Issue 16 - May 2010

the

Magdalen

Caught!

T

5

8

9

1

1

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

No.16 The Art Issue May 2010

The

3

Magdalen The Degree Show Special

5

Campus News

30 Fashion: Focus on Textiles

8

Political Opinion: Elections

33 Making a feature of Blunders

9

Degree show

17 Art Review 18 Facebook - A Liability?

Science: 34 Volcanic Inconvenience Political Opinion 35 Jigsaw Babies

19 Music Review 20 Comic Book Movie Feature 22 Brian Cox! 24 A Windy Discussion 25 Goodbye to Teletext Travel: 26 Inter-railing 28 Marrakech 29 Istanbul - but not that one

36 Pamela Anderson - not just sex!

Sport: 37 Cricket 38 The SPL 39 Barry and Calum enjoy a banter

The Magdalen

Editor Beth Shackley Online Editor Ruth Hunter Assistant Editors Sam Longden Henrietta Evans Current Affairs Editor Faye Cawood Design Gurus Hannah Graham Albert Lehzen Entertainments Editor Ruth Hunter Fashion Editor Liz O’Hara Features Editor Ross Barrow Science Editor Dr Jon Urch Sports Editor Barry Davidson Travel Editor Kirsty Fergusson

Contributors Victoria Anderson Catherine Beaton Suzanna Clarke Gary Cocker Nicola Dalling Stefan Donelly Rosemary Gudmunsen May Jasper Amy Jordan Holly Keasey Craig Kelly Claire Leyden Kate MacRitchie Paul Malik Rory Martin Calum Munro Daniel Rapier Faye Simms Andrew Smith Sina Steading Ryan Swann

Editorial Hello gentle readers, This month we have an artistic feast for you all, with an exclusive insight into the frantic minds of fourth year art students preparing for their Degree Show. Fashion editor Liz has featured Textiles students, who have bestowed a wonderful array of colour and design to the fashion pages.

We were lucky enough to speak with Brian Cox, who encourages us all to explore our creative sides.

Turn to page twenty two for his fountain of wisdom! Our features are magnificent this month, with discussions including Teletext, Facebook and Windfarms. Donít forget to read the sporting chat on pages thirty seven to thirty nine, as Barry and Lum wave goodbye.

In other news, the Awards Dinner saw the declaration of the Best Contributing Journalist of the year - a title awarded to Ruth Hunter.

Ruth has contributed exceedingly to the Magdalen cause, singlehandedly creating our online blog and harassing countless students on their favourite breakfast cereals.

Congratulations to her!

This year has been amazing, with everyone achieving huge amounts. I want to personally thank my whole team of writers, editors, and the current DUSA exec. who have been more than supportive. Thanks of course to you, the reader, who make The Magdalen possible. The Degree Show exemplifies the very best of our enthusiastic and dedicated students - so it is a magnificent way to end our academic year.

Beth: Thy humble Editor (who has lost the King complex due to a lack of friends).

Paul Malik and Liz O’Hara - the nominees for Best Contributing Journalist award pose at the glitzy awards dinner.

I wish everyone the very best in their exams, and to those graduating, good luck in the real world - you will be missed!

Beth Shackley Editor a.e.shackley@dundee.ac.uk

PRINTED BY David Winters & Sons 16 Dunsinane Ave Dunsinane Ind. Est. Dundee DD2 3QT sales@winterspioneers.co.uk

The launch of the Election Issue!

PUBLISHED BY Graeme Thewliss D.U.S.A Airlie Place Dundee DD1 4HP vpc@dusa.co.uk

Recycle your copy of The Magdalen

No.16 The Art Issue May 2010

5

Campus News all four floors of the union and open until 3.30 am there is something for everyone.

Last years degree show was a huge success and this year is expected to be just as good.

DoJ has produced some much loved and even famous jewellers and artists and many other famous people in art. The degree show is a chance to have a sneak peak future leaders in art and design’s work as well as having a brilliant time.

Man who cycled the world He’s pure Dundonian, ken.

Brian Cox on campus Hollywood actor and Dundee rector Brian Cox popped onto campus on the 5th and 6th of May for a visit. The Dundee born actor had a very busy schedule trying to pack in as much as he could over the two day visit. He got chance to speak to students as well as have a look at areas of campus. He even managed to film a cameo role for DUSA’s soap Skint, he played a biochemist that had found a way to block brain waves. Cox wants to take his role as rector seriously and get involved with Dundee university as much as he can, from helping with fundraising to fighting cuts.

Cox said this visit was a fact finding journey and he listened to the concerns of students and staff. He said that he hoped to leave the city with a better understanding of what the university’s needs were as a whole.

Degree show The annual degree show will be held on the 22nd-30th may at the university’s Duncan of Jordanstone collage of art and design.

This is the annual showcase for students graduating in 2010 to display their work.

There will be a range of disciplines on show from fine art, animation, jewellery, textile design, illustration, interactive media design, digital film and graphic design as well as many others. Of course this is all celebrated afterwards at the infamous degree show party at The Union, there will be guest DJ’s and turner prize winner David Creed. It’s a chance for students to let their hair down and with the event being across

Mark Beaumont, more commonly known as the man who cycled the world, will be holding a talk at the university of Dundee on the 27th of may. Mark currently holds the Guinness world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by bicycle.

He also climbed the two highest mountains

Mark Beaumont on his bicycle. in South America and cycled between them. Mark is a local boy educated at the high school of Dundee. His talk will be about the world record, his trip to south America and should be highly entertaining as well as factual and interesting.

Graduation ball The Grad ball is a chance for students who are vacating Dundee this summer to say goodbye, for now, to friends as well as sunny Dundee. The 12 hour event runs from 6pm to 6am and features a host of exciting things to do. There will be a champagne reception and a marquee as well as a BBQ. There will be no shortage of entertainment on the night from an exciting fairground to a casino. There will also be a ceilidh band as well as live bands and exciting DJs. The bands and DJ’s are still to be confirmed but there is one act that we know about already; the X factors Danyl Johnson. Danyl used to be a teacher but shot to fame last year on the X factor. Simon Cowell said

his rendition of ‘with a little help from my friends’ was the best first audition ever which is high praise indeed. Danyl will be performing along with other acts that will be announced soon!

Dundee plays a part in new drug development Scientists at the university of Dundee will lead a £10 million pound Europe wide project trying to find the early indicators of cancer and increase the effectiveness of the development of new drugs. The project could limit the use of animal testing and boost safety for all involved in clinical trials. The project will help reduce time and money spent on ineffective drugs. The project aims to look at 3 R’s: reduction, refinement and replacement of experimental animal use. The project will explore the use of non evasive procedures such as MRI scanning to study the effects of developmental treatments.

These techniques mean that the same animal can be used for more trials and also detect precancerous tumours at a much earlier point. In the long run this would mean a reduction in animal testing and a development of better drugs.

Monikie 10k race On the 9th of may the third Monikie bike ride took place for diabetes research. The race covers 10k around beautiful Tayside countryside with river views. It is open to the general public and athletes of all standards. The race is currently in its third year and raised £8,000 last year and over 750 people took part. Current rector Brian Cox helped promote the event when he visited Dundee in May, Cox is a diabetes sufferer so it is a cause close to his heart.

Charity run gathers much excitement.

The Magdalen

No Airbrushing: ...Just cuts.

Now follows an emotionally charged article by His Excellence, Calum Munro.

Cuts. It’s been the focus of the election. And I don’t just mean the recent DUSA Exec elections.

Forget the Leaders Debates – the Chancellor’s Debate said it all.

All three candidates to control UK purse agreed that the cuts they planned to impose were “More severe than Thatcher”. Coming from the sort of area where “NO POLL TAX!” and “HANDS OFF OF OUR JOBS!” graffiti is still visible twenty years on, this doesn’t sit well. We didn’t feel the boom, so why are we feeling the impact of the bust?

All this talk of bust has me a little flustered. Aside this columnist’s opinion that cutting illegal wars and gathering some of the £123bn in unclaimed tax of the last decade (I get that from a reliable, inside source) would be wholly wiser and fairer, we appear to be headed for the shit. And what is this investment to be replaced by? Mr Cameron’s ‘Big Society’.

But hang on, didn’t a certain Iron Lady once suggest there was ‘no such thing as society’?

Lets bring our focus to excellence... education. In January, the Government pledged to cut education spending in England by £449m, an impact that could jeopardise 9,000 jobs in England alone according to the University & College Union (UCU) and the excellence of degrees. Barnett Formula debate aside,

it seems plausible that Scotland will be lumbered with a similar impact to the block grant soon. We’ve already seen teaching places cut by an administration that pledged to focus on cutting class sizes. All this, when the latest figures see University applications up by around 1623%. More business = more money, no?

Sadly it doesn’t quite seem as simple as that. At national and local level students, frontline staff and their unions are being shut out of the process – from the UK Russell report to Dundee University’s Strategic Review. A recent issue of this beacon of journalistic probing highlighted the secretive if not clandestine threats tabled- exempt from student consultation and opportunistically published through the backdoor during the exam/summer recess.

You have elected a fantastic new student executive that will work closely with student and staff groups both internally and nationally to guide you and future

generations of Dundee University students through the coming years. It’s a question of what we choose to afford – trident or tuition fees, Saturday night lecture wine or frontline teaching staff.

Dundee University gets so much right, and I am proud to be graduating from this renowned institution based upon the people and ideals it represents.

Let’s not make the mistake of confusing targets, figures and star ratings with wholesome education. This isn’t about scaremongering.

“There is a major debate to be had about all of these proposals, time and time again DUSA have nailed our colours to the mast and we will continue to do so, please make sure you play your part in shaping your education” - Andrew Smith, DUSA President.

No.16 The Art Issue May 2010

7

NUS: NUS Referendum On the 1st April 2010 Dundee University students voted against our union becoming affiliated with the NUS. It wasn’t a close vote either: nearly 4 times more students voted no than yes to DUSA joining the NUS, 467 for and 1795 against. I asked current DUSA president, Andrew Smith, his feelings on the result of the referendum.

Firstly are you glad about the result?

Yes I am. I was in support of the no vote and helped campaign for it. The students of Dundee have shown that they want us to concentrate on delivering the best union we can with the resources we have and must continue to do so.

How much difference do you feel there would have been had we joined the NUS? In reality it would not have changed things day to day. My argument was never that NUS membership would be bad, just that the money could be better spent. It is now up to DUSA to ensure that we live up to the high expectations that students have of us.

Are you pleased with the number of students who voted?

Considering that it was the last day of term I think that 2300 was a very good turnout. It was significantly higher than the turnout at DUSA elections and suggested there is a demand for students to take part in the decision making process. Had we had better weather all week and had it taken place earlier in term, I think we could have done even better but all things considered I’m very happy with the turnout.

and try to help in making DUSA a bigger name on the national stage.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I would like to thank both campaign teams and everyone at NUS Scotland for the roles they played in the vote. I think the vote leaves us with serious questions on how we engage with the NUS and other unions. I also think that the result leaves NUS Scotland with some questions about what they do next in terms of working with non affiliated unions.

