Editorial
What a great job I have that I can spend a couple of hours creating a set of Geek Top Trumps! If you think I got their scores wrong—I don’t care!!! If you would have picked different characters—I don’t care!!! Democracy at work innit? Speaking of which…..well done to everyone that voted in the election! Otherwise this is always the issue when we say goodbye to Year 11s and Year 13s and when the editor of this magazine cries just like he did when his pet rabbit died aged 7. I was 7 you understand……I’ve no idea how old the rabbit was....
Lots of suggestions for cult books by staff and students. They even get in the way of love…..
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Find out what you’re all listening to. Loads of good tunes and a wide variety too.
What’s your Geek top 5? Chief geek Simran sets us off on a voyage of discovery….
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EASY LISTENING
Charlize Theron is the best action hero the cinema has produced in YEARS!! Geeks rejoice…….
With two of my favourite modern authors on this year’s shortlist I thought it would be an easy win for Smith’s How to be Both with The Paying Guests a notional but worthy second. BUT, how I was wrong! And it’s not often you hear me utter those words Bookworms now is it? Yet tis true. Cusk’s Outline is brilliant and Shamsie’s A God in Every Stone is every bit as good as Burnt Shadows - a novel I loved. Difficult choices then for prize jury. If anyone, however, has read The Bees and thinks it’s good you can come and explain it to me. Otherwise I shall remain convinced that it is pants: yes, PANTS!
This year’s Arthur C Clarke Award is high quality and very readable. You certainly don't have to be a science fiction fan to enjoy any of the novels here. Station Eleven, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and The Girl with all the Gifts have already been devoured by many Swanshurst students. Europe in Autumn is perhaps the most pleasingly complex but whoever wins we should remember 2014 was an amazing year for speculative fiction.
We
’re proud of lots of the things we achieve, or try to do, in Swanshurst library. Over the last few years we’ve introduced lots of popular books into the 6th form library about politics, economics, history, oppression and resistance. They take a sharp look at things you feel strongly about - racism and sexism, inequality and Islamophobia, Palestine and Israel, Western Imperialism and war, and much more. Tuning into The Bread and Roses Award is a brilliant way of taking a look at the most current books available and all the current debates. This year’s shortlist is excellent: Economics: The User’s Guide - Ha-Joon Chang Several students have already read Chang’s previous bestseller 23 Things they Don’t Tell You About Capitalism. This is another great book for getting to grips with the tricks, lies and obfuscations of mainstream economics. Here We Stand: Women Changing the World - edited by Helena Earnshaw & Angharad Penrhyn Jones Great book! Interviews and articles from 17 British campaigners and activists challenging sexism and oppression. Read it along side Everyday Sexism. Syria Speaks: Art and Culture from the Frontline - edited by Malu Halasa, Zaher Omareen & Nawara Mahfoud This book showcases art and literature that challenges the violence in Syria. Not seen this one yet but have heard good reports. Stitched Up: The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion - Tansy E. Hoskins (Pluto) Another great book looking at all the dirty secrets in the fashion industry. What the **** is Normal?! - Francesca Martinez (Ebury) An acerbic, funny book about normality, difference and disability. Private Island: Why Britain Now Belongs to Someone Else - James Meek If you hate the increasing inequality in Britain read Meek’s bestseller. In the Name of the People: Angola’s Forgotten Massacre - Lara Pawson Pawson is a brilliant writer and journalist. This is a hard look at the brutal Angolan massacre of 1977. Keep up to date on the website here.
So
me bookshops still have Cult sections though you don’t see them quite so often. It’s even quite difficult to describe or define what a cult classic might be. It’s certainly nothing to do with genre v realism or contemporary v the classics. Nor do they even have to be politically progressive - think about Ayn Rand’s repellent worldview in works like Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead - though they are generally regarded as bold or subversive; either in terms of style and structure or in their explosive take on authority or the norms of civil society. My favourite cult book has to be To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s a book that I first studied for GCSE and I think it is the sort of book that can be enjoyed on lots of different levels. The problems that the protagonists face within the story – racism, addiction, intolerance – are as relevant today as they were fifty five years ago. I’d also recommend watching the 1962 film adaptation starring Gregory Peck! [Mr Jackson] Mr Braim sent me an essay—probably the best response to one of my Bookworm appeals EVER so if you want some good suggestions have a chat with him. This is the short version: Steve Aylett’s Shamanspace – any book that describes itself as being “like having a bucket of poison sherbet dumped into your head” has to be worth a look – but the subject matter can be a little challenging. True ‘cult’ status. Chris Wooding’s The Haunting Of Alaizabel Cray - gothic steampunk with a seriously heavy Lovecraftian edge. Murders, blood and Things that go bump in the night. Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash – one of the books which invented cyberspace. Hackers, skateboard pizza delivery for the Mafia, and a computer virus that sends you insane if you look at it for too long. Frank Herbert’s Dune (though only the first one). Giant Sandworms. Enough said. Good Omens. Terry Pratchett’s comedy combined with Neil Gaiman’s flair for fantastic storytelling is a perfect match.
