tightropewalker #1 HAPPY & ONLINE Lost in the wonders of the internet, caught in the web. Can you sustain a happy life online?
MUSIC Folk, Pop, Hip Hop... ‘FipFok’ Interview with COCO & THE BUTTERFIEDLS
WANDER TO WONDER Open your eyes and start to see the beauty where you didn’t expect it Discover 17 places we (no longer) take for granted
© Antic Slacklining
tightropewalker Issue #1, May 2014
© Travis Burke
I do this for fun not fame,
But if you like what you read you can follow me on the streets,
HAPPY & ONLINE MUSIC
Linkedin: Noémie Battini 8tracks: tightropewalker1
CINEMA
CREATIVE RANTING
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3-4 min read
P.11
1 min read
pinterest: n b Instagram: @noemiE_meow
P.7
2-3 min read
CANTERBURY
POLITICS
P.19
4-5 min read
3-4 min read
or here:
Twitter: @NoemieBattini
P.5
P.14
WANDER TO WONDER ∞ min read
4-5 min read
8tracks playlist
P.25
HAPPY & ONLINE Oxytocin epidemic Can you be happy for 100 days in a row?
1 MUSIC Interview with FipFop band CoCo and the Butterfields
2
CINEMA Staring at the screen: ‘Her’ ‘Waking Life’ ‘About Time’ ‘Whatever Works’
4
CANTERBURY Cathedral Beaney Museum Marlowe Theatre Crooked Bookshop Parrot Pub in 5 steps
CREATIVE RANTING of a Crazy Candle Lady (who forgot her ID)
3
POLITICS Global Gender Jusice Backlashes of violence in South Africa
5
WANDER TO WONDER
6
Eyes Wide Open Discover 17 Places we (no longer) take for granted
7
HAPPY & ONLINE
Oxytocin epidemic online Why do things go viral on the internet? The ‘Awww, Click, Share’ culture of the web.
I
should probably start by saying how much of a skeptical person I am. Suspicious of everything, politics, realityTV, philanthropy, weather forecast, advertising, love, and last but not least: things going viral on the internet. I am of those who think that it’s too easy to jump on the bandwagon and free-ride on ideas that you do not own, but which look good on your Facebook timeline. Too easy to skim-read an article on contemporary politics from The Guardian’s website and hit the ‘Share’ icon before you even get to the bottom of the page. Because, you know, it’s cool to appear up-to date with current affairs and stuff. And this is not new of social media, my grandmother (bless her) used to pick up a newspaper and pretend she was reading it. When you’d ask her about the headlines she would hand you the paper and say ‘here, you read it’. But we all knew she wasn’t wearing her glasses and couldn’t read a thing. Grandma thought it was hype to sit by the fire flashing her
radical left-wing newspaper, like a rebel. She would have loved Facebook. There is probably a grand theory about how things end up being viral on the web. My guess is that oxytocin is the culprit, the ‘cuddle chemical’. In other words, things go viral because they make you go ‘AWWWW’, the oxytocin overload takes control of the mouse and hits the ‘like’ button before you know it. Also released during sex (when done right), childbirth, breastfeeding and drugtaking, oxytocin is the bounding hormone that helps you connect with other beings/ kittens. It makes you empathize with far away victims of conflicts and natural disasters, makes you want to cuddle cute baby polar bears all over, and it drowns you in the eyes of a lover. Here is the chemical data, the secret formula of any internet buzz: C43H66N12O12S2 Use with caution.
Can you be happy for 100 days in a row? I dare you. #100 happy days challenge
Cinnamon challenge, Terminator challenge, Diet Coke
and Mentos challenge, there are lots of challenges out there, but never have I ever heard of a ‘100 Happy Days Challenge’, and yet 350000 people worldwide are taking part in it. So what’s all the fuss about? And more importantly, could this be the new happiness index? 100happydays.com is a website challenging you to ‘be happy for 100 days in row’, and rub it in the face of your Facebook friends, Twitter or Instagram followers. The concept is very simple, by signing up to the website you say ‘I do’ to posting a picture of something that made you happy with the hastags #100happydays #daywhatever, everyday for a 100 days (or until death do you apart). Sounds pretty straightforward, right? And if I do that, will I be happy? ‘Duuuh’, says the website. People successfully completing the challenge claim to: “Start noticing what makes them happy every day, find they are in a better mood, start receiving more compliments, realise how lucky they are to live the life they have, become more optimistic, and… fall in love during the challenge!” ... ‘Awww’
Try the challenge and let me know what you think!
