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Month: October 2014

Three students attacked in unprovoked incident in Fallowfield

Written by Aileen Rose Duffy on . Posted in News.

Greater Manchester Police have launched an investigation in the south Manchester area after three teenagers were attacked in Fallowfield.

Detectives in the south of Manchester are looking into what happened on Saturday 4th October 2014. The trio were on their way home from a night out in Manchester at around 4am when the incident occurred.

The students got out of a taxi on Carhill Drive and walked in the general direction of Wilmslow Road.

They walked past a parked car and then a short time later two men got out of the car and violently attacked them.

They went home after the incident and on Sunday morning one of the men woke up feeling unwell. He called emergency services and was taken to hospital for treatment of a head injury.

He remains in hospital in a serious condition.

Detective Inspector John Harris, from the South Manchester division, said: “We are unclear of the events leading up to this attack which happened in the early hours of Saturday morning.

“What we do know is one man has been left seriously injured in hospital and we need the public’s help to piece together the moments before the assault.

“If you were in the area and witnessed the incident or have any information about the attack, please contact me as soon as possible.”

It is important to remember at this time of year, as the nights get darker, to ensure your safety; make sure there is someone who knows your whereabouts when going out in the evenings.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 0161 856 4973, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Manchester student putting the social in health and fitness

Written by Robert Firth on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Do you want to stay fit in winter but find that you don’t have the motivation or money to follow a fitness plan? A Manchester student may have just created the solution for you. Adam Barker, a final year Business Management student at the university has co-founded Magna Life, a fitness business which aims to make expert fitness and nutrition plans affordable for a student market.

Founded earlier this year by Adam and his friend Sean, the idea for the business grew out of a mutual interest in health and fitness, and a desire to bridge the gap between personal trainers’ often expensive fitness plans and a health conscious student market unable to afford them. Magna Life already uses a range of social media platforms to connect users and fitness experts including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The ultimate aim is the development of an app (presently in the prototype stage) to connect users and experts.

The business has already caught the attention of many fitness experts such as personal trainer Nathan Nelson who has said: “This tool has the ability to transform my business; I’m able to easily communicate with my clients and send them plans. This can be a real game changer for the whole industry.”

The app will allow personal trainers to sell their fitness plans on to users who download the app for a controlled price. For use of this service, these fitness experts pay a monthly fee to Magna Life. These so called ‘expert’ users can then keep in contact with their clients through messages and setting individual plans and goals for them to reach. The idea is that the social aspect of the app should make it harder for users to lose the motivation to stick to plans, which is often a problem when people try to follow online health plans.

Besides completing his studies and getting the app developed, Adam is keeping his sights focused on the progression of the business and is keen to get Magna Life involved in wearable technologies such as the Apple Watch and Google Glasses. Ultimately, he wants Magna Life to expand to the US market, but he is prudent, admitting “it might take us a few years to establish ourselves.” In the meantime he is looking for Magna Life to expand university-wide across the UK and is hoping to host events on various campuses to promote the app.

Since the business was only established less than six months ago, it is amazing how rapidly it has developed. Adam seems to be permanently on the move (when I spoke to him he was on the way to pitch for investment) and he will have a Kickstarter for Magna Life underway soon—in return for peoples’ donations, there will be a range of rewards available including prototype of products and merchandise. The market for fitness products is a growing one and the future of Magna Life is looking healthy and nourishing.

Like the look of the Magna Life?
For more info:
www.themagnalife.com
Facebook.com/themagnalife
Twitter + Instagram: @TheMagnaLife

TV Guide – Week 5

Written by Ben Sutton on . Posted in Film.

Following on from the boom in comic book films recently, heroes and villains are making appearances on the smaller screen. With Arrow and Agents of Shield returning for a second series, but we’re also going to see The Flash get a series and a chance to witness the rise of Commissioner Gordon in Gotham, which premieres on Channel 5 at 9pm on October 13th. It promises to not only focus around the awesome character of Gordon but unveil the debauchery and mess of Gotham’s criminal hierarchy. For a US network drama, it’s going to be surprisingly dark and sinister and could be a very good show in its own right, perhaps more than just a Batman spinoff.

South Park has returned for its 18th season and if you’re fortunate enough to have Sky, you can watch it on Comedy Central right after Gotham finishes. South Park is certainly not what it once was and now perhaps tries to be overly satirical and topical rather than being funny and quite often it doesn’t pay off. The first episode centred around the Washington Redskins and the NFL which is something that is likely to go over most UK viewers’ heads. Although perhaps not as funny as it used to be, it is still a must watch as it can poke fun at the big issues better than any other show on TV.

If you prefer kids’ TV shows then Disney XD’s Gravity Falls is coming back for a second series this month and episodes from the first series are on every day as well. Gravity Falls is set in a weird, scary town of the same name where twins Mabel and Dipper Pines are trying to uncover its cryptic secrets. The show is genius on so many levels and may quite possibly be the funniest show on television currently; there’s a joke around one corner and a demonic spirit behind the next one in this crazy little show. It develops the characters beautifully and every character is so brilliantly crafted to begin with—it’s weird and it’s wonderful and just watch it.

Album: Interpol – El Pintor

Written by Zakk Brown on . Posted in Music.

Released September 2014

Matador

6/10

Following the poorly received self- titled 2010 album and the departure of bassist Carlos Dengler, Interpol went under the radar for 4 years, returning with El Pintor, their first album as a three-piece.

The pressure on Interpol to create a worthy successor to their debut and magnum opus Turn on the Bright Lights (released in 2002), has been heavy. Although this is the best we’ve heard of the New York post-punk rockers since 2007, the struggle to deliver original material under pressure, added to by the loss of the talented Carlos D’s bass, is clear.

By no means is this a “bad” album, and it has strengths in songs like the single ‘All the Rage Back Home’, which shows there is still some creativity left in the tank with Kessler’s ethereal echo-y guitar twangs and Paul Banks’s driving, fast paced punk bass. Banks also employs a falsetto in his vocals which surprisingly works in tracks like ‘My Blue Supreme’ to create a soft melodic tone, and is a nice sigh of relief of his heavy baritone drone, found on tracks like ‘Ancient Ways’.

Other highlights include Banks showing his chops at bass in ‘Everything is Wrong’ in an infectious opening riff similar to that of Evil from their sophomore album Antics, the complimentary bass and guitar swirls of ‘Tidal Wave’, and the emotion of Banks’ wounded moans in ‘Twice as Hard’.

However, Interpol are, at the same time, trapped in a form of limbo – between trying to recapture the old sound but without Carlos D’s bass (‘My Desire’ sounds eerily similar to Our Love to Admire’s ‘All Fired Up’) and evolving to create a new sound without becoming a bland and insignificant band, which would be a massive let down following such a promising start to their career.