2001 A Space Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke, because it made me realize how huuuuge the universe is, and I’m still not sure what happened at the end. [Mr North]
The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin was the first properly bizarre book I had read; that kept me turning pages and thinking, ”What on Earth is going on here?” Not too much later, I read 1984 by George Orwell, which gave me the same sort of feeling. You also can’t go wrong with Kurt Vonnegut! [Ms Alexander]
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend. Loved this as a teenager and it’s still stands up funny, smart and really clever. [Ms Wheeler]
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius – the memoir by Dave Eggers about how he found himself looking after his little brother Toph after the death of his parents. He gets away with the title because it is actually a pretty apt description… [Ms Yates]
And the Ass saw the Angel by Nick Cave. Strange, sometimes difficult to read, but ultimately rewarding. It also give you posing rites when you drop it into a conversation and you see who else has read it too! [Ms Russon]
Mr Allberry ALWAYS sends me good ideas. His suggestions: Catch 22 – Joseph Heller’s novel is amazing. Laugh out loud funny and scathing about war. American Psycho – scary, dark, violent and compelling. The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones – do these even count as cult fiction these days? Before the film/TV versions there were whole worlds, nay universes, created by Tolkien and Martin. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice – forget the Twiglet saga (lol) – this is far darker and far more subversive. If Not Now, When? Primo Levi’s account of a Jewish resistance group in WW2. Scariest book I’ve ever read – there’s a sense of dread throughout. Calvin and Hobbes – OK not a book per se, but these tales of a boy and his (real?) tiger have more to teach us than most wordy tomes.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky really depicts the difficulties teenagers face in forming close relationships and building self-confidence and self-esteem. It also grasps the fragility of these things and the fear teens have of losing them. [Ms Haywood]
Catch 22 - if only to help you to work out if you are mad or not! The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressall a brilliant political awakening! I, Robot by Isaac Asimov gives you short sci-fi stories combining logic and character Fat is a Feminist Issue by Susie Orbach – does exactly what it says on the cover! [Ms Cleaver]
The Day of the Triffids or The Kracken Wakes by John Wyndham - nothing like finding out how middle class people from the 50’s survive the apocalypse. [Mr Allen]
Something Happened by Joseph Heller – Perfectly apathetic Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis – Distressingly apathetic [Mr Stock]
Vurt by Jeff Noon - Read this in the early 90s whilst living in Manchester; right time, right place, right book. Brilliant! [Ms Wild]
It’s easy to look back and identify some of the novels that have become cult classics. Much harder to pick out contemporary novels that will go to become cult hits in the future. Ms Lea has trawled the 6th form library shelves to give us some ideas.
But when you’re trying to look cool at Uni - then best have a few of these on your shelf. You will be the epitome of style and sophistication. Your fellow students will whisper in awe as you pass. If you actually read some of them - even better‌.. :-)
I’
m always mindful of the brilliant mix of students at Swanshurst and of offering role models and trying to recommend books and films that reflect our diversity. Thus this page comes with a bit of a warning. I’m going to offer you some suggestions that are all, well, a bit white and a bit middle class. Actually they’re very white and very middle class. But sometimes that doesn’t matter because great writing can transgress boundaries and open up new worlds. None of the writers and books on this page are commonly thought of as ‘cult’ nor are they neglected exactly. I’d say they live on the margins and are sometimes forgotten. Some might not be to your taste as teenagers but some will appeal straight away - the spirit of Carson McCullers, the poetry of Jean Rhys or the weirdness of Muriel Spark might, hopefully, grab you immediately. But these are all subtle, brilliant novels about women’s lives, with some of the best writing of the 20th century. Maybe one sunny summer afternoon you’ll remember this page and try one. And realise I was right all over again…..
Circa 1896 - Virginia is the one on the left getting ready to catch.
It’s these writers who would influence many of the best female writers of today like Sarah Waters and Ali Smith.
