Skip to main content

Month: November 2014

Are Long Distance Relationships Worth The Hassle?

Written by Perisha Kudhail on . Posted in Lifestyle.

With university being a perfect environment to meet all sorts of people, it’s not a rarity for us to start a relationship with someone who lives somewhere hundreds of miles from us. But are these relationships worth pursuing?

With our lives in modern day society becoming more and more hectic, can we really afford the time and money required to keep up seeing our partners? Or have advances in technology made it so easy to pursue a relationship virtually that the distance gap between partners no longer exists? Bruce and Louise offer two very different experiences of long distance relationships.

YES — Louise

“We met in a bar in Paris in August 2013 and really hit it off. We both knew there was a spark there but because of the obvious distance problem we were unsure whether or not to pursue it. We said goodbye after four days together and kept in touch. Within a few weeks we began officially dating, against most of the advice of friends and family. He made his first trip to England a month later, and that is how we have remained: flying backwards and forwards every few months to see each other for nearly a year and a half.

“Our relationship has remained strong because we don’t dwell on the distance. We accept that it is what it is: not ideal but something that we have to accept for now. We make an effort to talk face to face (even if it’s just on FaceTime) at least once a day, as well as to send each other letters and gifts to let the other person know we are thinking of each other. We have date nights once a week like other couples. We have made plans for him to move to England permanently as soon as next year, and have never been stronger as a couple.”

NO — Bruce

“We became interested in each other in 2012 after a debating competition in Sri Lanka. About a year after that we began to date and she became my source of release: I told her everything. We went to school together in India, I was two years her senior. Although we didn’t see each other every day we spoke all the time.

“I then got accepted to a university in the UK and we remained together for six months. At the beginning we spoke to each other every day. But as the relationship progressed, we became distanced. We had our own lives and lived in different worlds.  We were more than 5000 miles away from each other: how were we supposed to function as a couple with that distance between us? One of us was bound to fall out of love with the other and that’s what happened with us. I wouldn’t say it ended badly, but I wouldn’t recommend a long distance relationship to anyone.”

What’s on?

Written by Holly Smith on . Posted in Arts.

Preview: Playtime @ The Cornerhouse

Friday 21st November 2014, 18:00 – 21:00, Free. Drop in.

With the moving of the Cornerhouse to a new building next year, be the first to see their momentous closing show. Lawrence Abu Hamdan and Andy Graydon will join with a selection of Playtime artists who will stage a performance of this interactive audio installation. Nine artists present playful, participatory work inspired by Cornerhouse’s iconic brick structure and director Jacques Tati’s 1967 comedy masterpiece Playtime. Drinks will be provided by Absolut.

Puffin Crossing Carousel @ Oxford Street/Whitworth Street (gather outside Cornerhouse entrance)

Saturday 22nd November 2014, 12:00 – 12:30, Free

In the final scene of Jacques Tati’s Playtime, a roundabout is transformed into a moving carousel. Inspired by this scene, artist Naomi Kashiwagi has collaborated with choreographer Benji Reid to devise a new performance that will transform the junction outside Cornerhouse into a merry-go-round, as knowing and unaware participants perform choreographed movements to Francis Lemarque’s song ‘L’Opéra des Jours Heureux’.

The Livable City: A Danish-British Dialogue in Manchester @ Manchester School of Architecture, Benzie Building

Thursday 20th – Thursday 27th November

This exhibition is a celebration of architecture and urban planning and aims to look at ways that planners, architects and local communities can play their part in the development of a dynamic, liveable city with a more resilient economy, healthier residents and a better quality of life for everyone. Talks, seminars and debates will also take place—make sure that you book in advance.

Made in Manchester: The Art of Emmanuel Levy (1900 – 1986) @ Manchester Jewish Museum

24th October 2014 – 29th May 2015, Free with museum admission

This exhibition explores Levy’s Mancunian heritage and showcases his talents as a painter, writer and teacher  through works such as ‘Snow in the North’ and ‘Raiders Overhead’, where the setting is Levy’s home during a World War Two air raid. Levy’s Jewish roots are reflected through works such as ‘Two Rabbis with Scrolls of the Law’ (illustrated) and ‘Crucifixion’, painted by Levy in response to the Holocaust. The exhibition also showcases Levy’s skills as a portrait artist, through arresting portraits such as ‘Girl at a Window’ and sketches of contemporary artists such as L.S. Lowry.

Minds matter

Written by Joe C. Evans on . Posted in Opinion.

“You are mental mate,” “I’m just so depressed lately,” “Sorry I rearranged your food cupboard—I have this things about tidiness.” Phrases like this are so ingrained in the rhetoric of the day to day that they are the norm. To be upset and describe yourself as depressed isn’t ever corrected. To incessantly fuss with the statement, “Oh, I’m a bit OCD, not properly though,” is apparently fine.

The problem is that it’s really not okay. The issue is that it serves to undermine the potential for real illnesses being diagnosed as a throw away excuse or explanations for a piece of behaviour.

Mental illness is still, despite its highly publicised sufferers, a taboo issue. Though maybe not taboo in everyday discussion, it is still very much taboo in the sense that to seek help for mental issues is looked on unfavourably.

The general use of discourse relating to mental illness in day-to-day exchanges simply serves to negate the importance of getting assistance for real mental illness.

Furthermore it serves to perpetuate the idea of mental illness as something to be kept under wraps, something with negative connotations. This is exactly the kind of stereotype campaigners and lobbyists are attempting to shake off.

Depressive illness is not analogous with being a bit sleepy; it is a physical condition, an irrefutable, factually supported, imbalance in the body. Being sad then, is not to be depressed. The negativity surrounding seeking medical support for a mental illness like this not only stems from popular discourse. Repressive societal attitudes to mental illness predate the changes of popular daily discourse.

The NHS must also take some responsibility. One in six patients who have sought treatment for mental illness will attempt suicide while awaiting help. It’s the equivalent of 55000 cancer patients a year finding their situation so helpless that they attempt suicide.

It’s true that there is clearly not a ‘parity of esteem’ between physical illness and mental illness. Similarly the legal status of many people classified as mentally ill serves to undermine the continued efforts to normalise not the language of mental illness, but the illnesses themselves.