El Pintor does have some good moments, however it is clear that the band is desperately clutching on to their past success and seems too stubborn to let go. I pray that the trio use El Pintor as a transitional album into whatever new sound they come up with, as there are some genuinely good ideas to be found on the album. Yet there are still signs of the band trying to ride on the success of the first album and need to instead evolve and progress as a new-born three piece.

Less than one per cent of all UK Professors are black in origin

Written by Lauren Gorton on . Posted in News.

This October saw the beginning of the British celebration of Black History Month. In joining the national celebrations, the University of Manchester’s Students’ Union Black and Minority Ethnic Students’ campaign have organised a month of thought-provoking activities, with this year’s theme being to empower, enlighten and celebrate.

One such celebrated person is the University of Manchester’s own Arthur Lewis, who in joining the university in 1948 became the first black professor in the UK. In line with this, a new plaque has been unveiled for the Arthur Lewis Building in honour of its namesake and to celebrate Manchester’s proud heritage of innovation and world firsts.

Yet despite celebrations, The Guardian re-opened the student debate this month into the under-representation of black professors within academia, with statistics today still showing that out of the UK’s 18510 university professors only 85 are black in origin, working out at less than half a per cent.

At the University of Manchester specifically, the Equality and Diversity Forum Annual Report for the universities staff profiles show that Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) professors made up eight per cent of the total number of professors at the University of Manchester in 2012. This totalled at 58 BME professors, 11 of whom were women—however the general BME category covers both black and other ethnic minorities.

Further within the separate faculties of the University of Manchester, the Faculty of Humanities had the highest number of BME professors at 27, whereas the Faculty of Life Sciences had the least with only one BME professor.

Speaking to The Mancunion, Diversity Officer Tessy Maritim commented on the issue of the lack of black professors in academia, both within UK universities generally and at the University of Manchester specifically.

“I think that for a long time universities, including ours, have been complacent because it’s a difficult conversation to have. The stigma surrounding this topic needs to be broken to allow open and honest conversation to take place and this will hopefully lead to action being taken.

“Marian Wright Edelman says, ‘You can’t be what you can’t see.’ This highlights the issue [of knock-on consequences for black students] perfectly. Students from African, Arab, Asian, Caribbean and other minority backgrounds need to see themselves represented in academia in order to aspire.

“The BME attainment gap is also related to lack of representation within academia. The presence of black academics in the learning environment would make a difference on the perceptions of all students, not only those of a BME background.

“Dialogue is the first step [to tackle this problem]. We need to speak about the issue and acknowledge it. We then need to make a commitment and decide on a course of action.

“It’s not enough to celebrate the unveiling of a plaque of Arthur Lewis. We need to think about how things have changed since his time.”

As part of Black History Month, on Wednesday 15th October an academic panel discussion will take place on the related issue of the black and ethnic minority attainment gap. For information on any further events organised for this month details have been posted on the BME MCR Facebook page ‘Black History Month 2014: Empowering, Celebrating, Enlightening’.

Top 5 statement makers

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

Kylie Jenner
The Instagram of 17-year-old reality television star Kylie, has our fashion radar going crazy. From airplane outfits to magazine covers, from festivals to runways, her simplistic style lends inspiration for all occasions. Her black bralet and grunge style netted body, paired with flawless make up has us biting our nails in anticipation for her next post.

 

Photo: e4pr.blogspot.com

Jay-Z
Being one half of the ultimate music industry power couple, it’s fair to say that Jay can supply us with his street style any day. Baggy monochrome tees, bomber jackets and his statement New York Yankees snapback—what more could we ask for? Watch his and Bey’s dazzling final performance from the On The Run tour for an exploration of their fashion through the ages.

 

Photo: Adrian Pratt @Flickr

Cara Delevingne
This eyebrow queen and supermodel took the world by storm when she burst on to the high fashion scene in 2011. Modelling for Victoria’s Secret and DKNY, it’s no wonder she’s picked up a few fashion tips here and there. Her slouched trousers and black high top trainers show that even supermodels get a day off.

 

Photo: tvtropes.org

TLC
The nineties R&B trio consisting of T-Boz, Left Eye and Chilli are nothing short of inspiring when channelling our inner 90s tom boy. My favourites include staple t-shirt crops, which can be casually paired with ripped boyfriend jeans. They work equally as well with an A-line skirt and opaque tights for autumn sophistication.

 

Photo: Greg Razzi @Flickr

Blake Lively
After her initial rise to stardom due to the hit series Gossip Girl, this starlet has not graced our television or cinema screens for two years now. That being said, she remains one of the best-dressed celebrities on the red carpet. She is able to dazzle us with her constant array of elegant gowns,that show off all the right places.

Live: The History of Apple Pie

Written by Natalie Wardle on . Posted in Music.

6th October

Gulliver’s

7/10

Nowadays you see bands walk on stage with each member dressed the same, trying to do the perfect gig, being overly rehearsed and damn right boring. However, The History Of Apple Pie were a breath of fresh air from all the NME poster boy, poser bands. With their clumsy dance moves and guitar straps flying about mid song, they definitely put on a exciting show.

Politely pushing their way through the crowd to get on to the stage and immediately playing, The History of Apple Pie made themselves known by their fun, hyper-active stage presence. The whole gig felt like you were at a friend’s house watching a jam session with a few beers. The sound wasn’t exactly fantastic – and every other song the band where laughing and joking about the guitars not being heard – however that made the gig special.

Playing mainly songs from their new album Feel Something, The History of Apple Pie excited the audience with playing old songs such as ‘Glitch’ mid set, and finishing with ‘Before You Reach the End’, which most definitely deafened the audience and left Gulliver’s with a big fuzzy bang. The shoegaze-influenced guitars where getting cranked up each song by the audience’s request, yet Steph’s soft, dreamy vocals still managed to be heard around the room, which complimented the experimental sounds being made. Overall, the east London band delighted the audience, even though there was a few technical problems which made some of the sound seem a bit unpolished, they made up for it with their enthusiasm and energy.

Festival: Zoo Project

Written by music on . Posted in Music.

12th – 14th September

Donnington Park

Zoo Project UK is still in its infancy; 2014 was only the third year of the Ibizan open-air club’s excursion into the festival fray and, with the best will in the world, it showed. Over the course of the weekend, something became clear that in retrospect seems obvious: except for the music, festivals and club nights don’t have a whole lot in common. The priorities they have to pursue and their metrics of success are entirely different and it turns out that experience organising the one doesn’t necessarily help you with the other.

A good club night, because it only lasts a matter of hours, can consume and bewilder you with its intensity. The requirements don’t extend much beyond a good DJ, decent sound system and a couple of fire escapes in case everything goes west.

A festival, on the other hand, is somewhere people live for days at a time. They eat and sleep there. It needs hidden corners and places to explore. It needs havens of daytime convalescence. Above all it needs an atmosphere as alien from the monotonous, stressful, uptight realities of our quotidian existence as possible. In the end, a festival probably needs hippies.

