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The Independent Student Newspaper of Royal Holloway, University of London
November 2014
Volume 9, Issue 3
Englefield Green Residents Voice Concerns about Air Traffic Noise
BY FLORENTYNA DALLOZ NEWS EDITOR
Englefield Green residents dissatisfied with recent increase in air traffic noise have had the opportunity to air their concerns. A meeting was held at the Jurgens Centre on 24th October and was attended by various representatives. Residents' campaign leader Jane Snell told attendees that the meeting was to “understand what’s going on with the flight trials,” as a popular complaint amongst locals was that they were being “kept in the dark.” Snell shared the platform with local MP and Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond, plus three representatives from Heathrow Airport and the National Air Traffic Services. A speaker from Heathrow airport claimed to understand the residents’ “distress, frustration and anger” by the sudden increase of noise. The increase in air traffic was not caused by trials of potential flight paths as rumoured. Heathrow had been ordered by the Government to “modernise the airspace” so they were trying new techniques to improve the efficiency of airports; not to redesign the airspace and relocate flight paths which would have to be subject to full public consultation. Englefield Green residents asked why the trials had to take place over their heads. They argued that having paid substantial sums to live in Englefield Green they should not be expected to “share” the noise and disturbance with the neighbouring towns that normally got it. Phillip Hammond took the opportunity to question the speakers and summarise what had been said. He acknowledged the residents’ outrage because they had thought that it was flight paths that were being tested. He demanded that in future trials there must be some respite from extreme levels of noise and suggested the “Sydney Model” would suffice. Hammond then asked for confirmation that it was not paths that were being tried but technology, different angles and aircraft instead. (The Founder understands that “The Sydney Model” is a
Photos kindly provided by Carol Ann Kinley-Smith.
means of sharing the noise burden of aircraft over residential areas as equitably as possible.) Residents asked about the length of the trial, the lack of noise-monitoring equipment, and poor communication. The Heathrow representatives insisted that all local councils were informed of the trials, a meeting was held to discuss plans and there was a warning on their website so their plans should have been known. It transpired that Runnymede Councillor Roberts had not attended this meeting. He apologised for his absence. Residents were concerned for their safety and questioned the likelihood of a plane crashing into the local area if an engine were
to fail. They were reassured that safety was the number one priority of Heathrow Airport and that the trials did not impact the safety of locals. There was popular support for one resident who suggested that all flights be turned away from the area and redirected towards motorways. One resident asked Phillip Hammond, “What is the Tory party policy going to be in relation to these issues?” Hammond stated that Conservative Party policy on the matter had yet to be decided. As he left, Jane Snell thanked him and handed him a petition of 2,000 signatures opposing the flight trails.
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About the Founder The Founder is the independent student newspaper of Royal Holloway, University of London. This means we are not affliliated to the students union or college. We pride ourselves on our investigative journalism and aim to keep our readers up to date with news on and off campus. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Editors, particularly of comment and opinion pieces. Every effort has been made to contact the holders of copyright for any material used in this issue, and to ensure the accuracy of its stories.
How to get involved The Founder is always looking for contributors without them, we wouldn’t have a paper! As you’ll see from this issue, we print a huge variety of articles. If there’s a particular topic you’d like to write about and you aren’t sure whether it’s appropriate, jsut email our editor (editor@thefounder.co.uk) and they will be happy to discuss any ideas you have.
Editorial Board 2014/15 Editor Rose Walker
Managing Editor Dominic Pini
News Editor Florentyna Dalloz
Film Editor Charlie McKechnie-Pullan
Deputy News Editor Katie Thompson
Lifestyle Editor Ashley Stephenson
Comment Editor Joe Burns
Sports Editor James Smith
Features Editor Alex Santema
Designers Léa Bourguignon Sami Roberts
Arts Editor Jasper Watkins
Music Editor Natasha Barret THE FOUNDER is printed in Cambridge by Iliffe Print
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NUS Refuses to Condemn Islamic State BY ROSE WALKER EDITOR
At their National Executive Council meeting on September 16th, council members refused to pass a motion which would see them condemn the actions of ISIS. The motion, put forward by Daniel Cooper, proposed that the union express solidarity with Yazidis, Christians and other minority victims of the terrorist group. It also proposed the condemnation of IS (or ISIS) actions and support of Kurdish forces battling them, while at the same time "expressing no confidence or trust in the US Photo provided by The Spectator military intervention". Black Students Officer Malia Bouattia opposed the motion, saying: “We recognise that condemnation of ISIS appears to have become a justification for war and blatant Islamophobia. “This rhetoric exacerbates the issue at hand and is a further attack on those we aim to defend.”
In a posting on the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts website, Mr Cooper said that instead of amending the proposition, "the whole motion – which calls for solidarity with oppressed forces in Iraq – was argued as wrong". He said: "This is a grave shame. "There is a stranglehold of 'identity politics' on the student movement "This is an issue which needs to be discussed in more depth, but essentially the idea is widespread that if a Liberation Officer opposes something, it must be bad." In a statement released on October 15th, an NUS spokesperson said "At our most recent NEC meeting, a motion on this issue was presented and voted on by all members. Some committee members felt that the wording of the motion being presented would unfairly demonise all Muslims rather than solely the group of people it set out to rightfully condemn. "Of course NUS does not support ISIS and a new motion will be taken to the next NUS National Executive Committee meeting, which will specifically condemn the politics and methods of ISIS and offer solidarity for the Kurdish people."
Row at Goldsmith over Rejection of Holocaust BY KATIE THOMPSON DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR
brance of those who died in the Holocaust without also acknowledging the tragedy of Accusations that Union members of Goldother genocides throughout the world. The smith’s, University of London rejected plans to row was intensified further when education commemorate the Holocaust because they were officer of the University tweeted her support of too ‘Eurocentric’ and ‘Colonialist’ have caused the rejection of the motion. tension in recent weeks. Goldsmith’s have been keen to emphasise The proposal was criticised for allegedly fail- that this is not an outright rejection of the ing to recognise those who have been tragically commemoration of the Holocaust, stating that killed in other genocides such as Holodomor they have commemorated it in previous years and Armenia. and will continue to do so following redrafts of The proposal to commemorate the Holocaust motions to be discussed at their next Student at Goldsmith’s was rejected, with some students Assembly this month. seeing it as too narrow to focus on the remem-
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'Booze-fuelled stripping game' Leads to Rugby Team Suspension
Photo provided by mirror.co.uk
BY ROSE WALKER EDITOR Imperial College's Rugby First XV team have been suspended pending investigation into reports that team members played a stripping game on a District Line tube on the 29th October. They boarded towards the front of the 17.19 Richmond to Upminster service, drinking from bottles of wine, a witness said. At least one of them was said to have stripped naked on the platform at Richmond station and boarded the train.
They were apparently playing a game in which you had to get off the train, strip, and board again before it moved off. Their actions led to the train being terminated at Stamford Brook. All passengers were told to leave the train, and the police were called to the station. The group were identified due to their kit, which bore the Imperial College Rugby emblem A TfL spokeswoman said: " A train was held for about eight minutes at Stamford Brook station due to a customer incident.” “It was then emptied of passengers and detrained. The British Transport Police were called.” A British Transport Police spokeswoman said: “Our officers were called to Stamford Brook London Underground station shortly after 5.30pm on Wednesday, 29th October, to reports of a group of naked men on a District Line train between Richmond and Upminster.”
James Cox, the first XV Captain, spoke to Felix, Imperial's student newspaper. Cox said, “ We would like to clarify that this was an independent occurrence, it did not happen as a group. It was purely people acting out independent of the rugby team. “This behaviour is completely out of nature, and steps will be taken to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Those involved will be disciplined, and I apologise on behalf of the club for any upset caused.” Imperial College said in a statement: “The Students’ Union has very clear policies and rules in place regarding the behaviour of all members of its clubs and societies. "Any breach of these policies and rules is taken very seriously by the College and the Students Union, and disciplinary action will be taken where necessary. As a result of this incident the Union has suspended the team in question pending investigation.”
