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3 Arts Kate Romain

7 Film Willa Hope + Louis Pigeon-owen

10 Fashion Emily Claridge 15 Creative Writing Hugo Douglas-Deane 19 Gaming Kirsty McAlpine 23 Television Denise Koblenz 27 Music Alice Mortimer + Lois Young Art And design assistant - Emily Mildren Cover photo - Niamh and dougie

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Concrete.venue@uea.ac.uk

PresidentIAL Editors-in-chief Dougie dodds + niamh Jones

Venue

deputy editor Melissa Haggar feel like a lot of things need explaining for this issue; the cover, the editorial photo… and probably most importantly, the back cover (let’s just say Obama leaving has got us all quite sad). We’ve taken the American election theme and run with it, heck, we’ve sprinted with it very fast in the opposite direction of Donald Trump. I would also like to add that I make a rather good Trump in the editorial photo, worryingly good… make VENUE great again. Dougie

I

his is my favourite cover for VENUE so far.

A little anecdote for you, we had to lighten Donald Trump’s face on Photoshop before making it pixelated because it was so darn ORANGE. Anyway, we’ve made a really great issue. It’s so great you’re going to look at it and go ‘Wow, that’s huge.

And so presidential.’ We’ve got an 80s page spread that will make you cream your jeans. If VENUE wasn’t our magazine, I’d date it. Niamh

T

ello youths of this great nation, we’ve got such a relatable and hip edition of VENUE this time, and oh boy is it something. Get ready to do your best shimmy or Putin puppet dance and rejoice in the beautiful content we have to offer. If you’ve got your pantsuit already prepared, head to our fashion pages to check out our segments on cruelty free makeup.

Alternately, if you’re in a stranger mood then film might have something for you. Bring your own capes though. Melissa

H

FEATURE If you’re looking for an eye-popping feature, never fret, we’ve got a comic book vs adaptations showdown for you to get engrossed in.

Yes, it’s downright civil war on the battlefield as we pose the timely question: Is the original better?

FREEDOM COUPON!

This coupon entitles you to ONE FREEDOM! Clip and give to a person or nation that needs liberation and independence!

Gaming ‘We no longer have to bring our PS4s to the airport to enjoy a good game on the go’ Pressed for time? To pre-occupied with worrying about the general state of the universe? Then check out Tom’s article for gaming on the go, yo.

Concrete.venue@uea.ac.uk

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Arts 03

Concrete.arts@uea.ac.uk

please view responsibly why even the most controversial pieces have artistic value

beverly ann devakishen There is no doubt that art is incredibly powerful. It inspires intense emotions in its audience and can be tremendously moving.

Some may be swayed by these artworks and have a tendency to believe passionately in the message behind them. Some may look at the piece and The bursts of feeling dismiss it as propaganda that art inspires are exactly and not art. However, a the reason why art is so balance between these two often abused. The artist is extreme reactions needs to able to harness the power of be reached. For this to be art and uses it to his or her achieved, the artistic value advantage, manipulating of an artwork has to be the audience into feeling separated from the purpose a certain way. This is why behind it. You should retain art has been used for a form of objectivity in propaganda since ancient looking at the piece, which times, producing artwork requires an acute sense such as Trajan’s Column, of self-awareness, while which depicts the strength appreciating its artistic of ancient Rome, till today, value. I recently looked at with posters such ‘Lest a Nazi propaganda poster We Forget’, a poster that titled ‘Mother and Child’ criticizes David Cameron. which was a painting of a German mother holding her baby and a man working a farm in the background.

While I admired the way in which the artist painted the soft features of the mother and the radiant sunlight, it did not move me to believe that all women should be mothers while their husbands worked, which was the message of this poster.

The intention of this piece was not of the purest, but it still held artistic Illustration (left) by Emily Mildren, (right) value. Thus, no credit to Wikimedia Commons

art should not be labeled as mere instruments of propaganda and dismissed as ‘bad’, as this is a simplistic and one-dimensional view of the artworks.

We have to be aware of the fact that sometimes, art is used to put forward a selfish agenda. The most sensible viewer should be able to discern this, and instead of falling into the influence of this art piece, would instead be prompted to think more deeply about the issue presented. Being aware of why the artist has tried to manipulate his or her viewers could help you discover interesting insights.

Art is almost always eye-catching, and every art piece will capture your

attention to some extent.

The interest that art sparks could be educational in nature and could prompt viewers to go home and find out more about whatever the art represents.

Furthermore, no matter what the intention of the artwork is, one could always learn from the techniques and creativity of different artists, especially if the viewers are artists themselves.

Though artists can have wrong intentions for producing art, there is always some value the piece produced that we need to recognize with an objective eye. Art may move our hearts, but we must never let our minds be completely unguarded against its influence.

04 Arts

Concrete.arts@uea.ac.uk

ian rankin: the successful rebel the world-famous novelist on writing, money, and refsuing to grow up

megan baynes

in Norwich. I tell him I am a Creative Writing student myself and the advice starts coming: “Keep at it and don’t be discouraged. You’ve got to read a lot and write a lot and then you start to find your own voice.

“You have to have thick skin. Along the way you’re going to get knocked back and there are going to be people telling you that you’re no good.”

As far as rebels go, Ian Rankin has to be one of the most successful. Despite his parents’ wishes that he would opt for a more practical subject such as accountancy, he chose literature and to pursue a love of books. “They were bemused,” he says.

“None of my family went to college or university. They wondered what kind of job I’d get.

“My dad lived to see the first couple of books published, and I think he was proud to see that his son was managing to make money by telling lies. My dad was a great story teller; he wasn’t a great reader, but that didn’t matter.

The story telling was quite important.”

Rankin is now a visiting Creative Writing Professor at UEA, teaching a course he admits to coveting after listening to Ian McEwan speak so fondly of his time

When asked whether he has any future best-selling authors in his seminars, he appears quietly confident. He says, “I’ve not seen any of their work yet, but they are certainly very engaged, lively and confidence. And we know that UEA has a very good track record with it’s Creative Writing students…”

Despite this hallmarkesque advice, Rankin remains refreshingly down to earth and charmingly cynical.

“Writers,” he declares, “are just children who refuse to grow up. We are just playing with our imaginary friends, creating characters and role playing games. At some point the adult world says you have to stop doing that, and writers say ‘No’.”

Rankin was still a full time student when he wrote his first Inspector Rebus novel, a character whose adventures would secure

Rankin’s place as one of the most prolific crime writers of this generation. When asked about his days as a student Rankin laughs: “I was lucky.

This was the old days and you didn’t have to work as hard as you do now. I was working on a PhD and as long as I did enough work that they couldn’t kick me out, I had three years of funding to write what I wanted. “By the time the funding ran out, I’d got myself a deal with a publisher.”

written appearance.

“There’s a lot of nostalgia there,” he says. Yet despite having a relationship with his character longer than many celebrity marriages, Rankin isn’t entirely sure Rebus would share the same fondness for him. He continues, “I like him, but I’m not sure he’d like me.

We could talk about music and beer but then we’d have to go our separate ways before he punched me in the face.”

Yet despite this initial success, Rankin — who has said previously “I have a strong work ethic, yet I’m incredibly lazy as well.” — left university at 22 with every little idea of what he was going to do. Eventually he opted to pursue a PhD on Muriel Sparks; the very same PhD that would go unfinished as Inspector Rebus began to gain recognition, but it was not until he was in his forties that Rankin began to make his millions.

As a man on several rich lists, I decide to ask if money actually does make you happy — after all, this is a man currently earning millions off the back of his novels with a career many of my fellow students can only dream of. Again, Rankin surprises me. “Money does make you happy,” he says.

“Our youngest son is quite severely disabled and having money means our lives are a lot less stressful: if he needs something, we can buy it for him.

There is a pause as Rankin reflects and in another moment of sentimentality he continues, “I’ve been there. Don’t expect overnight success, whatever you do. The media make it seem very easy. You go on the right TV show and suddenly you’re a star. It ain’t easy if you’re in it for the long haul.”

Indeed, he ‘in it’ with three decades, year marking anniversary of

has been Rebus for with next the 30th his first

“But as a writer it doesn’t make that next book any easier. You could have a bank account full of money, but it won’t help with that next book.”

So why does he still write then, assuming that he does indeed have a ‘bank account full of money’? The answer is simple; “Because writing is fun,” he says. “For writers, it’s a lovely game.

It is how they communicate with the world.”

Arts 05

Concrete.arts@uea.ac.uk

the persistence of memory

Beth papworth

an insight into the surreal world of dali’s ‘Clocks’

Salvador Dali’s ‘The Persistence of Memory’ (1931), nicknamed “clocks” is one of the most enigmatic surrealist paintings of the twentieth century. Bent out of shape, the clocks are folded over and melting away, appearing surreal and elusive.

The distorted clocks symbolize the erratic passage of time and the experience of dreaming.

There is always that element of haziness when waking up and not being able to remember particular dreams. Dali illustrates how useless our normal concept of time is inside the dream state. During our daily lives, we are always rushed and busy but Dali’s work makes us look at art in the surrealist world, where we are not conforming to our normal time structure.

Instead, we are embracing the concept that time slips away quickly, particularly when dreaming. Dali shows that by melting away, the clocks are losing their power over the world around them. The painting also points to our arbitrary way of keeping time and sticking to our daily routines.

The landscape in which the clocks melt in the foreground is barren and infertile. We know that Dali based the seaside landscape on the cliffs in his home region of Catalonia, Spain.

The backdrop is empty and lonely as the painting with

lots of open space with no movement or action. In the centre of the painting, the large creature is comprised

What is interesting to note is the title of his painting, ‘The Persistence of Memory’, as it suggests that time is melting away in this isolated, barren landscape.

Bodily features such as the ear and eye are distorted just like the clocks that are imagined in dreams.

Perhaps the title also alludes to the idea that despite persisting with our memory of remembering dreams, ultimately when we wake up, we will not be able to recall any of the events that occurred the night before.

Dali’s surrealist focus taps into our imagination and plays with our concept of time.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

of a deformed nose and eye that is drawn from Dali’s imagination. Its long eye lashes seem insect-like with an oblong looking tongue oozing from its nose.

According to Dali, he intended his work to have “the most imperialist fury of precision…to systematize confusion and thus to help discredit completely the world of reality.” The only element of the painting that does seem to be real is the distant golden cliffs and those on the coast of Catalonia, Dali’s home in Spain. We know that while creating his paintings, Dali actually self-induced hallucinations in order to access his subconscious, a process he famously called the ‘paranoiac-critical method.’