In 2013, 263 children sectioned under the Mental Health Act were held in prison cells due to overcrowding in the correct facilities. The Health Select Committee has referred, on more than one occasion, to ‘serious and deeply ingrained problems’ in the approach to the treatment of sectioned children and adults.

When the institutions designated with dealing with issues of mental illness continually fail, not only does a person admitting to possible issues become taboo, it often becomes futile too.

Socially, it shouldn’t be considered a futile gesture to raise a medical issue to an institution tasked with treating its patients equally and effectively. In the case of an orthopaedic illness this is never the case. A broken leg is treated swiftly, and in the correct environment. The same should be true, but clearly is not true, of psychiatric illness.

What is true is that the number of patients diagnosed with mental illness has skyrocketed in recent years.

That said it is also true that very few patients were diagnosed with vitamin deficiency, or polio or cancer in the 1600s before they were classified. We wouldn’t deny any of these exist in the 21st century.

Medicine moves on and we learn more about the body. Discovering something now doesn’t mean it never existed; gravity, shockingly, existed before Newton spotted it. It means that civilizations before us dealt with it and carried on, but they also dealt with polio and carried on. Try suggesting doing that now. Did you get a frosty response? Thought so.

The understanding of the brain and the furthering of research into chemical imbalance and psychiatric illness is not something to be scoffed at as a 21st century illness. It’s a regressive attitude that we allow to prevail when we cultivate such ideas.

While once the mentally ill were feared and burnt as witches, we now prefer to deny them as being ill at all. Keep calm and carry on. Maybe it is time to develop some empathy. Or maybe these regressive attitudes and inability rationalise is within itself a type of madness. I’m sure it would be totally socially acceptable to label them mentally ill.

The continued ridiculing of mental illness, which has been cultivated societally and also by the failing of institutions, must be carefully considered. The further it is dehumanised, the further it slips into popular culture, the less seriously considered the issues become.

Be it through language, ’21 pictures people with OCD will love’ or television like The Big Bang Theory where Sheldon (an unlabelled autistic figure) is ridiculed for his illness. Everyday hundreds of you will walk past a lady standing by the gates of Owens Park and smirk. All of these things, if you really think about it, are such cruel things to do. It’s medieval in its outlook, laughing at otherness.

As long as the issue of mental illness is treated as such it will remain a taboo for those who suffer or think they suffer with the illness.

As long as jokes spread and normal language reinforces psychiatric illness as strange and unwanted, it will remain for many a dark secret, a dark secret to be suppressed and never fully dealt with.

So talk about mental health by all means, but if you’re going to talk about it, take it seriously.

Turner Prize 2014 Artists: Ciara Phillips

Written by Holly Smith on . Posted in Arts.

Established in 1984, the Turner Prize is awarded each year to a contemporary artist under 50 living, working or born in Britain, who is judged to have put on the best exhibition of the last 12 months. Previous winners include Gilbert & George, Antony Gormley, Grayson Perry, Jeremy Deller and Damien Hirst. This year’s shortlist showcases artists whose work spans film (Duncan Campbell), prints (Ciara Phillips), video (James Richards) and live performance (Tris Vonna-Michell).

Canadian born Ciara Phillips is an artist based in Glasgow who employs screenprinting, textile techniques and wall painting to create context-specific installations. She effectively explores the languages of material, method and process in relation to forms of written and visual language. She works with all types of print, from textiles to photos and wall paintings.

After studying Fine Arts at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ciara has gone on to have her exhibitions shown around the world, including Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Glasgow, Bergen and London. In the exhibition for which Ciara Phillips was awarded her Turner Prize nomination, she turned London’s The Showroom gallery into a print workshop, inviting designers, artists and local women’s groups to come and make prints with her.

Phillips’ inspiration came from Cortia Kent, a pioneering artist, educator and activist whose screen prints often incorporated the archetypal products of brands of American consumerism alongside spiritual texts; she would tear, rip, or crumble the image, then re-photograph it.

Phillips is the only female nominee this year, and with only five females ever having won the prize, all eyes are on her and her artwork.

Can individual morality affect corporate approaches to sensitive issues?

Written by Lauren Wills on . Posted in Opinion.

Corporations entrench societal privilege by making it okay to discriminate against and attempt to normalise people suffering from mental health issues. When corporate giants such as Tesco and Asda put mental health patient Halloween costumes on sale, what they’re really saying is that it’s okay to laugh at this issue.

Whilst this is in the past, and both companies retracted the costumes, I was shocked when a year later, Wal-Mart (Asda’s parent company) introduced ‘fat girl’ Halloween costumes on its website. It is astounding how anyone would think this kind of labelling is acceptable. What’s frightening is the company’s lack of sensitivity when considering their influence over society.

I am not claiming that there was insufficient public outrage over both of these ‘hiccups’, but I think there’s a ‘sheep-mentality’ problem with society today where we don’t think for ourselves. We only revolt against the actions of corporations when an intelligent individual expresses that something is wrong, adequately explains why, and tells us why we should agree with them. Usually this is done over social media—we jump on the bandwagon and criticise corporate decisions until offensive statements are retracted, or in Asda’s case, until the costumes are removed. 

Some might argue in their brutal honesty that we sometimes do recognise that the acts of corporate giants are morally questionable, yet we choose to ignore them until it’s seen as socially acceptable to criticise them. For example, if you are not affected by mental illness at this moment in time, you are more likely to detach yourself from the issue and concentrate on your own life rather than spending time and energy standing up for a cause that doesn’t directly affect you.

If this is the case and society does recognise that certain acts are offensive to certain people, I would suggest we adopt a more altruistic approach. Mental illness can affect anyone without prior warning and without that individual doing anything to cause it. The World Health Organisation report that around 450 million people currently suffer from different mental disorders, making mental illness among the leading causes of ill-health and disability worldwide.

What’s worse is that nearly two-thirds of people with a known mental disorder never seek help. To know that companies endorse and encourage stigma and discrimination either through intention or negligence is something we should all be personally standing up against.

