Venue - Issue 274

www.concrete-online.co.uk

VENUE Issue 274

Tuesday 6th November 2012

Music - John Street on Music in Political Life, page 4.

Film - Skyfall and the enduring James Bond legend, page 12-13.

Arts - The Life and Work of Phillip Pullman, page 20.

Photo: Holly Maunders

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VENUE

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CONTENTS

Tuesday 06 November 2012

ISSUE 274

concrete.venue@uea.ac.uk

Editor-in-Chief | Amy Adams Venue Editors | Rachael Lum and Matthew Tidby Music | Editors | Hayden East and Sam Warner Music Contributors> John Street, Maddie Russell, Marco Bell, Chris Teale, Sam Warner and Hayden East Fashion | Editors | Jess Beech and Lucy Jobber Fashion Contributors> Niyonu Agana-Burke, Maddie Russell and Melissa Taylor Film | Editors | Kieran Rogers and Andrew Wilkins Film Contributors> Adam White, Chris Gaisie, Sam Warner, James Lillywhite, Thomas High, Joseph Murphy, Ha Nguyen and Joseph Holness TV | Editor | Ellissa Chilley TV Contributors> Rianna Hudson, Zoe Jones and Natalie Beale Creative Writing | Editor | Matthew Mulcahy Creative Writing Contributors> James Sykes, Rachael Lum and Holly McDede Gaming | Editor | Oliver Balaam Gaming Contributors> Adam Riza, Thomas High, Sam Emsley and Marlowe Hill Arts | Editor | Hatty Farnham Arts Contributors> Melissa Taylor, Milly Strong, Mia March and Hatty Farnham Competitions/Listings | Editor | Amelia Edwards

From The Editors Greetings and Salutations, dear reader!

Remember, Remember, the 6th of November, when Concrete and Venue are out.

We see no reason why UEA students should ever go without.

Life in the Concrete Office continues at the usual hectic pace- we genuinely spent twenty minutes discussing the merits of putting a picture of a cat here instead of an editorial. Please let us know on Twitter (@venue_uea) if you think this is a good idea. Thanks.

Rock on, Matt and Rachael

Photo: Chloe Hashemi

Yes. We did just do that. We’ve got a great issue for you this week, with a fabulous tribute to film’s greatest spy, and an exciting chance to win some top quality grub from the lovely people at The Campus Kitchen.

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MUSIC

concrete.music@uea.ac.uk 06.11.2012

feature

Playing for the President

In the wake of the US election, UEA Professor John Street writes exclusively for Venue in assessing music’s importance in the political game

Recently, The Guardian ran a piece about the US Presidential Election, for which the headline was: “Can Bruce do it again for Obama?” The Bruce in question was, of course, Bruce Springsteen.

Now, Springsteen may be one of the greats of American rock, a man who can fill stadiums across the world, a man so famous that he does not need a surname. But should we take seriously the thought that an entertainer – however worthy and however popular – can secure the election of a presidential candidate not once, but twice? After all, The Guardian story seemed to assume that Bruce did it for Barack in 2008, so he can do it again in 2012.

Indeed, The Guardian was so convinced that it devoted an editorial to praising Bruce Springsteen. Even the New York

Review of Books illustrated a piece on the election campaign with – you’ve guessed it – a picture of the Boss.

There seems to be no getting away from the thought that musicians are the key to electoral success. Late last summer, a US academic, Erik Nelson, argued that the hip-hop artists who once supported Obama (and who made him “the first hiphop president”) had now deserted him. The suggestion was that these performers wielded political power.

This idea – that musicians matter to electoral politics – is not entirely alien to us in the UK. Tony Blair’s New Labour was reported to have benefited from the support of the stars of Brit Pop (Blur, Oasis, Pulp), and the aura of ‘Cool Britannia’ that accompanied it. There were all those pictures

of Noel Gallagher, then of Oasis, chatting affably with the Labour elite in 10 Downing Street, celebrating the 1997 victory. And just like the rappers in the States, those stars of Brit pop also turned on Blair, as harsh political reality kicked in.

Maybe these stories of musicians supporting or deserting politicians should be dismissed as so much celebrity gossip, except that the business of choosing campaign songs – D:Ream in the UK, Fleetwood Mac in the US – takes up a lot of time and energy. Political strategists know, as do advertisers in the commercial sector, that music is a potent device in securing attention and affection for a party or a brand. Music changes what we see and what we feel; it animates the messages that are being delivered.

Musicians too have power.

Research done in Canada has shown how different performers can have a differential effect on people’s willingness to support a cause. Endorsement matters (Oprah Winfrey, it seems, swung votes for Obama in 2008). It is not completely far-fetched to think that Bruce could do the same in 2012.

In a country as vast and diverse as the US, where the parties are less tightly structured than here, popular entertainers do provide a key source of communication and of cash. Musicians do matter, but perhaps not to extent that some fans (and British newspapers) fondly imagine.

John Street’s book ‘Music and Politics’ is out now.

MUSIC

06.11.2012 concrete.music@uea.ac.uk

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live review

BAT FOR LASHES LCR 26.10.12 Hayden East “Sorry if I sound a bit croaky”: not the best way to start a headline show by all accounts. Indeed, both literally and artistically, it seems as though Natasha Khan’s third incarnation as Bat For Lashes is all about struggle and, more importantly, the personal journey out of it.

Where her first two records revelled in high concepts and mystical textures, the recently released The Haunted Man has both feet firmly rooted in reality.

As the night’s setlist unfolds, however, it’s clear that Khan is still interested in conveying a narrative - the collection of tracks has been carefully constructed to convey the story of a woman reclaiming control. It’s a clever and exciting way of stringing together her diverse work.

Oh Yeah is a prime example: alongside deep electronic bass hits, she sings “looking for a lover to climb inside, waiting like a flower to open wide” as she slowly but classily raises her floorlength dress. Here is Khan fully in control of her sensuality, conveying a raw, feminine physicality that counters

the manufactured sexualisation of today’s female pop singers.

Fan-favourite What’s A Girl To Do? and new single All Your Gold both find Khan in fading relationships, each character desperately trying to break free from the all-consuming nature of love.

One of her most upbeat and electronic songs, A Wall, is positioned towards the end of the set, and for good reason: as Khan sings “when you see a wall, I see a door”, she presents a way out of the struggle.

Despite her earlier admission, for the most part Khan’s illness remains difficult to detect. In fact, for all the beautifully delicate tones on her recordings, the live environment brings out a muscularity in her voice that elevates her work to more powerful heights. At every turn the instrumentation matches this; the dramatic Glass is given a propulsive energy, and a slightly lengthier version of Pearl’s Dream builds to an emphatic climax.

Khan’s penchant for lavishness and storytelling is reflected in the set design: flanked by fake rocks, she gracefully floats around the stage, crouching down behind them as she extends her arms out to the crowd. Forget the Kate Bush comparisons though; tonight Khan is her own woman, evident in her heartfelt rendition of recent single Laura. Right from the offset, it’s noticeably slower than on the record, the silence between

verse and bridge feeling weightier than ever. Khan hangs on every note, wisely avoiding any added histrionics. She doesn’t need it; the overall effect is nothing if not entrancing.

In the past, Khan has often been closely surrounded by touring band members. Although still present – the musical richness of her work requires it – they’re at enough distance to allow her to take centre stage, assuming control of her work. Indeed, the 15-track set finds Khan playing piano, autoharp, percussion and, during encore The Haunted Man, amplifying the chants of her male touring members by holding a speaker toward her microphone. As she raises it above her head to join them in the song’s climax – all thunderous drums and powerful strings – the effect is triumphant, resulting in one of the most powerful tracks of the night.

The weak points of the set are few: even in a live context Horses of the Sun simply isn’t original enough to stand out amongst such a strong collection of tracks, and at times the falsetto of Marilyn’s chorus is too much of a reach for Khan – the only moment where her ill health is noticeable. These are minor gripes though; for the most part Khan’s performance is a true celebration of womanhood, a masterclass in finesse and high drama. “Thank God I’m alive,” she exultantly yells during Lilies; you get the sense that she truly means every word.

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LIVEWIRE UEA’s Livewire will be hosting its annual battle of the bands competition ‘Unsigned’ on Friday 23rd November in the Blue Bar. A staple of the music calendar, any local bands can get involved.

To enter, acts must send a demo by the 15th November and five of those selected will be put through to an online public vote on the 19th. Subsequently, Livewire listeners will vote four of them to the live final.

During the evening, each of the finalists will play four songs, consisting of two originals and two covers (one of which will be Kylie Minogue’s Spinning Around).

The competition will be decided by three judges, with the winner receiving a headline spot at the Hearing Aid charity gig, interviews on Future Radio and Livewire, as well as studio recording time and a music video shoot. The runner-up will gain a support slot at the Hearing Aid gig, as well as having their songs played on Livewire too.

For more information and further contact, make sure you check out the Livewire website, and email live.events@livewire1350.com

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MUSIC

concrete.music@uea.ac.uk 06.11.2012

live reviews

THE CRIBS The Waterfront 24.10.12 Marco Bell The Cribs tear through a 19-song set at The Waterfront. The Jarman brothers thrive in the smaller venue and haircuts aside, their live reputation is done no harm.

Avoiding initial pleasantries they storm straight into the leading single Come On And Be A No One, from their latest album. With five albums in total the band now has a substantial back catalogue to draw from, and they play the ever popular Our Bovine Public next. We Share The Same Skies sounds good as ever and the band’s performance hasn’t suffered without the presence of ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr.

Drawing from the new album the band follows up with Glitters Like Gold and Jaded Youth, which are well-received. Not for the fainthearted, the gig was a mass of sweat by the first dozen songs.