I didn’t discover ‘literature’ till I was 18 going on 19 when I went back to night school to do an English A level but ‘cult’ novels were key. I’d read a few good things, Stephen King for example, but most of it was fairly ordinary genre fiction. When I read The French Lieutenant’s Woman, everything changed: amazing, sudden, liberating change. In weeks and months that followed I got through loads of 19th century classics but also started reading contemporary fiction. I can remember being seduced by Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy and Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit in particular. My passion for Winterson went all the way down. When I had to write an essay about a favourite book to get into Loughborough Uni I wrote about Oranges. In my first year, when I had to do my first ever presentation, I spoke determinedly about a Winterson short story even though I was shaking so much everyone could see. Finally when I fell for a girl in my second year at Uni I gave her a copy of The Passion as a present (I know - SO lame!). She didn’t like it and moaned in particular about a refrain that runs through the novel “I’m telling you stories. Trust me”. I can remember her response as though it were yesterday: “Well of course she’s telling stories - it’s a novel isn’t it” My passion cooled immediately. What can I say? Books are important. I’ve reread it a couple of times but not for a good ten years. But then
Winterson came back into focus. First I’d read her wonderful memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? and her macabre horror story The Daylight Gate. And then I read and loved A M Holmes’ May We Be Forgiven on the basis of praise from Winterson. Rereading Oranges this time made me nervous. Old favourites rarely hold up to your memory of them or to the importance they once held in your life. Novels are often perfect only for a certain point in your life and if, when you reread something, you find it sucks, it can be VERY disappointing - the Suck Fairy might visit. Imagine how I felt when I found the first 30 pages WERE a little disappointing: too sententious perhaps for my current tastes. But I persevered and either I settled down, or the book settled down, or, most probably it was a combination of the two. And you know, it’s still brilliant – clever, funny, tender and moving. I still admire the irony, the philosophical asides, the structural playfulness and the way she seamlessly weaves little snippets of folk tales, legends and dreams into the narrative. It still makes me laugh out loud. Is it the same as when I was 19? No, but it doesn’t matter. I won’t go on. It’s only 170 pages long. Read it for yourself. And maybe I should also reassure all of you – I haven’t fallen out with someone over a book for ooh, years. And I’m SO much better at respecting other people’s opinions. Apart from politics. And films. And…..
St
ation Eleven has just won the Clarke Award whilst Cormac McCarthy is perhaps THE most celebrated cult author of out times. I can’t think of anything better at the moment than reading these novels one after the other to draw comparisons and think about the contrasts.
It will set fireworks off in your head. Both are set after an apocalypse but they are very different novels. One is bleak with extra added bleak, surrounded with darkness and bleakness and sorrow. But don’t let that put you off! The other isn’t so bleak at all—in fact Station Eleven has provoked criticism for not being bleak or realistic enough! I send out a big fat raspberry to those people. I would go farther by taunting them: “I don't want to talk to you no more, you emptyheaded animal food trough wiper! I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!” And so on. Not that I don’t think we should take the future seriously or underestimate humans’ predilection for cruelty and violence— just that art should be allowed to explore different ideas and I don’t think Station Eleven encourages the reader to view either the present or the future with rose-coloured spectacles. Cormac McCarthy’s prose might be usefully compared with that of Daniel Woodrell (see next page). China Mieville loves McCarthy’s skill and craft as “it achieves a kind of very powerful, very knotted poetry and rhythm but with quite tight structures”. Alan Warner gives you a real sense of McCarthy’s sublime achievement: “The Road affirms belief in the tender pricelessness of the here and now. In creating an exquisite nightmare, it does not add to the cruelty and ugliness of our times; it warns us now how much we have to lose”
So, as I said I’ve already bullied, er, persuaded various students into reading both novels. Here is Mia’s take: ‘These are both masterpieces in their own right. Some aspects of these two novels are eerily similar and some are worlds apart. Both stories are enchanting, if often harsh, and constantly moving forward, yet while The Road is loath to let little things such as speech marks, apostrophes and proper nouns interrupt its flow, Station Eleven is richly descriptive and jumps from character to character, from place to place, from time to time. They are both beautiful, haunting novels detailing what happens when the world, society and everything else goes to hell, and the last vestiges of humanity have been chased away by desperation to survive. Ultimately, however, Station Eleven is about rebuilding the hope you have been carrying inside you since a deadly virus and then its desperate survivors swept through the land. The Road is about the hope you have carried since an unnamed disaster ruined everything driving the despairing forward, and how much the human soul can weather before it gives up completely’ Whoop!!!!, as we say in librarian circles. Good, or great, art gives us these opportunities to size up our world all the time. That richness often lies in the gaps, in the uncertainty or in the difficulty of art but it also lives in our inability to resist making comparisons and our need to play with ideas and concepts. Anyways……..
Just get reading!!!! And keep looking up for those fireworks.
YA
fiction is full of young women discovering awful things about their world and rebelling or fighting back. We might think primarily of fantasy or dystopian novels - Katniss in The Hunger Games; Lyra in Northern Lights; Tris in Insurgent; Tally in Uglies; Mosca in Fly by Night or indeed any of the young heroines in Frances Hardinge’s novels. But there are plenty in more ’realistic’ novels too Hazel in The Fault in Our Stars or Margo in Paper Towns; Melinda in Speak; We could argue about how good the writing is in some of these novels or whether some of these ’strong’ characters are actually a little flat but I don’t want you to fall out of love with ANY book. Instead I want I want to offer you a new book—Katherine Faw Morris’ shocking and explicit Young God; a modern classic - Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone; whilst Mia will hopefully seduce you into reading Louise O’ Neill’s prize-winning debut Only Ever Yours. The first two are ostensibly written for adults but all three give us female characters that will give the keen readers amongst you some different ideas about the portrayal of young women in literature. Appalachia and the Ozarks form a vast hilly, and mountainous, region crossing several states in the east of US. For the protagonists of Young God and Winter’s Bone this is a tough place to grow up: close knit communities blighted by extreme poverty and drug use. The young protagonists are forced to grow up fast but do so in spectacularly different ways. Both are short, spare novels - Katherine Faw Morris famously slashed her original manuscript back by about 80% - and for some tastes, bleak, but they make for a great afternoon‘s reading; of contrasts and comparisons.
