Volume One: Cocktail in this Cosmos

Section — 1

Volume One — Cocktail in this Cosmos

2 — Section

3

the

the

breathless

gaps

voiding blackness

and studding of stars, of

possibility.

a haunting

of vacuous expanse

a pulsing

of

light.

supernovae bursting and

here, this waxing

,

celestial

uttering.

Art — Frank Trimarchi | @frankt93

Welcome to Country

UTS acknowledges and recognises the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation and the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation as the traditional owners and holders of knowledge where our UTS campuses now stand.

UTS also pays respect to Elders past, present and future for sharing their knowledge and the significant contribution that Australia’s first peoples make to the academic and cultural life of our university.

– Maree Graham, Coordinator of Indigenous Outreach, Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, University of Technology, Sydney

Photo — Joshua Moll

Contents 4 5

Editorial Contributors

Arts & Lifestyle 12 17 20 60 68 69 80

Undefined Spaces – Emily Chebaia A (W)hole New World – Huyen Hac Helen Tran ‘How to Steal a Million’: 60s Space Chic – Akshaya Bhutkar Watch This Space: EXIT at UNSW Galleries – Zalehah Turner Femme Film — Alien: Director’s Cut (1979) – Olivia Stanley Sueper Supper: Sun-kissed Summer Salad – Sue Cushway Horoscopes – Jenny Cao

Business & Science 8 36 40 55

Ancient (Alien) History – Jason Corbett Extraterrestrial Life: It’s Not Me, It’s the Universe – Dilhan Wicks Gains in Zero Gravity – Michael Zacharatos A Case in Space – Louisa Luong

Creative Writing 16 18 19 21 24 42 57 61 67 73

Here – Emily Warwick That Space Between – Lachlan Barker Lucid Paralysis: An Excerpt – Ellouise Bailey Milkdromeda – Andja Curic Expect Delays – Roger Szmitt our golden legacy | trajectory of a soul – Jessie Schilling All Alone Out Here – Vanessa Papastavros Omega – Zackary Ward Myths & Constellations – Eleanor HarrisonDengate Untitled – Alyssa Rodrigo

Politics 6 27 49 63 74

Make the Moon Great Again – Max Grieve Duterte: D for Vendetta – Beatrice Tan To The Moon and Back – Helena Rainert Free Trade Disagreements – Adrian Rook & Matthew Taylor Students’ Association Reports

Showcase 10 28 32 43 50 54

Jack Barrueto Rachel Song Thomas McDonell Joshua Moll Eden Payne & Jack Harman Thea Kable

Socio-Cultural

66 70 72

The Spaces I Inhabit – Georgia Wilde East Asia: The Force Behind Star Wars – Navira Trimansyah Harsh Noise Gene: On Women and Music Fandom – Jaimee Cachia “Boundless Plains To Share” – Aryan Golanjan Mental Illness and Relationships – Alyssa Rodrigo Palestine: A Space Invaded – Layla Mkhayber Jesus Feminist – Sophie Hawkshaw A Room of One’s Own – Olivia Stanley

78

Submissions Guideline

15 22 34 58 63

6 — Editorial

Editorial A Message From the Team Welcome to the future, where your new Vertigo crew launch themselves towards the sun and begin their voyage into the unknown. Cocktail in this Cosmos is our testament to outer space, unknown places, and new and old faces. It’s here to help you remember that even though you have an essay that’s three weeks overdue, there are nebulae exploding light-years away which puts all of this into a bit of perspective.

Editors Kezia Aria Akshaya Bhutkar Rebecca Cushway Louisa Luong Mariela PT Aaron Taylor Elliot Vella Sophie Waddington Michael Zacharatos

This first volume was put together by over 70 makers and shakers. What you’ve got in your hands is a tribute to the vision, creativity, and hidden talents of the UTS student body. The Vertigo crew would like to wholeheartedly thank everyone who contributed to the making of our maiden voyage, without whom you would be holding nothing but a cardboard cover, with a whole lot of ‘space’ in between.

Cocktail in this Cosmos shakes and stirs the strange and familiar, and on the menu we have celestial poetry with Jessie Schilling (the inspiration behind our title), and Dilhan Wicks’ investigation into why we haven’t made any extra-terrestrial friends yet. For all the star-gazers out there, Joshua Moll captures velvet skies, Eden Payne takes on otherworldly experimentation, and Max Grieve schools us on making the moon great again.

Creative Director Kim Phan

Sub-editors Eugenia Alablasinis Davina Jeganathan Kirsten Jelinek Suka Junin Rosanna Kellet Jamee Newland Maddison Smith Navira Trimansyah

Exploring meanings beyond the stars; Aryan Golanjan compares asylum-seeker living spaces to the average Australian home, Emily Chebaia maps out the potential of undefined spaces, and Jack Baruetto observes non-space through his photography.

This year we’ve mixed it up and done away with section breaks. What you’ve got instead is a cocktail of expertly curated stories that have been arranged to be read as a narrative from start to finish. Each piece flows from the last in a never-ending trail of wit and charm. We’ll have you laughing, crying, yelling, drinking, eating, and looking for blu-tac to stick things to your walls.

Art Director This is our beginning. Our launch, our take-off, shake-off and probe into uncharted territory. We don’t know where we’re headed, we just know we’re going somewhere, and we’re bringing you with us.

Isabella Brown

Designers So sit back, and take a sip from our Cocktail in this Cosmos.

Eden Payne Lizzie Smith Kathleen Vanthavong

Thank Yous

Fuck Yous

Shrugs

Beyoncé’s twins Viktor & Rolf Quiet carriages

Semicolons Mercury in retrogade Global warming

Malcolm Turnbull tirade Fifty Shades Darker 2017 Super Bowl

enquiries – editorial@utsvertigo.com.au | submissions – submissions@utsvertigo.com.au

Contributors — 7

Thank You Our Volume One Contributors

Written

Visual

Ellouise Bailey Lachlan Barker Jack Burreuto Jaimee Cachia Jenny Cao Luke Chapman Emily Chebaia Jason Corbett Andja Curcic Sue Cushway Aryan Golanjan Maree Graham Max Grieve Eleanor Harrison-Dengate Sophie Hawkshaw Norma Jean Chloe Malmoux-Setz Thomas McDonell Layla Mkhayber

Vanessa Papastavros Helena Rainert Alyssa Rodrigo Reagan Ruppel Jessie Schilling Olivia Stanley Roger Szmitt Beatrice Tan Huyen Hac Helen Tran Navira Trimansyah Zalehah Turner Zackary Ward Emily Warwick Dilhan Wicks Georgia Wilde James Wilson Lachlan Wykes

Sagar Aadash Isabella Brown Jack Barreuto Emily Chebaia Zoe Crocker Thea Kable Vanessa Hung Wilson Leung Thomas McDonell Ryley Miller Joshua Moll Vanessa Papastavros Lily Partridge Eden Payne Alyssa Rodrigo Shelly Shao Rachel Song Georgette Stefoulis Isabel Stojanovska

Georgette Tabor Mia Tran Frank Trimarchi Kathleen Vanthavong Shay Xaylith Maria Yanovsky

Cover Art

Opening Page

Poster

Advertising

Eva Harbridge

Mariela PT

Isabella Brown

Stephanie King

Vertigo is published by the UTS Students’ Association (UTSSA), and proudly printed by SOS Printing, Alexandria.

The contents of Vertigo do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editors, printers, or the UTSSA.

Vertigo and its entire contents are protected by copyright. Vertigo will retain the right to republish in any format. Contributors retain all other rights for resale and republication. No material may be reproduced without the prior written consent of the copyright holders.

utsvertigo.com.au | facebook.com/utsvertigo | twitter.com/vertigomagazine

8 — Politics

Make the Moon Great Again Max Grieve

At a campaign stop in New Hampshire in late 2015, a 10-year-old boy asked a question to the then-futurePresident Donald Trump: “I want to know your opinions on NASA.” Trump drew breath and sniffed, probably, before speaking.

“Space is terrific. Space is terrific. You know, in the old days it was great. Right now, we have bigger problems. You understand that? We’ve got to fix our potholes.”

The President of the United States wants to fix the nation’s potholes. This is one of his more reasonable policies, given that he also wants to build an impossible wall (and ban Muslim immigration and make abortion illegal and censor free speech and reinstate torture and lock her up and burn everything to the ground, but that’s all beside the point). Donald Trump says his

Art — Georgette Tabor

wall will cost between $10bn and $13bn — these figures being converted to Australian dollars. Wall-building expert Richard Steer of construction consultants Gleeds Worldwide, meanwhile, says that it would take more than $40bn and five years to construct.

I did some research. After adjusting for inflation, the launch of Apollo 11 cost just over $3bn. You don’t need to be a brain surgeon, or a rocket scientist, or the President of the United States, to know that $3bn is less than $40bn. At least, though, Trump thinks that “space is terrific.” It’s not often that you get to string these words together, but Donald Trump is right.

Hillary Clinton was never enthusiastic about space exploration during her campaign, harbouring resentment at having been rejected by NASA’s space

Politics — 9

program as a 13-year-old because, in her words, “they were not accepting girls” — the Moon in 1961, like the presidency today, was an exclusively male domain.

Bernie Sanders, unsurprisingly, struggled to reconcile spending a few billion dollars on sending someone into space when he had to “provide food for hungry kids or health care for people who have none.” Even Barack Obama dismissed the Moon: “We’ve been there before.”

Plenty of things are more important than the Moon.

There are potholes to fix, hungry kids to feed, a wall to build, and $40bn to be pissed up against it. Grand, inspiring projects that imbue humanity with a unifying sense of adventure and perspective can wait — so too can aliens in outer space, while the new president works to sniff out and deport the illegal ones at home.

Priorities must be prioritised, after all.

Going there before hasn’t stopped us from pumping out eight seasons of ‘Masterchef’, two of ‘Masterchef Junior’, and one each of ‘Celebrity Masterchef’, ‘Masterchef AllStars’ and ‘Masterchef Australia: The Professionals’. If a nation can be inspired by a croquembouche, and then be inspired again by kids making one a few years later, imagine what the sight of a person walking on another celestial body would do for humanity.

Eugene Cernan died four days before Donald Trump began his inaugural address on the steps of the Capitol, looking down the National Mall where he could see the National Air and Space Museum just a few hundred metres away. “As we leave the Moon,” said Cernan in 1973, climbing back into the lunar module, “we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind.”

My dad watched them go there before in 1969, on a grainy screen in his school library. Televisions have gone from small to big to flat to 105” Class 105S9 Curved 4K UHD Smart, but more than 40 years have passed since Eugene Cernan stepped out of the Apollo 17 lunar module onto the surface, becoming the last man to walk on the Moon.

It doesn’t look likely: there were no signs advocating for future Moon landings at the inauguration. That said, there weren’t any signs about fixing potholes, either. I know this because I was there — I’ve lied about being places before, including previous editions of this magazine, but I’m telling the truth this time. I saw real people wearing ‘Make America Great Again’ hats with sickening pride, tens of thousands of protesters, and riot police lobbing flash grenades and tear gas into a crowd of anarchists and anyone else. I realised Trump might have accurately read the national consensus on this one. People are focused on what’s going on in the streets, because the streets have potholes, and the ground is on fire.

Obama looked to Mars. So did Richard Nixon, according to dad’s Moon landing scrapbook. “MEN ON MARS BY YEAR 2000” screams the headline in a cut-and-pasted article from the Daily Mirror (now the Telegraph): “NIXON PREDICTS THEY WILL FIND LIFE.” But Mars isn’t happening until 2030 at the earliest, and even then it’ll take nearly a year from launch to landing — the red planet is too long-term for the Snapchat Age. A 2015 survey of Canadian media consumption by Microsoft found that the average human’s attention span, defined as “the amount of concentrated time on a task without becoming distracted”, had fallen to eight seconds, down from 12 seconds in 2000 — goldfish, meanwhile, have stayed consistent at a respectable nine seconds. Apollo 11 left Florida on a Wednesday and landed on the Moon

by Sunday. According to the City of Chicago’s ‘Frequently Asked Questions About Potholes’ PDF, it takes 3-6 days from the first report of a pothole to repair the road.

Sending someone up to the Moon isn’t a solution to our problems so much as a temporary catharsis. You can see the Great Wall of China from the edge of space, apparently, but not from the Moon. The higher up we go, the further Trump’s wall will fade into the green and brown; a meaningless dividing line invisible from nearly 400,000 kilometres away. The same goes for the potholes.

10 — Business & Science

Ancient (Alien) History Jason Corbett

So, here’s an idea: What if the history books got it all wrong?

What if what we now interpret as the spirituality of ancient civilisations are really stories of a time aliens visited earth, thousands of years ago? What if they bred with our ancestors and shared their technology, all so humanity could be expedited? What if all gods, past and present, are just extra-terrestrial travelers?

Welcome to Ancient Astronaut Theory 101.

As you might expect, it’s a relatively recent theory.

Some claim it to be a rip-off of H.P Lovecraft’s sciencefiction stories of the late 19th and early 20th century.

In Lovecraft’s novella, ‘At the Mountains of Madness’, a scientist travels to Antarctica and finds the ruins of an ancient city built by aliens.

The first scientific surfacing of the theory came in 1966 when renowned astrophysicists Iosif Shklovsky and Carl Sagan discussed the possibility in their book, ‘Intelligent Life in the Universe’. They presented a number of arguments they believed warranted the genuine attention of scientists and historians, including the first contact between European and indigenous American Tlingit cultures in 1786. In pre-literate Tlingit communities, this story was passed down orally over the course of a century, before being recorded by an anthropologist.

Over time, the Tlingit’s recount became enwrapped in spirituality. With this in mind, Sagan and Shklovsky imagined cultures similar to the Tlingits could have also received contact from extra-terrestrial beings; their tales enshrined in and disguised as ancient spirituality. Sagan and Shklovsky did however stress, relentlessly so, that this theory was unproven and improbable.

It wasn’t until 1968, with the publication of Erich von Däniken’s book, ‘Chariot of the Gods’, that the real

Art ­— Vanessa Hung | nod-and-grunt.tumblr.com

popularity of the theory exploded. Now the bible of the Ancient Astronaut Theory, von Däniken’s book proposes a collection of select evidence and argues that ancient megalithic structures like the Egyptian Pyramids, the Maoi of Easter Island, and Stonehenge, couldn’t possibly be the work of ancient peoples. They supposedly lacked the technology capable of constructing such structures, arguably confirmed by re-enactments today.

Von Däniken also cites ancient artworks, passages from religious texts, and the religious beliefs of past tribal and nomadic cultures. The Mayan sarcophagus lid of Pacal the Great is claimed to depict an astronaut sitting in a spacecraft. Passages in religious texts are to be interpreted literally. The biblical prophet Ezekiel, when recounting his sight of angels and wheels descending to earth, was actually seeing aliens in spaceships; the destruction of the city of Sodom was really a nuclear explosion instigated by aliens.

Following ‘Chariot of the Gods’, von Däniken has published 31 sequels — yes, 31 — and the theory has a TV documentary, ‘Ancient Aliens’, on the fucking History Channel. There’s even a spinoff, because apparently there’s enough evidence for a dude with wild hair to make a living by explaining everything with “aliens” — you know the meme.

The Ancient Astronaut Theory is almost entirely considered pseudoscience. The most common criticism of the theory is that its champions seemingly ignore established history and science, and replace them with a series of hypothetical “but what if aliens” scenarios.

Yet somehow it is also particularly deep, with a wealth of resources to chew through. It’s an out-there theory, yes, but you can’t deny that it’s entertaining. So if you’re ever looking for something to procrastinate with (which I clearly have), this might be the greatest thing you ever come across.

