WWW.MANCUNION.COM 7th DECEMBER 2015 / ISSUE 11 FREE
Students protest airstrikes on Syria
»» MPs approve airstrikes on Syria »» Students in Manchester and across the country took to the streets to protest the decision »» More protests are planned
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Goldsmiths ISOC protesters intimidate ex-Muslim campaigner Last Monday, Goldsmiths University saw well-known human rights campaigner and ex-Muslim, Maryam Namazie, aggressively heckled and intimidated by protesters from the University’s Islamic Society (ISOC). Namazie had been invited to the University by the Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society (ASH) to give a talk entitled ‘Apostasy, blasphemy and free expression in the age of Isis’. As protesters disrupted the talk, they claimed it “violated their safe space.” Namazie, herself an ex-Muslim, fled her native Iran in the face of persecution and is a strong campaigner against Islamic extremism and Sharia law. She is a member of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and was named Secularist of the Year in 2005 by the National Secular Society. She is also on the central committee member on the
banned resistance group, the Worker-Communist Party of Iran. The night before the event, ISOC posted on their Facebook page: “We feel extremely uncomfortable… she is renowned for being Islamophobic, and very controversial.” A video posted online of the entire two-hour talk shows how the events unfolded. At around 11 minutes in, Namazie begins to interrupt. She shouts “be quiet or get out” a total of 17 times. To which the victim of the shouting claimed: “You are intimidating me.” Namazie then replied: “Oh, you’re intimidated? Go to your safe space.” At one point, some students seem to laugh when the murder of secular Bangladeshi bloggers is mentioned. Namazie responds to them, saying: “Is it really funny that people get hacked to death?”
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Ejections, Elections, and Rejections: Student removed from Senate Marcus Johns & William Brown Deputy Editor-in-chief and News Editor Last Thursday, student Ed Bird was forcibly removed from the Student Union’s Senate as representatives discussed the proposed abolition of the Students’ Union’s Safe Space policy. Thursday’s meeting was the second meeting of the newly-formed Senate. The Senate, according to the Students’ Union’s website, is a body responsible for: “representing students, helping determine the policies of the Students’ Union and holding democratically elected representatives to account.” It is formed of a range of Student Officers from
across the student body, the Students’ Union’s Exec Team, Education Officers from undergraduate and postgraduate departments, members of the Activities Committee, and a panel of “randomly selected” students “representative of the general student population”. Any student of the University of Manchester is permitted to attend the senate as an audience member but does not have voting rights. Members of the Free Speech and Secular society were in the audience, among others, to watch proceedings. Videos of Thursday’s event show security leading Ed Bird towards the exit. After three warnings, the chair asked Bird to be removed. He refused to go voluntarily and security was summoned.
The Senate was adjourned for five minutes as the situation was dealt with and the Students’ Union tweeted: “We have taken five minute break while an audience member is removed from the room after receiving three warnings for misconduct.” Bird told security that he would not be going under his own volition but would only go if led out of the room: “I’ll only go if you escort me,” he told them. Bird is clearly audible in video recordings of his ejection asking the security: “Can you escort me please?” Eyewitnesses say that as soon as Bird left the room, he became amicable towards the staff escorting him and subsequently left of his own volition. As he was being led away by security, he shout-
ed: “I am being no-platformed,” in reference to the abolition of the Safe Space Policy, about which the Senate was debating prior to his removal. He had complained throughout the debate, at times shouting during proceedings that the Senate was “not democratic”. Others, such as Leonardo Carrela—the sponsor of the 6th policy proposal to reform the Safe Space Policy, complained during the debate about the length of proceedings and delays, which prevented their motion being discussed despite the frequent interruptions from audience members that arrived with them.
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Features: Tweeting on the beat
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Fashion: A fashionably christmas special
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Music: Top ten albums of 2015
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Students from Goldsmiths University’s Islamic Society intimidated wellknown activist and ex-Muslim Maryam Namazie, including turning off the projector, gesturing death threats, and laughing at the death of a blogger William Brown News Editor At around thirty-four minutes in, Namazie displayed images of the Prophet Muhammad in a ‘Jesus and Mo’ cartoon. A student in the front row left his seat and turned Namazie’s projector off. Then security forcibly removed him from the room. After the talk, Namazie said that, “After my talk began, ISOC ‘brothers’ started coming into the room, repeatedly banging the door, falling on the floor, heckling me, playing on their phones, shouting out, and creating a climate of intimidation in order to try to prevent me from speaking. I spoke as loud as I could.” Reza Moradi, a lecturer present at the talk and who was involved in the group discussion that followed, said that one Muslim protester “Looked right into my eyes and with his finger, shaping hand like a handgun, touched his forehead,” in what Moradi described as a “death threat”. Since the event, ISOC has accused Ms Namazie of “harassment” of its members after the incident. ISOC has
What to watch this Christmas
In a statement, a university spokesperson said: “Goldsmiths supports freedom of speech and follows a set of regulations to help ensure that it is, within the law, secured for members, students, employees, and for visiting speakers.” However, the Campaign manager for the National Secular Society has said: “It’s becoming very clear the concept of ‘safe spaces’ is being abused to the point where it is becoming a direct threat to freedom of speech.
hosted three events a year, adding a Welcome Week date on top of the January and June dates. Pangaea Festival has reportedly become the larg-
est student-led festival in Europe. Pangaea will take place between 8pm and 6am on Saturday the 30th of January 2016, to round off the exam
“Some students may find criticism of their religion offensive but, in an open and free society, that does not give them the right to close down such discussion and intimidate those expressing their views.” Since the event, well-known scientist and atheist, Richard Dawkins, has described Namazie: A brave, wonderful woman, champion of the oppressed, of freedom of speech, and of women. The University of Manchester Students’ Union declined to comment Photo: Screenshot; Nano GoleSorkh
Pangaea Level 10 Charlie Spargo Editor-in-chief January 2016’s Pangaea theme will have a retro games theme, it was announced today. Titled Pangaea: Level 10, this will be a celebration of the Festival’s 10th birthday. “Featuring 15 stages—or levels—across the entire Students’ Union and Manchester Academy site, almost 6,000 students are expected to attend,” say the organisers. After the success of a sold-out September event, the Students’ Union are hoping that this will be the best one since its inception in January 2006. “We’re incredibly excited for the 10th anniversary of a festival which has grown from strength to strength to be one of the most important dates in the student calendar,” says Joel Smith, Activities and Development Officer. “It’s been really exciting to see hundreds of students getting involved with such a dynamic project.” 2013 saw the first year that Pangaea
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also condemned what they see as the “vile harassment of our ISOC members (both male and female) by the Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society (ASH).” According to ISOC: “Muslim students who attended the event were shocked and horrified by statements made by Namazie.” Strikingly, both the University’s Feminist Society and LGBTQ+ society have come out strongly in support of ISOC’s actions at the event. This action has received heavy criticism on twitter with many claiming Namazie has done more for for LGBT+ and women’s’ rights than either of the groups. According to National Secular Society, Namazie said: “The behaviour of the ISOC ‘brothers’ was so appalling that a number of Muslim women felt the need to apologise, to which I explained that no apology was needed from those who were not to blame.” She added: “Freedom of expression and the right to criticise and leave Islam without fear and intimidation is a basic human right. We have a responsibility to fight for these universal values at British universities and also across the globe.”
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period. Line-up and ticket details will be released in the coming weeks.
The Mancunion is the official student newspaper of the University of Manchester., established in 1969 with a readership of around 20,000. It is printed weekly for 20 editions and is distributed across campus and the city. All writers are volunteers and new contributors are always welcome. You can get involved by turning up to a meeting, the times of which are listed on the Mancunion website’s Join page. We gladly accept contributors from outside the University of Manchester.
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Continued from page one: Piccadilly Protest
Students gathered with members of the public in Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens and across the United Kingdom as Members of Parliament approved an extension of bombings to include Syria alongside Iraq Lola Albarn Reporter With the decision to bomb Syria being rushed through Parliament, urgent protests were organised across the country to show the people’s opposition to military action. Members of Parliament came together Wednesday the 2nd of December to vote on whether Britain should take military action against so-called IS (Daesh) in Syria. The debate came after the devastating terrorist attacks in Paris on the 13th of November. The French President François Hollande in response asked the European nations to do more and join them in the fight against the terrorist group; France’s warplanes have been executing military action in Syria for some Photos: Roisin Sterne time. David Cameron led the support for the bill, his main point being: “Do we work with our allies to degrade and destroy this threat and do we go after these terrorists in their heartlands from where they are plotting to kill British people, or do we sit back and wait for them to attack us?” Jeremy Corbyn was the figurehead of the opposition against military intervention in Syria. In an article for the The Guardian, Corbyn stated: “The
Prime Minister has avoided spelling out to the British people the warnings he has surely been given about the likely impact of British airstrikes in Syria on the threat of terrorist attacks in the UK.” In Manchester, the organisation Greater Manchester Stop the War Coalition used Facebook to spread the word out on a protest that they were hosting in Picadilly Gardens, five hours before the result of the vote was due to be released. According to the events page, over a 1,000 people pledged to attend and show their solidarity with the group. The march started in the centre of Picadilly Gardens and looped around the centre of town, through Oxford Street and Deansgate. The chants on the march included “welfare not warfare” and “David Cameron shame on you. Open borders, let them through.” Chloe Heard, a University of Manchester student and one of the protestors in the march had said that she “went to the march because I believe bombing Syria would make our lives in Manchester and around Europe more vulnerable—let alone those innocent lives in Syria that will be affected. We have learnt from the past that bombing does not work, it is a lazy reaction to a more complex problem.” Another University of Manchester student, Rob Paterson, who attended the protest said: “Trying to fight terrorism with a bombing campaign is like setting a house on fire to kill a mouse that’s hiding under the floorboards. It won’t work and Cameron’s assertions that it’ll make Britain safer and that casualties will be minimal outrage me. Many innocent people will die and if anything this will make us more of a target of terrorism.” One of the key speakers at the end of the march was 89-year-old Malcolm, a lifelong pacifist who had been imprisoned for refusing conscription in his youth. Speaking on the IS attacks in France, Malcolm explained these actions and stated: “If they are bombed from the skies, how can they retaliate? If they are shot with missiles from the water, how can they retaliate? By killing citizens.” Students attended protests across the country. Two Bristol correspondents Roisin Sterne and Ginny Fursse spoke to protestors there, one of whom said that “bombing is not going to do anything,” and that the government’s actions should be to “stop our relationship with Saudi Arabia, they’re the people who fund ISIS.” Another student added that there “was
a case for having some kind of intervention” but that it needed to be more “transparent, not just a yes or no dichotomy between bombs and nothing”. Despite the outpour of British opposition to the bombing of Syria, with 82 per cent of people voting against the strikes in a poll carried out by The Independent with 10,642 participants, the result of the MPs’ vote was in support of military intervention against Syria. The Greater Manchester Stop the War Coalition, along with others similar across the country, announced further action in response to this decision, and have organised another march on Saturday the 5th of December, at 1pm in Picadilly Gardens.
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Controversy at the Students’ Union Senate This Thursday, a University student was removed from a debate in the Students’ Union’s Senate chamber after three warnings that he was violating rules and regulations Earlier in the debate, Bird’s first warning came from his shouting during proceedings about the accountability of the senate, which was particularly bellicose during a procedural vote for recorded Photo: Rhys Hancock
voting during policy proposals five and six, regarding the abolition of the safe space and changes to it respectively. Making a clarification point during the debate about the very first policy, shortly following his first warning, Bird was cautioned by the Chair for using clarification points to make debate points, a caution with which Bird belligerently disagreed. Bird then expended his allotted time and refused to give the microphone back to the Students’ Union staff member that gave it to him. He slapped their hand away as they gestured for him to return the microphone. Subsequently, he declared: “I don’t need the microphone anyway.” This resulted in his second warning. He had previously called the staff member “an idiot” when told he was required to sit in the observer rows at the back. After the first proposal: “The Student’s Union to lobby the university to provide scholarship for refugees and those fleeing conflict zones,” Bird entered into an argument at the back of the room with members of the Senate, who were sitting on the Activities Committee’s table, which went unnoticed by the Chair. Bird’s third and final warning, which resulted in his ejection, came during the debate about the abolition of the Safe Space Policy. During this debate, Bird repeatedly interrupted people and eyewitnesses claim he became aggressive. During his response to a debate point made by a member of the Senate, Bird pointed directly
at Jess Lishak, Women’s Officer, who asked him to stop pointing at her. He also criticised her directly during his debate point, which is explicitly forbidden in the Senate’s rules. By directly criticising Lishak, Bird was given his third warning, which ultimately resulted in his ejection. After his ejection, Bird wrote on his Facebook profile: ‘I was removed from the Students Union [sic] by security this evening during a debate on the Safe space policy because “I violated the Safe Space policy”.’ (Note inverted quotations marks.) “I believe I am the first person ever to be forcefully removed from a Students Union [sic] debate.” On this status, Activities Officer Joel Smith pointed out that he was not removed for violating Safe Space. Smith said to him, “you were ejected because you repeatedly broke the perfectly reasonable rules of senate that everyone else regardless of their political opinion was respecting.” The Union’s Safe-Space Policy has been surrounded by controversy since speakers Julie Bindel and Milo Yiannopoulos were banned from a debate on whether modern day feminism had a problem with free speech. The debacle surrounding the event received international attention. A procedural motion to have the abolition of the Safe Space Policy proposal to be passed to a student-wide referendum was rejected by a Senate vote. The motion to abolish the Safe Space Policy was also rejected too. In its short life, the Senate has not been a stran-
ger to controversy. On its first congregation in October, it came under heavy criticism. Some called it insular and “fatally flawed to the point of being undemocratic.” In a statement to the Mancunion, Ed Bird said: “Societies fall under the umbrella of the Students Union, therefore the Safe-Space Policy restricts freedom of expression within those societies. What is the point of a debating society if controversial issues are not allowed to be debated? As adults we should surely strive to be adult enough to be confronted with views which make us uncomfortable. “I believe that universities should be places where we meet challenging and difficult opinions which we don’t agree with - those are good for our self-development. Even if every student here agreed that our university experience should be one in which our views remain unchallenged, I don’t think that would be beneficial to the development of our society. “How would we cope in the workplace environment? This is bad for our employability! I hear things I disagree with probably daily, but that’s the real world—part of your education here at the University of Manchester should be how to deal with that. “I have struggled and failed to create a possible replacement policy which does not contain within it restrictions on freedom of expression or segregation. If anyone is able to create a better policy I am sure the Students’ Union would like to know about it.”
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Manchester Access Programme turns ten Elise Gallagher Theatre Editor
2015 marks a decade since the Manchester Access Programme started at the University of Manchester. The Manchester Access Programme, otherwise known as MAP, was created in response to the university’s goal to recruit students who will be successful at Manchester regardless of the educational or social background they possess. MAP is a specially structured scheme targeting local post-16 students who meet specific academic and background criteria. As well as the development of key academic skills the aim of MAP is to support the participant’s entry to Manchester, or to another research-intensive university. During the scheme students will be given the opportunity to establish their potential through a variety of activities such as a series of personal development/skills workshops, one-to-one UCAS application guidance, and a two-day University Life conference. However, successful completion of the scheme is reliant on the completion of an academic assignment conducted under the guidance of an academic tutor at the University. All students who successfully complete MAP will then benefit from 40 UCAS points towards their University of Manchester offer and an annual scholarship of £1,000 upon registration on a course at Manchester. MAP targets students using criteria related to academic potential and measures of underrepresentation in Higher Education. Greater Manchester pupils wishing to qualify for MAP must meet all essential criteria. You must be in Year 12, currently studying a two-year Level 3 qualification—A-levels, BTEC qualifications, etc.—and either be living or studying in Greater Manchester. Potential participants must have attended a state secondary school. You must also have at least eight A* to C grades at GCSE including English Language and Maths. Neither of your parents have attended university and achieved an undergraduate degree or equivalent. Priority criteria is allocated to those who live in a ‘disadvantaged’ or ‘low participation’ neighbourhood, were entitled to free school meals (FSM) at secondary school or who also may receive a 16 – 19 bursary from their current institution. Students may also have experience of Local Authority Care or attended either a secondary school where the average Key Stage 4 performance is lower than the national average, or currently attend an institution where Key Stage 5 performance is lower than the national average. You do not need to meet all criteria in order to successfully gain a place on MAP, applications are judged on a case by case basis in order for the university to support their belief of “supporting talented students.” Application processes differ in respect to what course the student is hoping to study. Students hoping to study medicine, dentistry, or pharmacy have a more competitive process. As the three courses are highly popular there are a restricted number of places. If you are interested in pursuing one of these subjects at university, you must have achieved the minimum entry requirements at GCSE (or equivalent), in order for your application to be considered further for that particular subject strand. It is important to note that if you apply for the Pharmacy subject strand of MAP, and then decide partway through the programme that you want to apply for Medicine or Dentistry at Manchester instead, you will not qualify for the 40 MAP UCAS points towards entry. Alternatively, if you successfully gain a place on the Medicine, Dentistry or Pharmacy strand of MAP, and then decide you want to apply for a different course altogether, you will still be eligible for 40 UCAS points towards entry onto any other course at Manchester. Applicants for courses other than Medicine, Dentistry or Pharmacy will be eligible for the deduction of 40 UCAS points towards entry for their favoured subject. MAP is a key initiative which sole aim is to promote progression to the University of Manchester or any other competitive institution for those who may more obstacles than some on their pursuit for higher education. The vast majority of successful MAP students go on to become student ambassadors which help with the overall MAP experience as well as take potential students on tours around the campus whilst at the same time gaining invaluable material for their CVs. Applications are open for 2016. Regarding any queries contact: map@manchester.ac.uk.
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Turkey’s new HE laws blow to academic freedom Daniel Saville Reporter
Turkish private universities could be shut down under new laws if their staff criticise Turkey’s government. The regulations drafted by Turkey’s Higher Education Board (YÖK) have given the government the power to close down private universities “that have become a focal point for activities against the state’s indivisible integrity”, as reported by Today’s Zaman. In addition to closure, any private university identified as being a centre of opposition to the government could also face losing their academic independence and be placed under the administrative and financial supervision of YÖK trustees. Essentially, this would silence any remaining voices of protest within higher education, and as a result, the regulations are being seen by many as a severe blow to free speech in Turkey. The Turkish government have been able to silence voices of opposition from public universities for some time, including removing university staff. An outspoken critic of the government Sedat Laçiner, a former rector of the public Çanakkale 18 Mart University (ÇOMÜ), and professor of international relations, was removed from his position in April and transferred to a faculty 100km from Çanakkale as punishment for criticising the Erdoğan regime. This change in regulation faces opposition from inside the academic community. Despite recom-
mended alterations, YÖK is adamant in its insistence to keep a clause that allows it to close down private universities at will. These changes come amid other concerns about freedom of speech, such as a court decision in October to take over television stations Bugün TV and Kanaltürk, as well as the Bugün and Millet newspapers—on charges of supporting the anti-government Hizmet movement, run by Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen. This group is in opposition to the Erdoğan government, and as such its educational institutions and businesses qualify for closure under new regulations. There are currently 30 Turkish journalists in jail on charges from espionage, to overthrowing the government, and arguing that the restriction interfered with the legally-guaranteed freedom to receive or impart information and ideas. Many of those willing to level accusations of dodgy-dealings, corrupt practices, or covert government operations are silenced, and now this has been extended to academia. These proposals, however, do not just extend to controlling the influence of opposition groups, but they also regulate the quality of Turkish higher education. The same regulation states that any university that does not continue its educational operations for a period of three years will be shut down indefinitely. A measure that was initially intended to improve university education has been used instead to reduce the amount of opposition and scrutiny placed on the Turkish government.
Two-thirds of female academics are unhappy with their work-life balance ‘Workaholic’ working environments in academia are detrimental to the career paths of female academics Elena Losavio Senior Reporter The Times Higher Education reports that academic leaders work beyond their contractual hours. According to the Higher Education Leadership and Management Survey, 90 per cent of the male respondents and 85 per cent of the female ones said they work more than 48 hours per week. The survey also highlights a gender difference concerning the satisfaction with academic worklife balance. Female academics are more likely to suffer from stress and find it difficult to cope with pressure. 23 per cent said that they felt unable to manage the stress caused by their job. The survey’s results show that 60 per cent of men occupying a leadership position in the academia are happy with their work-life balance. Among female academics, less than 40 per cent said they were satisfied with it. The report, carried out by the Leadership Foundation for Times Higher Education, comes to the conclusion that long working hours are a wide spread phenomenon : “A culture of long work-
ing hours is clearly evident [which] translates to a significant number of academics and academic leaders reporting dissatisfaction with their current work-life balance.” The survey also investigated whether having flexible hours could be a solution. However, the respondents said that this would have little or even no impact upon the stress levels and the overwhelming dissatisfaction. The report stated fixing the levels of stress within academia staff is a factor, which can increase “greater institutional pride, a willingness to help contribute to institutional success, and a desire to continue working within the institution.” Although several academics expressed dissatisfaction, the survey shows that many of them said that work-life balance is an “active choice”. They answered that career aspirations often are in conflict with family commitments and to focus on one can undermine the other. Some academics were reluctant to embrace a workaholic attitude, because they wouldn’t sacrifice family for a career.
Welsh unis call for tuition fee grants to be scrapped New government proposals to allow English universities to raise their fees to more than £9000 a year will make the Welsh grants unaffordable Jacob Nicholas Reporter Welsh universities have called for tuition fee grants to be scrapped. The current scheme, which gives all Welsh students a flat rate grant of around £5000 each year in order to counter the increase in fees to £9000 by the coalition government (although this changes year by year) is “unsustainable,” according to Professor Colin Riordan, chair of Universities Wales. Riordan claims that new UK government proposals to allow English universities to raise their fees to more than £9000 a year will make the Welsh grants unaffordable. The Conservative party proposals would not affect Welsh universities, who would likely keep their fees at the same rate. Riordan suggested that the tuition fee grants be replaced with maintenance grants in order to help students who most need it, telling the BBC that “You could decide to spend the resource equally and thinly or you can say ‘let’s focus on the areas of most need’—so those people
who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, perhaps, or areas which need support, such as expensive subjects.” He also proposed the idea that these grants are given all the way from foundation level to postgraduate, in order to allow “many more talented people the opportunity to transform their life chances through going to university.” The Welsh government launched a review of higher education funding and student finance in November 2013, chaired by Professor Ian Diamond, which is expected to announce its findings after the Welsh Assembly elections in May next year. Universities in Wales have argued for years that the Welsh government grants take millions of pounds out of the Welsh higher education sector and into the English or Scottish sectors, since the grants are given wherever a student goes to study in the UK. Plaid Cymru have said that they would only give grants to students attending Welsh universities, whilst the Conservatives have said they would create a hardship fund to challenge inequality and those struggling with current living costs.
Nick Ramsay, Welsh Conservative shadow finance minister said in an interview with the BBC that “tuition fees aren’t actually repaid until you reach a certain threshold of income,” and that “there are many pupils in Wales at the moment who are finding it difficult with their living costs as well.” Both of these ideas have been echoed by Welsh Liberal Democrats, who want to replace tuition grants with maintenance grants and provide more direct assistance to Welsh universities who have been left “drained of cash” by the current policies, according to education spokesman Aled Roberts. A spokesperson for the Welsh Government told the BBC that “our tuition fee policy is an investment in young people. Over the course of a three year undergraduate degree, current students from Wales are around £17,000 better off than their English counterparts. The Diamond review of higher education and student finance in Wales is ongoing. Once published, it will inform the next steps for higher education funding in Wales.”
Government cut disabled students’ funding Eve Foster Reporter From 2016, the government will be cutting funding for disabled students, expecting universities to take on this responsibility themselves. Currently, the government offers Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs), non-repayable grants provided to disabled students through universities to pay for various different forms of support, consisting of specialist equipment including computers and voice recorders; support workers such as sighted guides, note takers, readers, and study coaches; and additional travel costs. However, after a consultation on DSAs, minister for universities and science Jo Johnson announced that although some specialist support would still be paid for by the government, such as sighted guides to help students around campus, higher education institutes themselves would have to cover the costs of non-medical support staff, such as note-takers and readers. There will also be a decrease in the amount of funding offered for equipment and specialist accommodation. According to the minister’s report, spending on DSAs has risen by 44% between 2009/10 and 2012/13. During 2009/10, £101.3 million was granted to 47,400 students, but by 2012/13 this had increased to £145.8 million to 64,500 students. The increase can be linked to an increasing number of disabled students attending university and disclosing their disabilities. In a written statement, Johnson stated that the move is to “ensure that the limited public funding available for DSAs is targeted in the
Photo:chrisjohnbeckett@Flickr
best way” and “to rebalance responsibilities between government funding and institutional support.” He pointed out that: “There is widespread agreement that higher education providers should discharge their duties under the [2010 Equality Act] to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate disabled students, as other organizations and businesses do.” A spokesperson for the University of Manchester said: “The Government first announced these changes to the Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSA) in April last year, and have just released their re-
sponse to a sector-wide consultation this week. Now that we have confirmation of the extent of the changes to some support worker provision, the University is planning how we will respond and continue to support disabled students. We see this as a positive opportunity to build on the provision for disabled students and to continue to meet our legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and will be consulting with colleagues and students via the Disability Consultative Group over the coming months.” However, others have been more concerned, particularly about the consistency of support offered across higher education institutes, worrying that students at different universities might not receive equal support. The National Union of Students suggested that smaller institutions with a higher proportion of disabled students might suffer a greater financial burden. There are also fears that deaf students will be adversely affected, because although sighted guides will be funded by the DSAs, note takers will not. Susan Daniels, chief executive of the National Deaf Children’s Society, said: “We are bitterly disappointed that the government has announced it will cut Disabled Students’ Allowance, which is a lifeline for so many deaf students at university. Deaf students desperately need support such as note takers because they cannot lip-read a lecturer or follow a sign language interpreter and take notes at the same time. Deaf young people are telling us they feel the government is intent on making it more difficult for them to go to university.”
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Manchester team Proteins that shows how gene command body gap interactions cells discovered can increase risk of some diseases
Scientists from the University of Manchester have discovered a group of proteins that enable body cells to move, feel and communicate with each other
Manchester and Cambridge scientists reveal new research on how the interaction of gaps in genes can influence the risk of arthritis, psoriasis and type 1 diabetes Tori Blakeman Senior Reporter Scientists from Manchester and Cambridge have shown that gaps between genes can interact to influence the risk of acquiring certain diseases. The expression patterns of genes within our DNA determine our observable human characteristics, physiological properties, and behaviour. As DNA strands are up to two metres long, they are required to fold to fit inside cells. Gap regions within DNA strands are known to interact with each other during this folding. This interaction turns on genes, controls gene expression, and therefore influences many aspects of an individual. In a recent article published in Nature Communications, Manchester scientists have shown how these gap regions physically interact with these genes—both nearby and distant from the gap region. If regions of DNA that in-
fluence different diseases ‘meet’ at the same gene, a risk of these diseases will increase. In this collaboration of researchers from the University of Cambridge, the Babraham Institute and the University of Manchester, it has been revealed that such interactions can increase the risk of arthritis, psoriasis, and type 1 diabetes. Funded by Arthritis Research UK, the findings suggest that individual genes may influence the risk of several diseases, depending on their regulation by the gaps and where in the DNA strand they sit. The genes found to interact with the gaps in this study were not previously thought to be directly involved in disease, which highlight how gap regions are crucial in the understanding of disease and in the development of potential treatments. Dr Stephen Eyre, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Manchester, said: “It used to be the case that researchers would
seek to identify a gene which caused a particular disease by a ‘nearest gene’ approach, to the gap regions.” “The reality is much more complex than that. Not only do the gaps between genes have an effect but, as we show in the new study, the gaps don’t necessarily affect the nearest gene—they can work over longer distances to turn distant genes on or off.” Future research in this field could identify more of these complex interactions in different types of cells—further enhancing the understanding of how genes and the gaps in them interact and can increase a risk of disease. Dr Eyre also added that: “This research shows just how complicated the interactions within our cells are—much more so than was previously thought. However, by gaining a better understanding of this process we open up many more possibilities for research into cures and treatments in the years ahead.”