Does it please you to know the students are happy with things the way they are? In a way it was a clear vote of confidence. More importantly though it was a very good chance for DUSA to engage with its members in major issues and to really involve students in what we are doing. I would hope that every student who voted against affiliation holds us accountable during the years ahead and demands as much as possible from their union. I would also hope people who voted yes do not get dispirited and instead get involved

Although there were benefits to joining the NUS such as a national voice and discounts in retailers, we should take pride in our union. DUSA have won best union more than once and we can compete with some of the bigger club chains on drink deals and theme nights. It also means that the ÂŁ31,000 it would have cost to join the NUS can be better spent improving our union and societies.

Dear student, It has been a wonderful two years that I have spent working for you. I have had a transformative and overwhelmingly positive six years in Dundee. When I originally joined our fine campus it was due a serious renovation and Dundee was still very much Scumdee in the minds of far too many.

Since then the status of the city and the status of the campus have grown immeasurably. Upon graduating with a degree in History I had the pleasure of being elected to the office of Vice President of Student Activities and was subsequently voted in to the position of your President. The past year has been an immense learning curve. It has been both a privilege and an honour. I have worked with thousands of you and have been supported by the best staff and Executive that I could possibly have wished for.

To the backdrop of recession and economic chaos it is only made more imperative that our universities go from strength to strength and that students continue to play an active role in both developing and shaping education. Please play an active role in your Union, get involved and make sure that your representatives are acting on your behalf. A University is the sum of its students and it is for that reason that in leaving I am very optimistic about the future of DUSA. If wealth were measured in the good friends we keep and the company that we share then I would be a millionaire many times over, sadly as it is not then I am off in to the big wide world to oil the wheels of capitalism and earn my keep. The people we are when we enter University and the people we are when we exit are very different, in between times there is love, poverty, war, tears, laughs and a hell of a lot of banter. I hope you have a fantastic summer and thoroughly enjoy the rest of your time at Dundee Peace and love, Andrew Smith

The Magdalen

Election: Hindsight with Rory Martin and Faye Cawood The UK general election of 2010 produced a relatively rare system of government: a hung parliament. The Conservatives won the most seats (306), followed by Labour (258), and finally the Liberal Democrats (57).The country experienced mildly chaotic political-limbo, followed by the eventual inauguration of a new Prime Minister (David Cameron) and Deputy Prime Minister (Nick Clegg). A coalition between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives has finally been established.

The party leaders are still at the stage where they are battling it out for cabinet members and trying to decide what policies to run with. Having the country governed by a hung parliament is an unusual situation for the UK; however, the months leading up to the election were also unusual in their own right.

The key policies from the coalition parties on topics such education do differ this could cause some problems.

Education: The Conservatives pledge to create 10,000 extra university places this year.

Financing this will be incentives provided to graduate students in an attempt to get them to pay back their student loans early.

Lib Dems aim to do away with “unfair tuition fees” for all first year students, and for students in their final year, tuition fees should be scrapped straight away.

They want fees to be scrapped completely (this would be done over a six-year period).

However policywise they both take the same standpoint on War: The Lib Dems support the war in Afghanistan, promising to be “critical supporters” of the operation. They aim for a strategy which will include “other players in the region”.

The Conservatives are fully supportive of the war in Afghanistan, holding the “mission” as “vital” to the national security of the UK. The new Tory-Lib Dem coalition has an overall majority in the Commons, with 363 seats. The Conservatives have yielded to the Lib Dems by planning to have a referendum on the alternative vote system, despite being opposed to it prior to the election (and with some Conservative MPs remaining in that position now). In other important areas, the Conservatives are calling the shots: on the economy, foreign policy, immigration and health. Both parties appear to be in agreement over the environment and civil liberties. However,

the possibility of a break up still lurks in the background. Compromise is crucial to a successful coalition, and both parties have factions within them that still not only oppose other party policies, but the coalition itself. The next few weeks will be crucial as we see how the coalition works. At least for now Britain has some political stability.

The election effect on the media was particularly strong this year, with one of the highlights being a person rather than an event – the BBC’s ever-present, everactive political editor, Nick Robinson.

Another highlight was the media reaction to Gordon Brown’s comment on a member of the electorate in late April.

Gordon opined that it was very nice to meet her and swiftly got into his car. He then spoke to one of his aides as they drove off. The aide asked him what the woman had said. Clearly pissed off, Gordon responded: “Everything, she was just a bigoted woman…”The importance of this gaffe in relation to Labour’s performance in the final results was grossly exaggerated.

The media were also extremely excited this year about the Lib Dems. After the first election debate in April, the media were very impressed indeed with Nick Clegg. Public opinion of Clegg soared within a couple of days, making him the most popular party leader since Winston Churchill. Unfortunately for Clegg, opinion polls do not foretell election

Degree Show 2010: The Preparation

The Magdalen

Degree Show: Degree Show Preparations It’s Friday the 30th of April and around Duncan of Jordanstone art college the first tangible signs of preparation for the degree show are beginning to emerge. Studios are being cleared to make way for gallery space and the 4th year students are packing up their finished pieces to transport them to their new resting place where they will be viewed with more significance then possibly any

other piece of work they have created so far in their university careers. This is the day these students have effectively been working toward since 1st year.

Some have since that day, gone abroad and experienced the contexts of other creative environments, many have led elaborate social lives within and outside the college, others have had invested interests in activities apart from art and a large amount will be trying to hold down parttime jobs. But in the month or so coming up of each artists’ life, all additional personal, academic and professional duties aside, is consumed by the constructive, financial and artistic preparation of putting together for coherent and intriguing public viewing, the fruits of their artistic education.

Those from the years below watch this process as it comes about, as well as helping the 4th years set up. Our own Magdalen DOJ correspondent, third year Art and philosophy student Suzi Clarke explores the significance of the Degree show event and its implications on the careers of the art students that pass through the Duncan of Jordanstone walls.

The impossibly empty Matthew Building

Impending preparation iof Metalwork

No.16 The Art Issue May 2010

Degree Show: “Crunch Time” with Suzanna Clarke As a 3rd year art student myself the concept of putting together a degree show has loomed over my dishevelled head since day one of my degree. For those people who were wise enough not to take on a degree which requires the long distance stamina of a camel, I will explain the significance of it for those involved. A good analogy could be that of climbing a mountain. Years of training and work to even get to base camp, a constant uphill struggle every bit of the way until eventually four years later you reach the summit.

During these four years you gradually evolve from a social butterfly, into someone whose number of nights out drop off like digits through frostbite.

As I haven’t actually gone through this experience myself it is perhaps a bit inappropriate for me to try and explain the stress that art students are put under in the closing weeks before the degree show is unveiled.

As I walk around the college I am greeted with a mix of grimacing smiles, hysterical laughter quickly followed by a breakdown into tears and those few fortunate types who are able to take these things in their stride (an approach I am sure I won’t be able to undertake when in this position next year). I am personally delighted to see that even at this stage everyone is not completely sure on how their work will turn out or how they want it to be presented. It is comforting

and exciting to see that many of the students, even with this immense amount of pressure still incorporate an element of play with regards to their work.

In previous years of walking in to the college on degree show night it can be hard to imagine the chaos that preceded the building in the weeks before.

An immense amount of work is done by staff and students alike to prepare this incredibly bizarre and convoluted building into an appropriate space for showing artwork.

Outsiders forget that throughout the year these spaces are filled with students excitedly throwing paint and ink around, drawing and painting on every imaginable surface of the building (paper is an expensive material and in recent times often disregarded as a resource in the life of an art student). Only ten days before the students’ work is assessed do the other three years vacate these spaces and the already exhausted fourth years are presented with spaces that are anything but pristine. I know of students who have literally (with the help of some of us dedicated helpers) had to spend days scrubbing the floors with brillo pads and sand paper in the effort of creating an environment which will do their hard work justice. Even those students who I know to enjoy the chaotic element of creating and displaying their work have become sticklers of perfection when it comes to their prescribed space.

11

The Magdalen

Degree Show: One such student is James Lee, a fourth year Art and Philosophy student who is exhibiting in the Matthew Building. I wanted to ask James how he was felt about the year and his conclusions as it all comes to an end.

Suzanna: “How has it been putting your work up in the space?”

James: “I hate people with plans, people have been going around with plans, isn’t that weird?

People who plan, I just don’t get it??”

Suzanna: “So you prefer your work to come together naturally?”

The organised chaos of the Textiles studio!

James: “Nah, I just like letting the chaos flow” Suzanna: “If you could sum up this year in one sentence what would it be?”

James: “Chaos, despair, blind hope, dead ends, more despair” “A lot of people say that the work should stand on its own, I mean a lot of the times it’s not the case, you have to be able to defend it” Suzanna: Do you think you’ll be successful in selling your work?”

James: I could probably sell me better than I can sell the work, win them over with my charm “ Suzanna: “So do you feel as

you come to the end of it all that you’ve reached a conclusion of some sort?”

James: “In fourth year you blossom I think, first year is always the best year, second and third year kind of drag and in fourth year you blossom, the tutors take you seriously, they take your ideas seriously and they’re very critical because they expect you to take your work seriously.”

James is a student that clearly enjoys an element of play in his work and it has been brilliant to encounter an artist who doesn’t take themselves too seriously, yet still creates beautiful thought provoking work.

No.16 The Art Issue May 2010

Degree Show: Another dynamic student to look out for is Philippa Claire McDuff, a fine art student exhibiting in the main Crawford Building. As this Magdalen issue is released a day before the shows opening I don’t want to go into too much detail as it would be a spoiler of the impact of this particular work. Although I’m sure there will be some uptight prude who has something to say about it, after speaking to Philippa it seems like this reaction would not be altogether bad and in fact reinforce the fundamental concepts that drive her work.

Philippa: “It’s very feminist, that’s the whole point. I’m not trying to take a stand, it’s about how in certain ways it’s very common to see a naked woman and at other times it is very unusual. In that when you open a newspaper and there’s a picture of a naked woman you are not shocked but if a naked woman walked down the street you would be. I want people to reassess why they’re shocked by a certain image in one place but not in another.”

Suzanna: “Do you think the fact that your work is in a gallery space, makes it more acceptable to see a naked figure?”

Philippa: “Not necessarily, because I still don’t think people will expect it, in a gallery you expect to see a painted nude but that’s not what I have done.”

13

The Magdalen

Degree Show: Not only do students have to be prepared to sell their work to the public and to a certain extent themselves, but they also have a night before the opening called the industry night. This entails not only scary business types but many others from the art industry including gallery curators, which could provide an all important stepping stone or opportunity for those wishing to pursue a career in art once they graduate.

For many the degree show can feel like make or break time with regards to their futures. As with anything that you have been completely submersed in working towards for so long it can be hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yet as I walk around the studios as this preparation week comes to a close it is amazing to see the raw talent that this art school produces.

Interior Design student, Sarah, sets up for the show with her exhibition - “Communitea�.

There is a real air of excitement in the college at this time of year as these run down spaces are transformed into beautiful arrangements of work and installations that transport you from one world into another. Yet this atmosphere is mixed with a sense of relief, as if the whole year has been building to this end point and everyone is now letting out a great sigh of relief.

I’m not envious of these fourth years who have gone through an emotional roller-coaster this year. Yet to see at the end of it all what can be achieved, it gives me a glimmer of hope for this next year ahead of me.

No.16 The Art Issue May 2010

15

Degree Show: Ruth Hunter’s artistic ramblings.

