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Year: 2013

#foreveralone (and okay with it?)

Written by Lauren Arthur on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Why is it that so many young people have serious issues with doing things on their own?

We’re relentlessly being told as a generation that we’re too dependent on technology.  The teens and tweens of the era are glued to our phones; we’re constantly refreshing our newsfeed/timeline/Instagram feed, we’re apparently at risk of developing ‘digital dementia’ and we’ve been rendered incapable of holding meaningful conversations (drunken DMCs not included). Whilst this dependence is undoubtedly worrying, what I actually find worrying is the youth of today’s dependence on each other.

I am totally fine with doing things by myself; as self-consumed as it may sound, I like being on my own.  I can manage to do my weekly shop housemate-less, happily walk around the park with just my iPod and am able to brave sitting by myself in a lecture (usually to mine and others’ benefit). I have days where I don’t plan what I’m doing: wander, explore, find a little coffee shop, read for an hour, and wander some more. Going to art exhibitions with other people stresses me out, and I can’t shop to my heart’s content when someone else is trying to drag me into a store I have no interest in entering. Long train journeys are definitely only enjoyable when I’m in my own company, and yes, I probably would go to a gig on my own if no one else wanted to go. This is the hopeless romantic, head-in-the-clouds part of me talking – obviously I’m aware that not everyone wants to spend their average Sunday gazing admirably at Grayson Perry’s tapestries – but it seems few young people fly solo. Despite being independent students, it seems that many of us have real issues with doing things by themselves.

Second-year student Rosie* openly admits that she has dependency issues at university, much more so than she does at home. She says: “I only feel satisfied with my student life if I’m surrounded by friends. When I came to Manchester, I felt so lonely, that until I made close friendships I seriously considered dropping out. Now, I’ve developed a fear that when I am on my own, those feelings of isolation and depression will return. You will never catch me on a bus on my lonesome, and I will definitely never, ever even contemplate taking a solitary trip to Sainsbury’s. I know loads of people who are the same; I think that for students, popularity is a dominant sign of just how happy your student life is”. But on the other hand, fresher Mark* believes that the move to uni has made him more independent than ever. “I’m not afraid to go anywhere alone in Manchester, which is a stark contrast to how I was at home and sixth form, when I wouldn’t dream of wandering around without a crowd of mates. Now, I love going to explore the city in solitude, and I even go to football matches alone. Coming to university has definitely made me realise how comfortable I am in myself”.

Our generation is also increasingly succumbing to losing themselves in the relationship trap. The O.C. star Olivia Wilde said in an interview after her pending divorce: “I think it’s very healthy to spend time alone. You need to know how to be alone and not be defined by another person.” The fact that over half of Tumblr users believe this quote was said by Oscar Wilde suggests its profundity (or maybe ‘digital dementia’ generation’s gullibility) but snaps for Olivia, I wholly agree. We all have friends that we’ve lost, sometimes temporarily, other times permanently, to a relationship. They become totally dependent on this one individual, revolve everything around them and completely forget how they coped previously. The romantic in me smiles for them, happy that they’ve found happiness. But the realist me is wary: as cut throat as it sounds, you are the only person you can really trust.

Everyone is needy sometimes. I’m not suggesting we should distance ourselves from our friends and relationships. I simply believe that young people should learn to accept being alone every so often and find respite in their own company. You’re more likely to be sure of whom you are and what you want when you’re not constantly influenced by other people. Remember, as one wise woman of the 21st century (aka Sex and the City’s Samantha Jones) once said, the longest relationship you will ever have is with yourself, so that is ultimately the one you should work on.

The perfect cheeseboard

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in News.

Welcome back readers! This week our eclectic wine column is being hijacked by a few good amateurs of dairy products: they are intent on deciphering the long concealed art behind the festive season’s cheese board.
Constructing a cheese board is just like playing Jenga, all it takes is one wrong piece or clumsy move and the whole show tumbles down like a block of wooden bricks, leaving you red faced with burning embarrassment in front of your distinguished guests. Here are a few tips on how to avoid looking like one of Pocahontas’ tribesmen at the dinner table, before desert…
Cheese boards are exactly like company boards, on them you will have the smelly, the extravagant, the exotic, the local, the mature and the milder personalities, those with character and those who are bland and the blander…
The centerpiece of your cheese board is essential. Every other slice of cheese will revolve around it. Therefore you have to weigh the pros and cons of placing a cheese that is a little extravagant such as a true French Roquefort. It is a strong, pungent and fierce blue cheese, mentioned in Pliny the Elder’s writings in AD 79. However remember that you can only have so many strong blue cheeses on your festive season’s board, therefore choose wisely between your English Stilton, Italian Gorgonzola and the fames French Roquefort.
Coveting the centerpiece like bankers do bonuses will be your second class of cheeses. This will usually be an opportunity to whisk in something with a particularly striking taste but not necessarily pungent. Camembert, made from un-pasteurized milk, has such a character trait as does a Brie de Meaux. Naturally if you’ve had enough of those frog-eating French then there is always the option to bring out a lesser known British or other continental soft cheese. However in soft cheese we are still referring to those which are firmly cut with a butter knife and not scooped up with a spoon like vanilla and pistachio ice cream on a hot summer’s day. Therefore Mascarpone is out of the question, Madame Loic is a decent choice however it is perhaps a little too soft in texture and could never seriously be placed on your cheese board. As it’s nearly Christmas, Toffee apple cheddar would make a fine addition but then again so would Snowdonian cheese (Welsh) and usually Wensleydale’s cranberries can be replaced by nuts or even berries if you should be so fortunate to find it…
Then arriveth the pawns, the cheeses you place in strategic spots to distract your friends with while you cut generously into the centerpiece and the upper second class. Pawns is not demeaning to this last class of cheese, it merely highlights the fact that they would be more accessible and lack that magic aura. Enter the gruyeres! These can be both salty and soft, either way they are perfect in their hard nature and definitely a must have. The same can be said of Comté, a fainter softer type of French cheese which ravages the desert course of many a dinner party. In this category you can throw in some pickled onion with whatever decent cheddar catches your eye. If you are going all pickled onion though, then extra mature cheddar will compensate the acid nature of your vinegar soaked vegetables. Dutch red Gouda and Belgian ‘Bruges’, the latter stronger and more characterful than the former, are two other cheeses which would make fine additions to your cheese board.
Finally, if you have anything else lurking around in your fridge or you’re feeling particularly banterous then you can demonstrate it through babybel. We always laugh at babybel but it remains,
unexpectedly, a quite popular cheese as people enjoy peeling off the red wax and tasting the bland industrial nature of mass industrial production.
In any case, it is down to you and your measly student allowance to find the perfect balance. Piecing together a cheese board is in the end, an art, so if you cannot learn it – just copy furiously and hope that the plagiarism police isn’t on campus that day.