Emily Hughes Reporter
A new study from a University of Manchester team has shown how a collection of proteins allow cells in the body to move and feel. The discovery, published in the journal Nature Cell Biology, found that a group of 60 proteins enable body cells to sense differences in their environment and communicate this information to each other. All the different kinds of cells in our bodies react differently to different surfaces and environments. For example, tumour cells move more slowly on soft surfaces in comparison to harder surfaces. Stem cells can also develop into entirely different cells depending on the environment that they are in. Until now, however, the way cells do this— by sensing their environment and developing accordingly, has remained largely a mystery. The study focused on a group of transmembrane receptors called integrins. These normally function by providing a scaffold for interactions between cells, or between a cell and the extracellular matrix. Once activated, integrins send signals in order to trigger a variety of chemical
The structure of an integrin. Image: Wikimedia Commons
pathways that can result in many responses, such as changes to a cell shape which add more receptors to a cell membrane, or helping with an immune response. Proteins can cluster around integrins during these interactions. The study assembled global data of proteins in order to understand the workings of the integrin protein clusters. They found a group of 60 proteins that cluster around integrins. Ed Horton, a member of the team, said
that these proteins are “the essential mediators of the information exchange between integrins and the outside world.” The result of this research is the new knowledge that integrins work with the 60 proteins in clusters to coordinate functions, hopefully providing a new avenue for research for scientists. This knowledge could be especially useful in the case regarding diseases with tumorous cells such as cancer.
Manchester wins £10m tech prize Intelligent lamp-posts and talking bus stops could be appearing along the streets of Manchester following the award of £10 million to the CityVerve Project by the government as part of their Internet of Things scheme Andy van den Bent-Kelly Science & Technology Editor A Manchester project intended to improve key services for residents of the city has been awarded a £10 million prize after being declared the winner of a government-backed technology competition. The CityVerve Project, which aims to address issues in areas ranging from public transport to healthcare, fought off 22 other entries to win the government’s ‘Internet of Things’ competition. Led by the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership, the project was chosen because of its “ambition, scale, coordination across the public and private sector, and potential for success.” The award will help cement Manchester’s reputation as a hotspot for technological innovation. Digital Economy Minister Ed Vaizey said: “I’m delighted that the CityVerve Project is the winner of our Internet of Things Cities competition. “The Project will bring real benefits to people who live and work
across Manchester, one of our Northern Powerhouse cities.” “The UK’s tech sector is renowned for its creativity as well as pioneering research and development. The Manchester project will help the UK to be a world leader in the adoption of Internet of Things technologies and inspire others around the world to create smarter cities.” CityVerve is a highly ambitious initiative, which will demonstrate applications of technologies in four key areas: healthcare, transport, energy and environment and culture and community. Internet of Things is a term used to describe the concept of connecting everyday items and services to the internet through a network of sensors. They can then send and receive data and be made to work more effectively and efficiently. It is hoped that Manchester can be a pioneer in this field and by winning this competition, which was established by the government to encourage more smart technologies in British cities, shows that it is already well on its way.
Sir Richard Leese, the leader of Manchester City Council, said: “I’m delighted that Manchester has been selected as the UK demonstrator city to test and demonstrate how the imaginative use of smart technology can make a real positive difference to our people and businesses. “The lessons learned from this project should benefit the country as a whole.” Mike Blackburn, chair of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “Manchester is a city built on innovation so it is a worthy winner of this competition. “From business to healthcare, information is a valuable resource. This project will enable us to better use it to enhance services, increase performance and improve efficiency.” “Science and innovation are key to Manchester’s economic future. This project will enable us to be an example for the rest of the country, showing how new technology can aid the delivery of both business growth and public services.”
Elements of the CityVerve Project include: A ‘biometric sensor network’ to manage chronic respiratory conditions in patients A network of sensors placed in parks and along commuter and school routes to track the physical activity of individuals and encourage physical activity and community wellness Talkative bus stops which will allow passengers to ‘check in’ to them and let bus drivers know that they are waiting Smart lighting to improve safety along pedestrian routes A bike sharing scheme along the Oxford Road Corridor, which will include e-cargo bikes for delivery purposes for when the area becomes bus-andbike-only Smart air-quality monitoring by lamp posts on the Oxford Road Corridor, which will monitor air quality at varying heights and locations throughout the city
Global 7
ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
In the news this week... The important and interesting stories from the wider world this week.
Stories by: Andy van den Bent-Kelly, William Brown, Georgie Hines, Emily Hulme, Charlie Spargo & Evangeline Katz
Calendar to ‘signal a cultural shift’ Italy The Italian tire company Pirrelli has launched its annual calendar, which usually includes 12 months of naked, or barely clothed models. This year, its marketing boffins have decided to create a calendar featuring successful women in varying industries such as sport, art, fashion, comedy, and philanthropy. It includes photos of Serena Williams, Yoko Ono, and Amy Schumer, (almost) all fully-clothed and making a bold statement about female identity. What also makes this calendar an anomaly to previous years’ is Vanity Fair’s Annie Leibovitz directing and photographing the shoot; she is the first woman in 25 years to do so.
Germany joins antiISIS military campaign
Germany In the wake of the British parliament approving air-strikes in Syria on ISIS targets by a massive majority, Germany has joined the international military coalition against ISIS. While German aircraft will not engage in active military bombing of ISIS targets, the country has flung its considerable military might into a non-combat role. According the Guardian, Germany will send 1,200 personnel, a frigate and, two reconnaissance jets to combat ISIS and protect the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the Mediterranean. A key attribute the Germans will bring to the table is refuelling aircraft which allow for mid-air refuelling allows longer offensives to take place. German forces will not cooperate with Bashar al-Assad, or any troops from the Syrian National Army.
Oscar Pistorius now guilty of murder South Africa The Olympic athlete’s verdict has been changed from manslaughter to murder by a South African appeals court. Pistorius killed his then-girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day 2013 by shooting her through a bathroom door. The decision was based on the lower court not taking into account that Pistorius knew his actions would likely result in death, and the constant changes in the defence argument throughout the duration of the trial. Currently under house arrest after one year in prison, he will need to return to court in order to be re-sentenced. Many have criticised Pistorius’s case in the past, remarking that he was receiving “preferential treatment”. The minimum jail time for murder in South Africa is 15 years.
Abortion Laws in violation of Human Rights Belfast On 30th November, Belfast High Court ruled that NI’s abortion legislation was in breach of Human Rights laws. Currently, abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland, with the exception of when the pregnancy puts a woman’s life at risk, or is of serious risk to her mental or physical health. Since the rejection of the 1967 Abortion Act, permitting a pregnancy to be terminated up to 24 weeks after conception, in the rest of the UK there has been a deep political divide on the issue in NI. Reconsideration will now have to be given to a change in legislation where pregnancy is a result of rape or incest as a result of the Human Rights law breach. However, it is unlikely that the same law will adopted there.
Molotov cocktail kills 16 in Cairo Cairo, Egypt Sixteen people died last Friday when a Molotov cocktail was thrown into a crowded Cairo restaurant. Victims of the blast burned to death or died of smoke inhalation. The restaurant, which was almost an unofficial nightclub was located in the basement and offered no escape route. Security officials has said they are looking for two young men who carried out the attack. One of them is thought to be a employee of the restaurant who was fired recently.
In Science this week... Astronaut to run London Marathon in space British astronaut Tim Peake will aim to complete this year’s London Marathon – despite being in space. Peake, who is due to travel to the International Space Station on December 15th, will run 26.2 miles on a treadmill, starting when the actual race commences 250 miles below him. Peake will wear a harness system and will have a digital video of the streets of London in front of him as he runs. He will not be the first astronaut to perform this feat in space - NASA’s Sunita Williams ran the Boston Marathon on the ISS in 2007. Peake has stated that he is hoping for a time of less than four hours.
Hunt on for Brussels sprouts prankster at primary school Cambridge Teachers at a primary school in Cambridge have sent letters out to parents in a bid to catch a mystery prankster who plants sprouts in classmates’ bags. The pupil, believed to be a Year 3 at Monkfield Park Primary School, has been bringing in cooked Brussels sprouts and disposing of them in other children’s bags. The school has been criticised for its “over-the-top” response. Upon receiving the letter, one parent said, “When I read the letter I laughed. I thought it was a wind-up. The kid should get a medal and a job with MI5.” The school stated that the risk of the sprouts aggravating allergies was the reason for sending out precautionary letters.
Police in US give lift to a donkey
Oklahoma, USA Police in Oklahoma drove a donkey around in a patrol car after rescuing it, although the journey was marred by the fact that the peculiar hitchhiker defecated extensively during the journey. Officer Kyle Canaan responded to a report that the animal was on the loose in the city of Norman and decided that the only action he could take was to put it in the back of his car. He lured it in with food and took it to a nearby pen while colleagues tried to identify the animal’s owner. If no one claims the donkey, animal control authorities will take custody of it. Unfortunately, the food ploy had unpleasant consequences, with the donkey creating a “a huge mess” in the back. The police department posted an image of the donkey poking its head out of the window of the car, which unsurprisingly went viral.
Mount Etna erupts again Italy Last Thursday morning, for the first time in two years, Sicily’s volcano Mount Etna erupted for approximately one hour and was captured on video, which has since been shared by newspapers around the world. A rare “dirty thunderstorm” was caused as a result of the eruption, with plumes of ash being lit up by volcanic lightning. The tallest active volcano in Europe, measuring a massive 3329m high, this volcano has been exploding around 2.5 million years. No injuries from the eruption have been reported.
ITV apologise after mistaking Ainsley Harriott for Lenny Henry
Norwegian newspaper bizarrely publishes obituary for Father Christmas
UK ITV News has found itself in hot water after using footage of TV chef Ainsley Harriott in a segment about comedian Lenny Henry. The report regarded the knighthood that Henry is to receive for services to charity and drama. Instead of using footage of him, a clip of Ainsley on Strictly Come Dancing was shown between a clip of an interview with the comedian and footage of Henry in a role. By the time the report aired on ITV+1, the clip had been removed and a message saying the content was “not legally allowed” was shown. ITV has been in contact with both Henry’s and Harriott’s representatives to offer their apologies.
Norway Aftenposten, one of Norway’s largest newspapers, has published an apology following the publication of Father Christmas’ funeral details. The announcement read: “Our dear Father Christmas, born 12 December 1788 … died on 3 December in Nordkapp,” Reportedly, the announcement came as a result of “An error in Aftenposten’s internal procedures”. The paper condemned the obituary, saying that they have “strict guidelines for both the content and use of symbols in our obituaries.” and that ”This ad is a violation of these and should never have been published”. Consequently, the ad was removed immediately from the newspaper’s digital pages and an investigation is under way to determine how it got there in the first place.
Gene mutation delays Alzheimer’s by 17 years A gene which delays the effects of Alzheimer’s disease by approximately 17 years has been discovered by researchers studying a Colombian town whose residents are more susceptible to the disease than any other people in the world. A mutation of the APOE gene appears to prevent the development of the disease for 17 years. The gene itself protects against the build-up of sticky plaques in the brain and the mutation enhances this. The researchers identified nine genes involved in Alzheimer’s and were able to determine the individual effects of each gene. It is now hoped that the effects of this gene can be mimicked with drugs and used as a treatment.
Hawaii Supreme Court revokes telescope permit
One penguin can wreck a huddle in minutes
Plans to construct one of the world’s largest telescopes in Hawaii have been dealt a major blow, after the
Penguin huddles are much more complicated than first thought, with researchers discovering that a single bird can break one up in just a few minutes. To stay warm during Antarctic storms, Emperor penguins huddle tightly together, conserving heat. However, these huddles are in fact temporary arrangements lasting only a few hours at most, often because the air between the penguins becomes too hot. Contrary to expectation, huddle breakups are rarely initiated from the centre – penguins at the edges are usually to blame. By disturbing the thermoregulation procedure, the guilty party often causes the other birds to follow suit. The average huddle duration was found to be 50 minutes.
Supreme Court ruled that the construction permit be revoked. The original decision to allow construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea to go ahead was met by fierce protests from many native Hawaiians. Despite the mountain being a near perfect location for the telescope, it is a sacred place to many natives, who viewed the proposed structure as a desecration. The court ruled that the initial permit approval violated due process and revoked it.
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Feature
1) Aren’t humans meant to eat meat?
That we are meant to do so is not at all true. The human body is designed for a plant-based diet. (You know those canines of yours? Compare them to those of true omnivores). During the Neolithic period plants were what we survived off: It was only during the mini Ice Age that our species was forced to eat meat to survive – yet this was a habit we never stopped. We are omnivores, but only in a habitual sense. Humans have adapted so that we can digest cooked meats, not so that we are meant to. So the question is—should we?
ISSUE 11/ 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
8) But what about the animals already alive? If everyone became vegan, what would happen to them, and the economy as a whole?
Realistically, everyone will not turn vegan overnight. The process would occur gradually. Over 56 billion animals are bred and slaughtered for meat, eggs and diary annually, an abominably large figure. As consumption reduces, so too will produc-
9) The environment? Humanity? How does veganism help these exactly?
Food aid programs like World Food Programme and Action Against Hunger deliver largely vegetarian and vegan food to those whom they support because it is the most efficient and sustainable thing to produce and procure. Instead of farming crops to then feed animals which we farm to eat, we can
Veganism is about compassion to all living creatures. It entails are perspective where animals are no longer seen as products, but as living beings with their own self interest, much like us. Thus, the moral argument is that we should not be using animals for meat, eggs and dairy products because it is simply not necessary to do so; our bodies do not need these things for any reason but satisfaction of the palate. Arguably then, the disgusting treatment towards animals farmed for food—pumped full with growth hormones and placed in torturous conditions, from the moment of their birth to the moment they are prepared for the dinner plate—is entirely unjustifiable.
11) How much difference can the actions of one person really make though? PETA ran a study in which they concluded that every vegan saves the lives of approximately 100 living beings annually—that means 100 creatures that don’t have to endure the torture of being used for meat, eggs and dairy products. The actions of one person matter more than you might think!
3) But what about health? Is it true that vegans are nutritionally deficient?
4) Where do vegans get their protein then?
Protein is often cited as a necessary reason for humans to consume meat. However, it’s surprising how abundant the nutrient is—from brown bread and broccoli to beans and legumes, most people end up getting too much, without even trying. Many of the world’s top athletes and body builders are vegan. Billy Simmonds, who won Mr Natural Universe in 2009 is a vegan body builder and the cyclist David Smith who is a Paralympic and World Championship Gold medallist, thrives off of an entirely vegan diet.
5) But surely we can still eat meat if it can be done more humanely?
Undeniably it is better to treat an animal well prior to killing them, but that doesn’t make the act of killing moral. The same goes for any circumstance: Treating someone to a candlelit dinner before murdering them does not make the murder a moral act, and never could absolve the horror of the crime. For whoever is experiencing it, death will not be a pleasant or most likely desired experience, which means one thing: It can never be humane.
12) Why not just be vegetarian?
Debunking the myths of
veganism As veganism gets more and more popular, Matthew Perry asks if there is actually any logic behind it
Vegetarianism is a massively positive change in a person’s lifestyle, which can be fantastic as a transition from a meat-based to a plant-based diet. Unfortunately though, by consuming diary or eggs we still participate in the suffering of animals and contribute to the industry’s effect on the environment and impacts on world hunger. On top of this, despite the fact that the cow from which milk comes may not be killed, her calves that are born every few months to cause her to lactate, will be for veal. Of course, she will also be killed for beef after a few years, when she is too weary from producing milk like a machine. Furthermore, for every chicken laying eggs for us now, there was a male chick’s life that was thrown away because he was perceived to be unnecessary and uneconomic to keep alive when he cannot produce eggs for the industry himself, which will be his sister’s only purpose of existence. It is hard to know which is worse actually, living out two or three meagre years to manufacture eggs at an unnatural rate for someone else to eat, or being disposed of before you are even a week old.
13) Isn’t it difficult to eat in restaurants as a vegan though? Especially while abroad? Though it may not be a case of going into any restaurant and ordering food, you can travel anywhere in the world and continue to thrive on a vegan diet. Awareness globally is increasing, more options are becoming available in restaurants everywhere and staff are willing to change what’s on the menu slightly to suit your needs too. Chefs will often even enjoy the challenge of whipping up something a bit different for you also. All it takes is the confidence to ask.
6) So what about plants which are living organisms too?
Plants are living, yes, but they are not sentient. If I chop a carrot at the dinner table, no one will think anything of it; if I slit a chicken’s throat people will be enraged: Plants do not have the same neurological structures as animals and they therefore feel no pain or even awareness of their existence. In contrast, all animals, including us, share one crucial thing: our capacity to feel pleasure and our capacity to suffer.
14) Not everyone can become a vegan though, can they? Making the change to an entirely plant based diet is a big decision, but one which is suitable for anyone, whatever your dietary requirements. Remember that this can be done gradually too; even one less meal a week with meat in it is a positive change. And a switch to vegetarianism can make a great transition period; but remember that for every day you continue to consume these products, more animals are suffering.
7) However, we bring these animals into existence. Without us they would have no life anyway!
This is certainly a truth; yet by bringing a being into existence we do not have rights over their life to treat them as we wish and use them in whatever manner we desire. In fact, the opposite is arguably true, if we have brought someone into existence, we have an obligation to provide an adequate life for them. We would not, for instance, have a baby without considering the baby’s future, nor would we have the right to force that person to live their life for the purposes we wish in future. Is it even morally right for us to forcefully bring these animals into existence in the first place?
10) That might be convincing, but don’t vegans make a lot of sacrifices (cake, chocolate etc.) that limit their diets? Plus, meat is just so delicious!
Know that for any meal that you can think of, there is a vegan version, from cake (hundreds of them! And plenty of chocolates are definitely vegan!), to a korma or a burger (try V Revolution in the Northern Quarter!). And the ingredients used are not as peculiar as you might think, too. They’re just not what we might all be used to; vegan cooking is perhaps some of the most diverse, delicious and interesting cooking that exists!
Photo: SweetOnVeg @Flickr
2) What is actually wrong with farming animals?
That is entirely false; in truth vegans are often so much healthier, due to removing cholesterol entirely from their diet and eating a more balanced and varied range of foods. Every nutrient can be sourced in plants. Even vitamin B12 can be found in bacteria existing in the soil.
produced through the production of meat are just so vast. Vegans make a break in the cycle, helping to alleviate famine as well as the impacts of climate change. Plus cows produce a lot of methane through... well, you know.
Photo: SweetOnVeg @Flickr
tion; hence, as economic trade in these areas reduces, trade in crop production and in the production of meat substitutes will increase, complementing the shift. Because of this, there is no evidence to suggest that a global shift to veganism would be at all damaging for the economy. The more people that gradually stop eating meat, the fewer animals will be brought into an existence of suffering, which will be good for the environment and humanity as a whole.
simply farm crops and eat them straight away, using much less land and much less energy. In 2010 the UN Environment Programme released a report stating: “A global shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change.” Why? Because the meat industry is the second largest cause of climate change globally, preceding even transport and infrastructure! The emissions
The Vegan Society’s 30-day vegan pledge is a great way to get started or find out more with tips, recipes and advice. If you have any further questions regarding veganism, contact me on matthew.perry@student.manchester. ac.uk.
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ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Tweeting on the beat When I was recently presented with the opportunity to accompany an Inspector of the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) on a Saturday night patrol (whilst at the same time live tweeting the events), a longtime wish of joining the fuzz was finally granted—if only for just one day. It was a personal fantasy of mine, informed more by the gritty noir of Serpico than the civic squabbles of Police, Camera, Action! And admittedly, patrolling the streets of Manchester on a Saturday night fell more easily into the latter category; although as I found out, it’s certainly not without its share of ‘heat’. The night’s explicit purpose was to open up a dialogue and talk about student safety—they even made me a #studentsafe hashtag—but it was also a rare opportunity to learn about the inner workings of police work. Saturday evening came around and I was sat in the GMP city centre headquarters with Inspector Phil Spurgeon, the man who sits second in the pyramid of power at GMP, and the man who was tasked with being my chaperone for the night. As he scanned a grid view of the city and mapped his team of Detective Constables (DC) out like a football formation, he told me about the fun and the trouble that there is to be had on Twitter as a policeman. In 2015, cops don’t just handle crime—they handle PR, too. Each policeman has access to GMP’s Twitter account, and is expected to regularly contribute a live feed of crime reports and warnings. Inspector Spurgeon likes to add his own wry sense of humour on occasion, which has had the tendency to land him in hot water with the Twitter brigade, as well as the GMP’s PR officer. On one such recent occasion, he jested that an elderly man involved in a recent scuffle had been seen “throwing his zimmerframe”, which gave cacophonous online hawks another excuse to bash the police. I kept that in mind for my own ‘tweeting on the beat’, but just in case I did overstep the mark, I had a PR officer on standby who surveyed my every move. “Sometimes it does make you think, ‘are we just a punching bag?’” sighed Spurgeon as he scrolled through a list of responses to his “zimmerframe” remark—”police are pricks” being one of them. The role of the modern policeman is changing in more ways than one. Along with the severe cuts over recent years, there has come the need to adapt to a shortage of men on the street. “There used to be 8,000 cops in the UK. Now we could be going as low as 5,500. For working at night, we’ve had to change our model completely. For example, we used to have a sergeant and six officers dedicated to the Gay Village. “We cannot afford that now, so now we have a sergeant in charge of a larger area with fewer staff—but we try and spread those staff as opposed to having them on static points on the map. We’ve got to be more flexible and more fluid as a team.” Even regardless of the spending cuts, the development of a city means for a police force to change their tactics in order to account for new areas of activity. “The city centre has changed as well—Peter Street ten years ago was very busy, and then it died off and now it’s busy again. Castlefield has taken off. The nature of the night-time economy has changed, and it pulls us as a force in different directions.” The clock hit 21:30, which meant that it was time for Inspector Spurgeon’s team briefing, which I was allowed to eavesdrop in on—so long as I didn’t divulge into any details. Joining us in the station for the Operation Custodian (formerly City Centre Safe) briefing are the Village Angels, a benevolent group of volunteers who man the Gay Village every Friday and Saturday until 3am. I pin down the leader, Mark, for a few minutes after
our briefing: “We’re the eyes and ears for police and medics. We’re not authorised to do anything legally, but we do have first aid training, which often comes in handy. We deal a lot with overdoses—often on legal highs, but also things like people getting lost and losing their friends. The Village isn’t a dangerous area. 99.9 per cent of people just want to have a good time.” When I asked Mark on what had got him into volunteering on Manchester’s streets, he replied that “ten years of working for a finance company got a bit grey,” but also that he had been “a victim of hate crimes in the past” and wanted to keep the atmosphere in the Gay Village “respectful and accepting.” 22:00 comes around, which was time to hit the mean streets on patrol. My accomplice armed with a utility belt, an autolock baton, rigid handcuffs and CS spray, and myself armed only with a smartphone and a Twitter account. Whilst there was the option of a ride-along, we would be out on foot. “The less there is separating you from the public, the better”, explained Spurgeon. “If we sit in police cars too long we just end up moaning about austerity cuts anyway. Also, it’s so much more valuable to have a visible policeman out on the street. Even just being seen in uniform is powerful for crime prevention.” Setting off on foot, our first incident occurred less than ten minutes in. As we were walking past the Britannia Hotel, we heard a clatter from way up above, followed by a shattering of broken glass from about five storeys up that had landed only five or six yards in front of us. Five yards separated me from almost certain disfigurement. As it turned out, a frustrated man had thrown a bottle of San Miguel through his window after being told by the hotel that he could not entertain a (female) guest. This one called for a bit of police discretion, so Inspector Spurgeon decided to let the hotel deal with matters themselves. It’s that buzzword, ‘discretion’, that kept cropping up in my conversations with Inspector Spurgeon. Over the course of the evening, I saw countless examples of police discretion in action. An Italian man hurled abuse at us after being thrown out of a club; Spurgeon told him to go home, and pointed him on his way. At one point, Spurgeon conducted a drug search of a young man after spotting suspicious activity in a dark alley in Deansgate, and found a small ‘baggie’ of crushed paracetamol being passed off as coke. He opted for a stern word of warning over an arrest. In fact, no arrests were actually made under our watch, and that’s not because it was a quiet night. It was actually a busier night than usual—most likely due to ‘payday weekend’, the Tyson/Fury boxing match, and a few big concerts taking place, too. No, the absence of a single arrest was principally down to Inspector Spurgeon’s efforts to prevent crimes before they actually happened—not with Minority Report-style psychic abilities—but with communicative and diplomatic police work. After the Britannia Hotel incident, one of our first stops was the Northside ‘Safe Haven’, located inside Nexus Art Café and perhaps the trendiest, cosiest and safest location for a night-time refuge imaginable. I was welcomed by one of the supervisors with a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows as they sat me down on a sofa next to fluffy cushions and blankets. If you ever feel lost or vulnerable on a night out in the city, this is the place to come to for some TLC. Students are the main beneficiaries.
Henry Scanlan witnessed first-hand the experience of police officers on Manchester’s streets during peak partying time In fact, Special Constables Chris Horniman and
Nicola Anti, the voluntary officers stationed in the Safe Haven, both told me that the most common cases tended to be young student males, “usually a lad who doesn’t feel safe or able to handle himself.” Since the GMP PR Officer—my very own live Twitter content advisor for the night—had explicitly told me “not to focus on gender,” the fact that males seek out Safe Haven’s help more often than females should perhaps be given some emphasis. Then again, it shouldn’t be a revelation that vulnerability on the streets isn’t exclusive to young females. The intention of this piece was supposed to highlight the steps that could be taken to avoid finding oneself on the receiving end of street crime. But the line between friendly advice and victim blaming can be a difficult one to toe as soon as alcohol inevitably enters in the conversation, and not in a direction that you’d want the conversation to head in, either. As sure as night follows day, students will get hopelessly drunk every weekend. The positive gradient of a graph where ‘x’ is ‘alcohol’ and ‘y’ is ‘vulnerability’ hardly needs explanation, and a full article in a student paper about how to not get mugged may very well be scoffed away as patronising. However, on the evidence of my patrol on Saturday night, the most obvious things can be the most easily forgotten, and do need reaffirmation. At the very least, regardless of one’s intoxication levels, everyone would do well to keep the following in mind: DON’T BUY DRUGS. Or at least, not from strangers. Aside from potentially killing you, unknown chemicals will probably rip you off, and many street dealers look to steal bank cards during the transaction, either by force or by sleight of hand. “Some of these guys are very skilful,” warns Spurgeon. “They’ll lead you on their dance, make you feel like a mate, and then they’ll swipe your card from you.” DON’T BUY FLOWERS. Just like above, most flower sellers on the street— particularly those in the Gay Village—work in packs and prey on the obviously inebriated, again, looking to steal bank cards during transactions. Think of them like drug dealers, but with roses. SHIELD YOUR PIN. So much trouble can be avoided with the simple shielding of your PIN. Popular cashpoints are usually watched by some shady characters who then look to befriend and can even assault (both in the aim of theft) anyone whose PIN they manage to learn. Me and Inspector Spurgeon stood five yards away from a so-called ‘hotspot’ cashpoint and correctly guessed the PIN of a couple of students after watching them enter their four digits. KEEP VALUABLE POSSESSIONS HIDDEN. Self explanatory, but rarely heeded. ...I could go on, but I probably can’t tell you anything your parents haven’t already rammed home. Rest assured, if common sense fails to get you through a night out in Manchester unscathed, GMP should have you covered.
