Giffiti Magazine - Issue 48

THE RUBBERBANDITS THE ORIGINAL RUDEBOYS AND MUCH MORE...

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Iss 48

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Griffiti

Issue 48 March 2012 Sub Editors Erica Doyle Higgins Paul McCormack Entertainment Editors Ulrike Schuster Jack Jonasson Photography Editor Muhammad Sami Contributors Anastasyia Bondarenko Angelique-Sylvia Riccot Annette Soreide Brian Mulligan David Yip Guillaume Yguel Holly Lenny Jack Ryan James Keating Katie Harnett - Devereux Lance Kerrigan Patser Grey Piaras O’ Midheach Rian Mahood Gallagher Sophie Radermacher Vaida Balbieriute Viviane Strode 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.

W

hat a month! It feels like we’re only just back and already we’ve had seven parties. SEVEN! Honestly, I think SHAG Week nearly killed me, but it was a great week so I can’t complain...

I’m very excited about this issue, especially as we got our hands on two greats; The Rubberbandits and The Original Rudeboys, who were kind enough to give us interviews and some insight into their lives. I must say, the two boys are looking very well on the front cover.

Besides this, we have all the latest in movie and music reviews. There’s even a review section on gadgets this issue. Have a look at it, some of the technology coming out this year blew my mind, I kid you not.

We also have our infamous Discovery Trip coming up soon. We will be travelling to my native County Kerry and I assure you it is going to be something special. We know that because it sold out within 24 hours of its announcement. 150 spaces, gone!

By the time the next issue comes out, St. Patrick’s will have come and gone, so I would like to take this opportunity to advise you to stay in Dublin for it. There is nothing quite so surreal, hilarious and completely insane than Dublin City on St. Patrick’s Day. Do not miss it, you can bet that I won’t.

Keep having a good time, that’s what college is for...

Contents

Be Good, Ian Donegan,

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

10 Party People Can you see yourself?

12 The Rubberbandits Griffiti interviews the masked duo from Limerick 18 ACTA The law that could destroy the internet 20 Gadgets ‘12 Read up on this year’s new technology 22 Griffiti at the movies The woman in Black, Chronicle and more...

24 The Original Rudeboys We interview Ireland’s hottest new band 28 The Genuine Article Patser Grey’s last rant 30 Them Our interactive story continues 31 Competition It could be you

State of the Union

Email: Rain.aly@gcd.ie Tel: 01 415 0418 Mobile: 087 690 5622

SU President, Rain Aly

W

elcome back! I hope you are having a good second semester. Let me fill you in on what we have been up to so far this year.

In January we had The Mexican Blowout Party in The Village Nightclub to celebrate the end of exams. Needless to say, this was an amazing night as so many students needed to blow off steam having been studying over the Christmas holidays.

Then, for the first time ever, the Students’ Union held a ‘Refresher’s Party’ to welcome all the new students.

This was a roaring success and was the best way to get to know all the new faces on campus. This event took place in D2 Nightclub on Harcourt Street following a pre-party in The Headline Bar. We were treated to some traditional Irish music and even a little karaoke later on. It didn’t take us long to realise that we had received a very talented bunch of students this year.

Then we had the infamous SHAG Week.

This week was dedicated to promoting education and information on sexual health. The Foam Party on Monday February 13th was the first major event of the week. I would be lying if I said that this event wasn’t a pain to clean up after but it was well worth it to see the looks on all the students’ faces when the foam machine was turned on and everyone got covered in it. The pictures are priceless!

Valentine’s Day saw the Blind Date Party in Arthur’s Bar which was a great opportunity for anyone single to mingle. It was a great and romantic night with many glamorous couples getting to know each other a little better...

Then, after a long night of mingling, (to say the

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least) our couples went home exhausted after two days of solid partying.

However, SHAG Week was far from over, however. On Wednesday the Students’ Union gave out a mountain of free condoms and sexual health guides.We hope that students found both of these helpful.

On Thursday, we had the Fire and Flesh SHAG Ball which took place in Tramco Nightclub. There was two floors of people partying to the tunes with glow sticks, lasers, fire breathers, pyrotechnics, CO2 bazookas, smoke

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In March we will have RAG Week (Raise and Give)

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machines and a confetti cannon. Undoubtedly, this was a golden end to what was an amazing SHAG Week. I would also like to confirm that the SU Vice President, Ian Donegan, enjoyed his 23rd birthday on Thursday night, arguably a bit too much...

It was a colourful and jolly week for our new and returning students in Griffith College.

On a more serious note, you may have taken part in the survey to find out if students would like a place to study on campus overnight. This was conducted by the SU before Christmas. The survey showed that students did want such a facility.

I am very glad to announce that this has been achieved.With the help of the library and maintenance we have designated the Wellington Building for overnight study. The building will be open for use as a study facility from

11:00pm to 7:00am every day of the academic year. It will be closed from 7:00am to 8:00am every morning for cleaning.

For more information come see me in the Students’ Union.

On behalf of the Students’ Union, I would like to thank everyone on the Students’ Council for getting so many people involved in the survey. A big thanks must also go out to maintenance, security, Robert McKenna and the rest of the library staff for their help in affording this opportunity for our students.

Another achievement has been the introduction of the Reflection Room. This was requested by the Students’ Council and since then the Students’ Union had been working to introduce it. I would like to thank Carole Wardlaw (The student counselor) who was kind enough to grant us the use of her office for this purpose.

This room is to be used for quiet reflection and thought and is available on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. For access or more information please visit me at the SU. Now, let me tell you what we have coming up.

In March we will have RAG Week (Raise and Give Week). This week will be full of epic events from Monday to Friday. RAG Week is first and foremost a charity week.

All funds collected during this week will be divided equally between two charities; ‘Chernobyl Children’s Trust’ and ‘Make A Wish Foundation’. These charities were chosen by the Students’ Council.

We are all having a great time in the SU so far this year and we hope you are having just as good a time. If not, please let us know, that’s what we’re here for!

State of the Union

Email: su.sports@gcd.ie Tel: 01 415 0460 Mobile: 085 119 1317

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hope everyone got the results they were looking for in their Christmas exams.

February has been an action packed month for Clubs and Societies. All of our sports and societies took off in a big way at some point during the month. We have had quite a few teams competing this month in various competitions.

Cricket Our cricket team did us all proud in DCU during the intervarsities this month.The competition got off to a flying start with our very own boys destroying the DCU team by 8 wickets.

With Sligo IT not present for the tournament it all came down to the match against Athlone IT to decide who would go through to the quarter finals. The score was Athlone 46 all out and Griffith winning by 8 wickets. Unfortunately, they lost in the quarter final match against University Ulster.

Equestrian Our equestrian team put in a super performance in the intervarsities that took place in Galway this year. Congratulations must go out to our equestrian society Captain, Conor Higgins, who finished 3rd overall in the dressage competition. This was no small feat considering the two who were placed above him were international riders. We will be organising riding days and race days in the near future.

Poker We had two poker tournaments in February, the first took place in Arthur’s Bar and Restaurant. This was a nice and relaxed night with some great poker on show. Gary McLean was the man who came out on top that night after

SU Clubs & Societies Officer, Shane Ronan-Duggan

five and a half hours of play. The second night took place upstairs in the Headline Bar. This tournament had a slightly tenser feel as this was the big SHAG Week tournament. Gary McLean managed to retain his title as Griffith College Students’ Union Poker Champion.

ranked as the number one player in Ireland.

They ranked third in the first round of the Irish Colleges’ Table Tennis League in UCD and then won The Plate in the intervarsities in Cork. Training takes place Mondays at 9.30am and Thursdays at 9.30am in the auditorium.

Pool The pool intervarsities took place in Dundalk with a full weekend schedule of sports. Our very own Paul Mc Cormack, Ian Donegan and Tony Ward were there to compete. Our team finished third in their group overall, and made

Yoga Our yoga classes have taken off in a big way this semester with a crowd of people attending our first class this year. The numbers have continued to increase so if you want to see what you’re missing out on, yoga takes place every Tuesday at 8pm in the auditorium.

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Our cricket team did us all proud destroying the DCU team by 8 wickets

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the last sixteen of the knock-out stages. It was another weekend that was well represented

by Griffith College.

Rugby Our rugby team played DCU. It was a spirited effort though with Griffith player Damien De La Roche receiving the Man of the Match Award. The next match which was against St. Patrick’s College Drumcondra was closely fought affair. However, the courageous effort of the team was still not enough to break down the St. Pats team. We lost 27-16.

Fencing Our fencers did very well at the intervarsities which took place in Trinity College Dublin.

The men’s team came 8th while the women’s team finished in 6th place. Training takes place every Friday at 7.30pm in the auditorium.

Salsa Our salsa classes are growing in numbers every week. So there should be some very talented dancers tapping their toes around Griffith. Salsa takes place on Wednesdays from 6:00pm to 7:00pm in the auditorium.

As always call into the Students’ Union if you need more information or give me a call. and remember, all our clubs and societies are free to join!

Good luck!

Table Tennis Firstly, I would like to welcome our new table tennis coach John Murphy, who is currently

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State of the Union Email: wardlawcarole@gmail.com Carole Wardlaw, Student Counselor

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met a woman last week who told me that she was going to return to playing the piano after allowing this to slip out of her life for many years. She spoke with enthusiasm about the hours of pleasure she used to get from her piano playing days.

I share this story with you because it is a perfect example of what is called Resourcing Yourself. Many times when I am working with someone, I will ask them what they usually do to resource themselves. Some people tell me that they do salsa dancing, yoga, running or swimming. However, the saddest answer to my ears is when someone tells me I USED TO....

