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Year: 2017

Former UoM student Milo Yiannopoulos resigns from Breitbart News

On the 21st of February, former University of Manchester student Milo Yiannopoulos resigned from his position as Head of Technology News at Breitbart.

This comes amid huge controversy over comments Milo made on a livestream video for the podcast Drunken Peasants in January 2016, suggesting that sex between boys and older men “could be a coming-of-age relationship, in which those older men help those younger boys discover who they are.”

His resignation came just a day after publisher Simon & Schuster cancelled his autobiography Dangerous and the American Conservative Union uninvited him from their annual CPAC conference because of the comments.

Renowned for his inflammatory comments and opinions, leading to his permanent banning from Twitter in July 2016, Yiannopoulos has become a figurehead for the movement known as the ‘alt-right’, a loose collection of ill-defined groups and forums based largely on the internet.

Milo has been vocal in his criticism of Islam, feminism and political correctness, and is one of the most vocal supporters of President Trump, whom he refers to as ‘Daddy’. In 2016, he infamously described feminism as “cancer”, whilst also condemning Muslims and the Black Lives Matter movement, claiming the latter “does not care about black lives” and is instead motivated by “attention, money and like most activism, more money”.

In October 2015, he had been scheduled to speak at the University of Manchester’s Free Speech and Secular Society debate with Julie Bindel, before he was banned because of his comments on rape culture. Earlier this month he was prevented from speaking at the University of California, Berkeley, following violent student protests on campus.

In the Drunken Peasants podcast, Milo condemns consent as “arbitrary and oppressive”. Though he admitted the law regarding the age of consent was “probably about right,” Milo alluded to his own relationships as a young teenager in order to argue some people are capable of giving consent when they are under the age of consent.

In a recent Facebook post he stated that one of his own sexual relationships began “when I was 17 with a man who was 19,” and that the video had been “selectively edited” to cast him in a negative light.

To the disbelief of the livestream’s viewers, he said he was “grateful for Father Michael”, adding that he “wouldn’t give nearly such good head, if it wasn’t for him”. Milo denies he was supporting the notion of paedophilia, defining it as “attraction to children who have not reached puberty”, which for him makes it a separate issue to younger teenagers’ relationships with older men.

When asked if he was advocating “cross-generational relationships”, he replied: “Yeah, I don’t mind admitting that.” In the final segment of the video, he describes “hugely positive relationships” in the gay world between younger boys and older men.

The conversation has exploded on social media, with it becoming clear on 20th of February that Breitbart were considering sacking Milo if he did not resign.

Defending his comments on Facebook, he admitted that “I am certainly guilty of imprecise language, which I regret”, before describing paedophilia as a “disgusting crime, of which I have personally been a victim”.

Martin Shkreli Harvard talk interrupted by fire alarm and walk-outs

Martin Shkreli, former CEO of Turing Pharmaceutical, was invited to speak at Harvard University by the Harvard Financial Analysts Club earlier this month.

Moments before his talk was due to start, the fire alarm was set off, resulting in an evacuation of the building by police. The event eventually proceeded after a half an hour delay, but not without further interruptions by student heckles and walk-outs. The Boston Globe reports that Shkreli responded: “Nobody cares, goodbye.”

In 2015, Shkreli was widely condemned and criticised for increasing the price of Daraprim, a drug used to treat AIDS, from $13.50 to $750 per unit.

He is currently awaiting trial, free on a $5,000,000 bail, for an unrelated case of securities fraud. Shkreli was also more recently under fire for the alleged harassment of journalist Lauren Duca on Twitter, earning him a suspension from the social media site.

The event at Harvard was mainly focused on hedge fund management and healthcare. During the talk, several waves of students walked out to attend the ‘teach-in’ event held in a lecture theatre close by.

Organised by the Harvard College Global Health and AIDS Coalition, the panel discussion raised issues on unethical pharmaceutical practices and the treatment of AIDS.

Shkreli did not address any of the past drug-hiking allegations. However, towards the end of the event he did comment on a solution to high drug pricing through government intervention, stating that President Donald Trump should start a drug company, something he would be happy to support.

Another event was held the day after at the University of Massachusetts, in Boston, where Shkreli defended the high price of some drug treatments. Although similar controversies were raised before the event, the talk ran with minimal interruptions.

Shkreli was also set to appear at University of California with right-wing sensationalist Milo Yiannopoulos earlier this month, but the visit was cancelled just half an hour prior to its start due to the break out of heated protests.

The NHS needs a digital healthcare revolution

A unified health care system to take care of an entire nation, especially one as large as the United Kingdom, often seems like a Herculean task. To have over 60 million people to go through one, more or less, centralised system, often when facing life-threatening situations, often delays people from getting the help they need as they need it.

Endless bureaucracy, outdated technology, internal politics (and the constantly changing actual politics out of Westminster), as well as a vast administrative burden all contribute to various inefficiencies affecting public health care. As the nation’s population ages, and the cracks in the health care system become more apparent, urgent change is necessary to ensure that the health of the nation is not put at risk.

The political capital needed to make these changes is often not there, with special interests fighting to get politician’s ears, and other pressing matters almost always arising. Since even modest reforms to the system get criticised vehemently, politicians often do not take the burden upon themselves to address the NHS, instead hailing praise upon it and moving on to other things.

Luckily, recent advances in Artificial Intelligence, specifically Deep Learning, are kick-starting a revolution in health care that requires no political manoeuvring. British companies such as Babylon Health, and the recently Google-acquired Deep Mind, are racing to bring modern technology to the NHS, adding to the efficiency of its procedures.

One of the major hurdles to effective treatment is the time and technology constraints to providing patients with the care they need. Doctors, having been booked solid all day and working in a high stress environment, are not given the opportunity to spend as much time with patients and provide them with adequate counsel.

Other issues such as the number of staff necessary to maintain scheduling, and the tremendous costs to the system of individuals failing to turn up for their appointments add to the various impediments to adequate care.

Babylon Health’s two apps available for free download begin to address some of these issues. Their own machine learning powered consultant asks patients to answer a series of questions about their medical needs, and having been trained using a plethora of medical data, provides advice on next steps.

Their subscription service also offers virtual doctors appointments, reducing the need to book appointments and go to a physical location. This ease is not only more convenient, but helps to identify the seriousness of issues, and speed up the processes for those in most need.

In conjunction with the NHS, they have also released a 111 app for non-emergency cases. Powered by the same underlying technology, it provides advice to patients and speeds up appointment bookings through an online scheduler. This system, though in its trial phases currently, has the potential for allowing patients to schedule, change, and cancel appointments more easily, allowing for greater allocative efficiency of doctor’s times. Simultaneously, such consultations allow for a reduced need to visit doctors, as there may be simple over the counter remedies that the patient would be recommended instead.