HOLY ADAPTATION, BATMAN! IT’S comic book civil war HARRIET GRIFFITHS They’re an unstoppable franchise that rakes in billions every year. Over the last twenty years, the film industry has seen an increase in graphic novel to movie adaptations, from the rise of the hugely popular superhero franchises like X-Men and Batman, to the re-working of more indie comic classics such as Ghost World and the classic Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. All of them vary in style, some in quality.

But how do they rank compared to their comic book counterparts? How important is it for movie adaptations to stay loyal to their originals?

The notoriously reclusive comic author Alan Moore is well-known for his opinions against the idea of a graphic novel being adapted for the big screen. In an interview with the LA Times in 2008 he commented that adaptations have “the effect of watering down our collective cultural imagination”. But what is Moore getting at?

Well, perhaps by attempting to adapt comics to the big screen, crucial plot nuances and specific scenes that are valued as important by the writer are lost through a filmmaker’s desire to make the plot

more accessible to a wider audience. For example, more explicit scenes may be altered or deleted entirely to lower the BBFC rating of the movie.

Could this be disappointing for a loyal fan of the original novel? It’s very likely.

Other victims of this crafty re-working include the hit AMC series The Walking Dead, whereby, Daryl Dixon is a character completely invented by the writers of the TV show; Dixon makes no appearance in the comic.

The Catwoman franchise can also be counted as famously divergent from its graphic counter-part - special mention has to be made to Halle Berry’s

2004 portrayal, rife with an abundance of gratuitous camera angles and plot deviations. Do these same deviations lower the overall standard of an adaptation?

Or is the standard dependant on the quality of the film in general?

Perhaps the question we should be asking ourselves is this: is loyalty to original depictions even relevant? It certainly doesn’t

automatically make a good film. Let’s use the example of Watchmen. A three and a half hour long epic, the movie (despite Moore’s critique) does attempt to stay true to its original and condense 416 pages of solid plot into the time.

But rather than be seen as a masterpiece, Watchmen was a bit of a flop to those perhaps not familiar with the comic.

A 65% rating on critic site Rotten Tomatoes signifies that while not having being panned by the public, the length and dialogue-heavy scenes haven’t gone unnoticed.

Maybe loyalty isn’t so vital to success in this sense.

So hey, why criticize?

Even if films aren’t strictly adhering to their original graphic novels, perhaps they should be viewed as films in their own right. Admittedly, it’s understandable to be cross when a truly terrible reworking of a popular comic is released (I’m looking at you, Fantastic Four), but ultimately, it’s all down to the individual’s opinion.

After all, isn’t entertainment the definitive goal… Right?

Illustration by Murray Lewis; Image credit: Flickr, User Bllq21

Film 07

Concrete.film@uea.ac.uk

doctor strange

Illustration by Murray Lewis

jodie bailey By joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Strange has a lot to live up to.

Whilst sitting in the cinema waiting with bated breath, you’ll start to consider everything that made it look like a disappointment waiting to happen in the trailer: Benedict Cumberbatch’s dodgy American accent, the costume and the sickening kaleidoscope-like special effects. Then the movie gets going and then you realise all those worries were for nought.

In addition to being an extremely effective advertisement warning against dangerous driving, Doctor Strange provides what some are suggesting to be one of the strongest superhero stand-alone movies in a long time. Marvel may well have produced one of their darkest movies as well; Steven Strange must rise

after his tragic accident to become our titular hero. The movie is great at exploring vulnerable characters throughout, notably through Mads Mikkelson’s villain and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s character, both of whom put in solid performances.

The cast are perfectly cast for their roles and Marvel manages to dodge the criticism this time of having a disappointing villain. It’s not all serious, tragic drama though; Cumberbatch’s character has just enough sarcasm and wit in the same vein as Iron Man and Benedict Wong stole the screen with his supporting role whenever he could.

As for the Inception-like special effects? You’ll want to get the full effect in 3D if you can. The effects and costumes may leave your head spinning, but only with the question: “How does Marvel keep doing it?”

Everyone hoped that this movie would be a success, but I doubt anyone expected it to be as good as what it was, leaving us with the

niggling question of “when is it going to stop?” In the meantime though, enjoy this strange and fantastic ride whilst it lasts.

Queen of katwe beth papworth Directed by Mira Nair, Queen of Katwe stars Madina Nalwanga as Phiona Mutesi, a poor girl living in the Kampala slum of Katwe who goes on to become a chess prodigy. The film opens with the locals going about their daily routine in the Katwe community and you see the impoverished conditions that they inhabit. Our first encounter with Phiona is when she spies on a chess class, hiding behind the wall, inspiring her to find out more about the art form.

The coach recognizes early on Phiona’s natural ability to play chess and she goes on to compete on a national and global scale.

This film is authentic and does not hide behind Hollywood embellishments, remaining honest and true to its story. In fact, the film humbles you because it makes you appreciate all of the things that everyone takes for granted: water, a decent meal and a roof over our heads. At one point,

Phiona’s home is flooded by a storm and her brother nearly drowns; in the West we never have to worry about our homes being washed away and you can have a glass of water without walking miles to go and fetch it.

Madina Nalwanga gives a truly heart-warming depiction of a real chess champion who is successful in the most challenging circumstances, specifically supporting her widowed mother, Nakku Harriet in

a hut that they can barely afford with the money they make from hawking maize.

The film neither pities nor romanticizes their poverty, instead it focuses on the prospect of hope in adverse times. Phiona’s love of chess becomes an escape from her harsh reality in this touching and emotional representation of a young girl’s fight to become a chess champion against all odds.

Concrete.film@uea.ac.uk

American honey

08 Film

jack barton Coming from a background of socially-representative independent filmmaking, director/writer Andrea Arnold brings us her 4th feature: American Honey.

From Arnold’s humble beginnings directing short films, to her first feature Red Road, an intense Glaswegian thriller focusing on a CCTV operator, to her film Fish Tank which won the Jury Prize at Cannes and starred a lesser-known but still terrific Michael Fassbender.

American Honey retains the harsh social commentary of her previous work but transports us this time to the US, where troubled teen Star (Sasha Lane) takes on a job of selling magazine subscriptions across the country. She joins a handful of seemingly similar teenagers, escaping from impoverished backgrounds while struggling with upcoming adulthood. Star’s original attraction to the trip stems from her fascination with Jake (Shia LaBeouf) and his wild lifestyle. Surprisingly, Shia LaBeouf hits us with an outstanding performance, proving that there is method

behind his outlandish artistic endeavours. Jake takes on Star, training her to be a successful saleswoman. This leads to really interesting and captivating scenes involving Jake and Star that sometimes amount to intense confrontations.

The audience is thrown into a stylish 4:3 aspect ratio which really lends itself to the impressive visual filmmaking. The film uses a mixture of naturally lit scenes that bring the sunny southern-set story to fruition as well as intimate scenes focusing purely on faces.

Throughout, the audience is drawn into sometimes meaningless, sometimes meaningful conversations drawing on philosophy, love and happiness, but always entertaining and ponderous.

All of this featured alongside hypnotic, dreamlike sequences that feel at home in a film which has a particularly experimental style.

Arnold does however fail to structure the film around an arguably (and for the most

part effective) plotless film; American Honey is too long and the ending scenes feel tagged on and unimportant.

A sequence usually focuses on a location and the sales that come with this, which is an effective style, although sometimes the story seems to linger when it just needs to move on. There are some really unlikable characters who join Star on her journey: Arnold is just trying to create exposure to the archetypal lost teenager, but this sometimes doesn’t play well alongside semi-improvised dialogue. The movie is riddled with modern hip-hop music that will surely become irritating over time to anyone slightly opposed to loud modern music.

American Honey is a beautiful film that captures the essence of someone trying to break through into adulthood and discover their true self. Not without its flaws, it is nevertheless full of great performances, an entertaining script and gorgeous visuals. Sascha Lane is definitely someone to look out for.

The Legend of Barney Thompson (2015) Robert Carlyle writes, directs and stars in this noir comedy about a reluctant serial killer who becomes Scotland Yard’s ‘Most Wanted’ by accident. As the body count rises, all he really wants is to continue giving short back and sides to customers in his hair salon, but an angry Ray Winston and a drunk Emma Thompson have other plans in store for him.

- Louis Pigeon-Owen

The Fundamentals of caring (2016) Starring Selena Gomez, Paul Rudd and Craig Roberts, The Fundamentals of Caring follows the heartwarming road trip of a teen suffering from muscular dystrophy and his carer. Both comic and heart wrenching, this Netflix Original is perfect for hangovers, or just when you’re needing a hug.

- Willa Hope

mascots (2016) Furries, anatomically correct donkey costumes, drinkdriving hedgehogs and bodypopping armadillos, need I say more? This Netflix Original about the annual Gold Fluffy mascot competition is hilariously tragic and uncharacteristically deadpan for America comedy. Weird, idiotic and strangely moving, it’s a must-see.

- Louis Pigeon-Owen

Illustration by Willa Hope

Film 09 Gus Edgar Ken Loach’s latest film opens with a frustrating conversation in which the film’s titular protagonist (Dave Johns) is unable to discuss a recent heart attack with a ‘healthcare professional’, who seems more interested in the movement of his arms. It is humorous and exasperating and all too familiar, and I, Daniel Blake continues in this

Concrete.film@uea.ac.uk

i, Daniel Blake fashion until its inevitable climax.

This is a vital film, exposing the exploitative British welfare system, and Loach revels in displaying the sheer incompetence of it all. Everything feels rather hopeless and, as an audience, we can’t help but murmur along in agreement to Blake’s increasing rage. Sadly, this

unabashed anger comes at a price: Loach’s approach is contradictory, as his film is at once both blatantly unsubtle and ultra-realistic. Dialogue comes across as a superficial way of conveying Loach’s one-dimensional views rather than advance the plot, at odds with the naturalism of its camerawork and acting.

Johns deftly communicates the feeling of the world leaving him behind and the film is potent when focusing on this theme. It is a poignant, well-acted, infuriating film, but a film that’s too obvious and melodramatic in imparting its central message.

Yet, amid the bluntness,

The appeal of british grit Sara lapin France has avantgarde artistry, Germany stylised expressionism and Hollywood shines with glitz and glamour ... so what about Britain? We seem to have mastered the art of grit-flicks. The distinctive charm of British grit films lies in their ability to make engrossing and aesthetically appealing films while being tied to tight budgets, limited locations and lightweight hand-held cameras whilst simultaneously covering themes of drugs, abortion, rape and class.

Since the kitchen sink drama movement emerged in the late 50s and early

60s, Britain has been famous for depicting the essence of subcultures and working class Britons. This urban-centred genre is characterised by heavy focus on character study rather than fast paced, action packed plot. Reminiscent of Literary Fiction, the main aim of grit flicks is the focus on the human condition, the delineation of the characters and how they fit into the social

and political background of their time.

