3RD FEB 2014/ ISSUE 12 FREE
MANCHESTER’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
Music interview: Keeno
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Manchester grads win £100,000 on Dragon’s Den
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Cannabis: The other side
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Man sexually assaults five women in Withington Pippa Allen-Kinross News Editor
The attacks happened on and around Everett Road. Photo: Pippa Allen-Kinross
Police are investigating after one man is believed to have carried out five sexual assaults in Withington. All the victims were lone women in their 20’s, and many were out jogging before being grabbed and sexually assaulted by the man. The attacks occurred between 6th January and 25th January, and all took place on or around Everett Road between 6.15pm and 11.00pm. Police have warned women to be vigilant and stick to well-lit areas, or try to not go out alone. Detective Sergeant Doug Cowan said: “The purpose of this appeal is not to alarm people but to alert women of the risks posed to them and to be on their guard”. However, the residents of Everett Road, many of whom are students, were not aware of the threat until reports began to circulate on social media.
Susan Massey, a fourth year Speech and Language Therapy student who lives on Everett Road, said: ‘I am surprised that the police have not told us, especially given that these attacks seem to be happening in the early evening, when I am less likely to be on my guard than late at night. “In our block of flats someone printed out the news story and stuck it on the main door, which immediately made everyone very aware of the situation. “It should be the job of the police to do this, as not everyone has a friend or neighbour who is concerned, and people need to know”. The first victim was assaulted on Everett Road at around 11.00pm on 6th January. Then, on 15th January, the second woman was jogging on Burton Road when she was sexually assaulted by the man at 10.15pm.
Continued on page 2...
University blocks graduates’ campus coffee venture Michael Williams News Editor
A coffee co-operative set up by University of Manchester graduates has been stopped from selling coffee near the campus - after the University filed an objection to Manchester City Council. The Coffee Cranks Cooperative have been stopped from selling coffee from their purposebuilt bicycle because it “conflicts with the University’s vision for the area”, said Diana Hampson, Director of Estates and Facilities, in the objection papers. University graduate and Coffee Cranks
Cooperative director, Zym Wysocki, says that the ruling shows there is “no justice” and that “the public have little say as to what’s going on in the public realm.” In a hearing lasting over five hours on Thursday, Zym presented his case to the Council. Representing the University were legal professionals from Evershead, one of the world’s largest corporate law firms. “I think that the result was pretty much predetermined from the start,” said Zym. “In terms of resources available to both us and the University, it was skewed from the beginning,” he continued. “I prepared for the hearing as best I could but I’ve
never been in a hearing like that before.” The Coffee Cranks Cooperative is a social enterprise selling ethically sourced tea, coffee and snacks from a cargo bike. The bike was built in a disused garage behind the house of Zym and fellow University of Manchester graduate and Coffee Cranks Cooperative member Aga. Zym’s dad even flew over from Poland to give a helping hand. But the University cited the “appearance of the vehicle”, in addition to “the congestion it would bring [and] the likelihood of increased litter” as some of the reasons for their objection. A spokesperson for the University of Manchester said: “This is not just about Coffee Cranks but we
would oppose any street trader as we feel it would detract from the appearance of the University.” Zym, however, sees the presence of the coffee bike as a potential positive for the campus. “Our presence there would actually improve the image of the University as being progressive, as looking into the future, as actually embracing what they preach,” he said. Another objection was lodged for the Cooperative’s plans for a potential location a little further up the road, outside the Edinburgh bicycle cooperative.
Continued on page 2...
ISSUE 12 / 3rd fEBRUARY 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
NEWS : 03
Manchester graduates win £100,000 investment on tv show Dragon’s Den - Four out five
Dragon’s offered money to the entrepreneurs - Pair plan to use money to offer skiing holidays Jonathan Breen Editor-in-chief Manchester graduates land £100,000 on Dragon’s Den Two University of Manchester graduates secured £100,000 for their package-holiday company from technology wiz and resident Dragon Piers Linney. Rob Tominey, 24, and Aden Levin, 25, founders of Mainstage Travel, dazzled the Dragons with an impressive £1.6 million turnover and £257,000 profit in year two and a projected doubling of those figures in year three. The pair have modernised the idea of a package holiday with their well-known Takeover brand - offering destinations in Ayia Napa, Malia, Maggaluf, and Zante – and their Snowboxx festival, the second largest in Europe. The recent graduates inspired offers from all but one of the Dragons, with Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones, and Duncan Bannatyne keen to invest in the company. Dragon Kelly Hoppen declared herself out, but not before saying she thought their holidays would be full of “gorgeous young kids dressed up as hippies.” Co-founder Levin told The
Manchester University entrepreneurs Rob Tominey and Aden Levin with Dragon Piers Linney, who invested £100,000 for a 15% stake in the pairs’ holiday company. Photo: Mainstage Travel Mancunion they would be “utilising the money to expand to new destinations, expand current capacity in existing destinations, and we have recently purchased an ATOL license, which allows us to sell flights with our packages.” He added, “We are also going to be offering ski holidays through ‘weareski.com’. We already have Snowboxx festival in Andorra, but will now be running general skiing packages as well.” Levin and Tominey founded
Mainstage Travel in October 2011 after spotting a gap in the market during their last year of university in Manchester. “We first had the idea when we were approaching the end of university, we realised their was a gap in the market for package holidays that aren’t based around the sleazy image,” said Levin. After graduating the pair launched their company at Innospace, Manchester Metropolitan University’s incubator for business start-ups –
offering cheap office-space. Levin said, “We benefitted quite a lot from innospace. It is a really cool place, there were loads of people in the same position – like Pieboy clothing – rather than just us in an office twiddling our thumbs.” The pair went onto Dragon’s Den with their hearts set on investment from Meaden or Linney – “Deborah because of her background in the leisure industry and Piers because he has a similar understanding of
what we’re about; he goes to Ibiza every year.” Linney, who heads the Spinningfields-based firm Outsourcery, received a 15 per cent equity stake in return for his £100,000 investment – the full amount the entrepreneurs asked for. “We have been dealing with Piers on a fairly regular basis,” said Levin. “He is great because he has got a hands off approach and a wealth of experience. “He has been helping us with
new ideas we’ve had, for example Piers has helped with the new technology we are developing for the festival market to allow everything – flights, hotels – to be booked through one portal.” Asked to give advice to any keen entrepreneurial students, Levin said, “You should look to surround yourself with likeminded people.” He added, “If people want to start their own business they should just go ahead and do it.”
PhD student shortlisted University to recruit 100 new academic staff to colonise the Red Planet News Team The University of Manchester is spending up to £20m on 100 new academic staff, it announced last week. The new staff will feature across all four of the University’s Faculties, covering teaching and research. “The University remains in a strong and stable position, so we are now able to recruit a further 100 academic stars, following on from a similar exercise just over two years ago,” said President and ViceChancellor of the University, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell. “As one of the UK’s largest universities we are committed to pioneering
research, which enriches the learning environment for our students and helps to improve the quality of the student experience, which remains one of our top priorities.” Professor Rothwell also said, “We are looking to attract the highest quality researchers and teachers from right across the world. The time is right for Manchester to invest in improving the student experience and enhancing our research profile. “Great thinking got us where we are today, and this new talent will help us to enter the top 25 universities in the world by 2020.” The University already has a number of world-leading academics on staff, including
three Nobel Prize winners. With £1 billion being invested in the campus over the next decade, the new staff will also enjoy some of the best teaching and research facilities in the world. The University launched a global advertising campaign last Tuesday and a new website - www.manchester.ac.uk/wlm as part of the ‘World Leading Minds Staff Recruitment’ campaign. The website entices potential staff by saying, “we’re still searching for answers to some of the greatest questions facing the human race... you’ll have everything you need to make your biggest breakthrough yet.”
Inez Dawoodjee News Reporter A Life Sciences postgraduate student has been named as a possible candidate for the first mannedmission to Mars. Danielle Potter is one of the 1058 candidates currently being considered for the mission. Potter, who is currently undertaking a PhD at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, said: “I never thought going to space would be within my grasp, but it would be great to do
research there and look at something no one has ever seen before. My PhD has given me the skills to think outside the box and look at how to go about analysing data found on Mars.” She found out about the mission on the same day as the deadline, but decided to sign up straight away. She was one of the initial 202,000 applicants for the Mars One project, which is aimed at establishing permanent human inhabitation on the planet by 2025. The next stage is
aimed at shortlisting the number of candidates down to 24. Astronauts will then be put through eight years of training before departure. Potter added, “ If I’m successful in getting into the next round I’ll get to train with some of the best of the best in the space industry and get a lot of experience with training in the Arctic Circle. With my scientific research background, I’d be trained to look for possible extraterrestrial life on the planet.”
The Mars One Project is described by its Dutch founders as being the “stepping stone of the human race on its voyage into the universe.” The mission is due to last between seven to eight months. A group of four astronauts is due to land first and prepare the living areas. The second crew will arrive once preparations have been complete. Potter aims to complete her PhD before the training schedule begins.
ISSUE 12/ 3rd FEBRUARY 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
04 : News
Edward Snowden Holocaust survivor nominated for election leaves £1.5 million to at Glasgow University Manchester University The former NSA
Pippa Allen-Kinross News Editor Edward Snowden is standing for the position of student rector at Glasgow University. If elected, the National Security Agency whistleblower – who is currently under temporary asylum in Russia will represent the interests of the students for three years. The student rectors duties include attending the University court, working closely with the students’ representative council and raising student concerns to management. On the Glasgow University’s Student Representative Council
all student bodies committed to ending state intrusion into our pubic lives, to declare their support for Edward Snowden’s candidacy”. Snowden has also just been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, for his contribution to “a more stable and peaceful world order”. He first hit the headlines last year, when he fled the United States after revealing the level of internet and phone surveillance by the security forces. For the position of student rector, Snowden will be standing against author Alan Bissett, clergyman Kevin Holdsworth and cyclist Graeme Obree. The post is currently held by former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy. Voting is due to take place over the 17th and 18th of February.
Professor Bogdanow was awarded three scholarships after fleeing the Nazi’s as a child to study French at Manchester
to study French, where she
think any of us realised quite
remained as a lecturer and
how remarkable her personal
professor and leading scholar
history was.
Kathryn White Contributor
University will be used in
remarkable
part to fund lectures around
remarkable story.
of the Round Table. Professor finally
Bogdanow
reunited
“Like
so
many
of
the
best academics, she had a with
was
considerable
her
gave us a rare insight into the
mother in Manchester in the
presence
and
importance of her subject.”
1950’s, after she had been
President and Vice-Chancellor
released from concentration
of University of Manchester
camps.
Dame Nancy Rothwell said:
The money she has left the
“Professor Bogdanow was a scholar
with
a
evacuee
Holocaust Memorial Day next
“She was able to conquer
from Nazi Germany has left
year and provide prizes for high
extreme adversity to become
University of Manchester £1.5
performing students.
one of the leading scholars in
A
former
child
Dr Matthew Philpotts, head
million in her will. Professor Fanni Bogdanow
of Languages and Intercultural
her field and a valued member of the University community.
the
Studies and a former student
Kindertransport mission when
of Professor Bogdanow, said: ““I
she was 11 years old, and arrived
was fortunate enough to have
“This will be used in a manner
in Manchester in 1939.
classes with Fanni when I was a
which will serve as a fitting tribute to her memory.”
was
evacuated
by
On finishing school she was
student here in the early 1990s.
awarded three scholarships to
“She made no secret of
the University of Manchester
her background and often
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on King Arthur and the Knights
“We are delighted she left this sum to the University.
mentioned it in class, but I don’t
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agent has been put forward for the position of student rector
Website, it says: “Glasgow students have often voted on a principle of honouring heroes, resulting in the election of rectors who were not expected to chair Court or take an active part in the role as they have been unable to leave their country”. Previous rectors have included Winnie MadikizelaMandela and Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu. Snowden’s nomination was arranged through his lawyer by a group of students. In a statement, the students responsible for nominating him said: “Edward Snowden’s candidacy is a unique opportunity to show our gratitude to a brave whistleblower. “He has shown a spirit of daring and self-sacrifice that is virtually absent in our public life. We call on Glasgow University students as individuals, and
ISSUE 12/ 3rd FEBRUARY 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
NEWS : 05
UoM has third most students using “sugar daddies” website ‘Mutually beneficial arrangements’ help government, says site owner Aidan Gregory News Editor
Dozens of University of Manchester students signed up to a ‘sugar daddy’ dating website last year, at a time of rising tuition and living costs SeekingArrangement.com has disclosed figures for ‘the fastest growing Sugar Baby schools in the UK’, and the University of Manchester has the third most members with 175. The universities are ranked according to new sign-ups for 2013. Russell Groups make up half of the 20 universities cited, and the University of Kent topped the table with 208 students signing up to be ‘sugar babies’. SeekingArrangement. com, matches up wealthy older men, and young women, in what CEO and founder Brandon Wade has coined ‘mutually beneficial relationships’. It allows anyone with a university
email address to sign up for free. The site claims that a sugar baby can expect to receive on average, an allowance of around £5,000 a month from her sugar daddy, and that sex is not ‘“necessary’”but “should be aspired to’”. It says: “Whether you’re looking for companionship or intimacy or caring friendship, or if you want your tuition paid, help with your career, financial help with your rent or cosmetic surgery, our website will help you search, match and find it”. Last year the US-based site saw an increase in student membership by over 54%, and as of the 1st January 2014 the site boasted 1 million student members worldwide. Wade believes this surge is inextricably linked with the rising cost of living and tuition fees. In an interview with The Huffington Post, he said:
“The Student loans lead to endless debt which amounts to more than the average graduate who earns £21,000 can handle. “Sugar Daddies provide real solutions to the problem of student debts’”. He continued further, saying that the website helps not only the individuals involved, but also governments. He said: “We are not only helping students achieve financial freedom, but also indirectly relieving the government from the burden of unpaid loans. “If less students depended on loans and more graduates paid off their loans, then the overall budget for higher education would decrease dramatically”. Speaking to the Mancunion, General Secretary of the Students’ Union Grace Skelton has voiced her concern for the students signing up for the website, “Manchester has the
An unprecedented number of British university students signed up to infamous “sugar daddy” dating website last year. Photo: SeekingArrangement.com
highest student population in the country outside of London and with students increasingly struggling to make ends meet it is an obvious place for these companies to target. “I cannot comment on whether the website is exploitative of individual women students, because I
haven’t spoken to any users. “The website itself does perpetuate rigid and outdated gender norms which I personally believe encourages the exploitation of women generally.” She added: “My main concern is that the website doesn’t seem to have a policy or even advice about how
users can make sure they remain safe. “If anyone has used this site, or similar sites, we would urge you to meet in a public place and text a friend to let them know where you are. “If you have any concerns at all then come to our Advice Centre for free, impartial and anonymous advice”.
Anonymous hacks Queen Mary Manchester scientists discover Uni for Ministry of Defence links better treatment for cancer Pippa Allen-Kinross News Editor Queen Mary University of London has been attacked by international hacking group “Anonymous”. Data stolen in ‘Operation PhDPounds’ included students’ personal details and IP and MAC addresses of a large part of the university network. The attack was launched on 19th January after it was revealed that the Ministry of Defence was funding postgraduate research at a number of universities into online behaviours. Six figure sums were given to Queen Mary by the MoD for research into “cross-cultural attitudes and the shaping of online behaviour in crisis situations” and “analysing and
influencing crowd behaviours through arrays of ad-hoc mobile sensors”. Other universities receiving PhD funding in similar areas from the MoD include Exeter, Glasgow, Southampton, University College London and Kings College London. Kings College London is researching “the rise of digital insurgency”, directly targeting Anonymous. In a statement, Anonymous said that they “rolled a dice” to decide which university to target. Anonymous said: “We are of the opinion that when academic institutions begin accepting cash from the military to fund ways of finding methods to twist public opinion through the internet, or spy on Anonymous, they
become legitimate targets”. Anonymous has posted online “snippets” laying out the IP and MAC addresses of “a very large chunk” of Queen Mary’s computer network. They say this information could be used for a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, which would make all computers connected to the internet inoperable, as well as malware and botnet planting and control. Anonymous added: “If you collaborate with government security services in order to aid or abet in efforts to monitor civilians online, or in real life, or to spy on Anonymous or our brethren, you can expect us to take notice”. Queen Mary University have informed the police and are investigating the claims.
Inez Dawoodjee News Reporter Manchester researchers believe that they have found a way of making chemotherapy more effective for patients with pancreatic cancer. The research focuses on the selective killing of pancreatic cancer. Healthy cells will be left alone, making treatment more successful. Research leader Dr Jason Bruce said: “Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive and deadly cancers. Most patients develop symptoms after the tumour has spread to other organs. “To make things worse, pancreatic cancer is highly resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy.” The research, published in The Journal of Biological Chemistry,
found that cancer cells have their own energy supply which maintains calcium levels and keeps cells alive. Researchers used cells from tumours and tested the effects of blocking energy supplies. They found that by blocking the supply the cancer cells could be selectively killed. Dr Bruce added: “Clearly a radical new approach to treatment is urgently required. “We wanted to understand how the switch in energy supply in cancer cells might help them survive.” He said that designing drugs to target this energy supply “might be an effective strategy for selectively killing cancer cells while sparing normal cells within the pancreas.” The research was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological
Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre and AstraZeneca. According to Cancer Research UK, only 3.8% of adults with pancreatic cancer survived past the five-year mark between 2005 and 2009. CEO of the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund Maggie Blanks, said: “These findings will certainly of great interest to the pancreatic cancer research community and we’d be keen to see how this approach progresses. “Finding weaknesses that can be exploited in this highly aggressive cancer is paramount, so we want to congratulate the Manchester team for their discovery.”
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ISSUE 13 / 10th FEBRUARY 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
NEWS : 07
Midnight search for Man Met Uni students lost on Welsh mountains - 50 rescuers took 9 hours to save the group - Reminder of importance of proper equipment Aidan Gregory News Editor A hiking party of seven students from Manchester Metropolitan University had to be rescued from the Cambrian Mountains, after their trip fell into difficulty due to becoming separated. After covering a distance of 9.3 miles, two of the students became too tired to continue and had to be rescued. Four others then strayed 10 miles as their group leader went to find help. The whole search lasted 9 hours, and involved around 50 mountain rescuers. Dave Coombs, incident manager at Brecon Mountain Rescue Team (MRT), said,: “the weather conditions were atrocious, with gales, sleet and driving rain and too severe for search and rescue helicopters to assist. “The first two casualties were located using a mobile phone app (SARLOC). One of the two
The group fell into difficulty in the Cambrian Mountains, when two students became too tired to continue. Photo - Izzy @ Flickr casualties was suffering from hypothermia and needed to be carried by stretcher to waiting vehicles. “She was treated by the Brecon MRT doctor who said that if she had been on the hillside for another hour, the outcome may have been different. “The other casualty was cold but able to walk off with assistance.” As the first two were rescued, the team leader of the party was found by rescuers in a forest 6km away. As four of the students
remained unaccounted for, Graham O’Hanlon, of the Aberdyfi Search and Rescue Team, explained what happened next. “Other search parties started sweeping this area while the stretcher party was busy with the evacuations. “The poor weather conditions meant that helicopter assistance was not available. “We only had sketchy information on their location and the phone signal in the area was poor, making contact with them virtually impossible.
“Also they had no torches, whistles or map and compass and were unfamiliar with the terrain.” The missing women, two from Spain, one from Germany and one from Canada were found at 1:30am by an Aberdyfi search party. They were cold but otherwise in good spirits. They were given warm clothes, walked off the mountain and then reunited with the rest of their group by 3am. Graham O’Hanlon added: “This is another reminder that
people should make sure they are properly equipped and skilled before heading for the mountains. “If the vagaries of phone coverage had meant SARLOC could not be deployed, then we would have started our search in completely the wrong place, and it is unlikely we would have reached the casualties before the effects of poor weather overtook them,” Although the expedition was not an official MMU outing, The Mancunion managed to obtain a comment from the university
A spokesman for Manchester Metropolitan University said: “We would like to thank the mountain rescue teams for all of their hard work and efforts in locating the students and bringing them back safely on Saturday evening. We’re pleased they are safe and well “We have been in contact with the mountain rescue teams to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation for all that they did.”
UCAS applications rise again GPs charge students for mitigating circumstances as gender gap emerges Charges for doctor’s letters have caused anger amongst students Inez Dawoodjee News Reporter GPs are charging students for the provision of letters
to set their fees for providing paperwork for patients, but
Aidan Gregory News Editor
ridiculous.” Dr
David
Rubra,
a
some students feel this is
commenting
unreasonable.
Magazine’s online forum, said:
Second
year
Cognitive
Neuroscience and Psychology student
Pulse
“It is unreasonable to put this onus on GPs.
Ringrose
“Nine times out of 10 we have
submitted a form from the
not seen the person during the
University’s Disability Support
relevant period and get asked
Office to her local GP.
to corroborate their stories of
She
Laura
on
GP,
told
The
Mancunion:
colds, flu, tiredness, and so on.
“Without telling me, the GP
“We end up seeing hundreds
charged me £16.50 for filling in
of students with no medical
a short disability form.
problems, just needing a letter.”
used as evidence in mitigating
“The form was not long and
circumstances and disability
all they needed to do was write
claims that refugees and asylum
support applications.
down the problem and their job
seekers
title stating who they were.
different rates compared to
Students have reported being charged between £10-£20 for
She added, “They only told
letters stating that they are ill
me about the charge once they
or require disability support.
had filled in the form, so I had
Doctors by law are allowed
to pay either way. I think it is
This
comes are
amidst being
other
charged
locals for provision of letters needed by the Home Office.
