Latitude Lookout by Greenwich Students' Union

march 2015

spring issue How to get how Internship an internship festival preparation women's history month

index

Editorial Hi everyone, It is coming to that stressful time of year, when deadlines are around every corner and the fear of impending exams is growing. This issue includes a few suggestions of ways that you can take some time to relax during this hectic time. Try out the pancake ball recipe, or give the new Game of Thrones game a chance. If you are thinking about what to do over the summer, this issue includes advice on how to secure a place on an internship scheme and a review of a new app which aims to help students get part time work. We are also celebrating the works of the winners and runners up of the Poetry Slam that was held in March. You can find examples of their work in the creative writing section of the magazine and the poems by all of the other performers are showcased on the website. As March is Women’s History Month, check out the articles dedicated to this event and much more. We have one more issue before the end of the year so it’s not too late to join. If you are interested in writing for the magazine and want to come along to one of our meetings email me at lucyweller@ymail.com If you want to find out more about what’s going on with Latitude Lookout follow us on Twitter and find us on Facebook. twitter.com/UoGMagazine www.facebook.com/latitudelookout If you want to read more articles, go to our website: www.suug.co.uk/media

Join the team!

Editor in Chief - Lucy Weller Assistant Editor- Jade Burnett Entertainment Editor- Kavell Dennis Creative Submissions Editor- Sara O’Brien Music Editor- Rüya Yönak PR- Heather Scott

5 your new officer team 6 ugly models 7 pickle 8 50 shades of grey 9 Telltale's Game of Thrones 10 How to get an Internship 11 Advice for International Students 12 Festival Preparation 13 pancake balls 14 women's history month

Lucy Weller Editor-in-Chief

The team

4 words from the president

Are you a budding journalist, photographer, or designer? Gain experience and show off your skills here. Anyone interested can email: lucyweller@ymail.com

15 three Films to Jump start Your Feminism 16 UoG's POETRY SLAM 17 writer's showcase 20 Neon Waltz 21 RAE MORRIS 22 Top Four Dresses from the Oscars 2015 23 pink party!

Words From The President

It’s almost as if the whole thing was a dream, they always flash by so fast. Of course, I am talking about the Students’ Union leadership elections that take place every year in March. It was odd for me, as for the first time in four years I wasn’t running in an election (that’s four wins in a row in case you were wondering!), and that meant that I was on the other side of the fence looking in. I’ll come back to what I observed in a bit. It’s these elections that make Students’ Unions up and down the country completely unique. To my knowledge there is no organisation in the world that changes its leadership on an

annual basis, and by changing this leadership it also changes direction – but not in a haphazard or damaging way. The manifestos that the candidates run on set a programme of work for the coming academic year, the skilled team of staff at the SU (to which I personally owe a lot) craft these priorities and these ideas into the day to day working of the Union and things carry on seamlessly from year to year. It’s fair to say that sometimes candidates are elected and fall into the extremes of the role. They either completely fail to undertake what they promised or they shake things up so much that they throw the baby out with the bath water; but still even in these cases things

are carefully managed so that the day to day running of the Union and its primary functions continues. It really is a complex system, but a masterpiece. Over the last few issues of the Lookout I’ve been gently trying to nudge all you lovely readers into either running in the elections or at the very least going out to vote. I was subtle about it, but I do hope it inspired someone out there. Those who you have elected can and will make a difference to your lives at Greenwich. They will help shape and steer both the University and the Students’ Union, and they will hopefully do that with a strong sense of pride, but also responsibility for the role and an understanding of the needs of students and the need to explore and represent the student voice thoroughly. The elections that have just ended were the best I’ve ever witnessed at Greenwich. All of the candidates who ran, whether they won or lost, should be proud of what they contributed to the leadership race. For the first time ever independent candidates (as in those outside of a “team”) ran strong, creative, and merit filled campaigns and that is something I never thought I’d see. There are still some challenges faced by the Students’ Union but I’m personally confident that in the coming years, with my name a distant memory, that the number of candidates running in the elections will continue to rise in both numbers and quality, and importantly the number of students who go out and vote will continue to climb. I’m informed that this will be my penultimate article for this fine student paper, so look out (pun intended) for a super spectacular round up of my two years in the next issue. As ever, email me president@greenwich.ac.uk, Tweet me @PresGreenwich, or find my page on Facebook to ask me questions, send me love/ abuse, or just say ‘hi’.

Alex Brooks President

elections 2015

your new officer team 2015-2016 Sabbatical officers

Harry Hodges President

Roisin Dunne VP Education

Tony Whitehead VP Student Activities

Scarlett Dempsey VP Campaigns & Welfare

part-time officers

Olumide Oyewo Black Students Officer

Joshua Knight Disabled Students Officer

Christopher Neal Robert Warwick Seraphina Simmons-Bah Amber Doy Postgraduate Medway Campus Officer Avery Hill Campus Officer Women Students Officer and Part-time Students Officer

Chris Hughes Vivian van Lent Greenwich Campus Officer LGBT+ Students Officer

Hannah Woolcott Volunteering Officer

Keira Johnson Senira Senaratne International Students Officer Mature Students Officer

nus delegates 5 Harry Hodges

Ed Oakes

Roisin Dunne

Scarlett Dempsey

Melissa Burns

Daniel Ford

Ugly Models Are you 6ft, well toned, with flawless skin and a smile that could illuminate the entire Eurotunnel? Congratulations, but I’m afraid that is not enough for this particular agency: Ugly Models. Yes, there is absolutely no spelling mistake there; this is a real modelling agency. Yet, the name is not to be taken that literally. By Ana Marta Laranjeira

