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Month: March 2013

Live: Girls Aloud

5th March 2013

Manchester Arena

8/10

Ten years after they won Popstars: the Rivals, the five ladies of Girls Aloud are back after varying solo success. While Cheryl Cole became the people’s princess of 2011, Sarah Harding starred in a film with Denise van Outen and Danny Dyer that made £600 in its opening weekend.  Swings and roundabouts.  To celebrate their anniversary the girls have released the obligatory greatest hits compilation accompanied by a twenty-date arena tour.

Fittingly, support on the tour comes from Amelia Lily.  Both had the fate of their careers decided by the British voting public and were then helped on their way by the powerhouse that is Xenomania.  Lily came third in the 2011 edition of the X Factor and has since achieved some success, with her debut single ‘You Bring Me Joy’ reaching number two in the charts.

Unfortunately, the stage at the MEN is not designed for an artist performing without the huge amount of staging that usually characterises arena shows.  To her credit, Lily tried her best to bring some atmosphere to her set but she was fighting a losing battle.  Standing in front of a black curtain that was shielding Girls Aloud’s stage set-up from view, she belted her way through a selection of tracks from her upcoming debut album.  At one point she was joined by an acoustic guitarist, which might have worked well in a smaller venue but in the arena just failed to capture anyone’s attention.  Her wise choice to close her set with her big single provided a small high point.

In contrast, Girls Aloud had the crowd in the palm of their hand from the minute the curtain dropped.  Harnessed onto a giant sign suspended above the crowd, which bore the name of their band, they opened with their debut single ‘Sound of the Underground’, making it perfectly clear why they were still able to do an arena tour of this size ten years after they started.

The production values throughout the show were incredibly high, with all the dancers and costume changes you’d expect.  The first costume change turned the concert into something resembling a Victoria’s Secret fashion show, with Nicola rising out of the floor sporting an enormous Indian headdress and Cheryl with angel wings, while the others had similar gigantic feather contraptions strapped to their back for ‘The Show’.  They shed the appendages for ‘Love Machine’, which served as a reminder of why they’ve dominated the British pop scene for an entire decade.

Behind all the showiness and the expense that allowed them to put on such a production was just an entire night of really, really good pop songs.  They’ve already stated that this tour will be the end of Girls Aloud and they’ve managed to send it off in a spectacular style.  For the encore they emerged from the floor in matching floor-length, red sequined gowns.  In a symbolic move they sang ‘Stand By You’ while videos of their career highlights, including the moment they won a BRIT in 2009, played in the background.  Some of them looked visibly moved by the whole experience, with Sarah apparently unable to sing.

It was hard not to take all this with a pinch of salt, however.  Knowing what they’ve been doing and the discrepancies in their success, it’s hard to believe that they’re all as friendly as they appeared during this show of unity.  It begs the question: will this really be the end?  With Cheryl’s star waning as Cher Lloyd overtakes her in popularity and the others not really making a great impression on the charts with their solo efforts, will they really be able to resist resurrecting Girls Aloud, especially when it’s clear that they still have such a loyal fan base?  It’s hard to say, but if they stuck to the formula that they’ve been using for the last 10 years, as demonstrated tonight, then there’s no reason why not.

Grace wins the race

The new Executive Team 2013/14 has been elected amid controversy as five candidates were disqualified.

Grace Skelton is the new General Secretary, beating her closest competitor by 1365 votes. While Liam Mayet, Clifford Fleming, Charlotte Cook, Omar Aljuhani, Rosie Dammers, Ellie Bradbury and Tabz O’Brien-Butcher were elected to the positions of Activities & Development, Campaigns & Citizenship, Community, Diversity, Education, Wellbeing and Women’s Officer, respectively.

The announcement of the winners was heavily delayed on election night, as five candidates were disqualified for “breach of the rule that requires candidates & teams respect the right to vote confidentially and freely” by the Returning Officer Jim Dickinson.
Khaldoon Khan (Community), Choudhry Haziq (Gen Sec), Shahneela Shehereen (Activities & Development), Kazi Tawseef (Wellbeing) and Ali Khalid (Diversity), were all disqualified. For more on this story see here.

Grace stated that her first priority in office would be to ensure that free wifi in halls is implemented in time for the new intake of students in September.

NUS Vice President (Education) Toni Pearce tweeted her support, “#ManchesterVotes POW! So delighted for Grace Skelton elected as Gen Sec! You are a complete hero, so happy for you (and you Manchester!)”
Skelton heads a team with a female majority, five out of the eight positions being won by female candidates.

Tabz O’Brien-Butcher, re-elected for a second term as Women’s Officer tweeted “Sooo excited about next years exec team @ManchesterSU – Some Young Greens, some Labour, & lots of feminists! Over the moon!”

Asked if she’d do anything differently, Tabz said “I’ve built foundations, so I’m just going to do it better. I’ve already got the contacts there, I’ve already got the experience.”

The most contested position in the election was Education Officer, with Rosie Dammers coming out on top in a close call. Last year saw Luke Newton elected with a margin of just three votes who tweeted “Amazing officer. All the candidates were good. Brilliant election results!”

Khalil Secker, current Campaigns & Citizenship Officer said, “I’m really pleased about all the people that got elected, but especially for two of the founding members of the Save Our NHS campaign, Liam and Charlotte.”

Liam Mayet, the successful Activities & Development Officer said that he wants to get started straight away. “My ideas about Freshers’ Fair, I absolutely want to completely change it, have it much longer. Bring it back to how it was, and much better organised. It will be a better way to get more people involved in societies.”

“I knew it would be a really close race, I honestly didn’t think I was going to win.” said Charlotte Cook, newly elected Community Officer. In an interview following the announcement she said that she would like to work on kosher and alcohol free zones in halls.