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SONGS & VISTAS

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Benjamin Northey conductor Kate Miller-Heidke vocalist, keyboard Keir Nuttall guitar

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12 — Showcase

Showcase — 13

Jack Barrueto @jackunicorn

The more we analyse, the more ambiguous things become.

– Timothy Morton

Our world is filled with an abundance of things. We are surrounded by ambiguous zones and peripheries of urban and suburban development, never quite completed, never quite erased. It’s an excess of space that creates the phenomena of non-space — a contemporary limbo that exists both everywhere and nowhere at the same time. They’re places without identity or inherent meaning, a concrete sphere to inhabit and explore. It’s these spaces and the way we move through them that interest me.

We used to have this magnolia tree in our yard that bloomed in winter. As time passed, its ritual fascinated me. I’d watch bees come and go, manoeuvring from flower to flower, diving for nectar in their zone, unaware of anything else. In retrospect, making images can be like that sometimes — a ritual, a state of heightened attention where the camera extracts and filters images into a strange photographic language.

The thing about growing up and living within the geography of the city is that you get very used to change.

I didn’t really intellectualise this until later, as most of the content of the pictures are composed and chosen as a by-product of an almost unconscious process of seeing.

I find it profound to look away from where others are looking: to turn away from the spectacle, to alter your awareness, and sink into pure appreciation of what you find. As a result, the act of wandering has become staple in my photographic practice, and almost supersedes the act of capturing the image.

14 — Arts & Lifestyle

Arts & Lifestyle — 15

People need space.

Spatial and urban designers, architects, and even city planners understand this simple mantra. Space on the streets, in parks, and alleyways; these empty volumes add value to the culture people wish to create in their cities. It represents an opportunity for people to take control of the space between corporate buildings and high-rise living. This is why we need a spatial experience that is dynamic and relies not on what is constructed, but on what is not — space. Today, we are re-thinking what that word means in relation to our streets. Why is it there? Who is it for? How can we do more with less by creating something greater than the sum of its parts?

Hong Kong has a rising population of 7 million people; many inhabiting compressed living conditions — housing estates and apartment buildings. Hong Kong’s population density is three times that of Sydney’s, and rapid construction of residential blocks has limited areas of public space within this bustling city. However, resourceful residents have overcome cramped living conditions by transforming the city’s footpaths, streets, and squares into spaces of domestic activity. Makeshift canopies constructed from recycled materials stretch out from buildings to footpaths, creating adjustable spaces.

Contributing to Hong Kong’s unique street culture, these quasi-public areas are informally used to cook food, share meals, and sell newspapers.

This is but a tiny glimpse into how space is produced by the people who occupy it. Without enforcing a design, residents built out on to the streets; transforming

domestic realms into shared spaces. Transforming the undefined to the user-defined.

Lowly, unpurposeful, and random as they may appear, sidewalk contacts are the small change from which a city’s wealth of public life may grow.

– Jane Jacobs In Chile, a lack of affordable housing forced hundreds of families to live in poor and unstable conditions.

Enter ‘Quinta Monroy’, a social housing project led by architectural firm Elemental, to rehouse one hundred families living illegally on site. When there isn’t enough money to build a comfortable sized home for a family, the market response is to simply make the house smaller. Elemental reframed the question: Instead of building smaller homes, why don’t we build half a comfortable sized one? This initiated their “half-ahouse” design — a generous and flexible basic structure of a home: bathroom, kitchen, and a few partition walls.

As residents moved in, they could tailor the house to their needs, customising the space at their own expense.

The vacancy next to these “half-a-houses” allowed families to expand and reconfigure to their desire. As a result, a sense of pride and ownership developed within the community, as they were empowered with the opportunity to design and build for themselves. Even in a social housing estate where conforming structures are built, undefined space enables people to personalise their homes to their individual style of living.

Art ­— Emily Chebaia | @emilychebaia

16 — Arts & Lifestyle

Quinta Monroy

How do we make an empty space valuable? Public spaces will thrive when we design for fundamental needs. The next step is to activate; how do we want to interact as people? How do we create for this interaction?

One project that aimed to pull people out of their kitchens and couches, and into public space was ‘The Spacebuster’ project designed by Berlin-based company Raumlabor. ‘The Spacebuster’ was essentially an inflatable dome anchored to the back of a step van, with a capacity of up to 80 persons. Designed with the flexibility to expand and mould to its surroundings, the van hosted music events, lectures, and dinner parties. Cities are filled with strange, sometimes

The Spacebuster

we design the public space we wish to occupy? It might not be obvious, but a lot is already happening within the undefined spaces of our city. Take Central Park in Ultimo for example; if you sit and observe the people around you, you’d be surprised at what groups and activities occur in the park. Behind the brewery, skaters use the concrete steps and timber benches as ledges to perfect tricks, while fitness groups use the grassy tiers for outdoor exercise. While Central Park has become a space for infinite uses, most of these activities are performed by closed groups and are not necessarily open for the public to join. Between student housing, universities, and the busy streets of Chippendale, the park is a blank canvas; a place of opportunity — because it doesn’t

“Lowly, unpurposeful, and random as they may appear, sidewalk contacts are the small change from which a city’s wealth of public life may grow.” – Jane Jacobs inexplicable spaces, and New York City is no stranger to this mystery. In 2009, the van travelled across New York City, to ten different locations over ten consecutive nights, relocating to a new abandoned site each time.

The result was an inflatable space that turned an uninviting environment into something magical and interactive, creating dialogue between strangers while simultaneously engaging them in abandoned spaces.

So, what would be the potential for Sydney’s vast roads and green parks if we had the opportunity to transform our city’s empty spaces? Why can’t our public spheres be domestic, affordable, and interactive, too? Why can’t

Art — Emily Chebaia | @emilychebaia

dictate the public sphere. Converting the undefined areas of Sydney into user-defined spaces will result in a dramatic shift in how we want to see and explore and live in our city.

Cities remind us of the desires and benefits of sharing physical spaces with other people. Undefined spheres only reach their full potential when they become a place, just like Hong Kong, ‘Quinta Monroy’, and ‘The Spacebuster’. All it takes is a community to nurture nothing into something.

Socio-Cultural — 17

The Spaces I Inhabit Georgia Wilde

I think often about the design of spaces.

Some spaces are crafted to make us feel cramped and unnatural — spaces like train platforms during rush hour and throbbing concert mosh pits.

Other spaces, those less manufactured, force you to feel your insignificance and ponder your purpose; the overwhelming weightlessness felt when gazing into the Grand Canyon, or roaming through a rainforest.

I also think a lot about my personal relationship with space. Being a larger person, space, or a lack thereof, is something that is often on my mind. I seem to take up a lot of it, after all. I can easily recite spaces that give me anxiety: public transport seats, changing rooms, shower stalls, or anywhere with a crowd. On the contrary, there are the things that I feel entirely lost in; there are spaces that swallow me up. Vast oceans. Driving through the country, going for hours without seeing a sign of human existence. Lying awake at night and losing perspective of where the walls and ceiling end. And then there is of course, literal, astronomical space. That makes me feel pretty small too, I guess.

Recently, my thoughts have even diverged to the spaces I inhabit that transcend my physical reality. I know that sounds vague; so let me elaborate. I love taking photos of the people around me. Whether they are begging for the attention of the camera or shying away from it, I like to capture people: ordinary and extraordinary alike.

This caused me to wonder about how many strangers’ photos I may grace. Whether I simply float through the background of posed tourist photos, or my arm gets warped in the corner of a panorama, or even if someone has inconspicuously snapped a photo of me. I find it staggering to consider that I may be scrolled past, zoomed in on, or deleted in camera rolls all over the world.

And then my mind wonders about all the spaces I could potentially exist in. Our minds do not invent new faces when we dream (a fact I likely discovered on a Libra pad wrapper). We see real faces of actual people we have crossed paths with, even if we don’t remember them.

How many strangers’ subconscious do I lurk in, waiting for the appropriate dream to reveal myself ? Have I played the villain in nightmares? The best friend? The sidekick? There’s no end to the parts I’ve played, the roles I’ve been cast to fill.

I could unknowingly be taking up space in the minds of sleeping strangers (or their camera rolls). So it seems that when I think about the spaces I inhabit; sometimes I take up a lot of space, sometimes a little, and often without even knowing.

18 — Creative Writing

Here Emily Warwick

When I look up into space I often have a mini existential crisis. What’s in the sky, the clouds, and the stars? Is there a God sitting on a cloud holding lightning bolts, toying with the weather as he pleases, as I believed when I was younger? As the innocent space of childhood fades, reality has forced me to redefine my idea of God. God is; finding a parking spot as soon as you enter Westfield around Christmas-time. God is; getting every green light on your way home from work. God is; a room full of dogs. It’s all-day Macca’s breakfast and the Instagram filter that takes you from a 4 to a 10.

God is; running for your train and majestically jumping through the doors as they close behind you. God is; going back and changing your multiple choice answer to the correct one. It’s events getting cancelled that you didn’t want to attend anyway. God is; the person who flashes their lights at you to warn that a speed camera is ahead. And a uni with only two semesters.

God is; cancelled 9 a.m. lectures. It’s thinking your alarm’s about to go off, opening your eyes and seeing you still have another two hours of sleep. It’s finding extra chips in the bottom of the takeaway bag or your teacher extending the due date of an assessment you haven’t even started.

God is; Orlando Bloom’s face. God is; a sunny day turned stormy, but you remember your umbrella at the last second. It’s taking your bra off at the end of the day. It’s your assessment auto-saving when your computer crashes. Waterproof mascara that doesn’t smudge when you shed a tear in an exam you’re not prepared for.

God is; Netflix in Australia. It’s finding your clothes size in a bargain bin. It’s getting a seat on a peak hour train or Channing Tatum’s dancing in Magic Mike. God is; marked down chocolate the day after Easter. God is; sleeping in while someone else gets ready for work. It’s perfecting your eyeliner on both eyes, finding money in a bag you haven’t used for months, and 24-hour Kmart. It’s the Warner Brothers sign at the beginning of the Harry Potter films or closing all your tabs after finishing an assessment.

God is; getting through Central Tunnel without anyone offering you pamphlets. It’s putting the last full stop on the last reference of your last essay. Thinking you left your headphones at home only to find them in the bottom of your bag. Your song coming on in the club and $4.50 bottles of wine. It’s payday, beach days, sleep-in days, and cheat days. Ultimately, it’s the little things; the things that help you have only one or two breakdowns a week. The things that help the tripping and stumbling through life look more like choreographed falling.

Arts & Lifestyle — 19

Huyen Hac Helen Tran

To depict with accuracy what purchasing my first vibrator was like, I recommend that readers acquire themselves any type of mp3 player device, with ‘A Whole New World’ as performed by Lea Salonga and Brad Kane on standby, for its contents are integral to today’s topic.

I toyed with the idea of buying a vibrator (yes, that’s right) for months, years even. Having come so close in my youth, almost ordering a dildo online in the shape of Sailor Moon’s Cutie Moon Rod; I opted instead to buy a pair of white platform shoes. Eighteen-year-old me had not yet felt the wrath of a libido thrust upon her, so much as the thrill of being in first year at university and not having to wear a kilt and blazer to school every day.

Fast-forward three years to two weeks ago. I entered the store with enthusiasm, a titillating sense of badassery accompanying me along with a wallet full of cash and an unravelling composure. It’s possible that just being inside the store was arousing enough. The store’s squeaky clean glass windows juxtaposed the seediness of other sex shops I had visited, the sunlight streaming through like a heavenly beam onto a table of assorted cock rings. I expected a middle-aged man with a wiry beard and beer belly to look at me with disdain. I would then valiantly retort, “That’s right! I’m a young Asian girl in a sex shop! Screw your normative gender expectations!”

Instead, I was greeted with the firm smile of a frizzyhaired woman behind the register, a purple leash fitted loosely around her hand — the same purple as the shop sign. The other end was clipped to the collar of a chocolate brown dog who pattered towards me panting, tongue outstretched as I closed the door, nodding and smiling sheepishly. I began to scan the merchandise, quickly deducing that the first half of the store was

child’s play. I would know — three minutes inside the store had rendered me an expert. I marched with great gusto to the back of the store, where a black velvet-lined wall showcased a series of phallic objects with circular bulges. I studied them quietly. It didn’t take me long to realise I was looking at the butt stuff.

I snapped back around, finally settling on a nicer, pink wall with an array of less intimidating toys delicately sprawled across a glass table. An older customer stood reading the back of a box while distractedly rocking a pram back and forth. An infant donning a yellow beanie slept peacefully inside.

I wasn’t there for very long. I chose a member that didn’t seem too overwhelming and took my purchase to the counter. With a dull face, the shopkeeper scanned and packaged. Though I had prepared myself for judgemental looks and being handed a pamphlet with the words “YOU’RE GOING TO HELL” lambasted on the front, there was nothing of the sort. Instead, she handed me my bag and picked up her phone, turning to take snaps of her dog.

I recommend that readers now press play on their listening device. I rushed home, and once in my room, ripped the box to shreds. My hands fumbled as I opened my new toy in my own private space. I invite you to imagine you are sitting in your dorm in a foreign country with a foreign object in your hand.

A whole new world.

Yes, I am the Jasmine in this situation. And my Aladdin?

My new, hot pink friend Emilia, with 12 different vibration settings.

Art — Georgette Stefoulis | @georgettestef

20 — Creative Writing

That Space Between Lachlan Barker

(It is 3:44am.

You are walking, Streets over the ocean; sights far from home, Far from here.

The breeze won’t stop flushing in through my window And memories hang, suspended, above me) The nothingness stakes its claim on the space between my self and my ceiling And into itself it sucks Insomniac memories of my childhood The wound-up mind at the wound-down day Down, sun.

Down, lights.

That Holy Space between the mind and The skywall It is a fortress for my whispers and my promises and prayers My gasps and fumbling words and worries My tears (drips) and tears (rips) And I scatter amongst those stars, so far outside.

I stared at my own reflection for three hours tonight and learnt why to love Sometimes the physical is all that we have.

Positioning Matters, And I want to show you in a different format: How much it / you / this Means to me.

But it is 3:44am and so the words spin in this dizzy dark The thoughts drift up, become memories in That Holy Space Sometimes the physical is all that we Own. Everything else Belongs always To that space between the stars

Artwork ­— Frank Trimarchi | @frankt93

Creative Writing — 21

Lucid Paralysis: An Excerpt Ellouise Bailey

Standing alone, fully naked. Grains of sand fall into my ears; my head, an hourglass.

Opening my eyes, the ocean slips away and I am stranded. Looking around frantically I search for materials in order to make my escape. A turtle with odd-coloured emerald eyes reveals itself; it pokes its head up from underneath a newly formed rock. I use all my weight to move the boulder away, revealing a cool shallow pool. Without thinking I plummet into the cave.

I cling to the turtle’s shell, hoping it can take me away from this deserted place that has spat me up. It tries to escape me, but I am faster. I latch onto its shell before we plunge beneath the surface.

At first I am afraid, I cannot breathe this far below the surface. I gasp for air before a small bubble leaves the turtles mouth and hovers over my own. I take a breath, shocked that I can breathe like I could on the surface.

The creature sways with the cool currents and they wash over my bare body. My flesh looks almost translucent under a sky that is now purplish and delicately lit by the moonlight. We glide through a few more currents before finding a tunnel that leads into a new cave. Only the streams of moonlight enter into the mouth of this cave.

A man stands in the shallows a few meters in front of me. Speaking to me in an unfamiliar language, my eyebrows furrow in response. He smiles before revealing a small tail protruding from the base of his spine. It was that of a scorpion. I stare at him in amazement and he laughs again before transforming his tail into that of a dolphin’s. He suddenly reaches out to grab my left hand. I try to pull away from him but he strikes me on the head and pulls me further into the dark grotto.