It is important for our everyday wellbeing that we re-connect with the things we love doing but have been neglecting, places or people we may have lost connection with. If you used to enjoy walking on a beach, make the time to do this again. If you used to read, listen to music or go to the gym, start giving yourself the time to do these things again.

It is quite common for students to tell me that they normally go to Church or Mosque at home, and that they stopped this when they started college. It can be very a positive thing to re-connect with this if it has been key to your inner resources and wellbeing.

When we are feeling a bit down it is often a good idea to start with a few basic steps to help ourselves back to wellbeing. So, take a look at your diet, exercise and sleep patterns.

These all affect our moods, and if things are not going well for you at the moment, these 3 things are a good place to start.

If your diet is not good or you have been skipping meals, start to address this situation.

If you have stopped exercising, make a plan to put this right. If you are not sleeping well, take a look at what might be happening in your life

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Mobile: 087 972 9 335

at the moment. Are you stressed or anxious?

Are you staying up too late? Are you playing games on your laptop which keeps your brain on alert making it difficult to switch off?

Anyone who has ever come to my office for a chat will know the benefit to be had from writing about our feelings and life situations. It is hugely therapeutic to get things out of our system by writing about them. Things that are hurting us, troubling us, frightening us, can be alleviated by taking the time to write about it.

By addressing a person it is easier for us to let the words flow. You may choose to write a letter to the person or people who have

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The saddest answer to my ears is when someone tells me I USED TO....

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caused your problem, or it could be someone you feel close to - you decide. In this letter, or it may amount to a series of letters, do not filter your thoughts, but to give full expression to whatever is locked inside your head and your heart. My advice would always be to burn the letter when you are finished!

When you feel you have sufficiently cleared your system of negativity, it is advisable to plan something positive for yourself to mark the start of a new page in your life. Keep in min that it is not always possible to do these things by yourself. You may need the support of a close friend or even a counselor to help you through this process.

There are many pressures on us all in the modern world. However, every generation will

say the same about their lives. I am sure, like me, you have heard your grandparents recall how tough life was in their day. There is a universal truth which applies to all generations - it is not what happens to us in life, but how we react to it, which defines how our lives take shape.

One of the words that I most dislike in the English language is the word MEDIOCRE. In these days of worldwide turmoil, we watch world leaders attending conference after conference in an attempt to unravel the economic mess we all presently occupy. We want our leaders to step up to the plate, and certainly not to be of middling quality or indifferent.

Nobody can provide us with assurance about the future, but we can determine if not where we are going in life, HOW we are going to get there - by not settling for a mediocre journey.

One of the traits which is very apparent in our society is our lack of Personal Resilience.

By this I mean OUR ABILITY TO RECOVER FROM SETBACKS AND TO ADAPT TO CHANGE IN OUR LIVES. If you are struggling to cope with your everyday life, feel free to contact me and I can help you to map out a path to improve your resilience. Everything in life can be broken down to a series of steps. Even as you read this your negative self-talk voice may be telling you that your life is never going to change, so why bother. Challenge your inner voice by asking yourself “what is my first step to change my situation?” Think of how you will feel when you achieve your goal, and keep taking small steps every day as you walk the journey of life.

This issue is dedicated to the loving memory of Cian Hallinan.

Griffiti Editor 2004 - 2005 Died February 23rd 2012

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t is with great sadness that we must announce the passing of former Editor of Griffiti, Cian Hallinan.

When Cian came on board as Editor of Griffiti in 2004 the magazine was in its very early stages and was only one issue old. Cian took what was a mundane and average college newspaper and turned it into a perfect mix of satire and student issues. Between the designed covers and the “Genuine Article”, Cian both delivered and inspired new ideas wherever he went.

Aside from being the editor of this new magazine, Cian was a kind hearted, witty and fun guy to have around the campus. He was

also always there to crack a joke or shoot around with anyone on the basketball court.

He will be greatly missed by his family, everybody who was lucky enough to know him as a friend and by everybody who came across him through his writing, movie making, stand-up comedy, radio presenting and teaching. The world was a brighter place for having him in it. We will miss him dearly. Cian Hallinan RIP. This epitaph wa written by Iain O’ Connor, Griffith College Students’ Union Vice President, 2004-2005.

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interviews

The Rubberbandits

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riffiti catches up with the two guys, Blind Boy Boat Club and Mr. Chrome make up the infamous band The Rubberbandits, an Irish musical and comedic duo who have taken the world by storm.

They make regular appearances on RTE 2’s ‘Republic of Telly’ and are becoming “bizarrely large in the US” according to Blind Boy. Hidden behind the shopping bags they have made into masks, The Rubberbandits speak to us about their booming success, their performances, their plans for the future and literally everything else that occurs to them during our chat over a nice cup of coffee in Kennedy’s Pub on Tara Street.

Sometimes it’s a little difficult to tell what they’re being serious about and what they are just making up off the top of their heads, but it’s always hilarious.

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Griffiti: So you started off with prank phone calls.

Both: Yeah Griffiti: And then moved on to singing.

How did you move from one to the other?

Blind Boy: You can’t really dance to prank phone calls, and as Christopher Walken said we both had fevers and the only prescription was more cowbell so we made a song called ‘Cowbell Dreaming’, and it made it into the Bulgarian Charts at no. 12 and then we came back here and made a song called “Bag of Glue” because we thought it would be more suitable to the Irish audience. Cowbell dreaming was too slow.

Griffiti: Was “Bag of Glue” originally a prank phone call too?

Blind Boy: No, it was a small accident…

Loads of small accidents and none of it was planned. Kind of like you! (To Mr. Chrome) Griffiti: Republic of Telly was your big

break, how did you get mixed up with that?

Blind Boy: They rang us up and said come on the TV we said “fuck off!” Then they said they’d give us money to do it and we said “Great, money! We didn’t know that.” And then we went on the telly and burnt it all, and now we never have to pay the TV license again.

Mr. Chrome: That’s my answer when the guy comes to the door,TV license for what?

I’m on the telly, cousin. He doesn’t agree with me though.

Griffiti: So you’re getting really big in the US and Canada.

Blind Boy: We’re getting bizarrely large in the US. Bizarrely large, it’s like that growth on my sack, it’s getting bigger than I wish it would.

Mr. Chrome: We’re going to London on the 8th and New York on the 10th which is good because they have a subway there that’s like the tube in London except it smells like piss.

interviews Griffiti: Would Ireland always be your main homestead?

Mr. Chrome: I dunno, we’re gonna go over to Iceland soon and if it works out we might stay there.

Blind Boy: And Asia, we’re gonna have a crack at Asia as well. I just want to have the craic, I don’t give a fuck where I am.

Mr. Chrome: I’d miss sausages though.You can’t get them anywhere else.

Griffiti: You played Oxegen in front of 20,000 people. Was that your biggest crowd?

Blind Boy: No, we played O’Dowd’s pub in Tullamore, there were 25,000 people there.

Mr. Chrome: Oxegen was a great laugh.

Lots of drunken children there, but the drunkest place we’ve played was the Trinity ball. And the boat in Bristol.They loved the gig and the way they showed their appreciation was to throw a pint over you.

Griffiti: Your biggest single so far has been “Horse Outside” with the model Madeline Mulqueen in the video.

Mr. Chrome: She’s made out of a load of chickens, sellotaped together. Do you know Shrek? They took the same digital model they made Shrek out of, and changed it and put tits on it.

Griffiti: So neither one of you got with her?

Blind Boy: Not unless you want to fuck a bag of chickens and we’re not doing that again!

Griffiti: Your music has been described as surrealist. Would you agree with that?

Blind Boy: I suppose so, if Salvador Dali made music, it would sound like us.

Mr. Chrome: He went out the back and banged a load of pots and pans together, and used to eat sea urchins and beat his wife.

When he was older, about 78, and didn’t want to die, he watched a documentary about flies putting themselves in a state of suspended animation by dehydrating themselves, so he tried to do it and ended up in hospital.

Griffiti: You won’t take the bags off?

Blind Boys: No, they won’t come off. Our manager beats us with a stick if we do, he ties a special knot in the back that only he can open and at night when he puts us into bed he undoes the knot and gives us a kiss on the cheek and gives us medicine to keep us young looking.

Griffiti: You’ve got big news.

Blind Boy: Yeah, we’re doing a pilot for Channel 4. It’s gonna be out in June, and if all goes well they might throw us a series or something.

Mr. Chrome: It’s going to be very very different from anything we’ve ever done.

Blind Boy: It’s the 1st show since Father Ted to be commissioned by Channel 4.

Griffiti: Is it just going to be called The

Rubberbandits?

Blind Boy: Either ‘The Rubberbandits’ or ‘The Sex Boulevard boys’.

Griffiti: That’s a good name.

Mr. Chrome: It’s alright, yeah, but sure, I dunno, Channel 4 could be telling us lies. We could go over there in our suits and briefcases for our next meeting and it’ll end up like Carrie; they’ll pour blood on us, and all the high school jocks are there and they won’t shift us and then we’ll just start doing telekinesis. They won’t though, we’ll just go down and end up getting a pint of brown stew. Or what do they call it? Bitter! Then Channel 4 will go past in their land rover and we’ll ring up the ‘RA and the ‘RA won’t do anything about it and we’ll go back home to Ireland.

Griffiti: “Serious about Men” was a great success, it got a huge response for a first album. Are you going to continue with the show or with music?

Mr. Chrome: Both, really. The show is a mixture of music and comedy, so if we’re concentrating on the show we’re concentrating on music too so we don’t have to write a show and then write an album too, it’ll be one and the same. So that should be a good laugh.

Griffiti: You have a gig coming up in Dublin?

