DN 33

dn

degrees north #33 feb/mar 2009

PLUS

Elections info! p9

ALSO INSIDE: The Futureheads - Local music - Kate Winslet Varsity preview - Recipes - Music & Film reviews and the DN awards. master_doc33.indd 1

06/02/2009 10:57:20

17 - The inaugural DN awards, starring Radiohead, Obama and more

28 - Dartz, TSSLS and the above Djanglearbra

33 - Our preview of this year’s Varsity event

34 - DN’s sporting review of 2008

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degrees north February/March 2009 Issue 33 05 Editorial Editor Jamie Smith’s welcome to DN 33.

06 Columnists Chappers and Briggsy rant about local pub closures and the BRIT awards.

08 News from the SU The latest from the Students’ Union including very exciting news about the upcoming Rag week and all-important elections.

10 Recipes DN kitchen queen Kat Baggott comes up with two tantalising treats. Kebabs and smoothies, yum yum!

11 R.I.P. Woolies Mark Grainger explains why everyone’s favourite pick ‘n’ mix store has fallen by the wayside.

12 How to... Move on Monica Stoffel’s helpful guide to moving on and leaving the past behind you.

Does not include spending a week crying and listening to nothing but Bob Dylan.

13 Horoscopes What’s in your stars this month? You might find out here....but probably not.

So don’t get your hopes up.

14 Culture The return of the feature we premiered in DN 32 with a short story by Pete Connify and poetry by Laura Burrell.

17 The DN awards The very best of 2008’s music, films, games and more, courtesy of DN’s team of writers.

21 Survey stuff Lucy Duffield introduces you to a couple of surveys demanding your attention.

22 The Futureheads A year of DN wouldn’t be complete without an interview with local indie heroes the Futureheads.

24 Music reviews What we think of the new releases by Franz Ferdinand, White Lies and more.

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25 Film reviews What should you go to see at the flicks this week? Here’s our guide.

26 Kate Winslet We went to London to see two of 2009’s hottest films, both starring Kate Winslet, the Reader and Revolutionary Road.

28 Local music special DN introduces you to the Small Screen Light Show, Djanglearbra and Dartz.

32 BUCS preview A look ahead to the National Sports Championships where universities from around the country compete.

33 Varsity preview Varsity is one of the biggest events of the academic calendar. Next month the UoS does battle with students from Teesside.

34 Sport review of the year David Allison eloquently sums up the sporting year, looking back at the success of Team GB at the Olympics.

03 06/02/2009 10:57:25

DN

Opinion DN

Welcome

Degrees North magazine

to Issue 33 of Degrees North.

* USSU, Edinburgh Building, City

Hello again! I hope your Christmas was suitably Christmassy and your New Year suitably drunken and that 2009 is treating you well so far. Eee, isn’t it cold?!

Campus, Chester Road, Sunderland, SR1 3SD 8 dnmagazine@sunderland.ac.uk (0191 515 2957

Most of us here at DN are now well into our final year here at the University of Sunderland, so the J word is starting to rear its ugly head.

Yep, that’s right: JOBS!

Editor Jamie Smith

If you’re in the same position, good luck. We’re all going to need it.

Deputy Editor Adam Chapman Features Editor Lucy Duffield Entertainment Editor Stephen Milnes Sports Editor David Allison Picture Editor Hal Ridge Web Editor Scott Goodacre Contributors Kat Baggott, Matthew Briggs, Laura Burrell, Mike Carter, Adam Clery, Pete Connify, Mark Grainger, Paul Michael Hillman, Monica Stoffel, Shaun Wathey.

The lack of lectures in third year has given us plenty of time for reflection, and that’s where the very first DN awards come in. From page 17, we introduce you to the finest entertainment and events of 2008, Well, in our opinion anyway.

Obviously, that man Barack Obama gets a big mention. The man that now has the most recognisable face on the planet has a big job ahead of him, and we’d like to wish him all the best.

Not that he probably reads DN, but you never know...if you’re out there Barack, give us a shout.

At the back end of the mag, we have more of 2008’s good stuff, with DN’s new Sports Editor David Allison’s round-up of all that was great and good in British sport last year.

Hence no mentions of the national sides for cricket or rugby.

But University sport gets a mention too, with previews of the upcoming Bucs Championships and Varsity event. Shaun Wathey is your man on page 32 with the lowdown.

Also inside this issue, we have the almost annual DN catch up with Sunderland’s biggest cultural export of the past decade: the Futureheads. Adam Chapman met with Jaff from the band, ahead of their show at Gateshead’s Sage venue at the back of last year. Read all about it on page 22.

There’s more music on page 24, with reviews of the latest and greatest albums, and on page 29, with an interview with DN’s tip for 2009, the Small Screen Light Show.

Well, I’ll let you get on with the rest of the mag. By the way, your hair looks nice today.

Designer and Production Adam Chapman, Stephen Milnes, Jamie Smith, Monica Stoffel.

Thanks...

Allen, Sue, Steve and all the staff at the Students’ Union and Potts printers.

You’re all too good to us!

The views expressed in DN are of individual contributors and do not reflect the opinions of the University of Sunderland Students’ Union.

The Union’s official views and policies can be found at www.sunderlandsu.co.uk.

Content is not permitted to be reproduced without consent of DN magazine.

Cheers,

Jamie Jamie Smith, Editor

Degrees North IS NOW RECRUITING! Looking to get some work published? Want to bulk up your CV? Just think you can do better than us? We’re willing to give you that chance. Drop us a line at dnmagazine@sunderland.ac.uk and we’ll take it from there.

You can also come along to one of the weekly DN meetings in the Ivy House on Wednesdays to meet us in person and buy us beer and stuff. We’re normally in there from 8pm ish and there’s a quiz after. What are you waiting for?

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05 06/02/2009 10:57:26

DN Opinion

Chappers Briggsy Adam Chapman thinks you should drink more.

Well, drink more often in local pubs, anyway.

Pubs are places close to my heart, being a student, layabout and, well, borderline alcoholic.

But I don’t imagine I can be the only one that spent most of my time as a college student using my various local pubs to prepare for the harder drinking days of university (or to warm up for a night making an underage fool of myself in town). It’s in local pubs where you learn how to carry three pints at once, without turning the floor into something resembling the old Manor Quay (may it rest in peace), and where you learn that, once you’ve been served, you should get out of the sodding way.

However, sadly, it appears their days could be numbered. Nationally, four pubs a day are closing their doors for the final time, and in the Sunderland and East Durham area, dozens of once busy locals have found themselves simply unable to afford to continue. People simply aren’t piling through their doors and then staggering out again, like they once did.

Mix this with the GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS and it’s little wonder that people are choosing to save their pennies by staying in with a supermarket crate and Guitar Hero, or heading into livelier town centres at little extra cost.

Although, as one landlady suggested to me: “Girls want to go into town because they think they can pull a footballer.” Surely you only start getting delusional and over-confident after you get mullered?

But local village pubs are “the lifeblood of their community”, as many put it. It’s here you hear the crack, the gossip, and the downright untrue. Who’s shagging who, who smacked who, and who’s signing who (Kaka spotted in Dalton Park with Niall Quinn. Honest).

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It’s also in locals that you truly see the ‘characters’ of a place, the local bullshitters, mentalists, hard cases and Elvis-impersonators ,that can turn the dullest of Wednesday nights into a bizarre combination of The Royle Family and The Hills Have Eyes. It’s where you can watch in amazement as a wedding cake sails out of a second floor window into a car-park or count the celebrities the Walter Mitty at the bar claims to have met (although only when he was taking time out from having sex with roughly half of the female population of, well, the world).

Various industry groups, such as Camra, are launching campaigns to protect our threatened locals, and I’m happy to do my bit to help.

A few pints and a few games Pint: The humble pint is dying out because of fancy wine of pool or another afternoon slumped in front of Jeremy sodbars and people prefering to drink supermarket lager. ding Kyle? No contest…

Some more likely reasons are the rising prices brought about by the Treasury, and the government’s crusade against bingedrinking, which appears to have increased the cost of your granddad’s weekly pint in the CIU, but done nothing to affect prices in the city centre bars that knock out trebles like there’s no tomorrow (although that is, admittedly, much appreciated).

06

You don’t walk into city centre bars and see the staff start to pour your pint before you’ve even opened your mouth. More likely you’ll have to tell them three times and they’ll still mishear Peroni as Corona anyway, only after you’ve fought your way past threedeep knuckleheads that hang over the bar accosting barmaids for a WKD. And they’ll be playing bloody Sex on Fire AGAIN.

Some of Sunderland’s most student-friendly watering holes are also some of its better ‘locals’.

A local pub doesn’t have to be a spit-and-sawdust dive full of people jibbering on about us being tax-dodgers, as the Royalty and the DN editorial staff’s favourite ‘meeting’ place, the Ivy, will testify.

The industry appears to be unsure as to the reason for the lack of punters.

Some landlords point to the smoking ban, but I don’t know anyone sad enough to stop turning out because they have to huddle in a doorway for a cancerstick.

Opinion DN

You get to know the people and the place itself, and will never have to pay full price for a plumber, because your mate has a mate in the corner, who, for the price of a pint of Smiths and a packet of cheese and onion, will fix that dodgy tap without a second thought.

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And without honing your trade in a local, you won’t be able to spend three years at uni arguing with people who play different pool rules than you do…it’s two shots, follow-on, OK?

This issue, Matthew Briggs is annoyed at an awards ceremony. Hope it’s not the DN awards....

If your memory stretches as far back as November, you’ll remember that I used my column in the last issue to put the boot into the Turner Prize. After that, I did plan to leave award ceremonies alone and move onto other more pressing matters.

gongs? Coldplay’s most recent album has meant the Brit organisers have an excuse to nominate them for every award they’re even vaguely able to qualify for, despite the fact they’re a pale imitation of their former selves.

Unfortunately, this issue will hit news stands in the middle of the early 2009 award season glut and, due to a blatant lack of creativity on my part (and a shed load of university work), I’ve been forced to take the easy option and repeat a winning formula. And what better to repeat it on than the king of music industry self fellation - the Brits.

If they do manage to win any of the categories expect the statuettes to be up on eBay before you can say “And the winner is…”. They’re going to need some money to pay Joe Satriani’s legal costs. Welsh songstress Duffy also has a plethora of nominations under her belt. This is the point where I’d usually stick the boot in and call her a vacuous, talent free harridan, but since I really haven’t paid enough attention to her I honestly can’t make that assumption with a clear conscience. She could be quite good for all I know.

This year’s dirgefest will be presented by the lovely Kylie Minogue, along with James Cordon and Mathew Horne. Since I seem to be the only person in the country who finds the latter two painfully unfunny, I’ll not dwell on it for too long, for fear of being chased off the campus by an angry mob of Gavin and Stacey fans.

Still, they can’t do a worse job than the Osbournes, who muddled their way through last year’s event, Ozzy selling his soul by presenting awards to bands he wouldn’t have even spat on back in his heyday and Sharooooooon acting like a drunken aunt at a wedding.

winning. This year, MIA, Seasick Steve and Fleet Foxes have been thrown into the mix and while artistically they’re head and shoulders above the other names in there, unfortunately they don’t have a chance.

We’ve also got the handful of live performances to look forward to as well. Last year’s godawful Rihanna/Klaxons medley (something which even Mark Ronson wouldn’t have attempted) set the bar pretty low. That means that U2 should be able to deliver a rendition of their latest single Get On Your Boots without too much pressure.

Fingers crossed Bono suddenly realises how much of a prat he looks in cataract glasses before having a compound nervous breakdown mid-song.

You may think I’m being a bit harsh on the Brits, but the criticism is well deserved. Far from trying to stem the tide of junk produced by artists across the UK and further afield, it just encourages them. It panders to the general public, who, quite frankly, wouldn’t know a good song if it jabbed them repeatedly in the ribs with a scimitar. Case in point - in 1999, Steps were thought to be a shoe in for the best breakthrough act, but were surprisingly beaten to it by Scots indie minor legends Belle & Sebastian.

Cue a national outcry and claims of vote Obviously, this being the Brit rigging. Rather than stand by their Awards, there’ll inevitably be guns and remind the general public BRIT:Unfortunately the days of Cocker and controversy, probably in the form that Steps were shit and Belle & SeChumbawumba are long, long gone. of a tame, seemingly off-the-cuff bastian weren’t, the Brits decided to remark by one of the presenters, go cap in hand to the general public which will gain a mild titter from and beg for forgiveness, by creatthe audience, before being blown out of all However, the worst of those up for an ing a one off award the next year which, proportion the next day by the tabloids. award has to be Scouting for Girls, who’ve surprise, surprise Steps won. 11 year olds managed to bag a completely undeserved across the land rejoiced.

