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Month: November 2013

My Political Hero: Edward Kennedy

Written by Alice Rigby on . Posted in Opinion.

Too often the ‘unknown’ Kennedy, Edward M. ‘Teddy’ Kennedy was the youngest of Joseph P. Kennedy Snr’s children and arguably the Kennedy brother with the most successful political career. Teddy initially distinguished himself as a key tactical manager of both John and Robert’s electoral campaigns before indicating that he would not run for office on the grounds that “the disadvantage of my position is being constantly compared with two brothers of such superior ability.”

However, the urge to follow the family trade, and to compete on a level playing field with his brothers, proved compelling and Teddy ran for and subsequently won John’s vacated seat in the US Senate in 1962. It was this seat that he held for almost 47 years and in which he formed one of the most distinguished senate careers in history.
It could be suggested that Teddy was favoured by luck. Certainly, a plane crash in 1964, still early in his career, left him in hospital for several months and allowed him to study legislative issues in much greater depth. When he returned to congress he rapidly gained a reputation as a fierce and bold legislator, characteristics that marked the rest of his career. He was also often deemed to be the most affable of the Kennedy’s and this helped him become the youngest Senate Majority Whip to that date.

However, Teddy did not escape the so-called Kennedy curse. One of the most notorious episodes in his career occurred in 1969 when Kennedy crashed his car, apparently due to alcohol consumption. Infamously, Kennedy had a passenger, Mary Jo Kopechene. While Kennedy escaped, Kopechene died and Kennedy failed to notify authorities of the crash until after her body had been found. The case marked the start of a lifelong focus on Teddy’s private life, with personal scandals often eclipsing his political work. The unforgettable tragedies of his life though, were the assassinations of his two older brothers. Teddy was particularly close to Bobby and delivered a eulogy at his funeral that has now passed into the public consciousness as timeless prose.

An often-overlooked mark of Teddy’s character is that he became somewhat of a foster parent to his thirteen nieces and nephews. He often explained his decision not to run for president on a number of occasions by highlighting that it was the ‘expected thing’ after his brothers’ untimely deaths.

What Teddy Kennedy should be remembered for was the extensive and striking legislation he pursued relentlessly through his life. He was unafraid of approaching controversial issues and in his lifetime championed racial equality, gay rights and universal healthcare. Another notorious episode in Teddy’s life, for entirely different reasons, was his decision to enter apartheid South Africa in 1985, against the wishes of both sides of the struggle there. He met with Winnie Mandela and raised the profile of South African issues around the world. However, his most distinguished triumph was his unfailingly bipartisan approach to politics. While he tirelessly countered Reagan’s attempts to introduce conspicuously conservative legislation, he worked with George W. Bush on the No Child Left Behind Act when few others would. In his final year of life he broke the Republican filibuster against the Obama healthcare package. He was awarded both an honorary knighthood and the medal of honour.

While his life may have been marred by tragedy and scandal, Kennedy’s political career was an overarching political triumph. The legend of the ‘liberal lion’ should be one that all political figures know inside and out.

UoM scientists develop ‘double chin’ cure

Written by Aidan Gregory on . Posted in News, Science & Tech.

Just four injections of a chemical known as ATX-101 can eliminate the fat which collects under the chin, dermatologists from the University of Manchester have discovered.

Collaborating with other clinical experts from France, Germany, Belgium, and Spain, their goal was to discover a safer and cheaper alternative to plastic surgery.

In a clinical trial, 363 people who suffered from fatty deposits in their chin and face were injected with the agent or a placebo four times over four weeks. The patients who had been given ATX-101 showed signs of significant improvement.

Professor Berthold Rzany, the author in charge of the study, said that “This study demonstrates that subcutaneous injections with ATX-101 yield a clinically meaningful and statistically significant reduction in unwanted submental fat, decrease the psychological impact on patients, and are well tolerated”.

ATX-101is a chemical derived from the acid found in bile, which destroys fat membranes.  When injected into a fatty area of the body it triggers an inflammatory response which calls up special cells called macrophages, which in turn allow the fat cells to be reabsorbed by the body

Professor Rzany added further that “This study and three additional phase III clinical trials of ATX-101 will provide the first true evidence base for non-surgical submental fat reduction”.

After those additional trials have concluded, the next step will be to gain permission from the health authorities to begin offering the treatment to the general public

Dr Gavin Chan, from the Victorian Cosmetic Institute, has questioned whether this latest treatment will be as effective as surgery. He maintains that for now, liposuction is still the best treatment available.

“It remains to be seen whether this new formulation will be effective, and will be interesting to watch considering the lack of efficacy associated with fat-reducing injections in the past.

Double chin liposuction can be done under light sedation and is considered to be relatively non-invasive, with no visible signs of surgery and often only a few days of down time”.

The overall results of the study are to be published in the British Journal of Dermatology.

Manchester student helps with earthquake relief in Philippines

Written by Sean Doherty on . Posted in News.

As those in England assess the damage caused by St. Jude, one of the worst storms in years to hit a nation used to more temperate weather, a University of Manchester student has flown out to the Philippines as part of a team who are working to help those affected by the recent earthquake in Bohol.

Christine Cassar, who is doing her PHD in Humanitarianism and Conflict Response, is working as part of a response team from the Manchester based agency Disaster Aid UK.

The team are beginning relief operations, carrying out assessment work and providing shelter to those who have been made homeless by the earthquake.

Christine got involved with Disaster Aid UK after working as an Ambassadorial Scholar for Rotary International, the group which founded Disaster Aid UK.

“[Working for] Disaster Aid seemed like an amazing way to put into practice what I was studying,” she said. “We tend to think that academia and practical work are separate from each other, but combining the two is incredibly enriching and rewarding.”

After volunteering with the group for a year and a half, this is her first experience of overseas disaster relief deployment.

The 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Bohol on 15th October. So far 218 people are reported to have been killed due to the earthquake, 204 of those in Bohol, and 719 have been injured. Over 340,000 people have also been displaced and there have been widespread problems related to power outages, lack of sanitation and the absence of safe drinking water.

Christine is working on a municipality on the West of the island where 100 per cent of homes have been either damaged or destroyed. Those in her group are assessing what is needed most and are working with a Filipino partner organization – Balay Mindanaw to help provide family survival kits and non-food vital items, such as tents mosquito nets, kitchenware and cooking utensils, to families in need.

The group is also working to provide a long term structure, so that people may rebuild their homes and children may go back to school, as well as providing ongoing psychological support.