The number of young people applying to go to university has risen for the second year in a row after the slump of 2012/13, due to a surge in applications from women, foreign students, and the poorest areas of the country. UCAS have disclosed that around 35 per cent of 18 year olds applied to go to university in autumn 2014, which represents a 4 per cent increase from the previous application cycle. The figures also point towards the emergence of a gender divide in UK higher education, as 146,000 18-year-old women applied compared with just 115,000 men: a figure which indicates that more and more young men are choosing to shun academia in favour of the workplace Mary Curnock Cook, Chief Executive of UCAS, has warned that this “stubborn gap”
between male and female applicants could soon be a bigger problem than the gap between rich and poor. She said: “Young men are becoming a disadvantaged group in terms of going to university and this underperformance needs urgent focus across the education sector”. In response to the data released by UCAS, Professor Les Ebdon, director of Fair Access to Higher Education, said, ‘These figures show a continued trend over time, with the application rate for disadvantaged young people increasing every year for the last 10 years. “Disadvantaged 18-year-olds are now nearly twice as likely to apply for higher education as their counterparts were 10 years ago”. He went on further to say that “positive as they undoubtedly are, these figures should not disguise the wide participation gaps between the most and least advantaged.
“Young people from the most advantaged areas are still twoand-a-half times more likely to apply for higher education than those from areas where participation is low. “This gap hinders efforts to increase social mobility and addressing it must remain a priority”. Overall numbers of students applying are still not at the same levels as they were in 2010 and 11, before the fees hike. Critics have used this to suggest that the new increase does not demonstrate that UK universities are in resurgence. Sally Hunt, General Secretary of the University and College Union, said: “Today’s figures are a real body blow for anyone who does not think higher fees are turning some people away from university. “Historical data suggests there should have been a considerable increase in the number of applications this year, but that simply is not the case.”
08 : Feature
ISSUE 12 / 3nd FEBRUARY 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
As Glasgow University students nominate Edward Snowden to be their rector – The Mancunion asks who would Manchester choose? The long tradition has seen students nominate Winnie Mandela, Brian Blessed, and Leon Trotsky Sam Dumitriu Features Editor
S
tudents at the University of Glasgow are campaigning for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden to become their University’s rector. If elected Snowden will be continuing Glasgow’s tradition of making political statements through the post. The role, which is essentially ceremonial, in the past has been held by political activists such as anti-apartheid campaigner Winnie Mandela and Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordecai Vanunu. Other choices for the role have had less political weight, in 1993 they picked Johnny Ball and six years later they picked Eastenders star Ross Kemp. It’s not just Glasgow that are at it, the practice of the student body electing honorary president’s and rectors for their university takes place all over the country. At Sheffield University they elect an honorary SU president – with Olympic Gold Medalist Jessica Ennis beating out leftie commentator Owen Jones in their last election. While students at SOAS decided to elect ex-London Mayor Ken Livingstone as their first honorary president. When the Duke of Edinburgh stepped down as Chancellor of Cambridge University, Lord Sainsbury was nominated to take his place. Originally unopposed – the race got interesting when local shopkeeper Abdul Arain threw his name into the hat. Opposed to a new Sainsbury’s Local opening nearby, he challenged Lord Sainsbury leading to the first actively fought battle for Chancellorship of Cambridge University since 1847. But, things got really interesting when Shakespearean actor and all round legend Brian Blessed entered after a Facebook campaign was launched to draft him into running. Graciously accepting Blessed stated in his acceptance letter “I’d like to inspire them to do expeditions all over the world. I would love to join them in expeditions, and promote adventure, adventure, adventure: I think the key to the new millennium is adventure.” After that radical socialist lawyer Michael Mansfield QC launched his own bid, in order to defend the value of education against the perceived market values of Lord Sainsbury. The election which any member of Cambridge University could vote in, provided they held a higher degree from the institution, sadly did not lead to Brian Blessed becoming chancellor. The excessively boring Cambridge members instead voted for
In 1935 students at the University of Edinburgh did their best to invite Russian Marxist revolutionary Leon Trotsky to stand as rector. Lord Sainsbury, a man who unlike Blessed, has never played the role of Prince Vultan in the Flash Gordon movie. One of the main obstacles students face in getting notable figures elected as rectors, chancellors or honorary presidents is getting the person to actually accept the nomination. For instance, students at Glasgow are currently trying to recruit The Doctor himself Peter Capaldi, yet a month into their campaign he’s yet to respond. Similarly in 2001 David Hasslehoff was forced to decline a nomination to become rector of Dundee university. In 1935 students at the University of Edinburgh did their best to invite Russian Marxist revolutionary Leon Trotsky to stand as rector. Trotsky, however was not keen on the idea - responding in a letter he wrote ’The elections to the rectorate are conducted on a non-political basis and your letter itself is signed by representatives of every political tendency. But I myself occupy too definite a political position. … [I could not] appear on any public tribune not under the Bolshevik banner.’’ Trotsky thus becoming one of the first people to ever refuse something on the grounds that students were not leftwing enough. While rectors and the like are tradition-
Stephen Fry served two terms as Dundee University rector Credit: Marco Raaphorst ally figures of some notability in the public imagination, it’s not always the case. For example, in 1973 Edinburgh University elected a 21 year old student to the position - future prime minister Gordon Brown. Regrettably the University of Manchester lacks a similar position - with the position of president being held by the current vicechancellor Dame Nancy Rothwell. Manchester could go the route of Sheffield and elect an honorary SU president instead. It would be a great opportunity for students to highlight an issue on campus or big up an alumni who isn’t getting the credit they deserve. Indeed, there are only so many rooms in the SU to name after activists. But if Manchester students were to elect a rector or who should they choose. Below are The Mancunion’s top 5 picks. Rik Mayall: The star of Bottom and The Young Ones studied for his undergraduate degree in Drama at the University of Manchester - meeting Adrian Edmondson in Hulme Hall. Rectors don’t have to be too serious, so we might as well have someone who’s not afraid to make the odd fart joke. Plus fans of the Young Ones will know that Rik put in an admirable performance on University Challenge against Footlights College Oxbridge only resorting to violence once. Surely that’s the sort of extracurricular achievement we should be honouring? Nadezhda Tolokonnikova: Electing Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova to the position of rector would send out a strong message in support of human rights in Putin’s Russia. Students at Manchester have already engaged in numerous protests in support of Pussy Riot and if we elected Nadezhda Tolokonnikova it would show that students at Manchester
are keeping an eye on Russia ahead of the Sochi Winter Olympics. Also, as seen with Edward Snowden residency in Russia is no bar to becoming a rector at a UK university. Sir Alex Ferguson: No person has had a bigger impact on Manchester life in the past three decades. It’d be only right to offer him the chance to represent the student’s of Manchester. Plus, if he agreed to become rector it’d give the University great bragging rights, who else would have the most successful manager in English footballing history. John Cooper-Clarke: There can be no better representative of Manchester than
the Bard of Salford John Cooper Clarke. His poems have influenced just about every Manchester poet, and he’s been recently enjoying somewhat of a revival. A true character he’d make a great rector because there’s something universal about his weirdness. Malala Yousafzai: Following in the tradition of using the role of rector to express praise for acts of political courage, there can be no worthier candidate than Malala. If Manchester were to nominate her, they would not be the first university as the University of Sheffield Students’ Union nominated her in 2013.
Would Fergie make a good rector? Credit: thesportsreview.com
ISSUE 12 / 3nd FEBRUARY 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Feature : 09
Cannabis: The other side As Uruguay and Colorado move to legalise cannabis Tim Harcourt-Powell offers a glimpse into the life of one student’s struggle with the drug
S
he gingerly draws her tongue along the adhesive and smooths it down. Her fingers nimbly squeeze and roll. Holding it up to the light, she inspects her work. She’s done it. Sam has rolled a joint, one foot long. Cannabis has enjoyed relatively positive press lately. Uruguay announced their intention to legalise the use, retail, and production of the drug. Colorado has created the world’s first regulated recreational cannabis market. But whilst recent news seems to all be in favour of leniency towards the drug, naturally this isn’t always the case. Back in 2009 Professor David Nutt, former chief drug advisor to the Government, was asked to leave his position following a lecture on drugs policy in which he asserted that cannabis was less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco. Opinion was split over Nutt’s statements, and the man himself ultimately saw his dismissal as a political move (Subsequently he reinforced his view that, despite what he had said, the drug was not safe). The fact that the countries top drugs advisor and the government fell out so publicly over cannabis demonstrates the schism the matter generates. The dangers of smoking, alcoholism and ‘harder’ drugs frequently make the headlines, billboards, or sides of buses. For example, take the numerous anti-smoking adverts which have proliferated our lives in recent years, the many alcoholism or heroin story lines offered in the soaps, or last years PMA/Ecstasy scandal at The Warehouse Project. But the darker side of our favourite illicit drug is rarely shown. The UN describes cannabis as the ‘most widely used illicit substance’. According to the UK governments 2012-13 Crime Survey, 6.4% of adults aged 16-59 used cannabis in the last year. But despite this, or possibly because of it, it is often seen as a ‘soft’ drug. A common argument for its safety is its roots, literally. Because it comes from a plant, the thinking goes, it is a ‘natural’ drug, therefore it can’t be that dangerous. Unfortunately this argument is undermined by, if nothing else, dealers bulking up their crops weight with contaminants in order to increase profit. FRANK, the government’s drugs education service, reports that a study has found cannabis ‘adulterated with henna, lead and aluminium’. But this aside, another great risk remains. This is where Sam comes in. Sam is tall, with a shock of fiery ginger hair and a pale complexion to complement. She is a close friend, and is undeniably dependent upon to cannabis. She doesn’t hold a job, and relies on money from her parents and friends to live. Before smoking cannabis she played netball to a high standard. But her once porcelain-like complexion has turned to an haggard pallor. ‘Do you have a hoodie I could borrow?’ She once asked me, ‘I need one before I Skype my Mum...’ She wasn’t cold or envious of my sartorial choices. Her Mum had sent her money to buy food, bus fares, and winter clothing. None of the
aforementioned items were ever purchased. The money, instead, bought her weeks supply of Cannabis. She needed to borrow a hoody to keep up the pretence. A few months later the Bank of Mum wised up. The bailouts dried up, and Sam received supermarket deliveries and packages instead. With her primary income diminished, now as her little bag of weed starts to dwindle Sam can be seen with her hands rummaging down the side of the sofa in an attempt to scrape together enough money. It’s also common to see her pleading to borrow money from her flatmates. The list of debts is growing. When the weed goes missing, you quickly glimpse another side to Sam. A desperate side: Storming about the house, turning it upside down, irritably shouting at housemates trying to recover her drugs. When it’s found, the reunion is almost touching. Sam spends most days, and often nights smoking cannabis. Apathy, laziness, general lack of perception, dulled senses, hours lost melting in to the sofa, are just some of the numerous side effects. Conversationally, Sam tends to be slavishly obsessed with talking about the drug too. The cynic may see this as a result of personality rather than drugs. Initially I assumed that this was the case too. But as I started asking around, I found Sam’s story echoing again and again. The most harrowing I heard from Polly, as she told me of her ex-partners decline in to the drug’s embrace. She spoke slowly, pausing for the right words. Her eyes dropped and her fingers toyed with one of her many bracelets. “Before smoking weed he was active, with a balanced diet, and on track to a decent sports related job, such as
Her Mum had sent her money to buy food, bus fares, and winter clothing. The money, instead, bought her weeks supply of Cannabis. coaching. He had a part time job and had over £3000 in savings which isn’t bad for a 19 year old who also just left college with outstanding grades: a complete A* student. He was also very social, with friends whom he saw often.” This all took place some years ago, Polly said. Time didn’t seem to have eased the memory, it was clearly still
Hundreds join a 4/20 rally for legalisation Credit: Flickr username CannabisDestiny an uncomfortable subject for her. “He moved into my shared house. My other housemates smoked weed occasionally, and after socially smoking with them he asked them to grab him a £10 bag and that’s how it started. “I came home from work most afternoons and evenings and he was in our bedroom, stoned. Pretty soon £10 bags turned into £20 bags which turned into £40 bags. This was in the space of 2 months. He became so unattractive, messy hair, blood shot eyes all the time, slob-like clothes and lost a lot of weight through his now awful diet! “ Like Sam, Polly’s partner was often misleading about money. After racking up a debt of almost £1000 to her, a £500 cheque from his parents, intended to pay for bills in the shared house, disappeared and quickly went up in smoke. “A very low point for me was putting petrol in my car and realising I was 12p short because he had spent the last of my money. I had to drive home and scour the room for coppers. “I came home and just fell apart. He saw me sobbing and miraculously took me to a cash machine and withdrew £250! But, as we headed home, he demanded I buy him a takeaway dinner and pick up his weed with the money because he had been kind enough to pay me some back...” Eventually, the relationship became
more than Polly could bear, and she left him. To clarify: I am not anti-drugs. I am in favour of the legalisation of drugs such as cannabis, provided it is regulated efficiently. I applaud the steps Colorado and Uruguay are taking as brave. Whether it exists from the outset or not, awareness around the issue of dependency on cannabis is only going to increase in an open market. Those who are dependent should not be stigmatised or
The lighter clicks. She draws deep upon it, the tip glowing red. A glazed smile spreads across her face and her eyes become vacant.
criminalised for their habit, allowing the national conversation to begin in earnest. The work of charities such as ‘Release’ with their ‘Nice People Take Drugs’ campaign is helping to remove the stigma associated with drug use, which one day help to prevent users sliding down in to dependency. “I packed a bag the next day and that was that. He then said he had given up smoking as he was heart broken... I didn’t believe him: too little, too late... but I’ve since learnt he is weed free. He plays for 2 cricket teams and is doing well and plays football again when the seasons change... He has a full time job and is on a decent wage.” It took the destruction of their relationship for him to realise what he had become. But whilst Polly’s ex managed to climb back out of his dependency, many other cannabis users continue to smoke habitually. Sam is studying at college. She wants to go abroad to a top European university to study. This morning she came back from college looking despondent : her test scores are low, her attendance is the worst in the class, and deadlines looming. Her sleep pattern and motivation have been decimated by her cannabis usage. But, for now, she can smoke her foot long spliff. The lighter clicks. She draws deep upon it, the tip glowing red. A glazed smile spreads across her face and her eyes become vacant.
Opinion Long live the Audacious Church
10
Lauren Wills defends the role of the Church as an organisation committed to helping the helpless
ISSUE 12/ 3rd FEBRUARY 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
#Your
Space
Want to give your thoughts on University news, or comment about an article? Tweet, and it could appear in this fortnightly column... @MancunionOp
Photo: Flickr@Matthew_Hartley From
the
allegations
diverse in background, ethnicit y and
against priests in the Catholic Church,
class. At Christmas, the Church even
involves displaying the love of God
to pastors in evangelical Churches
hired a limousine to take the homeless
to others. Its desire is to be a ‘Church
living
women for a spa day.
which stops the traffic”. It has a
in
horrendous
million
dollar
mansions,
The
vision
Church has had its day. In a modern-
contrary to what we’ve been shown
accepting and committed to helping
day, multi-cultural and secular societ y,
by the media. No brainwashing, no
others. When we attend on the odd
In a modern-day, multi-cultural and secular society, do we really need the Church?
occasion at Christmas or Easter, we
exclusivit y,
bubble’
I sometimes wonder how that could
Audacious Church in Manchester took
when it comes to helping people, but
have possibly turned into an exclusive
100 homeless people out to the Red
a genuine altruistic desire to make a
club
Hot World Buffet for an all-expenses
difference.
together every Sunday.
paid meal. To even watch this on the
Francis
into Manchester to realise that this cit y needs help. You can give some change to a homeless person and get that warm feeling inside, only to turn the corner and see a whole row of people living on the street. There is addiction, prostitution, homelessness and trafficking in our cit y. Whilst not undermining individual help, it’s evident these people need structure and consistency; an organisation who are 100% committed to deliberate kindness and altruism. Last week, the BBC reported that
news
was
Chan
‘Christian
considered
this
inclusive,
all-
have fears of being rejected or looked down upon for being different, for being ‘sinful’ or not truly believing. Audacious turns this ideology on its head with its radical 21st century st yle and its inclusive culture. In fact, sometimes I wonder where it all went wrong. The bible shows that Jesus interacted with cheaters, liars, outcasts, the contagiously sick and even prostitutes. On one occasion he let a prostitute wash his feet and then wipe them dry with her hair. If that’s not outrageous, I don’t know what is.
of
religious
people
coming
in
I for one am glad there are Churches
people
his book ‘Crazy Love’, discussing the
like Audacious changing the perception
who had never been to a restaurant
many people who say ‘I don’t believe
of religion in the UK, ensuring they are
before
were
heart-warming;
no
being-all
Church
This portrays the Church in a light
It only takes a minute when walking
of
Audacious
one might ask whether the Christian
do we really need the Church?
culture
of
fantastic
in organized religion’. He argues that
inclusive, and committed to making a
evening. Perhaps more importantly,
enjoying
a
people wouldn’t say this if the Church
difference in the outside world. The
this wasn’t a single act or a publicit y
really lived how they are called to live
Church is certainly alive and well, and
stunt. The Church opens its doors to
by their values. The Audacious Church
is committed to doing its very valuable
the homeless every week for food and
appears to be changing the face of
job.
drinks. The Church has 1000 people
religion
every Sunday attend their 3 services,
evidently is well needed.
in
secular
societ y,
which
Opinion
ISSUE 12 / 3rd FEBRUARY 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
11
After the controversy surrounding Channel 4’s ‘Benefits Street’, we ask...
YES The subject of Government allocated financial benefits is never far from the media spotlight. The debate has rumbled on over the years as to the efficiency and fairness of the system. The series Benefits Street currently airing on Channel 4 documents the lives of residents on James Turner Street in Birmingham where it is estimated 90% of people on the street are unemployed. After its first showing, Benefits Street was the most talked about television show in the UK. Viewers flocked to social media to express their opinion and there weren’t many positive comments. Is the anger felt by the British public justified, or are we just demonising the poor? In theory, welfare money is given to people who need extra support to get by on a day-today basis, making sure that everyone in the UK can survive if their situation means they cannot get a job. Ranging from heating and housing benefits to Jobseekers allowance, there are a variety of reasons that one
Emily Thomas could claim benefits. Currently in the UK, 64% of families are receiving some form of benefits to help them through the difficult financial climate. Certainly, noone would argue that in valid circumstances, benefits are the only option. Some illnesses prevent people from being able to work and being a single parent can hinder one’s availability but the cases shown on Benefits Street did little to convince people of any genuine situations that validated the jobless lifestyle that was flaunted. The financial climate in the UK has been difficult since the recession, people lost their jobs bringing income to a grinding halt at the same time the cost of living was sky-rocketing. For some, the only option was to grudgingly sign on for benefits. People took any job they could get their hands on in a desperate attempt to get back into work and get the money coming in again. These are not the people shown on Benefits Street where most admit they have never worked
“Does the UK need to change its’ ‘benefits culture’?”
and aren’t looking for a job. Why? In short, they are better off living on government and taxpayers’ money than getting a job, which would see a significant decrease in the money they could claim. The anger felt by the public is justified. To be a hardworking citizen and manage to scrape by without claiming off the government, seeing how those who don’t work can live comfortably smoking and drinking away taxpayers’ money is the ultimate kick in the teeth. The system has become flawed, allowing claimants to take as much as they can for as little effort as they can give. Benefits are being directed to the wrong people and used in the wrong way. A balance is needed between helping people in the right way and reducing the abuse of the system. Living on benefits does not entitle one to the latest smart phone and computer. The situation will continue to divide opinion for the foreseeable future.
Picture the scene: an aerial camera descends onto a terraced street in an ordinary midlands town. As the houses and their occupants become clearer the show’s title pops into view. Immigrant Street views the plight of those who have been granted the right to live in the UK permanently, having been born overseas. 90% of the people who live on the street conform to this status and we’re going to get to see what they’re up to. After all, it’s our country; we’ve let them in so we’ve got a right to see what they’re doing right? Obviously you can’t picture this scene. Of course, even the prospect of such an ‘entertainment’ programme leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. The idea of singling people out simply because of their national origin? Unthinkable. Yet, Benefits
Alice Rigby Street does the very same thing, only with those asking for assistance from the government. In this country, poverty makes people fair game. Defenders of shows like Benefits Street suggest that we have a right to scrutinise the actions of the people claiming money from the government. It’s because it’s ‘our’ money, we pay taxes and they don’t – or at least they don’t at the moment. This is just another case of treating those in need as subjects of those who aren’t. We don’t ask to scrutinise every patient coming through the NHS. We’d never dream of suggesting that the education provision needs to be cut, so that parents are motivated to work harder and send their children to private schools. Even though many of us may end up needing to claim some form of benefit in our lives, it’s
NO still assumed that those people who’ve been forced to do so by economic circumstance or a myriad of other reasons could somehow be doing things differently. Our society’s duty of care concerns the elderly, the young and the disabled but for some reason seems not to extend to the poor. This is a problem precisely because benefits aren’t one in this country. The estimated extent of benefits fraud? £1.2 billion. The estimated amount of benefits unclaimed? £16 billion. Tax avoided or evaded? Anywhere between £30 billion and £120 billion, depending on who you ask. No one in his or her right mind would focus on the first figure. Yet, this is what our politicians and our popular media repeatedly tell us to do.