Social Effects of Communism’s Fall in East Germany BY KATHRYN PARKYN According to a new study by Dr Arnaud Chevalier, from the Department of Economics at Royal Holloway, children born in East Germany shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall suffered from poor parenting. This caused them to be 40 per cent more likely to commit crimes in their adult years. The study also shows that women who gave birth following the end of the communist regime were on average younger, less educated and more likely to be unemployed and single. Dr Chevalier explains: “The change from communism to capitalism signified a period of intense economic uncertainty in the country, putting many people off having children.” As a result the birth rate effectively halved following the fall
of the Berlin Wall. “The economic circumstances of the country at that time clearly affected the type of people who chose to become parents.” Those who were at risk of suffering economically decided not to have children, which meant that those who became parents were more likely to be risk takers. They, in turn, passed this characteristic of 'risk taking' onto their children. These children then underperformed at school and were deemed more likely to commit crimes. To examine the effect that parenting had on these young people, Dr Chevalier and his colleagues studied the German Socio-Economic Panel. This was a survey conducted in Germany where children aged 17 were asked to rate the quality of support they received from their parents whilst growing up. Children born between the years of 1991 and 1993
were less favourable of the parental support they received than children who were born in previous years. In order to assert that it was the parenting skills that caused these children to have such behavioural characteristics, and not the environment around them, the researchers also looked at the relationship with the mother of the older siblings of the children. They too were more willing to take risks after they reported that they also had a poor relationship with the mother. Dr Chevalier and his team believe that “the unique nature of this generation in Germany can be explained by the lower than average parenting skills of those who decided to have children during a period of high economic uncertainty.”
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Volleyball, Iranian Style:
Ghoncheh Ghavami’s Ordeal
Photo provided by The Guardian
BY FLORENTYNA DALLOZ NEWS EDITOR Former University of London student, Ghoncheh Ghavami, was arrested in June in Iran. 25 year old Ghavami , who studied law at the School of Oriental and African Studies, was arrested for trying to attend a volleyball match at Tehran’s Azadi stadium with male fans. Her attendance breached the Islamic Republic’s ban on women attending big sporting events. Iranian officials have previously said that it 'protects them from lewd behaviour.' She attended a match between Italy and Iran on the 20th June to protest against the ban, and also joined the peaceful protest in
front of the stadium, holding a placard. After her first arrest and alleged beating along with other women, the authorities released her. Days later, when returning to collect her confiscated belongings, Ghavami was rearrested. She was convicted on a charge of “spreading propaganda against the ruling system” and sentenced to one-year in prison. Her lawyer, Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatadaei, claims that he was shown the text of the court’s verdict but is still waiting to officially receive it. The deadline to make the verdict formal has passed which leaves the case in limbo. Ghavami’s hunger strike is in response to the uncertainty of her verdict. Her brother, Iman Gha-
vami, recently stated that she is protesting because the judge has not yet confirmed her sentence despite her being imprisoned since June. This is Ghavami’s second hunger strike in jail. She refused food in October to mark 100 days of imprisonment. She has now gone on a “dry” hunger strike, which means that she is refusing both food and water. Amnesty International have described Ghavami as “a prisoner of conscience, arrested solely for taking part in a peaceful protest” and called for her immediate release. They also expressed concern about her recent hunger strike: “It is deeply concerning that Ghoncheh Ghavami has found no other way to protest against the gross injustice of her predicament but by risking her health in embarking on another hunger strike.” The absence of a British Embassy in Iran means that any ongoing negotiations are through third parties and there is a delay in the reception of information regarding Ghavami’s situation. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office have expressed concern about her case especially the grounds for the prosecution and her treatment whilst in custody. Ghonech Ghavami holds both British and Iranian nationality but dual nationality is not recognised in Iran. Under international law countries cannot give consular protection to their nationals if they are in a country where they also hold that nationality, as Ghavami does. Her case is receiving international support and more than 700,000 people have signed a petition calling on the Iranian authorities to release her.
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Universities Told: Summer A-level Results 'may be wrong' BY SAMUEL HOWDEN-GLASGOW
must be seen to be robust, rigorous and able to stand up to the highest scrutiny and An exam board had recently stated that universities should not treat A-level results as this must begin with 'finalised' until the end of October – a month the marking of examination scripts.” after courses start – because of possible In a statement, marking errors. the Universities and The OCR board said all results “remain Colleges Admissions provisional” and that they “not be viewed as Service (UCAS) said finalised" until the end of October when all “We strongly advise re-marks have been made and until schools students who have are able to lodge official appeals. The comrequested a remark to ments come despite the fact that almost all contact the university places on courses are currently awarded on or college immediately the basis of August grades rather than the and explain their situfinal mark. ation.” Alison Rogers, chief executive of the “Institutions guaranChartered Institute of Educational Assessors, tee students who have said: “It is always disappointing to hear of requested a remark cases where students’ university chances are Students celebrating their exam results. Photo provided by thetimes.co.uk that their offer remains disrupted by human error in the marking of In 2013, some 17,400 A-level grades were changed. examinations and we should all be concerned open until 31 August. After this point universities will make their best This made up 0.7 per cent of the total. Universities are about any erosion in public and schools’ endeavours to keep a place open for the student supposed to keep places open until the end of August for confidence in the marking of A-levels and until the process is resolved, or may provide the re-marks to be made before terms starts, usually in midGCSEs. option of deferred entry the following year.” to-late September. “Standards in our qualification system
The Private School Premium: BY GEORGINA COLLINGS According to the Complete University Guide around a quarter of entrants to Royal Holloway are from private schools. Considering only 6.5% of school children in the UK are educated independently, this number is high. But how much of an advantage do those who attended private school really have? A new study according to the Institute for fiscal studies (IFS) revealed the average privately-educated person earns £1,500 a year more than a state educated peer who has the same qualifications, doing the same job. Many previous studies have shown a similar private school premium. The University of
What’s the real advantage?
London’s Institute for Education found that 16.9% of people working in Britain’s top jobs are privately educated. This figure is supported by the government’s Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, who suggest that the top professions are dominated by those who attended fee-paying schools. It has previously been suggested that the discrepancy in income was because privately educated students often attend better universities and read more 'prestigious' subjects. However the IFS study has taken these factors into account and it still reveals an advantage in earnings. The new study not only shows that graduates from private schools were more likely to enter ‘high status’ jobs, but that earning advantages persist even within the same
occupation. However considering the average private school in the UK costs around £12,000 a year, an extra £1,500 is unlikely to be the reason parents choose a private education for their children. The authors of the IFS study are at a loss to understand why private schooling creates such an advantage in the labour market. The theory that social networks give ‘better off ’ students an advantage when getting jobs was discounted two years ago by the Institute of Education. The only explanation the authors of the IFS study present is these graduates have more self confidence, which comes across in the interview setting, as well as the resources to take on unpaid internships and spend longer looking for a better job.
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Keeping Safe
A reminder for how to stay safe in Egham, Englefield Green, and around campus
Helping to keep students, staff, campus and the wider community free from crime is one of our most important areas we’re involved in and we like to take the opportunity to remind everyone of how they can help us stay safe. If you are out at night try not to walk on your own especially off campus and where possible use the bus services provided by the College and SU. If you are walking don’t use dark shortcuts or go through the cemetery. Pick up a safety alarm from Founder’s West for added reassurance. At all times of the day and night make sure you stick to the pavements – you’d be amazed how many people we see walking down the mid-
dle or local roads - and use the footbridge if you can to cross the busy A30. Think about whether you can be seen at night – so many of us walk around with dark clothing and don’t think about the impact of not being so visible so try to stick to well-lit routes on and off campus. The chances are you have a number of valuable items such as iPads, tablets, phones, laptops and bikes in your possession. Keep them with you or locked safely in your room and register them on the Immobilise website Whilst we are a safe campus and area through the Campus Watch scheme we ask everyone to be vigilant and to report any suspicious activity or behaviour to either Surrey Police – by calling 101
- or to College Security on 01784 443063. Store these numbers in your phone so you have them to hand if necessary. If you have questions or concerns about safety, please do speak to Support & Advisory Services (FW 170 / 01784 443394) or email welfare@royalholloway.ac.uk.
