Magazine Vol. 22 No. 3
Letter from the Editor Have you ever been to Rome? Well, whether you have or not, it’s a pretty cool place and, as they say, it wasn’t built in a day. The same can be said for this magazine, as we at the mag’s HQ put together each issue for your viewing pleasure. Like ancient Rome, this good thing slowly, but surely comes into being every couple of months, and we hope the copies fly off the shelves. Unlike ancient Rome, it isn’t full of chariot racing, stone carvings of people sans clothing, and gladiatorial combat (unless you decide to write about such wonders), but it is bursting with delicious new ideas, luscious layouts, and your scrumptious articles and artwork. Speaking of all things delicious, luscious and scrumptious, this issue is packed full of glutinous and slothful submissions from a vast array of students, as we continue with the theme of The Seven Deadly Sins. We are taken behind the swinging doors of a bustling restaurant kitchen, shown the scientific side of sleep, and are told about one viewer’s love affair with a particular cooking program.
On the more general, and possibly less sinful side of things, we are given the lowdown on choosing heaven or hole hostels, shown the triumphs and tribulations of being a sports fan, told about the struggle some students have making the transition from school to university, and the struggle some have making the transition from bed to, well, anywhere. If you’d like to contribute to the next issue, themed Wrath and Greed, send your stories, poems, articles (can be theme- or uni-related, travel or general interest pieces) to vivga001@mymail.unisa.edu.au by Friday 15 August.
See you then! Georgina
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Contact vivga001@mymail.unisa.edu.au Head Editor Georgina Vivian Sub-Editor Divya Balakumar Web Editor Ben Allison Graphic Designer Prerna Ashok
Contributors Anita Butcher, Travis Shueard, Winaya Kamaputri, Sarah Benigar, Melissa Zahorujko, Jeremy Rochow, Piper Denholm, Kayla Paradiso, Angela Skujins, Jacinta Mazzarolo, Shannon Kilgariff, Rachael Hakim, Alex Graham, Sebastian Moore, Harry Allwood Cover Prerna Ashok Printer Newstyle Special thanks to Palace Nova Cinemas. The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily representative of the views of USASA or the editors.
Contents My sordid 7:30pm affair. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 It’s hard to be a sports fan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Love letter to the Adelaide Central Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Your guide to the Adelaide food trucks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Chefs on the line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Create the perfect cheese platter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Eat your heart out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 There’s always ‘Room for Dessert’. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Gluttony and sloth at the 2014 FIFA World Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 The fascinating science of sleep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Generation sloth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 In defence of reality television. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 The university struggle is real . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 STUCK: The uncertainty of now. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Monday night fever at No Lights No Lycra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Oscar representation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Online camera scams: You could be next . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 How to hostel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 What in the world is going on?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Calendar of events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Stories of healing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Review | X-Men: Days of Future Past. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Review | Godzilla. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Review | Rio 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Review | Under the Skin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
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(ˈglʌt(ə)ni) noun 1. habitual greed or excess in eating
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My sordid 7:30pm affair Divya Balakumar | Photography Prerna Ashok
The waterworks are about to begin. The small one reiterates what is at stake, gesticulating like a rapper: ‘On the back of this, one of you will go home’—this one mostly states the obvious. The large one stares down, eyeing each one of the 12 hopefuls as if he was choosing his dinner. His fingers playfully caress a non-existent beard—they rest on a shiny, mismatched fabric that suffocates his neck; the purpose of this accessory is unknown. The 12 hopefuls display different facial expressions. Smugs, the one with eyebrows for a moustache, looks smug (as ever). The Blonde One we forgot was even here looks worried—is her weird, ‘super food’ concoction enough to keep her in the running? Is there enough kalequinoachiablabla? Bobcat Dude looks frazzled and, on cue, with a different backdrop, he announces to us: ‘I could be going home tonight’. The prospect is a relief, to me, because I hate his stupid ponytail. Where are men getting style advice from, these days?! An explosion occurs on my TV screen, followed by unrelated visuals of Halle Berry being pregnant with an alien child. We also learn that the small one consumes multivitamins and loves ‘a good Pinot’. Fantastic.
want a CRACKING dish,’ he demands, and then threatens that their FOOD DREAM could end here. First up to the tasting table is Smugs. ‘I gave up studying finance to be here,’ says the smug one. ‘I’ve given it 110% today,’ he adds. Perhaps finance wasn’t the right choice, Smugs. The large one teases Smugs; he puts a morsel in his mouth and reveals to us the poker face he’s been working on since 2009. He inspects Smugs closely from afar. ‘Do you think you’ve done enough to keep you safe?’ The Blonde One proceeds to the tasting table, but the small one shatters her confidence. ‘The elements don’t work together.’ The medium one has a mildly disgusted expression, but The Blonde One is too pretty so he tries to be nicer. ‘What would it mean if you went home tonight?’ (All three are trained psychologists too, apparently.) Tears, a few tiny sobs, and a montage of her life outside the kitchen later, and we learn that The Blonde One gave something up… I don’t know, it was boring and the music was too slow so I stopped paying attention. Happy music ensues, so I guess that means Bobcat Dude is safe?
The brief was simple.
‘If I call your name, please step forward.’
‘Put yourself on a plate,’ they said. (But, that could be pretty gross and/or dangerous!)
‘The Blonde One, your kalequinoachiablabla was undercooked, and that’s why you’re going home tonight.’
‘We want you to RESPECT THE PRODUCE,’ they plead. (Would a ‘salute’ gesture suffice?) ‘Make it the HERO of the dish,’ they yelled. (Okay, guys, start thinking of a theme song for LobsterMan, quick!) The medium one is clapping his hands and pointing to the 12 hopefuls. Cut to the giant clock; it looks like time is running out. ‘We
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Tears. Big talk of ‘continuing my journey’. Hugs. More hugs. Shit’s getting awkward. ‘It’s time to leave the kitchen.’ Four seasons later, I still don’t know why I watch this show.
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It’s hard to be a sports fan (If you support a horrid team, you’re a glutton for punishment) Travis Shueard
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It’s hard to be a sports fan—the constant need to defend your team from unworthy upstarts who follow the rival team of your club, the obligatory pricey membership sapping away your hard earned beer money, the almost obsessive compulsive desire to discover every single last scrap of detail about your beloved club, just in case you meet a bigger fan than yourself (impossible, I know).
were the years between 2007 and 2013 horrible. Missing finals every year. Barely registering wins. Coaches being ignominiously sacked. Prize picks getting up and walking to bigger and richer clubs. Barely surviving by the skin of our teeth financially. It was as if Australia forgot that we (yes, we!) were Champions of Australia in 1910, ’13 and ’14.
For those not in the know, and a plague upon your house if you aren’t, my beloved team is the Port Adelaide Football Club. My Lord, the frenzy that I work myself into as the silver, black and teal take to the turf of Adelaide Oval is incredible. When the Showdown between Port and the diabolical Adelaide Crows is upon this city, I become a soldier in a hidden war; the shadow war to prevent the corrupt institution that is the Crows from brainwashing any more young’uns who don’t know about the heroics of past warriors like Gavin Wanganeen, Matthew Primus, Warren Tredrea and Josh Francou. The campaign that myself and 50 000+ other Port members conduct to ensure the chardonnay sipping, fruit tingle lovin’ Crows don’t take over our fair city.
If you support a badly performing team like Port was in the AFL, or other sports codes, like the Chicago Cubs, or the Jacksonville Jaguars (the one fan they have must love pain), or West Ham United, you will understand where I’m coming from. The years where you have such hope, such promise for the future, only to have them come crashing down from Round 1. You endure jeers and rants from fans of average teams, such as the Detroit Tigers, the Oakland Raiders or Sunderland. There is nothing worse than fans of vanilla ice cream teams tormenting you. But you stick with them. You stoically endure. You stand your ground and bring forth your team’s glorious and ever dimming history as a defence, and ignore the horrible present-day evidence. Your club has culture! Tradition! Success! This humbling of a giant is only temporary!
