e2 #272

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get lucky

Editor: Tori Halman living@ epigram.org.uk

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Men are from

After a recent World War unfolding in my University house, the root of which being the somewhat haphazard method of ‘cleaning’ of one of my male housemates, followed by an uprising of us female neat-freaks, I was reminded of just how different men and women really are. That time old phrase ‘Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus’ really does make a lot of sense, but to me, it doesn’t go far enough. To say that we are from Mars and Venus implies that we are at least in the same Universe, when really, a more accurate representation would be, ‘Men are from Mars, Women are from a place as yet undiscovered by NASA, that is billions of light-years apart from Mars, and utterly in opposition to it.’ No, this might not have the same catchy ring to it as the original phrase, and probably wouldn’t sell as many books with such a defeatist

“When you spent a good two hours looking at wedding dresses online, you were not judged” Earlier this year, my mum decided, in a groundbreaking moment of realisation, that the best thing for everybody would be that women live with their girlfriends, and men live with other men. That way, we all enjoy our living environments. One house can be filled with Cath Kidston hand towels, copious amounts of useless cushions on beds, and lit entirely by fairy lights, whereas in the ‘man-house’, the guys are allowed to leave plates of leftovers to gather mould for weeks, the Six Nations will be watched without complaint, and the fridge can contain only beer and chicken. Yes, these are

e2’s all about getting lucky this fortnight.

From a defense of a woman’s right to pull, right through to Vegas successes, perhaps you’ll find some inspiration to top-up your levels of luck.

Online: Morwenna Scott livingonline@ epigram.org.uk

Mars

attitude, but it’s definitely more honest.

Last year, in halls, I lived with 11 other girls. No, this wasn’t a revival of Mean Girls, nor did we have pillow fights in our underwear. We lived in perfect harmony. When you cried for no apparent reason, someone gave you chocolate. When you spent a good two hours looking at wedding dresses online, you were not judged. As a group, we made a ‘man-wall’ in our kitchen, and it was appreciated by all. This year, when we tried to do the same, the result was a wall-to-floor poster of a semi-naked ‘model’ in our living room as an attempt to defend their masculinity and pride.

I’m not trying to make any bold claims about men and women here, or argue that one gender is better than the other, I am merely pointing out our differences.

Every student at university gets lucky every now and then. From the formation of fruitful relationships (or maybe - more honestly - something you’ll regret in the cold light of day) to passing that terrible January exam that you thought you’d failed, there are always things to be grateful about.

Deputy: Deputy: Sophia Hadjipateras Izzy Kerr shadjipateras@ ikerr@ epigram.org.uk epigram.org.uk

sweeping generalisations, I realise that, but the sad reality is that it does sound better, doesn’t it? Us women-folk can venture to the man-house whenever we please, to get in touch with our messy side, throw paper towels at the wall like Rachel from Friends and binge on carbs guilt-free. And when the men want a break, they can enter into our lavender-incense filled sanctuary and secretly have their eyebrows plucked by us (sorry boyfriend, you make for good writing material).

Whilst we do enjoy each other’s company, and we need each other to keep things in perspective, (otherwise I’d spend a lot of my day crying at puppies without realising this was too much emotion) the genders are best kept separate for habitation purposes, I reckon. My man and I live in different houses, it works, when he arrives I place all his messy, smelling faintly of the gym, belongings on my desk chair, so they won’t touch my carpet, and when I visit his house I chuck my stuff everywhere safe in the knowledge that it’s his room I’m messing up, not my own. So, womankind, take a leaf here, move in with your girlfriends, and live with them forever. Visit the man-cave when needs must, but make sure when you leave, you take a long hot shower, and anti-bac everything you own.

e2 wants you!

Write for us by emailing our section editors or meeting them at the times below

Meet the e2 team!

Living: Tori Halman, Sophia Hadjipateras and Izzy Kerr will meet at The Hawthorns on Thursday 27th February at 1.15pm.

Travel: Olivia Lace-Evans and Andrea Valentino will meet at the Refectory on Thursday 27th February at 12.15pm.

Style: Maddy Streets and Deanne Ball will meet at the ASS library café on Friday 28th February at 12.30pm. e2 is edited by Alex Bradbrook deputy@epigram.org.uk

24.02.2014

Room 101: Fitness Freaks There is no doubt that by now January is very much a distant memory. Those New Years resolutions you made so determinedly at the start of the year probably went out of the window on approx-imately 2nd January. For the large (pun alert) majority of society, this may have involved losing weight or getting fit.

These are honourable resolutions and I salute you if you have actually stuck to them, but for me there is always one reason why I will never commit to these goals.

I’m not going to lie to you, I am a general exercise hater. Back in the dark days of compulsory PE, I was THAT girl faking some sort of fatal illness to get out of the whole ordeal completely or walking over the 100m finish line in the dust of my classmates filing my nails. Putting tape over my earrings and tying my hair up into a less than flattering

‘Good’ girls?

I am writing this in response to an abominable article at The Tab (see: I’ve slept with loads of guys – and I don’t care what people think, Izzy Harper Anderson) which completely fails to defend sexually assertive women and simultaneously manages to insult other women.

Despite being badly executed, the article’s initial tone of indignation is well placed and brings to our attention to a unique and age-old double standard that permeates our society.

What I am talking about, of course, is the well acknowledged fact that when it comes to sexual conduct women are almost always judged more harshly than men: not only by men themselves but by their own sex.

“modern women must appear salacious and sexy to be deemed attractive” It is a strangely sexist phenomenon that while male promiscuity has almost glamorous connotations and acts as an affirmation of masculinity, female promiscuity is often seen as a sign of emotional instability and loose morals. To object to sexual promiscuity point blank is, in my opinion, a fair decision however to judge the conduct of women more harshly than men is ludicrous. Why should sexual desire be seen as neuroticism in women yet perfectly normal in men? Why is it that a girl should be made to feel ashamed about the number of sexual partners she has had, more than any man should? Surely, equality for women should transcend the legal and actually translate into popular opinion, including opinion on sexual conduct. So why does this slut-shaming occur?

Slut-shaming is simply an extension of the objectification of women. To deem a woman

ponytail were sacrifices I was just not willing to make. Don’t get me wrong, I like a leisurely game of rounders as much as the next guy but breaking into a hardcore sweat just isn’t for me. Maybe my formative years have something to do with the fact that I absolutely cannot stand going to the gym, or maybe it’s for a whole host of other reasons…

First and foremost, I don’t have a casual million pounds chillin’ in my bank that a gym membership requires. It would only be depleting my Donervan’s budget. Going to the gym also runs the risk (two puns an article is not okay, I’m sorry) of bumping into quite literally everyone you’ve ever met in your university life. When I’m on a treadmill, gasping for breath, narrowly avoiding a cardiac arrest and trying to keep up the pace so I don’t fly off the back, I would prefer not to have to make small talk with that girl from my first year halls. While my face turns the colour of hell and I’m drowning in my own sweat on a rowing machine, I don’t want to catch the eye of the guy who bought me a toffee vodka in Lounge last week. The gym is a social hotspot whilst you’re looking your least attractive, who wants that?

However, most people seem to have addressed this by donning their favourite wifebeater or their tightest lycra leggings as if the gym may score you the cover of Vogue.

Mirrors cover most of the walls as if to remind you that this is a competition of who looks the best and can pose most con-vincingly with the heaviest weights. Oh, on that note, don’t even THINK about working out without updating every social media site possible. I’m talking a Facebook update, a few tweets about how pumped you’re feeling and hell why stop there? Instagram needs to see your gym outfit. A few selfies here, a few statuses there; the world must know you work out regularly or it doesn’t count.

So as I sit here writing this, cheesecake in hand (wish I was joking); I urge you to never attend the gym again. We may not all be blessed with the good genes that keep you slim but please, save your cash and your dignity. Why not whack out a good old home exercise DVD instead? It means you’re nearer the fridge.

