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Month: October 2011

Debt-ridden former student robs store he used to work at

Written by News Editor on . Posted in News.

A former student of Salford University who was unable to repay his tuition fees and debts stole around £20,000 in an armed robbery.

Michael Hill was sentenced to three years in jail after he carried out the raid at a Co-op store where he had previously worked, armed with a knife.

Hill entered the store on August 26, having travelled from Manchester City Centre to Astley. Hill had concealed his face with a scarf and produced a knife, forcing the staff to open the safe. He also told staff he had planted a bag containing a bomb in the forecourt of the store. Hill grabbed hold of the store manager and pushed over a security guard in his attempt to get the cash.

Hill was pursued by a security guard when running from the store, with £20,000 of cash in his bag. A motorist blocked Hill’s path after they noticed the chase, during which Hill dropped some of the money. Security stopped Hill from fleeing the scene and held him until officers arrived. Employees at the store recognised Mr Hill from his time working there.

Details of debts, which ran into thousands of pounds, were told at the hearing. It was also revealed that the ex-student of Salford University had been “kicked off the course due to issues about him not paying his fees”. Hill had been threatened with legal action regarding his legal fees.

Hill had been unsuccessful in receiving a loan, and had lost his part time job due to a lack of work.  Andrew Downie, of the prosecution told how the associated failure to pay his rent had caused him to be removed from his student accommodation, making Hill dependent on friends for somewhere to sleep.

Amassing debts with friends and family, resulted in Hill sleeping on the streets of Manchester, saying he had “hit rock bottom” and did not want to seem “a leech and a failure” by remaining dependent on others. The court was told Hill had been “contemplating committing a robbery to gain cash”.

William Swalwell, who was defending Mr Hill, indicated his clean record and instant admission to robbery. Testimonials from friends and family speak of his honesty and out of character behaviour in committing the offense. Hill said the robbery was: “the biggest mistake of my life”.

Detective Constable Suzanne Rigby said: “Hill put those hard-working people through a frightening experience by taking a weapon into that shop, threatening and intimidating them.

 

“Plenty of people face a struggle to get an education but such hardship gives people no right to turn to crime and the jail term Hill is now facing proves that.”

A million unwanted emails sent after Oxford admin blunder

Written by Solomon Radley on . Posted in News.

Email accounts at the University of Oxford were suspended for just under a week, due to an error leading to around one million unwanted emails being sent.

The administrative error by the Oxford University Admissions Office has caused anger amongst prospective students when a huge number of emails were generated by mistake. As a result of the blunder, Microsoft blocked all mail from university accounts to services including Hotmail and Windows Live for nearly a week.

A university spokesperson explained the problem, saying, “An email list was created but misconfigured in such a way that recipients hitting ‘reply all’ responded to all users on the list, which is not normally permitted on this kind of list.”

The mistake became apparent when one prospective student accidentally messaged everyone on the list asking why his prospectus had not been delivered, in reaction to this over one million emails were exchanged. Initially these were from people wondering why they were receiving the misdirected mail, but the exchanges soon escalated to abuse, and finally to pleas for everyone to stop sending the emails.

By the time the Admissions Office realised the problem and closed the mailing list on 26th September, members had received between 400 and 500 emails each – including one from the father of the boy who initially hit the “reply all” button, apologising for what his son had unknowingly set in motion.

Microsoft blocked all emails from Nexus accounts following the incident, causing further frustration among students.

Although the blockade was lifted on October 3, many students had to wait days for the emails that were sent to them during the ban to arrive.

The Oxford University Computer Service (OUCS) explained, “We believe the Microsoft blacklisting has been removed but we have to be extremely careful not to re-trigger it with too much mail too quickly. OUCS intends, therefore, to start releasing the queued mail in batches.”

Lecturers threaten to strike over pension dispute

Written by Stevie Spiegl on . Posted in News.

University staff have threatened to stop lecturing and marking work if employers refuse to negotiate the terms of their pensions.

Lecturers at 67 universities, including the University of Manchester have begun “working to contract” in an attempt to force employers to negotiate over changes to pensions, and have promised to step up their action if their demands are not heard.

Working to contract would mean lecturers refusing to work outside of their contracted hours or undertake extra duties such as voluntary meetings or uncontracted cover. A recent survey has shown that lecturers work an average 55-hour week, despite the national working time limit being set at 48 hours a week.

The industrial action comes in response to a package of changes to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) implemented this month. Under the new scheme, new members would be put on Career-Average, rather than Final Salary, pensions. This modification, combined with increased contributions and less protection against inflation, could make the average lecturer lose £100,000 over the course of their retirement, said the University and College Union (UCU).

The UCU has expressed opposition to the package ever since it was proposed in June 2010. 90 percent of those pension scheme members who voted opposed the changes, while an industrial action ballot saw 77 percent of union members backing a sustained action campaign.

