Issue 115

Wednesday 29 November 2017

Issue 115

Is window shopping dead?

Naughty List

Features

Opinion

Why we favour the click of a button to a trip to Meadowhall? p. 13

Who’ll be getting coal in their stocking this year?

p. 26

Game’s Picks of 2017 Will any of these be on your Christmas list?

Games

p. 23

Students march to Reclaim the Night in Sheffield David Anderson

U

niversity students marched through the streets of Sheffield for the 40th anniversary of ‘Reclaim the Night’ on Saturday 25 November.

Sheffield Students’ Union collaborated with the Women’s Committee to organise the march, which aimed to help women feel safer in the city at night. Sheffield Hallam’s Students’ Union were also involved with the planning.

Women’s Officer, Celeste Jones, said: “Reclaim The Night was such a success and I am so proud to see so many people attend and get so actively involved. It was such an empowering event and I would like to thank everyone for attending and braving the cold.

“The movement is not over, we need to stand together and support each other, stand... (Cont. on page 6)

Protesters were raucous throughout the march, chanting while displaying placards and banners

Ben Warner

Students flock to London for Free Education March Ben Warner

S

tudents from Sheffield joined others from around the country to march for free education in London on Wednesday 15 November.

Up to 10,000 students were expected to descend on London for the march, culminating in a rally at Parliament Square.

The event was organised by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC), and featured students from areas as far afield as Aberdeen.

Education Officer Stuart McMillan, who also sits on the National Committee for NCAFC, led Sheffield’s participation in the march, featuring students from Hallam as well as the University.

Stuart McMillan said: “It was

brilliant to see so many Sheffield students march with us, from those engaged with the SU to those who had never been on a protest before.

“I’m sure so many will go home inspired by the clear and radical message in favour of an education system run in the interests of the many, and funded by taxing the rich and big business.

“I think this was articulated most

clearly by the most popular chant on the day, ‘students and workers: unite and fight!’. The day was the start of something much bigger, and in the months ahead we have the real fight on our hands.

“Whether it’s organising to fight the HE reforms or supporting University workers in potential strike action, there’s never been a better time to... (Cont. on page 4)

#ThisGirlCan hailed a success by SU Sports Officer David Anderson

S

heffield Students’ Union’s ‘This Girl Can’ week has been hailed a success after hundreds of female students took part in a range of events.

The week is a national celebration of active women in both competitive and noncompetitive sport.

Between Monday 20 and Sunday 26 November, female students at the University of Sheffield were given the chance to get involved with new sports, supported by the SU, Sports Committee and Sport Sheffield.

Flo Brookes, Sports Officer at Sheffield Students’ Union, said: “This Girl Can week was an amazing success. We had over 350 girls across the range of events throughout the week.

“There was... (Cont. 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 Dan Cross Head of News Ben Warner News press.news@forgetoday.com David Anderson Alex Peneva Gethin Morgan Opinion press.opinion@forgetoday.com James Pendlington Josie Le Vay Features press.features@forgetoday.com Katharine Swindells Megan-Lily McVey Elsa Vulliamy Coffee Break press.coffeebreak@forgetoday.com Dave Peacock

Wednesday 29 November 2017

Editorial

N

ovember is coming to a close and we here at Forge Press are getting into the festive mood early with our very own Christmas special. Personally I think it can’t come soon enough; despite the cold I adore everything about this time of year. And how couldn’t you? The same songs on repeat, cold nights with mulled wine and spending time with friends and family; bliss.

But it’s important to never lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas: the spirit of giving.

And boy are Forge giving you a treat with yet another outstanding issue of Forge Press.

We kick off the festivities with Features who look at the steady decline of the high street as people rely more and more on the internet for their commercial quandaries. As someone who

works in retail, I honestly wish this decline was happening faster especially during December. Gone are the quiet weekends of me pretending to be busy in front of my manager, replaced by endless queues of Christmas shoppers. Oh how I loathe them.

Not quite Christmas themed but definitely some essential reading is Lifestyle’s much anticipated definitive list of the best chips in Sheffield. Got to be Ranmoor Friery for me, their vegan box is to die for.

On to Opinion who have compiled their very own naughty list (unfortunately Josie and James don’t think anyone is worthy of a nice list). Katie Hopkins and Piers Morgan are unsurprising entrants, but there’s also the much broader listee of Rick and Morty fans, a sentiment I can absolutely get behind. If you’re

the sort of person who demands szechuan sauce at McDonalds or shouts “I’m pickle Rick” in public, you seriously need to take a long hard look at yourself.

Definitely my highlight of this issue has to be Sport, who have not only made a snazzy looking article on the ESPS, as well as a very sombre tribute to the late Sheffield Olympian, Leslie Martin.

And finally a look at Games, where Tom and Chloe (collectively known as Chlom) have compiled a list of their favourite games of the year. From triple A titles to indie darlings, there’s some absolute gems on here which should certainly give you food for thought when writing your list for Father Christmas.

But it’s not all festive cheer.

Sadly this will be the last issue of Forge Press of the year meaning you’ll have to wait a whole two

Forge Press

months before you hear from us again. Hopefully the promise of presents and far too much food will at least go so way to ease your pain. Quick last order of business: a couple of people got in touch with us regarding an article in the last issue. We have published a full statement which can be found on the following page. Have a wonderful break and best of luck to those of you sitting exams. See you all in February!

Pic of the Press

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

Photo credit: Sahar Ghadirian It’s finally December and that can only mean one thing. That’s right folks, it’s the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony! Now we all know you are extremely excited but while you are waiting you can keep yourself entertained at Sheffield’s Christmas Market.

Featuring local businesses (I can vouch for the Sheffield

Cheese stand) along with some international stalls. Open during the day and in the evening it’s a great way to get into the festive spirit. With this issue being the last of 2017, we wish you all happy holidays and a great start to the New Year.

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 two vacancies for the following position: - Online News Editor - Sports Copy Editor 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 7 December. Details will be announced on our Facebook page nearer the date.

Contact luke.baldwin@forgetoday.com with any questions.

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Wednesday 29 November 2017

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Official Forge Press Apology On behalf of Forge Press, I would like to apologise for the language used in the “Tinder Gets Political” Opinion column which featured in the last issue of the paper (15/11).

Forge Press in no way condones sexual harassment and recognises that this includes unsolicited sexual messages, on dating apps or otherwise. Forge Press also recognises that sexual harassment in this form is never acceptable, regardless of the sexuality of those involved.

For those that have requested context, the language used in the message was done so in response to content of the individual’s bio.

The Opinion Editors chose to omit this context as they felt it may identify the person they were communicating with. We regret this decision and apologise for any offence caused. The message as it appears in the paper comes across as unsolicited and should not have been printed.

Forge Press would also like to apologise for any unsatisfactory responses received when complaining about this incident. Our complaint process is currently being reviewed and those who responded to complaints have been briefed on this.

Personally, I would like to thank the people that have been in contact.

Forge is a paper for all students and we openly take criticism and suggestions as to how we can represent you better.

Any further problems or questions, or if you would just like to discuss these issues, please contact me at luke.baldwin@forgetoday.com Luke Baldwin Editor in Chief

Representatives from Virgin Money, McDonalds and John Lewis with Tracey Ford from Sheffield City Council

Xxxxx Images

Big businesses team up to tackle homelessness in Sheffield Gethin Morgan

A

local campaign to help homeless people on the streets of Sheffield has been supported by the likes of Virgin Money, McDonalds and John Lewis.

The Help Us Help Christmas campaign sees 20 different organisations, from big businesses to local charities, join Sheffield City Council in aid of vulnerable people on the street.

The campaign calls for people to donate canned food, gloves, hats, scarves and toiletries to charities that help rough sleepers. There will be a Help Us Help Christmas stall in the city centre’s Christmas market, in front of the Peace Gardens, providing information from 30 November to 6 December.

Collection boxes will also be on the stall and at the reception of the Town

Hall, with money collected being split between the charities running Help Us Help, such as the Cathedral Archer Project.

Lee Macadam, 42, lives in Sheffield and attends the Archer Project every day. He was homeless for years,

£3.5bn spent by local councils in UK on homeless accomodation between 2011-16

addicted to drugs and spent time in jail. With help from organisations like the Archer Project, he’s in his own accommodation and has been working for the past three years.

Mr Macadam said: “I’ve been clean for over two years now. But before

then I was living on the streets and sofa surfing. I was at the Archer Project five days a week. They’d save my clothes in a box, I’d get a shower and they helped me with accommodation. And then they introduced me to the work aspect.”

He added: “If I hadn’t of had the help I’d still be on the street, limping around with abscesses. Everywhere else I lived, there was never this kind of help. Or I’d never used it before. It helped me loads, probably kept me alive.”

“People should help. You feel good in yourself. And some people like to help. They buzz off it.”

Tim Renshaw, Chief Executive of the Cathedral Archer Project, said: “People end up on the street for a variety of different reasons and bad luck, and they often have very complex problems.”

“Services across Sheffield work

Britain’s Got Talent star lights up Sheffield for festive season Lizzy O’Connor

O

ver 37,000 Sheffielders filled the city centre to watch some of TV’s biggest stars light up the city to kick off the Christmas season.

This year’s guests of honour were Britain’s Got Talent’s Kyle Tomlinson and X Factor’s Sam Black who joined Sheffield Lord Mayor and Councillor Anne Murphy.

She said: “The atmosphere was magical, and it was great to meet

Kyle and the pantomime guests from Mother Goose and to see so many Sheffield people out celebrating the festive season.”

Festivities included carol singing, craft and street entertainment, with food and mulled wine on offer.

Two 3D illuminated butterflies, the largest of which is over six metres high, were also turned on in Millennium Square. The butterflies will be on display for the next six weeks and are a gift from the Confucius Institute at the University

of Sheffield.

Dr Lucy Zhao, Director of the Institute, said: “Butterflies have always been popular in Chinese culture, for example in embroidery, paintings, and porcelain.

“The frame of the butterflies being displayed in the city was created through 3D printing. In this sense, the butterfly lights showcase the combination of tradition, innovation and advanced manufacturing, which is what Sheffield is all about.”

Councillor Mary Lea, Cabinet

Member for Culture, Parks and Leisure said of the event: “I am delighted so many people came to

37,000

people gathered to watch the lights switched on

the city centre to mark this occasion.

“I hope those of you who did not

together to support them and help people make positive changes and move towards a better life.”

If I hadn’t had the help, I’d still be on the street, limping around with abscesses make it will come to the city centre to see the lights and the amazing illuminated butterflies that have been given to us in the spirit of friendship.”

The entertainment also included a performance by the cast of this year’s Mother Goose pantomime with Benidorm actor Jake Canuso and Pantomime Dame Damien Williams taking to the stage.

If you want to see the city all lit up, a festive Plus One offer announced

by Sheffield City Council has made it cheaper and easier to get into town on Thursdays in December.

The offer means anyone with a bus or tram ticket can bring along one other person for free on journeys in Sheffield into the city centre after 4.30pm, and out of the city centre after 6.30pm.

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Wednesday 29 November 2017

Forge Press

Photos (clockwise from top left): protesters gather with placards; the march begins; some students set off flares during the protest; the march in full swing. Photos

by Ben Warner

Students flock to London for Free Education March Ben Warner

(Cont. from front page) ...be involved in free education activism.”

The march was calling not just for an end to all tuition fees, but also the restoration of living grants for students and the halting of campus cuts. According to the SU, 30 campuses around the country have already been affected by cuts in the last few years.

Around 70 students travelled down from Sheffield on coaches

for the march, including most of the Students’ Union officers and members of Students’ Union Council.

10,000 expected attendance

The Students’ Union offered cheap

travel to those interested in going, charging just £5 for the coach tickets.

On the day, students put their point across raucously, with chants and flares as they walked through a busy part of central London.

Chants centred on the current Conservative government - in particular on Theresa May - but also showed support for the Labour Party and socialism.

Placards were given out freely at the beginning of the march at Malet Street, as well as many banners

being brought from SUs around the country.

There were several speakers both before and after the march. Some, especially from the National Union of Students, gave rousing speeches outside University College London’s Students’ Union at the start, while NCAFC figures (including Stuart McMillan) spoke at the end of the march, just yards from the Houses of Parliament.

The day was the start of something much bigger and in the months ahead we have the real fight on our hands

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Wednesday 29 November 2017

Journalism department best in country Brigid Harrison-Draper

The University’s Journalism department is celebrating another year of being top of the charts in both The Guardian and The Times university league tables.

Ranking higher than the likes of Cardiff, Nottingham Trent and Lincoln, the department has held onto its record of dominating

the university league tables. The department celebrated on Twitter with the hashtag #doublenumber1, with students old and new interacting reminiscing about their time studying at the University.

Alumnus Liana Jacob, now a feature writer at Media Drum World, tweeted: “Not at all surprised.

I’ve already come across certain journalistic dilemmas in my job

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and had it not been for Sheffield Journalism I would have found it a huge challenge. Thank you.”

The department prides itself on

66

universities don’t

teach journalism as well as us

the career prospects achievable with their Journalism BA, with previous students working with employers

such as BBC and Sky Sports.

The department currently runs their popular BA Journalism Studies degree which is double-accredited by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) and the Professional Publishers Association (PPA). They also run extensive postgraduate courses including Broadcast and Magazine Journalism.

With a 86/100 rating for career prospects after six months and a 94.9/100 rating for student satisfaction, there will certainly be some interest from prospective students in joining the department over the next year.

9 Mappin Street:

home of journalism

Ben Warner

Green Party call for healthcare liability Ben Warner

#ThisGirlCan hailed a success

by SU Sports Officer David Anderson

(Cont. from front page) ...an amazing talk from Helen Freeman, the captain of Great Britain wheelchair basketball. It was so inspiring to hear about her journey as both a female and a disabled athlete.

“She said she was ‘feeling as though she was a minority within a minority’, and she talked about how sport really helps her to build up her confidence.

“I think it’s really inspiring to show how we can use sport to build

up confidence and to empower more women in life.”

Sport Sheffield has over 4,000 members, of which 45 per cent are female, and there are 33 different sports teams accessible to females.

However, throughout the week, 70 per cent of all the girls who attended the events were not members of the club sport, which pleased Brookes.

She said: “I think this is the really key statistic that just shows that events like this are so necessary, because otherwise they might not have engaged.

I just want to encourage more clubs to run female sessions

“So I just want to encourage more clubs to run female sessions throughout the year and just really keep on empowering women to get involved.”

Students at the University can get involved in sport at any level with Sport Sheffield. Social Sport offers beginners a chance to give new sports a chance, while the Elite Sport Scheme from the University supports advanced and highly successful athletes.

The Green Party have called for greater accountability of healthcare decisions in Sheffield.

Councillor Douglas Johnson, of the City ward, wants greater scrutiny of the Accountable Care Partnership, which has just been given the go-ahead in the city.

This is an agreement between senior executives of the hospitals, health trusts and Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group, as well as Sheffield City Council, which aims to improve healthcare for residents of the city.

However, as it stands it is only accountable to the Health and Wellbeing Board, while Johnson wants it covered by the cross-party Health & Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee.

He said: ““I wanted to give the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee a chance to ask for a formal role in looking at decisions made in the name of the Accountable Care Partnership.

It is the only cross-party committee that could scrutinise decisions. Unfortunately, the Cabinet member’s decision only allows the single-party Health and Wellbeing Board to have formal oversight of the decisions.”

“I am very pleased this call-in has cross-party support. The role of scrutiny committees of elected councillors is very important on a contentious issue like this.”

Forge Press has contacted Sheffield City Council for comment.

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Wednesday 29 November 2017

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Students march to Reclaim Olympian dies the Night in Sheffield outside Hillsborough David Anderson

(cont. from front page) ...up to sexual harassment/assault/violence and continue to fight.”

The event set off from Sheffield Cathedral at 6.30pm before finishing with a rally at Coffee Revolution at 7.30pm.

Mayeda Tayyab, Chair of the Women’s Committee, said: “I think the event was great. It was amazing to see the huge turnout. Almost 200 women took part on the march which was incredible and very empowering.

“It’s really important to have such events because they raise awareness, especially for young people who might not know about these issues or the depth of them. These events give them an opportunity to learn and hopefully motivate them to take these campaign on to the future generations in the coming years.

“It’s also important because people need to know that we will keep

raising our voice until these issues are solved. If we stay silent, violence against women will never end. We have to keep raising awareness and talking about these issues, that’s the only way to bring change.”

49%

of those who drink out

say they have been on the receiving end of sexual harassment

women a night where they could walk the streets of their towns and cities while feeling safe.

Recent figures have shown that almost three quarters (70%) of 1824 year old men and women who drink in bars, clubs or pubs surveyed said that they had seen sexual harassment on a night out. Almost half (49%) said that they had been on the receiving end of some form of sexual harassment themselves.

Marches took place across the country for the event, with hundreds of women gathering in Trafalgar Square in London for the country’s main march.

Reclaim the Night marches began in 1977, in response to police telling women to stay at home after dark during the Yorkshire Ripper’s murder spree.

Over the years, the marches have evolved to have a wider focus on rape and male violence, and to give

Gethin Morgan

Two time Special Olympic champion Leslie Martin tragically passed away outside Hillsborough last Saturday.

In August Mr Martin won both the single and team gold medals in the Boccia, a sport similar to bowls, at the Sheffield Special Olympics.

At the age of just 34, he passed away on Saturday outside the ground of his beloved Sheffield Wednesday, having just seen them play Bristol City.

Tributes flooded in on social media following his passing, and Sheffield Smashers Boccia Club posted on Facebook: “We are so sad to hear that our friend Leslie Martin passed away this weekend. One of our first members in the early days, Leslie was an inspiration and a hero to us all at Smashers.

“He had so many amazing boccia medals, some of which he came

to show us at our re-launch event in September, where we enjoyed watching him, Kyle and Jordan comfortably thrash Paul Blomfield MP and the Lord Mayor!”

“He was dedicated to boccia (and his beloved SWFC!), had a fantastic sense of humour and was an allround great guy. We are so proud to call him our friend. On behalf of the club, we would like to pass on our heartfelt condolences to all Leslie’s family and friends at this awful time.”

Tramlines will move from the 2017 locations of the Ponderosa (above), Endcliffe Park and Devonshire Green

Tramlines 2018 location in doubt after noise objection David Anderson

Tramlines faces an uncertain future after an objection has been made against its 2018 licence application.

The Sheffield music festival had planned to move to Hillsborough Park for its 10th anniversary next summer, nearly doubling its main stage capacity from last year’s Ponderosa venue.

Endcliffe Park and Devonshire Green housed the other two stages in 2017.

However an objection from

Environmental Health, based on noise, could prevent the move to Hillsborough.

The licence notification period ran until Tuesday 7 November. Festival organisers then held a meeting with interested residents from Parkside Road, which is on the side of the park where the stage is likely to be located.

