The event- issue 108- 2nd Feburary 2000

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n wednesday, february 02, 2000

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re 1g1o

ade reel

insight:

inspected:

toy story 2 dj lisa pin up lloyd webber ads music music money andy kaufman religion in films danish food munched

bagpuss • embrace • who's afraid of virginia woolf? • angela's ashes • raissa ·taxi driver· soaps • summer of sam • rem and more ••• plus the finest listings guide on campus •••

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contents: short cuts: 04

how to be ... a skater dood

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musical misuse: do adverts nick all the good tunes?

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the knowledge: the ramones

ins1g 06 07 08 09 10 11 12

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lloyd webber: is this man ruining Iondon theatreland? naughty toys: toy story 2 director interviewed pin up the dj: we speak to miss mixer lisa pin up the moon man: andy kaufman profile screen sin: religion in films not just pastries: danish food jobs for the boys and girls: how to get ahead in the music industry

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music: raissa, rachel stamp, will oldham, incognito, rem, peshay, my life story, muse, theanimalhouse, embrace film: summer of sam, toy story 2, angela's ashes arts: void moon, happy days, widower's houses, who's afraid of virginia woolf? video-game: f1. world grand prix, the mummy, medal of honour, austin powers 2 - the spy who shagged me tv: bagpuss, taxi driver, trigger happy, sid & nancy, soaps

event horizon: 19

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cinema: now even bigger guide to all the films showing in norwich listings: the comprehensive guide to all that's happening in norwich until the end of term win ian dury tickets

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people: editor-in-chief: james tapsfield editor: Iuke turner arts editor: alex mcgregor music editor: darcy hurford assistant music editor: Iuke chilton screen editor: adam chapman assistant screen editor: astrid goldsmith tvvideogame editor: steve collins listings: duncan gates darcy hurford Iuke turner copy editing: claire saunders dtp: Iuke turner, caroline jeater, mark edwards contributing writers: anthony lovell, markland starkie, andrew goodson, martin brock, caroline jeater, thorn dunn, elin jones, ayo mansaray, mischa gilbert, amanda perkins, amanda akien, kris siefken, duncan gates, chris marchand , matty reed, laurie swan ingrey, james goffin , clare hamilton-eddy thanks to: tart and the slapper, pete large, special thanks to kris siefken

places: the event is produced fortnightly by concrete: po box 410, norwich, nr4 7tb tel: 01603 250558 fax : 01603 506822 e-mail: su.concrete@uea.ac.uk and printed by: eastern counties newspapers, rouen road, norwich nr11rb

the event, wednesday, february 02, 2000

win win win win win win win win She may have acquired legs that deserve to be supporting elephants, but there is no doubt that Debbie Harry's return with Blondie was one of last years come back successes. While many other Eighties megaliths got lost in irrelevancy and ridiculous costumes, Blondie managed to be crowd pleasers at a sell out stadium tour, along with many of the summer 's festival shindigs. Well, now you too, the happy and wholesome Event reader can enjoy the pleasure of Blondie live in the comfort of your very own living room. (Or Waveney hovel, please delete as applicable). We have no less than five nicely packaged copies of the live album recorded during the tour. it's called Blondie- Livid, you know. All you need to do to win one of these fantastic long players (though they're actually on cd format) is pop the answer to the following question into the Concrete competition box in the Hive.

What was the name of Blondie's lead singer Debbie Harry?

Is it: A) The Monster From the Black Swamp (this is not the right answer) B) Bern ie (this is also not the right answer) C) Debbie Harry. The answer is C.

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loose talk: bridget jones syndrome Wednesday , January 26 Alcohol consumed : 15 units.

Cigarettes smoked : none I've given up (ish).

Calories: 2434 (actually haven't a clue but exaggeration isn 't something I usually shy from).

13 :40 Have hangover. Am s1ttmg at the computer desperately trymg to thmk of something that annoys me. I currently have a headache which is threatening nuclear meltdown in my head and have blister on my foot from walking home last night.. . alone. The last thing I remember after leaving Time was my housemate John on the verge of pulling (he did) and my friend Georgina with someone's hand on her arse, so I came to the conclusion that the third wheel should go home. So I did. And then passed out on the floor of my bedroom.

Yes, in case you hadn't guessed by the wonderfully trite format of th1s week's Loose Talk my niggling little problem is the trend that has occurred in our media and literature for creating female characters who could qu1te easily gJve Narcissus a run for his money, and who ms1st on boring us with the sad details of the1r non-exist&nt love lives.

The amval or Bndget Jones in 1996 was sa1d, at the t1me, to herald the embodiment of the 1990s woman by the likes of the Daily Mail (its finger forever on the pulse of popular cu lture). The sequel to Helen Fielding's novel was released just before Christmas, and has topped the best-seller charts for over a month now. The assumption derived from our nation's seeming fascination with a woman preoccupied with her looks, her job, her mother and her 1nab11ity to find a man (it doesn't exactly take

Sherlock Holmes to work out why) begs me to ask what this says about the women or this country who bought the book. Is it a superiority thing? Do women warm to this insipid creature simply because she makes them feel better about their cellulite?

While on the subject, I have to congratulate all you

do women warm to this insipid creature simply because she makes them feel better about their cellulite? 'ladies' who possess the spectacular ability to find a flaw in every single man you meet and then dissect every detail of this flaw until the object of your "affection " 1s reduced to looking somewhat less wonderful. However, 1f this 1sn't the case, IS there mstead a more distur1b1ng reason for Bndget Jones syndrome? Do the female race (I am generalising of course) find themselves identifying, subconsciously or not, with some of her many annoying character traits?

14:17 Hangover still hanging. Have just had a hilariously interesting (not to mention hilarious) conversation with my staunchly feminist friend who advised me that all men are bastards and castration is too good for them. Fear she m1ght be a lesb1an. V.d istur1bed .

V.d1stur1bed, indeed. Bndget Jones, as well as her

the tickler: FLIPPERSJWRWXCL HDA X LVGVH L J AS Y I TEHCNALAVASLXUG HTJQRJ IWFYESSL L G P E A R L J AME N V KS 0 IAKUPGTKPIRNAXO NXVZELLYWRETOGA YMWNOOHTQGTUYKC AAQBNOECWTUKLLP DNT F LS Q0 T YP F LT I RLYLEFBSSXMXODN UFOMNNERCAOAHQS TWAKIRCYMLCEFBR A I BAMYKAYAKGNXA SCRSXUZNOGOJBMP exams are over, let the bells ring; but term's soon to startnow that's a bad thing. but nevermind, we event types have 9, yes, 9 awful cd's to give away to the winner of this weeks tickler competition. they include top tracks by the likes of nas, len and, er coal chamber. fantastic.

1 : tv dolphin (7) 2: brand of choccie (6) 3 : roman attire (4) 4: root veg (7) 5 : somewhere over the .. . (7) 6: gru nge band (5, 3) 7 : mountain disaster (9) 8 : joined at birth (7, 5) 9 : whigfield's only hit (8 , 5)

10 : chester - based soap (9) 11 : johnny depp's latest (6 , 6) 12 : last rad iohead album (2, 8) 13 : icy home (5) 14: type of canoe (5) 15: us singer or perhaps a small northern stream (4) 16 : jeremy of newsnight and university challenge (6)

telev1s1on counterpart Ally 'the human twigtet' McBeal are threatening to turn our television screens and, with a Bridget Jones movie 1n the pipeline, our cinemas into a medley of female angst and the underlying theme that all men are crap.

Be prepared for a new generation of women who, instead of striving for equality 1n the workplace, instead have emotional breakdowns in the unisex toilets at work (which are just so now, darling) while dancing with an imaginary baby. The female of the species is definitely more deadly than the male. Who knows what a woman verging on a complete breakdown is capable of.

14 :36 Feel lonely so start to complam about how fat I am, eat chocolate to calm myself and then fall off my chair, all m a v.embarrassing but "endearing" way. Oh, how we laughed. Feel better about myself as am obviously a terribly lovely person really, just misunderstood .

15 :08 Am off to chain myself to Parliament in the name of the Pankhurst family.

Adam Chapman

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the event, wednesday, february 02, 2000

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so you want to be a: t

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peter pan was a boy who never grew up. he was cool. skater .doods never grow up either. they are not cool. want to be one? here's how .. . what do they do?

The archetypal skater dood hangs around shopping precincts throwing 'shapes' on their boards and generally annoy1ng the populace. They also congregate in small gangs that intimidate, er, well no-one.

The trouble is that they're usually not as good as they think they are. One can have endless hours of mirth and merriment watc hing them try to slide down bannisters and the like - but more often than not falli ng arse over tit w hat do they wear?

The dood labours under the delusion that America IS Fashion CentraL Therefore the skater dood is a sartorially sorry specimen. The dood typically has no concern for his head .

Which is unsurprising, as it contains nothing. Their hair IS either a misguided Interpretation of punk, or an infested mop. Invariably they possess a pathetic goatee, and every facial protrusion IS sp1ked w1th steel; nothing remains unrnetalled. This, however, does have its plus points, as if the dood fa lls off l1is board you may be lucky enough to see a severe skin ripping accident Perhaps responsible for the clothing shortage suffered by those poor orphans in Africa, h1s pantaloons are of an unfeasible size. and generally hang half way to the knees, revealing pants. The funny thing IS that the skater dood typically likes an old fashioned toilet cham hang1ng from his belt. Yank for grat1fymg hurn1liat1on. where do they go?

Skaters don't 'go' they 'hang, man.' Typically this occurs 1n retail areas, though m Norwich you may have observed skater doods being ·rad' underneath the old ra ilway bridge near Sainsbury's. Now that's rebellion. where w ill they go?

Skat1ng is generally regarded as something you grow out of. There are hundreds of 12 year old skaters, qUite a lot of 16 year olds, and about three and a half 22 year olds. These are a sad and sorry symbol for wasted youth. Perhaps the only thing to do with these fellows is put them in an intens1ve course of therapy involvmg board bash1ng and h1gh level fashion retraimng. Falling that, we'll just have to hope they ~liii!ilii!Illll.l"' fly under a lorry.

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* TWO POOL TABLES * the event, wednesday, february 02, 2000

adverts. we all know they are the devil's work. especially tv adverts. and how do we know? james goffin outlines the three main reasons which point to this indisputable conclusion ...

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irstly, despite it being obvious from the experience of ITV's Tarrant on TV, the BBC still perseveres in producing that epitome of cheap and nasty TV, Commercial Breakdown. If it was ever dou bted that its new director general Greg Dyke, creator of nightmare rodent Roland Rat, is in the pay of Satan, th is makes it obvious. What's more, aware of the programme's blatant sacnlege of the God of television, the BBC were forced to find a truly awful host so that when viewers were confronted with bad adverts they had something much worse to compare them to. With Lisa Riley busy with her wacky antics on 'rou 've Been Framed, ro ll forward "comedienne" Jo Brand. If the BBC have

there has been no end to terrible desecration of songs at the altar of capitalism to use her as a plus point, the adverts must be bad.

Very bad. Secondly, TV adverts have bestowed upon Jacko from Brush Strokes the bizarre power of being able to make Flash cleaning products appear from thin air. As clear an evidence fo r witchcraft as havmg familiars sucking at your teats or a woman floating. By the prickling of my thumbs, something w1cked th1s way comes, and it also bleaches. Finally, they destroy your memories. For you, that song reminds you of the time you clocked that girl across the crowded LCR, or saw that cute guy in the Hive.

For you, hearing that song reminds you of the fi rst time you exchanged bod ily fl uids with your latest beau. Ah, how roman tic ! But for the corporate bastards it means the right demographics. Yes, the ultimate proof. Adverts are evi l because they have stolen our music. I know the day the music died, Mr McCiean, and it was the day Levi's made that man strip off in a laundrette.

And I tell you, trusted Event readers, things are getting

worse. Since the cocaine-driven creatives of the advertising industry cottoned on to the fact that a catchy tune can translate into more bleeps at the checkouts, there has been no end to terrible desecration of songs at the alta r of ca pi ta lism .

One of the most bald examples was the use of Hurricane #1's Only the Strongest W ill Survive for a propaganda piece promoting gutter rag, The Sun , as a friend of the people rather than a cash cow for the burgeon1ng Murdoch emp1re. Although you might question the level of emotional attachment that someone could have to a Hurricane #1 song, it still indicates a worrying trend. Especially as the band seem so unrepentant.

"To be honest, I've never ungerstood why everyone got so upset about it. it's just a newspaper for God's sake !" spewed the band's fo rmer frontman Alex Lowe, his voice muffled by piles of cash. ''At the end of the day, I've got to make a living and put food on the table and I got ten grand for that advert! lt took two takes to record that song - that's about six minutes work - and I got ten grandl I think Andy Bell got something like eighty grand because he wrote it." ''I'm sorry but I'm sure most of the people that criticised us for doing it would have done exactly the same thing. If Th e Sun turned round tomorrow and asked for another song, I'd give them it," he trumpeted.

Shed Seven singer Rick Witter was even more brazen about his decision to let mobile phone chain The Link use the band's Speakeasy for an advert, even changing the lyrics to fit the ad. ''I'm not one of those people who's against songs being used on adverts and I'll hold my hands up and say it was done for the brass because I'm a wh ore!" he shouted fro m hi s

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..c_~k_n_o~ledge the ramones

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what's the big fuss then?

The Ramones were surely the world's first punk rock band. Formed in 1974 (even before the Sex Pistols) the quartet initially consisted of Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone and Tommy Ramone. They quickly became known for their live performances, which involved them playing all of their songs several times because they were so short! They would play 20 songs in 17 minutes! were the band members related?

No. All of the members who passed through the band before they split up in 1997 adopted the sumame 'Ramone'. lt is because of this that the band are nicknamed 'The Brudders'. This uniformity was furthered by the fact that all of the band wore black leatherjackets, tom jeans and white trainers onstage. why not play longer songs ?

That defeated the point of The Ramones, who remain possibly the simplest band in history. Rarely would a song contain more than four chords. Dee Dee confessed that the best he could do on the bass was strum it using his thumb. Better still, all of their songs received the count-in of 1-2-3-4, regardless of the time signature. But the band grew angrier and more political as they grew older, and wrote songs attacking causes such as censorship.

The Ramones will surely be remembered for having some of the silliest song titles ever though.

Particular amusement can be found in Sheena is a Punk Rocker, Suzy is a Headbanger, and Every Time I Eat Vegetables it Makes me Think of You! did they write much?

At least 20 albums, including several live recordings.

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moral vacuum.

He did, however, admit that the decision called into question his artistic integrity [sic].

"I rea lly regret it now. I don't mind it being used on an advert but I really regret the fact that we changed it. lt was a very brief blip in my head. We did it a long time ago for the radio and it's only recently it's been used on the TV." ome stars, however, do seem slightly less blase about what the tunes are used for.

After letting British Gas use The Universal on the goggle box, Blur drew the line at the American military hijacking Song 2.

"In America and Canada it got picked up by the

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"it was done for the brass because i'm a whore", rick witter shouted from his moral vacuum national hockey and football leagues, and then it began to get used for beer adverts. But it's also been associated with The Simpsons, and lntel Processors.

"And, nearly - although we put a stop to it - war. The American Air Force wanted to use it to launch their

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new stealth bomber, but we politely declined their offer," said the saintly Damon Albam.

And most recently, Atari Teenage Riot have pledged to sue Japanese bohemoth Sony for allegedly using their No Remorse track to sell camcorders without permission.

"We never ever, give tracks to corporations to advertise their products and more and more companies have contacted us and offered us a lot of money," said ATR frontman Alec Empire. ATR are known for their anti-capitalist antics - their last video was banned as it featured the group ripping the face off a besuited business man - and so are understandbly miffed.