The strange chimeric coupling of the Ibiza club atmosphere with a bucolic English setting promised so much; after all, what’s great about British music and night-life owes so much to that island. But instead of a Balearic cornucopia of hedonism, it felt closer to a provincial town centre on a Saturday night, only with more drugs and fewer riot vans. Instead of providing an escape from the tension and vanity of the worst elements of the British clubbing experience, Zoo Project brimmed with them.

Before I get carried away, let’s make a few things crystal. Zoo has plenty of things going for it, not least the setting; a forest in Donington Park, Leicestershire. Except for the main tent, the stages were set into clearings and when night fell, they were framed by walls of foliage illuminated in a rainbow of colours. At times it looked pretty magical. At the main stage, a troupe of dancers in animal costumes took turns, throughout the day and into the night, treating the crowd to carnivalesque routines, complete with fire breathing.

Mike Skinner Photo: Flickr user Kmeron

Although the line-up wasn’t exactly adventurous, there was more than enough good music to keep most people happy over the course of the weekend. Sweeping aside for a moment Mike Skinner’s cringe-inducing garage and dubstep set on Friday – during which he murmured through the mike like an unwilling Butlins red-coat – there was plenty to enjoy. After Skinner, Mala managed to revive the crowd from its lapse into catatonic boredom with some lively reggae and dub, and props to anyone who drops ‘Skeng’, obviously.

At the same stage on Sunday, we were treated to some proper musical virtuosity in the form of the Nightmares on Wax crew, who accompanied four hours of mellifluous downtempo records with a full live band. Their set was a joy to dip in and out of.

As for the big-name DJs, none of them disappointed. Sasha and Groove Armada both demonstrated that they didn’t get their big-beat reputations from nowhere. There’s a kind of majesty to the sight of a crowd being whipped up into such a frenzy and thrown around like a rag doll. Groove Armada in particular really did make it feel like Saturday night on the White Isle at times, with the powerfully intoxicating synthesis of big room party bangers and a mind-blowing light show. It was completely, joyously devoid of subtlety or innovation, which didn’t matter because a crowd only reacts one way when it hears, “The sound of the Groove Armada, we Superstylin’!”. Elsewhere, Ben UFO and Midland showed their class with an eclectic, funky B2B set – the former especially deserves his reputation as one of the consistently imaginative selectors on the circuit.

Tama Sumo Photo: Flickr user Passetti

So with all this good stuff, you might ask what there is to complain about. An illustrative example could clarify things. The stand-out set of the weekend came from Panorama Bar resident Tama Sumo, who transitioned effortlessly from jubilant disco classics into bleeping, clanking techno, in perfect sync with the sun falling on the Leicestershire day. It was mesmerising, and would have been even more so, except the volume was pitifully low and the tent was half empty.

For much of the time, Zoo felt so close to being really good, but somewhere between the terrible food, pointless fairground rides, laddish atmosphere and animal-pen style camping area, it lost its way. The few attempts to make things more ‘festivally’, like the “We Love You” sign over the arena exit, just seemed achingly contrived and tacked-on. Given time and a bit more trial and error, Zoo might find its rhythm. Let’s hope it does because at the moment it feels like little more than a cash cow. And what is the point of a cow in a zoo?

By Mark Wood

Manchester Universities are second cheapest in the UK for a round of drinks

Written by Edward Bains on . Posted in News.

Manchester students may be saved from dipping into their overdrafts just yet as Manchester was this week revealed as being the second cheapest place in the UK to buy a round of drinks in a student union bar.

According to the ‘Price of a Student Pint’ index, a round—defined as a pint of lager, small glass of wine and single vodka and mixer—came in at just £6.35 in Manchester, a figure beaten only by Leeds where a round came in at £6.00.

The annual survey, conducted by market researchers One Poll and published by discount voucher website VoucherCodes.co.uk, compared the prices charged in the union bars of the UK’s 20 most popular universities as defined by UCAS.

The Manchester universities took two of the crowns for individual drink prices, with Manchester Metropolitan claiming the cheapest pint of beer at £1.70, and the University of Manchester claiming the cheapest vodka and mixer at £1.50.

It would appear the cost of a round in Manchester is pushed up by the price of a glass of wine, which questions whether the index takes into account the two for £5 deal on bottles of wine available in certain Fallowfield off-licenses.

Its findings will likely come as a relief to Manchester’s enthusiastic student drinkers, beleaguered by the ever-rising cost of living and mountains of student debt. Anita Naik, lifestyle editor at VoucherCodes.co.uk, had the following to say about the survey’s findings:

“With the burden of high tuition fees and rising living costs, it’s good to see union bars are still helping students have a good night out without breaking the bank.”

Elsewhere, long-time leader Bristol was knocked off the top spot, falling to sixth place at £7.10 for a round, while Ulster University was found to be the most expensive, coming in at £8.60; a figure still well shy of the £12-and-up average in ‘normal’ bars that we all have to look forward to come graduation.

Green party membership surge in Manchester

Written by Jennifer Sterne on . Posted in News.

Membership of Manchester Green Party has increased by over 80 per cent since the beginning of 2014. This surge in growth is mirrored by the expansion of the Greens across the country.

Recently released figures from the Green Party show nationally total membership is up 45 per cent this year; passing 20,000. The memberships among the Young Greens grew by 100 per cent this year.

Siobhan MacMahon, Young Greens co-chair said “The Young Greens’ 100 per cent growth this year is testament to a sea-change going on in politics.”

MacMahon added, “consistently polling at over 10 per cent among 16-24 year olds, the Young Greens have not held back from challenging the establishment, calling for free education, affordable and publicly-owned transport, an end to migrant-bashing and a halt to the continual attacks on young people.”

The Green Party leader Natalie Bennett in response to this surge said, “We are now, with the rapid growth in recent months, in an increasingly strong position to ensure voters understand our message about the need for real change for the common good.”

The Green Party will have candidates standing in 50 per cent more seats in 2015 than in 2010, with the total reaching 75 per cent of seats.

Tom Beckett, Fundraising and Operations Director, said: “The Green Party warmly welcomes all the new members. Members are the lifeblood of the Green Party, a truly democratic party which allows members to help form policy.” Green Party members help to form policy at both their spring and autumn conferences.

Manchester Green Party Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Withington, Lucy Bannister, said “The Greens in Manchester got the second highest amount of votes across Manchester in this year’s local elections showing that we have now become the main challenger to the Labour party in our city. Even in the constituency where I am standing next year, which has a Liberal Democrat MP, we now have more members than the Lib Dems do, according to their own latest released figures. We are the party with the most popular policies in the city according to independent survey website VoteforPolicies and we campaigning hard on those issues.”

VotesforPolicies, from the results of 425,840 completed surveys across the country, also puts the Green Party most popular nationally with 25.46 per cent.