When I awake we are on a little shore at the end of the cave, a body of water separating me from the exit where I can see moonlight seeping in. He is massaging my shoulders. I slink out of his embrace and dive into the water in hope to find an exit. As I slip beneath the surface, the water lights up like dancing glow-worms.

As I shake my body and glide my arms through the soft current, delicate orbs of light form around me. I let out a little laugh and look back at the man in amazement.

Art — Kim Phan

22 — Arts & Lifestyle

‘How to Steal a Million’: 60s Space Chic Akshaya Bhutkar

Armstrong finally set foot on the moon in 1969, but his arrival into space had already been plotted on the world’s calendar from the start of the decade. The obsession surrounding space exploration had somehow found its way into the world’s collective consciousness during the sixties, and led to the birth of a new fashion philosophy. The race to space was transformed into a pool of harsh and shocking design inspiration.

Sharp; crisp; clean. Space Age fashion was born in the 1960s out of speculation of a radically transformed future that was fast approaching. In a manner as sleek as satin, Space Age fashion captured the simplicity and severity of a space capsule and transformed it into one of the most eye-catching fashion movements. Frills and flounces were swapped for new, hard edges and sharp silhouettes. Sleek and stark designs now ruled the high fashion world. Space Age fashion blasted into the era, shocking the fashion cosmos.

‘How to Steal a Million’ (1966) stars Hepburn as Nicole Bonnet, the daughter of a master art forger alongside Peter O’Toole who pretends to be a society burglar, but is actually an investigative art fraud detective.

Featuring beautiful clothing alongside the handsome couple, the film is styled in a time where Space Age fashion had only just entered the scene. Hubert de Givenchy, creator of minimalistic high fashion, styles Hepburn with this design aesthetic in mind, which is clean and simple. Crisp angles, bold shapes, and clean-cut designs inspired by Space Age fashion fill the screen as Hepburn and O’Toole plot their way through the fabulous city of love.

Hepburn enters the screen in a most elegant manner, her daring outfit screaming of space travel and the unknown. A tiny, geometric bucket-like hat sits comfortably on Hepburn’s head while she shows off white goggles, bug-like as they take up half her face.

She intently drives a convertible, roof down, all while

following a modern white-on-white colour scheme that must surely be the colour of the future. Hepburn’s wardrobe, a modern and simple ensemble, can all be attributed to ambitions and anxieties that were brought up by the Space Age. Hepburn’s secret rendezvous at the Ritz as her character goes undercover, clad in an unforgettable black lace look, is yet another outfit which has transcended time. The entire outfit, down to her futuristic eye makeup, uses dramatic silver glitter that is still a classic look today.

The Space Age fashion agenda is continued through Hepburn’s costume design. Upon visiting the art gallery, an empowered Hepburn adorns a military coat in navy hues as she plots to steal a prized artefact. In such a timeless wardrobe, the coat is a standout. The whole look is curated in 1960-style colour-blocking method by layering navy on white. This very simple but bold look is finished off with a pair of oblong, oversized white sunglasses.

The Space Age style bought forward a new era of hardedged fashion that dared to experiment with futuristic elements. The look was a move towards a more modern and simple style and a cry for a radical future, and it is still experimented with today. The wardrobe in ‘How to Steal a Million’ is a reflection of the fashion world at a time when fiction was becoming reality, the unknown was becoming known, and when goals thought once impossible were met. The Space Age’s lasting mark on the fashion world was a daring combination of perfect synergy, elegant lines, and timeless taste.

Creative Writing — 23

Milkdromeda Andja Curcic

It’s beautiful isn’t it?

That one white star peeking its head through the shadows. It trots along the charcoal landscape, playing with the darkness. You once smiled at the star so it knew you meant no harm when it arrived; you would be its one and only friend when it anxiously approached, its body sliding so carefully into your planet’s orbit. All this time you thought it was getting closer.

But now you know better.

You and that lonely star will never meet. Science forbids it. How cursed is your world that it favours logic over magic — but it’s not that you hate truth. Science is not truth, merely observation. Anyone can see that which allows itself to be seen. Real truth is that which tries to stay hidden. You know that speck in the night sky isn’t trying. It is fading against its will, bullied into drifting off towards nothing, away from the one who truly loves it: you. It’s climbing the invisible mountains of space, dimming with distance, and when that last star fades, only a moonlit sky will be left.

And on that glowing dot, that sphere called Earth you so faithfully watch, a young girl is staring at her night sky, staring back at you with sad eyes — watching your planet, her star, journey into the unknown.

Art — Isabella Brown | @bissy

24 — Socio-Cultural

East Asia: The Force Behind Star Wars Navira Trimansyah

Star Wars. A classic franchise worshipped across generations, defined by one of the greatest plot twists of all time. As much as I loved its gripping tale of good versus evil, the prevailing of justice, and Han Solo’s wittiness, there was one thing lacking throughout the first six movies: diverse representation. If we were to deconstruct the series, it undeniably alludes to East Asian cultures. So why is there a lack of Asian representation throughout the films?

First off, Lucas’ Jedi Knights are almost an exact mirror of Japanese Samurai culture. George Lucas has openly expressed his love for Akira Kurosawa’s work — a praised Japanese director whose works are little known outside his home audience. Lucas was “inspired” by Kurosawa’s ability to engage Western audiences in a film based on a culture considered “alien” to them. Lucas took the term literally, and created a sci-fi series he hoped would encapsulate an audience inside a world he created.

Art — Sagar Aardash

In what ways does the franchise reflect Asian traditions and cultures? The word “Jedi” derives from the Japanese word Jidaigeki, which means “costume/period drama”.

Kurosawa specialised in this genre, complete with stories of princesses, peasants, samurai and rōnin.

These dramas were set between 1603 and 1863, usually located in Edo — Japan’s military capital. Thus it made sense for conflict to be at the centre of the film. Lucas aimed to surprise and excite his audience, and sought inspiration from Kurosawa’s work, in an attempt to join the ranks of Coppola, Scorsese, and Spielberg. These directors all found success following the release of their action-packed films, and were figureheads of the ‘New Hollywood Era’. Lucas decided to pitch the idea of a “space opera”, loosely based on Kurosawa’s film ‘The Hidden Fortress’. Consider the following plot line: Two bickering peasants are on a long journey when they come across a man and a woman hiding in a fortress. They ask the peasants to help them flee an

Socio-Cultural — 25

imperial army, and get them to safety in exchange for gold. What the peasants don’t know is that the man is a General, and the woman a Princess, both trying to run from enemy forces. Now, the General and the Princess must use their skills along the way without exposing their identities.

Sound familiar? While the plot line of ‘The Hidden Fortress’ isn’t identical to Star Wars, there are obvious parallels between the characters. C-3PO and R2-D2 are the “two bickering peasants” who encounter Obi-Wan Kenobi, the “General”, and Princess Leia, the “Princess”. The robots help them escape and fight the Stormtroopers (the “imperial army”). There have been many arguments about whether Lucas crossed the line from inspiration to plagiarism, but I believe that this comparison reveals he blatantly stole Kurosawa’s work, and altered it to appeal to a Western audience.

The costumes in the Star Wars franchise are another appropriation of Japanese culture. The most obvious example is the monk-like robes worn by the Jedi, which closely resemble traditional kimonos worn by the samurai when not in training. Darth Vader’s black armour and his triangular helmet also mimics samurai armour worn in battle. Traditional Mongolian attire is also represented in the series through Queen Amidala’s clothing. These parallels have led many to believe that Lucas deliberately appropriated traditional clothing for the unique visuals and placed it on white actors, claiming that it is all simply part of the world he created.

The various traditional attires Lucas imitates are full of stories of tragedy, heroism, and victory. They embody and signify a complicated and extensive history, which Lucas has disrespected by simplifying it for his own gain.

But “The Force” is what I believe the most flagrant example of Lucas’ appropriation of Asian tradition. It is easy to assume that the respected relationship between master and apprentice in the films is somewhat linked to an East Asian culture. This is a trope used in both ‘The Karate Kid’ and ‘Kill Bill’. We do not know where this phenomenon originally stems from, but Star Wars in particular uses the culture of Bushido — a moral code and lifestyle for the samurai. While katanas provide inspiration for the lightsaber, “The Force” reflects the

ancient East Asian belief in qi — the energy and spirit of the body.

The films’ intense battles were choreographed to mirror kung fu and martial arts films, and the Jedi Order’s discipline is reflective of Bushido’s strict code of conduct. This is exemplified in Luke Skywalker’s struggle to become a brilliant and respected Jedi Knight.

Nitobe Inazō defined the Bushido code by eight virtues: righteousness, heroic courage, compassion, respect, integrity, honour, loyalty, and self-control. Whilst not identical to the lessons Yoda teaches Luke, they are qualities that Luke learns and embodies throughout the series.

Why does Lucas take on these Asian ‘influences’ and not cast Asian actors to take on significant roles in his films? Because Lucas profited off Western audiences’ lack of knowledge about Asian cultures. Star Wars was created by Lucas post-WWII, making it difficult to find Asian influences in Hollywood, especially with the dominant prejudice against Japan given its role in the Pacific. Western audiences who may not have understood, or even encountered, Asian cultures were mesmerised by Lucas’ galactic universe largely because everything seemed ‘alien’ and ‘exotic’. While Star Wars does present a classic case of good versus evil, the question does remain: is it really a unique and mystical fantasy world imagined by George Lucas, or is the universe simply a melting pot of East Asian cultures dressed up as science fiction?

26 — Creative Writing

Expect Delays Roger Szmitt

They drifted violently onto the E1 Galactic Highway, cutting off some chum who cursed and beat down on his steering wheel. The spaceship swayed, then straightened, a red P-plate coming loose and slapping into the chum’s windshield. It lodged itself in the wipers.

“Woo!” yelled the two lads in the cockpit. They could see the chum in their side-view mirrors shaking his fist; they laughed as his wipers did their best to expel the plate.

The pair gripped the overhead handles and readied themselves for warp speed. Dots of distant stars began stretching and blending into one. The dashboard of their cockpit was a flickering frenzy; the two aboard were giddy in their seats, bobbing up and down like kids on a carousel. Wings, burgers, and fries were waiting for them at the B.L.I.S.S. and they were eager to hit the ground running.

Except all they hit was traffic. The engine cooled as the ship slowed to a spluttering stagger. Earth was now directly in front of them, filling all four corners of their windshield, iridescent. The line of ships stretching towards it meant at least another twenty minutes until they reached their exit. Their shuttle was another

Art — Shay Xaylith

domino in the growing line of ships that had ground to a stop. Mills let out a long groan.

“Man, we must’ve come during peak hour or something.

Look at this shit, dude.” He tapped at the cockpit’s screen as Starchy sat up next to him.

The radar showed a glow of congested dots headed for Earth. The traffic would be bumper-to-bumper even after they took the early exit towards Buck-wild Larry’s International Space Station. Starchy rolled his eyes and dropped back into his seat. He seriously needed some fried chicken, and B.L.I.S.S. was absolutely swarmed.

“This is bullshit, we’re not even going to Earth.” He glanced at Mills next to him. The pair, in their Space Cadet uniforms, would be expected back to station in two hours.

How they would make it back in time was beyond them, especially in Starchy’s shuttle. The space buggy’s lone headlight blinked faintly in the queue. ‘Perennial’ was Starchy’s favourite counter to anyone who dared suggest it was past its used-by-date. The ship’s faded paint job showed more gunmetal grey than the original emerald, and littered throughout its hull were various dents that

Creative Writing — 27

weren’t worth the time or money to fix. The windows were even roll-downs.

“You know,” Mills said. “I wonder if the B.L.I.S.S. drivethru chick would chuck in free fries if she knew that you’re the son of Bernie Hamilton.”

“Fatality? Come on!” Mills said and punched the dashboard. He immediately regretted it, his expression apologetic. Starchy laughed. There wasn’t any more damage Mills could do to his shit-box.

“She probably wouldn’t give a shit, dude.”

“Hold on, we’ll be there in a sec,” said Starchy. Mills’ breathing was now borderline hyperventilation. “You’ve been coming here too much recently.”

“True. But we might as well try. I’m running low on dosh.”

“Back off, man. It’s not my fault this shit’s so good.” His hands were trembling.

“Same.”

“You’re getting withdrawals from that spice. You know what happened to Larry — that stooge. You think it won’t happen to you?”

“What— Bullshit. How? Your dad …”

“Doesn’t just hand me money.”

“Don’t talk shit on Larry,” he muttered. “That man is a goddamn pioneer.”

“He own acres and acres of— “ “He got high on his own supply.”

“Get fucked, Mills,” Starchy snapped. “Have you ever noticed my side panel?” Starchy rubbed a line of faint letters engraved on the steel where ‘Agri-tract’ was scrawled. “That,” he continued, “was the door of my great-grandfather’s tractor way back when.” He pointed to the roof above Mills’ head, a ream of solder connecting the two halves of the hull. “The capsule we’re in was its deck. Hell, even the steering wheel is the same.” The wheel was once black leather, now greyed and peeling. “If I had the money, I’d buy a new ship.”

Starchy Hamilton flicked the only working indicator and pulled towards the B.L.I.S.S. exit.

It was the Hamilton’s notoriety as prosperous potato farmers that gave inspiration for Starchy’s nickname amongst fellow Space Cadets. After all, the Hamilton’s financial upswing began the moment they signed their primary contract with Buck-wild Larry’s.

Their tractor-ship passed by a floating, rotating road sign. They turned their heads to read, as it flickered between: EXPECT DELAYS — DRIVE THROUGH CLEAN-UP, FATALITY AHEAD — PLEASE BE PATIENT, and REMEMBER—

“And founded the biggest fast-food joint in the solar system.”

“Which means fuck all when you’ve lost your mind.

Besides, NASA is the one who extracts the spice — and the profits. Larry is just an astronaut in a psych ward.”

“Enough of this, dude,” Mills said, his tone guttural.

“Just get us there.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to do for the last two hundred clicks.” The traffic was starting to let up now; the myopic shuttle’s exhaust pipe coughed as the ship accelerated to something slightly above walking pace.

After a moment of the buggy’s laborious sputtering, Mills suddenly took a deep breath and spoke.

“You know, we’d already be there if these Martian dickheads kept their hands off our spice and stayed on their side of the highway.”

“Don’t start with this shit again.”

“I’m serious man. They take our spice and take our…”

28 — Creative Writing

Mills’ voice trailed to a whimper. He wrapped his arms around himself as he became racked by convulsions.

“Stooge, you better quit shaking when we get there.

Damn, you’re actually addicted. I can see my reflection in your forehead.” Starchy’s head then snapped right to read another sign, this one glowing with the words: REMEMBER, WAIT UNTIL WITHIN— “Holy shit,” gasped Starchy as an ambulance hurtled past on their left.

The ambulance screeched onto the highway and swung towards Earth. The boys stared at it as the red and white lights blurred into warp speed and disappeared into the Earth’s atmosphere.

Mills’ eyes were panicked and sweat was soaking through the cushions. Starchy could have sworn he heard Mills’ heartbeat. Or it may have been the dodgy engines.

Mills didn’t plan on losing a second once he could open the window.

“C’mon man, c’mon, c’mon…”

Starchy furrowed his brow. Billboards on the side of the station were now in clear view. Fried chicken, burgers, and nuggets swept through Mills’ vision and mind — all coming with that sweet Buck-wild spice.

A reminder flashed over them on the gantry.

REMEMBER, WAIT UNTIL WITHIN ENVIRONMENTAL FIELD BEFORE ACCESSING TASTY GOODNESS. Starchy noticed a second too late.