The London based company was founded in 1969 to fill in a gap in the market, just like every good business should. Their goal was simple: to find interesting faces and people with peculiar features. While in a certain way, other agencies offer the same “standardised” features with their models in order to answer the demands of the high fashion industry, Ugly Models has no specific physical requirements. To be accepted as one of their models, one must have character. The agency’s motto is “Any beauty can be airbrushed but we want our look to have true character” and their aim is to share your uniqueness, and even your most bizarre side (although this is not actually mandatory). If you decide to take a wander around their website, ugly. org, take a look at their “About Us” section. There you’ll find: “We like our women fat and our men geeky, we like the extremely tall and the shockingly small. No one is too abstract for our books! We are Ugly. And we are the leaders in character modelling.” They have models from the next-door Mum with the bubbly personality and the cute looking girl in a wheel chair to guys covered in piercings and 3ft models. There are some interesting model categories, such as “Thugs”, “X files”, “Guinness World Records”, “Wee Folks”, amongst some others, but in reality there isn’t too much categorization in this agency. Ugly Models prides itself in knowing all of their models by name and treating them as unique individuals, which makes the whole labelling process rather unnecessary and secondary. In spite of all of this, don’t get the impression that they are not a serious company. They do mean business, providing models to big names such as Vogue, Calvin Klein, Diesel, and more. The unique selection of models allows them to always have a look for every kind of market and client. Therefore, I’ll reformulate my initial question: Do you have a striking personality, a weird talent or an embarrassing, yet awesome body feature? Then I think you might actually be an Ugly Model!

New App for April

Pickle

We sat down with Founder and Director of the new odd jobs app Pickle, Daneh Westropp, to find out about this new way of making extra money around London for students. Before the app launches in April, we wanted to find out about making extra money, getting people to do odd jobs and the process of creating and launching a new app. By Kavell Dennis

How did you come up with the idea for Pickle? Being a mother of a 12 year old and dealing with what life throws at you, you’re always finding yourself having to do a million jobs. So, I thought wouldn’t it be great if there was some kind of platform where you would be able to get anything that you needed doing done. How long have you been working on Pickle, from inception to launch? I came up with this idea in May, actually, and I did my research and it’s just been all go from then.

What separates Pickle from competitors? It gives you the flexibly that you need, as well as being able to work on there, because it’s an open market, you’d be able to get things done that you wouldn’t be able to afford (elsewhere), because you can negotiate (prices) and there is a bidding system. You would be able to get things done cheaper than you normally would. So if you needed an electrician or a plumber or even a removal company to move house and you can’t afford to go to a big company, you would get it done cheaper (on Pickle).

For students who are interested in making their own ideas into apps, what was your process? How does this help students? At the beginning, obviously come up It gives the flexibility that they need. Life with the idea, you do your research see in London can be quite difficult at times, money and unemployment is a huge thing if anyone’s done this before; see if there at the moment and I think… they would be are any competitors. And the first step is What is Pickle? finding someone to build the able to earn money on Pickle enables users to find and post jobs. app for you and I think that’s a the side while studying. These jobs could be anything from getting big challenge. It’s hard to find, someone to pick up a pint of milk for I guess it depends on if you How does payment you to getting an electrician, a plumber, know someone who can build getting your house renovated,dog walked, work? it for you, I didn’t, I didn’t know So, everything’s done anything you can think of you can get done. anybody so I had to outsource. through the app, I had to find a good company through a third party Where is it available? and I wanted to make sure I called Stripe. There is It is currently available for iPhones. We are went with the best people I no cash involved and currently building the android version and could find in London because for it goes straight into it should be ready at the end of March. We me I thought timing was quite your bank account, so are looking for testers so if anyone has the important I wanted to get it when you first sign up iPhone and would love to help us out, that done very quickly. to Stripe they take care would be great. of everything. As soon Contact Pickle: as the job is complete, it support@picklejobs.com will go into your account and it takes about a week.

review

Fifty Shades of Grey All judgement aside, we were warned before Fifty Shades of Grey that “there is apparently no boob in this movie”. Our source was wrong. By Callum Sharp and Rob Henderson *

In the depths of Christian Grey’s ‘playroom’ lurk some atrocities that no viewer should ever lay their eyes upon, Fifty Shades of Grey is possibly the worst film of 2015 despite its definite hype. The occasional noteworthy performance did nothing to assert the directive skills of Sam Taylor–Johnson or the story, which was hailed for its empowering themes and ground-breaking characterisation. It was a complete flop, unlike Mr Grey’s you know what.

disturbing was the lack of sincerity towards the core themes of the story. Although it’s clear that Taylor-Johnson is making an effort to promote the equality of the female body, Fifty Shades of Grey is two hours of a man sexually and mentally dominating a young woman, making for many disrespectful and uncomfortable scenes. You begin to question, where is the empowerment?

