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OCTOBER 2014 ISSUE 59
CONTENTS
STATE OF THE UNION
4
SU NEWS SU CLUBS
6 8
Dublin bound! Simeon Kirkegaard
12 16 18 20 21 24 26
Places To Go In Focus GCD Tech Reviews Geniune Article Poetry Slam
Contributors Anita Arinze Cagda Erzincan Colm Corkery Drew Peacock Ferdi Hoske Jenny Dahl Bakken Louis Jacobs-Walsh Matthias Pfeffier Mukesh Jodhani Pamela Machado Paul Quigley Pierce Connolly Robbie Morrissey Issue 1 InDesign File.indd 3
A letter from the editor
Hello! and thanks for taking the time to flick through the first issue of the new college year. I hope you’re all recovered from the opening weeks of college and settled in. This is my first time as an editor so go easy. Please? Yea, I think we can work together on this. I’d also like to thank the contributors for the this issue. They submitted articles to make the first issue something to be proud of. In this issue we have a look at our new Ents Crew & Football team for this year as well as articles including: a look at musician Simon Kirkegaard, some of the latest apps on the market and a review of some recent and upcoming movies and albums. Returning to Griffiti this year is “In Focus” which shows off the work of some of the talented photogrpahers we have here in Griffith College. I hope you enjoy this issue and if you’d like to get involved in the next issue of themagazine or if you’d like to get something published just contact me at su.president@gcd.ie or call into the SU.
Advertising Enquiries: su.president@gcd.ie/ 01415063 Printed by: Percision Print
Griffiti Magazine
Griffith College Students’ Union South Circular Road Dublin 8 Email: su.president@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 without permission is prohibited. The views expressed do not neccessarily reflect that of the college or the SU 16/10/2014 15:54
STATE OF THE UNION CLAIRE ASTON, ASSISTANT MANAGER
Hi All, I hope that you are all settling in to the semester and enjoying college life. Freshers’ Week was a huge success, thank you to everyone that got involved in all the activities and sign ups. From getting dressed in your colours for Monday nights party, to heading up the Dublin Mountains with us on the Wednesday night, there was definitely a lot of fun had. Not to fear though there is a lot more coming up. Starting off with the Halloween Party on the 30th of October in Lafayette Nightclub, make sure to get your wristbands soon as there are limited places. On the night there will be prizes for best dressed, so make sure to get them thinking hats on to make sure you are in with a good chance of winning. Next month we will be having the first of the
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trips, on the 7th of November we will be heading to Delphi Adventure Centre in Connemara, Co. Galway. This trip is a messy one so if you don’t mind getting down and dirty make sure to sign up in the Students’ Union now as places are limited for all the trips. You can also sign up for the trip to Bunratty Castle where we will be attending a medieval banquet on the 5th of December. With so much going on in the Students’ Union, make sure to get to know the new ENTS Crew who will be able to answer any questions that you have, or pop in to us in the SU! Get to know the ENTS Crew in the SU News section, but I would personally like to thank everyone who applied, and just say a quick congratulations to those who made it on to the ENTS Crew: Colm Corkery, Denise Spratt, John Anderson Jnr., Julie Ervum, Noor Saleh, Paul Quigley, Pierce Connolly & Walaa Ajjawi, I look forward to working with you all this year. Keep an eye out for posters around campus and on Facebook to make sure that you don’t miss out on all the upcoming events! Claire
STEPHEN DONNERY, VICE PRESIDENT & CLUB & SOCIETIES OFFICER
Hi Guys, Time is flying by and it is already nearly Halloween. I hope all of you have settled into a good college routine so far, one that consists of both lectures and enjoying the social life college has to offer. Now that all the Clubs and Societies are set up I hope you are enjoying what you have decided to take on for the upcoming year. Whether it is Football, Basketball, Beer Pong or League of Legends, I hope you are enjoying it and that it is making your college life so much better. By the time this comes out hopefully our club teams will all be off to winning starts in their respective leagues. Our Basketball team are looking to bounce back from the disappointment of last year’s final defeat to go one better this year, while our new coaches are also looking to enjoy their time and possibly bring a bit of silver
wear back with both our Volleyball teams. Over the next few months make sure you do get more and more involved with college life. We set up the societies so that you can join them and show us what’ve really got to offer this college as well as your brains. Remember there is so many societies available to everyone around. Our African society has started up again recently and from seeing Snapchats and just talking around there seems to be a good vibe coming out of it. Finally our two newest societies are looking to get underway shortly. The Harry Potter Society and GleeCD which have been set up by some of our very own students are looking to become bigger and bigger. If you see people running around with Brushes between their legs or a musical performance around campus in the next couple of weeks and months do not be afraid. It is all perfectly normal and above board. If you have any queries don’t hesitate to contact me in the Students’ Union about any Club or Society or anything really. That’s it for now. Go enjoy everything about College life and please don’t forget your studies. Until next time, Slán.
