressed, as the University develops further. What qualities would you bring to the Job? Experience, focus and dedication to the students. By maintaining links with the students, I will be an Academic Officer who won't cut off students and I will actively seek their feedback and input. What will be your alms H you are elected? To raise the profile of the education unit with a campus-wide publicity cathpalgn; developing a study skills programme with the Careers Centre; working with UEA to ensure that students

• : • • : • • • : • • • : • •

••••• • •••••••••••••••~•••••••••••••• • ••••••••••

•

There are certain things I would like to achieve next year that I have been unable to this year. Specifically, I haven't consulted enough with students with regard to Ents and The Waterfront, and commercial services. What qualities would you bring to the job? I have experience of the job and got to know people involved in the media, plus societies, staff and students. I listen to people and I think that I have the financial knowledge required, yet I have the students' interests at heart. What will be your alms H you are elected? To make involvement in the Union government more relevant to students, giving Forum\ Council more respect. I also want to set up a commercial services committee and an Ents\ Waterfront committee.

Why are you standing for the post? Over the last few years the needs of the students in my opinion has increased and I believe that I am now in a position to fulfil those needs. I believe I have the necessary background to fill the post of Welfare Officer. What qualities would you bring to the Job? To provide better links between the students and their Union to represent the students to the best of my ability. I have no political background and believe the post should be held by an individual without any bias. What will be your alms If you are elected? To make the issue of accommodation, especially University VIIlage and Mary Chapman Court a top priority. Ultimately my aim is to represent every student regardless of age, gender, politicat standing, sexuality or nationality.

ESTHER JILLETT

••········· · ·· · · · ·· · · · ·· ~ · · ····· · ···· · ···········•• JOHN HOLMES •• ••• Why are you standing for the post? • : • • • • • • • : • • : • •

BALBINDER CHOPRA •• •

• :

111

• • : 111

• • : • • : • •

·················· · ····· · ····~ ·· · ·· ········ · ·· ••••• ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• • •• ••••••• • ••

WELFARE OFFICER

ii'l ~

••• •• •

FINANCE OFFICER

••••••••••••••••••••• ••••••••••••••••••• • •••••• • •••••••• • ••••••••••••••••••••• • ••••••• •• • ••••••••• • ••• ••• •••••• •• •••••••••• • •••••••••a ••••••••• • R • • •• •• ••••••••• a •••••••• •= •• ~• • •• • ••••••• • • • •••••••••

• Elections take place thla Thursday (March 9), between 9am and 5.30pm In the Bill Wllson Room. Don't forget to bring your UEA registration card aa you will be unable to vote without tt. You have to rank each can· dldate for each post In order: the .,.non you wish to vote for scores '1 ', your next favourite '2' and soon. You also have the chance to vote for RON (reopen nominations) to force another election for that post.

COMMS OFFICER

•••••• •••••••••••••&••••••••••••••••••••• • •••• •• • •• •• • ADAM BOWDEN •• •• •• Why are you standing for the post?

Why are you standing for the post? The Union needs new faces, people with no specific political • affiliations and a new perspective. Too many people think that : the Union has little to do with them. I want to give people a sense • of 'our' Union and not just 'their' Union. • What qualities will you bring to the job? : 1am approachable. So if people have issues that they want d:~alt • with, they can bring them to me. I will provide the stability nee- • essary for an effective and responsive Union. I will bring ded.ca- • tion and commitment to the job. : What will be your alms If you are elected? • 1want to the Union a relevance to students' lives that it lacks. I • want to step up publicity, open up the Union and encourage more • active participation from all students. I want to work with pe<~ple : and not just for them. •

••• •• ••..

ACADEMIC OFFICER

···················· · ·······~ · · · ·· ·········· ·· · ·~-~-·~·-······· ···· · · · · · ·· ··· ·········· ··· ····•

SIMON COGGINS

Five of the 11 have had previous experience of being on the Executive, although this in no way acts against the othercancidates, as the jobs are designed to be~ cessible to all. This week's elections are held with the purpose of making the Student Union democratically representative d, and accountable to, its mambers - namely us the students. This gives every UEA student the rVrt to vote and elect the sabbaticals that they would like to see representing them next year.

: • • • • • • • : • • : • •

Why are you standing for the post? I think the Welfare Officer has a vital role to play in combatting .... rent problems, as well as working on more specific issues such as provision for people with special needs, mature students and student parents. What qualities would you bring to the job? An ability to listen and to work with people, a commitment to involving all students in campaigns and ensuring that the Union fulfils it's most vital role which is to defend it's members when they face problems. What will your alms be If you are elected? To prevent further rent rises and to involve all students in campaigning against conditions in residences. Also to ensure that all students feel that the Union can play a role in improving their conditions.

Ill

•• s

: • • : • s 111

: a • • : •

..................... .. .......................• .. • • •• • 111

: • a • • • • • : • • : • •

• •

...............................................

•

REBECCA REES

Why are you standing for the post? I think the Welfare Advice Unit and its work could be publicised a lot more effectively than it has been, and I am capable of doing that. I want to tackle the general feeling of apathy that exists towards the Union. What qualities would you bring to the job? I am able to work with others and would not let personal problems get in the way of my work for the Union. I feel my fresh perspective and approach to the Union and my receptiveness to help and suggestions from others are essential. What will be your alms H you are elected? My main aim is to see an active and campaigning Welfare Unit whose priority is students, and that every student is aware of facilities available to them. And to see the University improve conditions for students with special needs.

•• : 0

• •

• 111

• •

111

: u

• : • s

·········· · ·· ··· · ·· ·· · ··· · · ·~ ·· ·· ·· ··· · ·· ···· ·· ••••••• • •• • •• • • • • ~• •• •• •• • • •••••••a•••• • •••• • tt •

•••

•

• •

LARA WOOLFORD Why are you standing for the post? I am standing because I want to do the job, but also because I believe my experience makes me the best person for it. As Community and International Officer I have gained practical experience in dealing with welfare issues. What qualities would you bring to the job? Experience, coupled with a strong determination to achieve change and a commitment to defending student rights. In a position like welfare, independence is vital in ensuring that all students are fully represented. What will be your alms If you are elected? Addressing the problems within student accommodation is of particular importance. I will also campaign against student poverty and fight for greater recognition of the Uberation campaigns, special needs and mature students.

•• •• Ill!

: • • : 11

• • : • • • : •

··· · ·· ···· ··· ················ · ······~··········

•They were full of promises before they were elected, so have this year's Sabbaticals kept to them?

IEL Academic Officer

N HOLMES AZIHENACHO Finance Officer

March 1994: "I want to raise the profile of academic issues in the Union because I don't think they've been given enough attention. I want to bring more issues to UGM's and to open meetings. Also to hold open meetings at the schools and to raise the profile of their reps on the school boards. And just to get the message across to the University that we must be listened to. •

Daniel: Nit's been an unusually Impossible year."

March 1995: "lt has been an unusually impossible year, but then I suppose every year is. What I would have liked to achieve but never did was to bring the Union to the Schools and to keep up contact with stu:. dents and their School Board reps. I do think I succeeded in raising the profile of academic issues. We have seen a lot of activity on issues such as overcrowding and the Common Course Structure.

I did my questionnaire on the structure of the academic year and I brought the issue of higher education funding to General Meeting. I think students have been heard more than they were perhaps in the past, and taken note of. I can't honestly say I have enjoyed a great deal of it, what with having to take on the bulk of the work of the Communications Officer and NUS Officer. But at the same time I have enjoyed some of it and it has all been extremely rewarding."

March 1994: "My aims are to remain on a sound financial footing and to see that things continue 10 be for the benefit of students here . For people to be happy with what the officers are doing, they've got to know what those officers are doing and to feel that they are involved in it. So I hope that all four sabbaticals work towards people knowing what's going on and making them feel as though they can approach them. •

Welfare Officer

March 1995: " I think that the Union and its companies have continued on a sound financial footing - indeed the Waterfront has done particularly well since August. I imagine students have been rather concerned about t he behaviour of this year's Executive with six

John: "I feel I've dome alright this year. • resignations. However, from a personal point of view I have endeavoured to get on with my job and feel I've done alright. The disruptions have made me all the more ambitious for next year. I feel that the Union still doesn't market itself very well and there is probably a deal of sense in making publicity and marketing a top priority for the Union next year.

March 1994: I'd like to get a clear agenda of what needs to be done. I think we have a bad record of treating single parents or working parents trying to study part-time and there are also students with disabilities who can't get around. And outside of welfare, we have commercial services which I think sometimes work against student welfare. March 1995: I've spent more time on sports this year than I think any sabbatical has had to do, so we're trying to rewrite the whole safety procedure for sports clubs at the moment. The Village case is going to court. Whether I'm here or not, short of the Union changing its mind about it, it will go through. We should be getting something back, be it compensation or getting the university to change its tenancy

Jsz: "I'm generally happy with what I have schlevtKI." agreements. We have got a disabilities forum set up and I'm writing a paper which is to go around the university which will show the areas which still need to be dealt with in terms of access for the disabled. I'm generally happy with what I have managed to achieve. The liberation campaigns have become more vocal which is good. And I was also very pleased with the Safer Sex Week.

' ..;;; _,._f

OF UEA STUDENTS READ CONCRETE THANK YOU!

door and heading back for a long-overdue discussion on the Highway Code with Mr Angry, who, seeing how things were, and being more into evocative hand gestures than conversations with rabid bus conductors, was off up the road like a shot. And so the chase began. I found myself, for the second time In 24 hours, struggling to remember enough of my Catholic education to give me the wording of the Act of Contrition, so necessary to prevent me spending an eternity In Hell. I had never been in a car-

chase before, let alone whilst on board a 48-seater bus on narrow Indonesian roads. Mr Calm was still calm, but you could tell he had changed, because Mr Death was concentrating all his invective on the fleeing Mr Angry (now, perhaps, Mr Regretful), and Mr Calm's manhood had clearly been reinstated In his eyes. After a couple of miles of weaving In and out of the traffic at an average 60 mph, Mr Regretful realised that the best way to get rid of us was to turn up a seriously narrow side

road, between two large rice paddies. He accordingly executed a sharp right turn, and did just that. Our own right turn was not quite so sharp, the bus being longer and less manoeuvrable than a station wagon. I felt my remaining hair go grey. Everyone on the bus cheered; this was added-value bus journey entertainment with a venge-

ance. The philosophical chickens showed no sign either of concern or interest; they were headed for

a bad end anyway, and knew it. lt was the crossroads that saved us; that, and a remarkable lack of traffic. Mr Regretful, at last giving it some serious welly, had finally escaped us, and no-one knew which of the three narrow roads ahead of us he had used for his escape.

Mr Death was frantic, leaping out of the bus and peering through his pebble glasses up each road, straining to find his elusive quarry. Everyone on the bus (except, perhaps, Mr Death and the resigned chickens) seemed to think the affair an honourable draw... 1994 passed away on the ferry

crossing the narrow strait between Java and Bali, as I leaned against the rail looking out across the glassy sea at the lights of Gilimanuk. I never did make it to Bali's Kuta Beach for the New Year's celebrations; but that is another story...

UNION TRAVEL SHOP

Special Oilers Barcelona I Bilbao £119 rt Cologne I Dusseldorl £96 rt Bologna I Haples I Turin £144 rt Rome I Venice £142 rt Geneva I Zurich £118 rt Many more destiaatioas available Virgin Atlantic flights to Athens only £96 retum - call in now

fordetails

Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995

~HMV '·5 +if 'M'

..................................

Milky, milky!

elly have just finished their soundcheck, and are pottering about their dressing room in Union House, while I sort out my tape recorder and note pad. The atmosphere is relaxed, and all the members seem happy about sitting down and answering some questions. Gail Greenwood, the wild bass-playing woman of the twenty first century, sits down and pulls out a sketch book and starts to draw. Someone asks what she is drawing. "She points at the press conference and says, "I 'm drawing you guys ... I'm calling it a collection of freaks! " She laughs as do the rest of us. Belly are happy, and it rubs off. Tanya tells us that the tour is going "really well". The last time they were here it was "a little more overwhelming because we weren't expecting the hype". But hype they got and with it the phenomenal success of 'Star'. their first album . Tanya maintains that "the audience seem to

• David Ha// ventured backstage to talk to Belly when they played the LCR last week. He found them in great spirits and ready for a chat

PHoTo: sTEvE HowARo

•Mark Austin's out with his record bag to review Milky Lunch at The Waterfront.. ..