Top 5 second-hand bookshops

Written by Annie Muir on . Posted in Books.

1. Didsbury Village Bookshop (at the back of Art of Tea café )

Eat cake in the warm café and then go through the back door into the Narnia of books. The sheer quantity and quality of the books here make up for the slightly higher prices and seeming disorganisation (the man sitting in the armchair is ready to help you with any questions).

47 Barlow Moor Road, Didsbury Village

2. Paramount Books

This local gem is hidden behind the Arndale, next door to the megabus coach station. Allow yourself to be lured in by the loud classical music played on speakers outside the shop and spend hours modelling the art books on the sofa by the window. Beware: it’s only open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

25-27 Shudehill

3. Oxfam Withington

Charity shops are the cheapest places for second-hand books. Pop into your local charity shop on a Saturday morning and you will be sure to find something for a pound.

465 Wilmslow Road, Withington

 4. E. J. Morten Booksellers

Wander off down a little cobbled street and into the past. The shop opened in 1959, and John Morten has run the business since 1986. It specialises in 19th- and 20th-century military history studies, as well as travel and sporting books.

6 Warburton Street, Didsbury

5. Oxfam Whitworth Park

There’s another Oxfam, just under our noses, opposite the Stopford building. This one is famous for its cheap second hand textbooks that were too heavy to carry back on the train after graduation, and reading-list books that might have some helpful notes left by the previous owner.

300-302 Oxford Road

Ethical Gifts

Written by Maddy Hubbard on . Posted in News.

All these lists in the national papers of gifts for foodies are great, but if we’re honest who really needs a £50 apron or £250 knife? Sometimes it’s nice to think of things that are not only useful, practical gifts but also make you feel good about giving or receiving them. Sure, it’s a bit of a cliche in 2013 to talk about locally-produced food, box-ticking for the latest trendy cafe in Northern Quarter that wants to create a certain image for itself, but what if you knew your purchases were really ethical and local, as well as being useful things that someone will really appreciate and enjoy? I’ve been looking for great gifts produced in and around Manchester, and here are my top 3:

No 1:

A cookbook that is so rooted in the North West you should read it aloud in a Mancunian accent

‘Crispy Squirrel and Vimto Trifle’ by Rob Owen Brown, £11.99

Rob is one of my favourite chefs. Northern to his core, he cooks at the Mark Addy – a fabulous pub in Salford, down by the canal opposite the People’s History Museum. His book is the first from a new publishing company which wants to profile local people, and is full of beautiful photography, mouth-watering recipes (with a few slightly challenging-sounding ones using tripe thrown in as well) and really funny anecdotes. It’s a wonderful way to feel connected to the food heritage of the area and also supporting a great new publishing business which is raising the cultural profile of the North West.

No 2:

The Christmas hamper for the animal lover

Black Dog Deli’s Hamper, £45

We’ve all heard of Black Dog Ballroom, perhaps even gone bowling at Dog Bowl, but did you know that this mini-empire now have a deli as well? Their hamper provides a lovely selection of luxuries to excite any foodie, including delicious, grassy spanish olive oil, piquant olives and flavoursome risotto kits. Best of all, £5 from each hamper goes to a dog charity, making it an ethical as well as gastronomic gift.

No 3:

The veg box for the eco-foodie, £6 p/w

A lovely gift for someone who wants to turn each week into a muddy version of the Masterchef invention test. The Food Co-op has been running for over a year now, providing students with locally-sourced, organic veg boxes that contain more veggies than you could possibly get through in a week (although I’m sure it would be very good for you to try)! This gift could not only fend off hunger pangs during the last few weeks of term when loans are running out, but also supports a brilliant student-run society. Win-win!