The UCU maintains that it had hoped to avoid industrial action, and that its hand has been forced by the stubbornness of the universities. ‘The union has consistently called for a negotiated agreement, offered counter proposals and sought the assistance of Advisory, Consolation and Abitrary Service (ACAS) to try and resolve the dispute. The employers have refused to talk,’ said the union’s dispute briefing.

The UCU hopes the new tactics of working to contract will convince universities to reconsider their terms without having a detrimental impact on the students themselves. If not successful it has warned that rolling strikes will follow, along with a boycott of student assessment, affecting up to one million students.

“Despite our best efforts to resolve this dispute, we cannot negotiate with an empty chair,” said Sally Hunt, UCU general secretary. “Our action will start today and will see thousands of UCU members at universities across the country stop going the extra mile.”

“We are keen to resolve this dispute as quickly as possible with minimal disruption and hope those universities keen to avoid unnecessary confrontation and disruption will start to apply pressure on those refusing to talk.”

650 pupils stranded as university goes bust

Written by Joe Sandler Clarke on . Posted in News.

Hundreds of overseas students have been left stranded in the UK after a London college closed suddenly last Friday.

Students at the Tasmac London School of Buisness were said to be left feeling emotional and in a state of shock when it was announced that the college had ceased trading on 7th October.

Tasmac awarded both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in business validated by the University of Wales (UoW).

Speaking to the BBC, Sameer Dua, who was the joint managing director of Tasmac UK business school, said that the college had been forced to close after changes to UK visa regulations brought in by the UK Borders Agency.

“These changes have not only impacted Tasmac, they have impacted many more colleges that could be shut down,” he exaplained. “Most of our students are non-EU students. All these students require visas to come. It became difficult to sustain ourselves.”

Mr Dua also stated that the UoW is now working hard to transfer the stranded students onto courses at partner colleges.

Representatives from the UoW last week met up with students at Tasmac in a bid to resolve the issue.

Meanwhile, staff at Tasmac have been quick to criticise the college. Joanna Oman, who was the marketing manager for Tasmac school of business, claimed that the sudden collapse of the school had left students in the lurch.

“Tasmac is extremely unlikely to transfer any… tuition fees towards the new colleges as the company has gone into liquidation in the UK,” she said.

If Ms Oman is correct, this will mean that students have to pay more if they choose to transfer to another college affiliated with the UoW. Many of the 650 students had paid their fees upfront, with some Masters students paying as much as £7,850.

Ms Oman also said that as the student’s visas had been tied to their place at Tasmac it would be difficult, if not impossible, for them to get a new visa. This means that many students, some from as far afield as Nepal and Cameroon, may be forced to return home.

Staff at Tasmac have also described how vans arrived to remove furniture and computers from the colleges’ Wembley campus just hours after it was announced that the institution was set to close.
The sudden closure of Tasmac casts doubt over the future of the University of Wales, which has been hit by numerous scandals over the last 12 months.

The Welsh Education Secretary Leighton Andrews has even gone as far to say that the university should be shut down given its recent troubles.

“I made a statement in the assembly earlier this week which made it clear that the Welsh government is very concerned about the University of Wales and the damage it is causing to the reputation both of higher education in Wales, and of our country around the world,” said Andrews, adding. “I think the University of Wales probably requires a decent burial.”

Pick of the Manchester Food and Drink Festival

Written by Jack Harrison on . Posted in News.

As an avid cook I love spending time exploring the stranger side of food, whether that be snooping round a Chinese supermarket or searching for offal in a butcher’s window. However, I appreciate this isn’t how my flatmates want to spend their weekends. Luckily for us there is the Manchester Food and Drink Festival, which is hosting events aimed at foodies as well as those just wanting to grab a kebab and cheesy chips.

The Food and Drink Festival has been running for over 14 years; this year’s being held from October 7-17th. The main part of the food extravaganza is the Big Festival Hub held in Albert Square, just off Princess Street. The Hub is a collection of stands and events such as the Veltins Oktoberfest where it is possible to get the full Oktoberfest experience – drinking authentic German beer and chowing down on some sauerkraut and sausage to the soundtrack of Bavarian bands. However, if that isn’t your cup of tee mit milch, the Chilli Lovers Fair tempts with treats of chilli toffee and a selection of salsas. You could even risk entering the second annual chilli-eating contest on the 7th. Even if you don’t, head over to enjoy the sight of those who are willing to sweat under the hot, hot heat.

There are many more events, so check foodanddrinkfestival.com to see what takes your fancy. Below I have picked a few of the best to tantalise the taste buds.  One I will definitely be attending is the Whiskey Festival at the Lowry Hotel. For £20 plus a small booking fee you get the chance to sample whiskeys (in a free tasting glass) from across the globe – including a new and critically acclaimed Taiwanese whiskey. Hurry though, as the late session running from 4pm has already sold out.

Treating someone special to a first date? Impress by taking them to the award winning River Bar and Restaurant which is putting on a special menu for just under £20 per person. Sample the best of British food including a heavenly sounding desert – caramelised chocolate mousse cappuccino – guaranteed to get you a second date.