Mirror Kisses and I’m A Realist back-to-back ensure there is no let up and the intensity the band manage to sustain is particularly impressive. Ryan Jarman’s stage presence defines a band who simply love being on the road and still enjoy playing older material. Addressing the crowd for old school fans the confirmation was rapturous. Cult

LITTLE COMETS Waterfront Studio 24.10.12 Maddie Russell With less than a week to go, a venue change is announced due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

Relocated from Norwich’s Open to The Waterfront’s more intimate upstairs room, do promoters overestimate the popularity of the boys from Tyne and Wear? Evidently not, because the Studio quickly becomes Little Comet’s second sellout Norwich gig of the year.

song Another Number is still fresh and a good sing-along but the highlight of the performance is their rendition of Be Safe, which grows slowly as a number before reaching a deafening chorus, which The Waterfront’s walls struggle to contain. From here on, it’s a relentless finish and its testament to the band’s array of material that

Hey Scenesters! and Men’s Needs can be saved until the end.

The band is interactive with the crowd throughout and Ryan appeals for any song requests. Playing as if they could go all night, Don’t You Want To Be Relevant follows swiftly.

The band finish on an outstanding version of The Wrong Way To Be, as Ryan stands inches from the crowd,

thrashing his guitar and threatening a potential crowd surf. Although he resists, others don’t, flying over heads and shoulders at a steady rate.

Guitars are played against amps and left to reverberate as the band thank fans and reluctantly leave the stage.

The crowd shuffle out in fully content exhaustion to nurse a few bruises come the morning.

Indie-rock five-piece Tied To The Mast open the night to a room filled with very happy, excitable teens.

Amongst the usual suspects, strangely, are a few chaps well over fifty, as well as a couple of 20-something men in snapbacks who fist pump their way through every song. TTTM open strongly, with a concise 30-minute set and a sound reminiscent of Tall Ships.

Next up is General Fiasco who, much like the headliners, provides upbeat and inoffensive indie. The band previously toured alongside the likes of The Wombats, The Enemy, and Jet, and are supporting Little Comets on all their UK dates. General Fiasco released their second album through Dirty Hit Records earlier this year, and their set list, as a result, is a

hybrid of new and old. The U18s are getting pretty excited by this point, and though General Fiasco have quite the name for themselves, anticipation for the main event is mounting.

When the washing line of eclectic percussion instruments (a fixture of all of Little Comet’s gigs) is pulled across the stage, tension grows; the headliners appear on stage. Lead singer, Robert Cole, comments on the differing atmosphere The Waterfront Studio has to their usual Norwich venue, The Arts Centre. Having seen them perform there early 2012, the crowd are certainly less passive and more energetic than was the case previously. Joanne, One Night In October (performed in October, how lovely), and Adultery are some of the set’s highlights. The new album Life Is

Elsewhere hasn’t been out long enough for the songs to be as well engrained as the gems from In Search Of Elusive Little Comets, yet there is a core fan base who know every lyric. Regardless of personal perceptions of the band, with an entire room dancing, clapping and singing along as a man hits a tambourine suspended from a pole and words like “quintessentially” are seamlessly woven into tracks, it would be hard for even the most antiindie folk individual to stand still.

Drawing the gig to an end, a track which has gained momentum thanks to its recent role in a Radox advert begins. It seems snapback wearers, older gentlemen, and teenage girls alike all appreciate This One’s For Dancing, and the melodic and linguistic indie-pop from Tyne Side.

MUSIC

06.11.2012 concrete.music@uea.ac.uk

www.concrete-online.co.uk

album reviews

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ANDREW BIRD HANDS OF GLORY Sam Warner

Andrew Bird has been a busy man over the past few years. Since breaking away from his band Bowl of Fire to continue his solo career, his profile has shot up; making several critically acclaimed albums as well as contributing to the Red Hot HIV benefit compilation Dark Was The Night, which featured artists such as Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens and Arcade Fire.

Earlier this year he released his lauded sixth album Break It Yourself, and before getting even a wink of sleep, a ‘companion’ album called Hands of Glory has been unveiled. Recorded in a barn with one microphone, it seems that Bird has gone all out. Whether it actually flourishes is another matter.

Opening with Three White Horses we are immediately taken to the vast expanse of the American West. The

dark undertones show a grounded side of Bird, known more for his lighthearted eccentric folk. However, the little idiosyncrasies do somewhat shine through miniscule cracks; these gradually get wider as the album meanders on.

Spirograph, for example, is layered with Bird’s reputable violin, which is given a wonderful country twist on his cover of Railroad Bill, working both with the old-fashioned country vibe and Bird’s raw dynamic.

The second half of the album does not stray too far into new terrain, and remains quite merged within the real Western feel of the album. Orpheo, a gorgeous number, produces a seductive melody with a strumming guitar and Andrew Bird’s trademark pizzicato. “If it drives you mad, it’ll probably pass.”

There is also time for his reputable nuanced experimentation, with his voice synchronising perfectly with the sound of his violin.

Bird also plays around on closing track Beyond the Valley of the Three White Horses, which is essentially the opener, albeit extracted and tinkered to seduce the listener in a different way.

One has to bear in mind that Hands of Glory is a connecting piece to Andrew Bird’s previous effort. But as a stand alone work, it wreaks of the quality and authenticity that is true of most of his output.

However, it remains something that could have been more, something that strives to push a bit further. But despite its flaws, it is a raw effort that feels genuine and heartfelt – in short, real country music.

PAUL BANKS BANKS

significant change from the angular guitar lines and pounding drums of Interpol, particularly in the use of instrumentation.

The album begins with The Base, which for the first time introduces strings and looped keyboard sounds, showing just how far Banks is moving away from his past. Banks then settles into the main theme of the album in the second track Over My Shoulder, where he wrestles with his personal demons in a tense song that makes great use of crashing guitar melodies.

The theme of regret is one that recurs throughout, with the contrast in texture evident in Arise, Awake, a song that makes use of strings and other electronic instruments. This regret is also tinged with a desire for a return to the naivety of youth, particularly the song Young Again, where Banks evokes feelings of nostalgia.

The superb instrumental track, Lisbon, is a highlight with its rich layers of instrumentation, but the album falls away slightly in the second half, especially the frustrating Another Chance. However, ending track Summertime is Coming hints at happier times ahead as Banks looks to move forward from the gloom, and offers a message of hope as its climax.

Overall, Banks is intense in its reflections on one man’s many regrets, but some songs give the feeling that he wishes to move forward, and that he is keen to find a sunnier place in the future.

KENDRICK LAMAR GOOD KID, M.A.A.D CITY

cinematic vision is outright even before the tape machine effects introduce the record – a similar move made by Frank Ocean on Channel Orange. However, where Ocean’s concepts were at times implicit, the West-Coast rapper on the other hand fearlessly presents himself in a candid manner.

Firstly there’s the bravado of Backstreet Freestyle, with the uncannily Kanye-esque line “I pray my dick get big as the Eiffel Tower, so I can fuck the world for 72 hours”. 12-minute long Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst is as stripped back as it is emotional, acting as a truly reflective turning point for Lamar.

Unsurprisingly, with a major label comes some impressive guest features, however Lamar is all too interested in the cogency of his narrative to let it become obscured by irrelevant verses.

Even Drake’s appearance on Poetic Justice is a better fit than one would expect, with both vocalists’ verses gliding along a manipulated female backing vocal hook.

As one would expect, this is a demanding but hugely rewarding record; its strong narrative arc and diverse stylistic tropes more than justify its near-70 minute length. Records as dense and rich as this shouldn’t be something to be afraid of. Particularly for a major label debut, good kid, m.A.A.d. City is incredibly brave, but more importantly it happens to be hip-hop’s greatest accomplishment of the year.

Chris Teale

Interpol’s hiatus has been ongoing since 2011, but lead singer Paul Banks continues to produce solo material that shows there is life beyond the band that he has fronted since 1997.

Banks had produced one album under the name Julian Plenti in 2009 to a positive reception, and his second album, Banks, sees him move in a different direction from his previous work.

Banks’ second effort represents a

Hayden East

Sex, drugs, money, fame: standard procedure for modern-day hip-hop, but impersonal and tired conventions do not a great record make, and – on his major label debut – Kendrick Lamar is aware of this.

One crucial element to note is that this is Compton hip-hop, and an education in struggle and redemption at that.

Subtitled ‘A Short Film By Kendrick Lamar’, the rapper’s

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FASHION @conc_fashion

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concrete.fashion@uea.ac.uk 06.11.2012

Our Guide to Winter Accessories

SMOKIN’ Leather Sleeved Coats An edgy take on last season’s elbow patches ...

Mittens Really practical on string!

Faux Fur Collars Grown-up chic without skinning our precious UEA rabbits.

Maddie Russell Nights are already getting chilly; the days are drawing in. It’s time to get cosy.

At home it’s completely acceptable to snuggle up in every warm garment you own and make your hot water bottle your new best friend, however, when you venture out it’s not really okay to resemble a human cocoon. A wise girl once proclaimed, “I can’t wear my Uggs AND my onesie”, and I think it’s a basic maxim we can all take on board.

Keeping warm and staying stylish can be challenging. While it might seem like a woollen minefield, ultimately your accessories are an addition to your outfit, both practical and an expression of you.

Scarves are a must. With plenty of variety available, from tube scarves to silk, a chunky knit or one with a hood, there is one for everyone. Keep one in your bag to add warmth in the bitter evenings, and use it to protect sleek hair styles from the weather conditions seem out to ruin them. With no loose ends

and tassels to wrap round your chain or blow away in the wind, the tube scarf is the perfect option should your transport of choice be a bike. A faux fur collar is a smart equivalent to your everyday knitted neckwear, and can spruce up a jacket with the added texture as well as that added warmth.

Some people can just effortlessly look cool in a hat; others look uncomfortable and like someone else has dressed them.

If you can rock them then go wild, the hat world is your oyster. Think Russian chic and grab vintage Cossack headwear, or channel your inner snowboarder and go for woollen; there are plenty of options available. If a hat isn’t your thing, don’t resign yourself to ear based frost bite. Maybe give ear muffs a go.

Cute and toasty this adorable headwear won’t mess up your hair, and you don’t need to be a hat person to pull them off.

Gloves and mittens are another good one just to keep on you at all times.