"We said no to Nike, Miller Beer, and a lot of others.

The money didn't matter for us in the first place so no payment can repair the damage."

But they seem to be lone voices against a chorus of music industry bods happy to expect the Saatchi shilling, with music stars now also lending their bodies to adverts.

Keith from Prodigy accepted $1m from the CocaCola company to promote their Sprite fizzy drink on TV and billboards across the States.

And if proof was needed that the music mdustry once a haven for artistic expression and an emotional touchstone for a troubled youth - is now run by a bunch of bankers, Sheffield artiste Jarvis Cocker gave permission for NatWest to tum him into a cartoon (although some might suggest he's already a caricature of himself) for their latest campaign.

I told you. Adverts = evil.

Have you ever noticed how many Carol Vorderman does?

Their peak is probably 1977's Rocket to Russia, which featured such hits as Cretin Hop, Rockaway Beach, and Surfin' Bird. Most notably, their 1980 album, End of the Century was produced by former Beatles producer Phil Spector. were they influential Any Punk Band which says The Ramones are not at least an indirect influence is lying. They set out the template which still dominates the genre today fast, direct, angry. The sheer simplicity of their songs means that they are often covered by other bands (including the Beastie Boys). The biggest names in the British punk scene (Johnny Rotten, Sid Vicious and Joe Strummer) considered Dee Dee in particular a hero. In these modem times girly synth shouters Helen Love seem practically obsessed by the band, covering songs and actually receiving the approval of main man Joey. In short, they are one of the most influential bands ever. in retrospect. ..

Hey Ho! Let's Go! Anthony Lovell.

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L---- --------~-------------~ the-event, w.ednesda-y,,. february 02, 2000 -

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andrew lloyd webber recently flogged a load of wine so he could buy half the theatres in Iondon 's west end, debbie marco asks if he'll destroy the creative energy of british theatre ...

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or those of you who don 't know, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber has recently bought the Stomost Theatres in the West End for £8 7.5 million, meaning he now owns 10 major West End theatres including the Palladium and the Theatre Royal , Drury Lane. These are not the actions of a man who is planning on following through with his promise to leave the country if Labour won the last election. it's a pretty simple promise to keep , one would think.

Surely the monopolies and mergers comm ission is going to have something to say about this. I mean, how can they let a single man control the high culture of England; or should I say to destroy the culture because, let's face it, Andrew Lloyd Webber and his musicals are to fringe West End theatre what McDonald 's is to Cordon Bleu cuisine. Have you ever noticed how the idea of eat1ng a McDonald 's hamburger is much better tha n the actual eating of it? it's the same feeling as sitting through Starlight Express with silver faced actors blading past your ears at top speed. it makes you feel sick.

So, how is this new ownership really going to affect us avid theatregoers?

Well, on the upside, the fact that Andrew Lloyd Webber bought the theatres

means that the American giant, SFX, couldn't.

Webber should really be seen as our saviour from a group who has poisoned the New York Broadway with shows such as The Uon King and Beauty and the Beast. The man really is a superstar! On the downside though , Webber isn't planning on contributing to the managerial side of the theatres, instead he has declared his intentions to be focused on the creative aspects. Oh good, oh joy, more uninspiring musicals. Surely, having Lloyd Webber and the word 'creative' in the same sentence is an oxymoron. However, before you begin to fall into a pit of despair, the word in the broadsheets is that this take-over shouldn't adversely affect the man on the street, because really good plays don't need the West End to shine. Susannah Clapp in the Guardian notes the opening of plays in fringe West End and regional theatres such as the Almeida, the National and even the West Yorkshire Playhouse, as successful despite , or even because of their distance from the notorious West End. But why is any one person or group allowed to dominate West End theatre? This is

consider that the West End makes £1 billion for Britain per year. The fact that the theatres were even up for sale in the first place is just a symptom of the La bour government's inabil ity to allocate

the fact that the theatres were even up for sale in the first place is just a symptom of the labour government's inability to allocate funding for the arts

suitable funding for the arts. The reason that the West End is the central focus for large productions is because the majority of the plays and performances wi ll not tour regional theatres because of lack of money making potentia l. This means that in order to be successful and make a profit, productions must succeed in the West End, anything less will result in major losses, and closure; Boyband, anyone? The simple answer to this problem is government subsidy, but Tony Blair does ~-~-~ not appear to be listening to the pleas of the theatre. He's too busy listening to Cherie list potential baby name after potential baby name.

Instead it is the supporters of the arts who are forced to pay the price, both in ticket costs and in the centralisation of productions in London 's West End. Regional theatres have a lot to offer the general public and can prove this 1f

desperately need. Andrew Lloyd Webber buying up the West End is just a demonstratiOn that money is the required commodity, not creativity. S1r Andrew Lloyd Webber's ownership of the West End can be seen as merely the next step in a changing trend of the theatre culture. For big bucks to be made, classics merely need to be transferred onto the stage with brightly coloured costumes and singable songs. A perfect example is the soon to open musical adaptation of The Wrtches of Eastwick, which shall star Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones. We can only hope that Webber is not blinded by his own mainstream light and that he goes on to hunt out and support aspiring directors and writers who thrive in his shadow, possessing equal if not greater talent, but considerably less money.

"My God, I hope not", is Lloyd Webber's response when people have questioned whether he intends to fill the theatres with all his own work. Well at least we all agree that divine intervention would be required, if that was indeed his goal. His selfdeclared aims are to take risks and experiment with different formats, although so far we've only seen the staging of his tried and tested musical, Cats. it's hardly a bungee jump out of a helicopter that is flying 1700 feet above the Grand Canyon , is it Andrew? One thing to perhaps look forward to is Andrew Lloyd Webber's promise to bring Bollywood to the West End, which, considering the recent success of East is East on the screen, may not be a bad idea. However, despite his plans to collaborate with AR Ra hman, a successful Indian composer and 1']1USician, all we've seen so far is Webber working with Ben Elton on a musical about football.

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aybe they should consider casting David Beckham as the lead role. That way he could wear skirts and costumes to his heart's delight.

The serious implications of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber becoming the literal owner of the West End are quite sad . London, as our capital city, should be a beacon for the arts, representing the wide range of talents and cultures that our country has to offer.

Instead of the bohemian centre of Britain it once was, London 's theatre scene has become a bland and mundane tourist trap, with over priced tickets for musicals and plays that do not stray from their regular, safe formula . Indeed London theatre has none of the idiosyncrasies unique to London . I mean, you can see Cats, or The Uon King in any

Iondon's theatre scene has become a bland and mundane t ourist trap, with over priced tickets for musicals and plays that do not stray from their safe formula number of cities across the world. For those of us who don't want to see human cats singing and danc1ng with Eighties leg warmers covering the1r calves , or the ent1re works of Shakespeare in under an hour, we have little cho1ce but to hunt further afield 1n the regional theatres, or JUSt give up and go to the cmema instead.

Prove us wrong Andrew, please.

lloyd webber shows how the process of evolution can be reversed

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â&#x20AC;˘ it is very rare that a sequel manages to surpass its original, but that's what has happened with pixar's latest, toy story 2. astrid goldsmith meets its director john lasseter to see what all the fuss is about ...

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s there anything the average British citizen loves more than taking the piss out of dumb Americans? Before I get lynched by the US students we have here in dear old Norwich, let me just repeat, DUMB Americans. But there are some things which nobody does better than our transatlantic cousins - fast food, chat shows, grunge - the British equivalents don't even come close. Just so with animation, and in

it's the story that holds the audience, not the technology and not the look of the film particular, Disney. For decades, the studio has produced animated shorts and features of the highest quality, entertaining generations of children and adults. But Disney's dismal record of recent years has proved that its forte is no longer handdrawn cartoons (Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame ... need I say more?), but the computer animated films that Disney-owned company Pixar is producing.

Toy Story was an international sensation, grossing $360 million at the world-wide box office and selling more than 22 million videocassettes in the US alone. lt currently ranks as the third highest grossing animated film of all time, behind The Uon King and Aladdin. lt became the first animated feature ever to be nominated in the best screenplay written directly for the screen category, and actually won the director, Pixar's resident filmmaker John Lasseter, a special achievement Academy Award in 1996. But his achievements don't stop there. He went on to direct A Bug's Life and most recently Toy Story 2, both phenomenally successful features, noted for their wit and originality.

So it comes as somewhat of a surprise that Lasseter comes across as ... yep, you guessed it, a dumb American. I was expecting a nerdy, highly intelligent cynic with biting sarcasm. Or maybe a Matt Groening-type figure, undeniably American, but softly spoken and quietly amusing. But no. Lasseter is as American as they come. Slightly overweight, wearing a big colourful short-sleeved shirt (in January), he kept us waiting half an hour because he was still eating lunch. He greeted us with "Hey, kids! They give you the day off school to do this?".

Ah, patronising kids movie directors. I love 'em. "So, you liked the movie, huh? Huh? Whadya think?"

And so on.

But I DID like the movie. Toy Story 2 is every bit as impressive as the original film, both in terms of technological innovation and in content. But, despite all the kudos that Lasseter gained from making the first fully computer animated featurelength films, he insists that this is not the important factor in Toy Story or Toy Story 2, and this is why the sequel is justified:

"We didn't want to retell the same story with the same people like so many sequels do. We wanted to build upon the foundation and create a new adventure that would be equal to the first. For me, it's the story that holds the audience, not the technology and not the look of the film . With TCJf Story 2, we concentrated on making a good story. " Lasseter followed this by telling a lovely, home-onthe-range anecdote about his five sons coming to visit Daddy's office and playing with Daddy's antique collectible toys which he was less than happy about: "I found myself saying, 'No, no, you can't play with that one.' And as I looked at myself I began laughing because toys are manufactured and put on this earth to be played with by a child. That is the essence of Toy Story 2 and the core of the toys being alive. Everything that prevents them from being played with by a child causes them anxieties in their life". nd this is where the story for the second film came from, and a very good story it is too.

Woody the cowboy, Andy's favourite toy, gets kidnapped by an obsessive toy collector, Al. At Al's apartment, he meets Jessie the cowgirl, Bullseye the horse and Stinky Pete the prospector, and discovers that he is part of this highly valuable set of toys from a 1950s TV show, Woody's Roundup.

Woody is faced with a dilemma - does he escape and leave the other toys to face the prospect of storage (they can only be displayed in the museum

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if they are a full set), but run the risk of being abandoned by Andy once he grows up? Or does he stay and get admired in the museum by generations of children, but never get played with or loved?

Woody's decision is crucial to the film's values and moral message. As Helene Plotkin, the producer explains, "One of the great themes of this film is that it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Basically what Woody and Jessie and all of the other characters discover is the value of life.. . Nothing lasts for ever but that's okay." This is a valuable lesson in life, and quite a serious message for a kid's film (Pinocchio only taught you not to lie).

But this is why the medium works so well. Animated characters that you really care for soften the harsher realities of this kind of message, but somehow, because they are computer animated, they are a lot more like toys, and not as awfully cutesy as some of Disney's characters.

This is where computer animation's power lies. The animated worlds of the Toy Story films and A Bug's Life are rich, colourful and carefully created. They appear 'real' and three-dimensional, much more so than a hand drawn cartoon could ever be. But at the same time, because they are complete worlds, where the humans have much the same look as the toys (Lasseter claimed that he wanted the human characters to look more like caricatures than photographic replicas), there is the freedom to create extreme and often humorously silly

situations, as you are reminded that it is a cartoon.

Cartoons can also get away with being sentimental without apology. Lasseter kindly told us that "the movies that I am most affected by are the ones that make me laugh hysterically but also move me. I'm not ashamed to cry in movies". But apart from his desire to make us weep, the film is witty and sharp, and a lot less sickeningly mushy than most Disney offerings.

the characters discover the value of life ... nothing lasts for ever but that's ok And perhaps this is why computer animation is so innovative. While Pixar and Lasseter are turning out original, intelligent cartoons, Disney itself is still stuck in its sugary rut. Their latest hand-drawn features - Mulan and Hercules - have fallen short of the high standards set by Wait himself in the Golden Era. So maybe the actual technological advancements are irrelevant, it's just the freedom this new medium gives allows for more creativity in an industry that looked to be in danger from drying up.

Toy Story 2 is reviewed on page 17.

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11 djing has long been a testosterone fuelled arena where women have found it hard to achieve. but is all this about to change? Iuke chilton and clare hamilton-eddy spoke to former page three girl turned dj lisa pin up at her recent time gig ...

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elebrity gardeners, celebrity cooks, celebrity fishermen, celebrity a1rline stewards, the list of ordinary people transformed into personalities goes on and on. But without them, who wou ld Richard and Judy have to talk to? How about the new breed of celebnty DJs; Fat Boy Slim, Judge Jules, Pete Tong, Boy George and all the rest we re constantly touring the nation's night venues and releasing huge remix albums throughout 1999. it's a trend set to continue through the 21st century, with the latest addition to the DJ A-list, Lisa Pin Up,

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it 's no wonder female dj's feel exiled when record companies hold male only parties to promote new

new star of clubland, or IS she merely the Charlie D1mmock of the DJ world?

Lisa Pin-Up takes her name from her days as a topless Page Three model. She made the transition from model to DJ four years ago, when spinning became less than a hobby and more of a passion.

Always a keen clubber, Lisa would spend Friday nights dancing and Saturday afternoons buying the records she heard the night before. Soon she had so many she decided 1t was time to invest in her own set of decks. From then on, Lisa didn't stop. "''m never satisfied", she says "that's what dnves me on to bigger and better things. I'm happy, but I want more."

To this day she doesn't have a stereo in the house.

When she feels the need to chill out to sorne tunes, she'll mess around on her own decks. "I love anything with a beat" Lisa admits.

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isa's res1dent club IS The Sanctuary in London and she also rates Leicester's Passion as one who played Norwich's new 'super-club' Time in of the UK's best clubs. Lisa has also been January. playing in Ibiza for the last two years. "Last year I But sexism is rife m today's club industry. it's no played Freedom and M1ss Moneypennys." says L1sa. wonder female DJ's feel ex1led when record "it's good , but 1t's the exact same crowd really. I compan1es hold male only parties to promote new mean, if you didn't notice the temperature and you artists, featuring danc1ng g1rls and strippers. As had your eyes closed, you 'd thmk you were home women they often don't even receive promotional anyway!" records or discounts. So is Lisa Pin-Up the bright Does it ever get too hot in the clubs out there? "The air conditioning's quite good, you actually find yourself shivering sometimes! " Back home, the increasing female presence behind the decks is difficu lt to ignore. But DJing is still a male dominated industry.

Has it been difficult for Lisa to be accepted?

"I don't really give a dam n if I've been acce pted or not. it 's what I wanted to do and I've gone and done it", she declares. There is a difference in style between the genders. Male DJ s bri ng more ego to the spinning process, using tricks such as heavy scratching, while the women see themselves more as a funnel through which the music is heard. "Men do th ink they ca n DJ better," Li sa reveals "and I must admit, you've got to prove yourself to be accepted . As long as you realise you're capable. The males, if they're rubbish, they're rubbiSh. And if a ~------------------------------------------------------~

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girl's rubbish, she 's rubbish. If you're good, you get the respect. " But sometimes female DJs are seen as nothing but a novelty. Is Lisa taken less seriously because of her sex?

"I haven't really thought about it.

Whatever I do 1n life, I've just gone out and done it. You've got to try your best.

As long as you try your best and put your mind to 1t." She says "To start with it was half g1rl DJs anyway, and now girls are making more of a stand. Some boy DJs

men do think they can dj better, and i must admit, you've got to prove yourself to be accepted go 'oh it's easy for you, you're a girl!' I mean , you can't have it both ways." But there is one man Lisa relies on.