It wasn’t always this way, and this brings me to my point of how it can be hard to be a sports fan. You become, to tenuously relate this article to the sin of gluttony, a glutton for punishment. As a Port fan, it hasn’t always been this easy. In our 144 year history, Port Adelaide has had few hard times, but by the Gods of Alberton,
You, with your club’s diminishing fan base, go to their games, and wave your flag and scream yourself hoarse as rookies bring new blood to the club. Then you cry in agony as an injury forces them out of the season. You cope with each thrashing with your beloved beer, and talk with venerable club elders about the ‘good ol’
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days’ that you can’t personally remember but are certain happened. Years drag on and the culture of punishment becomes ingrained into your psyche. When your club appears on the television you involuntarily cringe while you simultaneously smile in nervous hope. Your team has gained exciting new monikers in the recent past like ‘Port Chokers’, or ‘9thmond’, or ‘St. Louis Lambs’. It has become almost a habit to deactivate your social media come game time, and keep it deactivated until the new week starts. So much torture has come your way. Good players never perform. Losses outweigh your club’s wins. The rattling of the money tin has become a way to gather finances for your club rather than corporate sponsors. The club grinds out a hard-fought and hard-won loss each and every time. Your club’s immediate rival floozies around in fancy cars with fancy players and fancy trophies. The torture you’ve endured has given you scars. You reason with yourself that no one is going to mind if you change your mind and support another team. You begin tentatively looking at other clubs. Just a small glance. Suddenly, Liverpool looks attractive. Frighteningly, you begin to think the New England Patriots are cool. Almost obscenely, you consider the Crows. Almost. God works in mysterious ways, however. A new coach. A star player signing on another year. As you look up from your Jesuit self-flagellation upon your club’s scarf, you shake your head in denial. You’ve heard these lies, these LIES,
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before. Too many times has your hope been throttled by sadistic bastards who ensnared you with your club colours. But a win. A win against a favourite! You wipe the ash from your face, remove the sackcloth and put down your lash. You try to smile but it’s not enough. Another win. Your teeth show in a radiant smile. The coach runs the team like an Army battalion. Corporate sponsors jump on board. You suddenly find that your years of faith are paying dividends. Previously critical commentators sing nothing by praises and hymns in your club’s favour. Then pure gold. Your team makes the finals. They play on the greatest stage of them all. The MCG, Wembley, Soldier Field. They beat the favourite and they continue on. The arrogant Magpies were destroyed, and you can hang your head high. Your team may not win the Grand Final, the Superbowl, the EPL Cup, the World Series, but they’ve redeemed themselves. And you can now turn on the poor sod that supports the team your club just defeated on the field of battle, and let him experience the same shame you felt for so long. It’s hard to be a sports fan.
‘The Peace Maker’ poster design by Winaya Kamaputri www.winkdesigner.com | winayask@gmail.com
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Your guide to the Adelaide food trucks You’re on Facebook during lunch and suddenly, out of nowhere, a food truck announces that it has parked around the corner from you and is sizzling up the grill. You jump out of you chair, grab your coat and wallet and rush out the door with only one thought in your mind: ‘Must get limited edition <insert delicious food item here>’. Most of us have been there and done that—here’s your guide to some of the Adelaide food trucks creating massive queues and encouraging us to picnic in the parklands.
Sneaky Pickle For classic Southern flavours such as pulled pork, smoked turkey, Reubens and, of course, gherkins and ‘slaw.
RAW Thirst Wash down your picnic with a RAW Thirst juice blend. They have a cure for every ailment and taste delicious.
Mama Chau
Burger Theory
For something different try a KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) Bao and lotus root chips— this Asian twist on tacos will leave you hungry for more.
The Godfather of the Adelaide food trucks with the best burgers on wheels. The boys now have permanent premises on Union Street off Rundle Street with more choices and a retro themed diner.
ChurrOz The ChurrOz van serves wonderfully crispy doughnuts fresh to order with your choice of topping—chocolate, caramel, or simply dusted with cinnamon sugar.
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La Cantina Co. Delicious Mexican tacos and burritos to be found here.
Veggie Velo
Chimichurri Grilll
Forget the bland salads and grains that is traditional hippy food because these burgers and sauces are packed with flavour and healthy goodies.
More Latin American flavours with added spice; the South American chorizo is a beautiful blend of spices that dance on the tongue, with fresh salad and a secret sauce bringing it all home.
WienerBago For traditional wieners and hot dogs WienerBago have the best of the best Hahndorf gourmet sausages, including Kranskies, sauerkraut, and condiments.
La Chiva Unique Latin American street food and quality ingredients that pack a punch. What more could you want?
Archie the Pastizzi Bus
The Satay Hut
In Malta, pastizzi are the food of the street—a hot flaky pastry with sweet or savoury fillings. Archie’s pastizzi range from traditional to experimental and include savoury and sweet options.
Asian street food lovers rejoice! The Satay Hut rule the Asian street food and Oz Asian fusion scene with giant dim sims, spring rolls, wraps, and of course, satay.
Phat Buddha Rolls The Phat Buddha Rolls truck offers an explosion of Cambodian flavours with top notes of lemongrass, herbs and spices. Fresh salad and soft buns nestle the filling and soak up the fusion of flavours.
Delectaballs Meatballs with a difference; choose from Hungarian or Italian style meatballs, or vegeballs nestled in a cob bun.
Other foodie finds: Adelaide Central Market – an institution and ubiquitous part of the local food and culture scene. Tasting Australia, McLaren Vale Sea and Vines festival, Adelaide Food and Wine Festival, Unley Gourmet Gala, the Market on Holland Street and other culinary exhibitions. Fork on the Road – a gathering of all the local food trucks. Rundle Street, Waymouth Street, Flinders Street, Gouger Street, Hutt Street, O’Connell Street, Melbourne Street, The Parade, King William Road – the major dining precincts in and around Adelaide. Boutique wineries – the Adelaide Hills and McLaren Vale are a haven for wine buffs and many wineries have weekend events with live bands, food and wine pairings, and activities celebrating local talent.
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A well-run restaurant kitchen is a bit like a choreographed dance. During lunch or dinner service, the line is calm, the chefs know what they’re doing and everything runs smoothly. Every move the chefs make has a purpose. There isn’t any hesitation, stuttering or mistakes; the chefs know their place and their part in the ‘dance’. Food—from different sections of the kitchen—reaches the head chef for inspection at exactly the same time. There isn’t a lot of shouting and screaming; the chefs don’t argue or get angry at the kitchen hand. They may call for more pans or for them to empty the bins, but generally the kitchen hand knows their job and doesn’t need to be asked. It’s almost romantic, standing and watching as a one hundred kilogram man—in a clean, white and perfectly pressed chef’s uniform, baggy chequered chef pants and a blue striped apron—swans around as gracefully as a ballerina. He’s light on his feet and doesn’t spill a drop of food on the floor; the sauce is spooned perfectly on the plate with finesse. Knowing exactly when to bend his head, he avoids knocking his tall chef’s hat against the exhaust fan cover. The benches are always spotless—if something is spilt on them, it’s promptly wiped off. Plates are impeccably clean, without even a finger-mark on them when they’re sent to the dining room, and the food is assembled to perfection. The Head Chef receives a new order and proceeds to call it out to the chefs. ‘Table of two,’ he announces calmly. ‘Entrees are one salmon and one wild mushroom ravioli. For mains, one duck à l’orange and one steamed mussels.’
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The chefs respond in unison with a quick ‘Yes chef’, and promptly begin to cook the customers’ dishes. The many aromas waft through the kitchen and into the dining room, making the diners salivate over their food which is yet to arrive. Roast duck is taken out of the oven, glazed with an orange sauce and returned to caramelise. Mussels are steamed with roasted garlic, fresh herbs, and enough butter to give a fully-grown man a heart attack. Creamy, smooth mashed potato infused with fresh truffles slowly warms in a pot, and spinach is wilted in a pan with more butter and garlic. The sweetness of the roasted garlic permeates through the kitchen. The mussels are left in the pot they were steamed in, and garnished with some fresh thyme. Meanwhile, the duck is plated with the mashed potato, spinach, fresh slices of orange and a touch of orange glaze. Both dishes are presented to the head chef for inspection. He nods his head in approval; the waiter picks up the plates with a white cloth and takes them to the dining room. Then there are kitchens where everything is a shambles. Food is sent back regularly and the head chef looks like he may explode from stress at any moment. It’s loud and there’s a lot of shouting. Nobody is relaxed, and the kitchen is a filthy mess. This dance looks like a disastrous rendition of Michael Flatley’s Riverdance, with hands flying everywhere and people knocking into each other. The cooks splash food around as if they’re Pro Hart creating one of his masterpieces. Napolitana sauce spits and splashes from the pot onto the brown canvas that is the floor.
