NEWS
MUSIC
SCREEN
Aaron Porter
The Futureheads
Robin Hood
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Exeposé
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Monday May 24 2010 Week 27 Issue 566
Free and Impartial. Your paper, your views, your voice.
Will the cap come off ?
Charlie Marchant News Editor
THE RUSSELL GROUP, who represent 20 of the top UK universities, have called for the cap on tuition fees to be abolished. With cuts of more than £1 billion over the next three years and further cuts expected, universities are desperate to fill the already huge gaps in their funding. One solution would be to abolish the current £3,225 per year fee cap. Steve Smith, Exeter Vice Chancellor and President of Universities UK, stated in The Guardian that, should the government announce deeper cuts to higher education in its emergency budget, it could prove extremely damaging to the sector. The universities of Oxford and Cambridge have declared their support for the abolition of the fee cap, in light of recent figures which claim they are losing £200 million in subsidising degree courses each year. Cambridge commented that universities should have “greater freedom” to raise the price of degree courses.
“Deeper cuts to higher education could prove extremely damaging” Steve Smith, Vice Chancellor of Exeter University and President of Universities UK However, this would be a black day for students: graduates could face debts of up to £40,000 and many of the brightest students would be deterred from applying to the top universities, with potential annual fees of over £10,000. Exeter University would be one of many such institutions to raise their tuition fees. Richard Stearn, Guild President, warned that, “any rise to the level of tuition fees will severely affect
participation in University in the UK,” and that such an act would, “result in a tiered system of higher education, unfairly discriminating against the less-well off.” The Russell Group of leading universities have further suggested that graduates should be made to repay student loans quicker and at a higher rate of interest. The Group stated that universities may be challenged with a £1.1 billion deficit by the academic year 2012/13 and should address the situation as soon as possible.
“Education is not a commodity” Richard Stearn, Guild President A cap on fees, as well as an increased interest rate on loans, could lead to an elitist system of higher education – something which universities have been fighting against. Mr Stearn was appalled by this news, saying, “The idea that students should have to pay a commercial rate of interest on their loans is outrageous. Education is not a commodity and the fact that this has been suggested to cover the cost of providing the loan just shows how rotten the system really is.” Despite the support from Oxford and Cambridge to abolish the current fees cap, Aaron Porter, President-Elect of the NUS, is campaigning against the potential rise in fees and the rate at which it is already expected for student loans to be paid back. In an interview with Exeposé, Mr Porter stated, “The current fees system means that many people leave University and feel compelled to take on a high paid job, rather than perhaps going into the public or charity sector, because of the debt that hangs around their neck, and the need to pay it back quickly. This would only get worse if the cap were lifted.”
Pressure builds as the Russell Group demands abolition of cap on fees.
Photo: Henry White
2
may 24 2010 Exeposé
www.exepose.com
Exeposé
Aaron Porter fights for students
The Exeter student newspaper
Exeposé, Cornwall House, St German’s Rd, Exeter, Devon, EX4 6TG (01392) 263513
Features
Speaks to Marcel Choules, the new Mayor of Exeter, and examines the new coalition government.
Lifestyle Looks at Facebook etiquette, this season’s most stylish swimwear, University stash and our editors take a trip to Topsham.
Books
Reviews graphic novel New X-Men, previews the new Bret Easton Ellis novel, and investigates the world of autobiography.
Arts Reviews A Point in the Field at Exeter Phoenix, previews Arts Week, and interviews Exeter student Marion O, star of Creative Writing Corner. Editors Tristan Barclay & Andrew Waller editors@exepose.com
Deputy Editors Rachel Bayne & Jennifer Seymour depeds@exepose.com
News Editors Ellie Busby & Charlie Marchant news@exepose.com
Features Editors Columba Achilleos-Sarll & Anna-Marie Linnell features@exepose.com
Lifestyle Editors Laura Le Brocq & Clare Mullins lifestyle@exepose.com
Music Editors Ellie Bothwell & Ben Murphie music@exepose.com
Books Editors James Henderson & Jacob Moffatt book@exepose.com
Screen Editors Calum Baker & David Brake screen@exepose.com
Arts Editors Rosie Scudder & Ellie Steafel arts@exepose.com
Video Games Editors Daniel Burnage & Alice Scoble-Rees games@exepose.com
Sports Editors Alexander Cook & Andy Williams sport@exepose.com
Photo Editor Henry White photo@exepose.com
Advertising Joanna Bowery j.c.bowery@ex.ac.uk (01392) 263579 The opinions expressed in Exeposé are not necessarily those of the Exeposé Editors nor the University of Exeter Students’ Guild. While every care is taken to ensure that the information in this publication is correct and accurate, the Publisher can accept no liability for any consequential loss or damage, however caused, arising as a result of using the information printed. The Publisher cannot accept liability for any loss or damage to artwork or material submitted. The contents of this, unless stated otherwise, are copyright of the Publisher. Reproduction in any form requires the prior consent of the Publisher.
MP surgery visits and lobbying, to local action and a national demonstration.” Porter aims to ensure that “that access can remain open to all those who have the ability to be in higher education; that students can demand and receive world class provision; and that we can foster an academic community rather than a crude market place.”
Charlie Marchant News Editor AARON PORTER will take the role of President of the NUS this June, succeeding the current President, Wes Streeting. Elected with a 65% majority, Streeting is confident in Porter’s appointment, commenting that, “Aaron is the right person to deal with the challenges students face in the coming year.” In an interview with Exeposé, Porter discussed his objections to the current calls to raise tuition fees. In light of the fact that there has been no obvious improvement in what students receive since fees trebled from £1k to £3k in 2006, he asserted that, “I will be ensuring the NUS forcefully rejects any suggestion that the cap on fees should be lifted, and would urge Vice-Chancellors to concentrate on demonstrating what they actually do with student money and Government funding before they try and demand more from students.” Though these assertions are all well and good, with the current
“I would consider it political suicide if the current ConservativeLiberal Democrat Government tried to raise fees.” Aaron Porter speaks on behalf of all students in the UK. Photo: NUS deficit and no promise of compromise up to the NUS’ pledge and 100 of on the issue from the Conservatives, the elected Labour MPs, Porter there is no guarantee that fees will considers that, “together the Liberal remain the same. Porter said, “I Democrats and Labour can thwart would consider it political suicide any attempt from the Conservatives if the current Conservative-Liberal to raise fees.” Democrat Government tried to raise As part of fighting to prevent a fees.” With 57 Liberal Democrat rise in tuition fees, Porter pledges to MPs, including Nick Clegg, signing “use every tool in our armoury, from
University saves Northcott
Aaron Porter, NUS PresidentElect Though Porter may have an uphill struggle on his hands to prevent the cap on tuition fees being abolished, it seems he and the NUS will fight hard to play a significant role in ensuring students receive the best of higher education.
Ball for Halls
Hannah Sweet Senior Reporter
Zoe Dickens Reporter
EXETER University will set up a new company to take over the running of the Northcott Theatre from May 29. Over £800,000 is owed to creditors, and since March, 27 members of staff have been made redundant. The University already owns the building and will purchase all of the other fixtures and fittings whilst continuing to employ the 15 current members of staff. The administrator will sell off other assets to secure money for creditors. Jeremy Lindley, University Director of Corporate Services, said that this agreement “gives the Northcott the best chance of achieving a sustainable future.” He warned that “there is a very strong likelihood we will have less public funds at our disposal in the future.” Gemma Richens, Guild FATO, said, “We hope that a sustainable future can be found and we are keen to assist in ongoing negotiations.” Amy Powderham, President of Exeter University Theatre Goers Society, told Exeposé, “I have got to know many of the staff there throughout my involvement and it’s such a shame that so many have been made redundant. It provides one of the biggest stages in the area and therefore so much opportunity,
THE Self-Catered Halls’ Ball will be held in the Lemmy on June 10. Despite the cancellation of this year’s Summer Ball, the Self-Catered Halls’ Ball is still planning to go ahead and promises to be a great end-ofexams send off. The ball is organised by the Lafrowda, Rowe House and St. Germans’ committee. It is open to students of all years and sports a ‘Mad Hatter’s Tea Party’ theme this year. The black tie event boasts a range of entertainment from live music - by the University Jazz Orchestra and Gift For A Ghost Town - to bungee runs, magicians and sumo suits. The usual drinks promotions include free Pimms and Wonderland themed cocktails. Event organiser, Katherine Bardsley, said, “I should probably just point out that our ball is not really a replacement for the Summer Ball but I suppose it is quite fortuitous that there is an alternative. In terms of comparison with the normal Summer Ball, I would hope it’s going to be a great send-off for the summer.” The event organisers are hoping that those who normally frequent the summer ball will turn to them for an alternative, with something different to offer.
Northcott has been saved for the year. Photo: Henry White especially for students.” year when the main stakeholders - Arts The theatre will be running a Council England, Exeter City Council Summer Festival Programme from and the University - are aware of the June 24 until July 8. There are also plans funds they will have available under for a winter programme, including a the new government. It is hoped that Christmas show, to follow. eventually an independent company The situation will be reassed next can be set up to run the theatre.
3
Exeposé Week twenty Seven
news@exepose.com
Calvin Davidson Reporter CULT icon Zippy has arrived in Exeter to teach students a lesson about late night street-noise. Zippy, who many will remember from the hit TV show, ‘Rainbow,’ is here as a part of the ‘Zipit’ Campaign launched 17 May. In a survey conducted by Exeter University and the Students’ Guild at the end of last year, 28% of respondents reported late night street noise as a problem. ‘Loud singing in the early hours of the morning’ was voted as one of the biggest issues. Rory Cunningham, Community Liaison Officer at the University of Exeter says: “We recognise that street noise is not exclusively a student issue, but we are keen to do what we can to spread the message amongst the student body.
Zip-Up, Look Sharp
The number of respondents that reported late night street noise as a problem
Zippy encourages students to keep it zipped to lessen late-night street noise.
Photo: Henry White
further supported by Exeter City Council, Devon County Council, the Exeter Community Safety Partnership and several City Councillors. The campaign is initially targeting the St. James area, where 55% of houses are occupied by students. At the official ‘Zip-it’ launch, Zippy
himself, an Exeter Politics student, paraded around Arena nightclub. He also made an appearance at the Lemmy on Saturday 22 and will return to Arena on Monday 24 May. Zippy and his team chatted to students and handed out lollipops and stickers with his message encouraging them to ‘Zip-
it’ on their way home. The Zippy team made further appearances throughout the week at student halls of residence as a part of the ‘Zippy Roadshow.’ ‘Zip-it’ will be re-launched in October for the next academic year to spread the message to new and returning students.
‘BURGLARS’ roamed around campus last Wednesday. This was all part of the Students’ Guild’s new campaign focusing on burglary prevention in and around campus. The Exeter Students’ Guild was one of ten Students’ Unions to win £850 from the NUS to raise awareness of the risk of student houses being
burgled. On May 19 information stands in Devonshire House and at St Luke’s gave hundreds of students advice on how to prevent burglary. The event was run in partnership with NUS and the official launch of ‘The Lock;’ an interactive crime prevention website for students. With one third of all students being affected by crime at university and college, the NUS crime campaign
is working closely with the Home Office to provide the very best in expert advice to students and students’ unions across England and Wales. The campaign hopes to help prevent thefts from student homes. During the month of February, thieves targeted Moberly House, Mardon Hall, Northernhay House and Kilmorie Hall, as well as popular student areas such as Mount
Pleasant Road, Pinhoe Road and Monks Road. Mathew Richards, Welfare and Equal Opportunities Officer, stressed that “The Guild is committed to working with its partners, including NUS, the police, and the University, to ensure a continuing emphasis on safety and crime prevention. The event was a successful way of raising awareness of this ongoing issue.” The success of the campaign has
VC To Attend GM
Beetroot Juice
Fellowship
Hannah Brewer Reporter
THE Vice Chancellor of Exeter University will be attending the General Meeting on Tuesday 1 June in Devonshire House. The Vice Chancellor and President of Universities UK, Professor Steve Smith, agreed to attend one general meeting each year in response to a previous motion passed by the Guild. His precence at the meeting should boost the student turn-out at the meeting.
Student reactions to Zippy have been mixed. Zippy commented on his Monday night Arena experience, saying, “People love me. All through the night people were coming up to me, hugging me and saying things like ‘Zippy, I love you Zippy. Zippy! You’re a legend’.”
“I don’t know if people will care that much about a 6ft Zippy” First year student
28%
First year student, Matthew Baguely, describes his experiences with noisy students: “I was woken up pretty much every night around 3am by drunken students. I have to wear ear plugs just so I can have an uninterrupted night’s sleep.” Flatmate, Nora Gerner, added, “It’s especially annoying during exam time or if essays are due.” The ‘Zip-it’ Campaign has been developed by the University of Exeter, Students’ Guild and the Devon and Cornwall Police to address this issue. It is
News
Burglars strike campus
DRINKING beetroot juice boosts your stamina and could help you exercise for up to 16% longer, says a study led by Exeter University. The study shows that the nitrate in beetroot juice leads to a reduction in oxygen uptake, which makes exercise less tiring. The study was carried out on a group of male cyclists. After drinking the juice there was about a 2% reduction in the time taken to cover a set distance.
PROFESSOR Andrew Hattersley has been elected fellow of the Royal Society. The Royal Society supports excellence in science and elects 44 fellows each year. Prof. Hattersley is one of a handful of scientists at Exeter Univerity to recieve this honour. The Society commented that Professor Hettersley’s work “led him to revolutionise treatment for most patients with genetic subtypes of diabetes by replacing insulin injections with sulphonylurea tablets.”
First year student, David Brake, stated, “Zippy is an icon for kids and now an icon of silence too; a very unsubtle but nice walking metaphor.” However, one first year student drunkenly remarked, “Zippy is a right prick.” Another student stated, “At first I thought it was a great big turd. Then I realised it was supposed to be Zippy.” It is currently unclear whether Zippy’s message is getting through. An anonymous exchange student stated, “Apparently I was talking to Zippy, but I don’t really remember what he had to say. I was pretty trashed.” In light of these reactions, the success of the campaign is questionable. Perhaps the gimmick costume and interaction with drunken students has meant that the demonstration of the campaign’s message has been ineffective. Another student speculated, “I don’t really know if people will care that much about a 6 ft. Zippy considering those in the library have the forum project to contend with. The message might be a bit drowned out.”
prompted the Guild to plan a larger safety event for the autumn term incorporating several areas of safety from protecting health and responsible drinking through to safety in the home. Richards concluded that, “it is extremely important that the Guild continues to concentrate on this issue, and hopefully the event in the autumn will be a further success.”
National winner Moberly Flooded
MATTHEW MARTIN, Exeter University student, has been selected from over 4,000 applicants across the UK to take part in the STA Travel World Traveller Intern Programme starting inJune. Matthew had to go through three difficult stages, and faced tough competition. He said, “ This is an unbelievable opportunity. I cannot wait to travel the world.”
MOBERLY was flooded this week after a waterfight. Blocks A, B and C were affected most, with water running down the staircases. Damien Jeffries, President of Moberly was involved in the waterfight. According to the Incident Report, Damien recieved a delivery of water bombs the previous week. In Jeffries’ subsequent facebook group, he claims “the university has taken things too far.”
4
News
may 24 2010
University seeks £23m in global ambition
Adam Walmesley Senior Reporter DONATIONS are being sought by the University to boost funds for investments including the Forum Project. The University of Exeter campaign aims to raise £23m, recruit over 2,000 volunteering hours, and secure more than 250 Last Will and Testimony pledges by 2012. The scheme is seeking ‘gifts’ from alumni, staff and friends to sustain Exeter’s Top-10 UK position and boost the institution’s global standing. Launched at the annual Alumni Gala Dinner in London on May 5, which Jonathan Dimbleby, honorary graduate of Exeter, attended. The campaign slogan is ‘Creating a world-class University together’ which intends to make the University less reliant on public funds and more self sufficient. £15m is needed to finance building project donation targets. Research funding equates to another £5m donation target, and £3m will go towards graduate projects. By the end of April, two thirds of the funding target had already been donated, including £9.1m of infrastructural funding. The University has been offered 176 of 250 Legacy pledges, and has
THE Department of Creative Media and Information Technology (CMIT) has been closed. CMIT is based in the Graduate School of Education and provides undergraduates with a variety of modules in Creative Media and Information Technology. Over the past few years, there has been low take-up in the course, which means running the modules is no longer viable. Over Easter, an email was sent from Dr Rob Freathy, Director of Teaching and Learning, Graduate School of Education, which declared that, “the Senior Executive Management Group has decided that it will not be able to offer these modules/pathways from the 2010-11 academic year onwards.” Only 11 students will be directly affected by the closure, which reflects the low interest in the programme. They still need to take some of these modules to complete their Flexible Combined Honours portfolios. The
Student News Durham disaffiliate with NUS
Charlie Marchant News Editor
DURHAM Student Union has voted to disaffiliate from the NUS with a narrow majority of 1295 votes against 1217 votes. After surviving one referendum with 80% of Durham students voting to stay in the NUS, a second referendum was called for. This came after a debacle in which Bellavia Ribeiro-Addy, NUS Black Students Officer, demanded that a debate organised by Durham Union Society, featuring two members of the British National Party (BNP), should be cancelled. Matthew Funnell, Durham University first year Maths student, remarked, “I am concerned that students have jumped on the bandwagon following recent issues and don’t fully understand the repurcussions of the decision. This is a step backwards for Durham.” Photo: Henry White University sign changes its tagline in light of the awaited update of the league tables. been given over 1,200 of 2,012 campuses and producing worldWest of England and it is widely volunteering hours. class research and graduates. To expected to drop out of the TopProfessor Steve Smith, achieve this we must become even 10 this year. Exeter University is University Vice-Chancellor, said more self-sufficient and even less ranked 266th in the world, a figure at the launch: “Our ambition is to reliant on public funding.” Steve Smith has explicitly targeted transform Exeter into a world-class The Streatham Campus is the to improve. university, offering world-class biggest building site in the South
CMIT closed
Gemma Harrison Reporter
Exeposé
www.exepose.com
University told Exeposé , “We will honour this and make these, or suitable alternative modules, available. We are speaking to the students concerned to discuss the best way of doing this. Subsequently, no further modules will be offered.”
“It would be a shame to see such a valuable department disappear” Exeter student Anna Jackman, a third year geography and management student, said of the CMIT, “I picked up such employable skills. Only recently I learned how to construct a website from scratch; the end product was something I would happily show an employer.” Another student praised the department and said, “As well as bringing me employability, it’s brought me almost a third of my degree! It would be a shame to see such a valuable department disappear.”