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SU NEWS
FRESHERS' WEEK 2014
The SU launched Freshers’ Week 2014 on Monday the 22nd. The SU had a packed week in store. Events included a County & National colours party, a a trip to Johnny Fox’s Pub (The highest pub in Ireland) and a spot of crazy golf. Monday kicked off with the County & National colours party in Café Arthur which had people out in an array of colours. Tuesday saw the return of the most popular society in Griffith, the Beer Pong Society. There was a tournament organised with the SU providing the beer and/or cider which sold out almost immediately and had people lining up hoping to get a place. The cup was won by Colm Sucks Wet Balls after a fiercely fought final against Beercelona and the Shield was won by the German Kramptrinkers. There was also free entry into Everleigh Issue 1 InDesign File.indd 6
golf...crazy golf....bring your own beer crazy golf in fact.
Gardens nightclub which didn’t go down too badly either. The success of this tournament saw the Halloween Beer Pong tournament sell out in record time. On Wednesday a group of students were brought to Johnny Fox’s pub. They were treated to a proper Irish experience. Traditional Irish food, Irish dancing and even participated. Stehpen Donnery and Sarah Lynch were dragged on stage volunteered to go on stage and show off their years of irish dancing experience. We wrapped up Freshers’ Week for the year with a spot of
International students also got a taste of another Dublin institution aside from Coppers, the Luas. Freshers’ week, overall, gave new students a taste of what’s ahead of them for they next year(s) in Griffith. During October keep an eye out for upcoming events and the next major SU party, Halloween, in Lafayette nightclub. This is always one of the biggest parties of the year with this year sure to be no different and tickets are on sale now from the SU costing €5. There’ll also be prizes on the night for best dressed so be sure to get your tickets early so you can concentrate on your costume.
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SU NEWS
The Ents Crew
There was an idea, To bring together a crew of remarkable students, who, when we needed them, could hang posters where Claire couldn ‘t reach. Ladies & Gentlemen, this is that crew!
Colm Corkery
Noor Saleh Paul Quigley Julie Evrum
Bio: Ireland. 20. 2nd year Computer Science
Bio: Egypt. 17. 1st Year Journalism
Superpower: Ability to hang posters where no one else can reach
Superpower: Walking like an Egyptian
Denise Spratt
John Anderson Jr.
Bio: Ireland. 22. 2nd Year Photographic Media Superpower: Untossable hair
Pierce Connolly
Bio: Ireland. 20. 1st Year Journalism
Bio: Ireland. 20. 2nd Year Journalism
Bio: Ireland. 20. 2nd Year Journalism
Superpower: Casually taking selfies with celebrities
Superpower: Cooler than Mike Posner
Superpower: Guitar Hero
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Bio: Norway. 22. 2nd Year Business Studies Superpower: Maui Thai Goddess
Walaa Ajjawi Bio: Syria. 20. 3rd Year Journalism Superpower: Snakecharmer
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SU CLUBS 2014/15 College club. In this issue we’re getting to know the GCD Football team. Best of luck to the team in the upcoming season.
Paul Walsh
Craig Sexton
Stephen Donnery
Age: Unknown
Age: 22
Age: 22
Dream Career: Zorro
Dream Career: Ice-Cream Cone Maker
Dream Career: Pride of Griffith College
(Manger)
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(Manager)
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Dipo Sadiq
Jordan O Dwyer
Mark O’Brien
Age: 19
Age: 20
Age: 21
Dream Career: Showstopping Broadway Performer
Dream Career: Hair Model
Dream Career: Lollipop Lady
Steffen Kind Age: 20 Drean Career: Fighting against the Irish on the football pitch.
Felipe Feitosa Age: 23 Dream Career: Professional Boxer
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Tim Horstmann Age: 22 Dream Career: Chippendale Model
Fiachra Doyle Age: 22 Dream Career: Women’s football team physio.
