Issue 260

Atomic Burger challenge e2 Living

Life without Facebook

Intramural football

page 12

page 36

Issue 252

Issue 260

Monday 4th March 2013 www.epigram.org.uk 25 years of Epigram Bristol University’s Independent Student Newspaper

University to look again at international student monitoring

Student leaders have welcomed signs that universities’ monitoring of international students’ attendance to a greater degree than that of UK students is to be altered.

In a press release, the National Union of Students (NUS) ‘welcomed firm clarification from the UK Border Agency (UKBA) that universities do not need to have more onerous monitoring procedures in place for international students than for domestic students’. The petition against the monitoring (Epigram, 04/02) of international students at Bristol University was raised at Senate continued on page 3

Fishy ethics: do animals feel pain too?

A cagey affair: controversial use of mice in medical experiments

page 14

UBU wins award in Parliament

Marek Allen

Animal Aid protest against Bristol University’s medical testing procedures Josephine McConville Deputy News Editor An investigation carried out by an animal rights group has condemned the University of Bristol for its use of genetically modified (GM) mice in experiments that are ‘both cruel’ and ‘medically useless’.

Procedures used by the university on GM mice are designed to understand the mechanics of pain reception and have been described by the Director of Animal Aid, Andrew Tyler, as ‘typically disgusting’. They involve injecting

chilli pepper into mice cheeks or crushing nerves in their back legs, leaving the rodents’ hypersensitive to pain, according to the animal rights organisation.

A briefing compiled by Animal Aid claims that research based in the School of Medicine’s Physiology and Pharmacology Department has failed to show any medical benefit despite receiving 15 years of public funding.

On Wednesday 27th March - as part of a twoday tour of the city to expose the University’s treatment of GM mice - Animal Aid visited the University precinct in an ambulance with the aim of raising awareness amongst students,

using distressing footage of experiments to represent those conducted at Bristol University.

The accusations against the university stem from research originally gathered by Animal Aid for a report entitled ‘Science Corrupted: the nightmare world of GM mice’, and draws on a vast number of sources including medical journals, university minutes and reports from the head researcher of the GM mice experiments.

The Animal Aid briefing states that for every GM mouse used, hundreds are ‘judged to be failures’ and killed. The report also claims that these publicly funded experiments – which continued on page 3

Representatives of University of Bristol Union (UBU) travelled to the Houses of Parliament to receive an award which recognises its improved services and activities for students.

The award forms part of the Student Union Evaluation Initiative (SUEI) - a national programme organised in partnership with NUS. UBU received a bronze award from the initiative, which is designed to encourage students’ unions to focus on finding out what their members want and delivering this within the resources available to them.

continued on page 3

The women who are changing the world page 10

Epigram

04.03.2013

News

Editor: Jemma Buckley

Deputy Editor: Zaki Dogliani

Deputy Editor: Josephine McConville

news@epigram.org.uk

zdogliani@epigram.org.uk

jmcconville@epigram.org.uk

Students have a right to read

Editorial team Editor

Style Deputy Editor

Pippa Shawley

Alice Johnston

editor@epigram.org.uk

deputystyle@epigram.org.uk

Deputy Editors

The Department of Sport refused to provide

The Department of Sport similarly

a collection point for the previous issue

refused to accept the newspaper, leaving

Arts Editor

of Epigram due to a sentiment amongst

our delivery man somewhat bemused:

Patrick Baker

Rosemary Wagg

managerial hierarchy that certain articles

‘The gym tried to refuse their Epigrams

patrick@epigram.org.uk

arts@epigram.org.uk

presented an unfavourable image of the

because they didn’t like one of the

Imogen Rowley

Deputy Arts Editor

specific department or the University as a

articles.’ It seems probable that the

imogen@epigram.org.uk

Rachel Schraer

e2 Editor

deputyarts@epigram.org.uk

whole. In light of this, it is vital to remind

article in question was the News section’s

Ant Adeane

Music Editor

both those who attempted to restrict the

reporting of Director of Sport Simon

e2@epigram.org.uk

Eliot Brammer

delivery of the newspaper and the student

Hinks’ email ‘requesting captains of

News Editor

music@epigram.org.uk

body of the role of the student newspaper; it

Bristol’s elite sports clubs to vote down an

Jemma Buckley

Deputy Music Editor

is to provide a medium which acts on behalf

attempt to make sports more accessible,’

news@epigram.org.uk

Phil Gwyn

of students. If Epigram is restricted in what

given Hinks’ subsequent apology to UBU

Deputy News Editors

deputymusic@epigram. org.uk

it can and cannot say by the interests of a

staff and student officers.

FIlm & TV Editor

few, then it will become a mere mouthpiece

The Bristol Veterinary School did not

Jasper Jolly

for the authorities of the university – a

provide the newspaper with its usual

filmandtv@epigram.org.uk

propaganda tool, forever warped by implicit

spot for prospective students, citing:

agendas and subdued by fear of speaking

‘We have decided not to give them out,

out.

due to the very negative reports on the

Zaki Dogliani Josephine McConville deputynews@epigram.org.uk Features Editor Nahema Marchal features@epigram.org.uk Deputy Features Editor Helena Blackstone deputyfeatures@epigram.org.uk Comment Editor Joe Kavanagh comment@epigram.org.uk Deputy Comment Editor Nat Meyers deputycomment@epigram.co.uk Letters Editor Lucy De Greeff letters@epigram.org.uk Living Editor Imogen Hope Carter living@epigram.org.uk Deputy Living Josephine Franks Mona Tabbara Travel Editor Alicia Queiro travel@epigram.org.uk

Deputy Film & TV Editor Kate Samuelson deputyfilmandtv@epigram.org.uk

Epigram’s value – and indeed the value of

front page, and inside, regarding the

Mary Melville

all forms of media, whether student, local

accommodation issues and we don’t

science@epigram.org.uk

or national – is borne out of a fundamental

want to put prospective students off!’

Deputy Science Editor

right to be able to tackle and engage

While the Langford site is often used to

Erik Müürsepp

meaningfully with the issues that matter.

interview prospective students – and it

Science Editor

deputyscience@epigram.org Sport Editor David Stone

accommodation away from potential

Laura Lambert

Features - Thurs 14th Mar, 1pm, White Bear

remember that the newspaper is written

deputysport@epigram.org.uk

Comment - Thurs 7th Mar, 12.30pm, White Bear

in the interests of students (prospective

Deputy Sport Editor

Proof Readers Sian Edwards Jessica Easton Carinthia Pearson Epigram is the independent student newspaper of the University of Bristol. The views expressed in this publication are not those of the University or the Students’ Union.

The design, text and photographs are copyright of Epigram and its individual contributors and may not be reproduced without permission.

deputytravel@epigram.org.uk

style@epigram.org.uk

Science & Tech - Tues 12th Mar, 1.15pm, White Bear

Advertise with Epigram?

To enquire about advertising, please contact Leanne Melbourne - advertising@epigram.org.uk

new students – it is important to

and current) and no single department should have the right to deny them with

e2 Living - Tues 5th Mar, 1.15pm, White Bear

what might be some highly valuable

e2 Style - Mon 4th Mar, 12.15pm, Refectory

information;

e2 Travel - Wed 6th Mar, 12.15pm, ASS cafe

national and grass-roots level – is always

Arts - Tues 12th Mar, 1.15pm,The Hawthorns

highly questionable.

Music - Thurs 14th Mar, 8pm, Highbury Vaults Film & TV - Tues 12th Mar, 1.15pm, White Bear

Alex Bradbrook

Lizi Woolgar

to deflect the damning reports of Bristol

News - Mon 4th and 11 Mar, 12.15pm, White Bear

sport@epigram.org.uk

Travel Deputy Editor

Style Editor

Meetings

might perhaps be seen as understandable

Sport - Tue 5th Mar, 12.30pm, White Bear

censorship

–

both

at

The freedom to make injustices such as that of the Department of Sport known to as many students as possible is critical.

Any attempt hinder student access to these valid and relevant stories should be strongly criticised and prevented.

Epigram

04.03.2013

3

Report accuses University of animal cruelty • •

Mice considered ‘disposable trash’ have cheeks injected with chilli pepper and nerves in back legs crushed, severed and tied Animal rights group claim Bristol Uni research has no proven medical benefit

Members of Animal Aid used masks and shocking images to raise awareness of controversial medical testing at the University of Bristol

Continued from page 1 included a £4.3 million grant from the Wellcome Trust in 2010 - ‘have so far produced no concrete benefits for patients’.

Speaking to Epigram prior to the Bristol tour, the Director of Animal Aid Andrew Tyler said ‘I think for too long mice in particular are being considered as disposable trash in labs. We are here to say that this has got to stop because they are sentient creatures who feel pain, anguish and stress...It is both cruel and medically useless’ he said.

Animal Aid’s scientific consultant, Dr Adrian Stallwood - who partook in the organisation’s University visit - said Higher Education Institutions accounted for over 50% of mice experiments in the UK. According to Stallwood, Animal Aid chose to investigate Bristol because, despite requests for figures under the freedom of information act, the University has remained ‘very cagey’ regarding the number of animals used in experiments. ‘[Bristol University] say they can’t tell us about the number

of animals used because that information isn’t held centrally [...] We believe Bristol is a very big user of animals and that they should come clean about how many animals they use per annum.’

The dramatic claims made by Animal Aid appeared to draw little reaction from students last Wednesday, with only the occasional student stopping to

“

Bristol have been very cagey regarding the number of animals used in experiments

”

take a leaflet from Animal Aid’s ‘ambulance’ parked outside the library at lunchtime. However, Animal Aid Tour Manager, Andrew Butler, said many staff and students had ‘expressed surprise’ at what was going on.

‘And that’s the point we’re here for - to raise awareness,’ he told Epigram. One passerby who showed an interest was Bristol Mayor George Ferguson

Zaki Dogliana Deputy News Editor Continued from page 1 - the university’s principal academic body - on February 25th by Postgraduate Senate Reps Cerelia Athanassiou, Mike Limb and Katja Lacey. In a written question, they asked ‘Has the University considered other methods so as to comply with the UKBA regulations?’

The response from the

Overseas “students need

to know the university is on their side- that’s still not evident

”

university was ‘We considered our implementation methods very carefully and believe that they are reasonable. We will continue to refine our implementation of the national requirements and to spread good practice’.

Speaking to Epigram, UBU Vice-President Education, Tom Flynn, said ‘We’ve seen the university begin to change its practices where it can, which we welcome. But our overseas students need to know that the university is on their side, and that’s still not evident. Of

course, we’re not expecting [Vice-Chancellor] Eric Thomas to stand outside College Green waving a placard, but the university need to be clearly communicating to international students their distaste at having to abide by these regulations, which penalize and invade the privacy of those here to learn.’

The university (at Senate) said ‘Our own Vice-Chancellor, in his role as President of Universities UK, has been vociferous in galvanising support for a more measured response from the UKBA and this lobbying continues.’

The university also agreed to hold an open meeting as requested by Athanassiou and the petition’s signatories.

‘Arrangements are being made to discuss both the national requirements and the University’s implementation of them at a meeting with staff and students who wish to attend’.

Athanassiou told Epigram ‘I hope this will mean an end to the monthly intimidation of international students at UoB and across the country. If it is true that a Higher Education team is being assembled by UKBA for the purposes of producing detailed case studies of processes meeting their requirements, I would like to see the University of Bristol actively involved in this sharing of best practice.’

Zaki Dogliani UoB Press Office

UoB reconsiders monitoring rules

- who picked up a leaflet the day before when Animal Aid were on Park Street.

The University of Bristol has said that the experiments only induce mild to moderate pain in rodents’ and have denied subjecting mice to pointless and severe suffering.

A spokesman for the University said ‘It is very important that people are aware of the facts of the matter. Neuropathic pain in humans can cause significant pain and distress and this is what this research is seeking to address. The nerve experiments described only provoke mild to moderate degrees of pain in mice, testing periods are short and the mice are freely able to withdraw from the stimulus at any time. The analogy would be stroking an area of sunburn after a long day on the beach. If it were possible to progress the research in other ways, then, of course we would.’

Bristol is the first university to be targeted in what is set to be Animal Aid’s sustained campaign against testing on mice.

From left to right: Ryan Bird, Samantha Budd, Suzanne Doyle (all UBU), Vicky Baars (NUS), Paul Uppal MP, Hannah Pollak, Judith Squires (UoB Pro Vice-Chancellor, Education) Paul Charlton, Martha West and Ben Pilling (all UBU)

Union wins award for improvement Katy Barney Senior News Reporter Continued from page 1 succeeded in ‘turning around an organisation which was failing and in severe financial difficulties.’

The award certainly shows a marked improvement at the Union, as the results of last year’s National Student Survey placed satisfaction with UBU amongst students at only 45% - meaning Bristol’s union was placed in the

bottom five institutions in the country.

‘We are dedicated to ensuring that the [UBU satisfaction] score improves over the next few years,’ said Budd.

Budd and Martha West, UBU Vice-President for Activities, who also attended the presentation, agree that part of the reason for low satisfaction score from students related to the location of the union and the image of the building itself.

West emphasised that there was still a ‘perception gap’

between students’ ideas of what the union is, and the truth of the matter. She is keen to encourage greater involvement with UBU among students, so that they can see beyond the refurbishment and see the union as a centre for representation and for clubs and societies.

UBU elected officers and members of staff were invited to the event, held at the Terrace Pavilion of the Houses of Parliament, to collect their Bronze award.

‘It was a real privilege to

receive our award at the Houses of Parliament. The significance of democracy as a core value for UBU made the venue really special and it also reflects the reputation that SUEI has gained as a means of measuring the quality of a good Students’ Union.’ (have asked Katy who said this - needs filling in) It remains to be seen whether this is a sign of things to come as the refurbishment continues, the next NSS survey is conducted and the union continues its work towards SUEI awards.

Epigram

04.03.2013

4

Same-sex couples display love in ASSL

The kiss-in “helped people

who are LGBT+ to feel more liberated about expressing their love

”

us, but at least we’ve affected them in some way.’

Victoria Au, the UBU LGBT+ Officer, agrees that the event will have made a difference.

‘There are many different permutations of love. [The kiss-in] helped people who are LGBT+ to feel more liberated… about expressing their love.’

The stunt comes at a significant time for the

University’s own links to same-sex marriage as part of February’s LGBT+ History Month, for which the society had organised a range of activities aiming to inform and encourage discussion about the movement.

Moreover, in December UBU resolved to actively support LGBT+ organisations in their efforts to lobby the government for same-sex couples to hold civil and religious marriage ceremonies.

The statement read, ‘UBU should be at the forefront of liberation movements working actively to lead the way for LGBT+ inclusion, of which the support of equal marriage is pivotal. Equality is about equal opportunity.’ Au calls the policy ‘very timely’.

The feedback from the committee stage of the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill in the Commons is expected by March 12th. On whether the bill will be backed, Au is ‘quite positive that Britain will make the right decision’.

‘The younger generation is more progressive. We’re finally at the point where the tide is turning for the better: a more accepting and loving society that celebrates difference.’

The library ‘kiss-in’ was organised by the LGBT+ Society as part of the campaign for marriage equality

Rich Brown

At lunchtime on February 14th, forty same-sex couples publicly displayed their love for each other inside the Arts and Social Sciences Library by ‘proposing’ and kissing each other in front of unsuspecting students.

The ‘kiss-in’ event was organised by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans & Plus (LGBT+) Society to campaign for marriage equality and was planned to coincide with Valentine’s Day and LGBT+ History Month.

The couples gathered outside the library and distributed flyers before one member from each couple went to the first floor and the other party followed to find them. Upon finding their partner they publicly ‘proposed’ to them and kissed them in front of students working in the library.

Onlookers applauded and threw confetti.

The same format was used later in the day in the café downstairs and again on Woodland Road, where students carried placards reading, ‘I support marriage equality’.

The kiss-in occurred during

a period of ongoing discussion in the House of Commons over a bill that, if approved, will legalise same-sex marriage in Britain.

Kelvin Chen, the LGBT+ Society President, told Epigram, ‘It was very positive….We managed to help people who may not feel comfortable with themselves. They might not feel confident enough to approach

Rich Brown

Alex Saad News Reporter

Students also expressed their love for each other in the ASS library and on Woodland Road

Campaigning begins for Union Officer elections UBU

Over the next two weeks you will most likley be approached by candidates standing for full time and part time elected officer positions at University of Bristol Union (UBU). Here’s Epigram’s need-to-know guide to elections fortnight.

UBU President Kelvin Chen Rob Griffiths Vice-President (VP) Activities Imogen Palmer Tom Sturdy

What are elected officers?

There are two main types of elected officers - full time and part time. All positions are filled by current Bristol students. Full time officers do not study at the same time as working for UBU, but part time ones do. Full time officers - also known as sabbatical officers or ‘sabbs’ are permitted to re-run, though this was not done by any of the 2011-12 sabbatical team.

When can I vote?

Campaigning will begin on 4th March and voting from the following Monday, 11th March.

How can I vote?

Voting, open to all students, will take place online. There will also be polling stations in UBU Info Point on Tyndall Avenue and in the students’ union building itself (check latter) where students can cast their votes.

Why should I bother voting?

Candidate List

VP Community Hugh Loxton Catherine McLaughlin Charlotte Twine Ellie Williams VP Education Amy Collis Tom Flynn Farooq Sabri

This year’s current full time officers, elected in March 2012.

Elected officers work with students to make decisions on their behalf and lobby the university on decisions that affect students’ time at Bristol. Recent campaigns have included ‘Don’t Bin Bursaries’, which led the university to reverse plans to

scrap bursaries for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Follow @EpigramNews on Twitter and visit epigram.org. uk for updates throughout the campaign.

VP Sport & Health Scott Darroch Hannah Pollak Danielle Simpson Tabby St Vincent VP Welfare & Equality Alessandra Berti Julia Bush Ioana Dumitrescu Rhian Greaves Non Humphries

STAR speaks out about UK refugees Sol Milne News Reporter As part of a week of action around the UK, members from Student Action for Refugees (STAR) – along with an asylum seeker – gave a talk at UBU about the treatment of refugees arriving in the UK. They criticised the conditions of detention centres in the UK and the government’s ‘Fast Track’ system for asylum applications.

Speakers at the talk explained that more than 25,000 asylum seekers enter the UK each year and that huge numbers of these are kept in detention centres government facilities designed to hold the immigrants until it is decided if they have legitimate grounds for being in the UK. ‘The difference between being in jail and being in detention is that in jail you know what you have done and when you can leave,’ explained the asylum seeker about his treatment in detention facilities.

‘In detention centres, you are forced into a small custody cell with no other interaction other than with the people in your cell. There are few doctors and health is the first thing to diminish. People become very stressed due to the conditions and people go on hunger

strikes, stitch their lips, self harm or even commit suicide.’

Claiming asylum is not a crime, yet asylum seekers are kept in detention, in some cases for more than three years.

By comparison, terror suspects are only allowed to be kept in custody for 28 days.

The speakers also explained that there is a host of problems with the UK’s Fast Track system, aimed at ‘processing’ asylum seekers quickly in order to determine whether they have legitimate grounds for seeking refuge.

Emily Crowley, from STAR, said ‘There is a 99% refusal rate and because legal aid is given to you, you have to remain in detention until you are seen by a lawyer, which can mean an indefinite stay in detention centres.’

Many asylum seekers cannot speak English and are often too traumatised from their experiences to divulge all information about their reason for fleeing - many are tortured or victims of other kinds of serious abuse. It is now illegal for children to be held in detention, yet the age of many asylum seekers is disputed, and children under the age of eighteen often end up being held in adult detention facilities.

For more information on UK Asylum Seekers and how you can do to help visit: www.starnetwork.org.uk

Epigram

04.03.2013

5

Alex Bradbrook Senior News Reporter Researchers at the University of Bristol have launched a scheme designed to encourage young people in Bristol to flourish and make the most of their opportunities. The scheme, called the 80by18 Project, is coordinated by the University’s Graduate School of Education and aims to showcase 80 experiences available in the city which will help young Bristolians to succeed.

The project’s website is currently taking suggestions as to what experiences should feature in the list of top things to do in Bristol. The public is being encouraged to contribute to the list, which will eventually show off the wealth of cultural institutions, places, businesses and community resources at young people’s disposal.

It has already captured the imagination of many people, with suggestions ranging from ‘getting up early to experience the tranquillity of the city’ to ‘handle an exotic spider in the zoo’.

Keri Facer, Professor of Educational and Social Futures at the university, described the project as a way of harnessing ‘the resources of the city to support young people to have

rich experiences beyond the school walls; an especially important issue during this time when schools are being encouraged to focus more on the basic education of children, and less on so-called “richer experiences”’.

The end goal of the project, according to Facer, is to ‘bring together people from Bristol’s different neighbourhoods, from its community, cultural, sporting, youth and heritage organisations to its technology and business communities and environmental and social movements’ to help inspire and encourage the younger residents of this city.

At this time of environmental, economic and technological upheaval, the project is seen as a back-to-basics approach to help young people have fun in their own city.

After all the activity suggestions have been made, the project will use data analysis software to study the responses and pull out popular ideas, with the eventual goal of publishing the 80by18 list in October of this year.

If you know an activity in Bristol that you feel may be suitable for inclusion, log on to the 80by18 Project website before the 5th April to play your part in showcasing the best of what Bristol has to offer.

