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Month: February 2017

Preview: Amber Run

Written by Emily Pite on . Posted in Music.

Amber Run are currently touring in support of their new album For A Moment, I Was Lost, released on the 10th of February. We can expect their show at Academy 2 on the 23rd to showcase many new songs, hopefully alongside some older material such as ‘I Found’, one of the most recognised songs from 2015’s 5AM, which reached the Top 40.

Honestly admitting they weren’t where they wanted to be musically for their last album, for For A Moment, I Was Lost they have developed into the band they envisaged when they first formed. Their comments that “the new album trims the fat from our previous music” suggests concert-goers can expect some of the band’s more complex arrangements to be cut back for the upcoming tour, while still retaining the essence of Amber Run.

Although the new pieces may appear a little bare to some, and with the loss of their fifth member, the music alludes to their future progression with songs that may not display the same kind of mainstream appeal but seem to have a more mature feel through their use of instrumentation and strong focus on singer Joe Keogh’s vocals.

For those who haven’t heard Amber Run’s music, think of a mix between Royal Blood, The Cinematic Orchestra and Hans Zimmer (think the Inception soundtrack). To get an impression of the album before they play it on Thursday night, ‘No Answers’ and ‘Dark Bloom’ should get you on the right track.

Amber Run play at Academy 2 on 23rd of February.

Live: Galactic Empire

Written by Joe Hunt on . Posted in Music.

10th February at Satan’s Hollow

6.5/10

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away…. Darth Vader shreds guitar to crowds of screaming fans while Boba Fett keeps rhythm on drums and a Jedi knight punts merch round the back. This is not a strange piece of fan fiction, but rather something that actually happened, albeit at a different time and a different place. On Friday the 10th at Satan’s Hollow, Star Wars-themed metal group Galactic Empire played the third consecutive sold-out show of their current UK tour.

When I arrive the basement venue is filled with a motley crew of Leias, Yodas, families with kids and old men who have an impressive amount of hair for their age. I make my way past the giant glowing eyed Satan to the edge of the stage. The lights dim, there’s a moment of silence, and the band enter to the sinister chorus of John William’s ‘Duel Of Fates’.

Vader leads the troop, his lightsabre swings, deftly removing any haughty notion that I wouldn’t enjoy seeing a Stormtrooper play bass guitar, while deepening my worry that this may not have been the best thing to bring my girlfriend to on one of her few visits before she leaves for Argentina. They are all in full costume, tweaked for copyright reasons and with the allowance of a pair of nikes here or there. It’s an impressive sight: even the roadie is decked out as an imperial soldier.

The entire set consists of instrumental adaptations of Star Wars theme music, which is where things become a bit of a hard sell for the non-devoted. However, importantly and perhaps surprisingly, the joke doesn’t wear thin (although they do only play for thirty minutes). While not that musically exciting, the successful transposition of an orchestral film score to a rock quintet has to be appreciated.

It is undoubtedly John Williams’ famous compositions being flung between the guitarists’ fretboards and I’m struck by how well they lend themselves to the adaptation. When I say this later to an extremely dehydrated Boba Fett he agrees:

“Yeah I don’t think John Williams knew in 1979 that he was composing progressive metal tracks but turns out he was.” How hot is it in that outfit? “Very.”

Performing in large crash helmets has the potential to limit band-crowd interactions. However, Galactic Empire circumvent this with genuinely funny skits pre-recorded in the various characters voices. Littered with references, these prevent the spectacle from becoming monotonous. At one point a lucky audience member is brought up on stage and force-choked by the band’s lead guitarist. Needless to say, it’s not something you see every day.

Galactic Empire are decidedly niche, and a novelty not really worth seeing for those with only a passing interest. However, the performance is full of humour and well thought out, offering plenty for fans of both the films and the music. If this sounds like your kind of thing, then it probably is. Take it from someone who is by no means a metalhead; for a Star Wars fan, Darth Vader headbanging his way over to you is a strangely thrilling experience whatever your musical leanings.

Lie Lie Land

Written by Charlie Spargo on . Posted in Arts.

Artists have never been known to shy away from political statements through their work, be it Picasso’s criticism of US intervention in Korea or Ai Weiwei giving up his freedom to stand up to the Chinese government.

However, it is street art where we see some of the most of-the-moment political messages being made. Even the public and — debatably — unownable nature of graffiti is a political statement in itself.

Many of the best graffiti artists go to great lengths to preserve their anonymity, and London-based artist Bambi is no exception. Her pieces cut to the very core of politics today — most recently making headlines with a piece called ‘Lie Lie Land’.

It appeared in Islington earlier this month and plays on the promotional imagery for multiple award-winning La La Land. Lead actors Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have been replaced with Donald Trump and Theresa May, who are seen dancing together hand-in-hand.

Known for her stenciled graffiti works, Bambi employs representational imagery to offer social commentary and address political concerns, often through the depiction of notable contemporary figures such as Ai Weiwei or David Beckham. Her work focuses on contemporary female identity and its relationship to patriarchal culture, as well as the commodification of the art world and various political injustices.

Speaking to the Huffington Post, Bambi said she decided to spray the sketch after seeing film posters plastered across London with a strong performance anticipated at next week’s 89th Academy Awards.

She said: “A happy couple dancing without a care in the world, this film was released during a dark political time in our world.”

But why the rise in political art on the street? With its biting reality and tongue-in-cheek humour, street art has become a kind of public expression to articulate socio-political criticisms all the while expressing individual artistry. Placing them in especially deprived areas only amplifies their message allowing them to reach out to the masses.

Bambi previously sketched a mock up image of the Statue of Liberty in Camden, days after President Trump was inaugurated and called it ‘Make America Sane Again’. Similarly, a mural in Lithuania that showed Putin kissing Trump was shared widely on social media in May whilst a swastika-inspired “Truck Fump” found itself in the Northern Quarter’s Stephenson Square.

2,500 attend Reclaim the Night

Written by Jennifer Sterne on . Posted in News.

2,500 students took to the streets of Manchester on Thursday 23rd of February to ‘Reclaim the Night’, protesting the prevalence of violence against women, street harassment and victim blaming.

The annual march from the student area of Fallowfield to the University of Manchester Students’ Union was attended by a range of student and non-student representatives, led by a women-only bloc. There was also a LGBT block, a youth and families block, and a Muslim block.

The number of students attending was down on previous years, with 2016’s march attracting 3,500 students, but reduced numbers have been blamed on Storm Doris.