Blind Boy: Our gig is on March 1st in the Academy, it’s going to be our new show and it’s not going to be anything like we’ve done in Dublin before. It’s called ‘Gas Craic’. It’s got visuals and lethal dialect, and DJ Flip, who are Sex Boys from Dublin, they’re gonna go out and do some sexual support for us beforehand, it’s gonna be a mad lad. We might even have a raffle! Buy a ticket, and we’ll take the money for the raffle and you might even win a prize. You could win a bit of art.

Griffiti: So you’ve got a lot planned already, between your music and the show. Any other plans besides that?

Mr. Chrome: I’m gonna get a bus and see what happens! Get a bus and fuck the be-grudgers!

Blind Boy: He’s being very enterprising with it though.You’ve got all these taxi drivers who aren’t licensed, they just pretend they’re taxi drivers but there’s not one man doing it with a bus. So he’s going to go around pretending he’s a bus driver.

Mr. Chrome: Just get a bus and drive around. A Dublin Bus, and all you have to do is be rude to 40% of the people and have a copy of the Star there with the football crossword half filled in and if someone doesn’t know how to use their Leap Card, just be really condescending about it like they’re two year olds and that should be it, back of the net right there!

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Features

Mind And Body James Keating attended the Human Body Exhibition in the Ambassador Theatre on O’ Connell Street.

The showcase displays partially real human bodies highlighting their functions and anatomy.

Photography by Katie Harnett-Devereux

Above: One of the many exhibits of human bodies carrying out everyday activities

T

he incredulity of two women that I happened to overhear at the launch of the ‘Human Body’ Exhibition summed up the experience rather well; “It looks just like a liver you’d see in a butcher’s shop.”

It’s both disconcerting and enlightening to see human organs, our organs, bones and muscles displayed like art in a museum.

The exhibition is debuting in Dublin, featuring more than 200 full and partial real human body specimens. The specimens are displayed as individual elements; such as a heart or stomach, but more impressively as a full body, posed in action. One seems to be rushing with an American football while another conducts an orchestra.

The bodies, donated to Dalian Hoffen Bio-technique Laboratory in China, have gone through a process of plastination. This

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technique preserves human tissue down to a cellular level using liquid silicone, which replaces bodily fluids and hardens.

Because of the complexity involved in the plastination of bones, nerves, blood vessels and organs, the full body specimens can take over a year to prepare. The process creates an odourless, hard specimen, which remains intact indefinitely.

The end result is extraordinary. One of the full body displays shows each muscle splayed out, allowing visitors to see their size and shape. Another is a body cut into four parts, revealing its internal organs, bones and even circulatory system in cross section.

The individual organs are equally interesting, though perhaps not quite as visually impressive. There is a comparison between a healthy lung and an unhealthy blackened

lung, which is both particularly striking and quite terrifying.

There is a certain beauty to the displays, and they are presented extremely well. The low lighting makes the circulatory system gallery (one of nine which make up the exhibition) seem almost akin to coral displayed in an aquarium, for example.

Educational Director Cheryl Muré really emphasised the artistic nature of ‘Human Bodies’. “There’s nothing gory about it.

We’re celebrating the beauty of the human body inside a really beautiful environment.

It’s almost like an art gallery.”

It could be done so wrong, but the work that’s gone into the exhibition has made it a tremendous success, both as an educational and scientific insight into the human body, but also on a purely aesthetic level.

Features A certain detachment does take hold after a short time. I suppose it’s a natural reaction to the sight of one’s inner workings being placed on display, but it becomes an almost surreal experience. It begins with the first full body display, and leads to an appreciation of the beauty and sophistication of the body, rather than any sense of revulsion or disgust which could have happened, were the bodies not so carefully prepared.

As Cheryl put it “Every now and then you have to stop and remind yourself that what you’re looking at is real.”

There is more to the exhibition than mere aesthetics, however. There is so much to be learned from it. Each gallery has a helpful information sheet for visitors to read as they peruse the displays.

The information ranges from simple to incredibly detailed, and there are some helpful people wearing lab coats on hand to answer questions. There are also displays of cancer, as well as the aforementioned blackened lungs.

These examples of disease and damage form a part of the exhibition organiser’s aims - “to instill in visitors, as a counter to today’s excess, a desire to be most respect-

“

ful and caring of the singularly most important possession they own – their miraculous bodies.”

It’s hard not to find some part of the exhibition that stirs a reaction. Cheryl explained that this is an important element of ‘Human Bodies’. “Everyone has a personal reaction to the exhibition. If you’re a cardiac patient or a breast cancer survivor, or you know someone who had a stroke, you’ll have personal moments as you go through that stay

that none were associated with torture, abuse or violence.

This clarification had to be made after a similar exhibition, as well as this one, met with some controversy over the sourcing of bodies. Cheryl was quick to dismiss any unethical practice on the part of ‘Human Bodies’ however.

I can understand how it might not be for everyone but it is a wonderful exhibition, both educationally and aesthetically. The process used to preserve the bodies is very impressive and seeing the human body displayed artistically is quite beautiful. It may not be for the squeamish, but it is a unique and very enjoyable experience for the rest of us.

It will run until April at the Ambassador Theatre.

Doors open at 10am daily.

Tickets are priced at €20 for adults, €16 for students and €12 for children, and can be purchased from Ticketmaster.

Every now and then you have to stop and remind yourself that what you’re looking at is real with you long after you leave.”

‘Human Bodies’ is the result of the work of Dr. Hong-Jin Sui, Professor of Anatomy at Dalian Medical University. The specimens are unclaimed bodies, donated by the city morgue to the laboratory at Dalian University, and each one was examined to ensure

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For more information check out thehumanbody.ie

Above: An exhibit showing the muscles at work when playing sport 15

Features

Greece Now Owned by Britain?

Dr. Thomais Kakouli-Duarte speaks out against prejudice towards Greece portrayed in the Media

G

reece, a small and peaceful nation in the south of Europe, has fallen prey to the international money traders. An unprecedented and political crisis rocks the country as people are being driven to mass unemployment and poverty. Since the start of the crisis, the Greek people have been portrayed as being lazy, wasteful, and thieves.

This is part of a concerted campaign of defamation by the international mainstream media, owned and controlled by the financial cartels, which aims to justify the fall of Greece. The Greeks are being treated as the cause of all evil for the euro-fiasco-project, while in fact it is the euro-fiasco-project that systematically destroyed Greece. At the same time, we witness not only a lack of solidarity towards Greece, but behaviours that nearly border racism, while the Greek people are “punished” for crimes that they did not commit.

Greece is in the brink of complete occupation, with lost sovereignty and with part of its financial system to be controlled by British

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law. The protest marches in Greece, although in their vast majority peaceful, are systematically hijacked by violent elements directed by exogenous control centres to destabilise the popular movement and to bring chaos and social unrest to the country. Thus, the dictatorship that governs Greece will soon “conveniently” invite foreign troops to “restore stability and order”.

This could be another neo-colonial campaign, such as those we witnessed in recent years in the world, aiming to abolish nations and loot their resources.

The troika-imposed “austerity” for nearly two years now has brought the Greeks in conditions that no people can accept and live under. There have been savage cuts in education, health care, pensions and the most vulnerable in the society have been affected worst. But the troika claims this has not been enough. The “new austerity package” aproved by the Greek parliament on February 12th dictates that the minimum wage is going to be cut by 32% for the workers under 25 years (€430 per month), and by 22% for the above 25 year olds (€610 per month).

Unemployment for the 15 to 24 year old group has risen to a soaring 48% and overall unemployment has reached 20%. The sacking of 15,000 public sector workers within the

next year will add to it. More so, the “austerity package” demands cuts to pensions and public services including health, education and social welfare. And to add insult to injury, all this is to be supervised by people other than the Greeks in their own country – a thorough disciplinary and punishment system.

It is important to remember, when we casually use the term “bailout”, that it is not the Greek people who are bailed out – it could not have been a more misleading term to describe where this money goes. Not a single life will be saved by this money in Greece, but it will be rather pocketed by the financial global system, i.e. the banks, hedge funds and pension funds of other EU member states. In this context the term “austerity” is a gross insult to the people of Greece, and it should be rather called insensitivity or cruelty at best.

A person doesn’t need to have an economics degree to realise that this system is not working. Cuts do not produce growth and it is growth that the Greek economy needs right now, so that production can start again and Greece can deal with its debts and be able to repay them. It is as if we have a patient who is sick from malnutrition and to make him better, instead of feeding him with good food, we place him in a reduced calorie diet. It just does not work.

Features What Greece needs now, is to be able to issue its own money, owing it to no one, and pump this to its economy to kick-start it again; this is analogous to the provision of good food to the starving person in the previous example. This can happen by leaving the Eurozone, as should have happened at the start of this crisis in 2009-2010, and start producing their own national currency. Many a doomsday scenario have arisen by the international financial speculators aka gamblers-with-fatesof-nations, but Greece, unlike the demonization media campaign claims, has had working, clever and educated people.

Greece is gifted with a generous sun, a fertile soil and marvellous weather that can support the growth of nearly everything in the world. It is time for the Greek people to go back to their roots and reclaim their primary production sector who was wrecked by EU directives and interventions: agriculture. Greece has the strongest shipping industry in the world and thousands of islands; it has minerals, and recently found oil.

It is almost certain that a future new currency of Greece will undergo devaluation, but this can increase its competiveness for exports and boom again its tourism industry.

Greece needs to get out of this façade, regain

“

its sovereignty and commence building her shattered body all over again.

Rebuilding is nothing new for the Greeks.

They carry a history and civilisation of nearly three millennia, and the Greek nation steered many times through rough waters. Only the 20th century had marked Greece with two world wars, one civil war and a junta. In relation to WWII there is still unfinished busi-

as direct result of WWII. Germany never honoured its obligations for reparations to the Greek people as determined by international law.