David Gedig Age: 26 Dream Career: Vending Machine Attendant
Michael Demmer Age: 23 Dream Career: Boy Racer
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James Collier
James Bull
Age: 19
Age: 24
Dream Career: President of Ireland
Dream Career: Bull Milker
Kase Bukhatwa Age: 21 Dream Career: Sandwich Maker
Jesse Agbana
Juliano Isufaj
Jakob Jakubov
Age: 17
Age: 18
Age: 24
Dream Career: Professional Facebook Spy
Dream Career: 100m World Champion
Dream Career: Professional spoon player
Pierrick Archimbaud Age: 20 Dream Career: Famous TV star
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Lukas Bliemel Age: 20 Dream Career: Laughter Yoga Instructor
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FEATURES Dublin bound! Simeon Kirkegaard
by
Robbie Morrissey Simeon Kirkegaard is heading over to Ireland for a number of highly anticipated intimate shows this month. Ahead of the shows, Simeon talks about his connections with Ireland, his new album, and bumping into The Kink’s Ray Davies in one of most unlikeliest places. Simeon’s connection with Ireland begins with the numerous gigs he’s played here before. From both Academy venues to Whelan’s, Simeon has probably played more Dublin venues than some Dublin musicians have. Many of these dates were with his previous band, one of those shows being a support slot to Welsh rockers Feeder. Moving forward to the past two years, Simeon played Whelan’s last year, taking in visits to tourist spots in the City such as the Guinness Storehouse before filming his first video, for what was then his first single ‘Animals In Your Bed’ last November. So what is the
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attraction for a young Norwegian musician to make so many trips over here? “I think we captured Dublin from a nice angle in that video, it was my first video and first single so a bit special I have to say. Dublin is like a second home to me. I love Dublin, but in a different way than Norway, you know. Actually, I and the band came to Dublin last year to do a gig in Whelan’s, that was in November. I think they ended up loving Dublin as much as I do, but I’m not sure if it would be for the same reasons as me though, but we had a great time. “Actually my little brother came along too, so I showed them around town. We did the tourist thing and went to the Guinness Storehouse, then to Ranelagh for some fine dining and Camden street for lots of drinks, all over two days in addition to radio interviews, photoshoots, soundchecks and the gig.
It was a pretty hectic schedule to say the least!” Clearly liking Ireland a lot, Simeon thinks that music in pubs adds a lot to the atmosphere and community aspect of the live music scene here. “I’m from a small town called Akkerhaugen in count Telemark. It’s a great place for music actually, don’t know why though, but I think it’s probably because there’s not much else to do there, especially in the winter! There are so many bands from that place it’s unreal. It’s a bit funny too you know, because the drinking culture in Norway is so different to Ireland. In Ireland in a place like Dingle or somewhere you’d have tons of pubs, in Norway you’re lucky if you find one decent pub in any town. “Akkerhaugen is a place with a population of about 500, but there’s not one single pub, we’ve got a live music venue though. It’s called ARS or Akker-
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haugen Rocksamfunn and it’s great for gigs, so if any Irish or British bands are looking to go to Norway to gig then they should look them up.” So what would the music scene be like in comparison? “In general the music scene in Norway is great. It wouldn’t be a big music export country like the UK or Ireland, but it has lots of grants for musicians, lots of music festivals with an emphasis on independent musicians and bands. We’ve got this thing called Urørt (which means untouched) in Norway which is great for new bands and artists, it gives them a proper chance to get some national airplay and publicity. “Once a year they do a final where the best artists from Urørt compete to become the Urørt of the year. It’s quite a big deal in Norway as you get playlisted on national radio and you get to play many major festivals and so on. I think one of the biggest exports through Urørt was this artist called Ida Maria who had that song ‘I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked’ if you remember that one. The biggest challenge for the Norwegian music scene now the way I see it, is the export of bands. Although there are only four dates in Dundalk, Galway, Dublin, and Cork this time round, Simeon will be busy going to and from with commitments in the middle. Another added bonus for those attending his Workman’s Club show in Dublin is that it will be recorded for a possible live album. Simeon is also bringing his band the Existentialists – bit of a mouthful that – for the shows, which will give his sound an extra punch in the intimate venues. “Great musicians and people who are an absolute delight to go on tour with. They’re not just adding their playing, but also adding to the whole touring vibe and atmosphere, you know. We’ve done lots of gigs in Norway together and we always have a great time which is why we keep doing this I suppose.” As influences go, most of Simeon’s would easily point out how his music is described as a ‘mix between 60’s and 90’s pop’. A few of those include: The Beatles, Oasis, Blur, and The Kinks, who provide quite a story for Simeon. “Many years ago I played guitar in this band and we had this gig in Gothenburg in Sweden. It was the smallest little place where you’d never imagine there could be a music venue. It looked like a Chinese take away place only it was a bar. Anyway, we did the gig and after we’d finished this guy came in the door. I didn’t think more about it, but in the back of my head I think I thought he looked a bit like Ray Davies from the Kinks. So I and the band were staying around for a few beers and at one stage I was standing outside beside that guy. Didn’t say anything just stood there looking at ran-
