Griffiti Magazine Issue 50

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Griffiti

Issue 50 May 2012

Sub Editor Erica Doyle Higgins Entertainment Editor Ulrike Schuster Photography Editor Muhammad Sami Contributors Abdul Mikael Aine Donegan Anastasyia Bondarenko Angelique-Sylvia Riccot Drew Peacock Guillaume Yguel Holly Lenny James Keating Katie Harnett - Devereux Lance Kerrigan Muhammad Shaharyar Anis Robbie Pursell

A Letter from the Editor

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reak out the fine china, tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree and get ready to celebrate because, while this should be my goodbye article, I am afraid you can’t get rid of me that easily! Some of you may know that I ran for President of the Students’ Union this year and at the Griffith Ball 2012 it was announced that I won.

Maybe someday I will see fit to leave college but it is not this day, nor any day within the next year.

I do realise that some people are finishing this year and that I may not see them again. So I would just like to take this opportunity to say that this has been the greatest year of my life. Never have I learned more or had more fun all at once. Is it any wonder you can’t get rid of me?

I am nothing short of honored to be the editor of this magazine, particularly the editor of the 50th issue of this magazine. The cover is impressive, I must say. It was designed by Muhammad Sami who has been our Photography Editor all year and has been doing an excellent job at it.

I have been enjoying working with Sean Alari and Paul Walsh over the past two months and Claire Aston, the SU Vice President elect has been a dear friend of mine for the past three years so I am looking forward to the four of us putting our heads together and making Griffith College Students’ Union all it can be.

To all the students of the college I would like to sincerely say thank you for this opportunity and you have my solemn oath as a Kerryman that I will do everything that is in my mortal power to not cock it up.

Ian Donegan, Editor

Contents

5 State of the Union What have we been up to?

8 Deactivating Facebook It’s good for the soul Advertising Enquiries: 01 415 0463 Printed by: Speciality Printing and Design Ph: 087 992 0530 Griffiti Magazine Griffith College Students’ Union South Circular Road Dublin 8 Ph: 01 415 0463 Email: Griffiti@gcd.ie Griffiti Magazine is the Students’ Union publication at Griffith College.

It was established in 2004.

All contents copyright of Griffiti, reproduction of any part of the magazine with permission is strictly prohibited.

The views expressed in Griffiti magazine do not necessarily reflect that of the College or the SU.

10 Party People Griffith Ball Special 12 The Titanic 100 Year Anniversary 14 The Compelling Unknown Unexlained & Scary Events 16 Bee Decline It’s Worse Than it Sounds 20 Technology News Check out the latest gadgets 22 Griffiti at the movies 26 Creative Writing 28 The Genuine Article 28 Alice? Alice? Who the fuck is Alice!?

State of the Union

Email: Rain.aly@gcd.ie Tel: 01 415 0418

SU President, Rain Aly

Mobile: 087 690 5622

H

i Every one

This is the 50th edition of Griffiti magazine and the last one this academic year so I would like to cover as much as I can about the Students’ Union. I’ll fill you in a little bit about the Students’ Union elections, the candidates, the Griffith Ball 2012 and who are the new sabbatical officers are.

As everyone knows, last week we had the Students’ Union elections for our new Sabbatical Officers for 2012/2013 which was held in the Arthur’s bar on 18th and 19th of April 2012.

A diverse group of interested students signed up for the election.Two for the presidential role, Stan Harding and Ian Donegan.

The role of the President has been changed slightly, he will be responsible for Welfare & Communications as well as the editor of Griffiti from this year on. Patrick Irving and Claire Aston went of the Vice President job. This position will now be that of the entertainments officer. Sean Alari ran unopposed for the job of Sports & Societies Officer. Sean has been doing the job for the last two months, and doing it very well so we were very glad to see he was interested in taking the job on again.

To make sure that more people got a chance to vote this year it was decided that voting would take place over two days.

After two weeks of hard campaigning and canvassing the results of the elections were announced at the Griffith Ball 2012. Unsurprisingly, Sean Alari was elected Sports and Societies Officer, Claire Aston was elected Vice President and the role of the Presi-

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dent went to Ian Donegan who is currently the Vice President of the Student’s Union.

All three are driven, motivated and excited about making the SU all it can be. Indeed, it looks as though we are going to

It was “ great working

with the college and the Students’ Union which I have dreamed since I arrived at Griffith

”

have the strongest SU we have had in some time.

The Griffith Ball is the biggest event of the academic year. It never disappoints and this year was no exception. The theme of the ball The Phantom of the Opera. There was a free champagne reception as students arrived at 7:00pm and there were opera singers singing songs from the musical. The mood was set as students were ushered into the dinning hall for dinner.

The room was completely dark save for candelabras at every table and dim red lights

at the edges of the room. It looked eerie, as a Phantom of the Opera Ball should!

There were masks of all kinds at every table. The dinner was superb. Cheers to the Burlington Hotel, they run a tight ship and they are as quick as bunnies!

Time goes very quickly and its ends the way it started, I would like to say thanks to the college staff, library and restaurant staff, maintenance and security staff for helping us over the year in organising events and helping out the SU and my special thanks to Chris in (Arthurs bar) Marcus in Maintenance and Redmond (Head of Security) and my very special thanks to all Students who helped me in all of our events during the academic year including fund raising in RAG Week. I hope Ian, Claire and Sean do a good job next year.

In the end I would like to say thanks and show my appreciation for this job.

I will miss you all. This year was golden!

It was great working with the college and the Students’ Union which I have dreamed of since I arrived at Griffith. But I will probably see you around.

The very best of luck for the future!

Hasta la vista!

State of the Union

Email: su.sports@gcd.ie Tel: 01 415 0460

SU Clubs & Societies Officer, Sean Alari

Mobile:087 683 5798

H

i folks,

For those of you who don’t know don’t know me yet my name is Sean Alari and I’m the current Students’ Union Clubs & Societies Officer. I’ve been working in the S.U. for two months now and have really been enjoying the job. However, I felt that two months was too little to show the students what I am really capable of doing for Clubs & Societies so I decided to run in the April Students’ Union Elections for 2012-2013. I would also like to congratulate Ian Donegan and Claire Aston on winning their respective campaigns. I’m really looking forward to working along-side them.

Before I fill you in on what my plans for next year’s S.U. are, let me talk about how our Clubs & Societies have been getting on so far.

Rugby Our Rugby team took part in the 7s Varsities organised by NUIM Rugby on the 18th of April. The boys left college on the minibus for a tough day ahead. Unfortunately 3 tries were disallowed in a decisive game against DCU. Such calls appeared to be more than questionable, however the lads took it on the chin and did us proud by getting to the semi-final of the Plate Cup. Basketball This year’s Basketball intervarsities were held in Limerick. After winning the Intercollegiate Championship in March, the Griffith College Basketball team went to University of Limerick with high expectations. Having put in a lot of effort in training sessions throughout the two weeks leading up to the varsities, our team practiced new offence plays as well as improving fitness levels.

Unfortunately we lost to the University College Cork in the Quarter Finals. The margin was small and the fact that UCC had 3 Superleague players on their team is a credit to our lads. Another positive of our loss to UCC is that we won’t have to play qualifying matches for next year’s varsities as we lost to the winners of the Tournament.

I am half “ Italian and that means that I really like my food

”

Movies As promised in the last issue of Griffiti, movies have been playing in the Students’ Union all day long. This has turned out to be a huge success, and will hopefully boost next year’s movie society. If you’re in the mood for a bit of relaxation, don’t hesitate to pop by and we’ll be sure to have a good selection of movies to suit your tastes.

Football On Friday 27th April, our Football team had a great time playing the end of year in-house friendly. The event was held in the Iveagh Grounds in Crumlin as per usual. It was a nice way to finish off the year, hoping that next year will be a lot more successful.

Music The music society hasn’t really kicked off this year so we are going to make it a bigger and better society next year. We’ll have organised jamming sessions that involve musicians of all levels. Our aim is to see as many students as possible getting out there and performing.

Shiloh Palace and Killian Murphy are great examples of how to do it. So if you’re in college next year, don’t forget to sign up for the Music Society. It’s going to be brilliant.

I have been given the great honour of being next year’s Clubs & Societies Officer. I would like to thank everybody that cast their vote in the elections. It’s always great to see that students are actively participating in such an important aspect of college life.

I am going to increase the number of societies.

I would like to have an active Drama Society to see if any of our students are worthy of an Oscar! The society would be linked to casting agencies. This should give us a huge boost should any of our students be picked for even the smallest of parts.

The Law society run the debating and the mooting around college, however, I feel it’s important to have a forum where every student can raise issues for debate. So, next year the Students’ Union will have its very own debating society with in-house competitions with prizes to be won!

I am half Italian and that means that I really like my food!! So why not have a food or cooking society. Our college population is probably the most diverse in Ireland. What better opportunity to experience foods from different countries and cultures.

The best of luck with your exams.

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State of the Union

Email: wardlawcarole@gmail.com

Carole Wardlaw, Student Counselor

I

t is fairly unlikely at this stage in your life that you haven’t experienced a relationship breakup. I once took part in a radio program with a panel of journalists who mostly considered the outpouring of the nation’s broken hearts as entertainment for their readers.

