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Month: September 2015

Cause of animals’ internal body clocks discovered

Researchers have discovered the cells responsible for driving the annual body clock in animals that enable them to adapt their bodies to the different seasons.

The team, made up of scientists from the universities of Manchester and Edinburgh, have identified a specific group of cells in the pituitary gland as being accountable for the changes that many animals go through depending on the time of year.

These so-called “calendar cells” are found in the ‘pars tuberalis’ part of the gland’s anterior lobe and respond according to how many hours of daylight there are. This provides the animal with an internal genetic clock.

The behaviour of many animals varies drastically throughout the year, which can now be explained by the fact that these cells produce different proteins in the summer and winter months.

This switching of proteins repeats itself over the course of the year and enables many mammals to adapt accordingly.

The study was led by Professor Andrew Loudon of The University of Manchester’s Faculty of Life Sciences.

Professor Loudon said: “Scientists have long puzzled over how many animals seem to change their physiology according to the seasons.

“Animals need to change their physiology to predict the changing environment and increase their chances for survival.

“For example, some animals hibernate through the winter and others, including sheep, will time mating to the winter so they can give birth in the spring—when more food is available.

“Now we have a much stronger understanding about how the body’s so-called circannual clock regulates this process.”

The study, which was published in the journal Current Biology, focused on the seasonal behavioural patterns of sheep and was conducted over the course of three years.

In addition to enhancing our knowledge of animal physiology and behaviour, the study could also prove beneficial in explaining how humans respond to different environments and seasons.

Even though humans do not demonstrate any adaptions as dramatic as hibernation, it is believed that internally, there are still multiple changes taking place.

Dr. Shona Wood, a Research Associate at the University of Manchester, said: “A similar structure can be found in most animals—including humans.

“Scientists once believed that humans did not show seasonal adaptations, but more recent research has found that this may not be the case and in fact there is seasonal variation in protection against infectious disease.

“Our study gives more increases our understanding of how this may work.”

Professor Dave Burt of the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute added: “The seasonal clock found in sheep is likely to be the same in all vertebrates, or at least, contains the same parts list.

“The next step is to understand how our cells record the passage of time.”

Manchester part of EU eco-friendly chemicals initiative

The University of Manchester is to take part in a multi-million pound project to produce more eco-friendly chemicals for multiple industries.

The £8.5 million project, called ROBOX, is an initiative brainstormed by Horizon 2020, the European Union’s biggest ever research and innovation programme.

Led by Dutch firm DSM, ROBOX aims to transform the way in which chemicals are manufactured for the pharmaceutical, food and materials industries.

Researchers from Manchester will work alongside a host of other universities and companies from across Europe to develop sustainable alternatives to current industrial oxidation processes.

Most chemicals are synthesised industrially using a catalyst to either speed up the process or spark it into action.

Many of these catalysts are themselves created artificially and their use can result in unwelcome environmental side effects.

These chemical oxidations frequently use environmentally damaging solvents, toxic metals and dirty compounds.

An alternative to artificial catalysts is the use of biocatalysts, such as protein enzymes. These can be found in nature and then further developed for optimal use in industry.

This is a much cleaner way of manufacturing chemicals and can even result in higher-quality products.
Many examples of biocatalysts can be found in the human body, such as the enzyme that breaks down alcohol.

A major advantage of biocatalysts is the fact that they often only require very tame conditions, such as room temperature, neutral pH and standard atmospheric pressure.

They do, however, often need to be tailored to the chemical conditions appropriate for the reaction in question.

ROBOX will use biocatalysis to demonstrate that safe and sustainable substitutes to traditional chemical manufacturing methods can be introduced to the industry.

Manchester’s main contribution to the project will be to develop and use these new techniques, specifically focusing on Cytochrome P450 enzymes. This will produce drug metabolites, which can then be used to improve new drugs and make them safer to use.

This will be overseen by the University of Manchester’s Professor Nicholas Turner, who works at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology.

Professor Turner said: “A lot of the processes we use currently are expensive and not very cost effective.

“This is a unique opportunity for academic groups to work alongside chemical companies and specialist SMEs to develop innovative biocatalytic processes for applying oxidation for chemical synthesis.

“We believe that challenging problems of this nature are best solved on a pan-European basis by bringing together under one roof the combined expertise of many groups to establish a world-class research hub in biocatalysis and sustainable chemical synthesis.”

£12 million Physics extension announced

The University of Manchester has announced its intention to expand the Schuster Building, home of the School of Physics and Astronomy.

The Schuster Annexe will be constructed on the eastern side of the building, on the corner of Brunswick Street and Upper Brook Street. This area is currently unoccupied and this development is expected to cost in the region of £11.5 million.

The news comes shortly after it was announced that the university is to build a new £350 million engineering campus. Both of these developments are part of the university’s £1 billion Campus Masterplan, which aims to unite all the departments on a single state-of-the-art campus by 2022.

By extending the building rather than constructing an entirely new one, all members of the School of Physics and Astronomy will be able to benefit from this development.

Students and academics alike from other parts of the building will easily be able to cooperate with colleagues based in the new section.

A planning application for the proposals will be submitted at the end of the month.

Constructed in 1967, the Schuster Building was one of the final structures of the University’s Science Quadrangle to be completed. It has an illustrious history; the ‘supermaterial’ graphene was first isolated in the laboratories there in 2004 by Professors Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov.

Having undergone a major refurbishment in 2007, this latest expansion will enable the department to cater for the growing interest in physics and other STEM subjects.

The university has seen a significant increase in applications to the School of Physics and Astronomy in recent years and this new development will enable the university to take in more undergraduate and postgraduate students than ever before.

It is hoped that the extension will enable both the School and the university to improve the learning experience for all students who use the facilities within the building.

Other ambitions include diversifying recruitment and enhancing transferable skills.

One of the School’s main focuses is increasing the employability of it students and providing them with career and workplace knowledge and advice.

By upgrading the facilities and focusing on creating spaces to develop these skills, the department aims to make its students even more attractive to potential employers.

Professor Martin Schröder, Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, said: “The Schuster Annexe development continues the university’s drive to invest in new core facilities to improve teaching and learning for our students.

“It will enhance the skills and employability of our students and extend our outreach capabilities.”

Azeem Ward – the man behind the meme

It is the end of Freshers’ Week, and there is a real buzz and atmosphere of expectation around the Students’ Union building as a large crowd waits with bated breath.

Surprisingly, this is not the night of Pangaea, but the day before. Even more surprisingly, this sense of expectation surrounds a flautist about to play a gig in Club Academy.

However, this isn’t just any flautist. The flautist in question may well be the most famous in the world right now.

His name is Azeem Ward, a recent music graduate from the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), who has been thrust onto the world stage after thousands of people from the United Kingdom RSVP’d to an event he created on Facebook to promote his final-year recital.

Ward set up the event in order to invite about 600 friends and family, for an event scheduled to take place in the Karl Geiringer concert hall, which has a capacity of just 100.