At a glance, it may seem that grit-flicks have been and gone, however a close look at contemporary films shows that the dripdrop drabness of kitchen sink drama is revitalised in films such as Fish Tank, This is England, Trainspotting, Filth and many others.

They have also ceased to be exclusively British. Despite Hollywood maintaining its preoccupation with block busters, films such as Taxi Driver have been critically successful, albeit contraversial, in the USA. Furthermore, the aesthetic and thematic style of British grit has been adopted in many international productions, especially French and Czech, with films such as La Haine and Pelíšky.

What enables British grit

films to maintain their appeal is that they don’t aim to cater for the middle class nor to break box office records, instead they rely on the exploration of social realism, converting the medium of film from escapism to a social c o m m e n t a r y. B r i n g i n g attention to everyday struggles and circumstances of the proletariat and the poor, British grit criticises the social structure which maintain these conditions.

Since the release of films such as Alfie, there was a distinct reduction of prohibition of sex and nudity on screen, which allowed filmmakers to shoot candid portrayals of everyday life, often with ambiguous or dissatisfying conclusions.

It is this verisimilitude of British grit films that not only makes them accessible to audiences, but also makes them refreshing amidst the pool of high budgets, CGI and happy endings of mainstream cinema.

Image Credits: Flickr

Concrete.fashion@uea.ac.uk

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Fashion

how cruelty free is your make-up?

Which of the biggest brands still test on animals sophie wiggins I repeatedly tell myself that trying to buy cruelty-free beauty products is too hard and too expensive, and that I just don’t have the time to spend searching for hours on end trying to find makeup that won’t threaten my morals as an animal lover.

However, it’s time for us all to stop making these excuses and get on board with buying cruelty free make-up. After a bit of research, I found that it is neither expensive nor time-consuming to do this and it is so worthwhile.

The easiest way to identify if something is cruelty free is to look for the bunny.

Seriously, it’s THAT easy, just look for a

bunny-shaped symbol on the product packaging and bingo, you’ve found yourself some cruelty free make-up. Plus, if you’re still not sure then there are so many resources online. To make it even better, cruelty-free makeup is not expensive.

There are so many amazing drug-store brands such as Superdrug, NYX,

MUA and Collection that will do the job. And if you have got a little more to spend, then Urban Decay, The Body Shop and Burt’s Bees are some other great brands.

However, it is perfectly understandable why some are wary when buying from brands that claim they are cruelty-free. For example, some companies might ambiguously state that “We are against animal testing”, like L’Oréal, (just to name one) but don’t actually state that they do not test on animals, which L’Oréal, along with Boots, Tresemme, Revlon, and even MAC, do.

Even brands such as Dove, Radox and Simple fool us with their somewhat happy-go-lucky advertising, leaving us feeling as if we are just one purchase away from a world of ‘’real beauty’’ as Dove puts it.

If anything, deciding to go cruelty free is a great excuse to clear out your old makeup and have a fresh start.

If you haven’t however got a big budget, like

most students, then it’s great to replace even one item as they run out. I would attempt to give it a go. Next time you’re at the shop buying some Fairtrade tea or freerange eggs, just remember that there are also over 77 cruelty-free, 57 Vegan, and 71 Vegetarian beauty brands available to you too.

Cruelty free brands Lush NYX The Body Shop Smashbox Dermatologica Urban Decay MUA Superdrug Collection

outfit

of the week zee waraich

Fashion 11

Concrete.fashion@uea.ac.uk

Autumn/winter ‘16 Emily claridge Since carving a pumpkin and watching Strictly Come Dancing I’ve been feeling pretty autumnal so I thought we could have a look at this season’s biggest trends, where to get them and most importantly how to do it on a student budget.

I’m talking, velvet, khaki, pumpkin spiced lattes, bovver boots, ponchos and more. I am planning to ignore that it’s been quite sunny last week: I’m getting my autumn on.

velvet I have avoided thus far discussing velvet in this fashion section as it’s a pretty sensitive topic, but it’s everywhere I cannot avoid it any longer. I hate velvet, I’m just going to say it. I hate how it feels I’m not a big fan of how it looks and this year

The biggest trends of this season I have been bombarded by velvet pieces. Even my trusty M&S has been dragging out some statement velvet. Yet, sad as I am to admit it, I like some of them. Fine you got me, velvet can be cute. It is clearly one of this year’s biggest trends too as I just cannot seem to escape it.

I have come to accept that even if it feels horrible you may still look pretty cute. OK fine, very cute.

boots with dresses.

The Doc Martin heavy boot is making a

blanket around you: It’s win win.

M&S have got a wide selection but you can pretty much find them

khaki

This is pretty much one of your classic autumnal colours but khaki has seen a big revival. A Khaki coat has always been floating about but this darkish green seems to be making its way through jumpers shoes and dresses. It has that sort of one step away from black elegance I feel and looks quite expensive even though what I’m wearing is definitely not. If like me you need to resist the urge wear all black every day just grab an easy to wear khaki piece and you’ll be fine.

Suede khaki ankle boots deserving a particular shout out as I saw a girl looking great in them at the train station.

bovver boots These were all over the Met Gala, with everyone from Selena Gomez to Alicia Vikander rocking the chunky

fashionable comeback. Louis Vuitton and Jeremy Scott have both seen chunky boots heading down the runway and thank goodness I say. Those gladiator sandals were not going to last the Norwich winter. If, shockingly, you’re not planning on forking out for a pair of Vuittons, River Island, ASOS and Topshop have some cheaper alternatives.

Ponchos

I don’t care what you say, I love a poncho. I loved the fringed one I had when I was 8 and I love the fur lined one I have now. Sue me. They are ridiculously easy to wear and are often like having a

everywhere now. They’re a good middle ground between jacket and coat, and when you want to take your quilt with you to campus you now can! You can either go single colour or statement pattern, turtle neck or cowl they’re pretty much versatile I mean it is a piece of material with a hole for your head what could go wrong!

As always I would like to reemphasis the importance of wear what the fuck you want in this fashion section but if you need some guidance and want to know what’s particularly in and love the unattainable glamour of vogue (and VENUE) then I hope I have helped!

Illustrations by Emily Claridge

Concrete.fashion@uea.ac.uk

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Fashion

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Film – Die Hard. At a time where Arnie and Sly 0101010101001111010010100010110101100110101010101 dominated the action scene, Bruce Willis managed to leap in 01010 █ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ▀ ▄ _ _ _1100110101010101010101010100100100101110101010101010010010011 __▐___▐_▌ with a vulnerable but still amazingly bad-ass action hero, █ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ▀ ▄ _10101001111010010100010110101100110101010101110011010101010101010101 __▐_▄▀▀▀▄ one who felt the effects of all the violence that happened 01010101010011110100101000101 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ █ █ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ▌ _0100100100101110101010101010010010011 _▐▄▀______█ to him but still was able to face off against the bad guys _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ █ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ▌ _1010110011010101010111001101010101010101010101001001001011101010101 _▐▐________▐ and save the day. Filled to the brim with _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ▌ _ _ _ _ _ ▄ ▀ ▀ 01010010010011 ▀ _ _ ▌ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ▐ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ 0101010101001111010010100010110101100110101010101110 intensely quotable lines and a wonderfully 010101010 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ _ _ _ _ 0110101010101010101010100100100101110101010101010010010011 ____▀▀▄▄▄▀______▄▄████▓▓▓▓▓▓▓███▄ suave, love-to-hate villain in the form of _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _10011110100101000101101011001101010101011100110101010101010101010100 ________▄▀__▄▄█▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▄ Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber, it’s no wonder 0101010101001111010010100010110101 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _100100101110101010101010010010011 ______▄▀_▄█▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓_____▓▓____▓▓█▄ why this film set the template for action ▌ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _10011010101010111001101010101010101010101001001001011101010101010100 ___▄▀_▄█▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓____▓▓_▓▓_▓▓__▓▓█ movies in the decade to follow (Speed and ▄ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ▄10010011 ▀ ▀ ▌ █ █ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓01010101010011110100101000101101011001101010101011100110101 ▓▓▓__▓▓▓___▓▓_▓▓__▓▓█ The Rock comes to mind as particularly 0101010101001111 _ _ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▀ ▀ _010101010101010100100100101110101010101010010010011 __▌█▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓__▓________▓▓___▓▓▓█ notable imitators) and became one of the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ▄ ▀01001010001011010110011010101010111001101010101010101010101001001001 ▀▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓█████████████▄▄_____▓▓__▓▓▓█ greatest Christmas movies of all time.

01010101010011110100101000101101011001101 █ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓01110101010101010010010011 ▓█▓▓▓▓▓██▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓██▄▄___▓▓▓▓▓█

_ _ █ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ▀ ▄ _ _ _ _ _10101010010010011 _█____█_█

█ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓01010101110011010101010101010101010010010010111010101010101001001001 ▓█▓▓███▓▓▓▓████▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓██▓▓▓▓▓▓█

•

Band

–

Iron

Maiden.

The

80s

were

010101010100111101001010001011010110011010101010111001101010101010 _ █ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓1 ▓█▓█▓ ▓██░░███████░██▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓██▓▓▓▓▓█