A few straggling strands of pasta slide onto the tiles, creating a dangerous obstacle course for the chefs. Only moments later the apprentice drops half a bowl of rocket and pear salad on the ground; instead of sweeping it up he uses the ‘chef’s shuffle’ and kicks the lettuce under the bench in front of him. Bins overflow as the chef screams and beckons for the kitchen hand to move his arse and empty the trash. Sweat drips from another cook’s head as he hunches over the stove. He uses a tea towel to wipe the beads of sweat from his brow, and then uses it to pick up the handle of a hot pan. His uniform isn’t clean or neatly ironed. Colourful food stains cover the area around his belly, and his white apron has hand marks smeared across the front. He growls as a new order prints, tearing the ticket from the greasy black machine and placing it next to the other fifteen orders he hasn’t started. Partially clean plates are slammed down on the stainless steel bench by the kitchen hand. The chef gives them a quick wipe with an equally clean towel and lays them out ready for the food. With very little care, he slops the fettuccine carbonara onto the plate. The pasta has come straight from the packet, the sauce is runny and looks a little oily, and the chopped parsley he inelegantly throws on the dish might be a couple of days old. After shouting at the waiter, ‘food
away’, and dinging the bell, he saunters back to the stove, grabs pans and spreads them across each of the eight flames. A couple of hours later there is an eerie quietness in both kitchens; there is no chatter or laughter coming from the dining room, no clinking of glasses and the music has stopped. The chefs clean up quietly, wiping down benches, wrapping containers and putting food into the cool room with very little fuss. Every now and then there is a little bit of banter and laughter, but most of them want to get cleaned up as quickly as possible. The head chefs do the rounds: checking stock, and making orders for meat, fish and vegetables. Finally, the floors are mopped and the kitchens are clean. The chefs and kitchen hands prop themselves up against the benches, tear off their aprons and rip off their hats. They smell of sweat mixed with old food. Cold beer is produced from out of the blue, and everybody relaxes a little. They talk of football, each other’s families and what they might do on their day off—not cooking though. The chefs will be back in a few hours ready to do it all again, but right now, they’ve clocked off.
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Artwork by Sarah Benigar
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Create the perfect cheese platter for any occasion! Keep it simple with three different cheeses: 1. Soft white cheese (eg. Camembert or Brie) 2. Hard cheese (eg. Vintage Cheddar or Gruyère) 3. Blue cheese (eg. Roquefort or Gorgonzola) For added interest, especially if you are catering for cheese lovers, you can include a Goatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cheese or Washed Rind cheese. Serve at room temperature with water crackers, finely sliced bread and accompaniments such as fruit, nuts, and even some fruit paste. Remember to provide a separate cheese knife or utensil for each cheese to avoid mixing cheese flavours.
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Eat your heart out! It wouldn’t be a Gluttony issue without a few recipes! Don’t forget to indulge in a little nap after...
Quiche Lorraine Short crust pastry
FIlling
125g butter 240g plain flour 1 egg 1 teaspoon lemon juice Salt to taste
4 eggs 1 cup milk 1 cup bacon lardons 1 onion finely chopped 1 cup grated Gruyère cheese (or cheddar cheese) 1 handful of chopped parsley 1 Tbsp olive oil Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 200°C. Lightly grease a 21cm loose-bottomed fluted tart tin. For pastry, place butter, flour and salt in a food processor and pulse until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add egg and lemon juice and process until mixture forms a ball. Turn onto a floured bench and gently knead to bring dough together. Do not overwork. Wrap in plastic wrap and rest in refrigerator for 10-15 minutes. Roll pastry between 2 sheets of baking paper until it is around 30cm wide in diameter and 2-3mm thick. Gently ease into a 25cm diameter wide greased tart tin, pressing pastry into the edges of the tin. Trim with a small knife and prick the base. Lay a sheet of baking paper over the base and fill with baking beans or rice and blind bake pastry for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven, take out paper and baking beans and return to the oven for 5 minutes to crisp.
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Sautee the chopped onion in olive oil until soft. Add bacon and gently fry until most of the fat has rendered and the lardons are golden brown. Let the mixture cool slightly on kitchen paper to absorb excess oil. Whisk eggs, milk, salt and pepper separately until well combined. Scatter the bacon and onion mixture, and cheese evenly in the pastry shell. Gently pour in the egg mixture. Scatter the parsley over the top and bake in the oven at 200°C for 40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown, and filling set. Serve with a fresh green salad.
Vanilla panna cotta with espresso sauce (GF) Panna cotta 1½ cup whole milk ½ cup heavy cream 2 Tbsp agar agar flakes (or 2 tsp agar agar powder) 3-4 Tbsp sugar 1 vanilla bean
Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Stir until the agar agar has dissolved.
Quinoa patties (GF, V)
Pour mixture into moulds and place in the fridge to cool and set. This should take about 1–2 hours.
1 tin four-bean mix (or equivalent if using different beans) 1 clove garlic ¼ onion 1 cup cooked quinoa Olive oil Salt and pepper to taste
Wash and drain the beans. Place beans in a food processor with the peeled garlic clove, onion, a teaspoon of olive oil, salt and pepper. Blitz until it all becomes a smooth paste. Mix in the quinoa.
Sauce 1 shot espresso coffee ½ cup water 2-3 Tbsp sugar
Place all of the ingredients in a saucepan and let it reduce and thicken. Add more sugar or coffee to balance the flavours. Let it come to room temperature before pouring over panna cotta. Turn out the panna cotta onto serving dishes and pour over as much sauce as desired.
Roll the mixture into patties about the size of your palm. Heat olive oil in a large pan. Add patties to the pan (be gentle as they are fragile) without overcrowding. Let them cook on a gentle heat until each side is golden brown (around 5 minutes on each side). Serve in a salad with a light, zesty dressing, or as a side dish. *You can add toasted nuts, cumin or fennel seeds for extra flavour.
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Student pop-up proves there’s always ‘Room for Dessert’ Divya Balakumar | Photography Harry Allwood
As a lover of dessert (and by dessert I mean anything sweet), I hold the firm belief that we are all equipped with two stomachs—one for food, and one reserved especially for anything that falls under the godly category that is ‘dessert’. The surge in dessert bars has been great for Adelaide—we’re now famous for something other than the Clipsal 500. ‘But what could be more exciting than a new dessert bar?’ you ask. A pop-up dessert bar. Room for Dessert is a venture by student Nisha Pereira, an enthusiastic young entrepreneur with a head full of ideas. She is ably assisted by Eloise Richards, a recent alumnus of UniSA, who handles the marketing and advertising. Operating out of the function room at The Spice Kitchen, this pop-up fuses Moroccan and Indian themes, which are reflected in the décor as well as the menu. Despite the small area they are operating within, the décor was pretty magical—the ceiling and walls (which, we discovered, housed a couple of windows) were heavily draped, and large Moroccan lanterns adorned the tables, adding to the mystique of this pop-up. Its real charm, however, lies in its triumph in bringing to life some very traditional desserts with unexpected twists. My date and I restrained ourselves from having one of everything—it was a struggle. We ended up with ‘Guilty Gulab Jamuns’ and ‘A Trio of Phirni’; admittedly, I ordered these because I thought I might have an expert critique, being Indian myself.
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Let me just say this the only way I see fit. (I’m sorry Mum, but…) Those were the best gulab jamuns I have ever put in my mouth. They were buttery and soft; like biting into a tasty pillow-cloud of sugar syrup-dipped scrumptiousness. And in the centre, a pleasant surprise lay in the form of chocolate. This was served with cappuccino ice cream—unheard of, traditionally, but a welcome modification. The phirnis were topped with mango coulis, berry coulis and a dark chocolate sauce, respectively. In my humble, self-professed food nerd (tutored by endless episodes and seasons of Masterchef) opinion, the phirni was best paired with chocolate; the density of the chocolate allowed it to complement, not overpower, the smooth texture of the phirni, which was what the coulises did not achieve. Chocolate wins, again. Despite the lack of lighting—which Nisha attributed to power limitations—and teething problems (the drinks needed a bit of work), Room for Dessert certainly fulfils its purpose of bringing exotic and delectable desserts to Adelaide’s growing foodie community.
Room for Dessert is located upstairs at The Spice Kitchen: 252 Kensington Road, Leabrook. For more information, visit www.roomfordessert.com.au.