However, that’s small fry and there’ll prob- three nominations. Their bland, middle of ably be nothing really contentious for the the road pop music is so bloody inoffen- With that complete lack of backbone in press to chew over, certainly nothing in sive and nice they’re probably on the ap- mind, it’s pretty hard to feel anything but the mould of Jarvis Cocker’s stage ‘inva- proved play list of every dictatorship going. disdain for this spectacle. The format has sion’, Chumbawumba throwing iced water As I type, thousands of North Koreans are become stilted and contrived, even though at John Prescott, or the KLF (Wikipedia, probably moaning in agony, as She’s So it pretends to wallow in an air of nonchakiddies) firing machine gun blanks into the Lovely gets yet another airing on state lance. Leave the over hyped and self imcrowd during their set and dumping a dead controlled radio. portant award ceremonies to MTV, where sheep outside the doors of the aftershow only Kanye West and screaming teenage party, before announcing they’re quitting To try and maintain the fact the organisers girls seem to give a toss about the outcome the music business. are ‘down wif da kidz’, they’ve nominated and then maybe I’ll find something different several acts that’ll attract the more knowl- to moan about.

So, who’s in the running for this year’s edgeable music fan, but have no chance of

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07 06/02/2009 10:57:28

DN News

RAG IS COMING Excitement is building about the return of RAG week this month.

RAG (Raise and give) is a chance for students to raise money for a variety of charities by taking part in fun events.

The University of Sunderland has not taken part in a RAG for many years and the event is set to be one of the most memorable of the academic calendar.

This year’s Students’ Union President Greg Du Bois spoke to DN about the plans: “RAG week is very popular with universities around the country. The last substantial attempt to run a RAG at Sunderland was over six years ago.

“It’s quite a daring and daunting task starting one from scratch, but Ciara [Education and Welfare Officer at the SU] and I were up for the challenge. If Newcastle and Loughborough can do it, Sunderland can too!”

RAG will take place from Monday February 23rd to Saturday March 7th.

RAG in Sunderland will kick off bright and early on the Monday morning, with a RAG Raid across the city centre. Teams of collectors will compete to raise as much money as possible from people in town.

On the same day, the SU will hold a hospital

bed push, which does exactly as it says on the tin! Groups of volunteers in fancy dress will ride a hospital bed around the city, collecting as they go.

RAG: Some of the SU Exec with dedicated Rag Raiders

The following day is Sports Day at Ashbrooke Sports Ground. There will be sports taking place all day (even if it rains!) and entry is just £2. Food will be available and there will also be an open bar on site.

The following Wednesday night will see a Masquerade Ball (to be called Mask-or-Drag Ball) at Campus from 8pm, so dig out your best costumes to head down to the club’s ever busy Juicy night.

We’re doing a speed dating event for Valentine’s Day for all you sexy singletons out there!

We’ve also got a lot going on behind the scenes as Debbie Sykes-Waller is conducting a PR practical project promoting the society and I am creating us a website so you never miss a thing.

Finally, remember February is Gay History Month, so keep an eye out for all the events taking place and take a moment to reflect on past struggles in the LGBT community.

See you all soon,

love Dan x

ELECTIONS INFOrmation Would you like to be a member of the Executive team and oversee the running of YOUR Students’ Union?

Then now is the time to consider that question seriously - Yes – its that time of year!

Greg told DN: “I hope I speak for everyone involved so far, but I really can’t wait for Monday February 23rd now! The fortnight has lots on store, and all we need now is volunteers.”

Elections by the student body for the sabbatical and non sabbatical positions take place on 16/17 March, positions are open for nominations at the end of February.

The charities that RAG will raise money for have been chosen by the Executive Committee at the Students’ Union and they are Breast Cancer Campaign, Everyman, Right To Play, Marine Conservation Society & COCO.

Interested and want to know more about a

If you are interested in helping to raise money during the RAG events there are a number of ways you can get in touch with the SU. You can drop an e-mail to rag@sunderland.ac.uk, call 0191 515 3030, or drop in to the Students’ Union offices on the City Campus site.

The more people that help out, the more money can be raised for the chosen charities, which will be split equally between them.

RAG: If we wear silly outfits will people donate more? Maybe...!

Thanks to Debbie Sykes-Waller for all the pics on this page, and the cover pic too. master_doc33.indd 8-9

It’s not too late to join us as we’ve still got more destinations to tick off, including Newcastle, Blackpool and Brighton!

First off, I know last semester was a good one, but this term we’re going to top that! Big thank you to everyone who attended last year’s events, it makes planning them worthwhile.

giggle at the hopeless singers.

That night, budding singers can enter a RAG Factor talent show at Bonded Warehouse at 7.30pm.

There will be drinks offers on the night, so no excuses for coming down to take part, or for a

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L.G.B.T.

Hope you all had a good Christmas and We’ve also got New Year and have some big events Manchester: Gays on tour settled back into work. planned for the We have lots more exciting events planned SU’s RAG fortnight, which include an auction this term. “Gays on Tour” has begun and 17 of for a date with our committee members and us attended our first stop, which was Manchessome surprise volunteers, so make sure you ter, and everyone had such an amazing time get yourself to that! You might not get another we didn’t want to come home. chance!

On Tuesday night, the LGBT society will be collecting money at Ttonic, Black Bull, Luma and Glass Spider.

They will also be holding an ‘Adopt a Gay’ auction. Contact LGBT Officer Dan Frost for more details.

Hi all,

News DN

Come along to one of the sessions and find out more and ask any questions you may have, you will be able to hear what the individual job roles are all about, what it means to be an Officer in respect of your legal respon-

sibilities and being a trustee of the Students’ Union and collect information regarding those all important election dates.

Alternatively please see a member of the present Executive or Marian Alderson, the Assistant Returning Officer. (marian.alderson@ sunderland.ac.uk)

Positions available: Sabbatical (full-time) President Vice President Education & Welfare Officer Sports & Activities Officer Entertainments & Media Officer Non-sabbatical (part-time):

Nominations Open: Nominations Close: Candidate Briefing: Question Time: Informal Hustings: Voting: Count:

Friday 27 February Midday Friday 6 March 2pm Friday 6 March OR 2pm Monday 9 March (Compulsory attendance at one of the above) Thursday 12 March, Midday, Prospect Bldg Room 007, St Peters Campus Friday 13 March, 6pm Bonded Warehouse Monday/Tuesday 16/17 March Wednesday 18 March, Bonded Warehouse

International Officer Student Representation Officer LGB Officer PLUS on behalf of the University: Student Representative to the Board of Governors Student Support Officer

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particular role…… there will be a CANDIDATE OPEN DAY on Friday 20 February 09 in Edinburgh Building Meeting Room, with a session at 10am and one at 2pm.

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www.sunde

06/02/2009 10:57:32

DN Feature

Feature DN

And not a Supernoodle in sight...

Still on that New Year health trip? DN kitchen queen Kat Baggott conjures up some more healthy student scran.

Banana Berry Smoothie

Lamb Kebab with Mint Dressing

Some people tend to skip breakfast and just grab something on the go, maybe after a lecture.

However, it is true that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, as it enables your metabolism to kick-start properly.

One of my favourite breakfasts is this really refreshing smoothie. Not only is it delicious, but it’s also a great hangover cure, as it’s full of Vitamin C and goodness!

I am sure you recognise that feeling, of the morning after the night before.You have a very vague memory of what has happened, your hair looks like it doesn’t even belong to you, and your breath tastes and smells like a garlic plant.

Serves: 1 Preparation time: 5 minutes.

Ingredients: 1 small banana, 50g fresh or frozen raspberries, 1 x strawberry Muller light yoghurt, 200ml skimmed milk, 2-3 drops of Vanilla Essence Instructions: 1. Break the banana into pieces and place in a blender with most of the berries. Next, add the yoghurt, milk and vanilla. Whizz together until smooth, for about 15-20 seconds.

2. Pour into a large glass, and decorate with the few remaining berries.

I have been there, many a time, and, to me there’s nothing worse than a dirty kebab, when in a sober state of mind. So, below, I have provided a healthier take on a regular kebab. Plus, it’ll save you a bit of money too and it tastes delicious. It also serves four, so you can treat your housemates!

Serves: 4 Preparation Time: 10 minutes Ingredients: 2 tablespoons of low-fat mayonnaise, 4 tablespoons of natural yoghurt, 1 teaspoon of mint sauce, 4 x medium pitta breads Shredded lettuce, 1 medium portion of cucumber, 8 cherry tomatoes (2 per person) 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 175g of lean lamb steak, cut into thin strips, 1 pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper Instructions: 1. Mix the mayonnaise and yoghurt together, and stir in the mint sauce. Put to one side.

2. Warm up each pitta bread under the grill, then split and fill with the lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Heat the oil in a wok, and stir fry the lamb for 5-8 minutes, until it is to your liking. Divide the meat between the pittas and spoon an equal amount of dressing into each one. Serve at once.

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www.sunderlandsu.co.uk

R.I.P. Woolies

Thanks to the “credit crunch” and the continued implosion of the global economy, many of our most recognised symbols of high street consumerism are vanishing.

Mark Grainger examines the collapse of the much loved Woolworths chain and some of the effects it is going to have on the high street and your wallet.

Throughout December, something rather odd happened - even more odd than the usual rush for obscure cosmetic produce and gift cards and that the fact that people inexplicably start eating sprouts.

For around five weeks, the entire country seemed to be overrun by the rose-tinted mist of nostalgia. People were crying in the streets and remembering the good times to help them through the bad, all the while wondering how life could possibly go on.

Well, not quite, but that’s the way it was heading. I am, of course, talking about the abrupt closure of Woolworths and to be honest, given the public’s reaction, you would be forgiven for thinking that the only shop that sold oxygen was closing its doors and it would be first come first served for the remaining air.

the supermarkets or more focused retail outlets which knew what their gap in the market was, unlike Woolies, which always seemed to be spreading itself a bit thin.

As soon as the music singles market imploded Woolworths was in danger; their relatively small range of albums, DVDs and videogames lacked variety and was fairly easily out priced by dedicated stores.

They sold a lot of toys, but most shopping for kids is done over the festive period, and more and more parents than ever turned to the internet this year, instead of venturing outside and facing the electric shock that invariably came from touching the banister at any branch of Woolies.

As local people up and down the land registered their disbelief to the television news cameras, Woolworths began to close its stores and, whilst some mourned the passing of the venerable, ninety nine year old company, the rest of us were left wondering how exactly they had managed to stave off collapse for quite so long.

Interestingly though, whilst everyone was morning the loss of their favourite random crap emporium, nobody seemed all that bothered about all the jobs that were now being made redundant, instead concerning themselves with buying the shop fittings and fixtures on the day of closing, leading to sights in-store resembling a post-apocalyptic survival struggle, as people scrambled over each other to fill bin bags full of whatever they could lay their hands on.

I mean, come on, what exactly was their unique selling point? Pick and mix? Hardly the foundations of a sturdy business, especially when you consider that everything that Woolworths sold could be found cheaper in

The sudden demise of Woolworths has also meant that multi-media outlet Zavvi is slowly but surely selling all of its stock and closing its doors across the nation, and that Richard Branson has the right to look even more like

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a smug git for having the foresight to pull out of the then Virgin Megastore chain, before the whole thing collapsed around his ears.

Zavvi shared product distribution links with the Woolworths company and, in reality, losing them is an even bigger blow to the high street than Woolworths.

Zavvi was the only shop that could really rival HMV as a stockist of all media and would often provide a better price or offer than the dog with the gramophone.

Supermarkets often give an alternative and cheaper price on new releases and chart items, but their range of stock simply could not rival that of HMV and Zavvi. Now, with their rivals out of the way, nothing is really stopping HMV raising the prices of a lot of their products, without fear of being undercut by anyone on the high street.

A high street without variety and choice is a dangerous and expensive place for the consumer, and this is just one incident within the retail sector, it’s happening all over. What this means in the broad sense is yet to be seen, and probably won’t be seen for a year or two yet.

One thing is for certain though, we are all going to have to be either more careful with our spending or hunt high and low for the cheapest price. It’s that or end up poorer than most students already are.

11 06/02/2009 10:57:33

DN Feature

How do I move on ?

Losing the companionship of someone close to you can result in emotional mayhem, conjuring up all sorts of horrible feelings that could make you wish you had never met that person in the first place. One minute you might be ready to accept what has happened and the next minute you might be feeling anxious, sad or empty.

If you have any of these disturbing motions circulating through your mind, Monica Stoffel suggests you tell them to sit down and shut up while you take a moment to put things in perspective.

Before you read any further, you need to know that the following advice is probably not tailored to your exact dilemma, nor does it apply to those who are trying to move on from the death of a loved one.

That is a whole other can of worms. If this is your unfortunate situation, there are several links provided at the end of this article to assist you.

Regardless of the individual circumstances each of us experience in our relationships, the sentiments that we have for the people we love can be remarkably similar.

When you mourn the split with a loved one, you might think it feels as if they have died, but they have not. They may no longer be home when you get there or they may have shut you out of their world altogether, but they are out there somewhere, living their life without you in it. This may sound harsh, but the sooner you get your head around this concept, the easier it will be to move on.

What is sometimes worse is when the person you have split with carries on this alternate life right before your eyes, or

you remain in civil contact because you share some of the same friends. Women sometimes prefer these situations but men often do not stand a chance. This is not because men are weaker emotionally, this just happens to be one of those strange gender-related coping mechanisms, which probably had a purpose at some stage in human evolution, but in today’s society it’s only used subconsciously to confuse ourselves and alienate others.