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American strategy, Iraqi tragedy
BY JACK COLYER The recent advance of the Islamic state (IS) across Iraq and Syria has highlighted the failures of American strategy in the Middle East. Policies dominated by military action and a lack of comprehensive strategy have created the perfect conditions for a rise in Islamic extremism which is now increasingly targeted towards the West. Eight years ago when Donald Rumsfeld, the US Secretary of Defence, gave his speech ‘The Long War’ the Iraq War had entered its third year and all signs were pointing to a protracted conflict. The US and UK, unable to contain the al-Qaeda insurgency, were forced to contend with mounting casualties and more potential threats to their respective homelands than ever before. Since then, the coalition has committed thousands of lives, billions of dollars, and many years in an attempt to bring a relative peace to Iraq; a peace that has now been shattered by a well organised and ruthless IS who are beginning to secure and administer their captured territory, uprooting many years of democratic progress. The fear now is whether the recent air strikes can contain IS or if this latest effort is following in the footsteps of failed American military intervention. American errors are numerous and increasingly complex. The core failure of the American approach is best represented in Rumsfeld’s speech ‘The Long War’, as it presents the bare bones of US strategy. In this speech, given in 2006 on the eve of the release of the pentagon’s defence review, Rumsfeld’s main emphasis was placed on preventing terrorists from obtaining weapons of mass destruction, defending the US homeland and helping allies fight terrorism. More importantly, he stresses that the conflict is generational and could last as long as 20 years. This focus on long military engagements, rather than a more objective strategy on to understand Iraq and its complexities, reinforces his belief in a military victory. Such statements galvanised support for further military escalation, condemning Iraq to a violent future and the Bush administration to electoral disaster. America’s eagerness to use violence in this regard has done irreparable damage to its image around the world, and in no small part is responsible for the seemingly endless waves of enemies
that America has since incurred. In line with Rumsfeld’s militaristic doctrine and unwillingness to let American sacrifices go to waste, the US has organised an international military response in the form of air strikes to combat IS. While these mildly successful attacks are on a much smaller scale than the initial invasion in 2003, it’s worth bearing in mind that they can have an equally detrimental effect should the US choose to ignore its past military and political mistakes. The criticism here does not lay with American military action, but rather its enthusiasm for responding to crises first and foremost with the armed forces for which it has so much pride. It’s only when military intervention fails
Photo provided by Time Magazine, img.timeinc.net
or yields poor outcomes, resulting in dissolving public support that the US government turns to alternative political methods. Afghanistan illustrates how heavy military commitment, at best, suppresses an insurgency, but cannot outright succeed in beating it. Public support for the conflict post 9/11 was high, however enthusiasm faded once progress halted. The US only engaged in talks with the Taliban when political pressures within the US demanded an end to the war. In essence, the failure of US military strategy lies with America’s reluctance to approach crises in the Middle East with a broad mind as well as its
eagerness to use its greatest asset without consideration of the cultural and political realities of a region. It seems the US government prefers to project its own realities based on their own ideologies. The US would do well to stop and take a step back and understand the effects of its approach before further crises develop in a region populated with numerous extremist factions. The Obama administration is treading much more carefully these days in regards to military intervention, although it is recognised that the threat IS pose is too great to sit by and debate too extensively. The carnage unleashed by IS requires a quick and decisive response if we wish to stop IS growing roots and becoming an integral part of the region. Credit where credit is due, however: at first glance the limited strikes seem to have been well thought through and, more importantly, appropriate. The question is now whether the US can properly support Iraq, unlike the failed withdrawal in 2011, and finally stop the cycle of violence which seems all too easy to perpetuate. If the US is to achieve a more stable Iraq and Middle East then the latest intervention cannot be its only strategy. Instead, the US needs to consider long-term commitments to understand the region on a cultural level and gain a fundamental respect for the region and its people in order to implement sustainable strategies that would work towards peace. Military intervention as a long-term policy, as seen in Iraq and Afghanistan, has only led to further opposition. America’s greatest mistake has been to place emphasis on a military victory and has, at best, only supressed resistance with its overwhelming resources. This, however, has failed to provide a long-term solution to the underlying extremism in the region, or indeed its image as a western Christian invader. In effect, the US have effectively lost sight of the original goal to build a stable and democratic Iraqi nation. The US needs a strategy centred on building, not destroying, if it wants to make any progress towards peace. Whether the US can effectively defeat IS and create a stable Iraq remains to be seen. Nevertheless, a long drawn out military engagement is certainly not the right solution to this crisis and will only succeed in ensuring its longevity. Unfortunately, Rumsfeld’s generational conflict may transform from a long war, into an unwinnable war.
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Madonna is better than Pearl Jam
BY JOE BURNS Competition. What is it good for? At a young age it brings groups together and encourages hard work for some kind of profit or gain. But by far the most common reason for competition is to find out who’s best, whatever that means. Before I get negative, one great attribute that competition has is that it encourages people to improve. Work harder and you’ll do better next time, right? It’s just a shame that this is how we judge success. Your level of success should be how good you feel after doing something, whether it be a painting, a career or a meal, not how other people judge it against others. This is the problem with competition based around art in particular. For example, how can a person say that Madonna is better than Pearl Jam? Salvador Dali is better than Edgar Degas. Robert Burns is better than Mark Twain. The scope of everything that makes up art is so vast that surely it’s impossible to determine what’s ‘better’ than another. The criteria you set to judge one piece of art to be ‘better’ than another is also hard to define. In most cases we try and narrow it down to the technique used. It’s certainly possible to say that one musician is more technically advanced than another, but who’s to say which is worth more artistically? What are we even measuring when judging art? We have all experienced this sort of thing several times through school. Even the idea of an art GCSE seems weird now. How can two or three people judge one person’s work as an A and another person’s a C? I remember reading sheet after
How Competition Ruins Art sheet of criteria and guilds on how to best complete my artwork, but at the end of the day, if you get an A for some work you didn’t enjoy making or don’t feel happy with, have you really ‘won’ anything? Polluting art with the combative nature of competition is simply bad for creativity. People should be focusing on how best they can express themselves rather than what’s going to be judged to be the ‘best’ by others. One example of this that stands out to me
“The
scope of everything that makes up art is so vast that surely it’s impossible to determine what’s ‘better’ than another.
”
is the talent competition. We’re all familiar with the Saturday night trash that is Britain’s Got Talent and other programmes that arrange celebrity no-bodies to judge mentally ill fire-eaters on national television. Whenever I think about how crap these shows are, I always end up thinking, “If people are entertained and they enjoy watching it, then what’s the problem?”, but then I realise, the problem is what
you’re missing, rather than what you’re seeing. The majority of contestants on these shows aren’t going on there to best express their own artistic impulses, they are on there to be judged and hopefully impress. The judges themselves couldn’t care less about what each contestant can bring to the table artistically, they only view them as products to sell further on down the line. It’s frustrating to see so many people watching these types of shows when there’s so much art going on in the world. Here is my main problem with art for competition. As soon as you start thinking about how you can financially profit from any artistic project, you have failed. That’s not the point. If you want to make money, do something else. Art for money is not art, it’s a product. That’s not to say art can’t be a sold as a product, but the art should come first. The question we should be asking is, if money was not a problem, what would you try to create? Then, do what you can to achieve that. That’s the goal. In general, competition ruins a lot of things that are fun anyway. Music, sports, food. In a post-revolutionary, faultless society, surely we would enjoy these things for their pleasure alone, rather than use them as tools for competition. At the end of the day, art isn’t about going head-tohead against someone else, it’s about working together to achieve something special and unique, no matter what anyone else thinks.
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Pick Up a Book!
into lecturers surrounded by a sea of thick, black spectacles, hipsters in ironic bow ties and more battered leather shoulder bags than you can count. Muttering “I didn’t read the book. I’m waiting until the film comes out” in front of these elbow patch-wearing predators is practically blasphemy. For better or for worse, I’m one of these people, although I’ll deny that my Great Gatsby college phase of carrying around a cane ever happened until my dying day. With this in mind, I figured I couldn’t call myself a book buff if I stood by and let this young woman have her life ruined “So what’s your favourite book?” by novel-ophobia... In retrospect, forcing a gigan“To be honest, I’m not much of a reader – I don’t tic pile of hardbacks onto an unsuspecting new really like books”. flatmate wasn’t my best call to date, but I suppose A tension envelops the room. She doesn’t like you live and learn. books. My real question is, where have all of the It’s the first day of Freshers’ Week. The now fully readers gone? Where have the legions of teenagformed group of eight of us are bumbling around the ers dressed in robes at one o’clock in the morning crowded kitchen, forcing saucepans into the cranoutside of WH Smith’s, waiting for The Deathly nies of already crammed cupboards, while heatedly Hallows to be released gone? Where are all the debating whether or not you have to keep eggs in Year 9 girls who wish that the immature boys the fridge. Several of us are huddled round our table, in their class were more like Mr Darcy and Mr viciously interrogating one another on where we Rochester? Where are all the people who claim to came from, what we’re be adults, yet couldn’t studying and how long it leave the house for a took us to drive here. The month after Dobby conversation leaps and died? bounds from music to The point I’m trymovies to margaritas and ing to make it simback again, until it falls ple; pick up a book. onto books. We traverse Freshers of Holloway, around the circle through for those of you who the old clichéd favourites haven’t indulged in of teenagers, Harry Potter the life-consuming taking the main stage force that is Netflix, three times and a strong you’re now stranded mutual bond forming as we brutally gang up on the in a post-sixth form world of limited television sole Twilight fan hiding in our midst. I pretty much and too much spare time. Pick up a book. For accepted I wouldn’t have much to talk about with the those who stroll into Founders Library, print off Fifty Shades addict. “I don’t really like books” utters their coursework assignments and walk out again the final flatmate. I hoped she was joking. without even glossing their attention over the Why is it that so many people don’t read? This spine of a volume, pick up a book. To the devoted may seem like a silly or even downright stupid Tumblr-addicted fandoms of cult shows like Sherquestion; people like things and people don’t, that’s lock, Hannibal or Game of Thrones, stop creating just how the world works. What bothers me though admittedly hilarious ‘gifs’ and pick up the books. is that no one ever proclaims “I don’t like music” or In the most clichéd way I can say it, “There are “I don’t like television”. The real questions we ask of worse crimes than burning books. One of them one another when we bump into someone new are is not reading them” (Joseph Brodsky). Pick up a “What bands do you like?” or “Who are your favou- book. rite actors?”, as it’s a universal fact that everyone in the western world is constantly blasting Katy Perry If you would like to respond into their headphones and staring vacantly at plasma to any of these articles, screens. So why has reading become some terrifying, please email replies to joe@ hippy aspect of counter culture that many are afraid to touch with a bargepole? thefounder.co.uk with the Unfortunately, we do happen to live in a world subject line ‘IN REPLY TO’. where avid readers seem to fit a certain stereotype; trust me, I know. I’m an English student who walks
What happened to the value of a good read?