"Me and my boyfriend go clubbing before I DJ, so 1t's like an extension of our clubbing day'', she explains. "I'm lucky. I travel everywhere with my boyfriend, he comes everywhere with me.'' But it must get lonely being a DJ sometimes? "DJing can be quite a lonely life, travelling everywhere on your own, being m hotels on your own. I'm lucky I've got someone."

Surely all those celebs hang out together on a Sunday.

I can just picture Boy George and Armand Van Helden sitting round the breakfast table discussing the latest tune from DubTribe Sound System and listening to Vibe FM. "To tell you the truth, I don't really see them that much 'coz I'm always comi ng on after their last record, then they 're off to somewhere else themselves", Lisa confesses; "You only get to see the other DJs if you play in Scotland or Ireland because you stay over there and sleep in a hotel. But most of them are very ti red, we work so hard!"

With the millennium edition of The Annual sell ing half a milli on copies last yea r, it's every DJ's ambition to release th eir mixes to the pu blic. What does the commercial future hold for Lisa Pin-Up? ''I'm starting my own record label, Rock Hard Recordings, so I'm excited about that. I've mixed a CD for Freedom called Sounds Freedom , and I'm doing another one for someone else soon", she says; "Also, I've got a record coming out on Nucleus ca lled For Lover's To Usten, and I'm doing a follow up to Rock With Me on TidyTrax, which I've just finished today. it's ca lled it's Not Over Yet. " So it looks like Lisa Pin-Up has hit the big time, and despite all the boundaries, she's avoided the chauvinism and the lonely nights to make her name as one of the country's top DJs.

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rem wrote a song about him, now there's a jim carey biopic coming out. the world is finally waking up to mr andy kaufman and his bizarre exploits comitted in the name of comedy. elin jones splits her sides and takes a closer look ...

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dy Kaufman, comedy genius or simply not funny? Although he performed with Robin Williams and dominated American comedy in the late 1970s nd early 1980s in shows such as Saturday Night Live and Taxi, his work is no longer widely recognised. In the years leading up to his untimely death at 35, from a rare form of lung cancer, he became more and more unpopular both with TV producers and the American public.

The outrageous stunts and games that made him famous were starting to get out of control, he was a liability and as public opinion was no longer in his favour, he was seen as a loose cannon. His former colleagues turned on him and ensured that his name was a taboo in the industry.

However, this is to change with the release of a film of his life starring Jim Carrey playing the comedian (a role he recently won a Golden Globe for) , and a

man on the moon tells the story of a very lonely man trapped by his own constraints and forced into the public eye by a burning ambition book written by his former agent, Bill Zehme. A legend in the world of comedy, Andy Kaufman's bizzare and disturbing story is set to capture the imaginations of a new generation of viewers.

To say that Kaufman was original would be somewhat of an understatement. His bizarre brand of humour included characters such as an intergender wrestler, Elvis Presley, a highly offensive lounge lizard named Tony Clifton, and an invisible twin brother called Dhrupick. These characters grew from his frenzied imagination as a child. Kaufman said himself "I used to stay in my room and imagine that there was a camera in the wall. And I used to really believe that I was putting on a television show and that it was going out somewhere in the world. â&#x20AC;˘ His teachers and parents grew worried about the yot,mg Kaufman who would spend hours at a time staring out of the window or talking to his invisible twin brother. They sent him to various psychiatrists to determine exactly why it was that he would not

interact with children his own age, and why he would spend his time waddling around his bedroom and falling over, pretending to be in a silent movie.

He came out of the sessions with the psychiatrists happy, having spent the time playing and acting to his new friends, but all his parents were told was that he was simply a very active young boy. it could be argued that this special treatment at a young age contributed to his attention-seeking tactics as an adult; he was seen as being strange and disturbing by his parents even though his behaviour was perfectly normal, if a little hyper-active, for a boy of his age.

Later in life he went to. any lengths possible to prove how unique he was and to keep all attention on him. In his career as a comedian he took delight in surprising his audiences, and went about this in increasingly disturbing and complex ways. In one of his earlier performances he took the whole audience to a cafe in school buses to have milk and cookies because he thought it would be funny. Although unusual, this was nothing compared to what was to follow as Kaufman became more famous and, as a result, more convinced of his ability to make anything into comedy. Kaufman 's childhood pranks became increasingly out of control as he became older and more successful. His comedy was centred on making the audience feel uncomfortable and provoking gut reactions such as embarrassment or anger. Tony Clifton was one of his most-used characters, and was specifically des1gned to insult the audience and make them feel angry and violated. In the official Man On The Moon web-site it is suggested that Tony Clifton was a real person who Kaufman met and employed for a while to open his shows before firing him only to play the character himself.

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is story is one of the many enigmas onceming Andy Kaufman. He would refuse to dmit whether or not Tony Clifton was real or not, and would make his friend Bill Zehme dress up as Clifton to confuse the press. lt was a favourite trick of Kaufman's to fool the press and the public at any given opportunity, but it was a trick that was to cost him his popularity and his career. The turning-point in Kaufman's career was the infamous fight on Fridays (a US sketch show) . He decided to play an elaborate joke on the viewers by breaking out of a sketch, saying that it was "stupid" and having a fight with his eo-stars as a result. The switchbo.ard was jammed with complaints but

Kaufman was delighted with his joke. it no longer seemed to matter to him what people thought of him, he was famous and had the power to do anything he wanted and to pass it off as comedy genius.

While the television producers became disillusioned with Kaufman and attempted to phase him of their shows, they forgot that it was them who had created the 'monster'.

Since Kaufman's first appearance on Saturday Night Live, when he lipsynched to Danger Mouse's cry of "Here I come to save the day!" to applause, TV executives had been falling over themselves to give Kaufman as much air-time and freedom as possible. lt was this power that fed and supported his ever-growing hunger for recognition through his escapades.

real direction, aimlessly meandering from one gag to another, trying to top the last one. He never came out of character, which led to him isolating friends and collegues who couldn 't tell which was the real Andy Kaufman.

Although he had many girlfriends during his life, he considered prostitutes (which he often had sent to his trailer) to be the wisest of women because they "understood men" and he went out to all-night parties to make the most of the sexual magnetism that came with fame. On one occasion described in Lost in the Playhouse he even slept with one of his conquests while handcuffed to his chaperone for the evening! Andy Kaufman shot to fame by allowing himself to be laughed at, rather like people laugh at other people's misfortunes on programmes such as You've Been Framed.

only "genius" that Kaufman possessed was of exploiting situations to advantage. lt is because of talent that his story Will make for very interesting v1ewing in Man on the Moon.

was not funny anymore, and even when the American public voted him off the air in a highly publicised Saturday Night Live poll, he still believed himself to be a law unto himself and a legend in his time.

The news that Andy Kaufman had contracted cancer at the age of 34 came as a huge shock to everyone.

His career had been floundering for at least two lfJfJJ'I/ArJl~ or three years, and many thought that his disease was part of a new gag designed as a 'comeback'. Unfortunately, the cancer was real and Andy Kaufman died in 1984. The theories liveon, however, and there are still people today who believe that he never died, just like Elvis. There is even a web-site at andylives.org dedicated to the belief that he will burst onto the scene again, possibly at the premiere of the film Man On The Moon.

Exploiting the Kaufman style, however, this web-site was actually set-up by Universal pictures to publicise the film , as were the psychedelic posters plastered up in 15 American cittes proclaiming that "Andy Lives! "; it was all another scheme to fool the public .. .

Man on the Moon, and Bill Zehme's book Lost in the Funhouse, tell the story of a very lonely man trapped by his own constraints and forced into the public eye by a burning ambition. Marty Feldman said "In Andy there is something underneath the playfulness, a sense of danger, a kind of general anger, as if we wearily come to see the world is simply insufficient. " Kaufman led a life with no

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in the beginning was the word ... and then came cinema. but just how has religion been treated by the film industry? kris siefken dons a cassock and wonders ... o subjects you can guarantee people el strongly about are religion and nema. In the case of cinema we all have ms that we love, and films we wish we'd ever bothered with. Consequently, sitting down to write a feature on representations of Christianity in film is asking for trouble. lt is the journalistic equivalent of hanging a target around your neck, or attaching a sign to you r back that says 'Stab me! I'm about to attack everything you hold to be true.· But if that is what it takes to get people talking about the subject then maybe it is an acceptable risk. To paraphrase the thirteenth apostle, Rufus, in Kevin Smith's cu rrent offenng, Dogma. "the problem with religion is that everybody

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as the fallen angel loki says in dogma, "I love f * *king with the clergy ... they're so serious about religion." thinks of religion tn terms of beltefs, when what 1t really ts, ts an idea. That's where all the problems come from. The concept of a belief is too inflexible.

You have to give up a belief... but you can change an tdea." And yes, whtlst your fingers are potsed over your keyboard ready to send those disgruntled e-matls, I did say the thirteenth apostle and - for

those of you w11o haven't seen Dogma yet - guess what? He's black as well. But then again so was Jesus, right?

All this is a far cry from Charlton Heston's 1956 lilywhite performance as Moses in The Ten Command m ent~. or his outing eleven years later as John the Baptist in The Greatest Story Ever Told. Some people might argue that 50 years of cinematic development has a lot to answer for.

Admittedly anyone one who has had the misfortune to stt through another of the recent glut of religton movies, Stigmata. might be tnclined to agree and they certatnly wouldn't get any argument from me on that one. Not because the 1950s or 1960s were the decades when cinema dealt with religion the 'nght' way or because contemporary movie makers are 'wrong' in thetr use of reltgion. No, my objection wou ld simply have to be that Stigmata IS a truly appalling movte; another Hollywood case of interesting concept but lousy execution. And yet, once again, this is simply a subjective judgement about the cinemattc merit of the movie itself when the real controversy tn the media has been about Stigmata 's "armchair Chnsttan Mythology": 1ts "tntegratton of Catholic mystiCISm ... With 20th Century na rctssisttc cyntctsm". So 1t seems t11at what IS really at tssue nowadays IS not the use of religion in movtes but the method of 1ts use.

For example, look at the controversy

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that surrounded Martin Scorcese's film The Last Temptation of Chrbt when it came out in 1988. Its detractors' real objections were ultimately that Scorcese chose to dramatise Nikos Kazantzakis' controversial novel of the same name - a fictionalised life of Christ - and not the gospels themselves . Banned as "blasphemous" tn both Chile and South Africa, Christtan groups in England and America held demonstrations outside cinemas that showed it. In Britain it was branded "the most disgraceful thing I've ever seen", "the product of a stck mind and a sick society" and ··secular filth ".

after stigmata 's armchair christian mythology, maybe the real issue now is not t he issue of religion in movies but the method of its use ut the irony of this outcry is that all this happened in the same British society that constders Terry Jones· Life of Brian a cult classic. {)ones· cleverly left himself a ·get out clause· by maktng the l1ero someone mtstaken for Jesus and not Jesus htmself: "He's not the Messiah. he's a very naughty boyt") lt seems then that soctety etther ltkes 1ts rellgtous imagery conventional or easily dismissed as comedy. Somewhere along the line a soctal conventton developed that what IS ·acceptable' is sticking to the recorded 'truth' of the gospels and not discusstng any textual anomaltes they contatn. lt 1s to htghlight the hypocnsy of such a regimented va lue system that Kevin Smtth has Rufus observe. 111 Dogma, that there IS no record of Mary birthtng any subsequen t chi ldren after Jesus.

As he says, "Mary havtng a virgtn btrth - now that's a leap of fatth. But a marned cou pl e NEVER getttng

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it on? That's suspense of disbelief!" lt is not without irony, therefore, that film posters for comedic movies of this genre often bear taglines like that chosen for the Life of Brian: "See the movte that's controversial, sacrilegious and blasphemous. But if that's not playing, see Life of Brian" . lt is the inflexibility of our beltef system that directors like Smith and Jones are seeking to question and not our beltefs themselves. And it seems that we, as a cinema going society, almost enjoy being hypocritical.

When Scorcese's Last Temptation was released even those who didn't consider it blasphemous at least acknowledged the right of its critics to protest.

One year later Salman Rushdie published The Satanic Verses. and when Muslims objected to its representation of Islam the tabloids had a field day running stories about how 'they [Muslims] need to learn to live by our [British] rules'. lt is no wonder then, that directors like Smith get so much pleasure from critiquing established social attitudes to religion. As the fallen angel Loki says tn Dogma, "I love f*cking with the clergy ... they're so serious about reltgton." And yet even here Smith is carefully circumspect about what he attacks. The movie is called Dogma for good reason: its main focus is not Catholicism itself but tt's codified laws that, in the film, nearly end up negating all existence (a long story best explained by the movie). On top of that the fact that target American and Britam audtences are largely Protestant, and not Catholic, suggests a certain rettcence on Smith's part about really wading tnto established reltgions. As to whether we, therefore, take representations of Chnsttanity tn film too seriously for an honest. open cinematiC debate is a questton that we can each only answer indtvidually. But at least were once the only acceptable cinematic form was biblical representatiOn, la Heston, other avenues of dtscusston have now been opened up. Are they appropnate? Well maybe seriousness about religton isn't all tt's cracked up to be. As the hero ine of Dogma asks at one point, "What 's he like? God?" The reply. "Lonely. But funny ... He's got a great sense of humourt"

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• there's something rotten in the state of denmark- but it's certainly not the food. amanda akien and darcy hurford visit norwich's very own scandinavian site of succulence, andersen's, and discover that danish food isn't all about bacon and danish pastries ...

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ersens is Norwich's only Danish staurant, and frankly, I would like to say, that's no bad thing. Denmark may ot offer such exotic culinary delights as ore distant countries like India or Mexico, but it still has many distinctive food features, only a few of which have made it into Norwich. You may not actually have noticed Andersens, tucked away unobtrusively in St Giles Street opposite the second hand book shop, but this restaurant has the weighty task of representing Danish culture in Norfolk. They are probably the only Danish cultural ambassadors since those distant times when Scandanavian folk seemed to enjoy popping over to eastern England for a spot of wholesome rape, pillage and massacre.

Without a wienerbnlld (Danish pastry) in sight, pemaps one of the key Danish aspects of this semirestaurant is its name. Although it serves open

i would rather eat pasta and drink red wine than eat pickled herring and drink carlsberg over candlelight

visit to this little place, this is a whole world away from the Bohemian hangouts and chic cafes of Copenhagen's Str0get. At Andersens you can expect lunchtime meals such as open sandwiches, soup and omelettes. The staff are extremely pleasant but do not seem to resemble Dane~ as much as UEA students, which does slightly detract from the Danishness of the experience. One really good thing about Andersens is probably the coffee which, although more likely to be Costa Rican than Danish, does fulfil the criteria by being filtered and strong.

As far as the range of food on offer and decor go Andersens isn't far removed from an English tea room. The prices are evidently Scandinavian though - pertlaps a little high for the average student wallet to cope with, though you're not really buying a plastic wrapped flapjack and cup of burnt acorn coffee from the Bowl are you?

For those people always in a hurry Andersens also offers a take away service with freshly made sandwiches with a wide variety of fillings. lt may not be the most Danish of Danish eateries, but let's not be too fussy - to get the real thing you'd have to go all the way to Copenhagen, and that would cost considerably more than the bus fare into town.

are the p01ser, better known on this side of the North Sea as hotdogs. These are fast food, Danish style.

Uquid refreshment is top-notch and Danes (like fellow Scandinavians) take their drinking very seriously. The country itself boasts more than 50 varieties of beer made by as many breweries, the best known come from Carlsberg and Tuborg. lt is not just beer that the Danes are rather fond of.

There is also akvavit.

This famous schnapps - like poison, is drunk with cold food. Danes knock it back after eating salt herring, or sill, an over-rated delicacy.

