The event- issue 114- 20th September 2000

Wednesday, September 20, 2000

The scary world of Student TV Sex! Between the covers of classic literature Clubs! Norwich by the roll of the dice

Rock 'n' Roll! Iconic first year makeovers '

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Incite In he vent lnfoeus

Cutting -edge reportage from the ents'n'arts front line

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Dicing With Debt

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The disturbing world of stoodent TV

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Spunky punky

Pop punksters Brassy interviewed

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Norwich at random

This fine city by the roll of the dice 07

Classic sauce

The shocking revival of rum literary classics

lnsigln -depth features, comments, analyses and gubbins

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Hasta la Vista, baby

Filmic goodbyes inspected

09

Boom boom Mr Roy!

Basil 's back: the re-rere-return of nostal gia TV 10

The horror, the horror

Vietnam and Hollywood: Reading between the lines 11

"We 've gone Krautrock"

The sord id story of pop's worst sell-outs 12-13 Stars in their eyes

Fresher makeovers. Gulp_

Ins

cted

Everything reviewed and previewed for your pleasure

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Music: Robbie Williams;

JJ72; Sou lwax Film: 0 Brother, Where Art Thou; Space Cowboys; Play it to the Bone Video: The 13th Warrior; Magnolia; Lake Placid Arts: Beyond a Joke; lolanthe; The Yeoman of the Guard TV/Radio: C4 Animation Week; Soaps; A Very British Murder Interactive: The Nomad Soul; Ray Crisis; On the web: Icon Town

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20-23 The best guide to what's on in Norwich. Ever.

Editor in chief - James Goffin; Editor Steve Collins; Film Editor - Alex McGregor; Arts Editor - Elin Jones; Music Editor - Astrid Goldsmith; TV / Game Editor: Markiand Starki e; Listings - Adam Chapman DTP: Elin Jones; Nick Henegan; James Goffin; Adam Chapman; Steve Collins Contributing Writers: Kathe rine Everitt; Adam Chapman; Mischa Gilbert; Gemma O'Donnell Th anks to: Adam for t he listings, everyone who came back earl y and helped out.

Ext ra special big thank you hug t o: Alex

o, are you star material? Would your life entertain the people at home? Are you sexy, witty an d interesting enough to keep the viewe rs' itchy remote control fingers from flicking over? OK, so this is probably not the sort of question you want to be asked if you 've j ust started university and are feeling a bit insecure anyway, and if I'm scaring you I do apologise. But the fact is that, judging by the sorry state of 21st century television , this is the sort of question we should all be asking ourselves. After all, we 're the ones wh o are going to be watching.

You see, there's somethi ng rather sinister afoot in tellyland, and 1t's been brewing now for qu ite some t1me. And that thing 1s, we ll ... you. No offence , it's nothing personal. But with the 路average Joe on the bog路 cult of voyeur TV making stars of the most pedestrian no-marks and the threat of the BBC's genre-specific 'dumb1ng down' on the honzon, both viewer and viewed w1 11 soon be communing on the sofa in an un healthily narciSSISti c ro mp of mediacreated self-love. So to spea k.

According to an annou ncement made recently by Greg Dyke, d1rector general of the BBC, our beloved Beeb will soon be followmg in the footsteps of its satellite, cable and d1g1tal competitors, w1th BBC 1 becoming focussed upon entertainments alone, BBC 2 becommg more artsy, new channel BBC 3 aim1ng its sights at younger v1ewers and BBC 4 ta k1ng over from BBC Knowledge as the "uncom promisingly intell ectual mixture of Radi os 3 and 4 on television".

BBC News 24 Will become the fifth channel.

S

All well and good, but the net effect of this is viewer-specific programming is that we wi ll soon be faced with television wh ich routi nely

"Like millions of hormonal teenage boys c ollectively banging one out over Channel 5 porn, the televisual experience as we know it is becoming a kind of nationwide exercise in self路 love" compartmentailses not on ly its programmes but also its v1ewe rs. As a student, BBC 's 1 and 4 wou ld be 路your' channel, with an end less stream of 1noffens1ve, unchallenging viewing designed to give you exactly what you want. effectively tailored to avo1d surprising you m any way. The range of viewmg that made network television so va luable in the face of spec1al1st satellite channels 1s reduced, and as on satellite the quality of the programs w1 ll most probably fall .

Even more disturbingly, runni ng para llel to these proposed changes is the gradua lly bloom 1ng explos1on of anti-stardom that has been bleeding

mto our living rooms for so long now. The Real World, Big Bro ther, Jane bastard MacDonald: You' ll be fami liar by now with its grotty inti macies, and will no doubt have ac quiesced to having the spottyarsed fai lings of a million 'everyday' du llards beamed directly into your ilvmg rooms for your license fee.

OK, so thi s is nothing new - the firs t ever 'fl y on the wall' show was ca lled The Family, way back 111 the seventies - but splodge it on top of a TV smorgasbord consisting entirely of ready-processed 'viewer-spec ific' programmes, and wha t we have IS a rather biza rrely ca nnibali stic form of media, whe rein everything that appears on the screen 1s intended to be a somewhat patronising projection of 'the v1ewer's own image . L1ke millions of hormonal teenage boys collectively bang1ng one out over Channel 5 porn, the televisual experience as we lmow 1t ts becommg a kmd of nat1onw1de exerc1se 1n self- love, w1th Average Joe gelling off on watch ing Average Joe appear 1n programs that are spec1f1ca lly des1gned for, well, Average Joe. Now that's entertainment.

Who, then, 1s this 'v1ewer' 1n th1s brave new world of telly-4-u? Wel l, in an age when d1g1tal TVs and cable channels cu t up our view1ng 1nto easily digestible genre lumps, you pretty much are what you watch.

Like those grossly self-Important lab rats on Big Brother, you are the ra1son d'etre for your own personalised TV wo rld, and vice versa. You, dear viewer, are the star - let's JUSt hope there's enough of you to cover a 24-hour schedule.

Steve Col/ins

The Event is produced fortnightly by Concrete: PO Box 410 , Norwich, NR4 7TB Tel: 01603 2 5055 8 Fax: 016 0 3 506822 E-mail : su.concrete@uea.ac.uk Print ed by: Eastern Count ies News papers , Rouen Road, Norwich NR11RB

Wednesday, September 20,-2000

the

____ event ~=============='=n~~~======= HORNY! lt' s ••• The Event' s exclusive guide to

Great pop chat-up lines!

Just try using a few of these at the first LCR ... " Hey little thing a let me light yo ' candle, cos a mamma I'm so hard to handlenowgessaround" Ot1s Reddmg, Hard to Handle "I ain 't gonna worry/Ain 't gonna push/So come on baby/ Stop beatin ' round the bush/Let's get it on. " - Marvm Gaye, Let's Get it On " When I think about you I touch myselF' The D1vmals, I Touch Myself "If looks could kill you would be an Uzi or a shotgun I Bang! " - Salt N Pepa, Shoop "I wanna rock witcha baby/All night long// wanna roll witcha lady/Feelin' so strong" • Bobby Brown, Rock Witcha "C'm 'ere, baby."

- Aerosm1th, Crazy "I'm a man on the run/A six gun lover/Baby catch me if you can " · Son JoVI, Blaze of Glory "Shabba! " • Shabba Ranks, Mr Lovennan "Horny horny horny" Mark Mornson, Horny "Good strong men don 't grow on trees/l'm not talkin ' just to tease/You 're my pet/Come on over and wipe my sweat" - James Brown, I'm a Greedy Man "Technotechnotechnotechnotechno! "

Dawson's Creek: he game! lt's fun! lt's simple! lt furnishes the most meaningless lecturedodging TV junkie's life with some semblance of purpose! lt is, dear reader, the great Event checklist game, wherein showbiz cliches are pulled out of hiding and made to cavort around in front of the class in just their underpants.

Just tick off each cliche as it appears on screen, award yourself the stated number of points and then, er, do something else. This issue we aim our sights at those tedious little urchins up da Creek.

Be very afraid, you issue-ridden little bastards ...

1. Somebody climbs through a w1ndow instead of JUSt walking th rough the bloody door 1 point

5. Whats1sname nearly loses his anal cherry, but doesn't.

5 points

2. One or more characters stare Intensely across the creek, contemplating their pa1n.

2 points

6. Dawson's halfcut cont1nues to defy the progress1on of t1me by rema1nmg somewhere 1n the early n1net1es, poss1bly at a Bryan Adams concert.

3. Dawson turns down sex With somebody far more attractive than him 3 points

6 points

- 2 Unlimited, No Umits

"On the day that you were born the angles got together/And decided to create a dream come true " - The Carpenters, Close to You "Suppose a rock's out o~ the question? " Def Leppard, Let's Get Rocked "/ wanna toss I wanna tumble/1 wanna do it till my belly rumbles ... Yeah I'll butter the toast,/lf you lick the knife " -East 17, Deep " Bo! " Cra1g Dav1d, Rewind "I bet you 've never half a backstreet guy" - B1lly Joel, Uptown Girl "I get a kick out of you " - Frank S1natra, I Get A Kick Out of You "I could drink a case of you" - Jon1 M1tchell, A Case of You

Literature Con sed Arst In a new series presenting great literary works, handily condensed for the Intellectual bluffer. This Issue: The

Complete Works of Ph/lip Larkin, published

by Faber and Faber, £6.99 from all nice book-

The scene: A rubbish place, somewhere m Hull. ~Enter PHILIP LARKIN, as the po-faced poet of

middle England m1serablism) PL: Everything IS RUBBISH. Life IS RUBBISH Love IS RUBBISH. G1rls are RUBBISH. Sex IS RUBBISH. Work IS RUBBISH. Toads are RUBBISH. They fuck you up, your Mum and Dad. Death comes to us all.

Enter DEATH Death: Yes, I do.

Larkm DIES

THE END Next issue: Thus Spake Zarathrustra by Friedrich Nietzsche

4 Somebody d1sgorges an excessively verbose art1culat1on of their emotions 4 points

Cyberspace Oddity:

Furby Porn?

The teddy IS perhaps the most underestimated of the nature's beasts • so Innocent and ftuffy does 1t looK, that we often forget the undome. t1cated bestial urges that st1ll lurke w1th1n 1ts dark and spongy heart. Admittedly the atmosphere between Superted and Spottyman was at t1mes charged (the uncomfortable Silences, the awkward brush of spotty yellow hand on paw), but most bear owners would never have dreamed that their beloved m1ght. y'know, feel the love from t1me to t1me. The Karma Sooty (www.karma-sooty.co.uk) bears sorry testament to this oversight: the Karma Sutra of teddy pom, as energetically illustrated by messrs Sooty, Sweep and Soo, IS an eye-openmg 1ns1ght mto the sordid fantas1es that may be crossmg your compamon's little m1nd as he shares your bed.

F1stmg. Threesomes. Bondage. it's all here, in all its SICkly glory. Watch and learn.

Sadder still 1s the trag1c tale of the fallen Furby. Only last Chnstmas these talking, laughmg little furballs were ndmg high at the top of every ch1lds list to Santa. Alas, now the yu letide season has passed and the K1ds have got bored, the rurby has fallen from grace as well as populanty - as evidenced by a proliferation of Furby prostitutiOn networks on the web (www.fishdot.orW'furby/index.html). Each Furby of the n1ght comes complete w1th 1ts own sexy lingene. make up and Jewellery for your pleasure. In a way we need Sites hke th1s, to turn over the sord1d furry underbelly of the great b1g teddy myth. But JUSt don't let Mr.Snookems see them, eh?

7. L1sa Lobe or some other sUitably aulil n11c s,ngersongwnter acoust1c MOR MTV·fodder pap starts

warbling 1n the background.

7

points

8. Dawson cnes "bugger th1s for a game of soldiers", nps off h1s clothes. carves the word 'slut' 1nto his chest and embarks upon a sexual rampage. bonkmg anyth1ng that moves before brutally murdePng and ev1sceratmg the rest of the cast and hurling their twitChing, lifeless cadavers mto the creek so that 1ts once-plaCid waters congeal 1rto a hideous th1ck bubbling paste of blood and pa1n. Lisa Lobe plays out to fade.

1 ,000 points

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Wednesday, September 20, 2000

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Student TV has long been a slippery genre to define, with most of us supposedly appropriating our 'icons' from the cornier corners of daytime TV. But with 'win-a-grant' games how Dicing With Debt all set to grace our screens , it seems the cameras are focusing more upon the great undoshed- raising some interesting ethical questions. Mark/and Starkie investigates .. . ored with Ricki Lake and tha t ultra fake "I am so sorry about your mother's affair with your husband, Roxanne ... no, sorry ... er, what's your name again?" look that so often graces her porcine features? Or maybe you have been made slightly anxious by Carol Vorderman's ever-changing hairstyles and new "leather look"? Well, don't get too worried about the increasing lack of 'quality' programmes designed to postpone the sta rt of that extremely dull dissertation, because help is at hand in the form of a new gameshow: Dicing With Debt.

Creeping into the Channel 4 schedu les immediately before Hollyoaks, and hosted by Scarborough-born comedian Paul Tonkinson (nape, me neither), the show is specifically aimed at, and played by, students. The style of the show is not exactly original - competitors have to answer general knowledge questions to gain points and, after a few knockout rounds, the last two remaming contestants have to go head to head in order to wm the grand prize.

However, there are a couple of tw1sts, for example the number of po1n ts they get all depends on the roll of a dice, and the grand prize is not any old pile of cash: the money equals the exac t amount of debt that each of the contestants has built up over the past year, hence the gently amusing pun in the title.

Oh, and there are also lots of great 'fun' pnzes to be won throughout the show, such as their own height in pizza, or a year's supply of nowers for their mums.

Lucky them.

B

"The prize money equals the exact amount of debt that each of the contestants has built up over the past year - hence the gently amusing pun of the title"

Okay, so the "popular student game show" is hardly a realm of television never ventured 1nto before. The genre has been unsuccessfully dipped into at several points in recent TV history - for instance, anybody remember Ch ris Evans's henchman Will McDonald hosting that god awful piece of poo shown on BBC2 a couple of years ago?

In fact, the only successful student game show that has survived a substantial period of time (even desp1te the fact that nobody I have ever met has watched more than five episodes) IS University Challenge, and the main reason why 1t has lasted such a long time IS because it doesn't try to be popular, or hip , or funny.

Instead 1t is sta1d and senous, and as such has managed to climb into that most coveted of TV genres: the British Institution. And that's also the reason why shows, such as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Countdown and even Fifteen to One are so popular - because despite the onslaught of crap jokes made by Richard Whitely, or the over-the-top dramatic pause left by Chris Tarrant after every answer, these programmes are senous competitions at heart.

So, does Dicing With Debt match up to 1t's g1ant contenders? Well, yes and no. On the face of it, Dicing With Debt is a brash, bold and ultimately tacky programme, - rather remm1scent of Channel 5's karaokefest Nightfever - and the more funny and quirky it tries to be, the less funny it becomes. For example, the kooky background stories, which the contestants have to relate to the viewers - a compulsory part of the game-show genre - are, even by Strike lt Lucky standards (Michael Barrymore had the g1ft of making even genu1nely funny anecdotes seem embarrassing and cheesy) utterly lame. Ranging from one g1rl's story about how she was picked up by a professional rugby player m the street (she didn't know which one) ... no, literally picked up! Ho ho ho ... to a guy who keeps two hamsters in h1s house without his landlord knowing.

Hmmm ... have the Hollyoaks scnptwnters had a hand 1n th1s, perhaps?

To be fa1r, though, it IS self-consc1ous of 1ts tack, h1ghl1ghted by the host h1mself. Paul Tonk1nson explained that one of the main reasons he l1ked do1ng the show was because of "the vague cheesiness of the game-show format. I l1ked it because 1t's ma1nstream but it's h1p and I'd li ke to do some more." And I guess there1n lies 1ts possible success: students tend to have a part1cular penchant for awful programmmg that knows 1t's bad ... you really think that Mr. Wh1tely finds those "Jokes" of h1s funny? Exactly.

BUT LERS

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Wednesday, September 20, 2000

"What will TV producers think up next? Homeless Sweet Homeless perhaps, where the residentially challenged play against each other for a home?" t the core of Dicing Witll Deb. t, however, lies an issue that IS far more thought provoking than any of 1ts contemporanes. For, where shows like Fifteen to One and Who Wants To Be ... ? tend to be based around the pnmary urge for victory, Dicing With Debt plays on the actual livelihood of people.

ThiS not1on was unw1tt1ngly summed up by Paul Tonkmson upon ment1on1ng how the tens1on IS generated 1n the show: "it's very exc1t1ng because, as students, they need the money ... 1t's about paymg a loan off. not about future money. When they wm 1t's great." ... And when they lose?

I may be edgmg towards neuroses here, but the 1dea

A

of toying w1th a person 's d1re financ1al Situation for good ole' primetime entertainment seems a little disturbing to me. lt seems that where students were once a motley bunch of traffic-cone-bothenng young alcoholics (a la Hollyoaks), they are now figures of fun whose financ1al misfortune provides good ideas for a second-rate gameshow fronted by a secondrate comedian. I mean, what will TV producers th1nk up next? Homeless Sweet Homeless perhaps, where the residentially challenged play against each other for the legal ownership of the house they've been squatt1ng m for the past year? Or what about In The Doledrums where the contestants gamble the1r dole money on the prize jobs on offer wh1ch, if they're lucky, may turn out to be a year's contract with the BBC and if they're not, may turn out to be a year's contract w1th Channel 5.

Okay, I may be being a little sarcastic here, but th e point I am trying to make is that, not only are we witnissing the issue of tuition fees bemg dum bed down to the leve l of a pre-Hollyoaks game show, but also the beginning of a new trend m entertainment - one that pushes the boundanes of 1nd1vidual human pnv11eges in favour of mass entertainment. Over the summer Big Brother caused a huge sensat1on 1n the public eye when we bas1cally locked up a group of people for n1ne weeks and filmed the results to see who would come out on top. Channel 5 IS also stageing 1t's own, more extreme, ve rs1on of Big Brother. entitled Jailbreak.

Dicing With Debt may seem a tame companson to the previous examples. in relation to th1s v1ew of human liberties and predicaments on display. but the same eth1c st1ll appl1es. Furthermore, 1f you look at the express1on on the face of DWD contestant Chns when he gets knocked out, you'll see that th1s 1sn路t a run of the 11111 1game-show of the like that has graced our screens for decades. but a show following a format for the new mlllenn1um where, l1ke Paul Tonkmson says, the tens1ons run h1gher. but

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___ evefit __________,_n_to_c_u_s_______os_

Brassy make wonderful punk-pop records with hip hop beats and shouty Noo Yawk accents. We thought you might like to meet them. Astrld Goldsmith writes

'' I

remember being a kid and wanting to be in a band, cos I wanted to look like Sid Vicious ... ! didn't consider playing any instrument at the time, I just wanted to look the part". Jonny, drummer and DJ in Brassy, doesn't look much like Sid now, and Muffin Spencer, Karen and Stefan thankfully have a long way to go before they start looking like the Sex Pistols. In fact, the four twentysomethings sat in front of me look more like the cool kids at school, but all grown up. The boys in todie-for vintage t-shirts and New York Nike hi-tops, the ladies in 70s vest tops and Dickies. But this is merely their off-stage, post-gig look. Onstage, half an hour earlier, they were all kitted out in American retro sports gear. Muffin, the foxy lead singer and guitarist, always dresses for a fight, treating the stage as her boxing ring, wearing knee-high socks, tiny satin boxing shorts and tight white vests. She's the aggressive one, full of witty sarcasm in her intersong banter. "You should entertain people" she later insists. Karen, the sexy bassist, is much more laid

"Travis, Stereophonics, Oasis - alternative music i·n this country is just plain lazy. The outfits, the song-writing, the lyrics.