Deep Mind Health, another London based company, is working with the NHS to use their Artificial Intelligence systems to aid in specialist medical diagnosis such as Head and Neck Cancers, and Eye Diseases. By using these technologies, the potential to greatly reduce the potential for misdiagnosis and accidental deaths is within reach.

These new technologies provide the infrastructure to further improve the quality of offering to the near million patients who use the NHS every 36 hours.

For all its failings, serious internal reform to the National Health Service is a difficult task. Luckily, innovation and entrepreneurship are driving businesses and technologies that can offer radically improved care within the current framework.

The accidents and avoidable deaths within the UK are at astonishingly high levels, but advances in medical technology can aid in reducing these ills and will dramatically improve the quality of care on offer.

Top 5: “Good” Songs

5. ‘Good Name’ – William Onyeabor

Last month sadly saw the passing of ’70s & ’80s Nigerian funk legend William Onyeabor whose rhythmic, synthesizer-driven tracks earned him admiration from the likes of Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz) to David Byrne (Talking Heads), his mysterious and elusive persona also becoming the subject of Vice’s short documentary ‘Fantastic Man’. A scratch over ten minutes — not uncommon amongst Onyeabor’s Kraftwerk inspired catalogue — and released a short while before he gave up music due to becoming a born-again Christian, ‘Good Name’s moral message over repetitive beats is quintessential Onyeabor.

 

4. ‘Nothing Good Ever Happens At The Goddamn Thirsty Crow’ – Father John Misty

Soothing country crooner Father John Misty (AKA Josh Tillman) lays down his trademark wit over soft string arrangements, lamenting his experiences in an L.A. whisky bar. It’s an impossibly beautiful ballad over which Tillman tells how his girl “blackens pages like a Russian romantic” and “gets down more often than a blow-up doll.” True romance.

 

3. ‘Good Morning’ – Kanye West

Kanye may have consistently been the bad boy of popular music since he “Made that b**** famous” at the 2009 VMA’s, but musically he’s no stranger to being very good indeed (even starting his own record label named ‘GOOD Music’). Good morning is the stylish opening to 2007’s Graduation, which featured a handful of “good” tracks and a number of great ones. As would become standard for West’s discography, it signalled the start of an album that would change hip hop forever.

 

2. ‘Feel Good Hit Of The Summer’ – Queens of the Stone Age

“Nicotine, Valium, Vicodin, marijuana, ecstasy and alcohol” growls QOTSA frontman Josh Homme over the thumping monotone verses before bursting out with “C-c-c-c-c-cocaine” for the chorus. Perhaps unsurprising, then, that it saw them manhandled out of a Rehab centre in 2007 after opting to open their set there with this number.

 

1. ‘I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)’ – Jamie XX ft. Young Thug & Popcaan

Jamie XX effortlessly weaves together the Caribbean vibes of steel pans and Jamaican singer Popcaan, with soulful acapella samples and a career highlight performance from “Thugger Thugger.”A highlight of an already great album and easily one of the best tracks of 2015, ‘I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)’ takes the top spot as the “goodest” of an already good list.

Mix and Match Stir Fry

Serves 2

20-30 minutes or so plus 1 hour marinade time

 

Ingredients

Protein

Chicken, strips OR Salmon OR Beef, strips

Marinade

Teriyaki
Vegetables (choose a mixture, you want about 1 extra large handful per person)

Pepper batons

Carrot OR Courgette ribbons (use a peeler)

Baby sweetcorn

Onion wedges

Sugar snap peas OR Mangetout

Spinach OR Bok Choi

Spring Onions
Carbohydrates

2 Portions Rice OR Fresh Egg Noodles

 

Method

Place the strips of chicken or beef, or the whole fillets of salmon in a plastic sandwich bag with about 3tbsp of teriyaki, seal and leave to marinate for an hour or so.
Prepare the vegetables so that they’re all in fairly narrow strips to help them stir fry evenly and if you need to cook the rice then do so now.
If you’re eating salmon then wrap it and the remaining marinade in some tinfoil to bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 12 minutes.
Heat some oil in a wok or large frying pan on the hob (side note: I bought a wok from Wing Yip for about £7 and once I’d seasoned it  — the oven method is best— it worked brilliantly). When the oil is hot put in the chicken or beef strips and stir fry until cooked (that’s only a couple of minutes for the beef but longer for the chicken to make sure it’s safe). Add in the vegetables and let them wilt, stirring constantly over a high heat. Chuck in the carbs, stirring to heat them through and distribute everything evenly. Break up the hot salmon and stir through. Serve in big bowls.

Harissa and Turmeric Dal

Serves 2-3

Takes 25 minutes to make

I’ve been making this a lot recently as it’s quick and tasty (and importantly, cheap). It tastes great on its own but if you want to jazz it up then either top it with diced roast sweet potatoes, serve with rice or naan (the best tip is to buy a naan from your local takeaway and add it to your own meal). Don’t like spice? Just use less harissa (though some is needed for flavour). You can buy it easily from the international aisle of many supermarkets — if you can get it, I particularly recommend rose harissa.

Ingredients

1tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, diced

3tsp turmeric powder

1-3 tsp harissa paste

250g red lentils

400ml coconut milk

400ml water

1 lime, juiced

Method

Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onions until soft. Add the harissa and turmeric and cook for one minute. Pour in the lentils, coconut milk and water, stir everything together. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are soft but retain their shape and no longer taste bitter. Ladle into bowls and drizzle a generous amount of lime juice over it. Hey presto, it’s done. Serve with your chosen accompaniments.

Review: Artificial Salt

Student theatre is something that is looked down on with scorn by many in the art world. People often view it unfairly as nothing more than poorly written plays, with formulaic storylines, and suspect acting. Julia Morgan’s Artificial Salt; the latest offering in new writing from the University of Manchester Drama Society, has made absolutely sure to dispel these misguided myths and stereotypes about the world of student theatre. Performed at the Wonder Inn in the city centre, audience members are first met with next to no staging, simple wash lighting and, three actors wearing matching plain white t-shirts and blue jeans. There is nothing out of the ordinary about this, but what many in the audience do not realise is that this bareness is only going to increase in the form of the piece itself. This is because Artificial Salt is an absurdist play, in the truest sense of the word. Therefore the audience are subjected to a play with no linear storyline, or plot for that matter, but instead a kind of episodic dramatic reading that can sound completely nonsensical on first listening.

With absurdist theatre there is, of course, always method to the madness, however the sign of an effective absurdist play is whether the method is seen by the audience, as well as the writer. Artificial Salt’s biggest strength is undoubtedly that it passes this test with flying colours. Morgan’s script is absolutely stunning in its vocabulary and ability to exploit all the wonderful facets of the English language. She is clearly someone with a vast knowledge in this area and it is through her wonderful use of language that the play begins to develop meaning. The dialogue is rife with alliteration, word association between actors, and even occasionally rhyme which all serve to create moments of great comedy and subtext.