Disagree? Tweet us @mancuniondebate, or email us at opinion@mancunion.com
The quest for equality is inciting the wrath of God...through seasonal floods? MaxAbendstern discussesthe meterological implications of gay marriage in a completely serious article because it’s an important issue.
Cycle’ can tell you that rain actually happens because the sun shines on the sea, which makes the water vapour rise, which then condenses into clouds, which then rain on the mountains, and then the water runs down the mountains as streams and rivers and things and ends up back in the sea, and God doesn’t have anything to do with it because it’s all fully automated
So recently one of our country’s top theoretical
and He might not exist. I guess I must have had
climate scientists, philanthropist and (in his
the flu that day.
spare time) UKIP councillor David Silvester
But Silvester’s boss, Nigel Farage, was around
has published an article in a respected, peer
for that lesson, and so knew that Silvester
reviewed scientific journal (called ‘The Henley
had to be stopped. He tried to achieve this
Standard’ - I’ve never heard of it so it must be
by filming a passive aggressive rant disguised
really elite) about how the copious amounts of water vapour emanating from the mouths of our MPs as they passionately delivered their
as a weather forecast that rated in political Digital recreation of Britain’s storm conditions; also known as the ‘Elton’ effect
cringeworthyness as being roughly somewhere in-between Boris Johnson leading London’s
arguments concerning the equal marriage bill
on an entity that is by definition improvable,
his mind about everyone being equal and got
in parliament have caused an increase in the
and far from universally accepted does tend
quite cross that our government wasn’t able
overall humidity level, arguing that
to weaken that argument somewhat) but I
to keep up with his modern views, but instead
“Since the passage of the Marriage (Same Sex
thought we we’re all created equal, in his
of sending the Angel of Death to take all of
Couples) Act, the nation has been beset by
image? Galatians 3:28. Kind of. I Googled it.
the MP’s firstborns, or a plague of locusts to
serious storms and floods”.
I know there’s this whole health and safety
destroy all of David Cameron’s favourite foods,
It was all very scientific and well thought
concern, with all the flooding etcetera, but
like he used to do before the credit crunch, now
through, and nobody could think of any
isn’t it worth the risk just to live the way God
all he can afford is a bit of a flood, something
criticisms whatsoever. Because as we all
made us to? I’m sure Silvester meant well,
that happens anyway, equal marriage bill or
know, correlation absolutely always and with
but this new information puts us in a bit of a
not, in a town that didn’t really have anything
no exception implies causation. It made me
sticky dilemma… Right, so apparently, I’ve got
to do with the bill. I hear Heaven might go the
wonder if we really should be striving for
my research a little bit wrong. It seems that
same way as Greece without these stringent
equality, if all the impassioned talking makes
Silvester isn’t actually a scientist, and he was
austerity measures. They’ll be in my prayers.
it rain a bit too much. I I hate to be the one
the one doing the talking about God. Actually,
Also, it turns out, anybody with a primary
to bring God into this (basing one’s argument
he thinks what happened is that God changed
school Key Stage 1 knowledge of ‘The Water
LGBTQ pride march in a pink cowboy hat and Nick Griffin starting his own cookery show. Unfortunately for Farage, his rant was overshadowed by a rogue shipping forecaster, Nicholas Pegg, who broadcast a completely genuine and not at all fake episode, based around Silvester’s hypothesis. I just have no idea what to think anymore. Is the evidence based logical reasoning and falsifiability of modern science correct to say that there is no proven direct link between government legislation and the weather? Or is it a safer bet to believe the unverifiable musings of a right wing extremist?
ISSUE 12/ 3rd fEBRUARY 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Editors: Phoebe Clarke, Patrick Hinton, Tom Ingham Interview
Opinion
theMUSIC OPINION: The Underground Won’t Be Televised
I recall watching Eagulls for the first time in a packed out tent at Beacons Festival in August last year. Whilst most shows at that event left me bored and tired, the Leeds quintet left an indelible mark; their songs were in lieu to the catchiest and heaviest bands alternative music had to offer, driving fans to mosh and sing along equally, frontman George Mitchell’s acerbic stage chatter filling the gaps in between. Now, less than a half a year later, the band more inclined to Instagram pictures of their genitals than act nice to the media are appearing on David Letterman’s prime time talk show, guesting alongside Bill Murray. It’s not like punk or alternative bands are alien to such a mainstream outlet, viewed by millions; to the contrary, you only have to look at King Krule’s recent, well regarded performance on the same programme. However, Eagulls appearing on the show is an interesting look at the strange and inconsistent success bands can have in the current musical landscape. At a time when you can download entire discographies for free at the click of the mouse, it’s incredibly difficult to define what makes a band a success. The culture among up-andcoming bands seems to take touring extensively, gaining fans and releasing music on labels as birthright. After all, who doesn’t have a mate giving it his all to self promote as a Soundcloud rapper/ waiflike indie songsmith/overly tattooed X Factor contender? Eagulls, who have a music video showing a brain decomposing
and are soon to play the delightfully named Mongrel Fest, don’t fit any criteria of what a successful band should be. They’re musically abrasive, rarely fit well alongside other bands on bills and don’t look ever set to compromise on who they should be. In this sense, the success they are capable of achieving, they’re hindering themselves; and yet, they’re soon to appear on American television. To this end, when they return to the UK, it’ll be more likely that they’ll play venues like Soup Kitchen or Gorilla as opposed to the Apollo or even one of the Academies. Much as how up and coming artists can gain intense exposure from festivals like Reading and Leeds or Bestival, but without any set career trajectory, it highlights just how uncertain it is to be an active musician when revenue is so derived from performing live. It fits into the feast or famine idea even more, especially considering that pursuing music has never been a certain career choice. It also suggests that the corporate view of which bands to support lies more in how bands are perceived image wise – snarling punks, ginger troubadour – as opposed to how much support they may actually draw at concerts. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it’s shaken the monotony of which bands can penetrate the public consciousness in the most visible way; a tradition going back to the Who exploding drums and Nirvana storming through on the BBC. Fin Murphy
Top 5, by Thomas Ingham, Music Editor 1. NWA - A Bitch Iz A Bitch
TOP 5 SONGS:
in the field of relationships
Some people, most likely women, won’t be all too happy with Ice Cube for this track, but let me tell you girls – you drove him to this. Men are simple creatures that don’t like to be hassled.
the MUSIC INTERVIEW:
Keeno
We caught up with upcoming producer and Manchester student Keeno following the release of his ‘Nocturne EP’. It’s impossible not to have the utmost respect for DnB head and upcoming producer Will Keen, otherwise known as ‘Keeno’. At only 19 years old, he is juggling a degree at Manchester University in Music with a rising reputation as one to watch in the DnB community for 2014. In the midst of his busy schedule, he kindly took the time to chat to me about his classical background, love of foreign travel, and meticulous work ethos. Making a name for himself through remix work, Keeno’s therefore attracted much hype for his first release on Med School, the Nocturne EP. Reflecting on one of his earliest remixes, that of Casey Abrams’s “Get Out”, he comments “I definitely didn’t expect how popular it’d get at the time! I did almost 18 months ago now for a competition which I came runner-up in. Ironically my remix has almost 4x the views of the original song now on YouTube. I wanted to remix the tune in a radio style by keeping the verse-chorus structure and making sure the vocals were kept in the foreground.” Similarly, his recent remix of London Grammar’s “Hey Now” shows determination in achieving his desired sound. “When I first heard the original I was completely blown away by Hannah Reid’s voice - I knew I wanted to work with it however I could. I remixed the song using only the original mp3 file and just ran with what I thought of. I’d love to do an official remix for them in the future or, even better, work with them on a track.” Production talent aside however, it is clear his newest release, the ‘Nocturne EP’ relies on raw talent rather than production cliches. “I wanted to put out something that best showed what the ‘Keeno’ sound was all about. I tried to put out something which would be both refreshing and familiar so I didn’t force any complicated production tricks out - just
kept the music speaking for itself.”
Where I’m from way down South, seasons change before a decent night comes along. As a current Music student here at Manchester, Keeno explains how his classical training influenced his creative approach on the release. “ I try and incorporate as much of my classical background as I can into my music and the result is some chilled tunes but still trying to maintain that dance-floor impact”. This can be problematic. “The hardest track to produce was definitely the title track, Nocturne. It probably took me a day to write the track and then 6 months to make all the elements work together and have their own space within the song. I think the problem was striking a balance between the music and the dance floor - it took a lot of testing at gigs to work out the best version.” “All my projects are therefore extremely organised and it helps me streamline my workflow and the speed at which I can write music benefits hugely from it. I spend most of my time making sure my orchestral elements sound as ‘real’ as they possibly can by using two types of reverb on my “orchestra group channel” within the project: one as an insert and one as a send. The combination of the two really helps glue all the separate samples and gaps between instruments together and
make it sound more like a live orchestra.” Balancing University life with such an upcoming career has its difficulties. Keeno explains “travelling most weekends and fitting in all the assignments as well as finishing a load of new tunes and going to all the rehearsals for choirs and stuff I’m in means I’m never not working. But I love it, I don’t mind. I’m going to Amsterdam in two weekend’s time and then am back the next day for a University deadline - I would have never thought I’d be so lucky to travel with my music so I’m working as hard as I can to do both at once. I just hope it doesn’t get to the point where one has to suffer because of the other...” His new home in Manchester is also bringing its own opportunities. “I think drum and bass is making a bit of a comeback up here - I’m seeing more and more Hit&Run events (thanks to Rich Reason!) sporting solid jungle line ups. What I love most though is that there’s always something going on. Where I’m from way down South, seasons change before a decent night comes along.” In fact, Keeno will be playing at the Med School showcase at Mint Lounge this Thursday. “I think I’ll be playing towards the end of the night so I’m going to switch it up a bit. I’ll be playing lots of new material I’ve been writing over Christmas as well as mixing in some familiar classics.” Otherwise it’s more touring and new music on the horizon for Keeno. “I’ll be playing as many gigs as I can: Manchester, Amsterdam, Belgium... and I’ll be finishing off more and more music. The EP has brought in some wicked interest for remixes too so look out for some more trademark Keeno remixes. Phoebe Clarke, Music Editor
2. Dave Mason - We Just Disagree
3. Taylor Swift Should’ve Said No
4. Shania Twain - That Don’t Impress Me Mutch
5. Bruce Springsteen Sherry Darling
Dave is much more mature about the whole deal. People change over time: maybe your lover who you haven’t seen for 20 years used to be an anti-Semite, but now she loves Woody Allen films – what are you gonna do?
My first wife was a Satanist and the head of a Phil Collins fan club, did that put me off? Did it balls. In retrospect I should’ve known it wouldn’t have worked, I could never forgive that man for what he did to Genesis.
Sometimes there’s nothing you can do to impress certain people. I recall donning a wetsuit and following someone all the way home from school, when they clocked on I said “would you like to go to dinner?” – Not a sausage, ungrateful sod.
There’s nothing worse than a spiteful in-law so to avoid this I suggest taking both parents on a date individually before meeting them. Take the Dad to the swimming baths, get a kebab – get to know the boss before you get serious with your partner.
ISSUE 12/ 3rd FEBRUARY 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
: @MancunionMusic : / TheMancunionMusicSection
Music
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Feature
R B M A
influences, not necessarily the bangers or freshest music.” With 4 releases under his belt by the time of his application, T was a confiPatrick Hinton, Music Editor dent candidate: “Did I think I would be selected? … Yes” he admits light Red Bull are a very cool company inheartedly, “am I allowed to say that?” deed, case study one: just last year they Yet a burgeoning career is not needed paid for a man to jump off a pod on the to be selected for the RBMA, talent is edge of space. They also run an instituthe prime requirement. tion called the Red Bull Music Academy; T. Williams also spoke of the social asthe RBMA has been running annually pect of mixing with other participants; since 1998 in various global cities, and he was a part of the 2013 academy every year 60 applicants are selected to alongside the likes of Kanye West colattend the 2 week course in which they laborator Evian Christ and techno proreceive lecturing from superstar figures ducer Objekt. “The academy isn’t about and are given the chance to work in being a standout star, it’s a collaboraexpensive studios. This year they’re in tion”, and this is highlighted by his faTokyo; leading up to this, on Tuesday vourite lecturers being the musically 28th March Red Bull hosted an evening different “Giorgio Moroder, Richie Hawof lectures in Manchester from affiliates tin and Seth Troxler.” Since being at the T Williams, Greg Wilson and Artwork. RBMA life has become a whirlwind for T. Williams spent much of his lecture T. Williams, his participation garnered a emphasising how beneficial the RBMA lot of attention, and since he’s gained a was to him, and advising potential atslot on Radio 1’s INDJWT series. “I even tendees on how to best present themthink I had an article in The Daily Star” selves, with the Tokyo application prohe laughs. The lecture ends with the cess being open now. “Set out to be as advice: “If you get in, don’t sleep for 2 real as possible, it’s a personality test” weeks. Use it.” he revealed. Furthermore, he advises Next up is Greg Wilson, detailing his using the “tracks giving best timeline of long and varied career as a DJ. He caught where [you’ve] come from and [your] his break in 1980 by landing a 4 nights a
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week residency at a club named ‘Wigan Pier’. On the road to Wigan Pier, he was DJing from 15 with mobile discos in the Merseyside area before travelling into mainland Europe for marathon 9pm6am residencies. Wilson spoke of the political importance of music and dancing. Especially in Thatcher’s Britain, “It was a way to let off pressure” in a country unsettled by rioting and divide, “Legend [former club in Manchester] wasn’t just a party, it was deeper than that. These were people with no job prospects, but they could dance, so they could walk proudly through Moss Side.” He went on to accuse the American EDM scene of “wringing the black out of the music”, and questioned “America is accepting this as music? Really?” Wilson’s embracing of a degree of modernity after his return in 2003 made him the important figure he is. “I didn’t want to come back as Mr. Nostalgia/DJ Fossil”, instead he updated the old music he was into with edits to appeal to a younger audience, resulting in the huge popularity of his 2009 BBC essential mix. He was a lecturer at RBMA Melbourne in 2006, where he met participant Nina Kraviz and ended up putting out her
first record. “Getting into the RBMA is gift from the Gods” he concludes. Ending the night is a workshop from Artwork, “Let me just say, this is the scariest fucking thing I’ve ever done” he begins, then dryly adding “I’m Artwork, a name I hate but I’m stuck with it.” Artwork began his career holding down a 12am-2am slot on pirate radio station Girls whilst building swimming pools with his Dad all day. “I wasn’t sleeping” he reveals, “eventually my Mum told my Dad the best thing to do would be to sack me to force me to make a career from music... he did. It was hard for a bit.” Artwork made it through, and really got going with the incarnation of his Big Apple label, to which he signed 15 year olds Skream and Benga, as well as Loefah and Digital Mystikz; acts that pioneered the dubstep movement. “The biggest thing I learnt in music is you’re fucked if you’re deciding to make a tune like you hear on Radio 1. Make music for you and your mates, or it’s over.” Unfortunately, the popularity of dubstep led to its downfall, “a record company signed us and they had no fucking idea what dubstep was, that’s when it goes tits up.” Yet Artwork feels no bitterness, “we didn’t lose control of the scene, you
just have to let music evolve and move as it is.” Although some of the ways the music industry is moving he takes issue with, “Radio 1 won’t look at a song unless it’s in the Shazam charts. That’s weird.” As questions open up to the floor, we’re treated to the reveal of the night: Artwork produced Daniel Bedingfield’s club classic ‘Gotta Get Thru This’. What a legend. Applications for the 2014 RBMA are open now, I can’t wait to see what brilliant musicians emerge from it. Patrick Hinton Music Editor
Mancunion Music Meetings Every Thursday, 5:30pm
Student Activities Office, 1st Floor of SU Review
Review
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks Pangaea: The Lost City Gorilla - 15th January 2014 Indie hero and ex-Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus brought his sun-soaked rock to a rainy Wednesday night in Manchester. Ambling onstage with the ‘Jicks’, loose-shirted and flicking his hair out of his face, he has the air of a man in perpetual teenager-dom. After a few wry mutterings he launches into ‘Planetary Motion’ and ‘Rumble on the Rambo’ before a swig of beer and some nonsensical back and forth with the crowd. But don’t be fooled by the slacker vibe:
here is a supremely skilled and professional guitarist, with a razor sharp band, and he’s not afraid to show it off with a set full of 70s style prog jams that fall just the right side of indulgent. ‘Tigers’ and ‘Senator’ draw the biggest crowd response, but for my money, tracks from the new LP Wig Out At Jagbags are his best in years and the most enjoyable of the night. ‘The Janitor Revealed’ sounds like a classic Malkmus merry-goround of shifting tempos and lazy crescendos. Breezy new
8/10 single ‘Lariat’, which Malkmus admits he has “no idea how to play live”, is transformed into something more unhinged in this setting. It threatens to derail until he brings it full circle with a killer solo, which is a common feature in the set. In fact, more than the songwriting or renowned wordplay, it’s Malkmus’ amazing musicianship that holds the attention. There’s no room for Pavement nostalgia tonight, and no one’s asking for it. The one track from the canon we are treated to is a B-side from their last album – one for the die hards. The biggest slice of nostalgia he affords himself is a tonguein-cheek cover of Led Zeppelin. “We’re gonna play Stairway to Heaven….Backwards!”, he jokes during the encore. On current form I wouldn’t put it past him. Henry Scanlan
UoMSU - 25th January 2014 As an event fuelled by post exams celebratory spirit, Pangaea was always going to be an enjoyable affair. Yet this January’s The Lost City edition displayed the event’s worth beyond being just a place to get wrecked before starting work and lectures again on Monday. The music spun throughout the night enthralled the present revellers. Despite the aqueous theme, Paul Woolford managed to ignite Academy 2 with the fire that is his remix of ‘Renegade Master’, whilst Manchester legend Zed Bias caused the outdoor tent to erupt with a slick edit of ‘Get Get Down’ and
‘Hackney Parrot’. Artwork impressively MC’d much of his own set, declaring “I like Manchester, they know how to dance”, whilst throwing down disco classics such as Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ and Todd Terje’s utterly ecstatic ‘Inspector Norse’. The smaller rooms in the Union were overtaken by a number of Manchester’s music promoters and they superbly showcased the city’s musical diversity. Bank and Mekka kept their room raw and dark with bass heavy techno; Hi Ku proved their eclecticism by mixing the likes of Marvin Gaye’s soulful ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’
8/10 and Lone’s erratic ‘Airglow Fires’; the M20 Collective room went on a journey from funk and hip hop, through electro swing, to Breakbeat and DnB. Being in the Union makes Pangaea particularly novel, the site of exams and rushed pre-lecture coffees is transformed into a hedonistic setting filled with elaborate costumes and music that isn’t someone murdering Fur Elise on the piano. In terms of University sponsored events, it can’t be beat. Patrick Hinton Music Editor
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ISSUE 12/ 3rd FEBRUARY 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Mancunion Recommends
Now: Wild Beasts - Present Tense Domino. Release Date - 24th February 2014
Now on their fourth effort, Present Tense captures Wild Beasts in some kind of musical Autumn, in limbo of direction and sound and in the process of shedding many of their most recognisable characteristics. The band’s gentle percussion, reverb-soaked timbres and sense of perversity, persevere. Meanwhile Hayden Thorpe’s extraordinary countertenor voice and Tom Fleming’s rustic growl remain. Present Tense, however, finds Wild Beasts coming out of the woods, as it were, and moving towards a much more accessible destination. Forthcoming first single and first track, ‘Wanderlust’, is the best instance of this. Other than the odd ‘Devil’s Crayon’, Limbo, Panto and Two Dancers were albums that required several listens to be fully rewarding and ‘Wanderlust’ is by far the most challenging thing here, if only for its atypical pop structure and metronomic, almost crazed beat, in 3/4 time. The song is also cloaked in brash electronic timbres which those albums (and third effort Smother ) held, but would not have housed to such a degree; a prevalent feature of the rest of Present Tense.