“The year is coming to an end soon and I will be performing my final senior recital! Please come out and show some support if you can!” he wrote. “You will hear some beatboxing, jazz and may even see some dancing! Plus there will be some refreshments!”

The recital promised to include works such as Devienne Concerto No. 7, Gaubert Sonata No. 3, and Roitstein’s Flautas, as well as some original compositions.

He left the event page public, so that anyone could confirm their attendance online. His page initially got 70 RSVPs from those he had personally invited. So far, so good—the concert hall would be mostly full.
Little did Ward know that his unique enthusiasm, as well as a now-classic photo of himself, flute nonchalantly slung over his shoulder, was hugely appealing to those of us on this side of the Atlantic.

Within the space of five days more than 88,000 people—most of whom were from the UK—clicked attending. The sensation led to him being featured in The Independent, Buzzfeed, and even earned him a spot on Jimmy Kimmel Live on US television.

However, the Azeem Ward juggernaut did not stop there, and his 15 minutes of fame were not over yet. Following a successful petition on Change.org, a live stream was set up, where over 55,000 people logged on to watch the recital.

Over 400 people had to be turned away from the 100-capacity venue in California. However, a Durham University student who had flown over 5,000 miles to watch the peformance, was personally saved a seat by Ward.

Ward and his friend and partner Timmy, who is also known as DJ Underbelly, began their tour of the UK at the beginning of September. They are bringing never-before-seen blend of flute and live mixing to the stages of many UK Students’ Unions and campus bars.

On Thursday the 24th of September, Underbelly and Azeem played Squirrels Bar in Owens Park campus. The next day, they came to Club Academy for a gig, from which all the proceeds went to Manchester RAG. Their support artists were the DJs from Fuse FM.

I got the chance to have a brief meal with the duo before their performance, and had a chance for a quick interview before they went on stage.

Obviously, I had to ask Ward whether the original flute recital went well.

“I think so.” Ward replies, as if unsure: “I mean, I passed.”

Indeed, the recital was such a resounding success that Ward was able to crowdfund a ticket for himself and Timmy to embark upon their five-week tour of UK universities. Before Manchester, he had already played to capacity crowds at St. Andrew’s and Nottingham; and is going to Liverpool, Leeds, and elsewhere later in the tour.

Thinking ourselves to have been the first to think up such an innovative and hilarious idea, the organisers of the gig booked a table at Nando’s for Ward, Timmy, and four lucky competition winners, to really reinforce the cultish weirdness of the event. In fact, Azeem had already been ‘treated’ to seven Nando’s meals in the few weeks he’d been in the country.

In true Mancunion fashion, Nando’s had in fact lost our reservation, and we rushed to a nearby Pizza Express. Azeem was not downbeat though, and actually appeared to relish the change of surroundings. Instead of his eighth Nando’s, this would be his first Pizza Express.

“It was good!” he said of Pizza Express, “They had wine there and I ate my pizza and folded it in half—it was really good.”

Alarmingly pressed for time before he was meant to make it on stage, Ward’s exposure to Manchester continued by ushering him onto that Mancunian idol, a Magic Bus, before almost losing our famous guests upstairs. It seemed this may have been the first occasion that Ward had ever been on the top deck of a bus: “When we were on the second level it was quite… magical.”

As our interview finally got underway in the Union building, after all the excitement of dinner and a bus journey—and just minutes before he was due on stage—it seemed only natural to start our interview by asking how Ward felt to potentially be the most famous flautist in the world right now.

“I’m not sure if I’m the most famous, but I guess it’s good,” he replied, bashfully. “How about this—I don’t feel like I’m the most famous flautist in the world.”

Ward comes across as an extremely humble person, one who had absolutely no intention of becoming an internet sensation: “I don’t know many people that do set out to become an Internet sensation—I think it can only be accidental. I just want to be a musician.”

His humility appears not to be the quality his legions of fans appear to value the most. In a poll conducted on the Facebook recital page asking what Ward’s best aspect was, over 1,400 chose to say that he is “a beacon of light in a world otherwise fraught with darkness and despair”.

Aside from being a beacon in the darkness for thousands of Britons, does Ward know why the UK fell in love with him in the way they did?

“Because they’re a great people! But, for real, I think it was just an inside joke from the start, the whole meme and everything just started in the UK.”

I suggest that, as the duo’s setlist contains Darude’s ‘Sandstorm’—a highly popular meme in and of itself, and a song that was requested thousands of times on the initial Facebook event page—is an allusion to Ward’s status as a meme, Timmy confirms that it is “an inside joke between us and the audience, it’s us letting the audience know that we get it, man.”

Refreshingly, the pair remain grounded, and they appear to be under no illusion that their stratospheric ascent to fame in the UK is at least partly something of a joke.

Despite this easy-going nature, they are serious musicians, and they plan to use the immense platform given to them by legions of fans on the internet to forge their way in the hyper-competitive music business.

Ward continues: “Yeah, we’re trying to develop something out of it. What we’re doing is quite niche though, I don’t see many people doing what we’re doing. If you go online you’re not going to find much when you search for flute and DJ.”

Timmy went on, “When groups combine electronic music with live instrumentation there’s really interesting results.”

The most similar thing to what the pair are doing is a group called New World Sound, who successfully collaborated with grime artist Lethal Bizzle last year. Their track, “Flutes”, charted at number 67 in the UK, demonstrating there is certainly the potential for woodwind dance music here.

Coming on the back of his triumphant free show at Squirrels Bar in Fallowfield the previous evening—where capacity had to be limited to 500 due to the sheer demand for places—tonight’s gig is also a free event, but with donations being taken to raise funds for local homeless shelters.

Ward said he had never seen anything like the scenes in Squirrels, with some members of the audience even crowd surfing.

The gig at Club Academy cemented Ward’s reputation as the genre-bending cultural behemoth his fans know him to be. His combination of flute classics with Underbelly’s electronic beats—such as a house version of Bolero—as well as covering everyone’s favourite, ‘Sandstorm’, went down an absolute treat with those in attendance, as well as those watching in the Union Bar and online, thanks to Fuse TV’s live stream.

The crowd treated him with more enthusiasm than if they were seeing a world-renowned artist such as Lionel Ritchie or Metallica, continuing to chant his name between every song of his 45-minute set.

After the runaway success of his UK tour, is a tour back home in the offing for Ward? “We would love to do that, but we don’t have the big fan base like we do here. Like, if we went to Texas it would be like: ‘who the fuck is Azeem?’”

Indeed, how does he even explain this bizarre sensation to those who are close to him at home? “They’re kinda confused by it—they always ask if I’m famous now—and I’m like, ‘kind of.’ People definitely don’t know about it as much as they do here, it’s much different with you guys for some reason, and I don’t know what reason it is.”

Does Ward know who the initial figure was that led to his event blowing up? And, if he does know who it was, would he shake their hand or slap them in the face?