a golden time for hard rock and heavy 01010101010011110100101 _ █ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓10101010100100100101110101010101010010010011 ▓██▓░░░░░█░░░░░██░░░░██▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓██▓▓▓▓▌ metal and these British warriors are _ █ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓00010110101100110101010101110011010101010101010101010010010010111010 ▓███░░░░░░░░____░██░░░░░░░██▓▓▓▓▓▓▓██▓▓▌ arguably the kings of the genre. With _ ▐ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓1010101010010010011 ▓ █ █ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ █ █ █ █ █ █ ▓ ▓010101010100111101001010001011010110011010101010 ▓▓▓█▓▌ soaring vocals from leader Bruce 01010 _ ▐ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓11100110101010101010101010100100100101110101010101010010010011 ▓██░░░░░░___▓▓▓▓▓░░░░░░░███░░███▓▓▓▓▓█▓▌ Dickinson, mind-blowing riffs and solos 10101001111010010100010110101100110101010101110011010101010101010101 __█▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ██░░░░░___▓▓█▄▄▓░░░░░░░░___░░░░█▓▓▓▓▓█▓▌ from Adrian Smith and Dave Murray and 0100100100101110101010101010010010011 010101010100111101001010001011 __█▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ █░░█░░░___▓▓██░░░░░░░░▓▓▓▓__░░░░█▓▓▓▓██ poetic, often literature-inspired 01011001101010101011100110101010101010101010100100100101110101010101 __█▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ █░███░░____▓░░░░░░░░░░░█▄█▓__░░░░█▓▓█▓█ lyrics from bassist Steve Harris, 010010010011 __▐▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ █ ░ █ █ █ █ █ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ 0101010101001111010010100010110101100110101010101110011 ░░░█▓__░░░░███▓█ they’ve contributed some of the most 010101010100 _ _ _ █ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓0101010101010101010100100100101110101010101010010010011 █░░███████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░▓_░░░░░██▓█ classic headbangers of all time; fast, _ _ _ █ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓11110100101000101101011001101010101011100110101010101010101010100100 █░░░███████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░_░░░░░██▓█ punchy numbers like ‘The Trooper’, ‘Run to 0101010101001111010010100010110101100 _ _ _ █ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓100101110101010101010010010011 █░░░███████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░██▓█ the Hills’ and ‘2 Minutes to Midnight’, dark _ _ _ _ █ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓11010101010111001101010101010101010101001001001011101010101010100100 ▓█░░░░███████░░░░░░░░░░░█████░██░ and atmospheric rockers like ‘The Number of _ _ _ _ █ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓10011 ▓ █ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ _ _ █01010101010011110100101000101101011001101010101011100110101010 ██████░░░░░███████░░█░░ the Beast’ and ‘The Evil That Men Do’ and 0101010101001111010 _ _ _ _ █ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓101010101010100100100101110101010101010010010011 ▓▓█░░░░░░█▄▄▄▀▀▀▀████████████░░█░ epics that never feel long like ‘Hallowed _ _ _ _ ▐ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓0101000101101011001101010101011100110101010101010101010100100100101 ▓█░░░░░░██████▄__▀▀░░░███░░░░░█ Be Thy Name’ and ‘Phantom of the Opera’. _ _ _ _ ▐ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓110101010101010010010011 █ ▒ █ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ █ █ █ ▄ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ▄ ▄ ▄ 010101010100111101001010001011010110011010 Still recording and touring today, _ _ _ _ █ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ █ ▒1010101110011010101010101010101010010010010111010101010101001001001 ▒▒▒█░░░░░░▓▓▓▓▓█░░░░░░░░░░░______▄▄▄_▄▀▀____▀▄ they’re still one of the masters _ _ _ █ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ █ ▒ ▒1 ▒ ▒ █ ▓010101010100111101001010001011010110011010101010111001101010101010 ▓░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░____▄▀____▀▄_________▀▄ of metal.

10101010100100100101110101010101010010010011 01010101010011110100101 __█▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓█▒▒▒ ▒█▓▓▓▓░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░______▐▄________█▄▄▀▀▀▄__█

_ █ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ █ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ 00010110101100110101010101110011010101010101010101010010010010111010 ▒▒█▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░░░░░░░____________█_█______▐_________▀▄▌

█ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ █ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒1010101010010010011 ▒ █ █ █ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ █ ▒ ▒ ▄ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ █ _ _ ▀ ▄ _010101010100111101001010001011010110011010101010 ___█____▄▄▄____▐

11100110101010101010101010100100100101110101010101010010010011 ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓█_______▒▒ █▒▒██▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓█▒▒▒▄_________█____▀▀█▀▄▀▀▀___▀▀▄▄▐ //Leah

Mariott

01010

▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ █ █ ▒ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ▒10101001111010010100010110101100110101010101110011010101010101010101 █▒▒▒▒▒███▓▓▓▓▓▓█▒▒▒██________▐_______▀█_____________█

0100100100101110101010101010010010011 ▓████▒█▒_________▒ █▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒███████▒▒▒▒██_______█_______▐______▄▄▄_____█ I’m

a

010101010100111101001010001011 big fan of 80s films, some of

▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ █ ▒ ▒ _ _ _ _ ▒ ▒ ▒01011001101010101011100110101010101010101010100100100101110101010101 █▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒____▒█▓█__▄█__█______▀▄▄▀▀____▀▀▄▄█

my

favourites

are

Pretty

in

Pink,

▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ █ ▒ ▒ ▒ █ █ █ █010010010011 ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ █ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ █0101010101001111010010100010110101100110101010101110011 ▓▓█▓▓▌_▐________▐____________▐

Ferris Bueller’s day off, The 010101010100 ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ █ █ █ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒0101010101010101010100100100101110101010101010010010011 ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒_______█▓▓▓█▓▌__▌_______▐_____▄▄____▐ Goonies and Back to the Future. John ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒11110100101000101101011001101010101011100110101010101010101010100100 ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒_____█▓▓▓█▓▓▌__▌_______▀▄▄▀______▐ Hughes was a great director during 0101010101001111010010100010110101100 ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒100101110101010101010010010011 ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒███████▓▓█▓▓▓▌__▀▄_______________▄▀ the time too! ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒11010101010111001101010101010101010101001001001011101010101010100100 ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒███▒▒▒▒▒▒▒██▓▓▓▓▓▌___▀▄_________▄▀▀ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒██▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▓▓▓▓▓▀▄__▀▄▄█▀▀▀ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒██▓▓▓▓██▄▄▄▀ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒████ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█

THE

80s

_

010101010100111101001010001011010110011010101010111001101010101 //Eva Wakeford 01010101010100100100101110101010101010010010011 010101010100111 101001010001011010110011010101010111001101010101010101010101001 Films: 00100101110101010101010010010011 010101010100111101001010001011 - The Back to the Future Trilogy - Specifically the first 010110011010101010111001101010101010101010101001001001011101010 film, Spielberg’s opening scene is one of the best cinematic 10101010010010011 010101010100111101001010001011010110011010101 pieces I have seen. Along with other films made within the 010111001101010101010101010101001001001011101010101010100100100 decade, ‘E.T’, ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure’ and ‘The 11 0101010101001111010010100010110101100110101010101110011010101 Goonies’, for me, films made in the 80s definitely encouraged 0101010101010100100100101110101010101010010010011 01010101010011 a sense of adventure and emphasised the fun in childish 110100101000101101011001101010101011100110101010101010101010100 curiosity; especially at a time when international relations 100100101110101010101010010010011 01010101010011110100101000101 (The Cold War) were difficult for the public.

101011001101010101011100110101010101010101010100100100101110101 - The Princess Bride - Long live one of the most iconic 010101010010010011 01010101010011110100101000101101011001101010 scenes to have ever been made , ‘My name is Inigo Montoya.

101011100110101010101010101010100100100101110101010101010010010 You killed my father. Prepare to die’.

011 010101010100111101001010001011010110011010101010111001101010 10101010101010100100100101110101010101010010010011 0101010101001

01010101010011110100101000101101011001101010101011100110101010101010 //Charles Levenson 101010100100100101110101010101010010010011 0101010101001111010010100 01011010110011010101010111001101010101010101010101001001001011101010 The 80s was a time of staunch conservatism and the birth of the 10101010010010011 0101010101001111010010100010110101100110101010101 much controversial ‘Reaganomics’. It was a dark, dark time if you 1100110101010101010101010100100100101110101010101010010010011 01010 were a liberal…but at least you could seek solace in the arts – 10101001111010010100010110101100110101010101110011010101010101010101 not just any arts, I’m talking about film.

0100100100101110101010101010010010011 01010101010011110100101000101 It is, in my humble opinion, without doubt the best decade of films 1010110011010101010111001101010101010101010101001001001011101010101 we have ever seen. You’ve got tonnes of Spielberg classics, The 01010010010011 0101010101001111010010100010110101100110101010101110 Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Back To The Future, The 0110101010101010101010100100100101110101010101010010010011 010101010 Thing, Ghostbusters, Blade Runner and freaking Episode 5 and 6 of 10011110100101000101101011001101010101011100110101010101010101010100 Star Wars!!! Who knows what kind of magnificent spell took over 100100101110101010101010010010011 0101010101001111010010100010110101 film-makers in the eighties, but whatever happened, thank god it 10011010101010111001101010101010101010101001001001011101010101010100 did. In fact, the 80s was such a good decade for film, you now have 10010011 01010101010011110100101000101101011001101010101011100110101 everybody’s new favourite show - Stanger Things – dedicated to 010101010101010100100100101110101010101010010010011 0101010101001111 paying one big homage to sci-fi films from the 80s.

01001010001011010110011010101010111001101010101010101010101001001001 Yes the 80s gave us Reagan and trickle-down economics, but guys…it 01110101010101010010010011 01010101010011110100101000101101011001101 gave us freaking The Empire Strikes Back. So, in my eyes, I love 01010101110011010101010101010101010010010010111010101010101001001001 the eighties, I love the magnificent, fun, genre-defining films it 1 010101010100111101001010001011010110011010101010111001101010101010 churned and really adds a sparkle to hard-line conservative world 10101010100100100101110101010101010010010011 01010101010011110100101 of the 80s.

00010110101100110101010101110011010101010101010101010010010010111010

C. Writing 15

Concrete.creativewriting@uea.ac.uk

repetition/addition sestina — brett mottram What does it feel like to be beautiful?

The question strikes me hard now and again, Before life takes control once more and I Forget your face, and that question recedes.

We’re always moving on yet hanging back, With feet on new ground, minds on where we’ve been.

On the Wide Waters — Eva Wakeford I am lost Out at sea, The force of your tyrannical waves Cold, callous, and without mercy.

The splinters of this shipwreck, That forms the fragments of my heart, Are splayed out in these treacherous waters, A puzzle that not even Aphrodite would know where to start.

Around and around In this endless cyclone, A closed circuit of repetitions; Desolate, forlorn, and unshakeably alone.

You found me washed up upon your shore, Alas You could not prise me away, From that solitary plank of wood of which I clung to, In vain hope that it would mould to my body; Keeping my turmoil at bay.

But much akin to the sensation, Of Sunlight breaking through the murky veil Of the heavens and leaving that warm tingle upon your skin, I learned that You, like Me, had been stranded, broken, Our wreck and ruin became our means to begin.

I am lost Out at sea, But the tide have changed; Fate’s cards have been rearranged, As it is now Your eyes that I would gladly drown in, For the rest of eternity.

And whenever I think of where we’ve been, I wish I’d asked, serenely beautiful, What it felt like. But always I held back, And now I wonder, again and again, As year by year that sunlit past recedes, If there could once have been a you and I, Though, had that ever been proposed, then I Know absolutely where I would have been.

In some ways it’s good that the past recedes, But I know that you’re still as beautiful, And movements, words, expressions once again Return to me, or else transport me back.

And when those memories transport me back, The conversations between you and I Replay, and I must wonder yet again Whether, if who I am I then had been, I could have shown that you were beautiful In a way that to me never can recede.

For everything we have fades and recedes, Departing, and never quite coming back, And how you felt then to be beautiful Is altered now by time. No wonder I Keep going back to places where we’ve been, Trying to relive, capture times again.

