Debate issue 23

Issue 23 | OCTOBER 2013 www.ausm.org.nz

Issue 23 | October 2013 Directory

reception City Campus Level 2, WC Building 921 9805 Mon-Thurs: 9am-5pm Fri: 9am-4pm North Shore Campus Level 2, AS Building 921 9949 Mon-Fri: 11am-1pm

Cover

Illustration by Ramina Rai

Manukau Campus MB107 921 9999 ext 6672 Mon-Thurs: 9am-3.30pm

EDITOR

Matthew Cattin matthew.cattin@aut.ac.nz

sub editor

governance & leadership Kizito Essuman AuSM Student President 921 9999 ext 8571 kizito.essuman@aut.ac.nz

Nigel Moffiet

designer/PHOTOGRAPHER Ramina Rai

contributors

management Kathy Anderson General Manager 921 9999 ext 8570 kanderso@aut.ac.nz

Carl Ewen | Connor McLay | Fiona McIntyre | Hazel Buckingham | Kieran Bennett | Mike Ross | Samuel J. Hennessy

Illustration & Photography

advocacy Siobhan Daly AuSM Advocate 921 9999 ext 8311 siobhan.daly@aut.ac.nz

Andrew Oglivie | Carl Ewen | Ramina Rai

marketing Kate Lin Sales and Marketing Co-ordinator 921 9999 ext 8909 kate.lin@aut.ac.nz

printer

advertising contact Kate Lin kate.lin@aut.ac.nz

PMP Print Ltd.

publisher

AuSM all rights reserved

events Carl Ewen Student Life Manager 921 9999 ext 8931 carl.ewen@aut.ac.nz

This publication is entitled to the full protection given by the Copyright Act 1994 (“the Act”) to the holders of the copyright, being AUCKLAND STUDENT MOVEMENT AT AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED (“AuSM”). Reproduction, storage or display of any part of this publication by any process, electronic or otherwise (except for the educational purposes specified in the Act) without express permission is a break of the copyright of the publisher and will be prosecuted accordingly.

Inquiries seeking permission to reproduce should be addressed to AuSM.

media Matthew Cattin Publications Co-ordinator 921 9999 ext 8774 matthew.cattin@aut.ac.nz vesbar Zane Chase Vesbar Manager 921 9999 ext 8378 zane.chase@aut.ac.nz

disclaimer Material contained in this publication does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of AuSM, its advertisers, contributors, PMP Print or its subsidiaries.

volunteers & clubs Lauren Howe Volunteers Coordinator 921 9999 ext 8911 lauren.howe@aut.ac.nz

debate is a member of the Aotearoa Student Press Association (ASPA)

Find them yourself, you lazy bastard.

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BE IN TO WIN MYSTERY PRIZES!

MONDAY, 21ST OCTOBER 2013 12 NOON // To be held in WHAREKAI NGA WAI O HOROTIU MARAE. (across the carpark from WC202) All AuSM members are welcome.

Please bring student ID. Come along, enjoy some pizza, win prizes and hear all about upcoming changes for your student association.

Agenda items include: - AuSM 2014 Budget -Confirmation of 2014 Student Executive Council Members -Election of vacant 2013 Student Executive Council postitions: Culture & Society Faculty Representative -Constitutional Changes

by Matthew Cattin Hello readers!

Spring is the awkward teenager of the seasons – caught up in the ravages of an ugly puberty. Constantly indecisive and flitting between polar extremes, it puts on a radiant display one day only to spend the next week throwing its toys out of the cot.

These rare glimpses of sunshine however are enough to awaken in me the nostalgic yearning for the approaching summer, and more importantly, opportunities to get out for a surf.

The first time I stood up on an unbroken wave, aimed the board left and saw a smooth blue stretch of open wave face before me was up there with the top moments of my 22 years. It’s like unlocking a bonus level in life – you get this incredible rush as you experience a completely fresh perspective.

We’ve all (hopefully) enjoyed swims in the surf before – I imagine most Kiwis also have fond memories of boogie boarding their summer days away. But honestly, nothing compares to being above it all, seeing the wave’s form from up high and wiggling your toes to manoeuvre the board over its curves. It feels smooth like ice skating and uplifting like flight – you’re like a bird gliding over the water. Sometimes you spot stingrays and submerged rocks as you glide harmlessly over, completely buzzing with exhilaration. I’m probably coming across as a complete wank right now but I’m not even mad – surfing is my favourite thing.

