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Day: 8 February 2013

Inanimate Carbon Rod labelled sexist by NUS VP

One of the four candidates running to be the next President of the National Union of Students (NUS) has been called “sexist” – despite the fact that it is an Inanimate Carbon Rod.

The Rod, carried by “nominated bearer” Sam Gaus, is standing in response to what it sees as years of failed leadership by recent NUS Presidents.

But Danielle Grufferty, NUS Vice-President Society and Citizenship, has used a ten-point post on her Facebook page to suggest that the Rod’s candidacy may be a deliberate attempt to undermine rival female candidates.

“I have nothing against Rods,” Grufferty insisted, before asking whether she was, “ridiculous to even suggest something may just be a little bit sexist.”

The Rod faces competition from three other candidates – Vicki Baars, Toni Pearce and Peter Smallwood – in a race which sees the two frontrunners vying to become the first female NUS President since 2008.

Tabz O’Brien Butcher, Women’s Officer at the University of Manchester Students’ Union, was tagged in the post, and told The Mancunion: “I’m delighted that this year we have an NUS leadership contest between two strong women candidates, and I hope that a comedy candidate doesn’t derail the process.”

She continued: “I’m sure the novelty will wear off and we’ll get back to important discussions soon.”

Yet the Inanimate Carbon Rod’s campaign has garnered over 1,600 likes on Facebook and seems to have resonated with some students.

Gaus told a student media conference on Wednesday: “By virtue of being an inanimate object, at least the carbon rod won’t let the student population down.”

Perhaps best known for being awarded ‘Worker of the Week’ by Mr Burns in a 1994 episode of The Simpsons, the Rod promises a full nuclear arsenal for the NUS if elected, and will officially declare April the “cruellest month.”

The Rod – “a cylinder of very few words,” according to its manifesto – was unavailable for comment.

The Take Over, The Break’s Over

Last year, rumours that Fall Out Boy were either planning an end to their indefinite hiatus or would be recording a new album. Even blessthefall’s frontman Beau Bokan posted on his Twitter account that Fall Out Boy was written a new album. While fans became excited, the post was later removed and Pete Wentz [Fall Out Boy bassist/vocalist] and Patrick Stump [Fall Out Boy guitarist/vocalist] quickly quashed the rumours.

All the members have kept themselves busy since their “hiatus” in 2009. Stump launched his own solo material which was a completely different direction and Wentz also created a side project Black Cards. Both seemed to be met with negative reviews, the only members whose work was met with a positive reception were the two quieter members of the band; Joe Trohman [guitar] and Andy Hurley [drums]. Both were involved with members of thrash metallers Anthrax and mathcore outfit Every Time I Die to create the rock supergroup The Damned Things.

However, just over half a year since the announcements denying the reunion, Fall Out Boy fan boys and fan girls rejoiced worldwide when it was officially announced; Fall Out Boy is back. Wentz claimed that “[FOB] need to plug back in and make some music that matters to us.” Does this mean that Wentz’s and Stamp’s respective solo projects meant nothing and Andy Hurley [drums] and Joe Trohman’s supergroup combined with Every Time I Die and Anthrax was nothing? That wasn’t the only words he would regret.

Wentz later added that “The future of Fall Out Boy starts now. Save Rock And Roll.” Some critics have criticised those last four words stating that their attempts to “save rock and roll” when it was them who helped destroy some of the music scene. Stupidly, the band also burned their entire back catalogue in Chicago which is sure to piss a few old fans off.

Without sounding sceptical, why, now, do Fall Out Boy want to reunite and begin making music again? But then again why does any band reform after years away? To please the fans, to forget those horrible solo efforts or just for the money?

For Fall Out Boy it’s a combination of all three and having seen the success of fellow pop-punkers Blink-182. They have already been announced to be releasing a new album later this year, appearances on Jimmy Kimmel within a fortnight and to be playing Reading and Leeds.