If you happen to have a lot of spare cash lying around, there is a secret Tudor dinner ran by Robert Owen Brown, head chef of the Mark Addy pub in Salford. This spectacular includes unlimited food and drink with an assortment of nine meats and evening-long Tudor themed entertainment. It sounds fantastic, but at £110 pounds it really stretches the student budget.

I hope that I have managed to tempt you into getting involved with the festival, even if it is just to grab some street food from the Festival Hub – it is too great an opportunity to miss!

 

 

 

Sainsbury’s Basics Red Wine

Written by Oliver Taylor on . Posted in News.

Welcome to the column which takes a hedonistic voyage into the world of wine within the average student’s meagre budget. This week I’m reviewing Sainsbury’s Basics Red Table Wine, which has the slightly ironic tag-line of ‘for the table, not the cellar’, suggesting that someone inside Sainsbury’s marketing department has a sense of humour.

I began drinking this wine in my first Welcome Week – too much was consumed and drinking it now brings back memories that are best forgotten. These days it comes in a plastic bottle, is 11% abv instead of 13% and tragically costs £3.20 rather than £2.29; there are now cheaper and classier ways to predrink.

Another problem I have with this wine is that it has no date, making it impossible to know whether it comes from a vintage year. However I suspect it wasn’t… On inspection, the colour of the wine is a deep, murky purple. Wine connoisseurs know that young wines tend to have a darker hue because with age the pigments degrade. Judging by the colour, this wine was probably brewed in someone’s boot about a week ago.

On the nose (smelling), the wine was underwhelming. After a vigorous swirl in the glass, the only aromas I was able to distinguish were raisins, turpentine and red dye – a sumptuous bouquet it was not. With reluctance, I tasted. Although light and vinegary there were some undistinguishable red fruits smuggled inside the otherwise bland palate. Whilst not entirely unpleasant, the finish was long, bitter and headache inducing. In its defence it’s better than Lambrusco or Superboss and it’s great to serve at a dinner party if you openly dislike your guests.

To conclude, the main problem with this wine – other than its taste – is that there’s no reason to buy it. If you’re a cheap bastard you can buy three bottles of Gaffs’ Special for less or pay £1 more and get something quaffable. I think the only acceptable moment to drink this wine is with a reduced Sainsbury’s steak that’s crying out for liquid accompaniment. Or perhaps when drunk out of a paper bag while lying on top of some bins in an alleyway, wondering what happened to your life.

Taste 1/5

Value 2/5

Hangover factor 4/5

 

 

Overnight. Overrated.

Written by Josephine Lane on . Posted in Theatre.

Two out of five stars

As Manchester Universities Gilbert and Sullivan Society has been running for 60 years now, it seems fitting that, as well as producing one or two Gilbert and Sullivan shows each year, they modernise the 140 year old musicals by mixing them up with modern pop songs. The catch? They only have 24 hours in which to cast, direct, rehearse and perform the entire thing.

It tells the story of four friends on a trip who, surprisingly, get a flat tire and end up in ‘The Village’, a cursed place where the number of people has to remain constant. Only two of the friends can stay, so, through a series of meetings, relationship switch-ups, disagreements and the like, (and a song or two along the way) two of the friends decide to stay.

The plot and script hardly lent themselves to good drama, but it had its moments. Scott Sharp put his absolute all into it as Brian and Kate Lamb was effortless and natural as Alice. The audience seemed to love the cheesy one-liner jokes, however they did seem a little too ‘in’ on everything to simply be just a neutral audience. I felt perhaps their enjoyment was from seeing familiar faces on stage, rather than watching a successful piece of theatre.

As for the songs, they were (just about) relevant enough to the action and identifiable by the audience. A personal highlight was the MUGGS doing what they do best: the one and only Gilbert and Sullivan number, ‘A Policeman’s Lot’ lead by a well-characterised Sergeant, played by Dan Magnone, complete with humorous bobs from the policemen behind. Another enjoyable tune was La Roux’s ‘Bulletproof’, beautifully arranged and even moving at times. They certainly knew how to please a crowd, with an opening rendition of ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ and ‘Hot ‘N Cold’. Top notes weren’t reached, lyrics were forgotten but generally the songs were a welcome addition to the action.

Although the show had its awkward, fluffed and often irrelevant moments, a certain quality did shine through: the chemistry and bond between the cast as a chorus. Smiles and positivity never faltered and the energy and commitment was impressive. The main thing I took away from the experience however was ‘Why a 24 hour show?’ It seems an insufficient amount of time to really produce anything worthwhile and production-worthy. Yes it was, good fun and that is perhaps that is the true essence of Gilbert and Sullivan; to be enjoyed and to throw yourself in, rough edges and all.

MUGGS’ ‘HMS Pinafore’ is due to be performed in February 2012 and its not too late to be involved. See www.mugss.org for details.

 

Brutal but honest

Written by Vicky Carter on . Posted in Theatre.

