Apex March 2010 by Anglia Ruskin Students' Union

Edition 9 - March 2010

The Anglia Ruskin

Cuddle Party Page 20

Roy Hattersley Visit Page 2-3

2010 Election Results Page 1-2

contents features features

1-4

lifestyle

5-9

music

10-14

reviews

16-18

activities

19-21

sport

22-23

Lisa Pool Features Editor

2010 Election Results

uring the first week of March Anglia Ruskin Students' Union held their annual election. A record number of voters turned out to elect the officers who will take the union forward for the 2010/11 academic year. 1540 students voted in the election, over 1000 of which voted online. The competition within each position was the closest in recent memory with a diﬀerence of just a handful of votes between several candidates. The results are as follows; for the position of President Matthew East was re-elected with a total of 834 ﬁst preference votes against Mark Crouchman’s 418. For the post of

Academic affairs Officer Liz DobsonMcKittrick was elected with a total 612 votes with Jenny Harangozo a close second with 511, Mary Ayinde received a respectable 328. The post of Communications Officer was won by Simon Ruggles with a majority of just 80 votes, this was Simon’s second year running in the elections after losing to Lisa Pool in 2009. Simon received 603 votes with Sarah Channing-Wright incredibly close on 523. Student Experience Cambridge officer was again a close affair with Kelly Sweeney re-elected with 558 votes with Chloe Brown and Ozlem Cansiz receiving 406 and 91 votes respectively. Student Experience Chelmsford officer Maiken Andreason was uncontested and fought off ‘Re-Open Nomination’ 832 to 96 to

editorial team Simon Thomas Managing Editor

Jenna Grabey Activities Editor

Richard Conway Deputy Managing Editor

Matina Docklova Student Affairs Editor

Lisa Pool Editor in Chief

Ellis Clarke Lifestyle Editor

Vacant Photography Editor

Angeline Lilles Music Editor

Sarah ChanningWright Design

Cassie Andrews Reviews Editor

Lisa Pool Features Editor

Vacant Sports Editor

From top left to bottom right: Kelly Sweeney (Student Experience Officer, Cambridge), Maiken Andreason (Student Experience Officer, Chelmsford), Liz Dobson-McKittrick (Academic Affairs Officer), Matthew East (President), Simon Ruggles (Communications Officer). Photo by Ellie Hartland

Here at The Apex we are always looking for new people to get involved. If you would like to write for any of the sections above see www.angliastudent.com/student_ media/apex for more information or e-mail info@angliastudent.com

The opinions expressed in The Anglia Ruskin Apex are not necessarily those of the Editor, Editorial Team, Advertisors or Anglia Ruskin University Students’ Union. Every eﬀort is made to ensure all articles are as factually correct as possible at the time of going to print, given the information available.

features be re-elected into post. Full details of the Part-time oﬃcers elected into post are available on the angliastudent.com website. The Union ran an election awareness campaign which aimed to highlight to students that their opinions really matter. The speech bubble campaign asked students to tell the union ‘What you want to change at Anglia Ruskin’. The hundreds of comments across all four campuses can be viewed by all on the angliastudent.com website. The comments from students will help the newly elected oﬃcers prioritise their campaigns for 2010/11 to ensure the needs of the student population are met.

Hattersley Visit by Robin Turner Photos by Thomas Pinney

nglia Ruskin University welcomed one of the Labour Party’s eminent speakers as Roy Hattersely arrived to give a talk at the ARU Mumford Theatre. The University laid host to one of its most prestigious speakers as Lord Hattersley arrived for a special evening of history and politics, organised by the Anglia Ruskin Labour History Research Unit and chaired by the ARU Vice Chancellor Professor Michael Thorne. The Labour peer returned to Anglia Ruskin following his contribution to the University’s book festival at its Chelmsford campus last year. He is acclaimed for such literary works as The Edwardians and Borrowed Time: The Story of Britain Between the Wars, and is currently writing a new

2 But why is the election important at all? The union represents all 25,000+ students at Anglia Ruskin and its sole aim is to enhance your university experience. As members you are entitled to vote in the election and decide on the direction of your union, you are also entitled to be a candidate and run in the elections. The Students’ Union is central to the University’s decision making process so if you’re interested in the future of the university and your experience whilst studying here you should vote in future SU elections and elect the candidates that best represent your voice.

biography of David Lloyd George, to be published later this year. As a Labour peer, he is predominately known as an essential figure in parliament, having attained his seat in 1964 and going on to serve in each of Harold Wilson’s governments. During his illustrious time in parliament, Hattersley was instrumental in some of this country’s most decisive moments of the century. In 1969, he sanctioned British troops into Northern Ireland, delegated the territorial conflicts between Iceland and the UK, in what became known from 1975 as the ‘Cod Wars’ and, between 1978-79, served in James Callaghan’s Cabinet during the notorious ‘Winter of Discontent’. In 1983, he lost the leadership challenge against Neil Kinnock earning himself a commissary seat as deputy leader. He then finally attained a peerage in 1997. Among those present at the parliamentarian’s live discussion was East of England MEP Richard Howitt, Labour candidates Daniel Zeichner and Terrick Shahid and various representatives of Cambridgeshire’s Labour parties. Also present was ALSS DeanProfessor Derrik Ferney and Dr Alison Ainley, Head of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences.

All responded positively of the Labour Lord’s visit. “It’s a welcomed opportunity to address the current issues to a senior parliamentarian, such as Lord Hattersley”, said one guest, “especially with the upcoming major elections this year”. On this subject, Hattersley speculated on the elections. “It’s a two-horse race”, said Hattersley.

Lord Hattersley began his lecture by expressing that ideology was an essential element of British politics. He discussed only the fundamental parts his parliamentary career, saying “I stood in more parliamentary elections than I can count, losing only one by 21000 votes”. Hattersley admits he is a class warrior, advocating his party’s post-war policies as having an ethical framework and using the example of increasing taxes for public services. He then drew a laugh from the audience as he joked that Tony Blair was “much better working for me than as Prime Minister”. Yet, paradoxically, he accounted for Lady Thatcher as being imaginative during her long tenure in Number Ten, saying that “great prime ministers can change the weather”. After his talk, Lord Hattersley addressed the questions from the audience, and these included one about the recent MP’s Expenses Scandal. Here, Hattersley bolstered his view on modern political representatives, saying that it is ‘undesirable’ for people to go straight into politics without having done anything ﬁrst. Following a further crossexamination from ARU History lecturer Sean Lang, Hattersley went on to say that the MP’s Expenses scandal demonstrated a lack of conﬁdence not in ideology but in the business of government.

features The Labour peer responded to student’s canvassing of the government reducing investment in higher education by saying that such cuts, while needed, should be in less painful areas. Hattersley went on to propose a Graduate Tax in place of the current system, saying that student loans are essentially a deterrent.

Lord Hattersley left the stage to warm applause from the audience, before holding an exclusive interview with the Apex. Our reporter approached him on the subject of recent controversy with ARU Chancellor Lord Ashcroft and his tax status, which he kindly declined to comment on. However, on the subject of the recent news on the passing of the great parliamentarian Michael Foot, the day before, Hattersley continues to believe that radicalism will endeavour within British politics. He then cited John Cruddas and Ed Miliband, the brother of Foreign Secretary David Miliband, as genuine Social Democrats. Lord Hattersley went on, “I actually think that the Labour party after the next election- win or not- will be a great deal radical than today”.

Interview with Tony Juniper by Richard Conway

Given recent reports that less than 50% of people under the age of 25 do not vote, how do you address the views of younger voters who do not believe the political system cares about their concerns, and how would you overturn this political apathy? I think a lot of people have lost interest in a system that has become tired, predictable and adversarial rather than trying to solve the problems of the twenty-first century. The Green Party would be offer fresh voice in politics, ready to take on those challenges of social justice, and environmental change, instead of just debating ideologies. How do you intend to combat a political system which ignores public opinion (such as the decision to start a war in Iraq)? It is up to the voters to help make that change; by electing Greens. We would be responsive, and reflective, upon the views of the country. The Greens in Westminster would add a distinctive voice and create political discussion on all areas important to the voter. We need also to look at the current use of a ‘First Past the Post’ system of election, and instead use proportional representation as a fairer way of representing the views of the electorate. Many students struggle to pay tuition fees, and now Gordon Brown has implemented cutting funds to Universities and raising fees again, many would be, and current, students may fall out of the educational system. What are your plans regarding this matter and will you campaign/vote against future rises in tuition fees? This is a cause close to my heart as the only reason I was able to attend University in the 1970’s was because of Government backed Student Grants.

