Wednesday 1 November 2017
Issue 113
Great British Bake Off
Chris Jericho
Opinion
Music
Has the show gone downhill?
p. 15
Abuse in Hollywood A look back at the film industry’s sordid past
An interview with the wrestlerturned-rockstar
p. 32
Screen
p. 36
Dev Officer Megan McGrath launches #Reusable Revolution Luke Baldwin
Developement Officer Megan McGrath has launched her #ReusableRevolution campaign in an effort to make the Students’ Union more sustainable. The campaign includes the sale of steel drinking straws in the SU shop, as well as reusable salad boxes and coffee cups in an effort to reduce plastic pollution. Food waste bins have also been introduced and can be found around the SU. McGrath said: “We must take a stand and boycott single use plastics. We must place pressure upon manufactures to move to recycled or biodegradable alternatives. We must initiate a #ReusableRevolution. You really can make a difference to this wide-scale problem. By opting for plastic free options, buying in bulk and opting for reusables; you can significantly help our planet.” More information regarding the campaign can be found at su.sheffield.ac.uk/make-a-change/ reusable-revolution.
uncil o C U S sults e R n o Electi ge 4 Pa
Hallam MP Jared O’Mara has been swept up in a storm of controversy in the months since his election
Chris McAndrew
Hallam MP suspended from Labour over sexist and homophobic comments Read about it on page 5
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Forge Press Editorial Team Editor editor@forgetoday.com Luke Baldwin Managing Editor Freyja Gilliard Deputy Editors editor@forgetoday.com Nick Burke Michael Chilton Web Coordinator VACANT Head of News Ben Warner News press.news@forgetoday.com David Anderson Courtney Carr Gethin Morgan Comment press.comment@forgetoday.com James Pendlington Josie Le Vay Features press.features@forgetoday.com Katharine Swindells Megan-Lily McVey Elsa Vulliamy
Wednesday 1 November 2017
Editorial
H
appy November everyone, hope you all had a fun filled Halloween (and not too bad a hangover). What better way to ease you into the new month a lovely copy of Forge Press. I say lovely, but it’s not exactly been the cheeriest of issues. Last week many of us were shocked by the news that Hallam MP Jared O’Mara had made numerous sexist and homophobic comments online. O’Mara was most known for being the heroic everyman who brought down that pantomime villain of students, Nick Clegg. Many members of Forge have met or interviewed O’Mara, and some would even call him a friend, but this doesn’t make it any less our responsibility both as journalists to call out this behaviour. Likewise, Screen covers the allegations aimed at Harvey
Weinstein and more recently Kevin Spacey. I don’t think I can do justice to the situation going on in Hollywood at the moment, so I’ll leave that to my wonderful Screen Editors who have prepared a feature on the topic. It’s a really good read, so I definitely recommend you check it out. Over to Features next where we have our very own Online Features, Lifestyle and Opinion Editor (it’s a mouthful, we know) Kimberely John who has wrote a particularly personal piece about her faith and what it’s like to be religious at university. As someone who was raised in a strictly Catholic Italian family, I have always been somewhat disillusioned by religion so I was surprised by how much Kimberely’s heartfelt account of her journey moved me. Hopefully it moves you too. We are absolutely inundated
with interviews this issue, starting with Music who have interviews with Clean Bandit and wrestler turned rockstar Chris Jericho. Over in Games, my incredibly talented Deputy Editor Nick Burke spoke to Manchester based studio White Paper Games about their upcoming projects. And finally we have Arts interview with author Lee Child as part of their superb coverage of the Off the Shelf festival. Last and possibly least is yet another article from Sport about how amazing Manchester City are, this time praising their Belgian midfield maestro Kevin De Bruyne. As much as it pains me to have so many articles in the paper about why my rival team are so great, they are well written and Sport have assured me this is the last one. There’s also a Bonfire night themed crossword made by yours
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truly which I’m particularly proud of so give that a go if you’ve got five minutes to kill. And that’s it, go enjoy the paper! Have a great Bonfire night, stay safe and enjoy the rest of November!
Pic of the Press
Coffee Break press.coffeebreak@forgetoday.com VACANT Lifestyle press.lifestyle@forgetoday.com Harry Gold Ellie Conlon Head of Sport Adam May Sport press.sport@forgetoday.com Josh Taylor Tim Adams Music press.music@forgetoday.com Ben Kempton Florence Mooney Games press.games@forgetoday.com Chloe Dervey Tom Buckland Arts press.arts@forgetoday.com Laura Mulvey Florrie Andrew Screen press.screen@forgetoday.com David Craig Joseph Mackay Copy Editors Connie Coombs Brenna Cooper Leah Fox Harriet Evans Amy King Charlotte Knowles-Cutler Photography Kate Marron
Kate Marron A duck walks into a bar. He looks like the happiest duck in the world. The bartender asks, “Why are you so happy today?” The duck replies, “I’ve been jumping on puddles all day.” The duck proceeds to order a beer and enjoy it at the bar. A little while later another duck walks in the bar. He looks like the second happiest duck in the world. The bartender asks, “Why are you so happy today?” The duck gives the bartender the same answer, “I’ve been jumping on puddles all day.” This duck also orders a beer and enjoys it at the bar.
A third duck enters the bar, the total opposite of the first two ducks. He looks like the saddest duck in the world. The bartender asks the duck, “What’s wrong with you?” The duck replies, “My name is Puddles and I’ve had a terrible day.”
See your photo here Contact press.photography@ forgetoday.com with submissions
Get Involved
Want to join the team? Fancy yourself a decent writer or presenter? Then why not get involved with Forge Media! No prior experience is needed and anyone can apply. We have vacancies for the following positions: - Coffee Break Editor - Website Coordinator
- Copy Editor for Sport
Join the Facebook group “Forge Media Contributors 17/18”for all the lastest articles or to pitch your own ideas. If you are interested in any of the positions, our EGM will be on Thursday 2 November at 8 pm. The meeting will be at the Octagon Meeting Room 3. Just come along with a 30 second speech on why you think you’d be good at the role. Contact luke.baldwin@forgetoday.com with any questions.
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Wednesday 1 November 2017
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Fire cancels SUTCo opening performance Gethin Morgan
A fire on Glossop Road caused SUTCo’s performance of ‘Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass’ to be cancelled. The fire on Friday 27 October was caused by an underground electrical explosion which burst through a manhole outside the front entrance of the Co-op store. Flames were
reportedly as high as six feet in the street and after emergency services rushed to the scene, the police then closed Glossop Road and Clarkson Street, and urged the public to avoid the area. Students were quickly emailed, assuring them their was no safety risk. Several University buildings were also evacuated as a result of the fire, including 301, 317 and the Drama
Studio. The university drama studio, which lies nearby, was left without
6ft
height of the fire
power and subsequently Friday’s performance was cancelled. The production which opened on Wednesday, returned for its closing
night on Saturday after the technical issues were fixed. The play joined the story of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with its sequel Through the Looking Glass. It’s one of four shows SUTCo perform a semester, with The 39 Steps set to play from 15 to 18 November and Journey’s End from 6 to 9 December. Forge Press contacted SUTCo about the performance’s cancellation but they declined to comment. Refunds for the cancelled show are available from the Students’ Union Box Office. Glossop Road Co-Op
Gethin Morgan
Sheffield introduces 20mph speed limit Ben Warner
The Leadmill’s dancefloor was replaced in August
Daniel Cross Photography
Music fans snap up Leadmill’s dirty dance floor David Anderson
M
ore than 1,500 pieces of a Sheffield music venue’s old dancefloor have been snapped up by music fans since it was put up for sale in early October. The Leadmill live music venue and nightclub has hosted many famous nights since it opened its doors in 1980, including Pulp’s first ever gig and an early concert by the Arctic Monkeys. After the venue was renovated over the summer and its floor was replaced, staff were “inundated with messages” about the old floor and decided to sell it in sections to music fans. Ella Bacon, Leadmill PR coordinator, said: “We’d always wanted to do something with it, it
was a piece of Leadmill’s history and would’ve been a shame to just let it go. When we announced that we were going to be getting a new dance floor, we were absolutely inundated with messages and emails asking what we would be doing with it; we had one person even ask if they could make a boat out of it! “Obviously, with it being such an old dance floor, we had to wait to see what condition it was in when we’d taken it up before we could decided what we were going to do with it. Luckily, it was in fantastic condition so from there we decided we should sell it.” Customers can choose to engrave images of the venue, its logo or even song lyrics on their piece of the floor, and the response has been so overwhelming that the Leadmill
have had to buy a new engraving machine end hire extra staff to cope with demand. “We expected it to sell relatively well but the response we’ve had to it has been amazing,” said Miss Bacon. “We didn’t expect it to get the reaction it has, I think most of us are
still shocked. “The Leadmill is synonymous with Sheffield, it’s such an iconic place. We’ve had so many bands start their careers here, so many of our customers have seen their favourite musicians and artists here. It’s also got a huge sentimental value, everybody we’ve spoken too seems to have their own special memories of The Leadmill. I can’t believe how many people have met their partners here! Gethin Morgan, an avid Leadmill fan who purchased a piece of the floor, said: “There’s just so much history to it. That floor saw the Arctic Monkeys in their infancy. I can’t imagine how many people have had incredible nights dancing away on it, so to have a piece of it for myself will be so cool.”
The Council is to introduce a 20mph speed limit in the city centre by the end of the year after a public consultation. It is a response to increasing numbers of traffic accidents in the city centre over recent months. It is hoped the changes will reduce the severity and regularity of accident. Over 300 roads will be affected by the changes, with some exceptions for major roads such as Arundel Gate. Jack Scott, Cabinet member for Transport, said: “I’m pleased that the consultation was received so positively. This Labour Council is absolutely determined to improve road safety throughout the city and 20mph zones play a big role in this.” The Green Party has also welcomed the decision, which they have been backing for some time now. Cllr Rob Murphy, Green councillor for the City ward, said: “We are of course very happy that the Council have chosen to listen to Sheffield Greens and introduce our policy on 20mph speed limits for the city centre, except for on main roads. “It is something that we have been campaigning on and working hard to achieve for many years.”
This Council is absolutely determined to improve road safety
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Wednesday 1 November 2017
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SU Council election winners Departmental Councillors Animal and Plant Sciences Councillor - Sebastian Mansley Automatic Control and Systems Engineering Councillor - Roopika Ravikanna Biomedical Science Councillor - Sameh Mohamed Chemical and Biological Systems Engineering Councillor - Ahmed Saleh Chemistry Councillor - Jack Sheridan Civil and Structural Engineering Councillor - Vishal Chalishazar Clinical Dentistry Councillor - Ashish Parmar Computer Science Councillor - Andrew Tyler East Asian Studies Councillor - George Ashley Economics Councillor - Dorothy Hakim Education Councillor - Amber/Xinwen Zhang Electronic and Electrical Engineering Councillor - Youssef Maharem English Language and Linguistics Councillor - Leo King French Councillor - Matthew Hartill Geography Councillor - Florentine Weber History Councillor - Edward Williamson Human Communication Sciences Councillor - Nim Cho Cheng Information Studies Councillor - AQ Khan Interdisciplinary Engineering Studies Councillor - Ben Noble Journalism Councillor - Ben Warner Landscape Councillor - Fangchen Liu Law Councillor - Jack Walker Management Councillor - Hafizullah Khan Material Sciences and Engineering Councillor - James Bromley Maths and Statistics Councillor - Hazel Mckenna Mechanical Engineering Councillor - Yalman Omar Medicine Councillor - Riyaz Sogiawalla Modern Languages Councillor - Ana Tralhao Dolan Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Councillor - Charlea Murphy Music Councillor - Emily Hart Nursing and Midwifery Councillor - Sadhia Saleem Philosophy Councillor - Michael Chilton (since resigned) Physics and Astronomy Councillor - Abdulrahman Dabboussi Politics Councillor - Nusha Haghpanah Psychology Councillor - Rosie Ogunade ScHARR Councillor - Nikita “Charles” Hamilton Sheffield Methods Institute - Eden Ladley Urban Studies and Planning Councillor - Michael Soloman
Representative and Liberation Councillors Ethical and Environmental Councillor - Emilia Law International Students Councillor -Muhammad Zainudin Mature Students Councillor - Jamie Huddlestone Black and Minority Ethnic Student’s Councillor - Fahmina Mridha LGBT+ Councillor - Elliott O’Rourke Women’s Councillor - Charlotte Knowles Cutler Disabled Student’s Representative Councillor - Eloise Millard
NUS Conference Delegates NUS Black Students’ Conference - Melinda Acquah NUS Disabled Students’ Conference - Edward Williamson NUS LGBT+ Students’ Conference - George Bunn, Kate Foy, Allie Mackintosh, Stuart McMillan, Natalia Mole, Elliott O’Rourke, Shivalik Poovaiah and Ashley Sanchez Sevilla Uruchurtu NUS Part-time and Mature Students’ Conference - Eden Ladley NUS International Students’ Conference - Nikita “Charles” Hamilton NUS Parents and Carers Conference - Thea Williams NUS Trans Students Conference - Ashley Sanchez-Sevilla Uruchurtu, Zacchaeus Snape, Allie Mackintosh and Theo Routh NUS Women’s Conference - Nafeela Rabeek Mohamed, Aden Ladley, Natalia Mole and Suprita Sharma NUS Postgraduate Students’ Conference - Eden Ladley
Other Elected Student Trustee - Mayeda Tayyab
NUMBER OF CANDIDATES 216
190
171
122
17/18
16/17
15/16
14/15
CANDIDATE DEMOGRAPHIC
47%
53%
MALE
FEMALE
74% 26% HOME
INTERNATIONAL
NUMBER OF UNIQUE VOTERS 3760
17/18
4427
16/17
4869 3500
15/16
14/15
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Wednesday 1 November 2017
Roman Empire poisoned by lead, study finds Gethin Morgan
A
rcheologists at the University of Sheffield are looking at how lead poisoning may have damaged health in the Roman Empire. Some modern authors have claimed that the Romans’ overzealous use of lead in aqueducts, water pipes, household implements
and medicine played a part in their downfall. The research, led by Professor Maureen Carroll from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Archeology and Dr Tracy Prowse from McMaster University in Canada, is the first study to look into lead production and use in the Roman Empire. Using archaeological and skeletal
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evidence from a site in Vagnari, Italy, this project looks at the remains of individuals who will have been
4.4m size of Roman Empire (km2)
heavily exposed to lead, allowing them to study the effect lead poisoning had on health and death in Roman times.
Professor Carroll, whose previous work has revealed how Roman Imperial leaders produced wine on a grand scale in their private lives, said: “Our project focuses on the site of a rural estate which Roman emperors used as a source of revenue through agriculture and industry. The village’s inhabitants almost certainly were of varying social status, from slaves to free-born, and from local workers to immigrant labourers and tenants, so this research will give us an important insight into lead production and exposure among different tiers of Roman society.” Every year, archaeology students
from the University of Sheffield participate in excavation and research at the site, and the Deadly Lead project is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Development programme. Dr Tracy Prowse said of the research: “It gives us new insights ranging from the physical context of manufacturing in the estate’s village, to the physiological effects of lead production on men, women and children living and dying in the area.”
Uni best in north for graduate prospects Ben Warner
The University’s Latin and Afro Dance Society CUrITa has just celebrated a three year anniversary of the Milonga. The society includes students and local people who came together for this Halloween themed tango event. Kate Marron
Hallam MP Jared O’Mara suspended from Labour Ben Warner
S
heffield Hallam MP Jared O’Mara has resigned from the Women and Equalities Committee and been suspended from the Labour Party over comments he made before he was in Parliament. He has been accused of sexism, homophobia and racism for posts on various music websites in the mid to late 2000s. These include calling gay men “fudge packers” who “drive up the Marmite motorway” and saying fat women don’t deserve respect. He also ‘jokingly’ invited four of the five
members of Girls Aloud to have an orgy with him. Racism allegations have been lodged against him for calling Danish people “pig shaggers” on a Morrissey fan site and calling Spanish people “dagos”. Sophie Evans, one of his constituents, has also accused him of calling her an “ugly bitch” outside West Street Live earlier this year. O’Mara owned and ran WSL before he was elected, and denies the allegations. O’Mara was elected as the Labour candidate for Sheffield Hallam in June, beating former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg as Labour gained
30 seats nationwide. He had previously stood for the party in Sheffield City Council elections twice but lost. Labour launched an investigation into the MP after the allegations were made, before eventually suspending him from the party, removing the whip from the 35-year-old. In a statement on his Twitter account the day the allegations came out, Jared O’Mara said: “I am deeply ashamed of the comments I made online. “I was wrong to make them; I understand why they are offensive and sincerely apologise for my use of such unacceptable language. I made
the comments as a young man, at a particularly difficult time in my life, but that is no excuse. “Since making those comments 15 years ago, I have learned about inequalities of power and how violent language perpetuates them.” Since beating Clegg in June, O’Mara – who has cerebral palsy – has campaigned to make the Houses of Parliament more accessible for people with disabilities. He also stood for election to the Women and Equalities Committee, taking up his role in September. However, he has now resigned following the allegations.
The University of Sheffield has been named the top in the north for graduate prospects. The results come in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018, and show that 82.6% of graduates either find themselves in graduate-level employment or further story following their degree. Keith Burnett, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University, said: “I am delighted that the University has been recognised for working with students to help them develop the skills and experience needed to build a successful and rewarding career. “Companies are keen to recruit graduates from our University and this latest accolade reflects the preparation our students receive in their courses and a wide range of related activities, work experience, enterprise support and volunteering. “From trainee doctors and dentists to engineers, scientists and journalists, we are deeply proud of the impact our graduates have on society as they put their knowledge to work after graduation.” This comes after a recent string of positive accolades for the University, including being ranked 104th in the world a month ago and being ranked in the top 100 universities for Arts and Humanities.
We are deeply proud of the impact our graduates have on society as they put their knowledge to work
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Wednesday 1 November 2017
Forge Press
Endcliffe Park nominated for national award Gethin Morgan
Endcliffe Park is one of three Sheffield parks to be nominated as the best in the UK. The park, located next to Endcliffe student accommodation, has been nominated for the award ran by Fields in Trust, the National Playing Fields Association. The UK’s Best Park award, in its third year, sees 360 parks from across the country compete for the title, which last year was won by Rouken Glen Park in Scotland. Sheffield is known to be very green, with more trees per person than any city in Europe. The city has two other entrants in the shape of Hillsborough Park and Graves Park. Endcliffe Park was opened in 1887 to commemorate the Jubilee of Queen Victoria, and has lakes and woodlands as well as open space. It is used for various events such as races and concerts, and this year it hosted Pride Sheffield as well as the Folk Forest stage for Tramlines Festival. You can vote Endcliffe Park as the best in the UK at http:// www.fieldsintrust.org/bestpark/ yorkshire.
The Harry Potter exhibition in Sheffield Central Library’s reading room
Nine-week Harry Potter exhibition launches in Sheffield library David Anderson
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nine-week exhibition of Harry Potter events and artefacts was launched in Sheffield Central Library on Friday 20 October. Opened by the Lord Mayor of Sheffield, the exhibition is part of the British Library’s nationwide ‘Harry Potter: A History of Magic’ celebration, marking the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Books and artefacts, some of which are more than 400 years old, have been dug up from the miles of shelves and strong rooms below Sheffield Central Library for the exhibition. Dan Marshall, Collections and Audience Development Officer at the library, said: “With each item we try to tell a story. We’re setting it within the context of the subjects taught at Hogwarts: charm, divination, defence
against the dark arts. “It’s been odd, but it’s been very lovely, touching, smelling and holding these items which have somehow been passed down to us. “As you walk around the room
With each item we try to tell a story there’s lots of history, lots of information, lots that you will learn about magic and folklore. And there
Students protest BBC presenter’s talk at Uni Gethin Morgan
Student activists at the University of Sheffield came together to protest a talk by BBC presenter Dame Jenni Murray at this year’s Off the Shelf Festival of Words. They were protesting allegedly transphobic comments Dame Murray made in March this year in a column she wrote for the Sunday Times headlined “Be trans, be proud – but don’t call yourself a ‘real woman’”.