“With the Hillel halls shutting down it’s really important to Jewish students that they have that accommodation.” Hilel House is a private accommodation catering to Jewish students that sadly made the recent decision to close its doors next year.

Emotions overcame Ellie Bradbury speaking to The Mancunion and Fuse FM after it was announced that she is the new Wellbeing Officer. “I’m so happy as it’s a job I really wanted to do, and I think I can do well at it.”

Having chosen ‘OMG’ by Usher as a catchy campaign song, “Oh-mar-gosh!” was all that new Diversity Officer Omar Aljahuni could say upon taking to the stage. He later said that the celebrations would have to be postponed until he had completed an assignment due the following morning.

Clifford ‘the big red dog’ Fleming won the race for Campaigns & Citizenship with 1177 votes, a margin of nearly 400 votes ahead of Taz(manian) Ranjha, two of the more memorable campaign efforts this year.

Speaking to candidates ahead of the results, the majority commented on their relief that it was finally over and of the fun they’d had.
Gen Sec candidate James Johnson told The Mancunion that his campaign was a joke to begin with, but as the weeks progressed he took it more seriously.

Similarly, Samuel Blackledge only decided to run for Education Officer after seeing the last minute social media blast by the Student Voice team announcing that two positions were uncontested. He soon embraced his gimmick fuelled campaign, “Bananas for Blackledge” by walking around campus in a full banana suit.

Broadcasting live from Club Academy in the Students’ Union, Fuse FM hosted the event taking song requests on Twitter, with people competing for the best pun. ““I will survive! Perfect election song!” tweeted one student.

Election scandal as five candidates disqualified

Elections were marred by controversy and infighting last Thursday as five candidates were disqualified for directly cheating or failing to prevent their campaigners cheating.

The revelation that Choudhury Haziq, Khaldoon Khan, Shahneela Shehreen, Kazi Tawseef, and Ali Khalid would be kicked out was made moments before the winners were announced at 11:10pm, though rumours began circulating soon after the polls closed at 6pm.

All cases centred on students being pressured to vote by candidates and their campaigners. A voter for Community Officer candidate Khaldoon Khan and General Secretary hopeful Choudhury Haziq asked to “take back” their vote, claiming they were an international student and had made clear they did not know what the elections were about.
The report on the Students’ Union website said Khaldoon “sat with her, looking at the screen and pointed to the relevant sections of voting saying ‘press there’ at each point.”

Choudhury Haziq then did “exactly the same thing to her” later that day.

A further complaint regarding Activities and Development and Wellbeing candidates Shahneela Shehereen and Kazi Tawseef came from an election official who claimed a supporter had “forcibly intervened” to pressure people to vote for Shahneela.

They alleged that despite several warnings, a student was hassled at a polling station by a campaigner.

A student reported Ali Khalid for allegedly “telling him how to vote, and saying just before he got to the voting screen ‘I’m going to turn around because technically this is meant to be confidential’, directing him to put his number 1 next to the name with his back to the screen, for both candidates.

None of these formal complaints were made by students connected to any rival opponents.

The scandal follows an open letter, signed by 10 disillusioned candidates, complaining about the allowed usage of iPads. In the case of Ali Khalid, his supporters reportedly used laptops and iPads unfairly. None of the disqualified students signed the letter, although comments on The Mancunion post complained not everyone was approached.

Further complaints were made on the comments page alleging an influence from “current/previous exec” in the disqualifications, though The Mancunion confirmed these multiple comments signed with different names were made from the same I.P. address.

All five of the candidates were backed the Pakistan Society (PakSoc). Following the results, they released a statement on Facebook.

“It was disappointing to see some of the candidates being disqualified.

“Therefore we appeal for a detailed investigation in the reasoning of the Students’ Union’s decision to make sure there was no discrimination against candidates whilst the decision was made.”

LGBT rep Joe White, who lost out in the Activities Officer race last year, praised the decision by ManchesterSU on his Twitter account. “Damn right decision. You cannot break rules end of. Shame a similar strong decision wasn’t made last year.”

But some of the student body were not so captivated by the drama. Manchester student and Liberty League member Eileen Spalding tweeted: “People seeking union exec positions pressuring voters & getting disqualified? I’m somehow not shocked or surprised.”

The Manchester Students’ Union website stated: “The rules make clear that ‘all candidates must respect that every student has the right to vote confidentially and freely’ and that “any complaints raised by students about being unfairly pressured to vote for any particular candidate will be taken extremely seriously.”

They confirmed all preferences were passed over during the count.
Khalil Secker, Campaigns and Citizenship Officer, told The Mancunion: “I’m just grateful to the union officials that ran the elections for being so on the ball and managing to root out foul play so efficiently.

“It’s a massive relief to know that the future of the union is in safe hands with such a great incoming exec.”

Comments are currently closed for legal reasons.

Column: Talk About, Pop Music

Pop is one of the most productive nouns in music, but perhaps the most misunderstood. Would anyone describe themselves as a ‘pop’ fan? You’ve got rock, metal, jazz, dance, folk fans – but rarely would someone label themselves as an out and out pop fan. The term originated in the 1920’s as an abbreviation of the word ‘popular’, reflecting what the mainstream was at the time, but pop as we know it (from the late 50’s/early 60’s onwards) isn’t necessarily befitting of this title.

Starting out as a single’s game, pop songs squeezed themselves onto 45’s and were intended to provide three minutes of non-stop satisfaction. Dusty Springfield, Buddy Holly and Elvis all enjoyed success with the single, however nailing them down to a particular album isn’t easy. By 1968 album sales overtook singles as more bands began to experiment with the pop album. The Beach Boys Pet Sounds showed that an album could have more than 2 singles and a load of filler; this was a sophisticated record for the maturing market.

