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Day: 2 October 2016

Marcantonio Raimondi and Raphael at the Whitworth

Written by Laura Joyce on . Posted in Arts.

Marcantonio Raimondi (c.1480-c.1534) was an Italian engraver, and an innovator of the European tradition of printmaking, while Raphael (1483-1520) was a revolutionary renaissance painter and architect. The unlikely collaboration between these contrasting artists led to some of the most iconic and recognisable printed images in western art.

From Raphael’s designs the two artists created many engraved works right up until Raphael’s death in 1520. These works revolutionised the world of western artistry, and the way we perceive art today.

The exhibition takes the viewer through eight steps of Raimondi’s career; both with and without Raphael. We begin with his first works stemming out of his time at the University of Bologna where he worked under the Bolognese painter, medallist and goldsmith Francesco Raibolini, more commonly known as Francia. Focusing on the theme of humanism the works depict man in their most vulnerable states; nude, sleeping, and in pain.

We then move onto Marcantonio Raimondi’s works born out of his time in Venice, Florence and Rome, where he brushed shoulders with Albrecht Dürer, Giorgio Vasari and Michaelangelo. Heavily inspired by all three artists, Raimondi created engraved copies of Dürer and Vasari’s paintings. His greatest inspiration from these years, however, is said to come from Michaelangelo’s design for The Battle of Cascina which inspired multiple engraved works based particularly on the heroic nature of the male nude in the design.

And now for the main attraction: Marcantonio Raimondi’s work with Raphael himself. Raimondi’s move to Rome signified his longing to work amongst the most prolific living artists of his day. Rome was a hive for ancient sculpture and contemporary paintings alike.

Raimondi’s partnership with Raphael is said to have defined his career and even to revolutionise the European art scene at the time. With Raphael working on paintings and illustrations for illustrious patrons such as the Pope, to work alongside him was a tremendous feat indeed.

Many of the images throughout the exhibition portray universally familiar stories, particularly from the Bible, and Greek Mythology, often fusing humanist learning with Christian piety. These images often depict some form of disparity between the figures involved. The images reveal a sense of humanity even surrounding those beings who are almighty and powerful, reminding us of our equality here on Earth.

This astonishing collection of works is a must-see at the Whitworth Art Gallery. The themes of humanism and Raimondi’s shaping of social values is amazingly ahead of his time. It is quite incredible to come across such an accomplished artist’s entire works, completed centuries ago, and still have it resonate with the society we know today.

The Refuge by Volta at the Palace Hotel

Written by Joe Taylor on . Posted in Food & Drink.

Having met Felix, far damper than I had imagined when posing the dress code suggestion, we sought out the The Refuge at the Palace Hotel. My last, admittedly vague, memory of the venue was a muddle of cheap red wine, ravioli and a primary school-esque disco—I was hoping that my second trip would provide something more memorable.

The Refuge is the second culinary endeavour from Justin Crawford and Luke Cowdrey, two DJ’s who were active in the Manchester clubbing scene in the latter half of the 90s and early noughties, curating a night called ‘Electric Chair’ (now no longer in circulation, r.i.p). Having opened their first restaurant ‘Volta’, known for its relaxed atmosphere and frill-free platters, in Didsbury in 2013 to critical acclaim, the ravers come restaurateurs jumped at the opportunity to curate the food and drink in the newly refurbished Palace Hotel.

Fortunately the restaurant was not in the same characterless, underground event room that my previous visit had lead me to. Instead, it was situated above ground, in a wing just off the rather grand reception, where the ceilings were the heavens…almost, and the large bull in the foyer of the hotel gave promise of tender meat and strong flavours.

We ordered four starters to share: Slow cooked ox cheek with egg and Sriracha, Serrano ham with olive oil and bread, Baby squid, ink, lime, and Tuna tartare with avocado and passion fruit, before being told that they would bring things out ‘as they come’. Now this seems to have become ‘a thing’ in restaurants over the last couple of years, but for the life of me I can’t work out why. I might sympathise if I’m eating cheap fast food, but not if I’m in a reasonably fancy restaurant; it seems to be an excuse for laziness, for not being able to plan and prepare meals to come out together. Perhaps its the result of a generation’s short attention span, a generation who want everything right here, right now—but hey! You wouldn’t rush an artist, so don’t rush a chef! Patience is a virtue, lets nurture it from time to time.

The ox cheek was beautifully cooked, it was tender and wonderfully accompanied by a runny fried egg scattered with spicy Sriracha. The tuna was disappointing, and while I love beef tartare for its raw, meaty texture, the cubes of tuna made me feel like I was eating small cubes of jelly, rather than what is generally a dense, muscly fish. The addition of the passion fruit was unnecessary, and I was also expecting the avocado to come mashed, with a little texture, it instead came as a puree made it feel like baby food, rather than a cleverly constructed accompaniment. The squid starter was more interesting, for the accompanying ‘ink’ was presented in the form of a black aioli, something that I’d never seen before, which gave the whole platter an interesting look as it offset the green of the lime and the yellowy deep-fried squid.

Felix and I spoke mostly of the food throughout the meal, moving from dish to dish and enjoying trying to describe why we felt the way we did about each one. When we moved onto the ham, olive oil and bread, he commented: “Ham is ham”—I agreed with him. Admittedly he went on to say that he thought it was sometimes exceptional when the kitchen cured their own meat, or had supplied it from somewhere special, but lets pretend he didn’t for the sake of his “it is what it is” quote.

We shared a belly stuffed whole sea bass with pine nuts, coriander and preserved lemon for our main course, accompanied by a side of ‘brocolini’, in this case a glorified tender stem with a sprinkling of fried garlic. The pine nuts and lemon complimented the often delicate flavour of bass, but the long thin sticks of ginger were overpowering and ruined the fish for both of us – Felix “subtly” squeezed his eyes at various points to deal with this.

‘The glamour of Manchester’, inscribed on the beautiful tiles encompasses the feel of the building, its high ceilings and pillars, dimly lit dining room, granite bar, red felt pool table, and its beautiful glass atrium. It all works to evoke the past of this historic hotel, while fusing it with the present day, with Volta, with contemporary food trends. The dishes need refining, but the taste is there in abundance, with Crawford and Cowdrey curating not just a restaurant but a milieu of class and style. It’s not an everyday student eat, but when Mum and Dad are in town, it’s worth a look-see.