David Anderson
The comments sparked calls for Murray, presenter of BBC Radio Four’s Woman’s Hour since 1987, to be sacked. The BBC issued her a warning and told her to remain impartial on controversial topics. The veteran journalist was holding a talk at Firth Hall about her book A History of Britain in 21 Women on Sunday 22 October when the protest took place. Abbie Laycock, who attended the protest, said: “Jenni Murray’s feminism fails to be intersectional.
We wanted to protest because we wanted to educate people attending the talk that Jenni Murray’s feminist beliefs are not representative or inclusive. We weren’t there to oppose every single aspect and belief of Jenni Murray. We wanted to show our support for all women.” Miss Laycock, a student at the University, was very disappointed the talk had been held in the first place: “By the University hosting Jenni Murray and voicing no opposition or even public awareness, many trans
is something quite exciting about seeing an object that’s so old and so rarely gets pulled out into the light, but at the other end of the room you can get dressed up as a wizard and sit on a broomstick and get your photograph taken.” Sheffield Central Library will also be screening talks live from the British Library in London, as well as hosting a number of workshops, classes, talks, and quizzes. The exhibition is in partnership with the University of Sheffield, and professors from the University will be talking about their own cutting edge research in magic and wizardry, including the language of magic and spells, divination, mind reading, and neuroscience. Sheffield has a close history with J.K. Rowling, as the Sheffield Children’s Book Award was one of the first presented to the author of the Harry Potter books.
“At the time she was unknown, she wasn’t the wealthy woman we know now,” said Mr Marshall. “It took a bit of effort to get her to come down to Sheffield from Edinburgh. She didn’t know she’d won, so it was a lovely surprise for her, and I suppose it was just the first step in this amazing journey that she then went on. “I think there’s something magic about [the books]. She captures imagination, and maybe it’s because she has drawn so much on existing folklore, myth and legend. She did her research, she did a great job of exploring these stories herself and then weaving them into her narrative.”
and other LGBTQ students were left feeling vulnerable and somewhat ignored, showing that their fights are still far from over.” Forge Press have contacted
publication. A University of Sheffield spokesperson said: “The University of Sheffield supports the open expression of views and the right to hold, challenge and debate a wide range of beliefs and positions. We also support the right to peaceful protest. With regard to the Off The Shelf festival, we will be meeting students and staff to discuss specific concerns.” The talk was part of Off the Shelf: Festival of Words, a literature festival which ran from 7-28 October in Sheffield. It has been a largely successful event, with the likes of Peep Show star Robert Webb, Pointless co-host Richard Osman and author Lee Child all hosting talks.
We wanted to show support for all women Jenni Murray’s agent but have not received a response at the time of
To find out more visit sheffieldlibraries.eventbrite.co.uk.
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Wednesday 1 November 2017
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Sheffield brewery supports action group David Anderson
Counsellors meet at Sheffield Town hall
Wikimedia Commons
£850,000 to be spent on tackling crime in Sheffield
Courtney Carr
A
n £835,000 warden team is to be put together to tackle crime and nuisance in Sheffield neighbourhoods. Councillor Jayne Dunn, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Community Safety, announced the plans in response to complaints by residents from areas such as Fir Vale and Page Hall. According to the Star, Dunn said: “There is an awful lot that we can do, and we need to make sure it is what the community want as well.”
Hundreds of different brews were on offer at the Sheffield Beer and Cider Festival in Kelham Island. The festival took place from 18-21 October in Kelham Island Museum and attracted a range of beers and cider from as far as the USA, Australia, the Czech Republic and Belgium. As well as alcohol, there was plenty of food on offer, with live music and a variety of activities including traditional pub games. Kate Marron
This news comes as the Office for National statistics reveals that the amount of crime recorded annually has risen by 13% across England and Wales – hitting the five million mark for the first time in ten years.
27%
increase in South Yorkshire crime
Recorded crime in South Yorkshire has risen by 27%, with violence
Residents listed problems such as urine in the streets and prostitution
against the person haven risen by 49%. Violent crime has gone up by 19% in England and Wales. The scheme, funded by the grant for two years, will be known as the “Sheffield community investment deal” and will see wardens with enforcement powers walking and monitoring the streets in shifts. Residents listed problems such as urine in the streets and prostitution. The funding will also result in an extra six community development workers who will be the link between residents, community groups and the council. Recruitment for the scheme begins this November.
A Sheffield brewery has launched a new ale in support of the Sheffield Trees Action Group (STAG). Exit 33 Brewing has pledged to donate 10p to STAG for each pint of the new Yellow Ribbon Pale Ale sold. STAG is the umbrella group which represents the local tree action groups across Sheffield, who are protesting the felling of trees by Sheffield City Council. Under the council’s Streets Ahead programme, which aims to improve road surfaces across the city, 5000 trees have already been cut down, with a further 600 under threat. Liz Aspden, landlady at the Harlequin Pub which stocks the ale, said: “Seeing residents threatened with court action by their own council for peaceful protest has been terrible, and we wanted to make a positive contribution. “So we came up with the idea of having a dedicated beer which we could use to raise funds for the campaigners.” “By buying a pint of Yellow Ribbon, people can enjoy a refreshing and fruitily hopped pale ale while supporting the tree campaigners. The campaigners are trying to look after Sheffield’s environment, and now people can help look after them from the comfort of the pub.”
Sheffield hosts world record breaking coffee
David Anderson
A world-record breaking coffee came to Steam Yard Coffee Co in Sheffield as part of a special event on 19 October. The in-store event at the Division Street coffee shop saw speciality roasters Dark Woods coffee featuring on the counter, as well as a pop up hand-brew bar. The event featured Lot 227 on the bar, a coffee from cult importers Ninety Plus which won the 2017 Brewers Cup and received the highest score ever in the World Coffee Review. The coffee was so popular that it has since been sold at auction for a world record-breaking price of over $5,000 dollars per kilograms.
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Wednesday 1 November 2017
Features facebook.com/ForgePress
@ForgePress
press.features@forgetoday.com
Hi everyone! Happy 1st of the month! We’re halfway through semester and things are getting serious now (sorry to sound like your mum.) Crack out the flashcards, sharpen your pencils, and try to avoid checking your bank account if at all possible. On a lighter note, now we’ve got that ridiculous business of Halloween out of the way we can get on with what’s really important. Keep your tinsel under your bed and your tree in the ground. Not a word of Christmas is
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allowed to be spoken until Monday, after we’ve finished with the most important holiday of the year, Bonfire Night. There’s nothing better than oohing and aahing at fireworks with your friends, smoke stinging your eyes and frost biting your cheeks, mittened hands clutching a cold pint. Check out the Dam House for a great show, or just buy a couple of cans from the corner shop and head up to Bole Hill to watch people do their own amateur displays. And don’t forget your sparklers!
You gotta laugh or you’ll cry
Features Editor Katharine Swindells analyses the
internet phenomenon of the
The Rise of the Depression Meme
mental illness meme. Long may it live, or should we say... soon may it die?
D
onald Duck sits up, bleary-eyed and fearful in bed. The caption: When you hear something go bump in the dark. Then, in the second image, he rolls over, snuggles up and sleeps peacefully.But then you remember you don’t care whether you live or die. 100,000 retweets. Donald represents a classic example of an iconic growing internet community: that of the mental illness meme. While one side of social media is competing to show off how healthy, smart, thin and social they are, the other is bragging about the steaming mess that is their lives. Buzzfeed articles titled “55 Memes About Anxiety That Will Make You Say Me” and “19 Pictures That Are Too Real If You Love Dying And Being Dead” light up newsfeeds worldwide and there are whole accounts dedicated to sharing them. Spreading across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and Reddit racking up tens of thousands of likes as they go, it’s clear that mental health memes are far from an isolated phenomenon. But if you don’t get it, you don’t get it. You show a video to your housemate and try to explain. “You see,” you wheeze through laughter. “The two barbies are holding hands dancing together-” Tears of mirth leak from the corners of your eyes. “And it says, ‘When you and your friend both want to die.’” But your housemate isn’t laughing. “Wait... why is that funny? That’s awful.” And therein lies the beauty of internet meme culture. There’s so many of them, and they reach such vast numbers of people, that however niche or obscure the reference there’s guaranteed to be someone else who feels the same. These memes separate their audience into insiders, who share the experience, and outsiders. A community is created through subculture.
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Wednesday 1 November 2017
But, of course, dark humour is far from a new concept. As long as humans have suffered they have been able to joke about it. When Sigmund Freud wrote on the subject he referred to it as gallows humour, quite literally the jokes made when one is on the brink of death.
Perhaps we are not just using humour to dissuade our own struggle, but actually broaching one of the most damaging taboos our generation faces. “The ego refuses to be distressed by the provocations of reality, to let itself be compelled to suffer,” Freud says in his 1927 essay Der Humour. “It insists that it cannot be affected by the traumas of the external world; it shows, in fact, that such traumas are no more than occasions for it to gain pleasure.” To paraphrase the old man, when we joke about our own suffering we are saying to ourselves that we will not let it get to us. We can see examples of this in everything. As he bleeds to death from a stab wound Shakespeare’s Mercutio quips: “Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man.” The condemned in Monty Python’s Life of Brian sing ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ as they hang from crucifixes. Archived letters written home from the trenches of the Western Front show 22-yearold men joking to their mothers, “If I live, I needn’t worry: and – if I die, I CAN’T WORRY!!” So, when we reach for our iPhone to laugh about anxiety, banter about depression and pun about our own trauma, is this simply the 21stcentury reincarnation of gallows humour? Or is it more than that? In mental illness memes, perhaps we are not just using humour to dissuade our own struggle, but actually broaching one of the most damaging taboos our generation faces. Shame flourishes in silence. The biggest feeder of mental illness is loneliness, the feeling that no one else knows what you’re going through. It is widely believed that the reason suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK is that oppressive masculinity restricts men from confessing their feelings, while women are more likely to share their problems and create a support network. Put
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simply, talking helps. In this thread of the internet the conversation on mental health is being opened up more than any government campaign or primary school lesson plan, allowing people to be honest in a way that’s never been seen before. “For me, they were a starting point,” says third-year Biology student Niamh Cooper. “Sharing anxiety memes with my housemates is a funny joke, but it was also the ice-breaker to be able to talk about these issues more seriously.” “We would never have jumped right in with the heavy stuff,” she said. “But for us humour was the beginning of a proper, honest conversation about mental health.” However there are concerns that these memes may be contributing to the overnormalising of mental illness. One of the key aspects of mental illness is its selfperpetuating invalidation. By their very nature, anxiety and depression tell you you’re not good enough, that your problems aren’t important. Perhaps by moving mental illness into the mainstream, these memes are exacerbating those beliefs. Creating that idea of everybody feels like this may discourage people from seeking the professional help that they need.
For many, embracing the ludicrousness of your own thoughts is the first step to recovery. Perhaps there’s a beauty in that. Gracie Marlow, President of Mental Health Matters society, says that although mental health memes can be a good tool, she worries that they may minimise a serious issue, especially when used by people who don’t suffer from mental illness. “I personally find mental health memes to be quite funny and I often share them with my friends who also struggle with their mental health. They can be a lighthearted way to approach the topic and also provide some laughter which can be lacking when you’re having a bad day,” she said. “However I find it frustrating when people who do not suffer with mental health
problems share them and trivialise important issues,” she continued. “It’s like when the Kardashians say they are ‘having such bad anxiety’, everyone feels anxious at times, but not everyone has anxiety.” Moreover, many believe that using humour as a coping method can be dangerous, and see these memes as deflecting and making light of a serious issue. The comments on the Buzzfeed articles ware riddled with concern. “I recommend anyone feeling this way seek help immediately. I know this was meant to be a joke but a passive death wish can quickly turn to suicidal ideation with a plan pretty quickly,” one reads. “There’s always going to be that worry,” says Niamh Cooper. “That someone’s using these memes as a way to deal with their issues, when really they should be seeing a doctor or a
therapist. Or sharing them as a cry for help, but no one’s taking it seriously.” But the vast majority of people sharing these memes know that mental health is a serious issue, because it’s one they struggle with themselves. That doesn’t mean they can’t find the humour in it. Part of the key to dealing with anxiety is acknowledging the absurdity. There is power in becoming self-aware - in realising that your fears, of everybody hating you and everything trying to kill you, are ultimately ridiculous. For many, embracing the ludicrousness of your own thoughts is the first step to recovery. Perhaps there’s a beauty in that. And, in a world full of lonely, sociallycrippled losers stuck on a planet that’s spiralling towards total self-destruction - let’s be honest - what can you do but laugh?
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Wednesday 1 November 2017
Forge Press
A Multifaith Perspective
The University of Sheffield is home to a host of different religions and spiritualities - from Christians and Muslims to Humanists and Atheists. Kimberly John speaks to some of the people at the centre of these communities.
U
niversities are melting pots of different cultures, ethnicities, classes and traditions. They are hubs for students of both faith and nonfaith backgrounds. The University of Sheffield has a Multi-Faith Chaplaincy service, which houses representatives of the main religions – including Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism – and even a representative for those who lack belief in a god-like power. Emily Wood is the Humanist and atheist pastoral volunteer at the Chaplaincy. Humanism is defined as living in the present and seeking happiness in this life, as it’s the only one we have. The Collins dictionary calls it “the rejection of religion in favour of the advancement of humanity by it’s own efforts”. Emily explained that while atheism isn’t a faith group and is more defined by its lack of a belief, Humanism is a constructive worldview. “Despite not belonging to a particular religion or belief group, people still have spiritual needs – the need to have meaning in their life that is linked to a greater purpose. For Humanists, this is humanity and the planet Earth, not the supernatural. It is my role to help support them in that, but I don’t think most people expect the Chaplaincy to cater for the
non-religious,” she said. Coming to university is a period of great change and gives students of all backgrounds the opportunity to decide for themselves whether to continue in their faith (or lack of), convert to another belief system or renounce the religion they were brought up in. Emily thinks that change in religious activity – increase, decrease or conversion – is not completely positive or negative, but a conversion or increase in religious activity is a problem “if the new community begins to take over your life or if your change causes tension between you and your family.” She said: “Depending on where you grew up, you may have had very little access to other doctrines or the idea that it is OK to not believe.” When coming to university, “some people will want to discover new things – they may have known for some time that the faith of their family was not for them but not know what else was there,” she explained. “Some people will find support in the faith of their childhood and may seek out a similar community in their university city, even if they didn’t really go when they were at home.Other people will abandon their religious activity completely when they do not feel they have to do it to please
their family.” Between 30% to 50% of people in the UK describe themselves as having no religion, whether they be atheist, areligious and/ or Humanist, with a growing number of young people identifying in this way compared to older people. Her role is new but Emily has found the other chaplains to be “warm and welcoming” and the university to be tolerant and supportive of her, other Humanists, and her religious friends and colleagues. Rachel Rodham, the University’s Pagan advisor, agrees, saying she has not “met any opposition while working at the university”. On Paganism’s popularity, Rachel asserts that she would be surprised if there weren’t quite a few pagans studying as well as teaching in Sheffield. “Paganism is complex – being a number of belief systems under one banner rather than a single unified belief,” she explained. Like Humanism, it is “quite often explored by people when they move away from the faith they were brought up with if they find that it doesn’t answer all their questions.” She said that the typical pagan is an individualist who doesn’t like traditional organisation. They “sometimes become lifelong pagans but often move
on to other faiths or none. They are not always young people – mature students and staff members have also contacted me.” However, unlike people who enquire about more traditional faith journeys, people go to Rachel for information rather than advice. She said: “Pagans are famously self-reliant. They generally ignore any pressure to conform to the views of others so would not find it hard to maintain their spirituality if they chose to. They often form small and shifting alliances which exist independently from each other with a few overlaps.” Rachel noted that there was previously a Pagan society at the university, “but currently no one seems inclined to form an official group.” Full-time chaplain Reverend Catrin Harland says that while exceptions can always be found, “the University is very tolerant towards the practice of faith.” She estimates that one in five students in a typical year has a faith identity that is important to them, but believes many more claim some faith identity. She also explains that national research suggests that “most students maintain the faith position with which they arrive” at university, despite it being a period of great change. Catrin is the chaplain for the
Hope City Sheffield
Methodists at the University of Sheffield. Catrin stated that the majority of students at the UniversIty of Sheffield who use the chaplaincy service “are students of faith”, but “students of all and none come, especially when referred by other support services.” The majority of issues people go to the chaplaincy team to speak about “are not necessarily faith-related; though for a person of faith, that aspect of their life is inevitably allpervasive,” Catrin said. She believes that students who want to practice their faith while at university are generally able to do so without difficulty or opposition. “It’s rare that we have complaints to the contrary.”
Forge Press
Wednesday 1 November 2017
Finding Faith Kimberley John gives her testimony on how she found happiness, joy and freedom in Jesus and how she has grown in her faith life at university.