! t

lt's not often you get the chance to review a club night, partly because Norwich has so few worth reviewing , but then Milky Lunch has to be the exception . Starting out life as the Cow Club last year, the organisation has grown consistently bigger and better, bringing the likes of Sasha, Farley 'Jackmaster' Funk and Alistair Whitehead to Norwich as well as showcasing a broad range of local talent. Tonight saw the latest in their current 'X-rated' series, entitled 'Come Play With Me' with headline DJ Billy Nasty of Zoom Records. And with a late license having been granted until six in the morning, it did not disappoint. Starting off the evening in fine style were local DJs Alphy and Desire , throwing out tunes pre-programmed to get the capacity crowd jumping. They handed over to Paul Christian and Flying Records aficionado Mark Wilkinson , who started to move proceedings in a slightly harder direction in preparation for what was to come . lt was not a night for the faint-hearted, but then the Waterfront packed to the gills with ready and willing music lovers, this was never going to be a problem . When Billy Nasty fi nally appeared behind the turntables, the mood had well and truly been set. And so it was that he delivered a storming set of hard house that caught up and whisked away all who were exposed to it. With six o' clock coming around far too soon , it was left to exhausted yet satisfied clubbers to wander home, remembering what had been and looking forward to the up and coming visits of Jon da Silva (March 10) and Boy George (March 24) . Milky Lunch continue to take Norwich from strength to strength.

be growing up with us. We .1otice that we see a lot of the same faces a couple of years later". Playing live is something that Belly don't so much enjoy, as cherish. When asked about their forthcoming support slots with REM , they simply said it would be "fun". No nerves, no stress , just fu n. 'King'. their latest album , has provided them with some

PHOTO: OAVIO HAll

Belly read Concrete! good live material. 'Star' had "more adaptations that had to be made" says Tanya. "There was a lot of artificial reverb and stuff like that. This time [i.e.'King'] everything we played in the studio is what we do live". Tom Gorman, guitarist for the band, added "on 'Star' a lot of the songs ended up being studio songs,

Gail, the bassist, recently dislocated her arm and had to be told that continuing to snowboard with her arm strapped to her body might be a little unlalr to the rest olthe band ... City geezers enjoying Milky Lunch

and had to be adapted to play live". After the huge success of 'Star', do the band feel any pressure to make 'King ' a hit? Tanya speaks of how the band are only feeling the pressure now. Whilst they were working "their asses off" (as Gail put it) in the Bahamas recording the album, there was no immediate hurry

to go out and flog loads of COs. 'King' "seems like the first record almost because Tom and Gail are bringing in new music and its a much more band orientated album", Donelly explains. Here she is referring to the eo-writing of over half of 'King'. This is a stark contrast to her complete song-writing control of 'Star', which was all Tanya, bar one song . Gail was enthused by her recent input on the songwriting side. "lt was fun to bring in a riff and then have these guys like it enough to work on it. For me that was kind of exhilarating". Gail is a great character- a punkrocker at heart, with passions for snow-boarding and working out. She recently dislocated her arm and had to be told that continuing to snow board with her arm strapped to her body might be a little unfair to the rest of the band. 'King' marks a change in the lyric writing style of Donelly. Her choice to use the word 'I' rather than 'he' or 'she' has

••••• • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• • •• • ••• • •• •

Smells like intestine spirit. ..

t.s a"§'*

he green lights go up onstage and there are Belly. Tanya looks fantastic, almost Goddess-like, worth 50 Louise Sleepers. Gait, bass slung lower than Peter Hook, rocks out. Chris smiles more than Is possibly healthy and Tom just concentrates on doing his job. lt's a job well done though, as Belly turn in a set packed full of quality. The mix is excellent and the songs stand up as well live as on record, with the added dimension of atmosphere. 'Gepetto' and 'Now They'll Sleep' are near perfect and Tanya displays superb vocal ability on 'Full Moon, Empty

Heart'. If anything, Belly's songs under-use her voice and it could be pushed to the extremes a little more often. When put Into the live setting, tracks such as 'The Bees' and 'Judas My Heart' transcend their status as LP 'fillers' and force you to listen to 'King' In a new light. The album now sounds ten times better than it did before the gig. Concert of the year so far no contest, and a band will be have to be going some to top it. •Belly played the LCR on March 1. Sam Richards

suddenly made the songs all the more personal for the listener. How does she draw the line to mark what is too personal and what she will put 'out there' as lyrics? "When something comes out of me that's too autobiographical, it actually sounds bad" replies Tanya. Lyrics are something that the singer has strong views about. She suggests that no one should read the lyrics before they hear the songs. "I wish there was some kind of invisible ink that would appear forty eight hours after buying the record" she says with a wry smile. Belly have also made a musical advance from their first album. The music is more complex, probably due to the combined effects of collaboration and extensive touring. "Part of what we do, has to do with keeping ourselves interested, above all else" explains Tanya. "Interesting" is certainly something that can be said about 'King'. There aren't the same number of catchy lines and hooks as on 'Star', but there is a depth and maturity to the songs that wasn't there before. When asked what they thought about UEA, Gail says, "We could be at any US university right now. There's a big union-looking place ...", Chris Gorman, the drummer, jumps in with "there are less baseball caps here though!" The band spent the Tuesday before the gig walking around Norwich and the consensus was that they liked it Tom said that it "was pretty nice". lt was getting closer to show time now, and we could already hear the support band, Cold Water Rat, blasting away underneath us. lime to go, I'm afraid. We said our goodbyes and took our leave of arguably the most contented backstage in the

country.

Cone t W d

Yes ow you, too, can be a .. top' DJ! Where does it come from? many will say teen-pop began with America's New Kids On The Block , b ut it can really be seen going back through Duran Duran t o The Osmonds. As k your mum about them.

Hmmltl· ••

Who plays Teen Pop? Boyzone , Deuce, a nd, o f c ourse, Teen Pop supremos, Take That. Don' t say Let Loose they ' r e after a s e rious market .

Boyzone... Now that's Teen Pop

What does it sound like?

Know stock , Aitken and Waterman? We ll, like that - drum machines, plinky plonky pianos , schoolboy vocals. Alternatively Teen Pop takes the form of some dodgy cover version. Eg: Take That's •could It Be Magic?• (Baz Manilowl or Boyzone ' s •Love Me For A Reason• (The osmonds l . What do Teen Pop fans look like?

Fema.le, between 9 and 15 years old, Take That jewellery, the braver ones sporting a Mark Owen dolphin tattoo around their midriff. Who's Mark owen? Take That's resident sexpot. Actually, have you got a younger sister? she's a teen pop fan - unless you're John Peel's son, in which case your younger sister likes Hole . Gay men are also Teen Pop fans, •cos •they like cock", according to this month's ID magazine. And how do they dance? Dance? They're too busy throwing teddies (or underwear), crying, fainting and wetting their knickers to dance. And anyway, haven't you ever seen the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party? They're all seated these teen gigs .

How do you know when you' re listen~g to Teen Po;>? People laugh at you. But you' re more likely

to know when you've finished listening to Teen Pop. You'll find yourself whistling some irritating melody all day. "I should be so lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky ... • Where iS it now? In the pages of Smash Hits, Big! and Just seventeen, on Live and Kicking and TOTP, and probably in your stereo. Go on, admit it's you who dances to Let's Get Ready To Rhumble at the LCR . Peter Hart

March 8, 1995

- - - --

Concrete, Wednesday, Ma rch

The

-- ~------~---------

~~--------.

8, 1995

event ~

~HMV g

1 i §i .. g a n 5 IF

1..

ilfji+

•The Event's Heather Braun met up with The Throwing Muses' Kristen Hersh in London

t's been three years since we last heard from the Muses, but with the release of 'University', our longing for sounds from those American children of innovative rhythms and bizarre chord progressions is finally at ease. They have been keeping busy, no doubt. Kristen Hersh released a solo endeavour last year, entitled 'Hips and Makers' which gained her acceptance as an acoustic performer. But, her longing for abrasive noise made the absence a difficult one. ''Throwing Muses is my home. Its what I always return to. I've been so band starved in the past year, I got used to the acoustic shows; being the only one sweating and drunk at every show". But, she should miss the band. Eight albums, ten years and a couple of line-up changes later, they remain the best of friends , "they're always in the way, I keep bumping into him on stage ... no it's great". Kristen's step-sister, Tanya Donelly, left the band a few years ago to join The Breeders and later formed Belly, turning the band into a trio . Various sources have taken on the counter-melodies of earlier albums in the live act. "Some of the melodies I ask Bernie (bass) to take on, because he's a very rhythmic yet melodic player, a lot of times the parts would go back and forth anyway, so I'm still just playing my parts. So, I'm still playing my parts, you lose a counter melody that T (Tanya) played every now and then. What I miss is more production stuff like back-up vocals and melodies". So, there is no envy with all the attraction

Belly's been getting? "I haven't seen a lot of that but she has a lot of her own problems. She's really smart and they all call her stupid because they think she's fun". So, what about this myth that all these 'new' female musicians are united through the sole existence of their ovaries? "Rolling Stone did a 'Women in Rock' issue and they didn't know ANYTHING about it. All they care about is women in rock who appeal to pre-teens today and that's what they cover. They're usually looking for a trend that is going to be attractive to these pre-teens and trends happen in the real music world before pre-teens can catch up to it". Chart standings don't seem a priority for this band. Good songs seem the only prerequisite to a tight album that moves solitude to violence. Then, is there any quality music in the charts? "More so today, because there's a big influx of alternative bands. I think a lot of people think 'oh, that's alternative, let's get it out there' and don't realise if its gonna be bad or good. But some of its sneaking by and the good stuff is getting up th ere". Kristen's songwriting process offers

e MUSIC NEWS • MUSIC NEWS e MUSIC NEWS e DThe Blue Aeroplanes, best known for their 80s debut album 'Bop Art' make an appearance at The Waterfront on March 23. Ten years on, the band are celebrating with a brand new single, 'Detective Song'; a new album, 'Rough Music'; and some special anniversary live dates in December. Tickets for The Waterfront are £6.50 adv.

DTop indie popsters Radiohead (pictured) arrive in Norwich later this month to play The Waterfront on March 22, hoping to build on the success of their recent release 'High and Dry', which entered the Top 20 on Sunday. Their new album, 'The Bends' is out in the shops on March 13 and tickets for the gig are £7 in advance.

DAfter The Event tipped them for the top, rock group Moist are planning a visit to The Waterfront at the start of April. So, if you're still in Norwich over the Easter holidays getting bored, you know where to go ... DSunday night saw a packed LCR as eagerlyawaited sell-outs Faith No More played to an active audience. Top stuff!

unique guidelines to keep their music more original than most of the chart stuff. "I don't often remember the songwriting process. it's a very organic process. I thought I couldn't write a song in G; I know there are good bands who employ very boring chord progressions and structures but I can't get past those boring chords". Well, are your lyrics any simpler to understand then? "No, I don't understand any of then. When I play them I feel like they're the most truth I've ever told in my life. But, I like leaving them their own magic". There's a similar feeling between the acoustic songs and the band's work, but the solo album was not an easy decision . "it was a little frustrating having to put 'University' off for so long and then I had to turn into a girl with an acoustic guitar and play folk clubs. But, that's just my bad attitude and stuff. 11 was more of a learning experience than it took away from anything. it trrings attention to 'University' that it probably wouldn't have got; in other words, I don't deserve to have any regrets". So, you're trapped in a room without a guitar for a month when someone storms in offering you either an acoustic or electric? "I think it depends on what song I had to write or if people could hear me. I play electric when ... would there be an amp there?" Of course. "I would go for the electric. I've only been without a guitar for two weeks since I was fourteen . The longest I've been was on that promo tour and Dave (drummer) can attest to the fact that I was a bitch on wheels". 'University' doesn't sound like any other Muses album, but then 'University' sounds like no other album. ''The production more than anything else has changed. 'Red Heaven' (Muses circa '92) was a live treatment, but 'University' was played live and we went over that and produced the living daylights out of it because the songs are very detailed, very delicate and yet not fragile so they don't fall apart underneath the weight of production, and the sequencing is the

With an album entitled 'University', the new Throwing Muses shirts look as if you've graduated from some prestigious college , but the name goes beyond the educational institution . 'We don't like tilling records that should be said. it's a goofy artificial thing to do. You either wind up with in jokes that no one else gets or something poetic and I can't stand anything poetic. So, we were lucky enough to have a title track for this and it is true you do look for universeness in little pieces of the big thing and its probably in babies singing and not in a Throwing Muses record". The band took some time away from their north-eastern residences to record the album in voodoo, jazz, cajun and the debated drinking capital of the U.S. "New Orleans is a good vacuum city because it's so freaky that when you walk out the door you're in swamp voodoo world and when you come back you're in Muses world. Making a record in L.A. was good for the same reason, because L.A. is ... L.A. it's harder making records at home because you gotta deal with mail and answering machines and your own life in the meantime. Like the way you start hiking in Colorado, you start drinking in New Orleans. I'll never forget that big burrito dinner and we drank, I don't know, twenty thousand some-odd margaritas and we were gonna go down and do this one song and this was the perfect time and we go running downstairs and we go and we set up and start playing and we finished the first take and the engineer was just sitting at the board like 'why don't we wait until tomorrow?'". The adjustment to New Orleans came naturally and their tour of England could've been just as easy if it weren't for the buttless trousers. Throwing Muses have fond memories of their performance on 'The Word'.