UoB gets A for sexual health Flickr: Writing on the Mall

‘80by18’ will enable Bristolians to thrive

The 24 Russell Group universities were ranked according to their sexual health provision.

Alex Bradbrook Senior News Reporter The University of Bristol’s Student Health Service has been listed as the third best in the UK for its provision of sexual health services.

The list, which was compiled by the online medical service, Dr Ed, published the first ‘sexual health report card’ for the 24 universities in the prestigious

Russell Group in February.

In the report, which gave universities a grade ranging from A to F for ten different criteria, Nottingham University was ranked the best, scoring 83%, closely followed by Kings College London and Bristol.

Cardiff, Manchester and Durham were placed at the bottom of the table, with Cardiff scoring just 31%.

The organisation collected its data using a number of methods, such as obtaining

reports from student welfare officers, using ‘mystery shoppers’ to test services, and gauging opinion from students themselves.

Amit Khutti, the co-founder of Dr Ed, stated that he hoped that the survey would help to drive improvements to sexual health services across the UK universities, similar to how a comparable survey in the USA has seen notable improvements in services offered to students in American universities.

Bristol scored ‘A’ grades for six of the criteria in the report, including the location of the clinic, opening hours, access to contraception and the website usability. However, the university only scored an ‘E’ for the promotion of sexual health information on campus, highlighting a nationwide trend of not doing enough to publicise such awareness. This phenomenon was reflected in the report, with only one university – Nottingham – receiving an ‘A’ grade for its campus publications, demonstrating the need for nation-wide improvements.

Commenting on the report card’s publication, Pete Mercer, the Vice-President of the National Union of Students, said that it served a useful purpose of helping universities to identify key areas of improvement to sexual health services. He also described the lack of consistency across the country as being ‘concerning’, and praised the report card for raising awareness about sexual health matters.

The University of Bristol sexual health services are housed within the Students’ Health Service, at the top of Cotham Hill. More information about its services, and on how to obtain an appointment, can be found on its website at www. bristol.ac.uk/student-health , or by telephoning 0117 330 2720.

Students campaign to save the Politics and IR department at UWE from closure Joe Kavanagh Senior News Reporter

Bristol Labour Studnts

Bristol University’s Labour Club with Exeter MP and former Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw

Students at UWE (University of the West of England) are fighting to save their Politics and International Relations department, after their ViceChancellor revealed that they are to be closed. He cites competition from the University of Bristol and other local universities, as one of the factors leading to the closure of the departments.

In a statement on the University’s website, Professor Steve West said that some departments would close due to a decline in applications and competition from other universities.

He said ‘This is always a difficult decision, and will only be considered when felt that there is no viable alternative.’ ‘[The politics department] faces considerable competition from other local institutions such as Bristol, Bath and Exeter, who are looking to grow into this subject, and our applications have fallen sharply.’

Students have protested, however, by putting up posters, holding meetings and writing to local MPs. A petition they have started has already received over 700 signatures.

A Facebook group has also been set up to help organise the campaign. Its description points out that the department received 92% satisfaction ratings in the most recent

92% student satisfaction ratings in the department National Student Survey (NSS). It reads ‘We call for the Vice-Chancellor to withdraw this proposal and continue to support Politics and IR at UWE. Cuts such as these would damage the services students receive at this institution.

‘We feel that these proposals would serve only to damage the academic integrity of the university and the community in general.’ Students also point

to the fact that 90% of UWE Politics graduates are studying or in work within 6 months of graduation.

Professor Tom Osborne, Head of UoB’s School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, has written an open letter asking Professor West to reconsider. The letter, which says the closure ‘would be a serious loss to UK politics ideas and research’, says ‘UWE has always had a very strong trackrecord of attracting students from widely ranged social backgrounds and provides a real service in giving, for example, many working class students access to the highest standards of university research and teaching’.

The ‘Save Politics and IR at UWE’ campaign has also received support from groups across the political spectrum.

Bristol Labour, Bristol West Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Williams and Conservative Future have all voiced concern about the department closing.

The petition can be viewed a t : w w w. i p e t i t i o n s . c o m / petition/defend-politics-andinternational-relations-at-uwe

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Epigram

04.02.2013

7

Adam Bushnell News Reporter A Bristol-based project investigating a Jurassic fossil collection once belonging to geologist Charles Moore has gathered the attention of national prime-time television programme The One Show.

The project is the result of a three year collaboration between a professor in the Earth Sciences department at the University of Bristol and the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution (BRLSI).

Following Moore’s death his collection of fossils ‘drifted into obscurity’ and it is only now that the BRLSI and UoB have teamed up ‘to conserve, prepare and research these amazing fossils. Mike Benton, Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology at UoB, investigated the collection with Matt Williams, a Bristol alumnus (MSc in Palaeobiology) now at the BRLSI. Moore’s collection consisted of specimens from the Jurassic period and was located in Strawberry Bank in Somerset in the early 1840s and exhibited in a free public museum at the

BRLSI in Bath. After Moore’s death, however, the fossil collection was not researched and risked becoming lost.

Williams, collections manager at BRLSI who is overseeing the project, said: ‘Their [the fossils’] presence at the museum was first noted in the 1980s but noone had really pursued it.’

Professor Benton told Epigram that it is this historical story that ‘piqued the interest of The One Show’, which went on to film at various locations.

They filmed at Strawberry Bank in Ilminster, the Somerset museum in Taunton, where Moore’s collection is housed, and the Bristol Museum before interviewing Professor Benton.

Outstanding features of these fossils were not just the sheer size of the collection, or the unlikely location of their discovery, but also the fact that ‘they show exceptional preservation’, with ‘soft tissues such as muscles guts and skin’ shown. This allows scientists to study these features for the first time since their discovery and is a great step forward in the process of trying to unravel the secrets of the Jurassic ecosystem.

Rag week brings colour to streets of Bristol Joanna Davies

Fossils picked up

by The One Show

Joanna Davies News Reporter The weekend of February 16th marked the 88th anniversary of the annual RAG procession through the streets of Bristol.

This colourful parade signified the start of the renowned RAG fundraising week which is one of the oldest traditions of this event. The Quartet Community Foundation is the chosen charity for this RAG event and provides grants for local charities to fund local projects within the Bristol community.

Bystanders were in awe at the multitude of costumes and music which filled the city’s streets on what was a chilly Saturday morning. The procession started on the Downs by Bristol’s Lord Mayor, continuing along Whiteladies Road and Park Street. Lorries, army tanks, ice cream vans and the famous RAG hedgehog were greeted by smiling spectators, many of whom see this as an integral and memorable feature of the thriving student population.

Hundreds of students work hard every year to organise the spectacle, and this time was no different. Bristol RAG week has always been unique and the

RAG members and the famous hedgehog make their way down Park Street during the procession

The procession is a key colourful floats, jazz bands and eye catching onesies – a form of interaction between students and the rest of the community. Small children and adults alike were laughing and pointing at the animal and The amount balloon adorned floats which filled the streets with music. raised by RAG so Other events as part of the far in 2012-13 fundraising week included a poker night, pub quiz and a new addition – continued ‘sabb takeover of BAR 100’, what many consider an which saw UBU’s elected inspiring tradition. officers behind the bar for an

“ £24882

”

evening. Another was a cyclea-thon, which saw volunteers cycle the distance from Bristol to London on exercise bikes stationed outside the university’s Gym on Tyndall Avenue. It concluded after the Fun Run at Coombe Dingle on February 24th in which fancy dress was ‘not compulsory but highly recommended’.

At time of writing, the total money raised in 2012-13 is £24882.

Bristol makes space for Mars Rover visit George Chamberlin News Reporter

Meet Bridget: The new Mars Rover visited Bristol in preperation for its journey to Mars in 2018

Buzz Aldrin, Yuri Gagarin, Neil Armstrong - the history of space is littered with famous Americans and Russians and it often feels like the UK does not get a look in. But that myth was dispelled as the greatest minds in UK space gathered in Bristol for the National Student Space Conference.

The 25th space conference run jointly by UKSEDS (UK Students for the Exploration and Development of Space) and Bristol CHAOS (University of Bristol Physics Society) was a resounding success with tickets sold out well before doors opened at the HH Wills Physics Laboratory on Saturday 23rd February.

The twittersphere was alight with the brightest stars of UK space tweeting with the hastag #UKSEDS25. The British Interplanetary Society tweeted ‘#UKSEDS25 this weekend.

Everyone in UK space will be there and it’s going to be epic.

See you there!’

The UK may not have

many celebrated astronauts, but an unlikely star made a visit to Bristol in preparation for a journey to Mars with the European space agency ‘ExoMars’ mission in 2018.

At 1.65m in length and running on six metal wheels Bridget is the next generation of Mars Rover - and she is smarter than her predecessors.

Bridget is “ smarter than her

predecessors.

She can take 3D photos, is faster and can plan her own routes

”

She can take 3D photos, is faster and can even plan her own routes around the red planet’s surface Alex Dawn, president of Bristol CHAOS explained before the event that ‘Bridget will be very popular...She’s going to be accompanied by a team of engineers who will give us an insight into how

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she’s been designed to be far more autonomous than previous Mars rovers.’

The majority of UK involvement in space remains based here on terra firma.

One of the highlights of the weekend was Alan Bond’s presentation on Skylon, the first spacecraft capable of taking off from a runway under normal propulsion and then lighting up its rocket engine in-flight to break the bonds of gravity.

Another type of rocket has been developed by Reaction Engines that is able to work both in our atmosphere, using what little air is available at such high altitude, and also in space by converting to a more typical airless rocket.

These snapshots were just two of the most highly anticipated appearances at the event. Talks from Dr Jason Hatton of the European Space Agency, as well as international guest speakers like Dr. Carol Norberg of Umeå University where among 200 delegates at the event, showing how important the UK is to modern space exploration.

Epigram 04.03.13

Features

Editor: Editor: Tristan Martin Nahema Marchal features@epigram.org.uk features@epigram.org.uk

Deputy Editor: Deputy Andrew White HelenaEditor: Blackstone deputyfeatures@epigram.org.uk deputyfeatures@epigram.org.uk

@epigramfeatures

Google, H.G. Wells, and our ‘World Brain’ H.G. Wells’ premonition of a world encyclopedia that could ‘hold men’s minds together in something like a common interpretation of reality’ is finally becoming an actual phenomenon. As we increase our storage of data online, we are getting closer to realising the Wellsian dream of ‘World Brain’.

There are several prima facie great consequences of this. Firstly, it makes calling people up on their bullshit in the pub ten times easier, since a quick Wiki search provides an authoritative answer that most will agree with.

Secondly, it has the potential to make education less culturally myopic, as the wealth of our intellectual history becomes more readily accessible internationally. This in turn could improve society and further - or in some cases initiate - democracy. The idea of not just the crest but the entire wave of mankind’s recorded ideas being compiled online is surely an exciting one.

As with most seemingly great things there are a whole host of commentators and analysts who think the exact opposite. Their arguments are perhaps worth considering, assuming that they’re not just exploiting a gap in the market for conspiracy theorists tired of discussing American foreign policy.

In his new book, To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism, cyber expert Evgeny Morozov argues that it isn’t so much the direction that the internet is moving in that’s the problem. Rather, it is the fact that Google and Facebook

are taking us there.

As part of its Google Books project, the American corporation is currently scanning and putting books online at a voracious rate despite ongoing legal battles with countless disgruntled international writers: The Writers Guild in America, the German Ministry of Justice and the Paris Civil Court.

U.S. District Judge Denny Chin recently rejected a proposed settlement between The Writers Guild of America and Google stating that the proposed settlement ‘went too far’ as it would give exclusive rights to Google for thousands of international works.

Dr. Irene Pakushcer of the German Ministry of Justice similarly rejected the settlement on the ground that it would result in ‘a de facto monopoly on information.’ With the proposed settlement in tatters a trial is now inevitable; The Writers Guild alone are seeking damages of over $2 billion.

However, this doesn’t seem to faze Google all that much as they are still copying books and showing snippets of books that are in copyright. Baidu - the Chinese equivalent of Google - is facing similar legal battles.

You would hope that Google, Baidu and other internet Goliaths would be considering the long-term ethical consequences of their actions.

Unfortunately, according to Morozov, for the most innovative and mindbendingly successful companies such as Google and Twitter, action often precedes legal consideration.

There have been some embarrassing cock-ups along the way: the ‘preview’ feature of Google Books allows users to view small snippets of text from copyrighted books horizontally for

Julie Falk

Michael Coombs Features Reporter

Flickr: Paulandthedarkroom

Eighty years ago H.G. Wells predicted a ‘World Brain’. We examine how this burgeoning phenomenon will affect us in the 21st century

all languages, rendering Japanese, which is read vertically, completely meaningless. When Google is making such school-boy errors publicly, and is seeming to laugh in the face of national and international copyright laws in its quest for dominance, it’s scary to think what mistakes might be happening behind closed doors.

The question looms: will this growth of online data be useful or malignant? It’s hard not to be drawn in by benevolent old Google with its whimsical office spaces, charming fonts and intellectually ambitious mission-statements. But as Morozov points out, although they act like

NGOs, and may even believe it themselves, Google made $50 billion last year which it protects through tax avoidance schemes in Bermuda and The Netherlands. As Google C.E.O Eric Schmidt notes, ‘we are proudly capitalistic.’

The creating of a World Brain doesn’t have to be a disaster. However, when the World Brain is run by people whose responsibility is to their shareholders as opposed to the flourishing of mankind then the paranoia and disillusionment that characterised the end of H.G. Well’s writing doesn’t seem misplaced. The source of big-data internet storage

paranoia is slightly more ineffable than the internet’s political equivalent, but that’s not to say it should be dismissed as mere conspiracy babble. Critics of future development often have to be speculative rather than retrospective.

Chomsky uses a hammer as an analogy for the internet: it can be used to build a school or bash someone’s face in. It is not clear which Google will ultimately end up doing with its Google Books project or indeed any .com trying to establish online supremacy, but there is a range of literature and blog articles emerging that express a reluctance to give them the opportunity to do either.

Burning like Paris: the emergence of queer hip hop A few weeks ago Lil B, of the Californian hip hop group The Pack, posted maybe one of my favourite tweets ever. ‘BOYS ARE CUTE!!! GIRLS ARE CUTE!!!! BEINGS WHO DONT FIT INTO THE GENDER BINARY ARE CUTE!!!!

EVERYONE IS REALLY CUTE!!!!’ Lil B is a vocal supporter of lesbian, gay and transgender rights, and while identifying as straight, is definitely unafraid to step outside of the binary ascribed to him (releasing songs with titles such as ‘I’m Ellen Degeneres’ and an album titled I’m Gay, after the announcement of which he said, ‘I got major love for the gay and lesbian community, and I just want to push less separation and that’s why I’m doing it. I hope GLAAD sees that I’m taking initial steps to break barriers.’)

Slate magazine describes Lil B as a ‘brilliantly warped, post-Lil-Wayne deconstructionist’ and a ‘weirdo rapper’ but actually, LGBT+ friendly and queerconsiderate sentiments in hip hop are becoming less weird by the day.

Hip hop has a terrible track record with homophobia, with highly

Flickr: NRK P3

Onjuli Datta Features Reporter

Rapper Frank Ocean recently revealed on his Tumblr that his first love was for another man. In response, Jay-Z has spoken out against homophobia and stated his support for gay marriage.

aggressive slurs having been an inseparable part of many rappers’ repertoire, such as The Notorious B.I.G. and Nas. Homosexuality has tended to be associated with weakness in hip hop; though it may have been lighthearted, the Sugarhill Gang’s 70s hit ‘Rapper’s Delight’ ridiculed superman for being a ‘fairy...flyin’ through the air in pantyhose’, and Don’t be a Faggot was the original name wanted by the Beastie Boys for what ended up being

their album called Licence to Kill.

However, 2012 was a good year for queer hip hop. Attitudes are changing at every level. Maybe most notable was Jay-Z’s interview with CNN, in which he stated, ‘You can choose to love whoever you love ... [It] is no different than discriminating against blacks. It’s discrimination plain and simple.’ This was less than a week after Obama became the first sitting US president to vocally support same-sex

marriage. Even 50 Cent, who has taken an arguably homophobic stance in the past, said in July, ‘I think everyone should be happy... I think a fool is going to go against same sex marriage.’

2012 signalled not only a change in attitudes but also greater LGBT+ visibility amongst hip hop artists, from Frank Ocean’s bravely personal discussion of his sexuality, to the gender bending music videos of Mykki Blanco, and the gleefully flamboyant performances of dance-rap crew House of LaDosha. These artists are breaking boundaries everywhere and having fun doing it.

February was LGBT+ history month, and so now more than ever it’s important to acknowledge these artists’ similarly brave predecessors in hip hop’s blues, jazz and rock n’ roll roots, such as the award-winning Tracy Chapman and pioneering showmen like Billy Wright and Esquerita. NYC hip hop in particular has strong connections with the ball culture of the 80s, which celebrated diverse sexual orientations and gender identifications within New York’s African American and Latino subcultures - as documented in Jennie Livingstone’s 1990 film Paris

is Burning. Hip hop has in many ways maintained an image as a traditionally homophobic genre. But exceptions to this have always existed, and they are growing by the day.

Obviously hip hop, much like other genres of music, is not without problems. Homophobia is still a big issue; there is growing resistance to the emerging popularity of queer rap, with rappers like Lord Jamar proclaiming ‘I’m just amazed at the mess.’ But things are getting better.

Hip hop is a hugely influential and progressive genre, and it’s reassuring to see that support for LGBT+ issues is becoming an ever more integral part of the scene.

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Two years on: from Arab Spring to winter?

Ed Trotman takes stock of the political situation two years after the wave of revolutionary protests in the Arab World

Matt Stringberd

December 17, 2010 Grocery vendor Mohammed Bouazizi sets himself on fire after being ignored by the Tunisian authorities when complaining to authorities about police brutality.

January 4, 2011 As the death of Bouazizi is announced over 5000 people take to the streets in his home town of Sidi Bouazid, the demonstrators demand better living conditions and a stop to police brutality and corruption in Tunisia.

“

Two years on, the Arab Spring seems to have fallen short of its democratic ideals

”

Omar Chatiwala

On the morning of Wednesday February 6th, on a quiet street in the El Menzah district of the Tunisian Capital, a man was shot at close range four times in the head, neck and chest as he left his home for work.

While the assailants escaped on motorbikes he was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died from his wounds later that morning.

This man was Chokri Belaid, the leader of the secular Democratic Patriots party of Tunisia and an outspoken critic of the post-revolutionary Islamist-led government. His abrupt and needless death at the hands of two unknown attackers represents an assault on that very foundation stone of a working democracy freedom of speech - and has provoked a wave of distress and anger across Tunisian politics and society at large. With his passing we might now wonder whether those impassioned cries for the right to democracy, proclaimed in the heat of the Arab Spring, are beginning to fall on deaf ears, and the efforts of those politicians from across the Arab world who lit the blue touchpaper for political change exactly two years ago, were in fact wasted.

The events of the Arab Spring began on a Saturday in December of 2010 when a Tunisian street vendor named Mohammed Bouzazi set himself alight in the Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid in protest of the confiscation of his property and the humiliation he had suffered at the hands of local municipal officials. In this single act of protest, Bouzazi would spark a wave of anger and revolutionary fervour which would resound across the Arab world, upsetting

In a protest in Qatar, Syria, hundreds turn out on the streets to protest against the killing of innocent people by their President Bashar Al-Assad.

governments and toppling regimes which had stood unchallenged for decades. In the opening months of 2011, national demonstrations gripped 18 countries from across North Africa and the Middle East. From as far as Libya,

January 14, 2011 After weeks of demonstrations and clashes Tunisian president Zine el-Abidinde Ben Ali steps down and flees to Saudi Arabia

Egypt and Algeria in the west to Iran, Yemen and Syria in the east, ordinary people left their homes to come together and object to governing authorities which they felt no longer represented the collective will of their people. Like the

January 25, 2011 ‘The day of rage’: tens of thousands of Egyptians take to the streets demanding the end of the regime of Hosni Mubarak in place since 1981.

The protesters march to the central Tahrir Square, where they set camp. The Square became a symbolic stronghold of the protesters throughout the struggle against Mubarak.

January 21, 2011 5000 people take to the streets in the Jordanian capital of Amman; demonstrating against increases in fuel prices as well as higher level of taxation imposed by the government

uncorking of a champagne bottle, the Arab Spring represented the violent and sudden release of suppressed anger and frustration which had been fermenting at the heart of Arab society for years.

Demonstrators protested

to undermine the process towards democratisation in this region. In the Middle East, peaceful protest has been met with violence and repression on behalf of the ruling elite. In Syria, civil war between the ruling Assad family and the revolutionary Syrian National Coalition is ongoing and is thought to have claimed as many as 60,000 lives.

Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia demonstrations against King Abdullah have led to civilian killings, imprisonment and torture. In North Africa one of the surprising victors in

February 1, 2011 Faced with persistent demonstrators, Mubarak, on national television announced that he would not seek re-election in the upcoming Egyptian presidential elections.

January 27, 2011 16 000 protesters gather in the streets of the Yemeni capital of Sana’a demanding the resignation of President Ali Abduhllah Saleh.

February 11, 2011 After weeks of protests and numerous deaths, Mubarak announced that he would step down as Egyptian President. Mubarak handed power to the military upon his resignation.