In general, some people may find that contact with their ex makes it more difficult to gain a sense of closure to the relationship or it may lead them to fabricate the idea that they have a chance of getting back together. It may happen, but it may not.

This is how chances work, so do not to put too much faith in a particular outcome.

More than likely, there were aspects of your partnership that discouraged you as well. It is rare that one person in a relationship is blissfully happy while the other is completely dissatisfied. But if you find that you are constantly asking yourself,

Romanticise the present: Because living in the past can be hazardous to your health.

You can’t physically go back in time so don’t dwell on all the things you wish you would have done.

“Whatever has happened is in the past, so unless you drive a time travelling DeLorean, there is no going back, my friend.”

Feature DN “What if I had done this,” or “What if I had said that,” you need to stop this immediately. Whatever has happened is in the past, so, unless you drive a time-travelling DeLorean, there is no going back my friend.

If you know for a fact that your actions contributed to the break-up, acknowledge this and make a personal commitment to avoid repeating the same mistakes next time.

And yes, there will be a ‘next time.’ It’s not likely to be with the same person, but think of it this way: if you already caught someone that wonderful, then what’s stopping you from doing it again, once you get it together? Absolutely nothing.

Having said that, try not to feel as if the time you spent with your ex is wasted now that the relationship is over. Relationships can teach us a lot more about ourselves than they do about the people we have them with. Just because things are not the way you want them to be at this very moment doesn’t mean they will stay that way. Now is not forever.

While you’re waiting for the scars to heal you may want to do something to alleviate the pain. In order to combat those erratic moods, you may have considered using emotion-mending weaponry.

But what are those? Well...they don’t actually exist, so that’s why people often fight these baddies with physical distractions, such as: burying themselves in work, chain-smoking a pack of cigarettes, nicking a relative’s prescription painkillers, consuming a family-size packet of crisps followed by a 230g bar of chocolate followed by a half bottle of tequila, sleeping 20 hours a day or spending the entire afternoon browsing free internet porn.

The moral of the story: you are not immortal and you must realise that the consequences of counterproductive distractions only work to destroy the greatest instrument you will ever own--your body (OK, maybe this doesn’t apply to the porn, but it depends on what you’re into).

I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t comfort youself or be upset when a relationship ends, because I realise that is the same as saying you shouldn’t wince when you stub your toe.

Being upset is an involuntary reaction, but a broken heart will heal over time, just like that poor toe.

In the meantime, try to leave the physical forces of evil behind you.

Instead, take this time to focus your energy on kicking ass in another aspect of your life, until you’re once again ready to show a special someone the new and improved you.

For advice and information related to this subject, or to contact a relationships expert, visit: http://www.relate.org.uk/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/relationships/ If you are living with unresolved grief after the death of a loved one, a useful place to start gathering helpful information is the Royal College of Psychiatrists website: http:// www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfo.aspx and click on the link for ‘Bereavement.’

Similarly, the relationships section at BBC Online also covers a wide variety of issues with links to external support and counselling: http://www.bbc.co.uk/relationships/coping_with_grief/

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www.sunderlandsu.co.uk

dn horoscopes We’re not the greatest psychics in the world at DN. We can see the future, but we generally have to wait until we can refer to it as “the present”.

Adam Clery on the other hand is known to his mates as Mystic Adam, for reasons which will become obvious, as you check below for your stars.

Capricorn: Panic! Or at least flail your arms around.

As far as I can see, your immediate future contains only a cold tin of beans and repeats of Doctor Who. Aquarius: Some time this week, you will lie down and fall unconscious.You will hallucinate vividly and, when you wake hours later, you may or may not remember a thing. It’s called sleep and it is good.

Pisces: This week, you will receive an email telling you that a) you have won a competition b) somebody fancies you or c) you deserve a massive dong.

Be on the look out for a goat named Penelope.

Aries: Mixed news Aries. On the one hand the chance of you obtaining some toe socks looks likely to double. However, that recurring nightmare about yourself doing… y’know… won’t be going away.

Taurus:You will be utterly plagued by happy people this week. But don’t be swayed by them, stay miserable.Your lucky colour this week is hospital ward grey, but it’s best you don’t ask why.

Gemini: Three times a lady is a hell of a lot of lady, you might think. But, later on this week, you might be thinking: “Actually, that just seems like a fairly standard amount of lady to me”.

Cancer:You will hear news of an excitable old lady this week, disappointingly though, she will just turn out be drunk. Regardless, these events will give you clarity and clarity’s important isn’t it? Whatever.

Leo: Life will throw you a real surprise this week.

For example: a sword made of ham. No matter what happens, take every available precaution to ensure your blood stays in your body.

Virgo: Struggling as we are with the credit crunch, you’ll catch a television advert claiming it can help you. They really want to help you too, they love you.

Also, that degree is honestly not worth the $70.

Libra: It’s pretty amazing really that all this luck, romance and love are going to grab you by the hand and say: “Here is everything you ever wanted, take it.” However, if they ask you to sign in blood, scarper.

Scorpio: Exercise may seem like a dirty word, but until you lose some weight it’s the dirtiest word you’re going to hear for a long time, fatty. No I’m just kidding, you’re beautiful the way you are. Sort of.

Sagittarius: Frankly son, you set your standards too high in 2008. So this year, why not lower them to a more reasonable level. Be aware that only certain countries will allow you to marry your pets.

www.sunderlandsu.co.uk

13 06/02/2009 10:57:34

DN Culture

See You In Church Here at DN Towers we like to do things a little differently sometimes, just to mix it up a bit. So here, instead of two pages of pictures of us messing around at DN Towers or some other gubbins, here’s some literature for you.

Only the incessant, lazy ticking is breaking the silence. The clock has sat on the mantelpiece for the last forty years.

The unused cup-final ticket is propped against it. For most Sunderland supporters the 5th of May 1973 holds glorious memories. Being at, or watching the match. The parade with the team bringing home the cup on the open topped bus, but that was a week ago and my husband missed it. Mind you, he had to miss it the last time they reached the final in 1937. We were saving up to get married.

We were a bit of a mismatch but we were in love and he had steady work which, during the depression wasn’t to be sniffed at. He was handsome and a good kisser. He smiled his smile and my heart would melt, but our religious differences were nearly our downfall.

In the Murton of the 1930s it caused a bit of a stir. My father was so upset he barely spoke to me. When we announced we were getting married holy war broke out!

“A bloody Methodist! What are you thinking, lass?” he roared.

Dad only relented when we agreed to marry in the Catholic Church. My man didn’t convert, he’s very devout.

We turned it to our advantage and it became the premise of our Sunday morning ritual. We get ready together then he says, “See you in Church, pet.” he smiles his smile, melting my heart. Then he strides off to Chapel and I go to Mass. It was private between the two of us until the arrival of our twin boys. Now I get three identical grins every Sunday.

“See you in Church, pet.” was his parting shot at the railway station when he left for the war in 1940. Being married and

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a pitman, his job was protected but tongues wag in small communities so he went. Most of his friends joined the Durham Light Infantry but he picked the Royal Artillery. Just before Christmas 1941 his battalion sailed off to North Africa. At twenty-five he was older than most of his comrades. Some of them never saw twenty-five.

His biggest regret was that he missed his da’s funeral. His father was one of the thirteen men killed in the Murton Colliery disaster on 26th of June 1942.

He’d been injured at the Battle of Gazala when Tobruk fell and was too ill to travel. He maintained he survived because his da died in his place. His faith helps him believe things happen for a reason.

He came home a changed man. With his beloved da, and several of his friends gone he found ‘real life’ a struggle. He’d left me with two toddlers and returned to find two seven year-olds living in his house with his wife. He had to get to know us all over again.

At first the thought of getting excited over a football match after six years of slaughter seemed absurd. His workmates encouraged and cajoled him and eventually he caved in. I got my man back and he smiled his smile. They were instrumental, not only in him going to the match again, but they unwittingly saved my marriage.

“Ye can bawl an’ shout an’ tack it out on the ref instead o’ you-er lass the nars!” And so I was spared a lifetime of subjugation and domestic violence by virtue of Sunderland AFC and the wise words of ex-soldiers and rough pitmen!

The boys followed their da to Roker Park and away matches when they were

www.sunderlandsu.co.uk

First up, a short story from Pete Connify, and then on the right, a couple of poems from Laura Burrell.

Enjoy.

older. My concerned protests fell on deaf ears and he would smile his smile and say, “We’ll be fine, man.” They also followed him down the pit.

He walks away to get his shoes only to return and point at the crockery. He does his mock sergeant-major voice and adopts a military air.

Having said that David has become ‘poacher turned gamekeeper’ and gone into management. He idolises the boys and like me is so proud of everything they do. He didn’t even mind when the Newcastle United scout came to the boys’ school and took a bit of a shine to our Paul.

“Cups and saucers primed for action.

Everyday crockery, plebs for the use of, not the best china – wait for it! Wait for it! Atten . . . tion!!” The boys never tired of this routine when they were young.

Nowadays he laughs to himself and now, as then, I smile and shake my head, “What are you on about you barmy bugger?” I ask and he grins, “Nothing.”

He says, smiling his smile and carrying on.

And here he comes now with a plate of sausage rolls straight out of the oven, pinching one and eating it before the plate reaches the table. He knows it’s too hot and there he goes, puffing and blowing and flapping his hand in front of his mouth, desperately trying to cool it down. He never learns, give it ten minutes and he’ll be whingeing that the roof of his mouth is burnt, his eyes are watering already!

“I don’t like family do’s. Funerals and the like, I never know whose hand I’m supposed to shake and whose I’m not.” he moans. So he offers around plates of ‘volley-vonts’ and tops up drinks.

Before people arrive he goes through the same bizarre rigmarole. It’s comical really, the way he stands by the table muttering, checking everything, mentally ticking everything off his list.

“Yes, it’s all ready,” he says. He points at the plates one at a time and says in a calm, steady voice, “Yes . . . yes . . . yes . . . cling-film on the coleslaw – check!

Silver foil over the ham and peasepudding sandwiches and chicken legs – check!” He points at the cutlery and says, “The knives and forks are on the table. Not the best ones, mind.”

He salutes elaborately, “47273848 Private Edmonds, SAH!” he laughs again and I shake my head again. He sighs wistfully and says, “Those were the days.” He crosses the room and sits down to put on his shoes, informing me, “Yes, I’m getting my shoes on now.

Everything’s done so I’m getting ready.”

He raises his head then the cheeky bugger makes mock gestures with his mouth and hands imitating me nagging.

Me! Mind you he has one eye on the door to make sure I don’t catch him.

Then he stands up and deliberately puts his foot on the chair to tie his lace, lying, “Of course I haven’t got me flamin’ great boots on your good chair. You think I haven’t learned after all these years?”

He thinks I don’t know what he’s doing.

Now he puts on his tie and suit jacket.

He’s caught sight of my reflection in the mirror and as he turns and smiles his smile, “Well, will I do?” he asks, turning, modelling his suit. “Yes it is new,” he continues in answer to my unspoken question, “No that place closed down years ago. No, our David took us to Jackson’s the Tailor on the High Street in Sunderland. Aye, well he wears a

suit for work so he nars the best shops.

Canny though but, eh?”

He’s looking at me for reassurance. “It’s off the peg but you’d never tell. Naw it wasn’t dear, well not by today’s prices.

There’s nee ten-shillin’ tailors now, the nars.” He smiles his smile and adds, “anyway, you’re worth it and you always said you like us in a suit.” He laughs, “Aye, like that dinner suit you gorruz, sorry, Tuxedo! The one I wore at Ernie Taylor’s retirement do at the welfare.

Aye, that’s right I spilt the soup and the stain wadden come out!” he laughs but, glancing out of the window falls silent.

“Aye, here’s the car so I’ll have to get going, pet.” He says as he puts on his coat and tucks in his scarf. “Cowld the day, best wrap up. You wadden think it was May!” he smiles his smile but it flickers and disappears. He steps towards me and looks me straight in the eye.

He takes my photograph down from the wall and holds me to his chest. His heart quickens and his chest heaves as he turns the photograph upwards and looks down at me. He gazes at me intently and he smiles his smile as a tear falls onto my face. He wipes it away with his handkerchief and stifles the rest.

He lifts my photograph to his lips and tenderly kisses my face.

“I’ll see you in Church, pet.” He says for the last time and lovingly replaces my photograph on the wall. He tries to smile his smile, but it’s broken. He turns and walks out. The front door closes and he heads for the waiting car.

Culture DN

POETRY CORNER

By Laura Burrell

The Elephant Squad of 1969 This doll’s broken shattered and worn Her head’s all over the place Been tampered with, ripped and torn Not Real A dusty box Is where she belongs I think not Can’t you hear the circus calling?

Not real Stitched and sewed Buttoned up Under the stairs to suffer no more from the constant terror of a terrible tot

Pink Strawberries She cannot write, she cannot see, the words no longer belong to thee.