Using current interest rates (US Treasury Bonds) since 1944, it is estimated that the current value of the occupation loan is $163.8 billion and that of the war reparations is $332 billion.

The French economist and French government consultant Jacques Delpla stated on the July 2nd 2011 that Germany owes to Greece 575 billion euro from WWII obligations (Les Echos, Saturday, July 2nd, 2011). The German economic historian Dr. Albrecht Ritschl warned Germany to take a more chaste approach in the euro crisis, as it could face renewed and justified demands for WWII reparations from Greece (Der Spiegel, June 21st, 2011; guardian.co.uk, June 21st, 2011).

If you wish to support Greece in its campaign to claim its rightful WWII reparations from Germany, please visit: http://www.greece.org/ blogs/wwii/.

A person doesn’t need to have an economics degree to realise that this system is not working ness between Greece and Germany and Ms Merkel should be more careful waging her financial war against Greece. When the Nazis occupied Greece they emptied the treasury of the country.

They called that robbery the “occupation loan” which effectively financed Hitler’s campaign to occupy Greece. The International Red Cross has estimated that between 1934 and 1941 at least 300,000 Greeks died from starvation, which was the direct result of the looting of Greece by the Germans. Adding to that all the victims of the Nazi massacres on the Greek people, Greece is the only country which lost a staggering 13% of its population

”

Dr. Thomais Kakouli-Duarte is the Secretary of the Greek Orthodox Community in Ireland and is a Lecturer of Economics at Institute of Technology Carlow

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Opinion

Act Now

The introduction of ACTA will completely destroy the internet as we know it.

By Holly Lenny

Above: Killian Raynor and fellow protesters opposing the introduction of ACTA

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he Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a potential treaty which blatantly disregards freedom of speech and may soon come into effect if it is not strongly opposed.

It is a law that would target counterfeit goods, generic medicines and copyright infringements on the internet, and inevitably introduce a new governing body as a watchdog.

Although the treaty is primarily aimed at stopping the trade of counterfeited physical goods, it also dictates that countries who sign the it have to enforce equal measures to prohibit digital copyright infringement.

If passed, this treaty will imapct hugely on the way we use the internet.

Even if you are only suspected of sharing information, your internet will be disconnected, you may have to pay a heavy fine or you could end up in jail.

But then again, how would you ever be caught by security? Well, as ‘Big Brother’ as it sounds, if ACTA goes ahead in Ireland, it will be like having unwanted CCTV cameras in your house, 24/7, turning Eircom, UPC, Vodafone and every other ISP (Internet Service Provider) into a sort of internet police. Metaphorically speaking, they will have a security screen-

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ing machine, just like in airports, checking every file you send or receive to check for copyrighted information. A little cheeky, you might say, violating free speech and privacy. Are we living in a democratic country? I’m not sure anymore.

ACTA will prevent you from sending music to friends, uploading videos with copyrighted mu-

“

met a lovely 22 year old, visually impaired student who was antiACTA mainly for the reason that it would make it illegal for him to read E-books online if ACTA was to become a law. This simple pastime could be taken from him for the sake of a few greedy dictators who have only one agenda in mind; profit.

ACTA will prevent human development

sic, even to the unbelievable extent of not being able to quote a copyrighted newspaper article.

Creative people such as writers, artists and journalists are supposed to be the ones benefiting from this treaty, although realistically the only people gaining financially are private companies.

You might call them the ‘content mafia’.

I went to the Dublin’s ACTA protest which took place in the Garden of Remembrance and took us to outside The Dáil.There I found out out what students thought of the treaty and how it will affect their internet usage. I

”

I spoke to Donal McLarry, a man in firm opposition of the treaty stating “it’s just a cover for private companies to try and privatise the internet, ACTA will prevent human development. If you look through human history, all the great artists borrowed and stole from each other. At the moment we have seen a revolution in terms of ‘The Arab Spring’, and this is due to social networking like Twitter and Youtube”.

Speaking to a Chinese student, she told me “Governments are afraid of the power of the internet. In China, the Chinese government banned the phrase ‘Arab

Spring’ because they are afraid of people learning from the developments in other parts of the world.

Instead of opening the doors of cultural knowledge they are shutting them in our faces to make profits.”

One of the organisers leading the protest was one of Griffith College’s own students, computer science student Killian Raynor. He told Griffiti why it is so important to raise awareness in opposition of ACTA by holding a march and protest.

“It was signed in secret by about 30 countries worldwide, this isn’t democracy. I am against ISP’s having full control to monitor every single thing a person does on the internet. The bill is supposed to cut down on internet piracy but in reality creates a complete shutdown of freedom of speech on the internet. Not only this, but ACTA will enforce a ban on generic medicines, and crops, that require a copyright or patent.”

Even if you weren’t present at the protest, let your voice be heard and sign the petition online at www.stopacta.com, because if we don’t stop ACTA, people who rely on an income from websites like Youtube will be an addition to the overwhelming amount of people in the dole queue.

Reviews

Gadgets 2012

I

n the last issue we took a look at the SuperGadget that is the iPhone 4S. This month we’re looking ahead to 2012 and the hot topics in the world of technology.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2012 took place in Las Vegas in early January and tech companies from all over the planet came to show off their upcoming gadgets.

The CES is an annual American Technology exhi-

bition (one of the biggest in the world). This event sees technology giants like Sony, Panasonic, Nokia and car companies like Audi gather so visitors can marvel at demonstrations, displays and conferences about upcoming technology.

I will look at some of the items on display at the show.

Samsung Smart Interaction

HP Topshot 3D Scanner

Smart TVs are television sets which connect directly to the internet providing additional functionality like web browsing, social networking and apps. This type of TV operates by voice command.

You can request to change the channel by saying “channel up”, “channel down” or “channel 26” etc. This is an optional function activated by saying a key word.

But this TV does more! You can also use hand gestures to navigate your way trough the “Smart Hub” Samsung’s famous Smart Hub, allows its users to download apps from the Samsung app store just like you would on an iPod or Smartphone. Smart TV’s have been available for the last year now, but they are getting a lot smarter.

Another exciting tv is the Dual-View TV. And this is best explained with an example. Having one tv in the house can cause some disputes between partners, siblings, housemates etc. over what to watch.

One wants to watch sports

Have you ever wanted to scan a 3D object like a bracelet, or ornament?

Well, neither have I but it blows my mind that this piece of technology is going to be available to us very soon. The HP Topshot is a multifunctional scanner that not only scans, prints and copies like any other multifunctional printer; it also has the functionality for scanning 3 dimensional objects.

Why? Instead of taking a photo

while the other wants to watch drama. Who gets to decide isn’t always an enjoyable experience.

However, with dual tv you can be shared the television simultaneously. That’s right, you can watch two channels at once. Looking at the tv the image is terrible; but using a special pair of glasses, the individual tv channels are filtered allowing clear image of each individual channel, and with built in earphones to hear the individual sound.

And if getting to watch that football match and keeping the soap opera addict happy wasn’t exciting enough, being able to watch that game as if you were really there should be the icing on the cake. Interactive tv allows the user to choose what view they want to watch a match from using a mouse. Effortlessly, you can alter your viewing point zoom in or out on a player. If you prefer you can also return to the regular view. This gadget uses 6 different cameras to render a view just like you would do if you were sitting in the stand.

Nokia Lumia Nokia has finally introduced its new smartphone to the Irish market. The Lumia 800 runs on Windows mobile 7 operating system and will try to compete with Android and iPhone. This is Nokia’s attempt to regain its place on the top of the phone industry after its decline during the 00’s. The Nokia Lumia 800 has been available from February 1st on the Vodafone network.

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By Lance Kerrigan

of it, you can now scan the item; automatically remove background and post it directly onto the Internet.

You then have a three dimensional image of your object on the web. You don’t even need a computer to upload them; the printer will do this for you.

The printer also features wireless direct printing to print wirelessly from your network or even “Eprint” allowing you to print from virtually anywhere in the world.

iPad 3 There have been whispers on the web that suggest we could be seeing the release of the iPad 3 very shortly. Don’t get too excited yet!

Apple hasn’t officially announced it. That hasn’t stopped the rumours and speculation about the arrival of the third generation tablet by Apple. iPad two was released in march of last year and it is expected that Apple will de-

liver an updated model this year too. It’s now expected that Apple will announce ipad 3 in the first week of March. The web is alive with what new features are possibly going to come with the third generation tablet. I’m not going to get into that just yet, but hopefully in our next edition we’ll have a review for you.

Kindle Fire It is expected that the new Kindle Fire by Amazon will arrive in the Ireland sometime early this year. Original estimates put it at the end of January. However, that

has now passed and still no announcements. The Kindle Fire is a dynamic e-reader with colour display and access to a range of other serves like Internet browsing,

Reviews Reviews apps music and video. This along with a price tag of $200 makes this device a big competitor to the iPad. Although the iPad has a lot more power and functionality, the core elements like music, Internet browsing, SNS and apps are available on the kindle. Someone looking for these basic tasks may find the kindle to be a more affordable choice.

The Kindle Fire

at your leisure. ITunes U has a collection of over 500,000 free lectures, books, videos and much more. Topics range from Art, History and languages to science, business and Engineering. It’s free to download iTunes U from the app store and is available for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad using IOS 5.

iTunes Match

iTunes U

features lecture materials, notes, Apple has also launched the all- and other content produced and new iTunes U application. This in- taught by instructors from leading colleges including Stanford, Yale, volves a wide Berkley and range of oniTunes U has a collection Oxford. This line courses service gives published of over 500,000 free you the opby official lectures, books, videos portunity to well known learn an enand much more colleges. tire course The course

iTunes Match is another great feature with iTunes. Have you a wide collection of Music sourced from CD’s in your library? Would like to have them backed up in iCloud to access from anywhere when ever?

