WUWO Magazine Edition 18 by WUWO Magazine

The Enemy of Boredom

o N 18 ISSUE

FREE Every Month October - November 8th 2013 wuwomagazine.com facebook.com/whatsupwhatson twitter.com/whatsupwhatson

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH COMEDY GADGETS FASHION GAMING MUSIC SCIENCE

MCM_WUWO_ad_sept_2013.pdf 1 30/08/2013 10:42:35

THE UK’S BIGGEST MODERN POPULAR CULTURE SHOWS

25th-27th October 2013 ExCeL London BUY PRIORITY ENTRY TICKETS IN ADVANCE NOW!

CMY

23rd-24th November 2013 NEC Birmingham

KIDS GO FREE*

General entry 11am. Children 10 and under enter free with a paying adult. Max 2 children per adult. Does NOT apply to early entry.

WUWO Magazine Contributors WUWO Media

08 Think Before You Poke

We examine why Londoners are extremely prone to getting objects stuck on their genitals and getting stuck in kinky handcuffs.

10 Shlomo

He’s an extremely talented beatboxing artist who started out at a very young age. Now he’s rubbing shoulders and playing with the likes of Ed Sheeran, Jarvis Cocker, Noel Fielding and Foreign Beggars. WUWO caught up with Shlomo to talk Astrophysics, technique and social media.

18 Benedict Cumberbatch

His portrayal of Sherlock Holmes propelled him from the small screen to a world full of fame and blockbusters; Benedict Cumberbatch has certainly come a long way in just a few years. WUWO caught up with him to discuss his new film The Fifth Estate, hacking and Star Wars.

24 An Interview with

Christian O’Connell

He’s the voice that 1.5 million people wake up to on the Absolute Radio breakfast show but for the first time in 20 years, Christian took to the stage this year as a comedian. WUWO met up with Christian as he recuperated from his month long stage stint

30 Science: Weather Control

Despite valiant attempts by King Canute, rain dancers and Michael Fish, the weather has so far laughed off our feeble shackles. WUWO investigates whether this overly cruel and smug collection of elements is going to get the karma it deserves any time soon.

Regulars 02 Top Picks

28 Fashion

04 Food

31 Game Play

06 Art Explorer

32 Likes

14 Retronaut

33 Tech

16 DIY

34 Books

22 Gadgets

35 Competition

wuwomagazine.com @whatsupwhatson facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

Editor in Chief Steven Godwin Editor Jack Courtez Copy Editor Lesley Boardman Design & Illustration Marian Hutchinson Danielle Howey Jamie Karr Writers Writers Aleesha Sharma Ben Gore Emma Goodwin Lloyd Paige Matthew Cook Ryan Gardener Sam Fresco Sonal Khandelwal To get in contact about editorial requests: content@wuwomagazine.com Advertising requests: advertising@wuwomagazine.com

WUWO Magazine is published monthly by WUWO Media. We try and make sure all our information is correct but details may be subject to change. Any physical submissions are sent at the owners risk and we will accept no responsibility for loss or damage. Nothing printed in WUWO Magazine can be copied or republished without our written permission.

TOP PICKS

Top Picks Hand-picked, intriguing happenings, venues, clubs, shops and more from London and beyond. Australia Exhibition: London

Oktoberfest

Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD £14, 21 September—8 December 2013, 10am – 6pm

Millwall Park, Manchester Rd, London, Greater London E14 3AY Check online for pricing, 3 – 6 October

The exhibition will display significant artworks which include drawings, paintings, photography and multimedia. Many of these masterpieces have been borrowed from prestigious galleries in Australia and displayed for the first time in the United Kingdom. The work exhibited is inspired from landscape and cultural history, which goes back 200 years.

The festival has migrated from the beerhalls in Germany and will be held in a tent with space for more than 3,000 people. The beers are imported from Germany and served by fräuleins in their traditional Dirndls plus waiters dressed in traditional Lederhosen. Food stalls will offer pork knuckles, bratwursts and pretzels. There will be prizes for the best Bavarian costume and live music from bands playing traditional Schlager music.

Piff the Magic Dragon

Brit Floyd: Pink Floyd Tribute

Soho Theatre, 21 Dean St Soho, London W1D 3NE, £10 – £15 15-27 October, 7.30pm

Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore London SW7 2AP £19.50 – £32.50, 22 October

A magic show filled with mystical art and an assistant chihuahua in a dragon costume called Mr Piffles. Sounds great doesn’t it? John van der Put created the character of Piff the Magic Dragon by mixing self deprecating humour and poker-face delivery in a dragon costume. Their debut show at Edinburgh Fringe Festival broke the fringe record box office takings and now they’re back with new tricks for a new show.

A performance by this legendary British band in a world famous venue for a full three hours, is surreal for fans of Pink Floyd. The band is celebrating their 40th anniversary by recreating their record breaking 1994 ‘Division Bell’ Tour. P-U-L-S-E 2013 (The Pink Floyd Ultimate Light & Sound Experience) will include performances of five albums, which includes Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall, The Division Bell and The Dark Side of The Moon.

wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

TOP PICKS

Circus of Horror

Stripped

Lyric Hammersmith, Lyric Square, King St, London, W6 0QL, £20 – £35, 28 October – 16 December, 7.30 pm,

Leicester Square Theatre, 6 Leicester Pl London, Greater London WC2H 7BX, £10, 4 November, 7pm

Britain’s got Talent finalists, Circus of Horror have impressed audiences around the world with their death defying leaps.

Story of a good girl who is a victim of cunning club owners, malicious strippers, foxy madams and lecherous businessmen and is based on Hannah Chalmer’s autobiography. It is directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair, who has been nominated for and won various awards for work he has done in the past.

The show involves aerial acrobatics, sword swallowing and dare devil acts which have been a super hit amongst the audiences. Their present show focuses on London between 1665 and 1666. During that time plague was common and the Great Fire incident had killed many people.