I
had a rather tumultuous teenage period. My family was in flux, I was being bullied, I had a late onset of grief for my dad who died when I was eight, I lost my grandma in 2014. Despite this I was determined to have a fresh start at university and establish deep roots. I had always been raised a Catholic and had been involved in religion for as long as I could remember. As a child, I altarserved at the church connected to my primary school; I wore the shapeless white gown which was always a few sizes too big and stank of stale sweat. I made sure I was always on candles. Out of the eight of us serving, two would be in charge of carrying candles in very ornate holders, symbolic of Jesus as the light of the world, in front of the priest as he shared the Gospel from the pulpit. As a nine-year-old, this was by far the best job - you got to dip your fingers in the hot wax and flick it at your fellow servers when Father wasn’t looking. I certainly knew of God at this time. Throughout my life I have always been aware that He existed. However during my 14 years in the Catholic Church He was always a very abstract, juvenile concept: an old man in the clouds who had next to no bearing on my everyday life. When I was 14, I had to attend classes every Wednesday evening in preparation for my
Joe Willis
Hope City Sheffield
confirmation(one of the seven sacraments where you promise to be Christian for the rest of your life). We went on numerous retreats and had a confirmation ceremony at Brentwood Cathedral with the new bishop a year later. Looking back, I’m glad I got confirmed despite the manmade, works-focused, ritualistic nature of it all. Yet I remember the very first after-school session when, once we had been separated into small groups, our catechist asked us why we came. I defiantly said, “because my mum made me,” to a chorus of shocked laughter. Shortly after my confirmation, I fell away from the church, I hated it. I fell asleep during the hour-long masses (which is crazy to think about now that I happily enjoy two to three-hour services each Sunday). I despised the traditionalist, follow-the-rules-andregulations-or-you’re-doomed approach and the impersonal deliverance of sermons. I hated reconciliation, which at school we were forced on an annual, if not biannual basis to speak to a priest – a mere man – in a confession booth about my many sins which I had a hard time coming up with. I never understood why we had a Pope – apparently God’s representative on Earth – and had to follow his rules, or why I had to pray to Mary – a long-dead woman – and tell her that she was blessed among women. Why chat to her when I could just speak with God? Isn’t that what prayer is all about? In my disillusionment I
dabbled in all sorts of occult practices. My mum had also fallen away from the church and I followed her interests in dream interpretation, witchcraft, tarot cards and spiritualism. We had a Satanic Bible in our house. There were some evenings when my brother, stepdad and I couldn’t go into our conservatory because my mum had set up a special arrangement of candles, ornaments, incense and tarot cards and was calling on different spirits. I went to spiritualist churches with her and communed with the devil and the dead. At the same time, I was very interested in Buddhism, past lives and reincarnation, and tried to marry its unbiblical teachings with Christianity. We knew God was still there, but we didn’t care and didn’t think that any of our actions were offending Him. It was all very scary and had a huge negative impact on our lives but we didn’t realise the extent of it until after we came back and pursued a relationship with Him. A few weeks before I came to Sheffield, I endeavoured to get plugged into a Christian community and a church. I didn’t want any of that Catholic stuff – I was completely done with that. I wanted a place that would accept me as I am, with all my failings and all my baggage. I wanted a home away from home – a family. I thank God that I found it. I emailed the Christian Union expressing my interest, and they sent me a small copy of John’s Gospel (my favourite of the four) with a guide to reading it. When
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I came to Sheffield I planned to do a church crawl: visit a couple of churches each Sunday for a month and settle in the one I liked best. I went to Hope City Church at The Megacentre on Bernard Road on the Sunday morning at the end of Freshers’ Week, and I’ve been there ever since. It’s the most untraditional church ever – there are huge lights and screens, pastors in jeans and t-shirts and the coolest trainers, and unwavering faith. Although I had known of God all my life, I was definitely a baby in my beliefs. There were basic Christian concepts that I never knew: God’s unconditional love for me, His amazing will for my life, and countless other things that hit me like a tonne of bricks when I realised their truth. I had never felt so in awe of Jesus, so liberated by the Holy Spirit and so ready to do away with religion and build a personal relationship with Him. I was saved and had a childlike faith (Matthew 18:3) and I was finally encouraged to read the Bible! But Jesus said the Christian walk is never easy, and the Apostle Paul explained how once he was saved he was in battle with his flesh and his old ways (Romans 7:14-25). Now it was my time to be tested. In first year I had a long bout of homesickness that turned into a severe depression which I genuinely managed to pray away. I tried drugs and was drinking a lot in a bid to fill the void I felt I had. Since turning 18 until about seven months ago in my second year, I had a string of relationships with guys I was completely incompatible with,
but latched onto for a sense of validation and a fear of being alone. Out of the heartbreak I learnt to trust God completely. I gave Him the central position in my life and through that He filled the void that guys and substances could never satisfy. Now I’m single, I rarely drink or party. I went a year and a half without drinking, from March 2016 to a couple of weekends ago on a church night out. I serve at church on Sundays and at our mid-week student service at the O2 Academy. I have a great group of Christian friends – more like family – who keep me accountable and pray for me and my family. I also have a great group of non-Christian friends who respect me and my faith, who understand that my faith calls me to be set apart from them. They are genuinely curious and glad that I have joy in Jesus and that He sustains me, regardless of whether or not they believe in Him themselves. I am honestly the happiest, the most confident, bold, outgoing and simply the greatest person I have ever been – just because I have followed what Jesus has set out for my life. Again, that’s not to say the Christian life is easy, and it’s not to say that I’m a finished project – it’s the hardest life choice you could possibly ever make and you’re bound to make innumerable mistakes! Yet, I am hugely grateful and proud to be a Christian and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Forge Press
Wednesday 1 November 2017
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Troubled Water
Frequent littering, oil spills and pollution have devestated Sheffield’s rivers and waterways, putting many wildlife species at risk. Kate Marron examines the damage that has been done, and the community efforts that could save Sheffield’s waterways
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ith the first episode of the long awaited Blue Planet being released at the end of last month, it has become even more evident that the planet we inhabit is teeming with an incomparable amount of marine life. But the biodiversity of the global, and by extension our local, waterways is at risk due to the large amounts of pollution. Although agencies are hard at work trying to reverse the devastating effects of littering, accidental oil spills and general water contamination, the remanence of pollution is still visible in many of the central waterways in the city. Fly tipping makes up a large part of this, with the national cost of resolving the problem costing organisations like the Canal and River Trust up to £1 million pounds a year. People use the waterways as their own personal dumping ground for a variety of things from small wrappers and cans to more substantial items such as shopping trolleys, oil drums and even old cars. Oil spills from years ago also
remain an ongoing problem, with clean ups proving to be extremely costly. When the sediments that have been impacted by oil are disturbed they release the oil into water, which greatly disturbs the wildlife and ecosystems found in the area. More obscurely however, local residents often pollute the waterways by feeding bread to ducks. The leftovers uneaten by ducks have lead to an increase of vermin and bacteria throughout some of Sheffield’s rivers. This greatly increases the risk of disease, harmful to the local wildfowl that the local community is feeding. Sheffield’s waterways are home to an array of plants marine life and birds including salmon, kingfishers and herons, many of which are drawn to the heart of the city as the follow the path of the rivers and canals. Despite pollution putting this at risk, Sheffield City Council is working closely with the Canal and River trust and Environment Agency to resolve the issues throughout the area. After many years of work, the outlook is looking positive despite more progress still yet to be made.
2014 saw the construction of a new fish and eel pass in the River Don, allowing salmon and trout to migrate down towards Sheffield. A year later rare Lampreys were caught in the river, which is an indication of good water quality. The Lampreys were later released back into the water after being recorded. This was a significant stepping stone in the progress of the conservation work as it marked a turning point in an area which had previously been so negatively affected by pollution. Ongoing projects ensure that these improvements ensure that this progress continues, tackling both the new and long-standing problems the pose a threat to the habitats. The Canal Trust is working to raise awareness of feeding wildfowl; encouraging people to use peas and salad leaves among other things as healthy alternatives to bread. Additionally, local communities are now adopting various stretches of canals, or volunteering to man clean up events to remove the debris thrown into the river. Project AWARE also runs
throughout parts of Sheffield, as part of internationally recognised scuba diving association PADI, . Diveworld, a five-star dive centre found based in Sheffield, has taken part in many of these events. They are now working closely with Rivelin Valley Conservation Group to organise regular clean ups to keep the water free from plastic contamination. This is one of the many examples where local collectives of people are working together to ensure the preservation of the environment around Sheffield. The University itself has also got involved. The signing of the ‘City of Rivers’ marked a commitment to the rehabilitation of Sheffield Waterways. Research into the impact of hydropower schemes have also taken place within the University’s Geography department. The various clean up events often reveal the thoughtlessness of individuals, who are unwilling to dispose of items in the proper manner, but also demonstrate the willingness of a community who are dedicated to preserving their local area. Without the collective
work of both organisations and local volunteers, Sheffield’s waterways would not have improved to such a vast extent. The canals, rivers and lakes of Sheffield may not be home to the colourful range of animals featured on Blue Planet 2, but the wildlife is far from non-existent. In order to preserve it further, local residents are being encouraged to be more actively involved with upkeep and preservation projects, through both active awareness and preservation.
For more photos of the damage done to Sheffield’s waterways, scan the QR code
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Wednesday 1 November 2017
Opinion facebook.com/forgetoday
press.opinion@forgetoday.com
James Pendlington & Josie Le Vay
O Hitler’s pretty wired.
Mr impossible
f the two kinds of people the previous article described, “those who know nothing of the event’s occult connections and those who simply don’t care” I suppose I would fit into the latter. I understand the origins of the holiday and I fully recognise its connections to ‘evil’. Regardless, I enjoy the celebration every year, even if my days of trick or treating have long passed. I do not think Halloween is without fault. I understand the criticism of its corporate nature, actively encouraging more frivolous spending, spread out across the calendar year. I’d even stretch to an argument based around the idea
that it encourages harassment, with a variety of pranks played on those refusing to participate. However, celebrating Halloween, as a concept in and of itself, is not inherently a bad thing. A clear distinction needs to be made here and that is a separation of what is real and what is fictional. The celebration of ‘real-world’ evils and atrocities (i.e., as mentioned in the previous article, the Holocaust) would not be acceptable under any circumstance. In contrast, festivities focused largely on the characters from old folktales should not be seen as something repulsive. Halloween began, as stated in the previous article, based on the myth of evil spirits coming to walk the streets.
article looking at media paranoia, a look at the Bake Off following its transition to Channel 4, and three people battling to the death (well not death, let’s go with mild discomfort) over which is the best University library. We hope you like this edition because we don’t. JamJo xxx
Kate Marron responds to Katie Scott’s piece on Halloween ‘Jesus didn’t celebrate Halloween so you shouldn’t either’
Find it online at forgetoday.com/press/comment
Comparing dressing up as a ghost to dressing up as Hitler completely fails to recognise the true devastation caused by the Third Reich. Ironically, this makes the comparison arguably more offensive than the custom it tried to criticise. If anything, Halloween has now become a celebration of a much loved genre of literature, with focus on characters of classic literary works such as Frankenstein and Dracula, combined with more modern works such as Jigsaw and the re-imagining of Stephen King’s It. Yes, horrible acts of violence occur in all of these tales, but they are fictional by nature. At its heart, Halloween does not celebrate actual instances of genocide and torture. The evil it encompasses
sheffieldsu.com/ menshealth
Tom Brindley Activities Officer
Opinion Editors
Welcome once more readers of Opinion, this week we’ve got a variety show for you, so much so that we’ll be hosting Opinion’s Got Talent where you readers can write in and vote for your favourite article. The article that wins entitles the author to a lifetime supply of melancholic feelings. The articles this week are a response to the anti-Halloween piece from the previous issue, an
A reply from beyond the grave Kate Marron
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is distinguishable from the evils that are genuinely present in the world today. Granted, one could go down the admittedly interesting route of crimes driven by certain films or novels, but that would be a criticism of the horror genre as a whole, as opposed to Halloween as a celebration. So, I shall continue to dress up and use the fake blood that is admittedly often still visible in the next day’s lecture, despite trying to scrub it off in the shower that morning. I shall continue to watch re-runs of classic horror films whose age makes them more funny than scary and I shall continue to invest far too much time and effort into my pumpkin carving. I enjoy Halloween, despite its connections to evil.
Forge Press
Wednesday 1 November 2017
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Hack raving mad Richard Green
I was back home for the weekend on October 7 and found myself glancing at the TV screen. I was shocked to see rolling BBC news coverage of a supposed terrorist attack in South Kensington. “It’s all kicked off again,” my Dad told me. And I’ll be honest, I was sure it was exactly what it sounded like. Yet another terrorist attack, time for another round of hysteria, people talking about not feeling safe in their own country anymore, maybe a sprinkling of right wingers screaming “Not so much the religion of peace now is it?!” in their usual style before we even know who’s responsible (I’m looking at you, Finsbury Park). Is the media just making us paranoid about
these things? Is a lot of this ‘terror’ merely in our heads? “‘Sleeper cells are ready’: ISIS defector warns UK faces MORE terror attacks from jihadi migrants in Europe, who are waiting for their strike order from Syria,” screamed the Daily Mail website on 14 October. This is what makes us paranoid. This is the sort of hot air that had me staring at the TV wondering if the incident at South Kensington was a legitimate terror attack. Of course, we all know that terrorist attacks are a sad fact of life, but this blatant scaremongering has people tense, adding to the entire terrorist problem. There were reports of terrified tourists and people fleeing in articles from the likes of the Evening Standard and Metro newspapers in the hours
and days after the attack. It’s little surprise to find that many are made to be a little more tense after such events, even if like in this instance, they weren’t terrorist related. The way that media and the delivery of news has changed in our digital age has created a 24/7 demand for constant updates and information. This has created the gaping chasm following a news story breaking that is filled with speculation, which leads to people thinking a car accident is yet another terrorist attack. The media is not entirely to blame for merely presenting facts as the paranoia comes from us and our want to hear something new when news is breaking. The media is there to inform you, not terrify you. We can’t let it divide us.
gets political We asked people on Tinder if Britain should give The Falkland Islands back to Argentina. Enjoy!
Should the Falkland Islands belong to the UK or Argentina? Er idk, Argentina why? I’m a senior Foreign Office diplomat and was unsure what to do. Cheers for helping me direct British foreign policy! Should the Falkland Islands belong to the UK or Argentina?
Great British Flake Off Matthew Hartill
The Great British Bake Off is possibly the most British thing to ever grace our screens. Yet many feared for the programme upon its move from the BBC to Channel 4; the equivalent of going from living with your Gran, to moving in with your ‘alternative’ Uncle who isn’t likely to settle down anytime soon. The public outrage at the subsequent departures of three quarters of the onscreen BBC team made the enormity of Channel 4’s task all the more obvious. Protecting GBBO’s smash-hit ratings, as well as the affection the public held it in, was an unenviable mission. Out went Mel n Sue and national treasure Mary Berry. In came Sandi Toksvig, Noel Fielding and Prue Leith in virtually like-for-like changes.
Toksvig and Fielding maintain a quirky feel to proceedings, while Leith is reassuringly posh and plummy. And Paul Hollywood’s still knocking around, too. When Bake Off started, its charm was that, in its simplest form, it was a programme about people making cakes. It shouldn’t have caught the imagination of the nation, and yet… it did. During the move to Channel 4, that success was assumed to be down to Mel and Sue’s quirkiness, and Mary Berry being everyone’s dream Grandma. Channel 4 are finding out that maybe that wasn’t the case after all. Ratings have fallen since the move, but interestingly, some suggest that it is the bakers themselves who have shot the show in the foot - they all seem to be just a bit too good. This series was billed as having the
highest standard of baking yet, but where are the characters? For mad pensioners for heartthrobs, and for worthy, worthy winners, the BBC gave us Val, Selasi and Nadiya respectively, whereas Channel 4 has brought us no one notable yet. Yes, this series has been notable for its sparkling showstoppers, but also for the difference in the connection (or lack thereof) much of the viewing public, myself included, has felt with this year’s batch of bakers. Now, of course, Channel 4’s version is still in its infancy, and they have made a solid start, leaving the winning format well alone. However, maybe a little more focus on the contestants is needed before the channel is truly worthy of a Hollywood handshake and of a national treasure like the Great British Bake Off.
Haha I don’t really know much about them apart from that Margaret Thatcher wanted them... My instinct is that the people of the Falklands should hold a referendum, but I’m not really from Britain so I don’t really know too much about the context sorry... Why do you ask? I’m an Argentinian spy trying to gauge public opinion Hey do you think the UK should give The Falkland Islands back to Argentina? I don’t see the harm in that Oh, oh really. Well, you’d be giving them to a country that housed Nazis. Are you a fascist, is that it? No I don’t condone Nazis Should the Falkland Islands belong to the UK or Argentina? Fuck knows Should the Falkland Islands belong to the UK or Argentina?
Anyone else get Big Suze vibes from Sophie?
Erm
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Wednesday 1 November 2017
Forge Press
Grab your books, choose your floor, get inside it’s...
LIBRARY
Bestern Wa nk Rebecca Lally
T
he University of Sheffield campus is packed full of modern buildings with new innovations. Every few months, there seems to be news of a cutting-edge development with millions of pounds of funding behind it and that’s not exactly something to complain about - obviously it’s a good thing that so much money is being channelled into growing the campus. But sometimes you don’t want new-fangled technology and flashy modern chrome surfaces. Sometimes you want to get back to what you originally thought of when you pictured yourself as a university student; hunched over a pile of ageing books under a lamplight at a rickety wooden desk, surrounded by your most studious peers and bookshelves sagging with the very weight of their knowledge. You didn’t think of yourself in the IC, underneath the harsh fluorescent lighting and the nondescript grey carpets, nor in the Diamond with its futuristic white staircases and neon orange pillars. Yes, a place to study is just a location and it’s up to you to sit down and do the work. But those huge windows overlooking Weston Park and the rows of
Information
Robin Wilde
wooden desks put you in the mood to be serious about it, and the blanket of quiet isn’t nearly as distracting as the constant chatter and buzz of the IC. Of course, Western Bank isn’t perfect. The lack of café makes it inferior to the IC in the snacks department, as vending machines aren’t quite the same, and the Arts Tower Café is constantly freezing and definitely not a suitable substitute. The underground levels are slightly claustrophobic and can make you feel like you’re the unfortunate victim at the beginning of a horror movie, waiting for someone to jump out from behind the stacks of books. Most importantly of all, there aren’t nearly enough computers or plug sockets, leading to a scramble in exam period and the impossibility of getting a computer past 9.00am. But all of this is forgiven when you look out at the pond from those windows, or when you find a tiny shabby book you know the IC would’ve thrown out long ago. Western Bank is what university is all about.
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n the dysfunctional family of University libraries, the IC is the troubled middle child. It has neither the grandeur and new sheen of the Diamond, nor the six-decade reputation and book collection of Western Bank. It is hot, cramped, and has lifts that alternate between broken and tooth-grindingly slow. But in a strange and psychologically unhealthy way, I love it. In my second summer of university my Mum moved to Scotland, and I found myself occupying an empty student house on Crookesmoor Road for three months. It was always odd to me when friends spoke of going home - for me, home had an ant problem and a bed that would shift in the night. Being too lazy to find a job that summer, I instead found myself essentially spending a working week in the IC, alternately working on a website that two years later would land me a job and writing a novel. When I was unemployed after graduation, the IC gave me something to do with my day besides reading rejection letters and slowly running out of money. That won’t be everyone’s experience - you may be more familiar with blood-boiling rage induced by people using laptops on the computer desks - but I
Forge Press
Wednesday 1 November 2017
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WARS
Upper Classes
Dieanotherdaymond Trishul Chauhan
think everyone has been saved by the IC at some point. For me, the moment I realised there was something magical hidden deep beneath the stark lighting and mysterious rumbling was on the eve of my dissertation deadline. Journalism students don’t spend as much time in the library as they should, but that night we occupied the fourth floor en bloc. Until the last bibliography was compiled and the last cover sheet printed, there was something quite sweet in the solidarity the hideous yellow chairs and semi-open plan tables gave us. I don’t think you would have got that in the enclosed work rooms of the Diamond, or the subterranean warrens of Western Bank. The IC tests me sometimes. Taking a three month closure to install misprinted signs and a carpet that looks like a glitched out game texture wasn’t its finest moment. I want to give it all up every time someone takes the lift to the first floor. But the memories endure. I can’t stay mad at a place where books were written, campaigns planned and won, degrees completed, energy drinks downed, and where my now girlfriend brought me a bag of Skittles just after we met. If you learn to love the IC, it will start to love you back.
T
he Diamond, with its £81 million price tag, has to be one of the most striking buildings in Sheffield and for good reason. After all, it was shortlisted by the Royal Institute of British Architects for the Yorkshire Awards. Recognition from a chartered organisation like RIBA is a testament to the Diamond’s striking design. Despite this, the Diamond does have some haters. It’s unconventional design turns people off who are too traditionalist in their perception of libraries, merely seeing them as uninspiring, pebbledashed buildings from the 1970s. They seem ignorant to its commendable use of recycled glass and steel sheets, as well as its innovative rainwater harvesting. The haters even shortlisted it for the “Worst New Building in the UK” awards. Have they nothing better to do aside from jumping onto the bandwagon of reactionary hate? We need only look to history to find that many great architectural monuments were despised shortly after they were erected (such as the Pompidou Center, Eiffel Tower, Washington Monument), yet are relished and celebrated today. So, consider it a long-term consolation prize if you - like myself - adore the
six storey open-plan library. One day they’ll come around. Trailblazing isn’t always easy. Regardless, what makes the Diamond so special as a library has to be its dynamic nature, from it’s conservatively sized library to its many computer areas, it really does have everything a cramming student could want. Yet, the trademark of an innovative product isn’t in its ability to give customers something that they wanted, but to give its customers something they didn’t know they wanted. Just like Apple’s touch-screen technology. This phenomenon is what is found in the Diamond. Put simply, what the Diamond offers students is an experience. An experience which is almost as immersive as its very own virtual reality suite lab, a feature which I suspect many people are unaware of. This 24/7 experience of a library, not only made in great colourful taste but with the option of a cafe containing an array of comforting food ready to combat the malnourishment faced by the student population at large. What could one possibly complain about?