Five things to do for free in Manchester

Written by Chloe Hatton on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Living on a student budget can be difficult, especially when so much of what Manchester has to offer can be so expensive. Fear not, here is a quick guide to the best of Manchester — and the best part? It’s free.

1. Whitworth Art Gallery

Right on the University’s doorstep, the Whitworth Art Gallery is certainly one of Manchester’s gems. Hosting artists from Tracey Emin to William Blake, the gallery boasts an impressive 55,000 items in its collection. Whether it’s a slice of culture you’re after or something to do on a rainy afternoon, you certainly won’t be disappointed. Featuring various exhibitions throughout the year, you are sure to find something to pique your interest. Its eclectic Thursday Lates are becoming increasingly popular, consisting of talks, performances, and live music— all for free.

2. Parkrun

A great way to keep fit and meet new people, Parkrun is held in Platt Fields Park, minutes away from Fallowfield accommodation. The 5km run is timed, but there is no pressure as to how fast (or slow) you want to run. To top things off, they also hold a post run coffee in the Fallow Café for those who fancy rewarding themselves. If you’re able to get up for the start time of 9:00am on a Saturday morning this could be an excellent way to try and improve your time, have a laugh, and feel smug because you’re doing exercise on a Saturday morning. The runs themselves are free, but they do ask that you register here before your first run.

3. The Lowry

Created in 2000 as The Millennium Project for the Arts, The Lowry is a hub for the creative. With no less than three theatres, it makes theatregoing as close to the London experience as possible— without the cost. The galleries are free and exhibit a changing collection of Lowry’s work, with exhibitions from other artists thrown in, and on the first Saturday of each month,  After Hours in the Galleries hosts free music and special events in the evening. Although the theatre shows are not free, for those aged between 16-25 they offer a range of £5 and £10 shows, making the trip out to Salford Quays much more bearable.

4. Manchester Museum

Be honest, how many times have you walked past the Manchester Museum, right next to Whitworth Hall, and not gone in? Well, maybe it’s worth a shot. Dinosaurs, mummies, and live animals are just a few of the things you’ll see as you venture into a building that plays host to artefacts coming from many different periods of history. Satisfy your thirst for the ancient and see what the Vivarium has to offer— just minutes away from lecture halls. With changing exhibitions, there will always be something new to see, so tear yourself away from those books and make the trip— you won’t regret it.

5. Chetham’s Library

This is the oldest public library in the English-speaking world— dating back to its foundation in 1653. The building itself is even older, built in 1421, and so it’s worth the trip just to see how stunning it is, let alone read the books. Even better, it’s situated opposite the National Football Museum right in the heart of Manchester; you can pretend you’re much more intellectual than those across the road, which is a definite positive. As can be imagined, it is hugely popular, so although no library membership is needed, those wishing to study library material are asked to make an appointment at least one day in advance.

To prescribe or not to prescribe? The dangers of antibiotic resistance

Written by Shivani Kaura on . Posted in News, Science & Tech.

A recent study by the O’Neil AMR Review stated that the rise in antibiotic resistance by bacteria will cause more deaths than cancer in the year 2050 raising concern by the Public Health Sector in the UK. The University of Manchester hosted a debate on the use of antibiotics last Wednesday evening, mainly focusing on different methods to reduce resistance from both healthcare professionals and the public.

Led by the Antibiotic Guardian, the evening consisted of not educating, a term which many speakers had to correct themselves with, but familiarising the public and students with the implications of using antibiotics unnecessarily and revealing the impact of misuse on a wider scale in the long run. Antibiotics are a course of treatment given to patients who are suffering from a bacterial infection. They work by inhibiting the growth of microbes and destroys any that are already active. Bacteria is an evolutionary imperative for all life forms so it can be dangerous when dealing with bacteria that is beneficial in our bodily systems.

The public were first given an insight on the history of antibiotics by Professor Laura Piddock, who is the BSAC Chair in Public Engagement. Piddock described antibiotics as a ‘wonder drug’ and stated, “most of us wouldn’t be around if it wasn’t for antimicrobials”. She then went on to talk about some of the earlier cases of meningitis that were treated by prophylaxis, an antibiotic. However, due to the recent rise in resistance of the bacteria, children and first-time university students are eligible to receive vaccinations to prevent catching the harmful infection. This can reduce the need of antibiotics and ensures that they are only used when absolutely necessary.

Between talks and discussions given by the panel and key speakers, the audience were introduced to a variety of videos which gave an insight to real-life scenarios. They focused on individuals sharing their stories and how important antibiotics were when they became ill. One particular patient that struck a chord was a recent cancer survivor who had undergone chemotherapy, a treatment that suppresses the immune system making patients more susceptible to catching infections. They said: “If it were not for the antibiotics prescribed, I wouldn’t have survived.”

Antibiotic resistance is at an all time high which reduces the effect of the medication when prescribed to a patient. Dr Andrew Dodgson, of Public Health England and Central Manchester Hospitals NHS, stated that bacteria are not “clever”. Bacteria is a predictable cell that has no brain and therefore we should be capable of slowing down the dangers of bacteria rapidly reproducing. He also noted that we should also be able to pressurise their revolutionary process. However, this can be risky as it may cause harmful bacteria to mutate more, giving rise to strands of antibiotics resistant bacteria.

Dr Mahesh Nirmalan followed next, and proceeded to answer the questions of when it is the right time to prescribe antibiotics and how can doctors distinguish whether an infection is due to fungal, viral or bacterial invasion of the body. Dr Nirmalan, having practiced medicine for 25 years, stated that a subjective component in decision making is inevitable and if you go for the safe option you can always have a reason for prescription. If there is a delay in prescribing the antibiotics, it can make the patient suffer for longer if there is a bacterial infection.

The conclusion to the debate was simply, the more experienced a doctor you are, the more likely you are to have a better understanding of what the patient is suffering from. This result could put pressure on junior doctors as many would rather just “give it rather than risk it”, pushing whether we should prioritise an individual or society.

The discussion finally concluded with what the public can do to prevent the misuse of antibiotics. A community pharmacist, Mohammed Hussain, stated that pharmacists should be given more responsibility and should be asked by patients whether they really think they require the course of antibiotics. The medication gives rapid diagnostics and can easily let the doctor know whether the patient is suffering from a bacterial infection or not.

