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Day: 12 November 2014

“The Future is Fracking. Discuss” – Manchester Science Festival 2014

Written by Andy van den Bent-Kelly on . Posted in Features, News, Science & Tech.

“Frack off!” “Not for shale!”

Anti-fracking puns are plentiful, as are the arguments for and against the technique.

Advocates of fracking say that it could be a vital step in our shift towards cleaner, more efficient fuels, as well as creating thousands of new jobs. Those against it say that the potential environmental risks simply aren’t worth it. It certainly splits the general public.

However, a sizeable number of people remain unsure about fracking. It was with this in mind that the Museum of Science and Industry held a debate on the matter as part of the 2014 Manchester Science Festival.

Hosted by Discuss, the event saw a panel of four people tell an intrigued crowd about their views on fracking.

Before any discussion began, all members of the audience were asked to answer a simple question. Were they for fracking, against it, or did they simply not know? The results of this quick survey were interesting: one-third of the crowd stated that they supported the technique, whilst another third said that they opposed it.

The remaining third, which included me, declared that they were undecided on the matter.

The host then invited the panel to present their views. Claire Smith, President of Stay Blackpool, was the first to stand up and talk. A native of the town, she spoke of its decline over the past few decades. Although still a popular holiday resort, the town struggles to attract nearly as many people as it did during its heyday in the late 19th and early 20th century.

“Blackpool desperately needs a creative way of finding new investment,” emphasised a concerned Smith. In her eyes, fracking is that creative new way. Unemployment is very high in the town and opportunities are few and far between for young people.

She pointed to Aberdeen, the gateway to oil in the North Sea. Over 40 years after the first major find, the city still prospers thanks to these vast reserves.

The industry still supports nearly 50000 jobs locally and the two per cent unemployment rate is among the lowest in the country. Indeed, Aberdeen was recently voted the happiest city in the UK.

Smith spoke of the many opportunities and benefits that fracking could bring. 60000 new jobs could be created in the energy sector. The UK could enjoy nearly 50 years of energy security. She emphasised the point that a payment of £100000 per well would be committed to local communities affected by fracking.

Her final and perhaps most important point was that it would be senseless not to at least investigate extracting shale gas. Stating that some testing would be needed, she almost begged the crowd to see whether fracking can live up to its promises.

It was then time to hear from an opponent of fracking. Mark Berry, better known as Bez from the Happy Mondays, stood up and started by explaining how he had recently set up his own political party. The ethos behind his campaign at next year’s General Election will be “free energy, free food and free anything.”

He stated that he was frustrated at a lack of any real debate on the matter of fracking and questioned why no senior figure within the industry, or indeed the Government, has come out to defend it.

He views the exploitation of the alleged shale gas reserves in the North West as nothing more than typical corporate greed.

Bez expressed his concern that many fracking locations are situated on major agricultural sites. There are many horror stories flying around about water becoming contaminated by fracking and he stated that he was deeply worried that this water would still be used on these sites.

He also raised the issue of a failed well-head in Hull. It allegedly costs £25000 a day to keep it safe—all this before any fracking has even started!

Mike Bowman was the third member of the panel to speak. A professor of geology at the University of Manchester and a former exploration geologist for BP, he believes that fracking is a viable energy source for the UK but accepts that it is not the long term solution to the world’s energy crisis.

“This is a really tough decision,” was his opening statement. He emphasised that although we need to move away from fossils fuels, it’s not something that can just happen overnight. Their use will continue, but will have to be phased out gradually. “We will be dependent on hydrocarbons for the next few decades,” he stated.

He was critical of the oil industry, explaining that it has a poor exploration track record. He stated that we should be investing in renewable energy sources now, but that right now, we need something else.

It was almost as if he was selling shale gas as the “best of a bad bunch.” While acknowledging that it would still have a negative impact on the environment, he stressed that it was far cleaner than oil and needed to be used as a transition fuel.

Whereas Claire Smith had mentioned Aberdeen, Mike Bowman brought the United States into the equation. Fracking has been taking place there for years.

Not only that, but it has been performed “safely, securely and effectively,” according to Bowman. The shale gas agenda has transformed the country.

Bowman was quick to point out that implementing shale gas extraction here in the UK in a similar style to the US would not be the answer. “We should use US knowledge, but it must be tailored to the UK,” he stated.

His final point was similar to Claire Smith’s. He stressed that we must at least explore the possibility of fracking. “We must take advantage if it’s there,” he concluded.

The fourth and final member of the panel was Kevin Anderson, Deputy Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Manchester. His first statement was powerful: “I’d agree with everything Mike Bowman said, if it was 1990.”

It was back then that the issue of climate change was first raised. The disappointment in Anderson’s voice was palpable when he explained that humanity had chosen to ignore the early warning signs. He warned of the consequences should we continue to dismiss the problem.

He pointed out that 75 per cent of shale gas’ weight is carbon, meaning that vast quantities of carbon dioxide are produced when it is burnt. It might not be as bad as oil, but it’s certainly far more carbon-intensive than renewable energy sources or nuclear power.

However, while Anderson was adamant that shale gas should not be extracted in the UK, he wasn’t so quick to dismiss its use in other countries. He raised an interesting point that it could be used as a transition fuel in poorer parts of the world.

Although the Western world has been exploiting these fuels for generations, many less developed countries haven’t. Anderson said that it would be unfair to not allow poorer areas to ever benefit from hydrocarbons and suggested that in the short term, it could help them.

He concluded by stating that like coal, shale gas must remain underground. “We cannot burn shale gas and expect to meet our climate change requirements.”

It was then time to open up to the audience. Various issues were raised, particularly regarding the safety of the procedure. Mike Bowman was quick to stress that if performed properly, these dangers are not a concern.

The role of regulation was also discussed, as were a wide range of geopolitical questions.

After each member of the panel had presented their concluding views, the audience were once again asked for their views on fracking. This time the “not sure” option was unavailable.

So, did the public agree that the future is fracking? The answer was an overwhelming no. It was revealed that 72 per cent of the audience had voted against the motion.

This interesting and highly thought-provoking debate didn’t quite manage to change my views on fracking. I remain unsure about whether or not it should be instigated here in the UK.

However, I’m pleased that I was there to witness an intelligent topical debate about an issue that could shape the future of our country.

As long as she’s got her suit and tie

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

Traditionally, when you think of a suit and tie (the clothing, not Justin Timberlake song) you automatically picture a man. However, throughout the years, women have become more and more open about wearing men’s clothing. I’ve often noticed women sneakily looking in the male sections of Topshop and Urban Outfitters. And I mean, who can blame them? With more variety and prices that won’t break the bank, what’s not to love? The long, plaid flannel shirts look so much better than the women’s versions, and the baggy jumpers seem so much warmer than our own. Even stars such as Cara Delevingne and Emma Watson are partisans of the androgynous trend, arguably rocking the shirt and trouser look better than most men!