The descent to the fine art studios leads down such a disorientating array of corridors and discreet layering of steps that you barely notice you are in a basement until you peer out of the window and realise that you are looking up. The studio is bright and white and is sectioned off like a kitchen showroom. Instead of familiar everyday objects, each section contains an artistic workspace.

In each one there now exists a unique, almost-completed piece of work. The parameters of each space is divided on the floor with the detritus from the construction of each individual sculpture.

There is a common line like the marking of a country on a map that runs between all of them, a mixture of the dust of a white plaster, of plastic shards, of string and thread, of metal dust and others less recognisable leftover material. Each marks the end of a world.

The room smells of dusty chalk and house-paint. On an old pale pink cushioned couch in the centre of the room, three artists sit. One is on her laptop translating the meaning of her finished piece in to language, another is unravelling an acrylic blue cloth painted with clouds, the third in the middle, is talking at great speed about the infringing confines of generic gallery space.

Approaching a man in a corner splicing up pieces of transparent, electric blue plastic in an industrial clamp we discuss his work, the beginning, the process, the anticipated final product and more enlightening, the meaning

to be derived. I stare off on to the far wall where the smiling expression of a pustule on a white plaster tentacle reminds me of Pacman.

Articulating my journalistic intentions in a generalised fashion to those who will listen, I simultaneously try to work out what they might be. The artists discuss the more technical efforts that go in to their work that may be obscured behind the intended final appearance of pure idea. There is lighting to be adjusted, metal to weld, material to cut, delicate objects to transport, final touches that will angle a piece slightly more toward optimism, or anxiety or despair, or hallucination or fear or green or volume or sharpness or revelation and perhaps in some people’s opinion, genius.

Some artists discuss their work as the manipulation of ideas, of taking a thought and following it through visual and spatial means as opposed to linguistically, mathematically, or merely intuitively. Others describe their work like a dialectic evolution between it and themselves. Their own senses have manipulated

the piece and physically propelled the idea, an organic growth between material and artist, the artist giving visual life to their thoughts and developing it simultaneously mentally and physically in the creation of the piece. The process is recycled back in to the artist like a cyclical process of nature until the final product, is the final piece the death of this train of thought? Those that appear to be more coherent and elaborate stretched it to its very ends. And yet within it all there are still so many perspectives of the viewer that will conceive what was never intended.

The Magdalen

Degree Show: Trials and Tribulations This issues’ entertainment section has focused its giant journalistic eyeball on art, the event of the moment being the 2010 Duncan of Jordanstone degree show. We also looked at local exhibitions in Dundee, the undervalued art of comics at the cinema, and Visual poetry from DOJ student Holly Keasey. The anticipation of the degree show has been steadily building in stress and excitement since the start of the academic year. Contained within the buzz of activity, is the constant fundraising by the art students to create the finances to make the show happen and to do justice to their work. On top of all this is the preparation of gallery space, transportation of art and various milestones that loom unexpectedly along the way. Amongst this activity, there has also been some buzz around Duncan of Jordanstone concerning the degree show graphic. Many Students have aired the general view that it fails to represent the show and the artists. Shot in the style of a fashion shoot in an old Victorian mansion this image has caused some controversy amongst some of the students. Due to copyright reasons we cannot publish it here but The Magdalen asks “does this image represent all the departments of DOJ?” These include: Animation, Art, Philosophy and Contemporary Practices, Fine Art, Graphic Design, Illustration, Interactive Media Design, Interior and Environmental, Design, Jewellery and Metal Design, Product Design, Textile, Design, Time Based Art & Digital Film.

Indeed, can one image really contain an all-inclusive message that will please each discipline? Either way the indignation of some students at this one image is a testament to the passion and personal commitment they have poured in to the show, that they would feel such outrage.

Holly Keasey’s Visual Poetry - third year Fine Art and Philosophy

Aside from all the pressure of preparation, the success of the show could lead to some promising career paths for these artists.

Many past students of DOJ have gone on to lead successful art careers or have gained scholarships and bursaries in to prestigious courses. In 2008 DOJ students Susan Forbes, Joyce Stewart and Ge Jio Zhang have were awarded the John Kinross Scholarship. The £2,000 scholarship is intended to assist students in Scotland within the disciplines of Painting, Sculpture, Printmaking and Architecture to live and study in Florence for a period of up to three months, providing an incredible opportunity for young artists. Lara Scouller graduated in 2006 from School of Fine Art. and has a solo exhibition coming up in England. Jay Yung, a Fine Art graduate was selected by Grizedale Arts as one of 7 artists going to China to participate in the Nanling VIllage Project. These and many more have left DOJ with great prospects. Can the 2010 Degree show match up to the success of its predecessors?

No.16 The Art Issue May 2010

17

Art at the DCA: Musings on Alex Frost’s “The Connoisseurs” with Kate MacRitchie Of all the numerous, exciting art events on in Dundee you may have heard of the delightfully unusual Alex Frost exhibition showing at the DCA. On a Saturday afternoon, being highbrow arty types (or at least pretending to be) our lovely Editor and I skipped along, hand in hand, to inflict our perspective.

Frost’s work is eclectic to say the least, but recurring themes are prevalent throughout the exhibition, such as the internet, needles and consumerism to name but a few. The disparate nature of some of the pieces relates well to the exhibition’s title, “The Connoisseurs.”

Walking around the gallery feels like viewing a private collection of a refined, particular artistic taste. In fact, the title seems like an ironic joke on Frost’s part; perhaps a commentary on the snobbery attached to what can be defined as art. The giant, colourful nose sculptures floating in the middle of the main gallery’s floor seem to be aloofly turning their noses up at the artist’s own work. Originally commissioned for the Glenfiddich distillery, the pompously flared nostrils seem to playfully convey everything that is absurd about the

whisky tasting culture.

What is truly striking about this exhibition is the range of materials involved and the innovative techniques employed by the artist. The process of creating the art appears to have been as thought provoking as the final pieces. Frost’s innovative “blind portraits” for example, were created by piercing a photograph and painting through it so that the image of his model’s face appears on the opposite side, therefore in viewing the portrait you are essentially viewing the back of the painting. Thus the process is ‘blind’, as the final outcome is never certain. The portraits are also blind in another sense; the subjects all have their eyes closed, and when combined with Frost’s unusual technique, the result is, quite frankly, creepy. To look at rows of sullen, close-lidded, deathly faces is unnerving; we do not know why their eyes are shut, if they are intended to look so corpse-like or why the artist chose this particular method to create them.

In experiencing such uncertainty the

audience too is emotionally blind.

Though the pieces seem to have little in common, on closer inspection a certain selectiveness is apparent, again relating to an overall theme of connoisseurship.

The massive WiFi mural, reminiscent of your local swimming pool, is comprised solely from materials bought online.

Plastic starfish, fish tank decorations and miscellaneous aquatic objects litter the bottom of the pool. (Although for realism, I would have added some plasters and a verruca sock...) Furthermore Frost’s sculpted food products all resemble the type of foods found in the shopping basket of a middle-class vegetarian, all substitutes to this particular dietary requirement.

“The Connoisseurs” presents a series of oxymorons and subversions. The old is balanced by the new, the hi-tech alongside the handmade and the mass produced versus the individual. Though the collection has numerous interlinking themes, which can become slightly overwhelming, Frost’s work nevertheless is highly unique and engaging. Pieces such as the WiFi mural and the brightly vibrant noses lend a playful air to the exhibition, suggesting that the artist does not take himself too seriously, This sense of humour draws you into a communal relationship with the artist so that to view Frost’s work is to be in on the joke.

The Magdalen

feature: facebook I never thought I’d say it, but how I long to have been at University in the 1980s. Sure, there would have been the unholy trinity of bad hair, bad music and insipid Thatcherites to suffer, but both the bane and reluctant essence of my existence would have been but a far and distant dream.

Facebook has truly exploded on campuses over the past couple of years. With many of the computers in the University Library which are not emanating the dull white glow of Wikipedia are instead bathing their captive student in a luxurious blue tinge. For the time being, Facebook seems like a glorious invention, a tool to converse and swap tips or anecdotes with classmates, keep in touch with old school friends and do the odd bit of “perving” (although I am of course innocent of the last charge). Adding to its one-stop-shop ethos, it even has games and applications to wile your life away with when you could instead be wasting time reading lecture notes. It also, of course, has the facility to upload all those photos that seemed like a good idea on Friday night.

As with many, I’m not the most camerafriendly of individuals; my instinctive reaction is to treat the appearance of such an item as the equivalent of the wielding of a machete designed to maim

Gary Cocker University of Dundee

See more results for Magdalen Displaying top 2 results my social life into tatters. However, as with many, the introduction of alcohol into the equation slowly blurs this machete into a friendly Louis Theroux-style inquisitor, ostensibly there to soothe me and let me tell things from my side.

Of course, this deception is cleared up as soon as the last drop of Guinness leaves my vastly dehydrated body the next morning. I log onto Facebook, redeyed and green-faced. I despairingly shake my head at my socialist mate making the clenched fist salute in all of his 35 photos; I chortle at my flatmate’s seeming impression of a stroke victim on the dancefloor; I just about vomit at the sight of two acquaintances becoming, well, acquainted towards the end of the night. I’ve escaped, I gasp with a sigh of relief. ...And then I see myself lying in a bath missing half of my clothes and covered in what I hope is shower gel, and I realise that the “Boris ‘n’ Dave Bullingdon Club”

photo of the 1980s will be small beer compared to what is to appear in 20 or so years’ time.

We all know that previous generations had just as much fun and mischief (or more, if they are to be believed) when they were our age; however, the lack of such distinct, detailed and graphic evidence makes it seem much less of a heinous crime. One only has to look at the outrage unleashed by the photo of the young ‘gentleman’ urinating on a war memorial shortly before Remembrance Sunday to gauge how future elections shall be fought on images not ideas, on photos and not principles.

To all those who pursue a career in gutter journalism, Facebook is undoubtedly a blessing; however, to those of us who seek to gain some vague sense of dignity and perhaps even a halfway decent job following our debauched student years, we should remember that a Facebook is for life and not just for Christmas.

New Writing Dundee is now available An anthology of new writing from Dundee and across the globe has been published which includes pieces from new and previously unpublished authors, students from the University alongside internationally renowned authors. This year New Writing Dundee received around 600 submissions, and the editorial staff narrowed down the work to forty pieces of poetry and prose.

New Writing Dundee will also have several other events, including their very own spot at the Dundee Literary Festival on Wednesday, June 23rd from 6pm in the Dalhousie Building. This fun evening will not only feature New Writing Dundee stories through music and professional readings – including a reading by Christopher Reid – but it will also launch the festival.

Copies, costing £5, can be purchased from Waterstone’s store in Commercial Street, Dundee, or by contacting Anna Day, Director of Literary Dundee, on 01382 384413 or at a.c.day@dundee.ac.uk.

No.16 The Art Issue May 2010

19

Music Review: The Bluetones play the canine abode.

Paul Malik reviews... while tipsy.

Is it better or worse to attend gigs and shows under the influence?

A Monday session inspired by the optimistic affects of a sunny day took the place of some much needed studying, would this have a negative affect on my appreciation of the band? In the case of the Bluetones as it turns out, the drunker the better.