Studies by Bad Bugs, No Drugs IDSA in 2004 led a series of investigations revealing that at this rate, bacteria is ahead of us and individuals may no longer see the impact of antibiotics, changing global health forever. So the next time you visit the doctor ask yourself: “Do I really need these antibiotics?”

Album: How To Dress Well – Care

Written by Rosie Francesca Gill on . Posted in Music.

Released September 23rd via Weird World

4/10

How To Dress Well’s previous albums are no stranger to exhibiting the bitter despondency of the post-adolescent heart and mind. As chalk once met cheese, Tom Krell’s candid lyrics once met serene and innovative instrumentals. Care sees the evolution of bitter despondency into zestful buoyancy. Characterised by Krell in a recent interview as a retort to the dismal displeasure in current pop music, Care is a simultaneously jaunty and dreamy showcase of the human condition.

However, the album is abortive of such glorious expectations. Care is all bark and no bite. Contrary to the sanguine perspective blossoming from the roots of pessimism that Krell advertises Care to be, the album is a lethargic and humdrum project, lacking the tenacity and intelligence of previous works.

‘Salt Song’ captures this aimless apathy. Plagued with unsubstantial, whimsical vocals which invite an overwhelming variety of staggered instruments (including, but not limited to, an exasperating whistling and a mismatched, repetitive drum machine), ‘Salt Song’ is a crass caricature of what the album is supposed to achieve.

Lines like “last night I dreamed I was older and the room was filled with flowers,” leave one trawling the depths of the inner-mind for any profound subtext. Much as a GCSE English student desperately clutches for imaginative interpretations of why the author described the curtains as “being blue”, it’s much easier to conclude that the depth you’re looking for simply is not there.

And who would blame you? Krell once articulated a catharsis to a common misery, lightly glazed with subtly progressive instrumentals. Krell now delivers arbitrary falsetto vocals and insipid lyrics over an upbeat instrumental to create the illusion of happiness—’I Was Terrible’, I’m looking at you.

‘The Ruins’ thankfully digresses back to Krell’s poignant origins. The ensemble of synths and sedating acoustic guitar melodies serve to create a perturbed atmosphere over which Krell lucidly vocalizes the traumatic aftermath of his earliest sexual encounter. A powerful declaration: “If it were a drug, I’d let it take me / Making me feel like I am nothing” is redeeming of the intimacy and captivating nature of Krell’s earlier works.

The album is ultimately unnerving for the future of How To Dress Well. There is a certain difficulty in escaping a feeling of deception and insincerity from Krell in forging joviality through a heedless and mediocre album. There now only remains a flickering beacon of hope that future projects will revisit Krell’s most fertile topic, his bewitching past.

Destiny: Rise of Iron – Review

Written by Robert Parris on . Posted in Games.

Destiny is one of the most polarising games ever made. For every detractor bemoaning the game’s lack of content and bare bones story, there are an equal number of passionate fans praising the titles top tier gameplay and rewarding loot cycle. Whichever side of the argument you fall on, it is hard to deny that the game has managed to capture the hearts and minds of many gamers from a myriad of distinct backgrounds. Just by looking at Destiny’s many active Facebook groups, it is immediately apparent that this is a game that can be enjoyed by almost anyone. Your fireteam is equally likely to be comprised of housewives and financial professionals as much as the typical demographic of teenage boys and young couples.

The fact that Destiny has not only managed to create but also retain one of the largest and friendliest communities, despite a significant drought of content is indicative of the game’s depth and social features. As such, I believe that Destiny should be considered in its entirety, in order to give an accurate assessment of what new and returning players are in for with the game’s latest expansion.

Simply put, Destiny: Rise of Iron succeeds at reinvigorating the shared-world shooter with some of the best content that developer Bungie has ever produced. The two-hour campaign is for once a particular highlight, centred around the outbreak and the quest to contain the ancient SIVA plague ravaging the Cosmodrome. The new and revamped strikes are fun, and excellently designed, but once again the new raid ‘Wrath of the Machine’ is the centre-piece attraction. It’s all great content, just a crippling shame that there is so little of it.

Admittedly, the downloadable content (DLC) is not priced as high as last year’s The Taken King expansion, but Rise of Iron is meant to fulfill the same purpose: to keep Destiny players engaged. I don’t know what Bungie’s plans are for the future, perhaps we can expect some free content similar to that of Taken King’s lifecycle, but in its current state I don’t see how Rise of Iron can pull this off.

Part of the problem is that the core content in the game—whilst being highly polished—remains largely unoriginal when compared to Destiny’s existing framework. The new enemy type—the splicers—are essentially retextured fallen enemies with only minor variations on their existing attack patterns, and the new patrol area, the Plaguelands, could be mistaken for a snow covered section of the existing Cosmodrome environment. There is no new level cap, no new subclasses, and ultimately Rise of Iron fails to change the way you play Destiny in any meaningful way.

That being said, I still enjoyed my time with Rise of Iron. Destiny’s core shooting mechanics are among the best in the business and there remains a tremendous amount of depth in Destiny’s character development. The fact that you can level up your weapons and subclasses individually creates opportunities to fine-tune your guardian to a tee. Despite being short, the campaign throws some truly challenging battles at you, and the haunting final mission is one of the finest Bungie has ever produced. There is a real sense of character progression throughout the story, which is nicely reminiscent of Destiny’s opening hours. Furthermore, your new companion Lord Saladin does a fine job of narrating a well-worn but coherent tale, despite some groan-worthy dialogue.

Bungie’s choice to abandon previous generation consoles raised a few eyebrows back in August, and throughout the majority of the expansion, it is hard to see how the decision benefits players on current generation systems. Yet this all changed when I finally got to the new raid: Wrath of the Machine. Without spoiling too much this six-player raid is bigger in scope, complexity, and challenge than any raid Bungie has put out before. Whilst the journey to get there is taxing, Wrath of the Machine is easily worth the pay-off.

The expansion also introduces four new Crucible maps, and whilst I could only play three of them thanks to the timed exclusivity deal for PlayStation platforms, I thought that they were well designed, colourful, and flowed brilliantly. Bungie has a real talent for map design and it’s unfortunate that only one new player versus player (PVP) mode—Supremacy,which is essentially Call of Duty’s ‘Kill Confirmed’ mode—is included in the package. Whilst a fun addition, it’s disappointing and somewhat confusing as to why Bungie doesn’t capitalize on its player versus player component in the same way it has refined its player versus environment content. The foundations are solid, and furthermore ripe for expansion.