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1 November 2017
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Harry Gold and Ellie Conlon
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Lifestyle Editors
Hey guys! Lifestyle are back with more life and style than ever. Earlier on this week, Harry and I popped to Lodnon Road to check out Amigo’s Mexican Kitchen- a place I’ve been really eager to try for a long time. After being crowned the best Mexican in the North, it’s safe to say it definitely lives up to its title. We both highly recommend you check it out. I’m sure you’ve all been
eagerly awaiting the return of Matt Reilly’s ‘Travel Talks’. This week, Matt interviewed the lovely Penny Ellis about her year living in Africa. Finally, Lifestyle also uncovered some of the less well known (to students at least) coolest places in Sheffield. Hope you all enjoy this issue and definitely stay tunes for the next one - we have some really exciting things lined up!
Harry Gold and Ellie Conlon
And the food’s not bad either. Of course, being cliché English Literature students we didn’t actually order anything with meat in it, but we can definitely vouch for the vegetarian options we tried. We ordered the mushroom and vegetable fajitas, which were served with nachos and three different dips - salsa, something green and really spicy (we don’t think it was guacamole) and sour cream (which we were really thankful for after trying the spicy green dip). It was pretty great. And for £5.50, we couldn’t turn down Amigos vegetable tacos, served with nachos and a small salad. It was actually better than Taco Bell.(we promise). The staff were attentive to everyone’s needs and were all friendly and hospitable, creating a great atmosphere for us and the guy behind us who was celebrating his birthday. This place is absolutely perfect for students with a taste for authentic Mexican food and saving money, so if you’re fed up with beans on toast and Henderson’s Relish, Amigos is the place for you.
Review
Amigos
Mexican Kitchen
All photos can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/amigosmexicankitchen/
Situated on London Road, one of Sheffield’s most diverse and multicultural areas, Amigos was recently awarded the title of Best Mexican in the North at the English annual Food Awards. With a sizeable downstairs seating area and an upstairs mezzanine, there’s plenty of space to have a meal out with the whole flat or family. Admittedly, the upstairs lights had stopped working when we arrived, but just in case anyone didn’t enjoy eating tacos in the dark, Amigos fixed the problem and stuck some candles upstairs instead. When we arrived at the restaurant, we were greeted by a lively atmosphere and friendly staff, who managed to seat us within minutes, despite it being packed. The restaurant operates a BYOB policy, which is almost too good to be true for an award-winning establishment in the middle of a large city. We were directed to the off-license across the road, which is both really convenient and also perfect for those who spend half their weekly budget on blue pints in Corp and don’t want to fork out for the usual expensive restaurant prices. Why not kill two birds with one stone and pre-drink whilst you’re eating? Amazing.
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Travel Talks This week it’s Africa. I spoke to Penny Ellis, a third year medic about her travels there. She spent a year living and volunteering in South Africa in 2014/2015 and did a road trip through Namibia in summer 2016. We spoke about her love for the continent and its great outdoors.
Matt Reilly
All photos by Penny Ellis
Life in South Africa
Driving there?
I lived and volunteered in a hospital in a village called Zithulele, located in the rural eastern cape of South Africa, which was two hours drive from the nearest town. Everyone lived in rondavels, circular mud huts with thatched roofs; they’re really cool and are all bright colours. I lived two km from the Indian Ocean so you could run down to swim after work, you got such cool sunrises every day over the Indian Ocean. I would eat my porridge on the front doorstep as the sun came up and I listened to the nurses singing hymns from the hospital.
Namibia only really has three big roads, one down the middle and two straight across. We borrowed Martin’s dad’s Audi which was a three litre and so much fun to drive. I’m used to a one litre lawn mower type engine. Sometimes the driving got boring, you can drive for eight hours and there is nothing. Our car also broke down which wasn’t great.
Zithulele In three words? Abuntu (means having a community spirit), vibrant and encompassing. New horizons in Namibia I travelled here with a Namibian friend called Martin and her friend Kyung from back home. The trip lasted two and a half weeks and saw them visit Luderitz, Kolmanskop, Windhoek and Swakopmund. We drove through the centre of Namibia via Martin’s family. We would stay and do stuff with them, our first stop was at his uncle’s who owns a distillery; we had drinks at sundown by a lake. Another day he just took us up in his micro light over the bush, he was just in the front and we were behind. We went to an old gold mining town, which had just been taken over by sand and we climbed all over the buildings, it was like a ghost town, everyone just left all their stuff there.’’
Naturawwwl beauty The geography was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It was almost like a different planet. We would just stop off at the side of the road and visit places such as the Giant’s playground and Shiver’s trees. The landscape is so big, you can’t even imagine, flat plains then giant mountains come out of nowhere or giant canyons or giant sand dunes.
The geography was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It was almost like a different planet. Tip for Namibia? Bring spare fuel. Always have a spare jerry can.
If you could jump on a plane tomorrow Tajikistan to do the Pamir highway.
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Sheffield’s hidden treasures Beanies
An independent wholefoods shop catering to alternative foodies Rebecca Lally
When you’re a student, it’s very easy to fall into a pattern. You stick to the same lecture timetable every week, maybe you go to Corp on Wednesdays or Pop Tarts on Saturdays, you call your parents every (other) weekend. Generally, your weeks tend to look largely the same, and this extends to your
All photos by Kate Marron
food — week after week of various versions of pasta, noodles and sometimes curry. You think there’s no point being creative or branching out, It’s just food after all. Well, take a trip to Beanies, a wholefoods shop on Crookes Valley Road, and you will change your mind. The shelves are heaving with weird and wonderful ingredients, most of which you’ll have never seen
before (Red lentil fusilli? Cardamom pods? Quince paste?) but which will come to life in your saucepan and make your Tuesday night dinner a lot more exciting. It’s also the place to go if you have more specific dietary requirements, as it tends to have a wider range of things like alternative milk products than most supermarkets. Beanies has been around for 30
years now and is a true stalwart of the Walkley area, with customers coming from far and wide. It’s famous for its Organic Box Scheme, where you can get a selection of fresh fruit or veg delivered to your door every week, perfect for an indecisive, lazy student. And I’m definitely not alone in my love for Beanies. The shop is award winning, taking first prize
for Best Independent Retailer at the Observer Food Monthly Awards in 2015, beating out hundreds of competitors. The awarding body described its produce as “beautifully fresh” and celebrated its longevity, saying: “Food trends have come and gone and supermarkets have popped up around it, yet Beanies thrives” and, hopefully, it will continue to do so.
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Picture House Social
A haven from uni with cocktails, pizza and ping-pong.
Scott Moore
Whether you’re in the mood for an award-winning array of cocktails, delicious stone-baked pizzas or a ping-pong tournament with friends, Picture House Social offers something for everyone. The hip and cosmopolitan Picture House Social is situated, rather unexpectedly for most students, on Nether Edge’s Abbeydale Road between a garage and a takeaway. Picture House Social demands a gruelling 40-minute pilgrimage on foot from campus, most of which (unsurprisingly since this is Sheffield) is an uphill walk, so it’s a bit out of the way for your average student. However, Picture House Social’s greatest strength lies in its apparent weakness. Its far-flung location makes it devoid of student patronage, giving you a break from the sometimes suffocating world of uni. Plus, the 40-minute slog home
forces you to burn off the calories from that sinful slice of pizza. Picture House Social takes its name from the building that sits above it , the old Abbeydale Picture House which opened in the 1920s and recently reopened as a sometimes-cinema, sometimes-flea market space. In a fitting homage to the building’s illustrious history, the venue boasts a mini-cinema (their next screening is the horror film Get Out), but also a stage where indie upand-comings frequently play (such as The Big Moon and Sløtface). Picture House Social offers pingpong tables and a variety of vintage board games, inspiring all manner of drunken competitiveness. It is perhaps best known for its drinking and dining experience. Its pizzas are famed but even more famous are its cocktails, having just won Imbibe Mag’s award for the ‘Best Avantgarde Cocktail Menu in the UK’. So, the next time you find yourself
planning to go for a few drinks with your friends, why not try escaping the standard, samey student destinations on West Street for a unique and exciting experience at Picture House Social.
Trippets
A quirky jazz bar, free from the bustle of West Street Chandini Stensel
Trippet’s Lounge Bar is hidden away in Sheffield’s city centre, down a back-street between a Scout and Guide Shop, and a run-down building with a ‘Stylish New Offices FOR SALE’ sign on it. Am I selling it so far? Quirky in character, it stands on the corner of the road making its façade curved to a point, but its eccentricity does not stop there. Deceptively small from the outside, upon entering there is a luxurious room for dining with a black and white interior, making you feel as though you stepped into the 1930s. This continues through to a much larger room with a bar, seating and floor space for musical performances and dancing (if the mood calls for it). It might sound all too familiar to any other lounge bar or restaurant, but here comes the twist: on a Friday and Saturday evening from 8.30pm onwards (and the first Thursday of every month) live jazz bands take to Trippet’s stage. Whether you are a jazz lover or
not, it is well worth the visit for the unique atmosphere that almost transports one into Ryan Gosling’s jazz bar in La La Land, albeit on a smaller scale. This is definitely a place for those old souls out there; lovers of Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong will feel right at home. Those who are into the newer generation of jazz will also find something to their taste. The website puts the line-up for the month ahead beforehand so you can check out who is playing before you visit. If you are not a hard-core jazz lover (which is really hypothetical, because why wouldn’t anyone love jazz?), it may still be worthwhile for a change from the classic ‘student night out’ to something a little more, to put it frankly, sophisticated!
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Society Spotlight
This week...
Lishi Tai Chi Society
Let’s start with who you are and what your society does? My names Phebe, I’m the Secretary of the Lishi Tai Chi Society and we run activities, not only for Tai Chi but also for other disciplines. That’s why it’s called Lishi as it combines Tai Chi, Kung Fu, Qigong, Yoga.
How often is it that you meet? We meet every Thursday at 5:15pm in Brook Hill Hall, next to the IC. Anyone can come, you don’t have to be a member and no prior experience is required.
So what sort of activities do you do? We will change the activities depending on who comes, so if there’s lots of beginners we will focus on the basics. We do all sorts of stuff, my favourite is the forms we do in Tai Chi which is in a Kung Fu style and you can see how all the nice moves can be used to defend yourself. I also really like the breathing techniques that we do to help relax. They’re really effective when it’s exam period or when you’ve got a lot of work to do, they help you just calm down and enjoy yourself.
What are the health benefits of Tai Chi? It gets you physically active, so you don’t just engage one muscle like when you use a piece of gym equipment that focuses on biceps or legs for example. It’s a more holistic way of exercising. And it’s not very hard, so if you’re not the sort of person who enjoys going to the gym it’s an easy way to push yourself.
And it’s a bit different because it’s not just about the physical side, it’s also about keeping focus and mental strength. Another reason I really like the breathing techniques is that you can actually feel how you’re getting oxygenated, so it’s a really good way to relax and feel better.
So it’s sort of meditation combined with exercise?
Yeah, absolutely! But there’s also the more acrobatic side of it, especially when we practice with swords, large sticks and other weaponry. So we cover a lot of things!
You get to use weapons?! So usually we start with the breathing techniques and more meditative style forms and then afterwards we use what we’ve learnt and apply it to the self defence forms. I didn’t really know about this part of Tai Chi until I got into it. It’s interesting because I got into it because last year I got quite sad. It was winter and I’m from a country where it’s always sunny and I really missed it. I started Tai Chi try to overcome that, and it really helped. I’m more of an active person so the breathing and meditation, and learning to just let everything flow, was very hard for me. But the more I did it, the more I realised it had another side to it, that it was more dynamic which is what I like most about it.
Are there any particular events people should be aware of coming up? We have weekend sessions on the 2nd of December, 10th of February, 4th of March which are usually larger sessions. Our weekly meetings run for between an hour and an hour and half, the weekend ones run for two or three hours. And like I said, no experience is needed and the more you do it the easier it gets. They’ll be a few things the first time you come that you might struggle with or you might not understand why we do, so I definitely recommend coming regularly.
So how would someone get involved in the society? So like I said, we have meetings every week. Easiest way to get in touch with us is our Facebook page which is facebook.com/Taichisheffuni/. We post any events or workshops on their. Our page on the Students’ Union website also has all our contact info on. You can also email us at taichi@ sheffield.ac.uk.
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Florrie Andrew
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Arts press.arts@forgetoday.com
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Arts Editor
November brings chilly nights, short days and a whole lot of glorious arts to Sheffield. The month kicks off with Enable US Festival, which takes place at Sheffield Drama Studio throughout the month and features everything from an interactive comedy game show to Rapunzel told through puppetry.
For the past few months, SUPAS have been working hard on their autumn semester show Fiddler on the Roof, which is being performed on 22-25 November. The original production won nine Tony Awards back in 1964 and, if the talent displayed in SUPAS’s previous shows is anything to go by, their take on the show is set to be special.
TV stars Tom Chambers and Caroline Flack take to the Lyceum with the dancing extravaganza of a musical Crazy For You and, if you’re one of those people who starts jamming to Buble’s Christmas album as soon as summer ends, give yourself an excuse for a festive frenzy by seeing the musical adaptation of Nativity!, playing on 22-26 November.
There’s also a lot going on over at Sheffield Theatres. On 7-11 November,
“Things are really cooool, in Nazareth…”
Review The Best Man at the Lyceum Theatre
Florrie Andrew
A David Ahmad and cast of The Kite Runner
Review Laura Mulvey
K
haled Hosseini’s beloved novel receives a dramatic overhaul in this adaptation from Matthew Spangler. Filing into the Lyceum Theatre for The Kite Runner, the audience are greeted by the soft, intricate music of tabla player Hanif Khan. Crosslegged and unassuming, he sits with his back to the burnished red glow of the stage throughout, emboldening the action with suspenseful rhythms and rumbling crescendos This atmospheric introduction sets the tone for a dynamic soundscape, perhaps the most remarkable aspect of a wholly engaging piece of theatre. Cast members double as percussionists, adding the eerie ringing of Tibetan singing bowls and the adrenaline-pumping rush of the Schwirrbogen – a large wooden rattle used to replicate the soaring of the play’s titular kites.
Laura Betty Zapata
Laura Betty Zapata
The Kite Runner at the Lyceum Theatre
Powerful music lends itself to powerful drama, and Spangler’s script certainly doesn’t shy away from its dark and gritty subject matter. Opening in 1970s Afghanistan, the story follows the lives of Amir, the disappointing son of a wealthy businessman and Hassan, his courageous servant and best friend. As the boys grow up together and tensions simmer, some ugly truths about human nature begin to surface against a backdrop of increasing political upheaval. Scenes of traumatic violence and suffering are handled sensitively by director Giles Croft, whose staging packs an emotional punch without feeling gratuitous. Bringing this horror chillingly to life, Bhavin Bhatt stands out among a strong cast as steely-eyed sadist Assef the Ear Eater, a neighbourhood bully with a murderous vendetta. Lead actors David Ahmad (Amir)
and Jo Ben Ayed (Hassan) hold their own in challenging roles, though when portraying their characters’ younger selves they employ
Croft and Spangler expertly manage the right amount of exposition without losing the story’s striking poetic quality. childlike, high-pitched voices which unfortunately jar and fail to convince. However, Ayed is outstanding later as Hassan’s traumatised son, Sohrab, adopting the defensive physicality of a true child of war. For avid fans of the novel this production doesn’t disappoint. Croft and Spangler expertly manage the right amount of exposition without losing the story’s striking poetic quality. You’ll come away feeling drained but uplifted, with the low rumble of the tabla ringing in your ears.
play with compelling tension, bold characterisation and a dash of humour, The Best Man makes for an eerily relevant night of political theatre. Set in July 1960, the play centres around the lives of two presidential candidates in contention to be their party’s nominee. The candidates are competing for support from the delegates, which would be easier to obtain with a personal endorsement from former president Hockstader. Both are eager for the nomination and are prepared to impair the other’s chances at any opportunity that they get. The Best Man follows the anxious build-up to the presidential party nomination result and the merciless rivalry that comes with it. Martin Shaw competently performs as the complex Secretary William Russell, a character playwright Gore Vidal modelled on Adlai Stevenson, who sought presidency three times in the mid20th century. Shaw’s portrayal of the Secretary’s dark wit and gruff temperature contrasts well with Jeff Fahey’s interpretation of his opponent, Senator Joseph Cantwell. Cantwell oozes arrogance, but his cunning mind stirs up a frenzy in the increasingly tense play. Honeysuckle Weeks deserves praise as the chirpy and tenacious Mabel Cantwell, crucially conveying
the differences between each candidate and their backgrounds. Glynis Barber facilitates this as Alice Russell, though the actress’s unrelenting smoothness occasionally feels forced. The true star in the production is Gemma Jones, renowned for her portrayals of Professor Sprout and Bridget Jones’s mum. Flaunting exuberantly around the stage and putting the candidates in their place, Jones makes the most of her regrettably limited time as comedic heroine Mrs Gamadge, who is the party’s chair of the Women’s Division. The set for the production remains the same throughout, with minor alterations made to furnishings to distinguish the tone between scenes. The play takes place in the hotel suites of the two presidential candidates and designer Michael Taylor enhances the grandeur of the setting with his choice of golden embellished walls and stately 1960s furniture. The calm colouring of the set feels appropriately oxymoronic in contrast to the tension onstage. Despite having been written in the year the play is set, it would be forgivable to have assumed that The Best Man was written in reflection of the events of last November. As unnervingly current now as it was in its contemporary context, the accomplished cast and gripping storyline leave an undeniable impression at the Lyceum.
Gemma Jones, Honeysuckle Weeks and the cast
Geraint Lewis
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Forge Press
Off the Shelf Festival Our writers check out the latest round of talks and events from Sheffield’s favourite literary festival. Lynn Knight - The Button Box Lynn Knight fastens history with fashion in her nostalgia trip The Button Box, taking the audience on a tour of the domestic and social lives of ordinary women in the 20th century through the clothes they wore. Focusing on everyday domestic life, alongside slightly too many personal anecdotes, Knight outlines how these mere pieces of fabric were used to empower, oppress and lead women through some of the most important socio-political events of the century. Choosing not to focus on prevalent 20th century figures - aside from one quick reference to Pankhurst - is an interesting angle and brings to light some lesser known players, such as the first British female drivers and pilots. Amidst these stories are several specific references to common clothing items of the 60s which understandably elude those currently in their
Mark Haddon - Two Stories 20s but will be warmly welcomed by an older generation. Unfortunately, Knight somewhat neglects post-60s fashion, but this is forgivable given her time restraints and the distinct lack of buttons present in the late 70s punk movement. Aside from the narrow timeframe and unfortunate lack of visual references, The Button Box is a pleasant and funny insight into the lives of mid-20th century women, even if it is directed at an older audience.