dom stuff while drinking my beer. The guy eventually left and I went back in and the bar man asked me ‘So did you say hello to Ray Davies?’… Turns out his girlfriend lived up the road so he used to come down there quite a lot.” Speaking of influences, I asked what direction the new album has taken? And what we could expect to hear when he brings it to Ireland in October & November. “I’d say the new material has a bigger emphasis on lyrics and is a bit more experimental maybe than before. I’m working with a good friend of mine Feileacán McCormick a lot, who I met while studying architecture in Bergen in Norway. He’s great with lyrics. While before I’d often write the music and then come up with the lyrics, now usually Feileacán is coming to me with some lyrics that I try to turn into music instead of the other way around, so that’s a new thing for me. It kind of generates different patterns or something which I find interesting. We’ve been writing a few new ones so we’re playing a few of these on the tour so it’ll be exciting to see the response they’ll get.” Simeon Kirkegaard and the Existentialists play Dundalk’s Spirit Store on 9 October, Monroe’s in Galway on 10 October, The Workman’s Club on 11 October, Cork’s Crane Lane on 13 October as part of the IndieCork Film Festival, and finally Whelan’s on the 25th of November.
“Great musicians and
people who are an absolute delight to go on tour with. They’re not just adding their playing, but also adding to the whole touring vibe and atmosphere, you know?”
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Y T R A P E L P O PE
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Places To Go You don’t have to go to the city centre
by
Jenny Dahl Bakken
Fast-Food: Pinheads Pizza Pub: Leonard’s Corner
You are here
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Why not just surrender to the beer thirst, and go to the closest possible pub? This “neighbourhood” pub is surprisingly nice. At first glance it looks like an old man’s pub, and even though most of the clientele can remember back to that time when Michael Jackson not only was alive, but still was black, there are also quite a few others normally there: workers popping by for an after-work pint, students who have figured it’s actually one of the best lit and quieter places to study in the early evening, people who just stumble in from the street. The bartenders are an endearing sight with their ironed shirts and colorful ties, the prices are good (they sell pitchers – always a winner) and they regularly arrange things such as quizzes or live music. And, interesting for the exchange students at the very least: They regularly show football here (not the Irish kind, the “real” kind). If you want to get the authentic flow of the neighbourhood, this is the place.
Hungover, lazy or just wanting to give in to that bacon and cheese-chips-urge? Pinhead’s pizza is crammed in between another fast food place and the pharmacy on South Circular Road, on the Leonard’s Corner junction, and has everything a fast food-lover craves. Their pizzas are amazing value, this from the outside almost generic pizza place has great reviews, and it’s no wonder! They often have very student-friendly offers, such as 2 for 1. They – as any good fast food place – not only serve great pizza, but their burgers are cheap and good and they have so many variants of chips that your veins will clog in excitement just by you thinking about it. Be sure to pass by and pick up some of their takeaway menus, which have vouchers on them. Perfect for that hungover Friday or lazy Sunday.
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Indian: Konkan Restaurant (46 Clanbrassil Street) The city is packed with Indian restaurants, but one of the best (judging by my own experience and Tripadvisor reviews) is located in Clanbrassil street, just around the corner from Griffith College. Here you can get all your Indian favourites, but the restaurant also has their own specialty: Goan food. If you have never been to Goa, I will try to describe it: Miles and miles of long, sandy beaches. Bungalows. Beach bars. Friendly locals and nice villages. Not to mention the hippies from around the world who went there for a pilgrimage in the 70s and decided to stay. As you can imagine, Goan food
is mostly seafood (you can also get lamb or chicken variants though), but it is some of the most delicious food you will ever taste. The food here is strongly influenced by the Portuguese food culture as the area was colonized by the Portugal, not Britain (the latter’s food culture wouldn’t exactly be something to celebrate – no offense to the Brits). The take-away prices are great too – I got a main dish and a garlic naan bread bigger than a dinner plate for 12,50 – included was complimentary rice and papadums with two different sauces. If you dine in costs a bit more, but prices are still more than acceptable.