Despite Destiny’s content woes, one of the reasons that I kept coming back to the game was its sense of community. One time I saw five players sat down in an incomplete circle in one of the social spaces. Puzzled, I walked over and sat down, thus completing the circle. I promptly received a message asking if I wanted to revisit an old raid. I accepted the invite, and before I knew it I was working closely with what amounted to complete strangers in order to finish the raid. We joked, laughed, and groaned at the challenge before us; the sense of synergy that the game evokes between players is unparalleled, at least on console.

Whilst not providing the same amount of content as the previous expansion, Rise of Iron does its job competently if little else. If Destiny has failed to grab you before, Rise of Iron is not going to convince you to return. For new players considering Destiny it is important to remember this: when you buy into Destiny you buy into a fantastic community. It may be a cliché, but the further you get into Destiny the more it goes beyond the sum of its parts.

Can Labour sell ‘21st Century Socialism’?

Written by Barney Weston on . Posted in Opinion.

The British image from a foreign point of view may include things such as speaking in posh accents, sipping tea, and the bowler hat. Even Channel 4 recently finished airing the second season of Very British Problems, in which the British “capacity for social awkwardness”, amongst topics, was discussed. Yet, in regards to politics, we have typically been seen as a beacon of freedom of expression.

Although the U.S. is also often cited as a beacon of freedom of expression (take a look at its constitution), there are some taboo concepts. In particular, thanks mostly to the Cold War, post-war America seems to hate anything to do with the left-wing. Their politics is relatively right-wing in comparison to ours.

In the United States, the words ‘communism’ and ‘socialism’ are avoided in the mainstream. For example, Hillary Clinton was recently asked by MSNBC’s Hardball host Chris Matthews what the difference was between a socialist and a Democrat. Clinton replied, “I can tell you what I am. I am a progressive Democrat.” Matthews then asked, “How is that different to a socialist?” Clinton evaded answering.

New Labour’s ‘third way’ embraced socialism’s taboo. Under Tony Blair, the word ‘socialism’ was not in regular public use, out of concern that the word would remind the British electorate of the strongly left-wing political strategy of Labour in the early 1980s under Michael Foot. (In a similar manner, communism’s taboo in the U.K . is arguably reflected by the country’s lack of a communist party.) At most, New Labour redefined socialism. Blair once said: “My kind of socialism is a set of values based on notions of social justice […] Socialism as a rigid form of economic determinism has ended, and rightly.”

At the end of his speech last Tuesday, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell addressed this, attempting to turn the word into something to be proud of, concluding: “In this party you no longer have to whisper it, it’s called socialism.”

Personally, I was quite shocked when I heard this. This prompted me to ask prominent members of the Labour Party if they considered themselves socialists, as a way of a) testing how united the Labour Party under Corbyn is, and b) addressing a previous taboo.

I asked BBC journalists Vicki Young and Peter Henley for advice on the question, and whether they thought it was a bit interrogative. They didn’t think so. So it was to my surprise when Lord John Prescott, deputy PM from 1997-2007, said to me: “Well is that all you’re talking about on his speech. The economy […] that’s the trouble. Are you gonna be a journalist? You don’t bloody think […] Good luck!”

What surprised me was that Vicki told me that asking Prescott would be pointless. “Of course he’ll say yes,” she told me. Was the party as united as I had thought? Was Prescott angered at what was happening to the party, deliberately turning away from the—what he would call—progress that he oversaw as deputy PM? Or was he just angry at a student journalist for wasting his time?

Liz Kendall, who ran against Corbyn in last year’s leadership election, didn’t have time to comment. She thought I was a fan and posed for a selfie before I told her I was writing for The Mancunion.

Tom Watson, deputy leader of the Labour Party, and someone who apparently read The Mancunion when he studied at Hull, replied: “Of course I would. I’ve been a socialist all my life and I’ll be mentioning socialism in my speech tomorrow.”

Although Watson’s speech referenced McDonnell’s speech in regards to Labour being, “a market-socialist party,” and although he referred to the Labour Party as, “our historic socialist party”, he also spoke of the benefits of the Blair and Brown governments. In fact, he stated that under those governments, “from the sunny uplands of increasing prosperity, social democratic government started to feel normal to the people of Britain.” Was Watson’s definition of socialism more in line with that of Blair and Brown? Can we describe Watson as a socialist, in the sense of how Clinton describes herself as a progressive democrat?

At least Hilary Benn, ex-shadow foreign secretary, when asked if he would describe himself as a socialist, replied: “Of course. We all are.” Good for him.

These politicians must have their own definitions in regards to what kind of socialist they are. Yet, it is Corbyn who will set this definition for the Labour Party. And it is this definition that the country will vote on at the next general election. In his closing speech of the Labour Conference, Corbyn decided to quote Bill Shankley to describe what his kind of socialism is: “The socialism I believe in is everybody working for the same goal and everybody having a share in the rewards. That’s how I see football, that’s how I see life.”

The fleshing out of policy surrounding that quote will define what kind of socialist Corbyn is, beyond his 10 point programme. A Labour Party that seems united and committed to socialism under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership may be able to break the taboo surrounding socialism, and then sell it to the country.

Studying abroad in America

Written by Miranda Bunnis on . Posted in Lifestyle.

After endless forms, months of meetings, three new vaccinations and a visa arriving the day before my flight, I was finally off to the United States of America. Arriving at Heathrow Airport and meeting a couple of friendly faces I had only seen a few times before, was somewhat comforting. Completely unaware that I would become close friends with these girls, we embarked on a year studying abroad at North Carolina State University.

Everything you read, hear, and watch on TV about college in the States—the dorm parties, the X-Factor style basketball games, the cheerleaders, even those oversized red cups that you see people throw balls in and excitedly stack and scream at—it’s all a pretty good representation of the American college experience. Other than the humid heatwave that slapped us in the face when we hopped off that plane, (and that pretty much stayed throughout our year studying in NC) we were met with kindness and great enthusiasm of the Americans as we moved into our international block, Alexander Hall.

As you’ve probably heard or seen in American Pie or How I Met Your Mother, we were in shared dorms; that meant sharing a room with another person. I know what you’re thinking, why the hell would you want to do that? No privacy or space? That sounds awful. These were my thoughts exactly when I first heard about this living arrangement.