This would not be possible without the strong performances all round from Molly Steadman, Mary Morris, James Meredith, and even the offstage voice of Anna Merabishvili who reads the stage directions with excellent clarity. Steadman and Morris, both simply named woman one and two have superb chemistry and their high energy performances allow them to bounce off one another well, in comparison to Meredith’s lone ‘man’. Meredith is equally adept at playing his role with an enduring intensity; the converse nature of these differing performances almost certainly being a comment on gender roles and sexuality. A special mention must also go to Meredith for a hilariously ridiculous monologue describing a fictional machine, which I was unaware until after the performance that he completely changes and improvises every night.

Action and its relationship to language are also explored in Artificial Salt and Meredith’s speech is a good example of this. With very little movement accompanying his confusing dialogue, both the audience and Meredith are left bogged down in the futility of language to great comic effect. In fact this becomes a theme that Morgan uses regularly throughout the play, as many of the long sections of speech are performed as just that; sections of speech. Where the play becomes fascinating is through conversely elongated sections of silent and often stylised movement, like when Steadman repeatedly stretched a piece of lace cloth across her face, or when Morris and Steadman wash Meredith’s feet in deathly silence. These were at times mesmerising to watch, and even for a play so steeped in language, I found myself begging to know what these characters would be saying while the sequences were going on!

One particular scene stuck in the memory as it perfectly utilised both language and action, in a display of how situation and the way in which we say something can completely change its meaning. In it Steadman repeatedly recites the Lord’s Prayer as she is wrapped in a thick white sheet and bound with rope. She becomes more and more distressed until her words become screams. I found this to be genuinely chilling and it can be read as a critique of religion, in the way that so many people’s enduring faith can supply no direct answers. This is made all the more effective with the addition of the beautifully composed score from John Pierce O’Reilly and Bonnie Schwarz, which enhances the horror of much of this repetitious movement.

Make no mistake; ‘Artificial Salt’ is not for everyone. As an audience member, one has to really focus to reap the rewards that the piece can offer and there will be those who do not tend to go to the theatre for experiences such as this. The brevity of the play (at around 50 minutes) is a great strength in this respect, as if it was much longer it could become difficult to remain totally engaged. My singular criticism would be that for a play so devoid of narrative, I found it slightly unnecessary and distracting to be broken up further by so many quick black outs and long scene changes. This is simply picking holes in an otherwise brilliant production. However special mention must go to the University of Manchester Drama Society for putting their confidence in a play that is so different and experimental to much of the student fare. For those who think they would not find Artificial Salt enjoyable, I would highly advise to look out for more work from Julia Morgan in the future. If her penchant for linguistics, writing and directing are anything to go by here, then her next production will surely be something that you would be mad to miss.

Artificial Salt is part of the MIFTAS season and is playing at the Wonder Inn from the 20th to the 22nd of February.

A social “awokening”: we need to start taking responsibility

After a tumultuous 2016, being ‘woke’ seems to be the latest trend. In fact, the term featured on MTV News’ list of words to use in 2016, was shortlisted for Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year, and #StayWoke remained a consistent hashtag on Twitter. It is a phrase that has become almost irremovable from social media, commonly found floating around Twitter and Reddit, sometimes as a badge of pride and others as a sarcastic jab at ‘social justice warriors’.

But what does it really mean? Urban Dictionary defines the term ‘woke’ as “being aware”, in “a state of enlightened understanding”, or simply as “like being in the Matrix and taking the red pill”. Being woke implies an awareness or knowledge of, as well as a genuine concern and wish to engage with, social and political matters, in particular those concerning injustice, inequality and systematic oppression of particular social groups.

Almost ironically, the term itself has been appropriated from the Black Lives Matter movement, where it was used to signify the importance of staying conscious of the systematic racism of state apparatus and institutions. It is sad to see yet another word appropriated from AAVE (African American vernacular English) with little or no acknowledgement of its background. Still, one would hope that the sentiments of the term — awareness of and engagement with social inequality, oppression and injustice — would carry over in its transition to the mainstream. This, however, is debatable.

Increased political awareness among the social media generation is undeniable. Facebook and Twitter in particular have become key platforms not only for the dispersal of information, but also for sharing and discussing current affairs and issues. Social media has been an important tool in the apparent political awakening of today’s young people, but it lies at the heart of a variety of problems. Everyone is now afforded a place from which to voice their opinions and engage in debates — and we do. On the one hand, these platforms keep us informed, they allow us to open dialogue around the things that matter to us, like social issues and injustice, voicing our views and hearing those of others. In many ways, it is a liberal utopia; one long, constant discussion in which all stances have the opportunity to voice their opinion, where we can all learn and share ideas. This is, however, a view that undoubtedly sees social media through rose tinted glasses.

The reality is not so utopian. While social media has the opportunity to, and undoubtedly often does, allow these things to happen, it is not all so idealistic; it can sometimes be a platform that engenders petty arguments and general pedantry. Views are often shouted instead of spoken and opposition is ignored instead of acknowledged. In an online world that has the potential to be very personalised, we do not have to see things we do not want to see, and we often don’t. The content we do see is often so removed from ourselves or so fleeting that we unconsciously scroll past, vaguely acknowledging and not really engaging. It allows us to lazily sit back and think that voicing our views is enough. We click and type away, casually marking ourselves as ‘interested’ in protests we’ll probably never go to and lazily scrolling past petitions we know we should sign.

How much do any of us really do? Is it enough to simply discuss and vaguely acknowledge? If we are truly declaring ourselves the ‘woke’ generation, do we also have a responsibility to act on the injustice we are so quick to call out, to work toward positive social change?

This is not to say that speaking up, starting discussions, debating, protesting and voicing our opinions is not important. We must keep the dialogue surrounding the issues we care about open — acknowledging racial, gender and class inequality and speaking out against hateful regimes and their leaders is of vital importance. However, we must acknowledge that this is only the first step. What comes out of these discussions — the things we voice, the social change that we acknowledge must occur — requires action that we have not yet shown we are willing to take.

In its transition to mainstream culture, the term ‘woke’ has taken on a more light-hearted tone, no longer filled with the genuine anger and frustration at injustice. It has become a commodity, turned into a selling point for brands that have seen the fashion in political movements and jumped on the bandwagon. If we really care about social change, it is time to acknowledge that political awareness is not just a fashion statement — we are all responsible. We are all capable, on an individual level, of inciting positive change, of taking small steps to a better world, of personally making a difference. Being politically and socially conscious is of vital importance, but this consciousness must extend to all areas of our lives. The important thing to do is to think — about what you say, what you buy, where you buy, what you do, and what you can do.