Androgynous style isn’t a recent phenomenon.  Flappers in the 1920s challenged women’s norms with their boyish hair cuts and unshaped clothing. It was also around this time that women began to wear denim trousers, something usually associated with men and the workplace. Even though jeans are extremely comfortable and affordable (and something we still wear today), I doubt this was the main reason women began to wear them. For women, wearing trousers and sporting short hair had practical benefits, it was more appropriate for manual labour. For years this had been an exclusively male sector, but with the evolution of the woman and her insertion into the working world came the evolution of women’s clothing.

When you’re younger, you’re generally either a girly girl or a tomboy. I for one was the latter, and proud of it too! With the tomboy clothes came the fun games of hide and seek and the freedom to stuff food in your face.

So, if you’re ever sick of spandex, tight dresses and heels that shred your feet, why not go over to the dark side? Men’s clothing is comfortable, stylish and versatile and us ladies are giving it a whole new meaning. Now, time to go and raid my dad’s wardrobe…

Men’s fashion: the hit list

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

Wrap up warm but stay cool this winter with our essential menswear picks that will ensure that your wardrobe is prepared for any occasion. Whether you’re aiming for a casual or smart look, you can effortlessly adapt these five pieces and even better, they are extremely affordable and will keep you toasty through the chilly months!

Parka – Topman

First on our hit list is a black heavyweight Parka jacket with a hood. This staple piece is easy to throw on top of any outfit and is guaranteed to keep you warm and dry as it is waterproof, an essential feature when living in Manchester! Extremely durable, the jacket is perfect for getting you to those early morning lectures in the pouring rain whilst looking smart at the same time.

 

Checked shirt – Topman

Fed up of just wearing the same old tatty t-shirt? Opt for this green tartan shirt to add a touch of class to your look while still keeping it casual. If like many of us you don’t have the time (or patience) to iron, then this heavyweight, practically crease resistant material means this is the shirt for you!

 

Jumper – River Island

If the ostentatious seasonal/Christmas jumper isn’t your thing then try a more subtle cable knit jumper. These are very easy to wear and keep the heat in! A staple item for winter, they look great alone or with a collared shirt underneath, such as the tartan one above, which is extremely on trend.

 

Black boots – Topman

A pair of black boots can be worn every day and are a must have for the treacherous journey into uni on those snowy days. The thick rubber sole will provide lots of grip and stop you slipping on the frost, saving your dignity! Pair with black skinny jeans.

 

Beanie – Topman

Although you may not be a fan of accessories, they’re essential for the Mancunian winter. Beanie hats and scarves are stylish and ward off hypothermia while waiting for the bus.

 

Scarf – Topman

All of the picks on our hit list are cheap and cheerful and with many winter offers currently running in the high street shops, now is the perfect opportunity to build up your winter wardrobe!

Mind the Crack

Written by Helen Chapman on . Posted in News.

The Imperial College Rugby First XV team have been suspended pending investigation into reports that team members were stripping on a District Line tube.

The behaviour led to the train being terminated at Stamford Brook. All passengers were told to leave the train, and the police were called to the station.

A Tube train was taken out of service after members of a London university rugby club apparently played a booze-fuelled stripping game on board.

A group carrying kit bags and wearing Imperial College Rugby sweatshirts stripped bare and ran amok on the District Line train yesterday evening, according to commuters.

They boarded towards the front of the 17:19 Richmond to Upminster service, swigging from bottles of wine, a witness said.

They were apparently playing a game in which you had to get off the train, strip, and board again before it moved off.

One Imperial College student said: “I heard a rumour they planned to come [to the union] as Spartans. All the union teams had a theme.

“I heard they did a naked calendar once too.”

One girl reacted with shock to the college’s announcement of their suspension.

She said: “I don’t think its fair if they were suspended from the team. We don’t want them to get in trouble even if they were misbehaving. They’re nice guys.”

However passengers expressed their irritation at the delay on Twitter.

Samuel Weatherstone tweeted: “Naked rugby initiations on the tube. Standard Wednesday in Gunnersbury.”

He added: “@Tfl take @districtline out of service owing to naked London college rugby initiations. Only in England.”

Jordan Cornish tweeted: “Tube is delayed due to a naked guy being on the train.

“My luck man gonna be home even later than usual cos someone thought it was a good idea to undress on the train during rush hour what is life. [sic]”

A spokesman for Imperial College said: “We’ve suspended the members pending further investigation.”

Imperial College said in a statement: “The Students’ Union has very clear policies and rules in place regarding the behaviour of all members of its clubs and societies.

“Any breach of these policies and rules is taken very seriously by the College and the Students’ Union, and disciplinary action will be taken where necessary. As a result of this incident the Union has suspended the team in question pending investigation.”

TedX

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Features.

TED talks have the rare ability to make you feel smarter and more stupid at the same time. The 4th TEDx Talk at the Lowry in Salford inspired, frustrated and educated under the title ‘Festival of the Mind’. It hosted a wide range of different minds from different backgrounds: A Nobel peace prize winner, a 17-year-old who found a method to diagnose pancreatic cancer more efficiently and a man only known as ‘Mister Toilet’ were the highlights of the day and received standing ovations from an audience in awe.

Although the diversity and ambition of the speakers were vast, they all had one thing in common: they never gave up. No matter how many letdowns and ignorant people stood in their way, they kept following their dreams and pushing boundaries. A very good example for this kind of mindset was Jack Andraka, who developed a method that diagnoses pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancer during their early stages—when there is a better survival rate—before he turned 17. He didn’t give up, even after his biology teacher, his parents and 199 researchers didn’t believe in his abilities. But because one professor believed in him, he kept trying and many more lives will be saved in the future because of it. As if that wasn’t impressive already, he criticised the overly theoretical approach to science in classrooms and he spoke of a class hierarchy in terms of knowledge because most of the research is not available to the public unless a certain amount is paid, starting with $25 per research paper. At least 85 per cent of the population live in knowledge poverty and he hopes for more democracy in knowledge distribution worldwide.

Another common theme at TEDxSalford was the breaking of taboos. People are not supposed to talk about shit or the clitoris, but that is exactly what Jack Sim and artist Sophia Wallace are trying to change. Topics which are not talked about are often neglected and only by breaking the silence, change can happen. Jack Sim, a successful businessman from Singapore realised at the age of 40 that there is no use in making more money. He counted the days until his death and came to a number which frightened him. He realised that time is the only true currency in life and decided to devote his life to toilets. A lack of sanitation is a huge problem in developing countries. In India alone, 90 per cent of the water is contaminated and because of flies, even the rich are “eating the shit of the poor.” Instead of increasing his wealth, he decided to raise awareness about this problem and is travelling through countries, meeting presidents and proposed his movement to the UN, who welcomed his innovative mind and we can now all celebrate the official ‘World Toilet Day’ on the 19th of November.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was the speech of the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Tawwakol Karman, romanticised as ‘The Iron Woman’ and ‘The Mother of Revolution’, who gained a standing ovation from an audience unable to decide whether to weep or to celebrate with her. Her body language was neutral, her speech laconic, and through a thick Arabic accent—frequently divulging into actual Arabic when she could not muster the phrase in English—she stood centre stage and told the story of her part in the revolution in Yemen, part of the Arab Spring. Unlike many of the other speakers, she did not flinch or falter once, as no doubt a fresh-faced audience of students, academics and middle class Mancunians were markedly less intimidating than a heavily armed Yemeni government riot control unit, and she embodied all you would look for in a leader. Her speech went into great detail about her involvement in the 2011 protests, where she organised student rallies against the rule of Abi Abdullah Saleh, whose lack of democratic reform, widespread corruption and claimed human rights abuses had beset the Yemeni people for three decades.