Laura

Burridge

Sofia Gymer responds to controversial article in The Tab

‘worth’ less because she has had multiple sexual partners is to completely objectify her, regarding her as a used item. When a man ‘gets lucky’ on a night out he is successful and it’s funny, but when a woman goes home with someone she is degrading herself? It doesn’t make logical sense. There are terms to describe promiscuous men; man-whore, player, lothario – yet all are said tongue in cheek and none are as resonant as that word ‘slut’.

The particularly dark nature of this word is its capacity to collapse the complexity of that woman into a singular dimension ‘slut’; which with a strange power it renders her ‘worth’ to be less than others, and invalidates her personality, accomplishments or intelligence because she is now a ‘thing’.

This double standard is unique in that women are equally as sexist towards their own sex. Multiple studies show that women would far rather be friends with a woman who has had two sexual partners than with a woman who has had twenty.

Jessica Ringrose, Professor of Sociology of Gender and Education, argues that it functions among women as a way of sublimating sexual jealousy “into a socially acceptable form of social critique of girls’ sexual expression.” However, surely, this is only the case because other women are fundamentally oppressed by the threat of being judged themselves. Slut-shaming perpetuates itself and controls women, either by directly shaming them or by the indirect threat that if they behave in the same way they will also be shunned. Women therefore feel the need to either suppress their desires or lie about their own ‘number’ or sexual encounters to maintain their ‘worth’ as more. These lies in turn put pressure on other women to lie and the vicious circle continues.

Anderson quips ‘There’s nothing worse than a girl who doesn’t want sex and doesn’t take care of their appearance.’ This ridiculous statement is as judgemental towards girls who don’t assert themselves sexually as the ‘slut-shamers’ that she is criticising.

In her violently bigoted opinion she is

undermining her own femininity and right to choice while insulting other women in the process. However, her interrelation between appearance and conduct is interesting. It is another unfortunate, conflicting aspect of societal expectation that modern day women are suspended in a strange web of conflicting values of appearance and behaviour: they must appear salacious and sexy to be deemed attractive, yet not actively pursue men or be sexually confident without risking prejudice.

I’m not saying that women, or anyone, should shout about their sex-lives from the roof-tops, after all it is a private thing.

Sexual desire is a natural thing; the whole of the biological world is driven by the urge to mate and reproduce, and, shockingly, all women are driven by this too. Above all, I am arguing that women should have a free

choice. Currently they can choose, but that choice is not free. If a woman wishes to have sex, she should not have to embark upon a perverse obstacle course of mind games and repression in an attempt to have that sex yet avoid social judgement.

I am not arguing that women who are more sexually active are more empowered because a woman may choose to have only one sexual partner in their lifetime and still be completely empowered. We should support each others personal choices as long as they are doing no harm to anyone else. Surely, if you respect women then you should respect them despite their looks or their sexual behaviour. Surely, this respect is not something that they should have to earn by being a ‘good girl’.

Living

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Let’s be honest, around university, a ‘one night stand’ isn’t that uncommon. It happens to the best of us; one moment you’re in Lounge and then five toffee vodka shots later, you’ve decided it’s a good idea to go home with that person whose name you just can’t quite remember.

There is a certain appeal to the thought of a night with no strings attached and a lack of emotional connection; whether you can’t be bothered with the concept of an actual relationship or are just looking for a bit of excitement, a one night stand has everything you could want to fulfill your needs.

“A good one night stand can even serve as a massive ego-boost”

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Without wanting to promote ‘laddish’ behaviour, a good one night stand can even serve as a massive ego-boost as you finally manage to get that hot guy in your seminar who you’ve never managed to even speak to before. What could possibly go wrong?

But how many of us have woken up the morning after and regretted our actions? Despite the constant reference to a one night stand being someone ‘getting lucky’, it’s certainly debatable as to whether they are lucky at all. The lack of emotional attachment means the whole night is shallow, based entirely on one’s physical attraction to another human being, and there’s that awful chance that you might see them again, especially if they’re in your Tuesday seminar. There’s also the daunting prospect that the person you’ve gone home with is actually not who you think they are and things can spiral out of control.

Regardless, none of these problems seem to bother the general public and, seeing as we have all heard them a hundred times before, it is clear that, in the minds of many, the pros far outweigh the cons. Nothing can perturb us students from a random hook up.

However, in my mind, it seems that there is one great problem; there is still the age-old difficulty of boys vs. girls and, while a guy becomes a ‘lad’ after a one night stand, a girl will always be a ‘slut’. Why is it that when my guy-friend did the stride of pride one morning in a bunny-onesie he received a high-five from a postman, and yet when us girls make the walk of shame we are met with frowns and the constant worry of what everyone thinks.

Lucy Stewart

Beginner’s Luck

THE STUDENT NOTEBOOK: ‘Getting lucky’ is the infamous term that has survived the bounds of time, which is continuously used to indicate the act of pulling, ‘scoring’ if you will. However, I’m going to redefine this notorious term in this anecdote. It doesn’t all need to be about ‘sexual eruptions’. I’m going to tell you a story about plain stupidity, which I seem to be the queen of lately.

I’m going to tell you a story to end all stories…well it’s probably rubbish after all this hype but I will guess that you are probably still reading.

On a trip to New York with my school friends to visit another one at college in Poughkeepsie, we fled to the city for a spot of window shopping. However, we decided to go into what looked like a vintage bargain shop hoping to get lucky…I wish it was that simple. I’m ashamed to go on, but alas for the good of the notebook I shall continue.

Amongst the compendium of pendants and fur coats lay this beautiful 1970s vintage Chanel handbag. So for jokes, we asked the price and the lovely sales assistant replied with ‘nineteen ninety-

There is a false idea that girls should only want intimacy and that guys should only want the opposite and yet in both cases this is not true; unsurprisingly, girls can be just as content with a one night stand as a guy. They might enjoy the idea of no strings attached and, contrary to what is often believed, are in fact capable of having a one night stand without needing anything more from the other person involved. Whilst I obviously don’t support extreme promiscuity, I do object to the word ‘slut’ and think that girls should have the ability to ‘get lucky’ just as much as guys can, without having to worry about their ‘number’ or what people may think.

Overall, it seems to me that for both genders, as long as no one starts acting as though the real reason they came to university was to bed as many people as possible, everyone and anyone can ‘get lucky’ as much or as little as they want. There are negatives to everything and in this case, we have to remember that part of the university experience is about letting your hair down and having fun, whether that involves going to Lounge and having a one night stand or in fact, just going to Lounge.

nine’. Can you say bargain?! Vintage Chanel for so little? New York really is where dreams are made of. After much deliberation, the decision was made to purchase the dream bag. It was all wrapped up, insurance was sold and a complimentary discount was given by the smiley sales girl – I thought, why would I need a discount for £20, please take my money-- it’s Chanel for crying out loud! Yep, I was sorely mistaken when I realised that Americans say their numbers very differently to us. This was obviously actually £1999. Slightly out of my budget, I’m not going to lie. So I did the only thing I saw fit to do in this situation; gracefully decline and briskly run out of the shop so far down Bleecker Street that I got to the Hudson.

You know what, shit happens, you have some dumb moments even though you’re firmly dark haired but pick yourself up, polish off and wish for better luck next time. All I can say is that at the end of the day we’re all just a pack of assholes trying to live life without making so many ridiculous mistakes.

Steph Rihon

The more I have delved into the concept of beginner’s luck, as I have discussed it with those closest to me and tried to make sense of it, the more I am inclined to believe that it doesn’t actually exist. My boyfriend, an avid poker player, said to me that in the casino beginner’s luck manifests itself primarily in a lack of fear of losing. When you take your seat at the table, count your chips and play your cards for the very first time you have no previous losses, no mournful memories of defeat to hold you back and it is easy to throw caution to the wind and play as if there are no consequences.