Talking of disturbing, Mr Grey’s unsettling ‘playroom/batcave’ would surely have any Some scenes were just too hairy to handle, woman running for the hills because rather including the horrendous close up of Mr Grey’s than cape and cowl, Christian seems to have failure to trim, while others awkwardly unfolded; a slight interest in outlandish leather fineries; consisting of whips, ropes and all things cuffedleaving the audience laughing, mocking and practically jeering at the lame excuse for soft-core up. Besides this, what’s the deal with Miss Steel’s porn. This is the problem, Fifty Shades of Grey phone? We know she must be distanced from the was far too vanilla and although Taylor-Johnson’s extravagant world of billionaire Mr Grey but the blend of romance and erotica were intended for constant shots of her ancient flip-phone question the director’s lack of attention, or just highlight a watchable feature, this rendition of the novel fell short at its first hurdle. Yes there’s nudity and LG’s worst product placement campaign since, well, ever. yes there’s adult content but the sex sucked and wasn’t that the whole point? What’s most

To give credit to Fifty… there are some positive aspects to the movie. The brooding soundtrack features the haunting voices of Ellie Goulding and Beyoncé, which add to the highly polished production and the attention to classy detail. Amongst the ridiculous lines like “Fifty Shades of F****d up” (to which half the audience groaned with dissatisfaction), the pitiful demonstration of severe whipping and over-use of chap-stick ridden lips, we just can’t help but want to see more. Left on a notably intense cliff-hanger, Fifty Shades of Grey is possibly the best film of 2015, hormonal right? Latitude Lookout watched Fifty Shades of Grey at Greenwich Picturehouse. Lookout for their Student deals including their weekly under 24, £4 offer and their £10 student membership (includes 2 free tickets!) Find more information at their website, www. greenwich.picturehouse.com

Telltale's Game of Thrones By Jake Thomas

HBO’s immensely popular Game of Thrones has inspired a glut of video-game spin-offs. Most of them charge you with leading one of the great Houses of Westeros to dominance in a bid to win the eponymous Game. However, few of these have inspired me to feel the same way about their characters as I did for the TV series’ and given that this is its strength, it is a little disappointing. The show brilliantly plays with audience’s expectations. It’s extremely capricious, taking from us our favourite characters with whom we have intimately shared both glory and despair. We are taken to the peak of a dramatic rollercoaster, expecting the good guy to give us a victorious and cathartic plummet, only for the support struts to snap apart and for us to come crashing back down to earth. Telltale Games, the developers that made the episodic Walking Dead game, have recently launched their take on Game of Thrones. They excel in creating characters with depth and they also understand genre, when to follow convention and when to subvert it. Their games play like interactive TV shows, blending tense action sequences with meaningful story choices – shoot first or ask questions? For example. They know how to play the player, a knack few games achieve, ever played Bioshock? Telltale’s narrative scope is acute but not un-epic and in fact, very believable and effective. Their Game of Thrones follows House Forrester, a family loyal to the Starks. You’ll start at the Red Wedding. You’ll play as the Forrester siblings and you must ensure your family’s survival. Here, like in the show, is the theme of duty. Duty to one’s family and friends, they are not always the same and it is impossible to fulfil both. You’ll end up balancing relationships, gaining favours from people whilst protecting your back from them. Desperation will necessitate stabbing them in the back too. You’re never given enough foreknowledge of the consequences of your actions but if you’re smart you can make predictions as to how the plot will play out. Should you really give the Glenmore’s half of your rare Ironwood (the thing making you useful to the Lannisters) to secure an alliance? Unlike most games, winning the battle may not win you the war. However, the graphics and animations may turn you off. Too often I received ambiguous Kuleshov reactions from characters. To compound the confusion the staging is not quite right, at times you can’t tell who’s looking at who. You’ll also have to put up with the fact that the characters are essentially mimics of the ones in the show. There’s a guy that goes to The Wall, a girl alone in King’s Landing, a boy suddenly expected to lead men, etc. Then again, that’s exactly what some people want, to be Jon Snow et al. Telltale’s Game of Thrones is commendable for telling a solidly built story with the show’s cast voice acting and although it is just more of the same, it’s more of the Game, so definitely try it!

How to get an Internship Getting Started By: Filippa Bahrke

Amidst The Process By: Edward P. Jemes

Telephone Interviews: usually straightforward and many times easier than the assessment centres due to the lack of depth in which the topics are discussed. This is the time to shine with the personal skills such as communication, teamwork, or analytical skills. Remember to back your thoughts with examples from your employment or academic skills. Express your ideas with the STAR guide:

Employers are increasingly aware of the value of concrete professional experience in the related field on top of academic achievements. There are different ways in which internships can be undertaken. There are industrial placements, usually occurring during 2nd year, graduate placements lasting a year after graduation, and summer internships ranging from 3 weeks to 3 months. As companies are opening up to more interns, competition is getting fiercer. Therefore a good knowledge of the process and a high standard on your application is vital. Online, it is easy to get lost in a jungle of websites that function as search engines for internships. But before taking that plunge, make sure you have a CV which is impressive, errorless and neat. The University’s GET department should be the first step, as they offer professionals who can advise you on structuring your CV, as well as help with highlighting your strengths. Their service can be particularly useful for international students, as CVs come in different formats and may look different in the UK (such as merging CV and cover letter). To land an internship, persistence will be your best friend. Remember that your CV is not just a singular document. It will have to be edited into multiple different versions, each tailored for a certain job. So create a ‘skeleton’ CV, serving as a base, then do the research for each specific company to understand which skills are needed, and finally emphasise these on the CV. Now, what if your list of work experience equals a blank space? This is where you need to get creative. Think about skills and achievements you’ve picked up through university or school. Maybe you have been volunteering in the past or are active in a society. Perhaps you have a hobby you are passionate about or successful at. However unrelated these things seem, experience and accomplishments are always valuable.