I am sure that many people do read and listen to other peoples upsetting tales of woe as entertainment. However, there are surely people who read these column inches because they can identify with the problem, and maybe they are seeking the advice which they can apply to their own lives.

Over many years I have heard hundreds of stories about broken relationships. It takes courage to make an appointment to talk about your hurt and pain, and cry your heart out. It may surprise you to know that I actually see more guys coming to talk to me about their relationships than girls.

Many people just cannot accept that their relationship is over, and they persist in trying to get their boyfriend/girlfriend back. This is a fairly natural reaction in the short term, but not good if it continues for more than a few weeks.

Some of us adapt to change better than others.

However, there can be great anxiety for some when change is imposed upon them.

It is important to remember that you did actually have a life before you met this person, and so this is probably a good place to start. Get in touch with your friends, start doing the things you used to do - and just be yourself. There is nothing wrong with you just because this particular relationship didn’t last. Don’t sit at home feeling sorry for yourself and letting yourself go - go out and show the world your best self.

If you are feeling angry or upset, start writing about this - write a letter to your ex and say all that you need to say. Burn the letter and try to look forward. Relationships end for all sorts of reasons - going off with other people, not getting on with family or friends, coming from

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Mobile: 087 972 9 335 different backgrounds, not having common interests, wanting different things in life, unacceptable behaviour, violence, emotional abuse and so on.

Sometimes when things go badly for us in our lives, we don’t want to admit it to ourselves, let alone acknowledge our problem to friends or family. Some of you will have experienced really bad situations in relationships which have left scars. It is not easy to admit to anyone that you have been the victim of violence, or that you have been involved with a drug addict or any other situation you feel ashamed about.

The important thing is to tell someone you trust and feel safe with about your experience.

If you can’t do this with someone you know, consider contacting a helpline or the student counsellor. There is no situation they will not have heard before and they will not be shocked by anything you say.

“

Relationships end for all sorts of reasons

”

The breakup of a relationship has often been likened to bereavement. The sense of loss can be as painful and difficult to endure. Some might wonder how a person could feel so distraught if they have only been with the person for a short time. However, the length of time has no bearing on our emotional reactions, and how we feel is totally valid and beyond judgment or comment.

You will most likely feel tired, and emotional tiredness can leave us feeling exhausted. Try to maintain a daily routine. It can often be a case of just putting one foot in front of the other and managing to function in your everyday life. You can be sitting in a lecture, but not really taking

anything in, or you can be out with friends, but you are not really hearing any conversation.This may feel strange to you, but it is only your mind and body trying to cope.

Getting over a relationship is never a good time for making big decisions in life because you are not operating at your best. It is better to park any decision making for a couple of months and come back to things when you are feeling a bit stronger and clearer. Every experience in life is a learning opportunity - no experience whether good or bad is wasted. You can emerge from this experience knowing yourself better and feeling stronger.

Sometimes people ask me why it is that they keep going for the wrong people in their relationships, and if this is a pattern you recognise in yourself, then take a step back and look at how you operate in a relationship. It is always a good thing to look at your own behavioural patterns. Ask yourself why did you fall for this person in the first place? What do you want in a relationship? Remember, a relationship is supposed to enhance the person you are already. If you are not happy in yourself, no relationship is going to make you happy.

It might be a good time to find out why you are not happy. Are you carrying any baggage that you need to get rid of? This is an area where you will need help, so feel free to contact me and I can point you in the right direction.

Sometimes it is not possible to tell people about your breakup because your relationship was not public knowledge. This could be because you were in a gay relationship or in a relationship your family wouldn’t approve of, and so you kept it to yourself. This might feel like you are in your own private prison, feeling not only upset but isolated as well. Again, you can contact me or perhaps a helpline if you prefer to be anonymous. There is no judgment, only people who can listen to you and try to support you.

I

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China Trip 2012

om

It Could be you!

Hunan University of Commerce, a partner of Griffith College, is offering Griffith College students a fantastic opportunity to visit China during August this summer for two weeks!

Deadline for applications is Thursday May 3rd

For Further information please contact: Paul Walsh and Luo Chi at chinatrip2012@gcd.ie We will soon be holding an information session for all interested applicants.

Features

Deactivating Facebook is Good for the Soul

Erica Higgins gave up Facebook for a week and lives to tell the tale.

I

found myself in the awkward getting-to-know each other sticky phase recently when a guy I had met on a night out and started texting me. It was all going well and he seemed nice enough until that question arose. I asked him nonchalantly if he had a Facebook page. The truth is I had already had a decent search with a girlfriend to see if I could find him, I couldn’t and I just assumed he had some mega security settings.

The answer he gave to my question absolutely floored me.

“No, I don’t.”

Just like that. Like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Suddenly, all these thoughts came running, no, screaming into my head. How do you communicate with people? Or organise anything en masse with all your friends?

What have you got to hide that I should know about? Is there a baby mama drama lurking in the background that I don’t already know about because you don’t have a Facebook wall for me to read it on?

While I realise now that the questions I was mulling over in my head were completely ludicrous, at the time it all made perfect sense.

We live in a world that is dominated by a so-

cial networking site. Think back to the conversations you’ve had with friends in the last week. How many times did something someone put on someone else’s wall come up in conversation? Or a “like” page that you told your friend about? Or how many times did you gossip about something along the lines of “OH MY GOD! Did you SEE she changed her relationship status? Well he did it first.

She totes had it coming to her.” Facebook has taken over conversations, bred a new breed of anti-social behaviour, (“Sure, I’ll talk to you on Facebook!”), even attempted to destroy my education, and that is precisely why I decided to remove myself from the social networking realm.

Well, not completely.

I deactivated my account. Twice. I got nervous the first time and reactivated it. Once I had successfully stuck to my account deactivation for a few days, I began to realise how irrelevant Facebook actually is, and I began to feel quite silly about how much time I had spent on the site.

Seemingly always on the go, I always have my trusty iPhone with me, and in that trusty iPhone is my trusty little Facebook app that lets me update my two hundred and something friends on what I’m doing and where I am. I’ll admit, it’s quite handy when you can’t remember where Studio C is and Google are zero use in this situation, so post it on Facebook and ask your plethora of media faculty student friends if they can remember where

We live in a “world that is

dominated by a social networking site

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”

it is.

However, in all the updates, statuses, checkins, and photos I have published to Facebook, I have never, not once, informed said plethora if I’m making a cup of tea. Or going to bed.

Instead I chose to inform the Facebook community that I saw a pelican in Chapelizod village on the way to college one morning. Or at least I thought I did. It was actually a magpie with an empty crisp packet in its mouth.

See what I mean? I’m sitting in traffic, laughing at my own stupidity, and something in my brain goes “ah sure, stick it on Facebook…”

Have we become so used to using Facebook and it’s functions that we start to think in statuses? So accustom to the like and comment buttons that when we actually do read real black and white newspapers we then go looking for the like button? Or that if someone isn’t on Facebook, we could go weeks without speaking to him or her because they lack a cyber wall for which we could write on?

This is the factor I didn’t consider when I pressed the “deactivate” button, what about the Facebook friends?

Well fear not, I woke up the next morning with a message from my best friend asking if I had blocked her. I reassured her I didn’t, I just deactivated my account and that if I were to block her I’d give her sufficient warning.

She was more shocked at the fact that I had deactivated my account, then at the thought that I would block her.

Needless to say, more messages followed from more people asking why I had blocked them and what had they ever done to deserve such treatment. Why was it more believable that I’d block a load of people rather than just deactivate my account for a little bit?

Time away from Facebook felt surprisingly good although it felt a little bit weird to do an assignment in a regular amount of time rather than starting an assignment, writing 50 words, checking Facebook, and then updating everyone about how much of the assignment I had left to do, thus proceeding to have a 50comment conversation under said update and then complain that it’s 3am and I’m only halfway through. Sound familiar?

In all seriousness, deactivating your account is possibly one of the best things you can do for yourself, if only for a few hours. So take my advice, put the smartphone down, deactivate Facebook, stop worrying about what you’re missing, or about who you should be stalking or “keeping an eye on” and whether your Facebook friends will actually care that you’ve managed to complete four assignments, set up twitter and organise your weekend all while making amazing pasta in the time you’ve spent offline.

It’s time to reconnect face to face not Facebook to Facebook, and get back to some sense of reality that doesn’t involve a wall or a like button.

However, while I’m doing well without Facebook at the moment, I know once I reactivate I’ll be informing people of suspect pelican sightings once again...

Griffith College is always well represented at the Student Media awards as we do have a strong media faculty. But they have outdone themselves this year with 29 shortlist nominations in 19 categories. We wish everyone contesting the very best of luck.