Scores on the doors: Between 9pm and 5am:
82
incidents reported
11 arrests
9:15pm – 23-year-old man on Bootle St possession Class A drugs 9:15pm – 22-year-old man on Bootle St possession Class A drugs 00:15am – 17-year-old man on Peter St possession Class A drugs with intent to supply 00:35am – 26-year-old woman at hotel on Peter St for assault 00:35am – 28-year-old man at hotel on Peter St for assault 00:50am – Man (age unknown) on Altrincham Terrace for assault 01:30am – 26-year-old man at gaming arcade Piccadilly for damage 02:15am – 31-year-old man on Peter St for drink driving 02:27am – Man (age unknown) at hotel on Peter St for assault 04:00am – 19-year-old man on Brown St for affray (fighting) 04:15am – 27-year-old man on Lloyd St for affray (fighting)
Opinion
10
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Screen Theory Elliott Mills on the Alan Gilbert Learning Commons’ newest feature “You know that building full of screens? Let’s attach a giant screen onto it!” So went the talks months ago, when connecting a huge display screen to the Learning Commons was nothing more than an idea, a thing unattempted yet, projected into the mind’s eye as from above. The plan’s fruition follows many failed proposals, including suggestions to attach a tenmetre tall book onto the main library and a towering ice skate above the entrance to the ice skating arena. The former idea was abandoned for its regressive nature, whilst the latter came with the safety problem of a large overhanging blade and the logistical problem of the university not having an ice skating arena. The screen has now settled in and it is honestly difficult to take an irreverent look at it. This is especially true at night, when looking at it risks temporary blinding. When considering how this light is spent, some call the screen a waste of energy. The rumoured intention was that it would mesmerise the masses at open days. I fear however that it was presented to prospective students with all the confusion and misplaced effort of a pet dragging a dead pigeon into its owner’s front room in the hope of impressing them. Some compare the screen to that of Manchester Metropolitan’s. This comparison falters when you remember that MMU’s screen displays information relating to their university that extends beyond the name of their university. This, and the fact that ours is bigger, sets the two apart. MMU, trying to think outside the box, say: “It’s not size that matters, it’s how you use it.” They fail to grasp the real point of our screen: The longer this screen exceeds the tyranny of traditional classifications of what is deemed ‘useful’, the more these outdated notions can be subverted and reassessed. About time, if you ask me. Step aside Bentham. With screen’s narrative now involving young people, visual display and unclear aims, Dazed and Confused magazine are already (maybe) expressing both interest and disinterest in a recorded interview with the screen, which will simultaneously be screened on the screen—at which point we will all forget which university we go to.
ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
The conduct of the Syria debate belies its importance
The way politicians and the media have conducted themselves inappropriately in relation to Syria means we have failed the matter at hand George Bolton Opinion Writer The debate around the Syrian air strikes has not been treated with the seriousness it deserves. Both the media and politicians are once again twisting facts and reducing the extremely complex debate into a runof-the-mill partisan fued. “Corbyn’s ‘free vote’ puts UK on brink of war”, read the headline of the Metro on Wednesday the 1st of December. The media’s war against Jeremy Corbyn has never been so blindingly obvious. Using the matter of Syrian air strikes to take pot shots at the Leader of the Opposition exemplifies the complete lack of restraint the media shows in their relentless offensive on the Labour leader. The linking of Corbyn’s name to a policy that he consistently opposed is indicative of a clear bias against him. David Cameron, who has been the one pushing for airstrikes, enjoys complete detachment from the controversial and contested issue. How can we expect the public to have an independent view on this issue if what they read in the media is so skewed? Let’s look at what actually happened. After unambiguously arguing against the use of air strikes in Syria on various platforms, Jeremy Corbyn took the sensible decision to give his MPs a free vote. Given the highly exceptional and divisive issue at hand, he would have been
foolish not to do so. If he had decided to whip the vote, however, the media would have had a field day. The backbencher that rebelled over 500 times becomes leader and demands his MPs follow his lead? Understandably, cries of hypocrisy would have followed. But this is not what happened. The fact that Corbyn did the exact opposite, yet still appears to have been held responsible for the imminent “war” that is approaching, shines a light on the bias against him in the media. A day later, on Wednesday the 2nd of December, the growing dichotomisation of the debate around Syria accelerated. The Prime Minister, in a speech to the
1922 Committee trying to persuade MPs to vote in favour of further airstrikes, urged members of the Labour Party to vote for him instead of “Jeremy Corbyn and a bunch of terrorist sympathisers.” This language is far outside what is acceptable. In this debate, there should not be two sides hurling such extreme insults at each other. Not only was this insult from the Prime Minister offensive, it was profoundly undemocratic; attempting to dismiss, degrade, and belittle the Leader of the Opposition is completely counterproductive to meaningful democratic debate. Rightfully so, Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, remarked: “David Cameron’s comments
trivialise the decision MPs have to make. MPs from all parties are treating that decision with the seriousness it deserves. The Prime Minister should retract and apologise for these remarks, which are disrespectful to those MPs who have a different view to him.” Here we see the complete lack of respect the Prime Minister has for his opposite number, something reminiscent of the continuous laughs drowning out Corbyn in various Prime Minister’s Questions. Politicians and the media, ideally, would deal with a matter of life and death such as how to combat the threat of IS respectfully. Unfortunately, we do not live in such a world. Instead, there are not two equal sides to the debate around air strikes in Syria. The anti-air strike argument, which has been defended by Corbyn and others consistently, has been bulldozed by the political establishment. The debate around Syria is being framed in a way that disregards scrutiny and deliberation. Instead of receiving facts and deliberation from those in power, the public is receiving rhetoric. We as members of the public must not allow ourselves to be drawn into the divisive approach taken by Prime Minister and backed up by much of the media. George W. Bush famously said during the aftermath of 9/11: “You are either with us or you are with the terrorists.” Hopefully, after observing the failed War on Terror, we can recognise that language like this gets us nowhere.
Photo: Quapan @ Flickr
We must not repeat our mistakes in Syria IS are arguably a result of our previous interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan and the extension of the conflict to Syria shows how hard it is to stop an ideology
Kyle Huggins Contributor Rightly or wrongly, our foreign policy of the last 20 years has been one resulting in unending destruction across the Middle East. Yet again, we have committed to another intervention, which will see our involvement in the region increase to Syria, the chosen targets on this occasion being so-called IS. Irrefutably, this barbaric group is one of archaic destruction, wishing to reestablish a caliphate based on their warped interpretation of the original texts of the Qur’an. Nonetheless, our policy must not solely be reactionary in its nature. From the various failures from our past interventions, we must attempt the adoption of different tactics in the face of terrorism. There have been a plethora of reasons which were presented by the anti air strikes campaign which was convincingly defeated in parliament—by a majority of 397 to 223, sum of 174 votes. I would argue that there are three key themes, which I hope are addressed from the past. The first of these is what bombing achieves. The government highlight that they will be targeting key infrastructure, such as IS training camps and oil refineries in their control, with their extremely precise Brimstone missiles claimed not to have killed one innocent person in a whole year of bombing in Iraq—a claim which will remain unproven. With densely populated towns like Raqqa where insurgents disperse amongst the local population and hide in tunnels when fired upon, our efforts will undoubtedly result in ‘collateral damage’—a factor that our government must admit to. Whilst our entrance shows to our international partners we are a part of a united coalition to stop IS and terrorism, it also represents more than that. Eliza Manningham-Buller, the head of MI5 from 2002 – 2007, highlighted that the
joining in of the Iraq war had brought out the conception of the view of the West threatening the Islamic world, allowing for anger and resentment to grow amongst its inhabitants. These impending attacks will be further seen as an attack against the Arab world. We are feeding the IS propaganda reel, fuelling their vicious rhetoric about our ‘imperialistic’ countries attempting to obliterate the Islamic world, facilitating their demand for the personal obligation of every Muslim to defend Islamic lands against the penetration of the infidels. In combination with our further disdain and neglect to cope with the migrant crisis and the subsequent rebuilding of borders across Europe, this will combine to exasperate the anti-imperialist rhetoric espoused by the hate group. Since the bombing of Iraq, terrorism has exponentially increased, estimated at around the 600 per cent mark. In 2014 alone, terrorism had increased by 80 per cent. Despite our nation already facing a grave threat from a terrorist attack, Manningham-Buller argues that bombings have “undoubtedly increased the threat” after Iraq—a claim that David Cameron had also made about the Russian bombings in 2013. Secondly, boots on the ground. Military leaders and politicians alike have all acknowledged that without boots on the ground, air strikes will be rendered completely ineffective. David Cameron’s response was to produce a spurious number of 70,000 free Syrian troops ready for combat despite being hundreds of miles away from the desired area, consisting of many different factions, with largely different intentions—most of whom are not in line with our own. History should have taught us about funding, training and arming militias with unknown intentions. Both Afghanistan and Libya provide examples of this. During the first war in Afghanistan, it has been known that the West had adopted a similar policy which
we wish to adopt today with the original mujahideen—ultimately resulting in the displacement and collapse of the Soviet Union, accompanied by the formation of the Taliban and the subsequent proliferation of Al-Qaeda, backed and armed by a coalition of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the US. Libya, however, provides a more congruent example. In the deposition of Gaddafi, UN Ground Forces were not deployed. Instead various armed militias such as the Libya shield and Libya Dawn were encouraged—resulting in the growth of Jihadist groups. Given the ready availability of arms, this led to the further destabilisation of Libya with these militias allowed to roam unchecked, establishing their own territories, destabilising the situation and undermining the goals of the West. Many factions of the Free Syrian Army have held the overarching aim of defeating Assad, a despot who has murdered an exponentially higher number than the IS but continues to be propped up by our allies, the Russians. It must be questioned—will they simply throw in the towel with Assad in pursuit of our goals? And furthermore, can we trust groups we do not fully know?
“We are feeding the IS propaganda reel, fuelling their vicious rhetoric about our ‘imperialistic’ countries attempting to obliterate the Islamic world.” Finally, reductionism and short-termism. The situation we now face has become increasingly complex and multifaceted. A theme that has been inherent in our foreign policy, has been the continued lack of understanding and consequent lack of planning for the aftermath of our interventions. In Afghanistan, we had failed to understand the various power
struggles between different creeds and racial groups, resulting in a labelling of various groups as ‘Taliban’ whether affiliated or not. Similar criticism can be levied with Iraq, where the failure to understand the struggle between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims and local conflicts had resulted in the creation of a government that did not represent all communities, resulting in marginalisation and proliferation in terrorism. Both conflicts had failed to implement a clear exit plan. In Libya, after decades of autocracy and little democratic history, the post-Gaddafi power vacuum and ensuing chaos should have been predicted. The current melting pot in Syria consists of the IS, who had gained their ideology from Wahhabism which originated from Saudi Arabia. They coincidentally have funders who support the group yet remain the West’s ally, whom oppose both IS and Assad, with Assad being supported by the Russians, who are also the West’s ally despite bombing the Free Syrian Army. The West wish to utilise the Free Syrian Army against the IS along with the Kurds—who are the enemy of Turkey. Turkey is also the West’s ally, yet are enemies with Assad, Russia and IS. However, it has been supposed that Turkey and other G20 countries have purchased oil from IS… The conflict we face is nonlinear, presenting endless contradictory variables. The impalpable situation we face in Syria now has its roots stemming from our previous interventions. Vested interests subversively dominate while death and displacement are inherent. The existential threat IS present is enormous, exemplified by the events in Paris. Regardless, we produce less emphasis on why the phenomenon of terrorism occurs, simply prioritising the who, what, and where. It is unknown as yet what our participation in this will achieve—we can only hope the failures of past interventions are taken into consideration to prevent a reoccurrence.
Opinion11
ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Held hostage by Trump Jessica Chow-Lau Opinion Writer The man the world has been lampooning is a quiet genius. We laugh at his take-no-prisoners insult style and imitate his boisterous demeanour. But what Donald Trump is attempting to do dangerously outdoes the Koch Brothers or any corporate figure buying congressional races. By manipulating the US electoral structure, Trump is in the most powerful position he’s ever been. A poll conducted by The Washington Post in July analyses the hypothetical outcome of Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush winning their party’s primaries. Bernie Sanders is trailing closely behind, but as of November, Clinton is still leading with nine points. If the Republican electorate begrudgingly consolidates behind Bush, the difference in a Democrat or a Republican taking office would narrow into the margin-of-error territory. If Trump makes a third-party bid as an independent, he would steal enough votes from Bush to push Clinton over the finish line by 16 points. There’s method in his madness. By going unscripted, Trump is attracting the disillusioned with robust, patriotic declarations, as well as raising the stakes for the Republican Party’s national committee to make a decision. That decision is whether to include him and tarnish the Grand Old Party’s already stigmatised image, or risk handing the race to Hillary Clinton when he runs as an independent. Trump initiating a three-way race will not be cheap for Clinton, as he will be the reason that she sails through to the White House. And if he doesn’t, the Republican Party will owe him for not giving it to Clinton. It’s a win-win situation. By constantly churning out contentious quotes
that oversimplify foreign and domestic issues, Trump is able to draw in loyal jingoists. Even if he were to cease all word vomit, his misplaced popularity would ensure that he stays in the spotlight. In addition to his willingness and financial ability to fund his own campaign, Trump has explicitly said, “I’ll have to see how I’m being treated by the Republicans—if they’re not fair, that [running as an independent candidate] would be a factor.” The question stands, why would Donald Trump help Hillary Clinton obtain presidency? It’s public knowledge that the real estate magnate donated to Clinton’s previous races for the New York State Senate in 2002, 2005, 2006, and 2007. But he has also been generous with the power couple’s charity, the Clinton Foundation, where he has donated at least £66,299. He’s also shared his precious life events with her; Hillary having attended Donald and Melania’s wedding in 2005. But Clinton isn’t the only candidate he’s been a helping hand in putting into office—Harry Reid (D-NV), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have all received funds that can be traced back to Trump. His political spending has reflected his Democratic leanings, his stances shifting almost as soon as his money moved to Republican candidates. In the beginning of his donating career, Trump told Playboy Magazine in 1990 that, “if I ever ran for office, I’d do better as a Democrat than as a Republican—and that’s not because I’d be more liberal, because I’m conservative. But the working guy would elect me. He likes me.” He went so far as announcing that Republicans are “too crazy right” in 1999. Before his presidential run, he had expressed support for a 14.25 per cent wealth tax, single-payer health care, and an assault weapons ban. As recent as 2004, Trump had told CNN that he didn’t see himself as a Republican. The Center for Responsive Politics charts his
Win or lose, Donald Trump may be in line for more than people think once the race to the White House is finally over
publicly available contributions (omitting the untraceable funds of super PACs) as totalling to over £990,000, adjusted for inflation since 1989. Being a businessman, Trump did not lean entirely to one or the other party; but from 1989 to 2009 he has given more than half of said amount to Democratic interests. 2011 was the first year he gave almost entirely to the Republicans (he donated around £552 to Democrats in 2013) and it’s been consistent since then. Trump could want political favors from his best friend in the Oval Office. Considering he and Bill Clinton exchanged a private telephone conversation right before the reality TV star announced his intentions, it wouldn’t be a completely ridiculous suggestion. In 1996, the still emerging mogul tried
to force an elderly widow out of her home so that he could build a casino on her land—using Hillary Clinton as his own personal puppet wouldn’t be the first time he’s acted amorally. What the American people are seeing is a new level of corporate control infiltrating their democratic system. Some honest, hardworking citizens are being fooled that this orange monstrosity is the second coming of Reagan (or the Republican Obama) that they’ve been waiting for. Even without scrutinizing his campaign and political history, one can predict that a man so obsessed with vanity would never want a position that so drastically ages you. Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is a joke that will only be funny if the Republican Party successfully defeat him.
Photo: DonkeyHotey @ Flickr
Images: Wikimedia Commons
Ode to Christmas 2015
Alex Pigott on why we should all embrace the Christmas spirit and silence the naysayers These days, any mention of Christmas spirit or joy is received with apathy or even active resentment. It is as if it has become ‘cool’ to hate on Christmas; even among students, arguably the people with most reason to cherish this time of year. Yet, it is a time when deadlines can be forgotten and time and money are no longer valid excuses not to socialise. So why are people so committed to hating it? It is understandable for a strapped-for-cash family to experience stress in December when spending seems to be the ultimate motive for much of the Christmas decoration we see on a walk through town. It is understandable that people forced to spend Christmas alone don’t have such a positive attitude towards the season as I do. These are regrettable situations that we should aim to eradicate, but these are not the people who are heard providing seasonal sneers towards the festivities. I hear students with families and friends at home complaining about the way Christmas has become a victim to our consumerist culture whilst all the while making sure to pop out to pick up a John Lewis telescope. I hear them complaining about the way the meaning of Christmas has been completely forgotten as if Christianity has always held a place in their hearts. Sure, it is true that consumerism certainly dominates much of the modern Christmas spirit, but only if we let it. And yes, it is the case that the birth of Jesus Christ is not such a big deal to many people at this time of year. But is that really a problem? Almost all the reasons for this Christmas cynicism seem to me like thoughtless attempts at partypooping for the sake of being part of the counterculture. It certainly is frustrating how each year the adverts begin earlier, their budgets grow bigger, and the excitement surrounding said advert gets closer to exceeding the excitement for Christmas itself. It is a sad sign of the gradual domination of capitalism over Christmas. But just because it dominates our TVs, it doesn’t have to dominate our thoughts.
Turn it off. If you don’t see the advert, it can’t run through your psyche all day, using sentimentality to guilt trip you into spending money. If you do see it, don’t talk about it. Even by complaining about the adverts, you are giving them what they want, providing fuel for the flames of Christmas capitalism. Sure, presents are involved, but only as a tiny part of the bigger picture. You may spend up to an hour unwrapping presents on Christmas Day, but the day hardly revolves around this. If we are really honest with ourselves, we could all do with a few presents anyway. But it’s not even gifts that are the problem, really. Giving a present is not just pledging allegiance to the dark side, and realistically we are not selling our souls to consumer capitalism. It’s simply a sign of appreciation. We just don’t have to let the incessant advertising hijack our Christmas spirit. But as students, we shouldn’t complain. You haven’t stopped complaining about your lack of money since September, so for one hour, of one day of the year, let your consumerist side take over. If you truly hate how much of Christmas is being
wrongly appropriated, change it up. Don’t make your Christmas about the presents if that’s not what you’re into. Instead, make it about the people. It is an opportunity to go out without any looming pressures. It is what you’ve been waiting for since your first deadline. It is the only few weeks of the year where everyone is bound to be back home. Friends you haven’t seen for a year or two are all back home. Though I’m sure there are reasons why you haven’t seen them for so long, for one night of the year, indulge them! You might even enjoy yourself. The same thing goes for your family. Of course, there are some members whom you would rather not spend all day with, but they are related to you. If there’s something wrong with them, it’s probably wrong with you, too. So put up with it. Have another drink. That leads to alcohol, the fuel to the flame of Christmas’s past, present and future. It seems as if this has become as integral to the season as Santa and snow, and with understandable reason. You might not have anything to say to the friend you haven’t seen for years, or you may struggle to cope
with the politics of your relatives, but with another drink, you may just about make it through. I’ve heard some argue that it’s times like these, where we are expected to have fun, that are some of the hardest to enjoy. But expectations stem from the wonderful experiences that we have all had before, so we should make sure it happens again! We are expected to have a good time because most of us do. So that’s no reason to be mopey this year. There are many legitimate reasons to be grouchy as Christmas comes around, but are yours really that legitimate? Would you really be happier without Christmas, or are you just jumping on the bandwagon? Though it might not still have the same meaning as it originally did, it doesn’t deserve all this hate. There’s so much to love about the Wonderful Season, so cut out all of the bad stuff, and replace it with what’s great this Christmas.
Merry (nondenominational) Christmas and a Happy New Year from Isaac, Joe, and the whole Opinion team. x
Photo: Rachel Docherty @ Flickr
Music
12
Top 10
Albums
of 2015
ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
As we pack up for Christmas, The Music Section reflects on a stonking year of music. I know, every year is a stonking year according to us journos. But really. 2015 eats 2014 for breakfast. Testament to this is the diversity of our albums and tracks lists, with releases from hip-hop, sugar pop and post rock making the cut. I’m sure we’ve neglected particular genre gems, but don’t just moan; come and write for us in the new year and have your say! Each album comes with its own artwork reimagined by artistically inclined friends and fellows. If you’re lacking an advent calendar this year, dip in to our lists each day and discover the cream of the modern music crop. - The Editors
9. A rt Angels – Grimes
10. Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress – Godspeed You! Black Emperor Released 31st of March via Constellation Clocking in at just 40 minutes makes this the shortest full-length Canadian post-rockers GSY!BE have recorded. However, this is by no means a bad thing as the LP feels like a distilled version of 2012’s excellent comeback ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!’. Based on the live track ‘Behemoth’, the band perform an utterly engrossing piece across four tracks meant to be listened to as a whole. Taking you through the grandeur of ‘Peasantry or ‘Light! Inside of Light!’, the haunting drones and static of ‘Lambs’ Breath’ and ‘Asunder, Sweet’, before finishing with the spiralling strings of ‘Piss Crowns Are Trebled’, the album is a veritable journey of mental imagery that toys with your emotions. Words byAdam Rogers
EDITOR’S PICK
Released 6th of November via 4AD Art Angels’ poppy aesthetic choices—so brilliantly brought to life by Grimes’ obsessive self-production— may have come as a surprise, but these maximalist, spasmodic, slightly deranged songs are unimaginable in any other form. When you take the plunge, you’re bombarded with pitch shifting ‘kawaii’ vocals, trap claps, country guitar licks, a billion melodies crammed into each song, all topped with Boucher’s multiplepersonality-disorder delivery—and yet somehow, you don’t get a headache. In fact, you get something like the exact opposite.
Illustration by Helena Ross
Review
Album
Parquet Courts: Monastic Living EP Released 27th of November via Rough Trade
Flora Jackson Contributor
From the best albums of 201 to the other end of the spectrum; Paquet Courts’ indulgent new release warrants our most scathing review of the year.
Words by Henry Scanlan Illustration by Bruce Tang
8. Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit – Courtney Barnett Released 20th of March via Mom+Pop Music Witty, articulate and delightfully grungy, Courtney Barnett’s debut album is a celebration of, well, nothing very significant at all. Holding steadfast in a swirl of abrasive guitar riffs and matter-of-fact, deadpan lyrical delivery, Sometimes I Sit and Think… is an idiosyncratic lament of beautiful, insignificant-yet-meticulous detail that constantly unravels listen-upon listen. Filled to the brim with intricate subtleties which pass you by before you can realise, Barnett’s profound realism can at first wash you away—however, this Melbournian’s sardonic storytelling and genre-revitalising musicality has propelled this record into being one of the most important releases of 2015.
Words byJamie Chapman Illustration by Henry Scanlan
7. Have You In My Wilderness – Julia Holter
The Clash. Wire. Pixies. There’s a proud tradition in noisy punk rock of the self-important. What starts off as slacker, politicised, but always firmly tongue-in-cheek rock ‘n’ roll turns to something far too earnest. The Clash, after practically shitting out a masterpiece in London Calling, let their new-found confidence take them right over the precipice of pretentiousness and into the two-hour slog that is Sandinista!. And you know what? Good for them. It’s all over the place, it’s almost unlistenable start-tofinish, but most of all, it’s glorious. The sound of a band totally over-stretching themselves. So how is it that Parquet Courts, the latest band to decide that they’re far wiser than their incredibly fun and sarcastic releases hitherto,made something so viscerally repulsive and unlikeable? You see, the clue’s right there. An album like Sandinista!, which aimed to put an end to any conceptions of The Clash as merely the “thinking man’s yobs” that NME so proudly and disgustingly labelled them as, might not be a great album, but its heart’s in the right place; it tries something of everything, with a little bit of dub here and oh-let’s-get some-kids-to-sing-this-one. It hits 50 per cent of the time, but at least it hits. You can see that same broken glory in Their Satanic Majesties’ Request, in The White Album, even. Tear apart your image through sheer effort. On Monastic Living, Parquet Courts try to do the opposite. You thought we were just about our quirky, juvenile-yet-engaging
6. In Colour – Jamie xx
Released 25th of September via Domino The LA-based singer and composer delivered a masterpiece of pure songcraft with her fourth album. The album has a more open and accessible sound than Holter’s previous efforts, her excellent vocals and song writing ability being brought to the fore. Although much of this sounds like pop ballad on the surface, it’s characteristically intricate and abstract in places. The album jumps between differing viewpoints and moods, but a sense of wonder and new found emotional intimacy unites the songs, each piece acting as a voyage into a different mysterious world. A journey everyone should take. Words by Dom Bennett Illustration by Ellinor James
Released 29th of May via Young Turks In Colour is the perfect album title for The xx man’s debut; it’s a record that brings together the bright euphoria of uplifting dance music, but still remains very intimate and restrained. Isolation and loneliness are common themes throughout the record and Jamie manages to communicate these whilst capturing the joys in the shared experience of clubbing. Every track is beautifully crafted, feeling organic and sonically rich. With In Colour, Jamie makes a bold statement, proving he’s one of UK Dance music’s brightest talents, with one of the most refreshing club albums in years. Words by Mark Holland Illustration by Rosie Gill
Top Boys Latin
Sparks
Beach House From Depression Cherry
‘Beasts don’t have a sec to think, but we don’t ‘preciate our things, but...’ So goes the cyclical mantra of ‘Boys’ Latin’, an indecipherable song that speaks a purely instinctive language. Panda Bear’s interloping vocal melody embarks on a spiritual climb, while the song beneath gurgles, mutates and repeats like a living organism. Though it’s really just a straightforward song buried in murky arpeggiated synthesizers, it seems to exist weightlessly on its own plane, so much so that when the 4 minutes 42 seconds are up, you feel like it doesn’t stop—it just floats away.
Even though Depression Cherry has been viewed by some as a massive disappointment, Sparks has quickly become one of Beach House’s most popular songs. Ethereal voices dubbed over by powerful shoegaze guitar break new ground for Beach House. For a band constantly characterised as ‘pretty’, the lead synth line is dirty, abrasive and off key. Yet, Victoria Legrand’s vocals add a dreamy quality to this harshness, especially as they bleed in to the fore towards the song’s second half. The track morphs from brand new, to oh so familiar, capturing the brilliance of both at the same time. - Cassie Hyde
- Henry Scanlan
Photo: ScannerFM@Flickr
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Tracks
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Panda Bear From Panda Bear Vs The Grim Reaper
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lyrics? Think again, they say, eschewing all vocals for every track except the first, ‘No No No’, a song that would slot in perfectly well on their debut and would also, undoubtedly, be your least favourite track from it. Oh, so the fun riffs from ‘Pretty Machines’ and ‘Instant Disassembly’ were our defining feature? Very well, they’re going too! In their wake find long, formless instrumentals like the tortuous ‘Monastic Living II’, which sound like a krautrock band if they’d either gone too far or not far enough on the drugs. I’m yet to decide which. You just liked to play us in the background while you went jogging or wrote an essay or did some other thing that the Man wanted you to do? Well, ‘Frog Pond Plop’ (this is the same band that came up with the name ‘Sunbathing Animal’, everyone!) will ensure that you can’t even try to gently ignore the music, with its grating, characterless distortion. And this would all be just about acceptable if Parquet Courts had injected anything into the music in their stead. But there’s no reggae breakdowns, no synthesisers, no funk, no soul, no passion at all. It’s ‘Light Up Gold II’ with the lyrics, melodies, rhythms, fun... hell, the music... taken out. All that’s left is a guitar sound that, in all honesty, was hardly original in the first place. Listening to Monastic Living after their first three releases is like watching Mark Rothko paint half his canvas, then call it a day and leave the top half blank. It completely undermines their previous work, which pointed to a band who were to mature into something so much more interesting, more unique. Instead, we’re left with a band who, for all intents and purposes, sound like they’ve given up. This isn’t their Sandinista!, it’s their Metal Machine Music, and at least Lou Reed was probably joking. Photo: Album Artwork
Photo: Mike@Flickr
Beautiful Blue Sky Ought From Sun Coming Down
This song is so good it might actually be perfect. A slow-burning krautrock epic, never rushing. It revolves around breezy bass arpeggios, slowly ratcheting up as Tim Darcy takes us through modern life. Juxtaposing the horrors of neoliberalism – “warplane, condo,” with everyday mundanity—“I feel alright! Beautiful weather today!” the latter declared with absolute joy. Every time Darcy declares “YES!” it’s the most euphoric ‘yes’ you’ve ever heard. The hollow euphoria of normality. This might be my favourite song ever.