Four stars out of five

Crystal Kisses – produced by Contact Theatre in partnership with Comic Relief, Barnardo’s, the Protect Team, Brook, Manchester City Council and NHS Fresh, is a powerful piece of drama which highlights an important issue in Manchester today:  Child Sex Exploitation.

The in depth research and commitment towards giving an honest yet brutal experience for the audience is shocking, however effective it may be. It is a fantastic play although I do warn; it is no Cinderella story and a strong drink may be needed afterwards. The theme is constant throughout and the audience can recognise the different influences that can bring such exploitation.

With the use of subtle lighting, basic staging and interesting props, the audience then can entirely focus on the acting and the theme of the play. The use of a white screen in the middle of the stage enables the actors in creating shadows and movement frames that can highlight the scene in front of it, which is an excellent technique and can seem to make the play more sinister and disturbing, which is what the actors want to achieve.

The play is set apart with three different “acts” you might call it, to present different scenarios in which the exploitation can be seen. “Toyah” whom is in social care and seems to be feisty and independent is however weak and vulnerable, under her hard exterior. “Jay” runs away from home, although has run to a place that is not as caring as he thought. Finally there is the character “Ally” who is the A Star student but faces temptation, sex and betrayal.  Each section of the play is similar but different, using various techniques of drama such as choreographed physical movements, rhyme, metaphors, sound and dance to culminate this lucid piece of drama and emphasize various forms of exploitation.

Although this play mainly had a sombre feel, there are some comic attributions such as the character “Zed” whom lifts the mood with his witty lines and comic mannerisms. Though not long after that, once again the humour is gone and the solemnity continues. However it is a must see, as they do portray the theme extraordinarily well and use an assortment of techniques whilst doing so, just be prepared to hold your breath at times, well I did anyway.

Crystal Kisses ran for eight performances between 4th and 14th October at the Contact Theatre 

 

Fix me another drink

Written by Hannahlawrence on . Posted in Theatre.

Three stars out of five

David Thacker’s production of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? draws out the black humour of the three-act American drama that explores the extremes of a couple’s maliciously destructive relationship. It is the play’s dark comic edge that is used to mock the absurdity of the central characters as they constantly attempt to destroy one another through verbal abuse.

The central protagonists Martha and George, played by Margot Leicester and George Irving, entertain a young couple, Honey and Nick, played by Tammy Joelle and Kieran Hill, for the evening after a faculty party. This ‘after-party’ provides the setting for the three-act play that is driven by Martha and George’s malicious ‘games’, acts that are essentially attempts to savagely humiliate one another and at points both of their guests.

One of the most noticeable directorial decisions, certainly in terms of the set, is David Thacker’s use of a circular stage. Staging George and Martha’s living room on a circular stage in the middle of the auditorium makes the play seem less of a performance of fiction but rather makes the audience feel they are being given an intimate view of the couple’s world. In fact there is actually something about the self-contained staging that makes you feel as though you are almost intruding on the couples’ developing hysteria. This intensifies the tension, which is present throughout the play, as George and Martha speak in coded terms about ‘the kid’. From the outset ‘the kid’ is the drama’s central mystery – as Martha initially threatens ‘I’ll talk about him if I want to’ – a mystery that symbolises one of the play’s central themes: the conflict between reality and façade.

Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the performance is how the drama translates, from being so inherently set within its American context into a modern day theatre in Bolton. There are moments where the play’s most distinctive ‘American-isms’ – most noticeably George’s use of the word ‘smucks’ – for some reason sound a little awkward and unnatural. However the performance doesn’t fail to convey the sadistic way in which George and Martha psychologically tear one another apart. It is these sadistic games that lead to the drama’s pinnacle moment where it becomes clear that Martha’s obsession with illusion has led her to take extreme measures to escape reality.

The way in which this performance presents the hollow meaninglessness of the four characters lives could be seen as proof that ultimately Edward Albee sees it as his job as a playwright to ‘ask some interesting questions and expect the audience to provide some good answers’.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ran at the Bolton Octagon from 22nd September until 15th October.

Black history month is still not history

Written by naila missous on . Posted in Lifestyle.

With Black History Month approaching, black historians  are yet again spending this time of the month cringing with embarrassment or despair at what they are seeing: images of Beyonce and Denzel Washington crowding the mainstream as representatives of this significant month.

The problem is the mass misunderstand of the meaning behind Black History Month. It’s important to understand its origins and its relation and significance in light of us as students.

Students are well known for their enthusiasm and activeness in, well, anything! And why should this month be any different? Involvement may not seem crucial; but awareness is binding.

The city of Manchester boasts year on year activities and events that promote and celebrate this month; and this year is no different.

The activities are an opportunity for the public as well as students in Manchester to engage and celebrate with other cultures within our diverse population at not only at the University of Manchester, but the city as a whole. It will give students the opportunity to expand their knowledge base of other cultures through the arts, culture and music events we will be running.

Coherently with Black History Month, The University of Manchester have an array of talks and activities organised; from a lecture presented by Marika Sherwood about Malcolm X and his visit to Manchester, to how Salsa dancing has its roots embedded in Africa.