The march ended with a rally in the Contact Theatre car park, where Councillor Sarah Judge, the lead member from Manchester City Council on all women’s services, spoke of the fact that “across our city we still have stats like a third of women experience domestic violence, the rape crime reporting rates are so low, yet we all know it’s happening everywhere. This has to change”.

The Mancunion and Fuse FM spoke with some of the people on the march to find out why they were there and why they believed events like Reclaim the Night were so important.

Naa Acquah, General Secretary of the University of Manchester Students’ Union, told us she believed it was “really important that we keep doing this every single year.”

It was her fourth Reclaim the Night, and she explained how “every year it just gives you that real empowerment to take back the streets.”

Saffa Mir, Community Officer at the Students’ Union, said she was marching at Reclaim the Night, in particularly the Muslim bloc, “because we believe our voices are being silenced, and we’re here to show that we, as Muslim women, do have a voice”.

When asked if she believed Manchester’s streets were safe she responded: “No. Certain streets, especially the ones we’re about to walk down now, are not safe at all, they’re not safe from catcalls, sexual violence, sexual harassment, not all at all — and we’re here to tackle that”.

One girl, when asked why she was marching, said it was because she had been raped by her ex-boyfriend.

But she added that she thought it was great “when people do this, it makes you feel so much better to see you’re not alone.”

Personal experiences of sexual violence or assault were brought up by a number of women at the march, with women speaking about being followed to their doors, groped in broad daylight and catcalled on the streets.

Most spoke of feeling vulnerable and unsafe alone, particularly within Fallowfield and along the Curry Mile. Emma, a University of Manchester student, said: “It would be nice to not always have that bit at the back of your mind, saying ‘what if’, and always being on guard”. Another student added that women should not have to “change their lifestyle because of the fear of being attacked.”

One female student told us she was marching because “it’s time that women feel comfortable to walk around by themselves — because we’re not sexual objects, we’re people.”

The march was disrupted towards the end by a group of young people throwing things into the crowd and heckling.

Responding to this incident student Ella said: “It’s sad because they feel that they can’t do anything, because especially when you look at the black community, especially black men, there’s a big divide and it’s viewed as if feminism is destroying the black community. And looking around here there aren’t a lot of black women. I feel there could be a better outreach to the black community here.”

We spoke with some of those watching the march pass through Curry Mile, including Tony and Anton who were watching from H&D Hair Design. They had not heard about the protest before, and when asked whether they thought protests about sexual violence were necessary, they responded simply, “look at what’s happening — there must be something wrong if everyone is out like this”.

They added that they believed “these things have got to happen, and the voices have to be heard to let people know what’s going on, with all the things that are going on in this world.”

Not everyone on the march believed it was an effective way to tackle the issues, Kritik Patel, a Genetics student, said: “I don’t actually think Reclaim the Night does anything useful.”

When asked why, he said: “Because it’s just one night. And the issues that they are campaigning on tonight are important, but it’s only done once a year. It should be more of a sustained direct action, like more demonstrations, more campaigning on campus, on issues like more lighting on streets, against catcalling”.

Despite this, most of the people we spoke with spoke of the march as a means to raise awareness of the issue, including Helen Clegg, third year and founder of the newly formed Feminist Society at Salford University, who said “if we shout about it enough then people will pay attention.”

After the march, Jenni Smyth, Women’s Officer for the University of Manchester Students’ Union expressed a huge thank you on Facebook “to all 2500 of you who braved storm Doris and came out to Reclaim the Night. Together we raised our collective voices and filled the City with noise, colour and light as we said NO! to sexual violence, street harassment and victim blaming”.

Letter from the Deputy Editor: Women in Media

Written by Elise Gallagher on . Posted in News.

This week’s issue of The Mancunion promises a look into the yearly Reclaim the Night and what the people marching had to say, as well as a student safety special in our Opinion section.

However, as some of you may be aware, with the help of Amnesty International and the NUS, this weekend the People’s History Museum will be throwing it’s doors open to host our Women in Media Conference. A conference which I am very proud to say I am a Co-chair of.

All money raised this weekend will go to Manchester Action on Street Health (MASH), a small local charity that provides long-lasting help to women involved in sex work; from their safe house in Manchester’s red light district they provide workers with everything they need to keep safe and well.

Women in Media was an idea completely created and developed by the student volunteers involved in the Manchester Media Group, and it wasn’t just the female ones either.

Put simply, we aim to surround our delegates with fantastic women who have incredible media careers and empower confidence in other students to do the same.

As someone who is proud to be from a Manchester working class family I have never felt that my socio-economic status has impaired me in anyway. I didn’t struggle through school or college, my family’s encouragement never faltered and my aspirations weren’t shackled to a postcode. Only now, approaching my final semester, I feel that my class will become a hurdle. And this is because of one simple thing: The education system isn’t the same as the real world.

The media is an industry which relies heavily on unpaid work when first starting out, and unfortunately this is a luxury which leaves many behind. With reports of unpaid internships, poor work experience and even bidding for internships, a large number of high profile media professionals and celebrities have come forward to speak out about this issue.

Although it can often feel that these opportunities are only for the privileged, things are changing.

Creative and industrial industries are one of the fastest-growing sectors in the region, with the industry growing faster than anywhere in the UK. Manchester is home to Media CityUK, which is due to expand in coming years. Hopefully, this is a sign that media concentration in London will spread it’s wings and share the distribution.

This is why I’m particularly looking forward to sessions such as ‘Our Manchester Women’ and Robyn Vinter’s workshop ‘The class barrier: Why Media needs more Working class women’. Although last year’s conference exceeded expectations, we’ve made a conscious effort to make this year’s line up even more diverse in terms of media genre, age, race, and class.

Tickets are still available and if you can’t make it you are still able to donate to such a worthy cause! Each day kicks off at 10am and finishes at 4pm, all information can be found at our website: womeninmediacon.co.uk.

There’s something there for everyone, so I hope to see you there!

Thank you, and I hope you enjoy this issue of The Mancunion.

Disadvantaged teens four times less likely to apply to university

Written by Yasmin Mannan on . Posted in News.

Official figures reported in The Independent have shown that teenagers from the most disadvantaged areas of the UK are four times less likely to apply to university than their better-off, socially advantaged counterparts.

The statistics suggest that a teenager’s chances of a successful application, or even applying at all, to a degree course are heavily dependent on where they live.

