Venue 331

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 - dougie Dodds

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Concrete.venue@uea.ac.uk

editorial Editors-in-chief Dougie dodds + niamh Jones

Venue

deputy editor Melissa Haggar ould you look at that, we’ve actually calmed down a little bit after the madness of last issue. It may be the sadness of the upcoming Trump-tatorship, or the mid term blues, but we’ve taken a wee step back. So enjoy this chilled, more sophisticated VENUE. with a nice cup of tea and put your feet up... Just, ignore the back cover (we just can’t help ourselves). Dougie

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he last couple of weeks have been utterly pants.

Nobody has any energy, suddenly deadlines happened and sickness has swept through campus like a biblical pestilence. But no matter how crap we all feel, you can’t deny the excitement that comes from seeing the phallic Christmas cone in the square. Whether you despise Christmas, or don’t even celebrate Christmas, the fondness that rises from seeing that big, blue and pointed crimbo-penis cannot be ignored. Treasure the memories of drunk people trying to climb it, taking artsy Instagram photos of it at night and wondering to yourself… Is this what my nine grand pays for? Niamh

T

et’s face it, at this point in 2016, we’re all just praying Christmas itself doesn’t end in disaster like the rest of the year. No christmas trees on fire and no carnivorous demon reindeer, okay world?

Oh, and if there is a 2016 God laughing down at us can they please let Rogue One be good, OK? Apocalyptic events aside, Christmas is the season of giving, so we’re giving you this new issue of VENUE. Sorry, we know you all wanted those knitted socks, but this is all you’re getting.

Melissa

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FEATURE Accio article!

Have you ever wanted to wrangle yourself a fantastic beast? Do you eat, sleep, and breathe Harry Potter?

Then head over to our fabulous feature and check out our writers ultimate creature picks.

TELEVISION ‘Oy with the goo-goo eyes already...’

If you spend most of your days fantasising about living in Lorelai and Rory’s world, then you’ll love our homage to Gilmore Girls in TV this issue. Guaranteed to get you in the mood for A Year in the Life!

c.writing ‘Your wondering hands, wandering away forever...’

Expand your universe and jump straight into this issue’s creative writing theme: Sound and Vision. Creative pieces range from the expressive ‘No Wizard’ to the explorative ‘Peace’.

Concrete.venue@uea.ac.uk

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Arts 03

Concrete.arts@uea.ac.uk

my sketchbook, myself

Yisi yam

we TAKE A PEEK into the sketchbooks of uea artists

Sans ink and paper: this is what my sketchbook looks like. The screenshots you see here are a manifestion of mixed media. This includes homemade gifs, internet gifs, video, audio, music, stock images, performance and Photoshop designs that, when put together as individual art pieces, are presented on an online platform called “Newhive”.

Part of my insecurity in calling myself an “artist” lies in my lack of traditional artistic skills, as well as in what people conventionally

consider as “art”. I feel almost like a fraud, someone who has never had real disciplinary training as an “artist”. Furthermore, this is the internet and this is what some may call “post-net art”. Anybody could log onto Newhive, extract some stock images and pre-packaged icons of “aesthetics”, mash it up conveniently on their online canvas and call it “art”.

Being previously trained in filmmaking, I had grown extremely jaded and frustrated by the heavy

discipline that lies in the act of filmmaking. One could open their sketchbook and sketch out the scenery before them. But one cannot simply pick up their camera, film some footage according to their intuition and inclinations, then call whatever disconnected shots that are lying in their memory card a “film”.

This medium of art allowed for the pseudo-instantaneous emotional/ intellectual expression I so badly wanted and needed. It might seem coarse to some, but I always treasure raw and fresh

personal expression in art.

It also interests me that this parallels the internet culture of today, where everything has been made convenient, commodified and ubiqitous. With respect to that, such forms of art do seem like a legitimate, satirical retrospective. This 90’s baby is just grateful for a place where she can shout a heart-rending scream into the void where memes, emojis and porn spin furiously around.

Illustrations by YiSi Yam

04 Arts

Concrete.arts@uea.ac.uk

DrugsI’ll find and art: not even once my inspiration elsewhere, thankyou very much

Nell FOley

A few days Sans ago inkI and readpaper: tripthis and write myself Perfect an “artist” Day, lieswasn’t in my yours as to begin in with. what famously people Furthermore, tried everything this is the an article is whatabout my sketchbook an but looks not alllack of us of whotraditional use will artistic There conventionally is a general consider and anything as internet they could and this get is what artist called like. Bryan The screenshots Lewis be the younext skills, Lou Reed. as tendency “art”.toI associate feel almost their like hands a some on, attain may call some “post-net Saunders who see here had done are a 30 manifestion For drugswell to art fraud, inspired someone by form whoof art”. enlightenment.

Anybody could I log self-portraits of mixed under media. the boost This your drugs has never had don’t realknow onto how close Newhive, they extract influence of includes 30 drugs, homemade both gifs, d i s c i p l got, i n a rbut y some they wrote stock some images and illegal andinternet legal, in 30gifs, days. video, traininggreatasstuff pre-packaged along the way. icons of But as fascinating audio, music, it wasstock an “artist”.

Then again “aesthetics”, by the end mash of it up to see theimages, different performance effect Ginsberg’sconveniently life he was clean on their online each drugand had on Photoshop the art (almost) and canvas writing and just call it as“art”. and the artist, designsthe that, pieces when beautifully. exist outside put of who together (and Being previously trained what) created as them. individual Art My qualm in filmmaking, with drugs and I had grown isn’t goodart because pieces, it was are art isn’t in extremely the drug taking. jaded and created under presented the influence on an It’s in thefrustrated drug taking by for the heavy of drugs, it’s online good because platform the purposes discipline of creating that lies in the we deem itcalled to be.“Newhive”. somethingact because of you filmmaking. think One it’s a guaranteed could open production their sketchbook Sometimes Part people of my method. and That sketch at theout enda scenery make things insecurity on drugs, in calling of the trip before you’re them. going toBut one and sometimes they’re be left with a masterpiece good. This is also true of that lasts for ages, when people who don’t take with usually you’re left with a drugs and make things.

‘Outsiders’, numb face, dry mouth and I’ve found no inspiration creativity there people who an overwhelming sense in drugs, but that’s okay, has to be something there to live on the fringes of of disillusionment. Sorry I’ll find it elsewhere. start with, some spark of an society and have ‘elevated to disappoint, but maybe idea, otherwise you’re just understandings’ of our you’ll be luckier next time.

What I’m saying is, another wanker dissecting world. The Beat writers Illustration by Elle Lewispeople get lucky. A writer On the Road trying to re- define this culture. Kerouac, might have a good opium capture a feeling that Ginsburg and Burroughs all Smedley

art news

Kate romain

a few snippets from the art world

JOhn minton painitng found in shed

bowie art sold for £24 million

louvre shelters mistress accused of artefacts from syria stealing £1.5 million and iraq worth of erotic art

A major artwork that has not been seen for 60 years has reappeared in a shed . It was kept there because it’s owner could not find a wall large enough to hang it.

The painitng, Jamacian Villiage will be auctioned and is estimated to reach up to £150,000. Minton would have been amazed!

The first pieces from David Bowie’s personal art collections were auctioned in London this week and bought in more than £24million. The only Bowie original to go on sale was a collaboration with Damien Hirst and a painting that alluded to the character of Major Tom. The piece sold for £785,000.

The Louvre in Paris is acting as a sanctuary for artefacts from war torn countries such as Syria and Iraq. The French President, Hollande, has said the Louvre will act as a ‘temporary repository for international treasures’.

He stated the works are in danger as ‘terrorists or barbarians have decided to destroy them’.

An 80 year old art collector who stored £1.5 million worth of erotic art at the house of his 43 year old mistress has accused her and her boyfriend of stealing it.

She has maintained to police that she moved the art due to ‘a mould problem’. She and her boyfriend are facing charges of grand theft and awaiting trial.

Arts 05

Concrete.arts@uea.ac.uk

the magic of the darkroom a little insight into the lost art of darkroom photography

kate romain It is a well-known fact that anything creative that can be done, can be done with a Mac (or Windows, at a push).

Recording a symphony?

You got it. Designing your Christmas cards? Absolutely.

Laying up the Arts Section of VENUE? It’s taken me months of practice, but just about, yes.

There are some things that just cannot be replicated in the cold and clinical space of a Mac Suite though, and the magic of the darkroom is one of them. There is something incredibly exciting about taking your film camera out with you and getting that shot, but not knowing exactly how it will turn out. In a world of instant gratification, having to wait

to develop your pictures is a little bit like having to wait to open your presents on Christmas morning: incredibly exciting and that little bit more magical.

Due to the process involved, usual darkroom photography has a little more of an organic edge.