With the room halved, and each student with an adjustable bed with a desk underneath, (I immediately lowered mine and moved my desk across the room following my first night out attempting to clamber up the tower), we also had wardrobe space, a chest of drawers and a shared sink. My first roommate for the duration of the initial semester was from Brazil—Dani, a sweet girl who had previously been living in an apartment but decided to try out the ‘dorm experience’ for her last semester. After Christmas a Spanish girl called Noemi moved in, who quickly became one of my closest friends at State.

Although you do indeed lose privacy, space, and get woken up most nights, it didn’t really faze me. To put it plainly and simply, you just get used to it. I was lucky enough to get assigned two roommates who were easy to get on with and that I enjoyed spending time with, although many of my friends had a couple of other issues. Yet what it came down to, and everyone will say the same; whoever you got, you just got on with it. Whether you were best mates and life felt like a year-long sleepover, or you loathed them for setting five alarms to wake themselves up at 9am on a Sunday morning!

Without hesitation, every student who spent their first semester at NC State will tell you the best part are the tailgates. If you are unfamiliar with this, it’s pretty much drinking in a car park full of students before a football match for a couple of hours before you head to the game, and it is probably the most American thing you will ever do. We were introduced to the most popular of the red cup games, ‘rage cage’. This involves stacking cups and screaming at the person next to you whilst they attempt to calmly bounce a ball into the oversized cups.

The bizarre American system and lop-sided rules continued to baffle us all, with this activity of tailgating being allowed—hundreds of students staggering around drunk in a car park was OK—yet drinking in the safety of your dorm room or in the basement of our building (our block’s living room) becomes a heinous crime that saw many people receive warnings and being sent to alcohol awareness classes. That’s right, 21-year-olds were sent off to be taught about their limits of alcohol and how to drink safely or feel like they weren’t being ‘forced to drink’.

One thing that we all agreed on in unison during our time studying abroad in the States, was that America is very different to England, or indeed many European countries and their ideas. Donald Trump is the newest contender for representing the weird and inexplicable side of America.

On the whole, my time studying abroad in the States was an unforgettable experience in which I made amazing friends from all over the world, learned all about the weird and wonderful of the US whilst having exceptional support from the university and staff. I wouldn’t change a thing about my year, and would do it again in a heartbeat. I can only recommend, if you have the chance, you take the option to study abroad.

Top 5: Film Trilogies

Written by Dominic Bennett on . Posted in Film.

5. Original Star Wars Trilogy

This epic space fantasy series has obsessed children and adults alike for decades. Spreading a familiar tale of good vs. evil throughout the galaxies and creating numerous iconic characters. The prequel trilogy that followed was a huge disappointment, but the encouraging reboot led by J.J. Abrams’s The Force Awakens brings a new hope that these films won’t need to be praised in isolation for much longer.

 

4. The Godfather

Francis Ford Coppola’s films, following multiple generations of the Corleone family have defined the mafia genre and spawned some of most quotable dialogue in existence. They also feature a series of powerhouse performances by several of the greatest actors of all time, combined with ever present ruminations on family and morality. This means that—despite part III being fairly mediocre—the trilogy is undoubtedly one of the best.

 

3. Arabian Nights

It may seem presumptuous to place a film series that only came out this year so high on the list, but Miguel Gomes’s ambitious trilogy fully deserves its place. The films borrow the structure of the eponymous folk tale to tell a series of stories about modern day Portuguese life, focusing on everything from amateur chaffinch trainers to the erectile dysfunction problems of austerity imposing bankers. This expertly handled melding of bizarre satire with social realism creates a compelling and unique political odyssey.

 

2. Three Colours

Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Blue, White and Red are dominated by their namesake colour and focus on the French ideals of liberté, égalité and fraternité respectively. These links can often be strenuous or ironic though, and it is maybe worth focusing more on what the films share. They are all deeply humanistic tales that deal with the relationships between people in society, showing how we can all affect and rely upon each other. The trilogy is also bound by a preposterous—yet oddly moving—ending.

 

1. Noriko Trilogy

Although the plots of these films (Late Spring, Early Summer and Tokyo Story) are unrelated, they each star Setsuko Hara as characters called Noriko, facing the struggles of being unmarried women in post war Japan. Director Yasujirō Ozu ties the trilogy together with the themes found in nearly all his work: the repressive effects of traditional society and the impact of westernisation. Alongside this critique of life at the time, Ozu’s relaxed pacing and subtle use of emotion mean the films capture the transcendent ebbs and flows of life in an unforgettable manner.

(Healthy) Mind over matter: How stress can affect your diet

Written by Ariel Nash on . Posted in Lifestyle.

A healthy lifestyle is a common goal that many people have in Western society. Any list centred around the concept of creating a new ‘healthy you’ usually has a healthy diet as one of its primary goals.

Despite its popularity, a healthy diet is a goal that many have a hard time consistently following. Part of the struggle for the consistency is due to healthy eating being used interchangeably with weight loss, despite the outcomes for both being distinct and different. Healthy eating outcomes are usually centred around consuming the proper nutritional content needed to help with energy levels, mental health, and overall maintenance of the physical body as it ages.

The goal of weight loss, on the other hand, is to create a calorie deficit in order to reach a goal weight. The type of food and activities done to reach this goal does not matter. This was highlighted in the famous Twinkie Diet experiment conducted in 2010 by a nutrition professor. The professor limited his calorie intake to under 1800 calories a day where two thirds of his diet was packaged sweets. One third of the diet contained canned vegetables or celery stalks. Not only did this professor lose close to 2 stone in two months—his good cholesterol levels improved.

Of course, this experiment would not necessarily work on people who have existing medical conditions. However, this study highlights that eating healthy foods does not automatically cause weight loss. In the same vein, weight loss is not automatically due to a healthy diet or lifestyle. Despite the large range of studies supporting this conclusion; health magazines, personal trainers, nutritionists, and even GP’s fall into the trap of reducing healthy diets and weight loss into a food and exercise list.

With these lists being reinforced by everyone around us, we unintentionally begin to create a division in our minds where certain foods and activities are ‘healthy’ and other foods and activities are not. When we feel we are not following these lists, many of us begin to feel guilty about our lifestyles.

Feeling guilty leads to feelings of shame and failure. Shame and failure leads to apathy towards living a healthier lifestyle. Apathy leads to not paying attention to what we eat or how we move which contributes to a surplus of calories. The surplus of calories lead to weight gain. Weight gain leads to more guilt. Guilt leads to stress. Stress for many leads to fatigue and comfort eating. And thus, a cycle is created.