Had they not been available at the time it would have been impossible for me to attend. The Green Party would abolish Tuition Fees immediately and bring back these grants. Higher Education is the foundation stone of a strong society and should be made available to anyone, regardless of their background, or economic class. We also need to look at opportunities for those who may have not excelled in academic practices, or simply prefer an alternative direction for further learning, and invest in apprenticeships. The University of East Anglia recent reports doubted the validity of claims on the Greenhouse effect, how do you respond to these findings? It seems only a right-wing minority still believe that the science in climate change is wrong, and most doubts cast in recent months have come from people with political, not scientific, agendas. We know that climate change is a major concern for the majority of voters and we are looking into ways of cutting carbon output dramatically. Having spent twenty years studying climate change I know that if procedures are not put in place now, in the next thirty years the country will look very different. We are planning for the future by acting today. Cambridge suffers from a poor transport system, and succeeding Governments had refused money to improve this problem. What are your plans to improve Cambridge in this way? We would promote the use of alternative ways of travel, such as cycling, park and ride, a reliable bus services, and improvements to the rail

features system. We would also look into the development placements of homes and business so we may cut down the amount of travel people make in order to get to and from work. Congestion charging, such as that used in London, may be brought in if necessary in order to cut down the traffic flow in the centre of Cambridge. But this is not an ‘anti-car’ agenda, as some have labelled it, given those suffer most from congestion are in fact motorists. Our message is that we want to give people reasonable choices in their use of transport, and I believe those who would benefit most would be the car drivers themselves. Due to the recession many businesses are foreclosing, including major businesses such as Borders. How do you intend to reverse this and how do you address concerns of Students that full-time jobs will not be available to them after completing their studies? We have a scheme called the ‘Green New Deal’. In this we plan to create jobs for everybody and to re-diversify our economy. We can not revive our economy with the same methods that have failed it in the past, and so we will look into creating jobs that are not retail/shopping/financial reliant. Instead we are looking towards creating opportunities in renewable energy sources and sustained agriculture. We have to set out clear and precise plans for future economic development. Who will win the Premiership, and do you think England will win the World Cup in South Africa? England could win it; and we have a fantastic group of players. We came so close at the last World Cup; I think if the players take that experience and build on it then we have a great chance. In terms of the Premiership, I am afraid it has become too predictable, and a media driven institution rather than a sport. I personally would rather head down the road and watch Cambridge United play.

4 Time for Action Win a Great Global day of action Prize! Earth Hour - switch off your lights! by Aysu Mola

Are you turning the lights out? 27 March 2010 20.30 – 21.30pm. Help the planet’s future

n December 2009, the world’s governments were gathering in Copenhagen for a Climate change Conference to usher in the New Clean Ecosystems. They claimed to ensure political actions to reduce CO2- emissions, and to cooperate with progressive businesses and industries to reduce their carbon footprint. The leaders were not successful in solving all the conflicts put forward however used a step by step approach achieve targets. The climate conferences in copenahen brang all the world’s leader together to hold warming below 2’C. But the conferences made a dissillusion for all when the worlds leader couldnt find the key solutions. It was such as a big shame. Now they are trying to develop new solutions to protect ecosystem until the Climate change conferences in Mexico in 2011. For the new clean ecosystem future the leaders need to think more about the impossible is possible. Climate changes are one of the largest global environmental problems today. The future is calling and the the world is waiting. Now is the time to take action. On March 27th at 8.30pm millions of people will switch off their lights for 1 just 1 hour in a symbolic show of support for climate changing in the world, for our one and only planet. We’ve only got one planet, so it isn’t that hard to work out what we need to do and we have to show our resbonsibility to our children’s future. Our resbonsibility is to protect the beatiful earths ecosystem. It is not hard to work out what we need to do. Follow the details at: www.panda.org

You have a chance of winning a great prize if you complete the LibQUAL+TM library survey – a Wii Console, IPod Touch or Amazon vouchers. The survey will run from Monday 19th April to Friday 14th May on the library website at http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk . We will send you an email to let you know when it starts. Your views are important to us. The survey will tell us what you think about library services and help us to improve them. It is a detailed survey, so it will need 10-15 minutes of your time to complete. It is confidential and your responses cannot be traced back to you, even if you have given your email address to qualify for a chance of winning a prize.

lifestyle

Ellis Clarke Lifestyle Editor

It’s not what you drink... by Callum McCarthy

hen I came to Cambridge, I wasn’t entirely optimistic about the people I’d be meeting and the partying I’d be doing. Any city dwelling that prides itself on its intellectual culture and deep history simply cannot be home to 24 hour party people. After an extensive tour of the university and then the city itself, my convictions were stronger than ever. I came to the conclusion that the Zionist church next door probably had more drunk people having a good time than anyone else within a 5 mile radius. I stand corrected. Sort of. While Anglia Ruskin University could drink Alcoholics Anonymous under the table, the floors that our poor, wandering student souls pass out on lack a certain je ne c’est quoi. Sure, we’ve got Fez with their cool floor sofas that turn into mass orgies by 2am, we’ve got Soultree where you leave sweatier than an orang-utan’s armpit, we have Niche, a place that from the outside looks more like a tea dancing hall for pensioners and we have the lovely Revolution which Soviet Russia has banned me from saying anything bad about. None of these places come cheap, and due to the various sparkly venues available to us, we divide into our groups and go our separate ways. Socially, our university seems to lack an identity, a mutual hangout, a home. Our party stretches across the city, hordes of 18-22’s piling through Cambridge, toffed up to the nines. We spent half an hour on our hair just to go for a drink, and we’re meant to be male? When I first rang home to tell my parents what I was up to, they sounded heartbroken.

“WHAT? YOU DON’T HAVE A STUDENT BAR?” “Well, sort of Dad, but it never seems to be open. Oh, and it’s in the cafeteria.” My great father and Devonshire Teacher Training College rough cider drinking record holder, John James McCarthy, did not spend 3 years of his life in a student drinking pit to see his son have to adhere to a dress code in order to get a pint. He’d certainly be worried if I was spending half an hour on my hair. But I guess this is what we are now. We are the Facebook generation. Our long term memories are now obsolete. You can’t take a sip of a drink without the ﬂash of a camera in your face, but

it’s alright, it’s for your own good. You’ll now never forget this wonderful moment where you drank alcohol for the 487th time. I feel insanely jealous of my buddies who are at other universities, they’ve all got proper college bars with Sky Sports, projector screens and cheap beer. They go clubbing but only on the weekends, spending their weeknights either relaxing or drinking cheaply and having good conversation. I want a pint, but I don’t want to pay £3.50 for it. I want a pint, but I don’t want it in a setting that has less charm than Silvio Berlusconi on Viagra. It seems things have changed since John’s day, but if his rose tinted glasses represent the truth, he had a hell of a lot more fun than we’re having right now.