Contrast and brightness are less easily manipulated than on Photoshop, which is ideal for someone like me with a bit of a slap-dash approach to making art. Some of my favourite images that I have created have been happy accidents. Working in the dark room, I felt I didn’t always need a clear idea of how my final images would look; trial and error is a big part of the fun.

A darkroom is, rather

unfortunately, far harder and more expensive to come by than a decent digital camera. Photography paper, film cameras and all the chemicals that dark room photography involves can all be costly. Don’t let that put you off if you ever have a chance to use one. I rarely have the chance to get in the dark room but I have a big stack of film ready to develop for when I do; once you get the hang of it’s not hard to develop your images quickly.

Pinhole cameras can be an interesting alternative to a film camera. All you need is an object that doesn’t let any light in, for example a shoe box, or even a wardrobe, and light-sensitive photography

paper. The pinhole camera works when the paper is placed inside the box, and is then flooded with light over time through the tiny ‘pinhole’. These cameras can provide the most interesting results as they are often unpredictable: moving objects, changes in light, and any movement of the camera itself are all variables in how your developed image will look.

While, of course, digital cameras, Photoshop, and precision editing all have their place in the art world, the very particular mystic and magic of darkroom photography should not be forgotten.

Illustration by Kate Romain

DivErSE DiSneY? moana and the wave of representation melissa haggar Needless to say, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who isn’t aware of Disney films, and you’d probably encounter equal difficulty trying to find someone who hasn’t heard of (or fantasized about being) a Disney princess.

Whether you always wanted to be a mermaid, like Ariel, or were incredibly studious like Belle, Disney princesses offer up the opportunity for young children – and girls in particular – to form a sense of identification with the characters and inspiration from them. Arguably, the most popular princesses take the form of: Belle, Ariel, Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White and Jasmine.

Whilst Disney has had extraordinary success with these princesses, Jasmine was the first princess where Disney deviated from their white princess preference, and introduced the world to a princess of colour – notably from the Middle East. Of course, Disney has had some success with other racially and ethnically diverse princesses since then, such as Mulan, Pocahontas and Tiana, there is still an adherence to white princesses in general; Merida, Rapunzel, Anna, Elsa, to name a few.

Even when Disney has focused on princesses of colour, like Jasmine, the emphasis has never been on racial issues, different cultures or even with displaying princesses with

accents (Merida and Tiana are the only princesses I can think of with distinct accents – and these are still Western, although Mulan might suffice). You need only look at Jasmine herself to notice her pristine American accent, stereotypical Arabian clothing and seemingly no connection to her own culture or the inclusion of said culture to the structure of the plot, with mysticism, magic, and men more central to the film. Mulan attempted to rectify this with an Asian princess portrayal, but still fell short and succumbed to stereotypes, whilst never

seeming to get the recognition she deserves in popular media or indeed in the Disney company itself (i.e. you can only ‘meet’ Mulan in EPCOT in Disney World, unlike other princesses who are available in Magic Kingdom).

2009’s Tiana seemed to be a shining progressive beacon of light for Disney and society – the first black Disney princess – and expectations were high. But whilst Tiana’s personality and hard work ethic were admirable, Tiana’s community was criticised for its lack of racial issues, and the whole frog analogy seemingly relating people of colour to animals (in this case, frogs,

although I’ll let you be the judge of that one). Following on from Tiana, we had a slew of white – but arguably somewhat culturally diverse – princesses, from the Scottish Merida to the Norwegian Anna and Elsa and then finally, seven years later, we have the first Polynesian Disney princess: Moana.

Whilst this is a somewhat taxing journey, and the fact that Moana isn’t exactly Disney’s first Hawaiian influenced character (Lilo takes that particular biscuit), it is a sign that perhaps Disney is ready to experiment with culture and racial representation again, with some of the trailers even hinting at a Polynesian accent and traditional pronunciation of certain words.

Disney is such a globally influential and conglomerate company which has the ability to empower young people, whilst offering up much needed representation, and that is why this move to a potentially more culturally diverse princess is so important, as it will pave the way for more inclusive representations of cultures from around the world, promoting cultural and racial acceptance. And hey, we all need a bit of that right now.

Image credits: Flickr

Film 07 james mortishire

nocturnal animals

From the very start, Nocturnal Animals is a film that shocks. It challenges us as an audience to delve into our darkest emotions and see the world in its most brutal form. It shows us what it really means to be a nocturnal animal and, honestly, it’s terrifying.

The film tells the story of Susan Morrow (Amy Adams), an art gallery director who begins to question her lifestyle when she reads a book by her ex-husband.

The story is dark and twisted and as the events of the plot

rob klim

Concrete.film@uea.ac.uk

play out when she reads it, we begin to understand that these events may not be so far from the truth.

The film is based upon the 1993 novel Tom and Susan

by Austin Wright and is directed by fashion designerturned-director, Tom Ford.

As his previous occupation suggests, Ford adopts a very artistic approach to the film. You get the feeling that everything we see in a scene is placed there purposefully to create tone and mood.

The use of set design also helps us to relate between Susan’s reality and the cold-

blooded narrative of Tony Hastings/Edward Sheffield’s (Jake Gyllenhaal) novel. The use of tonal blacks in Susan’s reality creates an artificial feel, whereas the gritty oranges and yellows of rural Texas make Edward’s novel seem closer to reality than most of us would like, giving us an alarmingly aggressive look at just how dark the night gets.

Whilst the design of this film is beautifully creative, the same cannot be said for the its narrative. The story is far from weak: it’s one of the

most painful and vicious films you will watch, and that is where the beauty disappears.

There were scenes that, although not stereotypically terrifying, were portrayed with so much realism that you could almost imagine them happening to you, and that’s something that scares us all to the core. The film was exquisitely designed and written but, in terms of viewing, that realism was so strong that it made you fear humanity and what we are capable of in our most nocturnal form.

the light between oceans

The film opens in December 1918, with a moustached John Sherbourne (Michael Fassbender) and a tone that certainly does not encapsulate the festive season. The grey-blue hue of the camera filter conveys the desolate mind-set of a protagonist psychologically wrecked by the western front.

Released in time for Remembrance Day, the film hits the viewer right in the gut and allows you to instantly connect with John’s desire to get away from it all and work on a lighthouse in Australia.

It’s here that he becomes infatuated with his romantic interest, Isabel (Alicia Vikander). Through his love for her, conveyed through beautiful cinematography and warm camera filters, he learns to forgive the world

for what the war has done to him.

Forgiveness is an underlying theme of the film, and the director should really forgive me for blubbing so much. The name of the island, Janus (the Roman god with two faces, one facing forward into the future and the other into the past), is a poignant metaphor for the relationship triangle that develops between John, Isabel and Hannah Roennfeldt (Rachel Weisz). This relationship is based around the ownership of the little girl Lucy-Grace (Florence Clery), whose double-barrelled first name stands as a potent symbol of the character’s struggles.

Hannah must learn to forgive the couple, John and Isabel, for

taking her child from her when she washed up on the shore of their island. The struggle is certainly tragic, and the tension between the three palpable. Furthermore, the ethical dilemmas it raises, over relationships and love in general, are universally appealing.

conflicted and developed characters is worth the wait.

Go watch it: it was a welcome relief from the recent glut of reboots and sequels.

What is unappealing is an unnecessarily lengthy build-up. The film is too long and, in an age of attention spans comparable to those of goldfish, the two hours and 13 minute running time is arduous.

However, the anticipation for the cataclysmic drama and the tensions between such deeply

Photo Credits:Flickr

08 Film

Concrete.film@uea.ac.uk

arrival

Alex morrison While Denis Villeneuve may not be household name, his films, such as Prisoners and Sicario, have been some of the most intense and darkest thrillers in recent memory. Arrival takes on a sci-fi bend, yet still manages to be incredibly edgy whilst remaining hopeful. Its a moving tale of communication and first contact with the extra-terrestrial.

Taking place after the landing of twelve spaceships all over the globe, Arrival follows linguistics expert Louise Banks (Amy Adams) as she joins a military mission to discover the reason behind the aliens coming to earth.

Arrival’s slow-moving pace and sombre tone brings to mind Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The film is far less concerned with extensive science-fiction action, which appears only briefly, yet is still as gripping as the rest of the film. Instead the film is far more analytical, relying mainly upon the themes of the importance of communication with others. This gives Arrival an intellectual streak that works together with the thrilling atmosphere that Villeneuve creates so well. The design of the film is also sleek and dark to match the tone; the spaceships look grim and industrial, while the aliens are raw and unnerving.

Bradford Young’s cinematography and Jóhann Jóhannsson’s score are also strong, both contributing

to an eerie tone that merges beautifully with the mysterious nature of the film.

mathematician, also along for the mission, with the two having significant amounts of chemistry with each other.

The greatest asset of Arrival is Amy Adams, who works very well in a role that allows her to be both intellectually nuanced and emotionally vulnerable.