This cycle may seem simple enough to break with concentration, planning, and will power. However, guilt and stress play more of a roll in our nutrition then we realise.

A study released in September 2016 monitored the stress levels and diets of 58 women. In the study, the women were given two types of high fat meals on a number of different occasions. One meal would have a high content of saturated fat (bad fat) while the other meal would have a high content of  poly and monounsaturated fats (good fat). It was found that if stress was present before the poly and monounsaturated fat meal, the body responded as if it were taking in saturated fat. Thus the benefits of consuming the healthier fat was lost due to the stress.

This shows that even if we followed a healthy diet at a calorie deficit, our mental state can effect how our bodies take in nutrition.

Of course, a consistent healthy diet combined with 30 minutes of exercise a day can help us cope with some of the stressors we encounter. However if these lifestyle changes are the causes of our stress, then they could be doing less for us then we realise.

We must put more emphasis on our mental health if we want to reach our healthy lifestyle goals. When we focus on eliminating guilt and stress from our minds, we create balanced bodies that are ready to take in the good nutrition we give it to fuel our exercise activities.

After all, a happy body is hard to attain without actively working on creating a happy mind.

Does mental health matter to universities?

Written by Maddie Hogben on . Posted in News.

With almost daily news about mental health services at universities not meeting the demands of their students, there is concern that the well-being of young people at university is not being treated as the growing problem that it is. According to the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), depression and loneliness affect one in three students, whilst suicide rates are increasing.

This can be put down to a number of things; with the introduction of high tuition fees, not to mention the changing terms and conditions of student loans, pressure is mounting on students to achieve more than before in order to compete with their peers, and secure jobs to pay off large debts. This is combined with a pressure to present a front to the outside world—with the importance of social media in our day to day, we are expected to look like we are always having the time of our lives, which for a lot of us isn’t a reality.

However, help is not always available as readily as it should be. Although universities offer counselling services, they often fall short of what people actually need, with a report by HEPI finding that a lot of universities need to triple the funding to mental health services. Research by The Tab found that the University of Manchester budget for counselling only allows for £53 to be spent on each student over the course of their degree, and is ranked 14th out of 30 universities in the study; suggesting that the problem is nationwide.

As well as this, the process of asking for help can be daunting to many. To use the University of Manchester counselling service, students need to fill in an online questionnaire before booking an appointment, and their problem is assigned a colour according to how severe it is deemed to be. Next you need to ring the counselling service to book the appointment, where you may be asked questions in order to determine the help you need. For some this is challenging in itself, with one student saying: “The first time I rang, they bluntly asked if I had thought about killing myself, and as I had found the question quite crude and off-putting, I put the phone down and didn’t try again”.

Clearly this is a problem that needs to be addressed. The well-being of students should be at the top of the list of priorities for universities, not pushed to the sidelines until it becomes too big an issue to ignore. With more focus on supporting students from the start, rather than waiting until a problem needs to be solved, mental health can be tackled before a concern becomes a crisis.

Review: Bridget Jones’s Baby

Written by Esther Hamilton-Ivory on . Posted in Film.

Bridget Jones’s Baby has undoubtedly been a hotly anticipated film with women across the country waiting to be reunited with their best friend after more than a decade apart. The story follows Bridget, now aged 40-something, having split with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) with a new handsome man in her life (Patrick Dempsey), and in classic hopeless Bridget style, unintentionally pregnant.

The film unfolds as she tries to come to terms with impending single motherhood and having to navigate the turbulent waters of having two potential fathers of her unborn child, one of whom when we last saw her, she was deeply and madly in love with. The film effectively used flashbacks to aid in jogging our memory of these moments of Bridget’s younger life. However it did not feel as though we were inundated with them, which meant that this film was able to stand on its own without having to rely on the previous two.

Renée Zellweger accurately portrays a middle-aged Bridget—who has maintained that brilliant British accent—still with her endearing, waddling walk but with a more mature and well put-together image. Zellweger’s co-stars, too, offered superb performances. Colin Firth maintained Mark Darcy’s serious and awkward demeanor and Patrick Dempsey, despite essentially replacing Hugh Grant—it did feel there was a slight void left by Grant’s absence in this film—managed to hold his own as the very attractive but ultimately, slightly irritating and self involved competing love interest.

No fight scene between two men will be as funny as the one with Grant and Firth in the first Bridget Jones film, as they so captured the hilarious and slightly tragic desperation of two well-to-do, grown British men trying to assert their testosterone-fulled dominance in attempting to win a woman’s heart, but Dempsey and Firth still managed to portray the jealously between the two of them and the cringeworthy way in which they went about trying to charm Bridget.

It was especially beneficial that the film was well-acted because in many places the script fell short and the writing did feel slightly lazy. As per any Bridget Jones film, there were great declarations of love and honesty which in the previous films had, although very sentimental, been well written and evoked true emotion in the audience watching. But this time round, it seems the same could not always be said—this may be because Richard Curtis was not a writer on this film as he was on the first two and he is expert when it comes to well written, ‘genuine’, emotional sentimentality.

Having said this, this film was by no means a flop—as has been the case with other recent comeback films such as Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie—or even a bad film. It made the audience laugh out loud and really, genuinely cry by the end. It did not exceed any expectations but it certainly fulfilled them. It was a truly heartwarming film and one which has left many audiences falling back in love with Bridget once again.

 

4/5

Review: A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer

Written by Elete Nelson-Fearon on . Posted in Theatre.

“And that would make a cracking musical”, the final words of Bryony Kimmings and Brian Lobel’s touching, hard-hitting, down-to-earth musical A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer. Those words are delivered by Kimmings herself through a voice-over, teasing at the fourth wall between the playwright and company.

The opening scene explores what we are all thinking as we rush through the morning commute with our faces glued to our screens- the need to appear busy and focus on the task at hand. The company’s first song portrays the subconscious fear of cancer while trying to have a positive outlook on the busy commute ahead. Kimmings, also director of the show, uses characters in costumes comprising bright, assorted balls to deliver scientific facts about cancer and, later in the show, represent the omnipresence of cancer in the characters’ minds and lives. The first character we meet is Emma Kenworthy, whose baby son is having tests at the hospital. Emma is in blissful denial as to her son’s health; through Emma and the other characters we get the chance to explore the different coping mechanisms that are employed when dealing with the unimaginable.