In a statement posted on the Friends of Hillsborough Park Facebook page, Tramlines expressed their shock at the objection.

They said: “There has been an objection raised to the license from

We are hopeful that there will still be a festival

Environmental Health - based on noise. This came as a surprise. There was no indication it would happen and Tramlines has previously always worked closely with Environmental Health and with our own noise consultants on site at Ponderosa which has equally close residential properties.”

An objection was also made by one local resident, but it was later dropped when the music curfews were confirmed as being 10pm on Friday and Saturday, and 9pm on Sunday.

In their statement, Tramlines could not guarantee that the festival would be going ahead.

“We are hopeful that there will still be a festival,” they said. “But at the moment it looks like we are going to the licensing committee in December. We have the support of the council and there will be a statement of support from the Head of Major Events.

“We have reached out to residents on Parkside Road, have had one meeting so far and have called another for next week. This is the road the Environmental Health Organization is most concerned about. We have a company coming to acoustically model the site to present to the licensing committee.”

Tickets are already on sale for Tramlines 2018, which if it goes ahead is planned for Friday 20 July to Sunday 22 July.

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Wednesday 29 November 2017

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NUS to look into sexual harassment at university Ben Warner

Soon everyone will want a slice of Sheffield’s growing conference market

Andy Brown

Sheffield Ambassador Programme celebrates 10th birthday Gethin Morgan and David Anderson

T

he Sheffield Ambassador Programme held its 10th anniversary last week, commemorating those who bring large scale business events to Sheffield.

Key figures from academia, medicine, arts and science congregated at Firth Hall for the annual dinner.

The programme is run by Marketing Sheffield and aims to boost business tourism in the Steel City by bringing conferences and meetings from various industries to Sheffield.

England international footballer Harry Maguire was spotted in Bierkeller on Saturday 18 November.

The Leicester City defender, who started his career at Sheffield United, returned to his home city after playing against Manchester City earlier in the day.

David Davies, a spokesperson for The Original Bierkeller Sheffield, said: “Harry is a great lad, we’ve been friends for nearly eight years. He’s a Sheffield lad, lives in Sheffield. He always enjoys the Bierkeller.”

Maguire has enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent years, signing for Leicester City last summer and earning his first England cap against Lithuania in October. Photograph: The Original Bierkeller Sheffield

Marketing Sheffield’s Emma France said: “As our 10th anniversary celebrations come to an end, we’re looking ahead to an even brighter future of industry-leading events being held in Sheffield.”

“Our fantastic city is home to so many extraordinary people and we can’t wait to see what else they have up their sleeves for the coming years.

And, as ever, we’ll be there to support them every step of the way.”

The city’s conference market generates huge sums for the local economy, with an estimated worth of £113m.

The ambassador programme alone has brought in close to £30m worth

of events to the economy in the last six years.

Matthew Malek, a lecturer in experimental particle physics at the

£113m estimated value of the conference market to Sheffield

University of Sheffield and a speaker at the event, was this year chosen

as an ambassador to promote the celebrations.

He said: “As a particle physicist I have worked on projects all over the world since leaving New York City, but I now plan to stay in Sheffield.

I really enjoy bringing people to Sheffield. It’s one of the biggest cities in England and we have a first class university.

“Our modest reputation doesn’t always reflect how good we are so I love being able to bring my contacts from around the world here and show them how great Sheffield is.”

The National Union of Students is working in partnership with The 1752 Group to investigate sexual misconduct in universities.

They say it is a result of media reports of higher education staff “abusing their positions of power”.

A survey is being run, aimed at all current and former students, which asks if they’ve ever witnessed or experienced sexual misconduct at university.

Hareem Ghani, NUS Women’s Officer, said: “As it currently stands, many institutions are illequipped to deal with instances of student-staff harassment.

“A lack of research in the area, combined with a lack of understanding has meant that many universities do not have basic guidelines on this issue.

“For too long, these problems have been at best sidelined and at worst silenced by institutions.”

The survey will run until midnight on Friday 15 December 2017, and is easily accessible from the 1752 Group’s website.

Giggle Aid Returns to Sheffield Mattew Hartill

Sheffield is set to welcome a host of stars from the world of comedy as part of the Red Cross’ annual comedy fundraising gala, Giggle Aid. The event, now into its ninth year, will return on 10 December to the Platinum Suite in Bramall Lane, home of Sheffield United.

Nathan Caton, known for appearances on BBC’s Mock the Week and Live at the Apollo, will headline the event. Joining him will be comics Tez Ilyas, Tom Toal, Chris Purchase and musical comedian Christian Reilly. Hosting the event is New Zealand comic Sully O’Sullivan.

Helen Whale, Senior Community Fundraiser for British Red Cross Yorkshire said: “Giggle Aid is my favourite event every year, but even I can’t believe this year’s line up. It always sells out, and the atmosphere is like no other. It’s an exclusive chance to see some great comedians, and what’s better than laughing for a good cause?”

All of the acts will be donating their time to raise funds for the Red Cross. Tickets are £20 per person, and can be found online at redcross. org.uk/Giggle.

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Wednesday 29 November 2017

Features facebook.com/ForgePress

@ForgePress

press.features@forgetoday.com

Congrats! You’ve made it to the Christmas issue of Forge or (as it is also known) the beginning of the end - since it may as well be the end of the academic year. By the time January exams are over it’s basically Easter, and when that’s done we’re almost at May exams, and then the year’s over. For first years who haven’t done this before, try not to panic.

To keep those butterflies at bay, we’ve got some brilliant content for you this issue: an update from the SU Officer team on the ‘Prioritising Our Mental Health’ campaign;

Forge Press

a piece on the history and future of the legendary Leadmill; a debate on whether we’re witnessing the death of window shopping; and a peek into the life of a local resident in our new recurring feature Bursting the Bubble.

So wrap up warm, dear readers, bulk-buy the Heroes boxes for your forgotten secret santas, dig out your suits and dresses for society Christmas balls and dinners, and try not to get too drunk. We’ll see you in 2018!

Love from your Features Editors - Katharine, Elsa and Megan

Prioritising Our Mental Health After last year’s mental health survey, Reena Staves and Kieran Maxwell reflect on the results and report back on what changes they, along with the rest of the officer team, are going to make to tackle the issue.

W

e are in the midst of a mental health crisis in our universities. To tackle this, we must work both to end the stigma around mental health and to fight for real change in improving our vital mental health services.

As an Officer Team, we believe it is essential that we do all we can to ensure our students’ mental health and wellbeing is prioritised in every aspect of their university life.

Both Kieran and I sit on the University Mental Health Strategy Group (set up in April 2017 in response to national and campus concerns around provisions for mental health support). The group aims to enhance the University’s position in terms of strategy and operations regarding student mental health. This group has overseen the development of an exciting, three-year Mental Health Strategy, that we have been directly involved in shaping. The strategy is very comprehensive, including areas such as appropriate staff training.

As well as this, I have been heavily involved in the formation of the new mental health support service Student Access to Mental Health Support (SAMHS).

I sat on the panel which recruited the new triage staff and have been regularly attending Process Improvement Unit meetings to review the service’s performance. Four new mental health professional staff have been recruited by the University to launch this service.

Mental health and wellbeing is one of Kieran’s central focuses this year, too. He has been working incredibly hard - along with our Education Officer, Stuart McMillan - to review the Extenuating Circumstances system with the view to making it more accessible and streamlined across the University.

Continuing the work of our predecessors, Anna Mullaney and Dom Trendall, Kieran and I have been working closely with staff both within the University and Students’ Union to ensure the Prioritise Our Mental Health campaign is given the merit and recognition it deserves. A lot of the work we’ve been doing so far to prioritise mental health has been very much behindthe-scenes. That’s why we wanted to take this opportunity to share what we’ve been doing and show you how proud we are of the progress that we have made.

We wanted to share some of the key findings we were deeply struck by in the Prioritise Our Mental Health (POMH) 2016/17 survey, and what we’re doing in response to combat this.

Your Officer Team have been working hard to get the mental health provision that Sheffield students deserve. There is still much to be done, but we hope that our efforts pave the way to achieving parity between mental and physical health issues and concerns.

Reena Staves (Welfare) and Kieran Maxwell (President)

If you are affected by the issues raised in this feature, please look at the “Need Support” section.

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Wednesday 29 November 2017

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In March of the last academic year, over 2,000 of you filled out a survey on your mental health. Here’s what you said, and what we’re going to do about it.

17% of respondents said they felt lonely or isolated.

The most common clinical diagnoses amongst our student respondents were depression (43% of respondents with a clinical diagnosis) and anxiety (37% of respondents with a clinical diagnosis).

Reena: As a commuter-student in my first year, I felt the direct effects of loneliness. In a University that is home to over 28,000 students, I can’t explain how isolating it can be when you’re not a part of that natural network University accommodation provides. That is why this year I am dedicating my time in office to focus on combatting loneliness. I am working on launching my Speak Your Mind campaign, which focuses on highlighting the power of the arts to bring people together and form natural communities. I will also be working on expanding my Wellbeing Buddy initiative, which I launched during the Freshers’ and Activity fairs at the start of the year.

Flo: Sports and activities are a great way to make friends and transform your University experience. In the POMH report it was revealed that 93% of respondents felt barriers to engaging in sports and activities. I have committed my year to breaking down barriers for students at all levels of participation to play sport and be active at university. I have launched my Sport for All campaign and all the sports clubs have committed to working throughout the year to make their clubs as inclusive and welcoming as they possibly can!

41% report feeling stressed at least most of the time.

Santhana: I am working closely with Reena to establish a permanent quiet room in the Students’ Union for students to recuperate and recollect their thoughts away from the hustle and bustle of the SU and the campus. There is so much importance in having a quiet space within the safe space that we provide in the SU for students to feel supported. The Chaplaincy Centre in the Octagon also provides a quiet room that students can drop into at any time.

69% of respondents reported experiencing mental health problems in the past year.

Santhana: I am working with the University to address the issues concerning the welfare of Postgraduate Research students.

I am also working closely with the Mature Students Committee to encourage more mature student participation through events that are family and carer-oriented. Mature students ranging from undergraduate to postgraduate research require more representation in the Students’ Union and the University, and their welfare is paramount to both parties.

International students are also caught in Unfair Means misconducts such as plagiarism and collusion. These situations cause strenuous pressure on students’ mental health as they face penalties that includes expulsion. I am currently working with the Student Advice Centre on how to better support students in these situations and assess the issue to see if there is any gap in the support provided by their departments.

Celeste: I have been working with the University on the Ask, Care, Tell Campaign (ACT).

The campaign aims to encourage students to be active bystanders in safe situations where others may be having a hard time and to simply be kind to those in times of need. We want students to take the pledge to promise to be active bystanders and ACT when they see others in distress, whatever this may be. You can sign the pledge and find out more info at sheffield.ac.uk/act Tom: The stigma surrounding men’s health needs to be challenged. In the light of this, I launched my Men’s Health Campaign. Throughout November, to coincide with the national Movember campaign, I held a series of events and workshops that aimed to educate students’ on physical health such as cancer awareness and prevention, as well as mental health. It’s been going incredibly well - look out for some upcoming events as this is a year-long campaign.

Need Support?

If you are affected by mental health problems or have other personal difficulties, there’s lots of support you can access at the University and SU. Students are able to gain free access to Big White Wall, an online mental health and wellbeing service monitored by therapists 24/7. Big White Wall offers self-help programmes, creative outlets and provides an online community. You can find out more

information at www.bigwhitewall. com/university Student Access To Mental Health Support (SAMHS) is a new University service which is your first point of call for accessing mental health support at the University. SAMHS aims to offer you details of an appointment within 48 hours of registration. Their workers are trained clinical staff who can help figure out which support options will suit you, and refer you into those services. You can access SAMHS

Reena: Students with clinical diagnoses can now access SAMHS to be triaged by trained, clinical professionals, and be referred onto the best support services for them at the University. The University has also launched the free, online course “Fly”. Designed by clinical professionals, it helps people build skills to look after their mental wellbeing and discuss the material in a safe and supportive environment. You can find out about Fly atsheffield.ac.uk/mental-wellbeing/fly Free access to Big White Wall, an online mental health and wellbeing service monitored by therapists 24/7, is available to all students. Big White Wall offers self-help programmes, creative outlets and provides a supportive online community.

You can find out more information at bigwhitewall.com/ university

Three-quarters of our respondents do not understand how their department deals with reporting extenuating circumstances.

Kieran: Reena, Stuart and I are looking into changing the way in which the University deals with extenuating circumstances, to make it more userfriendly and consistent across departments. Currently, we are looking for students who are willing to share their experiences of reporting extenuating circumstances to find out what works and what doesn’t. If you are interested, you can share your experience online at bit.ly/2mzcDXj. If you are considering applying for, or are in the process of applying for, extenuating circumstances you can also visit the Student Advice Centre on level three of the SU building. The Advice Team can offer specialist face-to-face guidance and access to self-help materials.

A quarter of respondents had considered ending their life at least once.

Kieran: This is the finding from the survey that I found to be the most shocking and saddening. Though it is upsetting to read, it also perfectly demonstrates that much more needs to be done to support people with mental health difficulties, especially in crisis.

I’ve been encouraged by the steps the University has taken in training its security team to deal with crises. Myself and a few other officers have taken part in Mental Health First Aid training, and this is something I’d like to see replicated for the rest of the student-facing staff in the Students’ Union.

The SU should be a place where students feel safe and confident that those around them are equipped to support them. I’m also looking to expand the opening hours for services like the Health Service and the Counselling service, so students have more access to essential support.

by registering on this website www. atsheffield.ac.uk/mental-wellbeing from a University computer or with a University VPN. If you are in crisis, please urgently contact your GP. If your GP is based in the University Health Service, you can access UHS by phoning 0114 222 2100. You can also phone Samaritans at 116 123, or Nightline at 01142228787 (available 20:00-08:00 in term time).

10

Wednesday 29 November 2017

Forge Press

Bursting the bubble

In this series we go beyond the university to speak to Sheffield residents, from outside

our uni bubble, to hear their thoughts on the city in the past and the present, and to see

what they think about students.

You couldn’t wish to be in a better place, actually, than Sheffield - Ron Hayman, butcher and baker Thomas Vigar

I

f you want to know what’s going on in Crookes, speak to Ron Hayman. Over 38 years of being a butcher and baker at R Hayman on the Crookes high street, 71-year-old Ron has seen the city develop massively.

“I think it’s changed for the best, of course, especially with the trams… and the local hospitals.” But he also says that “the supermarkets are killing us, slowly,” suggesting that this transformation may not be wholly positive for small businesses.

Years of experience working in the area have given him a strong knowledge of the local community. As he sees people walking down the street outside his shop he explains who they are and what they do.

He knows all about the new developments nearby – the old post office across the street is going to be an ice cream shop, the pub down the road may be closing down.

Yet Hayman admits that some things never change. With its “fabulous” character and being “on the doorstep to the countryside…you couldn’t wish to be in a better place, actually, than Sheffield”.

His favourite thing about the city is the people: “They’re all much the same, people in South Yorkshire… they all call you luv and pal and all that. They’re really, really friendly.” And, surprisingly, he doesn’t have a bad word to say about students either. “I think they’re brilliant,” Hayman exudes. “We have a good rapport.”

As he explains how former students still pop into the shop every now and then to say hello, sure enough a recent graduate steps through the door to do exactly that.

The familiarity between Ron Hayman and his customer hints at a relationship built up over years of conversation over hot pork sandwiches and custard tarts, bought to make that nine-to-five working day more bearable.

R Hayman butchers can be found at 96 Crookes, S10 1UG and is open from 8am7pm on weekdays, and 8am-6pm on Saturdays.

Forge Press

Wednesday 29 November 2017

11

The Leadmill: a brief history

Since opening in 1980, iconic Sheffield events venue The Leadmill has hosted world famous acts including Pulp, Arctic Monkeys and Muse. Decades later, the venue maintains cult status among devoted fans, and attracts a diverse crowd from across the city. Stan Beal explores why the venue has remained so popular over the years.

M

any fun, drunken hours have been spent in the Leadmill by students and native Sheffielders alike. The venue hosts a wide variety of events: from rowdy club nights, gigs and the funniest comedians around.

The famous club hasn’t always been a Sheffield icon, however.

It was founded in humble circumstances in 1980 – with its first sound engineer living under

Sheffield has come the rise of the Leadmill, which employs local people and students, enriching the local economy. The venue opened as a reaction to the lack of cultural diversity in Sheffield, Ella Bacon, the Leadmill’s PR Manager told me. The diverse range of events that the Leadmill has provided for the people of Sheffield has helped cement the city as one of the cultural hubs of the north of England. As Sheffield has grown economically, venues like The Leadmill have helped to

As Sheffield has grown economically, venues like The Leadmill have helped to grow it culturally too the stage for a year.

Over 20 years later, it employs 100 people hosts club nights and live music six nights a week.

Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos of described playing the Leadmill as “a right of passage”. How did this small former flour mill become such a cult venue?

In the 1970s and 80s, Sheffield was declining much like the rest of provincial England. Jobs in steel-making, the city’s traditional heavy industry, were taken either abroad or by machines. The Labour-dominated city council of Sheffield feuded with Thatcher’s Tory government. While South Yorkshire still remains a hotbed of socialism, it has regenerated in a way that many towns and cities outside of London could only dream of, becoming a university town, with 60,000 students shared between the city’s two universities. Public sector jobs have replaced the jobs lost in the steelmaking industry. Hallam is now one of the richest areas of the country.

With the resurrection of

grow it culturally too.

“The thrift and intimacy of a working man’s club with the leisure processor of the Hacienda” was how the NME cryptically described the burgeoning Leadmill in 1982.

As it grew in popularity, so did synth-pop, and Sheffield bands such as The Human League and Heaven 17 broke out into the national spotlight. With the 90s came Britpop, with Pulp being the city’s most notable contribution to the genre. Since then, Sheffield favourites Arctic Monkeys have not just conquered the UK, but also America.

The Leadmill has seen and helped the rise of all of these bands; before the release of their début album in 2006, Arctic Monkeys played at the Leadmill and sold it out faster than anyone else. The Leadmill has been a constant in the rise of these local acts, and has always tried to support local music.

Its staff, Bacon explains, have a diverse range of music taste, which means they can support

an eclectic collection of local musical talent. The Leadmill has also worked with other, smaller venues to promote their gigs. For example, teenage Halifax IndiePoppers The Orielles’ recent gig at Record Junkee was heavily promoted by the venue.

Of course, the Leadmill is not Sheffield’s biggest venue. For gigs, it’s largest room can hold up to 900 people, about half of what the nearby O2 Academy can hold. Its capacity for club nights is dwarfed by student favourite and home of the blue pint Corporation, and yet the Leadmill has an almost religious following amongst its fans. If you’re ever walking around Sheffield, count how many items of Leadmillrelated paraphernalia you can spot people carrying, it’s far more than any other venue.