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Gluttony and sloth at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Georgina Vivian
The idea for this article came from an incident that was probably noticed by people all around the world, soccer (or football, if you prefer) fans, or not: the moment Uruguay’s Luis Suarez found himself rather peckish after all his running around and decided to have a munch on Italian player Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder. This incident alone was quite astounding, but what is also equally, if not more, astounding is that there is a YouTube clip titled ‘Luis Suarez All 3 Bites – Luis Suarez Bites Players Compilation’. When looking for a soccer-related compilation, the search is usually for a video of soaring goals, the best free kicks, post-goal celebrations or something along those lines. But biting? And three times? Madness. Suarez’s nine international match and four month ban, plus an A$121 000 fine, shows that this sort of sinful behaviour is not tolerated on the pitch, and hopefully not off the pitch either. It may also be an indication that Suarez should make sure he carbo-loads before high-intensity matches to ensure he doesn’t get the munchies on the pitch again. A big bowl of Italian pasta will land him
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in much less trouble, and also cost much less, than a big chunk of Italian shoulder. On a less serious note, Suarez’s bite and subsequent ban was a goldmine for internet trolls, and the puns started rolling around the interwebs faster than Arjen Robben could run up the pitch. ‘Suarez’s ban means he won’t get a shoulder of Lahm.’ ‘He didn’t like Brazilian food and decided to have some Italian instead.’ ‘He liked Italian so much but wants some Chile next.’ ‘Thank god he won’t be playing Turkey!’ Looks like Suarez won’t be, as made famous on The Inbetweeners, making any ‘football friends’! Gluttony at the World Cup is only a sin committed by very few players, so let’s move on to the other sort of sinful behaviour prevalent on the pitch during the tournament: sloth. One slight bump on the leg or a little shoulder-toshoulder contact, and some players drop to the ground. Sometimes the fall is legitimate, but on the other hand, sometimes it’s not. Previously mentioned Robben even admitted, post-match, to diving during The Netherlands’ win against
Mexico. Are such players just desperate and hoping for the advantage of a free kick? Or are they tired and want to slow the game down, take a breather and lay their heads in the cushiony grass for a minute? Particularly entertaining are the players who, when tapped on the leg, crash down to the ground clutching their face or even, on occasion, the opposite leg to the one made contact with. Their hands shoot up, their bodies are thrown forwards, and their legs flick their multi-coloured boots into the air. Give it a rest, mate. But I don’t mean that literally. Get up and play the game. The referees act as the gods in these situations, deciding which players to award free kicks, penalties and possibly the matches to, and also who will be struck down by the burning lightning strike of a yellow or red card. Most of the time, they make the right call, but sometimes, their
judgement is clouded (by an obscured view, or maybe a couple of hundred pesos slipped under the table), and they make what is seen by the masses as the wrong decision. Either way, any call they make is going to enrage some players, officials and fans, and they are going to want to make sure they aren’t standing in the line of sight of any peckish players when they make it. Moving away from world class soccer and back to grassroots level, I’m really glad that I have never had the misfortune of encountering biting or (much) diving during my years of playing soccer. I make sure I have breakfast before I play and hope the opposition does the same, and I’m thankful that my matches are held on Sundays and not Chewsdays.
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(sləʊθ) noun 1. reluctance to work or make an effort; laziness. 2. a slow-moving tropical American mammal that hangs upside down from the branches of trees using its long limbs and hooked claws.
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The fascinating science of sleep Melissa Zahorujko
We all know that according to the Seven Deadly Sins, sleeping too much is bad. Sure, being a sloth isn’t an ideal lifestyle, but you can’t deny sleep is a rather interesting concept. It essentially takes up one full third of our lives— that’s around 25 years— encompassing a state in which we lay still and literally do nothing. But are we really doing absolutely nothing while we sleep?
performance, as though our brains are practicing it while we sleep. For example, after learning how to play a song on the piano, our brains will go over the procedure in our sleep and strengthen the neural connections which form that specific memory to help us recall it in the morning. This sort of learning is believed to be strengthened during the REM stage, in particular.
Scientists fundamentally categorise sleep into two distinct phases known as ‘non-rapid eye movement’ (non-REM) and ‘rapid eye movement’ (REM). These cycles can be differentiated using a measurement system called electroencephalography (EEG), which basically records the brain’s electrical activity.
It is evident that sleep, learning and memory are all intertwined in a way—whether that way is fully understood or not—but what about dreaming? What does it mean when we dream?
In studying the two cycles, REM and nonREM, it has been found that both involve noticeably different electrical waves in the brain. Interestingly, as we move from non-REM sleeping and enter the REM stage, our brain begins to imitate an EEG similar to that of the EEG recorded in an awakened brain. It is during this stage where most of our dreaming really occurs. So, in essence, the brain actually becomes extraordinarily active while we are asleep. Now that we know the brain is, in fact, doing something while we sleep, that brings us to the question: what on earth is it doing? It’s true that the field of sleep science is a largely mysterious area. Researchers are pondering theory upon theory and a lot of the information is still unknown. However, many animal and human studies provide evidence proving certain stages of sleep may play an important role in memory ‘consolidation’, which is the term used to describe the processes by which a memory becomes stable. This, in turn, suggests that after learning a new task or skill, sleeping on it can improve
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There are numerous theories explaining why we dream, yet not a single, certain consensus has been reached. Much like the act of sleep itself, dreams remain a rather mysterious concept. Some believe they are vital to one’s mental and physical wellbeing, while others deem them useless and serving no real purpose whatsoever. Renowned psychoanalyst and theorist, Sigmund Freud, was one to find great importance in dreaming. Consistent with his own psychoanalytic perspective on human-thinking and the driving force of the unconscious mind, Freud made the suggestion that dreams were a representation of unconscious desires, motivations, thoughts and feelings. That is to say, Freudian psychology underpins dreaming as a symbolic way of experiencing and disposing of repressed aggressive and sexual instincts—types of actions an individual could not possibly carry out in real life. Fascinating, huh? Expanding on this, Freud went on to explain the way in which an individual dreams in ‘symbols’ and how each symbol becomes a representation of unconscious thinking through association, particularly association by resemblance.
Examples of this include: • association by resemblance in shape: circular objects = vagina, oblong objects = penis • association by resemblance in status: King = father, Queen = mother • association by resemblance in colour: chocolate = poo, yellow = urine • association by resemblance in sound: sound of a trumpet = fart. So that’s one theory about dreams, but what about the others? Many have shunned the psychoanalytic theories of Freud and the emphasis he places on sex, aggression and childhood experiences, mostly, it would seem, due to its confronting nature. J. Allan Hobson and Robert McClarley, however, offered an alternative theory to the psychoanalytic perception of dreaming. Their ‘activation-synthesis’ model of dreaming seeks to communicate a more biological explanation as opposed to Freud’s psychological one. It assumes the presence of neurological circuits in the brain becoming activated during the REM stage of sleep, consequently activating areas of the brain involved with emotion, sensations and memories.
The brain attempts to interpret this internal activity to create meaning of the signals, resulting in the act of dreaming. Although the theory relies on biological processes to explain dreaming, it does not deny a psychological meaning behind the interpretations. Dreams, according to Hobson, can be a real product of deep creativity and imagination, producing innovative ideas as we sleep. It’s certainly not a meaningless process. And there we have it: just a few of the many theories and scientific explanations for sleep and sleep behaviours. Of course, this is not the be all and end all for sleep science. The field is still, as previously mentioned, being unravelled by scientists and psychologists around the world and there is still so much out there unknown to mankind. What we do know, however, is plain and simple: sleep is extremely important to an individual’s health, wellbeing and performance. So, to all you university students out there, I hope you got enough sleep during the holiday break. After all that hard work in semester one, you deserve it!
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Anita Butcher
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Sloth: ‘A slow-moving tropical American mammal that hangs upside down from the branches of trees using its long limbs and hooked claws’ (Oxford Dictionary, 2014). As we pan our gaze across any South Australian university campus, we notice the sloth’s Australian counterparts, also known as ‘students’, going about their daily routines. Ranging in age, height, shape and appearance, these students are all going about the common task of making their mark on the world of sloth. As one enters a lecture theatre, particularly in the wee hours of the morning (9am or thereabouts), they are confronted by the native slothful students slouching in seats, often with their feet up, yawning and using their long limbs to tap on their laptops or smartphones. As the day progresses and we continue to observe these students in their daily habitats of the university, mumbles and grunts can be overheard as a form of communication— students attempting to express to one another that they are tired, yet still have at least half a day to go. Enter any tutorial room and one will see the tutor’s attempts at livening up the slumping creatures. Save the best for last, and proceed to enter the library where any outside observer will be greeted with at least one, if not more sleeping students—the epitome of typical sloth behaviour. Feeling slothful ourselves from all this observation, one must ask: is this the student’s general nature, or is it a product of their surroundings and ease of access to all things technological?