Report rules NUS President should not be punished for anti-Semitism

The National Union of Students is in crisis after an internal report found its President, Malia Bouattia, guilty of making anti-Semitic comments, but ruled that she should not be punished.

Bouattia, the first female Black British and Muslim leader of the NUS, first faced allegations of anti-Semitism during her presidential campaign last year. A blog post she co-authored in 2011 was particularly controversial. In the piece, written for the University of Birmingham Friends of Palestine, she described the University of Birmingham as “something of a Zionist outpost in British higher education”. Bouattia believed this was because the institution had “the largest JSoc in the country, whose leadership is dominated by Zionist activists”.

Her comments on the Israel/Palestine situation have also been deemed anti-Semitic by some. The audience at an Israeli Apartheid event at the School of Oriental and African Studies last year heard her describe the UK Government’s Prevent programme as run by “Zionist and neo-con lobbies”. At a 2014 conference entitled ‘Gaza and the Palestinian Revolution’, Bouattia said: “With mainstream Zionist-led media outlets — because once again we’re dealing with the population of the global south — resistance is presented as an act of terrorism.”

The NUS President’s comments have been met with outrage from the Jewish community. Daniel Clements, a former President of Birmingham’s JSoc, stated that they were “completely unsatisfactory.” Over 300 Jewish student leaders, the Union of Jewish Students and the Oxford University Students’ Union have criticised Bouattia’s remarks.

An investigation by the Home Affairs Select Committee last October found her comments to be “outright racism”. Amidst this backlash against her beliefs, Malia Bouattia has refused to apologise. In a Guardian Students article after her election as President of the NUS, she wrote: “For me to take issue with Zionist politics is not me taking issue with being Jewish.”

The internal inquiry by the National Union of Students, published last week, was headed by Professor Carol Baxter, who was formerly the NHS’s head of equality, diversity and human rights. Whilst the report found that Bouattia’s comments at an Israeli Apartheid meeting at SOAS “could be reasonably capable of being interpreted as anti-Semitic”, four other counts of anti-Semitism — including the “Zionist outpost” remark — were dismissed.

Baxter’s inquiry concluded that the President had been “genuine in expressing her regret” and had since spoken out against anti-Semitism. The report finishes: “The investigator therefore concluded that in light of the above mitigating circumstances no further action should be taken [against Malia Bouattia] within the NUS disciplinary process.”

Joshua Nagli, a spokesperson for the Union of Jewish Students, said of the NUS report: “This was an opportunity to reassure Jewish students that the NUS will take incidents of anti-Semitism with the utmost seriousness. The fact that no further action has been recommended, despite the NUS president being found to have used anti-Semitic rhetoric on two separate occasions, is deeply troubling.”

The findings of this internal report were made available to Malia Bouattia several weeks before its publication. She has yet to publicly apologise. An NUS spokesperson labelled newspaper coverage of the inquiry “part of a sustained attack on a high-profile Muslim woman in a public position”.

Manchester City 5-3 AS Monaco

This was a beautiful game for anybody who could just sit there and watch it. I watched one of the best games of football I’ve watched in years, but as soon as the final whistle was blown, my mind quickly went from pure ecstasy to fear. How on god’s Earth do you report on a game like that and do it any justice?

You can’t, you simply can’t. I’ll just try and do a good enough job that I won’t get fired, but you need to be fully aware that if you missed this match, you will live in regret for the rest of your life, and you really need to get down to the Etihad more.

Disclaimer: I will try and not dally on any shoddy defending or poor refereeing. There was abundance of both throughout this game, but if all you take from a 5-3 Champions League match is the defending or a dodgy decision, then football isn’t the sport for you.

If this game was a film…
300

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

It was simply epic. The highest goal-scoring opening leg to a Champions League game. There’s impressive stats like ‘most corners in the first half of a FA Cup third round game in the North West this October,’ and then there are statistics like that! Penalty appeals turned away, stunning goals, penalty appeals given, thumping challenges, and pace pace pace! If the game was a film, only Gerard Butler could play Sergio Aguero. Or I guess Eddie Murphy if you were going for a different sort of style.

Comeback Kings

1:0 City took the lead on the 26th minute from what can only be described as Witcraft from Leroy Sane to set up Raheem Sterling with a tap in.

1:1 AS Monaco equalised through Manchester United legend Radamel Falcao, after Caballero made an error that surely he wouldn’t be able to make up for ever*.

1:2 AS Monaco took the lead from a flying header from Falcao. Perfect cross. The end is nigh, the world is over, City will never comeback from this.

*City came out the second half raring to go, but Monaco were given a penalty decision five minutes in (seems a tad harsh). Up step King Will Caballero who emphatically saved, and the crowd went mental.

2:2 On the 58th minute Sergio Aguero equalises from a thunderbolt of a shot (it wasn’t powerful – the keeper fumbled it in, but they all count).

2:3 Three minutes later Falcao scores a purely beautiful goal. He outmuscled Stones and he chipped Caballero from inside the box. Purely beautiful. Stones felt dejected after his error that surely, he wouldn’t be able to make up for ever**.

3:3 Aguero channelled his inner-Hercules and was not allowing Falcao to take the limelight; David Silva whipped in a corner over the heads of everyone, Aguero leant back and volleyed the ball with expert control into the bottom corner.

3:4 John Stones!!** After Yaya Toure knocked on a corner, John Stones tapped in at the back post, and the Englishman celebrated more than an Englishman has since we had that dead sunny day in August 2011.

3:5 Leroy Sane finishes off the night in just the way he deserves – with a goal! Aguero is played in delightfully from a David Silva chip, and he plays the ball across to Sane for a classic FIFA 17 sweaty goal.

MAFFS

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

• Sergio Aguero has now scored 156 goals in 237 in all competitions for City. That’s a goal every time your Gran watches Emmerdale.

• Radamel Falcao has 24 goals in 29 games. That’s 25 goals more than he could manage at Manchester United (I know).

• Raheem Sterling completed 100% of his take-ons. That’s 100% more take-ons than Jordan Ibe has completed in this seasons Champions League.

Man of the Match

Sergio Aguero’s second half for Manchester City was simply world class. The energy that the little man had was emphasised by the fact that he won the most tackles out of any player on that pitch – the centre forward! This proves that the Argentinian is keen to learn under Pep Guardiola, who expects a lot of defensive work rate from his attackers. He scored two great goals (well one pretty rubbish one, and one amazing one, so that’s averaged out at great), and then assisted Leroy Sane with the last goal. He was well and truly man of the match, and has proved a lot of doubters wrong over the last few weeks.

Like a DJ at a sweet 16th, I’d also like to make a few shout-outs.

The first one is to my Mum – you’ve always been there for me and I don’t ever say thank you.