Despite what the title may suggest Only Ever Yours is not a romance. Not really. To love, I have heard it said, is to own your partner’s entire heart, but this absolutely brilliant book is about owning them body and soul, too. And, horrific as this may seem, this book is about why being someone’s possession is the desirable option. 1895: a world where fashion is everything, valued above health, votes, and equal rights. The most respected women in society are the ones who tie their corset strings tightest. 2015: a utopia in comparison. We’ve gained the vote and abolished the corset… but women are still getting thinner by the day. In a supposedly equal world, we’re expected to be pretty, skinny, attractive, etc. and are consequently judged on appearances just as much as on intellectual prowess or personality. The world of Only Ever Yours is a living hell. We see it through the eyes of frieda, an eve in her final year of the School where for twelve years she’s been prepared for ‘the Ceremony’ which will decide her fate. Frieda mustn’t think too much; it’s an unattractive trait in an eve. She mustn’t get too fat, she mustn’t get too skinny, she mustn’t miss so much sleep that it shows— because she was created to be pleasing to men, and if she manages to be, she just might have a future worth living. The eves are mankind’s ideal woman, created by them when the original womankind died out, and after completing their term at the School some will be chosen by one of the male Inheritants at the Ceremony to be his companion and bear his sons. For this reason, they are taught to be beautiful, ladylike, beautiful, alluring, docile, beautiful… but underneath this façade a vicious battle rages, each of the eves in the final year fighting for the top spot, ensuring their lives as companions instead of the alternative, becoming a concubine. Uncapitalised names, target weights, weekly ratings… frieda might question the system sometimes, but she too realises the importance of being beautiful enough to appease the Inheritants. So when her best friend isobel starts to sacrifice her beauty and thinness in some attempt to self-destruct, frieda must choose between a friend she’s had forever and a future that’s almost in her grasp—knowing that either option has painful consequences. And when the Inheritants arrive, ready to choose, the top year of the School is thrown into frenzy and it is clear, that one way or another, frieda’s life will never be the same again. Already a winner of awards, Only Ever Yours is the book to read if you’re ready for your view of the modern world to be turned upside down. [Mia K]
Geek online
Try these
Nice article from the Guardian here - 10 authors who excel on the internet
All back issues of The Bookworm can be found on the Library home page
EASY LISTENING
EASY LISTENING……. Give us a 15 track playlist that you listen to when you’re doing your work. This is not meant to be ‘15 tracks to show how cool I am’ though it may well end up doing that. No, we want tracks that help you relax or focus or that you tune into briefly so you can sing along and then restart your work rejuvenated! Be warned - some of these songs are definitely 6th form only!
Danza Kuduro - Don Omar Honest - The Neighbourhood Sweater Weather - The NBHD La La La - Shakira Limbo - Daddy Yankee Zumba - Don Omar 2 am - Adrian Marcel Sound of Freedom - Bob Sinclair Come Over - Clean Bandit Latin Moon - DJ Aty Amazing - DJ Hasan Bailando - Enrique Tonight I’m Loving You - Enrique Do You Know - Enrique I Don’t Want her - Eric Bellinger
Zara Cross My Mind - Turn Forts Up - Olly Murs ft Demi Uptown Funk - Bruno Mars Am I Wrong - Nico and Vinz Amnesia - 5SOS Good Girl - 5SOS Blank Space - Taylor Swift Love Me Harder - Arianna Grande
No Hands - Waka Flocka Superheroes - The Script Lips - Meghan Trainor Bout That Bass - Meghan Trainor Boyfriend - Justin Bieber Loyal - Chris Brown Jump High - Lion Babe & Childish Gambino
Preea
Runaway - Galantis Firestone - Kygo Not letting Go - Tinie Tempah ft Jess Glynn Fester Skank - Lethal Bizzle I Got You - Duke Dumont Centuries - Fall Out Boy Love Me Like You Do - Ellie Goulding Heaven - Emeli Sande Get Low - Dillon Francis & D J Snake Blame - Calvin Harris ft John Newman Revive - LoveBug Giant In My Heart - Kiesza Haunted - Beyonce See You Again - Wiz Khalifa It’s On Again - Alicia Keys
Simran
Nada
All My Life - Elliot Minor Lion Skin- Hands Like Houses Sober - Bigbang Blitz Kids - Pinnacle Crown the Empire - Machines Breaking Benjamin - Diary of Jane Emarosa - American Deja Vu Solo - Super Junior Mirrors - Tyler Carter The Langdon House - Issues One Summer Day– Joe Hisaishi You are Not - Young Guns Another you - Of Mice and Men Speechless - Memphis Mayfly The Battle of Life - Heartstrings
Edit me - Twin Atlantic The Captain - Biffy Clyro Plain Sailing Weather - Frank Turner Gimme twice - The Royal Concept Conrad - Ben Howard Gold - James Vincent McMorrow Drawing Board - George Ezra 2 Atoms in a Molecule - Noah and the Whale Radiant - Everything Everything Ivory Road - King Charles Two Fingers - Jake Bugg 1996 - The Wombats White blank Page - Mumford and Sons Work Song - Hozier The Tallest Man on Earth - King of Spain
The challenge—pick your favourite geek things - a TV series, a TV episode, a film, a character and a thing! Easypeasy huh? Not when you’re a geek and have a passion for SO many things. Our very own geek NO 1 Simran Dosanjh gets us started…..