Natasha Brooks and Amy Howard, present co-chairs of Manchester Young Greens said in a statement, “In Manchester this year the Greens got the second highest amount of votes in the local election, making us the main opposition for Manchester City Council.

“We stand up for free education, a £10 minimum wage and a functioning and effective NHS – Green politics aim to benefit society as a whole, not just those who shout the loudest or have the deepest pockets. We couldn’t do this without our passionate campaigners and by collaborating with other groups on campus.”

Joel Smith, former chair of Manchester Young Greens responded saying, “The membership surge is fantastic news. People are increasingly seeing the Green Party as the only viable left wing alternative with substantial policies that move away from our current political model.

“The party leads the way on issues of inequality, electoral reform, nuclear weapons, energy policy and transport. With the Greens already coming second place last year in key student council wards like Fallowfield and Old Moat it’ll be interesting to see how the youth membership rise translates to student votes next May in the General and Council elections.”

With nearly 4,000 members the Green Party have a larger youth wing than UKIP’s 2600, despite being behind them in terms of total memberships; UKIP according to the House of Commons Library report having 39,000 members.

The Green Party are polling on 6% in the Independent’s latest “poll of polls”, which reveals that 12% of people who voted Lib Dem in 2010 intend to vote Green in May 2015.

The party is the highest it’s been in the polls since 1989. It’s out-performance of the Liberal Democrats in the EU elections, in terms of both numbers of MEP’s and total percentage of the vote, has been considerable.

Sarah Birch, Professor of Comparative Politics at Glasgow University, in a blog for the London School of Economics and Political Science, writes that “Britain’s established trio of parties are all manifestly exercised by the purple threat… so frenzied are they in their efforts that they seem to have lost sight of other-hued challenges.

“The traditional parties should be on their guard for a green surge.”

Bus Ranters!

Written by Robert Firth on . Posted in Lifestyle.

When I got on a bus last week, I didn’t expect to have been punched in the back of the head by the time I got off. While most peoples’ bus journeys are hopefully not as bad, let us for now lament the lowest common denominator of transport.

One freezing early morning months back, while waiting for a bus to whisk us to our duvets, a friend remarked “Where are the buses? I thought they were meant to be magic”. Yet of course they are: only buses have the magical ability to vanish without explanation, for three to appear at random, to zoom past stops as if blind to the people needing to get on and off. When will the next train to Liverpool decide to just skip Liverpool Lime Street for a change? I’ll take it from platform 9 ¾ next time.

Something I wondered why are the buses nearly universally upholstered in bingo carpet? Until one day I sat down on the only free space on the bus and all the other bus wankers looked at me horrified: because crazy patterns conceal curry and other such things. Tikka masala look denim is even worse than bingo hall flooring. And what about the “free Wi-Fi” which never works? But at least the ride is ‘free’ of sorts, unlike on those lavender coloured buses which take up the whole of Oxford Road like a monstrous Barney the Dinosaur on wheels.

At least the barney buses can’t make your commute awkward, unlike every person you kind of once knew in first year, spoke to when you were off your face at Pangaea, or snogged one drunk night in 5th, who happen to keep appearing next to you on the only free seat left. Or all of the people you don’t know, giving you death stares when you fall up the stairs, doing a walk of shame with your non-reusable plastic bags full of shopping. Who to sit next to? Who to sit next to? The man you choose is taking up one seat and ¾ with his painfully wide open legs, with you perched on the edge and your tin of chopped tomatoes rolling to the front of the bus.

That’s £205 for you. That’s £2 there and back each day. That’s buslife for you: I’m having a ride.

Live: The Menzingers

Written by Dan Whiteley on . Posted in Music.

3rd October

Gorilla

8.5/10

It’s been two years since Philadelphian heartland punks The Menzingers last graced Manchester with their presence, during which their profile has grown from relative obscurity to see them become one of the most beloved and critically acclaimed acts in the genre. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that tone of tonight’s show was celebratory, as the band ran through all their greatest hits so far – at typically breakneck speed – in front of a sold out crowd.

Opening with the rousing, siren wail guitars of ‘I Don’t Wanna Be An Asshole Anymore’, the first track off their latest record Rented World, the band continued to fire out song after song at relentless pace, including crowd pleasers ‘I Was Born’ and ‘Burn After Writing’. Despite the intensely personal and angst-ridden nature of their lyrics, nearly a line went by that wasn’t shouted back at the foursome by the front rows; ‘The Obituaries’, perhaps their bluntest ode to self-doubt – its chorus simply repeats “I will f*ck this up/I f*cking know it” – nevertheless proved to be one of the biggest sing-alongs of the evening.

The rest of the set comprised mainly of cuts from their 2012 breakthrough album On the Impossible Past, including ‘Good Things’ and the anthemic ‘Gates’. Main set closer ‘In Remission’ was an obvious highlight, its grungey riffs and chaotic climax making for an effective finale, before returning for a short encore of two fan favourites: the lovelorn ‘Casey’ and the obligatory ‘A Lesson In The Abuse Of Informational Technology’. Cramming as many songs as they could into their almost ninety minute set, The Menzingers live show is an energetic, emotional spectacle, and one that no doubt left fans hoping they won’t be waiting two more years to experience it again.

120 arrested in Fallowfield crime initiative

Written by Charlie Spargo on . Posted in News.

Around £100000 worth of cannabis plants and cultivation equipment has been seized from address in Fallowfield by Greater Manchester Police.

A total of 120 people were also arrested and a number have already been charged as part of GMP’s Operation Storm cracking down on crimes including burglary, drug dealing and assault.

Operation Storm is a project intended to clamp down on crimes against students, particularly those moving into houses for the first time, who are at risk from local criminals targeting them and their student homes in particular.

Officers from across the county have been carrying out unannounced home visits on convicted criminals in Greater Manchester to ensure they are sticking to their bail and curfew conditions and not at risk of reoffending.

The warrants, carried out across the 1st and 2nd of October, also resulted in the arrests of wanted offenders, including young men wanted for a cash in transit robbery and a 19-year-old man wanted for assault.

A search at one house in Fallowfield yielded the discovery of 90 cannabis plants at a value of around £90000 alongside accompanying equipment worth £10000, all of which was seized by the police.

Officers also carried out home visits to victims of repeated domestic abuse to ensure their continued protection and safety from their abusive partners.

As students return from holiday and incoming first years arrive and experience the vibrancy of the city for the first time, often under the influence of alcohol, many criminals see this as an opportunity to profit themselves.

Many students arrive at university with new and expensive technology such as laptops, tablets and smartphones. The total cost of these can be well in excess of £1000 and the vast numbers of students at the universities mean the opportunities for thieves are high.

“Last month saw the return of students old and new but for criminals it simply means rich and easy pickings. By holding this operation we can bring down this type of crime and ensure the youngsters can enjoy their time while studying in the city without the fear of becoming a victim of crime,” said Deputy Chief Constable Ian Hopkins.