So here I ask, and might not ask again, Because the past might well too far recede, And I’ll move on too far from where we’ve been, So there’s no longer hope of going back (Please, as you answer, look me in the eye): What does it feel like to be beautiful?

A Bad Day in Short Sentences. — Judith Howe Wake up. Tell yourself that despite the clouds in your sky, it’s okay. You’re okay. Drag self out of bed. Wonder why self feels like a dead body. Work out what breakfast will be. Make a mental note to buy milk today. Tell yourself you’ll be okay. Will be. Make breakfast. Slowly. Eat breakfast.

Try to do required reading while eating. Fail to do required reading while eating. Tell yourself that’s fine. Attempt to believe that’s fine. Take a long shower. Try to only think about the water. Or innocuous soap. Get dressed, and get bored of telling yourself you’ll be okay. Wonder if repetition helps make something true. Realise saying it over and over makes no difference to its relationship with reality. Wonder why you feel the need to tell yourself things rather than just thinking them. Minus the effort. Shut down this unproductive train of thought before it reaches worrying fruition.

Stumble through the day. Repeat reassurances. Forget to buy milk. Try not to go to bed too late. Go to bed too late. Tell yourself it’s okay to go to bed late. Tell yourself it’s fine. Tell yourself it’s okay. Tell yourself you’ll be okay. Attempt to succumb to the repetition. Hope you’ll believe it tomorrow.

Concrete.creativewriting@uea.ac.uk

16

Added together — Sophie Bunce

C. Writing

Me plus him equals a set of twins a pair like no other, Do the maths it isn’t hard, He’s my sibling my twin my brother I am part of a pair, I am part of a set, And don’t know how to be a one just yet, For me plus you there has always been two, It’s us not me I cannot be A one.

Dear Dead Best Friend — Beverly Anne Devakishen

T

he strangest part about your death is not hearing about it from you.

Whenever some significant event in your life that causes you any intense emotion occurs, you text or call me and tell me about it in detail, every single time, even after I moved to England for university. We’re constantly texting. Or at least we were, before you decided to ignore me for a while. Usually though, you’d leave out nothing from your stories, from the tiniest detail to the most obscure feeling the situation has kindled in you- I’d hear it all.

Sometimes, listening to you relate your life to me brings a small smile to my lips and gives me a twinge of warmth.

My being miles away from you has not taken away the emotional intimacy we share.

I am still waiting to hear about your death from you. I think the phone may ring any moment now, so I sit and wait.

I watch the phone. So far, only your dad has had the courtesy to inform me that you died. But it’s okay; if you’re not even texting me, then it must be serious. We’re always texting. I guess you need a little time to yourself, even though it’s been days.

I watch the phone. I watch the time on the phone.

I’ve missed you these past few days. This strange silence that echoes in every second of my day is eerie and unbearable. I need you to fill up my hours with your sound again. The sound of my phone vibrating aggressively as you spam me, probably freaking out over some boy. The sound of your voice ringing in my head as I read those texts.

Even the sound of the changing tone of your voice when you grow contemplative and serious while we’re on the phone or skyping.

The sound of my breaths of relief when you reply to my emotional and distressed texts with your words of comfort that feel oh so soft in my heart.

Right now, even a whisper from you would be welcomed. I know you’re planning the funeral, but I also know that you need to talk to me about these things. You have never been able to keep anything from me; you yourself once said that it was ‘physically impossible’. Your thoughts, your soul, your very consciousness, is poured out into my cupped hands and I hold everything very gently, breaking nothing…

I am waiting. I watch the phone.

In the days that you have decided to leave me alone, I have been wondering about your final moments. What were your last thoughts before the bomb exploded? Did you die swiftly? Did you have time to think of me? And most importantly, how much pain were you in and how much pain are you in now?

I have never had a dead friend.

I have never had a dead friend, and I apologise if it seems like I don’t know what to say to you. But I’ll adapt. This is just a minor bump in the road, a tiny little lump...we’ve been through so much. We’ve fought passionately, probably more intensely than most friends, and still our friendship is one of the strongest bonds anyone could ever have with another human being. I’m sure we’ll get through this too. I am not giving up on you, despite your recent negligence.

We don’t give up on each other. That’s just not us.

I watch the time. It is getting late.

You’ll probably text me before going to sleep. What time it is there for you I have no idea, but I’ll wait anyway. You need me. I can already hear your small sobs as you relate to me what happened over the phone. Then again, the last time you cried to me like that was when your ex was being a dick towards you. This warrants a more intense response. Maybe you’ll weep and howl instead, like the time I mentioned that you were losing weight and it sent you into a full blown panic attack because anything to do with your weight had that effect on you at that time. You cried like a baby.

Whatever it is, just give me a call. Please. This is painful for both of us, but I promise you, I am going to be here for you. Just as you were always there for me.

I watch the phone, the time, the phone. I wait.

C. Writing 17

Concrete.creativewriting@uea.ac.uk

Forget — Alexandra Parapadakis

W

rinkly knuckles clench, running white. The old man sits, well he lies, in the bed. Tucked up to the chin.

It’s a cosy image but why does it feel so cold? He strains his eyes and runs them up and down me. Hello inspector, nice to meet you, what are we investigating today? Bloodlines, hereditary, autonomy.

“Who are you”, he whispers, and the woman cries beside me. Little paper sobs, crinkling into soggy tissues.

“Please, don’t become your grandfather.”

Her hand comes to my shoulder and I flinch. The monotone of my life erases, kick starts some breed of emotion vibrating through my brain. Is that warmth? Images of playing outside with a girl. Rosy cheeks. A real smile, kid smile, innocent jaws chattering under sunlight. Glowing skin. Who cares about nettle stings, grass stains and nasty wasps, when there is that?

Her hand leaves me and the world becomes grey again. At least I’m not trapped in a hospital bed, I think to myself, but I know that both me and this old man are similar because we both must live with strangers. When we walk home that small girl is there, she didn’t want to come with us. She struggles to walk these days. The woman with the magic hands is shaking her head but the girl looks to me, excitedly, expectantly, despite this.

It makes me uncomfortable.

“Who are you?” I whisper and the woman cries again, those little paper sobs.

When I am led outside I feel better, not good, but better. And I see a familiar picnic blanket laid out on the front porch. Something in me lights up, but struggles, as if resisting being burnt out. The same image comes fighting its way into my mind, toy dolls and tea cups outside in the summer. I know I have sat there before, with this girl, when I knew who she was. And we were happy, I knew happiness, I knew warmth. We were happy. And we liked to play, we liked to play with… The girl is watching me from her sun lounger, leg raised on pillows.

“Where is the ball?” I don’t think, I just ask and hope she understands.

She stares at me, face becoming harder to read – reminding me of the strange symbols on paper that someone once taught me to decode.

“Mum!” she is shouting now, “Mum, Mum, Mum, Mum!”, she won’t stop. It is the same word again and again and again. It makes my head hurt because I can feel myself grasping for something, thinking, finding… what?

The woman runs out, tears in her eyes, as though a beast pushed her out the door. They talk. The woman is aghast and she runs to the shed. When she returns, she clutches the ball like her life depends on it.

I take it. Hold it. Blue, leathery, muddy, and battered. And that image reforms before my eyes, like a dot-to-dot, a smashed picture frame, a puzzle. I see us on the picnic blanket again, squinting under the sun, cheerful playing. We played catch. My red knees bled. Blood.

Her hand is on my shoulder. I remember - on the picnic blanket, off the picnic blanket, we ran for the ball. Wait, stop. Stay on the front porch. The road is dangerous. But the ball might burst.

She comes after me. Car screeching, jolting. Screaming. “Mummy! Mummy!

Mummy!”, that same voice in that same way. A thousand times “Mummy!”

And that hand fell on my shoulder, those hands held me throughout the cacophony. I remember.

“I’m not going to be like grandad”

Illustrations by Hugo Douglas-Deane

A Normal Night — Ruth Ilott Blinding lights, A kaleidoscope of warm bodies.

The electric noise echoes through the starless room Where twisted forms react with waves to the thriving beat.

These are the common qualities of the blurry-eyed in their rippling delights.

Masked faces of friends imposed by the spirituous blend of drink and remedies Are experienced again with the familiar vividness.

Those unchanging games and songs of the night, They cloud your memory And take you on another journey of vain enjoyment.

The always-present queue for thirst And the stagnant yet multiple rooms Where exhausting tensions and obscure affection emanate in their usual place.

Different faces and conflicting voices, Yet the static vibe and conversation remains the oppressor in genuine glee and youthful discovery.

Musical flutters and restless shoves have you surrounded, An experience that is ongoing.

The similar feeling of everyone when overjoyed by a blasting track And the reoccurring yet confused unsettlement, Of becoming stranded in the suffocating meld of unseen figures and unheard voices.

All these feelings become dominant once more, The lingering night is the way to adore them again and again.

They’re may be new friendships, Unknown emotions that sing, Yet under the risk of coming under the banal light And once more reminded of the inflicting haze that you repeatedly submit to.

This never-ending experience.

For this is only a subsequent episode, In which the next shall share those same vapid virtues.

The same highs, The same tears, Those cloying tastes and ambitious movements.

Until next time, where one will be reunited with those faint colours of the night And relish once more in the stories of thrill and pain that follow in the day after.

Gaming 19

Concrete.gaming@uea.ac.uk

Civ 6/10

Just kidding mate, I’d actually give it 8/10 Helen Jones Many of you will not have time to read this review because many of you are already caught in the endless time-sync that is Sid Meier’s Civilization series.

For those of you that aren’t inthe-know, Civilization is a turn-based strategy game all about growing your civilization from the Stone Lorem ipsum dolor sit Age through to the Space amet, consectetur adipiscing Age war, famine, elit. through Nunc metus sapien, golden ages and dizzying efficitur laoreet libero historical - and et, mattisinaccuracies mattis sapien.

Civilization VI just launched Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, this week. adipiscing elit. consectetur

zoos or universities, allows combat units. All this allows you to add character to for far more personalised your cities as well as giving and flavoured gameplay. strategic benefits to savvy At the very least it creates city-planners, helping cities some actual mechanics for to feel far larger and more the psychotic dictatorships personal. These districts help we’ve all been imagining our sf buttacup lettering manage food production, civilizations to be ever since housing and amenities, the first game. which old Civ players will be delighted to hear replaces nec, tincidunt porta leo. the previous happiness Nam magna mi, iaculis vitae system. the days convallisGone vel, are semper nec of frustrating city-expansion ligula. being limited by your citizens inexplicably Praesent id unhappiness orci orci. with of every Donecthe diamcreation libero, accumsan new city. hendrerit odio mollis,

see the sun set over your empire; the sunlight even reflects on rivers and water. I have to confess to personally disliking the new Pixar-esque art style of the leaders. Catherine de Medici looks more like a puppet from Thunderbirds than a person and there’s definitely some ‘uncanny in valley’ Vestibulum liberogoing dui. on with the animations.