lifestyle Confessions of an Intimidated Geek How to Tackle Sport Head On...and Succeed by Jess Dolby

for one, quiver at the knees at the thought of exercise and sports. I think it predates back to my youth, when I was in school and there were the scheduled lessons where sport was compulsory. Emphasis was placed on ‘team games’, where the popular, sporty kids were placed as leaders of the packto choose their teams and leave the unpopular to suffer. I remember all too well, the uncomfortable self awareness as I was left standing alone, neither team wanting to have me on their side. My own self deprecating tragedy should be left for when I write my autobiography- the sorrows of the schoolchild and other stories, where the world’s smallest violin is playing for me. Although, surely I hear you say, I should have undergone years of therapy by now and this should all be left in the past? Perhaps you are right. However, I like to believe, as time goes on the cults of school and the identities you find yourself in there, can be given a full dosage of barbiturates and be put to sleep. Now in the transition we find ourselves in, between irresponsible students and sensible adults, we can throw abandon to the wind and embrace a new self. Hopefully, all self consciousness is left in the adolescent cocoon and a comfortable body can be inhabited. God Damn, I will play sports if I want to, I will run like a small child, I will throw balls. And I hope that one of the balls will hit the Jock from my youth on their head! Luckily, at University there are some quite affordable pastimes to get your blood pumping somewhere other than your crotch. For those who

fancy some cardio, some bikes and running machines, there is the brand spanking new gym. Membership is a meekly priced sixty five pounds for the whole year- and as the year progresses, the price comes down. Trick is to join half way through when there is less University work and pay less. Being a member at the University gym means cheap rates, good quality equipment and the ability to enable a healthy routine around your lectures and seminars without having to travel far. Although, if you want to go up a class and have the cash to splash, there are a huge selection of gyms offering reasonable rates to students. Greens gym has a good price for off peak hours and there are the benefits of a swimming pool, free access to classes, spa area and from what I heard from my friend, incredibly attractive personal trainers. The best bet is to shop around, look on websites and pay a visit to see if the gym is right for you. University itself has a stealthy selection of classes, especially great if you fancy having fun with your workout and something a bit different. All classes can be found on Anglia Ruskin’s website. Classes range from yoga (especially good as you pay at the end of each session and have the opportunity to learn all the correct posture names), contemporary dance (with the magical dance move, the contemporary apple pick- make of that what you will) and kickboxing (to unleash all aggravation and stress of exams and your evil enemy). Want to escape the University grounds with your workout? Then there are plenty of other options available. If you want to enjoy a social outing and keep fit, Cambridge Hash House

“Walking instead of taking the bus and cycling everywhere burns more calories than you would actually imagine.” Harriers could be for you- famously boasting that they are ‘a drinking club with a running problem’. It starts every Sunday with a run around the countryside and then a pint or three in a local pub. Cambridge hosts several swimming pools at relatively decent prices if you have a student member card. In the summer the swimming pool on Jesus lane is free and open at all times, so if you are brave enough a refreshing swim can be all yours. Want to really embrace the wild side? Then ﬁnd a place along the River Cam with a couple of friends, plenty of towels and a bottle of something naughty (although for health and safety, please refrain from drinking until after your swim). From experience, swimming in the river is a true feat to say you studied in Cambridge! If all of these options still don’t feel like your can of energy drink, then there are simple ways of adding exercise into your day to day life. Walking instead of taking the bus and cycling everywhere burns more calories than you would actually imagine. There is also the satisfaction that you’re helping the environment along with your healthy lifestyle helping you. So embrace the fact that you are who you are, and start doing the exercise that you want to do! Who knows, it could even be fun.

lifestyle Spring Fashion March 2010 by Jessica Flexton The APEX has a brand new fashion column this month! I’ll be bringing all you boys and girls the latest trends from month to month. This March brings with it the beginning of spring and a move away from masses of snow and cold weather! So, as the weather gets warmer we can pack up our gloves and scarves and have an excuse to give our wardrobes a bit of a re-vamp! p

Dorothy Perkins - £22.00 Topshop - £45.00

Women

and even colour alone can create a futuristic look. This trend may seem slightly scary at first but the key is to be daring and experiment - even if it seems a little alien! Bow headbands Spring fevers setting in and is bringing with it a bold attitude for 2010. Be brave in big bowheadbands and fantastic feathers. Pretty much any shop with accessories will be stocking headbands of all different colours and styles. The best thing about this is that they suit any shape or size and are fit for every occasion. Whether it’s a simple daytime bow or an extravagant headpiece for the evening, there’s so much choice available that maintaining individuality is easy. It’s all about finding the right one for you! Floaty Dresses Floaty dresses will be a must have this spring as this trend is perfect for throwing on in the day with a cardigan or dressing up in the evening with a black blazer and a pair of heels. Fabrics will be tantalizing silks and delicate chiffons with white and nude being the predominant colours. Overall creating feminine, effortless chic.

Sci-fi Prepare to propel into the future this spring cause fashions going sci-fi. We’re talking metal, scales and pointed shoulders. Yes, this does seem a bit daunting but no need to fret because a futuristic feel can be still be attained in a subtle way if it all seems a bit out there for you. Abstract Accessorize - £12.00 patterns, unusual fabrics Accessorize - £5.00

Men Nordic Knits Although spring Topman is on its way, it’s £50.00 still chilly outside so you’ll be glad to hear that big, wooly knits aren’t disappearing anytime soon. This trend is essentially a fashionable twist on what was once deemed as ‘The Christmas Jumper’. You know the one that your gran gives you on Christmas Day which then gets hidden away in the back of your wardrobe for the rest of the year. This look isn’t hard to achieve, not only are these big, chunky knits found in most high-street stores, its worth having a look in vintage and charity shops too. Rural Outdoors Get rural and rugged outdoors as you get back in touch with nature by donning checked shirts and animal motif t-shirts and jumpers. Checks are remaining firmly as a fashionmust with the main focus on blues, reds and greens to give a real outdoorsy feel. We’ll be seeing lot’s of wildlife about as animal motifs are going to be hounding the high-street. So get hunting!

Topman £28.00

Urban Outfitters £28.00

lifestyle Twitter This bird has flown by Ivan Stoyanov

eople all over are Twittering. But what is Twitter really? In just 140 characters you can keep family, friends, and coworkers up-to-date with what you’re doing by using an instant messenger service, the web, as well as mobile texting, or other venues. Send your “tweet” in a minute! The Creation The idea of Twitter was originally initiated by Jack Dorsey and elevated to the rank of an incorporated company in May 2007. Ever since, it has been registered in popular consciousness as the newest Internet phenomenon and has been often featured on news web channels. Despite its character limit, Twitter works as a microblog-type-ofthing. Once a “tweet” is posted, people are then able to see what other people are doing. Individuals can, in turn, let others know what is going on with their life on a day-to-day basis. You can share and discover what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world. The only question posed is: “What are you doing?” It’s free to join, so simply complete a profile accompanied by a recent picture of yours. You should then link the account to a cell phone, web page, or instant messenger program, which would allow you to receive and send messages to and from others. Now, you’re set on to beat a path for your “tweets.” Apart from splashing your thoughts over the cyberspace, you might as well consider following other users. Thus, Twitter adopts the role of a really unique social media tool that could help individuals earn an extension on the lease of article marketing, social networking, promoting website traffic to specific websites and staying in touch

with people. Even the president of the USA has been recently reported to have twittered about his Making the bird speak cash Twitter has also harnessed great popularity with Internet marketers who now realize that most people will open a message from Twitter. Ann Handley, the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, speculates that Twitter’s usefulness will only improve as news outlets begin to figure out ways to harness that immediacy. ‘Yahoo’s engineer Vik Singh, for instance, created TweetNews, a mashup of Twitter and Yahoo that takes Yahoo’s news results and compares them to emerging topics on Twitter, in effect using what’s most popular on Twitter as an index for determining the importance of news stories,’ goes on the market guru. Needless to say, Twitter is a terrific tool for today’s busy individual. Companies, for instance, are growing rapidly and aim at offering a way for their employees to access groups, much like Yahoo has now. This also comes in response to a large number of people demanding this service. Journalists, on the contrary, use Twitter to engage with their audience, connect with sources and continue building their personal brands. The 140-character format forces writers to focus their attention and get straight to the point. Media.On.Twitter is a sortable database of journalists that includes their real names, Twitter usernames, beats they cover, media outlets they work for and the countries they live in. In her recent “Journalist’s Guide to Twitter,” Leah Betancourt sparks a debate over news writers who use Twitter specifically to crowdsource

stories and promote their work. @ wonkydonky, an established PR and random twitter user shares that It both improves one’s knowledge of the industry issues and markets, but also has the potential to lead to pitching a client if someone is writing about something an area relevant to my portfolio of clients.Putting questions as tweets at the start of the day is a mandate for most of the journos - a device of a consistently high quality that challenges followers to come up with a better provision of opinion on the subject. Rather than interviewing random people in the streets, journalists on Twitter get more targeted feedback from those with relevant life experience. Foot ‘Tweet’ Note ‘I haven’t twittered in a while. Been very busy. Did some traveling recently. I think I like the president of France,’ notifies us, funnily enough, the president of the USA Barack Obama. But don’t let that take you in. It’s not easy. Sure, twitter resembles talking, like entering a massive room full of others having a conversation while you’re stood in the corner. Some Tweeters are expert at drawing you in, others seem incapable of hearing a word you say. Just like real life. Your Twitter profile is public by default; if you’re hesitant to have strangers read your updates, protect your profile to approve followers and keep your updates out of search. Most importantly, don’t overdo it with the updates. Consider sending one message a day or setting up different groups, so as to target specific “tweets” to those who are really interested in what you are saying… which reminds me, I should be off now. I just remembered I haven’t twittered today.