You’ll also see that there are two species of geek. We’ll call them the greater geek and the lesser geek. Some of us are just a little bit more hardcore. I’m not naming names or anything. Lesser geeks shouldn’t feel too inadequate….
Asking me to select my favourite geeky things led to an evening full of confusion, reminiscing about the good old days (around 3 years ago) and a lot of guilt (sorry to all the rejected shows, movies and characters!) but in the end I found the answers to these age-old questions… Favourite TV Series - Without a second of thought I can say Doctor Who is my lifelong favourite TV series, however currently Atlantis is the show I am enjoying most. Admittedly, Atlantis does not contain that branching unpredictable plotline that you’ll find over at Baker Street or in the TARDIS, but has a simpler storytelling nature to it which is quite relaxing as a break from all that hard revision! Yet still, for me it is no less than other BBC productions, with its original interpretation on classic Greek mythology, majestic and powerful royalty and adorkable Pythagoras (the triangle guy) putting it at the top of the list of boxsets I need. Unfortunately, like many great shows, Atlantis has been cancelled before it deserved (great decision BBC!) but that doesn’t mean the show and its fan base will sink to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean! Favourite Episode - Many fans believe The Sign of Three is the least “Sherlocky” Sherlock episode but for me this mindblowing masterpiece is just what I need when the world seems a little bit mediocre. There is a plot within which there are individual plots which all link together to form not only the problem for the initial overall plot, but also presents a hidden solution too! I would like to explain more, but every remark made about a moment in this show can act as a spoiler. So for me to say anymore would be a waste of Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss and Stephen Thompson’s award-worthy effort. Yet, what I can say is that even after watching this episode many times, every time I realise and notice something new - this reason exactly is what reminds me of that feeling of awe I had when I watched the first Sherlock episode all those years ago…
Favourite Film - Third Star and Harry Potter are my favourite movies, however the first is not geeky and the second seems like too obvious a choice so I’m going to select The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy! This collaboration between (my favourite supergeek) Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and director/scriptwriter Edgar Wright consists of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End. The sci-fi, zombies, iconic scenes and quotes, highly unexpected plot twists and of course the two actors and director are the exact things that attracted me to this series. However, as odd as it may sound, for me the fact that Edgar Wright has the ability to present the comedic storyline in the simplest of things like his scene transitions, is the reason I’d label this trilogy as a slice of fried gold. Favourite Character - Neville Longbottom, Pythagoras, Mordred and James Moriarty are amongst the answers I would like to give, but in the end the winner is the coffee boy of the Whoniverse Ianto Jones. Much more than the love interest, Ianto Jones plays the role of the well-mannered and reserved character who grows to become the badass handling the big alien-tech gun. Although his stupidity was evident when he hid a shocking secret (in the Torchwood basement) from his crew, the little bit of confidence, whole lot of sass and tear or two that makes up Ianto Jones make him a much loved character. So loved in fact that upon his death he received his own shrine at Cardiff Bay! How many other characters have you heard get a memorial? Favourite Thing - Unsurprisingly most of my merchandise is of the Whoniverse, ranging from a TARDIS to trading cards, however the geek haven that is created when you cover the walls with posters makes them my favourite thing (being surrounded by Amy Pond, Remus Lupin and Arthur Pendragon is surprisingly very comforting!). However, these posters now lie under my bed amongst boxes and dust thanks to my sister [that’s YOU Gurvinder!!!!! Shame on you! - Ed] who “cannot revise” with covered walls (we all know if they were Supernatural posters there would be no objection) but they’ll return soon! Let me explain, no there is too much, let me sum up (The Princess Bride reference!): if you’re going to ask a geek about their favourite TV series, episode, film, character or thing, have a lot of free time; I would recommend visiting The Doctor, he may be able to help you out with that! [Simran Dosanjh]