Rosalie’s Cheesecake

Written by Maddy Hubbard on . Posted in Food & Drink.

This is another family recipe I wanted to share. Rosalie is my uncle-by-marriage’s mother, a wonderful Jewish lady whose recipes I have recreated many times over the years. Her cheesecake is the best I have ever tasted, and although I don’t have much of a sweet tooth I can’t resist it.

For the base:

9-10 digestive biscuits

1 oz butter

For the filling:

1 lb curd cheese (you can get this cheaply from the deli counter, although use cream cheese if you must)

8 oz caster sugar

2 eggs

For the topping:

1/2 pint sour cream

1 and 1/2 tbsp caster sugar

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Crush the biscuits and mix with the melted butter. Press into the base of a spring-form cake tin.

Preheat the oven to 180C

Mix the ingredients for the filling well and pour onto the base. Bake for 30 mins.

Raise the temperature of the oven to 200C. Mix the ingredients for the topping, pour over the cheesecake and return it to the oven for 5 mins.

Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake to cool inside it.

50 shades of grey

Written by Natalie Clark on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

Featured image credit: Instagram @stellarbambii

For decades, the fateful discovery of that first grey hair is, for men and women alike, undesirable. Refusing to accept our findings, we banished and plucked them, resisted and hid them, denied and dyed them. Up until now, grey hair has not been the most prominent of accessories. You don’t see boxes of ‘Silver Grey’ lining the supermarket aisles, nestled confidently between ‘Dark Cocoa Brown’ and ‘Golden Honey Blonde.’ Neither did you often hear someone asking their hair stylist for a nice charcoal tint to cover their tresses. It is only recently that grey hair has surprisingly sparked the latest trend.

 

Image credit: Instagram @missmolliemooo

Of course, we have always had our glorious ‘Silver Foxes’; having made grey look dashing for years. We’re looking to you Clooney. ‘McSteamy’ or Eric Dane (former Grey’s Anatomy star) has been simultaneously making ladies melt and rocking the salt-and-pepper-do, whilst Richard Gere’s gentleman good-looks have been getting better with each grey strand.

 

Image credit: Instagram @tashitechno

What about the women? Hollywood stars like Helen Mirren, Judi Dench and Meryl Streep have long been flying the ‘au-natural’ flag; their snowy bobs highlighting their feminine and natural beauty. But, it is the younger generation that is speeding up the greying process, on purpose. Rihanna recently dyed her black locks dark slate, proclaiming on Instagram, ‘gray is the new black.’ Other young celebrities like Kelly Osbourne, Nicole Richie, Ellie Goulding and Little Mix’s Perrie Edwards have all given the ‘Silver Look’ a test-run, and have received many mixed reviews. From some wondering why one would ever try to look old, to others believing that grey is the next ‘thinking-out-of-the-box’ revelation in hair colour, the debate continues as to whether this trend is here to stay. Developments have already been made, with the likes of Osbourne and Edwards blending in subtle violet and pink tones to their blank silver canvas. So will we soon see Oxford Road swarming with a sea of grey hues? Will the Learning Commons suddenly appear to be a new old people’s home? We’re going grey just thinking about it…

 

Image credit: Instagram @cstrug

Granary Bread Recipe

Written by Maddy Hubbard on . Posted in Food & Drink.

This recipe comes from my godmother Mary, who is a phenomenal cook. Going to her house is amazing – she measures her cookbooks by the yard (and apparently they’ve all been left to me in her will!), and she’s a brilliant source of cooking tips and interesting new flavour combinations. But it’s the basics that come in handy most often, and this is a fool-proof bread recipe. While I’m not going to lie and say it’s cheaper to bake your own (particularly when you take energy costs into account), nevertheless it’s an incredibly satisfying thing to do, and you can be sure the result is healthy, tasty and fresh, unlike the horrible cheap bread you can get in the supermarket. I definitely recommend giving this a go, especially if you need stress releif – the combination of kneading out your frustrations and getting to eat fresh bread slathered in butter is pretty magic at calming frazzled nerves!

1 tsp easy blend yeast (Mary recommends the brand ‘Doves Farm’)

450g granary flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp honey

1 tbsp sunflower oil

270ml warm water

 

Put the yeast, flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Dissolve the honey in 100ml warm water then add 200ml of cold water to it. Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour the water into it. Add the oil and mix gradually, using a spoon and then your hands.

Flour a surface (and your hands) and knead the dough for 10 mins, before putting it into a lightly oiled bowl, covered with a tea towel, and leaving it for 2 hours in a warm place or overnight in the fridge.

After waiting for this, knock all the air out of the dough, knead it breifly and roll it into a sausage shape. Put it into a greased loaf tin, seam side down, and cover until doubled in size.

Bake at 200C (or 220C if you don’t have a fan oven) for 15-20 mins, then turn the oven down by 30C for another 15-20 mins. Leave to cool before eating if you can wait, because otherwise it could give you a stomach ache, then enjoy with lots of butter.

Live: Eddi Reader

Written by Elizabeth Gibson on . Posted in Music.

1st November

RNCM

10/10

Seeing Scottish singer’/songwriter Eddi Reader live for the first time promises to be a fascinating experience and the small theatre at the RNCM also allows it to be an intimate one.