lifestyle What’s love got to do with it? A post valentine’s query on what women want

When size matters iPad

by Elliot Turner

by Ivan Stoyanov

At just 1.5 pounds, iPad comes into the world this March with a 9.7-inch LED back-lit IPS display with remarkably precise Multi-Touch screen. Now, imagine paging through websites, writing e-mails, or watching a movie on that.

ay back when all a fella had to do to get the girl of his dreams was sneak up behind her and cluck her over the head with his club before dragging her back to his cave. These days that’s illegal and so us men often end up stuck in our now furnished and central heated caves drumming our own skulls in the hopes of understanding what it is that women want. If you ask our fair ladies (which I have) what exactly it is they want you they will tell you quite the array of things the two main ones being spontaneous and affectionate. What they mean by spontaneity isn’t that you need to call them at four in the morning telling them you’ve booked a flight to Antiga that’s due to leave soon but that sometimes you need to take some time and plan a little something different that’s unique only to the two of you. As far as the affection business goes it’s important to be there for them when they need you and not just be there in person you also need to be supportive even over something seemingly trivial to you it may well have an insurmountable significance to the so be nice. Other advise stems to more material goods it transpires they are particularly fond of chocolate and “don’t get me any” in fact means grab as much as you can carry unless they have dairy allergies in which case it really does mean “don’t get it anywhere near me”. There are also rumours that they enjoy good listeners however standing next to a girl with your ears open will get you know where, what they mean by this is give them a window to talk by asking interesting questions and listen waiting until they finish and ask them

How don’t you just want one? One thing that many have been wishing for when they look back on the iPhone is more screen real estate. The iPad addresses this problem in spades. With 140 000 apps at your ﬁngertips, iPad holds a great deal more information, does colour and, of course, is hooked up to the Internet. Magical and revolutionary as Apple developers determine its nature, iPad works the way you would interact with a pad of paper. Featuring the iBooks application, which displays books and other ePub-format content downloaded from the iBookstore, iPad does its job better than any hard copy you have ever ﬂicked through. another. It is usually a good idea to ask a question about something they just said this is how they test your listening. They also tell me they want love, attention and that there for life (or at least a while) and not just the day you picked them up on (except in a few instances). The only advise that seems to work is be friendly and take your chances when they seem to be appearing; as the old say you never regret what you’ve done only what you didn’t do. Oh and of course no doesn’t always mean no, but most of the time it does so show a little respect.

The initial disappointment after the device didn’t meet customers’ expectations, though, sparked ﬁerce debates due to all the media hype. Some say that "look, a laptop computer has a bigger screen," but Apple CEO Steve Jobs joins in the discussion by pointing out to the absence of a touch screen in laptops. He even compares working on an iPad to An "intimate" experience. As for all the prognostication on how well it’ll sell, whether Apple is likely to save the publishing industry, or will iPad bring world peace and feed starving children, I have no clue. But I know I want one.

music

Angeline Lilles Music Editor

Live Review & Interview The Ghost of a Thousand at Club Subculture, Anglia Ruskin SU Academy, 11/2/10 by Jon Hazell Photos by Alfie Adams

n the last year the Alternative Music Society has transformed from its humble beginnings to maybe the most organised group of Metalers, Greebos and Scenoids this little university has ever known. Now moving their sights towards live music it was to my complete astonishment when they announced we would be having The Ghost of a Thousand, one of the most innovative and critically acclaimed rock acts of recent times, playing in what is essentially our canteen. G.O.A.T. are an aggressive five piece punk act formed in Brighton in 2004. The band spent years touring with Gallows, Alexisonfire and AntiFlag amongst many others and steadily rose to fame after the release of two albums and countless praise from the music press. Their first release ‘This is where the fight begins’ was a relentless onslaught of punk energy and 2009’s ‘New hopes, New demonstrations’ was slickly produced and relatively darker, but no less energetic. The band bring to the genre a kind of intelligence, sense of humour and tight musicianship while still maintaining the ability to simply rock harder than anything else in the room. Like many others I was pretty excited to see them make noise in the Helmore Building. Apparently unhappy with the distance between himself and the crowd singer Tom Lacey uses the microphone cable to lasso a large portion of his audience forward. Their set opener ‘Moved As Mountains...’ causes chaos that not even the huge sign reading “Caution, moshing can result in injury” could have prepared the audience for.

Thirty seconds later my good friend Toby bounces into an unsuspecting bystander covering her in the two pints of snakebite that she was holding. Next the single from their newest album ‘Bright Lights’ then later ‘Knees, Toes, Teeth’ and ‘Left for Dead’. The set consisted of songs new and old, luckily many members of the crowd know every word. Singer Lacey takes this opportunity to headlock several people (inclunding me) and scream the vocals directly in their faces. Finally just before their set ends, the band request the standard “split the audience in two and make them run into each other when the beat drops” thing. However, this wall of death is going to be different, Lacey explains: “Instead of running in and beating the shit out of each-other, you’re going to run and hug/high-five/kiss/whatever you want, the person opposite you”. And with that surprisingly utopian gesture the band finish one of the best evenings this Student Union has seen in a long, long time.

I was lucky enough to sit and have an albeit short interview with singer Tom Lacey afterwards… APEX: Last time I saw you guys you played a pretty big gig with Alexisonfire and others at the Junction. I guess tonight was slightly different to what you’ve played recently? Tom: I wouldn’t really say it was that different. We’ve played some big shows in the past but we still tend to play smaller rooms when we’re headlining. APEX: And I suppose smaller places give you more of a chance to get in the audiences faces like you were doing tonight? Tom: Oh no. You can still do the same in larger places, there’s just more security to jump over that’s all. APEX: It seems like your peers are quite important to you. How do you think the UK punk/hardcore is going at the moment? Would you say it’s dwindling? Tom: It’s still good, There are a lot of

music Tom: (Laughs) Actually that was our little joke. We are demoing for the third album though, just experimenting. APEX: Was it a hint that you may be moving away from writing shorter three minute punk songs? Tom: Not really sure. We’ve been together for seven years now and at the moment we’re just concentrating on keeping it new and fresh for ourselves.

bands out there that we really love. But I guess it may be a little, at the end of the day it’s got nothing to do with the way that your hair looks, you know. APEX: Now, I’ve been stalking you guys on Twitter. You mentioned something about demoing for a double album?

APEX: Have you got anyone lined up to produce the new album? Tom: We’ve got ideas, nothing definite. We can’t really say anything at the moment. Just in case it turns out to be someone different and I end up looking like a complete twat. APEX: Fair enough. And finally, do you think Anglia Ruskin Student Union should stage more gigs like this in the future? Tom: Well, yeah. [Looks at me as if he didn’t need to answer that question].

They put on a good rock night. Plus some of the music they were playing like Sepultura I haven’t heard since I was 14, that’s always good. Final congratulations go to The Alternative Music Society for their hard work putting on these events and also for ﬁnally giving the assortment of longhaired individuals at this university a voice. Well done everyone.

Listings March Wednesday 24th Half Man Half Biscuit, Junction Saturday 27th New Young Pony Club, Junction Monday 29th The Heartbreaks, Portland Arms Tuesday 30th Lauren Pritchard, Portland Arms

Live Review & Interview NME Awards Tour at Corn Exchange, Cambridge, 19/2/10 by Angeline Liles

here’s a reason I don’t frequent 14+ gigs, and I think it’s a fairly obvious one. But for this array of musical attractions I make an exception. Old favourites and saviours of indierock, The Maccabees lead the line-up, with Bombay Bicycle Club, The Big Pink and The Drums for support. A generous frosting of people born before 1990 provides sweet relief from the mass force of achingly cool teenagers that ﬁlls the Corn Exchange, a venue which looks and feels like a trussed up community hall and oﬀers little in the way of observing the stage. Some mystical and inexplicable decision means that music media favourites for 2010 quartet The Drums

have the honour of opening this evening, the penultimate in a string of fourteen dates across the country, concluding tomorrow night at the Brixton academy. Their set is brief but significant – these Brooklyn boys will be closely watched over the next few months following the fever of attention lavished on them from the British music press at the beginning of the year. Singles ‘Let’s Go Surfing’ and ‘Best Friend’ stand out from the rest of the set, with singer Jonathan Pierce expressing his enjoyment via the medium of quirky dance moves. I went to chat with the whole band after their performance to hear what they’ve made of their first touring experience.