Mills’ hand was already coming down on the window handle as Starchy looked in horror and shouted. “MILLS, NO!” The suction was instantaneous.

“I’m sure that ambo had nothing to do with spice addiction, mate.” Starchy said, his voice unusually kind.

Impressively, Mills managed to open the window two inches before he was ripped out. His body was shredded through the glass before shattering the window completely. Starchy had at least made it out in one piece.

Mills’ concerns evaporated the second he could make out the Drive-Thru sign attached to a gantry overhead.

The motorway studs that led to the order window glittered like gems. He exploded into excitement; banging on the dashboard, the roof, the door. Mills’ hand moved precariously close to the window handle.

They were nearing the environmental force field and

He struggled to breathe as he was thrown upward and left hovering in space, the cold seizing him. Below, the growing line of customers collectively groaned, knowing they would have to wait once more for the ambulances to arrive.

Art — Shay Xaylith

Politics — 29

Duterte: D for Vendetta Beatrice Tan CW: mentions of r*pe, drugs, violence, murder, kidnapping

As a Filipino-born Australian, I had a vested interest in the 2016 Filipino elections. Presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte and his controversial speeches repeatedly made international news. He promised to declare martial law if he was ever impeached and — despite constitutional illegality — to federate the Philippines. Duterte, however, is most infamous for something else entirely: expressing regret that he, then mayor of Davao City, was not the first person to rape an Australian missionary who was sexually assaulted and murdered by prisoners in Davao City Jail.

Labelled the Philippines’ answer to Trump, people fervently, almost manically, supported Duterte. His promises to end corruption, crime, and the drug epidemic enraptured the nation, and so it came as little surprise when he won by a 38% landslide.

I was incredibly anxious when I saw what was happening during the election. I hoped someone else — anyone else — would be voted in. After I heard he had won, my stomach was in knots for days.

Immediately following his inauguration, Duterte declared war and the people rejoiced.

— no method to this madness — this is anarchy disguised as law.

Approximately 7,200 Filipino people have died in the name of Duterte’s war, many of them innocent of the crimes they were accused of committing. For a man who claims to love his country and his people, he has remained deaf to their pleas for an end to this brutality.

Instead, he has escalated his anti-drug efforts by establishing an enforcement agency — allowing the military to become substantially involved. What is even scarier to me, and likely to people of the Philippines, is that Duterte is considering reviving the Philippine constabulary — a brutal police force based on that of 1970s dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussain, has called for an investigation into Duterte for murder charges.

Amnesty International has reported that his drug war may be classified as a crime against humanity. And yet, despite immense international pressure, Duterte refuses to back down.

My heart broke for the country I love.

Known as ‘the Punisher’ for his zero tolerance approach to crime, Duterte wants to bring the Filipino drug industry to its knees; to bleed it from top to bottom with no regard to the lives that such a hard-line policy will destroy. He has granted police the authority to shoot someone on-sight, to kill without explanation, if there is even slight suspicion of their involvement in the drug industry. There is not even any legal obligation for people to be notified that they are under suspicion of committing a drug crime. Duterte himself has said, loud and proud, that he has killed at least four people “in the name of the law”. With no judicial process

When the people of the Philippines elected a leader promising to eliminate drug use, I don’t think they were expecting that he would be eliminating them in the process.

30 — Showcase

Rachel Song The body is a canvas. A transformative space to express our identity with piercings, tattoos, haircuts, and especially fashion. The way we dress the body is an integral element in the exploration of self.

Art — Rachel Song | @songryh

32 — Showcase

Art — Rachel Song | @songryh

34 — Showcase

Sedna Thomas McDonell ‘Sedna’ is a webcomic starring a ten-year-old girl who builds rockets and gazes at Saturn through her telescope. It’s about staying curious and following your passion no matter what the world throws at you. sedna #0041 — loose hair

sedna #001 — telescope

Showcase — 35

sedna #0042 — stars

Thomas McDonell is a part-time animation student and a full-time ginger.

You can find tri-weekly updates of the story at sednacomics.com or facebook.com/ sednacomics

36 — Socio-Cultural

The Harsh Noise Gene: On Women and Music Fandom Jaimee Cachia

When I first found myself in the graffiti-plastered high school bathroom stall that is internet music fandom, all I was looking for was a new means through which to expand my library. Instead, I was met with a grotesque breed of elitism that derived pride from its enjoyment of music considered to be beyond the general public’s realm of understanding. Hugely aggressive walls of sound referred to as “harsh noise” are heralded as classical music’s modern-day renaissance, while its sceptics are deemed evolutionary inferiors.

Online subcultures requiring specialised knowledge are not exactly known for their inclusivity. In music fandom, being asked to “name three songs” of a given band is the standard welcome newcomers receive. For women, this territorialism is magnified tenfold — a truth exhibited to a comic degree in the internet’s dustiest corners.

When a man wants badly enough to believe that his sexist delusions are based in objective fact, the absurd speech that ensues may very well find itself popping up

Art — Lily Partridge | #LilyJaneCreative

far and wide as copypasta — that’s a text-based meme to you and me, or a passage dispersed through online discussion forums and social networking sites via copy and paste. The internet has no shortage of wild claims made under the guise of “science”, so it says a lot about my past experiences with male music nerds that I took this clearly ludicrous piece of text seriously the first time I stumbled upon it: Actually, it’s been proven that male born people have a predisposition to liking harsh noise. I’m not saying girls can’t or don’t, but they are the biological exception to the rule.

The copypasta held a mirror up to this bizarre community I had found myself on the fringe of. It was the bastard child of male fandom’s intellectual superiority complex and the notion of female aversion to musical genres deemed too “complex” for them to comprehend. While its exact origin is not known, the music board of the internet’s famed sewer known as 4chan is the likely culprit.

Socio-Cultural — 37

A message board devoid of user identification, archival memory and moral codes, 4chan is possibly the internet’s most striking display of the online disinhibition effect — a term coined by psychologist John Suler for the abandonment of one’s usual behavioural constraints when posting anonymously online. The website’s anonymity facilitates discussion that is completely unfiltered — albeit unhinged — and perhaps reflective of the mind’s most base and primal facets. If this is the case, the content of 4chan leaves women with much to be concerned about.

While the copypasta is typically used as a parody of music fans who talk in such a way, it reflects a mindset that is alarmingly common — and not just in those who frequent the darkest reaches of the internet.

On Google, the search “female music fan” yields the Wikipedia page for “Groupie” as the very first result.

Sure, the slight tone of surprise in a man’s voice when he finds out I do know who Stephen Malkmus

display when it comes to digesting music. Men are tastemakers, experts, connoisseurs. Women are vacuous, uniformed — groupies.

The belief that women would only entertain certain musical genres to gain attention or respect from their male peers is troubling on many levels, not least because of its reinforcement of heteronormativity.

A study published in the ‘Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin’ in 2015 suggested that men are threatened by intelligent women due to “feelings of diminished masculinity”. Should their intellectually dominant position ever be contested, the balaclava of online anonymity offers a safe space for men to voice these concerns.

The barrage of misogynistic abuse stemming from #Gamergate, an online campaign concerned with protecting the “gamer identity”, is further proof that women face territorial behaviour in virtually every

Therein lies the same assumption of female naivety at the root of more degrading instances: the ones in which a female sound technician or music journalist is mistaken for “someone’s girlfriend” is and can name more than one Pavement song is hardly enough to ruin my day. Even so, therein lies the same assumption of female naivety at the root of more degrading instances: the ones in which a female sound technician or music journalist is mistaken for “someone’s girlfriend”, or a female concert attendee is instantly dismissed as a fraud looking to sleep with the band members.

This mode of thinking concludes that a woman’s interest in music is probably feigned — that men consume culture in a considered and intellectual way, while women are instead driven by image and sexual desire. Women are, by virtue of their biology, incapable of the critical thinking their male counterparts

male-dominated cultural or intellectual space. When the fandoms in which we seek belonging as teenagers are equipped to push women to the side, the treatment we receive in adult life — the workplace, for instance, where we’re routinely patronised, tokenised and mistaken for receptionists — unfortunately comes as no shock to the system. In the real world, gender has no bearing on knowledge or experience — perhaps those who snub half the population would think better of their claim to intellectual superiority if they ever left their parents’ basement.

38 — Business & Science

Extra-terrestrial Life: It’s Not Me, It’s the Universe Dilhan Wicks

If you can escape the light pollution of Sydney, maybe finding yourself in Warrumbungles or Parkes, you might decide to look up — and feel small. The stretching Milky Way, shooting stars flicking past, and distant galaxies curling over the horizon — it just seems impossibly arrogant to think there aren’t any living creatures out there.

Before asking the golden question, “Where are the aliens?” we need to answer some smaller ones: What kind of planet could these aliens originate from, how many of these worlds exist, and how much of the galaxy would they need to occupy to meet their energy requirements?

A planet’s proximity to its sun determines whether or not life can flourish. A planet too close to the sun will burn up, like Mercury or Venus, and fry every organism on the surface. A planet too far will freeze — a permanent barren wasteland where nothing living can thrive. For red dwarfs, which are smaller, colder suns, being too close would expose the surface to too much radiation, and being too far would mean the sun’s energy would not be intense enough to power photosynthesis. This is a difficult test for most planets to pass, and that’s not even accounting for any questions of atmosphere and water.

Art — Mia Tran

The estimated number of planets in our Milky Way Galaxy that orbit their suns in this safe zone ranges between four and eleven billion. Even weighing up the incredibly precise ingredients for life and evolution, and how much all of this depends on chance, surely a handful of these planets could host intelligent life?

Life on Earth has existed for over four billion years, with humans crashing the party only two hundred thousand years ago. Sure, there was a lot of time where we weren’t doing a whole lot ‘scientifically’, but it’s taken eleven thousand years to go from building our first temple to putting a flag on the moon. That’s pretty quick.

The Milky Way is between ten and fourteen billion years old. Considering our rapid advancement, and that there are planets and entire solar systems that predate Earth by billions of years, it is only natural to wonder where humanity would be now if we already had a few billion years of science and innovation under our belt. Surely we would colonise Mars. How about one of Jupiter’s moons — Europa? Scientists already consider it inhabitable. Perhaps we could even settle by a new sun in an entirely foreign solar system. The potential is endless when we’re not limited by time.

Business & Science — 39

These facts intensify our original question: If humanity may one day reach a point where we’re hopping from solar system to solar system, why haven’t other species on other planets, who have had millions of years to get a head start, reached that point?

To answer that, we need to talk about output and demand, and look to the Kardashev scale. This states that as a civilization grows, its demand for energy and resources also grows. The Kardashev scale divides a theoretical civilisation’s energy-harnessing capabilities into three different tiers: 1.The civilisation can harness all the energy available on their planet.

2.The civilisation can harness all the energy available in their solar system.

3.The civilisation can harness all the energy available in their galaxy.

We are currently considered to score about 0.7 on this scale. Michio Kaku is an esteemed theoretical physicist who believes that we can reach Tier 1 somewhere in the next one to two hundred years. Regardless of how far into the future this is, the natural progression of civilisation

all this energy, people are already beginning to speculate on logistics. Dr. Thomas Hair and Mr. Andrew Hedman are two mathematicians who calculated how long it would take to colonise the entire Milky Way Galaxy.

Using conservative estimates whereby a spaceship travels for five hundred years at 1/400th of the speed of light (or 750km per second), it would then settle on a planet and harvest resources for five hundred years while also building new spaceships. When all the resources were depleted, the original and newly crafted spaceships would all disperse towards new planets, repeating the dual process of consuming resources and creating new ships to colonise worlds. With this process of exponentially increasing vessels and outreach, it is estimated that the galaxy could be colonised within fifty million years. In the scheme of the universe, that’s not too long. So if this estimate has any merit, why haven’t we seen flying saucers, Star Gates, or “fookin’ prawns” loitering around Johannesburg yet?

A theory as to why there aren’t any space prawns accosting our cities is answered by the Fermi Paradox, otherwise known as the ‘Great Filter’ theory. The theory states that at some point in the timeline of a civilisation where it progresses towards a Tier 3 civilisation, there is a ‘filter’, something that prevents advancement to a Tier 3 energy-gobbling civilisation. Essentially, there is no

Something always goes wrong along the way, and the same destructive fate might be awaiting us. is to increase our demand for power. While it may seem ridiculous to the point of sci-fi to harness the power of an entire star, we have already seen substantial spikes in energy demand in the Industrial Revolution and again in the Information Age. Our inferior Tier 0.7 brains might struggle to think up immediate uses for the energy of our entire sun, but when the aliens come a-knockin’ and we need to build a Death Star quick smart, we won’t be complaining if we have a bit of an energy surplus.

While we’re still a long way from being able to harness

Galactic Empire because something always goes wrong along the way, and the same destructive fate might be awaiting us.

There are three main beliefs on our progress in relation to the Fermi Paradox compared to the other species of the universe: We are the first — we’re the destined rulers of the universe. We’re the most advanced life form in the universe, and we passed the Great Filter a long time ago.

40 — Business & Science

we may still be up here, about to hit a strainer we can’t pass through

species

species we may already be through the filter — possibly alone

The potential alien species of the universe attempting to pass through Great Filter

No other species has thrived like us.

We are rare — we’re special, but not unique. We and a few other galactic species have managed to pass the Great Filter. Since so few have passed it, none have advanced far enough to noticeably colonise the galaxy.

We’re doomed — the Great Filter is still ahead of us and will one day stop all our dreams of expansion.

The Fermi Paradox is just one among many theories that explains why we haven’t yet met our galactic neighbours. It offers a convincing explanation for how, despite there being ample opportunity for aliens to exist and supersede us, there are so few of them that we may never cross paths, or their advanced societies crumbled right after running headfirst into the Great Filter.

So where does this information leave us? Well, it means we shouldn’t expect any rude visitors from Cybertron anytime soon, and that we have the privilege of wasting our days away until we somehow find a way to trigger

a mass extinction. It does however leave us with the opportunity to explore and expand; all while hoping the Great Filter is somewhere long behind us. We can put people on Mars, discover how to warp space-time, and play with nuclear fusion. Any keen entrepreneurs could mine asteroids, send tourists into space to see our little blue dot from afar, and find ways to use technologies developed for space for more simple applications that can improve people’s quality of life.

If we are the only intelligent beings in the universe, we should not let the flame of human curiosity burn out.

Even if there aren’t new friends to make and cultures to learn about, we can still ensure that the infinite expanse and beauty of the galaxy is shared with the countless people who want to appreciate it.

Business & Science — 41

Estimated time needed to colonise entire galaxy

Art — Mia Tran

42 — Business & Science

Gains in Zero Gravity Michael Zacharatos

There is simply no getting around the fact that human physiology did not evolve with zero gravity in mind.

It wouldn’t matter how many Olympics you placed first in, the six months it would take to reach Mars aboard a space shuttle would have you paralytic upon touchdown. Face first in the red dust and riddled with torn muscles and broken bones, you wouldn’t even be able to crawl. Muscle atrophy is no joke.

Most people can agree on a few fundamental fitness principles. If you work out, eat well, and spend hundreds of dollars on protein tubs, you’ll start to see some progress. After developing some foundational muscle, you can comfortably take breaks of a few weeks without experiencing too much regression. This is because a sedentary lifestyle has us using and stressing our muscles when we sit, walk, and laugh. It does take exertion to fight gravity, after all.

This leads us to the problem that faces everyone who dares venture away from the gravitational haven that is our home planet: space is physically undemanding. The muscles of our calves, quadriceps, and all those threaded up through our back and neck are our anti-gravity muscles. Even the most indolent wake-up-at-midday, Netflix-guzzling, not-changing-from-pyjamas weekend would be infinitely more exerting on these muscles than

a month spent doing somersaults in zero gravity.