H A P P Y ?
The guy behind the website, Dmitry Golubnichy (the real challenge is to pronouce his name), is a multimodality genius: the bright and uplifting yellow colored website, the casual and friendly font, the :) and ;), the ‘No spam. Pinky swear’, and the guilt trip catch phrase: ‘You don’t have time for this, right?’ - everything has been thought through. But does it actually work? Internationally known psychologist Daniel Goleman claims that the key to a happy life is to focus on the good bits (really?). That’s essentially what the challenge is about, so get your smartphones out and let the hashtag festival begin! Unless you think your happiness doesn’t rely on external goods. Like that Socrates guy, who professed that happiness is directive, rather than additive. That it doesn’t depend on external goods, but rather in how we use them. So I say go ahead and document your happiness if you fancy challenges, but don’t forget to engage with the things you’re posting about. And if you start saying stuff like: “Can you guys help me pick a filter? I don’t know if I should go with XX Pro or Valencia, I wanna look tanned. What should my caption be? I want it to be clever”, I hope you’ll know it’s time to stop.
MUSIC CoCo and the Butterfields It was a sunny Sunday afternoon when I discovered CoCo and the Butterfields spreading joy on Canterbury High Street. I had to stop and listen for a second, or maybe half an hour. Their music was calling me like a mermaid singing to a sailor, luring me in. I don’t know if it was the cute Johnny Depp look alike playing the banjo, but I was definitely smitten. I grabbed a flyer and sailed away.
facebook link ect
Follow them on Facebook: CoCo and The Butterfields
Pioneers of a new musical genre: ‘Fip Fok’, a unique mix of Folk, Pop and Hip Hop, CoCo and the Butterfields are a local band from Canterbury. Or as I like to think about them, ‘Canterbury rock stars’. Confessions with the band @WorldFest, 20th March 2014, University of Kent...
Why the name?
Where do you practice?
Micah: There are two versions to this story, do you want the truth?
Tom: We have a music room in our house!
Tom: Yes, let’s tell the true story. Basically, Micah and I were in a pub once and decided to make up fake names to try and get girls, mine was Coco Butterfields, and when we started networking for the band on Facebook we did it under this name. This is where the name comes from.
Where is your favorite place to play?
How did you get together and when? Tom: We met individually through busking and we all got together properly in 2012. I can’t believe it’s been two years already…
How do you decide to include a new member in the band? Micah: It’s very hard to find the right person. Someone who is available, a good performer, and passionate enough.
Micah: We like variety… busking in the streets, gigs, pubs, festivals… Festivals are amazing!
Is Canterbury an inspiration to you? Your video clip ‘Warrior’ has this medieval touch, was it shot here in Canterbury? Tom: Yes, Canterbury is definitely an inspiration. We love Canterbury. Some scenes of Warrior’s video clip were actually shot in here, and other places in Kent.
Who writes the lyrics? Tom: I wrote some of the songs, Dulcima wrote some as well. But everyone participates!
“Canterbury C A is definitely an T inspiration” B
What’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened to you while busking? Jamie, Tom, Micah: We have loads of stories! Tom: Old people are funny, once this old lady walked past us while we were busking, she was covering her ears and shouting ‘Stop it!’. So funny. Micah: We also had an angry Italian guy shouting at us! Jamie: And this one time we were playing in a squat in Brighton and these guys were spraying glue on us! Tom: One day we were in Paris and decided to play in Montmartre, we were not even properly busking, but people started gathering around us and eventually this sea of people emerged... we ended up playing for a crowd of 300 people or something! Amazing!