7% turnout at Forum Election Ellie Busby News Editor
1,192 STUDENTS have voted in the Guild Forum and Representative Election. The Guild Forum and Representative Election took place last week and voting closed at 4pm on Friday May 21. The increase has been marginal voting compared to last year, with only 186 more students voting. The Forum Election in 2009 saw 1006 students casting their votes to elect Reps, Guild Councillors and Student Trustees. The turnout was not as high as the Students’ Guild had hoped, with only 7% participation. However, Richard Stearn, Guild President, declared, “We are delighted with the election results.” He added, “Now these representatives have been elected, the Students’ Guild can better serve the needs of a diverse student population.”
Students voted for 15 positions, which included six new Forum Officers, twelve Guild Councillors, four Student Trustees, seven Welfare Reps, one Undergraduate Faculty Rep, one Arts Chair and one Societies Officer.
“We are delighted with the election results”
Richard Stearn, Guild President The Students’ Guild achieved an increased turnout in the Sabbatical Elections in March, where they celebrated a national record turnout of 36.4%. Although their achievement this week seems deflated in comparison, they still engaged more of the student body than previous years. Richard Stearn remarked, “We are very proud of the election turnouts at Exeter, they demonstrate that we are engaging with a whole range of students .”
Cambridge Radio Scam
Rachel Bayne Deputy Editor
CAMBRIDGE University Radio, CUR 1350, has been accused of a competition scam inviting listeners to enter answers six minutes after the winner was selected. Allegations were made by OFCOM after the radio station failed to warn listeners that the first person to enter the correct answer would win the whole competition.Listeners assumed that the winner would be randomly selected from all the correct competitors. Viewers complained that the mishap, similar to GMTV’s text scandal last year, was unfair to entrants and has caused many complaints.
Strike over Glasgow University job cuts
Ellie Busby News Editor
LECTURERS at the University of Glasgow are considering industrial action over proposed job cuts. The University and College Union is planning to take strike action, unless the institution withdraws plans which could result in the loss of 85 jobs. A spokeswoman for Glasgow University expressed concern about the effects of the strike on students.
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Opinion Funding our future
many from poorer backgrounds applying to university. (Keep in mind the recent Offa report that Just how does one go about shows the rich are seven times more funding Higher Education? The likely to go to university than the Russell Group proposes we remove poor). the current cap to allow fees to rise But by lifting the cap on tuition to £9000 a year. It is, they claim, “the fees we lift the lid on a whole host fairest and only viable option for of other problems. Once one starts addressing the funding shortfall.” It to reflect the ‘real’ cost of tuition, seems many of the Higher Education will an Engineering student pay institutions are agreed that the cost more than an English student? of tuition has to increase in ‘real’ Will we get the situation where the terms. best institutions attract the highestAnd why not? Surely those paying students, paying for better who can pay more, should pay equipment and teaching, attracting more. When you put the argument even higher-paying students like this it is hard to counter. Much ad absurdum? We end up in a like tax increases, the debate often ridiculous cycle of ultra-specialised, smacks of overreaction: a lot of ultra-elite institutions that will spell rich people being angry about the end of university education as being rich. But there is a far more we know it. fundamental point at stake here. The problem comes when In this gloomy new world of debt we start to think of education as and deficit, we cannot afford to take a private bargain between the our eyes off the fact that education provider and the consumer. It is is a debate of ideology that goes far possibly the worst example of beyond the immediate debits and this kind of bargain as the third credits of balance sheets. Couching party benefits of a high level of the argument solely in terms of education are enormous. One can funding demeans this. trot out any number of statistics to If we are going to have a debate verify that education benefits all about how education is funded, we of society. There is also something have to look at how it is provided, I find fundamentally sinister about who it’s provided for and just how allowing market forces free reign in much we value open and equal the education system. After all, it is access to education in our society. the lifeblood of our economy. Surely Let us hope that Lord Browne’s if any sector deserves preferential cross-party committee, due to treatment, education is it. report later this year, takes this into This debate is not about making account. ends meet in higher education, it There are immediate problems goes right to the heart of how our of lifting the lid on tuition fees. The education system is structured in Russell Group claims to believe the future. When Lord Browne’s education should remain, “free at committee publish their report later the point of use.” Frankly I find this this year we need to make sure deeply patronising. There is nothing there has been a comprehensive free about the £21 000 of debt I am dialogue between students and looking at. That this could reach institutions that fully addresses any £40 000 for some in the future is proposed changes to the system. obscene. How one can create wider We have to get this right first participation when admission is time. Any generation priced out of based on the depth of your pockets education is not a policy mistake, rather than the breadth of your it is a tragedy. An education is a knowledge is a mystery. Perceived livelihood and we should do all we cost is a major factor in putting off can to protect that. Corrections:
Andrew Waller Editor
Kendal Calling and Standon Calling are separate festivals organised by different parties, not a joint team as was suggested in Music, issue 565. The review of Philip Pullman’s The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ in Books issue 565 was wrongly attributed to Emma Pritchard. The review was written by Alice Scotcher.
may 24 2010
Exeposé
www.exepose.com
Tristan Barclay and Andrew Waller
editors@exepose.com
Is Term Three too short?
Tristan Barclay Editor
First things first, good luck to everyone sitting exams this week. Fortunately, for many of us the torture of exams is already over and we can look forward to a month of no responsibility before the end of term, followed by a long summer break. However, as mentioned in the last issue of Exeposé, this new, seven week term is an experiment for the University; an experiment that many think has already gone wrong. Sitting down for a chat with Exeposé last week, Taffy Morris, Guild Education Officer, raised some serious questions about the problems of the seven week term. His primary concern was the concentration of exams in such a small space of time, and the problem of students being examined in term three on modules studied in term one. This is a very real problem. My own exam period lasted less than a week, from Thursday May 13 to Wednesday May 19, in which time I sat four exams, two of which for modules I studied
before Christmas. This is happening across the University, with some students even sitting numerous exams in the cramped January period on top of the summer series. As a solution for next year, Taffy suggests a second exam week in January to allow students studying modules in term one to be examined on those modules as soon as possible. This is something he anticipates could happen in the coming academic year. Further problems include the near absence of time and personnel for societies to function properly, and the perception that students aren’t getting their money’s worth after paying expensive tuition fees for a term with practically no tuition. First year students have signed hall contracts that run until the end of term in midJune, whilst many students living in private accommodation have contracts that end in July and August – quite an investment for two weeks of exams. With this in mind, the University has committed to holding a review of the term date structure in the autumn. Exeposé understands that any changes
recommended by the committee won’t take effect for several years, but those in prominent university management positions are thought to be unhappy with the current situation. However, is the current term structure really a problem for everyone? Our summer term finishes at roughly the same point as our competitor universities, and the long summer vacation allows students to earn money, undertake internships, or even find a job after graduating. Many of us look forward to the sunshine and holidays of the summer months. A return to the longer term three might well ruin this. To gauge student opinion, Taffy is holding a focus group on the term dates on Friday May 28 in Amory B218, and the Guild is running an allstudent survey this week. Exeposé is also keen to hear your opinion, so feel free to send letters to the above email address. Whether you support the current term structure or not, speaking up is essential if the University is to make the right decision for us and for future students.
In Response to Reference: History
The Editors Exeposé
I am writing in my capacity as the Head of the Department of History in response to the letter by a final year Philosophy and History student, Dominic Small, published in the edition of Exeposé which appeared on Monday May 10th. The letter draws attention to the referencing system to which students of History are required to adhere when preparing written work for submission and describes this as ‘appalling’, ‘unprofessional’, ‘internal’ and ‘third rate’. I wish to make a number of comments in response to this letter. The system of referencing recommended by the Department is based on the conventions used by Cambridge University Press and is no less well established and widely recognised than the referencing styles to which Mr Small refers (namely those outlined in the Chicago and MLA guides). It
is therefore inappropriate to describe them as merely ‘internal’ and ‘third rate’. These guidelines for referencing are laid out in the handbook for History undergraduates, which is distributed to all students in hard copy at the beginning of each year and is available for consultation on the web. Mr Small complains that these guidelines are incomplete, and in particular that they do not provide instructions about how to reference Law Cases. We would make the observation that, however comprehensive, no system of referencing will cover every single eventuality, especially given the range of subjects that dissertation students cover, from the early medieval era to the twenty first century. We fully anticipate that there are instances in which students will need to refer to their supervisors or other members of staff for specific guidance on formatting footnotes and bibliography
entries for non-standard items: many colleagues in the department have responded to questions of this kind in the lead up to the dissertation submission date this year. Mr Small consulted with the Department’s dissertation coordinator who responded swiftly and professionally to his questions on the subject. The Department takes very seriously indeed its commitment to training students in bibliographical and referencing skills and refutes any suggestion of ‘incompetence’ or failure to pay attention to their needs. The issues raised by Mr Small will be considered by our Teaching and Learning Committee and by the Staff Student Liaison Committee at their next meetings. Yours sincerely, Alexandra Walsham Head of History
Thanks to all those who proofed this issue: Emma Vince, Jack Flanagan, Naader Abbasi, Sammy Ward, Ben Savill, Fiona Hayden-Cadd, Adam Walmesley, Victoria Gilbert, and members of the Exeposé editorial team.
7
Exeposé week twenty seven letters@exepose.com
Email your views to letters@exepose.com Opinions and perspectives expressed on this page are those of the authors of the letters printed and not necessarily those of Exeposé or the editors. All letters are printed as received, in full, unedited, and uncorrected by Exeposé
Forum disrupted Summer Ball
Dear Exepose,
I just wanted to clarify the situation with the Summer Ball, as reported in the last edition. I feel that the headline ‘Summer Ball cancelled’ is a little misleading as this suggests that there had previously been plans to have a Summer Ball this year. With the construction projects on campus we always knew the unfortunate fact that an on campus ball would be impossible. Moving the ball off campus would have significantly increased venue hire costs, hence an increased ticket price which would have made the event less attractive to attend. Also, there is no other venue in the area with a
My Exeter
5am license. We therefore made the decision not to run a Summer Ball this year. The St. Luke’s Summer Ball is not organised by the Students’ Guild but the St. Luke’s Ents team and although Marte, Deputy President, is on the St. Luke’s Summer Ball Committee the Guild has no other input. There are no rules in place to prevent students who live or study on Streatham from attending the St. Luke’s ball, it is open to all. However, the ball does have a much smaller capacity than that of the ball traditionally held on Streatham due to obvious differences in the size of the campuses. The results of a piece of
student consultation on balls conducted by the Guild and the comment cards collected after last year’s Summer Ball will be taken into consideration when planning future balls post-forum so that we can satisfy your wants to the best of our ability. Kind regards, Gemma Richens Finance, Activities and Trading Officer 2009-2010
Exam time cut short
SIR –
The invigilators during last Tuesday (18th)’s afternoon exam session in the Tennis Centre managed to call their supposedly all-powerful “pens down please” three minutes earlier than was scheduled. Considering that the exam was only one hour in length, three fewer minutes was a substantial loss in continuous writing time for all those involved. Firstly, please may I suggest that the one primary qualification needed as an invigilator is competency at telling the time? However, my real irritancy came when the lady in apparent authority informed me afterwards that her excuses were due to a) a long day of invigilating and b) the university’s
failure of providing analogue wall clocks rather than digital ones. Please a) respect the fact that as students we have worked for months for these wretched exams, and therefore deserve for them to be run diligently, and b) a borrowed Casio stopwatch from the adjacent Gym office or from one of your colleagues would suffice. A touch of personal responsibility and initiative to the task in hand would be welcome, rather than adopting the blame culture, which is now so more often than not the hallmark of this university. Yours, Tom Abel Smith
On this day in 2005. Demolition work on the old buildings nears completion, paving the way for the new Princesshay shopping complex. Looking east, from roughly where the new HMV is now situated, towards the junction of Paris Street and Sidwell Street. Photo: David Cornforth. Exeter Memories.
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may 24 2010
Features Jerusalem in the Eye
This week Mick Dumper, Professor in Middle Eastern politics, discusses the peace keeping process in the Middle East.
The ‘peace process’ between Israel and Palestine has become notorious for both its longevity and its lack of progress in reaching a definitive solution to the underlying conflict. In principle, both sides are seeking a two-state solution, based above all on a negotiated agreement over the borders between what would eventually be two sovereign states. One of the main stumbling blocks to reaching such an agreement is the status of Jerusalem, different and overlapping parts of which are claimed by each camp as its national capital. The impact of the Arab–Israeli conflict on the city of Jerusalem has been profound. Partitioned in 1948 into an Israeli-controlled West Jerusalem and a Jordanian controlled East Jerusalem, it remained divided by the ‘Green
The Wailing Wall in East Jerusalem
Line’ for 19 years. Following the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in 1967, an enlarged East Jerusalem has gradually been absorbed into West Jerusalem and the Israeli state, with many Israeli laws being applied. At the same time, East Jerusalem has remained the focus of Palestinian national aspirations to end Israeli occupation and establish the historical and religious centre of East Jerusalem as the capital of the new Palestinian state. It is clear that a negotiated agreement between Israelis and Palestinians is contingent upon, on the one hand, the establishment of a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem and, on the other, Israeli access to Jewish Holy Places and the addressing of Israeli security concerns regarding Palestinian access to the whole city. No peaceful agreement is possible
without these prerequisites. The 1993 Oslo Accords between Israel and the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization,) while leading to the gradual transfer of administrative powers to Palestinian bodies in the West Bank, deferred the issue of East Jerusalem until a later date. As a result, the political contest over the city has resembled the period leading up to a ceasefire between two warring protagonists, each side seeking to obtain some advantage or to consolidate a position before hostilities must cease. As the stronger party, Israel has been able to exploit this leadup period and the ensuing truce much better than the Palestinians. On the one hand, Palestinians have prevented the wholesale erosion of their already weak position in the city by drawing on the support of international law. Embassies to Israel, for example, are located in Tel Aviv as a form of non-recognition of Israeli claims to the city. On the other hand, Palestinians have failed to use this advantage as a platform to project a convincing vision of their preferred option: that of an open city with two capitals and with shared municipal functions. The Israeli vision of a predominantly Jewish city benignly tolerant of minority religious faiths and communities, under the protection of the Israeli state has been more effectively projected. In this vision, Palestinians of East Jerusalem would receive religious and cultural autonomy but the land would be incorporated into the Israeli state in the ways described above. The wide acceptance of this vision by Israelis and by Israel’s supporters in Europe and North America has helped to consolidate Israeli control over the city. Currently, however, there is much less room for manoeuvre for a negotiated agreement than in the 1970s and 1980s. Indeed, due to the extensive construction of Jewishonly settlements in the eastern part of the city, the reversal of the Israeli presence in East Jerusalem
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that is required is also so much greater – to the extent that the current prospects for negotiating a peaceful agreement have receded to an almost implausible degree. It is currently extremely improbable that any Israeli government will risk its own demise by offering a set of territorial concessions in East Jerusalem sufficient to meet Palestinian aspirations.
“The current prospects for negotiating a peaceful agreement have receded to an almost implausible degree.”
Similarly, the Palestinian position has hardened. During the 1990s, the PLO/PA were open to considering a number of approaches encompassing various transitional arrangements, international supervisory regimes for the Holy Sites, or the ‘leaseback’ of certain areas of Jerusalem to Israel. However, the constant erosion of good faith in Israeli assurances by the continued Israeli settlement programme has effectively undermined both the ability and the willingness of the Palestinian leadership to make any concessions. The PLO/PA also has limited room for manoeuvre: on the one hand, it has called upon Jordan and Saudi Arabia to strengthen and support its diplomatic position, while on the other it has had to pay particular attention to the growing strength of Hamas in the West Bank and the Islamic movement in Jerusalem, and their more assertive defence of Palestinian rights in the city. These combined pressures have made the PLO/PA aware that offering too much flexibility on the question of sovereignty and jurisdiction over the city would be interpreted as a sign of weakness. For this reason, and across the political spectrum, no agreement on Jerusalem would be preferable to Palestinian leaders than an agreement which could portray Palestinians as having surrendered Arab, Christian and Islamic rights to the city.
Our Top Stories 1. Battle for Bangkok Violent battles between red-shirt protestors and the government’s armed forces in Bangkok ended following the surrender of the red shirts. Over 40 people killed in the space of a week, despite a curfew being introduced on May 19 to limit danger for civilians. A number of important sites in the city were set on fire, including the Thai Stock Exchange. 2. Children of British sex offender found dead in Spain On Tuesday May 18, the bodies Rebecca and Daniel Smith, aged five years and 11 months, were found in their hotel room in Costa Brava after their mother spoke to reception staff. Leanne Smith is now in custody. The childrens’ father, Martin Smith, was arrested on May 7 in Barcelona and faces child sex offence charges in England. The Smith family had been reported as missing since 2007. 3. A Text Book in Propaganda The Texas Board of Education has proposed new social studies standards, based upon ‘certain statutory obligations to promote patriotism’ in the US. The changes inclue a softened description of the Slave Trade as the Atlantic Triangular Trade. 4. Rich-poor university divide set to increase Anew report from the university access watchdog, Office for Fair Access (Offa), has revealed that wealthy students are seven times more likely to gain places at top British universities than bright students from poor backgrounds. On the same day that these findings were announced, The Times reported that Oxford University is considering an increase in its fees. 5. Facebook owners try to handle public problems with privacy The owners of Facebook have been petitioned to rethink their treatment of users’ private data, following concerns that the current system has lost public trust. The New York Times has revealed that Facebook’s privacy policies are longer than the US constitution, with 50 different settings.
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Exeposé week twenty Seven features@exepose.com
A Mayor less ordinary
Anna-Marie Linnell, Features Editor, speaks to Marcel Choules - army veteran, bare-knuckle boxer, St. Luke’s porter and the new Mayor of Exeter.
At the time of our interview, Marcel Choules was preparing for his inaugural speech on May 18. Taking a quick break from his day job as a porter at St Lukes, he appeared confident and more than willing for a chat.