The speed at which muscle degenerates is staggering.

NASA reports that for space missions lasting between five and eleven days astronauts can experience up to a twenty percent loss in muscle mass if no preventative action is taken. This figure can nearly double for missions lasting several months. This is equivalent to comparing the physique of an average twenty year old to that of an eighty year old. Of course, there are preventative measures, but there’s no surgery or secret pill for this one; no three-week kale cleansing diet or home-delivered Ab Twister 9000. No, instead NASA prescribes the two noble ingredients that have endured as long as time itself: iron and good old-fashioned elbow grease.

Surprisingly similar to any quick-bulk program you might find the inhabitants of Anytime Fitness following, astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) stick to a high-intensity/low-rep regime of compound exercises: squats, deadlifts, and bench presses are the bread and butter of their routine.

Calf raises, while of little help to earthlings and their mirror muscles, are essential to combat the aggressive bone loss around the hips, thighs, and heels. The crew is expected to spend two and a half hours per day

Business & Science — 43

If you need someone to help you get that last rep out, you’re not cut out to be an astronaut. training with weights, stationary bikes, and treadmills, six days a week. Creepiness aside, the crew can also be monitored in real time by fitness experts from the ground who correct form, update workouts, and do just about anything any $60/hr PT can — except spot. If you need someone to help you get that last rep out, you’re not cut out to be an astronaut.

The whole issue of nothing actually weighing anything when you leave the planet posed an interesting challenge for NASA engineers. But this is NASA. The Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) was installed in 2008 and mimics the resistance of a weight of up to 272kg, through a complex flywheel system and piston-powered air cylinders. This all-inone kit allows the grip bar to be lowered, raised and pulled forward onto a foldout bench, the direction of the resistive force to be altered, and the desired resistive weight to be selected by tapping into a computer screen.

Since astronauts are still weightless, they need to lift substantially more weight to compensate, which is great for their egos.

The ARED has been incredibly effective in minimising muscle atrophy. During a 2013 interview, astronaut Chris Hadfield commented that he had actually seen improvements in strength and muscle mass during his time aboard the ISS. However, this doesn’t mean re-entering the atmosphere comes without cost. There is still no perfect substitute for walking and living while resisting gravity, and smaller muscles in the back and legs need time to recover. Also, the first weeks upright will be rough; callouses on their feet will have faded completely, and while this might lead to a lucrative career in foot modelling, it also entails blisters and bruising before the skin can toughen.

The innovation of recent years means that human longevity in space is becoming more and more realised.

However, greater than any limitation of technology and resources, the greatest barrier to interplanetary travel may actually be the fragile, pudgy pieces of walking meat that pilot the spaceships.

Art — Kim Phan

44 — Creative Writing

our golden legacy | trajectory of a soul Jessie Schilling

our golden legacy.

trajectory of a soul.

there is a tremor in the lining if i pull it back, will it rip? i don’t want to let it go —this, the blanket of eternity stretched before me i trace the light, look for a shimmer a flicker something to match this burning inside

mentions of “vibrations”, talk of being on the same wavelength but all this speech and no room to think so full of qualms they don’t pause to question what do you believe? i wonder is there meaning behind your words? do you rehearse your thoughts? now the organic and the cosmic collide i look through the telescope of your eyes your soul, magnified all, bared is this gravity, or thin air? the stars are your spirit the meteors your mind how to define, how to confine there are trajectories here that align

what is desire? is it a comet crossing a heart tossing if gravity were my guest would my hospitality, my honesty hold you? would you dine with me have a cocktail in this cosmos and dish up the dessert of our destiny what of intimacy? would you undress the darkness that clothes me allow the light to leak into our fantasy what do you desire? why not wrap me in wonder and watch: the heavens thunder

stop your searching you map the light the geographic concentration of your life but with no celestial clusters inside you trace the sky eyes open, the retina as the retainer of rays your perspective your wavelength— extend your length, look at the cosmos let empathy engulf the distance there are too many who see but who do not dare to dream what do you believe? the heavens contain answers a certain mystery. they proclaim glory

Showcase — 45

JO S H UA MOL L [@jayemol ] B a ch e lo r o f D e sig n i n Vi su a l Commu n i cat i on

Photography is something that is frustrating, exhilarating, suspenseful, and enjoyable. I find myself marveling about ­— here, there, and everywhere — my finger cemented to the trigger. In my attempt to share the beauty I have experienced through my own eyes, I endeavour to produce something that will make others want to see what is out there.

TOAST Y Joshua Moll | @jayemol Mt. Cook, New Zealand

TREET Joshua Moll | @jayemol Roy’s Peak New Zealand

STARS Joshua Moll | @jayemol Lindis Pass, New Zealand

Art — Kathleen Vanthavong | @kathleenvanthavong

Politics — 51

To the Moon and Back Helena Rainert

The Space Race — the final frontier. This was just one among many competitions held during the 20th Century that saw national powers vying to establish dominance in an attempt to emerge as the world’s leading superpower.

The Space Race saw the Soviet Union (USSR) and the United States of America (US), two Cold War rivals, compete for space flight supremacy and the status of being the nation that conquered the moon.

In late 1957 the USSR launched the first artificial satellite into space, Sputnik 1. This was shortly followed by Sputnik 2, which carried Laika, a stray dog found on the streets of Moscow, into orbit. Despite both missions failing their goal of safely returning to Earth, the USSR’s rapid developments began to threaten the global sway the US had held since the end of World War II. The looming threat of USSR dominance in space technology caused US President Dwight D. Eisenhower to sign the National Aeronautics and Space Act in 1958, marking the beginning of the Space Race and the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration commonly known as NASA. At the beginning of the 1960s, newly elected President John F. Kennedy asserted that by the end of the decade America would have its first man on the moon. After many Apollo missions, some ending in disaster, Neil Armstrong, Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, and Michael Collins landed on the moon on 20 July 1969. Despite the USSR’s Yuri Gagarin being the first man in orbit to return safely eight years earlier, Armstrong, Buzz, and Mike planted the US flag and announced to all: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

The race to the moon was not without disaster; the first Apollo mission almost put an end to all US efforts.

During a launch simulation, the command module of Apollo 1 caught fire and killed the three astronauts on board. The USSR’s efforts were also hindered four

months later when their Soyuz 1 mission crashed, killing cosmonaut Valdimir Komarov.

In spite of these disasters, and as a testament to the men and women who helped humanity reach the moon, the Space Race brought numerous technological advancements that future generations could enjoy.

We have the Space Race to thank for satellite TV and GPS signals, the gaming joystick, and infrared sensor technology that is commonly used in modern-day ear thermometers.

By 1975 the urgency of competition had somewhat faded. The USSR and the US undertook a collaborative space mission as a symbol of their healthier relations with a “handshake in space”. Three US astronauts were sent into space aboard an Apollo spacecraft that docked with a Soviet Soyuz craft whilst still in orbit.

The commanders of the two crafts greeted each other respectfully by shaking hands.

Today the US and Russia (formerly the USSR) appear to be moving closer together, seen in the controversial relationship between President Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Whilst the players in the global political competition may change, and the style of conflict may have evolved, the value of furthering a nation’s status and reach has not. Ultimately two sides continue to assert themselves by fighting for dominance, security, and a chance to redefine limits.

The Space Race has re-defined what we now believe ourselves to be scientifically capable of, and has had a lasting effect on social and cultural thought. And, if nothing else, the Space Race has provided us with some classic conspiracy theories that refuse to completely disappear.

Showcase — 53

MVEMJSUN MVEMJSUN 0 0

IN WITH THE NEW, PLUTO THE OLD. IN WITH THE NEW, PLUTO THE OLD. Eden Payne & Jack Harman Eden Payne & Jack Harman

@edenpain | @jh_thing

I was worried / about spacemen / strange music / confused oil paintings / hard work in the furnace / and death. They were part of my awful loneliness.

Poem by Max Williams from ‘A Poor Man’s Bean’ (1975) Models: Arnika Martius & Ivy Wang

56 — Showcase

Nothing At All Zine Thea Kable

Thea Kable is a third-year Design in Visual Communications / Creative Intelligence and Innovation student. She is an award-winning fencer, animator, and illustrator extraordinaire. In addition to being a prolific self-publisher, her work has also been featured in ‘Seizure’ magazine.

‘Nothing at All’ is about China’s first man in Space, Yang Li Wei — you can get it for free at gumroad.com/theakable with the code ‘vertigo17’.

Business & Science — 57

A Case in Space Nemitz v United States (9th Cir. 2004) Louisa Luong

On 3 March 2000 in Nevada, Gregory William Nemitz hops onto this new thing called the internet and registers a claim for Asteroid 433 (also known by its dreamy name, Eros, the Greek god of love) on the Archimedes Institute website.1 In return, he receives the official Registered Claim number #D20000303163 and four days later he files a security interest for Eros at a whopping value of $8 billion.2 And abracadabra, he becomes the rightful owner of a cosy little asteroid that weighs 7.2 x 1015 kg,3 measures 33 x 13 x 13km4 and, orbits around the Sun, 22 million km5 away on a good day. Or, so he thought.

Nemitz enjoys a blissful year boasting asteroid ownership at dinner parties before tragedy strikes. On 12 February 2001, NASA’s NEAR Shoemaker lands on destination Eros, more specifically, ‘parking space #29’. Nemitz does what any sensible person would do when they find someone else parked in their spot — he writes a note. Four days after the landing, Nemitz sends an invoice to NASA, at first congratulating the team for a successful landing and then bringing

1 Which can be found at www.permanent.com/archimedes/ — a solid website name that is just as dodgy as it seems.

2 On the paperwork, he is registered as both the debtor and creditor for further legitimacy.

3 Very heavy.

4 Very big.

5 Very far.

6 Nemitz calculated that parking and storage was worth 20c per Earth-year — which equates to bargain rates, if you ask me.

attention to a parking and storage fee of $20 USD ‘per Earth-century’6 owed to him within 21 days of landing.

He ends the letter with the sensible legal disclaimer: “Orbital Development7 is not responsible for any theft, vandalism, radiation, damaging regolith migration, or meteoric impact damage to the spacecraft.”8 In the orbit of 2001, Nemitz and NASA exchange four more letters. The general gist of NASA’s reply is: You have no legal rights to an asteroid that you registered for on the internet, go away. And then they simply stop replying until 2003, when Nemitz prepares an affidavit9 for the U.S. Department of State. This is when NASA’s Director of Space and Technology steps in and sends a brief letter of no more than seventy words, reiterating that Nemitz is precluded by the Outer Space Treaty10 (“Treaty”) of private ownership of the moon and other celestial bodies.

In other words, “Dear Greg, please fuck off.”

Nemitz is then left with no other choice but to file a complaint for declaratory judgment11 with the United

7 The company of which he is the CEO. 8 Because celestial theft and vandalism rates are up 44% in outer space since 2000.

9 Fancy word for a written statement of evidence that you wish to present.

10 The Outer Space Treaty is one of five treaties written by the United Nations governing space, ensuring that any schmuck off the street can’t claim a piece of the universe for themselves.

11 Because every American knows that when you don’t get what you want, you sue.

58 — Business & Science

States District Court for the District of Nevada on 6 November 2003. He claims that the permanent parking of NEAR Shoemaker equates to an unconstitutional taking of property for use by the United States without just compensation under the Fifth Amendment.12 In addition, by refusing to recognise Nemitz’s inherent right to own an asteroid as personal and private property, NASA also violated the Ninth Amendment because the interpretation of certain rights in the Constitution “shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” And for good measure, he threw in the Tenth Amendment, where the power to prevent any citizen from claiming and owning an asteroid as an individual’s private property was never delegated to the United States government by the Constitution and thus the power falls to the people. Despite the ratification of the Treaty, Nemitz is of the opinion that this agreement with 91 signatories, including the United States of America, does not apply to him because he possesses the right to own an asteroid under the Constitution as an American-born citizen.13

after all. Since Nemitz does not have an actual interest in property, the Fifth Amendment could not be applied.

Furthermore, the Ninth and Tenth Amendments did not provide an adequate cause of action for the denial of outer space property interest, an interest that was also not recognised under the Treaty.

Fret not, the journey of Gregory Nemitz does not end here. He appeals to the Ninth Circuit Court14 like any underdog would, without an attorney or any legal education whatsoever.15 His appeal follows roughly the same line of argument he presented in his first claim, however, he now claims $5 million in special damages for prevention of accessing the full value of his beloved asteroid.

Despite his ironclad will to persist, Nemitz’s claims are unsuccessful once again and his appeal is unanimously dismissed.

Better luck next time, Nemitz.

He demands $1,007 in relief for parking and storage fees, and late fees of $1 per day… plus interest.

Unsurprisingly, the District Court quashed his claims and granted a motion to dismiss. Judge McKibben held that the website merely creates a registry and does not have “any authority to confer title or rights to property on its registrants”. In addition, the registration of the security interest in property “does not create a property interest in an asteroid”. So, as it turns out, www. permanent.com/archimedes/ was not so permanent

12 “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.”

13 Because of a little thing called F.R.E.E.D.O.M. 14 Making this the first space property case to reach the US Federal Court and

a classic ‘why me?’ moment for Judges Fernandez, Graber and Gould, who presided over the matter.

15 What could possibly go wrong?

Creative Writing — 59

All Alone Out Here Vanessa Papastavros

A hue of deep blue And speckled Ptolemaeus plum Leaks from between the tightly-clenched fist of God To give us a taste of time and dust And Us. Are we all alone out here?

Pressing our faces up against the sticky sheet Of the atmosphere Where the clam-blue turns black With backs turned, We feel one pink star blink, Wink.

Polish your telescopes and turn them skywards, Where the pull of the moon Maroons the man who once Landed there and left behind his spine.

Endeavour, explore, exploit— Send up skyrockets in the hopes of grazing God’s cleft chin Or hitting Him in the eye.

Oh, my my Imagine the stir.

If there were really others out there.

Art — Isabel Stojanovska

60 — Socio-Cultural

“Boundless Plains to Share” Aryan Golanjan

CW: mentions of sexual assault, suicide, violence, and racism Americans might have invented the McMansion, but when it comes to excess, research has shown that Australia has some of the largest houses in the world. If you’ve ever driven through a suburb of new developments this isn’t particularly surprising, but if you compare the lifestyle of the average Australian to the living conditions of people just a few hours away on Manus Island and Nauru, it does become jarring. While we have 23 million people on an island that’s sized at 7.692 million square kilometres (2.99 people per square km), the just 21 square kilometre island of Nauru houses over 10,000 people (476 people per square km), 850 of which are asylum seekers. With a population density difference of 473.01 people per square kilometre, it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to guess what sort of conditions the asylum seekers there are subjected to.

Similarly to Nauru, Manus Island’s closed detention centre is stifling. It’s been described as a ‘combination of a prison and military camp’ that is currently housing close to 400 detainees.

The human rights abuses that occur in these detention facilities have been extensively documented both in independent investigations, such as Amnesty International’s ‘Island of Despair’ report, and investigations like The Guardian’s publication of ‘The Nauru Files’, which comprised of close to 2000 leaked documents from staff whistle-blowers. A 2013 report by Amnesty International revealed that at the time, over 1,100 asylum seekers were housed in Manus Island’s closed detention centre in close proximity with very limited facilities or privacy. One dorm was sleeping over 100 men in bunk beds with approximately 20 centimetres between each bed. Hygiene in the camp is

substandard, and there is little to no contact with the outside world. These living conditions are exacerbated by a lack of personal safety, with numerous reports of violence and sexual assault within the camp.