Photos: Divyang Chopra

It is helpful to do a background check on the previous interns’ experiences of the company you are applying for by looking into their blogs or websites. Research the role you are applying for to the smallest details (even how many hours a typical shift is). Also check how the company is doing in the news, read as many articles as possible or even follow the company’s news section. Usually they will appreciate the fact that you are keeping up with the company from outside. Logical Tests: These tests are surprisingly challenging, ranging from the numerical test to the logical test. The key is practice. Practice is needed to accommodate the mind into the time set in these tests (usually you will be warned that you will need to 20 minutes to complete all the questions while you will be given 15 minutes). When rejection knocks on the door: There is an Italian expression that goes “Buon viso a cattiva sorte”: to every bad event one should always smile. So although it may be a negative feeling when rejected, especially from the company where you burned ambitiously to work, cheer up and don’t get depressed. So you didn’t get the internship you wanted? Keep looking elsewhere and other opportunities will open up. Luckily some companies will provide their feedback on their assessments or interviews. Use to these to gauge your weaknesses, correct them and be more prepared for the next interviews. Remember Winston Churchill’s words “Never, never, never give up.”

Advice for International Students By Georgi Bonev

To all you enthusiasts who are immensely eager to throw yourselves into the deep and unknown, and clash with the different culture, let me warn of you something… it might not be as pleasant as you thought. Of course, I don’t mean to scare you, by no means at all. I just want to prepare you for all the challenges that you will have to face as international students. These challenges will undoubtedly make your life in the UK more difficult than you have expected but in overcoming them you will find one of the greatest pleasures in life. The pebbles on the road will help you build up your character and make you a more confident person and believe me, from my own experience, I know that it is exactly confidence that you will mostly need throughout your journey.

Cultural differences are probably the main challenge for us EU/International students in the UK. It may be interesting to all of you to experience a different culture than your own but keep in mind that here some things will be accepted differently than in your country. For instance, in Spain people tend to arrive late for meetings with family and friends. And when I say late, I mean up to two hours late. While sometimes this may be overlooked or accepted, that is not necessarily the case in all cultures and can be interpreted in a different way. Please don’t be late when you are meeting with Brits, they may get quite irritated at that. And, of course, never ever be late for a job interview.

As strange as it may sound, I would say that academic difficulties, won’t be much of a struggle… that is if you really want to learn. We kick off with the language barrier. Yes, Keep in mind that this is University, it is a whole new level and you will have to put in a lot more I know… since you have decided to study effort. Attention during lectures is important abroad it is only natural that you have taken some intensive language course. Nevertheless, but if you think that is all that is required of you will still experience difficulties in you, you are gravely mistaken. Doing the understanding everything that the lecturers say. preparatory and recommended reading is essential. The assigned texts may seem a bit Communication with fellow students won’t be as fluent as you’d like either. What I recommend difficult at the beginning but after some time you will start to understand everything without is reading English literature, it helps a lot. the need to read it a couple of times.

Finance, finance, finance. I hate to say it, but I am still experiencing financial problems. It depends on the economic condition of your country, I guess. However there are few things that you can do in order to help yourself and your parents financially. Firstly, get yourself a part-time job. The educational system in the UK is structured in a way that enables you to study and work at the same time (without sacrificing a great deal of your social life). Secondly, learn to cook! It is way cheaper to cook for yourself than to eat outside in expensive restaurants. Transport is expensive! As a student you are eligible for a student travel card, get yourself one issued by your University and take advantage of the discounts. Lastly on the list comes the feeling of nostalgia. It really depends on the person, though. Once you step on foreign soil you will be either overwhelmed by excitement of everything new around you or by tears for your beloved ones. Guess who was the biggest crybaby when he first got to the UK? Packing my bags and going back home has crossed my mind more times than you can possibly imagine. I could hear the voice inside my head: “pull yourself together and stop acting like a baby”. It was out of sheer stubbornness that I decided to continue my journey and now I can proudly say that it was the best decision I’ve ever made in my life.

Festival Preparation If you look reallllly closely at the sky at around 12 o clock on a good day, you might just catch a tiny little ray of sunshine. It is officially Spring, and the sun is teasing us a little bit more every day… before you know it we will be graced with the full presence of the British sun, (1 full hour of heat!) and the festival season will have arrived. So you lucky Londoners, with a host of great festivals planned in the city including Wireless, Lovebox and British Summer Time, its best to start preparing now before the mad rush of denim shorts and flowerpower headbands take over every shop floor. (Or if you’re like me, need that extra couple of week’s delivery from Amazon where everything is much cheaper…) Here are some of my best picks! By: Heather Scott

Tent

Argos is currently having a tent sale, and you can get this 4 Man ProAction Tent for £19.99 – perfect for kicking your wellies off after a long day of drinking, dancing and sun stroke.

Wellies

Speaking of wellies, they are not only fundamental in making sure your feet stay dry amongst the British weather (I’m really not a fan), vomit, urine, unconscious people and whatever else you find on a muddy festival field - but they are also a unique fashion statement. Stand out from the crowd with a pair of funky festival wellies: Sports Direct are currently having a sale, from Golddigga to Havaina’s, all wellies must go!

