Volume XXI - Otwo - Issue 4 by The University Observer

Otwo Volume XXI | Issue 4 18th November 2014

Letter from the editors

Front Pages 2 Letter from the Editors - Shane Hannon & Rebekah Rennick 3 Soapbox: Water Conservation – Emily Longworth 3 What’s Hot What’s Not 3 Mystic Mittens 4 Back to School – Conor O’Toole 4 Absolutely Buzzin’ with Buzz Aldrin 5 Manila – Dos and Don’ts – Kimberly Lim

FOOD&DRINK 6 Neven Maguire Interview – David Corscadden 7 Cocktail Champion Feature – Vanessa Brady 7 Special Cocktail Recipe 7 Cook’s Corner – Cassandra Tooley

GAMES 8 Binding of Isaac: Rebirth – Steven Balbirnie 8 The Forest of Doom – Adam Donnelly 9 There Came an Echo Feature – Karl Quigley

FILM&TV BOG! I know what you’re all thinking. Why are the Otwo editors greeting me like that? After all, it’s not your fault you were born in a field, and why wouldn’t you go to your debs in a Massey Ferguson? Don’t worry, ‘Bog’ is actually just Croatian for Hello (yeah, we didn’t know that either), so we thought we’d be really smug. Our last issue before Christmas is upon us, and yet again, we have not disappointed. Now go ahead and be great humans and keep reading through our marvellous magazine (alliteration intended – see we’re reali gud at English so keap readin.) Games this issue sees Karl ‘I’m not wearing a peasant’s tie’ Quigley speak with some guys from the independent Iridium Game Studios, whilst Binding of Isaac: Rebirth and The Forest of Doom are reviewed so you can maximise how you spend your gaming time (you should really do that essay though bro). In Film and TV, editor Aaron ‘I finally got my picture of Spiderman’ Murphy reviews The Imitation Game, with other recently released films Interstellar and Third Person also looked at in detail. Features on New American TV shows and Post-Cold War film are joined by a Top 10 on Facial Hair in Cinema (Susan Boyle’s film debut is not included, before you ask.) In Music Seán ‘I Really Love Mainstream Beats’ Hayes chats with Australian indie pop band Sheppard, and we also have interviews with Wallis Bird, Hamilton Leithauser and James Bay. Our usual album reviews are also thrown in there with our Other Voices Preview and Radar (the latter focusing on rising Irish noiseniks Girl Band this issue). Our centre this issue features interviews with the UCD Science Artists in Residence. These guys talk with relevant researchers and scientists, share ideas about their respective practices, and use the studio space provided to develop their work. They are all fascinating individuals, so be sure to give that a read. Our Fashion section continues to ensure your social reputation stays intact by teaching you how to properly dress yourself, while in Arts and Literature Patrick ‘Hashtag Sorry Not Sorry’ Kelleher has a feature on Slam Poetry. Reviews of Deirdre Unforgiven and the Clerk of Mind exhibition are deliciously topped off with an interview with Mary Murray (you may have known her as Janet in Love/Hate) and our Emerging Writer this issue is Megan Nolan. Travel takes us all the way to Manila, (mmm, vanilla…), the capital of the Philippines, and David ‘Look at me spinning on my little indoor stationary bicycle’ Corscadden has another fantastic Food and Drink section for you to tuck into. Interviews with the one and only Neven Maguire and another with Eddie Rudzinskas (National Cocktail Champion and World silver medallist) are the main highlights, while Cook’s Corner teaches you how to serve up delicious Cornbread Cupcakes (aren’t you lucky). Our usual Colours section starts you off with a few hearty giggles (I lied, it will be raucous delight). Fatal Fourway debates the Best Bromance in a Movie/TV series, while our ‘Parallax’ back-page shows you the best in student photography (no selfies in sight, we promise). So sit back and keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times (just kidding, this is a magazine not a rollercoaster so there is no danger to your limbs in any way.) All of us at Otwo would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year (I do realise we’re all students who live off San Marino Meal-Deal’s but shhh).

SLÁN! REBEKAH & SHANE

10 New American Shows – David Corscadden 11 Post-Cold War Film– Síofra Ní Shluaghadháin 12 The Imitation Game – Aaron Murphy 12 Third Person – Mark Conroy 13 Interstellar – Shane Hannon 13 Top 10 Facial Hair in Cinema – Aengus Cunningham

CENTRE 14 UCD Science Artists in Residence Interviews

MUSIC 16 Sheppard Interview – Sean Hayes 17 Wallis Bird Interview – Aaron Flood 18 James Bay Interview – Roisin Murray 19 Hamilton Leithauser Interview – Cormac Duffy 20 Album Reviews 21 Preview: Other Voices – Sean Hayes 21 Radar: GIRL BAND – Aaron Flood

FASHION&STYLE 22 Cos Press Day – Sarah O’Shea 23 Street Style

ARTS&LITERATURE 24 Clerk of Mind Exhibition Review – Lauren Moore 24 Deirdre Unforgiven Review – Saul Fidgeon 25 Emerging Writer: Megan Nolan – Patrick Kelleher 25 Slam Poetry Feature – Patrick Kelleher 26 Mary Murray Interview – Tadgh Dolan 27 Fatal Fourway: Best Bromance in a Movie/TV Series 28 Parallax - Photography

what’s hot & What’s not

Soapbox “water’s great; let’s use it all”

Hot

Not Hot

new jape track

spacial awareness

Musical wizard Richie Egan has brought out another stormer of an electro jam, and we couldn’t be more excited, not even if he actually ran an electric current through a jar of jam. ‘The Heart’s Desire’ is a sprightly, jovial piece of work, and its Peaking Lights remix amplifies the merriment. With Jape’s new album set to drop in January 2015, y’all better get yo’ floors resurfaced, ‘cos there’ll be some floor-stompin’ tunes afoot.

So space scientists landed a space-thing on an astro-rock IN SPACE last week, and nobody cared because they were either A) too offended by the sexy cartoon ladies on one scientist’s bowling shirt, or B) too enthralled by the sight of a naked Kardashian arse. Nobody is entitled to tell either of these people what they ‘should’ be wearing, and more important still, no one has the right to dismiss any bowling shirt that astronomically fabulous.

Bike Theft

FarmersOnly.com Finally, a niche dating site for rural farmers! Because sometimes “city folks just don’t get it”. If your interests include plaid shirts, crop rotation, chewin’ on pieces of straw and discussing different tilling methods, then FarmersOnly.com is for you. That said, many rural farmlands don’t have internet access, and if they did, many rural farmers might reject it for being another wearisome pursuit of the “city folk”. But still, a country girl can dream.

Although the image of a group of bikes wearing handlebar-shaped balaclavas and breaking into a jewellery store is indisputably hilarious, the sad truth about bike theft is unfortunately more sinister, crushing the prospect of tricycle vigilante gang forever. Never ones to miss a beat, An Garda Síochána have stapled laminated warning sheets to bike stands around the city – so your safety and protection is reassured by A4 sheets of paper. Joke’s on you, bad guys!

The hipster formula

The Berlin Wall Everybody’s favourite cultural segregator is back on trend this fortnight, as the 25th anniversary of its falling has revamped an appreciation of German techno. Many have traded in their fascist political agendas in exchange for acid house and 80s pop - as exemplified by TCD History society’s ‘The Wall’, a commemorative clubnight taking place this evening in the Twisted Pepper. Nothing says ‘reunified nation’ like a diorty fat rave.

If we could all stop being so alternative for five seconds, and listen: a mathematical neuroscientist from Paris published a paper called ‘The hipster effect: When anti-conformists all look the same’, and it has explained that going against the grain is another way of being a mainstream wanker. He also invented a formula with loads of fancy symbols and squiggly lines and shit. And since maths-themed clothing is back in this season, he must be right.

Mystic Mittens Aries You will be handed a fiver by a grandparent at a family wedding and they will tell you to spend it on sweets. Plot twist: You will buy a pint.

Taurus Continuing your string of Black Week’s deserves a hearty congratulations! You are now officially UCD’s most useless human being. That includes Arts Soc.

Gemini The amalgamation of water charges and your stinginess will result in you not taking any more showers. Just one of many reasons that people have stopped standing near you.

Cancer You will be caught looking at the Kim Kardashian naked pics in the library by the Librocop. You’ll both get embarrassed, but only you will look like a pervert.

Leo Saying ‘No comet’ when friends ask you about the recent comet landing by a spacecraft will pass without laughter. You are not funny.

Virgo Boldly admitting that you haven’t worn socks in two years does not make you cool, though it will lead to the implosion of the hipster subculture. Also, those skinny jeans have probably affected your fertility. Not positively, before you ask.

I can see something cat-astrophic in your future

if water’s so good, why is it the number one cause of drowning? emily longworth investigates Libra

Your application for the UCD Choral Scholars will be rejected. Your enthusiastic rendition of Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’ will not be deemed appropriate.

Scorpio Spending your last fiver on a San Marino Chicken Burger Meal after a hard night drinking alcoholic slushies in the Clubhouse was not your brightest idea. Guess you’ll just have to walk home to Stillorgan from campus with a blue tongue now.

Sagittarius Microfinancing craft beer in Africa, a social network for Dutch Gold enthusiasts and an app that unslurs your words will be big hits at your Drinking Big entrepreneurial conference.

Capricorn Sneaking into O’Reilly Hall via the air ducts to try and touch Johnny Sexton during the Alumni Awards was not your wisest move. Don’t worry, restraining orders usually aren’t as long a distance as most rugby stadiums.

Aquarius Submitting your assignments via interpretative dance is not recommended. Unless you are studying modern dance and have a practical assignment. In which case who are you, and why are you reading this?

Pisces When stressed around exam time, remember to just keep swimming. Sea levels are rising every year, and soon it will be your only way of survival in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

There’s only one thing worse than the never-ending slew of misinformed idiocy that the general public has exhibited in the water charges debate – and that’s the lack of relevant misinformed idiocy. The people have adamantly proclaimed that they’re fighting for our basic human right to safe water, and while this is fair, I feel that what we should really be fighting for is the right to mindlessly piss away that safe water once we get it, and for free. Because that’s how we’ve been doing it for years, and we’ll be damned if that’s about to change. Remember back to the time when water conservation was a novelty? That was class. When the government sent out those ‘Water is Precious – Let’s Conserve It’ stickers to every household in the country, and we all took them seriously for five minutes until we remembered that water’s everywhere and we hate it? Clearly it’s not in finite supply either; it’s in such plentiful abundance that the government made a whole business out of it! It’s just like those Cash4Gold shops that suddenly appeared a few years ago, you don’t need to be a geo-economist to know there’s never any business in something that’s eventually going to run out. So why should we abandon the water-guzzling practices that we’ve come to know and love? Water is the most powerful element on earth; whether it’s in the form of vapour, ice, or just plain water. Sometimes I leave the tap on so that the sound of running water will be in the background, reminding me of the civilisations past which settled beside water bodies for trade and sustenance, and connecting me to their history. Also because I really like the smell tap water makes, and I feel this also connects me to what it means to be human, or something. We also have an inherent right to continue the social traditions that are founded on our water dependency; traditions like water fights. In what kind of world are we to raise the next generation if we can’t give our children access to shit tonnes of waterbombs? And what if we’ve gotten used to watering the fake plants as well as the real ones? Further still, this is just another way for the government to discriminate against stoners -they’re deliberately infringing upon the people’s right to gravity bongs. In the dystopian society proposed by the new water charges, academics might never have access to the resources they need to be able to answer questions like ‘Do gravity bongs work in Space?’ This is not merely an attack on blazin’ e’ryday, but it is an attack on our education system. I will accept that the Irish people will only exercise free speech when it’s in the form of perpetual complaint, and that complaint continues to be made solely via the platform of phone calls to the Joe Duffy show (1850 715 815). But as of yet, I haven’t heard a single argument making the case for why we deserve to waste this precious commodity. That can change. It’s time for us to speak out for what really matters; the right to the mindless consumption of everything.

Back to School with Conor O’Toole Change is difficult, especially at one’s favourite chippers. Conor O’Toole comes to term with the introduction of “The Stephen Pounder” I went in to visit Tony today, the man who sells onion rings and chips. I thought me and Tony’s relationship was strained somewhat as I once tried to record a documentary about the Jack Special, a chicken-bacon-taco-garlic-cheese-chips dish he invented in an attempt to get a boy named Jack to ‘make nice boy’ in the shop. I think he thought I was making fun of his unorthodox command of English, which I was only very slightly doing. Anyway, after telling me the story a couple of times when I went in to buy onion rings and chips, he went silent on me as soon as I produced a big fluffy microphone. I didn’t go back to that chipper for ages after that, maybe three weeks. Until yesterday. I went in there, ravenous for some onion rings and chips, and to my surprise Tony greeted me with a big smile. He even gave me one of those handshakes where hands kind of wrap around each other, instead of slotting together. I don’t know what they’re called. Maybe it’s an Italian thing. Tony is Italian. I placed my order, onion rings and chips with vinegar but no salt; I put on the salt at home because I bought some fancy salt in a box one day and now I am somewhat of a salt connoisseur, and inspected the restaurant. Well, it turns out there’s a new menu! And with it comes The Stephen Pounder! Tony got a worried look in his eyes when I asked about it, and insisted on checking my hands for recording equipment. The Stephen Pounder is a quadruple quarter pounder, named after a guy called Stephen who used to buy one every night. Tony tells me since he put it on the board he sells ten to fifteen Stephen Pounders a week. He asked me what my name is, and said he might name a burger after me some day! I

jokingly suggested an onion ring in a bun, as I rarely get anything there other than onion rings and chips, and the occasional bouncy ball. Much to my surprise, Tony tells me there are some little girls who come in for onion rings in a bun on a weekly basis! So maybe there’s hope for a Conor Burger yet. Maybe it could come with a bouncy ball and some chips, too, for the total Conor experience. That said, I’m not sure I can handle the pressure. Tony tells me with much disappointment that Stephen now only comes in to get a Stephen Pounder once every six months or so, and as such on the next run of menus it will be called The Big Pounder. I do not want to cross Tony.

I think he thought I was making fun of his unorthodox command of English, which I was only very slightly doing

Absolutely buzzin’ with Buzz Aldrin

OWIYE SPACEMAN,

I’ve been going out with my boyfriend for like three weeks. I was convinced he’s the one for me. He’s out on parole at the moment over some minor infraction but we’ve got so much in common. I found a pair of lace knickers that clearly aren’t mine in his bedroom and I’m worried that he’s cheating. I have no idea how an astronaut could possibly help, but my bf is tall, dark and handsome with really strong arms so I don’t want to lose him. You walked on our cheesy cratered neighbour with Neil ARM-STRONG so I figured you could help. Blonde logic, lol! He claims he hasn’t cheated but I don’t believe him. What should I do?