Although Nauru is an open-air facility, there is hardly more freedom or higher living standards than on Manus Island. Asylum seekers are trapped in this open-air prison on the remote island with an increasingly authoritarian government, locals who violently attack them, and police who fail to protect them. The remoteness and size of the island means that there are little to no medical facilities, and asylum seekers with serious health issues (sometimes as a result of violence or abuse) often go untreated. Last month, a campaign was launched to fly a pregnant asylum seeker from Nauru to Australia to undergo critical medical treatment. Just a short time later, a refugee on Manus, with a history of heart problems, died after being denied proper medical treatment 13 times in two months. It’s little wonder that within these living conditions mental health issues are rampant; self-harm and suicide attempts have been noted in children as young as four, whilst older detainees have self-immolated in despair.

The simple fact that the majority of these asylum seekers are found to be ‘legitimate’ makes the violations perpetrated against them all the more offensive.

The camps they are held in are breeding grounds for violence, sexual assault, and suicide — and all for the legal act of seeking refuge. There’s no reason why we can’t bring them to Australia, but it does beg the question: how many more innocent people must die before we do?

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62 — Arts & Lifestyle

Watch This Space: EXIT at UNSW Galleries Zalehah Turner

Since UNSW Galleries opened in 2014, the University of New South Wales has been outspoken in its desire to foster new modes of interdisciplinary cultural production in an experimental laboratory at the cutting edge of art, design and technology.

The latest exhibition at UNSW Galleries, EXIT, was commissioned by Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain in 2008 for Native Land, Stop Eject. It has since been significantly updated for the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) in Paris, 2015.

Hervé Chandès, General Director of the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, Paris stated that, “EXIT is a monument to the present time that traces the movement of our world.” EXIT is an impressive multidisciplinary team effort created by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, a New Yorkbased studio of artists and architects, in collaboration with Laura Kurgan, Mark Hansen, Ben Rubin, Robert Gerard Pietrusko, Stewart Smith, and a team of scientists and geographers.

Concepts of space, from the world as a physical, three dimensional presence, to the changing landscape due to a range of significant issues permeate EXIT. The horror of the ramifications of these issues upon displaced populations will strike a chord with anyone aware of the situation of the refugees currently held in detention on Manus Island and Nauru. To experience the exhibition, is to be fully immersed in an installation which incorporates the entire exhibition space, surrounds you on all sides, and ensures you are deeply engaged in some of the most pressing issues of our time.

The audio and visual impact of EXIT creates a sense of urgency with a 3D panoramic view of an orbiting globe moving across the screen in almost full circle,

Art — Luc Boegly

broken only by the entrance and exit. Upon entering and leaving, the audience is addressed by Paul Virilio, who discusses the central themes and the impact of climate change. Each time it begins its 45-minute cycle, the audience is struck by the visual and auditory representation of data and statistics gathered from over one hundred sources.

The data collected has been geo-coded, processed through a programming language, and translated visually to provide the greatest impact. One can’t help but feel a sense of dread. The knowledge that without action, our future and that of others in far more precarious situations, is in jeopardy. EXIT is a projection of the present, an insight into the future and a call to action. The multimedia event is art as social commentary. The six themes of EXIT cover significant issues with the animated facts and figures behind the events designed to provoke thought, encourage discussions and initiate change.

EXIT at UNSW Galleries is a thought-provoking, immersive multimedia experience that is essential viewing and one of the visual art highlights of this Sydney Festival. UNSW Galleries Director, Felicity Fenner confirmed that, “This is a must-see ‘wake-up call’ to Australian audiences.” This is your chance. You owe it to the world, its inhabitants, and the future.

Where: UNSW Galleries cnr. Oxford St and Greens Rd, Paddington, NSW 2021.

Dates: 7 January — 25 March 2017 Opening hours: TuesdaySaturday 10am—5pm Cost: free Information: https://www.artdesign.unsw.edu.au/unswgalleries/exit

Creative Writing — 63

Omega Zackary Ward

I am human. My face is long and pallid; my hair is blond, my nose is thin, my mouth is wide. I stand at five-feet eleven inches. My body is lean and straight. My only remarkable feature is the condition known as heterochromia — my left eye is a pale shade of blue, my right burns amber. On clear days under clear skies my red eye might catch the open blue, and for a while I am perfect, the prototype human being. I have not stood under our sky for many years and I fear there is not much left of me now, except the knowledge that I am human. The last human. *

*

*

We are led from our rooms and filed through deep corridors. We number forty, and for ten years we have only known, and gradually forgotten, each other. Our step is timed and our faces are straight. At the head marches a lab technician who parades us before half a dozen more. We gather before them and are given our final instruction; we are reminded of the circumstances of our arrival here and the exactness by which were chosen for this mission: “You represent the very best of our species.”

No words are spoken in the changing room; during the simulations that have taken stead of our lives most of us have forgotten the luxury of words. We hang the uniform blue jumpsuits in our lockers and apply the under-padding of our IVA suits. I watch my fellow thirty-nine move soundlessly about their tasks.

Their movements are rhythmic and mechanic. None glance at the photographs that line their locker doors anymore. They clang them home and entomb the frozen faces forever. I have no photos. Inside my locker I have only a mirror. I look into it, see the red and the blue, and am reminded...

We have spent over four years across two separate simulations in our IVA suits; they have been measured to fit our anatomical specifications. The lab assistants bend our bodies into them as if we were shop mannequins. The shells are soft and orange and are designed for launch, intra-vehicular, and habitual activity. Where you might expect to find a name you find only a number; I am number eleven. Our hands are locked in and our shoulder bearings fastened. We are each fitted with a helmet — white — like the

Art — Zoe Crocker | cargocollective.com/zoelc

64 — Creative Writing

boots and gloves. We stand down from the dressing and I look at number ten to my left, and number twelve to my right. Number twelve looks back at me and I catch my reflection in the faceless sheen of their helmet; I am greeted only with the faceless sheen of mine.

Under the pulsing veins of neon piping we move gelatinously through the upper levels of the lab; slashes of blue and red streak our marble-surfaced helmets as we march. We pass by windows in which are scattered the countless faces of those whose efforts we embody. They stand stoically, their monitors silent for a moment. We reach the antechamber and ascend in an enormous elevator with a glass floor. The earth falling slowly away — ripples in the desert floor smooth, mountains shrink and their shadows evaporate before the elevator halts. The doors part; a gangway leads to a capsule hatch. We are to walk through the hatch, and much like the photographs that line our locker doors, be sealed soundlessly within.

On board Mars One we watch as planet Earth is slowly swallowed by the depth of space. The red planet is still beyond our line of site. Our voyage time is twenty-six months, and though the capsule is built to accommodate our natural and basic necessities, I am the only one to remove their helmet. Perhaps it hasn’t occurred to the others. We have become accustomed to zero gravity during our simulations and are free to move about the ship, but still nobody moves. They sit strapped to their chairs as though fixtures of the cabin interior. I look into the depths of my helmet’s visor to remember me, but see nothing of myself for the blinding lights of the cabin. *

*

*

Ratings have risen steadily since the implementation of a new rule among the cast of Mars One: we are to wear our IVA suits at all times whilst inside the habitat to appease our earthling viewers. “There is no desire among our audience to tune in and view earthlings on Mars,” read one weekly report. “Instead our audience desires to see Martians on Mars.” And so we have become Martians; we probe the red earth in our mechanical bulk in a farce to cultivate and make arable this foreign dust. Our species has forsaken us, and we in turn forsake our species. Was not our mission to colonise this place in an effort to advance the human race as a whole? They who prepared us moulded us into machines so that we could not err and could not regret, and those we represent have demanded we rescind what little humanity remains of us for their entertainment. And we have willingly done so. Thus I deign myself to be the last human, the one in whom the furthest point of understanding our species shall ever attain resides and shall die with: there is neither humanity here on Mars, nor any left on Earth. And so here I stand upon the high-water mark of humankind, which will dry and evaporate in the red earth under these strange pink skies.

No cameras watch our capsules and so before sleep I am able to remove my helmet and IVA suit. The habitat is clear and opens onto the sky, which is still streaked the colour of peach skin. I approach the glass and look out and across the rigid red plain. But I am more taken by the warped face that stares back into me; a face that under these clear skies stares out eternally through red eyes.

Art — Zoe Crocker | cargocollective.com/zoelc

Politics — 65

Free Trade Disagreements CW: mentions of r*pe According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: “Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are international treaties that reduce barriers to trade and investment”.

Yay

Nay

Adrian Rook

Matthew Taylor

The global political environment is so fractured that the world’s largest economy decided to elect a narcissistic reality TV show host to lead them through the next few years. As President Trump promised, the TransPacific Partnership (TPP) is dead, and he is looking to renegotiate other FTAs which, on 28 June 2016, he stated were “job killers” that amounted to a “rape” of the United States. The TPP can be criticised for its intellectual property provisions, but the idea that it, or any other FTA, is primarily responsible for the decline in working class manufacturing jobs is incorrect.

This misconception comes from the harsh reality that low skilled and semi-skilled workers are more interchangeable than those who are more specialised and better trained. In other words, it’s not difficult for greedy companies to substitute factory workers from an advanced economy with workers sourced from a developing country, who would also be accustomed to earning low wages. However, this makes up only a small proportion of overall job loss, as most disappear due to automation and the increasing role of technology in the workforce.

Whilst employment in manufacturing is slipping, output has been increasing, meaning that protectionist policies will do little to help fix the decline in manufacturing jobs. What protectionism will do is strangle economic growth, burden consumers with the increasing cost of goods, and make it harder for people to find new jobs.

On the other hand, free trade offers opportunity. The United Nations Environment Programme has argued that trade liberalisation can accelerate the growth of clean energy technology by making it more affordable, which is a benefit to us all. Rather than turning away from the opportunity presented by FTAs, a strong social welfare program is a better way to approach supporting workers who have been made redundant.

The typical FTA is designed to benefit the privileged few who stand to exploit the opened floodgate of cheap unskilled labour flowing in from developing nations by paying bottom-of-the-barrel wages. FTAs enable the exploitation of the most vulnerable, all in the name of quarterly reviews and the bottom line.

To see the ugly reality of FTAs, look no further than Flint, Michigan. This apocalyptic waste basket was once the epicentre of General Motors’ (GM) manufacturing facilities. GM provided the Flint community with stable work and a reliable, modest income — that is, before the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came along. During a 2016 Democratic primary election debate, Bernie Sanders announced to a crowd in Flint: “I was on a picket line in early 1990s against NAFTA because…

American workers should not be forced to compete against people in Mexico making 25 cents an hour.”

These days, Flint is the backwater of the US where the tap water can literally kill you — but that’s another story. Houses and businesses are now the hide-outs of disaffected drug-addicts as the city lies idle. Flint even ranked first in the 2013 Business Insider list ‘Most Dangerous Cities in America’, a system calculated off the rate of homicides, rapes, and drug related offences.

But what about those lucky fellows in Mexico? Well, NAFTA permitted American agribusiness to flood Mexico with cheaper US products. The sales surge was a boon for US corporations, and while the cheaper goods briefly benefitted Mexican consumers, the Mexican agricultural industry was unable to compete against the US megacorporation’s undercutting prices. Ultimately, this generated even more poverty as the local Mexican economy stagnated, and drove people towards drug production and narcotrafficking — possibly supplying for the folk back in Flint.

In short, FTAs benefit the wealthy minority at the expense of the ordinary majority.

66 — Socio-Cultural

Art — Alyssa Rodrigo | @alyrodrigo

Socio-Cultural — 67

Mental Illness and Relationships Alyssa Rodrigo CW: mentions of mental illness In the unimposing suburbs of North West Sydney, a girl meets a boy at a high school party. They kiss, ‘see each other’ for a while because the label ‘boyfriend’ is far too much, and then never speak again after things go tits up.

Girl meets girl in a cafe. They kiss, date for a couple of months, then split up, citing irreconcilable differences.

No hard feelings though. Girl goes on a couple of other dates here and there, conditioned by romantic comedies that like to posit true love as ‘just around the corner’.

Girl walks in circles and can’t find the corner.

Years of Ryan Gosling flicks and ‘How I Met Your Mother’ marathons inform awkward small talk in dimly lit bars and hipster cafes. For the most part, the romantic comedies help with the pick-up lines and the flirting, the hand holding in movie theatres, and playing footsie underneath the table booth. But that’s just about as useful as the movies get. Because rom-coms are dirty little liars that will tell you things will always end in a Happily Ever After, with a few conflicts in the middle just to juice up the plot. Dating can be tough. Dating can be especially tough when you have a mental illness.

I could tell you about the guilt that follows from the episodes of radio silence that pairs neatly with a fear of abandonment. Or the anxiety that comes from potentially disappointing your partner. But I don’t think that’d be useful. Dating someone who is mentally ill isn’t a bad thing, it’s just different.

For one, unlike the classic movie trope that suggests love is the remedy to all ailments, remember that the love and commitment you share with your partner will not necessarily cure their mental illness. Whilst offering support and care in trying times is certainly important, it’s not your job to fix them. Ultimately, it comes down to your partner to decide what forms of support are the most helpful. Love your partner because you love them, not because you think it’ll take away their pain.

Research is your friend. There’s a huge pool of mental health resources available online that can make things feel a lot less overwhelming. Things like knowing

what to do when your partner is having a panic attack can come in handy for both you and your partner.

Organisations like Beyond Blue and Headspace have a great library of resources that can give you a better understanding of what your partner is going through.

Communication is key. Communication is a two-way street. Insert any other clichés about communication.

They’re cliché because, for the most part, they’re relevant. With any relationship, whether it be platonic or romantic, keeping an open dialogue is necessary to maintaining a healthy connection with someone.

For your partner, this may involve them telling you when they’re experiencing low periods or particularly strenuous times, a sort of “heads-up, I might need a bit of space”, if you will. On your part, communication is handy because it can help straighten out potential tensions in the relationship. Be honest about the expectations that you have for the relationship, and be true to yourself.

Just because you’re dating someone who is mentally ill doesn’t mean you should sacrifice your own wellbeing.

Being a source of support and comfort can be draining, so it’s important to take time and energy out to take care of yourself. The normal expectations for a relationship still apply, and being mentally ill is never an excuse for being abusive and manipulative. Know the boundaries of a healthy relationship and don’t compromise yourself, or your health, to try and help someone else.

At the end of the day, remember that your partner is so much more than their mental illness. There’s a whole world inside of them filled with quirks, aspirations, dreams, and idiosyncrasies. The relationship you share can be a beautiful thing. Maybe Gosling was onto something after all.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please consider speaking to your local GP, a healthcare professional, or calling one of the numbers below.

BeyondBlue — 1300 22 4636 headspace — 1800 650 890 Lifeline — 13 11 14

68 — Socio-Cultural

Palestine: A Space Invaded Layla Mkhayber CW: mentions of genocide and violence Occupation: an issue fleetingly spoken about as though only a matter of history. From the colonisation of the Americas to the Middle East and everything in between, to occupy is to take up space; to force your way into a home, a piece of farmland, a backyard, a life.

The occupation of Palestine has been a matter that has plagued the feeds of social media, attracting attention through propagandistic displays of Zionist innocence and the murder of civilians. The year of the Nakba in 1948 forced 700,000 Palestinians to be expelled at gunpoint from their ancestral homelands, an ethnic cleansing that was followed by the erasure of 500 Palestinian villages and towns from the face of the earth. Since then, the occupation has resulted in the disarray of Palestinian lives, from the construction of illegal settlements to the displacement of civilians, leaving a heavy sense of nationalistic pride and a hatred for the stealers of their land. The theft of this space has taken place over 70 years, and continues to affect the psyche of generations of Palestinian people.