Martin Sharman

Ed Trotman Features Reporter

national elections have been Islamist political groups; in Tunisia and Egypt the moderate Muslim Brotherhood and more conservative Salafists have come to power. The region remains strongly divided between these Islamist and secular elements.

Tunisia Belaid’s assassination reveals the extent to which the Islamist Ennahda Party dominate Tunisian politics. Its hold is thought to be partly facilitated by its association with a militant organisation called the ‘League for the Protection of the Revolution’.

Belaid had accused the League of disrupting a Patriots party meeting and had warned on National TV that there would be an escalation in political violence the night before he was killed. Although it is unknown as to whether the League was responsible for his assassination, the accusation is not wholly unsubstantiated.

In October of last year a coordinator for the newly founded opposition party, Nida Tounes, died after violent political clashes with the League in the south. The ministry of the interior claimed he had died of a heart attack - however, a second autopsy requested by his family revealed that he had in fact been bludgeoned to death, the leader of a local league branch is thought to be implicated. If these atrocities go unchecked they pose a serious threat to freedom of expression in Tunisia and the establishment of a multi-party democracy.

The dislocation of the Arab world between conflicting interest groups had always meant that democratisation was never going to be straightforward. What we are witnessing is not the end but the very beginning of a process and a struggle which will be both prolonged and hard fought.

February 14, 2011 Crowds gathered in the Bahraini capital of Manama to protest corruption and unemployment .The protesters gathered at the Pearl Roundabout, and the traffic circle became, just as the Tharir Square in Cairo, a symbolic congregation point for the protesters.

February 17, 2011 A day of revolt is organised in Libya, encouraging people to gather in the streets and voice their disapproval of Muammar Gaddafi and his regime

Nahema Marchal

against issues including political corruption, economic decline, unemployment, poverty and the oppressive authoritarianism which was characteristic of many Arab governments, demanding the founding of representative democracies in their place.

Two years on, the Arab Spring seems to have fallen short of its democratic ideals. Whilst the protagonists have changed, the old upsets continue to wrangle and that all-embracing revolutionary euphoria has now sadly been dissipated. The grim realities of factionalism and a resurgent political corruption have set in and are beginning

February 20, 2011 Simultaneous rallies in Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakesh, calling for a new constitution and an end to widespread corruption, take place in Morocco. The demonstrators called for a more legitimate democracy.

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The women who are changing the world To celebrate International Women’s Day, Epigram asked you to tell us which women you most admire. Here are just a couple.

Sally Bidal Features Reporter

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Sophie Padgett Features Reporter Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is an award-winning Pakistani documentary maker who has been hailed as ‘the face of a more liberal and tolerant Pakistan’. Her work focuses on human rights and women’s issues, especially within the Muslim world. Time magazine listed her as one of 2012’s most influential people, and it’s easy to see why.

Obaid-Chinoy’s career has led her to work with refugees and women’s rights groups in over 1 0 countries.

She has made 12 films in five years and her 2 0 1 2

documentary Saving Face, which follows the lives of several women who have been victims of acid attacks in Pakistan, won the country its first ever Oscar. She also won an Emmy for her 2010 documentary, Pakistan: Children of the Taliban.

Throughout her career she has strived to draw attention to important issues which were previously either unknown or conveniently ignored.

Her international success and recognition has been welcomed by most in Pakistan: The government is due to present the 33 year old journalist with a civilian award, and the Urdu paper Nawa-e-Waqt wrote of her Oscar win that ‘Her victory made every Pakistani happy.’

But sadly it would seem that in reality not every Pakistani is ready to shower her with praise; many have accused the filmmaker of gaining money and success at the expense of ‘trashing’ Pakistan.

Here, the point seems to have been missed altogether.

Her work does not serve to bring glory to Pakistan, or to improve its international reputation, but to bring awareness to issues that need attention. As she said in an

interview shortly after her Oscar victory, ‘it’s great that we were able to do this, and it’s great to do it with a story that has hope and that portrays to people that Pakistan can solve its own problems, if it tries.’

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is a truly inspirational woman who goes to show the kind of woman a country like Pakistan can produce. She does not just give a voice to women who are all too easily silenced, but also gives them the opportunity to personally vocalise their own stories. She gives hope that progress can, has been and will continue to be made in countries like Pakistan. During a post-screening Q&A with La Frances Hui from Asia Society (a non-profit organisation that focuses on educating the world about Asia), Obaid-Chinoy told her ‘You know I have always felt that being a woman in Pakistan is an asset… the kind of films I have done, and the kind of places I have been, and the kind of people I have spoken to; if I was a man, I would not be sitting here today… because I’m really not that much of a threat, being a woman.’

After much hype, the longawaited series Girls landed on British soil last year. Tipped to be the ‘next Sex and the City’ but with more of a feminist edge, it certainly did not disappoint.

Girls is the breakthrough new show that manages to take a snapshot of life as a modern day 20-something in New York, without the glossy (read: unattainably unrealistic) sheen heralded by Sex and the City.

Who can we thank for bringing this TV programme-shaped blessing into our lives? The answer is 25 year old writer, creator and actor Lena Dunham.

Dunham has also written, directed and starred in the independent comedy-drama Tiny Furniture (2010), but she really only became a household name following the success of Girls. And thank goodness for that.

But why do I think she is such an inspiring woman? It is because she has created a show which accurately examines the complexities of our 20something years. She has shown that it’s not some sort of endless glitzy party, but that it entails struggles which ultimately shape you as a person. As I’m going through my twenties and pursuing a career change, Dunham encapsulates my current experience to such an extent that I sometimes think she’s had a look inside my mind as I sleep and popped my insecurities

Lena Dunham & co straight into the script. (Apart from the slightly unhinged boyfriend and odd drug taking experiences, I must add.) At first I found it awkward to watch, but then I realised it is this rawness that makes the programme so revolutionary. That is what is great about Dunham: she has managed to hold up a mirror to our generation, albeit without the Instagram filter.

As a feminist, she is inspiring.

She has provided women with role models to which we can finally relate. On an aesthetic leveI, I am of course referring to the fact that Dunham does not fit into the tiresome ideal of conventional ‘beauty’ and has shown women that she’s ok with

that. In reference to her frequent nude scenes, Dunham says, ‘it’s not that brave to get naked if you’re not stressed about being naked’. Dunham’s attitude is refreshing. Of course, there are those who can’t comprehend the idea of a ‘larger’ woman being on screen - or her not being relegated to a ‘sassy best friend who can’t stay away from the buffet’, as Dunham puts it so candidly - but this has allowed discourse around the subject of beauty ideals to surface.

Dunham has challenged the perception that women are only there to be looked at like beautiful ornaments.

International Women’s Day: Events Friday 8th March, 7pm Bristol YHA, 4 Narrow Quay, Bristol

Monday 11 March, 5pm to 6pm Bristol Museum and Art Gallery

Friday 16th-Sat. 17th March The Watershed, Bristol

Screening of All Our Lives (De Toda La Vida)

by Bristol Solidarity Federation

Ec/centric Experience: Women, the Arts and Globalisation Lecture

Bristol Festival

This 1986 documentary, directed by Lisa Berger and Carol Mazer, tells the story of Mujeres Libres, the first independent women’s organisation in Spain. All the women in the film were members of the CNT and actively participated in the social revolution during the Spanish Civil War. Though as Suceso Portales puts it, they ‘weren’t fighting a war in the ordinary sense of one power against another: we were fighting to create a more just and humane society.’

The documentary is 60 minutes long and will be followed by a discussion of the film and its relevance to the position of women in Britain today.

Join Dr Dorothy Rowe as she considers the practice of women artists in the context of globalisation. The lecture coincides with the publication of Rowe’s book of the same title, as part of the Rethinking Art’s Histories series.

The Bristol Women’s Literature Festival aims to celebrate the work of women writers working today and throughout history. It will bring together the country’s best women writers, academics and feminist commentators for a weekend of discussion, debate and activity.

Speakers include Stella Duffy, Helen Dunmore, Professor Helen Hackett, Professor Joan AdimAddo, Emilia di Girolamo and Kristin Aune.

The festival will be chaired by the writer, journalist and broadcaster Bidisha and is founded by feminist activist, writer and novelist Sian Norris.

Individual events are priced £7 (£6 concession)

£5, free for students/unwaged, to book call or visit the museum shop on 0117 922 3650.

Women’s

Literature

Friday 22nd March, 7.30pm The Square Club, Berkeley Square, Bristol WHAT THE FROCK! Women’s Comedy Night What The Frock! is a series of comedy events showcasing women comedians – although anybody and everybody is welcome in the audience.

With Leanne Stott; comedy star Sam Von Rombeg; Jayne Edwards; and the brilliant stand-up intuitive Becky Walsh.

Pre-book tickets at the special early-bird price of just £8 (otherwise £10 on the door) Open to all women and men.

Comment

Epigram

Editor: Joe Kavanagh

Deputy Editor: Nat Meyers

comment@epigram.org.uk

deputycomment@epigram.org.uk

04.03.2013

@epigramcomment

Is it time to ban online pornography?

The word ‘pornography’ is derived from the Greek word porne, meaning ‘prostitute.’ It originally meant ‘bought or purchased’, and this accurately reflects the way in which pornography allows men to objectify women, viewing them not as human beings but rather as products purchased for pleasure.

It is this attitude which is so destructive, particularly as internet pornography becomes increasingly violent. A study by Dr Tim Jones, a psychologist at Worcester University, concluded: ‘The internet is fuelling more extreme fantasies and the danger is that they could be played out in real life’. By allowing violent pornography to be viewed online, we risk letting those exposed to it become desensitised to ever harsher, more violent and degrading images. This could lead to a

“

The ban would not be an infringement of our right to self-expression.

Violent pornography is an infringement of a woman’s right to feel safe.

“ culture in which abuse against women is overlooked, or even seen as an acceptable imitation of online videos.

Iceland’s government is deciding whether to introduce filters which would make it impossible to view explicit videos online. With the increasing violence and the average age of initial exposure to pornography only 11, a ban would be a step towards a society which confronts damaging attitudes towards women, and towards violence in general, rather than a step backwards for freedom of speech and expression. There are many who argue that this is a slippery slope to censorship and an infringement of freedom of speech – but by that logic criminalising any activity is a ‘slippery slope’ to authoritarianism.

In the case of something so damaging as violent pornography, it would be shortsighted to argue that a ban would be an infringement of our right to express ourselves.

After all, violent pornography is an infringement of women’s right to feel safe, to be seen as equals to men, and to be treated as human beings rather than objects.

It is a case of which of these rights we value more – while censorship brings to mind countries like Saudi Arabia, China and Iran, the thought of a world in which the government does not interfere for the good of its own citizens is even more disturbing.

Exposure to pornography only encourages attitudes like this. It has frequently been argued that there is a link between pornography and violence against women, and it is not hard to see why – even when an explicit video is not violent, it still dehumanises women, making it easier to treat them violently without considering the devastating consequences.

Anti-pornography campaigner Gail Dines recently interviewed men in prison for committing rape against children – all were regular users of child pornography. It is inevitable that becoming accustomed to what these videos show means our reaction to violent crime becomes somewhat diluted, as does our willingness to deal with it. It also means we risk raising a generation of young men whose first exposure to sex is something which not only traumatises them but also influences them to see relationships and intimacy differently, and even to try to recreate the violence which, for those who don’t know any better, eventually becomes the norm.

With a rally recently organised

by One Billion Rising, a global campaign calling for an end to violence against women, and for justice and gender equality, and with International Women’s Day coming on the 8th of March, now seems like the perfect time at which to act. Censorship is not acceptable when it restricts us from learning the truth or from educating ourselves. However, it is acceptable – or rather, vital – when it makes a step towards changing attitudes which so often lead to horrific violence against women.

Insight of an Intern

Gjeta Gjyshinca

Write for Comment: Email comment@epigram.org.uk with ideas, questions or just to register your interest. Once you’ve done this, you’ll receive article suggestions each fortnight. Alternatively, just send in an article on a topic of your choosing.

No

Dean Meredith When I received the go-ahead to write this piece, I realised that I would have to tread with caution. I mean, what approach to take? Humour?

Yeah, that could work; all that... errr ... ‘research’ I did. No, far too crass. How about a serious defence rooted in the virtues of liberalism? After all, is it not the inalienable right of every individual to judge for his or herself what is morally ‘decent’ in a free society? Such an approach might just work, allowing me to extol the pros of pornography without coming across as some sort of sweaty, reprehensible pervert.

In this respect, I’m reminded somewhat by W.T Stead’s famous press campaign to rid 1880’s London of the horrific blight of child prostitution. Stead rightly exposed the malevolence of the London underworld, albeit in a very self-aggrandising fashion, embellished with pretentious classical imagery. He also demonstrated the apparent ease with which one could purchase the ‘services’ of a 13 year-old girl.

Why is this still relevant today? Well, for all his vociferous moralising, Stead merely demanded that the criminal law be applied properly and that the rights of individual children be upheld, not an outright ban on prostitution per se: ‘Let us apply the sacred principles of free trade to trade in vice’. ‘Whatever may be my belief as to the... importance of...the relations between man and women, that is an affair for the moralist, not for the legislator’. The point is that no matter how abhorrent Stead found prostitution personally – or I myself for that matter - it is not for him, me, or you to decide if it is permissible. Provided the persons involved are consenting and of a sufficient maturity to understand the consequences of their actions (i.e their individual rights are upheld – Stead did campaign to raise the age of consent from 13 to 16), then such activity must be tolerated. The same is true of pornography today.

This is why Iceland’s recent consultation on a possible blanket ban of internet pornography (having already banned printed pornography and strip clubs) is worrying.

More worrying still are the increasingly vocal demands for the UK to follow suit. I hear you protest: ‘but the Icelanders are doing what’s

necessary to protect young children from viewing explicit material.’ No. With regards protecting individual children/ young adults from exposure to such material, there are already sufficient preventative measures in place. Most porn sites require you confirm that you are at least 18 years old.

And if they don’t? Then this is a problem with the supplier - the websites themselves and not the consumer. Websites that don’t comply with this should be dealt with in their respective countries (temporary bans on websites not asking for age verification could be justified).

‘Ah’, I hear you retort, ‘but what guarantee is there that a young person won’t lie about their age?’. Well, none. But it is within the faculty of rational individuals (i.e parents) to block unsuitable material within their own households, or monitor their children’s internet use if they so wish.

Such a philosophy is not inconsistent of course with the banning of excessively violent,

“

This battle is one for the moralist, not the legislator.

“

Yes

The government of Iceland recently announced plans to place restrictions on the availability of online porn.

But is this the right way to reduce violence against women?

rape, or child pornography, because such material has breached, individual rights in its production and dissemination.

To use an analogy, take the recent horsemeat scandal.

We as consumers rightfully assume that when we purchase or consume meat, that is what it purports to be and conforms to the law. When this is proven otherwise, we rightfully go hard after the supplier. As consumers and individuals we may choose not to eat meat, or not to eat a certain variety, but as a society we do not collectively ban meat because of certain suppliers/varieties, or more profoundly because some of us believe eating meat has always been wrong. As W.T. Stead would point out, the battle – and it is an important battle – to get young people to recognise the difference between depraved fantasy and a loving, stable relationship is one for the moralist, not the legislator.

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04.03.2013

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‘Health and Safety’ just got less mad Make fares fair: sign my petition

Last November a British Legion shop refused to give customers a pin with which to attach their commemorative poppies because of… health and safety.

We’ve all been there, and we all groan inwardly: ‘What will they think of next?’ as if ‘they’ were a specific group of scheming, sadistic bureaucrats, rather than an impregnable system.

Actually, since April 2012, there has been such a group, dubbed ‘The Myth-Busters Challenge Panel’. Yet it is not out to get us, nor to chip away every last one of our civil liberties.

Organized by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and headed by Judith Kackitt, the HSE chair, the ‘myth-busters’ have been created to cancel the belief that ridiculous health and safety laws are as omnipresent as we think they are, and to restore a little common sense.

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Jack Loxham

The panel’s response to the health and safety as an excuse poppy case was that it ‘seems to control and restrict the lives to be a gross overreaction to of others because it suits them, the remote possibility that rather then for any legitimate someone might prick their legal reason. finger.’ Moreover, in light of the If you go on the HSE website fact that ‘we all buy poppies you’ll find listed all the ‘cases’ to commemorate those who the panel have resolved each put their lives month (though at risk in the there aren’t service of very many). their country, They make for this excessive interesting concern about reading.

For The ‘Myth-Busters instance ‘case 70’ a minor risk is doubly ironic’. Challenge Pane is just an is of a school that If only the HSE attempt at humanising banned yo-yos on a p p r o a c h e d the HSE and will not bring health and safety all health and about the fundamental grounds.

The safety laws so changes needed. panel reported r e a s o n a b l y, that: ‘There is it might no health and have become safety law which irrelevant and bans yo-yos from have been schools. Whilst dissolved by now. there will always be some risk By offering advice to people of yo-yos being misused and and businesses subject to causing minor injuries, it seems illogical health and safety to us to be a disproportionate decisions, the panel seeks to response to ban them from the clarify when these decisions school’. The ban must simply can and can not legitimately have suited a few irate teachers. be made. The reason being ‘Case 88’ in which a pub that local authorities, insurance refused to let a customer carry companies and employers a tray of drinks to their table all too often – it seems - use because they had not been

‘health and safety trained’ also reveals the extent to which some people hide behind the authority of health and safety laws. The panel described the case as ‘patently ridiculous’ and that there is no reason to stop people doing something ‘which they are likely to do regularly in their own homes.’ So speaks the voice of reason (even if it may take more then reasoned words to stop people doing this sort of thing).

I can’t help feeling, however, that this attempt at humanising the HSE is just that and will not bring about the fundamental changes needed. The chair, Judith Hackitt, may have echoed our concerns in saying: ‘Over the years we’ve seen health and safety invoked – wrongly – in defence of some pretty absurd decisions’ but it will take a lot more to persuade us that Health and Safety laws aren’t an abuse of power. A small percentage of the ridiculous restrictions we face every day may be the unlawful work of interfering non-regulators such as local authorities, but the need for the existence of the HSE suggests that the solution may be a long time coming.

The power of One Billion Rising

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Jess Wingrad It starts with a statistic. Around the globe, one in three women will at some point in her lifetime experience physical violence or rape. If there are six billion people in the world and (around) half of them are women, this means that one billion women experience sexual and/or physical violence.

By any standards this statistic has an impact, it is shocking and sick.

This is what prompted activist Eva Ensler, a woman who was herself a victim of sexual abuse, to found the international protest campaign One Billion Rising, as a means of bringing to light the widespread issue of violence against women and putting an end to it. How does the campaign intend to do this?

It called women to go out on the 14th of February and dance, and that is exactly what they did. During the day it took the form of a flashmob, while the evening played host to further gatherings of dancing women across the globe.

This movement prompted the usual posse of feminist

I could get a return ticket on National Express from Bristol to Exeter – 70 miles.

I think this is a very important issue for students, having spoken to many who have told me they feel forced to stay in the areas near where they live because they can’t afford to get Daniel Farr the bus and explore other parts of the city. The whole point of I have complained about being young is to get out and First Buses for many years about when you’re not studying to friends and family but of course. So it’s a shame if never did anything about students feel like they can’t it. Then in November, after do that due to the cost of bus being overcharged by several tickets. They treat it as a luxury different drivers and having my they can rarely afford. So think complaint ignored, I decided about what it means for families to do something about it. It in outer Bristol on low incomes was on Twitter one night that who need to take First buses to somebody suggested I should get to work every day. A single start an e-petition and I decided ticket costs half an hour’s wages, to take up the idea. I never and bear in mind the level of thought much would come of it the service – in Hartcliffe, in – I thought 20-30 people might South Bristol, for example, there sign and that would be it. I is only one bus service, and certainly never an extremely thought it unreliable one would attract at that. over 3600 B r i s t o l signatures is a great – at time of place to live, I want Bristol to have but currently writing – or that I would a decent and affordabe let down by its be interviewed transport system that is buses. I want on BBC Points Bristol to have available for everyone.

West and ITV a decent and West and would affordable Please help by signing i n t e g r a t e d meet local my petition at http:// t r a n s p o r t politicians from all parties that epetitions.direct.gov.uk/ system and even the is affordable petitions/43134 mayor George for everyone.

Ferguson!

Following my I feel the petition, First campaign is has announced they are going important, because First to hold a review fares in Bristol of their fares, are virtually and I’m pleased the most expensive in England, they have acknowledged there and I don’t believe the service is a problem. However we need they provide reflects the cost of to keep up pressure on them their fares. A single here costs to make sure it’s not just a PR £2.90 compared to £1.40 in stunt, and they deliver the London, a city more expensive lower fares people want. than Bristol in almost every Mr Farr’s petition can be other regard. It costs me £6 found at www.epetitions.direct. every day to travel the 10 miles gov.uk/petitions/43134 to where I work, but for £6.50

hating, judgemental, ‘why bother’ types to pipe up with questions of why the ranting women perform such a bizarre and pointless act for such a serious and widespread problem. Rather than looking to more solid methods to stem violence against women it does seem to the untrained eye to be an immensely odd exercise. This is where the above mentioned band of non-risers are wrong.

One Billion Rising is powerful, it is active and it is a revolution.

Women’s bodies are what are at stake and so we should use our bodies, which are corrupted, defiled, made abhorrent by the media and then physically violated.