Bar: The Bernard Shaw Some would claim calling this “in the area” is wrong, but it is not far. Just follow South Circular Road until it meets Camden street, then go to the right and you basically walk into it. Only a 10-15 minutes walk from college, this is one of the best bars in this part of town. You might have heard something about a blue bus selling pizza – that blue bus is in the backyard of this pub, and offers really good pizzas and very unique seating. The bar itself is not so big but the backyard makes up for it, and the prices are better than further into the city. This bar often has DJs and sometimes bands playing.
Steak: Table & Lennox Why go all the way to the river, when we have our very own man-made one just behind the college? The grand canal is not just a nice place for a run or a stroll, there are also plenty of cafés and restaurants on its banks. One that sticks out is Lennox & Table, previously known only as The Table. It has a giant, decorative cow outside, which hints to what they serve: Steak. Being placed so close to the college, its prices are studentfriendly, with a special offer every Thursday of steak, salad and unlimited fries for €15. The previous steak-focused restaurant recently merged with it’s sister restaurant Lennox Cafe Bistro, how this will affect the menu is too early to say.
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In Focus by Pamela Machado
by
Cagda Erzincan
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by
Cagda Erzincan
by
Paul Quigley
by Louis Jacobs-Walsh
by Mukesh Jodhani
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GCD Tech
by Ferdi Hoske
Unofficial Designer Versions of the Apple Watch like Gucci or Louis Vuitton
Wear-able? On September 9th the longanticipated Apple Watch was presented and, for Apple, it’s typically simple in design and easy usability indicates that the smartwatch won’t be a geek gadget anymore. With Motorola’s “Moto 360” Android users will have access to a stylish wearable, thanks to its round display actually looking like a typical watch, just combining the remarkable watch faces with a really beautiful one. But who will be the target
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audience of Apple, Motorola or all the other tech companies that join the trend? There is still no proof that people actually want more functions then displaying the time. Fact is also, that people in there 40s start suffering with thie sight and already have difficulties using a 4 inch smartphone. Besides the gimmicks these watches are offering it can add a benefit to your health as well. How much did you move today? How long did you sleep the last days.
What is your heart rate? All this information can give you a good overview about your current condition. These smartwatches have a big potential to help our daily routines but it depends on the developers and innovators what it going to be like in the future but also what the users want it to be. We don’t know if the smartwatch will be such an success the smartphone was. We might find out as soon as the Apple Watch will be available to public beginning of 2015.
Hyperlapse
Tiny Tower Vegas
Daily Cost
Mobile time lapse videos is the “new thing”. Creating smooth High Speed videos usually takes a lot of time since the movement in every frame has to be analysed first. The new app from Instagram’s hub though uses the data from the iPhones movement sensors and delivers you stunning results. Try it on Campus, upload it to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook and tag it with #griffitimag
Sometimes you don’t want to be the disposer of just your room or your flat. Sometimes you want to be the owner of something bigger like ehm.. A hotel in Vegas! You do right? Well now you can. In Tiny Tower Vegas you control your own little pixel world where you build floors, hire staff and if you feeling lucky you can give your slot machines a try.
You know whats no fun? Eating spaghetti with Ketchup because it’s the end of the month and again all money is gone and I have no idea where it went. If I would have used the simple and elegant DailyCost app to track my expenses I would have known that I spend half of my salary on the app store and at the Pub around the corner. What a bummer!