I’m pretty bloody average at it if I’m honest but that’s such a non-issue. Just being in the ocean on a perfect, glass morning with a

couple of mates and a quiet line-up is such a spiritually fulfilling experience.

As glorious as surfing is, it’s not without its frustrations. When I was 18, I bought my first board – a 7’3” Mini Mal that parted me of my birthday money and a pay check or two. At the time I considered it the best investment of my life – a doorway into a world I wanted so badly to be a part of; endless summers, campfires and cold beers, rolling waves and open roads. With excitement unmatched and the ignorant notion that I would nail it straight off the bat, I headed up to Te Arai to try out my prize. The day was beautiful – clear skies, three foot swell and water so clear it looked like an invisibility cloak. I paddled out confidently – how hard can this surfing jam be? This paddling business is easy enough. I looked around at the other surfers, perched gracefully upon their boards waiting for their hot waves to pick them up for a ride.

I shimmied up the board to a straddling position – I was nailing it. Or so I thought.

The board slid out from between my legs like an aqua birth and I was unceremoniously dumped in to the sea, most likely to the huge amusement of other surfers. I surfaced as fast as I could, eager to regain control of the situation. In my haste however, I succeeded in hitting my face on the underside of my board, splitting my lip. Excellent. A fitting sign of things to come, the rest of my day panned out in a similar fashion and I left the water feeling half-drowned, exhausted and in need of a hug – but it was still the best day ever.

That’s the thing about surfing. No matter your skill level, it is flippin’ tops. And you can only get better – it’s like riding a bike. After a week of surfing every day, I went from falling off nine times in 10 to being super bummed if I bombed a wave.

Consistency is key – once you get a few days of surfing in, you’ll be doing it in no time.

Not well mind you, but you’ll be standing up, cutting through the water on the back of a glorious wave, experiencing that magical buzz that will haunt you forever. It hooks you in like your first concert, filling you with deep, painful cravings in the winter months and frustrating the hell out of you in summer when the sets show up during work hours. Which they always do… Always…

I hope I have convinced some of you to give surfing a crack this summer. Hit up trademe for a second hand board and commit yourself to the best decision you will ever make because in hindsight, my Mini Mal is still my greatest ever investment.

On an unrelated and slightly boastful note, humble debate took out three awards at the ASPAs last week and I am super proud.

Nigel Moffiet took out best feature for his Ghost Hunters article, Jennifer Choat won best cartoonist and I somehow managed best editorial writer (I see you shaking your heads in disbelief and I get it, it came as a shock to me too).

Special thanks to my surfing companion Andrew Oglivie for the stunning picture.

Much aroha, Matthew www.ausm.org.nz

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Artist Of The Week AMANDA MOORE “Drawing has fascinated me since childhood. My drawing idol at that time was Leonardo da Vinci. I would stare at his work, imagining I made drawings as beautiful as his – still working on that one!

“Whenever possible I draw from life. The challenge of translating 3D to 2D is where the magic happens: stretching further than I think I can; making creative leaps; switching into visual thinking mode; and going for it – it’s exciting, and I love sharing this with others when I teach drawing.

“My paintings are really an extension of my drawing from life experience, though I do take reference photos, my figurative and portrait work attempts to capture the experience of watching the person, rather than the experience of watching a photo.”

You can check out more of Amanda’s work and drawing classes at www.manlyartstudio.co.nz and at ArtReal Gallery, Parnell.

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Helping men’s health one whisker at a time by nigel moffiet 10

www.ausm.org.nz

Raising men’s health issues is the ‘mo’tivation for every whisker that grows above Carl Ewen’s upper lip.

Ewen, who works as student events manager for AuSM at AUT, is working with the Movember charity to get more students involved in this year’s event which renames the eleventh month in honour of the moustache.

He says he is in the middle of “epic” preparations for what will be his seventh Movember.

“It’s always hard to choose amongst all the charities that are out there but Movember is one that’s always stuck with me,” he says.

“The biggest thing is that I find it so important to promote men’s health awareness because there’s always so much out there for other issues.”

Movember, which is partnered with the Cancer Society and Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand, first began in Melbourne in 2004. At the time 30 men grew a moustache for the month of November to raise awareness for prostate cancer and male depression.

The event is now officially held in more than 20 countries and last year 1.1 million people registered for the event worldwide, raising 176.1 million NZ dollars. The Global Journal lists Movember among the top 100 charity NGOs in the world.

Movember NZ manager Robert Dunne says the event is certainly growing. It was originally set up as there was “no direct campaign for men’s health” at the time and “certainly nothing for prostate and testicular cancer and nothing for male mental health,” he says.