Dulcima, Violin and vocals
Do you have riders? Some celebrities ask for weird things, like a glass of Champagne with a straw… Micah: No, we don’t need it. But sometimes we get treated and it’s nice. Jamie: And if we don’t get treated we make sure we don’t play there ever again (laughs). This is off the record, ok?
Is there a diva in the group? Awkward deliberation… Tom: No. We all have our little diva moments. But no, there is no diva.
Tom, Guitar and vocals
“I want to make enough money with the band so I can buy a ship, sail away and be a pirate!” (tom)
Rob, Banjo
Jamie, beatbox
Micah, double bass
Ready to hit the road in their freshly painted van Frankie!
T O U R
What do you want to be when you grow up?
What do you do after a gig?
Tom: A pirate!
Jamie: This!
Jamie: A Somalian pirate?
Micah: Drive to the next gig, get a Subway on the way…
Tom: I want to make enough money with the band so I can buy a ship, sail away and be a pirate!
Tom: If it’s a gig with a nice atmosphere we stay for a drink. But usually we’re quite tired so we make our way home and just chill.
Jamie: With lots of rum!
Jamie: Sorry we don’t party and take lots of drugs like rock stars… we just go home and drink tea! (Everyone laughs)
Tour Dates Photos Videos Downloads and much more on their website
CANTERBURY I must see...
1. Canterbury Cathedral 2. The BeanEy museum 3. The marlowe theatre 4.The crooked bookshop 5. the Parrot Pub
What if I told you that you could visit Canterbury in only five steps? This ain’t no tale...
1. Canterbury Cathedral
Situated in the center of town All you need to know about history, location, opening times and prices
HERE
2. The beanEy museum
What’s on now? 29th March - 6th July ‘Of mice and men’ drawing by Brian Francis
Located on High Street, you simply cannot miss it! Information can be found HERE
4. The crooked bookshop 28, Palace Street
‘Is there a book from the shop you would recommend?’, I asked the shop keeper timidly. He stared at me with piercing blue eyes and a crooked smile, crooked like the famous blue door, put down his booked and whispered: ‘The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, by Alan Sillitoe, a personal favourite of mine...’
More bookshops to linger in HERE
A modern building with a long history and amazing shows such as...
‘West Side Story’ Coming up soon 15-19th July Book your tickets online
HERE
3. The Marlowe theatre
5. The parrot pub 1-9 Church Lane
The Bishop’s Mitre Double beef Steak burger Pulled pork Smoked cheddar cheese Smoked bacon BBQ sauce Topped with onion rings £13.95
The oldest pub, and one of the oldest building (1371) in Canterbury Something caught my attention on the menu: ‘The Bishop’s Mitre’, a gigantic burger that you will not find anywhere else, as assured me the cook...
Hungry yet?
CINEMA
Lone wolf wandering in futuristic LA falls in love with
operating system. Yet, ‘Her’ is not what you expect it to be, ‘Her’ is not about futuristic relationships or anti-social behaviour. ‘Her’ is about timeless crushing loneliness. The loneliness of a confused, recently divorced, heartbroken, melancholic Theodore who falls in love with a beautiful, pure and witty fleeting soul with no flesh who calls herself Samantha. Sipke Jonze takes us into a world where people walk by each other, seemingly talking to themselves, when actually communicating with their operating system through a tiny, almost imperceptible earpierce. Although futuristic, this could well be a very realistic depiction of today’s world. ‘Her’ is a constant oscillation between reality and fiction, comedy and tragedy, LA and Shanghai. An incredibly insightful illustration of the chaos of this ‘socially acceptable kind of insanity’ that we call love. Three reasons why you should watch ‘Her’: Scarlett Johansson’s whiskey voice, virtual sex, and Joaquim Phoenix’s trim moustache.