In December 2016, The Independent reported that there was a record gap between rich and poor students winning university places, causing some to express concern about the lack of social mobility within education.

Press Associations analysed UCAS data to reveal that 55 percent of 18-year-olds living in the top ten percent of parliamentary constituencies in terms of university applications applied for a degree course by the main 15th of January deadline.

In contrast, only 24 percent of those living in the bottom ten percent of constituencies had applied by the same point.

The highest application rate, identified by Press Association, was in the Conservative-held seat of Wimbledon, south-west London, where 70.3 per cent of eligible students applied to go to university.

At the opposite end of the scale, in another Conservative-held seat in Havant, Hampshire, the application rate was 17.4 per cent.

Sir Peter Lampl, founder and executive Chair of the Sutton Trust, commented on the data and told The Independent: “The fact that London has the highest proportion of young people going on to university reflects both high aspirations and improvement in the capital’s schools.”

“The massive difference in the numbers going on to university between the top and bottom constituencies reflects the fact that the chances of getting to university are very much dependent on where you live and where you go to school.”

The Sutton Trust have also drawn attention to stark educational inequality at a secondary school level, implying a north-south divide.

A spokesperson from the University of Manchester stated: “The University of Manchester is located in one of the UK’s most deprived urban regions — therefore much of our work to widen access is focused on gifted but disadvantaged young people in the Greater Manchester area. We are the only university in the UK to rank social responsibility equally alongside world-class research and outstanding learning and student experience as one of our three core goal.”

The spokesperson pointed out various programmes aimed to increased social mobility at the University of Manchester including the Manchester Access Programme and Undergraduate Access Scholarships, Schools outreach, and Year 10 summer schools.

They also stated that “in the current climate, with recent research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation indicating that 7 million working families are living in poverty, we are committed to helping the next generation achieve their full potential and become global citizens” and that “The University of Manchester offers eligible students one of the most generous support packages in the UK”.

The diversity officer of the University of Manchester’s Students’ Union, Ilyas Nagdee, stated that:

“Educational institutions have a duty to ensure they are attracting students from disadvantaged backgrounds to apply to university – our university does this through their widening participation team and our fantastic Access All Areas group sees students going into communities to support their aspirations for higher education.

“It is vital that universities continue to do and fund this work and we will continue to monitor and push for more work in this area.”

Manchester drug testing lab accused of manipulating police evidence

Written by Serena Holloway on . Posted in News, Science & Tech.

A forensic lab in Manchester is currently being investigated for internal manipulation of drug test results used in criminal prosecution by the police.

Randox Testing Services (RTS) analyses blood, saliva, and hair samples to provide forensic results for the use of police forces across the UK. An internal investigation at RTS’ Manchester site found that many drug toxicology results may have been manipulated by staff.

Forces around the country are now having to review as many as 484 cases since November 2015 for potential miscarriages of justice, as the false results produced by RTS may have led to the incorrect prosecution of hundreds of individuals.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) have confirmed that a full criminal inquiry has been launched. Two male RTS employees, aged 47 and 31, have been arrested by Greater Manchester Police for perverting the course of justice and are out on bail until March.

Chief Constable Debbie Simpson of the NPCC said that they are working in partnership with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to help police forces in their review of each case. She added that the “CPS will take appropriate action in any cases [of incorrect prosecution]”.

RTS, based in Northern Ireland, said the investigation revealed “manipulation of quality control data” that is used to support the test results, and not of the samples themselves. They also stated that no alcohol samples had been affected.

However, they admitted that many results had been “compromised” and insisted that they are “working tirelessly to fully assess the impact and implications for each case”.

A drug-driving case against a 26-year-old man from Chester has already been dropped following re-review of blood test data originally conducted by RTS. The CPS said that there was “too little evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction”.

On their website, Randox Testing Services describe themselves as “a market leader in the Forensic Toxicology and Drug and Alcohol testing industry”. They have worked alongside Greater Manchester Police for the past two years and pride themselves on being the “[testing] provider of choice”.

Before 2012, an independent state-run Forensic Science Service provided all forensic science services to police forces in England and Wales. Following closure by the Government, forensic testing for the police since then has been conducted in-house, or contracted out to private companies such as RTS.

High student debt is leading to stress and poor mental health

Written by Isabel Oldman on . Posted in News.

According to a recent study, the accumulation of university debt — along with extortionate living costs — is contributing to stress and mental health issues amongst students.

The research, conducted by the financial technology company Intelligent Environments, suggests that as many as 75 per cent of students who received a maintenance grant for their studies feel stressed about money, with 39 per cent stating that they could not afford their weekly food shopping and 27 per cent admitting to missing payments on rent.

University debt is even going as far as to damage friendships, relationships, and exam results, but for the most part it is leaving students without the means to be independent.

This is the case for English and French University of Manchester student  Gemma, who says: “Now that I’m in final year, with no time for a well-paid job, I’m realising that it was in fact my wages that were helping me stay out of my overdraft every month – now I’m constantly in the red.

“The maintenance loan isn’t enough – I’m lucky that my parents can partially support me, but for people who don’t have that option, it’s a cruel reality.” She also believes that “a lot of people are in genuine need of [greater] maintenance loans”, but there are also “some students who cheat the system”.

The truth, therefore, is that frugality accounts for much more in student life than many expect. Despite this, The University of Manchester is still preparing to raise its own tuition fees from £9000 to £9,250 per year.

Similarly, those with disabilities and special support needs are also being hit significantly hard due to budget cut-backs, but have even less freedom to pursue part time work.

Alex Smith, a University of Manchester second-year languages student, is an example of such a student: “I would identify as a disabled student and have found the lack of funding for students with additional needs to be highly unsatisfactory, I love my course… but times are getting hard… especially for disabled students.

“I attend meetings with a study coach as part of my DSA entitlement, but next year this will be cut… I’m now highly dependent on antidepressants just to cope with the financial burden of university.”

In a statement, The Students’ Union’s Wellbeing Officer Izzy Gurbuz outlined some of the services that the Union offer students who find themselves with money troubles: “Financial pressure can have a huge effect on students’ wellbeing, from worries about debt affecting your mental health, to the need for a part time job leaving you with no time for socialising or sports. £9,000 fees are already too much, which is why we’re asking students not to fill in the NSS, as it’s being used as part of the TEF to raise fees even further.