“I don’t know exactly who it was, I just remember the first guy sharing it, and his name was Damon Cole. But yeah, I’d give him a nice hug.”

And, finally, what does the future hold for Ward? “The future… I want to do more recording in the future, more gigs like this, teaching, composing, producing. Hopefully we’ll see an album soon.”

It appears that there is no shortage of fans in the UK ready to gratefully receive anything Azeem releases.

“They were born ready.”

Review: Life

James Dean’s role as a cultural icon is one that far exceeds his actual artistic output of just three feature films. In the film Life, director Anton Corbijn decides to examine the way in which some of the imagery most associated with Dean has been captured. How? By adapting the story of Dean’s relationship with Life magazine photographer, Dennis Stock.

It is, therefore, unfortunate that Corbijn never manages to accomplish anything beyond recreating imagery that is already familiar to most, with more than a passing familiarity to Dean. Rather than trying to capture the sense of energy and excitement that propelled Dean to the front of the cultural conversation in the 1950s, what Corbijn has created is a ponderous, tepid recounting of what is essentially a really long photo shoot.

Robert Pattinson, who plays Stock, the film’s protagonist, does his best with what he is given by playing a flustered and often pitiful man who is convinced that getting in early with a photo essay on Dean will lift him out of the mire of film set photography and red carpet events. Corbijn and Pattinson actually make Stock a somewhat nuanced, frequently unsympathetic character, who neglects his responsibility to his family in order to pursue what he sees as his artistic purpose. This is far from groundbreaking, but it does add some dimension to what could easily have been a blank audience cipher.

Yet Corbijn’s decision to incorporate a sub-plot involving Stock’s family also serves to slow the film’s already glacial pace, and further leads to an especially eye-rolling resolution in the film’s third act, wherein Corbijn appears to confuse a contrived narrative resolution with character development. This segment does, however, provide us with a scene where Pattinson vomits on a child, which is by far the most entertaining moment in the almost two-hour-long film.

Despite bearing no obvious physical resemblance to the man himself, DeHaan is an interesting choice for James Dean. DeHaan certainly possesses some of the same soulful vulnerability that made Dean a star; however, his performance here amounts to little more than a competent impersonation. DeHaan mumbles, smokes and wears the clothes, but he only impresses in the rare scenes within which he is permitted to explore some of the more complex elements of Dean’s persona, such as the dichotomy between Dean’s rebellious public image and his almost childlike innocence and love for his family, whose Indiana farm serves as a setting for much of the film.

Additionally, Corbijn also seems to be indecisive with exactly how he wishes to present Dean. At times, he appears to be crafting his version of Dean in the same mould as Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s The Doors by painting Dean as a mythic figure who transcended the mediocrity of our ordinary world through artistry. At other times, he might be trying to emphasise Dean as a deeply flawed, human figure by showing him passed out drunk or getting petulant about the news that his lover is engaged. Though this is arguably an attempt at capturing the multi-faceted nature of Dean, it comes across more as inconsistency than complexity.

Although choosing to only adapt a segment of Dean’s short life allows Corbijn to sidestep some of the normal groan-inducing elements of biopics, such as age-enhancing makeup and jarring shifts in time, Corbijn still appears to be unable to resist tired biopic tropes such as cameos from actors playing the subject’s contemporaries. These appearances might have been more enjoyable if they could have presented to the audience more than just a sense of self-congratulatory satisfaction in recognising Natalie Wood or Eartha Kitt. But instead, all that these appearances do is reinforce the sense that Corbijn has fallen in love with the fussy period-detailing of this 50s set story and has neglected to pay close attention to the more important elements, such as giving the audience a reason to invest in a story whose ending we already know.

2/5

HOME Pick of the Week: 99 Homes

Oscar season is slowly creeping back into our lives, where dramatic films yearly seek to catch the eye of those nominators who will bestow the highest accolade in the industry upon their work. Grandiose acting is key to this, fellow critics state, along with backing from the infamous or famous—depending at how you look at it—Weinstein brothers. Sadly, Ramin Bahrani’s latest thriller, 99 Homes, will be very, very long on the bookmaker’s odds when betting finally takes place on the Best Picture category.

Finding himself in the shoes of the average middle class worker, Andrew Garfield portrays Dennis Nash—a loving family man who is evicted from his house for financial reasons by Michael Shannon’s Rick Carver, an egotistical property entrepreneur. Nash will do anything to keep his idyllic household in existence, and sells his soul to Carver in order to make a living, mostly through an illegal fashion.

Garfield’s character is a clear foil to that portrayed by Shannon. Unlike Nash, Carver is a narcissistic and ruthless product of America’s mass corporate society, who also happens to vape. Sharp, expletive dialogue elevates the character, similar to J.K. Simmons’s Fletcher in last year’s film Whiplash. Having these two performances masks the cliché thriller script at hand. Without these two actors, Bahrani’s sixth feature film would surely crumble.

An independent style of film-making is evidently adopted by the director throughout. Hand-held camera work and voyeuristic styles are employed in an attempt to interpolate you into Nash’s shoes, alongside its creation pathos in particular. A clear avoidance of independent film-making tropes was evident in Bahrani’s 2008 hit success, Goodbye Sol—still his best film to date. A regurgitation of generic plot devices permeates all around 99 Homes, though. To occasionally revisit important stylistic and narrative features can be beneficial to the audience and film-maker alike. Unfortunately, Bahrani replays too many worn-down elements.

A profound statement between America’s rich and poor could have been integral to the story, but instead, Nash slowly works his way up Carver’s business to no great effect. Beneath the surface there is an emotionally engaging story waiting to happen, but the romanticism of the American Dream weighs down everything.

99 Homes is worth the watch simply to see Garfield back in action after a long, laborious few years under the watchful eye of Sony playing Spider-Man. Alongside him, in scintillating form, is Shannon; but nevertheless, the lack of a truly engaging source material leaves it all incredibly fragile. A strong and tense ending is not enough to rescue this thriller from the clutches of banality.

2/5

Super Mario Maker – Review

This year is the 30th anniversary of Nintendo’s portly plumber. To celebrate the Big 3-0, Nintendo have decided that, rather than just re-release a collection of Mario’s old games on disc (like they did five years ago with the Super Mario All-star: Anniversary Edition), they will allow the fans to create their own Mario adventure and craft their own experiences using the assets of Mario both old and new, ranging from Super Mario Brothers on the NES, to New Super Mario Bros U on the Wii U. For what is, essentially, Nintendo’s big holiday game now that Star Fox Zero has been pushed back to Q1 2016, Super Mario Maker needs to have the selling power to really push the Wii U through this holiday season and to get Mario back on the minds of gamers.

The main mode of Super Mario Maker is the Create Mode. Using the Wii U gamepad, players can create their own Super Mario levels, to be enjoyed by players around the world. Unlike other level creation games such as Little Big Planet, Project Spark or the various modding and hacking tools people have been using online for years, Super Mario Maker is designed to be incredibly simple and easy-to-use. The interface is amazing, with every element clearly laid out, as well as giving players the option to customize the layout of your building blocks.