Approachability will be crucial for Mr Choules over the next year, as he embraces a ceremonial role which is all about Exeter’s appearance as a city. But since the first Mayor of Exeter was appointed around the year 1200, I daresay we have never had a candidate quite like him. Aged 63, Mr Choules has lived and worked in Exeter for 39 years. His childhood, however, was not so firmly rooted. “I came from a military background,” he explains. His father was in the army, and the Choules family toured with his postings: “We travelled to Abyssinia, Cyprus, got evacuated from Egypt in 1953 or 1954, went to Germany, Malta. But my father’s final placement was in the S o u t h West.” The f a m i l y
therefore decided to settle in Devon, and he has lived in the area since. Like his father, Mr Choules also seemed destined for a career in the army. He trained as a soldier and fought in Aden in the 1970s, which was “like a mini Afghanistan back then.” However, he then sustained an injury and was declared unfit for service. “I smashed my knee cap,” he says apologetically, “and I’ve had two knee replacements since then through sport.” Although his career in the army ended prematurely, he continued to pursue active fields of work. After leaving the military, he worked on North Sea rigs and in security. Mr Choules also turned his attention to politics. “I’ve been a Labour Councillor for over ten years now,” he says. “But I worked with the unions for 20 years before that.” He currently sits on the University Council as a Senior Rep for Unite. This political activism can be somewhat reflected in his proposed Mayoral agenda. As an ambassador for the City as a whole the role of Mayor is nonpolitical, but Mr Choules’s passion for working with local businesses does show through. To target trade links and to encourage business
leaders to take on more young school-leavers is one of his key aims as, “A kid leaves school and no employer takes them on at 16. It means they’ve got nothing to look forward to; they can’t be bothered to get out of bed in the mornings. And it’s culturally hereditary.”
“I guess you could call me a product of the University’s Investor in People scheme”
Although Mr Choules does agree with new government legislation for all teenagers to stay in education until they turn 18, he also wants to encourage more apprenticeship schemes in the local area. He himself has benefitted from such partnerships in the past. “I guess you could call me a product of the University’s Investor in People Scheme,” he explains. “The University is very good at taking people on.” Mr Choules has worked at the University of Exeter for 20 years as a building facilities manager and porter, whilst also doing door security work at The Ship Inn. The University has granted Mr Choules a sabbatical year to fulfil
his duties as Lord Mayor, for which he is, “very grateful.” He intends to continue door security work at the weekends, and believes his position as Mayor will not prevent him from fulfilling duties as a Councillor for Priory Ward. As Mr Choules was Deputy Mayor in 2007, he knows what to expect, “I’ll be representing the Council, so have to chair Council meetings, chair other meetings – like the Scouts, welcome foreign dignitaries and overseas visitors.” Working for the Mayor’s office must really be a PR dream: over the course of his year’s term, Mr Choules will attend around 700 public functions. He will also represent his chosen charity, which raises money for the Royal Deaf School. “It’s a very good, local charity,” he says. Mr Choules’s schedule next year is likely to be hectic, but he still wants to be an accessible figure for everyone in the community. As we wrap up the interview, he promises: “If any students have any questions for me, they can always find me outside The Ship Inn on a Friday or a Saturday night.” A politician less ordinary, indeed.
The importance of the everyday
Can trivia really be a tool for revision? Kate Davison discusses an unusual concept for learning.
Revision is (at least in theory) a case of going over old ground. With coursework submitted, lectures attended and notes taken it seems our learning of new things for this year is done and dusted. And for those of us stretching the limits of memory ahead of exams this is probably welcome news. But, in truth, it is the novel things in life that are best, and often the least appreciated. The things you don’t need to do, or the knowledge you don’t need to have – novelty trumps necessity any day. It was a champion of simple living, Henry David Thoreau, who lamented our toleration for incredible dullness when there is an incessant flow of novelty into the world. And now, more than a century later, the solution is at hand: enter learnsomethingeveryday.co.uk, a website dedicated to spreading the gospel of novelty with a daily titbit. From the startling - and, for Sir Edmund Hillary’s descendents probably quite annoying - fact that Mount Everest grows by four
millimetres a year to the news that most car horns sound in the key of F, the website unleashes a multitude of trivia. Entrants from the animal kingdom include newborn kangaroos, who are small enough to fit in a teaspoon, and rare bottombreathing turtles, who can remain underwater for up to a week. More questions than answers spring to mind; ‘curiouser and curiouser,’ as Alice in Wonderland put it. As our circle of knowledge expands, it seems so does the circumference of darkness surrounding it. It remains to be said, though, what a wonderful world we live in. The website does not stop there. In its quest to unearth little known marvels, the Romans, it reveals, invented the lollipop – surely their most woefully underappreciated contribution to civilisation, and
one cruelly overlooked by Adam Hart-Davis on the BBC’s What the Romans Did for Us. Meanwhile, Sir Isaac Newton’s perseverance with innovation is a lesson to us all. After discovering the laws of physics, he would have been forgiven for putting his feet up, but did he rest on his laurels? No he did not. He set to work on the other great challenges facing mankind, later pioneering that most nifty feature of many a back door: the cat flap. But it is not just novelty; these facts have practical applications. There are health warnings: 130 cups of tea, for example, would be a lethal dose of caffeine – something to bear in mind on the next revision all-nighter. And for men, those who part their hair on the right tend to live longer than those who part it on the left. Being prepared for the
“130 cups of tea would be a lethal dose of caffeine - something to bear in mind on the next revision all nighter”
average bottle of ketchup to squirt at 25 mph might save a few white shirts and make the next bacon sandwich a slightly less perilous affair, while knowing that cows can go upstairs but not down could avert a herding-related mishap. And when life is stressful and exams are looming, it is worth reflecting that we humans share 50% of DNA with bananas. It is a wonder that we can even find the exam hall. And it gets better because there is a little science to throw into the mix. It is well established that novelty improves mood, but recent studies have also shown that we learn better if the familiar is interspersed with new information. How convenient. With so many of us wading through the mire of revision, it seems the need for novelty has never been greater. So, let us raise a glass to learning something new every day and go forth to chip away at the emerald mine of knowledge! If nothing else, it’s worth being equipped for awkward silences.
And who invented the lollipop? The Roman treat of dates stuffed with almonds and stewed in honey was a hugely successful treat in Roman candy shops.
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Exeposé week twenty Seven features@exepose.com
Clameron: the new face of politics
After forming the UK’s first coalition for more than 60 years, will David Cameron and Nick Clegg really bring about change, or just recycle old policies? Robin Chu discusses.
May 11 2010 marked an historic moment in UK history, with the first coalition government coming to power since the Second World War. Yet whilst this is undoubtedly a formal partnership between two parties and their respective leaders, the Clameron-Camegg outfit is by no means the first double act to have entered a political power partnership. Let us not forget Messrs Blair and Brown, with their New Labour project that lasted for 13 years. The New Labour and Liberal Conservative schemes are
remarkably similar. Both used similar rhetoric upon entering political office. Upon his arrival on the steps of Downing Street back in 2007, Blair stated a ‘new dawn has broken, has it not?’ Some would say this is quite similar to Cameron’s declaration of ‘new politics.’ But, wait, Clegg has spoken of this new Con-Lib team as a ‘bold, reforming government’ that will focus on fairness, freedom and responsibility. For example, policy pledges of a referendum away from the First-Past-The-Post electoral system to Alternative Vote (AV), a committee to look at
a wholly elected House of Lords under proportional representation and even a fixed term parliaments of five years with the PM giving up his right to call an election. No one is denying these policies will be more democratic and fair but they are also in the same mould of bold, innovative reforms that the Blair-Brown compact pushed for. For instance, Blair actively discussed electoral reform: he even formed the AV+ system, although this was never implemented. Blair also had similar rhetoric on an elected House of Lords, but in the end only went so far as to remove hereditary peers and move to appointments. So, while this new groundbreaking Con-Lib coalition have talked up a good game of ‘new politics’ with ‘bold reforms,’ many of their ideas are simply the old ones recycled. Surely, with the same rhetoric and similar policy as New Labour, the all-emancipating modern change that Clameron has proposed will simply not be true. In fairness the message of change was probably just designed to catch parts of the stardust left from Obama’s campaign in the States, so was really just good politics used for winning votes anyways.
Yet there is one fundamental difference between the partnership of Clegg-Cameron and BlairBrown, and that is simply this: the new joint effort will actually succeed where Labour has failed. The failure of New Labour was due to a breakdown in harmony between their two architects, with Brown too focused on coveting the job of PM than thinking of political reform. Take adopting the Euro; Blair heavily supported the idea as he wanted to become the first British PM in history to introduce such a national reform in Britain’s currency, while Brown keenly protested. As Chancellor, Brown even stated privately that he would quit the Cabinet and rebel from the backbenches if the Euro was introduced as British currency, and introduced five economic tests to make it impossible for the Euro to be implemented in Britain. These constant internal battles between ten and 11 Downing Street led to a culture of ‘spin’ between Blairite versus Brownite information. Labour became divided into two power camps with no common aim or purpose, and the reforming agenda failed. While the Liberal-Conservative coalition is made of two distinct
parties, with two different policyagendas, it could have a strange chance of success. From the outset, they are ‘rivals turned colleagues.’ This means differences could be resolved early on to focus on the ‘national interest’ rather than the consistent behind-the-scenes bickering that plagued New Labour. Perhaps since people expect this government to fail due to ideological differences, it will actually make both parties strive to prove the country wrong and became a true reforming government. The best reason to suggest this Clameron outfit will succeed where Blair-Brown failed may be that, whilst Blair and Brown always seemed to be two different people, Clegg and Cameron are pretty much the same. Blair was an enthusiastic public speaker, spin-master, and fond of presentation whereas Brown was a self-professed loner in his early years, who was clearly not keen on the media. Clegg and Cameron, both aged 43, are equally keen on presenting themselves as the political outsider and, let’s be honest, they do just look the same as well.
Flying high with a new hobby Skydiving is fast becoming one of Britain’s most popular extreme sports. Matt Baguley discusses the practicalities of jumping out of a plane.
Would any reader care to guess the number of recorded fatalities in the UK for skydivers in 2009? The answer is one. Out of hundreds of thousands of jumps, there was a single fatality. I started skydiving when I joined the University, and every time I go people ask me if I’m scared that I’m going to die. But skydiving isn’t scary. It has even been used as a safety method for light aircraft and by the military for almost a century. The risk of injury for sport skydiving is comparable to that of skiing, rock climbing or kayaking. There are very real risks in jumping out of a plane, but the most common cause of skydiving injuries is skydiver error, where the actions of the user cause the accident. For example, people with a couple of thousand jumps are able to do swoop landings and make them look easy, but when someone who has completed only a hundred previous jumps tries it, that’s when someone gets hurt.
Skydiving equipment is state of the art and very unlikely to fail: parts of the kit are fitted purely for safety. To be fitted with an Automatic Activation Device (AAD) is a legal requirement for relatively inexperienced skydivers. The AAD is a small computer which measures air pressure and the changing rates of air pressure, to calculate altitude and speed towards the ground. If the skydiver has no working parachute above their head by the time they should, the AAD automatically releases a reserve parachute. The device has been responsible for saving many skydivers, and nearly all club policies state that members must be fitted with an AAD for all jumps made. Relatively few fatal accidents involve learner skydivers, largely due to high quality of instruction at skydiving schools and the design of skydiving equipment. All parachutes are designed for reliability, but student
gear especially is easy to use and forgiving. It is a very rare occurrence - almost unheard of for the parachute to just not open. The odds of both parachutes failing are microscopic. The United States Parachuting Association says the chances of fatal accidents whilst skydiving in America is roughly one in 116,000 skydives, and bear in mind that the US has fewer safety regulations surrounding sky diving than the UK. The sport takes safety very seriously; before you can jump you must undergo several hours of ground training, and repeat drillafter-drill so that, if the brown stuff does hit the fan, you know exactly what to do! A large percentage of skydivers are students, and I challenge you to this: go out and experience skydiving before you condemn it as unsafe. It is about as unsafe as anything else you may potentially do on a weekend, and gives you much more of an adrenaline rush.
Skydiving Low-Down • The first ever skydive attempt was made in 1797.
• The first World Parachuting Championships was held in 1970.
• Leonardo da Vinci designed his own parachute.
• The average sky diver falls at a speed of 120 mph.
• Sky diving was used by the Allied and Axis troops lines in both World Wars.
• In 1960 Joseph Kittinger set the record for the world’s highest skydive, jumping from 102,800 ft.
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may 24 2010
Lifestyle The poolside style guide
Overheard at Exeter
Dive into this summer’s latest graphic prints with Lifestyle’s guide to swimwear.
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WITH the re-opening of the Cornwall House outdoor swimming pool, Lifestyle has compiled a guide to some of the season’s best swimwear. Whether you’re paddling in the shallow end or pounding the lanes, you’ve got to suit up and look sharp. Swimwear comes in all shapes and sizes but what’s really important this year is the print. Abstract or floral, you’ve got to make a splash. Our favourite designs from the high street were inspired, by way of the Armani
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catwalks, by the night sky. With constellations and galaxies providing the muse, New Look has bought out a range (3. £16 top, £10 bottoms) complete with subtle diamanté stars. The All Saints one-piece (1. Orion Swimsuit £55) on the other hand is an enhanced image of the vibrant colours of the cosmos. If deep space is not to your taste then there are plenty of eye-catching prints available that don’t channel your inner Apollo 13. Topshop’s latest collaboration
with Pistol Panties has produced a striking range, so, if you’re daring enough, why not try the tye dye cut-out swimsuit (5. £59). Best for the guys is Billabong, renowned for their surf-wear and board shorts, whose graphic prints range from the photo montage (2. On vay kay £49.99) to the tropical tongue-in-cheek (6. Kook a nut Havana £54.99). Pineapples are very popular this year. If you’re a guy who’s more into classic styles, test out the Jack Wills shorts (4. £59), but please, for
Facebook, by the book Jordi Wieler likes this.
WE all know the rules of Facebook etiquette – most of us absorb and appropriate it as quickly as we did the ghetto-speak of late ‘90s American rap. But reference manuals are always helpful, and I for one am curious to deconstruct my Facebook subconscious. So, I analysed my typical Facebook behaviour and the unspoken rules governing such, and this is what I found. It is by no means an exhaustive conclusion. You, I’m sure, have your own way of navigating our friendly alternative ultra-real universe. But here’s my take on a few things. Let’s start with the beginning: creating a profile. Of course, you probably don’t remember this stage. Most of us have a vague memory of joining Facebook, way back when – we might remember it the same way we remember starting to make our own sandwiches, it just sort of happened one day and we’ve never been the same since. Of course, this can prove detrimental. I suggest regularly checking – perhaps one a month, or at least twice a year – your ‘info’ to make sure it doesn’t contain anything too embarrassing.
You wouldn’t want to stigmatise the more sophisticated of your Facebook friends, the kind you find yourself accumulating as you grow more sophisticated. Allow me to illustrate my point. Recently, I added one of my boyfriend’s friends who was planning a trip to Exeter. I thought, why not get ahead of the game and show him what an approachable (albeit Canadian) lassie I am? He accepted, and I proceeded to check up on him – as you do. I approved of his list of favorite films, for the most part, and even a few of his band choices. However when it came to ‘favorite books’ he had so cleverly written: “Who the f*** reads books?” Had there been a button for ‘dislike’ directly beneath I would have clicked it with great vehemence. I had a ferociously negative opinion of this person before I had even met him, which wasn’t fair to him or me. It was later proven that he did, in fact, read. All of the ensuing awkwardness, like when I drunkenly accused him of being a philistine, could have been avoided had he simply checked the personal information page he had
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filled out back in the day when he was still trying to impress his dumbass school buddies. How much of a friend does a person have to be before they become your real friend? Who and when? In a university environment, you’re apt to meet a lot of new people – wake up in their beds covered in Mr. Whippy, etc. – but what do you do with these strangers after you’ve done them, so to speak? Do you make a move and send a friend request? Do you wait for him or her to do it first? We live in an equal opportunities society; anyone, girl, boy, or otherwise, can be the first to click ‘send’. I believe this really isn’t a matter of etiquette at all, but a matter of balls. As in, do you want more balls? If so, send away! You will not only look courageous (having grown balls), but you may actually gain access to more balls. Now, if you don’t want balls, but want someone to want your balls (or the equivalent) you might be better off waiting it out. Same applies if you find yourself developing a suspicious rash – at least see if it clears up first. Of course, friend lists aren’t entirely composed of past and
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In the Exeposé Office: “They say some of these computers are seven years old. I mean, I’ve got relatives younger than that.” Girl in Rococo’s smoking area: “Yah, I can’t decide whether to go out tonight or not?” Guy visiting Lafrowda: “Is the water drinkable?”
the sake of your fellow swimmers, avoid the Speedos. Exceptions include water polo players and minor European royalty but even then, it’s best to think twice. For those with a fuller figure, Lifestyle recommends House of Fraser’s Lepel range, which comes with sewn-in underwiring and a surprisingly small price tag. Equally, figleaves.com provides a wide variety of prints, shapes and sizes if trawling up and down the high street simply doesn’t appeal. Prices start from £15.
potential sexual exploits (probably). But even adding platonic friends can be problematic. I mean, do you really want to befriend someone who, on first real life encounter told you about a childhood trauma involving husky lumberjacks and rabid beavers (is this just me?) over pints of Strongbow at the Impy? Because if you add her, you run the risk that she’s the type whose activity will suddenly dominate your homepage. Or she might constantly invite you to join groups like Let’s see if this pickle can get more fans than Michael Jackson. And if you’re a Thriller fan, that’s not only annoying but offensive. If you’re a Branston fan, it’s probably okay. But, you see, therein lies our problem: this person doesn’t know you. Do you really want to allow her access to your photo albums, to videos tagged of you? Will she be at all useful as a component of your social network? If your only aim is to increase your number of friends, to hit the four-figure mark, then yes. Otherwise, probably not.
Girl walking to campus: “So I have my Politics exam tomorrow and I don’t even know what democracy means...” Gold- digging girl: “I just have to look good enough and be forthcoming enough, and maybe, just maybe, the seventy-year old man will sleep with me.” Conversation in the Library: “Hey guys, don’t you think Exeter should have like a website with a rating system?” “Yeah, with different categories; chat, bolt...” “Banter.” “Lid.” At dinner in Holland Hall: “Labour? That’s just the chav vote, isn’t it?” During the Lemmy Election coverage, well into the night: “So...what DOES con-gain mean?” Exeter residents, after watching Robin Hood: “Something about that film reminded me of Gladiator...” “His hair was the same?” “It would have been better if he’d done it in his own accent.” “No, he’s Welsh.” From thefitfinder.co.uk: Main Library (Lower Floor) “Female, Blonde hair. Hot energy drink fanatic bouncing off the ever shrinking walls of a ground floor booth and performing excellent impressions of a clapping goat.”
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Exeposé week twenty seven lifestyle@exepose.com
Top stops and shops in Topsham
Laura Le Brocq, Lifestyle Editor, takes procrastination to a whole new level in Topsham.