While little knitted gloves might look

adorable, the winter winds will blow straight through them. Although more costly, a non-woven glove such as leather (or pleather) will be more robust, impenetrable by wind or rain, and its far less likely you’ll put your thumb through the end. Mittens are lovely, and the little fingerless gloves/mitten things available all over the place are super practical. Just pull the cap back if you need dexterity, and pop it back over to warm your fingertips.

No need to retire your dresses and shorts just yet. Winter means tights and hosiery is cracking. Topshop have some lovely tights to prevent you catching pneumonia and still looking smashing.

From black patterned numbers in the daytime to suspender tights to winter up your favourite night-out-attire there is absolutely no need to go bare legged in AW12.

Tis the season to accessorise, so embrace the colder months and throw on a beret.

Grab your coat, you’ve pulled! boyfriend jeans, boyfriend blazer... Now Niyonu Agana-Burke explores the boyfriend coat.

CHOKIN’ Brocade Jackets Leave it to the Middle Ages!

Sweater Vests Even Chandler Bing couldn’t pull these monstrosities off...

Hidden Heel Uggs NO.

Have you ever heard that classic autumnal joke? The one where the girl proclaims “I need a boyfriend to keep me warm for winter!” And the world screams “Get a coat!”.

Well, introducing, the Boyfriend Coat, and it’s no joke; all the warmth and comfort of the real thing, with none of the extra hassle! This is my personal must have coat of the season. Essentially an evolution of the Boyfriend trend, which emulates the loose fit and masculine cut of clothes borrowed from your beau. We’ve had the slouchy boyfriend jean and oversized boyfriend blazer; consider this the upgrade. The boyfriend coat is the most evolved piece to come from the boyfriend style because it emulates not only the loose fit but the structured cut associated with a men’s tailoring.

This newest male inspired fashion innovation, in its finest form is an oversized wool knit-peacoat style master piece. The thick fabric is insulating enough to see you through the coldest of English winters and the best of them also have the heavy duty durability of a man’s coat too.

These coats can be found in Topshop, Miss Selfridge and all the high street favourites, with a special nod to ASOS too. A good boyfriend

coat will be “oversized” by design, so resist temptation to buy too many sizes up. If your boyfriend coat isn’t already cut larger, one size up should be more than enough to achieve the look.

River Island’s take on this new trend incorporates not only an oversized fur collar available in the range offered by Topshop too, but a variety of patterns and textures to keep you on top of the best winter trends; including a red plaid version and a grey number with leather look sleeves.

The real beauty of this coat is that it can take you from the weekdays to the weekends, office to the club, because it is structured enough to be smart, glam enough to be fun and on trend enough to be worn casually.

Also in keeping with the boyfriend style are the more muted colours that this coat is found in. Generally ranging from grey to cream, the military green offered by ASOS sold out in mere days.

If there was a down side to these coats it would of course be the lack of a hood. Add to that the likelihood that the rain will absorb into the wool of the coat and there are likely better options available in the way of rain protection! But if what you’re after is warmth and style, the the boyfriend coat, is for you.

FASHION

06.11.2012 concrete.fashion@uea.ac.uk

www.concrete-online.co.uk

Modern Vintage

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Model: Lucy Barr-Hamilton, Stylist: Becky Evans, Photographer: Elizabeth Margereson, Location: The Mulberry

From Faux Fur to Statement Knitwear

How to shop vintage in Norwich with Melissa Taylor Along with its numerous vintage boutiques and market stalls, lovers of all things retro will be pleased to hear that Norwich regularly hosts many fabulous travelling vintage fairs. Cruising round the country, selling both high-end and bargain vintage, fairs such as the Norwich Vintage Fair, Judy’s Affordable Vintage Fair and the Little Vintage Lover Fair pop up in Noz every few months.

So if you managed to miss the Norwich Vintage Fair at St Andrew’s Hall on the 14th or the Little Vintage Lover Fair at Dragon Hall on the 27th, panic not! You will not need to wait too long for another opportunity to blow your student loan on knitwear your nan would be proud of.

If you are determined to attend and rummage, and haven’t yet done so, it is definitely worth scouring Facebook and ‘liking’ “Vintage Norwich” and all other related pages; the fairs aren’t always well advertised and it’s very easy to miss the delightfully designed but sparsely distributed posters and fliers.

Most of Norwich’s vintage events are hosted at the lovely St Andrew’s Hall, opposite Cinema City. However, the Little Vintage Lover Fair is always held at Dragon Hall, which, if nothing else, gives you a chance to check out the very nice medieval architecture, nestled in the slightly dodgy end of town by the Waterfront.

Spread over several floors and tucked away in corners, roughly thirty stalls overflow with a myriad of vintage delights.

Like every good vintage fair, the Little Vintage Lover Fair has all the staple items: borderline offensive jumpers, all of the velvet and every variation of the brown leather bag that you could dream of.

However, unlike the majority of Norwich’s vintage fairs, the Little Vintage Lover Fair has a lot more antiques and high-end (read: EXPENSIVE) items. Treasures spotted this year included the sweetest 1940’s dollhouse that mothers had to pull their children away from by the hair and a pale pink cone bra like the

one in the John Paul Gaultier advert.

Perhaps the most special thing spied at the Little Vintage Lover Fair was a peach and white Edwardian silk dress with a lace collar, available to purchase for a mere £35. “Bargain!” you squawk. No, be reasonable. Common sense is absolutely indispensable when vintage shopping. Not all fabrics age well and hand stitching, in particular, can be very delicate. £35 is a lot to play for a dress that may well disintegrate on its first outing; if it can happen to Kate Moss, it can happen to anyone.

Courtney Love famously stood on the train of Kate’s vintage Dior dress, exposing quite a lot of bum cheek.

Wardrobe malfunctions aside, let us also consider the potential guilt at destroying a piece of history after a few too many Pinot Grigios. It’s probably best to leave the antiques to the collectors and spend your cash on some 80’s specials. Not only is it cheap as chips (£15 for a dress, anyone?), but it’s also bloomin’ indestructible. Prince of Wales, do your worst.

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FILM

concrete.film@uea.ac.uk 06.11.2012

REVIEWS BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (12A) Director: Benh Zeitlin 93 mins Starring: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry, Levy Easterly

Beasts of the Southern Wild tells the story of a young girl named Hush Puppie (Quvenzhané Wallis) dealing with the imminent destruction of her community and her difficult relationship with her dying father.

Put simply, Beasts of the Southern Wild is a breathtakingly beautiful film, and on so many levels. It balances the grim reality of a post-Katrina south with the imagination and wonder of how a six-yearold girl views the world. There is a message hidden deep about the self-destructive nature of humanity and how we neglect the world around us, but at the same time it never feels preachy. There is no agenda at work here; it’s the relationship between the father and the daughter, and the community as a whole, which is the true focus. The destruction of the environment feels very secondary to the young girl’s development as a character, who is forced to mature way beyond her age.

The whole look of the film is completely stunning. The super 16 film stock creates an incredible dreamlike quality; it really gives you the sense that you’re looking through the eyes of such a young character. It’s not only like you are being told to watch the film through this perspective but it feels like you yourself are that young again.

The sets are also wonderfully crafted.

Instead of the dirty post-apocalyptic grunge that one might expect to be found in a film with this setting, there is a real charm to the makeshift quality of the surroundings. The tree-top trailers and pick-up truck boats feels more Lost Boys than Fallout 3, and the characters don’t sit around sulking and contemplating the unpleasantness of their home; they come together and dance and sing.

Worth a mention also is the gorgeous soundtrack; it fizzes with a real energy and positivity that at certain points results in genuine goose bumps. At no point does it force sentimentality with melodramatic strings or try to indicate that ‘now is the time to be upset.’ Like a good score, it simply enhances the emotions we already feel. It’s truly rare to see music used this subtly to such devastating effect.

The central performance of Quvenzhané Wallis is possibly the most mind-blowing

aspect of Beasts of the Southern Wild.

Considering her age at the time of shooting (she was only five years old), her ability to handle emotions in a way that a number of adult actors cannot even manage just gets more astounding as the film progresses. It would have been easy to think that Pierce Gagnon’s psychopathic turn in Looper was the best child performance of recent memory. However it is very nice to be proven wrong here.

Fault might be found in the scarcity of

HOLY MOTORS (18)

Director: Leos Carax 115 mins

FRANKENWEENIE (PG)

Holy Motors is just about the strangest film you’ll see all year. Talking cars, domesticated monkeys and motion captured alien sex are just some of the oddities on display in the first film in over a decade from the former enfant terrible of French cinema, Leos Carax.

As long time Carax muse, Denis Lavant is ferried around Paris in the back of a limo, adopting an array of bizarre personas as he goes. It would be all to easy to refer to it as a dreamlike, Lynchian fantasy. Yet not even that description gives an idea of how idiosyncratic, how blackly comic and just how enjoyable the controlled insanity of Holy Motors really is.

Its references to cinema are beyond counting, with Kylie Minogue turning up dressed as Jean Seberg in Breathless and

Edith Scob donning her iconic mask from Eyes Without A Face, but its sheer vitality prevents it from being only a cinephile’s delight.

Is it a statement on the role of filmmaker?

Is it meaningless fever dream? Does it really matter? Either way, it’s far better to sit back and be carried away by Carax’s barking vision.

As Holy Motors ends, there will undoubtedly be many debating “what it all means”. The film has already answered this question for them, in a key scene where Lavant’s character Oscar is asked what makes him continue with what he does: “What made me start”, he replies, “the beauty of the act”.

Joseph Murphy

Frankenweenie follows the moving story of little Victor Frankenstein, who enjoys learning science and spending time with his dog Sparky.

One day, Sparky dies in an accident and Victor makes the decision to bring him back to life. When Victor’s classmates copy his ‘formula’ and experiment on other animals, it results in disastrous consequences.

The film carefully juxtaposes views of ordinary town folk with an eerie atmosphere. Its use of black-and-white clearly supports the latter.