They all need a cattle prod up the butt!" back. Wielding a bass that's almost as big as her, chewing gum constantly and occasionally shouting backing vocals into the mic, she is the epitome of couldn't-care-less chic. Stefan is Mr Enthusiasm, jumping around with his guitar and whipping the crowd up, encouraging them to sing along. Jonny's at the back, where the drummer should be, but he isn't willing to disappear behind his drum kit. For Jonny is the band's performing monkey, the wonderkid who DJ's and drums at the same time.

They play a mixture of garage rock and hip hop; a happy, energetic set full of beats, noisy guitars and shouty vocals which they describe as "funky, hot and sweaty" . This is rock'n'roll, baby.

Y:

u would be forgiven for thinking that Brassy were American, from their look, their sound and the fact that Muffin (who speaks the most on stage) is actually from New Hampshire. But the rest of the band are from Manchester, and Muffin moved there over a decade ago. "I was really into a whole load of British bands, that's why I moved there. The Fall, The Smiths, you know, the northern miserable vibe". So why don't Brassy play miserable music? "Well, you grow up eventually... if you 're lucky. I was obsessed with the British music press, I was embroiled in that world of bullshit. The Fall lived up to my expectations, but everything else was a huge disappointment". Everything? "Apart from the bus system of course. You don't have buses where I come from. You flog a cow if you wanna get anywhere". Brassy are difficult to pigeon-hole. They are a guitar band , but they certainly don 't fit into the present British music trend of a load of ugly blokes in Burtons shirts with guitars: Travis, Stereophonics, Oasis etc., or what Muffin calls "boring old crap".

This is what Brassy fight against, and is part of the reason why they put so much effort into their live

shows, dressing up and making the crowd jump.

"They're not taking into consideration the fact that young kids, who don't have very much money, are spending their money to travel to the venue, and then paying to get in to see the band" Karen explains. Muffin inte~ects , "Our main criticism of what's considered alternative music in this country is that it's just plain lazy. The outfits, the song-writing, the lyrics. They all need a cattle prod up the butt! • On the other hand, Brassy incorporate hip hop and punky vocals into their sound , but they don't slot in with America's current obsession with new rap metal , with bands such as Ump Bizkit, Slipknot and Blink 182. "I don't consider that alternative anymore" Muffin states. "it's just the new macho frat rock". "At least it's got some energy" Stefan argues. "People are too tortured in this country".

"Well, Slipknot are interesting" Muffin concedes.

"Anything that tries to make people question the cult of personality, I think is good . And anyone who revives the boiler suit is alright by us".

Brassy released their debut album, Got it Made , earlier this year. While it was received enthusiastically by their fans, it was criticised by certain members of the music press for being too Brassy-centric. Muffin counters this accusation fiercely: "Well, they've obviously never listened to a hip hop record ... you gotta do some throw-downs, man, otherwise you 're nothing. And anyway, there are love songs on there, songs about self assertion, it's not just about Brassy. I'd say that's about a quarter of it". While the album has the popular singles on it - Work it Out, I can 't Wait and Good Times, as well as live favourites You Got it and Play Some 0 (their next single, released in October) - it is noticeably different in styte to their live performances. Stefan defends this decision: "I think you should keep live and recorded things separate, you don't want to go and hear and watch the album when you see a band live". "I think that's one of the things people find confusing about us and something we work hardest at is making a record one thing and a live show another and both of them good in their own way", Muffin adds. "I don 't think a lot of bands do that".

However, they have had their fair share of bad live experiences. The gig they had just played was being filmed for Japanese television, and the crew forced them to stretch their regu lar 40 minute set into nearly 70 minutes. At one point, the producer actually held back the rest of the band and only allowed Jonny through to the stage to DJ , in an attempt to stretch it out further. In addition, somebody stole the boxes of Brassy t shirts minutes before the gig, which the band had spent £2,000 printing.

As if this wasn 't enough, disaster struck a few weeks earlier at the Reading festival. Their sampler wiped all the samples for I Gan't Wait , Play Some 0 etc, the day before they were supposed to play, so they had to cancel their gig in Edinburgh, buy a new sampler and go into the studio to rerecord the samples. "lt was terrible. Jonny hadn't slept for two days". When I asked if they'd ever considered getting another DJ in so that Jonny could concentrate on his drumming, they become quite indignant. "We've been together too long for anyone else to join us" Karen says. They are a very closeknit band, which is one of the reasons why they work so well live. "Oasis, they' re not a real band anymore, they just trade members in and out, and you know then that it's somebody's little project,· Muffin says. "We are a band , really we are". And they've got it made.

. Wednesday, September 20 , . ~000

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lt's all in the wr1 There's sooo much to do in Norwich that sometimes there simply aren't enough hours in the day! Here's a handy dice game to help you decide. Just roll the dice and pledge to follow the instructions on the corresponding number.

Monday l.What: Carwash Where : Liquid For a disco-tastic Monday look no further than Carwash at Liquid .

Entry is only £1 with your NUS ca rd and drinks are all £1.50 or £2.

2.What: theme night Where: kitchen Tortillas and Tequila for a Mexican, paella and sangria for Spanish .. .or shrimps and Fosters for that Aussie feel !

3.What: make new friends Where: the next corridor Even if you manage to stumble across a corridor inhabited by a group of social misfits at least it'll make you appreciate you r own friends.

4.What: decorate the kitchen Where: urn ... the kitchen?

Forget the Big Brother naked clay painting if you want to keep your dignity - at least until the first LCR !

5.What: get a bit of cu lture Where: Cinema City Foreign language films as well as those covering a diverse range of subjects will give you a bit of food for thought to see you through the week.

6 .What: bowling Where: Hollywood Bowl With a licenced bar on the premises you'd better watch your step on those slippery lanes!

Tuesday l.What: a trip on the broads Where: Thorpe station Feel the wind in your hair, see the beautiful sights of Norfolk - and all for a few quid!

2.What: student night Where: Time/ Liquid Cheap drinks, cheesy tunes and hot sweaty flesh all popped into a big gleaming club especially for all us lovely students!

3.What: see a film Where: Ster Century, UCI, ABC, Od eon ...

See the latest releases in one of Norwich 's many cinemas.

4.What: salsa dancing Where: Po Na Na For something a bit different, head down to Po Na Na to live out those Dirty Dancing fantasies.

5.What: pub crawl Where: stick a pin in a Norwich A-Z and off you go A pub crawl is a great way to get your barings around town although you may not remember

them the next morning!

6.What: visit an art gallery Where: Norwich Art Gallery, etc.

With the famous Sainsbury Centre and Art College in the city, there is plenty to satisfy the most critica l eye.

Wednesday l .What: Superfly Where: mojos Funky tunes and funky people congregate at Mojo's every Wednesday.

2.What: girlie night in Where: bedroom Put ABBA on the stereo and face masks on to bring out the girl in you - men included!

3.What: kick-boxing Where: check loca l gyms for availability There's nothing like martial arts to let out all that agression.

4.What: gig Where: Waterfront/ Arts Centre Th ere are always loads of bands and comedy acts visiting Norwich, and if there's nothing on that appeals to you then try something different.

5.What: go out for a meal Where: take your pi ck!

There are plenty of great restaurants to choose from in Norwich, but it's worth ringing around for student deals.

6.What: go fishing Where: down by the river.

Why not?

Thursday l.What: Spank Where: Time On Thursday nights big name DJs pay a visit to Norwich, breathing some big-city life into East Angl ia .

2.What: the infamous LCR Where: in the LCR, funnily enough The LCR wil l ensure that S Club 7 become a big part of your life on a Thursday night!

3.What: clubbing!

Where: Ikon Ikon is not the usual student haunt, but it's worth a visit for the famous glass dancefloor.

4.What: clubbing again !

Where: The Concept With swinging R 'n' Ball night, The Concept adds a bit of variety to a Norwich Thursday night.

5.What: live the high life Where: the places to be Bars such as The Aquariu m, Reeds and the Ha! Ha! Bar help create the atmosphere of luxury and make the seedy atmosphere of the LCR seem miles away!

6.What: rollerskating Where: Solarskate With 10% off with your handy NUS card, rollerskating at Solarskate will bring out the kid in you!

Friday l.What: make punch Where: kitchen No kitchen is complete without its own punch recipe. Get your barman's head on and create anything from the exotic to the revolting.

2.What: Empower Where: Fat Pauly's Thi s regu lar club-night features resident DJs and live bands, as well as Norwich locals so that you can refresh your memory as to what non-students look like !

3.What: Gas station/ Marvel Where: The Loft Behind the unashamedly camp zebra print exterior pulses the sound of funk/hip-hop every Friday night for your enjoyment.

4 .What: seaside Where: Great Yarmouth The wonderfully tacky seaside resort seems somehow more appealing under the cover of darkness, and there's something strangely risque and romantic about paddling in the sea at midnight. ..

5.What: Union Bar Where: Union House Have a relaxing night in the bar instead of braving the hoards of tarted-up Norwichians in the city.

6.What: visit a museum Where: Brid ewe ll museum, etc.

Take a sense of humour and you might enjoy it more than you expected.

Saturday l.What: seaside Where: Cromer, Great Ya rmouth, etc Enjoy the daytime delights of chips on the pier and amusement arcades at the tail-end of the Summer season.

2.What: Meltdown Where: Waterfront Do the lndie-student-thlng at the UEA-run Waterfront with a friendly crowd and cheap drinks.

3.What: clubbing Where: Zoom House and Garage dominate Saturday nights at Zoom so get your flatmates together and get on down!

4.What: shop 'til you drop Where: the heaving metropolis of

Norwich A good task is to buy presents for all you flatmates to suit their personalities for under £2 each.

5.What: clubbing!

Where: Time If you're sick of student nights and want to return to the heady days of actually going out at the weekend, Ti me is your best bet.

6.What: be lazy!

Where: lounge lounge is the ideal place to slob about in trendy surroundings for a cosy chat over a couple of bewies.

Sunday l.What: revamp your wardrobe Where: kitchen Swapping unwanted items and customising outfits past their sellby-date is a brilliant way to save money.

2.What: cook a roast Where: kitchen lt may not be as good as your mum 's, but there's nothing like a Sunday roast to make you feel all fluffy and contented.

3.What: go clubbing Where: Ikon Impress your flatmates with your crazy clubbing lifestyle by heading out on the tiles whilst everyone else is slobbing in front of Songs of Praise.

4 .What: play tennis Where: campus courts A friendly game of tennis at dusk is very relaxing, even more so as the loser gets to cook the evening meal!

5.What: pub quiz Where: your local Although there's bound to be a team of know-it-ails who win every week, you can still enjoy a few drinks and the rush of competition .

6.What: chill-out Where: Garden House DJ nights at the Garden House are very relaxed affairs with a great atmosphere and music.

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Greeks Uncovered

Greek literature may have the reputation of being dull and chaste, but new translations soon to be released are steamier than the Big Brother hot tub. Elin Jones gets between the covers and asks if it's gone too far ...

n a society dominated by Wonderbras, stripping pop-stars and animated foul-mouthed eight-yearaids on prime time tv the classics are fighting back to claim their place. Formerly the territory of musty tweed-clad academics, works by authors such as Aristophanes and Catullus are soon to be rereleased in glorious textual technicolour, (genital) warts and all. Following in the footsteps of childhood favourite Aesop's Fables which was recently updated

by Penguin books and transformed into rather a more explicit text than you would read to a small child, the new translations of the Greek classics are poised to cause quite a stir with their far-from-subtle references to the decadent and sexually active lifestyle of the Roman civilisation.

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"You've never seen him?" ... "Well, you must have f-ed him" Whilst it is a fact that sex sells, as the texts of the Greek authors were originally extremely explicit can it be said that the publishers are exploiting the current rise in the acceptability of swearing and sexuality?

When the texts were written they reflected the language and practices of the time, including passages such as "You've never seen him?" .. ."Well, you must have f-ed him .. .". This passage was a conversation between two men and was considered unacceptable in literature up until now due to the language used and the homosexual references, but when it was written it was a true and perfectly accepted reflection of the society. In past translations the Greeks were made to resemble the Victorian ideal of beautiful imagery and chaste characters, much like the characters in a Gilbert and Sullivan Opera, but now it has been decided that the swearing and sexual references should be reinstated. The publishers of the updated texts (Loeb Classical Library) believe that they will now become bestsellers, but offer no insight as to what kind of readership they expect. Will the texts appeal to

academics who may have been longing to read the texts as their authors intended, or to smutty-minded students looking to liven up their Latin classes? lt is refreshing to find modern phrases in such ancient texts, but their sudden inclusion does seem rather out-of-odds with their reputation as being intellectual and formally written. lt is these very attributes that make Greek literature appealing to many and justifies it's reputation as a bench-mark for literature in any language. By bringing the dialect up to date, the publishers seem to be cheapening the authors' sentiments and making the coarse language into the main focus. Penguin 's The Complete Fables [of Aesop] certainly manages to shift the focus away from the -well -known fables towards the previously unheard of such as the fable of The Hyenas: They say that hyenas change their sex every year and become males and females alternately. Now, one day a male hyena attempted an unnatural sex act with a female hyena. The female responded: 'If you do that, friend, remember that what you do to me will soon be done to you.'

A lesson to be learnt there, I think! The inclusion of fables such as this tends to detract from the moral and to draw attention to the blatant reference to bizzare sex. However, it is only right that in compiling a complete account of the fables that no omissions could be made. Thus we return to the question of whether the inclusions have been made to return to the original, or to titillate the readers and boost sales.

In today's society where you can read soft porn in a copy of More! magazine it seems rather unnecessary to add a few rude expressions to a piece of ancient literature to make it more popular - it is hardly as though there is a gap in the market when it comes to explicit material. Also, publishing groups such as the Loeb Classical Library and Penguin have excellent reputations and it would be inappropnate of them to publish these works without good reason other than an obligation to publish the origmal works in their entirety.

e modernisation of the arts has been very much in the eye of the public and the media or the past five years, with the popularity of Vanessa Mae, Dame Kiri Te Kanewa 's heaving bosom detracting from her voice and the music she was performing and, of course, the excessive number of classic plays in a modern setting. lt would seem that society can only understand the arts if they can recognise the dress, language and morals of the cha racters and sentiments. This rather patronising view is only encouraged by the popularity of such productions and paints rather a bleak picture of the intellectual capacity of the public. There are two opposing views on this matter, debating whether or not it is worth 'dumbing-down' the arts in order to increase their popularity. However, if this trend continues the classical arts will be popularised to the level of contemporary literature and music, thus ensuring that there is nothing challenging or different about ancient arts and the lessons in formal and lyrical writing, painting and composing will be lost to the modern generation. One of the benefits of studying ancient texts in their intended form is that we can learn a great deal about our history and about ancient civilisations and practices. For example, the new translations of the Greek texts show us that sexual decadence has not always been frowned upon as it was in the Victorian era, but had the explicit scenes have been added as an incentive to make the texts more exciting and popular it could present a false impression of the time. There is a fine line between titillation and translation.

on the dramatic and extraordinary rather than everyday life and so can not be taken to represent the culture. However, it is not the reflection of culture that is being questioned here, it is the authors' intentions and the importance of being true to a text and, of course, why the decision was made to make the changes now. Sexually explicit material is now readily available, especially with the introduction of the intemet, and so 21st Century society is far more receptive to bad language ... and of course there is the ever-present hope that by adding sexual references the translations will sell more having received free advertising via press coverage. Oops.

"lt seems rather unnecessary to add a few rude expressions. lt is hardly as though there is a gap in the market"

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he language in these newly-translated works is only shocking because it is included in literature which has the reputation as being rather staid, the context is the shock - not the words used.

Swearing has become far more mainstream in the past few years with bad language being used on

Radio 1, rules on the explicitness of . . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - - - .

18 Certificate films being relaxed and Mo Mowlam becoming For all your black and white renowned for her cussing in the public eye so it is unlikely that two copying, full colour copying, men discussing f-ing would prove T-shirt printing, badge-making shocking. The context in which and many other services too sexually explicit language is used decides whether it disgusts or numerous to list, visit the doesn 't even stand out. For University Copy Shop. example, you would be extremely foolish to use obscenities in a We provide a fast, friendly service for all History essay when describing Adolf students, staff and the general public.

Hitler, but in a letter to a close fnend a few expletives probably We sre open 9.3oam to 4.30pm Mon-Fri, wouldn 't seem out of place. Had and are easy to find - just behind the Greek literature not been censored Registry. for so long and made to seem chaste it would not have gained its For more infonnatlon, ring us on: 3527 reputation of being dull and formal, (01603 - 593527 external). and the language in it would be secondary to its historical value and MOin C01 Pork sentiments.

I ough it is clear that the ginal form is always the st when examining a historical document, it is difficult to determine exactly what the author's intent was when dealing with the document out of context. For example, we may presume to know about the Greek culture by reading translations of writings from that time, but these readings are incomplete. Could someone 2000 years from now understand our society by reading Trainspotting, Velvet Goldmine and The Blue

Wednesday, September 20,

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The movies can offer make you blub, and there's nothing more tear-jerking than a goodbye. A/ex McGregor got out his hanky and took a look at some of the best ... ' ' I 'm no good at be1ng noble" laments R1ck at the close of Casablanca, "but 1t doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans 1n this crazy world". Well R1ck's lack of nobility as1de he certamly knows how to say goodbye and such a th1ng should be g1ven more grav1tas than usually afforded to 1t.

Goodbyes are the last taste of a person one w1l l have. lt can be b1tter, 1t can be sour and 1t can also wash away any 111 feeling accumulated from years of l)arbed qu1ps. In short goodbyes are a powerful, deeply personal emot1onal lever. As Frank Drebm from Police Squad so eloquently versed 111 The Naked Gun. "the problems of three little people don't amount to hill of beans but damm1t these are our beans and th1s 1s our hill ... Never underestimate the power of goodbye for 1t w111 make you the lead character in your own film.

Tl1ere are many types of goodbye used 1n the wacky world of cmema and R1ck's takes pnde of place 1n one of these types - namely the noble goodbye.

However 1n addition to th1s there are others to cons1der: the trag1c, deathbed goodbye, and of course the action hero k1ss-off line goodbye.

But returning to the noble goodbye, 1t IS clear that Casablanca holds the key to the kmgdom on th1s matter. But there are a mynad of pretenders to the throne.

First to ra1se h1s chiselled man-chest IS Arnold Schwarzenegger wl1o ach1eved the status of Creator of Noble Goodbye by hav1ng young John Connor lower h1m 1nto a pool of molten lead. All of wh1ch culmmated 111 a tear-jerkmg thumbs up, leaving all the under-aged kids who sneaked 111 to see the film pretendmg they would got something 111 their eye.