This movement

transforms the body from an object of abuse into a powerful tool of revolution. The subject of abuse against women is too often swept under the rug as being dirty and impolite to discuss. Society chooses to see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil and this movement aims to bring it firmly into the public eye so that the statistics become real, a physical manifestation of what one billion women looks like.

The women and men who participate in One Billion Rising do not expect the 15th of February to roll over and the problem to have been solved.

That is not the purpose of the movement. No one is naïve

enough to believe that violence against women can be ended quickly or easily, it will take a Copernican shift of mammoth proportions which must infiltrate multifarious layers of each society in a very different way. But the importance of One Billion Rising is to get that process started, to use the thing which is so cruelly made vulnerable, the body. Before the dancing began in Bristol in Millennium Square the organiser of the event called to the gathered crowd saying, ‘One billion women around the world experience rape or physical violence. This is not good enough, and we won’t stop’ and with that, we began to dance.

Epigram

04.03.2013

13 13 13

‘Ratzinger wasn’t always conservative Leaving Facebook: - he was once liberal and progressive’ My Struggle

Legend has it that Pope John XXIII was once asked what depressed him most about being pontiff. ‘It is going to sleep every night in the bed you know you will die in,’ he answered. For pope Benedict XVI, having been elected at the age of 76 and with his health already failing him, it must have been disheartening to think that his life would continue to be public and that he would remain responsible for the world’s billion plus Roman Catholics until his death.

Benedict’s reign has been called ‘disastrous,’ by Michael Walsh, a British historian of the papacy.

Critics point to declining levels of church attendance, even in strongly Catholic countries such as Ireland and Spain, and a reduced influence over European states. This has been linked to the Church’s loss of moral authority as a result of child abuse within the Church

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For Ratzinger to look to his health before his duty to the Holy Mother Church, is perhaps symptomatic of the selfish, modern, consumerist world he has railed against in his teachings.

And yet, it was Pope Benedict that exposed the child abuse problem with the Catholic Church. As a cardinal, he convinced Pope Jean Paul that the cases should be handled by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, so as to combat such abuse more efficiently. He could not convince Jean Paul to take action against Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Legion of Christ in Mexico, despite mounting accusations.

Later, during his papacy, Ratzinger began proceedings against him and forced him out of the church, even appointing a special commission to investigate the Legionaries’ constitution.

However, he is described as having ‘strong views’ on gays and women, both of which reflected in his insistence upon the immorality of condoms. I am always reminded, whenever this view of the Catholic Church is brought up, of the punishment given to all ‘Popes in Hell’ (which is apparently all of them) in Andy Hamilton’s

Radio 4 comedy Old Harry’s Game, namely that they are all, eternally, eight-and-a-halfmonths pregnant. A fitting punishment perhaps for causing such widespread misery for the sake of doctrine which has little basis in the Bible.

In an institution quite so steeped in tradition as the Vatican, Benedict’s retirement may have been unexpected but it was not wholly surprising. He is already older than any 20th century pope and has been described as feeling isolated and lonely within the Vatican, with frequent calls home and regular visits from friends. As such, his decision has been met with widespread acceptance and understanding.

‘Understanding’ is not afforded by the Catholic Church to those practising safe sex. Or to gay people wishing to adopt one of the many unwanted children that result from unprotected sex. Or to the Bristol student who finds her contraception has let her down and knows she couldn’t possibly bring up a child.

By retiring, Ratzinger has boldly disregarded centuries of tradition. Every other pope has had to live with the knowledge that he sleeps in the bed he ‘will die in’. For Ratzinger to look to his health before his duty to the Holy Mother Church, is perhaps symptomatic of the selfish, modern, consumerist world he has railed against in his teachings.

However, Ratzinger was not always the staunch conservative he is today, but was once quite liberal and progressive. Until, whilst lecturing in Theology, he was for some bizarre reason subjected to a chant of ‘Jesus be damned’ by his students.

It was an experience he apparently never truly got over and which resulted in the man with such ‘strong views’ that we know today.

Do try and be kind to your lecturers.

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We asked Epigram readers what they felt about Iceland’s proposal to ban internet pornography.

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Phyllis Rayner

my jacket is not the worst punishment I can face.

The reaction to my departure has been interesting. It has irritated some, to my complete surprise, who think it is some sort of attention seeking move. I would hope that if attention was my motivation, I could think of Rupert Hill something more imaginative A friend came up to me than that. Some sort of hilarious recently and said she felt that library stunt would probably be she had hardly seen me. Or, she the way I’d go.

Anyhow, I wonder if their supposed, that it’s because she hasn’t seen me on Facebook. irritation is actually based on It then dawned on me just a desire to leave Facebook too. how important Facebook is I think a lot of people resent to our social existence. Hardly the hours they spend scrolling a startling down their revelation, yet newsfeed and reading that it reveals a lot about how some girl from the year below Facebook has changed the has finally way that people passed her driving test. relate to one I’ve been clean from Phew! I can another.Instead, we arranged to Facebook for over six sleep easy. catch up over weeks now. I don’t think Despite the dinner.

I have any addictions, but c a m p a i g n 2012’ I’ve been if I did, Facebook and the ‘Kony ending in clean from internet wold probably be Facebook for complete farce, over six weeks my biggest vice. the enormous i n i t i a l now. I do, I hope quite interest and momentum obviously, say ‘clean’ as a bit it gained of a joke. Clean suggests is, though, sort that there is of how I feel. a desire for social media I don’t think I really have any to do more.

There is addictions but if I did, Facebook and more undeniable strength in having generally the internet would a billion or so users on one site; probably be my biggest vice. I issues can spread seamlessly love the internet, spend hours a across age groups/countries/ week on it and consider it one continents and can quickly of man’s greatest inventions. have millions of people reading Facebook isn’t fulfilling though, the same content. it bores the hell out of me. It I’m not sure of the potential is laden with inane updates, Facebook has in affecting real unexciting and often egotistical issues, but I wonder if it makes photos, and is increasingly no effort to do something spammed by every club night proper, then more users might in Bristol. be tempted to quit. It certainly It remains captivating would not surprise me if in a though. Much like everyone decade’s time, Facebook has else, I greedily sought ‘likes’ lost half or more of its current and it genuinely cheered me users. up to share something that was widely enjoyed.

M y

This is how you responded.

24% - Yes 1 involved in the debates online: Get 2 76% - No

www.epigram.org.uk

removal from the Facebook community has released me, to some extent, from this narcissistic nonsense.

It seems the only thing I’ve missed in the few weeks I’ve been away is the ‘Spotted in the ASS’, or whatever. Mildly amusing at best and fairly vitriolic at worst, not reading some punter slagging off

Will I be back? Most probably. It’s annoying to not know of events and it is useful to talk to friends and family that aren’t in the country. Facebook does have its uses, that I can’t deny. Yet my gnawing wish to have a quick flick back on remains a wolf that I can keep at the door.

(N:B any Facebook status that promotes this article will be ironically appreciated)

Epigram

04.03.2013

Science & Tech

Editor: Mary Melville

Deputy Editor: Erik Müürsepp

scienceandtech@epigram.org.uk deputyscienceandtech@epigram.org.uk

Fishy ethics: do animals feel pain too?

Sol Milne Science Reporter Do animals feel pain? There is an almost irresistible urge to anthropomorphise if you see an animal in distress but in fact most do not feel the way we do. Pain is such a relative experience that it is very hard to quantify, or even describe.

When testing with a human, they can tell you, but pain is

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Fish respond to their environment on the basis of instinct

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range of reactions; amongst them ‘rocking’ side to side to indicate stress or rubbing their lips on rocks at the bottom of the tank. The analysis of genes being expressed in the lip tissues did reveal in a few cases that there could be a link to nociception however there is still much work to be done in determining the correlation between the experience of pain and gene expression. These behaviours in response to the treatment however cannot be directly underpinned by pain response, as among the range of reactions experienced they were anomalous and by definition statistically insignificant among the number of fish tested. A little grisly, but these are the only means to effectively test for pain perception.

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Telling if another species is experiencing pain is extremely difficult

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Fish lack the specific areas of the brain cortex that modulate what is known as neuropathic pain and as such cannot feel pain like we do. It is only mammals that do in fact have the specific regions of the cortex that are necessary to experience ‘conscious’ pain.

The presence of nociceptors in fish may not stimulate the feelings like those we would experience if we happened to bite a hook, but would trigger the life preserving responses that have allowed the animals to have survived throughout millions of years of evolution.

Wisconsin Department

so varied between individuals that telling if another species is experiencing it, even another mammal is extremely difficult.

Recently the notion of whether fish can feel pain has come under the spotlight as a team of seven scientists conducted a series of unbiased experiments to determine whether fish experience pain as we do; considering the mechanisms of ‘recreational’ fishing by angling which involves driving a hook into the jaw or the roof of the mouth of a fish before hauling them out, and if they are lucky, throwing them back.

Pain is registered in our bodies by nociceptors; branching nerve endings that convey a signal to the brain via the spinal cord when body tissues are being damaged or about to be. This information is then processed by several parts

of the brain. Such signals can be modulated by endorphins to suppress the pain, such as when soldiers have whole limbs blown off they do not always feel immediate pain.

The brain can also increase your sensitivity, in anticipation of an injection, for instance, your brain can send more signals to the site of injection making it more painful. To feel pain, the stimulus must be strong enough to trigger the nociceptor. However, the threshold at which the signal for pain is sent can be changed, such as after an injury, when the threshold around the area is lowered and therefore painful, reminds the body that it needs to take it easy for a while and heal up.

In mammals, C fibers are the most prevalent and are responsible for the feeling of intense pain in humans.

In fish, however, such fibers are rare, or as in the case of Elasmobranchs, the subclass of fish containing the shark family, entirely absent. The presence of nociceptors is the most accurate means by which we can assess whether pain is being registered in another organism. A-delta nociceptors are responsible for a less intense feeling of pain and serve to initiate an escape response; these are quite common in bony fish, yet so far undiscovered in elasmobranchs.

Sharks have even been observed to resume feeding even after being eviscerated.

Several experiments involving the injection of acid or venom into the lips and jaw bones of various species of bony fish elicited a

Any biological structure in an organism has to serve a purpose evolutionarily, and it seems fish have no need for

Science behind PMS - is it all a myth?

Sarah Taylor reports for the science behind... column on the PMS controversy

Momento mori

Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) is the physical and physiological symptoms many women experience in the days leading up to their period. Three in four women are thought to experience these symptoms and it is often worse in teenage girls.

These symptoms include, but are not limited to: headaches, bloating, nausea, mood swings and anxiety. For some women, it can be crippling and prevent them going about their daily routine. The exact reasons for getting PMS are not confirmed and there are various different theories; the main one being changes in hormones during the menstrual cycle. These changing hormone levels may affect some women more than others. Chemical changes in the brain or levels of fatty acids may also be involved.

Recently a study by Dr. Sarah

Romans, from the University of Otago in New Zealand, claimed that PMS was a myth and could be ‘all in the mind’. This caused distress among other doctors who have for years treated many women suffering from symptoms of PMS. This study, despite being jumped upon by many papers can’t be 100% trusted. The review focused on 41 studies and claimed a link was found between mood swings and the premenstrual phase in 15% of cases. However some of the studies reviewed included less than 10 participants and none of the studies looked at physical symptoms. In addition, many of the studies didn’t represent the wider population and only followed the women’s symptoms for one cycle. So don’t worry, next time your housemates finishes your bread, you can still shout at them and blame it on PMS.

consciousness. Fish respond to their environment on the basis of instinct and it’s worked pretty well for them so far. It seems

fish do not feel pain as we do, but the effects of our actions fish populations are definitely felt, but that’s a different story.

App of the week: Naturejobs

With summer quickly approaching many of you will be starting to think - and panic - about the prospect of finding a job. Naturejobs, the international jobs board from Nature Publishing Group, is further expanding its services for jobseekers with a new mobile app that can be downloaded free of charge to iPhone and

Android devices. You can easily search and find thousands of science jobs in more than 100 countries. You can then go on the website to upload your CV and contact the relevant companies.

Additional features have been regularly added to the site, including new Career Toolkit content.

Epigram

04.03.2013

Three Nobel prize winners take it all Kruti Shroti Science Reporter

Will the Nobel Committee simply choose those contributors with the most nominations?

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Higgs boson. Finally, Gerald Guralnik, Carl Hagen and Tom Kibble submitted their paper, just as Higgs’ paper was coming into publication.

Most will agree that speed plays in all-important factor in choosing winners. After all, there are just hundredths of a second between the fastest four competitors in the Olympic men’s 100m sprint, yet only the top three become medallists.

So perhaps, of the six, it is quite obvious which three deserve the prize: Francois Englert, Robert Brout and Peter Higgs. But there’s more to it than that; the prize cannot be awarded posthumously, and Brout’s death in 2011 leaves a third spot free for unending controversial discussion.

And the choice becomes yet harder: there are other players for the prize, contributors who

Amber Case

The nominations for the Nobel Prize closed just a few weeks ago, leaving eight months until we’ll know if last year’s probable discovery of the Higgs boson will secure its theorists the prize. But when the theorists constitute six different individuals, and the prize can only be divided between a maximum of three, how will the Nobel Committee award the prize fairly?

In August, October and November 1964, three teams of six physicists each published a seminal paper, which have together become known as ‘the PRL symmetry breaking papers’. Each team proposed a mechanism by which particles attain mass, t h e r e b y explaining how our universe forms its basic structure. François Englert and Robert Brout were the first team to propose the mass-generating mechanism. Shortly following them was Peter Higgs, who, in addition, was the only one to also explicitly predict the particle that mediates this mechanism, now known as the

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were crucial to the development of the theory behind the Higgs boson and the mass-generating mechanism. Jeffrey Goldstone paved the initial groundwork for the theory; Philip Anderson formulated its precursor; Kibble developed its applications. And this is not mentioning the thousands of experimentalists who have been part of the multi-decade long project to find the Higgs boson.

Professor Frank Close of Oxford University is author of the book The Infinity Puzzle, an in depth account of the events that led to the Higgs boson’s discovery, which, according to The Economist, ‘The Nobel Committee would be well advised to read…before making their decision’. Close, who gave his opinion on the matter at a recent colloquium at Bristol University, believes that the third spot for the prize should be awarded to Kibble, making Kibble, Englert and Higgs his worthy winners. He argues that Kibble’s work on the applications of the Higgs boson and its mechanism inspired other physicists in their work on the electroweak theory, a theory that uses the physics proposed in the PRL symmetry breaking papers to unify two of the four fundamental forces in our universe. Though these physicists were credited by the Nobel Foundation, Kibble was not.

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The Large Hadron Collider is the particle accelerator where the Higgs boson was finally detected for the first time

It is not clear how the Nobel Committee will make their choice. Will they simply choose those contributors who have been given the most nominations? Or will they consider and prioritise other factors? It seems to me that Englert, Higgs and either Goldstone or Kibble are those

worthiest of the Prize: Englert for publishing the theory of the mechanism first; Higgs, for explicitly predicting the existence of the Boson; and either Goldstone for laying the essential groundwork, or Kibble for his foundational work in its applications. Anderson, though a key player, is already a Nobel

laureate, and Guralnik and Hagen simply were not quick enough.

But these are just mere guesses. The nominations have come in and now it is for the Nobel Committee to decide the three winners. We’ll just have to wait and see.

The sea change of US climate change Science reporter Steven Scorer examines the current opinions on climate change in the United States.

Climate change has always been a big issue in the United States. The world’s number one economy and global superpower often leads the way when it comes to the international stage, but not necessarily so when it comes to action to limit emissions of greenhouse gases. To even the

casual observer, it is obvious that the USA has a long history of ignoring the pressing need for change in order to protect their oil-based economy; the clearest example being when President Bush openly refuted the Kyoto protocol and its aims, which had previously been signed but not ratified, due to

unanimous opposition from the US Senate.

That is not to say that American resistance to accepting that human activity is the main factor leading to increased warming of our planet comes only from their politicians. According to a recent Greenpeace report

Doug Wheller

which was circulated in The Guardian recently, over a period of years, two sister organisations called Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund have been acting as a conduit for channelling up to $120 million to develop a network of anti-climate change groups all over the country. That, coupled with the more open and visible activity of the oil billionaire Koch brothers – sometimes described as the richest people you don’t know – and the Exxon Mobil Corporation, illustrates well the hurdles any president would have to overcome to regulate and enact any proenvironmental laws.

President Obama may just have started a new era for environmental policies, however, if the recent State of the Union address is to be trusted. About one third of the way through, Obama turned to science and technology and then on to climate change. He cited the fact that the 12 hottest years ever on record in the USA have come during the last 15 – in fact last year was the hottest – and that extreme weather patterns such as heat waves, droughts, wildfires and floods

have been more common over the last few years. It is true that climate change in the USA, and the UK, has typically been seen as a problem for other, possibly poorer, countries in faraway places.When its symptoms strike repeatedly in the heartlands of

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Climate change in the USA has typically been seen as a problem for other countries in faraway places

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the USA, however, its citizens are more likely to take notice; hence the timing of this push

by President Obama. There has been no better time in recent history to push forward a green agenda.

Environmental groups won’t be getting ahead of themselves any time soon. In his speech, Obama included a lot of encouragement for increased oil and natural gas drilling and coal apparently didn’t even

merit a mention! Admittedly, he did repeat his calls for a longterm transition to renewable energy, but it must be clear to him that it wouldn’t work without cutting down on coal.

In short, the national interest – via increased energy security and maintaining economic superiority – still holds sway.

However, this is the crucial part, the heart of where the debate is evolving and action is being taken: Obama wants to build on the bi-partisan support in Congress for what he calls a ‘market based solution to climate change’. He called for the creation of an Energy Security Trust, which has energy independence at the forefront of its aims. It is just a part of protecting and ensuring the continuation of American economic dominance, except this time renewable energy is the clear end point that is accepted by both sides. Obama has effectively set out his stall against the big business, deregulating, climate change sceptics, and he knows he has the support from the public and other politicians. Here’s to common sense, and not money, winning the day.

04.03.2013

Letters

Editor: Lucy de Greeff letters@epigram.org.uk flickr: ittichai

More information would increase involvement It has occurred to me that there isn’t a central place - or at least not an obvious one where students can find out about stuff “ going on during the week; be it matches, theatre performances, dance shows, or music concerts.

Only if you are involved, or are interested enough to seek out these events, do they come to your attention. Or at least this is my experience. Epigram currently features ‘The List’ but it’s considerably

incomplete and seems to focus on union-based things. What about sports clubs and Drama Soc? (N.B. I am not plugging drama because I’m a drama student, quite the opposite; I’m an engineer, but before you jump to my stereotype of a recluse, please just consider my suggestion).

I pause at the union elevator to read the posters, but that’s the only way to find things out without ‘liking’ every

Only if you are involved... [in] these events, do they come to your attention”

Facebook page.

If more people knew, more people would go and get involved.

J Fuellenkemper 2nd year Engineering Ed: A quick search on the internet will bring up a number of sites featuring the kind of things you mention. ‘The List’ is an advert that UBU places in Epigram every issue to feature their own events.

We pick the best of Bristol’s events for our What’s On page, which anyone can contribute to by emailing editor@epigram.org.uk

Have you got something to say?

Get in touch and share your views:

letters@epigram.org.uk Tweets of the fortnight @EpigramMusic If you haven’t listened to FutureSexLoveSounds in a while (why not?), make listening to it a priority. Thank us later.

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@Queen_UK Dear The BBC, One Direction winning a Brit Award is NOT national breaking news, you absolute idiots. Regards, The Queen.

Elizabeth Windsor Parody

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The source of much of my third year frustration remains concentrated upon post-graduate opportunities.

Whether you are in your final year like myself, a proactive second year or a first year that is scarily ahead of even a third year, every student is vaguely aware of the reality that is thrust upon us after we have completed a degree i.e. real life. Many of us hope and assume that the job market will of course have improved by the time it is our turn to leave university, or that a fantastic job will magically come our way as soon as we graduate. Sadly, this is not the case, as I’m sure many readers realise. Summer holidays are spent desperately pleading employers to give us a week of unpaid work experience simply for a name on a CV and the opportunities that may arise because of this. Anyone currently locked into the application process like myself, obsessively checking emails every minute, is slowly awakened to the panic that begins to set… What do I do if I cannot get a job after completing my degree?

Those numerous weeks spent reading, late nights in the library slaving over the dissertation and Christmas holidays devoted to revision may all feel futile in light of the dire job market. What is worse, we undergo the painful application process of laboriously entering and re-entering our academic history, the details of that holiday job at Tesco and eventually the competency questions which ask you to describe a time that you changed the world and made a difference to humanity. For many applicants this is the first step of a long journey involving telephone interviews, psychometric testing, assessment days and eventually leading to a face-to-face interview (if you are very lucky). Nowhere else are we made to feel more ordinary and

insignificant than in the application process!

So it is was with great shock and horror that I read in The Telegraph that Iain Duncan Smith had lashed out at graduates who apparently consider themselves ‘too good’ to stack shelves at a supermarket. This quote was a rebuke to a Birmingham University graduate Cait Reilly, who challenged having to work for free at a Poundland store, or face the prospect of losing her unemployment benefits.

I appreciate that a job such as working in a supermarket is a worthy and respectable role and really does teach one the value of hard work, but it is not a job that one aspires to after working hours for at university for three years, whilst spending thousands in the process. Smith is also reported to have said ‘People who think that it is their right to take benefit and do nothing for it, those days are over’ and ‘The next time these smart people who say there’s something wrong with this go into their supermarket, ask themselves this simple question: when they can’t find the food on the shelves, who is more important - them, the geologist or the person who’s stacked the shelves?’. Such ignorant and idiotic remarks could only have come from an MP who generalises and downplays the hard work of a university student.