BY GEORGE SOMERS
“Why
has reading become some terrifying, hippy aspect of counter culture that many are afraid to touch with a bargepole?”
Photo provided by Daniel Norris via Flickr
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Hate Being Late BY ALEX SANTEMA FEATURES EDITOR Dear reader, please take my hand and follow as I guide you on a self-reflective tale of tardiness. Don’t be afraid, you will merely be a spectator, an observer comfortably reading a piece in a publication without any sense of haste, pressure or impeding doom (read: The Deadline). It is I, your fearless writer, who will paint the image of a life-long battle with planning by projecting the stress of typing I am currently enduring onto you. I hope that by the time you reach the end of this page, your palms will be sweaty, your heart racing and your limbs shaking for all the wrong reasons. Every other week or so, I spend a frantic afternoon in pyjama shorts, plastic flip-flops and a silky Hugh Hefner bathrobe (it was a Christmas present, please don’t judge) obsessively typing away on my laptop. My curly mane will be pulled together in a bun on the top of my head — think dishevelled pineapple, not modelesque man bun — and I will be painfully unaware of the crust of porridge that has formed in the corner of my mouth. My outer appearance will be the embodiment of one thing and one thing only: essay stress. At these times, however, my mind is a lean, mean, essay-producing machine. Footnotes will be added at record speed, references will be embedded within the blink of an eye and line after line of academic poetry will be flowing out of the tips of my fingers. My appearance will still resemble the morning after of a fancy dress house party gone horribly wrong, but my mind will be business. I think it is about time I make an appropriate confession – I thrive off these moments and I work well
Feature Editor Alex Santema’s last-minute article on his eternal race against the clock
under pressure. Time-management is not my forte. When the deadline approaches, I dance in the kitchen to Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off ’ in underwear and an apron (videos are circulating as proof of this — do not to look into it). I will take to Snapchat to draw a dinosaur’s body around my head, title it #BANTERSAURUS and post it on MyStory. My housemates observe me like a rare zoo animal as I venture into the kitchen to do my dishes. The gist of it is this – if I ever get a Chinese word tattooed onto my lower back, it will be ‘procrastination’. Now, beloved reader, I can hear you thinking ‘When will this get scary? Why did Alex imply reading this would give me the heebie-jeebies? Btw, great article so far, he seems like SUCH an awesome guy!’ Now, two things I have to say to that. Firstly — I know, being this cool is a struggle, send me a message and we can discuss life over a cocktail. Secondly — you are about to find out this fine piece of feature journalism is more unstable than a shaven Britney circa 2007. I obviously always send my Founder content in on time. We, the editors, fear the regime of Editor Rose Walker (just kidding, please don’t fire me) because we know she is not one to mess with. Rumour has it that the News Editor got her colons and semi-colons mixed up last year. (Ed. I wasn’t Editor last year. Artistic license granted). The poor girl still has some odd-looking scars from where they were carved into her arm as a result. In an ultimate daredevil act, I decided to write an article on handing in work last minute – at the last minute. That’s right, innocent reader;
tremble as I proclaim the truth! The Deadline for this issue is a mere hour or so away. If I reach out my hand, I can almost touch the prickly, poisonous spikes of The Deadline. It smells like anxious sweat mixed with the earthy aroma of ink leaking out of broken cartridges. It looks like a void, a hole, an emptiness that unforgivingly destroys. The Deadline approaches, slowly, steadily, ready to slaughter your hope of printing your work and running off to hand it in on time. Years of telling myself I will start work early for the NEXT essay and years of never fulfilling that promise have left me with an insight into my mind. Pushing the utmost limits of editing and Another infamous late-runner, the White Rabbit from proofreading work Alice in Wonderland. Photo provided by wikimedia.org right before a deadline as the seconds tick sorting out the conclusion like an unruly away provides me with a bit of cheeky Miley. Yes, I have only just figured out that rebellion, some naughty not-quitethe crust of porridge in the corner of my rule-breaking action that is essentially mouth has been there for an embarrassinga source of excitement. Write what ly long time. No, I would not have it any you know? More like ‘write what you other way, because bashing out articles last can come up with before you run out minute is my crack. of time’. As long as my silky robe is comfortable, That moment I press the ‘save’, my articles are smashing and my essays ‘submit’ or ‘send’ button fills me with insightful, I don’t think a blend of relief, accomplishment Ed.– This article was send in too late by and, yes, a bit of pride. Everyone is the Features Editor. It was over the word out there, being total Oprahs and limit and there was not enough time to edit handing work in days in advance, it down, so it had to be cut short. but I am here, working, twerking and
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Fuck the System: The man who will never wear a suit BY SLAVENA SARBEVA Starting your own business whilst at university can be a great opportunity to seize a moment of relative financial freedom whilst supplementing your business knowledge, your CV and your wallet. Whether it’s opening an eBay store and shifting all your castaside items or inventing the next fast-food app, entering into a business venture can be as easy (or difficult) as you decide to make it. Over recent years, there has been a growing trend among Britain’s workforce to become self-employed business owners, partly due to the flexibility of such work. I met Daniel Hughes, Business Management with Entrepreneurship second year, Co-Founder of Tanglewood, ‘self-professed BNOC’, to get all his wisdom on starting a business. Daniel exudes a relaxed atmosphere: a man who knows what he wants from the business world and also how he wants to shape it. Surrounded by his mates, he bounces off them during the interview and what was a Q&A turns into a lengthy discussion about the business world as it is, and as it should be in Daniel’s eyes. He begins by telling me he that he and his friends try to “breed entrepreneurial spirit among [their] social circle”. They constantly ponder new ideas, ventures and possibilities. In the words of Daniel himself, owning a business will allow him to be his “own boss”. “We are bred into these robots that come off the conveyer belt and do all these years of education only to be stuck in a cubicle, wearing a tie and bragging about the way our business cards are printed. That’s the system I don’t like”.
Tell me a bit about any business ventures you’ve been involved in?
Why did you decide to get involved in entrepreneurial activities in the first place?
I was involved in Tanglewood (a t-shirt business) which is on hold at the moment. I started with my brother and we did it over the summer but the problem was we had a lot of things happening at the same time - we basically jumped in the pond too early.
I don’t like being told what to do so, for example, when you have a boss and you know you can do a better job than them but still you have to go to work every day and be told what to do. It just peeves me off.
Do you get more freedom when you have your own business? My idea is, one day if I own my own business which is successful, I can wake up at two in the afternoon and do what I want and I don’t have to ring up and say I’m sick.
So the cake is the legacy? See I don’t really know anything about my great grandparents, like, do they even have a legacy? So when I have great grandchildren I want them to know the legacy I leave, but not only that…I want everyone to know what I did and be impacted by it.
Is that not everyone’s dream though? Yeah I guess, but I have deeper reasons why I want to have my own business too, like I want to create a legacy for myself. I guess it's not necessarily just because I want to get up at two. And I’m not doing it so that I get lots of money and drive a Porsche and have a mansion, those are bonuses, the cherry on the cake. For now I want the cake.
Are you saying passion for the game is top priority and money is not as important?
Finding the money to fund a business can be a hurdle for most aspiring entrepreneurs. How were you able to source investment? I’m still in the process of looking for investment! It’s really difficult, but going to university has been a huge bonus - there are societies you can go to, you’ve got LinkedIn so you could talk to alumni who have started businesses and the chances are, someone in your social network will know someone who has started a business, so despite not having investment you can get a lot of knowledge.