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REVIEWS Not even the good reputation and experience of Nick Hornby could help to avoid the same old problem for the book lovers. by Pamela Machado British author Nick Hornby has a prestigious reputation when it comes to turning books into big screen productions. A movie based on one of his creations tend to be as enjoyable as his original piece. The first time one of his novels had been adapted to a film was in 2000. High Fidelity, with John Cusack, pleased fans of both book and film. From then on, other Hornby’s stories were put into the screen, most of them also starring great names like Hugh Grant and Jimmy Fallon. This year, BBC Films tries to repeat the successful recipe and chose Pierce Brosnan to help with it. Although published back in 2005, the novel seems to be an accurate report of today’s misery and loneliness surrounding both adult and young ones. It is New Year’s Eve when four folks meet each other on the roof of a building in Central London. They have nothing in common except for the fact that their different backgrounds lead them to the same peculiar situation: Suicide. Neither of them thinks it’s worth going on with life any longer. Martin is an ex-TV celebrity who got himself in some really serious trouble and is the first of all to stand on the edge of the edifice. His plans don’t go as the expected when Maureen appears. She is a very religious lady who ironically has some pretty good reasons to hate God. Jess and JJ are the youngest of the gang and despite the lack of experience both believe that getting
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older is not an appealing option. Sarcasm and dark humour are the main labels of the novel. Hornby is not afraid to show how disappointing life can turn out for anyone. As the reading goes, the characters show themselves as incredibly ordinary and yet adorable people. Getting to know the way each of them faces life – and death – brings to light some of the internal scars and troubles that people collect through the years. Reading the last sentence tastes like having the last slice of pizza. You just want more. You want the story to go on. Opposite to this is the reaction when watching the film version. Pierce Brosnan comes in as Martin but is evident that he might not have been the best choice for this character. Not as ironic and touching as the book itself, the flick failed to make very clear the background of each part and convince us that these four really wanted to kill themselves at a certain point. The real murder, actually, happens to the peculiarity of the book. Unfortunately. There is an abuse of changes in the plot. The screenplay just stole the main idea and transformed a unique fiction into another typical screen cliché. This is no news though. There is always a huge risk of making the audience angry when turning a prose into an expensive production. And that is what happens in most cases. Not even a former 007 is an exception.
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REVIEWS
NIGHTCRAWLER
SERENA
Run Time: 118 minutes Release Date: 31st October
Run Time: 102 minutes Release Date: 24th October
Have you ever found yourself saying, “I’ll do anything, I just need a job!” Exactly, it’s not uncommon to hear these days. Nightcrawler starts with a man in that situation, a man looking for a career. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Louis Bloom, a socially detached thief looking for a job. In the opening scene, Lou beats up a security guard who catches him stealing fencing among other construction equipment. In trying to sell the stolen construction equipment, Bloom tries to sell himself as a competent worker but the foreman rejects any offer because he’s “not hiring a f**king thief.” It’s not until a coming across a car crash one night and seeing men filming instead of helping them he sees a new career opportunity. It is after this night that Louis decides to become a crime videographer. He trades his bike for a video camera and a police scanner and starts his path on his new career. Things are initially rough for Bloom as he tries to get a foot in the door but he soon learns the tricks of the trade and even takes on an intern. Business soon starts to take off for Louis as he learns the tricks of the trade. He gains a lot of confidence when bargaining prices and dealing with news directors, in particular with Nina (René Russo), the news director of KWLA news. It’s not until Louis becomes embroiled in a murder case that things start to unravel. Louis’ behaviour becomes erratic, he becomes more detached than usual from the world around him and the line between what’s ethical and what isn’t all but disappears. Nightcrawler sees Gyllenhaal give one of his finest performances to date. His character, Louis Bloom, is like a sprawn of Travis Bickle & Walter White. You’ll walk away from the movie wondering how anyone could be that repulsive or even want to take on this line of work. What’s worse is, at the same time you’ll walk away only wanting more.
Mountains, overgrown by an uncountable amount of trees. Between them, big clouds of fog rise up to the full moon, which lightens this scenery. That´s the beginning of Susanne Bier´s new film “Serena“, an adaption of a novel by Ron Rash. We are in North Carolina´s Great Smoky Mountains in 1929. Without a doubt, a fantastic view, but also mysterious and frightening. In this film, the scenery is not the only thing that´s two-sided. In Serena, Bier shows the love of George (Bradley Cooper) and Serena Pemperton (Jennifer Lawrence) with its bright and dark sides. George is the owner of a large timber empire. His life changes, when he meets Serena and falls in love with her. Soon after their wedding she gets pregnant and they look forward to a healthy, descendant life. But life wouldn´t be life, if everything stayed as well as it is. George´s business should move for a national park. His best friend and partner betrays him and tries to deal with the enemy. George must choose the hard way to keep everything under his control. In his private life isn´t less complicated. After a dead birth, they get the message, that Serena cannot bear children. The plot mainly tells these two stories of decline and fall. Unfortunately Serena´s tragedy is stuffed into the last third of the film. Before that, she´s kind of a minor part (George´s wife and partner). Of course, this wasn´t a good choice, because her psychic fall after the dead birth (including her jealousy on a illegitimate child of George) could made a great psychologial drama out of this film. Lawrence shows that she is the right person for that. But it feels like the film doesn´t knows what he wants to be. A bit of Romance, a bit of thriller, a bit of drama. Serena could be great. Sadly, the plot is too stuffed. Not, that it would be difficult to follow, but the interesting moments don´t get enough space to be really impressive. It´s even more upsetting, when you think about the metaphorical scenery.