‘HER’ 2h 6min USA, 2013 Drama, Romance, Science Fiction Directed & written by: Spike Jonze Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Chris Pratt, Olivia Wilde Trailer
‘WAKING LIFE’
Brain
rape alert. Between the hypnotic animation and the very intense existential conversations about identity, free will and reality, ‘Waking Life’ is a psychedelic cinematic trip to a philosophical heaven. And if you thought this last sentence was convoluted, try watching ‘Waking Life’. A dream within a dream within a dream, Wiley (the dreamer) is not trapped, he is just lucid dreaming. And at one point when watching this movie, I thought I was too. That’s the genius of Richard Linklater. ‘Waking Life’ takes you back to those fleeting moments of ultimate connection, ‘human moments’ of sharing insights on our human experience with friends and strangers alike, usually very late at night (or in your philosophy seminars). ‘Waking Life’ is full of intriguing and thought provoking encounters. My personal favorite is the Soap Opera Woman who refuses to be an ant and yearns for human moments with strangers. Funnily enough, this movie was recommended to me by a (really cute) stranger on a bus. He too refused to be an ant. The transcript is worth a read if you think (but are not sure) you fell asleep during the movie and missed out on the great philosophical monologues.
“It seems like everyone is sleepwalking through their waking state or wake walking through their dreams.”
1h 41min USA, 2001 Drama, Annimation, Art House and International Directed & written by: Richard Linklater Cast: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Steven Prince, Wiley Wiggins, Lorelei Linklater, Glover Gill Trailer
‘ABOUT TIME’
2h 3min USA, 2013 Drama, Comedy, Science Fiction Directed by: Richard Curtis Cast: Tom Hughes, Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Tom Hollander Trailer
Yes, the movie is a bit long, and when it’s over you may
think to yourself: ‘About time! Now I can finally go make myself a turkey sandwich’. But after those 2 hours and 3 minutes what you really want to do is tell the people you love how much you love them, and go hug the world. Tim Lake is a young and shy ginger guy with a perfectly ordinary life, remarkably well interpreted by Domhnall Gleeson (who, by the way, sounds just like Hugh Grant). Tim finds out about his family heritage on his 21st birthday: time travel, and takes us on the journey of his ‘extraordinary ordinary life’.
About time is the perfect recipe for a ‘Voyage and Return’ plot. All the ingredients are there: anticipation stage, initial fascination, frustration, nightmare stage, and finally the thrilling escape and return stage. With a pinch of humor and eccentricity, characteristic of Richard Curtis films. The movie fills up your half-empty glass with liters of love and optimism, awakens your thirst for life, and makes you want to buy a house in Cornwall. It leaves you with one existential question though: had Tim not been able to travel in time and make up for his clumsy first performance in bed with Mary, would he still have won her heart?
‘Whatever Works’
‘Whatever Works’is the story a cynical man who rambles
to the audience about the failed state of humanity. His world vision: ‘a cruel, dog-eat-dog pointless black chaos’. Is that what postmodernism is about? A loss of faith in human conscience and morality?
‘You read about some massacre in Darfur or some school bus gets blown up, and you go “Oh my God, the horror,” and then you turn the page and finish your eggs from the free range chickens.’ Woody Allen deconstructs the feel-good story we tell ourselves, he holds a mirror in front of our hypocrite selves and tells us the truth about the postmodernist world, a story no one wants to hear. The tales of the inability of man to give meaning to his own life, the temptation to let ‘the next generation of idiots’ define what’s appropriate for us, to put us in a box.
The fallacious idea that all people are decent, that human nature is inherently good. ‘We’re a failed species’, claims Boris Yellnikoff, the limping guy who’s been hired to talk to the audience. And we listen carefully to his babbling because, according to him, we ‘paid some good money to watch this movie so some moron in Hollywood can buy a bigger swimming pool’. In the opening scene, Woody Allen delivers postmodernist content in a postmodernist way. He challenges the cinematic customs by having the main character addressing himself directly to the audience. Boris Yellnikoff jumps out of the screen and becomes the devil on your shoulder, whispering delicately in your ear how much of a stupid moron you are. And it works, whatever works.
1h 32min USA, 2009 Comedy, Romance Directed & written by: Woody Allen Cast: Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Ed Begley Jr, Patricia Clarkson,
More information here!