Do you think you’ve gained any valuable knowledge from your experience, such as marketing and sales?
Photo provided by Daniel Hughes, business entrepreneur
Yeah, if you’re going to go out there wanting money then I don’t think you’re going to get money. You’ve got to go out and create something you love and something other people are going to love, want and need. Why won’t you make money that way? Some companies nowadays don’t set out to turn everyone into millionaires, it just happens.
What would you say to someone who has started a business but has encountered setbacks? I wouldn’t say 'give up', but perhaps start again if you know the idea is never going to work, or do what I did and put it on hold for a few months then come back to it. You may have new ideas, which will make it even better.
Yeah loads, but then there’s still loads more I can learn. I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. Starting a business, or trying to start businesses, has helped me with my studies as well because I now have on hand experience of doing what we’re learning about. However, it’s difficult juggling what’s more important because you’ve got to prioritise studies at the end of the day. As much as I want to start a business that does really well, right now, I have to remember that I am at university.
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: A Review BY ROSE WALKER EDITOR
Although Daniel stated that 'We've disconnected from this landscape and we've connected to the wifi instead,' he was keen that we view the Internet Due to the large number of speakers, the Editor as a tool to deliver messages and spread support has focused on her personal highlights of the day. for environmentalism. It was hard to believe DanFor a full list of speakers, please visit TEDxRoyal iel is a second year student, as he commanded the Holloway's Facebook page. You’ve probably come across a TED talk shared by auditorium's attention extremely well. ‘Everyone has the potential to create, whether a friend on Facebook; a relatively short video of an you are creative or not’ inspirational speakers standing on a red carpet and Salman Al Najem began his talk by quoting speaking to a packed auditorium about any subject under the sun. Whatever the subject, they make it interesting. Born out of America's love of inspirational speakers, the TED phenomenon has grown far beyond its roots as a four day conference in 1984 where Technology, Entertainment and Design speakers converged. Today, TED talks cover a huge range of topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Inspired by the demand for TED-like experiences, TEDx was born. TEDx events are planned and coordinated independently by local communities, under a free license granted by TED. Whilst the TED conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, individual events are self-organised and independent of the TED organisation. TEDx events can consist of a screening of TED Talks videos or a combination of live presenters and TED Talks videos and aim to spark 'deep conversation and connections at the local level.' The British are conventionally a little more conservative (some may say sceptical) than Photos provided by Salman Al Najem (above) and TEDxRoyalHolloour cousins across the pond, wary of group way (top) participation and expressing our feelings too the opening song from Disney's Aladdin (' I come much. But the TED phenomenon has reached our from a land, from a faraway place, Where the shores and enabled by the accessibility of the TEDx caravan camels roam') but I think I was the only licence, TEDx Royal Holloway was set up in Februaudience member who recognised this - I was cerary 2014. It held its first event on October 18th at tainly the only one who laughed. After a nervous Royal Holloway's Boiler House Lecture Theatre. The event sold out quickly (TED rules dictate that start, Salman hit his stride. A painter with a BA in Interior design from University of the Arts’ Lona maximum of 100 tickets are available), and was a don College of Communication, he is originally whole day event, from 11:00 to 16:00 and included from the Kingdom of Bahrain. Salman discussed lunch. The theme of the day and its talks was 'Cathis culture, stating that 'I feel like we as a global alysts' and was introduced by Celestine Schorlemer society have convinced ourselves that in order to and Rebecca Ellis, two of the co-founders of TEDxbe normal we have to Westernise ourselves, rather RoyalHolloway. than modernise.' He uses art to explore these 'There is nothing permanent except change.' The first speaker was Daniel Evans, a second year themes, and emphasised how important it is to him to go back to a child-like state and to be more Geography scholar here at RHUL. He spoke of his primitive. He argued that going back to your roots passion for the environment, and stressed that we is key to improving whatever you do. should all start respecting our world more. StartDaniela De Rosa ing with the individual, he argued, we can all take 'Solo travelling is like the gym: start little by small steps to secure the future for later generations.
little' Daniela de Rosa was a travel writer when she was the only guest staying in a Corsica hotel, and realised how unnerving travelling alone as a woman can be. She decided to set up a blog containing helpful information for women travelling by themselves. Permesola.com was born, and she stressed that despite it being 14 years old, it is still her baby. Daniela's passion for solo-travelling was palpable, and she encouraged us all to take advantage of the beauty of our world by exploring it alone. Katy Kann 'I was sent to an all-girl Catholic boarding school and called morally despicable.' In a world where sex is still considered by some as taboo, Katy Kann is a breath of fresh air. Katy is a Russian artist perhaps best known for her extensive group of female nudes oil paintings she has been working on ever since the age of 5 (yes, 5.) Katy explained how she drew her own genitals as a way of exploring her body - and this fascination with the human body was met with disapproval from her parents, who sent her to a Catholic boarding school where she was called 'morally despicable.' Katy began exhibiting her work at the age of 16 while studying in the south of France, and her achievements have only progressed since then - this Autumn she was featured in the 5th edition of 'World's Greatest Erotic Art of Today' and was selected as the 'Best of show' by the Colours of Humanities Art Gallery. It was refreshing to hear someone speak so candidly about the female body without sexualising it, and Katy's determination to encourage an honest approach towards our sexual health and sexuality was inspirational. Overall, the day achieved its aim to spark 'deep conversation and connections at the local level' - analyses of the speakers and opinions about their theories flew around the Boiler House foyer during the lunch break. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, and I wish the TEDxRoyalHolloway team the best of luck with future events. Celestine said, ‘The event was a stressful but fun day for the organizing committee! We are so proud that the first step to establish a long-term TEDx series at Royal Holloway has now been taken. The next step that we are already working on is to find a team to run the event next year and to make it even better. We are also working on editing the videos of the talks so that you can watch them online soon.’
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The State of the Arts BY JASPER WATKINS ARTS EDITOR The Arts often appear as someit, of this article: that in this thing that transcends the everyday. modern age of science and People live, people die, countries rise objectivity the Arts are more and countries fall but the Mona Lisa crucial than ever. will continue to piss people off perTo borrow a quote from petually until the end of time. HowMarx, ‘Consciousness does ever, when the Arts are drawn into not determine life, but conthe banality of the real world (usually sciousness by life’- so what in the form of its less than elegant happens when we can no pseudonym ‘the humanities’) things longer adequately express begin to go awry. what it is to live? What it Before I carry on I should point is to love, to hurt, to exult, out that this section is not usually to fear? What will we turn home to strongly worded opinion to when the clinical exactipieces (for much more eloquently tude of science becomes too expressed ideas see the Features secmuch? Dapper Laughs? No, tion), but seeing how Russell Brand I didn’t think so. can somehow generate a massive disThankfully there were course on politics I thought I may as many sufficiently more inwell have a go because, if it’s between fluential people than myself the Tate and the Houses of Parliawho rallied against this ment, I know which one I’ll shed a ‘absurd discrimination’, as tear about. Nigel Carrington, vice-chanRecently Nicky Morgan, the Educellor of the University of cation Secretary who had the pleasthe Arts London, so aptly ant job of filling Michael Gove’s slime put it. When government filled shoes, has complained that too ministers begin to dictate many of the nation’s youth are opting and influence what skills and to study humanities, and by doing knowledge are deemed more so are restricting their future career valuable and more useful path. Speaking at the launch of the than others society at large ‘Your Life’ campaign -I don’t need should shudder. As Shelley Don’t let your life choices be controllled by others strings. Photo provided by crum.krulive.com to point out the irony of the nameso famously said ‘poets are she said ‘If you didn’t know what you the unacknowledged legislaed as human expression. wanted to do… then the arts and the humanities tors of the world’, so let them flourish and proBecause when we look at the rest of Morgan’s were what you chose because they were useful, we speech it becomes clear why she is so keen for legions duce something that does not just merely exist, were told’. In the 21st century, it would appear to but means. of boys and girls sporting nothing but lab coats and Ms Morgan, the Arts are no longer useful or relWhat do you think of all this? What do you wrenches: that plosive buzz word ‘big business’. Oddevant- and maybe she has a point. When I can sit reckon? Send us your reckonings and be comly though Morgan fails to realise that not everyone at home and 3D-print myself into oblivion I will mitted to the annals of history arts@thefounder. wants to move from being a cog in one machine to look back and think how foolish I was to get so building the cogs for another. Which brings me to the com. frustrated over something as archaic and antiquat- point, the cumulative exposition as Russell would put
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The Women Behind the History of Rock BY NATASHA BARRET MUSIC EDITOR Today, it is more and more accepted for women to play just as much of a part as men in any musical genre (although I hasten to add it is still a work in progress particularly in areas like rock, dubstep, house, rap etc). However, as with most things, women had to majorly persevere to even begin to come close to this acceptance. One of the most eye opening reads of my life in terms of women and the music industry was the biography of the one and only, Suzi Quatro – a pioneer of female rock music. Quatro described the beginnings of her career, the utter disbelief of an audience faced with a female led rock band and being pelted with tomatoes or similar
at various venues as well as being escorted out by three bouncers purely for her own safety at the end of a night. What struck me most was that despite this (amongst other abuse she experienced) and bearing in mind she was only sixteen when she started out, she never seemed disheartened. Her determination to lead women into a musical revolution in an uptight sixties/seventies era is a fantastic inspiration and a perfect role model for young female artists heading for a more ‘masculine’ genre in our generation. Quatro is just one fine example of a woman who helped shape the music industry, and it’s important to once in a while look back and pay our respects to the greats. These are my top six in no particular order:
Pat Benatar:
The first female artist to play on MTV, Benatar won four Grammys and during the eighties achieved two Multi-Platinum albums, five Platinum albums and three Gold albums as well as fifteen top forty singles. Her most well known track is probably ‘Hit Me with Your Best Shot’ – later covered by Joan Jett. In her 2010 memoir she wrote "For every day since I was old enough to think, I've considered myself a feminist … It's empowering to watch and to know that, perhaps in some way, I made the hard path [women] have to walk just a little bit easier."