The backstory of Dr. Banks is revealed early, including a tragic incident, but as the movie progresses, plot twists make you start to question the previous events. Adams works well with these turns in the narrative; she is able to balance her curiosity in the new lifeforms and their language with the emotions of her past. She works well alongside Jeremy Renner, who plays a

Overall, Arrival shows just how great of a filmmaker Villeneuve is and will likely propel him towards becoming a bigger name. It’s easily the most hopeful film in his repertoire, but that doesn’t diminish the haunting nature and the thrilling atmosphere he creates. A tight and well written screenplay, excellent performances, including a career highlight for Amy Adams, and sleek and eerie music and cinematography all add up to help make Arrival the best sci-fi film of the year.

Photo Credits: Flickr

filth (2013) Corruption in the Edinburgh police force, drug abuse, borderline-personality disorder … it could only be another Irvine Welsh film. Starring James McAvoy as the psychopathic Detective Sergeant Bruce, this film is trippy, terrifying and darkly comical. Despite Bruce’s sadistic and megalomaniacal pursuits, you can’t help but sympathise with his broken shell of a character and watch with horror as his life spirals into a violent, psychedelic farce.

- Louis Pigeon-Owen

fargo (1996) For those in need of a Coen brother fix, Fargo is a must watch. In an attempt to regain wealth, a cowardly car salesman employs two men to kidnap his wife.

Following the perspective of the lovable detective, Marge, this film is a classic of black comedies.

- Willa Hope

a single man (2009) Tom Ford’s debut film is a heart-breaking drama focusing on the last day of a gay, middleaged college professor’s life.

Starring Colin Firth in his BAFTA Award-winning role, this dazzling tragedy shows us how every part of your life acquires fresh beauty when your time is running out.

Stunningly rich and sensual, this is an unflinching snapshot of a melancholic and beautiful world.

- Louis Pigeon-Owen

Film 09

Concrete.film@uea.ac.uk

cinema anglophilia

What Americans Talk About When They Talk About How Great British Films Are tom bedford For such a small country, Britain’s film industry has a pretty impressive reputation. With huge film series such as James Bond and Harry Potter and actors like Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston, it’s fair to say we’re pretty wellliked. Nowhere is this truer than America, where they consume British film and television like oxygen.

But when asked why they love it so much, their answers tend to be abstract. Never do they say things that actually relate to the films or actors at all. But perhaps with a translation of some of their statements, their celebration of our cinema will make just a little bit more sense.

the british are just so sophisticated!

Based largely off the Sean Connery and Roger Moore Bond films, British people in cinema have become synonymous with suits and cufflinks that require endless posing to match. They have created an

image of what they think a Brit should be: nice suit, expensive watch, Aston Martin car, complete womaniser, posh voice. This means actors or roles that adhere to this image are far more likely to get given a screen presence, endlessly perpetuating this stereotype which is pretty unique to our culture.

The country is so full of history!

Compared to America, it’s very true that our islands, and for that matter most of the rest of the world, has a very deep and rich history that we like to draw from when we make art. Strangely enough, Americans seem to view any history pre-dating 1620 with jubilation, as though that time didn’t actually exist for their continent, seemingly forgetting about the indigenous people. It means Roman or Medieval narratives, for example, are lapped up by them.

English people are super clever!

Probably the most hilarious claim Americans make about us. For some reason, to them our accents suggest quick wits and superior smarts for some of our heroes, but particularly for villains. So many movies, notably Disney films, use actors with posh English accents to portray their villains, such as The Lion King’s Jeremy Irons. This makes the logical connection that a clever villain is a more intimidating one. Maybe it is, but the idea that all English people are evil geniuses is a bit of a leap.

British people are just so quirky!

We brought this on ourselves a bit, with one of the biggest film franchises ever being about small children going to a magic wizard school and fighting trolls and snakes. Americans seem to hold a part-condescending, part-endearing view that things created in Britain are

inherently “quirky” and bizarre, mainly due to our cultural differences. It’s as though they view us as children, and things we create are cute and silly but ultimately stupid. Apparently they choose to forget nearly every American comedy ever when they think in this way.

Magic is real in Britain!

This is an actual accusation that multiple Americans have levelled against our country.

Mainly thanks to Harry Potter, some of the more gullible Americans seem to truly believe that people here swish wands and ride broomsticks. They also claim non-believers are just being ‘muggles’.

It’s hard to truly understand why our country is so popular in America, particularly when we’re such comparatively small fry. Yet, for some reason they love us, and I think we can all agree that it’s a great thing.

Photo Credits: Flickr, WikiMedia

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Concrete.fashion@uea.ac.uk

Fashion

Velvet Winter marks and spencer Emily claridge It’s a difficult for me to admit, but a lot of the velvet around at the moment in Norwich is very cute. I had been a firm believer that Velvet was a horrible, horrible material - I mean, don’t you just hate it when you touch it in the wrong direction and it feels terrible? BUT, I have been worn down by the festive velvet that is covering Marks and Spencers, River Island and H&M’s shopfloor, and now its my new favourite thing. So I am admitting it, fine, it looks good okay? It’s definitely perfect for the new years parties and christmas meals. Bring on the egg nog and velvet dresses.

river island

h&m

Fashion 11

Concrete.fashion@uea.ac.uk

Venue Christ Leah Marriott

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hether you’re treating yourself or a friend this Christmas, there are amazing beauty products that are a must have this season! Below is a selection of gift sets and Christmas editions ideal for filling this years stockings!

Charlotte Tilbury: Legendary Party Eyes £20

Presented in a golden starstudded bauble, this gift set includes a mini

eyeliner in Bedroom Black and the Legendary Mascara.

Perfect for creating a classic look this winter. After the bauble has been cracked open to reveal these goodies, the bauble could be placed on the Christmas tree.

Essie Let It Snow Christmas Gift Set £13

The best way to step into winter is with rich berry and warm grey nail shades. This is easily achieved with this set including Bahama Mama and Chinchilly. If dark shades are not your thing, there is also a nail set including a light pink shade and silver glitter polish!

Lush: Santa’s Belly £4.25

This sparkly shower jelly filled with golden stars is a great stocking filler.

Containing fruity bergamot oil, calming rose absolute and fresh apple juice makes it the perfect component for festive washes.

Too Faced: Merry Kissmas £22

Get mistletoe ready with a deluxe set of long wearing melted lipsticks. In shades Chihuahua, Fig, Honey and Lady Balls. An easy way to create glossy, festive looks for this Christmas. These shades couldn’t be more different so it is a great way to try new looks.

Champneys One Minute Wonder Hand Cream £3

Perhaps the ideal little stocking filler, hand cream is great for the cold weather and will leave hands thoroughly moisturised.

Ted Baker: T is for Treat £3.50

Ted Baker currently have a selection of mini body sprays, with notes of jasmine, violet, amber and vanilla. The floral packaging and scents will the leave recipient feeling as pretty as a petal!

Concrete.fashion@uea.ac.uk

12

Fashion

tmas Wishlist Liz Earle Winter Glow gift £8

Avoid dull-looking skin this winter with a Brightening Treatment mask.

This affordable set also comes with a cloth, ensuring your skin will be glowing after one use.

This Works: Sleep Spell £10

Christmas can be a hectic time, so get a good night sleep this Christmas with a travel sized version of deep sleep pillow spray.

Charlotte Tilbury: Magical Mini Brush Set £45

Why not go for a bit of luxury? Charlotte Tilbury has made a beautiful clutch for you to fit four essentials; powder, blender, smudger and precision brushes. These mini brushes will provide you or a friend with the tools to keep makeup perfect everyday this season!

the EmpIre State BuIlding 23/08/1930 ELLEY WEST “I would like to have a dragon. It’s a classic staple, I’d have one I can ride and be friends with, and I’d make BBQ food all the time with its breath. Oh, and I’d kill all my enemies.”

INDIA ALDERSON-EDWARDS “A Hippogriff because they could fly you anywhere and they’re also really loyal and brave and could save you if you were in danger.”

LAURA SYMONDS “A sphinx because they tell you riddles and they’d keep you on your toes OR a phoenix because Fawkes was the most magical, and I cried so hard when he left after Dumbledore died.”

My bbq dragon Illustration by Olivia Campbell. Photo illustratiosn by Dougie Dodds

OUR FAVOURITE FANTA TIC BEASTS UEA’S TOP CREATURE CHOICES MELISSA HAGGAR “I’d go for a Dementor. Bit dark? Probably, but come on, it’s pretty cool too. Stick two on a leash and you can walk amongst them like Michonne (that’s how it works right?).”

LOIS YOUNG “I really want a dire wolf. I like that they’re protective, and I would take mine everywhere with me – like a best friend and a bodyguard – and I’d ride it around the woods.”