This one woman show is witty, sarcastic and explores the exploitation present in a strip club, inspired from real life experience. The show is not suitable for under 16’s.

MCM London Comic Con

Discover Dogs

Excel Centre, Royal Victoria Dock, London E16 1XL 25-27 October, £12 – £29.50

Earls Court, Warwick Rd, London SW5 9TA, 9-10 November, 10am-5pm

Dust off your costume and join thousands of comic, gaming, TV and film fans for this weekend event, now boasting a bigger space. Celebrity photo opportunities, guest panels, theatre productions, TV, film and game previews, fan organised shows, official after parties and hundreds of stalls makes this a must-attend event. www.mcmcomiccon.com/london wuwomagazine.com

This is the place to see thousands of friendly canines wagging their tails at you with over 200 breeds to meet. Professionals will present their well trained dogs and advise you on how you can train yours. Dog lovers will get to learn important facts about distinctive breeds, health tips plus hints on dog walking. If you want to show off your photographic skills, enter the competition for a chance to win the Dog Photographer of the Year award.

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

FOOD AND DRINK

Food and Drink Meat munching, Street snacking and cocktail concocting content created to provide palates with delectable dishes The best trick to stay alive in the food business is to keep up with the trend, so here they are—Eat My Pie and Kimchi Cult, doing their thing. They also provide catering services to events and other occasions with some exciting courses and offers.

Kimchi Cult A joint venture by Danny O’ Sullivan and Sarah Hogg is inspired by Korean sliders; miniature burgers topped with kimchi. The recipes are a blend of traditional Korean flavours and Western fast-food, served with their own kimchi and marinades. They also retail their kimchi in jarred containers for customers to take home. You will find them in the Black Heart pub in Camden, where they reside. They are scattered all over London on different days. To find them, visit their website www.kimchicult.com or follow them on Twitter @kimchicult

Eat My Pie Want to try something local and traditional? Some good news for British food lovers; Andy Bates has travelled around the world trying different flavours and now has his own mini venture, where he offers simple and quality British dishes with modern tastes to his customers. Eat My Pie serves some carefully hand crafted gourmet pies to treat your stomach. If that’s not enough, they have bigger pies for a feast. They also do wedding cakes and pork pie-cakes to escalate your pie fetish. Find them at King’s Boulevard on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, at White Cross Street and Saturdays at Broadway Market in Hackney. To know more, follow them on Twitter @eatmypies

wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

FOOD AND DRINK

Food and Drink Meat munching, street snacking and cocktail concocting content created to provide palates with delectable dishes. The best trick to stay alive in the food business is to keep up with the trend, so here they are—Eat My Pie and Kimchi Cult, doing their thing. They also provide catering services to events and other occasions with some exciting courses and offers.

wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

FOOD AND DRINK 05

Cocktail of the Month: Bellini Blue Cocktail Imagine spending a romantic date beneath the boundless deep blue sky and glistening stars with a glass of Bellini Blue and a mouthful of sweet cherry. It can be a great idea when you want to pop the question to your partner with those four magical words – will you marry me? If she says yes, it’s time to celebrate, but if she says no, at least you have an ego soothing, liver bruising drink to hand.

wuwomagazine.com

Ingredients ● 25ml Blue Curacao liqueur ● 25ml Peach Schnapps ● 180ml sparkling white wine ● Cherry How to make it 1. 2. 3. 4.

Grab a sizeable cocktail glass Pour Blue Curacao and Peach Schnapps into the glass Blend it with sparkling white wine Toss in a cherry

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

FOOD AND DRINK 05

wuwomagazine.com

Ingredients ● 25ml Blue Curacao liqueur ● 25ml Peach Schnapps ● 180ml sparkling white wine ● Cherry How to make it 1. 2. 3. 4.

Grab a sizeable cocktail glass Pour Blue Curacao and Peach Schnapps into the glass Blend it with sparkling white wine Toss in a cherry

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

ART EXPLORER

Canis Lupus

deliberately ambiguous

Acherontia Lachesis wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

Symmetria 1

ART EXPLORER

Art Explorer WUWO trawls through galleries, displays, comics and street art every month to bring you the bizarre, inspiring and cutting edge work in London. Sara Hoque’s acrylic and collage work focuses on the human obsession to seek order from chaos. This drives our need to find ‘meaning’. Through the careful construction of image and geometry to create visually appealing psychedelic patterns, our insatiable appetite for symmetry and rhythm emerges. Visually appealing formations appeal to our unconscious and have the ability to mesmerize.

Deilphelia Elpenor

wuwomagazine.com

Drawing inspiration from symbols of religious, magical and commercial nature, the pieces become deliberately ambiguous, hinting at a higher meaning. The image aims to evoke a sense of familiarity which cannot quite be grasped; this often appears in the form of animals, as they hold a mystical or symbolic nature in religion and mythology. Inspired by the unexplainable and our ability to find pattern in randomness, no distinct conclusion can be drawn from the work.

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

RESCUE

Think Before You Poke

WUWO examines why Londoners are extremely prone to getting objects stuck on their genitalia or getting stuck in kinky handcuffs.

Trapped animals rescued over three years:

1,623

When most people think of the fire brigade they imagine burly men rescuing cats from trees. However, statistics released by the London Fire Brigade shows that being called out to rescue trapped humans is nearly as common as rescuing trapped animals. Some of these rescues might be legitimate, such as people falling into holes or getting locked out on a rooftop or balcony, but a breakdown of statistics shows that our weird fetishes are also getting us in trouble: • 9 men with rings stuck on their penises • 1 man with his penis stuck in a toaster

1,300

Trapped humans rescued over three years:

wuwomagazine.com

Third Officer Dave Brown said: “Some of the incidents could be prevented with a little common sense. I don’t know whether it’s the Fifty Shades effect, but the number of incidents involving items like handcuffs seems to have gone up.”