Bacon has her own thoughts on how the club grew such a cult following, citing the specific identity the Leadmill has as an indie club and Sheffield institution. While it also supports other genres, it has carved out a specific identity as Sheffield’s biggest indie club, so those who like that sort of music gravitate towards it.

Though this kind of reputation can have its own problems.

Indie music can often be an exclusive scene. Newcomers can be derided as posers – you might know Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now, but you’re not a real Smiths fan unless you have an esoteric knowledge of all their B-sides. But indie music fans respect the Leadmill for the sheer number of popular acts they’ve hosted, from local acts like Pulp and Arctic Monkeys to The Strokes and The White Stripes from across the pond. When Franz Ferdinand made their comment about the Leadmill being a right of passage for up-and-comers, they were talking to Canadian critics’ favourites Arcade Fire who played the Leadmill in 2005.

The local reputation of the venue has spread worldwide, becoming a place where everyone wants to play. The hard work of the administrative team has also ensured that hyped bands can be sold on playing the Leadmill.

Despite many people thinking of the Leadmill as an indie club, the venue promotes other events that may surprise. On Mondays, they have an Overdraft student night which plays a different range of music to the usual – with Stormzy replacing the Stone Roses and Kendrick Lamar instead of Catfish and the Bottlemen. For the past five years, they have run a comedy club, with TV favourites like Jason Manford and James Acaster playing the venue. They also have film screenings and theatre events. Bacon describes the Leadmill not as a nightclub or a music venue but as an “events venue”. This is very important to the future of The Leadmill – to be seen as a diverse cultural centre rather than just being trapped in people’s minds as being an indie club.

Looking to the future, what does the Leadmill plan to do

The Leadmill has an almost religious following to ensure that it remains a thriving Sheffield icon? Bacon’s philosophy is the simple ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. The Leadmill will continue to provide their wide range of events, and make sure that they still provide what the people want.

While The Leadmill continues to carve their individual identity as an indie club and music

venue, they will also promote themselves outside of that to introduce the Leadmill to a new clientele. While it’s good to have a cult following, it can’t be so small as to be financially crippling.

A new dance floor is currently being fitted. On their website, they are selling the old one and are struggling to keep up with demand. Iconic lyrics from Sheffield bands including Pulp (“Do you remember the first time?”) and Arctic Monkeys (“I bet that you look good on the dance floor”) are etched into the sections of the floor that are now for sale. This has not only raised money for the club but also engaged its fans – one is planning to make a guitar out of the old dancefloor.

The club continues to pack out for club nights and gigs, and its other events are becoming more popular with students and Sheffielders alike. It’s been popular for over 35 years and it’s hard to see why this will change anytime soon.

Forge Press

Wednesday 29 November 2017

13

Is window shopping dead?

Online sales have grown by 27% in the last two years. With Christmas shopping an imminent task, contributor Rebecca Lally looks at why we’re favouring the click of a button over a trip to Meadowhall.

W

e have fond memories of it. You might remember being a spotty 14 year old, trailing around Topshop or HMV with your friends, looking longingly at that new jacket or album that your newspaper round salary just wasn’t going to cover.

Wandering around the town centre for hours was a rite of passage, until one day you realised that you could do it all from your phone and how easy it was to spend money like water when you had thousands waiting in your bank account from student finance (although it wouldn’t be there for much longer).

There’s something to be said for the simple, old-school joy of window shopping. For appreciating a lace ball gown or a MacBook Air from a distance, without needing to look at the price tag because you already know you won’t be taking it up to the till anytime soon. You can look wistfully at that garlic press and imagine how sorted and grown-up you would be if you were the type of person to own one, without actually needing to buy it. You can wander around the shops for hours on a weekend, maybe stopping for lunch or coffee in the middle, and it can

become a whole day out with friends.

It’s about more than just spending money.

Online shopping appears a rather lonelier affair — it’s just you, your

effort, whether it’s for a new pair of jeans or a non-stick pan.

If you’re looking online, you can flick between different websites in minutes and look through reviews at

There’s no greater joy than seeing that long-awaited order you’d almost forgotten about outside your door. screen and no one to ask for advice next to you. Rather than it becoming a day out, it’s often done when you should be working or sleeping, frequently on borrowed time when you have deadlines to meet. Despite this, it’s undeniable that online shopping has overtaken traditional retailers. Resorting to using our phone or laptops to shop has exploded in popularity, with online sales growing by 27 percent in the last two years. However much you’re enjoying it, shopping requires a lot of

your leisure, rather than frantically Googling while you’re standing in the middle of the aisle and getting in everyone’s way.

For the thrifty ones among us, it’s simpler to find and use vouchers or discounts online, rather than having to fish out the crumpled piece of paper from your bag at the till.

There’s a reason for the rising popularity of online shopping. It’s just so much easier to pick out a new winter jacket with a few swipes of your thumb on the Monday morning

bus, and then have it arrive on your doorstep in three to five working days, rather than spending your precious Sunday afternoon trailing around River Island in a bid to find one that fits.

With this in mind there’s also the worry of not being able to find what you want. However big the shop, or however fancy the shopping centre, it doesn’t have everything, and you might be unlucky enough to find out that jumper you’ve been dreaming of for weeks is only available in size XXS or XXL, or that pair of trainers you’re looking for are only stocked in a few shops and they’re definitely not here.

It’s a different story online, with out-of-stock items normally returning in a few weeks, and the ability to check several different brands to find a substitute. The delayed gratification is another bonus. If you get back from a long hard day in the IC, there’s no greater joy than seeing that long-awaited Topshop order that you’d almost forgotten about outside your door and spending the evening trying on your new stuff rather than doing your neglected essay.

Of course, both traditional and

online shopping have their place.

Traditional shopping is more sociable and more reliable. Items (especially clothes) often look different in person than online, with that dress actually being more orange than pink, or that backpack more suited to a six year old rather than a university student with textbooks. It’s also easier to find a hidden gem when you’re just browsing the shops; perhaps you never thought that colour would suit you, but it really brings out your eyes and the satisfaction that comes with this is hard to beat.

The majority of traditional shopping is done ‘just to have a look’, which actually results in you finding nothing you really like, your feet starting to ache, and eventually results in a grudging compromise just to make the journey worth it.

Online shopping is not only cheaper, quicker and more convenient, but it’s easier to control yourself when you’re just in your room, or procrastinating in the library. You can find just what you’re looking for, check what other people think, and never have to leave your house.

After all, there’s a reason why it’s so popular.

Wednesday 29 November 2017

14

Opinion facebook.com/forgetoday

@forgetoday

press.opinion@forgetoday.com

James Pendlington & Josie Le Vay Hello again dear readers, We at Opinion would first like to use this space to offer an apology for the unsavoury language used in last issue’s Tinder gets Political column (15/11). We understand how the greeting in question could be perceived as derogatory and promoting sexual harassment.

This was never our intention and we appreciate that context here was key. We are sorry and in future shall strive to avoid incidents such as these from

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Opinion Editors

occurring again. Thank you to everyone that contacted Forge to discuss these issues; we really do appreciate the feedback, as we want to represent you here in the best way possible. You can read a full statement regarding the incident by our Editor-inChief on page 3.

Onto this issue, our last of 2017. We have a veritable holiday smorgasbord of topics covered by our wonderful student contributors, discussing all your fan-favourite from Jacob ReesMogg to Boris Johnson. We have

Forge Press

a piece on whether it is unfair for individual Oxbridge colleges to compete in University Challenge, the embarrassment that is BlowJo, whether Cards Against Humanity is rubbish and a response piece to last issue’s Jacob Rees-Mogg attack.

We’ve also got a special Christmassy double-page spread, where we got our contributors to nominate people to go on their naughty list for the naughties [Ed. Wrong decade guys…].

Until next year, folks.

JamJo x

Screwniversity Challenge

Emma Louise Pallen

A

hh. University Challenge. An annual chance for universities to show off their best and brightest and the perfect opportunity to sound vaguely intelligent as you smugly shout the right answer to a question you just so happen to be writing your dissertation on.

However, some universities have more of a chance to show off their students than others, with collegiate universities such as Oxford and Cambridge being allowed to enter a team from each college.

In comparison, us lowly regular unis are only allowed one team to represent the whole of the student body.

It seems unfair that a college with only 370 students, such as Peterson College Cambridge, has the same representation on the program as the whole of the University of Sheffield, with all of its 28,000 students.

And for what reason? The only explanation given is that students are taught separately in different colleges, rather than as a centralised institution. But there is no explanation as to how that leads to the conclusion that they should be allowed more teams to compete in an unrelated competition.

Now there is the argument that if Oxbridge were only allowed one team each that they would wipe the floor with the rest of us, as being able to choose the best students from the whole university would surely result in a far superior team than other other university could offer!

This opinion is often supported by the fact that Oxford and Cambridge teams so often end up competing with each other in the final and semi-finals. However, given their overrepresentation in the number of teams entered from these universities, this is hardly surprising.

Buying more lottery tickets will

surely result in a higher chance of winning the lottery!

This explanation also smacks of the elitism that so often surrounds Oxford and Cambridge. These universities gained their reputation from the quality of their research, as well as their age and history. This does not mean that the general knowledge of their students is somehow inherently higher than at other universities. Now admittedly, there is a high bar set to attend these institutions, and there is apparently a big internal focus in these universities to succeed in University Challenge.

But many other institutions, such as the University of Manchester and University College London, already give Oxbridge a run for their money despite their current headstart, suggesting that perhaps if the starting blocks were fairer, Oxbridge might not have as much of a walk in the park.

Jeremy Paxman training his replacement | Hammersmith & Fulham Council

No one wants BJ anymore, he really blows Joe Reed

B

Boris has upgraded his bike | FCO

oris Johnson. A man who divides opinion more than a game of monopoly divides families. Recently the divide is less those who love him and hate him, and more those who simply want him removed from our government and those who would rather see him shipped off to a desert island. That way at least his ability to insult and undermine everybody he comes into contact with would be severely depleted.

Once upon a time he was simply our foolish, bumbling mayor of London, a fun reminder that not all politicians were heartless thugs out to only further their own career.

At this point all was well, and then Brexit happened.

Johnson turning viciously on David Cameron’s Remain campaign was the beginning of a bloody and majestic political ballet with more backstabbing than a production of

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. With Johnson’s opportunistic grab for Tory leadership beaten down at the last minute by Michael Gove, Theresa May assigned him (presumably by picking names out a hat) the role of Foreign Secretary. His blunders and splutterings, while often charming and humorous when he played the role of ‘Incompetent Mayor of London’, now have the power to cause humiliation and devastation to the entire country. Only a few months after his utterly appalling comments on clearing away bodies in Libya to make room for holiday

resorts, Johnson again finds himself embroiled in a debate over how on earth he is still allowed his position in our government.

His other recent ‘slip of the tongue’ could mean Nazanin ZaghariRatcliffe, a British-Iranian citizen and mother, spends the next 10 years of her life locked up in Iran. The man trusted with negotiating foreign policy has once again demonstrated his utter incompetence at dealing with international relations. It seems inconceivable that he is allowed to continue operating as the bulldozer he is within our already fragile government, continuing to trip and stumble his way up the political ladder. Despite this, his position of power seems just as strong as ever either because Theresa May is too scared to cut him off or simply doesn’t care about how destructive his actions so far have been.

Whatever the fate of Johnson, history will surely look back at his appointment and position as Foreign Secretary as one of the most bizarre and inept decisions in the history of British the British Government.

His blunders and splutterings ... now have the power to cause humiliation and devastation to the entire country

Forge Press

Wednesday 29 November 2017

15

Oh, the humanity!

Cameron Jurevicius

D

espite being a fatuous game of bad jokes, Cards Against Humanity proves itself, time and time again, to be a hit with the students.

Look, we’re all adults here, the jokes aren’t bad because they’re offensive, they’re bad because they aren’t good. Furthermore, the game itself is mechanically boring and requires no strategy. A game of Cards Against Humanity requires no effort from players. They don’t have to be creative, they barely have to think, they just have to click A and B together like an assembly line for vacuous humour.

For a so-called card game, Cards Against Humanity is barely a game.

One person flips a setup card from the top of the deck and the other players select a punchline card from their hand to match. Both the setup and punchline of the joke which ‘wins’ (as decided by the player who flipped the black card) are dealt purely by chance.

The winning player doesn’t use their own wit to craft a punchline to a shared joke, they matched Card A with Card B. The only thing that separates a ‘win’ or a ‘loss’ in Cards Against Humanity is sheer luck of the draw. What’s more, oftentimes the setup and punchline barely scan, but these jokes may still win if they were the most offensive.

“That has to win!” players shout, as the setup “Daddy, why is mommy crying?” is matched with “Poorly-timed Holocaust jokes”.

And there’s the root of Cards Against Humanity: people revel in the edgy pseudo-humour that the game allows them, whilst never having to take responsibility for ‘their’ joke.

In reality, nobody needs a card to give them permission to make an offensive joke, it’s just far easier to waive the ownership of that joke if you didn’t really write it.

If someone were to be offended by the rape joke, child abuse joke, or depression joke that their friend had just nonchalantly glued together, that friend doesn’t have to take any

responsibility - it’s only a game, afterall.

But it’s understandable how some people wouldn’t find jokes about mental health issues, child abuse, or sexual assault funny. Same goes for the jokes about genocide, the jokes that are racist, homophobic, sexist, or just plain rubbish, that the ‘party game for horrible people’ encourages players to make.

When I played a game of Cards Against Humanity recently (out of politeness to my hosts) one player said: “We really need a Harvey Weinstein joke.” Why? Why did that person (who, I should say, is in no way a bad person) need a card to enable him to make a satirical, topical joke?

I can’t help but feel that this is only because coming up with his own joke would have taken effort and would carry the burden of accountability.

I’m not trying to say that people who play and enjoy Cards Against Humanity are bad, just that this incredibly popular game isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Maybe he is actually a good Moggo?

gets political We asked people on Tinder whether they support a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. Enjoy!

Hi friend Hi, So, do you think there should be a two state solution with Israel and Palestine?

I do. And I think it’s possible too How about you!!

As an idea I think it Israeli good

Shalom friend, do you think that there should be a two state solution with Israel and Palestine?

I don’t really follow middle east politics I’m a moral Philosopher by trade But good opener Cheers, wish I could say the same about your reply

Jacob Rees-Mogg is always watching. Always. | FCO

Thomas Woollard

J

acob Rees-Mogg makes no attempt to conceal his undeniably privileged background. This is clear from his own actions, from the quirky posts online to his decision to call his sixth child ‘Sixtus’. He did not choose to be raised in a background such as this, but to suggest that he makes a deliberate attempt to downplay his status in the social hierarchy could not be further from the truth.

Arguing that his ‘chillingly socially conservative’ viewpoint would spark a disaster for Britain in terms of social policy is a nonsensical and closeminded view Arguing that his ‘chillingly socially conservative’ viewpoint would spark a disaster for Britain in terms of social policy (as suggested by David

Peacock in Issue 114) is a nonsensical and close-minded view. Speaking to ITV in September this year, Jacob said: “There is no question of any of these laws being changed”. It does not get any clearer than this. For the majority, progressive votes are free votes, not whipped votes, and therefore Rees-Mogg votes with his conscience. He has clearly stated in the past that he holds no interest in introducing reactionary legislation, and that it serves him no purpose.

This is in direct contrast to what David Peacock suggested in his recent article. It is fair to say that there is no controversial social agenda in the pipeline which Rees-Mogg has planned, even if – in the very unlikely case - he was to be future leader.

It is clear, as Rees-Mogg points out, that there has to be an equilibrium between the role of the state and the role of charities in order to provide aid to people who need it. Help is often given more effectively through charities, which leads to more people benefitting. This can lead to more positive results; however, the role of state also has to be there. It is important to note that one’s moral terms are not the only definition of

help and charity.

Following on from Rees-Mogg’s viewpoint on welfare, the debate over his view on zero-hours contracts has started. Surely a large number of people who are on these types of contract enjoy the flexibility which this gives them to juggle multiple jobs or fit work around their personal life? The number of cases in which they have had a considerably negative impact is likely very much in the minority.

Therefore, if Rees-Mogg did become the leader of the Conservative Party, and perhaps even Prime Minister, it would not be the apocalyptic series of events being fearmongered in the previous article. Instead, it would focus on creating a progressive agenda rather than reactionary legislation which does not advance anyone’s position or interests whatsoever.

The Conservative Party are focused on making lives better for people with this progressive agenda and this includes the successful combination of charity and the state, being open and tolerant to all people and giving people the flexibility and choice over their own lives.

Do you think there should be a two state solution with Israel and Palestine?

That’s by far the most interesting start up to a conversation I’ve ever had on a dating app.

Albeit, controversial you see haha.

That’s the only way I believe, both has to and can exist. have*

Palestine, ha, after my last holiday it’s more like Tanstine!

Do you think there should be a two state solution with Israel and Palestine?

I have no idea what do u think haha Oy vey

16

Naughty List

Playing Santa for Crimbo 2017

Katie Hopkins

Rory Mellon

Katie Hopkins: Worthy of a spot on the naughty list not just for 2017 but pretty much every year since we were unfortunate enough to be introduced to her on BBC’s The Apprentice. This year, she has taken her infamous brand of hate, bigotry and general unpleasantness to fresh heights, which would almost be an achievement if it weren’t so grimly predictable.

Without controversy, Hopkin’s 15 minutes of fame would be spent and we’d all forget about her; an attention seeker like her simply couldn’t have that.

In the wake of the tragic bombing of the MEN

arena in Manchester, a senseless act of violence that killed 22 people including seven children, Hopkins took to Twitter to demand a “final solution”.

In the aftermath of an extreme act of terror inciting discrimination and potential violence, against certain religious and ethnic groups, is abhorrent and marked a new low for Hopkins.

Similar attacks have brought about a wave of hate crimes across countries like the US, so the tweet was genuinely dangerous in nature.

Thankfully it did lead to her being fired from her job as a radio host on LBC - perhaps in 2018, we’ll finally get to go a full 12 months without hearing from her. Fingers crossed.

Image credit: TaylorHerring

Piers Morgan

Matthew Hartill

Piers Morgan has always courted controversy, and in his role as host of ITV breakfast programme Good Morning Britain he sticks depressingly to type. These days he comes at us in excruciatingly lengthy bursts, and any hopes that he may have returned from America with his tail between his legs following the failure of his CNN show have unfortunately proven unfounded. What’s more, I think he’s getting worse.

This is probably down to the spike in ratings the programme has enjoyed since Morgan became host two years ago. Inexplicably, he seems to have Image credit: Connormah

taken the genre, shaken it up, and somehow made it more watchable.