The large pictures being projected behind her were extraneous—her expressions and mannerism amply displayed powerful emotions as they bubbled up within her and guided the audience through the talk. From moments of great celebration, such as the students coming together and rallying in swathes of extraordinary fervour, to moments of endurance camping outside the government building for days on end, to a forlorn picture of one of her dead friends, Karman’s reactions married each event to a more poignant, deeper picture, one that cannot be told, but only experienced.  An ebullient audience was turned sombre and pensive by a flicker of grief that played across Karman as she remembered her dead friends. The ‘Iron Woman’ embodied a natural leader, a woman who could stare the devil down but weep uncontrollably for the dead child of another. When her talk ended, and in characteristically stoic fashion, she thanked the audience and stood still, expecting the usual applause, yet what she received was a cacophony of palms. People jumped to their feet, moved to move for a woman that had done so much for so many. The compère acknowledged the eruption of applause as the longest in TEDxSalford history and even as Karman left the stage, she left a strong sense of empowerment within the audience.

Talks ranged from the emotive, to the empowering, to the cerebral, with much overlap in between, but James Glattfelder can confidently be said to fall into the latter. His business card is impressive to say the least, first a physicist and then researcher at a Swiss hedge fund—a job that must require no small amount of creative thinking—and now a Ph.D. holder in ‘Complex Systems’, the focus of his talk. ‘Complex Systems’ is a very vague term for a concept that on the surface—like all good concepts—is very simple. It refers to the idea that all systems are interconnected and every system, say a shoal of fish or a basic forest ecosystem is more than the sum of its parts. He has applied complexity theory to economics and argues it tells us a lot about how the economy works. He co-authored a controversial study that revealed “less than one per cent of all players in the global economy are part of the highly interconnected and powerful core.” A man with these credentials you may assume would be dense, tiresome, wearing a tweed suit with blocky square glasses, surprisingly he only possesses the latter. Glattfelder chose to focus his talk on the complex system of, with a sadistic regard to the mental state of the audience, the system of the universe and the brain. If such a talk can be rated then the existential crisis I was having, staring limply like a battle-weary veteran onto the stage, is surely high praise. With topics ranging from the bizarre way that our brains seem hardwired to be able to understand the universe in mathematical terms to ethnobiology—here in terms of psychedelic flora—Glattfelder gave a talk that has begat many hours of reading, thinking and taken me one step closer to playing with Lego and eating jelly under the supervision of a nurse for the rest of my days. To surmise the concepts his talk wrestled with here would be impossible, but if the ideas interest you then I would suggest you further research him.

We all think that humans are very advanced and know a good deal about our anatomy. Think again! The clitoris was discovered in 1998, 29 years after landing on the moon. How could such an essential female organ be neglected and why are we not talking about it more? Sex education often focuses on the pleasure of boys and only tells girls to endure pain during first intercourse. Women are shamed for having several partners, but they possess a powerful organ, the only human body part that exists solely for pleasure. It is often described as a button, but it actually is an iceberg with at least 8000 sensory nerve endings, the penis in comparison only possessing 3000. The artist Sophia Wallace uses language to shift discourse and she creates street art and posters with witty wordplays called the ‘100 Natural Laws of Cliteracy’ saying “The hole is not the whole,” “Democracy without Cliteracy? Phallusy” and “The world isn’t flat and women don’t orgasm from their vaginas.” The clitoris is not only ignored, 125 million girls’ clitorises are still removed in the process of genital mutilation in in 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East. Furthermore, most people wrongly call the female organ a vagina—the correct name is ‘vulva’. Sophia Wallace fights against this kind of daily ignorance because we are exposed to objectified female bodies every day and being unable to name an essential female organ proves her point further.

Yet not all talks fell within the realm of the serious. Robin Ince, a well-known stand-up comic, gave an animated and hilarious talk on what are known as ‘intrusive thoughts’. This notion encompasses all unwelcome thoughts, from wanting to punch a stranger in the face to being in a high place and suddenly considering jumping off. However, Ince had done his research and found to the audience’s surprise that the two most common ‘intrusive thoughts’ are wanting to throw a baby you are cradling and wanting to have sex with a dog you see—the latter being bizarre and demonstrating that the survey must have been carried out in South Carolina. Whilst these thoughts are naturally, in most instances, considered impure and the sign of a sick mind, Ince actually contended that they are normal and posed the question: would you rather give your baby to someone who thinks “should I throw this baby out the window,” and then rebukes themselves, or absent-mindedly sends the baby careening onto the front page of The Daily Mail?

Likewise, the softly spoken Benjamin Clementine brilliantly sung for the audience a soundscape consisting of more notes than Nick Clegg takes at a Conservative party conference and his onstage persona beget many a laugh. Bouncing in between a sombre faced, self-deprecating comedian who never ceased to ask the audience, “why are you laughing?” to an unabashed tenor, channelling the soul of Pavarotti as he sung about broken promises, love and home. One of the most memorable acts of the night and also one of the most humorous and bizarre, the chants of “one more song,” drowned out the ushering voice of the compère who had to let him play one more fantastical, unclassifiable song.

We were lucky to take a peek behind the scenes while attending one of the workshops in which the curator of the event revealed numbers and facts about TEDxSalford. This year, the organisers tried to focus on better speakers with real content instead of trying to line up big names. The organisation team, mostly consisting of volunteers, normally sends about 300 invitations to speakers from all over the world, although they try to focus on local speakers as well. It was the first time that the balance between male and female speakers was equal which was due to the increase of invitations that they sent to female speakers. Speakers are not paid to be on the stage, but all of their expenses are normally covered. Speakers normally receive training before their big day because they are often confused about what they should actually talk about. At the event, it was obvious that a lot of the speakers were nervous and it took some of them a while to get into a good rhythm. While freedom is important, speakers have to abide by the TED Talks’ guidelines of not trying to sell products or convince people of radical ideas or religions. If you wondered why there is an ‘X’ in the TED Talks at Salford, TEDx Talks are of a smaller scale, independently organised and a lot cheaper. A normal ticket for a TED talk goes into the range of several thousand dollars. The budget is smaller as well; for this year’s TEDx Talk, it was just over £30000 and the event often breaks even.

It was fascinating to find out more about the effort all of the volunteers put into the event and although not every speech was mind-blowing or inspired thoughts of a revolution in the audience, most of the presented topics found resonance and left the audience stunned. On a very long and educational day, we truly witnessed a festival of the mind at the Lowry in Salford. The next TEDx Talk hosted by the University of Manchester will be held next year at HOME, the new cultural centre at First Street.