I’ll have to admit, prior to turning up at Dundee’s Canine abode, I hadn’t really heard much of what London’s Bluetones were about. Half-assed journalism on my part (or the fact that their myspace is solely dedicated to new tracks), it would seem that their past as a Britpop band is something they’d like to forget.

This however, couldn’t be said about the crowd.

Amongst the thronging masses, receding hairlines and beer bellies, a time travelling trip to the early nineties seemed to have taken place. Dundee’s faithful seemed to have taken denim to a whole new level and Ben Sherman must have noticed an incredible surge in sales of chequered shirts. Incorporating old and new, the London quartet appeared to just plod along waiting for the inevitable.

When the band cracked out the song everyone in the crowd had been waiting to hear, “Slight Return”, once a stalwart of radio hit-list’s and indie dance floors

everywhere, the band cursed their fortunes as a one hit wonder.

The Bluetones are a band who don’t wear their musical influences on their sleeves as much as tattoo them to their foreheads, the twanging guitars and nasal whine of singer Mark Morris portrays the band as nothing more than a poor-tribute to the Stone Roses. Yet the crowd seemed to love it, singing along to a song which you might not remember the name of, but no-doubt will have listened to countless times. A band who owe everything to one song, also seem to be haunted by it. They somewhat graciously accept that the majority of those in attendance only came to hear that “fucking song”, as Morris so poignantly put it.

Bland indie music it seems is alive and well, no doubt, influencing bands like The Courteeners in pioneering landfill music which seems to be enjoying somewhat of a revival of late.

Classic FM for Studying.

A useful compliation reviewed by Mark Bonnington.

Well it might seem like a cliché to start off with, but this CD really does do what it says on the tin.

It provides 10 tracks, in varying styles, all highly suitable for those last few hours of essay-cramming or long Sundays of revision notes. All 10 tracks have been chosen for their ability to be mentally stimulating without providing too much of a distraction. Highlights include the CD’s opening track, with the high Romantic tones of Mozart’s Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in A. Believe it or not, it has been proven that listening to Wolfgang’s work increases intellectual prowess, with the term ‘Mozart effect’ being first coined by Dr.Alfred A.Tomatis.

Also included on this CD is Mozart’s famous Laudate Dominum, with vocals provided by stunning soprano Lucia Popp.

My personal recommendation from the collection would have to be Ralph Vaughn Williams Fantasia on a Theme

by Thomas Tallis. The original Thomas Tallis was a composer at the court of Henry VIII, and we have the high soaring melodies so favoured in Renaissance music. The piece has a haunting beauty, is beautifully orchestrated, and provides that longed-for moment of respite in the library, when you think your brain is about to melt through your eyes. Filmmaestro James Horner was so moved by this piece he stole it to provide the lovetheme when composing the soundtrack to ‘Troy.’

Other gems to listen out for is the spanish-infused Concerto de Aranjuez, beautifully played by the National Orchestra of Spain, Debussy’s etheriel Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (yes Twilight fans, Debussy did write other stuff) and Beethoven’s dramatic ‘Emperor’ Adagio in E Flat, among others. I mean if it bumps you up a grade, why not?

If you enjoyed this work try Spotifying: Horner, James: Troy, Music from the Motion Picture (Warner Music, 2004) Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus: Requiem (Decca, 1992) Popp, Lucia: The Very Best of Lucia Popp (EMI Records, 2005)

The Magdalen

Brian Talks: It is early May and Beth and I [the great Ruth Hunter], sit down on The Magdalen couch to chat with Dundee University’s new rector Brian Cox. Despite a hectic and demanding schedule that called him back to Edinburgh that very evening Mr. Cox generously spent 45 minutes talking with us.

With a list of questions set out before me I soon find myself straying from their intended order and topics. I listen to the native Dundonian talk with great depth about the history of Dundee, religious thought, the distinctions between generational perspectives, the elections, the strategic review, philosophy, his acting career and much more. We could not fit it all within the humble confines of this magazinical medium.

You will be able however to read the full interview online on our blog at dundeemag.blogspot. com or on the DUSA website at dusa. co.uk/themagdalen.

‘I don’t at the moment, I think I’ve got about ...sort of two maybe three possibilities of movies and I’ve got to see which comes up first. At the moment I’ve got a film premier in Madrid at the festival at the end of May.’

For the film opportunities, what kind of films are they?

‘They’re sort of blockbuster-y types, they’re studio movies. It’s time I

“My days are Dundee.

My nights are something else… but my days are Dundee.”

Have you got many plans for the summer?

made some money. I haven’t done a studio movie for a long time. I’ve just been following stuff that I want to do but I’ve got to get, fiscally in order. Especially if I’m going be coming to Scotland more, I’ve got to be able to afford it.’

What has changed most about Dundee since you were young?

‘I think the things that’s changed most is its formed a much stronger personality. I grew up in Dundee in the post war period. It’s a city that’s gone through horrendous acts, horrendous times and come out the other side of it. It needs to find itself architecturally and hopefully that’s what’s going to happen with the waterfront development as long as they don’t fuck it up and they do have a way of fucking things Awe and wonder at Dundee’s greatness

up in Dundee.’

In so far as your role as rector representing the students of Dundee from what you have seen so far, what would you consider to be the most pressing issue?

‘I haven’t really formed that opinion yet, I would need to see a bit more, I’m coming with an open mind. There’s going be a lot of cuts and I think that certain things are just non viable and maybe should just fall off the table. But I don’t want the balance of the university to be too upset, I want it not just to be a scientific university but I want also to be a humanities university.

Especially with the art school, the English department, creative writing, what have you. I think big brothers are going have to look after little brothers. They’re going have to be judicious about that without being confrontational. We’re going have to do a lot of inner patronage. So that would involve everybody taking care of everyone else. So the university keeps its character, keeps its uniqueness. And that there is still room for the cutting edge, so that there is still room for the eccentric. ‘

You’ve played some psychologically deranged characters in the past, what drew you to these roles? Were you interested in horror stories or horror films when you were

No.16 The Art Issue May 2010

younger?

‘No, not at all. I mean I’ve played other characters as well. I’ve played Hannibal lector and Herman Goerring, people who are shall we say, of certain questionable sensibilities. But the interesting thing for me is that they are only certain steps away from who we are. All these characters are over-endowed in certain areas, or under endowed in certain areas, no compassion, no sentimentality.

I think its just part of the human condition and the true presentation of them is to show who they are, without judgement.

Not as a good guy not as a bad guy but this is a human being who has a value system that is completely amoral.

If you look at people like Ted Bundy or people who are clearly deranged you get a sense that they are only a certain number of steps away from you. You know we all have choices to make, you know it’s the difference between when you just squeeze a child’s cheek and you just squeeze it too hard, and the gap between those things is just very slight; if you want to take it to its extreme end, human beings a capable of that. It’s something that we have in us as human beings and we exercise constantly, choices in our behaviour, and how we come across and how we deal with other people. That’s why these characters I’ve played in the past have interested me, I’m interested in not just nasty characters but characters who are misfits anyway, who feel sort of excluded in some way. ‘

21

You had a role in the 1968 TV series The Sex Olympics, it had a lot about reality television in it...

‘Yeah it is astonishing prophetic television, for 1968. It was Nigel Neil who [came up with] the idea that television runs the world. [In it] basically there are two peoples, there’s the high life and the low life, the high life are the people who work in the media and the low life are the people the media serve. The low life are like the audience samples, they just sit there and watch the television. And of course we’ve reached point where its porn, the sex Olympics. [It’s the big thing] and the audience are getting bored with it, they’re not as alive anymore, and nobody bothers with art anymore people don’t paint. And a guy draws a painting

on the back of a BBC tray, he climbs down on a rope and in the middle of the set he shows the painting to the cameras but he falls off the rope and breaks his neck. The cameras pan in on him as the dead body and the audience ratings go way up. Everyone thinks it’s because of the painting but of course it’s because of the guy dying on television. One of the TV executives decides to partake in the show because he wants out of the system, so him and the woman he’s had a child with go off and go and live on an island and I decide to put this psychopath on the island, who killed his partner in an excessively violent sexual act, then mayhem ensues and it’s all booked up with cameras and the audience love it. It shows the extent of what reality television does. ‘

FIGHT CUTS! ...says Brian. He may have gone a little far in his campaigns, but we love him for it.

The Magdalen

Comic Book Movies Comic Book Movies have come a long way from Shark Repellant Bat-spray; gone is Adam West's camp sixties romp, replaced with alcoholic billionaires, Spartans and profane 10 year-old assassins.

Forget the tights and put your pants back inside your trousers, you're not in Smallville, Kansas any more.

If The Dark Knight taught us one thing, apart from that trick with a pencil, it's that comic book movies are big business these days. With over 1 billion taken at the box office, the latest Batman film showed the world that superheroes are no longer just the preserve of the geek.

This summer sees several films hoping to capitalize on that success, from the big budget Iron Man 2 to the indie films Kick-Ass and Paper Man. To celebrate The Magdalen takes a close look at the best and worst of Comic Book Movies.

by DaniIel W. Rapier

Cape Fear There's a lot more to comics than just cowls and teenage boy sidekicks though and in fact the best comics, graphic novels and adaptations from the last decade have been nonsuperhero material....

....However not every Comic Book movie is a winner, for every "Up, Up and Away" there are some crashing downs, for every Blade there's a Blade Trinity, for every Hellboy, a Howard the Duck.

2000ad staple, the British classic Judge Dredd, is another film from the comic stable that falls far short of classic.

The anonymous lawman was replaced with the well-known and wholly recognizable Sylvester Stallone. It might seem pedantic but when your character is meant to represent the facelessness of the legal system, casting Rambo might not be the best move.

Following the idiom, once bitten twice shy, it would take John Wagner, creator of Dredd, nearly ten years to return to the silver screen. The result would be worth the wait. David Cronenburg's adaptation of Wagner's A History of Violence is a story of mistaken identity, mafia and murder that mercifully involves absolutely no Rob Schneider. Staring Viggo Mortensen, the film uses Wagner's graphic novel as a springboard to create a tense and deliberately ambiguous crime thriller.

It's in these pockets of criminal activities, the shadows of morality that the best comic book work has been created both in super-heroics or otherwise, and this is true of their adaptations.

Just like A History of Violence, Road to Perdition deals with the influence of mafia on the life of those that partake in the underworld, however places the narrative in Capone's America. Max Allan Collins' graphic novel is based, in part, on the classic Manga Lone Wolf and Cub, which itself was turned into six films. Both in the Japanese original and Sam Mendes' 2002 reconsideration of Perdition, the story revolves around the relationship between a man and his boy after the father suffers the indignation of betrayal. Part tale of vengeance part of redemption, Perdition sees protagonist Michael Sullivan Sr., played by Tom Hanks, trying to emancipate his son from his own underworld dealings. The adaptation, directed by Sam Medes, (Jarhead) won an Oscar for best Cinematography and it's more than deserved. Road to Perdition is a beautiful film seeped with not only in noir tradition but also a fantastic sense of Americana. Within the film there are often shots taken directly from the panels of original graphic novel, adding a sense of synergy between the two works.

However realism and comics often stand at parallels, with it being hard to combine spandex costumes and believability and Robert Rodriguez's Sin City is the ultimate extension of this. A highly stylized and hyper-realistic neo-noir assault on the senses, Sin City is based on the art and writing of comic legend Frank Miller, who also takes credit for the reinvention and reinvigoration of the blind crime-fighter, Daredevil...