TV - Only one TV programme is really hard! I’ll choose Merlin— the good and the evil, the magic….but best of all the hilarious banter between Merlin and Arthur. Episode - Hmmm, the last episode of the anime Tokyo Ghoul. You have to watch it all online to understand the effect, but that last episode is heart-breaking :-( Film - Could have been any of the Harry Potter movies or maybe Alice in Wonderland but no! Mulan - it has pretty much the only Disney princess I can stand! Character - Sirius Black. He’s so sweet and sad under that jokey exterior. The loss of Harry, James and Lily, not to mention Peter’s betrayal. And yet he still has so much love. Thing - My books are all incredibly precious to me but my favourite object is my MP3 player. It’s like being able to carry around the soundtrack to your life. [Yusra Mian] TV - Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It links in to the movies! And it has some pretty good looking characters [winks] [guffaws lustily] Episode - When Agent Ward is part of HYDRA but working for SHIELD - NOT anticipated and a massive shock...AND emotional. Film - Avengers Assemble: my favourite superheroes brought together! I like that Thor is still figuring out Earth and doesn’t understand much. Character - Iron Man: cool, cocky and arrogant. Thing - My Superman Converse! Best present ever :-) [Ranjeet Suraj]
TV - The one written by Moffat the Heartless that doesn’t have a between-series-wait and that lasts longer than Kim Kardashian’s marriages. Doctor Who to you! Episode - Vincent and the Doctor. It’s a really emotional episode and questions our perceptions of mental illness. The scene at the end when the Doctor takes Vincent to his own exhibition in the future, and he cries, gets me every time. [Me too…(sobs): Ed] Also the actor playing Vincent is Scottish so assumes Amy is a local - it’s weird Tardis stuff that’s very funny. OR The Doctor’s Wife because I love Neil Gaiman’s creepsville style. Film - Harry Potter? Star Trek: Into Darkness? The upcoming live action Beauty and the Beast with Emma Watson? Probably Harry Potter.….. Character - Hermione is the ideal idol, always…. Blue Sargent from the Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater reminds me most of me….BUT, probably Celia from The Night Circus: strong, classy, Heather is 100% objectively correct! These smart, imaginative and loving are the best two modern episodes of Doctor Thing - My Christmas present Who….along with The Eleventh Hour (Ed) from last year - a smooth cheat because it’s TWO things! A Squirtle called Tilly the Turtle AND a pet minion called Ian, after Ian Mckellan, because I wanted him to be best friends with my pet rabbit Sylvester (after Sylvester McCoy) because he’s brown and I wasn’t allowed to call him Radagast [Heather Roden]
TV - Lots really: any that can inspire debate and offer a series of sublime moments. Now it would be the Walking Dead but in the past take your pick – Buffy, 24, West Wing, Breaking Bad, The Muppets. Episode - There’s too many to choose from but one that springs to mind is a scene from the West Wing when CJ’s new boyfriend dies and it has the best use of a Jeff Buckley soundtrack ever. Film - Star Wars. It’ll never be beaten and there was serious excitement in Allberry Towers at the new trailer in December. Character - Han Solo, Animal and Mile Jedinak are my heroes. And if you know who Jedinak is then you’ll
know you can buy a shirt with Jedi on the back and be even happier. Thing - My music collection which takes up a huge amount of room as I still believe that music should be owned physically (part geek, part luddite). It’s literally been a lifetime in the making and I love as if it were one of my children. Also my toy Millennium Falcon that my son has stolen. Watch The Muppets Star Wars episode here and some special Animal moments here.