EMILY WALKER “A kitsune – it’s a spectral many-tailed fox of Japanese folklore often representing female beauty and intelligence – but I like it because for some reason the kitsune made victims eat tofu whilst it possessed them!”

KATE ROMAIN “Simply a talking tortoise. Imagine all the things a 100 year old tortoise would have seen and would be able to talk about.”

DOUGIE DODDS

Hiking trip 1929 - Made a new friend

“An Owlbear...It has the head of an owl, and the body of a bear. Need I say more?

C. Writing 15

Concrete.creativewriting@uea.ac.uk

sound and vision

‘Blue, blue, electric blue / That’s the colour of my room / Where I will live / Pale blinds drawn all day / Nothing to do, nothing to say / Blue, blue’

fumble — sophie chapman the shade of blue and orange as you sit still, quiver as you move you sit up and cover the light you are the light buried in a book, lost to me there is no sound, other than your soft grumble fumble as you change the page

Your tune — Alexandra Parapadakis In the creases of a crumpled T-shirt, the darkening orbit of an orange pasta stain, the unhinged playfulness of bright and living eyes… the golden curls like mazes of cornfields – no way out The type you just want to twist around your finger – I noticed you.

In the unrestrained laughter, I would recall each word that tumbled from your lips And hang on them, swing from them, like branches to the safest nest, Treasuring them as though they may break, Repeating them as though they may cease to exist!

Words thrown in like the drop of a pin, And the compliments like classical music, Oh, charming violin, Some hot and jazzy, Like breathing on a microphone, The blowing of saxophones, And the grand words, the hyperboles, the amelioratives, Arose like marching bands And I ran with them through the streets!

But there were also statements like nails on chalk, personal remarks which singed my ear drums – the sound of a lit match, the shock of fireworks And those quips like banging fists, throwing rocks, smashing glass…

Your lips unarched.

The battle between your music and my breath, My fight to speak, Then your Fidgeting hands, Your unkempt grubby hands, tapping away, Your wondering hands, wandering away forever…

You — Saoirse Smith-Hogan

no wizard — sophie bunce

From inside the tunnel you see her Still, with fluidity unparalleled Like waves lapping upon the rock. Confer, For she is untouchable, undefined When the scary blackness swallows her whole And spits out her small, thumping, bleeding heart.

Can you see her through the great time hole?

Can you feel her when she threatens to part From you, or from herself, for she is strong And the magnets of fascination wane Whilst everything is so red. Stay for long, Allow curiosity to wrench again, Dragging you towards the mirror, and when “Mirror, Mirror” is called, you’ll see her then.

The Emerald City looks more like jade green to me, I’ve always noticed colours you see, That green is not grassy, Nor minty, Or bold, I guess I’m no wizard, But that’s not emerald.

Concrete.creativewriting@uea.ac.uk

16

C. Writing

one blind, one deaf — gus edgar Binded by me blinded I fell behind did I, dead eye.

Dead eye disclosed this exposed globe close to closed, I sigh.

On my watch the world watches whirled wishwashes, I wish.

Wishing days stopped to stop daze and glaze my eyes glazed, it’s pish.

I count as a cunt, can’t canter, see I see my stupid stupor, my eyes sear.

Sear the lively life I’ve loved and lived here, Hear, Hear! At least I can hear. __________________ Deafened I defend dead-ends of death, detest this test I attest.

Movies move me move out of mouths licks lips and lapse, into unrest.

Silence in islands of white wight noise annoys quite quiet I riot, and rot.

Rot away and weighed down way down in doubt for grotty ears I forgot.

Muffled my muscles ache and ate til gone, the shrill gong is knotted not for me.

For me it wavers like waves that weave I bereave in the sea; at least I can see.

BY THE WATER — Nell Foley

T

he fingers of the trees splay out to scatter the early evening light and paint the sky green with half grown leaves, while the branches sway and nod in appreciation of their work. The sky is blue, and the sea is blue, and the eyes of the girl opposite me are blue. But they are all different, and it is wonderful.

This is what it looks like here.

The girl asks me what the time is, but there isn’t a harshness to the ‘t’, and I smile because the sweetness of it lingering in the air has a happy sound. I wonder how things can sound happy, as I look in her eyes which are blue, and reply as softly as I can because I don’t want to break the silence.

It is not silent. The sea is loud, and the wind is loud, and the children screeching as they run away from the waves are loud, and later the seagulls will fly down through the valley to huddle in the cracks and crevices of the cliff and they will be loud also. But this is what silence sounds like here.

The light changes as the setting sun turns the sky a burnt orange, as though it were blushing, embarrassed at all the complimenting expressions of ‘oooh’; from the mothers of the children collecting endless interesting shells to bring back and present to freckle-faced classmates, and from fatigued surfers pausing as they catch their breath between waves, and from the couple paddling in the foamy shallows, and from the water that hugs and releases the shore with every ebb and flow of the tide.

They sigh. The sigh gets caught in the wind and carried up to me, and the girl sighs too. I hear the whole world sigh.

C. Writing 17

Concrete.creativewriting@uea.ac.uk

one blind, one deaf — gus edgar Binded by me blinded I fell behind did I, dead eye.

Dead eye disclosed this exposed globe close to closed, I sigh.

On my watch the world watches whirled wishwashes, I wish.

Peace — Tom Cascarini

E

veryone was waiting for the silence. They stood in streamed tears. Gas is it gas? His breathing went into the Square, middle-aged blue spasms.

Wishing days stopped to stopmen dazewearing and glaze myBarbour eyes glazed, it’s pish.He gripped the ladder as if were the neck of a jackets, and groups of students carrying rucksacks, holding Boche. His throat felt faint. Weak. His eyes, they looked, but I count as acups cunt, canter, as see I see my stupid eyes wouldn’t sear. green coffee in can’t their hands, the golden rays ofstupor, the my they see anything.

SearNovember the livelysun lifeshimmered I’ve loved and here, Hear, Hear! At least Bong.

I can hear. bleak overlived the concrete buildings.

Timothy smiled at seeing all these people stand together.

‘On the signal, company will — ad-VANCE!’ He __________________ imagined how a veteran would feel if they were to see He whimpered: ‘Mummy. Mummy. Oh please, God. Help this. White sunlight glinted off the corner of his glasses, and me.’ he Deafened gripped the lapels dead-ends of his blackoftrench I defend death,coat. detest this test I attest. Looked to his left. David’s eyes were undead, fuelled From the bottom of the Square, kitchen by revenge, and anger, both growling away in his mind Movies move me move out of mouths licksstaff lips came and lapse, into only unrest. pouring outinofislands the glass double doors in their black catering beneath layer upon layer of numbness and fear.

Silence of white wight noise annoys quite quiet I riot, and rot. attire, doffing their chequered hats.

And with each minute Bong.

Rot away and weighed down way down in doubt for grotty ears I forgot. that passed, another grey slab had someone standing on Looked to his right. George stared back at him. muscles ache and atethe til gone, shrill of gong is knotted not forGeorge me. mouthed. it, Muffled until allmy Timothy could see were mutedthe colours ‘Bugger,’ everyone’s coats, the sunlight blazing from everyone’s heads, They both look straight ahead. A black rat scurries up the be it blonde or brown or orangey red. Black skin, white skin, ladder. Stops halfway. Then hurries back down to the dugout. every colour you could think of. They were all standing, in Bong. (8) that cold, cold square.

Pheeeeeepp!!

The crowd was buzzing, but at the slightest cough or There came no screaming. His legs refused to move. He shout, the hubbub died down slightly, eager as they all were hoisted himself up, and everyone else clambered over, fists (in a gloomy, bittersweet way) to begin the silence. clinging onto mud, sludge and shrapnel fireworks stabbing And so at 11, the speakers announced the the dirt before them, his arms of dough stretching out to commencement of the two-minute silence, and the breaking point. fluctuating tones of Big Ben’s chimes soared across the heads He peeped up over the edge into no-man’s-land. of the crowd, switching to and fro, strongly, indecisively, Bong. always optimistic, choosing between hope and misery.

His heart plunged, abandoning his body, it was no longer Bong. safe. No more head. No more heart. Just his whole entire Timothy shut his eyes, and the world turned vanilla pink. body gone, replaced not even by spirit, but by duty, fear, and All he could feel were his feet, nestled within his shoes, vengeance. planted on the ground, rocking back and forth, as though his Bong. legs were no longer supporting anything.

Scrambled up over the barbed wire. Plunged straight into Bong. the mud. Everyone else trampled past, the mud from their His eyes jumped wide open. Flash of sunlight, and the boots blotting his eyes, his nose deep in sludge, his mouth world lost focus. still tasting of sick, warm and wet.

Through the mud he saw water. A golden brown puddle * lay before him. And it was reflecting the sepia sky. He saw stars, and sunlight, and clouds breaking apart.