The second is to Pablo Zabaleta. The Argentinian came on when City were 3-2 down, and the passion he brought to the team was definitely a contribution to the win.

The third is for the lesser known Silva in this match – of AS Monaco – as he was truly fantastic and gave the City defence a torrid time, he will be difficult to stop in the return leg.

The fourth is to Raheem Sterling. After a tough year, last year, and mass hysteria from much of the country this year, he has kept a cool-head and been City’s best and most consistent performer this year. His pace, positioning and footballing intellect has been second-to-none.

Northern Lights Writer’s Conference

On Saturday the 18th of March, Creative Industries Trafford will be hosting the Northern Lights Writers’ Conference at the Waterside Arts Centre in Sale between 10am and 5:30pm. The conference will include talks, workshops, panel discussions, networking opportunities and book signings with acclaimed writers and publishing professionals. It will mainly concern literary fiction and genre writing and will include a keynote speech from Award-winning author Sarah Dunant. Tickets will cost £30 for the day with a £25 concessionary price.

Salt Publishing’s Chris Hamilton-Emery described last year’s event as “a brilliant writers’ conference” and by Adrian Slatcher on the Manchester Literature Festival blog as “a winning formula.” Northern Lights has so far welcomed guest speakers AL Kennedy, Will Self and Louise Doughty, author of Apple Tree Yard, recently adapted for the BBC.

Appearances will include authors Cath Staincliffe, Alex Wheatle MBE and Liz Williams who will be sharing advice for emerging and mid-career writers, while David Gaffney will be delivering a flash fiction writing workshop and launching CIT’s latest flash fiction competition. Literary agents Piers Blofeld and John Jarrold, editor Julie Crisp and Alysoun Owen from Writers & Artists Yearbook will also be in attendance.

It looks to be an exciting line-up with plenty of opportunities throughout the day to learn from professionals working in different fields and an opportunity to work on your own writing.

Tickets can be booked by calling the Waterside box office on 0161 912 5616 or by emailing [email protected]. Full details of the conference can be found on the CIT website: www.creativeindustriestrafford.org. Follow @CITrafford using the hashtag #NLWC2017

Poet of the Week: Liv Barnes

The Pub

They speak their secrets in slurs
wipe off bad memories on the back of their sleeves
taking off caps as I open a bottle
they tell me their troubles with a glass half full.

Everyday, the usual.

You can find bright eyes in the dim light of this old bar
hear clinking of jars, that’s the key to unlocking them.
They spill out their innards on the tables
the stories they tell the stools are my favourite fables.

They engage in conversation with the walls
mutters and murmurs welcomed by all four.
It’s easier to stare at them than half reflections of one another sat around
If a man breaks down in a bar and no one hears do they make a sound?

These weather worn men grow roots here with time
counting liquid rings on the wood, tell their age in the lines.
Old souls who never looked for any glory or gold
Just sitting back on worn out thrones now moulded to weight they carry in chests.

Arms on rests and legs under the table, these guys are part of the furniture.

Quietly saying their prayers with heads pressed against beer mats,
Fingers facing the sun.
Drinking golden liquid only fit for Gods
you could say that churches can come in more forms than one.

The dregs off the bottle imitate priests
as they listen to confessions that pour from mouths.
Fighters remove their fingers from glass necks
as they hear the bell ring for the final round.

Searching their pockets
Counting out last blessings
Handing over money
I never see their change.

If you would like to be considered as Poet of The Week please email a selection of poetry to [email protected] 

The politics of a galaxy far, far away

Disney’s ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’, released in late in 2016 and hot on the heels of Episode VII, was a welcome spin-off instalment. This year, Star Wars fans are awaiting the continuation of the Sequel trilogy proper. While these films offer us a classic hero story narrative of the clash between good and evil, the Star Wars franchise has also been swept up in our ever more divisive political discourse.

The recent controversy surrounding ‘Rogue One’ was tied up the election of Donald Trump and the emerging far-right conservative. One of the film’s writers, Chris Weisz, tweeted, “Please note that the Empire is a white supremacist (human) organisation.” Many have since accused Disney of inserting anti-Trump propaganda into the film. Bob Iger, Disney’s chief executive, made the statement that “there are no political statements in [the film], at all.” Those who called for a boycott also claimed that anti-Trump scenes had been edited out of the film.

Obviously, Trump supporters felt that they were being unfairly likened to cinema’s most famous authoritarian fascist government, the Galactic Empire. It’s no secret that the Empire of the Star Wars universe draws hugely on the aesthetics of the Third Reich and the uniform of the wartime German Wehrmacht. With all the comparisons of Hitler and the Nazis with Trump, his supporters clearly took Weitz’s tweet as another Nazi comparison.

It may seem pointless to argue about the nature of Star Wars in this way, or to even consider the franchise in political terms. However, the political debate about Star Wars is nothing new. Not only are the allusions to Nazism clear, but the 1977 original also draws on the imagery of the Vietnam War. As The Washington Post noted at the time, air to ‘ground’ combat in the trench-run denouement and having a technologically superior power oppressing an alliance of rebels were two of the transplanted themes of the film.

In fact, George Lucas intended to make a Vietnam combat film before setting out to make Star Wars, according to the same Washington Post article, but “it would have been impossible to make the film then and have it be so successful.” So instead, he made Star Wars, a film about Vietnam. Lucas has also been frank about the subliminal significance of the Prequel trilogy with regard to the Bush administration in Iraq.

Rogue One director Gareth Edwards has said that there are still references to Vietnam in the latest instalment, noting that early on in production they “took images of Vietnam and Middle East conflicts and World War II and literally just photoshopped rebel clothes over the soldiers.” This is especially clear in the beach assault scenes at the end of the film, both in terms of the tropical location and the rebel soldiers landing in transports.

The most striking, and controversial, political element of the Star Wars films, old and new, is the Galactic Empire. This totalitarian imperial theocracy rules with violence, demands conformity, and silences dissent. They represent, of course, whichever undesirable government we may be faced with. In 1977, the threat of authoritarian-style communist governments haunted the liberal democracies of the ‘free world’. Today, we are concerned with the rise of Trump and his wide-ranging use of presidential executive powers.

While it’s more common to cast the Empire as the baddies, some prominent figures have come out in support. One such notable figure is political analyst and former Chief of Staff to Vice President Bill Kristol, who has described the Empire as “a liberal regime [with] meritocracy, upward mobility. Neoconservative… in spirit.” He also observed that there is no objective evidence that the Empire is ‘evil’.

On screenrant.com, one author drew up “15 Reasons the Galactic Empire was Actually Good”, which included that “the empire was willing to leave lawful persons in peace”, “the empire grew the galactic economy”, and “the empire provided opportunities for advancement.” These benefits of the empire, while backed up by scant evidence, also clearly jive with small government, Republican ideals.