Live: Rhodes

Written by Bianca Boorer on . Posted in Music.

27th October

Deaf Institute

7/10

David Rhodes made his second appearance at Deaf Institute while on his current UK tour. His first performance at the venue was supporting another artist, and now he’s returning as the main event.  His career has quickly escalated since the release of his EP Raise Your Love this time last year. His current EP Home has reached number 3 in the iTunes Album charts.

His two solo supporting acts both took on a similar artistic style to Rhodes with their soulful tunes about past lovers. MyLyricalMind didn’t seem to impress the audience as his songs seemed to all sound the same. Frances, however, really captivated the audience with her impressive vocal range and meaningful lyrics.

Rhodes’ performance was quite intimate with him alone on stage apart from two guitars and a keyboard. The stage set up, however, was quite tacky, with an annoying little smoke machine in the corner puffing out pathetic steam and unflattering blue flower shaped lights that were projected onto his face which he requested to be turned down twice.

He started off with ‘Morning’ from his second EP immediately seizing the audience with his effortless earthy tones echoing through the small venue. They were in silent bewilderment aside from the one avid fan-girl in the back who was singing along to every word. He did a mixture of all his tracks with ‘Run’, ‘Raise Your Love’ and ‘Darker Side’ from his first EP and ‘Breathe’ from his new EP Home. He played two songs on the keyboard, one of which was one of his new songs that hadn’t been played live before. He admitted he wasn’t very confident on the keyboard, though this did not let on in his flawless performance. He ended with my all-time personal favorite ‘Your Soul’, effortlessly switching between swimmingly calm tones and gritty yells. Singing, “I just want to hold your hand” in a very Beatles like fashion made you fall in love with him. Despite doing quite a few songs the show felt quite short and left the audience wanting more!

Live: Pale Seas

Written by Will Ellis on . Posted in Music.

27th October

Gullivers

6/10

“We’ll all be on first name basis after this.” The tongue in cheek comment by frontman Jacob Scott encapsulates the thoughts of everyone in the room. With a capacity of 150 or so, Gullivers isn’t the largest place but even this venue can’t disguise the lack of a crowd. Stood with the 20ish people, you can’t help but wonder what happened to a band that came from such promising beginnings. With sellout single ‘Something or Nothing’, and over 1000000 plays of Paul Butler (The Bees/Devendra Banhart)-produced ‘Bodies’, 2012 was the year everything went right for Pale Seas. The mixture of acoustic and electric guitar forming a well rounded mellow sound that when combined with the soft tones of Scott’s voice made for some hauntingly beautiful music. It was through such songs that the band enjoyed critical acclaim and sell out headline shows.

But in 2014 Manchester, the prospect of selling out was a long way away. A pity for a band that can, in fairness to them, produce some cracking tunes. The kind that conjure up memories of some forgotten childhood memory in a summer long gone. Unfortunately such songs are few in number, with the bands releases consisting of the previously mentioned singles and new EP Places to Haunt. With such a minimal discography the band are in need of more substance behind them before they can generate a larger audience. An audience that, though once captivated, has grown fractured in the 2 year gap that it took to release Places. Hopefully Pale Seas are able to once again generate a buzz around themselves as it is desevered for a band of such good quality but without an audience gigs have no atmosphere and without an atmosphere you can’t have a great gig.

Live: Lola Colt

Written by Henry Scanlan on . Posted in Music.

25th October

Soup Kitchen

8/10

With a name derived from an old spaghetti-western movie, a swaggering, gunslinging sound, and the general aura of a band of surly outlaws/Sergio Leone fans, Lola Colt must have come to expect a barrage of puns and gimmicky genre conventions from anyone coming to review their show. I’ve read four different reviews in which their tambourine is compared to a rattlesnake. The fact that the lead singer literally has the first name ‘Gun’ doesn’t help. But today, this reviewer refuses. Lola Colt are more than a gimmick. More than a one-trick pony riding into town from the Arizona desert.

The cliché-dodging approach in this case is an act of good will: it must be a minor annoyance to Lola Colt when their spaghetti-western-noir-pop stylings steal attention away from the brilliance of their music. Bloody annoying. Here’s to focusing on the music. You’re welcome, guys.

Most writers just wedge a few band names into their reviews as comparison, content that it amounts to a critique. It doesn’t. Others incessantly sort bands into little categories: “it’s n + x + y with a bit of z for good measure.” That’s bullshit too. This review is all about the music. Lola Colt’s music. Lola Colt from East London. Gun is pretty intense. She looks crazy when her mascara starts to run down her face halfway through a show. She’s equal parts Patti Smith, Polly Harvey, Siouxsie Sioux, Karen O, Chrissie Hynde, Anna Calvi and Grace Slick. As you can imagine, there was quite a lot of sexual energy in the room. I know I wasn’t alone in wanting to rip my shirt off. A guy at the front took the plunge and just went ahead and did it. What a hero.

But back to the music. The music… was… good. Very very good. Definitely go and look them up.

Live: Wolf Alice

Written by Rachel Connolly on . Posted in Music.

Club Academy

27th October

7.5/10

Wolf Alice are a London-based foursome whose catchy take on grunge and punk has earned them recent acclaim. A much-lauded Glastonbury set and the popularity of last year’s EP Blush have seen the band shoot to Tumblr fame. This was the penultimate date in a hectically busy summer dotted with gigs and festivals, from Glastonbury to Melt.

The cave-like space of Club Academy sets the scene for the grungy gig, and it packs out quickly with sweaty, excited students. Any suspicions that the group may be tired after their taxing summer schedule are blown away as they start strong with heavy opening number ‘Storms’; a few minutes into the gig and the audience is screaming “your friends!” along with lead singer Ellie Roswell, and the tone is set sublimely.

They have clearly identified the hyped audience and play a riff-ridden set to match the fevered mood, with brilliant versions of their heavier songs; ‘Moaning Lisa Smile’, ‘She’ and ‘Turn To Dust’. They barely stop for a breath of air until a slow, thoughtful take on ‘Leaving You’. Roswell’s beautiful vocals are even more poignant live, juxtaposed with the crashing guitars and excited screaming of fans.

The band perfectly encompass the spirit of good, old fashioned pop, they play a perfectly judged live show and take themselves just the right level of seriously, joking with the audience between melancholic lyrics. The whole performance is a treat, right down to the encore of fan favourites ‘Blush’ and ‘Fluffy’.

Opinion: Difficult Second Album Syndrome – The Myth, The Mystery And The Mercury Prize

Written by Stephen Miller on . Posted in Music.

A second album is a tough proposition for any band, particularly for those who found immediate and large-scale success with their first. Debut albums normally have a couple of years of development under their belts, with plenty of trial and error from live performances to help the band determine what works and what doesn’t. If a first album hits the ground running, record companies want a second album produced within a much shorter space of time, so it’s likely that a few of the songs that make it on to the second album are the finished products of ideas that were not deemed good enough to make it on to the first.