There came a grunt from no-man’s-land. A cataclysm of It was beautiful. mud. Dirt and debris and piercing shrapnel. A solitary cry, He looked up. nothing but a whisper against the metallic putututting of Bong!

Lewis machine guns.

‘Mummy,’ he whispered to the light.

Bong.

He closed his eyes.

A scream. Nothing before it. The work of a sniper.

‘Mummy.’

Everything was tilted. His insides drooped, deflated but Everything faded. expanding, water behind his eyes fell down into his throat.

‘It’s so beautiful.’

Rum boiled in his stomach, butter churned in his bowels. He felt his gorge rise. Nothing came out. * Bong.

‘Company!’ came a shout. ‘One — pace — for-WARD!’ Timothy blinked. The whole Square was silent. People A sound, the chung of a knife blade swipe, blood from walking by knew immediately what was happening. They all a poor man’s face sliced across his cheeks. Those bloody stopped. Closed their eyes. Bowed their heads. snipers.

Few remembered. And few were there.

The guns. Their heartbeat had stopped.

But everyone knew. Because they all stood together.

Bong.

‘Stand READY!’ This time he vomited. Nobody flinched. His eyes

Illustrations by Hugo Douglas-Deane

P LU S V E RY S PE C I A L G U E S TS

GOOD SAD HAPPY BAD

23 N OV E M B E R 2016 NORWICH UEA

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Gaming 19

Concrete.gaming@uea.ac.uk

Ginger: Beyond the Crystal

Charlie Nicholson

The late 90’s were the 3D-platforming GoldenAge. I, and just about every other television-belaboured child I knew of was quite familiar with the progressive, polygonal leaps of the PlayStation. My weekend timetable school-less, I divvied my cyber-exploits up between the PS1 and PS2. I woke to clamouring Bandicoots, lunched in weird puzzle-caverns, and spent my evenings audibly lamenting each and every one of Spyro’s bloody flying levels. For some inexplicable reason, I even fancied Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase. And, time to time, I take a cross-millennial excursion to this ’32-bit era’ to have a good ol’ catch-up with Crash. Apparently he’s had two existential crises and struggling with working the tumble-dryer. There’s early twenties for you.

Revisiting that era is a blast. Recreating it ain’t so easy. As the middling Back in 1995 and the genre’s threadbare contemporary catalogue might suggest, it’s difficult to capture the essence of a title so ardently admired, while filtering out the restrictions we like to convince ourselves never existed. The balance between familiarity and

Souls not included

modernity is no achievement to be sniffed at, and honestly, it’s something Ginger: Beyond the Crystal pulls off well, if with a few scrapes.

Sprung from newcomer Drakhar Studio, Ginger employs many of the narrative isms of its premillennial ancestors. After a godly crystal (somehow, there’s always a precious stone involved) is shattered by an explosive gem, a world is shrouded in chaos, leading an all-powerful deity to whip up a timely fix. More specifically, Ginger: a bluish fellow who looks like the Pikmin’s second-cousin. He also dons a Gryffindor scarf, just ‘cause.

Beyond the Crystal is sprawled across three main worlds, which act as Spyrolike ‘hub’ lands to house further mini-stages. There’s even a host of glowing minicrystals to find to buff your magical power, which’ll enable you to take down the Red Chaos Crystals that’re sending things awry. The overarching hub-world’s a welcome inclusion; one that’s sorely missed, and it nudges well the themedlevel structure employed by our spritely purple dragon back in 2000. Ginger even includes a simple building element, allowing you to

cobble together settlements to rebuild your society. Don’t get excited, though, it’s not exactly Fallout 4.

The world our blue hero inhabits is a thankfully charming one, evoking the rounded, cartoon goofiness of an era in which my jewelcases didn’t sport quite so many battle scars. It does it with distinctively modern flair too, allowing the homage some dance-space while remaining grounded within the 21st century. Much of its nostalgic appeal is aesthetic, and from the woodland’s chillier resemblance to Tak, to the Ratchet-andClank-like techno labs, to the airborne, Mario-esque hover-platforms it’s evident Drakhar had a smile on its face when it drafted up Ginger’s dimensions.

While the sensibilities of its influencers seem mirrored in its toonish world, however, Ginger isn’t completely devoid of those frustrations we’d sooner see buried with ET. It’s riddled with glitches.

Indeed, during my induction into the game, I was greeted by a lovely revolving camera, which continued to circulate around me as I dumbly tottered about a forest. After a few moments pondering whether or not this was merely the work of Ginger’s dastardly chaos-stirrers, I quickly aborted-mission, and needed to reboot several times before I could run things smoothly. Sure, I can

harp on about adorable visuals and retro-references all day; if you’re prevented from starting the game, that’s an un-ignorable issue.

There’s also the odd clunk in framerate, but thankfully it’s mildness amounts to little more than a shame amidst the game’s visual allure and platforming focus, and doesn’t aggravate too much during some of the fasterpaced segments.

The platforming itself taps the sensibilities of some of the run-n-jump giants. Across its timed side-scrolling trials, precision-based location puzzles and pulsating airborne segments, Ginger falls head-over-heels for Crash Bandicoot 2, Spyro the Dragon and Super Mario Sunshine – all while retaining a sense of puckish humour that remains true to Ginger’s amusing, woodsy tale. Very occasionally, you’re treated to a jetpack.

Let’sa go indeed.

Ultimately, the nostalgic titles of our past will remain unmatchable by any contemporary re-dub.

But on the whole, Ginger’s enchanting world and familiar level-structure shuffles forth in a hearty, promising throwback, that’ll likely give the heartstrings of the 90’s platformophile a friendly little nuzzle, even if its framerate occasionally jabs the ribs.

Photo Credits: Flicker, Wikicommons

Concrete.gaming@uea.ac.uk

20 Gaming

examining Earthbound Fourth wall breaker, genre shaker, childhood heart-breaker Charlie Nicholson In the words of Zero Punctuation, if it doesn’t combine friendship with a hearty dose of God-killing, it just-isn’t a JRPG. That’s fine, if you know your enjoyment always stems from a particular detail, but for me, ignoring a game on the basis of one storycomponent sounds like the Mary-Berry-stamped recipe for restricting your own enjoyment.

As the gaming nitpicker and aggressively-nostalgic 90’s-kid I am, I loved Earthbound to bits. But almost in spite of itself, it still feels like a game in two halves. While its scrolly HPcounter and lack of random

combat was a breath of fresh air, its kookily-addled townsfolk tapped schlocky 90’s stereotypes, and its coming-of-age narrative reeked of Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, and just about every other JRPG that helped chisel-out the genre. All told through four plucky pre-pubescents who (wait for it) buddyup to whack an alien god from possessing your lovely neighbourhood. It’s all very that-bit-in-Final-FantasyLegend.

On the face of it, Earthbound seems a prime example of Yahtzee Croshaw’s definition, culminating nicely amid Chrono Cross,

SMT and Xenoblade in an anti-theistic crusade.

But despite its apparent ‘JRPG-isms’, I wouldn’t argue Earthbound so much embodies the trope, as explores the restrictions of genre itself. All the while laughing in its face.

As my lackadaisical Mother referenced her own NPC weakness by telling me I’d ‘just sneak out of my room anyway’, and the cheery soundtrack was constantly re-hashed into weird-aliendisco-tune, I was kept aware that Earthbound was more than meets the eye; constantly questioning what on Earthbound was really going on. And indeed,

its innovations seemed all the more noticeable for it, even if those deviations sometimes felt at odds with the narrative.

However, despite this palpable two-halviness, Earthbound’s key inner argument is one I still respect. An encouragement not to accept things at face value; that while teamin’up-and-killin’-God might contribute to a game, that classification shouldn’t upstage the idiosyncrasies that can so often make the experience. What if we ditched familiarity for a day? How many promising adventures might cross our path?

Cards against Humanity against the World

Sam Whitelaw

For anyone aged under 30, and even for some over, the genre of card games is coupled strongly with Cards Against Humanity. If you are in the first week of Freshers, Cards Against Humanity is half of your life, taking up the majority of every night and exposing your new friends for who they really are. If you are in the second week of first year, chances are Cards Against Humanity is a worn out troupe that needs either a long break or a few extension

packs to breath new life into it. CAH is marketed as the only game for adults to play, with practically everybody in university playing it at some point or another – and then eventually playing it until the cards become known and the outcomes predictable.

There is another way though.

There are other card games to play. It will be worth it.

These games might not be out

and out as funny as CAH, with the element of unacceptable humour removed, but that doesn’t mean they are less enjoyable. These games are fun for another reason – strategy. Tactics are everything in some games, and you can use these to mentally torture your friends and make them curse you in envy. That’s much better than a punch line of ‘Deez

Nuts’. Games like Exploding Kittens, Bucket of Doom, or Secret Hitler can be much more entertaining than CAH if played correctly, and can maintain this level of entertainment longer – not getting worn out after five sessions. There is a vast array of new and exciting card games out there for you and your friends, so why not give them a go? I repeat, Cards Against Humanity isn’t your only option for a fun night.