But Nunc eget mattis ligula, other people seem to like in egestas diam. Integer the style, oriaculis have admitted scelerisque justo, in topretium gettingnisi used to it over tempus vel. time, I’ll concede to Etiam so venenatis posuere public opinion. nisl in pellentesque.

Sf buttacup lettering shaded

Sed nulla metus, rhoncus VI starts out with quisCiv luctus sed, you hendrerit eu the choice of twenty metus. Donec vehiculaworld dui leaders, from our et own British at elit porttitor, convallis Empire led by Queen Victoria enim posuere.

Integer to King Mvemba ascelerisque Nzinga of consectetur the Congo, and the resources scelerisque.

Pellentesque you’ll need to create a at metus consequat sem utopia of culture and art, or egestas volutpat. Mauris eget a fearsome militiaClass withaptent which rhoncus mauris. to conquer the world. taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia But per the real nostra, inceptos question for gamers himenaeos. Proin is quam whether nibh, the Civ aliquetnew et sem VI is worth your money compared to its predecessor: Civ V, and all its shiny DLC. Civ VI is currently £49.99 on steam, while Civ V is £19.99 without some pretty important DLC packs that go with it. So what is Civ VI in comparison to V? The first big difference is the introduction of a districts system. Building specialised zones around your city such as a market or a shrine, and in later eras

venenatis ultrices mi.

Civ VI also expands on V’s Pellentesque eget aliquet social mechanic, giving felis. policy Cras leo mi, tristique a wider range of government eget mauris convallis, congue playstyles from Nam becoming consequat lectus. quis a communist dictatorship, pulvinar sem.

Maecenas founding a merchant’s hendrerit quam a turpis republic or facilisis hendrerit. declaring Vivamus

yourself a god in a theocratic state.

Each of these government styles unlock unique legacy bonuses. For example your new fascist government, which becomes available after choosing the ‘Totalitarian’ policy, allows you to keep your population in line with bonuses to all

ultricies, velit quis U n f odictum, r t u n a t enim e l y, est eleifend like most Civ games the AI pulvinar justo, ac rhoncus still aren’t the smartest sapien erat posuere tortor. players to compete Nulla commodo nisl eu with: they’re still sadly elit placerat, in pretium ineffective at warfare apart diam pellentesque. Morbi from the highest difficulty accumsan id elit eu luctus. settings and, worse, AI Pellentesque at ex the velit. now seem to denounce Donec justo purus, your actionsa for odio the commodo most unreasonable vitae, malesuada circumstances.

The AI fringilla urna. Aliquam will likely be improved erat volutpat. and tweaked over time, but for now the good news is that SteamWorkshop mods will be compatible with multiplayer for the first time. So mods for new buildings, alternate civilizations and the inevitable Hitler mode will soon be available to everyone.

Last, but not least, the new Civ is gorgeous. Day/ night cycles add a special magic the first time you

Pellentesque nec Finally, if eget you varius lorem. Nam hadn’t already noticed nisi purus.

Suspendisse from the trailers, Civ VI potenti. Cum sociis natoque features the spectacular penatibus et magnis dis stylings Sean nascetur Bean’s parturient ofmontes, voice.

Sean will be growling ridiculus mus. Praesent sit narration at erat. you Praesent in his amet pretium best Eddard Stark tincidunt est sit ametaccent augue with every new discovery maximus posuere.

Donec eu you and, interdum frankly, augueuncover quis ligula this is the addition tovitae the rutrum. Ut congue risus Civilization series that massa sagittis ullamcorper. I never knew I needed.

In pretium odio quis lorem Overall I have Vestibulum loved this posuere dictum. iteration of the Civilization series and definitely recommend it if you have the money to spend. Civ VI is a more well-rounded game than V ever was at launch, with tourism and religion included in the base-game before you even start looking into all the future DLC that’s been promised. The only addition to Civ VI which I truly dislike is the inclusion of an ingame clock. Now I have no excuse not to notice when eight hours fly by.

Photo Credits: Flicker, Wikicommons

Concrete.gaming@uea.ac.uk

20 Gaming

Gaming on the go When you’re that one guy with the power pack TOM BEDFORD Although Gameboy devices have been around for many years, gaming on the go seems to be at an alltime-high right now. With modernity dragging with it the latest smartphones and super-light super-powerful handheld consoles, the time is right for gaming while travelling. We no longer have to bring our PS4s to the airport to enjoy a good game.

But in this potential heyday of portable playtimes, there are still some games developers who struggle to create a great game to play while we move. So what must a game have to make it right for this purpose?

Firstly, developers need to understand that their audience can’t sit down for a long tutorial and hoursdense learning curve- the game needs to be easy to

play from the outset. It can’t take a player ten hours to get to the meat of the game. This is why basic games such as Flappy Bird and Candy Crush are so popular- as soon as you start playing, you’ve got the entirety of the game at your fingertips. Progression comes not from being taught new moves and skills, it comes from learning these new skills yourself from repeated play and utilising them in the endlessly similar levels.

Games that you’ll play for five minutes whilst waiting for the bus can’t have complicated narratives.

While this isn’t a concrete rule, and some games manage to weave surprisingly developed narratives, traditional RPGstyle weaving, meandering and twisting storylines won’t be appreciated by audiences that want to play something quick to pass the time. You’ll be much less receptive to themes and emotions huddled in an airport corner than sitting on your sofa, console controller in hand. Some games, such as Antiyoy, even manage to get the player to form their own narratives

Photo Credits: Flicker, Wikicommons

instead of prescribing one.

It’s not just the content of a game that is important, but the delivery method too.

One of the major detractors to portable gaming is when a game isn’t easy to open, as noone wants to wait five minutes for a game to load while they walk to the shops. This is why the otherwise excellent Pokemon Go seems to have troubleyou open it for a quick walk but it’s only opened by the time you get home.

Ironically enough this is one of the reasons the non-Go Pokemon games are so great for travelling with- the DS lets you flick a switch or a screen to boot up the game instantly.

Although some may be surprised to find that such games exist still, a great feature of a game is the absence of advertisements.

There seem to be few games that can get them in

appropriately, with most popping up to smother the screen every time you finish a level or play a word. However it can really benefit a game, especially in pacing and playability, when the screen remains dedicated to the

game at all times. Of course these aren’t rules so much as guidelines, many games find success by bucking the status quo, so if obnoxious advertisements or winding stories can actually benefit a game, no-one would be upset at that. But games, especially on smartphones, that ignore the above guidelines tend to suffer for it. There are so many games floating around that anyone can find the perfect game to play on the go that’ll satisfy them for hours.

These can be popular phone games or ones that you find in the deepest darkest nooks of the App or Play Stores. So if you haven’t found the game that glues you to your screen even when outdoors, you just haven’t looked hard enough yet.

Illustrations by Kirsty McAlpine

Gaming 21

Concrete.gaming@uea.ac.uk

Overkill? No Such Thing You’ve gone too far now

Sam Whitelaw Not all games are created equal. There is no disputing that there are bad games.

There are quite a lot of them in fact. It is of course a blurred line on what is ‘bad’, with some disputing over various games and where they fall on the good/bad line. Then there are the especially bad games. The games designed to be bad, and in trying so, become amazing. I know this is a dangerous road to take, with films like Sharknado proving that meta bad productions aren’t always a winner. In response I propose to you: House of the Dead: Overkill: Extended Cut. The game fits into the specifically fun genre of a great-terrible

game. Something that is done so crudely (perhaps on purpose) that it is endless fun. This genre isn’t always a hit, one only has to see the four Sharknado films to see this, but House of the Dead pulls it off effortlessly. This marvel of a game is perhaps one of the most entertaining in recent years. It genre hops, breaks the fourth wall, makes endless puns and even talks about feminism in gaming. The game is all over the place and that is what makes it great. It is so aware that it is nothing, it becomes everything.

Presented merely as an arcade type shooter, all

the standard elements are there, the fixed POV view, the endless ammo, the mutant apocalypse, and two characters unexplainably sharing one pair of eyes. Due to it being the style it is, the game is very simple. Each mission is a standard walk through a certain building or area, killing the undead until a final, grotesque, boss battle. This description of the game may make it sound like the game is a standard B list game, maybe even a C list in some cases.

The developers, Headstrong Games, have, however, leaned into the troupe with all their force

behind it. Thus giving a great double meaning to the word ‘Overkill’. The kills can be intensified, the creatures are parodies of themselves, and the script is beyond comical. The game is perhaps the funniest I have played in years, with the constant shouting – both from the game, and my housemate and I. Thus, I implore everyone to go out and play this game, or any other game that is so awful it is great. All games are not created equal, as all games are not equal.

Like many of the terriblegreat games, HOTDOEC is not equal in many regards to the critically acclaimed games, but it is equally enjoyable.

Illustration by Dougie Dodds

What gaming means to you Let’s get sentimental

When you meet your boyfriend of six years through a game, and have a lifetime of guildies and raids to remember, it’s pretty hard not to say that World of Warcraft is special to me. Stormwind Vets represent.

Helen Jones Helen Jones

Does scrabble count? Because years and years of winning against my brother has made me love it (and means I only ever play him now). In retrospect, i’m not actually that good at scrabble. I’m not sure I’ve ever won without cheating, by choosing the letters I need out of the bag. Harry, if you’re reading this- i’m not sorry.

Emily Mildren

Playing through every second of Pokemon Blue together with my sister. She would come up with a nickname for each pokémon, and get really upset whenever team rocket appeared. To this day, on the few occasions when we’re home at the same time, we still play side by side.

Dougie Dodds

Many of my childhood memories are centred around games. I once played Monopoly every day with my brother and friends for about four months. I like to think the experience has changed our lives in one way or another, for better or for worse.

Sam Whitelaw

bUlLYINg In COMEDY IS THE JOKE REALLY WORTH IT?

CHARLOTTE SPENCER One of the most important factors in a TV show is having someone to root for.

We want Michael Scott to meet the love of his life, we want Leslie Knope to win the elections. We even want the Inbetweeners boys to get the girl, or the A-Level results, despite their obvious and myriad of shortcomings, because all these arcs of achievement make for satisfying viewing. Because of this, these characters are destined to succeed (or at least make it out alive) even if they don’t deserve to. I’m referring here to what dicks these characters can be.