OWDY BUZZ,

I was locked in Copper’s last night and found myself chatting up this young wan. She was unreal like and I got the shift eventually, which was great. However, I soon discovered my mate had shifted her ten minutes before. This is a problem cos it means I basically shifted him as well. No one likes sloppy seconds and it’s really awkward between the two of us now. Can we ever go back to the way it used to be? Ignacio

Carmelita Hey man, Greetings Earthling, Sounds like a real keeper you’ve got yourself there. I tend to empathise with your boyfriend here. You say you don’t believe him and I am sick of people saying the same to me regarding the Apollo missions. Hell yes, we landed on the Moon and we beat those Commie Reds in the process. I even punched a guy square in the face in 2002 for accusing me of lying about walking on the Moon (YouTube gold, if I say so myself). To be honest Carmelita, you just have to make sure he is always attracted to you. I checked out your Facebook page and you need to cut out all that foundation. If aliens visited Earth and saw you they would conclude there was no intelligent life on this planet. Sorry not sorry. You look like the surface of the Red Planet (#GetYourAssToMars). It’ll be one small make-over for you, one giant leap in ugliness improvement for mankind. To infinity and beyond (no wait that was the other Buzz – lawsuit with Pixar/Disney pending). Buzz x

First of all congrats on the exotic name. This is a right old pickle you seem to have found yourself in. Your main problem seems to be coming second to your friend, but what the hell is wrong with that? If you were in the Olympics would you be disappointed with a silver medal? If you were a singer would you raise a fuss over a Number Two on the charts? Yeah, didn’t think so. My entire life has revolved around being the second man to walk on the Moon. But the important part of that sentence is that I WALKED ON THE GODDAMN MOON. Oh yeah, and by the way, WE LANDED AT THE SAME TIME. Sheesh, get over it Ignacio. Get off my case. Seriously like, have you walked on the Moon lately? Exactly. Now leave me alone – you, sir, deserved sloppy seconds. Buzz x

second comes right after first!

manila – The Dos and Don’ts The city of Manila is the capital and second largest city of the Philippines, as well as one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Kimberly Lim takes you through the dos and don’ts of this beautiful, tropical metropolis

one of the many colourful jeepneys of the philippines Photo: David Robinson via flickr People won’t appreciate photo-taking during a service. visit Intramuros, the walled city and the be a stickler for schedules. old capital of Manila. Most tourists eschew the Filipinos have a laid back attitude towards life capital of The Philippines for travel because it isn’t and will often show up later than expected. just stay in Metro Manila! renowned as friendly to foreign tourists in previous This includes tour guides, taxi drivers, doctors There is no shortage of day trip destinations if years, and also because of urban development and any acquaintances you make. Not to you want to get away from the hustle and bustle that has left many parts feeling more concrete mention that traffic in the metro can get quite of the city. Taal Lake and Volcano in Batangas - a than culture - but there are efforts to change that. heavy, especially during the rainy season. Be lake with a volcano with another lake within it There are now a myriad of tours aimed at locals patient and people will show up. (and an island in the middle of that small lake) is and foreigners hoping to (re)discover the nation’s a geographic wonder, while the city of Tagaytay capital. Carlos Celdran, an infamous artist/activist offers some of the most majestic views. Laguna engage with locals. Most Filipinos is the most well-known walking tour guide, whose speak English as a first or second language has many hot springs and spas where one can tours of Intramuros are peppered with historical unwind and Malolos in Bulacan is full of history and are very friendly. Most will strike up facts, open air calesa rides and free Halo-halo (a as the cradle of Philippine democracy, where the a conversation and can even give you popular iced Filipino dessert). Other tours include recommendations about where to go and what First Philippine Republic was established. a sketching tour of Manila courtesy of Urban to eat. Sketchers Manila for those artistically inclined, and be polite. Filipinos tend to be very polite walking tours of Binondo, the oldest Chinatown in and use honorifics such as “sir” and “ma’am”. refuse food. “Kumusta?” the world, by seasoned guide Ivan Man Dy. (How are you?) and “Kumain ka na ba?” (Have They also tend to be very humble and bragging is looked down upon. It’s also seen as polite to you eaten?) are the standard greetings in engage in small talk, even briefly. Tagalog, the local dialect. Travellers are often hang around in shopping welcomed very warmly and people will malls. Yes, it’s tempting to, as they all have air-conditioning, which is essential to surviving the scramble to feed you home-cooked food, forget pasalubong, or tropical heat. However, most shopping malls across which is part of the Filipino way of hospitality. souvenirs. It’s a Filipino tradition to bring back Metro Manila (the collective term for the cities small gifts for family members and friends after which make the National Capital Region besides be respectful of local practices. The trips abroad. Why not do the same for your family Manila) have stores that can be seen in any capital Philippines is a largely Catholic country with and friends and bring back some local crafts from in the world and are generally devoid of culture. The Philippines? A group of stores found in all many beautiful churches to visit such as San Dedicate a day to shopping, but endeavour to SM Malls known as Kultura Filipino specialise in Agustin Church, Manila Cathedral, Binondo spend time away from shopping malls. high quality Filipino goods, from handicrafts to Church and Quiapo Church in Manila alone. speciality foods like dried mangoes, tsokolate However, most churches are also still active (Filipino hot chocolate tablets) and polvoron secure your valuables. The Philippines places of worship for local communities with daily prayers and masses during the weekends. (powdered milk sweets). They’ll even package suffers from great divides between the well off it in a way that’ll make it easier to fit in your and the poor and as a result, many people take suitcase. It’s a no-brainer. the opportunity to prey upon tourists. Children as young as five or six have been caught stealing from tourists. Lock up passports, jewellery and any other valuables in the hotel safe and only bring what’s necessary. Don’t flash around expensive phones or tablets either! It’s just in front of Ca D’Oro, so you can’t miss it!

DON’T

Rizal monument Photo: Kimberly Lim

Food and drink

The Nation’s Nicest Chef On the back of an impressive year that has seen him travel the world doing cooking demos and release his eleventh cookbook, Neven Maguire sits down with David Corscadden to talk all things food and the importance of respect for both food and the people around you

Standing towards the back of Neven Maguire’s cooking demos in Arnott’s and watching the influx of people taking photos of his food and contending to talk to the Irish food master for just a few minutes proves the extent of his popularity within the Irish food scene. Encounters with well-wishers and fans continued throughout the store as he looked for a discreet section to sit down and talk about his true passion, Irish food. Even though he has just finished a cooking demo in collaboration with Miele and Zwilling JA Henckels, both of which he is a brand ambassador for, there is no hint of tiredness and no drop in energy once he sits down. “I do a lot of demos around the country” he explains. “Last night I was in Drogheda with 400 people then today I was in Arnotts doing this demo. Oh and yesterday I was in Google doing a demo which was amazing and it was live streamed to 180 offices around the world which was incredible.” While the idea of being live streamed into 180 offices around the world could petrify many people, for Maguire it offered the perfect opportunity to promote his key passion to a large audience. “I am very proud of this because we are trying to promote Irish food, promote the produce that we have. We are a small country but we have fabulous produce on offer and some great chefs in Ireland and some great restaurants too. For me there has never been a better time to be cooking.” Promoting Irish food globally is something that Maguire has become renowned for. He is just back from a trip to Dubai where he was working tirelessly to showcase the best of Irish food to the global market. “There is a real appetite for Irish food now and people really want it. They know a lot more about it and there is just a huge interest in food and ingredients.” This is an idea that is really beginning to resonate with people he contends, “A lot more people cooking at home now. A lot of people want to support local farmers and I believe as a chef that we have the best meat, poultry and dairy compared to anywhere. It is hard to beat.” The sentiment that there has not been a better time for Irish food and cooking is extremely true for Maguire. He has experienced immense success in the last year with the great reception his eleventh cookbook offering has received and the milestone achievement of recording his 100th cooking show for RTÉ. On his latest book Fast , his fifth with Irish publishers Gill & Macmillan, Maguire explains this has been his most successful to date. “It has been my most successful book. We have hit on something that is really interesting to me; people want something that is quick, fast and accessible. They don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen all day, which is my job as a chef.” Maguire believes that for anyone who is looking to cook tasty meals at home, be it working parents or students, it is important to get the quality of cooking and ingredients right. If these two elements are present everything else will fall in to place. “Cooking with the seasons is the most important message I can give. To enjoy the food whatever is in season and whatever is fresh. You get the best value and the farmer gets the best value. It is smart cooking and it is sensible cooking.” On getting the best

value for meat Maguire believes in a return to tradition and a visit to the local butcher. “Go to your local butcher. There is great value there. Don’t forget about them, supermarkets are not where you will get the cheapest meat, butchers is where you will get it.” While Maguire’s passion for his cooking shows and cookbooks is electric, his deep burning pride for his Cavan based restaurant MacNean House is unparalleled. Like Maguire’s strong respect for ingredients and food, this an important attribute when it comes to the staff working for him. “I have a lot of staff for a long time because there is a lot of respect and admiration. They are not just my staff they are my family and I am proud of that. We all work hard and we all work together.” “It is all about the team. My wife is in the team too. She does the books and the wages. She is the boss” he adds with a chuckle. “She is my sounding board. She is a great lady and she will think outside the box. ‘Will this work? Is this good for you Neven?’ It is all about the core values and the brands’ core values.” A massive achievement for Maguire recently was the opening of his very own cookery school beside his restaurant. “It is something I have always wanted. Something small and intimate,

with just 14 people. I am delighted with it. It never opens unless I am there. I want to make food fun for people and not stressful.” For students and student cooking, an area that Maguire is interested in examining more for his cookery school in the coming years, he believes it is important to keep things simple in the kitchen. “I think the key thing is to keep things simple. If you look at a basic ingredient like mince, it is good value so you can do a spaghetti Bolognese or a lasagne. You can cook it in batches and freeze it. Good food does not have to be expensive food. It doesn’t have to be cheap food, it has to be cooked well.” Throughout the interview Maguire repeats the sentiment that he “loves his life” and when you meet him in person this is blatantly obvious. This love for life and passion for what he is doing will no doubt only foster his mission to promote Ireland and it’s food excellences both at home and on the global stage.

Neven Maguire’s latest cookbook ‘The Nation’s Favourite Food Fast’ is availble in stores now. His new cookery show will air on RTÉ in the New Year.

We are a small country but we have fabulous produce on offer and some great chefs in Ireland and some great restaurants too. For me there has never been a better time to be cooking.

Meeting the Cocktail Master

Having just won a Silver medal in the World Cocktail Championships, Eddie Rudzinskas talks to Vanessa Brady about the awards, his top tips for making a cocktail and how he got to where he is today

The Molly Mia Ingredients:

The Irish cocktail world received a massive boost last month thanks to Monaghan-based bartender Eddie Rudzinskas, who represented Ireland in the World Cocktail Championships. At the 2014 championships, which took place in Cape Town, Rudzinskas impressively walked away with a Silver Medal. When talking to Rudzinskas about his work his clear passion for drinks concoction shines through. The bartender, from the Four Seasons Hotel & Leisure Centre in Monaghan, has clear plans for the coming months after his win saying he is “… going to improve his craft even more and keep doing what [I] love to do.” Getting involved in the bartending intending industry is something many people accomplish but few truly succeed in competitively. Rudzinskas has worked in the bar trade since he was 17 and then over the years he has acquired the necessary skills of cocktail making. It wasn’t until later on that he realised his potential and his love for making cocktails. He explains “I don’t know, I started working in the bar from 17 and I didn’t think I could make a career

out of it. Then over the last five years I began to look at it more seriously because I was still in the bar so I just wanted to see how I could make cocktails better. I started learning about the history of the drinks and cocktails and all the rest.” Rudzinskas qualified for the prestigious World Cocktail Championships after finishing 1st at the National Cocktail Competition that took place at the Food & Beverage Live 2014 Exhibition in City West earlier this year. Following Rudzinskas’ win President of the Bartenders Association of Ireland, Declan Byrne, said “Eddie Rudzinskas is an exceptional bartender. Eddie has worked tirelessly to perform at his best on the greatest bartender’s stage in the world. He was focused and dedicated.” On the judging process for the World Championships Rudzinkas explains that there are several judges to decide on the varying skills of garnishing, mixing, creating an aroma, overall appearance and hygiene. With such a rigid process in the competition Rudzinskas had been practising and preparing for

the championship since he won the Irish National Championships. He explains that the last few months were difficult for him as he worked very hard saying “I became focused and practiced my routine.” For the competition Rudzinskas made his specialty ‘Molly Mia’ (see cocktail recipe below) and his drink and performance clearly impressed the judges. When it comes to making the perfect cocktail Rudzinskas always endeavours to ask the customer a few questions like what taste they like and what they dislike, “… for the simple reason that if you put coconut into a cocktail and the customer doesn’t like coconut, the customer won’t like the drink.” Rudzinkas has one ultimate tip for those hoping to make their own cocktails and that is practice. “You have to want to make a drink. The rest of it comes with practice.” Rudzinskas goes on to remark that a cocktail doesn’t have to be all fancy with ingredients you’ve never heard of. It can be as simple as a Gin and Tonic or something like a Cuba Libre, (which is Coke, fresh lemon juice and rum.) Rudzinskas’ remarkable

achievement on the world cocktail stage highlights the sheer talent that is present in the Bartender’s Association of Ireland (BAI) and certainly bodes well for the future of the drinks-making industry in this country. Eddie will undoubtedly continue shaking it up in an area where he is evidently talented – next year’s World Cocktail Championship’s in Sofia, Bulgaria are already firmly in his sights.

50ml Grey Goose Le Citron vodka, 20ml Grand Marnier Liqueur, 20ml Finest Call Passion fruit puree, 20ml Routin 1883 Blood Orange, 80ml Fresh grapefruit juice 20ml Fresh lemon juice.

Method All ingredients are shaken with ice in a cocktail shaker and served in a long glass. Decorated the drink with cuts of lemon, lime, orange, beetroot & rhubarb.

Cook’s Corner: Cornbread cupcake with Goat Cheese Frosting Looking for something different than the ordinary sweet cupcake? Try Cassandra Tooley’s take on a savoury one with a cornbread base and goats cheese frosting topping with the added delight of rashers and parsley sprinkles. Cornbread cupcakes

1. 2. 3.

Preheat oven to 425F, and line a tray with 12 cupcake liners.

In a large bowl mix all of the dry ingredients. Add all of the wet ingredients (including the egg) and mix well. Fill liners until 3/4 full. Bake for 18 minutes, or until golden brown in colour.

Goat Cheese Frosting Ingredients 1/2 cup of milk 1/3 cup of vegetable oil 1 large egg Mix together the cream cheese and goat cheese. Add the 2 cups of cornmeal milk as needed to reach desired consistency. (You want the frosting 1 cup of all purpose flour to be thick enough to “hold” when you pipe it onto the cupcake). 3 tablespoons of sugar 1 tablespoon of baking powder Add your mix to a piping bag. Using a star tip pipe the 1 teaspoon of salt frosting onto your cupcake.

1. 2.

Rashers and Parsley Sprinkles

1. 2.

Ingredients 1 brick of cream cheese (room temperature) 1 small package of goat cheese (room temperature) 1/4 cup of milk

Ingredients Four slices of bacon One branch of fresh parsley

Wash the parsley and pat dry with a paper towel. Cut it into small pieces and sprinkle over the frosting. In a pan on medium- high heat, pan dye the rashers until they are crispy. Pat off the excess oil with a paper towel. Cut the bacon into small pieces and sprinkle on top of the cupcakes. Photo: Cassandra Tooley

Games

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth The Binding of Isaac was a 2011 Flash collaboration created by Edmund McMillen (of Super Meat Boy fame) and programmer Florian Himsl. It was a top-down, rogue-like, dungeon crawler reminiscent of the 2D Legend of Zelda games. The game’s story and aesthetic were inspired by biblical themes and the horrors of childhood nightmares. The Binding of Isaac has certainly never been a game for the squeamish. The premise of the game is that the mother of the title character Isaac hears a voice from God one day telling her to sacrifice her son, with Isaac then fleeing into the macabre depths of their basement. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is a remake of this, now with a retro, 16-bit, pixelated art style. All of the content from the original game and its Wrath of the Lamb DLC are included in Rebirth, accompanied by new content equal in size to these combined. This fresh content includes new enemies, new bosses, over 150 new items, 4 new playable characters and a whole array of special challenges. Many of the original items and enemies have also been overhauled to make them function in a more streamlined way. This means that Binding of Isaac veterans can expect to be kept on their toes just as much as newcomers. The distinctive art style resembles that of the Gameboy Advance era, while the sound design has been entirely revamped. The sound effects are more gruesome than ever before, though the new soundtrack composed by Matthias Bossi and Jon Evans doesn’t quite manage to match the quality of Danny Baranowsky’s score to the original game.

developers: Nicalis and Edmund McMillen Platforms: Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 Release Date: Out now