I’ll fight the sun, I’ll steal the stars, to rightly claim what is ours.

They’ll shoot for Saturn, take a nap on Mars, never knowing what is to know.

How can you ask for what you never seek, hiding round corners, taking a peep.

The ink dried up, the carpet became clear, who is to ask?

You’re standing too near.

What do you think of DN’s culture feature? Like Pete’s story? Love Laura’s poems? Want to contribute? Let us know by e-mailing us at dnmagazine@sunderland.ac.uk www.sunderlandsu.co.uk

15 06/02/2009 10:57:34

THE DN AWARDS DN website of the year FACEBOOK Everyone on the DN team had a different suggestion for their website of the year, but ultimately there is no denying that one website in particular has yet again dominated our lives.

From SuperPoke to Nations, WordScraper to Likeness, all manner of time-wasters and lecture-disrupters have been made available and kept us from far more pressing matters.

Obama: We love you Barack, we do.

DN ultimate moment of the year OBAMA WINS ELECTION DN’s Moment of the Year came late in 2008, but is surely the only possible winner.

After months of partisan rhetoric, petty squabbling and an eye-watering expenditure on both sides, the American general election finally came around and pitched George Dubya’s mates in the Republican party against, well, the whole of the right-thinking world.

DN most annoying celebrity of 2008 HEATHER MILLS It takes a truly special person to win this award.

You have to truly offend, disgust and churn the stomachs of our team and, over the course of the year, no one did that better than Heather Mills-(formerly)McCartney.

After breaking down on GMTV in 2007, suggesting the press would drive her to death like “what they did to Diana” (oh if only), the former Lady Mucca stepped up her campaign to become the most hated woman in Britain, as her divorce from Sir Paul really got going.

After asking us to pity her poor daughter, living on just £30,000 a year and having to fly (gasp)

And the world truly was behind Democratic candidate Barack Obama, the first black man ever to take the Oval Office, after this momentous victory, which, by American standards, was a veritable landslide.

Preaching hope rather than fear at a time when we need it most, Obama captivated the world, and we make no apologies for our unflinching support of such a leftwing icon: we are students, after all. AC

standard class, the one-legged one-woman crusade to bleed our beloved former-Beatle dry, ended with £23.4 million.

Facebook continues to grow at an annoyingly life-consuming rate.

Alongside all this though was, of course, the hotly-contested New Facebook. Forced on many from the middle of the year and fully implemented in September, the social network exploded with groups damning the new system and calling for a complete blackout of the site.

Or had you forgotten about that already?

Also nominated: failblog.org, youtube.com/experiencewii, Google, the Quietus, the Music Magazine.

MC

Thankfully, she was satisfied at getting £100 million less than her original demand, though she would go on to request an injunction against the full court report “for the sake of the daughter” and not to hide the fact she’s an even bigger twat than we already believe her to be.

Also nominated: Bono, Madonna, Fearne Cotton, George Lamb, Graham Norton.

MC

Mills: What Kanye may refer to as a ‘gold-digger’.

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17 06/02/2009 10:57:38

DN Feature DN band of the year

DN TV show of the year THE IT CROWD RADIOHEAD

On the face of it, Radiohead don’t appear to have been up to much this year. Their latest album In Rainbows was released via the world wide web last year, and no new material seems to be forthcoming.

But the physical release of the record came right at the start of this year, and, as far as we’re concerned, that qualifies them for this award. Anyone that doesn’t like Radiohead simply isn’t worth knowing.

The band spent 2008 on tour, and anyone that caught their stunning, epic live show this summer in one of their park mega-gigs cannot deny the band are at the peak of their creative powers.

In Rainbows brimmed with ideas, as you would expect from a Radiohead album, but they were fully formed and almost commercial for once. Nude found its way on to the adverts for teen drama Skins, and Bodysnatchers and Jigsaw... gave fans some of the most memorable Radiohead riffs in years.

As ever, Richard Ayoade was on top form as the geeky, socially-inept Moss. The episode in which he and The third series of the Channel 4 colleague Roy are trying to become comedy showed that studio‘real men’ by faking knowledge of the based sitcoms with a laughter game of football showcased writer track aren’t the dead dinosaur Graham Linehan’s talent for putting everybody thought they were. his characters in hilariously awkward Matt Berry joined the cast as and uncompromising situations. The owner of Reynholm Industries IT Crowd may not be ground-breakDouglas Reynholm, and ing or innovative in its execution, Katherine Parkinson: IT Girl but it is proof that good characpromptly upstaged his co-stars at every possible opportunity, either terisation and an unpredictable script can still by flirting with as many female employees as he make for terrific television. could or being fitted with electric sex-pants in a desperate attempt to restrain his rampant libido.

Also nominated: Peep Show, The Wire, Gavin & Stacey, Screenwipe, Top Gear. DA

Thom Yorke finally seems comfortable in his skin and, for once, Radiohead almost seemed happy to be one of Britain’s biggest bands. Here’s to two or three years of sulking before they unleash their next masterpiece, after six hellish months in the studio. I can’t wait.

Also nominated: Elbow, Death Cab For Cutie, The Week That Was, The Hold Steady, Dirty Pretty Things (for splitting up).

Radiohead: Band of the year

JS

DN album of the year NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS The year ended with the moustache making an unlikely return, but maybe that all started way back in January, with the more welcome return of Nick Cave and his Bad Seeds cohorts.

Sporting a cowboy-esque tash, Cave released the comeback Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

LP, a ballsy slice of rock-and-roll perfection that saw the Aussie living-legend get his groove on.

Nick Cave: Great facial hair.

Also nominated: Vampire Weekend, Girl Talk, Kings of Leon, Elbow, Radiohead, Los Campesinos! AC

DN song of the year HALLELUJAH The X Factor winner’s version? Awful.

Although Cowell’s latest ghastly offering to the pop scene (although let’s be thankful it wasn’t Eoghan for a moment) did the inevitable and stunk up the Christmas number one spot, previously held by legends such as Mr Blobby and Bob the Builder, it also revived what for many is a classic song, though it may not be under the same artist.

DN solo artist of the year

Not content with releasing one contender for Album of the Year, Cardiff-based seven-piece Los Campesinos! hit us with two records of joyous, literate indie-pop in 2008. Both debut, Hold On Now Youngster… and successor We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed were short, snappy works of breakneck wordplay and sing-along choruses.

Stuffed with anthems for the twee and the disaffected, this is what emo would be if it overdosed on sugar and didn’t grow up watching American teen-dramas.

Also nominated: Glasvegas, Youthmovies, Friendly Fires, and, er, the Saturdays (because Mike fancies them) AC

The only downside? For the next decade or so, any tragic teens to meet their end will misguidedly choose this as their funeral song. I blame Cowell and The O.C to be honest…

MC Leonard Cohen: Now very rich

LADYHAWKE

Paris Is Burning and Professional Suicide were particular highlights from her eponymous debut album, but the whole record carried the kind of groove rarely spotted outside of, well, the eighties.

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LOS CAMPESINOS!

Leonard Cohen’s 80-verse original has been covered by a truly eclectic mix of artists over the year, from U2 to K.D. Lang, with Fall Out Boy, Bon Jovi and, of course, Jeff Buckley in between. Chances are there’s a version you can’t help but love (as well as those you will inevitably loathe *cough* Bono’s) – a point proven when Burke, Buckley and Cohen himself broke into the festive chart.

Interesting pop stars that make excellent music don’t come around very often. But the so-alternative-it-hurts Ladyhawke proved in 2008 that the species is not completely extinct.

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DN new band of the year

The album just had that kind of feel, and the infectious buzz around it made hyperbolic writers like me claim that Pip Brown could in fact save pop music single-handedly.

And to top it all off, she’s from New Zealand. Whatever came out of New Zealand that was any good, eh?

Also nominated: Frank Turner, Marnie Stern, Leonard Cohen, James Morrison, Eoghan Quigg (the child off the X Factor that kept hugging the blonde girl and bursting into tears) JS

www.sunderlandsu.co.uk

DN TV personality of the year CHARLIE BROOKER Another busy year for the multi-talented broadcaster, who cemented his place as one of the leading writers at the Guardian, whilst penning zombie series Dead Set for E4. His satirically pessimistic musings on the state of the world were more entertaining than ever, particularly in the context of the financial crisis in which we currently find ourselves.

reality TV and the world of advertising with particular venom. Speaking straight to the camera from the relative comfort of his home sofa, Sky+ remote in hand, he dissects programmes with a wit and intellect rarely seen anywhere else on television.

Feature DN

Andy Burrows: Driven to drink by Johnny Borrell’s massive ego.

DN worst act of the year RAZORLIGHT

Brooker’s BBC4 show Screenwipe returned in November, taking aim at those old favourites

Also nominated: nobody. Brooker is King. DA

DN TV moment of the year KERRY KATONA ON THIS MORNING

way through one of the most amusing interviews ever conducted on daytime telly.

The continued popularity of Razorlight remains a puzzle to DN. Yeah, so their debut album was a passable set of indie anthems that wasn’t massively out of place alongside fellow early-noughties ragamuffins like the Strokes and the Libertines, but, shortly afterwards, Johnny Borrell disappeared up his own arse, in a way not seen since Bono decided he actually was the Pope, and so two albums down the line, we’re met with another collection of tuneless dross, where fortune-cookie sentiment masquerades as insight.

The car crash that is the life of Kerry Katona took yet another turn for the worse, with her appearance on This Morning.

Poor Fern and Phil didn’t have a clue how to handle it. And yet Iceland still pays her fistfuls of cash to promote their chavvy party food. Funny.

Also nominated: the Saturdays, Kaiser Chiefs, the Ting Tings, the Wombats, Glasvegas, Britney Spears.

AC

Later claiming to be just tired (alright Kerry, we believe you), Katona slurred and stumbled her

Surely the former Atomic Kitten is an outside bet for the Death List this year.

JS

DN turkey of the year STEP BROTHERS Some movies are so bad that they’re good, but they’re rare and, all too often, a bad movie is just plain bad.

Such is the case of Step Brothers, Will Ferrell and John C Reilly’s tale of brotherly love, swimming in a cesspool of toilet humour and innuendo.

You have two 40-year-olds with the mentality of 10-year-olds and yet you come out of the movie thinking that even your younger brother would turn his nose up at some of the wild stabs at humour in the movie. MC

His columns in the Guardian are also highly amusing and entertaining, a collection of erudite observations on modern life, done in a selfdeprecating manner, which means you can’t help but enjoy reading them.

DN film of the year

THE DARK KNIGHT

DN tip for 2009 THE SMALL SCREEN LIGHT SHOW See page 29 for an interview with the band.

Director Christopher Nolan’ s The Dark Knight took the Batman franchise into deeper and darker territory, with the spectacular sequel to Batman Begins. This was as far away from the camp crusading capers of Adam West and Burt Ward as you can imagine, Heath Ledger dominating the screen from the opening frame, with his articulate and menacing portrayal of the Joker. Breaking free from the usual superhero protocol, Batman’s nemesis isn’t interested in money or power, indeed as Michael Caine’s faithful butler Alfred concludes “Some men just wanna watch the world burn.”

There are several brilliant stunts, in particular the scene where an 18-wheel truck is catapulted upside down, but the strength of the film lies not in its technical ability, but in Bruce Wayne’s (Christian Bale) slow realisation that he has met his match in the Joker and has to find a way to protect not only the people of Gotham, but those closest to him as well. It would be no surprise at all to see Ledger posthumously awarded an Oscar for his exhilarating performance.

Also nominated: Wall-E, Iron Man.

DA

Batman: You wouldn’t like him when he gets angry.

www.sunderlandsu.co.uk

19 06/02/2009 10:57:48

DN Feature

DN low point of the year THE CREDIT CRUNCH

2008 will be remembered as the year the arse fell out of the world economy.

American bankers started it, by lending people heaps of money they could never pay back, and the whole thing spiralled out of control, before anybody could say ‘Champagne, anybody?’

Poor Gordon Brown looked a right idiot. We were all rich before he left the Treasury, now we barely have two pennies to rub together, with Thunderbird wannabe Alistair Darling in control of the purse strings.

Each day, it seemed like another bank was being nationalised (taxpayers now own Bradford and Bingley, how cool is that? Not very.) and another muchloved high-street chain was going out of businesss (see page 11 for more).

Oddly enough, it won’t affect us students until we graduate, as our government handouts are nice and steady. But when we graduate and try to get a job, that’s when the fun will begin...

Also nominated: Nora Batty dying, England rugby union team’s rubbishness. JS DN game of the year FALLOUT 3 Set in a post-apocalyptic alternate reality, in which the social revolutions of the 1960s never happened, the epic Fallout 3 gives you carte blance to explore, and explode, the futuristic ruins of Washington DC and the surrounding area, in a sprawling landscape that makes GTA4 look like Streets of Rage.

Presenter Emily Maitlis then presents Thompson with a variety of quotes from Mock the Week, including, completely straight-faced: “Things the Queen would never say in her Christmas speech: I’m now so old, my pussy is haunted.”

Sheer, unexpected, comedy gold, made all the better by the pair managing to not even crack a smile.