We are first introduced to her warm-up act, Irish singer/songwriter Kieran Goss, who performs several simple yet pretty songs. ‘That’s What Love is For’ is particularly nice.

Eddi and her band enter to cheers. She addresses the crowd with affection and charm, telling lengthy and endearing anecdotes before every song. She is so sweet and earnest, it is impossible not to be entranced by her personality, let alone her musical talent – and that talent is striking. She and her band are a smooth outfit, completely in tune with one another. Her voice is sumptuous, and she loses herself in every song, letting it take her over, often dancing with contagious passion.

‘Dragonflies’, a popular choice in the house to judge by the noise when she announces it, is particularly lovely, as are ‘Galileo’ and ‘Married to the Sea’. The latter, about a man asking the sea to be his wife, is not only gorgeous but an interesting experiment as it was originally written and performed by a young man, Declan O’Rourke, and as Eddi herself says, it’s interesting to hear it sung by a middle-aged woman, the voice of the sea.

She performs her best known song and crowd-pleaser ‘Perfect’, yet the night without it would have been equally good. Her biggest hit isn’t needed to make the show complete, and I think that says worlds about her as a performer.

I meet her after the show and she is lovely. I feel privileged to have encountered this unique person, voice and attitude to life and music.

Live: Queens of the Stone Age

Written by Bernadette Chapman on . Posted in Music.

20th November

Phones4U Arena

9/10

Queens of the Stone Age have done a lot of touring with their new album, …Like Clockwork.But if they were fed up of playing I couldn’t tell, and we’re certainly not fed up of hearing. Starting off with an old-time film-style countdown of sixty quite exciting seconds, Queens of the Stone Age began with ‘You Think I Ain’t Worth a Dollar. But I Feel Like a Millionaire’ and from the start everyone was jumping.

They filled the set with tracks from their newest effort, the hearing of which instigated equal delight in the audience as older songs such as ‘Burn the Witch’ with its stomping, glam rock guitar. With an audacious amount of infectiously sing-a-long-able riffs, Queens of the Stone Age are talented song writers, with, as Josh Homme commented in a recent interview, songs for both the boys and the girls.

The new ‘I Appear Missing’ came embellished, and urged the crowd to spin along with the stretched out final bars which rolled further than on record, and the ridiculously catchy ‘No One Knows’ had plenty going on to dance to. When the deliciously sleazy ‘Make It Wit Chu’ was played, it was slow dance heaven. Despite the presence of so many people, the purring vocals made it feel entirely personal. As a front man, Homme is one sexy bastard with plenty of charisma to make a two hour set seem like ten minutes and leave everyone wanting more.

Initially worrying was the venue due to its size and the presence of advertising banners all over the shop, yet the choice was inevitable and Queens of the Stone Age had no problem filling the huge space with sound. They have the complexity of song writing which is at once glam, scuzzy, melodious, and trippy, with little references like ‘Kalopsia’s’ shoo-wop from an old Flamingoes record, that means they could play in a fucking bin and I’d love it. I won’t get fed up of hearing them any time soon.

Album: Jonathan Wilson – Fanfare

Written by Jamie Bulman on . Posted in Music.

Released 14th October

Downton Records

9/10

‘Ambitious’ is the  word that sums up Jonathan Wilson’s second album. The entire record is a barefaced tribute to Wilson’s diverse influences, ranging from 60s folk and psychedelia to 70s and 80s funk and prog-rock. It treads the right side of pastiche with cameos from David Crosby, Graham Nash and Jackson Browne confirming Wilson’s sincere devotion to Laurel Canyon’s rich musical heritage.

California’s Laurel Canyon is the famous home of 60s icons such as Jim Morrison, The Mamas and Papas, The Byrds, Crosby, Stills and Nash and Buffalo Springfield. Wilson is the natural heir to this heritage of Californian folk-rock, and in the last five years he has revitalised the scene. By introducing many of these eminent 60s artists to young musicians and producers at hazy jam sessions at his studio he has updated and revived Californian psychedelia. He has also produced many of these young musicians’ records, including Dawes and Father John Misty, the latter of whom also appears on Fanfare.

The album opens with a soft crescendo that fizzles into a crashing string ‘Fanfare’, as promised by the first track’s title. This bold opening segues into the album’s single ‘Dear Friend’. This track has a real prog-rock vibe and one of the finest guitar solos I’ve heard since Gilmour’s scorcher on ‘Comfortably Numb’, in contrast to the gentle counterpoint of the chorus.

Other notable songs include ‘Cecil Taylor’, which culminates in an abstract skat vocal breakdown featuring David Crosby and Graham Nash. ‘The Illuminations’ is a dark and haunting symphony, which could almost be a hidden track on Dark Side of the Moon. Performed and produced exclusively and painstakingly by Wilson, it is a real testament to his creativity.

The cover of psychedelic legends Sopwith Camel’s ‘Fazon’ was the track that really won me over with its infectiously funky groove that veers towards the sublimely ridiculous.

‘Love to Love’ is the only weak point in this otherwise flawless album. The writing sounds like Springsteen in his heyday, though Wilson’s vocals fail to match up to Brucey’s anthemic intensity.