“The scrapping of maintenance grants and slashes to the Disabled Students’ Allowance have also exacerbated financial problems for students. The Students’ Union Advice Service can give advice on Student Finance and additional funding sources, and they can also provide emergency loans of up to £100. The University also has some great online resources around managing your money here.”

The University of Manchester’s Press Office added: “We know that 4 out of 5 students worry about having enough money to get through the academic year, and that money worries can affect diet, academic performance, and mental health. With this in mind, the University has partnered with Blackbullion, an online financial education resource designed for students. The resource, which is free for University of Manchester students, comprises of a series of online modules helping students to gain skills in saving, budgeting, and more.

“What we love about it is you can access the modules from your phone and get money skills wherever you are. We have also developed a series of online resources with tips and apps to ease the stress of managing money, available through the My Finances tab on My Manchester. Our online support accompanies our Student Support and Advice Service based in the Atrium of University Place where we are happy to speak with students about any money worries they may be having.”

Former UoM student Milo Yiannopoulos resigns from Breitbart News

Written by Ollie Potter on . Posted in News.

On the 21st of February, former University of Manchester student Milo Yiannopoulos resigned from his position as Head of Technology News at Breitbart.

This comes amid huge controversy over comments Milo made on a livestream video for the podcast Drunken Peasants in January 2016, suggesting that sex between boys and older men “could be a coming-of-age relationship, in which those older men help those younger boys discover who they are.”

His resignation came just a day after publisher Simon & Schuster cancelled his autobiography Dangerous and the American Conservative Union uninvited him from their annual CPAC conference because of the comments.

Renowned for his inflammatory comments and opinions, leading to his permanent banning from Twitter in July 2016, Yiannopoulos has become a figurehead for the movement known as the ‘alt-right’, a loose collection of ill-defined groups and forums based largely on the internet.

Milo has been vocal in his criticism of Islam, feminism and political correctness, and is one of the most vocal supporters of President Trump, whom he refers to as ‘Daddy’. In 2016, he infamously described feminism as “cancer”, whilst also condemning Muslims and the Black Lives Matter movement, claiming the latter “does not care about black lives” and is instead motivated by “attention, money and like most activism, more money”.

In October 2015, he had been scheduled to speak at the University of Manchester’s Free Speech and Secular Society debate with Julie Bindel, before he was banned because of his comments on rape culture. Earlier this month he was prevented from speaking at the University of California, Berkeley, following violent student protests on campus.

In the Drunken Peasants podcast, Milo condemns consent as “arbitrary and oppressive”. Though he admitted the law regarding the age of consent was “probably about right,” Milo alluded to his own relationships as a young teenager in order to argue some people are capable of giving consent when they are under the age of consent.

In a recent Facebook post he stated that one of his own sexual relationships began “when I was 17 with a man who was 19,” and that the video had been “selectively edited” to cast him in a negative light.

To the disbelief of the livestream’s viewers, he said he was “grateful for Father Michael”, adding that he “wouldn’t give nearly such good head, if it wasn’t for him”. Milo denies he was supporting the notion of paedophilia, defining it as “attraction to children who have not reached puberty”, which for him makes it a separate issue to younger teenagers’ relationships with older men.

When asked if he was advocating “cross-generational relationships”, he replied: “Yeah, I don’t mind admitting that.” In the final segment of the video, he describes “hugely positive relationships” in the gay world between younger boys and older men.

The conversation has exploded on social media, with it becoming clear on 20th of February that Breitbart were considering sacking Milo if he did not resign.

Defending his comments on Facebook, he admitted that “I am certainly guilty of imprecise language, which I regret”, before describing paedophilia as a “disgusting crime, of which I have personally been a victim”.

Martin Shkreli Harvard talk interrupted by fire alarm and walk-outs

Written by Aliya Ismangil on . Posted in News, Science & Tech.

Martin Shkreli, former CEO of Turing Pharmaceutical, was invited to speak at Harvard University by the Harvard Financial Analysts Club earlier this month.

Moments before his talk was due to start, the fire alarm was set off, resulting in an evacuation of the building by police. The event eventually proceeded after a half an hour delay, but not without further interruptions by student heckles and walk-outs. The Boston Globe reports that Shkreli responded: “Nobody cares, goodbye.”

In 2015, Shkreli was widely condemned and criticised for increasing the price of Daraprim, a drug used to treat AIDS, from $13.50 to $750 per unit.

He is currently awaiting trial, free on a $5,000,000 bail, for an unrelated case of securities fraud. Shkreli was also more recently under fire for the alleged harassment of journalist Lauren Duca on Twitter, earning him a suspension from the social media site.

The event at Harvard was mainly focused on hedge fund management and healthcare. During the talk, several waves of students walked out to attend the ‘teach-in’ event held in a lecture theatre close by.

Organised by the Harvard College Global Health and AIDS Coalition, the panel discussion raised issues on unethical pharmaceutical practices and the treatment of AIDS.

Shkreli did not address any of the past drug-hiking allegations. However, towards the end of the event he did comment on a solution to high drug pricing through government intervention, stating that President Donald Trump should start a drug company, something he would be happy to support.

Another event was held the day after at the University of Massachusetts, in Boston, where Shkreli defended the high price of some drug treatments. Although similar controversies were raised before the event, the talk ran with minimal interruptions.

Shkreli was also set to appear at University of California with right-wing sensationalist Milo Yiannopoulos earlier this month, but the visit was cancelled just half an hour prior to its start due to the break out of heated protests.

The NHS needs a digital healthcare revolution

Written by Ryan Khurana on . Posted in Opinion.

A unified health care system to take care of an entire nation, especially one as large as the United Kingdom, often seems like a Herculean task. To have over 60 million people to go through one, more or less, centralised system, often when facing life-threatening situations, often delays people from getting the help they need as they need it.

Endless bureaucracy, outdated technology, internal politics (and the constantly changing actual politics out of Westminster), as well as a vast administrative burden all contribute to various inefficiencies affecting public health care. As the nation’s population ages, and the cracks in the health care system become more apparent, urgent change is necessary to ensure that the health of the nation is not put at risk.

The political capital needed to make these changes is often not there, with special interests fighting to get politician’s ears, and other pressing matters almost always arising. Since even modest reforms to the system get criticised vehemently, politicians often do not take the burden upon themselves to address the NHS, instead hailing praise upon it and moving on to other things.