Karl Byrne - The Science of Star Wars Karl Byrne takes the task of scientific communication more seriously than most other things he does. This works in his favour when taking on topics that are hard to take too seriously, though Star Wars fans will certainly give it a go. A heartingly packed audience in Foundry contained not just the expected fanatics (though they turned out in solid numbers) but a fair showing from older people and families too. It’s obvious from the energy with which Karl Byrne presents his show that he’s enthusiastic about the source material. As we learn throughout a densely-packed hour of scientific discussion, however, that still wouldn’t be enough to fire a burst from the Death Star’s superlaser. While, as he freely admits at the beginning, the Star Wars’ universe is informed more by George Lucas’s fantasies than the more advanced science of Star Trek, there’s still a lot to get your teeth into. The talk offered a varied insight into some of the latest developments in astronomy, materials, propulsion technology and faster-than-light travel. Just don’t go building your own Death Star - it’s hugely economically inefficient for a start. It might be a bit basic for science students (the Institute of Physics are holding a talk in the Hicks Building this month asking “What is Light” for those who prefer small and unimportant questions) but for anyone addicted to sci-fi, technology and pedantry, there are few better ways to spend a cold Sunday evening. Robin Wilde
Abi Herbert
On Tuesday 17 October, the bestselling author Mark Haddon spoke with Dr Frances Babbage at Sheffield Hallam University and introduced his newly published book Two Stories. It celebrates the centenary of the first publication of The Mark on the Wall by Virginia Woolf. As a long-term admirer of Woolf, Haddon was commissioned to feature his own story St Bride’s Bay alongside the original work. Born in 1882, Virginia Woolf was considered one of the foremost modernists of the 20th century and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. The Mark on the Wall, one of her most famous works, describes the narrator’s complicated and intricate train of thought after seeing a mark on the wall. She begins
Chris Bush - Staging a City For Off the Shelf festival, Chris Bush gave an insightful talk on what it was like to ‘stage a city’ for her play The Sheffield Mysteries. Bush began the talk by explaining how ‘staging a city’ differs to ‘staging people’. Unlike the latter, there is a greater onus on the playwright to locate the different features which make up a city. Whilst characters are seen as representations, cities are seen as realities. As Bush described it, this means referencing “macroelements” such as Henderson’s Relish, Tinsley Towers and Northern General Hospital, all landmarks which distinguish Sheffield from other cities. Since the play takes place in Sheffield, Bush also emphasised the importance of reflecting ‘the micro’: the rhythms of daily life which the audience recognise and feel comforted by. This includes trivial things such as phrases, character mannerisms and even using the same colour scheme found inside the Northern General. The talk was then followed by a Q&A. When asked how she overcame the difficulties in capturing the diversity of a city such as Sheffield, Bush responded by saying that you must look beyond your own view, and strive to extract the many features which make up the city. She recognised that this does occasionally mean using content which may be considered controversial, since one person’s interpretation will not always match another’s. The playwright ended her response by saying “even if it’s not your city, it’s mine.” This epitomised Bush’s motivations for staging a city. It highlighted her passion for Sheffield, her desire to “place it on the map” and the respect she has for the city which helped kickstart her career. Charlie Heywood-Heath
to think about botany and war, only for the the mark to turn out to be a snail. The famous novel has influenced many writers and is frequently analysed by literary critics. The multi-award winning author of bestseller The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon passionately conveys his admiration for Virginia Woolf in the conversation. He has been inspired by Woolf’s writing, particularly by the skilled, subtle psychological descriptions, and displays this influence through his books’ often solitary and mysterious tones. Endearingly, Haddon seemed like a dedicated fan who had the chance to perform with their idol on the same stage.
Flora Lee
Tony Walsh - Sex & Drugs & Rock&Roll The captivating Tony Walsh,- who often goes by the pseudonym ‘Longfella’, took to the Leadmill stage to recite poetry from his first published collection Sex & Drugs & Rock&Roll. The title, evidently influenced by Ian Drury’s 1977 hit, hints at Walsh’s passion for punk rock, later mentioned when describing the importance of music and art exported by Britain. Beginning with the playful Bop Til You Drop, the audience were engaged from the outset. Longfella’s work is undoubtedly eclectic, inspiring and honest. The words expressed in his renowned piece This is the Place set the tone for Mancunians and the nation alike in mourning and rebuilding after the atrocious terrorist attack in May. This vulnerable element was also expressed through his reading of A Girl, Like, Y’Know. Stemming from his experience of 20 years’ work as a housing officer for Manchester City Council, Walsh recalls an encounter he once had with a somewhat-inarticulate mother. This particular poem gives a voice to the voiceless, difficult life she endured. Born in 1965 on the east-side of Manchester, Walsh himself was raised in deprivation, and so is all too familiar with the struggles of his protagonist. Walsh ended with a theme he presents strikingly: love. Let’s Make A Love and Repeat After Me poignantly emphasise what the world needs right now, “To smile more, dance more and to make love more.” Thanks to his witty, charismatic style, Longfella’s debut publication is refreshing and well worth a read. Sahar Ghadirian
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15 Minutes with...
Lee Child Bestselling crime author Lee Child studied Law here at the University of Sheffield. Today, it’s said that one of Lee Child’s novels featuring hero Jack Reacher sells somewhere in the world every nine seconds. Nayva Hebbar caught up with him at Off the Shelf Festival to discuss his work and creative process.
What are you reading at the moment? There is a series of books from Oxford University Press called Very Short Introductions and I’m reading Rivers: A Very Short Introduction right now. There are hundreds of books in the series, so my wife and I decided we were going to read our way through them all and discuss them like a miniature book club.
You are an Englishman in America and in Britain you are an American success. Is that a strange experience for you? I’m an Englishman in New York. New York is a city state all of its own and very cosmopolitan, very mobile, with a fluid population. I’ve been there 20 years which means I’ve been there longer than about half the population in New York. So I feel very at home there because it is a very welcoming place. Here, especially professionally, I’m seen as an American input into Britain in terms of books, which is a peculiar sort of institutional reaction. Typically, an author who has been around as long as I have, in Britain, would be offered the OBE or something like that. I get none of that because I’m seen as a foreigner here, which is fine because I like to feel that I belong everywhere, or conversely I like to feel that I don’t belong anywhere.
I noticed that last year Theresa May said the stupidest thing – “If you think you are a citizen of the world, you are a citizen of nowhere” – and that to me is the exact opposite of what I want to be.
With the Jack Reacher novels, you seem to have had a great time with his invulnerability. Would you ever consider finishing the novels off and ending the series or the character? That is a very complicated question because the question is about the role of an author. Am I here to please myself or am I writing for the readers? I believe an author is a servant of the reader, that I am here to provide what the reader wants. I will keep the Reacher series going as long as anyone wants it, and when they stop wanting it, I probably wouldn’t write anything else because I will be very old by then and I’ll say, “You know what, I’ll just retire and go to the beach.”
A very small segment of literature addresses the experience of being a man. How far do you feel the Reacher novels go in exploring what it is to be a man in the 21st century? When I first started out, initially, I thought this was a masculine series for men. But most fiction is read by
women and about 65% of my readers are women. I felt that the idea of walking away from responsibility, of having no commitments, no mortgage, nothing else to worry about, I thought that was a male fantasy, but it turns out it is equally a woman’s fantasy. So what I am learning, really, is that there is no real difference between men and women readers in terms of what they want and what they desire.
How do you start a Reacher novel? How do you confront the very first page? Starting the novel is the best part of it because one of the things that any artist finds is that any art you are making never comes out as good as you hope. It is never quite as good as it could be. To put it bluntly, I haven’t screwed it up yet. And that is the best part of it: the possibilities are infinite. Also, the story possibilities are infinite. It is really a funnelling process, which means that I love the middle, I love the end, but the beginning has a special magic of its own. It’s all new, we don’t know where we are going yet, and it could be the perfect book. Probably won’t be, but it could be.
How do you go about doing research on a book? I don’t research as I go along because,
with a commercial schedule like mine, it is a book a year. And I feel that if you research specifically for that book, you don’t give yourself enough time to work out what the significant part of the research is. So what I do is rely on what I already know, what I’ve learned years ago and that has had the time to percolate and to sort itself out into what is important and what is not. I will certainly research trivial details, but major things have to be something I have been interested in for a long time.
What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out writing? The only way that writing will ever work is if you are you and only you, and you are completely happy about it. If you are writing what you feel is right, and you are absolutely certain everyone else will hate it, the book will have a vivid beating heart. And then, it stands a chance. If you are worrying about what you should or ought to be doing, then it is a dead product from the start.
Lee Child’s latest novel The Midnight Line will be released on Tuesday 7 November.
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Chloe Dervey and Tom Buckland
@forgetoday press.games@forgetoday.com
Games
Everyone had that one game as a child which, though definitely not age appropriate, somehow managed to slip past parental concern and made its way into the collection. Mine was Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. In the midst of yet more DLC announcements for Resident Evil 7, this issue of Forge features a piece by Arya Damavandy walking us through the evolution of the
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franchise and its integral influence on the survival horror genre. Below is an interview with Pete Bottomley, co-founder of Manchester-based studio White Paper Games. Known for their critically acclaimed Ether One, Bottomley describes what we can expect from their next eagerlyawaited title The Occupation, currently in development.
Interview Nick Burke
Within [the early facility design] I started to block off offices and living spaces. Everything has a room assigned to it. I might have a document in room 4301 that says ‘this person works here’. Then I create departments of workers that might work together and have conversations between different departments. You can do that from the very ground up because it doesn’t really rely upon the main narrative beats of the game, the deep systems or gameplay.
- Bottomley on creating a living world
I
f there’s one feeling that sums up the first 20 minutes of both Ether One and The Occupation, it’s nostalgia. A feeling that’s been immortalised by pop culture as sentimentally British - a warm and fuzzy post-war scene full of telegrams, teapots, steam trains and jam and bread. Provoking such a feeling through storytelling is phenomenal world-building. It’s a concept that Pete Bottomley, Co-founder of White Paper Games, is well versed in. Clearly central to his team’s design ethos, it’s imbued within the levels of detail behind the worlds the company creates. “It’s the most important thing for me”, Bottomley explains. “When you’re making environments you’re thinking about all the people that worked and lived there. We try to create space and aesthetic first and foremost.” The Manchester-based studio are undoubtedly on an upward trajectory, fuelled by the success of 2013 release Ether One. The game received positive reviews praising the moving plot and wonderfully realised locations. Though deserted, the seaside town of Pinwheel was full of thoughtful and subtle storytelling, with echoes of a once-bustling mining community following the player’s dreamlike journey through the story. In contrast, Ether‘s host of puzzles were, while thematic and enthralling, unnecessarily fiendish. Bottomley freely admits this and is eager to show the team has learned from their past work. “You would never make the same game that you made five
Games Editors
Forge Press
Happy reading! Games love, Chlo
White Paper Games years ago. People will see the natural progression we’ve taken as a studio, taking the things we did well in Ether One: narrative, world-building and the delivery of the story, and adding another level of nonlinearity.” It’s this departure from a linear structure that is most interesting about The Occupation, described as a “firstperson narrative-driven immersive sim game”. Set within a fictitious 1980s England in a state of flux, White Paper’s nine-strong development team has created key locations within the city of Turing (The Occupation’s Manchester). “Previously, a big explosion has killed a lot of people and it’s caused an impetus for a big act to be passed in the country, clamping down on immigration and taking a lot of civil liberties away”, Bottomley says. “You’re thrown into this environment where it shows how it’s affecting people on a day to day basis.” This extends far beyond scripted events and cutscenes. Characters may become stressed, altering their route through the day to have a cigarette or drink some coffee, further removing them from a predictable, linear path. Throughout the game, players will explore locations based upon Manchester Library’s architecture. “Think big ornate structures but also some secondary architecture built on top of it”. Much like the library this is a big, circular environment for the player to explore of their own free will. That’s not all though, as Bottomley explains the game’s time mechanic: “The game runs in a realtime environment. One minute in the game world is one minute in our world as well. You only have a certain amount of time going through as a journalist in this big facility to figure out what exactly has happened here.” Such time constraints encourage multiple playthroughs of a game to find previously missed content, something the team at White Paper want to make
If you see preproduction of games like Uncharted or any game that goes through a big development process, you will see the entire game in a very grey box form, which means no art, just basic blocks everywhere to get a feel for the gameplay. But we try to create space and aesthetic first and foremost. OJ [Oliver Farrell, 3D Environment Artist] will add detail to the world that I can pick up on, and some narrative layers. We don’t stay grey box very long.
- Bottomley on ‘grey boxing’
as rewarding as possible. Players can freely explore the complex, with parts of the game’s progression completely interchangeable. Bottomley compares this feature to recent triple-A title Prey, and again pays tribute to its French developers Arkane Studios by referring to their 2012 smash hit Dishonored. “We love those games like Dishonored, where you can have 20 different playthroughs and find something different on each one.” he says. “We like the idea of adding lots of content to the world and you only actually seeing a small percentage. We have a lot of really nice moments between characters that some players may never see!” Though sculpting these encounters for a potentially small audience might seem like a thankless task, Bottomley and Animator Robert Beard don’t see it that way. “There’s a lot of extra work that we’re putting in but I think that helps to create those special moments when you’re talking to someone about a game that you’ve played, and you’re talking about a favourite moment you’ve had and they’re just like ‘What?! I never even saw that!’” From a brief demo and a lot of first-hand developer passion, the signs are extremely promising that The Occupation will deliver in a way that is sure to delight fans of Ether One. It’s heartening to see the studio fully embrace their city and signature style, and with such a resounding commitment to storytelling in the future, White Paper Games’ own story has only just begun.
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T
he first Resident Evil (1996) was a pioneer of the survival horror game genre. In many ways the first of its kind and compounded with a stellar sequel in 1998, the game impacted the entirety of horror gaming in one way or another for the next 20 years after its release. As the series progressed, it lost much of its original identity in favour of action-oriented atmosphere and playstyles. The changes in game design not only illustrate the evolution of the series, but can shed light on the developing direction of horror games as a whole. Arya Damavandy
Resident Evil: The Survival Horror Pioneer The key elements of survival horror are vulnerability, isolation and uncertainty. The core mechanics of Resident Evil were designed around these three tenets. The player can only cope with a few hits of damage and has limited ammo, bad autoaim and few inventory slots for support, with supplies scattered few and far between. Combined with the infamous tank-like controls, this vulnerability raises the stakes so that even running away from or dodging a monster is difficult. There is never a point in the game where the player isn’t worried about being attacked, or feels confident in tackling forthcoming obstacles. Comfort is rare and lip-gnawing anxiety constant, leaving the player ripe for the scaring when a boarded-
up window is broken or a mutated dog barks in the distance. The iconic fixed camera means the player is always uncertain of what is around the corner, building suspense and letting the imagination run wild. These techniques are used by Silent Hill (1998) and its sequels to similar effect. In fact, such gameplay has persisted in horror games throughout the past two decades. Dead Space (2009) and DreadOut (2014) make excellent use of isolation, while Amnesia (2010) and Outlast (2014) remove monster fighting entirely and take player vulnerability to the extreme.
Resident Evil 2 & 3: Bigger, Better, Scarier Much-anticipated sequel Resident Evil 2 (1998) saw great use of more pillars of survival horror, namely despair and futility. Raccoon City has been overrun by zombies, meaning the chances of escape are far slimmer than in the previous game. The number of monsters to face is far greater, and the sense of isolation is more overwhelming than ever. The classic helicopter crash scene is symbolic of the ways hope is frequently given and then snatched away in Resi 2, shredding nerves and making the player all the more afraid of events to come. The cliche spooky mansion setting
of the first game is replaced with modern and realistic city streets and buildings, making the horror more visceral and less cartoonish. While the gameplay and controls are mostly similar, Resident Evil 2 is an example of how a few changes to setting and atmosphere can foster greater horror. It foreshadows the evolution of horror gaming towards grittier, realer experiences, such as the admittedly goofy Dead Rising (2006) and Left 4 Dead (2008). Resident Evil 3 (1999) introduced Nemesis, a monster created specifically to hunt and kill the player, ramping up the vulnerability and uncertainty. Nemesis is far stronger than the player character, has better AI than zombies, and attacks with no warning, all which making Resi 3 is a jumpscare classic.
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Wednesday 1 November 2017
Resident Evil
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Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
(1996)
Resident Evil Zero
(1999)
Resident Evil 2 (1998)
Resident Evil 5
(2002)
Resident Evil: Code Veronica
Resident Evil 7
(2009)
Resident Evil 4 (2005)
(2017)
Resident Evil 6 (2012)
(2000)
Resident Evil 4: Revamping the Formula
Resident Evil: Code Veronica (2000) and Resident Evil Zero (2002) had some unique gameplay developments, but ultimately took the series away from horror and towards action. Features like the 180 degree turn and the ability to run improved control but made the games less scary. Nevertheless, Code Veronica did introduce fully 3D environments instead of the previous pre-rendered backgrounds, greatly increasing realism. By 2005, the formula had gotten stale. Just in time, Resident Evil 4 changed things completely by being a shooter with an over the shoulder perspective, and successfully managed to still be a fantastically scary game. Frustratingly however, characters cannot run and shoot simultaneously, and this static aim-andshoot mechanic caused great anxiety as enemies advanced, with picking them off one by one making panic levels skyrocket. Resi 4 also brought better enemy AI in the crazed cult members, providing a different kind of horror to shambling corpses. They are faster, can group together, communicate and use weapons, all of which cause a more frantic kind of fear when they attack. It showed the series’ ability to modernise without losing its core purpose of survival horror. It pioneered the over-the-shoulder camera which would be used in many games in years to come. It also showed that you could have fun combat in a horror game if done right, and mechanics like shooting different body parts to make enemies trip or drop their weapons reappeared in other games like the Dead Space franchise. The game looked set to usher in a new age of survival horror. Despite this, it also opened the floodgates for horror to be sucked into action games.
Resident Evil has been a 20 year long rollercoaster of revolution and evolution. While its fall from grace was reflected in the rest of the industry, this fall arguably made room for newer, better titles to take the lead and guide the genre into new territory. This innovation has given Resident Evil the inspiration it needed to revive itself, and horror gaming is better off for it.
Resident Evil 5 & 6: The death of horror?
Multiplayer co-op does not a horror game make. These two games basically marked the series complete departure from horror: abundant ammo and health packs; fighting off hordes of zombies over and over with no weight or significance; frequent quick-time events; crazy finishing moves; Wesker teleporting and dodging bullets like Neo from The Matrix, and don’t forget the boulder punching ( YouTube it, it’s hilarious). In terms of survival horror, these were the years that Resident Evil dropped the ball. Fans of the genre were forced to look elsewhere for their fear fix. Considering the clumsy Dead Space 3 (2013) and the action heavy Silent Hill: Homecoming (2008), it’s perhaps the death of horror left by these big budget franchises during this time which led to the innovation of games like Penumbra (2007) and Amnesia. These emphasise avoiding most if not all enemies entirely and playing as a lone character in very dark locales. The games fostered an atmosphere of vulnerability, isolation and uncertainty, much like the earlier Resident Evil entries. Amnesia in particular set the standard for modern horror games, as shown by the explosion of indie titles capitalising on its success. It would seem that the evolution of horror games had finally left Resident Evil behind, and the modern horror gaming canon had no room for what had become a goofy, bloated and altogether mediocre action series.
Resident Evil 7: Adapting to modern survival horror Fast-forward a few years and horror gaming is well into its renaissance. Outlast, Alien: Isolation (2014) and P.T. (2014) all make brilliant use of firstperson cameras to immerse the player, creating a horror which attacks them directly. These games also effectively use darkness, low visibility, ambient sound and stealth gameplay to build suspense. Now that the industry trend for horror games emphasises tone and tension more so than any other aspect, enter this year’s Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. The franchise officially has its mojo back, but now it’s design is informed by other games, rather than being the pioneer itself. Resi 7 scales back the setting to a seemingly abandoned plantation in the middle of nowhere. There are plenty of encounters with unkillable enemies, and the first person perspective limits the player’s peripheral vision. Combat in boss fights is frantic, in-your-face and all-round terrifying, while action-heavy set pieces are used to maximise panic rather than spectacle. The game makes use of its big budget to create beautifully detailed environments and character models, increasing immersion and making the horror very visceral and real. Environments are tight and claustrophobic, harking back to the corridor-like design of older games and mitigating the evasiveness of the player character. The game is basically a reboot of the franchise complete with all new gameplay, demonstrating a newfound willingness to stay fresh and not stagnate. It even has PlayStation VR support, for an extra level of bone chilling immersion.