I thought about poker, a rookie playing fearlessly precisely because he’s never known fear, and it made me begin to consider beginner’s luck in a more philosophical sense. I cast my mind back to my own childhood, to memories of me and my siblings growing up, and I remembered how very little I used to consider the consequences of the things I did. I didn’t fear pain or retribution or judgement - I was a beginner in the realms of life. Now, as a Humanities student just broken into my twenties, I find all too often that I am held back from seizing new opportunities that come my way by the thought of disapproval or ridicule. I play too cautiously at the casino or sometimes don’t take my seat at all because it’s safer not to try than to lose.

Beginner’s luck is a myth, a construct that we use as an excuse for our own failings because really all the beginner does is embrace the situation without caution. The beginner is a child and the child is fearless.

And so I am setting myself a challenge, before all of you reading this - I am going to channel my inner child, live like a beginner and seize every opportunity that presents itself to me.

Because really, life is too short for me, or any of you, to already feel like a seasoned veteran.

We can all be beginners to the end.

Kati Taylor

24.02.2014

Lucky Charms Trudging to my seat in the bleak expanse of Coombe Dingle, the air saturated with anxiety, I laid out my student card, - ‘on the right-hand side please’; multiple pens, just in case, a pack of tissues as this could all go horribly wrong and a water bottle as essay writing can be thirsty work. Yet my wobbly wooden desk still seemed barren. Every table was depressingly similar, the only variation being between Evian, Volvic and Buxton bottles or between biros, ballpoints and the odd rogue fountain pen.

What was missing?

At primary school and even in the early years of secondary school, before the onslaught of public examinations and the accompanying tyrannical regulations crushed our spirit, during any form of assessment each desk would be adorned with mascots. Not so much a lucky penny or four-leaf clover, but more the random and colourful - a purple amethyst stone, squidgy bouncy ball or miniature toy animal. Beanie babies and Pokemon figures were common

favourites.

The trusty Oxford dictionary defines ‘mascot’ as ‘a person or thing that is supposed to bring good luck’. Yet they are so much more than simply tokens.

“before the onslaught of public examinations crushed our spirit” Mascots may seem trivial, but in a stressful time they can provide security, comfort and, paradoxically, a sense of control. That stuffed panda suddenly becomes powerful when it can quash your nerves.

Even if we did not really believe that mascots had magical powers as children, superstition remains a potent tool; a study from the University of Cologne found that ‘the activation of a superstition can indeed yield

performanceimproving effects’.

Moreover, in childhood the selection of mascots was partly an attempt to personalise one’s desk and thus assert an identity. In a similar way to the all-important pencil case, these possessions gained huge significance.

Of course, despite being emblems of creativity and individuality in dark times, during university exams a cheery teddy bear seated on your neighbouring desk could arguably be a distraction. A further risk with a seemingly successful mascot is overreliance. How did you ever perform without the mascot? Past academic indiscretions are attributed to its absence. Will you ever be able to succeed without the mascot? God forbid if it is lost. Ensuring the mascot is present and correctly positioned, in line with habit, can only add to the stress of exam-day.

A Newsround - cue nostalgia, poll of pupils sitting their SATs investigated the attachment to lucky charms, reporting the likes of a ‘lucky model

goat’. Although we may h a v e moved on from the days of such mascots, there is no way of knowing the number of Bristol students sporting lucky jewellery and underwear or clutching special pens at exam time. However, Newsround also spoke to Ryan, aged 15, who dropped the following bombshell, ‘I don’t go to an exam relying on luck - I do all the revision I can and hope I’ve worked hard enough’. A surprising, and ultimately unsettling, conclusion.

Francesca Scott

Editor: Deputy: Online Olivia Lace-Evans Andrea Valentino Emilia Morano-Williams travel@ deputytravel@ travelonline@ epigram.org.uk epigram.org.uk epigram.org.uk

@e2Travel

Once in a while, whether it’s getting that essay submitted in time or bagging a date with that certain someone, we could all do with a bit of extra luck. But, how far would you be willing to go for it? Perhaps not quite as far as the examples Anna Rowley has discovered…

Germany

Scotland

Madagascar

Every country, tribe and family has its own customs and weddings are no exception. In Germany, the pre-wedding custom of polterabend, which is supposed to bring luck to the future married couple, is still performed today. This custom involves friends and family of the couple proceeding to break various items of porcelain – plates, flowerpots, tiles – at their front door in order to create a great mess which the couple then have to clear up together.

Although this might seem like pointless vandalism, it’s meant to symbolise the fact that if the couple can get through this difficult time, they can get through anything, bringing luck to their marriage.

Seem a bit mad and wasteful? Each to their own.

Over in Scotland, parts of the country, such as the Islands or Fife, have their own unique and slightly odd pre-wedding custom of ‘Blackening the Bride and Groom’. This involves the friends of the couple taking them by surprise and covering them in the most disgusting substances you can think of – soot, dust, mud and treacle are some examples – and then parading them around the local area or taking them to the local pub. But why this humiliating custom? The Scots believe that this ordeal will prepare them for all the difficulties that they will face in life as well as shattering the rosetinted illusion of marriage being an easy ride.

Perhaps we could learn a thing or two from this? However, if your community does decide to carry out this custom, just hope that you’re not wearing your favourite t-shirt that day.

Further afield, on the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, is the funeral custom of famadihana, literally ‘The Turning of the Bones’, which still occurs to this day in many rural areas. This takes place every seven years and involves opening up the family crypt to bring out the remains of your ancestors so that they can be wrapped in fresh cloth. Live music is also played, and animals are sacrificed. In addition, women who are having trouble conceiving take a little piece of the old cloth and place it under their mattress to boost their fertility.

Although it may seem a bit eerie to us Westerners, this e nt custom is done to tae c i pay respect to the dead, sAd da o which is a huge part of B : r ck Malagasy culture. Having said Fli that, I’m not quite sure that we’ll be digging up Grandma here anytime soon.

Flickr: Roomman

Travel

Living

Smashing Luck: Strange Customs

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Enough to drive you crazy: Andes Loud pan - flute music playing through fuzzy speakers? Check. A woman with three children, two chickens and a hundred eggs squeezed into the seat next to you? Check. No toilet - even though you were promised this, along with food, luxury seats and air conditioning? Check. Eyes squeezed tightly closed because you can’t bear to watch the driver take another corner so recklessly? Double check.

If any of the above sounds familiar, then you probably know what I am talking about: the long-distance buses of South America. In particular, the ones that wind through the Andes on paths so narrow and rickety, a large dose of luck and several miracles are needed to get you through a single journey.

The Andes region of South America, including parts of Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru, is home to some of the most spectacular landscapes on

the continent if not the world.

Snow-capped peaks can be seen from the valleys thousands of metres below.

Condors swoop through the skies and the sun shines with such intensity that you can get sunburnt through your alpaca-wool hat and gloves. No

‘The roads are literally littered with crosses and candles’ traveller can say they have ‘done’ South America without at least one extended trip through these mountains. The problem is: it’s not the altitude sickness, or the food poisoning, or the intense blisters that will kill you - it’s the bus ride there.

I remember my first South American

near death experience. I had just cycled my way down the famous ‘Death-Road’ in Bolivia on a mountain bike, and after a nice buffet lunch and swim, we were wearily heading back up the valley to the capital, La Paz. I was almost asleep, when I was rudely awoken by every passenger screaming ‘Woah! Slow down’ (Ok, they were actually much less polite than that).

‘Tranquilo” said the driver, and then, something in Spanish that I presume to be the equivalent of ‘Relax, we had loads of room.’

According to my travelling companion, who had been fully awake the whole time, we did not have loads of room.

As it turns out, the driver had decided to pass a truck coming in the other direction at over 50mph on a single lane track barely big enough for one of the vehicles. Did I mention that approximately one inch to the side of the back wheel was a sheer drop of over a hundred metres? If this qualifies as ‘loads of room’, what qualifies as a near-miss!