I cannot explain this sudden urge from viewers to take their early mornings with a side order of reactionary vitriol - but this should not distract from the fact that he is an extremely rich member of an elite who often picks on the most vulnerable in our society. He is not someone who speaks for the nation’s underclass, whatever he or his producers may say, and any attempt to dress him up as such are misleading.

He sits at the very top of my naughty list this year. Merry Christmas, Piers.

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Rick and Morty fans

Cameron Jurevicius

First, you constantly nag the creators, begging for season three. Like an impatient child you whine, lamenting the wait for the newest season, completely disregarding the creative process involved in making a show such as Rick and Morty.

Then, you suddenly develop a keen interest in the making of the show, claiming that the new female writers were somehow ruining it; despite the fact that your favourite episode - which gave

you a fun new catchphrase to shout at the top of your lungs in public - was written by Jessica Gao (who is a woman).

Finally, you harass McDonald’s workers simply because you can’t get any of a limited-run dipping sauce that those workers had nothing to do with.

Rick and Morty ‘super’ fans, you’ll be receiving coal this year. Santa is disappointed.

Image credit: Victor M. Campos, Jr.

Michel Barnier

Image credit:Foto-AG Gymnasium Melle

Jay Jackson

I thought about Theresa May (too obvious), I considered LG x (gobshite), I even entertained Jeremy Corbyn as a potential candidate; but in the end, the person sitting atop my naughty list for 2017 is Michel Barnier.

Who? Michel Barnier, the lifelong politician who has spent this year as the EU’s chief negotiator during the Brexit talks, of course! A job in which he has spent most of this past year threatening, galling and stalling in an attempt to punish Britain.

Barnier has been meeting with Chief Remoaners Nick Clegg, Lord Adonis and Ken Clarke in an attempt to subvert the Brexit process. He’s

Harry Minogue

The Human Race

My nomination: The Human Race.

If 2016 was the year lunatics took over the asylum, 2017 was the chance for the rest of the world to storm the building, get everyone back in their straight jackets and put a stop to all this nonsense. And what happened?

The year started promisingly with the March for Women seeing millions take to the streets to protest the incoming President Trump. ‘The Donald’, a shit-stirring piece of malware that resolutely refuses to be uninstalled from our global laptop, is however still in the Oval Office, and no one seems to be in a hurry to sling him out.

Similarly, despite their truly pathetic handling of Brexit, the current Conservative administration limps on with Labour taking their underdog cues

determined to punish Britain for leaving the protectionist political union that is the EU, and he’s by far and away the most despicable man, not just of 2017 but to ever set foot on the planet.

Irrational, inflexible and arrogant, he is the reason that ‘Bregret’ (Brexit voters regret) has become a phenomenon this year. He is making it impossible to move on to the crucial trade talks by demanding more and more money for the divorce settlement and refusing to co-operate on the issue of citizen’s rights.

So to all you angry, liberal, metropolitan elite Remoaners, when it comes to 2019 and there is no deal between Britain and the EU (which there won’t be), don’t blame the 17 million supposed racists who voted leave, don’t blame the evil Tories, blame this guy.

from Leicester City, just with all of the adulation and none of the glory.

Some of that has to fall on us, yet it seems no one has the stomach to fight back against all this madness. Despite the ‘youth surge’ at the last UK General Election, Labour still finished 55 seats and almost a million votes behind the Conservatives.

Even the latest leak of the ‘Paradise Papers’ exposing the global elites’ dodgy tax affairs barely elicited more than a disapproving tut amongst the general public.

We’re facing potential nuclear disaster, the continuing refugee crisis, global hunger, inequality... do I really need to go on? Any of these should be enough to get you to pull your finger out.

I mean, look at me, I’m sitting here writing this.

Take that, establishment.

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Wednesday 29 November 2017

Lifestyle facebook.com/ForgePress

@ForgePress

press.lifestyle@forgetoday.com

Harry Gold and Ellie Conlon

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Lifestyle Editors

Hello to all our loyal Lifestyle readers! We hope you’ve recovered from your midterms.

Here it is, the moment you’ve all been waiting for – the moment that Lifestyle decided to brave the controversy and endeavour to provide you with the definitive verdict on Sheffield’s best chips. We hope it doesn’t cause too many tears.

We also sent Tom Buckland to explore Sheffield’s Cat Café (yeah, we didn’t know it existed either). A haven for cat lovers, he recommends that all of you feline fans out there go and check it out.

Finally, our Travel Talks columnist Matt Reilly attempts something slightly different this week, writing about his own adventures, teaching in the south of Chile.

Seeing as this is the last issue of the year, we’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy holidays and good luck in your end-of-semester exams!

Sheffield’s best chips the definitive verdict Ben Warner

Students love a good debate, and one of the most heated is that of Sheffield’s best chips. We at Forge Press like settling debates. So, myself and photography editor Kate Marron set off on a tricky and arduous adventure to find the best chips in Sheffield, smothered in gravy.

To be clear, this is proper, thick-cut chips. No fries. This is the north, and fries are not acceptable .

Devonshire Chippy We started off our voyage with the Devonshire Chippy, which is (surprisingly) on Devonshire Street. Walking in, the lady behind the counter was suitably unimpressed to find out we were from Forge Press, so we scuttled out with our chips and gravy.

Coming to under £3, we rated the price as solid, especially for a city centre chippy which stays open until the early hours. The chips themselves were crispy, of a good size and not too dry.

“Full-bodied” is how Kate described them. The gravy however left a lot to be desired. It had too much integral structure (not a phrase you want to use to describe a sauce) which is almost gelatinous. It didn’t pass my important “Can you drink it?” test. Being from the north, these are the things that matter.

Price............................................................................3 Chips....................................................................... 3.5 Gravy...........................................................................2 Overall............................................................... 8.5/15

Broomhill Friery The Friery in Broomhill is a popular haunt for almost any first year in Endcliffe or Ranmoor, as it famously stays open until after the clubs close and offers a wide range of food – especially chips. We made this our second stop on the journey.

Famous for its links to actor Sean Bean, a Friery trip is a University of rite of passage. I was in high hopes – this could be a title contender.

Once again, we ordered chips and gravy and found a bus stop to hide under (it was raining). Price is once again good, at around £3 – pocket change when you’re bevved after a night at Corp. There’s also more gravy for your buck, which is always a huge bonus in my book.

The chips are a cut above Devonshire Chippy, with a good crispyto-soft ratio. They were also favourable in and of themselves, and while salt and vinegar compliments them, ketchup would feel unnecessary and could even detract from the chips somewhat.

Gravy is delicious – definitely northern.

Disaster struck as I managed to knock half the chips onto the floor. We’re holding a candlelit vigil if anyone is interested.

Price............................................................................3 Chips...........................................................................4 Gravy...........................................................................4 Overall................................................................ 11/15

Forge Press

Forge Press

Wednesday 29 November 2017

Five Star Fish Bar Located up in deepest, darkest Crookes, Kate assured me that this chippy is a fine choice for the next portion of chips, having lived nearby in previous years.

Indeed, if the queue is anything to go by, everyone else has caught on to it as well. When we got to the front, the chips were cheap in their own right, but the 15% student discount isn’t to be sniffed at. With a portion of chips between us as well as a pot of gravy, it comes to barely more than £2. This is the North I grew up in.

The chips themselves were delightfully fluffy on the inside, but crisp on the outside. Almost perfect, you might say. The gravy complements the chips wonderfully, and once again the addition of another sauce felt unnecessary.

Overall, a very strong contender for the title.

Price..................................... 5 Chips.................................... 4 Gravy.................................... 4 Overall............................ 13/15

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New Cod On The Block New Cod on the Block is my new local chippy, having moved to Crookesmoor over the summer, and while it doesn’t open anywhere near as late as Broomhill Friery, I’ve become accustomed to it. Plus, I do love a good shop name pun. We headed up for some lunchtime chips, and were impressed with the speed of the service, given how quiet it was.

Again, the price was reasonable for a decent-sized portion of chips and gravy.

The chips were among some of the best we had on this wonderful adventure, but don’t quite match up with Five Star. The gravy is proper, thick Northern gravy as we’ve come to expect, and although it’s delicious, it was somewhat spoiled when I accidentally spilt half of it on my knee. Neither Kate or myself volunteered to eat that bit.

Another solid contender for the coveted ‘best Sheffield chips out of the chippies we could be arsed to travel to’ award.

Price..................................... 4 Chips.................................... 4 Gravy.................................... 4 Overall..........................12/15

To be clear, this is proper, thickcut chips.

No fries.

This is the North, and fries are not acceptable

The Verdict After four calorie-heavy trips to chip shops spread across the studentdominated parts of the city (or the ones closest to us, anyway), it’s come to the time we have to make a decision.

While all four had their pros and their cons, some of the less wellknown shops stood above the rest.

Five Star Fish Bar is definitely the best value with their criminally low prices, even before the student discount. It’s a little bit out of the way, but is a must-visit during your three years in the city. New Cod and Friery fought them close, but Five Star is our winner.

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Wednesday 15 November 2017

Tabby Teas Cat Cafe Tom Buckland

S

heffield’s very own cat café is right around the corner from our beloved university, and it sure has character. The café opened in July , and they’ve accumulated twelve cats since their debut. Each cat that the café shelters – the café is literally their home - has its own unique charm and character, once you step away from the café the cats as individuals are very difficult to forget.

Cat lovers eat your heart out, because the café is absolute heaven for any eccentric cat lover , or anyone that just simply likes cats. It’s quaint and hidden away, so there aren’t members of the public ooh-ing and aah-ing through the window, and it

also isn’t swamped with eager people queuing and waiting in anticipation to see some adorable felines. The café is small and homely, and that’s where it carries a lot of its charm – and that’s why it fits in so easily to Sheffield.

There are two ways to plan your visit to Tabby Teas, and that’s either by booking on their website ahead of time, or arriving spontaneously if you have time to kill – or are procrastinating and don’t want to write that essay that’s due yet.

However, as there can be days when the café has been fully booked and there’s no more space there’s a risk of being turned away. This can be a shame if you’re excited, so booking is definitely recommended.

The staff are lovely (and human).

There’s no strictness or detachment from the people in charge, as their job

is to cat-sit and if that isn’t a dream job, then what is? They’re happy to have a chat, or bond with you over your mutual appreciation of cats, which will make you feel instantly at home once you’ve taken a seat.

The cats are sure to make you feel welcome too. You might think that the cats will swarm to you upon entering, but that isn’t at all the case.

They’re friendly, but not clingy exes who don’t know when to let go. They have their own lives, and this café provides you with the binoculars to spy on them. Of course, interaction isn’t forbidden – but the café does make sure there are a few ground rules, such as not petting any cats whilst they’re asleep or picking them up. This is mainly in case you accidentally distress the cat causing it to scratch or bite you.

Many people question the pricing,

as it’s £7.50 per person for an hour and a half with the kitties. This could be outrageous to some, and that’s understandable. However, the hot drinks and cakes inside area very reasonable price. It’s all nicely presented with the theming of cats running amok, even somehow creeping into coffees served.

Overall, the café is endearing and homely. It’s perfect for the student who misses a cat of their own, and needs to fill that hole without spending a fortune venturing back home. There’s no frostiness or unease to be felt the entire time you are there. It’s not an action-packed experience, but an endearing, heartwarming one. Definitely a place that should be explored by anyone that has a slight inkling of curiosity.

Forge Press

Forge Press

Wednesday 15 November 2017

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Travel Talks Travel Talks was the brainchild of Matt Reilly.

Inspired by his own travels, he wanted to use Forge as a chance to showcase student travel adventures. Here, he shares his own tales.

Matt Reilly

The classic “Gap Yah” Yes, I did the classic “gap yah” and spent a year teaching in a school in the south of Chile. I managed to use the school holidays to do a lot of travelling around the country.

Broken down in the desert My friends and I decided to take a 30 hour bus journey from the very north of the country to the capital, Santiago.

Unfortunately, our bus decided to break down in the desert and it ended up taking forty hours. However, this was actually a blessing in disguise. We got put up in a hotel for compensation.

I more than got my money’s worth in the amount of food I stole from breakfast the next morning. It was bliss after weeks of sleeping on floors, in sheds, camping and hostelling.

Rafting, horse riding and trekking My favourite trip was to a small town north of the capital called San Alfonso in the mountain valley. Ten of us went and we all crammed into a shed and had a very green looking swimming pool to relax in. We went trekking in the mountains which were amazing; we went up again on horseback and, despite never riding a horse before, I got given a very feisty ex-rodeo horse and spent the next four hours terrified it was going to throw me off down the side of the mountain. We then went rafting and cliff jumping which was exhilarating.

Kayaking A hidden gem is Puerto Varas, a small town on a lake in the South. From the shore you can see two volcanoes, (one of which erupted when I was there) and the Andes running for as far as the eye can see. I kayaked from there down a fjord which was amazing,

seals swam next to us and although we were kayaking in Chile, looking over the hill we could see Argentina.

Although kayaking was great, the best part was the drive back - minibuses seem to defy physics flying along the horrendously potholed (but very scenic) Chilean roads.

Frozen gloves A friend and I also took a trip to Bariloche in Argentina. It had a very European feel to it, like an Austrian mountain town. We went skiing and completely underestimated the winter weather. It was freezing up the mountain - into the minuses - and we seemed to be two of the handful of people stupid enough to attempt skiing there. After a painfully cold chairlift to the top we tried to time the perfect jump off, only to realise our bums and gloves had frozen to the chairlift. The material from my gloves is still stuck to a random chair somewhere in the Andes Mountains.

The slopes there also aren’t pisted so it was absolutely brutal and after about three hours we could barely walk.

Careful with your sauce choice Don’t get ketchup confused for chilli sauce - they have all their sauce bottle colours wrong.

One free plane ticket tomorrow, where do I go Canada

Forge Press

Wednesday 29 November 2017

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Laura Mulvey | Arts Editor

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Arts press.arts@forgetoday.com

Hello and welcome to our very last Arts section of 2017! We have plenty of treats in store to keep you entertained over the festive season.

SUTCo have been hard at work putting together their latest production, a hilarious take on Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller The 39 Steps. Check out Jack Redfern’s verdict below, and be sure to follow SUTCo on Facebook to keep up-to-date with their upcoming shows.

As part of Off the Shelf festival, our Head of News Ben Warner caught up with acclaimed Mancunian poet Tony Walsh. Already a literary legend, Tony hit headlines across the country earlier this year in the wake of the Manchester bombing when he gave a powerful public reading of ‘This is the Place’.

up for a year of happy listening.

Merry Christmas, we’ll see you in 2018!

Over the page you’ll find Features Editor Katharine Swindells’ ultimate guide to this year in podcasts. From political commentary to comedy gold, her recommendations should set you

A chat with...

Tony Walsh

Ben Warner

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Review Jack Redfern

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heffield University Theatre Company’s performance of The 39 Steps is executed very well by a cast of four.

With a total of 139 characters, three of the performers have multiple parts and must swap between these throughout the performance but they handle this with ease.

A farcical adaptation of Hitchcock’s thriller of the same name, the play centres around Richard Hannay (Wilf Walsworth), an innocent man who is blamed for the murder of Lucie Mannheim. As Hannay tries to stop Professor Jordan (Ryan Footitt) sending information to foreign

The cast of The 39 Steps

The 39 Steps

Dan West

at the Drama Studio

powers, he is helped by unwilling assistant Pamela (Jordan Mayers).

Although it takes a certain taste to enjoy the Monty Python-style humour, the play is very funny. The actors are not afraid to make fun of themselves and make the play all the better for it. There is something about the stripped-back nature of the production and simple jokes that make the performance quite endearing to watch.

Of particular note is Eleanor Wright’s spectacular performance.

Wright has multiple roles and brilliantly executes each one with energy and excitement. Her performance as the grumpy old Scottish man had the audience in

utter hysterics.

As the play progresses though, it falls a bit flat. The second act doesn’t

The actors are not afraid to make fun of themselves and make the play all the better for it. match the energetic heights of the first, with scenes seeming to move more slowly and jokes executed with less liveliness.

Nevertheless, The 39 Steps makes for an immensely pleasurable watch. The performers deliver comedy with such confidence that it is impossible to leave without a grin, having enjoyed a completely ridiculous but hilarious bit of theatre.

he events of the last five months still astound Tony Walsh. His life changed on 23 May, when he stood up in front of the world and performed the heart-wrenching poem ‘This is the Place’ about his hometown, Manchester.

There was a slew of tributes to the city the day after a bomb killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert, but none captured the mood like his; a feeling of defiance, of Mancunian spirit.

Since then, he’s been the busiest man in Manchester, performing around the country and now at The Leadmill. He says it’s a “real thrill” to be doing his poetry at a venue he’s been hearing about for decades.

While most people hadn’t heard of Walsh before this year, he’s been writing almost all his life. “I’ve written since I was five, brought those poems home from school but I didn’t do anything with it after I was about 15,” he says. “I started writing again when I was 39. I just found my calling”.

Lots of Walsh’s poems are incredibly relatable (which might explain why ‘This is the Place’ resonated as it did), but he says he doesn’t have any real inspirations.

It can come from anywhere, “sometimes from a first line or a last line”.

When he performs, the dialect of his native Manchester shines through and adds a personal tone to the poems being read out onstage.

For Mancunians, it’s impossible to ignore how his famous poem has taken root in the city. It’s been made into a Haçienda-style dance mix, a book to raise money for charity and lyrics are around the revamped Manchester City players’ area.

“I couldn’t tell you anything that’s entered a city’s culture more deeply, more quickly, more profoundly,” Tony said.

“People are having it tattooed on them, it’s graffiti around the city, choirs are singing it and as an artist you can only be humbled by that.

“Artists can only dream of connecting like that and it’s a privilege.”

He still admits now how much everything has taken him by surprise, and how unprepared he was. His email inbox and voicemail are still flooded by people who want to speak to him.

But he takes it all in his stride, and he’s gearing up for even bigger things in the next few months. A new book of poems releasing in the spring will accompany Sex & Love & Rock&Roll, potentially along with a children’s book and a book of Manchester poems.

Walsh also praised the work Off The Shelf have done, and said it could be used to encourage more young people to get involved with poetry.

“Congratulations to everyone involved at Off The Shelf, it looks like a fantastic festival and cities need things like this,” said Walsh.

“At £8 or £10 it can be prohibitive for young people and when venues aren’t full it would be good if young people could be allowed in cheap or free.

“For people who are interested, or maybe people who don’t think they are but would be, It’s a great thing that it’s happened.”

To have artists like Tony Walsh performing over such a long period shows how big Off The Shelf has become in Sheffield. That a large number of people listened to poetry at Leadmill on a Tuesday night attests to this.