Play around. You don’t have to abandon the game, but I guarantee it will be far better when it isn’t played at every social event.

Illustrations by Kirsty McAlpine. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Gaming 21

Concrete.gaming@uea.ac.uk

“Skyrim belongs to the Nords!”: Ulfric Stormcloak, Trump, and Brexit. let me guess... someone stole your sweetroll

Tom Lacy It’s hard to believe that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim came out exactly five years ago.

2011. Still harder to believe, perhaps, is the fact that today the game still holds the imaginations of many fans, who just can’t keep themselves from returning to the epic adventure again and again. The game’s longevity perhaps owes itself partly to the fact that we haven’t yet seen an Elder Scrolls VI, getting in its place a lacklustre MMORPG and TCG. But just as important is the quality of the game itself, the massively complex lore that surrounds its universe, and the games mod-ability.

An official ‘Special Edition’ of the game with enhanced graphics came out recently, in October 2016, promising to extend the games longevity for even longer.

But why am I talking about Skyrim now? Cast your minds back to 2011 (and try to ignore whatever cringe worthy school drama you may have been involved in) and you may remember the appeal that the mighty Yarl Ulfric and his Stormcloak rebels held.

“Skyrim belongs to the Nords!”

“Hail Ulfric: the true High King!”

Ulfric Stormcloak belonged to the native race of the province of Skyrim: the Nords (a race of tough Vikinglike blonde white guys).

He was leading a rebellion against ‘the Empire’, a cosmopolitan polity ruling territories across the world of Tamriel, and within the confines of which all Elder Scrolls games have been set.

Ulfric’s rebellion was highly nationalistic, revolving around a few key issues, including the Nords’ right to worship the god Talos (recently outlawed by the Empire as part of a peacetreaty signed after its defeat at the hands of the Thalmor), the idea that the High King of Skyrim had been reduced to a puppet of an incompetent empire, and the principle that the Nords should rule themselves.

The game allows you to take a side in rebellion, and ultimately win the war for either the

Stormcloaks or the Empire.

Many players flocked to Ulfric’s banner, perhaps partly because some Imperial soldiers try to execute you at the beginning of the game, but more likely because of the charm and romanticism, the glory even, that went along with Ulfric’s cause. I was one of those not convinced. I’d been introduced to The Elder Scrolls series via Oblivion, a game in which you played in the Empire’s capital province, Cyroldiil, and had always considered myself working in the service of the Empire. To me the defeat of the Empire at the hands of the Thalmor before the events of Skyrim was just another reason that the unity of the Empire had to be preserved; all would find themselves prey to the High Elves should the empire fragment. Not to mention, I never played as a Nord, and Ulfric had made it pretty clear that I wasn’t welcome in his Skyrim. But so many of my friends, and so many across the online community, disagreed, and fought tooth and nail for the

Stormcloak cause. Overall, the issue was highly divisive.

But it’s just a game, right?

Perhaps not, if 2016 has given us one thing to think about, it’s nationalistic and divisive politics. Give Ulfric’s rhetoric a second thought and you’ll quickly be able to pull together the similarities with Brexit and the Trump presidency. Yes, there are some logical reasons you might support them. The EU wasn’t as representative as it ought to have been, and Ulfric believed the Empire was wasting Nord lives irresponsibly and without them getting a say. But scratch beneath the façade of Trump, Farage, and Ulfric’s excuses and you’ll quickly find the nasty truth: a highly nationalistic, isolationist, and economically protectionist politics, sprinkled of course with a healthy dose of xenophobia. Perhaps you disagree with me, perhaps you agree with Trump. But I’d like you to march down to the docks or the Grey Quarter of Windhelm, and tell that to the faces of the Argonians and Dunmer forced into poverty by a supremacist Nordic society.

Illustrations by Kirsty McAlpine.

Jessica Frank-Keyes Any episode where we get to see Rory in full-journo-action mode has gotta be my fave. I won’t say I chose my career based entirely on the show, buuuuut...

Amelia Rose Rentell: Rory’s Chilton graduation speech, tears every time!

gilmore Girls It's not just a show, it's a lifestyle

Molly Burgess: ‘I can’t believe Rory’s turning 21. It seems like just yesterday she was crying because you told her Charlotte Bronte couldn’t come to her sleepover because she’s dead.’ - Sookie Lucy Schofield ‘It's Avril Lavigne's World and we're just living in it.’

Still true.

Emily Mildren: ‘Tell me it’s not that bastard Donald Trump’ - Sookie Seems pretty relevant right now...

Megan Baynes It has to be the episode where the Yale Daily News almost doesn’t go to print. Jessica jokes that I’m Paris...

Ellen Foley Gotta be Luke and his hatred of jam hands! ‘I don’t even like kids. They’re always sticky like they’ve got jam on their hands. Even if there’s no jam in the house, somehow, they’ve always got jam on their hands!

I’m not the right guy to deal with that. I have no patience for jam hands!’

Rachel Innes ‘Oh, I can’t stop drinking the coffee. I stop drinking the coffee, I stop doing the standing and the walking and the wordsputting-into-sentence-doing.’

- our lord and saviour Lorelai Gilmore”

Rachael Sawers It's an entire TV series full of women supporting each other, celebrating each other's achievements, acknowledging their failures and finding ways of accomplishing great things despite adversity. What more can you want in a show?

Television 23

Concrete.Television@uea.ac.uk

Gilmore Girls

A Year in the Life of our favourite mother-daughter duo Jessica Frank-Keyes 25th November is a date that has been marked on Gilmore Girls fans’ calendars since the first whisperings of the Netflix revival. A Year in the Life will consist of four hour-and-ahalf-long episodes, Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall; bringing viewers up to date with the events of Stars Hollow and Hartford, and if the trailer is anything to go by,at least one of the Gilmore girls is taken further afield to New York and London. And while at VENUE we are counting the days until we hear that familiar theme tune again, there is still time to catch up on all things Gilmore! Think of this as your crib sheet for a test at Chilton – or preparation for your Yale final…

Lorelai Gilmore.

We last saw our favourite fasttalking, Jeep-driving, coffeedrinking, inn-owner sending her daughter off on her first real reporting job. While much of the show revolved around Rory and Lorelai’s closely supportive relationship, and, over the course of seven seasons, on Rory’s many achievements, now that her mini-me has left home, is it time for Lorelai to follow

some of her own dreams?

The revival catches up with the characters about eight years after the show ended, giving Lorelai plenty of time to pursue her career or even to go back to school. She spent seven seasons being the smartest person in the room, and it would be amazing to see her putting herself and her goals first.

Rory Gilmore.

The trailer, despite being a solid two minutes and thirty seconds of total joy, offers few clues as to what the youngest Gilmore girl is up to. Aside from roaming the high seas, “JackKerouac-style,” and admitting to feeling lost and adrift in – we assume – her professional life, we will have to wait and see exactly what the former Yale Daily News editor has thrown herself into next.

Always the most conscientious and diligent of students, perhaps Rory is discovering the disappointing millennial truth that the reality of adulthood does not reward hard-work and potential in the same way as school and college. It’s a difficult

lesson to learn, but if anyone can bounce back from a quarter-life crisis, it is her: the original MVP on Team Gilmore.

We will be cheering her on.

Emily Gilmore.

The ice-queen extraordinaire and deliverer of the sharpest of withering put-downs. As a far stronger contender for grandmother than mother of the year awards, Emily has had something of a transformation, seen, shockingly, in the trailer clearing out her Hartford home Marie Kondo style in jeans and a t-shirt. The revival sees Emily struggling to cope with the loss of her husband Richard, after the actor Edward Herrmann’s death in 2014. While the loss of Richard will be a hole in the heart of the show, seeing Emily, Lorelai and Rory coping with his death will serve as foil to make the occasionally saccharine show all the more poignantly realistic.

Love.

It is impossible to talk about Gilmore Girls without talking about the many men who have featured on the show, and in the hearts of the mother-daughter duo.