The debut album is something we have only recently developed a craze for, and this obsession could go some way to explaining why we had seven debut albums shortlisted for this year’s Mercury Prize. The Mercury Prize can become a curse in itself, as a debut album will inevitably receive more praise and adulation than perhaps the creators can bear, and in some cases, more than they deserve. Winning the Mercury Prize with a debut album can be rather ominous, as then, the pressure is on to ensure that the followup is as good as, if not better than, the first.

It’s difficult to pinpoint when the difficult ‘second album syndrome’ concept became prominent in discussions about music. The term has been applied, using words of a similar effect, to follow-ups in other areas such as TV and sport for a number of years, however this happens in music with depressing regularity, and often with more damaging consequences for those involved. A flop second album can destroy a promising career, but, all is not lost. With dogged determination and moments of inspiration, the best a band has to offer may take a few years, and a few albums to come to fruition.

This is evident in the history of some of the biggest bands of the 60s and 70s. Many of these bands didn’t really hit the peak of their powers until a few albums down the line. Pet Sounds was the Beach Boys’ ninth album, Revolver was the Beatles’ seventh and Rumours was Fleetwood Mac’s eleventh. Any band such as these, with more than just substantial careers, can hit a rough patch, but to paraphrase Chumbawamba without even the slightest hint of embarrassment, if a band gets knocked down, they need to get back up again. Good things come to those who wait.

Before I exhaust my supply of clichés, it is possible that what appears a difficult second album may not necessarily be difficult after all. Sales figures and YouTube views may tell you one side of the story, but albums, and this can be applied to music as a whole, should never be defined by numbers and statistics. Music should always be defined by us, those who love it for what it is, and by the mediums through which we access and contextualise it.

Top 5 Songs… played at Resident Advisor Warehouse Project

Written by Patrick Hinton on . Posted in Music.

1.  Barnt – Chappell

Not even being dropped three times over the course of a night (by Hessle, Joy Orbison and Jackmaster) made ‘Chappell’ have any less impact. Track of the year.

2. KiNK – Existence

A highlight of Joy Orbison’s masterful set in Room 1. Those piano chords on Store Streets’ speakers, impeccable.

3. Aphex Twin – Didgeridoo

An absolute classic pulled out by the Hessle Trio. This track was on Aphex Twin’s first ever release in 1992, and it still sounds fresh to this day.

4. Emmanuel Jal – Kuar (Olof Dreijer remix)

Another tribal track the Hessle lot plumped for in their b2b2b. This masterful remix from the male half of The Knife kicked off Room 1 early on.

5. Ol’ Dirty Bastard – Got Your Money

A hip-hop banger selected by Moodymann whilst he shared free vodka with the assembled crowd—what more could you want?

Club: Tribal Sessions – Halloween Special with Dance Mania

Written by Elliot Coen on . Posted in Music.

31st October

Sankeys

2/10

Excitement gripped me upon first hearing of this event. Chicago’s own Paul Johnson is a renowned legend of house music in almost every circle of the vast genre, and it was to be my first time seeing him play. Similarly, Parris Mitchell is another name steeped in the history of ghetto house. With him I knew what to expect, having been in attendance at his electrifying performance as part of a recent Chow Down night at Soup Kitchen.

The residents in Spektrum for the night, Oli Furness and Angus Jefford, the guys behind Manchester’s own Music is Love label, are also DJs I was familiar with. By all means, this should have been a highly enjoyable night for me and my friends. So, where did it all go wrong?

Sankeys as a whole has fallen far in the five or so years I have been attending. The process has only accelerated since its reopening last year. We were greeted by heavy handed security on arrival and funnelled to the entrance. Once inside, it was hard to breathe, let alone dance. Obviously they had sold over capacity. The bar staff were rude but I don’t blame them entirely, as a vast majority of the evening’s clientèle were vapid. At every turn you were caught in someone else’s selfie. The amount of times I was asked about pills reached double figures by the end of the night. Constant annoyances like this kept taking me out of the moment.

The only enjoyment I can actually salvage from the whole debacle is the music itself, with all DJs previously mentioned playing great sets. However, it was apparent that the floor staff weren’t aware that Paul Johnson had been wheelchair bound since 1987. I watched him lifted over and into the DJ booth, a cringeworthy display, in which he could not reach the height of the decks and mixer to play. It was another half-hour before he began.

The main message here is that a stellar line-up is only a small factor in putting together a great club night.

Interview: Jaguar Skills

Written by David Crawley on . Posted in Music.

Renowned for his versatile cut-and-paste mixing style; Jaguar Skills is a seriously talented DJ.

In my opinion there are two things this DJ does that make him really special. The first is his intense speed-mixing; often moving from track to track in five seconds or less. The second is the breadth & depth of his samples. He finds these classic House/Funk/ Soul/Rap/Hip Hop samples and will then mix old with new, often blending genres.

The story of his style begins in the 80s: he explains that he “was a hip hop DJ originally,” and credits the American artists DJ Clark Kent & DJ Kid Kapri as strong influences on his early sound. “They were the first guys I ever saw to play four beats of a tune, flip to another four and play another record real quick”. He has respect for what they did at that time: “They smashed it in New York.”

He explains that another key influence was a DJ Spinbad mixtape—someone he describes as “a straight hip-hop DJ and real legit.” At the time he had a very particular taste in hip-hop, but in this mixtape DJ Spinbad starts “scratching in 80s pop records.” He was shocked and said it was “really amazing hearing this real shit record.” But it was a game-changer and he says “I took that concept and flipped it to the electronic.”

Jaguar Skills was also raised in a house with thousands of records on vinyl. His dad was a DJ, who “used to sell records out of the house.” He later worked for a record company and went on to run his own label. Music is a massive part of his life: “For me man, music is like food. It is like [the way] I like sushi, I love a fillet of beef, Heston Blumenthal. McDonalds. KFC. Don’t eat it all the time but I like it.” He goes on to clarify that “it’s all just music. It’s all just food” and says this personal perspective was a “revolution/revelatory thing.”

He is not just fast at playing music; but also has speed-listening techniques to quickly judge if a song is decent saying “you know, I give a record 40 seconds.” I ask him specifically about how he selects dance records, given that there are so many throwaway tracks nowadays. He explains that “most dance records are sequenced and arranged,” with the breakdown a quarter of the way through and the drop halfway through and describes the process: “Put a beat on, normal, skip through, drop. Ooh that’s interesting. Let me listen to the whole thing.”

Listen to ‘The Piano Loop Mix’ or ‘30 Years of Hip Hop in 30 minutes’ on his SoundCloud page and you can feel just how well these tactics can turn out for him. I then asked about how modern electronics and the internet have impacted on the way his music is made. He says it’s “much easier to make records” and that “10 years ago you would have to buy tapes, have a studio, had to have all this shit, had to have a bit of money, really have to hope what you would make was good and then you would have to get signed!”