[Mr Allberry]
TV - This changes almost daily but it’s currently the very post-modern sitcom Community because I’ve just finished watching it. The narrative style of certain episodes is very interesting and it
explores the everyday banality of life and some of the bigger philosophical questions. Who doesn’t love whole episodes parodying every style of filmmaking, such as zombie films, Japanese action flicks and stop motion animation? Plus the in-jokes and pop culture references are really, very clever. So clever that I don’t get half of them. Episode - Very tricky one. Probably Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s Tabula Rasa, where a bout of magical amnesia sends the whole group into disarray. (Is it okay to say that it tickles me that Spike thinks that his name is “Randy”? Probably not). There’s also a loan shark and he’s got an actual shark head. I like those sort of visual jokes. Film - I tell people that my favourite film is Donnie Darko. It’s actually The Wizard of Oz. The book I took out the most at university was “The Making of The Wizard of Oz”. Don’t think you can out-trivia me because you will embarrass yourself. Character - I really genuinely couldn’t say. What I would say is that I’m like certain characters. My friends call me Hermione. I’ve no idea why. Thing - Probably my camera, and so also my hard drive with all of my photos on it. I’ve been a keen photographer for a few now and I see my camera as an extension of myself. It gives me an alternate view on the world. [Ms Hardwick]
TV - Sherlock! Witty, clever and plus Cumberbatch is pretty good to look at (controversial I know. My Year 10s do not approve!). It makes the stories contemporary while still remaining faithful to the books. Episode - When Sherlock is convinced he’s lost his touch in Hound of the Baskervilles and goes off on possibly the most genius rant every written at dizzying speed! Jaw droppingly good and hilarious to boot. Film - Tough one! Basically depends on my mood. If we’re talking fantasy: Lord of the Rings; period drama: Pride and Prejudice (Original 1995 TV version, not the shoddy Kiera Knightly remake); sci-fi: Star Trek; Chick Flick: 27 Dresses. Character - Eowyn from Lord of the Rings. She can fight as good as any man, ride better than most and manages to defeat the evil Witch King! Girl power! Thing - Without a doubt my collection of antique books. I love the idea that they have a history beyond me; that they have existed before me and will continue to exist long after I’m gone. One of them even has a secret compartment in it to hide things in, which is just so cool! [Ms Osgood] TV - ER, the first episode I saw was directed by Quentin Tarantino. It was brilliant - 2 patients had a fight and one bit the others finger off - I was hooked! Episode - when 4077th Mash were told that Hawkeye had died (the other actors had not seen the script and so did not know the writers had killed him off) Film - The Empire Strikes Back. Clearly the best of the 3 - there is a theory that all great movies have to have snow in them at some point… Character - Dorothea in Middlemarch Thing - running [Ms Wheeler]
TV - Game of Thrones Episode - X Files. Season 2, episode 25—Anasazi Film - Lord of the Rings or Return of the Jedi Character - Tyrion (TV) or Tony Stark (film) Thing - LOTR replica swords…...or my bike [Mr Allen] [unusually reticent but definitely hard-core] TV - Firefly. It’s a western, but in SPACE. Also hilarious, and sadly cut short, although most loose ends got tied up with the also excellent follow-up film Serenity. Episode - Once More With Feeling – Buffy the Vampire Slayer. An episode where a demon makes everyone sing their true feelings to one another – what could go wrong? Now I’ve thought about it, I’m going to be humming the songs for the next week or so… Film - Stardust. An excellent adaption of the Neil Gaiman book, every single character is well acted and larger than life. It’s got comedy, romance, tension, and the best pirate you will ever meet – fairytale storytelling at it’s finest. Character - Granny Weatherwax, from several of the Discworld books by the late, great Terry Pratchett. Granny Weatherwax is a witch who doesn’t believe in magic (unless it suits her), but knows all about the power of stories. She doesn’t trust wizards, she hates elves, and she doesn’t like to lose. Thing - Some pupils gave me a Tardis for Christmas last year, which sits on a cupboard overlooking my classroom. It’s only a few cm high, but it’s much bigger on the inside [Mr Braim] TV - Gogglebox - I love Sandy and Sandra and I even had a Gogglebox party where me and my friends dressed up in costumes of our favourite characters. My blonde friend came as Sandy, compete with an aeroplane ring, BOSS necklace and false nails and drank all her drinks from a Pot Noodle cup. I was Leon and worn my granddad’s clothes and a bald wig! We took a photo and tweeted it to Channel 4, who retweeted it and they now follow us! Film - Return of the Jedi. No question. Character - Darth Vader—can you see a theme? Thing - Darth Vader helmet-it changes your voice so you sound like Vader and made an excellent Christmas tree topper-much better than a star! [Ms Taylor]
Over the years it becomes harder to separate out nostalgia, and the comfort it can bring, from things that have continuing relevance, meaning and quality. A bit of nostalgia is fine but too much is just another prolonged escape from reality. I’ve tried to choose things that retain their bite. Favourite TV Series - The first episode of Blakes 7 was on BBC 1 on Monday 2nd January, 1978 at 6:00pm. I was 7. I was still very cute at 7 it has to be said. I’d go as far as to say I was adorable. Blakes 7 however was neither cute or adorable - it was dark and scary, seductive and serious. It is undoubtedly a central factor in making me the person I am - FAR more important than my parents, school or my friends. [I’m just gonna throw this kind of stuff in for a reaction—but sometimes I kinda believe my own nonsense too]. In the first episode a man called Blake is invited to a meeting for those discontented with the government. All the people at the meeting are massacred and Blake is set up, accused of molesting children, convicted, and sent to a penal colony. Bleak, huh? Yes, but it also has a dry, laconic humour and great, razorsharp dialogue. And obviously it gets (a bit) cheerier. Blake escapes, along with a handful of other prisoners and they take the fight to the nefarious Federation. It also has the best baddie in ALL TV - Servalan. Favourite Episode - The Buffy musical episode? Any number of episodes from Northern Exposure, Farscape or Star Trek: Deep Space Nine? I could but am not gonna. Instead let’s return to 1977 and my jointfavourite Doctor, Tom Baker (along with David Tennant). It is an episode called The Sun Makers. The Doctor and Leela land on a planet where THE company exploits all the workforce, paying them little and taxing them a lot. There’s the usual toing and froing and running around but eventually the doctor helps the people to rise up and overthrow their corrupt leaders. Marvellous - but it gets better. The final scenes show the workers throwing the boss off the roof to his death. Not that I’m suggesting violent revolutionary insurrection is a good thing of course! Oh no! I will say, however, that you just don’t get that kind of thing on Doctor Who nowadays. Hmmmmm!