If so you might like to try out iTunes Match.

The service is similar to Amazon music or Google Music, or some may even be using cloud services like Drop Box or Sugar sync. Well unlike these services where you have to upload every track onto the cloud, iTunes Match will scan your library and match the songs you have with that of the songs available in iTunes. If a match is found that track will become available to you in your iCloud library, if there isn’t a match, iTunes Match will then upload that music file onto iCloud, this saving you hours or even days uploading files. Another great benefit is that matched files will be stored at the ITunes store quality even if the originals are of lower quality. ITunes Match costs €25 a year.

News on the Net Facebook Goes Public Social Network Giant Facebook has filed an IPO (Initial Public Offering) to allow it onto the stock market. Once successful, Facebook will become a public company available for investors to invest in shares in the company. It’s expected to be a big leader in the stock market.

Bye Bye Bebo…

Not yet!

The end of January saw panic across the internet with talk of Bebo’s death. Those loyal users were shocked on Jan 30th when they attempted to log into Bebo and found that the site was no longer accessible. The web browsers returned a failure message. With web speculation that the site had closed for good… very quickly people realised their collection of photos and other content was gone… many saddened by their ‘cyber capsule’ of teenage life erased. A spokesperson for Bebo confirmed that it was a technical fault not a shut

down. So what have we learned from this; Always remember the golden rule … BACK UP YOUR PHOTOS!

Netflix arrives in Ireland The US TV and Movie-streaming giant, ‘Netflix’ has arrived in Ireland and the UK. Although Ireland’s library of movies and TV shows isn’t as extensive as that of the US, the collection is growing.

For those of you who are concerned about broadband restrictions, Netflix has recommended your broadband speed to be at least 500 kbps (0.5 MB), which is sufficient for most broadband customers in Ireland both rural and urban.

Netflix’s library includes a range of Irish films and TV shows, like ‘In America’, classic comedies such as ‘Faulty Towers’ and modern shows like ‘The Inbetweeners’ and ‘Dexter’. For as little as €7 a month a user can unlimitedly stream movies and TV shows directly to their laptops, tablets, smartphones and

internet enabled TV’s and game consoles. Customers who sign up now get a free month trial period, and if you’re not happy you can leave at the end of the month’s trial with no charge.The subscription of €7 a month for unlimited streaming is extremely good, considering the average price of renting in a DVD store is at least €3 A NIGHT.

Google: “One policy, one Google experience” Google have recently made changes to their privacy policies.

Instead of numerous policies for each individual service, Google have re-written it to just one single ‘easier to read’ policy for all their services. Google have stated that this move is to “create one beautifully simple and intuitive experience across Google.” So by better integration between the different services by Google, we can hope that we will gain a better experience across Google’s services. One log in and you are one single user across the multiple services like Gmail, Calendar, and YouTube.This helps search results

and spellings and may even be able to warn you if you’re running late for an appointment based on your calendar, your location and traffic conditions.

These changes will come into effect on March 1st 2012. Google is recommending that you make yourself aware of the changes in policy. You should see an information bar on this when you log into at least one of your accounts.

Windows 8

Are you tired of windows 7 yet?

If so, you’ll be glad to know that Microsoft have a new version of its operating system ready to lunch late this year. The operating system named Windows 8 will be designed to work on both tablets and PC’s including desktops and laptops. This was inspired by windows mobile 7 design. But don’t fret Microsoft has stated they will continue to offer the regular interface. More will be known later this year.

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Gfiffiti at the movies

The Woman in Black

Cert: 15A Running Time: 95 mins Release Date: Out Now

T

here is a tradition of actors who are so well known for their lead role in a huge franchise that it’s made nearly impossible for them to step out of the shadow it casts.

Mark Hamill was always seen as Luke Skywalker after the release of Star Wars. Elijah Wood will forever be viewed as Frodo Baggins.

For Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, ‘The Woman in Black’ presents his first on-screen opportunity to escape from his Potter Prison.

In this new adaptation of Susan Hill’s horror novel, Radcliffe plays Arthur Kipps, a solicitor in early 1900’s England who is sent to an isolated village to deal with the estate of a deceased woman.

After being made feel unwelcome by the locals, Arthur quickly realises that all is not what it seems and gradually discovers the mystery behind the deaths of children in the area.

‘The Woman in Black’ is the fifth movie from legendary horror company Hammer since its revival in 2008 and is certainly

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Title: Chronicle Cert: 14A Running Time: 84 min Release Date: Out Now

C

their highest profile release after its resurrection due to the casting of Radcliffe. However, within the first five minutes the former boy wizard has a minor mountain to climb, as he is presented to be a widowed father of a four-yearold boy. Thanks to his youthful demeanour, Radcliffe looks like the child’s brother rather than his caring parent (no matter how

“I believe the

most rational mind can play tricks in the dark

”

much stubble he managed to grow for the role).

Having said that, with assured direction from James Watkins film overcomes that obstacle from the moment Arthur leaves his child for the village. From then on in the atmosphere is suitably eerie, albeit within the confines of the film’s certificate (Hammer aimed to obtain a 12A in the UK).

The movie is limited by having

to appeal to a younger audience, which results in some scares that could be deemed too frightening for kids and too tame for adults.

Jane Goldman’s script (co-writer of Kick Ass and X-Men: First Class) doesn’t stray far from the conventions of traditional ghost stories; yet even though the jumps are where you expect them to be it doesn’t weaken their overall impact. The credit here should be given to Watkins, who displays a skill for creating a tense mood and crafting uneasy set pieces (one extended sequence with Arthur spending the night alone in a house is the movie’s high point).

But on the whole, it never rises above being a solid, if unremarkable chiller.

While Radcliffe has never been the greatest on-screen presence, here he shows that he’s a capable leading man away from the world of Hogwarts, but nothing more than that. It helps that Watkins pairs him with the always-reliable Ciarán Hinds for much of the running time.The positive notices Radcliffe receives for his stage appearances suggest that there is more to him as a performer, but unfortunately ‘The Woman in Black’ doesn’t give him much of a chance to display his talent.

Jack Ryan

hronicle is a surprisingly good superhero origins movie from new director Josh Tranks. Tranks uses the handheld camera or ‘found footage’ technique, originally used in “The Blair Witch Project”. The technique is used quite effectively and puts a different spin on this genre du-jour.

Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan), a social reject with an abusive father and a sick mother, decides one day to start filming his entire life using a large camera. His only friend is his cousin Matt Garetty (Alex Russell) who brings him to a warehouse party, and student body president of their high school, Steve Montgomery (Michael. B. Jordan). It is here they discover an underground tunnel that makes an eerie sound outside the warehouse. They drag a hesitant Andrew to film them where they find a glowing crystal that gives them the superpower of telekinesis.

At first, they mischievously revel in their new powers, scaring people in toy shops by moving the toys around and flying up in the clouds. However, when the troubles at home become too much for Andrew to shoulder, we begin to see a darker side to Andrew’s character.

The acting is genuine and solid, considering the actors were relatively unknown, and filming is surprisingly professional, not as shaky or nauseating as other films that have used this technique.

The special effects were superb, particularly one scene where the main characters were flying, an enormous feat considering the relatively small budget of $15 million.

Go see this film if you haven’t already, it won’t disappoint.

David Yip

Gfiffiti at the movies Title : Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 3D Cert: PG Running Time: 136 minutes Release Date: Out Now

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his is the re-release of the 1999 film ‘Star Wars: The Phantom Menace’ in 3D. This movie is set in outer space and starts with a dramatic plot as two jedi knights (Highly trained mega-soldiers with telekinetic powers to boot), Qui-Gonn Jinn (Liam Neeson) and apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) are sent to try and avoid catastrophe as the mighty Trade Federation blockades the peaceful planet of Naboo.

This, however, proves to be a more difficult task than anticipated as the Queen (Natalie Portman) and the Jedi make a forced stop on planet Tatooine in order repair damage sustained to their space-ship. Here a surprising addition will be made to their team; Anakin Skywalker, a young slave who the jedi knights immediately realize is showing all the signs of having the force (The energy that gives jedis their enhanced abilities).

Obi-Wan is suspicious of the boy and is reluctant to allow him to join but as the superior jedi, Qui-Gonn insists that Anakin leaves with them.

Although Liam Neeson is undoubtedly one of the greats of Hollywood, he doesn’t seem to deliver up to his usual impeccable

standard. He just didn’t leave his mark in this one, perhaps due to the nature of his character, which in certain aspects resembles a Japanese samurai. Nonetheless, he still manages to get across a sense of knowledge and security to the viewer, taking the role of the father figure which he is so used to playing.

Ewan McGregor’s interpretation of Obi-Wan Kenobi on the other hand, feeds off Alec Guinness who played the character in the 1977 movie ‘Star Wars: A New Hope’, and is consequentially more true to the character of the story. Notwithstanding his supporting role in the movie, Ewan McGregor takes part in one of the classic Star Wars scenes of all time, when he duels the evil sith apprentice, Darth Maul (The red and black guy pictured below, left). This lightsaber sequence is a great one to watch in 3-D. Natalie Portman can’t really exploit her fantastic acting skills as the character of Queen Amidala is confined to solemn speeches apart from a few action scenes.

But overall it is fair to say that she does the job quite well, and looks the part in what can be considered some of the most beautiful and complex costumes in movie making history.

Although the plot is not one of the most gripping, you are guaranteed some great Star Wars sequences which are without a doubt much better in 3-D. 3-D is great if you’re watching any action movie, thriller or even animations but it just seems as a waist on “Phantom Menace” because of the slow pace of the story.

The movie does not have much action in it apart from a couple of scenes and this is a great pity as the action scenes that are in the film are of great quality and take 3-D to a totally different level.