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

RESCUE 09

incidents involving children with their fingers stuck in toys, including one with Lego stuck on his finger

incidents where people had their hands stuck in blenders

incidents involved people being trapped in handcuffs

2010/11: Trapped incidents: 416

man with his penis stuck in a vacuum cleaner

2011/12: Trapped incidents: 441 2012/13: Trapped incidents: 453 Aside from fetishism, another common trend in these callouts appears to be a humorous and occasionally dangerous mix of curiosity and stupidity such as: • 5 incidents involving people’s hands being stuck in shredders • 1 man with his arm stuck in a portaloo • 1 adult stuck in a child’s toy car • 1 adult with a test tube stuck on their finger • 1 child with a tambourine stuck on its head • 1 man with a sewing machine needle stuck in his finger

wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

MUSIC

Shlomo He’s a talented beatboxing artist who started out at a very young age; now he’s rubbing shoulders and playing with the likes of Ed Sheeran, Jarvis Cocker, Noel Fielding and Foreign Beggars.

WUWO caught up with Shlomo to talk Astrophysics, technique and social media. When did you first discover your beatboxing talent? I started off when I was eight years old. I got a drum kit for my birthday and I used to practice on drums all the time. To avoid being too noisy, I instinctively started doing it with my mouth.

and played percussion in classical orchestra. Artists whom I consider my heroes are like Stevie Wonder, Micheal Jackson and so on. What kind of challenges have you encountered in beat boxing? The goal in my Human Geekbox Show is to write a song in two hours with different local artists for each show.

When did you decide to make it your career?

What was the most difficult technique to learn?

At 18 I had applied for Astrophysics, but eventually dropped out and started working on my music instead; I had my day job until I was 21. One day at work, I got a voice message from Björk saying that she saw my beat boxing on the internet and she wanted me to record with her on her album. I left my day job after that and took my music career full time.

I was asked to do beat boxing with full orchestra and Anna Meredith wrote the Concerto for me; it was so hard because I am used to making my own music. I took it as a challenge to learn someone else’s music.

How did your family react to your career choice?

Being associated with some biggest names in the music industry like Bjork and now collaborating with upcoming pop wonder Ed Sheeran, how do you position yourself as an artist?

Initial response was like What?! But after seeing me on TV and hearing me on radio, they were supportive to my music. My mum managed my music career for three years.

I used to worry about positioning myself and how people see me as an artist. As I got a bit older, it was more about my journey and music I love. But now, I just do my thing and hope for the best.

What inspired you to be a beatboxing artist?

How long do you warm up before a gig?

I love drumming, but working with a kit you are a bit shackled on stage, whereas, in beat boxing you can do things on stage so quickly and efficiently. I find it inspiring and fun. Who has been your major musical influence?

In Edinburgh Festival I did five shows a day, so I had to roll with it. But when I am on a tour, I usually get time in the afternoon to go through my things and get my voice in place.

I grew up listening to jazz. I studied classical music wuwomagazine.com

You have travelled around the world to do live performances, do you enjoy studio recording?

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

MUSIC

Beat boxing is more of a live performance thing. To appreciate beat boxing you have to be in the room. I do studio recording that lifts you up, which doesn’t sound gimmicky. You’re a World Loopstation Champion, how did you manage the pressure amongst other competitors? I entered the competition for fun, I had really not thought of winning. The performers were brilliant, so I just stopped trying to compete with them and had fun on stage instead. Why do you prefer social media to find local artists? How important is social media to you? It’s an instant way to connect with people. I got an amazing response from people suggesting me local artists they love in their town. It’s great to know how quickly you can connect to local people through social media.

An Interview with

The 1975

This Manchester based four piece is generally described as alt-rock, but their diverse influences leak out of wherever they’re pigeon holed. WUWO spoke to singer Matthew Healey regarding genre busting, DIY recording and 1975 (the year).

What is your idea behind bringing local artists together onstage with you? It gets very lonely travelling around when I am doing a solo show. Involving local artists is a way to also connect with local people and know their culture. Sometimes I get bored of my own voice, which prompts me to create different performances every night. You organise Charity Collaborator Challenge for War Child. Why War Child? It’s an amazing cause. The show I am doing is Human Geekbox, which is about me as a child growing up to be a father and my own child’s journey. I feel very lucky to be in the position that I am in and the life I’ve had. My son is lucky too and most probably the people who are coming to see my show are really lucky: we should share some of that luck with those children who aren’t so lucky. The show will be recorded for charity download and the charity album will be released after end of the tour.

How would you describe your band’s style? There’s a big kind of stylistic polarity in everything that we do so, I don’t know; we’ve been described as art pop, I quite like that. One of my favourite ones was guitar-n-b. For your new album you worked with producer Mike Crossey, who’s worked for some of the most successful current UK bands. How has it felt working with him? There’s a lot of bullshit that gets passed around and everyone’s like “oh you need to work with this producer”. We went with Mike because he was the first person to tell us that he wanted to make our record. He wanted to pretty much take everything that we had and just help us make it sound better and just go in at a kind of co-production level. To be honest with you, we have a lot of respect for his back catalogue. But those kinds of bands aren’t really relevant to us. Jaws, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Monty Python and the Holy Grail were all released in 1975.

wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

HISTORY 13

This Month in History 1917 Special Event: The Soviet Revolution didn’t happen

In 1917 there was revolution in the air of Russia. In March of that year, the February Revolution ended with the collapse of the Russian Empire and had led to the establishing of a democratic government. The October Revolution then overthrew that government and seized control of Petrograd (then the nation’s capital city). The revolution ended with civil war across Russia which lasted until 1922 with the establishment of the world’s first constitutionally socialist state. Due to the old calendar system used in Russia at the time, although it was October then, the October Revolution did not really start until November.