Comparing the traditional process to the modern day music business he remarks “the whole process seems nightmarish” by comparison, however at the time artists were “paid a lot more.” Nowadays “the money you make from selling records is minimal” but “artists now get paid more for live gigs” and he loves the ability to just “make a tune on your laptop.” The consequence of this is that “certain music has become more direct, more throwaway, more simple” and he laments that there is less of a place for “songs that take a while for people to get into.”

In terms of where he finds music online he visits: www.beatport.com, www.djcity.co.uk & www.breakbeat.co.uk. He loves listening to new music, to “see how a crowd reacts to a song” and often checks venue listings to see which other DJs are playing where.

I then asked about whether he feels the mask detracts from his connection with a live crowd. He has thought about this a lot before and says that “people react to your face in a certain way. You get different highs off people’s faces” but that doing it masked frees him to “get more interaction with the crowd” because he “uses the body” more as a “communication tool” and that from a “semi-deep” perspective the mask is powerful.

It is powerful because “you lose your face, the thing that people are used to” and that it is “quite interesting to manipulate that”. He openly admits that would hate to be conventionally famous, that he is “quite private in a way.” Finally, Jaguar Skills produces a quote that best describes why he wears a mask: “when a man puts on a mask he reveals his true face.”

Jaguar Skills plays Sankeys this Saturday 15th alongside Beardyman. Tickets are on sale here.

Football Manager: More than just a game

Written by Andrew Georgeson on . Posted in Sport.

I’ll say this now: if I buy Football Manager 2015 I will not get a degree, I won’t be able to do my Masters in Journalism and achieve my dream of being a professional writer, and my life will crumble around me.

Despite this, I’m still undecided over whether or not to make the purchase.

Football manager, for me, is essentially a microcosm of the battle between man and technology. Given my progress on the game, I have concluded that I would handle what happens in iRobot a lot better than Will Smith did. And I wear converse too, like Will Smith on that film, although probably look slightly less impressive whilst having a shower.

In iRobot, Mr. Smith needs to fight off a series of homicidal robots that have turned bad by having to reset their system. I, too, need to fight a similarly evil force in Tottenham Hotspur with a Newcastle Side on the cusp of Champions League football.

It’s tense, Newcastle are tailing 1–0 at 67 minutes. Sammy Ameobi is off injured, all my subs are used and Cissé couldn’t hit a barn door with a banjo, yet I conclude “he has something to prove” so he gets the nod. In a moment of haste, I move Ryan Taylor from holding midfielder to left-mid, push the creative Remy Cabella up to sit behind Cissé and the newly acquired Danny Ings, with Obertan on the other wing. Basically reverting to a 4-4-2 diamond with no bottom edge.

It almost instantly works, levelling 1–1 on 72 minutes. But we’re not out of the woods, Eriksson has a free kick. I curse Steven Taylor and the day he was born for giving away the free kick, but nothing can be done, and the fateful words “surely he’s going to have a shot from here” comes up in the blue box at the bottom of the screen. He strikes it, and Tim Krul gets a big beautiful Dutch left-paw on the ball and equally beautiful Dutchman Janmaat cleans it to Orbertan.

But wait. I remember I have the ‘counter attack’ option ticked. We’re in business. It’s three-on-two, Orbatan gets the ball in the box and Cissé knocks it passed a flailing Hugo Lloris.

Scenes, absolute scenes.

Then Spurs equalise, as in the crazy world of football manager they bring on an 82nd-minute sub in the shape of Paul Pogba who tears my 10 men apart.

That is simply six minutes and one match in the life of a football manager veteran, and it is a hard lifestyle to give up.

I asked Twitter to send me their Football Manager memories, and within minutes I was inundated with tweets regaling stories of taking Dagenham and Redbridge from the Conference to Premiership in five years and leading Sheffield Wednesday from League 1 to Champions League glory.

Even mentioning the game to fellow Sports Editor Will Kelly brings out an emotional and confused side of the Manchester United fan and Football Manager die hard.

“The game’s a conspiracy against United,” he claims. “Some leaders in it [designers of the game] are City fans apparently so they always make them struggle.”

Yet I’m sure Will, like all of us, will forgive the designers of the game for the matches that looked seemingly fixed when we realise that maybe Newcastle just can’t overturn the 4–0 deficit against Real Madrid, and maybe Manchester United really are that bad in real life. After we’ve had some time to think we always return to our lover with open arms.

Yet there are some who just don’t believe.

I was sitting with my girlfriend, had FM open on my laptop, and was playing with Newcastle in an FA Cup quarter-final replay against a Brighton side that I had battered home and away, and somehow they had me in extra-time.

“I don’t get it,” she said. “You’re just clicking and watching, they aren’t even real people.”

It may seem that way, to the untrained eye, but the stats and statistics have a similar depth to all great literary works.

The Old Man and The Sea seems like a nice story about a man in a boat who catches a fish and it gets eaten, then he dies. But it’s more than that. Like old Santiago, I’m going through a dry spell here, and I must sail beyond where anyone’s sailed before, and catch that fish to prove my critics wrong. But it’s to no avail, that tactics, the scheming, my catch of a team, is ruthlessly pulled apart by Brighton just like Santiago’s fish and I am left with nothing.

The game has reached such notoriety for accuracy, predicting the rise of players such as Falcao, that clubs are using the games databases as part of scouting systems.

As I watch the copies fly of the shelves in agony, I will look forward to the Christmas break where my team of underdogs and I can fight again, against all the odds.

It’s intense, it’s infuriating and it’s wonderful. Long may it continue.

The Imitation Game

Written by Andrew Georgeson on . Posted in Sport.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a Newcastle United fan. Yes, a Geordie born and raised with a stupid accent—the lot. Whenever I return home to see family, work or some other sort of punishment, I always check whether or not Newcastle are playing, and if they are I’ll always buy a ticket. Yet after it took an 87th minute Cissé goal to see us draw level with Hull at home in October, I found myself questioning why. I mean, I’d had a season ticket from 2005 until I moved to Manchester in 2012 and seen us get relegated, promoted and then finish 5th. That was it. No cup finals, no European nights—topped off with the board actually saying they didn’t see the financial sense in winning a cup, thus curtailing any sense of ambition, so why bother going at all?

But there’s something about Newcastle which makes fans keep going. We have the third largest average attendance in the league, filling 95 per cent of our 52000-seat stadium, which, keeping in mind Newcastle is only a city of just under 300000, is quite impressive. We also have an extraordinarily loyal attendance away from home and are the team who have to travel furthest out of all teams in the league, which is no mean feat.

The polar opposite of that is little old Wigan Athletic, my second team. The plucky underdogs who, “like the dirt underneath your fingernails,” a friend of mine once said, just wouldn’t leave the Premier League. The town had a sordid affair with football when it won the 2013 FA Cup, taking a quarter of the town’s 80000 population with them. They were vehemently criticized for not filling their allocation. “A small Rugby League town,” cried the ‘purists’. Yet, they still went on to win the cup against Manchester City. Wigan have had a remarkable 20 years, from the brink of extinction, to the dizzying heights of the Premier League, FA Cup final and Europa League. I think we’d all agree that’s far more exciting than Newcastle United, the bigger club, with more fans.