Rebirth also contains an abundance of entirely novel features. There are now extra-large rooms, double boss fights, speed run rewards and even a hidden boss rush room. A local multiplayer has also been added, with Rebirth including the option to sacrifice a portion of health to spawn an in-game familiar controlled by the second player. The new seed system is also a particularly nice touch, allowing players to share their experiences with each other as every randomly generated play-through has its own unique code which can be shared and input to recreate the dungeon layout. This can allow for a level field in competitive speed runs between players, and special seeds act like cheat codes,

allowing for cosmetic changes to the game and also secret challenges. The greatest change has been the new engine which allows the game to overcome the limitations imposed by the original running on Flash. Rebirth runs smoothly, without the slowdown or crashes experienced in the original. It also features full controller support; something which the original sorely lacked. Even more significantly, Rebirth allows you to save your mid-game progress which you can return to later, rather than forcing you to do a complete play-through each time like in the Flash original. The new engine has also allowed for far more detailed and dynamic environments, making its predecessor’s

backdrops look rather sparse by comparison. Rebirth’s initial launch was somewhat shaky, with many players experiencing running issues and graphical glitches, but to their credit, Nicalis patched these issues with admirable swiftness, fixing most of the teething problems in a matter of days. In an industry increasingly populated by lazy HD rereleases, Rebirth stands as a shining example of what all remakes should actually aspire to, not only to faithfully recreate the original but also to improve upon it in every possible way. The sheer volume of content on offer coupled with the game’s replayability makes Rebirth an essential purchase and one of the best titles released this year. Steven Balbirnie

the forest of doom The Fighting Fantasy books were a series of interactive reading experiences (or a gamebook) first published when gaming as we know it was in its early adolescence. Published in the early 1980’s, they have constantly remained in the public consciousness ever since. The Forest of Doom is the third book in the series and now, thanks to Tin Man Games, it has been recreated in videogame format. Some of the younger readers may be unclear on what exactly a gamebook is. While difficult to pin down by a single definition, it can be explained by a number of modern gaming characteristics, but in what was originally a print format. It’s a sort of choose your own quest type of experience, and as it is a book, the choices you make will require you to jump around to particular pages. In a certain sense, you might consider it the grandfather of non-linear games such as Mass Effect and the Witcher series. Before you play, you are tasked with rolling a die in order to determine certain stats like luck, skill and stamina, and then it’s straight into the narrative. There are three modes of difficulty; Free Read, which the game cheekily describes as being for “old school cheaters”, Adventure, the truest to the original book and the option to go with if you intend to experience the game the way nature intended, and Hardcore Adventure, which will pummel you unapologetically if you’re careless. There are two things the player will need to realise before they play the Forest of Doom: it is a word-forword conversion of the original text, and as such you

are literally playing a book. This means reading, and a lot of it. You click on the pages to turn them and every once and a while you need to make a choice that will impact on how the narrative progresses. While the story itself isn’t exactly deep, the words that comprise it are delightfully rich and descriptive and are accompanied by some simply cracking artwork. You can bypass a number of the story events based on the choices you make, but that’s really quite a shame as the quality of Livingstone’s wordplay packs each page with memorable prose. The game’s presentation is topped off with a whimsical orchestral soundtrack that feels just present enough to give the sense as though it were peeping over your shoulders as you play The main sticking point with the Forest of Doom lies in its replay value, greatly hindered by the lack of direct agency from the player. Once you’ve exhausted all the different paths that you can explore within the narrative, there’s very little incentive to come back, and even then it won’t take long for you to see all that there is to see. The lack of agency beyond turning pages and clicking on different options makes the changes in difficulty setting feel more phoned in than anything else. There’s nothing cinematic to engage the player either, as this is essentially a port of a book and very little else. The beauty of the book incarnation was its portability, so it could be enjoyed anytime, anywhere. It was also a modestly social experience as friends could easily take the journey together. No such luck,

unfortunately, if you are planning to lug a PC around to get your fix, though an iOS version does exist. The Forest of Doom feels suited for a particular niche. It’s nice to see something as vintage as the gamebook formula lavishly restored like this, but it feels a bit too limited in its design to achieve mass appeal. It certainly isn’t something that you desperately need to break the bank to go out and purchase; if you’re curious, check out the significantly cheaper iOS version. Developer: Tin Man Games Publisher: Tin Man Games

An Iridium Echo

Jason Wishnov of Iridium Studios sits down with Karl Quigley to discuss their upcoming, entirely voice-controlled game, ‘There Came an Echo’

Iridium Studios released their first project, Sequence, in October of 2011 which was a mash up of role-playing and rhythm games. It included the customization, inventory management and plot often found in a RPG while the usually slow combat system was replaced with a Dance-Dance-Revolution input. This means hitting directional keys in time with music. Jason Wishnov, founder of Iridium Studios in 2009, said that “I had played Puzzle Quest in 2007” which was a mash-up of a ‘match-three’ puzzle game (i.e. Candycrush) and an RPG, and thought “… if that could be combined with an RPG, anything could”. Sequence was released on Steam and on Xbox Live Arcade, and was received with an overall positive response. The unusual combination and unique style of RPG combat would not be the last for Iridium Studios. There Came an Echo is their next project. On February 19th 2013, the game was opened to backers on Kickstarter with a goal of ninety thousand dollars. After eleven hours, they had nearly hit thirteen thousand. By the end of their Kickstarter, Iridium Studios had received one hundred and fifteen thousand, five hundred and sixty nine dollars – far exceeding their original goal. There Came an Echo is a voicecontrolled, tactical, squad based, real-time strategy (RTS). Voice control in gaming has been attempted and been marginally successful before. Notably, Tom Clancy’s Endwar was another RTS that had voice control as the main component of control. Wishnov says that “Endwar, arguably the most successful of voice commands to date, merely did so as a supplementary feature”, and this is where There Came an Echo stands out. “ There Came an Echo is built from the ground up so that voice control is the best way to play”. Many arguments against voice control so far in gaming point out that it is unwieldy at times, proving inaccurate. What was previously the main strength, quick and on the spot commands, quickly became cumbersome and by the time the command is recognised, whatever tactical move the player was planning isn’t going to work. Wishnov feels that he and his team have

the solution, “Certain design decisions had to be made to ensure that voice commands feel comfortable and accurate”. However, Wishnov and his team weren’t done yet. Any English speaking player outside of a neutral accent (which was almost everywhere), would know the trouble with voice control and the recognition of their accents. “We have numerous acoustic models, these cover foreign languages of course, but also various English accents throughout the world”. Iridium Studios currently have seven accents pinned down with more on the way, taking models from Microsoft’s speech recognition platforms. Many indie games choose to have a minimalistic story and sometimes, omit it entirely. But Iridium Studios have incorporated an intense and intriguing plot centring on Corrin, a cryptographer at a defence company in California. The game begins when he is contacted by a mysterious figure notifying him of a number of scary-looking men coming his way. Eventually escaping and linking up with a handful of eccentric and unique characters, Corrin embarks on the mission to find out who is after him and why. “We have a very in-depth narrative, and the vocal banter back and forth between the players and characters make the characters feel that much more real”. There Came an Echo has proven very popular with fans so far, with an all-star voice acting cast including the talents of Wil Wheaton, Ashly Burch and Laura Bailey. The music for the game is being composed by Ronald Jenkees, a popular YouTube composer who also made the music for Iridium’s previous title Sequence. Jimmy Hinson is an industry veteran for music, known for his contribution to the audio of Mass Effect 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. Finally, the YouTube sensation Malukah will be providing help with the vocals. There Came an Echo entered its first Beta test on the 7th of November. “[The response] was great!” and interestingly, some fans were disappointed that Iridium Studios didn’t venture down the early access path, Wishnov explains “I think that’s a dangerous road to go down... early access works for a

There Came an Echo is built from the ground up so that voice control is the best way to play.

very specific type of game... it can lead to unfinished titles, lowered expectations, and disappointment all around”. With regards to the length of the story, Wishnov said that “It’s not a terribly long game. I’d expect four to five hours to get through the campaign for most players” but he did hint at extra bonuses to keep players around for longer. He stated that “… the story is very intense” but the game would not be empty after that. “We’ve implemented the ‘War Room’, which is an endless-wave type mode (actually it ends)”. Wishnov went on to say that while the story was great, it wasn’t the perfect environment to play with the voice commands, and this was where the War Room shined. Iridium Studios have implemented an interesting “command aliasing system” which allows any command in the game to be replaced with anything you want. The fun example they always use is the well-known “make

it so” command, from Star Trek, instead of the standard phrase. The War Room is to be the perfect place to try out new command phrases as well as different squad tactics. Indie games prove time and time again a source of excellent and innovative ideas. Voice control has been attempted before, but as Wishnov said, only as a supplementary feature. While currently in Beta, There Came an Echo is shaping up to be one of the best indie releases in quite a while. If it can pull off this voice control correctly, it will already be a step ahead of many other strategy and tactical games.

‘There Came an Echo’ is set for release on Steam late this year.

Film and Television

Autumn Television 101

The return of much loved TV shows also heralds the arrival of shiny new programmes. David Corscadden takes a look at some of the brand new shows hitting American TV screens

For TV obsessives and those looking to avoid study like an Ebola patient on a busy Dublin Bus, rejoice, because autumn has shed its musty old shows and the new shows are settling in for a long winter. At this time, TV fans are delighting in the return of old favourites like the medical melodrama, Grey’s Anatomy, and the sassy, presidentially promiscuous hit show, Scandal. Of course, there was also the return of everyone’s favourite woodland-dwelling, food-raiding, and exhumed exterminating show: The Walking Dead. Who doesn’t love to watch some groaning, rotting-flesh pummelling action after a long day in college? With their return also come some new contenders for our affections. But as every avid TV junkie knows, you can’t watch them all. And so, Otwo has picked the ones to watch as Winter is coming (No, Game Of Thrones doesn’t make the list).

How to Get Away with Murder You know a show that is produced by the same person who gave the world Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal is going to be good. But with all the hype that surrounded How to Get Away with Murder it could have easily been a terrible let down. Luckily for everyone, Shonda Rhimes has done it again and, just like Grey’s Anatomy added the sex and jaw-dropping scandal to medicine, How to Get Away with Murder is doing just that to studying law, except with much more sex. The show centres on a criminal law professor played by Viola Davis and five students who have been picked to work for her. It’s similar to early Grey’s Anatomy, so expect a bunch of high achievers and lots of backstabbing. This has a much darker tone

however and viewers are kept on the edge of their seats as you learn more about the characters, their varied backgrounds and their murderous tendencies. It is the perfect suspense/thriller that drip-feeds you information slowly enough that you’re left with a constant itch for more. Reason to watch: A good thriller full of sex, back stabbing and some great plotlines.

Madame Secretary Imagine House of Cards, except no cocky talking to the camera, and the main character is less power hungry and less likely to push a journalist in front of a train. Depicting the life of a female Secretary of State, the show focuses on the day-to-day challenges faced by her while she also juggles the role of being a mother. From working to save hostages in war torn countries, to fighting for natural disaster management in third world countries, the show offers a dramatised insight into the work of the US Secretary of State. While in the beginning it looked like it might be a clichéd portrayal of a woman in a powerful job, struggling to fit in and survive in a man’s world, it quickly moved past this into a show speckled with mystery and political bad-assery. The show is helped with a great cast of actors and a storyline that, although slow in starting off, proves to be intriguing and relentlessly addictive. Reason to watch: A good political drama with good acting that makes politics seem interesting.

Stalker Stalker is the kind of show that will make you question what you put on social media. You will become extremely paranoid about that person you meet two days in a row as you walk out of spin class. As the title suggests, the show is focused on stalking and revolves around a team of detectives who specialise in crimes of obsession. The show is very fast-paced with each episode centred on a new case for the team, each as twisted as the last. You soon learn that it is not just coincidence that the two main detectives work this unit. Reason to watch: It is full of twisted storylines and great acting that will make you question your own sanity.

Selfie Let’s face it, selfies have taken over social media, and therefore, the world. It was only a matter of time before they would get their own show. Selfie is almost like a modern version of My Fair Lady (or if you want him to roll in his grave, then Charles Dickins’ Great Expectations). It’s about an upstanding member of society trying to improve another person’s social standing. In this version however, the downtrodden maiden is a social media vixen, who just can’t socialise without the use of a mobile device. The show is funny and quirky and displays an obvious, yet interesting, romantic debate between the two main characters. Will it be the next Friends? Not a chance. It does however provide a good many chuckles and features some great supporting actors.

Reason to Watch: It’s a funny, heart-warming comedy that will make you appreciate life outside social media.

Red Band Society Teenagers that are life-threateningly ill in hospital. Sounds like a great light-hearted show doesn’t it? Well it is! The show is based around the ‘Red Band Society’ and their lives within the confines of a rather swish hospital. With so many teenagers stuck in one place and hormones flying everywhere, you can expect teenage melodrama pickled with some more serious undertones. It may not be laugh out loud funny, but as a light drama, like Nurse Jackie, this show delivers. The stand out star of the show is Nurse Jackson played by Octavia Spencer. Just like Spencer’s character in The Help, Nurse Jackson provides the sass and sarcasm this show needs. Reason to watch: It’s a good comedy drama that delves into the dramatic world of sick teenagers.

Bad Judge Those who love Kate Walsh of Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice fame will love this show. Bad Judge is a very funny legal comedy that delivers on the laughs with each scene. This show has a distinct 2 Broke Girls style of humour. Like said show, if you like it, it’s like crack, but if you don’t, it will probably infuriate you. It’s like marmite for television. The show focuses on a ridiculous, and unprofessional, judge and her adventures in and out of the courtroom. It is a show that requires very little

investment, as it never strives to challenge you, but simply delivers light-hearted enjoyment. Walsh plays a loveable, bumbling screw-up that you hope won’t change. While the show has great potential, rumours are flying it may be the next show to kick the bucket. Reason to watch: It provides laughs, and really, what more can you ask for? With every great run of new shows come the ones that you wish you had never given your time to. Two in particular to avoid at all costs are A to Z and Manhattan Love Story. Both are cringe-worthy romantic comedies that have, luckily, already been cancelled. Imagine the most awkward date you have ever been on, where your mother tagged along and you randomly ran in to your ex. Yeah, watching these shows is worse.

cinema and the cold war

It’s been 25 years since the Berlin Wall, and communism, fell. Síofra Ní Shluaghadháin looks at how American film have historically depicted the Cold War and how those attitudes are changing

A lot of things can change in twenty five years. Charts change by the week, politics by the day, and fashions by the half hour. Cinema has changed with the times as long as it has existed; and its reactions in the quarter of a century since the fall of the Berlin Wall have been no exception. The end of the Cold War signalled a new era in cinema, particularly American cinema; but what has this meant for the world of the silver screen? The period between 1989 and 1991, which saw the fall of the Berlin Wall and the eventual disintegration of the Soviet Union, marked a new era in international cultural developments, particularly anti-communist developments. The future, it seemed, was to be an American-led venture; a brave new (and most importantly) capitalist world. Free from the spectre of Communism, and (at least temporarily) the associated threat of nuclear warfare, this new, more confident culture spread its wings and flourished. America, a country in which the right to free speech was prized above all, promised much to the world of the arts. Yet, in the following twenty five years, what would emerge was a pattern of new conservatism. Confidence is a key word in this discussion. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the subsequent reunification of Germany, and the final fall of the USSR, the powerhouse of Communism which had lurked in the Eastern half of Europe for half a century disintegrated. History is written by the victors, and the case of the Cold War is no exception. The removal of the threat allowed for new discussion and new evaluations. It also allowed for a spectacular parading of capitalist ideas, and more relevantly, a spectacular ostracism of communism/perceived Russian ideals, on a worldwide scale. Militarism and capitalism would become a central pillar of American cinema. Action movies are perhaps the best representation of these new, confidently conservative ideals. Hollywood has made millions from the sale of bravado, from Die Hard to Transformers. Undercutting all of these franchises are the principles of the American dream. To be rich is to be happy and anyone can be rich if they try hard enough. If you shoulder the burden of large corporations and work really hard, you can become a wealthy, iconic member of society. From the seemingly harmless to the blatantly overt, these trends can be seen everywhere. Batman and Ironman have both always been altruistic millionaires with do-gooder agendas, protectors of the American dream. In Slumdog Millionaire, this Americanized vision of happiness is exported beyond the traditional sphere, though in this case it is his struggle for survival that earns him his wealth. The concept has become universalized, America seemingly growing into the legacy it has created. The east has yet to come in from the cold

While these films are set from a Western vantage point, the lines between the good and the bad are troublingly blurred, unsettling the easy correlation of right and wrong, and right and left which is so often drawn by the mainstream.