Vigil for the Manchester Arena bombing victims

© Bob Harvey

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Wednesday 29 November 2017

Forge Press

Oh My Pod! For when you want to sound smart at parties

Russell Brand has one, Ed Miliband has one, even noughties superstar Will Young has one. So what are you waiting for - if you’re not already on the podcast wave, here’s your chance. Get started with some of Features Editor Katharine Swindells’ top recommendations.

In 2016 Malcolm Gladwell, a man who has made a living out of being cleverer than everyone else in a room, made Revisionist History, a podcast which interrogates societal phenomena to answer questions about the meaning of life. ‘Hallelujah’, an episode on the Leonard Cohen/Jeff Buckley/Shrek song which examines the concept of genius is particularly brilliant, as is ‘The Lady Vanishes’, which shows how one minority getting past the glass ceiling can actually strengthen it for others.

If you’re anything like me, your Facebook saves and Twitter likes are full of intelligent-looking in-depth articles that you’ll (absolutely definitely) get round to reading someday. The Guardian’s Audio Longreads takes half the work out of that by having journalists read their work aloud, so you can listen to it on the way to uni. Never again will you be left nodding dumbly when someone says “Did you read that article about...”

Laugh Out Loud Recently having finished its third series, there’s a reason why My Dad Wrote a Porno is infamous. Yes, three friends reading aloud and critiquing erotic fiction written by a middle-aged-man is as absurd as it sounds, but it’s also hilarious. Stop giving your mates funny looks when they recommend it and join the ranks of the public transport-gigglers everywhere. If you start now you can be up to date by the time they begin series four next summer. And I promise there’s no way you can prepare yourself for the twist at the end of book three...

Pop Culture On Mostly Lit, three friends Derek, Alex and Rai discuss literature both traditional and contemporary, and how it intersects with social justice, particularly black culture, and their own experiences as young black Londoners and book-lovers.

Srsly, the pop culture branch-off podcast from the New Statesman magazine, launched after the NS did a political analysis of Harry Potter, which met massive popularity and included such gems as “If objects can be mended and replicated by magic - why are the Weasleys poor?”. Since then, every week Srsly’s hosts Anna and Caroline discuss current TV, film and albums, and go back in time to analyse some old favourites. They’re both wonderfully dorky, and so likeable it feels like you’re watching a movie with your friends.

Forge Press

Wednesday 29 November 2017

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Absorbing Fiction Done in similar style to many of the true crime podcasts, Limetown follows an investigative reporter trying to solve the mystery of how 300 people all went missing at once, and how it links to the impenetrable neuroscience facility in their town. The story gets weirder and darker as it goes on until I had to stop listening before bed.

And just last month, after no information for two years, the makers confirmed that season two will be returning in 2018.

The best in true crime

My All-Time Fave

Political Fixes

You won’t be able to stop listening to In the Dark, which researches the thirty-year-old mystery of missing Minnesotan child Jacob Wetterling and whether police incompetence and town politics can be blamed for his disappearance. But this podcast has a surprise edge just as the journalist was about to publish her research, the culprit turned themselves in. That doesn’t diminish the harrowing story though, which remains a fascinating study of the flaws of the law enforcement system. A second season is supposedly in the works, but we’re still waiting.

Every week on Call Your Girlfriend, journalist Ann Friedman and tech businesswoman Aminatou Sow call each other to talk about pro-choice lawsuits, luxury pajamas, the Kardashians, and everything in between.

When things are good, they make it better; their episode the day after Lemonade dropped was pure gold. And when things are awful, as they have been for a lot of women recently, their honest admittance of that is a breath of fresh air. Their invention of the term “shine theory” - for when women support and celebrate the successes of other women - has now entered the mainstream feminist lexicon, and their friendship is truly aspirational.

If, like me, you’re a politics nerd but have reached the end of your emotional tether where you simply can’t talk about Brexit anymore, you can find a more low-key politics podcast in Reasons to be Cheerful. The latest from bacon sarnie-eating Labour Leader-turned radio personality Ed Miliband, along with Geoff Lloyd, moves away from the specifics of party politics to look at “bigideas” such as drug decriminalisation and Universal Basic Income. They interview experts, discuss evidence, and fill the gaps with light-hearted political banter.

Brilliant interviews There’s a reason Another Round, by Buzzfeed’s Tracy Clayton and Heben Nigatu, is one of the most popular podcasts in the world. Clayton and Nigatu’s discussions on gender, race, mental health, pop culture and alcohol are thought-provoking and hilarious. And it’s that popularity that has landed them some of the biggest interviews possible: everyone from Hillary Clinton to Roxane Gay, to Lin Manuel Miranda.

Hosts Chris Sweeney and Will Young (yes, that Will Young) like to call their new podcast Homo Sapiens “Woman’s Hour, for LGBTQ people.” Every week they speak to a prominent LGBT guest about their experiences and activism, and chat about mental health within the LGBT community alongside funny anecdotes from Young’s popstar days.

Not worth your time There are loads of podcasts out there that are critically acclaimed, with write-ups everywhere from the Metro to the New York Times. But you’re not reading those, you’re reading Forge Press, so I can tell you that loads of them are not all they’re cracked up to be. You’re welcome to listen and make your own judgments, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Now, cards on the table, I really, really fancy Russell Brand. But even I couldn’t

handle listening to his podcast Under the Skin, where he essentially spends an hour interrupting experts to proclaim his superior point of view. I got through ten minutes of skin-crawling mansplaining before I was forced to tune out.

In Beautiful Anonymous, callers get the opportunity to tell their life stories, from high school crushes to illicit affairs and inspiring achievements. Its anonymous soul-bearing premise has the potential to

be brilliant but presenter Chris Gethard seems unable to just let the stories tell themselves. His self-obsessive need to insert himself and his experiences into every narrative detracts from the subjects themselves and ultimately ends up working to the podcast’s detriment.

Forge Press

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Wednesday 29 November 2017

Chloe Dervey and Tom Buckland

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Games press.games@forgetoday.com

i push my fingers into my eyes

2017 has been been quite the year for games and especially one to remember for female protagonists. Find our top picks of (predominantly Sony) games we played this year below, and definitely get these titles on your Christmas list if you’re yet to join our jolly bandwagon.

In this issue we introduce our new segment

We’ve narrowed down all the games of 2017 to our favourites. This is a ‘gentle’ reminder that if you don’t own these games yet, you should buy them ASAP or put them on your Christmas List! Chlom are Playstation 4 owners that are too poor to afford any other console (specifically Nintendo Switch), so expect heavy SONY bias within!

Naughty Dog finally gave Chloe Frazer the attention she deserves blessing us all with a DLC adventure that stands firmly on its own alongside the main games of the franchise. The Lost Legacy took the series’ strengths and improved upon them, showcasing the potential the franchise has even without Nathan Drake.

The dynamic between Chloe and Nadine is brave, refreshing and engaging, and one which gamers didn’t necessarily expect but definitely needed. The game left us both desperately wanting more of these two kickass heroines, and Naughty Dog have made us perfectly happy with saying goodbye to Nathan Drake.

Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerilla Games)

Guerilla Games left critics and gamers completely dazzled by Horizon Zero Dawn. The vast open world and stunning graphics are

matched by the equally compelling story of Aloy, our fierce yet endearing protagonist voiced by the exceptional Ashly Burch. Fast forward several months (and even more awards) later and Guerilla Games’s reputation as games developers has skyrocketed.

Unfortunately, there will not be any more expansions to Horizon after The Frozen Wilds, but fans like ourselves eagerly await to see what else the developer has to offer in the future.

What remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow) Unfolding in an almost-storybook style, What remains of Edith Finch is a whimsical narrative that stays with the player for a long time, despite the game’s short length. Charming gamers in a sweet yet unsettling fashion, this game showed the malleability of video games as an entertainment platform and highlighted that when done right, a video game can be a very special method of storytelling. Edith’s

Games Editors

“1-Day Play” reflections, consisting of first impressions of gameplay to give you a hand in deciding whether or not to invest in the newest titles.

Although this is the last print issue of Forge for 2017 (booo), make sure to keep an eye on Forge Online, where we will be providing plenty of gamey content over the holidays (yaaay)!

Chlom’s top picks of 2017!

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (Naughty Dog)

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account as the player explores the Finch household is engrossing and tugs at the heartstrings.

Accompanying her on this journey is fleeting but certainly memorable.

Hidden Agenda

(Supermassive Games) Supermassive Games’ followup to Until Dawn has been highly anticipated by both of us since its announcement. It’s been an impatient wait for a game that carries over the choice-driven tension of its progenitor and mixes it with idea of playing with friends. This is something that Until Dawn wasn’t originally made for, but Hidden Agenda embraces both player choice and cooperation with open arms. We have a game that, although not particularly substantial or that plays like other of this year’s big games, but which nevertheless provides a type of

Prepare for trouble!

Make it double!

To protect the world from loot boxes!

To unite all gamers within our nation!

To denounce the evils of cheating and hacking!

To extend our reach to the games above!

Chloe! Tom! Team Chlom blast off at the speed of light Read us now or prepare to fight (Meowth that’s right!) xxx

gaming that has been lost since the rise of the internet. Now, inviting friends over to sit around your PS4 and play games isn’t such an absurd idea.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins (Ubisoft) The game that had so much to prove, and prove it did. With Ubisoft constantly criticised for their repetitive games that did nothing new with the franchise, everyone had decided that Assassin’s Creed was doomed to end. Origins has banished any such thoughts for us, as the game does so much more than

previous titles while showing that sometimes less is more.

With a protagonist that’s not dry and a story that isn’t insanely predictable (though it has its moments), Ubisoft have given hope to Assassin’s Creed lovers everywhere that the series won’t crash and burn in the fiery pits of the Duat.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS: SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD

Both games were monumental releases for the Nintendo Switch, and make very welcome returns to two of our long time favourite gaming icons: Link and Mario.

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Wednesday 29 November 2017

Star Wars Battlefront II Review

David Anderson

I

f it’s a brilliant first-person shooter you’re after, then you’re looking in the wrong place with Star Wars Battlefront II. However, if you’re a true Star Wars fan, you can’t really afford not to pick it up.

Battlefront II is far from perfect but a handful of redeeming factors help improve it by leaps and bounds over its predecessor. This includes stunning visuals and sound effects which make the game a cinematic marvel, improved realism with blasters and vehicles and a short but gratifying single player campaign.

Set between the Battles of Endor and Jakku, the missions do a stellar job of introducing the player to the physics of the gameplay and familiarise them with other factors such as star cards, which are used in online multiplayer.

Main protagonist Iden Versio and the supporting cast are interesting, original and at times hilarious; the dry wit of Alliance member Shriv is a particular delight. Sadly, the four hours or so of story doesn’t give them enough time to naturally develop. The pacing of character progression is forced and clunky, which becomes especially apparent when key decisions and changes of outlook appear to be made on a whim.

SPOLERS AHEAD!

above: Iden looks on as any chance of a sequel is destroyed, below: fans complained about the lack of spikes in Moon

The sense of disjointedness isn’t helped by regular diversions following the likes of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. Although they do at times help to give context to the story and are undoubtedly enjoyable and very cool, overall they feel forced and unnecessary.

There is no doubt the campaign would feel more immersive if we were to solely follow Iden.

Despite this and the predictable narrative, the campaign is at least an opportunity for players to immerse themselves in the Star Wars galaxy in a stunning fashion. Space battles feel great and control naturally, as does the movement of characters planetside.

Multiplayer is also much improved

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from the previous game. It still suffers from clear shortcomings when compared to other shooters, and the widespread controversy over microtransactions which were temporarily disabled ahead of the game’s launch. This has soured public opinion, but nevertheless the five game modes are varied and enjoyable.

[Read more about the controversy of

microtransactions at forgetoday.com/press/ games -- Chlom xx]

The large Galactic Assault mode pits 20 attackers against 20 defenders in unique objective based scenarios, while Strike is a smaller eight versus eight mode. For a simpler game, two teams of ten can go head-to-head in a ‘first to 100 eliminations’ battle in Blast.

You can also take part in an outer space dogfight in Starfighter Assault, or battle it out with famous Star Wars characters in Heroes vs. Villains. The latter is great

18

multiplayer maps of iconic locations

fun when you’re on form, but not so much when you’re being Force Frozen and killed by Kylo Ren while playing as Lando Calrissian.

The 18 striking maps, set in iconic locations from across the three Star Wars eras, are a joy to explore. Even more exciting is the prospect of visiting them as Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader… if you ever manage to earn enough Battle Points to unlock them, that is.

Battlefront II is predominantly shallow, hedonistic Star Wars fun. But, for a Star Wars fan, that in itself makes it worth playing.

Tom Buckland

P

Pokemon Ultra Moon 1-DAY PLAY

okémon’s swan song for Nintendo handheld, Ultra Sun and Moon were announced not long after their originals Sun and Moon had been released.

Many would say a remake of those games was completely unwarranted.

This isn’t incorrect, but based on the first few hours it seems creators Game Freak have done the franchise justice.

Ultra Sun and Moon follow very similar plots to Sun and Moon while adding a few fresh and unique twists. The player is pursued by two odd individuals who are, for lack of a better phrase, not of this world.

They are also how the game reintroduces Ultra Beasts, pokémon that are unique to Sun and Moon and its Alola region that now become relevant to the plot much faster. This does fix some of the pacing issues of the original games.

Where the Ultra Beasts felt very sudden in their involvement before, Ultra Sun and Moon allow the player to become more aware of their presence.

A lot of the differences in the game come from extra, fun mechanics – such as Mantine surfing. This lets the player travel from one island to another via the Pokémon Mantine whilst it does cool tricks (as if Pokémon couldn’t get any more charming). None of these new features are groundbreaking, but they make the familiar formula of Pokémon slightly more refreshing.

To really get the most out of these remakes, Sun players should purchase Ultra Moon and vice versa. This makes the game feel different due to changes in Pokémon and the day/night cycles.

So far, the game feels different but still very much the same – hopefully as it progresses and the story unfolds there’ll be more that can stand out as new and exciting.

Forge Press

29

Wednesday 29 November 2017

Review

Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds Chloe Dervey

T

he Frozen Wilds is a fantastic addition to Horizon Zero Dawn and although this is the only expansion being released for the game, Guerilla Games have made sure it’s an unforgettable and substantial experience.

In the base game a single Banuk Encampment lies at the North of the map, but this secluded group comes to the forefront in The Frozen Wilds. As a story-driven expansion, the events in The Frozen Wilds not only complement the base game’s narrative but add enough new content to really engage returning

players, exploring the culture of the Banuk further.

Attention-to-detail in fleshing out the Banuk has created a strong cast of well-developed characters, providing opportunity for Aloy’s personality to shine. Players who enjoyed Horizon’s side quests will be delighted with those in the The Frozen Wilds. The wide array of stories and characters all bring life and warmth to The Cut, a desolate land of unyielding ice.

As much as the side quests are distracting from the main story, the ominous smoke rising from mountain Thunder’s Drum remains visible from almost anywhere.It’s a looming and atmospheric reminder of

the riveting quest Aloy is undertaking with the Banuk.

These new lands feel a million

These new lands feel a million miles away from the lush jungles and deserts of the Sundom. miles away from the lush jungles and desert lands of the Sundom.

Snow was not absent in Horizon Zero Dawn but The Cut is truly an artistic achievement on its own. There are several times during quests where Aloy will come to a spectacular view, a chance for players to take some stunning screenshots and also for the developers to show off what they have created. The accompanying soundtrack is as colourful as the ancient sigils of the Banuk against the snow, which is only fitting for a tribe that tell their great hunting stories in song.

Be warned, this is not an expansion for players still early in the base game. The high difficulty is apparent immediately as Aloy encounters the new machine Daemonic Scorcher, a fiery start to an expansion full of epic battles. The new Daemonic machines are very challenging. Players that are not used to varied combat styles will now find themselves making full use

of placing traps, becoming an expert in utilising different weapons in quick succession, and strategically figuring out when to use different potions.

The relentless snow of The Cut means low visibility adds a new dimension to combat, which is consistently tactical, fast paced, visually stunning and great fun.

The Frozen Wilds also introduces a new skill tree largely revolving around traversal on mounted machines and deconstructing resources. Returning players will find little use for this, but it is very useful to those still making their way through the original story or considering starting Newgame+. The Frozen Wilds definitely encourages to do just that and start this epic story all over again.

1-DAY PLAY

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Ben Warner

Nintendo could well have pulled off a masterstroke in releasing a new Animal Crossing for mobile devices.

In Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, you are a youngster who has inexplicably been left in charge of a campsite (rather than moving into the traditional village), with your main goal to make friends and invite them to stay at the site.

The series’ second instalment, 2005’s Wild World, was a pillar of many a childhood and rocketed the franchise to fame on the Nintendo DS. I was as excited as anyone to return to the franchise when I found out they were making a mobile version of the series.

Admittedly, Pocket Camp might not live up to longtime fans’ hopes,

but it is a solid way to spend some time. Graphically it’s faithful to the older games, and if anything it is enhanced on mobile. Many of the memorable characters are still in there, giving players a real nostalgia kick.

In terms of play style, there are a lot of differences to older iterations.

Friendships with other animals are easily and quickly improved by completing requests, which are often just fetching collectables in return for rewards.

A crafting element has been added and Cyrus the alpaca is more than willing to make you furniture – for a price.

More furniture blueprints are

unlocked as you level up.

Other than that, it’s business as usual for the game. Fishing, butterfly catching, tree-shaking, it’s mostly all here. Although die-hard fossil and art collectors will be disappointed.

It’s a tough ask to live up to the older games in the series, especially on a mobile platform rather than consoles or handheld, but Nintendo have done a superb job with Pocket Camp.

Being a free game aside from the optional purchase of Leaf Tickets, (a currency that allows the player to progress faster) you really don’t have an excuse not to give it a go.

Fans have already found ways to create in-game cults and prisons. Just because.

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Wednesday 29 November 2017

facebook.com/ForgePress

Nick Burke | Deputy Editor

@ForgePress

It’s another strong issue for Forge Music, with something for every musical taste. Within these four pages you’ll find our esteemed editor’s top picks of 2017, along with an engaging interview with the laid back Newton Faulkner.

Overleaf there’s a review of the highly-rated Bicep’s live set at Hope Works, along with favourable thoughts on Taylor Swift’s Reputation.

This stands alongside a fiery

press.music@forgetoday.com

Music

companion piece by the very same reviewer, our own Music Editor Florence Mooney, whose unfavourable opinion of Swift’s media persona stands in the starkest of contrast to her album review.

For the record, I don’t think this year has been very good for music at all. Maybe I’m just getting old.

Recently though, in a desperate last-ditch attempt to understand the hype around Kendrick Lamar, I took the plunge as someone very much uninterested by the genre.