In fact, molten lead IS a particular favounte to d1spose of yourself 1n the most hero1c and noble fash1on. Sigourney Weaver bowed out (temporari ly)

as Ellen R1pley at the cl1max of Alien 3 by leaping to a fiery death. As she plummeted, Chnst-like and open armed 1nto the orange pit, she earned with her the last Ali en, a Queen no less. Thus she saved all of human1ty by giving her own life . And although more people saw B1g Arn1e go the way of the dodo, ol· S1ggy ranks h1gher on a top trumps style tally for the aforementioned B1bl1cal affiliation. Another goodbye wh1ch blends nobility w1th b1bl1cal 1magery 1s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The scene 1n wh1ch lndy says goodbye to the Holy Gra11 1s JUSt as noble as saymg goodbye to a human be1ng. If you remember, lndy 1S hangmg over a p1t, just out of reach of the Gra11. "I can almost reach 1t, Dad", lndy cnes to h1s, er, dad, obviously. "Indiana, let it go" Pa replies and, realis1ng that although he w1ll be wav1ng toodle-oo to h1s fortune and glory. lndy knows it's the nght thmg to do and does mdeed let 1t go.

There are. of course, a thousand other examples from a t11ousand films lost 1n the crev1ces of d1ngy, dank unne-st1nk1ng l1ell hole VIdeo rental stores. and at the risk of reducing th1s length of prose into not11mg more than a meek list, here are some of the others that didn't quite make the cut. Bruce W1ll1s savmg the world in Armageddon, and let's not forget Butch and Sundance's herOIC charge, hopelessly outnumbered by the Bolivian army, into a ha11 of bullets. The clos1ng lme of the film bemg Newman's Butch saymg "Phew, I thought for a m1nute there we were 1n trouble".

Mov1ng on, like M1ck Hucknall moves on after depositing a thimble fu ll of his man-paste 1nto a supermodel, the next category to dissect IS the Tragic Goodbye.

Th1s can often prove to be a s1ckly as 1t 1s heartbreaking. Remember Stepmom w1th Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon, wl1o bows out in a

Wednesday, 20 September 2000

hornbly explOitative deathbed scene, as she succumbs to cancer? This was a masterly display of button-pressing cmema - by wh1ch I mean that the d1rector Chns Columbus knew exactly what to do and at what po1nt to elicit tears from the aud1ence.

But for every Stepmom there's a Quiz Show, the scene 111 wh1ch Ralph F1ennes' Charles Van Doren adm1ts to the Grand Jury that he cheated and lied h1s way to a fortune IS a moment that presents at once a proud man broken and a broken man proud.

Another superb trag1c goodbye can be fouFld 1n Gu1llermo Del Toro's Oscar w1nnmg Mex1can vampire film Cronos. At the end of the film our hero Jesus Gns lies wheezmg upon h1s bed as h1s w1fe and granddaughter stand bes1de h1m able to do nothmg but mourn h1s inevitable leav1ng. What makes th1s as trag1c as 1t 1s, 1s that Jesus knows his t1me IS up and tnes noth1ng to fight aga1nst 1t. Recogn1s1ng as he does. that by attempt1ng to cheat death before h1s number was even up (as 11e 11as done t11rough out the f1lm), h1s punishment w1ll be an early death.

And of course, let's not forget M1chael Coleone·s goodbye to h1s brother Fredo, 1n the Godfather Part 2. Cementing M1chael's fate desp1te h1s des1re to do nothmg but protect his family, he orders his brother's death. The moment was sealed w1th the Immortal l1ne ''You broke my heart, Fredo. You broke my heart". d from swelling tears to enthused cheers we move, my fnends, from tragic goodbyes to the ct1on hero k1ss-off lines. Agam we see the moulded six-pack of Arno ld "the only man who's head looks better on the verge of explodmg than it does normally" Schwarzenegger nse to the occasion. In the Running Man Arn1e offers this one up: after k1ll1ng Buzzsaw by sevenng his pha llus w1th a chainsaw, Arn1e says "he had to split".

But can a k1ss-off line poss1bly sound any better than when it's be1ng uttered 111 a broad Austnan accent? Perhaps, 1f 1t's be1ng uttered by N1colas Cage. And it IS Nic who gets to say qu1te poss1bly the greatest kiss-off l1ne of all t1me.

In Con Air evil mass murderer B1lly Bedlam has found out that Nic IS a good guy pfter all. "You've Men playing us all along" B1lly h1sses holding in h1s evil hands N1c's present for h1s daughter. The present? A pink bunny rabbit. N1c does not care about the pred1cament he finds h1mself 1n but does care about his daughter's birthday g1ft. Straightfaced and w1th paternal rage, N1c replies to B1lly w1th the now Immortal lme "Put t11e bunny back 1n the box". Billy doesn't, Nic asks once more, and aga1n Billy doesn·t. They fight, and N1c kills Billy.

Staring at Billy as the last of h1s breath flows from h1s body N1c asks gravely, "Why couldn't you pu t the bunny back 111 the box?"

But N1c 1s not alone. When he needs to Hamson Ford can still del1ver the goods - although not literal ly, ObVIOUSly. I think it'S highly Ull lll\ely tllat Hamson would be seen dead delivenng m1lk, for example. But I d1gress. At the end of Air Force One, Harrison says as he kills ev1l comm1e terronst Gary Oldman, "Get off my plane". lt may not read so wel l but 1f he told me to get off h1s plane. l'ci get off h1s plane. Wouldn't you?

Well, the word lim1t is upon me ancl t11ere 1s no room to Illustrate the vast Jungle that IS all tl1ose other great goodbyes 1n the categones discussed, and many others that I haven't been able to. From "Frankly my dear I don't g1ve a damn". to Brooks Hatlen's su1c1de 1n the Shawshank Redemption after be1ng unable to re-adjust to a world unlike the one he left so many years ago, the goodbye can say so much to so many - unl1ke any other moment 1n a film . And as I depart myself, I leave you with my favounte wh1ch can be found 1n The Crow: "If those we love are taken from us, the way to keep them al1ve IS to never stop loving them. Buildings burn and people die but real love IS forever".

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Insight

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They say you should never go back. St uff t hat said TV bosses. Mark/and Starkie went all retro to investigate small screen nostalgia ... e beginning of the year saw an updated ersion of Sixties cult classic, Randall and Hopkirk: Deceased arrive on British television .

September 3rd heralded the return of Gerry Anderson 's Thunderbirds to our screens. Plans and dates have already been set for the return of Basil Brush. Even Crossroads, the soap opera that nobody _ watched but everybody remembers watching, is set to make a comeback in the form of a new series. So what is this obsession with revamping old hits (and misses) for today's television? A welcome chance to revisit old favourites, or a lame excuse to fill schedules that are thin on new ideas?

This current trend for dredging up programmes of yesterday is, in one respect, nothing new.

Broadcasting executives have always embraced the opportunity to dust off classics for new scheduling, or revamp forgotten favourites in new styles.

However, it is the quantity of returns and remakes at the moment that highlights this new vogue. One reason for this preoccupation with retro TV may have something to do with the age of the current crowd of programme commissioners and broadcasting controllers- most are in their mid thirties to early forties, so Seventies and early Eighties television would obviously play a big part in their growing up

Does this mean that we will be stuck with a continuing collection of 25-year-old programmes on our screens? and hence is an important era for them now. Does this mean, then, that as television goes on we will be stuck with a continuing collection of 25-year-old programmes on our screens? Well, not exactly. The age aspect is not the only reason for this fashion, but is one part of a whole number of different theories as to why this strange regression has taken place. For example, there 's the 'post-millennia! anxiety' one, according to which we are now looking to the past for reassurance, rather than looking to the future for new inspiration . This familiar "safetynet" is a major part of the retro appeal for television bosses, as there is no need to attempt to create a

fan-base because these shows already have one.

This concept consequently raises two questions in my mind. The first is that if old programmes are being used for guaranteed ratings (by putting Basil Brush on a Friday evening, it would pull in a few million viewers, as opposed to a brand new programme, which would not) then is retro TV merely part of a much bigger television trend in a ratings over quality battle? Greg Dyke has recently announced, for instance, that he plans to change the course of the BBC so that its different channels becomes more genre-orientated (like Sky channels) and are friendlier to "channel-hopper" viewing. In this way, it seems to me that shows like Thunderbirds and The Wombles (oh yes, they are also making a comeback within the next few months, or rather, a new, updated version of them is) are merely being used in the context of a general dumbing-down of television , where the safe, ratingspulling shows gain ultimate precedence over 'dangerous', new programming. Okay, so this argument is nothing new, and people have been - - - - - - • complaining that British television is going the same way as American TV for years, -but it seems that the vogue for nostalgia is heralding a more intense rate of progression towards th is goal.

The second question raised in my mind relates to the programmes' actual appeal. I mean, who exactly are the repeats scheduled for? Most of the old shows programmed are children 's shows and, as such, are, or will be, broadcast at the appropriate times for kids. However, today's generation of children is used to watching bright, fast-paced, hi-tech programmes, like Pokemon and CD:UK, so will they really want to watch a group of ........._ _ _• creatures doddering

around collecting litter, or wooden puppets on string? I think it really says a lot more about the ages and mentality of the TV execs themselves and other people of the same generation, than the ages of the viewers they are supposed to be selling the

I doubt we'll be seeing a resurrection of the Blue Peter Tracy Island, but several merchandising ideas are already in the pipeline. programmes to. Furthermore, it seems to bring about a similar observation to what has gone before; that we do seem to be witnessing a rising fear to commission new programmes when old programmes are cheaper to resurrect and guarantee an audience.

Of course, there is more to these shows than guaranteeing reasonable viewing figures.

Programmes like Basil Brush have become media brands in their own right, creating the chance for merchandise and marketing exploitation. We have already seen this used to much success before with

Thunderbirds, the last time it was aired in 1991 - it really doesn't seem like a decade ago that the famous do-it-yourself Tracy Island, made by Anthea Turner on Blue Peter, generated an enormous amount of excitement in the living rooms of houses across Britain , causing the sales of washing-up bottles and toilet rolls to rocket. Well, enough time has gone by for television producers to try again with a whole new generation of viewers. I doubt we'll be seeing a resurrection of the Blue Peter Tracy Island, but several merchandising ideas are already in the pipeline. A forthcoming Thunderbirds computer game for the Playstation 2, for instance. Other items include mobile phone covers, action figures, an assortment of Lady Penelope accoutrements, etc, etc.

The popular trend of nostalgia TV maybe just another televisual fad, in the same vein as docusoaps were at the end of the Nineties, but the appeal of all things dated means that retrospective programming looks set to continue for a fair while yet. But, I suppose, even though I would rather see something fresh and innovating on my box, the odd episode of Basil Brush won't go awry. I mean, there are worse programmes that could be brought back to life.

Eldorado, for instance. And at least it gives me the chance to see if Crossroads really was as bad as I remember it.

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Insight

In the 'nam of truth Rules of Engagement is the latest in a long line of attempts by Hollywood to explain Vietnam. Alexander McGregor journeys through a jungle of celluloid to find the truth ...

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hey were in their own fashion both subtle and yet also bold, garish assaults on how Hollywood had defined the Vietnam experience.

This summer William Friedkin's fi lm Rules of Engagement and AI Gore's speech accepting the Presidential nomination of the Democratic party offered two radical ly diffe rent insights into the 'darkest hour' in the history of the United States.

Yet while Rules of Engagement and AI Gore come from opposite ends of the scale, as different from each other as say, trench warfare and carpet bombing Cambodia, their points inadvertently severed the same cause; to wash clean the collective hands of America.

At his convention speech Gore was proud to let the gathered masses know that he had volunteered for duty in 路nam. He th en went on to illustrate that he objected entirely to the war, but if he did not go then another from his Tennessean home town would have to. How could Gore l1ve w1th l1imself if this young fellow was maimed or killed, as the odds proclaimed he almost certain ly would be? Gore's powerfu l sense of morality, it wou ld seem, allowed him to see the injustice of the Vietnam conflict yet also forced him to enlist. Gore then went on to admit that his position as a war reporter did not put him in the midst of the most severe danger; what Gore failed to mention was that it was his father, respected senator AI Gore Sr. who had secured his son th is post. The speech and the Vietnam section (which was referred to twice later in the speech) in

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particu lar were a master stroke, at once aligning Gore with the liberal left and those men drafted in to fight, mostly from the working class. lt was at this point that Gore proved reminiscent of another great president - only this one was in office for just two hours, namely Harrison Ford in the fi lm Air Force One. In th is fi lm the President's plane is hijacked by Russian terrorist I communists (the two words are one and the same in Hollywood) leaving only President Harrison Ford to save the day. In the

"On his mission Rambo dons a headband and fights in guerrilla fashion, whilst the Vietcong are shown as bumbling idiots.

Less a perversion of truth than a complete rewriting of fact."

White House Situation Room a grizzled general tells the Vice President '' let's not forget this President is a medal of honour w1nner. In V1etnam he flew more helicopter rescue missions than anybody else under my command". This is meant as a throwaway line,

giving the audience both cha racter background and letting us know that Harrison is capable of opening up a can of whoopass if requi red.

However, the li ne is far from throwaway: in th is one succinct moment the American public are told that while the Vietnam conflict was wrong, it was okay to serve in Vietnam as long as you we re undertaking humanitarian missions.

In just three short years AI Gore took this po1nt and nudged it slightly to read 'Vietnam was stil l wrong but it was okay to serve in it as long as you objected'. Gore blunts the knife edge of Vietnam, allowing one to hypothesise that the general consensus could soon be that it was okay to serve in Vietnam whatever your personal beliefs, because Vietnam was a 'noble crusade'.

This almost certainly will be the stance if Gore's oppon ent, the Republican governor of Texas George W. Bush is elected. Bush, ironically a draft-dodger, will see Vietnam re-interpreted in the most positive of lights. Of course this has happened before . Under President Reagan (a rabid anti-communist who described Vietnam as a 'Noble Crusade'), Vietnam was re'irnagined as nothing short of a victory - most notably in the film Rambo: First Blood Part 2. As we all know, Rambo was sent back to Vietnam to rescue American POWs. On his mission Rambo dons a headband and fights in a guerrilla fashion, whilst the Vietcong are shown as technologically dependent, bumbling idiots. Less a perversion of truth than a comp lete rewritmg of fact. Of course Rambo wins and so, by association, does the US .

But why did the American publ ic so readi ly embrace this distortion of truth? Well, Americans, like anybody, do not bare shame very well, and by the mid-eighties were prepared to believe any jingoistic, flag waving call to arms 1f it meant not forgetting Vietnam. but being able to believe that Amenca acted with honour. Ultimately Ameri cans wanted to be proud of Amenca again. And after the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam, and Watergate tl1ey were will in g to embrace any judicious historical rejigging in order to do that. ll of whiCh bnngs us back to Rules of Engagement. In th1s courtroom drama Tommy Lee Jones IS forced to defend his old 路nam buddy Samuel L. Jackson after he IS accused of murdering 83 Yemen1 after an incident at the US embassy 111, er, well, Yemen. The film opens w1th an extended sequence 111 Vietnam (although it was clearly shot anywhere but a jungle; they probably f1lmed 1t down by the Broad). In thiS open1ng sequence Samuel L. kills a VC officer to compel a VC Captain to cease an assau lt on Jones' squadron.

During the trial the prosecution find th1s Vietnamese Captain and force h1 m to testify in order to highlight Jackson as a callous murderer. However, the Captain admits on the stand that he would have done the same thmg 1f he was m the same S1tuat1on and even salutes Jackson 111 a display of respect and adm1rat1on. This film proudly proclaims the life of a manne to be worthier than that of 83 Yemen1; but as the film puts it, they were all foreign terronsts after all. even the chi ldren, hell-bent on destroy1ng t11e finest spec1men of man on the planet, the Amencan manne. And as such those fore1gn bastards got what was coming to them.

Rules of Engagement could well become tl1e

A

24HR BOX OFFICE D~SD3 22'1900 www.stercentur--y.com

Wednesday, 20 September 20 00 \

benchmark of a new century for Hollywood , much as Sylvester Sta llone's monosyllabic hero was for the eighties; a compassionate noveau Rambo for the George Bush Jr. generation.

Nevertheless, as we all know, Hollywood has been commenting on Vietnam since the conflict began. In fact it could be argued that almost every film spewed out by Hollywood's remorseless production line is a Vietnam allegory. Take the Blair Witch Project for example, a group of arrogant Americans dependent on their technology go into the woods and are tormented by an unseen enemy that chinks away at their sanity as well as their lives. 'Nam anyone?

Dunng the conflict 1tself many directors felt that they could not comment on V1etnam directly so they did so obliquely, using the Western instead. The Western is traditiona lly the genre that America uses to look introspectively at itself. And in fact much of the iconography used by Westerns parallels that in Vietnam. The Westerns are set in desert, 路nam films

"Hollywood has been commenting on Vietnam since the conflict began.

In fact, every film spewed out is a Vietnam allegory" are set 111 the jungle; the Western has cowboys w1th their d1stinct1ve cloth1ng. Vietnam has soldiers w1th their diStinCtive clothmg. And of course, Vietnam films evoke the myth of the Amencan frontier. In Apocalypse Now, Itself a savage critique of American culture, Mart1n Sheen路s Captain W1llard searches the front1er to find the General Kurtz. As W1llard goes deeper 1nto the jungle, the surroundings and events he encounters become darker and more violent, and he gradually starts to lose any sense of sanity and decency. Perhaps this is a comment on the fact that Americans became more savage as tl1ey pushed westwards. And the finest example of the Western as Vietnam allegory is Arthur Penn's Little Big Man, in which Dustin Hoffman's Indian Chief recounts a cavalry slaughter of a Nat1ve American Village . This IS obviously a reference to the 1nfamous Ma1 La1 massacre when Amencan soldiers ran rampant through a South Vietnamese Village, and the rev1ew Variety wrote for Little Big Man also serves as a fine example of Hollywood's take on the V1etnam expenence as a whole, "A film with American verve about tile effects of American verve".

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USI Commericalism over credability, Astrid Goldsmith takes a peek at musicians who have sold out t IS the most dreaded phrase in the music business. The eas1est way to insult any band (except, perhaps, the Younger You nger 28s, who have always aspired to it). The quickest way to get yourself involved in an ugly fight with a musician ....

"You've really sold out, man". In an industry that is always complaining that there aren't enough new, original, exciting bands, it seems curious that change in existing bands is seen as so dangerous.

There is an extremely fine balance between selling out and caree r-defi ning progression. And who decides 1t anyway?

When a band such as Blur change so dramatically during the course of their six albums, arguments will inevitably rise over which was the1r 'sell out' album. lt 1s generally accepted that The Great Escape was their worst album, but in terms of following the natural line of musical progression, Blur, their fifth album, was far more of a sell out. Up unt1l then , they had produced cheeky, happy, melod1c, very British-soundmg songs. With Blur, they had created a much no1sier record, heavily Influenced by American lo-fi acts such as Pavement. To sell records and to change their by-then stale 1mage, they did what they sa1d they never would : went American .

Th1s summer, two of the biggest names in Bntish

I

alternative music have had to face the same kind of scrutiny of their new material : Radiohead and Pulp.

Mr Cocker and his team went for broke and aired their new songs at one of Britain's biggest festivals, the Reading and Leeds Caning Weekender, in front of tens of thousands. In fact, Jarvis was qu1te knowing about the fact that they were being judged, saying, "The question ton1ght is ... are we gonna do it. .. or are we not?" Radiohead are being much more low-key and cautious about it, only playing small venues and one off exclusives like this weekend's shows in a b1g top. Unless Pulp and Radiohead produce works of stunning genius, they wi ll be ~' criticised for either changing too much and therefore selling out, or not changing enough and just rehashing the same old thing.