Christine pointed out that although the scope of the tragedy is undoubtedly vast, she has been amazed by the strength and resilience of those affected.

“One of the most heartbreaking stories we’ve heard is that of a woman and her three children sitting and having breakfast on the morning of the 15th in their kitchen in their house in a valley. The earthquake caused a landslide above their house and a huge boulder, the size of a car, came crashing down instantly killing the mother and two infant children, and injuring the third son,” she said. “The father was lost for words, he was utterly devastated but had to be strong for his son. And I think this is the message we’ve been getting from a population so affected by the events of the past few days – it’s recognizing the tragedy yet seeing a way forward from it.”

The United Nations has estimated that 46.8 million USD would be required to adequately support those affected by the earthquake. Governments across the world have been giving their condolences as well as providing aid to the Philippines to assist with the fallout of the disaster.

International aid agencies are also continuing to deploy volunteers to help maintain a supply of food as well as provide shelter and medical assistance to those who need it.

Christine said she felt foreign aid should be seen as more than simply financial assistance. She added that despite being a relatively small group, the commitment of Disaster Aid UK’s volunteers mean that it is able to reach communities on the other side of the world.

“I think it’s important to realize that there is so much expertise that can be shared; so many communities that can be helped overcome times of hardship,” she said. “If we work together and pool in financial, technical, and even academic resources we can be so much more effective in contributing to protecting and preserving lives.”

She encouraged individuals, groups, companies and entities to help support the work done by Disaster Aid UK.

Anyone looking to look at the work done by Disaster Aid UK or who would like to contribute in any way can find them at http://disasteraiduk.org.

In conversation with Audrey Niffenegger

Written by Bianca Boorer on . Posted in Books.

Audrey Niffenegger is an American writer, artist and academic famously known for writing The Time Traveler’s Wife. She recently participated in the Manchester Literature Festival, and I had the pleasure of interviewing her at her hotel.

Before your debut novel, The Time Traveler’s Wife, you were mainly focused on visual arts and graphic novels. Was the transition from artist to writer a difficult one or did it just come naturally?

It seemed fairly natural because I never gave up being an artist. So, it wasn’t like I had to stop doing anything I just had to begin getting involved in publishing. I had pretty good luck, it wasn’t extremely difficult for me. It took me 9 months to find an agent and after that things went fairly easily.

I read that you teach novel writing at Columbia College in Chicago. What advice would you give to young aspiring writers today on breaking into the industry?

I’m teaching a seminar on novel writing for people who are working on novels. The thing with writing is that you can now pretty effectively put your own work out via blogs on the web, and there’s a zillion million outlets as long as you’re not too worried about getting paid. The getting paid part is kind of the thing that most people want to try to get into. I didn’t publish a novel until I was 40 so this advice won’t be popular, but I think it’s a good idea to work on your writing until it’s actually pretty hardcore amazing rather than trying to get published with your early stuff. A lot of people starting out just want to get on with it and get published and have a career right away. There are certainly some people whose early work is great and should be published but the number one thing I would say to people is try to be patient and also not to get disheartened if the doors don’t swing open right away. You may have to write the equivalent of a couple of books before you actually write one that’s really going to be the one you want to publish. It’s all about mastering your craft. It’s possible to get published with something fairly crappy but later you’ll feel bad about it.

Would you say the film adaptation of The Time Traveler’s Wife did it justice in terms of depicting your story?

I have not actually seen the film. I did read the script. I’m not sure how close to the script was to the thing they actually shot. At a certain point I realized the film was getting fairly far away from my idea of my book and I thought, ‘well the film people have a right to do whatever they want’ so I kind of just let go of it. I don’t really think of it as my film because I didn’t make it. I try not to say much about it because I don’t want to judge people for liking it or not liking it. People can think what they want about it, which they will.

There’s a new film that came out last month called About Time, which has a similar story line and even the same leading actress, Rachel McAdams. Do you think the success of your book had anything to do with this?

There’s a lot of films before my film, like Somewhere in Time which had Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve, made back in the ‘80s. So it’s been going on for quite a while. Since I haven’t seen it I wouldn’t really know. I mean I think the thing that probably is the closest to the spirit of my book is an episode of Dr. Who called “The Girl in the Fireplace” which Russell T. Davies said in some interview is actually inspired by The Time Traveler’s Wife. It has that business of a man visiting a young girl as she grows up. Of course, since it’s Dr. Who it takes off on an entirely different direction, which I really enjoyed.

I have noticed a few recurring themes in your work, such as romance, self-exploration and mystery. And most of your main characters are women. Is there a reason for this?

I think you don’t really have to try to put things in. The things that you’re interested in will just keep cropping up over and over again without you really making an effort. Probably the most overarching theme for most of the stuff I do has to do with loss and the passing of time – and the finality of the passing of time. I could not explain to you why. All the things listed are things I’m really attracted to, but why those things and not, say, math I don’t know. Some things seem inherently appealing and there’s a certain vibe that I recognize as being my work .

Your work has been compared to that of Edward Gorey, who also makes graphic novels, is from Chicago and even went to the same college as you. Do you think there are any similarities in your work?

He’s certainly the person I get compared to most frequently, and I think it’s because the people I really am influenced by are not as well known. So I don’t consider myself to be actually influenced by him at all, although I like his work. The people that really mean a lot to me are people like Aubrey Beardsley.

Is the book you’re working on now, Chinchilla Girl in Exile, which is about a girl with excessive body hair, meant to be comical in some way?

It’s kind of a coming of age story. A lot of it is about what it’s like to grow up feeling different which everybody kind of feels, like an outsider a little bit. I think that even if you’re tremendously popular, every adolescent has that feeling of not being quite secure, and you’re changing so much all the time. Parts of it are funny, but it’s not a slapstick kind of thing.

Can you give us a little taster of the upcoming sequel of The Time Traveler’s Wife? There’s website called

It is mainly about Alba as a grown up. She’s grown up to be a violinist but she’s also got extreme stage fright and so instead of becoming a performing artist she’s decided to become a composer. Her main problem is that she’s got two husbands and one of them doesn’t know about the other one. One of her husbands is a time traveler from the second half of the 21st century so in real time he’s 54 years younger than she is but they tend to meet back in the 1960s. I got interested in writing about climate change so you can expect that there will be some kind of horrendous weather things going on.