Luckily, recent advances in Artificial Intelligence, specifically Deep Learning, are kick-starting a revolution in health care that requires no political manoeuvring. British companies such as Babylon Health, and the recently Google-acquired Deep Mind, are racing to bring modern technology to the NHS, adding to the efficiency of its procedures.

One of the major hurdles to effective treatment is the time and technology constraints to providing patients with the care they need. Doctors, having been booked solid all day and working in a high stress environment, are not given the opportunity to spend as much time with patients and provide them with adequate counsel.

Other issues such as the number of staff necessary to maintain scheduling, and the tremendous costs to the system of individuals failing to turn up for their appointments add to the various impediments to adequate care.

Babylon Health’s two apps available for free download begin to address some of these issues. Their own machine learning powered consultant asks patients to answer a series of questions about their medical needs, and having been trained using a plethora of medical data, provides advice on next steps.

Their subscription service also offers virtual doctors appointments, reducing the need to book appointments and go to a physical location. This ease is not only more convenient, but helps to identify the seriousness of issues, and speed up the processes for those in most need.

In conjunction with the NHS, they have also released a 111 app for non-emergency cases. Powered by the same underlying technology, it provides advice to patients and speeds up appointment bookings through an online scheduler. This system, though in its trial phases currently, has the potential for allowing patients to schedule, change, and cancel appointments more easily, allowing for greater allocative efficiency of doctor’s times. Simultaneously, such consultations allow for a reduced need to visit doctors, as there may be simple over the counter remedies that the patient would be recommended instead.

Deep Mind Health, another London based company, is working with the NHS to use their Artificial Intelligence systems to aid in specialist medical diagnosis such as Head and Neck Cancers, and Eye Diseases. By using these technologies, the potential to greatly reduce the potential for misdiagnosis and accidental deaths is within reach.

These new technologies provide the infrastructure to further improve the quality of offering to the near million patients who use the NHS every 36 hours.

For all its failings, serious internal reform to the National Health Service is a difficult task. Luckily, innovation and entrepreneurship are driving businesses and technologies that can offer radically improved care within the current framework.

The accidents and avoidable deaths within the UK are at astonishingly high levels, but advances in medical technology can aid in reducing these ills and will dramatically improve the quality of care on offer.

Top 5: “Good” Songs

Written by Ben Lomax on . Posted in Music.

5. ‘Good Name’ – William Onyeabor

Last month sadly saw the passing of ’70s & ’80s Nigerian funk legend William Onyeabor whose rhythmic, synthesizer-driven tracks earned him admiration from the likes of Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz) to David Byrne (Talking Heads), his mysterious and elusive persona also becoming the subject of Vice’s short documentary ‘Fantastic Man’. A scratch over ten minutes — not uncommon amongst Onyeabor’s Kraftwerk inspired catalogue — and released a short while before he gave up music due to becoming a born-again Christian, ‘Good Name’s moral message over repetitive beats is quintessential Onyeabor.

 

4. ‘Nothing Good Ever Happens At The Goddamn Thirsty Crow’ – Father John Misty

Soothing country crooner Father John Misty (AKA Josh Tillman) lays down his trademark wit over soft string arrangements, lamenting his experiences in an L.A. whisky bar. It’s an impossibly beautiful ballad over which Tillman tells how his girl “blackens pages like a Russian romantic” and “gets down more often than a blow-up doll.” True romance.

 

3. ‘Good Morning’ – Kanye West

Kanye may have consistently been the bad boy of popular music since he “Made that b**** famous” at the 2009 VMA’s, but musically he’s no stranger to being very good indeed (even starting his own record label named ‘GOOD Music’). Good morning is the stylish opening to 2007’s Graduation, which featured a handful of “good” tracks and a number of great ones. As would become standard for West’s discography, it signalled the start of an album that would change hip hop forever.

 

2. ‘Feel Good Hit Of The Summer’ – Queens of the Stone Age

“Nicotine, Valium, Vicodin, marijuana, ecstasy and alcohol” growls QOTSA frontman Josh Homme over the thumping monotone verses before bursting out with “C-c-c-c-c-cocaine” for the chorus. Perhaps unsurprising, then, that it saw them manhandled out of a Rehab centre in 2007 after opting to open their set there with this number.

 

1. ‘I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)’ – Jamie XX ft. Young Thug & Popcaan

Jamie XX effortlessly weaves together the Caribbean vibes of steel pans and Jamaican singer Popcaan, with soulful acapella samples and a career highlight performance from “Thugger Thugger.”A highlight of an already great album and easily one of the best tracks of 2015, ‘I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)’ takes the top spot as the “goodest” of an already good list.

Mix and Match Stir Fry

Written by Lily Carden on . Posted in Food & Drink.

Serves 2

20-30 minutes or so plus 1 hour marinade time

 

Ingredients

Protein

Chicken, strips OR Salmon OR Beef, strips

Marinade

Teriyaki
Vegetables (choose a mixture, you want about 1 extra large handful per person)

Pepper batons

Carrot OR Courgette ribbons (use a peeler)

Baby sweetcorn

Onion wedges

Sugar snap peas OR Mangetout

Spinach OR Bok Choi

Spring Onions
Carbohydrates

2 Portions Rice OR Fresh Egg Noodles

 

Method

Place the strips of chicken or beef, or the whole fillets of salmon in a plastic sandwich bag with about 3tbsp of teriyaki, seal and leave to marinate for an hour or so.
Prepare the vegetables so that they’re all in fairly narrow strips to help them stir fry evenly and if you need to cook the rice then do so now.
If you’re eating salmon then wrap it and the remaining marinade in some tinfoil to bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 12 minutes.
Heat some oil in a wok or large frying pan on the hob (side note: I bought a wok from Wing Yip for about £7 and once I’d seasoned it  — the oven method is best— it worked brilliantly). When the oil is hot put in the chicken or beef strips and stir fry until cooked (that’s only a couple of minutes for the beef but longer for the chicken to make sure it’s safe). Add in the vegetables and let them wilt, stirring constantly over a high heat. Chuck in the carbs, stirring to heat them through and distribute everything evenly. Break up the hot salmon and stir through. Serve in big bowls.

Harissa and Turmeric Dal

Written by Lily Carden on . Posted in Food & Drink.

Serves 2-3

Takes 25 minutes to make

I’ve been making this a lot recently as it’s quick and tasty (and importantly, cheap). It tastes great on its own but if you want to jazz it up then either top it with diced roast sweet potatoes, serve with rice or naan (the best tip is to buy a naan from your local takeaway and add it to your own meal). Don’t like spice? Just use less harissa (though some is needed for flavour). You can buy it easily from the international aisle of many supermarkets — if you can get it, I particularly recommend rose harissa.