Frankenweenie does little to disappoint.

It combines Tim Burton’s unique style with an engaging narrative that leads to various heart-warming moments in its climax.

Remade from one of Burton’s old projects, audiences will be able to see much

the plot, as at times it does feel somewhat anti-climactic. But, truthfully, this really doesn’t seem to matter when you take into account the moments of sheer beauty laced throughout the film. So far 2012 has been a very good year for film, so to say that this is one of the best really is to its credit. It is, in fact, hard to imagine any better will come along, but let’s hope that they do.

Joseph Holness Director: Tim Burton 87 mins of the director’s own childhood personality in Victor, a little boy who does not enjoy school, but likes making short sciencefiction films in his own time. One of the monsters featured clearly resembles the eponymous creature of Godzilla (1954), one of Burton’s favourite films. However, it’s clear that Disney got their hands on the final product, underlined by its lighthearted ending.

Ultimately, Tim Burton’s homage to the Frankenstein story has moments of genius.

The film would make most of the cinemagoing audience happy, but those ardent Burton fans longing for another Corpse Bride may not be as satisfied.

Ha Nguyen

FILM

06.11.2012 concrete.film@uea.ac.uk

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NEWS Skyfall writer to pen next two bond films; iron man 3 trailer touches down Thomas High A 50-year old franchise, with 23 films under its belt, the Bond films continue to make a substantial impression in the box office. The most recent feature, Skyfall, has thus far raked in a healthy $77 million in its debut overseas. This huge intake no doubt stems from its success so far in the UK. Skyfall’s opening weekend earnings have only fallen short of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. The latest Bond flick has yet to open to the US market however, making its presence known in the states on 9 November.

Skyfall’s success must be music to the ears of co-writer John Logan, who is reportedly set to write the next two Bond films, both starring Daniel Craig. The nature of the upcoming films is, to draw on cliché, top secret, aside from the fact that 2014 is the year to mark on your calendar, and that both films are to be connected to one another. The wait between Quantum of Solace and Skyfall is clearly something that will not be repeated.

Dividing films into “Part 1” and “Part 2” seems to be a box office trend at the moment, particularly for films that are part of a franchise. One can only hope

that James Bond and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is but a figment of my own twisted imagination. Nevertheless, raising the stakes is a natural step to take, particularly since the 25th film is approaching us fast.

The director on the other hand, Sam Mendes, claims that his return to Bond is unlikely. Talking to Metro, Mendes says: “It’s been a fantastic experience, but it’s been completely exhausting… I felt like everything I wanted to do with a Bond movie, I put into this film.”

Of course, turning away from Bond after its latest success isn’t going to be that simple, but with the possibility of a new director out there, speculation has already begun amongst fans. Some of them are whispering the name “Christopher Nolan”, although this is mere speculation as opposed to concrete truth.

In other, non-Bond related news, the action packed trailer for Iron Man 3 was released recently, shedding light on Marvel’s first movie since The Amazing Spider-Man. Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role once again as Tony Stark/Iron Man, this time clad in a suit with a distinctive golden trim. The movie marks the first

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11

of “Phase 2” Marvel films, a somewhat intimidating name, but something that is likely to illicit a similar pattern of films to that which led up to The Avengers, with the intention of creating a sequel to the latter.

Iron Man 3, from what we can see in the trailer, will not disappoint the thrillseekers as it offers plenty of action. We also get the impression that this will likely be a “this time it’s personal” tale, as the identity of Iron Man invades Stark’s private life.

The film is due to arrive in Spring 2013, just a few months before DC’s Man of Steel, which should make for some healthy box office competition for the two, rival comic giants.

PREVIEW THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART II Love them or loathe them, Bella and co. are back...

James Lillywhite After four films, three global superstars and more than $2.5 billion, The Twilight Saga is coming to an end. With November’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, the curtain is dropped on this popular franchise, and it will have left quite the legacy. While never being a critical darling the series has created a legion of fans worldwide, started a new trend of tween cinema, and has made true A-List superstars in Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner.

Love it or loath it then, The Twilight Saga has had quite an effect on mainstream cinema. Shiny vampires and all.

Adapted from Stephanie Meyer’s hit book series, The Twilight Saga has captured public interest in a way that few franchises do. It concerns young human Bella (Stewart) moving to new town with her father Charlie (Billy Burke) and falling in love with the mysterious Edward Cullen (Pattinson).

It soon transpires that he is a vampire, part of a family of ‘vegetarians’ who refuse to eat humans. Bella’s life is further confused when childhood friend Jacob (the perpetually topless Lautner) turns

out to be a werewolf, and his pack has an on-going battle with the Cullens.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 hits the screens with a large media interest surrounding it. Indeed, with the rather public break up of ‘K-Stew’ and ‘R-Patz’ and their possible reunion being splattered across seemingly every gossip magazine in the world, people seem to be more interested in their publicity tours and interviews than the film itself. But there are fictional plot strands to be tied up too. We have half-vampire babies, a new born Bella, the oncoming attack of the undead Royal family (the Volturi) and small matter of Jacob imprinting (read: falling in love but not in a creepy way) with baby Renesmee. Things are not well in the Cullen clan. With it being hinted that the ending will differ from the rather underwhelming conclusion of the book, Twi-hards worldwide will have to wait and see what will happen to their characters.

It seems however, that critical approval has always evaded this series.

With an average Rotten Tomatoes rating of 38 percent, the franchise has lacked the

support of reviewers. Along with this, there seems to be a lack of the sentimentality and sadness that surrounded the thematically similar ending to the Harry Potter series.

Stewart and Pattinson seem to both be focusing on advancing their post-Twilight careers, with 2012’s Cosmopolis and On The Road respectively taking the pair to a more serious and adult level. It seems that the saga will not be missed by some of its stars.

Regardless of this, The Twilight Saga

coming to an end is a major part of this winter’s “cinema scape”. With the worldwide popularity and effect the series has had over the last four years, teen cinema will miss its flagship franchise.

Swan and Cullen have truly come a long way since their first brief encounter in the woods of Forks.

Critically panned, yet loved by its audience, there will definitely be a Bella, Edward and Jacob shaped hole left in Hollywood after November.

12

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Adam White

1.

GOLDFINGER

(Guy Hamilton, 1964) The definitive Bond picture, Sean Connery’s third time on her majesty’s secret service quickly laid the groundwork for the rest of the 007 canon. Practically all of the familiar tropes can be traced back to Goldfinger: the villain with a name that screams his occupation (would somebody called Goldfinger do anything but smuggle gold bars?), an untalkative henchman with a silly method of murder, Bond girls at their pinnacle of ridiculousness, and 007 being held captive in some extremely convoluted death trap when it would probably be far easier to just shoot him. Filled with iconic imagery and unparalleled fun, Goldfinger ranks up there as the very best of Bond.

2.

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

(Guy Hamilton, 1971) The toughest to watch in light of the Austin Powers series, but arguably all the better for it, Diamonds is the most overtly silly Connery film: Blofeld stroking his cat while pursuing world domination, bendy lesbian assassins named Bambi and Thumper, 007 running all over Las Vegas in pursuit of stolen diamonds, and a lady called Plenty O’Toole... because this is a Bond movie and stuff like that is awesome.

3.

CASINO ROYALE

(Martin Campbell, 2006) After everybody involved with Die Another Day seemed to give up half-way through (“sure, let’s just make things invisible…”), the dawn of a new Bond was due: enter Daniel Craig, appropriately intense and brooding for this new incarnation of 007. The plot, involving a high-stakes poker game and an antagonist whose biggest problem is essentially a bad credit rating, is a little thin; but the stripped-back, unpolished action set pieces carry the film to certain glory - easily making it the closest thing we have to a modern Bond classic.

06.11.2012

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BOND SPECIAL REVIEW:

Director: Sam Mendes

TOP 3 BOND FILMS

FILM

143 mins

2012 has been a huge year for Britain, with the likes of the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympic and Paralympic games helping us all to feel at least somewhat more patriotic.

What better way to continue the trend than the return of James Bond, our much loved international spy? Skyfall marks a staggering 23rd instalment in the franchise and, with that being said, the question to ask is whether the film does enough to stay fresh for old and new viewers alike. Well, the simple answer is yes.

Directed by Sam Mendes, Skyfall is the third entry in the series starring the still relatively new incarnation of Bond, played

by Daniel Craig. It is the first in this actor’s particular trilogy that does not directly follow the Quantum story arc of the previous films.

Skyfall takes place sometime after the events of both Casino Royale, and the confused mess that was Quantum of Solace, reintroducing a more experienced Bond who, it can be assumed, has been on a number of missions since then. This experience comes in handy as Bond must face a new enemy, Silva (Javier Bardem), who unlike the majority of previous villains doesn’t simply seek to gain money or power, but rather intends to settle personal issues with MI6 veteran M (Judi

13

Starring: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Bérénice Marlohe Dench). In fact this is something important to note with this new instalment: it is all very personal.

Skyfall, more than any other Bond in the series, is notable for concentrating on the quasi Mother-Son relationship between M and Bond. In the midst of the usual explosions, gunfights and globetrotting, the film momentarily slows down to develop this relationship, and the on-screen chemistry between Craig and Dench is a joy to watch.

Of course, the roles are expertly written but it’s the performances that are striking. Often it is not what is said between them, but the body language of the pair that is most significant.

Meanwhile, Silva seems to be an anti-type of Bond, the son who comes off much worse.

Many will know of Javier Bardem for his role as the villain in No Country for Old Men, and it must be said, there is something genuinely chilling about this man. Bardem’s portrayal of Silva showcases a truly psychotic villain who is motivated by the characters around him rather than overt greed. The characters of Skyfall make it one of the most thematically interesting Bond films yet, and they are given space to breathe in what is a fairly fast paced film.