Is there a m.ethod in this madness? The Danes have a saying that the "fish should be swimming•. Quite whether that means "swimming in preservatives" or ·swimming because they're still alive" is not actually made clear. However, as sill is made from raw fish, the Japanese not in fact having a monopoly on this chewy and strong tasting substance, the latter may

be the case.

Finally, that apparently most Danish of Danish foodstuffs, the Danish pastry. Tasty they may well be, and the ones sold in Denmark are often superior to what you can buy in Blighty, but doubts exist as to their nationality. The Danish word, 'wienerbr0d', actually means Vienna bread', and Vienna is clearly not a Danish city. We demand answers as to its origins.

So for those of you who thought a bacon sandwich is typically Danish, you could be wrong. The bacon and the butter and even the bread might have come from Denmark, but Danes rarely if ever combine them in the form of the bacon buttie, which is a British invention they choose, pertlaps wisely, to ignore.

Andersens St Giles Street, Norwich Tel: 01603 617199

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o what do the Danes in Denmark actually like to eat? The country, home to the Uttle Mermaid, is famous for a lot sandwiches and a variety of Danish beers, there is of things: pornography, Hans Christian Andersen, high taxation, AE~ua, bacon and a not a lot else on offer that would fall under the high suicide rate. But food? heading 'Danish', unless such dishes as lasagne Denmark itself is not just about pastries, bacon and salade ni~ise were secretly Scandinavian all along and were perhaps smuggled into Italy and and Lego, despite what the Danish tourist board France by marauding Vikings before anyone noticed. might have us believe. Danes take their food Unfortunately, Andersens is not open in the very seriously, and Danish food, however evenings, closing at 6.30pm, so if you want to simple, is excellent, with an emphasis an fresh ingredients and careful presentation. Fish and sample their cuisine you'll have to make it a meat are both of top quality and are the welcome break during a stressful shopping trip. ingredients of the famous Sm0rrebr0d. more The one exception to this will be on February 12 when they are open for a Valentine's evening meal. commonly known as the open sandwich. Some Funnily enough, the Danes do not strike me as Sm0rrebr0d are huge meals in themselves, and romantic types - certainly not as far as their innocent snackers can find themselves faced indigenous cuisine goes. At any rate, I would rather with dauntingly large (but nonetheless delicious) mound of fish or meat. slathered with pickle eat pasta and drink red wine than eat pickled herring a'nd drink Carlsberg over candlelight. relish all atop rugbr0d (rye bread) and However, if you do decide to embark on a daytime franskbr0d (wheat bread).

All Scandinavian countries have r:::;;~;;;;;;;~~~:---::~~:;;~=:-:-l versions of the 'cold table ' , and the Swedish name for it, the 'smorg~sbord', is probably the best known, but the Danes claim that their 'det store kolde bord' is the original and best. lt is a celebration meal; the setting of the table in itself is a work of art (well almost) often with paper sculpture and silver platters and the food itself is a minor miracle of design and decoration.

However when the Danes become tired of fresh fish and rye bread they opt for a simple fast food snack. Pertlaps more L_:__2!:.±:!!!!!!:::.:__!:._ :....:.,2__ _.::;;;_J!!!!!t~I:'S~.-:iau common than the universal hamburger

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the music business is known far and wide as a centre of hedonistic activity, offering everything from the chance to get albums for free ahead of the release date to the chance of ingesting various, ahem 'substances' as a perk of the job. or ligging at concerts. or just earning lots of money. at any rate, it's a damn fine field to be working in and one which plenty of students will be seeking employment in when they graduate, however pure their motives. whether you're in a band, interested in working for a promotions company or even fancy setting up your own independent alternative to the corporate likes of sony and time warner, it's helpful to know what others before you have done. who needs the careers centre, that's what darcy hurford says, when the event can provide you with your own guide to ... how to get ahead in the music industry

flogging it: W

orking in PR always sounds like a nice sort of occupation. All that sitting around all day, nattering on the telephone, meeting the beautiful and famous, helping to make them beautiful and famous in the eyes of the media, and getting paid for the experience. Or is it? Seth Carnill is the voice at the other end of the phone for Wild Promotions in West London, and spends his working hours flogging, sorry, promoting, the delectable likes of Pulp, the Charlatans, Death In Vegas, Jarnes, Carnpag Velocet and a whole host of other acts he couldn't bring to mind at that precise moment, on behalf of this expanding independent PR company.

How did you start working at Wild?

I was working at Island Records, and I was made redundant - they had a big merger, laid everyone off, and I came here as I knew a lot of people here and had worked with some of them at Island.

'M>uld you say PR was difficult to get into? it's just who you know really. I got the job at Island because a friend of mine was working there and there was a vacancy. I went in and they said "yeah, you can start next week". But I think if you 've got no friends at all in the music industry you really have to persevere. A lot of people worked for free for a long time. You have to prove yourself before people are willing to pay you.

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owadays, Sam Richards is occupied in the reputable profession of computer game magazine journalism within the reputable Georgian environs of Bath, the spa town without a spa. However, it was not always like this. For, once upon a time, he embraced the spirit of rock & roll as a member of the briefly successful band Navigator and still managing to get an English degree at UEA at the same time.

They got signed, they released records, they got played very briefly on the Chart Show and even got to support Mogwai. Any aspiring bands now feeling a twinge of envy should read or. now... how did you end up playing in a band? lt was right at the beginning of the first year. I only got roped in because they didn't have a drummer. Not that I could play drums, just that they needed someone to keep a minimal backbeat going, and I said I'd do it for a while ... When we first got signed, we were terrible , but we recorded lots of stuff on four track. The first stuff was acoustic in our rooms, but then we started going down to Noisebox, who also had equipment we could borrow, which was helpful, 'cos we didn't really own anything, apart from two guitars and one amplifier, and they could lend us equipment for practice sessions. After doing that for a year, we started nagging Pete at Noisebox, and after two years of playing and nagging, we released a single, which we paid for out of our own pockets.

We started getting support slots at the Wilde Club at the Arts Centre.

how well did the single do?

There's quite a lot of Noisebox subscribers who'll pretty much buy anything that comes out on the label, and we sold a lot of copies to va rious friends and family. I think it got played on John Peel, it ended up in a lot of specialist record shops, and various indie saddos around the country got hold of it, and strangely enough some people seemed to like it. We must have done 750 - 1000 copies, not very many at all. Pete let us do another one, called A Uttle Astronomy which is probably the single that people most liked. If I remember rightly, that's what got us On pieces in NME and Melody Maker. We got to play quite a few gigs in London, basically just by sending records to promoters at small venues, mainly in Camden, places like the Camden Monarch and the Camden Falcon.

Why did you leave the band?

I left the band after graduating from university as I had to get a proper job. But just before I left the band we did a tou r with Mogwai - they'd heard a couple of our records and we went and played a few gigs with them in Scotland in 1997. Unfortunately, just two dates into doing it, 1 had to go to hospital to have my appendix out, which was rather unfortunate, so when Navigator did their set they had to get Brendan O'Hare [ex-Teenage Fanclub drummer] to do their drums for them, which provoked mixed reactions... After I left, they did put out an album, on another label, and did some gigs in London, but they split up about a year ago, basically because things weren't going anywhere. Not that I want to take any credit for being in Navigator when they were at their commercial peak.

When was their commercial peak?

That was probably in '96/'97. when we had the NME and Melody Maker pieces and had two or three singles out. it's a fairly minor level of success, but not bad for a band that's still at university, playing fairly extreme music. lt wasn't pop, it was quite odd stuff, not something that was easy to get into. But conversely, it did mean we were doing something a bit different, which made it easier with getting press and stuff.

Have you been in any other bands?

No. Not that got beyond the stage of a bedroom anyway.

What are the good and bad sides of being in a band?

There's lots of good sides. Going on tour with Mogwai was hilarious. That was at the point where Mogwai were absolutely insane, lots of drinking, drugs, and rock & roll antics going on. Not quite Aerosmith, but Aerosmith on a budget. The downside is that, unless you're incredibly lucky, it would take you four years from starting a band before you began to make any money from it, and in the meantime, you'd have invested masses of your own time and resources into it.

the event, wednesday, february 02, 2000

What does the job involve on a daily basis?

There's a lot of information that has to be circulated. Rrstly, I have to circulate information to journalists, that's the primary thing, just sending records to journalists, establishing contacts with them, setting up interviews, gig reviews, co-ordinating all that. Then, on the other hand, there's all the liasing with the record label, the managers, and the bands themselves. So there's two sides - the work with the journalists, and all the work I do with managers. And before you even start a job, there's hundreds of meetings, lots of hours spent deciding exactly when you 're going to release singles and what sort of angle you're going to take on the advertising campaign, and, to a certain extent, we're involved in that a bit. A typical day is just a bit of all that really.

What background do you need? lt:s nothing to do with qualifications. it's just about being in the right place at the right time. Of course, to be in the right place at the right time is easy if you 've got friends working in the music industry; all you've got to do is put the word around, and someone should come to you with an offer of a job. If not, you just have to make sure you're the first person everyone thinks of when there's a job going. Really, it means phoning people up a lot. Being willing to work for nothing always helps, we always have a lot of work experience people here, and a lot of them get full-time jobs afterwards.

What are the good and bad sides of PR? People imagine that working in the music industry is all very glamorous, but it is pretty much a nine to five office job; you're sat behind computers, there's lots of email coming in, lots of reports to write. The plus side is when you're going out on a photo shoot, or going to a radio session and just hanging out with the band.

How much can you earn working in PR? If you're starting off in a junior position it can be as little as £15,000, up to about £20,000. If you're a fully-fledged press officer you can probably get at least twenty-five grand and maybe even as high as fifty grand if you're a head of department at a major label, maybe even more than that.

Is there a big difference between working for an independent company or a major?

There's a huge difference. The work itself is the same, of course - getting press in publications but at a major label you 're part of a machine, in with the marketing people, the radio pluggers, and so on. lt's quite a cosy atmosphere, but then many major labels have quite a corporate edge to them, especially at the moment, with the music industry in such a trough, not making much money at all. They're cutting back on staff, and one person is doing a job that would originally have been for two people.

taping it: K

ing Street is renowned for two things, and one of them is music. We know what the other thing is, but don't intend to discuss it here. Music is not limited to the Waterfront though. Next to that hallowed site of cider-drinking frippery lurks Noisebox studios and the home of Noisebox Records, Norwich's only record label, whose acts past and present include Magoo, Crest, Farrah and Navigator. The man behind the label is Pete, who set it all up himself a few years ago. And here is how...

What made you decide to set up your own record label?

We wanted to release records by our own band, and as time went on, it transformed into a label for releasing material by other bands. The first release was a 12" single with four bands on it, one of which was my band. I said to the others, "look, we can split the cost of this four ways, if we can call it Noisebox Records and I'll do all the donkey work", and it took off from there.

How did you go about form ing the label?

You need to have a good act. You need a distributor, so that before you've even pressed a record you know you're going to have someone to get it into the shops for you, and you need a good, cheap place to press your records or CDs. In theory you're supposed to inform the tax office that you're running a company, and technically you should join MCPS, the copyright people, and pay your royalty to the band for copies sold, but most indie labels don't.

What does it involve on a daily basis?

If you're leading up to a release, two or three months in advance, then your band should be playing a few gigs around the release date. You have to make sure that everything's off to the pressing plant on time, you make sure that whoever's doing the radio plugging is aware of the release and has everything they need to take it round the radio stations and plug it. The same thing applies for press. You start mailing out stuff as early as you can to fanzines, webzines, anyone and everyone you can think of within reason. Then you get on the phone to ask whether it's been received, listened to, played, etc, and that information gets fed back to the distributor, so they can tell shops like Virgin and Our Price that there's buZ2 about the record or the band.

The tricky part, in the current climate, is persuading the record shops to stock the records.. You can get press, you can get radio, you can get the band out on tour- you can get all those things, and then Vi rgin or HMV turn around and say "nah, we don't fancy it". That's not j ust me, that's across the board with a lot of indie labels.

Do you make any profit from running Noisebox?

Not from the record label itself. The recording studio has always subsidised the label.

Very few releases ·make a profit, and those just tend to offset the ones that don't.

How do you see the label developing?

I'm looking at all the developments in the internet and wondering whether we should just be an MP3 label. lt makes being a record label much more viable, because you haven't got the risk. All you've got to do is set up your website, which doesn't cost an awful lot of money, put your tracks up there as MP3 files and away you go. All you've got to pay for is the band's recording time and advertising. it's going to make it a lot easier to be an independent record label.

Any advice to someone setting up their own label?

If they've got £1,000 to do it, then they've got to be prepared to lose that £1,000, basically. If you're not prepared to lose it - don't bother. If you are - you never know, you might strike it lucky. I think people should get out and do their own stuff, in Norwich in particular.

the event, wednesday, february 02, 2000

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albums: raissa believer Whenever an artist is described as the 'new' up and coming voice of such and such music [insert any genre], it generally means that they've been around longer than anyone cares to remember, and the only place they are going is down. Despite the Russian name, Raissa hails from London, with a bit of time spent in Bristol, around the likes ofTricky, Portishead and Massive Attack. Within such a musical ferment you might expect something dark, hard-edged and even innovative. Believer is none of these. lt is a trawl throught the various stylistic conventions of pop music. She has got a good voice and How Long Do I Get is a fine song that will

probably do well in the charts, while Strange World is a more lyrically adventurous contribution, demonstrating the clarity and expressiveness of her voice. Most of the songs are lush路 sounding, and perhaps drowned in string-laden arrangements. This is a pretty average album; capable, but timid in its Ayo Mansaray lack of ambition.

-g 芦i

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will oldham lost blues volume two

1999 saw two of music's most tortured souls returning to the spotlight. On a major scale, Morrissey, whose tour was voted in the NME as being one of the year's most momentous events. On a lesser scale, Will Oldham, under the guise of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, produced the criticallyacclaimed album I See a Darkness. Now recording as himself again, Oldham is back. Imaginatively titled Last Blues 2, this collection of favourites, rarities and oddities could easily be renamed Soundtrack for a Suicide, because it is so bloody miserable. If the man covered Shiny Happy People, it would have been called Miserable Twitching Wrecks. As it is, this is mostly his

Iive: For those of you who sharect gladness in thinking that Embrace were well and truly dead and buried, 1 hate to be the bringer of bad news, but they have been dug out once more. A single is out already, with an album soon to follow, but the question has to be: why did they bother?When the band started out, about three years ago, they were labelled as the 'next Oasis', with brothers Danny and Richard McNamara being compared to Uam and Noel.

Everyone thought they were going to make it big, but they just petered into the background.

Singer Danny seems to be trying a new technique of so obviously modelling himself on Tim Burgess. Even their new stuff, which, he claims, has taken a "funky new direction" with songs like Save Me, sounds like something you would hear on the Charlatans' Melting Pot. On the new single, Hooligan, brother Richard, with his fetching new dreadlocked hairstyle, takes over on vocals and is a damn sight better at them, while Danny sticks a kazoo to it to see what happens the result being a cacophony echoing the sounds of

embrace waterfront Chas and Dave. Of course, all the hits were played, Danny asking the audience to sing on We Got Family because, as he remarks, "it sounds better that way". He was right. Then the end of the song was wrapped up with two minutes of bleating. Lines like "baa baa baa baa baa" either enhance lazy songwriting or go to show that when they cl aimed to be recording their new album somewhere deserted in the countryside, they were spending too much time hanging out with the sheep! Following this there were more dreary, dismal songs, and then some more. lt was far more exhilarating to watch the guy down the front swing his mullet about to the whining of Danny McNamara: which proves at least that yes, they do still have fans.The best song heard all night was Jimi Hendrix's Cross Town Traffic which they walked onto the stage to.