APEX: You’ve kind of become an overnight sensation, with all the recent media attention and featuring in pretty much everyone’s ‘tips for 2010’ lists. Does it feel like things have happened quickly to you? Jonathan: Well, we only started this band a year ago, so everything to us is new at the moment. The only thing that’s not new is writing songs, we’ve

music been doing that our whole lives. Jacob: It feels like when you’re in a car and you’re trying to enjoy the scenery, but you’re moving to fast. Jonathan: We don’t have a moment to absorb what’s happening, which is great, because we’re moving so fast we can’t really focus on anything that we’re doing, so it kind of keeps us doing exactly what we’ve done since we started the band. We’ve found this great team who want to push us forwards with whatever we want to do. Our whole vision is to change things in the music world, bring things back to the song rather than focussing on production. We want to bring back that basic idea of a band made up of four guys who make mistakes, back to something tangible and real. APEX: So is that why you’ve chosen to self-produce your debut album then? How did you find that process? Jonathan: We wrote our EP [Summertime] at the same time as writing the album. Out of this batch of songs we pulled the summery ones and put them on the EP, leaving us with more serious, darker toned stuff for the full-length. We chose to self-produce because we didn’t have any money. Our whole EP and album is all recorded off one microphone and one guitar amp. We were really influenced by the band Orange Juice, there’s something about their songs that feels like they call fall apart any minute. That’s why we chose to do it all on our own, because we didn’t know how, and there’s much more satisfaction in someone trying to do something they really believe in than somebody who has all the knowhow just breezing through without any heart. Jacob: If you have limits it enhances your creativity. When you’re armed with computers you can do anything you can imagine, and I think that’s sort of a crutch. Jonathan: You see it so often, people writing perfect records with just one

12 guitar and a drum machine, and then you see the complete opposite of people who have everything at their disposal and they can’t write a song. When you have limits you have to work within them and be really creative and dynamic, that’s what’s exciting. APEX: It’s been mentioned before that bands like The Smiths and The Wake have inﬂuenced your music too. When you started writing, did you decide to try and emulate those bands? Jacob: Because we listened to all that as teenagers it creates a sort of musical accent and becomes part of your DNA almost. It would’ve been odd if we’d made a decision to try not to sound like them, and you’d still hear traces of it in our music because if you love something so much it just becomes a part of you. APEX: How has it been being on tour with these other bands? Were you fans of any of them before going on tour together? Jacob: We also don’t really listen to much modern music, we just live in this little bubble of our own little world, and we never really know what’s going on with music. Jonathan: We’re not like scouring the internet for new bands, it just has to happen naturally. Like everything else at the moment, it’s all happening so naturally. I think that’s why we’re not freaked out about things moving so fast, because it’s moving at light speed for the band but at the same time everything feels really natural, it doesn’t feel crazy to us, it doesn’t feel out of control, it feels like it should be happening. APEX: Seeing as this is the only tour you’ve done, how have you found it as a band? Adam: It’s been really fun vibes, just can’t really believe tomorrow’s the last day.

Jonathan: We started this band thinking it was just a thing between us, not thinking anyone would ever care, so then fast forward to us being here and it’s really surreal. But it’s cool to be playing these songs that we thought only we would give a shit about to thousands of kids every night… we’re really grateful. This hearty conversation means I missed out on The Big Pink, but I’m reliably informed they provided nothing to write home about, apart from a bold performance of the anthemic ‘Dominos’. Next up then is Bombay Bicycle Club, and I caught up with guitarist Jamie and drummer Suren before the show… APEX: I saw on your Twitter earlier that you guys were pondering how to spend your time in Cambridge. Did you ﬁnd anything to do? Jamie: Went to Fopp, and went for a walk behind Trinity and Kings. APEX: You left school in 2008, but have been a band since a while before that. How was it trying to balance education and the band? Jamie: It wasn’t that hard to be honest, there was never any pressure to miss

music stuff for school or anything. It was always clear that school was the priority. Suren: Yeah, we just didn’t do many gigs on weeknights. APEX: Did you always intend to make a career of the band thing, or was it just a way to pass the time? Suren: Originally it was just the plan to do it for our gap year, and see how it went, see if we enjoyed it, and now it’s sort of drifted into a second gap year. Jamie: Maybe not a third though. APEX: What does the future hold then, if not another year for the band? Jamie: Might go to university. Probably here in Cambridge to read Classics. APEX: Are other bands a big influence when you’re writing music? Jamie: I never really think about influences that much, I just know what music I like and I’m sure that has some bearing on our stuff. I don’t think it affects the way I play guitar or anything, I don’t try to copy other peoples’ riffs. People have been writing songs for so long that there’s only so many original things you can do left, and I’m not sure what they are. APEX: What effect has a big tour like this had on you as a band? Jamie: We’ve never even done a support tour or anything, so getting used to that is weird, and just being with a big group of people everyday as opposed to just six or so. It’s good though, we’ve made friends and it’s nice to be able to go and talk to people who aren’t just your band. I think it means it’s a

healthier relationship for the band as well, because it means you aren’t at each others’ throats. Not that I am normally. APEX: Which city has provided the best audience for you so far? Suren: Birmingham was pretty good. Jamie: Yeah, there was lots of jumping, and I got some pearls thrown at me. To be honest none of them have been bad. Some of the crowds, like last night in Portsmouth, the crowd was just crap. But that’s probably just because it’s Portsmouth. And it was in a leisure centre. APEX: Do you have any future tour plans? Jamie: We’re going to Europe in like a week. And then we’re starting the second album, and we’re booking festivals at the moment for the summer, and support with a really cool band, which I can’t yet reveal. Yeah, we’re very busy, basically. Their set went down well with the audience, producing the kind of upbeat

indie that has the tendency to become popular at alternative club nights and underage festivals. Despite their deceptively generic sound, there are actually some really interesting musical devices going on alongside some innovative ideas, making them stand out from the flock of bands trying to do exactly the same thing as them. Singles ‘Evening Morning’ and ‘Dust On The Ground’ evoke the most energetic response from the crowd, which is now suitably warmed up for the headline act. The Maccabees’ performance is a colossal and career-spanning set, delivered with their usual meticulous politeness and fervent zeal throughout. A three piece brass section is a welcome addition to the usual quintet as they play through debut album gems like ‘X-Ray’ and the rarely performed ‘Toothpaste Kisses’ which are lapped up by the appreciative crowd, while second album singles ‘No Kind Words’ and ‘Can You Give It’ are received with similar affection, and the band round off the evening with a refreshing cover of Orange Juice’s ‘Rip It Up’.

Thom Yorke supporting Environmentalist Tony Juniper at Corn Exchange, Cambridge, 25/2/10 by Richard Conway Photo by Valerio Berdini http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2010/02/photos-thom-yorke-cambridge-cornexchange-250210/

n a dark and dank Thursday evening in Cambridge the one bright spot shines from the Cambridge Corn Exchange, where Thom Yorke (Radiohead’s lead singer/songwriter) gives an intimate solo performance in support of Tony Juniper and the Green Party. Quickly selling out (Radiohead’s own website w.a.s.t.e. sold out in under

four minutes) those who are lucky enough to snap up a golden ticket begin to queue at 1p.m, wanting to get as close as possible to the magical musical maestro. Our venerable host, Tony Juniper - who looks like Leonard Cohen’s less sombre younger brother - mingles with well wishers, Green Party supporters and Radiohead fans with a conﬁdence that says ‘this is our party, you are all

music invited.’ A perennial smile and a strong handshake welcomes everyone to this evening’s festivities, and Juniper talks openly and honestly about any issue audience members care to ask. We may be here to enjoy the music but there is a serious message underpinning everything here tonight. Politics and music have become intermingled, almost inseparable, in recent years, but this is not a back slapping exercise for P.R. points but a call out to those who feel the political world has become as manufactured as the musical one. Tonight screams ‘we want to listen; your voices will be heard.’ Support act, Cambridge’s own Peter Um, takes to the stage, and with a mix of electronica and spoken-word both confuses and surprises the audience in equal measure. His music is a contrast of Scott Walker / David Bowie avantgarde, with a punk ethos towards the short and sweet and psychotropic feel of a trip into the unknown. He stumbles over his words allowing them to take control of the atmosphere, but with a lack of personality found within the songs, though not in his in-between banter, some fall flat and struggle to find space in the minds of a largely uninterested audience. He occasionally dallies with the profound, and track ‘Spaceman’, for which he dons sunglasses similar to those found on the front cover of a Calvin Harris album, shows promise but not enough to win over many of the partisan crowd. Before Thom Yorke appears, Tony Juniper takes to the stage to thank all who have come tonight. He speaks of the need for change in the political system and emphasises ‘we can make this change.’ His speech is brief, something of a rarity with political figures, and he introduces Thom Yorke to a loud ovation of applause, cheers and screams. Yorke launches straight into an acoustic version of ‘The Clock’ found on his first solo album ‘The Eraser.’ Stripped from its electronic shackles