The key theme of all events running throughout the city is about encouraging self expression and celebrating individuality in a creative way. Regardless of race, everyone can participate.

Black History Month offers the chance for the uniting of different cultures as well as knowledge of a new one.  It encourages awareness and facilitates conversation among the student body. The month should be taken as an encouragement to learn about (or promote yourself) those around you through different mediums such as lectures, debates and other forms of entertainment.

Check out this link for all events. 

FFAF – Urban Outfitters

Written by Phoebe Chambre on . Posted in Arts.

By the time we made it to the fourth (our third) stop on the crawl, we felt we had consumed more than our fair share of art for one evening. And we had read one too many cue cards explaining artists’ mission statements and modus operandi. In fact, I now feel confident enough in the art of the blurb to make bold generalizations about the categorization these cues fall under. There is the PR bullshit, which either makes no sense and/or seems to bear no relevance to the art on show. There is the ‘A-ha’ card, which shakes your heart with the insight those few words afford you into the mind of the creator. And there is the blurb that you really don’t want to read because you’re enthralled by not knowing what this art is about, and yet you can’t stop yourself leaning over and learning about the processes by which this mysterious piece was conceived; and the mystique is shattered. Urban Outfitters: Basic Shapes, a fittingly trendy exhibition, introduced a new, wildly left-field approach to the cue card: Confusion. The placing of a card on a wall or beam, around which there is more than one contender for the recipient of this informative insight. This one is pretty locale-specific, it can’t be used just anywhere. But it does mean that I could have been looking at, and now reviewing, art, or I could have been transfixed pondering home furnishing. And this made it very difficult to concentrate. I was just about sure that some of the people there knew which things were art.

Miroir 13 - Jump, by Sarah Bryan

But the best thing we discovered after wading through clothes, and then Sci-Fi ‘installation’ and blurbs, were Sarah Bryan’s unassuming black and white stills. They were tucked amongst the denims, but these old Miroir (sports mag) covers jumped up with multi-medias by Bryan where just what we needed to set us back into the aesthetically pleasing comfort zone. Good enough to rival Ines’s Place-stealers.

Free for Arts Festival SPECIAL – The price of art

Written by Phoebe Chambre on . Posted in Arts.

The night began at 4pm, as all good nights do. But the sheen of heat that hung in the air stuck us to our seats. Finally the haze settled and we gathered our strength. We lost, then found the free bus. But too late, we decided to cut our losses; first venue be damned we were hot. Luckily this meant we were in plenty of time for venue 2 and took a leisurely stroll there.
Venue 2: Cord, Dorsey Street.
We were late. A ‘live performance/installation’ was presented to us in a hushed corner. It was actually just a man with a guitar, which confused Dani. We cornered the musician slash artist; ‘Was it just what it was?’ Yes, it was just what it was. Music. I asked a searingly insightful question meditating on the nature of performance. The musician looked confused, scanning the crowd behind us nervously. ‘Um, yeah…I think we’re going for a few drinks afterwards’. After scoring this date, we left.
Back on the street the haze descended one more. A stream of cyclists swam by, blocking our path. ‘What are you doing?’ ‘A critical mass…once a month’
A gentleman with a booming box on his bike might have shouted back to us.
Venue 3: Piccadilly Place
In amongst the office blocks, we found art. But so did a lot of other people. We drank a nice refreshing cup of Kopparberg, proud sponsors of free art. We spent much time pondering the significance of the collection. We talked to Mrs. Mill, of Mr. and Mrs. Mill, who reliably informed us that Arnie and the Egg was one of her favourite pieces. I liked it too. Especially the Arnie bit (yes, Schwarzenegger). This art may be free to all, but it’s not free to take it home, as we discovered.
I wanted a refreshing blast of Vitamin Water before we trekked on to rooms 2 and 3, preferably the pink one, but they had all been drunk by other thirsty crawlers. Understandably so. We entered a brave new world in room 2. One that required blue polythene shoe protectors and a tussle with some overbearing sheets. The curator was going for ‘Narnia’. Room 3 and the brother of the guy who did some of the furniture informed us his ‘brother’ had done this. His eyes were wild on Kopparberg (drink responsibly kids). We exited the new world to look for a toilet. But we couldn’t leave quite yet; a world where the doormen are artists, and the bartenders are critics, and the critics are drunk. We swayed on into the night, in search of more art and sponsorship.
Venue 4: Urban Outfitters.
We were ushered upstairs. I had a Kopparberg from a plastic cup. It was warm. We were somewhat confused where the art stopped and the urban trinkets began. A kindly girl showed us to the door. She wasn’t an artist as far as I could tell.
Venue 5: AfterParty
We hustled to the Soup Kitchen for a nourishing bowl of wine. The girl in front was thrashing her head about and batting her lashes in the hopes of buying the bartender a drink. He took a shot on her. The crawl ended much like any other kind of crawl. It ran on liquid, and brought us to our knees. We felt the real personal cost of all that art the next day.