Photo: Charlie Wilson, US Congressman, poses with an Afghan man. Charlie Wilson campaigned for the arming and support of Afghan rebels against Soviet occupation. His life was the focus of the 2007 film adaptation ‘ Charlie Wilson’s War ’. The groups supported by his campaign went on to become the principle figures in the Taliban. in American pop culture. The villains in James Bond are often equipped with sinister, East Bloc accents, and a recent offering in the X-Men franchise resurrected the tensions of the Cuban Missile Crisis for dramatic effect. In conventional American cinema, it seems, the memory of the Cold War is a fire which must be stoked, a pattern infrequently broken but notably done so by films such as Dr.Strangelove. In many ways though, Russia still represents the ‘Other’, and the Cold War in American cinema is a long way from over. These representations thankfully tell only part of the story. These last twenty five years have also witnessed a rise in independent cinema, an important balancing voice in the medium. These films are often heavily critical of the mainstream approach to cultural capitalism and have allowed for historical, political and cultural re-evaluations of the legacy of the Cold War. They often show strong undercurrents of scepticism, satire and left-leaning sympathies, which highlight the issues unconsciously raised by the mainstream. Independent films such as the cult German film, Goodbye, Lenin , balance a critique of the old Communist regimes against the farce of capitalist freedoms which have replaced it. This scepticism has, in places, bled through to parts of the mainstream, although this has happened in a largely Euro centric manner. The faceless, East Bloc villains of James Bond films have been counterpointed in recent years by a more sympathetic brand of espionage cinema. Films such as 2012’s Tinker,

Tailor, Soldier, Spy, present a view of the Cold War that is much more ambiguous than would have been possible up until now. While these films are set from a Western vantage point, the lines between the good and the bad are troublingly blurred, unsettling the easy correlation of right and wrong, and right and left which is so often drawn by the mainstream. It is only in recent years that traces of this ambiguity have found their way to Hollywood, with the unprecedented success of The Wolf of Wall Street, a film which exposes the harsh underside of the capitalist agenda. Only now, after these twenty five years have elapsed, can American cinema look at the legacy of the spectre of Communism, and begin to critique itself. Although these signs are welcome, it is unlikely that they will mark an overwhelming change in the politics of American cinema. With Photo: A US plane flies over a Soviet cargo ship carrying nuclear weapons (visible on the deck of their cultural dominance assured, the agenda the ship) en route to Cuba. International tension between the US and the USSR reached critical of capitalist bravado will most likely continue levels over the incident. unabated. But the voices of dissent are alive and well in the world of Independent cinema. Therefore, we will most likely continue to see a view of the Cold War which maintains that the people who lived behind the Iron Curtain might not have been as different as they had been happy believing, and that the ideals which emerged victorious in the wake of the Cold War may have been as flawed as those which they opposed.

Film Reviews

the imitation game The newest film from Norwegian director Morten Tyldum is based on the famous, WWII mathematician, Alan Turing, who worked as part of a team to break the Enigma code for the Allies. The film’s tag line: “the true enigma was the man who cracked the code” is inaccurate in some ways. Yet the story told here isn’t an exploration of his psyche as much as it is an exhibition of his life and the events that shaped him. It does exactly what it sets out to do, telling his story, and that is the highest praise one can give a film. Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a misfit, eccentric genius mathematician. Cumberbatch’s biggest challenge in playing the role was always going to be convincing people that he wasn’t just reprising his role as Sherlock from the BBC series; he manages to do this remarkably well. The film brings together three different periods in his life; his school days being bullied in a boys academy and meeting one friend that helps him survive, his time working on the enigma code with the machine he designed, and his life after the war. A film that is biographical doesn’t usually sound uniquely interesting, but this was. It is a period film that doesn’t overwhelm the senses with nostalgia; the War is merely a background. Cumberbatch is fantastic in all respects, except that we never truly understand Turing. No one really did. Cumberbatch’s portrayal of loss and emotional struggle make the film one that might bring you to tears, because ultimately the story is not a happy one, but we still won’t understand the inventor of computers, who might not pass his own eponymous test to decide if one is a human or a machine. Knightley plays Joan Clarke, a maths genius that is brushed aside in academia for being a female. She becomes Turing’s best friend working on the code, except for his computer.

She is fantastic in her role and brings out the absolute best that Cumberbatch can give. They are refreshing and bright on screen together, exhibiting great dialogue and warmth in a film that needs it. The film serves as a social commentary in some ways: homosexuality and femininity are frowned upon outside of their circles in wartime England and this affects both Turing and Clarke in how their lives play out. The injustices can be dealt with in a slightly preachy manner but it’s not unwarranted; they were part of Turing’s life. Turing’s genius is played up at the start of the

Director: Morten Tyldum Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightely, Matthew Goode, Charles Dance, Mark Strong Release Date: 14th November 2014

film. The use of quick, “witty” dialogue that no ordinary human could sustain makes for slightly irritating viewing. However, it is excused, because as much as it is impossible and a little bit patronising, it gives the film the exciting start it needs. Charles Dance and Mark Strong are left behind in the wake of the Knightley-Cumberbatch pairing. The cast did a great job, however, in allowing Cumberbatch to stand out in a film where everyone has to look like a stiff upper-lipped blazer. The soundtrack was vibrant and exciting so that the math montages

and diagrams held the attention without being too dull. The use of tension and insecurity throughout make this an interesting, exciting piece of work. Overall, everything ties together to form an engaging, poignant exploration of his life.

Back in 2005 writer/director Paul Haggis’ race relations drama, Crash, took home the Oscar for best picture in what was perhaps the biggest shock at the Academy Awards in recent memory. The multi-stranded film very divisively received the prestigious Oscar nod ahead of the favourite, Brokeback Mountain. Many criticised it for oversimplifying and sentimentalising the issues of racial tensions and violence in contemporary Los Angeles. All that being said, it would appear that an Oscar is still an Oscar as Haggis has managed to assemble an all-star cast as he returns for his latest film Third Person. The result is admittedly, uneven, but it still has an inventive narrative and is an interesting exploration into the role of grief in the creation of art and the shaping of our view of the world. Third Person follows three tales, told around the world, that all seem to be unified by the themes of trust, guilt and loss in various ways. First we have a frustrated Pulitzer-winning novelist, played by Liam Neeson, who situates himself in a Paris hotel in order to write his next great novel. He is at the same time having an affair with a beautiful yet distant young woman (Olivia Wilde). The second tale takes place in New York where Mila Kunis, as a financially struggling maid, is desperately trying to see her son again, who is in the care of her artist ex-husband (James Franco). As her unfortunate tale unfolds we see how her life has been shaped by trust and loss. Finally, we have Adrian Brody playing an American in Rome who makes cheap knockoffs of Italian designs and sells

them back home. After meeting a gorgeous gypsy he ends up being roped into paying a human trafficker to get her daughter back, a daughter who may or may not exist. The impressive cast must have felt that with the pedigree and ambition behind it, this was a sure-fire success, but none of these stories would really work on their own (especially the soap opera nature of Brody and Kunis’ strands.) The actors fare generally well with the clunky, expository dialogue, but the plotlines verge on the melodramatic and begin feeling artificial. Olivia Wilde is the only standout, being aloof and sensual and perfectly fulfilling her character’s role next to Neeson. Neeson becomes the life of the film in the third act. The film’s charm shines through as the storylines begin to thematically connect towards the end, but it all feels somehow not worth it. The conclusion of the film serves to remind us of Haggis’ ability to manipulate many stories expertly and he shows us how a truly painful memory of guilt can only be embraced and expressed by artists, as it both haunts and inspires.

In a Nutshell: A film about an enigmatic man remaining an enigma, while still allowing us to empathise with him. It’s a must see. Aaron Murphy

Third person

Director: Paul Haggis Starring: Liam Neeson, Olivia Wilde, Mila Kunis, James Franco, Maria Bello, Kim Basinger, Adrian Brody Release Date: 14th November

In a Nutshell: If you can look past its over-dramatic misgivings (and that’s far from an easy task) you can find a more nuanced film with an ingenious narrative structure. mark conroy

interstellar

Top Ten: Best facial hair in cinema:

10. Ewan McGregor – Obi-Wan Kenobi – Star Wars Episode III

While the final product is impressive here, the transformation from baby-faced padawan to wizened mentor across the trilogy earns Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi the number 10 slot on this list.

Hugh Jackman – Logan/Wolverine – X-Men

Daniel Day-Lewis – Abraham Lincoln – Lincoln

Naseeruddin Shah – Captain Nemo – The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

He’s the best at what he does, and rocking-the-sideburns-look is what he does best. Jackman’s Wolverine is so badass across the board that, what could have been laughable facial hair, turns out to look fantastic.

Daniel Day-Lewis takes this next spot because not only are the whiskers iconic in their own right, but they are 100% his own. Daniel decided that the role called for nothing but the best, so insisted on growing the Lincoln himself. This is a beard that will emancipate your soul.

This film about a hybrid species of super spiders invading a small American town makes sure to put a creepycrawly everywhere you’re most afraid of finding them: in shoes, behind the curtains and, of course, an army of them hiding in the hero’s house. It’s things like this that make people develop phobias.

Charlie Chaplin – Adolf Hitler – The Great Dictator/The Kid

Treebeard – The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

The next entry on the list could technically be disqualified for not being actual facial hair but comedic merit gets this one in. A group of men, acting as women, who have to pretend to be men by wearing fake beards so they can stone a man to death is a great set piece. Hilarity gets the stoning ladies from The Life of Brian in.

Film Title: The Judge Director: David Dobkin Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, Vincent D’Onofrio Release Date: 17th October

I know what you’re thinking: another action-adventure space epic? In reality however, this film draws influences from all the great films in this genre, but still stands out on its own as an independently well-made film. Even if you aren’t a fan of Christopher Nolan’s previous work, there’s no reason why Interstellar won’t leave you speechless. Matthew McConaughey plays Cooper, a widowed astronaut living in the near-future when planet Earth is on the apocalyptic verge. In this dystopian future, crops are being destroyed by dust storms, food suplies are running low and humans may not last another generation. A story of love, morality and a desperate attempt to save humanity is set against all this, with your standard dosage of wormholes, alien worlds and black holes along the way. The cast itself is stellar (pardon the pun) with Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain proving their worth as female leads in what is undoubtedly the biggest film of their careers to date. Appearances from the likes of Michael Caine, Matt Damon and Casey Affleck only add to the list of box-office names who queued up out the door to be a part of this film, even if it is only in secondary roles. The big budget, bigger special effects and dedication to realism make this film an incredibly attractive prospect. At times the gravity of the situation McConaughey and his crew find themselves in is a bit downplayed. Some of the dialogue can be a bit nonchalant, which is annoying considering the importance of the decisions the crew have to make; literally decisions that will shape the future of the human race. The die-hard space followers will point out discrepancies (a retired astronaut thrown into the most important mission of his life without any apparent training for example) but the acting and visual sensory overload distract from that seamlessly. Much of the film was shot using IMAX cameras, and the sections of the film shot at the Svínafellsjökull glacier in Iceland make for breath-taking viewing.

Monty Python - Stoning Ladies – The Life of Brian

Comparisons with Gravity are inevitably going to be made, and in terms of the view of Earth from space they are on a par. However if you were to judge the pair on storytelling alone, Interstellar comes out on top, hands down. Granted it is almost twice as long (at 169 minutes) but the flow of the dialogue and the many emotional, affecting moments make it simply fly by. Nolan always ensures his films make the audience think á la Inception, and be warned, this one is no different. The cinematography and scientific research that went into this project have certainly paid off. Add to that the extremely convincing performances by the cast and the result is a film that has literally brought a whole new dimension to the sci-fi genre. In a nutshell: A tale of inter-galactic and spiritual exploration, with underlying human stories that we can all relate to. Everyone who sees this film will take something different away from it – and that something will stay with you for a long time thereafter. Not to be missed.

Any list of iconic looks, particularly facial hair, wouldn’t be complete without Charlie Chaplin. While Adolf Hitler has since cannibalized his famous moustache, it does leave us with a particularly interesting question, who wore it best?

The Lord of the Rings provided the toughest world from which to decide what beard should be included. Honestly, it was tempting to make all 10 of these from Tolkien, but Treebeard wins out for being unique. Facial hair is so fundamental in this world that ALL FORMS OF LIFE CAN NOW GROW BEARDS (except Elijah Wood). That craziness edges out Gimli and Gandalf the Grey.

3 2 1

Alfred Molina – Snidley Whiplash – Dudley Do Right

Third place goes to Alfred Molina for absolutely perfecting the evil moustache look. Snidley Whiplash’s moustache is a thing of beauty.

Cha-Hui Liu – Master Pai Mei – Kill Bill Vol. 2

Those eyebrows should have their own top 10 list. Classic Kung Fu Master look. If this man didn’t get his spot, there’d be some 5 Point Palm Of Death punches handed out round here.

Tom Selleck – Any Of His Roles Finally, the undisputed champion of scratchy hair on faces: Tom Selleck. He is the epitome of everything facial hair, and by extension, everything a man should be. Wild but refined, expansive yet controlled, seemingly wise but unquestionably sexy. No hairpiece could ever match this majestic sight. Selleck has the single greatest piece of facial hair in film. Aengus Cunningham

artists in residence the ‘art in science’ programme seeks to develop the presence of fine arts in ucd and to provide interdisciplinary learning opportunities. james brady and patrick kelleher met with the artists to find out more using glass and light, sophie loscher’s work investigates the relationship between the theatrical, the staged and the illusion

david stalling’s work varies between traditional orchestral composition and contemporary sound art

Works in progress from Sophie Loscher’s studio Photo: James Brady Sofie Loscher works on the fundamentals, the basics – the genuine and the taken-for-granted aspects of the world around us. Her work focuses on the demonstration of scientific phenomena; pushing materials’ limits until their properties are at their most apparent. Loscher is one of three artists selected to complete a UCD Art in Science residency. While UCD isn’t well known for its contribution to the arts, the new programme hopes to provide collaborative engagement between scientists and those working in the fine arts such as paint, sculpture and sound. This eye-opening project requires an open mind from everyone involved. “What I found most interesting about this residency is actually how interested the scientists are in us, because I initially thought they wouldn’t really know who we were, what we’re doing”. The connection between the communities has grown and developed over the past two years. “They’ve just been so accommodating and so open to this whole relationship between art and science, and they’re really interested in it.” Loscher’s main area of focus is expressing the fundamental physical forces of the universe that can go underappreciated. Some of the work addresses the suspension of disbelief and the display of reality versus the theatrical nature of some scientific forces. A consistent theme throughout her work is equilibrium, “That crops up in my work an awful lot; this trying to achieve states of equilibrium and balance, and I’m particularly interested in how things levitate. I think that’s fascinating! That’s kind of like magic!” While completing a Master’s of Fine Art in Sculpture with NCAD in 2013, opportunities developed for her through some of the structures that were available inthe course, with the chance to focus some of her interests that she picked

That crops up in my work an awful lot; this trying to achieve states of equilibrium and balance, and I’m particularly interested in how things levitate. I think that’s fascinating! That’s kind of like magic!

up during her undergraduate degree. “The main reason I would say is because I got to do the Tunneling Art and Physics programme in my Masters and that opened me up to this.” The newly developed module is available to students of NCAD and UCD physics students. The course was beneficial for Loscher. “I think science has always been part of my work, even; I say it came into my work at the end of fourth year in Dun Laoghaire, on a basic level, and it wasn’t until in NCAD I got to do that programme, in my first year there, that it opened me up to this place”. The open nature of the working-process

between the participants is telling and is bringing benefits for the artists and the UCD scientists. Loscher says, “I’d never really considered talking to scientists before and realising, how kind of fruitful all that knowledge was.” The differentiation between some of the prevailing attitudes in the worlds of art and science have become clearer, “coming from an art perspective, everything’s a little bit more closed”. Her current work is pursuing the movement of light and its manipulation with an emphasis on the fundamental aspects of the field. “I’m really interested in the original devices, what made someone progress the idea enough for it to get like this. If you do enough research you find that the original one of these [diffraction gratings] is actually a feather; surprisingly a lot of the physicists didn’t know that!”. The appeal of the programme is spreading beyond just the realm of the science department. “Emer O’Boyle I think is getting a lot of requests from all these departments, like Law, Engineering to start up a residency. I think that would be really interesting if you had an artist or two in each department across the campus. I think that’s fascinating. I think everyone would learn from that and I think it could make this campus quite rich.” What emerges most clearly from talking with Loscher is the sheer enthusiasm emerging from the spreading and sharing of knowledge across disciplines. “It’s all about investigation and querying things. I think we both approach things in similar ways, of experimentation, investigation, but we just go in different paths and have different outcomes, essentially. I think we think a lot in the same way.” Maybe there’s a telling statement about the way humans live to be found in that statement.