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Ben Kempton | Music Editor
@ForgePress press.music@forgetoday.com
Music
This issue we have interviews galore. Indie band Wolf Alice, dance trio Clean Bandit and someone I never thought we would be mentioning in the music section...WWE’s very own Chris Jericho. It will be the The Rock next. One of Forge’s top dogs makes it into the music section this week and not for his usual editting role.
Editors’ Picks. Album.
Masseduction by St Vincent
‘The Real Slim Shady’ by Eminem
After a three year hiatus since her last album, St Vincent is back with her garish new album Masseduction. Its brash and bold, with the same solid and spinetingling guitar riff’s St Vincent has become known for.
Eminem recently dropped an anti-Trump freestyle, leading Forge to give this hip-hop classic another spin. The Donald Trump hater has always pushed boundaries. This tune itself shocked the world with rhinos having intercourse, Dr Dre locked in a basement and Tom Green humping a dead moose.
Sobriquet Corporation
Dan Cross
pect from Ludo, Michael, Tom, Jake and James this time around. A strong opening with ‘Vriska’ set the tone for the evening, full of the noise and energy the band are known for. The recently released ‘EVA Unit-01’ offers an insight into the musical direction the band has taken over the last few months and
H
Photography by Kate Marron
minutes huffing and puffing around an empty car park (so street) with his hood up, his chin unshaved and his gang of boys - who look like they’ve ended up in the wrong place. Purely for the fact Eminem calls Mr Trump a bitch, he makes our Editors’ pick. If you have had your head in a hole and missed the video, I recommend you get online and watch it. Entertaining for so many reasons.
Single.
Review aving recently celebrated their one year anniversary, the next logical step was clearly a sold out gig at Corporation. As someone who lost their Sobriquet virginity during Tramlines this year, I was excited but unsure what to ex-
Michael Chilton puts the pen down for a bass guitar and swaps Forge for Corp. Read the review for metal band Sobriquet below. In music news recently, it’s been impossible to avoid Eminem’s freestyle rap battle attack on Donald Trump. Speaking on behalf of the majority of American people, who were the ones clever enough to vote him in in the first place, Eminem spends roughly five
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also provides the setting for the first comedy moment of the evening as bassist Michael narrowly avoided falling off stage while posing for the camera. This is swiftly followed by their newest work ‘Eros’, which sources tell me may be being recorded early next year. The halfway stage of the
gig sees the formation of the first mosh pit of the evening (those of you playing Sobriquet bingo at home can tick that one off your cards), with several participants looking a little worse for wear, one sporting a lovely nose bleed. Next up it’s ballad ‘What Have You Done To Me?’. The crowd pulled their phones out and waved with their torches on, briefly turning the gig into Corp-chella with the next song sure to be ‘Wonderwall’. This summarises how great the atmosphere was all night, with even the tamest fans getting a fully immersive experience.
‘Auto-De-Fe’ and ‘Golgotha’ rounds off what was an intense performance from the band, who looked exhausted after putting every ounce of energy into their gig as they always do. Their genre of music isn’t exactly mainstream, but it’s every bit as impressive and I found myself subconsciously humming along to songs on the walk home. Having caught the attention of BBC Introducing in recent weeks, keep an eye on these five because they’re making themselves heard in all the right ways.
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Wednesday 1 November 2017
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Review
Fickle Friends Plug
Danny Brown
Gramercy Park and the ferocious High Tyde, the five-strong outfit from Brighton wasted no time in getting the crowd dancing to their infectious pop tunes. Shiner bounced around the stage for the duration of their hour-long set despite concerns that her trousers “might fall down at any moment”. Successfully combining elements of indie, pop and dance, the band’s vibrant style refuses to be confined to a single genre. “Imagine Two Door Cinema Club’s first record got into bed with Paramore’s most recent one but Katy Perry did a bit of the writing. That’s how I’d describe our sound. We are kind of a hybrid but still very much in the realm of pop.” Creating a sound with mainstream
M
eet Fickle Friends, the indie-pop starlets looking to take the mainstream charts by storm. Their lively sellout gig at Plug included new music, stoking their growing fan base’s excitement for their debut album. Speaking before the show, singer Natassja Shiner revealed the band are no strangers to Sheffield having played Leadmill last year. “I really like Sheffield, it’s just a classic Northern city. The crowds are really rowdy up north, they’re far more up for it than down south. I like to think that correlates directly with the price of alcohol.” Following support from local lads
appeal was always one of the band’s aims, however they’ve often experienced difficulty when it comes to being placed into a firm category by radio. “People always struggle to pigeonhole us, which kind of set us back because Radio 1 were like ‘Where do we play this?’. We just kept doing our thing and thankfully now people are starting to get it.” With a handful of dates on their current tour already sold-out by the time the band reached Sheffield, it seems fair to suggest that the band’s increasing audiences are ‘getting it’. The band are quick to acknowledge the influence that streaming sites such as Spotify have had on their recent success, with their most popular track ‘Swim’ amassing over
Eddie McQueen interviews Joff from
Wolf Alice.
Review
Colors Beck
Arya Damavandy
whilst applying Beck’s own unique flair. The titular song ‘Colors’, for example, is in many ways a pop song in its instrumentation and lyrics, but Beck’s blurry vocals and the delicious bassline give it an extra psychedelic feel. Lead single ‘Dreams’ keeps with this trend and is definitely the highlight of the album. The funky guitar riff and powerful beat will keep your head bouncing all the
H
ow much you enjoy Beck’s newer work can often depend on how old of a fan you are, or how much you prefer indie to pop. This holds true for Beck’s newest album, Colors, which has been in the making since 2013. As usual with Beck, the album simultaneously embraces modern music trends while maintaining a layer of irony
way through. Beck’s sometimes ghostlike voice and euphoric lyrics keep the dreamlike atmosphere soaring. The album as a whole has a very upbeat tone but doesn’t shy away from more negative ideas. ‘Square One’ deals with the confusion and difficulty of getting through life and the lyrics of ‘Dear Life’ lament middle age and the loss of youth, reflecting Beck’s own position, having started his career over 20 years ago. However, even these ideas are shown through a lens of selfawareness, ‘Dear Life’ has a piano with a clean, positive sound, giving the image of accepting one’s fate, and the lyrics of ‘Square One’ teach “this is life and it’s alright”.
13 million streams on Spotify alone. “Spotify is brilliant, it’s the future and I think we’ve all just gotta roll with it. With out latest single we’ve fully got their support in America and it’s just opens your music up to a far wider audience than it would do if you just put it on Spotify and left it there.” The band’s most recent single ‘Hard To Be Myself’ was released earlier this month and featured among the new tracks played at Plug, along with ‘Wake Me Up’ and ‘Rotation’. This track in particular represents album’s focus on pop, with the record due to be released “towards the start of next year”. ‘Hard To Be Myself’ also manages to tackle tough emotional issues with its lyrics, as Shiner explains. “Imagine turning up to a party and suddenly getting an absolute shocker of a panic attack or feeling anxious as fuck and being like “oh my goodness I actually can’t be here”. We’ve all been there and a lot of people have come up to me and say ‘I’m so glad
you’ve written a song that describes how I’m feeling today’.” With new material well received by fans, the singer says they “can’t wait” but are “terrified” for the release of their debut. “It’s a massive thing and being on a major label there’s expectations of where it needs to chart and stuff. But the fans are the ones that are going to buy it and whatever else happens, happens.” Whether Fickle Friends can topple the likes of Katy Perry and Taylor Swift as queens of the pop world remains to be seen. But with fresh tunes, strong live performances and a promising debut album on the way there’s absolutely no reason why they can’t go far.
A
t the inhuman hour of 9am, Joff Oddie, guitarist and founding member of Wolf Alice, yawns down the phone to me. “It’s good, early is good,” he insists. Somehow I don’t quite believe him. It’s no surprise he’s tired though; even before releasing Visions of a Life, the follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2015 debut, Wolf Alice had a pretty hectic schedule, playing a host of intimate gigs across America and the UK this summer in preparation for the album launch. “They were great fun,” he says, the smile evident in his voice. “It was lovely to get back into small rooms, play the visceral ones and jump around. It was really special.” The album itself seems to have been universally well received. “It’s lovely to have it out after it being a work in progress for the last two years, and people seem to understand what it’s about, what it is.” Equally, they don’t seem to have struggled with the supposed difficult second album, Joff describing how “the first one you’ve got forever to write. It’s almost like a greatest hits up to a point, you know? But with the second one, you’ve got two years to write something which everyone expects to be better than the first one, which took 20 odd years to make. Surprisingly we were kind of okay. We kept on top of writing throughout touring.” With the wild leaps in style and sentiment in the album, it’s very hard to pin down Wolf Alice’s sound. “We treat every song in its own kind of way,” he explains. “The songs purely being the songs we wanted to put out. We like playing with difference, life doesn’t have the same sentiment. Day to day, moment to moment the same sentiment doesn’t exist, so why would you want to make your art a reflection of one thing, one emotion?” Wolf Alice are a shining example of all that a band can be, having risen exponentially since their shy early days: “I started Wolf Alice when I was in university. In university you get a lot of time – I would recommend you use that time to do something.” You never know where it could lead you.
‘Wow’ is a bit of an outlier when compared to the rest of the album. The nonsensical lyrics give the track an experimental and unfiltered vibe which can be interesting or meaningless depending on what kind of person you are, in a similar way to Beck’s 1993 hit ‘Loser’. The song just doesn’t have as much to offer as other parts of the album (although, fans of trap music will enjoy its beat, but likely not its substanceless lyrics). ‘Seventh Heaven’ and ‘Up All Night’ are fun tunes about life and love, and ‘Fix Me’ rounds off the album with a more slow and sombre tone. ‘I’m So Free’ has large and in charge guitar, lyrics and beats which will make your body gyrate and put a
smile on your face, while the jumpy and scattered instrumentation of ‘No Distraction’ excellently conveys its theme. The album has plenty of variety and almost all the tracks do a great job of doing what they’re meant to. As usual, Beck’s quality hasn’t faltered and he’s managed to display just how wide his talent reaches while still writing music that distinctly bears his trademark. Whether you’re a long time fan, enjoy general indie music, or just want some groovy pop to jive to, Colors has something for everyone.
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Allan Smith interviews
Chris Jericho Wrestler, Rockstar, Author, Podcaster. The WWE Superstar and Fozzy frontman discusses his latest album and life away from the ring.
It’s been a big year for the “The Ayatollah of Rock 'n' Rolla.” Your seventh studio album Judas arrives October 13th. The reception for both the single and music video has been massive. Yeah definitely, the song ‘Judas’ creates a buzz for the entire album. We were fortunate that ‘Judas’ came out five months ago and not two or three because it gave us the chance to really build and grow. I think people who had never listened to Fozzy before have given ‘Judas’ a chance, finally listening and realising how great the song is. It had to build and be given
a chance to grow, so now that there’s such a buzz about the single by itself that the album as a whole is one of the most anticipated of the year so it was really fortunate for us. Following the success of ‘Judas’ around the world, are there any locations that you’d like to tour on that haven’t been as capitalised on within the rock industry before? That’s the cool thing, its worldwide in places like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, places we’ve never even been to, the song was top of the charts on iTunes. That’s the great thing about worldwide
hits, you know, we’ve had successful songs in the past, but a hit single puts you on a completely different level. Number 1 on iTunes, Number 1 on Spotify ‘Rock Playlist’, Number 1 on satellite radio, Top Ten on U.S chart radio. That’s virtually impossible these days, but we just got such a good reception from such a large network. I think there’s been a grassroots interest towards the building of this song and the building of Fozzy; you can see it in the ticket sales for the last U.S tour are the best we’ve ever done done and getting ready to come back to the UK, just a couple of weeks to go until that. So it’s really gratifying when you consider the fact that all these cool things are happening all because of that song, with a great album; locked and loaded and ready to go, so it’s a good time for us for sure. You mentioned Fozzy’s UK tour at the end of this month, here in Sheffield on November 3rd at Corporation. Recently, in the UK and Ireland we’ve seen the revival of the wrestling scene, drawing massive crowds for both the WWE and on the independents, but even more so, British Rock has been notorious for decades. Which British bands have influenced you as a person and the sound of Fozzy? Well the thing about the UK, it was the first place that made wrestling cool and with music, it was the first country, England and Scotland and Ireland as well, that really took Fozzy under their wing. We call it our second home and those nations were the first ones outside of the United States that grew Fozzy and have done for the last decade and more. So we love touring the UK and Ireland because we always want to come back and visit our loyal fans and all the new ones that are growing now. The UK doesn’t care really about just what’s playing on the radio, it really isn’t just as mainstreamminded as the States, they’ll just listen to what they like and that great for us, because we all love British music. My favourite band of all time is The Beatles and second of all time is Iron Maiden so that tells you all you need to know about my love for British music. So we love it there, the last few times we’ve been we were at Download. Fozzy’s a big time band in your country and that’s very cool for us, that’s from years of hard work and dedication but also great fans from England
who have always believed in us and always supported us from the smallest of punk shows that we’ve done to festivals like Download and shows in London, so it’s a really good time and we’re excited to come back. It’s been awhile since we’ve done a proper tour and it’s going to be a good one. Our fans are definitely passionate for bands like Fozzy when you’re over here. For English people there’s less rules in terms of what you have to like or what’s mainstream. We don’t have big pyro coming off, we don’t have a vocal team or lots of lighting on stage or a show going on behind us. We are the show and we work our arses off on stage to give our energy and electricity to the fans. Our fans work very hard at Fozzy shows. There’s never a gig, and I mean never, where people stop chanting in between our songs, we’re very fortunate to have that, by far the best fans in the world. It’s a real cool vibe whenever we play in the UK because of that, it’s also like going to a football game where you get all of those vibes and chants as well, so it’s a lot of fun, it’s more than just a regular show. English fans understand that with Fozzy we expect you to put in as much energy as we do and the result is always a fun and supercharged rock and roll show, people just trying to have a good time, just absolutely going for it. You’re a jack of all trades; a wrestler, musician, author, podcaster. Is there anything else you want to accomplish in your career? What’s on your bucket list? I don’t really have a bucket list, for me it was always just wanting being in a rock and roll band and being a wrestler, those are the two things that I wanted to do when i was a kid and i’ve chased those dreams for the last 30 years of my life. Other things have happened because there have been a lot of opportunities that have opened up. I love having my own podcast, I love writing books, I love the acting that I’ve done. The best thing of all is just getting a chance to tour around the world doing what I love, entertaining and being Chris Jericho, along the brand of Jericho, so everything that I do, I’ve put a lot into it, when you see my name you know it’s
because I really want to do it, because I really believe in it. Speaking of dreams, you have your very own cruise ship, the Rock ‘n’ Wrestling Rager, departing from Florida in October 2018. Can you tell me more about how the idea came about and what to expect? I went on a KISS cruise back in 2015 and as soon as we got off the boat, I told my manager that we needed to do a rock and wrestling cruise. So, nearly exactly two years later, even after losing our ship just before we announced, here we are. It’s gong to be one of the greatest and biggest cruises in the world, one of the biggest wrestling promoters in the world in ROH hosting a tournament, an actual wrestling ring in the middle of the ocean, hosted by Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. We also have three ‘Talk Is Jericho’ podcasts live. We have some great rock and roll bands playing along with Fozzy like Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons which is huge for me, having such great music and a lot of other stuff as well; a lot of comedians, an all female AC/DC tribute band. There’s already a lot of tickets being sold to people in the UK and Ireland and even Australia so people from all around the world showing up, with just over a year to go until we set sail. It’s going to be entertaining, it’s ambitious, it has everything, if I was on a cruise, this is what I’d want it to. A bit like the mind of Y2J, Chris Jericho coming to life… on a boat. It really is, it’s all the stuff I love, everything we have on our shows and on my podcast, the wrestling, the comedians, like you said the mind of Jericho on a boat. I might have to start using that. It’s going to be a family of Jeroholics who love everything I love and want to see it all, to follow me on this journey and just enjoy it. I’m really excited about it because it wasn’t easy to put together, to get it rolling. But there’s a lot of buzz and a lot of excitement for an endless amount of memorable moments. Thanks man, we’ll keep trying to write great tunes and touring around the world playing, I’m excited about the next chapter for us and we’ll see you in Sheffield soon.
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Sindhu Shivaprasad’s Q&A with
Clean Bandit Your collaboration with Sean Paul and Anne-Marie over ‘Rockabye’ quite literally rocked the charts. What was your experience like, working with the two artists?
crayon you’d need in the box
It was a massive thing to work with them, we’ve been huge fans of Sean Paul since we were teenagers and have had the pleasure of playing alongside Anne-Marie for the last two years. Having them both on a record felt truly unique and we actually first played the song with them both live on The X Factor, which is always such a tricky thing to coordinate since we all have crazy schedules!
Well one member now isn’t a member, and I think the rest of us have become a lot more chilled out.
If you were to choose one song of yours that you’d listen to on repeat, which one would it be and why? Probably ‘Mozart’s House’ since I still have no idea what Love Ssega is rapping about and it would give me the chance to figure it all out. Let’s say you’re a new colour in a crayon box. Which colour would you be and why? I’d be a chameleonic colour, able to change into any colour. I’d be the only
You’ve been a band since 2008, how do you think each member has changed over the years?
You’ve got a gig coming up in October in Cambridge. How might it feel to perform as an established band in the city where it all began? I’m sure it will feel very nostalgic to be back in the city where we all met and rehearsed together. Cambridge is a very special place and hopefully there’ll be a few familiar faces at the gig so it should feel like a homecoming party! ‘Rather Be’ scooping up a Grammy back in 2015 and ‘Rockabye’ taking the world by storm were undoubtedly high points for you. Were there any other surreal moments, during your career, that stands out to you? Quite recently we played a gig in Switzerland near Lake Como and there was a huge storm that came in during the gig. All the technicians on
Having racked up heavy following internationally and comfortably tucking collaborations with the likes of Sean Paul and Anne Marie, Clean Bandit is all set to return to their roots. Schedules are fixed and the road is calling as the Cambridge-born band brings their classical-pop blend back to the UK.
stage were freaking out and eventually we had to come off, but there was a moment where we were halfway through our song ‘Telephone Banking’ while being pelted by rain! It was particularly surreal since we use a lot of electronic equipment (that still managed to work somehow) and our singers looked like they were singing under a waterfall. It felt like we were performing our music video ‘Tears’ live on stage.
progressive house music that evolves in a way that I like.
What are some of your fondest musical memories?
What do you like to do outside of music that may help with your creative process?
I’ve accumulated so many over the years! I guess one of my favourite musical memories is when we reinterpreted our album New Eyes so it could be played by a symphonic orchestra. It was really incredible to hear sounds that would usually be played by synthesisers being played on a trombone or marimba. Hopefully we can do something like that again with all of our new tunes.
How do you gather inspiration for a new song? Travelling is usually key, especially exploring different modes of transport. But obviously different places have a massive impact as well. Visiting Japan every now and then tends to help. Their culture is so unique.
Watching incredible TV series/films helps visualise things, which in turn helps the music. How has your music evolved over the years, since you first got together? I guess it’s become slightly less weird and maybe only a bit more banging.
If you could recommend another artist’s EP or song, which one would it be and why?
Now that you’ve had a huge number of gigs all over the world, which song did you think always got the best reaction from the crowds overall?