Joan Jett:
Joan is often seen as the most well known ‘queen of rock’, her band ‘Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ released a number one ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll’ as well as other popular tracks like ‘I Hate Myself for Loving You’ and ‘Crimson and Clover’. She has had three Platinum or Gold albums and has always been depicted as a feminist icon. Jett is particularly inspirational in that she started up ‘The Runaways’ as a teenager, along with Cherie Currie, sharing lead vocals and writing a lot of the material. She was considered the driving force behind the band who had a film released in 2010 following their journey into the industry.
Stevie Nicks:
Possibly the most well known member of ‘Fleetwood Mac’ who enjoyed enormous success, Nicks produced over forty top fifty hits with her combined solo career. Rolling Stone even named her ‘Reigning Queen of Rock and Roll’, plus as part of ‘Fleetwood Mac’ she holds a position in the ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’. Their album ‘Rumours’ of 1977 sold 40 million copies worldwide and is therefore the sixth biggest selling studio album of all time. The band also achieved five Grammy nominations. Although Nicks achieved a further eight nominations in her solo career as well as ‘Bella Donna’ reaching platinum status in only three months.
Deborah Harry:
Best known as the front woman of ‘Blondie’, Harry also had a successful solo career and even appeared many times in film and television. With the ‘music video revolution’ of the era, she quickly became a punk icon, appearing on the front cover of ‘Rolling Stone’. In 1978 the album ‘Parallel Lines’ was a UK number one and a US number six, selling nearly two million copies. ‘One Way or Another’ continued this success for the band reaching number twenty four on ‘Billboard’s Hot 100’. ‘Blondie’ is still incredibly well known even amongst our generation and particularly aspiring young women.
Debbie Harry onstage with Blondie in the 70s. Photo provided by 4.bp. blogspot.com
Chrissie Hynde: Hynde has been the only constant member of ‘The Pretenders’, and collaborated on two number ones including ‘I got you babe’ with UB40. Coming from Ohio Valley, she moved to London during the seventies just in time to partake in the emerging Punk scene. The Pretenders’ hits included ‘Brass in Pocket’ and ‘Back on the Chain Gang’.
Janis Joplin: Janis Joplin initially sang in the band, ‘Big Brother and The Holding Company’, whose album ‘Cheap Thrills’ reached number one on the Billboard Charts in October 1968. However she then began her own band ‘The Kozmic Blues Band’ and then ‘The Full-Tilt Boogie Band’ who performed to large audiences such as the Sports Arena in San Diego. Joplin was posthumously awarded a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by The Grammys in 2005 and in 2014 was put on a postage stamp in the US for being ‘one of the greatest rock singers of all time.’
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Album Review
Album Review
– Superstiton
– Alt J
The Birthday Massacre BY ADAM HITCHEN Having teased fans for over a year, ‘The Birthday Massacre’ have finally released their sixth album ‘Superstition’ which certainly delivers on so many levels. The band opted to fund the album via pledgemusic.com, a recent innovation that works similarly to a Kick-starter campaign. Essentially, anyone who is interested pre-orders the album and can pay money towards its production in return for extras, such as T-shirts, signed posters and even a meeting with the band in the studio. It’s an interesting concept that enables slightly more “alternative” bands to keep creating music - and ‘The Birthday Massacre’ are definitely alternative! The album oozes that wonderfully creepy gothic sound that ‘The Birthday Massacre’ are so well-known for: a blend of 80s synth-pop sounds and modern rock, with a metric ton of atmosphere and poetic lyrics. Stand-out tracks “Beyond”, “Divide” and “Diaries” deliver a dark, dance-y vibe that
will hook even the most sceptical of listeners, while “Destroyer” and “The Other Side” show us the meaner, heavier side of the darkness. Eerier still, “Rain” and “Superstition” provide a moment of reflection, fear and a hint of sorrow. The album is so well paced that each mood is seamlessly integrated, meaning you’ll end up being utterly sucked into the warped world of “Superstition”. While the album doesn’t do anything overwhelmingly different from previous offerings, ‘The Birthday Massacre’ have such a unique sound that any new release is a welcome addition to their catalogue – and with an album as strong as this, it’s clear that they’ve perfected the music that they make. “Superstition” is absolutely a must-have, give it a listen now!
This is All Yours
BY ABI PRESTON
After winning the Mercury Prize back in 2012 for their debut album, An Awesome Wave, Alt-J are back with their second album and needless to say, the anticipation from fans is no surprise. Because of the success and general outstanding nature of An Awesome Wave, the trio from Leeds must have been aware that they had a lot to live up to. But thankfully, I can safely say This Is All Yours lived up to expectations in so many ways. It captures the essence that made An Awesome Wave so great and more. The album begins with a 4 minute ‘Intro’ that prepares you for the rest of the albums tone, a combination of slow soulful tunes and on-your-feet classic indie-rock. From sultry piano starter ‘Arrival In Nara’ to the bluesrock style ‘Left Hand Free,’ Alt-J have managed to produce an album that exceeds expectations and continuously surprises the audience. Highlights of the album include the recently released single ‘Every Other Freckle’ and ‘Bloodflood Pt. II,’ the latter of which
is a continuation of the track ‘Bloodflood’ from An Awesome Wave. This Is All Yours is like a journey. You arrive in Nara, which is actually a town in Japan, and then at the end of the album you leave Nara through the song ‘Leaving Nara,’ a 16 minute track which is completely silent until about 12 minutes through. I guess you could say it’s a symbolic way to end the album with a quiet bang. This is what makes Alt-J so different from so many other bands in their genre. They create an album that you are able to experience in this innovative and creative way, something that is completely typical from Alt-J. One of the best things about Alt-J is that they are everything they say they are. They do not hide behind auto-tune or any of these other technologic features. Ultimately, they produce music because they have a message to give rather than for the money. Alt-J just keep getting better and better and their new album is a testament to this.
Photo provided by consequenceofsound.files.wordpress.com Photo provided by wikimedia.org
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When Annie Clark touched down at the Roundhouse Theatre in London on October 25th, it was unclear what to expect. Would it be a rock concert? An art piece? Somewhere to dance? An intimate night of music? The result was something that lay between a precisely choreographed piece of theatre and a sexual punk freak-out. The opener, Coves, were quite enjoyable with some delicate singing, interesting guitar riffs, and a heavy bass and drum beat supporting it all. But they were no doubt left disappointed by a lack-luster audience that clapped half-heartedly after each song, waiting for St. Vincent to take the stage. Take the stage she (or perhaps it should be they) did, opening with Rattlesnake, with the mix somehow increasing in volume tenfold compared to Coves, so that the songs seemed to burrow violently into your head. When playing guitar, if she was not following choreography St. Vincent would thrust violently with her guitar, playing with a sexuality that brought to mind Prince and Jimi Hendrix’s onstage antics. In between songs harsh auditory landscapes of uneven rhythms and movement would fill the room, forcing the audience to feel something and stop head-banging momentarily to stare around the room at the
St. Vincent Live
A Concert Review
BY THAT ONE DEAF MUSIC CRITIC
St. Vincent performing in concert. Photo provided by rukkus.com
people around them. The songs themselves came from all of her releases, but centered mostly on the most recent eponymous album. The ultimate moment came during the encore when the band stretched Your Lips Are Red, a five minute song, into a thirty minute trip of unpredictable bass and synths while Annie Clark writhed around on stage, smashing her head on the floor, spitting
and cursing at her manger from the shoulders of a security guard, and trying to throw her guitar into the audience. It was glorious. Verdict: An amazing performance that convincingly straddled the worlds of theatre and rock music.