14 allow this, and many other songs, to sour higher, releasing the beauty that was sometimes hidden under a host of ticks, blips, and beats. ‘The Eraser’ is quickly followed by ‘Weird Fishes / Arpeggi’ which shimmies through the haunting air of the Corn Exchange like a soft mist rising off the Cam. Even when Yorke plays the wrong chord it only seems to add to tonight¡¯s atmosphere. Pausing between songs to joke with members of the audience (‘Am I pregnant? No, I just have the hot flushes’), Yorke introduces his next offering to the salivating audience with ‘This is dedicated to the open-minded, liberal people of this country,’ before launching into the piano-lead new song ‘Daily Mail.’ With its nightmarish imagery and lyrics such as ‘we’re going to feed you to the hounds / to the Daily Mail’ the song is a scathing attack on the right-wing minority, and the dangers of racially motivated politics. On a night underpinned by politics it is a stark reminder of the importance of Democracy and the right to vote. ‘Amnesiac’ favourite ‘Pyramid Song’ and ‘Harrowdown Hill’ from ‘The Eraser’ get the biggest cheers of the night, both important songs in the evolution of Radiohead and Thom Yorke’s careers, before introducing new songs ‘Give Up The Ghost’ with its minimalistic beat, simple guitar refrain, and looped vocals, ‘These Are My Twisted Words’ and ‘I Froze Up’, the later, with its jazz-influenced coda, is introduced by Yorke admitting ‘I have never played these songs in public, only in my bedroom. Well, somebody’s bedroom.’ Yorke reiterates his support for Tony Juniper saying he’s sick of politician’s paying ‘lip service’ to environmental problems. ¡°People are scared of change, but half the country is supporting environmental issues, but we are not represented in Parliament. Now it could actually happen.’ ‘Spinning Plates’ stripped bare to just

guitar and vocals seems to echo these sentiments with Yorke singing ‘While you’re making pretty speeches / I’m being cut to shreds.’ Two more songs from Yorkes solo album ‘The Eraser’ come quick and fast before ‘Videotape’ from Radiohead’s last album ‘In Rainbows’ closes the set. The expected encore (the houselights don’t go up - always a good clue) starts with Yorke unveiling another new song. ‘I know,’ he says ‘not another new one. Noooooo!’ before launching into ‘Mouse Dog Bird’, with its gentle guitar picking and looped backing vocals. ‘Reckoner’, and a rare solo outing for ‘Airbag’, has the audience singing every word before ‘Atoms for Peace’ closes the first encore. With barely moments to go before curfew, and with the houselights till refusing to light up, Yorke appears for a genuinely unexpected second-encore. Even the sound-guy has to earn his keep and mix vocals and guitar live, rather than relying on pre-set monitors. ‘You may have to sing along with this one coz I forget the words’ Yorke jokes as he strums the first chords of the Radiohead classic ‘True Love Waits.’ Though the song has never been officially released the crowd sing along to every word, leaving Thom Yorke beaming brighter than any spotlight and leaving the stage to deafening cheers.

music

Saturday 5th June

Newmarket Racecourse

Millennium Grandstand

Tickets on sale soon! www.ruskinsummerball.co.uk

reviews

Cassie Andrews Reviews Editor

The Lovely Bones by Matthew Migliorini

dapted from Alice Sebold’s best selling novel of the same name, Peter Jackson’s re-imagining of The Lovely Bones is just as moving and compelling as its source material. Set in 1970s suburban America, the film centres around Susie Salmon’s struggle to let go of her life when she is murdered at fourteen by neighbour, Mr Harvey. From her place between heaven and Earth, Susie watches her world changed by her death. Packing a lot into its 135 minute running time, The Lovely Bones doesn’t once feel over stretched in its ambitious retelling. Managing to detail a family in turmoil, a disturbing picture of a serial killer, a chilling murder investigation and an imaginative cinematic vision of the afterlife, Jackson’s film is exceedingly rich in story tones and performance, all of which remain gloriously interlaced throughout. Close-ups of Mark Wahlberg, playing Susie’s father are particularly emotive, and Stanley Tucci’s Oscar nominated Mr Harvey remains terrifically threatening despite the film’s non-graphic depiction of the murder.

Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon also contribute solid performances in highly underwritten roles as Susie’s mother and grandmother respectively. Delivering a standout performance, Saoirse Ronan is aglow in her portrayal of Susie, perfectly instilling the character’s endearing youthful nature onto the screen in a manner that is overwhelming, captivating and heartwarming. Also guaranteed to leave a lasting impression on its audience is Jackson’s bold and highly imaginative take

on Susie’s ‘inbetween’. This element of the film being nothing short of mesmerising, with special effects that blend seamlessly into the rest of the film’s striking aesthetic choices. Whilst many Sebold purists will be disappointed by many of the film’s omissions, Jackson’s version is ultimately a far more cohesive and immediate empathetic experience to that of the novel and serves as a reminder of cinema’s power to amaze through its daring to be different.

U.S.A.”, however despite this, it’s a short and somewhat disappointing album. The rest of the tracks are somewhat mediocre and quickly forgotten, ranging dramatically in tone – from the odd attempt to break into punk rock, to the mellow and somewhat weak power ballads. The bonus duet with the Jonas brothers was pleasant, but sadly average when it came to delivering the vocals. There is no doubt Miley Cyrus is

attempting to ﬁnd a new direction with this release: her new tracks adopt a refreshing and mature tone on the whole, however there’s no doubt there’s still a lot of work to do before she can adopt a mature audience. On the whole, “The Time of Our Lives” is a fairly pleasant album if you’re into cheesy pop music, but don’t expect it to last.

Miley Cyrus The Time of Our Lives By Ailwyn McGeoch

hen I first listened to Miley Cyrus’ latest album titled “The Time of Our Lives”, I will admit that I was expecting the worst. However I was pleasantly surprised to find many of the tracks reflected more maturely and were at the very least, quite catchy. Her record includes the successful tracks “The Climb” and “Party in the

reviews Valentine’s Day by Arlena Stevens

or the unattached, Valentine’s day is often a hellish reminder of how utterly depressing it is to have your Facebook relationship status set to ‘single’. On the other hand, for those vomitinducing lovers out there who seem to think it is acceptable to publicly address their other-half as snuggle-buggles or poochiekins it is a valid excuse to drag said other-half to the cinema and force them to suﬀer an hour and a half of a romantic comedy. This year, the romcom of choice was the nominally appropriate Valentine’s Day, released (surprise surprise) just in time for February 14th. In a poor attempt to echo the seminal format of star-crammed British

counterpart Love Actually, director Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman) bites off more than he can proverbially chew with a too-big cast in too-little screen time. Within its 125 minutes Valentine’s Day struggles to juggle twelve separate strands and vainly strives to weave them together in time for the credits. As the titular day unfolds, relationships form and crumble, hearts are unimaginatively broken and mended, and a kid tries to send flowers to his valentine. Unfortunately barely any of the all-star cast is given the opportunity to develop their characters and truly charm the audience. Ashton Kutcher’s Reed Bennett is possibly the only a complete(ish) story arc, yet the enthusiasm with which Kutcher portrays the loved-up florist is slightly alarming (a friend of mine genuinely believed for a good twenty minutes that Reed was mentally challenged). Other big(gish) names that flit in and out include Jessica of both the Alba and Biel variety, Jennifer Garner, Kathy Bates and Queen Latifah, while Bradley Cooper, Jamie Foxx and Patrick Dempsey serve as eye-candy for the target audience. Twihards are bound to appreciate a fuzz-free Taylor Lautner as high-school stud Willy, a chap who ‘doesn’t feel comfortable taking his top off in