Those early records at the dawn of the sexual revolution provided as many life lessons as any novel could. Pop albeit three minutes at the max played the soundtrack to pivotal moments along the great journey of growing up, the effervescent excitement of ‘she loves you’ could enthral the young romantic whilst Roy Orbison was there for those harder moments.

To say pop was mainstream and popular back in the 60’s and early 70’s isn’t completely true. It was still something affiliated with rebellion; the sight of Ziggy Stardust was something a lot of parents found shocking. But was Ziggy pop? To most he’s a symbol of the Glam Rock genre, but there’s no getting away from the pop values of a song like ‘changes’. Carole Kay, a prolific 60’s session bassist, talked about making a song ‘pop’, and any band could do this, regardless of genre.

Pop in the 21st century has lost a little of its excitement for me, and it’s nothing to do with the songs as Carly Rae Jepsen and Taylor Swift prove. Unfortunately we’re victims of technology; the 24hour nature of music was something that just didn’t exist back when TOTP was the only music programme for teenagers. Pop isn’t something to cherish anymore, the average non-muso iTunes reads like one long compilation CD.

Pop can be applied to those early rock n roll bands like The Beatles, to the Soul stars like The Ronettes and all the way to the New Romantics of the 1980’s. It’s a matter of art, not enterprise – being popular has nothing to do with it. Currently pop is being mixed up with dance music, the like of LMFAO just isn’t pop – yes it’s danceable, but that’s all it is. Despite being a somewhat unsavoury term for artists, the label is not as shallow as was make out. A three minute single can teach us about life and love, Phil Spector described them as a “little symphony for the kids” – this ‘party rock anthem’ is most certainly not.

Candidates hit out at election rules

To The Returning Officer,                                                                                       12/03/2012

To The Trustees Of The University of Manchester,

To All Students And Whomever It May Concern,

Severe allegations of electoral malpractice have been raised in connection with the use of hired, personal or borrowed iPads and other portable electronic devices to gather votes. Students have complained about being harassed or intimidated into voting for certain candidates, being observed while voting, or having votes cast ‘on their behalf’ by others. Grave allegations have even been made that some candidates and/or campaigners have used iPads and other portable electronic devices to aggressively solicit votes from drunk students – unfit to give reasoned consent- at nightclubs and bars.

Part 2, Section 22, Subsection (d) of the Education Act 1994 states in Relation to Student Unions that “appointment to major union offices should be by election in a secret ballot in which all members are entitled to vote.” Operational Guidance from the Charity Commission also makes explicit that Student Union elections must be “fairly and properly conducted”.

We thus feel that the student electorate is entitled -morally, politically and legally- to make its wishes clear by means of free, secret and fair elections. Having the opportunity to cast your secret vote in your own space at a place and time of your own choosing and without being observed is a student’s basic, essential and inalienable electoral right. We cannot remain silent when this is at risk.

We feel that permitting, in any way, shape or form, the continued use of iPads or other electronic devices by candidates or campaigners for the gathering of votes risks severely and irrecoverably undermining the legitimacy, validity and fairness of these elections.

On the basis of our experiences and conversations with students, we know that an overwhelming majority of students feels that being urged to vote, there and then, on a candidate’s iPad or other electronic device is or can be a harassing, intimidating and intrusive experience, even where the candidate is well-intentioned, keeps an appropriate distance and abides by good practice. Furthermore, not every student will have the resolve to overtly reject candidates’ or campaigners’ urging them to vote there and then on such a device- some may simply and quietly oblige and vote in order to a void having to answer back or for fear of being seen as discourteous. There are simply too many grey areas and uncertainties to ever be duly certain that a student has fairly, freely and secretly cast their vote on candidate’ or campaigner’s device. Attempts to further train candidates or create stricter regulations on the use of iPads and other devices for gathering votes are very unlikely to be effective.

Candidates or Campaigners who may have committed intentional abuses knew very well that their conduct was in breach of electoral regulations and principles, and we have little confidence that such individuals will change their conduct. Moreover, there are simply too many student spaces, PC clusters, bars, nightclubs, common rooms (&cetera) to ever effectively control, enforce and verify the ‘appropriate’ use of iPads and other electronic devices to gather votes and detect abuses, no matter how genuine and well-resourced attempts to do so may be.

Allowing candidates and campaigners to use their own or hired iPads or other electronic devices also breaches the principles of equity and equality, severely disadvantaging candidates unable to afford such devices and affecting campaign spending regulations.

We thus urge the Students Union in the strongest possible terms to completely ban any future of use of hired, borrowed or privately owned iPads and other electronic devices by candidates and or their campaigners to gather votes. We urge the Students Union to conduct a robust, transparent and full investigation into all allegations of electoral malpractice and take strong, clear and appropriate action against any individual found to be breaching electoral procedure. We would also urge the Students’ Union to make every effort to identify the IP addresses of devices used to coerce students to vote, while drunk, in nightclubs or other localities and cancel the votes cast from these devices/IP addresses. Some candidates have already expressed their view that they might consider withdrawing from the election. It is imperative that trust in the electoral processes and outcomes is restored as a matter of urgency.

Yours faithfully,

Ellie Bradbury, Candidate (Wellbeing)

Natalie Chard, Candidate (Community) 

Charlotte Cook, Candidate (Community) 

Colin Cortbus, Candidate (General Secretary)

Clifford Fleming, Candidate (Campaigns) 

Philippa Hughes, Candidate (Campaigns & Citizenship) 

Susannah Law, Candidate (Womens’)

Lily Risby, Candidate (Wellbeing)

Jonathan Rowe, Candidate (Wellbeing)

Grace Skelton, Candidate (General Secretary)

The Conquest to the South Pole – review

The UMDS stage a performance of economic austerity, expeditionary imaginations and impressive acting in ‘The Conquest to the South Pole’.