Also nominated: Keegan’s return, Keegan’s leaving, Bush nearly getting hit by a shoe, John Sargeant on Strictly, Jay-Z at Glastonbury, AC

Also nominated: FIFA 2008, Football Manager 2009, Okami, GTA VI. AC

One of the most unusual stories to emerge this year was that of the objectophiles of the world: people who form loving and sexual relationships with inanimate objects.

Back in May, there was a Channel 5 documentary about an American man named Edward Smith, who claimed to have had sex with 1,000 cars since the age of 15. As the Daily Telegraph website reported: “Mr Smith, 57, first had sex with a car at the age of 15, and claims he has never been attracted to women or men.

But his wandering eye has spread beyond cars to other vehicles. He says that his most intense sexual experience was “making love” to the helicopter from 1980s TV hit Airwolf.

Then there was Erika La Tour Eiffel, who got married to the Eiffel Tower (and consummated the marriage). Scenes of their love making were filmed and broadcast on, unsurprisingly, Channel 5, in a June documentary. She first fell in love with an archery bow, had an encounter with the Berlin Wall and has a physical relationship with a

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Whilst the fallout from the Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross incident utterly bored our collective arse off, it did inadvertently provide us with our Comedy Moment of the Year.

Facing a Daily Mail-inspired witchhunt about taste and decency, the BBC found itself on the run, resulting in Director General of the Corporation, Mark Thompson, appearing on its flagship current affairs show Newsnight, to discuss the f-word furore.

The storyline sees you emerging from your nuclear bunker for the first time, in search of your missing father, but, with the multitude of sub-missions on offer, this will soon be forgotten, as you go anywhere you want, talk to anyone you want, and kill anyone you want. Play the game as an all-round goodegg or as a gun-toting maniac blasting everything in sight, it’s all up to you in DN’s game of the year.

DN news story of the year MARRYING WEIRD STUFF

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DN high point of the year KIRSTY WARK REPEATING LINES FROM MOCK THE WEEK

DN console of the year XBOX 360 Although we were swayed by Nintendo’s innovation with their Wii and DS consoles, but with the amount of Wiis now gathering dust since the gimmick wore off (and games such as Golden Balls came along), we plumped for the old man of the next-gen consoles as our favourite of the year. Free of the price tags and pretension of the PS3, the Xbox proved once more it’s the perfect all round console, whether you want to kick the arses of Frenchmen on Xbox Live, lose yourself in a single player epic instead of doing that essay, or have a quick blast with a few cans and a few mates.

Also nominated: PS3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS. AC

bit of fence that she keeps in her bedroom.

Much as many of us will have found the documentary and news stories initially amusing, there was a more serious side to the stories of these people. All had suffered some horrific mental, and sometimes physical, trauma and/or sexual abuse in their lives.

Something not revealed until later in the documentaries, but something that suddenly made it all a bit more real and understandable. Erika La Tour Eiffel, for example, says she was sexually abused by her half-brother and her parents had her fostered. It just went to show how utterly strange and unpredictable the human mind can be when it reacts to traumas.

The condition, known as OS (Objectum-Sexual) only has about 40 confirmed sufferers around the world and many also suffer from Asperger’s Syndrome.

Also nominated: The eloping German children, the US election, the credit crunch, Kee-gone, a man being forced to marry a goat after being caught being intimate with it (seriously).

SM

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The ones we didn’t have space for...

DN most annoying song of the year THE TING TINGS - That’s Not My Name Also nominated: Britney Spears – Womanizer, Katy Perry – I Kissed a Girl, Kings of Leon – Sex on Fire, Alexandra Burke – Hallelujah.

DN Sportsman of the year CHRIS HOY Also nominated: Andy Murray, Lewis Hamilton, Joe Calzaghe, Djibril Cisse, David Villa.

DN Sportswoman of the year REBECCA ADLINGTON Also nominated: Eleanor Simmonds.

DN Sports team of the year TEAM GB Also nominated: Spain, Middlesbrough FC, Newcastle United FC. For more of 2008’s sport, flick to page 34.

SURVEY STUFF Lucy Duffield is armed with information about student surveys, and she wants to share it with you lucky Degrees North readers! Firstly, the National Student Survey: Every university in the United Kingdom takes part in the National Student Survey. It is carried out by Ipsos Mori on behalf of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) .The National Student Survey aims to help prospective students make informed decisions on where they should study.

The survey is completed by final year students who are able to give a more relevant review than that of a first or second year student as they will have gained a full experience of their degree. The University, assisted by the Students’ Union, are promoting the survey, and computers were set up in the Refectory at St. Peter’s to enable students to complete the survey online.

The results are published on unistats.com and are also used by everyone from UCAS to the Guardian and Push Guide. They record the feedback from students in seven academic areas: Teaching on my course; Assessment & Feedback; Academic Support; Organisation & Management; Learning Resources; Personal Development and Overall Satisfaction.

The survey is important for the University, as it tells them what it does right and where there is room for improvement. The main objective of the survey is to ensure students get the best possible experience, therefore the more students that fill it in the better.

The survey runs from 26th January to May 2009, so there is plenty of time to get involved, if you haven’t already. Remember: Be Heard. Have your say. Go to http://www. thestudentsurvey.com/ to get involved.

Now, onwards and upwards and onto the Student Experience Survey. The Students’ Union and the University want to know about, you’ve guessed it – your personal

student experience.

In March/April, 2008, the Students’ Union and the University undertook a survey, seeking students’ opinions about their experience whilst at the University. The feedback from this survey has been used in two different ways. Firstly, to identify different ways which will help enhance the student experience during your time at the University of Sunderland.

News DN

the information given is extremely valuable, without it the University would struggle to know what its students deem to be a good experience, whether that’s personally or academically.

Secondly, the feedback obtained from the Student Experience Survey and focus groups held by the Students’ Union form the basis of the Student Written Submission, which has now been submitted by the Students’ Union to the Quality Assurance Agency, as part of the Institutional Audit and review. The main audit visit will take place in March 2009.

The Student Written Submission is separate and independent to the report submitted by the University and gives students’ opinions and views as reflected in the feedback given. The Student Written Submission is available for you to view online at the SU’s website: www.sunderlandsu.co.uk.

The University hugely appreciates the feedback given in both of these surveys, as

Filling in these surveys can be a daunting experience for students, however they are both anonymous and the details you give could lead to a vast amount of change, especially if others are thinking similarly to you.

Right, now that’s over, Campus anyone?

INTERNATIONAL TRIPS Following the successful trips already this academic year to Edinburgh, York and most recently Manchester, the Students’ Union will be running three more trips before the end of the academic year.

Following that will be Leeds, on Saturday May 9th, the perfect preexam relaxed trip! The Royal Armories is well within reach of Leeds and well worth a look if military history is your thing.

First up will be another journey to Scotland, with Glasgow this time the city in question. That trip will take place on Saturday March 21st and tickets are available from Monday 16th February from the Students’ Union offices at City Campus.

And finally the SU will take you to Liverpool, last year’s European Capital of Culture. Explore the stunning waterfront developments at Albert Dock, or go on the Beatles tour, or simply soak up the atmosphere in one of the friendliest cities in the country. The Liverpool trip will be on Saturday June 13th.

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21 06/02/2009 10:57:49

DN Entertainment

Entertainment DN

Here’s Your Future... DN meets ‘Head Jaff The Futureheads came back with a bang in 2008 with arguably their best album yet.

Degrees North sent Adam Chapman to meet one of Sunderland’s favourite sons....

Standout track Beginning of the Twist even outsold their ubiquitous indie-dancefloor-filler Hounds of Love. “We sold twice as many copies of ‘Twist’ as we did of Hounds of Love. It was a much bigger hit, it did something like 40 or 50,000 sales and that’s just amazing for us,” he says, adding that it also sold more copies than the album itself, another indication of the decline of the LP format in the digital era.

After the release of the record in May of last year, the typically hardworking band embarked on various tours throughout the UK and the rest of the world.

When we meet Jaff, he was looking forward to Christmas, having just performed a mammoth “32 gigs in 44 days”, which “started in Scandinavia, then the Czech Republic, Poland and all around Europe, then a full UK and Ireland tour!”

Perhaps understandably, the Futureheads were looking forward to some time away from one another, returning to their families and Wearside roots for the Christmas break.

“We love each other, but we need time apart. You fight with your girlfriend when you live with her, so when there’s nine lads on a bus…” he laughs, before continuing: “To be honest, there’s been some pretty tough moments, when it’s your fourth week in freezing cold places and you start falling out.”

The Futureheads: Three albums in and still packing in the crowds regularly when they play live shows.

Ever since Thom Yorke and co. decided to self-release their In Rainbows album through the internet, allowing fans to pay whatever they wished to download it, the phrase ‘doing a Radiohead’ has made it into the vocabulary of lazy music hacks everywhere.

By the end of this year, “doing a Futurehead” could well have joined it, with the Sunderland four-piece perusing a variety of options for their next release.

‘Heads bassist Jaff spoke to DN before their final northern show of 2008, to discuss the band’s plans for the year ahead, and told us about some possible ideas for their forthcoming fourth record…

“We might not even make a fourth album,” he says, dropping a momentary bombshell, before continuing: “We might release three or four EPs of about five tracks, then collect them all together in a box set or something, to make it more collectable and a little less generic.”

There is understandable thinking behind this: “People just download specific tracks these days,” he says, pointing to the changing direction of the music industry and of music fans themselves.

He stresses that he still loves the album as a format though (tipping fellow Sunderland acts The Week that Was and School of Language as his favourites of 2008), and the band will have plenty of time to decide exactly how to release their next one:.

“We were originally going to try to get the record out in May, but that’s just not going to happen. We don’t need to rush it, there’s

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just no point. It’s not like we’re on our second album any more. It’s the fourth album, we’ve been together nearly nine years, it’s now a case of ‘take your time, get it right.’”

Jaff will regroup with Ross Millard and the Hyde brothers early this year, to start the hard work again, with acoustic sets planned in the UAE, although he jokes: “That’s more for a holiday really, to play new material, do whatever we want to do.”

return to Britain, and the grateful Jaff is seemingly amazed that people still pay “to see the same songs,” with the band’s last tour their fourth of This is Not the World.

The night we met Jaff, they performed to a packed Gateshead Sage, playing in front of the venue’s first ever standing area, with an anthological set from across their entire career, from live favourite Piece of Crap to the majority of the third record. “It’s amazing to think we’ve sold 1800 tickets tonight,” he points out.

It’s the first time the Futureheads have played a fully electric set at the Sage, but Jaff isn’t nervous about their debut gig in the notoriously unforgiving Hall One. “We don’t get nervous,” he insists, but then jokes they did get nervous when they thought they’d only sold a few hundred tickets, again expressing wonderment that fans are still flocking to see them.

Jaff is also keen to return to Sunderland for more gigs, after the success of their last appearances in the city, playing two nights at Independent nightclub in November 2007.

He doesn’t rule out an appearance at the Students’ Union’s Campus nightclub, but he stresses the importance of the band having new material before heading out on the road. “If we played in Sunderland I’d definitely be happy to play there. We just need to play new stuff!”

Jaff, though, appears equally keen to appear anywhere else in Sunderland sometime soon.

He says: “I’d play another two nights at Independent. I’d play one night at Independent. I’d play the Ivy House!”

The band will also be writing and rehearsing new material, once they

Indeed, there is even less pressure on the band, given both the successful reception of third album This is Not the World, and their continuing commitment to going it alone, without a record label.

Following disappointing sales of the underrated News & Tributes album, the band were dropped from label 679, a time when Jaff admits they thought the band’s days were over.

However, rather than disappear with their collective tails between their legs, the Futureheads regrouped and decided to self-release This is Not the World, which proved to be “definitely the right thing to do”.

The record, closer in styling to their more dynamic debut, proved to be a massive success and a vindication of their self-belief.

When pushed, Jaff struggled to name a highlight for 2008. “Just getting the record out was such an achievement,” he says, “And then for people to get into it, and for us to get the chance to make another album would be the highlights I suppose.”

Lowlights, however, were few and far between, Jaff brushing aside less glamorous moments such as “playing to 60 or 70 people in eastern Europe”, saying “that’s punk rock, isn’t it? You take the rough with the smooth.”

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Live: The band are still one of the must see live acts in the country today.

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23 06/02/2009 10:57:50

DN Entertainment The sharp eyes and discerning ears of the DN staff cast their collective critical eye over a selection of the notable albums and films to have been released since the last outing, taking in the weird, wonderful and woeful of this segment of the arts world.This issue looks at offerings from Pandas, Austrian archdukes and superstar Scientologists to tenuously hint at but three.

Animal Collective

Merriweather Post Pavillion Domino Records Release: 12 January 2009 Animal Collective are a band pretty infamous for making music that is quite simply odd, the very definition of an acquired taste. The kind of thing to be expected really, when the band members go by the names Geologist, Panda Bear, Avey Tare and Deakin. So it’s no surprise that ATP has recently added them to their September New York festival, cocurated and headlined by The Flaming Lips.