“In New Zealand last year we were knocking on the door of 16,000 people so that continues to grow,” says Dunne.

Meanwhile AUT students are in capable hands as Ewen prepares to raise awareness around uni – after being awarded 2012’s Auckland Man of Movember prize it’s fair to say he is a qualified grower of moustaches.

“My dad, he’s suffered from cancer for the last couple of years… also, I’ve had a few male members in my close and extended family who have been affected by mental illness.”

Ewen says being involved in Movember is opening up the discussion in his own family. “It’s making people around me more comfortable talking about it,” he says.

In the meantime Ewen is busy preparing for this year’s Movember costume and he’s not giving away any hints in case it plays into the hands of the competition.

All he will say is this: “It’s a lot more of an involved costume than last year. I’ve been planning and building it since August.”

And he will be up against some fierce local competition. Last Year the ultimate International Man of Movember prize was awarded to Kiwi Chris Thwaites. The international prize is independently judged by The Handlebar Club based in London.

"Being a tough bloke, you don’t talk about your feelings typically. Whereas Movember just encourages you. It’s sort of just opening it up and making it more acceptable I suppo se to talk about these issues."

Debate asked 2012 Auckland Man of Movember Carl Ewen and Movember NZ Manager Robert Dunne for some grooming tips and general mo advice.

“Don’t be afraid it always gets fuller. That’s the thing you’ve always got to remember. You might be a week or two weeks in and you think ‘oh shit this is looking like a real peodo-stache’ – it does get fuller.

You know, massage it, you can actually get moustache oils that help you thicken up the stache. I mean if you’re real desperate you could probably rub a bit of marmite in there or something to add a bit of yeasty goodness to it. But you know just care of the moustache, pet the moustache, you know, cut some wood, eat an onion, harden up and just be a man.”

“Some guys just can’t grow a mo, you know, they get a few hairs in there but Movember caters for that at galas with the Lame Mo awards so nobody’s left out.” debate asked Carl whether he thought of moustaches as being sexy.

“Fuck yeah!” he says.

Robert dunne

When asked for a response to the haters who think they’re gross he had this to say: “Try growing one or try rubbing up against one and then you’ll experience something out of this world.”

He cleaned out the Auckland competition with his wrestling inspired ‘Hulk Mogan’ look. He says it was one of the best moments of his life.

“It was an amazing feeling. I had been working on my costume for about a month to become Hulk Mogan. It was a huge feeling. I think the best thing was my mum was there. My mum, you know, she’s one of those ladies she gets excited and she gets really into it. I’ve never seen her so proud before especially with her son rocking out in a pair of little red wrestling undies, fake tan, and bleached blonde hair and stache.”

Ewen says Movember is a charity that’s close to his heart— and his skin. For any doubters, he has a moustache tattooed on his right bicep. “Movember is more important than my birthday, Christmas and New Year’s all rolled into one. And it’s something that I’m never going to stop doing so I wanted to make a permanent mark on myself,” he says.

He also relates to the cause as he believes men don’t talk about their health issues enough.

“It’s not a manly thing to do. Being a tough bloke you don’t talk about your feelings typically. Whereas Movember just encourages you. It’s sort of just opening it up and making it more acceptable I suppose to talk about these issues.

CARL EWEN “It’s a bit of evolution really. You can’t help being a hairy beast. It’s always going to help you with that sort of stuff. It gives you a bit more to work with. Yet, [the fashion] is a bit more hipster these days with a bit of styling and a bit of trimming and a bit of waxing. People are putting in a good effort to develop a bit of a style. It doesn’t hurt to style your mo to your costume.” www.ausm.org.nz

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THE MO CHART Mustache styles, provided by The American Mustache Institute.

Visit their website for more: http://www. americanmustacheinstitute.org/ mustache-information/styles/

AuSM Movember T-Shirts AuSM has limited edition Movember T-Shirts on sale from the City Campus Office for only $15, will 100% of profits being donated to Movember NZ.

The AuSM Mo’s Movember Team Want to get growing for Movember? Join The AuSM Mo’s Movember Team and be part of the movement! Head to nz.movember.com and search for The AuSM Mo’s.

Movember Free Feed Takeover On Thursday 24th October, the Movember Team will be taking over the AuSM Free Feed on the City Campus! Be sure to stop by for heaps of surprises, freebies, AuSM Movember T-Shirts and the opportunity to sign up for Movember 2013! Harley’s, Snakes and more!