Ingredients

1tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, diced

3tsp turmeric powder

1-3 tsp harissa paste

250g red lentils

400ml coconut milk

400ml water

1 lime, juiced

Method

Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onions until soft. Add the harissa and turmeric and cook for one minute. Pour in the lentils, coconut milk and water, stir everything together. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are soft but retain their shape and no longer taste bitter. Ladle into bowls and drizzle a generous amount of lime juice over it. Hey presto, it’s done. Serve with your chosen accompaniments.

Review: Artificial Salt

Written by Fergus Macphee on . Posted in Theatre.

Student theatre is something that is looked down on with scorn by many in the art world. People often view it unfairly as nothing more than poorly written plays, with formulaic storylines, and suspect acting. Julia Morgan’s Artificial Salt; the latest offering in new writing from the University of Manchester Drama Society, has made absolutely sure to dispel these misguided myths and stereotypes about the world of student theatre. Performed at the Wonder Inn in the city centre, audience members are first met with next to no staging, simple wash lighting and, three actors wearing matching plain white t-shirts and blue jeans. There is nothing out of the ordinary about this, but what many in the audience do not realise is that this bareness is only going to increase in the form of the piece itself. This is because Artificial Salt is an absurdist play, in the truest sense of the word. Therefore the audience are subjected to a play with no linear storyline, or plot for that matter, but instead a kind of episodic dramatic reading that can sound completely nonsensical on first listening.

With absurdist theatre there is, of course, always method to the madness, however the sign of an effective absurdist play is whether the method is seen by the audience, as well as the writer. Artificial Salt’s biggest strength is undoubtedly that it passes this test with flying colours. Morgan’s script is absolutely stunning in its vocabulary and ability to exploit all the wonderful facets of the English language. She is clearly someone with a vast knowledge in this area and it is through her wonderful use of language that the play begins to develop meaning. The dialogue is rife with alliteration, word association between actors, and even occasionally rhyme which all serve to create moments of great comedy and subtext.

This would not be possible without the strong performances all round from Molly Steadman, Mary Morris, James Meredith, and even the offstage voice of Anna Merabishvili who reads the stage directions with excellent clarity. Steadman and Morris, both simply named woman one and two have superb chemistry and their high energy performances allow them to bounce off one another well, in comparison to Meredith’s lone ‘man’. Meredith is equally adept at playing his role with an enduring intensity; the converse nature of these differing performances almost certainly being a comment on gender roles and sexuality. A special mention must also go to Meredith for a hilariously ridiculous monologue describing a fictional machine, which I was unaware until after the performance that he completely changes and improvises every night.

Action and its relationship to language are also explored in Artificial Salt and Meredith’s speech is a good example of this. With very little movement accompanying his confusing dialogue, both the audience and Meredith are left bogged down in the futility of language to great comic effect. In fact this becomes a theme that Morgan uses regularly throughout the play, as many of the long sections of speech are performed as just that; sections of speech. Where the play becomes fascinating is through conversely elongated sections of silent and often stylised movement, like when Steadman repeatedly stretched a piece of lace cloth across her face, or when Morris and Steadman wash Meredith’s feet in deathly silence. These were at times mesmerising to watch, and even for a play so steeped in language, I found myself begging to know what these characters would be saying while the sequences were going on!

One particular scene stuck in the memory as it perfectly utilised both language and action, in a display of how situation and the way in which we say something can completely change its meaning. In it Steadman repeatedly recites the Lord’s Prayer as she is wrapped in a thick white sheet and bound with rope. She becomes more and more distressed until her words become screams. I found this to be genuinely chilling and it can be read as a critique of religion, in the way that so many people’s enduring faith can supply no direct answers. This is made all the more effective with the addition of the beautifully composed score from John Pierce O’Reilly and Bonnie Schwarz, which enhances the horror of much of this repetitious movement.

Make no mistake; ‘Artificial Salt’ is not for everyone. As an audience member, one has to really focus to reap the rewards that the piece can offer and there will be those who do not tend to go to the theatre for experiences such as this. The brevity of the play (at around 50 minutes) is a great strength in this respect, as if it was much longer it could become difficult to remain totally engaged. My singular criticism would be that for a play so devoid of narrative, I found it slightly unnecessary and distracting to be broken up further by so many quick black outs and long scene changes. This is simply picking holes in an otherwise brilliant production. However special mention must go to the University of Manchester Drama Society for putting their confidence in a play that is so different and experimental to much of the student fare. For those who think they would not find Artificial Salt enjoyable, I would highly advise to look out for more work from Julia Morgan in the future. If her penchant for linguistics, writing and directing are anything to go by here, then her next production will surely be something that you would be mad to miss.

Artificial Salt is part of the MIFTAS season and is playing at the Wonder Inn from the 20th to the 22nd of February.

A social “awokening”: we need to start taking responsibility

Written by Holly James on . Posted in Opinion.

After a tumultuous 2016, being ‘woke’ seems to be the latest trend. In fact, the term featured on MTV News’ list of words to use in 2016, was shortlisted for Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year, and #StayWoke remained a consistent hashtag on Twitter. It is a phrase that has become almost irremovable from social media, commonly found floating around Twitter and Reddit, sometimes as a badge of pride and others as a sarcastic jab at ‘social justice warriors’.

But what does it really mean? Urban Dictionary defines the term ‘woke’ as “being aware”, in “a state of enlightened understanding”, or simply as “like being in the Matrix and taking the red pill”. Being woke implies an awareness or knowledge of, as well as a genuine concern and wish to engage with, social and political matters, in particular those concerning injustice, inequality and systematic oppression of particular social groups.

Almost ironically, the term itself has been appropriated from the Black Lives Matter movement, where it was used to signify the importance of staying conscious of the systematic racism of state apparatus and institutions. It is sad to see yet another word appropriated from AAVE (African American vernacular English) with little or no acknowledgement of its background. Still, one would hope that the sentiments of the term — awareness of and engagement with social inequality, oppression and injustice — would carry over in its transition to the mainstream. This, however, is debatable.