On later trips, hardened to the

local driving style, I have casually commented upon all the memorials on the side of the roads to my friends.

‘Look, there’s another one, oh, and another one.’ It’s so hard to be shocked when the roads are literally littered with crosses and candles, representing yet another careless driver.

It really isn’t something to take lightly: just because you are a tourist doesn’t mean you are immune to a driver choosing to take a phone call at exactly the wrong moment. That said, you can’t just avoid the whole region altogether.

Something could go wrong no matter where you are driving in the world.

Just do what I do, and take the night bus, so you live in denial and pretend your driver is careful. Oh, and pray that karma will take into consideration all the good things you have done that day!

Polly Johnson

24.02.2014

Lucky escape: a Chilean baptism

I spent a large chunk of last year living in Santiago de Chile and working at a Catholic school, where I taught English and rugby. The capital is a metropolis overlooked by high mountains, a medley of architectures that sprawls in every direction and bespeaks its multi-faceted personality. It is home to almost half of Chile’s population and most of the country’s notable universities. The city is surrounded by Andean foothills and consequently blighted by thick smog, but a shower of rain will clean the air and open up breath-taking panoramas for days.

Elite suburbs and a bustling corporate sector crowned by enormous towers jar with the grey amorphous expanses of rudimentary housing and the slums that beleaguer them. On one side there is privilege, while on the other families of seven cram into tiny houses with wooden walls. I lived on the former side and worked on the latter. It was during that time and in that place that I made a lucky escape from death.

It was evening, a Friday in May. I found myself alone in the little house where I was staying with three lay monks and two other gap year students. This being a rarity, I relaxed and, as twilight came on, light-heartedly made for a nearby bakery.

The little house stood on the corner of a narrow, leafy residential street. As I walked back from the bakery, biting into a caramel pastry, I noticed a car cruising very slowly

down the road. Thinking it was some friend of a neighbour, I disregarded the car and opened the outer gateway of the house.

As I turned to close the gate, three shadowy figures glided towards me. There was a soft patter of shoes on tarmac and

suddenly I was on the ground, held down by several limbs, a young voice hissing at me to be quiet, a gloved hand cupped firmly on my mouth and some sort of weapon, not entirely visible in the dark, hovering close to my face.

They took my wallet and keys, opened the door to the house

Lucky Charms Around the World

Across the globe, people turn to weird and wonderful relics in the hope they will bring luck. Here are some of the strangest the Travel team have come across!

Frogs : In Japan, frogs are seen as lucky charms for travellers, as they are thought to ensure their safe passage home. Also, because of their dramatic change from tadpoles, frogs are seen as a symbol of transformation; if you see one, you might be on the verge of transition in your life.

Ladders: Although one shouldn’t walk underneath a

ladder in England, they are seen as lucky in other cultures. The Ancient Egyptians put ladders in the tombs of their relatives to help the spirits climb to the heavens.

Vulture heads: In South Africa, vulture heads are kept because of the bird’s brilliant eyesight. Even now, vultures are hunted and killed so that their heads can be sold to luck-seeking gamblers.

Mirrors: In China, people put mirrors in their houses to scare off bad omens; when the spirits see their ugly faces in the mirror they take fright and flee.

and forced me in. In the living room they told me to shut up, not look at them and get on the floor facedown. I did so and they tied me up, wrists to knees. Next the three split up and searched every room in the house, ransacking each, stepping over my prostrate body as they went about their business. Sometimes they would stop and stoop to viciously ask me where particular things were - such as jewels, or hidden cash - as they brandished knives. I feared for my life in those moments because in that house of lay monks, although located in a rich neighbourhood, there was nothing of great material value to direct them towards.

Apparently a combination of fluent Spanish, calmness and compliance was enough to prevent them from harming me. They left after twenty minutes and I untied myself.

It is something deeply humiliating to be immobilised by enemies and made defenceless before them, at their mercy. I felt as if some ancient instinctive code of honour had been violated. I felt disgraced as a man and perhaps still harbour these feelings.

However, I am lucky. The police, who have experienced many similar burglaries, confirmed my suspicion that the three would have stabbed me had I resisted.

Ciaran Stordy

Vice in Vegas

Las Vegas is now inextricably linked with gambling, partying and general debauchery.

But how did it gain this reputation? Why has this desert city become such a mecca for temptation and vice? And does it really deserve it?

The history of Las Vegas is very interesting. It was first discovered by the Spanish in 1829, and the small town which sprung up there quickly grew in population and wealth, becoming an official city in 1905.

Gambling had been taking place in Las Vegas for many years, but in March 1931 it was officially legalised. This was surprising, as gambling was generally condemned in the US at that time, largely due to the strong influence of religion.

However, the state voted to legalise it in order to lift Nevada out of the Great Depression – so gambling began in Las Vegas mainly due to desperation and poverty!

After the end of World War Two, lavish resort hotels and casinos began to be built and tourism became the largest business in the area. In 1959, the Nevada Gaming Commission was set up. During the 1960s, large corporations began to contribute to the city’s growth, as it was clear that gambling was becoming a very profitable industry.

Flickr: Douglas Carter Cole

Gambling became officially known as ‘gaming’, and was suddenly seen as a legitimate form of business. The huge population increase of the 1960s also helped the gaming culture to thrive - the overall population came close to doubling between 1985 and 1995, allowing Las Vegas to expand its influence.

Las Vegas had connections with the Mafia throughout the 1950s and 60s, with many corrupt dealings between Mafia gangsters and Nevada politicians. Mob bosses took control of many of the hotels and casinos, earning - or rather stealing - millions of dollars. However, it’s difficult to completely condemn the Mafia’s involvement, as they greatly contributed to the growth of the Las Vegas economy and founding of the city as a centre for tourism.

So, although the city clearly is a gaming centre, it may not be the place of vice it’s so often seen to be. The gambling industry only developed in Vegas as an industry for purely economic reasons, and became almost a self-fulfilling prophecy – people expected to go to Vegas to gamble, so more casinos were built to satisfy the customers and maintain the tourist industry.

But if you’re ever offered a wild night out in Vegas, remember this: ‘Las Vegas looks the way you’d imagine heaven must look at night.’ (Chuck Palah, Invisible Monsters)

Hannah Korn

Editor: Deputy: Online Olivia Lace-Evans Andrea Valentino Emilia Morano-Williams travel@ deputytravel@ travelonline@ epigram.org.uk epigram.org.uk epigram.org.uk

@e2Travel

Teaching: India Deep End

In this week’s Final Thought column, Olivia Lace-Evans examines the negative impact that the oil industry has had upon Nigeria. Although the country can be deemed lucky for striking oil, the social and environmental consequences may suggest otherwise.

Many children have access to only the most basic forms of education. India is a case in point: only 65% of young people in the country can read. Taking a few months to help teach kids in the remote north, Josie Finlay certainly had her work cut out...

I’d arrived at Nirmaya Junior Basic School in a relatively remote, Nepali speaking village in North-East India on a teaching scheme, equipped with a set of jazzy worksheets and word games that I hoped would make me the lively new teacher the kids there had - probably never - dreamed of. I’d been told that they had a basic grasp of English; however, my first attempts to engage the small class of ten yearolds in educational role-plays were met with blank stares. My next resort, an enlightening rendition of Ten Green Bottles, wasn’t greeted with any more enthusiasm – perhaps not that surprising, considering how uninspiring it must have been to watch a white girl in a salwar kameez gesticulating manically to the most repetitive song in existence. Recognising that my creative teaching methods were doomed, and assuming that the class had in fact no understanding of English, I was left flicking through their exercise books, mystified to find beautifully written essays discussing the finer points of Indian politics. Each essay, I soon realised, was completely identical.

Throughout the few months I was there, I learned that school education in much of rural India has a lot in common with our perception of Victorian teaching; the two main elements being a blackboard and a predominantly silent classroom environment. Almost all learning consists of dictation and copying, with hardly any element of creativity or discussion. At break I’d walk into an empty classroom and see a blackboard covered with five figure long-division sums, but in class we’d find that most pupils

didn’t even really understand the concept of subtraction; these sums and their answers had been copied down, rather than worked out.