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In defence of reality television Ben Allison
Let me play Devil’s advocate for the duration of this article. Let’s all suspend our prejudices and listen to a counter-argument to one of the world’s greatest evils: Kim Kardashian. Well not just Kim Kardashian, but the entire Kardashian Klan (see what I did there?) and every other star of reality television. You see, I don’t think of reality television as an evil machination designed to destroy all scripted shows while turning our brains into a sludgey, gooey mass under the guise of ‘entertainment’. However, I am more than aware that there are a large population of people out there who seem to think reality television is exactly that. The criticism for reality television is loud and aggressive, and I am more than accustomed to an over-the-top eye roll or groan of disgust I inevitably encounter the minute I begin to mention The Real Housewives of… actually don’t worry, I can already anticipate the page being turned before I even finish that phrase. But is reality television really as poor a form of entertainment as it is made out to be? After all, Survivor is currently set to shoot its 29th season. That’s 23 entire seasons more than one of the most critically acclaimed television series of all time, The Sopranos, which won a multitude of awards including Emmys, Golden Globes and Satellite Awards. I’m certainly not saying that longevity is the key to a series’ critical success, but doesn’t it say something that millions of people are still prepared to sit down in front of their television
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to watch a series that first started airing 14 years ago? Recently reality TV has come under fire after some Aussie reality stars have revealed the ‘evil nature’ of the genre that goes on behind the scenes and after the cameras stop rolling. My Kitchen Rules star, Kelly Ramsay, revealed in a recent interview that she believes editing is to blame for her villainous persona on the show. Subsequently, Big Brother celeb, Tully Smyth, wrote an article in support of her. However, I honestly don’t have much sympathy for these Z-list celebs. A part of them must have realised what they were potentially signing up for when they signed their contracts to be on television for all of Australia to see. They knew there would be cameras filming their every move (in Tully’s case, literally 24/7). They must have known the cameras would be there to catch the good and the bad, and if something bad were to occur, then that would inevitably be shown. After all, the viewers love to watch a bitch fight over a heart-warming hug. Of course, I agree that the backlash both Tully and Kelly received as the show started to air is unfair and is nothing less than bullying. I do not condone that whatsoever. However, as Brandi Glanville of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills fame says, ‘We have to be silly to sign up to do what we’re doing. We signed up to look like assholes and that’s what it is’. As I sit in front of my laptop writing this article I can practically hear the screams of outrage. Haters will continue to raise the argument: ‘but
“reality television” [usually accompanied with an over-the-top, sarcastic quotation mark hand gesture] isn’t even reality!’ Ok, I hear ya. I hear what you’re saying. Do I believe that the dishes we see the contestants serve up on Masterchef are in fact the dishes that we saw the same contestants sweating over and slapping together to beat the time limit? Nope. Do I believe Bear Grylls has no other option but to drink his urine episode after episode otherwise he will literally perish? No. Do I really believe that reality shows contain absolutely no scripting and are spur of the moment situations that also happen to be caught on camera? Absolutely not. I’m not an idiot (that’s debatable, but an entirely different article so let’s just continue on). I am under no delusion that the ‘reality’ I am watching is actually how the events played out. But do you know what? I couldn’t really care less.
My theory on this matter is that if the show I am watching was pitched to me as a scripted drama or a comedy, I would watch it anyway. I get so invested in the ‘characters’ of reality TV and their story arcs throughout a season, that even if a tiny smidgen of what I’m watching is authentic and could have actually happened in real life, that’s a bonus. The fact that the stars have linear story arcs throughout a season proves the very point that these shows aren’t real, because life doesn’t really work that way anyway… Yes, the content of these reality shows is hardly highbrow, in-depth and meaningful television with a moral at the very centre of its storyline. I agree that the episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians where Kim gets an ass x-ray to prove she didn’t get a butt implant can hardly compare to the episode of Game of Thrones where that guy got his face pushed in by that other guy. I completely agree with you, 100%. Reality TV is meaningless. It’s mind-numbing. It’s downright trash.
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But at the end of the day, trash TV is exactly what I’m looking for. After a full day of classes at uni, a multitude of readings (that I totally did), editing this very magazine, and writing articles for assignments, I hardly want to sit down and read classical literature just before I go to sleep, only to get up and do it all again the very next day. All I want to do after a hard day of studying is open up my cranium, take my brain out and plop it to the side for 40 minutes while I watch a television show where rich people just walk around being rich, worry about their money issues with their rich friends, and buy lots of things with all of their money. Or alternatively, a show where a bunch of strangers are forced to be in a situation I would likely never be in, and are forced to eat grubs and perform physical feats for food and shelter. In summation, at the centre of the opposition’s argument is the fact that reality TV elevates the notoriety and status of people who are ‘famous for being famous’. However, I say this to you, snobby-SBS-watching-reader: I would argue that Kim Kardashian (sorry to pick on her, but she is the quintessential ‘famous for being famous’
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poster girl), is not simply ‘famous for being famous’. She is famous for being the star of her own hit television series franchise that has been on the air for nine years. After all, Kimmy K certainly has had more than a measly 15 minutes in the spotlight. Yes, no one would know who she even is without that little home-made video that’s floating on the Internet, however, it is what it is; she’s still around and people are bitter about it. Whatever. Haters gon’ hate. But the fact of the matter is: it’s your fault these people are stars. If millions upon millions of people didn’t sit their asses down week after week to watch these shows then they certainly wouldn’t continue to air. Why would they, if no one was remotely interested? At the end of the day, if millions of people didn’t lap up the televised trash that fuels these stars (including buying magazines with them on the cover, or fragrances with their names attached), then we probably wouldn’t even know what a Snooki is…
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The university struggle is real Piper Denholm
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University for most high school graduates is a goal that has been planned ever since their primary school days. The relief of finishing Year 12, and the belief that the degree you will complete at university will not be as academically rigorous or as stressful as Year 12, is quite reassuring for many graduates. But for Alexandra Watson, a current first year student at Monash University in Melbourne, reality was quite the opposite. ‘I struggled with the workload…I wasn’t expecting the amount of assessment tasks that I was given at all,’ Alex explained. ‘I thought I was quite well prepared for university, but I was definitely unprepared and unaware of the work load.’ Universities and schools often work together in order to prepare students for the best possible future, but it can be questioned whether these institutions are really doing enough to prepare students for life outside the high school classroom. In a survey conducted in 2014, 75% of students stated that they struggled in their first year of university. 30% of those students also believed that their high school did not adequately prepare them for university. Julian Denholm, a college principal in the Northern Territory, states that teachers spend time counselling students to help them find the most suitable university course, and additionally spend time in both Adelaide and Darwin universities to demonstrate what university life is like.
Although prior immersion into university life is usually offered by schools, 70% of respondents to the 2014 survey stated that they found their first year of university more academically rigorous than Year 12. The SACE (South Australian Certificate of Education), which is an internationally recognised certificate of education used domestically in South Australia and the Northern Territory, provides a very different type of teaching and learning to universities. According to the SACE website, it ‘is designed to help students develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed—whether in further education and training, university, an apprenticeship or straight into the workforce’. SACE is completed throughout Year 11 (Stage 1) and Year 12 (Stage 2) and provides students with many options for subject study. Each subject incurs a 30% formative assessment which is not marked by the classroom teacher, but rather the SACE marking board for specific subjects. This 30% assessment changes depending on the subject; for many it is an exam, and for others it is a report, portfolio or performance. This final assessment has the largest weighting and usually causes many Year 12 students the most amount of stress, as it has an influence on the result of their ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admissions Ranking). University is a higher educational institution and obviously requires more work than the final years of schooling. But when the grading of an assessment increases from 30% of your overall
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mark to 70%, many students are shocked and struggle in their first year. Many respondents stated that they would rather Year 12 be similar to the first year of university so that the transition is easier and they settle into routine sooner, but Mr. Denholm disagrees. ‘The aim of the school is to assist students to get the best ATAR score possible to get into the courses they want,’ he stated. ‘If the school didn’t provide the level of support to students that it does, a great many students wouldn’t even get to university.’ But what is being done by universities to help prepare year 12 students? Alexandra described her O-Week experience and said that ‘information sessions and seminars were held frequently, covering all aspects of the university and how the concept of the first semester works’. Even though she attended these, she didn’t learn much outside of what she already knew. The majority of the survey respondents had similar experiences to Alexandra. The struggle was not coming to a new institution and being exposed to such a new environment, it was the time management, the workload and the sudden change to independent learning, as well as the teaching style.
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The university teaching and learning style is very different to that of Year 12. Students make a change from being supported in a highly structured environment in their learning to more independent learning, where their motivation, passion and interest can sometimes be the only driving factor to complete their degree. If students are unsure of what career they want to pursue, this motivation can be very hard to find. Additionally, students are coming from a classroom where both Socratic and Multisensory teaching techniques are used, to lectures and tutorials where face-to-face contact and interaction is limited. Students stated that the biggest shock was coming from the constant support at school, to entering university where they become one of tens of thousands, known by numbers and not by names. Changing the schooling system to be similar to university or vice versa, with the aim to please students and make their transition easier, would be a prolonged and difficult project. Current students just need to stay motivated, discover their passion, pursue their studies and adjust to change.
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STUCK: The uncertainty of now Kayla Paradiso
Have you ever woken up, rolled over to look at your phone and been shocked to realise it’s one o’clock in the arvo and you’ve missed half of the day? Well, that seems to be happening quite regularly to me, especially as a full time student who also works part-time. The rare morning, on which I have free time, I make sure to mortally abuse. But, have you ever wondered what all this hard work is for? I mean, do you even want to be what you’re studying to be? I find myself questioning this more than I should be. We’re constantly trying to keep up with unrealistic due dates for an assignment that has a ridiculous word count. And what do we do? We obey and we immerse all our energy into a piece of work that we’re so ashamed of, and we don’t even know how we managed to say the same thing several times. But we do it because we’re told that if we do, we will surely be a successful student. Maybe not directly, but the constant regime we’re thrown into certainly suggests this inevitable success. Yesterday, while I was working, I ran into an old high school teacher who once taught me English. This encounter left me rather stuck (for lack of a better word). When she asked me what I was studying, I told her I was an aspiring journalist, to which she replied, ‘I hope you produce better articles than the ones I read in the paper’. To this, I found myself wondering ‘do I want my work to be scrutinised by those to whom I owe my literary knowledge?’ And so once again, as I seem to always find myself, I was stuck. The tremendous amount of pressure piled on us students can be sometimes quite overwhelming. I mean, how many of you just want to travel the world for a while? Walk through forests you didn’t even know existed, run up a mountain and breathe in the air of a foreign country, take a selfie at Lincoln Memorial, watch the ball drop in Times Square, and get lost amongst a sea of people, and don’t get me started about the picture perfect landscapes that surround the Greek islands.