public’ (oh the irony). There were a few giggles to be had for sure, including a lewd crude comment about a Blackberry, and a restaurant scene in which ‘cheating pig soup’ is on the menu. Anne Hathaway demonstrates an admiral knack for accents and Taylor Swift does a dance so ridiculously stupid it’s actually quite amusing. Twenty years on from Miss Vivian, Julia Roberts realigns herself with Marshall, this time as Captain Kate Hazeltine flying home for the first time in eleven months. This is perhaps the film’s only acknowledgement of what’s going on in the ‘real world’ outside of its depiction of a self-absorbed Los Angeles inhabited by epicurean have 0been at a point in their privileged lives where they had to consider patrolling Hollywood boulevard to make ends meet. But I digress. Unrequited, extramarital, teenage, familial, school crush, heartbreak, realising-your-one-true-love-hasbeen-under-your-nose-the-wholetime: whatever the love, it’s all here in Valentine’s Day. And hopefully your partner will still love you after you con them into seeing this.

reviews Dan le Sac vs Scroobious Pip Get Better by Thomas Grimshaw

he newest instalment of this batman and robin style hiphop duo is certainly leaving nothing to chance. Their mind melting barrage of exceptional rhyming lyrics combined with a series of colossal beats that only the lyrical purity of these caped

crusaders can generate. If you are a fan of witty, hard hitting songs about day to day truths and happenings, then this is deﬁnitely an album for you. However if you are not such a fan it should still be on the list of music that deserves to be listened too. Mainly because it has to be heard to appreciate their lyrical marvel.

Arctic Monkey Candle Thieves My Propeller

Sunshine and Other Misfortunes

by Thomas Grimshaw

ure to attract attention, and with the intention steal the lime light are the Candle Thieves. Their name comes from one of the sixth-fro chums habit of stealing wax candles from weddings. It is these strange ideas and thinkings that make this band so unique. To quote their website Welcome to the world of the Candle Thieves a very wonderful, weird and whimsical place. Deep thinkers can lose themselves here in gentle, poppy pleasures, and enjoy soft-hearted sentiments with sinister undertows. Right from the beginning of listening to it you can feel the music consume your mind. A great amount of focus and dedication has been

ith a familiar song entry, rest assured this is certainly an Arctic Monkeys song. Following their usual story line song with great backing music and classic Monkeys lyrical style, its sure to be a hit with those who havent heard it before. Fans of the Monkey will already be familiar with the song as this is the 3rd single to be taken from their latest album Humbug, and “My Propeller”, will be released on March 22.The Monkeys who are currently touring the USA will be back on our shores to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in support on the Teenage Cancer Trust on March 26, before returning to the states to ﬁnish their tour.

put into the album and it is clear to see this. The lyrics and words match perfectly to create song after song of great music, with elements highlighted even with instruments such as the toy piano being used. With a feel of Orson, Mumford and Sons, and The Kooks. It wont be long before we see them cropping up in the charts in the near future, especially after the success of Owl cities song, Fireﬂies. So let’s get thieving.

student activities

Jenna Grabey Activities Editor

New Groups within The Literary Society Short Fiction Group and Workshop

Poetry Group and Workshop

by Emily Babb

By Chris Hall

hile this may seem like I will hold a workshop session or two, blatant self-advertising but that is in the works for now. So (and I assure you, it is), please come, all those who are keen are I am using this short article to welcome discuss the (sort-of-new) Poetry If you want to receive information Club, set up as a part of the regarding meetings for the Poetry Literary Society. Club or are generally interested in Now, I am aware that as a whole the Literary Society, please refer to most people are not interested in poetry, our Facebook group: “Anglia Ruskin and that is fine, however when I speak Literary Society” . to individuals about their reasons, I am usually confronted with two reasons: one is a lack of confidence in the medium; the other reason is that the person just does not see the point. What I hope to accomplish with the club is an alteration to those views; firstly to prove that poetry can be universal, that it is not solely written for the select few who are lucky enough to be gifted with the power to understand it. Secondly that poetry can have a by Jenna Grabey point and be relevant to the world, but it also can simply be moving or even his is a take on Cambridge fun. Oscar Wilde said ‘art for art’s sake’ Spies from the Varsity and I most definitely agree with him. Newspaper. If you have an I must also stress that if you attend idea for an Anglia Watcher, please the club at any point, there is absolutely let me know and I am sure we will no obligation to know anything about get your “watching” printed. poetry, or that you are of the meek A group of cold students are sat disposition to take part. An objective round a table in The Wrestlers, when of the Poetry Club is to increase one gets up to use the toilet. Obviously the individual’s confidence in the no one thinks anything of it. Yet upon wonderful, yet sometimes frightening return they tell the group that in the world of poetry. toilet they saw some graffiti. The mere The meetings are, very roughly, fact this was mentioned the fellow arranged to include writing students realise there must be a reason exercises and discussion of for this and so enquire further. Only poets, or our own writings. to be told that the graffiti was “x + y= William Blake”. Followed by the They are usually held every comment, “well you know you’re in three weeks on a Thursday, Cambridge when you see graffiti like although this is subject for that!” change. Later on in the term

am in the third year of my English Literature degree, and starting to feel some immense strain. It is not the workload… actually, that is a big part of it. It is not only the workload, but the sensation that I am starting to become disinterested in reading. This alarms me. As I do not think many days have gone by in my life without me picking up a book of some sort. The problem lies in the fact that the most recent books have tended to be connected to my degree and are generally long, difficult and, more importantly, something that someone else has chosen. Therefore, as a (heavily influential) member of the Literary Society, I have put forward the idea of starting a short fiction group. The plan is that it will be somewhat like a book club only less time-consuming, and the group will be able to read and discuss pieces of fiction for pleasure, rather than as a means to obtain grades. Also, if anyone is interested, I would be happy to designate a segment of the meetings to workshop any original pieces of fiction written by members. If you are interested in joining this club or the Literary Society in general, there is a Facebook group that you can join (search for ‘Anglia Ruskin Literary Society’) or feel free to email me at emily.babb@ student.anglia.ac.uk for details.

Anglia A li W Watcher h

student activities

Cuddle Party By Bent Haugland

ave you ever heard about cuddleparties before? Or even been to one? In case not, let me briefly explain, and also some practicalities about the when, how and where of the coming events here in Cambridge. Cuddle Party is a workshop on boundary setting, open communication, affection and touch – and basically involves lots of fun, talking, meeting new people, and of course cuddling. It is a safe space where you can explore your own needs and boundaries in a nonsexual setting. The concept was invented in New York in 2004, and has spread all over the US and Europe; it is one of the most life-affirming things I know. Meeting up to cuddle sounds weird to some people. But as humans we actually need touch, contact and affection in order to stay healthy and happy. In our culture touch between adults is almost non-existing, and is only taking place in a sexual contact. Most of us don’t get the physical contact we need, and if not in a relationship, some people don’t get any

touch at all! Cuddle party is a place to reclaim and explore such physical aﬀection. People who attend Cuddle Parties come for a variety of reasons. Some attend because they do not receive enough touch on a day-to-day basis. Others attend to practice asking for what they want without the fear of rejection. Some come to learn to set boundaries and practice saying no. And some people come just to cuddle. Cuddle Party is a laboratory where you can experiment with what makes you feel safe and feel good in a relaxing and safe atmosphere. A Cuddle Party is initiated with an hour of welcome circle, where we create a safe space and do some exercises to practice setting boundaries and asking for what we want, and is then followed by 2.5 hours of free style improvise cuddling like foot rubs, back rubs, spooning, hugging, while talking about life, eating fruit and just enjoying being together. Some people are natural cuddle monsters that just dive in and enjoy the cuddling without hesitations,