This is the trouble if you are a hugely successful band. However, smaller bands don't escape lightly either. Take Reef for example. Formerly known as purveyors of quality (allegedly) West Country rawk, Gary Stringer and his boys have sold out b1g style.

Gone IS the long greasy hair, the vaguely grungey, just-back-from-Giastonbury type garb and the raucous vocals. Reef have morphed 1nto a scary mockney pop beast. At least when Damon flounced about w1th a fake EastEnders accent look1ng like a geezer he had the decency to at least originate from

somewhere near London. But Reef are supposed to look and sound like farmers. it's in their hentage.

Their new v1deo sees them dancing around wearing crisp , pastel coloured sh1rts, tight Jeans and white trainers, do1ng their best boy band grins.

They've cleaned up their sound and employed girlie backmg vocalists. They could be 911.

Of course, you can also sell out your own 1mage without jeopardising that of your band.

Courtney Love is the world expert on this, having gone from official grunge goddess to Versace babe in one easy manoeuvre. Going from a knickers-over-her-head ex-stripper ex-wife of Kurt with smeared lipstick to a sleek, groomed lady clad m diaphanous material worth thousands of pounds must have been no simple task. But she pulled it off, and Hole even made another successful album .

Miss Love clearly saw the advantages of moving with the times, something the Sex Pistols have obviously missed. Much ridiculed for their come-back in 1996, even the Pistols themselves saw their returri as middle aged men as a sell out, and consequently called their performances the Rlthy Lucre tour, 1n reference to their financial mot1vat10ns. ere are countless other examples - Moby elling out his ideological beliefs for money from cap1tahst advertising; Meatloaf selling out h1s entire mus1cal career for one cheesy line in the Spice Girls movie.

When money is the pnmary motive behind a band 's

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cha nge of direction, then yes, we are j ustified in pointing the finger at them and daubing them 'sellouts'. And, like the Sex Pistols, there are mstances when the cash-factor is pretty obvious: the Happy Mondays' reformation is another good example; music which was once original and exciting performed ten years on by a crumbling, auto-cuereading Shaun Ryder with heavy debts to pay off. No one wants to see bands they were once in love with prostitute themselves like this. But bands change , like any other artists do; they grow up, they dumb down, they move on, they listen to different th1ngs, they get bored w1th their mus1c and their audiences, they find love, they descend 1nto depression. And 1f they're being at all honest about it, this is clearly go1ng to effect their music. Change is what keeps mus1c eXCiting: if you have a heart-attack every t1me an album IS not what you expect, I recommend you lock yourself 1n your room with a pile of Stereophonics records . They would never sell out.

v~rn rnm~oooo~vrn ~voooorn~Lr ©~OD[;) wrn~©®~rn~ ~~~ ~rnw oorn~ [;)®~Lr(Bln~OOOD~Lrrn ~LrODOOrn~Lr~ The commiHee would like to invite all postgrads to an ICEBREAKER PARTY!!!

I AY T BER 13t GRATUATE STUDENTS CLUB IN UNION HOUSE 8PM 'TIL LATE CHEAP BEER, LIVE MUSIC, FREE FOOD MEMBERS AND POSTGRADS ONLY For future notice, every Friday there is a happy hour between 7-Bpm, Tuesday is pub quiz night, and Friday is live music night.

All postgraduate students have free memebership of the GSC. Anyone wishing to apply for an associate membership, at a cost of £3, can pick up an application form from the bar.

See you in the bar!

The Committee

Wednesday,

~0

September, 2000

Just started University? Then why not shed your crusty old home skin and slip into something a bit more showbiz. Steve Col/ins looks into the dangers of modelling yourself on the icons of studentdom ... way road trip to hell.

The truth: You are a constantly sarky bore who srts round all day saying nasty things at the telly.

Will last until : Everybody realises that your 'off-the-cuff' remarks are mutilated rehashes of real comedrans· matenal.

See also : Hunter S. Thompson, Mark Thomas and his 'comedy product'.

P

ause if you will , dear reader, and consider this one deceptively simple question: What exactly is The Student in this day and age? "Easy!" you cry, "that's me!". But no.

I'm afraid you are mistaken. A student you may be, but alas nowadays we seem to have lost sight of The Stood incarnate, in all his/her politically active , pot noodle-scoffing glory.

For it is, in these fragmented postmodern times of myriad fash ions and infinite trends, pretty damned hard to pin down exactly what we students are meant to be . Gone are the halycon days when all that was required of us was a pair of bongos and a crap poetry habit. Unlike its ancestors, the Modern Student is something of an amorphous, cross-bred mutation of fifty years' pop culture. The hapless inheritor of its parents' stylistic and political misdemeanours, kept barely alive on a heady drip-feed of acidfried 60's liberalism, amphetamine-rich 70's punk nihilism , a couple of lines of SO's electropop commercialism and a handful of E'dup 90's pop anarchism. Never mind crack babies, this is what happens when parents experiment with their culture too much.

Imagine, then, sending this poor confused being to a wonderful place where nobody knows who on earth they are, and they can quite feasibly reinvent themselves in any style they want. Like Stars in the Eyes, but with lots of booze. And then call it something like, ooh I don't know, 'university'?

You see, for the first and probably last time in a fresher's life, their 'image' is a completely blank canvas when they arrive at uni. And even more exitingly, this does, in theory, mean that every new undergrad is to all intents and purposes ... THE COOLEST GODDAMN MOFO IN THE WOR LD. EVER. Sexier than Ricky Martin's viagra-gobbling grandaddy! Wittier than an Oscar Wilde vs George Bernard Shaw wit-athon! Cleverer than ... a very clever person indeed! Cor. But wait. This is a dangerous business, and many a young hopeful has fallen into the trap of creating an image they can 't maintain. After all, nobody's going to believe that your nickname at school was The Edge when one of your home mates rings up asking for Dick Neck, are they? If only there was somebody to offer friendly guidance to these young scamps on how to re-style their personas before they took the plunge! Well , that's what we thought. So we devised this handy guide to reinventing yourself in the style of the stars, outlining the less-thansexy pratfalls that these new looks may bring with them. Just be careful...please?

Sophie Ellis Bexter Who? Ex-srnger with Pretenders-apeing indte no-marks Theaud ience, now reinvented as glamourous litehouse pop starlet with Sptl ler. The perfect makeover for the reborn tndiekid wishing to burn the baggy jumper.

How? 1) Deny all knowledge of your cider-swtlling indie past. You are now a bona fide, champers guzzling twenty four carat pop kid! ii) Embrace the New Pop Order wh ol eheartedly · attend the LCR, appreciate the chart music you desprsed th roughout your teens . But keep it understated - we're arming for effortless nouveau Uz Taylor cool here, not Britney-style popsy zea l. ii i) Be cool at all times. Very cool . As previously mentioned, understatement is the order of the day.

The intention: Chtc, elegant, effortless styl e. Not so much JUmpmg on the pop bandwagon getting chauffered to stardom tn a big white Iima.

The truth: You 'll probably end up getting far too pissed at the LCR and blow it all by falling arse over tit down the steps. Some bastard will probably take a photo, too.

See also: Mel C and Cerys Catatonia for the ind ie-to -pop makeover. Posh spice for the elegant hit parade dahling bit.

Robbie Williams Who? The loveable King Rogue of ladland, bete-norr of Heat mag goss cu ltu re and cudd ly chamae leon of postmodern pop.

How? i) Shout about yourself a lot, start fights, piss in record shops · generall y behave like a big fat pt llock.

Whtch ts OK, cos it's a btt ironic, innit? ii) Attempt to restyle your persona at every opportunity, whtpping you r flatmates rnto a frenzy of curiosity about your enigmatically slrppery essence.

No, that does not mean pents.

11 1) Reveal the 'real you· by randomly dtsplayrng glimpses of your sensrtrve side. No, that does not mean showrng your arse .

The intention : Love you or hate you, they can't rgnore you!

The truth: They can. And wil l.

See also: Uam Gallagher, Guy Ritchie, Craig off Big Brother (whyyyyy?).

Bob Marley Who? Bob . You know, Bob . Ch ri st, thrs is gorng to be fun ...

How? i) Deny your roots. This is very un-Bob, but then he wasn 't a middle cla ss wh itey from the Home Counties, was he? ii) Buy some of those ganga leaf posters. People wi ll thtnk you' re really qurte cool, and rather subversive.

Honest. iii) Speak tn bizarre hybndized Jamaican creole/public-school-stoner-dropout drawl. Suffix everything you say with "jah". iv) Buy a dreads wig. You haven't got time to grow them , and anyway Mother would simply die .

The intention: Emancipa-shun. Ltbera-shun.

Fornica-shun , wrth anyone dumb enough to be foo led by you r absurd cod-rastafarianism .

The truth: Nobody wants to shag a ptkey pseud whose idea of Babylon is getting boxed and smelling of hay.

Wi ll last until: People realise that your real name is Josh, you've never met a black person, and you never inha le.

See also: Tim Westwood, Emi nem, Snow, Van illa Ice.

Wednesday, September 20, 2000

Bill Hicks

Moby

Who? Dead yan k comedi an hedonrst chap. Told nasty jokes about the government, acqur red cult followrng, died of pancreattc cancer aged 32.

How? i) Adopt hedonistic 'live fast die young· attitude to life (re: dnnk lots. Maybe ntck a traffic cone and put it in your room). ii) Entertarn all you r new fla tmates wrth your wrttr ly 'spontaneous' observational comedy and hi lanously iconoclastic 'skits' about the rnjustices of the world.

The intention: To be the sacral commentator wtth the caustrc, rnctsrve wit, dragging The Man wrth you on your one -

Who? Di minutive ba ldy puntan. Erstwhtle proneer of groundbreakrng techno and abrasive punk. Now creates mustc that makes you want to buy cars.

How? i) Shave your head , turn vegan and adopt cel ibacy.

11) Make some tasteful ambrent electro-rock that'd go nicely with that lkea coffee table you were thinkrng of buying. iii) Impose your pu ritanica l views on all and sundry by 'offering· specially wntten 'essays' about veganrsm to your flatmates.

The intention: Your fl atmates will be fascrnated by your enrgmatic

Withnail Who? The king of student icons. Foppish alchoholic dandy out on a boozy beano to oblivion.

How? i) Acqu ire long trenchcoat from Sally Army, disdainful public school accent from Oscar Wilde and lots of booze from the UFO. ii) Drink. A lot. Of everything. iii) Punctuate your everyday parlance with groggy witticisms lifted straight from the film . All the time.

The intention: To distinguish oneself from the hairy herberts of this world with one's incisive wit and delicate sensibilities. And drink a lot.

The t ruth: You are a parody of studentdom, you like a pervert ~足 and smell like a wet goat in a bus queue. Animals cross the road to avoid you .

Will last until: You fall over.

See also: Oscar Wilde, Alex from Blur, Shane McGowan .

Alanis Morrisette Who? Hoary old rock harndan. More 1ssues than a whole series of Kilroy. anti-student persona, and will all want to shag you.

But they can't, cos you don't do that sort of thing.

The truth: You are a mercenary self-important charalatan who sells his soul to car manufacterers and wears trainers with animal bits in them.

Will last until: You are caught having a burger binge in Maccy D's.

See also: Leftfield, The Cardigans, Robbie Williams.

Che Guevara Who? Legendary theoretician and tactician of guerrilla warfare, prominent Communist figure in the Cuban Revolution and later guerrilla leader in South America.

How? i)Devote your entire life to bringing about Socialism , by means of a worldwide revolution. ii)Establish a Marxist government opposition to all forms of imperialism and colonialism. iii) Or you could just put a poster of him on your wall if you can't be arsed with the above.

The intention: To impress your mates with your worthy (if perhaps hopeful) political idealism and disregard for the frivolous processed icons of the other boys and girls.

Britney would be first against the wall, Comrade.

The truth: The revolution will not happen, no matter how seldom you wash.

Will last until: The fall of capital ism. Or the poster, whichever goes first.

See also: Rage Against the Machine, Citizen Smith, Travis Sickle.

Marilyn Manson Who? The Antichrist Superstar! The scabby-winged fallen angel of Nu-Metal! The youth-corrupting hellspawn God ofF- !! Raaargh!!! Looks like Shergar with foot and mouth .

How? i) Grow hair, buy one scary white contact lens, paste on the black mascara, wear enormous boots and sexually ambiguous goth garb. Write rude things on your clothes. ii) Invent bizarre tales about your twisted sadomasochistic past, even though you've had a perfectly happy and respectable upbringing in Wiltshire. i) Join Game Soc and spend the next three years of your life hitting people with rubber axes.

The intention: To challenge the oh-so-comfortable surburban mindsets of your automaton middle class flatmates with your anarchistic ways.

The truth: You look like the drummer out of Marillion, your armpit hairs stick together and you make children cry. You are as sexy as a tart in a mortuary.

Will last until: Your Mum comes up and you have to wear that jumper she gave you.

See also: Slipknot, Kom , Cradle of Filth, and all of those scary new-wave metal types.

How?

Brian Molko Who? The mongrolised androgene offspring of a sordid, desultory encounter between David Bowie and Brett Anderson behind the Quicksave bins on a damp Tuesday in Hull.

How? i) Cultivate an 'individual' brand of asexual Oxfam chic. ii) Trowel on the black mascara. iii) If questioned about your sexuality, mumble something evasive involving the word "overrated" .

The Intention: To defiantly transgress gender boundaries by appearing enigmatically androgynous. University life will thereafter be a riotous orgy of gender-bending sauciness, confusing the rugby boys and inspiring feverish "is-he-isn't -he" whispers along your corridor. You might even get to have sex.

The truth: Your only "same-sex experience" involved a passionate encounters with the Uttlewoods catalogue and your fastidiously planned neuterfrom-Mars persona makes you look like Widow Twanky with thyroid troubles.

Will last until: You get bored .

See also: Brian Molko; Mansun; Brett Anderson ; pre-Burtons Manics - basically every indie fopster in the past decade. "Si-curious" Sada off Big Brother is the girl counterpart.

Justine Elastica Who? Shouty Elastican punk-pop chanteuse. Every indie boy's wet dream.

How? i) Stop wearing a bra, then form a new wave revivalist pop-punk girl band so you can jump around a lot for that all important 'indie juggle' . ii) Style your hair into an outgrown mullet and adopt an all -black uniform. iii) If you can find one, date the singer of a very cool British group and then dump him when he turns into a lo-fi Yankophi le whingebag.

The intention: An effortlessly cool meeting of Debbie Harry and second-hand noo wave chic on a glossy cover of The Face.

The truth: An ugly confrontation between Debbie Harry and a bag lady on a windy day in Camden market.

See also: Wire, The Stranglers, The Fall. Oh , they were all chaps.

i) Grow your ha1r. Douse in chip fat. ii) Construct intense persona. Refuse to talk to anyone. Write lots of bad poetry, all about yourself. iii) If you can stand to commune with normal people try forming a band - but make sure they stay in the background at gigs, and have no personalities of their own.

The intention: To be complex. Intense. Pure. To kick against the pricks, rage against the dying of the light, and create whiney angst-ridden 'solosingersongwriter' rock opuses so that, y'know, maybe you can reach out and touch someone, somewhere.

The truth: Nobody wants you to touch them cos they all think you're mental. Your poetry is clumsy self absorbed sixth form literary masturbation, and your songs are the sort of anodyne MOR country-rock that signals the emotional bits in Dawson's Creek.

Will last until: If male, until you get laid. If female, until you've got it out of your system with countless million-selling records.

See also: Tori Amos, Usa Lobe, Rona Apple, Aimee Mann .

Kurt Cobain Who? Some greasy metallist.

How? i) Form a band . Demand to be the singer because you 're more intense than the rest. ii) Don 't wash. Rip your jeans. Grow your hair. iii) Be a right old grump. Avoid the LCR like the plague on grounds of musical taste, thus ostracizing yourself from everybody else as they all cop off with each other. Cos they're just, like, mindless sheep, and don 't know the meaning of deepness or intensitude.

The intention: To be '4-Real' , standing like a grubby King Canute against the pernicious tide of pop falsity threaten ing to make everybody, like, clean , dude.

The t ruth: You are an elitist self-important misanthrope vainly trying to relive the early nineties by looking like a syphilitic medieval serf. You make everybody feel sad.

Will last until: In your desperate attempt to emulate your hero you start taking heroin, and then spend the rest of your university career soiling yourself on a Pot Noodleencrusted mattress and watching Countdown with the curtains drawn whilst everybody forgets who you are because you never leave your room . And then you die.

See also: River Pheonix, J1mi Hendrix, Jan1s Joplin - basically any screw-up wrongly martyrized for being a dead smackhead .

Wednesday, September 20, 2000 ...,

~-~:!~:..e::::=c.:=t-=..e=d=.·==M=us=·=c=======eveilt Gomez

How can you go wrong w1th a t1tle like that? In fact, 1f you're Gomez, how can you go wrong at all? S1nce the1r debut smgle two years ago, they have been the 1nd1e darlings of the mus1c press. Applauded for be1ng senous mus1c1ans rather than pop tarts or superstar wannabes, Gomez have been carefully craft1ng the1r gnarled, orgamc, effortlessly tuneful folk pop over three years. Shopp1ng Trolley IS their compilation album, celebrating the last few years, featunng 15 tracks, 12 of wh1ch are previously unreleased. On the ev1dence of the four-track sampler wh1ch was sent, Gomez seem to have progressed from their earlier '!-made-thiS-In-mygarage' sound to a more polished, Beck-influenced sound. Flavors especially 1s strongly reminiscent of Mutat1ons, wh1ch IS no bad th1ng. Gett1ng Better IS a very respectable cover of The Beatles· song, 1nfused w1th that spec1al gravelly-edged pop that Gomez are best at. Gomez m1ght not be the hippest or sexiest band 1n the world, bu t they do churn out some fin e tunes. Howeve r. see ing as they are not releas1ng anyth1ng un til next year, they could have tned a little 11arder to make th1s compilation more excitmg.

F1fteen Gomez songs is a lot to plough through on

one album. not that any of them are particularly demanding on the ear. lt trundles along n1cely, but after a wh1le. you start crav1ng something w1th a b1t of sex. drugs and rock'n'roll.

Precious

I don't know about you, but for me, the name Prec1ous conJures up 1mages of pampered lap dogs and over-Indulged smal l children of the brat variety.

Not that I'm suggestmg tha t these five lovely lad1es are either... no no, Precious are the famed (ahem) 1999 Bnt1sh entry for the Eurov1sion Song Contest.

They came 12th, but no matter, they bounced back easily th1s year w1th Rew1nd, with nary a dent 1n their poptast1c plastiC outer coat1ng. Rewind IS the album's opening track, and by far the best. Bassheavy and suspiCiously Britney-esque, it is pl easing in its perfect popness. The second track, New Beginning, is the1r next single, and 1s equa lly wellformed, if not qUi te as kick-ass . Precious have enlisted some of the top pop producers for this album - people who have produced Boyzon e, Pet

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BOUGHT AND SOLD FOR CASH ~ MUCH \ COMPACT DISCS • RECORDS MORE THAN VIDEOS • BOOKS • MAGAZINES 1A JUST ACO ~ SHOP ~ AUTOGRAPHS • FILM • SPORT ~ AND MUSIC MEMORABILIA

• 0O

Wednesday, September 20, 2000

September sees Rad1o 1 DJ, Steve Lamacq, down at the Waterfront in order to break w1th tradition and play some new tunes. Also, la ter on 1n the month is the usual House and trance n1ghts at The Kitchen.