It really can happen to anyone, and the fact that people are embarrassed or ashamed to get treatment is something we should all carry the weight of to ensure people are getting the help they need. Furthermore, not all cases of obesity are self-inflicted; there are myriad reasons why individuals become overweight, but there is such stigma attached to appearance, based around laziness and apathy, that people are made to feel marginalised at the hands of key market players.

In my opinion, keeping an open mind and an ‘anything could happen’ mentality allows us to really put ourselves in other people’s shoes, preventing us from disregarding others or making them feel inferior.

Whilst I love and appreciate the fact that companies rely on the support of the public (which does, to some degree, make them accountable for their mistakes) I think it’s important to recognise that we should be individually sensitive to issues such as mental health and insecurity before they become topical and someone writes an article about it.

It really does start with personal morality, sensitivity and compassion. One in three people are affected by mental health issues over their lifetime. 64 per cent of people in the UK are deemed overweight or obese. The quicker we grasp the realities of the statistics, the quicker we stop marginalising affected individuals. I am not denying that we should indeed promote a healthy society, but if we can recognise something is offensive and wrong personally, before we revolt collectively, our communities will be full of individuals sensitive to what others are going through which, pardon the cliché, really can make the world a better place.

Marking boycott suspended until further talks

Written by Aidan Gregory on . Posted in News.

The marking boycott enacted by the Universities and College Union has been suspended, pending further talks over pay and pensions.

Fallowing discussions last week, union representatives agreed that the boycott would be postponed until the 15th January. This deadline has been set, with a view to coming to a settlement over the issue of pensions.

This also means that this semester, thousands of students no longer have to face the prospect of their work going unmarked.

In a joint statement, the Universities and College Union and Universities UK said, “Both parties are committed to seeking a joint proposal for reform that offers an affordable, sustainable and attractive pension scheme, for both current and future members.

They added further, that they are “pleased that the agreement to suspend industrial action at this early stage will mean that students will not have been adversely affected and members of staff will not have had pay deducted”

Many students were quickly informed of the decision.

In an email on Friday morning, the head of the history department, Professor Hannah Barker, said, “I am very pleased to inform you that the lecturer’s union, the UCU, today confirmed a suspension of all industrial action called by them in relation to their current dispute from 20 November until after 15 January 2015. The suspension has been agreed to allow a period of intense negotiation with the aim of seeking an agreement on reforms to staff pensions.

“What this means for you is that marking and assessment activities should now be taking place as normal on all courses: though if you are waiting for some marking and/or feedback that was affected by the industrial action, there may be a delay before you receive it”.

One student described the news as “best news I’ve had all week!”

Another said “I’m glad it’s been stopped, because now I can get my essay marks back! But I hope they resolve the situation quickly”.

Galacti-bores

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Sport.

The epic duel between Messi and Ronaldo in Manchester lasted only 45 measly minutes.

Then, as if from nowhere, the DJ packed up, and it seemed as if he took the crowd, some of who had paid £60 for this nonsense with him. Few can blame the dishevelled crowd for losing their voice after half time. There were the inflated ticket prices, twice of what the Argentina match was at Upton Park last week. You also had to fork out £5 for a glossy programme, £4 for a plastic bottle of watery Singha and £3 for a stale pie. Then there were the clackers on sale outside by some guy with an IKEA bag full and half & half scarves just to add to the fun.

All of this could be forgiven if the football was at least watchable. But hauling off the two headline players after 45 minutes was absolutely unforgivable, and that act will ensure this match is remembered as nothing more than the biggest financial honey-trap in recent footballing memory.

Now we all understand that this was a friendly, that it was midweek, and nobody seriously expected Ronaldo and Messi to play the full 90 minutes, but at least 60 would have been nice, especially since both barely did anything in the first half.

For what it’s worth, the match was fairly entertaining for the opening exchanges. This had little to do with the actual football on display, more the crowd’s reactions to the ‘superstars’. Messi played the pantomime villain perfectly, getting jeered every time that he touched the ball. This didn’t seem to bother him too much though, and if this match was going to be used to help judge the Ballon d’Or winner, his contribution, little though it was, surpassed that of CR7.

Unfortunately for the Red Legion in the stands, the occasion seemed to be a bit too much for Ronaldo, who looked like he was enjoying being the Belle of the ball a bit too much and was totally ineffectual. His only decent moment was a bit of neat footwork in Argentina box before he blasted the ball over the crossbar.

The one certain thing that came out of the match however was that Nani, the Manchester United player currently in exile at Sporting, will never, ever, play for the Red Devils again. His first return to his old hunting ground after a summer move wasn’t one to remember, and the fact he escaped the litany of substitutions and stayed on the pitch for the entirety of the game severely limited fans enjoyment and he affirmed his place as the least popular left-back in Manchester. His only memorable contribution was a crunching tackle on Angel Di Maria, who luckily escaped a serious injury.

Di Maria, who wears Ronaldo’s old no.7 shirt, created a bit of noise mid-way through the second half after curling a left foot shot seemed for the entire world to be going in, yet was met by the big right glove by Rui Patricio. The save was probably the best bit of skill shown by any player on the pitch that night, considering he hardly touched the ball before the shot.

Yet the substitutions kept coming, and with Louis Van Gaal in the stands one can only think he wanted Di Maria to be taken off, and on came Tevez to a relatively mixed reception. But by this point the crowd, which only just filled the bottom tier of Old Trafford, were ambivalent by this point to care.

With 20 minutes to go an enormous Mexican wave broke out which went round Old Trafford at least five times. This was an omen that we weren’t the only ones in the crowd bored and disappointed with the quality of by game.

By time the deadlock and apathy were broken by Portugal’s Guerreiro, we were long on our way to the tram stop, wanting to get as far away from the Theatre of Dreams as possible, as subdued cheers sounded up behind us.

 

The perfect fail

Written by Kassi Allcock on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

The marketing industry has an unspeakable amount of power in its hands, controlling what we think we should be wearing, how we think we should act, and how we think we should look. In the past, this power has been abused, forcing women (and men) to aspire to unattainable standards, creating an unnecessary wave of insecurities. Don’t have a skinny waist? Not good enough. Don’t have a thigh gap? Not good enough. Don’t have DDs? Not good enough. Models are urged to mistreat their bodies, which are then photoshopped further away from reality, and closer towards the inexistent concept that we know as ‘perfection’.