7/10
Most commonly such electronic timbres manifest themselves in lewd saw wave form (‘Sweet Spot’, ‘Wanderlust’) or as chiming leads (‘Daughters’, ‘Past Perfect’, ‘Nature Boy’). Meanwhile, there is the scent of danceability in the almost funk basslines of ‘A Simple Beautiful Truth’ and ‘Past Perfect’. It’s not quite synthpop - the band have not lost their sensitivity or sense of mysticism – though, there is certainly a ‘bigger’ aura surrounding Present Tense, than on previous work. Indeed, much of the album resembles Kate Bush (on Hounds of Lov e) and Talk Talk (on The Colour of Spring ) at their most pop-centric, whilst retaining a dedication to delicate and nuanced song-writing. Common pop chord progressions are a staple of Present Tense , whilst big choruses are another. Highlight, ‘Mecca’ revolves around two such choruses in succinct loveliness, with Thorpe cooing in a typically reflective and yearning mood “All we want is to feel that feeling again”. If it weren’t for such sensitivity, ‘Sweet Spot’ could almost be a Peaches song, though it does capture Wild Beasts love for the suggestive, with Thorpe intoning “Between the womb and the end” at the song’s stripped climax. What is questionable, however, is if this breaks any new sonic ground. There are no dulcimers, no ‘Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants’ and generally nothing difficult. “Throw the ball up into space” says Fleming on ‘A Dog’s Life’. It’s not difficult to see a band gazing skywards. Jonny McAreavey
Then: Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92
For full listings visit:
manchesteracademy.net FEBRUARY
and dropped onto a roundabout in London. To be precise, Elephant and Castle, where -legend has itJames once took up residence. You’re reminded of this LP’s prescience when considering its (where-were-you-in) ’92 release. ‘Xtal’’s booming kick drum nods at the UK’s burgeoning rave scene at the time, which managed, just like this record, to find light in a gloomy, depressed landscape. Equally importantly, a decade or so later Radiohead got interesting (see: Kid A). For Thom, “Aphex Twin opened up another world that didn’t involve my fucking electric guitar”. When that world sounds like this, who can blame him? Ben Glover
APRIL
Jerson Starship Saturday 1st
Hopsin Tuesday 1st
Skindred Sunday 2nd
The Robert Glasper Experiment Wednesday 2nd
Ron Pope + Wakey! Wakey! Thursday 6th Little Comets Wednesday 5th We Are The In Crowd Wednesday 5th Protest The Hero Thursday 6th Cassetteboy vs DJ Rubbish Friday 7th illumiNaughty – Masked Ball Part 2 Saturday 8th The Treatment Sunday 9th August Burns Red Monday 10th Phoenix Tuesday 11th The Defiled Tuesday 11th Mikill Pane Friday 14th Parquet Courts Saturday 15th Tich Monday 15th Sonic Boom Six Wednesday 19th M.A.D. Friday 21st Room 94 Saturday 22nd MDNGHT Saturday 22nd Laura Cantrell Saturday 22nd Rock Sound Impericon Exposure Tour We Came As Romans + Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! + The Color Morale + Palm Reader Wednesday 26th Black Onassis Thursday 27th
MARCH The Dear Hunter And Anthony Green Saturday 1st Temples Saturday 1st Blackberry Smoke Sunday 2nd R5 Louder World Tour Wednesday 5th Heaven 17 Saturday 15th Maximo Park Saturday 15th
Apollo - February 1992. Ambient’s juxtaposition between Selectedconstrained- and Works- petrochemical- sets the scene. With song titles reading like chemical compounds, where can ambient ease be found in this bleak, industrial landscape? For 74 minutes, Aphex Twin, or Richard D James, provides the answers in a sonic balancing act between light and dark. Sure, the unnerving, harsh noises one might typically associate with James are there. ‘Hedphelym’, with its demonic clanging, is chilling, as are the just-audible vocal snippets that lie under several tracks. The theme continues with deeper-than-deep bass on ‘We Are The Music Makers’. But from subterranean depths we’re gracefully brought to the surface again. Melodies and leitmotifs ping-pong around James’ orchestra of early synth and drum samples. This is Aphex to whistle to. ‘Pulsewidth’’s three note charm is an exercise in artful simplicity. Better still, catchy basslines abound. That on ‘Ageispolis’, creeping in half way through, is perfect. With so many light at the end of the tunnel moments, this should be Samaritans’ dialling tone. Later, we’re again treated to a lesser seen side to James. As it sounds like things are winding down, we’re asked back out again for a sunrise groove on ‘Ptolemy’. The same goes for ‘Delphium’, which is pure booty-shaking fun. ‘Green Calx’ sounds like early 90s house hauled across the Atlantic
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Sex Pistols Experience Saturday 15th Space & Republica Thursday 20th NMEAwardstour2014withAustin,Texas: Interpol + Temples + Royal Blood + Circa Waves Thursday 20th Ian Prowse & Amsterdam Friday 21st Quadrophenia Night Friday 21st Franz Ferdinand Saturday 22nd Heaven’s Basement Saturday 22nd Transmission - The Sounds of Joy Division Saturday 22nd Azealia Banks Wednesday 26th Bonafide Wednesday 26th Deathstars Wednesday 26th Jack Savoretti Thursday 27th Loveable Rogues Friday 28th Tyrese, Ginuwine and Tank (TGT) Friday 28th The Stranglers Saturday 29th
Therapy? Troublegum 20th Anniversary Thursday 3rd Mentallica vs Megadeth UK Saturday 5th Bipolar Sunshine Saturday 5th Deaf Havana Saturday 5th Riverside Sunday 6th Devildriver Wednesday 9th The Wildhearts Thursday 10th Johnette Napolitano (Of Concrete Blonde) Thursday 10th Hue & Cry Thursday 10th Memphis May Fire Friday 11th Manchester Orchestra Friday 11th UB40 Saturday 12th Gallon Drunk Tuesday 15th Augustines Wednesday 16th Berlin Berlin Saturday 19th The Temperance Movement Wednesday 23rd Uncle Acid &The Deadbeats Thursday 24th Patent Pending & People On Vacation Friday 25th Jace Everett with band Friday 25th The Smiths Ltd Saturday 26th John Butler Trio Sunday 27th Blood Red Shoes Monday 28th
MAY
De La Soul Friday 2nd Northside Saturday 3rd Clean Bandit Wednesday 7th The Hold Steady Wednesday 7th Martin Stephenson & The Daintees Thursday 8th Jagwar Ma Saturday 10th The Clone Roses Saturday 10th Pentatonix Tuesday 13th CASH – The No.1 Johnny Cash Tribute Saturday 17th Ned’s Atomic Dustbin + The Wedding Present + CUD + The Sultans Of Ping + The Frank & Walters + Chameleons Vox
GIGANTIC – Classic Indie All Dayer Bank Holiday Saturday 24th
The War On Drugs Wednesday 28th AWOLNATION Thursday 29th
REST OF 2014 Jurassic 5 Thursday 19th June Extreme – Pornograffitti Live Tour Friday 4th July Evile (Album Launch Show) Saturday 17th September Vance Joy Thursday 25th September The Orb Saturday 18th October
Games
ISSUE 12/ 3rd FEBRUARY 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
15
Editor: Alasdair Preson Feature
Retro Corner
Our Gaming “Ones to Watch” 2014
Damien Trinh remembers why one Zelda game divided and then unified fans
Alasdair Preston helps you find the best bang for your buck
A new year is upon us, which means another 12 months of games to play. With so many releases expected out this calendar year, how do you know which ones to buy? The Mancunion investigates 2014 in games, and gives our recommendations for your annual gaming. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor Imagine Assassin’s Creed, but in Middleearth. That is probably the easiest way to describe Shadow of Mordor. As a big Tolkienite, I’ve been waiting for a good Lord of the Rings game for some time after a series of disappointing releases over the past few years. While I try to avoid getting on board the hype train for new releases, I’m cautiously optimistic for this game. You play as a ranger who is hell-bent on revenge against Sauron’s minions with the aid of a bunch of wraith (see: Black Rider) abilities. It’s set in an open world between the events of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings films and boasts a heavily touted ‘Nemesis’ system whereby enemies are procedurally generated with unique personalities. It also claims that their behaviour changes depending on previous interactions with the player which, if they pull it off, could make this game something special. Definitely one to keep an eye on as it gets closer to launch in October. - Nick Jastrzebski Octodad: Dadliest Catch Octodad: Dadliest Catch is one of the first games to go through the Steam Greenlight process and it is easy to see why. You play as a secret spy who must protect his identity from everyone including his family, but this is made all the more difficult because you are an octopus. The game mixes QWOP-like controls
Preview
Preview Blizzard Entertainment • RRP: FREE • Available on PC, Mac, iOS & Android
with surreal humour. This sequel deserves your attention simply because it’s just so stupidly funny and charmingly idiotic. This game oozes slapstick constantly, mundane trips to the supermarket become ordeals as you struggle to hold onto groceries without knocking over trolleys and alerting others to your cephalopodan identity. Octodad is set to be released on the 30th of January and will be on PC and the PS4. - Bruce Tang Destiny Destiny is one of the few games announced that I look at and think “this is truly the next generation”. It offers something different, something spectacular that simply wouldn’t have been possible on the previous home consoles. Made by the industry-renowned Bungie (of Halo fame, in case you somehow didn’t know), Destiny promises a Borderlands meets MMO title set in an enormous and deep fantasy sci-fi world. The developers boast that the world of Destiny will be “alive”, meaning unscripted events could occur without being planned by themselves that change the game. Bungie have reportedly made huge leaps forward in their multiplayer matchmaking technology for the release of Destiny, expected September with a summer beta available to anyone who preorders the game. My preorder was made long ago. -Alasdair Preston
Image: ToTheGame
By all rights we should already be playing this. Originally scheduled for release last November, had it done so it would have no doubt been a strong, if not the strongest, contender for Game of the Year. Taking you into the dark recesses of the information era, this game gives you a whole new world to explore right in the palm of your hand as you hack the systems around you. This is on top of the free roaming world which you’ll find yourself in. Ubisoft delayed what was already gearing up to be a fantastic game. If they’ve made it better than what has already been shown since it first caught our attention back in 2012, then this is something to be very excited for. -Damien Trinh Honourable mentions should of course go out to titles such as Smash Bros, Titanfall, The Order all expected to wow us in 2014, and hopefully deliver on some of the promised potential of the new console generation.
Watch_Dogs Make way GTA V, Watch Dogs is on its way.
Damien Trinh
Alasdair Preston
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Nick Jastrzebski plays a different kind of Warcraft in Blizzard’s latest Free-to-Play title
Also known as the World of Warcraft collectible card game, Hearthstone recently entered its open beta phase, available to all! I managed to get into the end of the closed beta and tried it out over the Christmas break. I’m not a massive fan of CCGs (Collectible Card Games), but Hearthstone is the most accessible, well polished and addictive card game I’ve ever played. The basics are similar to many card games with very unique twists which actually simplify the game. Your hero starts at 30 health. The first player to lose all their health loses the match. Simple! Decks are made up of 30 cards. Each card is a minion, spell or weapon, all of which have a mana cost to play and a certain rarity; common, rare, epic and legendary. One mana crystal is acquired each turn, allowing for bigger plays later
Derided by many as too childish for its cel-shaded cartoon graphics, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was met with controversy and worry that it wouldn’t appeal to the hardcore fans of the Legend of Zelda series. After all, how could this colourful and bright rendition ever match the revolutionary Ocarina of Time and its sequel, Majora’s Mask? Fast forward 10 years, and Wind Waker continues to please fans of the Zelda series and exude a charm usually only found in Nintendo’s Mario games. Announced way back in 2000, Nintendo showcased a demo of Link and Ganondorf fighting as a technical demonstration of the Nintendo Gamecube, known then as Dolphin. Of course, this immediately sparked rumours of a new Legend of Zelda game in the works. Nintendo came back a year later and gave us inklings of The Wind Waker. Many diehard fans were disappointed with the direction Nintendo seemed to be taking the franchise, worrying it’d be more favourable to children and leave them out in the cold. How wrong they were. Released in 2003, The Wind Waker was met with critical acclaim. Despite the looks, The Wind Waker had a gameplay style similar to the Ocarina of Time, with an added charm that came with its whimsical style. Not only did it silence the critics, it managed to bring in new players across all ages. Players are immediately set free on an island to run free and explore. Despite its small size, an endless expanse of ocean surrounding the island invokes feelings of excitement and awe, with the knowledge that soon they’ll be sailing across a vast ocean to save the land from evil. With the ocean always around you, the game forces you to move away from a linear play style and explore the world. It’s impossible to do otherwise, because the game makes you want to. Following the storyline blindly leaves glaring gaps in your sea map, infuriating you every time you look and forcing you to venture into uncharted waters. Intertwined amongst the story are a multitude of side quests, from merchant trading to defeating the “Big Octos” to free a great fairy, giving you plenty to see and do. The Wind Waker brought out the Image: ToTheGame voyager in everyone that played it. Link’s adventures in a bright fantasy land worked beautifully and with it came a gorgeous soundtrack as well. While for some it will never match the Ocarina of Time, it certainly came close. Recently rereleased on the Wii U as a HD remake, it is definitely worth a play.
in the match. So on turn one each attack directly, though not all heroes player has one mana, turn two you have access to weapon cards. Your have two mana etc up to a maximum character still takes damage from of 10. attacking minions, but it allows you Spells are simple; you cast them to clear enemies without sacrificing for their effect. For example, the your own minions. Paladin’s Hammer of Wrath spell You have 9 heroes to choose from, deals 3 damage and draws a card. each representing a character and Minions fill your side of the class from WoW. Heroes have unique board and are used to attack your cards as well as the shared pool of opponent. They have a health value neutral cards, and a hero power and an attack value; a Chillwind Yeti which can be activated once per has 4 attack and 5 health, described turn for two mana. The Mage hero as a (4/5) minion. Once they run out Jaina Proudmoore has the Fireblast of health, they die. Minions often ability which deals one point of come with a special effect of their damage to any target. This adds a own. For example, a minion with a lot of variation between classes and battlecry does something as soon opens up a world of opportunities as it’s played, one with a deathrattle for various combinations in every does something when it is killed and deck. ones with taunt have to be attacked My explanation probably hasn’t by the opponent before anything convinced you the game is easy to else. learn, but it truly is. A helpful set of Weapons are equipped on your tutorial missions are available the Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment hero character and allow you to first time you play the game and
introduce you to the basics before letting you loose to build your own decks and test them against other players. This game is very much a collectible game as opposed to a trading game, as you can only get cards through crafting; disenchant unwanted cards and put the arcane dust from that into making a card you need. Expert Packs containing five random cards can be bought either with real money or with in-game gold, acquired through completing daily quests. Each pack is 100 gold, which doesn’t take long to get hold of, or £1. As with most free to play games, they offer discounts for bulk purchases but buying packs isn’t essential to be able to play well. It does certainly help when building a specific deck though! Packs can also be gained by playing in the Arena; a draft mode in which you build a deck from random cards then play matches to see how well you do. If you lose three matches, your run comes to an end and you’re rewarded with prizes based on how many wins you got.
Image: Blizzard
You’ll almost always get a pack as a prize, but others include gold and arcane dust. The Arena does have an entry fee of 150 gold or £1.50 though, so it’s a good place to gamble on your skill at the game. In my opinion, the arena is the best place to play, since you often have a new deck to play with and it exposes you to some unique situations, not to mention keeping the stakes high for each match! Since the game is still in beta, changes are likely to come. Blizzard has already announced plans for single player content and additional card sets as well as the possibility of new classes, though probably not by launch. If you have a passing interest in WoW or CCGs, or even if you don’t, try this game. It keeps things simple but still has tonnes of strategic depth for more experienced player.
ISSUE 12 /3rd FEBRUARY 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Ones to watch for 2014 what goes UP Men-Hancement
/TheMancunion: Fashion & Beauty @MancunionFash
Editors: Susie Coen, Marie ClareYates, Halee Wells (Beauty) Fashion editor Susie Coen reveals what’s hot and what’s not for S/S 2014
must come
Feminism With Elle magazine campaigning for a rebranding of feminism and Joseph Gordon-Levitt telling Ellen Degeneres he is ‘absolutely’ a feminist, feminism is slowly losing its negative implications.
BLOGWATCH
thehunt.com
Dangly earrings Drop earrings were all the rage this time last year but ear cuffs have well and truly ousted them as the ‘it’ accessory of 2014.
Tights Bare legs are back, oh how we missed you. Spend the money you save on hosiery on taxis so your legs don’t freeze off.
Topshop.co.uk
**The University of Pennsylvania, 2012.
Finding a good blog these days is like rummaging through a vintage warehouse, there is so much crap to wade through before you get to the good stuff. Everyone is a blogger, which makes the search for decent people to follow a time consuming exercise. So, to help you out, here is Nikki Patel’s selection for 2014
The next big thing...
Whose going to be on our radar for 2014? Fashion editor Susie Coen reveals her top three
1 The Model: Neelam Johal
2 The Designer: Ashely Williams She’s been deemed the new Henry Holland with her ‘tongue-in-cheek’ prints and refreshing styles. The recent graduate from Westminster University wooed everyone from Vogue to Wonderland in her A/W 2013 shows. She has also just launched a jewellery line with her good friend Pixie Geldof (as you do) called ‘FunkyOffish’. She explained that the phrase implied “an alleged humorous style mash up, but it can also be employed to describe the unexpected cool of anything and everything: from an old snap of Chloe Sevigny playing guitar in a circus leotard through to next season’s Chanel backpack”. Their gold jewellery ranges from earrings to necklaces with a vintage feel and seems to be just the beginning of what we have to see from Williams.
3 The Actress: Lupita Nyong’o
This star of Steve McQueens 12 Years a Slave star has not only wowed us with her incredible performance, but with a string of style YES’s on the red carpet she has started the year as our style icon of 2014 – a position I can’t see her losing. The 30-year-old actress commanded our attention at the Critic’s Choice Awards in a custom Calvin Klein white dress creating a clean-cut silhouette and leaving the other stars in her shadows. She showed us she wasn’t afraid to experiment at the Golden Globes while wearing a red Ralph Lauren dress with an eye-catching cape. With 12 Years a Slave being her first acting job since leaving Yale School of Drama in 2012, this can only be the beginning of our relationship of envy and adoration with Lupita and her wardrobe.
Feature
Craving&Saving
Beauty Editor Halee Wells shows us what she is craving and saving this week... 2013 saw a boom in the realm of Style Bloggers which left the world of fashion reeling. With an ever growing online network of social media savvy fashionistas eager to share their enviable OOTD’s and know-how, with the world, it would seem that glossy magazines and high fashion are no longer our first port of call when we’re feeling a little uninspired. So, who should you be following in 2014? 1.Hussle in Style Hussle in Style is an up and coming style blog by the beautiful Biher Tewelde, a 20 year old freelance stylist and photographer from Coventry. On her blog, Biher shares her own style inspirations through OOTD’s, wish-lists and street style snaps from London where she studies and works. Her style is feminine with an urban edge, managing to make high-street look high fashion, and transcending the ‘trend-mould.’ Snag her style at www.hussleinstyle.blogspot.co.uk 2.Fashion Influx Fashion Influx, created by 22 year old Lydia from Sheffield has taken the world of style blogging by storm in the past couple of years. With over 2000 followers and a stream of regular posts showcasing her unique and offbeat style made up mostly of high street pieces, it’s definitely worth taking a look at www.fashioninflux.co.uk. 3.Jas Daisy June Hopping over to the other side of the pond now to Jasmine White of Jas Daisy June, showing us Brits that LA girls really do know how to dress. Jasmine posts fierce OOTD posts against an enviably sunny backdrop, taking her style inspiration from everywhere and anything. She also sports a mix of well-loved names such as and quirky, lesser known brands such as so her blog is melting pot of style inspo if you’re feeling bold! Find her at www.jasdaisyjune.com. 4.Fashion Filth Lexi of Fashion Filth is a 23 year old fashion, beauty and lifestyle blogger/vlogger and since 2009 her blog has become a go-to hub for glamour. A stellar example of Londoner chic with an interesting edge, I recommend a visit if you’re looking achieve the edgy/glam equilibrium. What’s more, FF Is a mixed-bag. From beauty reviews and personal style shots to exotic photos from her travels, FF is not only a great blog to get your sartorial juices flowing, it’s also a great read! Have a gander at www.fashionfilth.com. 5.Fadela Mecheri Finally, say hello French super-blogger Fadela Mecheri. Her crisp Style and Beauty blog is a testament to her extremely stylish life in Lyon, and a mosaic which showcases her chic European sartorial prowess. Fadela’s simple sophistication has earned her coverage in poub cations such as Elle and Glamour as well as a nomination at this Year’s Stylight Fashion Blogger Awards as part of the ‘Most Promising Fashion Blog’ category. If you’ve ever wondered how French women look so good, pay her a visit at www.fadelamecheri.com. Picture credits: fadelamecheri.com fashioninflux.co.uk hussleinstyle.blogspot.co.uk
I can’t lie, shoes are my absolute weakness. The smell of a new crisp pair of leather boots is like nothing else. Knee high boots are a wardrobe staple for any fashionista in these cold wintery months, and a good quality pair will last you years. And at this price, they better last years! These stunning Saint Laurent boots can be yours for a mere £935
I discovered a little gem last week, the shoe website www.shoebou.com. This shoe heaven realm is home to thousands of cheap but beautiful shoes, all around just £20! They will have almost any shoe you can think of, well within the student budget. I came across these more student friendly boots for just £29.99. It Aint Laurent, but what a bargain! Having
at Selfridges, a girl can dream…
lost the ability to wear flats, this is the perfect heel height to be able to last a long day on Oxford Road whilst still looking chic.
Picture credits: selfridges.com, shoebou.com
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Beauty
Beauty bible
Top 5...
Nikki Patel tells us this years top beauty trends to look out for. 1) Orange lip
Picture credits: uk.burberry.com, Flikr Creative Commons @Los Guiltys de Pinguirina
office.com debenhams.com
Flikr Creative Commons @jaydeeford
Smokey eyes Time to loose the kohl I’m afraid, ladies. Instead try this season’s staple orange lips or if you need something on your lids opt for a rich solid blue.
Wedge-heel trainers It never ceases to amaze me that people ever did, let alone do, wear these. They’re so wrong they should constitute an 8th deadly sin.
*Subliminally Exposed: Shocking truths about your hidden desires in mating, dating and communicating. Steven Dyan, 2013
Blogwatch
not...
Bright Trainers My eyes bleed when I walk into office – having five different colours on a pair of trainers was never a thing. Stop it.
Flickr Creative Commons: wwarby
A study finds that men with bald heads rank higher for masculinity, strength, dominance and leadership potential** and social networking sites reveal mixed opinions from the ladies. But what does this matter? Male hair extensions have become increasingly popular over recent months, thought to be motivated by the impressive styles of Spencer Matthews, Harry Styles and Bradley Cooper - could it be possible that this primal mating prerequisite has transmitted between mammals? Or are men just getting vainer? Either way, boys you can get your hair extensions for £60-80 and they last between 2-3 months, there is a ‘Great Lengths’ salon in Deansgate for your convenience.