Lifestyle
Laura and her flatmates off to paddle in the water; relaxing in the sunshine in Topsham Museum garden; a view over the Estuary from behind St Margaret’s Church. YOU may feel as though you’ve spent your entire year, or four, stuck in the city, occasionally venturing as far as the quay, but we assure you, this doesn’t have to be the case. Just under fifteen minutes by train lies the idyllic village of Topsham, which on a sunny day can seem a world away from the claustrophobia of campus and Exeter city. We wouldn’t want to give too much away, because it’s really somewhere you have to wander around aimlessly and discover yourself, but here are just a few pointers.
The Café. Slap-bang in the middle of the High Street is this rustic and homely café. It’s not dissimilar to a miniature version of Boston Tea Party, and believe us, the tea and cake is good. There are several restaurants and pubs throughout the village; all look equally inviting. Why not take some revision or work there for a change instead of to the Library, where the hum of building works is forever in the background. Here you’ll be lulled by the gentle sound of the sea. Not to be missed are the shops. There are several upmarket boutiques and home shops, one
specialising in Joules and some gorgeous wellies. If espadrilles, deck shoes and breton tops are your thing, this is the place to be, and there are some brilliant Christmas gift ideas. We, however, preferred the cheap and cheerful charity shops, Estuary League of Friends and The Mission to Seafarers, and discovered a rather nice mug for 40p, and a gold necklace with a mini whistle charm (a retro rape alarm?) for a fiver. Go charity shopping first, and your brain will condition itself to avoid the high prices elsewhere. Topsham is the ideal location for a good old country walk, or even
better, a lazy picnic. Although there isn’t really much of a beach (you would come back looking as sticky as Dennis in Jurassic Park) there is The Goat Walk, which runs along the edge of the sea, not to mention an estuary viewing point and a hide for birdwatching. At any rate, it’s very relaxing to plop yourself down somewhere vaguely near the shore and watch the boats floating about. We found a little garden opposite Topsham Museum, and lay in the sun for a while, ignoring the revision that awaited us back in Exeter. Other sights worth mentioning are the Fire Station, which chalks
Wear stash, love lash, live for banter Lifestyle shops for the best student merchandise in Exeter.
AS you approach the end of your final year, have you thought about what souvenirs you will need to remind you of your time here in Exeter? No? Well, not to worry, Lifestyle has done that vital task for you. The range of Exeter branded goodies has increased manifold over the recent years and now you can live the graduate dream wearing your Exeter socks, sporting your Exeter cufflinks and sipping tea from your Exeter mug. Alternatively, if you want a memento that more accurately reflects your student experience then Lifestyle suggests the branded flip-flops (no footwear is more ubiquitous on campus) or the new beer glass being sold by a student entrepreneur group. Whatever you choose it’s a great way to show your Exeter pride and to remind you of the great years you spent here. Why keep your Uni years under wrap? If you want to share it, you’ve got to wear it.
up its statistics for the month outside ‘Lives saved,’ ‘Firemen injured’ etc. And the Topsham Pool, which is apparently visited by a giant inflatable snake on Saturdays, and costs £3. But mostly, just enjoy wandering about and finding things yourself - we loved the house with a boat taking up its entire garden, as well as a doggy in a window. Return train tickets to Topsham are £1.50 with a young person’s railcard, or £2.30 without, from St James’ Park, and there is at least one train an hour Monday to Friday. Just be aware that Topsham is a sleepy village, and the shops shut early (4.30pm in some cases).
The Students’ Shop in Devonshire House is the destination to go to buy your Exeter stash. You can choose your hoodie from a spectrum of colours and styles. Zip-up or pull-over and with a hidden iPod pocket, it’s yours to own. Hoodies: Prices start at £19.99 for the basic Exeter Hoodie design. Cufflinks: Priced between £14.99 and £42.99. Plaque: £25.99 with three styles to choose between. Mug: £3.99 and available in a wide range of colours. Flip-flops: £15 Pint Glass: £4, with 20% off the price donated to charity. Available from the Exeter Entrepreneurs. Check out their Facebook site: Exeter University Pint Glass, to get hold of your own. Also available are keyrings,. notebooks, stationary, brooch, socks, scarves, ties, T-shirts and bags.
16
may 24 2010 Exeposé
www.exepose.com
Music music intervieW
Ben Murphie, Music Edior, has coffee and a chinwag with The Futureheads in Exeter’s Boston Tea Party.
Upcoming
26/5 - Simon & Oscar from Ocean Colour Scene, MAMA STONE’S
28/5 - The House Band featuring Kat Savage, MAMA STONE’S 28/5 - Field Music, EXETER PHOENIX 29/5 - Joey the Lips, MAMA STONE’S 29/5 - Rinseout, EXETER PHOENIX
30/5 - David Salisbury, Sarah Salisbury, Beth Corbett. James Dixon, Soul Choir Band, Melosa, OLD FIREHOUSE BANK HOLIDAY FESTIVAL 30/5 - Malefice & Warpath, CAVERN CLUB 30/5 - Dan Crisp plus Jam Night, MAMA STONE’S
30/5 - Martha Tilston & Richard Walters, EXETER PHOENIX, VOODOO LOUNGE 1/6 - Trigger the Bloodshed/ Bleed From Within, CAVERN CLUB Photo: Henry White
Ross Millard, guitarist, and Dave Hyde, drummer, in Boston Tea Party. The Futureheads first exploded into the public consciousness on February 21 2005 with their bold reworking of Kate Bush’s ‘Hounds of Love.’ Gone were the dreamy synths and fluttery vocals, replaced instead by tommy gun strumming and measured harmonies. Out touring new album The Chaos, lead guitarist Ross Millard and drummer Dave Hyde obliged us with a few words before their gig at The Cavern. Ross relates how the band have “gone back to our original root blueprint,” for The Chaos, bringing producer Dave Brewis (frontman of indie rockers Field Music) in as producer. Yet, “it was almost like he engineered it really,” says Hyde, in the sense that “we’d already kind of have the tunes and then we went in and he did a great job of getting the right sounds for it.” Compared to last offering This Is Not the World, which Ross describes as, “a straight
ahead rock album,” the band wanted “something that wasn’t like that at all.” Fans can expect “poly-rhythms and all that jazz” on The Chaos, resulting in something that, according to Ross, is “creatively [...] the best that we’ve done.”
“We never thought we’d do Glastonbury” This is a sentiment that would have been alien to the group of men who met at Sunderland City Detached Youth Project ten years ago, and who were “quite prepared to do the band as a sort of amateur, part time thing.” The Project, which is “still going strong,” is “a good little thing for youngsters to get into,” says Dave, “because you’ve got free rehearsal space.” All the more important now as “it’s got like 20 bands who go to it,” which means, “its a good job the Tories didn’t get in” as “they would have stopped all of that.”
From a group that “never thought we’d do Glastonbury or anything,” The Futureheads have spent time touring as a support act for Pixies and Foo Fighters, refining earlier tracks that “were like 90 seconds long” and “kind of disappear in big arenas.” This has helped the band get “better at writing songs that suit bigger and bigger venues,” something that started when working with legendary music producer Youth (Primal Scream, The Verve). They say how the Youth sessions were “a turning point,” as “you’ve got to perform when you record the track like it’s [...] headline show at Reading.” Previously under 679 recordings, The Futureheads were dropped after second album News and Tributes, and went on to start their own label (Nul Records) to release third album This Is Not The World. Of major record labels, Ross says how “there’s a mechanism there that is quite sinister,” and from an
artist’s perspective “if you’re a creator then [...] you don’t want to be watching people to see if they’ve got their fingers in the till.” It seems that independent labels might “be the future of the music business,” as current major label deals are “just increasingly more exploitative.” Whilst their relationship with the major record label world might be less than friendly, The Futureheads are eager to stay on good terms with their fans. Rather than shy away from playing old favourite ‘Hounds of Love’ at live shows, Ross says ,“there’s nothing more disappointing than going to see a band, especially when you’ve paid good money for a ticket and they don’t play their biggest tunes.” Good news then for those looking to hear ‘Hounds’ and ‘Beginning of The Twist’ screaming from festival speakers this summer, as live dates at Reading and Leeds have already been confirmed. Yet it is smaller festivals,
4/6 - Mostly Autumn, EXETER PHOENIX
such as “ones like Kendal Calling”, that interest Ross as there is a “very different atmosphere” and the line-up “looks great.” Of the bands currently grabbing the attention of The Futureheads for themselves, Dave cites their support act Dutch Uncles as a “challenging” yet “brilliant band.” Ross mentions an all girl band Warpaint, that sound like Cat Power, with “luscious harmonies.” On their upcoming performance at The Cavern, Ross reflects how “we’re quite envious of the place really,” as “growing up seeing loads of [...] bands come to Britain – they’d do three gigs – one of them would always be at Exeter Cavern [...] they’d come nowhere near the North East.” With a new album, their own record label, and a whole host of summer festival dates planned, it could be assumed that the band are feeling confident about their standing. According to Dave, “you always think small and see what happens really.”
17
Music
Exeposé week twenty seven music@exepose.com
music interview
ONE TO WATCH: Soirée For The Buskers Marina Bunzl meets Exeter’s finest.
They started playing together aged sixteen, as pupils at St Edward’s School in Oxford. Your average school band I hear you cry despairingly? This is not the case for Soirée For The Buskers. Four years after forming and 2010 is proving to be the most exciting time to date for the four boys. “Mikey [guitar] and Will [drums] started playing together in 2006. Half way through, Nathan started singing and we thought ‘why have you not sung with us before?’ At that point it was just
two guitars and a drum kit. We found out Loakey could play bass; he was half-decent so we thought, why not?! He’s actually good.” Two members of the band attend the University of Exeter and will be familiar faces to many of you: Nathan Ball, lead singer and guitarist and Tom Loake, vocals and bassist. In the past they have headlined at respected venues including Monto Water Rats, The Jericho Tavern, The Bridge, The Bull and Gate, The Wheatsheaf and Sub Zero Festival. At the time of our
Photo: Marina Bunzl
interview, in April, the band listed BBC Introducing as “the coolest thing to happen to the band so far.” That is all about to change. Next month they will be performing on Main Stage at Beach Break Live. Other confirmed artists playing on Main Stage include many UK Top 40 artists such as Ellie Goulding, Calvin Harris and The Zutons. This is a student festival and it is the students of Exeter who have made “living the dream,” as reads their caption on Myspace, a reality. They are extremely grateful and
Taking place in the shadows of the bulbous monoliths that make up The Eden Project, the Eden Sessions are a truly ethereal series of exclusive one-day music festivals. Jack Johnson, Vampire Weekend, Doves and Paolo Nutini are all set to bask in the natural acoustics that surround the ecological event. All profits go towards supporting the Eden Project’s own educational charities and programmes and with this year’s line-up it would be folly to miss out on “the thinking man’s Reading.” Each mini festival costs just £35 and tickets are disappearing faster than the o-zone layer, so get yours today.
Hop Farm Festival, 2 - 3 July, Paddock Wood, Kent.
With a line-up that beggars belief with its brilliance, you can look forward to the sounds of Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Ray Davies (The Kinks), Blondie, Laura Marling and Peter Doherty all inside 48hrs. “Set over 90 acres of unspoilt Kent countryside,” Hop Farm Festival
For more information on the band and to check out future tour dates visit www.myspace.com/ soireeforthebuskersmusic
Timbaland - Shock Value II
is the event of the year for those looking for a more relaxed music festival with a stellar mix of old and new talent. Hop Farm Festival prides itself on going back to basics with no sponsorship, no branding and no VIP areas. You can look forward to the most extraordinary live music around for the very ordinary prices of £45 for Friday, and £65 for Saturday. It is not about whether you can afford to go, but whether you can afford to miss it.
Latitude, 15 - 18 July, Henham Park, Southwold, Sunrise Coast, Suffolk.
Latitude is the perfect festival for those looking for entertainment to encompass more than just music this summer. With comedy, literary, cabaret, poetry and theatre arenas, Latitude is one of the most diverse festivals around. For the beat-lovers there are Florence + The Machine, Belle & Sebastian, Vampire Weekend and The Horrors; for the rib-ticklers comedy comes from Rich Hall and Mark Watson; for the hungry-souls there is poetry from the likes of John Cooper Clarke, and curtain-callers
It’s also much closer to the Pop side than before,” making for good radio play. Indeed one of Nathan’s friends “heard ‘Chasing Dreams’ playing on Xpression FM in the Campus Shop but got excited as he thought we were receiving air play on Radio One!” Debut Single ‘Chasing Dreams’ is out on iTunes. Asked about the inspiration behind it, Loakey passionately says, “it’s a song about leaving school, and going to university, and the ambitions you have.” His friends, lovingly, make fun of him as he blushes. Will steps in, “we make the lyrics to the music, rather than the other way round, so it won’t be a feeling that we’ll go on to write music to, which is sort of bizarre as I know a lot of people do it the other way round.” Last year, on learning that Nathan and Loakey were part of a band, I mistakenly thought ‘another one of many.’ Their performance is energetic and their songs translate music’s ethereal power. They have just won this year’s ‘Almost Famous Competition’. Exeter students: befriend them now, whilst you still can, before they get too big.
ALBUM REVIEW
FESTIVal previews Eden Sessions, 24 June - 14 July, Eden Project, Cornwall.
would like to thank all who voted for your unwavering support. I met up with the boys at a pub, celebrating Nathan’s birthday, prior to their set at London’s Monto Water Rats - no better way to spend your 20th birthday than performing with your best friends to an audience of friends, family, an increasing group of fans, and a dedicated girlfriend! The chemistry between the boys is obvious. They speak over each other, and laugh so much that words are drowned out with four tones of laughter. Despite their accomplishments, they remain charmingly modest. Nathan explains how his words were taken out of context by Tom Robinson, the host of BBC Introducing: “They sent us an email asking us to write something about our song, which I didn’t know he was going to read out, so I wrote ‘catchy guitar riffs’ and things like that. He then read it out saying, ‘Nathan thinks…’ and made me out to be really arrogant!” Arrogant they are not: “We take every gig as it comes.” The band describes the music scene in Oxford, their hometown, as “pretty good. There are five or six really good venues, packed most nights.” Musical influences include Bombay Bicycle Club and The Maccabees. Their sound has developed over the years. “In terms of drumming, before it was gentle but now we have a much more rocky sound.
can look forward to performances from theatre companies such as the RSC. All this and more will set you back £155. Latitude PR literature urges you “to be all that you’ve ever wanted to be whilst indulging in the spirit of exploration and discovery.” With tickets selling fast, you had best decide exactly where you want to be when this festival happens and who knows, you may just discover something about yourself.
Timbaland’s latest offering, Shock Value II is a real treat. We’ve already heard the pleasing collaboration with Katy Perry in ‘If We Ever Meet Again’ and the further collaborations on the album don’t fail to disappoint. Highlights include features with One Republic, in the track ‘Marchin’ On’ (reminiscent of the 2007 hit ‘Apologize’) and the next single release ‘Carry Out’ with Justin Timberlake. As well as the predictable combinations, some are more unexpected: vocals from Miley Cyrus in ‘We Belong to the Music’ and Chad Kroeger for ‘Tomorrow in a Bottle,’ for instance. The choices that Timbaland has made in inviting these artists onto his album have made for a really diverse and interesting collection of tracks, appealing to a wider audience. They range from fun and exciting upbeat songs, perfect for dancing to, to more thoughtful, emotional ones, an example being, ‘Timothy Where Have You Been’ with Jet, a tribute to
Timbaland’s work as a producer. As well as the clever collaborations, the tracks themselves are also incredibly well put together. Solid, catchy melodies, accomplished rapping from Timbaland and multiple layers of sound make for some really good songs that appeal to many, a fantastic example being JoJo’s contribution, ‘Losing Control.’ All of these elements combine to create an album packed with songs that have ‘mainstream hit’ written all over them, as well as those slightly edgier hip-hop tracks that prevent Shock Value II from becoming just another pop album. Timbaland demonstrates his skill as a music producer and a rapper in this album, where all the tracks can be equally appreciated.
Cat halligan
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Books
may 24 2010
Exeposé
www.exepose.com
BOOKS FEATURE
Jacob Moffatt, Books Editor, delves into the hit-and-miss world of the autobiography.
St. Augustine, Benjamin Franklin and Ulysses S. Grant, Malcolm X and Stephen Fry have all written autobiographies. The modern celebrity incarnations have been some of the biggest selling and most violently panned books of the last few years, but what differentiates a tawdry, tell-all cash-in from brave, touching and honest literature? Ignoring autobiographical fiction, simply because there is just too much to consider, and biographies because they can be as much about the writer as their subject, I want to delve into why some authors avoid the pitfalls of this seemingly egomaniacal form of writing and why others don’t. I should say to begin with that there is little point in trying to write an objective article on this topic. Whilst a really good autobiography may make me engage more with a person than I had expected, I am realistically never going to give a flying expletive about the life of Anthony Kiedis. If I am largely indifferent to someone’s songs, movies, paintings or whatever else it may be that prompted them to chronicle their exploits, it’s going to take an impressive read to sway me otherwise. Then again, I think that is true of most people, and completely
unavoidable, so we will have to proceed with the handicap. Assuming that the writer has chosen to pen the book, rather than being told by their accountant to detail some vaguely true and exaggeratedly debauched antics to a morally bankrupt and artistic bereft ghost writer, all autobiographies will be self-indulgent to some extent. Accepting that, the would-be diarist must find some method of justifying that indulgence, simply you have to find some way of making the book interesting. The first thing that leaps to mind is comedy. They say everyone likes to laugh and certainly if you’re as resoundingly British as one of my favoured autobiographers, Stephen Fry, a healthy slice of self-deprecating humour definitely takes the sting out of talking about oneself for more than a minute. However, when I really considered the humour in Fry’s Moab is my Washpot, whilst the book is very funny, as you would expect, it isn’t the principle reason to keep reading. Fry employs comic touches to lighten the mood, whilst discussing the heavier topics of his early life and, it has to be said, that one of Fry’s upmost achievements in Moab is that he ‘gets through’ some necessary but
Moab Is My Washpot Stephen Fry
potentially uncomfortable sections of his childhood without them ever feeling like voyeurism. A testament to Fry’s writing and comedy this may be, but it becomes apparent that comedy is not an apt vehicle for storytelling and that a book full only of set-ups and punch lines would quickly become repetitive.