Conleth Hill Trailer
POLITICS Backlashes of violence in South Africa
Today the world is mourning one of the greatest and
most inspiring leaders of history on their Facebook status and Twitter accounts. And if you are befriended with fellow feminists on social networks, you’ve probably read the following quote on your newsfeed: « Freedom cannot be achieved, unless the women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression. » Nelson Mandela1 And indeed, perhaps one of the greatest achievements of Nelson Mandela is how he fought for women’s cause.
Creating a constitution which gave South African women one of the most comprehensive set of rights such as: the right to ‘bodily and psychological integrity’,2 the right to ‘make decisions concerning reproduction’ and to ‘security and control over their body’.3 Protecting women from discrimination, rape and domestic violence. Signing and ratifying the CEDAW treaty. And the list could most certainly go on. Yet gender-based violence in post-conflict South Africa remains critically prominent, with the highest known figures for a country not at war.4 Puzzling, huh?
‘Hate crimes and corrective rapes are systematically happening’
The
violence occurring today in South Africa is particularly targeted at vulnerable minorities, such as black women in the LGBTI community.5 Vulnerable in the sense that their rights are yet to be fully recognized by the constitution. Hate crimes and ‘corrective rapes’ are systematically happening, despite the promise in the constitution of ‘equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation’ that Mandela put forward during his mandate. As Donna Pankhurst suggests, it is challenging to consider the nature and existence of post-conflict violence backlashes. There is no obvious pattern. These backlashes are characterized by their speed and dramatic force, and usually happen in a context when everyone expects life to be improving.6 As a matter of fact, postapartheid South Africa definitely qualifies.
Corrective rape survivors interviewed by the NGO ‘ActionAid’ said that verbal abuse before and during the rape focused on being ‘taught a lesson’ and being ‘shown how to be real women and what a real man tasted like’. Women who choose not to identify as heterosexual are indeed being targeted for daring to step outside the societal boundaries. In a dissertation entitled ‘Deferred and dismembered? Sexual Violence against women in ‘post-conflict’ South Africa’ Wendy Isaack suggests that if women continue to be marginalized and sexually violated simply because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity it is because ‘the political compromises made in the South African transition failed to address violence against women and have left women vulnerable and victimized’.7
‘Women continue to be marginalized and sexually violated simply because of their sexual orientation’
‘The Truth and Reconciliation Commission failed us
as women’, claimed together a group of women taking part in an ‘Art and Memory’ workshop organized by the South African History Archive. The workshops, they declared, enables members to recall and commemorate experiences of gender-based violence that had been ignored or suppressed by the TRC.8 In some sense, and despite Mandela’s efforts, the TRC lacked a truly inclusive gender perspective. The gender neutral nature of the mandate meant that there was no specific category for gender violence against women. It was subsumed under the heading ‘serious ill-treatment’. No questions were asked about rape and gender-based violence when women were interviewed. If they spoke out, statement-takers usually did not record it. Furthermore, rape and gender-based violence did not fall within the criteria of a political act as defined by the enabling act. A perpetrator who had committed rape as a political act would therefore not qualify for amnesty of these grounds. Consequently, no amnesty applicants would admit in their statements that they had raped.9
As Wendy Isaack points out, such omissions contribute to a transitional mechanism that reproduces problematic stereotypes, entrenching inequalities and hegemonies.10 Failing to establish firm grounds for a society free of gender-based violence. According to Helen Moffett, contemporary sexual violence in South Africa is ‘fuelled by justificatory narratives rooted in the Apartheid practices that legitimated violence by the dominant group against the disempowered’. Practices that the TRC arguably failed to condemn and delegitimize. Practices that continue to plague the country today. Zanele Muholi is a visual activist. ‘We live in fear’, says Zanele on behalf of black women of the LGBTI community in South Africa. She documents through her art a violence that often goes unreported. She gives a voice and a face to a community particularly prone to genderbased violence. A necessity because of the vulnerable and underrepresented nature of her community. But also because of the culture of silence that persists in South Africa when it comes to gender-based violence. Perhaps it is in women like Zanele that Mandela’s legacy can be felt most strongly. She indisputably embodies the strength, resilience and humanity inherited from Madiba’s inspiring struggle.