“As the nights get darker there is a rise in the number of opportunist thieves who like to prey on unsuspecting homes.

“This crackdown, coupled with our daily offender targeting sends criminals a clear message that they can’t harm our community without facing impunity.”

October 6th marked National Personal Safety Day, whose theme this year was ‘Door 2 Door’, aiming to highlight simple methods by which people can keep safe between their home and their destination.

Community Officer Ellen McLaughlin wants to ensure that all students were aware of the dangers of living in a city such as Manchester. In a blog post on the Students’ Union Website, she advised students to look out for drink spiking, keep an eye on friends and keep your valuables hidden when walking alone.

“Lock all windows and doors when you leave your house. [Regarding house parties] lock all valuables away in one person’s room. Finally, if your whole house is going out, shout goodbye to the imaginary person left inside just in case.”

If you witness suspicious activity you can call the police on 101 or anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Interview: Mike Catt

Written by Liam Kelly on . Posted in Sport.

Mike Catt OBE is a bona fide legend of English rugby. Highlights of his glittering career include winning the 2003 World Cup, reaching another final in 2007 (and, at 36, becoming the oldest ever player to do so), triumph in the 1998 Heineken Cup, and clinching three Premiership titles with Bath. In the process, Catt earned 75 caps for England, a cap for the British and Irish Lions and 220 appearances for Bath, scoring 64 tries in the process.

Following his playing career he became a coach at London Irish, helping them to the Premiership final in May 2009. He went on to have a successful stint as England Backs Coach during the 2012 tour of South Africa, and is currently the attacking skills coach for England’s elite players.

With the Rugby World Cup being held in England in 2015, both hopes and expectations are high that England can win the Webb Ellis Cup for the first time since that famous day in 2003, and Catt’s attacking coaching will be key to England’s chances. Asking for an evaluation of English hopes—with a young team going into this World Cup—seemed like the best place to start.

“I think we’ve been ticking along quite nicely, we’ve had some real tough tours over the last couple of years. The players have had to learn, and learn very quickly, against the top sides in the world. New Zealand, South Africa.

“New Zealand are number one in the world for a reason, they are the best in the world, but we got a hell of a lot out of the tour. We really found out about certain individuals, despite the result. Losing three on the trot is not ideal to be honest, and one result would have been ideal. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, but it was a massive learning curve for a lot of the youngsters who haven’t been put in those environments before. It’s another huge experience for our guys, and it will stand them in good stead for the World Cup.”

Inevitably, comparisons will be made between this England team and the triumphant team in 2003, but, Catt is cautious about doing so: “I think it’s very hard to compare the two sides; what people forget is that we were together for six years. It wasn’t a case of being put together and going off to win it. We lost three Grand Slam opportunities, and in the 1999 World Cup we only got to the quarter finals. We learned from all those failures—I call them ‘lessons’—and it stood us in good stead. Everyone was fit going into that World Cup, so we were very fortunate. Of course, we won a Grand Slam in 2003, and we had beaten Australia and New Zealand in Australia and New Zealand prior to that World Cup, which, I think, gave us a psychological edge.”

In 2003, England had some of their best-ever players coming into their prime, including: captain Martin Johnson, Lewis Moody, Lawrence Dallaglio, Jason Robinson, Jonny Wilkinson, Will Greenwood, Matt Dawson, and Catt himself. This generation of internationals have not generated the same amount of excitement, though they have not been together nearly as long.

Comparisons are also bound to be drawn between the coaching methods of incumbent Stuart Lancaster, and 2003 coach Sir Clive Woodward. Catt, of course presently working under Lancaster, said: “Stuart Lancaster has got the team to a place which is phenomenal, and probably would have taken Clive Woodward three or four years to get to.”

A contentious RFU regulation means that English players playing abroad are ineligible for selection for the national side, a regulation that has come under fire recently, as a result of the performances of Steffon Armitage at Toulon, who has recently been named European Rugby Player of the Year. However, Catt stands by the RFU’s stance on the matter.

“Every player that goes to France knows the rules. Stuart Lancaster sat down with Steffon, Delon [Armitage], [Andrew] Sheridan and Jonny that this would affect their chances of playing for England. They then made the decision to go; you’ve got to remember why they decided to go to France in the first place [money].

“If somebody is that desperate to play for England, they’ll either stay in England or come back to England. It is what it is, we back the RFU’s decision because we don’t want people leaving and we want a strong domestic league.”

Availability is also an issue when players move abroad: “If you have players that play in France, we won’t have the players, the players won’t be able to come to the camps, and they’ll have less preparation as a result.

“My theory is that if anybody wants to play for England, come back and play in England. We don’t want a massive outpouring of English talent doesn’t help us, it doesn’t help the Premiership and it doesn’t help the clubs.

“I’ve worked with Steffon at London Irish and he’s an exceptionally talented rugby player, but is he better than Chris Robshaw? People will argue, but is he going to do things against the likes of Richie McCaw and Michael Hooper? There’s no guarantee that he would play for England either. There’s nothing wrong with saying that if Toulon released him prior to the World Cup, and gave us three months with him at the World Cup camp, then who knows?”

However, the chances of Toulon releasing their best and highest paid player is unlikely at best.

A home World Cup has the chance of providing a real boost to England’s players, but it could the pressure of expectation hinder their chances?

“Pressure’s for tyres mate.” [Laughs] “No, I think there are different things that can heap pressure on people. At a home World Cup you have your family nearby and there will be other things that you have to worry about other than the rugby; it’s really different from a World Cup on the other side of the world where you can focus totally on winning the World Cup. I think where we’ll be as a squad and a group, Stuart has left no stone unturned with the detail in everything we do. He’s been brilliant, got the right people on board that have been in these big situations before. Matt Parker, who is head of performance, was part of the Olympic cycling setup. All the little things, the little details, that can go wrong in an environment have all been covered, so we’d like to think that it won’t put any more pressure on the players.

“The beauty about England rugby at the moment is that it’s reconnected with the nation. After 2011, after that fiasco, Stuart has done an incredible job with the press, and the players have performed admirably.

“England have done well, and we’ve still got a long way to go. I don’t think the pressure is on there. We’re going to be playing at Twickenham, we’re comfortable and we know what we’re doing.”

Nobody would want to draw England at Twickenham at a World Cup, with 70,000 home fans roaring the team on.

“I think one of the big things is that Stuart has been involved with the union for a long time; he spent five years heading up the academy system, so he has pretty much known all the players that he’s picking for England since they were 15 or 16. He totally understands each player and how they operate, so he has got these relationships with them, which is so key.