It is outrageous to think that students should not be aiming high, even in this poor economic climate. I am sure none of us applied to university in the hope of working in Poundland after our degree, as I am sure we do not possess this haughty sense of superiority that Smith labels us with.

Perhaps all MP’s should have a period of shelf stacking on their CVs?

Olivia Ward

flickr: Kaptain Kobald

Epigram

Epigram

Puzzles Across

17 13 Brought to you by Lucy Eyers and Anna Griller

Down

1. ______ of Mudd, a band 5. A 2007 number 1 who released She Hates Me single for Rihanna 2. Word that can precede 7. Meat that is ‘power’ and ‘fairies’ traditionally cooked in a tagine 3. A waterproof raincoat

14. Location of the 9. Island famous for its Moai infamous murder statues scene in Psycho 11. Flowering plant that 15. ___ A, a 2000 contains opium Radiohead album 13. _____ Atlas, a novel by David Mitchell

epAnagram Last week’s answers: sunny side up; pickled; devilled; coddled; benedict; florentine; poached; soft boiled

Chuck Coker

10. TV show starring 4. First name of Jamie characters Zippy, Oliver’s third child George and Bungle 6. Word that can precede 12. Crazy _____, ‘boiler’ and ‘rabbit’ a 2005 Charlotte Church single 8. A snitch or telltale

Crossword

04.03.13

Can you unscramble the following countries?

For an extra challenge, try naming their capital cities

AGNAIRAUC AGACSAARDM

flickr: tk-link

CHEMICAL WORDSEARCH

RAKNUIE

EHDAASLGNB OTDBUIIJ

URAYGNH

YAPUAGAR

SENIPIPLIPH

ROEDAUC

MCJIAAA Laura Loveday

Find these 8 chemical symbols and their corresponding elements in the grid: Ag, Au, Fe, Hg, Na, Pb, Sb, Sn

Picture puzzles Which common phrases do these puzzles represent?

Quick quiz: Oscars special 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

On the Oscar statuette, what is the male figure standing on?

Three songs from The Lion King were nominated for an Academy Award. Which won?

Which character said ‘Life was like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get’?

What did Marlon Brando do with the Oscar he won in 1972?

Who did Nicole Kidman play in The Hours?

Who received one large Oscar and seven small ones in 1938?

Kevin Costner was nominated for both Best Actor and Best Director for Dance with Wolves. Which did he win?

In which city is Ben-Hur set?

‘Rosebud’ is the first line of which film?

In which decade were the first Academy Awards given?

Last week’s answers: Lavender Brown; Basil Fawlty; Rosemary and Thyme; The Royal Mint; Colonel Mustard; Gingervitis; Jessica Garlick; Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band; Vanilla Sky; Herbs Codeword answer from last week: A season, a water source, a mechanical device which stores energy, a painting by Botticelli, a concerto from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons

PePPermint

1357911 FAVOURITE

Last week’s answers: The 3 Musketeers; Catch 22; once in a blue moon

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CULTURE The most expensive indie film ever made...Epigram review Cloud Atlas p31

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Arts Pick of the Fortnight Music Theatre Bristol Present: Spring Awakening Winston Theatre 13th-16th March £4.50 for MTB members, £6.50 students, £10 others Music Theatre Bristol will be performing the controversial play by Frank Wedekind, which tells the story of a group of teenagers growing up in the repressing atmosphere of 1980s Germany.

Music Pick of the Fortnight

Film Pick of the Fortnight

Stoker (18) The work of director Park Chan-wook has been required viewing ever since his fantastically brutal Korean Bristol has more street music festivals than you could shake a revenge thriller, Oldboy. stick at these days, so one more won’t do any harm, will it? At this This latest work (in English) free event one is a family drama with wristband gets heavy gothic styling - with you into five the name of the creator of different venues, Dracula for a title. It stars including a Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Futureboogie Goode, and Nicole Kidman vs. Hypercolour in a very uncomfortable showcase at familial triangle. Expect a The Bank, bass disconcerting mixture of boys South London Ordnance and Arkist playing The Croft, and an Idle Hands horror, drama, and maybe even fairytale. takeover in the Pipe and Slippers.

Soft Rockets festival Stokes Croft Thursday 7th March

Epigram

04.03.2013

Arts

Editor: Rosemary Wagg

Deputy Editor: Rachel Schraer

arts@epigram.org.uk

deputyarts@epigram.org.uk

@EpigramArts

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Take Two

Julie Lee pulls on the stings behind Bristol Old Vic’s puppetry production of Shakespeare

“[War Horse collaborators] are attempting to recreate Shakespeare’s...comedy in an entirely different medium” with two mainstays of theatrical genius. This performance of the Shakespearean comedy will have, enter stage right: the Handspring Puppet

VS

the puppets work intimately with the actors to make a ‘supporting cast’. The puppets are both crude and intricate, and, true to the woodland setting of the play, are made of mostly natural and ‘found’ materials. Actors are always visible on the stage to operate the puppets, whose movements entwine and coalesce with those of the actors.

Whilst for most of the actors, puppetry is a novel medium to work with, all the cast is

“The newly born ancient stage of Bristol Old Vic.” familiar with Shakespeare. Assistant director James Bonas said: ‘It’s a massive amount for the actors to learn in terms of new skills and incredible discipline but when it works it’s very startling.’ The puppets are used in a variety of ways -- sometimes, they will serve as a mouth for the actors to speak through, sometimes they will act as an extension of limbs. True, the course of true love never did run smooth, but with a stellar team working behind this production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it is bound to be a marvelous re-invention of a classic. To someone unfamiliar with the story, it will be a dazzling and exciting new way to experience Shakespeare.

To someone well versed in Shakespeare’s lewd lines, it will be an amusing and intriguing way to see the show in a new light. We’re all foolish mortals, but do something wise and go see this production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. With only the lightest touch of fairies, it will transform you.

For more details see: http://www.bristololdvic.

Uni Opera Society perform Best of Britten It’s not as cool as puppetry, but Bristol Operatic Society still create a great adaptation, argues Rosemary Wagg

A Shakespearean classic updated by a brilliant puppetry company easily earns praise with regards

to audience accessibility and contemporary relevance. An operatic version of the same play does not. Opera, despite being continually watched and practiced throughout Britain, carries with it the stigma of elitism and antiquarianism.

Like much oft-repeated criticism, this commentary is short-sighted and frustrating for those involved with the art form. This term, Bristol University’s Operatic Society (BOpS) is staging Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream and, as Dave Ridley the musical director, fervently argues, this is certainly not a production suitable for consignment to history.

Unlike many Royal Opera House staples, Britten’s production was first premiered in 1960 and is, in many ways, a gentle and fun introduction for those unfamiliar with arias. At under three hours long, with intervals, the operatic version of the story is a more succinct telling of the tale than is traditional.

The curtain rises to find the lovers dropped directly into the wood and does not

include any of the elongated, static solos operahaters love to mock. Instead, Britten himself was keen to subvert practice and insisted that performers integrated their movements on stage with the singing to a much higher degree than is common in most operas.

I witnessed this increased level of movement when invited into the BOpS rehearsal space.

On stage, a small group of young men who all appeared to be normal members of society –

“A gentle and fun introduction for those unfamiliar with arias.” albeit Bristol Uni students - and not philistines, played out an amusing episode involving the absent Bottom. Performers sprung energetically across the stage and, as promised by Ridley, simultaneously produced beautiful music and a good dose of comedy.

Luckily, it is not just me who feels opera is worth supporting. For this production, BOpS have received significant funding from the Britten-Pears Foundation and a small donation from the Vice Principle. Additionally, previous productions by the society have routinely sold out and, at the time of writing, ticket sales were buoyant for this one. Looks like opera is still fully operational.

For more information see: http://ubutheatre. com/midsummer

Rosemary Wagg

Those going to see the Bristol Old Vic production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be met

Company and, entre stage left: director Tom Morris. The two have previously collaborated on the highly praised War Horse and are now attempting to recreate Shakespeare’s ephemeral romantic comedy in an entirely different medium.

Fittingly, this reinvented classic will be performed at the Bristol Old Vic, which underwent significant refurbishment last year. The venue for both classic and contemporary works, it seems the perfect setting for the show.

At the launch in October, Morris encapsulated this combination of the old and new by describing the theatre as ‘the newly born ancient stage of Bristol Old Vic’.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play that’s both absurd and austere, where the characters do their best to do right, but only seem to do wrong, thanks to the mischievous trickery of fairies working behind-the-scenes. The Shakespearean play hinges on love and lore, enrapture and enchantment.

It is the tale of several y o u n g lovers whose ro m a n ce becomes h o p e l e s s ly c r i s s crossed as a result of magical accidents.

In this p ro d u c t i o n ,

Culture, Anarchy, Democracy Arabella Noortman wonders what Matthew Arnold would have made of TOWIE The word, it seems, is all around us, from being ‘cultured’ to lad culture, to the Culture section of your Sunday Times. But what does ‘culture’ entail, and how have concepts surrounding it changed over time? The OED cites the definition of culture as: ‘Refinement of mind, taste, and manners; artistic and intellectual development.

Hence: the arts and other manifestations of human achievement regarded collectively.’ This understanding of the term can be traced back to the early 1500s, and contains elitist implications about class and culture.

Another definition of culture, provided by the OED, is: ‘The distinctive ideas, customs, social behaviour, products or way of life of a particular nation, society, people or period.’

This latter delineation is more in tune with our contemporary notions about what culture is, a more general idea that encompasses many facets of an age and a society.

“What does ‘culture’ entail, and how have concepts surrounding it changed over time?”

The second half of the 19th century marked the beginning of the rise of mass culture, facilitated by rapid social and technological advances, leading to the eventual diminishment of elitist ideals regarding culture. Highly influential Victorian thinker and critic, Matthew Arnold, was resistant to the change. His collection of essays placed emphasis on beauty and quality, and constrained culture to art and aesthetic engagement. Culture, then, used to be limited. It used to only be available to the upper echelons of society who could access the literature and the art that culture embodied.

Reading Milton and discussing the aesthetic qualities of a Rubens painting – how different to our culture of Tweeting and status-updating.

The practices and values that play an important role in defining our epoch’s culture, whether it’s Twitter or TOWIE, have come a long way from Arnold’s definition. Art is still undeniably at the core of culture, but our conception of what culture means has vastly expanded, and so has the demographic that is able to access and engage with it in all its modes. This is a wonderful thing and yet we should also bear in mind Arnold’s emphasis on quality, and the sublime potential for art to lift our minds to lofty heights.

Embracing the ‘democratisation’ of culture should not also signal the end to all value judgments regarding art. The definition of ‘culture’ has changed, but our ability to be selective should not be stifled.

Epigram

04.03.2013

23

Marmite: Love, Hate and Other Vitamins Euan McCarthy reviews Dramsoc and Spotlights’ fourth showcase of new writing and acting

Flikr:osde8info

that serious themes were harder to explore, but Vanessa Kisuule’s Immortal, and Miriam Battye’s False Advertising excelled in spite of this.

Having seen some fairly poor student plays at school, and not having seen any of Dramsoc or Spotlights’ productions before, I was a little hesitant about Who Dares Writes. However, by the end of the first play I knew I was wrong in my initial judgement, and all of the short plays turned out to be of a very high standard.

Co-producer Tash Dummelow explained that this year’s production was so popular that around 100 people were turned away at auditions, and although the quality of submissions was very high, many were turned down due to a lack of time. With the show running at 3 hours, it’s clear that the producers, Dummelow and Nat Mayne tried to include as many plays as possible, and increased the number significantly from the 9 included last year.

One of my favourites of the night, Luce Dreznin’s Resolutions, was a hilarious, witty and fast-paced journey through a day in the life of Starbucks, with which we could all relate. The cast handled the energetic nature of the piece and frequent character changes with ease, helped by the sharp writing and the strong direction of Daisy Jacobs and Hughie Stanley. Together, they took us through a very entertaining array of the typical characters that can be spotted at Starbucks, from yummy mummies to teenagers taking endless pictures of themselves and tired and stressed staff, and poked fun at the ‘aspirational’ nature of the Starbucks brand.

Sid Sigar’s Pride took quite a journey in 10

minutes, beginning and ending with the familiar ‘banter’ and drinking games of stereotypical lads, but switching to a more serious note in between.

Matthew Sarre played Noah, a young soldier who’d joined the army looking for a longer-term career after working in supermarkets, and is leaving for Iraq soon. When his affluent friend William, played by Nathan Evans, arrived, the play touched on issues of racism, class, employment and the gap between friends who go to university and those who don’t, in what proved to be a very relatable piece of writing.

Tabitha Dalton’s I Heart Houston was one of the best comedies of the night, giving us a look into the life of two friends on the eve of a Whitney Houston concert, and their homemade t-shirts of their idol. Bryher Flanders gave an excellent performance as the slightly deranged, Whitney Houston-obsessed Debbie, while Hannah Horan was also strong as her newly-single and heartbroken friend Liz. The piece also benefited from the direction of Tash Hyman and Lucy Day, who brought the physical comedy of the play to life, particularly with Flanders’ memorable and hysterical dance to I Wanna Dance With Somebody.

Who Dares Writes was touching, thoughtprovoking and highly entertaining, and I am eagerly awaiting the next showcase from Dramsoc or Spotlights, but in the meantime I’ll be looking out for more of their productions.

Dramsoc’s next production is 24 Hour Plays, in which a series of plays will be written and staged in just 24 hours, on the 9th March at UBU.

Without a Reference to William Blake...

The small gem of Southville: Over the past few weeks, The Brewery Theatre has won its stripes This past fortnight has been dominated by tigers.

Or rather, it will have been for those who have spent any time at the Tobacco Factory’s younger sister, the Brewery Theatre.

Between Tuesday 12th and Saturday 16th, the striped beast made its more overt appearance in The Tiger and the Moustache, a one-man production by Saikat Ahamed, that tells the story of Ahamed’s family’s immigration to Britain from Bangladesh. The following Wednesday saw the opening night of Borges and I, an Idle Motion production interweaving the narratives of Jorge Luis Borges and a modern day bookworm named Sophie.

In each production, tigers were particularly significant yet never actually appeared on stage.

Instead they were spoken of in memory, in lore and in reverence and, in each case, represented something very different.

In The Tiger and the Moustache, the mother of Ahamed is told as a young girl that her uncle has an exceptionally big moustache so that he can entrap tigers in it. As a child, she takes this story literally and believes that the uncle goes

out into the forest and needs to protect himself from wild beasts. When she gets older, however, the story takes on a different significance as the uncle increasingly spends his time fighting for the independence of Bangladesh. The tiger that he is fighting is India and although Bangladesh eventually becomes a nation, he is sentenced to death.

The tiger in this one is unmistakably the enemy, lurking in the dark corners of the mind or, in the case of the uncle, in the corridors of power and the back streets of cities. This is the tiger that we either want to shy away from or feel driven to confront. It is our conscience and our foe.

Contrastingly, the tigers that feature in Borges and I are almost the exact opposite. One of them is probably the most beloved striped big cat in history (sorry, A. A. Milne), The Tiger Who Came to Tea. Like most girls of the same name, this tale has a significant place on Sophie’s bookshelf. It is the book that, when her sight-loss has reached a peak and her relationship with Nick is strained, she searches for, a ripped cover and a selotaped spine now being its defining characteristics.

The search for the book is a part of a bigger theme in the play, which works on the idea that our adult bookshelves rest on the stories we read as children. When going blind as an adult, Borges went back to reading his childhood favourites and, in the aftermath of a row, Nick cradles the scared Sophie and reads to her the story. This tiger, then, is a comforter and a symbol of innocence and peace. This is the tiger we cuddle into during the dark night when the fear of Ahamed’s tiger gets too much.

Interestingly, the other tiger that appears is one who sits next to the totally blind Borges in a garden and rests its paw on his shoulder, whilst secreting meaty smells. Unlike most people, and especially those who cannot see what is happening around them, Borges remains completely calm. Whether this is a scary tiger or a comforting tiger does not matter as, in the garden and growing old, Borges is completely at ease. It is as though the tiger has curled up and gently gone to sleep.

Rosemary Wagg

Anastasia Reynolds

Who Dares Writes, Dramsoc and Spotlights’ annual showcase of new writing, is now in its fourth year, and this year was the biggest yet, with 12 short plays, sharing the theme of Marmite: Love, Hate and Other Vitamins. All of the writers took different approaches to the theme, and for some it was a central part of their short play, while for others it was mentioned only briefly.

The plays demonstrated that an extraordinary amount can be achieved in 10 minutes, and the showcase included a spoof of Dragon’s Den, a man with no Vitamin C, and a girl’s tragic belief that multivitamin supplements would keep her grandmother alive, amongst others. Generally the plays were comedic, as the difficulty of building sympathy for characters in 10 to 15 minutes meant

Folgate Street Folly

Anastasia Reynolds briefly visits a time portal en route to the Czech Republic Penniless in Brno – that is me. So I haven’t done anything vaguely cultural yet - in addition to being penniless, I have only been here 4 ½ days, so I haven’t had time. So this week we are having a London demi-cultural adventure.

At the invitation of my aunt, I visited 18 Folgate Street, E1, the day before I left for the Czech Republic. 18 Folgate Street was built in the 18th century, one of those tall, flat-chested buildings you see everywhere in Bristol, except in red brick, not yellow stone. Outwardly it looks like its neighbours: austere, but nothing out of the ordinary. Unlike its neighbours, however, which inwardly are kitted out with wi-fi and double glazing and power showers, number 18 is a time portal.

Carefully composed as a work of art by Denis Severs, the house is not a museum, but a journey through the everyday life of the Jervis family, who lived there from 1725 till 1919. You start in the kitchen in 1725, and as you go upstairs - it has a lot of floors, with two or three rooms on each - all the way to the attic, it gets later in time.

“Sometimes the cat (Madge) will poke her head out from behind an armchair and startle you.”

Flikr:Carulmare

The family’s fortunes decline; by the attic, they are in penury. Then you bob back down to the ground floor for the Victorian section – which, sneakily, mixes the modern with the old, so along with Victoria’s coronation mug, there are commemorative mugs from Charles and Diana’s wedding, and even Will and Kate’s, which is a nice touch. The idea is that as you wander into each room, the previous occupant has just popped out for a minute, leaving half-eaten scones, halfdrunk tea, earrings, slippers, sewing, books laid down for a moment…

It is a fascinating house, partially because it is, of itself, interesting, but mostly because you get a thrill from being in someone’s house without their knowledge – the sense that you have stepped into someone’s private life, quietly and without permission – because sometimes the cat (Madge) will poke her head out from behind an armchair and startle you.

Perhaps the most interesting thing of all, however, is that somehow everything in the house is familiar, giving you a sense of déjà vu. It is a subtle sensation that creeps up on you as you pad from room to room, through the gloom, picking your way amongst the toys discarded moments ago by one of the children. Have you been there before, legitimately, invited round for tea? And then – you realise – you have seen these things before. The objects, furniture, personal items in the house are in the paintings on the walls; everything you see you have seen before, those people in the pictures are real, living, breathing people who really lived and talked and ate and drank and laughed inside this house.

Epigram

04.03.2013

24 In Between Time Festival: How Was it for You?

One Sunset, Two Moons Rising and Solar-Powered Stars...

After visiting a few events of the festival, we sat and watched the sun go down, awaiting darkness for the next events to begin. It was quite magical, down at the harbourside, with the glow of the setting sun shifting on the water behind the curious swan that came to inspect us. Some light and warmth was much needed after the dark, discomforting display in the Arnolfini where faces had been erased from photos and a sense of emptiness pervaded.

‘There but not really there’ is how I would describe the general feeling it emanated. A photograph of a shadowy cat; a repeating scene of domestic violence playing in the background because it is too uncomfortable to watch; a man slowly applying eye drops and a series of descriptions of a city that are all different, yet you still read them searching for something which doesn’t appear to be there. After staying what seemed like an appropriate time we had stepped outside to shake off the uneasy feeling that had firmly settled upon our shoulders. It was almost a relief to have the swan approach

us; it gave us back that sense of being ‘there’ that we had somewhat lost in the Arnolfini. The swan was as we were in the museum, looking upon a display of humanity. Except, I hope we were a little more life-like.

By the time we reached College Green it was dark and the large bright orb was wavering in the night sky. Unfortunately the real moon that night

“The swan was as we were in the museum, looking upon a display of humanity.” was a sliver of a crescent and not at all similar to the glowing balloon that was making its unsteady ascent. There was something calming, however, about watching the orb trundle along its path through the air and in sharing the spectacle with an equally calm selection of people. The atmosphere was made even more comfortable by

the presence of a man who set up right beside us and began singing slow, faintly recognisable, songs. We could have stayed there all evening but there was one last event to see.

In the little garden of a beautiful 14th Century church were hundreds of tiny lights entwined around the branches of the tree, spread widely to create a canopy of dotted light. Non-descript, lyric-less music echoed around the churchyard while people chatted in hushed voices. The feeling was one of closeness. Upon looking up, it was as if a whole constellation of stars was a few feet from your eyes and you were surrounded by music coming from an unknown source. Despite being in the midst of the city, it felt secluded, quiet, and like being let in on some sweet little secret.