Most of our requests for the class to complete a sum descended into an utter chaos of totally random number shouting. Our attempts to keep control were severely limited by the fact that our Nepali extended to ‘sit down’ and ‘don’t cry’. They all knew an outrageously catchy song for their two- and three- times tables, but I always got the feeling that it was a lot more musically than mathematically helpful.

Although at first I was disparaging about the fact that the system clearly hasn’t been revised for decades, it became obvious that for many of these tiny schools (this one had 30 kids from ages 2-11, and 4 full-time teachers) it’s almost impossible to update. The textbooks for all subjects were in English, and yet only one teacher in the school was conversationally fluent in English – as a result, there was no option but to teach the whole of the syllabus by repetition and dictation.

The emphasis on copying was taken to new levels when, during a lull in class, we took the kids outside to teach them the Hokey Cokey.

The headteacher looked on approvingly, and promptly sent us back inside to write the words on the board for them to copy into their notebooks. However much the pupils at Nirmaya really learned from me, I can be safe in the knowledge that they’ll always be fluent in the lyrics to one of the greatest circle dances of our time.

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Love, And

Oil: the black gold that can either make or break a country. For many countries, if you strike oil you’ve hit the jackpot. The oil industry is worth billions, and with the right regulation and controls in place, a country can prosper beyond comprehension.

Governments can pump oil funds back into the infrastructure, provide a better standard of living and create employment opportunities for thousands of people.

However, the oil industry has a notoriously dark side to it, something that Nigeria has had to discover the hard way. Since oil was found in the late 1950s, Nigeria has had a tumultuous history. Although oil is the largest industry and the main generator of GDP in Nigeria, the country has faced economic and political upheaval. Stories of corruption, political unrest, environmental degradation and human rights violations engulf Nigeria’s oil industry and, with such a high global demand for oil, these horrors seem unlikely to stop at any point soon.

Whole communities, such as the Ogoni people in the Rivers state of Nigeria, are slowly being eradicated as their arable land becomes degraded due to pollution from oil production. The Niger River Delta has suffered multiple oil spills, causing the water to become poisoned, vegetation and animals to die, and people to become ill after drinking polluted water. It’s even been argued that the civil war in the 1960s was fuelled by conflicts over who should control this valuable asset.

One of the most recent crises that the Nigerian government has had to tackle is the prevalence of crude oil theft.

According to the Chatham House report for the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Nigeria lost at least 100,000 barrels of oil per day due to theft and 5% of total output in the first quarter of 2013. Larger scale thefts involve siphoning oil from the pipelines to be smuggled

ffFlickr: Sosialistisk Ungdom - SU

Style

Travel

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Oil exploitation

Flickr: euqirneto

What’s On

A FINAL THOUGHT ON...

away by barges into international waters. However, there are also smaller scale thefts to tackle. Reports from The Economist even show images of men carrying buckets of oil away from pipelines, their arms and legs covered in mud and oil. Everyone wants a slice of the action and argue that oil wealth needs to be shared around.

This illegal oil market has created an alarming surge of criminality within Nigeria. Research in other countries such as Angola, Sudan and Saudi Arabia, who have experienced similar thefts, have found links between commodity theft, armed conflict and political instability – though it must be stated that these are only suggested correlations. It’s equally concerning that across the Gulf of Guinea, a transnational network of oil thieves, pirates and drugs or arms traffickers appears to be forming.

Until the Nigerian government clamps down on this illegal trading, the problem is only going to get worse. Companies such as Shell, Exxon-Mobil and Chevron must also take some responsibility for regulation.

If they oppose the corrupt and unregulated nature of Nigeria’s oil industry and reduce their demand for its oil, the government will be forced to apply regulation in order to regain the international oil companies’ financial contributions. However, with so many politicians, military figures and civilians involved in siphoning oil, for many the motivation to stop is absent.

Editor: Maddy Streets style@ epigram.org.uk

Molly Simpson reviews the event where clothes are literally worth their weight in gold

pson

Style

I managed to source myself two blazers and a suede jacket which, once cleansed of their care-home scent, have turned out quite nicely. Given that it was leading up to Christmas, the jumper and cardigan selection was in the midst of the battle, the victors of which emerging with hand-knitted, quality prizes. I was somewhat clueless as to what the morning had cost me, but I was hoping for under the 2kg (£30) mark. My bag was weighed at a minimal 2.1kg, costing me £30 (and a few bruises) for two blazers, a Christmas jumper and a long awaited suede jacket. How can anyone disagree with those prices?

Sim Molly

It surprised me to see the variety of Bristolians that had made the journey to this isolated and renovated factory near Temple Meads Station. I have been to the same event once before in London and it’s safe to say that I was majorly out-quirked by the crowd there - but not in Bristol! Clearly this is a hotspot for family outings, Joey Essex lookalikes and even a few older folk who you would think would still have a wardrobe of their own that would qualify as ‘vintage’. Surprisingly, in the city of hipsters that we live in, the vintage fans are relatively non-stereotypical; if you’re worried about standing out, or maybe being associated with ‘that crowd’, have no fear.

upon rails of fantastic finds that would blow your student loan in seconds in Cabot. Of course, it becomes far more of a challenge once you’ve left the civilised queue and entered because, after all, it is still a sale. But if you’re comfortable with employing the Lizard Lounge ‘elbow-in-the-boob’ tactic whilst sober, you’ll have no qualms with finding what you’re looking for.

I’ve developed something of a penchant for the odd vintage item and now that I have experienced this haven for affordable winter attire, I look forward even more to its return next year. I was unfortunate enough to miss the most recent event in January, but be sure to search ‘Judy’s Affordable Vintage Fair’ on Google or

Molly Simpson

Back in November, I made the solo journey to The Paintworks in Bristol for the Affordable Vintage Kilo Sale (‘affordable’ being the operative word). Kilo sales are the perfect mid-point between often unreliable charity shops and the overpriced, reworked vintage that you find online, with a very simple premise: you look, you find, you weigh, you buy (£15 per kilo of clothing in this case). Being stingy students on a tight budget, I strongly recommend the bargain-hunter within all of you to embrace this incredible shopping opportunity the next time it comes to town.

pson

Travel

Bristol’s Vintage Kilo Sale

All worries aside, the stock selection at these events is impressive, with fur coats, soft suede and real leather jackets all being sold by the kilo! Everywhere are rails

Facebook for updates on when the next Bristol event will be. There’s clearly a reason why half of the Bristolian population turned out: they know where to get lucky.

Yes, you may have to wash your clothes before you wear them to avoid smelling like a retirement home nurse, but for good quality clothing at low prices, it is definitely worth the extra effort of finding the isolated location, pushing your way through the morning and queuing for what seems like the lifespan of the clothes that you’re buying.

Tips to help you ‘get lucky’ As the media permanently expresses to us lucky ladies, first impressions are critically important, practically the be-all and end-all of our worlds. If you don’t have that handbag, or aren’t wearing something in that slightly off-white shade that personally reminds you of a granny, NO ONE IS EVER GOING TO FANCY YOU! Ever. Especially if you can’t pull off leopard print, or coral, or purple lipstick, then you’re really going to struggle. To escape this absolute minefield of problems presented to me by my wardrobe, exacerbated by my undying need to impress and woo my male suitors, I have come up with a couple of solutions that may help other lost souls looking for love.

Crack out the ‘dueling banjos’

Comfort is for wimps

Wear black - and only black

Guys love it when girls are superduper enthusiastic and the way you dress is just one of the ways to broadcast your interests. For example, if you’re a Juliet looking for your Romeo, try attending the plethora of Shakespearian plays dressed in traditional garbs. You are assured to be the center of attention instantly and on top of that, all the thespian males will fall adoringly around your buckle clad feet.