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- Jacob Nicholas
Photo: Side Stage Collective@Flickr
Of
Shutdown
Pretty Pimpin
Skepta Single
Kurt Vile From b’lieve i’m goin down
‘Shutdown’ is glaring and angry; defiant mockery of the mainstream screams loudly throughout. Ironically, Skepta and the entire UK grime scene, have been out of relative obscurity because of ‘Shutdown’s popularity this year. Skepta and JME curated their sold-out Tropical Warehouse Project in October, and Drake (who features), Kanye, and even Jools Holland are keen: “Man’s never been on Jools Holland when it’s Shutdown” Skepta quipped. Have these factors contributed to ‘Shutdown’ being one of the first UK grime songs to send shockwaves to the US? Like Skepta cares.
Kurt Vile’s ‘Pretty Pimpin’ is a simple, toe-tapping loop of self-deprication, reflecting on his lacking understanding of himself. Looking at a stranger in the mirror he sings, “oh silly me, that’s just me”, tackling a melancholy topic with an appropriate dose of irony. With traces of the electric organ and sweet falsetto harmonies, this track is more down to earth and honest than previous Vile tracks. Yet far from being miserable lamentation of his own dwindling sense of self, Vile remains upbeat throughout, concluding, if nothing else, he is pretty pimpin.
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- Ellinor James
Photo: Rene Passet@Flickr
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- Cordelia Milward
Photo: Mike Katzif@Flickr
Music 13
ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
5. Elaenia – Floating Points
the Interview Alt-J
Released 6th of November via Pluto Lush, pristine, and wildly original, Elaenia’s release marked the moment Sam Shepherd finally broke through into all of our collective musical worlds. It’s the first LP-sized entry in the Manchester wunderkind’s discography, but it brims with the confidence and proficiency you’d expect from a veteran jazz artist. Think Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock, Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks and Miles Davis’ In a Silent Way and you’ll be halfway there. Stunning from beginning to end, no other album this year works in quite the same way. Bring on album number two.
Matthew Staite joins Gus Unger-Hamilton to speak about Alt-J’s rapid ascent, cracking China, and a bit of Oasis bashing.
Words by Joe Connel Illustration by Pierre Flasse
4. To Pimp A Butterfly – Kendrick Lamar Released 15th of March via T.D.E Given highly politicised singles and released amidst fever pitch of race relations in the US, many of us were expecting Kendrick’s sophomore record to be one of singular purpose; a ferocious call to arms. Instead, he took the fight to the mirror. Kendrick is conflicted: he’s a star, he’s an egomaniac, he’s an inspiration, he’s betrayed his own people. Despite this ‘I’ centricity, To Pimp... manages to say an astonishing ammount about the world around him, in acknowledgment that problems, like people, are complex. His debut may have been subtitled ‘a short film’ but it’s here that Kenny proves himself the master of narrative. As the ever expanding poem interlaced between tracks winds to a close, we’re treated to a twist ending (in an album!). It’s a unique and thrilling musical masterpiece.
EDITOR’S PICK
Words by Rob Paterson Illustration by Joe Connell
3. Carrie And Lowell – Sufjan Stevens Released 31st of March via Asthmatic Kitty Sufjan Stevens ushered in spring with a hushed and wintry record—his best to date. Avoiding the maximalist instrumentation and observational lyricism he’s best known for, Sufjan instead opted for sparseness and introspection. That means no more bible studies or character pieces: Exploring the death of his absent mother and revisiting childhood memories, the focus here is squarely on Sufjan, unobtrusively backed by fingerpicked guitars and subtle keyboards. The change in style works: his heartbreakingly candid explorations of grief are as compelling as anything he’s written, and the fragile instrumentation is an appropriate accompaniment. Slight, airy music substantiated by heavy themes—Carrie & Lowell is one of 2015’s best releases.
“Manchester has always sort of been a home away from home for us, so it’s always a gig we look forward to massively”, enthuses Alt-J’s Gus Unger-Hamilton on a bleary Friday morning just prior to the start of their UK tour. “It was a city we used to go to play a lot. When we were all students living in Leeds, we’d go on the train to Manchester and always got a good reception. We’ve also built up a really good relationship with [promoters] Now Wave.” Fond memories of the North aside, the elephant in the room when it comes to Alt-J is the level of success they have achieved in such a short space of time. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the scale of their live shows has grown at equal rate, with the band having sold out the 20,000 capacity O2 arena in London and headlined Latitude festival this year. Gus dismisses any accusations that this ascension might have been too fast. “We haven’t skipped any of the stages in our gig-playing career, but we have been lucky enough to move up through the levels quite rapidly. We don’t take anything for granted, but we feel that we have proceeded through all the right levels to get here.” As to whether the band is still daunted by playing live, “We get nervous of course!” The band released their second album This Is All Yours last year. After the huge commercial and critical success of Mercury Award-winning debut album An Awesome Wave, it is surprising to hear that the pressure of their sophomore album didn’t daunt the band. “We realised that we had a nice big fan base, who were very open to the fact that we are a bit weird, so in that sense we weren’t too worried about the reception to the second album. We knew our second album was good, so we had a quiet confidence about it.” While clearly more understated than their first album, it’s clear the band’s songwriting ability has improved. “Songwriting used to take a long time. In the first few years it would take us months and months to finish a song, because we were still trying to find our feet while being perfectionists. I feel on the second album
we were much more slick on knowing where we wanted to get with a song, and how to get there without too much messing about. We’re still perfectionists, but we’ve got better at knowing what sort of sounds we’re capable of making, and what sort of sound would suit a particular song”. No more apparent is this ability than on ‘Warm Foothills’, in which three vocal tracks are beautifully chopped up into one smooth composition. “Joe came up with the idea of getting guest vocalists to sing a different word each, and then chop it up like that. He got it from a BBC television program, where they got different presenters to all sing ‘Perfect Day’. The track turned out to be really cool.”. Part of Alt-J’s charm is the many levels that build throughout their music while retaining an overwhelming element of subtlety. Translating this to a live setting was no mean feat. “We spent about a month last summer after we’d finished the album and it was all done, figuring out how to take the songs live. In some ways it was a bit of a grind! But in the end it was worth putting in that time, to be able to make it sound as good as possible on stage.” A historical ambition for many British bands, AltJ have built a large following stateside. “We’ve been lucky enough to achieve that, so it does still feel big news to us. Although I suppose in maybe 15 or 20 years time bands will be trying to crack China, who knows,” acknowledges Gus humbly. Despite this success, “the studio is still mainly what we love, and we see our albums as the things we’re proudest of. We’d prefer to be remembered for our studio albums over a big show, I dunno… some gig at Knebworth or something! Oops, I forgot this was for The Mancunion!”
2. Currents – Tame Impala Released 17th of July via Interscope EDITOR’S Tame Impala took a change in direction with PICK Currents. This is the same psychedelic Tame Impala as before, but unashamedly more poppy. The synths and handclaps injected into seven minute epic ‘Let It Happen’ crackle and bounce out of the record, while ‘The Less I Know The Better’ got a healthy dose of disco. Kevin Parker’s introspective lyrics over luscious, hook-filled instrumentals on tracks like ‘Yes I’m Changing’ and ‘Same Old Mistakes’ connect the listener on a personal level that we’re not used to, given his characteristically dethatched persona. Change is a confusing and complex experience and Currents captures this angst on every level. You can visualise our hermit hero stumbling in to the limelight; blinking, but basking. Whether it’s for the open ended narrative or the groove-alicious sonic bliss,the many ways you can connect with currents will keep you coming back again and again.
Words by Joe Casson Illustration by Rob Paterson
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Photo: Press Shot
Words by Matthew Staite Illustration by Pierre Flasse
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Malukayi
King Kunta
‘Cause I’m a Man
Bored In The USA
Mbongwana Star From From Kinshasa
Kendrick Lamar From To Pimp a Butterfly
Tame Impala From Currents
Father John Misty From I Love You Honeybear
‘Malukayi’, the hypnotic single from the crossgenerational Congolese outfit Mbongwana Star’s weirdly fascinating debut From Kinshasa, sits staunchly as that release’s centrepiece. It follows the pattern of a lot of great Congolese rumba: not much happens at first, then something incredible happens, and then it keeps happening for however many more minutes you’re lucky enough to get. Its thrashing heavy-metal-on-a-dustbin-lid opening deceives, a manic adrenaline boost which inevitably precipitates a release, which here comes in the form of a goggle-eyed electric likembe riff, courtesy of fellow Kinshasans Konono No. 1, and a bassline so pervasive you can feel your blood cells tingling. And so it goes for six ecstatic minutes, as the song’s vocals oscillate through the web of sonics, transmitting from Kinshasa to the moon, and beyond. - Patrick Grealey
It’s easy to overstate how culturally relevant Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly is in 2015. So much so that some voices—Complex’s Justin Charity for one—questioned whether its significance overshadowed the music. Their argument: was it really all that enjoyable? Well, it was. On ‘King Kunta’, Lamar’s blistering verses poured scorn over his lacklustre peers, borrowing James Brown’s lyrical flow from ‘The Payback’ and delivering barbed lines with ease. Though he may have claimed he was king, Lamar’s boasting chafed with the ambiguity of the music. Its selfassured G-funk thrust felt unsettled, the sound of hip-hop braggadocio taking a bruising as it teetered between angst and confidence. That said, it was undoubtedly a banger (just watch its music video) and a superior one at that.
While Tame Impala’s third record Currents saw Kevin Parker embracing new fields from disco to dance, second single ‘’Cause I’m A Man’ is surely its pop pinnacle. First released in April, the track mixes a sluggish yet jagged bassline with a dreamy synth melody, an asset the band have really honed their talent for on Currents. There’s no shying away from a catchy chorus either, and the track’s popularity was faithfully paid tribute to by Haim on their official ‘remix’. The lyrics may have attracted some haters, but don’t listen to them – the injection of some tongue-in-cheek fun here is a key part of what makes Currents the psychedelic jewel in the 2015 musical crown.
In this beautiful tragicomedy masterpiece, Josh Tillman manages to take on Springsteen’s classic about the hollowness of the American dream with the ironic detachment of the modern age. The deceptively simple piano and strings ballad is filled with wry asides and observations. Although delivered in his arch persona, Bored in the USA gives us a glimpse of the man underneath it all. The lampooning in the song is underscored by a sincere concern for the problems of contemporary life, ranging from the impact of consumerism to the side effects of anti-depressants. Were it not for the bizarre canned laughter pumped in at the end of the song, you wouldn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Photo: Album Artwork
Photo: Pemberton music festival@ Flickr
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- Jacob Bernard Banton
- Elizabeth Rushton Photo: ScannerFM@Flickr
- Dom Bennett Photo: Dave Lichterman@Flickr
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Music
ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
NME on trial
OBITUARY
NME, The. 1949 - 2015
For a long time, NME was really the only place to find alternative music in the mainstream and its role in many of the UK’s music scenes were pivotal. Writers such as Julie Burchill and Tony Parsons helped shape the punk movement in the late 70s and helped to cement its influence in British culture. This was also the era of Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd—a time when rock music was fresh, invigorating and NME remained to be a fanatic’s only gateway into this exciting world of rock n’ roll. This continued throughout the 1980s; with the birth of indie, the magazine, for better or worse, the magazine helped shape alternative culture with articles and covers featuring bands like The Smiths, The Cure and Echo & The Bunnymen. At this time, the acts covered had real cultural importance and NME was always there at every step of the way, with the sharpest writers hunting down the most exciting new music, presenting them to the masses every Wednesday. In many ways, they helped to write the mythology of these scenes, through wild debauched Madchester tales of Happy Mondays tour buses; through to the iconic imagery that would come to define them; such as the infamous, paintsplattered Stone Roses cover. NME created much of the symbolism we have begun to associate with British music. Would Britpop really have had the same scale of importance if it wasn’t for the magazine’s 1995 battle of Britpop cover pitting Oasis against Blur? As the magazine entered the new millennium, it was gifted with a resurgence of guitar bands such as The Strokes and The Libertines, allowing them to continue their tried and tested NME formula by hailing them as new, cool and exciting. During the 00s, the magazine helped write the folklore of these bands, and, in turn, created an entire generation of indie kids that kept alternative music in the mainstream. I fondly remember buying my first issue of NME. It was around 2010 and I’m pretty sure The Courteeners were on the cover. While this wasn’t a time where the magazine itself had much relevance or cultural importance, it completely opened up a new world to me. As with many young music fans around at that time, I was completely hooked with the world it had created and bought every single issue until it’s untimely demise five years later. As well as informing me about new music, it educated me about older bands, organised NME tours every year around the country and ignited the passion for music that I will always be grateful for. But the NME’s failure to adapt or cover anything that wasn’t a group of skinny white lads with guitars meant that when these scenes began to die down, the magazine began to look somewhat desperate. There could only be so many times they put Arctic Monkeys or Noel Gallagher on the cover, or so many times bands such as Palma Violets and Wolf Alice didn’t turn out to be ‘the new Libertines’ the magazine had hoped they’d be. The magazine turning free gave NME one final chance to reinvent itself—to become a legitimate source of credible music journalism once again and help define the future generations of music as it had done so many times in the past. Tragically, when the magazine relaunched back in September with it’s Chris Moyles cover, it’s feature on why being transgender is cool or its double-page spread on why The Big Bang Theory is the new Friends, it put the final nail in it’s own coffin. Meaning nothing to anyone, completely selling out, and losing any morsel of dignity the paper once had. RIP NME. - Mark Holland
vs.
NME ’s enemy is my friend Was the NME really ever that good? Dominic Bennett isn’t shedding any crocodile tears
The year is 2015. The chiming guitars of ‘So Here We Are’ kick in, and a solitary tear falls down the cheek of our sad indie lad protagonist as he goes through a series of realizations: Bloc Party have truly finished making good songs; Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong will never release their mythical debut album; and worst of all, his beloved NME now has Justin Bieber on the cover and is being given away for free on the streets. For many like him, the new incarnation of NME has been a heavy blow, but we are actually years too late in sounding the magazine’s death knell. It is time to acknowledge that NME have been awful for years, and to maybe even congratulate them for making the transition to a full on piece of shit so that people can no longer pretend that they aren’t otherwise. NME has long obsessed over and encouraged a deluge of dull British guitar bands whilst amazing music has been made all around it. The magazine is partly responsible for the so-called landfill indie era—an endless succession of lazy rock bands that had plagued the mid to late noughties. This led to the majority of the population getting tired and seeking out new styles. Pop took over the charts again and indie fans with any sense had sought out creative American alternatives like Dirty Projectors and TV on the Radio. NME however, continued to prioritise this bland rock style. By fretting so much about the possible death of British guitar music and focusing on a narrow and reductive set of bands, it actually hammered the final nail in the coffin. NME have continually championed the wrong acts and contributed nothing to the musical landscape, from past rubbish like the Pigeon Detectives and The Twang through to thoroughly mediocre modern day acts like Slaves and Royal Blood. It is still is dreadful, but I’d actually like to thank the magazine for making this move into a new era. Think of the updated NME as a glorious act of trolling towards its former readership, who thoroughly deserve it. I imagine a Venn diagram of people genuinely angry about the new NME and people who sign petitions against pop or hip hop artists headlining festivals in each circle. In a year where Justin Bieber really is making better music than Bloc Party, we need to stop pretending that NME was ever any good.
The accused: NME The accusation: Swapping integrity for $$$, artistic bankruptcy, and a total abandonment of prior virtues. The crimes: Turning from just music to accommodate film and style, choosing gossip over news, trying far too hard. The case: NME has destroyed the soul of what it once was. In its new rebranding as a free magazine, it has lost any edge that it might have once had. Its initial problem is moving away from music and broadening to film, style and general entertainment. In a delirious turn, 2 out of the last 5 issues have had a feature on an actor—most recently specialising on “Daniel Radcliffe’s wanking routine”. On top of the music section, each issue now has a dedicated film, TV and fashion section, too, turning into a genre-destroying crowdpleasing shit heap. When it does actually cover music news, it’s more a range of intra-personal gossip, such as Adele’s stage fright; Tyler, The Creator being a playable character in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater; and Chris Moyles being hit with a pint glass at a gig. Changing to a free magazine and online site comes with a shift in target audience and marketing strategy. Now an expansive view into general entertainment with less controversial writing, no profanity and less “news”, the editors may have been forced to change tact. If it is a free issue, the funding must surely be coming primarily from advertisement. It is often that advertisers won’t want their products to be associated with swearing or controversial views, and so this limits the artistic direction of the writers. Overall, the magazine has become another tame entertainment gossip column for the masses to read, without challenging any ideals or morals. It’s another slave to a higher purpose—money. - Pierre Flasse
What should be done? At its barrel-scraping worst, NME has had a detrimental effect on music today and the way we consume it. It has regrettably engendered a culture of slavish devotion to the past, as seen by its hysterical insistence on depicting the last twenty years in indie music as nothing more than a series of epochs: Britpop in the nineties; its American arch-nemesis grunge in the same decade; the noughties new rock revolution spearheaded by the Strokes and so forth. It has also contributed to a culture in which new acts aren’t so much promoted as they are rammed down your throat until you gag. The Guardian’s ‘New Band of the Day’ and the ‘BBC’s Sound of…’ are direct descendants of NME’s unquenchable thirst for newness. This has terrible outcomes for British music. On the one hand, new bands are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with the plethora of other new bands being publicised: victims of the NME hype machine Black Kids have yet to release their second album. On the other hand, indie music is reduced to an anodyne narrative—fringe bands and music scenes are ignored, and genres and sub-genres become mere adjectives. So what can be done? In its current incarnation, NME has been shamelessly subsidised by advertisements and no longer serves as a guide to new music. Simply, we should boycott it and avoid it at all costs. Instead, let’s use the opportunity to discover new music for ourselves. There are other, more thorough music magazines out there—ones that don’t resort to hectoring which “essential” bands you need to hear. The internet democratises the process of discovering music without the indie tribalism and anti-pop snobbery that NME’s studied faux-gonzo journalism had dished out in the past. When you discover a new act you like, stick with them and support them—don’t fall prey to the NME tradition of disposing one thing after another. We should digest new acts and digest the present rather than eulogising the past through rose-tinted glasses, endlessly devouring then abandoning an assembly line of the next big things. Hopefully, in time, the criminally overlooked (like Fiction, Kwes and Anna Calvi) will triumph over populist and hypedup post-landfill indie (The 1975, I’m looking at you).
Photo: Pete Ashton@Flickr
- Jacob Bernard Banton
I Love You Honeybear - Father John Misty
Where Are Ü Now Justin Bieber From Purpose Remember the days when we all hated pop music on principle and generally felt so much better about our lives? When its nowheir apparent looked only to be a one-hit wonder, destined to fade back into the YouTube obscurity from whence he came? Well, for better or worse, those days are no more. It’s a strange world, Sandy. One where Bieber, Skrillex and Diplo are topping music polls featuring politically conscious works of art alongside solid Pitchfork-bait. This Triple Entente have given us EDM’s magnum opus. Jack Ü’s Deep, bouncy and inspired production surrounds Bieber’s breathy, sexy delivery, a song as suited to the dancefloor as the bedroom. We’re all as surprised as you. Well done lads. - Joe Connell Photo: YouTube User ‘Jack Ü’
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Words by Zakk Brown Illustration by Bruce Tang
Josh Tillman’s cynicism and his dry wit working in conjunction with beautiful melodies and string arrangements make for the most (literally) bittersweet album of the year. Tillman’s lyrics are laced with pessimism on topics such as the “American Dream” in ‘Bored in the U.S.A.’ and fundamentalist religion in ‘Holy Shit’. Even his love songs have to involve the romantic concept of the decline and self-destruction of the human race in eponymous album opener. It’s not all disgust and disdain on his behalf however, ending I Love You, Honeybear on a moment of clarity as he lovingly caps off a majestic album with the words he first said to his (as of recently) wife: “seen you around, what’s your name?” It’s an understated, uplifting and a warming end note that assures us there’s real feeling beneath Father John’s caustic wit andtrenchant pessimism. Maybe things aren’t so bad after all.
Games 15
ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Feature 2015 was an interesting year for gaming; with brand new sequels to originally critically acclaimed games Metal Gear Solid 4 and Fallout 3; a new major IP from Nintendo in the form of Splatoon, and an E3 that tried to show that 2016 may very well overshadow all of this, giving us reasons to be excited going into the new year. With the Game Awards just airing at the end of last week, and 2015 entering its final month, I decided to get my team together in order to give you The Mancunion’s choice: our games of the year for 2015. Enjoy.
Photo: Yacht Club Games
- Josh Goldie
- Andrew Dixon
Photo: Ron Carmel, Noel Llopis
Photo: NetherRealm Studios, Warner Brothers Interactive entertainment
- Saboor Qureshi
- Jasmin Tiyur No other game this year has taken over a week of my life quite so much as this one. Despite only being a mobile app (Android/iOS), this game alone caused massive disagreements and paranoia amongst my group of close friends. Certain people I knew had gotten so into the game that I would have had trouble speaking to them in real life, because their eyes were constantly glued to their phones in eager anticipation of the next submarine strike. All of these things would not be possible if the game didn’t have such an elegant design—one sculpted perfectly for the modern day.
Honourable Mentions:
Does anything really need to be said? It’s Mortal Kombat in next gen HD. Fatalities that make you want to cry, Scorpion being fine as hell (video game crushes are normal, I swear), and basically witnessing your childhood transcend into adulthood epicness—it just proves that you’re never too old to be a gamer. (Because you probably should be at least 16+ unless you want to be scarred for life!)
Honourable Mentions:
Bloodborne: The Old Hunters DLC Disney Infinity 3.0
For this year, after ploughing my mind about what has been the best experience I’ve had, my game of the year is Yacht Club’s Shovel Knight; Plague of Shadows. Plague of Shadows, whilst attached to Shovel Knight, offers an incredible new story, mechanics and difficulty to an already brilliant game—for no price at all. At first, Plague Knight appears janky and uncontrollable, but by manipulating the way I attack enemies by combining bomb components, I ended up flying through levels—leaving such devastation behind me that the big boss could only dream of doing. An absolute gem in an era ruled by season passes and microtransactions, Plague of Shadows for me (as well as the original Shovel Knight), is a game that every gamer should experience.
Honourable Mentions:
Metal Gear Solid V; The Phantom Pain Tales of Zestiria
Photo: tobyfox
Undertale is a unique game for me, both in how the game is played and how I came about it. I am so used to knowing about a game, its mechanics and ideas before I jump into it, but with Undertale, I knew nothing. Everyone was just talking about it out of nowhere, saying nothing but praise. It was not until a good friend of mine began to join in with this praise that I decided to go out on a limb and buy the game on Steam. I have no regrets. This game deserves all the praise that it gets. Not only is the story amazing and the writing tight, but the gameplay is something I had never seen before in an RPG. This game easily earns my GOTY and I recommend everyone to go into it as blind as possible. Just remember that in this game, no one has to die.
Honourable Mentions: Splatoon Yoshi’s Wolly World
Life is Strange Splatoon.
Photo: Bethesda Softworks
Photo: FromSoftware, Sony Computer Entertainment
- Stephen Lewis
Photo: Psyonix
- Connor McBride Rocket Car Football. Three words have never sounded so attractive. Thanks to great online play, Rocket League suits itself equally well to single players online or local multiplayer battles with your friends. The recent addition of a ‘mutations’ mode— variations on the standard such as low gravity, or replacing the ball with a cube—ramps up the opportunity for carnage and chaos tenfold. Easy to learn, hard to master—this game will have you hooked well into the small hours of the morning on deadline day.
Honourable Mentions: Undertale Crypt of the Necrodancer
After my recent article, it should come as no surprise that Bloodborne takes my top spot for best game of 2015. Having sunk the most hours into this incredible world and now being taken back there with the Old Hunters expansion, I am constantly reminded of how great the gameplay and atmosphere is. Whilst games such as the Witcher 3 and Metal Gear Sold 5 gave a lot more in terms of either a direct story narrative or mission variety; and Halo 5 being the most fun I’ve had with online multiplayer in quite some time—none of these beat the Victorian-esque streets and lovecraftian world of Yharnam.
Honourable Mentions: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Halo 5: Guardians
Photo: Psyonix
- Robert Parris A late contender for game of the year, but a respectable achievement nonetheless, Fallout 4 never ceases to amaze me. The world handed to the player in this iteration is admittedly leaner, yet incredibly tight, and every feature from Fallout 3 and New Vegas have been reinvigorated. Gunfights have been ramped up to 11, and remain uncompromisingly violent and satisfying affairs throughout. With an abundance of worthwhile content, and with the modding scene just beginning to scratch the surface of this RPG’s potential, this is a game that could very well last you the rest of your degree.
Honourable Mentions:
Hotline Miami 2 Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
- Deven Kara My GOTY has got to be Rocket League. I have played a fair few games this year—mainly console— but the only one that stood out was Rocket League. Psyonix really hit a niche genre with this, and that may be part of the reason as to why it was so popular. Also great is the fact that it has an even playing field for all since there is no tuning on the cars, so games are played through skill or pure fluke. It is constantly evolving, by its way of adding new things; new cars are available to buy, but maps are for free. Good move, Psyonix. Rocket League takes everything home in my opinion.
Honourable Mentions: Grow Home (console port) Destiny: The Taken King
Review
Fallout 4 Robert Parris Contributor
Fallout 4 is the best game that Bethesda has ever made. Everything from the world, to the gun-play, to the engrossing story, has been crafted with a punctilious attention to detail. Despite the fact that the basic formula remains the same, Fallout 4 retains the engrossing, addictive qualities that have made Bethesda’s games so popular in the past. Set in a post-apocalyptic Boston, you are free to explore this vast and beautiful open world comfortably within its first half hour—a stark contrast to Fallout 3’s extended opening sequence. I chose to play as a female character after botching up an approximation of myself on the admittedly advanced character creation tool. Maybe I just have a weird face. However, I found that this fitted thematically with the overarching plot of a desperate mother looking for her lost family in a hostile world, which gives Fallout an emotional weight not seen in many games. Whilst it starts slowly, the story builds over time and towards the end there are some truly palm-sweating decisions to be made. It gets that intense. Over the course of my journey I came to appreciate more and more the sheer time and effort that went into the
making of this huge world. Almost every aspect of Fallout 4 is a monumental step up from its predecessor. Fallout 3.5 this is definitely not. The refined combat system is the most significant of these. Weapons are far easier to aim and fire than previous entries, and your tools of destruction have a realistic weight and feel to them this time around. However, traditional shooting is only one part of the combat system. The legendary V.A.T.S. mode makes a welcome return, allowing the user to periodically slow down time and target the various body parts of your foes. You are rewarded with a frequently gruesome cinematic ‘kill cam’ after each of these, so be warned: This is not a game for the squeamish. You can now choose to pull out of V.A.T.S. at any time, and also unlike its predecessor, V.A.T.S. does not stop time but instead slows it down, which creates some truly tense moments. The changes that have been made to the combat are so compelling that it might be enough for those who avoided the previous games in the series, for this reason, to reconsider this title. Despite the strengths of the main plot, the foremost appeal of Fallout 4 is the bevy of side-quests available for you to undertake. They are numerous, they often take you to surprising places and all are worth your time. Due to the
strength of these missions, expect to sink hundreds of hours into this game if you’re foolish enough to try to finish everything on offer. The best part is that you probably won’t regret it. For the more nomadic player, you may occasionally come across a legendary enemy, which is guaranteed to reward you a weapon with a unique modifier, and you are frequently gifted with useful loot drops through mere exploration. A huge new addition is the crafting system. Every weapon you find is heavily customisable, varying from the optic sights to the gun barrel for your weapon of choice. Previous Bethesda games had numerous items in their worlds, but most were vendor trash. Not so with Fallout 4, since these items can be broken down and used to customise your weapons, and provide resources for building your own settlements. However, I eventually avoided the settlement building mechanic, since my towns failed to provide me with the adequate resources for the time and effort required to manage their cumbersome interface. Another point worth mentioning is that the enemies, despite being some of the most intelligent and freakish foes that we’ve seen in this universe, do occasionally succumb to erratic AI weirdness. Yes, this is a Bethesda title,
Photo: Bethesda Softworks
and there are some minor glitches and bugs that you will see across your adventure. Whilst nowhere near the scale of the issues plaguing Fallout: New Vegas at launch, they are noticeable when they happen, but they are not significant enough to break your immersion. If anything, the glitches and inconsistencies are somewhat charming by this point. No, the real super mutant in the room is the graphics. I have played Fallout on PS4 and PC, and simply put, they’re not that hot. Fallout is artistically beautiful, but it just falls short of that next gen WOW! factor that I was expecting. Non-prominent character models fall flat, and in parts the lip-syncing is so poor that they are more reminiscent of a Team America character than an actual person. However, the graphical
inconsistencies and glitches get a pass from me simply because the developers focused on what mattered most, in modernising the Fallout formula for current gen hardware. Other than the aforementioned settlement mechanic, the gameplay is borderline flawless, and the game remains a consistently entertaining experience over the 30 or so hours required to beat the main storyline. Dripping in atmosphere, and a devil in the detail, Fallout 4 is a more than worthy successor to Fallout 3, and makes me wonder how on earth Bethesda is going to top this with their next project. In my opinion, Fallout 4 is a better game than Skyrim. I know, I’m as surprised as you are. Buy it. Now.