David Stalling uses a bow to demonstrate the vibrations flowing through a plate of metal Photo: James Brady Our senses can often act as unreliable sensors, gathering information about the world around us. This interaction between the human and the natural is something that sound artist David Stalling examines in his work. “I’ve always been interested in listening and the fact we can’t close our ears and still today I’m still not able to turn off background sound and that’s part of the You have some reason it became the focus of my practice.” performing arts, like From an upbringing surrounded by art and being musically trained, there were many music and drama. I options available to him and shaped the way to Stalling’s early work as a sound and light don’t see why the technician with an art centre. “I ended up getting fine art shouldn’t a lot of work out of that with independent dance companies. First I did lighting for them and then be developed as a they found out I had a musical background so practical strand they asked me to do sound for a show. I ended up doing a sort of experimental sound piece for that company in Germany. We performed in a space that didn’t have electricity. The lighting was powered by car batteries and one of the pieces was powered by a dancer on a bicycle with a generator. There was an emergency exit door with a wonderful squeaking sound. I attached a contact mic to that and it all ran off car batteries and a little amplifier. That was how I made the soundtrack, out of that single sound of the emergency exit door. Things sort of went on from there. I still worked in lighting but my focus shifted more to sound.”

Patrick kelleher discusses the particular challenges and benefits of working with people outside of her own field with cindy cummings

Cindy Cummings is an artist in residence at the School of Science for this year. Her speciality is in contemporary dance and choreography, and her passion shines through constantly. Cummings has been prominent on the scene for many years, after her beginnings in dance in the US, where she was born. “I went to the University Of Oregon and I enrolled as a dance major,” she explains. “I always liked to dance but I had no dance training As an artist who was working in both the controlled spaces. They’re sort of hermetically as a young child, but I did sports. So really my sound and visual, there were varied fields of sealed chambers, bacteria free, to achieve early movement training is in athletics, skiing, interest for Stalling who also works between exactitude of scientific results and it reminds football, softball, and anything that was going traditional classical compositional work and me of a sound recording studio. You try to get stereoscopic field recordings. ‘Fantasy’, a 2009 as little as possible extraneous noise and you’re really, a bit of rowing as well. And I decided to be a dance major and get proper training, because score for an experimental video piece by Jaki trying to isolate sounds and work with them Irvine has a classic/romantic feel. “I really like separately and I can really relate to the way they what led me was that I always liked to dance, and I realised that I had a facility with picking up working with a big orchestra and I’ve always work.” been a big fan of romantic music and I use that In terms of benefits flowing from the project, movement very quickly, and understanding the language of dance. So I developed pretty quickly sort of lush orchestration for that as well and Stalling puts emphasis on development into the and started to get work. The training was really that might remind you of a Disney sound”. In future in a stable, reciprocal relationship for the an all round training, it was contemporary dance, combination with this work there is also his work participants in the project as well as the wider and jazz and musical theatre and folk dances and in field recordings. “If I go out to Bull Island or university student bodies. “At MIT they’ve been the seaside, it often is about water sounds; the doing art and science collaborations for decades ballet, and dance theory and dance history.” Her love of Ireland eventually brought her interplay between nature sounds and human now. I’ve spoken to some of the artists there here, after spending several years in Europe. sounds. That’s what interests me”. The structure and it takes years to really get something that “One of the first things I discovered about underlying his work is the formulation of is meaningful for both sides.” UCD isn’t known Ireland was the music, the traditional music. I memory and experience and its relationship with as an institution with a connection with art but listened to it for years before I came here. And sight “I think it is different from a fixed image in that may be changing. “I know with the links to I travelled around Europe a few years before I that it can bring us back to an experience of time. the fine art colleges like NCAD, I think it could It’s a real time memory, maybe that’s how to be very fruitful. You have some performing arts, ended up here.” She has never left, and despite ideas about working in Paris or Amsterdam, she describe it: real time/sonic memory.” like music and drama. I don’t see why the fine With his work in UCD, Stalling is one of the art shouldn’t be developed as a practical strand.” explains that “my feet got stuck in the bog.” Her passion for contemporary dance is artists interacting with the scientists in the UCD The themes addressed in a thirty-minute strong, as a style that takes influence from biology laboratories. “For the last few weeks I’ve conversation with Stalling straddle a great everything. She explains that ballet was not for been spending time in the molecular biology spread of theories and ideas, from the human her, but rather more modern forms. “The styles labs studying growth and decay on a very small search for knowledge as well as the secret of dance that suited me the best or that got me scale and it’s a world that you don’t get to see harmonics of plant growth. “It’s all disturbance into dancing was more like disco, and it was the usually. I’m grateful for that residency, it gave of molecules. Even the tiniest atoms are in music at the time, you know, Michael Jackson, me something I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. constant movement.” Kool and the Gang, Earth, Wind & Fire, and I was I’m really interested in how they have these

like, that’s funk, that’s deep funk, and those rhythms really suit me. And even before I got training, I started to experiment a bit with some West-African dance, and luckily there was a teacher in the area who taught that, and I just picked it up immediately.” She was excited about starting as an artist in residence at UCD due to her interest in science. “For a long time I’ve been very interested in physics in particular, and taking some theories and concepts form physics and integrating them into my work, and so the opportunity to be able to be embedded in the school of science, and to be surrounded by these amazingly brilliant, creative people, I couldn’t pass that up, it was too good to pass up.” One of the first things she created here at UCD was a performative lecture called ‘A Brief History of Contemporary Dance’. She was inspired to show scientists what contemporary dance was. “I was stimulating these dialogues, but I realised that they weren’t asking me any questions back about contemporary dance, so I asked Padraig Dunne, the head of Physics, and I said ‘why does no one ask me any questions?’ and he said, ‘well, I don’t know what to ask you.’” She has considered it as a bit of a “side mission” of hers to educate people on contemporary dance while at UCD. Her time here has been inspiring and eventful. “I’ve been so inspired by the people, by the context, it’s a very privileged position to be in, because I am sort of within academia, and not. I’m just really at the edge of academia and flirting with it, so as an artist I don’t have to deal with all that politic and bullshit that people who are actually working here full time do. And I can see it, and I really am so happy that I have

As an artist I don’t have to deal with all that politic and bullshit that people who are actually working here full time do.

licence to be here, to be able to talk to people, to go to lectures. I’ve gone to lots of different lectures, and to access all of this knowledge here, it’s exciting and so much fun and I don’t want it to end.” Even when it does end, Cummings’ talent will continue to propel her forward on the scene of Irish contemporary dance. Talented, innovative and passionate, her impact will certainly continue both within and outside of UCD.

Artists participating in the Art in Science programme will be opening a group show on the 29th of January in The Lab, Talbot Street.

The Best Is Yet To Come Riding the wave of their summer success with hit single,’Geronimo’, Sheppard sit down and chat with Seán Hayes about their musical upbringings, love of performing live and Irish slang

Upstairs within a subdued room at the Workman’s Club, four members of the six-piece, indie-pop group, Sheppard, sit tightly squeezed together on an old, worn couch. The resonating thump of a bass drum shakes the room as the band’s crew commence their sound check next door, while two or three staff continue as usual, sweeping the floor, lighting fires and candles for the night’s expected customers. Jason Bovino and siblings Amy, Emma and George Sheppard reflect on the time they have already spent in Ireland during the summer, as they took to the stage as part of this year’s Electric Picnic. Having only just come to prominence in the last year, Amy reveals the pressure of playing to an unfamiliar crowd and the stress of needing to capture a fickle audience’s attention in an instant. “It is a bit daunting, because you want people to stay and listen to the whole set. During our Electric Picnic performance, our crowd did grow and people weren’t walking away, which is such a good feeling. Her brother, George, agrees. “Most of the crowds we’ve played to before have no idea who we are. We’re still a new band, especially internationally, so it’s definitely something that we’re used to. It’s really nice when the crowd is growing throughout the set because that means people are staying and then more people are coming in.” This time around, however, the band is playing their own headline show. They become visibly excited when they learn that a handful of faithful fans have already begun the tedious act of queuing and waiting for the doors to open. Amy explains, “We know that we’re not huge megastars over here, but it’s nice to know that we do have some fans. Hopefully, there are some

George explains, “I just learned a whole lot of Gaelic but now I’ve forgotten it.” All four, however, are left perplexed, visibly shocked and concerned over the concept of their audience having good “craic” at their show that evening.

from Electric Picnic.” While she hopes that the band has made an impression on Irish audiences, the Irish crowds have certainly left an impression on the four Aussies. They enjoy the Irish pronunciation of certain words or, as they hear it, the lack of pronunciation. Amy tells us, “We find it funny that everyone says ‘tie’ for ‘thigh’ and ‘tirty tree’”. Bovine boasts of how he can “seinim an guitar”, but George explains, “I just learned a whole lot of Gaelic but now I’ve forgotten it.” All four, however, are left perplexed, visibly shocked and concerned over the concept of their audience having good “craic” at their show that evening. Mixing work with family is rarely seen as a good idea. Nowhere is this more true than in bands, where rivalries and feuds have led to the ultimate demise of these groups. With half of Sheppard being made up of siblings, Amy, Emma and George, however, seem to be enjoying sharing the experiences with one another. Emma believes, “I really like it. I guess, we don’t know what it’s like to be in a band without our siblings but it works well for us. We fight like any other siblings, every day. But it’s over within ten minutes. It’s fine.” George agrees with this. “You can be completely honest with each other, which is such an important part of it, being in a creative team, you need honesty and that openness and that’s something that you can have only with your siblings.” Bovino adds in, however. “We’ll see what they say in ten years.” Indeed, family support seems to be a big part of the group’s dynamic. Outside the room where the band relaxes, a mature, greying man, later revealed to be their father, hums to the bands hit single, “Geronimo”. Speaking about growing up in a musical family, Emma credits her parents for

the band’s musical talents. “We were exposed to good music at an early age and I think that made all the difference. We have a passion for good music now.” George adds, “We got woken up in the mornings not by our parents shaking us. Dad would put on a CD and blast it through the house.” Sheppard came to prominence during the summer with the release of their debut album and infectious feel-good single, “Geronimo”. The success of the band seems to have occurred overnight, but George stresses the amount of work that has been injected into the creation of the group. “It’s funny how many nights it takes to achieve an overnight success. It’s been about five years since the inception of the band and since then, we’ve just been recording, writing and touring, just gaining experience and developing our talents.” Amy goes on to say, “It’s an incredible experience we’re having. It’s not easy, that’s for sure. It is hard work and I think a lot of people think that we’re just having a great time the whole time. It’s hard work but it’s so worth it.” The record’s sound was noted for it’s fun, uptempo tone, hardly surprising considering the sun-drenched, laid-back attitude Australians are famous for. George, however, believes, “I don’t think there was any deliberate decision to create a certain type of music. It’s just what we collaborated on and that’s what came out of it.” Bovino adds that their sound is influenced by their own tastes. “I think it helps, because we do have very different influences these days, but it just means that we are all just bringing different ideas to the table.” As the crowd continues to grow outside the venue, the four members of Geronimo

You can be completely honest with each other, which is such an important part of it, being in a creative team, you need honesty and that openness and that’s something that you can have only with your siblings.

grow restless and it’s clear they want to start preparations for their show. Wrapping up, George reveals the band’s plans for the future. “The first thing is we’re going back to Australia to the ARIA Awards. We’re up for six awards, which is so exciting. After that, we’re going to the US on tour. We’re supporting Meghan Trainor on her tour, which is obviously a huge deal for a band like us, just starting out in the US.” Whatever the future holds for the Australian group, if they’re anything like their single’s namesake, they are sure to keep fighting and find success, whatever the odds.

A City Beating Heart A few minutes before jumping on stage in the Netherlands, the delightfully eccentric Wallis Bird chats with Aaron Flood about restarting her music game in a different country, her current tour and the medicinal effects of being Irish Wallis Bird is an international woman of mystery; you can never quite pin her down to one place. Hailing from the scenic Enniscorthy, County Wexford, she has lived in numerous other cities around Europe, including Mannheim, London and Berlin. Chatting over a crackling phone, first thing’s first, a game of where’s Wallis? She’s setting up for a gig in Groningen in the Netherlands. “We just got in last night. I had a nice little walk around town” she confirms with a slight giggle that could imply something else. “It’s been really good.” Right now Bird seems to be on an eternal, never-ending tour. “Fuck, I’ve been on tour since April. It all kicked off in April and I’ve kind of had a week off here and there but that’s been it!” In keeping with her migratory lifestyle, she’s taken in a lot of Europe during her tour, particularly in the last month. “It’s the most amount of dates in one run since forever. Normally, it’d be four or five shows, break but now it’s been up to nine. It’s constant but it’s good. I’m happy.” Despite her Euro-centric life, Bird hasn’t forgotten about her emerald roots. She has extensively toured the country before, yet there’s an air of excitement about her return. She’s currently touring her most recent album Architect, released back in April. Since then she has had time to perfect the live show while on tour around Europe. “May was the last Irish gig. It’s definitely time again to get another injection into me. I’ve been over and back a couple of times during the summer for festivals but it’s always nice to have your own shows because we’ve changed quite a bit since the May tour”. Music has been an ethereal part of Bird’s life from the offset, beginning when she was a mere six months old with her father buying her her first guitar. She touchingly refers to music as the “common language” between her and her family. Indeed, grabbing the chance to release a fourth album is a momentous achievement. Bird is appreciative of the opportunity yet remains simultaneously focused and delightfully unperturbed. “There was an awful lot of the phrase, ‘Fourth album? How the fuck did we get there?’ There was a lot of that. But at the same time, I’m here just to play music, to make music and record music. That’s all I’m really interested in.” Despite the impressive feat, Bird humbly downplays it all, believing it not to be a big deal for someone who has dedicated their life to the craft. “It’s not a really big deal then once every year and a half to have something to show for that.” That statement speaks volumes of Bird’s work ethic. Despite the relative long span of eighteen months give or take, she explains the frequency of her musical output. “It’s quite a quick turnover because in that I’ve released, since my first record to my fourth studio record, there’s been two EP’s, a covers album and an acoustic version of the third album. One of them was hand stitched, handmade; there’s a lot of extra work that goes with the records. It’s quite a quick turnover, I guess. I like it. I like being busy. I like having some project to do.” Bird moved to Berlin in 2012, like a lot of musicians in the past have done to seize the city’s unique musical spirit. David Bowie did it during the 70’s and created a trilogy of critically acclaimed albums, as did Kele Okereke of Bloc Party in 2008, changing from his previous indie-rock sound to an electro/house sound. Bird, herself, sees a drastic development in her sound over the years. “It’s gone up and down, inwards,

There was an awful lot of the phrase, ‘Fourth album? How the fuck did we get there?’

to a close. Before she goes, however, she reveals outwards, sideways, the sound has changed her plans for the future. “The next thing to do, from song to song. There’s no consistent record. from January is to take six months off, off from the Everything has its emotional soul. Influences of traveling, cultures, ways of thinking. It’s all hybrid road, set up my house, set up my studio. I have no idea what I’ll do. It could go anywhere, but it’ll be pop. Hybrid popular culture, I guess”. There is no doubt, either, that Berlin has influenced her latest fun.” Just the answer that was expected from the unpredictably brilliant Wallis Bird. record, Architect. “The whole record, everything I write, I don’t mean it to be, but it’s deeply personal. It’s basically how I view my world. It’s about rebuilding my life in another country, Wallis Bird plays The Academy, Dublin on the starting from scratch again. New country, new 22nd November, along with other dates in Cork, culture, new citizenship, new language. Freshly Limerick and Galway. single. Everything’s new and in Berlin everything’s offered to you. It’s a huge oasis of ‘whatever the fuck you want to do, do it’, which I hadn’t been in before. The record is very frantic, it’s about yearning. I was in a relationship that didn’t want me, there was a squandered heart, and yeah, yearning. Searching and yearning is the main premise of the record.” Constantly on the move, Wallis has to dash off to another engagement as the conversation comes

It’s gone up and down, inwards, outwards, sideways, the sound has changed from song to song. Influences of traveling, cultures, ways of thinking. It’s all hybrid pop. Hybrid popular culture, I guess

Nothing Can Hold Him Back RIsing singer-songwriter James Bay talks to Roisin Murray about starting out in the music industry as a self-taught musician

Upon hearing James Bay’s debut extended play, one could easily be forgiven for believing that they had been transported back to the 1960s blues scene; his rich voice culminates in such a degree of soul that he could give Aretha Franklin a run for her money. He is currently approaching a landmark moment in his career, as he has almost completed all of his supporting performances of Hozier’s US tour. Yet he still views his position with an endearing mixture of incredulity and gratitude. It seems somewhat of an expectation for musicians to profess that their success was distinctly unexpected, but James’ contention is accompanied by the most notable sincerity; he still can’t quite believe that the boy from a small town in England would ever reach this level of success, performing to sold out venues around the world. Albeit, it was always the ultimate, yet distant, hope, “without meaning to sound cheesy, it is all part of the whole dream you have when you’re a little kid”. Bay’s interest in music can be attributed to the day he picked up a “broken up, old guitar” when he was eleven years old, and his passion flourished there out. Bay articulates his love for music as somewhat of a snowball effect, “So it’s a very one thing led to another, sort of situation. Suddenly, it

was the most fascinating thing in the world.” His sheer aptitude for his craft is evident in the lack of lessons that he needed to progress as an artist; a self-made virtuoso, James’ music education was self-taught. “I didn’t have much patience for lessons and reading music. Instead, I played along to records. You just sort of put two and two together and write rubbish stuff in your room for however long until you get the balls to play it.” This method of improvisation has clearly served him well. A far cry from writing in the confines of his bedroom and “busking on the streets of Brighton, trying to be this solo artist”, Bay has now substantiated himself as a fully-fledged musician and performer. He has since released a plethora of EPs, and his most recent release, the single, ‘Hold Back The River’, was inspired by Bay’s desire to dabble with a “full band” sound. These records pre-date an album to come, somewhat of a “teaser” for the fans. However, one album is not the only end in sight; when asked about the ultimate dream, the passion filling Bay’s voice cannot be mistaken. His desires are not unfounded or superfluous; he desires to “play to sold out crowds all over the world, and would love to have a number one album. It might sound simple, but that’s what I’m in it for.”