Something I have noticed, however, is that the quality of 3D differs from theatre to theatre. So if you do want to watch it, make sure you chose a good theatre with good sound and good 3-D glasses.

Sean Alari

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengance PG-13 95 minutes Release Date: Out Now “What if you need to pee while you’re on fire?”

“Oh, it’s awesome.”

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host Rider: Spirit of Vengeance sees Nicolas Cage back in the role of the dare devil biker Johnny Blaze with a hairline as believable as his acting.

This time around Johnny has fled to Eastern Europe in an attempt to outrun the devil. He is not successful for long. Johnny soon finds himself in a war between an ancient order of monks, a slick arms dealer and a damsel in distress. Said damsel is Nadya (Violente Placido), who has also thought it wise to strike a deal with the devil, and in return she carried the devil’s child.

With an obvious weakness for heroics, Johnny decides to help the poor mother of the antichrist and makes a deal with one of the monks, the ever drunk Frenchman named Moreau (Idris Elba), to help save the young boy from the clutches of the devil.

Many were surprised when a sequel to what was considered as a major flop in the world of superhero movies was announced, but when the rider comes back he does so with a bigger attitude and a budget to match.

What has to be credited in the movie is the use of the 3D which I haven’t found impressive since Avatar came out, but the 3D in this film is very well done indeed, and it was worth the extra two quid for the experience.

The movie actually took better care of the story than I had

imagined it would.There are a lot of flashback scenes which was brilliantly done and are actually some of the most entertaining parts of the film.

The Spirit of Vengeance delivers a bit more dark comedy this time around, and at several points the audience got a laugh out of Cage’s cute attempts at playing a psycho demon badass, and I found myself trying to remember his role in Con Air. I failed , however, having been taken in by the silliness of ol’ Cage trying to play a role better suited to Sam Worthington or anyone who doesn’t try to play a ‘rebel without a cause’ past the age of 50.

All in all, the film was way more entertaining than I had dared to hope, but I’d say part of the charm with this franchise is the fact that as an underdog in the superhero movie universe, no one really expects much from it, so all it can hope for is to pleasantly surprise.

As I mentioned the special effects keep even steps with any Michael Bay movie, and with a high tempo it rarely gets dull. But at the end of the day the story is not deep enough to engage you, and the acting, well the acting is no more than you can expect. But if you’re not expecting a mindbender like Shutter Island, then just sit down, relax, and enjoy the movie for the adrenalinefueled ride it is.

Jack Jonasson

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interviews

The Original RudeBoys T

hey are the overnight sensations taking the country by storm. As the buzz continues to grow, The Original Rudeboys discuss their amazing year and their new album with Griffiti.

It’s not often that a band’s rise is as genuinely meteoric as this one. They’ve only been together ten months, but their first single “Stars in My Eyes” hit number 3 on iTunes and they’ve rocked the Saturday Night Show on RTÉ1.

Their music genre could be described as cross between hip hop, rap and indie.

They’ve recently signed to a label and finished recording their first album “This life” which will be released March 23rd. Their gig in ‘The Grand Social’ sold out within a couple of days.

How has success and popularity within this short period of time changed their life? The description on their Facebook page offers: “Three lads from the north inner City of Dublin, kind of original, not very rude and definitely boys.” We found out a little more.

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Griffiti: You have been described as an overnight success. Why do you think this has happened so quickly?

Rob: We were very lucky in the sense that we are surrounded by social media, like Facebook and YouTube, this spread our popularity.

We really got our music out there and people liked it and spread it. They kept on visiting our channels and band page.

Neddy: I think our music genre is different.

It’s something new which is coming in today’s industry and people are really catching on to it.

The original video we put up on YouTube was different. It was kind of a one-take sort of thing. There was no plan in it. People are used to seeing these high production videos where they’re really trying hard to go places.

We popped up on a couch, having some beers and played some music.

Griffiti: What’s so special about your music?

Rob: We are writing about everyday life. I think people are feeling especially related to the lyrics. It’s not the Hollywood Hills and it’s

not movies and everything is rainbows and raindrops. It’s real life stuff what happens to the everyday person. That’s what we are; just normal people writing music.

Griffiti: So are you still the “3 lads from north inner city Dublin” as you describe yourselves on Facebook?

Rob: Absolutely. That will never ever change.

Not in a million years.

Griffiti: How has success and popularity changed your life?

Rob: Our life has definitely changed. We are so grateful for every second. We still can’t get it in our heads. We’re living a dream but we always love to come back home.

Neddy: Everyone has hobbies. Our hobby was music. That has always been our first love.

Now we’re getting paid to play music. Now we get to go on stage and play music to people who sing our songs back to us and get to travel to places we never thought we’d go. That’s just an incredible experience. I hope that we can keep on doing it.

interviews Rob: When we work we concentrate on music and nothing else. We are ‘three musicians’ now. It’s completely taken over our lives.

Griffiti: What do you like most and what worst about the success?

Rob: Best is getting to play in front of people singing our songs back. Staying on stage and meeting these people in real life. Up to this point I haven’t come across anything bad.

Neddy: Well, it’s hard work.You look at these guys on the telly and you think all their life is a big dream. But I don’t think people really understand what happens in the background. It’s hard work. During the day till 12 at night, playing guitar over and over again for getting perfect, spending two weeks in the studio, recording.

Rob: But still, it’s a good thing. It’s such a joy to do, so it’s hard work and at the same time it’s not hard work.

Griffiti: Was a music career always what you dreamed of?

Rob: It’s always been a dream but before it came to life we had a life in the realistic world and had a day job.

Neddy: It’s not really a profession you can turn to your parents saying: “hey, I wanna be a rockstar when I’m older”.

There’s a lot of luck that comes with it.

Griffiti: If things hadn’t gone the way they did, would you have considered taking part in a talent show like the X Factor?

All: No, Definitely not.

Rob: Simply because it’s the bane of the music industry. It has no positive on the music itself, it’s just one big scam to make money.

Neddy: The longevity of the new born stars is a year or two. Another time you watch them going through the talent show and at the start they are playing instruments and their own songs but by the end of the talent show they are not playing instruments as standard; they are looking good with their mic and singing songs somebody else wrote for them. It just takes the creativity away from them.

Rob: And that’s what music is all about: the way you can be so creative without rules and boundaries.

Griffiti: You’ve just finished recording your first album. What can we expect from it?

Rob: It will be coming out on 23rd March. I think it touches different people in different ways on every single emotion that people can go through in life – from great to bad.

Neddy: In the song “Bringing Me Down” we deal with racism and bulimia. In “Blue Eyes” we deal with domestic violence towards women.

We hope that it’s got that sound that the youth are gonna be interSean Walsh, ested in but hopefully it takes them Ukelele away from the song and sends a posi-

Player

tive message.

Griffiti: The single “Travelling Man” came out recently. Is there something special about this?

Neddy: It does have a special meaning to us. It basically captures the last eight or nine months that we’ve been a band, how our life has changed so fast since last March.

“

Griffiti: Do you have any role mod-

We’re living a dream but we always love to come back home

”

els?

Rob: The Beatles are outstanding as musicians and songwriters. Bob Dylan as well. As guitarists, John Mirror and Jimmy Hendrix inspire us.

We could listen to them on and on.

Griffiti: I suppose you yourselves have meanwhile become role models for many young bands…

Neddy: It’s weird hearing that. I think we’ll leave other bands to saying that.

Rob: We aren’t able to say that about ourselves but if other bands do think so it’s a nice compliment.

Griffiti: What are the plans for the future?

Rob: Music industry domination - that would be a dream. To go to the UK to do some shows.

Neddy: Just to play music all over the world.

As Rob sings in ‘Live Your Life’, “You can be what you wanna be, just keep that dream alive inside”. This summer, he’s taking his own advice: with a calendar full of gigs and an album on the horizon, there’s no sign of The Original Rude Boys’ dream dying out any time soon.

Check The Original Rudeboys for live dates and news out on http://www.theoriginalrudeboys.com/

25

Music

Band: The Original Rudeboys Album: This Life

N

ot even a year has passed since the formation of the band “The Original Rudeboys” and they’ve already written and recorded their debut album which will be released on March 23rd.

During the winter of 2011, the band completed “This Life” which includes 10 original tracks.

Their first official single ‘Stars In My Eyes’ peaked at number 3 in the Irish iTunes charts.

The album’s launch in “The Grand Social” on March 31st has now officially sold out, they reached one million views in total on Youtube before they’ve even released the album. They’ve been announced to play at Griffith College on Wednesday March 7th. They have received invitations from international

26

artists such as US Rapper, The Game and Irish artists Sinéad O’Connor and Damien Dempsey to support them at their headline shows.

The world for the three ‘lads from north inner city of Dublin, kind of original, not very rude and definitely boys’ (self-description on Facebook) has obviously flipped upside down.

But who the hell are “The Original Rudeboys”?

The three grew up together in north inner city Dublin in a working class area and also attended public schools together.

Sean Arkins (The rapper of the group) who is also known as ‘Neddy’ grew up writing rap songs and was heavily involved in the Irish hip-hop scene, releasing well received songs and mixtapes regularly. Robert Burch (Guitar & Vocals) played songs on the local pub scene. Sean Walsh took up playing the Ukulele as a hobby after seeing a few

people playing the instrument on Youtube.

However, they only started making music together in March 2011 after a dodgy dance DJ at a house party prompted a latenight guitar jam in a spare room.

“The DJ was playing awful, commercial dance stuff, so Neddy and I slinked off with a couple of guitars and just started having a jam, playing covers and making up songs, having a laugh, y’know?” recalls Rob. “Half an hour later, we had the whole party crammed into the room listening to the two of us! The day after, the band was formed.