The band seem to be taken with our Norwich, this being the second time they have played here, and they state that they "definitely will return". The trouble is, will anyone else?

Amanda Perkins

the event, wednesday, february 02, 2000

own material, although AC/DC's Big Balls gets a drastic reworking. For those of you who demand influences, it ranges from Woody Guthrie right through to Witness although it is closest to Elliot Smith (if his dog had just died). So, if you're happy and you know it, clap your hands. But if you've got the blues and you know it, buy this album.

Martin Brock

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rachel stamp hymns for st range ...

Whatever happened to glam rock? The feather boas, eyeliner, 'glitter and fluorescent flares? The answer to this most perplexing mystery is simple. lt was buried with Marc Bolan until a band called Rachel Stamp exhumed the spirit and the image.

Unashamedly glam and serving up a musical hybrid of T-Rex and AC/DC, Rachel Stamp are the heirs apparent to the Placebo throne. They possess plenty of solid riffs (even if Spank is a blatant rip-off of Pretty Fly (For A While Guy)), and pleasantly jangling keyboards in abundance, whilst vocalist David Ryder-Prangley's voice moves from Courtney Love croon to Axl Rose sneer with great conviction.

Cheeky lyrics abound too, but the impression left is of a band with solid influences who lack the ability b f their heroes. Still, it's nicely upbeat, and is a pleasant reminder of better bands. 1970s rock lives! it's just a shame Rachel Stamp didn't listen to Black Sabbath.

Anthony Lovell

rem the great beyond

\

10 years after they released Man on the Moon, REM come back once more to bow down to American comedian Andy Kaufman. Harking back to their old sound, this isn't as catchy as some of their more recent releases, but it is a definite grower and proves Stipe still has the magic formula for the best seller.

Caroline Jeater

also released:

incognito theanimalhouse future remixed animal Incognito's Future Remixed is an anthology representing 20 years of their work, and as the title suggests, the songs have been remixed to give that in the now feel. Not being one of the Incognito cognoscenti (but hey, who is?), I had brief reservations about reviewing this album. Then I decided that good music is still good music, and bad music is still, um, bad. And in the case of Future Remixed, my ears have reliably informed me this album is closer to the devil than most. What's frustrating here is that there is a real lack of coherent narrative, leaving the project as a whole weaving uncontrollably between disco, soul and pop.

What 'might have been eclectic ends up being a mess. Thus in trying to do too much, it ends up achieving very little. However, there is a brief respite half way through with Wild & Peaceful and Marrakech. Both manage infectious hooks whilst still retaining an inspired soulfulness - very Rhythm Nation. In general, though, a thumbs down.

Mischa Gilbert

5Chart 01 02 03 04 05 06 07

TRAVIS the man who WILLIAM ORBIT pieces in a modem st yle SHANIA TWAIN come on over MACYGRAY on how life is Britney Spears baby one more time WESTLIFE westlife ENIGMA the screen behind the mirror

OS

SCLUB 7 s club

09 10

STEREOPHONICS performance and cocktails CELINE DION all the way..a decade of song

Former shoegazer Mark Gardener returns with this sinister and powerful song that seems to be a superbly updated form of his former glories as Ride's guitarist and vocalist. Andy Bell, his old band mate in Ride, may be ringing in the cash with Oasis, but it's the Gardener who'll have the greater harvest.

Luke Turner

peshay truly In a bold attempt to bring rabid-monkey beats to our grandparents, Peshay has enlisted the help of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and a club singer. The Flytronix remix is better, but still sounds like the theme tune to Wogan. Jungle may be a broad church, but there is surely no place for lift music.

Thorn Dunn

my life story walk/don~t walk Described as "a cream Jaguar of a band in a world of red Escorts", My Ufe Story have suffered rather a rocky past, but seem to be back on track with this Motown-influenced release. While not the most original song ever, Walk/DOn't Walk makes good use of MLS's 12 piece orchestra to produce a beautiful and effective background for the poignant lyrics.

Elin Jones

muse sunburn If Radiohead were to have a tribute band, it would be Muse. But make no mistake, Sunburn is a fabulous single. Although not starkly original by any account, Sunburn hints at their potential. Muse are probably one of the better indie acts playing now.

Expect to hear more of them.

Ayo Mansarary

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inspected: film toy story 2

tom hanks tim alien . joan casack kel ey krammer february 4 uci riversi de

Uked the original Toy Story? You're going to love this, I promise. Buzz Ughtyear, Woody, Mr Potato Head, the toy soldiers and all the rest of the gang are back for more all-American kinda fun and nottoo-scary adventure. No, seriously, it's fantastic ... AND it's got Barbie in it this time round.

The basic set-up is Woody gets kidnapped by an obsessive toy collector, because he is part of a highly valuable set of vintage 'Woody's Roundup' toys. At first he wants to escape, but then his loyalties are divided when he meets the others in the Woody's Roundup (a 1950s 1V show) gang Jessie the cowgirl, Stinky Pete the Prospector, and loveable Bullseye, Woody's horse. Does he go back to Andy, the kid who loves him, and leave Jessie and the others to stay in storage forever (they call only be displayed if they're a full set)? Or does he stay and get displayed in a museum in Tokyo where he can be looked at by generations of chi ldren, but never played with or loved?

The choice seems to be clear at first, but then comes along a lot of schmaltzy stuff about kids growing up and outgrowing their toys ("Andy will grow up one day, Woody" etc.) . There is an unintentionally hilarious sequence where Jessie remembers through the aid of a song entitled When She Loved Me how her previous owner, Emily,

outgrew her. Cue autumnal trees, rosy sunsets and big Disney eyes. But apart from this, the film is genuinely funny, cute without being overly sentimental, and original. They have taken care not to make this too much like a sequel, so while nearly all the original characters are in it, there are plenty of new faces and no rehashing of the first film. Buzz gets an evil nemesis in the shape of Emperor Zurg, Mr Potato Head has acquired a spouse (who "packs his angry eyes" when he goes off to save Woody) and, to my great delight, the Pizza Planet aliens are back and out of the clutches of 'The Claw'.

And it's not only new characters that add to this fi lm. There are many more locations in the sequel Al's Toy Barn, where Tour Guide Barbie takes them round and where Buzz meets a thousand other Buzz Ughtyears; Al's office where Woody is kept with Jessie, Bullseye and Stinky Pete; an airport where Jessie and Woody perform scary aeroplane acrobatics; a lift shaft, and so on. This definitely adds to the excitement, and the plot is even better than the first film. And don't dismiss it as a kid 's movie, because there are plenty of clever references to keep film buffs busy, it never patronises and is thankfully song-free (apart from Jessie's song, but that is kind of funny). So go and see it. .. AND buy all the merchandise.

Astrid Goldsmith

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summer of sam mira sorvino john leguizamo bebe neuwirth out now uci riverside

The most publicised fact about Summer of Sam is that it is director Spike Lee's first 'non-black' movie.

However, if this film is anything to go by, Lee clearly does not feel comfortable using his own style when straying from his usual subject matter, as he borrows heavily from others, particularly Scorcese.

All of Scorcese's trademarks are there: the ItalianAmerican community in late Seventies New York; guns, blood and violence, a thumping soundtrack to accompany the most gruesome scenes, the Mafia,

the last days of disco and the start of punk ... it's all in there. Lee uses the real -life events of the summer of 1977 (heatwave, riots, and powercuts, but especially the murders committed by serial killer 'Son of Sam') as a backdrop to the lives of his fictional characters. The film focuses on Vinnie (John Leguizamo) .and his relationships with his wife Dyonna (Mira Sorvino), his lowlife so-called friends, his various girlfriends and his ego. As the killer murders more and more people in Vinnie's area, hysteria and suspicion set in amongst the group of friends, and breaks down their friendship.

This is not, however, a serial killer movie. Despite moments of tension, it is not a thriller either. In fact, this film doesn't really know what it wants to be. Lee tries so hard to make it a bit of everything

that it just ends up a mess. lt is supposed to give an overview of that summer, and the oppressive atmosphere that there must have been in New York due to fear and heat, but there is too much in it to make a cohesive, clear picture. The main problem is that you don't care enough about any of the characters, because there is nobody particularly likeable in it. The closest that any of them come is Donna, excellently acted by Sorvino, as the betrayed neglected wife. But she is no heroine, and you feel pity rather than empathy. Vinnie is a sexist, unfaithful coward, but, again, this encourages pity rather than hatred. Stylistically, however, Lee has made a very interesting film. The camerawork, while not wholly original (MIV has a lot to answer for) definitely works for this kind of story. There are lots

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of zooms and grainy film for the punk bits, and nice Saturday Night Fever references in the disco dancing scenes.

The obligatory parts concerning the black community are humorously self-referential and tongue-in-cheek.

The soundtrack is good, although 1t can get a bit cheesy (for example, in Sorvino's leaving scene, the song playing is Don ' t Leave Me This Way) . The only really embarrassing, totally risible part of the film is Lee's uh .. . rather literal interpretation of 'Son of Sam's' mental disturbance. The killer thought that the next door neighbour's dog was giving him commands to go out and kill, so Lee has a big black Labrador sitting in his flat, speaking with a human voice ... come back Scorcese, all is forgiven ...

A trid Goldsmith

angela's ashes emily watson robert carlyle michael legge out now uci riverside

At last, a film 'based on a true story' that actually captures the essence o(the true ~tory. This is not of course to say that film-makers adopt books and sell out for a happy ending (what a thought) But merely commends Alan Parker's attempts to give Angela's Ashes the bleakness, misery and dark edged humour that shone through Frank McCourt's Pulitzer prize winning autobiography.

While starring two of Britain's best character actors, Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle, as the McCourt's parents, Angela and Malachy Sr, the two are completely outshone by the three young actors (Joe Breen, Ciaran Owens and M1chael Legge) who play their eldest child Frank through his less than 1dylic childhood. Coping with h1s kindly but alcoholic father and a mother who seems to divide her t1me between begging to charities for food and cloth1ng and what seems like almost contmual pregnancy, (you do begin to lose count after a while of how many children the family actually contains).

The McCourt family are, as Frank later puts it, "the only Irish family to be saying goodbye to the statue of liberty instead of hello" leaving America to return to Limerick after failing to fulfil the American dream .

As the family struggles to survive the harsh realities of life back in Ireland, the film really begins to develop. Joe Breen who plays Frank from the age of five puts in an enchanting performance which would make even the hardest of hearts come over all maternal. Breen effortlessly captures much of the helplessness of the situation as he shoulders much of the responsibility of the family while still dreaming of making it back to the promise land - America.

Alan Parker sets the scene well, the Limerick lanes and interior shots including the families two room house are clearly evocative of the period before the slum areas were cleared. Still you get the feeling that Parker 1s keen to pull out all the stops to make Ireland look as miserable and bleak as possible. I don't actually thmk the sun shone once throughout the entire 148 minutes of film. I know Ireland isn't supposed to look like the Greek Islands but the last time I checked Ireland wasn't engulfed 1n rain storms ready to wash away half of the country's houses. While some cntics have argued that it is too depressing for the majority of the cmema going populace, and admittedly the film is never comfortable viewing. However, there are still many comical moments particularly as Frank comes to terms with adolescence. The cast keep 1t all the right s1de of melodrama, and the film was almost good enough to let me forgive Alan Parker for making The Road to Wellville. Almost.

Caroline Jea ter

t he event, wednesday, february 02, 2000

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void moon michael connelly with his work I was anticipating a good read and Void Moon more tha n delivers.

In a genre where the conventions dictate that you open the story with the discovery of a body and an early morning telephone ca ll to a detective, Connelly has consistently subverted reader expectations. Void Moon is no exception. Structurally it resembl es the cinematic style of Pulp Fiction: a series of interlocking narratives both past and present, whose multiple character perspectives and strands only truly come together in the fina l scene; a bloodbath in a Las Vegas penthouse.

Connelly's rea l skill is in making accessible to his readers elements of the cri minal world ignored by more conventional writers. In Void Moon we enter the bizarre world of Las Vegas where everything is an illusion and nobody's word can be takeo at face value. Protagonist Cassie Black, a former "high roller robber" who made her living stealing gambler's winnings, is on probation when a sudden change in her circumstances forces back into 'business'. Seemingly a simple "snatch" the job goes haywire when the suitcase turns out to contain $2.5 million dollars. But just who does the money belong to?

Enter Jack Karch a freelance security "consultant"' - better known as Jack of Spades for keeping a shovel in h1s car and knowing the soil substructure of the Nevada desert better than most geologists - and things really heat up. Void Moon is a stunnmg tale of double-crosses and robbery m a city where nothing is what 1t seems and everybody has a past. Classic Connelly suspense.

Kris Siefken

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review: theatre

~7

widowers' houses norwich playhouse This production of one of Shaw·s earlier plays, currently on tour by the national theatre, is a treat.

With a distinguished cast and fines performances all round, this is enjoyable theatre.

Widowers' Houses is a powerful yet subtle work of social critique and romantic passions. The story charts the passionate love affair of a young doctor Harry Trench to Blanche Sartorius, Daughter of the Widowed and infamous slum landlord Sartonus.

Thei r idyllic romance is shattered when Trench discovers the 'source' of Sartorius's income. Unable to come to terms with the tainted money, Trench breaks off his impending engagement to Blanche, thinking he has freed himself from the grasping Sartorius. Fate decides otherwise. The power of money is ultimately too much, and corrupting in scope. Trench finds that 1t IS much more difficult than he imagined, and whether he likes 1t or not, he is lmked to Sartorius, as he learns of Blanche's pregnancy. At the climax of the play Trench is encircled, both metaphorically and literally, by the naked greed of business, from wh1ch he cannot escape. And 1n an unholy alliance of money and lust, Trench acquiesces. There is an excellent scene in which Trench, having been told by Sartorius that he is implicated in his reprehensible occupation, says to Sartonus, "I never knew I lived in a glass house". And this theme is alluded to throughout the play by the set design which includes a large glass room with broken panes and a circular revolving mirror.

The themes in play reflect Shaw's concerns about the social conditions of the poor in Victorian London. His socialist conscience is much in evidence in this work. The play never refrains from pricking the pretensions and hypocrisy of polite society. Scratching beneath the thin veneer of social respectabi lity and acceptable manners. His observations are both humorous and poignant. In

~ednesday,

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happy days maddermarket theatre

As a rev1ewer it has been my misfortune to read some tru ly appalling thrillers, a great many average thrillers and the occasional thriller that makes me despair of the entire publishing community altogether. lt was a relief then when I was given the latest offering from Michael Connelly to review because in the world of contemporary thriller writers his is one of the few standout names. Being familiar

the event,

review: theatre

refusing to settle for a traditional 'happy' ending, Shaw does not shy away from the subtle complexities involved. Exploring the place where money and affairs of the heart meet. And in this uncompromising stance, the work derives its force and impact.

Ayo Mansaray

february 02, 2000

The Maddermarket Theatre was full to capacity for the opening night of Samuel Beckett's critically acclaimed Happy Days. The play is an almost continuos monologue delivered by Winnie (Dot Bins), interjected with occasional grunts and barked statements from her companion Wi llie (Tim Seeley).

As in Beckett's well known work Waiting For Godot, the play takes place over the course of two days, each day being one Act, although it is not clea r whether the second day immediately follows the first. In these 'days' there is no real day or night - it is as if suspended at a point of infinite noon in the blazing heat.

Winnie and Willie allow a piercing bell to control there daily lives including the1r waking and their sleeping as well as the activities which they have created in order to keep themselves occupied. In Winnie's words "the bell (pause) it hurts like a knife (pause). A gouge (pause). One cannot ignore it."

Th is bleak sense of inevitability continues as a theme throughout the play, even though Winnie says that it is another "happy day·•.