Fashion

And finally, the most important decision that comes after buying your ticket – what to wear. Always remember the three C’s when picking your festival attire: cool, comfortable and chic. H&M are teaming up with Coachella in 2015 to offer a festival fashion line which is available to order online from the 29th March. With prices ranging from £2.99 to £29.99, I might even be able to afford a whole new festival outfit this year after purchasing my drink supplies…might.

pancake balls When your deadlines overlap and Netflix binges are replaced with exam revision, I find it’s often that caffeine starts to exceed body water percentages and you end up being stuck with nothing to match the new bags you’re sporting under your eyes. In a tumble weeding state of stress and all-nighters (especially for my fellow third year students out there), taking the time and effort to cook a decent meal doesn’t tend to rank too high on a scale balancing sanity and word counts. With that, I decided to put together a snack recipe combining American pancakes with muffins. It is quick and simple, perfect to boost you through procrastination provoked—Ahh! it’s 20 minutes past 11pm on the deadline day— panic. Enjoy! By: Sara O’Brien

Ingredients: • 1 1/4 cups of flour • 2 teaspoons of baking powder • 1/2 teaspoon of salt • 2 tablespoons of sugar • 1 beaten egg • 3/4 of a cup of milk • 1 1/2 tablespoons of melted butter • Extra fillings, such as chocolate chips, strawberries, bananas, blueberries, cinnamon, etc

Procedure: • Preheat the oven to 200°C • Sift and mix the dry ingredients together • Pour liquids into the dry ingredients • Mix well and add the melted butter • Stir the mixture thoroughly • Grease a muffin tray with butter or oil • Pour the batter into each muffin cup until 3/4 full • Add your desired fillings into each cup • Be sure to push the fillings towards the centre of the cups • Bake at 200°C for about 12 minutes

women's history month Women’s History Month is a great time to expand our knowledge and look back on how much has been achieved by women, and how far we have come in terms of equality in the UK, especially given that less than 100 years ago we did not even have the right to vote. However, brilliant as this is, we cannot ignore how far we still have to go. We cannot pretend sexism is over, just because the UK’s sexism is harder to see than elsewhere, doesn’t mean it’s not there. By: Victoria Parrett

When 77% of MP’s are men, women make up only 18 out of 108 High Court judges, over 30,000 women lose their jobs each year after becoming pregnant, and 2 women a week are murdered by their current or ex-partner, we cannot ignore the existence of sexism in the UK. Women are continually under-represented and under-utilised in society, and only by acknowledging this do we have any chance of changing it. UN human rights expert Rashida Manjoo claimed that Britain’s sexist culture is more ‘pervasive’ and ‘in your face’ than any other country she had visited. Even beyond the statistics, it’s not hard to see sexism in the media and in our lives. Women are far more likely than men to be harassed on a daily basis just for walking down the street, or even for entering Sparrows. I’m told time and time again that feminism is pointless as ‘we’re already equal’, or that using the name feminism is detrimental to the cause because all feminists are all bra-burning lesbians who hate men. I think it’s quite obvious that feminists don’t hate men, and why would I dismiss the name under which millions of women before me have fought and won? Who’s

to say the opinions of braburning lesbians are any less valuable than those of the 20 men who attended Eton sitting in our parliament? As the Suffragettes proudly proclaimed 100 years ago, ‘deeds not words.’ The great irony of feminismsceptics is that many would probably identify as a feminist if they really knew the definition, as a feminist is someone who advocates for the social, political, legal, and economic rights of women to be equal to those of men. On 8th March, International Women’s Day, myself and fellow Feminism Society members attended a march with 50:50 Parliament and Care International to celebrate the day. The walk was attended by over 600 people, including Paloma Faith and Annie Lennox, but Bridget Christie’s words stood out most to me, “the question should no longer be ‘are you a feminist?’, the question should be ‘are you NOT a feminist?” As women, we’ve come a long way, but here and across the world we’re still not quite there yet. Luckily, feminism doesn’t show sign of slowing down, so join in the movement and help improve the lives of men and women across the globe. Because women won’t shut up, and they won’t be kept back.

Women's History Month

3 Films to Jump start Your Feminism Feminist is a word that is often seen as detrimental and intimidating. It doesn’t have to be, there is a spectrum of feminism like any other movement and entertainment is an avenue that many (men and women) use as a platform to promote equality. Sometimes the political agenda is made clear, sometimes the message is more subtle. To celebrate this month of female role models, here are three suggestions of films with strong female characters and real life personalities (possibly role models). By Kavell Dennis

clueless

On the complete other end of the spectrum is the seemingly surface deep, high school comedy, Clueless. Written and directed by Amy Heckerling as a loose interpretation of Jane Austen’s Emma, this film holds a strong comedic cast including Alicia Silverstone and Julie Brown and a sharp script full of historical female shout outs and culturecreating colloquialisms similar to predecessor Heathers (which is also worth watching if you love Mean Girls).

The Punk Singer

Nothing says female empowerment for our generation than the Riot Grrrl movement of the 90s. The Punk Singer is an intimate look at Kathleen Hanna, lead singer of Bikini Kills, Le Tigre and Julie Ruin. The documentary is a time capsule of the political movement through the lens of the 90s punk scene. The Punk Singer and Kathleen Hanna is not for everyone, the movement is in-yer-face, blunt and loud music.

alien

One of Ridley Scott’s most popular films, Alien has one thing that many Sci-Fi and action movies of the time didn’t: a strong female lead. Ellen Ripley wasn’t the damsel in distress, nor the sidekick to a burly man. Sigourney Weaver’s portrayal is spellbinding as an intelligent, competent heroine that is able to take control.