‘The Truth and Reconciliation Commission failed us as women’
Photo credit @Musée Confluences
More articles on Global Gender Justice
References: [1] Nelson Mandela in his first State of the Nation Address, Parliament, Cape Town, South Africa, 24 May 1994 [2] Robertso, Karen. ‘How Nelson Mandela helped free the women of South Africa’ for The Telegraph (Online) Available at: <http://www. telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10499591/Nelson-Mandela-How-he-freed-the-women-of-South-Africa.html> [Last accessed 8th December 2013] [3] More on Women’s Rights in the Constitutional Court of South Africa (Online) Available at: <http://www.constitutionalcourt.org.za/text/ rights/know/women.html> [Last accessed 8th December 2013] [4] Moffett, Helen. ‘These Women, They Force Us to Rape Them’: Rape as Narrative of Social Control in Post-Apartheid South Africa’ Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol. 32, No. 1, Women and the Politics of Gender in Southern Africa (Mar., 2006), pp. 129-144 [5] LGBTI: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender/Transexual and Intersexed [6] Pankhurst, Donna. ‘Post-War Backlash Violence against Women: What Can ‘Masculinty’ explain?’ Gendered Peace: Women’s Struggles for Post-War Jutice and Reconciliation. (2008): 293-320 (New York: Routledge) [7] Isaack, Wendy. ‘Deferred and dismembered? Sexual Violence against women in ‘post-conflict’ South Africa’. Written for the University of Ulster (2006) [8] Seidman, Judy and Bonasa, NomaRussia. ‘Tsogang Basadi: Finding women’s voice from South Africa’s political conflict’. Workshop Report. [9] Khulumani website. ‘How the TRC failed women in South Africa: A failure that has proved fertile ground for the gender violence women in South Africa face today’ (Online) Available at: <http://khulumani.net/truth-a-memory/item/527-how-the-trc-failed-women-insouth-africa-a-failure-that-has-proved-fertile-ground-for-the-gender-violence-women-in-south-africa-face-today.html> [Last accessed 8th December 2013] [10] Ibid. [7]
CREATIVE RANTING
Crazy Candle Lady
My addiction for the smell of scented candles started about a year ago.
I would love to tell you the story of how and why it started, but I have no idea, it just happened. Kind of like any other addictions, it’s not the result of poor life decisions or lack of will power (I swear), but it just happens. The candle stimulates all of your senses, the heavenly smell of Bali sandalwood, the warm touch of wax on your fingertips, the sound of the candle burning gently and slowly, the delicate taste of smoke when you blow it out, and the birthday joy of doing so. The only exotism I can afford is the smell of that £3 (on sale) weekly candle of mine, a trip to Bali all expenses paid. I buy it on my way home on a rainy day, hold it like a trophy, and carefully place it on its reserved seat, on my night table. Here comes the moment of glory, the lighting up of the Olympic flame… My soul is ready to be blown away, to travel in time, space and smell. Oh dear candle, please take me away from reality, let me close my eyes, let your alluring scent invade all of my senses and penetrate the world of my imagination, take me to Bali. Wait? Where is my lighter?... Crap, cheeky lighter has disappeared again, probably travelling in somebody else’s pocket. Ruining the build up exaltation of my story! What do I do now?
‘What
do I do now?’ is precisely the question I forgot to ask myself before I grabbing my coat and running off all the way to Poundland where I knew I could get the cheapest lighter on the market. Although at some point when my shoes were soaking wet, mascara running down my face, hair in my mouth, I thought to myself ‘What the hell am I doing?’. But the addictive crave took over and I carried on running in the rain, biting my fingernails like a crack addict. Eventually I got to the shop. I could feel a sense of relief as I grabbed the so called lighter on the shelf (buy one get one free). I did not realize I would have to queue - the nightmare is not over. ‘All is relative’ says Einstein, but I swear those two minutes I spent queuing felt like an eternity. My legs are still shaky, from the race I would like to say, but my doctor says it’s the craving… An eternity has ended and here I am in front of the cashier, I hand her the lighters with a smile, she stares at me suspiciously: ‘ID please’. What? All the sudden I feel the blood rushing through my body, my heart starts pumping like a drum, ‘Keep calm’ I think to myself, I can hear the wise voice of my yoga instructor ‘Breathe in, breathe out’. I don’t have my freaking ID with me, I’m here to buy a bloody lighter not to board an airplane!