Fashion & Beauty
16
Tutorial
Feature
All I want for Christmas is...
Festive makeup: the drugstore edition
…the most glamorous products on the market! Find out exactly what editors Kathryn Murray, Millie Kershaw, and Kassi Allcock, and contributors Kyle Zabawa and Laura Mills are asking Santa for this year (spoiler: it’s very wishful thinking)
Laura Mills Contributor
Dear Santa ... Considering how superbly I’ve been behaving, I’ve decided that all I really want for Christmas this year is this sapphire cocktail jacket courtesy of Tom Ford, fresh off the SS16 runway. Waking up to this generous gift underneath my tree would inevitably empower me to live my fantasy as the Black Card boasting editor of the world’s most fabulous magazine. This scintillating piece, which incorporates an ink-black satin shawl and regal collar detail, would certainly put a twinkle in my eye. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate a price tag—I’ve deduced that the reasoning behind this is that if one has to ask, then one definitely cannot afford. But, please, don’t let this tarnish my shining moment, Santa—I take an Italian size 46. Kyle Zabawa Ever since I laid my eyes on you, I can’t stop thinking about; the way you sparkle, your delicate chain, your metallic glean, your simple elegance. It isn’t every day that you stumble upon something so perfect, especially when enjoying a casual browsing session while procrastinating. What I am really trying to say is: Tiffany bow bracelet with diamond embellishment, all I want for Christmas is you. After all, diamonds are a girl’s best friend. P.S. Santa has a budget of £1,700 for a poor, stressed, third year student, right? Good. Just checking. Kathryn Murray At the top of my beauty Christmas wishlist this year is Charlotte Tilbury’s Matte Revolution Lipstick in ‘Glastonberry’. This is a shade I’ve seen on the lips of what seems like every blogger this year, and it’s one I haven’t stopped thinking about since I first laid eyes on it. It’s on the rather pricey side of the lipstick scale, at a jaw dropping £23 (my boyfriend’s jaw actually dropped when I hinted at this for my Christmas present), but it looks worth every penny. With rose gold packaging and a beautiful dark blackcurrant shade, what’s to not love? This is the ultimate luxury product, and if it doesn’t end up under my Christmas tree this year, it will be my new partner in crime come next loan instalment. Laura Mills In the upper echelons of the candle and fragrance brands is Jo Malone; the inevitable star on top of the fantastically-scented Christmas tree. All I want for Christmas is this indulgent quartet: a body cream, body wash, candle, and cologne in the scent Wood Sage and Sea Salt. A perfume that is ‘alive with the mineral scent of the rugged cliffs’ may not form part of your usual criteria in the selection process for your new eau de parfum, but the fresh and woody notes mean that it’s subtle enough and versatile for all year round. After all, a signature scent is for life, not just for Christmas… Millie Kershaw
Photo: The Mancunion
Photo: The Mancunion
Photo: Tom Ford
Photo: Tiffany
Photo: Selfridges
Photo: Daniel Wellington
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Without a doubt, the reindeer is the most graceful, most aesthetically pleasing festive animal. Although penguins and polar bears can make a cute addition to December’s knitwear, they are not exactly the epitome of elegant. Unless you’re on the hunt for a Christmas jumper that is so outrageously bad that it’s actually jaw-dropingly good, I would opt for Dasher, Prancer, and Blitzen. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find a stylish festive jumper that celebrates the love we all share for Christmas decorations. Unless you want to walk around Manchester City Centre lit up like a Christmas tree or, even worse, have carols playing from your bosom, the search continues. This classy getup from Warehouse, however, ticks all the boxes. Fashionable, check. Colourful without being eccentric, check. Holiday loving, check. The zenith of Christmas jumpers.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas There will inevitably come a time during your Christmas preparation when you will have to hunt for that ‘little’ gift. Be it a stocking filler, a dubious Secret Santa mission or a three-quarter-sized gift that requires that little extra ‘something’ to bulk it out. There is something so lovely yet so difficult about the little Christmas present; it’s only ever going to fall into the two categories of being either an amazing idea…or awkwardly wrong. It can be daunting when trying to choose a Secret Santa for the flatmate whom you have met in the kitchen only a handful of times. Or when you draw names from a hat and later share your choice with a mutual friend, who nods knowingly and commiserates that you have selected the hardest person to buy for. The trick is to hit the spot with something alternative, which demonstrates lots of thought, i.e., avoid the supermarket bubble bath or lackadaisical offerings of a biscuit tin. The elves have some suggestions:
Rebecca Thomas Contributor
Photo: Etsy
4. Urban Outfitters Silver ponytail hair bobble, £6 If the Secret Santa candidate has long hair and always looks meticulous, then they will revel in glory with this hair accessory. It explains to onlookers that the wearer has their life together. Photo: Topshop
5. Topshop nail varnish bauble, £5 In colours such as Rage, Ghost and Croupier, you can hang them on the tree for God’s sake, it’s delightful. 6. ASOS Christmas pug trunks, £5 Christmas novelty gifts are important. Pugs are important. The man wearing pug boxers will always be important.
Photo: ASOS
Photo: Urban Outfitters
1. Glitter roots paint pot from Etsy, £10.67 2016 is set to be the year when glitter moves off the face and onto hair roots, this will undoubtedly come in handy for the next few Pangaeas or house parties. 2. Ear Cuffs from Urban Outfitters, cheapest £2.45 Wearing an ear cuff is like stapling cool to your cartilage, rest easy in knowing that your stocking filler will be well received.
ingredients to a metro lifestyle.
Photo: Topman
7. Topman beanies, £8-£12 Giving warm and cosies is like giving your friend a hug, and they will never be rejected or unwanted. Manchester reaches new sad and cold levels in January, and beanies help make it all OK. 8. ASOS Father Christmas Beanie, £10 Christmas beanies feature twice but have two vastly different audiences; the former, type A Beanie, for the regular person. And this, for all the others: Featuring the lower half of a Santa body, doing a handstand, complete with leg ears. Gift and watch the hilarity ensue.
Photo: ASOS Photo: ASOS
9. The Little Book of Chanel, by Emma Baxter-Wright, £9.34 at Wordery.com For the serious fashion friend, a gorgeous monograph of Chanel. They may weep with happiness, and at such a bargain, this will be immensely satisfying. Photo: Wordery
Festive films and fashion Sarah Kilcourse Contributor Every year magazines and websites are eager to advise us on the best way to dress for the upcoming holiday season. However, holiday dressing never varies too greatly, as exemplified in some of our most beloved Christmas films. Lets start with Love Actually, a film with just enough Christmas to be able to watch in June without feeling guilty. Keira Knightley wears some fabulously Noughties outfits, as always. Her wedding hairstyle is a great example of her elegance—with two strands of hair framing face, but it still does not distract from the beauty of her lace dress. Perfection. The crop tops for parties and the cosy sweaters when she’s lounging are failsafe Christmas outfits. Keira, we salute your winter style. White Christmas gave us more than the eponymous Christmas song; it also gave us the stereotypical Father Christmas outfits. The entire film is a fantastically Fifties extravaganza, but the styling is impeccable. The nipped-in waists, the off-the-shoulder
dresses, and the waved hair remind viewers that if there is any time of year to do full on glam, it’s Christmas. Another fabulous reminder of the importance of hair and beauty during the festive season is The Grinch. Back before Taylor Momsen was strutting about in a corset and fishnets, she was melting our hearts as little Cindy Lou—she had a great hairdresser. Admittedly, it can be said that her hair was a tad avant garde, but if you’re going to commit to a look, which Cindy Lou and all the inhabitants of Whoville do, it’s important to remember that hair and beauty finish off the style. There are so many other great festive outfits commemorated in film; Buddy’s green and yellow Elf outfit, Kevin McCallister’s love of the sweatshirt through three Home Alone movies, and best of all the classic dress worn in It’s A Wonderful Life—my favourite Christmas film by far. So this festive season if you can’t decide what to wear, sit down, watch a Christmas film, and perhaps it could inspire your dream outfit. Or just cuddle up and watch them all!
Mens
Photo: The Mancunion
What to wear in a Winter Wonderland: The Menswear Edit Kyle Zabawa Contributor
Kassi Allcock Head Fashion Editor
Photos (clockwise from left) : ASOS (£18), Warehouse (£46), Next (£22), Marks & Spencer (£29.50), John Lewis (£50), Superdry (£65)
Fashion-
Photo: Urban Outfitters
‘Twas the knit before Christmas...
Photo: Jo Malone
Gift Guide
3. ASOS suit carrier, £5 Ok, so this might be like giving the batteries to a toy without the toy itself, but the important thing is that you are giving them the il lusion of a suit. They can play with it by imagining themselves transporting their future suit crease-free; you are gifting them the first
Editor’s Pick
Daniel Wellington’s Classic Sheffield watch with rose gold detailing has been bookmarked on my laptop for as long as I can remember. With its humble design and elegant leather strap, it would be the perfect addition to my every day wardrobe. Worn with a striped tee, a pair of classic blue jeans, chelsea boots, and a tartan scarf, this watch would complete my simple ensemble. Despite being in the mid-range of the watch market, with a high-end Michael Kors watch averaging around a whopping £210, it is definitely a luxury that my measly student budget can’t quite afford. Here’s looking at you, Father Christmas! Kassi Allcock
The Mancunion: Fashion and Beauty
We all know that Crimbo is an expensive time of the year. Whether you’ve spent too much on presents, too much on yourself during the Black Friday sales, or you’ve simply just run out of your loan, it’s never going to be easy. So here’s a festive make up look that won’t cost you the earth, meaning you can treat yourself to that extra glass of wine at the party instead. For the base, I buffed in a bit of the Rimmel Lasting Finish Foundation, which is a perfect party pick since it’s long-lasting and has a lowish SPF (to stop getting a ‘ghost face’ in any photos). Then I covered up any areas that need a little bit extra coverage with the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer and swept some Rimmel powder all over to set it in place. I then quickly filled in my brows with the Maybelline Brow Satin Pencil and set it with some MUA Brow Gel. Onto cheeks, I used the Sleek Contour Kit to fake some cheekbones, although mainly to contour away one too many mince pies. Then I swept a little Natural Collection Blush in ‘Peach Melba’ onto the apples of my cheeks to get that ‘post deadline’ glow back into my skin. Finally, I used the highlighter that comes in the Sleek kit along my cheekbones, brow bone and down the centre of my nose.
For eyes, I kept it quick with a slick of the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in ‘On and On Bronze’. This stuff takes seconds to apply (yet looks like you’ve taken ages on it), just sweep it all over your eye with your finger and it’s done. For a festive touch, I added a small amount of Barry M’s Glitter Dust in ’15’ to the inner corner of my eye and along roughly half of the lid (any excuse for a bit of glitter). I used the Collection Fast Stroke Liner for a cat-eye flick, and finished off with a sweep of the Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara. Finally, a festive look would not be complete without a red lip. I lined my lips with the P.S. Love lip liner in ’03’ (this is only £1 from Primark and it’s amazing!), and then lightly pressed in the Kate Moss for Rimmel’s Lasting Finish Lipstick in ’01’. I then set that with a slick of Lipcote Lipstick Sealer to ensure it’ll still be there after a few drinks. And there we have it! A completed festive make up look that won’t cost you the earth.
Fashion & Beauty 17
ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
A classic in anybody’s Christmas jumper wardrobe. Whether a navy background with white and red stitching, or a white background with navy and red detailing, a fair isle knit is a musthave during the holiday season. Usually featuring our fave festive animal again (the reindeer, who else?), or alternatively decorated in a cosy Christmas setting, there is plenty of choice along the highstreet. Although damp and bitterly cold winter weather may accompany the holiday season, there is no reason to dismay. A white Christmas brings along beautiful jumper designs, celebrating each intricate snowflake as they fall one by one. This festive piece from Superdry hits with full force; embellished with dazzling sequins and thick enough to shelter you from the terrible weather. Hey, look who it is! Our trusty old friend, Rudolph. This masterpiece from Joules just screams festive fun, whilst remaining fairly elegant. With a mixture of all the key Christmas colours, and knitted using an intarsia technique, you can’t really go wrong. If you can’t afford to decorate your front door with a real wreath this December, decorate your wardrobe instead. What would a Christmas jumper list be without at least one slogan? Avoiding the obvious clichés, and some of the more embarrassing ‘trendy’ phrases such as ‘Santa is my bae’ and ‘#elfie’, I’ve chosen an old classic. Although I don’t agree with the message—snow is my least favourite weather, ever—there is no denying that a jingle starts to play as soon as the jumper catches your eye. Especially with the addition of glitter detailing, this M&S beauty would create the perfect Christmas Day ensemble.
Santa Baby, Slip a Blazer Under the Tree (for Me) This year, expect to get back into the groove of party dressing with disco deluxe influences across the sartorial board. Finding the perfect blazer can often feel like an impossible task. In order to achieve your aims of catching eyes instead of door handles, the fit has got to be correct - the perfect cocktail jacket should never resemble a well-worn cast-off from a male relative. Colour is also a very important consideration—arguments have even broken out at the usually tame Zabawa Towers when certain individuals (who shall remain unnamed) could not agree on the exact terminology for a shade somewhere along the navy-black spectrum—so my advice is to always stick to darker tones. So, when the novelty of the festive season has worn off, but a bitter chill still lingers, channel the vibes of Tom Ford and Dolce & Gabbana—without the eye-watering price tag—this winter with the hypnotic sheen of this smart, black velvet blazer courtesy of Zara.
The Khaki Knit to do the Trick Want to make an impression this winter but bored of seeing the same old pillar box red and pine green jumpers often sported by the average Joe or plain Jane? (My apologies in advance to any above-average Joes or even drop dead gorgeous Janes out there, offended by my generalisations.) Incorporating a festive touch to your ensemble without a sartorial compromise has never been easier. Forget the headache-inducing tacky tinsel and gaudy bauble prints and instead effortlessly elevate your style by embracing a little tasteful knitwear. Avoid loud patterns and instead opt for softer pieces in neutral tones such as this lightweight olive sweater by River Island.
Photo: Topman
Photo: Topman
Photo: ASOS
Photo: Zara
instantly streamline your silhouette. Ideal for either a night out on the razz or even for a festive visit to the nearest Costa or Starbucks, black skinny jeans are a guaranteed, fail-safe statement.
An Ode to Black Skinny Jeans I love these black Topman jeans almost as much as the Santa who visits my home enjoys a Chatwins mince pie and a white wine spritzer. In fact, I can’t believe I’ve not written about them sooner—I even own two copies of the same style. If you don’t already own a pair of your very own, then it’s never too late to open your heart, mind, and wardrobe to the holy grail of denim. With a tapered leg and a not too skinny hem, survive the party season in style by finding the perfect fit to
Go Beyond the Fringe In Lavish Loafers If, like me, you’re always looking for a boost in the height department, these shoes could be the answers to your prayers. A polished, easy-going classic; let your seasonal spirit shine with a stealthy footwear upgrade. The most feared phrase in the style lexicon ‘smart-casual dress code’ need no longer hold you hostage with a pair of luxurious loafers at your disposal. Treat your feet to a festive facelift and head to the forefront of fashion in one polished step with these River Island loafers. Comfortable enough to dance all night without passing out in, and certainly worth hanging on to for many more midnights to come, they perfect a rich, retro aesthetic that translates from day to night at the mere flick of a switch.
The Perfect Pin I could easily write an entire dissertation on why every single fashion follower should own at least one of these next pieces of regalia. Attach a unique finish to your lapel with a flash of silver and stand out from the crowd with a dash of glorious glitz. Your very own heirloom in the making (maybe even worn, perhaps, with the blazer featured above) could add a touch of discothèque twinkle and flair to an otherwise understated look. These accessories du jour from leading menswear jeweller, Robert Tateossian, come in a whole host of styles ranging from whimsical woodland creatures (see the Swarovski-encrusted hedgehog pictured) to hardy perennials. Even the most reserved gentleman should be unafraid to embrace a little sparkle at Christmas time—a high level of attention to detail always turns heads.
Photo: Tateossian
Winning In White Christmas can be a stressful time and social occasions located indoors can get pretty warm—in order to remain dapper and debonair, always plan ahead to be able to remove a layer or two. There’s nothing worse than overheating in public and to combat this troublesome sensation, a versatile look should be high on your agenda. Remember, the goal is to be neither the red-faced teetotal hypochondriac host, fussing over whether there are enough Marks and Spencer volau-vents to go around the room, nor the rowdy, red-faced uncle with a penchant for binge drinking who inevitably passes out due to mulled wine-related causes by approximately 10:30pm. While remaining the perfect choice for those with a deep-rooted mistrust for the ornamental, a crisp white shirt, elegant yet relaxed, should always be a traditionalist main stay in the capsule wardrobe of the style conscious millennial. (Far from revolutionary, but that’s exactly the point.) Minimalist and modern, always opt for a tailored finish – neat and cut close to the body. Avoid the heat of the dance floor in a both lightweight and comfortable, timeless piece such as this excellent Topman offering.
Photo: Topman
Film
18
ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Review
Bridge of Spies James Moules Head Film Editor Bridge of Spies—a film with a title far more exciting than its actual subject matter. Steven Spielberg’s latest picture is not, as the misleading title would suggest, a gripping and edgy Cold War spy thriller. The movie tells the tale of the behind-the-scenes battle of wits between the USA and the Soviet Union to resolve the U-2 spy plane crisis of 1960. Both sides have hostages to trade, but are not initially willing to let their prized captives be released. Enter James Donovan (Tom Hanks), an unflinchingly moral American lawyer who, after unsuccessfully defending Soviet spy Rudolph Abel (Mark Rylance) in an espionage trial, is called in by the US government to broker the exchange deal. He is sent out to a tension-ridden East Berlin, where he is forced to engage in a fierce locking of horns with Soviet and East German officials to find a solution to the situation. Credit has to be given to Spielberg’s masterful visual storytelling. Bridge of Spies could have been an unbearably dull film in the hands of a lesser director. A vast majority of the runtime consists of people in rooms talking—not exactly a cinematic scenario. Seeing as Spielberg’s previous effort, Lincoln, consisted of similar content and ended up being an unapologetic tranquilizer, it is a relief to see that Bridge of Spies manages to sidestep this
This Cold War movie succeeds as a decent espionage drama, and bears many of Steven Spielberg’s best and worst tendencies
perilous pitfall. But considering that this movie was scripted by none other than the Coen brothers, it’s hard to not feel that the screenplay is something of a letdown. It is a typical trope in espionage dramas to put a sense of moral ambiguity at play. We have been, in many a Cold War movie, invited to ask ourselves who the real ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’ are, assuming that there are any at all. Bridge of Spies does not provide us with such thought-provoking content; instead, we have a clear-cut image of a heroic America and a villainous Russia. Look, for example, at their prisons: Rudolf Abel is detained in the States in a brightly lit and clean cell where he is allowed to paint portraits to his heart’s content. Gary Powers, the captured U-2 pilot in the Soviet Union, is kept in a grim room that is poorly lit and ankle-deep in water. This straightforward approach to the moral themes of the story deprives Bridge of Spies of an opportunity to be considerably more interesting. Even the relationship between Donovan and Abel, which could have been used to explore this, is severely undercooked. But when Bridge of Spies is judged within the boundaries that it imposes upon itself, we are left with a reasonably effective drama. Tom Hanks is characteristically superb as Donovan, giving us a memorable American hero for whom we can happily root. Even when the screenplay veers into the territory of unsubtle moralising, Hanks still suc-
ceeds in delivering his lines effectively. He’s not given enough material to make a truly noteworthy character, but he manages to do the best he can with what he has. Mark Rylance also excels in his (relatively limited) role as Abel. Again, he is often constricted by the script, but his scenes with Hanks are the most memorable parts of the movie. Many of Spielberg’s best and worst tendencies are on display in Bridge of Spies, not least his lifelong penchant for sentimentality. While few directors are better capable of executing this tone than Spielberg, it’s hard not to feel that this often jars with the Cold War setting of the film. The fear of nuclear annihilation—which could (and should) have been a tangible threat throughout this film—is merely breezed over in favour of more heart-warming and triumphant moments. This is, unmistakably, a Spielbergian Cold War movie. Bridge of Spies will keep viewers satisfied for its runtime, but many will endure a sickly-sweet aftertaste in their mouths upon exiting the cinema. To one end, it represents a missed opportunity for an intelligent spy drama, but it also serves as a fine demonstration of Spielberg’s prowess as a visual and emotionally engaging storyteller. Take your pick.
Photo: DreamWorks Pictures
Film Reel
What to watch this Christmas Images: flaticon
Photo: Buena Vista Pictures
Photo: RKO Radio Pictures
Photo: Universal Pictures
The Nightmare before Christmas (1993)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
How the Grinch stole Christmas (2000)
Burton’s gothic take on Christmas deserves its place as a Christmas classic due to its painstakingly detailed art design and ingenious use of stop motion, allowing the viewer to bask in the grotesque but charming characters who burst from the screen with an energy matched by few other Christmas films. - Tristan Goldsmid
A permanent staple for viewing on Christmas Eve, Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life is one of the great life-affirming movies. Just sit down by the fire and experience the heart-warming wonder of this masterpiece. Or if you’re looking for something a little darker, you could try Peter Capaldi’s parody, Franz Kafka’s It’s a Wonderful Life… - James Moules
Citizens of Whoville are excited for Christmas, especially the part where gifts are involved. The Grinch, an outsider casted away, decides to ruin Christmas for everyone involved. Sinister and funny at times, this film is a classic film to watch during the Christmas blues of doing nothing at all. - Nadia Cheung
Photo: Universal Pictures
Love Actually (2003) It never fails to make me laugh and get me into a Christmassy mood. It also makes me appreciate life a bit more because it is heart-warming and heartbreaking at the same time. It shows how connected and dependent on each other we all really are. Each character has wonderful quirks and the turtle necks are just fabulous. - Nicole Tamer
Photo: 20th Century Fox
Photo: 20th Century Fox
Die Hard (1988) Explosions are not always associated to Christmas; in Die Hard they are. Alan Rickman portraying an Austrian terrorist and Bruce Willis running around a skyscraper in a pair of blue jeans and a white vest all make it a quintessential film to enjoy whilst indulging into your favourite food. - Alasdair Bayman
Edward Scissorhands (1990) Whilst it isn’t the most conventional of Christmas films, there’s no denying its magical charm and incredibly festive, albeit peculiar, appeal. Featuring one of Tim Burton’s most noteworthy characters, brought to life by the ever-impressive Johnny Depp in his breakthrough role, the dance scene alone encapsulates its iconic status. - Georgia Welch
Film 19
ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Review
TV Binge
The Good Dinosaur
Pixar’s second movie this year, The Good Dinosaur, is beautifully animated, but fails to fully live up to the inventiveness of its premise
Alasdair Bayman Film Critic What if the meteorite that hit Earth 65 million years ago and destroyed the dinosaurs… missed? Would the world as we know it even exist? Pixar’s second film of the year, and ancestor to the specular Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur, plays with this idea with utmost imagination. The very least you would expect from the animated studio kings. The consequences of the non-extinction towards these reptilian creatures leads to their domination at the top of the food chain, with humanity inferior and commonly referred to as ‘wilderness critters’. The premise of the film is second to none, only conceptualized by Lasseter and co. Nonetheless, the innovation that is so synonymous with Disney’s sister studio stops at its foremost blueprint. Arlo (Raymond Ochoa) is a young Apatosaurus, and is part of an agrarian family in an idyllic home at the base of Clawtooth mountain—an ominous set of three snowy peaks. He is unlike his brother and sister, who are well-machined parts of their group. His inability to find a place in the agricultural landscape leads towards pressure to make his mark on his kin. An opportunity is presented, however, when one ‘critter’ is caught in a trap. This animalistic creature is Spot, a canine-like human. Growling and howling through his screen time, this little enigmatic thing shines in every scene. Revering the stereotypical dog and boy story—as established by classics like Lassie—Sohn enables his characters to evolve into a pastiche of this narrative framework. As always with Pixar, the animation is breathtaking. The palette of colours in
Imran Bukhari Film Critic
Photo:Pixar Animation Studios
the environment might possibly be the most lifelike ever portrayed on screen. A use of the scope of these forests and mountains is only used in the background of scenes. Within panning and wide shots, they in themselves are untouched by man and dinosaur alike. But with these fascinating works comes the heavy emphasis of cartoon-animated creatures. The binary between the two is a little distracting at times, but to a child’s eye, this may not be so. The problematic development process of The Good Dinosaur has been well-documented with a total re-development of the story, and even a change of directors from Bob Peterson to Peter Sohn, plus a total re-cast. The likes of Neil Patrick Harris, John Lithgow, Judy Greer and Bill Hader were all removed for Jeffery Wright and Steve Zahn. This redirection
is clearly evident in the simply formulaic structure, harking to such classics as The Lion King. An initial release date of 2013 was set, and it should have avoided being released after Pete Docter’s Inside Out, which is in contention for Best Feature Film at this year’s Oscars. Unlike many other of Pixar’s films, the thematic undertones of the work could propose a problem for very young children. Fear, death and loneliness are all challenges to be overcome by Arlo. In particular, during my screening, numerous smaller children were carried out in wailing fashion. These themes are prevalent in life itself, of course; however, they may possibly be a little overwhelming for younger children. This is not to say that the film does not deliver joyous comical moments between the two central characters (one including a Dumbo-
esque psychedelic sequence through the consumption of a strange fruit). Whatever feature is released by Pixar, they will always hold a special place in pop culture’s heart. Even the supposed lesser films like Brave, Cars, and Monsters University have all found resonance to certain children and adults alike. This, given time, will also apply to The Good Dinosaur (even if the short film, Sanjay’s Super Team, that shows before the main event, is slightly better than the former). The rise of animation as an art form should be taken seriously by the Academy and critics alike; not simply branded as child’s play. Thankfully, Arlo and Spot are not quite as extinct as in real life.