By Robbie Purcell
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By Matthias Pfeffier
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REVIEWS
Flying Lotus - You’re Dead
Royal Blood - Royal Blood
Steven Ellison aka “Flying Lotus” has released four studio albums receiving critical acclaim for “Until The Quiet Comes” released in 2012. He returns after two years, with his much-anticipated album “You’re Dead”. Mr Fly Flo definitely picked the perfect month to release his album, with the uninviting titles like “Fkn Dead”, “Descent Into Madness” and “The Boys Who Died In Their Sleep”. These titles may seem normal in the world we live in now, with people saying that they are “metaphorical”. He selected the perfect mix for his “rap album” that would gather a large number of screaming fans, running to the stores to get it on the release date. With a beautiful mix of Kendrick Lamar, with his soulful and dissing punch lines, featured in the song called “Never Catch Me”, which has some very deep lyrics like “I can see the darkness in me and its quite amazing” This song almost carries you away with its beautiful instrumentals, and Lamar spitting so fast, that if you don’t stop for a second, you wouldn’t realise that you’re already celebrating Halloween at the beginning of October, weeks before the actual night. The next song “Dead Man’s Tetris” - featuring Captain Murphy and Snoop Dog - has them murmuring a bunch of words, that if you don’t pay attention, you would think they were ghosts on the CD laughing at you while you’re playing their introductory song. “Hold up, Hold up” gives reference to Freddie Mercury and Austin Peralta, which are two influences to the album. At first this song just seemed like murmuring, and a bunch of “hold up hold ups”, but is quite deep, and seems almost sad, saying he’s not dead, but remembering the dead. Other songs feature people like Angel Dradoorian, Thunder Cat and Niki Randa, with her vocals on the track that would put you safe to sleep, still leaving you with the horrible nightmare of a song, “The Boys Who Died In Their Sleep” The whole album, is a mixture of Hip-hop and jazz, and is definitely recommended for a night of deep thinking, heartbreak and insomnia. What a perfect mixture!
It’s easy to point out that the creation of UK rock bands are vastly depleting and you could argue that the best UK band of recent years have been the Arctic Monkeys and to be fair they haven’t had much competition. If you look back to the 90’s the UK had great home bred rock bands such as Oasis and Blur battling it out for supremacy. After a long wait, finally we see the emergence of a new age of rock music, with many thanks to drum–and-bass duo Royal Blood. The rock duo of Mike Kerr bassist/lead vocalist and Ben Thatcher drummer who hail from Brighton, England have blasted their way into the rock circle with their early singles of ‘Little Monster’ and ‘Out of the Black’. It took 9 months for the album to be released after the first single ‘Out of The Black’ came onto the scene in early November of 2013. Followed by ‘Little Monster’ which took the rock world by a massive surprise. It was such singles as this that gave them the opportunity to support the Arctic Monkeys at Marlay Park in July of this Year. The unique thing about Royal Blood is that it’s just two people playing their instruments and getting the best sound possible, the fact that there is no guitar being played except the bass guitar is astonishing as some of the riffs sound like they are being played by a guitar but it is in fact just a bass guitar, never have I heard such a heavy rock album with just a bass guitar and a drum kit. Saying that the whole album isn’t all just heavy rock, the album includes softer songs such as ‘You Can Be So Cruel’ and ‘Ten Tonne Skeleton’ that really grabs the listener’s attention. It is so unique and different that it’s no wonder the album has gone to number one in the UK and Ireland. Their UK and Ireland tour dates sold out in seconds leading to the announcement of more dates. I see a bright future ahead for the rock duo, with a number one debut album and a mercury nomination for best album under their belts. I imagine that better things are about to come for one of the biggest upcoming bands of 2014.