UoG's POETRY SLAM Between the Guidance and Employability Team (GET), the English Literature Society and the Creative Writing Society, the comeback of the UoG Poetry Slam was organised, after not holding one for over two years. Held in ‘Bar Lat’ on 19th February, they packed in thirteen student performance poets, who had their time to shine in front of some of the biggest names in the industry - Jonas McCloud, Maria Ferguson from Apple & Snakes, John-Paul O’Neill and OneNess Sankara. By: Paige Wilson

All of the contestants that performed in the slam were amazing, and all deserve a massive congratulations for not only writing amazing poetry, but having the confidence to perform it in front of such a large audience. After the event I managed to get a chance to have a word with a few of the judges, get their opinions on the acts and see if they had any helpful hints on how to get into the industry. OneNess said that she didn’t have a favourite but “everybody’s work really touched me, in really different ways.” and everyone that performed have begun their journey into performance poetry.

Here’s the top five pieces of advice: 1. Nag, Nag, Nag, NAG! Performance poetry is a growing art form, and one that is difficult to get in to. Don’t be discouraged if your work doesn’t get a response first time, send it to as many people as possible. Don’t be discouraged. 2. Be worldly in your knowledge, feed your art with the outside world, whether that’s art, literature, the news or other poetry. Align yourself with the outside world, connect with it, and use it as inspiration. 3. Don’t stop writing! The more you write, the more experienced you will get, and you’ll grow in writing and performance. 4. Go to different slams! Immerse yourself in the poetry slam phenomena, get inspiration from other poets. It all helps! 5. People have very different ideas of what poetry should be, and what it should sound like; so listen to criticism, but stay true to who you are and your voice. Lastly, well done to all of the contestants that performed, and a massive congratulations to the winner of the slam, Felicia Ngwube. And in joint second place, Nisar Bostan and Harry Gandy, and in third place, Jacob Birkinshaw.

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writer's showcase This issue’s Writer’s Showcase section features the winners from last month’s Poetry Slam along with another general submission, all of which were a pleasure to read. Congratulations Felicia Ngwube on winning first place at the Slam! You can find out more about the Poetry Slam event, the winners, and other contestants in this issue and on our website. After this, we have one final issue before the year finishes and I continue to encourage all writers, new and experienced, to send along their work! Allow yourself the right amount of time, space, and booze to grab inspiration rather than waiting around for it to arrive. Fold your 3 am curiosities into ink silhouetted realities, and as Ezra Pound insists, remember to “Make it new”. If you would like to submit please email your work to LLcreativesubmissions@gmail.com. We keep our prose pieces to a maximum of 500 words, but longer submissions have the chance to be included on our website. Sara O’Brien, Creative Submissions Editor

Time seems to move slowly. When in fact, it is racing past us in a top-of-the-line, fresh-off-the-rails, Dodge Challenger. Because fuck oil prices. Time throws one used condom, and maybe a speck of cocaine that zipped off the dashboard. Looking like some pathetic asteroid, so burnt up on entry it’s but dust on our large, unforgiving fingertips. And a condom. Used. We are temporal beings. We experience what is a steady rate of incline on a continuum of space and time we are powerless to intervene on. Unable to fold or reverse their actions, when both are interchangeable and arranged in a weird, sexy kind of palimpsest. Like some late night “This stays between you and me, okay?” type deal.

Hard Science-Fiction I love the day The link came The staring otters I first installed Peeking over every horizon Through lenses full of such machines Understandable magic The creatures made me smile But then the additions overwrote more Though I strode through reality It was largely obscured Parks, cricket pitches were space arks Mimes were out of the job As the wind beat and the sun sang And doubtlessly fellows looked down Their noses over newspapers at me, wishing This peculiar particular would be purged And irresistibly it came true Blood cohabiting with robots; An upgrade and a uniform. Through the capillaries of my mind They slipped, casual Share me with the wiki With no latency I can spot And so we move together And will end favelas with utmost judiciousness

Condom Used

Time has seen everything at once. Cradle to grave in a blink lacks real metaphorical resonance. The eye was never blinking and always blinking. It was, is, and will be super-positioned between states. Speeding away, with space’s G-string flitting in the wind as it passes. Not discernibly concerned with the temp work we pedestrianly malaise through every day. Because there is no day, only one moment stretched out for all eternity.

By William Miles

By Jacob Birkinshaw

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Judgement To form an opinion or estimation after careful consideration, we judge Something that has always been described as innate,

instinctive,

involuntary

So when has it become something that we trust to tell us the truth When has it become anything less than a brutal fuse that instructs us not to prove a thing When should the alarm start ringing because he’s wearing a long beard and got holes in his socks because he’s wearing Nike trainers and a hooded top because she’s wearing white skin and fish net tights because she’s wearing no make up she just might be happy to walk free from those glances that attract attention causing you to believe that Suzie

must be

a lesbian Suzie grew up learning a lot from her father to be polite, honest and rather careful with the money that he gave her but in this surrounding that was hell bent on dealing in nothing but change forced her to believe that she would never be named with another man’s title never to choose a career like other girls might do never be christening a son in rags in the church never be able to lurch forward out from this place which encased her in this nightmare of string and wool Suzie wasn’t told by her mother or her sister the ways in which to attract a mate how to discard of a disposable income how to transform this face from the ordinary to a new one She wasn’t told of the judgment that would be thrust upon her Of how she would feel when those names lingered as they dripped down her back into the cracks of her palms So she began to wear a new suit of armour one that was brightly coloured and full of plastic charm it gave them a reason to smile and jeer something that appeared so truthful and sincere that she tricked them into believing that this is what she wanted, this is what she what she strived for but she wasn’t sure of how this choice had been made how she had become so afraid to show her pale face that was now only a vague space of who she was and who she was meant to be and as she disarmed herself of the books and the pens that she carried so often replacing her own set of hopes and dreams that one day Suzie would become a Beauty Queen.