In October, poor man 's Abba tribu te band return 1n the form of BJOrn Aga1n so get those blonde wigs and sa t1n trousers out of moth balls. Comedy comes 1n the form of Ed Byrne, fresh from h1s prolific appearances on practically every "comedy" panel show on television. Play1ng on the same n1ght (October 10), the jazz-punksnarl of Rani S1ze Reprazent + MJ Cole comes to UEA whilst Courtney Pine blows smooth and mellow at The Wa terfront. Placebo take time ou t from making really bad singles to play the LCR on October 23 and midweek ldlew1ld make 1t back to UEA. P1ck of that week, though, has to be Badly Drawn Boy, fresh from h1s success at the Mercury Music Awards, Follow1ng closely on their heels are lesser affa1rs, Embrace and Mansun, two bands you've got to g1ve credit for not pack1ng up and gomg home. They've dec1ded to play the last two days of October. Regardless who comes before or after, the month finishes well w1th Dav1d Gray at UEA. So m1ss this year's mus1c sensat1on at your penl. A patchy affa1r 1n parts, but th1s com1ng month will certainly be enough to stop us working hard.

Mischa Gilbert

Shop Boys, George M1chael etc. - and 1t shows.

There are no rough edges here, and the record's on ly flaw IS 1n 1ts occasional sl 1ppmg 1nto bland soul (it' s Gonna Be My Way). lt IS somewhat unfortunate that the obv1ous compansons w1ll be made w1 th Sp1ce G1rls/B*w1tched/AII Sa1nts, because Prec1ous arc clearly try1ng very hard. Yes, they are yet another all-g1rl pop group, but the album IS slick and fun, 1f a little soulless. The lyncs are typ1cally boring and safe, but presumably appropnate for the1r target aud1ence of seven-twelve year old g1rls. Not forgetting those who take perverse pleasure 1n reliv1 ng Bntam 's failures 1n the 1nternat1onal arena of mus1c, because Say lt Aga1n, the losmg song, is on here, stuck way down the track l1stmg at number nine.

Astrid Goldsmith

Robbie Williams

The inlay for Sing When You're Winning would keep a psychiatrist busy for hours: Robb1e as victorious footba ll player; Robbie as busty barmaid; Robbie as copper p1ssmg against the wall ... the list goes on, and on and on ... 71 t1mes (on last count) . lt IS th1s rather unsettling display of egoman1a that sets the tone for the rest of the album ... a m1x of schizoph renic tunes which are. nevertheless, reliably rad1o fnendly 1n an "oh look I can see the chorus com1ng from a m1le off" k1nd of way. Indeed, th1s IS the mam strength of the album ... there are enough "sing w1th a p1nt in your hand" choruses to keep Rabble's third album afloat. The much hyped Kylie duet Kids IS only notable for the sodomy l1ne wh1ch 1s bound to confuse h1s fan base ... kn1ckcr wett1ng girlies and rugger-buggers alike (a lthough 1n a staunchly non -homoerot1c way of course ... Robb1e dnnks beer you know).

However, like most modern chansmat1c pop acts a few catchy choruses are unable to 1n1ect the mus1c w1th anything remotely resembling a soul. Even at 1ts best, the mus1c 1s mcapable of engag1ng the listener 111 gettmg beh1nd the sarcastiC lyncs and the grating voca ls. What, perhaps, 1s most surpns1ng, however, is how someone who has built a career on adopting so many different personas (fat druggy, th1n druggy, Tom Jones wannabe, Gen Haliwell boyfnend) has fa1led outright to create one that sticks ... one that actually allows the songs to come alive. And when Rock DJ IS the best song on the album, 1t really is t1me to demand that the real Rabble Williams please stand up ... or shut up.

Adam Chapma n

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Belgian indie crew of be-suited boys (plus token g1rl) comb1ne kickmg rock riffs with lyncs like 'loneliness tastes like cotton candy' to create the kind of song t hat The Charla tans on ly dream of wnting. Catchy rock chorus and an abrupt ending, just the way they should be (take note, Mr Ashc roft).

Astrid Goldsmith

el a eJ. DJ Luck, MC Neat and JJ Another b1g hit for the gurus of garage and dance.

JJs smooth vocals and DJ Luck and MC Neat's beats take you back to summer and heady n1ghts of clubbmg. Much awa1ted and a dead cert to be a b1g hit, Amt no stoppm' us IS well worth your pocket money.

Katherine Everitt

Add N to (X) Dependin g on you r dlspos1t1on you w1ll e1ther fmd th 1s smgle hilanously funny or, alternatively, really qu1te disturbing. Cons1stmg of a sc1-fi style robotiC vo ice repeat1ng 'plug me m', 1ts a track that I'm sure a n1che of people out there will appreciate .

Terminator fans for example.

Katherine Everitt

Hinda Hicks V Unfortunately th1s 1s a fa1rly nondescript song. At best1t's an easy go1ng soul-pop tune. However, M1ss Hicks 1s quite an attractive, harmless young lady, so we'll leave her alone. If your th ing IS the teeny bopper scene then it will probably find its way to you r CD co llection.

Katherine Everitt

ROBBIE WllliAMS Sing When You 're Winning

Smashing Pumpkins

CRAIG DAVID Born To Dolt

Seeing as this is probably the last single released by the Pumpkins before they split up at th e end of the year, I expected a rockin' "f*** all of you chart music-buying whores" type number to end the show with. What Try, Try, Try actually reveals 1tself to be IS a quiet, pop-encrusted lul labye. A good song in its own nght, bu t perhaps not the best cho1ce for Billy Corgan·s swan song.

Mark/and Starkie

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Inspected: Arts

Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

1930s set re.interpretation of Homer's The Odyssey. Of course in true Coen style there's a lot more to it than that.

Directed by: Joel Coen Starring: George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Slake Nelson, Charles Duming

Having over bleached the film stock the Coen brothers have returned with a picture that looks like a worn, old postcard. Yet by infusing the film the their idiosyncratic, genre-bending philosophy they have created a movie that is both classical and modem. Unfortunately while 0 Brother Where Art Thou re-glosses the brothers' reputation after the shortcomings of their last effort The Big Lebowski, it remains a rambling tale that lacks cohesion and fails to fully realise its attempts to become a lyrical experience in the same fashion as say, The Thin Red Line. Ultimately when 0 Brother is good, it's very good but when it's bad, it's pretty rum.

Based on Homer's The Odyssey, 0 Brother is set during America's Great Depression of the thirties (well, 1937 to be specific) and centres on the attempts of three escapees from a chain gang (Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Slake Nelson) to locate a $1.2 million treasure buried after an armed robbery. However this is merely the framework which allows the Coen's to take their characters on a number of left turns and to meet a number of eccentric characters from the BB King-inspired Tommy, who sold his soul to the Devil at a crossroads in order to become a great guitar player to George - a manic depressive cow-hating bank robber.

Then of course there's The Odyssey and to be

15

honest by promoting the fact that 0 Brother is based upon the epic poem so prominently, the Coens do themselves no favours. Yes, the singing sirens are present and the Cyclops is reinterpreted as an eye patch wearing bible salesman (as assayed by Coen regular John Goodman). But other than this and the other odd aside, The Odyssey serves only to detract from the film's true gems, the escapees and Tommy accidentally recording a smash hit record under the moniker of The Soggy Bottom Boys, and a scene wherein our heroes happen upon a meeting of the Ku Klux Klan to name but two.

Clooney holds the cast together with great skill adding real warmth to his verbose, hairstyleobsessed Ulysses. But both Turturro and Slake Nelson are every bit his equal, and while not all the supporting cast match the leads (most surprisingly Holly Hunter's stilted turn as Clooney's wife), in the main the film successfully presents a chorus line of grotesques lead by the great Charles Durning as the genial, incumbent governor of Mississippi, where the film is set.

Despite a fractured narrative 0 Brother climbs to a rousing last twenty five minutes, and if the film gives the world nothing else then at least messers Clooney, Turturro and Durning have invented a glorious dance routine that we'll all be throwing down at the LCR. Alex McGregor

Play it to the Bone

Comedy drama about two washed up boxers given one last shot at . the big time.

The latest of Ron Shelton's latest effort have been tepid at best. This is unfortunate for Play it to the Bone is a well made film that elicit a couple of good performances from its two main stars. Yet when considered against Shelton's pervious efforts, Bull Durham and White Men Can't Jump to name but two, rt's clear that Play it to the Bone is inferior in almost every category.

Centring of two washed up boxes Caesar and Vince (Bandaras and Harrelson) who spend most of their day ruing chances that might have been. Bandaras is haunted by his experience in 'the Garden' (that's Madison Square not Of Eden) and Harrelson is convinced he was robbed of the title belt when the fight of his life ended in a draw. Caesar and Vince are given one last shot at the big time when they are selected to fight each other as the undercard for Mike Tyson's big comeback bout in Vegas.

Inexplicably Caesar and Vince decrde to drive to

Vegas and bring along with them Grace (Lolita Davidovich), Caesar's girlfriend and Vince's ex.

During the road movie section of the film there are flashes of Shelton's trademark 'using sport to dissect everyday fears and neuroses' most of which Harrelson fluffs but Bandaras pulls off. All of which means Caesar is the most sympathetic character and by the time the fight arrives the audiences cheers him on instead of remaining neutral as is surely the intention.

Nevertheless the fight itself is a magnificent display of brutal tension and taut edrting that also employs a hallucinatory quality that horribly illustrates what a boxer must feel after ten rounds.

A patchy ride make no mistake, but the odd cameo from James Woods, Shelton regular Kevin Costner and er, Rod Stewart added to the odd glimpse of something greater underneath create a worthwhile film.

17

Dancer in the

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Directed by: Lars Von Trier Starring: Bjork, Peter Stormare

Directed by: Clint Eastwood Starring: Glint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, James Gamer.

The next Instalment In the Dogrne 95 series and winner of this year's Palm D'Or finds Von Trier relocating to America, and the acting debut of Bjork.

Grumpy Old Men In Space as Cllnt goes all scl-fl to repair an ancient Russian satellite.

Dancer in the Dark opens with a five minute section where the screen remains completely black, and Bjork's sumptuous musical score lulls and swells all over the auditorium. All around me I hear impatient voices and nervous laughs.

This impatience seems to be symptomatic of the vast majority of today's film audiences - their need for a quick fix, high glitz product seems to have made the cinema a place where you no longer need your wits about you. Just step through the doors, take your seats and relax. Well, that will definitely not happen durrng this film . You wrll be (and forgive me rf I am about to use a dirty word here) challenged.

Throughout this film Lars Von Trier remains totally unwilling to let his audience off the hook. In the same fashron as with his previous efforts, the handheld camera and natural light create less of a realistic impression, but a more fable-like atmosphere. Right up to the brutal last section, this film gleefully plays havoc with your emotions, catapulting you from awe-struck wonderment to utter repulsion in every other scene.

The film itself tells the story of a Czech immigrant (Bjork, proving as comfortable an actress as she is a musician) in small town America during the 60s, working monotonous factory jobs, desperately saving for a crucial eyesight operation for her young son.

A vrctim of her own failing eyesight and a misunderstandrng community, she increasingly relies on the release of her fantasy world, created in equal parts from her love of classic musicals and the rhythmic sonic backdrop of the world around her.

Dancer in the Dark is an audacious piece of progressrve film-making, which finds great success in the unlikely juxtaposition of the genres of tragedy and musical. Not for everyone, certarnly, but if you're the this way inclined, go and see. But please, be patrent.

Space Cowboys enters orbit in UK cinemas as Clrnt Eastwood's most successful film since In the Line of Fire, and it is a pleasant surprise to report that this is also Glint's best effort since the aforementioned assassination thriller.

Originally Glint wanted Jack Nicolson, Warren Beatty and Sean Cannery to eo-star along side him but this did not materialise. Instead we get Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and Rockford himself James Garner. And to be honest they acquit themselves very well indeed. In fact, man of the J ~ match goes to Jones not Eastwood, with Garner coming in a close second.

In 1958 our heroes formed Team Daedasus, the US Air Force's expenmental operation which formed a preamble to America's space exploration . Closed down by President Eisenhower in favour of NASA our heroes are left, ahem, high and dry.

Cut to 42 years later and NASA are informed that an antique Soviet satellite is going to crash unless something can be done. If this happens all of Russia will lose its communications, plunging the former soviet Union into a potential civil war.

Enter our now septegenarian Team Daedasus. Of course there are twists and turns, villains reveal themselves and none of that is much of a surprise to anyone.

Nevertheless, Eastwood marshals the action with genuine flare (especially given the fact that he's hardly renowned as a sci-fi director) and a lot of mileage is garnered from the old geezers having to go through their NASA training.

However by the last third the excitement has plateauxed and one can't get the idea out of one's head that Kevin Costner is already planning his remake for the year 2025.

Space Cowboys is like one of those prized vintage cars: lt looks great, the engine purrs but it can only ........ ·ust last the distance.

Merek Cooper

Alex McGregor

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Directed by: John McTiernan Starring: Antonio Bandaras, Omah Shariff, Dennis Storhoi , Diane Verona Antonio Bandaras teams up with some Vikings to fight cannibals.

Features a breathtaking opening shot which blows The Perfect Storm out to sea.

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A big, enthus1ast1c fuss was made about John McTieman's (Die Hard, Predator) Viking wouldbe ep1c when 1t was in production. So a shame and a surprise it was when it took over two years after the film was finished for it to reach mult1plexes. But the good news IS that th1s much maligned adaptation of Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead; a ta le of an Arab emissary (Antonio Bandaras) travel ling to the North Lands with a group of twelve Viking Warriors to battle a cannibalistic army, is actually quite engaging and effortlessly passes the t1me.

McT1eman wisely avoids any stunt casting and employs a useful band of European actors (although one of them seems to be Irish, which is a tad baffling) who do the JOb admirably, most notably Dennis Storhoi as Herger the Joyous who quickly befriends Bandaras· Ahmed lbn Fahdlan and becomes in many ways his protector. Bandaras, you see, IS not a warrior but a poet banished from h1s homeland for making 'the love' with a woman who 'belonged to another man' and it is by pure coincidence that he and his entourage, featunng Omah Shanff, run mto these 'North Men'. After spending a night drinking with the Vikings Bandaras wakes up the next morning to be told

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by some cackl1ng hag that he must travel as the lucky Thirteenth Warrior to help defend a VIllage settlement under savage attack from the aforementioned mysterious Eaters of the Dead.

Many exciting battle scenes ensue, which McTieman handles with skill employ1ng a fresh slant by filming them hand held, the most thri ll ing of which being the pre-emptive stnke by Bandaras and his motley crew, if you will, on the cannibals underground liar.

Nevertheless there remain many flaws; Bandaras is a fine hero yet he clearly isn't from ArabiC li neage and the Hollywood philosophy that anyone who isn't white can play an Arab IS a little disconcerting. But the ma1n problem IS that the film is too rushed, at just over 90 minutes one gets the feeling that you 've walked in hour an hou r into the movie and that you've walked out half before the movie finishes. All of which leaves the viewer with the desire to see the two and half hour rough cut before the studio execs insisted that an hour be cut indeed it was rumoured that Big Amie had a cameo that was exorcised .

A m1ssed opportunity definitely, but Judged upon its own ments The Thirteenth Warnor has earned itself a place in Valhalla.

A/ex McGregor

The Manchurian Candidate

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Directed by : Paul Thomas Anderson Starring: John C Reilly, Jason Robards, Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore Uneven but brave Short Cuts-inspired tale of chance and coincidence. A plethora of characters float in and out of a plethora of intermingling stories.

A film that split differences upon 1ts cinematiC release from those who saw a brave new style of film making to those who found 1t rambling nonsense. Of course on reflection it is neither. What 1t 1s however, is a long, often tediously self mdulgent, three hour expenence that somehow manages to make good on its promise and become more than the sum of its parts for an almost hypnotic last forty minutes.

Ostensibly Paul Thomas Anderson's follow up to Boogie Nights 1s a Short Cut's inspired look at many fractured characters as they interweave through each others' narratives driven, as the open1ng voiceover announces, by nothing more than chance and coincidence. Some of the plot strands work very well. Tom Cru1se's much vaunted turn as a m1sogyn1stic self help guru is as good as you've heard, but anyone familiar with Neil Labute's Your Friends and Neighbours will know that Jason Patric 's Cary would leave Tom with his jaw dropped and a bad taste 1n his mouth.

Nevertheless, Cruise remains a highlight as does Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the sensitive nurse to Jason Robards' terminally 111, morphine-addled Earl Partridge. And a special mention must go to the tireless efforts of Anderson regular John C Reilly who as a lonely, god-fearing. gun losing pol1ceman who steals the show, with a performance of deep-rooted sensitivity.

However many others fal l short of this benchmark, as 1s always the case when a director attempts to morph so many characters and plot strands into one linear film.

Such victims are Julianne Moore, who 1n one fell swoop undoes her sterling work in Neil Jordan's The End of the Affair by embodying a hystencal , thoroughly unlikable character who swears like trooper with tourettes.

Yet it rema1ns worth the rental price for the stunn1ng conclusion alone, where the use of those seem1ngly abstract Magnolia posters featuring a frog become as clear as day.

Wednesday, September 20, 2000

Directed by : Steve Miner Starring: Bridget Fonda, Bill Pullman, Oliver Platt, Brendan Gleeson

Directed by: John Frankenheimer Starri ng : Frank Sinatra, Laurance Harvey, Janet Leigh , Angela Lansbu ry

Giant Crocodile terrorises a pretty woman, a heroic man, a wise cracking fat guy and the whole of a small town in this monster movie send up.

Outstanding political conspira cy thriller. Without it there would be no X-Files, no JFK and er, no Naked Gun.

If only Lake Placid was a ternble, embarrassmg romp, the review would write itself: Just two words Lake Flaccid.

However Lake Placid is actually a highly enjoyable, dead pan, B-mov1e pastiche featuring some excellent CGI giant crocodile effects and fine cast who all enter into the spirit of things.

Big city, dinosaur boffin Bridget Fonda is sent out to the titular hillbilly country town in the state of Maine to 1nvest1gate the finding of a ancient tooth.

However there is something more dangerous than a dino tooth stalk1ng the water and soon Fonda along w1th Game Warden and romantiC Interest Bill Pullman are battling sa1d giant croc, aided by the bickenng Shenff Brendan Gleeson and the crocodile worshipping, uber-rich Oliver Platt.

As has been clearly illustrated the plot ain't much but 1f you've seen the video cover and then rented the movie chances are you're not expecting Bergman.

Directed by Halloween H20 helmsman Steve Miner Lake Placid is short and if you pardon the pun, snappy, it also has glib one-liners to spare. "Was this the man you saw?" Platt asks Gleeson holding up the only rema ins of victim; his toe. "He seemed taller" Gleeson replies. And the schlokey final twist is a masterclass in tongue 'n' cheek comic timmg.

Yet, Lake Placid never reaches the same dizzying heights of those films that have clearly inspired it, namely Trem ors and Pirana and it fades from the memory soon after viewing. Leaving it, viewed from the most negative perspective, as disposable fluff for a niche audience alone.