Free for Arts – Piccadilly Place

Written by Phoebe Chambre on . Posted in Arts.

Free for All (Part 1) showcased the best of the festival’s open submissions. The varied and eclectic works were pieced carefully together by curator Emily Songhurst, comprising an Aladdin’s Cave of viewing. There was video installation, painted portrait, photography, sculpture, interactive sound-art. And all in one barren, concrete vacuum; divided into a complex of almost-rooms, maze-like that encaved the works and created a semi-private capsule for each artist. There were nooks to be discovered, perfect for the deeply personal pieces that were on display. If there was an overarching theme this was it – soul-bearing. Some of it was confusing, some of it bad (in my opinion) and some of it funny – which is rare. I craned to read the small print of a ‘sculpture’s title – the miniature pram with tubes coming out of it feeding into big bourbon bottles – ‘Wet Nurse’, and laughed. Apart from small titles, the smallest photographs overtook the whole rest of the show. Ines Elsa Delal’s photographs: personal, beautiful, and almost missable – the man handing us our beers hit it in one – ‘they got me’.
We had heard tell of the polystyrene balls before we entered room 2. But fortunately the anticipation did not breed disappoint when we finally peeled back the curtains on Child’s Play and skated off in our polythene shoes, tiny, packaging filler balls underfeet. I laughed for the second time, and raced off like a kid in a candy shop. That is, until I ran into the sweet shop installation which presented a disconcerting choice: to take a sweet out of the jar or not. What kind of person am I that I didn’t take a sweet? I think it says more about what kind of child I was, but that child is clearly still master puppeteer of at least some of my actions. From exciting, to contemplative this room threw up a whole load of sweet nuggets for the audience to chew over whilst moonwalking on polyballs. The tone of the exhibition was reset when the monkey-bar on tree trunks installation in the centre of the room, a piece by Sonny J. Barker entitled Gemini, was explained to us. It charted the death of the artist’s twin in his childhood, and just like that the fantasy of being a child splintered away from us. So much of childhood is about loss. And childhood in hindsight can often be seen only in negatives; landmarks thrown into relief by the pain they caused. But childhood is really the least of the issues facing you in Child’s Play. The use of a theme is a jumping off point for exploring how different artists, and therefore different people, interpret the same thing. And this itself is a jumping-off plank for how art documents the human experience. Is art itself child’s play? And if so does the exhibition subvert or add to this notion of art? Like most ‘good’ art, the room created more questions than it answered. And, much like childhood, the more I reflect on Child’s Play, the more disturbing it appears to be.
A wise man once said that art ‘is supposed to make us confront things’. And a lot of the stuff that needs confronting isn’t palatable, or fun to look at it. Some of it is. The Piccadilly Place free for all presented us with a wide scope of reality, as much of it from the art as from the people looking at the art. We were bumped up cheek to wall with people of all brush-strokes and veins of art but the thing we really looked at was ourselves.

Southern Eleven

Written by Chloe Williamson on . Posted in Food & Drink.

Barbecue no longer has to mean blackened burgers, scorched sausages and your dad’s God complex coming to the fore over a bag of charcoal from the supermarket.

Southern Eleven, which opened in July this year and is located in the modern Spinningfields, promises its diners a ‘new style American BBQ experience’ with ‘home-style favourites reinvented with a contemporary twist’. Visiting as part of a family meal, we arrived twenty minutes early and were encouraged to sit at the bar and try out some of their extensive drinks menu. Beers, wines and soft drinks are followed with the option to ‘mix your own cocktail’ – upon picking your favourite tipple you are given the ingredients, ice and a shaker to enable you to assemble your drink yourself. Half of our party regarded this as an excitingly interactive feature, while the others saw it as a lazy ploy on behalf of the bar staff.

When shown to our table in the small dining area we were offered a selection of ‘while you waits’ (smoked nuts, olives, tortilla chips, chicken wings and so on) but our wait at the bar had allowed us to decide on mains so we ordered straight away. The menu is based largely around meat, which is, of course, barbecued. Pulled pork, beef brisket, short ribs and spatchcock chicken jostle for place against traditional Southern sides of cornbread, macaroni cheese and coleslaw. Vegetarians are not massively catered for here: while there are a couple of choices including salads (butternut squash sounded particularly good) and hot potatoes with various toppings, all of the main plates contain meat. Luckily enough, our party were all meat-eaters and rather hungry, so we ordered a wide selection. The food arrived promptly and looked exciting, served on wooden boards with fries in buckets and coleslaw in jars. The pot of tangy barbecue sauce which comes with almost every dish is served with an accompanying brush to paste it onto your ribs or slabs of pork or beef. Particular highlights of our order seemed to be the brisket: rubbed in the ‘S11 mystery mix of herbs and spices’ and cooked low and slow for up to twenty hours it is mouth-wateringly succulent, and the deep-fried pickle spears in their crispy batter were a surprising success. Desserts followed: Knickerbocker Glories satisfied with creamy ice cream, nuts, fruit and chocolate brownie pieces.