Bicep - ‘Glue’. Just really interesting
Show Me Love - Robin S
What has been your favourite venue to play at so far? Fillmore - San Francisco After working with some of the big names in the music industry, are there any other collaborations you’d love to get under your belt? I’d love for us to collaborate with Miley Cyrus, her voice is incredible and it’s amazing that she’s managed to do all of that pop stuff and then go back to her roots and sing country again. I think a country/pop banger could work really well! To those who have tickets to Clean Bandit’s upcoming gigs: you lucky things. To the rest of us who aren’t that fortunate, hit up the iTunes store to pre-order Clean Bandit’s new single featuring Julia Michaels, ‘I Miss You’ that’s out on 27 October.
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Joe Mackay
@ForgePress press.screen@forgetoday.com
Screen
Review
The Snowman
Gethin Morgan
C
The Movie DB
oldplay once sang “when you try your best but you don’t succeed”. It’s unlikely that they travelled 12 years into the future to watch The Snowman, and wrote that song about Tomas Alfredson’s film. Although it would be a very apt lyric had they done just that, because the film really does try so hard to be good, but disappoints at just about every possible opportunity. The heavily convoluted plot sees detective Harry Hole (Michael Fassbender) tracking down a serial killer that marks their targets by planting a snowman outside the victim’s house. There’s a lot more to it than that but most of it is either boring or irrelevant. There’s so much unnecessary nonsense weighing the film down. It’s like the director didn’t know what kind of film he wanted to make, and the end product is a messy mixture of Scandinavian crime drama, film noir and family drama, with an added dash of horror and political thriller for good measure. The likes of JK Simmons, Toby Jones and Val Kilmer don’t even need to be there, their characters add nothing to the story. Meanwhile every ten minutes there’s another stupid face palm moment which makes you want to laugh out loud, even though the film isn’t trying to be funny. Then let’s talk about the God awful score. Honestly, rarely does it feel so much like music is trying to force emotion down your throat. It’s so on the nose. Feel tense! Be scared! Now time to be sad! It’s like the audience is supposed to be incapable of feeling emotion without over the top music and an inadvertently comical dramatic zoom.
At least frustration overwhelms any anger towards the film. It isn’t offensive or made heartlessly for money, it has good intentions. That’s why the film’s failure is such a shame. The picturesque snowy aesthetic of Norway provides a good foundation, and the cast and crew has quite the CV. It boasts the director of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, writers from Drive and Scorsese’s go-to editor Thelma Schoonmaker, which begs the question, where did it all go so wrong? Perhaps it was three writers with different visions, or that the book it originated from isn’t adaptable. Maybe it was all lost in the edit suite, or that the sound editing messed up Val Kilmer’s dialogue so much it looked like a shoddy attempt at lip syncing. Maybe it was all of the above. There’s the odd positive. Fassbender is dependable as ever with his very watchable screen presence. The killer’s weapon of choice is cool, and the whole snowman concept is wonderfully creepy. The problem is none of that is utilised properly. The build and release of tension seems to get it wrong every time, which makes it hard to take any scary moments seriously. Ultimately The Snowman is doomed by heavy handed filmmaking and a series of silly decisions. Truth be told it’s doubtful you’ll get what you want or what you need from this murder mystery.
Screen Editor
outing, Mindhunter. As you can see there’s pretty much something for everybody, so stop reading this nonsense and sink yer teeth in.
Hello friends, and welcome to another riveting edition of Forge Press Screen. As I’m sure most of you are aware it’s the spookiest time of the year, so we’ve got reviews of not one but two horror films: The Ritual and Happy Death Day. And just when you thought cinema couldn’t get any scarier there’s a very prolific
sexual assault scandal going on in Hollywood, our coverage of which can be found in the feature overleaf. On a lighter note, there’s some slightly less terrifying content for your reading pleasure this week in the format of the kind-of-rubbish The Snowman, Armando Iannucci’s satire-fest The Death of Stalin and David Fincher’s debut Netflix
Review
Mindhunter
Chester Bell
itself. This is what generates the pleasure in the series as rather than bouncing off cheap cliffhangers, Ford and his partner Tench (Holt McCallany) use a slow and analytical approach. It makes the show all the more engaging through their interviews with truly deranged individuals, one of them being Ed Kemper (Cameron Britton), the standout performance of the entire show. Despite committing a series of barbaric murders, Kemper’s friendly and articulate demeanour make him almost likable (in a horrifying sort of way), to the extent that Ford shares a pizza with him as he describes the details of how he killed his own mother. The fact that no flashback is used to illustrate the murders, rather just his interview recounting them make it both far more chilling as well as grounded in reality, as we learn
D If Michael Fassbender hears one more Walking Through The Air joke...
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avid Fincher’s new show Mindhunter is as easy to binge-watch as any other popular Netflix drama. By the second episode, you’ll know whether you’re hooked or not. Mindhunter is based upon the exploits of influential crimefighter John Douglas, who interviewed serial killers to try and understand their motives. The series focuses on the fictional Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) as he conducts interviews to convince the field of crime investigation that there is logic behind even the most illogical crimes. This is why Mindhunter stands above most serial killer dramas. Rather than just following the generic plot of hunting for a single murderer, the show tackles the issue of murder
David Fincher hittin’ up a laptop screen near you
The Movie DB
Forge Press
of the horrors of the human mind at the same pace as Ford and Tench. This is exacerbated by the fact that Ed Kemper and the other serial killers featured in the show were actually real people. Despite being an utterly engaging show, Mindhunter does suffer in terms of casting. Whilst Jonathan Groff’s performance as Ford is truly convincing, he does somewhat lack the charisma expected of a lead character. Also his relationship with girlfriend Debbie (Hannah Gross) seems both unconvincing and unimportant compared to the main bulk of the show. This doesn’t diminish the fact that Mindhunter is a great addition to the Netflix canon; a breath of fresh air for the crime genre and one of best shows of the year.
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Wednesday 1 November 2017
Review James Lofthouse
B A wild Steve Buschemi appears
The Movie DB
Review
The Death of Stalin
Rachel Towers
F
ollowing successes such as In The Loop and Veep, with The Death of Stalin director Armando Iannucci focuses on a Soviet Union caught in the vicelike grip of Stalin’s dictatorship. Upon the news of their great leader’s death, his cronies scramble and plot to save not just their positions, but their lives. Hilarity ensues. It is possible that a comedy covering the back stairs politics of Moscow could be a hard sell, but the result is definitely worth it. Black humour oozes from every scene of petty bickering and childish physical comedy, helped all the more by the fact that the casting and script don’t have a single weak link.
Review
distressing scenes are not shied away from. We laugh when a panicked radio broadcaster (Paddy Considine) tells his audience “no one’s going to get murdered” and that it’s just a “musical emergency”. The moment has impact because we know this fear is very much justified. The protagonist’s desperate power plays ultimately lead to fear, brutality and betrayal, but Iannucci’s magic touch means watching them get there is a joy.
If you go down to the woods today...
Happy Death Day
Luke Baldwin
G
An interesting choice is that none of the actors use a Russian accent. The result is a vibrant mix of tones that emphasises each member of the ensemble. A particular highlight is the thick American accent of Stalin’s deputy Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor), who informs his comrades that they “can kiss [his] Russian ass”. Simon Russell Beale’s slimy security forces leader Beria stands out as a malicious and merciless climber of the political ladder. His character is a pivotal reminder of the terror that lies behind the farce. This is where the film soars. The ineptitudes of its main players are endlessly entertaining, but the humour works so well because The Death of Stalin never lets us forget the gravity of the situation. Truly
ased on the 2011 novel of the same name, The Ritual follows four men who go hiking in Sweden to mourn the recent passing of their friend. Their decision to take a shortcut through an ominous looking forest is more or less as successful as you’d imagine. The Ritual cuts to the chase relatively quickly and develops fairly predictably. Eerie houses are found and frustratingly poor survival instincts are on display. However, towards the tail end of the film everything becomes considerably more bizarre and substantially more interesting as a result. The film boasts some sufficiently toe-curling moments, in many cases as a result of the sound design which accompanies them. One of the unique things about horror films such as The Ritual is that the relief felt when the credits roll isn’t necessarily a criticism of the film. That being said, the main issue with The Ritual is fairly clear.
roundhog Day with murder. That’s basically the opening pitch for Happy Death Day and it’s certainly an enticing one. In fairness, the first few iterations of Theresa Gelbman’s (Jessica Rothe) deadly birthday definitely deliver on the excitement. But by the third or fourth day the novelty of the premise has already worn off, and what’s left is a seriously sub-par film filled with boring characters, predictable plot points and a villain which doesn’t hold a candle to the horror greats. One thing that can be said for Happy Death Day is that it might be the perfect film for students. Nods to walks of shame and university sports fans, as well as a recurring scene of all the characters you’d find in a stereotypical university
quad are all present. This will be a welcome addition to any hungover flat’s easy Sunday afternoon watch. Happy Death Day’s greatest flaw is its lack of focus. It’s not gory enough to be a slasher, not funny enough to be a comedy, not tense enough as a thriller and certainly not scary enough to be a horror. Whilst at times this blend of genres makes for a genuinely entertaining and unique film, for the most part the sudden changes in tone and pace just makes for a confusing and muddled affair, as though the film doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. A mildly interesting premise is all that holds together what is otherwise a disappointingly average film.
Screaming at the 2 star review
The Movie DB
The Ritual From the beginning it feels more like an entertaining pastiche of films like The Descent or The Blair Witch Project. This in turn leads to some all-too familiar ‘I knew that was about to happen’ moments. Similarly, the roles played by the characters are as cookiecutter as possible: the sceptical one; the brave one; the irritating one who you secretly hope dies first. Admittedly, this criticism surrounding the fact that The Ritual didn’t bring a great deal of originality to the genre is based on the rather short-sighted assumption that originality was its aim. Just because the film hardly reinvents the horror wheel doesn’t diminish its status as enjoyable and competently executed. It’s almost certainly not an award-winner, but is a competent and sufficiently spooky evening-filler.
The Movie DB
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Forge Press
FORGE SCREEN SPECIAL REPORT
WEINSTEIN
HOLLYWOOD’S DARK PAST David Peacock
T
he accusations of sexual assault levelled at Harvey Weinstein should not come as a surprise. Hollywood is no stranger to such behaviour. Silent film sensation Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood. In the summer of 1921, he was defending himself against accusations that he had violently sexually assaulted actress Virginia Rappe, to the point
Actress Virginia Rappe
that she died four days from a ruptured bladder. However, after his third trial he was acquitted due to insufficient evidence. Two decades later Errol Flynn, often referred to as ‘the most beautiful man who ever lived’, went on trial for having sex with two 17-year-old girls. After declaring he “hardly touched the girl”, he then accused them of sleeping with a married man and having an illegal abortion. He was later acquitted. Some several decades later in 1977, in one of the most infamous
Wikipedia Commons
cases in Hollywood history the renowned director and producer Roman Polanski was arrested and charged with raping a 13-year-old girl. However, perhaps even more disturbingly Polanski was given a mere 42 days in prison, after which he fled to Paris and continued to produce world-renowned films such as The Pianist (2002) and Oliver Twist (2005). In 2010, two women sued actordirector Casey Affleck for sexual harassment. On one instance, he allegedly refused to pay film producer
Roman Polanski’s The Pianist (2002)
Movie DB
Amanda White her wages because she wouldn’t spend a night with him in a hotel. Both cases were settled out of court. Affleck is still a major player in Hollywood and continues to receive notable awards for his work. Throughout Hollywood’s history, men within the industry have been allowed to use their power to sexually exploit and fiercely abuse people, often managing to avoid jail time. These victims are forced to pay the price for a male-dominated industry that gives dangerous figures an insurmountable degree of power,
and that bears all the signs of a grossly misogynistic institution. As Emma Thompson puts it, we are living in an age of a “crisis in extreme masculinity”.
Casey Affleck in Manchester By The Sea (2016)
Movie DB
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Wednesday 1 November 2017
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THE STORY SO FAR Angelica Giugno
O
n Thursday 5 October the New York Times published a story which detailed a number of sexual harassment allegations against Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. These accusations included a casting couch scenario where he would allegedly coax the women into believing he has a part for them in a big blockbuster in order to get
Variety Magazine
Peter Strain
them alone. Others accused that he forced women to massage him and watch him shower naked, allegedly promising to advance their careers in return for sex. This led to many more women coming forward. Some of the first included Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan, with the latter eventually accusing him of rape. Weinstein issued an apology on the same day, but denies making “unwanted advances”. Three days after the initial story broke, he was sacked by the board of
The Weinstein Company (which he co-founded) with immediate effect. On Monday 9 October, Dame Judi Dench, George Clooney and Meryl Streep were amongst the high-profile actors who condemned Weinstein’s actions as “indefensible.” The following day 13 more allegations were made in the New Yorker magazine which included three accusations of rape. Weinstein’s spokeswoman Sallie Hofmeister says that Weinstein denies these claims: “Any allegations of nonconsensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr
The Hollywood Reporter
Weinstein”. Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow were the next two actresses to come forward and, following this, Weinstein’s wife announced that she was leaving him. Soon after, British actress and model Cara Delevigne described an encounter with Weinstein in which he tried to kiss her and make her undress in front of him. Weinstein has since also been expelled from the Academy behind the Oscars. Police in New York, Los
TIME Magazine
Angeles and London are currently investigating rape claims against Weinstein, who is attending a rehab programme in Colorado.
Maurice Haas - 13 Photo/Redux
HOLLYWOOD’S RESPONSE Megan Lewis
I
t seems each time a sexual harassment scandal emerges from Hollywood, the immediate reaction is shock and disbelief. But as the recent #metoo social media campaign illustrated, sexual harassment is an issue across all walks of life. In order to destroy this legacy, we must question the structure that has upheld it for so long. In an era where the President of The United States wins an election whilst tapes reveal him giving advice on how to sexually
harass women, the future looks bleak for victims. The Weinstein scandal was labeled ‘Hollywood’s worst-kept secret by many news reports, and herein lies the problem. Sexual harassment and assault in Hollywood is not only rife throughout the industry, it’s accepted and only now are people starting to fight against it. Although even then, as brave survivors come forward to relive their trauma, the industry doesn’t even feel the pressure to conceal these events from wider society. This scandal has shaken
Hollywood to its core, and led to a slew of accusations against other powerful players in the industry. The head of Amazon Studios, Roy Price, had to resign after allegations were made against him. More recently, Anthony Rapp accused Kevin Spacey of making sexual advances towards him when Rapp was only 14 years old. Ben Affleck’s response to the scandal was to publicly denounce Weinstein and declare himself “angry and saddened” at the accusations. The response to this illustrated another issue, as a wave of reports claimed he had been both complicit in other
men’s harassment of women and also actively involved in harassment of women himself. Affleck has since apologised. Nevertheless, there is a culture of protecting perpetrators of sexual harassment in Hollywood and wider society. Aggressors feels invincible enough to publicly denounce other perpetrators without any fear of reprisal. In order to improve the situation both in Hollywood and in wider society, there needs to be direct action taken to break down this forcefield of immunity. This requires people with platforms of power in institutions to
become allies with these vulnerable individuals. Only when people are unafraid to speak out, can we hope to put an end to the corruption that has plagued Hollywood for decades.
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Wednesday 1 November 2017
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Coffee Break facebook.com/ForgePress @ForgePress
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ARROWDOKU
Want to make these two pages yours? Passionate about puzzles? Then why not apply to be our new Coffee Break
Arrowdoku follows the same rules as regular sudoku. The only twist is that the sum of the digits along an arrow must be equal to the number in the circle at the end of that arrow.
Editor! No prior experience is needed and anyone can apply. If you are interested in any of the positions, our EGM will be on Thursday 2 November at 8.00pm. The meeting will be at the Octagon Meeting Room 3. Just come along with a 30 second speech on why you think you’d be good at the role. Contact luke.baldwin@forgetoday.com with any questions.
BONFIRE NIGHT AND OTHER NOVEMBER HOLIDAYS CROSSWORD
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2. Many countries celebrate the birth of Nanak Sahib, the founder of Sikhism. What is his title? (4) 9. During the Cambodian Water Festival the traditional dish is rice, coconut and which fruit? (6) 10. Guy Fawkes was hung, drawn and... (9) 11. To celebrate the end of the rainy season, in Myanmar they celebrate the festival of the full... (4) 13. The Belgian festival King’s Day is also sometime referred to as what day? (7) 14. South American country where Zumbi is a national hero and has had a day commemorating him since the 1960s (6) 16. Animal raced at the Melbourne Cup, a regional holiday in Victoria, Australia (5)
1. Halloween has its origins in the Mexican festival El Dia de los... (7) 3. Head of the Gunpowder Plot was Robert... (7) 4. In the Philippines they celebrate the birth of revolutionary Andrés Bonifacio, but which country was he rebelling against? (5) 5. Type of punctuation mark and also the name of a Panamanian festival (5) 6. Japan’s Labour Thanksgiving Day is traditionally known as what Day? (7) 7. Name of the king targeted in the Gunpowder Plot (5) 8. Religion of the gunpowder plotters (8) 12. During the plot gunpowder was planted under the house of... (5) 15.Bird traditionally eaten during the days evening meal on St. Leopold’s Day in Austria (5)
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Sport Thoughts
“Kevin De Bruyne: the finished article, but not the one I expected to write”
Jay Jackson takes a look at Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne, who has come of age this season and is enjoying life at the Etihad. Jay Jackson
I
t’s Tuesday October 17 and I’m on my way to the Etihad Stadium to watch Premier League leaders Manchester City take on their Italian counterparts Napoli with my next article for this newspaper in mind. It was to be an ode to Napoli, explaining how the inspirational coaching of Maurizio Sarri has turned the long-term underachievers into one of the most exciting teams to watch in Europe over the past few seasons. When the football actually started, however, it became increasingly clear that it was not the men from Naples who I felt compelled to write about, but just one man from Drongen – Kevin De Bruyne. He’s no doubt been the best midfielder in the Premier League (perhaps all of Europe) so far this season and his performance against Napoli was simply sublime. On the back of a Man of the Match performance against Stoke the previous weekend, De Bruyne had been the recipient of high praise from football’s commentariat over the preceding few days. I travel to the Etihad with the intention of watching a Napoli side (the best since the Maradona era) and their unique brand of tenacious yet graceful passing football. Despite the fierce opposition which included the likes of Dries Mertens, Lorenzo Insigne, José Callejón and Marek Hamšik, it quickly became the De Bruyne show. His assist for City’s second goal of the evening was wizard-like. De Bruyne is blessed with a weight of pass that is seemingly perfect every time.