In present day, we are definitely moving away from this toxic way of thinking, encouraging people of all shapes and sizes to be happy with the way that they look. Keira Knightley recently released images from a topless photo shoot, demanding that her body not be edited in any way once the photographs had been taken. Throughout her career, people within the marketing industry have enhanced her chest without any consent, leading her to question what was wrong with her body in the first place. Proud of her smaller chest, the topless photo shoot was an important message to be shared. We have come so far in spreading the message that your body shape does not define you: enter the Victoria’s Secret ‘Perfect Body’ campaign.

The campaign’s aim was to promote their range of underwear ‘Body by Victoria’. Irresponsibly, they did so by stretching the words ‘The Perfect Body’ across ten thin models. The harmful message that this advertisement displays is that we should not be happy with our bodies unless we look like a Victoria’s Secret model—which isn’t even possible! They starve themselves and exercise manically in the days running up to a photo shoot, meaning that not even the models look like that normally. On top of the unhealthy lifestyle that these models are condemned to, any further blemishes and imperfections will have been removed via Photoshop.

Some people have responded to the campaign by saying that they should have used larger models instead—but would this really have been better? We can see in the music industry at the moment that artists are attempting to promote bigger body shapes (Meghan Trainor with ‘All About That Bass’, and Nicki Minaj with ‘Anaconda’), which is fantastic, but they are definitely going about it in the wrong way. Instead of spreading the positive message of loving your body no matter what shape or size it is, they have taken the opposite route to the Victoria’s Secret campaign, by shaming smaller women instead. Instead of body shaming at all, we should be body celebrating. We shouldn’t be claiming that a real woman has curves, or that she has muscles, or that she is skinny—a real woman is whatever the hell she wants to be, and the marketing industry has failed us once again at promoting this message.

How beneficial can study drugs be to your education?

Written by Roberta Rofman on . Posted in Features.

University pressure and workload can get a bit too much sometimes so the existence of certain aides that make those pressures and workloads less overwhelming and more enjoyable are a godsend for some people. What these aides are referred are ‘study drugs’ or ‘smart drugs’.

Study drugs are basically prescription drugs such as modafinil and Adderall that help you concentrate and get work done while feeling awake and focused.

Modafinil is the study drug that is probably most popular amongst students. Feeling naturally awake is a common reported side effect, not the same awake-feeling that is caused by caffeine. The Ministry of Defence used to even ship thousands of them to soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2004 to keep them awake and focused.

Ritalin is also another drug that is used for studying purposes. It’s made to help with ADD, ADHD and narcolepsy. Ritalin is class B drug in the UK and the US government class it on par with cocaine and morphine because it is highly addictive; however addiction is only likely to form after persistent and long term use.

Study drugs are legal to take but not to distribute and sell. Because they are only available by means of prescription, many go to the world of the internet to obtain them. Because of the less-than-truthful nature of the web, this can be dangerous as people don’t know what they’re really taking.

Moreover, there haven’t been any long-term safety studies of the use of these types of drugs for people who don’t need them which can be a problem. But, the majority of people who have used modafinil etc. have not report any bad side effects after it has worn off.

BBC News, in 2011, asked the professor of clinical neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge, Barbara Sahakian, her thoughts on study drugs. She said:

“These drugs could play a far wider role in society”

And her most recent research has shown that surgeons who are sleep-deprived perform better when on modafinil.

In the article, a study was done to see if these drugs do actually work or whether they just have a placebo effect. The journalist took modafinil on one day but a placebo pill on another day.

Not knowing which pill was taken on what day, she was asked what day she felt more concentrated and focused. She said the day that she took the placebo pill. After receiving the results, she was given another modafinil pill and reported results of feeling more awake because she knew what results to expect.

With final year being the toughest in degree life, it’s unsurprising that a quarter of final year students took study drugs, according to the Huffington Post.  Overall, one in five have taken prescription drugs at university, with 79 percent saying they would consider taking them again to help them focus.

Why have study drugs then become more normalised? It could be down to the general more acceptance of drugs among people. Having a snowball effect, a friend taking a study drug and influence another person to do so and so on. However, despite the attention that study drugs have gotten in the media, they are not as prevalent as people think with only one in five students taking them.

A student blogger wrote in the Guardian about his experiences of using Modafinil. He reported that while he was on the drug, he felt more aggressive and isolated, only wanting to focus on the work he was doing rather than socialising or eating. Agitation is also a side effect that the majority of people who try modafinil report feeling. Another BBC article reported that 92 percent of people who had tried study drugs would take them again.

Looking at the results, it’s clear that study drugs such as modafinil can be helpful when used responsibly. They are not psychically addictive and with minimal use, a mental addiction is unlikely to develop.

Having an essay that needs complete focus on is a good way to use it and can maximise a person’s potential while juggling many different aspects of university life to have an overall balanced life, which is the ideal.

Live: Phox

Written by Rachel Connolly on . Posted in Music.

11th November

Soup Kitchen

5/10

If, when Jean-Paul Sartre wrote “hell is other people”, he was implying that the complete lack thereof is heaven, the Phox gig was something close to nirvana. Somewhere in the region of 10 people turned up to the Soup Kitchen gig but Phox cheerfully played a heartfelt, impassioned show despite this. They even subverted the emptiness to be a positive of the evening, using conversation and disarming laughter to build intimacy.

Phox are a sextet from Wisconsin who describe themselves as a “gaggle of goofy wizards”, but don’t let this put you off them; they aren’t half as cheesy or annoying as this would imply. The group make sugary, folky, easy listening pop in the vein of Feist and Mumford and Sons and 2013 saw them receive recognition and acclaim for EP Confetti. They performed at the SXSW showcase, played a slot at the London iTunes festival and were crowned Wisconsin’s “musical success story of 2013”. A starry year of globetrotting compared to the humble lives they lead in Wisconsin, where lead singer Monica Martin still works as a barista.