Photo: Nintendo Corporation Ltd.

Thanks to the Wii U gamepad, creating levels becomes a thing of ease. Players can simply draw the ground in a fashion similar to the Stage Creation tool of Super Smash Bros for Wii U. Many elements such as blocks, ground and coins can be drawn into the game. Other elements like enemies and items must be dragged and placed individually, but how far the game allows players to experiment here is astounding. Super Mario Maker gives players the option to place objects inside other objects. For example, players can have a Lakitu that flies around the top of the stage throwing down Hammer Bros onto unsuspecting players. Or players can have Bullet Bill Blasters that fire Mushrooms instead of bullets.

Super Mario Maker really shows off Mario’s history by referencing at least five of his past games in a substantial way. Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3 for NES; Super Mario World and Mario Paint for SNES and New Super Mario Bros. U for Wii U. Mario Paint is the black sheep of this group because it is not a main series Mario game or a platformer. It is also represented in a very different way, and that is because Super Mario Maker is essentially the game’s successor. Super Mario Maker’s layout greatly reflects Mario Paint in both design and features. The Gnat Attack min-game returns, as does the undo dog and sound frog. These features are fitting and understandable, especially when we learned that this game started off as a sequel to Mario Paint.

As for the other four games, they are represented through the various game skins. Everyone has a different opinion on which Mario game they feel looked and played the best. Nintendo have decided to cater to fans by allowing players to change which game is being used as the basis for your levels. This does not just change things aesthetically. The entire engine changes to reflect that prior game’s properties. For example, if you use the New Super Mario Bros. U skin, then creators can utilize the wall jump and ground pound ability, something that cannot be performed with any other skin. Nearly everything reappears in the various skins even if that component did not appear in the original game. Bowser Jr. is the best example of this, since he has only appeared in the later Mario games. This means that the developers had to craft brand new assets for Bowser Jr. in the styles of the past games. This is done so that the player is not limited if they want to choose an earlier style, and it clearly shows the passion the developers had when designing this game because even the ‘newest’ assets look like they could have been a part of the original game.

However, not every feature is universal. Power-ups are generally exclusive to certain skins, like the feather in Super Mario World or the Super Leaf in Super Mario Bros. 3. This also doubles over for the amiibo costumes. In Super Mario Maker, you have 100 costumes that can be unlocked by playing the 100-Mario challenge or by tapping that character’s amiibo. These costumes come replete with new sounds and visuals, although they do not change any of the gameplay and instead act like the Mushroom power-up. However, these costumes are exclusive to the original Super Mario Bros. skin.

Photo: Nintendo Corporation Ltd.

If you are not the creative type and feel that Super Mario Maker may not fit your play style, well worry not. Super Mario Maker’s second mode is the Play Mode, which allows players to connect to the Super Mario Maker servers and play any of the 68-pre made levels in the game, or alternatively, to play any level created by anyone else online. As with all user-created games, Super Mario Maker has its mixed-bag of levels, from auto-Mario levels, to recreations of previous levels or games, to really easy levels that someone made in 10 minutes, to kaizo-inspired levels. Some might be fun and some might be boring but Super Mario Maker makes it easy to try out new levels.

The best way of trying new levels is in the previously mentioned 100-Mario challenge. Ranging from 3 difficulties, 100-Mario challenge gives you 100 lives to complete 8-16 levels chosen at random from the servers.

My main problem with Super Mario Maker is the Star System. I actually think it is ingenious in its purpose. Nintendo expected a massive flux of poorly-made levels taking up the servers, and so to counter this, ruled that players may only upload ten levels at first. To upload more levels you need stars and to get these stars people need to vote in favour of your level. The problem is that the star count is way too high. The first milestone to upload additional levels is 50 stars. Because of this, players may find it very hard to get through the ranks, regardless of how well-designed levels are.

There are some notable missing assets, such as slopes or Charging Chucks. However, the most painful feature missing is the checkpoint feature. Every Mario game has had checkpoints, but they are missing in this game and this creates massive problems with some levels online. Many well-designed levels can be very long in length. However, as a player, there is nothing worse than getting far in a level and then dying, only to have to start from the very beginning again. That makes playing through some levels a slog and it becomes completely understandable that long levels may end up getting skipped. If a level gets skipped then it is unlikely to receive a star and so you see the dilemma.

Nintendo could easily rectify this problem in a DLC update in the future. Super Mario Maker is a game primed for DLC and recent signs of the Angry Sun and extra amiibo costumes being found in the game’s data hint thus.

Despite my main issue with the game, Super Mario Maker is very well-designed and is a fantastic game. It is the perfect game to release for Mario’s 30th anniversary and I would recommend everyone pick it up. It is one of the best titles on the Wii U and hopefully it will inspire Nintendo to change up the Mario formula in future 2D Mario games.

Album: Micachu & the Shapes – Good Bad Happy Sad

Released 11th September via Rough Trade

Mica Levi is an idiosyncratic figure in the increasingly grey, retrograde world of indie. During her stint as a DJ, her early mixtapes became, as Wikipedia notes, “sought after on the London club scene.”

She produced the score for Jonathan Glazer’s sci-fi/arthouse flick Under the Skin. Her work with keyboardist Raisa Khan and drummer Marc Pell as Micachu & the Shapes is pop music that is unique and profoundly strange, stripping songs down to their sparsest elements; pared-down affairs that amount to little more than a few hooks and half a melody.

Even so, the opening twenty seconds of ‘Unity’ might shock listeners familiar with the trio. It opens with ear-splitting noise like that found in an industrial factory and it gets ever more dissonant and discomforting as it goes on—a bizarre left-turn from an already left-field artist.

‘Relaxing’ sports a malnourished Mac DeMarco-ish vibe over a sketchy tussle of ideas and riffs that stealthily build without warning, with Levi’s gasping vocals adding a dose of suffocating paranoia. There’s more of that elsewhere, where the sense of anxiety is heightened by the haunted production.

At its best, Good Bad Happy Sad is wonderfully confusing, impenetrable and unpredictable. ‘Thinking It’ is ramshackle, like a garage band roughened up by sandpaper. As the music fights with the vocals—obscured by echo just enough to bleed into the distinctly odd clamour—you struggle to divine what the hell is going on. ‘Oh Baby’, the best track here, fuses together early J Dilla with Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland’s Hype Williams project. The drums rattle and thump like pots and pans, foregrounding Levi’s hoarse, forlorn vocals, which are supremely affecting.

Alas, the stream of great tunes is interrupted. There are often flashes of Levi’s brilliant pop genius: the grinding, funky groove of ‘Crushed’ that’s offset by the moaning, uneven vocals awash with reverb. But, at its worst, the album invites you to sneer at people like Levi: Classically trained musicians trying to make music that sounds unlearned. ‘Waiting’ isn’t a song at all, composed entirely of a tinny arpeggiated hook; ‘L.A. Poison’ lurches unsteadily out of a drunken stupor, sounding like a forgotten, stagnating cassette tape of old hip-hop that has spent the past twenty miserable years gathering dust. The half-baked ‘Dreaming’, which comes off like a lo-fi King Krule, is an idea in search of its tune.