In many ways this is a play that reverberates with any contemporary viewer. With austerity measures still plaguing the budget and cuts to public services still hitting hard this play, which followed a group of unemployed men escaping the reality of their joblessness, couldn’t have been more relevant.

Whilst part of the production’s success lay in its relevance, the acting, for me, was the strongest element. Comedy is often hard to get right, especially when it requires nuanced and complex character portrayals to create any kind of empathy for the characters’ situation – something which was definitely important in The Conquest. There is also, with comedy, the danger of over acting, but that boundary was impressively navigated here by each of the actors.

Henry Page managed to portray a facetious, domineering, leader of the pack figure without drifting off into a hateful character and completely alienating us from the drama. Whilst Jake Jones, Stan Benes and Oliver Hamilton all worked well together as the other members of this motley crew, whose trials and tribulations we followed, offering humour and poignancy, in their imaginary conquest to the South Pole.

Natalia Schwartz’s La Braukmann offered a powerful female role within the drama, in contrast with Hannah Jackson’s Rosi, whose part gave us one of the most unsettling and poignant moments of the play, in the scene which depicted her troubled relationship with Rudi, played by Mathew Kerry.

The scene’s quiet and unsettling atmosphere created for awkward viewing and culminated in Frankieboy, played by Ross Carey, mauling Rudi’s leg.

But this was no regular staging of a dog mauling a man’s leg (not that I think its something which is all that regularly staged), no relieved of Frankieboy Rudi hobbled off and turning to face us Frankieboy opened his mouth to show blood dripping through his teeth. I have no idea how they did it but it was a brilliant moment, disgusting granted, but I think for that all the more brilliant.

However, I think the play did, at times, struggle to overcome the challenges presented by the script. I think the evocation of the setting could have been much sharper. Coming to it with little prior in-depth knowledge of the play I have to admit there were moments where I was slightly confused.

I felt, at points, it was hard to distinguish where the line between fiction and reality lay. The script uses a plethora of analogies and humorous ditties and I felt the staging and the action could have been used more effectively to make their meaning a little clearer for the audience.

Nonetheless the play was compelling and humorous and the performance suggested that a lot of hard work had gone into its production. The idea of team work invoked within the narrative also extended beyond the plot line as the performance felt like the product of extensive team work.

I felt that the actors worked well together on stage, they struck up a really good dynamic which was one of the most successful aspects of the performance. I would definitely like to see the same team tackle something else in the future.

 Three and a half stars out of five

Beyond the Oxford Road corridor: 1 in 5 Mancunians living in extreme poverty

A world away from the purple hoodies of Oxford Road, increasing numbers of Mancunians are living in conditions of extreme poverty.

On Wednesday 20th February, the ‘Campaign to End Poverty’ published figures which revealed that Manchester Central has the highest levels of child poverty in the whole of the UK, with nearly half (47%) of children experiencing severe poverty.

This news follows the shocking findings published by ‘Greater Manchester Poverty Commission’ in January. The commission revealed that over one in five residents in Greater Manchester lives in conditions of ‘extreme poverty’. Bishop McCulloch, the chair of the report, classed ‘extreme poverty’ as an income of less than £12,000 a year.

In revealing that one in five Mancunians lives in the 10% most severely deprived areas in the country, the report exposed the stark reality of unemployment, low income and public sector neglect in Manchester. Furthermore, the commission warned that if economic conditions worsen and welfare services further diminish, then up to 1.6 million, half of Manchester’s population, will risk falling into poverty. With rising unemployment rates and dwindling public services, the gulf between South and North Manchester has never felt greater.

Nevertheless, as a student, it is easy to remain isolated from the deprivation which lies beyond the impermeable bubble of Oxford Road. In between the anxious wait for exam results and the dread of impending deadlines, it is inexcusably easy to become detached from the wider city in which we live. Surrounded by an abundance of academic, consumer and entertainment facilities, the majority of students limit themselves to the Oxford Road corridor and seldom venture beyond either Fallowfield or Picadilly. For this reason, the extreme deprivation of the surrounding areas often goes unnoticed. Whilst we impatiently reload our student portals in desperate anticipation for exam results, the choice between hunger, heating and transport is one faced by one fifth of Manchester residents.

While we fail to notice the daily privileges of our bus-pass or internet access – not to mention our monopoly-sized loans – many young people in Manchester have highly limited access to basic transport and technology facilities. If poverty is defined as a lack of choice – not being able to choose how you spend your time, where you live, what you buy, who you meet and where you go – then ‘studenthood’ is its very antithesis. Whilst the student life is characterised by a wealth of free time and a sociable lifestyle, for many Mancunians poverty permeates everyday life and the threat of being laid off, having benefits cut or houses repossessed remains a reality for many.

As the largest student city in Western Europe, it seems ironic that Manchester is also home to the highest levels of child poverty and property repossession in the whole of the UK. In this highly polarized city, the student population remains a world apart from its surrounding areas of deprivation. Nevertheless, students inability to detect the poverty which surrounds them is neither the result of apathy or social exclusion, rather it is because students have no reason or desire to visit the parts of Manchester hit hardest by destitution. Real deprivation has no place in ‘student ghettos’. Furthermore, ‘studentification’ has led to minimal interaction between students and local communities. The inherently transient, cyclical nature of student life – many of us come for three years and then leave – has meant that students often have little commitment to the past or future of the city of Manchester, instead they remain involved in the perpetual present.