Merriweather Post Pavillion is Animal Collective’s eighth studio record and probably their most accessible (basing this entirely on never having been able to tolerate listening to them for more than 30 seconds prior to this album) and takes its name from an outdoor music venue that the band attended in their youth.

Second track My Girls has hit single written all over it. It’s the kind of song that demands to be played. Once heard, it gets lodged in the head and refuses to budge. There are addictive hooks and choruses (of sorts. There’s no traditional pop structure to much of it) throughout the album, in tracks such as opener In the Flowers, the mid-album tracks Summertime Clothes and Guys Eyes, tailender Lion in a Coma and album closer Brother Sport, which screeches its way into the centre of the brain.

There’s an ethereal quality to the record, the richly layered electronic hummings, crinkles and beats seem distant yet allencompassing, conjuring images of water trickling down rocks inside caves, while the dreamlike vocals sooth the listener and transport them to another world.

Merriweather Post Pavillion sounds like a palatable version of experiemental Bristol duo Fuck Buttons, there are hints of a Caribou influence in much of the material and a touch of Of Montreal too in the 80’s pop feel of tracks such as Bluish.

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Entertainment DN This could be the album to “break” Animal Collective on these shores, particularly given the current trend in UK popular music: a penchant for the unusual and electronic (see relative success of MGMT in 2008 and the predictable slew of half-decent sound-a-likes to come in 2009). A thoroughly addictive album, but it may not be to everyone’s taste, probably a grower. SM

Franz Ferdinand

Tonight Domino Records Release: 26 January 2009

Ah, Franz Ferdinand, we have missed you.

2004 was tremendous for British music, Oasis and Muse headlined Glastonbury and breakthrough bands included Hope of the States, the Futureheads, Snow Patrol, Razorlight and Keane.

Franz were always the best of a good bunch though. They followed up their eponymous debut hit-machine with a more reflective second album, but it came quickly enough so that nobody noticed the lack of musical progression. But hey, you’ve been away for a while now lads, what have you been up to?

The answer, for the most part, is more of the same. Lead single and album opener Ulysses contains a bass riff so dirty and sexy you can probably catch gonorrhoea from it. But unlike previous Franz discobotherers Take Me Out and Do You Want To, the track peters out well before the end.

It’s a pretty accurate summation of the entire album. By the end, you’re craving a Michael or a Walk Away, something memorable to lighten the mood. For Tonight is quite a dark record, stripped off the fun and joy of their debut and without any of the awkward charm of the second. For the first time, we have ourselves a Franz album that is not easy to love.

Of course, the record gets your toes tapping, it wouldn’t be Franz if you couldn’t groove to it, but there’s just nothing here as memorable as their earlier work. It’s not helped that Kapranos still seems unable to move away from the fairer sex as his sole topic for his lyrics. And on the intro to Bite Hard, his vocal is so low in the mix, you can barely hear it anyway.

Oddly, for a record which the band has

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worked on for so long, parts of it still feel rushed or just tacked on to pad the album out. What She Came For is b-side material at best and Dream Again is simply torpid.

Dev Patel: The Skins star overlooks Mumbai in a scene from the film Slumdog Millionaire

The most interesting song here is Lucid Dreams, which begins in the same vein as much of the album, classic Franz with slightly more synth and slightly less ideas, but then ends with a three-minute wigout that is totally unlike anything they’ve attempted before. That’s not to say it’s any good, it’s actually pretty pointless, but at least it’s new.

Can’t Stop Feeling is also a bit different, sporadically breaking into some awful Euro-dance rubbish, while Kapranos witters on about, yep, you guessed it, some girl or other. But it’s horrible, a total mess.

It may sound like I can’t decide whether I want Franz to challenge themselves or not, and that’s because I am torn. Old Franz was simple, guitar driven pop and was all the better for it. But this new model of Franz seem to be too willing to do a Coldplay, striving to be alternative for the sake of garnering critical acclaim.

It hasn’t worked, lads. JS

White Lies

To Lose My Life Fiction Release: 19 January 2009

Having gone straight in at number one in the charts with this, their debut album, White Lies look set to be the big breakthrough act in British indie rock music this year. And it is clear why, they possess both catchy, if morbid lyrics, and memorable hooks, the ever-perfect combination.

Often described as a British Killers, that comparison would not be so far off, if the band did not owe such an obvious debt to Joy Division and their recent corpserobbers, Interpol and Editors.

Fair enough, if you’re going to copy a band, you may as well pick a good one, but unfortunately White Lies do not possess enough of their own tricks to make a splash away from Radio 1’s version of the rock mainstream.

Singles Death and Unfinished Business are listenable enough, but that pair aside, there is little to hold the attention present here. JS

Slumdog Millionaire (15) “The Feel Good Film of the Decade”.

Er… No. Torture and brutality are hardly elements of a feelgood film yet there is something strangely uplifting about this tale.

Slumdog Millionaire is the story of a Mumbai street kid who wins the Indian version of “Who wants to be a millionaire”. Told in flashback to the Police who suspect him of cheating his way to the top prize on the show, the film shows how Jamal (Dev Patel) has come to know the answers through a series of vignettes about life on the streets.

These vignettes reveal a life of crime and poverty, of brutal Fagin-like crimelords who blind children to make them better beggars, and who groom little girls as prostitutes. Each story reveals how Jamal knew the answer to each question.

Farcically co-incidental or simply fate? The film allows you to decide.

Far more subtle than just “poor kid hits the big time on telly”, this film should be seen as an ode to Mumbai.

It is also an analysis of its current state, where big money and westernised lives are juxtaposed against the squalor, deprevation and brutality of life in the slums. It is far more Hollywood than Bollywood though does allow itself a song and dance finale.

Dev Patel gives a strong performance, worthy of the various nominations he has received, building upon his performances in Skins. Frieda Pinto is also a revelation as Jamal’s love interest and motivation, though it is Anil Kapoor and

his pantomime villain performance in the Chris Tarrant role who steals many of the scenes.

However, the star of the show is Danny Boyle, back on “Trainspotting” form and bringing the same mix of comedy, drama, emotion and downright brutality which made that film so iconic. It is a feel-good film, but is also extremely tough going.

It is well worth the effort, just don’t be fooled by the marketing. PMH

Valkyrie (12A) History and Hollywood have a strained relationship. In the 60 years since WWII, Hollywood has taught us that all Germans were evil.Valkyrie attempts to teach us different.

The Stauffenberg plot of 1944 was an attempt to blow up Hitler and seize control of Germany by using the Nazi’s own Operation Valkyrie emergency plan against them. Ultimately unsuccessful, it was the largest of many plots and demonstrated that the Nazis had enemies within Germany, as well as across the Channel.

And not an American in sight. Except for the US Air Force planes strafing a German convoy. The film follows Stauffenberg (Cruise), a German officer badly wounded in that attack.

Disillusioned by the way the war is going he decides that, far from a hero, Hitler is the enemy of Germany and must be removed.

Following his recovery, Stauffenberg is posted to Berlin and finds that he is not alone. He is soon an integral part of the German resistance and in a powerful

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position in the German military, with access to Hitler himself.

Far from an action movie, the film relies on the tension and suspense of the plot to drive it along and is certainly engaging.

Indeed, once the bomb actually goes off, the pace steps up a notch and the film becomes a real thriller yet, come the end, it seems as though the film has failed to deliver that final punch. In any film where you know the ending before you start, and where that ending is failure, it is always going to be hard to deliver that euphoric finale, but Valkyrie seems to disappoint more than most.

Cruise gives a decent performance, though he is not asked to do much more than look steely-eyed and heroic. An all-Amercian hero, just in a Nazi uniform.

It is the mostly British cast however who take the plaudits, with Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson turning in solid performances and Thomas Krestschmann putting in a fantastic, almost comedic, turn as the putupon reserve forces commander.

In such a strong and swollen cast it is perhaps unfortunate that others are forced off the screen. Eddie Izzard as the communications officer and Terence Stamp as the former General both turn in strong performances and Kenneth Brannagh is criminally underused. It is particularly unfortunate when screen time that could be theirs is taken up by Cruise being, well, typical Cruise.

A difficult film with difficult subject matter but a rewarding one and, for once, not a bad stab at historical accuracy.

Cruise fans will be reasonably happy. The rest of us can enjoy it as well. PMH

25 06/02/2009 10:57:50

DN Entertainment

Entertainment DN

January saw the release of two of the most hyped films of recent memory, The Reader and Revolutionary Road. The two films signal Kate Winslet’s progression from also-ran actress to genuine A-lister, and have won her countless award nominations. DN sent Kelly Smith to London to see advance screenings of both films and hear Winslet speak about the projects.

With the buzz surrounding, Revolutionary Road and The Reader, I was hungry to see these films and hear Kate Winslet talk of her experiences making them. I was a very lucky girl.

I sat reading Revolutionary Road on the way to London, a book which has already been hailed ‘the great Gatsby of our time’ by Kurt Vonnegut and I began to see a great likeability factor about the Wheelers and who wouldn’t?

It is possible for anybody to want something more from their lives, which perfectly describes this couple. Though Frank and April have more to them than that, they are striving to break free from ordinary, mundane living, without breaking apart.

I had reached a critical point in the novel, where Richard Yates, its author, had tied the ideas of innocence and adulthood together, when I looked up from the page to see a young little boy.

This made me realise the poignancy at moments in the story and the timeless quality the book has, still remaining as relevant today as when it was written.

Growing more and more excited by the minute, I would soon see this drama on the big screen. As soon as I sat down, I was sucked into a 1950’s existence and was experiencing the tumultuous relationship of Frank and April Wheeler.

Blown away by the images displayed before me, I realised this attempt by Mendes, and Yates, was definitely not your average portrayal of 1950’s American suburbia.

The movie has a lot more to say. The film also sees the reunion of Leo and Kate, years after their Titanic partnership, back in 1997.

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The movie has had a great workforce behind it and this has laid the tracks for a brilliant picture.

The film also involves Winslet’s real life husband Sam Mendes, who directed the feature.

two movies and together they formed eighteen months of her life. This shows the intensity of the projects and her determination to be a part of them.

Winslet spoke of how the film was a learning experience for her and also a challenging process, but that it had areas of comfort, due to the fact her husband was close by on set, where he could offer her the best support.

Unlike Revolutionary Road, Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader is a totally different narrative.

It has the power to keep us thinking about it after the credits roll and my mind was left to wonder about issues like, shame, relationships and responsibility.

Winslet made a point of saying that Hanna and she were two completely different people; an actress does not normally have to remind us that she and her character are completely separate entities.

Winslet said that to unlock a person’s personality is a dangerous thing and having never really thought about this aspect of acting before, I still understood what she meant.

Another familiar face on the Revolutionary Road set was the brilliant Kathy Bates, who also worked with Di Caprio and Winslet on Titanic, when they were both much younger actors.

It is quite a short book, which I found from finishing it in nearly one day, but is still as effective as anything else, which becomes clear from the awards that it has garnered.

She is an actress who really knows what is required of her, which must be why she is capable of putting in such performances, time after time.

Most importantly, I was interested to see how Daldry would tackle the issues in the book and make them transfer from page to screen.

Watch out for both of these films at this year’s Oscars and also for their star, who is already a five time academy award nominee.

Bates will have watched the pair grow on a professional level. just as we have been able to see the pair grow as actors now ready to fill the shoes of the Wheelers.

He did not falter. With the inclusion of David Kross as the young Michael Berg, the movie hosts another young up and coming talent.

Watching the film, I felt a little emotional and had an urge to help this woman before me.

This on screen partnership is a big change from the young lovers, Jack and Rose, they once made the nation fall in love with.

The next morning, I awoke to find Winslet speaking on GMTV about the two films and it suddenly dawned on me that soon I would see the woman who has portrayed, the complex, April Wheeler and the intriguing Hanna Schmitz up close.

I felt sympathy for Hanna and didn’t really know what else to feel once the picture had ended.

4

Let’s hope so!

GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS ®

INCLUDING

BEST MOTION PICTURE

BEST DIRECTOR (MOTION PICTURE)

STEPHEN DALDRY

BEST PERFORMANCE BEST SCREENPLAY

BY AN ACTRESS (IN A SUPPORTING ROLE)

KATE WINSLET

(MOTION PICTURE)

DAVID HARE

“A MASTERPIECE!

A WORK OF OVERWHELMING ACCOMPLISHMENT THAT WILL BE ONE OF THE MOST UPLIFTING MOVIE EXPERIENCES OF YOUR LIFE.” NEW YORK OBSERVER

Dealing with the holocaust guilt of a nation, the movie speaks about trying to understand and how much we can ever really understand or judge.

“A SERIOUS CONTENDER FOR

BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR.” LOS ANGELES TIMES

It is a film that raises questions throughout and it asks us to re think events from history that are in the past, but that we will never forget.

I had to remember I was watching these films, hours apart however, Winslet talked of how she had played the roles back to back.

There were just over five months in wrap between the

Will this be the year that she is finally recognised for her incredible talent?

Revolutionary Road: Out now in cinemas and tipped to be the film that lands Winslet her first Oscar after several nominations.