Sadly, the weaker material here simply dissipates into the ether. The guitars waver queasily in and out of pitch, the drums slacken then suddenly speed up; there appears to be a garbled atmosphere swirling underneath it all, as though everything was conducted amid a thick fog of marijuana smoke and under the influence of crippling hangovers. Of course, there’ll be people who like that sort of thing, though the album has the unfortunate side-effect of making you yearn for the smart pop nous offered on Levi’s earlier albums. The better moments here are enough to remind you of what Micachu & the Shapes are capable of, even if they never quite achieve it with consistency and panache.

6/10

Ought: Sun Coming Down

Ought are a lazy music journalist’s wet dream; “they sound like David Byrne had a child with Mark E. Smith and hid it for 30 years in Thurston Moore’s monitor amp.” Add between three and five more comparisons, and recommend that any self-respecting post punk fan buy their discography immediately.

But part of what makes Ought stand out from the mob of artists trying to gain such praise, is that they are more than the sum of their influences. Sure, the vocal delivery of ‘On The Line’ is reminiscent of Smith’s, the lyrics on ‘Beautiful Blue Sky’ sound like something Byrne could have written, and the electrical storm of guitars on ‘Men For Miles’ suddenly swallows the elsewhere-stabby instrumentation in the same way that Moore’s guitar work can. Yet, at no point do they sound like songs by The Fall or Talking Heads or Sonic Youth.

Ought’s debut last year established a distinctive and fully-formed sound and, unsurprisingly, given that it follows hot on the heels of its predecessor, they are working with the same pallet on Sun Coming Down. There is still tight interplay between the rhythms and counter melodies of the drums, bass, guitar and organ. This is particularly pleasing in the uncharacteristically pretty ballad ‘Passionate Turn’. Each element is equally weighted in the mix and there is no extra instrumentation, giving them a raw, live feel. This is compounded by the jammed-out noise sections such as those on the title track.

As on the debut though, the star of the show is vocalist Tim Darcy; he’s blasé one moment and intense the next, listing dull conversational topics as if they’re sources of inspiration and barking common idioms for seemingly no reason. Their comic appeal is upped from the debut, but not to the point where it comes across as contrived; rather, Darcy sounds more confident, as if he isn’t holding back.

I’m often dubious of quick follow-ups, but spontaneity suits Ought’s style. Sun Coming Down is not as well put together as their debut and by track seven I was begging for some variation. However, ‘Beautiful Blue Sky’, ‘Men For Miles’ and ‘Passionate Turn’ are amongst their best work yet. It’s the sound of a band that is totally comfortable within its own skin and that is too excited to stay still.

7/10

Club: Lost In Space opening party – Floating Points all night long

Riding the wave of Manchester’s love for all things disco, Below the Surface and Troupe presented an all-night set from DJ, producer, crate-digger and mad scientist Sam Shepherd Ph.D., a.k.a. Floating Points.

Last year, Shepherd released transcendent house banger ‘Nuits Sonores’, one of the biggest records of 2014, and with new album Elaenia due out in November, the Lost In Space opening party provided an opportunity to see a bigger-than-he’s-ever-been Floating Points playing to an audience of bona fide fans.

Much has been said of Shepherd’s varied influences when it comes to his production and DJ sets, and this is something that becomes abundantly clear when watching him play over so many hours. Throughout the night, the set smoothly segued between inventively mixed classic hip-hop and soul into faster, bouncier house and 80s disco funk. With a further dash of jazzier numbers and the odd sneaky techno tune, the set frequently hit that characteristic Floating Points sweet spot between diverse musical genres, conveying the sheer depth and breadth of Shepherd’s wax arsenal.

The Floating Points set staples of Daniel Dixon’s ‘Dance Dance’ and Ramsey & Co’s ‘Love Call’ were crowd-pleasing highlights, banishing any disappointment fans might have had about the lack of Floating Points tunes in the mix.  However, it was when Shepherd was at his most daring that the night took an interesting turn, setting it apart from Manchester’s usual disco fare. The sight of a room full of people getting down to bizarre saxophone-and-drums fusion and bebop tracks showed a fully-developed multi-genre DJ, miles ahead of when he used to mix Basement Jaxx into Pharoah Sanders at school discos. Moments like this overwhelmed the occasional issues suffered with the treble and acoustics in the main room—a price worth paying for an all-vinyl set of forgotten classics.

8/10

The rock ‘n’ roll ‘n’ health ‘n’ safety hotline

Speedy Ortiz are a band who have witnessed their fair share of crowd violence. In fact, their own ball-busting music has often been the catalyst. But after years of toxic shows, they have taken it upon themselves to introduce a note of caution through a texting hotline that will allow threatened crowd members to alert security.

I know what you may be thinking. Being in a moshpit can feel like you’ve entered into a community of mutual tolerance and respect. Why temper the madness? It’s the ultimate socialist microcosm, right? Well that’s what I thought, too, until this year. At a Thee Oh Sees gig, a copy of Eric Hobsbawm’s How to Change the World fell out of my shoulder bag and got ripped to shreds (not an ironic metaphor—this really happened). Once the crowd had dispersed, I picked up my remaining shreds of paper and left with a purple bruise above my right eye.

Anyone who saw last year’s documentary The Punk Singer probably saw Kathleen Hanna—the feminist punk trailblazer and singer of Bikini Kill—screaming “GIRLS TO THE FRONT!” to a crowd dominated by rowdy men. The message was not a call to protect women. It was an attempt to create an environment in which women could express themselves without drowning in a sea of testosterone. It should be noted that Speedy Ortiz’s initiative is not just aimed at women but, as you may have noticed, moshpits tend to be male-dominated.

People in moshpits turn into big, sweaty swamp monsters that you might not want to be around if you aren’t intending to mosh. Some people get so jacked up that everyone else within a five-metre radius can’t enjoy the music without being slightly concerned about getting murdered. 99 times out of a hundred, ‘the code’ of the moshpit is respected: Elbows are kept within the realms of bodily control; a clearing is formed when someone falls to the ground; friends are made. But for every 99, there is always that one gig. The one with a sadistic fucker whose one wish is to hurt people.

Well, Sadie Dupuis, Speedy Ortiz’s lead vocalist, has had enough of oppressive behaviour at gigs. Enough of the hostility. Enough of the groping. She and the band have taken the initiative to launch a texting hotline (with a phone number provided pre-gig), whereby if you feel threatened or endangered, you can alert the band and the authorities to the problem. The band’s new manifesto of sorts, entitled ‘Keep Speedy Ortiz Shows Safe’, states that all concert-goers “have a right to an inclusive, welcoming performance space.”