My Favourite Faded Fantasy
– Damien Rice BY THAT ONE DEAF MUSIC CRITIC
Photo provided by consequencesofsound.net
Opening with the titular track, My Favourite Faded Fantasy’s sound is evident from the beginning. The first track builds from a fingerpicked acoustic guitar with delayed reverb-laden vocals gliding over the top, to atmospheric electric guitar and drums that back Damien Rice’s refrain, “I’ve never loved/I’ve never loved like you.” The eight tracks on My Favourite Faded Fantasy are unashamedly emotional and contradictory, with Rice’s lyrics veering back and forth between pleas for his love to come back, and for her to live her life. They move from guitar to piano
to strings, but never hit that full orchestration sound of some songs from previous albums. The focus here is instead on dynamics, rather than a full string sound. Songs fade off before coming back full force, or build slowly to a crescendo that cuts short, some even fade over the course of the song. All songs, however, feel deeply personal, and are hauntingly fragile even at times of crescendo. Standout Tracks: “I Don’t Want To Change You”, “The Greatest Bastard”, “Long Long Way”, “Colour Me In” Best Time To Listen: When you just feel quiet. Verdict: A beautiful portrait of love and loss.
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Doctor Who Series 34: A Review BY JAMES TOTTY
to death on more than one occasion. Cracking guest This article contains spoilers relating to performances from Zawe Ashton and Michael Smiley Season 8 of Doctor Who. helped here too, as the Daleks fortified their credentials Fresh off the back of the ‘[insert noun with the veritable orgy of on-screen extermination by here] of the Doctor’ quartet, in which Matt the titular villains. Most evil creature in the universe Smith’s swansong became increasingly infat- they are, and make Mary Whitehouse spin in her grave uated with its own emotional grandeur, the it did. promise of a full, uninterrupted series for the From hereon in we received a mixed bag; my initial first time in three years, and with a new Doc- excitement, optimism and unashamed fan-boying fadtor to boot was tantalising to say the least. ed gradually as we progressed. Initially myself and the rest of the fandom Describing Robot of Sherwood as a ‘romp’ as many were not disappointed. Deep Breath was a have seems overly kind. Sure, anything can happen in genuine treat: the frenetic pacing and quick Doctor Who, but claiming that Robin Hood was in fact resolutions that dogged recent series was a real man, and broadcasting an episode with one or gone, stopped in their tracks by a 75 mintwo fundamental plot-holes (if the robots needed all the ute run time, which allowed us to get really immersed in the Victorian era, mostly through the inclusion of incidental characters with actual personalities, lines and general plausibility. Peter Capaldi was zany, manic, vulnerable and witty, with both the cold ignorance and irascible gravitas that his predecessors have lacked. His Doctor may not have been as instantly likeable as Tennant or Smith, but neither did he feel as knowable, or more importantly, as human. As far as our favourite Time Lord goes, he felt on point, and much the ‘big name actor’ taking on the role he was billed as in the runup to the series premiere. The first adversary was suitably fan pleasing, placating any uneasiness viewers may have felt from the new, austere Doctor: revisiting a modern Photo provided by ibtimes.com classic, we once again encountered clockwork robots, up to their old tricks of gold they could to repair their ship, why on earth give harvesting human body parts to incorporate away a solid gold arrow in an archery tournament?) is into their machinery, and indeed, themselves. a bit too far even for me. It was funny, campy, and Ben Recent accusations that Who had gone soft Miller hamming it up was immensely entertaining. vanished with the did he/didn’t he ending in What it wasn’t, however, was good sci-fi drama. which our primary villain may or may not By the time we got to Time Heist the pacing was have been murdered in cold blood by our so off again, the frantic, 45 minute dash that felt like a called hero. cut-down feature film made a triumphant return, Into the Dalek really was again a truly won- serving only to frustrate as interesting and innovative derful proposition. If Ben Wheatley’s direccharacters competed for attention during the meagre tion had shown through in the gothic horror run time. Keeley Hawes was wonderful, but woefully aesthetic of the previous week, it manifested underused. Choppy and overly striated direction really here simply by virtue of its excellence. We didn’t work here either. This episode felt akin to going received a good old-fashioned sci-fi story. on a beach holiday with the flu. I ended up breathless, Rebel soldiers, hordes of Daleks, and visual irritated, and felt like I’d missed out on something that effects that would have looked at home in JJ could have been so much fun. Abrams’ Star Trek movies. Then to top it all Capaldi’s Doctor really began to take shape around we got an insight into the inner workings of a this time. For the first time in a while, The Doctor was Dalek, a refreshing take on the monsters that plausibly alien; harking back to that most quintessenwhilst iconic, have quite literally been done tial of Doctors, Tom Baker, with a hefty dollop of fan
favourites William Hartnell and Christopher Eccleston thrown in for good measure. Safe to say, as a fan, I was enthralled. This was what led me to truly enjoy The Caretaker, it was funny, it was quirky, and it was delightfully silly. Yes, the alien was poor, and yes… the scuttling electronic killing machine was essentially defeated by a backflip. But hey, we got to see the Doctor trying to be normal, and it was brilliant. Then, with Steven Moffat off the writing credit for virtually the first time in the season (unless you count Mark Gatiss’ Robin Hood escapade, and I’m inclined not to), we saw some excitement once more. The Moon was an egg, and a disused Space Shuttle crashed on it. Then the Orient Express was in space, and was being stalked by a murderous mummy. Then Bristol got attacked by 2D creatures that experiment on you, and the TARDIS got shrunk and there were trains from the 1960s. Oh, and Foxes covered Queen. Really, it was Doctor Who at its finest, and if you discount a couple of swift endings (seemingly the bane of Doctor Who under Moffat) and the fairly dramatic oversight that of course, eggs don’t actually gain mass when they incubate, it was damn near flawless. Ridiculous, outlandish and completely fun. In the Forest of the Night was where it fell down. The run stopped with trees that grew up overnight with no explanation as to how. I like science in my science-fiction. Not, you know… magic. There were other more legitimate grievances. Some of the dialogue was truly abysmal. Bringing children into Doctor Who never works out particularly well, but bringing them en masse, and then giving them dialogue that would make most GCSE Drama students cringe is probably not a good idea. As was trying to convince us that if a forest grew up in Central London, the only clue to the fact that the city was there would be the occasional bollard and phone box. No cars, people, lampposts or the like? Okay. Never mind. Killing off Danny Pink within the first 30 seconds of Dark Water was a bold move. Surprisingly well developed for a companion (of sorts), Danny was pretty much a master-stroke for the series. Allowing a dichotomous approach to the storytelling, sci-fi in the TARDIS on one side, romantic comedy in his and Clara’s workplace on the other. He had an intriguing history, believable motives and actions, and was easy to warm to with his everyman persona, along with the streaks of bravery, chivalry and class identity that so dramatically clashed with the Doctor. Look no further than his aggressively mocking salutes and accusations of officer-hood in The Caretaker for proof of both his worth as a character, and of Samuel Anderson’s perfor-
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(continued)
value: Everyone knows who The Master is, John Simm’s incarnation appearing when the programme was at the height of its David Tennant fuelled popularity, and this is where the problem mance. lies. There are any number of other villains whom The foreshadowing of the Cybermen’s return through careful placement of iconography was a Michelle Gomez could have played, and done a brilliant job of. One only has to look at the fan thetouch that really worked. Perhaps it could have slightly spoiled the reveal, but in my experience ories circulating the internet in the build up to the finale to see the plethora of opportunity: The Rani, the sort of viewer who notices that windows an older Clara, an embittered Romana (Wikipedia and fleetingly appearing logos are shaped like cyber-eyes are also the sort who probably know is certainly your friend here if like so many, you haven’t seen the classic series). These are all roles who the bad guys are going to be beforehand that Michelle Gomez would have suited much anyway. Eventually their appearance from beneath, or indeed above the skeletons in the cages better, and could have been written into the continuity of the programme more easily, evidenced was still wonderfully dramatic. by the complete lack of explanation as to how The Most of the really good stuff early on was with Danny. The initial idea presented to us that Master is still alive: writing him out of being both people remain conscious after death was a chill- dead and trapped in a deadly war which cannot be ing one (“You’re cold because your body is being travelled in or out of is surely a tad difficult. I do kept in cold storage”), and very Doctor Who, as not complain; as I said, Michelle Gomez’ depiction of The Master is amongst the best, her whispered was the concept that the victims trapped inside the data cloud are manipulated into deleting their threats to Osgood possibly the scariest I have ever seen the character. But as always with Who, a little own emotions, the depiction of Danny’s undermore explanation wouldn’t have gone amiss. lying character flaw at the root of his personal The action ramped down significantly in the latproblems wonderfully realised, both through the ter parts of the episode, giving way to the emotionAfghanistan flashbacks, and the appearance of al consequences of Danny’s cyber-conversion, and the boy he killed. Then of course it all got truly The Master’s reasoning behind the cyber attack. sensational. This was difficult as a fan, because after all of the The return of The Master. A truly great villain, and a fitting one for a series finale. Michelle ominous tension building over the Cybermen converting legions of humans through heinous means, Gomez is perfect, truly perfect as The Master. Creepy, insane, ominous and unpredictable, she’s that story simply reached an anti-climax. No one of the best to take on the role. However, one invasion, no shooting. Nothing. However Danny’s and Clara’s story reached whole new heights, Clara inevitably ends up thinking that the character having to rob Danny of his emotions, and him subwas written into the story just for sensationalist
BY CHARLIE PULLAN
sequently sacrificing himself for the earth ending up being a genuinely wonderful emotional payoff. Muddled and fraught, the series wrapped up the action with a set of ideas that worked to various degrees. Danny appearing through a portal from the netherworld in Clara’s house was cliché, and his sacrifice in order to send back the boy he killed should have endeared him to me further, but simply felt forced. The parting of Clara and The Doctor, each having had a loss, each concealing it, was truly stunning. The writing about hiding their faces with a hug was inspired, as was Capaldi’s violently rancorous and physical reaction upon finding out his home is still lost. Series 34 (or Series 8) was a step in the right direction for Doctor Who. We have a Doctor who is a wonderfully capable actor, and more and more varied and imaginative stories. Stylistically the programme looks wonderful, and the darker and grittier tone to the narrative could not differentiate this era more from Smith’s. The greatest improvement is with Clara. The improvement in the writing of the character has finally allowed Jenna Coleman to cement herself as a superb actress. New and varied facets to her personality, steady and plausible home and work lives and recurring peripheral characters, as well as her relationship with Danny and a renewed and reworked relationship with The Doctor really made me enjoy this series of Doctor Who more than previous ones, and sincerely hope that rumours of her departure from the show at Christmas are untrue. Overall, Doctor Who is changing for the better, and as a fan, I hope it continues to do so.