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Switching off Auto-Pilot

The Guerrilla Playspaces team From Right to Left: Simon Pond, Luke Krieg, Helen White, Richard Taylor

by Fiona McIntyre

change them into fun, playful areas, if only for a short time.”

I think it’s a skill which every student develops when they study fulltime at university. That is, the skill of switching into auto-pilot to dream away the monotonous daily grind of walking there each day. Imagine then that while you are walking to university one day, a giant pavlova out of nowhere starts moaning at you because you haven’t sat on it? You’d snap out of auto-pilot pretty quick, right?

The pilot project is proving to be an alluring concept capturing the imagination of several key industry partners including Fletchers and Resene, and team member Richard Taylor is optimistic about getting more people on board.

Well picture this. Auckland city infused with playfulness and mystery, where pop-up mazes spring out of nowhere, where dance boards entice you to boogie with each step, and bus stops are more fashionable than you (say what?), having been decked out in polka dots with fur to match. The visual landscape would keep any ‘pilot’ from wanting to snooze. If the Guerrilla Playspaces pilot project is successful then this will become a reality.

As part of the Auckland Future Leaders Programme, a passionate team of seven professionals have volunteered nine months of their time to develop a legacy project to infuse playfulness into the underused areas of the Auckland CBD. Their vision is to create and install multiple high-impact, short duration play spaces designed to snap Aucklanders out of their daily grind and give them something unexpected to stumble upon. Team member, Luke Kreig, who works at AUT is enthusiastic about the project.

“We saw these great city spots underused and just wanted to

“Guerrilla Playspaces is a legacy project. We are laying down the framework for future creative individuals and businesses to be able to deliver even bigger and brighter installations in the future”, says Taylor.

The team have been getting inspiration from around the world, looking at stunts such as a staircase placed in an underground train station in Germany which plays the notes of the scale as an unsuspecting person walks up it. AUT students have also been involved in the project with a number of them helping design installations for the project earlier this year. The Guerrilla Playspaces team hopes that an ongoing relationship with AUT and other Auckland design schools can be formed as it would provide an excellent opportunity for giving exposure to students’ work.

The team will present in front of a panel of judges in a Dragon’s Den styled evening in mid November.If successful, your auto-pilot mode to university may crash land back to reality. So make sure you keep an eye out as you walk that routine walk to class... you never know what might be lurking around the corner waiting to infuse playfulness into your day.

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PREZ SHOWS A few highlights from the AuSM election debates.

Updates AuSM SGM today (21st Oct Mon) Yes! There will be Free Pizza!

The AuSM Special General Meeting will be held on Monday 21st October at 12pm in Wharekai Nga Wai O Horotiu Marae (across the carpark from WC202).

Agenda Items include AuSM 2014 budget, constitutional changes, confirmation of 2014 Executive Council members and election of vacant positions. All AUT students are welcome. Please bring your student ID. Free pizza and refreshments will be provided.

Here to help The AuSM Advocacy service can help you with any troubles that you encounter during your time at AUT. Visit our Advocacy page on www.ausm.org.nz AuSM Movember Tee AuSM is all about getting involved and supporting worthy causes!

The AuSM Mo Tees are available at AuSM City campus office for $15 only. Pre-order for students at North Shore and Manukau

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campus! 100% of the profits will be donated straight to Movember!

Check out nz.movember.com for more info about Movember.

AuSM LodgeGet ready to have fun with your loved ones! AuSM Lodge at National Park will be the perfect place to go! There are still some sweet dates available during end of year. Book now at www.ausm.org. nz before all the good dates are gone!

Mates Rates Pampere yourself at an affordable budget.

AuSM has hooked you up with heaps of sweet deals on AuSM Mates Rates! Check them out at www.ausm.org.nz AuSM Instagram Have you follow us on Instagram yet?

Check out those amazing photos taken by AuSM! Search us @ausm_aut and even #ausm_ aut when you take photos at AUT!

COMPETITIONS Find all the words in page 19's Moustache Cup Wordfind, send it our way & you'll go in the draw to win two "Squawk Burger" vouchers from Velvet Burger. Delicious!

So fetch your magnifying glass and get wordfinding!

Drop your entry into your nearest AuSM office, or the box on the side of the red debate stands, or email debate before 12pm Thursday. What’s up for grabs? Two “squawk burgers” vouchers for Velvet Burger on Fort St, Auckland CBD.

Issue 22 Congratulations to...