Music that consists of carefully played instruments and stunning vocals, always sounds better live. The brain assumes that the slick perfection of each recording is the product of multiple studio attempts and tireless editing. However, live Phox perform each song is surprisingly perfectly, flawlessly. Almost a clone of the recording, but slightly better. The singsong-y tunes, tinkling pianos and Martin’s lyrics on record are so sugary sweet it starts to hurt your teeth. But live there is a bitter undertone that makes the sound distinctly more palatable, and poignant.

They sing about depression, bad blow jobs and losing love, but it always sounds, by their own admission, “flowery” on records. ‘Slow Motion’, a song about Martin’s experience of depression may as well be about sweets and puppies when I listen to it on Spotify, but live the lyrics are more striking, enunciated, and the meaning of the song shines through. They end beautifully on ‘Evil’ and a jovial version of ‘Nobel Heart’, interspersed with laughter is another highlight of the night.

Phox aren’t fresh, exciting or to my tastes, but they make undeniably pleasant music and put on a moving show. Undoubtedly there is a bravery to playing your heart out to an empty room and they did it with class and composure.

Interview: Enter Shikari

Written by Randeep Samra on . Posted in Music, Uncategorised.

In two and a half months – almost precisely three years after the release of their latest album, A Flashflood of Colour – Enter Shikari will release their fourth album, The Mindsweep, whose first associated tour lands in Manchester Academy this February. Many will remember their debut – 2007’s Take to the Skies – introducing a particularly interesting form of post-hardcore music with ostensible electronic influences both to the mainstream and underground alternative scenes – taking charts everywhere by storm and maintaining that stranglehold for months. Since then, the band went from 2009’s interesting and somewhat engaging – yet not entirely cohesive – concept album Common Dreads, to albums which reflect a natural progression from that socially conscious and musically adventurous project.

Since Common Dreads, Enter Shikari have refined their unique brand of post-hardcore littered with disparate influences from various subgenres of electronic, yielding in 2011 an album sounding much like the previous but with the influences melding into something which sounded at once more organic and more daring. In anticipation of what was to come next, I talked to Enter Shikari’s lead guitarist Liam “Rory” Clewlow to get a sense of what they’re hoping to achieve with their upcoming album, and understand the extracurricular activities the band are finding themselves engaged in.

When asked about the influences involved in the upcoming album, Rory explains that “we’ll pick bits from electronic genres but not put them in genre pigeonholes.” He had been particularly effective in implicitly getting across that the band were not interested in creating any sort of tribute to a genre or style or attempt to capture a particular aesthetic. The band, with disparate tastes held by each member – “Rob’s [the drummer’s] favourite genres right now are classical and house” –  did whatever they felt appropriate in conveying whatever they would end up producing. “The synths and stuff aren’t really tied to a genre; they’re more sounds that we like…” he continues, “nothing’s conscious, nothing’s contrived: we just sit down and see what comes out”.

The musical trajectory that can be traced from Take to the Skies up to now is, to a certain extent, evident from listening to just the lead singles from each album, up until the as-yet only song that the band have released from The Mindsweep. Going from a fresh and fiery track like ‘Sorry You’re Not a Winner’, with its nigh-uncategorisable dynamism and weirdness, and almost Dadaistic lyrical content, to the more hook-laden yet more socially relevant and just-as-punk delivery in ‘The Last Garrison’, we can see that the band have etched a sound of their own which makes it hard to group them into any sort of “scene” with any other artist. The Mindsweep marks the first time Enter Shikari have incorporated orchestral instruments into an album: “it’s the first time we’ve got live strings on an album, and they’re really prominent in particular parts of the album.”

Since Common Dreads, it has been clear that the band have aimed to communicate a certain sort of message through their lyrics. However, Rory is eager to emphasize that the band refrain from letting any particular ideology worm its way to the forefront of their lyrics. They primarily consist in, he says, “taking everything we know about the world and looking at it objectively… the anger isn’t directed towards the government or any particular entity; it’s directed towards the system in general – towards certain ways of thinking, towards the way the world seems to be. Only one song from the new album is about a particular topic,” he says: “‘Anaesthetist’ is about the decline of the NHS.” Indeed, it is evident from a listen to ‘The Last Garrison’ that the band are going for a more abstract approach to conveying their message than many of their forerunners have done.

With the band’s socially conscious and politically aware lyrics, it is no surprise that the band make active efforts to implement the corollaries of the “scientific way of thinking” they advocate in their lyrics in their actions as a band off as well as on the stage. Unlike far too many other so-called “punk” bands, they make active efforts to talk to their audience before their shows, and engage in politics on a more tangible level. The band’s lead vocalist, Rou Reynolds, has recently been involved in The Zeitgeist Movement – which is, as the project’s mission statement puts it,” a sustainability advocacy organization, which conducts community based activism and awareness actions.” Rou’s excellent talk for TZM’s Z-Day, ‘Music’s Social Value’, can be viewed in its entirety on Youtube. The talk succinctly articulates much of what both the movement and Enter Shikari are all about. In line with the general sentiment expressed throughout Enter Shikari’s career, Rory states simply that “the Zeitgeist movement is basically saying that the system needs to change.”

Enter Shikari are set to release The Mindsweep on 19th January 2015, and you can catch them live on February 20th at Manchester Academy.

Live: The Staves

Written by Malin Litwinski on . Posted in Music.

20th October

Deaf Institute

8/10

The Staves are Emily, Jessica and Camilla Staveley-Taylor, three sisters from Watford who share good genes, outstanding singing and song writing skills and a mischievous sense of humour. As they celebrate the end of a short UK tour, oldest sibling Emily admits she “stole” copies of their new EP, The Blood I Bled, to sell at the gig, prompting the youngest, Camilla, to remind the sold-out crowd they still have to buy them. Middle child Jessica ponders missed merchandising opportunities: “We wanted to get plasters ready,” she says, “there was also a discussion about tampons, but our management didn’t think that was a good idea… for some reason.”