1869

Birth: Mahatma Ghandi

Which one would you say was your favourite? It’s between One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Monty Python. Ahh well fucking hell, I can’t decide between those, they’re two of my favourite movies. It’s been an absolutely massive year for you, you’ve reached Number 2 in the UK Indie charts, the top 20 of the regular charts, you’ve played at Glastonbury, supported The Rolling Stones, you’re releasing your debut album and you’re about to go on tour again. How has this whole year felt? It’s almost as if someone’s kind of flicked a switch and we were allowed to do what we’ve always talked about doing. LONDON TOUR DATES 10-Jan-14 London O2 Academy Brixton 11-Jan-14 London O2 Academy Brixton

The 2nd of October 1869 will always go down in history as the day that, in Pobandar, India, Mahatma Ghandi was born. The man, who has since become something of a national and international hero, spent his life fighting for the rights of the Indian people through non-violent protests. He was imprisoned several times for his efforts, but stood as a symbol of hope and as a moral compass for the people of India while under the oppression of British Imperial rule. His influence has stretched worldwide and to many world leaders, both past and present. US President Barrack Obama once said of Ghandi “[he] changed the world just by the power of his ethics.”

1959 Media Release: The Twilight Zone

Since its first episode on the 2nd of October 1959, Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone has cemented itself into popular culture. It stood as an anthology series with each episode taking up a different unrelated story in a range of genres, from science fiction to horrors, thrillers, fantasy and drama. From its iconic theme tune to its end credits, the show was thirty minutes of plot twists and moral dilemmas. Throughout its five seasons it featured the acting of such soon-to-be-stars as William Shatner, Robert Redford, Dennis Hopper and many more.

1888

Patent: the Ballpoint Pen

It was on October 30th 1888 that the first patent for a ballpoint pen was issued. Created by John J. Loud, the invention consisted of a tube full of ink with a small ball attached at the end, which would allow him to write onto leather. The ballpoint pen succeeded in doing this but was not deemed commercially viable until two Hungarian brothers, László and György Biró patented their pen of a similar mechanism fifty years later. wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

RETRONAUT

Retronaut

Magazines through the ages Magazines sell by catering to the needs of their readers. By looking back at previous covers we can examine the needs of each magazine’s demographic and how it has changed or disappeared. Retronaut takes you back in time to visit the sometimes groundbreaking, occassionally disturbing and frequently sensationalist world of features journalism. Blade Runner Fictional magazines, which appeared in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi film to fill up the newstand shelves in one of the street scenes. These tongue-in-cheek covers were created by Tom Southwell, a production illustrator. Esquire Is a men’s magazine designed around masculine interests. The magazine pioneered the trend of new journalism by adding unconventional topics, feature stories and works written by William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway and others. Girl Watcher The magazine described itself as a ‘humourous magazine’ with funny editorial content and voluptuous images of young women. The readers of this magazine seemed to be chauvinists. The publication included features like ‘ How to stalk girls.’

wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

RETRONAUT

Joe Weider

Modern Photography

Joe Weider was a body building icon born in Canada, who started his own fitness magazine at the age of 20, with most of the content being written by him. He was named ‘Publisher of the Year’ by The Periodical and Book Association in 1983.

The magazine was renowned in New York City for 52 years until it ceased publication in 1989. The cover stood out by using bold typography which continued throughout the editorial content. Radio Times

Playboy The magazine started out as a top shelf magazine featuring nude women. The rabbit logo, created by art designer Art Paul has a “humorous sexual connotation” as explained by Hugh Hefner the American magazine’s publisher, so giving it a playful approach.

wuwomagazine.com

Is owned by the BBC and was first issued on 28th September 1923, carrying details of BBC radio programmes. It captured leading writers and illustrators of those times. Special editions had distinct classic designs and it was the world’s first listing magazine.

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

DIY

DIY Every month WUWO brings you some simple ideas to spruce up your place, recycle your junk and save money in the process.

Tin Can Lantern How about making lanterns using cans you would usually throw into your dustbins! It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t cost too much; all you need is a lighter to unleash beauty from an ordinary item. An easy and affordable way to decorate an indoor or outdoor garden.

You Will Need Can Drill Baling wire Pliers Spray paint Tea light candle

Method

1 2 3

Take an empty can, create your design by making holes in the can with a drill

Drill holes on each side of the can to insert baling wire. With the help of a pair of pliers, make a handle

Use a spray paint to colour the can and the handle. Put the tea light candle in it

wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

DIY 17

Keyboard Frame An interesting home decor gift for friends, relatives or even yourself, using something you would normally have thrown out.

You Will Need Old computer keyboard Screwdriver Flat photo frame Black acrylic paint Hot glue gun Plastic cutter

Method

Remove the keys from the board with the help of a screwdriver and clean it with a wet cloth

Paint the flat frame with black acrylic paint

W A S ~ Z D

U R T I Y F G O P X C [ ] H J K L ; V M \ B . ; ? , N

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

Cut off the protruding part behind the keys with a plastic cutter to even it out

Stick the keys on the frame with the help of a glue gun

Pick a photo and slide it into the frame

wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

CELEBRITY

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH Mini Hedline

Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal of Sherlock in the self-titled highly acclaimed Sam Wills began performing thethe agesmall of 13 as an apprentice clown in New Zealand. BBC series catapulted him at from screen to the world of blockbusters 21 years later, his prop basedin comedy show ‘The Boy With Tape On His Face’ is one just a couple of years. of the most highly anticipated acts at the Edinburgh Fringe. WUWO peeled back the tape to talk comedy.

The Fifth Estate is the controversial drama-thriller re-enactment of Julian Assange’s life and the Wikileaks saga. While the feature was attacked by Assange as “a lie built upon a lie”, he described Benedict as “personally supportive” of Wikileaks. WUWO spoke to Benedict ahead of the film’s premiere and ahead of the upcoming third season of Sherlock to discuss Wikileaks, hacking and Star Wars. Do you ever get used to screaming fans? No! And when they start chanting my name, it’s like, ‘No, no – this is all very peculiar!’ My day job is standing in front of a camera but I’m doing my job and I am an actor, I’m not a spokesperson or political pundit or an expert.