I read an interview you did in 2010 and I got the vibe that you were very alternative and indie what with not owning a TV, having a drummer boyfriend and listening to the Sex Pistols. Do you consider yourself a hipster?

Lost the drummer boyfriend, currently going out with Eddie Campbell who is a well-known comics artist so this is my graphic novelist boyfriend. I’m sort of turning into an old lady. I heard Miley Cyrus for the first time the other day. The people I tend to come out for have been playing for quite a while. So I wouldn’t think of myself as being incredibly cutting edge or anything like that.

What did you think of the Manchester Literature Festival compared to literary conventions held back home in Chicago?

What’s nice about this one is that the university’s involved so there were a lot of students coming to it. In Chicago, a lot of the time you look at the audience and everybody’s grey haired. Just walking around Manchester is lovely. Your university’s huge! I had no

Preview: The Invisible Woman

Written by Sophie James on . Posted in Film.

There’s always that one film every year that grabs your attention but probably (and regrettably) won’t grab an Oscar. This might be that film. The Invisible Woman (out in February) is the story of Charles Dickens’ late career and his affair with the young actress Nelly Ternan during that time.

The film stars and is directed by Ralph Fiennes, marking his second turn in the director’s chair. With two Oscar nominations, roles alongside Britain’s best secret agent and the world’s favourite wizard, an upcoming role in Wes Anderson’s much-anticipated The Grand Budapest Hotel and, perhaps most importantly, having voiced the character of Victor Quartermaine in Aardman’s Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Wererabbit, it would be tempting for Fiennes to sit back and take it easy. Instead, he’s doing all this alongside launching his directing career, and it looks like it’s getting off to a flying start! As an actor who started off studying art, Fiennes makes an intriguing director, combining his artistic and theatrical backgrounds to create beautiful films whilst attracting casts that produce visceral performances to bring his artistic vision to life. After his BAFTA-nominated debut directing a modern-day take on Shakespeare’s Coriolanus (talk about a baptism of fire!) Fiennes has now turned from guns and army jackets to wigs and corsets in this film with a biopic-style focus on the latter part of Dickens’ life.

Although the word “biopic” may now have us groaning as we visualise James Corden miming to opera on the rooftops of Venice, The Invisible Woman is guaranteed to be the top pick of the recent biopic bumper crop. How is it going to be any different? Well, it’s based on the book by Claire Tomalin – most famous for her seminal biographies on Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy. On top of this, the book has been adapted for the screen by Britain’s best female screenwriter Abi Morgan. As you can see, we’re already a long way from those rooftops in Venice! But it doesn’t stop there. It goes without saying that with his incredible acting and directing creds, Fiennes can attract acting talent to his films like death eaters to Voldermort. This acting talent comes in the form of rising starlet Felicity Jones, playing the title character of Nelly Ternan. As it was Nelly’s story that moved Fiennes enough to take on the project in the first place, this could be the role Miss Jones has been waiting to sink her teeth into and with a glance at the supporting cast (featuring Tom Hollander and Kristen Scott Thomas) it looks as though we could be set to see knock-out performances all round.

If that’s still not enough to stop you from going “what the Dickens?”, here are two final reasons to be excited about this film. Thanks to such colourful characters as Miss Havisham and Fagin, everyone can name a Dickens novel – even if that’s only whilst humming the tune to “You have to pick a pocket or two” – so everyone should want to find out more about such an influential literary figure and the women who supported him. More importantly, with Helen Mirren calling for greater recognition of women in film, The Invisible Woman, a story about the woman who supported Dickens, penned for the screen by Abi Morgan from the book by Claire Tomalin, can only help to promote the movement of women in film towards the ever more visible. Let’s hope it won’t similarly be left invisible amidst Oscar hype!

 

Release Date: 7th February 

TV Advertising, the Hollywood Giant Killer

Written by Tom Bruce on . Posted in Film.

Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are comparable in more ways than one. Both of Italian-American background, they got their first major roles within a year of one another, worked with the same great directors (though their paths have rarely crossed on screen) and they are often cited as the greatest actors of their generation. Their work in the past decade, however, has all but tarnished their reputation. Did they get lazy? Did they lose their touch? While their downfalls may have caused widespread lamentation, their extraordinary careers deserve celebration.

Already a successful actor, Robert De Niro truly invaded the public consciousness in 1976 as the star of Martin Scorcese’s masterful Taxi Driver. Post-Vietnam/Watergate, the disenfranchised veteran Travis Bickle became an anti-hero in a time of uncertainty and paranoia. The Clash even put him in a song! Raging Bull followed four years later and an Oscar along with it- deserved for the double physical transformation alone. His roles in The Untouchables (1987) as Al Capone and Goodfellas (1990) as ‘unconscionable ball breaker’ James Conway are of particular note, transcending every trope of the mafia genre. De Niro’s role as Deus ex machina plumber Harry Tuttle in Terry Gilliam’s Brazil (1985) is often overlooked- he allegedly spent a month researching this minor role, such was his meticulous nature. Watch out for the physics defying rope swing, which for my money is the greatest escape in cinematic history.

Sadly all good things come to an end, and De Niro has done some appalling work this past 10 years: his portrayal of a cross dressing sky pirate in Stardust was a particular low point and the Subaru ‘Legacy’ ad did no favours for his legacy. Meanwhile upcoming films like Grudge Match and The Family look downright offensive, yet even they pale in comparison to The Hangover knockoff Last Vegas– based on the trailer, I have decided it is the worst film of all time.

 

Al Pacino gave an audition that Francis Ford Coppola could not refuse to win the role of Michael Corleone over established names like Martin Sheen and Robert Redford in 1972 mafia classic The Godfather. He further proved his worth as a leading man a year later with a mesmerising performance as the dishevelled hero cop in Serpico. Over the next twenty years Al Pacino enjoyed a wealth of success in a wide array of roles, though many argue that he peaked with Scarface in 1983.

From the mid-eighties onward Pacino began to ‘experiment’ slightly – his abominable accent in Local Stigmatic Piano (1990) was an early warning sign of horrors to come. Jump forward to 2003 and The Recruit– just like the one dimensional character he portrayed the pay check was his only motive. His turn as bumbling tycoon Willy Bank in Ocean’s Thirteen (2007) compounded his fall from grace; ‘I SLICE… like a goddam hammer!’… er, what?