It is not enough to accept the disparity between our beloved Russell Group university and the wider city in which it is situated. The university and those within it must play a greater role in shaping the fabric of adjacent neighbourhoods surrounding campus. Rather than turning a blind eye to Moss Side, which is half a mile to the East of John Rylands or Longsight which is half a mile to the West of University Place, the university must take responsibility for the wider community in which it is located. By delivering provision for the community and widening participation from under-represented groups, the university would be able to expand its role within the wider city. Moreover, in expanding student placements in the community and increasing funding to groups like ‘Student Action’, who have a long legacy of a remarkable work in the community, Manchester would become increasingly integrated into the wider community. In congruence with the recommendations of the recent report, we must address the gross disparities in wealth and improve practical solutions for those living in poverty. As ‘Mancunians’, we hold a responsibility to the wider city in which we live.

Live: The Magic Band

7th March 2013

Band on the Wall

8/10

Had the uninitiated stumbled into Band on the Wall last Thursday they would have been greeted by what may sound like the world’s worst band; Clashing chords, flat vocals and strange offbeat rhythms. But if by some chance they stayed around long enough to actually listen, they would in fact hear a tightly rehearsed and well received show by one of the influential bands of the 60s. This is The Magic Band, of Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band fame, whose famed seminal album Troutmask Replica is regularly found in top 100 lists in countless reviews, even if it is the weirdest album there.

Of course, Don Van Vliet – Captain Beefheart himself – is no longer with us. John ‘Drumbo’ French, previously the drummer in the original Magic Band takes over his vocals (and sax) with a great degree of success. He does a brilliant job interacting and bantering with the audience tonight, who are just as excited to see originals Rockette Morton on Bass and Denny Wally on guitar.

As performances go, not a bad word can be said – from the opening ‘My Human Gets Me Blues’ tangling of about 50 guitar hooks to the closing encore of ‘When It Blows Its Stacks’. An early cover of Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘I ain’t Superstitious’ gets even the oldest fans in the audience moving their feet whilst harking back to band’s blues roots. The crowd love every minute, their only criticism being the unavoidable absence of Captain Beefheart and the raw spontaneity he would have brought. But without a single spotlight the rest of the band shine, giving the night its highlights in the form of a few small solo sections. The Captain may be long gone, but no-one can say the magic is dead.

Our attitude to piracy is all wrong

On the 28th of February, in a move similar to that taken against the Pirate, the High Court ordered six broadband suppliers including BskyB, BT and Virgin Media to block access to three major file sharing sites: Kickass Torrents, H33T and Fenopy.

This is just the latest of many heavy-handed actions taken in the war against internet piracy. Recent months have seen major crackdowns in the US and the UK, such as the aforementioned attack on the Pirate Bay, which was effective for all of a few days before operations were up and running again, as well as the regular and repeated flaunting of fair use laws by major businesses against online content users.

More recently was the legal campaign lead by the US Department of Justice against pioneer and digital rights activist Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide in January. His crime: downloading over 4 million articles off the JStor database for mass redistribution, for which he was facing a potential 35 year prison sentence and a million dollar fine, despite the fact that JStor refused to press charges against him.

What is particularly worrying about this recent turn of events is the ease and willingness with which the takedown was initiated. The process is becoming more streamlined. The continued resort to increasingly draconian measures against copyright infringement is setting a dangerous precedent and threatens to undermine the neutrality of the internet and opens the way for standardising extreme violations of privacy.

I could go on for hours about the damage inflicted by excessive Intellectual Property laws, both copyright and patent, such as the WTO’s Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), that curtails access to live-saving drugs and redistributes wealth from the developing world to the developed world in the form of patent rents, or the infamous Micky Mouse Effect, whereby, due to major lobbying interests, the time limit on copyright is continuously pushed back till long after the creator is in their cold grave, or the insidious practice of Patent Trolling– think you get the idea.

Those calling for stronger IP laws and harsher punishment, such as the British Phonographic Association (BPI) and other such chief beneficiaries in the entertainment, software and pharmaceutical industries, often make the claim that these measures are needed to ensure that the talent of artist like Justin Beiber, One Direction or whatever schlocky corporate prolefeed they deem to be hip and happening with the kids these days.

But then who can blame them? The recent advances in computer technology have made the production and distribution of media and information infinitely easier than ever before. Their old business model, based on scarcity and enforceable monopolies, is no longer applicable, and like any bourgeois faction in decline they resort to the coercive power of the state to enforce their position.

Yet despite this many artists and entertainers question the dogmatism of the Copyright Lobby, such as Neil Gaiman, Stephen Fry and countless independent artists who depend on the open access culture of the internet that is under attack. In the words of internet rapper and Copyleft activist Dan Bull “talent isn’t rare/it doesn’t need protection/any claim to the contrary is pure condescension”.

But the issues and intricacies of IP law also have a deep impact on students, on a more parochial level beyond generally screwing us all over. No, this isn’t about the love the student body has for pirated media. Instead I am talking about something far more fundamental: the diffusion and access to information.

In this day and age we the potential access to near limitless sources of information; the entirety of human knowledge is at our disposal. Yet current copyright laws place considerable, arbitrary restrictions on what we can and cannot easily access. More than one online documentary that was on my reading list has been taken down. Course convenors are forbidden from uploading more than one chapter from copyrighted books, even if those books are out of print. The library is often underequipped to provide enough copies of those books for all those on the courses, especially on the high demand courses. Often students have to purchase the books themselves, adding an additional financial burden to the cost of university living.

“It’s time we ended this farce” said one source in the University Faculty. “It’s become far easier to access information now…it should be made available to students”.