It may have only been 4 years since their hiatus began but music has evolved and those 13 year olds who used to love Fall Out Boy have now moved on to the newest fad in music including myself. I never was a huge Fall Out Boy fan, I still remember the first time listening to From Under the Cork Tree. But much like Panic! At the Disco, many of these fans have moved on.

Music and design – a dying art?

It’s the year 2013 and we still don’t have flying cars. We can’t teleport and the world isn’t overpopulated with robots (other than infuriating self service checkouts at supermarkets). But what we can do is purchase and download an album wherever we are in the world, right from our mobile phones. The downloading of digital music, whether by legal means or otherwise, has seen such incredible growth over the past 10 years that it’s no wonder independent record shops are a dying breed, and even high street giants like HMV are plummeting into administration. Digital downloads actually overtook physical music sales in the US last year. CDs are dead, long live the mp3! It’s a shame then, that I’m vehemently against this new digital craze, but effectively powerless to stop it.

I’m not some ignorant vinyl aficionado so obsessed with his latest purchase that he can’t see further than its 12” diameter. I know digital downloads are cheap, and their instant accessibility satisfies the impatient needs of the iPod generation. There is, however, a lot to be said for the feel of a tangible product in your hands: the physical manifestation of an artist’s musical output, the anticipation as you rip open the packaging, pore over the liner notes and prepare yourself for what could be the greatest hour of musical ecstasy you’ve ever experienced.

I will rue the day that I have to settle for a downloadable image for my album’s packaging. Music and design go hand in hand, a relationship explored most famously by Manchester’s very own Factory Records in the ‘80s. Not only were they responsible for hugely influential bands like Joy Division, they even built the infamous Haçienda nightclub that revolutionised the dance-music scene and led to the ‘Madchester’ era so brilliantly portrayed in the film 24 Hour Party People. But more than that, they brought together music and design in a union that would forever shape Manchester’s cultural identity, turning industrialism into genius design. Everything they did was branded with its own FAC catalogue number, even co-founder Tony Wilson’s coffin was catalogued as FAC 501, forever securing his position as music legend and Mr. Manchester himself.

When it came to music packaging, their attention to detail was so immaculate it eventually ran them into the ground. New Order’s single Blue Monday may be the most recognisable dance anthem of all time, but it holds a special significance in the Factory legend for other reasons. Designed by Peter Saville, its packaging was so intricate and meticulously produced that they actually made a loss on every copy sold. This wouldn’t have been too problematic, if it didn’t go on to become the biggest selling 12” single of all time. It’s stories like these that epitomise the Factory ethos.

Just run your fingers over the embossed cover of Unknown Pleasures, the actual banana peel sticker on The Velvet Underground & Nico; admire the contrasting black and white sides of the fantastical Queen II, and the minimalist design of The Beatles’ White Album. In fact the best example of all comes from The Durutti Column’s debut album, which had a sleeve made of sandpaper to destroy the adjacent records in your collection. The charm of the story knows no bounds, as it turns out many of the sleeves were hand-made by Ian Curtis of Joy Division, who wanted to earn a bit of extra cash, while the other members of the band watched porn in the same room. Now if that isn’t reason enough to mourn the decline of the physical record, I don’t know what is.

You may not realise it now, but it’ll be a dark day when the digital world finally takes over.

 

 

Bomberman 64

Years ago, my brother and I wouldn’t settle scores over Mario Kart, nor Smash Bros. We wouldn’t even use Goldeneye. For us, a man’s worth was measured in his ability to play Bomberman 64. The fast paced, pseudo-strategic multiplayer battles were the only way for us to decide, for example, which one of us had actually started a fight. The results were often shocking and incorrect.

Major injustices aside, I loved Bomberman. There was nothing quite like the varied stages and challenge of multiplayer matches. Finding hidden items in the single player game unlocked many silly costume items for dressing up your multiplayer Bomberman, which could then be saved to the revolutionary new technology that was the memory card.