You would think that something disturbing, or even a second moon would be more memorable than some solar powered lights and a speaker or two, but it was this sense of closeness and quietude within the restless city labyrinth that was so powerful.

Erin Fox

Fragile and Fleeting: The Beauty of Work Table What I wanted from Kate McIntosh’s Work Table, was to smash something to bits. Looking over the shelves of available objects I want something big and hefty that would break in an almighty, climactic crack. Glasses – too flimsy. China – too easy. In the end I plumped for a walking stick made of dark brown wood with a black rubber tip. Looking back I wonder whether this choice reflects some latent disgust for age and infirmity, or a youthful rejection of growing old. I don’t think so. I just wanted to snap it.

Turns out I’m not that strong. Having donned the gloves, goggles and ear defenders I tried a few swoops against the table but to no avail. I grabbed a craft knife and gouged into the wood, exposing the pale splinters beneath. Then, a handsaw, thrusting backwards and forwards furiously until there was enough give to force the stick against the floor, pushing down and bending till it snapped. With sweat dripping into my goggles, I collected the pathetic fragments of the walking stick into the tray. My relish in breaking something in such an aggressive fashion seemed

a bit shameful, and I felt a bit stupid. Emerging from the room and meeting the usher, I felt like the regular at a sperm bank; offerings in hand, my forehead moist, and the sure knowledge that everyone had heard the grunting.

Coming into the next room the atmosphere was lighter. People were mending and chatting.

“I wonder whether this choice reflects some latent disgust for age...I don’t think so. I just wanted to snap it.”

Compared with the focused, soundless solitude of before, this was a relief. I deposited what was left of my stick and took a torn shoe. I sat down next to a boy who had been there for hours, meticulously repairing a sewing machine. Mending is easier and nicer, like how it takes fewer muscles to smile

than frown. The positioning of this process after the violence of before brought to mind the equal capabilities of human beings to destroy and to heal. It was a scary but uplifting realisation.

I put my repaired shoe in the next room, next to the crooked clocks and stitched bears. Each had their own style and character, indicative of a journey. In relation to this, Kate McIntosh spoke about relinquishing artistic control, allowing this personal journey and seeing only the final objects as evidence of the process. They are beautiful, but that’s not the point. McIntosh does not want to fetishize these products as ‘the art’. Objects are, as has been proved, fragile and fleeting. They are the focus of the process, but not the message of the installation. What is important is our relationship with them and our inward exploration of ideas of destruction and healing. It is human nature in shipping containers. As I left, I noticed on a bottom shelf a walking stick, taped awkwardly together but whole again, healed. Good. It was a nice stick.

George Meredith

Horse Play: Dressage

George Meredith, a member of the In Between Time Festival Emerging Writers Group, goes cruising for art in Lakota It’s all a bit of a blur. I woke up fully clothed, a glass jar of ash hanging from my throat, a bright blue handkerchief tied to my bicep, and an inexplicable chafing sensation down, well, everywhere. I remember some things. I remember staggering round the club, drunk on the overwhelming cocktail of sensations. My eyes were swimming with the thousands of fluorescent ponies, the sickly sweet colours, and the wild-eyed cackling of men in drag, hot breath on my neck. I was cruising for art, Brian Lobel’s initiative, involving handkerchiefs and eye contact and a whisper in

“This was dangerous and a bit sticky. And I kind of liked it.” the ear: ‘Do you want to follow me upstairs?’

Its framing muddied the distinction between performance and sensual thrill seeking, and all I could do was nod, swallowing the hard lump in my throat. The performances varied in style and intimacy, messing with the private and the public, inducing either erotic claustrophobia or unsettling voyeurism. In one encounter, before the entire room, I rubbed raw egg into a woman’s hair and face. In another I was led upstairs to a curtained room, in which I was fondled, an experience which could only end by slapping his face. All dabbled with the rapacious desire for sensation. It was gritty and sordid and challenged all notions of acceptable interaction and participation. I had sought the performance, I was consensual, how could I be outraged by subsequent physical invasions of my body?

The next morning, clutching my collected performance trinkets - the bottled remains of a burnt photograph, my future read by asparagus - I reflected on my experience. In the context of IBT13, at which participation has been largely concerned with a personal, self paced journey, this was dangerous and a bit sticky. And I kind of liked it.

Chris Cooper/ShotAway

Music

Epigram

Editor: Eliot Brammer

Deputy Editor: Phil Gwyn

music@epigram.org.uk

deputymusic@epigram.org.uk

04.03.2013

@epigrammusic

On the border of greatness

When Calexico rolled into town last month to play to a sold out Academy, Gareth Davies was on hand to capture the thoughts of bandleader Joey Burns.

Calexico were formed by Joey Burns and percussionist John Convertino way back in 1996, and their name is indicative of some of the themes of their recordings in the years since: identity and multi-national collaboration. Named for the Californian border town but based in Tucson, Arizona, the band’s seventh conventional studio album Algiers, was critically well received when it was released last September.

After many years of recording in Tucson, Burns and Convertino decided to record Algiers in The Living Room studio in the neighbourhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, from which the album gets its name. Burns’ eyes widen just thinking about it. ‘The Living Room is an old Baptist Church, and it doesn’t look like a rock studio at all.

You go in and it still has the windows open, you can see the light! It’s got a high ceiling. It’s preserved and it’s clean and yet it’s still got just tons of soul, oozing from every beam and every plank of the place. You sit down at the piano or the organ, and you just can’t help but think “yeah, this is a church -- this is a Baptist church from the 30’s”. It’s nice to be in that kind of environment and not feel stif led and, much like the neighbourhood, and the town being not New York or LA or London - there’s space, so you can find yourself. It’s fascinating; it’s just as

old as the French Quarter but it’s just families, and neighbourhoods.

It’s a well-kept secret of a place to go to be close, yet live in some kind of nice community. We needed a break from always doing things in Tucson.

Our good friend Craig Schumacher [producer and owner of WaveLab studio in Tucson], had been buggin’ us for years - “let’s go down to New Orleans”. It felt really good bringing business to New Orleans and

“The studio is an old Baptist Church... you can see the light! It’s still got tones of soul oozing from every beam” Louisiana, after all that’s happened there; the various hurricanes over the years and the sluggish economy.

It’s one of the most fascinating ports that we have in the United States. Just as fascinating - equally fascinating as how Tucson is a port to the United States.’ Burns also points to the other similarities between his adopted home and New Orleans, in particular ‘all the histories that they kinda share with colonisation, with conquest, and how they have been such major crossroads to our development

both culturally and historically.

We draw on a lot of inf luence from our southern hemisphere, and the southern European inf luence too.

So it seemed to be on that same thread. So instead of singing more about Mexican immigration, for me, it’s more universal. And there’s a lot of that in this record, in this writing; leaving, and separation.’

Before they went down to New Orleans to record, Burns and Convertino had ideas of what they wanted from the record, ‘it felt really good to go there and to see what we could come up with. There was no guarantee. We had a couple of sketches, but we really wanted to go and see what we could tap into. And not necessarily to make an easily recognisable New Orleans inf luenced record, but to try to find ourselves in America.’ Identity is clearly a focal point for Burns, and Calexico’s recorded works. ‘I love New York, it can be great, but it’s so over-the-top, and it’s so inundated with so much happening. It’s hard to find yourself there. It’s those places that are further out into the extremes that I find an ability for myself to kinda blend in, or to see myself there. And I think John feels the same way too. We had travelled to Cuba several years prior to making this record, and when there, it was easy to see this connection with that culture.’

Burns has two young twin daughters back in Tucson, and it is clear that it is tough for him to cope with the separation during this long tour. ‘Being on tour gives me an opportunity to catch up on some rest! But it is hard. Because you don’t see them growing…

Fortunately, we can Skype. I’m getting more requests from home, like “hey, we wanna see you”…so that’s really nice. They’re almost two years old [Burns is 46], so it took me a while to find fatherhood and start a family, but my wife and I -- we’re having a good time doing it.’

The band’s diverse range of inf luences is striking, yet always developing over time. In the past the band have worked with, to name but a few, Nancy Sinatra, Iron & Wine and Neko Case, and toured with the likes of Arcade Fire and Pavement. ‘I really like [French/ Chilean artist] Ana Tijoux. She’s a rapper, a real artist and I like her a lot. I love Nortec Collective - they’ve been around almost as long as we have. It’s great, what they do, I love it. An offshoot from that is Camilo Lara, he’s got a group called Mexican Institute of Sound.’ Inspiration for the new record came from many sources including photographs, ‘I like a lot of photographs in Richard Avedon’s ‘American West’ series, which deal with a lot of working class, out there in the countryside -

oil fields, slaughter houses, drifters, ranchers. It’s an interesting portrait of America. Of course, since I live in the West I see those characters a lot. But I see them around a lot in the country around this part of the world too, you know. So I was looking at those faces and recognising some of these experiences that I’ve had, I’ve seen them on the streets, on some of our travels. I went to that source for some of our inspiration for songs like ‘Splitter’, which is one of the first songs we released on the record.’ The analysis of identity returns: ‘yeah, it’s something that I think I care about because I think we all kinda wonder where we come from.’

Algiers is out now on Anti Records.

Epigram

04.03.2013

26 Canadian producer Airick Woodhead, known by stage name Doldrums, isn’t afraid of apparent contradiction.

Producing an uncompromising debut record containing both big dance beats and unsettling noise, often concurrently, is testament to this. Even the plodding phonetics of his chosen moniker seems to sit awkwardly alongside the frenetic psychedelic soundscapes on Lesser Evil. ‘It’s about escape’, Woodhead explains: ‘It’s a pretty positive driving force, Doldrums is kind of about escaping isolation and the feeling that nothing is happening.’

Uncertainty juxtaposed with an invigorating thrill permeates the record, exemplified by the aptlynamed ‘Anomaly’, where reverberating noise and glitches fail to mask the power of the anthemic beat into which Woodhead’s melancholic vocals inject a disturbingly hypnotic sense of purpose and drive. At times Lesser Evil is euphoric, at others close to breaking point, but it ultimately composes a gripping visceral experience from start to end.

Woodhead explains how this conflicting aesthetic works within the context of Doldrums. ‘Pop music is a way out. It’s a way to get excitement, to share something with other people.

I think that the attraction that I have towards stagnation and all those negative things is a result of my

unwillingness to compromise or live by other people’s standards.’ Marrying pop sensibilities with a tendency to explore isolation almost naturally then involves the incorporation of noise, flying in the face of other people’s standards. ‘It’s like a fuck you to consumer popular culture. It’s so hypocritical to make pop-noise. Noise is all about not wanting to be liked. I just love the idea of these two terms battling it out, pop and noise. Both sides will hate me.’

The tension explored throughout is perhaps Woodhead’s mixed feelings towards the sense of isolation explored, when contrasted with the notion of personal freedom. He describes there being a ‘positive and negative side to both complete isolation and personal freedom, but also a positive and negative side to living by other people’s standards.’ Airick quickly corrects himself: ‘Actually, what I mean by other people’s standards is always a negative, fuck that!’ A different metaphor is drawn, more aptly describing the underlying competing themes throughout the record: ‘Lesser Evil is a dialogue between a person who is completely selfish and another person who’s completely altruistic. It’s not that either one is right, it’s just a conversation.’

Having spent the majority of his teen years travelling and on tour, first

“ ”

I love the idea of these two battling it out, pop and noise.

Both sides will hate me with previous project Spiral Beach, Woodhead possesses a range of disparate influences. Utilising heavy sampling because he enjoys ‘not only consuming culture but twisting it into something new’, these find their way into his work. In the past he has drawn inspiration from as far wide as 70s Bollywood psychedelia and Brazilian mash-ups via Costa Rica, yet Lesser Evil’s samples have come from a fairly narrow pool. ‘I wanted to have some more consistency on my album.

Instead of stealing Missy Elliot beats for a track, I wanted to make my own.’

Nonetheless, the influence of Montreal is evident in the abundant layers that cocoon the beats, as Woodhead applies the aggressive spirit of noise he’s encountered while living there to great effect. ‘We put on a lot of poetry readings, shows, art shows.

A lot of the shows are really insane violent noise shows and I’m really hoping to retain that spirit on a bigger scale, because I find bar shows really fucking boring.’ The laptop on which Lesser Evil was recorded was borrowed from good friend Grimes; the Quebec connections seem almost endless.

‘[Montreal] collects people like me who are just looking for something and somewhere to pursue their own goals.

I don’t think it’s like other scenes, because the label really is trying to foster our individuality and help us each do what we do as best we can.’

How to describe Doldrums accurately and concisely is difficult, with many opting to label Lesser Evil as experimental. ‘It’s only my kind of anthropological interest in noise music, especially with regards to electronic music that has made people call this project experimental. I try to shy away from the term because it’s ambiguous what the experiment is. I don’t like how that term just means weirdo or something. It kind of has a negative connotation for me.’ If experimental isn’t apt, perhaps enticingly energising or irresistibly compelling will have to do. Neither of those serves as an adequate description of the music, but they’re both certainly true. Although Woodhead’s originality and ingenuity may polarise listeners, it will ultimately reward those who persist.

Doldrums

Intervew by Rishi Modha

Lesser Evil is out now on Arbutus Records

Sampling and aesthetics: a new musical landscape We spoke to two of this year’s most exciting and singular debutants, Montreal’s Airick Woodhead and Essexbred producer Stuart Howard, to explore formative influences and a different mode of songwriting.

Megan Sharp

Lapalux Interview by AG Cligman-Howe For those not familiar with it, could you describe your sound and the music you release?

It’s a mixture of experimental ideas, hiphop, R&B, post-dubstep, all converged into one.

How did you first get into production?

Generally progressing from acoustic instruments, learning how to use software and continuing from there.

Back in the day I started playing violin and guitar, then progressed to picking

up weird instruments, sampling things and messing around with old mixing desks. I just grew up with an interest in it, always searching for new things.

Your work contains a lot of glimpses of everyday sounds - how do you go about collecting your samples?

What’s the best thing you’ve captured?

I just head out now and again with my portable recorder, or even just around my flat. If there’s anything interesting, any peculiar shit going down, I just tend to hit record and see what happens, then come back home and see what I’ve got, cut it all up and mess about with it. Sometimes I go out specifically to record an area or somewhere I’ve been before where I know there are some good sounds and weird textures.

I’ve had a few bizarre things from around Europe, there was a taxi ride I was taking with one of the promoters in Portugal and I recorded a load of arguments in Portuguese, had no idea what they were saying.

What is it that interests you about including these analogue sounds in your work?

I don’t really like working from sample packs. A lot of people tend to do that, and I’ve got no qualms about it because they can manipulate it beyond recognition. I just prefer to have an organic touch to music and I think there’s a lot of soul and depth if you actually go out and put the work in and create your own sound instead of picking stuff out of packs. It feels like each song is part of you more and more if you’re more involved with it.

Who would you cite as your main influences in developing that chopped-and-changed style?

Growing up I used to listen to a lot of different things like Prefuse 73 and Aphex Twin, and I’d go through stages of listening to really out-there electronica like Autechre and then delve into soul music. It’s basically an absolute mish-mash of everything that I’ve been exposed to in the past, musically and visually, films like [Vincent Gallo’s] Buffalo ’66. I look up to people who are very independent and reach into all different types of media, not just music, so Gallo has been a big inspiration in that way.

With such complex structures, it must take time to develop your tracks.

It varies a lot, sometimes ideas can come together in a couple of hours but it takes a few days to solidify it and make it all fit together. Usually I’d spend about two or three days getting all the ideas down into one set and then I’ll play about and see how they fit. The process starts with melodies or with some sort of texture I’ve recorded and I work with that and manipulate and sample it. It’s tricky to quantify how it actually all starts because each one begins differently in its own way.

The hard thing is knowing when things are finished, I’m always going back and thinking ‘oh I should have done that’ so I’ll bring out the Ableton set and dig into it again until I’m 100% happy.

Up to now you’ve only released a few EPs; was it challenging to stretch out into a full length album?

Yeah it was, in a way, it’s a thing I’ve been working on but only recently

have I felt able to progress enough to making it last over an album. I’ve got enough material, really, but it’s about quality not quantity, which is why I’ve released EPs in the past. I’ll pick the best five or six out of twenty tracks.

With the album I’ve spent a lot of time piecing it together over the course of about a year.

Were there some songs more suited to fit together over a longer format?

Yeah I think so, I’m not really sure, some of the tracks on the record were completed almost a year ago now and it sort of all came together by itself really. I didn’t coherently think, ‘I’ve got to make this to try and fit with the album’, but there were some things I had to drop and some things I kept in.

People have talked about an almost visual quality present in your sound, is that an intentional aspect of your production process?

It is something that I aim for and I always like to think about the textures within the music as a sort of visual palette. Even using Ableton, as weird as it sounds, all the different colours of the audio and midi that you have in there that come together to create different colours. That helps to spark ideas. I often print out pictures to stick above my computer and work towards creating how that image makes me feel.

It’s a weird kind of synthetic crossover of music and visual.

What’s your view of current electronic music and the elevation of house music especially: do you aim to produce dance tracks or stay away from that scene?

I’ve been going out quite a bit more because I moved into London from Essex, so I feel a bit more influenced by the house and techno scene. But I don’t think it breaches what I do, because I write music in my bedroom for people who want to sit down and listen rather than have it banging out in a club. But some of the stuff I’ve been working on recently is a bit more dance-oriented, even influenced by trap, just playing with ideas and mixing it all about.

Tracks I won’t release but it’s good to play out in clubs now and again.

You’ve worked with female vocalists such as Kerry Leatham and Py, what do they bring to your sound?

I’ve always had a fascination with electronic artists that make songs with a proper vocal, especially female vocals, and I feel that it’s a thing I really want to carry on. It’s nice to have another person’s input because ideas can get stale after a while of constantly working by yourself. As soon as I get some vocals from a guest vocalist it gives me something to work with and inspires me to change the track around the vocals and manipulate it. Almost like having a remix. I find remixes fun because most of the track is already there so you’ve got something to work with straight from the off, all this inspiration that you can chop up and loop and mess around with.

Nostalchic is out on 25th March on Brainfeeder

Epigram

04.03.2013

25 27

Reviews AMOK Atoms For Peace XL 25th February

BAD BLOOD Bastille Virgin 4th March 2013 Supporting the ubiquitous Emeli Sandé, having their songs played on Made in Chelsea and Hollyoaks and now headlining a UK music festival for the first time at Blissfields in July, the times they are a-changing apace for Bastille.

Those blokes in Oxford who write the dictionary explain ‘bastille’ as a fortress, essentially an English castle with flair; similarly, the debut album Bad Blood is as solid as a rock yet utterly spectacular.

Here is an album that is original, varied and accessible. This is one of the few recent indiepop albums that capture the imagination as well as consistently keeping the listener absorbed throughout the whole album. It’s been a while coming.

In all honesty Bastille’s music is tough to categorise but in amongst there they lie somewhere between Friendly Fires, Two Door Cinema Club and Alex Clare. Simple, thick bass along with angelic melodies and Dan Smith’s delicate folk-like vocals creates melodramatic, captivating songs such as title track ‘Bad Blood’.

The lyrics are simple, uplifting and soulful and don’t feel the need to fill up the sometimes

BIRTHDAYS Keaton Henson Oak Ten 25th February Crippled by anxiety and loneliness, Keaton Henson’s debut album Dear… chronicled the break up of his first serious relationship. Although Henson’s debilitating stage fright meant that he avoided live shows, he built up a loyal, almost cultish following on the internet. Henson now seems to be emerging from this gloomy period, slowly putting on more gigs and featuring in more video sessions. This new-found optimism is displayed on his new album too, from temporarily falling in love on the tube (‘The Best Today’) to the surprising raging guitar on ‘Kronos’. The intense darkness of Dear... hasn’t completely disappeared, however. ‘I’d kill just to watch as you’re sleeping’ (‘10am, Gare du Nord’) shows that Henson still teeters between endearingly romantic and creepily obsessive. Henson’s voice trembles through a range of emotions as the album progresses, at times imploring, ‘please do not hurt me love/I am a fragile one’ (‘10am, Gare du Nord’) to protesting ‘And God! You were the one who told me not to be so English!’ (‘Sweetheart, What Have You Done to Us?’). With the sensitive addition of more instruments, and backing vocals

by Jesca Hoop, Henson stands out from other, more conventional, singer-songwriters.

Pippa Shawley

hollow tones.

The majesty of ‘Bad Blood’ lies in its ability to vary yet maintain a semblance of identity. Just as your ears are about to settle into the same old indie-pop album routine, Bastille changes tack and surprises you with the honesty of ‘Get Home’ or the quirkiness of ‘Daniel in the Den’, but with Smith’s characteristic vocals tying it all together. Naysayers will complain it’s not acoustic enough to be indie, not poppy enough to be mainstream and the lyrics are a little too obvious but herein lies the beauty. ‘Bad Blood’ leaves you wondering why you ever cared about categorisation and just makes listening to music deliciously easy.

Three of their songs have broken the 1 million mark on Youtube and don’t be surprised to see them gigging at a few major festivals this summer. The best song on the album, Pompeii, with a sumptuous mix of Smith’s vocals and a gospel backing, claims the ‘walls kept tumbling down’, but with this album, Bastille have only just begun to build their reputation.