whereas other people are overwhelmed by their own feelings, more shy of nature, or need time and contemplation to ﬁnd their feet in a new setting. A cuddle party is a free space to explore your own needs and feeling, in the pace and manner you need, and you would never have to cuddle anyone at a cuddle party if you don’t feel like it. The parties are arranged on a nonfor proﬁt basis, which means I will only collect a small charge to cover the cost of the venue and the food and drinks provided. If you want to read more about the philosophy and practical issues of a cuddle party, go to www. CuddleParty.com and to stay updated on future events in Cambridge, join our Facebook group, “Cuddle Party Cambridge”. If you would like to get involved and help out with organizing the events, I would be happy to hear from you. Also, if you have any questions, please let me know. You can email me directly at bent.haugland@illutron.dk

student activities Rediscovering Greece and Rome by Jenna Grabey

or those studying Art, History or any creative course or take a personal interest in Ancient Greece and Rome, will be interested to know that The Fitzwilliam Museum has reopened their Greek and Roman gallery, with a refurbishment of £950,000, after being closed for 18 months. During refurbishment research and redisplay has taken place, making this exhibition a “beautiful” place to visit; the word I heard most from other people visiting the gallery as they gazed upon the ancient artifacts. Located in the oldest part of the museum, although at first you would not think so, but the neoclassical architecture on the elaborately decorated ceilings is a give away. When I asked a couple of visitors in their early twenties what they thought of the new gallery, they commented “oh, it’s beautiful” and “they’ve done such a great job”. There are many intriguing objects here, such as “Metal Monsters” from 640 BC, covered in scales and abyss for eyes. There are frightening objects from the Roman world that resemble torture equipment, only upon closer inspection, and reading the corresponding note, do you realise they are lamps! For those who like anything creepy, there is a delightful “marble fragment of a baby’s head”, dating back to somewhere between the 3rd and the 1st century BC. Along a similar thread, there are many gravemarkers and coffins as part of the exhibition. One of the most impressive artifacts here is a marble Roman coffin“sarcophagi” (flesh eaters)- from AD 150-200, yet was not discovered until 1833, and you do not need to have a morbid fascination to find it impressive. The marble is grey/cream and shimmers in the sunlight, which I especially

notice along the legs of a Dionysianistic satyr (woodland deity), and an arm of a maenad looks as smooth as the day it was carved. Every single wisp of hair from the centaurs tail is marked, however this restoration is not too much, as lines are noticeable where the pieces of the coffin have been pieced together carefully, to resemble what was. Another onlooker commented “I love this piece because the more you look at it, the more you can see”. This coffin has escaped any influence of Christianity and embodies the Roman passion for Greek culture, as depicted by the scenes of Greek mythology engraved into the

coﬃn, and however tempting it is to touch I recommend you do not. If Latin is an interest to you there are gravemarkers with Latin inscription from 60-100 BC. This has the same appearance as the marble coﬃn with shades of sepia. Along side the inscription lies an image revealing a dead woman with a dog trying to wake her, the woman is holding a pomegranate, a fruit associated with the God of the Underworld; Hades. The Fitzwilliam Museum is located on Trumpington Street and admission is free.

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Robert Sykes Sports Editor

News Report of ARUKBC @ Cambridge Town Vs. Gown by Bill Wallace Photos by Mark McManis

here is always the feeling of excitement on a day like this, the underlying feeling of stimulation before an event. Cambridge Town Vs Gown was held this last Saturday in the theatre of Manor Community college with about 180 spectators. It was the ultimate show-down between Anglia Ruskin Kickboxing Club, Cambridge University Kickboxing Society and CARISMA, the Cambridge Riverside Martial Arts. This was the culmination of months of work for Massimo Gaetani, the event organiser and universal coach for all three clubs. For Robin Turner, ARU History student and president of the ARUKBC, this was an exhilarating experience. “We received the challenge from CUKBS in September”, recollects Robin, “at the time, we didn’t really have a squad of ﬁghters. But it was too good an opportunity to pass by.” So after months of preparation and hard training, ARUKBC built up a strong crew of committed ﬁghters. In they strolled - seven boys and one

girl- arriving among the eager spectators, all wearing their royal blue kick-pants and t-shirts with white logos. Even local celebrities were among the spectators. Ex-professional boxer Ben Hudson was seen taking a seat at the front, holding court to fans and fellow-fighters within the clubs. Once the ring was built on the stage, all 29 fighters were ushered into the changing rooms by Pete Dunnet, the referee for this event, to be debriefed on the lightcontinuous format and rules. With the final preparations being made between the ring announcer, James Weatherall and Massimo, the show got under way. Vassil Richter was the first ARU fighter to step in. It was the fourth fight of the event and he was facing CUKBS Jeremy Leong. Both fighters were on even ground in their first live experience, although Leong had more sparring time. Undeterred from the baying crowd of the Cambridge University supporters, outnumbering ARU spectators, Richter held his ground from the pressure of Leong’s volley. But by the third round, Richter

overwhelmed his opponent, as he resolutely pushed himself beyond the limits of his endurance, scoring with ballistic round kicks and hand strikes to bring the fight to a draw. Next up was Alexandre LaRose, the dynamite rapier, as he coolly stepped into the ring. Alex’s fight, however, was somewhat uneven as he was facing Carisma’s Richard Blockley who was a good 10kg heavier. As the fight got under way, Alex returned pound-forpound every attack coming his way. But, by the 1st half of the third round, Blockley’s longer reach and heavy kicks got the better of LaRose as he succumbed to the inevitable. LaRose lost the match, yet impressed the crowd with his diligence over such an oversized opponent. Carisma continued their challenge when ARUKBC’s first female fighter, Marie Fygle faced with Rosie Snajdr. Despite having three years of sparring on Fygle, Snajdr found it difficult to hold her position under Fygle’s attack. Towards the third round, it was Fygle’s struggle with her endurance that

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brought the match to Snajdr’s side. Next up was Phill Richardson, the club’s Media Officer and star fighter, who was matched with Cambridge’s Franz Ronay. For the first two rounds the two played their strategies. However, weeks of hard sparring and commitment paid off for Richardson as he out-paced his opponent to score a win. Another Carisma challenge had ARUKBC’s Jamie Trotman, the club’s Finance Officer, facing the experienced Andy Gilham, who fought against ARUKBC’s Robin Turner in a demo match at last year’s Oxbridge Varsity match. Here, Gilham took full advantage of his substantial height with deadly axe kicks, which Trotman had only just managed to evade. Then, from out of nowhere, Trotman landed a jumping round kick to Gilham’s head, scoring a substantial number of points. With credit to Gilham for shaking off such a spectacular attack, Trotman went on to repeat more high-octane moves that won him the match. James Leggett’s fight with Carisma’s Phil McDiarmid, although a height difference of a near foot, was no less spectacular. At first, the odds were on the ex-boxer McDiarmid to win. But shortly into the match, McDiarmid struggled to maintain his composure, picking up a warning for excessive contact, and was KO’d from the match

with injury. Carisma’s Tom Hennessy and ARUKBC’s Chris Jones raised the roof with their match. The two heavyweights battered each other with explosive strikes. During the second round, it looked as though the ﬁght would go Hennessy’s way as Jones failed a number of jumping-spinning kicks. But ﬁnally, Hennessy succumbed to Jones obliterating manoeuvres, winning another match for ARU. The last match of the day was ARUKBC’s Captain Giorgios Evangelinos against Carisma’s journeyman James Bush. The crowd cheered as the two took to the ring in a deciding match between old rivals.

Bush and Evangelinos paced themselves around the ring, accurately scoring points with dynamic moves and placing devastating strikes that drew gasps from the audience. In the end, Evangelinos’ authority in the ring was too much for Bush as he conceded defeat to a final decision that some would consider was a very close call. An overall record for the day of five wins, one draw, with the two losses coming in greatly mismatched fights shows great promise for the ARUKBC. Back in the dressing room, Phil Richardson was in jubilant mood. “It was evident that ARUKBC were determined to make their presence felt, helped, in part, by Robin’s coaching methods”. Soren Denim, CUKBS coach, was more cautious in his reflections. For him, the event was an evaluation for the forthcoming Varsity match against Oxford next semester. “Our fighters have definitely put in a hundred-and-ten percent here.” Both teams agree how organised the event was and applaud Massimo’s efforts. “Many of the spectators were members of the three clubs and several of them pointed out how great the whole thing was”. To view video footage of the event go to www.youtube.com/user/maxgaet For more information go to www. arukbc.co.uk.