The response to Speedy Ortiz’s innovation has been almost unanimously positive. Although calling for another concert-goer’s expulsion may sound like a form of citizen’s arrest, the method comes nowhere near to hawk-eye verbal policing or witch-hunting for bad eggs; spotting somebody and kicking them out is a last resort.

The approach is a tactile, discreet way for someone to call for help, so that the band and security can decide on how best to resolve the situation, whether that be escorting the victim to the front or just being aware enough to cool the air. Now, Speedy Ortiz aren’t the type of band to incite a riot like Limp Bizkit at Woodstock ’99, or galvanize rabid hippies like the Stones at the Altamont Free Concert in 1969, but any potential future catastrophes like these can be stemmed at the root with a texting hotline.

Meanwhile, Speedy Ortiz will presumably play to a peaceful, well-natured crowd at Sound Control on the 16th of October. It should be a rip-roaring show—but for goodness sake, behave yourselves!

For something a little different…

Now that the mayhem of Freshers Week has finally come to a close and the appeal of continuous boozing has begun to wear out, an alternative soirée could be the key to truly bonding with any new amigos you may have made. Manchester, otherwise known as little London, is brimming with alternative nights out to cater for the many hipsters that reside here. As a result, we can, for once, thank these edgy beings for the variety that their presence has inspired.

Funnily enough, the Northern Quarter is home to my favourite out of these hidden gems—Twenty Twenty Two. Although it has some similarities to London’s Ping, this bar and ping pong/beer pong hall serves reasonably priced beverages in a relaxed and charming Mancunian basement. With comfortable leather sofas and table-side bar stools, you can get a great view of the match or just let the relentless ping-ponging fade into the background.

 

Dog Bowl is yet another popular haunt. If you are not yet familiar with Black Dog Ballroom’s bowling alley, then change that fact immediately. Admittedly, this is a slightly more upmarket venue than Twenty Twenty Two, catering generally to young professionals rather than cash strapped students. However, they do offer a student-friendly price of £4 per game on presentation of a valid NUS card.

Their Tex Mex menu is reasonably priced, however I cannot yet vouch for its quality as I have not had the opportunity to try! Although,with a weekday lunch menu at £5 you can’t go too wrong.

 

Last but not least, and with the best cure to a hangover allegedly being laughter, make the most of Frog and Bucket’s Monday amateur comedy night Beat The Frog, with free admission for students (a concession price is available on other nights).

You’ll have plenty of inside jokes provided without much brain power on your part! The venue offers basic food such as pizza and burgers. The club boasts performers like Steve Coogan and John Bishop, so who knows what you could discover—sometimes a renowned pro even turns up unannounced at the amateur night.

Voted ‘Best Club in the North’ by the Chortle Awards this year, the worst thing that could happen is that you have a great time heckling some poor soul off of the stage.

Fashion Factor

Autumn is swiftly approaching, and that can only mean one thing, that the X Factor is back on TV. Congratulations if you have managed to kick the habit; I promise myself every year that I won’t watch it, and then manage to find myself switching over to ITV, just in time for the dramatic music and over-the-top montages. The singing isn’t always awe-inspiring; however the fashion choices are usually entertaining enough.

With glam gal Cheryl Fernandez-Versini on the judges panel, it is almost certain that a few interesting pieces will be worn. Obviously there will be the odd beaded ball gown, perhaps a thigh-high split to add a bit of risk to our Saturday night, and maybe even a tailored suit!

Our girl Cheryl usually goes for a strong look, and is usually successful. It will be interesting to see how newbie Rita Ora will measure up in the fashion stakes.

With her being known for some controversial choices (you know, wearing a suit jacket but no bra or top underneath on morning TV certainly got tongues wagging), we can expect to be intrigued by what she wears every weekend. After seeing a few questionable choices in the early stages of this year’s series, I can’t say I am a fan of her hotch-potch of colours, or clothes… because surely a jacket has two sleeves? But I am sure Miss Ora will be styled exactly how she wants to be, and with her out-of-the-box thinking, the result can only be captivating.

Where Nick and Simon are concerned, I am afraid things will be a bit more boring. Simon will wear a V-neck white shirt, maybe with a blazer, maybe without. But that is about the only thing that needs to be guessed about his fashion choices. Nick Grimshaw on the other hand is also a fresher at this judging business, leaving us slightly more in the dark about what lurks in his wardrobe. Only time will tell if he goes for a more adventurous style than Mr Cowell and obviously Louis Walsh. Although that can’t be hard to do.

With the judges being the main fashionistas of the show, it is sometimes hard to forget that the contestants are there to be noticed, too. I have to admit, I do enjoy the “makeovers” that the final 12 acts go through, even if it is a trim and a quick dab of lipstick. Any acts that are in the group category can usually be expected to go with a colour scheme, which is in equal parts embarrassing and cute.

Then of course there is what is going on with other people on stage!  It must be an unwritten rule that a female dancer must strut around any young male contestants, so expect flipping of short skirts and prancing around in heels. The dancers are often randomly dressed, usually in similar colours. Maybe with weird accessories like gold masks, or even a leg warmer or two. I really have no idea what goes on with the dancers’ outfits, if I’m honest. But surely there must be some explanation?

There you have it. The Fashion Factor. Expect big hair, bold make-up, embellishment, sky high heels, and probably some misplaced shoulder pads! It is basically the same every year. But the generic nature is what we have to love.

Manchester 2015: A summary of summer

In the whirlpool of artistic transience we call Manchester, the music scene never sits still. Bands go up in flames, new ones form from the ashes, fads wrestle for attention, new drugs hit the streets, people get arrested. The cycle continues. What’s changed since you’ve been away, then? Admittedly, this place can be a little slow in the summer, what with the mass exodus of young people every June, and artists stolen away by festival tours. I might even be clutching at straws in looking for new waves or movements that may have taken flight during the quiet months. Are flares making a comeback? Maybe. I’ve seen a few more than usual on Oldham Street. Is grime the new punk? Is new wave punk the new grime? Is the rhetorical question the new full stop? It frazzles the brain.

Rest assured, some things never change. Rad and Mac are still chugging away up in Media City (though rarely on the same show these days). Old manc stalwarts The Chemical Brothers and New Order are still churning out bangers: The Chem Bros dropped Born in the Echoes in July and New Order’s Music Complete is going to be available any day now. The Fall and its vampiric ringleader Mark E. Smith put out their latest album and came and played it for their Manchester kinfolks. And for an example of the baggy generation’s staying power, have a peek inside The Salisbury on Oxford Road: Bucket hats, shell suits, ‘Sharp’ era United shirts and a jukebox full of the Stone Roses create a bizarre time warp.

On a darker note, yet another music venue has closed. The latest to bite the dust, following The Roadhouse out of the door, was called Ducie Bridge. I don’t know if any students ever actually went there, or if it was any good, but it’s a warning sign nonetheless, because it was a well-renowned platform for unsigned bands. On the other hand, for every ending a new beginning: ‘The Live Room’ opened in August on Grosvenor Street and it seems directly geared towards airing local talent.