One interesting aspect is how the familiar

Bond tropes are played with throughout the film. For example, in the modern Bonds, situated within a realistic world, gadgets have taken a bit of back seat, as Q (Ben Whishaw) jokingly makes meta-reference to. Speaking of which, the supporting characters feel important and are, too, well performed, with the likes of Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) and new Bond girl, Eve (Naomie Harris), bringing touches of humour, wit and tension to the table. Still, you can’t help shake the feeling that many of these characters play out in predictable ways.

This is where we reach a turning point; unfortunately, it is not all good news. While, as stated, the film attempts to do something different thematically, structurally it comes across as quite run of the mill. It often feels very predictable and there are no real surprises in the plot. That is not to say there aren’t any twists and turns, but it seems as if you can see the majority of them coming a mile away.

Cinematically Skyfall boasts some absolutely gorgeous camerawork, evident throughout the entire running time. Each location is given a distinct feel without losing overall cohesion. One of the most memorable sequences takes place in Shanghai, where darkly lit scenes are infiltrated by neon blues

that add a dangerous, unique and stylish atmosphere to the proceedings, so much so that the imminent fight scene is reminiscent of the creative opening credits the Bond series is famous for.

Thomas Newman lends his musical hand to give the film an integral espionage-esque score that never becomes too overbearing or, conversely, too cliché during the more emotional moments. The editing is well paced throughout, particularly during the first two acts where a myriad of events seem to be happening, without ever losing the audience. However, there is a noticeable slow down in the final third of the film, where character elements are given time to resolve before the exciting finale. This last act does feel slightly out of place, particularly for a Bond film, but it makes thematic sense and is actually the one place where the structure is shaken up quite a bit.

All in all Skyfall is a solid film that is great in places but, due to its predictable nature, is never truly amazing. For sure, there is definite entertainment to be had on the way, but with a fairly expected conclusion to what is otherwise an interesting narrative journey, it feels as though the film could have been that much more remarkable.

Chris Gaisie

TOP 3 BOND SONGS Sam Warner

1.

GOLDFINGER

2.

LIVE AND LET DIE

3.

WE HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD

(Shirley Bassey) Chances are that if you were told to sing a Bond theme song on the spot, the three notes of “Gold-fin-ger” will instantaneously pop in your head. But it didn’t start covered in gold, with Shirley Bassey’s first Bond theme initially dismissed by producer Harry Saltzman as the worst song he’d ever heard. Nevertheless, it has proved to be the definitive Bond theme tune, entrenched in our musical lexicon. It also gave Bassey her sole US Top 10 hit and defined her career as the Bond diva. Most importantly it has chiefly outlined the classic Bond theme, something that Adele, amongs others, has drawn on ever since.

(Paul McCartney and Wings) It was the early 70s and another British institution, The Beatles, had not yet crossed paths with the Bond franchise over the previous decade. Unfortunately, they had split three years prior, so it turned to Macca and his new band Wings to write the theme to Roger Moore’s first outing as Bond. His masterpiece brought in all the elements of 007: romance; drama; action; danger. It did this without sounding like a conglomeration of parts, and has stood the test of time. It was also the first Bond song to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song.

(Louis Armstrong) Louis Armstrong puts his warm heart and gravelly voice into We Have All The Time In The World, a slow-swinging love song that beautifully reflects the loving rapport and subsequently tragic marriage between James Bond and Tracy di Vicenzo.

“There’s no hurry, you see. We have all the time in the world,” 007 grieves over his newlywed’s body in the finale. Armstrong’s theme reveals a Bond of utter intimacy, a rare feat.

TELEVISION 06.11.2012 concrete.television@uea.ac.uk

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ELEMENTARY

Rianna Hudson

15

tattooed, drug addicted and fresh out of rehab, with a taste for kinky sex, new stateside sherlock holmes gets mixed uk reviews.

Elementary is America’s ‘go’ at doing a contemporary Sherlock Holmes, while not a remake of the BBC’s Sherlock, it’s hard not to compare the two, and this interpretation is far from the high cheek-boned Sherlock that we Brits are used to.

Set in New York the new series casts Britactor Johnny Lee Miller (Dark Shadows, Trainspotting) in the role of Detective Holmes, an interesting choice considering he recently starred alongside our very own modern Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch, in Danny Boyle’s hit stage adaption of Frankenstein during which the two actors alternated roles each evening between Dr. Frankenstein and his creation. Once again Miller is snapping up Cumberbatch’s role but this time across the Atlantic. Not only is the setting different, but the faithful Doctor Watson has undergone a sex change - not literally of course - but he now goes by the name of Joan Watson, and comes in the shape of Lucy Liu (Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Charlie’s Angels). There has been some debate over Doctor Watson’s gender reassignment but criticism has centred upon the choice of female star, as Guardian columnist Victoria Coren commented “…there is nothing,

literally nothing in the world, that I want to watch less than Lucy Liu as Doctor Watson. I’d sooner see Jeremy Clarkson play Hamlet”. Despite all this the show aired in the US at the end of September to a good reception, and already on their fifth episode CBS has picked it up for the full series. But then, they did commissione nine seasons of The Office US (Yes, nine.).

The pilot episode sees Dr. Watson fall into the life of Sherlock Holmes as a hired ‘companion’ to help him keep off the drugs. Together they help the NYPD solve a murder, along the way stumbling through a series of loosely connected clues, they eventually find the bad guy, and end up bonding in the process, it all ending in a lovely dinner together. It appears that even from the very first episode the female Watson has just been introduced to play out the boring “will they, won’t they” scenario.

But in this instance it’s more a case of will they make it through episode two before they do.

On paper Lee Miller’s Sherlock is closer to Robert Downey Junior’s portrayal of the detective in the Guy Ritchie film adaptions, but in reality he presents more of an

awkward character, without the egotistical ass-like persona that Downey Junior pulls off so well. He is also nothing like the rude and quick-witted Sherlock portrayed by Cumberbatch, which captures so closely Conan Doyle’s original literary creation.

There have been more portrayals of the

DERREN BROWN: APOCALYPSE

MISFITS returns

Derren Brown’s latest special is a continuation of projects such as “Hero at 30,000 feet” in that it combines his still-excellent techniques and tricks with the reality TV trope of a “journey of selfdiscovery.” Brown takes Steve Brosnan, a selfish and lazy 20-something and plans to spook him into gratitude towards his family, and action within his life, by – naturally – convincing him the world is destroyed, and everyone he knows is dead.

That is the surprise of this twoparter, and one which raises many moral questions. The audience tuned in to witness destruction, and this aspect is fairly satisfying, with many low budget explosions and imaginings of postapocalyptic Britain. Zombie fans have seen it all before. But what hasn’t been seen is the genuine shock and emotional agony of a man who believes the world is over, and his family probably dead.

He emerges from his deserted hospital room to see a repeating ‘army broadcast’ detailing the near-end of mankind, and he has been prepared and conditioned to believe it. There is a camera perfectly positioned to capture the breaking of his heart, his mouth gaping, his eyes wide. It is disturbingly moving to see the face of man who believes that the apocalypse has

When it came to the new Misfits, I was a bit of an eager beaver. I’ve watched and loved the juicy storylines and quirky characters from the start and then it was innovative, fresh and tantalising. What is this? Young offenders with super powers? How new and exciting! What I did wonder is how far exactly they could go with it, surely there’s a limit to how many rebellious teenagers with superpowers there are and the chance of them just happening to all be on community service.

In the first series it made sense, all the characters experiencing the storm in the same place at the same time was completely legit, obviously. Now, only one original character remains and still everyone has a bloody superpower. Where are the paparazzi?

The scientists? The talk show hosts?

The first episode kicks off with a chase for a case before backtracking five hours

Natalie Beale

arrived.

Within the first instalment of this man’s ordeal, Steve meets two actors playing specially crafted characters designed to provoke positive personality traits to shine through. The first is a young girl who has lost her mother and needs protecting, and lo and behold we soon find the subject promising to take care of her no matter what. The episode ends with Steve taken somewhere safe and reassured by a message that his family is alive. It is good TV, but is it perhaps cruel to a man who had no clue what he was signing up for?

Catch up on 4oD now to see how the story ends.

famous detective and his adventures than almost anything else, and while Elementary may have left some fans disappointed there will doubtless be another hitting our screens before we know it. Make up your own mind and catch the series Tuesday’s at 8pm on Sky Living.

Zoe Jones

to explain the events. It immediately introduces us to the two new characters without having much chance to get to know them, Jess (Karla Crome) and Finn (Nathan McMullen) are new on the scene.

For me, from the first episode it’s difficult to find what’s so special about these characters: Jess is just the re-incarnated form of Alisha whereas it seems as though there is something a little more peculiar about Finn.

But all will be revealed I suppose.

So far there’s been running, questions and a hacksaw … I’m not going to pretend I’m a little disappointed that Curtis is the only remaining original, but I had super low expectations of the second series after Robert Sheehan’s (Killing Bono, Me and Mrs Jones) character suddenly left the programme to much dismay and yet, here I am, still addicted to Misfits. All I can say is: stay tuned.

16 Morning Ritual

CREATIVE WRITING

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concrete.creativewriting@uea.ac.uk 06.11.2012

themed submission

Routine

Flash Fiction by James Sykes I eat two pieces of toast while scrolling through Twitter, opening a link to an interview with Will Self advertised by a small literary magazine. I read the three page interview while finishing my coffee and retweet it in case Max wants to read it and doesn’t follow the magazine’s account. I close Twitter > open Tumblr > Facebook on another tab. I briefly scan through FB, nothing new, so I close it again about five seconds later, go back to Tumblr. I begin scrolling then give up, open a full list of my tracked tags. Click on the *Simon Amstell* tag, looks through the seven new posts. I ‘like’ three, reblog a quote – “If you live alone and don’t make plans, here’s what happens - you wake up, and it just gets darker” > click on the *Tom Milsom* tag, reblog two particularly cute pictures of him.

1. hoodie/blue hair/outside - nice, kind of stupid but ethereal somehow 2. odd off-the-shoulder shirt thing/white hair/ indoors – weirdly pixie-like, the shoulder thing is

massively sexy - the video where he takes off his shirt and draws on his body > YouTube, I watch that again, get bored halfway, pause the video on his scrawny but hot torso with his organs scrawled on in black pen.