Despite this, and whether you’re a sixties buff or not, Jonathan Wilson has fingers in enough tasty pies for there to be something for everyone on this album. He’s set to be a major player in years to come, and his show at Gorilla on the 28th not to be missed!

Career Corner: Olivia Barker

Written by Moya Crockett on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Olivia graduated from the University of Manchester in 2011, with a BA(Hons) in Economics. She currently works as the UK director for Kids Club Kampala.

Tell us a bit about Kids Club Kampala.

We are a charity working in the slums of Kampala, Uganda, aiming to bring hope and love to vulnerable children. We work to empower children and parents from disadvantaged communities through different development projects and supporting their basic needs.  KCK currently works in 16 different centres in and around Kampala, reaching over 4000 children and families, with a team of over 60 dedicated Ugandan volunteers helping in their local communities every week. Projects currently include Children’s Activities, Feeding Programmes, Clothing Projects, a School Sponsorship Programme, Women’s Initiatives, Community Development programmes, Agricultural Projects, a Music and Dance project and a Football League.

What are your main responsibilities in your current role?

Fundraising, recruiting and training volunteers, undertaking publicity, communications and social media, budgeting, and writing funding proposals and applications to grants and trusts for support.  ·

Did you know you wanted to work in Uganda before you graduated?

Before I started at the University of Manchester in September 2008, I’d spent several months living in Uganda during a gap year programme, working mainly in schools. One day a friend invited me to go into the slums of Kampala to meet the children and the community there. I was heartbroken to see the situations they were living in, and went back every week to play with the kids, feed them, and to try to help them in some way.   After I left Uganda, my Ugandan friends continued this work and I sent some money to help. I went back to Uganda in the summer after my first year of uni and realized that something needed to be done – money had run out, but the volunteers desperately wanted to continue this work and so did the kids.  I tried contacting other organisations in the UK and Uganda to help these children, but none were interested so we realized that we had to do something ourselves. In June 2009 I set up the charity Kids Club Kampala, to bring hope and love to these children living in desperate situations in the slums of Kampala.  When we began, we were working with 200 children in one slum community, but over four years KCK has grown to reach over 4000 children in 16 different communities throughout Uganda!

Until March this year, I ran KCK in my spare time – undertaking lots and lots of fundraising, organising volunteers, publicizing and raising awareness about the charity, and travelling out to Uganda myself at least once a year. In Uganda we have a great team of over 60 Ugandan volunteers who give up their time every week to help their local communities.  But since winning some funding from Vodafone, I’ve been able to work for Kids Club Kampala full time.

How has your degree helped you in your career?

I studied BA Econ, specialising in Development Studies, and I also did my dissertation in Development Studies. I learned a lot about International Development, theories of development, and also practical skills such as project monitoring and evaluation – as well as learning a lot about myself and my own interests and passions.

After graduation, I got a job working for an International Development Consultancy company and having my degree from Manchester definitely helped me to secure the role. However, I still spent most of my spare time running Kids Club Kampala in the UK, and spent all of my money and annual leave on going out to Uganda which is my real passion.

What would you say has been your greatest achievement to date?

Being selected as one of the winners of the Vodafone World of Difference Awards, which has funded me to work full-time for Kids Club Kampala. It’s a dream come true.

What advice would you give to someone thinking of pursuing a similar career route?

I was very involved with numerous societies when I was at Manchester, particularly Student Action, which played a huge part in my life as a student. You have to have a passion for what you’re doing, and be incredibly determined to succeed. It was very hard at times running a small charity with no money in my spare time whilst at uni, and then when working full-time. But I knew that I needed to help these children, and that’s what kept me going.

For more information about Kids Club Kampala, visit kidsclubkampala.org.

 With thanks to Rosie Haynes at the University of Manchester Alumni Association. 

For careers advice, visit careers.manchester.ac.uk.

Review: Dom Hemingway

Written by Tom Bruce on . Posted in Film.

Hard living safe cracker Dom Hemingway (Law) is set loose in London after a 12 year prison sentence. Pairing up with best friend Dickie (Grant), Dom seeks out financial reward for his loyalty to underworld boss Mr. Fontaine (Bichir).   

‘’Crazy night, last night. Dickie lost a glove and everything.’’

Jude Law spent a summer ‘saying yes’ to every substance and snack that came his way to prepare himself for the role of titular Dom Hemingway; he had to work hard to look that bad. Law went method and much to the shock of director Richard Shepard he even refused to wear ‘the sock’ while filming naked on the set of the London based gangster flick (‘Cock, Sock and Two Smoking Barrels’?)

The film begins with foul mouthed, epithet spouting Dom receiving a sexual favour in prison whilst rather ironically pronouncing his masculinity and marvelling at his own genitalia. Dom has spent twelve years in prison after a safe-cracking job went wrong and he refused to testify against crime lord Evan Fontaine, in spite of his family’s pleading. His ignorance of current affairs (unaware smoking in pubs was banned, only rapper he knows is Afrikaa Bambataa) is indicative of the lack of visitors he received during his period of incarceration. Once free, Dom seeks out underworld contact- and only friend – Dickie (Richard E. Grant). A meeting is arranged with the dangerous Mr. Fontaine, (Demian Bichir) who is very much in Dom’s debt- something the incorrigible Dom intends to capitalise on.