Carol is a masterfully-directed love drama, anchored by astonishing performances from Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara
Photo: The Weinstein Company
Barney Weston Film Critic Despite Carol being named after Cate Blanchett’s character, the film is not about her. Although the film’s opening moments initially reflect both Terese’s (Rooney Mara) and the audience’s lust for Carol, whom we initially gaze upon from the other side of a dining room, we soon learn that there is much more than
This TV adaptation of the Coen brothers’ classic movie, Fargo, is a black comedy gem that fully deserves its high acclaim
Photo: FX
HOME Pick of the Week
Carol
Fargo
lust at play as the film goes on. Carol is undoubtedly a love story, but it is how it is a love story about two women at a time when society was not OK with it—this is what makes Carol a great love story. As a love story, Carol is also a love letter to cinema, written and carefully-crafted by the film’s director, Todd Haynes. None of his other work comes close to this masterpiece of queer cinema. Each shot is full of love, be it of Terese looking out of a fogged-up, tear-dripping moving
car window, or of Carol and her short, blonde hair from a distance. The latter is a perfect example of the voyeuristic behaviour that Haynes encourages the audience to engage in throughout the film. Blanchett and Mara stand out both because of Haynes’ direction and because of their own individual performances. Both actresses have already emphasised how much they liked working with Haynes because of how well he understands women. Julianne Moore
also commented on this in regards to the films in which she worked with Haynes. Of course, it takes a certain quality of actress to demand a voyeuristic gaze as well as Blanchett does throughout the film. Yet, there is more to her character. In a scene where Carol tries to reason with her husband in front of their respective lawyers, she puts everything on the table so “honestly and exhaustedly,” that you’re left as shocked as everyone else in the room is. There’s another moment when Blanchett pleads with Terese, simply saying, “I love you.” This scene in particular leaves you with an inescapable lump in the throat. Similarly, Mara commands the audience to admirably gaze upon her as “less glamorous, more ordinary, and above all, achievable.” Both of these performances are definitely Oscarworthy, although they will presumably face considerable opposition from Jennifer Lawrence as Joy. Carol is ultimately a fantastic film that invites the audience into the development of a tense sexual relationship between two women, looked down upon by society. Haynes does incredibly well to immerse the audience in 1950’s America, only looking to entertain them with a great love story. It is this simplicity that Carol rejoices in, boosted by the occasional scene-stealing performance. In years gone, by as with several of Haynes’s films, Carol will certainly gain a cult following.
Okay then… how does one go about reviewing a TV show like Fargo? Well to put it bluntly, Fargo is the best show currently on TV. When it was announced that FX would be developing a show based on the 1996 Coen Brothers’ film of the same name, there was much concern over what route the writers would take. Would this be a straight remake with a new cast, or had TV fallen into the same dull, sequel factory that is chokeholding mainstream Hollywood? Once the true intentions of the show’s creators became clear, that there were no direct connections with the film, and that the Coen brothers themselves were in full support of the show in the capacity of producers, all anxiety was lifted. Fargo does take much of its inspiration from the Oscar-winning film. The main similarity that is cleverly retained is the distinctive humour; everpresent is the black, deadpan comedy that made the film such a hit amongst cinemagoers. The same central plotline is built upon in both seasons of the show; a somewhat accidental murder is committed by a seemingly innocent and unsuspecting individual. This leads to ever-growing suspicion befalling said character as he or she must deal with the consequences of their action. Throw into the mix an array of shady criminals, earnest cops, and ruthless hitmen, and you have one heck of an adventure, which manages to twist and turn in the most unexpected directions. All the mayhem is set against the winter landscapes of Minnesota, providing a stark juxtaposition of cinematography. The sight of red blood mixed with white snow never loses its elemental power. The film itself won the Academy Award for best writing directly for the screen, and that same original and creative writing is evident in the small screen counterpart by Noah Hawley. The first season was rightly adored by critics, and went on to win Best Miniseries at both the Golden Globes and the Emmys. What’s most impressive about Fargo is the assured sense of storytelling. The ten-episode anthological structure has allowed for greater depth, permitting characters to be fully fleshed out, and most importantly, a fitting climax to each story is achieved. The writing would not be the same, however, if not delivered so perfectly by the fine ensemble cast. The star turn in the first season belonged to Billy Bob Thornton’s inscrutable antagonist Lorne Malvo. The second season has no clear stand-outs, but has, instead, an eclectic collection of exceptional performances across the board. Now two seasons in, Fargo has already established its own identity; achieving the unthinkable and surpassing the film in quality. So, is FX renewing Fargo for a third season? You betcha!
Books
20
ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Feature
The Magic of Children’s Literature
Jen Borland uncovers the joyful nostalgia of chilren’s books “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss We all have a soft spot for our favourite children’s books, despite the fact that we barely remember them being read to us all those years ago. However, the books we vaguely remember can be powerful triggers of nostalgia, and they often illuminate a whole host of vivid memories from our childhood. Recently I came across a large box full of old books in the loft of my house. As I rummaged through the box, a bright yellow cover of a book entitled I’ve Lost My Yellow Zebra caught my attention. It told the story of a girl who, surprisingly, had lost her favourite stuffed zebra. At the end, we discover that the zebra had been in the washing machine the whole time, and the girl is reunited with her freshly
cleaned toy. As I flicked through the book, helping the girl look for her toy by lifting the flaps on each page, I felt a strange sweet melancholy—the feeling you sometimes encounter when you look at old photographs of yourself or smell a familiar perfume. I also found my collection of Dr Seuss books, and turned to a story called What Was I Scared Of?, which, I remember, used to give me nightmares. It was centred on a character who, walking alone in the woods after dark, encounters an animate pair of “pale green pants with nobody inside them”. Sinister stuff. But at the end, the pants start crying and they are said to be just as scared of the main character as he is of them. Then I came across my favourite, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, which describes the journey a group of children take as they search for a bear. The ending is full of suspense,
as the children are chased home by the bear and hide under their bedcovers until he goes away. But it’s the final page that I remember most distinctly: the image of the lone bear, head down and shoulders slumped, as he trudges along a gloomy beach at sunset, back to his dark, empty cave… I remember crying every time I turned to this page, wishing I could reach through and comfort him. It seems strange that I was able to empathise with such a ‘bad’ character; one who I was afraid of just one page before. But now, with this final image, my fear had morphed into sadness. Perhaps the bear didn’t want to eat the children after all, but just wanted some company. These are just three examples of books that fall into the category of children’s literature. But already we have encountered some heavy themes for a young child
to grapple with: the reassurance that things we lose often find our way back to us; the fear of encountering something strange; and the idea that our first impressions of people often turn out to be false. Books like these help children to tackle serious issues from the safety of their beds, ingraining in their minds important social and moral values, which they will carry with them through their lives. Perhaps that’s why we remember our favourites with such warmth. Unbeknownst to us at the time, the fun and colourful stories that lulled us to sleep when we were small actually helped to develop our empathy and our ability to deal with our own fears and anxieties. They moulded not just our imaginations, but also our characters, shaping who we are today.
Photo: Brandi Korte @Flickr
Review
Review: Verbose and Bad Language
Roma Havers, chair of Manchester Creative Writing Society, reviews two spoken word nights—one of which she performed at Last week I attended two Spoken Word nights, Verbose, at Fallow Café, on the 23rd November, and Bad Language, at The Castle Hotel in the Northern Quarter, on the 25th. Both events were full and lively with some of the most consistently quality performances I have seen in my travels through Manchester’s Spoken Word scene. Verbose started the week nicely. The night is run by Sarah-Clare Conlon and consists of a group of headliners who write together in some capacity and ten or so openmic performers—there is an email sign up which I strongly recommend if you’re interested. This time, travelling as a lone audience member, I worried that I would stick out but already from the get go several people recognised me. There was a great mix of performers from first-timers to the headliners, Manchester Speculative Fiction Group, who read some gory, peculiar and fantastical work. I even saw performers that I had seen before do some new work, which is always fun. A highlight for me was Tammy McDonald’s piece involving a Tinder date and some ornamental grapes. Sarah Jasmon’s short story on pregnancy in a speculative world where memory insurance is needed in order to retain your own thoughts,
was also poignant. She also now has a book out, The Summer Of Secrets, which looks to be a fantastic read. Verbose was one of the first Spoken Word nights I attended in Manchester last year and it remains one of my favourites. It takes place monthly, although not in December this year, 8 – 10pm on the fourth Monday of the month. It is extremely accessible, full of local talent and right in the heartland of students so no excuses! The second night I went to with some friends was Bad Language, this time to perform. If any night manages to distract me enough from worrying about my own performance, I’m impressed, and this one certainly did. Bad Language currently holds the title for the best Spoken Word Night 2015 and it is totally deserving. Intimate, with people sitting on the stage, a supportive audience and well run with the MC Fats Roland, giving out anagrams of each performer’s name. Bad Language is run similarly to Verbose, with an open mic (e-mail in advance) and one headliner each night. This time the headliner was Marli Roode, promoting her new book Call It Dog. She read from a new piece set in a bathroom in a club. The piece was visceral, hilarious and incredibly of the moment; a new
voice emerged. The open mic was also fruitful, although I can’t speak for my own work! Some stand-outs were Alabama Griffiths, who read a powerful poem about a relationship that rocked the room and a man so mysterious I can’t remember his name, who read short comic pieces of social commentary and drawing of cows having uneventful sex. It is worth pointing out that the friend I dragged to this event is not a writing person, and was so enthused by this event she vowed to write some poetry soon! I think this speaks for the inspiring and unintimidating nature of the evening. Bad Language runs on the last Wednesday of every month (except December again, there is a Bad Language Christmas party on the 12th which you can find on Facebook) and has been going for six years. If you’re looking for an event to hear some great work and perform alongside some of the greats of Manchester this is the one! All of these events are on Facebook and easily searched and if you are interested in Spoken Word nights in general. There is a cohesive list currently on the Manchester Creative Writing Society 2015 Facebook page and look out for some Manchester University student events coming soon! Photo: Fallow Café
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Food & Drink
22
ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Home Sweet Home
Editors’ Foreword
‘T
Awaiting orders, from their chief Charlie.
was two weeks before Christmas, and all through the Union, Creatures were stirring, at The Mancunion.
‘News!’ he cried, ‘Features, Opinion!’, ‘Books, Film, Lifestyle, Music, Fashion!’
Articles were written, published and subbed, Stress levels were rising, shoulders were rubbed.
He rounded them up, calling them by names, ‘Sport, Photography, Theatre, Art, Games!’
The elves set to work, loading the paper, Deciding how best, to divide the labour.
But something was missing, something afoot, Food was gone, and in it’s place: soot.
Stitches were sewn, from cover to cover, In order to create, an issue like no other.
That night was sleepless, all awake in their beds, How could x-mas go on without page 23’s red?
The editors were busy, bustling and hungry,
The morning seemed somber, as they went to print
Then with a jingle of bells, appeared Food and Drink. But something was different, ‘twas plain to see, Music seemed bolder, and more sassy. Had they swapped colours, could it be true? Charlie needed answers quick, there was so much to do ‘New year, new me’ Food laughed, and threw back its head, I’ve always believed orange is the new red
Hope Rapp Food Critic
Serving coffee, cakes, and familiar oven cooked treats, this inviting atmosphere is the perfect festive grotto to snuggle into this Christmas
.
Elena Gibbs Helena Maxwell-Jackson
1847: A Vegetable Supreme The debate between omnivore and vegetarian can be likened to that of christian vs atheist and left vs right. It is ongoing and often inconclusive…. Felix Sanders The debate between omnivore and vegetarian can be likened to that of christian vs atheist and left vs right. It is ongoing and often inconclusive. When i’m being meatshamed by a vegan I tend to remain passive, but sometimes I’ll play the devil’s advocate. Hypothesising that the life of a carrot is equal to that of a pig, sentience is not a factor. My current diet isn’t as meat-centric as it used to be. I, like many others, have been driven towards a vegetarian diet because it’s cheaper. There has been a noticeable shift in the perception of vegetarian food, even in the last five years. Chefs like Rene Redzepi and Yotam Ottolenghi will champion the cauliflower over famous cuts of meat.
Photo: 1847
Damien Davenport, the owner of the vegetarian restaurant 1847, operates in the same vein. What initially attracted me to his bistro, nestled in the shadow of the Manchester Art Gallery, was the re-appropriation of classic dishes for a vegetarian audience. For example; Beet Bourginion. I went for a Thursday night dinner with the charming Mr Kean, a political commentator and musician. To our surprise the drinks menu was not a list of grass based smoothies but a pretty eclectic mix of beer and wine. Meantime London Lager, from a Greenwich based brewery, delivers something akin to a German pils. I opted for a wonderful glass of American Merlot. The atmosphere is just shy of sterile, lots of white paint and glass. A large mirror leans against one wall. Small, leafless trees float from the ceiling. I suppose the diners provide the colour. I started with the Crispy egg, which I ordered out of curiosity more then anything. A soft boiled egg coated in panko breadcrumbs. Really excellent, easily one of the topfive eggs of my life, a much deliberated list. It came with a celeriac and pearl barely risotto, the texture was perfect. My companion had the onion bahji, which was authentic and what you would expect from a good bahji and raita. ‘Fish’ and chips substitutes a real fish with lightly ginger ale battered chunks of halloumi. Perhaps a subtle middle finger to the hypocrisy of pescatarians? It was delicious, accompanied by serious triple cooked chips and pea and basil emulsion. The whole dish was tide together by an inspired savoury lemon curd. Mr Kean’s Merguez and Mash was our least favourite. The merguez sausage was replaced by a lentil spring roll, the puy lentils lacked in flavour. But the turnip mash and red onion gravy did provide a rich, hearty garnish. After being lectured, by my friend, on the pitfalls of the pudding dogma rife in todays dining society, we declined to see the dessert menu. I did notice some pears being ferried to a nearby table, seeing as we are right in the middle of pear season this provides some evidence that winter menu is to some degree seasonal. A lot of restaurants claim seasonality as it is rather en trend, but only occasionally shuffle things around and keep favourite dishes on the menu for months. The meal came to £23.50 a head. A very reasonable price for two courses and a drink, and the amount the average student will blow on a rather inconsequential night out without even blinking. This meal certainly changed what I think about vegetarian cuisine. Despite being so accustomed to meat or fish as a focal ingredient, I didn’t for a instant notice there absence. What’s more you leave the restaurant feeling full yet relatively light. Unlike limping out a steak house feeling sluggish and dripping with meat sweat. 1847 was the year in which the Vegetarian Society was founded here in the NorthWest. It is not a stretch to see Davenport as a continuation of that legacy and his success speaks volumes with additional locations in Birmingham, Bristol and Brighton. With V-Rev, a vegan diner, set to open in the new year as a continuation of their current Oldham Street location, there seems to be an interesting future for vegetarian cuisine in Manchester. Price £££ (3 out of 5) Food 5/5 Drinks 4/5 Service 4/5 Atmosphere 3/5 Value 5/5
The Mancunion: Food and Drink @MancunionFood food@mancunion.com
Photo: The Mancunion
The blustering winds chased our furrowed brows, frozen toes and rather dampened spirits over the threshold of the cosy Northern Quarter gem ‘Home Sweet Home’. True to its name, the American style kitchen offered a homely haven away from the depressingly dark and dreary weather that whistled and whirred outside. Closing the door against the cold, the instantly felt warmth of the charming diner brought some colour back to our cheeks and a quick glance at the indulgently iced slices of colourful cake on display brought rumbles to our bellies. Although the cake looked utterly scrumptious, having trawled through Black Friday sales with swathes of fellow shoppers, my friend and I had moved beyond afternoon tea temptations. Our efforts certainly deserved the reward of hot comfort food. Handed our table number on a wooden spoon, and politely asked to sit on the rosy red bar stools until an available table, it was clear how popular this quirky spot was. Completely booked up with young families, groups of friends and couples—the sound of chatter and laughter against upbeat disco records made for a bustling yet personal atmosphere. Our wait was short but dangerously long
enough to witness extravagant chocolate, peanut-caramel milkshakes and stacks of pancakes drenched in maple syrup, blueberries and bacon waft by, awakening our numb nostrils to the variety of salty and sweet dishes we could devour. Luckily a table for two materialised quickly, so our full attention could now be granted to the tempting menu. Plates range from classic beef, veggie and ‘hash-a-go-go’ burgers to smaller plates of sticky chicken wraps and fish tacos. Delicious goats cheese, vegetable and salmon salads were also available but we were here for the famous ‘Home Sweet Home’ comfort food, which they aptly claim ‘Speaks to everyone!’ My friend, as a vegetarian, went for the ‘House Hummous’ with crunchy corn and taco crisps, accompanied with sweet potato fries, whilst I decided on one of their classics: ‘Chicken in a Basket’. Our smiley and friendly waitress made us feel very at home and recommended the house rosé alongside our beautifully bottled tap water in an old glass milk bottle. With feeling slowly returning to our chilled bones, aided by the refreshingly sweet wine, around us the relaxed ambience unfolded. Our food arrived in good time but was definitely more than just fast food. Like an autumnal firework, the house hummous was a beautifully presented explosion of pink beet circular swirls across the plate, dotted with mixed seeds, juicy pomegranate and slices of radishes to finish. This was accompanied by crunchy fried corn and taco chips in a little white and blue enamel mug, complimenting the homely kitchen style and decor. Generous helpings of fries and my chicken joined the succulent scene, which just like its label said, was presented in a thatched red basket. Fried in buttermilk, the chicken was deliciously crunchy yet tender, each soft bite encased in its crispy coating with the little pot of hickory BBQ sauce adding a rich flavoursome kick. Homemade creamy coleslaw, with the ingenious addition of apple, was the perfect touch to the already mouthwatering meal. At a reasonable £10 per dish, with nothing to fault, other than the chef’s overly generous portion control of fries (but can one really ever complain about having too many of these salty delights?!) it was safe to say ‘Home Sweet Home’ does what it says on the can. Sadly there was no room for the American pancake stacks covered in maple syrup and blueberries or the colourful cakes we had spied earlier. Like a family meal at home, we were satisfyingly nourished and restored with the perfect excuse to make a second visit for afternoon tea. Gathering ourselves to fight the elements once more, our coats may still have been damp but our spirits were no longer. Thank you for having us ‘Home Sweet Home’, you were a delicious delight. 51 Edge St, Manchester, M4 1HW Price ££ (2 out of 5) Food 5/5 Drinks 4/5
Service 5/5 Atmosphere 4/5 Value 5/5
Bierkeller Christmas Party Our guru of the Corn Exchange Sarah Lambert heads to Bierkeller for the annual alefuelled Christmas party The Bierkeller bar and restaurant chain has branches in Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool, with a new addition launched in Cardiff earlier this year. The Manchester Bierkeller located in The Printworks city centre complex has four rooms, each with a different theme. The Shooters Sports Bar boasts an Xbox gaming area, pool tables and giant TV screens airing live sports and entertainment, ideal for catering for the footie fans on game night. Decorated in the style of a ski chalet, the cosy booths of the ground floor Ski Lodge Bar offer a more relaxed postwork drinking atmosphere, whilst The Around the World in 80 Beers Bar provides a range of over 150 draft and bottled beers from all over
the globe. The main attraction, the Bierkeller cellar bar has huge wooden tables and long bench-style seating begging to be danced on after one stein too many. Which is just as well, considering that’s the main aim of the majority of guests. The waitresses in lederhosen brought a playful element and catered to our
for £30. When I was invited to review my first experience at Bierkeller, I expected a rowdy bash with lots of beer, and that was exactly what I got. Although I’m not sure £30 was the best value for money. The food menu was reasonably priced, but certainly doesn’t begin to compete with the plethora of culinary
Photo: Quite Peculiar @Flickr
every whim. Famed for their German beers and party atmosphere, I had high expectations for a great night. The Christmas Party Platinum Package promised entry to the live Oompah band along with a shot, a stein, and an authentic sausage meal, usually sold
delights available nearby in Northern Quarter and the Corn Exchange. We also found the steins a bit on the pricey side, considering how weak the cocktails were. But I suppose you pay for the experience. The live Oompah band started up at 7pm in the packed
Bierkeller cellar beer hall. Sing-a-longs and audience participation were enthusiastically encouraged, although the clapping games fell somewhat flat due to the muddled instructions. The playlist was also odd at times, I distinctly remember Yellow Submarine playing at one point. I think they hoped the crowd were inebriated enough not to notice, which was definitely the case for majority, to be fair. Bierkeller style themselves on the bars in the Bavarian region of Germany, although quite how authentic they are I couldn’t tell you. What I can tell you is that they can offer a good time for a festive booze-up. If you’re looking for a rowdy office party venue, or a quirky spot to watch the footie with the lads, Bierkeller is the place to go. Just don’t take your mum. Or me. The Printworks Withy Grove Manchester M4 2BS thebierkeller.com/manchester-bar
Food & Drink 23
ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
What’s on: the Christmas Markets Our contributors head to the stalls of this year’s German Markets to scope out the best foods on offer Strudel
Mulled Wine
The strudel was everything you would want a strudel to be. After deliber-
Nothing says Christmas quite like a steaming mug of spiced wine.
ating for a while about which flavours to choose and settling on a cherry
The market charges a reasonable four pounds for a delicious cup of
strudel, we were was not disappointed when it arrived. We were handed a
mulled wine. There is a two-pound deposit fee for the festive red mug,
huge portion (definitely getting good value for money here) which my friend
which you can choose to keep. Mulled wine is a delicious winter drink
and I struggled to finish between the two of us. Beneath the crisp pastry was
best served hot or warm and is traditionally made with red wine and
a perfectly sticky and sweet cherry compote, all covered in a generous scoop
various mulling spices. There are lots of places to pick up a mug on the
of warm and creamy vanilla custard. The beautiful, wintery surroundings of
go or alternatively you can enjoy a serving in one of the huts and soak
the market were only made to be more magical by being able to enjoy it
up the merry atmosphere around you. If you are heading down to the
whilst sitting and eating the ultimate comforting pudding. Sophie Wyvurd
Christmas market be sure to not miss out on a mug of mulled wine to get you in the festive spirit. The mulled wine on offer encapsulates everything that one should be – sweet and strong. Lucy Brenner
Photo: Manchester Meals Bratwurst
l'amour Bavarian Swing Grill
Photo: Paul Wilkindon@Flickr Cheese
A German swing grill is an amazing thing. Visually it’s impressive and you get a good smoky
PARIS
flavour by cooking the wurst slowly over glowing coals. The stall also has really good names. Try the Riesen Krakauer Spicy, which isn’t too spicy at all, or the standard Super Bratwurst
The highlight of the Christmas market for me was the expansive row of wonderful
Plain in a roll for £4.50.
cheese I was confronted with when I entered the centre of Albert Square. Seemingly going on for miles were plates and plates of small tester cubes to taste. Here, you can
Lakeland Picnic Company
find cheeses in a variety of flavours and of a variety of ages. Classic cheeses such as
There is a strong German theme throughout the market. My friend kindly informed me that
24 month aged cheese and cheese flavoured with truffle sit alongside new favourites
‘christmas is really big over there.’ With said theme comes a lot frankfurters. Although, it’s
such as red or green pesto flavour and unconventional choices such as peach and
worth giving the British sausage contingent a taste. Try the Cumberland Sausage with fried
coconut flavour; I wouldn’t say that the latter two would be my choice to buy and take
onions and homemade carrot carrot chutney in a bun at £5.50. Nice bonus, 50p of every
home but being able to try out these unusual combinations adds to the excitement of the outing. The pesto cheeses were outstanding – I would highly recommend buying some to make some sumptuous cheese on toast with a twist.
Photo: Photeka@Flickr
Photo: John Keogh @Flickr
Cumberland Sausage sold goes to the Wood Street Mission Children’s Charity. Felix Sanders
Flammkuchen
Pies
One of the less well known stalls at the christmas markets but certainly not one to
Great North Pie Co stock easily one of the best things available at the market. The
be missed, is the Alsatian (a region of France) and South German stand of ‘Flam-
Great North Pie Co are artisan pie makers based in Wilmslow. Try the award-win-
mkuchen’. A pleasant change from the meaty sausages and goulash hot pots on
ning (the British Pie Awards are very real) Goosnargh Chicken, Mushroom, English
offer, the smell of the doughy delight wafting from the flamed oven will be sure to
Mustard & Tarragon Pie with gravy or one of their equally delicious vegetarian
entice you over. The traditional dish consisting of a thin pizza-like base covered
options, White Cheshire Cheese, Beetroot, Cranberry and Orange at £6.50. The
with creme fraiche or white cheese, sliced onions and salty bacon lardons makes
fillings taste like the best stew you’ve never had and the all-butter crust is sublime.
for a deliciously filling bite. You can’t go wrong with the traditional toppings trio but if you fancy jazzing it up, mushrooms, gruyere cheese or munster cheese can be added. Hope Rapp
Photo: Anne Swoboda @Flickr
Photo: Jeremy Keith@Flickr
PARIS
Dutch pancakes Sausage rolls
Photo: Paul GreatWilkindon North Pie Co.