I open my Tumblr blog in a separate tab and look through the first two pages, feeling proud and pleased for some reason; I don’t know why, it’s only a collection of other peoples’ stuff. The new narcissism, a gratuitous picture of the self – not just one picture but a continual stream of photos, look at me, love me, I’m relevant. I close my blog, open my Dashboard – there is a recurring theme in the newest posts of kink and dead writers. Preoccupation of a lot of students apparently.

I look away from the screen. My bedroom is a nest of books detailing the extent to which my generation is non-functioning, and essentially, fucked. It’s very distracting. Every novel I read is a depiction of how much of a good time the last generation of young

people had, or how much of a bad or pointless time the current one is having. Imagine having the passion to stand up and say *No*. Imagine saying *I can’t stand this scene any longer*. Imagine walking out of a party or leaving a shitty play or I don’t know, anything. Any demonstration of outrage. Or joy.

Leaping into the arms of somebody. Imagine that.

Huh. I get up from the broken swivel chair, cross the room, pull back the blind, look outside. The weather has been weird. It has always just stopped raining.

A fat ginger cat sits on top of the blue recycling bin. I watch it for a full five minutes. A thing of utter beauty and majesty. It surveys the road, blinks occasionally, looks generally dissatisfied but also accepting that things aren’t going to change anytime soon. I want to tap at the window or go outside and stroke it but I know it’ll slink off.

The weather. Scarf weather. The blue one. With the black and blue shirt. Yes. Good. Shower. Clothes.

17

CREATIVE WRITING

06.11.2012 concrete.creativewriting@uea.ac.uk

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The Cancellation of Food A Short Story by Holly McDede A girl is crying in the grocery store toilet with such force it is almost athletic, like a swimming competition for a face.

“Get a room!” a woman holding grapes like a gun screams.

“This toilet ain’t some boo-hooing shack,” another person says, punching the door with his fist. I push them aside, and tell them to let me handle this; I’m a specialist. I get out my lunch box.

“I made you an omelette,” I call to the crying girl.

“Just for you, crying girl.”

She opens the door, quickly, and then reaches for my hand, taking me into her mysterious, magical bathroom dimension. I feed her my omelette until she stops leaking, until her taste buds tell her brain not to ruin this experience, to just shut up and be happy.

“I hate my life,” she confesses anyway.

“Doesn’t matter,” I say. “Life is irrelevant. If you’re ever ‘sad’, all you have to do is eat really good food.

You can, however, be sad if you’re homeless, or can’t afford food, or have food allergies, or something,” I say, not wanting to insult any justifiably unhappy people.

We return to the grocery store aisles, and the crying girl is looking at all the food, all the edible men, with a combination of excitement and fear, like they could all be the God to save her. But there are so many gods to choose from! And isn’t she an atheist? She strokes the package of barbecue ribs like she’s in a petting zoo, giggles, and then throws it into her shopping cart. After that, it’s easy: flour, eggs, chocolate, eggs, milk, tomatoes, kiwi, a lime, yogurt, turkey, chicken.

There you go: just buy everything.

I invite the crying girl back to my flat, and we start cooking. We’re nibbling on crisps and ice cream, for strength and preparation for the real meal, the real deal: the omelette.

“I’ve never felt full,” the crying girl says, like it’s a confession. “Until now. I guess I should have eaten more food.”

When it gets late, I tell her she better head home.

That way, she can sleep. That way, she can wake up.

That way, she can eat omelettes in the morning.

I wake up at 6:10AM, like every morning, to the shrieks and rumbles of my stomach. It taps my brain on the shoulder, and my brain transmits me a message, like a boy passing along a note in a classroom: “Get up. Move feet. Eat omelette. Yum, yum, yum.”

I flip over, like an egg, and then pop up, like bread out of a toaster. My phone rings, and it’s the crying girl. She’s crying. “I’m empty again,” she tells me.

“The food is gone.”

“Calm down, crying girl,” I say. “Come on over.”

Each morning, at 6:10, I wake up, hungry. Each morning, the crying girl calls me, crying. Then we eat.

She stops crying. We eat like we’re on an assignment, like 10,000 calories are due by the end of the night.

When we’re fed, I go to work and the crying girl goes to wherever it is that crying girls go, maybe to their

dying mothers or abusive boyfriends or maybe they just all go to toilets in grocery stores.

Years go by, and one day the crying girl makes the biggest mistake of her life: she accidentally looks down. Woah, boy! There it is: her new stomach.

She had overcome her fear of heights when she was little, but now she says, trembling, “Help me, I’m afraid of width.”

“It’ll be okay,” I tell her, pushing her chin up. “Let me make you an omelette.”

The eggs are gone, but not a problem: there are grocery stores. I run to the nearest grocery store, but there is a problem: the grocery store no longer sells food. All I see are chairs. A field of chairs. I ask the nearest sales associate what is up with all the chairs, and where her omelette section is, but she just shakes her head sadly.

“The food market just isn’t what it used to be,” she sighs. “Now with all these new-fangled stomachs, no one really needs to eat. So people only eat when they’re bored. Back in the old days, people really ate.

Back then, people were hungry. Now people are full, they’re complete, and they just want to sit down.”

Out of any better ideas, I tell her I’d like two chairs, please. When I make it home, the crying girl is waiting for me on the floor, looking much greener than she should.

“Good news! They stopped selling food, so now no one can eat!” I shout, trying, with all the mouth muscles I have, to smile. “Now they just sell chairs.

And I got one for each of us! Hooray, hooray!”

I grab the crying girl, and put her on her chair, her throne. We spend the rest of the afternoon sitting, our backsides clinging to the red cushions like they’re trying to eat them.

We both wake up at 6:10AM to the sound of our stomachs ringing like alarm clocks. Buzz, buzz, beep, brrrrr, brrrrrr. My brain starts relaying to me its typical message: “Stand up. Move feet. Eat omelette” but this time, with no omelettes, it just reads, “Stand up. Move feet.” and I think, What for? You go to sleep, so you can wake up. You wake up, so you can eat an omelette. Scratch that. Enter the world of no omelettes. You wake up so you can ____________.

Cry? You wake up so you can cry. It sounds bad, but it’s not. It’s great. I love it. I love crying. Honest.

Can’t get enough of it. I hate it, actually. The crying girl isn’t even crying; she’s making her usual face, but she seems to be experiencing a drought. My throat tastes empty. Suddenly I realise that my entire flat is empty, except for kitchen utensils. The room tastes like loss. When all you eat is omelettes, the universe never tastes like hurt or pain. Or anything, really. It all just kind of tastes like eggs.

The crying girl reaches into her pocket. “I forgot I had this,” she says, and she takes out a tomato. She goes red, embarrassed.

Shyly, she says, “It’s my passion. It’s my life.” I wait for her to explain what a tomato has to do with her life.

She whispers, hypnotized by the red glow, “It’s gardening. I love gardening more than anything. Or,

I did. Before I stopped going outside and spent most of my time trying to eat the universe.”

“That’s great,” I say. “Can we eat it?” I ask, grabbing the tomato. The crying girl pushes my hand away.

“You don’t eat your life,” the crying girl says. She grabs my hand and we go outside. My stomach is a radio, crying “Wah, wah, wah!” like a computerized baby. The crying girl rips the tomato apart, takes out the seeds, and sprinkles it over the dirt. She smiles, her stomach as quiet as a church mouse. She burps, happily.

One Ticket, Please Poetry by Rachael Lum He sold his final ticket of the day To Cinderella (settling her score) And watched her train roll steadily away.

Beneath his mud-caked sneakers lay the frayed Stubs that frame an orange patchwork on the floor.

He sold his final tickets of the day To a quixotic clerk for her fiancé And cursed when grief could shackle him no more.

He watched the trains roll steadily away To some medieval town, lavender hill, the bay!

Anywhere he reckoned she’d adore.

He sold the final tickets of the day To wanderers that to no land obey: Although her gypsy words enticed he swore He’d watch the trains roll steadily away.

Each night he wishes he had begged her stay, Revealed all he had left unsaid, before He sold that final ticket of the day And watched her train roll steadily away.

Next Issue

We are looking for work on the theme of

‘Awareness’

Please submit all writings by Tuesday 13th November

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GAMING

concrete.gaming@uea.ac.uk 06.11.2012

Review: Forza Horizon

Adam Riza

Turn 10’s Forza series has been critically acclaimed as the best and most realistic racing simulator of this generation, providing an incomparable level of detail and accuracy, filling

car lovers with glee. This latest entry however, developed by series newcomer Playground Games, is a departure from what is usually expected from the Forza franchise.

Unleashing players into an open world Colorado that hosts an imagined racing festival, Playground have crafted an experience that fuses the arcade aesthetic of the Need for Speed and Burnout with the traditional Forza simulation style. The festival aesthetic permeates every aspect of the game, from the fantastic indie and electronic soundtrack to the inventive and outlandish event types.

Bursting with personality the world is a joy to roam, pushing the Xbox 360 to its graphical limits whilst maintaining the smooth technical performance the series is known for.

The rewind function also returns, allowing the player to instantly rectify a mistake at the touch of the button.

The fact that this feature exists in an open world game with minimal load times and no slowdown or framerate issues, is something quite spectacular.

There are heaps of events, ranging from traditional races to skill challenges and showcase events where you must complete unique goals such as outrunning a plane. A points system runs throughout the game, rewarding players for performing stunts, near misses, drifts and even wrecking the environment. These actions build up a combo meter and increase player rankings amongst fellow drivers, highly reminiscent of the kudos system seen in the Project Gotham Racing series. It’s a great system in that it always feels that you are achieving something and it encourages risky gameplay, in keeping with the game’s new arcade image.

Performing stunts comes naturally because the cars feel absolutely great to drive, carrying real weight and momentum. This means that there is a short but distinct learning curve, especially if you are new to the series.

It’s a game well worth learning though.