By Anita Arinze
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9/10 By Pierce Connolly
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THE GENUINE ARTICLE
VACANCY Back scratcher wanted. General duties: scratching Stephen’s back, listening to Claire’s problems, & laughing at Robbie’s jokes. Payment: We’d rather avoid that.
Faceblocked, and not in the good way New semester, new rules, new pages. The facts behind the uprising. by Drew Peacock
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You may have noticed something strange happened to the Students’ Union Facebook page over the summer. Well you’re not alone. When the Students’ Union staff returned from their summer of debauchery and potato picking (in Stephen’s case) they found a sinister plot awaiting them. Facebook hacked the Students’ Union Facebook. In a bid to gain an insight into the online habits of the Griffith college students, Facebook blocked out the loveable guys in the SU. What later ensued resembled a scaled down version of the movie “300”; a REALLY scaled down version. Reports from the field claimed SU manager Paul Walsh glistened like a modern day Michael Collins.
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After many attempts to gain an advantage over the social media behemoth - including reaching out for a compromise, which was not responded too - assistant manager Claire Aston, devised a new strategy. Beating Facebook at their twisted, pointless own game by creating a new page right under the nose of Zuckerberg. Facebook retaliated by blocking this move once more. It’s rumoured that Facebook were willing to accept the surrender of the Students’ Union on the condition Claire deleted her personal profile. With the SU battered, and bored of not being on Facebook they were all but willing to accept. However, Claire could not accept this condition.
After much persistence and name changes, Claire defeated the dastardly Facebook rules with a loophole that resulted in the formation of the new “Gcdsu Ents” Facebook page. When looking back through the annals of the history of the Griffith College Students’ Union people will look upon her name and, at first, respect but then laugh at the name Claire Aston as the person who saved the social media presence of the Students’ Union but also as the girl too sad to delete her Facebook. History thanks you Ms. Aston, although, the present laughs.
UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
NEWS IN BRIEF GER Students realise too late that Pool society doesn’t involve an actual pool. The amount of men dressing like Conor McGregor increasing. Scandal as beer pong champ, Colm, found NOT to suck wet balls. Talk of a Singles society has lonely men excited. International students left wondering why hurling is legal.
SHEEHAN Occupation: Maintance/stripper Greatest Ambition: Break the world
record for setting up exam tables.
Hobbies: Re-enacting Reservoir Dogs with garden gnomes.
Likes: Ballcocks, plugs, stripping
Starbucks spelling everyone’s name right... for now.
Dislikes: Fixing light bulbs, Mondays.
Students already questioning why they were so excited to come back to college.
promotions in work because he hates being under the spotlight.
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Interesting Facts: Ger has turned down
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POETRY SLAM
Animation Corner
by Cagda Erzincan
Though we spoke only once It was endless, It was like replacing the day with night We spoke before until deaths die until the rest finishes. That is only reason for keeping A last cigarette A last song The memory which collapsed with morning… Loneliness was for two people before Transformed into lonely silence in The Bosporus Where are your waves? Did the poem of night escape? Did yours escape from my heart? The tree had forgotten my melody which I hid it inside Though we saw the night when we were children Melancholia had been seen We were the witnesses. We cried for the past without knowing It had never passed Fog was in our eyes. And we were yelling “We were alone in crowded areas” Daggers were stabbed in our hearts. Time to be waterless for reticence Giants should stay in fairytales now. Tomorrow comes together with its darling It is called yesterday. Love had gone with a knife wound There was pain So, My whiskey smells like Istanbul darling If I am drunk I am drunk for a reason Unfortunately I have been an Istanbuller, darling I didn’t expected it. You… Your lies are the reasons for my love I paid all my innocents cash For you Istanbul! People aspire to lie on your body I Didn’t know I should pay cash A city called Istanbul Which was sooty Let me out from your soot Say that she is not Istanbul Only I am!
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FIND SU
THE ON
Like us at “Griffith SU” Add us on “GCDSU Ents”
Follow us @GriffithSU
FInd us “griffithsu”
Follow us “griffith_su”
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HALLOWEEN PARTY L A F A Y E T T E
NIGHTCLUB DOORS 10:30PM WRISTBANDS
AVAILABLE
FROM THE SU €5
30 OCTOBER
2014
FANCY DRESS ESSENTIAL
DRINK PROMOS ON THE NIGHT
selected pints €4 double spirit & mixer €10 3 HogBombs € 10
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3 Sambuca &Tequila € 10 Buckets € 10 Selected Bottles 3 For €10
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