As a Lebanese-Australian woman, such history has been common knowledge for my people, who experienced a fraction of Israeli occupation with the conquest of Southern Lebanon from 1982 until 2000. I’ve known about Jewish-only roads, police brutality, and the use of rocks as weapons before I knew that people believe the PalestinianIsraeli conflict is a fair and equal war.

Western media outlets continue to dehumanise resistance efforts, and only ever really display public bias in favour of Israel. Furthermore, the dehumanisation of Palestinians has transcended the Occupation, and has exacerbated political debates and military aggression. Palestinian resistance has always been conflated with terrorism, bigotry, and anti-Semitism, and this very amalgamation is a form of emotional violence.

A database exists “…to document the people and groups that are promoting hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews…”

By reporting people who are ‘against Israel’ — active supporters of ‘Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions’ and members of ‘Students for Justice in Palestine’, amongst others — the Canary Mission database serves to conflate anti-Zionist and anti-Israeli resistance with anti-Semitism.

This insinuation — that Palestinian resistance is driven by hateful anti-Semitism rather than it being a response to the theft of their lands and the removal of their basic humans rights — hugely affects the global perception of Palestinian-Israeli relations.

The demonisation of the Palestinian people transcends Occupation and resistance despite continuous efforts

by Israel to deny Palestine’s existence. Prior to the end of 2015, Israel was set in their belief that Palestine should not be recognised by the United Nations, and that the Palestinian flag should not be raised at the UN headquarters.

This is merely the tip of the iceberg. Such efforts of degradation by Israel extend not only through their settlements and emotional violence, but also through with their ‘diverse’ methods of ethnic cleansing. From tanks and rockets, to white phosphorus, and even the poisoning of crops, Israeli efforts to make a “Jewish only” state have occurred relatively unhidden, and yet global passivity has remained the same.

Australia has always welcomed links with Israel. In efforts to strengthen trading and technological ties between the two countries, Australia recently welcomed the Israeli prime minister and war criminal, Benjamin Netanyahu, in February 2017. Such normalised interaction reflects how the Western world is complicit in the ethnic cleansing, suffering, occupation, and resistance of Palestine.

As a country with a controversial human rights history (such as the genocide of Indigenous Australians and our immoral asylum seeker policy), we are unknowingly and actively contributing to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian space, and the dehumanisation of an oppressed people.

Creative Writing — 69

Myths & Constellations Eleanor Harrison-Dengate

There are some 88 constellations visible to us, although most people would be hard-pressed to locate and name more than three. Difficult as it may be to imagine, constellations used to be both a GPS and calendar. As a sailor, they could be your only way to navigate, as a farmer — wherever you happened to live in the world — the stars told you the best time was to plant and harvest.

Aboriginal Australians would look at the great emu to know the best time to harvest emu eggs, while in the Northern Hemisphere seeing the emergence of Orion would herald the arrival of winter.

The most famous constellation of all is Orion’s Belt, and myths surrounding its three consecutive stars crop up all over the world. It is speculated that Orion’s myth was first conceived by the Sumerians. According to them, Orion was the great hero, Gilgamesh, who defeated the Bull of Heaven — the Sumerian equivalent of the Greek constellation Taurus.

There are several Greek myths that tell the story of Orion. The most popular is that of the Pleiades star cluster in the constellation of Taurus. The Pleiades were seven sisters, daughters of Atlas and Pleione. Orion fell madly in love with the heavenly sisters and pursued them until Zeus raised the Pleiades into the sky as stars.

According to the myth, Orion still follows them across the sky each night.

For the rest of the world, stories of bulls and hunters were nowhere to be found. To the Ancient Egyptians, Orion was the God of the Dead, Osiris — the Pyramids of Giza were even built to align with Osiris’ Belt. The story goes that Osiris, a wise god and king, married his sister Isis. His jealous brother, Set, trapped him in a golden chest and sent it down the river Nile. Isis, grieving and desperate, hunted everywhere for her husband and eventually brought his body back to Egypt. When Set found out, he hacked the king’s body into 14 pieces, and scattered the parts all over Egypt. Despite this, Isis and

their son Horus recovered all the pieces, and put Osiris’ body back together. When the gods saw Isis’ dedication and love, Osiris was resurrected as the God of the Dead.

Some cultures didn’t see Orion as a person at all. The Lakota Indians of North America saw Orion as a hand — the three consecutive stars making up the wrist. The hand represents the arm of a great Lakota chief, ripped from its socket as the gods’ punishment for the chief’s selfishness. Similarly, the Yolngu people of Northern Australia also saw the constellation as a symbol of punishment. To them, Orion is a canoe. Their story tells of three brothers who went fishing. One brother ate a fish that was forbidden and the sun-woman, Walu, created a great waterspout that carried him, his two brothers, and their canoe up into the sky.

Today, the relevance of constellations has become almost exclusive to the scientific community: instead of coordinates, scientists use constellations to pinpoint new discoveries.

Astrologists also use the stars to predict the future.

Nowadays astrology is generally the dominion of kooks and hippies, but the tradition dates back at least 3,000 years, and was practiced all around the globe in places like China, Mesopotamia, and the Aztec empire. Stargazers read the heavens and would advise kings and pharaohs. Chinese emperors of the Han dynasty had predictions based on the stars brought to them every day. The horoscopes familiar to us now, were passed down from the ancient Greeks — in second century AD, Ptolemy wrote the first bible of astrology in which each star sign has its own myth.

So, next time you check out the love compatibility of a Virgo and an Aquarius, spare a thought for a time when divination of the stars was taken seriously.

Art — Shelly Shao | strawberryblob.tumblr.com

70 — Arts & Lifestyle

Femme Film — Alien: Director’s Cut (1979) Olivia Stanley

Finding a truly empowering female lead in film today is difficult. By the time credits roll onto the silver screen most ‘heroines’ have been stripped, seduced, and/or ‘saved’.

Sir Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien’ (1979) gave birth to Sigourney Weaver’s character Ellen Ripley, the confident female aboard a doomed commercial spaceship. In six decades of cinema, no female character had shown the strength and integrity that Ripley’s did, and her character regularly tops lists of feminist screen icons.

Ripley authoritatively commands her space, both physical and mental. Her sharp intuition and unwavering self-belief — characteristics rarely granted to female characters — accompanies her on-screen.

This is likely a result of her character being originally conceived as androgynous or male in early versions of the script. She’s notably makeup-less and clothed in a dull unisex jumpsuit, in contrast with many of the hyper-sexualised, lycra-clad sci-fi heroines of today (think Margot Robbie’s sex symbol Harley Quinn in ‘Suicide Squad’).

Ridley even goes as far as to recreate racial, classist and patriarchal hierarchies within the spaceship crew. The most powerful figures are clearly the two educated white men (the captain and science officer), both of whom are prone to quashing the ideas of the rest of the crew in favour of their own. Ridley slips his own critique into the film as the black mechanic and two women are purposely the last few to be killed; a result of their cunning intuition.

The sole survivor is, of course, Ripley, who realises — early on and instinctively — the gravity of the situation.

Surviving the physical and mental trials that the others fail with fatal consequences, Ripley gradually emerges as the film’s most capable character. It’s in the final scenes of the film that she is rewarded for this with her life after defeating the alien Xenomorph alone.

It’s these actions that demand the audience’s respect for Ripley, rather than allowing viewers to decide her value by her feminine traits. She defies the stereotypical characteristics of femininity to transcend the female leads of the past who have been programmed to succumb to their own weaknesses.

So how did a mainstream space film from 38 years ago end up so feminist? ‘Alien’s ‘progressiveness’ is a testament to the power of the director. Ridley Scott (notably a middle-aged white cis-het male) and Sigourney Weaver were able to create Ripley’s strong character simply because they believed it possible and realistic. A known feminist, Scott created a better representation of women in 1979 than most films can manage in 2017.

It goes to show that the ideas and conceptions of those behind the camera are always translated into the final product. ‘Alien’ began with the hardly revolutionary presumption that women are capable of playing strong protagonist roles. And so ‘Alien’ began with the potential for something new.

That potential was born into reality with Ellen Ripley.

As a lead she broke new ground; defying stereotypical norms of cinema at the time and paving the way for feminist leads of the future.

Arts & Lifestyle — 71

Sueper Supper: Sun-kissed Summer Salad Serves 4 | Preparation time – 30 minutes

Sue Cushway is the mother of Bec Cushway, our Vertigo 2017 creative writing and copy editor extraordinaire.

She is one of Vertigo Magazine’s most dedicated readers, and is to our dinner tables what Michelle Obama is to American public school lunches.

Ingredients: – 2 cobs corn - husk removed – 100g tin of black beans - rinsed and drained – 1 mango - peeled and chopped into cubes – 1 red capsicum - chopped into cubes – ½ red onion - chopped finely – ½ cup coriander - chopped coarsely – 1 small red chilli - chopped finely – 1 tablespoon olive oil – 2 tablespoons lime juice – ½ teaspoon salt – ½ teaspoon pepper

How to: – Heat BBQ or a frying pan over medium-high heat and cook corn for 3-4 minutes each side until charred.

– Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly then cut kernels off each cob.

– Combine all ingredients.

– Keep in fridge for up to 2 days.

– Serving suggestions: – Enjoy on its own, or spread a tortilla with mashed ½ avocado, add salad and place in sandwich press for a sun-kissed quesadilla.

Mix it up: Meat-lovers – Cook one chicken thigh per person on BBQ (or in pan) whilst waiting for corn to cool, then chop and add to salad for extra protein.

Fish-lovers – Add a small can of tuna.

Art — Vanessa Papastavros | vanscribbles.tumblr.com

72 — Socio-Cultural

Jesus Feminist Sophie Hawkshaw

Feminist. Christian. They’re two labels that society tells us cannot exist together. Christians ask me, “How can you be a Feminist? Aren’t all feminists angry man-hating devil worshippers who eat babies?” And Feminists ask me, “How can you be a Christian? Aren’t all Christians naïve, brainwashed fun-sponges who think a woman’s place is the kitchen?”

You can be one, but not both.

But then there’s me. Stuck in the middle. I can’t say I feel completely at home in either parties. Society’s portrayal of both these labels, Christian and Feminist, paints neither in a particularly positive light. And I have felt like an outcast in both spaces.

Art — Eden Payne | @edenpain

I was a feminist before I was a Christian. I struggled as a young woman to understand the restrictions society placed on me because of my gender, feeling frustrated and helpless beneath the glass ceiling above me. I found a sense of comradery and connection within Feminism; that I was not alone in my plight and my goals. I thought Christianity perpetuated gender roles and misogyny and played a huge role in keeping that glass ceiling firmly over my head.

But then I met Jesus. I met a Jesus who preached of loving others as a reflection of the love that we are shown through God’s grace. I couldn’t pass that up.

So I became a Christian. I still believed in the equality

Socio-Cultural — 73

of men and women, but feminism was seen as a dirty word and I wasn’t sure if the two could work together.

As I began to learn more about Jesus and his plan for humanity, it became obvious to me that God makes clear the value of all people. The call to love your neighbour doesn’t come with a list of exceptions.

And it’s certainly not gender specific. It’s not love your neighbour, as long as he’s a dude. It’s just love your neighbour, in the same way that Christ loves you (enough to die for you).

I found a new feminist hero in Jesus. If I claimed to be a Christian, not only could I be a feminist, but really, I had to be. I found it impossible to read the teachings of Jesus and not see his message extending across gender barriers. Being a Christian shapes my worldview on everything. Because I follow Jesus I want justice for the oppressed, love extended to asylum seekers and refugees, equal rights for all within our society and community focused government and authority. Being Christian shapes my feminism. As a Christian, my mission is to be more like Christ. That’s the goal. And

The call to love your neighbour doesn’t come with a list of exceptions So I began to claim the identity of Christian, along with Feminist. The two stopped feeling mutually exclusive. I heard the term ‘Jesus Feminist’ and instantly felt at home in the title. I still struggled to understand some of the bible’s writings on women, but as I explored the cultural circumstances that these events occurred within, my understanding shifted. I saw how Jesus’ interactions with women were actually incredibly radical.

Jesus valued women in a way that his time period did not. Women were not seen as equal to men, their opinions were not valued and they were not expected to be educated. But in the life of Jesus, we see him place huge value on women and give them important roles throughout his lifetime. Women were the first to see the empty tomb in a time where a women’s account was not considered trustworthy or legitimate.

Jesus encourages women to study and learn, in a time where women were seen as men’s possessions. There are a heap of examples of Jesus’ value of and vision for women in the bible, but one of my favourites is when Jesus chooses the first person to commission (that is, sent out to tell others about Jesus after He was resurrected) as Mary Magdalene. And you guessed it, Mary was a woman.

I cannot attempt to be more like Christ without being a feminist.

I still struggle with the baggage of both Christianity and feminism, and how they interact. There is fear from both parties. Sarah Bessey explains that feminism simply means that you value the dignity, rights, responsibilities and splendours of women, as equal in value and importance as men. Christianity is simple too; love God, love others. I don’t have to pick between Christianity and Feminism. I can have both, together.

74 — Socio-Cultural

A Room of One’s Own Olivia Stanley from the UTSSA Women’s Collective

A wise woman once wrote: “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” Eightyeight years later the words of Virginia Woolf still ring true — and I believe we need both of those to get through university, too.

Woolf theorised that the talents of female writers could flourish only when afforded similar conditions to those of their male counterparts. This concept is also applicable more widely. The talents of femme-identifying people are much more likely to flourish when not restricted by gender discrimination. A twelve-year-old Australian boy is 5.5 times more likely to grow up to become a CEO than a girl in the same circumstance.

Why? Certainly not because the girl is incapable. It is that her self-confidence and perception of future prospects erode during puberty. Exacerbated by the social expectations to ‘settle down,’ ‘find a husband’, and ‘start a family’ that plague her later years, she finds herself cemented in mid-level company management. Meanwhile, above the glass ceiling is her male counterpart — about to become the company’s CEO. Success is not spontaneous, but rather a result corresponding to the opportunities you receive. It is established fact that women are disadvantaged when it comes to equality of opportunity. With other marginalised identities (women of colour, women with disabilities, women of low socio-economic status, etc.), this disadvantage is extended. This is why safe spaces are important to groups that face discrimination and marginalisation.

Safe spaces (both tangible and intangible) are refuges; they allow people to escape the oppression they face daily, and relieve themselves of the mental and emotional weight that comes with it. Safe spaces allow people to simply be.

As Ms Woolf asserted, safe spaces allow us to truly focus on our passions and our studies, without the constraints that might hold us back in the quotidian. There are expectations to look or behave in a particular way, or to

conform to the role society has set for us. Safe spaces are places we can discuss and explore ideas, collaborate and create with others, all without fear of reprimand. And when everyone is given the chance to create, to truly let their passions thrive, we are rewarded with an orchard of diverse, exciting, and fresh new ideas.

A safe space for femme-identifying people is one of the many things the Women’s Collective works hard to provide for students. Our physical space was claimed by women before us, who climbed into a locked room in the UTSSA and made it their own. Today, we’re continuing their legacy of bold, inclusive and passionate advocacy for women’s rights. Last year we hosted the 2016 National Organisation of Women Students’ Association event at UTS, campaigned against sexual assault on campus, and continued to grow our circle of amazing, vivacious members.

In 2017, Chloe Malmoux-Setz (UTS Women’s Collective Convenor) and Leya Reid (UTS Women’s Officer) are standing alongside the enthusiastic members of the Collective with plans to create a wider community and expand our impact on campus. FemFest, 2017’s year-long campaign, will see the Women’s Collective host regular educational and social events that encourage discussion around women’s rights and celebrate the talents and interests of all femme-identifying people on campus.