Instagram: spencergeorgem
Opinion
Move over Cara, this 18-year-old from Coventry set to be the model of 2014. With those class-cut cheekbones, long luscious locks and envy-inducing eyebrows what more could you want? Johal demanded our attention when she stormed down the runway for Burberry in September wearing an elegant pastel blue lace ensemble and red sandals. On top of this she has been revealed as one of the latest faces for Burberry’s campaign, making her the first Indian model ever to be featured in Burberry fashion campaign. Her success should be an inspiration to other Indian women trying to make it in an infamously harsh industry.
Leading hair extension brand ‘Great Lengths’ have introduced new ‘Men-Hancement’ range. This allows men to add length, thickness and texture to their hair by using extensions that are specifically designed for men, used not as a replacement for hair but to add body and volume. The bonds are cut super small so aren’t visible and since the extensions are made from real human hair they feel and behave exactly like natural hair. Is there a catch? Despite obvious styling and ego advantages, will male hair extensions help or hinder your love life?
Sportswear Gym clothes are now a double investment as they move to the front of the fashion scene. First stop, Tiffany blue Nike Free Runs.
Loose Silhouettes Figure hugging ensembles are gathering dust in wardrobes while culottes, circle skirts and boyfriend jeans take the limelight.
asos.co.uk
In the animal kingdom, the lion’s mane portrays signs of intimidation, sexual maturity and vigour with the lion having an increased chance of mating the more impressive his mane. Similarly, in the human world it is no secret that becoming bald is generally an undesirable concept but are the stakes for having less hair as high? Apparently so. Research finds that women on dating websites are five times more likely to contact men with a full head of hair than those who are thinning on top (Telegraph Online). A full head of hair is a strong indicator of a man’s vitality; he appears to be more youthful, active and strong where as balding men are apparently rated as less attractive, inactive and unkind*. So how can those balding amongst us reverse their situation?
Zara.co.uk
Pastels These soft hues are going nowhere this season. Although pink still takes the lead, invest in some lemon yellows, baby blues and mint tones too and clash, clash, clash.
asos.com
Franskoy
P-P-P-Poker straight Sleek, straight hair is set to be the hairstyle of S/S 2014 with models for names such as Chloe, Helmut Lang and Proenza Schouler donning it on the runway. Flikr Creative Commons @A.
DOWN
Fashion Editor Marie Clare Yates on the new lengths men will go to for better hair this 2014.
Flikr Creative Commons @Vladmir Serov
hot...
Opinion
Fashion
Rearing its bold head all throughout Fashion week 2014, orange lipstick is certainly set to be the colour of the season. Spotted in a spectrum of citric hues at DKNY, Donna Karan and Rag and Bone, the orange lip is a great way to inject some warmth and sassiness into your standard makeup palette. Feeling lustful? Splash out on MAC Lipstick in Neon Orange, (a delicious matte tangerine laced with red) or mix Maybelline’s Colour Sensational Vivids Lipstick in Electric Orange and Neon Red for a perfect fruity pout.
2) Gilded eyes Metallic eye-makeup, despite being tricky to pull off is a perennially sexy makeup look that can take you from day to night with a flick of liquid liner. What’s more, this get-gorgeous eye candy channels beach goddess even on the wettest Manchester morning. Keep it simple a la Ciara at the Grammys by dabbing a shimmery powder such a Mac Pigment in Tan or Damson all over the lids, or create depth by using a dark matte shadow in your creases and highlighting your lids and inner creases with molten makeup as at Gucci Spring 2014. 3) Ethereal eyes Whether it’s ghostly liner, nymphlike shadow or even light mascara, the white eye makeup trend will be a force to be reckoned with. Showcased this year at Alice and Olivia Tibi and Altuzzara to name a few, it is an edgy and clean alternative to the reliable smokey eye. Wash your lids with iridescent shades of pink and white such as Bobbi Brown eye shadow in Bone and Shell for a fresh, doe-eyed 4) Low-key nails look. The Spring 2014 runways at Nina Ricci, Milly and Lela Rose went back-to-basics simple and sophisticated two-tone nails. 2013, the year of graphic prints, dagger nails and embellishments has officially passed in favour of a cleaner, shorter and more natural look. They key to this look is in its neatness so keep a nail file handy and make strengthening a habit. Ready for the trend transition? Create a fresh yet preppy nail look with a pastel pink base and baby blue crescents at the nail base. Essie polishes in Fiji and Find Me an Oasis are fail-safe. 5) Get the glow
As much as I love a natural sun-kissed look us Northerner’s should know by now that when it comes to ‘getting the glow’ you have to fake it to make it. As we welcome the new year, Philip Lim and J Mendel gave fresh, matte bases the boot in favour of dewy, subtly shimmery complexions and it’s high time to follow suit. Mix a few drops of Nars illuminator in Copacabana or Revlon Skinlights into your regular foundation. Image credits:Instagram @vloeper@anisahadn@fashionchalet@nailsby_am@narsissist
ISSUE 12/3rd February 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Editors: Sophie James, Robbie Davidson, Angus Harrison Top 5
TOP
Rising stars of 2014
5
Jackson Ball gives us his top 5 line up of ones to watch this year 5. Dane DeHaan After bursting onto the scene with great performances in Chronicle and Kill Your Darlings, DeHann looks set to keep his momentum high. He’ll be starring in off-beat comedy Life After Beth opposite Anna Kendrick, before playing Harry Osborne in this summer’s The Amazing Spiderman 2.
4. Imogen Poots This year, Poots is really going places. She’s currently starring opposite Zac Efron in romcom That Awkward Moment, and then it’s onto this summer’s Need for Speed. Lastly, she’s landed a role in Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups, scheduled for a late 2014 release.
3. Joel Kinnaman The Swedish star from The Killing is set to take the action genre by storm, landing the titular role in the Robocop remake. If that wasn’t enough, Kinnaman will get to flex his acting muscles in Malick’s much-awaited Knight of Cups too.
2. Juno Temple Easily the busiest actress this year, you might find it difficult to avoid Juno Temple in 2014. She’s starting off opposite Daniel Radcliffe in Horns, before tackling roles in Maleficent and Truck Stop. Finally, Temple will cap it all off by playing Sally in the hotly anticipated sequel Sin City: a Dame to Kill For.
1. Chris Pratt Previously best known for his hilarious antics on Parks and Recreation, Pratt is going to have a humungous year, launching it by voicing the lead character in The Lego Movie. However, this summer he’ll reach dangerous levels of awesomeness, playing Star-Lord in Marvel’s new franchise: Guardians of the Galaxy.
Feature
the FEATURE:
Great Danes
How the talent of one country is leaving its mark on the world of TV and cinema Film Editor Sophie James discusses the impact of Danish television and cinema upon global audiences On January 9th 2014 millions of viewers tuned in to the finale of Sherlock series 3. But it wasn’t St Benedict or Mr and Mrs Baggins that caught the eye. Not even Moriarty could steal the show. It was the baddie – Charles Augustus Magnussen – suave and sophisticated, good and evil, a powerhouse of a character, blitzing Sherlock and catapulting another Danish star into our midst. Despite being flanked by two of the hottest actors on Earth (or Middle-Earth at least), Lars Mikkelsen dominated proceedings with seemingly effortless ease. How do these Danes do it? Denmark is quite simply becoming the epicenter of the world’s TV and cinematic talent in writing, acting and directing. What’s the secret? No secret: just don’t compromise, don’t patronise, and don’t stint. Brilliance comes at a price, but the intricate storylines, the detailed characterisation and the often brutal and graphic honesty of the portrayals of human nature at its best and worst are not just something we can cope with, but something TV and film audiences have been crying out for. DanishSwedish drama The Bridge is a classic example. Blazing across our Saturday nights at the moment, it takes characters with a past to overcome and a future to face, and chucks them into the present to create a panoramic sweep of society with colourful characterisation that rivals some of the best TV dramas and novels. Fast-paced yet indepth, subtle yet impactful, dark yet oddly comic in places, these TV series leave you feeling exhausted yet wanting more week after week. And the acting is just brilliant too – check out Kim Bodnia from The
Bridge, Lars Mikkelsen himself in The Killing and Borgen, or indeed his brother, Mads Mikkelsen best known for producing an incredible performance earlier this year in Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt – up for this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. What about directing? Fret not, this year the
this film made a massive impression at Cannes last year, winning best actor and best director whilst being nominated for the Palme d’Or and its rein has lasted right on into 2014 – receiving nominations for a Golden Globe, BAFTA and Academy Award for Best Foreign Film – and rightly so. Unfazed by his success Vinterberg’s next project is actually an English endeavor, directing David Nicholls’ (author of One Day) adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd. The cast alone is testament not only to Vinterberg’s work as a director but to the impact that Danish film is having here in the UK and the world: Carey Mulligan and Tom Sturridge team up with Michael Sheen and Matthias Schoenaerts, best known for Jacque Audiard’s Rust and Bone. Its an unusual yet totally intriguing choice of project for the director, and looks set to be absolutely incredible. Still not enough to convince you? Then simply google Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac Parts 1 & 2 out this year. Jens Albinus, Jamie Bell, Uma Thurman, Stellan Skarsgard, Willem Dafoe and Shia LeBoeuf. Good or bad – this film’s provocative title and high-profile director and cast list are going to be the talk of the town this year! For a country whose population is only 5 million people, Denmark’s rapidly growing influence on the cinematic and television worlds is extraordinary and completely justified. Get stuck in before you miss the action, because you will, I promise, regret it!
work of two Danish directors is going to hit screens and shows no wavering in the country’s quality control. Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt, having dominated the Danish Academy Awards last week, is also currently one of the Oscar nominees for best foreign film. Set in Denmark, it chillingly explores the power of a rumor, as a man’s life is plunged into nightmare territory by the words of a few children. With a visceral performance by Mads Mikkelsen,
Sophie James
Preview
the PREVIEW: The Double “It was a little before eight o’clock in the morning when Yakov Petrovitch Golyadkin, a titular councilor, woke up from a long sleep. He yawned, stretched, and at last opened his eyes completely. For two minutes, however, he lay in his bed without moving, as though he were not yet quite certain whether he were awake or still asleep, whether all that was going on around him were real and actual, or the continuation of his confused dreams.” So begins Dostoyevsky’s The Double, a bizarre novella of mistaken identity and the source material for Richard Ayoade’s second feature. He hasn’t given very much away as of yet, opting for a trailer that, unlike most, doesn’t detail every major plot point or all the best jokes. Yet there are still some fantastic details worth picking out from the stirring teaser. Most notably the stellar cast he has gathered together. The film will star Jesse Eisenberg, not once but twice as he plays the protagonist Golyadkin and the films antagonist - his doppledanger. Surrounding the two Eisenbergs are Mia Wakowskia Shawn Wallace, Noah Taylor, the elusive Chris Morris and
Director: Richard Ayoade Starring: Jesse Eisenberg Mia Wasikowska and Sally Hawkins Released: 4th April
Yasmin Paige (who is working with Ayoade again after her turn in Submarine). Beyond the cast the trailer actually gives very little detail on plot. One option would be, of course, to read the novella which would most likely give a fairly good synopsis. Mostly I’m a pretty staunch advocate of ‘reading the book’ - it can give the film a much greater context and allows the director a
more space to breathe, not being tied to spelling out narrative details. However in this case, I think I’m going to watch the film first. The very aesthetic of the trailer is intriguing enough, suggesting an charming yet somehow ugly concrete landscape of nondescript offices and bureaus. Eisenberg’s character is clearly going to be challenged by his double, in his work life and his social life, yet the coiled tension of the trailer certainly suggests that this conflict will be played out slowly. This simmering quality should create a perfect atmosphere for sharp comedy and dynamic interactions between the excellent cast. Finally there is Ayoade behind the camera. Now more than ever he is more than Moss from The IT Crowd, but if he needed anything to truly cut the chord it will be this film. Described by those who have seen it as ‘weird as fuck’ and ‘knowingly niche’, it seems he has stepped far beyond the groundwork he set out in ‘Submarine’, breaking into new bewildering Gillam-esque territory. Angus Harrison
/filmmancunion @mancunionfilm
Review
Film
19
TV Catch Up
the REVIEW: Inside Llewyn Davis Whilst it won’t be for everyone, Film Editor Robbie Davidson reccomends Inside Llewyn Davis for the true Coen Brothers fan The last few years have been some of the most successful for the Coen Brothers, critically speaking at least. Oscar victory for No Country For Old Men in 2007 has set a high bar for their subsequent work, which has been satisfied for fans of the dynamic duo. Recent years has also seen the Coens alternate between the bigger budget Westerns- True Grit in 2010and their more personal projects like A Serious Man. Inside Llewyn Davis would most certainly fall into the latter category, and how much you enjoy this will be determined by how much you really love the Coen Brothers- because this is them at their purest. Set in the harsh winter of 1961, during the folk scene in Greenwich Village, New York, the film follows the titular Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) through a succession of disappointments as he tries to make it in the industry. The repeated rejection and berating of Llewyn from everybody from his sister to his fellow folk singer, Jean (Carey Mulligan), makes for some comical moments, but an ultimately depressing experience. The only respite either the audience of Llewyn gets is when he is able to sing. Isaac has a lovely
soulful quality to his voice, which is well suited to melancholy of the music which drives the film. This melancholy runs deep throughout the film, and the Coens cynicism becomes almost overwhelming during Llewyn ill-fated trip to Chicago, with the obnoxious Roland Turner ( John Goodman). How much time you’re willing
to suffer Inside Llewyn Davis largely depends on your personal disposition to the man himself and his music, and how much of the Coens’ pessimistic view on his pursuit for artistic liberation you find endearing or wearing. Happily the Coens unique comic sensibility is not in short supply, even if it’s more weighted in the film’s first half. Having
Cornerhouse Pick of the Week
Director: Joel and Ethan Coen Starring: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan and John Goodman Released: 24th January
inadvertently locked himself out of a friend’s apartment with their ginger cat, Llewyn spends the first half of the film with his new feline friend under his arm as he traipses around New York City looking for somewhere to stay. These scenes are sweet and funny and so quintessentially ‘Coen Brothers’, you can’t help but smile. The comedy and tragedy of Inside Llewyn Davis are captured wonderfully by a breakout performance from Oscar Isaac (sadly overlooked at this year’s Oscars), who never allows Llewyn to become pitiful, but conveys the crushing disappointments which he endures quietly and with humour. The film begins and ends with Llewyn playing at the same bar, to the same crowd with the same songs. As he exits the bar, to be confronted by the angered husband of a performer he’d heckled the night before, a young Bob Dylan takes to the stage to perform. A pertinent reminder that whether you succeed or fail, we all start in the same place. ★★★★ Robbie Davidson
After the feast of Christmas television, naturally follows the hangover of endless Only Fools and Horses repeats and the leftovers that didn’t make the Christmas schedule. But with a little effort there is still plenty to enjoy to fill the Holmes/Watson-shaped hole in your heart. The excellent Girls has returned for a third season (Sky Player) and is off to a promising start, and although never as ‘ground-breaking’ as it is often generously painted by critics, it remains capable of demonstrating some of the harder truths about being a young adult. Although personally I find Hannah increasingly uninteresting, and look to Shoshanna for laughs, and Marine as a more realistic depiction of woman in a early-mid-life crisis. If you haven’t been following the controversies over Chanel 4’s new ‘documentary’ series, Benefit Streets (4oD), then you should probably give it a watch so you too can give your two pennies worth, and judge whether it is hard-hitting television or just poverty porn. As ever, it you want the smartest and funniest analysis of the week’s television and events, then Charlie Brooker will provide it by the bucket load of it with his new series of Weekly Wipe (BBC iPlayer). His special correspondent, Philomena Cunk, will necessitate a trip to A&E to cure your split sides, after one of her ‘Moments of Wonder’ skits. For many however the momentous event of the last week will have been the return of Outnumbered (iPlayer). In the three years since the show was last on air, the Brockman brood have presumably aged as have the actors who play them. Whether this will be reflected in storylines about Dad Pete rescuing his teenage sons from crack dens remains to be seen. Robbie Davidson
Contrary Corner
How to Survive a Plague
Menage a Toys
Tom Bruce found How To Survive a Plague to be a pertinent reminder that the AIDS crisis is far from over
Film Editor Angus Harrison says Toy Story is the only perfect movie trilogy no matter what you say
If you’re interested in the upcoming drama Dallas Buyers Club, which sees Matthew McConaughey as an AIDS suffering activist, How to Survive a Plague is the perfect companion piece. Howard France’s decade spanning retrospect on the ACTUP AIDS movement got a best documentary Oscar nod last year, and by combining ‘talking head’ style exposition with the activist group’s amazing raw footage, he has created an extremely informative and inspiring feature. In 1987, hospitals in Manhattan’s East village were taking pneumonia stricken, blister covered AIDS victims and turning them into the street. There was nothing anybody could do; there were no known treatments, nobody even knew how it was contracted and worst of all, the immune disorder was surrounded by an inescapable, homophobic stigma. Largely due to the efforts of a group of New York based AIDS activists, a drug called AZT became widely available as the first line of defence against their deadly, invisible foe. Unfortunately, AZT was purely a stopgap; meds cost around $10,000 a year, it was heavily toxic for the users’ organs and it did not cure the symptoms, it merely abated them. How to Survive a Plague tracks the
I realise, going in, that writing a piece claiming the ‘Toy Story’ films to be near perfect is in no way ‘contrary’ to any belief. Their critical acclaim is near unanimous, with the first two films both holding 100% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, and the third only slipping down to 99%. Financially each one has bested the last and all three films have grossed 1.9 billion dollars together. So what on earth else is there to say about them? Well I want to take this praise further than their merits as individual films - I think the Toy Story trilogy is the only perfect trilogy in cinema history. Before we look at the other major contenders I want to lay down a few ground rules - I’m talking about a franchise that is an ongoing saga - sorry but Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy doesn’t count and neither does Edgar Wright’s Cornetto Trilogy. The title I’m giving to Toy Story is that of the greatest three part story with the same characters. So who comes close? Well obviously the go
relentless efforts of people like Peter Staley, Ann Northrop and Larry Kramer, who started the ACT-UP movement to promote awareness about the ever growing AIDS epidemic.
Discrimination, internal divisions and tragic death were just some of the many obstacles faced by the ACT-UP movement as it campaigned for more effective treatments of AIDS. Almost all the people you meet in the documentary are HIV positive, and fully aware that their lives may be cut short due to the apathy and ignorance of the ‘men in charge’. Knowing that they had but little time, this afflicted majority banded together in a most remarkable way. The fact that ACT-UP members never resorted to violence to achieve their means
is highly commendable, even keeping their cool when dealing with the corporate faces and policy makers that were actively preventing breakthroughs in AIDS medication. Rather than conflict, ACTUP leaders gave impassioned speeches and carried out h e a d l i n e grabbing hijinks. In response to homophobic S e n a t o r Jesse Helms’ disparagement of AIDS prevention (he labelled sufferers as ‘ o b s c e n e ’ sodomites), ACTUP slipped a 35 foot tall condom over his house. Activism will never be that cool again. Over time, the emaciation and declining health of the central campaigners becomes quite upsetting, and sadly some don’t make it to see the AIDS advancements of the mid -90s. How to Survive a Plague eradicates the ideology of ‘sodomy’ as an evil that causes AIDS; men, women, homosexuals, heterosexuals – all can be affected. This documentary makes a powerful statement, reminding you that AIDS isn’t a ‘gay thing’, it’s a human thing. Tom Bruce
to trilogy talking point is The Godfather- and you know what is coming. Whilst possibly criticised too harshly thanks to the monumental success of the other two, The Godfather Part
III is without a doubt the weak link. An attempt to provide an epilogue was accused of poor acting and an over reliance on the other two films. This over reliance is an important note, a truly good trilogy is just a long running story, it is a set of films wherein each one can be enjoyed on its own merits. It is for this reason I’m going to strike the Lord of the Rings rom my list. I know how great Jackson’s trilogy is, but with a
collective running time of 1,965 minutes (in their extended form) the trilogy is surely a little bloated and there is definitely a reliance on the other two. How about Star Wars then? Well I’m guessing Episodes I, II and III aren’t up for consideration, and whilst I love the Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi is a few woodland bears away from perfect. There are some serious contenders in unexpected places, Richard Linklater’s Before... trilogy has been critically lauded and the three films are a stunning experiment in long form storytelling. Equally Back to the Future is the surprise success of the 80s Hollywood crop as each of the three films manages to maintain the energy and ingenuity of the others. Yet none of them quite manage the consistency of humour, pathos and character development as the Toy Story films. Yet this consistency is balanced with reinvention and the individual charm to mark each film as superb in its own right. More than can be said for Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. Angus Harrison
ISSUE 12/ 3rd FEBRUARY 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
/TheMancunion: Books @MancunionBooks
Editors: Esmé Clifford Astbury, Annie Muir Review
Book Vs Film: Trainspotting Pam Kaur compares the groundbreaking novel by Irvine Welsh to Danny Boyle’s celebrated film adaptation Trainspotting is the controversial first novel of Scottish author, Irvine Welsh. Set in the late ‘80s, it exposes us to the world of Edinburgh’s underclass antihero, Mark Renton, and his group of hedonistic and heroin addicted friends. The darker side of their Scottish psyche is peeled back, revealing complicated and controversial issues: HIV/ AIDS, nationalism, abortion, the dole, heroin. Despite failing to reach the same level of mainstream success as the film adaptation directed by Danny Boyle, the book is a cult classic and critically acclaimed. Admittedly, at first it isn’t a ‘fluid’ read. There is something awkward about reading the phonetic Scottish dialect. I mean, God help any foreign language students.