You just sort of put two and two together and write rubbish stuff in your room for however long until you get the balls to play it

This is easy to believe, as he cannot be blamed for tracing the success of his musical influences, and striving to emulate this. He credits the likes of Bruce Springsteen and the more current Ben Howard as his influences, but this list is not exhaustive, and neither is it stagnant, as he “goes through obsessive phases with people.” However, his passion for inspirational figures is not limited to musicians only; further probing reveals that if he were to host a dinner party, he would invite Joni Mitchell as “she

has this incredible knowledge of the arts, and I’m a huge fan” as well as the renowned actor, Bill Murray. Revealing an endearing sense of humour, he selects comedian Keith Lemon as an additional guest, for the entertainment factor and “just to mix things up.” Bay’s ever growing success is signaled by his ever expanding fan base, distinctly noticeable in his Twitter following. He credits Twitter as a useful way of keeping in contact with his fans and enabling “fans to reach out”, but is apprehensive about becoming too involved with it as “the internet can get you pretty side-tracked.” Nevertheless, he is entertained at, and completely supportive of, the prospect of nicknaming his fan club “The Bayniacs”, affirming that “It has a cool ring to it.” This light-hearted jaunt at his fans points to something more significant; James finds delight in the fact that all but one of his solo shows “have sold out way ahead of the tour” which for him is “a really cool feeling.” This degree of recognition is astounding to James, who finds it difficult to comprehend his progression “from Hitchin to Brighton, to all these places where no-one really knew who I was, to then playing to 800 people in London”, something he credits quite simply as “amazing.” When we spoke to Bay he was set to perform in Dublin at the Academy, and

expresses excitement at branching out to his Irish fans, particularly as “people in Ireland, people in Dublin, certainly love music. So it’s pretty wicked to see those guys.” Bay is currently in the process of transitioning from performing in support slots, to performing on the main stage in his own right. He may profess to be ‘Holding Back the River’, but it’s evident that nothing will hold Bay back from his deserved success. He’s doing what he loves, doing it well and showing no signs of slowing down.

James Bay’s EP ‘Hold Back The River’ will be released on 21 November. Bay played the Academy on Monday, 17 November 2014

last man walking

With a solo career firmly established, former The Walkmen singer Hamilton Leithauser talks to Cormac Duffy about Sinatra, the drudgery of festival tours and that “pretty extreme hiatus”

It’s a rainy Monday night in Dublin, and Hamilton Leithauser is procrastinating. “I have a song that was supposed to come out on Friday, and then it was supposed to come out today, and now it’s supposed to come out tomorrow but I can’t come up with a cover. The record label is waiting for me this very second to do a cover.” Even the freedom of full creative control over the artwork is no consolation. “I do have complete creative control, that doesn’t stop the label telling me that they hate it!” (At the time of going to print, no sign of this new single has emerged.) It’s an unexpected display of distraction for a man who seems like one of the most professional souls in the music industry. The band with which he made his name, The Walkmen, made an album every two years like clockwork starting with their 2002 debut Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone. Each of those records was a modest classic, deftly arranged,

widely heard and endlessly respected, all the way up to 2012’s Heaven. Those records include the visceral Bows and Arrows, the pensive, mature Lisbon, and others that let them amass a repertoire of some of this young millenium’s best rock songs. ‘In the New Year’, ‘Angela Surf City’, ‘Little House of Savages’, ‘Red Moon’, and the all-conquering ‘The Rat’ are touchstones that balance a violently cool New York sensibility with poignant, nocturnal reflection. The band were, if not mainstream, certainly popular, a success story by independent standards (Heaven’s title track got a recent revival as the closing song to How I Met Your Mother’s finale). Then came the “pretty extreme hiatus”, the phrase that’s been endlessly used to describe the group’s affable, potentially temporary separation. Who came up with it? Leithauser is clearly sick of it. “Not me. I never said that. Peter Bauer (The

Walkmen bassist) said that. He said it accidentally in an interview with The Washington Post.” After a period of intense mourning and eulogising by the elite of the rock press, a strange thing happened. Three band members, Leithauser, Bauer, and Walter Martin announced solo records that seemed fairly well formed. How long had the break been discussed? “For a long time. A very long time. I had known for at least a year before anyone else found out. We didn’t make an announcement, that’s the thing. Pete mentioned it one interview and it took fire. Before you knew it was a bigger story than my record that I had already been working on for six months. It was a little frustrating to be honest. I would’ve liked people to be paying attention to my record.” That record, Black Hours, is the reason Leithauser is in Dublin, about to perform in Dublin’s

Sugar Club. On a short jaunt of the UK and Ireland, he is playing stripped down versions of the songs with just himself and another former Walkman, Paul Maroon, who can be heard strumming away in the next room while Otwo chat with Hamilton. Crowd reactions are good. “People seem really supportive. People are a little surprised because I guess they’re expecting a band. We were worried that after an hour people would be like ‘No, we’re going to go hit the bar.’” Critics like the record too, though Leithauser says this is far from a main concern. “I’m happy with all the reviews, but it’s one of things where you are much more unknown than you imagined. I didn’t know what it would be like. Getting people to pay attention to you is really hard. ‘Alexandra’ (the album’s first single) is very flashy, but there’s a lot of slow stuff that takes some consideration. It has gotten good responses, but you just want it to snowball.” In person, Hamilton’s voice is a jovial baritone drawl, very different to his on-record soulful rasps and elegant crooning. On Black Hours and previously, he’s cited Frank Sinatra as an influence, both vocally and stylistically, and is covering his ‘All Or Nothing At All’ (“People seem to like it”). The record’s title, and tracks like ‘5 AM’ and ‘St. Mary’s County’, do evoke the after-hours musings of Ol’ Blue Eyes’ best work, Sinatra himself isn’t the focus. “You can pick him out of a million people. It’s just that the idea of playing a rock and roll song without the rock.” Some of the album’s best moments, like ‘Alexandra’ and ‘I Don’t Need Anyone’, are not far from The Walkmen’s later work, full of both energy and introspection. The latter’s witty, moving video features Leithauser and his soundman Christopher “Pepperjack” Colbert on a day out, with Colbert playing the part of Leithauser’s beleaguered man servant. “So he showed up and he was fantastic. He’s such a good actor. His face has so much character.” Maroon’s presence on the tour and album, alongside Leithauser’s contributions to both Martin and Bauer’s solo records, shows The Walkmen alumni are still close. “I’m friends with all the dudes in the band, we’re all cool.” Leithauser has much to praise about the current touring arrangements. “This is very easy, just me and Paul. And very civilised. Next tour I’m doing is in the States and I’m going to do it with a band. I’m trying to find a balance between kicking the doors down live and doing some quiet stuff too.” Last time Leithauser performed here, still at the helm of The Walkmen, was a triumphant set at Electric Picnic 2013. Memories of festival tours are brought up, and Hamilton is quick to illuminate the trouble with them. “Those shows would drain us after a while. We did tons of them. The last four years of the band, we did a couple of those tours where you did so much playing that you really didn’t know where you were. You’d just go to the airport, they’d drive you to a place and then you’d suddenly go on stage.” None of this stops him opening up about the band’s famously close working relationship (Many of them went to school together, and The Walkmen kept their founding line-up intact over 14 years). “With The Walkmen it was like, we’re all in this together. So you can get mad at somebody or you can break somebody’s ball or you can get completely drunk with somebody and you know that the repercussions aren’t going to weigh anything. It’s a little bit of a friends and business kind of complication.” The current set is stripped of his old band’s songs entirely. “If I wanted to do Walkmen songs I’d do them with my friends in the Walkmen. I don’t see why I would do it without them.”

album Reviews

Deptford Goth

foo fighters

clark

Ever wondered what a break-up album would sound like without the breakup? This seems to be the question that Daniel Woolhouse of Deptford Goth attempts to answer in his sparse electro-pop LP Songs. On the sophomore release’s standout track, ‘Code’, the recently married Woolhouse tenderly sings, “Hold me, I’m a ghost”, as he longs for comfort and connection in a world portrayed to be sorely devoid of either. Loneliness, human mortality and a weariness of what’s to come may not be the kind of material that “pop” music is accustomed to surveying, but this is exactly what Songs sets out to do. The result is an album that’s not always immediately accessible, but is nevertheless a breathtaking arrangement of sincere synth-pop tunes. Don’t expect any of these tracks to explode into life instantly. Woolhouse appears oblivious to the meaning of the word crescendo, yet that’s just fine. Instead, the listener can indulge in a collection of songs that move at a gradual pace, engorged on piano chords and brass instruments floating seamlessly amongst the modern sounds of synth. It’s also on tracks with the least amount going on which work the best, as Woolhouse’s gentle murmur is allowed to shine and his sparse lyricism is seen at its most sparse. This is especially evident in the short but very sweet ‘Dust’, in which there is little more than a plucked harp to accompany Woolhouse’s heart-breaking words. The serene sound of the instrument is contrasted by the suffering found in the lyrics as Woolhouse reminds the listener that, “soon we will be dust.”

The release of Sonic Highways marks both twenty years since the inception of legendary rock group Foo Fighters, and their eighth studio release to date. It also marks their most ambitious album to date, an eight-track audial journey which borrows from a broad spectrum of influences, where stadium rock rubs shoulders with grunge, country and Americana. The driving force behind this work is clear. Its release coincides with a HBO television series of the same name, lead singer and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl’s self-confessed “love letter to the history of American music.” It’s a love letter that contains much to ponder, with as much that is familiar as there is new. The album itself is a journey, in more than one sense. Recorded in eight different US cities, Sonic Highways is not only a journey through American rock music, but also a study in the musical elements that have made the Foo Fighters one of the most influential rock outfits of the last two decades. Its moods are varied, from the opening track ‘Something From Nothing’, the road trip worthy ‘Congregation’, and the reflective and soulful ‘I Am a River’. In the best musical tradition of “beg, borrow and steal”, the songs on Sonic Highways consistently sound vaguely like something you’ve heard before. Yet, despite this, it manages to retain a distinct image of itself, reflecting a band that has matured over its twenty year career. It certainly is a jumble of rhythms, sounds and textures, but it holds itself together with an overall sound that is unique and which the Seattle rockers have made their own. The last two decades have been good to the Foo Fighters and this album heralds the promise of another decade or two in the driving seat of American rock.

With a career spanning the last decade, Clark’s latest self-titled installment is a further addition to his impressive repertoire of nu house music. Following a trend of departing from live instruments and focusing on a purer electronic sound, it seems that the English DJ has embraced this approach even further. Indeed, the use of artificial tech sounds in Clark is more prominent than in any of his previous works, as he skillfully combines the use of vibrant melodies with an eeriness of sound that results in an exceptional forty-seven minutes. Perhaps one of the greatest elements in this record is the contrast between what can be considered classic thumpers like, ‘Winter Linn’, a truly stirring track and the lighter, airier sounds of ‘Petroleum Tinged’ that provide a brief respite from the harder segments of the album. Clark’s versatility as an electronic artist is evident throughout and is no clearer than in ‘There’s A Distance in You’ in which he combines a variety of styles like techno and dub into one crisp record. An ability to create emotion through his work is a further strength of Clark, and is highlighted in the provocatively named ‘Strength Though Fragility’. The track acts as an exception to the album’s industrial sound as a melody played on piano before the listener is jolted once again by ‘Sodium Trimmers’, a grimy thumper with an old-school garage feel. If criticisms are to be found it is that Clark struggles to reach the high standards set from the opening pieces. An evident lull in quality in the middle quarter leaves a smudge on what is otherwise a highly enjoyable album for electronic fans.

Songs

In a Nutshell: A slow-burner but still stands as an elegantly produced, starkly honest and beautiful set of electronic pop songs. Mark Conroy

Sonic Highways

In A Nutshell: An ambitious mixed bag of an album, which proves that the journey is often more important than the destination. Síofra Ní Shluaghadhain

clark

In A Nutshell: Although falling flat at times, Clark’s ability to mesh various electronic styles into his own unique sound results in a hugely diverse and electrifying album.

damien Rice

my favourite faded fantasy After eight years of self-imposed exile, relocating to both Iceland and Los Angeles and moving on after his complicated break-up, Damien Rice makes his return with his third musical offering, My Favourite Faded Fantasy. Musically, the album is not a million miles away from Rice’s previous efforts. In fact, many of the eight tracks could sit comfortably amongst the songs of o and 9. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. Rice’s unique blend of self-pitying lyrics and near-narcissistic arrangements have always made for powerful listenings. Opening with the eponymous track, Rice sings in a previously unheard falsetto voice. He spits angrily, “you could be my poison, my cross, my razor blade”. Rice is well and truly back. ‘It Takes A Lot To Know A Man’ is much more familiar Rice territory and, despite some uncertain lyrics, reaches a soaring cinematic quality as the track is filled with a cacophony of searing strings, fervent guitar smashing and, listening closely, the disillusioned sighs of Ed Sheeran, Passenger, Ben Howard and co. as Rice shows them how it’s really done. Despite a slight lull in the middle of the record, other highlights come in the form of ‘I Don’t Want To Change You’ and the sing-song ready, ‘Trusty and True’. Waiting for the comforting vocals of Lisa Hannigan, however, will ultimately end in disappointment, as Rice’s former co-writer/muse/ lover fails to make an appearance. So much is her presence missed that for one heart-wrenching moment, the female vocal heard in the final track, ‘Long Long Way’ gives false hope that maybe everything is okay again; maybe all is forgiven. Alas, it isn’t to be. Yet Hannigan’s absence may be a positive thing, at least for Rice. He seems to have arrived in, or is at least getting to, a new place. This record represents just that. My Favourite Faded Fantasy is by no means Rice’s final destination, but instead maps out his intense, extraordinary journey of the last eight years.