"Speaking of scary things, all day long they kept telling us 'you'll get dancers, we'll hire dancers to be there'. So, we were asking what the dancers are like and they said 'oh you ~/ know, lots off fur bikinis and leather pants' and we would laugh, and they kept saying that all day and we all thought it was a joke and we went to the rehearsal and the fur bikinis and leather pants came out. But it was the buttless trousers, and he comes out and stands right in front of the stage, and points his butt to the stage and Bemie just puts his sunglasses on and looks up and we're all just looking up and after rehearsal the director came down from his director's tower, and he's all out of breath and stops me and goes, 'um, we were wondering if you could look directly into the lense of camera three, do you know what camera three is? That's the camera that's pointed directly at your face and if you look into the lense, then the viewer at home thinks your looking right at him, do you understand?' Yeah, I know but camera three is right near the butt". The Muses make the best of every day on the road, but it wasn't always good times for Kristen Hersh. A few years back, Kristen was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a mild condition of schizophrenia. The disorder has now been controlled by her need to create songs. Kristen is weary on the subject but feels responsible to help those with similar suffering . "A lot of people have a likeness problem and it's an even bigger problem when people say it's a rare disorder, because it's not. Then, I start to think I should talk about it, somebody should be, but it reflects badly on the music and cheapens the music and it reflects badly on women because they keep calling me a crazy

'• J

woman. I'm not a crazy woman, I'm a crazy person". This is a crazy band.

- - - -- - - -

Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995

'27

Wake UPVOUI UEA's own indie-popsters "Wake" returned to play their second gig in front of a capacity audience in the packed-out GSA recently. The 1-hour set consisted of original numbers which demonstrated the versatility of the band's musicianship as well as the talents of songwriting duo Rob Hoffmann and Steve Humphrey. Songs ranging from the kicking guitar style 'Ufe is mine' to the emotion exuded by an acoustic 'Can't Believe' illustrated the undoubted vocal capabilities of singer Martin Ouvry. The gig was recorded and broadcast live by NEXUS UTV. Said guitarist Steve Humphrey, •...the gig was a great success and we were overwhelmed by the positive reaction of both those at the gig and the student media who covered and publicised it. We are also grateful to the GSA wh6se 'open night' allowed everyone who wanted to see us to do so. • •The band are set to record soon and will be playing more gigs in the city. If the GSA gig was anything to go by you'll certainly be hearing more of Wake in the future. Chrls Coole

TBADS PIZZA Lice118ed Restaurant & Take - Away Medium £2.95 45p

Large £4.95 75p

Classic Margherita Extra Toppings

Small £2.15 35p

Spicy Sausage Tuna Ham Capers Anchovies Fresh Tomatoes Mushrooms Crushed Chillies Black Olives

Pepperoni Prawns Peppers Pineapple Tandoori Chicken Egg

Spicy Beef

Bacon Sardines Onions Sweetcom

Try our home-made pasta dishes: Beef or vegetable lasagne, or a generous helping of spaghetti bolognaise- all only £4.7 5 Or some little extras: Garlic bread £1.00, mixed side salad (ring for choice of dressings) £1.50, coleslaw 75p, baked potato £1.75, gateaux or cheescake (various) £1.50

Voted Number one bylconcretel (issue 20) Book the cellar bar for your party!

11lEE DELH'ERY TEL 615S58 53 Earl ham Road, Norwich NR2 3AD. Open every evening • Mon ·Sat 5 -11 pm, Sun 6 -1 Opm. Last orders 30 mins before closing.Minimum order for delivery £6. UEA deliveries to Porters Lodge, Village Site or Union House reception only.

,-- ~--- -

C oncrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995

LUSCIOUSIACISOH

Deep Shag/,.

• Heather Braun catches up with Jason Pierce,

Spiritualized Electric Mainline's frontman

re you interested in tapping the other 80 per cent of the brain we keep hearing about? Perhaps Spiritualized Electric Main line can trigger the vehicle to unleash its power. Their new album, 'Pure Phase' is an emotional experience that is difficult to put into words. Formerly just Spiritualized , songwriter Jason Pierce, who originated from the better half of Spacemen 3, created more hymnal melodies to get lost in. But do they intend to move people with their music? "With 'Pure Phase' I tried to make a record that's so beautiful, it brings tears to your eyes". With influences spanning in psychedelia, soul, blues, electronic, gospel and indie, this "rock and roll band" takes a string quartet on tour with them . So should their music even be written about? "Well, that's how I get into music (through the press), but I'd rather just listen to the music .... In England I've been told a lot of journalists pretend to like the music so they get the feature". (Actually, the second bar on the fourth song of their third to last EP could've been sung an octave lower... but other than that.. .. ) So does the press usually do the band justice? "I don't really read our press much, so I don't know." Alright then ... shall we bring up drugs? Spacemen 3's back catalogue, including the live album 'Taking Drugs To Make Music For People To Take Drugs To' gave the band a link to the illegal substance subculture. "Our music isn't easier to get on drugs". But do they influence the sound on 'Pure Phase'? "Not so much anymore, the kind of feelings I get from good music I don't think drugs play a part in that. "If they play a part of somebody's life ... (no names) ... then they are a tonic, a chaser to everything else they do, but music that hides behind as drug music is a poor argument for the music, like some people can get completely stoned and just laugh at the most inane things and I think people who hide their music behind that feeling , in the same way people into systems music and minimal music are very highbrow and hide behind the

"you're not intelligent enough for this music", which I also think is a bad argument for music". Spiritualized offer a love of repetition. Their songs start as simple motifs and become layered through instruments (the wah pedal being the only guitar effect used on the new album). Rather than borrowing samples from their influences, as many Spacemen 3 tracks have, Spiritualized is music that "fills the gaps in my record collection", through their own unique sound. Their aim is for timeless music. "All good music has that same effect on the listener; you can listen to great music from the 60s, whether The Elevators or Sam Cooke, it doesn't sound like 60s music, it still does for the listener now as it did when it first came out." 'Pure Phase' takes a few previously recorded tracks and recreates them with more of a live feel. "In England, to enable you to tour you have to release records, so a lot of our singles are released not in their most worked out form , so that's why they are only released in England, they're not released as worldwide singles because they're still in working progress." So with an album including songs released throughout the past few years, is there any incoherence on 'Pure Phase'? "Well , even the really quiet stuff is intense and exciting, so I think they all relate". Spiritualized's last studio album, 'Lazer Guided Melodies' was followed by a limited live album, leaving options for a similar live album to follow 'Pure Phase' in the future. "The live album , was mainly just a record of what we were doing that year... the live thing is constantly changing anyway... the whole band was set up to be a live performance band and we made the records to enable us to do that." 'Pure Phase' justifies the successful attempt to get a live feel through a studio album . The band travels beyond any sane framework. 'Pure Phase' is Spiritualized at their best, and if "All good things in life make you sick", then illness has never felt better.

•

PAI'I'H NO MORI! Digging The Grave/

This is, without doubt, the funkiest , sexiest single I have heard all year. Luscious Jackson, the all female foursome , just ooze groove and sex from every note and beat they produce. "Deep Shag/City Song" is the first release off their 1994 album "Natural Ingredients". Both songs are absolute corkers on the album, and are enhanced in their remixed form on the single. The "AquaMagic Remix" of "Deep Shag" is phenomenal. Plenty of thumping bass with the band's great melody line and harmonies over the top. "City Song" is almost remixed out of recognition from the album . lt carri es a seriously mysterious bassline that creates a spooky air, hence its name :"Supernatural Mix". Blinding . Plus, if you buy either the cassette or CD format , you get an extra track called "Daddy". This shows the band's ability to play without the aid of a programmed loop. "Daddy" is quite brilliant, as are Luscious David Hall Jackson.

•• CARDINAL cal'dlnai/LP

"Digging The Grave" must have a lot riding on it for FNM . lt certainly marks a departure from "Angel Dust" , and creates a sound that is unusual for the San Francisco band. The single is almost a rock anthem in its early stages . When I listened to this , I shifted uncomfortably in my seat in the dreaded fear that FNM might have gone soft. Then, suddenly, we get breaks of heavy guitars and gut wrench ing screams. Mike Patton is possessed . By what , I'm not sure. Yes ... FNM are back. The single has two other album tracks from the forthcoming "King for a day... fool for a lifetime", plus an amazingly heavy extra track called "Absolute Zero". A welcome taste of what's to come .

VARIOUS BaclrWatef Pouf/I!P

This is another compilation of four local bands on the Noisebox label. Unfortunately, Backwater Four is easily the worst one yet. The EP kicks off with 'Queen Of Hearts' by Lemongrower who have been hanging around Norwich for years , and probably will be for ever. This acoustic-based track with a Iatin influenced rhythm is fairly unmemorable but turns out to be the best thing here . Neil Keeler 's attempt at 'sophisiticated' electro-pop is truly awful and would probably be rejected by Julia Fordham . Soft Cotton County fare little better, being seemingly stranded in late-80s major label cast-off hell . Blue Script ro und off proceedings with the four minoutes of pointless drudgery that is 'Frognal Lane'. I'd love to be able to support local music but if this the best Norwich can currently offer, i think a move to SR Grimsby is in order.

SIDI BOU SAID

womtee/7" The Sidis are the only band this week named after a Tunisian town, but their art school rock falls between three stools: too obtuse for the mainstream, too snooty for the underground and a bit loud for the oldies. A cou ple of their previous singles tended to suck you in with a good melody line before hitting you with with some welltimed discards but 'Wormee' never really quite makes up its mind what it's doing. A couple of listens though and it does tend to, er, worm it's way into you r brain. As for the cover - well, if you haven 't got it, don't flaunt it, and if you want to sell copies of your record , don't put a picture of yourselves looking like twats on the front of it. Sam Richards

f0PfUNE5

Wlaf's on 1he concrete stereo 1. Boo Radleys - Wake Up Boo! 2 . Ouran ouran - Perfect Day 3 . Take That - Want You Back

2 Unlimited Here I Go

This is a band with ambition. On the face of it, they could be any old indie shamblers but on this record we find extensive use of strings, trumpets, piano, even a bloody harpsichord. These are songs that have been crafted rather than just written. 'You've Lost Me There ' is a classic in every sense of the word (cliche c/o John Motson) and 'If You Believe In Christmas Trees ' eventually reaches a decidedly Beatlesque conclusion. The whole aura of the record reminds me rather of Robyn Hitchcock. Most of the material just oozes class, letting you wallow in the sound of a band daring to do something a little different. Lyrics range from the cute to the bizarre ("G. Kehnedy got kicked in the ass a couple of times for his impersonation of a crow" - hello?). Unfortunately, a couple of the tracks tend to tread musical water and don't get off the ground. But give them time to develop and Cardinal could become kings. SR

HAVE YOU GOT ANY VIEWS ON THE MUSIC SECTION? THE MUSIC EDITOR WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU. CONTACT PETER ON (01603) 250558, OR COME TO THE 'CONCRETE' OFFICE IN UNION HOUSE.

- ---

-- -----------------------------------------------------------Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995

-·--

. . . . . . . .1/,.

....