It also helps going someway to explaining why City are receiving such harsh criticism for their current gates during cup games. Leading the crusade was Manchester United old guard Paul Scholes, who said that he didn’t believe that City fans realised how fortunate they were to be playing Europe’s elite, and that they need to make special atmospheres.

Voice of reason Rio Ferdinand, now at QPR, chipped in on Twitter as he so often does saying, “big CL game & fans would rather Ramsays Kitchen or something at home [sic]” (followed by the ‘see no evil’ monkey emoticon). No one can quite be sure what Rio meant by that, or why he committed such grammatical genocide, but I think the gist was City need to be selling out their attendances every match to be considered a ‘top club’ like Manchester United.

After all, the Capital One Cup defeat against Newcastle and last week’s tie with CSKA Moscow at the Etihad, City billed their tickets as £15 for adults, £1 for kids and buy one get one free respectively, neither managed to sell out.

But there’s a deeper problems afoot than just claiming City fans don’t care.

The first is that the hub of Manchester City fans find themselves in the areas surrounding the Etihad and in South Manchester, are some of the most economically deprived areas in the country. The median income in Central Manchester is £23567 which is substantially lower than the national average of nearly £29000. Indeed, the average income in Chorlton was £36460 where Longsight was just £17661. So paying for upwards of 30 matches a season for many will simply be impossible due to financial reason.

Many of those fill the seats at Old Trafford, and this is well known to Manchester City’s owners who want to expand the clubs global image to rival Manchester United’s. The thinking behind this is not just to sell more shirts, but also to get more bums on seats. United’s superior global image was confirmed when Barcelona played at the Etihad last year, their fans did the stadium tour of Old Trafford before beating them 2–0. Salt in the wound, eh?

The second point that has to be made is that City fans are rather new to this winning malarkey. Neither of their title wins have been particularly convincing—one took a last minute Agüero goal against a relegation-threatened QPR on the last day of the season to win the league on goal difference, the other took a spectacular capitulation by Liverpool and Chelsea as well as another final day victory against West Ham. The primary hope for City fans every year is to win the Premier League, and that is quite simply enough. Let’s not forget that only 10 years ago City were playing Macclesfield Town. It is the same reason City fans aren’t putting pressure on Pellegrini just yet and took the ad in the MEN out in dedication to Mancini after he left. These aren’t dark days yet, City fans have lived through them already.

European competition is a totally different psychology, as we saw with the Liverpool team of 2005 and even the struggling Manchester United team of last season reaching the quarter finals of the Champions League. I would go as far to say that Manchester United would probably have got out of the group City were in this year. That’s because Manchester United have a legacy, an array of legends. Whereas on Football Manager 2014 under the Manchester City ‘legends tab’, you find Robinho, Jo and Sheikh Mansour. Two dodgy strikers and an exceedingly wealthy man, nice.

It was summed up quite nicely by two older City fans I talked to after they defeated Newcastle at St. James’ when City were in touching distance of their first championship. “I have a lot of time for Newcastle, you know,” one said to me. “You used to be just like us.”

In a few years City, providing the Sheikh’s money is still there, City will be a force in Europe. Pellegrini will hopefully get more time. If the quota really is five trophies in five years it is a good thing he already has two, as it’s unlikely they’ll get any this season. But if anything City proves it’s this—attendances don’t make any difference, and you can’t judge the fans that are in the ground on the fans that don’t show up.

Where have all the book Amagone?

Written by William Brown on . Posted in Opinion.

In the business world there’s a saying: “cornering the market.” Essentially it means finding your niche. Amazon hasn’t done this, it has enveloped portions of the market whole.

If you want something, whether it be a book, a TV show, a child’s rocking horse, drinking helmet or a sex toy, you can Amazon it; the online retailer will cater to the consumers every desire.

What with speedy delivery services and irresistible prices, it is difficult not to indulge in those guilty moments of online retail therapy. “Buy in one click,” how magical! Never mind the fact that it’s all backed up by a poorly paid workforce whose workload is such that they are at an increased risk of mental illness, according to a recent BBC report. Never mind the whopping gap in our public finances, or where the tax from Amazon’s £4.3 billion worth of UK sales should be. We love it.

For Amazon, the sky is literally the limit, last year Amazon was toying with the idea of drone delivery systems. One can almost envision a dystopian future where the skies are dotted not by birds, but by Amazon deliveries.

Amazon started off simply as an online book retailer and although it expanded into new markets quickly, predictably that’s where its influence is most felt today.

Last year in the USA Amazon held a whopping 65 per cent share of books sold online and a 41 per cent share of all new book sales. Britain isn’t far off with Amazon holding a near 35 per cent share of the book market. The e-book market in both countries is similarly dominated: Amazon accounting for over 70 per cent of all e-book sales. And today Amazon’s expansion shows no sign of waning.

Think about the power that such a market share gives to Amazon; an author knows that nearly half of their sales will be through the retail giant. Recently, while the political writer Owen Jones was publicising his new book The Establishment he pointed to Amazon as having the power to make or break any author’s success.

The key lies in Amazon’s ability to withhold the sale of small or independent publishers’ books—unless they agree to often extortionate and unacceptable business deals. The editor of magazine The Bookseller, Philip Jones, told the BBC that effectively Amazon’s terms were a “form of assisted suicide for the industry,” as they push small players out of the market.

However, the effect more noticeable to the average reader is Amazon’s devastating impact on independent bookstores. Thatcherite reforms in the 1990s heralded a deregulation of the book market, later allowing pricing to be slashed tremendously on online sales. This has resulted in a third of independent bookshops closing within the last nine years, leaving the UK with fewer than 1000 independent bookstores. If you exclude charity shops, Google will show you that Manchester only possesses five to cover a population of over 2.5 million.

I’m not one to fetishize independent bookshops, which can often be incredibly stuffy and pretentious, but we are losing something of cultural significance here to the mechanised commodification of literature.

The French certainly think so. The protection of independent bookstores is one of the few things that both the political far right and the far left unite on. In France, regulation has been in place since the late 80s to limit pricing discounts. Today the continuation of these discounts into the online world limits Amazon’s ability to offer free delivery on orders.

Now this may sound fastidious and dull—it is—but this legislation has had a very real effect on French high streets where there are presently more than 2700 independent book stores, nearly three times more than the similarly populated UK. Effectively, the French have given the Davids of the literary world a fighting chance against Goliath.

Now I’d be a hypocrite to call for a boycott of Amazon, my order history from the company goes on for several pages; just today my flatmate was complaining about answering the door in the early morning for a package I’d ordered.

In a world where people read less and less, the value and efficiency of the company in providing accessibility to information cannot be downplayed. However, sustained pressure must be put on the company by us, as the consumers, to be accommodating to the wider literary world.

Manchester Students’ Union becomes a licensed Duke of Edinburgh Award centre

Written by Kathryn Murray on . Posted in News.