Trying to get your head around passages like “ah whip oaf ma keks and sit oan the cold wet porcelain shunky” is a challenge for native English speakers. Yet it is well worth the effort; the ability to ‘read Scottish’ will become second nature after a while.
zeitgeist of the ‘90s, which is less clear in Welsh’s work. One reassuring correlation between Boyle’s films is his ability to pick the right songs for exactly the right moments, changing the way you perceive and remember the scenes completely. I love the scenes featuring ‘90s britpop band Elastica: Justine Frischmann’s seductively gritty voice flows effortlessly around the shenanigans of Mark Renton. Altogether Trainspotting, 1996 the soundtrack really epitomises the early to mid ‘90s music scene from the It does add so much depth underground androgyny of and character: you can hear Elastica to then club royalty them talking in their gritty Underworld. Boyle simply accents as you read, making sums up a time and a place Trainspotting hard to put through good music, good down. directing and good casting. What is interesting about Boyle’s adaptation is the way he manages to capture the
Review
Short stories come to life at Selfridges Elizabeth Linsley heads to Selfridges to hear Emma Jane Unsworth, Richard Hirst and Marli Roode each read a short story as part of Selfridges Festival of Imagination On a rainy Friday I put on my best coat, straightened my hair and trotted off to a short story reading at Selfridges. I was hoping to look like a glamorous, swishy-haired professional, using my lunch break to feed my brain and not my upper thighs, instead of a late, lazy student. Three authors, Emma Jane Unsworth, Richard Hirst and Marli Roode each read a short story as part of Selfridges Festival of Imagination. There are events running in Selfridges nation-wide, including Manchester
Exchange Square, until 20th February. They include talks and workshops, covering imagination, science, crafting, dinosaurs, music and art. The Whitworth Art Gallery has curated an exhibition in the store.
brought to life by a comedy French accent. The slight shake of the authors hand on their papers betrays their nerves and is a reminder that they are putting their lovingly crafted words out into the world to be judged.
At a reading the story becomes more than just words on a page; the story becomes transformed by the room you’re sitting in and the person sitting next to you. An amusing sentence becomes much funnier when you’re laughing with a group of people. Characters are
The stories were excellent; funny, entertaining, thought provoking. ‘I Arrive First’ by Unsworth was a tale of love, where the protagonists communicated entirely through the titles on book covers, until the closure of their library forced them to speak. Hirst’s ‘Bait’ was a
darkly comic narrative, as a man used a Snickers bar and a lobster soup to kill his first and second wives by their respective peanut and shellfish allergies. Roode finished with ‘Animal Sentinel’, a melancholic portrait of the end of a marriage. I left the reading feeling inspired and entertained, an excellent way to fill a rainy lunchtime hour.
Books
TOP
5:
21
Campus Novels
1. Engleby, Sebastian Faulks
This is not just another campus novel about a boy, Mike Engleby, who attends an ‘ancient university’ and falls completely and unrequited-ly in love with a girl, Jennifer Arkland. It is so much more than that. Read it and find out.
Engleby, Sebastian Fauiks: Vintage 2008
2. Starter for Ten, David Nichols Set in 1985, Starter for Ten is the story of Brian Jackson from Essex’s first year at an unnamed university, and his two obsessions: Alice Harbinson and the TV Quiz show University Challenge. It was made into a film starring James McAvoy in 2006.
3. This Side of Paradise, F. Scott Fitzgerald Fitzgerald’s debut novel examines the lives and morality of postWorld War I youth through his protagonist Amory Blaine, a student at Princeton University. The novel evolved from 80 pages of an unpublished novel called The Romantic Egotist which Fitzgerald himself wrote during his own time at Princeton.
4. Gaudy Night, Dorothy L. Sayers Gaudy Night - set in Shrewbury College, an all-women institution in Oxford - has been called ‘the first feminist mystery novel’. In the novel, published in 1935, the prestigious college is a place of mischief and malice, where pranks, sinister poison-pen letters and vandalism are everyday occurrences.
5. The Rules of Attraction, Bret Easton Ellis The novel is famous for beginning in the middle of a sentence (the first word is ‘and’), throwing you straight into the lives of a group of spoiled bohemian college students at the fictional Camden College, a liberal arts school on the East Coast of the United States. The story is told in first person accounts by the love-triangle of protagonists, who do drugs, don’t go to class, and throw a few “End of the World” parties.
Selfridges Festival of Imagination runs until February 20th.
What’s on
February Events Don’t miss out on all the literary events going on in Manchester this month
‘The Other Room’ at The Castle Hotel: an evening of experimental Poetry, featuring Frances Presley, Gavin Selerie and Chris Stephenson. Free. Wednesday 5th February, 7pm. The Castle Hotel, Oldham Street, Manchester M2 4PD
‘Poets and Players’:
Carol Ann Duffy. Photo: MMU website
Poetry read by Alice Oswald music by Chris Davies and Beth Allen. The music on the theme of ‘breath’ that Chris and Beth will
perform was commissioned originally by the National Aspergillosis Centre, which treats patients with fungal disease of the lungs. Free. Sat 8th Feb, 2.30pm. Reading Room, John Rylands Library, 150 Deansgate, Manchester M3 3EH
Carol Ann Duffy & Friends: An evening of poetry and music hosted by Manchester’s muchloved Poet Laureate: with readings from students and graduates of the Manchester Writing School at MMU, led by House
Poet Liz Venn. £10 for concessions. Mon 10th Feb, 7pm. The Studio, Royal Exchange Theatre, St Anns Square, Manchester, M2 7DH
‘Evidently Stand Up’: Poetry every second Monday of the month at the Black Lion, Salford. Their aim is to bring poetry back to the masses and prove that it can be more than you were taught in school. £3 Entry. Mon 10th Feb, 7.30pm. The Black Lion, 65 Chapel St,
Salford, M3 5BZ
Young Enigma, Jackie Kay & guests: Renowned authors and poets Jackie Kay, Patience Agbabi and Gerry Potter join Manchesters young LGBT writers collective Young Enigma for an evening examining the theme of identity. Only £5 for concessions. Tue 11th Feb, 7.30pm. Contact Theatre - Oxford Road, Manchester, M15 6JA
An Evening of Canadian Poetry:
Canadian poets Sheri Benning, Richard Greene and Nyla Matuk escape the polar vortex to read in Manchester at the Burgess Foundations Engine House. Free. Tue 18th Feb, 6.30pm. International Anthony Burgess Centre - Cambridge St, Manchester, M1 5BY, GB
Kate Tempest, Brand New Ancients: Poet and spoken word artist, Kate Tempest tells an everyday epic over an exhilarating live score played by tuba, cello, violin, drums
and electronics. £7 for concessions, book it now! Fri 21st Feb, 8pm. Contact Theatre
The Wasteland: Manchester’s preeminent new music ensemble Psappha in collaboration with The International Anthony Burgess Foundation presents Anthony Burgess’s musical setting of T.S. Eliot’s masterpiece. £9 for concessions. Fri 28th Feb, 6pm. International Anthony Burgess Foundation
ISSUE 12/ 3rd FEBRUARY 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
I dreamed I was drowning in an oceon of Tango. Turned out, it was just a Fanta Sea
Editors: Ben Walker, Maddy Hubbard
our RECIPES OF
THE WEEK
Kick-start Semester 2, and 2014, with Josephine Harrington’s marinated chicken drumsticks
This recipe is just what you are looking for if you want something cheap, easy and, oh my word, delicious. Marinating meat is a great way to make a cheaper cut, such a chicken legs, really flavoursome. If you’re organised this can be done before heading out for the day and dinner is done within half an hour of walking in the door.
• INGREDIENTS • TIME • DIFFICULTY • 2 large potatoes, 30 mins Easy, serves 2 4 Chicken legs, + marinade Milk and butter Olive oil, 1 tsp of soy sauce 1 tsp of honey 1 tsp of tomato puree Green vegetables
1.
Start by marinating 4 chicken legs in a glug of oil, 1 tsp of soy sauce, 1 tsp of honey, 1 tsp of tomato puree and a sprinkle of chilli flakes. Ideally allow the mixture to marinate overnight, but 3-4 hours will do—the longer the better really.
the chicken, put the chicken legs and 2. Tothecook marinade on a baking tray in the oven at 200c for 30 minutes, turning the chicken halfway through.
3. 4.
While the chicken is cooking, boil 2 peeled and quartered medium-large potatoes until soft. Then drain and mash with a knob butter, a splash of milk and season with salt and pepper. Serve with anything green that is lurking in the fridge. Enjoy!
COCKTAIL CORNER:
Manhattan
INGREDIENTS • EQUIPMENT • 1 part Vermouth 5 parts Whiskey drop Angostura Bitters Cherry
glass to mix, glass to drink from
Stir the ingrediens in your mixing glass, with ice. You don’t want to shake this one. Sieve into a new glass to get rid of the crushed ice, and garnish (!) with a cocktail cherry.
Sidecar
INGREDIENTS • EQUIPMENT • 1 part Cointreau 2 parts lemon juice 8 parts Brandy
Cocktail Shaker, Glass
Shake the ingredients together in either a cocktail shaker, or anything with a lid, over ice. Sieve into a glass.
Feature
Starting as you mean to go on Maddy Hubbard talks diet fads, resolutions, and treating yourself in the New Year The New Year is heralded as the starting point for creating a new, improved version of ourselves. We make resolutions to ban everything fun, with the latest fashions - generally based on “scientific” studies mixed with sub-D list celebrity endorsement extending from alcohol to sugar to gluten and now even fruit juice. But by the time the grey clouds of January turn into the grey clouds of February (don’t you just love winter in Manchester?), the vast majority of people will have let their good intentions slip by the wayside in favour of comfort food, nights out and the everlasting lure of the ‘drunchies’. While there is nothing wrong with deciding that life is just more fun with everything in moderation, including moderation itself, I can’t help thinking that our New Years mindset is decidedly unhealthy. The whole of December seems to be set aside for indulgence, even gluttony (another chocolate orange? Why not, it’s Christmas. Stilton? Of course! And don’t forget the port…) Yet even during this we are bombarded with the idea that this should be making us feel guilty, and that we will have to face the consequences and repent our hedonistic consumption come January. Suddenly these resolutions don’t seem like a positive message of self-improvement, but a guiltridden manifestation of our warped relationship to our bodies and to food. The cynical amongst us might point to the multibillion pound diet industry, often owned by the very corporations making us unhealthy in the first place. Clearly this is big business, evident in the sudden ubiquity of the “5:2 diet” and variations thereof. My housemate tried it and the only result was a very hungry and grumpy student unable to think about anything other than food. A couple of people I know who have stuck it out longer mumble phrases such as “intermittent fasting” and “IGF1”, but it’s fascinating how such a simple concept can have been so successfully monetised. At the same time it’s important to look at how people themselves feel about this, not just to assume they’re being manipulated by mysterious capitalist forces beyond their control. Surely they must recognise how daft it is to spend January subsisting on salad and lentils? This is the time when what our bodies really want are stews, hearty soups, roasts
and a bit of stodge to keep the cold at bay! January is miserable enough as it is, what with exams, cold and rain. You’re really just setting yourself up for failure if you buy into the cringe-inducing ‘Banuary’. So in the spirit of indulgence in moderation and banishing guilt from food, here are a couple of ideas of ways to cheer yourself up through the winter in Manchester. First up is the new brunch offering from SoLiTa, a fab Northern Quarter restaurant already famous for its inventive burgers and excellent value steaks. They are now serving up brunch on weekends until 1pm, and I can’t wait to go and try their inventive offerings including the ‘Full English Toad in the Hole’ (£8.90), ‘Steak and Eggs Benedict’ (£9.90) or ‘Waffles with Buttermilk Fried Chicken, Sausage Gravy, and Maple Syrup’ (£7.90), washed down with a cocktail such as the ‘Blood Orange Mimosa’, a mix of Prosecco, Grand-Marnier and blood orange juice – a bargain at £5. However if you’re not really a morning person, how about celebrating the start of a new semester with an indulgent dinner at Steak & Lobster at ALTO? £17 will buy you either a 10oz rib eye steak or
Feature
Maddy Hubbard
Recipes
Dry January: A tale of two roads travelled Has your dry January been dampened by tears casued by the self-imposed booze embargo or have you been rejuvenated by a alcohol detox? January is a month quilted in a dense gloom, leaving home in the morning in the dark and returning at night only by the light of the street lamps. The angry wind has made the umbrella redundant and one has now conceded to getting rather wet on a rather regular basis. I’ve dragged myself through exams with the downcast dead eyed expression of one returning from the Somme. The landlord hasn’t yet fixed the heating and I sleep, or attempt to, in 3 jumpers and a knitted Christmas balaclava. Foolishly I chanced a cup of tea with milk three days over, a mistake never again to be made. Life has plodded from dreary to dire to desperate—but for all the disasters unfolding in front of me, I shall never break the solemn vow that I, along with so many others made on January 1st: thou shall not drink alcohol for an
a whole lobster, both served with unlimited chips and salad. Sure, you could buy a whole lot more tofu and kale with that amount of money, but think which will truly add to your happiness and create a memorable experience rather than a rather ascetic and overly ‘wholesome’ meal of the type that tends to cause flatulence rather than true satisfaction. What I’m trying to say is that this time of year does not have to be defined by atoning for our collective ‘sins’ over the holidays. It is perfectly possible to eat a balanced but interesting diet, be kind to yourself and stay healthy without a generous dose of self-denial which would make all but the most iron-willed amongst us reach for the biscuit tin. Go out and enjoy the wonderful, interesting and most of all delicious dishes the Manchester dining scene has to offer. Remove guilt from the equation and treat food as a positive and enjoyable resource for your body rather than some sort of indicator of your moral worth with dieting the ‘virtuous’ path to bodily beauty. Everyone knows that someone who enjoys their food is far more attractive than a protein shake or juice diet obsessive anyway.
entire month, a whole 31 days, not a beer or cider, spirit or wine— and even remain suspicious of the steak and ale pie. The world is against the student in January and thus abstaining from liquor is quite some feat. Exams having already finished long before we bid farewell to January, to restrain oneself requires will power and a whole lot of non-alcoholic beer just to
feel part of it, even though as your friends descend into the warm embrace of an alcohol fuelled stupor, you remain stone cold sober pretending to be enjoying yourself but really all you are doing is watching your company slowly drift off into inebriation. To those who have completed a dry January successful I doth my cap, and those who lapsed for just one beer then I offer my commiserations for your failure. being a student, surrounded by students, the will power required is of a super-human nature. For Noah it rained for 40 days and nights, and for those abstaining, a thirty one day draught is also a truly biblical effort. To those who never entertained the notion of surrendering the joys of an aperitif here, and degestif there, I say to you, how very sensible you are.
Ben Walker
STORECUPBOARD
Try Editor Maddy Hubbard’s Granary Bread for something that will last the week
• INGREDIENTS • TIME • DIFFICULTY • 1 tsp easy blend yeast 40 mins + prove 450g granary flour 1 tsp salt 1 tsp honey 1 tbsp sunflower oil 270ml warm water
Easy
Put the yeast, flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Dissolve the honey in 100ml warm water then add 200ml of cold water to it. Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour the water into it. Add the oil and mix gradually. Flour a surface and knead the dough for 10 mins, before putting it into a lightly oiled bowl, covered with a tea towel, and leaving it for 2 hours in a warm place. After this, knock all the air out of the dough, knead it breifly and roll it into a sausage shape. Put it into a greased loaf tin, seam side down, and cover until doubled in size. Bake at 200C (or 220C if you don’t have a fan oven) for 15-20 mins, then turn the oven down by 30C for another 15-20 mins. Leave to cool before eating.
/TheMancunion: Food & Drink @MancunionFood
Food & Drink 23 Feature
Feature
Students who Lunch Eat well in 2014. Food and Drinks Editor Ben Walker suggests you start by trying these three great lunch time alternatives to the baked potato
Culinary Confessions
Looking back on the exam period, Victor Croci reflects on his culinary confessions of a third year
If you have emmerged from the library after the last three weeks and wonder why your tummy is unhappy, here may well be the reason. 7.30: brutally awakened by the shrill siren of my alarm, I greet every new day with a steaming tankard of Lidl’s finest and cheapest off-brand
coffee.
This
burning black liquid scolds my taste buds to the point that everything tastes like lukewarm rice. Breakfast usually Garath Wane: Spotted by Locals (Image: Ben Walker)
consists
of
two
bowls of ‘highly enriching’ porridge, the gruel’s texture reminds me of my revision
Whether you breezed into
when you dunk a door wedge
greens. Such a bowl of warming
schedule: mediocre effort,
2014 carefree or have been held
sandwich? It is just this logic
friendliness
mediocre expectations.
captive by revision in the year’s
that has got Soup Kitchen into
revitalising on such wet dreary
is
thoroughly
8.30:
First
can
of
‘Fuel-Up’ is opened and
inaugural month, a student still
this elite group of diners. Soups
days.
gotta eat. With loans in and
made daily and are rich and
Umami relies on university
end of year assessments miles
wholesome, the sandwich menu
lunch time trade and thus
away now is the perfect time to
is full of well executed classics—
execute a very efficient and
explore, maybe a little off the
and though either on their own
brisk service, and when it comes
beaten track, to see what is out
make for a nice lunch, when
down to it, for 2 courses off the
there.
combined you preside over
lunch deal at £5.95, this is real
Our city’s culinary naissance
one of best British lunches in
value for money.
has been a delicious explosion
Manchester. There of course is
Now, Tex-Mex is taking off in
consumed. Heart begins to pump properly. Neurons are now fully alert after the equivalent of a 1950’s therapeutic electric shock. 8.45: Second can of ‘Fuel Up’, just for measure. Pupils wide open. Right hand is trembling slightly.
of Michelin aspiring ten course
a whole range of daily specials,
a big way across the spectrum,
(6 hour revision session)
taster menus all the way down
salads, and stews but I always
and whilst Barburrito remains
14.45:
The
hunger
has
to trendy fish and chip bars and
find myself unable to resist the
as good a burrito in the North
been
everything
seductive soup and a sandwich.
West, Changos is offer some stiff
my concentration for the
in-between.
And
gnawing
away
at
though James Martin and Aidan
If lunch, for whatever reason,
competition. Situated just past
past hour. I decide that
Byrne have moved in, here, for
must be found and eaten at
the Palace Theatre (91-93 St.
as
now, I will offer up some of the
more of a canter than say the
James Building, Oxford Street,
are
best casual places for either
ambling of SK, you busy students
Manchester, M1 6FQ) this joint is
grabbing a bite, longer lunches,
look no further than Umami for
almost on our doorstep.
or full afternoon sessions of
Japanese
(149-153
The vast blanket of tortilla is
gorging.
Oxford Rd, Manchester M1 7EE).
dressed with all the vivid colours
For all of the new, there is a
Umami literally mean delicious
and bright flavours that is the
select few of the old that have
taste, I can have no qualms with
signature of Mexican food. Since
continued
to
shine
bright.
Nowhere epitomises this more so than Soup Kitchen (31-33 Spear
Street,
Manchester,
splendour
such a boisterous name after a
each ‘little donkey’ is assembled
recent visit.
to order, you call the shots of the
procrastination at
their
productive
levels
nadir
and
revision
is
actually happening – to treat myself to a lovely Sangam’s £2 Cheesy Chips. Genuinely the breakfast, lunch and dinner of champions with a penchant for cardio-vascular disease… 16.30: Coffee is brewing in a
The 2 course lunch deal is super
filling and thus whether you’re a
large badly washed saucepan
value and super tasty. There are
heat-freak, an extra guacamole
– our coffee machine was
partly
soft gyoza dumplings, filled with
kinda guy, or an ‘Athletico’
taken away in retribution
subterranean kitchen operates
pork and water chestnuts with a
brown rice and wholemeal wrap
when my girlfriend dumped
a canteen service, a bar, and
pokey dipping chilli sauce. The
sort of gal, Changos has you
me for a man with career
long communal tables where
chicken yakitori, often used as
covered, so mariachi yourself up
aspirations.
a cross section of students,
a bar snack, are little skewers
Oxford Road to Changos.
the NQ set, and those from the
of poultry delight. Last time I
office congregate for a sublime
had the chicken ramen, served
selection of good eats.
with a deeply savoury soup,
M1
1DF).
The
cool,
Why dip bread into soup
soft and tender chicken, and
18.30: Third can of ‘Fuel Up’, the whiplash is surreal – Not even Charlie Sheen drinks it. Cadbury Crunchie’s
Ben Walker
are a must to keep the sugar
levels constant.
three ‘compulsory reading’
(Wikipedia procrastination
books I’ve had since October
session on Charlie Sheen,
and the soft but steady
whiplash
crunching
and
neuro-
degenerative diseases) 19.30. Back to work – flat
muesli
and
snicker bars. 23.59:
I
mate brought me back a stale
completed
(week-old
part
by the taste of it) blueberry
of
have the
of
schedule.
finally
‘afternoon’
my
revision
Cadbury
cream
muffin from the Shell petrol
eggs celebration is in order.
station. Nice gesture, shame
Fourth can of ‘Fuel Up’, just
about the final product.
to remind me why I’m here.