I think you portray him as a human being and let an audience decide. It’s not for me to judge him You’ve had a sharp rise to fame, how does it feel? I’m flattered and I can take a compliment but I’m a very small cog in the wheels of extraordinary films. A very proud cog in those wheels. Stop the extended metaphors! Sorry. You know I’m very, very happy because they are very different pieces of work so I’m thrilled. It’s an embarrassment of riches, it really is.

wuwomagazine.com

Is there a lot of pressure playing a character like Julian Assange? Of course. Did you speak with the real Julian Assange in preparation? I didn’t have any direct access to Julian no. He stated very clearly at the beginning of the project he didn’t want to condone the film because of the perspective that it was showing him in and the story. So that was a sort of closed door. He felt it was based on accounts that were antithetical to his point of view and I completely respected that. A few emails were the only direct communication I had with him. I think it’s no secret that he didn’t want the film to be made, he thought it was based on the two most poisonous accounts of events and himself and he thought it might damage WikiLeaks or him but I hope he will be pleasantly surprised by the end results that it will do anything but that. What was it like to see yourself with his hair? I thought I could possibly spring him out of that embassy until I realised that then it would mean that I would probably be incarcerated for a while. But yeah, it was quite spooky yeah. It was a moment. Newspapers and TV coverage has made people familiar with Assange’s appearance, sound and speech pattern. Was it difficult to recreate something people are so aware of? I wouldn’t say more difficult, it was just a very different set of challenges. There’s an immediate comparison because there is an awful lot of footage on Julian out there. I hope that I portrayed him with a balanced and three-dimensional humanity that shows a varying

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

CELEBRITY 19

> Full Name: Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch > Born: July 19, 1976 in London > Acting Debut: A School production of A Midsummer Nightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dream > Family Fame: He is the son of fellow actors Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham

wuwomagazine.com @whatsupwhatson facebook.com/whatsupwhatson wuwomagazine.com @whatsupwhatson facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

CELEBRITY 00

Person’s Name Mini Hedline Sam Wills began performing at the age of 13 as an apprentice clown in New Zealand. 21 years later, his prop based comedy show ‘The Boy With Tape On His Face’ is one of the most highly anticipated acts at the Edinburgh Fringe. WUWO peeled back the tape to talk comedy.

wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

CELEBRITY

degree of his characteristics. And hopefully you’ll come away understanding him and seeing a bit more of him than you have before. But I don’t know, I’m the worst person to judge that. Did your impressions of Assange shape your portrayal of his character? That’s a good question. I mean my impressions of him before I started making the film were that he was a publisher of this incredible site, this incredible organisation called WikiLeaks. And I understood what their mission statement was and I was really intrigued by it when it broke as a news story back in June 2010. Some see him as a villain, others as a hero. How do you balance such contrasting opinions in a film? I think you portray him as a human being and let an audience decide. It’s not for me to judge him, I’m an actor who is portraying him. But of course I have a certain amount of empathy for him because I had to go some distance to be close to him and understand him. But beyond that it’s futile of me to offer an opinion about whether he’s a goodie or a baddie and I think it also denigrates the film, it’s not what the film is about.

I think personally that we show a man, his idea, his integrity and his self sacrifice that he had to pursue to see that through What do you expect Julian Assange’s reaction to be to the film to be? I’m not a betting man but I’ll imagine he won’t particularly want to support the film but we’ll have to wait and see. I think personally that we show a man, his idea, his integrity and his self sacrifice that he had to pursue to see that through. I think we show the achievements of WikiLeaks between 2007 and 2010, electoral reform in Nigeria, the exposure of corruption in the banking systems in Iceland and a lot of Western Europe and Tibetan suppression by the Chinese and the huge, huge, huge achievements that that organisation made. I think there’s a lot to celebrate about his achievements. wuwomagazine.com

What did you know about hacking? I’m very computer illiterate so it was fascinating to explore that aspect of him and learn about Julian’s pioneering work in computer programming and hacking. It was an education and not one that came naturally. Rumour has it that you’re to appear in the next Star Wars movie, can you set the record straight? Here’s the deal right. No matter what anyone has said or anyone is talking about, no matter what any blogger or anyone else is saying, this is the simple truth – J.J. [Abrams] and I have worked together before and I’d love to work with him again. There’s been no offer made and that’s that. I genuinely don’t know. But everyone else seems to! Nothing has been cast in that film yet apart from, as we know, the return players from the original film.

GADGETS

Gadgets Some gadgets will save you time, bring you amusement or make life easier, others will do the opposite. Each month WUWO separates the two and brings you practical, fun and occasionally absurd gadgets.

3 1

2 1. Literary Kindle Fire Covers £20.99

2. Waterproof Bath Duck Radio £8.95

3. Spy Watch £79.99

Perhaps one of the worst things about the Kindle Fire and any other device designed for electronic reading, is that no one can tell how smart you are anymore. In the olden days, a person might step onto a train sit down and start reading Moby Dick only to have everyone else turn to the person next to them and whisper “oh, look at them, they must be smart. They’re reading Moby Dick.” Luckily, though, these literary Kindle covers will show the world just how much of an intellectual you are, or alternatively create the illusion of intellectualness while you are secretly reading 50 Shades of Grey.

No bath is complete without a little yellow rubber duck floating in the tub alongside you.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be James Bond? Well if you don’t mind not getting shot at, not getting all the girls, not getting your Martini (neither shaken nor stirred), then this gadget will make you feel just like Bond.

www.firebox.com

www.gadgets.co.uk

wuwomagazine.com

It’s one of the few things that make taking a bath better than taking a shower, but for the most part bathing can be a rather boring act. So just imagine if that little duck floating alongside you was playing some of your favourite music. Well that’s exactly what the Waterproof Bath Duck Radio offers – a chance to listen to your favourite radio stations while enjoying a nice wash.