Hannah O'Brien

North Shore Campus who scored two Squawk Burger vouchers!

lovenotes & hatemail Dear Editor,

Hi debate,

Dear ‘Meow’,

Please dont take this bad. I like debate. I pick up a copy each week, especially when there are articles by that red headed girl coz she writes super good.

I just think you need to include more cats.

Because cats are really cute and they are super fluffy, but it's annoying when they get hair balls and cough them up in front of you while you are trying to eat dinner.

You could do a cat crossword, a kitten photo essay, a "How to be a cat" segment, and a part where you translate different kitten meows into english. That would be good. The prizes could be kit-kats.

I’m glad you like cats so much. No really, it will make your future living arrangements so much easier.

Since this is your seventh letter of this nature in two weeks, I might include a cat wordfind next week, just for you.

But I probably won’t.

I just wanted to say that as an avid tea drinker, your tea article made me moist.

I wish I was your friend.

T. N. Dorser.

Hi T. N. Dorser, Thanks for your letter.

Matthew

I feel unsafe.

But I like it.

Matthew

Did you know you can get all sorts of cats. Not just the domestic cats, but there are lions and tigers too. Although there are people in Brazil or something who are keeping tigers in their house! They even sleep on their beds. That's weird.

Anyway I know a lot of people would appreciate more cats. Other than that debate is pawfect.

Yours truly, Meow.

AUCKLAND'S GOT IT GOING ON

By Matthew CoolCattin Mike Ross had a hard weekend which he is still recovering from so it has fallen upon me, Matthew to let you know what’s going on over the next week. Since I spend the majority of my down time at home with my Mum, slippers and tea – don’t expect much excitement.

The Auckland Library!

If you want to beat the queues, pop on down to the library at about five to nine on a weekday. Inside you will find a world of knowledge, sneaky homeless people putting security on edge and most likely zero free seats. The WiFi is shit but here’s a tip – pop into Esquires for a cheeky coffee and you can nab one of their WiFi passwords. Problem solved. Enjoy!

New Zealand’s Got Talent – 7:30 Sunday – Channel One If you’re not too busy at your evening church session, why not sit at home with a tea and gingernuts and judge your fellow Kiwis!

Had a hard time filling up your cute quota over the week? Fear not. A disadvantaged child will woo you with a can-do attitude and average singing voice. Is there anywhere else you would rather be?

Puhoi knitting club – 5:00 Saturday – Anita’s House Tired of spending your Saturday nights chasing sex in clubs but coming up empty? Why not put that pent up energy into something more productive and give knitting a go! You’ll be amazed at how slowly the time passes when you’re not having any fun! Free for anybody interested, this is the place to be on a Saturday night. www.ausm.org.nz

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TRIVIUM – VENGEANCE IS FALLING

by Carl Ewen After five studio albums and 17 singles, Florida metal band Trivium have been riding waves of success globally. Playing every major metal festival known to man, from Download to Wacken Open Air, to Australia’s own Soundwave Festival, Trivium are fast becoming a strong force to be reckoned with on a global scale.

Coming out of Orlando, Florida in 2000, Trivium quickly became a juggernaut in metal music at an extremely young age. Even now the average age of the four members is only 27 ¾ years old. Lead by guitar virtuoso Matt Heafy (guitars & lead vocals), with Corey Beaulieu (guitar & backing vocals), Paulo Gregoletto (bass & backing vocals) and most recent recruit Nick Augusto (drums), Trivium released their first major label album on Roadrunner Records in 2005, Ascendancy and have not begun to slow down on their path to world domination.

Followed by The Crusade (2006), Shogun (2008) and the game changing In Waves (2011), Trivium have constantly improved and grown from album to album, proving they don’t take the metal game lightly. This fact was proven when frontman Matt Heafy was selected in 2005 as one of the team leaders for the Roadrunner United: All Star Sessions album, celebrating the world renowned metal labels 25th Birthday, contributing, writing and playing on a variety of tracks for this massive release.

Now in 2013, after taking an almost 11 month break from their massive touring schedule, Trivium took time to record their sixth release Vengeance Falls. Not only have the Florida natives produced a stunning metal album, but they chose to work with the legendary frontman of Disturbed and Device, and now producer, David Draiman. This meeting of metal masterminds is a combination made of metallic dreams.

So, on a cold winter New Zealand night, I was able to have a chat to Trivium’s guitar slinger and growler Corey Beaulieu while they were in London on an exhaustive press tour to promote the new album, before they jetted off to Germany to continue plugging what looks to be one of the best metal offerings of 2013.