Ultimately what remains in the memory is the thought that the write r David E. Kelly, who is also the creator of Ally McBeal, likes his skinny, willowy birds, doesn't he? Bridget Fonda, Calista Flockheart and he's married to Michelle Pfieffer. At least he knows what he likes.

Afex McGregor

The word classic is bound around too often to really mean a thing m these heady days yet The Manchurian Candidate is a mesmeris1ng film thoroughly deservmg of the moniker. At once both sat1re and parano1d consp1racy thnller, 1n 1ts specific genre TMC has few peers outs1de All The President's Men. Director John Frankenheimer weaves a cunning and surprisingly moving tale that features Laurence Harvey as a Sergeant 1n the US mannes who along with h1s entire squadron is captured by north Koreans during the Korean war. He is programmed to become a sleeper agent; an assass1n , act1vated whenever he sees a Queen of Hearts playmg card, and 1s returned to the States where he becomes the epicentre of a high level political conspiracy.

Meanwhile, Major Raymond Shaw, (Frank Smatra) Harvey's commanding officer IS nightly troubled with vague memories of being brainwashed by the Koreans. He seeks out Harvey and along the way meets Janet Leigh whom he falls quickly in love with. Soon Shaw IS attemptmg to save a presidential candidate from assassination as well as desperately trying to save Harvey who is afraid and confused with his frequent blackouts and unable to prevent himself from doing terrible deeds, one of wh1ch is truly heartbreaking. Harvey in short is, as the saying goes, more sinned against than sinning.

TMC features caree r best performances from Sinatra, Murder She Wrote's Angela Lansbury, who is electric as Harvey's demon1c mother, and Frankenheimer, who although hinted at his great ta lent with his underrated sequel to the French Connection , has since well and truly plateaued with Ronin and this year's Ben Affleck thriller Deception. Of course it's not perfect, Sinatra and Leigh's romance feels rushed and an unnecessary but TMC remains an absolute necessity to anyone who holds pride in thei r video collection.

Inspected: Arts Theatre Preview:

September 25 - September 30

Fans of the 1n1m1table P.G.Wodehouse (known affectionately as 'Plum') are in for a treat at Theatre Royal th1s week with performances of Beyond a Joke by Roger Milner. Set in 1944 Pans, Beyond a Joke tells the story of Plum and h1s elegant w1fe and dog liv1ng a 'cocktail and eclair' lifestyle wh1lst the rest of Europe was bemg bes1eged by Nazi terror.

Born 1n 1881 1n Guildford and educated at Dulw1ch College, Wodehouse was very well acquamted w1th the Engl1sh sensibilities wh1ch would later become hiS trademark in hiS novels. After ed1t1ng the humorous 'By the Way' column for the London Globe, he went on to wnte several novels, short stones, plays, lyncs and essays - all 1n his own slightly sarcastic English style. By far the most famous of Wodehouse 's creations was Bert1e Wooster w1th h1s consistently perfect valet Jeeves. The dry w1t comb1ned w1th Edwardian and Wodehouse's own slang gave his novels a umque tone wh1ch is as popular 1n Bnta1n as 1t is in the USA where Wodehouse IS seen as be1ng one of the great masters of the English language, almost on a par with Shakespeare, 1f the many web-sites dedicated to Plum are to be believed.

Wodehouse's novels are set in upperclass England with gentle plots, the

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ma1n ernphas1s bemg on the humour and characters rather than an exc1t1ng and action-packed story-line. The novels are far from be1ng boring, however, as they boast a skill w1th language and Intelligence which make h1s work a pleasure to read. In his own life Wodehouse was rather more exc1t1ng and mystenous. In the 1940s he lived in Paris With h1s w1fe Ethel and the1r Pekmese dog Wonder. Whilst Naz1 terror swept across Europe, leav1ng fear and destruction in 1ts wake, Wodehouse and h1s companions l1ved 1n the luxurious Hotel Bristol, seemmgly untouched by rat1on1ng and the other effects of the war. Th1s life of luxury led to the Wodehouses com1ng under 1nvestigat1on by Malcom Muggeridge for MI5. They suspected that Plum may be collaborating w1th more than JUSt Cote Porter and Jerome Chan and th1s makes for a tense and eXCiting production. Beyond a Joke IS on a nine theatre tour, commg to Norwich for five days after receiving cnt1cal acclaim and prom1ses to be a highly entertaining and mterest1ng evening out.

Wodehouse led an unusual and mystenous life wh1ch 1s perfect for a stage production and h1s unique wit makes the play even more likely to be a huge success. The settmg of the play also adds to 1ts appeal - at the end of .

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the war, Pans is be1ng liberated and the city 1s ready to celebrate. The contag1ous atmosphere of excitement as well as the Witch-hunt for people who may have been 1n league w1th the enemy are sure to make th1s production absorbmg and gnppmg.

In th1s production P.G.Wodehouse 1s played by one of Bnta1n's finest stage and televiSIOn actors, Anton Rodgers.

Rodgers has starred 1n television series' includmg May to December, Up Rising and Fresh Fields (for which he won an Ernmy). H1s am1able manner and obv1ous acting ability make h1m perfect for the role of th1s great Bnt1sh literary figure and 1t will be exc1t1ng to have an actor of h1s calibre 1n Norwich. Angela Theme w111 be play1ng the 1rrepress1ble Ethel , bnngmg her classical stage training and expenence of televiSIOn act1ng from the well -known 1970s senes To the Manor Born. The two have already worked together on tour w1th Alan Ayckbourn 's How The Other Half Loves and on the television series Noah's Ark, ensunng a realistic and relaxed on-stage relat1onsh1p. The cast also mcludes M1chael Cochrane as Duff Coop.r, tan Gelder as Malcolm Muggendge, Mark Penfold as the hotel manager and Beatnz Batarda as Madeleme the ma1d.

Elin Jones

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Frames, September 17- September 31

Best of the Rest

Vn Theatre Royal, September 18 - September 23

The Lady From the Sea Nestled away on the way 1n to the City on St G1les St lies a sometimes overlooked Art Gallery run by the chansmat1c Ben Moss. lt may not spnng Immediately to mmd when dec1d1ng to v1sit a gallery, but 1s definately worth a v1s1t as 1t houses some exc1t1ng and provocative exh1b1t1ons, such as this fortnight's offenng from Peter Rodulfo and Jon Page.

Peter grew up 1n an lnd1an h1ll stat1on and has Tnmdad1an relatives, and these roots are shown clearly by the eclectic m1x of colour and form from watercolours to bronze sculptures and modern glasswork.

The exh1b1t10n features work from earlier 1n h1s career such as Construction which IS a lit box hous1ng small sculptures, looking rather like a colourful JUnk shop.

There are also more recent pieces 1ncludmg ctass1cal bronze statuettes, and contemporary nppled glass slabs Impregnated w1th deep and vibrant coloured pigments which make the

collection vaned and exc1t1ng.

Jon also uses a vanety of media and hiS work falls under three mam themes. The most vibrant and stnking are h1s pa1ntmgs and sculptures taking Inspiration from Punch and Judy. Plaster of Pans heads w1th overs1zed features and bnght, almost cartoon-like paintings of the famous puppet show all have a fantastical and exaggerated feel about them and engage your attention as soon as you walk 1nto the gallery. Smaller still llfes featunng old typewnters and shoes line the wall and show-case Jon Page's talent for realism wh1ch IS further proven by the set of 3D studies of Spanish countryside full of sunny colours and a real feel of the atmosphere of the country.

Entry to the gallery IS free, and you can even buy one of the paintings on display should your loan cheque be burnmg a hole 1n your pocket!

Elin Jones

If you enjoyed the curly w1gs and overthe-top make-up of Topsy Turvy then 1t would be worth pay1ng a v1s1t to the Theatre Royal th1s fortnight to check out th1s Cart Rosa double b1ll. Funds from Darne 'k1w1 ' Te Kanewa and Dav1d (shampoo ad) Gmola have rev1ved the company and for five n1ghts they路 present the Gilbert and Sullivan double bill featunng Yeoman of the Guard and lolanthe . Fear not that the theatncals and opera genre may fly over your freshers ' week-addled m1nd, the Cart Rosa Opera Company prom1se to make opera accessible to all, even students. lo/anthe IS billed as the most enchanting of the Savoy Operas, and has a famous Sing-along score for you to wrap your vocal chords around featunng March of the Peers Chorus and the fa1ry queen 's Oh Foolish Fay. The story IS the ever-popular political sat1re. lt tells the story of the fairy lolanthe who IS banished from the fa1ry kingdom for falling for a mere mortal and, in grand G and S style, 1t JUSt happens to be the Lord Chancellor.

Their son then falls 1n love w1th a shepherdess and the rest IS a complicated Jamboree of songs and colour.

Yeomen of the Guard IS more senous and 'operatic' than 1ts JOlly partner and also probably the best-known . lt is a more subdued story, concern1ng 1tself w1th Jack Pomt - a com1c Jester. P01nt falls for the gorgeous Elsie Maynard who returns h1s gesture by marrying Colnel Fa1rfax (like we d1dn't see that commg! ) Vanous hilarious tw1sts and turns occur, spnnkled liberally With a hefty dose of rousing mus1cal numbers before the s1tuat1on resolves 1tself, as they always do! If the plot hasn't swung you then maybe the Beefeater costumes w1ll!

Theatre Royal hosts extremely popular performances and they tend to get booked-up fairly QUICkly so you'd better be qu1ck to avo1d d1sappo1ntment.

Come on folks, if Dav1d G1nola's "worth 1t" then so are you!

Gemma O'Donne/1

a September

(, 8 - October 7

ThiS play by Hennck lbsen "explores the hypnotiC hold one person may gain over another". The Maddermarket Theatre IS well -known for 1ts anginal and excellently-produced plays and The Lady From the Sea prom1ses to live up to th1s.

Attack Decay Sustain Release 1 rts Centre September 29 - October The Helical Scan ProJect bnngs some exc1t1ng and challenging stud1es us1ng trad1t1onal med1a to create a "new fus1on of theatrical and cmemat1c arts".

MAN and support Norwach Arts Centre S ptem er 22 Welsh space-rockers may not be your bag, but if you fancy something a bit different, you w111 find "Winos, Rh1nos and Lunatics" according to the band's biography. Th1s even1ng of 1mprov1sat10nal mus1c w111 only set you back 拢7.50 w1th your student card.

Norfolk and Norwich Festival Va ous ven es Se e e 9- tober 5 The Festival covers vanous genres 1nclud1ng jazz, class1cal music, comedy, dance and poetry.

Renowned mus1cians mcludmg the Rossica Choir of St Petersburg, the Bntten Smfoma and the London Mozart Players are set to grace Norwich With their highly acclaimed performances 1n the Eastern reg1ons b1ggest Arts event.

Norwich IS also to play host to several World Prem1eres during the event includmg Sir John Tavener's The Fool to be performed by the gogmagogs in St Andrew's Hall, and John Surman's _ new commission 1n Norw1ch Cathedral.

-_: A full programme of events IS available from various outlets

. Wednesday, September 20, 2000-

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event

lnspec e : TV/Radio ..-

Essential Radio Rad1o 1 have a new presen ter joming them on t he 25 th September, called Nemone. '' Nemone who?'' I hear you cry . Well, that's 1t actually. For the first few weeks, however, there is probably little likelihood of you actually listen1ng to the sparky Mancunian's new show, as she w1ll be gracmg the air waves at an uns1ghtly 4:00am 't1l 6:30am. That IS, of course, unless you are st1ll awake from that hard n1ght"s study sess1on of background readmg you have JUSt completed 1n preparation for th1s semester's courses. The dawn slot IS only temporary, though, wh1lst Nemone gets to gnps w1th Rad10 1's pol1cy for play1ng exc1t1ng. underground mus1c that you won 't be able to hear anywhere else - I'm sorry, I do appear to be overdosmg on the sarcasm 1n th1s section -and she w111 soon be movmg to the Saturday morn1ng slot 1n October.

Anyway, over on Rad1o 2 (no, 1t IS Interesting, I promise!) there's a very good senes revis1t1ng that

most sw1ngmg of decades: The Sixties (Tuesdays, 21:00-22:00). Unfortunately the senes comes to a close on the 26th September, but 1t IS going out with a bang, qu1te li terally, as presenter Julian Pett1fer assesses the motto "Make love, not war'"; the v1olence that surrounded the slogan at the t1me, mcludmg V1etnam and Northern Ireland; and the contrasting popular pac1fist movements that created a backdrop to the era, aided by a new spirit of sexual llberat1on.

Jo Brand prov1des a little light relief, w1th the help of com1c talent rang1ng from Jenny Ecla1r to S1r John G1elgud, by recreat1ng Shakespeare's Seven Ages Of Man (RadiO 2, Saturdays, 13:00-13:30). Okay, so 1t m1ght not sound fantastically enterta1nmg, but 1t 1s actually rather amus1ng. Trust me . And anyway, what else have you got to do on a Saturday lunchtime?

Mark/and Starkie

s ential Soaps Cup1d has been po1nt1ng h1s arrow m the general get 1t together and they w111 all live happily ever after. d1rect1on of soap-world recently, but unfortunately for As long as we don't have to see any flesh, 1t's us 1t's h1tt1ng the more decrepit characters. In debatable whether anybody really cares.

EastEnders there's a steamy affa1r going on between Over on Coronation Street, the Baldwm love tnangle Frank and Pat, unbeknown to the1r other halves. If has finally come to a head, w1th M1ke d1sown1ng his soap history IS anyth1ng to go by Peggy and Roy will son Mark and headmg off on honeymoon with his . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - , new bride.

Llnda's smug smile as she got away w1th 1t, h1nts that th1s mamage 1s go1ng to be about as successful as t11e last two.

Hayley路s sudden maternal des1res become fulfilled 1n part th1s week when Sarah -Lou and baby Bethany turn up on her and Roy's doorstep.

Sarah dec1ded to leave home after an argument w1th Ga11 about lool\1ng after Bethany.

She leaves Dav1d. (tile Street's shopliftmg young del1nquent) lookmg after her, wh1le she goes out, caus1ng Ga11 to do her 1mpress1on of an angry goldfish .

Also m Coronation Street, R1ta 1s finally won over by Anthony's extremely conv1nc1ng Hugh Grant 1mpress1on, spend1ng the n1ght with h1m later this week, and J1m faces the consequences of h1s revenge attack on Jez. In EastEnders a nubile fam1ly of young, supposedly attractive women amve to upset the balance of Walford and more specifically Mel, when one of them makes a move on Steve Owen.

The Grandma Mo Hams, has a long stand1ng feud w1th Pat (how come nobody has ever heard of her then?) and the personality of a Mitchell, not letting the law stand m the way of protect1ng her fam1ly. I expect Peggy's qu1 ve r~ng in her boots.

Kathryn Hinchliff

Pregnant?

~ Wednesday ,

September 20, 2000

-

Animation Week Essential TV 01: A whole week devoted to that most versatile and celebrated of moving 1mage med1ums? Surely not!

But, yes, Channel 4 have set as1de much of the1r usual programme scheduling and m place have dropped m a whole host of an1mated good1es for your viewmg pleasure. But not only has th1s week been des1gned to nostalgically remember beloved cartoons of yesteryear, 1t has also been created to herald and support new d1rect1ons in an1mation, and new sources of comedic wr1t1ng and creat1ve talent.

Some h1ghl1ghts of th1s mclude Adam and Joe's World Of Animation (23rd September 22:00); a night dediCated to the Japanese Manga an1mat1ons (24th September 00:00), Including a show1ng of two ep1sodes of the cult Manga ser1es, Fist Of The North Star; as well as an w1de array of shorts spread throughout the week, from classics hits to new gems.

The week k1cks off on Saturday evenmg w1th the links and continUity host for the evenmg, Gary Spangle: himself an an1ma ted character. The grouchy game-show host will Introduce the n1ght's programmes, whilst Simultaneously try1ng to w1n over the v1ew1ng publiC w1th h1s "hit'" game-show, Is That Funny? However. Our Toon (21:00) IS the fi rst proper show of the even1ng, contammg a ser~es of mteN1ews w1th celebr1t1es (such as Johnny Vaughn, Jo Whlley and John Thompson) who rem1n 1sce about their favour~te cartoons . These range from obv1ous classics, like The Simpsons and He-Man, to less likely candidates, mclud1ng the '70s k1ds TV show Banana Splits and, my personal favourite, Dungeons and Dragons.

The part of the evenmg I am most looking forward to, however, IS the terrestrial prem1ere of Matt '" The S1mpsons" Groen1ng路s other an1mated venture, Futurama ... woohoo! For those few of you who don't know, Futurama centres around Fry, a p1zza delivery boy who gets accidentally frozen m a cryogen1cs lab on New Year's Eve 1999, and wakes up at the start

of the year 3000. He soon finds a future relat1ve of h1s, Professor Farnsworth, and sets about d1scover~ng the new world around him w1th a bunch of new. m1sfit, fnends, mcluding the one-eyed Leela and Bender the robot. Before I had seen the show the show I suspected 1t to be merely a second-rate The Simpsons set in the future, la The Jetsons vs .

The Flintstones. How wrong I was! Whilst The Simpsons focuses on satirical humour Futurama lets loose on a more brash, out-and-out k1nd of comedy.

And boy, 1t's funny! Oh, 1t's also far more sexually aware and v1olent than its counterpart, wh1ch, 1n cartoons, IS always pretty cool . The ser~es will be contlnumg on Thu rsdays (from the 28th onwards) at 18:00.

On Monday 25th September Cartoons Kick Ass: A Guide To Subversive Animation (23 :55) takes a look at the darker s1de of the an1mated form, prov1ng that '"an1mat10n" IS not JUSt a byword for 1nnocent, children's entertainment, but as a med1um has managed to push pol1t1cal, soc1al and cultural boundanes. The programme exam1nes 1cons like Betty Boop, cartoon's first sex symbol, and Tex Avery路s p1oneer1ng cartoons of the 1940s, whiCh gave a more cha ll eng1ng alternative to the cutesy, cheerfu l D1sney films of the same penod .

And fina lly, a collection of new animated Sitcom shorts w1ll be broadcast on Saturday 23rd from 23:30 onwa rds, allowmg an ms1ght 1nto the stranger world of today's com1c wr1t1 ng. One of the more in triguing numbers is Captain Sarcastic, which tells the story of our eponymous hero, a past-it superhero who, with h1s S1dek1ck, Irony Boy, was once famed throughout the streets of lpsw1ch, but now has to make ends meet do1ng a ser~es of unlikely part time jobs. Short, sweet and funny.

And that about concludes the more mterest1ng aspects of An 1mation Week. M1ss 1t, miss out! Or somethmg.

Mark/and Starkie

a

A Very British M urder

Essential TV 02: Th1s well put together five part documentary ser~es examines a range of particularly intrigumg murders committed 1n Britain over the past few decades, ranging from the unsolved mystery to the selfconfessed cock up; the utterly homfic to a, er, lighter side of murder ... if there IS such a th1ng.

For mstance, 1f you are plann1ng on murder~ng your other half th1s week, then 1t m1ght have been a good 1dea to watch last week's ep1sode of A Very British Murder for a step by step gu1de on how not to do it.