Cormac Gavin Duffy In A Nutshell: If another eight years is what Rice requires, then that is what Rice will get. It will always be worth the wait. sean hayes

preview: other voices It’s December, it’s Dingle, it’s Other Voices - as plans for this years Other Voices gets under way, Seán Hayes takes a look at the musical contenders announced thus far for the weekend of a lifetime Now entering into its thirteenth season, the Church of St. James’ will once again open its doors to Other Voices on Friday 12th, Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th December. As one of Ireland’s best-loved and most respected music festivals, it’s famous for its intimate and stunning performances from some of the biggest names, both nationally and internationally. Those who have graced it’s hallowed stage in previous years have included Glen Hansard, The National, Asgeir, The XX, St. Vincent and Sinead O’Connor. Other Voices is notorious for acting as the first stage for many singers and bands, bringing them to the fore thus allowing them to continue on to worldwide acclaim as seen with our very own Hozier, James Vincent McMorrow and Villagers.

Young Fathers Earlier this month, Young Fathers were the surprise winners of the 2014 Mercury Prize. Their winning record, Dead, was critically acclaimed for its wildly innovative, production, which incorporated catchy melodies, intricate harmonies and electronic experimentation all to the rhythmic pounding of hip-hop beats. The Edinburgh-based trio are sure to make an interesting addition to the Other Voices stage when they bring their hip-hop, experimental electro sound to Dingle for the first time.

Delorentos Delorentos have just released their fourth album, Night Becomes Light to critical acclaim. Last year, the band won the Choice Music Prize, Album of the Year for their record, Little Sparks. They have been busy touring throughout the last few months. Speaking to the University Observer earlier in the year, the band praised the Irish music scene, “there’s so much to be

found in Ireland in terms of creativity” and no doubt can they include themselves in that, as they take to the stage in December.

All We Are All We Are will release their highly anticipated, eponymous debut album in January 2015. The Liverpool-based trio, which includes Cork man Richard O’Flynn, are relatively new comers to both local and international music scenes but already have made quite an impression after already visiting the Other Voices tent at Electric Picnic during the summer.

Damien Rice After eight years out of the spotlight, as one of Ireland’s most revered artists, Damien Rice returned this month with his third studio album, My Favourite Faded Fantasy, which was produced by Rick Rubin. Already well associated with both Other Voices and its past performers and collaborators, Rice’s performance will certainly be a highlight of the entire weekend. Having played to a sold-out Grand Canal Theatre earlier this week, Rice gracing the intimate space of St. James’ will make a welcome return for the singer-songwriter. The festival, this year, will be presented by actor, Aidan Gillen, of Love/Hate and Game of Thrones fame. More exciting announcements to the line-up are due to be released in the coming weeks. As usual, tickets will be free and can be won through various online and media competitions. For more information aboutthis glorious weekend, head to www.othervoices.ie Young Fathers

Radar: GIRL BAND Championed by Hot Press, NME and Vice; hotly tipped Dublin four-piece Girl Band sit down with Aaron Flood to discuss their creative control, respect for vinyl and what they have planned for the future Despite the ironic and deceptive name, Girl Band are no manufactured pop piece a-la Simon Cowell. Instead, they are a rag-tag bunch of lads who combine waling vocals, grunge guitar riffs and thumping drums to create a unique whirlwind sound. Fresh from their warmly received show in Whelan’s, they are taking a rare break from a hectic tour that has seen them perform numerous shows and festivals across Europe, including our very own Electric Picnic. The group sums up their experience as, “A lot of fun. We’ve gotten to see a lot of really cool places and meet some great people”. Keeping with their character, they haven’t played in consistently traditional venues, “A lot of shows have been really unique from tiny little squats to bigger festival stages, the variety has been really fun”. The band haven’t received their positive reputation and steady trajectory of momentum the normal way. Popularity has spread by word of mouth from their well-received live shows and the interesting methods by which they release new tracks. Having released all previous tracks, such as ‘Lawman’ and latest single ‘De Bom Bom’

on 7” and 12” limited edition vinyl they speak vehemently about their respect for the material, “We’re all into collecting records, the aesthetic value of the record is more than any other format. You can do something really fun with the artwork, it’s something we’re really into”. It’s clear that Girl Band like to play the game by their own rules, evident also from the fact that they write, produce and mix all their music themselves. Speaking about their creative control, they stress importance of keeping control over their musical output. “I don’t really see why anyone wouldn’t want to have control over what they’re doing and the way that’s presented.” they say. What’s presented by this thrashing and raging quartet is difficult to define. With certain tag lines such as ‘grunge’ and ‘noise rock’ harnessed around their sound, the common consensus is that it’s loud, hyper and intense. When asked what artists have influenced their sound, they respond with a typically grounded, yet vague response. “It comes from all over the place, we all listen to pretty varied styles. You get surprised where you end up finding ideas from. We were in practice the other day and we were working on a new idea,

kind of has a feel like ‘King of the Swingers’, from the Jungle Book soundtrack, but kind of has elements of The Birthday Party, strange mix, but it just kind of happens that way sometimes.” Varied styles for varied people, these lads have a multitude of talents that extend beyond the band itself. Their main priority, however, is music. “I think it’s an equally valuable pursuit regardless of what level you’re doing it on. Even when money begins to get involved, at the end of the day, it’s still an artistic endeavor. I don’t know exactly what else I would try do. I’ve done some work as a recording engineer which is something I still like doing and want to pursue. We all have interests outside of the band”. The future is exciting for Girl Band; and everyone is curious to see what they are going to do next. “We just hope to continue as is, keep touring, keep putting out records. We’re gonna put out a full album next year, so that’s the main thing on the horizon, I guess.” Yet if, by some million-to-one shot it doesn’t work out for them, the lads all have a solid back-up plan, “Faulkner is a mean carpenter!”.

Girl Band will release their debut record in 2015 via Domino Publishing.

COS SPRING/SUMMER 2015 COLLECTIONS For this issue of OTwo, Sarah O’Shea attends the COS S/S ’15 Press Day where futuristic architecture meets fragmented typography in the form of leather sandals, translucent parkas and smoked acetate specs Photography: robin leavy

At COS, there is an air of sports-luxe smartcasual aligned with subtle new suggestions for the fast approaching Spring/Summer 2015 season. Innovative techniques have worked to heighten all aspects of the design for the COS design team, with new techniques having been researched and integrated into pieces that are fresh and airy. Minimalism is a key theme and continual trait of the COS aesthetic, with many looks stripped bare and reduced to only their essential elements for this season. Abstract silhouettes, proportions, patterns, prints and textures are the key foundations for the COS Spring/Summer 2015 collections. The end result of clothes is nothing but a pleasing functional new season wardrobe of timeless pieces, along with many intricately versatile pieces mixed throughout. Art and design is at the forefront of inspiration behind the new capsule collections at COS with it being majorly inspired by the photographs and work of Vincent Fournier. For women, a long white shirt, which is longer at the back, appears taped for a clean-cut finish as if being directly taken from a space-age laboratory, while a white single-sleeved dress showcases the futuristic theme of minimalistic high fashion. It has a clean front but features a slit back and is fastened with a sporty buckle to add interesting elements. Fragmented typography is another key feature of the new season’s collection. Inspired by the work of David Ortiz, the main aim is to combine vastly differing textures into one extortionate, yet versatile piece. Graphic patterns are created when applied in white rubber on to a finely-knit scuba top. In many other key pieces of the collection, the same fragmented typography is illustrated in burnt-out cotton-mix tops to create a loose feel of transparency and translucency. It is worth noting that most of the vital pieces in this collection are all very lightweight and create a ‘cloud-like’ feel when worn. This concept of lightness comes from a

voluminous, yet slightly translucent, parka coat, which proves hugely versatile with it being wearable at two different lengths. A golden olive anorak made of cotton alludes to the sports-luxe sense of the collection. To add a touch more formality to the look there is also the option of a matching drawstring skirt. Functionality and comfort are what these basics are based around, with black nylon bonded with loophole cotton for a matching zip-up jacket and slit black coat, reminiscent of other items found within the collection itself. In line with comfort and functionality, a sporty acid lime technical parka acts as a statement piece on its own, but looks rather fresh when worn over the simple pale violet cotton dress. Huge interest is added to this complex pairing thanks to the contrasting texture and colour pallets. For COS’ Spring and Summer 2015’s menswear, a hand-drawn print of sporadic squares is emblazoned across an entire outfit made up of a shirt, city coat and trousers. The pattern is available in either white-on-black or the reverse. Across the entire menswear collection is a huge amount of versatility. A shirt jacket and matching trousers, which comes in either a sky blue shade or black, is the unique alternative to the suit, while a zip-up technical cotton jacket is perfect to wear with an elongated white shirt. A black mesh reversible zip-up jacket with cloud white parachute nylon lining is a new city essential: sporty, loose-fitting, light and versatile. Accessories for women extends over a range of immaculate clean-cut leather-strap sandals with a powdered metal closure, as well as a soft white leather bag with a rubberised clasp. Jewellery also accentuates the key themes of the season. Displayed throughout the collection, the jewellery takes different elements of fragmented typography to make playful geometric shapes in white rubber and plastic. For men, accessories include city bags, Derby sneakers and closed-back sandals in scored leather, while new season sunglasses in black or smoked acetate are the perfect finishing touch.

street style

Photography Laura Iorgulescu

1 Emma Quinn, 3rd Year Science “Last year I took a year out to work in the UK and so saved quite a bit of money for this coat I’m wearing, which I’d been eyeing up in Urban Outfitters, but in the end when I went to buy it, turns out it was in the sale and was only £40!’’

2 Donal Campbell, 2nd year Psychology 3 Sophie and Amy Twoamley 1st year English and Philosophy ‘’Half of the clothes I’m wearing now are Amy’s. She actually invests money into her clothes in the likes of Topshop, whereas I just buy Penneys, so I always borrow off her, as much as she hates when I do as she doesn’t tend to borrow back!’’ 4 Breandan O’ Riain, 3rd Year Sports and Exercise Management “This jumper’s actually my girlfriend’s. It was absolutely freezing this morning and this was the closest thing to grab!’’ 5 Judith Sibilk 2nd Year Info and Social Computing “I moved from Estonia six years ago to Monaghan, where I lived until last year when I came to UCD. As I love travel, I plan on doing a year’s exchange in Santa Barbara, California next year!’’ words Sarah O’Shea

Arts and literature clerk of mind The Project Arts Centre’s latest exhibition showcases Clerk of Mind by Chris Evans. Lauren Moore reviews the unusual and intriguing experience The artist, throughout their career, is preoccupied by themes of collaboration, negotiation and consultation amongst patrons, institutions and even fellow artists. It is within these themes that Chris Evans situates his work; creating pieces that are inspired and come about through discussions with people of various professions, from jewellers to diplomats. Clerks of Mind, displaying three works by Evans reconfigured for the space in the Project Arts Centre, opened at the start of November and gives the public a taste of the result of such a collaborative effort. Walking into the exhibition space, the audience is greeted by a series of pictures depicting various plants hung upon the walls, while on the floor sculptural mounds are arranged alongside PVC mats and raised white platforms. The arrangement is reminiscent of a Zen garden, with each stone placed carefully and methodically. On closer inspection the pictures depict invasive plant species; weeds. These are taken from members of the diplomatic community and been called Diplomatic letters (2012), invasive plants taken from visitors to new

environments. Their counterparts are a series of concrete sculptural forms, CLODS (2012). The white platforms melt into the white walls and the starkness creates a sensation of effacement, with only the forms and the mysterious PVC mats remaining strong. The mixture of smooth and rough, fractured surfaces, each with at least one cylinder like holes, mimics the concrete lump left behind after the removal of a pole or pipe from a roadside. As the two pieces are juxtaposed it creates a tension; where one cannot help but think the plants have been removed from the forms and this is the fractured, hollow result. Around the corner is A Needle Walks into a Haystack (2014) or the Boodles Ring. It’s housed in beautifully crafted rosewood vitrine and presented on a jesomite tablet, both made by the artist. This platinum and yellow gold ring, which includes diamonds, sapphires and helidor, was created by Boodles Jewellers after Evans asked them to create a piece of jewellery based on their reading and interpretation of the exhibition’s core ideas. According to the catalogue, it presents how the imagination of a luxury brand combines with

an artistic vision, blurring the roles of patron and artist. Despite this display of interesting forms and concepts, the exhibition is not completely successful. In representing the collaboration between the artist and his chosen professionals, Evans has forgotten one other important collaborator: the viewer. It cannot be denied that the ring is beautiful and the sculptural arrangement is interesting if not a little startling. But the inspiration behind the pieces and the message of the exhibition can remain elusive even with the help with the catalogue. To make matters more complicated one wonders if the line between artist and collaborator has been blurred too much to the point where the artist’s hand is not present, or needed. In ‘A Needle Walks’ the ring Evans may have made the vitrine case but we ignore it in favour of the jewel it presents to us. All of this can leave the viewer with a cold feeling of a lack of care from the artist and in the end, pushes them back out the door, refusing to look closer at the exhibition.

Connecting with the Past: Deirdre Unforgiven Following a riveting performacne by UCD scholars, Saul Fidgeon reviews Eamon Carr’s passionate piece Deirdre Unforgiven Deirdre Unforgiven: A Journal of Sorrows is a new dramatic work by Eamon Carr, journalist and drummer for the band Horslips. It retells the wellknown legend of Deirdre of the Sorrows alongside accounts of the Troubles in 1990’s Northern Ireland. It recently saw its first full performance as a rehearsed reading by UCD’s Ad Astra Performing Arts Drama Scholars. It is clear that there are many parallels between the two narratives in the text. The sons of Usnach in the legend are drawn helplessly into conflict with King Conchobar when Deirdre chooses Naoise as her lover. Its parallel lies is in the deaths of the Quinn brothers, three innocent children in Ballymoney in 1998. Carr, having personally worked in Northern Ireland as a journalist during the later years of the Troubles, has much knowledge and experience to draw from. He has chosen his content carefully, and every word is carefully positioned to evoke an emotional response from the listener. The two narratives are intertwined with the powerful emotions that they both convey. Recounted by separate speakers in the performance, they share the same heartbreaking misery, vicious rage and harrowing horror. In the end, justice is not found for Deirdre or the victims of the Troubles, leaving nothing but sorrow. Carr weaves the two narratives together into one tale, simultaneously mythologising the recent atrocities and shining new light on the legend, making this a powerful piece of Irish storytelling. This dramatic piece is not made for standard theatrical performance, so it was feared before the performance began that the brunt of the work would be put on the text itself. However the talented scholars showed power and precision

Photo: UCD Ad Astra Performing Arts

in their words that built upon the text to make the reading into a moving performance. Some spoke in character as Deirdre and Conchobar and as a journalist during the Troubles, while others simply narrated the legend. Their arrangement of the text for performance kept the spectator’s attention constantly shifting, never resting on one speaker or one strand of story. This control over their audience, and reinforcement of the text made it clear just how close they became with the content, and how important its proper delivery was to them. Eamon Carr’s work is a skilfully written, well-informed and thought-provoking fusion of old legend and contemporary events, and the skilled recital of UCD’s scholars did justice to this modern work of Irish literature. It treats the issue of the Troubles with sensitivity, while also serving as a beautiful piece of writing that reflects on the wide array of Irish mythology, and brings it into the modern day.

Emerging Irish Writer – Megan Nolan After the publication of her fearlessly honest essay ‘Aborted’, Megan Nolan talks with Patrick Kelleher about her honing her craft in diaries and being dubbed “the Irish Lena Dunham” In an age of great change in the way writing is published, it’s often hard to keep track of writers who gain recognition via the vast landscape of the internet. This is not the case with Megan Nolan, who has become increasingly popular through her online writings, with her recent piece, Aborted, gaining national media coverage. Telling her personal experience of a relationship and abortion at eighteen years of age, the article is beautifully written and deeply poignant. She explains, “A lot of people are perplexed that I share such revealing things about myself in my work, but it hasn’t ever been something I’ve agonised over doing. The fact is I’m obviously not ashamed of anything I choose to make public. People assume that I’m ashamed to have had an abortion but I think that’s more their own projection than anything else.” While Aborted is reaching a wide readership, this is far from Nolan’s first foray into writing. She credits having kept a diary throughout her adolescence as her “best preparation” for writing. She says “It made me question what I was feeling and experiencing rather than just hurtling through it all, and encouraged the sickening self obsession I still utilize to this day.”