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

With 4GB of storage, this watch can record video and audio, take photos and … oh yeah … it can tell you the time. All you need is a tuxedo and you’ll inconspicuously fit in at any fancy bad guy party or other such place a spy might be needed.

www.menkind.co.uk @whatsupwhatson

GADGETS

4 5 4. Personalised Whac-A-Mole Game £22,324.26

5. Self-Stirring Mug £11.95

6. Rechargeable Corkscrew CR00RA £20

This is possibly the classiest book-case-come-classic-arcade/ amusement-park-entertainment unit ever made.

Teaspoons are now a thing of the past with this Self-Stirring Mug. Gone are the hassles of searching through the cutlery drawer to find that ever-elusive stirring utensil. Gone are the days of over-exerting yourself as you whir that spoon around in an attempt to perfectly mix your coffee with your milk.

Here is an elegant solution to the corkscrew conundrum. This electric bottle opener will decork your Chardonnay with the greatest of ease.

Closed up, it’s a nice sophisticated shelving unit with a wonderful walnut veneer. Opened, it’s your very own personalised take of the whac-a-mole game. Pick and choose some of the people who annoy you most – friends, family, colleagues, politicians – and have them transformed into caricature moulds to replace the moles, then enjoy hours of fun/anger management as you repeatedly bash their brains in, in an attempt to beat your previous high scores. www.hammacher.com wuwomagazine.com

Ok…well, stirring has never really been much of a chore but luckily now it can be not-muchof-a-chore no more. At the press of a button this mug will do the stirring for you. It even comes with a lid so you can keep your drink nice and warm.

www.red5.co.uk facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

No more wrestling with the bottle to give you your wine when the cork gets stuck. Just simply remove the foil, slip the device over the neck of the bottle, press a couple of buttons and hey presto. With a rechargeable battery which will last for the opening of 40 bottles, this is a handy gadget for dinner parties, romantic meals and lonely alcoholism.

www.debenhams.com @whatsupwhatson

COMEDY

wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

COMEDY 25

An INTERVIEW with CHRISTIAN O’CONNELL Christian is the voice that 1.5 million people wake up to in the London area through Absolute Radio’s breakfast show. Christian broke out of the Studio in August and got as far as Edinburgh, where he made his stand-up appearances in nearly 20 years. This is 13 is the story of his “things to do before I’m 40 list” he wrote when he was 13, and his attempt to tick off everything from the list. WUWO met up with Christian as he recuperated from his month long stage stint. So this year marked your stand-up debut at Edinburgh, did being a DJ prepare you for this? I was a mixture of excited and nervous but mainly excited. I’d done 16 warm up, sort of preview shows. They were about twenty minutes too long but I guess that was a better position to be in than it being twenty minutes too short and going “oh crikey what am I going to do for twenty minutes – chuck in a Q&A in the end?” Do you have a best heckle to date? The best heckle I had was a few Saturdays ago. Someone had asked whether I wanted to see their bag and I thought they meant handbag, but it was actually a colostomy bag. It was a woman who had survived bowel cancer which is incredible but it was definitely the weirdest heckle I’ve ever had – “do you want to see my bag?” Explain what ‘This is 13’ was about? Hopefully jokes; it’s a 40 year old man talking about being a teenager and being a married 40 year old man with kids. Also the story of me trying to do this list that I made when I was 13, of things that I wanted to have done by the time I’m 40. If we made a Rocky style training montage of you preparing, what would it look like? You’ll see me having a date with Kelly LeBrock who was my first teenage crush - the 13 year old me was obsessed with her, having a fight with the original Darth Vader in his outfit – Dave Prowse in the woods wuwomagazine.com

in Epsom – and falling off my bike as I try to become the new British BMX champion by taking on the current 61 year old, veteran BMX champion – he thrashed me and I fell off my bike.

I’ve been very lucky as I’ve had great reviews. How does it feel when you read the reviews of your show, do you read the reviews? Yeah some of them, I mean the most important people who listen to the show are people who listen to the show. They let you know what they like and don’t like so I’m pretty used to reading reviews when it’s in a newspaper and stuff like that. But crikey, I try not to take it too seriously as it’s just one person’s thoughts – I’ve been very lucky as I’ve had great reviews. Sometimes I’ve had one or two which are kind of okay but it’s not something I really worry about. From drunken rambling singers to prime ministers, who have been your best and worst guests and why? Worst guest is very easy – Steven Seagal, who was playing a guitar in the background and couldn’t be bothered to talk to me; it was like pulling teeth. Best

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

WUWO COMEDY

wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

COMEDY 27

guest for me would have to be Jerry Seinfeld – I’m a massive fan of Seinfeld so getting to meet Jerry and interviewing him and it being really good fun was a little highlight for me. After being disappointed by the Steven Seagal interview, can you watch Under Siege without shedding a tear? Yes I can still admire the man’s work; it’s hard knowing that we’re never going to be best friends forever – BFFs. Did you enjoy being out of the studio? I really enjoyed it and it’s nice to do something different, a new challenge. It’s nice also with radio as you don’t see the audience, you get feedback from texts and tweets but to actually get in front of people and have that connection when it goes well is incredible.

My kids nicked my credit card and shoved it in the CD player. So now that you’ve ticked off Edinburgh from your bucket list, what else is left on it? Trying to get my credit card out of the car CD player! My kids nicked my credit card and shoved it in the CD player. They were playing a game of cash machine and the garage have charged me £200 to try and get it out, so I’m trying to work out whether I can be like MacGyver and get it out any other way. If you had a jukebox, five track choices and a pound, what would your five track choices be? We’d have to have some Bruce Springsteen on there; I’d probably go Thunder Road , Billy Joel – Piano Man, Stone Roses – Ten Storey and Waterfall and AC/DC – Thunderstruck. wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

FASHION

Fashion WUWO's fashion section seeks out the best, the boldest and the freshest in fashion, presented in digestible chunks alongside exclusive item giveaways.