“Ned was wearing a T-shirt saying ‘The Original Rudeboys’ on it – so we went with that for the name. Then Sean came along a couple of weeks later and really gelled with us – that was pretty much it!” And so a band was formed.

Everything sounds fabulous, just like a dream, but does the

music sound the same? What can we expect from the album?

The guys undoubtedly offer a distinct, refreshing sound in their music. It’s the combination of Rob’s acoustic guitar, Sean’s ukulele blended with soulful vocals and hip hop beats. While the melodies are infectious, it’s the lyrics that really hit home, telling personal tales about everything from suicide to racism to bulimia to depression to dreams finally coming true.

It’s honest, direct and uplifting stuff. They’re talking about a lot of everyday things that anyone can relate to in one way or another.

The first song they wrote was ‘Stars In My Eyes’. It’s about their friend and Sean’s cousin who passed away two years ago.

They tell the story about him as a musician with big dreams, a man who wanted to make it big someday, who wanted to see his name in lights.

Then they wrote ‘Sunny Days’, which they dedicated to that same friend.

“Bringing Me Down” deals with racism and bulimia. Here, the question is posed “what have I done to you to make you feel this way about me?” It also tells of a girl with an eating disorder trying to escape from a life of pretending in order to fit in.

In “Live Your Life”, my favorite song on the album, they sing about living your life the way you want to live it, without regrets, without looking back and not living up to the expectations of someone else.

“You gotta live your life just how you want it, no regrets, don’t wait around, Just get up and keep on moving, Cause you know the worlds not slowing down.”

The albums other single, ‘Travelling man’ is a mellow and laidback song exhibiting their lyrical genius once again. The song tells the story of their journey from humble beginnings to the front door of international success.

Their eternal message is “let’s aim high and succeed, let’s take the risk rather than playing it safe”. They have done so, and it has rewarded them handsomely.

As well as this they have succeeded in becoming inspirations for many up and coming bands.

Ulrike Schuster

Music

Van Halen - A Different Kind of Truth

I

f you shrugged when you first heard that Van Halen had released a new album and were expecting at most a new ”best of” album with one or two exclusive tracks then you and I had a very similar reaction to this news.

But ladies and gentlemen, instead of putting themselves in the group of rocking has-beens milking the last dollar out of a long gone career, Van Halen are back on the saddle, and they doesn’t disappoint.

Before I even pressed the play button on the album I had my expectations. It’s not like Van Halen was the first of the 80’s rock legends to try to bring his sound intro a new decade (yes Motley Crue, I’m looking at you) but they differ. A Different Kind of Truth showcases the Van Halen we are all familiar with.

In the first few tracks we are of course introduced to Van Halen’s still amazing skills with the guitar, and the lyrics have not changed much since their golden days. Although this was to be expected it was non-the-less refreshing.

But in the later part of the album I’m gladly caught off guard by ”Stay Frosty”, in which the first half only gives you an acoustic guitar and a lovely blues chorus.

This kind of old-school strumming brings to mind Stevie RayVaughn, and with age comes the swagger to pull it off. The first track is disappointing, but it exhibits their classic that made them legends in the first place.

A few songs later ”As Is” starts playing, and blows your socks off

from start to finish, with another nice Stevie Ray-Vaughn break in the middle.

Even though the album as a whole managed to surprise me it still had little impact. It’s a neat album for a pre-party at best. It’s too bad because you can really tell that they put a lot of effort in this time.The one thing that stops them from producing an album that makes them amazing again is sadly the lack of commitment to the new sound they displays in a very modest amount.

If the kind of fast paced rock mixed with the Hollywood glam from the 80’s had been the backbone of the album instead of the ace up his sleeve, then perhaps this album could be a contester for the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame, but as I can’t hear enough of his new sound to be satisfied it is sadly stuck in limbo between the graveyard of failed comebacks of glamrockers and the promised land of those that prevailed.

But this unfortunate state of affairs doesn’t stop the album from providing some serious rock and roll tunes, and not only are Van Halen trying out new styles, he’s comparable to some of his peers who still have a lot of fun while doing it.

So if you need an album for blazing the highway this spring or need a soundtrack to your upcoming ”Jack ’n’ Coke” party then I cannot recommend anything else that has been released so far this year other than this latest album from the guitar titans to rule them all.

Jack Jonasson

Lana Del Ray - Born to Die

A

fter being underground for a while, the Youtube sensation that is Lana Del Ray released her first album ‘Born to Die’. In a time where house music and auto tune are striving and, perhaps, more prevalent than ever, a rebellion has started. Following the likes of The Weekend, Little Dragon and Lykke Li, a wave of fresh air has arrived as mellow finally meets its inner voice, and soul has a new pioneer. Born to die surely shows off all the talents that Lana Del Ray has to offer and for a first album she holds nothing back in her 12 track masterpiece.

If nostalgia had a sound this album would most definitely be its anthem. Del Ray’s voice manages to transport you to another world, but her lyrical ability still manages to paint a perfect picture for you, and suddenly everything is all too familiar. Every song seems to be a reflection of a time in life, and even though she has the 50’s vibe in her voice – everything is still contemporary. Tackling issues such as love, dysfunctional relationships, drinking and drugs, it’s safe to say recklessness has never had a more glamorous portrait.

The album embraces the use of drum and bass with lyrics that fall nothing short of spectacular.

A point to note is that this album may not be everyone’s cup of tea; if mellow isn’t your style, the album requires a little bit of patience. Even though it is constructed with magnificent melodies it is a little bit dreary and

may come across as dull.

From her previous releases such as “Video Games” and “Born To Die” it’s very tempting to think that Lana is a one sided musician. This isn’t the case in this album. Del Ray shows us that hip-hop vibes are nothing to shy away from. In “Off to the Races” and “National Anthem” Las Vegas suddenly comes to life. Then we get a series of chillingly slow jams such as “Million Dollar Man” and “Summertime Sadness”. All the while she plays on her vocals as if to employ different character in her songs.

As with any first album, however, there are weaknesses mostly resulting from the strengths of the album itself. The most prominent being that in some of the songs you feel as if Del Rey loses steam and the fluctuating vocals make you think that perhaps Del Rey hasn’t quite figured out her sound yet. Although vocally she cannot be compared to the likes of Amy Winehouse or Adele, Del Rey no doubt has promising potential.

After the song “Video Games” was released on the internet in the summer, Del Ray’s talent was put into the light but The album has received quite the backlash from reviewers as it may not have lived up to the hype, but I personally think it’s well worth a listen and feel Del Rey has delivered. I recommend this album to those who enjoy drum and bass and in terms of voice to any fan of artists such as Lykke Li or Little Dragon.

Angelique Riccot

27

The Genuine Article International Women’s Day

By Patser Grey

I

reland’s Biggest Holiday celebrated here on campus... As March is drawing in, the biggest day of the Irish calendar is upon us, International Women’s Day (IWD), not to be confused with WMD’s, but somewhat similar.

And in my rapturous love of women, as you may have seen from my immense efforts on Valentines and Mother’s Day, I don’t hold back.

The way I see it is women came from the womb of the man, hence womb-man, and as I love myself profoundly, my ego beckons me to even celebrate that part of me that went astray. However, I’m feeling retro about it all, and in the zeitgeist of Emily Davidson, I will run in front of a symbolic horse and bring back the origin of it all, ‘International Working Women’s Day’. With this title, it’s something for everyone to celebrate!

My first step was to approach the Students’ Union - the testosterone epicentre of Griffith College - and try to put a plan together. I went in with a design for something beautiful, something inspiring, however, you could say I went in with a horse but came out with a camel.

(Ooooh, I’m all symbolism today. Derrida would love me for it!) Anyway, getting back to the ladies, I said “guys, this is important, do you not understand we’d be nothing without women”, to which Shane and Ian just high-

28

fived each other. I pondered on this, but then asked the lads could they put something together, and I tell you this, they really have. This could be the most spectacular event ever on Griffith College campus, and its unbelievable how much dedication and how open minded the guys are about organising this unique celebration, which is solely organised by men, so guaranteed a success. Having surveyed the College of what events should be included, the results are mind blowing.

So what’s the plan?

“Well”, as Ian started off with, “we released the plans of the event only two days ago, and not only is there huge interest from the female students of the College, but also the staff.” Ian then began to tell me the whole setup, with Rain and Shane nodding proudly alongside him. “The day starts off like this...

Round One - Battle of the Brekie.

Each girl has ten hungry guys to feed with only 15 minutes to complete this cook-off against the other contestants. In this time she must sing and not show one sign of pressure, porridge must be included in the menu, and cannot be cooked the night before, and every time she gets a pat on her botty or is made sat on some guys lap, she’ll get an extra five points.

The guys will then rate each of the ladies, and

the winner will get 50 points overall. Dimphne and Trish from the library stated that this is the best thing they’ve ever heard of, and both have decided to contest.

Round two - The Rationale Debate

This is an event where it’s impossible to put a time limit on, so the Students’ Union have decided that the winner will be chosen through disqualification, as in last to be disqualified wins. The debate will be between a man and a woman, with surprise topics. The man will be right about each of the topics but must try proving it to the female contestant.

The guy will be loaded with testimonies, facts, witnesses and further proof; all which will be ignored. Points will be lost each time you say ‘fine’, fold your arms, roll your eyes, tutt, point your finger, or turn your back on the guy. You will lose all your points in one go, if you exit the room and argue from the other room.