They Are as follows: Blog of the Year (5 out of shortlist of 15) Wayne Doyle (BA Journalism & Visual Media) Jonathan Keane (BA Journalism & Visual Media) James Keating (MA Journalism & Media Communications) Niall McGrath [& others, group blog] (BA Journalism & Visual Media) Laura Mullett (BA Journalism & Visual Media) Radio Production Arts and Features (2 out of shortlist of 8) James Keating (MA Journalism & Media Communications) Niall McGrath [& others, group programme] (BA Journalism & Visual Media) Radio Documentary of the Year (1 out of shortlist of 8) Gavan Byrne (MA Journalism & Media Communications) Radio DJ of the Year (1 out of shortlist of 6) James Keating (MA Journalism & Media Communications) Best Written, Audio or Visual work on Science or Education (2 out of shortlist of 21) James Keating (MA Journalism & Media Communications) Louise Denvir (MA Journalism & Media Communications) Sports Writer of the Year (1 out of shortlist of 9) Piaras O Midheach (BA Journalism & Visual Media) Photographer of the Year (6 out of shortlist of 11) Julie Bienvenu (BA Photographic Media) Derville Conroy (BA Photographic Media) Sarah Harrington (BA Photographic Media) Piaras O Midheach (BA Journalism & Visual Media) Muhammad Sami (BA Photographic Media) Antonina Zharko (BA Photographic Media) News Photographer in Year (1 out of shortlist of 7) Derville Conroy (BA Photographic Media) Sports Photographer of the Year (1 out of shortlist of 6) Mateusz Kulik (Diploma in Photography) TV Production of the Year (4 out of shortlist of 10) Gill Pringle (BA Photographic Media) - Burlesque Annette Soredie (BA Journalism & Visual Media) - Areas abandoned Racheal Gregan (Diploma in Media Techniques) - I was ere Sarah Harrington (BA Photographic Media) - I see her walking Short Film of the Year (1 out of shortlist of 8) Julia Wakeham (MsC Applied Digital Media) Magazine of the Year (1 out of shortlist of 9) Ian Donegan (BA Journalism & Visual Media) - Griffiti Magazine Society Publication of the Year (1 out of shortlist of 9) Ian Donegan (BA Journalism & Visual Media) - Griffiti Magazine Layout & Design (1 out of shortlist of 9) Ian Donegan (BA Journalism & Visual Media) - Griffiti Magazine Small College Publication (2 out of shortlist of 9) Megan Martin (BA Journalism) Ian Donegan (BA Journalism & Visual Media) - Griffiti Magazine

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Features

The Titanic’s Centenary

A

pril 2012 marks the centenary year of the greatest maritime disaster, the sinking of Titanic. The story of the ‘unsinkable’ ship still echo’s through society 100 years on. Titanic has a strong relationship to Ireland and is embedded into our heritage for a number of reasons. The ship’s construction by between 15,000 Irish men in the Harland & Wolff Shipyard Belfast, the last stop in Cobh Co. Cork before it’s tragic end and for the number of Irish emigrants who travelled and lost their lives on the tragic voyage.

The Ill-fated journey On April 11th 1912 Titanic departed from Cobh on her maiden voyage to New York.This was the beginning of a frequent cross-Atlantic service that aimed to be the fastest to reach New York.The service would see a route from Southampton England to New York Via Cherbourg France and Cobh then known as Queenstown. Titanic became known ‘the unsinkable ship’ because of the advanced technology built in making it “virtually unsinkable.” This reputation would lead the world to devastation on learning of it’s sinking on April 15th after strik-

12

ing an iceberg in the North Atlantic.

After setting sail, there was a sense of excitement, it was a symbol of our progression in industry that we had mastered sea travel, creating ships that could be powerful and yet luxurious, fast and yet secure.

Titanic was going to make history.

Titanic was sailing across the Atlantic flawlessly the following three days. Making record time at speeds of 484 to 546 nautical miles (896km-1, 011KM). On April 14th the ship sailed through strong winds. As the day passed conditions calmed but remained very cold.The night was reported to be very settled however somewhat unusual, almost eerie. The sky was clear while the sea was calm, this proved diffi-

“Thewas,Titanic in theory, virtually unsinkable

”

cult for visibility of icebergs. Titanic was sailing into a stretch of ocean riddled with icebergs.

They received numerous warnings from other ships, however they remained at full speed.

At 11:40pm lookout crew caught sight of an iceberg right in their path. But it was too late, despite efforts by the crew under the orders of the First Officer (William Murdoch) the ships starboard side struck the Iceberg. Assessment of the damage confirmed that Titanic would founder. Capitan John Smith ordered the lifeboats to be launched, with a protocol of “Women and Children First”. This order was misunderstood and was interpreted as women and children only. There were 2,200 lives onboard, but not enough lifeboats. Distress calls were signalled to neighbouring ships, however none were close enough except for the Californian, who couldn’t be contacted, this later proved controversial. The RMS Carpathia, after receiving Titanic’s distress call, changed course and headed full speed to assist Titanic.

However it was 4 hours away arriving at 4am.

Titanic sank at 2:20am taking the lives of over 1,500 passengers and crew.

How did an unsinkable ship sink?

The Titanic was, in theory, virtually unsinkable. The ship was the most technologically advanced ship built at the time with state of the art communication systems. Titanic was

Features

It may be Griffiti’s 50th Issue but it’s been twice that many years since the Titanic sank and it’s still a has a place in popular culture

By Lance Kerrigan

built with 16 watertight compartments. The ship was designed to stay afloat even if four of the compartments flooded. Unfortunately there were five flooded compartments. But it was more than just striking an iceberg that sunk Titanic; it was a chain of events caused both by human error and pure bad luck that resulted in the sinking. In some ways Titanic was doomed before she even left Europe.

Errors is design • The haul: Titanic was constructed during a landmark period in the industrial era, Steel was become the popular choice over iron while machines were replacing some of the human labour. Titanic was built using steel plates, held together using steel rivets fitted by a riveting machine. However this machine was too bulky for working in areas of the ship that were curved and had to be riveted using the old method of manual steaming using rot iron rivets. Rot iron was weaker than steel thus creating a weakness in the bow of the ship.

• The rot iron used was not the purest quality it was a grade lower and the rivets contained impurities, that if put under pressure could pop. When the ship struck the iceberg, the rivet heads did indeed fail.

• The original designed bulkheads or watertight compartments were lowered. Although this wouldn’t have prevented the ship

from sinking, had they been at original height, the ship would have sunk much slower giving more time for help to arrive and save a lot more passengers.

Human Errors • Due to repairs on the Olympia, (Titanic’s sister ship), there was a reshuffle of crew on Titanic, Titanic’s top officers were replaced with Olympia’s and one key officer for Titanic left the ship. He forgot to return a key to a cabinet, which contained binoculars used by the lookout crew. This along with no glasses made it difficult for the lookout crew to keep an eye out, against the cold air. By the time they saw ice it would be too late.

• A delay of one critical message from a neighbouring ship and a fifth message that was misunderstood to be not urgent meant that warnings were missed or not heeded.

• The Californian had pulled up for the night because they were surrounded by ice. They also turned off its radar communication. The Californian was very near to Titanic, however could not be communicated with. Had communication been successful, the Californian would have made it to assist the passengers on time, saving the lives of all on board.

• Of the 20 lifeboats on board, they weren’t filled to capacity, had they been fitted to capacity many more lives would have been saved. Furthermore, had regulation stated lifeboat numbers be based on passenger numbers rather than tonnage; there would have been enough for everyone.

• Had the ship sailed into the iceberg head on instead of turning, Titanic wouldn’t have sank at all, as the collision bulkhead would have protected the ship from taking in any water.

Bad-Luck • 1912 wasn’t a normal year, with the greatest number of icebergs in half a century.

The iceberg that Titanic struck travelled future south than people believed possible.

• Titanic’s departure was delayed a month due to works on the Olympia, and because of this Titanic was sailing towards America during the month when iceberg conditions were at their worst.

• The Night conditions were also unusual, it was a moonless night, and the water was calm, both conditions made it difficult to spot icebergs.

cation monitoring and the setting up of the International Ice Patrol whose job is to monitor the Atlantic and Artic for Icebergs which pose a threat to shipping vessels.

The 100th Anniversary Celebrations Celebrations took place all over the world to commemorate the tragic events of 1912.All over Ireland communities had their own memorials. But all eyes are focused on Belfast, the home of Titanic. A new project that was completed in March sees the world’s largest Titanic visitor experience. Costing around £100 million the Titanic Belfast museum is set to be the biggest tourist attraction in Northern Ireland’s history. Titanic Belfast is built on the grounds of the Harland and Wolff shipyard, the birthplace of Titanic. This museum is astonishing with reconstructions of some of Titanic’s iconic designs including the grand staircase.

After just a few weeks open it’s proven to be a major success. With quotes like “the Worlds Biggest tourism story in 2012” it’s sure to draw attention to potential holiday makers.

Belfast had an exciting timetable planed to commemorate Titanic, which kicked off on March 31st with the grand opening of the Titanic Belfast museum. The Titanic festival lasted for two weeks, with numerous free events like the MTV open-air concert on April 13th and the Titanic Light Show, on April 7th 9th 10th and 11th. Titanic Belfast is expected to attract millions of people to Northern Ireland for 2012 and the coming years.

Other events included memorials in Cobh and Mayo and many local communities who lost family, friends and neighbours. Cobh celebrated with many events including a national tribute commemoration ceremony on April 11th (The day Titanic arrived in Cobh in 1912.) and a series of concerts called “An Irish connection” from April 11th-14th.