This led into creative writing, closely followed by stand-up. “I started off writing poetry, but now rarely add to the maybe 20 decent ones I would still be happy to read. I performed stand-up comedy for about a year, until the upset faces of an elderly couple who thought they were just out for a nice evening forced me to quit.” She is also starting to write fiction, and credits writers including Graham Greene, John Irving and Raymond Carver as influences. She notes that they are “so good at creating life, rather than just observing it archly…what they did was convince me at an early age that there is something sacred in truly great writing, something worth humiliating yourself by being terrible for ages.” For the future, Nolan plans to take her writing further. “I’m planning to have compiled a book of essays in a year’s time,” she explains, and jokes that her aim is to have “at least two Sunday supplements call me the ‘Irish Lena Dunham’”. Whatever happens, it is clear that this is not the last we will see of Nolan, who will undoubtedly continue to make an impact on the world of writing.

It made me question what I was feeling and experiencing rather than just hurtling through it all, and encouraged the sickening self obsession I still utilize to this day

Dammit, Janet! From Nidge’s other woman to James Joyce’s Ulysses, Tadgh Dolan chats to Love/Hate’s Mary Murray about her acting career thus far and what lies ahead Since hitting our screens as the brazen brothel matron Janet in RTE’s hit show Love/Hate, Irish actor Mary Murray has seen her star rise dramatically. Murray began her performance career at an early age, winning her first talent contest at just five years old. From there she attended drama classes at the National Performing Arts School, located at the time in Diggs Lane in Co. Dublin, and devoted much of her time to honing her craft. “I always knew that acting was my thing. For me that came first to be honest. So when I was in school I was still doing a lot of acting, I would have been probably doing like twenty hours a week, rehearsals and stuff outside of school so I just found a way to make it work.” An award winning singer, Murray incurred an injury to her vocal cords early in her career and chose to devote her time solely to acting, “I ended up having an issue with my voice when I was about nineteen and for a long time I had a problem with my vocal cords so it took learning to reuse them and everything. While that was happening I kind of got more involved in the acting side of things and moved away from the singing but I will be doing Panto this year so I’m looking forward to getting out and showing people I can sing again because it’s been a while.” She went on to pave a successful career on stage with roles in Twelve Days in May (Liberty Hall), The Pride of Parnell Street (Fishamble Theatre Company) and The Alice Trilogy (Abbey Theatre) for which she won Best Supporting Actress at The Irish Times Theatre Awards 2006. With a busy year ahead Murray is set to tour China early next year with a Scottish production of Joyce’s classic Ulysses. When asked whether she still suffers from pre-show jitters Murray was quick to react.“Yeah! I get nervous all the time. If you don’t get nervous you’re missing that adrenaline, you

get complacent and you get things wrong so you’re better off being a bit nervous, you have to feed off the energy of an audience, and you have to be always trying to keep yourself two steps ahead and if you’re not nervous, you won’t, you know, you’ll just relax in to it and that’s dangerous.” The Dublin native has had little time to relax with a starring role on Ireland’s biggest drama on her shoulders. “There’s always going to be pressure on the show because it can’t get any bigger in Ireland than it is, you know? So keeping up the ratings and stuff, I imagine, is a very difficult thing, you can’t know where it’s going to go, but so far it’s been doing great, and we’ll keep our fingers crossed that it will continue on that trend, but you know, the good times don’t always last forever, so you just have to wait and see how things play out.” Love/Hate has ferociously gone on to garner international critical acclaim and is a ratings juggernaut for RTE; averaging over half a million viewers per week during its fifth season. Being a home grown drama, made and produced in Ireland is what sets the show apart, with critics lauding creator and writer Stuart Carolan for raising the standard of Irish TV viewing. It is something Murray is particularly proud of. “It’s nice to see Ireland getting in there and rising up the ranks as well and trying to compete against the likes of English and American TV because they have a lot of money to spend on stuff and this is a small country and it’s very difficult to raise the finances and to do home grown dramas and things. The likes of Love/Hate are so expensive to make and so when we get opportunities like this, they don’t come around very often but when they do it’s great for us, it’s great for Irish actors.” In an ever changing visual landscape social media has also proven instrumental to the show’s continued success. Twitter feeds light up after each show as

viewers come to terms with a new plot twist or the departure of yet another main character. A far cry from even five years ago, modern viewers now have the pleasure of being able to pick and choose how they view their favourite programmes. Murray is very aware of this shift in the way viewers engage with what they see. “I mean just the fact that people can air their views immediately you know, and people pick up on little lines here and there and catch phrases, and they make them very popular within seconds and then the papers pick up on stuff and media. Social media is incredible for getting the word out there.” You only have to look at the recent success of Netflix series such as Orange is the New Black or House of Cards to see that major networks are now in danger of losing their stronghold over key demographics, especially the coveted 18-34 market. Love/Hate could easily stand against such shows and the fact that its broadcast on a major Irish station may restore some hope that major networks are not becoming obsolete in a diverging social landscape. It’s clear that Mary Murray is not only a talented actor but fiercely passionate about her craft. With a jam packed year ahead, her focus is on theatre, taking the stage as far away as China to just a stone’s throw away at the Helix playing the Wicked Stepmother in this year’s Panto. “I am doing Panto, and then I may be doing a film, I’m supposed to be doing a film called Control around January/ February but I’m not so sure about dates at the moment on that. But then I head off to China to do more theatre, I’m doing Ulysses, so yeah there’s a lot of theatre ahead.”

Murray will play the role of the Wicked Stepmother in this year’s Christmas Panto at the Helix theatre, Dublin from Nov 28th- Jan 2015. Tickets from €16.50.

I get nervous all the time. If you don’t get nervous you’re missing that adrenaline, you get complacent and you get things wrong

Paving a Path As slam poetry increasingly takes the world by storm, Patrick Kelleher looks at the emerging trend in both the national and international scenes Slam poetry is a term that has been thrown about a lot recently. For the internet age, we see it appearing occasionally, cropping up on websites like Upworthy or in countless videos on YouTube. Despite this, many still do not know what slam poetry is. It is performance poetry, delivered rather than read, performed rather than just written. It is a passionate form of the written word, brought dramatically to life. While it may seem like a new, youthful form of poetry, this is not necessarily true. Oral poetry predates literacy and was learned and recited. So why is poetry perceived today as being exclusively the written word? For many people, poetry is inaccessible, with confusing metaphors and unusual writing styles. This feeling is fostered by the education system; while inspiring a love of poetry within some, a deep loathing is felt by many by the end of their school education. These poems rarely leap from the page in the way the poet intended, as they are rarely read with the passion and vigour with which they are written. And then in walks slam poetry in all of its aggressive, loud glory, with its youthful vibrancy. This movement is not particularly new either, and began in the 1980s. Poet Marc Smith is credited with starting the Poetry Slam movement in 1984 when he started an Open Mic night at the Get Me High Lounge called The Monday Night Poetry Reading. In an interview with the Washington Post in 1999, Smith explained: “I was laughing at all the poets around town... because no one was listening to the poets.” He further explained that “performance poetry is about compelling people to listen to you. Everything I do is about the audience. The poet is a servant to the audience.” His comments show exactly how slam poetry is so different from the traditional format, which has very little to do with the audience who will read it. This radical form of poetry has become increasingly popular lately, and is beginning to trickle into the mainstream. Still very much a US focussed genre, most of the famous work appears to come from there. YouTube is littered with videos of passionate performers shouting their words into a microphone. A quick search shows exactly the kind of work that has emerged from this tradition: Katie Makkai’s ‘Pretty’ is about societal insistence that women conform to standards of beauty; ‘What Guys Look For In Girls’ by Savannah Brown is about sexual expectations that are placed on women; ‘Fantastic Breasts and Where To Find Them’ by Brenna Twohy combines humour with a damning social critique on the way women are depicted in pornography as powerless, objectified and dehumanised. These videos all show the social side of performance poetry, and zone in on some of the more controversial topics of today – topics that are rarely seen in traditional written poetry. They are all similar in that they have encountered enormous popularity, with views ranging from several hundred thousand into millions. The movement is not unique to the US, and Ireland has its own slam poetry scene. The All-Ireland Slam Poetry Championships have been running for several years now. They receive no formal funding, and instead raise their money through different funding websites each year. This

Photo: Brenna Twohy performs ‘Fantastic Breasts and Where to Find Them’ at the 2014 National Poetry Slam year’s funding campaign, run through indiegogo. com raised €135 of their goal of €1,500. Despite this, the competition is going ahead, with its final due to take place on 22nd November in Kilkenny. Colin Dardis runs Purely Poetry in Belfast, which has hosted the last four Belfast heats of the All Ireland Slam. Despite the funding difficulties, he says that “the interest is there: from the people who attend the nights, to the number of entrants it attracts, to people tweeting about it. But interest and participation is one thing: asking people to donate is another. An administrative committee would ideally be able to apply for funding, but in today’s harsh financial climate, even that cannot be relied on.” He suggests that “each regional event sets aside a small percentage of their proceeds, or that an ongoing fund is set up, and donations are open throughout the year, with the final promoted throughout the year as well.” The interest in an Irish slam poetry movement is there, however the funding and structure is lacking. There is a lack of promotion and

There is a lack of promotion and understanding of performance poetry as a genre within the arts

understanding of performance poetry as a genre within the arts. While American performance poets are sending reverberations across the globe through their work, the Irish movement is still very much an underground affair. Is this a new form of poetry for a younger generation? It is certainly possible that in the future, it will be; however as things stand, the scene in Ireland remains decidedly adrift from the international one, as well as the canon of work produced every year through traditional publishing.

Fatal Fourway Best Bromance in a Movie/TV Series Andy and Red, (The Shawshank Redemption) — Shane Hannon The notion of the ‘bromance’ relationship on screen is not a new or particularly original one. Men seem to understand each other’s problems, no matter how deep those problems can get. Why can’t I just leave the toilet seat up? Why is it socially unacceptable for me to drink West Coast Cooler Rosé when it’s delicious? Why can’t I grow a beard? Why is my girlfriend always “right”? We males are notoriously headstrong – if we have a problem we don’t talk about it, but women have no qualms telling half the country that “There are some bitchy girls about, you know who you are…” in the form of a Facebook status. Having to decide on the Number One Movie/TV Series bromance is certainly a tough task. You have

the big names; Joey and Chandler, Woody and Buzz, Turk and J.D. Then of course honourable mentions must go to Harry and Lloyd of Dumb and Dumber, Evan and Seth (Superbad) and even Will and Chuckie from Good Will Hunting. However the best bromance of the lot just happens to be from the greatest film ever made – The Shawshank Redemption. Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) and ‘Red’ Redding (Morgan Freeman) spend most of their adult lives behind bars, but thankfully don’t end up as lonely as old Brooks. Frank Darabont’s 1994 masterpiece also includes what has to be the most uplifting bromance ending of all time. Andy and Red running

towards each other on a Mexican beach just before the end credits roll? Yes please. Red is the first person in Shawshank State Prison that Andy feels comfortable talking to, and over time their bromance truly blossoms. The Shawshank Redemption is basically The Notebook on bromance steroids. How could any other male friendship even come close? One famous line from the film is Andy’s advice to “Get busy living, or get busy dying.” Their bromance makes Andy and Red choose the former. Now kindly pass me the Kleenex.

Chuck Noland and Wilson, (Cast Away) — david corscadden While my fellow, extremely ill-informed, writers in this issue’s Fatal Fourway utterly waste your time trying to convince you that they have found the ultimate bromance, I plea with you not to fall for their tom foolery. You are a smart individual and must come to the realisation that in this god forsaken world there is only one true bromance that counts for anything. That is the friendship of Chuck and Wilson in Cast Away. A bromance is defined as ‘the complicated love and affection shared by two straight males’ and I think you will agree this describes the pairing of Chuck and Wilson, or Chilson if you will. While those of you who are racist towards inanimate objects and don’t think they hold the same value

in society as a person, I say shame on you. Wilson, while just a volleyball, was more of a man than any man on a isolated island could be. He was a constant companion for Chuck and helped him get through the hardest time in his life and so should be held a hero. Their friendship was forged following disaster and because of this was strong and stable. Wilson adopted the iconic free therapist role in the friendship, a role which is vital in all strong bromances. While Wilson gives the most in this relationship, Chuck does give Wilson something extremely important. He gives him an identity, taking him from being a random ball to one which is compassionate and one that captures the hearts

of millions. Like all iconic bromances this one is full of turbulent conflicts, emotional confessions and a sexual tension that makes a mother question ‘How close are they?’ And let’s face it they were on an island alone together for over four years. You know something kinky happened at some stage. The true testament to this bromance lies however in that heart wrenching moment they are separated by forces out of both of their control and neither will ever be whole again. And while new volleyballs may be bought, nothing can replace that bond of a true bromance.

Zach Braff/JD and Donald Faison/Turk, (Real Life/Scrubs) — rebekah rennick Movies and television programs taught me quite a lot growing up, and left some questionable impressions upon my childish mind. “If your parents forget you exist over Christmas, don’t worry the house is yours” screamed Home Alone. “Having an utterly dysfunctional family is fine even if your father is intellectually inept” said The Simpsons, and of course a sponge would live in a pineapple under the sea. However, the bromance that exudes from the relationship between Turk and JD of Scrubs brought a totally new meaning to the word love in my preteen head.

The affection between this pair is leaps and bounds beyond any of my counterparts’ choices. What two friends have an anniversary solely for the time they met David Caruso on a ferris wheel, who coordinate their celebratory dance moves on the hospital wards and who get excited about double cereal prizes? Not many I’m sure. The duo have taken the meaning of bromance to monumental heights and inspire jealousy and hate in other bros who fail to reach their level of love. Damn it, even I’m jealous and I’m a girl and they’re a fictional friendship. But wait, they aren’t a fictional friendship at all. This bromance extends it’s loving warmth right into real life in

the manifestation of infatuation between Zach Braff and Donald Faison. The twitter exchanges between the two would make a bystander feel ill if it wasn’t so damn cute. From coordinated outfits to humour, these two are made for one another and what they have going on is what married couples hope their choice of spouse will provide. It’s a beautiful thing to see two grown men working in the medical field push a patient aside and on cue sing “It’s guy love, don’t compromise/The feeling of some other guy/Holding up your heart into the sky”. There’s nothing quite like this Chocolate and Vanilla Bear combination.

house and wilson (house) — Valerie Tierney House is an arrogant, misanthropic, drugged up medic. Wilson is a sensitive, caring oncologist. This doesn’t particularly sound like a match made in bromance heaven, but throughout the eight series of “House”, it just seems to work. During its lengthy run, “House” had plenty of deaths, divorces (mostly Wilson’s…) and dismissals (usually by House), but throughout the show, one could always count on Wilson and House being inseparable. The two of them are extremely committed to their bromance, and are continuously available for each other, at any time of the day or night. While Wilson is much more open about his fondness for House, House does everything he can to not reciprocate. He regularly abuses Wilson’s friendship to see how far he can push it- even

to the point of borrowing five thousand dollars to buy a motorcycle. Despite this however, we see regularly that House does care, through the unlikely medium of his stalkerish behaviour, which allows him to learn about Wilson’s life- without the effort of having to ask. They are brutally, bluntly honest with each other- even to the point of Wilson driving House to rehab when his Vicodin addiction spiralled out of control. The most endearing factor of their bromance however, is the fact that no matter what happens, nothing seems to be able to end their relationship- and ultimately it is House that makes the biggest sacrifice, by faking his death in order to spend his last few months with Wilson, after Wilson

is diagnosed with terminal cancer. He was also incidentally trying to avoid a lengthy jail sentence, but hey, after eight seasons, we knew he was never going to be totally selfless…

parallax student photojournalism

Photo: Kate Cleary

Photo: Roisin McNally

Photo: Harsha Vardhan

For this edition of Parallax, contributors were asked for photographs on a range of subjects, including reading in public, The Cold and an Irish hill. Parallax hopes to provide the opportunity to develop the role the image plays in news media as well as the discussion around it. If you have photographs you would like published in the University Observer, please send them to design@universityobserver.ie