A noticeable motif in The Office, for example, is Michael Scott’s disparagement of HR consultant Toby Flenderson: “I hate looking at your face. I wanna smash it,” or “If I had a gun, with two Illustration

by Melissa Haggar

bullets, and I was in a room with Hitler and Bin Laden, I would shoot Toby twice.” And we laugh, because we like Michael, and dislike Toby. But Michael and Toby are real.

There’s a jarring phenomenon currently peppering our social media, where amongst the flourishing body-acceptance community we have biting commentary on other people - which is allowed on the condition that it’s funny. I’m talking “People of Walmart,” unconventional people as spectacle, and the culture of “throwing shade” we currently find ourselves in. It feels like the normalisation of our heroes being unkind excuses us - that is to say that because Michael Scott and The Inbetweeners’ Jay Cartwright get away with putting down their victims, we can join in.

No one is saying that being

Jay Cartwright is something to aspire to. But still we laugh at his bullying of Big John, and thus come to indulge the Jay Cartwrights in our own lives (and there are a lot of them.)

The perpetuation of such meanness relies on the notion of “banter,” on the fact that usually if a person directs a humorous comment your way, you’re expected to take it on the chin, especially if it’s delivered wittily and cleverly. I now think of a personal favourite, RuPaul’s Drag Race, in which the cattiest queens often go far because cattiness in this context is a form of wit. Does this mean some meanness is acceptable?

You’ve likely seen people posting on social media about how hard it is to make a joke

in 2016 without offending someone, and true, tolerance for such lazy and ill-natured writing has gone down.

People have noticed that good writing is the difference between jokes at someone’s expense, and jokes that everyone can laugh at. Even the shows guilty of excusing such behaviour are full of other examples of witty, light hearted yet memorable comedy – there are other ways, and TV writers know this.

There will always be bullies, so they will always be on TV, but it is a company’s duty to remain critical of what is excusable on screen and how it’s going to translate to audiences. Is it so radical of me to say let’s not normalise bullying, and let’s not laugh at it?

Television 23

Concrete.Television@uea.ac.uk

The Walking dead The zombie bonanza that has infected people world wide Christopher Barkman After a horde of 17 million viewers tuned in to see the season seven premier of The Walking Dead, it’s safe to say that this show is one of the biggest phenomena in recent memory. From season three onwards, this adaption of a relatively successful comic series has been the most watched show in television cable history, typically drawing in tens of millions in the US alone with each episode. But what is it about this zombie-bonanza that has infected people worldwide?

First, an introduction to the show itself. Meet Rick Grimes, former Atlanta Sheriff who awakens from a month-long coma to a world that has been overrun by the reanimated dead.

Dubbed ‘walkers’ (the ‘z’ word is never uttered), these roaming hunks of decaying flesh are the fate that awaits any living human who is bitten by them. After stumbling out into the Atlanta countryside, Rick reunites with his wife Lori, his son Carl and a handful of other survivors who have banded together to try and rebuild some form of society amidst the ruins of civilisation. For over six seasons now, Rick and a rotating cast of characters have moved from place to place contending with walkers, the elements and worst of all, other humans.

On a surface level, The Walking Dead can comfortably be pigeonholed as a horror/ post-apocalyptic series.

Which, if true, makes the show’s success all the more baffling. Are families really getting together on the couch each Sunday night to watch a zombie’s head get smashed in? The likelier alternative is that The Walking Dead is not actually a horror series.

While zombies are integral to the premise and no episode has gone by without some ghastly gore, the show’s longevity is actually rooted in something far more universal- its characters.

In many ways The Walking Dead is even a soap opera.

Think about it: a drama that follows the daily troubles of an intimate community with no narrative end in sight.

People tune in every week to discover what has happened to their favourite characters, and then avidly discuss it while eagerly waiting for the next episode. Even the creators and AMC have not been coy about their dream to keep the dead walking indefinitely into the future.

The Walking Dead may not appear as a soap opera in the traditional sense, but the universal

appeal of the genre that the show’s creators have tapped into is undeniable. The focus is on people – Rick, Carl, Daryl, Carol and so many others. Zombies are just the window dressing. And that is a premise that appeals to a far wider demographic than simply horror fans, as well as helping to explain why so many people tune in weekly to see someone’s brains getting splattered with a baseball bat.

But outside of that appeal, it helps that The Walking Dead is also a bloody good show. Every single season is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and out of a total 84 episode to date, only nine are considered rotten by critics. The show is not without its rough patches – it is impossible to keep quality consistent over six seasons – but the overwhelming consensus is that it is good.

Really good.

So where are the dead planning to walk to after the solid season seven opener? Odds are it is going to involve plenty of drama, a lot of gore and a few shocking twists to keep things interesting. And if the series creators have their way, The Walking Dead will to be shambling around long after we are six feet under.

Illustration by Murray Lewis

Concrete.television@uea.ac.uk

24

Television

Oldie but Goldie Sam Whitelaw The 1966 TV series Batman celebrated its 50th anniversary earlier this year, so now is the best time to return to the Batcave and relive the glory days.

Batman is probably familiar to the younger generation through after school reruns, and is known for its dated style, poor fighting scenes, stunted dialogue and cheap costumes. All of these failings, of course, make it one of the greatest TV shows ever. Batman is not

Batman turns 50!

technically the best show ever, but that does not stop it from being one of the best.

The show is as treasured now as it was back when it was released, and rightly so.

The nature and styling is so ridiculous that people can’t help but fall in love with the show. The combination of nostalgia and the pure innocence of the show make us almost cheer for joy with every car chase in the Bat-mobile.

No one can dislike

the exclamations of ‘Smash’ and ‘Zonk’ when our heroes beat up the villain of the week. The show didn’t exist to provide us with a gripping storyline or character arc like modern shows; it focused on providing entertainment above all else.

There

Call the midwife Rachel Innes The women of BBC’s hugely successful Call the Midwife cycled onto our screens in

may not be solid plots or consistent logic, but there is a surfing competition and shark repellent Bat-spray.

If you can’t get enough of the series then fear not as there are two films to help fill your quota – with an animated adventure being released this year for the anniversary. So here is to Batman, a purely enjoyable show from every vertical walk to every burst of ‘Holy *insert random phrase here* Batman!’.

Illustration by Denise Koblenz

I just wish I had given in sooner 2012. Based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth, it follows the work of a group of midwives in London’s East End in the late 1950s.

Covering every social and medical issue under the sun with grace and a fair amount of tear-jerking, the show is undoubtedly a hit. And yet, I just did not get it.

I could not understand why some people would practically bounce up and down and clap excitedly when this show was mentioned, or why others would sigh dreamily whilst staring out the window and waxing poetic about Nurse Patsy Mount, halfway through their cup of tea.

But after months of refusal, craving a dose of British period drama over the summer, I gave in and watched an episode. And

then another. And then, relentlessly, all five seasons within a week. And I can tell you now, this show is a delight. In a television landscape that is dominated by the likes of The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, CTM is a breath of fresh air.

Where so many shows are now competing to see which can leave their audience the most emotionally exhausted, CTM is the gentle kind of lifeaffirming Sunday evening TV we all need a little bit of. Its focus on the lives of women of all backgrounds and their relationships with one another is truly unlike any other on TV. The fact that they are also able to portray a loving, lesbian relationship between two main characters better than almost any other show, despite the fact that they have never even kissed onscreen, is a testament to the writing. CTM perfectly

balances grit and warmth whilst mostly avoiding falling into uncomfortable sentimentality. The show returns for its annual Christmas special in December, followed by its sixth season later in January, and I am sure there will be just as much tea-drinking, stress-smoking and (very gross) baby-delivering as always.

So, this is my formal apology to everyone I ever rolled my eyes at when gushing about this show, and to the friendships that, because of my stubbornness, were occasionally rockier than Nurse Crane’s cycling (see, I can do references now). You were right, I was wrong. Go ahead and frame this as proof.

I just wish I had given in sooner.

Illustration by Dougie Dodds

Television 25

Concrete.television@uea.ac.uk

The Crown

Dan Struthers Why are we as a country so obsessed with the royal family? Is it because they are the beating heart of our nation? Is it because they have been through such public humiliations and come out the other side to become the big happy family they are today? Is it because they are secretly reptiles that landed on earth from another planet?

Frankly, your guess is as good as mine, but we as a nation are fascinated with our most famous family as reflected in popular culture whether that be extensive reports of Kate Middleton’s latest dress, the Queen skydiving into the Olympic Stadium or their countless portrayals in TV and film.

Netflix’s new £100 Million show see another series following the extreme highs and lows of the royal family.

If the cast is anything to go by then viewers are in for a treat. Claire Foy steps into the dainty shoes of Elizabeth, having previously proved her period drama credentials with BBC’s Wolf Hall where she played a feisty Anne Boleyn.

Ex-UEA student and ex-time lord, Matt Smith, materialises in the 20th century to play a seemingly confrontational Phillip, from the look of the trailers, while veteran actors John Lithgow and Jarred Harris bring some gravitas to the cast.

Series creator and head writer, Peter Morgan, is

one man who is not finished examining Queen Elizabeth’s life after penning 2006’s The Queen and the 2013 stage play The Audience, with Dame Helen Mirren portraying the monarch on both, which examined the different stages in her and her family’s life.

The words ‘inspired by true events’ in the trailer may turn off a few viewers who notice this disclaimer as a sign that Morgan will err on the side of historical accuracy and incorporate some dramatic licence to spice up the seven decades worth of events.

However, if there was anyone to chronicle the life of Queen Elizabeth, Morgan is definitely the most qualified as he seems to be more obsessed with the royal family than even your

Apparently we have not seen every incarnation of Liz and her kids on screen as Netflix brings to the silver screen The Crown, an epic 10 part series focusing on our young 20-something monarch and her hubby Phillip. This may be one of the most ambitious Netflix projects to date as it is set to cover events from Queen Elizabeth II’s wedding and coronation in the late 40s and early 50s to the present day 90-year-old Queenie we all know and love. While the first series may focus on the early power struggle between Elizabeth and Phillip, the royal family’s interactions with Winston Churchill and their public image, there is no doubt that if successful we will Illustration by Dougie Dodds

most patriotic Brit. His track record outside of royal family drama is solid too with other fantastic screenplays like The Last King of Scotland, Frost/ Nixon and The Last Honour of Christopher Jefferies on his CV. Netflix certainly seem to think him trustworthy, giving him roughly £100 million to play with, so the only question is will viewers be treated to a juicy side of the royal family we haven’t seen before?

Surely with Netflix’s current track record in the past few months alone there’s very little danger of The Crown not succeeding, when examining the last few months’ content alone it is impossible to find fault. The newest, more obscure comic book character dug up by Marvel, a continuation of the life of an infamous Columbian drug lord and an original nostalgia fuelled 80’s sci fi hit led by a cast of kids. All these series nurtured by Netflix have surprised time and time again leaving audiences and critics satisfied.