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It’s not all to my taste, but if there was one song that helped me understand the star’s lyrical prowess, it was ‘Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst’ from 2012 album good kid, m.A.A.D city.

In what essentially amounts to twelve minutes of poetry, Lamar speaks from a place of pain and passion in a blaze of staggeringly fluid rhyming and existential musings. It’s pretty special.

Anyway, have a top Christmas guys.

Nick

Editors’ Picks of 2017.

Flo’s Favourites Album.

Masseduction by St Vincent In 2017 misogyny has yet again come out on top, knocking women down time and time again.

However, in spite of this, women have been storming popular music with many of the best albums of the year. With classic albums from the likes of Lorde, Haim, Wolf Alice and Lana Del Rey, it is hard to choose the best. But for me, St Vincent has stolen the crown. Clever lyrics, bold guitars, catchy tunes and ridiculous shows. She’s smashed it.

Single.

‘Green Light’ by Lorde Three years since her debut, 20-year-old Lorde returned this year with her sophomore album Melodrama. It’s one of the best of the year, and includes the roaring lead single ‘Green Light’.

From the quiet beginning to the steady lead and the anthemic chorus, the track is a beautiful example of pop perfection.

Artist.

The xx

After the release of acclaimed album I Dare You at the beginning of the year, The xx have continued to have a triumphant year. Singles such as ‘Dangerous’, ‘On Hold’ and ‘Say Something Loving’ have stormed stages across the world from the UK to the USA, Australia to Japan. Alongside playing to massive crowds at festivals such as Glastonbury, they staged their own mini festival surrounding their seven night residency at O2 Academy Brixton in March. 2017 belongs to The xx.

Suprise Success.

Harry Styles

Since One Direction split in 2015, great speculation has surrounded the solo career of the five boys.

While everyone expected commercial success, Harry Styles has gone beyond selling millions to achieve genuine critical success too. His eponymous debut album has the swagger and skill of a talented songwriter. Tracks such as ‘Sign of the Times’, ‘From the Dining Table’ and ‘Woman’ suggests Styles has a successful career ahead of him as a serious musician.

Ben’s Favourites Album

Yesterday’s Gone by Loyle Carner So many great albums this year. Kendrick. Stormzy.

The xx. But my album of year is the beautiful and melodic debut from Loyle Carner, Yesterday’s Gone. Comprised of witty and thoughtful rap backed by soft guitars and soothing drum beats, Carner was rightfully nominated for the Mercury Prize and is on the way to great things judging from this debut.

Single.

‘Everything Now’ by Arcade Fire Despite only performing to half-empty arenas in North America, Arcade Fire have had a great year, continuing to twist the pop genre with an experimential jazzy disco sound in July’s Everything Now. The stand out song which graced our radios was the single of the same name, a euphorically feel-good vibe that leaves you wanting to ‘Turn the speakers up ‘till they break’.

Artist.

Kendrick Lamar

This man has had an incredible year. In April, the release of Damn., his first double platinum album, boosted brand Kendrick to global status.

From humble Compton beginnings, Kendrick is now guaranteed to go down in the Hip Hop hall of fame. His global tour has sold out everywhere and he can now boast 5 of the most streamed songs of the year and album of the year as chosen by BET Hip Hop awards as well as Q.

Flop.

Gorillaz Gorillaz. Experimental giants who in the past have smashed the nail on the head with the likes of ‘Feel Good Inc.’, ‘Dirty Harry’ and ‘DARE.’ But this year they proved in absolute abundance that the risk of experimenting with sounds and genres can go horrifically wrong. Horrifically wrong. This was my most anticipated album of the year and so the let-down hit even harder. One or two tracks, such as ‘Ascension’ and ‘We Got The Power’ are alright but alright isn’t good enough for Gorillaz. And as for the rest of the album, the less said the better.

Forge Press

Wednesday 29 November 2017

31

Newton Faulkner. The Leadmill.

Luke Pedley went to check out Newton Faulker’s euphoric gig at The Leadmill, along with getting a quick chat with the man.

O

n the edge of Sheffield’s social hub, hundreds of people queued outside the Leadmill, with each person half eager to escape the cold, half anticipating Newton Faulkner’s return.

Throughout the thoroughly pleasant Sam Brookes’ supporting set, the anticipation slowly built. Playing through the relatively little-known set list must have been difficult, as the crowd only got involved to clap between songs. The tangible anticipation was growing for Faulkner’s return, and he justified that feeling.

Despite having played venues such as Birmingham’s 3000-capacity Academy, this time around he has opted for a more intimate tour. “It’s the longest tour I’ve done. I play for the same amount of people that I usually do, just in much smaller groups. It’s the touring equivalent of carpet bombing,” he laughs.

Back in 2007 at the age of 22, Faulkner release an album that would reach double platinum, supported the likes of Paolo Nutini, topping the UK’s August album charts.

And yet, he’s not happy with living on previous success. And that’s the message of his new album Hit the Ground Running. “It feels like the beginning of a new start”, he states simply.

While most artists looking for a new start would want to shake-off their previous hits, Faulkner struck a perfect balance, including the likes of “Dream Catch Me” and his new “Smoked Ice Cream”. His ability to switch between the new and old, the musician and the entertainer made his performance incredibly captivating.

Willing to engage with the crowd he frequently played requests, and playfully introduced each hit as “this is a song.”

Moving between the piano, the guitar and drums, the crowd were given a one man performance doing the job of three.

But Faulkner also asked the crowd to be his back-up singers and occasionally took a step-back to let them sing.

Throughout the performance, his passion for music and entertainment was obvious. He has clearly pushed on from 2007, and says he can now reach “an octave, maybe an octave and a half

Newton Faulkner

Hit the Ground Running

O

ver the past decade, Newton Faulkner has been rightly praised as both a fantastic vocalist and a virtuoso guitar player. Returning this year with his sixth studio album, Faulkner has once again managed to capture this balance.

Possibly one of his longest albums to produce (songs such as ‘Smoked Ice Cream’ first emerged in his live shows back in 2012), Hit The Ground Running follows Newton’s winning formula of warm tones, ethereal melodies, and a voice that can jump from gentle to giant in a heartbeat.

The album’s title track ‘Hit The Ground Running’ combines Faulkner’s laid back, by-the-campfire vibes with an array of vocal changes. Comparing the opening line with the second half of the chorus sees a huge change in volume and pitch that sounds wonderfully effortless.

This comes across in other songs such as ‘Never Alone’ and ‘Been Here Before’, where vocals can be calm and controlled before suddenly bursting into almost impossibly high notes that are never shrill or strained. That’s not to say

the more chilled-out compositions are absent in this album; ‘The Good Fight’ is a beautifully crafted yet elegantly simple song akin to his acoustic rendition of ‘Step In The Right Direction’.

Sadly, the monotony of the album does get boring. The contrast in pace adds variety, but isn’t always easy to listen to.

Faulkner has created a collection of songs that all feel unique. They feel individually crafted rather than manufactured, which is more than can be said for other albums in the charts.

He has a tendency to be a bit too gentle in places, to the point where parts of the album don’t feel like they have much substance. Nevertheless despite its flaws, Hit the Ground Running is still worth a listen.

Luke Pedley

higher than ten years ago.”

He could’ve been excused for living off his past success. Instead, he’s looking for a revival of Craig David proportions.

For Faulkner the difference between then and now is simple. Unhappy with how clean-cut his previous work is, he has opted for a more organic approach.

“This time, it wasn’t done in a harsh studio environment. It was done casually. All the music influences come through friends.

The people that came in and played instruments were all friends. It was like ‘come round, we’ll play some stuff, then play video games and get drunk.’”

The message of his music remains the same however, with the aim of being “realistically reassuring” to his fans.

While Newton Faulkner will probably not reach number 1 again, his clear passion and verve for performing made this intimate gig absolutely spectacular.

The “tactical decision” to play at smaller venues has truly paid dividends.

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Wednesday 29 November 2017

Forge Press

Bicep

Hope Works Joe Mackay

I

f you’re a fan of electronic music in its many forms, there’s a rather fantastic Facebook group called The Identification of Music Group.

76,000 members strong and counting, the group serves as a haven for genre fans looking to hunt down tunes. From blurry nightclub videos shot on iPhones at 4am to onomatopoeic walls of text feebly trying to describe 90s German techno, the group is a disorganised mess of hopeful people trying to rediscover music that has managed to escape them.

While on paper this sounds kind of terrible, the beauty of the group is that 99% of the time it works perfectly. Everything from mid-00s pirate radio grime rips to barely-audible French disco cuts are identified by friendly Facebook commenters, saving the day to an outpouring of gratitude.

Earlier this year however, the group began to run into significant trouble identifying selections from Bicep sets; namely, nobody could identify them. Desperation mounted by the day as the phrase ‘unreleased Bicep’ was commented beneath more and more posts. Hopeful fans were crushed by the blow that they wouldn’t hear the songs again for a long time - possibly never again.

For Bicep, the notion of cratedigging and uncovering lost gems is a

philosophy rooted at their very core; a driving force behind their entire career. Formed as a production duo in 2009, Northern Irishmen Andy Ferguson and Matt McBriar created a blog (and later a record label) called ‘Feel My Bicep’-, a space where they could share their own early work as Bicep along with Chicago House and Detroit Techno edits and tracks they had uncovered themselves.

Feelmybicep.com stands as a testament to their passion and dedication to curating a trove of almost-forgotten musical treasures, and their progression into touring and DJing worldwide has solidly cemented them into UK Dance music culture.

In September this year, the pair released their eponymous debut album and everybody finally uncovered all the ‘unreleased Bicep’ they’d been dying to find. Better still, they announced an album tour which took them all the way to Hope Works.

On the night, the excitement was electric. Pushing this anticipation to the max on the warm-up slot was Hope Works resident DJ (and Birthday Boy) Lo Shea, keeping the room on edge with a diverse selection of tracks with a range of influences.

From fully fledged house stompers to ethereal melodic numbers, he never pushed the crowd too far but kept the energy rising for the main event.

A sizeable gazebo had been erected in the courtyard outside the main warehouse (in the smoking area),

which not only provided a retreat from the particularly chilly wind but also provided revellers with a stellar selection of music courtesy of Hope Works co-resident Chris Duckenfield. From the main room to the Rave Cave to the smoking area, Hope Works was a hive of activity and musical diversity.

As Bicep took to the stage there was a collective roar of excitement from the crowd, something heard very rarely within the DJ setbased confines of Hope Works.

Any concerns that the show might be live for the sake of it were very quickly dispelled. Unlike other acts that have made the transition to playing live sets such as Blonde and Disclosure, the focus was less upon physical drum pads, guitars and live vocalists, but instead upon banks of computers, wires and analog synthesisers - a mix of old school and contemporary machinery that has proved so fundamental in shaping their current sound. While it wasn’t entirely obvious what the duo were actually doing with their equipment, they were definitely doing something right, sending the crowd into a wild mix of wide grins and dodgy dance moves as all the hype paid off.

Bicep’s set served as a crash course in their own material, but also in what can be achieved in a set of house music. Their equipment didn’t seek to emulate the tracks but rather completely recreate them from the ground up. Such tight control over

all the instrumentation allowed for remixing on the fly, extending and altering elements to keep the crowd hanging onto every single bass kick.

The analogue synths washed over the warehouse, evoking a sense of nostalgia for an era the majority of the room never experienced first hand.

Hope Works simply shined as a venue for an experience such as Bicep. With on-point live visuals combined with a hefty amount of smoke and lasers - the warehouse served as a blank canvas for the exquisite array of colour and sound, pairing audio and visual perfectly.

High points of the set came somewhat predictably in the form of seminal anthem ‘Just’ and recent lead-single ‘Aura’, but that was no bad thing. As the simplistic yet emotional melodic riffs flowed through the room it was impossible not to feel unequivocally happy, something that can be said of the whole set.

With Bicep finishing at 3:15am but Hope Works remaining open until the early hours, subsequent music came courtesy of frequent Bicep collaborator Hammer (Bicep curl, Hammer curl… you get the idea).

The DJ kept the room alive with a selection of particularly funky house numbers, very much in line with Bicep’s own ‘HOUSE DISCO FUNK TECHNO ITALIO COSMIC’ manifesto.

Finally Lo Shea bookended the evening, playing the closing slot with

an infectious energy that couldn’t be stopped - even on his birthday.

The crowd left immensely satisfied. Bicep at Hope Works was a blur of good friends, a good venue, good music and, most importantly, good times.

Forge Press

Wednesday 29 November 2017

33

OPINION

Oh, Look What You Made Her Do

Music Editor Florence Mooney takes a look at Taylor Swift’s infamous reputation.

I

n the 11 years since her debut album, the press and the public have become quite familiar with Taylor Swift. Arena tours, number 1 singles, platinumselling records, Grammy awards and countless celebrity boyfriends – she is a permanent face in the celebrity gossip columns. With her newest album, Swift is claiming to be through with the serial-dating, manipulative, calculated persona the press has created. Now we are getting the real Taylor – she’s no longer playing Mr

Nice Guy. She’s no longer going to be thrown around by the press. She’s ready to play dirty. But wait, hasn’t she been doing this for 11 years?

Let’s go back to the infamous 2009 VMAs. Swift won Best Female Video for the ‘You Belong With Me’ video before Kanye West stormed on stage interrupting Swift’s speech, claiming Beyoncé had “one of the best videos of all time” with ‘Single Ladies’ (and he was right, she did).

In a move which was disrespectful and belittling to a new artist winning her first major award, West did more than he could have ever imagined. In that moment, West gave Swift the game she would go on to play for years to come.

He could have broken her that night, but he didn’t, and in the words of Kelly

Clarkson what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. She learnt the power of the victim. Years prior to the 2009 VMAs, Swift had been playing the victim. On Fearless, she sings of boys who have promised her the world and let her down on ‘White Horse’ and ‘Forever and Always’.

In 2008, she appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show telling the world how Joe Jonas broke up with her in a brutal phone call, presenting Jonas as ‘the bad guy’ and herself as the helpless maiden.

Still, none of this compared to the reaction coming from the West’s appearance at the VMAs. There was universal disgust. Beyoncé was mortified. The then President of the United States even had something to say about it – Obama described West as a ‘jackass’. And Taylor Swift rose to her position in the upper echelons of pop.

Fast forward a few years to 2010 and Swift was still playing this game.

On Speak Now, she rabbits on for six whole minutes about how much John Mayer played his cruel old games with her innocent little heart; she tells us of a journalist who was so mean to her she called the track ‘Mean’; and, of course, she returns to West who she kindly forgives because he’s “32 and still growing up” (could she be more condescending?).

Skip forward again to 2012 and Red with tracks such as ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’, ‘All Too Well’ and ‘The Moment I Knew’ portray her as a blameless victim yet again.

Come 2014, she accuses the media of manipulating her image so much she writes ‘Blank Space’ – supposedly from this persona who’s ‘insane’.

Maybe we were all just starting to believe it. For a 20-something pop star she’s not had that many boyfriends, and the press do like to speculate a lot. Hey maybe Taylor isn’t all that bad.

Post-1989 that innocent façade has slipped more and more and it has become apparent that she is self-obsessed and willing to use

Taylor Swift: Reputation Taylor Swift is a chameleon of the music world. In her early career she was a country singer, before moving into the world of pop with albums such as Red and 1989. With Reputation Swift has continued this transformation, moving on from guitar-driven pop of Red and taking 1989’s electronic elements to the extreme. For someone who made their name with acoustic guitars and banjos, it’s shocking how much her sound has changed, as by Reputation the only non-electronic instrument is a piano on album closer ‘New Year’s Day’,. Maybe the old Taylor really is dead, as she claims in ‘Look What You Made Me Do’.

Swift’s greatest talent had always been the way she can tell

a story, from tracks like ‘All Too Well’ and ‘Out of the Woods’. Between all the changes of sound, this is what Swift has stayed true to with Reputation. On album highlight ‘Getaway Car’ she tells the story of a doomed relationship, comparing it to a Bonnie and Clyde-like run from the law. In four minutes she produces such a detailed, exciting picture, it could inspire a full-length movie.

Although lead single ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ suggested this album would be about karma and dishing the dirt on her high profile feuds, Reputation is a more honest album about her relationship with actor Joe Alywn. Although tracks like ‘This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things’ and ‘I Did Something

Bad’ seem to have elements of revenge, others such as ‘New Year’s Day’ and ‘Call It Want You Want’ are softer, calmer and kinder.

Maybe Swift is a little more human than she likes to make out.

The album is certainly not without it’s flaws. ‘End Game’ featuring Future and Ed Sheeran is a strange, sonically incoherent mismatch of sounds, and ‘... Ready for It?’ is slightly too brash in its electronic bass. However, Reputation is another great selection of pop songs from Swift, proving yet again why she is at the top of her game.

anything and everything for her own advantage. Driven women have often been accused of being hard and ruthless – something, strangely enough, men seem to be praised for.

I am by no means attacking Swift for being driven; she should take the opportunities she has been given and make success from them. However, she is willing to knock others down to gain this. Take the 2015 Twitter exchange she had with Nicki Minaj over the VMA nominations. Minaj make a comment about racism in the music industry, where black women are ignored for doing the same things white women are praised for. Swift took this personally claiming she had done “nothing but love and support [Minaj]” and it was “unlike [Minaj] to pit women against each other”. I don’t know where Swift has been for her whole life, but it is obvious that race issues in the USA are slightly bigger than her. Taking it personally and calling Minaj out for speaking up about such issues highlights how ignorant Swift is to the issues of others.

And since 2015 Swift’s ignorance to the struggles of others has only become more striking. After describing herself as a ‘feminist’ and claiming 1989 was about empowering women and her ‘girl squad’, Swift has been strikingly absent from any discussions surrounding the election.

Not a single word was spoken out in support of Clinton, not a single word spoken about the blatant sexism in the media towards her, not a single word about Trump’s ongoing derogatory comments about women.

Nothing. One of the most powerful women in the world, with enormous influence, has nothing to say. And there has been Trump’s ‘Muslimban’, the banning of transgender servicemen and women, and the rise of neo-Nazis.

In the past week She has however already recently sued a blogger who has claimed she is an icon of the altright. This seems a little hypocritical when she is unwilling to make any comment against such groups

herself. When is seems she might be being attacked, Swift is keen to jump in and defend herself, but as soon as it is others, in a lesser position, Swift is clearly too busy. She is no longer an innocent teenager from Nashville. Rather, she has influence and privilege others could only dream of, but still she has to play the card of the innocent victim. Any act contrary to crack her delicate façade, and tragically this is at the detriment of others.