Worse was yet to come. Reprehensible Adam Sandler ‘comedy’ Jack and Jill (2011) saw him in a Dunkin Donuts campaign as the all rapping, all dancing ‘Dunkaccino’. And now he is hocking Sky Broadband services… Tony Montana, reduced to the status of a bum! This shameless self-pimping has become a disturbing trend; each trip to the cinema ensures exposure to Kevin Bacon in the abominable EE ads. All you can do is shake your head as A Few Good Men becomes The Fewer Good Men.

Although there can be no reparation for Pacino and De Niro’s recent work, and while the future looks even darker, you can always look to the past. No one can take away the brilliance of Taxi Driver, Scarface, or The Godfather saga. Their joint last hurrah was undoubtedly Michael Mann’s operatic heist thriller Heat (1995)-one of their best films, if only it had been their last.

 

Review: One Chance

Written by Lloyd Hammett on . Posted in Film.

The first year of Britain’s Got Talent brought a watershed of hopefuls who believed they had what it took to become a superstar. This real life story of Paul Potts (James Corden) shows how he went from being just an average shop assistant to a country phenomenon in winning the show as an opera singer.

It is a film racked around the symbol of hope and how if you continue to believe you will finally reach your goal. Sadly, it never manages to portray this with any sincerity, mainly because it tries to swing the audience with nothing but pity. The lack of sincerity comes from scenes that feel so aware that a line or a close up can get an ‘aww’ from the audience without any real substance put into them. There is no development of the characters or rapport between them because the only two emotions they display are sympathy and hope. The director David Frankel seems to have decided that these are in fact the only two emotions available and is relentless with it to the point it is comical. It is ironically the lack of realism depicted in any of the people or changing points in Paul Potts’ life that leave this supposedly real life tale wanting. The film is supposed to be light-hearted but the attempt to display with such vulnerability means it  lacks any comedic value. The narrative and dialogue is bumpy and uneven causing for overwhelming awkwardness rather than the heartstrings puller it was aiming for.

It almost seems over the last few years that Corden has suffered from Gavin and Stacey being too good. His attempts to break away from his character ‘Smithy’ have probably not quite gone to plan with regrettable films like Vampire Killers (2009) and Gulliver’s Travels (2010). For a biopic to work there has to be a feeling of sincerity and realness within the character, but Corden never manages to portray this. Everything is overplayed, his bumbling, his awkwardness and even his dream of opera, to a point where the film and performance feel dishonest. Paul Potts himself may well have been all these, but it was too forced and overworked to display anything that amounted to lifelike. There seems to be genuine anguish for Corden in trying to master the Welsh accent, and he probably amounts to around fifty-percent of his lines in it.

The best moment by far in the film (and it is hard to find one) comes in the twenty-seconds Potts sings in a pub for the first time. It is the only moment where the nature of what he is doing radiates through, due to the simplicity and naturalness of the shot. For a film reliant on opera singing to show its message the other instances where Potts sings feel unbelievably orchestrated and wooden.

The poster for the film has ridiculously labeled it as the ‘new’ Billy Elliot (2000) but completely lacks in the socio-cultural backdrop displayed in this. What makes you route for Billy Elliot is that he is a beacon of hope within a community that is crumbling around him. The comedy comes off so well because it juxtaposes the grit, whereas with One Chance there is nothing but light-hearted sympathy for the good times and the bad. The adversity may not be as great but there is a lack of desire to show it with any realism, as cheap ‘aw moments’ are ultimately easier

The real life of Paul Potts may be one of wonder, but across the big screen it lacks any real conviction.

★

Schindler’s List is no masterpiece

Written by Parizad Mangi on . Posted in Film.

Schindler’s List is a film that has been a household name ever since it was first released to adulation in 1993. Adapted from the book by Thomas Keneally, and directed by Hollywood royalty Steven Spielberg, the movie quickly became an award season favourite, winning a whooping seven Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director. It has topped several ‘Best Film’ lists throughout these two decades and its impact has been so immense that it is used as a reference in schools when children learn about the Holocaust. But is it deserving of such a exemplary status? Should we neglect credibility of the product, or lack thereof, in favour of flattering the fraternity supremacy?

As far as my personal opinion is concerned, I was left not only underwhelmed but as an enthusiast of both history and film to be disappointed by how Spielberg chose to execute the project. The black and white, the solitary lamp looming over two men in a dim room, suspenseful shots of pedestrians, all of which serve no purpose other than to string together self-gratifying pretentious drivel. John Williams’ famous composition may well be beautiful just as his other list of works, but is placed to timely contrive the correct sentiment Spielberg aims to evoke. It is a shallow effort that barely scratches the surface of an appalling and cruel situation. Its energies are focused on emotionally manipulating its audience rather than paying sensitivity to this very real and raw incident.

If you don’t want to take an ordinary student’s word for it, there are several revered members of the film industry and survivors that are not singing its praises. Renowned director Stanley Kubrick commented “The Holocaust is about 6 million people who get killed. Schindler’s List is about 600 who don’t”. It was described as “kitsch” by both Claude Lanzmann and Imre Kertesz, the former the director of the Holocaust documentary, Shoah, and the latter a Hungarian Jewish author and survivor of the Holocaust.

The bigger issue is perhaps the dichotomy depicted between Schindler and the Nazi Goeth. Schindler was an astute business man who saved lives for his own gain, and though the film shows him have a change of heart when he sees a little girl in a red coat amidst a sea of black and white, we cannot take Spielberg’s artistic liberty of Schindler’s conscience to be historically accurate. No subtlety in symbolism to be expected here. The morality is in black and white, just like the film.

Frankly, such a lazy approach of the subject should not be used to teach children history. And Spielberg should steer clear of this area, tragedy is not something that needs to be given the Hollywood treatment.

Manchester offers free online courses with American education provider

Written by Inez Dawoodjee on . Posted in News.

Manchester has become the latest in a string of universities to partner with an online education company to provide free online courses to anyone with internet access.

The University of Manchester became the third UK university to sign a deal with Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) provider Coursera last week.

“Signing up to any of these courses will be free to participants, and we expect that many thousands of people will take part. MOOCs are seen by some as the future of online education,” said Associate Vice-President for Teaching, Learning and Students, Professor Richard Reece.

The University are currently offering four MOOCs, including courses in Water Supply and Sanitation in Developing Countries, and Our Earth: its Climate, History and Processes.

The courses are expected to start in the first quarter of 2014, and highlight areas of research strength and high teaching quality at Manchester, according to a University press release.