Captain Peter Hogg almost managed to comm1t what the experts descr~be as '"the perfect murder", but d1scard1ng h1s book, A Fliers World along w1th the body was perhaps not a good 1dea (him bemg a pilot an' all ) and perhaps he should have removed the wedding r~ng wh1ch was 1nscr~bed w1th both the1r names. When told by the police that h1s w1fe's body

had been found m Conn1ston lake, he replied , ''But that was SIX or seven years ago." Oops ... wrong answer. However he Still got away with 1t, seNing on ly 18 months in prison. Hogg was even allowed to dispose of the body for a second t1me. He dec1ded 1t should '"go r~ght back where 1t came from", and so scattered her ashes back 1n the lake 1 Next week IS the th1rd ep1sode 1n the ser~es and looks set to be Just as mtriguing as last week's, although perhaps not qu1te as amusmg. Travell1ng back to 1985, 1t focuses on Chnst1ne Offord, a lesb1an. mother of two, bondage prostitute found murdered m her bathtub. Th1s programme not only mvest1gates what led up to Christ1ne's death, but also a w1der debate 1nvolv1ng prost1tut1on 1tself and the people connected to 1t.

Kathryn Hinchliff

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19~.

Essential Game 0:..1=:;;; : ~-~_Omikron: The Nomad Soul The first and only really interesting thing I heard about this game before I got down to revieWing the thing was that it is a collaboration between the designers of the game (an up-and-coming French design group, called Quantic Dream) and a certain Mr Dav1d Bowie. The words "cheap", "marketing•, and "gimmick" all suddenly sprang to my mind along w1th the phrase "some style no content" and similar cliches, although I was at the same time intrigued to find out how much· and what Bowie had contributed to this project. However, having now played the game I can honestly say that these preconceived apprehensions bear no relation to the game at all, for The Nomad Soul contains all the ingredients of a fantastic epic adventure game.

To go through the whole plot of the game would take away much of 1ts enjoyment, since a lot of the excitement comes from trying to figure out what the hell is happenmg around you. However, the basic story line goes as follows ... you have been transported to a parallel reality to save the world of Omikron from a nasty demon who has a penchant for human souls. Okay, so it doesn't sound too promising: a bit of a Soul Reaver rip-off, perhaps.

Well, maybe, but it gets much better, I promise. For, Astaroth (the evil dude) manages to get his noncorporeal snack food by luring video game players to buy a cursed game that he has produced (interestingly also called Omikron) which, when they play it, steals their soul and in return gives them an all-expenses paid trip to eternal damnation. You are one of the lucky people who has purchased this game, yet you turn out to be something special - a "nomad soul". Once you get transported to the alternate realm you have the ability to inhabit the bodies of different people and, in doing so you are able to start unravelling the plot behind Astaroth and Omikron. A/though this game is ultimately an adventure game, la Tomb Raider, with lots of

a

tricky puzzles and suchlike to figure out, Omikron: The Nomad Soul combines elements of several other gaming genres, including aspects of fighting games like Soul Calibur and Tekken; and also a first-person shoot 'em up style reminiscent of Quake or Half-Ufe. The idea of combining so many different styles in one game usually tends to tu m out crap in (virtual) reality, but Quantic Dream have managed a successful attempt at each aspect, creating a game that just keeps getting more compelling the further you advance.

Oh yeah, and of course there's the aforementioned David Bowie. Cheap gimmick? Not at all. Bowie has written eight songs for the game, plus countless instrumentals that swirl about throughout. There are several secret gigs to find around the game, where you watch a virtual David Bow1e doing his thang and, furthermore, you can buy tracks by the man himself at various stores within the cities that you must explore and play them back at your apartment. lt may be a gimmick, but it's a pretty cool one.

There are, as always, a few problems with The Nomad Soul. I found it quite slow in places, and although watching people getting drunk in bars or getting their kicks on street corners is entertaining and creates an atmosphere that is both clever and a bit sexy, I was left wanting for a bit more action.

Oh and some of the puzzles are extremely annoying (though it's probably due more to my distinct lack of mental skill than to the actual puzzles themselves) and I have been forced to count to ten on more than one occasion when a brick through the TV screen seemed a very appealing option.

Overall, thOugh, Omikron: The Nomad Soul is an engrossing, challenging and exciting game with exceptional graphics and music, and a very long game-play lifespan: a true RPG gem.

Markland Stark/e

Web Review: Icon Town So you're a fresher, you've moved into your new cell , er, room - and you've introduced yourself to a few people, but no one seems particularly friendly. In short, you are feeling lonely.

Well, never mind because help is at hand, in the form of Icon Town - the coolest commun1ty on the web. That's right! You'll never need real friends again.

Yes, I know that intemet communities and chat rooms are hardly hip or interesting places to hang out and frankly, having tea with your gran sounds more appealing, but this site is different, because (like the title suggests) it is actually an entire town made up of icons (basically, little pictures) built and maintained by people across the world.

The town itself looks a lot like the ones you create in Sim City 2000, except that in Icon Town, you can click on any building to reveal the details of the person who built it, and a link to their homepage, if they have one.

The town was conceived four years ago by German web designer and illustrator, Bemd Holzhausen (aka 'Be'), when he became interested in the idea of creating a realistic virtual community.

To begin with, Icon Town was just a few houses created by other web designers and programmers.

But, as the general public has over the years become more internet friendly and knowledgeable, the population of the neighbourhood has spiralled, winning several awards along the way, including a place on the Harvard-based GS Web Design A~rd Honours Ust last year.

If you're wondering how on Earth you assemble your own building icon then there is no need to worry, because there are a selection of ready-made icons on offer on the web site for you to choose from. And the best bit about the site is, it's free. Which is always a good thing.

Cut & Blow Dry

Open 8.00am- late Monday to Saturday

1 O.OOam • 4.00pm on Sunday

Terms •nd Conditions £10 cut & blow dry la for Wlllk·ln clients only •nd the •ppolntment clients .,. £US.OO.

Tel. Cropshop Norwich Ltd. 622062

Wednesday, September 20, 2000'<

Eventhorizon: Film

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The essential guide to what's on in Norwich over the coming fortnight

fi~en===== Essential Union Film: American Beauty Campus Film American Beauty September 24 - 19.00 One of a slew of fi lms that greeted the start of the yea r before everything wen t pear-shaped. Sweeping the board at this year's Academy Awards this debut from Sam Mendes is exceptional.

Stars Kevi n Spacey and An nette Bening.

See Essential Union Rim Topsy Turvy September 26 - 20.00 M1ke Leigh brings the lives of Gilbert and Sullivan expertly to life in this charming and deftly handled biopic.

Gladiator September 28 - 19.00 R1dley Scott's overhyped Roman epic is set to be one of the year's b1ggest earners. Despite verging on ham at times this spectacle is worth catching before 1t's v1sual splendour is 1mpa1red on the small screen.

The Insider September 29 - 20.00 Michael Mann's political thnller set around a real life case of a research scientist (Russell Crowe) for a tobacco ...,. firm who risks personal and financ ial ruin to blow the whistle on the harmful effects of smok1ng when he enlists the help of television producer Lowell Bergman (AI Pac1no).

Million Dollar Hotel Ocotber 2 - 18.30 The fact that this is based on a song by U2 should be enough to tell you that this isn't exactly a cinematic highlight even if direct or Wim Wenders did manage to rope Mel Gibson into helping out.

Blade Ocotber 3 路 20.00 Wesley Snipes and Stephen Dorff clash in this bloody and sometimes involving adaptation of the undergound com1c.

City Film A Bout de Souffle Jean-Luc Goddard's critically acclaimed 1960 debut depicts sma llti me criminal Belmondo's flight from the police as he seeks refuge with Amencan student Seberg.

Showing at Cinema City, September 22 & 27 20.15, September 23. 25 & 28 - 17.45, September 24 & 28 - 14.30 Buena Vista Social Club Documentary, masterfully shot by Wim Wenders as he accompanied Ry Cooder back to Cuba in 1998 to record a followup album to the phenomenally successful Buena Vista Social Club.

Showing at Cinema City, October 1 - 19.30 Cherry Falls A good thing this isn't art because if life

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truly did 1m1tate it all you virgins out there would find yourselves on the sharp end of a kn1fe.

That's the new "twist" in this latest tepid teen horror offenng.

Showing at UCI Chicken Run Mel Gibson, Julia Sawalha and Jane Horrocks bring Aa rdman Animations latest creations to life in this Great Escape style plasticine extravagansa .

Go late to avoid the mewling, puking little brats.

Showing at UCI, ABC, Odeon & Ster Century

Dhadkan A UCI Hindi Film Presentation without subtitiles.

Showing at UCI Erin Brockovich Julia Roberts lets her hair down, invests in a Wonderbra and gives the best performance of her career in thiS environmental legal drama. Also eo-stars an Oscar-tipped Albert Finney.

Showing at Cinema City, September 27 - 14.30 Gangster No. 1 Part of the British film industry's penchant for gangster films, this latest offering drops the mockneyisms of Mr. Ritchie and eo. and creates a darker altogether more forebidding affair starring Malcom McDowell.

Showing at Cinema City, September 29 - 23.15 Gladiatior Ridley Scott's overrated but earnest Roman epic. Catch 1t before 1t goes to video.

Showing at UCI Gone in 60 Seconds A shame it didn't take it's own advice. it's still around.

Showing at UCI High Fidelity Just goes to show that Amencans can "bastardise our culture" one m1nute and make a damn fine film the next. Starnng John Cusack.

Showing at UCI Himalaya With the eponymous mountain range as a backdrop, director Eric Valli follows a group of villagers as they set out on a journey to trade salt for grain.

Showing at Cinema City, September 29 & 30, October 2 & 5 - 17 .45, October 3 & 4 20.15, September 5- 14.30

La Veuve de Saint Pierre A condemned prisoner is placed under the custody of a Captain and his forwardthinking wife until a guillotine arrives from France. A form1dable and powerfully performed penod drama starring Juliette Binoche and Dan1el Auteuil.

Showing at Cinema City, September 29 & 30, October 2 & 5 - 20.15, September 22, 26 & 27- 17.45, September 24 17 .00, September 26 - 14.30

Me, Myself and lrene lrma Kepp Maggie Cheung plays a Hong Kong actress amidst a French film crew. A film about the making of a film and real life imitating art imitating real life.

Showing at Cinema City, October 1 - 14.30 Keeping the Faith Two childhood fnends grow up to find jobs in their respective religions (priest and rabbi) only to both fall in love with the same woman. New comedy starring Ben Stiller, Edward Norton and Jena Elfman.

Showing at UCI

Already criticised fo r its ability to offend everyone under the sun, Jim Carrey portrays a schizophrenic Stat e Trooper in this latest from the Farrely brothers. Bad taste guaranteed, especially if you happen to be a midget, black, female ...

Showing at UCI & ABC Mission Impossible 2 Laughably bad action sequel starring Tom Cruise ... and not in a good way e1ther.

Showing at Ster Century

My Dog Skip Blllie has no-mates. But he has a dog

that, in true Lassie style, teaches him how to appreciate life in pre-Second World War Amenca. How quaint.

Showing at C1nema City, September 30 - 14.30 Nurse Betty Renee Zellwegger stars as a wife who, when her husband is killed in a drug deal, sets off in search of her true love, a soap opera actor who she has never actually met.

Showing at ABC & Cinema City, September 23, 25 & 28 - 20. 15, September 22, 26 & 27 17.45, September 24 路 17.00, September 24 - 17 .00, September 26 14.30 Oh Brother Where Art Thou Reviewed on page 15.

Showing at UCI Scary Movie Horror parody of what was actually a parody to start with. A wee bit crap to be recommended to anyone w1th a sense of humour.

Showing at UCI, Odeon & Ster Century

Use our searchable listings database at

Fax 01 603 632977

-..... Wednesday, September 20 , 2000

One of the only films this year that has lived up to it's well-earned reputation .

Recounting one man's (Kevin Spacey) fa teful progress through a mid -life realisation that his life doesn't really add up to much. Sam Mendes, previously famous for his work at the Donmar Warehouse in London's West End, won best director at this year's Academy Awards, a feat that is whole-heartedly deserved.

For American Beauty is an impassioned critique of the va lues and attitudes of suburban Ame rica, which makes its commercial success all the more impressive.

With the involvement of Midas Man Kevin Spacey and able support from Annette Bening, Thora Birch and Wes Bentley this IS one film that deserves repeat reviewing.

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Scary Movie Snatch X-Men Chicken Run Stuart Little Shanghai Noon Gone in 60 Seconds The Perfect Storm The Closer You Get Cherry Falls

Shaft Remake of the infamous 1971 Blaxploitation film starring Samuel L Jackson and Toni Collette.

Showing at UCI & Odeon Shanghai Noon Martial Arts Comedy Western (a first I think) starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson.

Showing at UCI & Ster Century Snatch Guy Ritchie surpasses Lock Stock in both humour and complexity in this latest shot m the arm for the ailing gangster flick.

Starring Vinnie Jones and a fantastic performance from Brad Pitt of all people.

Showing at UCI, ABC & Ster Century Space Cowboys Reviewed on page 15 Showing at UCI

Stuart Little A family adopt a talking mouse (without questioning why) and then let it settle in their wonderfully middle-class home.

Showing at UCI, ABC & Ster Century The Cell Ironically titled film starring Puff Daddy's girlfnend Jenmfer Lopez.

Showing at UCI & Odeon The Flinstones: Viva Rock Vegas IF ANY OF YOU PEOPLE ARE EVEN TEMPTED TO PAY GOOD MONEY TO SEE THIS FILM THEN YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE AT UNIVERSITY ... EVEN IF IT IS UEA. Showing at UCI The Long Good Friday Acclaimed British gangster film starnng Bob Hoskins.

Showing at C1nema City, September 22 - 23.15 & September 24 - 19.30 The Luhzin Defence A penod romantic drama involving a chess gen1us may not sound like everyone's cup of tea, but the appeal of Emily Watson and John Turturro bring Nabokov's tragedy powerfully to life.

Showing at Cinema City, September 20 & 21 17.45 & 20.15, September 21- 14.30

a big boat in some big special effects tanks m Hollywoood . Wehay!

Showing at UCI & Ster Century The Tigger Movie Piglet and Pooh are left to tend to their boring "friendship" while Tigger takes centre stage as he searches for other bouncy orange-type creatures ..

Showing at Cinema City, September 23 - 14.30 Thomas and the Magic Railroad An example of Hollywood completely missing the point as Alec Baldwin is cast as the ever-so dashing controller.

Apparently he's been on Slim Fast in preparation for his big screen debut.

Showing at UCI & Ster Century X-Men Intelligent comic book remake from Bryan Singer. Definitely the best of the summer blockbusters. See Essential City Film .

Showing at UCI, ABC & Ster Century

Clubs Wednesdays Superfly: September 20/27 Mojos Descend the sta1rs mto the gloom and shake your ass with the scarily trendy clientele. Funk, drum & base and a splash of R&B and you have the basic ingredients for an alcohol-fuelled, funky evening.

£3 Aockin ' Sheep: September 20/27 Ikon Cheap and cheerful fun at one of Norwich 's longest established clubs. lt may lack the charm of the newer nightspots, but 1t's an "Interesting· alternative to the standard student nights, espec1ally 1f you like meeting people who talk a b1t funny and go up at the end of their sentences. £2 before 11pm WeRK: September 20/27 Manham:ans DJ Shaun Johnson is in the house (yes I know ... but that might mean something to a couple of you ... family members perhaps?)

Dj Jam: September 20/27 Hy's All popular dance styles courtesy of DJ Rob Mac and guests.

£1

The Perfect Storm George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg ride

Reverb: September 20/27 Po Na Na Take advantage of thiS new addition to the Norwich night l1fe. A vast improvement on prev1ous tenants at the sight (Barcelona's to name but one) it creates a mix of mt1macy and fun that IS sorely lacking in some of the City's larger nightspots.

Tonight's tunes are funk and soul through the decades. £1 after 21 .00

lt's the Business: September 22129 Liquid The boys wear the Lynx and the girls look like tarts but who cares? We all have the urge to dance and it makes no difference who it's with. £2 before 23.00/ £3 after

Thursdays Spank: September 21J28 Time Uplift1ng and progressive dance. Just try not to lose your fnends and end up wandenng around aimlessly for hours in a drunken stupor and then decide to walk home after you discover everyone you came with has pulled and then get lost and pass out on the pavement outs1de Megazone. Believe me ... not fun . £1 before 23.00 (NUS) The LCR Disco: September 21J28 UEA The highlight of the UEA soc1al calendar.

Debutantes and their beaus are let loose on campus for a night of sherry and nibbles in the Lower Common Room accompanied by the musical delights of the S Club Septet. £2 .75/ £3 on the door Charty Handbaggy: September 21J28 The Loft The only gay club 1n town ... so you're lucky this is a warm, friendly, intimate settmg.. .

DJ Twister: September 21J28 Joe Alans Upl1ftmg House n1ght apparently.

70s Night: September 21J28 Hys If you enJOY domg the whole dressing up and dancing to mus1c from the decade that style forgot then th1s is the only Thursday retro n1ght. £2 (NUS)

Elegance: September 22129 Mojos R&B for the weekend .

Parkside: September 22129 Po Na Na Acclaimed DJs Dan Sm1th and Patnck Cavaliere are let loose for the night w1th some decent House mus1c in Norwich 's newest club.

The Loft: September 22/29 Popular gay night in the ugly zebra striped building.

Pam's House: September 22 The Waterfront Popular club n1ght from 22.00 to 04.00.

That's a hell of a lot of danc1ng. £8/£6 (advance) The Kitchen: September 29 The Waterfront House and trance n1ght. £11/£9 (advance)

Meltdown: September 23 The Waterfront Always popular with student types this club night, despite playing exactly the same indie music every weekend, is bound to pass the time in a not altogether unpleasant way. Plus Steve Lamacq is taking time out from his busy Radio 1 schedule to appear in this part of the country so be grateful. £3 (NU S) Meltdown: September 30 The Waterfront Are you a goth? Do you have any friends? No? Well, 1f I'm not mistaken, there are similar m1nded people here tonight who have a penchant for that most imaginative non-colour... black. And who knows, you m1ght find some chums to sit around with and listen to Korn or Slipknot or something that is equally crass. £3 (N US) Saturday Rewind: September 23/30 Mojos Chart, dance and garage night in the atmospheric underground caverns of Mojos. Defin1tely worth a visit if you want something a little different from the super club culture.

Sundays Saturdays Satisfaction: September 23/30 Hy's DJ Rob Mac returns for some house and swing to keep you going until you pass out from exhaustion and wake up to see Dermot O'Leary grinning at you before the Hollyoaks rerun begins. £4 before 23.00 I £5 after

Sunday Service: September 24/ October 1 Manhattan's A religious ceremony for those who worship the God of House or something equal ly sacreligious on this day of roast potatoes and argu1ng families who can't stand being made to sit around the same table together for JUSt one hour.

Value for Money: September 21J28 Liquid lt does exactly what 1t says on the can . £2 before 23.00 £3 after Bassment: September 21J28 Mojos Join the History of Art students and their ilk for the polar opposite of the LCR.

Fridays Empower: September 22129 Fat Pauly's Get m the mood for the weekend by drinkmg too much and puking your guts up on the pavement.

Hytimes: September 22129 Hys Club anthems w1th DJ Rob Mac.