Last year, Swift kicked off after Kanye West released ‘Famous’ where he raps “I think me and Taylor might still have sex because I made that bitch famous”. The Swift/West feud was back on, and it seemed fair enough. West’s line was tonguein-cheek but could have been taken more personally. However, West’s wife, Kim Kardashian, was not going to let this slide, and released a video of Taylor agreeing to the line on a phone call with West, giving him her blessing. She manipulated the situation, acting innocent and hard done by to the press and the public, unsurprisingly playing the victim yet again, returning to the feud that had started this whole persona.

At the time of writing Reputation has not been released yet, but without hearing it, Swift has made clear the message she wants to convey. It is striking that despite all the obvious slips in her mask, where the ‘real’ Swift has shone through, she still is trying to flip the situation claiming she has been played. In ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ she claims she has been made to play the role of the fool by the media, but she seems to be doing a decent enough job of that herself. The card of innocence has long been played and it is time for her to stand up and accept her privilege and position, rather than snake around any responsibility for her actions or others opinions.

This is an opinion piece. None of the viewspoints within represent those of Forge Press.

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Wednesday 29 November 2017 facebook.com/ForgePress

Joe Mackay

@ForgePress

Screen press.screen@forgetoday.com

The Movie DB

Review

Lady Dynamite

David Craig

each section of the show has a very distinctive comedic voice which keeps every episode feeling fresh.

The 1987 segment lampoons the wholesome family sitcoms of that era, whilst the present day takes a frenetic look at how mental illness affects a modern relationship, among many other things.

But ultimately, it’s the future plotline that proves the most exciting. Kicking off with Maria agreeing to make a show about her life (an allegory for Lady Dynamite subtly titled “Maria Bamford is Nuts!”), this escalates dramatically and hilariously as the season progresses.

By the final episode it’s a hyperactive tour de force of surrealist comedy.

Bamford should be applauded for her remarkable performance, and the supporting cast is equally strong. Mary Kay Place reprises her role as Maria’s over-protective mother, and is responsible for some of the best line deliveries of the season. Ana Gasteyer is endlessly watchable as the outrageously aggressive talent manager Karen Grisham, while Lennon Parham makes a big impression with relatively little screen-time as Maria’s dim-witted friend Larissa.

Lady Dynamite is the best show on television that you’re not watching.

The series is gushing with creativity and the writing has only gotten sharper in this second season, performed by an ensemble cast high in talent and low in ego. It seems fitting that the television series working hardest to destigmatize mental health could easily be described as completely insane.

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ans of Maria Bamford’s Lady Dynamite may find the transition into season two a bit jarring. While the first was brimming with zany comedy, it kept one foot in the real world by telling the true story of Bamford’s diagnosis with Bipolar II. The second season moves away from this exaggerated biopic, opting instead for a largely fictionalised version of her life, resulting in some of the most absurd comedy ever produced in the history of television.

The season runs three individual storylines concurrently, each taking place at a different time in Maria’s life: 1987, present day, and an unspecified time in the future.

While often thematically linked,

Bamford should be applauded for her remarkable performance

Screen Editor

Hello friends, and welcome to another riveting edition of Forge Press Screen.

In a hideous attempt to pose as a couple of Ebenezer Scrooge-esque hipsters, we have avoided all mentions of Christmas in this issue.

No Christmas Feature. No Christmas Films. Nothing about Christmas at all, except the

Review Maria Bamford loses, then finds, her sh*t

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four times that I’ve just said the C-word.

Rather than fun and festivities, there’s a few art house cinema reviews in the form of The Florida Project and Good Time, a Netflix spotlight with Lady Dynamite, and a particularly brutal review of Justice League.

Overleaf the gloom only gets gloomier, with this week’s feature a particularly

Forge Press

pessimistic one about popular online review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

However, if you do fancy some Christmas content I can vehemently recommend Black Christmas, Gremlins, and Die Hard. Also The Holiday.

Seeya next year x

The Florida Project

Harry Tedder

Sean Baker’s follow-up to Tangerine is a gorgeous social commentary on suburban Florida, frustratingly let down by the plot’s desire to be dominated by structural imagery.

Unsurprisingly, the film is visually stunning. Baker himself claimed that he dedicates so much time to editing that he barely leaves his apartment, and you can tell. The vibrant palette of oranges, reds, purples and greens gives the film a warm sense of wonder that contrast with the glum surroundings to perfectly illustrate the themes of seeking positivity within struggle.

Being an independent film, the cast list is comprised largely of newcomers in which Willem Dafoe is the standout name, performing superbly as a sherifflike hotel manager. The characters

are generally excellent and very engaging, with stunning performances from Brooklynn Prince and Bria Vinaite who portray a loving yet troubled mother-daughter relationship.

There is also humour without feeling forced, while innocence and

$4.3m taken at the US box office (twice its $2m budget)

naivety of childhood is delivered well, only feeling prolonged on a few occasions. This feeds into its function as a social commentary, which feels authentic but a little repetitive as the story develops.

However, the film’s delivery

and plotline feel forced due to its environmental symbolism, meaning the ending makes sense both artistically and structurally but is devoid of any substance. From a narrative viewpoint, it laughs in the face of all the authenticity that precedes it, completely quashing all the prebuilt tension leading to what could have been a fantastic ending in favour of complementing earlier foreshadowing.

Relying so heavily upon forcing emotion out of an audience that might not be empathetic to such a change makes the ending fall flat.

Sweet, charming and blissfully innocent, The Florida Project is another strong step for Sean Baker but could have been much more if not for the lacklustre ending.

Forge Press

Wednesday 29 November 2017

Review Rory Mellon

I

f you’re running a marathon you can’t expect to show up on the day and ace it without months of hard work first.

That’s the big problem with Justice League: it wants all the glory of a satisfying superhero team up without first putting in the leg work.

Only half the team have featured in movies prior to Justice League, so the film is tasked with introducing a bunch of new characters. Aquaman and The Flash are haphazardly thrown into the mix without any attempt to develop their

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Superman’s real upper lip was unavailable for comment at the time of filming

Justice League characters, while Cyborg spends his introductory scenes moping around like a teenager who’s had their phone confiscated. Of all the fresh faces he fares the worst, making the planned Cyborg solo movie a very unappealing prospect.

Attempting to distance itself from the bloated Batman v Superman, this sequel never stops for breath in its lean two-hour runtime. Unfortunately, it ends up having the opposite problem.

Characters are left undefined and plot points are often thrown by the wayside in order to quickly move onto the next action sequence.

The plot itself follows the typical comic-book movie formula to a fault. The Avengers wisely used an already-established villain to unite their heroes, but Justice League opts for an entirely new foe in the form of CGI monstrosity Steppenwolf. He’s about as bland as antagonists come, lacking any real character or depth, with his sole motivation being global destruction because he’s evil and that’s what big evil aliens do.

The Flash (Ezra Miller) and Aquaman (Jason Momoa) absolutely steal the show. They consistently deliver hilarious quips and are the most visually interesting

heroes on the team by far. Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) does well with her action sequences, but struggles outside of them with some questionable line delivery.

Meanwhile, after just two outings Ben Affleck seems thoroughly bored in the role of Batman.

The most surprising thing about Justice League is how downright ugly it is. There is an abundance of poor CGI which is particularly noticeable on Henry Cavill’s face, edited to remove the moustache he was legally required to grow for the upcoming Mission: Impossible 6.

With effects this bad, it’s difficult

Review

Good Time

Gethin Morgan

at one point (surely a nod to Ryan Gosling’s gorgeous bomber). Once you look past that however, it’s a deeply original piece of work.

The first 20 minutes are magnificent.

Introducing Nick through a powerful therapy session, and introducing Connie when he rudely cuts it short. It’s an apt opening, considering the rest of the film largely consists of the latter trying to protect or save his brother, when in reality the best thing to do would be to leave him be.

Pattinson is excellent in the role, holding this wired intensity throughout the film. He really sells the character as the sleazy waster and all round horrible guy. The pressure is on too, considering the large majority of shots are extreme close ups, and Pattinson is a constant in the film. He can’t let it slip for a second, and he doesn’t.

When not right in a character’s face, the Safdie brothers show some lovely stylised shots, utilising aerial cameras to particularly great effect.

Good Time follows a hectic few days in the life of Connie Nikas (Robert Pattinson) as he tries to reunite with his mentally disabled brother following a bank robbery gone wrong.

It’s fair to say this film is a Safdie family project. Not only is it codirected by brothers Benny and Josh, but the former also co-edited it and provides the emotional centrepoint of the film as an impressive performance as mentally ill brother Nick. Meanwhile, Josh co-wrote the extremely economical script, which barely stops to breathe from the moment the heist goes awry.

It’s a unique approach, as is pretty much everything the Safdie brothers do through the hour and 40 minute runtime. The neon-chrome aesthetic is clearly inspired by Drive, with the superbly pulsating score is reminiscent of Nicolas Winding Refn’s masterpiece. Connie even puts a suspiciously silver jacket on

to pinpoint exactly what the $300 million budget went towards.

Justice League serves only to remind the viewer of just how impressive The Avengers really was. Perhaps five years ago the mere sight of these iconic heroes sharing the screen together would have been enough to awe audiences, but the novelty of these crossovers has long-since subsided. This is what the film fundamentally misunderstands. But hey, at least it’s better than Suicide Squad.

From tracking cars to a fantastic shot following an on-foot getaway, they provide some wonderfully unique angles and perspectives.

That originality is certainly the film’s biggest asset. Bank robberies have been done a million times on screen, yet this one manages to feel totally unique. From then on in it’s impossible to know what’s round the corner, a nice effect since the character’s don’t seem to either.

There’s very little wrong with the film really. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Barkhad Abdi are perhaps underused as they pop in for cameos, but equally they’re well casted, and Abdi in particular is a lot of fun.

Completely original, stylistic and anchored by a strong performance from Robert Pattinson, Good Time is a no holds barred thriller.

Guided by an intense score and a frenetic narrative, it won’t blow minds, but it’s a totally immersive story which will keep your heart pumping until the very end.

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Wednesday 29 November 2017

Forge Press

FRESH, ROTTEN AND NOTHING IN BETWEEN

by RORY MELLON

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or an increasing number of cinema-goers one single number dictates what films they see: the Tomatometer.

Indeed, review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes has become a serious player in the movie industry over the last few years. A high score, or the much-coveted “certified” freshness from RT, is a big boost to a movie and its potential box office earnings. Clearly, audience members relish the convenience of a decisive indication of a movie’s quality in a world where cinema tickets are increasingly expensive. There is however a growing fear that the site is doing more harm than good to the film industry.

This year has seen several highprofile directors, actors and movie executives come out against review aggregate sites claiming they are a detriment to the industry.

Both Baywatch and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales released earlier this year to abysmal reviews (19% and 32% respectively on RT) and both movies earned significantly less than expected.

Baywatch star Dwayne Johnson came out on Twitter to publicly shame critics, claiming that “fans love the movie” and citing a “big disconnect

with critics and people.” Although bad movies failing to make money is not a new sensation in Hollywood, this year saw RT taking on plenty of blame for these movies failing.

Indeed, initially it may seem that Rotten Tomatoes is a vital tool in the fight against awful films, but issues start to arise when you consider how the site calculates the score they brand movies with. RT

issues start to arise when you consider how the site calculates the score they brand movies with. labels every review either “fresh” or “rotten” and the percentage of “fresh” reviews a movie gets equals its score. Many industry insiders have

criticised Rotten Tomatoes for this method of calculation and the binary categorisation of a review as either “positive” or “negative”. There have been recent reports of critics not being happy with their review for a movie being marked as “rotten”, when that was not the intention behind it.

Some of Rotten Tomatoes recent actions have been questionable to say the least. The release of the score for the much-anticipated Justice League was held back later than usual, only being released around 24 hours before the film’s release. The score was eventually revealed in a new online show RT is trying to launch called See It/Skip It, feeling like a cheap ploy to get more people watching a rather lacklustre web series. The waters are muddied further when you consider that Warner Brothers, the company that produced Justice League, also owns part of RT. Some have speculated that WB knew the film would receive a poor score and so delayed its announcement in an attempt at damage control. With such fast-growing influence, it isn’t out of the question that aggregate sites could be exploited by movie studios and publishers.

With Rotten Tomatoes becoming

such a big player in the industry their scores feature prominently on popular US movie ticket buying site Fandango - it’s crucial that their scores are rock solid. The lack of transparency at RT makes it hard to truly claim this is currently the case.

While the website does allow you to filter for “Top Critics” (well respected members of the film criticism community), the default score has also been accused of being weighted by websites that lack legitimacy or fish for clicks with purposely controversial reviews.

It’s worth noting that such criticism is quite contentious, as reviews written for less established sites don’t necessarily lack legitimacy and in fact, for many, smaller sites are often the best places for well-written discussions of film.

Film criticism as a whole is something of an art form, and a skill that many have spent years practicing in the hopes of reaching Roger Ebert-level mastery. As a result, it is disheartening to see sites like Rotten Tomatoes take complex reviews and reduce them down to one score or one metric. It’s inherently reductive and completely lacking in nuance. A Rotten Tomatoes score doesn’t tell you anything about the

THESE TOMATOES ARE POISONED!!!

Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones 66% (FRESH!)

Inside Out 98% (MADNESS!)

Unrelated image of Ghostbusters (2016) 74% (FRESH!)

quality of the performances or the writing in a film, and pigeonholing everything into either “good” or “bad” categories doesn’t make sense for a subjective art form, particularly in the case of experimental and arthouse films. Therefore, it could be easily argued that aggregate sites also harm the practice of film criticism, as the focus continues to shift towards

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Justice League reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

one supposedly indisputable number.

The popularity of Rotten Tomatoes is hardly surprising. The promise of a fool-proof method of avoiding bad movies is enticing, but film fans should be careful not to let a dubiously determined number decide their film choices on their behalf. You won’t like every certified fresh movie on the site, just as you won’t hate every rotten one; with that in mind, why does the number matter at all?

Forge Press

Wednesday 29 November 2017

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DAVE’S FAVES: ROTTEN MOVIES

by DAVID CRAIG

Rory’s feature got me thinking (ouch) about films that Rotten Tomatoes has branded with the dreaded green splat, but that I’ve found very enjoyable.

In a few cases, RT’s own “critics consensus” seems to contradict the score assigned, further evidence that the binary good or bad rating the site puts forward should be taken with a gout-inducing portion of salt.

VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS (2017) I’ve written more than any rational person should about how much I enjoyed this film, so I’ll try to keep this brief. RT’s daft critics consensus states quite rightly that Valerian’s “surreal pleasures often outweigh its flaws”, but regardless the site doesn’t hesitate to slap it with a rotten 49%. For a film that faced more than its fair share of sceptics prior to release, this was quite possibly the final nail in the coffin.

RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE (2010) Admittedly, it’s difficult to argue that Resident Evil: Afterlife is anything other than ridiculous schlock, but that hasn’t stopped me from watching it more times than I can remember.

It’s clearly terrible but there’s a certain charm to its ludicrous B-movie plot and action sequences.

Unfortunately, RT’s tomatometer fails to accommodate films of the sobad-they’re-good variety.

49%

23% SCREAM 4 (2011)

BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE (2016)

RT’s consensus for Scream 4 concludes that it has “just enough meta humour and clever kills”, but the film has a rotten score anyway which begs the question: what exactly did it have “just enough” for? A failing grade? The consensus makes no sense, and nor does the idea that if this film had gained just one per cent more the website would have endorsed it as fresh. As it happens, Scream 4 is one of the more successful franchise revivals in recent memory.

DC’s ill-fated 2016 crossover has a number of glaring problems, but whether the film was flawed enough to deserve its remarkably low score is a matter for debate. The film has some well-directed action sequences, largely solid performances and its daring creative choices are interesting, if not entirely successful. Ultimately, the 63% audience score seems like a more reasonable verdict.

59%

27% THE MUMMY (1999)

Rotten Tomatoes describes Brendan Fraser’s first Mummy movie as “undeniably fun to watch”, so of course it should be classed as ROTTEN! Perhaps the biggest problem with this website is its terminology. It seems to suggest that there is a thin line between something fresh and something rotten, but in reality many things take a long time to rot so the analogy doesn’t work. Anyway, The Mummy is great.

57%

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Wednesday 29 November 2017

Coffee Break facebook.com/ForgePress

@ForgePress

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press.coffeebreak@forgetoday.com

It may be a journey that fundamentally reshapes your concept of reality, but I promise you’ll have fun along the way.

As a man who descends from the loins of a city famed for its multiculturalism, I like to think I know a thing or two about variety. And though I may not be the best puzzleman myself, I promise to assemble and deliver to you the most diverse, challenging, and hilarious array of Sudoku and crossword puzzles known to man. I hope you enjoy.

Dave

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A CHRISTMAS CROSSWORD

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ACROSS

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Originally from a town in West London known as Isleworth, I’ve made Sheffield my home for the past 3 years. Ever since being a child, I’ve been interested in exploring new things.

My parents always said I’d achieve, but I don’t think either of them possibly could have fathomed an undertaking as spectacular as becoming Coffee-Break editor.

As a history student, I’m an expert in inquiry of the past – so don’t be surprised if you find yourself wrestling with a puzzle that takes you back to the days when potatoes were still considered exotic.

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1. Which author wrote the book “A Christmas Carol” (14) 4. What Christian group banned Christmas in Boston from 1659 to 1681?

(8) 6. The most famous Christmas ballet (10) 12. Which colourful and much sungabout Christmas character was invented

by American ad writer Robert L. May in 1939? (7) 13. Which popular Christmas song was composed by James Pierpont in 1857?

(10) 14. Scrooge’s first name (8) 16. In what country did Silent Night originate? (7) 17. The sad Christmas song recorded by Elvis Presley in the 1960s (13) DOWN

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2. Which famous mathmetician was born on Christmas Day? (11) 3. What star sign would you be if you were born on Christmas Day? (9) 5. What Christmas drink contains sugar, milk and eggs? (6) 7. Glittery bits of metal that are hung up on a Christmas trees? (6) 8. In which European country was the original St. Nicholas born? (6) 9. What does Noël mean? (8) 10. Who wrote the song “Here Comes Santa Claus”? (9) 11. What colour are the berries of the mistletoe plant? (5) 15. Counting Rudolph, how many reindeer are there? (4)

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ARROWDOKU 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.

SUDOKU Baby

Medium

Forge Press

Ooh You’re Hard

Forge Press

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Wednesday 29 November 2017

Sport Thoughts

Is rugby league overlooked on a national level?

Tor Christie takes a look at the Rugby League World Cup and its history in England while asking the question: is it overlooked?

Tor Christie

With the Rugby League World Cup coming to a close, it has felt slightly overshadowed by the rugby union autumn internationals. That is partly down to the abysmal displays from the home nation teams while their counterparts are getting results in the union internationals - but it also comes down to the ‘social-demographic’ factor that underlines these two sports.