The set is almost abstract, Beckett's precise directions specifying that there be a mound of earth in which Winnie is buried up to her waist in the first Act and then up to her neck 1n the second. The only props are Willie's yellowed newspaper and Winnie 's bag which conta1n various items including a gun and

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a mirror which form her entertainment as well as triggering memories of the past. Most of Winnie's dialogue is dedicated to remembering the past, although she can only recall five specific days. Two of these were before she met Willie and show a very different Winnie to the static character who is before us on the stage. She tell s of her first dance, her fi rst kiss, but nothing is indicated to us as to why she is in her current predicament. In fact this is almost entirely ignored through out the play although Willie would be perfectly able to dig her out. This absence of context is typica l of Beckett, and is also used in Waiting for Godot.

His characters have no history apart from selected images that the audience is allowed to be a party to. This device allows us to concentrate fu lly on the situation presented to us without forming opinions based on past events. Dot Bins almost frighteningly happy Winnie portrayed the misery and monotony of her situation with sensitivity and wit. The rea lism and tightly stylised method of acti ng involved in this role could prove a challenge to any actress, but Dot Bins made it her own, bringing subtle humour and poignancy in equal measure. She was supported well by Tim Seeley's Willie, which was unobtrusive, but certainly added to the humour and the overall mood of the production.

Elin Jones

theatre

who's afraid of virginia woolf? norwich playhouse Runn1ng from January 11 to 15 at the Norw1ch Playhouse was Edwards Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Wool!. The production, directed by Bernard H1ll (who acted in Boys from the Black Stuff and Titanic) will be coming to UEA on January 28.

The play, first performed in 1962, cemented Albee's position at the forefront of American drama.

Watching the Playhouse production it was not easy to understand why. The witty and incisive dialogue lost much of its effectiveness in a performance that stretched to a length of over three hours. For most of that time it seemed as if half of the cast could not decide on which side of the Atlantic the play was set, resulting in accents that combined Mayor Quimby from The Simpsons and our very own dear Queen. All of the underlying violence, so palpable in the film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, faded into melodramatic whining and weeping, and the very basis of the play gradually lost direction over the course of 180 minutes.

The play was not ent1rely w1thout merit, and the character of George (played by Tony Scannell) almost salvaged the evening single-handed.

Almost. Instead, the theatre, half full or half empty depending upon one's outlook, contained two stages. On one, four actors did their best 1n wringing much of the tension out of an otherwise elastic script. On the other, fifty or so viewers bit their fingernails , fiddled with their hair, and generally fidgeted around in seats that felt nowhere near comfortable enough for such an extended version of the play. As always with a script of such potential, there is a great possibility that by the time Hill's production reaches UEA, two additional weeks of practice will have shed length and added vibrancy.

If not, viewing this play might just finalise impressions that there's already enough of Virginia Woolf at UEA, without having to hear why other people are equally afraid of her.

And rew Goodson

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game: f1 world grand prix

Are you Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard, or Mika Hakkinen? No? Me neither. That's why I'm not winning much on Playstation's F1 World Grand Prix '99.

To say that this game is tricky is something of an understatement even though you're given maximum help from the outset. You're put in the fastest car, on the easiest circuit, with the ability to out-brake every other car on the track, but this makes absolutely no difference for one main reason.

The Playstation people have cast a spell on your analogue controller. That's right, you read correctly. My theory is that a small goblin is controlling the steering resulting in a swerve to the left of about ten feet each time the controller is touched. The upshot of this is that your driving line around the whole course resembles a series of short chicanes littered with frequent visits to the gravel pit. And herein lies the main problem with F1 '99, it can't decide whether it wants to be a realistic F1 game, or a fun-to-drive, crash-about, Super Mario Brothers type game.

As far as the little details go it couldn't be more accurate. The circuits are perfect down to the

sponsors' painted logos on the grass and the camber of the track. There are numerous options within the garage, allowing the player to choose the level of involvement in the game; You can select your tyres, change your wings, the whole set-up is at your disposal.

There are even weather checks, and the option of picking your own strategy. And this is the area in which F1 '99 really impresses as each decision is accompanied by a neat animation sequence.

Indeed the outward appearance of the game is superb as the opening credits give testament to, but this does not make up for the shortcomings in gameplay.

For a game which has put so much effort into detail it is disappointing that you can get away with the most outrageous crashes without having to visit the pit, and that the gravel pits which prove so hazardous in real life can be negotiated with ease.

If you're a die-hard F1 fan then this is the best about, but for the rest of us my advice would be to try out Grand Turismo or Colin McRae instead.

This is simply too dull and too frustrating.

But at least it doesn't have Murray Walker.

Matty Reed

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If you have a keen interest in World War Two or you just enjoy a well thought out and satisfying shoot' em up, then Medal of Honour is the game for you. You are Lt Patterson, recruited into the OSS to wreak havoc from 5 June 1944 onwards. Your challenge is to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour.

However, this is harder than it sounds. In order to do this you have to achieve an excellent rating on all levels, which does get easier with time, but you do need plenty of it. Having only been awarded one medal out of eight to date gives you some idea of the commitment required to achieve the ultimate prize. However, this is nonetheless a very enjoyable, if challenging, game. The harrowing music, which has a great effect at 2am, can be misleading when you have killed all the enemy yet they still appear to call out, but it does keep you on your toes. The range of missions is commendable, allowing you to fulfil all your desires, be that gunning down an inordinate number of the SS in a French village to infiltrating a merchant vessel and sabotaging it while under cover as a Kriegsmarine Officer (probably the most enjoyable level). You also have the opportunity

game: medal of honour to destroy a large number of objectives including a Railway gun, U-boat, and a V2 rocket site. You even have the privilege of recovering stolen artwork and halting attempts to build the atomic bonib in Norway. While doing all this you are in the first person, having to kill the enemy with your large array of genuine weapons and also with your stealth, whilst ensuring your health is topped up, which can be a problem.

The multiplayer option can only be described as limited and therefore poor, but the essence of this game dictates that it is focused on a single player.

The number of weapons that you do carry, despite the fact that you would be overloaded, gives you a large amount of firepower, yet there is a good balance between the finesse of using your silenced pistol at close range and the overt warmongering when equipped with a bazooka and sniper rifle. If you like your games to have a realistic storyline while still maintaining a high degree of playability then this is most certainly for you, and due to the nature of the game it won't be replaced within the year.

Laurie Swan-lngrey

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At the risk of tarnishing this esteemed organ's reputation for unflinching critical excellence, I'd venture to say that The Mummy was one of 1999's best films; the perfect brain-autopilot lndy-style stupidity to give your exam-battered mind a well earned rest. Basically a resurrection of John Balderston's 1932 film of the same title, the plot (such as it is) centres around the attempts of Jonesy adventurer Rick O'Connel (Brendan Fraser) and the prissy but gorgeous British librarian Evelyn (Rachel Wiesz) to fend of the less than friendly advances of one newly reawakened corpse named lmhotep (half CG graphics, half Arnold路Vosloo), who long ago got condemned to everlasting undeadness for having it away with the Pharaoh's mistress and now has an understandably bad case of early morning grumpiness which makes him kill people to rebuild his decayed body. Rick's original plan was to find the lost city of Hamunaptra, where according to legend the fortunes of the pharaohs were stored.

However as bad luck would have it it's also where lmhotep was buried and bears the tourist-repelling nickname City of the Dead, which of course does

little to deter Brendan big-chops. Writer/director Stephen Sommers script is suitably lacking in depth, primarily moulded around what turns out to be the real star of the film, the special effects: sand flies all over the shop as lmhotep starts whoopin' ass, swamping the movie in rather impressive tidal waves of orange which probably looked more impressive in the cinema than they will on the small screen. Wiesz and Fraser also make a nice couple in a cartoony, big-jawed hero/feisty heroine type of way and supporting roles are filled by John Hannah as Evelyn's brother and Jonathan Hyde as an Egyptologist. Providing you don't rent this particular video with too many expectations, though, it should prove worth the two quid. While not quite the worthy successor to the movies it so obviously intends to 'pay tribute to' (Indiana Jones meets a sand-happy Terminator), the whole rickety assemblage of Bmovie cliches is saturated in enough glossy effects, PG-Ievel scariness, and thrown-in-for-the-critics bits of self-aware irony to provide suitably undemanding viewing. The mother of all monster movies.

Steve Collins

~. 8 Wherein, as you probably already know because you've seen it, the irrepressible spy has his 'mojo' (ie the essence of his monstrous libido) stolen by Dr Evil. A more than adequate joke-for-joke resurrection of the first film's Carry On capers, this sequel sees our hero returning through a multicoloured time machine to the Sixties to reclaim said Mojo from the clutches of his nemesis whilst prancing through a gloriously stupid series of visual set pieces and cramming as many Kenneth Williamsy puns into an hour and a half as possible. lt has been hailed as one of the rare examples of a sequel improving on the original; from the opening scene featuring Myers' manhood being stunt-doubled by various items of phallic scenery, to the Moonraker style ending, this Movie delivers a viscously funny, determinedly silly trawl through every corner of groovesome British cultural heritage.

Heather Graham fills in the dolly assistant role in the absence of Liz Hurley (who makes a revealing, if brief appearance at the beginning) . Her performance as one Felicity Shagwell ("shagwell by name, shag very well by nature" hur hur etc). provides a nice adjunct to Myers kerazeeness,

video: austin powers ii although the complications of the script demand little more of her than to look pretty, which she does very well indeed.

The visual humour has been thawed almost completely intact from the last movie too, with the brilliant addition of Mini Me, Dr Evil's sprightly young midget assistant who does a nice impression of a psychotic pit bull, and at the other end of the scales the stupendously obese Fat Bastard, who's fat, Scottish and very, very disgusting. The cast of the original movie have all been brought back, with Rob Lowe becoming Number Two's 1960s doppelganger (though rest assured Robert Wagner does return), Mindy Sterling as the evil one's shrewish henchwoman, and Mr Bigglesworth as himself, while Mini Me sets about causing yet more emotional complications for young Scott Evil (Buffy's Seth Green) by filling the role of Evil Junior a bit too well.

Whether a third Powers film can still be as funny as this one remains to be seen, but as it is this is probably the best thing out to rent at the moment, and if you've got DVD there's a host of other shagadelic features to discover.

Steve Collins

the event, we_dnesday, february 02, 2000

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essential tv: soaps Eastenders will soon be essential viewing as young Maffyoo finally exacts some form of revenge upon Steve.

Sneak prev1ews of what form th1s revenge is likely to take are vague, but the clues seem to Indicate that it 1nvolves little Matt looking really hard and scary brandishing a lighter, while Steve cries like a great b1g baby. The Beeb have dedicated an entire episode to them, with the whole gripping saga starting on Tuesday February 01 and continuing on the Thursday. Go on Maffyoooo!! Beppe contmues to fend off Sandra's belated attempts to be a mother to Joe, while evil pasty-face lan's been humbled by Jamie when he walked out on the shop, and quite right too. Go on Jam1eee!! Whether or not the young scamp will go into bus1ness with Phil is uncerta1n at the time of going to press.

Poor old Mark's condition should be seen to improve once he comes out of hospital on a new combination of drugs, after Dot had a right old go at him. Go

on Dot!! There w111 be one farewell though as Josie leaves the country 1n fear of being deported, don't worry Josie the Home Office have enough problems deporting war cnminals and civil rights abusers you should be able to find refuge for a few more weeks. But while Mick losses his mum, Nina could well become the new woman 111 his life, and about time too! Elsewhere in soapland, Home and Away will soon see the tragic breakdown of Donald when Marilyn calls from America with some shattering news, while in Coronation Street the discreet affair between Mark and his fathers flooz1e heats up when they are nearly caught in a compromising position and Linda begins making rather suggest1ve comments to both her lovers about their situation. Keep an eye on jealous-guy Vinny this week when h1s mis-Interpretation of the Rover's landlady's behaviour turns him into a kind of green-eyed monster that is JUSt not welcomed by Natalie. And let's not

forget the mad , bad woman Amy Goskirk who has newly arnved on the street with the hellbent mission, it seems, to make her ex's l1fe a m1sery. Dev continues to wonder when the rest of the street will see through the mal1cious and pathological li es of his once-loved-one, Amy, who continues to make life dec1dely m1serable for the smooth shopkeeper, including getting him thrown out of the Rovers! Go on Amy! In Neighbours, meanwhile, Harold and Lou 's long standing rivalry is about to enter a whole new level. Harold, convinced that a rare bird is nesting in Ramsey Street, is determined to photograph it, but when a bird watcher's magazine announces it's offering a prize to the first person to spot the suspiciously-named Helmeted Honeyeater, Lou reveals a hitherto disguised passion for ornithology.

Meanwhile, Madge attempts to derail Lou's scheme. Go on Madge!!

Melani Davies & Sieve Co ll ins

essential film: 01 taxi driver and sid &nancy taxi drive r c4, la te february , date tbc sid and nancy c4, tuesday , february 08 , 23 :20 - 01:.20

_ ,...

No doubt in an attempt to boost interest in Scorsese's latest picture, Bringing Out The Dead , Channel 4 is showing his previous collaboration w1th screenwriter Paul Schrader, Taxi Driver. De N1 ro plays the classic anll -hero Travis Bi ckle, the ex-Vietnam vet who takes a job as a taxi driver in an attempt to cure his rampant 1nsomnia.

From the dnver's seat of his yellow cab Trav1s observes the finest scum New York has to offer and becomes more than a little jaded by what he sees, declaring that "some day a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the street". By scum he means, "the whores, skunk pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers and junkies, " obviously. As you can see Travis is a little bit mad, and that's at the beginning of the movie, from here on it all goes down hill.

With this and Mean Streets the Scorsese/ De Niro partnership was set. The film is undoubtedly a classic if unpleasant film, with a cast Hollywood would kill for these days that includes a very young Jodie Foster as the 14 year old prostitute Travis tries to save, and Harvey Keitel as her pimp, Sport. Ronald Reagan even got shot because his would be assassm, John Hinckley Jr, was emulating the film claiming that he was

trying to impress Jodie Foster's character. All this and that "You talkin' to me?" scene, (wh1ch incidentally was improvised by De N1ro and is now the battle cry for many a drunken brawl} make this film's influence hard to 1gnore. No wonder the poster is on about one in ten student walls.

Also appearing on terrestrial TV soon 1s Alex Cox's definitive portrayal of punk 's first couple, Sid Vicious (p layed to stoned, gangly perfection by Gary Oldman} and Nancy Spungen (Chloe Webb}. At once touching and suitably grim, this film manages to be both a fascinating docu -drama of the Sex P1stols' self-induced implosion and a harrowing love story, focussing as it does on the coup le's descent into heroin addiction and ultimately death at the age of 21. Cox started wri ting the script before he made cult hit Repo Man in 1984, with the intention of portraying the "very strange and insane stuff attendant to being in love that normally doesn't get dealt with m films". The resu lt is an unglorified and harrowing film that follows the couple 's re lationsh ip from the moment Vicious meets the permanently stoned American groupie Nancy to the point at which he wakes up from a narcotic coma and finds her dead. Oldman's performance as Sid steals the show, though - he actually ended up hospitalised owing to the required weight loss of the role. Self-styled Nancy of grunge Courtney Love also makes a brief cameo.

Chris Marchand and Steve Collins

essential tv: 01 trigger happy c4 fridays _21 :30 Would you trust Dom Joly? After watching an episode of his quick fire comedy series, in wh1ch he plays an assortment of characters unleashing pranks on poor, unsuspecting pensioners and naive tourists, I will personally be very suspicious of any boy scouts or fishermen I see heading my way in the near future. On paper, the idea of fat men struggling to get out of elevators and a business man shouting into an oversized mobile phone does not really sound like prime-time comic material. But Joly manages to pu ll it off wonderfully, owing his success to the shocked and startled reactions of his ill -fated victims.