Cinema and TV also held commemorations. James Cameron, director of the 1997 blockbuster movie ‘Titanic,’ re-release Titanic in 3D to mark the centenary. The movie was released in cinemas on April 6th. ITV and four other production companies produced a 240minute TV Drama about the Titanic to mark the centenary. TV3 and ITV aired the drama between March 25th and April 15th.

Impact on society.

Titanic’s sinking had a detrimental impact on the world. All sides of society from the very wealthy to the very poor were affected. Many lost loved ones and families were torn apart.

Local communities were devastated to learn that members of their parishes were killed.

The sinking stunned our industrial pride and investigations followed into the accident, rising serious questions and prompting much needed reform in maritime regulations. Changes were made to the ‘inadequate and out-dated’ regulations. This included the number of lifeboats required for ships, round the clock communi-

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Features

The Compelling Unkown

James Keating explores some of histories less explainable mysteries

L

egend tells of a way we might avert whatever awaits on December 21st, 2012, the end of the Mayan calendar. By finding and bringing together thirteen crystal skulls which possess mystical, paranormal or even extraterrestrial properties, we can survive the end of days.

The skulls represent an opportunity, for those who believe the legend, to unlock the knowledge of ancient inhabitants of the planet, and to solve life’s great mysteries. Of course, that’s just for the few and the slightly unhinged who believe that sort of thing.

For the rest of us some things are never likely to be solved. Before we return to the crystal skulls, consider if you will the many more cases which occupy that space between reality and dreams known as The Twilight Zone...

The year is 1966, the place: Rio de Janeiro.

A boy discovers a pair of bodies on a hill near his home, two men. Both wearing lead masks which cover the upper part of their faces. A note found at the scene reads “16:30 be at the agreed place. 18:30 swallow capsules, after effect protect metals wait for mask signal”.

The men were television technicians, and no clues beyond the note were found to their deaths.They had no injuries and there were no signs of a struggle. An empty water bottle was also found at the scene. A later autopsy was inconclusive regarding the cause of death.

Why did two men climb a hill wearing masks

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ostensibly to protect against radiation, take a mystery capsule each, and die? The note implied they were waiting for a signal, but from whom? Bizarre, but at least there were clues and the men were identified. The case of the Somerton Man offers no such explanation.

was a series of letters, which could be a code, leading to speculation that the deceased was a spy. They have never been deciphered. Three years before the death of the Somerton man, a Singaporean man was found dead in Sydney with a copy of the Rubaiyat on his chest.

Even stranger, another man, Clive Mangnoson, was found unconscious, and his two year-old son dead, near Somerton in 1949.

The man’s wife claimed to have been harassed by a masked man who almost ran her down, before telling her to stay away from the police. Mangnoson believed he knew who the Somerton man was and had been attempting to identify him.

The Somerton Man continues to arouse the interest of the Australian public, but surely more modern mysteries would be easier to unravel, with a wealth of technological and medical advancement at the disposal of investigators.

Not exactly. In August 2007, the first of twelve human feet was found on the coast of the Salish Sea in Canada. The others were found over the following four years on both British Columbia and Washington’s coastlines.

The feet were usually inside a running shoe, and totally detached from the body.

Five of the feet have been identified as belonging to residents of British Columbia who had been reported missing, one of whom had been missing since 1987. Feet can become detached from the body in decomposition, but their sudden appearance has proven difficult to explain.

The 2004 tsunami and ocean currents have been put forward as possible explanations, but why now, and why were those identified locals? Foul play hasn’t been ruled out, and one of the feet was found along with a leg bone in a black plastic bag. Which is more than a little unsettling.

This isn’t the only contemporary mystery to defy easy explanation, but first, a little history. In 1872 the cargo ship Mary Celeste was discovered abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean.

One lifeboat was missing, but otherwise the ship and her cargo were intact with enough food to last six months. The only damage was to the ship’s clock, which had stopped working, and her compass, which had been destroyed.

Another ship, the Carroll A. Deering, lost her crew and ran aground on the return voyage from Rio de Janeiro to Virginia. The ship sailed through the notorious ‘Bermuda Triangle’ between Florida and the Caribbean, where an extraordinary number of aeroplanes

the “feetOnewasoffound

In December 1948 a man was found dead at Somerton Beach in Adelaide, Australia. He had no identification, his dental records had no match and the labels of his clothes had been removed. A suitcase discovered the following January contained a coat which suggested the man had come from America.

He remains unidentified, but that’s far from the strangest aspect of the case.

An autopsy revealed consistencies with poisoning, but no trace of any poison could be found. Even stranger, a piece of paper with the words ‘tamam shud’, meaning ‘finished’ in Persian, printed on it was found in his pocket. The paper came from a rare edition of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, a book of poetry about living life with no regrets. The police suspected suicide.

The book from which the words were removed was found in an unlocked car. Inside

along with a leg bone in a black plastic bag.

Which is more than a little unsettling

”

Features Features and boats have vanished.

This time some personal effects were taken aboard a pair of lifeboats, but food was left in mid-preparation. Mutiny was the most accepted cause of the abandonment, but the crew were never seen or heard from again.

Today’s sailors have access to GPS and radio communication, but in 2007 the Kaz II suffered a similar fate to that of the Mary Celeste when her three-man crew vanished. Again, the boat was perfectly intact with no evidence of damage or that anyone other than the crew was aboard.

A video recorded by the crew on the morning of their disappearance, April 15, adds, rather than answers questions. They were close to islands, fishing, with the engine off.The boat was spotted with no crew aboard a day after their last radio contact.

Explanations range from the men drowning after trying to remove a fishing lure from the rudder to their getting stuck on a sandbar and trying to push the boat off, only for it to be blown away, leaving them stranded.

Most likely, one of the explanations put forth for the Kaz II disappearance is the right one, but even on dry land some incidents defy any attempt at explanation. One such incident occurred in an isolated part of Russia, on a mountain pass high in the Ural Mountains.

When the case was investigated the explanation was that “a compelling unknown force” caused the deaths of nine experienced skiers. Their bodies were found half a kilome-

tre from their tent. The same tent had been ripped open from the inside, leaving a hole large enough for a person to fit through.

The skiers were only partially dressed as they fled from their tent, some barefoot or wearing only one shoe in temperatures close to -30°C. Two of the bodies had internal injuries consistent with those of a car crash.

Another had a crushed skull and one of the women was without her tongue.

A compelling “unknown force

caused the deaths of nine experienced skiers.

Their bodies were found half a kilometre from their tent

”

No evidence was found to suggest the local indigenous tribe were involved, only the footprints of the group were present. Those who survived longest had removed the clothes of those who died first. They had burned hands and there were remains of a fire where the bodies were first found.

Most worrying was the discovery of radiation on the clothes of the dead. One funeral attendee claimed they had orange-brown ‘tans’. Other hikers and the meteorological service reported orange spheres in the sky at the time of the incident. The area was also filled with scrap metal, giving some cause to believe the Russian military were involved. In fact, the pass was closed off for three years following the deaths.

The area has since been renamed the Dyatlov Pass, in honour of the leader of the illfated expedition, Igor Dyatlov. The incident which occurred on the aptly named ‘Kholat Syakhl’ or ‘Mountain of the Dead’ remains a source of intrigue today, but documents related to it disappeared with the Soviet Union, leaving the truth buried.

Returning then, to the crystal skulls. There are a few amongst a huge number of fakes which are thought to be of genuine Mesoamerican origin. There are also mere months to find them before December 21st. Of all the unsolved mysteries, this one is perhaps the one most urgently in need of solving; the human race depends on it. Remember, the truth is out there...

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Features

Bee Decline Bee Decline a Cause for Concern

By James Keating

B

ee populations are declining around the world due to a number of factors. The possibility of bee extinction is extremely worrying not only for scientists, but for global ecosystems.

Most recent extinctions can be attributed to human encroachment upon animal populations. The same can be said for currently endangered animals such as the giant panda, or the altogether less glamorous bee.

A 2010 UN report found that “Human activities have impacted the landscape through fragmentation, degradation and destruction of natural habitats. [These] are considered as key adverse changes for pollinator populations” The pollinator in question is the humble bee. For those not concerned with conservationism, the decline of bee populations is likely of little concern. Animals have died out before without any majorly adverse effect on people.

The bee is very different. It might be callous to suggest that the baiji river dolphin or the quagga aren’t important, but their extinction pales in comparison to the effect bee extinction could have on human life. In recent years a phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder (CCD) has seen a pre-existing decline in bee colonies rapidly accelerate.

Bee numbers are falling across the planet.

What was first discovered in the US is now occurring in Europe and Asia, and has begun to appear elsewhere in the world. One of the problems facing both scientists and governments is that the cause of the decline is unclear.

The 2009 documentary Vanishing of the Bees placed the blame on pesticides, criticising governments for being more concerned with chemical producing companies than beekeepers. The reality is more complex. On top of

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pesticides, factors such as parasites, pollution, diet, disease, habitat degradation and climate change have been linked to CCD. Measures taken to halt the decline have made matters worse. Large-scale hives were built to breed bees but they encouraged disease. The movement of bees from farm to farm in an attempt to improve pollination only helped spread infection further.