DRAMA

Two groundbreaking texts, two highly anticipated movies and one stunning actress.

Kate, April & Hanna

Di Caprio & Winslet: Please note that this picture has not been airbrushed by the DN design team. Thank you.

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Staying true to the country that has shaped the story, Daldry included the Brecht ensemble in the film and Winslet spoke of how the German commitment involved was simply incredible.

The Reader: Out now in cinemas. Ironically, Winslet joked about taking on a role in a Holocaust film in an episode of Ricky Gervais’ sitcom Extras.

THE READER_UK_Quad2.indd 1

16/12/08 15:52:57

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27 06/02/2009 10:57:53

DN Entertainment

Entertainment DN

D A R T Z

LOCAL MUSIC SPECIAL TSSLS Producing

Dartz! have been operating as a three piece since their conception around four years ago, recently they enlisted their friend Nico Taylor as a second guitarist. Lucy Duffield met up with guitarist Henry Carden to discuss his and the band’s plans for the upcoming year.

With three members away from their hometown of Middlesbrough due to university commitments, Carden is the only member still in the North East. With this abundance of free time Henry is keeping himself busy. Here’s what he’s been up to: Managing “I always said I would never become a manager” says Carden; however, times do indeed change and Henry has taken on Seaham band the Small Screen Light Show; the band’s members Mattie, Becca and Craig are relatively new on the music scene so Henry has taken the indie band under his wing, an unintentional move for Carden, but something that has definitely worked out for the best, with gigs at Middlesbrough Empire and Carling Academy Newcastle, supporting The Rifles no less, under their belts. Managing may be an undiscovered talent for Henry.

Carden has produced work for Middlesbrough pop punk band Such Great Heights and hardcore quintet Lifeless. Through DIY record label Pay for the Piano Recordings; Henry has enabled himself to work closely with artists to produce a unique sound.

He said of SGH “They didn’t realise the [good] position they were in after releasing their first single in September... their style of music is going through somewhat of a Renaissance at the moment, they could achieve many things” Pay For The Piano Recordings, have a few upcoming bands such as: Ever Since The Lake Caught Fire, Lifeless, Such Great Heights, Meadowlands and Gullich. These; according to Carden are ones to watch, remember – you heard it here first!

Now I’m left wondering which of these he would most want to do.

The answer is neither. Songwriting is where Henry’s passion lies, from other jobs he has done in the past, even being an A&R scout for Xtra Mile Recordings, described by Carden as “listening to bands via their myspace pages, or on demos all day”. So: modest, talented and genuinely a nice guy (he offered to buy me a drink, shouldn’t that be the other way around?), Henry Carden looks like a name that will be around for a long time in the North East music scene.

DJANGLEARBRA: an introduction

By Rachael Archer

DN: Who exactly are Djanglearbra?

A: Well there are five of us altogether. Fiona Parker is our female/lead vocalist. Matt Robson is our male vocalist and guitarist. Joakim Kristiansen is our guitarist. We have Chris Blair on bass guitar and Ryan Gibson on drums.

DN: So guys how did you form?

RG: Well Matt and I met Fiona at University in Scarborough, and that’s where it all started.

DN: How long have you been together?

FP: Just over a year and a half ago now. It seems like much longer now that I look back.

So much has happened in that time.

DN: What made you want to play in a band then?

FP: I didn’t originally - they made me! Only joking lads I’m glad you did because now I am really enjoying it.

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vagaries of any hint of macho camouflage, letting their stomachs flutter and their tongues get tied… a band capable of celebrating heartbreaking anomie without being over earnest” With such incredible reviews like these,the “nice sounds for your ears” that TSSLS profess to make could only be the product of continuous rehearsing and this would probably lead to no time for much else, right?

DJ-ing All that clearly isn’t enough to fill Henry’s time, so what else could he possibly do? DJing. Sounds simple enough right? Every second and fourth Saturday Henry DJs Pop Disco at Middlesbrough Empire, with tunes to remind you of your more carefree years, from classics by Cyndi Lauper to more modern songs like Postal Service to Outkast, to well... anything! “If it sounds good, it is good” says Carden.

RG: I love being able to rock out together and have loads of fun! It’s all about the togetherness.

DN: What would you call your style of music?

FP: Well it’s a bit of a mixture I suppose, pop with alternative. We are fairly commercial but I wouldn’t say we are mainstream. Some guy came up to us in Newcastle and said he thought we were ‘unconventional pop’. And we all liked that idea.

DN: Who are your main influences?

And who are your favourite bands at the moment?

MR: We all listen to different stuff. There are similarities though.

Joakim and me both love Sting and everyone in the band loves Stevie Wonder. I personally take a lot of influence from Incubus.

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RG: On the local scene we love Monty Casino, Kaikoura and The Towels.

DN: How did you first start playing gigs?

FP: We got our first gig in the University and since then it has been the case that every time we play a gig we get offered another one. Too Far North (Promoters) have been pretty good to us in Newcastle.

I have three names for you. See if you know who they are. Mattie Vant. Becca Young.

Craig Stamp. Any ideas? Well you should.

These three make up one of the most up and coming bands in the North East right now.

They are the Small Screen Light Show.

Hailing from Seaham and Sunderland, TSSLS perform energetic indie rock with clear musical influences by bands such as The Cure and The Vines, their music is meaningful and, in some places reminiscent, however one thing is to be sure, you will want to keep your eye on this lot.

As you may have noticed, this issue of Degrees North has a section which dedicates itself to the DN Awards. Winners of the “Top Tip for 2009” Award are none other than TSSLS, so Lucy Duffield met up with all three members for a photoshoot and a pint.

Dressed entirely in black and with trademark backcombed big hair, Mattie Vant greeted me with a large grin and a warm hello, as was reciprocated by the rest of the band.

During the photoshoot, the band were extremely vocal about what they wanted from the pictures, something that quite surprised me, as they are of a fairly young age, as Mattie and Becca are still teenagers However, when I asked them about their age and how that affected the band, they said that it was this “youthful sound” which makes

Picture by Toby P Lloyd

the band what it is accomplished by the vigour that their music provokes, it could only be a group of relative youngsters that would be able to pull it off, and TSSLS manage to do this with certain style and ease.

The band are influenced by many things, which in their mind are set into two categories, they are: personal and social.

Personal influences range from obvious aspects of life, such as love, death and ambition to more obscure fragments of being, like ambiguity and temptation. It is refreshing to see a band that are looking beyond the apparent and moving into an area which creates a personal meaning for the songwriter, but is relevant to those who are listening too.

Musically, TSSLS are inspired by a large range of bands, from Saves The Day, to Dartz! to Good Shoes and The Maccabees. However, they say that it is more the social influences that have more of an effect on the band.

Songwriter Mattie says “its things like articles I’ve read, or stuff I’ve watched on television that make a difference to my song writing”.

Their sound has been well received and TSSLS have gained some fantastic reviews.

Radio One DJ Steve Lamacq said “This is excellent. It’s the sort of demo that makes me want to get up on a morning” and traveller’s favourite, Metro: “They strip their heartfelt

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Wrong. While Mattie works and concentrates on his music “I should be going to uni this year, but I know it’s not for me” he says Bassist Becca is at college studying fashion and drummer Craig (who might be the tallest person I’ve ever met) studies law at Northumbria University and also coaches the women’s basketball team at Newcastle University.

They all agree that it is through “good time management” that they are able to accomplish so much in such a short space of time.

Relatively new to the band’s line up, Craig Stamp has actually been a part of the band for a long time, however his full move to TSSLS has only been made concrete in the past three months.

TSSLS was originally Becca and Mattie and they wanted to just bring a drummer in for gigs and such like, however they realised that it would be “far more economical” to have one as part of the band. Cue Stamp, who seems like a good addition to the band, through his accessible nature and gentlemanly charm, I can tell he is going to be a good fit with the rest of TSSLS. So, what’s next for the band? TSSLS wish to become “more than just your local band” and this tour is all part of gaining the recognition they deserve. In the bigger picture, it is “staying power, bigger gigs and touring outside of the UK” that they most want for the band.

If 2009 is anything like their past three years together, the smart money would say that they will achieve this no problem.

TSSLS will play Sunderland’s White Room on February 26.

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DN Entertainment

What’s on in the North East?

All dates and times correct at time of going to press but subject to change by venues and promoters. Doors at 7:30pm for all shows unless otherwise stated.

Once again, for your delectation, DN has hand-picked some of the must see music and comedy acts coming soon to the NE. Were you as hooked as us on Celebrity Big Brother? Coolio produced some unmissable television, and he’ll be at our very own Campus on 15th February.

And X Factor runners-up JLS will be performing live at the Frat House on 26th February.

Two of pop’s catchiest bands, Kaiser Chiefs and Black Kids, combine forces in Newcastle’s Metro Radio Arena on 28th February. Expect more hummable riffs than you can shake a stick at and plenty of leaping around from head Chief Ricky Wilson.

Comedian Al Murray drops by at the Empire theatre, Sunderland on 1st March.

Doors 8pm. He’ll be in Newcastle on 19th March at City Hall too. Doors 8pm.

The working man’s thrash heroes turned Napster-hating, soft rock train wreck, Metallica, return to the UK and actually play outside of London or a festival for the first time in years, in the round this time too, to tour last year’s return-to-form album, Death Magnetic. Always a great live band, don’t miss it at Newcastle Arena on 3rd March.

Darlings of critics and the general public alike, Elbow, one of the UK’s best bands, hit the road again in March. Catch them in Newcastle on 5th March at the Academy, for the final tour of Mercury-winning album The Seldom Seen Kid. Doors 7pm.

Under-rated one hit wonders Electric Six return to the UK for what must be a last chance tour. It’s hard to see them filling the Academy in Newcastle on 7th March, especially when The Killers play in the city the same night, but those that do go will have a pretty humorous night of innuendo awaiting. Doors 6:30pm. The Killers will be playing songs from their latest record Day and Age over at the Arena.

A week later, Britain’s biggest selling band of 2007 Snow Patrol come to the Arena on 10th March.

On the same evening, Noah And The Whale will be performing at The Sage.

Tickets for this one will be selling like hot cakes, after the success of single Five Years Time last summer. Doors 8pm.

A few days later, none other than the tubthumping Chumbawumba will take to the stage at The Sage. How’s about that for some 90’s nostalgia! Expect to hear new material from recent, critically acclaimed album, The Boy Bands Have Won Too. Doors 8pm.

The hugely witty Rob Brydon, of Gavin & Stacey fame, takes to the theatres of Britain in 2009, stopping off at Newcastle City Hall on the 17th March.

Coventry’s finest and Mod revivalists The Enemy play Newcastle Academy on 19th March.

James Morrison, one of the UK’s most popular singer songwriters, recently

returned with a new album and he heads out on tour this spring. Catch him at Newcastle Academy on 24th March. But be aware, the place will be full of couples, so if you’re single, this might be one to avoid. Doors are at 7pm.

If that doesn’t float your boat however, you can always pop along and say hello to Lionel Richie at Newcastle Arena on 28th March. Smooth.

Drum ‘n’ bass legends the Prodigy return with the original line up, accompanied by grime superstar, Dizzee Rascal. Prodigy’s newer material may not be as memorable as their 90’s classics, but their live show never fails to impress. See them on 6th April at Newcastle Arena.

Darling of the British underground in 2007, Bat for Lashes, fresh from supporting Radiohead on their world tour last year, comes to Newcastle University on 9th April, to pleasure the lucky few at this small venue with her songwriting prowess.

Anybody who saw Mick Hucknall’s Celebrity Mastermind performance will be in no doubt that he’s a top entertainer.

Simply Red reach the North East on 7th April at the arena. Doors 7pm.

On the 11th April, fans of Basshunter and Sash are in for a treat, when the pair come to Newcastle Arena for a gig that is sure to be popular. Doors 7pm.

American indie heroes And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead come to Newcastle Academy 2 on 19th April, for what will, without doubt, be another stunning live show. Doors 7pm.

As part of the Newcastle Gateshead Comedy Festival, Rhod Gilbert and Justin Moorehouse, two of the country’s rising stand-up stars, will be at The Sage on 5th March.

Doors 8pm.

James Morrison: Playing at Newcastle Academy on March 24th

In a rescheduled date (from 14th Feb, original tickets still valid), Basement Jaxx, one of dance’s premier live acts, release a new album in 2009 and, to celebrate, are heading out on a UK tour for the first time in 2 years.

Should be a cracker. 20th April, Newcastle Academy.

Doors 6:30pm.

Compiled by

Stephen Milnes

Our very own Bonded Warehouse bar is starting a local bands night soon.

If you want to play, call the Students’ Union on 0191 515 3030.

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DN Sport

Sport DN

varsity preview

By Shaun Wathey

bucs preview We all know Varsity is the biggest sporting event on the University calendar, but that caters for team sports, so what about the individuals? We sent Shaun Wathey to investigate. and 20th March. A good performance there would see Ian qualify for the World Championships, which are to be held in Rome in the summer.

Another athlete in the pool is Craig Elliot. He will compete in the 50, 100 and 200m breaststroke. In each of these distances, his season’s best puts him in the top three in the country.