...Which takes us full circle, right back to a terrible comic book movie.

No.16 The Art Issue May 2010

"With No Power Comes No Responsibility"

23

If Batman is 80 and Spider-man a sprightly 48 years of age then Kick-Ass, the newest creation of Scottish Comic book writer Mark Millar, is in its terrible twos.

Created in 2008 alongside artist John Romita, Jr. (his father incidentally was only the second artist ever to draw the original Spider-man comic series) Kick-Ass asks the simple question; "Why do you think nobody's tried to be a superhero before?"

Kick-Ass is comic's ultimate high concept and what follows is an anarchic and violent story of an ordinary teenage boy, Dave Lizewski, desperately trying to answer his own reservations. But Kick-Ass is as much to do with teenage hormones, as it is superpowers and the titular superman has as much trouble with girls as the Fantastic Four do with planet eating monsters or mole men.

The translation to film, itself written alongside the comic, was done without the backing of any major film studios which means Kick-Ass has indie sensibilities with mainstream appeal. Kick-Ass is Tarantino does comic blockbuster.

However the comic book star of the summer will be the man in the iron mask, Tony Stark.

Iron Man 2 takes what was great about the first movie and absolutely runs with it, creating a whole universe as it goes. Whether it's Samuel L. Jackson's eye-patched Nick Fury or Robert Downey Jr.'s cameo in 2008's Incredible Hulk, Marvel is trying to do what no one else has done before, and create a single world in which all these characters exist, just like in the comics. Iron Man 2 is just one, very enjoyable, part of a larger picture.

Hit Girl takes her job seriously: Mark Miller's Kick Ass.

Comic book movies and adaptations no longer have to hide in the corner or stand apart from their less nerdy peers. It's taken the best part of a century but comics are not just in the mainstream... they are driving it.

The Magdalen

Never happy eh?

by Craig Kelly

Is it just me or are all these complaints about wind-turbines just a lot of hot air?

Sorry, poor attempt at a joke. Seriously though, I’m perplexed by this throng of people who are driving the campaign to stop wind turbines coming to Dundee’s waterfront. They came to my attention after crashing a ‘Saturday Night Evening Lecture’ but I didn’t think too much of it.

However, whilst on my way to an event at the Discovery Point I was confronted with them again. Whilst loitering, or as I like to call it ‘having a sneaky fag’, I got chatting to one of them. I knew this was going to be good.

‘What’s the problem with wind turbines?’

His answer was a mixture of their aesthetic deficiencies, noise pollution – which I thought was an ironic choice of words – and something to do with shadows. This was getting odd….

Shadows, f*cking shadows? Then the punch line, ‘I wouldn’t want one in my back garden’.

Where do I start? Firstly, no one is proposing that we put wind turbines in people’s back gardens. I don’t imagine a circumstance where you drive up Perth Road and see tenements almost taking off as enormous wind turbines located in the communal gardens get a wee bit out of control. This is not a problem.

Secondly, I don’t have a garden, but if I did I’d be quite contented to have a wind turbine in it.

The reality is that Dundee is an exciting place to live right now. The waterfront project will deliver to this city the physical machination of the spirit which has existed in recent years. We are embodying modern Scotland and part of that modernity is renewable energies. The proposed factory to build wind turbine parts will be powered by wind turbines – novel, fitting and just the kind of symbolism our city needs.

Once, Scotland led the way in the manufacturing of wind turbine technology but because of a lack of investment Denmark stole a lead on us. To be

honest, I thought our hope in renewables now lay elsewhere – perhaps geothermal release – but it seems we can have a second crack at being the leaders in the development and manufacture of wind turbines. Not only ‘us’ in the Scottish context, but Dundee, a city which has a skilled workforce but a lack of jobs. A city located perfectly to transport the turbines via water to the continent. Some would say Dundee was the ideal location for such a factory.

You see, wind turbines don’t just

reduce Scotland’s dependence on finite resources. They don’t just make energy cheaper for each of us and all of us as a whole. Wind turbines allow us to become the leading exporters in a technology which is being adopted around the globe.

I once argued with a friend on Uist about wind turbines. He was a science student, me a poor historian, an unfair contest I feel. But he explained to me the problem with wind turbines was that because they have a life span, the carbon used to develop the turbine is merely cancelled out by the carbon which is saved by the turbine during its usage, and therefore is a bit of a wasted exercise. The solution to have a manufacturing plant powered by turbines solves this problem.

Oh, and I actually think they look quite good as well.

No.16 The Art Issue May 2010

May 22 10y 15.54.03

Stefan Donnelly’s Farewell to Teletext ‘Text’ is a pretty generic word. Now it’s probably most associated with the mobile phone feature that allows the quick sending of general inanities around the world. 15 years ago, however, it was shorthand for a “protointernet” of information and entertainment, all in glorious 8-colour pixilation with confusing blocky graphics. Not unlike a giant colourful text message.

The heyday of teletext, in terms of content and viewership, was around 10-15 years ago. Many are surprised to realise it’s still around, albeit in a crippled, neglected form.

Alas, not for much longer.

With Dundee’s analogue signal being switched off on the 4th August, BBC’s Ceefax, the last remaining UK analogue teletext service (with ITV and C4’s ‘Teletext’ shutting down back on December 14th), will cease to be. There is a shiny digital equivalent with half the content and none of the charm, but as you may be able to tell, I am not a fan.

The ITV and Channel 4 Teletext closure was perhaps the biggest loss.

Its graphics looked a little fancier, and it possessed the most bizarre, idiosyncratic range of pages. Some were brilliant, like the legendary “Bamboozle”, the most difficult and frustrating quiz on television. Planet Sound was probably the best music magazine in the UK when it had a decent number of pages. “Digitiser”, and its less cultish successor, “Gamestation” were decent computer games sections.

And the greatest loss of the mid-December closure

was, of course, no Teletext Advent Calendar with its glorious use of the ‘reveal’ button! If that’s not preparation for the birth of Christ I don’t know what is.

Then there was the odder still: “MegaZine”, ostensibly a children’s letters page, actually commandeered by a frightening cartel of would-be internet forumites. “Turner the Worm” was a Teletext children’s cartoon, though I don’t recall much talk about him in the playground. And if you think problem pages in papers detail a scary subsection of society, imagine those written by teenagers to an obscure teletext page. Paramount Text’s ‘Mailbox’ even led to the real-life marriage of two regular contributors.

With all this already gone, you could wonder what we are losing with the demise of Ceefax. Well, if you’ve ever wanted regular updates on the views of right-wing pensioners, you’ll miss letters page “Dear Ceefax”.

If you like to know the time in several cities, there’s “World Clock”.

There’s also “Community Magazine” which is neither a magazine, nor is it about community; and 8 subpages on UK competitive chess. There are more useful pages: News, Sport, TV listings, flights, etc. though admittedly only useful if you can’t be bothered turning off the TV and turning on the internet. But who can, really?

Ceefax is the original. The first accidentally invented teletext service in the world, with a dreadful but

durable phonetic title (see facts). Its end is the end of the teletext era. It has just covered its last election with a mammoth number of pages turned over to nauseating detail on who got what in every constituency. It’s also the last football season those so inclined can keep up to date with every goal, booking and attendance through the silent drama of Ceefax live scores.

Teletext prefigured the internet and then was rendered redundant by it, but within its usurper it may be preserved.

Amidst blogs and websites about teletext, you can find archived teletext on Youtube (really!). Whilst on late-night BBC2 you can still occasionally catch “Pages from Ceefax” (what it says on the tin, set to light jazz). And if you doubt the continuing cultural influence of teletext, just look to ‘house’ outfit “Ceephax Acid Crew”.

Apparently, more people watch teletext subtitles than have hearing difficulties in the UK, so perhaps we are all silent teletext fanatics; the ignored cult phenomenon of a generation. Perhaps we have secretly adored that brashly coloured, ever-dated, weatheraffected carousel of arcane information all along. If this somehow is not the case though, take a look at Ceefax, fall in love and say goodbye.

25

The Magdalen

Travel: InterRailing: Victoria Anderson For some of us, planning a week of sunshine and sangria for the coming summer is a full-time commitment. But if you haven’t yet considered your getaway plans for the summer – don’t fret! There is still time, and an InterRailing adventure could be the perfect low budget alternative to frying on a beach this summer…

How does it work?

Well. First, you need to visit www. interrailnet.com Here, you have two options. You can

Where shall I go?

Given the current economic climate (yawn) and general assumption that students enjoy a cheap drink, the Eastern corner of a Global Pass would certainly get my vote. And if you are seeking value for money, friendly locals and interesting sights, I think it would be a solid option.

Camp Birkenau purchase a ‘Global Train Pass’ for as little as £255 (the use of ‘global’ is a little misleading in this instance - the pass does in fact, cover rail travel in 30 European countries).

Or, you can buy an InterRail pass for an individual country for as little as £29.

Where you go from here is entirely up to you! You could use the pass to tour the southern beaches of the Mediterranean, soak up the culture in Scandinavia, or enjoy as many weeks as you can seeing, eating and drinking as much as you can!

If you plan on going away for a week, or a couple of months, an InterRail pass can offer the flexibility that may suit you.

You can fly into Poland for peanuts if you plan in advance, and Warsaw and Krakow are definitely worth a stop.

Warsaw has some truly incredible architecture and excellent nightlife. But Krakow is the real gem. The locals are tremendously friendly and there is a great buzz from fellow travellers arriving into the city over the summer months. Of course, if you’re in Krakow, it is essential you rest your excellent pint of Okocim for an excursion to Auschwitz-Birkenau, easily reached by train, bus, and taxi.

And the cool air of the Wieliczka Salt Mines (more interesting than it sounds, I promise!) offers an excellent hangover cure.

From Poland, why not head to Bratislava, Prague, Budapest, or down to the coastlines of beautiful Croatia? You can have you pick of stunning castles, ‘informative’ breweries, bizarre churches decorated entirely with human bones, and of course, some excellent bars and nightclubs.

Total costs?

Warsaw

The cost of InterRail passes varries widely depending on location, longevity of the pass etc etc. It is important to note, that as well as the pass you will need to (presumably) arrange travel to your opening city (Attitude Travel offer a fairly comprehensive list of budget European airlines that service the UK www. attitudetravel.com/uk/lowcostairlines), as well as travel insurance, hotels/ hostels (I have used www.hostelbookers.

Bone ossuary in Kurna Hora

No.16 The Art Issue May 2010

27

Travel: com in numerous parts of the world and it hasn’t let me down yet) and any spending money. While all of this can work out remarkably cheap, depending on organisation, accommodation expectations and eating light – do not fail to factor such costs into your plans.

Don’t forget!

InterRail Passes can only be used by European residents.

The dubiously named ‘Global Pass’ is not valid in your own country of residence – you may get a discount on rail travel here, but generally you’ll find its cheaper to fly out of the UK to your location.

The InterRail passes can limit the

number of ‘travel days’ within any given period. Be sure to plan a rough route and check travel times before you buy any passes.

Limited train services do not allow InterRail travellers without a surcharge, and overnight trains will almost certainly have a charge on top of your pass. The cost of this will depend upon route, and for overnight trains – the style and size of the cabin and bunks. Check the handy Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable for all information regarding train times and services.