Some of the highli ghts include Joly as one of two people dressed in rabbit costumes having rampant sex in a cinema and Joly - with fi lm crew - coaxing a hapless woman into running after him through the streets of London (promising a part in a TV game show and the chance to win "top prizes"} before jumping into

essenfat v: 02 bag puss c4 weekday mornings "Nyet Nyet Nyet Nyet Nyet". Do not fear, Event readers; this is not about to become an essay on what to say if a particularly large and hairy Russian comes and asks if you'd like to buy his gigantic warhead. Instead , these are the classic lines spoken by Professor Yaffel, the resident cynic of kids TV series Bagpuss which makes a welcome return to our TV screens this month. Bagpuss is perhaps the greatest children 's programme ever made, with an aura of innocence sadly lacking in most of the American twaddle that kids are fed nowadays.

The story revolved around Bagpuss, a big pink cat who belonged to a girl called Emily who had a shop where she used to bring things she found on her travels.

Now this was not like any normal shop, the kind where smelly teenagers try and flog you nubbish all so some rich shareholders can make even more money; no, this was a cooperative, where none of the items were for sale, they just awaited collection by their rightful owners. In every episode Emily would bring a '"thing" she found to Bagpuss and his friends; professor Yaffel, the mice, Madeleine the Rag Doll and Gabriel the Toad. Yaffel would always doubt the tnue purpose of the "thing", the mice would clean it, and Gabriel and Madeleine would sing a relevant folk song.

the event, wednesday, february 02, 2000

a cab and leaving her stranded in the middle of nowhere. One may question the morality behind ridiculing such innocent parties, but, in my opinion, if you are gullible enough to be taken in by a 30 year old man dressed in a boy scout uniform then you deserve everything you get. The real question behind this type of comedy lies in its durability. How many t1mes can you get away with playing the bagpipes excruciatingly bad in front of people drinking coffee before it just isn 't funny anymore?

I give it another two or three episodes before those who have been following these antics from the beginning will find their fingers twitching for the remote control. Billed as "the ultimate TV junk food" and as everyone knows, a lot of junk food can leave you feeling rather sick and longing for something a bit more healt hy. For the moment Trigger Happy TV remains a remarkably hysterical change to the sketch-show formula at a time where other sketch-shows are becoming stale (Smack The Pony, anyone?}, and giants, such as the Fast Show, are nowhere to be seen.

Markland Starkie

Then Bagpuss would go into a trance , and they'd all have a nice story. Every Bagpuss episode was a class1c, but most count the Mouse Mill as being the finest. The arrival of the mill is greeted w1th delight from the mice, who proceed to demonstrate how it IS possible to make chocolate biscu1ts from breadcrumbs and butterbeans. Yaffel, ever the disbeliever, is suspicious of this culinary miracle. and wanders round the back of the mill to find that the mice are merely carrying the ingredients and the biscuits round and round. lt is not a mice mill at all! So if l""l'l'r.T~you're feeling the need to escape the artifice of modern life, and long for something simpler, tune in to Bagpuss.

And like Emily, you'll soon love him.

Lu ke Tu rner

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the essential guide to what's going on in norwich over the coming fortnight

·event horizon: film union films

thursday, february 17

the blair witch project Ok, so we're all s1ck to bloody death of it by now, but this is still the best psychological chiller since The WICker Man. Cruelly misinterpreted in Bntam as an old-fashioned frightener along the lines of... thursday, february 06

election Natty little satire on American politics with Reece Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick as the main players in the run-up to a high school election. See? This is what can be accomplished with a bit of thought. friday, february 18

the haunting ... wh1ch sticks to the predictable plot of a bunch of people (including Uam Neeson and Catherine Zeta Jones) wandenng round a big house and be1ng molested by malevolent forces. Things could be worse - th1s nearly had Uz Hurley 1n it. fnday, february 04 rushmore Comedy set 1n an American h1gh school w1th Bill Murray (never a waste of a couple of quid) as a teacher actmg as mentor to a hopeless, lovelorn student. Fortunately this IS the one in every ten (thousand) of 1ts type that actually is funny. tuesday, february 08 south park: bigger, longer and uncut If you like the senes you'll love 1t. Make 1t even better by dragging along the oldest, most religious relative you can find and watch the look on their faces during "Shut your f**king face, uncle f**ka".

Entertainment doesn't come any better than th1s. thursday, february 10 bowfinger Struggling director Steve Martin and unw1tt1ng star Edd1e Murphy team up to np the piss out of Hollywood star vehicles and amazmgly - considenng some of the crap they've been churning out over the last couple of years - it works! fnday, february 11 titanic Impeccably scheduled nght on the day before Valentme's Day, stand by for a mass female exodus to a film that my Cro-Magnon male bra1n IS prepared to dism1ss as merely "alright". If you have been living 1n a cave for the last four years, what happens is Leo gets on a boat, almost certainly gets on Kate Winslet, falls off both and ends up looking a pillock by not having the Intelligence to climb onto a board. sunday, february 13 top gun Another heinously slushy outing, this time featuring Hollywood hobb1ts Tom Cru1se and Val KHmer as a couple of US Navy pilots compet1ng to see whose warhead IS the b1ggest. tuesday, february 15 american pie This IS about some charming young gentlemen whose high school (what d1d I say before!?) expenences sw1ng from lechery to madcap onanism and back again. Perfect for those with poor senses of humour and few 1deas and/or members of the rugby club.

cinema city fight club Brad Pitt helps Edward Norton discover that grown men beat1ng the livmg daylights out of each other IS something that is healthy, constructive and not at all confined to members of the police. If you haven't yet caught this modern day masterpiece seize the opportunity before video release. friday, february 04, 23:15 star wars: episode one Jedi knights Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson defend the peaceful world of Naboo aga1nst the ruthless Trade Federation, represented by a man who has obviously fallen asleep on a barbecue. friday, february 11, 23:15 go see essential film 02. fnday, february 18, 23:15 the blair witch project I say, what a tembly ongmal idea for a film. Those nice boys Myrick and Sanchez should release this.

Maybe it might make a bit of money ... fnday, february 25, 23:15 yellow submarine Decades before Miami 7, John, Paul, George and Ringo use their own special someth1ng to confound those nasty Blue Meanies (so not referring to any particular political persuasion there then ... ). saturday, february 05, 14:30 & 17:45 cas per The an1mated ghost and his three ghoulish uncles are the real stars of this live-action vers1on of the classic 'toon. saturday, february 19, 14:30 the iron giant Yes, the title 1s the nght way round. Th1s IS about a benevolent robot from outer space, not a great b1g fabric-flattening appliance. monday, february 21, 14:30 jakob the liar WW2 Polish ghetto drama starnng Robin Williams as a man who raises the sp1rits of his friends by pretending to have a radio and 1nvent1ng news of Naz1 blunders. sunday, february 20, 20:15

time regain ed Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Beart and John Malkovich star in this French-ltalian eo-production of Marcel Proust's life story. The writer recounts the action from his deathbed, frequently slotting h1s own fictional characters into real- life events in th1s biography-cum-comedy. fnday, february 04, saturday, february 05 and monday, february 07 feb, 20:00 tuesday, february 08 - thursday, february 10; 17:30 thursday, february 10 also 14:30 the limey Terrance Stamp re-emerges onto the actuig scene in th1s Get Carter-Ish story of a Bntish gangster travelling to Los Angeles to investigate h1s daughter's apparent suic1de. As you m1ght expect, there are many surprises along the way ... fnday, february 04 and monday, february 07 at 5:45pm tuesday, february 08 - thursday, february 10 at 20:15 monday, february 07 and tuesday, february 08 also at 14:30 happy texas After amving 1n the small town of Happy, two escaped convicts (Jeremy Northam and Steve Zahn) are forced to cover the1r tracks by masqueradmg as the gay organ1sers of a beauty pageant. As the farce becomes heightened, the social structure of the town starts to collapse about them. friday, february 11, saturday, february 12 and monday, february 14, 17:45 tuesday, february 15 - thursday, february 17 20:15 tuesday, february 15, 14:30 wonderland Three generations of a London fam1ly - 1nclud1ng Gma McKee, Jack Shepherd and John Simm - are put under the m1croscope, each to reveal the1r own failings, inadequacies and detachments, 1n a wellscnpted modem tale of reconciliation. friday, february 11, saturday, february 12 and monday, february 14, 20:15 tuesday, february 15 - thursday, february 17 17:45 thursday, february 17, 14:30 the straight story The latest offering from DaVId Lynch IS an eVIdently true account of Alv1n Stra1ght's mov1ng JOUrney across Amenca by lawn-mower to visit h1s sick brother. Should've guessed really. fnday, february 18, monday, february 21, 17:45 tuesday, february 22 - thursday, february 24 20:15 tuesday, february 22, 14:30 the t1chbourne claimant Costume drama In which the nchbourne family heir, long thought dead, appears to spring out of nowhere and cla1m h1s inheritance. A climactic court battle ensues to prove whether he is who he says he is. friday, february 18 and monday, february 21 20:15 saturday, february 19, tuesday, february 22 saturday, february 26 and monday, february 28 17:45

thursday, february 24, 14:30

uci american beauty see essential film 01 ang ela's ashes The emotional autobiographical journey of young Frank McCourt through the d1rt, alcohol and disease of lower-class Limerick in the 1930's. Reviewed on page 17. bicentennial man Robin Williams stars as the android gradually becommg human. Based on lsaac Asimov's Robot Dreams, don't you know. blue streak No, not what you'd get by puttmg a royal personage through a mangle (blue blood - geddit?), but Martin Lawrence blagging like buggery to sneak a diamond he1st from under the cops noses. the bone collector Sub Se7en/Silence of the Lambs tale, only this time w1th a calc1um fet1sh. Probably best to eat before well before - you see this. bringing out the dead Mart1n Scorsese 1s back d1rect1ng Nicholas Cage as a paramedic hamed by h1s dead patients. This one has its grisly moments as well. dogma Alanis Mornsette as God? Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as tearaway angels? Jesus swapping the cross for the thumbs up? If the world wasn't about to end, th1s would all JUSt seem a bit s1lly. east is east Om Pun, Eastenders' Jimi M1stry and a big spotty dog stand out 1n this rollickmg culture-clash comedy based in exotic Salford. inspector gadget Why, why, oh why do they bother? Matthew Broderick tries terribly hard but still ends up several go-go-gadget-arms lengths away from the standards set by the cartoon. the iron giant Animated adaptation of the Ted Hughes novel about a boy who forms a fnendship w1th an other-worldly metal man. Amongst the wailing and gnashing of teeth that results, you may be able to make out the vo1ces of Harry Connick Jr. and Jennifer Aniston. muppets from space The old cast are back together once again in a quest to reunite Gonzo w1th his alien family. Gonzo thinks better of th1s after he discovers that, like most families, his spend their t1me s1tting around on the sofa, watching telly, eating crisps and having rows about music (Joke, ha ha).

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m usic of the heart Meryl Streep actually did learn the violin for this true-life story of a music teacher bringing the classics to depnved black ghettos. Heart-wa rming or sickening depending on your mentality.

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event horizon this , they cheered the moment in the opening scene when all the (apparently horrible) wi ndows are smashed. You'll be relieved to know that's not one of the highlights for most people. toy story 2 Reviewed on page 17 .

ra ncid alu miniu m Rhys /fans and Joseph Fiennes take centre stage in this crime thriller as business partners desperately in need of a financial boost. Unfortunately, they end up getting it from Mafia boss Steven " / can't believe he's not Russian" Berkoff and they wind up in an awful lot of trouble.

the mu se The latest release from Albert Brooks starring Sharon Stone.

the sixth sense Apparently, one of the cameramen who shot this film died just before it was released . How do I know? Because he's standing right next to me ...

ride w ith the devi l Definitely one to look ou t for. Ang Lee's American Civil War epic starring Tobey Maguire, Jonathan "Gormenghast" Rees Meyers and Skeet Ulrich.

sleepy hollow A movie marriage made in heaven between Tim Burton and Washington lrvmg's delightful bedtime read. Johnny Depp supplies the dogged Investigation, Christlna Ricci the love interest and Christopher Wa/ken the worryingly empty shoulders. stigmata Faltering priest Gabriel Byrne gets to save the world when the Chnst-ilke wounds of the title beg1n to appear on the body of an unsuspecting hairdresser.

And to thmk when I first heard of thiS I thought it was sornethmg to do w1th botany. summer of sam Spike Lee brings to seedy, yet compelling l1fe the story of ··son of Sam " senal killer Dav1d Berkowitz, whose motiveless murders plun ged 70's New York into a paranoid frenzy. Reviewed on page 17 . tarzan Good-looking, healthy sounding, all round thoroughly commendable adaptation of the Rice-Burroughs classic. Until someone went and said "Phi/, we'd love you to do the songs ". the world is not enough Genu1ne contender for the title of "Bond to end all Bonds" . When a group of M/6 wo rkers went to see

director's chair season from monday, February 01

odeon sleepy hollow Tim Burton in full-on GothiC overdnve, Johnny Depp fainting at the sight of blood and a disgruntled decapitatee. To think it was so nearly out 1n time for Christmas ... rn uppets from space Kermit, M1ss Piggy, Fuzzy Bear and the rest of the gang strap on the Jet-packs, pull on the moon boots and set up Gonzo for a grand old get-together w1th his far-away folks. space jam I bet Michael Jordan never thought he'd spend h1s retirement watch1ng h1rnself teach animated ducks how to beat fat, slobbering demons at basketball, but that's just the sort of crazy, imaginative thing that happens in this Warner Bros. flick. bicentennial man Can Robin Williarns' 200 year-old robot finally break down the mechanical barriers and become as we are? To be honest, why anything even remotely sentient would want to subject Itself to the rigours of humanity is completely beyond me. the iron giant

You can't get away from him, can you? Now if this chap and Bicen tennial Man had a fight, who do you reckon would win?

101 dalmatians it's live! With real puppies! And Glenn Close looking surprismgly more hideous tha n the animated Cruel/a de Vi/. Spot the continuity cock-up when a racoon pops up in the "English" countryside. angela's ashes Robert Carlyle and Ernily Watson still going strong, assuming that Frank McCourt's good old Oirish pluck in the face of adversity hasn't become too much for you. Reviewed on page 17 . inspector gadget Rupert Everett hams it up as the The Claw (surely Dr?), but the whole thmg is let down by the unavoidable inadequacy of Matthew Broderick's ch1n. rnatilda Danny DeVito directs and stars in th is adaptation of the Roald Dahl story as the father of a young girl making mischievous use of her latent psycho-kineti c powers.

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

sleepy hollow angela 's ashes stigmata the bone collector the world is not enough bicentennial man the sixth sense inspector gadget east is east blue streak

a be a meri ca n beauty See essential film 01. double jeopardy Tornrny Lee Jones plays a parole officer whose loyalties are challenged by (obviously) wrongfu llyconvicted single mum Ashley Judd . Nothing at all like The Fugitive . Absolutely not. the si xth sense If we're lucky, th is will still be around when the sequel comes out. Then we 'll be able to watch them in sequence. Yippee. toy story 2 A sequel that's as good as the original? Well it happened with Austin Powers and it's happened again here. When Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) is half-inched to complete the mint-condition set of an obsessive toy-co llector, it falls to Tim Alien's Buu Lightyear and the rest of the toy-box collective to rescue him. Reviewed on page 17.