Although I cannot speak for everyone, there’s too much we simply have not done yet. We haven’t even begun living, yet we’re supposed to know what we want to do for the rest of our lives in a world already filled with professionals who think they are far superior than a bunch of entry level kids. Sure, some of you will tell me to take a gap year, and others will bluntly disagree, but when you’re around confident, independent people who are supremely sure of what they want in life and have it all so strategically planned, it can be intimidating. So I figure, if you can’t beat them, join them. But not quite. You see, I have a plan, and that plan is to go with the flow. If life has taught me anything, it’s to seize the day. If you don’t take anything away from this article, take this—a phrase that has been slaughtered but is truly the key to this life: Carpe Diem. You know, in my final years of high school I never got an A for English, yet my interest to be a journalist and have my work published in a magazine overpowered any uncertainties I had with my writing. So I chose to carpe diem and study what I thought would make me happy. I became a student at university as an uncertain aspiring journalist amongst a sea of, what looked like, confident aspiring journalists. So when you roll over in the morning and realise you’ve missed half the day, don’t worry. Know that you deserved that over-the-top sleepin and know that life has your back. The choices you make to improve your satisfaction will always conquer. I plead, eat as much as you want, watch as much as you want, party as much as you want, and don’t let the pressure of the future overcome your present daily struggle to get up in the morning.
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Monday night fever at No Lights No Lycra Angela Skujins
As human beings we all love to dance. Whether it’s interpretive dancing to Enya in our bedroom or pop music in a club on Hindley Street. Clubbing is good if you enjoy rubbing up on sweaty bodies, dealing with pinged-off teenagers and thwarting the wandering hands of drunken older men. You awkwardly dance to songs with lyrics like ‘Get more ass than a toilet seat’— thanks Eminem—while drinking a lot of cheap alcohol. You do this so you maintain some kind of buzz that will get you through the long night that you probably couldn’t endure sober. If you’re one of the many people out there who enjoys going out for the love of dancing but shudders at the thought of the other clubbing ‘perks’, No Lights No Lycra is the place for you. This global dancing phenomenon, founded in Melbourne and carried out in countries from Berlin to Barcelona, is a weekly event nestled on the outskirts of the Adelaide CBD. Its primary objective is to encourage non-pretentious, ‘daggy’ dancing, but completely in the dark. The environment is designed to invite inclusivity where the need for alcohol and drugs are simply obsolete. It’s all about the dancing, baby! Founded by university students Alice Glenn and Heidi Barrett, No Lights No Lycra is a great place to relax, de-stress and move to music without the worry of judgment that dancing in a club may bring. The official website describes No Lights as a space where you can ‘completely let go, shake out the stresses of the week, and lose yourself in the music and the physicality of your body’. The less threatening dance event reels in a diverse demographic from university students to mature working professionals. Tyler James, a medical university student and avid participator in No Lights thoroughly believes in the cause, stating that although initially he was intimidated, ‘as soon as you get into
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the groove you warm to it. After a couple of songs eventually you really let yourself go… My calves were really sore the next day from all my cartwheeling,’ he added laughingly. No Lights breaks down the sexual stigmas and barriers that clubbing reinforces. Girls lunge and awkwardly contort while the environment and music peel away the male and female exteriors designed to attract the opposite sex. This is because No Lights is all about dancing for the self. You’ll enter with male friends epitomising masculinity, chests puffed and proud, but by the final song they’ll be the attempting the splits, jazz hands and lame versions of wall parkour. So if you’re feeling stressed or want to try an alternative to the clubbing scene, shimmy on down to No Lights No Lycra and join us in being a part of Adelaide’s new dancing phenomenon. There is no dress code but it is recommended you dress comfortably and in something that breathes easy to allow the freedom of movement and possible perspiration. Dress accordingly because we all know there’s nothing worse than chafing or a pair of split pants from attempting a quick booty drop.
Boogying is held every Monday night from 8:30pm – 9:30pm at the Kick’n’Box Gym on 11 Henry Street. The dancers at No Lights No Lycra will be excited to see you but more importantly, the funky fresh moves you’ll bring. $5 donation appreciated.
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Oscar representation Jacinta Mazzarolo
The dust (or should I say gold-plated confetti) has finally settled around the biggest and most prestigious awards ceremony of the year. Every year, the Oscars circus brings much buzz and focus on Hollywood. Throughout the entire awards season, nominees, winners, speeches, and of course dresses, receive much media coverage and water cooler chat. However, this attention is not always positive. The question of diversity amongst the winners and nominees—and even the voters—in recent years has continuously been brought up. Hollywood is such a vital commodity in telling stories in our society. The tales not only reflect, but also often inspire the world, the way it works and most importantly, our attitudes. Limited representation in the film industry leads to an inaccurate and unfair portrayal of humanity and has repressive, cruel effects as every individual’s perspective is valid and important. While 2014 heralded one of the more diverse Academy Awards we have ever seen, the lack of diversity in the ceremony this year was, as always, concerning. One acceptance speech in particular is still resonating with people days later. Lupita Nyong’o, born in Mexico to Kenyan parents where she was later raised, won the coveted Best Supporting Actress role. After ritually listing off the usual people winners thank when holding an award, a clearly shaken Nyong’o said, ‘When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid’. The statement was met with rapturous applause around the room while millions agreed at home. The notion that no matter who you are or what you look like, you deserve and can achieve greatness, hit a nerve with industry people and viewers alike. Previously, Lupita made an impassioned speech at the ESSENCE’s Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon where she made references to her skin colour, her experiences and the importance of representation in the media. ‘I received a letter from a girl and I’d like to share just a small part of it with you: “Dear Lupita,” it reads. “I
think you’re really lucky to be this black but yet this successful in Hollywood overnight. I was just about to buy Dencia’s Whitenicious cream to lighten my skin when you appeared on the world map and saved me.” My heart bled a little when I read those words. I could never have guessed that my first job out of school would be so powerful in and of itself and that it would propel me to be such an image of hope in the same way that the women of The Colour Purple were to me. I remember a time when I too felt unbeautiful. I put on the TV and only saw pale skin, I got teased and taunted about my nightshaded skin. And when I was a teenager my selfhate grew worse, as you can imagine happens with adolescence. My mother reminded me often that she thought that I was beautiful but that was no conservation; she’s my mother, of course she’s supposed to think I am beautiful.’ It is obvious from these powerful words how detrimental misrepresentation is to minority groups, their attitudes and self-worth. In 85 years of the Oscars, Lupita Nyong’o is the sixth woman of colour to win Best Supporting Actress. Of those roles, two have been maids, one an abusive mother and another a slave. Furthermore, in 2002 Halle Berry was—and still is—the only woman of colour to win the Best Actress award. Over in the men’s categories, the diversity statistics are no better. Of Best Supporting Actor winners, 95% have been white, and 92% of Best Actor winners have also been white. Similarly, Best Director has been awarded to a white male 83 times out of 86. In fact, out of 425 people nominated in this category, there have only been 18 that have not been white and male. Taiwanese Ang Lee, Mexican Alfonso Cuarón and female Kathryn Bigelow are the three non white males who have been awarded in the past nine years. However, the diversity in winners should not really be a surprise considering Academy voters are only 23% female and 6% people of colour. Despite having categories dedicated to female acting performances, representation and sexism is still very apparent at the Oscars. Writers,
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directors and producers are all predominantly male. This year, in the same ceremony Lupita Nyong’o won Best Supporting Actress in the Best Film, Cate Blanchett addressed the issue of women in Hollywood and their value. As she accepted her Best Actress Award, Blanchett said, ‘I am so very proud that Blue Jasmine stayed in the cinemas as long as it did…[thank you] to the audiences who went to see it and perhaps those of us in the industry who are still foolishly clinging to the idea that female films with women at the centre are niche experiences. They are not. Audiences want to see them and in fact they earn money. The world is round, people!’ While this sexism has come a long way and audiences are far more receptive to female driven films than ever before, there is still a lot of work to be done to close the diversity gap. Sweden is at the forefront of this movement as the country has introduced a new rating system to promote gender equality on their screens. The gender bias rating is based off of the Bechdel Test. To pass the test, a film must have at least two named female characters and a conversation between the two that does not revolve around a male. Of the films nominated in 2014 for Best Picture, just half fit the criteria. American Hustle, Philomena, Dallas Buyers Club and Nebraska all passed, whereas Gravity, Captain Phillips, The Wolf of Wall Street and Her failed. There are many contradictory reports on the winner, 12 Years A Slave. While the system definitely has its limitations, it has been discussed and used in varying capacities since 1985 when Alison Bechdel conceived the idea in a comic.