Tindersticks or Tendersticks are packed with emotion. 'No More Affairs' (released March 6) is characteristically slow, overlaid with the lead singer's amazingly LOW voice. He could burst into fits of sadness yet he remains calm. Tindersticks are mellow to put it mildly. They send you into a warm dream-like state that leaves you feeling content. This is not a large departure from their debut album and proves to be more oriented towards mushy mainstream sentimentality and less experimental so as to appeal to major US record companies. The B side instrumental is the same tune but a melancholy trumpet replaces the voice. If you want more exciting blues pop/rock try Jon Spencer or dEUS because there is "no more foolin' around" for Tindersticks: Chrls Poole

,_...,. .................

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ••••• /,.

•Some people say they can't stand what they're hearing" and with this they aren't too far from the truth. The title track has its moments; a rocking guitar in places but ifs all just too repetitive. Haven't we heard it all before? The song is solid but just plays on one idea. The mixture of pop and rock comes across as you would expect, but only makes for a nice, listenable song, not a masterpiece. 'Hey Mr Buskerman' is a pleasant acoustic(y) diversion, but drags on. Tony may have been awarded the 'Tastiest Geezer' category in 'Kerrang!' but this does nothing for the song. Chrls Poole

...,,. ._......

Stuck somewhere inbetween dancefloor and ambience, you'll find the new single from this London act. By looking past the mention of Jesus inbetween their repetitive beats, you'll actually find some originality. With 'Satellite', they float around scales in a smooth electronic frame but grasp a catchy enough chorus that could actually give them chart success. For Drum Club fans, the third turntable friendly mix affects their version of how the song should sound. The fourth and final mix is a long exit that fails to remind me I've been enjoying the same song for almost forty minutes. Heather Braun ~=======::~

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Radiohead- Live at the Astoria

8 Storey who? The anonymity of 8 Storey Window will soon disappear upon the release of this digitally remastered single. Originally released a year ago, the single 'I Will' Is bound to succeed second time around because of Its current success In America. Upon Its Initial release lt was awarded NME Single of the Week and was picked up by Radio One's Evening Session. Now, lt sounds very familiar to other songs of the lndle genre. No doubt the single will soon be heard throughout the country on TV jeans commercials. Martin Plant

.. ......

..............

MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW Make no mistake about this, Radiohead are a good band, even a great one. If it wasn't for the Blurs and Oases of this world then thie fivepiece led by the enigmatic, charismatic Thorn Yorke might get a bigger share of popular and press plaudits. As great as they might be, I'm not sure that this recording of last May's Astoria performance will go any way towards achieveng this. Yes, the music's great, the live, raw edge that studio sessions remove is retained, but Radiohead as visual entertainment? Not sure. What Radiohead do best is play music, as this video testifies, with renditions of tracks such as the self-loathing Creep and the other highlights from 93's debut album, Pablo Honey. Also included are sneak preview performances of tracks from the forthcoming follow-up, The Bends. Put this new album above Radiohead Uve on the shopping list and you won't go far wrong. Stop watching, start listening. Kelth Whltmore

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

...._,.

Republica produce quality dance music. Some people have just stopped reading this review. They hate dance music. If you're still reading, then you'll love dance music. And no exceptions, you'll love this too. While having the characteristics of repetitive, sing-along lyrics of 2 Unlimited, Republica retain their self-respect. The four mixes of 'Bloke'., including the Jack Daniels Mix, on the single are all sufficiently different to hold your interest and to keep you on the dance floor. Love it or Martin Plant leave it.

•e•rt rlrlllt

'Get Ready' began playing on the CD player. All well so far. But something seems not quite right, out of place. The voice. The single has a very Bob Marley-esque feel about it, to such an extent, In fact, that when Bob Marley doesn't start singing it sounds wrong. Having said that, taken on Its own merit the EP Isn't haH bad, but then lt Isn't haH good either. Llstenable, but no more Martin Plant than that.

Velo-Deluxe appear to be attempting to give us a lesson in the last ten years of indie rock. Such unoriginality could easily have been their downfall, but luckily Velo-Deluxe have the songs and the vitality to make you think that you're hearing those guitar sounds and chord changes for the first time. 'Superelastic' actually displays quite a variety of styles throughout its duration. There is the fullon distorted rock of the title track, the summery strum of 'Alibi' and on the best song 'Desiree', a brass section is employed to wondrous effect. Ssm Rlchards

HMV

KNOW HMV • KNOW MUSIC

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN '95 GRAMMY AWARD WINNER IS HMV ARTIST OF THE MONTH BUY HIS 'GREATEST HITS' ALBUM- OUT NO HMV, RAMPANT HORSE ST. NORWICH TEL (01603) 625490

30 Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995

heating is a seemingly aii-American pastime. Since it came out that the Chicago Black Sox had conspired to throw the 1919 world series, similar scandals have regularly sent the States into frenzy.

· QUIZSHOW USA (1995)

Drama Dlr: Robert Redford Odeon- from March 17 Somewhere between these baseball shenanagans and 'Whitewatergate' came

NBC's 'Twenty One', where it emerged that this top-rated TV quiz show was being rigged for better audience figures. Herbie Stempel (John Turturro) is a working-class hero and the reigning champion of this trivia quiz show.

Robert Redford directs

However, he doesn't cut any ice with the show's sponsor, and more importantly, the show's national audience are dropping off like flies. 'Persuaded' to take a dive, he is eventually replaced by the far more appealing, single, intellectual, charming super-babe Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes). He takes the crown and the US media by storm, fast becoming college professor turned matinee idol. Re-enter a rather disgruntled Stempel with his allegations of fraud and deception. And of course, hot on his trail comes Congressional Investigator Richard Goodwin (Rob Morrow), who knows there's a can of worms just waiting to be opened. So real-life metaphors and posers abound. Not only does this look like a cynical jibe at western society's gullability and the power of media-fuelled consumerism, but also touches on issues of ethnicity. Well, never will you see 'The Generation Game' in quite the same light again! Llz Mills

We asked twenty housewives•..

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

The theory ol relative-itv E

instein as Cupid well, maybe not. lt's the mid 1950s. In Princeton, New Jersey, Albert Einstein, the famous physicist no less, has weighty matters playing on his mind. Giving a whole new perspective on the theory of 'relative-ity' he fears for the future happiness of his niece, Catherine (Meg Ryan). Engaged to an accomplished, but aggressively conniving, psychologist James (Stephen Fry), Einstein can only foresee an unfulfilling future of conical flasks and test tubes for her. So with the help of his three stooge-like buddies, undertakes to find a new love for her life. When Catherine and James stop at a garage, enter the other half of the equation, Ed (Tim Robbins) , a mild-mannered grease-monkey.

" You're not really my dream date, are you?!" Love at first sight it may be for him, but a 'knight in shining overalls' is not enough for this lady who demands nothing less than a fullhouse up top. Enter Einstein, who forges a somewhat unlikely friendship with Ed, and a few quantum physics lectures

later, Ed is presenting an innovatory paper on nuclearfusion. But will the illusion last? So it looks like Einstein's getting the 'human' touch again. The impressive cast takes this production one step up from Yahoo Serious' (remember him?) attempt.

But this looks like very light entertainment, and with liberal smatterings of 'Gump'-like heartwarming homilies, the message "don't let your brain interfere with your heart" comes across loud 'n' clear. Liz Mills

Concrete. Wednesday. March 8. 1995

BVen1

Reine-ing blood LAREINEMAAGOT France (1994) Historical Epic Dlr: Petrlce Cheraau

agons East is the latest in a long line of Wild West movies, with the obligatory twist that is needed to enliven the much cliched Western . Set in a Western town called Prosperity, the film follows the first American 'quitters' as they decide to move back East. What they need however is a seasoned wagon master to lead them through

ClnemaCky ..fromMan:h10

a Reine Margot was produced by Claude Berri - the man who gave us the acclaimed 'Jean de Florette' and 'Manon des Sources'. Despite this pedigree, the film takes a refreshingly brutal approach in its depiction of sixteenth century France. In an attempt to appease the two religious factions, a marriage of convenience is arranged between the Protestant Duke Henri de Navarre (Daniel Auteuil) and Marguerite de Valois (lsabelle Adjani, 'Margot') sister of the Catholic King Charles IX (Jean-Hughes Anglade). On their wedding night, the bride refuses to share a bed with her new husband, preferring to venture into the streets for a casual sexual encounter. The failure of the marriage becomes fully exposed

The hairdresser approacheth... (What?! - Ed) when the slightly deranged King Charles gives his assent to the slaughter of 6,000 Protestants - many of them guests at Margot's wedding - and this is not the end of the bloodletting. Through its energetic and graphic rendering of this tale of murder, incest, rape, torture and black magic, 'La Reine Margot' has more in

common with 'The Godfather' and 'Goodfellas' than the tasteful Merchant-Ivory costuma drama. Aided by the impressive cinematography, an innovative score and a charismatic cast, 'La Reine Margot' pushes the historical epic into exciting and altogether more 'hip' territory. Recommended. Will/am Nell

dapted from Mlchael Crlchton's provocative best-seller, 'Disclosure' Is a controversial film about sexual harassment of a man. Mlchael Douglas plays Tom Sanders, an executive expectIng to be promoted to Vice-President of Advanced operations and Planning within the computer com-

•

I I I I

WAGONS EAST USA (1995) Western Dlr: Peter Markle IDICimon·fromllarch 10 their tortuous journey. Cue the late John Candy as James Harlow, the only possible choice who unfortunately also happens to be a renowned drunk with a corrupt past.

DISCLOSURE USA (1995) Drama Dlr: Bany Levtnson

MGMC8mon·flomu.dl10 pany, Dlglcom. The post Is given Instead to his former lover Meredlth Johnson (Deml Moore), who Is now the protegee of Dlglcom's founder (Donald Sutherland). She makes agressive

•• •

Not surprisingly, the quitters soon find themselves involved in all sorts of crazy situations. The film was shot almost entirely on location in Durango Mexico, well known for providing settings for a number of classic Westerns. lt only remains to see if 'Wagons East' can be placed in the same league as those movies. Nlcola Hutchlnson

sexual advances towards Sanders, and when they are rejected (lt serves as a change to see Douglas saying "No"), Johnson threatens to have him transferred. A gripping plot, that twists and turns, combined with slick performances by top actors will ensure that 'Disclosure' Is a success. Joanna Ems/ey

•••••••••I

I'HEE FILM!

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

Bo11•spri11t is tbe 011/y llorwit:h pboto sbop to oiler a free high q•ality replat:e•e•t lil• 11nd a free display alblll8 111111 a free 111t1n1 set ofprillts every n.e- only witb Ibis vo•t:ber!

: :

I I I I I I I I

ebecca was Hitchcock's first Hollywood picture, though the story - adapted from Daphne Du Maurier's novel • and the leading actors remained quintessentially British. • Joan Fontaine plays the nameless heroine who marries the urbane Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier), but receives a frosty reception from the staff at his English estate. Marital bliss soon evaporates as the young bride realises that she is doomed to live in the shadow of her husband's first wife, Rebecca.