That guy you fancy wants nothing more than a proper eyeful of your lovely melons. Whack on your lowest-cut top and let the terrible twins run wild. It’s perfect first date material; a banker wouldn’t invest in a company if he hadn’t seen its assets!

If your wongas don’t get enough of a wow, try whacking on some sky scraper heels. Not only do they make your legs look fantastic, they also give you a bum that Kylie Minogue wouldn’t be able to get out of her head. You develop a slick and elegant way of walking most commonly used by highly inebriated Victoria Secret models. Despite the possible negative connotations connected to that, the point is you’re walking like a Victoria Secret model - how great is that?

Black is very slimming and it’s also associated with mystery, so try pairing a low-cut dress with black heels and black lipstick (Kate Moss style, obviously). Don’t worry about looking like a funeral undertaker; you’ll look really skinny and really mysterious. If anyone questions your sudden gothic appearance, inform him or her that you are a creation of real life Photoshop.

www.venussbay.com

www.fashionpeach.com

www.redefiningthefaceofbeauty.com

Dress for the Occasion

www.hope.edu

What’s On

Online Amelia Impey onlinestyle@ epigram.org.uk

Sim Molly

Living

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Deputy: Deanne Ball deputystyle@ epigram.org.uk

Louisa Laughton-Scott

Film and TV Present: The 86th Academy Awards Gareth Downs, Matthew Field, Alejandro Palekar

Best Actor in a Leading Role Christian Bale (American Hustle) Bruce Dern (Nebraska) Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street) Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)*

Best Actress in a Leading Role Amy Adams (American Hustle) Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)* Sandra Bullock (Gravity) Judi Dench (Philomena) Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips) Bradley Cooper (American Hustle) Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave) Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street) Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)*

Best Actress in a Supporting Role Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine) Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)* Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) Julia Roberts (August: Osage County) June Squibb (Nebraska)

Best Director American Hustle (David O. Russell) Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón)* Nebraska (Alexander Payne) 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen) The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese)

Best Animated Feature The Croods (Chris Sanders, Kirk DeMicco, Kristine Belson) Despicable Me 2 (Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin, Chris Meledandri) Ernest & Celestine (Benjamin Renner, Didier Brunner) Frozen (Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Peter Del Vecho)* The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki)

flickr: rcdggraphics

Best Picture American Hustle Captain Phillips Dallas Buyers Club Gravity Her Nebraska Philomena 12 Years a Slave* The Wolf of Wall Street

The Best Picture nominations this year mirror the exceptional year of film. The standard is such that any one of these films could have won in previous years – last year’s Academy Awards, included – and making a call is proving difficult. A betting man would probably take the odds on 12 Years A Slave, for Solomon Northup’s tragic tale has cleaned up at the Oscars’ less favoured siblings.

A win at the BAFTAs all but cements 12 Years A Slave as the clear frontrunner. However, sometimes expecting the unexpected is best with the Academy. Lest we not forget, this is an institution that awarded Shakespeare In Love a Best Picture statue over Saving Private Ryan, back in 1999.

Dallas Buyers Club has been building up a head of steam this awards’ season, with Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto the primary beneficiaries of the film’s success.

American Hustle has seen the Academy’s somewhat bizarre love affair with David O’Russell continue, rather controversially in the case of this vacuous offering. Captain Phillips could even sneak it, as the guilt over leaving Tom Hanks out of the nominations for Best Actor potentially overwhelms the judges. Conspiracy theorists believe something similar occurred last year, with Argo’s victory compensating for Affleck’s snubbing. Politics, aye?

It would be near criminal to deny 12 Years A Slave its rightful moment of glory, as a Best Picture winner. But the Academy are a tricky bunch who have ignored, time and time again, the wants and expectations of public and professionals alike.

Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey The Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor categories show the depth of this year’s first class performances. The fact that Tom Hanks and Chitwetel Ejiofor have already missed out on awards at the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild shows the strength of the competition. Hanks and Ejiofor have been heartily praised for their leading roles in Captain Phillips and 12 Years a Slave respectively.

Less well known to international audiences is Bruce Dern who plays the lead in Nebraska. This is 77 year old Dern’s second nomination from the Academy, with his first coming all the way back in 1978 for Coming Home.

With the more recent releases of Captain Philips and 12 Years a Slave, however, he is likely to be overlooked again.

For me, Christian Bale was an unlikely nomination for Best Actor. His performance is solid in American Hustle, which is has been greatly lauded by American critics, but is frankly an inferior film in spite of the cast compared to the other nominations. The Wolf of Wall Street falls into a similar category as American Hustle with a caper/ crime/fraud plot. Di Caprio is excellent as the despicable Wall Street fraud Jordan Belfort, but I doubt he has done enough this time to warrant an Oscar.

Matthew McConaughey must be considered this year’s favourite. Having taken both the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards for Best Actor the successful late charge of Dallas Buyers Club shows no slowing. Timing remains vital for taking an Oscar and Dallas Buyers Club seems to have nailed it.

Paul Cush

*denotes our possibly questionable predictions...

Best Picture: 12 Years A Slave

flickr: modenadude

The Nominations:

Best Costume Design American Hustle (Michael Wilkinson) The Grandmaster (William Chang Suk Ping) The Great Gatsby (Catherine Martin)* The Invisible Woman (Michael O’Connor) 12 Years a Slave (Patricia Norris)

Best Animated Short Film Feral (Daniel Sousa, Dan Golden)* Get a Horse! (Lauren MacMullan, Dorothy McKim) Mr. Hublot (Laurent Witz, Alexandre Espigares) Possessions (Shuhei Morita) Room on the Broom (Max Lang, Jan Lachauer)

Best Live Action Short Film Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me) (Esteban Crespo) Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing

Everything) (Xavier Legrand, Alexandre Gavras) Helium (Anders Walter, Kim Magnusson) Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?) (Selma Vilhunen, Kirsikka Saari) The Voorman Problem (Mark Gill, Baldwin Li)*

Best Documentary Short Subject SaveDigger Facing Fear Karama Has No Walls The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall*

Best Sound Editing All Is Lost (Steve Boeddeker, Richard Hymns) Captain Phillips (Oliver Tarney) Gravity (Glenn Freemantle)* The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Brent Burge, Chris Ward) Lone Survivor (Wylie Stateman)

Best Film Editing American Hustle (Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers, Alan Baumgarten) Captain Phillips (Christopher Rouse) Dallas Buyers Club (John Mac McMurphy, Martin Pensa) Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger)* 12 Years a Slave (Joe Walker)

Best Foreign Language Film The Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium) The Great Beauty (Italy)* The Hunt (Denmark) The Missing Picture (Cambodia) Omar (Palestine)

Best Makeup and Hairstyling Dallas Buyers Club (Adruitha Lee, Robin Mathews) Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (Stephen Prouty)* The Lone Ranger (Joel Harlow, Gloria Pasqua-Casny)

Best Original Song ‘Alone Yet Not Alone’ (Alone Yet Not Alone) -

retracted ‘Happy’ (Despicable Me 2) ‘Let It Go’ (Frozen)* ‘The Moon Song’ (Her) ‘Ordinary Love’ (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)

Eva Rindali

Best Documentary Feature The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, Signe Byrge Sørensen)* Cutie and the Boxer (Zachary Heinzerling, Lydia Dean ` Pilcher) Dirty Wars (Richard Rowley, Jeremy Scahill) The Square (Jehane Noujaim, Karim Amer) 20 Feet from Stardom (Nominees to be determined)

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett Having won pretty much every major award so far, most recently at the BAFTAs, Cate Blanchett is set for a second Oscar for her performance in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine.

Blanchett is incredible as Jasmine who must adjust after a series of events lead to her transition from socialite to vagabond. Focused on maintaining appearances despite her inner turmoil, the performance sees her balance desperation and sadness with a reluctance to accept reality. The only potential threat is Amy Adams.