Increased political awareness among the social media generation is undeniable. Facebook and Twitter in particular have become key platforms not only for the dispersal of information, but also for sharing and discussing current affairs and issues. Social media has been an important tool in the apparent political awakening of today’s young people, but it lies at the heart of a variety of problems. Everyone is now afforded a place from which to voice their opinions and engage in debates — and we do. On the one hand, these platforms keep us informed, they allow us to open dialogue around the things that matter to us, like social issues and injustice, voicing our views and hearing those of others. In many ways, it is a liberal utopia; one long, constant discussion in which all stances have the opportunity to voice their opinion, where we can all learn and share ideas. This is, however, a view that undoubtedly sees social media through rose tinted glasses.

The reality is not so utopian. While social media has the opportunity to, and undoubtedly often does, allow these things to happen, it is not all so idealistic; it can sometimes be a platform that engenders petty arguments and general pedantry. Views are often shouted instead of spoken and opposition is ignored instead of acknowledged. In an online world that has the potential to be very personalised, we do not have to see things we do not want to see, and we often don’t. The content we do see is often so removed from ourselves or so fleeting that we unconsciously scroll past, vaguely acknowledging and not really engaging. It allows us to lazily sit back and think that voicing our views is enough. We click and type away, casually marking ourselves as ‘interested’ in protests we’ll probably never go to and lazily scrolling past petitions we know we should sign.

How much do any of us really do? Is it enough to simply discuss and vaguely acknowledge? If we are truly declaring ourselves the ‘woke’ generation, do we also have a responsibility to act on the injustice we are so quick to call out, to work toward positive social change?

This is not to say that speaking up, starting discussions, debating, protesting and voicing our opinions is not important. We must keep the dialogue surrounding the issues we care about open — acknowledging racial, gender and class inequality and speaking out against hateful regimes and their leaders is of vital importance. However, we must acknowledge that this is only the first step. What comes out of these discussions — the things we voice, the social change that we acknowledge must occur — requires action that we have not yet shown we are willing to take.

In its transition to mainstream culture, the term ‘woke’ has taken on a more light-hearted tone, no longer filled with the genuine anger and frustration at injustice. It has become a commodity, turned into a selling point for brands that have seen the fashion in political movements and jumped on the bandwagon. If we really care about social change, it is time to acknowledge that political awareness is not just a fashion statement — we are all responsible. We are all capable, on an individual level, of inciting positive change, of taking small steps to a better world, of personally making a difference. Being politically and socially conscious is of vital importance, but this consciousness must extend to all areas of our lives. The important thing to do is to think — about what you say, what you buy, where you buy, what you do, and what you can do.

Report rules NUS President should not be punished for anti-Semitism

Written by Lily Sheehan on . Posted in News.

The National Union of Students is in crisis after an internal report found its President, Malia Bouattia, guilty of making anti-Semitic comments, but ruled that she should not be punished.

Bouattia, the first female Black British and Muslim leader of the NUS, first faced allegations of anti-Semitism during her presidential campaign last year. A blog post she co-authored in 2011 was particularly controversial. In the piece, written for the University of Birmingham Friends of Palestine, she described the University of Birmingham as “something of a Zionist outpost in British higher education”. Bouattia believed this was because the institution had “the largest JSoc in the country, whose leadership is dominated by Zionist activists”.

Her comments on the Israel/Palestine situation have also been deemed anti-Semitic by some. The audience at an Israeli Apartheid event at the School of Oriental and African Studies last year heard her describe the UK Government’s Prevent programme as run by “Zionist and neo-con lobbies”. At a 2014 conference entitled ‘Gaza and the Palestinian Revolution’, Bouattia said: “With mainstream Zionist-led media outlets — because once again we’re dealing with the population of the global south — resistance is presented as an act of terrorism.”

The NUS President’s comments have been met with outrage from the Jewish community. Daniel Clements, a former President of Birmingham’s JSoc, stated that they were “completely unsatisfactory.” Over 300 Jewish student leaders, the Union of Jewish Students and the Oxford University Students’ Union have criticised Bouattia’s remarks.

An investigation by the Home Affairs Select Committee last October found her comments to be “outright racism”. Amidst this backlash against her beliefs, Malia Bouattia has refused to apologise. In a Guardian Students article after her election as President of the NUS, she wrote: “For me to take issue with Zionist politics is not me taking issue with being Jewish.”

The internal inquiry by the National Union of Students, published last week, was headed by Professor Carol Baxter, who was formerly the NHS’s head of equality, diversity and human rights. Whilst the report found that Bouattia’s comments at an Israeli Apartheid meeting at SOAS “could be reasonably capable of being interpreted as anti-Semitic”, four other counts of anti-Semitism — including the “Zionist outpost” remark — were dismissed.

Baxter’s inquiry concluded that the President had been “genuine in expressing her regret” and had since spoken out against anti-Semitism. The report finishes: “The investigator therefore concluded that in light of the above mitigating circumstances no further action should be taken [against Malia Bouattia] within the NUS disciplinary process.”

Joshua Nagli, a spokesperson for the Union of Jewish Students, said of the NUS report: “This was an opportunity to reassure Jewish students that the NUS will take incidents of anti-Semitism with the utmost seriousness. The fact that no further action has been recommended, despite the NUS president being found to have used anti-Semitic rhetoric on two separate occasions, is deeply troubling.”

The findings of this internal report were made available to Malia Bouattia several weeks before its publication. She has yet to publicly apologise. An NUS spokesperson labelled newspaper coverage of the inquiry “part of a sustained attack on a high-profile Muslim woman in a public position”.

Manchester City 5-3 AS Monaco

Written by Harry Newton on . Posted in Sport.

This was a beautiful game for anybody who could just sit there and watch it. I watched one of the best games of football I’ve watched in years, but as soon as the final whistle was blown, my mind quickly went from pure ecstasy to fear. How on god’s Earth do you report on a game like that and do it any justice?

You can’t, you simply can’t. I’ll just try and do a good enough job that I won’t get fired, but you need to be fully aware that if you missed this match, you will live in regret for the rest of your life, and you really need to get down to the Etihad more.

Disclaimer: I will try and not dally on any shoddy defending or poor refereeing. There was abundance of both throughout this game, but if all you take from a 5-3 Champions League match is the defending or a dodgy decision, then football isn’t the sport for you.

If this game was a film…
300

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

It was simply epic. The highest goal-scoring opening leg to a Champions League game. There’s impressive stats like ‘most corners in the first half of a FA Cup third round game in the North West this October,’ and then there are statistics like that! Penalty appeals turned away, stunning goals, penalty appeals given, thumping challenges, and pace pace pace! If the game was a film, only Gerard Butler could play Sergio Aguero. Or I guess Eddie Murphy if you were going for a different sort of style.