By Harry Gandy

An Inanimate Object

Osculare

I wake up to the sound of the Adhaan, reverberating through each and every wall of the house, I make my way to school against the unsteady terrain, the warm glow of the sun creating a silhouette; young in age and youthful in appearance, there is no difference between me and you.

Just as the sun Longs to embrace The awaiting shore of the horizon I long to kiss you As lips meet Heart paces will slow To match the rhythmic beat Of our nomadic thoughts, Whose footsteps have travelled a 1000 miles Just to end up here At this point Where they are completely encapsulated with you For just like the moon I would die to myself every dawn Just so I could witness The sun rise of your smile You’ve never been much for words So I guess I’ll just give you mine I’ll use my breath as a pen To write soliloquies between your lips I’ll place sonnets on your mouth And poetry unimaginable To dance upon your tongue If I found favour in the Heavenlies I would convince the stars to shine a little brighter Every time we are together I’ll ask the sun To step above the clouds Just so I could see the rays of gold Dance in your eyes a little longer I’ll query if the moon Would shift a little closer So we could dance in her radiance Till the inky night fades For you see I want to teach you how to see life in technicolour Our kaleidoscope of affection Will refract the light of our being And illuminate a world content living in 50 shades of grey So, I wrote this for you Even though there’s a small chance you will hear this I’ll download it into the forgotten chambers of my heart And play it on repeat So the next time we meet Odes, sonnets and poetry will spill from parted lips And plant into the furrowed soil of your mind To birth memories of something we once shared Something which only the Heavens seemed to know about it And so they await with bated breath Just like I For that something To once again Ignite

As I enter the train station, I tighten my scarf; head bowed, I make my way to the platform; oblivious to the surreptitious exchange of glances. A man towers above me, scrutinising my appearance, the lust in his eyes conspicuous to all. I look out of the window, the ocean appears; a vast expanse of water, as I reach out to it it disappears, there is no difference between me and you. I make my way unnoticeably through the scores of people; the distinctive sound of rickshaws hooting in the distance accompany me on my journey. A woman waits tentatively on the side of the road; her short skirt attracting the attention of the passers-by, there is no difference between me and you. I walk past a couple of young men cavorting in the middle of the road, swinging an empty bottle threateningly at those who dared to intervene. I could feel their eyes burning down on me. As I turn sharply into a slender boulevard, the caressing grip on my school-books waning, incoherent murmur and tacit footsteps haunt my intermittent heartbeat. Come on. Come on. Perspiration breaks loose from my forehead, the beads of sweat palpable to my fear. I desperately try to pull down my scantily clad uniform, the ruckus and anarchy of the city left behind in my wake. My scarf gives way first, an object in the wind… A figure hurries past me; a sheepish look his only sympathy, dragged into a desolate gali, I give up. I look up at one of them; a fleeting meeting of the eyes; is there a difference between me and you?

By Nisar Bostan Glossary Adhaan: The Islamic call to prayer. Rickshaw: A small two-wheeled cart for one passenger, pulled by one person. Gali: Avenue

By Felicia Ngwube

Neon Waltz Neon Waltz on alternative music, : the impact of music sharing sites and the difficulty of breaking into the industry. By Rob Henderson

Contemporary indie has seen a shift in style and with the blending of genres comes sixpiece Neon Waltz, from Caithness, a prime example of a band embracing the change, producing a fresh sound and enjoying the ride to success. Neon Waltz has a psychedelic mix of tones and their atmospheric guitar work, combined with Shearer’s crisp vocals make for a very attractive sound. “It all comes together in our practice room up here, we put a lot of hours into it and practise our sound”, the boys have certainly done a lot of a practising, their single Bare Wood Isles is an intelligent piece of songwriting, complemented by the unique sound of Liam Whittles on the organ. Neon Waltz is one of those bands that suddenly jump into the spotlight and everybody wonders where they came from, but the truth is that these boys have “known each other for years” and it’s thanks to their relentless

hardwork and raw musical talent that NME have described them as the “new saviours of British Rock”. I spoke to Jordan about their upcoming tour and their return to London, “It’s definitely still exciting, there’s a crowd of people that always turn up and they like your music still, it’s great”. Shearer talks about his love for “The Coral and The Libertines”, his early inspirations. You can clearly see the influence in Neon Waltz’s sound but they have spun the alternative strands into their own web, taking elements of classic indie and combining them with a current sound. I detected a folk sound but Shearer said “we’re not fussed on labels, we don’t really label anything but if people want to… that’s cool with us, we’ve been told about the folk thing before”. There’s a definite acoustic vibe and this comes through on Bare Wood Aisles and Sombre Fayre. It’s comparable to American-folkies, Fleet Foxes.

Neon Waltz fans will be pleased to know that “the plan for 2015 is to do a lot more gigs than we did last year,” with Shearer confessing that “it’s still the most important part of the job”. There’s also news of an album in the coming year and we can expect a similar sound to the existing tracks. “We’re recording in March”. Neon Waltz are Spotify supporters and Shearer explains that “it gets your stuff out there, its music for everyone – easy access”. In the day of the Libertines, management or band members would have spent hours ‘flyering’ but Neon Waltz are on point with their social media promotion, “Constantly posting stuff – it’s the only way you’ll keep up to date”. Neon Waltz is an exciting discovery and they’re sure to climb the industry’s jam-packed ladder. With an ever-impending album and increasing tour dates, you’re only going to hear more from these boys and we think that’s just fine.