USA (1140) Drama Dlr: AlfNd Hlthcock CRmiCIJ•S\Itllln:h18 As she struggles to cope with her feelings of inadequacy, a new investigation reveals the disturbing truth behind Rebecca's mysterious death. 'Rebecca' is clearly not typical of the 'suspense-thriller' genre for which Hitchcock is best remembered. lt is instead, a uniquely successful blend of gothic romance and psychological drama. Aided by a Hollywood budget, Hitchcock's calcu-

lated direction and George Barnes' Oscar-winning cinematography succeeded in creating a strangely dreamlike atmosphere, and bestowed upon the film a distinctive fairytale quality. Particularly memorable is Judith Anderson's portrayal of Mrs Danvers, the sinister and domineering housekeeper who frequently appears unannounced in a ghoulish manner. The film will be introduced by Lizzie Francke, the author of 'Script Girls', a new study of women script-writers. Will/am Nell

(/'J ;:J

: 1 ~

I I

.I I I 1 I

: :

OilerCoDdit.ku.16:0ffervalld with this 'YOUCberODly(uo photocop.les) on one hour service oDly. Only one ftlm per voucher. Excludes 'Mpleprint,llegu]ar and Compact aerv:lces. Explrea 30th March '95

~ 3 While Lion Street

1 I

: I I I

I I I 1 I

Tel 616831 :

~~~~~~ (just 2 aaiaates walk lroaa the market) :

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

3 2 Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995

fhe

even1

â&#x20AC;˘Dumbfounded when Quentin Tarantino confronts you about that unpaid library fine? Stuck for words when you bump into Martin Scorsese in Superdrug? The second part of Concrete's concise guide to key developments in film history will sort you out. 1959-1995 by William Neil

New Waves and New Cinemas The Basics: The decade after 1958 witnessed a period of unprecedented creativity in international art cinema, as a new generation of film makers reacted against the established conventions of their respective national cinemas . The French 'Nouvelle Vague' of critics-turned-directors, like Truffaut and Godard, ignored orthodoxies of narrative and experimented with new lightweight cameras to create a youthful and often hyper-kinetic cinema. British cinema also burst into life for a short time. Paralleling developments in the theatre, a new 'kitchen sink cinema' portrayed the grim realities of working class life in films like 'Saturday Night and Sunday Morning', and profiled the 'angry young man'. Italian cinema continued to be dominated by Fellini and Antonioni, but the latter's experiments in narrative, perception and existential angst, together with the radical modernist work of Pasolini, seethed with new energy. The mid 60s also saw a significant revival in German art cinema with the 'Young German Cinema' movement, whilst Japanese cinema continued to expand with important new directors like Oshima coming to the fore. Though the Soviet Union continued to stifle creative expression, in Eastern Europe state film schools also produced a crop of new talent in the form of directors like Polanski and Forman. What to say: "Despite this unprecedented intellectual ferment, objective realism, character subjectivity and authorial expressivity remained the hallmarks of art cinema." What not to say: "Oshima? ... They do microwaves, right?"

Godard's 'A Bout de Souffle'

Hollywood Remodelled: The &Os and 70s The Basics: Changes in moviegoing habits, due to demographic changes and the growth in television, meant that attendances continued to decline. Major studios cut back on production, allowing smaller independents to increase their share of the market. Producers also sought new sources of appeal. Exploiting the strict level of television censorship, Hollywood wooed audiences with more daring subject matter. Meanwhile, cheap 'exploitation' and 'counter-culture movies' like 'Easy Rider' tapped into the youth market. With the emergence of new talent, as some of those

trained in television turned to film and others graduated from film school, it seemed that a more personal Hollywood art cinema might develop. However, with a few exceptions like Coppola and Scorsese, most failed to retain their independence and moved towards greater accessibility. The 70s saw production become increasingly governed by a system of 'deals'. Movies were still financed by major companies, but unlike the studio system of mass production, film projects were now developed and produced as independent 'packages'.The 70s also brought a new boom. In some cases

'Chinatown'- where Hollywood met Art Cinema

new directors contributed to this boom- notably Coppola's The Godfather', Lucas' 'Star Wars' and Spielberg's 'Jaws'. Elsewhere, it was based on a few major successes - particularly 'disaster movies', sequels, better marketing techniques, and new attempts at 'big budget exploitation' with films like 'The Exorcist' and 'Alien'. What to say: "More so than the Nouvelle Vague, the assimilation of the television aesthetic fuelled Hollywood's stylistic progess during this time." What not to say: "The Poseidon Adventure'? B*ll*cks more like! I didn't understand a word of it!"

Trends in contemporary cinema The Basics: The last 15 years has seen both old and new challenges. Video did not. as predicted, signal the end of film's dominance. Instead, rental and retail markets were partly responsible for Hollywood's prosperity during the 80s. Despite this, only 1 in 10 films made a profit during this period, and so major companies continue to rely on 'blockbusters' which can shift a whole range of related merchandise like toys and clothes. New technologies also aided low-budget film making. Although smaller independents suffered as Hollywood moved into greater exploitation, 'pre-sales' to video and cable have enabled them to finance new film projects. 11 is not yet clear what impact the latest generation of flexible and inter-active media formats will have upon the industry. In the meantime, genres have remained the dominant means of targeting audiences, even

If they have become increasingly mixed and mutated. The 80s saw a spate of actionadventure films, 'brat-pack' teen movies, 'Airplane' style parodies, 'Nam movies' and 'back in time' yarns. In more recent times, the 'psycho-thriller' and 'period horror' epic have proved popular, whilst old favourites like westerns and road movies have been given a new twist with 'offbeat' elements or a female perspective. However, Hollywood's rejuvenation has had dire consequences for national film industries and art cinemas. As European attendances declined throughout the 80s, production costs were rarely recovered through domestic release alone. Given that Hollywood had appropriated some of the techniques and appeal of art cinema - notably its eroticism â&#x20AC;˘ film makers have struggled to compete on the international market. International eo-productions became a common reaction, but increasingly television compa-

nies like Channel 4 and French cable. company Canal+ have come to dominate European film financing. A few of the older European auteurs like Chabrol and Rohmer remain bankable, and certain younger directors like Belneix and Besson have survived by embracing greater accessibility and the surtace stylishness of post-modern popular culture. However, the outlook is generaUy poor for European and world cinema. Though the 1993 GATI agreement has enabled countries like France to protect its domestic industry through tax. measures, Hollywood continues to undermine national cinemas by determining contemporary tastes and shaping them in an American direction. What to say: "In the face of media globalisation, the protection of cultural identity is a truly Sisyphean task." What not to say: "Who needs poncey art cinema now that Hollywood does bump n' grind!"

Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995

TV, VIDB.Q}~

o-er missus! Saturday nights will never be the same again. From March 11, Channel 4 will be entering the 'Red Light Zone', a new late-night series that will be unashamedly tackling sexual issues. Subjects range widely across the sexual boundaries, including documentaries on the Mexican pom industry at the start of this century, the underground strip clubs of America's biggest Russian ghetto, prostitution in Bradford and transsexuality in Torquay. The first documentary of the series, 'NYPD Nude', examines the case of Carol Shaya, a New York policewoman who bared all for 'Playboy' In August 1994. There was nothing wrong in her posing for the pictures

themselves, but because she wore her uniform in some of the shots, she transgressed a NYPD rule that stops officers from using their uniform for financial gain. The resulting disciplinary action and media attention brought various issues to the fore - not least the

young women directors. First of these to take centre stage will be Nicola Black, whose film 'White Jazz' will be screened on March 11. 'White Jazz' is an hour-long documentary on the American crime writer James Ellroy, which focuses on the re-opening of the case on his mother's murder. lt also examines the themes and stories behind his major works, in particular 'The LA Quartet', an epic pop history of Los Angeles set in the red light zone of Ellroy's

SubJects range wldelv across the sexual boundaries, Including documentaries on the Mexican pom lndustrv at the start of this centurv, the underground striP clubs of America's biggest Russian ghetto and prostitution In Bradford... effect that Carol's action has had on the cause of professional women. Could she have set it back by twenty years, as some allege? The Zone is also a showcase for

dark imagination. Watch out for many more programmes and films over the next eight weeks... unless you happen to be Mary Whitehouse, of course .

Giving a different meaning to NYPD Blue....

I ~ven The

What could we possibly tell you about Nexus UTV's fantastic output that you don't know already? That all your favourite soaps are regularly shown , and all the top sporting events get full coverage? No, we've done that.... That Nexus News, 'Home from Home', 'Grrr.. .' and the Oscar nominated Arts Show will be popping up every weekday in the packed schedules? No, we've done that too .... Well, you may not know that there are some wicked movies on this week, including 'Super Mario Brothers' on Thursday March 9 (which sense of the word 'wicked' are you thinking of here? - Screen Ed), 'Indecent Proposal' on March 14, and 'Romancing the Stone' on March 8. And that's yer lot! Stay tuned!

•••••••••••••••• •• • ••• ••• ••• •• ••• ••••• ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 77Je column that fondly remembers those classic 7V programmes of yesteryear. .. Black Candles Rental Little known director Jose Ramon Larraz has made several films that are a great deal more harrowing and disturbing than anything Pedro Almodovar has ever conjured up. Take for example, Ramon's 'Black Candles'. The plot revolves around the arrival on British shores of married couple Robert and Carol, who have come to visit Fiona, Carol's creepy and recently widowed sisterin-law. Any viewer having the advantage of several braincells, will soon realise that something's up with Fiona and her eerie male friend, the Reverend. Robert and Carol , bless them, are not as astute and fail to notice the significance of hundreds of black candles and obscene pictures of the devil hanging on nearly every wall. After lots of bedroom action, they eventually piece the clues together, but are too late to orevent themselves

from being catapulted into a macabre, nightmarish culture of Satan worshippers. The acting is appalling and the dubbing is even worse. In fact, the translation from Spanish into English effectively transforms Ramon's horror masterpiece into a tragic comedy. 'Black Candles' offers little but cheap thrills, with the emphasis on cheap. You have been warned. Alberta Lopez

I Walked With A Zombie (1943) BBC2, 12.15am Friday March 10 WILL: Don't be fooled by the title, this is not your average

TURN YOUR

RAD)D ~I'll

no. ] THE PPIDFESSUlnftlS

Try this one at home kids! B-movie trash, but instead one of the better low-budget chillers of the 40s. Its basically a re-working of Jane Eyre, set in the Caribbean with more than a dash of voodoo and local superstition. Prepare yourself for terror as somnambulistic ladies dressed in fluttering white amble in the gleaming

moonlight and avoid the undead native sentries. CAROLINE: lt's easy to walk like a zombie. All you need is fifteen pints of any strong alcoholic substance, a very heavy-going LCR/Monday night at Ritzy and a 9am start next morning which you cannot and must not avoid. Go on kids, try this one at home!

.J 'Paradise Lost in Space· is a new comedy series set in outer space (where else?) . Two travelling Earthmen (Tony Robinson and David Haigh) land on a perfect planet, Oblivion. Without even meaning to, they disrupt the lives of the

Oblivions and totally destroy the planet. The series is written by Colin Swash, the current producer of 'Have I Got News For You '. ·Paradise Lost In Space ·, Radio 4, Thursday March 9, 6.30pm.

he worst thing about 90s TV is the seeming lack of adventure series to rival past greats such as The Avengers (More about that in the next issue- Ed) and The Professionals. What these two shows had in common was the production team of Brian Fennel and Albert Clemens, but what made The Professionals so unique was its sheer brilliance. What other programme could offer characters as original and rounded as Bodie (played by Lewis Collins) and Doyle (Martin Shaw)? And what other show offered you the urbane but deadpan Gordon Jackson as George Cowley? The Professionals was launched in the mid 1970s and ran for about eight years. During this time, bubbly perms, sidebums, Ford Capris and imitation leather jackets were all given a good airing - alongside ubiquitous Russian spies, local hard men, corrupt busin¥smen and other such nutters bent on wor1d domination. But they were all despatched in some style by the intrepid threesome, who almost managed to do it just in time -against that funky musical backdrop- and conform to the old cliche: got the gir1 and killed the baddies.

.J Homelessness amongst young people- a growing problem in Britain 's cities. 'My Bed In The Darkness ', a play by Jonathan Myerson , dramatizes the plight of a group of young people sleeping rough in London.

lt deals with the dangers they face, their search for independence and warmth - or just a way out. 'My Bed In The Darkness·, Radio 4, Thursday March 9, 2.02pm.

1995

Prev: the Country Wife UEA StudiO;; Mai'Cfh 21·23 7.30