Do not try and tape money, passports of insurance documents to your thigh while

on night trains. Yes, people do it. No, it’s not clever. Yes, it’s funny watching such individuals peel their skin off in order to prove their citizenship to an increasingly angered Slovak border control officer at 4am. Buy a money belt instead.

Czech lager is strong. Do not under any circumstances have ‘a couple’ (or four, or six…) with lunch before finding your hostel for the night. This will only end in disaster. Bags down, then explore.

The ash cloud: The infamous ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano stopped air traffic over Britain for 6 days but how did it affect Dundee students, as well as the rest of the world?

May Jasper, reports: My twin sister has been living in Spain for almost a year. I was looking forward to my trip to Santander in the north of Spain, to spend a weekend catching up and hanging out with her.

Thursday the 15th of April, the long awaited date in my diary, soon came around. However, with the alarm set for 4.30am and the prospect of spending seven hours milling around London Stansted Airport, I knew it was not

going to be a pleasant journey. On arrival at Stansted Airport I was struck by the volume of passengers leaving departures with large amounts of luggage. Brushing this off I proceeded to the check in, which I found to be closed. Perhaps I was having a particularly slow day or perhaps it was because it was 6 o’clock in the morning; or perhaps it was because I had never considered the eruption of a volcano in Iceland as a potential obstacle in my journey to Spain. It took a while for me to grasp what exactly was going on.

Just my luck. Little did I know that over the next six days, much of European airspace was to be closed in light of this my troubles were of little significance.

Though I can blame neither the airport nor the airline for the cancellation of my

flight, I am still a passenger who has lost almost £250 booking and rebooking flights. Ryanair has set up a link online for passengers to apply for refunds. There is no guarantee that refunds will be given however. They unfortunately do not provide you with a proof of a refund request nor of the success or failure of your refund.

Easyjet provided a maze of links and logins and I found myself accosted and accused of wrong passwords and usernames. I have all but given up hope of even finding the refund application.

I am disappointed, yet glad my situation wasn’t worse. Whether I will ever receive any refund is impossible to tell.

The Magdalen

Travel: If you’re looking for an interesting city-break away, MARRAKECH is worthy of your consideration.

Warning: a destination probably not recommended for vegetarians, animal rights activists, enochlophobics or those looking for a glass of wine with every meal.

Marrakech, once known as an elite haven for ‘foodies’ and those seeking luxury riads (that’s a posh B&B) at bargain prices. But with two certain budget airlines recently launching flights from the UK into the shopper’s paradise, it has become a far more accessible holiday destination to the likes of you and I than ever before.

Sleeping:

In Marrakech itself, you can sleep in either an intimate riad in the historic medina (the old city), or a hotel in the fashionable new district of Gueliz (home to most of Marrakech’s hotels and high-street shops).

Hostels are more typical B&B’s are rare, but given the excellent rates of mid-range accommodation, those on a budget will not struggle.

Shopping:

Marrakech boasts the largest market (souks) in Morroco. Expect it to be busy,

Seeking sanctuary in the Jardin Majorelle over-paying. Most of the bazaars are filled with friendly sellers who want to entice you in and chat while you marvel at their wares.

But be vigilant, as you will undoubtedly be accosted by individuals offering you directions to a tanning shop you had no intention of visiting or women offering nonexistent henna tattoos. Have fun, but be alert. People offering ‘advice’ and directions in the souks often expect to be paid, so take a map and go it alone!

‘Must have’ items:

- Tagine dish. To come to Morocco and return without a tagine is a sorry day indeed.

- Argan oil. Either to cook with, or in cosmetic products. It is only produced in Morocco and supposedly contains agedefying ingredients. Worth a try at least!

- Leather. You will smell the tannery souks before you enter them, but the quality and array of goat, cow and camel leathers available is vast, and much of it is great quality.

Food and drink:

The souks and incredibly loud, with a fantastic array of scents, sights and bargains waiting to be had! It is however, incredibly important that you are prepared to barter in the souks. Most of the men on the stalls did not make the items you are purchasing, and they almost certainly paid very little for the goods themselves, so be weary of

The food in Marrakech is outstanding. Do what the locals do and eat from the food stalls in the main Carlie at the Djemaa elFna. While some of the menus may appear a little adventurous for many Westerners (boiled goats head, for example), they are all strictly regulated and licensed by the government and thus, both tasty and safe to eat. With a huge range of traditional Moroccan tagines, harira, stews and aubergine dishes, as well as European favourites (Italian restaurants in particular) and delicious ice-cream salons – there

Ali ben Yousseff Medersa should be something for every palate.

Stalls selling fresh orange juice and mint tea are abundant in the medina (and it is bad etiquette to refuse tea when purchasing an item in the bazaars), while bottled water is easily sourced in the souks. You will however, struggle to find an alcoholic beverage in Marrakech. Law and etiquette dictate that alcohol should not be consumed within view of a mosque (which is frankly, everywhere). However some restaurants do give you the option of drinking alcohol indoors.

Sights:

Marrakech is blessed with many historic buildings, bazaars, and Mosque’s – you will not be short of things to see. For a cheap and convenient way to get your bearings, the hop-on hop-off sightseeing tour bus is a great way to gain a quick insight into the city’s prime locations. A map of the souks is ESSENTIAL if you are attempting to find one the museums or Islamic schools hidden within their labyrinths. The souks can be difficult to navigate, and to make the most of your time a guidebook and/or a map are advisable.

Marrakech is exciting, fast-paced, full of glorious sunshine and incredible food and most of all – affordable.

So ditch the London city-break idea, and head Marrakech with your French phrase book and sun-block for a fantastic trip somewhere a little more exotic this summer.

No.16 The Art Issue May 2010

29

Travel: Kirsty Fergusson takes us on a delightful journey to Istanbul, minus the chips and cheese.

Generally when you mention Istanbul to a Dundee student, culture isn’t what springs to mind immediately. Whilst it provides us with all our post-mono kebab needs, our Istanbul is a far-cry from the beautiful Turkish city itself! This year, Istanbul is one of the 2010 European Cities of Culture, a title which has been bestowed upon such places as Paris, Madrid and Florence. Basically, summer 2010 looks to be one of the best times to travel to the edge of Europe and explore the former capital of the Roman Empire.

Possible one of the most interesting aspects of Istanbul is it‘s constant fusion of eastern and western influence. This can be seen all around the city from it’s glorious Islamic architecture to it’s westernized suburbs and Europeanstyle Dolmabahçe Palace. Arguably the most famous building is the Aya Sofya, a former basilica, then mosque, and now a museum. Full of stunning mosaics and beautiful artefacts, the interior is well worth the small entry fee, however if you’re on the classic student budget, the outside certainly a must-see in Istanbul.

Located nearby is the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, widely known as the Blue

Mosque due to the impressive blue tiles inside. Luckily this working mosque is open to the public but operates a separate tourist entrance during high season in order to preserve the building as a place of worship. If you aren’t all ‘history-ed’ out by this point, then a tour of the Harem of the Topkapi Palace, where the Ottoman princes were brought up, is highly recommended.

If museums and architecture aren’t your thing, Istanbul’s bazaars should whet your appetite for parting with your hard-earned student loan. The Grand Bazaar, established in the 15th Century, is usually swamped with tourists. It does however sell everything under the sun and is a great place to watch hapless tourists bartering with the shop owners in pidgin Turkish! The Spice Bazaar is also worth visiting to see the array of colorful powders and purchase some Turkish Delight. Once you’ve shopped-till-youdrop, relax in one of the many hammams - Turkish baths - in the city.

When evening comes, why not sail to the Orient? Well, not quite, but you can take regular boat trips on the Bosphorus which divides the European part of Istanbul from the Asian part. State-run ferries are surprisingly cheap and allow you to see the wonders of this divided city from the water. Grab a grilled kebap in homage to our very own Dundee Istanbul, a side of meze, and head for head for the boats to see Istanbul’s ecclectic mix of architecture along the riverside.

The Magdalen

Fashion:

Textile Special

BDes / BDes (Hons) Textile Design Overview “Textile Design is a multidisciplinary course offering you a range of textile design specialisms including print, knit and mixed media. enabling you to cross boundaries from one discipline to another and to direct your work towards a fashion, interior, craft or gallery outcome.

There is a strong emphasis on visual research and drawing for design and concept development.

Projects encourage you to become self-motivated and to generate a personal creative language. Many of our graduates have established their own design businesses and studios or have successfully pursued careers in the textiles and fashion industry, trend forecasting, buying, theatre costume design, textile conservation, art therapy, arts administration and design education.�

No.16 The Art Issue May 2010

Fashion:

Textile Special

31

In a studio, which looks more like an eclectic hive of creativity and cutting edge design, 2010’s Textile Design graduates have been working furiously in sketchbooks and on collections using print, weave, knit, and mixed media. Even walking down the Textile Design corridor during the last few months, you can see final pieces and collections begin to blossom: from long, beautifully printed sashes of material cascading down the walls, having been pinned there to dry, to dedicated girls lying on the cold marble hall floors for days, cutting shapes from a huge stencil, stanley knife in hand with only the radio for a friend!

These girls (a common trend: we have no male Textile Designers this year) have been literally shedding blood sweat and tears to reach their final outcome for Duncan of Jordanstone’s prestigious Degree Show.

Enjoy!

Nicola Dalling - 4th year Textiles Laser cut acrylic inspired by Las Vegas buildings.

Just for our Magdalen

readers: a sneak

preview of some of the amazing work

we will see at the Degree Show!

Love,

Liz O’Hara

Fashion:

Textile Special Claire Elizabeth Leyden 4th year Textiles

“Flowers of the Botanic Garden were used as the initial inspiration for my collections due to the vast range of colour and texture found inside. My scarves are hand woven using vibrant silks and cottons. Stripes of luxurious textures are present across collections and the pieces are aimed towards both male and female.

Each collection differs slightly in relation to colour palette and proportion of colour but bold stripes remain constant though the collections. They are designed for spring/summer seasons due to the light floating nature of the scarves.�

No.16 The Art Issue May 2010

33

SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL In scenes couldSCANDAL have been lifted from political “The ThickSCANDAL of SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDALthat SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL satire SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL It”, Gordon Brown called ‘lifelong Labour voter’ Gillian Duffy a ‘bigoted SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL woman’ following comments onSCANDAL immigration, a description unwittingly SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDALmade SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL broadcast to Sky News technicians thanks to the Prime Minister forgetting to SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL detach his microphone in the car.

However, this technological mishap is not SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL the first to befall a politician; the modern media, many a promising SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDALinSCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL career SCANDAL SCANDAL has been derailed by footage of misdemeanours.

Here are just some SCANDAL of the SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL nuggets frenziedly fed upon by the tabloids in times gone by.

SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL 1993: John Major’s “bastard” 2000: Bush’s “major league 2001: Prescott’s right hook SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL press SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL ministers. asshole” corps SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDALmanifesto SCANDAL SCANDAL On the day of Labour’s SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL Conservative JohnSCANDAL Major’s SCANDAL SCANDAL During the tight contest between Al launch, Welsh SCANDAL farmer Craig EvansSCANDAL

Caught on tape: G. Cocker

The History of Election Gaffes

i t

l a

n e

SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL premiership from 1990-1997 was Gore and George W. SCANDAL Bush for the lobbed an egg SCANDAL at then-Deputy PMSCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL marked SCANDAL with deepSCANDAL divisions SCANDAL in his Presidency, Bush wasSCANDAL caught referring JohnSCANDAL Prescott. SCANDAL ManagingSCANDAL to pick the SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDALofSCANDAL SCANDAL own Party over Europe which led toSCANDAL New YorkSCANDAL Times reporter Adam one member the Cabinet who SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL to constant rumours about his Clymer as aSCANDAL “major league asshole”, was in his youth an amateur boxer,SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL with SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDALfrom SCANDAL leadership.