Comeback Kings

1:0 City took the lead on the 26th minute from what can only be described as Witcraft from Leroy Sane to set up Raheem Sterling with a tap in.

1:1 AS Monaco equalised through Manchester United legend Radamel Falcao, after Caballero made an error that surely he wouldn’t be able to make up for ever*.

1:2 AS Monaco took the lead from a flying header from Falcao. Perfect cross. The end is nigh, the world is over, City will never comeback from this.

*City came out the second half raring to go, but Monaco were given a penalty decision five minutes in (seems a tad harsh). Up step King Will Caballero who emphatically saved, and the crowd went mental.

2:2 On the 58th minute Sergio Aguero equalises from a thunderbolt of a shot (it wasn’t powerful – the keeper fumbled it in, but they all count).

2:3 Three minutes later Falcao scores a purely beautiful goal. He outmuscled Stones and he chipped Caballero from inside the box. Purely beautiful. Stones felt dejected after his error that surely, he wouldn’t be able to make up for ever**.

3:3 Aguero channelled his inner-Hercules and was not allowing Falcao to take the limelight; David Silva whipped in a corner over the heads of everyone, Aguero leant back and volleyed the ball with expert control into the bottom corner.

3:4 John Stones!!** After Yaya Toure knocked on a corner, John Stones tapped in at the back post, and the Englishman celebrated more than an Englishman has since we had that dead sunny day in August 2011.

3:5 Leroy Sane finishes off the night in just the way he deserves – with a goal! Aguero is played in delightfully from a David Silva chip, and he plays the ball across to Sane for a classic FIFA 17 sweaty goal.

MAFFS

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

• Sergio Aguero has now scored 156 goals in 237 in all competitions for City. That’s a goal every time your Gran watches Emmerdale.

• Radamel Falcao has 24 goals in 29 games. That’s 25 goals more than he could manage at Manchester United (I know).

• Raheem Sterling completed 100% of his take-ons. That’s 100% more take-ons than Jordan Ibe has completed in this seasons Champions League.

Man of the Match

Sergio Aguero’s second half for Manchester City was simply world class. The energy that the little man had was emphasised by the fact that he won the most tackles out of any player on that pitch – the centre forward! This proves that the Argentinian is keen to learn under Pep Guardiola, who expects a lot of defensive work rate from his attackers. He scored two great goals (well one pretty rubbish one, and one amazing one, so that’s averaged out at great), and then assisted Leroy Sane with the last goal. He was well and truly man of the match, and has proved a lot of doubters wrong over the last few weeks.

Like a DJ at a sweet 16th, I’d also like to make a few shout-outs.

The first one is to my Mum – you’ve always been there for me and I don’t ever say thank you.

The second is to Pablo Zabaleta. The Argentinian came on when City were 3-2 down, and the passion he brought to the team was definitely a contribution to the win.

The third is for the lesser known Silva in this match – of AS Monaco – as he was truly fantastic and gave the City defence a torrid time, he will be difficult to stop in the return leg.

The fourth is to Raheem Sterling. After a tough year, last year, and mass hysteria from much of the country this year, he has kept a cool-head and been City’s best and most consistent performer this year. His pace, positioning and footballing intellect has been second-to-none.

Northern Lights Writer’s Conference

Written by Roma Havers on . Posted in Books.

On Saturday the 18th of March, Creative Industries Trafford will be hosting the Northern Lights Writers’ Conference at the Waterside Arts Centre in Sale between 10am and 5:30pm. The conference will include talks, workshops, panel discussions, networking opportunities and book signings with acclaimed writers and publishing professionals. It will mainly concern literary fiction and genre writing and will include a keynote speech from Award-winning author Sarah Dunant. Tickets will cost £30 for the day with a £25 concessionary price.

Salt Publishing’s Chris Hamilton-Emery described last year’s event as “a brilliant writers’ conference” and by Adrian Slatcher on the Manchester Literature Festival blog as “a winning formula.” Northern Lights has so far welcomed guest speakers AL Kennedy, Will Self and Louise Doughty, author of Apple Tree Yard, recently adapted for the BBC.

Appearances will include authors Cath Staincliffe, Alex Wheatle MBE and Liz Williams who will be sharing advice for emerging and mid-career writers, while David Gaffney will be delivering a flash fiction writing workshop and launching CIT’s latest flash fiction competition. Literary agents Piers Blofeld and John Jarrold, editor Julie Crisp and Alysoun Owen from Writers & Artists Yearbook will also be in attendance.

It looks to be an exciting line-up with plenty of opportunities throughout the day to learn from professionals working in different fields and an opportunity to work on your own writing.

Tickets can be booked by calling the Waterside box office on 0161 912 5616 or by emailing [email protected]. Full details of the conference can be found on the CIT website: www.creativeindustriestrafford.org. Follow @CITrafford using the hashtag #NLWC2017

Poet of the Week: Liv Barnes

Written by Liv Barnes on . Posted in Books.

The Pub

They speak their secrets in slurs
wipe off bad memories on the back of their sleeves
taking off caps as I open a bottle
they tell me their troubles with a glass half full.

Everyday, the usual.

You can find bright eyes in the dim light of this old bar
hear clinking of jars, that’s the key to unlocking them.
They spill out their innards on the tables
the stories they tell the stools are my favourite fables.

They engage in conversation with the walls
mutters and murmurs welcomed by all four.
It’s easier to stare at them than half reflections of one another sat around
If a man breaks down in a bar and no one hears do they make a sound?

These weather worn men grow roots here with time
counting liquid rings on the wood, tell their age in the lines.
Old souls who never looked for any glory or gold
Just sitting back on worn out thrones now moulded to weight they carry in chests.

Arms on rests and legs under the table, these guys are part of the furniture.

Quietly saying their prayers with heads pressed against beer mats,
Fingers facing the sun.
Drinking golden liquid only fit for Gods
you could say that churches can come in more forms than one.

The dregs off the bottle imitate priests
as they listen to confessions that pour from mouths.
Fighters remove their fingers from glass necks
as they hear the bell ring for the final round.

Searching their pockets
Counting out last blessings
Handing over money
I never see their change.

If you would like to be considered as Poet of The Week please email a selection of poetry to [email protected]