Fast, fu rious, and farcical , with plenty of sex, cleavage and irate .. no, not the latest carry on film, but Next Best Thing's forthcoming production of 'The Country Wife'. A Restoration comedy, 'A Country Wife' is the tale of an unsuspecting country bumpkin who hits London and escapes the claws of her tyrant husband, with disastrous results. 'The Country Wife' follows Next Best Thing's debut success with 'The Merchant of Venice' last November, and is directed by founder members Anita Frank and Steve Bumell. The production has been updated to the 'Hello' magazine world of the early 1980's, to highlight the play's portrayal of rich , bored society wives amusing themselves with gossip and casual affairs in a pre-Aids society. When an innocent young wife from the country arrives and decides to blithely copy their example by taking a lover, havoc breaks loose as disguises are blown and intrigues uncovered. The deceptions and hypocrisy of fashionable London society are revealed as the play escalates towards comic catastrophe, with some great jokes, a crazy plot and lots and lots of shoulder pads. Anna Currle

Prev: Cold Shoulc:t.,Norwtch Arts Centre fAtlrch 23-25 £5 (Cone £3.50) A new music theatre production which brings together disabled and able-bodied people will be staged at Norwich Arts Centre later this month . Sponsored by BT, 'Cold Shoulder' is the culmination of a seven month project devised by Val Baxter and Jon Baker. Val Baxter is a choreographer and theatre director whose experience includes work for Iondon's Bubble Theatre, The Phoenix Theatre, Leicester and manchester's Contact Theatre . This is the secong music/ theatre production that she has written with Jon Baker, actor and musician whose television credits include 'Middlemarch', 'Lovejoy', 'Going Live' and 'Survival'. Set in Berlin during the upheavals of the 1980's, the piece explores the impact of radically changing times on the people and communities of East Berlin. The group have been working together on a weekly basis since the beginning of September and include people from City College, Norwich, Mencap Great Yarmouth, Vauxhall Centre and members of local theatre companies.

'Death and the Maiden' has been hailed as probably the most important and exciti ng new play of ou r time . Set in a South Am erican state which has recently, tentatively, returned to democracy after a period of tyrannical rule, it is t he tale of a young woman of a young woman who recog nises the voice of a man who gives her husband a lift home one night, to be that of the doctor wh o to rtured and raped her 15 years ago. What should she do? What can she do? How can she convince her husband, and satisfy her hunger for revenge ? Henry Burke directs this production by Pilot Productions in aid of Norwi ch Playhouse , and has chosen to present it at the new UEA drama studio with an exciting cast of well-known local actors including Vince Hadley and Peter Sweet. This will be the first showing in Norwich of this highly-acclaimed, award winning and controversial play. You are likely to remember it for a long time to come!

. ~

aster nnies at the NAC

look ahead to the Easter programme at the Norwich Arts Centre shows something for everyone at the local venue. March 9 sees Michael Wynne's first comedy, the show which marks the beginning of an exciting part-

nership between the world famous Royal Court Theatre and the Eastern Region. If it's live music that you are looking for then there is classical, folk, african and reggae . Kicking in the beats with more unique cutting edge dance sounds it's 'Offyerface' this time

from Kent-based band Code who will be promoting their new album . There will also be a folk benefit in aid of the Save NAG Fund on April 22 where you can enjoy a veritable feast of fantatic folk music and it's all in a good cause!

R9v: Hot Shoe Shuffle Th&atr& Royal lt certainly don't mean a thing if you ain't got that swing. 'Cos let's face it, we aren't really here for the plot or the characters. We've come for the dance routines. If you've seen th ose old Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers movies, you'll have a fair idea of what we're expecting. But here we have seven Freds; otherwise known as the Tap Brothers; and one Ginger, called April. And boy, can they dance and sing! lt was sheer bliss to watch , from the first to the last number. There seemed to be no end to the inventiveness of the guys, who tapped, slid and sprung their way across the stage to what seemed like endless applause. Only Louise Plowright, who plays April, could possibly have beaten them in the popularity stakes; her powerful voice was perfectly suited to the classic jazz and blues songs, and captivated the entire audience . The suitably rousing finale was naturally the highlight of the evening, with the entire cast proving that even after all that had gone before , we still hadn't seen a tenth of their talent. In short, it was Busby Berkeley- tastic, mate! Carol/ne Jenklnson

fter their successful production of Shake peare's 'The Merchant of Venice' on campus last semester, local company Next Best Thing moved to the Arts Centre for the Norweigan classic 'The Master Builder'. Henrik lbsen's bleak portrayal of paranoia and insecurity was a difficult choice of play but their interpretation was simple and effective . lt featured strong performances, particularly from the lead, Charles Marenghi, as the Master Builder who fears himself to be on the verge of madness. Torn apart by the challenge of youth he initially tries to suppress his feelings by denying his young subordinate the opportunity to make it on his own . However, he later tries to form an alliance with youth in the shape of a beautiful young woman but his attempts f.

ollow the yellow brick road, and you're likely to end up at the Theatre Royal with a host of wandwaving children . Not surprisingly, they were all feverishly excited about seeing 'The Wizard of Oz' in all its technocolour glory. And so was I, come to that... As it turned out, none of us were disappointed. What we got was a show that abounded with vibrant colours, plenty of enthusiasm and all those classic songs that made the movie version so memorabte.Peter Duncan gave us an energetic Scarecrow; Arthur Bostrom, despite bad back trouble , put in a good turn as the Tin Man; and

Brian Blessed charmed everyone with his cuddly, operasinging Cowardly Lion . And Rachel Pittman, as Dorothy, may not have been in the same league as Judy Garland, but she could certainly sing beautifully. In fact, the only note of discord throughout the whole evening came from one youngster behind me, who was crying in terror after the first appearance of the Wizard . However, they did calm down in time for the final burst of 'Somewhere over the Rainbow' ; a fitting end to a highly enjoyable show. Then it was time to head outside and wait in the rain for our lift home. Where did I put those ruby slippers? Carollne Jenklnson

t just goes to show that when something is de scribed as 'highly acclaimed' it doesn't necessarily mean that it is good. Last weeks Live in The Hive saw a 'comedy' double billing of drag artists Amy Lame and the (disputably) Divine David. Divine David opened the show with his occasionally amusing act which consisted of little more than a collection of rather passe puns and a large helping of predictable innuendos. Then American Amy Lame took the stage for her monologue which left most of the audience feeling that they had missed something. Her uninspiring recollections

of her life as a lesbian trapped in a gay mans body was interspersed with songs and showtunes which she mimed to much to the bemusement of the audience. Audience participation amounted to Amy wandering among the audience to ask them who they fancied! Fascinating stuff .. not! Her anthem about being 'the best thing since sliced bread' maybe should have been changed to 'as interesting as a slice of bread' and I was inclined to agree with the person who was heard to comment 'Let's count the ceiling tiles it could be more interesting.'The only thing I had missed was the bar!

prove disastrous. The beginning of the performance was slightly marred by the excessively noisy Arts Centre heater, which occasionally drowned the voices of

some of the actors until it was turned off after twenty minutes. But then again, with such a minimal admission charge it is a little unfair to lain Reynolds complain!

-r- - - - - --

--- Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995 35

•Nick Amies talks to one half of the comic duo who began their careers as teachers!

veryone had mad teachers at school. There was the 'kid's friend' type, the 'trendy' type and then there was the 'sadist' type amongst others. But I doubt any one of the teachers we have experienced ' in our past have gone on to become famous comedians on the verge of their 8th television series. Imagine the scene. First period, English with Mr. Hale, followed by Phys.Ed. with Mr. Pace. A nightmare ? Tell us more Norman ... "I was brought up by a family who believed in mental cruelty so I incorporated that into my teaching methods. "Even the slightest thing like reading the register out would set me off. "Any one of the kids with a silly name would get the full treatment. I had to put up with Norman all my life so why shoudn't they suffer!" So did you use that as some sort of character building exercise for the kids? "No, I just had a bloody good laugh at their expense" Hale and Pace-started off life as two trainee teachers at Avery Hill College of Education in South East London and incorporated amateur comedy shows into their studying. After 4 years as qualified teachers, they eventually quit their day jobs to pursue what was at first just a hobby. • We made a conscious decision to follow a career in comedy but it took a bit longer than we thought to take off' After working the cabaret and revue circuit in London, the duo were spotted working in The Tramshed, a cult comedy club, and the next stop was a slot on ' Saturday Uve' followed by roles in 'Pushing Up Daisies' and 'The Young Ones'. After working with such comic greats as Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson, I asked Norman who made him laugh out of his contemporaries... "Recently, I have been watching

videos of Lee Evans and Jack Dee which I got for Christmas and I find them both extremely funny. "I also have great respect and admiration for such all time greats such as Morecambe and Wise but anyone who has the guts to stand up there and attempt to make people laugh is alright by me." Gareth has been your comic partner for many years but do you actually find him funny ? • Gareth is one of the funniest people I know but I have to say that because if I don't he'll hit me with a large stick. "Gareth is actually extremely funny even when he's asleep. • In recent times, comedy has been described by the popular press as the new Rock 'n' Roll with comics now achieving the status of pop stars. Rik and Ade have been described as the Sex Pistols of comedy and Newman and Baddiel were described as the India Kids ... so who are Hale and Pace in the rock world ? • Oh God, that's a hard one. "I don't want to say anything that will inflate the collective ego or sound derogatory...someone old and bald perhaps ... Eiton John? "We're definitely not very Heavy Metal are we ? • The duo have recently experimented with serious acting in 'A Pinch of Snuff but Norman was quick to point out it's shortfalls. "lt was a limited success for us and we were alright in it but it really wasn't us. "We have recently made a comedy drama called 'The Holiday' about two couples on holiday in Portugal but that has an element of comedy in it so that's more our thing and we felt more comfortable about that.· So there is no chance of seeing Hale and Pace appearing in the next Branagh type Shakespeareanepic? "Oh no I lt is definitely not our thing, can you see us in a 'Luwie' role ? I mean, we don't really move in the Branagh circle and we were totally overlooked for the cast of Peter's Friends, no sour grapes

of course." Maybe it's the content of their material which excludes them from the elitest Oxbridge crowd. I dare to mention the 'Cat in the Microwave' sketch. "Sketches like that do us no harm at all. "We were just taking the mickey out of the blue rinse brigade who treat their cats like human beings. . "People like that who are oversensitive about silly issues like that, deserve to be ridiculed. • So is no one safe from the Hale and Pace comedy hit squad ? • We never make rasclst jokes or jokes about disabled people. "We feel these people have enough to cope with from the bigots in society without comics ridiculing them. "That's where we draw the line." After receiving the accolades of Best of Category awards at the International Film and Television Awards in New York and Golden Gate Awards in San Fransisco, what does the future hold for Hale and Pace and how high can they go? "We were very honoured by the awards but they were given by media people in America rather than the viewing public. "I think British humour is far too subtle for the American public and that's why we have never had an offer for our show by a major network. "lt seems like we have a lot to live up to but when the laughs die out and the applause dries up, I myself would like to go into the production side of television where as Gareth would probably concentrate on the writing side. "I hope that won't be for a few years yet though .. ." So, when it all does finally come to an end, what will be the highlight of your career that you will look back on with fondest memories? • The fact that I had a career at all. "lt has been a dream come true to do comedy for a living. "All the accolades in the world would never eclipse the fact that I made a successful living out of something I loved. •

HAVE YOU HEARD THE NOSE? UVEWIRE 945 has planned a

huge comedy extravaganza in aid of Comic Relief for Friday March 17 in the LCR. Hosted by top Radio Presenter the show will also feature rising London Comedian Neville Raven (Winner of Hackney Empire and Edinburgh Fringe Awards) and our very own zany improvised comedy group lmpromania. All this mayhem will be followed by a massive 80's Dance Party. And what's more ITS COMPLETELY FREE!

Donations on the door - No misers allowed!A Red Nose Punch will be on sale - guaranteed to knock your nose off. A Raffle with HUGE prizes (tickets on sale March 13 onwards) will take place between 12-2 in the Hive at the LIVEWIRE staii.LIVEWIRE 945 will be broadcasting Live from the Hive between 11 am - 4pm on Friday March 17 and taking requests and dedications with plenty of madcap antics for anyone game enough to join in.

... -·

1st CHOICE EAST AIIUA'S LEADIIS PC IAIUFAmRER OF Ill COIPAnBLE PC'S OFFERING THE COMPLETE COMPUTER SERVICE FOR BUSINESSES &HOME USERS

PRINTERS CONSUMABLES COMPONENTS

•SOFTWARE •NETWORKS •REPAIRS

ALSO SUPPliERS Of~. ATARI &SEGA FOR HOfef USE

FOR IMMEDIATE AmmOI CALL TODAYO

0603404001 OR 'f1SIT tu SHOWROOM ON AVLSHAM ROAD

llllYLIIIM ltll, IIIWICI Ill 211 PAl: 1111 414 411

I 36

Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995

BOOKSHELF . · · Rampant Horse publications have unveiled their Spring '95 titles.

Win ! Top Amateur goodies! Hal Hartley' s new film 'A mateur' opens at Cinema City on April 3. All of those of you still around during the Easter Break should endeavour to see it because .. er.. well .. its a 'top' film, has a kicking soundtrack - P.J. Harvey, My Bloody Valentine and Red House Painters etc, - and its infinitely cooler than anything the overrated Tarantino is likely to come up with. In the meantime, we 've got hold of an exclusive media pack courtesy of

those splendid chaps at Artificial Eye. The goodies include a massive poster, a soundtrack CD and a copy of the Faber & Faber screenplay. And to become its proud owner all you have to do is simply name one other film that Hal Hartley has directed . And wh ile you 're puzzling that one out....

Win! 'The Day Today' Videos!

The Day Today

Join us ... we know a lot about com petitions .... Indeed we do . And we also know that two volumes of the very splendid 'The Day Today' were let loose on the shops on March 6. But why traipse down to HMV in the snow and part with £10 .99 when you could win one of two sets of videos ,

courtesy of those absolute darlings at BBC Video? All you have to do is tell us which member of 'The Day Today ' team hails from Norwich. • Answers to both competitions should be sent to us via our Competitions Box in UH. And remember, you've got to be in to win!

WI NNERS! Star Trek: Tariq Ozaibi, D Maude, A Davies Leon: Kirstie-Ann Cook Pingu: Chris Challis

FRESH 12 DEEP PAN 11

anthology of crime writing edited by Robert Church and Martin Edwards, follows a father's obsessive search for the body of his long lost daughter. A naked girl is found dead on the beach .. a man is made redundant and takes his revenge .. and a monk tries to frame Jews for the killing of a child. Based on the pattern set by the Crime Writers' Association's 'Northern Blood', published by Didsbury Press in 1992, the anthology includes an introduction to East Anglian crime writing, photos and biographical notes on each author.

'The Art Thieves' by Guy Wilson has been described as an entertaining and unconventional thriller which explores the links between love, respectability and criminality. When an apparently chance encounter in a cinema brings museum director Robert Caine the ideal job candidate in the shape of Reg Griffin events begin to overtake him, the museum is burgled and Reg is nowhere to be found! 'Communion with Death ' is Susan Curran's second investigation and has '"'"' been deemed 'a compelling insight'. 1995 Thomas Cook Guide to The rotting corpse of Agnes Witton , a Greek Island Hopping '· widow with a history of mental illness, £10.95 is discovered in a redundant church . Thomas Cook Publishing have recogWas her death an accident? Amateur Sleuth Erica Massen isn't sure and nor nised the popularity of touring the Greek Islands, particularly amongst students, is her partner Del lnspectorTed Zahler, and the 1995 edition of 'The Thomas although his colleagues would like to Cook Guide to Greek ISland Hopping' now write the case off. contains even more valuable tips and What enemies after all could a harmadvice with an extra 112 pages. less and practically penniless widow The book contains useful facts about have? Erica's investigation takes her through climate, food and drink, currency, language, passports and visas, and health spooky churches, run-down housing tips. estates and the equally hostile corridors Island by island there are details on sight of Costhorpe's City Hall. seeing, camp sites and rooms, and even Vulnerable but determined, she finds gives suggested itineraries for new isherself deep in the shadows of provinland hoppers. cial life. This is definitely the only guide that proFinally a murderer is on the loose on the vides an honest and personal view of Norfolk Broads at Christmas ... the islands, showing you how to get 'Anglian Blood', the East Anglian chaparound with descriptions of all known ter of the Crime Writers' Association's ferries, hydrofoils and boat tours.

'FAIR TRADE' COF.FEE T EA & C HOCOLATE

PRIDE

.DOLPHIN FRIENDLY .TUNA

OP,en late until 9pm Monday to Friday ..,..,.........,,.. 9am - 9pm, Saturday 9am-1 pm,

11 am-3

Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995

â&#x20AC;˘How close are you to your best friend? There may be more to them than you thought... By Johnny Boyne, a student on UEA's Creative Writing MA

y friend Denis and I go back many years. We grew up to gather. We went to school together. We shared all our first experiences together. He was a good, good friend of mine and I miss him greatly. When I first heard he was no more I don't mind telling you that I just sat down and started to cry. lt was like someone had just punched me right in the stomach and I couldn't breathe anymore. I was gasping for breath. I had to sit down. Complete strangers had to comfort me. Ifs not every day that someone tells you that your best friend is gone for good. lt would have been a sad thing no matter who it was but I wouldn't have been so upset if it had been George or Alex or Peter; you know, one of those guys who I don't really know very well. I mean I would have felt bad and everything of course - don't get me wrong; I'm not a callous guy - but I would have got over it eventually and life would have gone on as normal. But because it was Denis, because it was somebody that I had known since I was maybe five years old, it came as a great sorrow. Right back as far as I can remember Denis and I have been friends. We told each other everything. Every detail of our lives. We went to the same school. We had the same friends. We went away for the summer with each other to some dive in the middle of Eastern Europe and did all the things that teenagers are supposed to do when they're that age. We drank a lot of foreign beer and cheap wine and were rarely able to keep it down for more than a couple of hours. We weren't very good drinkers really. We experimented with all sorts of foreign drugs and tablets and had to leam whether we were supposed to inhale them, inject them, dissolve them or just swallow them. We thought we were a bit hard. We lost our virginity on the same night, in adjoining rooms, with two Polish twin-sister prostitutes and bragged about it to each other for weeks on end afterwards. I suppose we were proud of that. God knows why. We did everything we could, everything we'd never done before, but it was the fact that we did it together that made it good. lt meant we always had someone to share our experiences with afterwards. The memories could keep us going for months sometimes.

I never had a brother so I always saw him as a kind of surrogate. But now I know I'll never see him again and that makes me sad. I remember when he used to come and visit me in my flat of an evening, back when I was living just off the Baggot Street Bridge, and he'd be driving that bloody awful motorbike of his. "Denis", I'd say, "Can't you bring that thing to a garage or something? Get something done about the noise of it?" I mean I'm not kidding you. You could hear him coming from a mile off.

But he'd just shake his head and laugh. "No way", he'd say, and then repeat it for emphasis. "No way. This bike stays just the way it is. "I'm not having anyone touch it. "The noise ... that's part of ifs charm. That's what makes Batty Batty." He called his bike Betty. Don't ask me why. I'm not a bike man so don't ask me why. Well I don't mind telling you that it used to annoy me something awful when I'd hear that bike coming down the street because all my neighbours used to give me murderous looks for days after and that was about all I needed at the time. Hassle with the neighbours. "I see your friend was here again yesterday", said one oul' biddy down the hall from me one time, trying to be real subtle with me but just succeeding in being irritating. "He likes that machine the way it sounds, is it?", she'd ask me. "Does he think it's impressing somebody?" No, he didn't think it was impressing anyone at all. Just himself. He like the sound of it and that was all that mattered. He didn't care what other people thought. He didn't give a damn. Another time we went grape-picking in France for the summer holidays and he bought this guitar from a shop in Nice just a week before we went down there. Then every night for about two months he sat in this bam that vaguely resembled a dorm and played it for about an hour, breaking the eardrums of anyone who was unlucky enough to be around. He'd never even held a guitar before he went there but of course the minute he had it he thought he was the new Eric Clapton. God forbid. "Denis", I used to say to him. "Do you have to play that bloody thing night after night? lt's a bloody nuisance." And he'd just smile at me and nod and say, "I do Johnny. I do."

Author, Johnny Boyne

We lost our virginity on the same night, in adjoining rooms, with two Polish twin-sister prostitutes and bragged about it to each other tor weeks on end afterwards. 1suppose we were proud ol that. At first all we got were chords and his bloody singing voice but by the end of the summer he could play She Loves You and the opening chord of A Hard Day's Night and he thought he was the bee's knees. And you should have heard the voice on him. I mean compared to his singing, his playing made him seem like Jimi Hendrix. I don't suppose I'll ever hear that guitar again either although I have to say that's not something I'll miss too much. I think what hurts me most though is the fact that I heard about what happened from a second party. I mean if he'd come and told me himself I wouldn't have minded so much. I would have been surprised of course. Not to mention a little shocked. But I would have listened and I would have heard him out. But now I'll never even hear Denis' old voice again. You see I've been away for about a year and even though we've kept in touch by infrequent letters, I hadn't seen him in ages. So it wasn't until I went back home for a holiday over Christmas that I saw all my old friends

again and learnt that Denis wasn't Denis anymore. He'd been working very hard while I'd been away and he'd saved up a lot of money. And to cut a long story short, Denis was now Denise. I mean you think you know someone and then something like this happens. I'm not sure I'd even recognise him today if I saw him. He's gone away to America though, I hear, so the chances of my running into him are pretty slim. In fact the last I heard he was marrying a man over there called Godfrey, but this could just be a false rumour so I wouldn't pay too much attention to that. You know what people are like. Maybe it's just as well . After fifteen years together I'm not really sure I could get used to calling him 'Denise' anyway. lt just wouldn't seem right somehow. I don't know. lt's like I say; you think you know someone. DRead the next in our series of shorl fiction from the Creative Writing MA in our next issue, out on May 3.

....

Concrete. Wednesday, March 8. 1995

Sport

Pacific Team Lotus unveiled their all-new car last week.Sa//y Rose was there to take a closer look at its recent launch at a London hotel. THE NEW Pacific Team L otus PR02 car had a dra matic launch amid dry ice, loud music, and strobe lig hting on the stage of London's Strand Theatre. The panel of directors and designers were optimistic for a competitive season this year with their 100% new model, which features a radical protruding front wing and nose section design. Team principal Keith Wiggins suspects that there may be surprise changes in the pecking order following the introduction of new regulations. with open season dec lared on Williams and Bennetton. He hopes to be in the top ten, as well as aiming to be the front-running Ford Cosworth powered team. "I'm a lot more confident of achieving good results than I was this time last year." The

two-tone blue PR02 has a green and yellow band along its length in deference to the Team Lotus badge. Asked about the other designs revealed by other manufacturers so far, Wigginscommentedthat "l think ours is the best looking", but joked about the new McLaren's odd shape saying, "its a bit ugly, but the good for advertising space!" Although Bertrand Gachot's team-mate has still not been confirmed, Pedrc Lamy was also present at the launch, along with former Lotus boss David Hunt. Wiggins has no doubts as to the qualities of his number one, and as to the lack of quality of last year's car- '1o test his [Gachot's] abilities as a driver, last year we gave him aPR01!" Sponsors and suppliers at-

tended the launch, as well as the media, reflecting the team's impressive commercial package. Backers lnterflora were visually represented by large yellow bouquets presented to (and hastily put down by!) Wiggins and Gachot for the photo-call. Commercial manager Mark Gallagher remarked, "You've probably used their service; if you haven'tyou're probably very sad." Thanks, Mr

Gallagher1 Pacific Team Lotus is a small team with a big target- to win . Their ultimate ambition is the World Championship by 2000. After all, they have won every other major European single seater championship. In the meantime, Gallagher hopes thatthe PR02 "will put the Pacific name firmly on the Formula 1 map." Their enthusiasm is persuasive ...

The Pacific PR02, presented by dri ver Bertrand Gachot and team principal Keith Wiggins

TEN PIN BOWLING

Pacific Racing - History 1984 1988 1989 1993 1994 1995 1995

Keith Wiggins forms Pacific Racing. Pacific move up to Formula 3. Pacific move up to FIA Formula 3000. Pacific announce intention to move up to FIA Formula 1. PR01 car unveiled. PacificmakeFormula 1 debut. Pacific announce alliance with Team Lotus. PR02 car unveiled On Sun 26 Mar. the PR02 will make its F1 debut in the Brazilian Grand Prix at lnterlagos

Getting into the swim RUN SARA HOME paddled their way to the top of the Grand Prix leaderboard thanks to their victory in the swimming mini-gala at St Augustine's baths. Amidst bell y-fl ops and fl ailing arms, thei r combined time for the medley and freestyle relays of 291 seconds was fas ter by 4 seconds th an the second placed Moonli ghters' 295 seco nds. Third were the Hogstompers with a time of 306 second s. Overall, this takes Run Sara Home from sixth to the top spot, with a

slim two point lead over the second placed Moonl ighters, who jumped from fourth. Former leadersJellylegscould only manage eighth in the swimmi ng, droppi ng them to third , whil st a tim e pe na lt y fo r a n ill ega l c ha ngeover mea nt th at seco nd placed Fl yin g Circus could only manage 11th, the result being a de moti on to fourth o verall. Fifth are the Trembling Hands, who drop from third place after earnin g ninth place in the water. Several teams had their efforts watered down by a lack of personnel , or wrong combinations of males