Ordinarily, I would finish this sort of an article by calling for us to start questioning the system, but it seems self-evident to me that the current system is already broken. The time for asking if we should change the system has long passed; instead we should ask why has it not yet been changed?

Review: ‘Chocó’ at the iViva Film Festival 2013

Chocó is a Columbian film, which follows several days in the life of Chocólatico (Karent Hinestroza) a mother who lives with her abusive husband Everlides (Esteban Copete), a ‘musician’ who spends the majority of his time gambling with his friends (in some of the most heated domino-based scenes I’ve ever seen), before coming home drunk and forcing himself upon Chocó whilst their children sleep in the next bed.

Overall, the film is very slow moving, though this is in no way a bad thing. Slow, sweeping shots of Chocó walking her children to school provide a nice scenic relief from the brutal and harrowing rape scenes which occur at the beginning and end of the film. What makes Chocó interesting though, is the way in which it deals with its primary subject matter, that of gender, and to a lesser extent, race politics. The film shows us the difficulties of being a black woman in this male-dominated society, but rather than explore these problems, they are simply set out before us. The film doesn’t do much to actively sway us onto Chocó’s side, because it knows it doesn’t have to. This can be noted in a scene in which Chocó is beaten by her husband in front of a crowd of disinterested onlookers. Instead of dwelling on this point, the film continues, almost as if nothing had happened, no attempt to put any kind of cultural filter on what has occurred is made, and consequently the audience is drawn further into the harsh reality of Chocó’s world.

That said, Chocó is by no means perfect. There are a few moments when the film cuts back and forth in its narrative without giving any indication that it is doing so, which can be very confusing. On more than one occasion, I found myself unsure as to whether we had witnessed a dream sequence, a flash back or neither, which would be fine if the film explained it at any point, but unfortunately it doesn’t. However, these are simply hallmarks of an independent, low-budget film, that could probably have done with a little more editing, and barely detracts from the overall impact. Definitely worth a watch.

The 19th ¡Viva! Film Festival arrives at The Cornerhouse

Friday March 8th saw the ¡Viva! Spanish and Latin American Film festival return for its 19th year at Manchester’s Cornerhouse Cinema and they couldn’t have chosen a better film to kick things off with, hosting the UK premiere of Eduard Cortés’ film iAtraco! (2012) to a jam-packed cinema. iAtraco! (or, Hold up!) documents the real-life robbery of the jewels of Argentina’s famous first lady Eva Perón. In an attempt to stop the wife of Spanish dictator Generalissimo Franco purchasing the jewels from a Madrid jeweller, protagonists Merello (Guillermo Francella) and Miguel (Nicolás Cabré) are sent from Argentina to Spain on a mission to fake a robbery of the jeweller’s and retrieve the jewellery.

Whether you’re into foreign film or not, this one is definitely worth breaking the subtitle barrier for. Francello and Cabré create a dynamic duo that entertain us throughout the film. Merello’s impatience and sternness is constantly tried and tested by Miguel’s puppy-dog keen-ness, and their incessant bickering and monumental bust-ups bring the crime-thriller to life with hilarious miscalculations, brilliant one-liners and impeccable comedic timing.  With ¡Atraco! , Cortés ingeniously combines comedy, crime-thriller and tragedy to create a 1950’s period piece that can best be described as an understated adventure. An unlikely combo are thrown together completely by chance yet their relationship ends up blossoming, and, despite a lot of friction along the way, the film ends with genuinely moving moments of camaraderie. iAtraco! is hilariously heart-warming, beautifully shot, with a stunning score to transport us back to the 1950’s. Forget that ‘foreign film’ tag – this is a master class in filmmaking.

So, don’t miss out!  Spirit yourself away from the drizzle and spontaneous snowstorms of Manchester to the sun-kissed landscapes of Spain and Latin America. Impress your friends with how cultural you are and in the process have a phenomenal evening out. Get yourself down to The Cornerhouse to experience first-hand what other Spanish and Latin American cinematic delights they’ve got to offer.

Hiking Society

Most weekends the University of Manchester Hiking Club heads out to a scenic part of the country to wander up a hill or two, with the added bonus of ending up at the pub afterwards. I spoke to Publicity and Merchandise Secretary Sam Winkler to find out more about the trips they organise.

The club caters for hikers of all abilities, from those who wish to climb as many peaks as possible, to those who prefer to take their time and have plenty of breaks: “We have a wide variety of people coming to our hikes and it’s always interesting to meet new people as well as old friends.” Each trip offers several routes of varying length and intensity to choose from. “Typically, we run four different hikes, and we make sure no one falls behind if they do find themselves struggling. Hiking is mostly about having fun.”

Recent trips have seen the Hiking Club brave snow and impromptu snowball fights as nearby as the Peak District and as far away as Scotland. They have also recently visited Grasmere and its famous gingerbread shop. Upcoming destinations include the Lake District, Scotland and Wales. Both single day trips and longer weekend trips are run during term time, so there are a variety of experiences available. In addition to their usual weekly trips, there is also a longer trip to Scotland coming up during the Easter break.

At £10 for members and £14 for non-members (membership itself is £10) the day trips are an inexpensive day out and no gear is required other than walking boots, although it is suggested you check the website to find out what kind of attire is recommended and why jeans are banned.

The Hiking Club can be found in the Activities office in the Student Union from 12:30 to 13:30 every weekday if you have any queries or would like to sign-up, or you can find out more on their website http://www.umhc.org.uk/ .

Cajun chicken Gumbo

This is my Dad’s recipe for an easy Cajun chicken Gumbo. You can use chicken breast fillets if you prefer, but I love the flavour you get from meat cooked on the bone, as well as the texture it gives when stripped off. The combination of spices and herbs is what really makes this one of my all-time favourites.