We see frustration with a dip in sexual partners, reluctance to inform colleagues and admit a change in routine and refusal to accept round-the-clock care. One of the most interesting parallels I noted was between Emma and the mother of Steven, who are both caring for their sons as they battle with cancer. While Emma does not want to admit that anything is wrong, despite the neon characters dawdling around the stage and her mind, Steven’s mother takes a more hands-on approach and accompanies Steven to every appointment, trying to remain positive.

The musical aspect of the show was the aspect that I was most looking forward to, as musical theatre is not the genre that springs to mind when one thinks about a production about cancer. The songs in the first act were lively, creative, truthful and powerful in portraying the feelings of the characters in a candid and relatable way. Kimmings, Tom Parkinson (composer) and Lizzi Gee (choreographer) manage to juxtapose harrowing sentiments with bright melodies and flashy composition, which keeps the audience’s spirits high and reflects the optimism that comes and goes in all of the characters’ journeys.

The second act, however, had a less animated atmosphere. Reflective of the journey through a degenerative illness, energy levels diminished, spirits dropped and reality kicked in. The characters search for solutions from God, the Universe, Mother Nature and the Internet, justify the fact that they do not constantly feel positive, and share space in their mind and on the stage with inflated representations of cancer. The company interacts with the audience, cancer survivors and Kimmings, which adds to the uniqueness of the show and makes for a more memorable experience.

Kimmings and Lobel’s use of real characters’ stories make the plot more harrowing and effective; you could not make up the thoughts, reactions and endings in these journeys through cancer. The costumes are bold in their representation of the characters’ personalities and backgrounds; the hospital gowns have ‘hospital property’ printed across them in large, colourful writing as a symbol of their new lives as residents of the ward.

The show exceeded my vague and curious expectations; I expected to learn more about different perceptions of the war on cancer, in a way similar to the manner in which Adam Brace’s They Drink it in The Congo exhibited characters trying to tackle a difficult subject matter with varying backgrounds and resources; the brightly-clad characters silently ambling the stage at HOMEMCR reminded me of the man in a bright pink suit who followed the protagonist around in They Drink it in The Congo, brightening the stage and the atmosphere.

I would recommend this play on the grounds of it being an enjoyable, educational, emotional and inviting show. The talent of the company is astonishing: in my opinion the standout cast members were Naana Agyei-Ampadu, whose sprightly acting and powerful voice seamlessly tell the story of Gia Jones, and Jenny Fitzpatrick, who played Dr. Lacey and an Ensemble member, with fantastic vocal skills. Some people I have spoken to are hesitant to see a play about an illness, never mind one of the most prevalent and grave illnesses in our society. However, this play tells us that it is not only okay but also important and productive to talk, sing and shout about cancer, in the hope that more people are encouraged to do so, and with the hope that some day no one will have to.

A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer is the most recent of Kimmings’ socially charged and unique artworks. Currently touring the UK, the performance stops next at Exeter Northcott Theatre and will close in London’s National Theatre.

Live: Pangaea Festival – Down The Rabbit Hole

Written by Jay Plent on . Posted in Music.

How can we begin describing Pangaea? Every semester, the theme is announced, everyone scrambles to assemble a costume, and the fancy dress vendors of The Arndale and The Northern Quarter gleefully rub their hands together. It’s an event that has been defined by many things; be it the organised mayhem that characterises the evening itself, or the personal escapades that go on within; few can forget last year’s ‘poogate’, though not for lack of trying.

It’s fitting then, that this time around, the theme was ‘Down The Rabbit Hole’, a reference to Alice In Wonderland, which much like Pangaea, steps unpredictably into a crazy, crazy world.

This brings us back to the question of how to begin in recounting the events of the festival. The difficulty is that everyone’s experience is totally different. There’s no such a thing as a seasoned Pangaea veteran, since every event is something of a lucid walk through a confusing array of club spaces, live bands, and function rooms.

The themed attire also adds to this bonkers vibe; drunkenly encountering 30 different people dressed as Alice, The Hatter, or Tweedle Dum over the course of the evening really adds to the charm, and really instills a sense of genuine fun being had by all.

Pangaea is fun, for the most part. Perhaps it’s the audacity of the entire event. A festival, in an evening, in a space not much larger than your average secondary school, which is also themed, and is the culmination of a mad Freshers’ week, and so on and so on. There’s no restraint on anything when it comes to the party itself and that’s kind of incredible.

You need only glance at the top of the bill acts to get a feel for Pangaea’s ambition. Ella Eyre, a star on the rise it would seem, delivered a packed and highly entertaining set. The familiarity of her material was a great surprise; the excited phrase ‘oh she did THIS one!’ was common throughout. Other acts such as Eliza And The Bear also impressed, grabbing the audience’s attention with ease. No mean feat in as colourful a festival as Pangaea.

But also, pleasingly, there was plenty of alternative and unusual music to be explored. MSC Big Band were a particular highlight. Regulars to this cavalcade of insanity, MSC were as audacious as the festival itself, squeezing a ludicrous amount of brass, keys and vocalists onto a tiny stage, and blasting jazz renditions of Snoop Dogg to a blind drunk audience in the pouring rain. They were in fact five times more fantastic than I can describe.

So Pangaea remains an oddly puzzling evening. It’s always difficult to define to those who haven’t been because it feels unlike anything else. But regardless of the identity crisis the event seems to suffer from, you always come away with a story, and in this case, it was a story of wide-grinning madness. And as a wise man once wrote: “Pangaea is entirely bonkers, but all the best festivals are”… or something along those lines anyway.

Feature: Interview with director Martin Radich

Written by Barney Weston on . Posted in Film.

Following 2008’s Crack Willow, Martin Radich’s second feature film, Norfolk, is now playing in UK cinemas. It was screened at HOME on Monday, the 26th of September. Having heavily researched Radich, watching the majority of his previous work and scouring through the Norfolk press kit, I was pleased to briefly meet him before I saw the film for the first time.

“Set in Norfolk, amidst an idyllic, brooding landscape, an innocent teenage boy and his battle-weary father live a simple life.  Days are spent hunting, fishing and daydreaming. Then out of nowhere, the father, a mercenary, is given a final deadly mission, one that threatens to destroy not just the target, but the love between a father and his son.”