Balancing mystery and impossible cleavage, she cons and seduces not only Bradley Cooper’s Agent DiMasso, but the audience too.

This year, unusually, Meryl Streep can be seen as an outsider. Though her performance in August: Osage County has been acclaimed, the film has not been wellreceived.

Bullock and Dench also pull off complex performances in their respective films. Both could have taken home the Best Actress award in any other, less contested year.

Dench’s tender portrayal makes the audience live through her struggle and suffer with her. Likewise, Bullock gives a career-best performance in Gravity and the result is emotive and gripping.

Ultimately, though all the actresses are worthy of the Academy Award, Blanchett’s performance is breathtaking, and truly worthy of all the recognition and awards it receives.

Best Sound Mixing Captain Phillips (Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith, Chris Munro) Gravity (Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead, Chris Munro)* The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick, Tony Johnson) Inside Llewyn Davis (Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff, Peter F. Kurland) Lone Survivor (Andy Koyama, Beau Borders, David Brownlow)

Best Visual Effects Gravity (Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk, Neil Corbould)* The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, Eric Reynolds) Iron Man 3 (Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash, Dan Sudick) The Lone Ranger (Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams, John Frazier) Star Trek Into Darkness (Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann, Burt Dalton)

Best Adapted Screenplay Before Midnight (Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke) Captain Phillips (Billy Ray) Philomena (Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope) 12 Years a Slave (John Ridley)* The Wolf of Wall Street (Terence Winter)

Best Original Screenplay American Hustle (Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell) Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen) Dallas Buyers Club (Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack) Her (Spike Jonze)* Nebraska (Bob Nelson)

Best Cinematography The Grandmaster (Philippe Le Sourd) Gravity (Emmanuel Lubezki)* Inside Llewyn Davis (Bruno Delbonnel) Nebraska (Phedon Papamichael) Prisoners (Roger A. Deakins)

Best Original Score The Book Thief (John Williams) Gravity (Steven Price) Her (William Butler, Owen Pallett) Philomena (Alexandre Desplat) Saving Mr. Banks (Thomas Newman)*

wikimedia.org

Best Production Design American Hustle (Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler) Gravity (Andy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin, Joanne Woollard) The Great Gatsby (Catherine Martin, Beverley Dunn)* Her (K.K. Barrett, Gene Serdena) 12 Years a Slave (Adam Stockhausen, Alice Baker)

Editor: Maddy Streets style@ epigram.org.uk

@e2Style

Online Amelia Impey onlinestyle@ epigram.org.uk

Deputy: Deanne Ball deputystyle@ epigram.org.uk

Living

How to make it as a model Ever dreamed of gracing the catwalk or being featured in television adverts as the face of new products?

Have you ever wondered how models got so lucky while you are left posing in front of your mirror and prancing around your room on a make-believe runway? Well look no further; these are the places you should visit to imitate their success: 1.

Primark

Travel

Yes, you don’t even have to bust the bank to become a supermodel. Jordan Dunn, who in 2008 became the first black model in a decade to walk for Prada, was spotted in her local Primark store.

old Delevingne made the lucky decision to grow close to the daughter of the CEO of Storm Models, whose mother later suggested she gave modelling a try.

3.

One of the newest faces on the modelling scene actually got lucky genetically twice. Not only does Lottie Moss have model looks - thanks to her mum and dad - but she also has the best contact in the form of Supermodel and half-sister, Kate Moss. Some people get all the luck.

Have other hobbies

While you may think top models were practising their walks from birth and focused on that and nothing else, Coco Rocha proves other interests can make you just as lucky. She was at an Irish Dance competition when she was approached, having never thought about a modelling career.

4.

5.

In your own home (Or having a famous sibling)

Use Public Transport

2. Choose your friends carefully Cara Delevingne may be one of the most famous models currently around and be best friends with Rita Ora, but it was one of her old friends who helped it all happen. Five year

Although modelling is meant to be a glamorous profession, to get your lucky break you might want to think about taking the bus or train more often.

That’s how Lara Stone got discovered at the tender age of 12 in Paris, while Kate Moss was approached at JFK airport.

So to conclude, if you want to get lucky and become a supermodel sensation then try getting the bus to Primark to buy clothes with your influential best friend for a dance competition which your famous sibling is attending. Simple, right? Best of luck.

Becki Murray

What’s On

Style

Lingerie: worth lingering over From silk Nichole de Carle, camisoles Bra £147 to bralets, wearing items of ‘underwear’ as outerwear has quickly Nichole de Carle, weaved its Knicker, £260 way into everyday dressing.

Revealing lace and sheer tops also mean that bras are often on display. Although some may suggest that this perhaps leaves many girls overexposed, if done subtly, I feel showing hints of what is underneath is acceptable and alluring.

However, this does make it extremely important to choose a beautiful bra to show off when attempting this look.

In an ideal world of perfect luxury, Agent Provocateur and Nicole de Carle’s lingerie offer a variety of styles that should not just be kept to the bedroom.

On a more modest budget, the ‘Elle Macpherson Intimates’ range is in a similar vein, whilst both Topshop and Urban Outfitters currently have some very pretty pastel sets. From designer to high street, bras now are usually simpler in design with romantic, retro

inspirations.

L a c y ‘triangle’ styles are extremely popular, although perhaps m o r e suited to flat chested women. It is nice to see that overtly padded bras are no longer the go-to, as they are both unnatural and fairly tacky.

Increasing one’s cup size by several sizes seems unnecessary and foolish – as well as the Topshop, Bra £22 fact it might potentially lead to male confusion.

On the other hand, this new t r e n d in nonTopshop, Brief £12 wired, less supportive bras cannot be worn by those with a naturally f u l l e r chest.

I

know many girls who are disappointed that they are unable to purchase T o p s h o p underwear because they simply do not stock larger cup sizes; is this not yet another way in which fashion retailers are prejudiced towards young women who do not fit the skinny ideal?

Come spring, chances are that even if your bra is not on display, your midriff might well be, with crop tops all over the catwalks at Isabel Marant, Michel Kors, Calvin Klein, Balenciaga – the list goes on. Then again, Calvin Klein designs have been synonymous with baring flesh on the runway since the 1990s. To create a fresh and demure aesthetic, many designers styled these as two pieces with pencil skirts or high-waisted shorts in identical fabric patterns. Whether this involved lace, print or minimalist tailoring, the key was to match; rather like a set of underwear.

So, while the bodies of Victoria secret models remain the envy of us all, at least we can try and imitate their confidence by allowing lacy frills of underwear to be spied beneath your 90s

slip dress.

Although, in the current cold climate, you may just want to throw on a mohair jumper instead, so as not to risk Kate Moss levels of exposure.

Kira Wheeler

Elle MacPhereson Intimates, Bra £36

Elle MacPhereson Intimates, Brief £23

24.02.2014

Pharrell Williams: A Pattern Emerging He might have got lucky in being part of not one, not two, but three of 2013’s number 1 hits, but it was a stroke of style, not a stroke of luck, that gained Pharrell Williams the prestigious honour of being one of 2013’s most fashionable celebrities. Here’s a look at some of his best fashion moments of last year…

Victoria Roskams Daft Punk’s Get Lucky heralded the return of the disco trend for 2013. Accordingly, the video featured the robots, along with Nile Rodgers and Pharrell, dressed as mirror disco balls.

The look was shiny and sleek, and stuck in our heads, along To the collective sighs of fans across with the song the globe, Pharrell wed designer Helen itself, for the Lasichanh in October. Husband and entire year. wife were both dressed in top-to-toe tartan, an homage not to any Scottish roots but the joyful union of two style Okay, so this was connoisseurs. With Pharrell’s penchant actually in 2014, for patterns, could he be expected to but a discussion get married in anything else? of Pharrell’s style seems incomplete without a mention of The Grammys Hat, as it shall be affectionately It takes some nerve to release a song as known. Billed to perform his song ‘Happy’ at the contentious as Blurred Lines. It takes even award ceremony, he turned up in a huge brown hat more nerve to wear what is effectively a reminiscent of Canadian park rangers. We suppose silver boiler suit in the video, and carry he was following his own rules again; we just hope it off. In the battle of the gall, it’s Robin he didn’t have too much trouble fitting through Thicke nil, Pharrell one. doorways.