The University of Manchester Students’ Union has joined a small number of others to become a licensed Duke of Edinburgh’s Award centre. The licensing makes it possible for students to conveniently participate at the Students’ Union directly, rather than having to go through an external provider.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is a youth achievement award which is highly valued by employers. The awards recognise adolescents and young adults for completing a series of self-improvement exercises. To achieve an award, participants must complete a set amount of hours focused on volunteering, physical activities, skills (including social and practical), and an expedition.

The University of Manchester Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Society is dedicated to helping members complete the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award including Gold, the highest level of achievement.

Sean Ruane, President of The University of Manchester Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Society, was there to collect the license. Speaking to The Mancunion Sean said, “Thanks to everyone’s hard work we’ve managed to become the second university in the country to be certified as a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Direct Licensed Centre.

“Being certified is a fantastic opportunity for our society, as it means we can provide and manage our own awards, meaning that we’ll be able to grow our society and provide a better service for our members. With this license, we’ll be able to run faster and more efficiently, so students will be able to keep up with and see the results of their hard work more easily. My thanks to everyone who helped make this possible.”

You can find the society on Facebook and join via the student union website at http://manchesterstudentsunion.com/groups/duke-of-edinburgh-s-award-society

Students campaign against Victoria’s Secret’s ‘Perfect Body’ goes global.

Written by Jennifer Sterne on . Posted in News.

Students Francis Black, Garbiella Kountourides and Laura Ferris began a petition against the lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret after an advertisement for their new bra range ‘Body’ was released. The advertisement ran with ten models of the same slim body type with the words ‘The Perfect Body’ overlaid on top of them.

The students are petitioning Victoria’s Secret to “apologise for, and amend the irresponsible marketing of your new bra range ‘Body'”. The petition which is being run through change.org outlines that the advertising campaign “promotes unhealthy and unrealistic standards of beauty.”

They aim to highlight that the advertisements play on women’s insecurities, and send out a damaging message by positioning the words ‘The Perfect Body’ across models who have exactly the same, slim body type. It fails to celebrate the diversity of women’s bodies by choosing to call only one body type ‘perfect’.

The campaign, running with the hashtag #iamperfect, created a “social media firestorm” after they managed to gain international recognition, being covered by press in America, Australia, France, Germany and Italy.

The underwear brand, Dear Kate, has also joined in the campaign by creating a reimagined ‘The Perfect Body’ ad. In a statement on their website they write that their reimagined ad “showcases women who are often neglected by the media and traditional retailers. We show the multitude of shapes perfect bodies can take. We stand with the petition of Gabriella Kountourides, Laura Ferris and Frances Black.”

Speaking to the University of Leeds student newspaper The Gryphon, Gabriella Kountourides, said: “It’s going global because it’s a serious issue that everyone can relate to, both men and women, young and old. I think the public is crying out for people to hold big companies to account for their actions. Our petition is not about skinny shaming, it’s about accepting all body types, each person can make up their own mind as to what is perfect… we don’t need to be told!”

Last Thursday, as the campaign reached 25000 signatures, it was announced that the lingerie company had changed the wording on their website from ‘The Perfect Body’ to ‘A Body for Every Body’. However the Leeds’ students wrote in a petition update on change.org that “the campaign is not over! We still want them to change all the posters in their stores, apologise and pledge not to use such harmful marketing in the future”

The petition can be found at: https://www.change.org/p/victoriassecret-apologise-for-your-damaging-perfect-body-campaign-iamperfect

 

From the Vault: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Written by Stevie Grieves on . Posted in Lifestyle.

“Now this is the story all about how, my life got flipped-turned upside down.” You would be hard pressed to find a person over the age of twelve who didn’t spontaneously burst into quasi-rap and finish The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s most enduring legacy; its opening theme song.

Regardless of how big of a fan you were of the show at the time, most people can enthusiastically sing along to one of the nineties’ most popular sitcom’s opening titles, rapped by the now household name, Will Smith. Whilst the famous rap and burgeoning talent of its leading man were certainly some of its most defining features, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air has remained a firm favourite for more than its witty one liners.

Following The Cosby Show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was not groundbreaking in its presentation of a largely all African-American ensemble cast in a sitcom at the time, but its enduring popularity among the younger generation have made it more important.

Whilst not solely relying on storylines that explored race relations in America, the show did have poignant episodes, such as one episode where Carlton and Will were racially profiled and arrested for driving a car that looked expensive, even though it belonged to them. Despite the comedic element that ran through every episode, scenes such as this prove The Fresh Prince had moments of real cultural awareness and raised race issues that programmes such as Friends failed to tackle.

The show became a comedic vehicle for American audiences to recognise the growing economic gap and prosperity levels in African-American culture. But where The Fresh Prince started out as a stereotypical comedy concerned with the clash of the classes and the trope of the ‘fish out of water character’ in Will struggling to fit in with his upper-middle class family, it became a sitcom that focused on its characters’ warming relationships and strengthening family ties.

Smith himself said at the end of the series’ run that “We never started out trying to make some big social statement or leave a big fingerprint on American pop culture, we were just trying to have fun. We wanted to not only present some positive black images, but also give people a vehicle to relieve some of the stress in their busy lives.” Indeed, the scenes with the greatest emotional depth, such as Philip’s heart attack or Will’s emotional outpouring about his absent and disappointing father remain some of the series’ most memorable moments.

So whether you loved the show or were largely ambivalent to it during the seemingly endless re-runs on TV, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air proved itself to be more than just a routine sitcom. It cemented itself as a classic that younger generations would continue to appreciate, if only for one of the most famous novelty raps of all time.

The noughties was the best and the worst decade

Written by Molly Allen on . Posted in Lifestyle.

The general consensus seems to be that the noughties was a very suspect time for all of us. Personally, I was sporting my older cousins’ hand-me-down leggings that were miles too big, singing along to Steps (my dad disapproved of the Spice Girls) and had my four front teeth missing.

So if I was so well dressed, how could it possibly have gone wrong? We witnessed 9/11, the Iraq war, the credit crunch, the introduction of the euro and the Internet becoming huge. Although a lot of these events were hugely tragic and caused enormous destruction and devastation, many of the things that happened brought us closer together. The British became determined not to lose the pound; we united in our remembrance of the victims of war; and we started Googling and stopped Asking Jeeves (although my mum still says this).

LGBT rights have expanded hugely; same-sex marriage is now legal in seventeen countries and people are bravely fighting worldwide for the prejudices to end. School dinners have had a complete facelift with Jamie Oliver scrapping the turkey twizzlers—the child in me is still not over this, I loved those curly bastards.

Along with the demise of the turkey twizzler came the surge in technology. Many say that the rise in technology is driving us apart. However, it helped me stay in touch with my boyfriend when he was 6000 miles away for a whole year (yes we are still together, thank you Skype). It means I sent a friend a message of support with regards to her mum who had breast cancer when I’d lost her number, it means we can have people the other side of the world in the same room and feel like they never left.

So what did the noughties leave us with? Some hilarious photographic evidence of a lot of people in very suspicious clothing, the ability to communicate without even saying a word and we’re all that little bit closer to finally having equal rights (feminists, our time will come).