D’oh at Dough A number of raving reviews and a fair few friends’ eagerness to dine at Dough had resulted in high expectations. However, the nature of these anticipations was soon put into question. Dough’s marketing embodies a chic Italian, at home Evangeline Katz Lifestyle Editor in the trendy yet unique Northern Quarter. However, upon entering the establishment, this veil of foodie joy immediately began to droop. The interior, lit by a low amber lighting began to feel a little seedy as the evening wore on. Accompanied by the cheap Christmas decorations, I began to feel like I was in a seedy joint in Amsterdam’s red light district rather than one of Manchester’s most hip areas. Pizza is a rather simple pleasure, one which it is pretty hard to get wrong if I’m not mistaken. Pretty much anybody can produce an average pizza, but a restaurant named after this Italian speciality’s main component had given me high hopes for a great one. However, unbelievably, Dough managed to fail in this respect. Firstly their sauce-to-pizza ratio. To give a little perspective, my dinner date described their pizza as “a little soupy.” Drowned by the tomato sauce, the base struggled to retain its structure. The pizza’s distinct lack of balance resulted in what Mary Berry would refer to as a “soggy bottom.” If you enjoy your pizza slice à la main (i.e. using your hands, like any normal person), then Dough is certainly not your joint. Secondly, the tastiness of the toppings. In a bid to
Known in Belgium and the Netherlands as ‘Pannekoek’, these pancakes may be
Porkys Of Yarm (The Pig & Barrel) sell really wonderful Pig Rolls. With a whole
small but are by no means light. Cooked in front of you in little hot pockets, the
hog out front and a wood panelled seating area in the back The Pig & Barrel is a
sweet batter forms into a thick, rich bite you’ll definitely want to sink your sweet
good spot. The pork itself is a good mix of meat and crisp skin, the slight dryness is
tooth into. A choice of sauces include nutella, treacles and jams generously
immediately remedied by the rich stuffing and self-service apple sauce. For £5.00,
smothered on top, accompanied by a dusting of icing sugar to make for aptly
and the amount you get, this is one of the best value items at the market.
snowy finish. If you’re feeling slightly more adventurous why not try the ‘appel-
Felix Sanders
stroop’ topping – an unspiced Dutch variety of apple butter!
branch out, ‘The Philly Steak’ pizza graced my plate. This was, unfortunately, a decision that I regretted from the first bite. The steak quickly cooled and its accompanying ingredients did nothing to compliment this concoction. The Picante, although an upgrade from my poor choice in toppings, was not much better. Overpow-
Fourthly, originality. Again Dough should be credited for their creativity. Their menu included some interesting takes on the usual suspects as well as some of their own making. There was ample choice of topping combinations, with the aim of pleasing all palates. It’s worth noting too that Dough offers gluten- and dairy-free alternatives of many of their
Photo: Dough
ered by the lasting taste of pepperoni’s cheaper and less attractive sibling, salami, what could have saved Dough’s review only worsened it. What’s more the ratio of toppings on this pizza resembled that of a greedy five-year-old’s attempt at pizza making. Accompanied with the soupy sauce, they merely fled back to the plate upon an attempt to pick up a slice. Thirdly, appearance. In credit to Dough, their pizzas are a sexy looking bunch. Aesthetically pleasing, they are likely to grace the Instagram accounts of many. However, false advertising is something that bugs me more than anything. My taste buds awaiting a slice of pure perfection were sorely disappointed.
dishes, a real selling point for those of us who are not usually able to savour the delight of pizza. Fifthly, the quality of the base. The characteristics of a pizza base are a relatively personal matter. Some like it thick and doughy, others thin and crispy and then there’s those that like it to be right in between. Despite this, one who enjoys pizza can appreciate when a base is done well and when it is not. Dough received mixed reviews in this respect. Oddly enough and completely contrary to general assumptions, the gluten-free base achieved a healthy balance of thin base to puffy crust. Whereas the normal base was overly crispy, brittle, and as such, difficult to slice. Sixthly and arguably most importantly, the cheese-
Photo: Stefan Muth @Flickr
to-sauce-and-toppings ratio. Dough’s mozzarella was a morsel of deliciousness desperately competing to be credited against the other elements. There was just, simply, not enough. Sparsely placed, I found myself picking these rare calcium slivers from the bloodbath of sauce and dismembered body parts of steak. As you can see, my experience of Dough was not, on the whole, a pleasant one. However, it would be wrong of me not to include the highlights of my visit. First and foremost, the wine. A mellow Chilean number which left the lingering taste of berries on the palate, this beverage was a compliment to the food. The starters too, were enjoyable—Parmesan gnocchi and Spicy Cajun prawns. The prawns were especially enjoyable, aptly spicy, perhaps too much for my friend however. They were well marinated and beautifully complimented by the bed of rocket on which they lay. The gnocchi, due to an order mistake by our waitress, had been left in the oven too long and thus burnt my eager tongue from the moment they connected, impeding my enjoyment of the bites which followed. This was particularly unfortunate as from my remaining healthy taste buds, I could detect that it was remarkably tasty. The starters and the many choices I did not have room nor time to try would perhaps form quite a pleasant tapas-style meal. Ultimately I left with a burnt tongue, red wine lips, and a few unwanted slices of pizza in tow, that were thrown out, in disappointment, the morning after. Dough would most certainly not be recommended to a friend but perhaps to somebody I wished to have a rather disappointing evening. 75 - 77 High St, Northern Quarter, Manchester, M4 1F All watermarks by freepik.com
Arts
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ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Exhibitions
Top 5
What’s On Top 5: Green Art With COP21 currently taking place, we This Month ? take a look at some eco-friendly art works
Ashley McGovern Arts Editor
Photo: Manchester Art Gallery
Ashley McGovern Arts Editor Manchester Art Gallery: Matthew Darbyshire, An Exhibition for Modern Living (Open till Sunday 10 January 2016). Free Entry. The title of Darbyshire’s show, a survey of his interior installations from the past seven years, is borrowed from an exhibition originally held at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1949. The original was full of hope for post-war American design, whereas Darbyshire’s work is interested in the unique ways we exhibit the odd trinkets we build up over the years. It’s a highly eccentric show. Palac (2009/15) reimagines the Stalinist Palace of Culture and Science as though it was a community arts centre built under New Labour. Also on display is his furry, swanky design for a smoking shelter, imitation classical statuary made from polystyrene and Oak Effect, a tight puzzle box space made using flat pack furniture and old treasures from MAG’s collection. Whitworth Art Gallery: Art_Textiles (Open till 31 January 2016). Free Entry. The Whitworth’s Art_Textiles show explores the storytelling potential of textiles and tapestries. Artists such as Magdalena Abakanowicz,
Tracey Emin and Grayson Perry are gathered here, including Perry’s sitcom-like tapestry series, The Vanity of Small Differences. Inspired by Hogarth’s ‘A Rake’s Progress’ prints, and using a craft form associated with Raphael’s cartoons for Pope Leo X and the lavishly royalist works at the Chateau de Fontainebleau, he delights in the class contrast: “I enjoy the idea of using this costly and ancient medium to show the commonplace dramas of modern British life.” Castlefield Gallery: B/Q: Roland Barthes and Magnus Quaife (4 December 2015 — 31 January 2016). Free Entry. Art and philosophy meet in Castlefield’s new show to celebrate the centenary of Roland Barthes’ birth. A painter himself and admirer of Cy Twombly’s abstract squiggles, Quaife pays tribute to the great French semiotician. The art form most associated with Barthes is photography, the confusing effects of which he explained by dividing content into the studium, the social messages naturally carried in snapshots of life, and the punctum, the personally touching, bruising impact of odd details. Allow yourself to be wounded this December.
5) Joseph Beuys, 7000 Oaks (1982-1987) Kassel’s Museum Fridericianum was startled one morning in 1982 to find 7000 slabs of basalt on its front lawn. Joseph Beuys had parked them there as a clunky visual reminder of his on-going social sculpture, 7000 Oaks. Each time he planted a tree around Kassel, one of the large stones would be removed and placed beside it. Beuys wanted to raise “ecological consciousness” and liked the idea of growing oaks because they were used by the Druids to mark their holy places. Inherent in his leafy effort to encourage green behaviour is the chunky memento of despair in the form of basalt. Less than a year after planting the oaks, Beuys organised what would be his last installation: The End of the Twentieth Century. This rusty wasteland is composed of 21 basalt steles and an array of timber and crowbars. 700o Oaks reminds us: In the end is the beginning. 4) Agnes Denes, Wheatfield: Confrontation (1982) Dene’s wheat fields, the 285 furrows dug by the artists’ hand, fully irrigated and eventually cropped to yield 1000 pounds of wheat, is one the major pieces of green “land art.” Her produce then travelled around in a show called The International Art Show for the End of World Hunger. Her plot of land in downtown Manhattan was round the corner from Wall Street and faced the Statue of Liberty. From some of Dene’s photographs, you would think Manhattan was simply a two acre golden crop with a distant statue of a faded bronze woman holding a torch. 3) MoMA, Rising Currents (2010) Organised by MoMA’s Philip Johnson, Curator of Architecture and Design, this exhibition gathered together visions of what a future New York, a city resting
on the sea, could do in the face of dangerous rising sealevels. The fringes of Lower Manhattan in 2080 are covered in luminous green wetlands in order to establish a new ecosystem next to skyscrapers, an environmental fusion called “infrastructural ecology.” Residential homes rest on green islands. Asphalt is scraped away so absorbent cast-concrete can suck up the rainwater. Dene’s wheat fields have become a practical green island. 2) Brandalism (2015) Just before the COP21 Climate Conference, art collective Brandalism pasted 600 false advertisements across Paris. Easily mistaken for genuine ads by companies like Air France, GDF-Suez and Volkswagen, they point out the hypocrisy of the companies sponsoring the talks. Volkswagen drily admits “We’re sorry we got caught,” and George Osborne sucks addictively on a petrol pump as fumes spray out of his head. 1) Dan Das Mann/Karen Cusolito, Crude Awakening (2007) Artists Dan Das Mann and Karen Cusolito made the icon for our oil-craving economy. They then destroyed the devotional monument in defiance. Their 2007 installation Crude Awakening was set out like an outdoors church in the deserts of Black Rock, Nevada. It consisted of a 99 foot oil derick, which until the incendiary finale, visitors could walk up, and giant wicker sculptures with their arms cast out in praise. The work was decommissioned, or rather completely destroyed, on the last night, when fireworks hit the derrick as it spewed out 900 gallons of jet fuel and 2000 gallons of liquid propane.
FEELING THE
With the end of term approaching and your student loan dwindling it’s quite natural to feel a little strapped for cash at this time of year. However, if it all gets too much come and speak to one of our Advisors, who are on hand this festive season to guide you through. For further information visit: manchesterstudentsunion.com/adviceservice
Theatre 25
ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Preview
Review
Review: The Pit Preview: Inkheart
As part of the Drama Society’s 2015 Autumn showcase, The Pit sets the scene of a dystopian construction site Annabel Cartwright Reviewer The Drama Society’s 2015 Autumn Showcase has brought forward a new body of studentwritten work, reminding Manchester theatre-goers the importance of paying attention to the work of young, emerging playwrights. As the successful careers of a number of University of Manchester alumni serve to prove, it would be a great crime to underestimate the potential talent of current student artists. Particularly relevant evidence of the success of alumni is the recent run of Alistair McDowell’s play Pomona at the Royal Exchange Theatre, having previously been performed at the National Theatre and the Orange Tree Theatre. Perhaps following in McDowell’s footsteps might be playwright Tom Mackintosh and the cohort of theatremakers who worked alongside him in producing the play The Pit, recently performed in the Council Chambers of the Students’ Union. Surprisingly, one of the great triumphs of this play is in its illogical plot and nonsensical style. Boasting clear resonances of Beckett’s Endgame and Waiting for Godot, The Pit delightfully and accurately reinvigorates absurdism. In a sudden injection of normality amidst confusion, Mackintosh reinforces the messages that Beckett and his contemporaries endeavoured to project to their own audiences in an inventive and thought-provoking way. The Pit opens, develops and closes in a pit. Diggers work all day under a disconcertingly anonymous regime, unaware of why they must dig, when they began digging, or when they might be allowed to stop digging. In a repetitive,
meaningless universe that is neither up nor down, there is no knowledge of anything ‘else’. When a woman from ‘our’ world gets dropped into the mix, the diggers are jolted from their daily routine, and begin asking questions that no digger has thought to ask before. Bringing the principle duo of diggers, Garf and Crid, to life, were the charismatic and wonderfully comedic Sam Ebner-Landy and Oliver RobertVale. Perfectly cast, these two actors set themselves apart from the rest, giving tender and complex representations of two exceedingly disturbed characters. The entire cast of The Pit must also be commended for their emotional and physical commitment to the production. The sheer energy and power with which the actors approached their roles was remarkable to behold. Much like reading an epic poem, The Pit was exhausting yet entirely absorbing to experience. Whilst perhaps excessively drawn out during
the first half of the play, the plot remained interesting and intriguing. Undeniably, the various designers had much to do with the overall success of the play. The effective deployment of extensive audio-visual effects was impressive, and the artistic direction by Cecilia Wray was thoughtful and detailed, and rounded off the microcosmic world of the play perfectly. The use of timeworn papers and magazines among the mud and filth of the pit bolstered the sense of timelessness that is so key to the text. With the Drama Society’s showcase drawing to an end, anticipation begins to build for its next series of plays to be performed during the Manchester In-Fringe Theatre Awards season (MIFTAs) in the new year. Manchester theatre-goers can only hope that the Drama Society’s productions continue to simultaneously challenge audience expectations whilst inspiring potential McDowells to bring their work to life.
Photo: garryknight @Flickr
weekly handwritten letters, each sharing what goes on behind the curtain. Each class will take part in two creative theatre workshops and will also visit HOME in December to see a performance of Inkheart, before finally coming face to face with their adopted actor. Wythenshawe pupils have also been encouraged to send HOME stories that are inspired by the magic of reading, as part of our World Duty Free Storywriting Competition. The winning pupil will receive a number of prizes including the opportunity to meet Cornelia Funke. Books are capable of transporting their readers to different worlds, but what happens if that world is full of dark magic and ferocious and forbidding villains, where secrets are revealed and stories come alive? If words printed on page can transport you so far, imagine the adventure that the stage will take you on.
Photo: Press shot
Preview: UoM Dance Society Christmas Showcase 2015
Tori Blakeman Dance Society President
Photo: UoM Drama Society
What’s on this week?
Tuesday Into the Woods, Royal Exchange Theatre 7:30PM Cinderella, Manchester Opera House 11AM & 7PM The Bodyguard, Palace Theatre 7:30PM Josh Widdicombe, Lowry Theatre 8PM UoM Dance Society Christmas Showcase 2015, Academy 1 7PM
Manchester’s new international centre for contemporary visual art, theatre, and film have chosen an adaptation of Cornelia Funke’s worldwide best-selling novel Inkheart as its first Christmas production. This festive production is very much a collaborative effort. As well as being directed by Walter Meierjohann, it has also been adapted by Stephen Sharkey and Meierjohann. Designed by Berlin-based French designer Stéphane Laimé, the production is complemented with music composed by Nikola Kodjabashia, who also worked on Romeo and Juliet last year. This bestselling international children’s book tells the story of Meg, a 12-year-old who is thrown into a world of magic, mystery and adventure when the characters from her favourite books come to life. Cast members include our protagonist, portrayed by Katherine Carlton, who graduated from LAMDA in 2013. Paul McEwan will also be joining the stage as Meggie’s father, Mo—his northwest credits at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Dukes Lancaster as well as the Royal Shakespeare Company. Meanwhile, Stockport-based Kelly Hotten
will be playing the narrator of the story and Meggie’s mother, Resa. Hotten has made numerous appearances at the Royal Exchange Theatre, whilst her TV credits include Doctors and WPC56. Finally, Rachel Atkins and Griffin Stevens, who both appeared in HOME’s Manchester Theatre Award-winning production of Romeo and Juliet at Victoria Baths, return to HOME to portray Elinor, Meggie’s aunt and Flatnose, one of the evil villains, respectively. HOME will be delivering two exciting schools’ projects during Inkheart, with the support of World Duty Free Group. The first project, Adopt an Actor, involved four Year Seven classes from three Wythenshawe schools —Manchester Enterprise Academy, The Manchester Health Academy and Newall Green High School. During the rehearsal process, actors and pupils will be exchanging
Preview
Editor’s Picks
Monday Into the Woods, Royal Exchange Theatre 7:30PM Cinderella, Manchester Opera House 2:30PM & 7PM
Elise Gallagher Theatre Editor
A few picks throughout the week in Manchester
Thursday Into the Woods, Royal Exchange Theatre 2:30PM & 7:30PM Cinderella, Manchester Opera House 2:30PM & 7PM The Bodyguard, Palace Theatre 7:30PM An Evening with Noel Fielding, Lowry Theatre 8PM UMMTS’ Betty Blue Eyes, Student Union’s Council Chambers 7:30PM Friday Cinderella, Manchester Opera House 2:30PM & 7PM The Bodyguard, Palace Theatre 7:30PM
Mother’s Ruin: Christmas Cracker, Contact Theatre 8:30PM UMMTS’ Betty Blue Eyes, Student Union’s Council Chambers 7:30PM Saturday Into the Woods, Royal Exchange Theatre 2:30PM & 7:30PM Cinderella, Manchester Opera House 1PM & 5PM The Bodyguard, Palace Theatre 2:30PM & 7:30PM
With almost 3,000 likes on Facebook, over 400 members, and as previous winner of Arts and Media Society of the Year, it is evident that Dance Society is one of the most popular societies at the University of Manchester. On Tuesday the 8th of December, over 150 dancers from UoM Dance’s competitive dance teams and dance classes will grace the Academy 1 stage in an extravagant Christmas showcase, featuring many diverse styles of dance including Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Street,
Contemporary and Irish. Playing host to the second largest dance competition in the UK, and staging two shows a year, UoM Dance are no strangers to producing outstanding dance productions. Featuring student dancers from beginner to professionally-trained level from both the University of Manchester and MMU, UoM Dance’s annual Christmas Showcase is set to be a dazzling and energetic winter production that is not to be missed! Tickets are £4 for students, £7 for non-students, and can be purchased on the Dance Society section of the Students’
Union website, or on the door. Doors open at 7pm for a 7:30pm start. The Dance Society runs 11 dance classes across campus throughout the week, in many styles, and for all abilities. If you would like to get involved, find them on Twitter and Instagram at @UoMDance, or at www.facebook.com/ UoMDanceSociety. UoM Dance Society Christmas Showcase 2015 Tuesday 8th December Academy 1 Doors 7pm Students £4
Sunday Cinderella, Manchester Opera House 1PM & 5PM
Photo: UoM Dance Society
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Lifestyle
ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Christmas survival guide Evangeline Katz reveals her tips and tricks to guide you through the minefield that is the ‘most wonderful time of the year’ “Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, the sole sound to my ears was my mother’s screech like a Scouse, the odour of burnt turkey (so foul) fills the air and the dog is sat quivering behind the armchair. My siblings wreak havoc, fuelled by too many Buck’s Fizz, Nana’s knocked over her drink, she’s in such a tizz. The bin’s overflowing with wrapping paper galore and the relentless Christmas carols are becoming a bore.”
exactly scream genuine interest now, does it? Persistent questions about your love life—whether it be nonexistent or sordid—are yet another reason to be thankful it’s Christmas. Tip: Turn the tables and ask the questions first, or better yet ask close family members to tell you a little about what the more distant family has been getting up to. You never know, you may have a lot in common—or better yet, score an awesome internship for next summer. If you’re fortunate (or perhaps unfortunate) enough to have young children in your family, you’ll already know that this is a bittersweet time, especially during the holidays. Yes, the excitement on their faces on Christmas morning will warm even the most Scrooge-like of hearts. However, it is also likely that their Christmas morning will start at an extraordinarily early hour i.e. 6am. The combination of too much chocolate and hours of excitement will also make for some rather whiny infants as the day draws to a close. What’s more, being the independent and ‘responsible’ student that you are, you will also be graced with the role of babysitter. Tip: Chocolate is not your best form of bribery— queue hyper children reluctant to go to bed when they’re told to. Instead, use a cup of hot chocolate to put them off to sleep. This, matched with a little extra effort playing in the snow during the day will ensure they’ll go out like a light.
If this all sounds painfully familiar, then be rest assured that you’re not suffering alone. Once you become a student—in theory—you gain a relative enjoyment of your newfound independence, therefore the holidays are often a vastly underwhelming experience. Yes, you get food made for you every day, yes you are allowed to have the heating on without the depressive worry about your dwindling bank account. But do these advantages really outweigh the persistent nagging from your family, the constant need to know where you are and what you’re doing on top of Mum’s extraordinarily early hoovering? The answer is probably dependent on how well you and your family cope with the inevitable stress that comes with this most joyous time of year. But with some minor adjustments, you can make this a Christmas to remember, for good reasons rather than bad. Food is often something that many struggle to readjust to when returning home for the holidays. It is likely that over the semester, you would have developed a liking for foods, eating habits and schedules that don’t exactly conform with those at home. Tip: Offer to cook some of your newfound favourites for the family. Not only will this mean that you don’t have to worry about your expanding waistline or consuming yet another concoction involv-
ing turkey leftovers, it could also relieve a little stress from the usual family chef and thus make the kitchen a slightly less daunting place in the house. As if that’s not enough, there will undoubtedly be comments on weight made or lost over the festive period: “you’re looking a little rounder than when I saw you last” or “you look like a bag of bones” will likely grace your ears.
Tip: The trick to combatting this is to make the most of the season’s debatable fashion sense and don on a Christmas jumper or two. Check out the fashion section for some of The Mancunion’s favourites. Small talk with distant relatives is another exciting element to look forward to this Christmas. “How’s whatever you’re doing now going?” doesn’t
There’s no denying that giving gifts is a stressful and tenuous process. Getting it right can result in elation for giver and receiver alike, but the look of disappointment following the receival of an unwanted presents can really ruin Christmas. Tip: If you haven’t done so already, send out your Christmas list as soon as possible. Ensure that you include gifts at a range of prices and make sure that your family communicates to avoid receiving the same thing twice.
Secret Santa gifts for £5; solving the annual painstaking struggle
As much as we love the tradition, Secret Santa gifts are a pain to buy! So here are some ideas to relieve that stress and get you on your way with your Christmas shopping Louisa Hall Lifestyle Contributor It’s that time of year again; the names are drawn, the whispers are rife, and you already know who everybody else in the group has for Secret Santa. What’s more, everybody knows who you have, so the pressure is on to find a gem for £5 or under. Let’s start with the most obvious and essential gift—everybody needs new pants. One extra pair of smalls means that you can put off the dreaded laundry wash for one more day, which is a highly sought after superpower in the world of laundrette runs. A pair of knickers from TopShop costs £4, or if you want to give a slightly ‘classier’ present, you could fork out for a handful £1 ‘Primani’ knickers, briefs, or boxers— although the life expectancy of this investment is somewhat questionable. A food hamper is always a treat; grab the Nectar card and dash to Sainsbury’s—a Merryteaser chocolate reindeer (60p), a mini bottle of wine (£1.25),
a bag of dried cranberries (50p), a block of brie (£1), a sachet of hot chocolate (30p) and a pack of 4 mince pies (£1) still leaves you with change to buy a little something for yourself on the way out. Cram it all into a shoebox wrapped in Christmas paper—they’ll love it! If you’re looking for something a little more practical, then a travel mug could be your gift of choice. Nowadays, the boring old design is no more and there is quite literally a travel mug out there for all personalities imaginable. For £4.95 you could buy a ‘Mr Grumpy’ design from NotTheUsual.co.uk—perfect for someone who’s not quite with it until they get their morning caffeine fix. Ann Summers is your best bet if you’ve managed to draw the prude of the group. The exchanging of Secret Santa gifts wouldn’t be the same without somebody blushing a suitably Christmassy shade of red and holding up the candy nipple tassels (£5) or jelly willies (£3) that they’ve been given. With a selection including such elegant gifts as: penis pasta (£4), willy straws (£4), cola cocks (£3)—let’s face it, you can’t go
wrong with a dirty present!
enough.
Provided you’ve been embracing the student experience that Manchester has to offer, there will be some nights that you and your friends will never forget. Those trigger-happy photographers among you may even have a cheeky snap to commemorate the carnage. If so, it is quite simply your duty to the group to preserve it. Putting it on a personalised keyring will mark the event in history—wherever the lucky recipient goes, they’ll be asked about the monstrosity that their keys behold. Queue the consequent embarrassment when they have to explain an image of themselves pretending to hump a dustbin, or throwing up on the Magic Bus, to grandma. For £2.99 (from Truprint), it really is worth the hassle.
Every person has an emoji that they directly relate to (whether they know it or not). Amazon and other online sellers stock a range of emoji-themed cushions in a variety of such styles for around £4. Whether the receiver can make you cry tears of joy, gives sassy smirks, or is merely associated with a smiley poo, there’s one for every character within your circle.
Forget the crazy nights; when you feel a little worse for wear the morning after the night before, there’s nothing better than a good ol’ movie night. HMV sell a wide variety Disney classics for under a fiver, or if you’re funds are really low, Poundland actually often have some good refurbished films, if you look hard
If you’re still feeling uninspired, don’t despair! There are so many other ideas; you just need to look in the right places. NotOnTheHighStreet.com have some great gifts—after all, who doesn’t want piña colada flavoured lip balm (£3.25), a nail art kit (£3.99), a giant custard cream (£4.95), or a chocolate pinecone (£4.95)? The many charity shops around Manchester are also always worth a browse. But whether you’re shopping online (‘Prices: Low to High’… obviously) or scouring the shops, just remember: No one EVER wants soap or bath bombs... …but a ‘Grow-Your-Own-Girlfriend/ Boyfriend’ will never fail to put a smile on someone’s face.
Lifestyle 27
ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Overheard University of Manchester It took us ages to work out that the smell was semen -Overheard in Withington I intend to eat only melons and malteasers this holiday season. -Overheard in the Student Union
The Ultimate Christmas Drinking Game Get together with your friends and admit your Christmas sins. Take one shot or sip for a white square, two for a green and three for a red.
On a scale of 1 to MA, how much are you actually avoiding the real world? -Overheard in the Student Union It was around about the time I started seeing animals in the Ali G that I realized a fortnight of deadlines was taking its toll. -Overheard in Mansfield Cooper The final straw was when he took my last earl grey teabag. I retaliated by eating a whole cheeseboard selection he was saving. -Overheard on a 142 Oh my god, look at this hair I just pulled out of my elbow area. -Overheard on a 111 When you find out your toothbrush is being used to clean the yellow stuff off the taps, it’s really the final injustice. -Overheard on a 143 He kept dressing up as Myra Hindley and no-one really thought that was acceptable party attire. It wasn’t even fancy dress, for god’s sake. -Overheard at an Oxford Road bus stop
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ISSUE 11 / 7TH DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
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Britain’s Davis Cup Triumph
After 79 years wait, the British have claimed the Davis Cup. James Haughton reflects on a great season of tennis It couldn’t have been a more fitting end, for British tennis fans at least, to a dramatic tennis season: after seventy-nine years, Great Britain finally won the Davis Cup again, an even more impressive achievement when you consider that the 1936 winners, led by Fred Perry, only had to play in the final, as opposed to the four ties Great Britain have played this year. Unsurprisingly, Andy Murray spearheaded the charge to the title, ending with an unblemished 11-0 record in live Davis Cup rubbers, consisting of eight singles victories and three doubles wins with his brother, Jamie. But it was not always plain sailing. The five-set semi-final doubles matches against Sam Groth and Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in Glasgow, and the four-set win against France’s Gilles Simon in the quarter-final, a match in which Simon raced into a set-and-a-break lead, were two particularly nail-biting encounters. While the Murray brothers won the doubles match in GB’s ties against France, Australia and Belgium, Andy did not play doubles in Great Britain’s first match, against the USA; James Ward won his singles rubber against John Isner on the first day. Ward, ranked 111th in the world at the time of the match, won 15-13 in the fifth against an opponent who is currently ranked 12th in the world and who, due to his phenomenal serving abilities, has had plenty of practice at playing very, very deep into a fifth set. Ward’s shock win also meant that Great Britain didn’t need to win the doubles match against the USA, all the more important because the USA’s first-choice doubles team, Bob and Mike Bryan, have won sixteen Grand Slam doubles titles together. Credit for Great Britain’s victory must, of course, also go to Dan Evans, Kyle Edmund and Dom Inglot, who all played in the Davis Cup this year and have been part of the team throughout, and the captain, Leon Smith, who, in his five-year reign, has done a fantastic job of uniting the team together. On the singles circuit, Andy Murray’s season was vastly improved from his one in 2014, and went better than many, including myself, were expecting; yet strangely, it is also one that can be classed as somewhat of a disappointment. The season started off strongly, with Andy achieving a remarkable level of consistency throughout the first half of the year. His efforts on clay far surpassed anything he has done on the surface before, as, over two consecutive weeks, he won his first two events on clay, in Berlin and Madrid, the latter a prestigious Masters 1000 tournament, in which he demolished Rafael Nadal in the final, before reaching the semi-finals
of the French Open. But throughout that period, he was unable to beat Novak Djokovic in big matches. He lost in the finals of the Australian Open and the Miami Masters, and in the semi-final of the French Open. On each occasion, there were periods when Murray was in control, but he faded badly in the last set of each of the matches. The Australian Open final will particularly gall Andy, because at one point, Novak seemed to be physically weakening, handing Murray the advantage, but somehow Murray collapsed mentally, and was unable to cope with Novak’s renewed vigour. Roger Federer was to compound this misery further by playing, in their Wimbledon semi-final, tennis of such quality that watching it almost bordered on being a religious experience to knock the Brit/ Scot (I’ll leave you, the reader, to delete as appropriate) out of the tournament. Murray finally broke his hoodoo against Djokovic in the final of the Montreal Masters, playing some of his best, most attacking tennis of the year to win. After Montreal, however, Murray’s performances and results for the rest of the year dropped. He lost at the last-16 stage in New York and lost to both Rafael Nadal and Stanislas Wawrinka at the World Tour Finals in London. The tendency to rant at his box became more prominent, and I felt that his groundstrokes became slower, and did not have the depth that they had had earlier in the season, meaning that the ball would sit up invitingly for opponents to hit. But he is now the number-two ranked player in the world, his highest year-end ranking to date, and after his Davis Cup exploits, and overcoming all of the pressure heaped on him to end Britain’s seventy-nine-year drought, and a good pre-season, he will be ideally placed to renew his attempts to usurp Djokovic as he seeks to add to the Wimbledon and US Open titles he has won before. The second half of the year provided another reason for British tennis to cheer, though: the form of Johanna Konta. She entered the year 150th in the world rankings, and rarely appeared on the WTA circuit until mid-way through the year. Her run since then has included a stretch of sixteen unbeaten matches, which ended only after a defeat to Petra Kvitova in the last sixteen of the US Open. Konta’s form has been all the more impressive for the quality of opponent she has beaten; the past and current top-10 players defeated by Konta this year include: Victoria Azarenka, who, admittedly, retired after the first set of their match; Garbine Muguruza (twice); Andrea Petkovic; and the current world-
ranked number two, Simona Halep. Konta has been rewarded for these performances by becoming a top-fifty player for the first time. On the other hand, this season will be one that Heather Watson and Laura Robson will want to forget quickly, the former because of her poor form (apart from that match against Serena Williams at Wimbledon), and the latter because this year has been another blighted by injuries and the slow recovery from them. Internationally, headlines on the men’s and women’s tours were dominated by Djokovic’s and Serena Williams’s, respectively, attempt at winning all four Grand Slams in the same year, a Calendar Grand Slam (CYGS); attempts which were both, ultimately, unsuccessful. Djokovic won three of the Grand Slams but lost to Stanislas Wawrinka in the final of the French Open, the second Grand Slam of the season. Wawrinka’s performance in that match was awe-inspiring—a sustained and relentless assault of powerful yet beautiful hitting that I doubt anybody would have been able to prevail against. The French Open is the only slam that Novak has not won yet, and while the defeat to Wawrinka was a painful blow, Djokovic’s response has been phenomenal: winning the year’s two remaining slams and raising his level in the last couple of months to heights that, at this moment, no other player can reach. Williams, on the other hand, won the first three Slams of the years but, in the biggest surprise of the year, was knocked out at the semi-final stage of the US Open by Roberta Vinci. Before and during the tournament, Serena’s attempt at the CYGS was the main, and at times sole, focus of the media, and maybe this got to her, because in the match against Vinci, she won the first set comfortably, but seemed extremely nervous from then on and was, at times, unable to hit shots that she would deem regulatory. That is not to take away from Vinci: many players with the career she had had up until that point would have run Serena close but failed to finish off the match. It was a devastating loss for Serena, as can be seen from the fact that she decided to rest for the remainder of the season and return in 2016. But her dominance over the women’s tour this year suggests that even with the extended rest period, a long break from a competitive match in a seemingly all-year-round profession, she will be the name everyone will expect to win the Australian Open in January. What about the other big names on tour? Roger Federer might be behind Andy Murray in the world
rankings at the moment, but there is the sense that when it comes to the big occasions, Federer is still Novak’s biggest threat. It is a sign of the Serbian’s current stranglehold in the men’s game, therefore, that in the two Grand Slam finals they played this year, and in the final of the World Tour Finals, Djokovic was the player who dominated the big, important points. The US Open final was won in four relatively tight sets by Djokovic, but Federer converted only 4 of 23 break points. In 2016 he needs to improve that ratio if he is to stand a chance of winning his 18th Grand Slam, and, as with Murray, nothing less than a Grand Slam or Olympic singles title will constitute a good year for the man widely regarded as the best of all time. Rafael Nadal has improved and found consistency as the year has gone on and a profitable pre-season should see him regularly competing for a place in the finals of the truly big events, but whether that will be enough to topple Djokovic is another question entirely. Whenever he plays near to his best, Stanislas Wawrinka can beat any player, but it is just a matter of whether he can replicate what he has done over the past two years and play his best at a major event. Apart from Serena Williams, the women’s tour was very evenly matched this year. A great story has been the resurgence of Venus Williams, breaking into the top 10 at the age of 35; old in tennis terms. Garbine Muguruza reached her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon this year, and Agniezka Radwanska won the WTA’s end-of-year championships in Singapore, so they will be looking to capitalise on that success at the start of 2016. Petra Kvitova, meanwhile, will hope to recapture her Grand Slamwinning form now that she has overcome her battle with mononucleosis. And 2015 could not have been as disastrous for many in the tennis world as much as it has been for Eugenie Bouchard, so the former top-five will now be able to concentrate on climbing the rankings, rather than counting how many other players have climbed above her. Very early, I know, but here are my predictions for 2016: Novak Djokovic will win the Golden Slam (Olympic singles gold + the CYGS), becoming only the second person, after Steffi Graf, to do so; Murray and Federer will reach one Grand Slam final and Nadal two; Serena Williams will win just the two Grand Slam titles (Wimbledon and the US Open) and Olympic singles gold, with Garbine Muguruza and Maria Sharapova winning the Australian Open and French Open, respectively.