“The biggest problem with 2003 was that there was no succession plan. After the World Cup, that was it, and there was nothing in place for the game to actually grow again, whereas Stuart has had a massive involvement in making sure England are continually successful in 2016, 2017, 2018 and through to the next World Cup in 2019. The minor stuff he’s done at the union, that people won’t be able to see, and what he’s changed has been pretty remarkable. He’s a brilliant guy to work for, to be honest.”

A concern that has been aired about this England side is that there are not enough characters to support the younger players in this England, but this is something that does not concern Catt.

“Well, they’re all young, but you want them to be young. They’re playing for England, it means a hell of a lot to them and they need to put their bodies on the line, which all the guys do. It’s a physical game, it’s a brutal game at international level, and you saw that with Sam Burgess in the NRL Final.”

Burgess, who has just switched codes and signed for Bath, broke his cheekbone in the first couple of minutes of the NRL Final last week, but continued playing and was named man-of-the-match. “You want warriors like him, guys that will do it; and we’ve got a fair few. But in the same breath, you want guys who are adept at making the right decision at the right time and that are able to win it. It’s not just about the physicality, but it does help.” [Laughs]

Lewis Moody has been described as the ‘mad dog’ of the 2003 England side, a player who hassled the opposition sides with an unmatched intensity. Does this English side need ‘a Moody’? “I think we do that with our energy and defensive line speed. I think a lot of teams will play against us without having encountered that sort of defensive line speed that we put on them. We continually put them under pressure.

“You need guys who are going to make the right decisions at the right time. Richie McCaw is the best at it, and he’s been around for a long time. His decision making is second to none. He doesn’t dive into every breakdown, he waits and waits and waits, and then he goes. That comes with experience. There’s no need to have somebody like Moody. What a bloody headcase he was.” [Laughs]

Clive Woodward has said that, in order to win the World Cup, each player in the XV needs to be in the ‘top three’ players who play that position in the world. Catt, however, disagrees with his former coach, “I think what’s more important is how the team gels. It’s how you work as a team now instead of the individuals.

“At international level I do think that you need someone who has that X-factor, like a Jason Robinson, who could create something out of nothing, and that is something that England need; to find these guys who are able to do that. New Zealand have Savea, Aaron Smith, these guys who are phenomenal athletes. These guys do something and it just comes off, and we need a little bit more of that. But I think we’re in a really good place at the moment. Top three in each position? It’s hard to evaluate. You want to be the fittest team, and that’s the hard work. You have the players for three months before the World Cup, and that’s when you thrash them.”

During Catt’s best years at international level, he formed a formidable partnership in the centre of the park with Jonny Wilkinson. So what was it like playing with arguably the most famous England player of his generation?

“Jonny was very good at sticking to a game plan. Clive would give the team a game plan and Jonny would implement it to the nth degree. I think the people around him were a few mavericks, and we would change the game accordingly and play to our strengths. Jonny was exceptionally strong defensively, and he kicked his goals, which is what Owen Farrell is.”

Arguably the most contested position on the pitch amongst the current crop of England players is Farrell’s fly half, a vital position that dictates how the team plays, both offensively and defensively. Catt knows what he wants in a fly half, a position that he was no stranger to in his career.

“If you look back at previous World Cups, the team that had the best defence and best goal-kicking record were the ones that won. It’s not the number of points you score along the way, it’s the best defence and that’s what you have to look at, especially in those competitions. It’s not about the flair, you know, Clive Woodward will go on about flair: ‘You need to pick Cipriani, this guy, this guy, this guy’. Believe me, winning in 2003 was very much a direct route, with Jonny kicking goals and drop goals.

“The competition is good. George Ford has played exceptionally well at Bath at the moment, Cip’s doing alright at Sale, and Stephen Meyler has statistics of 80-85% goal kicking, and you need to trust the players you’ve got out on the pitch to get you points. Not many teams get you tries anymore.” [Laughs] “It’s character over talent, in our eyes.”

During the 1995 Rugby World Cup, in one of his first appearances for England, Catt was famously poleaxed by New Zealand’s Jonah Lomu as he ran in to score one of his four tries in the semi-final. So, what was going through his head when that famous incident happened?

“Well, my arse I think.” [Laughs] “He was a freak of nature at the time. When you look at guys like George North and Savea now, they’re all the same size. It was brilliant, because everyone knew who Mike Catt was at the end of that tournament, for all the wrong reasons.” [Laughs again]

I close the interview by asking what the greatest achievement of Catt’s illustrious career was. Was it the World Cup win? The Heineken Cup victory? Grand Slams? In fact, it was none of them.

“I think it’s the longevity of my career. For me to finish at the age of 39 was brilliant, and I think that because I love the game so much it meant that I had the ability to bounce back from all the failures that I went through – or lessons I learnt, whichever way you want to put it. From being booed at Twickenham by 70,000 fans to being dropped by England 16 times; that resilience really taught me a lot about myself and how you get up and do things, and carry on doing it if you’re passionate about it. That sort of stuff means a lot more to me than the trophies.

“Trophies are brilliant at the end of a journey, but it’s the actual journey that’s the best part.”

Live: Silverclub

Written by Samuel Ward on . Posted in Music.

26th September

Deaf Institute

7/10

After a brief “hello and thanks for coming,” everyone in the room is immediately aboard the Silverclub train. It’s a train with zero stops and zero fucks given, and the small yet mighty audience instantly gets their groove on.

It’s easy to lose yourself, as animation resonates from the band who themselves weave in between an array of synths, drums, cowbells and laptops as each track seamlessly flies by. I’m already thinking these guys could easily slide themselves into a line-up of DJs.

The pace is frantic and relentless; at times it can feel a bit rushed, as if the band is desperate to reach something. But that doesn’t stop people losing their grip on the performance, which is now swollen with huge basslines and swings about like a rabid elephant hanging from a disco ball.

The synth lines and hi-ends get a bit murky at points, but this miraculously clears when the huge dancefloor smasher ‘Gravity’ hops into place. The neat production on the new EP makes itself known in the set’s spouts of ultra-fresh clarity and makes the impression that Silverclub’s future live shows could be sonically incredible.

As the set somehow continues to gain momentum, the band launches into the title track of their new EP Back to the Start. It’s glamorous and immersive with waves of piano keys flying out of the Deaf Institute’s surprisingly resilient sound system. To smooth it all off, the band throws themselves and the crowd into the instant live classic/acid house banger ‘Your Headphones’.

Already on a journey which started with acid house, bedroom mixing and guitar bands, it’s clear that the Silverclub locomotive is on track to reaching a new musical world that Manchester should itself aspire to be the home of.

Live: Ezra Furman

Written by Fraser Brooks on . Posted in Music.

22nd September

Band on the Wall

7/10

Ezra Furman & the Boyfriends played a cracking set to a suitably busy Band on the Wall on Monday night. The eccentric frontman was well dressed for the Northern Quarter venue, sporting tights, a sleeveless red dress and a pretty atrocious flat peak.