Luke Danes was Lorelai’s star-crossed, baseballcap-wearing, dinerowner, and throughout seven seasons he was everything from her friend to her fiancé. While the trailer leaves little doubt that for better or for worse Luke is still a

huge part of Lorelai’s life, Christopher Hayden, Rory’s loveably deadbeat dad and Luke’s long-time rival is also slated to return to the show. Is he reviving his habit of always reappearing at the worst possible moment? Rory’s list of exes were also all present and correct at the casting call: Logan Huntzberger, Jess Mariano and Dean Forrester are set to return, and all three men made appearances in the trailer. Despite the soft spot it is impossible not to have for Logan, it is Jess who is sat in what looks like a newsroom, comforting our disconcerted heroine with a spot of day drinking. The odds on a Gilmore-Huntzberger reunion just got a whole lot longer…

But ultimately, while A Year in the Life is sure to be full of delights, including a reappearance from Melissa McCarthy as Sookie St James, and Liza Weil and Keiko Agena as Rory’s friends Paris Geller and Lane Kim, it’s the motherdaughter-grandmother dynamic that is at the heart of the show’s success. No matter the relationships or men that feature on Gilmore Girls, it’s the warmth and wit of this inter-generational story that keeps us watching. Luke or Christopher; Logan, Jess or Dean, its Lorelai, Rory and Emily’s love for each other I’m really looking forward to seeing again.

Oy with already…

the

goo-goos

Photo Credit: Wikicommon

Concrete.television@uea.ac.uk

24

Television

OlDie but goldie

Kieran Devlin 30 Rock shows mercifully little of the terrible sketch show whose production it follows. The pilot opens by a hotdog stand, as creator and head writer of The Girly Show Liz Lemon buys every sausage and bun available to spite a line-cutting Wall Street-type. A bouncing tune plays as Lemon walks to work while handing out hotdogs to passers-by, most of whom refuse her goofy smile and gift of meat. The tune was coming from Studio 6H, where Girly Show cast members are rehearsing a musical sketch: ‘Pam, The Overly-Confident Morbidly Obese Woman’. Oh god.

Saoirse Smith-Hogan Another year, another attempt at sci-fi. This month, the hit Channel 4 programme Humans celebrates the launch of its second season. Although the whole robots coming to take over the planet idea has been regurgitated and reused constantly throughout the scifi corner of the media world, I’ve personally never seen it done in a way that makes me question by perception of science and technology (apart from I, Robot of course. We all love a generic Will Smith role).

Humans introduces an innovative spin on this genre, not yet seen on British TV. The programme follows the Hawkins family, who have fallen victim to the latest trendy gadget, the ‘Synth’ as they purchase Anita. The Synth is a highly developed

10 years of 30 Rock!

Don’t be fooled by the occasional guest performance from Rip Torn: ‘The Larry Sanders Show’ this ain’t. These are not well-adjusted people making a respectable programme. 30 Rock follows weirdos collaborating on lowest-commondenominator, sub-SNL skits about farts and cat ladies.

Across seven improbable seasons, the show uses television production as wallpaper to explore bizarre, hilarious and often touching relationships between a diverse – and diversely strange – range of characters. But, despite the frequently wacky plotlines,

these people do not solely exist to deliver punchlines.

As they attempt to find happiness and success, such circumstances as the very real fear of a cast member stabbing Conan O’Brien, or the trials and tribulations of dating someone who performs a drag act as you, or even a 52 year-old NBC executive attempting to thwart his schoolgirl nemesis, all serve to develop characters and relationships. Liz Lemon, the overworked and underappreciated head writer of an NBC sketch show, the well-meaning nerd trying to ‘have it all’ in New York City, is our hero

– but 30 Rock is populated with characters as engaging as they are hilarious. In its tenth anniversary year, it is worth visiting these old friends – or maybe meeting them for the first time.

Humans robotic human who looks and sounds exactly like you and me. They are deeply intellectual beings who can provide you with statistic information on the weather, last night’s football results or how that Red Bull/Chocolate Cake combination you had for breakfast this morning isn’t going to do you any favours later today. Moreover, their incredible strength and agility exceeds that of any athlete today.

During the season, it is revealed that Anita has an internal malfunction, in that she has

actually gained consciousness, and so have a few of her robo-friends. Alas, this is where the plotline becomes a little far-fetched, due to the fact that a synthetic robot gaining thoughts and feelings is like me getting a first in my degree (a girl can wish, right?). However, the improbability of the whole thing adds to the fictional elements of this bizarre, yet rather addictive show. With help from The Hawkins, Anita attempts to save herself and Synths like her from government and scientific officials who dislike this peculiar breed of robot.

Although the show may be slightly hit and miss, and, let’s be honest, Channel 4 aren’t known for their gripping dramas, Humans still provides some fantastical entertainment to my Sunday evenings.

Most of all, it has me thinking about the future of sci-fi in relation to the evolution of the human race. Will technology ever advance enough for robots be integrated in to our society?

Will they take our jobs, as seen in the first episode of Season 2? Or does the fictional aspect of Sci-Fi completely surpass any scientific attempts? I have no Synth brain, and am unable to comprehend these kinds of questions, but the writers of Humans sure give it a good try.

Illustrations Billium Jean

Television 25

Concrete.television@uea.ac.uk

Guilty Pleasure: Cartoons We are millennials and we deserve nice things

Harriet Griffiths I recall, with a strong sense of sepia toned nostalgia, the euphoric excitement that would erupt when at its usual scheduled time at 6pm, The Simpsons would open up with a ‘Treehouse of Horror’ Halloween special.

These episodes were warped versions of the cartoon family’s normally light hearted comedy stylings; sinister parallel universes would be traversed, kids would be eaten by their teachers, Homer would swear. When you are under ten and the raciest thing you were allowed to watch on TV was Byker Grove, these specials were a big deal.

Fortunately, we’re all now fully functioning adults, (ha ha) and therefore entitled to watch anything we please. My genre of choice the majority of the time? Adult cartoons.

Let me explain why.

Despite having been existent since the 1970s with shows like Wait Till Your Father Gets Home, cartoons catering specifically for grownups did not quite gain their foothold in the TV viewing market until the 1990s, when stoner cartoon Beavis and Butthead and its subsequent MTV spinoff Daria unintentionally made their leading characters into cultural icons.

Now there are a

wide selection of channels (albeit primarily in America) boasting their own off-beat humorous animated show.

Cartoon viewership among adults has never been higher.

Yet, this would not be a very balanced article if the controversy surrounding some more current animated hits was not addressed. Let us take Fox’s most successful Family Guy, for example.

The show is perhaps infamous for regularly, and often inappropriately, making jokes of very real, very serious issues like abortion, incest, rape, paedophilia and homophobia. To this, I have no defence or answer. It is pretty unforgiveable, and could be easily avoided. But I would not call this offensive humour baseless, or anti-intellectual.

Cartoons are frequently seen as exaggerated portrayals of everyday life – take American

Dad or ABC’s Simpsons spinoff The Critic. The starring characters are caricatures of people we all encounter in our day to day lives. Perhaps any controversial opinions held by such characters are more ironic when viewed in the wacky context of the cartoons themselves. After all, the characters themselves cannot be taken seriously, so why should their opinions?

It is then easier to distance one’s self from the darker and crasser jokes told, as they are not being acted out in the ‘real world’.

Despite this quagmire of mixed views on the subject, one thing that is undeniable is the massive popularity of the adult cartoon genre. And why is this? Why are more millennials content with watching a format originally aimed at children? Here is my theory.

The transition from childhood to adulthood is always tough in a multitude of ways, but combining that with higher university fees, rising mental health statistics among young adults, the death of David Bowie, and Trump’s election it is enough to turn any hard-hit millennial’s stomach. Could we be less eager to grow up because of this? You do not have to look far to see that ‘regression sessions’ are one of the most popular travelling club nights in the UK, and the nostalgic ‘you know you were a [blank] kid when…’ pages and memes on social media are inescapable. Cartoons take us back to our fondest memories of childhood – where caring about stuff was for grown-ups and birthdays were a celebration of another conquered milestone rather than a depressing countdown.

So kick back and travel drunkenly through space and time with Rick and Morty; despair at the depravity of has-been fame with Bojack Horseman, and marvel at Grandad Freeman’s unusual dating choices in The Boondocks. There is tonnes of funny, insightful and intelligent adult animations out there.

We are millennials, and we deserve to have nice things.

Illustration: Images credit: Google Flickr Images

Music 27

Concrete.Music@uea.ac.uk

New Releases

Chris grosset Babes Never Die Honeyblood

The Japanese House From Glasgow duo Honeyblood comes a beautiful and unashamedly frenetic second album that sounds much like it should be blared at top volume from the set of a small-budget indie flick. Highlights from the album are the rhythmically energetic ‘Sea Hearts’ and the building ‘Love Is A Disease’. A fantastic sophomore effort that begins fiery and ends leaving you wanting more with only a few minor drop-offs in the middle; look forward to where this band are heading!

JOsephine Dowswell Joanne Lady Gaga

“I didn’t want to assign my whole identity to one thing I was doing in my life” Mireia Molina The Japanese House is the solo project of singersongwriter Amber Bain.

Starting out in 2015, Amber has already released her third EP, and has just begun a US tour. A couple of hours before her recent gig at Norwich Arts Centre, Mireia Molina sat down with Amber to talk The Japanese House, and its meaning to her as an artist.