BARTS Chaku Bomber £36.99  www.ellis-brigham.com

THE JEWELLERY CHANNEL Purple Wonderland Bangles £3.99 www.thejewellerychannel.tv

ON TREND

PUFFA Tina Jacket £100 www.puffa.com

wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

FASHION

MIGHTY HEALTHY Enthusiasms T-shirt £30 www.yukka.co.uk

WESC League of Happy Campers Jacket £190 WeSC Store Carnaby Street

EASTPAK Orbit £35 www.eastpak.com

spot on wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

30 SCIENCE

Weather Control As a species that prides itself on its ability to adapt to and conquer its surroundings, the weather’s stubbornness projects a global middle finger on humanity’s attempts at total control. Despite valiant attempts by King Canute, rain dancers and Michael Fish, the weather has so far laughed off our feeble shackles. WUWO investigates whether this overly smug collection of elements is going to get the karma it deserves any time soon.

Hurricane Prevention – Ocean surface temperature reduction

In just a decade, hurricanes and tropical storms in the Western Hemisphere alone caused $379.5 billion in damage. Despite the effect of these storms on people, property and nature, research into prevention has been limited and often derided as not possible. In July 2009, Microsoft billionaires Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold teamed up with British maritime engineer Steven Salter, to patent a method of preventing and reducing tropical storms. Hurricanes form when a storm moves from land to the ocean, the warm air it carries with it is boosted by the evaporation of warm surface water on oceans.

Making it rain commonly refers to throwing a lot of notes over a stripper’s head to increase their performance. Surprisingly, literally making it rain works on a similar principle (if you replace strippers with clouds and currency with particles of Silver Iodide). Rain is naturally formed by water particles grouping together and freezing until they are no longer light enough to be supported, thus causing them to fall to earth, usually melting on the way. Cloud Seeding is a method of speeding up this process by adding particles of silver iodide, table salt, dry ice or liquid propane. Salt and silver iodide work because their crystalline structure attracts water particles and causes nucleation (super cooling of the water droplets) causing it to freeze rapidly. Dry ice and liquid propane work because their transformation from a liquid to a gas has a cooling effect. This causes a temperature drop in the cloud which rapidly freezes the particles.

Global Warming Rollback – Nuclear Warfare / Mild Impact Winter

The patents filed aim is to reduce the surface temperature below the critical point of 26.5C, thus destroying the storm’s catalyst. The idea only requires a load of old tyres and a bit of piping. 100m poles float from the surface of the ocean downwards, using tyres at the top to keep one end above the water. As waves fall over the top of the poles, the warm water at the top pushes water out of the bottom. Over time, hundreds of these could lower the temperature and prevent tropical storms.

Making it Rain

If the idea of rising sea levels frightens you but skiing in the now heavily irradiated Bahamas tickles you, an impact winter may be your best option for weather manipulation. In the past, impact winters have been caused by supervolcanoes and asteroids filling the upper atmosphere with material which blocks some light and radiation from the sun. The force of nuclear weapons is predicted to have a similar effect as it would throw dust and ash into the air in the same quantities. More seriously, some climate engineers suggest a less harmful sulphur dioxide option, which could block out 1% of the sun’s heat and not lead the planet into a full-blown, year long winter of famine and destitution.

wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

GAME PLAY

Gameplay Here’s our monthly gaming top picks for all your black mirrors. Just Dance 2014 (PS3/Wii/Wii U/60) – 4 October Dancing in front of a TV is limited to those celebrity work outs your mum still has on VHS, inebriated social gatherings and children’s sleepovers. With a focus firmly on the latter two, the track list is dead on with a standard mix of teeny bopper pop and ‘classics’ (read: supermarket playlist). New gaming mode ‘world dance floor’ lets everyone online dance against each other at the same time to the same track, like World of Warcraft for Abba fans. As much as gamers and critics will criticize this game’s unoriginality and the lack of resemblance between actually dancing and doing the moves, WUWO challenges detractors not to be drawn in by 99 Luftballoons.

Batman: Arkham Origins (360/PS3/Wii U/PC) – 25 October The Caped Crusader returns in the third instalment of the gritty Arkham gaming series. Despite the game taking place five years before Arkham Asylum (the first instalment), as fans would expect they’ve still managed to wedge in some new toys for Bruce to bring to the bat-table. The game portrays a rawer, more primitive Batman and focuses on his detective skills as well as all the stealth, fighting and movement based gaming featured in the existing releases. The game functions a lot more fluently thanks to a new fast travel system which allows players to move from one area to another without all the gliding and grappling between them.

Battlefield 4 (360/PS3/PC) – 1 November Battlefield and Call of Duty go head to head once again with releases less than four days apart. Both have received criticism for their production line approach to game development, but this line of argument hasn’t seemed to dent previous instalments by both brands. Battlefield 4 brings enhanced weapon options, survival techniques, command mode and enemy marking, the latter two as an attempt to nurture players into working less like Rambo and more like an actual team. Unfortunately the biggest shooting game campaign cliché of US vs Russia/China returns and seems like an add-on compared to the online and multiplayer gaming options which take centre stage. wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

WUWO LIKES

WUWO Likes Every month the WUWO team trawls the internet, hangs around in music shops, goes to the cinema and sits in front of the telly. We compress a month’s worth of intensive procrastination into WUWO Likes, a brief guide to this month in media. Album Pearl Jam: Lightning Bolt It’s been twelve years since their first record, Ten, but Pearl Jam are back with their tenth studio album (unfortunately not called One) Lightning Bolt. The American alternative rock band will be returning with 12 new tracks, almost four years after their acclaimed last album Backspacer. Already released is the album’s first single, Mind Your Manners, an aggressive and energetic song which gives us promising signs for Lightning Bolt itself. It is due to be released on the 14th October.

Film Filth Adapted from an Irvine Welsh novel of the same name, Filth stars James McAvoy as bipolar policeman and drug addict, Bruce Robertson. It follows him as he binges on cocaine and alcohol, plots against his colleagues and has his mental health deteriorate. Any film that comes out of the mind of the writer of Trainspotting is bound to be both hilarious and shocking and Filth seems it will be no different. It will be released on the 4th October.