Ingredients:

4 cooked chicken thighs, meat stripped from the bone
1 onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
300g okra, chopped (you can buy frozen okra, which is much cheaper)
3 tbsp plain flour
600ml chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp chilli powder or flakes
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp parsley, plus extra for garnishing
Black pepper
2 spring onions, sliced
Ham, chopped (optional)

Method:

Fry the onion, celery and carrot in oil. When softened, add the bay leaves.

Mix in the flour and cook for about 30 seconds, stirring continuously so that there are no lumps.

Pour in the chicken stock gradually, stirring all the time, before adding the cumin, paprika, chilli, basil and parsley. Add the stripped chicken meat, then leave to simmer for half an hour, stirring occasionally.

Add the chopped peppers, okra, and a generous crack of black pepper. Check for seasoning, adding more chilli if it needs more of a kick. Leave to cook for 15-20 minutes.

Serve with rice, and sprinkle with the spring onions, parsley and chopped ham if you’re using it.

Adapted from BBC Good Food

Sun, rugs and sausage rolls

I had thought homemade sausage rolls were brilliant already – let’s not pretend Gregg’s even qualifies as food – but here before me I have a vastly diminished plate of sausage rolls that are the most delicious, sweet and satsifying sausages that I have ever savoured, ever. Better than Mum’s, in fact. The only ingredients required are a few chopped apricots, honey, sage, good sausages and pastry. I didn’t even feel guilty eating them after I visited the piglets in Tatton Park soon after making them; they were too irresistible.

Ingredients:

1 pack ready-made puff pastry
6 sausages, unpeeled from their intestinal jackets
100g chopped dried apricots
2 tbsps honey
1 tbsp dried sage
A little milk for brushing

Preheat oven to 200°C. Roll out pastry and divide lengthways. Mix the sausagemeat, apricots, honey and sage in a bowl. Split the meat mix between the two lines of pastry.

Fold over the pastry and press tightly shut. Divide into about 8 mini sausage rolls per patch of pastry, or cut them bigger if desired. Brush the pastry with a little milk. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes, or until cooked through.

Top 5: Tacky Icons

1. Kim Kardashian

I can’t figure out whether we should admire Kim K for building a career on a sex tape or revile her. But whatever you think of the woman, she’s now up the duff with the Rap Prince of Tack himself’s baby, so you can rest assured she isn’t ever going anywhere, have I said ever? Ever.

 

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2. Britney Spears

Britney, Britney, Britney. It started with those pink pom-poms back in the days of ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ and well…we all know the rest. An iconic wearer of the headset microphone, the bodysuit (two words: diamanté and red PVC ok, three, but seriously, google them) and hats, oh the hats.

 

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3. Samantha Jones (Sex and the City)

You may or may not have seen the 2nd Sex and the City Movie (I know, your heart’s saying yes, your street cred’s saying no) but there’s a scene where Samantha has sex with an oily Australian on a car bonnet in the Abu Dhabi desert. Which tells you everything you need to know.

forbes.com

 

4. Will.I.am

I don’t get Will.I.am. Maybe it’s because he’s got that oddly square chunk missing from his barnet which makes me feel like I’m playing hair Tetris whenever I look at it, or because he carried the Ohweohweohweolympic torch in Devon (judging The Voice is a DISservice to the nation, Will, just ask her maj). I don’t know. But I what I do know is he’s pretty flipping tacky.

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5. Lil’ Kim

Lil’ Kim has been living La Vie en Tack these past 25 years and lalalaloving it. Her feud with Nicki Minaj is probably less about supposed ‘swag’ theft and more about out-tackying each other: my gold hoops are bigger than yours, my fake nails are longer than yours etc.

‘Easy V doesn’t come for free, she’s a real lady’

It’s the modern day version of My Fair Lady: only rather than the cockney Eliza Dootlittle, we have Essex-born Victoria Beckham, and in place of Professor Henry Higgins, Marc Jacobs. Over nearly two decades, Victoria Beckham has made an unrivalled transformation from the PVC wearing ‘Posh Spice’ to the winner of Designer Brand of the Year at the 2011 British Fashion Awards. But how did this renovation happen? And are the sequin hot pants and the fingerless gloves really forgotten, or are the scars from her branding as number one WAG still there but just masterfully covered up?

In 1996 Victoria Adams exploded into the public eye under the nickname ‘Posh Spice’, one of the five members of the hugely successful Spice Girls. Their first album Spice is the best selling album by a female group to date. Each with their own persona (Baby, Ginger, Sporty and Scary), Posh was infamous for her sleek dark bob, pout and monochrome wardrobe. Amongst their endless tours, Posh found time to bag herself England’s number one bachelor, David Beckham. After a year of dating, in 1999 Posh gave birth to her and David’s first son Brooklyn, and later that year Victoria and David were married, to become Britain’s number one power couple.

picture: roportal.ro

When the Spice Girls broke up in 2001, Victoria’s fashion went from bad to worse as she attempted a solo career. Shying away from the skimpiness and glitziness of her deceased Spice-self, she opted to perform her solo single… as a pirate? There is too much wrong with this look to list, the bandana, fake lip piercing, tattoos and so much leather a whole herd of cows must have suffered to create this monstrosity.