“

100 crop species provide 90% of the global food supply: over 70 of these species are pollinated by bees

”

Use of chemical pesticides has made bees more susceptible to disease and parasites.

Chemicals have also contaminated the plants and then spread to bees through pollination.

The weakened immune system of bees, thanks to a number of environmental factors, is now thought to have allowed diseases and parasites to spread more easily.

One such parasite is extremely worrying for researchers; the varroa mite. This tiny species essentially sucks the blood of bees, and spreads in colonies. It can destroy a colony in three years if it is left unchecked, and it has become immune to medication developed to kill it.

Varroa mites are, however, part of a larger problem. Air pollution is of concern as hampers a bee’s sense of smell. The factors potentially causing CCD are so numerous that entomologist May Berenbaum told The Scientist magazine that “We may not have the smoking gun, but we found the bullet hole.” Identifying CCD is in progress, but attempts to stop it have been unsuccessful thus far.

Why should we be concerned? According to the same UN report mentioned earlier “a sixth major extinction of biological diversity is underway. Certain natural ecosystems are vital for human societies.”

Pollination is one of these ecosystems and bees are the principal means by which pollination occurs. To put it simply, 100 crop species provide 90% of the global food supply: over 70 of these species are pollinated by bees.

Executive Director of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), Achim Steiner, outlined just how important bees are at the publication of the report. “Human beings have fabricated the illusion that in the 21st century they have the technological prowess to be independent of nature. Bees underline the reality that we are more, not less dependent on nature’s services in a world of close to seven billion people”.

Food prices are likely to rise if CCD continues to affect bees. Beyond that, if bees were to disappear entirely it would be likely to lead to the extinction of many flower and tree species. According to Alison Benjamin and Brian McCallum, authors of A World without Bees “A third of all that we eat, and much of what we wear, relies on pollination by bees. So if or when - the world loses its black-and-yellow workers, the consequences will be dire.”

Calls are being made for changes which may stop the loss of bees. Planting wild flowers around agricultural fields and creating new habitats are two such changes: existing habitats also need to be protected. Alison Benjamin, however, questions what can actually be achieved, even if research into CCD offers a solution.

“What exactly are they going to do when they finally understand what many of us already know - that stress factors are compromising the bee’s immune system so they are unable to fend off the mites, viruses and fungal diseases? Tell the agrochemical companies to stop producing harmful pesticides? Tell US farmers to produce their crops more sustainably rather than planting mile upon mile of the same crop?”

Benjamin’s fears are understandable. The decline of bees is not going to cause a sudden mass extinction event, but it could have enormously damaging consequences for the global ecosystem and lasting detrimental effects on a growing world population.

Photography by Katie Harnett Devereux

Reviews

Technology Gadgets Apple’s new OS for Mac

This summer will see the arrival of Apple’s latest OS for Mac. OS Mountain Lion. This new upgrade will feature some of the popular utilities currently available on iOS (iPad, iPhone ), creating a better integration with iCloud. The new OS has features such as Notification Center, Notes, Reminders, Twitter integration, Messages and Game Center.

Messages are currently available to download as a beta to try out and a developer’s preview is also available. However, we will have to wait until the summer before we can get our hands on the full new OS. There are no reports yet saying when Apple will release the 9th version of the “worlds most advance desktop operating system”. However based on the last upgrade (OS

X Lion) which was released July 20th last year, we can hope to see it released around the same time this year.

Volvo pedestrian Airbag

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By Lance Kerrigan

Swedish carmaker “Volvo” has developed the first pedestrian Airbag protection. This new technology built into the V40 model series hopes to protect pedestrians in the event that they are struck. The car is fitted with a u-shaped airbag located between the hood and windscreen. In the event of a collision with a pedestrian, the hood lifts slightly releasing the airbag to reduce the impact for the pedestrian.

The car also includes another safety feature including a detector for pedestrians, if they walk in front of the car the system will ‘auto break’ if the driver doesn’t respond quickly enough.

This is part of Volvo’s Vision 2020 program stating, “By 2020, nobody shall be seriously injured or killed in a new Volvo.”

News

Tesco’s iPad at £49…

Woops!

Tesco UK was in hot water recently when they advertised on their website the sale of the New iPad at just £49.99.

Customers weren’t long rushing towards ordering the WiFi/4G 64GB model at this amazingly great valued deal worth £659.

Many orders were placed and the transactions went through, however Tesco soon realised the critical error on their site, and refused to honor the transactions at that price. Customers were emailed and informed that the price they purchased it at was an error and the order was canceled. Customers were furious over what they claim was a PR stunt.

PayPal In an age of cards and plastic, it’s becoming difficult to pay or get paid by those who don’t carry cash. More annoyingly businesses who don’t have the facilities to accept card payments.

PayPal has the solution. ‘PayPal Here’ is a card reader compatible with mobile devices. The card reader allows you to charge a regular credit card threw your PayPal account. The app that the card reader operates through will ask the cardholder to enter their pin or signature as a usual card reader would.

Giving smaller businesses easier and more diverse methods of payment. PayPal have not yet launched hardware yet so it’s not yet known when we will get our hands on this new payment option.

Angry Birds Series & movie

Rovio, the makers of Angry Birds have reported the release of Angry Birds as an animated cartoon series. 52 episodes are planed and will broadcast weekly on many different devices. It’s reported that each episode will last around three minutes in length.

But that’s not all; there are plans for an Angry Bird’s Movie, however this won’t be released for a few years.

iPhone 5 June Release says latest’s Rumors!

Rumors are gathering that June will see the release of the iPhone 5. This is unorthodox considering that the iPhone 4S was only released in October 2011 breaking the tradition of a yearly release.

However it has always been the standard for Apple to release its latest iPhone in the summer, and the 4S was unusually late.

Google Play

£49.99?

GameStop Trading in old iPads Speaking of the iPad, want to sell your current version to upgrade? GameStop are currently trading in old iPads for cash or store credit. This is a limited offer.

Trade-ins can be made for iPad 1&2.Values start at €220 (for the Ipad 16GB WiFi) up to €450 (for a iPad 2 64GB WiFi/3G) subject to the condition of the device.

For a better quote on your device, you will need to ask in store to value it.

Google users will have noticed a new addition to the Google navigation bar, “Play.” Google Play is Google’s new online store where users can purchase apps for Android devices. Play is Google’s attempt to become more like iTunes or the Xbox market place offering its users products like apps, games, music, books and movies from one place. The cloud-based service also means that music and movies you buy on one device will also be available on all your other Android devices also. Currently only apps are available to Irish customers, as Google have not yet expanded its Movies and Music service to Europe.

Reviews

What’s Appening?

Soundhound This is a very useful app. Have you every been in a shop, pub, club or party and you hear a song, that you like but don’t know the name of it… How are you supposed to buy it or look for it again if all you got is a few lyrics in your head. You could ‘Google’ the few lyric’s you know and hope your search recognises it, else you could just use this app. It features recognition software, when a song is playing the app will input the sound and scan it against its database to find similar content. If successful it will return you so much detail; the name, the artist and album it’s from even a link to iTunes to purchase it. It will also bring up YouTube videos of the song, tour dates of that artist or recommend similar artists, all depending on what the database can find. You can search the database based on sound, title, artist or even your own voice.The App does so much more, it will recommend songs based on what’s trending on twitter and it integrates with your iPod app so when playing songs from your device you can read the lyrics onscreen while the song is playing. The app is free and there is also an upgrade, which is ad free and gives additional features. Available to iOS, Android and Windows Mobile.

Angry Birds in Space That Finnish app which has left the world addicted has released its latest edition.This new game brings newer adventures for those very angry birds… This time they fight in space. Angry Birds Space has 60 exciting new levels along with new birds with extraordinary new powers. The challenges get harder but the birds are more powerful. The new editions include a bird that can freeze, and a black hole feature will can be used to exterminate most of the Evil space pigs on harder levels (Only a limited number so use them wisely) also gravity pull, which can help or hinder your attack, depending on your intending launch. Danger Zone level is available to those who make the in app purchase for .79 cent. Angry Birds Space is available to Android IOS, Mac and PC.

There are thousands of them, but here is a review of the top apps that you really should not be without.

PDF Reader lite

Students with iPad, may find this app useful, take advantage of a great PDF reader which also gives you note functionality too. The app allows you to view PDF’s as well as circle, underline, and add notes to the content. This may come in very useful when proof reading an assignment or highlighting important information on Articles, papers etc. It also includes a scanner that converts pictures you take into PDF’s. A must have for students with iPad.

Draw Something Another App becoming more and more popular is the social mobile draw and guessing game.

Draw something has become something amazing. This app connects with Facebook and Twitter on you mobile device allowing you to draw whatever your imagination gives and send it to your friends challenging them to guess what it could be.

No Drawing skill needed, just draw, send and challenge. It’s proven to be so much fun.

Available free or upgrade for additional functionality to iOS and Android.

add filters to your photos, making them look classical, vintage. You can also autocorrect them and share them with friends on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr or just Email.