We’re also proud of our cosy Women’s Room in Building 5 (CB5D.1.26). It’s filled with the essentials (feminist literature, free sanitary products, and sometimes even jelly snakes). This safe space is autonomous and protected by key-card —meaning only femmeidentifying people on the access list can get in. The Women’s Collective continues to welcome all femmeidentifying people who believe in gender equality and want to unite with like-minded women We’ve got a room of our own and, in 2017, it’s as important as ever.

Creative Writing — 75

They’re doused in light in skin carved from ivory.

Luminescent and whole.

Their past is held in constellations, the future carries them softly.

She’ll eat galaxies for breakfast, and hang the stars by a string.

The universe is hers to create.

To destroy.

And to recreate.

He’s caught in stardust with visions of gold.

Boy of wonder.

Beloved through space, adorned by time.

Alyssa Rodrigo

Art — Wilson Leung | @_whydesign

76 — Reports

Students’ Association Reports

President’s Report — Beatrice Tan Welcome to 2017. My name is Beatrice Tan (or Bea), and I’m the president of UTS Students’ Association (UTSSA) for 2017. The UTSSA is the organisation responsible for representing students and their various needs; we campaign on the behalf of students, have regular meetings and provide essential services.

Before you write off the UTSSA as completely irrelevant to your university experience, I want you to know that we offer free food (yes, you read that correctly). The Bluebird Brekkie Bar provides free breakfast from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.on Tuesdays (in the Haymarket Moot Courtyard) and Wednesdays (in the Tower Building). Our Night Owl Noodle Bar gives you a taste of the exotic on Thursdays, in the Tower Building from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

If you’re worried about your grades, whether or not you’ve passed your subjects, or just want to get ahead, we offer peer tutoring. To apply for a tutor (or alternatively, if you want to be one) pick up a form from the UTSSA office (CB01.03.022).

If you happen to fail an exam, assignment or subject; calm down because it’s more common than you may expect, and then try our caseworker service. Email our reception at student.association@uts.edu.au to get in contact with the caseworkers and book an appointment.

If you ever need legal advice we offer legal consultation through the UTS Student Legal Service. This service, like all our services, is free of charge. They look at a wide range of issues such as housing, employment, family, and traffic and criminal offences.

If you want to get involved in the association, join one of our departments — we have a Women’s, Queer, Enviro, Education, Welfare, Indigenous, Postgraduate,

and Disabilities Department, as well as an International Students Department. If activism isn’t your style you may just wish to contribute to the student publication, Vertigo.

If there’s a cause you’re passionate about, why not create your own PERC Club? These are political, educational, religious or cultural clubs, and to create one just pop into the UTSSA office and pick up a form.

The UTSSA is able to provide all these services thanks to the Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF). This fee amounts to approximately $300 a year for full time students or almost $150 for part-time students, and funds the non-academic services on campus. It’s something normally paid upfront at the start of the semester or deferred through the HELP loan scheme. Each year, the incoming team sets out how this money is spent.

This year, our team has hit the ground running. We have been through induction, put together the UTSSA Student Handbook, as well as organised O’Day. 2017 is a vital year for the Students’ Association, and we are hoping to expand various services (I can’t tell you too much about this at this stage — we’re still planning everything out!) and do some much-needed internal reform.

Contact: president@utsstudentsassociation.org

Treasurer’s Report — Lachlan Barker The start of this term has been successful despite a bit of a slow transition. After getting handovers from the past Treasurer and President for financial matters and how to handle operations, I also spoke with representatives from last year’s Vertigo team who I

Reports — 77

worked with in putting and approving expenditures for the magazine. The effective spreadsheeting by Lauren Meola has given me a good template for managing petty finances and reimbursements, as we are required to keep a record of these.

Our first executive meeting back in December saw a few floating plans for O’Day and I’ve spoken with Mariah and Steph about some of these. I’ve also talked more with Steph about our branding and how to update our logos for T-shirts, stickers and the new website. With the closing of the bookstore and plans to use that space for something else, we’ll have to change some of the icons in the logos.

Currently, I am communicating with Beatrice and planning how the budget should be structured. This is obviously an ongoing process, so the draft budget is still open for internal negotiation and I’d be happy to take suggestions on board from councillors if there are certain initiatives that we want to achieve this year. I’ve also been looking into ways to simplify the reimbursement system, as there are some things we can codify into constitutional reform, and I’ll have a document prepared for our orientation detailing the existing process and what documents are required.

Contact: treasurer@utsstudentsassociation.org

Secretary — Luke Chapman Firstly, I would like to wish you all the best for the academic year ahead. As your 2017 Secretary, I am eager to get to work with my fellow councillors to better represent the student voice on campus and improve student services. All UTS students are invited to attend general meetings of the SRC, which are held monthly.

For insight into what the SRC has been working on, our meeting minutes are available on our Facebook page: (www.facebook.com/UTSStudentsAssociation).

At the beginning of the semester you may have noticed

a charge for the SSAF, which is $147 per semester for full-time students and funds non-academic services, including the UTSSA. The best place to start making the most out of your university experience and SSAF contribution is at O’Day on March 2nd. Drop by the UTSSA stalls where you can join clubs, collectives and collect your UTSSA show bag, packed with useful treats and a copy of the 2017 Handbook. The Handbook and our website (utsstudentsassociation.org.au) detail the free services you can access as a UTS student including free meals, peer tutoring, free legal advice and education caseworkers.

Throughout this year I will be working on improving the governance of the SRC to ensure that the UTSSA is managed sustainably. As the first person from my family to attend university, I will continue to advocate for services that better support working class students, including a textbook loan scheme and student drop in centre.

Contact: secretary@utsstudentsassociation.org

Assistant Secretary — James Wilson Howdy y’all, I’m James and I’m your Assistant Secretary for 2017. What does an Assistant Secretary do, I hear nobody ask? According to the UTSSA Constitution I ‘shall assist the Secretary’, and as Luke has yet to tell me how he likes it, I’ve been put in charge of the Constitutional Change Committee to give my job description, and the organisation as a whole, a little more fleshing out.

If you have any ideas on what would make our Constitution and/or organisation better, or any hot tips on how best to assist the Secretary please feel free to flick me an email. Cheers!

Contact: assistantsecretary@utsstudentsassociation.org

78 — Reports

Education Vice President — Norma Jean

I was more like a Coastie teen, from the north side of Sydney President said she don’t mind, but what do you mean, I am the one Who will nominate on the floor in the round I said you are the one, who will nominate me, on the floor, in the round I told her my name was Norma Jean, and I wanted EVP Then every ballot turned with votes to decide who would be the one Who will be the EVP in the round People always told me be careful what you do Don’t go around breaking intellectual property laws And the President always told me, be careful of who you trust And be careful of what you do, because it may end up in Vertigo Norma Jean is not a writer I’m just a girl who has to write a report every month But I can tell you, the handbook is done Democracy made me the one, and now the handbook is done For forty days and for forty nights, the SA office was never out of sight But who can stand when Vertigo is in demand Of the SA’s schemes and plans Well we wrote this handbook and now it’s done I took some strong advice, and remembered to always check twice We proof read twice, three times!

We told Vertigo we’d submit this report by 3, then they looked at me Then showed a photo of an editor crying, because I didn’t submit on time ‘Cause I was editing the handbook on the floor, I was bound, baby

*Vertigo highly recommends reading to the tune of ‘Billie Jean’ by Michael Jackson.

Norma Jean is not a writer But I’m excited for the SA’s plans for this year Look out the UTSSA’s 2017 Student Handbook around campus And for our stall on O-day, we’ll have goodies and info for you!

Contact: education@utsstudentsassociation.org

Art — Maria Yanovsky

Reports — 79

Welfare Officer — Lachlan Wykes In 2017, the UTSSA Welfare Department will continue supporting students who have experienced financial burden and other difficulties. This year, the role of Welfare Collective Convenor and Welfare Officer will be split between two people, allowing for bigger projects and campaigns, as well as better management of the department.

relating to welfare, as much as possible.

This year we are focusing on creating emergency packs for students in crisis. These will contain a few meals, first aid, sanitary products such as tampons, information on where they can receive help with emergency accommodation, and other services to help them with their particular situation.

The Welfare Collective is a collective of people who wish to improve the welfare of students at UTS. It is non-autonomous (meaning anyone can join) so I greatly encourage all who are interested in student welfare to get involved and share their ideas, but particularly those who identify as coming from low socio-economic backgrounds. The collective is a great place to meet other students in a similar position.

We are also working on promoting awareness on campus for what we do and where we are.

The UTSSA Welfare Department in 2017 will be working closely with the National Union of Students Welfare Department. Currently, we are working on bringing the department’s Fix Centrelink Now campaign to UTS. This campaign targets the consistent attacks on Centrelink and other social services by the government, namely the recent debt recovery disaster that has left many students with financial burdens. I encourage students to get involved with this campaign on the NUS Welfare Department Facebook page. The collective will also continue its work of supporting students from low SES backgrounds this year by reducing the financial burden of textbooks, travel, and other university related fees.

Contact: welfare@utsstudentsassociation.org

Low-SES Collective Covenor — Reagan Ruppel Hello everyone, my name is Reagan Ruppell and I am your Welfare Convener for 2017. The Welfare Department is a non-autonomous collective that operates to aid the general student welfare on campus.

My role is to ensure that students are educated about the services available to them at UTS, while also directing the Collective to help every student with an issue

Last year, the Convener set up the budgeting needed for emergency packs and other initiatives that we will run this year.

We will continue to fund our ongoing breakfast and dinner initiatives and continue to have food and sanitary products available for students in need.

Another big initiative that the welfare department will be working on is a campaign for Your Rights at Work, Uni and Home, an initiative by the National Union of Students to fix Centrelink and ensure students are getting the help they need.

Contact: welfare@utsstudentsassociation.org

Women’s Collective — Chloe Malmoux-Setz At UTS, there is a strong network of women that profit from each other’s companionship, creativity, talent, inspiration, and support. The UTS Women’s Collective is a proud department of the UTS Students’ Association. We are a group of femme-identifying students who come together in solidarity to organise, discuss, and debate issues and ideas for creating a safe and equal learning environment on campus and in the broader general community.

We meet once per week during semester in the Women’s Collective Room and host a variety of events that raise awareness on gender-specific concerns, celebrate the diversity of women, and showcase their creativity and opinions. There are many benefits in joining the collective, including networking and socializing with like-minded people, participating in

80 — Reports

Women’s Collective events, and exploring new ideas and opportunities.

We are a growing community who encourage all femmeidentifying people to prosper. Participation can include going to weekly meetings, attending events, or simply interacting with the community — even if this is only online.

As the Women’s Collective Convener, I am responsible for the organisation and chairing of the weekly meetings. Along with this, I create a support network for femme-identifying people to feel safe and comfortable on campus, as well as providing guidance and a friendly face.

Submit to Vertigo Vertigo is always on the lookout for pitches and submissions of creative fiction and non-fiction writing, visual art, feature articles, news, and reviews in the following sections: Arts & Lifestyle Business & Science Creative Writing

Politics Socio-Cultural Visual Arts

The UTS Women’s Officer, Leya Reid, provides advocacy and promotes assertive action initiatives on campus.

Leya and I will be working very closely together this year and we hope to represent UTS’s femme-identifying students accurately.

Over the years, the Women’s Collective has accomplished a lot on campus. In 2017, Leya Reid and I will be expanding the social and creative network of women at UTS. To accomplish this, we will launch a year-round campaign called FemFest, showcasing the diversity of femme-identifying creativity and opinion.

We are also hoping to engage with more students and members of the UTS community, in the hopes of creating a bigger presence on campus than the Collective has ever had before. To build our community, Leya and I are collaborating with the UTS Haymarket and Broadway Women’s Officers, as well as the National Women’s Officer. Through this, we hope to support each other in launching new campaigns and ideas about femme-identifying students at university. During the year, the Women’s Collective’s community will stand united to tackle sexual assault head-on, eliminate sexism on campus, and promote intersectional feminism.

Students are more than welcome to contact us about joining the collective or if they need guidance on certain matters. Please get in touch — membership is entirely free.

Contact: Chloe — utswomenscollective@gmail.com

Leya — womens@utsstudentsassociation.org

Pitches Have an idea for a piece that isn’t complete?

Briefly answer the following questions: What is the title of your work?

What do you want to write about? (Content and/ or Section) How do you want to write it? (Structure, Style, Tone) How long is your piece going to be?

While this is not necessary, if you have any examples of previous work please attach them to your email.

Submissions Guideline — 81

Nominations Know someone at UTS who may be a mite shy but whose work would be perfect for Vertigo? Please answer the following questions: What is their full name?

What kind of work do they do?

Why do you think their work is suitable for Vertigo?

You can attach a link to their website/Instagram/ portfolio and we’ll take it from there.

Cold Submissions Already have a completed piece in mind to submit?

Send your work straight to submissions@utsvertigo. com.au with a brief summary of the content and relevant themes.

As a general rule of thumb: themed work is good, wellwritten work is better, and well-written themed work is best.

How to Contact Us Email all your pitches, submissions, and nominations to submissions@utsvertigo.com.au and a friendly editor will get in touch with you shortly.

Format Guidelines

Check out our Facebook page for the most recent callout for themed contributions at facebook.com/utsvertigo/ or just send us a message to say hello.

Please send written work in a Word document with 12pt font and 1.5 paragraph spacing.

Please send visual work in PDF format.

Art — Zoe Crocker & Kim Phan

82 — Horoscopes

Horoscopes Jenny Cao

Aries

Libra

Your straightforward nature has set you on the

With the new moon well on its way, you may

path to self-improvement. Why stop there?

be led down an exciting but rocky path. Make

Pick up the phone; call your closest friends and

sure your shoes have good grip, and pack lots

family and point out their flaws, too. Take the

of canned food and party hats for your journey.

journey of bettering oneself together.

Scorpio Taurus

With the moon in perfect alignment with your

Plenty of big changes seem to be on the

chakras, your financial situation seems to be

horizon and you might be uncertain of how to

looking up. This may be the perfect time to

cope with them. Be cautious. Stay completely

invest in some socks. Socks are a worthwhile

still. Do not make any sudden movements.

investment — they may not increase in value

Why deal with change when you can avoid it?

over time, but they do keep your feet warm.

Gemini

Sagittarius

This is a turbulent month so make sure to

You may sense that the energy around you

take some time out to “do you”. Whether that

has not been the most positive this month. To

means taking a bubble a bath in the tears of

ensure good energy flow, block out negative

your enemies or making funny faces at babies

energy by barricading all entries to your room

in the street until they start crying (or you do).

with everything you own. It’s called Feng Shui.

It’s always important to take some RnR. Capricorn Cancer

Your friendships have been put on the back

There is no better time to put forward your big,

burner this month. It’s important to reconnect

bold ideas than today. Your dreams of creating

with those relationships that may not been

the world’s first transportable jaffle maker —

working. Unknown network error. Device not

with inbuilt speakers — may finally come true

installed. Your mouse is not connected. Error

if you have the courage to pursue them.

disc 501.

Leo

Aquarius

As Saturn enters your love-zone you may face

It’s important to get in touch with nature

some difficulty in confessing your feelings to

today, Aquarius. Change your phone

that special someone. Probably because Saturn

background to a tree. Go on a long but not

is trying to lay their own moves on them. Tell

at all tiring walk. Move all your belongings

Saturn to back the hell off.

outside.

Virgo

Pisces

Let go of your inhibitions this month and

As your indecisiveness gets the better of you,

take the reigns of your destiny. If you want to

you may find it difficult to make important

listen to music on the train but forgot your

decisions. Do as any Piscean would do and pick

headphones, well, who cares what people

C. The answer is always C. go and pick C. The

think? Play your obnoxious music really loudly!

answer is always C.

Art — Ryley Miller | alifeofryley.tumblr.com

84 — Section

THE SOURCE

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