Speaking of which, there’s been no shortage of activity from Manchester-based musicians. Marc Riley-endorsed psych instumentalists Desmadrados Soldados de Ventura don’t sound Mancunian, but they are, and they’ve just released a live LP of brilliant Grateful Dead-sized jams. Lonelady’s Hinterland on Warp Records is probably the funkiest thing to spring out of Manchester all year, while hotly tipped fuzz bands False Advertising and Fruit Bomb have both released new music in the last month. Synth pop duo Bernard & Edith’s delicate, soulful debut JEM recently came out on Bella Union. All-female four-piece PINS’ new album hits like a stampede (also out on the very busy Bella Union). This cultural freight train will not slow down!

This guitar-centric list is, obviously, just the tip of the iceberg, but you get the idea. It’s up to you to fill in the blanks.

Interview: FLESH

It can be easy to categorise and define a band’s sound for them, which is what I found to be the case while reading around FLESH. They are the Manchester-based proprietors of ‘Snotpop’, a genre that tends to be branded as a form of Britpop/Madchester music with a blend of grunge.

Being the ambassadors of the new genre, and yet to release an LP to cement Snotpop as a unique and identifiable genre—without the unnecessary comparisons to other genres from the surrounding press—I thought it would be best to uncover the band’s take on their own creation.

“Yeah, well it does kinda sound a bit like that,” bassist Haz states when the comparisons to Madchester are brought up. “Madchester just comes out.”

He and front-man Robbie reiterate that the Madchester-esque percussion “comes from the fun of the music rather than a love of Madchester.” The pair cite Seal and other “adult music we shouldn’t like,” such as “a Jane’s Addiction vibe” and a bit of “gabber shit” for good measure as their influences.

This bizarre recipe of interests, as well as citing Steve Vai as an influence in previous interviews, is a far cry from bands such as The Happy Mondays or Oasis, whom the press seem to marry FLESH to. The members explain that the band’s clearly differing tastes in music, along with a shared interest in heavier, industrial rock, are what formed Snotpop.

“It just came naturally because of who we are,” says Haz on creating their music, explaining that their sound comes from their fun-loving nature and their enjoyment of inventing a style of alternative rock that suits all of their musical cups of tea.

He goes on to say that they are attempting to mix “music that naturally should hate each other,” which Robbie jokingly chimes in with “then they come together to love each other on stage.” It is revealed that all four band members have interests in electronic dance music, with Robbie stating that they “wanna bring the rave to the rock show.”

It seems that the band are trying to take alternative rock in a more fun, enjoyable direction with their Snotpop brand, something that hasn’t been seen prominently since the height of pop-punk and the peak of Blink-182.

The fun-loving and mischievous aspect of their music can certainly be found in the character of the band as well. After previously stating in other interviews that the name comes from an LGBT+ night at Haçienda, which is probably the main reason for the name, the band give a more tongue-in-cheek response this time.

“There’s definitely an element of ruffling some feathers,” explains Robbie upon questioning the band’s choice in name, which is reflected in some of the disturbing, Eagulls-style imagery in their music videos. “We’re also scared robots are gonna take over,” chimes in Haz, “there’s already a laptop on stage, who’s gonna go first?”

The band also have a piss-taking side. In reference to their single ‘Avin it up in Ibiza’, I asked whether they’d ever been to Ibiza. “Actually no,” replies Robbie, with Haz claiming he’d only just been on his first flight last year, to Amsterdam. It seems that the band has taken the iconic party island as a mocking irony with regards to the famous air of debauchery found in Ibiza.

“Yes we have… in spirit,” says Robbie, jokingly changing his mind. I suppose if you only go in spirit, you can avoid abusing the island’s inhabitants and the rampant STIs.

Having all met in Manchester from smaller places, and expecting them to become more popular over the next year, I asked the band what being from a small town and seeing big city gigs is like. “We’ve been here to see loads of bands,” says Robbie, explaining that “U2 changed my life forever” after a gig here.

“Nottingham was okay, but sometimes you have to go bigger,” says Haz on his experiences of seeing bands in his hometown compared to Manchester. Directing the conversation towards what it’s like going from the crowd to the stage of gigs, Haz says “we played gigs before where there were more people on stage than in the crowd. It took a while to get there… it was smooth but it wasn’t quick.”

The band has worked hard over a couple of years to get to where they are now. “I feel like I’m Bono,” says Robbie on their current climate of fame and fortune. FLESH has the potential, tracks and personality to be extremely popular amongst the indie crowd and to become NME-style alternative rock darlings… just maybe not as big as Bono.

Warwick SU backs down on decision to block speech by secular activist

The Students’ Union at Warwick University has overturned a ban it imposed last week on a secular speaker it was concerned could offend Muslim students.

Since last Friday, Warwick University’s Students’ Union has been scrutinized over its decision to bar ex-Muslim rights activist Maryam Namazie from speaking at a society event. A combination of pressure from students and high profile critics of the decision has caused the Union to overturn its decision, the Coventry Observer reports.

Iranian-born Maryam Namazie is a secular activist, commentator, and spokesperson for Iran Solidarity, One Law for All, and the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain. She was invited to speak at an event organized by the Warwick Atheists, Secularists and Humanists Society.

The group was informed shortly after that the speech was due to be cancelled, as it could offend Muslim students and “incite hatred” on campus. Namazie is an outspoken critic of Islamism and religious extremism and she considers herself to be an anti-racism campaigner.

When the decision to bar her from speaking was made public, students and campaigners showed a great deal of concern about the curbing of freedom of speech. High-profile figures such as Professor Brian Cox openly criticized the decision, with Cox saying: “We can’t allow for over-sensitive students to wrap themselves in cotton wool.”

Warwick University Students’ Union published an article this week admitting its errors and delineating its course of action. It states that while the decision should have come through the Union President and senior staff, this did not happen.

“These are the first steps that we are putting into place:

“The proper process has now been followed, as it should have been in the first place. The application by the Warwick Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society for Warwick Students’ Union to host Maryam Namazie as an external speaker has now been considered and approved.

“The SU is now seeking to meet promptly with the leadership of the Warwick Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society to make the necessary arrangements for the event to take place in the format they have requested.

“Warwick SU will issue an unequivocal apology to Maryam Namazie for this egregious and highly regrettable error.

“Our process as to how we assess requests to host external speakers is very clear. However, it is also equally clear that how this process is communicated and understood by everyone in the SU who needs to be aware of it has failed, and failed badly in this case. We need to act immediately to examine how that happened, and to it put it right, and we will.

“We want to assure everyone of Warwick Students’ Union’s continued commitment to free speech. We also want to take this opportunity to apologise to everyone who has expressed concern, or disappointment, or who has been hurt by this significant error.”

Indian Dance Society flashmob

Last year’s winner of the Students’ Union Best Media & Arts Society of the Year, the Indian Dance Society, will host a flashmob outside University Place this week.