And that is at the heart of these debates: that we can read our own messages into the far-removed Star Wars universe. Either we admire the plucky rebels fighting a powerful tyranny, or we look for the strengths of the Empire’s ideology and apparatus. The lines between art, entertainment, and social commentary are as blurred as they have ever been.

It seems that nothing is safe from the mire of contemporary politics. The moral simplicity of the Star Wars universe (Jedi/Sith, Rebels/Empire) should also remind us of the complexity of our own world. The lines between the good and dark side are not so clear cut; as a society we can barely agree who plays which role. Though the science fiction world of Star Wars is distant from our own, our responses to it expose the concerns and spirit of our age.

LGBT History Month: body issues

February is LGBT history month, and with the recent sharper focus on LGBT rights, many are asking why we still need a month dedicated to LGBT people. Hopefully, throughout this series, I will be able to argue why LGBT history month matters by examining the inequalities that LGBT people face today.

Body shaming within the gay and bisexual male community is rife. Beauty standards for gay men are either hypermasculine or are solely focused on being youthful and thin. These are so entrenched into the culture of gay men that we even have terms to denote these different kinds of men: jocks and twinks, respectively. The existence of these standards is harmful, as it creates a social narrative where men who do not fit into these boxes are not deemed attractive. As a result, it pushes people to try and fit themselves in, reducing themselves down to a vapid caricature.

This goes beyond people feeling unattractive; it causes serious health problems amongst gay and bisexual men. The International Journal of Eating Disorders found that 42 per cent of men who have eating disorders identify as gay or bisexual. This is ridiculously high, and it clearly shows that unrealistic beauty standards are impacting on the health of gay men in a very real way.

This then made me wonder if the same bodily pressures exist within lesbian and trans spaces. For lesbians and bisexual women, the answer is somewhat more contrived. Due to the close cultural ties to feminism, there is much more body tolerance within the lesbian community. Butch and femme identities are respected without people being pressurised from within the community to conform to these ideals.

The majority of body issues that affect lesbians and bisexual women come from the hyper-sexualisation of lesbian relationships by society. This is established in media, like music videos and films, whereby two typically attractive straight women make out for the purpose of pleasing straight men. This ideal is then awkwardly pressed onto real life couples, where the expectations are inevitably not met. Those who do not conform to society’s beauty standards are then seen as ugly man-haters to avoid them being a threat to masculinity, and as such a variety of lesbian identities are suppressed and shamed.

Trans body issues can appear more complex due to the nature of gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria is usually explained as discomfort or unhappiness as a result of some incongruence between a person’s gender identity and the way their gender is perceived by themselves or others. It is worth pointing out that there is a big difference between dysphoria and body image. Dysphoria is not just a desire to look a certain way, it is the distress a trans person experiences where something about the way they look, act or even feel makes them in some way feel as though they are the wrong gender. This isn’t as much to do with beauty standards as it is to do with feeling correct and healthy within themselves as the right gender. Part of this may be wanting to exhibit feminine or masculine beauty standards, but that is only a part of dysphoria, and makes body image issues and non-trans beauty standards infinitely more complicated. Whilst women are pressured to be thin, trans women who have not undergone hormonal therapy will struggle to store fat around their hips and legs, which typically happens because of higher levels of oestrogen. But as women, they still are victim to a societal pressure to be thin, and as such it can create a conflict between the socially pressurised body standards, which tells them to lose weight, and dysphoria, which tells them to gain weight in areas.

These challenging beauty standards, both from within and without, are a reminder that we are measured by the stereotypes that people hold for us as LGBT people. Either we fall into the stereotypes that people have set for us, or we go so vehemently out of our way to avoid them — which only creates more problems. Within our community, we have to challenge peoples’ preconceived notions of the way that LGBT people will look.

To finish the series, I would like to reflect back on what we have discussed about how society still perceives LGBT people, and the social battle grounds of these judgements. Before we have even come out we are seen as deceptive, and afterwards we are held to dehumanising, oversexualised caricatures of what it means to be LGBT. This makes it easier to deny us rights and services, like the freedom to give blood. It makes it easier to verbally and sexually harass us in the streets. Finally, it makes it easier to ignore us when we speak out about these inequalities, which ultimately is why LGBT History Month still matters.

20th Century Women

In light of recent political events, women’s issues have been at the forefront of much discussion, and Mike Mills’ 20th Century Women is a beautiful representation of three women trying to navigate through these very same issues. The film follows the story of a mother called Dorothea, played by the brilliant Annette Bening, and her son, Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann), as he attempts to negotiate the difficulties of coming of age. As the story progresses, Bening’s character becomes worried that she is not doing a sufficient job in raising Jamie as the moral individual she so desires, so recruits the help of Abbie, her lodger, superbly played by Greta Gerwig and Julie (Elle Fanning), Jamie’s best friend and the object of his affection. In attempting to build Jamie up as a ‘good man’, the film raises pertinent questions regarding family, identity and happiness and in struggling to answer the questions her son proposes to her, it soon becomes clear that Dorothea, too, is struggling just as much with these big, life-defining questions.

Mills uses flashbacks, photography and voice overs in order to transport the audience back to the late 1970s. Some critics have argued that these effects add to the film’s feeling self-indulgent and affected. However, this seems an unfair claim to make. The cinematography and direction is part of what made this film so great; the perhaps cliché sweeping shots of windy roads, often with Jamie skateboarding down them, offers to the audience a warm feeling reminiscent of the Southern Californian evenings in which the characters of the film are enjoying. Additionally, the careful use of music, mostly acquired from Gerwig’s character’s collection of loud, purposely lo-fi punk and feminist records, suitably portrays the angst with which the young characters in the film are so familiar. It is these contrasts between the dreamy daze and the small angry acts of rebellion which so intricately portrays the intensity, and often confusion, of being a teenager.

This film, however, is not just aesthetically pleasing, it is also clearly political. As a result of Dorothea’s attempts to bring Jamie up a moral man, he becomes a feminist. However, it is not through Dorothea that Jamie receives his feminist education, it is from Dorothea’s two recruits, Abbie and Julie. Abbie gives Jamie ‘Sisterhood is Powerful’ to read and it is from that book that he learns about modern feminism and it is from his and Julie’s frank conversations about sex that he learns about true female sexuality. The film features a brilliant scene in which Abbie, suffering from cramps, forces all the guests at Dorothea’s dinner party to say, in unison, the word ‘menstruation’ in order to normalise it, something which Dorothea finds rather unpleasant. In order to portray truly human characters, Mills creates Dorothea as such that she finds much of this new feminism too radical, a natural reaction of a woman her age living in that era. However, this scene is one that would not be out of place in a film set in the modern day. It could be said that Mills is not only triumphing feminism but also highlighting that women’s issues and all the stigma attached is still very much ubiquitous today and in some cases, not much has changed since the late 70s. Perhaps Mills is urging us all to chant ‘menstruation’ in an attempt to truly end this stigma once and for all.