“The development of these courses is an important step for Manchester,” said Prof Reece. “They will appeal to a broad audience from across the globe, and will form an important part of fulfilling our commitment to social responsibility.”

MOOCs were launched in an attempt to provide wider access to higher education at a time when tuition fee hikes discouraged people from applying to university. Typically, the online courses, such as those provided by Coursera, have taped lectures, automated testing, and reduced student-teacher contact. Unique to Coursera is a system where students vote on which questions should rise to the professor’s attention.

Professior Sebastian Thrun of Stanford University set up Udacity, a pioneering online education company that delivers courses in maths, science and design.  This led to the launch of similar online education companies, including Stanford-based Courera.

12 other universities partnered with MOOC provider last week, including the Netherlands’ Eindhoven Institute of Technology, University of Lausanne in Switzerland, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, bringing the total number of higher education institution collaborators to 100.

Coursera’s Co-Founder Daphne Koller said, “We are proud to welcome to the Coursera partnership this group of outstanding institutions from 11 different countries, demonstrating the ever-growing global impact of this movement, and providing students everywhere access to an even more diverse set of perspectives.

Other courses offered by the University are An Introduction to Population Health, and Global Health and Humanitarianism.

More courses are expected to be added soon.

Prof Reece added, “Manchester is determined to produce some of the best and highest quality online courses to showcase our excellence in distance education and to benefit both students across the world and those here in Manchester.”

Brian Cox endorses £3 million RNCM campaign

Written by Inez Dawoodjee on . Posted in News.

 Pop star- turned- physicist Professor Brian Cox has added his support to a campaign to renovate the Royal Northern College of Music’s Concert Hall into a state- of- the- art venue.

 The College’s Concert Hall’s revitalisation will allow more music to be showcased, by both professional artists and students alike.

Broadcast journalist John Suchet is also lending his names as a Champion of the ‘Your RNCM’ campaign.

 The £3 million campaign is set to begin in January as part of an ambitious £6 million project conducted by the College to better student experience.

It includes the installation of new equipment like air-conditioning and heating systems.   The Concert Hall will also be expanded to seat 750 and is to be equipped with a balcony and a raised floor area.

Professor Cox said: “I am proud to feel part of Manchester’s rich cultural landscape and I love the RNCM building; it is an inspiration to both visitors and students.

“The transformation planned for the Concert Hall is very exciting and I am delighted to support the Your RNCM campaign.”

In September this year RNCM received an award of £ 2.8 million from the Higher Education Funding Council to help renovate and redesign spaces at the College in order to cater for the increasingly diverse teaching styles.

 Beethoven expert and presenter for Classical FM John Suchet said: “It’s been a joy presenting Beethoven at the RNCM twice in the last year. Students past and present are an inspiration to work with.”

He added, “It’s good to know that the future of classical music is safe in their hands. I wish the RNCM the very best of luck with the development of the Concert Hall, and look forward to talking Beethoven again in the fabulous new Hall.”

Origami how-to: paper crane

Written by Abbie Mia Roberts on . Posted in Arts.

1. Fold square paper vertically.

2. Fold top right corner to centre bottom.

3. Turn paper over.

4. Fold top right corner to centre bottom again.

5. Put thumbs into the model, separate front from back allowing side points to come together to form a square.

6. This is the completed preliminary base.

7. Fold the left and right edges to the centre. Turn paper round and repeat.

8. Fold the top point down over horizontal edges.

9. Unfold step 7 and 8. Pull bottom corner up allowing unfolded creases to guide it into position. Turn paper over and repeat.

10. Fold the right side flap across the left. Turn paper and repeat.

11. Fold bottom point up to meet the top points. Turn paper and repeat.

12.Take hold of two inner flaps and pull.

13. Crease firmly at the bottom and reverse fold the left point to make the head.

 

Hold the base of the neck and pull the tail to make the wings flap.

 

Grayson Perry’s ‘The Vanity of Small Differences’ opens at Manchester Art Gallery

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Arts.

‘Not another ‘class conscious’ exhibition, augmenting the guilt of a middle-class crowd,’ I lamented as I joined herds of heals and tweed at the opening night of Grayson Perry’sThe Vanity of Small Differences.

The opening night recruited a predominantly white, middle to upper class crowd. With complimentary wine in hand and British class issues at hand, the irony of the situation was palpably demoralizing. The plodding ritualism of the event – keeping to lowered tones of reverence for the absent artist and respecting the gallery space while sipping our Bordeaux – felt like a disservice to Perry’s arresting excavation into class and taste in modern Britain.

Six epic tapestries, one acne-ridden protagonist and a narrative reflecting modern class politics – The Vanity of Small Differences is an emotionally charged shout-out to British audiences not to be fooled by neo-liberal mantras on social mobility. On the surface, the pieces follow Tim Rakewell’s rocket ascent from working class techno-genius to nouveau riche celebrity status, as signified by a shift in visual symbols from a hoover to a Ferrari. The Vanity of Small Differences is, however, more directed at the subtle differences of taste that appear at various levels of middle class positions – as revealed in Perry’s Channel 4 documentary All in Good Taste, which is also exhibited.

Tim’s character explicitly parallels William Hogarth’s eighteenth century social climber Tom Rakewell whose shallow pursuit of wealth results in a tragic death in prison. We are given the chance to follow Tom’s trajectory in a series of Hogarth prints displayed alongside the tapestries. But perhaps the more subtle comment of the exhibition is its examination of ‘small differences’ in taste across the middle class palette, from lower to upper-middle class.

Perry uses Tim’s trajectory through the middle class echelons to weave a narrative between brand-obsession at the lower and upper levels, to brand-resistance seen in an image of Tim as a yuppie family man surrounded by organic jam and vintage interiors. By mapping Tim’s progression in tastes according to subtle shifts in class status, the tapestries each embody a variations on own living rooms, inviting the viewer to engage a strange game of ‘Where’s Wally?’ with familiar middle class brands and possessions, such as Cath Kidson bags and The Guardian.

Expulsion from number 8 Eden Close satirically depicts a younger Tim fleeing his working class community, clutching his iphone to his chest and looking back aghast at ‘the horror’. His branded phone is key to the overall comment of the exhibition which marks the absurdity of attributing importance to possessions throughout, not least in the same tapestry where a handbag that is afforded its own seat at a dinner party.