Listings written and compi led by Duncan Gates and Adam Chapman

£1,170,710 £1,136,786 £1,070,783 £718,521 £480,516 £453,512 £440,375 £407 ,043 £229,344 £193,954

american beauty showing at: uci riverside, abc

go showing at: cinema city

Acclaimed drama with Kevin Spacey as a man trying to break away from his dull existence, but unintentionally sparking the breakdown of his own family. AmericaN Beauty has met with unanimous praise from the critics for its direction and two lead performances (including Annette Bening) as well as winning best film at the recent Golden Globe Awards this is one film where you really should believe the hype, stop sitting in front of that rerun of Neighbours and venture outside. it would probably be wise to book your tickets in advance because th is promises to be one of the most eagerly anticipated fi lms of the year. Trust me, you won't be disappointed .

One of last year's most refreshing films. Don 't let its overtly cool outlook put you off, this isn't a mere case of style over substance. Three separate strands of plot (a la Pulp Fiction) are all brought together by a bungled drug deal. Sarah Polley provides a blistering performance while Dawson's Creek's Katie Holmes proving that, lo and behold , she isn't quite as wet as we all thought she was. No stupid loking men around for a start ... which always helps. Only showing for one screening catch it before it comes out on video. Go see it now (hurhurhur ... sorry couldn 't resist a cheesy by line)

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wednesday: february 02

friday: february 04

wax magic waterfront - club night This is not an evening where lots of pagans sit around making candles and saying spells. No, once again Wax Magic provides us, the humble students of UEA with some fats spinning drum & bass.

ian dury uea- gig Classic old bruiser fights off Illness once more to play UEA. For competition details see page 23.

superfly mojos - club night The most important Wednesday fixture since someone decided to have a financial crisis, Superfly is the place to go to shake your bits to the Seventies funk hits.

rammed ikon - club n1ght Please don't bring your specially adapted motor vehicle. There will be no nice stereos placed behind handily fragile glass windows, just some pounding choons, oh yes. pure swing manhattans - club mght Pure sw1ng - does exactly what it says on the tin.

Wide open space zoom - club night Walk through the doors of Zoom and be instantly transported to a Hebridean hilltop. Or dance to some indie music. swan lake theatre royal - play If you like Russians prancing around in leotards then the Theatre Royal is the destination for you tonight.

Our former Soviet cousins provide us with a night of fine ballet, ton1ght the classic Swan Lake is the ChOICe.

thursday: february 03 lcr disco uea - club night Hell makes its weekly visit to earth. Drink enough and you might die. essential time - club mght it's Norwich's biggest club, and it gets the biggest guests. Tonight they've managed to pull Usa lashes to play some of her record collection and demolish your eardrums. student night liquid - club night HA! Bet that caught you out, didn't it, Uquid having a student night on Thursday from now on, not Tuesdays anymore. Obviously, this presents you with the moral dilemma of whether to go to this or the LCR. the monastry of sound Rick's place - club night The baldest person with the nicest sackcloth gets in totally free, and receives a large cask of mead. charty handbaggy the loft - club night Norwich's friendliest gay night, open to all for some top commercial action. giselle theatre royal - play The pudding of the St Petersburg Ballet's performances at the theatre royal . With a first course of Swan, and this poignant tale to finish.

Delicious the kaos importance of being earnest playhouse - play A modem interpretation of the Wilde classic, with added slapstick and general arsing around. break dance education uea drama studio - club night Learn the art of breakdancing, in association with the Tumtablist society. 19:00

twizzle norwich arts centre - gig Sounds like a sickly sweety. Far from it; Twizzle are a superb folk band, whose violin, bass, and acoustic guitars can massage you ears for just

£2.50 elegant mOJOS - club n1ght The most beautiful garage in the world, complete with velvet curtams and mahogany furnishings. Get down there and inject some sleazy dancing spice. the thatcher years waterfront - club n1ght Get all misty eyes as you remember the Wicked Witch of the West; and rejo1ce as you realise that she must die soon. As you dance thmk of all She did for us ... clos1ng the mines ... mass unemployment... stock market crashes ... yuppies. ..poll tax ... lmagine the bush you puke m on the way home is hers. gorgeous manhattans - club night You won't look gorgeous when this club night closes - at 4am!! Grac1ous me, that's wild for Norwich, they'll be getting electricity soon. elite ikon - club n1ght Is this night of dance anthems sponsored by the popular makers of French Letters? I don't know, but perhaps 1t should be. commercial dance and party time - club n1ght we're not moving to adverts here; no no. Time give us a night of the freshest sounds around to make sure your weekend won't be a stale one. hy times hys - club night Alas, this isn't the place top save you money on the ferry fare to Amsterdam, proVIding coffee and wings.

But you can still have a nice time.

Come and be showered with minty music to clear your mind from the horror of the workmg week. satisfaction hys - club n1ght M1ck and Keef won't be here, but hopefully you'll be able to achieve it. Especially if you get a bit lucky.

He he. saturday rewind mojos - club night Relive the horrors of Narrich town centre on a Saturday while you have a little dance to garage, commerc1al dance and chart hits. dance club rick's place - club night Er... you dance here. Not much else. No line dancing though. hinge and bracket playhouse - comedy Don't worry, you won't have to sit listen1ng to a lecture on door hanging. These two old dears were a hit in the Sevent1es, and there charm remains to thiS day. What's more, one of them's called Dr Evadne Hmge, and that sounds a bit rude.

21

extra smooth sunday the garden house - club mght For a more relaxed approach pop down to one of The Triangle's most popular pubs, and forget the morning after to come with the freestyle sounds of live instrumentation and drum & bass. international club fraser hall, 59 bethel st - club night Widen your horizons beyond S Club 7 by popping down to the International club and listening to what the rest of the world has to offer.

monday: february 07 fantazmagroova mojos- gig Mojos has plenty to offer tonight, with a gig from Fantazmagroova, and then all your favourite lo-fi indie tunes from regular club night, The Underground. sanctuary ikon - club night Come and shelter, all you students, at this Ikon night.

giselle theatre royal - play see above for details.

sunday: february 06 sunday service manhattans - club mght What better way to follow a n1ght watch1ng Heartbeat than popping down to Manhattans and Indulging in a b1g of senous Sunday dancing.

carwash liquid - club night Yet more retro gubbins at Liquid's perennially popular shindig. Spot the 1d1ots who think wearing a plastiC afro is cool. They're usually from the rugby team. fame theatre royal - play 'Fame- I'm gonna live forever, gonna learn how to

concrete:

®ITO ~Duorn

www .concrete-online.co.uk

giselle theatre royal - play see Thursday, February 03 the kaos importance of being earnest playhouse - play see Thursday, February 03

saturday: february 05 meltdown waterfront - club night More sticky floored indie stuff in the Waterfront main room, with classic Madchester hits ooopstairs in't studio. Aye lad. retro:active uea - club night Hello retro kids, 1t's all happening again, this time with the added incentive of the Wanna Bee Gees; the men with the most crunched testicles in modern tribute music classic anthems and dance floor fillers time - club night Dance along to God Save the Queen, Star Spangled Spanner, les Marseilles and Ode to Joy while using a popular builders putty. Hang on a sec ... re:fresh ikon - club night

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fight,'gonna learn how to type .. .' Who can forget this classic line from the bizarrely Oscar wmning mus1cal. This shows how anyone could ascend the dizzy he1ghts of the fame ladder - or 1s an unintentional satire on how shallow the whole thing IS. s tum ble + support arts centre - gig The long established W1lde Club prov1des us with another n1ght of top ind1e tune ness.

tuesday:

8 moby waterfront - g1g Amencan dance man, famed for h1s Chnst1an1ty and ascet1c lifestyle, comes beanng aamn fine tunes revival time - club n1ght Well, 1f you mean a rev1val of the trad1t1onal art of go1ng out dancmg to chart stuff w1th a touch of the student about 1t, I hardly think the habit d1ed out m the first place. tvp - poetry for the fa r-sighted arts centre - g1g A launch do for Touch. a UEA masterminded poetry magaz1ne, complete w1th read1ngs and the like. £2.50/ £2 nus f ame theatre royal - play see Monday, february 7

wednesday: superfly moJOS - club n1ght The most Important Wednesday fixture smce

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someone dec1ded to have a financial crisis, Superfly is the place to go to shake your bits to the Seventies funk hits.

rammed ikon - club n1ght Please don't bnng your spec1ally adapted motor vehicle. There w1ll be no n1ce stereos placed behind hand1ly fragile glass w1ndows, JUSt some pound1ng choons, oh yes. pu re swing manhattans - club n1ght Pure sw1ng- does exactly what 1t says on the tin.

student night liQUid - club n1ght Yep, 1t's changed days, but the formula remains the same. students + chart music + alcohol = hangover next mornmg

e lite 1kon - club n1ght Is this night of dance anthems sponsored by the popu lar makers of French Letters? I don't know, but perhaps it should be.

the monastry of so un d ncks place - club night The baldest person w1th the n1cest sackcloth gets m totally free, and rece1ves a large cask of mead.

co mm e rcia l dance and pa rty t1me - club night we're not movmg to adverts here; no no. T1me g1ve us a n1ght of the freshest sounds around to make sure your weekend won't be a stale one.

charty handbaggy the loft - club n1ght Norwich's friendliest gay night, open to all for some top commerc1al actiOn.

hy times hys - club night Alas, th1s 1sn't the place top save you money on the ferry fare to Amsterdam, providmg coffee and w1ngs.

But you can st1ll have a n1ce t1me.

wide open space zoom - club n1ght Walk through the doors of Zoom and be Instantly transported to a Hebndean hilltop. Or dance to some 1nd1e mus1c .

above.

fame theatre royal - play see Monday, february 07

fame theatre royal - play see Monday, february 7

XLR8 feat. dj die and photek uea - club n1ght A n1ght out for the more d1scern1ng clubber, w1th drum & bass from Photek. He's from lpsw1ch, you know; and DJ D1e was the fellow who worked with Ron1 S1ze on h1s recent Breakbeat Era project. £9/ £7 nus advance

friday

fame theatre royal - play see Monday, february 7

thursday: fe lcr disco uea - club n1ght Hell makes 1ts weekly VISit to earth. Dnnk enough and you might d1e. essential time - club night it's Norwich's biggest club, and 1t gets the b1ggest guests. Ton1ght they've managed to pull Boy George to play some of his record collection and demolish your eardrums. Never before has a man spun so many records w1th so strange a collection of hats.

the nice moJo·s - Jau and reggae A new n1ght at mojo's, for all those 1n search of more rarefied musical delights than any of the

11 saturday: 90 's pop luck waterfront - club n1ght no sooner have we got nd of the n1net1es than there's a retro n1ght devoted to them, what IS the matter w1th today's soc1ety. £4/ £3.50/£3 depend1ng on nus and arnval time roger mcgough arts centre - g1g OBE winn1ng poet, th1s one. He has , apparently, ·'done for Bnt1sh poetry what champagne has done for weddings". Whatever that means

2 me ltdown waterfront - club n1ght More sticky floored ind1e stuff in the Waterfront mam room, w1th swmgers in the stud1o. Hopefully th1s has more to do w1th Austin Powers than suburban housew1ves 1n madv1sable underwear.

elegant mOJOS - club n1ght The most beaut1ful garage 1n the world, complete w1th velvet curta1ns and mahogany furn1sh1ngs. Get down there and InJect some sleazy dancing sp1ce.

classic anthems and dance floor fillers t1me - club n1ght Dance along to God Save the Queen, Star Spangled Spanner and Ode to Joy while usmg a popular builders putty. Hang on a sec ...

gorgeous manhattan's - club n1ght You won't lool1 gorgeous when th1s club mght closes -at 4aml! Grac1ous me, that's w1ld for Norwich, they'll be getting electncity soon.

re:fresh ikon - club n1ght Come and be showered with m1nty mus1c to clear your mind from the horror of the work1ng week.

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bruary 11

This man may be on a skate board as lambasted on page four of this publication, but we'll forgive him. For the fellow on the board IS none other than recent fnend (well, I suppose they still are) of Ron1 Size. DJ Die worked on the Breakbeat Era project, and was the man doing the m1xmg when they all popped up to Norwich last year. Like most of the Reprazent and Breakbeat chaps, D1e hails from Bnstol, the fount of many mus1cal delicac1es of recent years. Also w1th Mr Die 1s Norwich regular Peshay, who has a slightly shorter journey, com1ng as he does from Ipswich. Lets hope the Norw1ch Canary Beer Boy mass1ve stay well and truly at home. What with UEA run drum & bass n1ght Prophet soon to be taking up a residency in the Hive during LCR's it seems as if the genre IS starting to take a hold on NorwiCh.

the

event satisfaction hys • club night Mick and Keef won't be here, but hopefully you'll be able to achieve it. Especially if you get a bit lucky.

He he. saturday rewind mojos · club night Rel ive the horrors of Narrich town centre on a Saturday while you have a little dance to garage, commercial dance and chart hits. dance club Rick's place • club night Er... you dance here. Not much else. No line dancing though. fame theatre royal -play see Monday, February 07

sun day february 13 sunday service manhattan's • club night oh, it's a sorry state of affairs when a world faith has to hold its services in nightclubs in the hope of attracting congregations in the form of disappointed would -be clubbers, isn't it? Don't answer that. international club fraser hall, 59 bethel st • club night Norwich's International Club offer you a chance to meet new people and experience new cultures extra smooth sunday the garden house · club night drum&bass and live scratching are on offer while you drink your pint.

in the beginning monday february 14 muse arts centre · gig warbling purveyors of Radiohead-influenced tunery come to play their stuff. However, it is sold out now carwash liquid • club night the cat in Wind in the Willows was better, still, for a night of dancing to seventies retro, you could do much worse than this. sanctuary ikon • club night And a sanctuary is just what you'll need when the combination of loud music and pissed clubbers all gets a ·bit too much. the underg round mojo's · club night Yes, you too can be Going Underground just like the Jam did. Being Down in the Tube Station At Midnight would be a bit hard though, as Norwich has no underground railway.

tuesday february 15 a.s .byatt lt.1. gig the author of Possession, Babel Tower and Angels & Insects comes to talk about her work, as a visiting writer coming to UEA. revival time • club night A student night for us, the students. F**k me boots

ian dury - win tickets

and embarrassing states of inebriation are optional. slinky hy's -club another student night, for us, the students, if we can't be arsed to walk as far as the Riverside Centre. masterclass theatre royal · play Starring Jane Lapotaire, this is about the life of opera diva Maria Callas. Runs until Saturday, February 19

if you have a gig, club night, play, reading, sock darning event you 'd like to tell the lovely folk of uea about, just put the details on a piece of paper and drop them into the concrete office so that we can include them In this very listings section.

23

directory: 621155 hys 623559 the loft 6 29060 manhattans 621 541 ikon 611113 liquid 632717 the waterfront 622533 mojos 630760 zoom 767671 concept 660288 rick's place 627478 canary cue club 624677 abc cinema 622047 cinema City 621903 odeon 620917 maddermarket 660352 norwlch arts centre 766466 norwich playhouse 630000 theatre royal 592272 uea studio 629921 norwlch puppet theatre 766129 king of hearts 508050 uea union ents 223624 norwich castle museum 0800192192 scoot 0800 600900 talking pages

4

listings written and compiled by darcy hurford & Iuke turner all details correct at time of going to press

uealcr, friday, february lan Dury is truly a hero of modem music. After wowing audiences through the Eighties, his recent battle against cancer has attracted the attention of the world's press. Dury has always been philosophical about his illness, and has used his status for fundraising, and to increase awareness of cancer related counselling charities. Dury has been a regular guest at UEA for some years, and returns on Friday, February 0 4 to entertain the masses. In association with those lovely folks in Union Ents we have three pairs of tickets that you, yes you, can win in order to go and see the man at no charge whatsoever, All you have to do to win this prize is pop up to the Concrete office (before the day of the gig), and answer the · following simple question · what shaped heads do Dury's backing band have?

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