‘

How was the transition from writing your songs solo to touring around Europe and America?

“Hey! Touring is obviously a lot different to making music in your bedroom. It’s quite overwhelming when you realise you’ve actually got a record deal, so then I had to play the songs live. Then you just get sent away on tour!”

Though perhaps not living up to the iconic brilliance of The Fame Monster, and not conceptually concise like Artpop, chameleon Lady Gaga gladly returns with the anticipated Joanne: an album without the extraordinary ‘“rah rah ah-ah-ah’s”, the meat dress and the ever-controversial burqa, but instead the woman herself, Stefani Joanne Germanotta.

The wonderfully personal feel of the eponymous Joanne must be a delight to fans – poignant to herself about personal revolution

‘ How significant is your name to your music and what you want it to be like?

“I don’t know if it’s significant in terms of my music, I think it is significant because of the fact that I don’t use my own name. I didn’t want to assign my whole identity to one thing I was doing in my life.”

‘

‘

Is the concept of androgyny something that you also want to include in your music?

Is there an idea that links the four songs on your new EP together?

“I think that unless you write a song about being a boy or a girl, all music is androgynous. I think it’s kind of a by-product of writing vague songs rather than consciously deciding to be part of that. I hope it becomes the norm, and that people don’t really care about gender stereotypes.

But I don’t actively try to make my music androgynous, I don’t care if it is, but it is not something that I try with.”

‘ How important is the atmosphere you create in your music?

“The harmonies are the thing I enjoy doing most in music. I think that kind of crosses over to music itself cause that’s all harmonising as well, it’s not just words, it’s sounds. The atmosphere is very important. The songs all have a similar vibe and that’s just a result of me really enjoying making harmonies and pleasant sounds!”

“Some of the songs are older than some of the songs in the first EP. But the way that they’ve been approached is of a certain time. I wrote the song ‘Leon’ in this EP before I wrote ‘Still’, but because of the way I’ve approached it it sounds much more like the artist I am now than the artist I was then. I think the connection is the way that they have been treated. In all of my songs the topics are probably relationships, and heartbreak. It would be interesting to see how an EP would sound if I took one song from each EP and see if it would fit. I don’t know!”

Are you thinking of releasing an album next?

“I’ll probably release another EP first, but I am currently finishing my album on the road. So I reckon I’ll have an album soon!”

The Japanese House’s latest EP, Swim Against The Tide, is out now.

for the full interview, head to concrete-online.co.uk Image credits: Flickr

‘

28 Music

Concrete.music@uea.ac.uk

Pete doherty London’s favourite troublemaker appears matured and accomplished in his latest solo project

Tony allen Across The Door Sill John Howard

Nick Mason Pete Doherty has been many things to many people in his career. It does take a certain character to front one of indie’s most influential bands, go through drug addiction and appear in a French arthouse film, whilst still being capable of putting out music on the other side.

London’s infamous rogue has had a colourful career, rising to prominence as the frontman of The Libertines, a band whose Hyde Park comeback in 2014 had every indie kid wetting themselves with glee. Three nights at Alexandra Palace, a new album and an arena tour, (something monumental enough to even excite my dad to the point of cheering), only added to the wonder that the hot mess the band used to be had found cohesion.

In the years between the multiple comebacks of the band, Doherty fronted Babyshambles, the folky, more mature counterpart to the band of Pete’s youth. This lasted until they hit the live stage, where my memory is of a drunk Doherty 45 minutes late, an amazing show punctuated by sheer chaos.

With his new solo effort, Hamburg Demonstrations, he has created his most coherent release without the creative support of Libertines cofrontman Carl Barat. Nothing quite reaches the delirious heights of ‘Albion’ or ‘F*ck Forever’, but the standard of the album is consistently high. Unlike past efforts, the slower numbers don’t become dreary or rambling.

He also benefits from the regular addition of female vocals, providing a clarity to the narratives of the songs.

The past few years have provided a mix of versatility and fluidity to Doherty’s writing. There is, as usual for a Doherty effort, a rich blend of styles, but they are more professionally bridged than lurched between, an issue some have had with all previous non-Libertines Doherty releases.

This prevents the album from fizzling out into dull oblivion, and without ever confusing you as to what is coming out of the speakers.

Since the fateful night at The middle Hyde Park, Doherty has been of the album has through rehab and settled a treasure trove of down somewhat. Without the chaos in his life it would be apt to wonder whether the excitement may have gone from his music.

Illustration by Mandi Johnson

bangers up its sleeve. ‘Oily Boker’ is probably the best song on the album, but none of its neighbours on the track list pale in comparison.

The album as a whole has a wonderful lo-fi feel to it that feels almost like you are sharing a room with the musician. Intimacy has always been Doherty’s greatest strength and his attempt to avoid the nebulous is what makes this album one of his best. It takes the more relaxed tracks and adds the chaos he thrives on, without making it messy. But mostly it just takes away the layer of polish that often hinders his stark delivery. From the mess of younger years, it seems Doherty has finally found a solid foundation.

Following last year’s success of John Howard and the Night Mail, the seasoned artist carries on his recent purple patch with an experimental, stripped-back solo effort in the form of Across The Door Sill. Howard exposes his signature smooth vocal delivery above lush piano on the five tracks. The LP really gets into gear with the near-ten-minutelong ‘Outward’, while standout song ‘Preservation’ is as good as anything Howard has written.

Across The Door Sill rewards those who persevere to that second listen and beyond.

Georgina Hewison We Got It From Here...

Thank You 4 Your Service A Tribe Called Quest

18 years later, hip-hop pioneers ATCQ reunite for one final albumand with impeccable timing. In a week of political turmoil, their signature jazz-infused rhymes beautifully combine protest of intersectional hatred with love for the new generation of hip-hop and legacy of member Phife Dawg, who passed away in March. ATCQ pass on the torch with an impressive features list, but never stray from their incredibly reflective flow and individual flair. For old hands and newcomers alike, this is a refreshing dose of 90s attitude.

Music 29

Concrete.music@uea.ac.uk

the almighty kate Feenstra It was a wise old superhuman called Grimes who once told Interview magazine, “genres are sort of disappearing, people just use bands as reference points”.

So called ‘post-internet’ music, she says, is blurring the lines between pop, house, electronic, folk, you name it. But isn’t this what music is meant to be? I vividly remember first hearing a mashup between Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ and Outkast’s ‘Hey Ya!’ and wondering why all music wasn’t like this.

Upon finding hit after hit in

the mashup genre (Shakira/Beyonce vs The Arctic Monkeys, Nirvana vs Wild Cherry, and so on) I wondered why more people weren’t making these incredible fusions. Arguably, mash-ups are at the forefront of experimental music, but without the self-indulgence.

It forces the producer to be slick with their editing, to make sure certain melodies stand out, to align harmonies that work - are these not pop sensibilities?

At the same time, it forces them to find new ways

around fusing two supposedly opposing songs musical problem-solving! This is why mashups are incredible to me - when else can we get RnB drums mixed with lo-fi guitar and saccharine vocals?

Retro pan-pipes with trappy snares and Inuit throat singing?

Great music calls for a balance between boundary-pushing and self-discipline. The mashup producer must adhere to certain rules of the songs, but can also tear them apart, put them back together, and

create something different, and yet still recognisable. The craft behind producing these mash-ups is one that signals the lost art of self-restraint and innovation in music.

Mashups give us eccentric blends of wildly different musical categories, proving that we don’t have to conform to the tyrannical idea of ‘genre’, and can instead bask in the beauty of divergent sounds colliding.

beautiful ballads... ... or merely a melody? ellen foley Most of the time for me, songs are just songs. As a general rule they last between three and five minutes, have a few verses, a repeatable riff breaking them up and, if you’re lucky, a bridge to add a bit of variation. I love these songs.

Image credit: Pixabay; user Werner22brigitte

There’s no commitment, no stress about finding the hidden meaning layered and coded in the four chords of the chorus, and no desire to find it. A song often exists only in the time it takes to listen to it, and then it’s gone, gone until the next time you have it on one of your Spotify playlists.

Once in a while, though, you’ll find a song that does mean something. A song where you look up the lyrics and pick apart every line, every phrase, because every inch of it speaks to you. When you hear this song it’s like waking up, and it becomes not so much a song, but a story: your story. It’s as if the writer has reached out a hand to you

and offered you a piece of your own soul.

I don’t have many of these songs. Even as I write this ‘definition’ I’m scratching some tracks off the list in my head, because so few make the cut. Here’s one I keep coming back to though: ‘Goodbye England (Covered in Snow)’ by Laura Marling.

And the lines that so perfectly capture the meaning of a meaningful song: “And I tried to be a girl who likes to be used, but I’m too good for that, there’s a mind under this hat...” They’re all good lines, but I’ll leave you with these because they mean something to me.

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