£3 The Patriot Mel G1bson rewntes history again so that, unless you were under any misapprehension, the English really are complete bastards and are responsible for all the ev1ls of the world. Especially m Scotland and Amenca.

Showing at Cmema City, September 20 - 14.00

2

Hot: September 22129 Ikon There IS always t1me to go home and watch Casualty you know. You don 't have to succum b to peer pressure. £4

BUY OHE COCKTAIL GET OHE FREE! mon-wed 12-10.30 thu-s at 12-7

10°/o student discount* fast, fresh and fllnkV menu cappuccino, 1atte, espresso relax, unwind and 1ounge BAR OPEN MONDAV-SATURDAY12-11 "on presei1Biim of 111s canl,ld amilable wilh aJ\' «her olfer

Wednesday, September 20, 200

/!2

the

Eventhorizon:Ciubs/ ~~h_e_a_t_r_e_is_·. c_event

Mondays Fl ockin' Sheep: September 25/ October 2 Ikon Cheesy pop and current hits get played until 2 in the morn1ng. Dust off your Kappa tracksuits and Ell esse trainers .. . you'll need them. it really IS that good. £2 before 23 .00 Funky Jam Carwash: September 25/ October 2 Liqu 1d Whether you choose to enter into the spirit of the whole thmg, or you choose to be p1key <Jnd dress in your YSL shirt and Burtons shoes, rather than your fiares and second hand T-Sh1rt, you Will still, more t11an likely, have a great time at Liquid's best club • night.

Underground bands: September 25/ October 2 MOJOS Low-fi indie night until 02.00, so a bloody good way of forgetting how badly today went, and how lectures really aren't that important m the grand scheme of thmgs. And besides ... it's so dark you might fina lly pull.

Play: September 25/ October 2 Po Na Na's Did you know tha t your l1ver doesn't stop forming until you are 25? Well the kindly woman at the Un1on Bar told me this one hungover morn ... wh ich surely defeats the purpose of her JOb ... and what do the kmdly people at the souk bar g1ve us? Another bloody fantastic student n1ght.

Tuesdays Funk Friction: September 26/ October 3 Owen's Cafe Bar Bnnging a little bit of funk into your l1ves, Owen's offers up something a little more intimate for your even1ng perusal.

Slinky: September 26/ October 3 Hy's The omnipresent DJ Rob Mac (a bit li ke God but without the bitter sense of hurnour) returns to sample some of the latest dance tunes.

Jazz, Funk and Blues Jam: September 20 Norwich Arts Centre Booooooogy, Boooooogy Woooogy Booooogy Boooooogyman ...

Man + support: September 23 Norwich Arts Centre - 20 .30 According to someone else's blurb these "legendary space rockers have done 7601 g1gs and played 64,000 songs" ... so it's possible we w111 have heard of them ... right? £8.50 I £7.50 (NUS) Melanie C: September 27 UEA "Lesbian", "The only one who can sing" , "The one who can't sing" ... There have been so many th1ngs written abou t the part-time Spice Girl that she's decided to go out and prove that she doesn't give a rat's arse by tou ring smallish venues around the country. Unlike Burberry poster girl Mrs Beckham and her sub-nouveau ''let's go to Woolworth's and but, thousands of my own single" ways.

Inner Sense: September 29/30 Norwich Railway Station 13.00 St Gregory's Art Centre 20.00 on the 29th Put a little bit of samba into your l1fe while waiting for a train, or al ternatively go to St Gregory's so that you can dance to the samba beat, because I don't think Anglia Railways would appreciate you domg so at the stat1on.

Royal Philarmonic Orchestra: September 29 St. Andrew's Hall - 19.30 Conductor Gary Wa lker and the internationa lly acclaimed Ph1 larmon ic launch the fi rst Norfolk and Norwich Festival of the millennium with a choice selection of English composers finest works from Sull1van to Elgar. For those of you who really need a bit of Culture 111 your life and let's face it, actually reading the words in The Sun doesn't actually count. £33, £27, £20, £13, £6 (concessions £2 off)

Clockwork Orange: September 30 UEA Live mus1c 111 the LCR. Pitchshifter: October 1 The Waterfront Do you have a clue who they are ... because 1f you do please give me a ring and tell me .. . and, in a rare case of me not be1ng sarcastiC, I hope you all have a lovely t1me.

Brooke Street Band: October 2 Assembly House - 13.00 You're in town, shopping for your dinner in M&S, as you do, and what do you find? You've left your creative sensibility at home. Well, help is at hand ... a lunch time concert of Bach and Handel. And what do you know? You get a fi rst. Genius' Township Express Orchestra: October 2 St. Andrew's Hall - 20.00 Fresh from playing at Nelson Mandela's birthday party, Pinise Saul and Lucky Ranku bring their unique brand of African jazz to the land before t1me ... but without the dmosaurs. And it probably made Mr. Mandela very happy considering what the Ground Force team d1d to his garden w1th thei r horticultural ways and braless bodies. £12, £9, £6 (concessions £2 off) June Tabor: October 3 Norw1ch Playhouse - 20.00 A stunning combmation of folk and Jazz bnngs one of the country's best known (to a certam age group) singers to Norw1ch.But you're never too young to learn are you? Or to be as patronising as you possibly can ... I know because I am. £12 (concessions £2 off)

Theatre

Dancing Man and Woman: September 30 Norwich Playhouse - 20.00 One of the country's finest jazz mus1C1ans, Andy Sheppard, brings his new proJeCt to celebrate the Festival. £12 (concessions £2 off)

lolanthe: September 20 Theatre Royal - 19.30 & 14.30 (20 &23 ) The Carla Rosa Opera Company present the final performance of Gi lbert and Sullivan's tale of the fa iry wlWtlw,..m;; ...rnt""1'11'"1WW ~><~~~.mw.il\ibiiilliii'!IV'%¥%il'clolanthe who is banished for Salsa: September 26/ October 3 falling m love with the Lord Po Na Na's Chancellor ... a mortal. Billed as a A funny one this. You can get Salsa and gem of V1ctorian theatre.

Merengue lessons from inhouse dance tutor There is a rule in the movie industry: throw enough money at a film and some of it £19.50 - £3.50 Patricio for only £3 with you r NUS ca rd . wi ll stick. Which, in the case of this year's Mission Impossible 2 and The Perfect Previewed on page 17. :-"\Something 1 think no other club in Norw1ch Storm it really didn't. And then, as the summer rolled on, just when it seemed that has to offer. Like snagging someone of the nothing was going to come along, Bryan Singer arrived with his intelligent, moralistic Yeomen of the Guard: same sex, definitely something to try at adaptation of the X-Men comics. Starring Patrick Stewart, lan McKellen and Famke September 21, 22 , 23 least once.

Janssen it managed to deliver the goods in both humour and atmosphere, staymg Theatre Royal - 19.30 & 14.30 You never know ... you might like it. largely true to the1r comic book origins. The only difference IS Wolvenne, played by (20 &23) Lessons start at 19.00 for beg1nners and Hugh Jackman, is now no longer a sanct1mon1ous twat , but a character who holds If you m1ssed lolanthe then there the film together. So catch it before the Autumn posh film season starts. end at 21.00.

IS an opportunity to see the

Essential City Film: X-Men

Life: September 26/ October 3 T1me The great b1g club by the nver offers up its premises for much jiggmg around like a retard on speed and quaffing of alcoholic beverages in modern day recreation of medieval rites of passage ceremony exc10pt 1nstead be1ng dead modern and not m the -.-c::i1 ghtest bit medieval ... apart from the carnal s1de of the whole affa1r wh1ch has been go1ng on s1nce t1me immemonal. £1 (NUS) Student Night: September 26/ October

3 LiqUid After a time away from us all (if you'll pardon the pun) Liquid's Tuesday Student Night returns to keep us all amused with 1t's cheesy chart and ever so fnendly bouncertype people. £1 before 23.00 (NUS)

Gigs Retro: September 20 Boswells Live music every n1ght with infiuences from a long time ago when you were but a distant idea in a cosmic wo rld of choas. i.e.

1t's a bit old and rocky rather than new and - t:eepy.

20% drink discount (NUS)

~Nednesday,

September 20, 2000

Carla Rosa Opera Company performing another Gilbert and Sullivan classic. Th1s ludicrous tale tells the story of .lack Point, a jester whose heart gets broken when h1s true love marries someone else. Why is it every plot line from the operatiC duo has been done on Neighbours at least once? £19.50 - £3.50 Previewed on page 17.

Beyond A Joke: September 25 - 30 Theatre Roya l - 19.30 & 14.30 (27 & 30) This witty and mterestlng new play examines allegation tht PG Wodehouse was Involved 1n collaboration w1th the Nazis during the Second World War. Starring Anton Rogers and Angela Thorne.

Previewed on page 17.

The Lady From The Sea: September 28, 29, 30 and October 2, 3.

Maddermarket Theatre lbsen·s classic tells the story of El1da, the lighthouse Keeper's daughter, restless w1th her life as a doctor's wife , her world IS turned upside down when a former lover returns to rec laim her as his wife.

East Side Story: October 1 Maddermarket Theatre - 19.30 Renowned ''humourist'· Sid Kipper satinses England 's middle east. Not really a difficult job considering its mam university (bar the one w1th all the spires, the openly posh students and a river you can go punting on) 11as "Do Different" as 1ts motto. That's us 1n case you were under any doubt.

The Diary of Anne Frank: October 3 Theatre Roya l - 19.30 Fi rst night production of the award w1nn1ng play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. This isn't primary school so I won't patronise you by expla1n1ng what it's about... and 1f you are actually mentally deficient then the ending w1ll be a surpnse.

M ise Fresher's Fair: September 21 LCR Capitalism at its greatest... International bankmg corporations mix with local busmesses to offer you all the free pens you can possibly use (and lose) as well as the chance to w1n an Audi n (Just checking to see if people are actually reading listings .. there is no car, I was lying).

SocMart: September 22 LCR The day when all the societies come out mto the light and pract1ce their "we love you all" sm1les so that you can join them 111 doing whatever it is they do. Wh ile it may be a chore wandenng around the LCR th1s 1s an mvaluable day for Freshers as you actually have people wanting to talk to you while they are sober and not try1ng to shag you senseless .. or so you hope .. .

SportsMart: September 22 The Sports Park With sporting facilities far surpassmg the bomb shelter that has served the un1vers1ty for so long, you'd be stoopid not to join a cl ub, be it mountameering, row1ng or football. And besides you cou ld do with some exercise ... you're looking a bit lardy. And no one likes a lard arse, especially one w1th love handles. it isn't love fuel and it doesn't keep you going all n1ght... You aren 't the Duracell bunny.

Jeff Green "You're 'avin a larff': September 22 UEA Stand-up comed ian viSitS our "fine City'' to attempt to make us laugh lots and lots until we are sick.

Good luck to him ...

Jay Mclnerney: September 25 Lecture Th eatre 1, UEA - 19.00 Mclnerney, author of Brigllt Lights, Big City and How it Ended comes to UEA as part of the International Literature Festival 2000 to discuss his works and th e wntten word in general. The start of a whole season of lectures with future presentations by the likes of Arthur Miller, Beryl Bainbridge, Michael Palin, Terry Pratchett and Stephen Fry. £2 .50 (NUS) Attack Decay Sustain Release - September 29 to October 14 Norwich Arts Centre - 10.00 to 17 .00 (Closed Sunday) An exhibition chart1ng the v1sual h1story of the conception of The Hel1ca1 Scan PrOJeCt. A forward thinkIng display using the latest technologies incorporatmg a blend of theatrical and c1nema tic arts. For more information on the HSP see the Neutrinos blurb in the gig guide.

Free to all The Scottish Connection: September 29 to November 12 Lecture Theatre Foyer, John lnnes Centre A selection of works from a cross sect1on of some of Scotland's most prolific liv1ng artists of the 20th Century.

Free to all.

Human and Divine: 2000 Years of Indian Sculpture: September 30 to December 10 Sa1nsbury Centre for V1sual Arts, UEA The exhibition explains the origins of Indian sculpture and how this important cultural and spiritual feature has developed over the past two thousand years.

And , lo and behold. it's right, slap bang on your door step so no complainmg you lazy bastards. £2 (concessions £1 off)

event Defining Features: Scientific and Medical Portraits from 1660 to 2000: September 30 to December 10 Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, UEA This fascinating exhibition touring from the National Portrait Gallery charts the development of one of the most impress1ve areas of modem life; the rise of modern science and those people who were responsible for

Event Horizon: Mise

The one event not to miss •••

lt.

£2 (concessions £1 off) McCarthy's Bar: October 1 Norwich Playhouse - 20.00 Comedian Peter McCarthy talks about his travels around practically every bar in Ireland called McCarthy's. Includes readings from his first book. Includes book signings. £12 (concessions £2 off)

con m

5Directory 621155 Hy's 623559 The Loft 629060 Manhattans 621541 Ikon 611113 Liquid 632717 The Waterfront 622533 Mojos 619961 Po Na Na's 6307 Zoom 767671 Concept 660288 Rick's Place 627478 Canary Cue Club 624677 ABC Cinema 622047 Cinema City 621903 Odeon 0870 0102030 UCI Ster Century 221900 620917 Maddermarket 660352 Norwich Arts Centre 766466 Norwich Playhouse Theatre Royal 630000 592272 UEA Studio 629921 Norwich Puppet Theatre King Of Hearts 766129 UEA Union Ents 508050 Norwich Castle Museum 223624 0800192192 Scoot Talking Pages 0800 600900

' •

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If you have a gig, club night, play, reading or 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

Monday September 25 1pm a 2pm Union House Room 1.33

the Concrete office so that we can include them in this very listings section.

Listings written and compiled by Adam Chapman. All details correct at

time of going to press

or com

nd

on Frid y in h L

nu t o Mart p mb r 24

, Unio

23

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•••

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NORWICH September Wed 27th £15 Mel C Fri 29th £3.50 Club Retro Ibiza Anthems 2000 £7.95 Sat 30th October Tue 3rd Bjorn Again £13.50 Wed 4th Jazz Cafe £3 Fri 6th Ed Byrne £7.50 Sat 7th Beats Pharmacy £6 Mon 9th DJ Slam! £2 Tue 10th Roni Size+Reprazent £13.50 £13 Wed 11th Jeff Healy Band Fri 13th Ministry Masterclass £7 feat. Artful Dodger Miss Moneypenny's Sat 14th £8 £11 Sun 15th David Gray Tue 17th Toploader £9.50 Dreamtheatre £13.50 Fri 20th Retro-Active Sat 21st £5 feat. Booze Bros £13 Mon 23rd Placebo ldlewild £9 Wed 25th Fri 27th NOW 90s £3 Faith Halloween Ball £7.95 Sat 28th £11.50 Sun 29th Embrace Tue 31st Edinburgh Comedy £10 November Wed 1st Sat 4th Sun 5th Sat 11th Tue 14th Wed 15th Sat 18th Sat 25th Tue 28th December Tue 5th Fri 8th Sat 9th

FRESHERS WEEK

8 days to shake your world WED 20th

ICE BREAKER Free

Feat. Lee Vasey Bud Ulllltltl capacity, eatry on flrsst eo• first served basis.

Fosters £1 1 plld

THUR 21st

LCR DISCO S,IR-1 .30a £3ldv Ynr first clllnce to - . .le tile dellglds of tu weekly LCR Disco.

In tile mala room clllrt pop 1nllln the Hive Bats Pllarmncf

LCR

IN THE CITY Wltertrotlt

lpm-2pm

£3llly

All tile latest lad cllalc plrtf lilts faterlll live en stage All BUl Bll'lle trlllllte sllewl Freella service

FRI22nd

YOU'RE HAVIN' ALARF! Fresll. . Ct!Mtly lllgbt. £3.501dv Feat. Jiff Green, lloel Brltten, Tile Regargltltor Stnle Stir ud fOir host Anllf Rolllnson

LCR

8pm-1Z.

PAM'S HOUSE CLUB NIGHT Waterfront

.

10plll-4am

£&1dv

Heuse 1111 Tr811ce at tills stadent friendly clnlt algid

SAT 23rd

FRESHEN UP 9pm-2am £7.50adv Freshers part, feat. Sliver Beatles, dodgems, funfair and •cllmore.

Smlrneff Ice and Bad £1 1 bottle LCR

£12.50 £17.50 £9.50 £7 £6 £12.50 £3 £11 £12

......... Pare • Seal Metawa, Pllllly, Stlx, Allllltlc Id

RUMBLE DRUM'N'BASS/JUNGLE 10PM-4AM

£11!9ADil

SAT 16 SEPT

MELTDOWN +GENERAL ZOOS (CHEESY DISCO)

£4/3

FRI22 SEPT

PAM'S HOUSE 10PM·4AM

SUI 24th

SAT 23 SEPT

FREE COACH TOUR OF NORWICH

£8/6ADV

MELTDOWN

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

FILM: AMERICAN BEAUTY

+DJ STEVE LAMACQ £5/4ADV/£6 DOOR

LT1 7pll Free llhlllctlen tl tile 111111 Fll• llclltf.

FRI29 SEPT

TlckllsiVIIIMie ...................

THE KITCHEN

111n 111r 7,30pll ~fer 8pm start t..tr.2.f ......... £111 Clllt 111 ..... + etller ............ ...,..

1WI21111

Free

HOUSE+TRANCE 10PM-6AM

KARAOKE IN THE HIVE

MELTDOWN

1• WED 27th

+WRAITH (GOTH,METAL)

tree uots et vedka to be given...,,

£4/3

FRI6 OCT

MELC LCR

£11/9ADV

SAT 30 SEPT

+ live 01 stile Rei Befll IH tile lllnltlns If Rellll Haetl

f? 7o ADV • f3 00 ON THf DOOR

FRI15 SEP

FreeBn

MOl 25th

£7.50 £12.50 £3.50

CLUBS

.....

Upstairs:

PUB QUIZ Supergirly Or Feelgood RnB Club Retro

THU 5 OCT TUE 10 OCT WED 11 OCT WED 25 OCT THU 26 OCT WED 1 NOV SUN 5 NOV WED 8 NOV WED 15 NOV THU 16 NOV SUN 10 DEC

PITCHSHIFTER £9 +WORKHOUSE MOVEMENT +SONA FARIQ CAMEL £11 COURTNEY PINE £1 0 LLOYD COLE ACCOUSTIC £9.50 BADLY DRAWN BOY £9 LESS THAN JAKE +MXPX £7 DOVES £8.50 LA DOORS £7.50 MISTY IN ROOTS REGGAE £8 OYSTERBAND £9 HEFNER £6 TERRORVISION £10

MELTDOWN Wlterfront 10pat-21m £41dv Weekly clab algid flit. Special S.est DJ Radio 1's Steve

Reef James Oz Pink Floyd Pam's House Craig Charles Roachford Club Retro Jools Holland Levelers

GIGS SUN 1 OCT

lp~t-12811

LCR

139 - 141 King Street Norwich Tel 01603 632717

7....

£15111¥

Stltlnt llolds IVIIIIble for tbls live lllow troll tile .at sec·

cllllfll solo Spice Girt.

80'S NIGHT +JIMMY'S DISCO (60S+70S)

TICKETS FROM UNION HOUSE BOX OFFICE 1 OAM-5PM MONDAY -FRIDAY

CREDIT CARD 01603 50 80 50 All prices are advance only & may be subject to a booking fee.

WWW .STU. UEA.AC. UK/EVENTS

£4/3