This would be a similar app to Instagram, available to both Android and iOS, which Facebook bought recently for a sweet $1 billion! (Cash and Stock Deal)

Sleep Cycle As you sleep you go through different states that range from deep sleep to light sleep. If you’re are lucky your alarm will go off when you are in light sleep. If you are not so lucky it will go off when you are in deep sleep and barely conscious.We all know how that feels, you are barely awake for the rest of the day.

Sleep cycle creates a 30 minute wakeup phase that ends at your desired wake up time. You put your phone under your pillow as you sleep and it monitors your movement. As we move differently when we are in deep sleep that we do when we are in light sleep the phone can monitor your movement and know when you are in deep or light sleep and will wake you up at the optimum time. If you want to wake up rested and energetic this is the app for you. Available on IOS.

The Sims 3 Remember that popular life simulating game called Sims. Sims is available on tablets and smartphones. There is a number of Sims available, including a few free versions. Sims3 was released last year and is available €3.99 on iOS and €5.49 on Android.

Snapseed

Snapseed is a photoediting app available to iOS that allows you to enhance, transform and share your photos.

With Snapeed you can

Whipped

The uses for this app are endless. Picture the scene, you are out for pints with your mates. One of your friends has been foolish enough to bring his girlfriend along.When the banter is just reaching its peak his girlfriend inevitably says “It’s time to go home.” He will protest, but to no avail.

That is when you can swoop in with your Whipped app, brandish it like a whip and it makes a satisfying WHII THSCH! sound.

Of course, you could make this sound yourself but come on, it’s a new age, get with the program.

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Griffiti at the Movies

Summer Movies

The Dark Knight Rises

I

t is only a journalists dearest wish to give their reader a rundown of what is going to happen I the next batman movie.

We would like nothing better than a great big SPOILER ALERT in bright red letter over this particular piece. However, Christopher Nolan’s (Director) capacity

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for secret keeping borders on military standard.

It doesn’t look like we are going to know much about the storyline before seeing the movie (which for the less curious of us is nothing short of a gift) but we do know who the new baddie is.

The role of Bane has been taken on by Tom Hardy (Inception).

Bane was born in island prison in

South America. He escaped having been injected with the drug ‘Venom’ which afforded him super human strength. However, the drug must be constantly pumped directly into his brain or he suffers debilitating pain.

The question on everyone lips is this; How in the name of Gotham can anyone live up the

startlingly enthralling, engaging and eternally memorable performance that Heath Ledger gave as the Joker in the Dark Knight.

Even Hardy’s mesmerising set of lips might not be enough to get him out of this one.

The Amazing Spiderman

deaths and is following clues to that end. This investigation causes him to cross paths with his father’s old partner Dr. Curt Connors.

We are also going to be minus one Mary Jane Watson in this version. In the original comic, Peter Parker was first infatuated with Gwen Stacy and so this is the love of his life in this time around.

The new Spidie is going to be somewhat darker than Toby Maguire’s rendition which isn’t unexpected, the anti-hero character has exploded somewhat since Christopher Nolan’s success at recreating Batman.

And along came another spider. Not very long after the first spider had finished up. When this project was first announced, many thought that director, Mark Webb (500 Days of Summer) was making a live action Spiderman tv series. This seemed a feasible idea.

However, he has, in fact, elected to begin a whole new Spiderman film franchise. This one is set to stick closer to the original comic book story which was called ‘The Amazing Spiderman’, rather than just ‘Spiderman’.

This time round Peter Parker is much more interested in the events that led to his parents’

The Dark Knight Rises will be in cinema’s on July 20th

The Amazing Spiderman is in cinemas on July 3rd.

es

2012

Griffiti at the Movies

Prometheus

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3 years ago Director Ridley Scott (Gladiator) changed the face of sci-fi movie making with his film ‘Alien’. It was such a screaming success that it was followed up with two sequels, not to mention the 2004 cross over ‘Alien VS Predator’ and decidedly painful to mention 2007’s ‘Alien VS Predator: Requiem’.

However, Scott was only ever at the helm of that first one and now he is back to direct Prometheus. This is a prequel to Alien and is set about 40 years before Alien begins.

There are unanswered questions in the Alien movies worthy of ‘Lost’ that many of us did not give a second though to. But

The Avengers

T

his one has been four years in the making. It all started with The Incredible Hulk in 2008 staring Edward Norton.This was followed by three other super hero movies; Iron Man, Thor and Captain America. All with one thing in common. They all ended with a cut scene that related to one of the other three movies.

All culminating in this one movie that connects them all. One word, pressure.

Although Norton has not seen fit to return for the grand finale, Bruce Banner will be played by Mark Ruffalo (Shutter Island), Iron Man (Robert Downey. Jr), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Captain America (Chris Evans)

all answer the call of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Thor’s younger brother, Loki, is waging war on earth and it is up to The Avengers to stop him.

The question is, with all that talent in one place and while trying to get that much action into one film to do all characters justice while trying to maintain a believable storyline Joss Whedon (director and writer) has left himself no easy task and it’s a good thing that he’s had four years to plan this as it is likely that we are going to see some very underwhelmed viewers walking out of that cinema if he hasn’t got his wits about him.

The Avengers is in Cinemas on April 26th.

A Fantastic Fear of Everything

A

part from having a fantastic title (pardon me) this is set to be one of the funniest movies of the summer, made likely by the fact that it is staring the one of the funniest actors available to Hollywood.

Simon Pegg (How to Lose Friends and Alienate People) plays Jack, a children’s writer turned novelist with an irrational and debilitating fear of being murdered having delved too deeply into research on Victorian serial killers for his work.

Jack confines himself to his apartment and neglects his appearance to a dangerous level until Hollywood comes knocking having taken an interest in one

Scott did.

Scott has promised that this movie will lay all those questions to rest. By the sounds of it, if Alien is ‘Z’ the Prometheus is going to be everything from ‘A’ through ‘Z’.

Indeed, there is so much to cover you can understand why he decided to do a prequel. A few characters with some explaining to do in a follow up film probably wouldn’t cover everything.

Despite the less than informative title this is shaping up to be a big one over the summer, helped along with big name talents including Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron and rapidly rising star, Michael Fassbender.

Prometheus is in cinemas June 8th.

of his book and he must face his fears in helping them recreate his work on set.

The audience is treated to the observation of Jack decent into insanity as his attempts to face the real world cause his brain to melt down. Not the typical ambiance in which to place a comedy situation but our leading man has got it pegged (again, sorry).

The film is an adaptation of Bruce Robinson’s novel ‘Paranoia in the Launderette’ with Crispian Mills enjoying his directing debut and doing his best to make sure the film stays a comedy and doesn’t accidentally turn into a psychological thriller (an easy mistake to make in this case).

A fantastic fear of everything is in cinemas on June 8th.

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Griffiti at the Movies

W

ow, a whole two years has passed and Johnny Depp and Tim Burton haven’t made a movie together, something must be amiss. Oh, wait, look, a gothic retelling of a 1960’s soap opera about a witch, an upper middle class misfit of a family and a vampire trying to adjust to the twentieth century. It can only be Burtepp, with Helena Bonham Carter coming along for the ride.

Snow White and the Huntsman

M

irror Mirror didn’t get it exactly right so the people in movie land said “We’re doing it again!” And

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The world isn’t fed up with vampires just yet? Ok then. Dark Shadows sees playboy, Barnabas Collins (Depp), get on the wrong side of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green) after a night in the sack who, most unfortunately, turns out to be a witch, turns him into as vampire and buries him alive.

Barnabas wakes up in the 1970’s and meets him ancestral family.

The start of the trailer makes the film look far more series than

so here we are, the second Snow White movie of the year.

They certainly have taken it in a slightly different direction, however. The movie poster depicts Snow White battle scared, armored and wielding a very large sword.

it is. But Burton’s warped sense of humour manages to take someone being buried alive and turn it in to a comedy, and it does look hilarious.

Strange as their fascination with each other is, Depp and Burton never fail to entertain the masses and we do not expect them to do so on this occasion.

Dark Shadows is in cinemas May 11th If this film is important to one person it’s Kirstin Stewart, she has been Bella Swan for the last four years and this is her chance to step out of that shadow.

Stewart isn’t and unattractive girl but whether or not she could be described as ‘the fairest of them all’ is very much in question. I, myself, would have cast Christina Hendricks in a corset had I been given that description but that is simply a difference of opinion. She does make the cut if boney and sullen are suddenly the main ingredients in ‘fair’, or perhaps she just plays by the rules.

We expect the movie to stay on the beaten track for the first half an hours; Queen is pretty, consults her mirror to that effect, mirror tell of someone who will surpass her beauty, queen orders huntsman to kill said girl, huntsman can carry out a simply task.

From there on in, however, all bets are off. I just want to know where the sword and battle scars come in.

SW&TH is in cinemas June 1st.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

F

our score and seven sacks of bullshit seems to be the general consensus as to the possibility of this film being enjoyable.

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, discovers vampires are planning to take over the United States. He makes it his mission to eliminate them. What utter nonsense.

First things first though.Vampires, again. Really? Again? Vampires? Fine.

Even if we were to neglect to process the sheer stupidity of one who would consider this a marketable asset, let’s first consider the people it might cause distress to. Namely, our own Daniel Day-Lewis.