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Film is an incredibly powerful medium and should never be underestimated in terms of its influence in our society. This is why diversity and extensive representation of all humanity on our screens is so important. The Academy Awards this year was a step in the right direction. With Jared Leto winning Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Rayon, a transgender woman in Dallas Buyers Club, and Ellen DeGeneres hosting for a second time, the LGBTIQ community was even more prominent than usual. However, the facts speak for themselves. The misrepresentation at the Oscars is a prime reflection of how our media is plagued with inequality. In order to adequately and honourably tell the prolific stories of our world that inspire generations, the gap needs to be closed. After all, seeing is believing.
Hollywood is such a vital commodity in telling stories in our society.
Seeing is believing...
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Online camera scams: You could be next Shannon Kilgariff
You have been saving for a quality digital camera for months now and finally, an incredible deal appears online which seems too good to be true. With equipment usually so expensive, you immediately contact the seller to make the purchase and wait with excitement for your new hobby to arrive. It never does. You are a thousand dollars down and back to using the cheap camera you bought from your local department store. Many Australians are attracted to online deals when it comes to purchasing expensive camera equipment but scammers are lingering at the click of a button. University student Lachie Argy discovered how easy it is to get scammed when he came across a deal on eBay last year: a second-hand DSLR camera. ‘I decided to take that offer. They seemed really genuine and everything so I went through with it and sent the money through,’ he said.
Lachie stresses that it is vital to check the customer feedback, the joining time of the seller, their selling experience and if the photo provided is the real product or a stock photo from the internet. After two months of tedious disputes, Lachie was able to receive his $2000 back in a full refund from the payment processor, PayPal. University student Jack Brookes was not so fortunate. Last year Jack wanted to upgrade his camera. Being a university student, a second-hand camera was the best option for him financially. Jack searched online and found what he thought to be a great deal from New South Wales on local classifieds site, Gumtree. Jack said he was a first time Gumtree user and did research to make sure the seller was legitimate, such as making sure the photo of the camera was not from the internet.
The following day he received an email from eBay informing him not to go through with the transaction, but it was too late.
‘I started talking to the user through email which was probably the first mistake, and then I talked to him and he seemed, just from his manner, legitimate.’
The seller was clearly an experienced scammer: posting a diversion product, providing a tracking ID on the item and hacking the postal service to allow the item to be diverted to an address in New South Wales. To make things worse, the item turned out to be nothing more than a pair of headphones.
After communicating through several emails, Jack decided he wanted to make the purchase and transferred the payment into the seller’s account. He never received the camera and never heard back from the seller again. Jack did not have any other way to contact the seller except for an email account.
‘There was no camera involved whatsoever, and it had actually come from Hong Kong,’ he said. ‘I hadn’t had any experience before that with buying cameras—it wasn’t a very good first experience.’
‘That was my main problem; my only contact to him was through the internet and I didn’t get a phone number which is what I should have done, so it was more my ignorance being a first time Gumtree user and I got caught out,’ he said.
Lachie did not do background research into the seller prior to the scam but is now very diligent at researching sellers’ legitimacy before making any big purchases.
Jack lost all his money. For a university student, it was quite a big blow. ‘I was pretty gutted. Being a uni student, you don’t come across $500 every day.’
‘I know how to look out for something that’s a scam now. It’s really obvious when something is a scam actually. If you know what to look for you can tell.’
Jack says purchasing cameras online is appealing because prices are much more affordable.
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â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;People go on there looking for good prices so when they come across one, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a bit more of an impulse type thing. You are looking for something that is second-hand; you are looking for a better deal and obviously the excitement of when you do come across one can be too good to be true,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; he said. Online scamming is not restricted to secondhand sites like eBay and Gumtree and can include some legitimate appearing websites. Buyers should watch out for sites that claim to sell electronic equipment for prices well below what you could even purchase for second hand. Sites like these seem untrustworthy, not only due to the unrealistic low prices but often they provide false addresses while being registered in a completely different country The site seems untrustworthy, not only due to the unrealistic low prices but because the addresses provided are from the United Arab Emirates and the United States and further research shows that it has been registered to a London address. The site also claims to have been in effect since 2011 but it has actually only been a registered domain since February and no customer reviews can be found online. Calling was hopeless as the dial rang out to an unrecorded answering machine. As well as this, the website states they are registered with PayPal, although they say it is currently disabled. The bottom line is to be extremely careful; research every seller, compare prices with sites and companies you know to be legitimate, and phone the seller. If the deal is so amazing that it seems too good to be true, like Jack and Lachie have discovered, it usually is.
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Hostel tips from other travellers: ‘Don’t stay in your room, get over any anxiety and go talk to people.’ ‘Check your sheets for bed bugs. Turn off all lights and scan the bed with a torch or phone torch.’ ‘Sleep with your phone in your pillowcase.’ ‘Earplugs and thongs and soap for the shower.’ ‘Pay extra for a hostel in a central location. You save money that way.’ ‘Always get the bottom bunk, as top bunks are not fun climbing after a few drinks (may fall out).’ ‘Thongs for the shower.’ ‘Hang your towel on top bunk to cast shade when snoozing on bottom bunk. Doubles up as a barricade between you and the couple in the next bunk. Earplugs also help that.’ ‘Always check the “free food” cupboard in the kitchen for stuff other travellers have left behind. This saved me a few times when I was on a very tight budget! Got a whole jar of peanut butter once.’ ‘You can make some awesome friends in shared hostel rooms!’ ‘Remember what you paid for so you don’t have ridiculously high expectations and generally enjoy the hostel more.’ ‘Always have a padlock and silk sleep sheet.’ ‘Make an effort to make friends and do the hostel activities.’
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Tragedy struck Malaysia Airlines again when flight MH17 was shot down
What in the world is going on? A summary of recent events around the globe
Flight MH17 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down on 17 July by a BUK surface-to-air missile. The plane was struck down while flying over eastern Ukraine. Reports confirm that there were 28 Australians on board; none of the passengers or crew members survived.
Glasgow 2014 Rod Stewart and Susan Boyle have been confirmed as headline performers for the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland on 23 July.
FIFA World Cup 2014 One of the largest global sporting events resulted in fourtime world champions Germany reaping the rewards of their triumph. Argentina and the Netherlands placed second and third, respectively, while home nation Brazil ended in fourth position.
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Australian journalist arrested for ‘illegally broadcasting news threatening internal security’ Australian journalist Peter Greste is among three reporters working for Al Jazeera in Cairo who have been arrested by Egyptian authorities. Egyptian secret police arrested the award-winning Australian journalist along with the head of the Qatar-based news network’s Cairo bureau, Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, on suspicion of illegally broadcasting news harming ‘domestic security.’
US and Europe divided over punishment for Russia The penalties announced by the White House on Wednesday were broad in scope; European leaders were more restrained, ordering investment and development banks on the continent to suspend financing agreements with Moscow.
Thai junta gives ex-PM permission to travel abroad Thailandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s military government gave permission for former premier Yingluck Shinawatra to travel overseas for the first time since they overthrew her government in May over her abuse of power, a few weeks before the military staged a coup.
China ends drilling operations in disputed sea China has moved a massive oil rig away from waters claimed by Vietnam after announcing the end of operations, which should end tension between the two nations in the South China Sea.
Australia has become the first country in the world to abolish a price on carbon After two weeks of negotiations, and several false starts, the Abbott government achieved its long-held ambition to axe the tax, to applause from government senators. Mr Abbott expressed confidence the government could still find support for its plan to pay polluters to reduce their emissions.