RAE MORRIS

"UNGUARDED IS THE STORY OF ME..." By Rüya Yönak

We spoke to Blackpool songstress Rae Morris before the release of her anticipated album Unguarded, and talked about growing up and being in the music industry. She is certainly part of the young women who has accomplished some amazing things this year. Only 22 years old, Rae toured her way through the UK opening for George Ezra, released her debut album and she will be headlining her own tour in Europe and the UK.

Rae was excited about her album coming out and told me she was cautious during the process, “I was kind of making sure I was doing the best album I could make”. Admitting she is a perfectionist, Rae is absolutely right when she says, “it is the only first album you get to make”. Also, Unguarded has a special place for Rae: “I feel like this album is the story of me, of me growing up and coming of age and I think it’s a series of diary entries. Those ages between 17 and 21, and how you become everything that you’re going to be for the rest of your life... I find it kind of interesting to watch over these emotions I worked through and I think most people go through the same things and it could be quite interesting for them as well”. Another tour is on her plate and Rae tells me the best part about it is taking her time just before and going home. She grew up in Blackpool, saying it was amazing having her family and friends around her during the time. “For me it’s a very emotional place, because of its history and because of its faded elegance, I don’t know how to define it but it’s an interesting place to grow up”. I imagine she misses her parents but she says they love travelling and that they follow the tour. Awesome parents indeed! Moving through the serious questions, I ask her how she finds the industry as a young female musician. “I’d say that the industry is incredible and as a female I feel privileged to be around so many other amazing talented females.” She remarks that “more females are being put in the spotlight for their talent and that it is growing so rapidly because jobs [in the industry] that may be predominantly male jobs are not just male jobs anymore”. As well as the music industry, Rae believes “women generally should support each other in everyday life. In any industry it’s very important to have somebody to talk to that’s going through the same thing as you are and is aware of the tribulations of what you do every day.” She says she is lucky to have many supportive fellow musicians beside her that help her out. Having many musicians around her sure must encourage her to create with others, and she says she wants to create for, and together with, many people. “At the moment I’m very interested in writing with people or maybe for other people. I’d love to work with some electronic musicians, I’d love to write with James Blake but I’m not sure if he’d be up for it!” she laughs, but, why not?! Finally she shouts out to young musicians and says, “take every opportunity, no matter how small so you have the experience. You never know what is going to happen”.

Top Four Dresses from the Oscars 2015 By: Lydia Fraser

Rosamund Pike in Givenchy

Lupita Nyong’o in Calvin Klein Emma Stone in Elie Saab

I’ve always been big on standing Another bold statement dress and I love the fact Nyong’o chose out from the crowd, and this dress does just that. Usually it’s white because it looks incredible in contrast with her skin tone. The all beige, whites and golds at beaded detail of pearls just adds a the Oscars, and to be honest classy and sophisticated edge to the this can get a little tedious. This dress which is perfect for the Oscars. red is gorgeous, it compliments In recent news it has been reported Pike’s skin tone enough without that the dress was stolen from washing her out. Even more Nyong’o’s hotel room, I can’t say I’m impressive is that she chose a surprised, can you? shape that really accentuates her figure. This, along with the thigh slit, gives the dress just enough sexiness without going overboard.

This is probably my favourite dress out of the whole line up. As I’ve said, I’m a big fan of colour at the Oscars, and it’s definitely an event where if you blend in to the crowd, you’ve had a fashion flop. This elegant and delicate dress just makes Stone look like a little fairy princess, and it contrasts beautifully with her red hair. I love the see-through and sparkly details, which give the dress just enough of a statement. Lady Gaga take note: you don’t need to wear bright red washing up gloves to look amazing.

Keira Knightley in Valentino

Right I know this dress is beige and before you ask, Knightley is expecting, hence the shape. But, the floral embroidery on this dress gives me goose bumps, and the sheer fabric of the skirt just makes Knightley look all floaty and gorgeous. I love the she chose a dress this shape because let’s face it, she might not want everyone to see everything thats going on underneath there. Knightley has managed to pull this dress off effortlessly and it is definitely a classic.

pink party As a student at the University of Greenwich, it will have been hard for you not to hear about GRE Events. The society, who formed in 2013, are constantly holding events and socials across the campuses, their most recent being the Pink Party, a charity night in collaboration with Coppafeel, who promote the importance of breast cancer awareness. *

By Bethan Groome

It was apparent that the event had been well promoted and anticipated due to the fantastic turnout on the night. Students from numerous societies and sports teams turned up wearing plenty of pink all for a good cause and to have some fun. If they didn’t turn up in pink, that was no worry as they were able to get into the pink spirit by having their face painted – glitter included! Resident DJ Jayman was on hand throughout the night to get everyone on their feet, before a balloon drop was set off, showering everybody on the dance floor in countless pink balloons. There were several fun ways that students could donate money to charity, including purchasing jelly shots sold by members of the society – pink, of course - getting a temporary tattoo courtesy of Coppafeel, or by participating in a balloon raffle, where there was a prize up for grabs every time! There was also a separate raffle where for a small donation students were in with a chance of winning a ticket to this year’s summer ball! Everybody was keen to participate in all of the activities on offer, in turn raising an outstanding £500 for charity. Although it was sad to see the night come to a close, plenty of photographs were taken so students can relive the night, and there is no doubt that GRE Events will host another event again soon!