Other challenges will be ‘Explaining the Offside Rule’, ‘The Dress Off’, and ‘Cleaning is Appealing’. However the main event is the most mouth watering one, The Park-Off. As Rain exclaimed, “the park-off will be dangerous, yet exhilarating. For the spectator, you need to be patient, and if you’re asked to get in the car and help, you must refuse”. So what are the rules for the rules for the Park-Off? Story Continues next page

Final Round – The Park Off

At this stage there’ll only be the final five contestants of this highly welcomed day of events. Girls will be given parking spaces as small as twenty metres long.The starting point will be from the Students’ Union Office. The girls must walk in a nice fashion to their car, always looking femine and purposeful.They then must find their key in their handbag, open the car and get in. This is obstacle one.

They must then check the mirrors and start the car within one minute. Many have said that this rule is a bit harsh, but we are looking for a champion here, and a real champion should be well able to drive and still apply lipstick while talking on the phone and looking out the back window at a ‘Sale’ sign in a boutique with amazing hats.

The girl will then have to drive out of the yellow box, and into the car parking space.The quickest to succeed, without crashing, hitting a pole, or a person, will be the overall champion.

Bonus points will be given to anyone who parks frontwards and actually succeeds. We don’t believe this is possible!

The lucky champion will get to cook and clean for everyone at the after dinner and show off her amazing talents.

All in all, could there be a better way to celebrate International Women’s Day...

The Students’ Union – And then there were two...

So as you probably know by now, both Paul McCormack and Shane Ronan-Duggan are leaving us this month. Although it’s a big surprise, the truth behind their decision to leave has been in the pipeline since the SU Escapade with Bono, Chris Martin and the Gallagher brothers.

Back in October, as was all over the radio waves and local press, Paul and Shane hung out with Bono and the lads for a 48 hour party back at Bono’s castle. It was here that Shane got to recite some of his poetry that he’d been hiding for so long. Liam Gallagher has since bought this material off Shane and is now producing his new album ‘Poetical

S W E N IN F E I R B - Rain Aly to become the Pakistani Ambassador for Leprechauns in Ireland - RAG Week cancelled due to tampon shortage - McCormack pulls out of SU, SU not pregnant.

- What goes around comes around” has now been officially changed to “what comes around goes around - RTE to promote cultural diversity - D4 Scangers on the rise. How to spot: Dress identically from one generation to the next (hoody, back-combed hair, Dube’s, polo t-shirts with collars up, orange tan, short skirt or no skirt in some cases, drives a Golf Car, and retorts to everything with ‘OMG’ or ‘Like’.

- The Original Scanger (Please see Talifornia for more details)

Injustices’. As he eloquently said himself, “I was mad for it”. “The lyrical pose were mustard, so profound, and how they just rolled off the Dugsters lips. Man I was just monging-out on it. Sorted”. Liam has put these lines recited by Shane R to the D, as he now calls himself, on the back cover of his new release.

“I’m in denial, Not the Nile; Yes I’ve style, hear my style...

I’m no lyrical gangster, but a prankster, and a dancer, watch me move...

There is no glory, the jackanory; I stimulate you, as you read...

You do not pay me, I’m no shylock, but I will have you, on your knees...

Paul on the otherhand has now finally been given the opportunity to launch his elusive scarf designs, amongst other provocative items of clothing, and will now be based between New York, Paris and Milan. Bono has acquired half of the business, and they’re now about to officially launch ‘Suture Amore – Bring the World Together’.

So far a range of celebrities have been seen wearing Paul’s designs, including Posh and Becks, Jessica Alba, Rihanna and Ryan Tubridy.

Farewell to the lads, and good luck in jetsetting around the globe.

Under the Spotlight Name: Patser Grey Spouse: Theresa Green Occupation: Bingo Caller Greatest Ambition: Changing his name by deed poll.

Hobbies: Writing as a Ghost Writer for lazy journalists for free pints Likes: That his wife also changed her name by deed poll yet still doesn’t understand the joke Dislikes: Arrogance and fake butter. Often heard saying “why change it in the first place; it tastes exactly like butter” Interesting Fact: Heading off now to the Vatican to translate the Bible into an International English that will include urban languages, including Ebonics, Cocky, and Jive.

29

Creative Writing

Them

By David Yip

‘Them’ is an interactive story where you decide what happens next. Help Jane survive by voting for ‘A’ or ‘B’ on the Facebook group ‘Them by David Yip’.

J

ane’s legs turned to jelly. She could only watch in shock as they clawed and bit Harry. Her dad, equally shocked, ran out of ammo and had to resort to using his gun to swing wildly at them like it was a club. Harry and his dad were outnumbered and it was not long before they were overpowered. It was gruesome; the scene turned crimson with blood and the snarling of the creatures sent violent tremors down Jane’s spine as she watched her loved ones being devoured. Harry’s last action to help his sister was to throw his gun and a magazine of ammo in her direction.

Jane gagged at the sight and the smell of rotting flesh and her shaking hands lost their grip on the baseball bat.There was a load clatter as the wood hit the tiled floor. The snarling stopped and at least twenty bloody heads turn slowly in Jane’s direction. They scrambled towards her as quickly as their limp legs would allow, pushing and shoving each other in the process. Her breath grew heavy, panic set in and her feet felt like they were stuck in quicksand. When they were at her front door she regained feeling in her legs. She picked up the baseball bat again as the gun was beyond her reach and dashed to the kitchen at the back of the house. She remembered her dad telling her to climb the back garden wall should something like this ever happen.

She ran outside and locked the backdoor hoping the frail piece of metal and glass was enough to give her enough time to escape.

She stared the ten feet of vertical wall facing her and wondered how her father ever thought she would be able climb over it.

Thud! Thud! Thud! She jumped at the noise of many desperate hands banging on the thin glass of the back door. She rushed to the shed twenty feet away to find a ladder. Turning on the shed light did not help as it flickered on and off, hurting her eyes. She found the ladder tucked away at the back of the shed, put away behind the lawnmower, rakes, hoses and various other garden equipment. She was able to get to the back of the shed quickly as her small size allowed her to squeeze past obstacles easily.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

She knew she had to hurry as the back

door would not remain in one piece for much longer. She was able to dislodge the ladder but it proved extremely heavy for the nine year old. She used all the strength she had to lift it above her and get it outside as quickly as she could. She threw the ladder and fell to her knees, completely out of breath.

Thump! Thump! Thump! She looked up and glanced at the door where she could see the silhouettes of the misshapen creatures still trying to break down the door. As the banging of the door grew louder, she could see they were starting to use objects like chairs to break through.

Bang! Bang! SMASH! The entire door shattered and they hobbled and limped their way towards her. She quickly dragged and wrestled with the ladder to the wall but it was an arduous task as she had used most of her strength getting the ladder this far. She propped the ladder against the wall, started to climb and got halfway when she felt something cold and slimy grab her shoe. She did not dare not look back. She kicked back hoping the ladder would not topple over.The grip on her shoe didn’t loosen as its bloodthirsty owner attempted to drag her down.

Unable to help herself, she looked back to see them attempting to climb the ladder. She kicked more violently and her shoe came loose. Looking down, she noticed they were moving the ladder further and further from the wall. The top of the ladder left the wall and was suddenly perpendicular to the ground propped up the crowd of mindless savages tightly wedged together trying to bring it down. Knowing she only had one chance to escape, she climbed quickly to the top of the ladder and prepared herself. Time seemed to slow down. Her heart beat more rapidly than it ever had before as if trying to make up for the years it would surely miss out on. She took a deep breath, well aware that it could be her last, and jumped. *** There was not a sound to be heard.

Am I dead?

As if in response to this thought her lungs expanded jerkily and she felt them fill with

oxygen. She could feel soft grass on the back of her neck. Her ears took in the sound of the vicious swarm of creatures just on the other side of the wall. Her eyes flew open and she was on her feet. Every inch of her body was in agony but she forced herself to run down the street facing her. She saw a faint light coming from a house nearby. She recognised the house instantly.

As her eyes acclimated to the darkness she approached the faint light with caution, tiptoeing, for she did not know whether there were more of those things around. After a minute of carefully maneuvering past footpaths, gravel and cars in order to stay as quiet as possible she stopped when she heard sirens and the familiar howls of the monsters followed by deafening gunfire.

It sounded like it was coming from the house she had just fled from. She hid behind a car that looked to have been broken into and ransacked. She picked up a large shard of glass she noticed on the boot of the car.

Across the road, to the left of her neighbour’s house, she noticed a weak, moving light followed by quick footsteps and more ghastly screaming in the distance.

That must be the Joneses.

As the footsteps got closer, her neighbour’s door opened and three dark figures stepped out from behind the corner of the house.

Each one was armed with a dimly lit torch in one hand and a handgun in the other. She caught a glimpse of one of the dark figures’ face, it was Mrs. Jones and her two sons.

They seemed to be waiting for something Sure enough, within seconds, high pitched, dangerous squeals could be heard. The Joneses pointed their guns outward and prepared themselves for the onslaught.

Jane realised that the only place she was going to be safe was with the Joneses. But it also occurred to her that if she drew attention to herself they might open fire on her, unaware that she wasn’t a monster.

“Hey, little girl.”

Jane started and turned to see a man kneeling beside her, though she had not heard anyone approach. He was large but she could not see his face in the darkness.

“We can get you to safety.”

To Help Jane decide what to do next vote for either A or B in the poll on the facebook group ‘Them by David Yip.’ This can be found on our Facebook, ‘Griffiti Mag’.

30

A: Jane stays with the Joneses B: Jane goes with the mysterious man

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The Music Gathering Mūzika vākšana

The Original Rudeboys

Pertemuan Musik

Live in Arthur’s Bar! with special guests

Aisling Jarvis & Shiloh Palace Wednesday March 7th Bavaria, Spin 103.8 and MCD promotions starting at 7:00pm ‘Access All Areas’ wristband €2 at the SU NOW! €5 on the night Arthur’s Bar Open at 9:00pm Bring Your Own Beer R.O.A.R.

Muzika saskrydis