Favourite film - hard this. If I were in a serious frame of mind I’d go with Blade Runner, but this is about being a GEEK. So I’m gonna cheat and have two fun films instead. This time I shall return to the summer of 1983. I was staying at my aunt’s for the summer and watched Flash Gordon (1980) almost every day. It’s camp, silly and utterly glorious. I can watch it any day and still get the same pleasure levels as my 12 year old self. If I need cheering up these days I watch Serenity, the film of the TV show Firefly, creation of Joss Wheedon. It’s full of brilliant characters and dialogue; bursting with action and romance; funny and serious. It is, I would suggest, virtually perfect. Favourite character - people shouldn’t really get me started when it comes to strong female characters. It’s a weird concept. Strong for me means rounded and believable; without being a cliché or a stereotype - it shouldn’t necessarily mean someone who just kicks the proverbial butt. Luckily there are a few characters who are brilliantly realised AND can dish out the violence too! Best of all is Aeryn Sun in Farscape. To watch her character arc play out over four glorious seasons is to glimpse the sublime. Hyperbole? Maybe a little. Also I was quite a bit in love with Claudia Black. Still am. This is normal for geeks. I’m not going to apologise! Oh, so I’M the cliché, huh? Maybe.
Favourite thing—I’m leaving this category a bit vague. I could choose my sonic screwdriver, my life-size cut-out of Amy Pond, my copy of Baldur’s Gate or my first edition Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy that I got for my 11th birthday. All beautiful things. However, I will choose my 2000AD graphic novel collection. If I had lots of money and lots of time I would buy more comics these days, but I haven’t. In truth this is my most nostalgic choice. It reminds of me waking up excitedly on a Saturday morning waiting for my copy of 2000AD to be delivered by our paper-girl. That said, large sections of it Nemesis, Judge Dredd, Slaine and The Ballad of Halo Jones - are still brilliant. Geeks who want to get into graphic novels now could try the work of Chris Ware. [Mr B]
Films of the Year….so far 2015 is shaping up to be an exceptional year. I remember the first time I saw my favourite action films - Die Hard, Aliens, the Bourne films, Kill Bill Vol 1 and The Long Kiss Goodnight - the adrenaline rush, the buzz, the pure unadulterated thrill. It’s a rare feeling these days - my boredom with blockbusters is well documented. BUT finally, the BEST - easily the best and better than all the rest - action film in DECADES is here. Be warned that it’s weird and violent, horrific and properly grown up (15 cert) but if you’re game, Mad Max Fury Road will have you walking out of the cinema full of attitude and swagger. And…...I will happily admit to enjoying Jurassic World. Yes, I had to leave my brain at the door. Yes, it’s sexual politics are highly dubious. But those dinosaurs….and Chris Pratt…..were SO cool. The best two films of the year however are an Iranian feminist vampire flick and a French movie about four black teenagers growing up in Paris. They are both glorious, unmissable films and give me goose bumps just thinking about them. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (15 cert) is by first time director Ana Lily Amirpour. I won’t write about it but will instead refer you to Mark Kermode’s fantastic, delirious, and very excited review—it really is as good as he says it is. Céline Sciamma’s Girlhood becomes, with La Haine and 35 Shots of Rum, one of the few great films about black lives in Europe. It’s a vibrant, exhilarating movie that never pulls it punches. Whiplash, Selma and Wild were released early in the year and are already available online or on DVD/Blu-ray. Wild dramatizes the true story of Cheryl Strayed, a woman recently divorced and trying to put her
drug addiction behind her who determines to complete the 2,650 walking trip along the Pacific Crest Trail. It’s a moving, liberating tale of self discovery; Reece Witherspoon is brilliant. The film that matches Mad Max for pure, bonkers entertainment value and adrenaline overdrive is Whiplash. It’s about a young drummer determined to be the best, whatever the cost, who searches out a teacher to drive him beyond all his boundaries. Swanshurst musicians must come and tell me if any of your teachers are like this…… [tee hee]. Selma records one of the great civil rights marches of the 1960, led and inspired by Martin Luther King. It’s a film about how you build a movement to challenge the ingrained racism of governments and state institutions—if you’ve been watching the news recently you’ll know that this is more important than ever!
Try The Falling too. It’s a poetic, mysterious film set in a girl’s school, about growing up and the beginnings of desire. And Bollywood so far….well, alas, its been a bit disappointing so far. Piku, with Deepika Padukone is the best of the bunch but if you’re a Varun Dhawan fan, as I know many of you are, (not mentioning his 6 pack, at all, oh no) watch ABCD2—great dancing; great tunes.