In terms of car tuning, the aspect that the Forza series has become known for, some may be disappointed that it is not anywhere near as extensive

as previous iterations, although that is due to the shift in focus of this particular entry.

Online multiplayer is as expected, allowing players to race others globally and work together in co-op challenges similar to Burnout Paradise. It’s an annoyance that the single player and multiplayer modes are separated, meaning you must leave one mode via a menu to enter another. An autolog like system helps with multiplayer connectivity somewhat, allowing players to see others scores and times on events instantly, and challenge their ghosts at the touch of a button.

The game also has an aggressive downloadable content schedule which might upset some players, but it feels like there’s plenty of content here already.

Overall Forza Horizon is exactly the game that Playground set out to make: a more accessible, open world experience, whilst still retaining what makes Forza so great, creating a game that is a must play for racing enthusiasts.

Review: Hotline Miami Oliver Balaam

A pulpy crime thriller about a gang of mask wearing psychopaths, Hotline Miami is a top down action game

that asks players to take lives in the fastest, ugliest and most irreverent ways possible. It’s what Fox News would call a murder simulator and it makes the argument against casual videogame violence better than they ever could. Importantly, it also knows exactly what it’s doing.

One click murder is the central gameplay mechanic and with responsive controls and lightning pacing, you’ll be crushing and maiming in no time. Snap a neck, knife a second guard and use his shotgun to storm into the bathroom, interrupting the third mid-stream and leaving a mixture of soft brain matter and crunchy porcelain in your wake. This might all sound a bit psychotic, and it is, but the 8-bit graphics act as a distancing device, making the violence seem more absurd and sardonic than truly disturbing. Combos, high scores, psychedelic presentation and a hazy synth soundtrack that hangs thick in the air all support Hotline Miami’s stylish critique of post-modern

cultural desensitization.

The gameplay itself requires both patience and speed. Just as concerned with puzzle and strategy mechanics as it is with action, players must linger in thresholds, watch patrol routes, wait for an opening and then strike without hesitation. One hit will kill enemies but the same applies to the player so timing is vital and the tension is immense. You will die a lot but an instant restart function stops this from becoming a chore and renders play sessions one uninterrupted frenzy. Indeed the gameplay loop won’t be that unfamiliar to indie game veterans: think Trials HD, ‘Splosion Man or Super Meatboy but with more blunt trauma.

A varied selection of melee and ranged weapons invite players to mix up their approach, stalking room to room with a machete or storming the place with a shotgun. The 25 collectible animal masks also switch things up by granting bonus abilities.

Dress up like Lassie and attack dogs

won’t bite, or don a chameleon mask and become harder to spot. Some of these masks unbalance the gameplay systems but the more potent ones aren’t discovered until late in the game, making them replay incentives rather than game breakers.

The three to six hour massacre is interspersed with scenes of our nameless American psycho attempting to go about his day to day life: ordering pizza, visiting bars and returning video tapes. The juxtaposition of these scenes with the combat sections make the violence seem ever more absurd and pointless.

That the combat is so enjoyable just drives the guilt home harder.

At one point a character asks: “Do you like hurting other people?” It’s a simple question that many games ignore altogether, assuming they already know the answer. Asking this question is what sets Hotline Miami apart from its contemporaries, but proving the answer to be yes is what makes it one of the most important and harrowing games of the year.

GAMING

06.11.2012 concrete.gaming@uea.ac.uk

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@Concrete_Gaming

Preview: Football Manager 2013

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Sam Emsley Football Manager is back to consume every waking moment of your life, leaving broken relationships and missed deadlines in its wake as you live out your managerial dreams.

Updates to the 3D engine means matches run smoother and the improved artificial intelligence stops players making terrible passes. The hundreds of new animations are also welcome, albeit expected additions to the game.

New emphasis has been placed on enhancing the coaching and training aspects of the game, the most noticeable change being the further specialisation of coaching roles and the ability to receive more specific advice from staff members.

Whether this will improve the game’s customisation options or simply force a more laborious and stringent approach to organising your backroom remains be seen. However one welcome addition is the ability to hire a director of football, who can take over contract negotiations.

Nothing is more frustrating than when

your star player won’t agree to a contract, so abrogating this responsibility will be useful.

The biggest and arguably most exciting new feature is challenge mode.

This allows the player to choose from a selection of scenarios which will present them with formidable circumstances they must overcome. These bite-sized challenges allow for immediate action in a game that traditionaly consumes weeks of playtime, not minutes. This is long overdue as the cult of Football Manager challenges has been around almost as long as the game itself, but setting up and sharing these scenarios manually was overly difficult. Hopefully the challenge mode will allow access to downloadable community created challenges that will put an end to this problem.

Another feature is classic mode, which simplifies the game by removing some of the more advanced features, making it more accessible to newer players. It’s great for newbies, especially given the

inherent complexity of the series, but seasoned pros aren’t going to touch this.

One controversial new feature is the provision of what is essentially a payto-win model. Players will be able to buy perks with real money such as a never-ending transfer window, a bigger transfer budget and even immunity from the sack, no matter what (an ability presumably inspired by the improbably long reign of Steve Kean). Once again, most dedicated players relish the challenge of guiding Port Vale to the Champions League final unaided, and aren’t going to take advantage of these perks. This is obviously just an extra revenue generator masquerading as a helping hand for newer players and while it won’t effect online play, it still feels like an exploitative move.

Overall though, Football Manager 2013 looks to have included some smart, interesting and engaging new features that are designed to welcome new players as well as entertain returning ones.

Masochism, Difficulty and the Roguelike Marlowe Hill Difficulty is a hot topic when it comes to gaming, to some it is a badge of honour and a definition of a gamer’s skill while to others it is a needless barrier that prevents people playing games and breaks the flow of the experience.

In the last few years difficulty has often become a feature of a game in itself rather than an industry standard.

Games like Demon Souls and Dark Souls have popularised difficultly as a defining feature. Indeed the tagline of the Souls series, “prepare to die”, is rather apt. The series is designed so that the player would die, learn from their mistakes and not repeat the same experience. With each death you weaken your character and lose all your souls, the all-purpose currency of the game. It was this risk/reward binary, paired with the masochistic difficulty that made it a cult hit.

Similarly the indie game Super Meat Boy played on the idea of difficulty as a feature. Seemingly a standard platformer the game steadily builds pace, rewarding dexterous

feats while punishing failure. One of the most compelling features is the level completion screen where players see all their attempts play out simultaneously with only one victor, your final run.

This style of gaming is not a radical modern development, in fact it’s often routed in a nostalgia for what gaming used to represent.

The roguelike, a genre synonymous

with unfair difficulty, often demands multiple playthroughs in order for success, meaning that players must restart and take what they’ve learned into the next attempt.

One of the key features of the roguelike genre is permadeath, which is a bit of a taboo topic in gaming circles. For the elite or the insane, depending on your perspective, it means that all of a player’s progress can be lost in the blink of an eye, whether twenty minutes or twenty hours.

The constant sense of peril provided by permadeath is where the roguelike finds its strength.

Commonly sessions take a short burst of ten to twenty minutes unless you are doing particularly well but that’s where the ever present save function comes in handy.

The roguelike genre has become more popular recently, especially in the indie circles.

Dungeons of Dredmoor is a classic roguelike dungeon crawler for PC. Available for £3.50, its jaunty humour

and colourful art style present an approachable entry point to the roguelike genre.

Another recent addition is FTL: Faster than Light, a spaceship command game that puts you on a life and death intelligence mission while being chased by an enemy armada.

Every attempt hopefully allows you to get to a new sector of space as you learn to get by with your scarce resources.

The genre has even found its way to consoles with the outlandish PlayStation 3 downloadable title Tokyo Jungle. A game where you play an animal in a deserted Tokyo.

You must survive by scavenging and fighting other animals. Hopefully you’ll live long enough to breed, lead a family and unlock a new species, from Pomeranians to Dinosaurs.

Roguelikes capitalise on the current cultural fascination with difficulty in games: they’re easily digestible in small sittings and they also cost a fraction of a retail game, making them the perfect fit for busy student life.

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ARTS

concrete.arts@uea.ac.uk 06.11.2012

ARTS HISTORY : THE LIFE AND WORKS OF PHILLIP PULLMAN

Melissa Taylor This month marks the 66th birthday of Phillip Pullman, author of the best-selling children’s series, His Dark Materials.

Born in 1946 in our very own Norwich, Pullman’s childhood was spent in England, Zimbabwe and Australia before finally settling in Wales and going on to attend Exeter College at Oxford University. Sounds like the typical upbringing you would expect from one of the country’s most successful novelists.

Pullman graduated from Oxford in 1968 with a Third class degree in English Literature. The mind boggles, but it just goes to show a degree is clearly no proof of talent. Maybe Oxford in the 60’s had amazing nightlife; we will just never know.

After several years of teaching and writing, Phillip Pullman published his first book in the lesser-known, but still popular, Sally Lockhart quartet in 1986.

However, it was not until 1995 that Pullman really gathered attention, with the publication of Northern Lights, the first in the His Dark Materials trilogy.

Released two years prior to the explosion of Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Pullman

is arguably the daddy of children’s fantasy literature (apart from Tolkien, who is, of course, the granddaddy). The trilogy also earned serious literary brownie-points for its references to Paradise Lost; “His Dark Materials” is a direct quote from book seven of Milton’s epic. So popular was the trilogy that no high school library was complete without an Amber Spyglass poster as the backdrop for a showdown between teaching assistants and children who refused to read. Luckily for parents and educator’s everywhere, the His Dark Materials trilogy sold 15 million copies; we can only assume the number of bibliophobic children has thus diminished.

In honour of the bicentennial anniversary of the publication of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Phillip Pullman has just completed a reworking of 50 of those classic stories. Just as the original German folk tales were not intended (and in some cases unsuitable) for children, Pullman dedicates his collection to “Young and Old”. For those who have never dabbled in Phillip Pullman’s magical worlds, perhaps now is the perfect time to take the plunge.