Ian Hulme: High hopes for Bucs.

All the way through education there are always those people who stand out, those people you know are destined for greater things. Whether it is a great voice or brilliant ability in sport, you know that you will read about them in years to come.

As rivalries go, the North East boasts some of the best. This point is set to be proven in February when the Universities of Teesside and Sunderland do battle at the annual Varsity tournament.

The event will take place over two days, the first day being Tuesday 10th March at Silksworth Ski Slope and the main event taking place at the University of Teesside on Wednesday 11th March.

Defending champions, the University of Sunderland, have never won away from home, a fact that Sports and Activities Officer at the Students Union, Gavin Barnes is looking to put right: “Obviously our away record is awful, but I want to be the first Officer to win at their place. I think we have the ability and drive to do it, so fingers crossed we can.”

In a sport dominated by men, it’s actually going to be women’s football that makes the headlines.

Gavin said: “They’re both top of the league, joint top if you get me, so that will be a terrific match to watch. Hockey will be an interesting one as well, so hopefully we will be successful there.”

Each time a sport is won, a point is awarded to the overall score, so even though a football side may win 3-1, they will only get awarded a point towards the overall total.

“When we put that shirt on, we represent the University of Sunderland, not the cricket society or any other individual society, so at the end of the day, you go to this University and you should be supporting your fellow students.”

The competition will end when the Directors of Sport from the two universities face off. Last year saw Sunderland’s own Ivan Whitfield defeat his opposite number Mark Hawkins. Gavin said: “Last year Ivan, was successful in the badminton. He won 2-1. He said his fitness came through.”

After the main event, contestants attend the award ceremony at Teesside Students’ Union, followed by a night in the SU, where spectators will join with contestants until the early hours of the morning, before heading home in transport provided by Sunderland’s SU. So if you’re interested in watching the University of Sunderland trouncing Teesside, then just go to the Sports office in Edinburgh Building on City Campus and see Gavin, who will be more than happy to help you out.

One of the successes of last year’s tournament was the cricket side, where broadcast journalism student Vishal Tripathi played. He said: “I think it will be a game where we can easily pick up points. I just want to play my part.”

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This year is no different, and three of the University of Sunderland’s finest athletes will be taking part in British Universities & Colleges Sport (Bucs) event in Sheffield. The event will last for four days, between the 15th and 19th March.

Ian Hulme will take part in three events during his time there, when he competes in 100m and 50m butterfly, as well as 50m freestyle. His season’s best time in the 50m freestyle makes him the quickest in the country.

However, competition is still fierce, as he explains: “There’s people who are behind me, like someone who made Olympic final who hasn’t made his best time, so if I can finish top three that would be great.”

Ian summed up his teammates’ chances saying: “Craig has got a good chance, like me he’s got some of the top guys in the country racing against him, but I think he can finish in the top three in all of his events.”

The final athlete competing at the championships is Turu Saarinen. She has just been selected for both the Finland 7-a-side and 15a-side Rugby Union teams. She will be playing for Sunderland’s women’s rugby side.

This talent does not end on just the rugby pitch, however, as she also plays professional ice hockey for the Newcastle Vipers.

The athletes will compete for medals against some of the powerhouses of University sport such as Loughborough and Bath Universities.

The Students’ Union Sports and Activities Officer Gavin Barnes said: “It’s good to have a presence at this event, because we compete

Ian will find it tough, but his talent shines through as a glance of his achievements shows. They include being ranked 4th in the country for 100m butterfly, being the 2006 ASA national champion in the same event and a call up to the England Talent I.D. Squad in 2008.

Ian Hulme: Competing in three events. with Loughborough who have excellent athletes so it’s good to see we can compete.

“It just shows that we are getting top athletes coming to our university. We are an up and coming university, especially with the facilities that are in place. It’s going to be good for future athletes, I mean the Aquatic Centre is the best in the North East.”

University Sport Performance manager Sean Percival said: “It’s good to have some of the top British swimmers involved in our programme at the University. Through the development of the Aquatic Centre and our links to it, it’s drawn in the top talent to the area and to the University.”

All the athletes taking part in the Bucs Championships receive help from the University’s Elite Athlete Scheme, which, as well as giving them money to help towards the cost of equipment and travel, offers expertise in sports science.

Ian said: “The scholarship means I can receive physio and it pays for my tuition fees. It’s great, because the lecturers work around it when I cant make courses or essays.”

If you want any more information on BUCS or the Elite Athlete Scheme, simply visit the University Sport Sunderland website on http://seacoast.sunderland.ac.uk/cpssites/ sports/

He said: “My best event is 100m butterfly, I’m trying to race the best 3 guys in the country, it’s all preparation for the world trials in march.”

The world trials will also be held in Sheffield, between the 16th

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At the 200m breaststroke, Craig’s season best puts him half a second clear of anyone else in the country, so he is widely expected to bring gold back to Sunderland.

Gavin Barnes: Wishing Sunderland’s athletes well

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33 06/02/2009 10:58:06

DN Sport

Sport DN Having only made the step up from minor county level in 1992, they have created a solid academy which has produced England stalwarts, such as Paul Collingwood and Steve Harmison.

2008: A sporting review

By David Allison

The big sporting success story of 2008 was at the Olympics in Beijing, where Britain excelled in cycling and swimming in particular to finish fourth in the medals table.

Despite struggling in the track and field events, Team GB, as they were constantly referred to much to our annoyance, delivered improved performances in boxing, rowing and sailing, which saw the Brits finish the Games strongly looking ahead to 2012.

The stars were cyclist Chris Hoy, whose Herculean efforts saw him win three golds, to add to the gold and silver he won in Athens, and Rebecca Adlington, the 19-year-old swimmer from Mansfield, who became the first British Olympian in the pool to win two gold medals for 100 years.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past six months, you’ll also know that boxer Tony Jeffries became Sunderland’s first ever Olympic medallist, after he won bronze in the light-heavyweight category. Let’s hope he can bring more success to Sunderland, as he enters the professional circuit in the coming months.

As the London club stuttered to a draw, how fitting that it was the most decorated player in English football history, Ryan Giggs, who broke the deadlock on that May afternoon, whilst also breaking Sir Bobby Charlton’s record of 758 appearances for the Old Trafford club.

The Champions League was decided between the Blues and the Red Devils, in an epic first ever all English final. Cristiano Ronaldo put United ahead, before Frank Lampard drew level, in a game that would end with the agony of skipper John Terry slipping on the sodden Moscow turf and hitting the post, attempting to dispatch the penalty which would have secured the coveted prize.

Predictions were grim when the draw for the 2010 World Cup Qualifying Groups placed England alongside Croatia, the team whose 3-2 Wembley win condemned them to a summer without a major competition, for the first time since 1994.

But the disastrous tenure of Steve ‘the Wally with the Brolly’ McClaren was well and truly erased from memory, as the Three Lions went nap in Zagreb against the Croats.

Theo Walcott’s treble and a Wayne Rooney goal meant England top the group with a perfect record from their four games and look set to secure their place for South Africa.

Rebecca Adlington: 2 gold medals and DN’s Sportswoman of the year.

In football, the Premier League title for once provided a nail-biting finale. On the last day of the season, Manchester United’s vastly superior goal difference meant that they travelled to Wigan knowing, as long as they matched Chelsea’s result in their game against Bolton, Sir Alex Ferguson would capture his tenth championship.

34 master_doc33.indd 34-35

final. A Fernando Torres goal before half-time was enough to capture the Iberian country’s first major honour since 1964.

In the 2008 season, they reached the semifinals of the Friends Provident Trophy, which they won at Lords the previous year.

It was richly deserved. Their midfield of diminutive, but highly skilful players, such as Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas, were able to move the ball around the pitch brilliantly and, up front, the aforementioned Torres,together with top scorer of the tournament David Villa, were a constant threat throughout the three weeks.

They also prospered in the lucrative Twenty20 Cup, getting to the Finals Day, where they were beaten by eventual winners Middlesex. After years of steady improvement, Durham are now at the forefront of domestic cricket.

Great strides were made in tennis, as for the first time since 1997, a Brit got to the final of a Grand Slam event. Andy Murray was in superlative form, beating World No.1 Rafael Nadal to set up a US Open final with Roger Federer, the Swiss going for his fifth consecutive title in the competition.

It is testament to the guidance provided by head coach Geoff Cook and the stoicism of captain Dale Benkenstein that the club are enjoying such a period of sustained success.

Despite being thoroughly outplayed in the final, it represented a transition for Murray from boy to man, promising youngster into serious contender.

With West Indian superstar Shivnarine Chanderpaul signed, once again, as their overseas player and the addition of mercurial Somerset all-rounder Ian Blackwell to their ranks, there is every reason to suggest that Durham will be competing for honours in 2009.

Since he burst onto the scene at Wimbledon aged 18, doubts have been expressed about his physique, fitness and whether or not he had the mental strength to challenge the likes of Nadal, Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Lewis Hamilton: Drives fast. bolt of a free-kick, which sent Black Cats fans into ecstasy and put them on their way to a 2-1 victory.

Veteran Giggs put his side ahead, then Nicolas Anelka’s weak effort was stopped by Edwin Van der Sar, to seal the club’s third success in the competition, 50 years after the Munich Air Disaster, which killed so many of the Busby Babes.

At International level, Fabio Capello went a long way to justifying his £6m-a-year FA pay packet, transforming a team of egotistical, overhyped players into a fluid and exciting side.

Euro 2008 proved to be a compelling tournament. Holland’s group stage demolition jobs on Italy and France (3-0 and 4-1 respectively) saw them installed as early favourites, but talk of Marco Van Basten ushering in a new era of ‘Total Football’ proved to be premature as his side were dismantled by an Andrei Arshavin inspired Russia in the quarter finals.

Germany, resolute and determined (when are they not?), surpassed all expectations by squeezing past Turkey to face Spain in a tense

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Hamilton is the youngest ever winner of the competiton, the first black man to achieve such a feat, the runner-up to BBC Sports Personality of the Year, lives in the tax-haven of Switzerland and is knocking-off a Pussycat Doll. Don’t worry though, I’m sure things will start to look up for him soon.

Keane’s increasing reluctance to field an unchanged eleven, coupled with rumours of dressing-room discontent, meant doubts arose as to whether or not he was the man to take the club forward.

As pre-tournament favourites, many questioned whether or not they had the nerve to go the whole way. Consistent, inventive and playing with a real sense of unity, they were worthy winners.

Over at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland secured Premier League survival two games before the season’s conclusion with a 3-2 over North-East neighbours Middlesbrough.

The summer once again brought major investment as Spurs trio Steed Malbranque, Teemu Tainio and Pascal Chimbonda were captured

by Roy Keane as he looked to establish Sunderland in the top-flight.

The nadir of his tenure came in a dismal 4-1 defeat at home to Bolton. Keane told Niall Quinn in the following hours that he wanted to leave his post and, despite the chairman spending three days encouraging him to stay on, after exactly 100 games in charge, he resigned.

First team coach Ricky Sbragia has controversially been installed as manager, after an impressive spell as caretaker boss. Sunderland should have enough quality within their side to stave off relegation for another year, but with the Premier League set for a nail-biting finish, the new man at the helm will have to be wary not to let his side slide back to the second-tier.

After the fiasco at the end of the 2007 season, the year’s Formula One Championship ended without any spying allegations or points being docked from teams. Nonetheless, it ended in spectacular style in Brazil.

At the start of the final lap Britain’s Lewis Hamilton was in 6th position, one place short of securing the Drivers’ Championship.

In a truly astonishing finish, one of the greatest in motor racing history, Hamilton overtook Toyota’s Timo Glock on the second to last bend, snatched 5th place and pipped Ferrari’s Felipe Massa to the crown.

One thing which has never been in doubt is his ability, which has developed significantly, as his fitness and character have evolved.

His unbelievable comeback at Wimbledon, when he saved 3 match points to defeat Richard Gasquet in a monumental fourth round, five-set battle, highlighted the Scot’s desire to fight to the bitter end.

He has been knocked out of this year’s Australian Open earlier than many predicted but if he shows the kind of form he has displayed within the past few months, few would bet against him reaching another final and giving to hope to a nation so starved of glory in the sport.

Elsewhere in the North-East, Durham surpassed all expectations by sensationally winning their first ever County Championship title.

After a typical English summer of rain and more rain, the backlog of fixtures saw four sides battling it out. Durham travelled to Canterbury to face Kent probably more in hope than expectation of claiming the greatest prize in County Cricket.

But, although quality additions Anton Ferdinand, George McCartney and Djibril Cisse followed, results nose-dived, after a first derby win for 28 years over Newcastle United in October. Kieran Richardson ensuring his name entered folklore on Wearside with a thunder-

But, after racking up 500 runs, they forced Kent to follow on, winning the game by an innings and 71 runs. When put into context, the win shows just how rapid Durham’s ascent has been to the top of the English game.

Andy Murray: Disappointment in the Australian Open, but had an excellent 2008.

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Campus SUN Student Full Ad-PRINT.pdf

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