Immediately after the screening, a table and chair were bought out for a Q&A with the audience in attendance at the screening. Radich was nervous — he shifted uncomfortably in his seat at every question fired at him. Going into our own interview, I wasn’t sure what to expect. However, it was within these twenty minutes that I got to know the self-described “geezer from Blackpool who grew up on a council estate” that Martin Radich is.

We sit in the HOME lobby and discuss whether to switch venue because of the typically loud nature of the pub quiz. I begin by asking Martin why he is so different. I cite his early work; short films such as In Memory of Dorothy Bennett (1998)—for which he was nominated for a BAFTA—and A Good Man is Hard to Find (1999), both of which can be seen at martinradich.com. I ask him about his attempts to include the sounds of the landscape of Norfolk into the film’s script, for example spelling words phonetically in order to “describe how the world might sound” as well as why, despite his fond childhood memories of Norfolk’s “serenity”, he had chosen it as the backdrop of this “haunting thriller”.

Martin blames Blackpool. He describes his younger years as spent watching films he had rented from video stores. “Every weekend was like a kaleidoscope”, full of “curious eccentric stories”. He claims to “know no genres” because of this.

But it is Blackpool itself that seems to have had such an impact on Martin. He describes a certain romance surrounding the city, in the sense of how it “attracts disparate people” who “migrate […] from across the country”, people “who haven’t quite figured themselves out”. He cites this as what keeps drawing him back to the city as a point of reference for his work; yet he doesn’t seem to recommend taking a visit.

As another pub quiz question booms across the lobby, we both agree that having a Q&A here makes the conversation seem even more fitting in regards to the “scarred and jagged” atmosphere that Radich describes himself as having both risen from, and currently living within. It’s this profile of Radich which is important to build in order to better understand Norfolk.

Denis Ménochet (playing man) is recognisable from the opening scene of Inglorious Basterds, acting alongside Christopher Waltz.  Martin tells me about how he wanted to insert a sense of “ambiguity” in regards to Ménochet’s man. It was maintaining this “equilibrium of ambiguity” that Radich describes as one of the biggest challenges in regards to crafting the film.

Yet although Ménochet and Barry Keoghan (playing boy) lead Norfolk on screen, it becomes clear to me that it is Martin who has overseen this creative and collaborative process. In a previous interview, it is clear that he appreciates the value of cinema beyond the screen—“I want to listen to a story that might say something to me, that might educate me, that might offer up an alternative approach to a conundrum”.

I ask Martin what he thinks the point of the film is: “It’s about the idea of communication […] mistakes are made because of an inability to communicate.” In retrospect, this is obvious. This story is well-constructed with a clear beginning, middle, and end—and that’s actually quite satisfying, with the ending as a clear highlight.

You can find the Norfolk trailer on Vimeo. For details of all UK screenings, visit norfolkthefilm.com.

What are TUEs?

Written by Alex Whitcomb on . Posted in Sport.

What are they?

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) defines them as follows: “Athletes may have illnesses or conditions that require them to take particular medications. If the medication an athlete is required to take to treat an illness or condition happens to fall under the Prohibited List, a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) may give that athlete the authorization to take the needed medicine.” Basically, it is a pass to take banned substances, so long as a doctor prescribes them as medicine for an acute or chronic medical condition.

Why are they controversial?

There has always been debate over whether athletes are abusing the TUE system. While very few people dismiss the idea of TUEs in principle, questions arise over whether they are being administered fairly. High profile cases include Lance Armstrong’s cortisone TUE at the 1999 Tour de France [the first of the seven of his now-stripped wins]. This instance is more controversial because Armstrong’s TUE was requested after he had tested positive for the drug and was used by the team in a cynical move to purely use it for performance enhancement.

Also, as Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle document in their 2012 book The Secret Race: “The UCI [cycling’s governing body] didn’t want to catch Lance, they accepted the prescription, and the Tour of Renewal rolled on.” The mixture of administrative corruption and Armstrong repeatedly lying about his drug use, including in this instance, has contributed to many people’s doubts that TUEs are handed out fairly.

Why are they in the news at the moment?

After the Olympics, a group of hackers going under the name of Fancy Bears disclosed the medical records of various athletes, including Serena Williams and a handful of Britons. The hackers are widely believed to be of Russian origin, with some implying links to the Russian government, a country who are currently banned from international athletics for engaging in “state-sponsored doping”.

So has anyone broken the rules?

No, is the short answer. All international athletes must have their TUE approved by a specialist and national and international anti-doping committees. All of the people implicated in the leaks have gone through this process.

So no problem then?

Not entirely. While no-one has questioned them following the letter of the law, their approach to the spirit of the law has been scrutinised. 2012 Tour de France winner Sir Bradley Wiggins has faced criticism for his use of injected corticosteroid drugs to combat his asthma and allergies.

One key element of TUE rules is that the drugs allowed must not be performance-enhancing. However, many, including his own doctor from his previous team Garmin Slipstream, who insist that these substances do improve performance.

Former drugs cheat turned anti-doping crusader David Millar recently stated that the drug should be banned from competition altogether. He described the drug in his book Racing Through the Dark in 2011: “It was probably the most potent drug out there, yet with a prescription it could be used legally”, going on to say that “A few days after the injection I began to lose weight. I was skinnier than I’d ever been… There were veins appearing all over my legs and my torso as the last bits of fat were eaten away by the cortisone.”

Team Sky emphasise that this is not the case, and that Wiggins and all Sky riders have acted within the rules and ethics of anti-doping. Team Sky maintain their zero-tolerance policy to doping and have previously sacked staff for their links to the Lance Armstrong saga, including British coach Sean Yates in 2012.

Wiggins and Team Sky Director Dave Brailsford have both been interviewed by the BBC since the leaks and have insisted that the drugs were taken for purely therapeutic reasons. Wiggins also explained on the Andrew Marr Show that the reason for the timing of his injections—immediately prior to the 2012 Tour—was due to this also being the height of the season of his allergies and that it was a preventative measure. He insisted that it was not about abusing the drug but placing himself “back on a level playing field”.

It’s worth saying that these leaks are not nearly the same as the Lance Armstrong revelations. No-one has suggested that Team Sky have broken any laws and there is no suggestion that Wiggins could conceivably be stripped of any of his titles. We will have to wait and see if any changes are made to a system that many consider to contain fundamental flaws.