The fashion and music worlds collided as Pharrell was photographed with music’s hottest couple, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, wearing several trademark pieces, a baseball cap, shorts, and plaid. Plaid featured once more in his shoot with fashion’s biggest name of 2013, Cara Delevingne. Not every musician gets the chance to appear in Vogue alongside the current hottest models, so the shoot was a testament to Pharrell’s sharp style.

The order of the day with Pharrell is statement items – well-tailored pieces which capture attention because of their patterns and their fit. While some of his outfits, such as the pink t-shirt and shorts here, may look a bit too busy for some, the hectic look is a testament to his abundance of ideas. He’s constantly innovative not just in his music but his clothes, saying that he follows his own rules, and if he can’t find clothing that he likes, he simply makes his own – resulting in a look that is wildly different to anyone else on the scene.

Interview Dressing Whether you’ve already been to one or not even thought about it yet, you will soon have to face those dreaded interviews in order to get the top jobs. However, during the preparation of the perfect answers and the thorough research into the companies applied to, we can make the mistake of overlooking one point: what to wear. Does it really matter what you wear to an interview? In many cases, indeed it does. So, when you think you want to show your personality with that bright red skirt or with an angry birds tie, think again. Sometimes it’s best not to show that wild, inner fashionista at an interview. It does depend on the interview you’ll be attending, and what kind of company it is, however, so take the advice of the professionals I’ve talked to!

Henry Morris, Founder and Chief Executive of upReach, which helps undergraduates from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve their career potential, suggests that the best thing to think about is the company you’ve applied to when deciding what to wear; “The best advice I ever got for what to wear is to mirror what the organisation you’re going for wears,” he says. “So if you’re going to a marketing agency – skinny jeans may be what they wear, so you should reflect that in your dress. If, on the other hand, you’re going to a private bank where both sexes wear suits and men wear ties too, then suit up!” Alex Kelly, Founder and Director of Unifrog, a tool which helps students choose the best university for them, supports this view and suggests that you do research on what people in that career and company tend to wear. If you still don’t know, Henry Morris has a solution for this too: “if you can, stand outside their office and observe!”

Let’s draw on the age-old Bristol stereotype and imagine you’re going to be interviewed at a high profile investment bank, law firm or similar hotshot big corporation. Boys, please ignore fashion trends. You may think that a nicely fitted, dark grey or navy suit teamed with plain shirt and simple tie is boring, but it works! Cotton shirts in simple pastels are absolutely essential and ultimately will be the backbone of your professional wardrobe. Lastly, shoes.

Good old Oxfords still remain a classic choice for interviews, so you can’t really go wrong with that one.

Girls, a warning that I have gathered from many professionals: do not dress provocatively. You want to create a confident and powerful image, which you can achieve with a plain black suit (either with a skirt or slacks) that has a fitted blazer, paired with a nice shirt. Or consider a black dress, as long as the skirt or dress hemline is about knee-length. If you’re usually a bit more creative, spice this up by picking a subtle print, such as a stripe or check, or choose a similarly neutral shade such as navy, grey or brown. Remember, it’s not a time to make a statement but an impression, so leave your big jewellery and accessories at home for interviews at companies that require you to dress formally. Finally, wear heels if you’re comfortable in them but again, lean towards more conservative footwear; black courts are a classic.

So, overall, the most important tip is to find out what the staff of the company you’d be interviewed for normally wear, and dress accordingly - once you’ve got the job you’ll be able to add a bit more personal style to your outfits.

Fatos Nacakgedigi

Style

Travel

Living

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What’s On

The best pick of this fortnight’s theatre, film, music and more.

Theatre & Comedy The Only Way is Downton Straight from a West End season, this is the first national tour of Luke Kempner’s tour-de-force impressions comedy. The brilliant new parody takes in many other popular TV shows and familiar modern voices to help the cast of Downton save the estate from financial ruin – again!

24th Feb - 1st March The Tobacco Factory 8.15pm

Lorraine and Alan In this modern re-telling of the Selkie myth, Alan, a recent Marine Biology graduate, discovers a mysterious woman lying on the sea shore and their lives become irreversibly intertwined.

The show is part of Full Circle Festival, a season of Bristol alumni work.

Wednesday 26th February Wickham theatre 7.30pm

Bristol Revunions and Friends After a recent sell-out show, Bristol’s famous sketch group present a brand new comedy experience, this time joined by some of their equally funny friends. For first two shows they will perform alongside Twins, followed

by Ellie White for the third and Ollie Jones-Evans for the final show.

25th – 28th February The Wardrobe Theatre 8pm

Film

The Grand Budapest Hotel Wes Anderson’s latest offering recounts the adventures of a legendary concierge, Gustave H., at a famous European hotel between the wars. When Gustave is framed for murder, he is forced to team up with the hotel’s lobby boy in order to prove his innocence.

From Friday 7th March Showcase Cinema De Lux

Gigs& Nightlife Tokyo Dub 2014 Festival Launch With a capacity of 2,500 and names like Phaelah and P Money included in the line-up, this night looks set to be one of Motion’s biggest of the year.

Saturday 8th March Motion

What’s On

Editor: Josie Benge whatson@ epigram.org.uk

Artwork by Alex Norris

Stranger by the Lake Alain Guiraudie’s unconventional, ingenious thriller won him the award for Best Director at Cannes 2013 Film Festival. Set in a secluded lakeside swimming spot in Southern France, the film explores the relationship between two men, Franck and Michel, through which it provides a powerful meditation on themes of love, sex and violence.

21st Feb - 6th March The Watershed

George Ezra The young folk-blues balladeer has spent the last 18 months touring with the likes of Willy Mason and Leanne Le Havas. Now he has announced his own tour in support of his debut EP, Can You Hear the Rain.

Monday 3rd March The Fleece

3 of the best...

Cocktail Bars From suave and sophisticated to cheap and cheerful, here are three of the best places to relax with a Mojito or two any night of the week.

Hyde & Co Bristol’s self-proclaimed ‘best kept secret prohibition bar’ is so exclusive that you have to ring a bell outiside in order to get in. Once inside, the bar has a seriously cool atmosphere - it’s low-lit, and decked out with a piano in the corner and an array of vintage lampshades. The cocktail menu mostly features 1920s inspired classics.

Berkeley Crescent, Clifton

Image: Paul Blakemore

Flickr: brainflakes

Bristol Radical Film Festival Founded in 2011, the Festival showcases works of overtly left-wing documentary and fiction filmmaking.

It begins on the 3rd of March with a screening of Enemies of the People at the Cube, a documentary about the conflict in Cambodia in the 1970s.

Listings of all the films can be found at bristolradicalfilmfestival.org.uk.

3rd - 9th March Various venues

Midlake Following the release of their new album, Antiphon, in November of last year, the lo-fi quintet from Texas has announced a UK tour. These gigs will showcase the band’s re-jigged line-up and their bold, newly honed sound.

Tuesday 25th February Anson Rooms

Flickr: Bjorn Giesenbauer

Papaji’s With a menu boasting over 90 cocktails, ranging from the usual classics to more exciting and exotic options, Papaji’s is a great place to go if you fancy trying something new. They also have a 2 for 1 deal on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for members of their Student Cocktail Club on Facebook.

Charlie’s Bar Tucked away underneath Dorma, Charlie’s Bar is a brand new speakeasy style cocktail bar with a cosy, relaxed atmosphere and an old school vinyl sound system. Thursdays at the bar are especially good, with 2 for 1 cocktails and Motown music played all night long.

Whiteladies Road, Clifton

Whiteladies Road, Clifton