Jack Riley

UNTOGETHER Blue Hawaii Arbutus 4th March Untogether is hard work. From the ethereal wanderings of opening track ‘Follow’ to the final pained vocal of ‘The Other Day’, the album’s glacial atmosphere can make it feel impenetrable.

Perhaps this is unsurprising, given that the brilliantly named duo (Ra and Ag) that make up Blue Hawaii created the record isolated from each other in the depths of winter. Yet if you’re willing to peel away the layers of futuristic production that obscure Untogether’s personality, you’ll find a surprisingly intimate album built around subtle hooks.

The record’s slow-burning appeal is not even its greatest challenge; being from Montreal and containing one female, comparisons inevitably lead to Grimes. However, the two halves of ‘In Two’, lays bare their differences: Part I is far more harrowing and personal than any of Grimes’ work, while Part II develops an almost industrial techhouse thump that is a dancefloor away from Ms Boucher. This split personality acts as a metaphor for the album as a whole - teetering ambivalently on a knife edge between the synthetic and the human. If you’re willing to immerse yourself in its eccentric beats, the flicker of human warmth nestling within Untogether deserves unearthing.

Phil Gwyn

Back in late 2009, Thom Yorke assembled an array of musicians with the sole purpose of playing his solo effort The Eraser to a live audience. Now operating under the name Atoms for Peace, the band, which features Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Joey Waronker of Beck, have worked together to produce their debut album Amok.

To call Atoms for Peace a supergroup somewhat conjures up the wrong image; this is still predominantly Yorke and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich’s new project. The creative method behind Amok consisted of members engaging in Afrobeat inspired jam sessions, the recordings of which were then taken by Yorke and Godrich to be deconstructed and woven back together with Yorke’s meticulous electronic workings to produce the finished product.

This method of construction is immediately evident from the opening track ‘Before Your Very Eyes…’ The drum rhythms and intricate guitar melodies slowly give way to apprehensive synth lines in such a subtle way that you don’t notice the transition until it dominates the song. Second highlight ‘Dropped’ kicks off with some off-tempo synth bursts that suddenly cross over to a very

TALES FROM TERRA FIRMA Stornoway 4AD 11th March Since their debut almost three years ago, it seems Stornoway have changed as little as the English countryside to which their sound is so heavily indebted, and images of gentle hills and pastoral landscapes run throughout Tales From Terra Firma.

Opening track and probably the highlight here ‘You Take Me As I Am’ sets a thunderous tone, defiant and giddy with enthusiasm. Vocalist Brian Briggs has that rare gift of a voice that can alternate between powerful and entirely fragile; yet often the songs cannot provide him with a suitable backdrop. From that promising start there is a swift turn downhill with the tempo slowing to a near crawl, the initial passion seemingly spent.

On more than a forgivable amount of occasions the songs tip the twee scales, and repeated listening renders them frankly irritating. ‘The Bigger Picture’ is a case in point, the excruciating chorus sounding like a condescending nursery rhyme and interrupting what is otherwise the best run of songs on the album.

Here is an album that simply meanders along.

Their debut may have been a quiet success, but the band have failed to pull it off again - the rustic charm has faded into tameness.

James Clark

danceable syncopated drum sequence. Slow builder ‘Reverse Running’ perhaps makes the best of Yorke’s vocals, which come across more clearly here than on any other track. Instruments slowly get layered on top of a lopsided two-step drumbeat while Yorke sings about ‘skipping back through the tapes’.

Even though only 9 songs long, the tracks sometimes lose their impact when listened to in sequence. The intricate polyrhythms become a haze of computerised samples and it starts to feel as though Yorke’s voice may have finally been spread too thin. However, the aforementioned standout tracks really do pull the album together and bring it back into focus on second listen.

It’s important to remember that this is not another of Yorke’s solo works; it’s an altogether different record from a completely new band.

Yorke has even hinted that Atoms may not be just a one off affair. If this is the case, it makes Amok a very forward thinking and exciting first step, and yet an album that still stands out by showcasing some of the most beautiful and intricately crafted songs of the year so far.

James Lindsay

IMAGES DU FUTUR Suuns Secretly Canadian 4th March Montreal four piece Suuns are a proper band, a proper cool band. Their dissonant take on art-rock might offer up a vision of warped futurism, but it’s hard to imagine them existing as anything other than a band if they had belonged to any of the past few decades. With 2010’s Zeroes QC they seemed to arrive fully-formed in sound and style, pumping out writhing jams filled with insidious synths, half-muffled guitar squeals and frothing nasal vocals.

Images Du Futur doesn’t possess that record’s shock of the new, and there’s no great reinvention here. But it does bear variation within tight perimeters: the psychedelic tinge in ‘Mirror Mirror’ and ‘Edie’s Dream’; the abrasive disco pulse to ‘Bambi’; and the hallucinatory slowburn of closer ‘Music Won’t Save You’, are all both menacing and engrossing.

With such a tightly-coiled set up there is inevitably a restricted scope - even when the band’s quality of restraint is hailed as their attraction - and as such, it’s either a must have fix or one of which you just can’t see the appeal.

It’s reassuring to hope that Suuns, behind skinny black t-shirts and indoor sunglasses, probably don’t give a shit either way.

Eliot Brammer

WEDNESDAYS AT

DRINKS PRICES

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ENTRY £5 SPORTS TEAMS £4

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Bingo! £1 Entry. Proceeds go to BVDA. Wednesday 13 March, 8pm Rag Quiz Last ever Bar 100 quiz.

Monday 18 March Bar 100 Auction We will be auctioning off all the furniture and equipment from Bar 100 before it closes. Don’t miss this chance to deck out your student home with anything from fridges to sofas. All proceeds will go towards equipment for the new bar when it reopens in 2014.

Thursday 21 March, 7pm Demolition Disco Closing Down Sale with events across Bar 100, Brunel and Anson Rooms. Lowest ever drink prices.

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Film & TV

Epigram

Editor: Jasper Jolly

Deputy Editor: Kate Samuelson

filmandtv@epigram.org.uk

deputyfilmandtv@epigram.org.uk

Dancing on the Edge of your seat Rose Bonsier: Stephen Poliakoff’s first ever TV drama about a 1930s band is not just for jazz fans

@epigramfilm

ate Epigram’s Ultim TV Quiz 1. Which actress tripped up the stairs on the way to collect her Best Actress Oscar?

2. Which Saturday night variety show, first launched in 200 2, returned this month?

3. Why did Adele (rather rudely!) not turn up to receive her Brit Award?

4. Which actor got embarrassingly drunk on the Graham Norton show?

5. Name the recent Cutting Edge Channel 4 documentary focusing on (fast) food.

6. What new TV show does Sharon Rooney star in?

1930s drama Dancing On The Edge follows a jazz band in London. Picture: BBC.

are quick to support them, inviting them to parties, lunches and picnics in a way that sadly I’m not sure really would have happened. Nevertheless, the relationships built up in this way give Dancing On The Edge a lightheartedness that ensures it is not dragged down by the seriousness of the subject matter.

The sheen on the surface of the drama is also helped by the lovely cinematography and choice of rich but subtly presented décor that shows the opulence and luxury in certain parts of society before the Second World War. The music is of course a main feature, with some very beautifully written original songs that stay true to the music of the era and exhibit a type of jazz which isn’t wild and outlandish, as the genre has mainly become known

for, but refined, classy and ideally suited to the situation and the band who are playing it.

Crafted by respected writer Stephen Poliakoff, the drama features a large cast of main characters played by a number of actors with a lot of talent and experience in the industry. Louis Lester himself is played by the fantastic Chiwetel Ejiofor, a softly-spoken actor who is able to hold attention on screen simply with his presence, showing Louis at once as a true gentleman but also projecting his reservation and confusion over the help his band are receiving.

Also of note are Angel Coulby, who some may recognize from her appearances as Queen Guinevere in hit BBC drama Merlin, and her co-star Wunmi Mosaku who featured in the

incredible I Am Slave. Together they are hired as the band’s singers and provide some absolutely gorgeous melodies throughout the show, but still manage to perfectly project the excitement of two young women who can’t quite believe their luck. Their naturalness and sense of fun, void of the arrogance fame can often bring, is refreshing to see.

Whether you like jazz or not, this drama is certainly one to watch, and paints a compelling portrait of high society and the dynamics within it that goes way beyond a simple class and race divide.

Dancing On The Edge BBC 2, Mondays at 9pm

7. Who drunk endless Tequila shots on the Jonathan Ross show?

8. Foreign Affairs: Who showed off their dance moves on the Jimmy Fallon show, to support a campaign against obesity?

Pictures: boxartist.com, parismatch.com, celebritydogwatcher.com, The Times

Answers: 1.Jennifer Lawrence 2.Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway 3.Rehearsing for Oscars 4.Mark Wahlberg 5.The Fried Chicken Shop: Life in a Day 6.My Mad Fat Diary 7.Justin Timberlake 8.Michelle Obama

One of only a few questions I’d ask about BBC Two’s Monday night drama Dancing On The Edge is why it’s not on BBC One, because this delicately put together and fabulously acted drama is certainly first rate. Set in early 1930s London, it delves into the rise of a phenomenally talented black jazz band who have previously been held back from progress by prejudice against them.

When the Louis Lester band - which is named after the band’s founding member - is discovered by music journalist and general rough diamond Stanley (Matthew Goode), it takes him some persuading to get them a regular performance slot at the Imperial Hotel. The band are quick to make their mark, but the old-fashioned clientele of the hotel are less pleased with the arrangement, objecting to the introduction of jazz music into their dining room and even more to the black musicians who are playing it.

Quickly though, we see the band rise more and more in popularity, reaching out to impress those in society whose opinions really matter.

The issue of race and prejudice is a main theme throughout and is handled in a gentle and realistic way. Every week the musicians are required to report to the vulgarly named ‘Alien Registration Office’ where they must produce the correct documents in order to be given work permits or face deportation. The officiousness of the authorities and their refusal to accept band members as British citizens despite the fact that they’ve been born in Britain highlights the ludicrousness of the system at this time and the misunderstanding it is based on.

Strangely enough, the only criticism I might have of the drama is that some of the characters involved in helping the band and getting them their breaks are unrealistically open-minded. Whilst the Louis Lester band do of course struggle against assumptions all the way, a number of people in high places

04.03.2013

Mr Selfridge highlights British and American differences Abbie Innes Mr Selfridge, written by Andrew Davies, is an ITV drama which has captured its audience’s imagination from episode one, regularly attracting nearly six million viewers.

Based on Lindy Woodhead’s book ‘Shopping, Seduction and Mr Selfridge’, the 10-part drama is set at the beginning of the 20th century and unveils the series of events, many of which are fictitious, that came from the historic opening of one of London’s most famous department stores, Selfridges, in 1909.

Set in an era of great industrial and economic development, Mr Selfridge highlights the modernisation of British retail and shows the

huge social changes of the time by capturing a theme of growing female independence.

The lead role, Harry Gordon Selfridge, is played by Jeremy Piven (below right). Harry Selfridge is portrayed as a very flamboyant, fearless man, brimming with confidence and a thirst for success. He is eager to bring the latest fashions of America into Britain and change the shopping experience into an enjoyable one rather than a necessity.

H o w e v e r, there are mixed views

regarding Piven as his character seems to stand out from the rest of the very ‘British’ cast as perhaps being too over-the-top. In fact one reviewer suggests that the character’s earnestness detracts from the realism of the story.

However, it could also be said that the contrast between the American Harry Selfridge and the British shop staff illustrates the progressive attitude of America compared with the more traditional British reserve.

ITV I think this aspect

of the series helps to steer it away from the classic British costume drama such as Downton Abbey, which also has an American influence in the character of Cora, the Countess of Grantham, but the impact is not so noticeable and there is not as much emphasis on

‘‘

Harry Selfridge is portrayed as a very flamboyant, fearless man, brimming with confidence.

’’

her American roots as there is in Mr Selfridge.

Even though Mr Selfridge is a historical drama based loosely on fact, as we have got further into the series the episodes have revealed romances

between various characters, and has embarked down the road of the private lives and hardships of individual employees, bringing the characters to life and giving us an insight into the different social classes.

There is a very strong female cast and in the ambitious natures of Agnes Towler, Miss Ravillious and Lady Mae Loxley, we see the beginnings of the modern woman of their time, which highlights the dawning of the suffrage movement. So, whilst enjoying a story of success and ambition, one also gets a lesson in social history!

Mr Selfridge ITV, Sundays at 9pm

Epigram

30

04.03.2013

The wonder of Terrence Malick

Watershed

Jasper Jolly looks at the life and work of the great, enigmatic director as To the Wonder is released When it was announced that Terrence escape notice in America either, where Malick was going to release To the the beauty of the wheat fields won an Wonder at the end of last year the main Oscar for best cinematography. reaction was one of surprise, as well as Malick has never worked to anticipation; Malick is one of the most any schedule but his own. To the acclaimed directors alive - no actor bemusement of critics who had lauded turns him down - but he is also one his first two works, fans had to wait an of the least prolific. Almost incredibly astonishing 20 years for his third film. for someone whose name has such an In the two decades between films he aura, Malick has moved to Paris only made six to teach, and feature films did not have any to date. What is kind of public striking is the life, refusing to impact that he hint at future 73) 9 (1 s d n Badla d n a has made with projects. n e e h S - Martin ht) so few films When it did ig (r k e c a Sissy Sp over such a long come, his 978) period of time. next work, Days of Heaven (1 e Part of The Thin Red - love triangle in th that aura Line, was a war Texan panhandle aformentioned film focusing The Thin Red Line is down to the on the battle for (1998) - Jim Caviezel man himself.

Guadalcanal in (left) stars as AWOL His personal the Pacific during soldier in WW2 life as much the Second World The New World (2005) as his films War. Malick - the love of John have a myth of assembled an Smith and Pocahontas impentrability ensemble cast around them of big names, Tree of Life (2011) because of including Jim the is ht) - Brad Pitt (rig the extremes Caviezel, Sean isem a in re figu er fath to which his Penn, and autobiography, with reticence goes; Adrien Brody, urs added dinosa even when Tree of although Life was awarded B r o d y To the Wonder (2012) the Palme D’Or complained of - love in France and at Cannes - the being virtually Oklahoma biggest prize Pictures: terrencemalick.org; daniellight. cut out of the for independent com; film-grab.com film - a fate films - he refused which befell to pick up the award in person because Rachel Weisz in (or rather not in) To the of an intense desire to protect his Wonder. The New World, a mere seven privacy. years afterwards, starred Colin Farrell as Malick’s first feature film, Badlands, John Smith, playing opposite 14-yearwas way back in 1973, with Martin old Q’orianka Kilcher’s Pocahontas in Sheen and Sissy Spacek as a pair of a deliberately glacial retelling of their lovers on a killing spree, roaming the love.

American wilds. Days of Heaven came One of Malick’s most prevalent five years later, putting Richard Gere in themes is a familiar – and by now a love triangle in the Texas panhandle. trademark – juxtaposition of the The films both received critical acclaim, beauty of the natural environment and Malick himself went on to win the with the horrors of which humanity Best Director award at Cannes. It did not is capable. This is especially seen in

the Works of genius: Malick films of Terrence

The Thin Red Line and The New World, where natural beauty and harmony is contrasted with the brutality of soldiers and settlers respectively, impostors both, but even in the first two works it is clear that Malick cannot conceive human life and nature separately.

Over the long, slow maturation of his career, plot has given way more and more to interaction with capitalN Nature. One of the things which marks Malick out is his intense visual style, picking out beauty wherever he can. At times it can seem like the

human struggles are just a distraction, as the camera lingers on an animal, or the light through the trees, but it is probably more true to say that his films repeatedly try to show the beauty to be found everywhere in - mostly American, it has to be said - life.

This all sounds very severe, but Malick has never been afraid to tackle the very biggest questions head-on. This has not always worked to his advantage; 2011’s Tree of Life was applauded and booed in equal measure when first shown. Difficult, obscure, but always

Like father, like son: Willis and Courtney in A Good Day to Die Hard. Picture: cinemas-online.co.uk

A love affair dies hard Ben Marshall A Good Day to Die Hard is 90 minutes of explosions, car crashes, car chases and more explosions. Don’t expect anything more and you wont be disappointed.

Bruce Willis is 57 now and this is the fifth outing for the Die Hard franchise.

I was very disappointed. The original trilogy were a collection of films I loved. They had everything an action film needed: superb villains, incredible action sequences and of course Willis

as the indestructible NYPD Detective John McClane, with his badass quips and catchphrases. Where has all this gone?

The international market is critical to box office success. Hollywood is therefore happy to pander, so we’re off to Moscow immediately with little explanation as to why. The audience is then left with a collection of grizzled Russians, all seemingly named Yuri or Demetri, in place of the usual arch-criminal. The menace is gone, replaced instead by ambiguous, faceless, unimpressive bad guys who

beautiful, it tries, as the title suggests, to take on life itself, from creation all the way through a much derided dinosaur sequence to a young boy maybe Malick - in ‘50s America. If that sounds pretentious, it might be, and critics might not like films which are deadly serious, but what is undeniable is that he is a bold director who risks cynicism in this way.

In To the Wonder Malick has shown a similar lack of fear of big issues.

This time the big word is Love, both romantic and religious. Javier Bardem plays a doubting priest, while Ben Affleck is a geologist falling in and out of love with Rachel McAdams and Olga Kurylenko (of Quantum of Solace fame) in familiar American wildernesses and around Parisian landmarks.

The film is a celebration of love, but it is also aware of the difficulties of finding it. The real world does intrude, in the form of the economic pressures which seem to preclude God from deprived areas of America, or the expiration date on a visa forcing lovers apart. As always, it is nature which provides the saving grace, the constant guiding principle which offers the possibility of redemption.

To the Wonder is not perfect, and will not sit well with some owing to some of the self-conscious profundity and abstraction which sometimes threatens to devalue the beauty of the imagery, but that is a risk which Malick is always willing to take. It is this willingness, this daring to try to communicate an unashamedly serious message, to try to assert the sacred in an overwhelmingly secular world, that makes Malick a great director of necessary films.

To the Wonder Released 22nd February 2013 Dir. Terrence Malick, 112 mins

are forgotten the moment they leave the screen.

Curiously the film was released on Valentine’s Day. I can at least admire the bold irony in this instance, as it is of course thoroughly unromantic.

The central relationship of the movie is that of the father-son. It is a story hung around the inability to use the term Dad, as the paternal bond is reestablished murdering terrorists. An interesting way to spend February 14th undoubtedly.

To be fair, the film does have excellently directed action sequences.

I’m hardly even aware that I have just seen 55 cars blown up over the course of this film yet I enjoyed every one.

Only I wanted more than this. The story in between is lack-lustre, the dialogue sketchy at best, and all the quips replaced with grimacing.

The Die Hard Bruce Willis of old is gone. Somehow despite being nothing but action everything feels very tired.

The film is by far the weakest in the series. The magic and charm has disappeared. Will I buy it on DVD? Yes, but only out of love from days gone by.

Yippee-Ki-Yay Mother Fucker? Not in this film; it has got a 12A certificate.

A Good Day to Die Hard Released 14th February 2013 Dir. John Moore, 97 mins

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04.03.2013

31

Warner Bros

Cloud Atlas: unpolished symphony Hugo Mathers: the most expensive independent film ever is a riotous and adventurous adaptation The film version of a book often brings controversy. Fans of the original novel are typically left frustrated by the adaptation’s failure to include the author’s every detail, or angry at the filmmakers’ decision to change parts of the plot, or unhappy simply because it was not like how they imagined. Conversely, the movie adaptation can become such a hit that the fact that it was once in storybook form is nearly forgotten – think The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Trainspotting. This film will do very well to get onto that list.

Cloud Atlas is a bestselling novel by British author David Mitchell, published in 2004. It consists of six diverse but interlinking stories. Producing a concise plot summary is easier said than done, for it leaps through

Is this 40?

Gareth Downs This is 40 is the latest film from Judd Apatow’s comedy conveyor belt and, in fact, a spin-off of his previous film Knocked Up. We have come to recognise Apatow’s work from the spine of a cast consistent throughout every one of his films and the frequently crass - although often hilarious - jokes.

However, This is 40 simply does not reach the benchmark set by his classics like The 40 Year Old Virgin and Superbad.

The simple premise is that this family is a slightly dysfunctional one, where the parents are approaching 40 and the kids have grown up since we last saw them

centuries and around the world; from the South Pacific in 1849, where a lawyer attempts to free a slave whilst being poisoned by his doctor; through 1930s Edinburgh, with the union of two great but conflicting composers; 1970s San Francisco, where a journalist endeavours to investigate a corrupt nuclear power company; present-day London, with a publisher’s entrapment in a high security retirement home; 22nd century Seoul, where an enslaved clone is whisked away with the rebel resistance; to 23rd century Hawaii, and a tribesman’s encounter with cannibals. Phew.

The stories are linked in that each is discovered by the next, whether it be through a book, letters, music, film, even religion. Moreover, the lead characters of each tale share the same

comet-shaped birth mark, symbolising Mitchell’s concept that, irrespective of time and place, we are all connected.

T h e responsibility of turning this narrative into a cinematic classic was taken on by writers, directors and p r o d u c e r s Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer, with

in Knocked Up, presenting us with the moody, pubescent Sadie and the hyperactive Charlotte. Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann - Apatow’s wife off camera - play two exasperated parents who are not coping well with the onrushing categorisation of being middle-aged, least of all with the money problems that are leaving them staring down the barrel of having to sell their large and expensive house.