Online geoguessr.com When it comes to seriously addictive online games that make you waste loads of time, Geoguessr is one of the best. Test your geographical knowledge by trying to guess where different places on Google Street View are. Geoguessr gives you 5 different places to guess and calculates a score based on how far or close your guess is to the actual location. Be warned, if you start playing, you will spend hours trying to beat you and your friends’ top scores.

DVD The Bling Ring From director Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation, Somewhere) this film tells the true story of a fame-obsessed gang of teens who stole over $3 million worth of cash and possessions from the celebrities they adore, by tracking their activities on social media sites. The film captures well society’s obsession with the rich and famous while also featuring some great performances; Emma Watson in particular stands out. The Bling Ring Will be released on DVD on October 28th.

wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

TECH 33

Technology

“I’m Sam, I work at Clock, one of the UK’s top digital agencies and write for WUWO about all things gadget and geeky.” If you have any tech you’d like me to review, please send it to sam@wuwomagazine.com

iPhone 5C & 5S Couldn’t cover this month without talking about the new iPhone launches, so here’s what you need to know. As guessed by Mac Heads worldwide, the iPhone C(heap) was introduced with a polycarbonate backing to reduce costs, allowing Apple to claim a greater stake in the mid-range market. Though well designed and pretty enough, the 5C is unlikely to cause a stir in the grand scheme of things. The 5S on the other hand makes no qualms about being a premium product. Featuring a 64-bit architecture (meaning twice as quick processing speed) this advancement won’t make a huge difference to the iPhone but could hold some really interesting improvements to its bigger brother, the iPad. Also now with a fingerprint enabled home button to identify you before an App Store purchase, whether this is a game-changer or a gimmick is yet to be determined - either way, it’s surely a National Security Agency’s dream but that’s another conversation for another day...

KitKat.com Been over to KitKat.com lately? I hadn’t, why would you? But if you have a spare five, head over and check it out. With Android’s latest operating system being named after the institutional chocolate bar, the marketing teams did a good ol’ fashioned spit-n-shake deal with no cash involved, for both Android and KitKat to get tons of brand exposure. The new site does an incredible job of a tongue-in-cheek approach re-imaging the chocolate bar as the latest phone, with gorgeous designs and intuitive HTML5 animations as you scroll down. I’d be lying if I said we didn’t all head to the corner shop for a Chunky by the time we got to the bottom of the page!

GPlayer App I’m writing this piece from Kuala Lumpur airport, Malaysia. I’m stuck here for nine hours so it was essential I could load up my iPad with as much TV and film as it could hold. So begins a search for a good (working) AVI player so that my media would work with hours of painful converting. Where VLC used to be the go-to app for this it turns out it has peeled back some functionality on its iPad app. After playing and testing numerous different apps to find the most stable, I was recommended GPlayer. Super slim on memory, simple interface it boasts a one-click ‘add to library’ function from iTunes, plus works on iPhone too so you’ll never be without the next dose of Breaking Bad.

Medium.com How many times have you wanted to start writing a blog? If you’re anything like me, picking the name and which platform you want to use are both such life-altering decisions that you’re paralysed into a ‘mañana mañana’ mentality. Well, no more excuses: I’m telling you Medium.com is the best thing since sliced bread for the self-blogging world. It makes it simple, pulls in your twitter pic and bio and leaves no room to overly-obsess around design tweaks. But most of all, it makes all writing look utterly stunning. A solid platform to type on with great quote and media styling, whilst also letting you share what you’ve been reading; this has it all plus it’s free. So if you’ve always said you’d one day start a blog, start it today and head over to Medium. wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

BOOKS

Books Each month WUWO’s Lloyd Paige reads through as many books as possible and picks out a mixed selection of literature to review, below are his findings. David Jason: My Life by David Jason Best known for his role as Del’ Boy Trotter in Only Fools and Horses, this biography charts David Jason’s life from a child of the Second World War to comedy king. He turned his back on life as an electrician to jump into the entertainment business and we can honestly say it proved to be a good move. From Porridge to Open All Hours, Del Boy to Jack Frost as well as Pop Larkin, Mr Jason has given us plenty of laughs and is close to being a national treasure. Published by Century £20.00

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’ Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, proved to be huge international successes that easily made the transition onto screen with Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth in the starring roles. In Mad About the Boy, an older Bridget combats Twitter, drunken texting and email mishaps as we’d expect her to. With a purposeful contemporary setting, there are plenty of heart warming and funny moments to be had throughout the pages of this long awaited return. Published by Jonathan Cape £18.99

Cross and Burn by Val McDermid Val McDermid is one of our modern crime heavyweights, so expectations are high with Cross and Burn. Former DCI Carol Jordan takes more than a passing interest when brutally murdered women are found with one thing in common, a strong resemblance to Jordan herself. Tony Hill, the psychological profiler, is on hand to piece the puzzle together but soon finds himself in danger too. Jordan and Hill’s only hope is to team up together to defeat a grotesque killer. A chilling read. Published by Little, Brown £16.99

River Cottage Fruit Every Day by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Fruit is an important part of our diet but its presentation and the way we consume it has largely remained the same for most. River Cottage Fruit Every Day changes that by making fruit more fun. With 180 mouth watering recipes the book opens up our minds to the possibilities of eating fruit in different ways. How about barbecued pork chops with peaches and parsnip and apple cakes? Photos are included within its 416 pages and Fearnley-Whittingstall successfully shows us how to utilise what we have. Published by Bloomsbury £25.00 wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson

COMPETITION 35

N O I T I T E P M O C

WUWO’s Snowballing Bundle Competition This is your chance to win WUWO’s Snowballing Bundle. Each month we will be adding more prizes to our bundle, so that we can make a lucky readers Christmas that little bit more exciting. The winner will be picked and contacted on Christmas Eve.

First to come to the bundle is a HBO fan’s dream! Every season of each of the below:

To enter, email competition@wuwomagazine.com with “snowball” as the subject. wuwomagazine.com

facebook.com/whatsupwhatson

@whatsupwhatson