When the people (Bombermen?) of the imaginatively name Planet Bomber come under attack, Bomberman rushes to fight off the invading flying fortress with the aid of the mysterious Regulus, and a shit-ton of bombs. I still remember the pain of beating what I thought was the final boss only to discover that Bomberman’s only ally suddenly, but inevitably, betrayed him. I learned to never again trust strangers.

There were five areas, each made up of two adventure and two boss stages. Adventuring was across 3D stages, a first for the series, and required careful practice and bomb-bouncing skills to complete, skills that took young me considerable patience and commitment to achieve. Bomberman 64 remains one of my benchmarks for boss fights. There were several beast to despatch and bomber rivals to fend off. One in particular stands out as a childhood nightmare, a giant ice spider with long stabby-legs. It played to both my fears, that of spiders and that of being stabbed by a giant ice spider.

I could go on about Bomberman 64 for days, however my brother just questioned my journalistic integrity and now must back up his arguments with bombs.

Budget tips for student gamers

Gaming at university is a challenge, while you’ll probably have the time; it’s unlikely you’ll have the cash to keep up with the latest releases. Making every penny stretch is vital to maintaining a gaming habit at uni, to help our readers out The Mancunion has decided to share our best tips for gaming on a budget.

For games light on multiplayer content, buy pre-owned. It may seem obvious but the best way to cut costs is to buy second-hand. Buyers beware though; more and more games are coming with DLC included, so the costs of buying the DLC again might cancel out the savings made. Still, I managed to get Max Payne 3 for £7.99, which for the single player alone is a bargain.

Follow @SavyGamer on twitter for regular updates of the latest deals in gaming. There are literally hundreds of sites selling games out there and to keep up on every deal is nigh on impossible. Thankfully, SavyGamer regularly collates the best deals and voucher codes online keeping you up to date.

The Humble Bundle is a great source of good games for low prices. Every six months or so, they release a pay what you want bundle of indie games. That’s right you can get great games for pennies. If you decide to pay more than the average payment you can get additional games. Oh and did I mention a proportion of the proceeds go to the charity.

Humble Bundle recently outdid themselves by partnering with the beleaguered publisher THQ to put out the Humble THQ Bundle, featuring great games including Saints Row: The Third, Metro 2033, and Company of Heroes. You can subscribe online so you never miss out on the best deals.

Finally, it’s impossible to talk about deals in gaming without mentioning the Steam Sale. Steam sales are like Boxing Day on crack. You have the power to grab a years worth of games for under a hundred pounds, however as the great philosopher Uncle Ben once said, “With great power, comes great responsibility”. You need to set yourself limits or else you’ll be knee deep into your overdraft with more games than you could have ever hoped to play (Train Simulator 2013 anyone?).

Loving and loathing: Gym wear

LOVING: Adidas by Stella McCartney

Since 2005, Adidas by Stella McCartney has been a unique partnership within fashion and sportswear, appointing her as the creative director for the British team kit for the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games. This year, combining the innovation and high-end technology of Adidas with Stella’s fashion-forward thinking, they have launched a line of high-performance sportswear for women across a range of athletic disciplines such as running, gym, yoga cycling and tennis. The collection was designed with professional players in mind and will in fact be worn by the likes of Laura Robson and Maria Kirilenko at the Grand Slam this year. Although most of us aren’t tennis pros, I can honestly say that with the sleek feminine tailoring, striking prints and bold colour contrasts of McCartney’s pieces ,come gym time you’ll certainly dress to impress, making that post-uni workout just a little more bearable.

LOATHING: Untested tanks

picture: Oprah.com

All too often have I seen ladies of a well-endowed nature, obliviously working out with a vengeance, as their boobs spill out all over the elliptical. We all want to make the most of our best assets, as well as impress the eye candy in the weights section but let’s be honest; an unsupportive or low-cut sports bra is a crime for cardio, bad for your back and downright distracting for all the wrong reasons. To prevent such disasters, Nike offers a range of high quality, stylishly designed sports bras in high, medium and light support.  Lesson to be learnt? Strap ’em down and get to work.