20th Century Women is a beautiful film with brilliant acting that tackles real human issues with real human feeling and certainly one which is worth a watch.

4/5 stars

Recognising a toxic friendship

Starting at university is obviously a brilliant chance to make a lot of new friends, some of whom might even become friends for life! However, not all the people we meet are going to add positively to our lives, and friendships are not always necessarily going to remain healthy. Therefore, it’s important to know how to recognise friends who are toxic, and causing more damage than good.

Firstly, I want to talk about that friend who is the one to always let you down and cancel plans at the last minute. We’ve all been guilty of cancelling on a night out once or twice because we’d rather have sat in bed with some snacks, but when you can predict that someone is going to cancel on you or just not show up without an explanation (yet again), then that person is being a bad friend. If you said you were going to meet for a drink at a certain time and they don’t show up, don’t let yourself be the one waiting by the phone for them to not call; you can’t allow yourself to be continually disappointed by the same toxic person.

The next friend that I want to talk about is the friend who will never let you feel good about yourself. When “I got 64% in my essay!” is answered by “Oh, I got 70%” or “Yeah, but your course is so much easier than mine,” then it’s safe to say that that friend isn’t contributing positively to your feelings. Real friends will let you have that moment to be proud of yourself and celebrate with you.

By responding negatively to your good news, a friend can bring your confidence down and thereby make you feel pressured or trapped into situations. If a friend is always forcing you to do something that you don’t want to do, then you shouldn’t do it. Don’t just go on a night out to a place you don’t even like every week if you don’t enjoy it; tell that friend the truth, and maybe they’ll ask you where you’d like to go instead, you never know! Do what you want to do sometimes, not what your friend always insists you must do.

In addition to pressuring you into uncomfortable situations, some friends could try and force their opinions onto you and make you feel bad for making your own choices. Yes, we need someone to truthfully judge our outfits in the changing rooms but not to judge our personal choices; if your friend doesn’t like your boyfriend/girlfriend, why does it matter? If you’re happy with your choices, then a good friend would be happy too and know when it’s important to raise any concerns they might have. Disliking your partner without good reason, for example, isn’t helping anyone.

Friendship is a two-way thing; no one can let themselves be continually hurt by someone on purpose and still carry on being their ‘friend’. Think about whether someone you’re having problems with is substantially adding to your life; if they’re not, then does that mean they’re taking away from it? Hopefully this will help anyone to spot a toxic relationship and work on making it healthier and happier!

The music of politics

On the evening of Sunday 12th February, the 59th Grammy Award ceremony took place in Los Angeles. With stars such as Adele, Katy Perry, and of course Beyoncé, all known for singing about “the one who got away” or being “drunk in love,” this would potentially have been the last place you would have expected a political debate to take place. Opinions on the recent events in America however seem to have wriggled their way into every aspect of our lives. Popular culture, being fundamentally a form of self-expression, is probably the most appropriate place for opinions to come to light. Political opinions are perhaps slightly more controversial however, and there inevitably will come the question as to whether celebrity icons, such as the ones mentioned above, have a responsibility to be more discrete. This is not the first politically-charged Grammys: the Macklemore homophobia controversy characterised 2014 and 2015 saw the rape issue on college campuses unravel. The question remains however, as to whether this has a positive influence on fans.

James Cordon’s opening speech went straight in and introduced the debate with an indiscreet message that his audience should “live it on up” now as “with President Trump, we don’t know what comes next.” Busta Rhymes stole Corden’s wind slightly, rapping about the Muslim ban and “President Agent Orange,” and we begin to notice a recurring theme. Katy Perry’s outfit featured an armband with the word ‘persist,’ and the end of her performance of “Chained to the Rhythm” showed her backing dancers sporting blank protest signs that turned into a screen for the projection of the US Constitution. The artists were certainly not concordant, nor were they overt about the particular message they were trying to convey. The resounding theme was however to stand up for what you believe in, and that politics clearly has a place in the music industry.

It would be hard to disagree with this of course. Everyone has a right to their own opinion, and fundamentally we own the right to freedom of speech; the first amendment of the US Constitution. Music and performance is a form of self-expression, its entire purpose is arguably to present beliefs and evoke debate. With all the recent controversy in the States, is this, as Jennifer Lopez suggested “the time when artists go to work?” The value of music is that it binds us together, a form of empowerment that enables us to fight for what we believe in. It quite literally, gives a voice to those who don’t have one.

The argument is however slightly more nuanced than this. The question remains as to whether the likes of Beyoncé and Drake are in such a position of power that they need to be more discreet when it comes to expressing political opinions — particularly when it comes to the younger generation. They are highly influential and feature heavily in the daily lives of many. What’s more, their lyrics are often subconsciously learnt and re-enunciated, sometimes without any actual consideration for the meaning of the words that are said. Perhaps this is an extreme consideration, but often the tune, the music, and the celebrity status of the singer prevail over the words that they say. Their opinions in this way can travel through the minds of their followers who possess no recognition of the fact. Teachers, for example, and others in influential positions are not permitted to share their political values, for fear of manipulation, be it consciously or subconsciously — should the same not also be considered for celebrities? Can we really say that it is acceptable that these stars use their time in the spotlight to make digs at a political figure that they do not agree with?

Furthermore, if music is considered a point of unison and inclusion, does the expression of political beliefs not serve to do the opposite? Politics would not be political if everyone was of the same opinion. Expressing opinions could result in alienating those who do not agree, and be a medium that goes against its own values to promote exclusion and fragmentation within our society.

Lastly, we should consider the implications of the fact that The Grammy Award Ceremony, a point of celebration of talent and achievement, has become inundated with political opinion. Aside from some potential controversy as to the winners of each award, the Grammys has never before evoked such an atmosphere of tension and polemic. Is it right that political affairs, having an effect on all of us, need to be thoroughly integrated into our daily lives? Or is there more a time and a place for such discussions to occur? The result after all, is a detraction from the achievements of the artists themselves, and a movement away from the importance of music as a medium in itself within our daily lives.

Just as there are two sides to every political debate, there are indeed two sides to this one. Is music the food of politics? Or, have we reached the point where we need to establish some boundaries to prevent politically-charged opinions creating an irreconcilable divide amongst us in every medium possible?