Overall it was an extremely successful family meal: the atmosphere was pleasant, while the restaurant is small it feels homely and warm, the service was fine and the food excellent. Value was also good as we happened to have a 40% off voucher thanks to one of the voucher books given out at the start of the year (otherwise mains range from £7.50 to £15.95). If your Freshers’ Fair loot is hidden under a pile of essays or books I would encourage you to get it out, find the voucher and go down to Southern Eleven to avoid your next barbecue experience being one of drizzle, paper plates and too much tomato ketchup.

Top 5: Intimidating monologues

Written by Kieran Turner on . Posted in Film.

5) Taken – Upon finding himself on the other end of the phone from his child’s kidnapper, Liam Neeson (you know, the guy who mentored Obi-Wan Kenobi and Batman) coolly explains at length that not only is he expertly trained for this exact situation but also “…I will find you, and I will kill you.”

4) Full Metal Jacket – Gunnery Sergeant Hartman welcomes his ‘maggots’ to their first day of marine corps training with an improvised, expletive-ridden brow-beating. It speaks volumes for this scene that the least profane quote I can offer is: “How tall are you, Private…? 5”9? I didn’t know they stacked shit that high!”

3) Taxi Driver – The hairs on the back of my neck stood up when watching Robert DeNiro’s career-defining portrayal of the sociopath Travis Bickle, as he stares into the mirror and delivers the line “You talkin’ to me?”

2) Dirty Harry – When Clint Eastwood’s Detective Harry Callaghan apprehends a serial killer within grabbing distance of their weapon, he slowly raises his .44 Magnum, “the most powerful handgun in the world”, and asks: “Do you feel lucky? Well, do you, punk?”

1) Pulp Fiction – “…And you will know my name is The Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.” Samuel L. Jackson’s wide-eyed recital of Ezekial 25:17 is not only the conclusion to one of my favourite scenes in cinema, but is also the last thing any criminal wants to hear. Unfortunately for them, it probably will be.

I Hate…

Written by Joshua Harris on . Posted in Film.

I can hear it already: “a film student who hates Tarantino?? Who is this buffoon? How could he possibly talk such rubbish?” Well, shut up, valued reader, and I’ll tell you. Firstly, every Tarantino character talks like Tarantino (i.e. a sarcastic, drawling, bit-of-a-dick). This is fine for characters like Mr White, or Vincent Vega (characters from Tarantino’s only two good films), but when you get to Uma Thurman’s appalling Bride in Kill Bill, the result is laughable. The only reason Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction worked so well was because the dialogue flowed readily in these seedy criminal underworlds. It flows less eloquently from the mouth of a sword wielding psycho bitch intent on killing the population of China. And as for WWII Jewish resistance fighters… “Oh but it’s a homage!” I hear you scream. “They’re homages to the forgotten cinema genres!” Bollocks. The only way Death Proof (the dead hedgehog at the bottom of Quentin’s cinematic compost heap) is a homage to “Grindhouse Cinema” is in its scratchy film effects, which are just fucking irritating. Now, I genuinely like Quentin’s first two films. In fact, this is what I hate most about him. The fact that a young director, who once showed so much promise, could get so caught up in his own fan boy image that he now thinks he can film whatever trash he considers “retro” and expect standing ovations at Cannes, just because he’s Quentin fucking Tarantino, makes me want to vomit all over my keyboard. So he made two decent films. Michael Bay made one decent film, I still hate his guts. (For more of my views on Michael Bay, I can usually be found crouching in a puddle of my own spittle and loathing just outside the UMSU.)

The Multimedia Revolution

Written by Robert Muirhead on . Posted in Film.

As technology progresses media intertwine, and nowhere is this better expressed than in the development of film. Colour, CGI and 7.1 surround sound replace monochrome, monster suits and a live band. There is always intellectual value to great film, but for most entertainment lies in escapism – so how does big cinema better appeal to such an audience? Having already absorbed music and visual art into film, the future will see it take the key property of the latest artistic medium: the interactivity of video games.
There are already trends towards such a fusion. We see video turning towards audience interaction through the likes of television and YouTube – scaling it up to the big screen isn’t a huge leap. Likewise, games are becoming increasingly cinematic, with devices like quick time events across lengthy cutscenes. Even in action-oriented games plot is taking a leading role.
The question is not whether film and video games will merge, but how they do so. Currently, ambiguity and reliance on convention allow movie-goers to easily project themselves into the leading role of a movie but in games the freedom with which one can control protagonists voids this necessity. Assimilating the best of each form would give scripts room to develop novel and fantastic plots without sacrificing the hyper-realism of film, but will we see the budgets to construct vast non-linear storylines? And film is watched by scores at once – could audiences interact within the new medium, even working as a group to bring the plotline to its conclusion? Would we see contrarian cinema whose patrons enjoy being pushed along a linear path, forced to see things from outside their own perspective? I’ll leave that to the producers to decide. But the similarities between film and games are unavoidable.