Dead & Born & Grown, their debut album, was released in 2012 and has since then established the trio with their bewitching three-part harmonies in the folk scene. Keeping up with (or in my eyes far exceeding) the typically banjo-heavy representatives of the genre, the Staves have shifted away from British whimsy and towards less polite and more passionate tunes throughout their latest album. The Blood I Bled was predominantly played at the night and none of the numerous apologies for playing so many new songs despite knowing how annoying that is were in any way needed.

With a very wide instrumental variety, from a ukulele over guitars to percussions and even a little suitcase-looking squeeze box, the Staves continue to amaze with their spectrum of vocal flavours. A fevered rhythm propels ‘Steady’ and a chiming melody winds its way through ‘Black & White’, the band’s warm sound fleshed out by a three-piece band. The combination of soft folk, country and soulful pop voices had the capacity Deaf Institute in awe of the chilly Midwestern feel but the “random fun facts”, courtesy of the three sisters’ down to earth attitudes, lightened the mood in between the songs and left everyone in the crowd with a smile on their faces. Apparently Jessica had seen a guy wearing a top hat on the train that day.

Technology: the modern day student addiction

Written by Andy van den Bent-Kelly on . Posted in News, Science & Tech.

The internet, social media and mobile phones have become three of the biggest addictions among students and other 18 – 24 year olds, according to a survey conducted by an electronic cigarette company.

The study, which involved 2000 members of the British public, was designed by ECigaretteDirect to determine exactly what qualifies as a modern-day addiction. Although some are immediately obvious, most notably nicotine and various drugs, there are countless other habits, items and even activities that people class as addictions.

In the Technology section of the report, mobile phones featured prominently. Roughly 54 per cent of the people questioned considered the devices an addiction, dedicating an average of 50 minutes a day to texting, calling and general browsing.

This was to be expected—mobiles (in particular smartphones) form a key part of many people’s daily lives, both for business and leisure.

However, as addicted as many of us are to our phones, they weren’t top of the list.

Social media was regarded as the biggest addiction, with over 55 per cent of 18 – 24 year olds admitting that they struggled to get through the day without logging in to any of their accounts. Each day, people spend an average of 54 minutes on the likes of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Of these sites, YouTube was one of the most popular. Young people spend an average of 40 minutes a day browsing and watching videos on the website.

James Dunworth, Director and Co-Founder of ECigaretteDirect, said, “I think it’s worth bearing in mind that 20 or even 10 years ago these same people would have been glued to the television.

“The usual criticism is that people are interacting on social media instead of face-to-face. That may be a valid to a degree, but again it’s probably better than sitting on a sofa watching TV.”

He stressed that despite the negative connotations that come with labelling something as an addiction, there were many benefits to social media platforms. “As a person with family spread over several different countries, I personally find it an invaluable to keep up with the lives of those close to me.”

It could be argued that social media falls into the category of internet browsing, although the respondents didn’t seem to agree. Only 34 per cent believe that surfing the web is an addiction, despite the fact that the average time of 64 minutes spent online a day is greater than the figure for phones and social platforms. 21 per cent even stated that they spend more than two hours on the internet every day.

However, it should be noted that social media can easily be accessed on a smartphone—it is fairly safe to assume that this is how many people regularly check their multiple accounts. This would explain the apparent disparity in the results.

The study also focused on two other areas: Lifestyle & Fashion and Health & Fitness.

In Lifestyle, shopping came in as the biggest addiction, with half of all the respondents classing it as one. An astonishing 42 per cent stated that they couldn’t live without it.

Vanity, looking good and being in a relationship also featured. Although it could be argued that vanity is a trait that everyone possesses to some extent, 34 per cent admitted that looking good all the time was simply essential. Nearly a third of respondents stated that they were dependent on having a partner.

Gossip was perhaps the most surprising entry. An incredible 30 per cent of respondents said they were addicted to gossiping, even going as far as admitting that they couldn’t live without it.

In Health, the biggest addictions were found to be calorie counting and weight loss. Sadly, almost a quarter of respondents said that they wouldn’t be able to live without weight loss.

Clubber left with fractured face and broken teeth after a brutal attack outside Sankeys

Written by Helen Chapman on . Posted in News.

At around 4am on Sunday 26th October 2014, a man and his friend left the nightclub and walked to two separate cars to head home. 

The victim then received a call from his friend asking for help, as some men had approached him and were trying to steal his car.

The victim ran around the corner and saw two unknown men sitting in his friend’s vehicle.

After he asked them to get out, one of the offenders got out the car and started to threaten the victim before launching into an attack, punching him in the face, breaking his teeth and causing facial fractures that left the victim hospitalised. 

The offender is described as an Asian man, of slim build, around 5ft 10in tall and between 25 and 27 years old. He had a goatee beard and was wearing a red jumper and blue jeans. 

Detective Constable David Berry said: “This assault caused significant injury to the victim, leaving him requiring hospital treatment and cosmetic surgery to his face.

“Such was the force of the blows and the damage caused by the attack, that officers believe that the offenders used a weapon.

“The victim was simply sticking up for his friend and that act of bravery has resulted in him suffering terrible injury.

“If you were in the area at the time, you were leaving Sankeys around 4am or saw anyone matching the description above, please call police as soon as possible.”

Detective Constable David Berry, from Greater Manchester Police, said: “This assault caused significant injury to the victim, leaving him requiring hospital treatment and cosmetic surgery to his face.

“Such was the force of the blows and the damage caused, officers believe that the offenders used a weapon.

“The victim was simply sticking up for his friend and that act of bravery has resulted in him suffering terrible injury.”

Anyone with information should call police on 0161 856 1901 or the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Universities enter marking boycott against pension reductions

Written by Helen Chapman on . Posted in News.

Lecturers have decided to take action against proposed changes to the university pension scheme (Universities Superannuation Scheme) which will mean significantly reduced benefits, in some cases as much as £12000 a year.

The University and College Union (UCU) held a ballot to decide what to do and 80 per cent voted favour of taking action. There is clear support across pre-1992 universities for the boycott.

The UCU has called on its members to take “action short of a strike,” which will take the form of an assessment and marking boycott.

Action will differ across the schools in the University of Manchester. Not all staff members are involved in the industrial action. However, lecturers involved in the industrial action may not be marking work or providing feedback on it. Despite this, all Schools across the University are attempting to minimise any disruption to students.