Dom Hemmingway is a film of two halves: the first is a stylishly shot character study of a broken man who thinks he’s still on top, while the fast paced script squeezes in plenty of outlandish, hilarious and surreal profanities. The second half devolves into a bizarrely soppy and upbeat redemption tale, as if Love Actually’s Richard Curtis was shipped in to replace director Richard Shepard. Over acting, cat loving gangsters and an unforgiveable coincidental encounter (which seemed for certain to be a dream sequence) will bore you silly.

Jude Law’s performance as sleaze-bag Dom is interesting, a world away from his prudish turn in last year’s Anna Karenina. His silver- tongued slurs and geezerish faux-confidence make him feel like some kind of Russell Brand/Danny Dyer hybrid. Emilia Clarke is wasted in a limited role as Dom’s distrustful daughter and Richard E. Grant –(who should get more work) exists only to facilitate Dom’s soliloquising.

Including yours truly, the first public screening of Dom Hemingway in Manchester had just five attendees, which does not bode well for its box office takings. The tiny audience is actually rather fitting of the man himself; he will put on a show so long as there’s one person watching. In conclusion, Jude Law is pretty good but you should save your money and see Gravity, The Counsellor or Don Qui Gon- Jon instead.

★★

All Student Vote cancelled after admin error

Written by Jonathan Breen on . Posted in News.

A Student referendum had to be cancelled after the Students’ Union failed to uphold the guidelines dictating its publication last month.

The University of Manchester Students’ Union’s Returning Officer Emma Powell, who is responsible for the good conduct and administration of UMSU referendums, put a stop to the recent All Student Vote after a complaint was made by a student.

All Student Votes are required to be publicised no less than 10 working days before the vote is to take place, in order to allow students adequate time to create a campaign either for or against an issue. The vote in question was published 10 working days before hand, but with a typing error showing the dates for voting as October 22-29, rather than November 22-29. The referendum also had no “Abstain” vote on the ballot, as required.

Returning Officer Powell said in a statement, “Having considered the points raised by the complainant, I have ruled that, as the Formal Notice was not both comprehensive and accurate for at least 10 working days before polling began and that there was no “Abstain” option on the ballot, that these All Student Votes are not valid and will be stopped immediately and should be rerun with full and accurate formal notice at the next appropriate opportunity and with the ‘Abstain’ option added on the ballot.”

The vote will be re-run alongside the Executive Officer elections in March 2014, the time of the next scheduled All Student Vote, the Union confirmed on Friday November 29.

The cancelled All Student Vote had four questions; should students with British passports who have spent the last three years living abroad pay home student tuition fees? Should the University provide merit-based scholarships to international undergraduate students? Should all expiring Student’s Union policy automatically be resubmitted and put forward to Assembly? Should the Students’ Union create a rep council and merge its Assemblies?

Physics PhD student Joseph Clough, who made the complaint to the Union, told The Mancunion, “The All Student Vote should be all student in nature as well as name.

“The [vote] had not been communicated effectively prior to, and during, it taking place meaning that very few students were aware the votes were taking place and there was little possibility of effective campaign teams being able to be formed.

“If the all student vote had been allowed to continue, it would have been unfair and undemocratic and not engaged the students who belong to the Union.”

University staff to stage second strike

Written by Dan Harold on . Posted in News.

University academics and support staff will strike this week as part of a second day of action in the ongoing row over pay.

Members of the three campus trade unions – Unison, Unite, and the University and College Union – will walk out on Tuesday in protest at the employers’ pay offer of a one per cent increase.

Union members and students first took strike action on 31 October, in protest at the pay offer, which unions say would mean a fourth year in a row that university staff have been hit by below inflation rises.

Unite officer for education Mike McCartney, said, “The employers have refused to budge from their hard line in refusing to recognise the contribution that the workforce makes to the excellent global reputation that Britain’s universities currently enjoy.

“We hope that this latest strike will drive home the determination of our members to achieve a fair pay deal and focus the minds of the employers that they need to get around the table promptly to negotiate in a constructive and positive manner.”

The Universities and Colleges Employers Association, which represents higher education institutions, said that while the announcement is disappointing it “continued to be clear that, given the challenging and uncertain operating environment, the one per cent pay uplift is a good and sustainable offer and is at the limit of affordability.”

A spokesperson for the UCEA added that the assocation “continues to say that it is willing to talk to the disputing trade unions.”

UCU head of higher education Michael MacNeil, said, “We remain committed to trying to resolve this dispute and the employers now have until 3 December to sit down and positively engage with the unions.

“If they don’t, then our members and those from our sister unions will be out on strike again, as well as continuing to work to contract.”

Foreign student recruitment agencies to be scrutinised

Written by Aidan Gregory on . Posted in News.

Recruitment agents hired by UK universities to recruit international students will be vetted under new plans by the government.

Agents will be made to sign a new ‘code of practice’, undertake regular assessments, and will have to obtain a professional accreditation before they can start work. The British Council will then keep a database, and monitor their conduct.

These changes come after The Daily Telegraph discovered that overseas agents were bragging to prospective students that they could secure them places at UK universities, even with worse A level grades than British students.