Finally, in Lamentation, the fickle façade of class mobility is cracked wide open as Tim lies Christ-like and exposed on the ground after a pointless crash driven by the hedonism of those over-burdened with possessions. Tim’s iphone now lies beside him, like a cracked mirror of his shattered skull. Like Tom Rakewell, Tim meets his end in the worst possible taste. While these tapestries are exuberant and humorous at times, Perry offers a necessarily black reflection of class-inflected existence in Britain today.

Why I hate texting

Written by Emmanuel Demuren on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Call me cynical if you like, but I absolutely detest texting. Not texting generally as a means of communication, but as a means to an end – that end being forming some kind of lasting, tangible bond with a member of the opposite sex (or same sex if you are that way inclined), and to find out whether you are romantically compatible through the medium of words on a screen.

Small talk by text is boring. I cannot, for the life of me, keep up the façade that I actually give a shit what they’re eating for dinner, what they’re doing in the day tomorrow (when you know full well that they’ll be in the library), or what their favourite colour is (OK this never happens, but you get the point). Not because I don’t care, but because these small, trivial (yet important) points should be discussed when you actually see the person.

There is a positive motive behind this rant, I promise. There just seems to be something missing when flirting by text, and in person is always better. The fact that you can’t see how the other person is responding is a crucial problem; body language is a massive part of any interaction, not to mention something as complicated and potentially frustrating as a romantic one. My worry is that the phenomenon of text flirting is part of a wider culture of social regression in which we have become so unashamedly absorbed in technology that we are losing elements of our culture that we cherished in the past. It represents a process of desensitisation that ultimately makes our society less and less concerned with truly human interaction. As novelist Aldous Huxley writes, “technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards.” Written many years ago, this statement is disturbingly relevant to modern day society. I’m not suggesting that flirting by text is going to completely replace actual interaction, but we should keep an eye on our usage of technology in romantic situations, as it can create an unnecessary superficial boundary between two people.

Romance isn’t dead just yet, but as members of a generation that is becoming alarmingly obsessed with technology, we must be careful not to be accomplices in its demise.

How to: live on £20 a week

Written by Jess Kharrazi on . Posted in Lifestyle.

When I told my friends I was going to try to live on £20 a week, the general reaction was one of laughter and disbelief. “YOU!?” The task itself didn’t seem absurd to them, just the idea that I could actually manage it. Unfortunately and unintentionally, I’m a girl with somewhat expensive taste. When looking for an iPhone cover online, the only one I could find that I actually liked turned out to be the world’s most expensive, at a whopping $35,000. My (quite frankly ridiculous) taste, inconveniently, does not match my horrendously low bank balance. I therefore wanted to show that anyone (even me) could survive and still have fun on a limited weekly budget. The only cheats I have allowed myself for this week are my annual bus pass and a few spices we already had in the kitchen. So here we have it, my guide on how to live on £20 a week.

Day 1

Money spent : £12.05

Number of bus passes lost: 1

Yes, in under twenty-four hours I have managed to spend over half my weekly budget and “misplace” my bus pass, the one cheat I had allowed myself for the week. Well done me! Consequently I embark on the long walk home from Lidl with the groceries I hope will get me through the week. My shopping bags contain pasta, pesto, mince, bread, butter, ham and tinned tomatoes – perhaps with the severe shortage of fruit of vegetables, it won’t be such a bad thing to have to travel by foot from now on. I stop by New Zealand Wines to purchase my first year favourite, two for £5 wine.

Red Rum have a free night on tonight, so armed with my bottle of vinegar, I am still able to go to a classic Manchester night of “underground house and techno”. It would be stretching the truth to say that Red Rum is the place to be on this particular Monday night, but a bottle of New Zealand Wines’ finest can turn any night into a laugh. The music went down well with the crowd of 15 people, and if you’re with the right people you can have a great night anywhere!

Day 2

Money spent : 30p

Luckily the hangover that comes with cheap wine means I can happily have a cheap day and night. I walk to and from uni, pick up an onion from Meezan on the way home, and munch on some bolognaise while watching The Great British Bake Off.

Day 3

Money spent: £1

Thank you to the good people of Manchester who have returned my bus pass! I can now stop pretending to enjoy the crisp air and light showers on my way to and from uni. To celebrate my renewed travel freedom, I want to go to Soup Kitchen for North by North West’s £1 night. However, this night out turns out to be purely hypothetical. I could have spent £1 on a ticket and polished off my second bottle of wine, but I’ve discovered that the real challenge this week isn’t living on a budget but coaxing out my friends, who have developed a serious case of third-year boringness. Symptoms include saying things like, “I’d like to but I can’t,” “I have a 9 o’clock start,” or the worst, “Shouldn’t you be working too?”

Day 4

Money spent: 66p

Getting slightly bored of the food routine, so I decide to spice up my breakfast by putting pesto on my toast. Verdict: odd but delicious. Out of laziness I go to Sainsbury’s to buy a tin of kidney beans and a tin of chickpeas; it would probably have been cheaper elsewhere but sometimes convenience is worth a few extra pennies. I make a makeshift chilli con carne for dinner, using any vaguely red-coloured spice I can find in the kitchen.

Days 5 and 6

Money spent: £5.54

I am running low on food and alcohol for the weekend, so it’s back to New Zealand Wines for a wine top up and to Aldi for pasta and sauce. As a student in Fallowfield or Withington, you’re lucky enough to have a large array of house parties to choose from every weekend. Most follow a strict formula: dark basements lit with fairy lights and a very serious student DJ playing whatever’s deemed as the music of the moment. Last year it was all deep house; this semester, groovy disco tunes seem to have taken control. Nonetheless everyone loves a house party and they’re a fun, FREE way to spend your weekends!

Day 7

Money left to spend: 45p

I’ve done it! With a few pennies to spare, I treat myself to a well-deserved apple. Fruit has been seriously lacking in my diet over the past week, and this is definitely a welcome break from pasta.

If healthy eating isn’t a main priority, you have an endless appetite for pasta and you’re not too fussed about the nights you go to, then living life on £20 a week is be a breeze. With some clever investigation on Skiddle to find Manchester’s cheapest nights, a taste for vinegary wine, and an excuse to load up on carbs, this week hasn’t been as challenging as I thought it might be. With that said, now that I’ve proved I can do it, I am thankful to be able to spend a little more on my food shop next week. Hello, chicken! Hello, vegetables!

Prematurely festive food – what’s not to like?

Written by Maddy Hubbard on . Posted in News.

Ok so I know what you’re thinking – it’s only October and I’m recommending a Christmas themed event! We haven’t even had Halloween yet!