Teaching will continue which means lectures, seminars, supervisions and office hours will be taking place as normal.

Charlie Spargo, a second year Politics, Philosophy and Economics student said: “I agree with the boycott fully; lecturers have much less choice than other professions because they want to damage the university, not the students but there’s no way to do that.

“It’s a Catch-22—they don’t want to hurt students but that’s the only way to get what they want.”

Jessie Parkinson, a third year English Literature student, said: “Our lecturers at the University of Manchester deserve a fair and sustainable proposal.

“I hope that employers and the pension scheme managers sit down and negotiate to ensure a fair pension and end this dispute as soon as possible.”

Other students have voiced their distress over the industrial action.

Asharki Newton, third year History and Economics student, said: “As a student, my primary concern is my education.

“Whilst I understand and support the reasons behind the boycott, I am not paying £9000 a year to not receive any feedback or marks. The university needs to be more considerate of how this boycott affects student experience and be more proactive in trying to resolve the situation.

“It’s such a shame because I have such a high regard for this university. I’d like to think that I would only ever have great things to say about my time here, but this boycott drama has definitely cast a shadow over that.”

Andrew Wilson, a third year Politics and Modern History student, said: “Not only am I in my final year of university, but I am also a member of the first generation of students to pay £9000 a year for the ‘privilege’ of a University education.

“I must say, when I decided to take on this much debt, I expected at the very least to have the work I produced marked accurately and on time. It seems like the most basic of requirements. To think that this will not happen at one of the most crucial stages of my education is, quite frankly, appalling.

“Some of us are applying for Masters Programmes, internships or graduate schemes which require transcripts of our grades, and not being able to supply these would essentially render these applications null and void.”

Another third year Politics and Modern History student expressed similar distress: “I think the marking boycott is absurd. If lecturers think they have it tough, they should try being students under the current fees system.

“All the marking boycott is doing is pissing off the very group of people who are most inclined to back lecturers up—us students.”

If you have concerns about the industrial action taking place please email President and Vice-Chancellor Nancy Rothwell: [email protected] or your school and departmental directors to raise issues.

Bus inspector jailed over ‘crash for cash’ scam

Written by Jennifer Sterne on . Posted in News.

Back in 2011, bus inspector Asan Akram was behind a £400000 scam, involving a number 42 bus crashing into a Mercedes on Wimslow Road, the busiest bus route in Manchester.

There were more than 30 passengers on board the double decker bus at the time of the incident. Insurers had therefore put aside £400000, expecting a flood of accident injury claims.

Akram was one of the first at the scene of the crash; interviewing the driver, taking down names and asking if anyone needed medical assistance.

An investigation later revealed, however, that Akram, Finglands bus company’s night duty inspector, had staged the collision between the bus and the Mercedes, which had been driven by his friend Tariq Iqbal.

In a statement to the Manchester Evening News, Phil Dobson, prosecuting, said: “CCTV from the bus showed the Mercedes in close proximity to the bus—stopping, slowing, allowing it to overtake—several times before the moment of hard braking and collision.”

After both men admitted conspiracy to commit fraud at Manchester Crown Court, Akram has now been jailed for 16 months. Iqbal was given a 12-month sentence suspended for two years, 250 hours of unpaid work, and a four-month curfew.  The bus driver was investigated before being cleared.

Insurance companies became suspicious of the ‘accident’ due to the vagueness of Akram’s report filled out after the incident, and employed a private investigation company.

The City of London Police was given the case by the insurers. They were unable to trace Akram until December 2013. By this time Iqbal had successfully gained a payout of £12500 and Finglands had paid £42000 in legal fees.

As quoted in Manchester Evening News, Max Saffman, defending Akram, said he had shown himself capable of living a law-abiding life, but turned to fraud because of ‘financial desperation’.

City of London Police detective constable Mark Reynolds, who led the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department’s (IFED) investigation, said: “This was a long-running and complex investigation which has ultimately proved that Akram and Iqbal meticulously planned to commit insurance fraud on a massive scale.

“The fact that their attempted scam put lives at risk by causing a crash with a packed double-decker bus on a busy road at night was inconsequential to them.

“They wanted half a million pounds from an insurer and were prepared to go to any length to get it.

“But what both men did not reckon on was IFED and the insurance industry working together to identify and track down criminals and have them brought to justice.”

Men’s Style Sins

Written by Nikki Patel on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

If you’re looking to impress with your outfit choices here are five major style mistakes you might want to avoid:

High waisted trousers

Photo: chums.co.uk

The only way I can fathom how one would justify attending the mile-high pant party is through a perverse idolisation of Simon Cowell, or an even more perverse desire for the entire student population to know the exact girth of your knickknacks. Neither is ok.

 

Booty shorts

Photo: canadian pacific @Flickr

Junk in the trunk? Fabulous. Forcibly etching said junk into my psyche? Not so much.

 

Hype, Dope and all that jazz

Photo: richmondclassics.com

If you regularly stroll down Oxford Road with ‘DOPE’ plastered across your flower-sprigged chest, chances are that you are in fact standing at the foot of Mount Dope surrounded by minimal ‘hype’. Those who are ‘dope’ often opt for a subtler, more chic T-shirt design, basking secretly in their own personal dopeness. Dope.

 

The Deep ‘V’

Photo: designerbrands.org.uk

Whether you are teasing us with just a cheeky glimpse of your ‘meavage’ or driving us wild with desire with a sneak peek of your pubic hair, anyone spotted sporting the deep ‘V’ will be fined £50 and given a complementary scoop tee by The Mancunion.

 

The excessive collar

Photo: Paramount

The wearer of the excessive collar is often spotted at the club either attempting to ‘buy the bar’ or attempting to pick up girls by lurking in leather booths. Either way, your swag is sleaze-ridden and you are indirectly communicating to the world that Saturday Night Fever is your sartorial inspiration.

Beautifying basics for boys

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

With these three skincare brands, stubble burn, dry skin and spots will be a thing of the past. Head to Boots and fill your basket with some of our top product picks.