Dan has been slaving away trying to produce a proper, historical, non idiotic version of the life of Abraham Lincoln entitled ‘Lincoln’ which will be released this December and this band of miscreants come along with this abomination. Tactless.

And Tim Burton is producing it. What is it with that man and vampires this year? Leave vampires alone. We have done all we can do with vampires for the moment, aside, it seems, from introducing them to the bleeding White House!

With only a semi-familiar ‘oh, wasn’t he in…’ cast, it does not look like the big names of the talent is going to be enough to get this one on its feet.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire hunter is in cinemas on August 2nd.

Griffiti at the Movies

Title: Battle ship Cert: 12A Running time: 131mins Release Date: Out Now!

Title: The Cabin in the Woods Cert: 18 Running time: 95 mins Release Date: Out Now!

“Prepare to fire.”

“Sir, which weapons?”

“All of them.”

“I think we should split up. We can cover more ground that way!”

T

“Really?”

he title of this movie gives off the impression of the tried and tested, been there done that, bought the t-shirt and massacred half a dozen teenagers in the process.

In actuality, this film goes far beyond the boundaries of your garden variety slasher movie.

Five friends leave the comfort of the big city and together they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.

The movie has all the elements of a good horror movie. It has the jock, the slut, the new-comer, the nerd and the virgin, the deserted location and of course the creepy man who tries to warn then about the cabin. Despite the cliché title this movie has the extra edge to it as there are people on the outside controlling the actions which are going to cause their deaths. The main idea of the movie is the less you know the better.

The idea of the Cabin in the Woods is you think you know the story but in fact the more you learn about it the more confusing it gets. It is better to stay away from any spoilers and trailers to be able to understand the movie fully. It allows the audience to stay on their toes to the very end of the movie.

The actors in the movie offer us a good insight into the horror and confusion that lies within the cabin, while bringing some knew faces to the screen. This fresh new talent brings out the best that the movie can offer to the audience.

The director does an excellent job of only letting us see a limited amount of things at a time. This once again brings in the mystery of the movie. The lighting brings out the disturbing and dysfunctional side to the movie as it creates the perfect setting for a horror movie in the woods.

The ever-changing story-line keeps the audience interested until the end. The audience are eager to understand the real story of how this crazy situation all came about and how they must stay tuned in until the very end. Of course, the fact that it’s not like a typical horror movie gives it the extra edge.

If eerie music, sudden jumps are you’re thing then this is the movie for you as long as you’re not squeamish at the sight of blood. This movie offers to us a constantly changing story-line that leaves us in suspense until the very end. This is a must see movie for horror movie lovers.

Aine Donegan

F

rom the trailer I had seen and what I had heard of the storyline I was not very excited at the prospect of going to see this movie. But shortly after the start of the film I knew my expectations had been shot in the wrong direction and my pessimism had suddenly diminished, I nestled into my seat and let myself be soaked into the movie.

Based on a classic board game and developed from the makers of Transformers and Hancock, Battleship is a movie in which a naval fleet encounters extra terrestrials during a training exercise off the coast of Hawaii and must prevent them from threatening Earth. The plot is pretty basic but gripping at the same time, there is a certain “Independence Day” feel to the storyline except without any of the stereotypical alien saucers flying around.

The graphically stunning CGI along with the humorous input from our protagonist Taylor Kitsch (John Carter & Friday Night Lights) made the movie fun filled and exciting. Kitsch plays the role of a lay about whose brother forces him to join the Naval Service in a classic plea to make him do something with his

life. Before long, Kitsch finds himself under the command of none other than Liam Neeson who is his Admiral and his love interests (Brooklyn Decker) father.

For those of you going to see Battleship as avid Liam Neeson fans you will be disappointed that he does not get much screen time but he is still his legendary self when he does get his moments on the set.

This is Rihanna’s debut movie role, which I was dreading experiencing but alas she was not overly disappointing, she played a very bad ass Michelle Rodriguez style role. When she is not mouthing off to someone she can be seen standing around trying to look pretty throughout the film.

One aspect of the movie that struck me was the musical score. Tracks from bands such as AC/DC added to the intensity of some scenes and made me think to myself “Wow, that is cool”.

Overall, I found I really enjoyed the film, as did my friends. It was not too predictable and had the audience in the packed out theatre laughing out loud throughout some scenes. I would give it a solid 7/10 and would definitely watch it again. I believe it has a bright future as one of the biggest blockbusters this year.

Mark Morgan

25

cREATIVE wRITING

Once Upon a midnight Dreary

By Ian Donegan

I

have been afraid before, but never so much as on one November night during possibly the most frightening time in a students life anyway-The leaving Cert.

Not for the first time (or the tenth) midnight found me pouring over a mountain of notes whose contents my brain ached in protest against retaining. But with Christmas exams fast approaching and a chip on both shoulders comfort was riding shotgun.

It is a curious thing about the mind, when you need it most to concentrate on something it has the unobliging habit of finding even the most banal things far more interesting than what it is you need it to be concerned with. My mind being particularly susceptible to this phenomenon it was agreed that I undertake my second Leaving Certificate while living with Aunt in town.

There was a lot of sense in this idea, less distractions, a far more quiet study environment and she lives not ten minutes walk from the school.

My Aunt is a nurse and often works night shifts, this was one of those nights, I was all alone in the house and the distractions were rife. There was a spot on the wall that I was quite taken with and the ticking of the clock made for some good listening. But I was powering through, allowing nothing to enter my cerebrum but my Business Studies notes. The Laws of the Contract, mind numbing stuff.

What are the methods of terminating a contract? Who gives a fiddlers smelly fart, right?

Studying the most boring of my subjects was bad enough but to add to the already piling distractions a scratching sound suddenly came from above me in the attic.

‘Rats’, I muttered and attempted to stay at my work but it was incessant. I grabbed the sweeping brush and went out into the hallway and banged the handle on the Stighra door to the attic on the ceiling three times. I listened. Silence, save for the ticking clock.

I sat myself back down and got back to it.

Methods of terminating a contract…am…

Agreement, Frustration, Breach and…andSCRATCH! SCRATCH! SCRATCH!

26

SCRATCH! ‘Oh, for the love of…’

Once again I grabbed the brush and stormed out into the hall. ‘BANG! BANG! BANG!’ I hit the Straighra door three more times. There was a moment of silence, then, as if in response from the attic door there came a distinct. ‘Tap tap tap’ and then a horrible choking sound that might have been a drowning man’s scream.

My mind’s first reaction was a futile dismissal of what I knew had just happened.

That didn’t just happen. I banged on the door and nothing else happened. Something up there didn’t tap back the same number of times as I banged on the door or make any other noise. Something that would have had to be much larger than a rat and possibly possess apposable thumbs to make that loud a noise did not just tap back at me. I am the only living thing in this house.

My minds defense mechanism of pure denial did not stave off panic for long, however.

Now, had you asked me a week before this had happened what I would have done in this situation I would have confidently told you without skipping a beat that I would have yanked that door down and tossed whatever was up there out of the house on its arse.

But I found out something about myself that night. I am a coward.

The hallway seemed to stretch into a mile, the ten step distance between myself and the front door suddenly seemed a perilous journey, the ticking of the clock was an obscene drumming in the ringing silence that had washed over the house since this surreal interaction between myself and what ever else was inhabiting my Aunts’ house.

All of a sudden my cowardice caught up with and overtook my new found rejection of reality. I turned and ran pell mell for the front door. It did not matter that I wasn’t wearing any shoes or jumper, nor that its was raining lightly on a night in late November with an icy, bone chilling breeze whipping the rain into my face. All that mattered was getting as far from that attic door as possible.

The front door seemed hours away, my

irrational thoughts were all of demons, aliens, escaped madmen and grave defying spirits.

The moment my back was turned to the attic door a tidal wave of adrenaline was sent coursing through my veins making me accelerate faster than any Olympic sprinter.

I burst through the door and out into the rain drenched estate. I sprinted to the end of the street and turned to face the two mirror image rows of houses and was genuinely relieved to find that their was nothing longlegged, scaly or many toothed at my heels.

The estate was quite deserted and dark, save for a few scattered street lamps and the kitchen light in the house last to the left, the house I had just ran for dear life from.

‘Oh God, fuck… me, fuck me! What do I…. do now? What the fuck…. do I do now?!’ I said in a voice that sounded nothing like me usually one, it was several octaves higher with every three or four words punctuated by a shallow involuntary breath.

Without thinking about it, I suddenly plunged my hand into my pocket.

‘Oh please, oh please, oh – YES!’ My fingers wrapped themselves around my battered, bruised, ancient but exquisitely present Nokia 3360. I wiped it out and found myself wondering. Who the hell do I call?

What’s the army’s number?

I finally decided on home. It rang five times and a gruff sleepy voice answered. “‘Ello.” It has my father.

“Hi Dad.” “Ian? Are you alright?”

“Am, ya.” I found myself saying foolishly.

“Is Mom there?”

This was not a conversation I was going to have with my father, the least decisive man I know. I could have guessed how it would have gone.

‘You heard a tapping? Did you check what it was?’