In an interview ITN SCANDAL toSCANDAL the agreement of his runningSCANDAL mate Evans receivedSCANDAL a swift response SCANDAL SCANDALMajor SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL reporter SCANDAL Michael Brunson, Dick Cheney.

When confronted, Bush SCANDAL Prescott’s fist which made a beautiful SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL unguardedly described ministers was unrepentant about what heSCANDAL saw connection withSCANDAL his jaw. This, along SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL seeking SCANDAL to destabilise his position asSCANDAL his private comments.

Though with William Hague’s baseball capSCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL as “bastards” he wanted to SCANDAL “crucify”. SCANDAL widely criticised for the remark SCANDAL at the picture, provedSCANDAL to be theSCANDAL highlightsSCANDAL of SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL Though SCANDAL this cameSCANDAL a full fourSCANDAL SCANDAL time, Bush recovered and wentSCANDAL on a very dull andSCANDAL predictable electionSCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL years before the next election, it toSCANDAL win/steal SCANDAL (depending on whoSCANDAL you whichSCANDAL saw verySCANDAL few seats change SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL emphasised the internal Cabinet rifts SCANDAL believe) theSCANDAL 2000 election afterSCANDAL a hands in the Commons.

SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL and the SCANDAL struggle Major had SCANDAL reconciling lengthy Supreme Court battle. SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL the Europhilic andSCANDAL Eurosceptic wingsSCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL of a tiredSCANDAL Conservative Party.

SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL WhilstSCANDAL it will beSCANDAL small comfort the (atSCANDAL time ofSCANDAL writing)SCANDAL embattled PM, SCANDAL these SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL to SCANDAL SCANDAL incidents showSCANDAL that gaffes need not beSCANDAL election losers.SCANDAL However, in such an SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL unpredictable election, outburstSCANDAL could prove to SCANDAL be key. SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL Brown’s SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL

d i

o C

f n

The Magdalen

Science Eruption Disruption

by Rosemary Gudmunsen Last month thousands of tourists were stranded, countless holidays were delayed and several state visits were canceled. Airlines suffered losses of around £130 million per day as an ominous cloud of volcanic ash eliminated any air-travel plans. The absence of guidelines, or limits, for engine use in ash conditions have made it difficult to judge safety risks associated with the cloud disrupting travel to and from European airports.

This flying ban followed seismic activity under an Icelandic icecap, which covers a volcano. A sequence of major events were involved, beginning with small earthquakes that resulted in crust displacement. Magma then flowed, which caused a huge pressure build-up – resulting in eruption.

If the force of a volcanic eruption ejects ash high enough it can reach be carried by the wind and will be dispersed over many miles – in this case from Iceland to Europe.

The glass particles present in the ash, known as tephra, are capable of harming an airplane in many ways – blinding the pilot, damaging lights and sensors and disturbing radio communication.

It can result in engine failure when machinery is damaged. Jet engines take in large quantities of air when in operation. The high temperatures of about 1400oC melt the particles, which can then fuse to the components. This can be countered by reducing engine speed and losing height as the cool air is capable of re-solidifying the glass which shatters, freeing the engines.

The many inconvenienced travelers may have wondered if the prolonged cancellations were really necessary.

However, due to a lack of research in to this area it is not yet known what levels of ash that planes can safely navigate through. We know that jet engines can survive unfortunate collisions with flying geese because the aviation authorities tell airlines they need to test their engines in this manner. However, there is no requirement for manufacturers to study the effects of ash damage, so regulatory agencies, like the Federal Aviation Administration, have introduced the early study of ash engine limits as a matter of urgency.

Election Result: a bad night for science.

The result of the general election on May 6th was quite simply a terrible night for science.

years based on the state of the UK economy, which can only be described as sensible given the current deficit.

In the lead up to the election, popular opinion suggested that the Liberal Democrats were the party with the soundest scientific policies. They were also the only party that promised to protect the science budget in 2010/2011, with a wait-and-see approach in future

If support for science was top of your agenda, Thursday’s Election results were nothing other than a wipe-out for the Liberal Democrats who had until then been surfing the wave of wide public support for Nick Clegg. On Friday morning the bare facts were that the Lib Dems had not only failed to gain ground but had lost 5 MPs overall.

Dr. Evan Harris

For scientists the defeat of Dr. Evan Harris, formerly a doctor and registrar, in his Oxford West and Abingdon constituency, was quite possibly the most damaging blow of the evening. Evan Harris was the Science Spokesman for the Lib Dems and had the reputation as one of the House of Commons strongest science advocates. He sat on the crossparty Science and Technology Select Committee, which membership was so

depleted following the standing-down and defeat of many sitting MPs that only one member active in the last parliament survived. His championing of science issues will be sorely missed.

The commitment to maintaining and increasing science budgets in the UK is essential to keep the UK economy competitive. The Royal Society argue in a recent letter to The Times that in the face of improved science funding from governments in Europe and the US, where despite the current threeyear budget freeze science funding will increase by 5.9% each year, the UK will face a brain drain with many young science graduates choosing to work abroad. And with both the main parties admitting that major funding cuts are inevitable, who would blame them?

No.16 The Art Issue May 2010

35

Science Let’s make healthy babies... but how far are we willing to go?

by Catherine Beaton There now exists an alternative to the currently available tests for assessing the health of a baby-to be. A revolutionary technique allows the genetic testing of fertilised eggs before they reach the potential mum.

Removed cells can be genetically tested to ensure they do not contain genes linked to certain diseases, without damage to the rest of the fertilised egg. This process is called Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), and ensures that only unaffected embryos are transferred into women undergoing fertility treatment.

This technology has presented clinicians, scientists and the general public with a vast array of ethical conundrums. What is the moral status of the preimplantation embryo? How serious does a condition need to be before PGD is considered acceptable? Should PGD be used for non-medical reasons e.g. family balancing?

It is easier to accept this type of testing for early onset, seriously debilitating and sometimes lethal genetic conditions. But what about late-onset conditions that appear with strikingly high frequency in the general population e.g. Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s, sufferers of which can enjoy 40-50 healthy years of life before they are affected?

Supporters argue that PGD is more ethically agreeable than the current testing of the fluid sac that surrounds the baby during pregnancy (amniocentesis) that might possibly lead parents to choose abortion, However, this comes down to timing and when an individual considers ‘life’ to begin. Is it at fertilisation, with the entry of the sperm into the egg and the creation of an embryo? Or is implantation into the lining of the uterus the event that heralds the start of a new life? The fact remains that in the eyes of the governing bodies, an embryo, comparatively rudimentary in development compared to a 12 week old foetus, will have a lower moral status and limited rights.

There is no doubt that the experience for prospective parents will differ greatly between discarding embryos at merely days old (already necessary for routine assisted fertility procedures) and aborting a foetus already developing in the mother, to which emotional ties have been made.

And yes, it can’t be helped…’designer babies’ have to feature in this argument.

PGD is already used to test for sexlinked disorders therefore the technology is there to select male or female embryos for the purpose of family balancing, i.e. the selection of a boy/girl, if we so wish.

This practice is currently prohibited in the UK. However, there exists the argument that family balancing permits parental freedom and allows for the different experiences involved in raising children of the opposite sex.

The Ethics Committee of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine in 2001, deemed sex selection for the purposes of sex variety but not for the first child, acceptable. Therefore, in the USA, applications for PGD for the purposes of sex selection are reviewed on an individual basis and at the discretion of the clinician. Is this a slippery slope towards the creation of babies with blonde hair, blue eyes and high IQs? It has to be said that this is unlikely due to the multifactorial nature of desirable traits, the limited choice of genes available from the parents and the relatively low number of embryos produced by each cycle of IVF. Nondisclosure PGD, where the parents are at risk of carrying a known genetic disorder but have opted out of genetic testing for themselves, further complicates the situation. The intention here is to perform PGD on embryos created by I.V.F and to only transfer unaffected embryos, but all without disclosing any information to the parents from which their status could be deduced. This throws up some difficult situations.

What is to be done if all of the embryos are healthy, proceed through embryo transfer but fail to implant or reach

term? The parents could opt for another, probably unnecessary, cycle of I.V.F and PGD. Or what if all embryos tested are found to be affected, or carriers, of the genetic condition in question? Do the team proceed with ‘mock embryo transfers’ to ensure the parents cannot reach any conclusion about their own chances of being affected?

Saviour siblings, where a new baby can act as an organ donor for a preexisting brother or sister can also be created using PGD. Like every other issue discussed here this test has its supporters and opponents. Ethically, embryos should not be exposed to PGD unless the benefits outweigh the risks and that is a difficult resolution to make in the case of saviour siblings.

For most students parenthood might seem a life time away; however it is never too early to examine how we feel about such issues. A survey by the HFEA, responsible for the tight regulation of such practices at IVF clinics in the UK, concluded in 2003 that there were predominantly negative attitudes towards sex selection for non-medical purposes but for the other examples raised here, these are topics that are very likely to divide the population.

The Magdalen

XXX...?

Why Pamela Anderson is a misunderstood heroine

by Andrew Smith When Beth asked me what I would like to put in my final article for the Magdalen I was torn.

On one hand I thought I should produce a magnum-opus of a piece about the challenges facing education or the importance of citizenship and advocacy in a globalised world… after a lot of soul searching I chose against both of these humdrum boring topic and instead have decided to defend Pamela Anderson.

I will start my defence by stating that it is my utmost belief that Pamela Anderson is quite arguably the most important figure to emerge in the post Cold War world. The impact Pamela Anderson has had on the world in social, political and economic terms.

Her demand for her sex tape was one of the single largest contributing factors to technological development in the last 20 years. The tape, which is allegedly very long, boring and often incoherent, was the first major tape of the Napster era.

In the early days of the internet there were two types of users: there were Visionaries and there were Porn Fiends.

The Visionaries saw the potential of the internet as a democratising force and a great medium for mass communication and self expression, the Visionaries may have had the correct long- term goal for the internet but there weren’t enough of them to create the demand.

For the internet to be a global success it needed to appeal to the masses, what it needed was porn. The internet made porn anonymous: it removed the taboo of paying money to watch consenting adults having sexual relations. This meant that rather than going to the ‘specialist’ stores porn fiends could fulfil their wildest fantasies without leaving the comfort of their own rooms.

This sudden growth in internet traffic and file sharing was what provided the demand for major investment on the behalf of web providers and search engines. As the demand for the product soared, so did the quality of the product. Soon computer based firms were competing to provide the best internet experience they could for an army of lonely couch masturbators.

The development of the internet has also seen a major growth in interactive and smart technology, such as I-Phones, Blackberry’s and Youtube: none of this would have been possible without that initial demand that ensured the internets success, that initial demand that was symbolised by Pam’s humble sex tape.