However, Moab does share some qualities with another one of my favourite autobiographies, the critically adored Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl. Like Moab, Boy is a sort of part one of two, detailing Dahl’s early life from childhood, until he first took a job with Royal Dutch Shell, with his RAF experiences amongst others written in his second autobiography, Going Solo. One of the most characteristic features of Boy is the dichotomy between the young Roald Dahl in the stories and the 68-year-old grandfather telling them. There is
no doubt that the vernacular and carefully crafted narratives are those of the older Dahl, but the affinity with his younger self and children gives his stories a great deal more life and, at times, an innocence that might otherwise be missing. Like many good autobiographies, Dahl contextualises himself and his work through his background, his Norwegian heritage, his family’s early tragedy and life at boarding school in pre-Second World War England. It is his work that really informs Dahl’s choice of anecdotes. He talks about his love of sweets and early dreams of being an inventor at Cadbury’s chocolate factory, no doubt experiences that later influenced Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as well as a schoolboy prank that Dahl calls ‘The Great Mouse Plot of 1924’. The Great Plot saw Dahl and his young friends place a dead mouse into the gobstopper jar of the cleanlinessimpoverished sweetshop owner, Mrs Pratchett, and later see all the boys remonstrated by the school’s Headmaster. Stories like this give us insights into the origins of stories like Matilda and Danny, Champion of the World. It is clear that a decent body of work helps to underpin the
content of an autobiography, which might explain why the books of quasi-celebrities and sports people are rarely the best examples of this type of writing, since they have either no great works to contextualise or a career that doesn’t lend itself so easily to works of letter. I still can’t say I am totally convinced though, after all, a number of very interesting people have written some pretty dreadful autobiographies, President Barack Obama being a perfect example. The answer might well be a bit simpler. There is something more fundamental that both Dahl and Fry share, along with H.G. Wells and Mark Twain, who have written celebrated memoirs. All those I’ve mentioned are, at heart, fantastic storytellers. Fry seamlessly cuts between his present and past whilst Dahl’s autobiography is just another outlet for his individual talent for narrative, humour and imagination. At its most basic, an autobiography is a story and, from there on in, everything else is window dressing. With that in mind, why not pick up one of my favourite autobiographies - J.D Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. Strictly speaking it is a fictional autobiography but it is a very good story if nothing else.
telegram. I certainly can’t blame her: no, I blame Fry for capturing those sickly sweet moments in a way that made me weep, not vomit. I still don’t know which is more embarrassing. Speaking of embarrassment, one might say it is the theme of Fry’s autobiography. The book is a cleansing of his own shame, he says. It’s also very much a place for him to parade his accomplishments and dance on his soapbox. He spends pages upon pages complaining about his lack of musical skill as if he is particularly cursed. But can we blame him? We certainly f***ing can! I, for one, think Stephen Fry has enough going for him – he needn’t be a concert pianist on top of everything else. But he knew I would think that. So he apologises, and then he gets away with whatever the hell he likes. It is his particular prerogative, it seems, to worm his way under a reader’s skin, like a sliver, and just as you’re about to pull out the damn irritant, he does it for you! What bloody cheek! We don’t even
get the privilege of accusing him of being a self-centered stuck-up twat because he’s already noticed. What’s worse, he feels bad about being a self-centered stuck-up twat. Which is just exasperating enough to make him irresistible, but, as he readily admits, he knows how to work “the system.” I still haven’t decided, after reading the book, whether I’ve been played for a fool or whether I’ve been appealed to, like a mother or a friend or a lover. Moab is, in many ways, a love story. And if you’re homophobic in the least, read it. Fry’s so candid about his sexuality, you’re bound to feel uncomfortable – and that’s a good thing. How can you judge someone who willingly makes himself so vulnerable? You can’t, and you shouldn’t, and besides, Fry’s already done it for you. No matter what your views on anything Fry rambles on about – liberal politics, anal sex, Britain’s education system – you can’t help but be humbled by his honesty. At least he’s in touch with his feelings, which is more than
you can say for most intellectuals. For most people even. So, as I said, I met Mister Fry in these pages (thus fulfilling the point of an autobiography). But, in the end, I was still asking: who the hell is Moab? In the afterword, Fry refers to the book as a washpot, the writing of it as the scrubbing process. But Moab? For God’s sake, Stephen (or, since you don’t believe in the Almighty, for the sake of us thick North American types) would it hurt to be less than enigmatic for once? Yes, yes it would. We wouldn’t want you to be anyone other than yourself – because then we would never get another installment. Twenty years of your life are still missing from mine, Stephen. You’ve become as irritating to me as any one of my closest friends and indeed, that is the highest praise I can give (you’re not the only egotist around here). My only request is that there are more pictures of – sigh – Hugh Laurie in Moab the Second.
“All the writers I’ve mentioned are, at heart, fantastic storytellers.”
ISBN: 0099457040
The name Stephen Fry meant nothing to me when I was introduced to Black Adder some seven months ago. Being Canadian, and thus inevitably influenced by all things American, I cared only for the younger version of my beloved Doctor House. Nor did I know the name of the host of the quintessentially British program I was so delighted to discover: QI. No, I only met, truly met, Stephen Fry when I read Moab is my Washpot. And even though he would hate me for saying this, it’s the best fry-up I’ve had in this country yet.
Moab is as pleonastic, prolix, and sesquipedalian a book as you can find. But Fry would never use one word where many (and many commas besides) would do. And, let’s face it, it’s part of his charm. One really can’t help enjoying his bumptious arseyness which, if, in fact, “bumptious” is a derivative of the root word “bum” and I choose to believe it is, means double the arsey-ness of a typical arse. He is precocious, narcissistic, and repugnantly sentimental at times, but we forgive him because he’s so quick to admit it. And because he flip-flops between bouts of intolerable egotism and melodramatic self-loathing so well. Logomaniacs may envy him his style but there’s no denying it works. The other day I was in Starbucks, thinking to myself, “come on Stephen, get on with it” when, all of a sudden, out of the blue, he got to me. That’s right. Just three pages from the end and I started to cry – in a coffeeshop full of teenagers and uncaring paninis no less. All because Stephen Fry’s mum read him a
JORDI WIELER
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books
Exeposé WEEK TWENTY SEVEN books@exepose.com
Graphic Novel
New X-MEN, Vol. 1: E is for Extinction
Bestseller List
Grant Morrison/Frank Quitely ISBN: 0785108114
While X-men has always been one of Marvel’s most successful and popular comic series since their beginning in 1963, it has not been without the typical stigma that comes with long standing story-arcs. I could bore you all day reciting some supposedly ‘major’ story lines, which only a few years later would have been retconned out of existence. Legendary writers such as Chris Claremont, who managed an impressive 16 year run (19751991) and created such epic story arcs as ‘The Dark Phoenix Saga’ and ‘God Loves, Man Kills’ had all but disappeared and the writers at the helm of X-Men seemed to change more frequently than Storm’s hair. This led to some serious continuity problems; major events seemed irrelevant in the long run and, most annoyingly of all, the frequent resurrection of numerous characters.
It just seemed like nothing really mattered and as a result, the series was getting a little stale. However, hope was on the horizon in the form of writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, who had both previously been praised for their innovative re-invention of D.C comic’s JLA (Justice League of America). The X-Men franchise needed rebooting and this came with massive success in the form of the pair’s first X-Men series (renamed New X-Men): E is for Extinction (2001) with Morrison starting almost completely afresh. To the benefit of the series, he keeps the initial team small, consisting of the popular and ‘classic’ core characters: Professor Xavier, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine and Beast, a welcome change from the sometimes overwhelming 10 – 15 man teams seen previously. This leaves Morrison to delve more deeply into character development, allowing Beast‘s recent mutation and its impact on him to be explored, as well as tackling issues around Cyclops and Jean’s marriage, with Jean’s powers increasing once more and Cyclops recently returning from being possessed by an evil spirit; facts that the issues of X-Men previous to Morrison’s takeover had remarkably not touched upon at all. These relationships are therefore more thoroughly nurtured in detail creating a stronger connection between the reader and the characters. Morrison dispenses with those ridiculous colourful costumes that plagued previous series as
the artist increases credibility by re-introducing uniforms; predominantly black leather biker like uniforms, with reflective yellow ‘X’s which almost emulate those used in the film franchise. For the first time in years the X-Men actually look like a team rather than a jumbled mix of brash and abrasive colours that is all credit to Quitely’s fresh artistic approach. Even if you have never read an X-Men comic before you really get a sense of a new beginning. Without giving anything away, the plot is also fresh. A new villain in the form of the powerful Cassandra Nova (whose real identity almost made me actually mess myself) interrupts a simple rescue mission and the X-Men end up having to battle for their lives in their own home. A brilliant twist involving Cassandra’s identity brings about a major change in the clandestine team’s lives which still holds major relevance in the XMen’s story today, 9 years down the line! Similarly, the re-introduction of Emma Frost a.k.a the White Queen to the comic emphasises the renovation for the team as she plays a pivotal role in some of the later major story lines, as well as providing another dimension and complication in Cyclops and Jean’s love life. Secondary mutations begin appearing and so the reader is invited to learn about the science of the X-Men’s world as they themselves are discovering it. The lives and actions of the X-Men become much more political and
worldwide, and because the Marvel universe is based in the real world unlike that of the fictional world of D.C, events and situations feel far more real. That said, each issue is not without its fair share of action; lasers fly, robots explode and of course, claws pop! The action sequences create a brilliant juxtaposition to the sometimes very serious political debates the novel argues and so has a perfect balance of well-drawn action, engaging story and fully developing characters. Though a short introductory novel, Morrison and Quitely’s partnership endeavours to reshape the X-Men’s history in a focused, cohesive manner. Long time XMen fans will no doubt be left shaken by the events and even first time readers will be left with an undeniable urge to read on, a feeling which had unfortunately escaped me as a hardcore fan for years previous. For new readers thinking of undertaking the reading of a decent superhero series, I strongly recommend starting here. The artwork will not fail to impress, the expert character depictions better written than its predecessors and as a result they are more accessible. The stories and events themselves are so long running and epic that they still hold major relevance in the events of the series today. E is for Extinction will have you hooked faster than Phoenix can be killed and resurrected again! (And again, and again, and again). HARRISON LAIRD
BOOKS BARGAIN BOOKS PREVIEW THE Exeposé Books Editors take a short walk down Exeter’s high street to find some interesting titles for the more discerning student pocket: Collins Classics, Assorted Titles, FOPP, £2 Batman: Year One by Frank Miller, FOPP, £8 Life of Pi by Yann Martel, HMV, £3 Piercing by Ryu Murakami, HMV, £3 Waterstone’s 3for2 ‘Great British Novel’ series, including titles from: J.G. Ballard, Martin Amis, George Orwell, P.D. James, Anthony Burgess and Jean Le Carré All prices correct at time of going to print, but may be subject to change.
Its first sentence will be: ‘They made a movie about us.’ It is the sequel to his 1985 debut effort Less Than Zero, and for me the imminent release of Bret Easton Ellis’ new novel Imperial Bedrooms is very exciting.
1. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest Stieg Larsson Blomkvist, Salander et al fight political corruption.
2. Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel Fictionalisation of the life of Cromwell; Man Booker-winner.
3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson A computer hacker and a journalist investigate a cold case.
4. Hector and the Search for Happiness Francois Lelord
25 years ago the then still in college 21-year-old Easton Ellis wrote the story of a band of ‘80s enfants terrible and chartered their lives of sexual ambiguity and promiscuity, amorality and recreational drug use. Like the majority of his workto-come, Easton Ellis describes social alienation, materialism and modernity through embittered satirical eyes. The author revisits Clay and several other of the original’s more predominant supporting cast, as he examines them through disaffected middle age in what will no doubt be another slice of violent modern existential writing. In this latest installment, Clay is returning to L.A. as a successful screen-writer, to find Blair has married Trent, neither of whom has drastically changed their debauched habits of old. Julian is still plagued by drugs and the sex industry,
whilst Rip has graduated from the drugs trade to something altogether more sinister. Factor in the materialism and mystery of the murder of a beautiful but talentless actress and Easton Ellis has all the necessary ingredients to not disappoint with this highly anticipated sequel. It would be fair to say that Easton Ellis’ form has been somewhat variable throughout his career, but to find him again working with characters and concepts he has had much success with in the past, I cannot hide my excitement, and I’m sure I am not alone. Bret Easton Ellis will be reading from his new book, published July 2 through Picador, at the London Literature Festival on July 13. Look out for a review of Imperial Bedrooms and his appearance at Southbank in Exeposé 568, the Fresher’s issue of next year. JACOB MOFFATT
Successful young psychiatrist Hector sets off on a round the world trip to discover the secret of happiness.
5.Corduroy Mansions Alexander McCall Smith A tale of the trials and tribulations of the inhabitants of the Corduroy Mansions Flats.
Paperback Bestseller List at Foyles Charing Cross Road, May 19 2010
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May 24 2010
screen Newsreel
What’s going on in the film world?
THIS fortnight the 62nd Cannes Film Festival opened with the world premiere of Robin Hood. The festival has come under heavy criticism this year as the recession finally hit home. Poor publicity, a complete lack of female directors, and one judge admitting they actually struggled to select films for competition. A dark cloud has descended on the usually sunny French Riviera. Meanwhile, Robin Hood has failed to topple the mighty Iron Man 2 in the US and UK box offices and fallen below industry experts’ predictions. Furthermore, this month saw the release of the trailer for upcoming film Super 8, the latest from J.J. Abrams. In the same vein as Cloverfield, this looks to be one to watch in 2010.
Competitions
We have goodies.
Again, we have THREE PAIRS of FREE TICKETS to any ODEON screening you choose. If you’d like your two tickets, just answer this question: What would be the funniest 2D film to get the 3D treatment? Answers to be emailed to: screen@exepose.com anytime by Monday May 31.
Roaring in the face of death
Max Edwards questions comedy’s need for deliberate controversy.
CONTROVERSY has long been the name of the game for modern comedy. Since the 1960s there has been a slow but steady progression from the ilk of Dad’s Army and Fawlty Towers - the simple breaking with social norms for comic effect - to a genuinely Absurdist brand of comedy which rejects even the conventional ideas of a plot and cause-and-effect. This Absurdist comedy is very nearly the norm in our generation, with Outnumbered, The League of Gentlemen, and The IT Crowd all falling neatly into this category. Yet at the very heart of the Absurd is controversy - the rejection of the sane for a world in which anything goes, comedy formed not from harmless irreverence but simply from an aching desire to somehow be different. Two films in recent months are classic examples of comedy not done in comedy’s name - David Baddiel’s The Infidel and Chris Morris’ Four Lions. The latter, urged Chris Morris, was “not designed to be controversial.” As any fan of Morris’ earlier work such as Brass Eye, The Day Today, and the bizarre yet wonderful Jam will notice, he sees the world not as enraging but as absurd. Consequently Morris’ socalled ‘comedy’, Four Lions, is anything but. Its nihilism
and cynicism make it wonderful for exactly the opposite reasons - there is no grand struggle between Good and Evil, no overt condemnation of the suicide bombers shown in the film; simply a very sad and very true depiction of humankind’s stupidity. The police are imbeciles, as are the terrorists, as are the civilians; and despite some mildly amusing throwaway jokes and the usual dose of surrealism, it’s all simply very sad. Yet I feel for Chris Morris the most - he has unwittingly created a masterpiece here for exactly the wrong reasons - he was desperately trying to be different.
If Four Lions failed as a comedy, it succeeded as a scarily apt tragedy. Morris knew full well the controversy of his statement that his film, a comedy about terrorism, was “not controversial.” His film has simply broken a taboo in our society, post-9/11 and post-7/7. Four Lions was inherently controversial; it was a depressing social critique with some funny moments, yet its creator’s attitude to portraying something so controversial was at best self-depreciating, and at worst egotistical. Can you genuinely write a comedy about terrorism without generating controversy? That’s another question. But if Four Lions failed in its intent if not its impact, here’s a film which failed in both: David Baddiel’s The Infidel. Everything about The Infidel has the same hypocrisy about it as that oh-so-heartfelt moment at the end of Ricky Gervais’ Extras Christmas Special. Dealing with some very similar issues as Four Lions, The Infidel can’t decide whether it is social satire or slapstick - it’s as if Baddiel had a controversial idea which needed airing and built up an excuse for a comedy around it. There’s little of the subtlety and balance seen in Four Lions, and the film extinguishes its
The Animation Race is back on...
tedious repertoire of Muslim and Jewish jokes fairly early on, leaving an ill-thought-out plot weaving its way homewards and begging to be put down. The film ends, and we think ‘how daring!’ and very little else.
“Can you genuinely write a comedy about terrorism without generating controversy?”
Baddiel and Morris have certainly tried to bring humour to an issue of today’s world which many comedians wouldn’t dare even touch with a bargepole. But simply touching it isn’t enough - exploring it and coming to terms with it are. Chris Morris is woefully mistaken if he thinks that because Four Lions isn’t offensive to Muslim sensibilities, it somehow ceases to be controversial. These two films are controversial, both wonderfully and pathetically so, and their recent appearances in cinemas has both been under and over-estimated. Should I laugh? Should I cry? I can’t honestly say. In short, I genuinely cannot tell whether Four Lions is supposed to be a tragedy or a comedy. Head down to the Picturehouse after exams and see what you think.
David Brake, Screen Editor, examines the challenges to Pixar’s animation crown.