The band gelled harmoniously with great big band-style input from sax player Tim Sandusky. Combined with the multi-instrumental talents of keyboard/guitarist Ben Joseph it gave an excitement to the unique sound of Furman’s autobiographical emotionally charged lyrics.

Between tracks Ezra whispers into the microphone, delivering a small anecdote or story to introduce the next song—though with each cryptic explanation the crowd seems yet more curious about the singer’s troubled history.

During the tracks ‘We Should Fight‘ and ‘I Killed Myself But I Didn’t Die’ Furman staggers about the small stage, building into a frenzy of screaming lyrics echoing around the room. It’s clear that these are lyrics of a man who has experienced heartbreak, loss and a sadness.

Though tight on stage, there seems to be some tensions in the band. The sax player shakes his head mockingly during Furman’s pre-song introductions and midway through he seems to disagree with the wild-eyed lead man on the order of the set list. Regardless of this, the band is flawless and perfectly in touch with each other, with any animosity being replaced by catchy guitar hooks and punctuating sax scales.

For the encore the band return for an interesting cover of ‘Like a Virgin’, which comes off nicely with Furman’s punchy guitar playing.

University halls “too expensive”

Written by Marcus Johns on . Posted in News.

A recent poll by the Students’ Union decided that the University of Manchester’s halls of residence are too expensive, with an overwhelming majority of 92 per cent.

Only 1 per cent of respondents believed that the average rent of uncatered halls, which currently stands at £120 per week, was cheap; a mere 7 per cent thought it reasonable.

The Mancunion spoke with Ellen McLaughlin, Community Officer of the Students’ Union. She said, “I’m surprised it was so excessively in favour of halls being too expensive. I thought that it would be the outcome but I was not expecting the support to be so high.”

In response, a University of Manchester spokesman said, “Rental costs for University of Manchester halls of residence are set annually and are comparable to those charged by other universities, both locally and nationally.”

Ellen added, “I think it’s too expensive and I have spent a lot of time researching the provision of university accommodation. I have the same concerns as the NUS.”

The NUS has recently published The Accommodation Costs Survey (2012/13). Within this report the delegate made a series of observations and recommendations.

According to the report, since 2009/10, lower cost rooms at halls of residences have had their rent increased by 23 per cent.

The average weekly rent has also risen in the past five years by 25 per cent. The report attributes this to rising rents and the rising demand for luxury accommodation including en suite facilities.

A University of Manchester spokesman added, “the University offers a wide variety of accommodation across its provision of 8000 bedrooms, including standard and en-suite, catered and non-catered, giving students an extensive choice to suit varying budgets and residential preferences.”

The climbing rents have not been matched by increased financial support. The Student Loans Company for England’s financial assistance rises at a rate lower than inflation year on year, which compounds the difficulty of rising rents.

Because of these financial pressures, the report states that one fifth of students nationally are working more than 20 hours per week in order to support themselves during their studies.

Ellen added, “I am concerned about halls of residence becoming inaccessible to students who need more financial support than is currently available.”

With the redevelopment of halls of residence in Fallowfield expected to begin next September and increased demand for luxury facilities it is expected that the accommodation constructed will exceed the 2013/14 price of £88 per week for a room in Oak House.

The report also recommends that universities should take note of students’ choices; indeed, Oak House was the most popular first, second, and third preference amongst this year’s first-years.

Oak House is the university’s cheapest accommodation and would suggest a higher demand for cheaper accommodation than for luxury facilities.

The NUS report further endorsed the suggestion that 25 per cent of rents should be affordable, which the report defines as being in the bottom or lower quartile.

“They told me they are going to benchmark the prices against the hall of residence provision nationwide,” added Ellen.

Whilst the NUS report states that student representatives should be actively engaged and consulted during the rent setting process and planning for future development, Ellen added “I have had a poor response from the university; it’s all confidential, they say.

“I have raised concerns to the senior management about the lack of provision of cheaper accommodation. I am really worried about a two-tiered student experience.

“I fear that one group of students who can afford halls will have access to the pastoral care, events, and other benefits that come with living in university accommodation.

“The other group will be forced into private accommodation that is much cheaper, and they will be open to the private system and its associated issues, which will be less safe.

“The possibility of higher rents may put students off the University of Manchester, and they may choose to study elsewhere.”

The redevelopment of the Fallowfield campus is expected to be part-owned by the university and part-owned by a private company. Potentially this could lead to profit being made by a private sector from University of Manchester students.

The Mancunion has seen the summary report authored by Ellen, which she will send to the university’s senior management.

“The findings of the poll support the concerns I have raised to the university,” she said.

The Mancunion is investigating the price of university accommodation at universities across the nation and has reached out to all of the Russell Group universities for information regarding their average rents—they are all yet to comment.

Live: Lauryn Hill

Written by Gwynne George on . Posted in Music.

26th September

Manchester Apollo

5/10

What happens when you take an enthusiastic crowd, leave them waiting around for three hours and then refuse to sing anything they’re waiting for? Answer: the Lauryn Hill (pardon me: Ms. Hill) show. It was hard to tell who had a rougher time at her gig at the O2 Apollo Thursday night: the crowd, or Ms Hill herself. By the time she came out—three hours late, to mass boos and a very unimpressed crowd—it was obvious that neither party was over the moon to be there.

The evening was centered round three main questions: (1) Where the hell is she? (2) Now that she’s here, what the hell is she doing? and finally (3) How has she not noticed that she doesn’t have one true friend in her band or entourage?

Inexplicably, Ms. Hill took it upon herself to act as sound engineer and lighting technician as well as star: she kept turning back to her drummers and guitarists midsong, barking orders at them to stop playing or to play louder; between songs, she eschewed any interaction with the crowd to cuss out her band members for not standing where she wanted them; and she kept motioning offstage where the lights should be shining. Why nobody told her that this kind of thing could be sorted out with a quick sound check and rehearsal before the show, nobody knows.

On paper, the show’s setlist would have made any R&B/hip hop fan weep with joy—but the show didn’t take place on paper; it instead came from some deep recess of Ms. Hill’s mind, where she thought “remixing” her beloved songs beyond recognition would be a good idea. The lush melodies of 1998’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill were transformed into bizarre dubstep/indie cover band hybrids; her empowering rap lyrics were spat out at such velocity and with such little care that they were illegible. As the butchering of her songs went on, the booing got louder and eventually resulted in Ms. Hill stopping the show to ask the “dissenters” what their problem was. She berated fans for cheering or shouting messages of support, telling them they had no manners. (I promise I’m not making this up.)

Towards the show’s end, she briefly won back the crowd’s favour with a slick run through of the Fugees’ greatest hits, including a gorgeous rendition of ‘Killing Me Softly’, and closed the evening with a nostalgic performance of ‘Doo Wop (That Thing)’—but even that turned into a tuneless, dirgy “remix” by verse two. The crowd wildly lapped both songs up, but maybe as a direct result of her dissatisfaction with their earlier reaction she cut them both short, offering a brief glimpse of what the gig might have been.