 

Barbie Girl

In March 1959, Mattel, Inc. released the iconic Barbie doll. The child of Wisconsin-based George and Margaret Roberts, Barbara (“Barbie”) Millicent Roberts has featured in many of our lives. Her CV boasts companionship with nearly every girl during childhood, in addition to a modelling career, several movie roles and a feature of Warhol’s work, not to mention an enormous wardrobe and long-term relationship with action-figure boyfriend, Ken. She also celebrated her 50th birthday in overstated style seven years ago, which involved a runway show in New York during Fashion Week featuring designs from Calvin Klein, Christian Louboutin and Vera Wang. Apparently life in plastic really is fantastic.

She is however an immensely controversial figure, who has evoked many controversies and featured in several lawsuits. Whilst her Wikipedia page tells us that she has a ‘significant impact on social values by conveying characteristics of feminine independence’, Barbie has come under heavy fire for her physique, exhibiting a standard of feminine beauty that is frankly quite terrifying to present to young children. Still, she features in millions of homes worldwide and my family home was no exception. Nonetheless, Barbie lost immense popularity by retail standards in 2014; perhaps an inevitability considering the disastrous haircut I gave her ten years before.

However Barbie’s three-year lull seems only fleeting as younger, world-famous companions flock to her side to boost their elder’s image. In November last year, the Ashley Graham Barbie appeared, praised for its ‘touching thighs’ at the body-activist’s request. She also has a custom-made lingerie collection to match Graham’s for Addition Elle.

Just two weeks ago, Mattel announced the next release of the Gigi Hadid Barbie doll, snapped rollerblading with her predecessor as they wear matching Tommy Hilfiger tees. The similarities are striking; Hadid’s modelling career and enormous array of accessories presents her as a keen comparison to Barbie, as do her celebrity besties and famous boyfriend.

However whilst Graham’s doll attempts to mirror the plus-size model’s image, Hadid’s representation follows exactly in Barbie’s miniature physique. Studies have shown that a human body’s incarnation of Barbie’s proportions cannot physically exist, which arises some key issues with characterising Hadid as such. The model is a keen activist for healthy living and exercise. She also appears immensely aware of her influence by responding accordingly on social media, but whilst many of us bear in mind the false reality that is Instagram and Facebook, it is still a platform of delusion and impressionability.

Presenting Hadid as Barbie’s body double aligns her with a physical impossibility and, whilst I’m not suggesting that with a few rounds in a boxing ring we’d all look like Gigi Hadid, she is still human. I will concede that the face is scarily accurate for a plastic doll but this representation complicates and undermines her work promoting positive body image and looking after one’s body. It also sadly undermines the steps taken by Mattel with their Ashley Graham doll only four months previously.

The changing landscape of Fashion Week

The many frequent and vast changes of everyday life are bound to have an impact on the way in which designers choose to present their collections.

This year for the first time, designers such as Tom Ford, Rachel Zoe and Tommy Hilfiger have chosen to move their runway shows to Los Angeles, a city rich in art, fashion, and culture, in lieu of the narrow-minded, money-centred city of New York. As well as this, new fashion week locations are on the up: in Copenhagen designers and buyers alike are opting for the cool quirky streets of an off the radar city, swerving away from the traditional New York, London, Paris or Milan.

With more and more of us relying on social media for our fashion fix, many designers this year including Tori Burch who streamed their show live using Google’s Lightbox, have decided to share their catwalk shows with the internet community. It seems fashion week is becoming less of an exclusive affair as fashion houses are realising the most effective way of broadcasting their collection’s is to anyone, anywhere – in 2017 this is through the global phenomenon that is social media.

Another drastic change on the runways this year is the introduction of wearable haute-couture. The garments we have seen on the runways have always had an ethereal essence due to the fact that we would never actually wear them in real life, but according to online sources such as new online fashion community Polyvore, which discusses current trends ahead of fashion weeks and streams clothing images at the time of the shows, this is all changing. The creation of garments that you and I would wear on an everyday basis is a massive stepping stone in the history of fashion weeks, could haute couture soon have a whole new definition?

Fashion week is advancing in more ways than location, the new ‘real’ theme in fashion means that designers are not only making changes to the style of their clothes but to the sizes of them. Thus, enabling for greater representation of model sizes on Fashion Week catwalks. Ashley Graham cover girl of January 2017 Vogue, plus size model and body activist has 3.5 million followers on Instagram. She constantly posts bikini pictures, model shoots and unedited cellulite pictures with the hashtag #BeautyBeyondSize. Graham is a prime example of how being super skinny is becoming less relevant to beauty and style in the fashion world and this is reflected in the slow but sure increase in weight variation of models in fashion weeks this year. Just take a look at the American Vogue March 2017 cover and you’ll see Ashley Graham in amongst the regular Vogue faces, is a change gonna come for good?

Feature: short documentaries of Sergei Loznitsa

Sergei Loznitsa belongs to the generation of Russian filmmakers who were born in the Soviet Union and saw its dissolution at the young age of 25.  Loznitsa studied Mathematics and Engineering, but later ended up at the highly selective Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography. His films, therefore, are highly influenced by the people living in the transition from Soviet Russia to a newly-made country. Sergei Loznitsa came into limelight when his feature film My Joy was selected for the main competition at 2010 Cannes film Festival. However, the avant-garde director had already made more than ten feature length and short documentaries.

His short films are rooted in the Russian countryside, and it’s safe to say that he is a distinctly Russian director in all his documentaries. The most flummoxing part of his films is that unlike conventional documentaries, Loznitsa doesn’t provide any voice over or any explanation. There is a clear violation of the beginning, middle and end. Moreover, there is no background music or folly music present in these films, only ambient sound is engineered carefully to maintain the sanctity of the image.  Yet, the montage that he presents in his films is breathtaking and provocative. The juxtaposition of images is a work of a world class director. His films are as surreal as Kafka’s novels and as grounded as Ozu’s films.

His film The Train Stop (2000) consists of only people sleeping; for 15 minutes we see people sleeping in different manners, people of different ages and possibly economic backgrounds. In The Settlement (2002), we go into the world of a mental asylum and we see their daily chores. However the film is made in a way that we don’t see them clearly, the people seems like ghosts on screen, a clever way to tell how the people in such a place are viewed as of no importance to the world.

In Portrait (2002), we wander across the quite countryside of Russia, and a milieu of people: Farmers, fishermen, men, women, young, old who are unaware of the socio-political situation of the world.  In Factory (2004), the pattern of the montage is the same but only the backdrop is changed, this time we peregrinate in a more noisy factory, full of workers, more mechanical than human, in a pursuit of nothing. The most captivating of all is Blockade (2006) — the film was made out of found footage of the longest siege in World War II, the siege of Leningrad which lasted for 900 days. The film consciously tracks throughout the siege capturing the life of people in various phases.

Loznitsa’s documentaries are quite and meditative, they don’t tell you anything but ask you to think and explore yourself. These films are like the four seasons of Vivaldi — the films will take you to a point and leave you to explore yourself in the hidden worlds that are seldom found in our privileged urban life.