No, I needed the clear decisive thinking that could only come from a mammy.

“Ya, your mother’s here, are you alright?”

“Yes, can you put her on please?”

“Grand. Ronnie, Ronnie! Ian’s on the phone.” My father said, perplexed.

Griffiti at the Movies There was a shuffle and then- “Are you alright, Ian?” Came a much softer voice.

I told her what had happened, feeling increasingly like an eight year old who had had a bad dream. She did not interrupt me, but when I had finished she asked “Is the house detached?”

I don’t know why, but this question sent a chill down my spin.

‘N-no.’ I said.

“Ok, Ian. Ring the Gardaí. Wait for them at the Spar down the street. We’re on our way in now. Don’t go back inside the house.”

There was the clear thinking that I was currently incapable of!

I did just that and was surprised at how seriously I was taken by the Garda on the other end of the line. It did throw, however, that I was once again asked “Is the house detached?”

The Garda said there was a patrol car very near me and that she would send them up. Sure enough, within ten minutes I was outside Spar in the company of two tall burley men of the law. They looked at me in my soaking socks and t-shirt, shivering from the cold and the shock and looked at each other, as if to say standard. I showed them to the ajar front door of the house, keeping shamelessly well behind them. A childhood of watching American cop movies dictated that they now take out their guns and ‘4 5’ whatever was in there. But this is Ireland, we don’t arm our guards.

When will they learn?

They simply walked in. Found the attic door and, to my horror, opened it.

“Hello!” one of them called.

“Is somebody up there?” Silence, and nothing more.

Then the taller of the two, armed with nothing more than a flash light climbed the ladder. His shoulders were both inside the attic when he called again.

“Hel- JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!” Something large and black soared over his head. His feet slipped down three of the steps and his partner had to steady him so he didn’t fall. I was fully prepared to start running again and this time I would find the number for the army. But then I saw the Garda’s expression: he was laughing.

‘It’s a fucking bird! A big fucking bird!’ he said, breathing heavily through his laughter and relief.

We later came to the conclusion that, having heard me banging, the bird, which turned out to be a big fuck off crow, must have assumed their was something edible behind that door but having pecked at it and seen that it was getting nowhere, cawed angrily.

My Father has not yet seen fit to let me live down this encounter and maybe he never will, I did get him out of bed in the middle of the night.

But I have been blessed with a new found sympathy for my uncle, one of those farmers who shots crows, then hangs their bodies in the shed to scar other birds away from his crops. Those guys have the right idea.

27

The Genuine Article The Dirt on the Dig Up

By Drew Peacock

T

he Griffith College uppers have been poisoning its students’ minds with lies over the past few months; fairy tales of sporting facilities, leisure areas and lush trees. Where? In the center of the college in the area known as the Green.

Drew Peacock, Very Special Correspondent reports.

We have been told that the green is being refurbished for our benefit, but the truth is nothing more than a fowl game.

For some time, pressure has been put on the college director by the Head of the Journalism faculty to dig up the green. The reason for this is beyond belief, a secret has been harbored in Griffith College and only this Head has the solution.

He has put forward undeniable evidence that in 2013/14 the three major social networking sites of the world, Facebook, Myspace and Twitter will merge for one moment in time to form ‘TWITONMYFACE’.

For that one moment, man would think himself as god. But like the Tower of Bable God will strike it down.

The entire internet will implode reverting us back to the dark ages. Our smartphones, mere rocks. Our laptops, empty vessels of a long forgotten dream.

And that is where the green comes in.This is inevitable and the only form of communication available to us in the event of internet annihilation will be pigeon carriers.

That’s right, the green was dug up to attract pigeons to train to be our last hope of regular contact.

However, the journalism faculty is not without enemies.

The Law Faculty insists that should pigeons take over as our main form of com-

munication then they are, ipso facto, the internet and all the rules of the internet apply to then.

That is to say, according to ACTA, Pigeon Providers (who will take over from internet providers) will have the right to shoot down pigeons and sift through the messages they carry to ensure they are not carrying counterfeited information.

Predictably, the Journo faculty is well pissed off.

“The new frontier for communication is not to be bombarded by laws and regulations as the internet has been.” Said the Journalism Head.

The situation has also affected other members of the college. An excess of bird shit has led to a decrease in the clientele of Arthur’s Bar. Indeed, Arthur’s Manager Chris can be seen on the roof on a daily basis shooting the feral creatures with his handy Windsor double gauge rifle.

THIS JUST IN! NEW MEAL IN ARTHUR’S Organic under-grown chickens will be on the menu from today onwards.

A Dark Power has Gripped the SU

A

fter months of research, after hundreds of hours of sweaty, tireless, mind-numbing, painstakingly arduous trials and errors the SU is proud to announce that it has finally achieved the task that overcame the former Sports and Societies Officer, Shane Ronan Duggan.

The cash register that has haunted the darker corners of the SU has been brought into use.

When the machine had almost passed into myth, the huge instruction manual (which has been referred to as ‘The Bible’ around the office over the passed weeks) was found, dusted off and read.

S W NE IN F E I BR - SU Elections rigged: RON demands recount - Griffith Ball goes off without a hitch….honestly…

- The SU guys clean their office, hell freezes over - Journalism faculty in relations with law faculty. Design faculty jealous.

- Paul Walker to be the next SU Manager - Ambiguity spreads as stuff happens - Arthur’s Prices higher than GHR Residents - Griffith College turns corner, falls down stairs - Mac Lab to be renamed ‘Cheese Lab’

This was no easy task. The Bible spoke of PGMs, MRSs, Sales Data, REG codes and GT1s. The kind of things that would only mean something to someone with a PhD or who has two weeks experience working in Spar.

The Bible spoke of a man who would decipher the codes of the book. A prophesy said “The one with the power to lead the SU will awaken the machine as the forth month dies and he will have power that other SUs know not.”

Experts have agreed that this mean that the one who would make the cash register work is the one who would be elected president of the SU. The interesting thing is that this was a joint effort. It was not one man who accomplished this, but two. The two candidates for the presidency and it is widely accepted that Stan Harding was indeed the who brought about the machine’s functionality.

However, it was Donegan who won the election.

He will be watching his back over the summer, and has admitted he is expecting some Final Destination occurrences before he takes up the top job.

Under the Spotlight Name: Rain Aly Occupation: No one knows Greatest Ambition: To have a greatest ambition Hobbies: Designing tshirts for overweight women who hope to one day took like Lilly Allen Likes: Putting up posters Dislikes: Taking down posters Interesting Fact: Has developed a form of sign language to specifically cater to leprechauns

Review

Paul Reid (‘The Gay’) and Sarah Greene (Alice)

Alice? Alice? Who the Fuck Is Alice?

E

ver wonder how the Mad Hatter would look if he was Irish?

What Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum would sond like with Dublin accents? Well wonder no more, Alice in Funderland is here!

Alice in Funderland throws a modern Irish twist on the classic tale as well as having a go at a few social taboos and also showing off some of Ireland’s best young acting talent.

The story follows a broken hearted Alice, a young girl from Cork, whose cheating boyfriend died of a reaction from a peanut allergy. She is eventually convinced to go out on her sister’s hen night in Dublin. It’s then on the dance floor in a drunken haze, she meets Warren (Ian Lloyd Anderson), the love of her life (Because lets face it, were else to all modern Irish love stories start?). This starts Alice’s trip down the ‘rabbit hole’ or in this case, her trip to Hartstown.

Along her journey Alice comes across a few characters including a pair of twin drug dealers, a suicidal gay man about to roller skate off the top of liberty hall, a stoned republican taxi driver, and appears on a televised tea party and more. All of these

30

By Robbie Purcell on the way to Dolores, the Drag queen of Hartstown (played very convincingly by Tony Flynn) and her two daughters, The Duchess and Chloe. At this time all I could think was “all this after getting one shift, seriously?”

“

This starts Alice’s trip down the ‘rabbit hole’ or in this case, her trip to Hartstown

”

The show is very witty with some good one liners. Especially from Alice, who goes from moments where butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth to an acid tongued stunner.

Songs in the show are hit and miss and they could have done with cutting a few of them. The whole show is about half an hour too long. The first half the show is fast, funny and fairly enjoyable. The second half could do

with a little blue pill and some Red Bull for a pick me up.

The cast of 15 actors and 5 musicians put more work on themselves than necessary. There are a few redundant characters and songs. One example is the Minister for All You want, funny scene, and catchy song, totally pointless to the story. The same goes for the taxi scene, which just filled time really.

They obviously wanted to put an Irish spin on all the characters from the original but some just weren’t needed.

I’ll admit there were some good songs that are really catchy and you’ll probably catch yourself or the person next to you humming them at the interval. It’s hard to believe all the songs are done by just 5 musicians. Sarah Greene gives a good vocal performance as Alice too.

Overall the show manages to hold it together with its wit, satire and catchy songs, and believe me, they’ll plant themselves in your head.

Apparently it’s taken 4 years to get this show to the stage so there’s a bit of work gone into it and it shows. But lads, if you take a girl expecting the subliminal blow job messages, you’re out of luck.

Alice In Funderland runs in the Abbey Theatre until May 12th.

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