I can’t describe the look on my face, you’d have to ask the bouncer, I mean the cashier. But I know I was very confused. The dialogue went something like this: ‘Are you serious?’, ‘Yes’ she said, I didn’t even bother arguing or looking in my bag for some kind of ID (which I later I realize was indeed in my purse). I stormed off the shop feeling betrayed, as if my drug dealer had gone to rehab and couldn’t provide me with the ‘stuff’ anymore. After I gathered myself and recovered a sense of sanity, I realized how ridiculous the situation was and started drawing a mental list of all the ‘potentially threatening’ items I had previously bought without my ID: scissors, fireworks, condoms, space cakes, cigarettes, vodka, tequila, a sharp pencil, a hairdryer, a gerbil (very dangerous creatures indeed)… And yet I couldn’t purchase a lighter! What can I possibly do with a lighter that could harm anybody, I have never stepped on an ant in my entire life! Why would you assume that buying a lighter means lighting up a cigarette or burning down the Houses of Parliament? Shall I take you back to the Stone Age and tell you all about the discovery of fire? Plus, do I really look like I’m under eighteen, seriously? The rain eventually stopped. I went home, made a fire with sticks and stones, and lit up a fag.
‘The addictive crave took over and I carried on running in the rain, biting my fingernails like a crack addict.’
WANDER TO WONDER 17 Places we (no longer) take for granted Wherever you are, there is a beautiful place you are taking for granted. Open your eyes and start noticing the beauty of this place which for some reason today has made you stop and say ‘Wow, I’ve never noticed this before’. Beauty is in the eyes of the wanderer. If you can’t see it, wander harder.
‘Women are Heroes’ exhibition Paris, 2009
Join the Facebook group to find out more: Places we (no longer) take for granted
1. Vondelpark Amsterdam, The Netherlands by Barbara Martinet
2. Isla Vista Santa Barbara, USA by Raina Roberts
W A N D E R
3. Libreria Aqua Alta Venice, Italy by O.C
4. Two hours South of Tokyo, Japan by Rich Goodger
5. Coast of Howth, Ireland by Izabela K Stanley
6. Vaucluse, France by Emma Gachet
7. Turin, Italy by Filippo Masetto
8. Auvergne, France by Joshi Gottlieb
9. Parkwood Canterbury, UK by Devisha Vythelingum
10. Rishikesh, India by Alice Perez
11. Cataract Canyon Utah, USA by Pauline Igo
12. Nis, Serbia by Olivera Popovic
13. Sabah Borneo Island, Malaysia by Guillaume Rethore
14. Brittany, France by Julia Battini
15. La CitĂŠ Radieuse Marseille, France by Modesti
16. Myanmar at sunset by Ufuk Inci
17. Rome, Italy by Alessandra Albani
A familiar place seen with new eyes, an unfamiliar place discovered in awe, a formerly unoticed detail, a simple beauty, an unusual charm, a memory, a light... Start wandering and wondering about what you (no longer) take for granted.
More photos HERE
My name is NoĂŠmie Battini, iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve always wanted to be a tightrope walker, Balancing on a rope at dizzying heights
and here i am.
Disclaimer: This magazine was written by an undergraduate student, for educational purposes. The information contained therein is for information purposes only. Nothing in this issue has any intentional, or unintentional commercial purpose or function. While the author has sought to ensure that the information is up to date and correct, she makes no representation or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or accountability with respect to the website or the information, products, services or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Every effort has been made to obtain such permissions as are required for the reproduction of copyright images, etc., and the author apologizes if she has inadvertently omitted to obtain any such permission. All views and opinions herein are strictly those of the writer.
Š Julia Battini
tightropewalker tightropewalker #1