Equaliser: A Review
Maybe a decade ago The Equalizer would matter. It doesn’t. Denzel Washington stars as Robert McCall, an everyman with a very special set of skills - or is that Taken? Having befriended a young prostitute, he goes on a rampage in order to protect her safety - or is that Taxi Driver? In truth, there is little to praise. Tedious action set-pieces are stretched over a quite extraordinary 131 minute running time as Washington aimlessly wanders with a drill and a very special set of skills - fucking Taken again. Any charm evident in Washington’s performance is undermined by a lacklustre script and Denzel looking as if he just stepped out of bed. The ever reliable Chloe Grace Moretz is relegated to a plot device, forced into a role defined by a wig and a slice of cake. The villains exist in the school of Anonymous Easter European Probably Russian Hench-
men With Zero Skill. Like Taken, but Russian - and 'like Taken' isn’t something to be proud of. At least in Neeson’s crass B-Movie actione, the film surrounding him is aware of its innate silliness. The Equalizer takes itself far too seriously for the audience to enjoy it and during the rare moments of humour, it protrudes awkwardly outwards. Less funny, more ugly. The stand out set-piece, a witty, Sherlock Holmes-esque moment would have lifted the film to at least somewhat enjoyable if it wasn’t fisted into the trailer to appease the absence of anything to truly please the audience. The Equalizer is horribly inoffensive. Photo provided by Yahoo A film of tedious set-pieces, characterless, fleshy mouthpieces and villains with zero threat to them.
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Thanksgiving
BY SAMI ROBERTS DESIGNER
as Celebrated by an American Foreigner
Every November, the small American city of Arvada, Colorado is stocked from shelf to shelf with frozen turkeys, fresh cranberries, the makings of pumpkin pie, fresh vegetables by the bushels…and all the canned and boxed equivalents. Then every fourth Thursday of November, all of these quintessential ingredients are doled out into serving dishes. The Thanksgiving Day Parade comes on TV, and the turkey is carved, all 393 years after the Pilgrims and Native Americans came together to celebrate the first harvest. A year ago I left my small city of Arvada and began student life in the small town of Egham, where I would celebrate my first Thanksgiving away from home. Though many of the ingredients to the holiday are important, the one I cared about most was getting my pumpkin pie. My friend and my younger brother came to visit me for their week long Thanksgiving break. We made it our mission to track down a ready-made pumpkin pie, since the lonely land of Kingswood does not come with an oven. Throughout the week we made multiple trips to London, Egham, and once to Windsor. Although that added up to countless searches through any supermarket we found, it was fruitless. Finally, looking desperately through the M&S at Waterloo before returning home for the Kingswood-provided Thanksgiving dinner, we picked up a small cheesecake as a consolation prize. Excited to get back from a long day out to have at least something of a Thanksgiving dinner, we rushed to make the last bus from the station back to campus. We would just make it back before the canteen closed for the night. As fate would have it, the bus driver decided that since we were the last trip he would make for the day, he could take an extra 25 minutes to chat outside before taking us back to Kingswood. By the time we even left campus, dinner was over. As a result, my first UK Thanksgiving went from turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie to nachos and cheesecake. Thanksgiving Round Two is under two weeks away, although everywhere from Egham to London screams Christmas, there are a significant number of American accents across the Royal Holloway campus. “Last year I went to Munich and celebrated
Thanksgiving with a bunch of friends. I've got a few friends who all grew up in the same town.” said Doug Cowie, a Creative Writing seminar leader of Royal Holloway, “we've been getting together for Thanksgiving most years for about a decade.” Though originally from Illinois, Doug has lived in the UK for fifteen years. “I'm not really a homesick kind of person.” he said, “The main thing is getting some pumpkin pie. If I don't get at least one slice of pumpkin pie this time of year, I feel like I'm really missing out on something.” For second year student Katie Wan, whose home is currently Seattle, Washington, finding time to celebrate was not the be-all and end-all. However her flatmates are the ones encouraging her to have one. “I wasn’t going to this year, actually.” she said, “but my housemates were like ‘NO we have to celebrate Thanksgiving!’ I think it’s just the novelty of doing something American.” Wan points out that the motivation to create such a massive dinner is not great when there are only three people partaking, and no one else to do the cooking. “I mean at home I’m into Thanksgiving because my mom is like a huge gourmet master chef.” Wan said, “So obviously I’m on board then, but I don’t have to do any of the cooking. That helps.” Nonetheless, on 27 November this year she and her two housemates will be cutting into turkey and various vegetables and watching the Friends Thanksgiving episode together. Homesickness is triggered by all sorts of things. Some people get it severely, some not at all. The things that cause it, however, vary from person to person depending on what they grew up with; what represents “home” the most. Wan said, “My mom makes this really cool green jell-o thing, which sounds really disgusting to most people when you talk about it. Green jell-o, with cream cheese and pineapple. It’s amazing.” This year to keep with holiday traditions she will be making it on her own. Though sometimes when you lead a different life in a different place, some have to be left behind. “The football games don't come on at a convenient time.” said Doug Cowie, “so I have to skip out on watching the Cowboys and/or the Lions.” Traditions develop naturally, whether people notice them or not. One could be just knowing that if this Thanksgiving attempt goes awry, there
At last, a Whole Foods shop came to the rescue and provided the long missed pumpkin pie. Photo provided by Sami Roberts
are always nachos and cheesecake to fall back on. For some Americans it means going around the table before dinner and saying one thing they are thankful for. A lot of times they just develop without realising, like Cowie's, who spends most Thanksgivings in Germany. “I suppose we've developed our own traditions in that time, though I don't know that we actively think about them as traditions, or have self-consciously cultivated them as traditions.” As much as Americans living in the UK will have to let some traditions go by the wayside, new ones can be acquired simply by knowing so many new and different people. “It's taken me years to get used to bank holiday Mondays.” Cowie said, “and I still don't really know when they are, or what to do when they come—besides go to the pub like everybody else.” To give a happy ending to mutual longing for pumpkin pie that I failed to acquire last year (and had no oven to bake one it), I recently discovered upon a Whole Foods in London, which does in fact provide this American delicacy.