Frustrating and fascinating in equal measure, the whole evening was an exercise in how to destroy your fans’ decade-spanning goodwill in a matter of hours. Her voice was strong, she looked incredible—but Ms. Hill’s tardiness, attitude and misplaced “artistic vision” left much to be desired.

Live: Beartooth

Written by Randeep Samra on . Posted in Music.

Roadhouse

18th September

4/10

For a band such as Beartooth, live performances are not only an integral part of their career—as is the case with almost all rock bands—but they also seem to be the prime reason for their existence as a band. Where most bands pour their most of their material and emotional resources into making records in the studio, and then tour in support of those albums, Beartooth’s LP and EP seem to function primarily as promotional material for the live shows that they put on.

The musical trajectory of the night was, as one could guess by now, not particularly complex: the band’s set was preceded by two support acts who played similar music to Beartooth, whose main goal that night was to keep the audience moshing—and whose names escape my memory. The songs from each band consistently delivered the typical post-hardcore formula of heavy, repetitive riffs, screamed vocals and, to their credit, sporadic reminders that we (the audience, as well as the performers) were there to have a good time, and that there was no excuse for not going as hard as possible. Indeed, the mosh pits grew increasingly enthusiastic, and towards the end of the night Beartooth had the audience—most of whom were under the age of eighteen—thrashing all over the place.

Despite being monotonic and forgettable, Beartooth’s performance is exactly what fans of the genre expect and desire. They offer a chance to really let loose, and the brand of aggression that bands like this express, as anyone who has ever been a teenager will understand, provides its audience with a beautifully simple kind of catharsis.

My Double Life Online

Written by Matthew Cole on . Posted in Games.

I am a savagely dysfunctional man. Unless a friend accompanies me on my journey to university, I shamble along Oxford Road with my head bowed, desperately trying to remain invisible until I reach my destination, which is usually a quiet corner of a lecture theatre or library. I dread encounters with acquaintances to the point where every single person starts to resemble one. It’s a grotesque paranoia. I convince myself that these people, with their homogeneous faces, voices, and hairstyles, are trying to scare me into thinking they’re David or Sarah from that module I took way back when, those decent fellows who I chummed up with for one semester but felt apathetic about reconvening with thereafter. It’s not that I’m a particularly aloof or unforthcoming sort of person, I just find humans to be very draining. It’s easier to drift by. The way I see it, no matter how many friends you make in Manchester, and no matter how many gatherings you attend, the party will always be raging on elsewhere.

This rotten attitude of mine hatched in secondary school. For me, school was a largely joyless enterprise weighed down by tedious goons who were hell-bent on constantly disrupting the show. By becoming a member of an online gaming forum, a community conveniently set aside from physical reality, I was able to connect with people who shared my interests and, importantly, connect with them through the written word. My decision to join in a sense stemmed from a verbal spat I’d had with an idiot in year seven. He was a red-eyed little skinhead fella who could incite hatred in the most shy and benevolent of people; the kind of person who resents thought. We were debating (perhaps that’s too generous) the merit of two games. I was advocating the brilliance of Metroid Prime—subject of last week’s retro corner—a groundbreaking first-person sci-fi game rich in detail and atmosphere, while he grunted back about the thrill of a generic WW2 shooter totally bereft of the subtlety and imagination evident in my choice. When I’d finished mounting a cogent case against him, he bellowed an obscenity, spat at my feet, and then loped off to bother his next victim. Miffed at the calibre of argument and eager to find others who were passionate about games, I searched online and discovered a small forum, the same forum I’d be contributing to ten years later.

What’s the draw? Well, for one, the forumers I meet are generally intelligent across the board, and they’re far more tolerant than the morons you’ll find lurking in the mires of YouTube. Granted that isn’t a selling point on its own, but the key takeaway is that you can have a sustained conversation with multiple users without it devolving into conjecture over the relative promiscuity of each other’s mums. The forum also allows you to obscure your personal life and construct a new identity for yourself. It might come as a surprise, but this facility doesn’t result in a clique of pretend sexually proficient superheroes and Mafia dons who just happen to bond over Mario Kart, but rather it establishes a small community of real people who are invigorated with a confidence to talk about anything, when previously they might have opted for silence.

Over the years, the forum has been a great outlet for me to experiment with my opinions; it has prompted untapped aspects of my personality to spill out over innumerable, long-buried web pages, and it has probably sharpened my critical faculties to a level beyond anything my school could have achieved with me. It’s odd to think that so many of my past selves lie composting in the virtual universe—old, naïve, terrifically embarrassing versions of me which nevertheless represent a true, if exaggerated snapshot of who I was and who I am now. If the FBI felt like dicking around for an hour, I’m sure they could track down my forum profile and procure some devastating information about me from aeons ago—things I’d posted, biography details and all that jazz. The dossier would be a career-ender but, gladly, despite being publicly available, all the information is tucked away in the dark recesses of the internet and the pages remain pretty much unvisited, partly because nobody in their right mind would care about them. Even so, the fact remains that I have shared fragments of myself with people I’ve never met, including personal information I’ve never revealed to people I spend a lot of time with, and doing so has rarely felt unnatural.

It isn’t a misnomer to call the forum a community by the way. There are sprawling networks of users who know and familiarise with others to varying extents; there are sub-communities, friendship triangles, and niche interest circles where transactions take place almost privately. Many forumers have stayed active since the dawn of the website, so there is a very real history at work as people reproduce insider jokes that make sense to veterans but which are lost on newcomers. Sometimes new users will find this intimidating because they can’t get a handle on the group dynamics. Think of The League of Gentleman’s “are you local?” sketch and you have a fair idea.

But the history is what makes the forum so rewarding. Any gaming news, reviews, memes, or opinions can be tailored for specific groups or individuals. You can discuss subjects safe in the knowledge that someone will be receptive to them, and if they lead to arguments they can sometimes help you to tease out exactly what your position is. I won’t go as far to say that the forum represents a Socratic utopia, but at their best the debates can be ferociously fun and irreverent, even when they’re pointless.

It was on a glorious summer’s day in London that I finally met up with a bunch of members in person. Some were geeky and awkward, some were suave and outgoing, but all were super sound people. It was a surreal experience speaking with them, having known them for half my life in a solely online context, and yet at the same time it didn’t feel weird at all. We addressed each other by our usernames as if we’d been doing so since childhood. And everybody was exactly who they’d claimed to be. On the face of it, it is very easy to sniff at a group of gamers who lead double lives online, but upon deeper meditation you might well reconsider. Online communities furnish us forumers with a canvas on which to scribble away harmlessly, in an abstract zone removed from the seriousness of human responsibility. We are like forgotten graffiti artists; always active in the subways, always inhabiting public space, but never noticed.