Kevin Van-Cauter, the International Higher Education Advisor to the British Council, said, “We do not accredit education agents or agencies but we hope the global trained agents database and roll-out of the advanced training will add greater assurance to institutions that they are getting the best possible services when it comes to international student recruitment.”

He went on further to say that “International students make a tremendous academic, cultural and economic contribution to the UK, and our research suggests that the number of mobile students globally will continue to grow over the next decade – making the need for better quality agents who support that mobility process greater than ever.”

International students are well known as a lucrative market for UK universities, because under the current regulations they are able to charge them in excess of the £9000 cap imposed on UK/EU students. More than 488,000 come to the UK to study each year, and the government expects that the numbers are going to continue to rise.

Last year research demonstrated that over 51,000 students were recruited by foreign organisations, and UK universities had paid these organisations over £220 million to recruit international students. Newcastle University alone spent £2.2 million.

Manchester student profiles uploaded to Ratemash

Written by Aidan Gregory on . Posted in News.

Dozens of University of Manchester students have had their Facebook profile pictures uploaded, without their consent, to the controversial new site Ratemash.

The website, which uses Facebook to get students from 138 UK universities to rank each others pictures based on “hotness”, has taken 150,000 images from the social networking site. It promises “modelling contracts, access to top nightclubs, party invitations, free alcohol, spa vouchers and cash if you are in the top 50”.

It also claims to “sort out your nightlife”, by “giving you access to the coolest clubs and parties in town”.

Following an expose by The Huffington Post, there has been an outpouring of criticism from students across the country, and Facebook have confirmed that the site is now under investigation. .

The National Union of Students has described the website as an “appalling invasion of students’ privacy”.

Colum McGuire, NUS Vice President for Welfare, said, “it is concerning to hear that students appear to be featured on this website unknowingly or without their consent. If this is true it would be a gross invasion of privacy. Those who have been featured without being asked should immediately contact the website owners and ask to be removed”.

Andy Shortland, studying Accounting, has found himself uploaded to the “top 50 hottest guys of all time at the University of Manchester”.

He told The Mancunion, “I was pretty shocked about it to be honest”.

Shortland had heard about the site following the expose by The Huffington Post, and on discovering that ratemash.com had used his profile without asking, he “didn’t really know what to think. It’s very very odd”

He now wants his profile to be taken down, but said “every time I’ve tried their website, the server has crashed. I’ve signed up and there’s no way to delete.

“It’s just not really very cool at all”.

Manchester Wetherspoons in homophobia row

Written by Pippa Allen-Kinross on . Posted in News.

A Wetherspoons in Manchester has come under fire for refusing service to a group of gay men.

The men were allegedly told twice by a barmaid “I know what you queers are like”. She then told them they were not wanted and threatened to call the police.

The incident occurred after the three men entered the Piccadilly branch at 7:30 a.m. to get breakfast after working at a venue on Canal Street.

The men reported the incident to the police, and the barmaid was questioned but released without charge.

A spokesperson for Wetherspoons told Mancunian Matters: “The member of staff serving them believed one member of the group to be intoxicated.

“After conducting an investigation into the matter, we are satisfied that the decision to refuse service was not based on the sexual orientation of the individuals concerned.

“In the conversation that followed the initial refusal of service both the group and member of staff made reference to the sexuality of the customers but  this was not intended on the member of staff’s behalf to be in any way offensive and we apologise if it was considered so.”

Matt Bonilla, 23, one of the men refused service, told Mancunian Matters: “This whole episode will make us a bit more cautious about where we go to eat or drink around Manchester in future.

“We certainly won’t be going in this Wetherspoons again.

“All we wanted in the first place was an apology and it’s just annoying that it takes it to get to this point for a major company like Wetherspoons to bother saying sorry.”

A spokesperson for Wetherspoons said, “Until we have spoken with those concerned we are unable to give a fuller account. We guarantee it will be investigated.”

Shock as “joke” candidate becomes president of Oxford Students’ Union

Written by Pippa Allen-Kinross on . Posted in News.

Louis Trup wrote a ‘personifesto’ in crayon – declaring that a ‘manifesto’ would be sexist – and promised a monorail, world peace and double beds for all.

He also suggested that people vote for him because “I often wear flip flops”.

However, the unusual campaign won over his fellow students, as he received 700 more votes than his nearest rival.

Perhaps none were so surprised as Trup himself, who was in a university bar when he heard the news, and shouted “what the f*** just happened?”

Despite performing a spoof country song whilst wearing devil horns instead of giving a speech at the central hustings, there appears to be a serious side behind Trup’s less than serious campaign.

In an article for The Oxford Student before the election, Trup wrote: “I am clearly not a careerist – a quick Google search of my name will show how unlikely I am to ever get a job anywhere where there is widely available internet access.  That’s good.

“OUSU positions should not be seen as stepping stones. We should have fun students working for fun students, not un-fun student politicians working towards a cosy Labour seat in 20 years.”

He also spoke of his commitment to ensuring enough aid is given to those needing support with mental health issues, arguing: “OUSU should be spending money on hiring more university councillors, sending them to every college, and creating ‘admiral welfares’ to look after the peer-supporters and welfare reps, not infantilising welfare with petting zoos and mug painting.

“I still can’t believe people call me the ‘joke candidate’.”