So the big question is will The Crown see Netflix maintain this upward trajectory or perhaps provide an unsteady step as the public grow tired of the continued obsession with our royal family?

Music 27

Concrete.Music@uea.ac.uk

Hooton Tennis CluB “We never stop writing”

Tony Allen

Dom Whiffen

WTF (Pop Culture) Lovestarrs

Hooton Tennis Club is the name on a lot of lips at the moment within the Americana indie scene, and it doesn’t take more than a cursory spin of either of their albums to see why. Hooks abound and leads into off-kilter guitar parts that keep everything from feeling too polished or formulaic, they consist of: Ryan Murphy (vocals/guitar), James Madden (vocals/ guitar), Callum McFadden (bass) and Harry Chalmers (drums). Formed in 2013, they are currently signed to Heavenly Recordings. In the midst of a European tour, Dom Whiffen caught up with the boys just before their first ever gig in Norwich at the Waterfront.

British sibling synthpop duo Lovestarrs’ third single delivers a tongue-in-cheek review of recent celebrity and political stories.

Sarah clearly isn’t concerned with making famous friends with her effortless PC-Music-esque vocal which is sharp, relevant and backed by a catchy tune.

Love My Life Robbie Williams Williams’ latest is smugly content but irresistibly uplifting. The title doesn’t tell you all you need to know about this introspective track, which you find out with a few listens is actually about the means to happiness rather than the ends.

Brightside Icona Pop

Icona Pop unveil a sultry autumn anthem discussing the lengths they’d go to to cheer up a significant other. Not the most original concept, but well executed as the pair channel Katy Perry, singing dreamily atop thumping synths.

‘ ‘Hi guys, good to see you. How’s the tour going so far?’

Ryan: It’s going really well.

Reception is definitely great and we’re seeing more and more new faces and packing in higher numbers than ever before, so it’s a success thus far!

‘ ‘You guys released your second album only around a year after your debut. How come you were able to release another great record so soon after the first?’

Ryan: The songs were just ready to go really. it wasn’t a conscious decision to create an album, more a case of having the songs there so why not?

James: We had a few demos left over from the first record and also wrote throughout the following tour during soundchecks and the like.

We never stop writing, we’ve already started work on the next album!

‘ ‘You’ve worked with some prominent names within the industry including Edwyn Collins, How did the collaborations come about?’

Ryan: Edywn and Bill were both suggested by our record label as people who might be a good fit to work with us.

Callum: Bill had just worked with The Wytches who are stylistically similar to us in some respects. It was a good fit, as you can hear from the split. Just a good pairing we felt.

‘ ‘There seem to be a lot of stories about strange characters in your tunes, Are these inspired by local characters, fiction or a mix of both?’

James: Powerful Pierre is about a former associate of ours who was… the opposite of powerful. Quite a timid fellow who had a few characteristics about him that fit into a set of lyrics rather well. Katy-Anne is about a former flatmate of mine. That one’s pretty true to life as well, fairly accurate.

for the full interview, head to concrete-online.co.uk

‘ ‘Sounds like everything is progressing nicely for you guys at the moment.

What’s next after this tour?

Ryan: We definitely prefer writing about real characters and experiences rather than pure fiction. I’d probably say it just feels more honest to us. It comes a lot more naturally and we’re much more comfortable with that than we would be just writing the first thing that came up!

Ryan: The next album is coming along nicely, we have a few good tunes that we feel will be a good progression so it’s definitely in the pipeline.

‘

Concrete.music@uea.ac.uk

Bob Dylan:

28 Music

Musican, Poet, Revolutionist Catalina Curbishley Some would disagree with the fact that Bob Dylan, one of the greatest musical icons of the modern era, was more than worthy of receiving the recent award for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

However, what has in fact been deemed a ‘controversial decision’ has sparked outrage throughout the internet.

Many have argued that “Bob Dylan is a musician, not a poet” and “Mr. Dylan’s writing is inseparable from his music”; suggesting that as a musician, lyrical poetry is in a completely different category disconnected from the literary world.

“Dylan wasn’t just a poet, he was a revolutionist” But what is ‘literature’ anyway? Surely any piece of writing with a lasting, artistic influence can be considered literature? If the Modernist movement of the 1920s was able to manipulate and transform the meaning of poetry by simply shaping the rules according to what they saw fit, then evidently ‘literature’ has not got as rigid a barrier as these people arguing against Dylan seem to believe.

Lyrical music is poetry.

Period. But like poetry, there are good and bad lyricists. Bob Dylan just happens to be one of the few thousands of great lyricists of our time. Unlike written literature, music is able to reach a much larger and broader spectrum of

people due to its availability; meaning that, all in all, Dylan’s work could be argued as being much more influential than that of a lesser-known author or poet. The lyrics to a song, just like the words to a political speech, can hold the power of manipulating the mind of the listener. Songs such as ‘Masters of War’ or ‘Hurricane’, which contain thought-provoking and political criticisms in protest to the threat of nuclear warfare, racism and civil rights, opened the minds of many, especially the younger generation, and allowed them to expand and look at life in a different way. Pete Seeger described Dylan as “the most prolific songwriter on the scene”. Dylan wasn’t just a poet, he was a revolutionary.

However, there were arguably hundreds of other well-known songwriters writing lyrics just as influential as Dylan’s, and could have deserved the Nobel Prize just as much. Bands and singers such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, Tina Turner, Nina Simone and Tupac, all raised political and social problems within their music, creating a new form of rebellion. Even the musicians of today such as Akala, Frank Ocean, Gorillaz, Massive Attack and Radiohead are just as influential writers. How can one listen to the lyrics of ‘Since I’ve Been Loving

You’ or ‘Kids With Guns’ and not say they are just as valid as poetic literature in its original form?

“The lyrics to a song, just like the words to a political speech, can hold the power of manipulating the minds of an entire population” With songwriters, there is an potential to be incredibly influential, therefore it was no wonder those of a higher political status were terrified of pop culture. In my opinion, Bob Dylan’s Nobel prize was not only a statement to musical value, but was a relief for many potential songwriters who may have thought their music was going unrecognised. Dylan’s Nobel Prize was fully well-deserved.

Illustration: Mandi Johnoson

Georgia Rees-Lang Hate To See You Go The Rolling Stones

After essentially being raised solely on the Stones, I can only describe my emotion before listening to their new music as scared; what if I didn’t like it?

But, of course, I do. ‘Hate To See You Go’ is a straight-up feel good bluesy tune, pure and simple. It’s The Rolling Stones, after all.

Fake Love Drake

Typical: you wait weeks for a Drake song, and three come along at once. Following the more upbeat ‘One Dance’, the famous Drake sass is most definitely back for ‘Fake Love’, which may not quite be another ‘Hotline Bling’, but still may have you getting your embarrassing groove on big time on the dancefloor.

Elodie Mayo Remember Who I Was James Arthur James Arthur continues his road to redemption after the affectionate ‘Say You Won’t Let Go’. A minimalistic ballad, his remorseful tone stands out with the help of soothing strums and retrospective lyrics.

Autobiographical and poignant, this is worth a listen.

Up Out My Face Cakes da Killa From his sonically eclectic debut ‘Hedonism’, New Jersey rapper Cakes da Killa boasts his rapid flow in the unapologetically blunt track. With guest singer Peaches’ outlandish vocals, hypnotic synth layers and a hype-worthy house beat, this is sure to make listeners head to the club.

Music 29

Concrete.music@uea.ac.uk

summative stress-busters chill out and unwind

heather eyre Unfortunately, it’s that all-toofamiliar time of year again.

Whether you’re returning to university or settling in as a fresher, the first few weeks of term have flown by and the work load is piling up. Things are starting to get stressful, so here is my guide to the ultimate stressbusting songs, essential for those wind-down moments.

‘How To Fly’

Sticky Fingers

‘Moving On’

Babeheaven

‘Re: stacks’

‘How To Fly’ is possibly my favourite track from this list. Sticky Fingers’ hypnotising use of riffs creates a calming reggae and psychedelic vibe, a perfect remedy for any storm of a day. This tune was my go-to A Level revision anthem; perfectly calming yet also encouraging. ‘How To Fly’ is ideal for putting your headphones on and tuning out.

Babeheaven deliver a perfectly peaceful tune in the form of ‘Moving On’. The soft lead vocals from Nancy Anderson, which I would describe as ‘contemporary soul’, blends seamlessly with the trip-hop yet gloomy synths, providing a certain darkness to the song. As it progresses, the melody lifts and the tempo increases, lifting your mood instantly. Is there a better way to overcome a manic day but to ‘move on’ eh?

Back in 2008 when Bon Iver released their debut album For Emma, Forever Ago we all fell in love with ‘Skinny Love’ (famously covered by Birdy.)

Today, the album stands as a staple for indie folk music.

The final track ‘re: stacks’ encapsulates total relaxation, with Vernon’s chillingly calm vocals and stripped back acoustics, creating the perfect de-stressing experience. It is difficult not to un-wind to this track.

Bon Iver

all-time fitness anthems the beat that moves your feet madelene aldridge Whether you love the gym or not, one of the best ways to combat stress is exercise.

Although it may feel like a chore, just a couple of hours of cardio a week can get your endorphins flowing and help you feel healthier too.

If you’re looking for a bit of extra motivation to get you started, then look no further.

I’ve come up with a selection of the best work out songs that will have you running laps of the lake in no time.

First things first, you’ll need to get yourself hyped for

whatever activity you’re about to partake in, and what better song to do that than ‘Lose Yourself’ by Eminem. Known by many as the ultimate hype track, ‘Lose Yourself’ became the unlikely track of the Rio Olympics, when 15-year-old swimmer Ellie Robinson was said to be listening to the song when she walked out in her (now iconic) puffer jacket before winning her first gold medal.

When it comes to cardio (in my opinion, the ultimate stress buster) the best songs are the ones that make you

forget you’ve been running in the same place for over thirty minutes. For me these magical songs include:

‘Go’ - Chemical Brothers ‘The Greatest’ - Sia ‘Levels’ - Avicii ‘Inhaler’ - Foals ‘i’ - Kendrick Lamar ‘Saving My Life’ - Gorgon City ‘Brianstorm’ - Arctic Monkeys ‘Bounce’ - Calvin Harris Illustrations by Olivia Campbell

If after this, you still aren’t feeling motivated then there’s only one thing left to do: bring out the Club Classics! Club Classics make the perfect addition to any workout playlist.

They’re cheesy, familiar and are guaranteed to leave you feeling motivated.

So update your Spotify playlists and get exercising.