and females. Amongst them, the Trojans, erstwhile leaders, but now in a lowly ninth place. Watch out for a resurgence from them ... For many, the dry land couldn ' t be reached soon enough, and so the netball and the obstac le course, the other two events this tenn, wi ll be a welcome relief.

By Robert Mullarkey

Norwich to "concentrate on the league", so perhaps a good performance versus the reigning champions was what was required to get things going again. Unfortunately, there was only ever going to be one outcome, especially after City went two goals down in the first 15 minutes. From then on, United merely stroked the ball around. with Norwich never looking like scoring. For most of the time, the Canaries were outclassed in every department. Paul lnce had the run of the midfield over the inexperienced

board does the rest- much to your relief.

Do you want to get fit, but don't know where to start? If so, then the Fitness File might give you a few hints. This issue: Bowling. What's the idea? Knock over as many pins as you can . The computerised score-

Overall: 1 Run Sara Home 2 Moonlighters

409 pts 407 pts

How to do it: Pick the correct ball (as a guide, a person of between 9 and 10 stone in weight would require a size 12 ball). Hold itbyputtingyourmiddle finger in the top hole ofthe triangle of three with your first and th ird finger in the other two. Where to do it 'Solar Bowl', Norwich. Basically, get on a bus that will take you right to the very end of the Dereham Road and you can't miss it. When to do it During off-peak times - Monday to Friday: 10am-6pm. Weekends: 9am-midday. when it costs £2.05 , with free entry . Otherwise ifs SOp entry. and £2.75 per game. Watch out for: Shoe hire: it's currently 70p a pair with an extensive range of sizes.

3 Jellylegs 395 pts 4 Flying Circus 369 pts 5 Trembling Hands 357 pts

Also watch out for: Solar Bowl Specials, such as two games. free shoe-hire and a cup of coffee, any weekday morning for£4 .20. Is there a pub nearby? Well there's a bar in the centre that, for a place so far removed from an 'olde worlde ·pub, has a good range of real ales. Alas the prices are not so 'olde worlde' eveninHappyHour(4.30 - 6.00) a pint of one of the real ales is £1 .50. Is there anything else there? Sky Sports on the screens above unoccupied lanes, pool tables and a range of arcade games. a very decent snack bar and acres offree parking. Finally ... Make it last longer by going in groups of six, this way two games will last anywhere between an hour and 90 minutes. Make it more interesting by bettingontheoutcome.lncase there is any dispute, a printout of the scores can be obtained at the end of the game.

Robert Mullarkey

THE ODDS on Norwich bein g re l egated wer e slashed f rom 12/1 to 912 on the basis of their performance against Manchester Unit ed, and it's easy to see why. Three points from a possible 21 is hardly confidence boosting fonn, especially with matches at

Newcastle, Spurs and the improving Arsenal still to come. According to manager John Deehan, it's simply a question of "turning the corner". If that's the case, then something has clearly gone wrong with City"s steering system. Maybe the continuation of a cup run would have made a good turning point, but a 5-0 reverse at Everton put paid to that. At least it allowed

Andy Johnson, Andrei Kanchelskis continually outpacedMark Bowen, and the central defence pairing of Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister must have been embarrassed at the ease with which they were able to deal with anything that came near them. Collectively they served to remind people that United possess unsung heroes, the most impressive of whom was right -back Roy Keane, adequate in dealing with Darren Eadie, 'Norwich's answer to Ryan

Giggs'. Keane also displayed subtle skills and power in going forward. Fur-

thennore, he had to put up with a torrent of abuse from the City crowd who, being somewhat typically unable to motivate their team, resorted to abusing the opposition instead. Perhaps Keane may have arrived with a reputation for being an argumentative, loudmouthed yob, but even so, giving him abuse for fairly tackling a player is a bit unjustifiable. And if there are any City supporters reading this, I'd like to ask, ifPaullnce is 'a bag of****', what does that make Mike Sheron?

Sheron - Bener than /nee?

- - - - -- - -- - - - - - - - - - -

- - - --

Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995

Sport

SPORTs SHORTS FOLLOWING their resignations from the posts of Internal and External Sports Officers, JessMorrissandMicheUeHayes have attributed their decision to the lack of democracy within the Sports Committee. They say that the decision to ban the rugby second team during the week of an important BUSAmatch was made without their consultation. They also added that this is not the first time that this has occurred, though they did not cite specific examples. They also condemned Sports Officer Alex Bainbridge, saying that "he has not represented the sporting members of the Union at UEA, and has appeared to spend more time punishing them and even banning them from sports facilities at the University rather than defending them." In response, Alex commented that, with three out of the five membersoftheSportsCommittee belonging to the rugby club, the decision would not have been democratic, which is why it was

bypassed. He added that the two subofficers only did the minimum workrequiredtoholdtheirposts, and sometimes not even that, and finished by saying that, "If Chip [Michelle) and Jess had done theirjobs, they would have been missed. They didn't do their jobs, so won't be missed."

susA THRow ouT UEA·s CASE THE Men's volleyball team have until next Tuesday to replay their BUSA plate Regional Final, after Insufficient time prevented the match with UCL to be completed. The team travelled to UCL, who had only played their previous match the night before, only to discover that they had a mere two hours to play the final. Once the teams had warmed up, there was only an hour and a half in

LEAP for laughter with the Trampoline Club in the Sports Centre on Friday 17 March. TJ:ley are staging a Sponsored Spring in aid of Comic Relief, in which they will be sponsored to do as many somersaults or indi· vidual moves as they can between 4pm and 6pm. TherewillaJsobeachancefor any one else to have a go, the cost being a 25p donation to Comic Relief. Qualified coaches and first-aiders will be present, soallthatisrequiredisyou,your socks, a smile and a red nose.

THE weekend of the 4th and 5th of March sees the Women's volleyball team in Strathclyde for the BUSA competitions finals. The team left UEA in high spirits, and is confident about putting up a good few performances. Whatever the results, Concrete wilJ bring them in our next issue, out after the Easter break.

which to complete the match. With each set taking an average of twenty minutes, and the match consisting of between three and five sets (the winner is the fJISt to three), and a warm up time of up to half an hour, the booking of only two hours was never going to be sufficient to complete the match. Indeed there was time for only three sets before the teams were pulled off the court. To add insult to injury, UCL provided only one unqualified referee,

when the rules state that they should provide two qualified referees plus line judges. UEA Volleyball Club president Darren Smith wrote to BUSA explaining the situation, suggesting that if the game was to be replayed,

Rugby A NARROW 6-8 defeat at the hands of Surrey ended the third team's BUSA Plate ambitions.

THE Norwich Head race on the River Vare gave UEA's boat club a chance to row against local and regional crews, writes Bruce Rhodes. They have. however, reached a level never before attained by a UEA rugby team, so congratulations go to them for that.

it should be at UEA, as UCL will have the same problem of only being able to book the court for a maximum of two hours, or that failing this, they should be awarded the match by default due to UCL's breaches of the rules.

BUSA' s response was hardly understanding, stating that the match should be replayed at UCL by next Tuesday, or the London University will awarded a walkover. The team are to appeal against the decision.

Local success for boat club

Rowing

Three IV crews competed against others from Norwich, Beccles, Cambridge and Sudbury, and in spite of the awful weather, the Novice women managed to

'pull' through to win their category, beating Norwich School by over half a minute. The Novice men had to row in a scratch IV on the day, due to the bowman suffering from flu. This meant that despite hard work since the Cambridge Winter head last November, they could not reach their full potential. TheSeniormen's!Vwerepipped by a frustrating two seconds by the winning Norwich crew, however it

was good to see that they are still closing the time gap on Fitzwilliam College, winners of the Cambridge Head. Unfortunately, the senior women's VIII fell through due to flu, but the team are training hard for The Tideway, the quartermile Head of the River held in London. The men. s vm will also be competing there, after receiving some invaluable coaching from the national squad rowers.

Footballers' last stand UEA3rds~2 Brighton

UEA 4ths1-2 West London AFI'ER a break for the winter, the Golf team were in action again. Unfortunately, they were not as sharp as they might have been, losing their BUSA cup match against Kent by 4-5. This leaves the women's volleyball team as the only University team left in the main B USA competition.

By--Nik Davy

Volleyball

THE relentless march to BUSACupgloryendedamldst controversial scenes, as the team fell 2-0 to Brighton University, writes Tom Geoghegan. The match turned midway through the second half of a winddominated contest, when UEA were awarded penalty, much to their own surprise. On striking the spot kick, Tom Geoghegan did not wait for the

referee's whistle, and was warned by the referee, but the Brighton keeper produced a great save anyway. However, UEA hesitated, expecting it would have to be retaken, but instead play was waved on, and Brighton took the ball to the other end of the field and scored. UEA should have capitalised on the wind in the first half, but only managed two shots of note. A double substitution early in the second half stimulated a brief period of UEA pressure that saw aJim Calvin shot blocked, and then the penalty incident. Heads went down, and a

Cyclo-crazy! MTB NOVICE Mark Warren rode a storming race to finish 24th and lead home the UEA team in the BUSA cyclo-cross championships, wrltesAndy Tyler. The race ran for 50 minutes plus one lap, each lap being about a mile, over a course near Oxford on Sunday 19 February. Lots of mud, lots of steep climbs and de cents and lots of running about with your bike over your shoulder made sure that it was not an event for the faint hearted. In fact one look at the swamp-like conditions inspired many with a pining for tarmac! The 80 riders battled their way through the mud and slime for the duration of the race, de pile serious problems with the thick mud clogging up everything mechanical on the bikes - breaks, wheels, pedals,

gears, you name it. The riders in the lop finishing teams had a strategy where they changed to a spare bike every lap, the dirty bike being jet washed clean for collection on the next lap. The UEA team put up a creditable performance, with Mark's 24th place being closely followed by the rest of the team. Then it was off to join the queue for the hose pipe to clean the bikes before a pint and a moussaka in the 'Lamb and Aag' ...

Squad: Mark Warren, lames Hadjie/d, Stephen Tumock, Paul Wyer, Andy Tyler. •Next up for the UEACC is the 4up Team Time Trial in Thetford on March 19th. For further info about this or about the club in general, get in touch with Andy through the pigeon hole or club board in the Sports Centre.

wind-assisted Brighton header deceived Jim Kershaw on the UEA goal-line to finish off the Norwich side. The fourth team also exited the Cup, unable to recover from a disastrous fJISt five minutes when they went two goals down to West London Institute. Gary Chad wick pulled a late goal back for UEA, but it was too little too late to prevent a 2-1 defeat. Credit must go to both teams, though, for having progressed further than any football team has previously managed.

•••

The football Thirds

results. • •

BUSAKNOCKOUT-ROUND3 (UEA score fJISt) Football men's3rd men's 4th women Badminton men's 1st

0-2 1-2 0-1

Brighton West London Greenwich

0-9

Essex

Hockey men's 2nd women's 2nd Volleyball women Golf men

0-6 0-5

Portsmouth Cardiff Institute

3-2

Swansea

4-5

???

...

BUSA PLATE - ROUND 2 Rugby men's 1st men's 2nd men's 3rd

Reading 0-35 10-20 Portsmouth 8-3 UCL

15-10 West Sussex

women Volleyball men

Reading- UEA w/o

BUSAPLATE REGIONAL FINALS Rugby men's 3rd women

6-8 0--12

Surrey Essex

Volleyball men

.. -

-;.-

V c-

UCL - match to be re played - by 7 March

Concrete, Wednesday, March 8, 1995

II.,

Women's Rugby UEA 15-10 West Sussex UEA o-12 Essex

THE WOMEN'S rugby team were knocked out of the BUSA Plate last week by Essex University - after a路 third straight victory had gained them a place In the Regional Final. It was the end of a memorable

run, for earlier - in the third round of the competition - opponents West Sussex scored first. This only inspired the UEA women into doing some running, and the inevitable climax of this and the strength and skill of the forwards

路路路as three weU-deserved tries by Anna Hillier. West Sussex's two tries were not enoughtodeprivetheNorwichteam of victory, and the final score of 1510 in UEA' s favour then set up a Regional Final contest against Essex University. AndinlastWednesday'sblustery conditions, UEA had to defend like demons, but put up some impressive

attaclcs towards the Essex by-line, including several powerful mauls and some speedy running. But it was obviously not meant to be, as UEA Jet victory slip through their fingers despite an exceUent team performance, which saw some particularly outstanding play from many team members - especially woman of the match Jo Sommerfield.

Essex scored twice in the second half, converting both tries, leaving UEA with only pride to play for. eSquad: Jo Sommerfield, Yoki Castello, Ruthie Hobum, Chip Hayes, Maarjte Aukes, Julia Maciati, Jess Morriss, Beth Shranks, Mary American, Anna Hillier, Eve Dilworth, Sara Whilal<er, Fay Bagshaw, AI ice lee, Marnie McEwan.

IJMont....wteand match .-.port. page 39 OPac;lflc Tunt LotUs feature, page 38 IJConcrete at C8rrow Abed, page 38

Golden Triangle rooms available now!

Ring us for full details the students' landlord