Comedy at the Oscars

Written by Elizabeth Harper on . Posted in Film.

As Will Ferrell so eloquently put it, “A comedian at the Oscars is the saddest, bitterest, alcoholic clown”. Mr Ferrell aside, the internet has become a plethora of commentators moaning about the lack of comic films that are honoured by the Academy Awards. One declares that, ‘There are a lot of great comedies out there — movies with the sole purpose of making people laugh. But the academy doesn’t tend to see it that way.’ He then provides a list of ‘comic’ films that didn’t make the nomination lists, such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Wedding Crashers.

Herein lies the issue. Comedy is incredibly subjective. I cannot think of one comic film that is universally liked or considered well-made. A lot of people may think Knocked Up is hilarious, but that doesn’t mean it should win an Oscar. Although it makes many people laugh, it also leaves many people out in the cold. The institution would become a mockery.

I think it’s refreshing when comedians like Jim Carrey and Steve Carell leave their MTV Movie Awards at home and undertake more serious roles. They demonstrate some versatility and are instantly more likeable when they aren’t cracking jokes all the time. In 1997 it was a pleasant surprise to see Robin Williams playing a dignified and touching part in Good Will Hunting, for which he won an Oscar.

It is also naive of said internet whiners to claim that Oscars never go to comic performances. Did they not see Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost?  Arguably, Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight was humorous, in a dark and twisted sort of way. Therefore, the Academy has shown its funny bone in select cases where the comic performances have been truly outstanding. If members of the comedy world haven’t made films that reach this level of unanimous enjoyment which have been achieved in the past, then they’ll just have to settle for presenting the awards show instead.

Your Arts Cinema

Written by Bill Knowles on . Posted in Film.

The Odeon doesn’t love you. It says it does, but don’t be fooled. If you were stumbling home through the Printworks after a night out it’d probably pretend not to know you. It hangs out with Pure, Chiquitos, Lloyds Bar – and you know what they’re like. Pretty, maybe, with all those bright lights. Vacuous too. Every night, spewing more meaningless noise than a preppy fresher at pre-drinks. Don’t get me wrong, the Odeon can work for you. Just make sure to keep a healthy level of scepticism. When it says the hot dogs are delicious, 3D is worth it, Avatar is a masterpiece, just raise an eyebrow and ask the question. “Really?”

Cornerhouse sits near the end of Oxford road, by Oxford Road Train Station. It grew up as an adult cinema, before repentance and a Dog the Bounty Hunter-esque conversion turned it into Manchester’s premier art house cinema. These days it’s a fantastic place to go, with contemporary art galleries, a wide selection of specialist books and magazines and, of course, the most interesting selection of cinematic releases in town. On top of that, it has a classic a film matinee and every March it also plays hosts the excellent ¡Viva! Spanish and Latin American film festival.

The point about Cornerhouse is it’s yours. And like your libraries and your community centres it’s criminally underused, but so important. Don’t believe the stereotype – you don’t have to be a pretentious dickhead to go there, just curious. If you’re bored of trashy TV, Facebook and the Odeon, why not give it a chance. It’s your arts cinema after all. Ask for your student discount. You never know, you might just fall in love with the place.

Review: Perfect Sense

Written by Rachel Longworth on . Posted in Film.

Imagine a world where your chemical senses are lost one by one, until all your perceptions are gone. Perfect Sense tells the story of a chef and a scientist who fall in love while an epidemic sweeps through the human race (think Notting Hill meets 28 Days Later.) There’s no explanation for the outbreak, and it’s not clear if anyone can stop it. Heavy stuff.

 

Smell and taste are the first senses to go. In a scene which is both disgusting and superb there is a moment of hunger: the world appears to have gone mad, and people start indulging in slabs of butter, fish heads and raw meat, flowers, shaving foam and toothpaste. This weird binge shows a realisation from the masses of their disappearing senses and, with it, comments on the over-indulgence of our society. Eating out is no longer about the taste or smell of food, but about the temperature and consistency, the texture and how it feels on the tongue. Chew on that for a moment. Oh wait, but it gets worse. Hearing suddenly becomes a distant memory. We see a club without music, music without sound and a sense of darkness descending on the world.

 

This film contains brilliant and moving performances from Ewan McGregor and the beautiful Eva Green. Theirs is a story of love and life going on against attack, in a world filled with anger, rage and hatred. We are shown a story of human resilience in an impossible situation. You lose your senses when you fall in love. Is the apocalyptic backdrop simply a metaphor for this?

 

Perfect Sense comments on a lack of appreciation that society has of life. In a world where two movements exist side by side – those who want to take everything they can (riots anyone?) and those believing that life will go on somehow – this film will leave you thinking, “my god, what if this actually happened”.  Throughout, the film carries strong moral messages about appreciating nature, love, life, the self and others. This film will split opinion: it will either make you want to kill yourself or go out and hug a tree. Some will savour the experience; the rest will spit it out.