SHREK Forever After vs. Toy Story 3. It’s Pixar vs. Dreamworks. The two big studios battle again as each brings out their most trusted franchise to win over the recessionhit audiences, re-raising the overall debate of ‘who is best?’ For many years, critics and fans alike have admitted Pixar’s supremacy over all. However, as we enter Summer 2010, their monopoly is not as strong as previously thought. In 1995, the world was amazed by the achievement that was Toy Story and, from there, Pixar dominated: first the Oscars, then the world. However in 2001, with Shrek, a fast paced, fast talking, pop culture-
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infested bonanza of noise and sound, Dreamworks had seemingly captured the alternative audience to Pixar. Shrek was phenomenally successful, grossing over $450 million worldwide. When Shrek 2 arrived in 2004, it almost doubled Shrek’s taking making a sublime $919 million worldwide; a feat previously unthinkable in the days of Toy Story. It was a commercial success at its greatest extreme. However, a running criticism of Dreamworks is that the films have no soul. A marketer’s wet dream but a film-goer’s worst nightmare. Madagascar, Shark Tale and especially Shrek the Third – all seemingly vapid star vehicles with poor plots and
clichés abound. Though having broken the Disney monopoly, Dreamworks was apparently lost. Meanwhile, Pixar hired nobodies and their films continued to grow in quality; it became almost a cliché to give a Pixar film a great review. However, in 2008, Dreamworks began their comeback into the fight. Kung Fu Panda was outrageously fun, fuelled by big-name talent and exciting action to boot. A clear breath of fresh air, swiftly followed by ‘kooky’ Monsters vs Aliens - another weird yet funny tale. Dreamworks had seemingly forgotten the green ogre and they were all the better for it. However, to say that it was a two horse race would be greatly
unfair – as studios such as Blue Sky Studios (Ice Age), Studio Ghibli (Ponyo) and Sony Animation (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) have all produced great films all doing well at the box office. Thankfully, the studios realised they had to change. However, those who didn’t want to change could always rely on 3D. Although many criticise the development of 3D in cinema, one field which has actually benefited from it is animation. 3D within an animated film fits perfectly when it is not the main narrative. How To Train Your Dragon was the film that brought Dreamworks back within touching distance of Pixar. 90 minutes of funpacked entertainment in itself, with
the 3D intensifying all the fights and flights. Indeed, on the other extreme, one must not forget the re-emergence of hand-drawn Disney with The Princess and the Frog receiving good reviews, and hopes for Tangled (previously Rapunzel) are high before its release in November 2010. So, who is the winner? Pixar continue to excel at everything; Dreamworks have finally discovered their true identity and the other small studios are growing in success and gathering pace on the main two. At the moment, Pixar still lead, but the gap is closing. All eyes look towards Summer 2010 to decide how big the gap actually is.
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Exeposé WEEK TWENTY seven screen@exepose.com
Robin Hood
Dir: Ridley Scott (12A) 140mins Cast: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett OH, the dilemma of being a History student and a film lover. Robin Hood is the latest historical epic by Ridley Scott and, if this review was based upon historical accuracy, it’s bloody awful. The story focusses upon Robin Longstride (Crowe) travelling to Nottingham to fulfil a dying knight’s wish, soon becoming entangled in a twisted tale of politics and social unrest. Gladiator 2? Not quite. In fairness, Ridley Scott does manage to bring Robin Hood into the 21st century and does give it its own clear identity, separating it from the ‘90s Kevin Costner version. Scott also provides nice visuals as per usual. However, there are problems.
Reviews
Crowe’s accent verges on the ridiculous and you watch to see what comes next – Scouse, Irish, Midlands, mystery accent? Blanchett is good, as usual, and the band of “merry” men, whilst really good, are typecast to do one of four things – eating, fighting, washing and drinking. Action scenes are done well, excluding the battle stolen from Saving Private Ryan - the lack of connection between audience and action left me feeling cold. Pandering for a sequel seemed a tad shameful. It’s a solid film, just disappointing. Overall, whilst not Gladiator 2, it’s somehow all the worse for it.
Cop Out
Dir: Kevin Smith (15) 107mins Cast: Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan SOMETIMES someone tells a joke that’s so unfunny, you can practically hear the air itself cringing and praying for them to shut up. Imagine that joke spread out over almost two hours, punctuated with regular, blundering ‘action sequences’ and accompanied by incessant, bleeping synths. Then imagine it being shouted in your face by Tracy Morgan. Well, that’s Cop Out, a toe-curlingly dreadful buddy-cop movie that’ll make pretty much anyone want to napalm a primary school. Avoid at all costs - for your own good. An example of the sheer ineptitude on display occurs
DAVID BRAKE, SCREEN EDITOR
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans Dir: Werner Herzog
Screen
when Willis and Morgan are interrogating some interchangeable drug baron’s minion. As Morgan hurls the dealer against the twoway mirror, shrieking obscenities in a HEEELARIOUS manner, Willis draws a phallus in the dealer’s clouded breath on the glass. Desperately puerile in itself, it’s when you realise that it’s also physically impossible given that he’s actually on the other side of the mirror that you really want to start necking the paracetamol. Christ, Smith, is this what you’re reduced to? His career, I fear, may well end here, and I’m speaking as an ex-fan. Tragic, really... LIZZY QUINLAN
(18) 121mins
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer THIS year Nic Cage is playing tortured, eccentric, darkly funny characters. It makes a nice change from the previous few years of forced, clichéd, irritatingly unfunny characters. In Kick-Ass, Cage was great as Big Daddy and here in Werner Herzog’s dark police thriller-comedy Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, he is even better. The story begins with Terrence McDonagh (Cage) and Stevie Pruit (Kilmer) exploring the flooded shell of a New Orleans police station in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The detectives discover an abandoned inmate unable to escape the rising water. McDonagh, after some debate, jumps to the prisoner’s rescue and in doing so injures his back. Six months later McDonagh, now with chronic back pain, an
addiction to painkillers (legal or otherwise), and a promotion to Lieutenant, must head a police investigation into a gang murder whilst juggling his addiction and his prostitute girlfriend (Mendes). Nicolas Cage is immense as Terrence McDonagh. Cage, back to the kind of form that brought us H. I. McDunnough (in the Coens’ Raising Arizona) and Ben Sanderson (in the Oscar-winning Leaving Las Vegas), takes perfectly to the role of a drugaddled maniac desperately trying to hold things together. The main strength of his performance is that whilst McDonagh should not be a likeable person, he is. You like him even when he’s abusing an old lady in a care home, screaming, ‘I hate you, you’re what’s wrong with the world!’, after removing her oxygen supply. Whether it’s his repeated
incredulity at a criminal’s street name or his assertion that a dead man’s ‘soul’s still
dancing’, McDonagh’s mania, in Cage’s hands, is fascinatingly convincing and darkly hilarious.
“I’ll kill all of you. To the
break of dawn. To the break of dawn, baby!”
Cage’s eccentricity is perfectly complemented by Herzog’s brilliantly surreal style. The two combine perfectly to provide some superbly original, psychedelically funny scenes. For example, in a handycam-shot stakeout scene scored with Englebert Humperdinck’s ‘Please Release Me’, our
hunched hero hallucinates a pair of iguanas. OK, it’s not funny when I describe it...but trust me. Providing back-up to the Cage-Herzog show, Val Kilmer is good though fleeting as a bad detective and Eva Mendes is compelling as the addict-prostitute girlfriend. Whilst there is a little of the Deus ex machina in the film’s plot resolution, one could argue the plot was never really what this film was about. It is about the personal journey of McDonagh through the underworld of New Orleans. Though possibly too dark and surreal for some, Bad Lieutenant is a good film and proof that when Nicolas Cage is on form, there is nobody better.
nick risley
Classic Films #2: When Harry Met Sally... (1989) Dir: Rob Reiner (15) 96mins Cast: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan
CAN men and women be friends without sex getting in the way? When Harry Met Sally... questions the intimacy of friendship and asks whether it can avoid leading to something more. The film follows the two characters for over a decade in this brief hour-and-a-half-long film, set in 1980s New York. This classic starts with the two protagonists leaving university and travelling to New York (a suspension of disbelief is required as the audience is expected to believe Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal are 21 in these scenes). The dialogue is brilliant from
the offset, contrasting cynical Harry with optimistic, highmaintenance Sally. Harry gives his insight into the male mind, while a disgusted Sally remains deeply unimpressed. The end of their trip to New York results in them stating they will never be friends and wishing each other a good life. However, as chance would have it, the two run into each other a few years later and the story progresses from there. When Harry Met Sally... provides the audience with Woody Allenesque dialogue, relying on character mannerisms for humour rather than the typical slapstick
that Hollywood rom-coms usually deliver. For me, the reason the film works so well is down to Crystal and Ryan’s portrayal of the characters and their delivery of the dialogue, which makes the characters so appealing, despite their obvious flaws. Of course, what also makes the film so great are some of the standalone scenes. The most infamous is the deli scene, where Sally proves that men are not always aware when women fake orgasms. Both actors contributed to this scene, with Ryan suggesting it be set in a restaurant, and Crystal coming up with the memorable and often
quoted line from the bemused onlooker, “I’ll have what she’s having”. The film focuses on the mindset of the two protagonists to the extent that the audience does grow attached and cares about their outcome. Through the brilliant interplay between Crystal and Ryan, the film is elevated into something higher than the average rom-com, and is prevented from being over-sentimental. It doesn’t matter how many times I watch this film, I am charmed by it every time. emma davis
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may 24 2010 Exeposé
arts
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A Point in the Field
Zoe Bulaitis encounters a visual feast of sculptures and paintings at the latest Phoenix exhibition.
Photos: Exeter Phoenix Press Office
ARTS EXHIBITION A Point in the Field May 13 Exeter Phoenix
THE latest art exhibition showing at the Exeter Phoenix combines the work of Anne Gathmann and Fiona MacDonald, in an exploration of a challenging topic. Their aim throughout the ‘A Point in the Field’ exhibition is to capture, re-create and discuss the ideas of fluidity and flux. In a visual feast of sculptures, paintings, and some work that sits on the border between the two mediums, the artists toy with perception and stasis. On reviewing the exhibition, I was initially unsettled by the amorphous forms oozing from the paintings and sculptures of Fiona
MacDonald, and the repetitive jostling of Anne Gathmann’s abstract pattern paintings. The exhibition induced a sense of confusion, something like motion sickness, as the pieces seemingly shifted through time before my eyes. Unlike a painting of a provincial landscape, or a bust of a Renaissance philosopher, the pieces are suggestive rather than definitive. They do not show any one precise thing, nor do they provide the audience with a neat sense of satisfaction. What both Gathmann and MacDonald are interested in is probing the fragility of our “relation to reality”, and they do so to great effect with this exhibition, leading the viewer to question the forms that lie unclear before their eyes. On speaking to members of the public about what they saw in the work, there was a diverse collection of responses.
“The exhibition induced a sense of confusion, something like motion sickness, as the pieces seemingly shifted through time before my eyes.”
Someone saw “an allusion to a Japanese colour palette”, another, “dreamscapes, shifting from dream to nightmare”. Each painting evokes a process of questioning and innersubjectivity, pushing the viewer to engage with each piece in a unique way.
It looks like something is trying to break through the thick, fluid, tactile coating.
Anne Gathmann’s work in this exhibition consists of mainly paper and paint based creations. The pieces are hard to categorise, as Gathmann’s wrinkling and folding of her work blurs the line between painting and sculpture. The work is exhibited in an interesting way – playing with formal presentation. It overlaps, is partially rolled, and in one instance lies on the floor of the exhibition. The portrayal of her work as such means the viewer has to be active in looking at it. It is frustrating and challenging to
“MacDonald’s paintings are a cacophony of colour, replicated textures and images fused seamlessly together to create fantastical scenes.”
find the perspective from which you most like the forms and ultimately, the final perception is unavoidably personal. By comparison, the work of Fiona MacDonald is more elaborate than the minimal pattern-based play of Gathmann. MacDonald’s paintings are a cacophony of colour, replicated textures and images fused seamlessly together to create fantastical scenes. The paintings feel organic at their core and are impossible to evaluate, due to the continuous evolution within the work. The same applies to her equally mythical looking sculptures made from unfired clay and covered in globules of pigmented silicone. It looks like something is trying to break through the thick, fluid, tactile coating, or alternately like something half melted by the sun. Speaking to Fiona MacDonald, she explained her aim was to
create “painterly sculpture.” By working with the silicone which is “inherently imprecise”, she was able to achieve an “unfixed” quality in her work. It is clearly this manipulation of the process of “becoming” that pervades both artists’ work. MacDonald also explained how her work was based on representations of classical myths by Titian, Bernini and Goya among others. The sculptures are a retelling of these Baroque masterpieces in a very different style. Overall the exhibition is well worth a visit – the interplay between formal qualities of material and the feeling of constant transformation is exciting and novel. The work is completely absorbing and the subtle commonality between all of the pieces makes for a successful collaboration.
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Arts
Exeposé wEEK twenty seven arts@exepose.com
ARTS EXHIBITION
Grace Kelly: Style Icon April 17September 26 V&A Museum, Ldn.
THE V&A MUSEUM houses a vast array of cultural treasures. Home to ancient Asian ceramics, 19th century oil paintings and Vivienne Westwood platform shoes alike, this South Kensington haven attracts hoards of visitors every year. Their new exhibition, ‘Grace Kelly: Style Icon’, lured me to South West London, as the promise of seeing the exquisite wardrobe of the iconic movie star come Princess seemed too good to pass up. The exhibition did not disappoint. Visitors congregated excitedly round glass cabinets filled with Grace Kelly’s on and off screen outfits, as projections
of her performances in High Society and Rear Window transported you back to Hollywood’s Golden Era. Her understated elegance and serene sense of style permeated all the ensembles displayed. These included intricately beaded sweeping gowns and sophisticated separates, from fashion greats such as Christian Dior and Givenchy. Amongst the exhibition was the iconic dress that Kelly wore to collect her Oscar for The Country Girl in 1955. Designed by Edith Head, this fitted satin gown was the centrepiece of the exhibition, creating a chorus of “oohs” and “ahhs” as visitors cooed over the influential piece of fashion history. My afternoon spent in this exhibition provided a couple of hours of blissful escapism, and I would recommend it to fashionistas, movie fans and royalists alike.
ROSIE SCUDDER ARTS EDITOR
Creative Writing Corner To... To the eyes that look at me and see my sentiment, blind to my imperfections, open to my interpretations. To the unknown stalker who gives birth to my spoken moments, you find my dusty footprints, glittering in the golden moments of knowledge. Together we travel through uncaptured moments of genuine bliss, tears, fears and unheard jeers. However silent my rhythm, you echo the voice back to my lips and breathe out, my resonant moods, my hidden notes. This is for the soul who looks at me and sees a thousand stories, witness to my scribbled notes, incomplete dreams, my illogical train of thoughts, truck load of mistakes and flights to my unconventional fantasies. This is for the visionary who paints the memories and steals back from Time, that brutal emperor, the muses to my literary endeavours.
I am simply a brush but you, you move me. You compel me to search through the crowd of incomplete puzzles and find that missing piece. This is for the creation, who reads these words and feels annihilated from the boundaries life creates. To the figure I cannot see through the glaring lights grasping my attention. Let me take this moment to render you immune from the dunes of old age, memory and decay. To the individual who gives me the most intimate gift - feeling. Pain is a little easier to fathom with you. This poem is dedicated to the reader, who renders my story worthy enough to breathe life into. This poem is dedicated to you. This poem is you.
MARION O
ARTS PREVIEW Arts Week June 6-12 Streatham Campus
CHRISTMAS, Diwali, Cinco de Mayo…all these festive events cannot compare to Arts Week. You will be overjoyed to hear that this year Arts Week is back. ‘When?’ I hear you cry. Good question. This week of fun is happening between Sunday 6 and Saturday June 12. Before you scream with excitement, here’s a small taster of the smorgasbord of events that we have in store for you. We have an outdoor cinema screen in the Ram beer garden for a night-time showing of your favourite movie. We have three free concerts at the Lemmy, featuring three secret professional acts. On top of that there will be a
ARTS POETRY
Marion O at Beat Roots March 30 Mama Stone’s
SPOKEN word is an increasingly relevant form of poetry, combining the private revelations of a poet with the energy of a live audience. It was at the first night of Beat Roots at Mama Stone’s, an event championing such forms of expression, that we encountered spoken word performer Marion O. In an evening bursting with talent, Marion’s unique style, beautiful lyrics, and overwhelming honesty made her performance hard to forget. We were keen to find out what spoken word means to Marion and to learn the inspiration behind her words.
range of live music in the Ram beer garden, from acapella to heavy metal. If a week full of dancing, theatre, poetry and music isn’t enough for you, Exeter’s premier didgeridoo player will be winding things up on June 12, what more could you want? So stick around for some post-exam fun - you’re certain to find something to get excited about. NICK CASSEN
Editors’ Top 10 Enron
1. A Play by Lucy Prebble
January 16 - August 14 Noel Coward Theatre, London
2. Forward
Motion: Artists’ Choice
Exhibition May 25 Exeter Phoenix
3. Doctor Faustus As an audience member, it is clear to see that Marion’s poetry comes from a very personal place. Her inspiration stems from “things I’ve gone through,” whether this is an emotion, a moment in time or even a place. One of her pieces focusses on her home in London, capturing the “transition” between her childhood in Kenya and her adolescence in South London. As well as finding creative stimulation in personal experiences, Marion also confesses her “fascination with words”. From an early age, she surrounded herself with “lyrics from songs, beats in music and different languages.” These influences are evident in her performances. There is a musicality and a natural fluidity which characterises her spoken word. Unbeknown to the audience, Marion suffers from nerves before performing and often lacks confidence in her work. She writes poetry for herself and is constantly humbled by others’ appreciation of it. After talking to Marion we got a real sense of the personal importance of her writing and the courage it takes to share this with an audience: “I write because I want to express my feelings, encapsulate a moment in time and make it immortal.” A firm believer in “writing because you love it,” Marion hopes to “continually be inspired by people and experiences and never to have insecurities about my work.” She is a real inspiration to students who are harbouring a creative talent but lack the self-belief to share it. ELLIE STEAFEL & ROSIE SCUDDER ARTS EDITORS Photo: Henry White
A Play by Christopher Marlowe May 26-27 New Theatre, Exeter
4. Treason Show Comedy May 27 Exeter Phoenix
5. The History
Boys
EUTCO and Drama School May 27-29 M&D Rooms
6. Uncut Poets: Richard Berengarten
Live Poetry Evening May 27 Exeter Phoenix
7. Andy Hamilton “Hat of Doom”
Sketch Comedy May 30 Exeter Corn Exchange
8. Beat Roots
Live Performance Event May 31 Mama Stone’s
9. Beanfield
A Play by Shaun McCarthy June 1-19 Bikeshed Theatre
10. Arts Week
Arts Extravaganza June 6-12 Streatham Campus
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video Games News
Bytesize
You’re going to start thinking the new editors are sponsored by Valve, but forgive me this one last Steam-centric announcement, won’t you? We here at Exeposé Video Games would like to bring to your attention our new Steam group, created especially for you lot so we can all pseudo-socialise over co-op murdering. Just search for ‘ExeterGamers’ and dive in; it’s an open group. That’s the last time we’ll tout it, promise. For this term anyway. The promo videos for Naughty Bear are still being cranked out, even though the release date still isn’t confirmed, though it’s expected to be within a month or so. The latest is a parody of Jaws, only with, you know, a bear. Say what you like, but the idea of a maniac teddy slaughtering his own kind will always tickle me. But will it be worth full retail price? Speaking of retail prices, there are rumours floating around that Project Natal (the much-talkedof next gen system for the Xbox 360 that will allow controller-free gameplay) will retail somewhere around the region of £130 - a bit steeper than the £50 estimated earlier in the year. With the UK release set for this October - in time for Christmas! - we should probably start saving. Happily a much safer bet, more and more details are being released on Dead Space 2, set to elicit whimpers of terror from us some time in 2011. Set three years after the events of the original Dead Space, this time it features a multiplayer mode, new kinds of necromorphs and an interactive environment – meaning Isaac can kill a hideous space-mutant using its own recently dismembered limb as a weapon. That’ll be umm… lovely. Finally it seems that a lot of fanboys are going to have something to wet themselves over: a mod for Fallout 3 is in the Alpha testing stages. ‘And why is this something to be excited about?’ I hear you cry. Well, because this mode replaces the regular factions of the Fallout universe with those of Warhammer 40k - Space Marines, Eldar et. al. That’ll be pretty cool right? “For the Emperor!”
may 24 2010 Exeposé www.exepose.com
Going Cold Turkey
Stephen O’Nion shares his experience of video game withdrawal.