REVIEW : THE TAMING OF THE SHREW UEA Drama Society Milly Strong

Aaron Toumazou

Last week UEA Drama Society performed their first play of the year. Set in the 60s, Shakespeare’s The Taming of The Shrew was brought to life for contemporary audiences thanks to the vision and excellent taste of director Gwen Hanauer. Gwen explains how she hoped that “placing the action in the swinging sixties – a time of growing feminism and social change – helped to subvert the potentially sexist content, and give the comedy a fresher context”. Indeed, the adaptation both contrasted and conflated 16th century expectations with ours, resulting in true Shakespearean chaos.

The play was set in Brighton, and the stage was decked with kitsch bunting and a tonne of fairy lights, while the cast were dressed head to toe in sixties prints and leather. The show opened with the talented vocals of Louise Withers Green and Beth Ryan accompanied by a band on stage who, decked in leather and dark sunglasses, played sixties music throughout the play.

The props were excellent. Petruchio’s horse took the form of a pimped-up shopping trolley, and last fortnight’s issue of

Concrete was put to good use as a means to disguise Gremio whilst eavesdropping. The ‘lads’ seemed to struggle with the delivery of their lines a little whilst also trying to slurp from their beer bottles, but the spillages only caused more hilarity.

Drama Soc is separate from the drama department, and is a society made up of students across the faculties. Nonetheless, the society is jammed packed with talent.

Aaron Toumazou

For example, the chemistry between Kate and Petruchio, played by Milly Rolle and Ed Jones, was perfectly executed, and the comedic characters received laughs all round.

The performance was a great start to the year for the society, and it is warming to see how such a community can pool together all their various musical, theatrical and artistic talents in order to pull off such a challenging production.

ARTS

06.11.2012 concrete.arts@uea.ac.uk

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INTERVIEW: Hatty Farnham talks to writer A.D. Miller

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Venue: What influenced the writing of Snowdrops?

Also Babel, who for me is the supreme journalist turned fiction-writer.

Are you working on anything at the moment?

with a broader cast of characters.

Miller: When I was a foreign correspondent in Russia, I wrote an article about the role of snow in the life of Moscow. I discovered the concept of the “snowdrop”: Russian slang for a body that lies buried in the snow, emerging in the thaw. The image seemed to capture the harshness of life in Russia for some people, but also potentially to be a metaphor for other, novelistic ideas, too, such as the way experiences or aspects of your personality that you try to repress can catch up with you. I fixed on the voice of the narrator-a lonely, drifting, 30-something expat.

Those were the two initial elements of the novel.

As a child, did you know you wanted to write?

Yes: a new novel, set partly in California but mostly in London. No more Russia, at least not in novels. It’s another story about morally flawed men, though set over a longer time frame than Snowdrops and

A.D. Miller will be speaking at a free event on campus at 6.30pm in Thomas Paine Study Centre Lecture Theatre on Monday 12 November, in conversation with Henry Sutton.

Who has most influenced your writing?

As a novice fiction writer, I am very conscious that influence is mostly something to be resisted. But, looking at my book as objectively as I can, I’d say Dostoevsky’s nasty psychologising and Gogol, for the way that, in The Overcoat, he writes about the Russian winter as both a physical and symbolic phenomenon.

Yes. I wrote lots of bad poetry as an adolescent, then a bad play and worse short stories in my early twenties. I wrote a non-fiction book - a family memoir called The Earl of Petticoat Lane, which is really about class and immigration - before I felt brave enough to try a novel.

What do you find most challenging when writing?

In the case of Snowdrops, depicting the narrator’s moral decline through his voice, in a way that didn’t feel mechanistic, was tough. First-person narration is in general much harder than it looks.

Can you offer any advice to those undiscovered writers out there?

Take criticism. Take risks. Keep going: as much as talent, writing books is a matter of stamina and morale.

REVIEW : Ian McEwan UEA’s Literature Festival 2012

PREVIEW : The Unthank Books Literary Festival : Three Events, One Venue, 9th Nov

Mia March As part of the build up to UEA’s 50th anniversary next year, Ian McEwan has recently been made a “Jubilee Professor” of the university. In honour of this, and the release of his newest novel Sweet Tooth, McEwan returned to UEA last week as part of the Arthur Miller Lit Fest.

Christopher Bigsby, who hosts the evenings, delved into McEwan’s personal life when asking him about his working class background and his relationship with his parents. McEwan talks of his inability to “shake off” his “mother’s mistrust of language”. His mother, he explains, displayed anxiety concerning her spoken English and this distrust of linguistics shaped his own writing and relationship with the English language.

McEwan also explains how books were never embraced in his home growing up.

His parents and their generation had “seen into the jaws of hell” during the war; as a result they relied on order and control in their later lives. Part of his mother’s control,

McEwan explains, was the shutting of books from any untidy corner in the home.

Boarding school, he explains, allowed him to embrace music and literature in ways he had not before. Where other teenagers were experiencing rebellion in drink and rock and roll, McEwan found books entirely alluring: “literature was a playground of freedom”.

Sweet Tooth is a novel about a woman on a secret mission for MI5. Interestingly, McEwan states that “all novels are spy novels really […] just think of Austen and the manipulation in her work”. He is interested in how far the narration can manipulate the characters, and how far the characters can manipulate the readers.

McEwan states how the nature of fiction is entirely subjective. His protagonist enjoys the verisimilitude of London street names in the fiction she reads, and McEwan highlights how this is representative of his readership: “we like reading what we recognise, what is familiar”.

The Unthank Unlit Festival has been described as “an evening of music that loops around time, place and literature, creating a Venn diagram of oddness and beauty. Funny, challenging, and beautiful, a perfect call and response to a chilly November evening”. The evenings will feature the launches of the literary thriller Killing Daniel by Sarah Dobbs and Unthology No 3, with readings from Dandra Jensen, CD Rose, Ashley Stokes and Sharon Zink.

The festival will run from the 9th – 11th November, at the York Tavern, 1 Leicester Street, Norwich. Doors open at 7.30, 8pm start.

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www.concrete-online.co.uk

across

4. The ------- of the Shrew (6) 5. Tallest mountain in the UK (8) 7. Dull (6) 8. Container sometimes used to hold ashes (3) 9. Sticky substance produced by bees (5) 11. Swedish furniture shop (4) 13. Japanese paper folding (7) 15. Divide by two (5) 16. Pig meat soon to be scarce (5) 17. Regions in the extreme north and south (5)

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concrete.competitions@uea.ac.uk 06.11.2012

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down 1. Hurricane which recently hit New York (5) 2. Gunpowder-based decorations (9) 3. Facial hair (5) 5. Pickle brand (8) 6. We burn him yearly (3) 7. Large outdoor fire (7) 10. Benjamin --------, Suffolk composer (7) 12. England’s mythical king (6) 14. Instrument played by angels (4)

COMPETITIONS

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LISTINGS

06.11.2012 concrete.listings@uea.ac.uk

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6 November - 19 November

Tuesday 6 November The Twang Price £12.50 7.30pm The Waterfront

Wednesday 7 November Billy Talent - The Rock Sound Riot Tour 2012 Price £17 Advance 6.30 pm UEA LCR Tight & Bright LCR Price £3.50 Advance 10pm UEA LCR

Thursday 8 November New Found Glory/Less Than Jake The Road To Warped Tour Price £20 Advance 7 pm UEA LCR UK SUBS + Anti-Nowhere League (presented by Metal Lust) Price £15 Advance 7.30pm The Waterfront

Friday 9 November Fresh Live + Drumsound & Bassline Smith Live Price £15 Advance 7.30pm UEA LCR

Mystery Jets w/Temples and Tom Odell Price £14 Advance 7pm The Waterfront

Tuesday 13 November Comedy Club presents WitTank Price £5 Advance 7.30pm UEA LCR

NON-STOP 90s + ALT 90s Price £4.50/£3.50 NUS Sold on Door 10pm The Waterfront

A Night at Hogwarts Price £3.50 Advance 10pm-1.30am UEA LCR

Saturday 10 November The A List Price £4.50 Advance 10.30pm-3am UEA LCR

[Spunge] @ The Waterfront Studio Price £10 Advance 7.30pm The Waterfront

Lee Vann presented by The Tilting Sky Price £5 Advance 7pm The Waterfront Club Smith (Album Release Tour) + Support @ The Waterfront Studio Price £5 7pm The Waterfront Meltdown + Britpoppin Price £4.50/£3.50 NUS Sold on Door 10pm The Waterfront

Sunday 11 November 3OH!3 Price £13.50 Advance 7pm The Waterfront

Clock Opera Price £8 Advance 7.30pm The Waterfront

Wednesday 14 November Mumiy Troll + Echotape @ The Waterfront Studio Price £10 Advance 7.30pm The Waterfront Yashin + We Butter The Bread With Butter, Shadows Chasing Ghosts and Azriel Price £10 Advance 7pm The Waterfront

Thursday 15 November Deaf Havana Price £12.50 Advance 7pm UEA LCR Port Isla Sinking Ship Single Launch w/Polly and the Billets Doux @ The Waterfront Studio Price £6 Advance 7.30pm The Waterfront

Photo: Holly Maunders

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UEA DramaSoc presents The Crucible Price £5/£3 Advance NUS 7.30pm UEA Drama Studio Running from 15- 17 November Friday 16 November The Wedding Present Plays Seamonsters Price £14 Advance 7pm The Waterfront MASH UP! + B.A.S.S.B.I.N. Price £4.50/£3.50 NUS Sold on Door 10pm The Waterfront

Saturday 17 November The A List Price £3.50 10.30pm – 3am UEA LCR Architects Price£15 6pm The Waterfront Meltdown + Metal Lust Price £4.50/£3.50 NUS Sold on Door 10pm The Waterfront

Sunday 18 November Easy Star All-Stars - “Thrillah Tour” Price £16 7pm The Waterfront

Monday 19 November Netsky w/Ayah Marar Price £10 7.30pm The Waterfront

VENUE Issue 274

Photo: Ga Chun Yau