After accepting the death of her singing career, Victoria embraced her inner fashionista and designed a limited-edition fashion line VB Rocks in 2004. Although the designs were mostly jeans, her desire for creation had been sparked, and later VB styled her dear friend Katie Holmes for the 2006 issue of Harper’s Bazaar. Yet trying to juggle WAG, with her short bob and oversized sunglasses, and fashion designer was not entirely possible. Hideous errors such as this revealing chiffon number reinstated that her tackiness was not so easily shed. However, by passing the torch of queen WAG to Cheryl Cole, VB became more and more of a fashion icon with friends such Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs and Roberto Cavalli to guide her on her way.

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After a U-turn in her style, Victoria became the heiress of sophistication, launching her very own Victoria Beckham label in New York in 2008. Cleverly choosing New York, Victoria was able to reinvent herself overseas from the UK tabloids, whose images of her in next to nothing and fake tan were hard to shed. Beckham’s sleek designs are elegant and beautifully made and have grown in both prominence and popularity, with names such as Eva Longoria and Beyonce choosing to wear her styles on the red carpet.

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The now mother-of-four is undeniably chic. At the 2013 International Woolmark Prize awards the 38-year-old wore head-to-toe her own autumn/winter designs, looking classy and elegant but still sexy with a cinched in waist. Likewise, earlier this year at the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund event in LA Victoria wore a gorgeous white sheer shirt, A-line white skirt and nude peep-toe boots, all from her line.

Yet despite her new-found impeccable style, will Victoria Beckham’s tacky days ever be forgotten? Although the Spice Girls wisely sang: ‘If you want my future, forget my past’ I don’t think this is necessary for Victoria. I think her gloriously tacky roots give her a charming edge. Having grown up with her and seen her blossom into a successful, stylish and happy woman, she is an inspiration to every ex-tack around.

www.topnews.in

 

Oh na-na, what’s the point? Rihanna’s collection hits a bum note

Rihanna is certainly no shy fashionista, so the excitement around her new collection for River Island has been huge. With stars like Cara Delevingne and Jordan Dunn partying front row at her intriguing fashion week show, I thought we were all in for a treat this Spring. Then stepped out the models…

With River Island being one of my favourite high street stores, I was certainly excited to see what the Barbadian singer had to offer. However the release of her first collaboration with the brand has failed to impress me. To be quite frank, her collection looks like an overpriced Primark basics section. I expected bold prints, gorgeous crops and sophisticated trousers, but what did we get? The most uninspiring compilation of clothes to ever grace the high street. This ‘90s’ inspired wardrobe of flimsy plain tops and drab dresses is certainly not what I had in mind. I’m glad I’m not the only one though, with Tom Sykes of The Daily Beast calling it a ‘horror show’.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m sure these clothes are flying off the shelves as I type, but why? Either you are a very rich student and can afford to spend £20 on a small piece of cloth, or you have fallen for the label itself. It’s unfortunate that this seems just another marketing ploy of the money machine herself, than a highly anticipated gorgeous spring collection. There is no denying Rihanna is an icon of our time, but I just cannot justify the pricing point of these garments. The second most expensive piece in the collection is a rather dreary looking Grey varsity jacket, yours for a mere £120. However you can try the New Look alternative for just £15, or if that doesn’t take your fancy, you can find one in just about every high street shop for £20-40.

picture: River Island picture: New Look. Can you spot the difference?

That being said, there are a couple of pieces of interest in this collection, yet nothing I would personally purchase. The black ‘tied low back dress’ caught my eye, for a semi-reasonable £40. It’s also refreshing seeing pops of bright yellow amongst the rails in her all round monochrome collection.

picture: River Island picture: River Island

The verdict: I think it’s fair to say I am a more excited about her next chart hit than her clothing range. Fingers crossed her next collaboration will be a little more “where have you been all my li-i-i-fe” than this time around. Sorry, Ri-Ri. 

Rapper’s Delight

There can be no better example of style improvement than that which has occurred among the male hip hop stars in the world. It may be said that the bulk of us in the United Kingdom were spared from the truly astounding and unspeakable styles that were popular in the past. It was fashion fail after fashion fail: from the MC Hammer pant to the bling, the bedazzled belts to the grills, the baggy trousers to the over-sized tees, and don’t get me started on the du-rags and skullcaps. I, however, glued to MTV USA for the greater part of my teenage years, was not turned off. I recall wearing a pair of South Pole jeans so large that I could have squeezed my entire pubescent body into one of their legs (see: Soulja Boy, below).

picture: nydailynews.com

It would be remarkably simple to assume that it is only because the hip hop greats we know now have escaped the experimental trappings of youth that we have observed such a remarkable change in style, but this would not be true. Relatively young hip hop artistes like Drake have shown markedly better taste and good sense when it comes to what they wear.

picture: theversed.com

The most noticeable improvement to the style of most hip hop stars is that their clothes are now more fitted and more flattering as excess fabric never hides; it only ever amplifies. Other noticeable style upgrades include the significant reductions in the size of bling, the retiring of aforementioned du-rags and skullcaps and the phasing out of sunglasses indoors.

picture: (left) Nathaniel Goldberg for GQ (right) houseofchapple.com

Jay-Z has probably made the most progress in his personal style. It wasn’t too long ago that he tied a t-shirt around his head like it was some sort of hat. Thankfully those days are far behind him. At Obama’s presidential inauguration earlier this year, he stunned in a brilliantly cut and fitted Tom Ford suit. He followed this with a feature in Justin Timberlake’s Suit and Tie video where all suits, shirts, ties and shoes were designed by Tom Ford.

There can be no doubt that as these stars have become more successful their wardrobes have become more stylish. Kanye West is a regular on the front row these days, and there is no doubt that these style make-overs go hand in hand with the commercialization of hip hop and its acceptance into the mainstream music scene. Outspoken they may still be, but these rappers are now the norm, and powerfully represent the influential relationship between two of the worlds most lucrative industries: fashion and music.