Apatow clearly intended this film to be a funny and insightful film about the pressures of becoming middleaged. I have three quarrels with this film, having sat through its 133 minutes.Firstly, Is this it? Paul Rudd stars their attempt to portray in the latest work from the the truths of financial prolific Apatow. Picture: trouble and mid-life Universal crises is wayward; this is a very ‘Hollywood’ portrayal of being middle-aged. Rudd and Mann are both on extreme fitness regimes

Facing the music: Ben Whishaw as the composer of the Cloud Atlas symphony.

Picture: Warner Bros

the help of a budget in excess of a $100m w h i c h is almost unprecedented for an independent film.

They made some significant changes from the book, most of all in the actual telling of the story. Whereas Mitchell essentially unravels the narrative chronologically, the film cuts regularly between the different stories, and we watch them

in the film and do not look like they are anywhere near 40 - even though they are both 43 and 40 respectively leaving this illusion of ‘getting old’ in

‘‘

For an Apatow production this is disappointingly not very funny

’’

the film’s wake.

Secondly, it feels like a lot of the jokes are geared at parents, nudging them saying, ‘Am I right?’ And if they aren’t geared at the adult viewer, they’re overly crude to compensate.

There are some individual jokes that had me laughing but for an Apatow production this is disappointingly not very funny.

Its only saving grace in the comedic department is Chris O’Dowd, who seems to have landed himself in Apatow’s good books, and was by far

develop in parallel with each other.

The star-studded cast, featuring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Susan Sarandon and Hugo Weaving, put their thespian versatility to the test, taking on different roles for each of the six stories. To fulfil their parts, the actors defy age, nationality, race and, in the case of Weaving’s Nurse Ratched-esque retirement home worker, gender.

In one story, Sturgess plays a 19th century budding abolitionist; in another, he receives an Asian makeover, portraying a Korean freedomfighter in futuristic neo-Seoul. Grant moves from a ’70s San Franciscan energy tycoon to a war-painted postapocalyptic cannibal. Hanks at one point takes on the role of a modernday Irish gangster author (yes), but ends the film centuries into the future, literally on another planet. In some ways this worked, and helped emphasise the interlinking nature of the separate plots. But sometimes it was simply bizarre.

It is easy to dismiss Cloud Atlas as an overindulgent muddling mayhem.

Mitchell’s novel has a plot that is so convoluted that most would have thought it impossible to recreate it on the big screen. But despite questionable casting selections, an occasional lack of cohesion due to the frequent shifting between narratives, and chunks of cheesy, pretentious script - ‘What is an ocean but a multitude of drops’ - it is undeniable that this is a thoroughly entertaining watch.

The diversity and complexity of Cloud Atlas means that the film spans genres, centuries, cultures, even planets. The dark depths of murder, suicide, cannibalism and demons are lit with heroism, humour, sex and love.

Action meets romance meets sci-fi meets comedy meets detective film; there really is something for everyone.

Will it eclipse the success of Mitchell’s bestseller? Probably not.

Cloud Atlas Released 22nd February 2013 Dir. Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski, Tom Twyker, 172 mins

and away the funniest character in this film. Jason Segel, on the other hand, was really very poor - which is a shame because he is one of my favourites in Apatow’s contact book. Don’t get me wrong, Rudd and Mann are also great but their lines were just not funny enough for a comedy.

Finally, this film was far too long.

The joke circling in the reviews is that ‘This is 40 minutes too long’ and I would have to agree. By the end, I was sat stony-faced, waiting for the end.

This film tried to be too many things: a comedy and an insightful, satirical jab at the pressures of being middleaged. In the end, sadly, it fell short of both.

This Is 40 Released 14th February 2013 Dir. Judd Apatow, 134 mins

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04.03.2013

33

Fallen ‘heroes’: can we still trust our sporting idols after recent events?

Ollie Grant Sports Reporter continued from back page

models in world sport, in order to promote their brands.

“

Pistorius, a man who, until shocking events unfolded, was idolised and admired the world over

”

The Armstrong case is particularly shocking. The American cyclist overcame testicular cancer, which had spread to his lungs and brain, before going on to win the Tour de France seven times.

Yet his story is a tale of deceit.

The illegal substances that he took contributed to all 7 of his

blog.zap2it.com

Even Armstrong’s charity work has been overshadowed after he admitted to doping

n24.de

Yet, in November 2009 the world learnt that Tiger Woods, the world’s best golfer and renowned family man, had cheated on his wife on various occasions. Last year saw Lance Armstrong, seven-time winner of the Tour de France, being charged with using performance-enhancing drugs. And now, South African Olympian, Paralympian and worldwide sporting icon, Oscar Pistorius, is facing a charge of the premeditated murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

As yet another negative story of a supposed role model hits the headlines, can we trust our

sporting heroes anymore?

It seems most appropriate to focus on these three men, as they are the most recent high-profile cases, but there are many more. Like Woods, it has been discovered that various footballers, such as Ryan Giggs and Ashley Cole, have cheated on their wives. One might argue that we should turn a blind eye to such cases, as their actions have not affected their ability to perform in their respective sports. Advocates of such a view claim that what goes on in their private lives should stay private. However, this argument is difficult to defend when one considers that Woods and Giggs especially made vast sums of money through sponsors, who targeted them for their image as two of the biggest role

Tour de France wins. Whether he would have won them without resorting to cheating no one can be sure, but he has most probably prevented various cyclists who played by the rules from reaching the pinnacle of their sport through his selfishness. In his recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, Armstrong spoke of his goal to ‘win at all costs’, but in his attempt to gain a competitive edge, he crossed the line and was eventually exposed as a fake. Armstrong has tarnished not only his own reputation, but that of his sport. With each case of cheating in a sport such as cycling, the profession gets knocked down further and the credibility of those who stayed clean is called into question.

When discussing the case of Pistorius, one has to tread carefully. The multiple Paralympic champion may well be found innocent. However, his reputation is, for now, all but ruined. If he is found guilty, the sporting world will be facing another case of a fallen hero; a man who until shocking events unfolded, was idolised and admired the world over.

“

We are left to beg the question, who’s next?

”

All of these men had arguably achieved greatness as sporting legends, enjoying glorious

careers and worldwide fame.

Yet they have all gone on to erode some of the public faith in our sportsmen and women.

The likes of Roger Federer, Sir Chris Hoy and Michael Phelps remain, yet great reputations are coming and going at an alarming rate.

Woods and Armstrong forgot the value of being truthful, in regards to their private life and their sport respectively, and although it is unwise to speculate over the death of Pistorius’ girlfriend, it seems that we may have now witnessed the latest in a long line of sporting heroes losing the trust and respect of those who held them dear.

We are left to beg the question, who’s next?

Views from the Dugout...

Photo of the fortnight

An absolute cracker sent to us. Imagine if your dad took you to a football match and was dressed like that...

Best of the web Olympic hero Mo Farah has just competed in, and won, the New Orleans halfmarathon. Going through the usual media rounds, in one interview he is asked by clueless WDSU anchor LaTonya Norton the fantastic question of: ‘Haven’t you run before? This isn’t your first time?’

See it to believe it, and watch Farah’s reaction So fans can exit the stadium to the car park and metro apparently. Just wait till you get 50,000 Geordies who’ve had a few too many going on it...

Epigram

04.03.2013

34

TUBES Rugby celebrate near perfect year 2012/2013 University of Bristol Engineering Society RFC Captain Will Becker looks back on another fun and successful season

continued from back page One of our first matches to be played was against the OTC, at their home ground of Cotham Park RFC. A great turnout for TUBES paid dividends on the pitch with a penalty and three unanswered tries in the first 40 minutes, giving us a 20-0 lead at the half. However, initial impressions of an easy fixture were quickly dispelled, with a

presumably blistering half time talk from their captain Matt Clarke. They were inexorably gaining ground in their possession and turning the ball over militaristically whilst TUBES rarely had possession.

With 10 minutes remaining the score line was 20-19, however, we came together, dug deep and produced some sterling defensive play, enough to keep

the OTC out. Lots of bruised bodies but a proud victory against a strong and physical team.

The clash against the Old Boys is a fantastic annual fixture and night out which gives some of the new boys the chance to meet the TUBES ancestors.

Traditionally Old Boys are victorious, and this year was shamefully no exception. Our

support lines and off-loading were exceptional, with two glorious tries. However, at times we were sloppy, Old Boys capitalised and evaded some weak tackles, leading to Mark Harding scoring the winning try for Old Boys. Thanks for taking the day off from Lacrosse Mark.

“

We’ve been able to play the champagne rugby we know we’re capable of

”

W.Becker

A cold Saturday in February brought a bruising defeat to TUBES when we branched out from the Intramural League to take on local club side, Old Bristolians 3rd XV. With the addition of several 1st and 2nd team players this was not to be an easy fixture. Defence held strong for the first 15 minutes and we took the lead from a clinical James Hassall penalty

but it seemed only a matter of time till they crossed our line.

Returners Mike Larking and Ben Marchant proved their worth, but even they could not halt the onslaught. With 5 minutes to go, the score line read 62-10 against, but a mammoth effort from every TUBES man on the pitch restored pride in the (new tight-fitting) jersey, with two sensational tries in the last five minutes.

TUBES have racked up big wins in the intramural league and we have been able to play the champagne rugby we know we’re capable of, precisely honed through training sessions and nights in Lounge. In our only League loss so far against the strong UH-Orbital in December we were suffering a few injuries.

After a few tries were let through we couldn’t get back into the game, resulting in a 22-12 loss.

We have recently drawn with UH and with continued big training sessions, TUBES are looking strong as the season draws to a

close. The play-offs are in sight and we are targeting top spot.

For the lads who are keen to be involved next year, the AGM will be held in April to decide on next season’s committee with everyone welcome to come along and run for a spot.

If you are interested in playing next year, don’t hesitate to get involved with Wednesday training sessions on the downs and regular matches. Your capability doesn’t matter, just come along for some good rugby and good socials.

A massive thank you to every single one of the players for their effort in making it a great season! Special thanks to Phil Parbury, treasurer, for keeping the accounts well-oiled and the money flowing in and to Nick Hancock, social secretary.

Nick is the biggest advocate of TUBES rugby both on and off the pitch and worth his weight in gold - approximately £2000 to the team.

In-depth Intramural football George Moxey Sports Reporter

“

The not-so-slick playing surfaces can play host to the beautiful game in its most flowing, fluent form

”

This isn’t to say controversy cannot spark though. Football, after all, is a contact sport and as for the offside rule, well, what is the rule? But despite the odd verbal scuffle and the occasional late two footer - moments you’d associate with a frenetic Joey

Barton - are fewer and farther between than Arsenal victory parades.

To give some kind of indication on the standard, the UBAFC 5th XI who play in ‘La Liga’, one of the two top leagues, are currently sitting second out of eight having played the bottom three teams twice already. So, though it’s not quite the seemingly passive brilliance of the likes of the University First XI and beyond, it is of a standard to be respected. Throughout the leagues are players more than capable of playing in the Bristol colours, possibly a sign that the intramural programme is a fair substitute for many from the time consuming nature of university sport.

Teams like the imperious, unbeaten Las Nuevas Maradonas would definitely like to think so. With a few matches to go they look like wrapping up La Liga in time for the Easter break as the 5th’s and HB Legends are left to chase. On

Heroes and villains are made on the windswept Downs

the other side of the system, in ‘Ligue 1’, the fight for first looks set to go the wire with Orange Wednesday, SC Interacional, Goldney United and Churchill A all within 3 points of each other. It’s not set to be quite such a glamorous ending for the likes of Tubes B, Chaos and Muamba’s Left Ventricle, all of whom are currently pointless and searching for at least one elusive point.

Unfortunately the Bristol City

Council could not stretch their budget to include under-pitch heating for the harsh winter months; multiple matches were postponed over the frosty January period. The result was that, in an attempt to get the leagues finished, the difficult decision to cancel the cup was taken. Heartbreak, but gambling on league completion for the sake of the cup was deemed too risky, especially with the erratic nature of the Bristol micro-

UBU1: La Liga

Premiership

Super League

UBU2: Ligue 1

Bundesliga

Eredivisie

G. Moxey

The abundance of sporting talent in University tracksuits on the Wednesday morning walk to University - trust me on this Arts students - may mean it comes as a surprise to some that the intramural football programme on Durdham Downs is just as impressively popular. A total of 51 teams over six leagues are currently partaking in the 2012/2013 season, and, though teams from halls and courses are noticeably well represented, friends and societies also play their part in these hard-fought matches.

There’s even a depressingly impressive UWE outfit topping one table. The six leagues are separated into two sets of three leagues and contests are 90 minutes long.

Matches are self-officiated meaning the not-so-slick playing surfaces can play host to the beautiful game in its most

flowing, fluent form without petty refereeing decisions plaguing the proceedings. Only when a blatant foul is committed is there a mutual agreement between both sets of players to act accordingly; a breath of fresh air in modern football, where displays of sportsmanship are often overshadowed by the deceitful nature of an increasing minority.

climate and the subsequently high water table.

Cup cancellation cannot diminish another brilliant season of intramural football.

The stakes couldn’t be lower, the walk back couldn’t be longer, the wind chill couldn’t be colder and the pitch search couldn’t be more infuriating but, in those 90 minutes, the beautiful game is as beautiful as ever and that’s why we love it; I can’t recommend it enough.

Epigram

04.03.2013

35

Strong start to season for UoBCC Sam Game Sports Reporter continued from back page

1) How has your season been so far?

The Club has had a fantastic season. The 3rds have already won their division and the 1sts are in 2nd place... but to UWE.

which included women from the 4th to the Elite Category, ended with a punishing climb and Georgie, riding without team mates, did well to stay with the leaders.

2) You recently got revenge on your rivals Cardiff, who knocked you out of the Cup, what did you change in the week between games?

We used video analysis to scrutinise their strategies in both attack and defence, changing our game to break them down.

“

This success illustrates the potential of the Performance Squad programme and proves how hard the riders have been working in training

”

Performance Squad member Jenny Hudson, riding for VC St Raphael, took 3rd in a dominant performance that saw her team take 1st, 3rd and 4th. The men’s pursuit was sadly marred by a heavy crash that took out 3 of of the 4 Bristol riders, though prior to this all had shown strong form.

On the same day, Mat was cementing his status as the

UoBCC

The tone was set in the first race of the season at Ludgershall in Wiltshire, where Joe Thomas won a sprint finish, earning the club ten points and advancing to the 3rd category. After a hiatus caused by the poor weather, the team was back in action in February, taking 8 riders to Ludgershall and making a strong impact in a large mixed race of 3rd and 4th category riders. The next weekend, the growing confidence of the riders was proved by Mat Mew and Sam Game taking 2nd and 3rd respectively, boosting UoBCC’s points tally once more.

This early season form culminated in an exceptional weekend for UoBCC, when on the 16th February Georgina Snowdon-Brett placed 7th in the first Springtime Pursuit in Devon. This 30 mile road race,

10 questions with UoB Netball Club’s Eloise Jackson:

Mat Mew gears up for the sprint at Ludgershall

team’s fast man, winning the sprint at Ludgershall to advance to 3rd category. Not content with this, he raced the next day at Portsmouth, once again winning the bunch sprint, and

taking 7th behind a breakaway of 6 riders.

This success illustrates the potential of the Performance Squad programme and proves how hard the riders have been

working in training. The results would not have been possible without the support of sponsors Mud Dock Cycleworks, Mission Burrito and Orchard.

SEH Community Sports Leadership Award Each issue of Epigram we try to cover some of the great work that the Department of Sport, Exercise and Health carries out for both university students and the wider Bristol community.

This week is about the The Community Sports Leadership Award. For those unaware, it’s just one of the volunteer programmes which SEH runs, and is essentially a a fantastic foundation course for anyone looking to develop new skills that will enable more people to enjoy sport and physical activity at a grassroots level.

The course itself consists of a mixture of tutor contact time as well as a practical assessment where candidates spend the day delivering activity sessions for local primary school children in the Sports Centre. The candidates also complete a minimum of 20 hours community volunteering in a leadership role, as well as aiming to support the Bristol Festival of School Sport which takes place annually in March.

The Award course runs twice every year.

For more information about volunteering go onto: http://www.bris.ac.uk/sport/ development/ccv/volunteering/ sportsleader/ Or email Sports Development Manager Robbie Fox at: robbie.fox@bristol.ac.uk

One recent participant in the Award, Bristol student Jennifer McGuiness, told Epigram about her experiences: ‘It was a cold Thursday evening and I remember really not wanting to move from my already freezing student house. But I had to. I had signed up for the Sports Leadership Award at the volunteering fair and really did not know what to expect. One thing I did know was that two hours in a classroom getting to know everyone could potentially be very boring. How wrong I was. If ever there was an exciting way to learn someone else’s name then the two Matt’s from SEH had it down to a fine art.That was just the beginning; the Sunday practical sessions that followed were so much fun! The guys who run the course are excellent and teach you everything you need to know in the most energetic way possible! We all completely bonded as a group, not to mention the fact that I was more excited to play with a parachute at 19 than I was at age 6.

4) How many teams do you have?

We have 5 BUCS teams but also have a 6ths.

5) What is the 1sts’ favourite drill in training?

The interception drill.

Christian Foss

David Stone Sport Editor

3) How often do you train and where?

We train Mondays, Tuesdays (double sessions).

On Wednesday, we have a game or gym. Friday mornings is a gym session. On top of all that, we have 3 independent gym sessions. We train in the university sports hall and gym but we also rent 2 other halls around Bristol as we need more hall time.

6) What’s the most unique set play you do?

We often use a zone in our defence on the oppositions centre pass. It’s not very unique actually!

7) What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened in a match?

Any of the fights that our centre Catrin Evans gets into with her opposition - she’s feisty!

8) Netball often has quite high scores, what’s the highest-scoring match you’ve played this season?

We scored 49 goals against Brighton last term.

9) Does your shooter Sophie ever miss?

No, her shooting stats are amazing!

Completing this award will give you the chance to develop your leadership skills and teach you how to motivate yourself and others. Most importantly you will learn how to apply these skills to a whole host of settings including the practical assessment which is a sports day to a year group full of children. I speak for everyone when I say that it will be one of the most tiring but rewarding days of your University experience.

The best thing about doing the award - aside from getting free lunch on the day - is how much you achieve without even realising it. In the space of a few weeks I grew in confidence and watched my peers become so much more vocal in discussions surrounding important elements of sport and fitness.

For me personally I loved learning how to make exercise enjoyable for all youngsters from all walks of life. It helped me enormously with my plans for the summer and definitely enhanced my application for Camp America. From June I will be working in Connecticut for four months helping teach children an array of outdoor activities. Not only am I going to need a tonne of energy but I am most definitely going to need the skills I have gained participating in the award.’

10) What are you working on in practice?

We will soon be watching video footage of how UWE play working on how to break down their strategy.

Epigram

04.03.2013

Sport

Editor: David Stone

Deputy Editor: Laura Lambert

sport@epigram.org.uk

deputysport@epigram.org.uk

Bristol Women pull off the great escape with dramatic season turnaround

David Stone Sport Editor

we could do this as a team, and this belief really helped us.’

The Women’s team are now hoping to carry on their success next season, attracting new people to the sport and keeping their mid-table position.

Their next match is on the 18th March at Bristol Rovers’ stadium The Memorial Ground, when they play UWE as part of the Bristol Varsity Series. Tickets soon available from UBU.

Inside Sport TUBES Rugby Club look back on another great season The 2012/13 season for The University of Bristol Engineering Society (TUBES) Rugby Club began in October on a positive note, with the foundation of returners bolstered by a strong intake of freshers competing for places in every position on the pitch... continued on page 34

Fallen from grace: Can we still trust our sporting heroes?

Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong and Oscar Pistorius. These three sportsmen were once at the top of their respective fields and were regarded as ‘untouchables’; they were idols who we all looked up to and who could seemingly do no wrong...

continued on page 33

More cyling success UOB Cycling Club’s Performance Squad have started their season strongly, with the team expected to head the Southern Region classification when the results are officially confirmed...

continued on page 36

UBWFC

The Bristol 1st Women’s Football team have achieved the remarkable success of keeping their place in the BUCS Premier League South. This is all the more notable given how small the squad is, consisting of only 30 full time members with ten of them being practically newcomers to the sport. Having grabbed promotion to the top division last season, hopes were admittedly limited and they were widely expected to go straight back down.

After the first few games this looked to be on the cards, with Bristol on the receiving end of several heavy defeats including a 5-0 loss to local rivals and

eventual undefeated champions Cardiff Metropolitan. However, after the winter break there was a remarkable turnaround, something which Barclays Premier League fans might fondly call ‘doing a Wigan’. Three wins in their last four games was the key, and the end of the season saw survival ensured.

Hard fought victories against Bath and Portsmouth, 3-0 and 1-0 respectively, ensured that these instead were the teams who faced the relegation drop.

Goalkeeper Katie Farrell told Epigram of her relief and enjoyment at keeping their Premier status: ‘It really was a sensational achievement, especially after the first few games in which had some bad defeats. After Christmas we put our heads together and decided

Chris Jacobs Online

Lasy year’s Varsity victory was a fantastic affair, can the Bristol Women do it again? Find out on March 18th

@epigramsport

Plus - Women’s Netball living by their motto ‘Go Hard or Go Home’ - Community Sports Leadership

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For more info visit ubu.org.uk/eatingdisorders