But think about it. October means warmer weather, so you might actually want to be outdoors. And there’s something about Christmas food which is so indulgent and comforting that it can be exactly what you need when life has been a bit grey and you’re feeling slightly overwhelmed by essays.

So this Friday 25th, exactly 2 months early, head down to the lovely Lock 91 and try some of their new Christmas menu. There’s really nothing wrong with celebrating prematurely when there is good food involved!

A Review of the Inaugural Cheese and Wine Society Event

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Food & Drink.

It was in the words of one distinguished guest, a long expected party; the 140 pink cloakroom tickets had sold out quicker than Facebook shares on May 18th 2012. Described as “the greatest social happening since the fall of the Berlin Wall” the Cheese & Wine society’s inaugural evening lived up to expectations as all 108 bottles of fine wine were poured out and a staggering 17 kilos of cheese reduced to mere crumbs.

In terms of wine, the bottles had been carefully selected by the committee in order to offer the mass of attendees with a wide breadth of variety to quench their mostly virgin palates. Inspired by their beloved leader and President, Victor Croci, a Frenchman and notorious cork teaser, there was an understandable continental bias when it came to the 9 different reds on offer. In order to play it safe, two thirds of the wine on offer was of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape with the remaining third consisting of Merlot, Tempranillo and the odd touch of Shiraz for good measure.

Naturally, like most events where the demographics are heavily inclined in favour of women, the white wine went first. Yet it did so with flowing grace and so at around 10.45pm, when the pianist stop playing, every single drop of zesty Sauvignon Blanc, buttery Chardonnay and even the somewhat piquant Pinot Grigio was gone. Interestingly enough, the selection of white wine mirrored the fact that a great many distinguished guests present hailed from the new world. Australia, South Africa and California were amply represented and the Italians present were satisfied with the Pinot Grigio’s performance too.

Turning towards the dairy component of the evening, what exactly does 17 kilos of scrumptious cheese look like?

Well it takes up three entire tables and necessitates over 10 bunches of grapes to get through without mentioning the ridiculous 2000 cream crackers, cheese biscuits and the dozen baguettes.

“I couldn’t possibly name all the cheeses which were wheeled out of the Queen Brie, a fabulous cheese shop in the Arndale food court, and onto the three large tables. There were simply too rich a variety”, replied Thomas Lalaurie, vice-President of the society, in a thick French accent. Any Francophile could tell you that he could sense the Camembert and taste the Brie de Meaux, but there were more surreptitious cheeses originating from the land of Charles de Gaulle, croissants and general strikes. Comté and gruyere, both salty and mellow, were two such examples of many…

Incidentally, England was comfortably represented and did not fall short of great expectations. Spicy cheddar is, to quote one member present “a gift from the gods”, it is simply phenomenal and as you sink your teeth into it and unleash a flare of chili flavour in your mouth, you realise that there is something beyond the banal stereotypes of British cuisine. It came as no surprise then that there was a fair deal of extra strong mature cheddar to pick from and even sticky toffee cheddar. And of course for those with little or no taste buds left there was a decent-sized slab of mild available. Traditional Blue Stilton provided ample banter for those who adhere to the noble continental lie that blue cheese found further than Calais is simply passed its sell by date by a month or two.

The feedback on the night was largely positive although two recurring motifs which did crop up like wind farms in Holland was the need for the cheeses to be labelled and the somewhat tricky question of door security. In the case of the latter, the second XV Sale Sharks rugby team has been made a generous offer to turn away students who, having failed to acquire a ticket, believed they were still entitled to the Lottery’s winnings.

All in all, the event was widely saluted as huge step forward for the swathes of students who refuse to accept the culinary exile imposed on them by Britain’s tax rate on wine and the scarcity of affordable decent cheese available in supermarkets.

It comes as no surprise then that the Cheese and Wine Society was founded in the clandestine nature of Gaff’s basement where, by candlelight, a handful of culinary revolutionaries with strong continental sympathies and ties raised their glass in a vote to create a popular movement capable of circumnavigating the dreadfully bland and flavourless wines which stock most supermarket aisles these days.

Judging by this evening, they succeeded.

My Day on a Plate

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in News.

The Man Who Plated Britain

This week, the Mancunion meets Marxist, Belgian refugee and Cheese and Wine Society President Victor Croci.

Food is very important to me because I come from Belgium, the culinary capital of the world.

I like to keep breakfast simple: toast and butter. I live with my Mummy and Daddy and they cut the crust off my toast for me because crust is icky.

By ten o’ clock, I’m normally hungry again so I pick up a yummy waffle. It reminds me of home because it’s rigid, divided and really bland. It feels all good in my tummy.

Lunch is my favourite thing because after you’ve finished you can go out for playtime. I always have my favourite food for lunch. It is a special food from home called feves au lard avec fromage. It’s really tasty! Yum yum yum!

At home time my Mummy picks me up and takes me home for an afternoon snack of Mini Cheddars. This is really nice after a hard day at school studying Bachelor of Arts European Studies and French because I always get tired after learning the language that I already speak. If I’m good, Mummy also gives me a carton of Um Bongo. My country used to own the place that Um Bongo is from in the old days and I think that’s really cool.

I wanted to write about my dinner but I got sent to bed without it because I wouldn’t share the Playstation with my brothers.

Bye bye!

 

 

By Victor Croci, aged 21 ¼

Adventures on Curry Mile – Long Dudi Recipe

Written by Amber De La Haye on . Posted in Food & Drink.

Food shopping on the curry mile can feel a bit like you’ve been transported back to your gap year; rows of mysterious fruits and vegetables stacked up on the street, a bollywood soundtrack and questionable food-hygiene standards, or at least it does until the famous Manchester drizzle starts to dampen the dragon fruit. It’s easy to overlook the exotic fare on the curry mile, but the rewards for experimenting with an enigmatic vegetable are worth feeling a little embarrassed when you can’t pronounce the main ingredient of your new signature dish. This week we picked up a (comically named) long dudi, what appeared to be something of a courgette/butternut squash /potato hybrid which gently secreted a red liquid when cut. The Dudi is a technological rarity with almost no Google presence, so after a bit of experimentation we came up with this tasty simple student curry:

Ingredients

½ Long Dudi, chopped into chunks
2 chopped carrots
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 dried red chilli
Salt & pepper
1 finely chopped onion
1 tbsp veg. oil
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
200ml coconut cream
2 heaped tbsps ground almonds
1 handful of raisins
juice of  1/2 lemon

Instructions:

1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the ground coriander, pepper, turmeric and garam masala and stir fry for about 1-minute over a low heat.
3. Turn up the heat, add the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli and stir fry for 5 minutes.
4. Add the long dudi and the carrot and continue to stir fry for another 7 minutes.
5. Add the coconut cream, ground almonds and raisins.
6. Reduce heat to low, cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes.
7. Remove from heat, add lemon juice and salt to taste. Serve with basmati rice.