Taking place at 2:30pm on Wednesday, the event is intending to increase awareness of the society and make sure people come along to their first taster session.

This begins at 3pm in the Sugden Centre, a short walk from University Place. From 3 – 4pm they will hold a free Bharathnatyam dance class, and from 4 – 5 they will hold a free Bollywood class.

“Come watch an amazing performance at the flashmob by The Indian Dance Society!” says Head of Marketing Donitta Dany. “Join us for a little taste of Bollywood and Indian Classical dance & music at our Free Taster Session right after, at which we guarantee you fun, fitness and lots more fun!”

The IDS holds Bharathnatyam and Bollywood classes every Wednesday at the Students’ Union. If you have any interest in getting involved, you can join on the Students’ Union website or find them on Facebook.

Live: Unknown Mortal Orchestra

25th September 2015

The Ritz

7/10

There was almost a feeling of unknowing—no pun intended—amongst the crowd before Unknown Mortal Orchestra took to the stage for the Manchester leg of their current tour. UMO make music that is not always easy to categorise. An often upbeat, psychedelic affair punctuated with pointed guitar passages, the style doesn’t necessarily make it easy to predict what kind of show the band might deliver.

As the lights go down UMO take to the stage amid an excited response from those watching. Frontman Ruben Nielson waves to the audience, beaming.  After a slight delay caused by a wayward guitar strap, the band sets off on a swirling intro before launching in to ‘Like Acid Rain’. The crowd responds positively to the enthusiasm, with members of the band embellishing their respective parts to ensure the show does not just become a flat rendition of tracks recorded in the studio.

Throughout UMO’s hour-and-a-quarter set drummer Riley Geare and keyboardist Quincy McCrary are afforded opportunities to perform solo pieces. Lights and spectators focus on them alone—all adding to a passionate show that leads the bouncing onlookers to truly make the most of the Ritz’s infamous sprung dance floor.

Crowd interaction was limited at the start of the show—restricted to a few forays from Nielson to the edge of the stage where he occasionally sat as if to serenade those pressed up to the retaining barriers. A drastic change, however, came during ‘Stage or Screen’ where, leaving the stage with microphone in tow, he waded through the crowd before perching on the bar for most of the song, delivering lines including “act out, but never for stage or screen.” It was a wonderful moment teeming with playful irony on a night where UMO struck a strong balance between showmanship and musical accomplishment.

Shop and raise money for charity with Care2Save

Everyone loves a good shopping spree, it is a great feeling. But the feeling you get when you help people is so much better. What if you could combine your favourite hobby with helping charity? Well now you can. Care2Save is a charity that makes it easy for students to raise money for a charity of their choice by purchasing an item for one of their favourite retailers at no extra cost. By using Care2Save.co.uk, users can find the latest deals offered by retailers including Ryman, ASOS, Boots and over 2,000 more!

 

Here are a few options that Care2Give can cater for.

COSMETICS

From hair dye, to first aid kits, to the basic essential like shampoo and conditioner—Boots has it all! Shop Boots through Care2Save and up to 8 per cent of every penny you spend will be donated to charity.

STATIONERY

If like me you are a bit obsessed with stationary, you can use Care2Save too! Shop Ryman through Care2Save and up to 10 per cent of every penny you spend will be donated to charity.

ACCESSORIES

Fluffy cushion here, fairy lights there, and obviously shoes and handbags are always on our wish lists. So why not help charity while you are splurging. Shop Very through Care2Save and up to 10 per cent of every penny you spend will be donated to your choice of charity.

FASHION

Asos is one of my go to sites when updating my wardrobe. Be warm yet stylish this autumn and try buying a jacket from Asos through Care2Save. Here are a few of our picks for the new semester that will give up to 5 per cent donation:

Photo: ASOS
Jacket – £85 Photo: ASOS
Jacket – £27.50

 

About The Care2Save Charitable Trust:

The commission is split into two; 80 per cent goes to a registered charity of the shopper’s choice and the remaining 20 per cent goes to the Care2Save Charitable Trust which supports hospice and palliative care in the UK and globally.

Care2Save is the only shopping website of its kind run by a charity, and the website through which 100 per cent of the commission from each purchase is retained within the charity sector.

Want to find out more? Visit www.care2save.co.uk for more information.

Walking in a Winter World Cup Land

We all remember our stand-out World Cup! Mine was in Germany 2006. The Italian triumphs, the Portuguese penalties and Zinedine Zidane’s fantastic attempt to launch himself headfirst into World Cup folklore—it had it all. But just imagine this, you’re now a youngster looking forward to your stand out World Cup, and 2022 is going to be your year… in Qatar.

Qatar became the only Middle Eastern and the only Muslim country to win the right to host a World Cup, making history and opening up a window of opportunity to really showcase the Middle East in one of the biggest sporting events the world has ever seen. However, Qatar are not doing this in the slightest.

Despite officially being the richest country in the world per capita, Qatar are paying their workers around $50 per week to work ridiculous hours in the blistering heat day in and day out. A recent study by ABC News had found information about the living conditions for many of these workers, where 300 workers are sleeping in 20 tiny flats. Images found show that the men are living in filthy apartments without proper cooking equipment and are sleeping on thin mattresses on a dirty floor. Locals have described the apartments as normal from the outside, but this may be just a coverup to hide these terrible living conditions.

It is not just sleeping conditions that are horrendous for the workers as The Daily Mail predict that 4,000 workers will die before even a ball is kicked, because of trying to complete the $260 billion infrastructure faster! 1,200 have already died, however BBC News predict that this number is much smaller than the actual amount of deaths. These figures account for the deaths of Indian and Nepali migrant workers in the construction, however these workers only make up 60 per cent of the workforce.

Compare this to the single person who died in the building of the 2012 London Olympics, and we see that Qatar definitely are not showcasing to the world that they are changing their attitude towards human rights and looking after their people. The country with the highest income per capita in the world does not even have a proper sewage system in order and are arresting any reporter keen on finding out more controversy with the Qatar World Cup campaign.

As if all of these factors are not enough to showcase that Qatar are incapable of holding a World Cup, this week it has finally been announced that the 2022 World Cup will take place over the winter, from the 21st of November to the 18th of December. Of course, this is a much better idea than holding the World Cup in summer, as it would be 50 degrees during the peak of summer in Qatar, but a Winter World Cup is simply wrong.

Players perform much better in the November period than over the summer especially after a gruelling season. However, the World Cup will surely showcase apprehensive players who will still be thinking about the rest of the season while playing for their own team. Furthermore, this raises questions of what other countries around the world are going to do with their own national leagues. The Premier League, for instance, showcases most of their games over the festive period and this is when the tournament really starts to heat up. Stopping midway through this to have the World Cup in Qatar will surely create a below-par season.

There are rumours surfacing that some leagues are even considering boycotting the competition due to the timing of it as well as the issues regarding human rights in Qatar. It would really be a shame to see England not attending the World Cup, depriving the country from the best tournament in the world. But in this case it may be necessary!