The reality of the situation is that the immense growth of the internet across the world is still very much the product of that initial demand. It is quite plausible to say that the widespread political movements against totalitarianism in both China and Iran, both of which have relied heavily on the internet, would not have been possible without Pam’s sex tape.

If we take this argument to its logical conclusion it is also fair to say that Spotify, Facebook and Amazon all have to thank that very same badly shot and allegedly very blurry video.

New technology is not destined to succeed, just look at Beta-Max. What technology needs to do to succeed is to capture the attention of the masses and it was the prospect of cheap, free and disposable porn that ensured the internet would do just that. Bearing in mind the major cultural significance of Pam’s

video- who better symbolises the anti establishment nature of the mainstream internet star. In letting millions of viewers in to her private life Pam was democratising herself and ensuring the success of interactive technology for years to come.

It also has to be said that Pamela Anderson has used her hard fought for fame for good causes. Not contented with just making money, Pam has used her fame to further the causes of social justice and animal rights: she has hosted a very powerful documentary entitled Kentucky Fried Cruelty, raised millions to fight AIDS abroad and has written very publicly to Barack Obama about the injustice of America’s drug policies.

None of these actions have been to promote mainstream or popular causes; she has selflessly risked her career in order to stand up for what she believes in and in doing so has provided a very positive role model for young people.

She has taken on every preconception and stereotype that chauvinistic mainstream society has for busty blonde women.

Is she perfect? Far from it, however she is a strong and beautiful role model that has stood the test of time and in her own unique way made the internet what it is. Next time you are on Facebook you should wonder what the world would have been like without the internet, fast computers and interactive phones, I’m old enough to remember it and it wasn’t pretty…

No.16 The Art Issue May 2010

37

Sport: What a difference a year makes for the Cricket Club...

The Cricket Club will provide the last club of focus in this eventful sporting year at Dundee. The club appear to be one of the most visible and enthusiastic of our sports clubs which is reflected through the continued updating of their events and fixtures on facebook. Somewhat surprisingly though, things were very different at his stage last year.

The club was in a dilapidated state at the end of last summer, this was largely due to poor membership numbers and a lack of effective training or any social events.

Captain Simon McDowell did his best to keep the club going though, fielding one team (1st XI) that were disappointingly relegated from the top division of BUCS Scottish cricket.

On a more positive note though, last year did see the team reach the final of the conference cup, before losing out to Napier.

A new committee was elected at the conclusion of last season, and met before the season ended to discuss plans to turn the club around. As 2nd XI captain Jonathan Tanner comments, “We had already identified that one of the key issues affecting the club was a lack of members, and thus decided to place particular emphasis on recruitment at the sports fayre at the start of this academic year, as well as at the later refreshers fayre”. Having attracted a core

of new members the club decided to run a number of social events, something they had rarely done previously. This included a day out paintballing which helped greatly in building a team spirit.

In addition, the club sought to improve the structure of training, greatly aided by the efforts of Coach Sarah Rountree.

In order for the club to survive though they required funds for equipment and to cover other costs. It was at this point decided to hold a major fundraising

event which it was hoped would keep the club strong for years to come. Decided upon was a 24 hour cricket marathon.

Honourably, it was decided that funds raised from the event would be split between the club and Dundee Disabled Children’s Association, a charity which we had raised funds for in a similar event in 2005. All proceeds being split 50/50 between the club and the charity.

The big day came on Sunday 11th April.

It kicked off at 10am with a couple of matches against local side Freuchie, before settling down to play a series of 20 over and 40 over games amongst club members As Jonathan describes, “Fortunately the day itself was sunny, however by the night it was becoming

very bitter. The games under lights were a terrific novelty, and we had a great attendance with well over sixty people involved in the day overall. By dawn the survivors were knackered and perhaps the hardest shift was the final few hours between 6am and 10am on the Monday”. Overall there was at least 247 overs bowled (the equivalent of 2 and a half days of test cricket) 1256 runs: 154 singles, 40 twos, 2 threes, 145 fours, 3 fives, 40 sixes. 196 extras. 84 wickets: 23 bowled, 29 catches, 6 lbws, 13 run outs, and 2 stumpings.

The amount raised is still to be announced and sponsorship money is continuing to be collected, but a substantial total is expected.

With the club now running two teams and having ran such a successful fundraising event along with a more stable season, it seems they are back on track and aim to grow even stronger next year, “Next year promises to be the most exciting one yet for the club, and we are aiming to field a 3rd XI in the BUCS outdoor leagues (something Dundee has never managed before), as well as getting the 1st XI back into division one and the 2nd XI to have another strong season. We also hope to put in strong performances in the BUCS indoor competitions”, enthused Jonathan.

The Magdalen

Sport: Bring back the playoffs!

Gary Cocker Ever since its inception in 1998, the SPL has been cruelly experimented with more than Josef Fritzl’s kids. Arguments over its late-season split into top and bottom 6 are still ongoing, with the impending fixture chaos this season angering in particular Motherwell, who now have a third trip to Parkhead of the season, causing a sizeable loss in revenue. However, a problem far more deserving of scrutiny is the current promotion/relegation system from the SPL, where only the top Division 1 team replaces the bottom SPL team as long as they meet stadia criteria (which, believe me, is not as straightforward as it seems). At the moment, two solutions (either an expanded 16 or 18 team SPL with a similar system, or the reintroduction of playoffs between the second-bottom SPL team and the second-top 1st Division team) have been proposed to revitalise the league, both of which deserve serious consideration.

teams in Division 1 to see the potential.

Raith Rovers and Ross County each reached the semifinals of the Scottish Cup this year; Dundee, Raith and County all put SPL teams out of the Cups this season (OK, twice that team was Aberdeen but still); Partick Thistle and Dunfermline are teams with a sizeable fan base and a decent history; hell, even Queen of The South, who had a wee European venture thanks to their cup run last season which saw them also knock out our sheeploving neighbours to the North, would put up more than a fight in the SPL. Each of these teams deserves their shot, but due to the current restrictions imposed by one-up onedown, only Inverness will go up, resulting in the continuation of dwindling crowds and a ‘talent drain’ from each of these clubs as skilled players go elsewhere to boost their career prospects.

An expanded SPL or the reintroduction of a playoff system would not only do wonders for these clubs, but also for those already in the SPL. An expanded SPL with 2 games against every other team would prevent Kilmarnock and

Falkirk seemingly playing each other every week and truly make derbies something special. Whilst they may have dreaded them, the playoffs of old ensured teams near the bottom of the SPL still had something to play for (or against, as the case may be) at the end of the season, keeping crowds high and passions even higher. Pretty much every playoff had a full house, bringing in even more revenue for teams whose accounts depended on Old Firm games and derbies. An even stronger idea may be to copy the 2nd and 3rd division play-off systems, where 2nd, 3rd and 4th place all have a chance of promotion through a tourney.

Whilst the prognosis for the SPL’s ailments may differ, the diagnosis remains the same. The current bottleneck at the bottom is preventing both true competition and talent to emerge and flourish. To paraphrase David Cameron (something I never thought I’d do), we can’t go on like this.

Let’s expand to 18, reintroduce the playoffs and inject some passion back into our national game.

As a Dundee fan condemned (as is looking likely at time of writing) to a 6th season of watching my team play in what some wags have termed the “Fizzy Pop League”, my views on this may be considered biased. This, to a certain extent, is true; were I, for example, a St Mirren or Hamilton fan, I may be instinctively opposed to opening up the system to more movement as it may threaten my team’s SPL status. However, it is important for the good of the game in Scotland that something is done to revive a tired and despair-inducing system.

You only need to examine some of the Jockyís nae chuffed.

No.16 The Art Issue May 2010

39

Sport: Stuff the Summer of Love...It’s the Summer of Sport!!

Barry Davidson So as the university year comes to a close we gear up for a summer of tank tops, flip flops, and aviator shades. Along with these fashion necessities, though, comes a mouth-watering array of summer sport which will keep us all entertained as we count down the days to Fresher’s 2010. My Magdalen colleague, the esteemed jar fiend Calum Munro, and I, take a light hearted look at three of the major sporting events ahead and make our insightful, albeit innuendo ridden, predictions as to who will come out on top.

The World Cup

BD: I reckon it’s Spain’s trophy. I’ve got Brazil in a sweepie and I hope to god they do it but I just think Spain have a great balance in their team. The midfield is unbelievable, Xavi and Iniesta are unstoppable when they are both on form, and are complimented by two great finishers up front in David Villa and Fernando Torres.

CM: Having drawn Greece in the same sweepie I am looking for them to build on their success of 2004... but on a more serious note, I think there is as much chance of that happening as me turning out to be a pacy right winger – that joke works on two levels. Spain do seem to be the favourites, but don’t count out the Brazzers, Argies, Dutch and... England.

Even though my Mum’s from Wembley, that result wouldn’t sit well with me.

BD: Yeah agreed, anyone but England for me, my mother is also from England but I couldn’t give a monkey’s if this upsets her!

CM: When his Scouse mum’s about things get tighter – and I don’t just mean my grip on my wallet!

Wimbledon BD: My only hope for Wimbledon is that somebody comes armed just in case Cliff gets up to sing again. I would go on a ‘Summer Holiday’ just to avoid him. (Jokes- clearly all you Cliff fans/ fan out there) CM: Get bent, Cliff is awesome.

Mens? Well, I’d have to go for Federer.

Roddick on a good day. But let’s not kid ourselves, women’s tennis interests me more. After Simona Halep broke my wee heart (Google her to find out why) I’ll be keeping a close eye on the back... hand of Sharapova and the arse of Ivanovic. SERVE of Ivanovic.

God I always get those two mixed up.

BD: In the men’s I can’t see past Roger Federer. I would love Murray to do it but I just think he is still lacking something. Can see Andy making it to the semi’s, possibly even the final depending on the draw, but in my opinion he is still a bit behind the big two on the big stage. Women’s tennis to put it bluntly is ‘bawz’, boring, baseline stuff, paint drying material if you may. I will go for Serena Williams though if I have to pick.

The Open Championship

BD: If Tiger can keep his eye on the game instead of the St Andrew’s posh totty lingering in the galleries I honestly think he will be the man to beat. Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter could be a shout for a European challenge. I rekon Tiger is destined to win a major this year though, and after all, he can

always revert to entertaining himself to get through it; a tactic employed regularly in our flat... eh Calum?

CM: Entertain myself? Yes I enjoy video games, arts and crafts an-...

HARHARHAR! Last time I was across at the golf there I fell down a dune to the amusement of Michael Vaughan’s caddy, was told to be quiet as Monty lined up a shot, and held up Hugh Grant’s car – true story. Westwood, Lawrie and Mickelson are probably my picks here.

I’d love to see an oldie like Tom Watson pipe in again. Tiger hasn’t got back on his A-game yet and is at a career crossroads. He needs to win something soon and this could be it.

So that’s it, our final piece, university is over... We’ll meet again...

23–27 June 2010

Dalhousie Building l Old Hawkhill l Dundee Yann Martel | Nick Cave | Iain Banks | John Carey | John Aberdein | Christopher Reid | Jackie Kay | Alan Warner | Rosamunde Pilcher | Alastair Urquhart | Allan Brown | Festival Writing School | Comic Conference | Cafe Arts | New Writing Dundee | Many more...

for more information email

SP[LYHY`K\UKLL'NTHPS JVT or phone