HAVE you seen the intensely moving and powerful epics about addiction and going cold turkey that are Trainspotting, Requiem for a Dream and 40 Days and 40 Nights? All are great examples of mankind’s sheer determination to give up something so intrinsically linked to life that it seems impossible. Inspired, I, like a modern day Jesus Christ, decided to tackle the final seemingly insurmountable peak of temptation for the period of Lent...video games. What ensued turned out to be forty six days of immeasurable horror that developed into a heartwarming tale of overcoming hardships and standing firm in the face of adversity. Gandhi’s got nothing on me. Given that this genuinely began as a conveniently scheduled attempt to be productive in a period where numerous essays and presentations were due, it seemed like a winwin opportunity: not only would I stave off arthritis for an extra forty six days, I’d also be able to afford more focus to actually working. My justification led me to question who needs the mental stimulation of some of 2010’s finest like Bioshock
2 and Mass Effect 2 when the history of the post-Roman pottery trade or the wonders of German war memorials presents genuine, cultural stimulation? Well it turns out that I do, for one. Unsurprisingly there’s a fair amount of downtime for someone used to spending a good couple of hours a day firing off several hundred rounds of pixelated death. And no matter how much I try to capture the same feeling from a board game, it just isn’t the same without a twelve year old American screaming obscenities at you whilst you wait to respawn and mutter about a laggy connection. Surprisingly it seems the lag IRL is pretty minimal, so that was the first positive I discovered. As hours turned into days, and days into weeks it was inevitable that I would eventually benefit from ‘montage syndrome’ and experience a sudden increase in productivity. This is the 21st century after all! There’s only so many times I can get my fix of violence from Rambo, as well as appreciate the protagonist’s complex issues and similar personal journey, before I’m left to consider the actual work I have to do. And
soon enough I found myself having done notes for certain seminars a week ahead of time. Without additional distractions, the blue, underlined font of some obvious copy and pasting from Wikipedia was a thing of the past. They never showed Ewan McGregor being able to maintain a steady 2:2 average whilst going cold turkey; instead he engages in coitus with Kelly MacDonald. It’s almost as if the film industry tries to be unrealistic. Damn it.
“It seems the lag IRL is pretty minimal, so that was the first positive...” Ultimately, there’s no getting past the cravings and the sweats, and on March 8 my normally Christ-like resistance to temptation was undone by a single accidental game of Dicewars. Admittedly, this is the equivalent of alleviating an addiction to heroin with a quick sniff of poppers but it still felt like a failure. It seemed that all this hard work may have been for nothing,
especially as my reluctance to continue was compounded by the fact that a friend had already failed the same challenge and would routinely take the opportunity to try and persuade me to end my voyage of discovery. Yet I weathered the storm and dug in deep until, when April 4 arrived, I felt the rush of euphoria that could only come at facing the prospect of a potential life without video games from now on. I could consider myself a wiser and stronger man from forty six days with only one minor failure in my enforced abstinence. So, have I learnt a moral lesson from this life changing experience? Well, apart from feeling justified belittling the perils of a significant addiction, I can’t help but think that this may have done me a few favours and got me to consider the time spent on such a hobby. But hell, if I’m going to learn from it, if anything I’ve got to make up for lost time. I’m young, crazy and hip; beneficial decisions can wait because I chose not to choose life: I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you’ve got video games?
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Exeposé wEEK twenty Seven games@exepose.com
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon Namco: Nintendo Wii
It’s hard to pin Fragile Dreams down because it tries to be a lot of things at once. It’s a point and click adventure there’s a lot of looking around to see if anything responds to your torchlight, in which case you can take a closer look. It’s a hack ‘n’ slash action game where you take down enemies by bashing them as fast and hard as possible with a stick. It’s a horror game where nasty things creep around in the dark and are often invisible, although it never reaches the point of being genuinely scary. Finally it harbours the aesthetic elements of a JRPG - silly hair, flimsy clothing and big, goggly cell shaded eyes. Despite being a jack of all trades, however, it really is a marvellous game. You play Seto, a young boy who is roaming a post-apocalyptic world following the death of the old man he used to live with seeking out other survivors by torchlight. Ghosts and malicious thoughts of those who died are hanging about the place, naturally, although they are susceptible to your
Bully Retro
There is no disguising it. This truly is Grand Theft Auto in a school. Made by the same people, there are the same themes and mission types. When most people think of Rockstar, they think GTA, and rightly so. But with Rockstar’s new Red Dead Redemption only a few weeks away, I decided now was the time to give these lesser known adventures of Jimmy Hopkins another run. You may know Bully as Canis Canem Edit, the name it was given for the UK release, but if you don’t mind, I am going to call it Bully here, just because it is simpler to write. Now, your time spent in Jimmy Hopkins’ shoes is often spent running missions for other students, as you try to find your place in your new school. Bullworth Academy is my favourite place any game has ever taken me to. I know the corridors like a real place, and can remember the quickest route from the dorm rooms to the football pitch better than I can remember any of my real life shortcuts. It truly feels like a real place. It needs be emphasised just how fantastic the time you will spend in this game is. Jimmy Hopkins spends his first year at Bullworth, and the town beyond,
wooden stick (which can thankfully be upgraded to bamboo about an hour into the game). Some of the spirits are friendly, with one little girl insisting that you play hide and seek with her for a while before she’ll hand you the key to the game’s most recent locked door, but most are extremely unpleasant and are best dispatched quickly. You are accompanied on your journey by PF, or “Personal Frame”, an AI mounted on your back in a metal case. She gives you advice through the Wii remote speaker, and although little of it is all that helpful she will provide the occasional reminder of your current objective (although this can also be seen on the menu screen). The inventory is dealt with by using bonfires - you light bonfires to recharge your health, save, and organise your briefcase and your “On Hand” bag. The briefcase is relatively limitless, with a huge amount of space for all the items you can pick up. “On hand”, however, you must be strategic both in your choice of weapons and healing items, and in their placement. When you pick up
items en route some will be “mystery items” of strange shapes, and you have to ensure you have enough room to store them, or you won’t be allowed to pick them up. Along with the usual healing items and precious gems that can be exchanged for currency that you’d expect in most games are “memory” items - trinkets and toys that contain the memory of the person who owned it before they died. The player can listen to the dialogue of the object’s owner, which gives this empty and desolate world an even more chilling feeling. This is a truly entrancing game, with a lot to keep you interested - the dialogue and the voice acting may be a bit cringe-inducing but that can be true of even the greatest games. Fragile Dreams is definitely a game you want in your Wii collection. However, if you’re a dog fan you might not be too keen; a lot of the evil manifestations take the form of dogs, while the cats roaming about the place can be enticed with a cat toy. So you do spend a lot of your time hitting very aggressive dogs with a big twig, which might not be everyone’s cup of tea.
doing odd jobs for the different cliques around school. Jocks, Nerds, Townies, all need Jimmy’s help in different ways. You’ll memorably break an ex-teacher out of the local loony bin, rig the election for student president, and cause lots of trouble at Halloween. Ah yes, Halloween. Bullworth is a living place, and as time passes, the school changes with the seasons. Halloween decorations, snow at Christmas, it even gets summery for summer. Now, you never do get to drive cars. But this is no loss, for there is so much personality to the bikes, and the slower pace makes the world all the more characterful. Even better, released from cars, you’re released from roads. Shortcuts are your bread and butter, through train depots, down back alleys and into trailer parks. Later on you get access to mopeds, but they never compared to the faith I had in my trusty
racing bike. Bully provides a huge variety of things to do. You can cause general mayhem, with ‘Kick Me’ signs and stink bombs, start foodfights, play dodgeball, or whatever you feel like. But truth be told it can all be a bit much. You may end up spending so much time in town you lose connection with the school at the heart of the game. Now, this being a game set in a school, lessons play a role. You visit classes, play the minigame within, to learn a new bonus that will help you later. You can play truant if you want, but these lessons are a fun distraction, and the rewards are worth it. The school structure is a great part of the atmosphere, as not playing by the rules puts you on the radar of the prefects. Step out of line and they will come down on you hard, with a menace far greater than the police ever could. This is a great thing. The game was a personal favourite of mine years ago on the PS2, and since then has gotten an upgraded release on 360 and PC, and was even exported to the Wii. The gameplay has aged slightly, but it runs smoothly and still looks nice, so really this is the kind of fun you should be searching for.
Bully: a dog eat dog game.
9/10
Laura Buttrick Senior Reviewer
Iain Dawson
Video Games Alan Wake
Remedy Entertainment: XBox 360
Alan Wake has been in the works for the best part of five years, developed by Remedy, whose last project was Max Payne. The story follows the eponymous Alan Wake, a best-selling novelist suffering from writer’s block, holidaying with his wife Alice in the sleepy town of Bright Falls. After Alice disappears it’s up to Alan to discover the dark secret of Bright Falls and rescue his wife from a paranormal darkness which is taking over the town. The main attraction of Alan Wake is the story, which is gripping, mature and thought-provoking, despite suffering from a slow start and a lacklustre and inconclusive ending. Despite being single player, my flatmates were happy to sit and watch the story play out, testament to the atmosphere and plot depth. The game is divided into six chapters, narrated by Alan and presented in the format of a TV series: ‘previously on Alan Wake’ catch-up cinematics play at the end of each chapter, telling you what you just did five seconds ago. Manuscript pages, written by Alan, are scattered throughout the game and add detail to the plot; unfortunately they usually recall whatever has just happened, or tell you exactly what’s about to happen, destroying any suspense or surprise as you turn the next dark corner. They’re also very badly written which, considering Alan’s reputation as a best-selling author, doesn’t make sense. This is an extract from one manuscript page: ‘the bulldozer’s engine roared to life.... if it were an animal it would’ve shaken its head... fixed its eyes on me and charged. Of course, it had no head, nor eyes.’ I’m not asking for Dickensian prose, but having it explained to me that a bulldozer doesn’t actually have eyes or a head takes the piss. The graphics are generally good. Remedy have created an authentic environment for their story to play out in and the eerie darkness that dominates the game is very effective. The mountain vistas are particularly striking but the most tense moments come when you’re left in the woods with nothing but a flashlight, watching shadowy figures move towards you through beams of moonlight. Other locations, such as an abandoned farm house, feel equally sinister, and are full of detail. Sadly the graphics don’t stand up as well in daylight scenes: the lipsyncing is awful at times and character animations vary in quality, especially jumping, which looks stupid and leads to frustrating falls. Also, there is a lot of product placement, which is a bit of an eyesore in an otherwise great looking game. The music is one of the game’s other strong points, and it adds to the atmosphere, whilst the voice acting does a good job of bringing the somewhat stereotypical characters to life. The snarls and ramblings of the possessed humans are suitably creepy and a lot of work has obviously
been put in to making sure that the world of Alan Wake sounds and feels real. The use of light as a weapon is an interesting mechanic; before being able to land a killing blow, Alan must first use light to destroy enemies’ protective darkness. As he delves deeper into Bright Falls’ secrets, Alan will encounter humans, birds and objects possessed by the malevolent darkness; there isn’t much variety, but the enemies are genuinely scary, often appearing out of nowhere – giving you extra cause to fear the dark. There are memorable set-pieces, such as navigating a hedge maze and defending a stage against hordes of attackers. These are very well scripted and feel very cinematic. Alan has a range of weaponry available - flares, flash grenades and conventional guns however, you don’t really develop your skills or arsenal; you’ll still be using the same three guns in the final chapter as you were in the first. The limitations of both weaponry and ammunition do add to the constant feeling of vulnerability: Alan is a writer, not an action hero, and this is made evident by the fact that he can’t outrun most of the enemies in the game and can’t take too much punishment either. The only criticisms of the action I would make are that, despite being able to reduce wooden doors to splinters with a kick, there’s no melee attack - if you run out of bullets there is basically no way to defend yourself. On the whole, Alan Wake is a solid game. Its main attraction is a compelling story, and a tense atmosphere, augmented by good graphics, strong gameplay and excellent sound which combine to create a world and characters which feel authentic. However, there’s little reason to replay after the ending which comes after a meagre eight hours play time. An unlockable Nightmare difficulty might justify a second playthrough, but after that I can’t see any reason to open the box again. Alan Wake is an enjoyable game, with many scares and twists along the way but for a game that has been in development for five years I expected more.
7/10 Alex Hawksworth-Brookes
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Sport
may 24 2010
Murray’s Musings...
AU President Tom Murray
AS the weather in Devon gets better and better, and the beach becomes more and more appealing, it’s sad that exams are upon us. However it’s not always going to be this way. Indeed there will come a day very soon when all exams have been finished! A time to spend enjoying the finer things Exeter has to offer. A time to spend with friends, and generally enjoying the wonderful Exeter life. With this in mind, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that one of the finest things that Exeter has to offer is surely spending a day or two enjoying the sunny weather with a glass of Pimms in your hand enjoying the famous “Touch Duckes” rugby tournament. Exeter’s very own EURFC host, what is fast becoming the largest touch rugby tournament in the South West, on Thursday and Friday June 10 and 11, at Duckes Meadows. And this year the tournament is looking to expand to give the fairer sex the opportunity to enter, with a ladies’ rounders tournament which will run alongside the rugby. If you would like to enter a team, into either the rugby or the rounders, then please contact Zac Frei on zf202@ex.ac.uk. Although the University cricket
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season is very short, it doesn’t stop it being just as competitive. This year has been no exception so congratulations must go to our Ladies cricket team who are currently unbeaten. Their next big game is against Brighton so good luck to all the girls playing in that game. Now, when you think of the summer term you don’t really think of it being a term for football. However there are a few exceptions to this, and the newly formed University 5th team is one of those. They have had a superb opening campaign, securing promotion in their very first year. However they look to go one better, with a win on Wednesday required to secure the title. So all the best to Gibbo, Billy and the fifths’ boys for their title deciding game. And congratulations to Luke Shepherd for all his hard work this season coaching the 5th team. This is his first full time management role, and he has led the boys through an “unbelievable” season with “unbelievable scenes”. The early comparisons to a young Mourinho are to be expected. But now to a real summer activity: this summer at Exmouth beach, Christians in Sport are looking to run a beach sports tournament sometime in the near future. They will be running events between teams. These can be made up from teams of friends, teams from clubs or societies or you can even just rock up and get involved. If you would be interested in organising a team for this event or getting involved, please do email Jonathan Reid on jar209@ex.ac.uk. Timepiece nights this term will be back as usual, with Wednesday night being packed full of your favorite drinks deals and all the best TP music. Please get along and support the AU! If you want to follow Exeter Sport on Facebook, log on to www.facebook. com/exeterau
Blood Sweat and Cheers
Cheerleading Vicki Tavener Publicity Officer
Exeter Cheerleading Society started the year with a record number of membership sign ups at the freshers’ squash. After an intensive week of preseason training with a new committee and many members of the squad, the cheerleaders performed an energetic and impressive routine at the first big event of the year: football varsity. Shortly after, we held trials for Exeter City and Varsity squads. These squads aim to involve a larger number of the society than our competitive squad. Rugby Varsity was a large success raising both the profile and reputation of the society as the crowds were impressed at the high and improved standard of all three routines. A new and highly exciting opportunity arose for Exeter Cheerleaders as we were approached to perform for newly promoted Exeter City FC at every home game. We jumped at this chance to perform on such a frequent basis to such
large and welcoming crowds. Our performances are consistently well received by fans, players and the club. Our Exeter City squad, the ‘Starz Grecianettes’, have thoroughly enjoyed cheerleading for the club and look forward to continuing next season. In February, a handful of cheerleaders successfully competed in Exeter University’s first ever BUCS gymnastics competition, coming away with the team placing fifth and gaining four BUCS points. On April 2 2010, the ‘Exeter Emeralds’ competition squad competed in a BCA (British Cheerleading Association) university competition. We came away from the competition with five trophies, including three first places, a fourth place and the sportsmanship trophy. The categories entered were: Senior Level 3 Cheer: a combination of dance, stunting, jump sequences and gymnastics. This received a first place, against numerous universities from around the country. Senior Stunt Group Level 3 was a routine of complex stunts by five members of the squad, resulting in first place
Have a great sport filled week!
against thirteen other universities of very high standards. We entered two dance categories: Senior Dance Trio and Senior Dance small, which placed first and fourth respectively. The Senior Dance Small squad comprised of eight members also entered the BCA Western Classics Champions competition in February, and won first place. This is by far the most successful competition that the Emeralds have participated in and we are all very proud to have been involved in it. On top of all the above, we have performed in other events throughout the year including the ‘Friday night Lemmy’, Hockey Varsity and Cricket Varsity. To finish off a successful year, we have our last game of the season at Exeter City FC on Saturday May 8, Touch Duckes and ‘Dancing in the streets’. As a society we look forward to expanding and becoming more prominent in university life. If you would like to find out more about Exeter Cheerleaders, or would like us to perform at an event, please contact Kassie Canning, kmc208@ex.ac.uk or Isobel Thomson, it209@ex.ac.uk.
Photo: Exeter Cheerleading Society
Cricket has come home
T20 Cricket Alexander Cook Sports Editor
Photo: www.bbc.co.uk/sport
England have won the World Twenty20 Championship defeating their eldest foe Australia in the final. This is the first ICC competition England have won since the council’s foundation 35 years ago. Predictably, however, the final and the series was dominated by two
South Africans. Craig Kieswetter and Kevin Pietersen dismantled the Australian bowling attack, posting 111 from 68 balls. England were able to polish off the remaining runs with three overs to spare; a true demolition. Kieswetter was named man of the match; Pietersen man of the tournament. Credit is also due to Andy Flower and his team of selectors; Richard Hobsen of The Times has pointed to their courage in preferring the likes of Kieswetter and Lumb to
safer, more well-known names. The bludgeoning, aggressive and rapid-scoring mentality of this opening pairing - so incongruous with the traditionally measured character of English openers - has perhaps been the key to England’s success, unlocking huge potential further down the order. It seems a cruel irony that the English should triumph when they behave less like Englishmen.