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Come N Try DANCE CLASS @ Magill Campus
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3 – 24 August: Grease the Musical @ The Festival Theatre
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Vinnies UniSA Fashion Show 2014 @ West Bar
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Tuesday
Come N Try DANCE CLASS @ Magill Campus
Come N Try DANCE CLASS @ Magill Campus
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Come N Try DANCE CLASS @ Magill Campus Supermoon in Adelaide @ 3:40am
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August 2014
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Wednesday
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Movies at Jeffrey’s – The Lego Movie
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Movies at Jeffrey’s – About Time
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Dinner in the Dark @ Sanctuary Adelaide Zoo
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UniSA Physiotherapy Student Society Ball 2014
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Round She Goes Fashion Market @ The German Club
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2 – 9 August: KI Food Safari Kate Miller-Heidke Live @ Bird in Hand Winery
1 – 24 August: SALA Festival The Preatures @ Fowler’s Live
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Thursday Until 24th August Moving Image: Australian Dance Theatre @ Adelaide Festival Centre Until 7th Sept Dorrit Black: Unseen Forces @ The Art Gallery of South Australia
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28 September – 3 October: Australian University Games
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22 September – 3 October: Motorfest 2014
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Uni Bazaar @ City East
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12 – 28 September: OzAsia Festival 2014 Angus & Julia Stone: Australian Tour 2014 @ Thebarton Theatre
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5 – 14 September: Royal Adelaide Show 2014
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UniSA Physiotherapy Student Society Pub Crawl
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Stories of healing Words and images Rachael Hakim
The opening of Reconciliation Plaza and the unveiling of a plaque honoring social justice advocate Alice Dixon, marked National Sorry Day at Tarntanyangga/Victoria Square on 26 May this year. A large number of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people gathered in the historical meeting place for Stolen Generation Coming Home stories, live music and entertainment. Feeling proud to be Aboriginal has taken CEO of The Australian Institute for Loss and Grief, Rosemary Wanganeen, 27 years to achieve and her story is just one of many. ‘I’m part of the Stolen Generation and I went through a major healing process that helped me reclaim my pride after a teacher told me that Aboriginal people were savages. So, that experience shattered the little bit of pride that I had, and it became shame,’ says Ms Wanganeen. ‘Coming here today and being a part of this just fills my heart with pride because this kind of event just wasn’t around 20 years ago.’ Ms Wanganeen has developed a ‘Seven Phases to Integrating Loss and Grief’ model to support the social, emotional and health issues that many Aboriginal people face. She believes it is the ‘missing link to fully comprehending why many Aboriginal people can’t, don’t or won’t access their local mainstream services.’ National Sorry Day occurs every year on 26 May to remember the injustices experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
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Review | X-Men: Days of Future Past Alex Graham The X-Men franchise is currently among the longest running in comic book movie history. As a result, the films have ranged from being well crafted to incoherent messes (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I’m looking at you!). After a break from directing the first two films, director Bryan Singer returns and revitalises the series in X-Men: Days of Future Past. In a bleak dystopia where mutants are hunted by robots called Sentinels, the remaining few X-Men band together to change past events and alter their future. Old enemies Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen) set aside differences to battle a larger threat. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is projected back to 1973 by way of time-manipulating Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page). There, Wolverine joins forces with younger Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) to stop shape-shifting Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from inciting certain doom. With so many plates spinning, this film never has a dull moment. Switching between the future and the past allows for an engaging pace, as characters race against time. While not all plot points will likely stand up to further scrutiny (and a continuity now resembling that of the convoluted Terminator franchise), a deft mix of humour, pathos and action prove effective. As a veteran of the series, Singer knows at this point just how to strike the perfect balance between serious and humorous moments. Combining the classic cast from the original three films with the First Class cast allows for a dynamic mix of actors. While having Wolverine always front and centre in these films seems tiresome, Jackman clearly still relishes the character and is a joy to watch. McAvoy and Fassbender retain the same chemistry from their previous outing and Lawrence turns femme fatale as Mystique. Halle Berry, Nicholas Hoult and Shawn Ashmore all return, in addition to more than a few surprise cameos from the X-Men alumni. While some new mutants are introduced without much to do, their unique powers complement one another in some thoroughly exhilarating fight scenes. Evan Peters is a new addition to the cast as Quicksilver, a speedy mutant who steals
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the show in one memorable and impressive slow-motion sequence. Hopefully we’ll see more of him in subsequent films. Thematically, Days of Future Past returns to familiar territory regarding discrimination and genocide. The film also alludes to drug addiction through young Xavier numbing himself with a mutation-controlling serum. There’s also a little nod to a popular JFK assassination theory in relation to one particular character. Easily one of the best in the series, X-Men: Days of Future Past is a return to form for director Bryan Singer and a vibrant sign this franchise won’t die any time soon.
Thanks to Palace Nova Cinemas for providing the opportunity to review this film.
Review | Godzilla Alex Graham It’s been 16 years since America last attempted to bring Godzilla, King of the Monsters, to the big screen. On what marks the franchise’s 50th anniversary, British director Gareth Edwards (Monsters) offers a thrilling spectacle in Godzilla. In 1999, a Japanese power plant suffers a disastrous meltdown. Now in 2014, Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) returns to Japan and finds his father (Bryan Cranston) obsessed with determining the mysterious cause of destruction. The two men find the plant ruins under government watch, just as an enormous cocoon births a radiation-hungry creature. As this monster takes flight and threatens humanity, another titan emerges from the depths to restore natural order—Godzilla! Director Gareth Edwards anchors the film firmly in a human perspective, allowing the audience to witness the monster mayhem from a ground-level point of view. Too often, films featuring the destruction of whole cities seem inconsequential. Edwards and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey create a genuine sense of impact brought on by the devastation. Alexandre Desplat’s melodramatic score also helps capture the sense of excitement and terror present in the original films. The film is filled with a number of spectacular set pieces and moments that benefit from a cinematic experience. A skydiving sequence teased in trailers is absolutely jaw-dropping on the big screen. The monsters and battles are limited to a few key scenes or are merely teased, but are a thrilling sight to behold when they occur. Edwards takes the Jaws approach of holding back on revealing the monster until well into the film; Godzilla is first seen fully about 50 minutes in. While this builds anticipation and allows us to focus on the humans, it would have worked better had the characters been more compelling. At a certain point you just want to see the giant monster do battle—although the final act certainly makes up for this. Unfortunately, Godzilla is filled with a talented cast who are largely underused. Bryan Cranston plays a distraught scientist and is the most interesting human character of the whole film. However, Cranston does not feature as much as one would hope. The most emotionally powerful scenes occur very early on and there is little
else to care for. Aaron Taylor-Johnson (enjoyable in Kick-Ass) is not overly charismatic as bland soldier Ford. He is established as a family man, and a number of instances highlight his hero status (he saves a kid!), yet little else in the way of characterisation helps us care about our protagonist. Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins are given little else to do beyond spout exposition and look on in fear and amazement. Oscar winner Juliette Binoche barely makes an appearance. While let down by some uninteresting characters, Godzilla is ultimately a highly enjoyable creature feature that deserves to be seen in the biggest cinema possible.
Thanks to Palace Nova Cinemas for providing the opportunity to review this film.
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Review | Rio 2 Prerna Ashok Family fun (literally, as Blu, Jewel and their three kids journey to the Amazon), plenty of samba, and an important message about the environment make for an entertaining hour and a half. City slicker Blu is out of his depth amongst the deadly creatures and foliage of the Amazon; however, when Jewel is reunited with her longlost father and family, Blu is thrown the added challenge of fitting in. The vengeful Nigel is back with new sidekicks in tow and a penchant for Shakespeare, reinforcing old stereotypes about English villains. Linda and Tulio are also part of the action as they help the birds in their own quirky way. Despite their differences and personality clashes, Jewelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s family and Blu must work together to prevent the destruction of the family home in the Amazon by illegal tree loggers. There are plenty of entertaining musical and comedic moments and the sequel retains the level of humour and gags from the first instalment. The animation and choreography is beautiful to watch, especially with the vivid colours and infectious samba beats. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking for wholesome entertainment or need to distract the kids youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re babysitting, Rio 2 is the answer!
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Review | Under the Skin Sebastian Moore The basic premise of this film suggests the seedy gentleman’s ultimate fantasy: Scarlett Johansson travels through Scotland luring unsuspecting men into her van and back to her house. Sounds pretty simple, hey? Oh, and I left this part out—she’s an alien. Yep, and she doesn’t have sex with these men, either. She does ‘something’ with them, but this ‘something’ isn’t easily understood or explained. Having just stumbled out of Under the Skin, Jonathan Glazer’s enigmatic follow-up to 2004’s Birth, my mind is struggling to adjust to its previous state. Such is the power and virtuosity of Glazer’s visual perspective: an alien point-ofview that strips our world of anything remotely inviting, before thrusting us back into its fold. It’s hard to critique and even harder to categorise Under the Skin. Condensed to a minimalist extreme, the plot or ‘action’ of the film barely extends the premise previously alluded to. Dismissing logic and compelling chaos, it’s a visually and aurally stunning crystallisation of aesthetic—an artefact that is beautiful to behold, but impossible to interpret. With ten years between his last two features, Under the Skin represents significant progression in both form and content for Glazer. Bounding into an echelon of hyperbole, superlatives and creative comparison (David Lynch meets Stanley Kubrick, anyone?), his latest work achieves a level of artistic control worthy of auteur status. Like a painting or a piece of music, it dwells beneath the surface of easy description and tangible reason. Only something as baffling and bizarre as this can have a nude Scarlett Johansson wandering around without a degree of carnal desire permeating its chilly surface. So for those in it for a little ScarJo skin, I’m afraid all this will register is a ‘huh?’ and a confused shrug. For those in it for the right reasons, on the other hand, Under the Skin has the power to drop jaws and alter perspectives.
Thanks to Palace Nova Cinemas for providing the opportunity to review this film.
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