20.00: I pack a measly made ham and packeted-pre-sliced Gouda cheese sandwich in my bag and go on a date
01.00: heart begins to pump furiously,
eyes
become
bleary – I’m feeling nauseous. 0.1.09:
pass
out
of
with John Rylands (central
exhaustion in Orange 5, some
library). 2 cans of ‘Fuel Up’
equally distressed student
are in my pockets. One for
threw a penny at me.
energy and the other to make
0.6.45: awoken by cleaner’s
sure people think I’m a street
huge
tramp – this way nobody sits
arsenal – repeat cycle.
next to me on the bus.
industrial
cleaning
I have been doing this since
20.40: Arrive at library –
January 4th and today is
scoff down a Cadbury cream
January 24th. I have my final
egg for courage as I scour
exam in 3 hours.
Blue 1,2 & 3 for a seat. I fail
...Now however I can only
and sit on the floor of Orange
think of that Inbetweeners
5. This place is genuinely
scene
eerie.
particular
22.30: The only sounds in
with
Will
and
energy
related accident....
Orange 5 are the humming noise of my DEL laptop every time I open internet explorer, the ruffling of the pages of my
Victor Croci
a
drink
24
Arts & Culture
ISSUE 12/ 3rd FEBRUARY 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Editors: Abbie Roberts, Matilda Roberts
Feature
What’s on
Clifford Owens’ Photograph’s an Audience
thisWEEK
Jasper Llewellyn and Matilda Roberts take part in Clifford Owens’ Photographs With An Audience at the Cornerhouse…
Festival of Imagination
Imagination at Work’ 1. ‘Danger: Jeremy Deller, Mary Anne
Hobbs and Dave Haslam 5th February 6-8pm, Lower Ground Floor of Selfridges
Photo: Cornerhouse
We were unsure of what to expect as we made the short walk from University Place to one of Manchester’s leading arts venues and cinemas, The Cornerhouse back in mid-October. All we knew is that for two consecutive evenings, an unknown number of ‘participants’ would be encouraged to react to the words and actions of the American artist Clifford Owens, described as the “ringleader and provocateur” of the piece. Photographs would then be taken of the madness that we believed would follow. The performance was actually very different to what we had pictured beforehand. Around twenty of us sat on the floor of the Cornerhouse’s, ‘The Annexe’, whilst Clifford walked amongst us, musing on various different topics including cocaine, women and suicide. Occasionally, he would turn whatever the topic happened to be on to the audience, asking something like – “Anyone who does cocaine regularly, go and pose for a photograph” and at first, everyone was a little apprehensive, I mean, who wants to admit something like that to a room full of strangers? However, soon people were filling the photographic area after every question! Clifford’s performance played a big part in this fairly quick increase in audience confidence, as he was eager to establish connections with audience members in order to create the best, most powerful, photographs. However we also sometimes felt that his macho and sometimes aggressively, dominant
character alienated some members of the audience; particularly those with which he didn’t express he felt ‘connected’ with. At one stage, a young woman in the audience challenged Owens, questioning his arguably macho and overtly masculine attitude and suddenly the atmosphere of the room completely changed. Solidarity formed between participants as Owens and the young woman engaged in a passionate argument over the effects of his performance and her own involvement in the evening so far. It was interesting in a room of strangers to see how easily the atmosphere could fluctuate. However, although we both had an overarching feeling that we were all pawns in the palm of his hand, the sheer honesty of our fellow participants undeniably inspired a sense of ‘group’ and community between us after the first evening’s performance. We came back the following evening for the second performance expecting Clifford to maybe delve deeper into some of the issues, ideas and stories touched upon in the previous evenings’ performance. We prepared ourselves for what could be an uneasy and possibly emotional evening, expecting the performance to be wrought with the same sort of tension found in the previous night. However the second performance became much more about the show; those that had been singled out before as
Clifford’s ‘favourites’ came back to take over the stage. People were butting in and making the atmosphere pantomime-esque with heckling rather than the uneasy silence of night before. Quieter audience members were alienated and we were left with a feeling of not wanting to join in. What was most interesting with this piece was the constant confusion as to whether Clifford had no idea what was going on or whether his vagueness was actually part of the ‘performance’. This idea of ‘performance’ was another interesting aspect – was Clifford performing or was he playing himself ? We were sometimes touched by the experience but at other times cynical. It was really interesting to see the reactions of the other participants, observing those who chose to engage with Clifford and on what terms – theirs or his. We came away on the first night feeling irritated, worked up; like people had been slightly taken advantage of. On the second day, we felt maybe like it had been a waste of time, irritated by the audience this time, rather than by Clifford. However in retrospect the experience was extremely valuable and both Clifford and the reaction of his audience left us interested and intrigued. Keep your eyes peeled for more performances in the Cornerhouse’s Annexe, it’s definitely one to watch.
Interview
the ARTS INTERVIEW Clifford Owens Jasper Llewellyn interviews Clifford Owens.
Jasper: How do you feel your work has progressed since you first started? Have you changed you approach to performance or are your initial intentions the same? Clifford Owens: No not at all. I started out on photography. Performance art is my ‘melancholy mistress’. I wanted to write as a child, but realised I need to be a good reader to be a good writer. I became interested in performance art through my interest in photography. And I’ve been making performances for about 22 years and that’s including in college and grad school I never wanted to be a performance artist and I don’t really like to be identified as a performance artist. Jasper: Why? Do you feel there is negative stigma around performance art? Clifford Owens: No, but I think it just presumes that I don’t do anything else. And that the presumption is that I come out of theatre or dance. Which I do not. I study art, I went to art school! So the progression has been very gradual and the work I’m doing now…You know, I really think. For me I think that my practice is a conceptual art practice. All art is about ideas but it’s the ideas in my projects that really matter. And the performances I think are ways to generate ideas. The progression I guess… 10 years ago I wouldn’t have been able to do Performance With An Audience. Because I didn’t have the experience as a performance artist because I didn’t have the wisdom to do the project. And the work I’m doing now is incredibly difficult… It’s very hard! I just don’t think that a decade ago I would be prepared to do it. Jasper: You said last night that you hate actors? Do you not feel that your work has an intense theatricality about it? I feel that there is showmanship tied up in the performance or maybe you feel you hate yourself, as an actor? Clifford Owens: What I said about hating actors - its more me hating a certain individual who is an actor! But acting is about affect and performance art is about effect. And that’s the distinction for me. I dont know anything about acting. But in the performances do I have a presence? Yeah, absolutely. Jasper: Do you have a persona? Clifford Owens: No, I don’t. People have asked that before and I don’t. I mean I’m certainly aware of the fact that to MAKE the performance I have to... Jasper: Maybe its just how you respond to a group of 30 people? Clifford Owens: Absolutely, I mean, how do you keep a group of people engaged unless you are somewhat animated? And you bring a certain intensity to the experience. If I was monotonous and boring and limp, I don’t think that the audience would respond to prompts for the photographs. So you are right, a certain showmanship is necessary but so far as I’m aware of the showmanship, I’m not doing anything technically. I’m not consciously coming into a character. I mean, I’m an intense guy! I suppose that’s just my personality - and very emotional. And I suppose when you’re in a room of people talking about very emotional thing, its real for me. Its not affect. My response to your queries and the conversation we were having were coming from a real place. The Photographs taken will be exhibited at the Cornerhouse from Saturday 10th May - Sunday 17th August 2014 in the exhibition Clifford Owens: Better the Rebel You Know
Our ability to imagine and to create new ideas, worlds and concepts is often used for the common good. But the imagination has a dark side, to. Explore its subversive side in a one-off conversation between the Turner Prize winning artist, Jeremy Deller, BBC Radio 6 Music DJ, Mary Anne Hobbs and DJ and historian, Dave Haslam. In a talk that ranges from William Blake to Johnny Rotten, find out just how disruptive the imagination and creative vision can be. Tickets are £10.
2.
Project XXX 6th – 7th February 2014
A dark yet romantic multimedia comedy performance exploring how the internet pornography scene is affecting young people and relationships. Written by Kim Wiltshire and Paul Hine. Octagon Theatre Bolton £8 (£6 concessions)
3.
Coral: Something Rich and Strange 29th Novemeber 2013 – 16 March 2014
Explore the enduring fascination with coral as a material, symbol and inspiration for artists, cultures and societies across the centuries. Includes genuine artefacts alongside art installations from Mark Dion and textile artist Karen Casper. Manchester Museum Free Entry
4.
Ice Lab: New Architecture and Science in Antarctica Open Daily until 2nd March 2014
Extended from 2013’s Manchester Science Festival, Ice-lab is the first exhibition to focus on contemporary architecture in Antarctica. Architectural drawings, models, photographs and film come together to provide a sense of what it is like to work and live in one of the most remote and hostile places in the word. MOSI –Museum Of Science and Industry Free Entry
5.
QC2014 (Queer Contact 2014) 6th – 15th February 2014
As part of LGBT History Month, every February Contact Theatre Manchester celebrates its ongoing commitment to diversity featuring performance, spoken word, music and theatre. Contact Theatre Tickets From £3
6.
Love is Hand Made at MCDC (Manchester Craft and Design Centre)
In preparation for Valentine’s day 2014, MCDC are encouraging the people of Manchester to buy local and hand made this year! Makers are on-hand to personalise, custom make and help you say it just right! Check out MCDC for great gift ideas!
Theatre
ISSUE 13/ 3rd FEBRUARY 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Editor: Stephanie Scott
25
Review
Review
What’s on
Lunch
Wrong ‘Un
this WEEK
Maddy Peden reviews Lunch at The Lowry as part of re:play festival
Theatre Editor Stephanie Scott reviews Red Ladder Theatre Company’s Wrong ‘Un at The Lowry Adam Urey and Susie Milne in Stephen Beroff ’s Lunch. Photo: Peter Wright Lunch by Stephen Berkoff tells the story of two strangers chance encounter on a bench by the seaside during their lunch hours. This production directed by Peter Wright, was part of the Re:play festival at the Lowry Theatre and with this in mind, I arrived with fairly high expectations. Having studied Berkoff before, I was also aware of the energetic performances required by actors in order to do his scripts justice. I can say overall that Susie Milne and Adam Urey (playing Woman and Man respectively) did not disappoint. In the space of forty-five minutes, the production successfully included the audience in the intimate development and inevitable fall-out of the relationship between Woman and Man. From the first moment they see each other, a distinction between the character’s thoughts and actions was established and made the relationship very understandable and relatable. Despite the troubling twists and turns of this relationship, the connection between the audience and the onstage action allowed for some comic moments that certainly relieved the tension. I was particularly impressed with Urey’s physicality. One moment he would be lying on the floor and next he would swiftly and smoothly jump up onto the table. The control he had with his movements were
what made the portrayal of the power shifts successful. This power shift was overall what told the story of the relationship. Initially, Milne’s performance was somewhat overshadowed by Urey. However, after the first fifteen minutes or so she came into her own and became equally responsible for the successful depiction of the erratic power relations. Effectively from start to finish, you could feel the sexual tension between the characters and this was the foundation on which the success of the production was built. The moment where Man and Woman do sleep together could so easily have resulted in an anti-climactic destruction of this tension yet it was staged so effectively and uniquely that this was not the case. The risk of plays like Lunch is that the subject matter of relationships is very relatable to most audience members and therefore the potential for incredulity is high. However the performances of both Adam Urey and Susie Milne were ultimately successful in creating a believable relationship underlined with sexual tension. Both actors delivered Berkoff’s over-thetop dialogue with skill whilst creating a relationship on stage that had me finding it impossible to look away.
Wrong ‘Un is a one-woman suffragette musical, performed by Ella Harris, depicting the life and struggles of Annie Wilde, a young Lancashire girl. Set at the end of the 19th century through to the nearing end of World War I, this historical play had me gripped before I entered the theatre. As the past year has seen a huge surge in media attention for the current feminist movement, the show has contemporary significance beyond its historical nature; a message of struggle, hope and steely determination in the face of opposition. Ella Harris carries the entire performance single-handedly, and brings Annie Wilde’s character vividly to life. Her humour and vivacity carried the play through its light-hearted, mocking moments, and yet brought the seriousness of the treatment dealt out to women, who were fighting for their rights, into stunning clarity. The gravity of their mistreatment was physically uncomfortable for the audience, causing many people, including myself, to squirm in their seats. As well as delivering an incredible performance, Ella Harris was personable and connected to the audience – when the lines of the last song slipped her mind, she did not slip out of character, she laughed it off with us, as Annie Wilde, not Ella Harris. The songs throughout the play were all sung a cappella, without a backing track or any band. Ella occasionally kept time with objects from the small, unchanging set, but aside from this it was solely her voice. The placement and integration of the songs was not always very smooth, and sometimes they seemed slightly out of place, but Ella’s voice carried each time and the messages incorporated into the songs were grasped by everyone in the audience. Wrong ‘Un was a hugely enjoyable and educational performance and experience. The play was written by ex-Chumbawamba guitarist and writer Boff Whalley, and inspired by the grandmother of a friend, who had in her possession many memorabilia from the era of those suffragettes of the early 20th century. Bringing this, seemingly ancient, period of history to life must have seemed a daunting task, but Whalley, Harris and all those who worked on the performance succeeded. Annie Wilde’s story is one of determination and grit – and perhaps we can all learn something from the young suffragettes who lived a century ago.
To Russia With Love Contact Theatre presents an evening of theatre, consisting of four short plays, to highlight and protest against homophobia in Russia. As well as this, the show also coincides with LGBT history month and many other queer theatre projects at Contact Theatre. Go along for a night of discussion about, and celebration of, the most basic of human rights the right to love. 8th February at the Contact Theatre
Blindsided This play promises to keep its audiences constantly enthralled, as a romantic play with an unexpected element of murder. A girl growing up in a battered part of Stockport in a battered time at the end of the seventies falls in love with the man who will mash her heart into a thousand pieces.
Blindsided runs 23rd January to 15th February at The Royal Exchange
Hobson’s Choice Another production set in Manchester, Hobson’s Choice tells the story of a family living in Stockport in 1880. This Lancashire comedy sets father against daughter in a brutal, funny battle of the sexes. Runs from 22nd January to 22nd February at The Octagon Theatre in Bolton.
My Favourite Scene
myFAVOURITE SCENE
R.C. Sheriff’s Journey’s End captures the futility and tragedy of the First World War, primarily by focussing on the relationships formed between the soldiers; Stanhope (the commander), Osborne (a high-ranking officer) and Raleigh (a new, junior officer). In this scene Osborne and Raleigh simply sit in their dugout, sharing thoughts whilst the war rages on above them. The markedly realistic dialogue, probably owing to Sheriff’s own experiences in the trenches, highlights the melancholy aspects of their situation. For me, this small scene accurately portrays the warped reality that exists in all warfare, where all familiar life must be abandoned in the pursuit of a long-forgotten cause. Osborne [to Raleigh]: I expect Stanhope’ll let you go on duty alone now. Raleigh: Will he? About what time? Osborne: Well, after me, I expect. From about two will four.
This week, Sam Ebner tells us about his favourite scene from R. C. Sheriff’s classic ‘Journey’s End’
Raleigh: I see. [There is a pause. Then Osborne looks at Raleigh and laughs] Osborne: What do you think about it all? Raleigh: Oh, all right, thanks. [He laughs.] I feel I’ve been here ages. Osborne [filling his pipe]: I expect you do. The time passes though. Raleigh: Are we here for six days? Osborne: Yes. Seems a long time, doesn’t it? Raleigh [laughing shortly]: It does rather. I can’t imagine – the end of six days here – Osborne: Anyhow, we’ve done twelve hours already. It’s fine when you are relieved and go down the line to billets, and have a good hot bath, and sit and read under trees. Raleigh: Good Lord, I feel I haven’t seen a tree for ages – not a real tree, with leaves and branches – and yet I’ve only been here twelve hours.
Osborne: How did you feel – in the front line? Raleigh: Oh, all right. It seemed so frightfully quiet and uncanny – everybody creeping about and talking in low voices. I suppose you’ve got to talk quietly when you’re so near the German front line – only about seventy yards, isn’t it? Osborne: Yes. About the breadth of a rugger field. Raleigh: It’s funny to think about it like that. Osborne: I always measure distances like that out here. Keeps them in proportion. Raleigh: Did you play rugger? Osborne: Yes. But mostly reffing at school in the last few years. Raleigh: Are you a schoolmaster, then? Osborne: Yes. I must apologize. Raleigh: Oh, I don’t mind schoolmasters. [Hastily] I – I – mean, I never met one outside a school. Osborne: They do get out sometimes.
Strangeways University of Manchester graduate, Joshua Val Martin, brings his Edinburgh fringe play back to Manchester. Strangeways is a moving tale of loss, love and loneliness and promises to be a great show, after receiving promising reviews after its run at the Fringe Festival. Runs from 24th to 27th February at The King’s Arms Theatre.
ISSUE 12/ 3rd FEBRUARY 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Editors: Lauren Arthur, Moya Crockett, Beth Currall Travel
Feature
Let’s visit…
Instasham
Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire
Has the world of social networking distorted our views on happiness and success? Beth Currall thinks so
Looking for a day trip from Manchester? Beautiful Hebden Bridge is a great place to start Nestled in a fold in the Pennines, Hebden Bridge is a town with an unusual blend of old-school Yorkshire and hippyish sensibilities. Like much of the North, Hebden flourished during and after the Industrial Revolution, but during the 1970s and 80s the town saw an influx of artists, writers, and activists. Today, the high street is largely made up of independent stores and chip shops, there are annual festivals for the arts and blues music, and it’s been voted the “fourth quirkiest place in the world.” The main draw for my friends and I, though, was the promise of a good old country walk. South Manchester in the bleak midwinter can feel like a bit of an urban wasteland, and of course, there’s nothing like revision to make you desperate for an adventure. The craggy hills of West Yorkshire are a world away from Fallowfield’s grey pavements and chicken shops, but Hebden Bridge is only 30-40 minutes from Manchester Victoria by train (£6.15 day return with a railcard). So in early January, we pull on our most sensible shoes and escape to the country. We spend most of the train journey gaping out of the window at the wild green land flying past, like those WW2 child evacuees who’d never seen a cow before leaving London. Going somewhere with a gang of friends will always feel like a school trip, even when you’re all in your early twenties. As we zoom through a particularly pretty village, the boys even join in: “Ah, mate, that’s actually sick.” Upon our arrival in Hebden, we continue to impersonate people who have literally never experienced the countryside before, squeaking with joy at the sight of the town. Hebden Bridge is tremendously beautiful in its stout, Yorkshire sort of way, with yellowish stone houses, grey clouds swirling in a wide sky, and a canal lined with painted riverboats. It looks like it should be populated by lots of mysterious, grumpy nans. It looks like the setting of a really great children’s book. We’ve barely taken three steps out of the train station before we are accosted by a stout old hippy. “Going up the hills?” she asks, giving Ruth’s white Converse a dark look. “Cos those aren’t walking shoes.” After buying giant chip butties from Crown’s (each weighing as much as a two-year-old child), we pop into the Hebden Bridge Visitor Centre, staffed by an elderly man who seems absolutely thrilled to see us. “What sort of walk are you after?” he beams, spreading a map across the counter. The walk to Hardcastle Crags is easy going: two miles, mainly flat. Or we could make the short but steep trip up to Heptonstall, where Sylvia Plath is buried. “Or perhaps you’re looking for something more strenuous?” Oh, we can handle strenuous, we assure him. We’re young, we’re sort of healthy, we have legs that move. With a new map and an almost entirely unearned sense of confidence, we set off on the 10km climb to Stoodley Pike, a huge stone monument on the upper ridge of the Calder Valley. The climb is over a thousand feet, and feels it: the hillside is seriously steep, particularly at the beginning. In addition, the old hippy’s warning about impractical footwear turns out to be true. It’s wet and muddy, and while those of us wearing wellies can rediscover the joy of puddle-jumping, Ruth’s
Photo: Rebecca Williams
Let’s face it: pretty much all of us who own a smartphone or have an internet connection are guilty of scrolling through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, sighing over others’ seemingly perfect lives and wishing that our own was as good. A vast number of obsessives- and I will openly count myself as one of these people- check their news feeds every day to keep updated on the lives of people they might not even know. In fact, I have paused from writing this article no less than three times to stalk to wedding of an Australian entrepreneur on Instagram, to look at photos taken by an old work colleague of her Saturday night out, and to rile myself over a girl’s constant stream of pessimistic tweets. Why is it that we have become so fascinated with other people’s lives? And why do we let this affect our own? I see so many people handing out likes to ‘thinspiration’ accounts on Instagram, or reposting photos to share their motivation for their perfect bodies. Forget being happy in your own skin: nowadays you’re a social reject if you don’t strive for a thigh gap, 20-inch waist and a Photo: Man Alive (Flickr) bubble butt (which is actually physically impossible to achieve without poor Converse get stuck in sludge on more than one occasion. But the help of Photoshop), or for males, a gym-honed six pack with thighs it’s a bright, blowy day, we’re in high spirits, and there’s something and biceps to match. On social networking sites, the more attracimmensely satisfying about pausing for breath and seeing Hebden tive a person is, the happier they are. We have become motivated by Bridge looking suddenly small and faraway at the bottom of the valley. likes, favourites and retweets; my sister often rings me to tell me that Student life is spent largely indoors − on sofas or in lecture halls – and my nephew has received 70 likes on a photo she has uploaded on to leisure time takes place in the dark, in a state of disarray, in blackFacebook- that makes him cute, apparently. For us students, we post walled clubs or sweaty house parties. Marching across the moors, as many snaps of nights out as we can to show all our acquaintancesjumping over stiles in the middle of green nowhere and giving one and most importantly, our enemies- what a fabulously crazy life we another piggybacks through puddles, feels like being seven years old are living at university. I don’t want to see photos of people’s large piles again in the best possible way. of textbooks or 32-page essays, I want to see what they were wearing Particularly magical is the wooden shed we stumble across, a little on their last night out, or the Jimmy Choos they’ve blown their loans way from a ramshackle farm. Inside is a cupboard of Pot Noodles and on. If you look happy over the internet, you’re happy in real life. It’s as teabags, a freezer stocked with homemade ice cream and sausages, simple as that. a kettle and a camping stove. A note reads, “Please help yourself to But what we never stop to consider are the parts of everybody’s lives anything you like and leave something in the honesty box. Enjoy your that we tend to miss out when creating personalities for ourselves on walk!” Someone got robbed with an axe near my house recently, but social networking. Of course, people will write about their stories of out in the wilderness, somebody’s trusting strangers to pay reasonably success, but how many people actually openly talk about the hardfor ice cream. It’s enough to make you weep. ships they have suffered? We feed off happiness, whether we regard it When we reach Stoodley Pike, we discover that it has an inner spiral with sheer appreciation or envy. I mean, who wants to see a photo of staircase leading up to a stone balcony, from which you can gaze someone crying or a status moaning about how crap their lives are? across the Pennines. At the top of the ridge the wind is almost enough Unlike the fake smiling shots, that is some serious attention seeking. to lift you off your feet, but we linger before beginning the journey What we fail to remember is that Instagram is not real life; if it was, back to Hebden Bridge. The scramble back down to earth takes us we’d probably all grow pretty bored of it after a while. For when you through a wood, across stepping stones, and over a waterfall. As we take away the edited pictures and the perfectly posed shots, you’re reach Hebden Bridge, dusk is falling. That night, exhausted in the best actually just left with reality. But will we ever snap out of this illusion possible way, I sleep better than I have in months. that our lives should revolve around what will be appreciated by our It’s all too easy to get hermetically sealed in the student bubble, and followers? That remains to be seen. you could shuttle up and down the Oxford Road for three years without ever venturing further afield. But every so often, try spending your Sunday up on the moors, not on a comedown. A change of scenery’s always good.