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Sport
Exeposé week twenty seven sport@exepose.com
Chiefs on course for Premiership front of the posts, resulting in Bristol equalising on the stroke of halftime, 3-3. At this stage in the match Exeter were looking weary and with Bristol gaining more and more confidence, buoyed by the large amount of Bristol fans who had made the journey, it was hard to see how Chiefs would regain control. Yet at the start of the second half, Exeter resumed their dominance in the scrum and converted this into several penalty opportunities well in to the Bristol half, yet instead of calling for the kicking tee Steenson kept going for the corner. Bristol managed to absorb the spell of Chiefs pressure and as in the first half, they soon had their turn to make inroads into Exeter’s half. Great pressure from a Bristol kick resulted in a scrum on the Chiefs’ five metre line. Chiefs provided some resistance in the scrum yet referee Dave Pearson deemed it to be illegal. Bristol fly half Adrian Jarvis wasted no time in calling for the tee, promptly putting Bristol into the
Exeter City Secure League One Status
Football
Rachel Bayne Deputy Editor
EXETER City F.C. ended a hardfought season in League One with a 2-1 win against Huddersfield Town. Tisdale’s men played in front of a full capacity crowd of 8,383 anxious and tense fans at St James Park on Saturday May 8. Needing to better Tranmere’s result to retain their league one status, Exeter faced a tough match against Huddersfield, a team well placed for the playoffs, who had only lost one out of their last 9 league matches. Exeter had a rocky start to the game, and from the outset it looked unlikely that they would be victorious. A major defensive mistake between Ryan Duffy and Matt Taylor allowed Gary Roberts the space to capitalise for Huddersfield Town, leaving the Grecians puzzled, and the fans increasingly more nervous. With a burst of pace, Roberts scored his 9th goal of the season on the 2nd minute with a well-aimed shot into the roof of the net. Roberts’s goal, however, seemed to kick-start a sleepy Exeter into action, even though their offensive play seemed minimal against the speed and strength of Huddersfield. Exeter desperately tried to equalise, with free-kick chances badly taken early on in the half. Then, with a neatly placed corner, Taylor sunk the ball into the net with a well placed header, making up for his earlier defensive mistake. The
atmosphere was electric, and Exeter came alive, stoked with the enthusiasm of their captain, and with another batch of corners they looked close to scoring again. However, Exeter kept missing the last strike, with some great moves from Stuart on the wing and a header from Taylor being snuffed out by Huddersfield’s keeper, and even though they played much better, they entered half-time at 1-1, having missed a handful of scoring opportunities. Huddersfield opened the second half strongly, with a close chance early on, but they were met with equally fast chances from an Exeter side that would now need to win in order to evade relegation. Hearts in mouths, the fans watched as on the 50th minute, three successive shots from Exeter bounced off the goal line, leaving Friend, Ryan Taylor, and Stewart goalless. The second half saw fast play, and end to end chances, with neither team able to capitalise on their good forward moves. Pushed to the very end, Exeter finally scored in the 82nd minute thanks to an impressive volley from Ryan Harley. The goal came after a tough defensive move, where Exeter stormed away from Huddersfield, allowing Harley the chance to capitalise on a great strike. The crowd bounced all the way to the climax, as Exeter held on with blistering pace alongside the crowd’s cheers of “OOer Exeter”. The defence held on until the end, avoiding Huddersfield’s final push and free-kick chances, and seized victory on the last day of the League One season. With Ryan Harley’s 82nd
minute winner, Exeter secured their league one status, relegating Gillingham in the process. Post match, Paul Tisdale, manager, commented: “It’s a relief and to leave it late on the last day of the season is a little too close for comfort but we made it. We’ve had a great season, and I can now look back on it and enjoy every minute. It’s been a great experience and we’ve achieved today what we achieved on the last day of last year which is League One status.” The result came after a hard-fought season by Tisdale’s team who ended up in 18th position with 51 points, having won 11, drawn 18, and lost 17 of their matches. These results included a cracking 2 - 0 home win against Leeds United in January in front of a huge crowd, and away wins against Carlisle and Stockport. Ryan Harley scored the most for the Grecians with 10 league goals, and Captain Matt Taylor came away with player of the year after a strong season at St James Park. Work is already underway, with nine players already released from Tisdale’s squad, including Barry Corr and Alex Russell. But, with the likes of Taylor and Harley set to stay in Exeter, it looks set to be another promising season at St James Park next year, with the fans’ hopes of League One games fulfilled once more.
lead on the 60 minute mark, 6-3. The loss of the lead could have tipped the Chiefs over the edge, yet to their credit they held their nerve and weathered the Bristol onslaught with some brutal tackling. A poor Bristol lineout lead to a penalty within kicking range and Steenson finally opted for the posts. The kick was by no means an easy one, yet the fly half coolly stroked it through the uprights, 6-6 after 65 minutes. Exeter brought on fresh legs in the front row after stalwart performances from Hoani Tui and Neil Clark in order to try and capitalise in the tiring Bristol pack. Chief’s full back Mark Foster caught the ball from a poor Bristol kick and nearly ran through the entire Bristol team, yet he was isolated and turned over, with the visitors stealing the ball and thumping it down to the absent full back position. Crucially, chiefs lost the ball deep in their 22 and the Bristol pack stormed over, only to be denied after the Television Match Official deemed
the ball to be held up. As the game entered its final moments, it began to open up with Exeter attacking from deep. A Chief’s lineout produced the best move of the match by far, as the Exeter back line ripped though, only being denied by last ditch Bristol tackling. Chiefs’ number 8 Richie Baxter also broke away and Exeter finally crossed the line, however after an agonizing three minute wait the TMO decided it was held up. However, Exeter were playing advantage so went back for a penalty kick easily in range for Steenson. Silence fell upon Sandy park for the first time as Steenson lined up the posts, easily the most important kick of his career, yet the fly half split the posts right down the middle in the 80th minute to hand Chiefs the narrowest of victories with the final score being 9-6. Exeter now have to travel to Bristol this Wednesday to try and gain promotion to the Guinness Premiership.
No. 9 by Alexander Cook
Exeter Chiefs narrowly beat Bristol Rugby Club in the first leg of the Championship playoff finals after an 80th minute penalty from fly half Gareth Steenson saw the home team finish on top with 9-6, infront of a 10,000 sell-out crowd. Bristol opened proceedings at 7.45 with a kick deep into the Chiefs’ 22 however a good clean take provided a solid platform for fly half Steensen to clear his lines. Exeter took early control in the pack, putting huge pressure on the Bristol front row, leading to the first penalty of the match. Steenson drilled the ball into the Bristol 22, however a handling error following a successful line out gave the ball back to Bristol. Exeter kept the pressure on with a great early display of tactical kicking, which eventually led to another penalty, this time within kicking range. Steenson duly opened the scoring with
the ball sailing through the uprights on the ten minute mark. 3-0 Chiefs. As the half progressed, Bristol overcame the early Exeter kicking onslaught and managed to free their backs on a number of occasions. Halfway through the first half, the Bristol backs broke the Exeter defence for the first time with a tantalising kick to the corner narrowly being knocked on by Bristol winger Lee Robinson over the Exeter try line. This was the first big chance of the half, and when Exeter has only lost twice this season at home, it was one the visitors knew they should have taken. However that attack seemed to ignite the Bristol team, who on the approach to half time were firmly in the ascendency; however Exeter were still holding out at 3-0. The Chiefs conceded several penalties within kicking range yet Bristol bravely opted for the line out every time; however the Chiefs’ fierce tackling held them back. Sadly Chiefs conceded a penalty on their 22 right in
exeposé crossword -
Rugby
Andy Williams Sports Editor
Across
1. Virgil’s hero (6) 4. Ian McEwan’s latest novel (5) 9. Six-sided shape (7) 10. Infamous former MP for Wolverhampton, ----- Powell (5) 11. American state (4) 12. Pair (3) 13. Rodent (3) 14. Sacred bowl (5) 15. Lacking aesthetic flair (13) 20. A car crash coll. (5) 21. Expert (6) 22. A system of writing for the blind (7) 24. Very large (4) 25. Controversial Exeter event; extensive slaughter (7) 26. Very large (7)
Down
1. Garden pest (5) 2. Poisonous (7) 3. Soothsayer; predict (5) 5. Resembling the properties of oil (10) 6. Hawaiian greeting (5) 7. An undivided entity (4) 8. Cool; relax (5) 16. A short, pithy expression (8) 17. Concrete (8) 18. Emergency (8) 19. A woman who has never married (8) 23. Not starboard (4) 24. By way of (3)
No. 8 solution - Across: 1. glass, 5. prom, 6. shallot, 8. ant, 11. ram, 12. ivy, 14. gig, 15. google, 17. birch, 18. biography, 20. slap. Down: 2. seminar, 3. gillet, 4. posh, 7. hat, 8. admire, 9. meniscus, 10. lilo, 13. rugby, 16. growl, 19. pad.
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Monday May 24 2010
sport
Cheerleading
A round-up of the season so far Page 26
Exeter Chiefs: One win away from promotion - See page 27
storming Start for EULCC Becky Williams Sports Correspondent
After a delightful trip to Eastbourne to watch the rain fall, Exeter University Ladies Cricket Club hit back with a forceful win over the University of Bath in their first playable match of the season. It took Exeter only 28 overs to chase Bath’s respectable total of 114. Of these 114 runs, only 63 were scored off the bat, with the remaining coming from extras due to an
solid innings by Jenny Friend (20) left the end of the innings open for Becky Williams and Jess Rippin to make their mark, who ended on 32* and 21* respectively. Exeter won by a comfortable 7 wickets. The next game for Exeter came in the form of Bournemouth University. Exeter were confident having not lost to Bournemouth in the past two seasons. Exeter were put in to bat, a crucial mistake by Bournemouth as Lottie Miles asserted her authority by a striking 126 notout, her first century, supported by Claire Ramsay (32), Sarah Betterton
No.75
GRID 2: MEDIUM
GRID 1: easy
No.74
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(28) and Becky Williams (36 not out). Exeter strolled off the pitch confident to defend their total of 275. Bournemouth openers, Holly Knight and O’Connor, began their innings needing to score at just under 1 run a ball. The first wicket of star player Holly Knight by Jess Rippin (7-1-19), provided sound cause for concern for Bournemouth as they were consequently dismissed for 94 off 33.1 overs. Exeter will next play Brighton University at Topsham Cricket Ground, which could prove their most difficult match to date.
Fill in the grid so that the numbers 1 to 9 appear in each row, each column, and each 3x3 box
GRID 3: HARD No. 76
Ladies Cricket
Exeter City F.C.
The Grecians successfully survive relegation threat Page 27
Dates for the Diary
Turkish Grand Prix May 29-30
Photo: EULCC
uncontrolled bowling performance from some of Exeter‘s bowlers. However, a fierce opening spell from Jess Rippin of seven overs, 1 wicket for 9 runs set the mood of domination for the rest of the match. Bath were dismissed in 49.4 overs with the help of Vicky Wise (7-214) and Kat Witowski (4.4-1-12) clearing up the tail end batters. Lottie Miles and Sarah Betterton took to the wicket as imposing opening batters but unfortunately the sheer pace of Bath’s opening bowlers got the better of both openers, leaving them on 7 and 14 respectively. A
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England World Cup Friendlies vs Mexico
May 24 vs Japan
May 30
Championship Rugby Play-off Finals Exeter Chiefs vs Bristol R.F.C May 26 KO 7.45pm
MONDAY 24TH MAY 2010 ISSUE 26
What's on?
Arts Week Listings 2
ARTS WEEK
Drama Drama Drama
We find out what EUTCO is up to for Arts Week 4
Let’s play the music and...
What does ExTunes have in store 4
Say Cheese
This week’s society feature on Photo Soc 2
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ello! Welcome to Arts Week 2010. From Sunday 6th to Saturday 12th of June, Exeter University’s Streatham Campus will be transformed into a festival of all things artsy. The Guild’s numerous and varied societies have come together to show off some of their most entertaining and impressive talents. From live music to professional workshops, film screenings to plays, Arts Week will be crammed with events for you to dip into and enjoy. Familiar locations such as the Ram, the Lemmy and the M+D room will play host to the very best Exeter has to offer in music, dance, theatre and comedy while everywhere else on campus will be buzzing with seminars, workshops and sports demonstrations. With a stage set up in the Ram beer Garden, special invited guests playing at the Lemmy, and Xpressionfm coving the whole event live on air, you’re bound to find something here to suit your artistic taste. You’ll find all the information you need to get you started right here, but look out for many more details on facebook, online, in brochures and - of course - here in
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SOCIETY FEATURE: RUSSIAN SOCIETY
n the evening of Saturday the 8th of May some of you may have found your dedicated weekend revision sessions rudely interrupted by a spate of firework explosions on campus, and I would just like to publicly expose the University’s Russian Society as the culprit of such an inconsiderate disturbance.
“It was an extremely moving ceremony and few eyes remained tearless.” The 8th of May this year
marked the 65th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, which is known in Russia simply as Victory Day (or Dyen Pobedi) and is celebrated on the 9th. To mark this historic occasion, the Russian Society teamed up with several local organisations to put on an event that would unite the student body with local veterans and the Russian-speaking community of the South West. Prior to the firework display a ceremony was held at the war memorial in Exeter’s Northernhay Garden’s to commemorate the millions of lives that were lost on all sides
during the Second World War. A crowd of around 60 people gathered to join us for the ceremony, including a handful of fiery Arctic Convoy veterans, a dozen British Legion standard bearers, a local veteran who was one of the first 12 men to hit the sand at the Normandy landings, a sprinkling of journalists, a Russian Orthodox priest, one white dove and a kit of carrier pigeons. We were also joined by the Lord Mayor, and this blend of attendees made for a pretty colourful memorial service! It was an extremely moving ceremony and few eyes remained tearless following the laying of individual carnations on the memorial and the poetry readings of ‘For the Fallen’ and ‘Wait for Me’ by Iain Gordon and Professor Roger Cockrell.
Events on campus culminated in a traditional Russian barbeque and firework display. We would like to thank the Russian Embassy for funding the fireworks, and the Students’ Guild for for giving us Internationalisation funding, without which the event would not have been possible. For me the most important thing was not just taking the time to honour the veterans for risking their lives, nor simply commemorating the millions of men, women and children who were victims of the war, but for our generation to show that we have not forgotten that such feisty individuals faithfully sacrificed their youth to protect our freedoms.
EUTCO- ARTS WEEK PLANS Emma Chapman Committee Member
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utco’s Arts Week calendar is teeming with opportunities to see ground breaking student drama and take part in exciting and stimulating theatrical workshops. We are collaborating with XTV to bring you a fun-filled Improvisation workshop on Monday at 2pm, where you can test out your spontaneity! There is a technical workshop for all those budding techies on Tuesday 2pm in the M&D, a Playwriting workshop Wednesday 12am in Queens to stretch your creative juices, and a Directing workshop on Thursday at 2pm in the JCR. COME ALONG!! Eutco will also be performing their Edinburgh Show ‘Bluebird’ in the M&D room.
“Eutco will also be performing their Edinburgh Show ‘Bluebird’ in the M&D room.” With an amazing and dedicated cast and crew, the story follows Jimmy, a London
minicab driver as he drives his ‘fares’ around the city by night. Along his journey we encounter a variety of the odd humans who inhabit London by night. An ex-novelist, Jimmy harbours a terrible secret from his past which leads him back to his estranged ex-wife. M&D Room 10th, 11th, 12th June 7:30pm Tickets £3 members, £4 non-members. Arts Week is an incredible opportunity to try something new so join Eutco in creating experiences for you to explore!
Tell us what you think about X. Email your thoughts to: communications@guild. ex.ac.uk
EXTUNES- ARTS WEEK PLANS
Kaitlin Nixson President
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xTunes, the collective name for the University’s music societies, are proudly going to be performing in the RAM Beer Garden among other venues during Arts Week 2010. As you can see from the schedule you can find ExTunes enhancing your lunchtime escapades for most of the week and we even have a smattering of evening entertainment as well. We represent the music lovers on campus and offer opportunities to get involved in music making. The events happening during Arts Week will give you just a taster of the breadth of music that our societies produce. If you like the
sound of something and want to give it a go yourself then get in touch with me (Kaitlin Nixson - kn239@ex.ac.uk) - I’d love to hear from you!
“There is a music society to suit all tastes and standards.” There is a music society
to suit all tastes and standards and we welcome new faces. The styles of music range from
SOCIETY FEATURE: PHOTO SOC
David Rufus Committee Member
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ake 90 people with an interest in photography. Add a little structure to pass the skills around and organise gatherings. Throw in some equipment. Add some facilities and you have a bunch of happy snappers. You have Exeter’s Photo Soc. One of the nicest aspects of Photo Soc is how inclusive it is. Some members use a compact others DSLR through to medium format film. Members bring an enormous skill base with them and share this within the group. The committee also organise structured classes in specialist areas. Photo Soc as one of the oldest societies has accumulated some fantastic
equipment. The benefit of pooling resources is that it becomes viable to equip and run a dark room. We can develop and enlarge black and white negatives and prints and we can develop colour slide. Added to this a large format printer is available for digital users.
“One of the nicest aspects of Photo Soc is how inclusive it is.” Lots of 35mm SLR’s, a digital
SLR and two sets of lights can be loaned throughout the year. Equipment can be very expensive, so the society is a great resource. The friendliness of the society and the facilities available enable many of our members to experiment with new methods and techniques. Using film for the first time we can loan cameras, then help develop and print first images. Stunning architecture and an area of outstanding natural beauty ensure a ready supply of photo opportunities. So, whether you’re completely new to photography or already doing some professional work, come along and see what Photo Soc is all about.
choral masterpieces with A Cappella, Choral Soc or Singers; big ensembles like Concert Band, Chamber Orchestra or Symphony Orchestra; small groups like Brass Ensemble, Clarinet Choir and Flute Choir; or get your guitar out with Campus Bands and play acoustic, hillbilly, ska, metal, funk, or whatever other combination of people you can put together. The list goes on and on with Folk Society’s ceilidhs, sessions and band, Soul Choir and Jazz Orchestra keeping us swinging and finally Footlights and the Gilbert & Sullivan Society bring out the theatrical side to our music.