Not giving a toss? Cricket’s pitch problems Alex Whitcomb Sport Reporter England’s cricketing summer was undoubtedly a great sporting success story. Captain Cook’s men defied all of the pundits after a disappointing World Cup by playing brilliant, positive cricket to easily beat Australia in order to regain the Ashes. But the recent 2-0 loss to Pakistan has highlighted not only the problems that England still have, but also the fact that the pitch is becoming such an important factor in deciding Test matches. This caused the ECB to take the unexpected step of getting rid of the coin toss in County Championship matches from 2017 onwards. In the 1980s, around 30% of Test matches were home wins—compared to about 50% now, 11 of the last 15 Ashes Tests have been won by the home side. The only major team to have defied the trend are South Africa—the current masters of Test cricket—having only lost two of their last twenty Test series, with both losses being at home. The game of cricket is hard pressed—selling Test matches to those who aren’t aficionados of the sport—and the fact that they are becoming more predictable doesn’t help their case, either. The ease of success at home is probably the reason why in 2005—when England had not won the Ashes for 18 years—victory was met with huge celebrations in London, but in 2015, it was received with far less attention than it did before. So the problem that cricketing authorities are grappling with is how to balance the advantage back towards the away team. To understand how they are trying to do this, you have to look at why it’s happening in the first place.
The amount of professional cricket being played around the world is increasing, meaning that tours by national sides are being cut short in order to accommodate the new T20 tournaments. Lacking the time to acclimatise to a country’s conditions, as well as its time zone, is one way that tourists could put themselves at a disadvantage. However, this is one factor that is out of the ECB’s control, and thus will have to simply be tolerated as part of the modern game. Commercially, players and boards cannot afford to reduce events like the IPL or Big Bash League. Pitch preparation and familiarity with conditions has always been a part of international cricket. It will always be the case that teams will exploit the conditions to their own advantage, and for England, this is in making green wickets that make the ball swing far more than average in terms of pace. This had caused chaos amongst the Australians at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge this year, which resulted in one of the most spectacular batting collapses by the baggy greens in Ashes history. It’s worth remembering that Australia won the World Cup on their home turf less than four months before. The problem is that if all English pitches are like this, English players will become too acclimatised to it, and won’t be able to win Tests away from home. One solution is giving sanctions to teams that prepare unfair pitches, but the ECB have now changed the rules regarding the pre-match coin toss. In all matches of the 2016 County Championship, the visiting captain will be given the option to bowl first. If he declines, the coin toss will go on as normal. This is one way that the opposition will be given a slight tactical advantage.
It will also provide the counties an incentive to produce pitches that are likely to turn later on, into a four or five-day match. The classic English green wickets don’t deteriorate enough at the end of a match to suit spin bowling. This has meant that pace bowling has been England’s main strength— with the downside that the spin has been sidelined. According to the ECB, only 21.5% of overs in the 2015 Championship were bowled by spinners. Creating spin friendly wickets is widely seen as the way forward if England are to eventually fill the Graeme Swann-shaped hole in the England team. The loss to Pakistan had showed how the spinners of Ali and Rashid still aren’t at the level
of Swann, and the likelihood of another match winning spinner coming from the Championship is fairly low—without some change to how pitches are being prepared. Changing the toss isn’t going to solve all these problems immediately, or even at all—much like the day-night Tests. However, what it does show, is how the ECB are willing to change traditional parts of cricket in order to try and preserve the longer format for the future. If it helps to even out the pitch advantage or produces England’s next king of spin—even only in a small way—then it can’t be a bad thing.
Photo: Airwolfhound @Flickr
Photo: Airwolfhound @Flickr
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ISSUE 11 / 7th DECEMBER 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Hola Gary Neville 2015 Sporting Moments Will Kelly Sport Editor Former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville has been named as Valencia’s Head Coach until the end of the season. His brother Phil, who joined the Spanish club as assistant manager in July, will stay on the coaching staff. The lads from Bury are swapping Bury’s rain and famous oven bottoms for sun and paella. Neville’s appointment has promoted to a spectacular new level his own and his four Class of ‘92 Manchester United teammates’ partnership with the Spanish club’s owner, the Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim. The five are financially backed by him in their hotel and property projects and the ownership of Salford City Football Club. Despite the business links, it’s still a surprise appointment, bearing in mind Neville will be taking the helm at one of Spain’s biggest football clubs. He does not know the Spanish League, doesn’t speak Spanish and has no managerial experience. Even Neville himself has admitted that as a pundit he would have been sceptical about his appointment at Valencia, but insisted that, had he not taken the job at the Mestalla when it was offered to him on Sunday night, he would have lost his credibility. He said he had previously turned down other positions in football but that, after four years talking about managers on television, it was time to get off the sofa and prove he could be a manager, too. It’s certainly an amazing opportunity for him but also, presents a brave decision. Whether he is auditioning for the England job or merely doing celebrity work experience, he will have to wrestle with his new surroundings. During his first press conference, Neville remained calm and assertive. He insisted that it would be an insult to Valencia to say he has come here to play the “Manchester United way”. Instead, he spoke of his admiration of the “Valencia way”, and it’s this style he will have to play if he is to become successful as manager, for Valencia is a club far away from Neville’s rose tinted image of United. During David Moyes’s disastrous reign at Manchester United, Neville was his greatest defender during his punditry at Sky. He called for United to give Moyes more time, saying that “as a club they stand against the immediacy of modern life.” However, no club is more about the immediacy of modern life than Valencia. Previous Valencia coach Nuno Espírito Santo left the Mestalla after fans turned on him as a symbol of an increasingly unpopular regime headed by Lim, and advised by well-known football agent, Peter Mendes. Having bought 70 per cent of the club in 2014 and steering them away from financial difficulty, Lim filled the team with Mendes’ clients, including the manager and Nicolas Otamendi. The plan worked and Valencia propelled into fourth place and qualified for the Champions League in the 2014/2015 season. Otamendi secured a big money move to Manchester City. However, despite sending £60 million this season, the team currently sits in 9th place. After longstanding rumours of dressing room discord, and subpar on-field performances, even being a Mendes client wasn’t enough to save Nuno’s job. Mendes’s influence was so deeply felt at Valencia that the club’s president, Layhoon Chan, actually had to explicitly deny that Mendes was Valencia’s sporting director in the wake of fan’s protests. The club also felt the need to distance itself from Mendes to declare that the next manager would not be one of his clients. Respected football pundit Ruben Uria wrote in his Eurosport column that Neville would have to listen to the club’s famously demanding supporters if he were to succeed. “There are those who believe that Gary can only improve on what he is in-
heriting from Nuno”, Uria wrote. “There are those who believe that Lim has shot himself in the foot once again and those who see him as a patch until a more prestigious coach is appointed next summer”. Certainly there have been a few rumors that Valencia will attempt to lure José Mourinho to the club in the summer. Neville insists he has come into the job thinking for the long term, but it will be interesting if he will receive the level of patience and time he asked Manchester United to give to Moyes. He is certainly going to need time to adjust to his new surroundings in order to put out the fires behind the scenes and improve the team. Despite their struggles this season, the club is still in the Champions League, with a good chance to progress if they beat Lyon next week. And they’re only five points behind Celta Vigo, who are in fourth place in La Liga.
(continued from page 32)
World Title.
Tour de France 2015.
First Test at Lord’s against New Zealand.
(continued from page 32) to his closest competitors would prove to be the obstacles that could prevent what was increasingly looking like his second competition win. Coming into the race as a favourite alongside the 2014 winner Nibali, Froome continued to live up to his pre-competition reputation with a number of impressive performances in the mountain stages. And although he wasn’t imperiously winning stage by stage, his lack of complacency in the all-important mountain stages meant the Englishman in fact lost very little time to his closest competitors. Just as they were getting the champagne on ice, Froome had to fend off the threat of being pipped to the post by Colombian rider Nairo Quintana, the eventual winner of the white jersey awarded for the best young rider, who challenged Froome right until the end. Quintana’s achievement of gaining an impressive eighty seconds over Froome in the penultimate stage must not be overlooked, but this mighty feat was not enough, and Quintana had to settle for second place.
2015 World Snooker Championship.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Despite speaking about the difficulties of settling into a new country for an inexperienced manager, it is still an amazing opportunity for Neville. He is certainly spoken of very highly amongst the England players he works with, and has revolutionized football analysis in England forever. How Monday Night Football will mourn his loss; and certainly Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler, who has worked with Neville on many an occasion, hopes it isn’t the last time that they have worked together. Neville has been endorsed by his former manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, who has spoken about Neville’s attributes that suggest he will be successful in management. He told Sky Sports: “His leadership skills are strong, he’s honest and he’s hard working. He is the type of character who is not afraid of making a big decision, which is a vital skill when leading.” Interestingly enough, Neville told the press that he had not consulted Sir Alex for advice and had taken the decision himself. When comparing this to Moyes at Manchester United, it was reported that Moyes would seek Ferguson’s advice on a number of occasions. After being recently sacked in Span, it was reported that Moyes had not properly assimilated himself by not learning the language and also wrestled with Real Sociedad’s club policy of only playing players from the Basque region. Neville already in his press conference displayed a willingness to assimilate himself. He joked that he can’t yet find a Spanish teacher that will teach him at 6 in the morning but also spoke how he will be loyal to the players he already has, and that they have every right to fight for that shirt. It appears that already Neville is doing the right things needed. Time will tell how he will get on, but one thing for sure is Manchester United will be surely keeping an eye on how he is getting on. If he does well, there is a very big chance that he will be wanted back at Old Trafford as manager at some point.
(continued from page 32) regular participation in the latter stages of ranking events. The 2005 World Champion comfortably cruised to a 17-9 victory against fellow Englishman Barry Hawkins, even though Hawkins salvaged five frame wins out of eight in the penultimate session of the tie to take the game to a fourth and final session, thus restricting Murphy from winning the game outright with a session to spare. So with the bookies rightly favouring Murphy given his previous success and consistency throughout the 2014/15 snooker season, Stuart Bingham, who was available to back as a 50/1 outsider before the tournament, was very much the underdog going into the final. But in retrospect, this position, alongside Bingham’s experience gained in all levels of the game, aged 38 years and becoming the oldest first-time finalist since 1978, in fact probably helped guide Bingham in the best possible way to his eventual victory. Given the narrow circumstances he defeated Judd Trump by in the previous round, Bingham’s determination shone throughout the game, coming back on several occasions from three or four frames down to peg it back to a level playing field or to take a slender lead into every session. It was in the third session where Bingham finally hit his top gear and arguably his best form of the competition, reproducing some of his form from the earlier rounds to establish a three-frame lead. Bingham’s break-building helped him along the way too, with his break of 123 in the 14th frame breaking the previous record of 83 centuries set throughout the competition in 2009, whilst six frames later Bingham missed a golden opportunity to make what was looking more and more like an impending victory even more special by missing the final red when on course for a 147. Despite a late fight-back from Murphy, Bingham maintained his cool and ploughed through to an eventual 18-15 victory over Shaun Murphy for his first ever
(continued from page 32) back on the wrong side of the game. The top end of the scorecard read: 70, 59, 132, 62 and 42. The Kiwis were making it look easy, with Kane Williamson displaying his utter class with the bat. At the end of a two-day-long New Zealand innings, the Kiwis had scored 523, and a win for England looked impossible. The fourth day began with the same inevitable disappointment as had punctuated the previous two. Ian Bell caught behind off the third ball of the morning, audible groans from those at the ground who’d made it in for the start. However, Root and Cook began what became a stunning comeback. Root scored 84 before being caught on the boundary, and Cook completed his first test century in two years, eventually going past 150. Stokes then raised the roof for a second time by scoring the fastest hundred ever at Lord’s, in just 85 balls. The fifth day was an on the door sell-out and they witnessed an inspiring day’s play. Wickets tumbled, and both teams were playing to win. In the final session of the day, with the night drawing in, Moeen Ali performed a stunning catch at third man to win the match for England, right in front of a gleeful Lord’s Pavilion. English fans finally had something to cheer about. As a game goes, it was nothing short of a classic. Very rarely does a match swing from one side to the other so much, and go right down to the wire. It’s why I love test cricket, and it’s why it’s my favourite sporting moment of 2015.
Valencia reaching the Champions League (continued from page 32) off the back of league success in the previous La Liga campaign, not forgetting the Europa League winners and bitter rivals Sevilla, it was always going to be a tough ask, a difficult feat for Valencia to maintain such form. Yet the investment pumped into the club by Singapore businessman and now too the co-owner of Salford City FC, Peter Lim, again revitalised the side and offered a sustainable longterm plan with murmurs of financial difficulties cast aside in the space of 24 hours. Therefore, given this influx of guaranteed money, even at the half-way point through the season, Valencia could now begin to flaunt their financial muscle in the transfer window, turning loans from the previous Summer into permanent deals, and even purchasing players outright for significant sums of money. Enzo Perez joined from SL Benfica for a fee of €25M, a figure that is largely unseen both in the winter transfer window in Spain, and also at Valencia in recent years. Valencia therefore progressed, continuing to defy the odds in the race for Champions League football, and beat the likes of Villarreal CF and former manager Unai Emery’s Sevilla, whilst picking up valuable points against close rivals Athletic Bilbao and Celta Vigo, as well, to keep alive any hope of a fourth-place finish, or at that point maybe even higher! There was even a surprise home victory against Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid at the Mestalla, which kickstarted the New Year in the best way possible. But in what is often referred to as a team game, with individual
results meaning nothing if you fail to reach your pre-season target, for me perhaps the most impressive spell in their quest for Champions League football was the club’s form between February and March, the key months often cited as the crucial period after the New Year in maintaining the togetherness with regards to form and performances, as well as avoiding injuries. Throughout this period, between the start of February and April, Valencia re-gained their level of performances from the start of the season and cruised to seven wins out of a possible ten only to be halted by a defeat to the eventual league winners FC Barcelona at the Nou Camp. This certainly stood them in good stead as Gameweek 38 neared ever closer. However despite Valencia’s good form, their fate still went down to the wire with a victory needed away at Almería, who themselves were fighting for their lives to avoid relegation and needed three points. Valencia fans crammed into bars, huddling around screens small and large, dreaming of mixing again with the upper echelons of European Football. In what had been a very nervy build up to the game in the week leading up to it, such tension filtered onto the pitch with fierce rivals Sevilla ready and waiting in the wings to catapult into fourth place and pip Valencia to the Champions League. In a feisty encounter, which saw four first-half goals, seven yellow cards and a red during the course of the game, with the game locked at 2-2, even I along with those watching it with me continued to hope that Valencia could make it through. Although I was merely a visitor, somebody enjoying the fruits of the city during my period of residence abroad, you could clearly see how much a place in the Champions League meant to the growing crowds of Valencia supporters, gathered round any means possible of watching the game. As both sides pushed for a late goal to seal each other’s fate one way or another, cometh the hour cometh the club’s top scorer Paco Alcacer in the 80th minute, who slotted the ball away to send fans across the city into a frenzy—a magnificent moment to witness as my year away came to an end. The full time whistle sounded and with that cheers of joy, sighs of relief and the chants of “Amunt Valencia” (Come on Valencia) echoed from bar to bar, from house to house and from fan to fan. Now, personally speaking, a place in Europe is something that, although I personally still see as a real achievement in the moderngame, it is perhaps expected more so of the bigger sides in England than perhaps it is in Spain. Valencia fought hard during the 14/15 campaign against sides with as much power as they to reach the Champions League, and their place in the league was fully deserved, because their football proved frequently to be a pleasure to watch. Perhaps even more of a contributing factor away from the pitch was their loyal fans and the atmosphere they created prior to every home game, and the travelling support they took across Spain to every game, doing everything possible, even in the final stages, to give them a much-needed boost and push them over the line. This is, for me, why Valencia reaching the Champions League was, in a way, almost like a trophy win itself, and one of my highlights of the year.
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We discuss our favourite moments of this year Photos (L-R): Jaguar MENA @Flickr, Wikimedia Commons, Walter Jabsco @Flickr, DerHexer @WikimediaCommons, Calendar: Dafne Colet @Flickr
Adam Selby reports on Chris Froome’s victory at the Tour de France 2015. When Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins made history in 2012 by becoming the first rider from the United Kingdom to win the yellow jersey and be crowned the winner of the Tour de France, nobody ever expected Chris Froome to not only repeat the remarkable achievement earned by his team-mate but to also win it in such quick succession only one year later. And given the continued success of British athletes in the Olympics and World Championships in all areas of the sport, even I began to ponder whether or not this was the dawn of a new era in cycling and whether Britannia would once again rule the waves (or the roads in this case). My aspirations for Froome and Wiggins to continue flying high at the top of the charts at the Tour de France every year were soon quashed, however, after Italian Rider Vicenzo Nibali, the bronze medallist podium finisher during Wiggins’ 2012 tournament win, capitalised on both Froome and Spanish rider Alberto Contador’s misfortune after crashing out early on in the tournament, to break the back to back wins of British riders, and claim the iconic yellow jersey. Therefore, 2015 was a big year for several parties. Not just Chris Froome, not just Team Sky but Great British cycling as a whole on the biggest stage in the sport. Clearly in the build up to the competition, Team Sky had focused all of their attention on making sure Froome, the best placed rider to win the tournament outright, reclaimed his position on the podium and the yellow jersey that went with it. In typical fashion, as the 21 stage race got underway, it was very difficult to tell from the early stages just exactly who was going to win it from the opening stages of the campaign. But after early strokes of luck with an in-form Fabian Cancellara crashing out on stage three, as well as fellow yellow jersey holder Tony Martin’s withdrawal from the race early on, the stage was set for Froome to win his second Tour de France, so long as he avoided injury and maintained both his concentration and determination throughout the competition. The Englishman had a taste of success after Stage three and wore the yellow jersey for the following stage, but it took until stage 7 for Froome to reclaim the coveted jersey and position as leader of the competition. An important win in stage 10 in a 104 mile mountain climb from Tarbes to La Pierre Saint-Martin was the turning point, where his fellow riders finally once again took notice of Froome as a serious contender for the overall victory, but again avoiding both injury and any loss of time... Continued on page 31...
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Alex Whitcomb reports on the first Test at Lord’s against New Zealand.
Toby Webb reports on Japan’s victory over South Africa at the Rugby World Cup 2015.
As a long-time fan and follower of the annual World Snooker Championships, for once it was refreshing to witness a competition of such all-round quality, rather than dominance of one or two individuals throughout the two week tournament. And with a growing number of amateurs continuing to break onto the professional circuit, partly because of changes made to the traditional format, but largely due to the thriving crop of talented young stars in the game, the 2015 World Snooker Championship final made for an excellent end to an exceptional tournament. Not only that, the 2015 tournament marked only the fourth time in the sport’s history where all four World Championship semi-finalists were English, which too bodes well for the future of English and British snooker. After scraping through the semi-finals, only narrowly beating the promising Judd Trump by one frame, 17-16, Stuart Bingham defied the odds and even a late comeback from Trump, who produced some scintillating snooker, to produce back to back century breaks to reach his first ever World Championship Final. However, awaiting the debutant was Shaun Murphy, the only former World Champion to reach the last four, and a player who is still no stranger to...
You might think it a bit odd that out of all of the cricket this year, I’ve not picked anything from the Ashes. The fact is, the Test against New Zealand was one of the most thrilling matches in years. Both teams played an exciting brand of cricket and it ended up going down to the last session of the final day, in front of a packed house. It was as good as test cricket gets! To understand why it was so good, you have to remember the build up to the match. England had just lost one of the dullest series in recent memory in the West Indies, and pressure was building for a massive shakeup of the team. Peter Moores was sacked as head coach, and Captain Alastair Cook was being roundly criticised by former players and media. Throw into the mix the bags of runs being scored by the exiled Kevin Pietersen for Surrey, and you had what seemed to be an England setup on the brink of collapse. The first morning brought exactly that. England 30-4, Boult and Southee swinging the ball with perfection, and seemingly utter disaster for the home side. Then stepped out Ben Stokes, and he and Joe Root steered England back into the game, scoring 98 and 92 respectively. New Zealand then began a classical batting onslaught that had England firmly...
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September 19th will go down in rugby history: the day South Africa, two times World Cup winners, were defeated by Japan, who were coming in off the back of an 18 match World Cup losing streak. While the result was completely unforeseen, the manner in which Japan played was nothing short of exceptional. The match set the bar for the Japanese team in the tournament, winning 3 out of their 4 games, narrowly missing out on qualification to the knock-out stages. The match had everything you could ask for. South Africa demonstrated their characteristic strength and bruising power, executing an unstoppable rolling maul for the game’s opening try. In a first illustration of bravery, Japan responded with a powerful rolling maul of their own to score their first try, playing South Africa at their own game. It finished 12-10 to South Africa at half-time, Japan’s performance already remarkable. However, what ensued in the second half was completely unexpected. South Africa again utilised their prized characteristic with the forwards breaking the line twice to score. However, on each occasion Japan rose to the challenge. Their first response was a try to behold, the try of the World Cup for me: A perfectly executed, free-flowing backs move of high complexity and speed, traversing the length of the pitch and finished in the corner. One of those moments in sport which leaves you speechless, overcome with awe. It was pure audacity. Japan weren’t just here to take part, they were here to play. Following this, every neutral, both in the stadium and watching on television, was rooting for Japan. The final five minutes, with Japan trailing 32-29, were electric; one of the biggest sporting upsets was truly on the cards. Could they make history? Japan were awarded a penalty within kicking range, an opportunity to clinch the draw. They chose instead to kick to touch: they wanted a try, they wanted the win. This was bravery of epic proportions, bravery that was rewarded in the most breathtaking of ways. Several phases down, and deep into overtime, Japan spun the ball down the line for one last roll of the dice. A crucial hand-off by number 20 sucked in the defenders and left space out wide to score. Pandemonium ensued. Japan had achieved the impossible. One struggled to avoid getting caught up in the emotion of the moment; fans in a state of euphoria and players strewn across the pitch in tears. Japan had announced themselves on the world stage of rugby. The match-winning try was characteristic of the Japanese performance: bravery and perseverance backed up by speed, skill and strength. Everyone loves an underdog story. While the match fell into this category, it was unique in the way Japan matched South Africa in every aspect of play, surpassing them in fearlessness to clinch the win.
Adam Selby reports on Stuart Bingham winning the 2015 World Snooker Championship.
Adam Selby reports on CFValencia reaching the Champions League. Perhaps a strange choice being a life-long Manchester City fan, but as a student of Spanish spending my year abroad in Valencia, perhaps one of the best moments I was lucky enough to experience first-hand was Valencia’s progression and eventual achievement in reclaiming a position amongst the European elite in this season’s Champions League. Clearly my own team’s recent success in the Premier League obtaining regular Champions League football has undeniably been nothing short of brilliant to watch in the past few seasons, something I never try to undervalue and I don’t think I’ll ever forget that mixture of adulation and relief a year on from the frustration and all round disappointment I had felt when Peter Crouch condemned Manchester City to another season without European Football. But after following Valencia very closely and attending regular matches at the magnificent Mestalla, Valencia you could say became my adopted Spanish side, and their voyage to secure Champions League football was enjoyable, gripping, and totally deserved Despite the club falling upon harder times of late, culminating in the appointment of Gary Neville, who will now join his brother Phil out in Spain, Valencia CF were a real joy to watch. The appointment of the former Rio Ave manager, Nuno, initially proved to be an inspired choice given that this was the first season since 1997-98 that Valencia would not compete in any European competition. Somebody with fresh ideas was much needed and although Valencia fans will still explain to you that they dreamt and continue to dream of one day winning the league, a realistic aim for Nuno and his side was to simply obtain European Football. Therefore, Nuno’s message was simple—get Valencia back into the Champions League. And with this determination and this refreshed outlook, Valencia hit the ground running, earning 17 out of a possible 21 points in the club’s first seven games, notably including an impressive 3-1 home victory over the then league title holders Atlético Madrid. The difference was instantly significant from the word go; a stark contrast to the dreary, dilapidated and downright disappointing end to the previous campaign. Nuno’s side were not just winning games, but they were comfortably beating the sides around them by several goals, scoring 17 goals in their first seven games, and they even sat at the top of the table five games in. Campeones… ¿ole ole ole?Perhaps not. Inevitably, because of the superior size and stature of the El Clasico pairing of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid alongside an Atlético Madrid... Continued on page 31...