 

Nivea

Deep Cleansing Face Wash. Photo: Nivea

The hormones in  men’s bodies tend to make their skin more spot prone. Using a daily face wash can help keep skin clean and clear. A morning facial cleanse will leave skin feeling soft, whilst an evening wash is great for getting rid of the dirt that leads to clogged pores and blemishes. It’s important to get a face wash that caters to sensitive skin whilst being able to stop breakouts.

Exfoliating face scrub. Photo: Nivea

Exfoliating scrub should be used two to three times a week to unblock pores and clear away built-up dirt. Nivea contains vitamin E which helps promote healthy skin.

 

Clinique for Men

Cream Shave. Photo: Clinique For Men

Oh, how we love Movember. But for those who don’t partake in this annual festivity, a clean shave is still a vital part of the daily routine. Shaving cream will soften rough stubble for a flawless result. Make sure you give your skin time to wake up before you shave. Use hot water whilst shaving as it is absorbed by the hair, making it easier to cut. Shaving in the direction of hair growth minimises cuts whilst using a cream lifts the hairs ensuring a closer shave.

Post-shave Soother. Photo: Clinique For Men

The after care for shaving is just as important as the shaving itself. To avoid redness, apply a post-shave moisturiser like one from Clinique for Men which will help soothe dryness with its aloe vera formula. Soothing products reduce the likelihood of ingrown hairs and cool irritation. Simply apply directly after shaving. Clinique is allergy-tested, 100% fragrance-free and have been catering for men’s skincare needs since 1976.

 

Palmer’s Cocoa Butter for Men

Palmer’s Cocoa Butter for Men. Photo: Palmer’s

Moisturising is important for any skin type. The winter weather is here, which means that rain, snow and wind will have harsh effects on the skin. Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula body lotion is an affordable toiletry essential that hydrates dry skin without getting too greasy. Opt for the men’s formula for a fast absorbing moisturiser with a fresh masculine scent, you’ll easily spot the distinctive grey bottle.

Androgynous antithesis

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

21st century society has become preoccupied with the notion that people don’t belong in boxes. A strand of this of thought, brought about by the rise of feminism and equality, is that people don’t fall neatly into a single definition of ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine.’ Because fashion is reflective of life, the endeavour to undermine the binary oppositions of gender has sunk into the aesthetic of the clothes we wear—inspiring androgynous fashion. Typically, androgynous fashion has been associated with women dressing more gender neutrally. Very recently, Rihanna and Rita Ora have both been sporting pieces from Givenchy’s men’s collection. Then of course, there was Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s beautiful matching Saint Laurent suits for the BAFTAs although we have yet to see Brad Pitt in an Oscar de la Renta gown. Relaxed shapes appeared in womenswear everywhere for autumn, from Stella McCartney‘s pinstripe pieces borrowed from the bankers, never mind the boyfriend—to Rag & Bone, who went for a boyish vibe.

However, interestingly more designers are investigating the idea of unisex and of men dressing more like women. Although designer JW Anderson has separate men’s and womenswear lines, he has frequently said he views his work as unisex. His focus is subverting womenswear for men. In his last shows, he put male models in bustiers for the men’s collection and sent boys out in tiaras in his show for Versace‘s Versus line. Other designers are investigating the idea too. At Saint Laurent, Hedi Slimane has introduced a unisex line and Richard Nicoll has collaborated with artist Linder Sterling to make SH/e—a genderless line. Nicoll sees more men taking up this look. “I always think things that are genderless are a bit cooler too. It’s sexier because it’s not overt,” he says. So perhaps it may still be a bit strange if your male date turned up in a dress. Nevertheless fashion has been adopting gender liberation, so you never know what might happen in a hundred years or so…

To beard or not to beard?

Written by Kathryn Murray on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

The beard. A staple fashion statement seen on university campuses everywhere. In fact, some may say that it is this year’s hottest men’s fashion accessory with  almost half (42 per cent) of us believing it is “fashionable for men to have beards.”

Once mature enough to leave home for university, males feel the need to grow a beard. But just because they can, doesn’t mean that they should. For starters, not every man actually suits the look. Some look great with a bit of facial hair. For example, Beckham and Clooney look as good with a beard as they do without one, while Ben Affleck rocks facial foliage so impressively that it is now difficult to imagine him clean-shaven.

Then you have the men who attempt a beard, but should probably just give up that dream. On instance of this is Brad Pitt who has always struggled to stay fanciable with facial hair, as does Tom Hardy whose beard has been described as a “hobo horror.” Not attractive. Personally, I am not a fan of the beard. It is itchy and scratchy and a bit generic.

Striking the balance between a beard that is too scruffy and a beard that is overly neat is challenging. And then you have to match your beard shape to your face shape. While pointy ones make long faces look longer, fat, bushy ones only make round faces look rounder. Sometimes, a beard throws everything out of kilter. This is why it takes so much confidence to pull off the bearded look.

Does this mean 21st century men are extremely confident? This year we have reached what fashion historians are calling “peak beard.” Trendy bushy beards, goatees and designer stubble have shaved an incredible £72 million off men’s grooming products in the last year.  Not only does this mean that beards are more popular than ever, it also implies that beards are on their way out of fashion.

So now is your chance. Should you beard? Or should you not beard? Here is a quick quiz to help you decide:

Do you look about 12?

If yes—beard. Facial hair always makes their owner look older.

Does your beard grow patchy?

If yes—don’t beard. Nobody wants to colour in your patchy fluff.

Does your facial hair match your hair colour?

Beard.

If not, does your beard grow ginger?

Don’t beard. A colour mix and match head is not the best look.

Would  your beard constitute bum fluff at best?

If yes—don’t beard, ever.

Do you have a weak chin?

If yes—beard. You can handily disguise this by adding some manly stubble.

Will you care enough to trim and clean your beard?

If yes, then—beard. Nobody likes a wiry crumby beard to look at.

After answering these questions do you still want a beard?

If yes—give it a go! It might transform your life. You could be the next heartthrob. Growing a beard requires a commitment. The initial stages are rough, but stick it out and see what happens.

If you decide against the beard, then don’t worry. Do you really want to commit to the trend that died when Jeremy Paxman jumped on the beardy band wagon?