He manages to transcend the divide between the art and the science of passing a football. A delicate blend of trigonometry, physics, vision and pure skill – his passes glide gorgeously along the perfectly cut turf, with just the right amount of spin or curve, played at just the right moment, for the ball to float almost nonchalantly into the path of his desired target like a dandelion seed in an early summer
At the age of 26, he’s also becoming a leader
O
ver 50 years ago the most common problem in snooker was the fact you had to follow the events in black and white. It’s not ideal when there are seven colours on the table. Traditions have passed through the decades, from the hush tensed crowds to John Virgo’s infamous line of “where’s the cue ball going”. Snooker itself, however, has adapted and evolved into a recognised sport across the globe.
probably be classed as an epic poem by the time I was finished, but alas I only have a certain amount of words. City endured an Iliad during the 1980s and 1990s as paradise was seemingly lost under the shadow of the red devils. Now, City have metamorphosed. They’ve got De Bruyne, whose career has been somewhat of an odyssey. Cast off by Chelsea, he ended up at Wolfsburg where he grew as a footballer into the star that today leaves Mesut Özil in his wake, where two years ago he was in his shadow. Seriously though, De Bruyne really is epic.
breeze. He nearly complemented the unworldly assist with a goal (similar to the one he scored the previous matchweek against Shakhtar Donetsk) seeing a beautiful curling effort crash off the crossbar and cruelly bounce on the line. It isn’t just his weight of pass that makes him special. There’s his exceptional vision as shown (somewhat ironically perhaps) with that ‘no look’ pass for Leroy Sané against Stoke; his ambidexterity allows him to be a danger with his exquisite set pieces, from almost any position across the pitch. He takes corners, he tracks back, he can find space that us mere mortals simply don’t see there. At the age of 26, he’s also becoming a leader; something that somewhat
Snooker reminded of dark days in wake of genius Tim Adams
surprised me, as I’d never really heard about this part of his game. It was on show against Napoli though. Watching him studiously as I was, there were several occasions when he was seen to be barking orders at some of the younger players (Sterling, Sané, Jesus). He also engaged in a touchline spat at half-time with his superior in sky blue David Silva about a booking he received that was unjust. This again shows how he is maturing and becoming a leader for this City side. I could wax lyrical about De Bruyne for long enough that it’d
While the greatest players have graced the game with their bewildering ability to master the technique of a cue (Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis and Alex Higgins to name three) snooker has also been plagued by previous controversies of betting and matchfixing. And if there was a period which could provide an overall metaphor to snooker, last week would win the award. All this from two events. The first occurred at the English Open, with Ronnie O’Sullivan the centre of attention. There aren’t many players in the world of sport who can
threaten to pull out of a tournament and then subsequently win it, but the Rocket is unique. Throughout the intense competition, the five-time world champion struggled through the first round with a foot injury, going against the ethics of snooker’s dress code by wearing trainers, let a spectator take a shot in the second, and then comfortably beat upcoming star Kyren Wilson in the final. While O’Sullivan optimises snooker’s best, last week Stuart Bingham signified its worst, after receiving a six-month ban for betting breaches. Once again, the sport is engulfed in a row which lowers its image, bringing back dark memories of previous bans given to players such as Stephen Lee and most famously John Higgins. There are times in your career where you must make a moral stand, and last week Barry Hearn, the former World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, did just that. The 69 year-old said: “It sends out a message to everyone to obey the
rules. There are no favours to anyone, whoever they are, whatever their rank. “When people look at the Bingham case, I think World Snooker come out of it very well indeed.”
Disparities between snooker’s brilliant best and worrisome worst are unfortunately being talked about once again.
Stuart Bingham readies his cue for a shot at the German Masters Wikimedia
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Football 3s find inner steel in victory Jacob Reid
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he University of Sheffield Men’s Football 3s bounced back from their 5-0 away defeat at York St John’s last week, with a dogged and determined 4-1 victory against University of Central Lancashire 1s in the first round of the BUCS Football Northern Conference Cup. In what was a tightly-contested opening 15 minutes, with both sides battling to control possession, it was the away side who had the first clear chance of the game. The Lancashire number nine found some space on the right, before unleashing a low drilled shot which was well stopped by Sheffield goalkeeper Kieran Sivewright. It was Sheffield that would draw first blood on 19 minutes, with Sivewright playing a major part. A long punt downfield from the Sheffield number one travelled some distance, before bouncing off a Lancashire defender’s head, and looping over the hapless goalkeeper. However, this joy was to be shortlived. On 23 minutes, Lancashire’s
number nine, who proved to be handful all game, danced and weaved his way through a number of Sheffield defenders, before opening up his body and angling the ball into the far-right hand corner. This goal seemed to spark University of Sheffield into life, scoring two goals within five minutes. Just two minutes after conceding, a delightful through ball found the run of Sheffield frontman David Kaminsky, who sprung the offside trap, bore down on goal, and coolly tapped past the opposing goalkeeper to restore the home side’s lead. Just minutes later, on the half hour mark, Sheffield extended their lead to two goals. Winger Owen Weaver produced some fine individual wing play before producing a cross which caused chaos in the Lancashire penalty area, striker Kaminsky was on hand to bundle the ball over the line and claim his second, and Sheffield’s third, of the game. The Black and Gold saw out the rest of the first half, and went into the break with a 3-1 lead. While the home side slightly edged
the first period, the second was a different story. It was University of Central Lancashire who enjoyed most of the ball, and fashioned the best chances, albeit mostly being limited to shots from outside the box. On 55 minutes, Lancashire’s captain went close with a rasping drive from distance which flew just over the crossbar. With the wind in their favour, and playing downhill, the away side continued to press, and almost pulled a goal back on 70 minutes. After a free-kick fell to a Lancashire player on the edge of the box, the resultant shot took a wicked deflection, and demanded a superb acrobatic stop from Sivewright. Despite being on the back foot for most of the second half, the home side put the game to bed with ten minutes to play, with their only meaningful attack of the half. A searching through ball from Harry Jackson found substitute Johnny Thirkell, who raced away and calmly dispatched the ball with his left foot past the Lancashire goalkeeper. The home side closed out the match, and as a result of a resolute and organised defensive
Badminton Mens 2s in convincing win Emma Corr
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he University of Sheffield’s Badminton Men’s 2s thrashed Northumbria’s Men’s 2s, winning seven out of the eight matches played. The Black and Golds were keen to secure their pass into the second round of the Northern Conference Cup which last year was won by Northumbria 1s. From the outset Sheffield played on the attack with the first ranked pair securing a comfortable win over Northumbria’s second ranked pair, 21-18, 21-10. However the Black and Golds 2nd ranked pair just lost out to Northumbria’s 1st’s 21-16, 12-12, 1021 in their first match of the evening. In the men’s singles, Sheffield’s second ranked player, Anuj Savani, endured a lengthy match against Northumbria’s captain and 1st ranked player. This was unquestionably the match of the evening with Sheffield pushing hard to scrape the win 25-23 26-24. Sheffield’s team captain and first ranked player, Mike Trelfa, won his first match against Northumbria’s 2nd ranked player, 21-14, 21-17. Both Sheffield doubles pairs rounded up their last matches with two game winners. Sheffield’s first ranked pair ended their evening on a 23-21 21-13 win against Northumbria’s first ranked pair, whilst Sheffield’s second ranked pair had to work a little harder to secure the win over Northumbria’s second ranked pair, finishing 22-20, 23-21. It was success in the men’s singles too as both men fought hard
performance, in tandem with some clinical finishing, Uni of Sheffield emerged as 4-1 victors. With every player giving 100%, the home side
Mens football team finish the 2016/17 campaign
and DBL Sharks Roundup
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to finish on a high. The Black and Gold’s captain was not deterred by his teammate’s earlier on-court battle with Northumbria’s team captain and went on to beat him in comfortable style 21-17, 21-17. Closing the first round of the Northern Conference Cup, Sheffield’s second rank singles player took it to a 3 game fight against Northumbria’s second ranked man, but managed to retain composure and produce a 2112, 16-21, 21-13 win. Anuj Savani, Sheffield’s second ranked singles player, said: “I think all the games were really tough games. “I know some of the doubles games went to three, and some of my
Emma Corr
games went to three, so I think it was a really strong performance by both teams and we were fortunate to come out on top.” Captain of the Black and Golds, Mike Trelfa, said: “It went very well, it’s the first round of the cup so it is always great to keep going in that. “I was trying a few extra pairs out today who would not normally play, so I am very pleased with the result.”
Uni of Sheffield Football Facebook
Wednesday, United, Steelers Tim Adams
Badminton’s Men’s 2s pose for photo after win
consequently progress into the second round of the BUCS Northern Conference Cup.
port in Sheffield takes twists at every turn, no matter who is taking part or where it is taking place. This season is no different, and just in the last week the news of achievements and downfalls of teams have reverberated across the city. So, how have Sheffield United, Wednesday, Steelers and DBL Sharks fared? Sheffield United are the talk of the town and the football team to beat in the Championship, a testament to Chris Wilder’s management skills and a squad who consistently perform when the pressure cranks up a notch. After their 4-2 derby win at Hillsborough it was going to be tough to replicate that intensity every week, but United have found a knack to not play at their best and still win. Under the cameras and lights last Friday they proved that against Leeds United with a 2-1 win. Billy Sharp nodded in at the back post early on to give the away side the lead, but after a wave of pressure Leeds equalised before the break through Kalvin Phillips’ crisp half volley. Yet Wilder’s decision to bring on talented youngster David Brookes was inspired, with the Welsh international firing home to seal the three points. United now top the table by one point to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Unlike United, Sheffield Wednesday’s form has dropped drastically. There is a feeling at the club that Carlos Carvalhal must
improve results quickly or face the sack, and Saturday’s 1-1 draw at home to Barnsley didn’t help. Wednesday took a deserved lead through a mis-hit Adam Reach shot from close range, and would regret missing countless opportunities to double the advantage when Barnsley winger Harvey Barnes struck home from 30 yards to earn his side an away point. Wednesday now sit 16th, five points off the play-offs. In ice hockey, the Sheffield Steelers have started the season impressively, and are second in the table with 19 points behind Manchester Storm. Their most two recent games brought different results, the first a 2-1 loss away to Fife Flyers on Saturday night and the latter a resounding 6-0 victory against Braehead Clan at Ice Sheffield on Sunday. Just 83 seconds separated Sheffield from bringing both points home against Fife, but the Flyers equalised late on and then went onto claim victory in overtime. It was a far easier affair a day later though, with The Steelers tapping the puck into the goal within the first few minutes. They never looked back and claimed all the points. Basketball side, the DBL Sharks Sheffield, breezed past London Lions at EIS on Friday to extend their winning streak to five games. The 83-73 success against a topfour rival speaks volumes of the DBL Sharks’ confidence, four players finishing in double figures. They now sit second in the BBL Championship behind Esh Group Eagles Newcastle.
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Wednesday 1 November 2017
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Sport for all at Uni Adam Bailey
The University of Sheffield rugby league team took part in a wheelchair rugby league session to raise awareness of disability sport. The session was led by wheelchair rugby league player and coach Andy Atkinson, and started with a talk about disability awareness before the players put their skills to the test in a game against each other. Rugby league chairman and club captain Marcus Stock said: “It was a really positive and fun session. All the team learnt a lot and it was really good for us to experience how other people have to access rugby league. I would encourage anyone to give the sport a go.” The session was organised as part of the ‘We Are Able’ campaign, one of several events being organised
by Sheffield Students’ Union Sports Officer, Flo Brookes. The first ‘Sport For All’ event was held on Sunday as students took part in a We Are International football tournament to celebrate World Week. Speaking about the ‘Sport For All’ campaign, Flo Brookes said: “Something I am really passionate about is making sure everyone feels like sport is accessible to them and something that they can get involved in. “Sport has had such an amazing impact on my university career and so many other people’s, so I want to make sure we break down any barriers that might stop people from engaging in sport and I hope these campaigns will help to achieve this.”
Lacrosse 2s win again Tor Christie
Uni of Sheffield Lacrosse Men’s 2s continued their perfect start with a 12-9 win over Uni of Chester Men’s 1s. The win made it three wins out of three in Northern 3A for the team as they push for promotion this season. The first quarter started with captain Ben McKeller scoring the first two goals of the game before Chester pulled one back. The teams went into half-time with it being 5-2 for the Black and Golds as they dominated the first half with one from Alex Williams and two from Johnny Siney, who was dangerous in the game after netting five goals. McKeller added to his tally when he scored on the stroke of the end of third quarter to make it 9-4, while
keeper Alistair Geddes made some key saves that kept Chester from levelling. While Sheffield dominated the opening of the last quarter, the final few minutes were nervy as Chester pushed to equalise but Sheffield held on to end the game 12-9. McKeller, captain and scorer
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it’s great we managed to get a win against a first team, who was in the season above last season, despite us only being a second team. “There were a few freshers in the side today and they are putting their heart and soul out on the pitch so credit to them. “All the lads want promotion this season and with six or seven games coming up we hopefully can go undefeated.” Sheffield’s next game is a tough home fixture against Uni of Central Lancashire Men’s 1s, who are also unbeaten this season.
matches
of five goals, said: “It was a good performance from the lads. We have worked hard the last few weeks and
Captain’s Corner | Ultimate Frisbee Forge Sport Team
F
or our third issue of Captains Corner Forge Sport welcome the captains of the Ultimate Frisbee. We interview mixed captain and politics and sociology student, Zarah Dixon, Aerospace Engineering student Tom Clark and Becca Mighell, a biochemistry student. What inspired you to play ultimate Frisbee? Zarah: I have been throwing the disc around with my big brother since I was little so thought about taking it up at Uni. I was soon hooked and have never looked back. Tom: I used to play about with a Frisbee at my school during lunch breaks. It wasn’t really rthe same as Ultimate Frisbee as we basically had no rules but the idea was the same, catch it in the end zone and if the disc hits the floor turnover. Becca: I was introduced to Ultimate a tiny bit at school, so I knew how much fun it was, but never planned on playing it at uni. I was dragged along to a give-it-a-go session in freshers week and absolutely loved it, so here I am today! I guess I have my friend who took me along to thank. What has been your best moment whilst playing Ultimate Frisbee? Z: I can’t really pinpoint a best moment on the pitch but for me, having only been playing Ultimate for one year competitively, being chosen for the U24 GB development squad was incredible. T: I have two best moments whilst playing Frisbee. Number one was playing my first outdoor tournament with Manchester Frisbee club at Siege of Limerick, and the second was playing at missuldisc with sheffield
Ultimate Frisbee team pose for a photo in the traditional Black and Gold colours uni. They were both incredible experiences but for different reasons, Limerick was very competitive and was one of the highest standards of Frisbee that I have been a part of, whilst missuldisc was just an incredible time playing Frisbee in the warm Italian sun having finished my exams the day that we flew to Italy.
Being chosen for the U24 GB Development Squad was incredible B: My best moment is definitely scoring a point in my first year Varsity match, then going on to win the game.
What has been your embarrassing moment?
most
Z: This is a tough one but I recently organised a training to be run by an external player who I regrettably called ‘dad’ at one point. T: I haven’t been playing for very long so I don’t really have many embarrassing moments. Having said that literally this wednesday I did role my ankle during a slow turn of possession in a practice game. Which means that I can’t play this weekend at mixed regionals. B: I misheard a fresher’s name during their first give-it-ago session, and continued to call them the wrong name for a further 2 weeks before someone else pointed out my mistake. What is the Ultimate Frisbee society like? Z: One of the things I love most about the Ultimate Frisbee community
Uni of Sheffield Ultimate Frisbee Facebook is how friendly and welcoming it is. There’s a great emphasis on ‘spirit’ in the game and that
I can’t think of a sport society more inclusive than Ultimate Frisbee
attitude is something that resonates throughout the club. T: Our society is great. It’s filled with so many lovely people and it is always fun to hang out with then both at training and on our socials. B: I can’t think of a sport society more inclusive than Ultimate. It is perfect if you want to get involved in sport at uni but don’t have much idea of what you want to play. Everyone is so friendly and we’re like a family; we always have a laugh both at training and at socials. Ultimate is the perfect balance of competitiveness and fun, which I think is really important in sport. Where can people get in touch? Z: To get in touch with us we have a Facebook group called ‘University of Sheffield Ultimate’ or feel free to email the club at Ultimate@ sheffield.ac.uk.
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Adam May
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Another busy fortnight for Sheffield sport has come and gone with plenty of BUCS fixtures to sink our teeth into. We had a comprehensive victory over Sheffield Hallam in a pre-Varsity showdown, while women’s indoor cricket quite literally smashed it out of the court as they beat two club records. The last round of BUCS fixtures before we went to print saw us record 25 wins, three draws and 25 losses. Meanwhile, Sheffield United have
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continued their scarily good form, which included a 2-1 derby win over Leeds United, while Sheffield Wednesday drew with Barnsley in their respective derby. We have another interesting Sports Thoughts where Jay Jackson waxes lyrical at Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne who has come to life at Etihad Stadium this season as Pep Guardiola’s men look unstoppable. Don’t forget, if you want to help and be a contributor then please email press.sport@forgetoday.com or come to our weekly contributor meetings.
They’re held in Meeting Room 3 of the Octagon every Monday. We’ve got lots of opportunties coming up with BUCS, and also keep an eye out for the SU’s Sports Officer Flo Brookes this week as she launches the #ThisGirlCan campaign. Forge Sport will be having a more in-depth look at what it’s all about in the coming weeks. Enjoy this issue and thank you to our contributors who take time out of their Wednesday afternoons to bring these reports to your fingertips.
Women’s Indoor Cricket smash two club records Adam Bailey
Women’s Hockey 4s enjoy a 5-1 win over local rivals, Sheffield Hallam BUCS Hockey University of Sheffield
Women’s 4s
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Sheffield Hallam
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Women’s 4s
Patrick Burke The local bragging rights went the way of the University of Sheffield as the Women’s Hockey 4s triumphed 5-1 over Sheffield Hallam 4s at Goodwin Sports Centre. Two goals apiece for Annys Fearon and Sophie Norman, as well as one from Fru Wilson on the stroke of half-time, earned the Black and Golds a comprehensive victory. The hosts were on it from the off, keeping possession well and seeking to move the ball quickly; their dominance was justly reflected in the three-goal advantage that they had at the break. Hallam offered plenty of resistance early on, defending well to crowd out any shooting opportunities – especially when Sheffield were presented with an early chance from a short corner. However, there was an air of inevitability about the home team’s opener. Fearon had already proved a thorn in the visitors’ back line, peeling away from defenders to create space for herself. She
Forge Press
Patrick Burke
Women’s Hockey 4s hammer Hallam threatened when firing wide from just a few yards out when the ball was drilled into her at pace, and it was no surprise when she broke the deadlock midway through the first half. Sheffield worked a penalty corner neatly, and Fearon was left alone at the far post to smartly flick the ball into the net. They refused to rest on their laurels, and soon doubled their advantage. This one was all down to a moment of quality from Norman. Just inside the ‘D’, the centre forward escaped the attentions of her marker before unleashing a powerful driven effort on goal which found the bottom corner. Playing full of confidence, the hosts fired just off target from a penalty corner, but that proved only a temporary let off for Hallam. At the end of the first 35 minutes, Sheffield packed the ‘D’ with bodies and made their pressure count as Wilson put her side three to the good. With that, any hopes that the away team had of producing a comeback effectively vanished, and their task was made all
the more difficult just after the restart when Fearon bagged her second goal of the afternoon after another intelligently worked short corner. To their credit Hallam kept going, and they showed good character to work a quick break down the right flank which was converted by Charlotte Reynolds. But Sheffield sought a four-goal cushion, and made it 5-1 moments later, with Norman also grabbing her second goal of the day. This was another terrific strike as she shot between the goalkeeper’s legs and into the far corner. The home side always looked the more likely to add to the score-line, but the match petered out and they could be very content with a deserved three points and five goals to go with it. Coach Alex Eyre was left delighted with his players’ performance. “There were a lot of new faces in the team, and I think everyone gelled really well so it was good to come away with such a positive win so early in the season,” he said.
The women’s indoor cricket team smashed two club records for six after they set their highest record innings total and recorded their biggest ever winning margin in Durham last Sunday. After beating Edinburgh in their first fixture of the BUCS Northern and Scotland Regional Heats, their next match ended in defeat against Durham. Sheffield were looking to bounce back in their final fixture of the day against St. Andrews and the black and gold bounced back in some style. After winning the toss, St. Andrews put Sheffield into bat and the opening partnership of Millie Boddington and Eliza Goode got Sheffield off to
a blistering start. Twenty runs off just the first six balls was the beginning of what would prove to be a recordbreaking innings from Sheffield. The Black and Golds finished with a total of 180-2 after 10 overs, surpassing their previous record by over 45 runs. Sheffield then limited St. Andrews to 27-5 off their 10 overs to win by an incredible 153 runs; the club’s largest ever winning margin. Club captain Millie Boddington said: “When St. Andrews put us into bat, we said let’s get 150, which still would have been a record for the club. But to surpass 150 and reach 180 and still be a bit disappointed we didn’t get any more runs just shows how far the club has come”.