Review: Topkapi Palace

Written by Faye Waterhouse on . Posted in Food & Drink.

Nestled in the middle of Deansgate lies Topkapi Palace, a small Turkish restaurant. Having never been to a Turkish restaurant before I stepped inside not knowing quite what to expect…

I was pleasantly surprised. The atmosphere was relaxed despite the 80’s power ballad background music which I found myself occasionally joining in with but this might not be to everyone’s taste – and by this I don’t mean my singing!

The waiters made you feel very comfortable; checking everything was alright and advising well when helping me, arguably the most indecisive person ever, what to choose!

The food is all homemade and prepared in an open kitchen towards the back of the restaurant and the menu was wide ranging although a tad expensive. Presumably, in an attempt to compete with the other restaurants on Deansgate. Don’t fret though they have a set menu: a starter and a main for £14.50. We all opted for this and were not disappointed.

To start my friend had the cerkez tavugu, described as shredded chicken with walnuts in garlic and mayonnaise it came looking a little ominous and my friend suggested it tasted “a bit like chicken sandwich filler”.

A more successful dish was my tubule, cracked wheat with tomatoes, onions and parsley chopped up finely. It was zingy, light and refreshing, and came with lovely complementary pitta breads which was an added bonus.

The choices for the main dishes were varied, with lamb, chicken, seafood and vegetarian options all accompanied by rice and salad, althougn I would maybe question the wisdom of including a donner kebab.

It might be reassuringly familiar to some, but it’s not exactly a dish with the best gourmet credentials!

I went for the Topkapi special chicken after it was recommended by the waitress. The chicken was in a tomato and onion sauce and was very tender and tasty.

One friend had the moussaka and regretted her decision, saying it was “too heavy” and the rice accompaniment seemed a bit odd with this dish, but the pick of the bunch was levrek, sea bass in a pink peppercorn sauce, with two of my friends wolfing it down.

Our deal didn’t include dessert and luckily we were all suitably satisfied, but we did happen to notice desserts cling-filmed in a glass cabinet which was a shame as it tainted the home-cooked, authentic feel to the rest of the meal.

Overall everyone agreed Topkapi Palace proved a success, the great service and helpful staff really add to the relaxed and comfortable atmosphere. Simple yet effective springs to mind and I would happily go again if I fancy a change from the usual Chinese, Indian and Italian options!

Service: ****

Food: ***

The aristocrats are back

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Lifestyle.

After weeks of anticipation, the ever-popular Made in Chelsea has returned to our screens, bringing with it the tears, drama and awkward silences that we seem to love so much. After last season’s antics and really important political and moral messages (obvs), the question is yet to be answered: will this season live up to the caviar and Moët standards of old?

Even though I wouldn’t say I am MIC’s biggest fan, there’s no denying that it’s fantastic to see the old familiar faces. The whole gang’s there: Rosie ‘Weird Eyes’ Fortescue, weepy Louise, evil Spenny (who, as the villain, should really have the Jaws theme tune playing every time he walks into shot), and the ever-lovable trio of Jaime Laing, Proudlock (he has only one name, like Madonna or Cher, because he’s THAT cool) and my favourite, Francis Boulle. Maybe he’s my favourite because he’s unlucky in love; maybe it’s because he’s ginger and therefore fabulous. However, it’s most likely due to the fact that he’s constantly basking in the beautiful prisms of his diamond empire, and subsequently always as happy as Larry! Whichever way, we love him.

Season 6 looks to be promising us even more treats, as we are continuously introduced to more characters. So far we’ve met Louise’s brother Sam (who is probably 17 but definitely a stone cold fox), a man called Miffy (proving that unequivocal ‘poshness’ is fully equipped to break gender barriers) and a gentleman named Freddie, who actually seems pretty insignificant… Who knows, maybe his daddy runs Channel 4. And of course, to everyone’s delight, we’ve been gifted another reality TV villain in the shape of Stephanie Pratt! Huzzah, an American! How culturally diverse and on-trend.

We should expect even more furore around the revelation that Louise famously spent the night with One Direction’s Niall Horan. Yes, Niall. Not the lovable curly-haired Harry Styles of your dreams, but Niall, the 13-year-old Irish one who I’m not sure has even hit puberty yet. Anyway, apparently poor old weepy Louise has been misbehaving again, this time after Ascot. The cheek of it! Clearly the horses, sexy Italian midgets and Champagne left her feeling a bit fruity, prompting wimpy-turned-rugged boyfriend Andy to call it a day. One can only guess what this new situation will bring… More tears, perhaps?

It looks as though Louise will be helped out in that department, though, as the first episode also saw Ice Queen Lucy shed a tear after she TOO was swindled by evil Spencer. Maybe these two should just stop their fighting and join forces to create a scorned woman’s club, where they can go shopping and bitch together. If Sex and The City has taught us anything, this is what women do. Or they could read some feminist literature and realise that their happiness shouldn’t revolve around men… but hey, each to their own. Anywho, a highlight for me so far has been a quote by Mark-Francis – a man so posh it sounds like he constantly has six plums in his mouth – saying to Binky Felstead whilst in a rocking rowing boat: “You capsize this boat, I capsize your world.” Powerful stuff, M-F. Keep it coming.

A bunch of other stuff has gone on, but nothing of any real importance, apart from a cameo from Axl Rose – oops, sorry, I mean Phoebe Lettice – who was clearly vybzing off memories from her gap yah. I mean, cane rows on a white girl is totes a great look, yah.

All in all this season promises more of the same: quite a lot of things happening while nothing really happens at all. However, we can guarantee that there will be lots of Bloody Marys and love triangles (sometimes at the same time), helping to give us an insight into the dog-eat-dog world that is the Kings Road.  So thanks, Made in Chelsea: even though it’s impossible not to hate you a little bit, you also seem to have a hold on us that makes it impossible to turn you off. All I can say is, bring on Monday nights.