As a Northern lad, I have been brought up with rugby league, playing it in school and having local teams like Huddersfield Giants being shown down the pub. This to me is real rugby, whereas union is for the ‘posh grammar school kids’. Since starting university, I have really noticed the difference in the sports as the Rugby Union Men’s 1s university team all show up in a three-piece suit while the rugby league players are happy rocking up to the game in a full Sports Direct tracksuit. Another difference is the popularity with a lot more students wanting to play union, while league seems just like a new sport that they want to try.

Union is also favoured on a national level. The England Rugby League national team didn’t form properly until 1975, when they made their World Cup debut while the rugby union national team dates back to 1871. The Six Nations is a popular annual rugby union competition where home nations teams (plus France and Italy) compete against each other.

In comparison to the league’s version of Four Nations, you can really see where the national pride lies.

The past month I have woken up early, excited to watch the World Cup games. That excitement has been matched with disappointment of the

This to me is real rugby, whereas union is for posh grammar kids quality of the home nations’ performances. Yes, England may have made it to the semifinals of the competition (at time of writing) but there have been a lot of negatives from their performances that does question the quality of the competition.

England’s 36-6 quarterfinal win over Papua New Guinea saw a 56% completion rate and an error count of 20. This, compared to the resilient performance over Australia by 30-6 for the England Rugby Union National team, makes you wonder why you would rather watch union.

The New Zealand national team perform the Haka

It really has been embarrassing watching Wales and Scotland, both losing by ridiculous margins such as 72-6 against Fiji and 74-6 against New Zealand respectively.

A sport clearly second graded in these two countries shows through international competitions. How can rugby league ever be truly celebrated in our country when the rest of Britain couldn’t care less about the sport?

The segregation of these two sports is also prominent in the

Dartitis: A psychological battle plaguing darts

Flickr

southern hemisphere between Australia and New Zealand. Rugby League is the national sport in Australia, while rugby union is preferred in New Zealand. The National Rugby League is the best domestic rugby league in the world, quality better than that of Super League, and only features one New Zealand team. That is why Australia are dominant in the rugby league internationals and the All Blacks in the union internationals.

Whether you play or watch

union or league is all down to location and this hugely affects the competitions, as shown this month. I love rugby league but the international competitions are always disappointing to watch because of this. Let’s hope in the future there is more integration of rugby league throughout the country that improves the quality on the international stage. But for now, I’ll continue to show my pride in the Northern sport and cheer on England!

At the weekend Berry van Peer fought with a condition prominent in darts named Dartitis. Sam Constance provides some context to this and takes a look at how it affected play in the Grand Slam.

Sam Constance

In a week where Michael van Gerwen retained his Grand Slam of Darts title against Peter Wright, the biggest news in darts was the inspiring performance from Berry van Peer against Gary Anderson. The 21-year-old managed to put up an impressive performance in his defeat to Anderson, despite struggling with a condition known as dartitis. The condition affects the motor skills of the brain and players are stuck in a psychological battle with themselves and the dartboard.

Van Peer was almost in tears as he stepped up to the oche on Sunday as with every dart you could tell he was struggling. The Collins Dictionary defines dartitis as: ‘nervous twitching or tension that destroys concentration and spoils performance.’ It affects the player’s mind, where they gain a physical fear of throwing a dart and missing. Van Peer took almost three minutes to throw a single dart at one point in the match.

The whole darting world was behind young Van Peer, including his opponent Gary Anderson, who cheered him on as Van Peer threw a treble 20 despite being on the verge of tears. The crowd

in Wolverhampton initially didn’t know what was going on with Berry van Peer, but shortly after realising his struggle, all got behind the Dutchman’s efforts.Having seen the fastpaced nature of darts where professional players can rattle off three darts with pinpoint accuracy firsthand, watching video clips of van Peer struggle to throw a single dart over and over again is somewhat disturbing.

You can tell the Dutchman was in trouble, but there was nothing he could do to compose himself, despite Anderson and the Civic Hall crowd’s best efforts.

Many high-profile players have also suffered from dartitis, including former darts player Eric Bristow, who once said: “For a time I wondered what the hell I was going to do if I didn’t recover. But I remained positive and, thankfully, got over it.” His struggle with dartitis inevitably cut his career short, and according to him it took ten years to fully recover.

Although Van Peer’s GSOD dream ended at the last 16 at the hands of Mensur Suljovic, he has won the hearts of many a darts fan for showing his bravery when faced with such a terrifying condition.

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Wednesday 29 November 2017

Forge Press

Athletes honoured at ESPS awards The Elite Sport Performance Scheme awards celebrate the best athletes at the University of Sheffield. Kendel Kendel Glapion Glapion and Grace Scaplehorn were Before coming to Sheffield, recipients of the Level basketball player and native San Franciscan Glapion 2 Accommodation featured in the NCAA for the University of Redlands award, which where he played point guard.

While playing in the US he involves a year’s free was named All-Star in the All-Conference selection as rent in university well as being nominated for the Most Valuable accommodation, Player award. Glapion now studies a Master’s degree while the remainder in Entrepreneurship at the University of Sheffield whilst won the Level 2 award also turning out for the University’s basketball team. to help fund their Outside of his studies, Glapion plays for the Derbyshire training.

Tommy Horton

Grace Scaplehorn

Steve Bayton

Horton is a PhD student at the University of Sheffield and was a recipient of a Level 2 award last year at ESPS. He has represented England in the 2000m Steeplechase at the Manchester International in 2016 while also winning a Bronze medal in the 3000m at the BUCS Indoor Championships last February.

His next objective is running in the Commonwealth Games in Australia’s Gold Coast in 2018.

Grace Scaplehorn is a first year medicine student at the University of Sheffield. While the 18-year-old looks to form a long-term career plan in science, she also wants to make a name for herself in Whitewater Slalom Kayaking.

Ever since taking up the sport at the age of eight, Scaplehorn consistently made the journey from Cardiff to Lee Valley White Water Centre, using the internationally renowned facilities to improve her ability.

At cuniversity she is actively pursuing opportunities to share her knowledge of the sport with other kayakers.

Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 are her ultimate goals.

Steve Bayton is 12th in the British rankings for marathon runners after finishing 45th out of 43, 852 competitors at the Berlin Marathon last September with his final time standing at 2:19:41. His other notable performances include finishing first in the Greater Manchester Marathon last year with a time of 2:22:34 and travelling to Toronto to compete in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront, finishing 33rd in October 2016. He is a PhD student and received a Level 2 Scholarship Award last year.

Ella Barrett

Matthew Cooper

Rebecca Bedford

Joy Haizelden

Mayumi Pacheco

Barrett is a successful sprinter who competes in the in the 60m indoor event, plus 100m, 200m and 400m. She’s coached by one of the best and most-renowned coaches in Toni Minichiello, who was the former coach of Olympic World Champion, Jessica Ennis-Hill. Ella’s twin sister, Alicia, is also an athlete and studies at Sheffield Hallam.

Matthew is a second year dental student at the University of Sheffield and is currently Junior British No. 1 in fencing and Junior British Champion. He’s looking to progress through the Senior British Rankings this season and has his eyes on the 2022 Paris Olympics. Despite funding for the sport being cut recently, his best result is 12th at the Junior European Championships in Bulgaria.

He’ll travel to no fewer than eight different countries throughout the year and his career goal is to be the first British athlete to win an Olympic fencing medal since

Rebecca is a Para Badminton player for Team GB, who is able to combine her studies in History whilst performing at the top of her sport largely thanks to the support that the scheme provides. The history student has travelled all over the world playing the sport that she loves. She is currently competing at the World Para Badminton Championships in South Korea, where she is hoping to defend her SS6 women’s doubles world title.

Rebecca’s sporting talent does not stop at just badminton as she won six gold medals and a silver medal across five different sports at the World Dwarf Games in Canada earlier this year.

Joy was born in China, before moving to England in 2005 after her and her sister Miriam were adopted by an English couple. The school they attended did not have suitable sports facilities for Joy and her sister to participate in PE so her father looked for ways to keep Joy and Miriam fit and active. A friend invited him to take them to his wheelchair basketball club and Joy quickly fell in love with the sport and has excelled since. Joy made her debut for Great Britain at age 15 and was part of the team which finished fourth at last year’s Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Aged 19, Mayumi Pacheco is a left back for Doncaster Rovers Belles in the FA Women’s Super League 2.

After making her debut at just 16 for Liverpool Ladies, she joined Doncaster on transfer deadline day in 2016, on a short-term loan which has now been made permanent.

Recent stellar performances have seen Pacheco pick up the sponsors’ Player of the Season award for the Belles, with the defender part of the England U17, U19 and U20 set-up. She hopes to be part of the World Cup squad that competes in France next August.

Photos courtesy of Ian Spooner

Forge Press

Wednesday 29 November 2017

Hockey 1s lose in tight tussle Nur Adriana Sheffield University Hockey Women’s 1s lost 1-0 against Loughborough University Hockey Women’s 2s in a neck-to-neck game at Goodwin.

Both teams began intensely with very little separating the sides.

Despite the bad weather, both teams put themselves out there and put on a spectacular match.

In the first half, Sheffield Uni were trying desperately to find loopholes in Loughborough’s defence in order to take the lead. However, the rocksolid defence from Loughborough was a challenge for Sheffield to break through.

Their opponent blocked the attacks from the Black and Gold team boldly. Both teams were fighting for control in the first half, and Sheffield focused more on long distance passes to move defenders

from Loughborough around and, for a period of time, they were successful in doing so.

A possible breakthrough may have turned the game around. However, Sheffield missed the chance when the ball went wide.

While Sheffield were still figuring out their momentum, Loughborough spotted an opportunity and grabbed it without making a mistake. The opponent managed to break through the defence of Sheffield Uni by scoring the first goal and taking the lead.

In the second half, Sheffield strengthened their defence and made it hard for the opposing team to break through. Sheffield failed to find the goal they needed to equalise and hence had to settle for a 1-0 defeat.

Fiona Small said: “It was a very intense game. It was end to end.

Everyone was very even. It’s just unlucky they got one goal there and we couldn’t convert.”

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Sheffield Taekwondo team triumph with stunning trophy haul

Adam Richmond

Sheffield’s taekwondo team travelled to Wisewood Sports Centre for the Yong-Gi competition last weekend.They hauled in numerous trophies with four out of seven competitors winning their matches in sparring.

The first event was a flying sidekick competition, where the player had to jump over a certain height and hit a paddle on the other side. Team Captain, Jamie Harrold, 2nd Dan black belt, gained a runner up trophy for an amazing flying side-kick at almost shoulder height.

After that, it was time for the main part of the competition:the sparring event. Jamie Harrold won his fight 23-2. Forge TV’s Head of Entertainment, Adam Richmond, also competed in the sparring competition and won both of the fights he fought in.

Taekwondo team celebrate their flurry of trophies in style Bethan Easeman

Muhammad and Michael Harris also won their fights while Richard Pearce, Bethan Easeman and Abdullah Asad Iqbal received runner-up trophies.

The team also had successes in the speed kicking competition with Richard Pearce getting 1st place with 126 kicks in a minute and Jamie Harr-

old came in 2nd place with 124 kicks.

The team will next compete in the British Student Taekwondo Federation National Competition where they will compete against different universities from across the country on March 10 and 11 next year.

Captain’s Corner | Lacrosse Forge Sport Team

F

or this issue’s instalment of Captain’s Corner, Forge Sport welcomes the University of Sheffield’s Lacrosse club captains, Jack Wallace and Aoife Gilchrist.

The two discuss what inspired them to take up the sport and their memories from being part of the society.

What inspired you to get into Lacrosse?

Jack: Unlike the majority of the club I played before university. I was inspired to take up the sport at the age of ten after having a go at it at school, and the fact I lived in a village where it was more common to play it than not.

Aoife: I’ve been playing lacrosse for around 10 years now, starting at my local club at home. It’s such a unique sport. Having enjoyed playing for a number of years before starting here at Sheffield, getting involved in SULC was one of the first things I did, and I haven’t looked back.

University of Sheffield Lacrosse society celebrate their successsful 2016/17 campaign with a Varsity win

What has been your best moment whilst involved with Lacrosse?

managed to drop the ball out of the back of my stick and back heel it in.

J: Winning Varsity last year. For the men not to have won for years, and then to finally win was incredible.

A: I manage to get knocked over in games quite regularly but that’s quite common; women’s lacrosse is a lot more physical than most people think.

A: That would easily be our whitewash at Varsity last year.

The Women’s and Men’s 1st teams played on the final day, the Men’s 2nd team having won their game the week before. Us girls kept our title for the eighth year in a row and then we watched the boys win what was actually the deciding point in Uni Of’s Varsity victory.

Was definitely a very memorable day.

What has been your most embarrassing moment at the society?

J: When I was playing junior lacrosse in goal. I somehow

What’s the Lacrosse society like to be in?

J: Obviously I’m biased but I think the club is great to be part of. We’ve grown in size rapidly over the last two/three years, which means there’s something for everyone, whether you’ve played for 11 years like myself or if you just want to play socially. Being a mixed club provides a different dimension too.

A: It’s extremely social. All playing abilities are catered for across our six teams and the vast majority of our members hadn’t picked up a

lacrosse stick before they came to university. This definitely makes for a very inclusive society and

We’ll be going for the whitewash at Varsity again this year there is lots of interaction between teams, they aren’t separated in the way they are in some sport societies.

Where can people get in touch?

J: People can message the club on Facebook. Drop us an email at

JA Photography

lacrosse@sheffield.ac.uk or fill in the contact form on the website.

A: You could email myself or Jack directly at ajgilchrist1@sheffield. ac.uk or jmwallace1@sheffield. ac.uk Expectations for the rest of the season?

J: We’ve had a great start to the season with the Men’s 1s currently undefeated. So we’d like to continue that through the rest of the season and win the title. Hopefully, we can retain the cup too. It goes without saying we’re expecting all three points at Varsity this year.

A: All four teams cuwrrently hold very strong positions in their respective tables, with the Men’s 1sts top of theirs. They’ll be looking at a promotion at the end of the season. And of course, we’ll be

going for that whitewash at Varsity again this year, which is definitely achievable since all teams have beaten Hallam in fixtures already this year.

Plans for the future?

J: I’ve got no idea! I may stay on and do a Masters purely to get more Varsity wins than defeats. But whatever I’m doing I’ll probably be playing lacrosse somewhere.

A: Unfortunately, this is my last year at Sheffield and it makes me very sad to be leaving the world of SULC behind. Next year I’ll be on an architectural placement (fingers crossed) and am hoping to go back and train at my old lacrosse club in Manchester.

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Wednesday 29 November 2017

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www.facebook.com/ForgePress

Adam May

@ForgeSport

The back-page story appears to have a somewhat sombre tone to it but, in reality, it’s a touching tribute to the inspiring Leslie Martin, a Sheffield Wednesday fan who stole the hearts of the city after his Special Olympics appearance in the summer.

Leslie passed away on November 18 after watching his beloved Owls draw 0-0 at home to Bristol City.

The tributes have been flooding in and Sarah-Louise Kelsey, who spent a considerable amount of time talking

press.sport@forgetoday.com

Sport

Sarah-Louise Kelsey

Head of Sport

to Leslie and following his triumphs gives a candid account of his warm persona and infectious attitude to life.

Also in this issue, Adam Richmond takes us through the taekwondo team’s recent medal haul while Nur Adriana was on-hand to see Women’s Hockey 1s slip to a narrow defeat.

Head of Sport for TV, Sam Constance, details his thoughts about a condition called Dartitis in our Sports Thoughts page, and Tor Christie puts his argument forward as to whether rugby league is overlooked in England. This is

the last issue of Forge Press before Christmas, so I hope you thoroughly enjoy reading this and that you have a peaceful festive break.

Thank you to all our contributors who have helped put this section together so far.

If you want to get involved then please drop us an email at press. sport@forgetoday.com, or give us a follow on Twitter @ForgeSport and we’d love to have a chat with you.

Here’s to the end of 2017 and we’ll see you all fresh-faced in the New Year.

Leslie Martin: an inspiration

He was a golden athlete with a golden heart: the Special Olympics champion who died after watching his favourite team Sheffield Wednesday.

Leslie Martin, 34, passed away on November 18 while waiting for a taxi outside Hillsborough.

Leslie was best known for competing in boccia and had recently won two gold medals in the Special Olympics GB over the summer. He went on to win a further gold medal three days later, playing with his brother Kyle and their best friend Jordan Bruce.

He was extremely dedicated to his sport and had been playing boccia for five years, and outside his major competitions like the Special

Olympics Leslie was also playing competitively for the Yorkshire League.

In August during the Special Olympics, I interviewed Leslie about his achievements and he said: “I feel out of this world, I have never felt so tense in my entire life.

“I’ve got two gold medals, I’m the double champion. We wouldn’t have achieved what we have without our coaches Mark Dolan and Jenna Cookson.”

Mr Dolan was extremely close to Leslie and said: “His death has absolutely ripped me to pieces, he was my best friend, a brother to me and an absolute inspiration, one of the best people I have ever known. A true champion.”

Mr Dolan, who is a Sheffield United fan, went to Leslie’s tribute

on Penistone Road and proudly held up a Sheffield Wednesday flag, saying: “I never thought I would hold a Wednesday flag above my head, but Leslie has done it again, first he made me take him to Wembley and now this. I would only ever do that for Leslie.”

Sheffield Smashers Boccia took to Facebook and said: “Leslie was one of our first members in the early days.

Leslie was an inspiration, a hero to us all. He had a fantastic sense of humour and was an all-round great guy. We are so proud to call him our friend.”

Sheffield has lost more than an athlete; it has lost a truly kind, caring and inspirational young man.

Leslie was an extremely competitive and passionate man and if if it wasn’t gold then it wasn’t

good enough; he was always pushing himself to do better and always made sure his team mates had the support they needed.

On November 12, Leslie invited me down to Ponds Forge to watch him play in the Heathcoat Cup, where he won silver and his brother Kyle won gold. Leslie being Leslie was so proud of his brother but disappointed in himself. They were playing their matches at the same time and Leslie was told off by the referee for constantly looking round to check Kyle was okay - he always put others before himself. To Leslie, the people who went to watch him in his matches were more than just spectators, they were his friends and he appreciated them greatly. I was bombarded with messages the week after just simply thanking me and

Forge Press

making sure I enjoyed myself. You couldn’t not have fun around Leslie.

We were always cracking jokes between ourselves.

I might have only met him twice, but the impact he has had on my life is incredible. Leslie lit up every room he was in with his cheeky character, and there was never a dull (or quiet) moment. I am truly honoured to have been able to call him my friend.

He will be deeply missed by all that knew him, but his legacy will live on.

Leslie taught me that no matter what obstacles are in your way you can always overcome them.

So, I’d like to raise a theoretical drink to Leslie, my favourite champion.

Up the Owls, Leslie. It’s your turn to fly with them.