Trup will no doubt be hoping to increase the popularity of OUSU, which came bottom for student satisfaction in this summer’s National Student Survey.

40 years for murderer of MMU lecturer and family

Written by Pippa Allen-Kinross on . Posted in News.

A businessman has been sentenced to life with a minimum sentence of 40 years for murdering an Manchester Metropolitan University lecturer and his family in a revenge attack.

Anxiang Du, 54, was found guilty of stabbing to death Jifeng “Jeff” Ding, a senior lecturer in the Division of Chemical and Environmental Science at Manchester Metropolitan University, along with his wife Helen Chui and daughters Xing (also known as ‘Nancy’), 18, and Alice, 12.

Although Du initially pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, the jury found him guilty of four counts of murder.

Senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Tom Davies, said: “Today we have seen justice done.

“This was a heinous crime, committed by a man who knew what he was doing and went with a plan to kill an entire family in cold blood.”

He added, “While the result today has been successful, we remain sorrowful and cannot lose sight of the fact that a family, including two very talented young girls, had their lives tragically taken away from them.”

During the trial, the jury heard that Du had travelled to the Ding’s family home in Northampton on 29th April 2011, the day of the Royal Wedding, and “massacred” them.

Du demanded money from Jeff Ding before stabbing him a total of 23 times. When his wife Helen tried to stop the attack Du stabbed her 13 times.

After hearing a noise upstairs, Du proceeded to one of the bedrooms where Xing was stabbed 11 times and 12 year old Alice was stabbed four times, including once to the heart.

Du then slept for a short time in the house before stealing the family car.

After fleeing the country, Du was found in Morocco in July 2012 and extradited back to Britain to stand trial.

Du and his wife had been business partners with the Ding’s, opening a herbal medicine shop together in 1999. However, in 2001 Du was accused of stealing money from the business, leading to a series of bitter court disputes.

Helped by their friend Paul Delaney, the Ding’s won the court battle against the Dus, leaving Anxiang and his wife with a bill of £88,000.

The day before the murders, Mr Delaney’s solicitor delivered an injunction to the Dus, freezing their assets.

During the trial, prosecuting counsel, William Harbage QC, said: “Du made a plan and carried it out with ruthless efficiency.

“Having massacred the Ding family, he stole their car and went looking for Paul Delaney. Fortunately for Mr Delaney, Du did not find him.”

Mr Delaney has since died of natural causes.

Earlier in the trial, the playing of a 999 call from the mobile phone of Xing Ding, an A-level student who had secured a place to study medicine at university, caused several members of the jury to wipe tears from their eyes as they listened to the screams of both girls before the line went dead.

Sentencing Du, Mr Justice Flaux said: “There can be no doubt that this was savage butchery on your part.

“Not content with the slaughter of the parents downstairs, you then went upstairs to the back bedroom where the two Ding girls were cowering.

“It is apparent from the fact that Nancy’s mobile made the 999 call, that they had heard what was happening downstairs and she was frantically trying to ring the police for help.

“At that moment it seems you came into the room and within a short period of time you had also murdered those poor defenceless girls.

“It is clear from their terrible haunting screams on the 999 call that it was during that call that you murdered them.

“Alice, who was only 12, was on her bed, curled up, no doubt in a futile attempt to get away from you. There was no struggle.”

Mr Justice Flaux defended his decision not to give Du a whole life order, citing a recent European Court of Human Rights ruling that such orders breach human rights.

At the time of the murders, a spokesperson for Manchester Metropolitan University said that the university was “shocked and saddened” by the news, describing Jeff Ding as “a popular and dedicated member of staff.”

They said:  “Jeff will be very sadly missed by all his colleagues in the Division of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, all our staff, students and his friends at Manchester Metropolitan University and by the wider academic and research communities.”

Two men jailed after stabbing in Fallowfield

Written by Gawain Owen on . Posted in News.

Two men have been jailed for a total of eight years and nine months after being convicted of a stabbing a man in Fallowfield last year.

The attack took place on Wilmslow Road directly opposite Revolution Bar. The two men stabbed their victim, leaving blood on the road.

The two attackers, Kemron Aberdeen and Samin Ghulamhan pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court on the 21st November.

Aberdeen admitted to Assault causing grievous bodily harm with intent, landing him with six years and nine months in prison. Ghalamhan also pleaded guilty and received a two-year sentence.

Their attack in October 2012, left a man with a stab wound to the leg and injuries to his neck.

The attackers and the victim had been attending a house party on Ladybarn Road in Fallowfield and following a dispute the situation escalated.

At 4am an officer on patrol found the victim collapsed on the main road, the road was then shut and the victim was taken to hospital for treatment to his injuries.

When established that the victim had been attending the party on Ladybarn Road, the police went to the address and identified Aberdeen and Ghalamhan as suspects. Aberdeen was found with blood on his clothing and a hand injury.

Detective Constable Matthew Smith said, “The cause of the incident appears to be a something-and-nothing argument at the party that has resulted with the victim being stabbed”.

Police have also commented on the seriousness of the incident as both attackers were carrying knives, “There was no need for things to escalate the way they did and once a weapon is brought into the equation the severity of what is happening as well as the potential consequences instantly increases”.

Whilst the victim suffered serious injuries they were not life threatening, although according to the police the attack could have resulted in a fatality.