Photo: instasham.me
/TheMancunion: Lifestyle @MancunionLife
Technology Finance
Lifestyle
27
Social media
Technology’s the one that Twitter Tw*ts needs a chastity belt
We all have them lurking on our timelines: Dana Fowles names and shames the tweeters we love to hate
With the development of a new app controlled bra that claims to recognise ‘true love’, Lauren Arthur thinks it’s time that technology left our love lives alone
First came Tinder, then BreakupText - ‘end your relationship in just a few taps’(?!) - and now it seems technology has wormed its way into the bedroom as well. Japanese lingerie company Ravijour have developed ‘The True Love Tester’, a bra that only opens ‘for true love’ Apparently when truly head over heels, we secrete a hormone called catecholamine which is what increases our heart rate. The bra contains sensors that measure this and uses Bluetooth to connect to the app on your phone for analysis of the data. If the readings fall into a certain category the bra unhooks automatically. Great, so the slightest increase in heart rate and ping, there goes your underwear. What if you have to run for a bus? Or you like the look of the Nandos waiter? I don’t fancy having to fear a wardrobe malfunction every time I sneeze. If the idea isn’t stupid enough, the promotion advert is somehow even worse. ‘A revolutionary bra that knows how women truly feel’ says a creepy woman’s voice who sounds as though she’s trying to imitate an evil Disney character. Pause. Rewind. My bra doesn’t need to know how I feel, it needs to support me, make me feel better. ‘The True Love Tester’ with its barely there, diamante studded cups certainly doesn’t look like it would do either. ‘Until now, the bra was a piece of clothing to remove, but now it is an instrument to test for true love’ - brilliant, what
we’ve always wanted. It then continues with the sweeping statement that ‘women always seek true love’. What cretinous creature has made this? You can’t just throw sexist statements here there and everywhere and think women will start hailing your company as the new Victoria’s Secret. Men should be able to design women’s lingerie if they so please but I struggle to see how they can redesign the concept of a garment they don’t wear. And if the advert is a real representation of the ‘automatic unhooking’, the only thing your bra will succeed in doing is knocking your beloved out.
Twitter. For most of it’s become the daily newspaper: the first thing we check in the morning and the last thing at night. According to statisticbrain.com 645,750,000 of us are registered on the social networking site, with this figure increasing by around 135,000 each day. On average 9,100 tweets are posted per second, with this amounting to a whopping 58 million every 24 hours. Home to the latest local, national, global and celebrity news, it’s easy to see why. For us students, it’s a good place to start scanning for internship and graduate opportunities. It’s also a good place to find out the every move of virtually every single person we know.Now, there are those whose Twitter feeds are a pleasure to stalk, I mean, browse. Unfortunately there are also the Twitter tw*ts, whose 140 character updates us with no choice but to contemplate – SHOCK HORROR – unfollowing them. I’m sure we’ve all committed the odd Twitter sin, but here are four of the repeat offenders. The loved up couples: Love my boyfriend @girlfriend In bed with @boyfriend having #snuggles. #lovehim #myboo #togetherforever Love my girlfriend @boyfriend Loving every second @girlfriend, but stop taking up so much room. #bedhogger #nightinwiththemrs #loveher
Photo: Ravijour YouTube
Feature
You’re in the same room! Please talk to each other. These culprits are also likely to have checked in on Facebook at ‘my baby girl/boy’s bed.’ These kind of tweets are only set to get worse as we approach Valentine’s Day, so brace yourselves #vom.
The problem with New Year’s Resolutions
The football fanatics:
It’s always tempting to dream big at the beginning of a New Year. But, asks Moya Crockett, do New Year’s Resolutions actually make you feel worse in the long run? January, I think we can all agree, is a wretched month. The end of the festive season. Sub-zero mornings and bleak grey skies. Exams. Could there be a worse month for making New Year’s Resolutions? Yes, it is the first month of the year, and making New Year’s Resolutions in, say, August, would be a little idiosyncratic. But nobody feels like taking a long, hard look at themselves in January. You’re cold. You’re poor. You spent the entire Christmas holidays inhaling Baileys and Quality Street. And you’re expected to be feeling positive? So, three cheers for the end of January. But the problem with New Year’s Resolutions is that you’re actually meant to keep them up – well – forever. There’s no point deciding that 2014 is the year you’re going to start running every day if, by February 3rd, your trainers lie abandoned in the hall and you’re under a duvet watching Friends and eating Nutella out of the jar with a spoon. Often, New Year’s Resolutions are just a direct line to feelings of guilt and failure, rather than a source of motivation. They can be divided into two categories: dreams and denial. Decided that this is the year you’re going to take up salsa dancing or hot air ballooning? Dreams. Giving up carbohydrates or alcohol completely? Denial. In both cases, you’re unlikely to succeed. Setting huge goals might feel exciting and zingy at the beginning of the New Year, but when you find you can’t manage it, it’s just going to make you feel worse. Another problem with New Year’s Resolutions is the way they tend to revolve around issues of appearance and weight, particularly for women. The pressure to look a certain way can feel intense. But seriously – shake it off. You haven’t put on that much weight over Christmas. You look pretty much the same as you did in December. If you genuinely feel that your life is perfect
in every way apart from your weight, and everything would be dandy if you just had thinner thighs, then I can only marvel. The best kind of New Year’s Resolutions, I’ve found, are those made for you by someone else. This idea was given to me by a friend’s mum, who pointed out that our friends and family can often see our real shortcomings and desires far more clearly than we can ourselves. While you might resolve to go to Zumba thrice a week, a good friend might suggest instead that this year you stop talking to your ex, organise work experience for the summer, or call your dad more. It’s eye-opening to hear what your friends think you should really be working on, and useful to have someone to answer to other than yourself. Basically, if you like Nutella and Friends more than running, don’t lie to yourself. Be true to who you are. Now there’s a resolution. Photo: Alan Cleaver (Flickr)
Calling all singletons Fancy starting the new term with a new love? Like the sound of meeting someone new in a romantic restaurant for FREE dinner and drinks? At Lifestyle, we’re always looking for students to take part in Blind Date. Whether you’re first or fourth year, extroverted or shy, gay, straight or bi, we’d love to hear from you. Send your name, age, course and degree level to mancunion.lifestyle@gmail.com with the subject line ‘Blind Date’. Alternatively, you can tweet us @MancunionLife or get in touch via Facebook - just search ‘The Mancunion: Lifestyle’.
MUFC 4eva @thebeautifulgame Two men sent off in the space of three minutes. #gutted
3m
That’s much better from United #MUFC.
2m
Defeat was due to injuries and fatigue caused by lack of depth to squad.
30s
Who needs to watch the game when you can get second by second updates from all of your male friends? Go forth and have long and fruitful careers as commentators. The super organised: Little miss amazing @Iamperfect Finished all three of my essays for this semester two months early. Time to let my hair down at Gold Teeth tonight. #woo #gome #workhardplayhard Just how? HOW!? These Tweets make you feel really, really bad about yourself. Like us, they regularly OD on vod. Unlike us, they still find the time to produce First class essays way in advance of the deadlines. They are ‘time management’ personified. #teachus The gym bunnies: Squat Queen @mybodyisatemple Got up at 6 for a run then ended the day in my favourite way with 50,000 squats. Not as many as usual, but I’m feeling lazy this week. #stayhealthy #befit When you’re sat reading these Tweets in a tiger onesie, while shovelling the contents of a share bag of Milky Stars into your mouth, these kind of Tweets are not what you want to see. This person is also likely to post a selfie of ‘the view’ on holiday, which is actually a view of their perfectly toned, bronzed stomach and pins to die for stretched out on a sun lounger. Please. Stop. So, it’s official. We can now blame the Twittersphere for making us feel terrible about our own #snuggle-less, squatless, unproductive daily lives. And find out how the game’s going, of course . . . Photo: trekkyandy (Flickr)
BF2014.Mancunion.Full copy.pdf
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SPORT : 30
ISSUE 12/ 3rd FEBRUARY 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
RBS Six Nations Guide By Jonny Roberts
After the Lions’ victorious summer down-under many have been waiting for their next fix of top quality rugby. With the Six Nations fast approaching, it seems the tournament will not disappoint. Wales have been placed as current favourites amongst the bookmakers, however, it appears we are set for one of the closest contests to date, with England and Ireland also desperate to get their hands on the coveted trophy. Who will be crowned champions in 2014?
Venture Further The RBS Six Nations Captains pose with the famous trophy, but who will win this year? Twitter: @EnglandRugby
England: Coach: Stuart Lancaster Captain: Chris Robshaw Injuries appear to be the major issue for Stuart Lancaster and his men, with key figures missing in the backline forcing the coach to opt for a less experienced line-up. Toby Flood’s move to France means he is unavailable for selection with Lancaster refusing to consider the fly-half. However, England come into the tournament with confidence after a narrow 30-22 defeat to New Zealand in the autumn. The performance demonstrated both class and character, exactly what the English fans wish to see. Strength in the pack is also very much a bonus for this English side. Success will be largely dependent of performances from the likes of Dan Cole and Billy Vunipola. Barring major injuries, England might, just might, have a chance. Ireland: Coach: Joe Schmidt Captain: Paul O’Connell Much like England, Ireland can take heart from their autumn international performances. A narrow defeat to The All Blacks showed progression under new coach, Joe Schmidt. After a truly embarrassing performance in last year’s Six Nations, it surely can only get better for the Irish. Reliance on the old-guard is crucial for this squad, with Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell still playing a vital role in the team’s success. However, have these legends got the legs to gain victories away at France and England? A tournament win may be a stretch too far for this side. Wales: Coach: Warren Gatland Captain: Sam Warburton Favourites and rightly so. The Lion’s summer tour demonstrated the mouth-watering array of talent that Warren Gatland has at his disposal. With the majority of the current squad having already been part of victory at a Six Nations tournament, the Welsh have the experience as well as the skill. A lot of pressure will be placed on the broad shoulders of Winger, George North. At only 21, North stands at 6 ft 4 and weighs around 17 stone. A scary thought for any opposition. With players like North available, Welsh fans should be very optimistic. France: Coach: Phillipe Saint-Andre Captain: Pascal Pape Statistically, France should be favourites. They have managed to win the tournament in every year after a Lions touring summer. However, old statistics appear to be the main hope for this French side. After a poor campaign in 2013, France will be desperate to give a good account of themselves. However, it could be argued that they do not have to quality to do so. With house-hold names, like Frederic Michilak and Moran Parra absent from this year’s squad, the French seem to be lacking a bit of ‘va-va-voom’. Could the French surprise us all? Scotland: Coach: Scott Johnson Captain: Kelly Brown A squad lacking some of the skill and class of its rivals. However, the Scots more than make up for this with determination and spirit. A valiant performance against Australia in the Autumn saw them lose by just six points. The current squad will have taken confidence from the result and it appears head coach, Scott Johnson, has provided the team with greater organisation and structure. Expect plenty of fight and heart for the Scottish side, but, a mid-table finish must be seen as a success for the current side. Italy: Coach: Jacques Brunel Captain: Sergio Parisse The traditional fight to avoid the wooden spoon appears to be on again this year for this Italian side. After a disappointing summer and autumn, confidence will be low in the Italian camp. Defeats to Samoa and Argentina highlight how far the Italians must progress to have any chance of competing with the likes of England and Wales. It would not be unfair to describe their game against Scotland as a tournament in itself, with the loser destined to finish rock bottom. After finishing fourth last year, it seems the Italians will struggle to emulate such success in this season’s tournament.
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Original Thinking Applied Who do you think will win the RBS Six Nations? Tweet @mancunion_sport with your thoughts.
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Interview: Graham Hunter Thomas Turner talks to Graham Hunter about three day trains to Marbella, Barcelona, the future of European football, and his new book Spain
“I moved to Spain in 2002. I couldn’t speak the language, I didn’t have a job. Barcelona were rubbish”, explains Graham Hunter in a bustling National Football Museum foyer prior to a promotional event for his second book - “Spain: The Inside Story of La Roja’s Historic Treble”. The seeds of Hunter’s journey from Aberdeen to the Nou Camp were first sewn in 1982, as the author embarked on a three day train journey to Marbella for the 1982 World Cup. Having intervened to stop an English supporter attacking a Spaniard on the train, Hunter found himself held at gunpoint by the Guardia Civil -only to be released in the nick of time after protestations by a fellow traveller. These days however, Hunter is the envy of football fans across the world. Not only has he enjoyed unrivalled access to the development of a golden era at Barcelona, he has also witnessed the Spanish national team achieve a feat experienced by none before them. The book recounts in vivid detail this historical treble - consisting of two European Championships and a World cup. But has he witnessed the two greatest sides to ever play football, I ask? “That’s feasible - but isn’t something which I will be advancing myself. What I will say, is that the international teams which came closest to what Spain achieved (notably the German team of the early/mid seventies) did so in much easier conditions”. Indeed, the stats are astonishing. In the past two European championships and last World Cup, Spain contested a total of 19 fixtures. The Germans on the other hand, who were denied the treble on penalties by Czechoslovakia in the 1976 European Championship final, played just 11. With regards to Barcelona, Hunter claims this golden generation has “taken club football to a level we have not
seen before”. But is, I ask, this golden generations reaching its curtain call? In the wake of last season’s all German Champions League final, a whole host of respected columnists and amateur
which the Spanish have” Hunter said. “German teams like to hold the ball and pass it. The German national team is more Spain than Spain - with the advantage now of being stronger, fitter
Making direct comparison between La Liga and the Bundesliga, he argued the underbelly of the latter (including teams such as Schakle, Leverkusen and Hamburg) cannot yet be classified as
and younger”. Hunter’s admirations and respect for the German national team is quite obvious. He recalls a conversation with Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas prior to the World Cup semi-final against Germany in 2010, in which Casillas revealed that the Germans scared him, and that they were “building an era which could dominate for a generation”. However with regards to club football, Graham is a little less convinced.
a golden era - with each of them “lightyears” behind Bayern. On the other hand, he cited La Liga teams such as Valencia, Sevilla, Real Betis and Villarreal - all of whom have made waves on either the domestic or European stage in recent years. Hunter’s overriding message is an important one - that “we need to be more careful about how we assess changes in eras”. Switching focus back to home soil, Hunter agrees that the disconnect
Photo: @BumperGraham enthusiasts pronounced the death of tiki-taka. We were, they claimed, on the verge of a new era to be dominated by pace and power - which the current German crop happen to possess in abundance. The much heralded ‘Spanish model’ was giving way to the ‘German model’, they said. “Current German football is a process which began in 2000-01. The German FA conjoined with the clubs, and they started to replicate some of the things
between the football association and clubs in England is self-defeating. Citing the breakaway of the Premier League and the vast fortunes it brought for those in its upper echelons, Hunter says that ironically, “what has made the Premier League so huge globally, is the same as what has weakened it so much domestically”. I then ask whether Hunter misses the Premier League. He admits that upon leaving for Spain over ten years ago, he had stopped enjoying Premiership football as much as before. “The Premier League used to be about technical players - Scholes, Poyet, Carbone”. As the emphasis moved to pace and tricks, Hunter says that too few Premier League clubs put a premium on intelligent, strategic players. “I do miss English football culture though”, he adds. In his talk later in the evening, Hunter revealed how English and Spanish football differ with regards to the access journalists like himself have to players. He regularly recalls long conversations with some of the most pre-eminent footballers of our generation and also reveals his trick - not to ask people “the same old shit they’ve already answered before” (in hindsight, I hope I wasn’t guilty of this myself!). With an emphasis on quality and the trust he has developed with players who he has watched throughout almost their whole careers, Hunter is without doubt one of the most respected writers of his generation. The negative upshot of this is that you may well encounter a few bogus transfer tipsters around this time of year using his name to give their nonsense credibility. Towards the end of our conversation he says he was born with a “natural ability - verbally at least - to tell a story”. Having read both of Hunter’s books, I can testify that he does it far better than most.
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Win a copy of “Spain: The Inside Story of La Roja’s Historic Treble” Q. Who did Spain beat in the final of the 2010 World Cup? a) Germany b) Netherlands c) Uruguay
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To enter, either email the answer to sport@mancunion.com or tweet your answer to @Mancunion_Sport Entries close at midnight on Sunday 9th February 2014. All entrants must be students at the University of Manchester
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3rd FEBRUARY 2014/ ISSUE 12 FREE
MANCHESTER’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
Six Nations Guide
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Graham Hunter Interview P.31
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Ashes to Ashes
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Champions by February Netball first team win Premiership with victory over Loughborough
University of Loughbourough 48 University of Manchester
58
Helen Gavin UMWNC Club Captain
After a fantastic start to the season with a first half 100% record, the first team’s luck seemed to be running out after two defeats in a row to Northumbria and Leeds Uni. However, after last week’s victory over Newcastle they moved themselves back into contention for the title race after Leeds were defeated by Loughborough; the team which UMWNC had to beat to win the league. Their first challenge of this week however was not to try and win the league but to try and defeat the Thunder Development squad in their second game of a three part series. The first game saw Manchester royally thrashed by the youngsters 74-19 which meant they had a point to prove and some pride to be restored in this second game. The University team, perhaps through experience, stormed to win the match 65-38 which leaves the series all to play for in the final game on 15th February at the Thunderdome. First Team Captain Katie Coates was rightly awarded player of the match after some sterling feeds into to the shooting circle. This win gave the team the confidence they needed to approach the game against Loughborough with determination and a will to win the Premiership for the first time in the
club’s history. The game was always going to be close however and the first quarter saw the two teams drawing until Loughborough took the lead by two
made too often and the half time score saw Loughborough with a lead of 5 crucial goals; 30-25. This called for powerful team talk by Captain Katie Coates and coach Yvonne Sampson
then they had all season. With spectacular defending from C.Payne and De Winton, they pressured Loughborough’s attack to make mistakes allowing the now
goals in the final minutes to lead 16-14. This then gave the home team inspiration to pull away from Manchester as their nerves got the better of them with mistakes being
to try and remind the team they were definitely capable of turning the game around. Whilst the spectators looked nervously on, the game resumed and Manchester came out fighting stronger
revived centre court of Coates, Bradley and Dahou to get the ball to the infallible shooters of Housby and B.Payne. This allowed Manchester to draw back level and eventually take
the lead by 42 goals to 38 at the end of the third quarter. The final quarter then would host the most impressive netball Manchester had played all season, and the fluidity and willpower saw them cruise to a 10 goal lead which would see them not only win the game 58-48 but win the Premiership title in true come back style. The netball on show during the game proved just why Manchester were worthy winners of the league and the fight to come back from being 5 goals down made the victory so much sweeter. Captain Katie Coates said this is where ‘history begins’ and she could not have been prouder of everyone in her team. This emphatic victory puts the UMWNC first team in the university’s history books as the first netball team to win the Premier Division. Player of the match went to England superstar Helen Housby who missed last weeks match against Newcastle due to her England ‘A’ team commitments, she was warmly welcomed back this week and her shooting ensured the title for Manchester. This accomplishment felt so distant at the end of last season when the team just secured survival in their final match against Durham which if they had lost they would have been relegated. This makes their achievements even more impressive and shows how hard work and a positive team mentality, along with exceptionally talented freshers, can empower teams to accomplish great things. UMWNC are most definitely purple and proud!
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