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Debate: How did you guys end up working with David Draiman on Vengeance Falls?

Corey: Well we’ve known David since we first started touring, at least since 2005, when we were doing a tour opening for Danzig and we played the House of Blues in Chicago. David was at the show and saw us play, then we got introduced to him and he said he really liked the show and really liked the band. So we gave him some merch and a CD and stuff and then throughout the years, playing either European festivals and whatever we’d see him out on tour every once and a while and say ‘hey’ and whatever.

So then we did Mayhem 2011 Tour and the In Waves record was coming out at the tail end of the tour. So a week or two before the album came out, Roadrunner Records gave us a bunch of advance copies, and we handed them out to a bunch of people on the tour that we were friends with. We gave one to Dave Draiman, and the Machine Head guys and Dave Mustaine (Megadeth) and then after a couple of days he’d listened to the record a couple of times and said how he really liked the album and he really liked the way we progressed from the previous album to this one.

He thought we had made a big leap in song writing and the melodic delivery of the songs and was like “I really like what you guys have done on the record, I think if we work together, on the next one, I think we can make something really big.”

At the time, we were like what does he mean? Does he want to do producing or what? We weren’t really sure, because he hadn’t worked with any other bands or anything. So after Mayhem Festival, we came through town where he lives in Austin, Texas and we went to his house, hung out and just talked about stuff, and he told us how he worked on the Disturbed records, about the song writing and the production and helping with arrangements and everything.

So from that we got a good vibe that he would be really

cool to work with and that he had really good ideas and we started to throw around ideas of what we wanted to do for the next record, and then he told us what he thought about where he sees us going, and we had a lot of the same vision as far as what we were going to do with the new record and we just knew that after hanging out and talking about the album that it just seemed like a really good fit and everyone at the label and our management just thought it was a win, win situation.

So while we were touring, we were writing and making demos, and we would send them to him. He would give us some feedback. But it wasn’t until we finished the tour, when we went to his house and started working on the record, everything just started coming together so quickly and sounding so great. We just had a great working vibe together, and we had so much fun throwing ideas around. It turned out great, it was awesome working with him and he really pushed us to another level. He pushed us to work our asses off and just really strive to make a really killer album. The team up had a great final product.

Debate: So how do you find Vengeance Falls compares to previous Trivium albums?

Corey: I think musically, the focus of the record was trying to take the stuff we did on In Waves, like In Waves, Black, Watch The World Burn, where it was very melodically driven with the vocals, but also still keeping the aggression in a way. So if we learnt that if we wanted to be aggressive and heavy, we didn’t have to just rely on screaming.

So we touched on it with In Waves, and when we started talking about writing for the next record, we wanted to focus more on grooves. To make big songs that had a weight to them - that when you hear them it instantly makes you want to head bang.

So that you can feel the energy and not have to play 100 miles an hour all the time, which we have done so much on previous records.

So our focus was to just make big solid grooves and just big hooks. So, I think the record has all elements from all the previous albums, but the way it’s written and the way all the elements come together, it has a fresh new sound. It’s a new step in our evolution. I think it does take everything we’ve done and makes a new revamped version of the band.

Vocally it still has heaps of screaming in there, where it’s needed. Matt really wanted to push the vocals to a new level. To focus on Matt being the singer and have a cohesive sound instead of jumping back and forth from all screaming to all singing, we wanted it to be cohesive vocally and really push the vocals to be the best vocals we have ever had on a record. Draiman was a big help, pushing Matt and teaching him vocal and breathing techniques that helped bring his vocals up and be more powerful than ever. So without the screaming he can still sound really aggressive and get the message and emotion across.

think with the production of the record, and the way everyone sounds, we pretty much nailed it.

Debate: You were recently been announced for the Soundwave festivals in Australia, do you have any plans to head back to New Zealand anytime soon?

Corey: I hope so. We got the Soundwave offer a while ago, and the offer was to do the five Soundwave shows and doing some off dates, the ‘Sidewaves’. Originally it was doing some headlining shows, because we haven’t done any headlining shows for a while in Australia. The last Soundwave we played in 2012, we were doing Sidewaves with Slipknot.

So since it’s just been announced, we haven’t really heard anything about the opportunities we have for doing off dates.

Whether it be headlining shows or supporting a bigger band on the bill. So our whole schedule for coming down there hasn’t been totally solidified yet.

We are still waiting to hear what AJ (AJ Maddah) the promoter wants us to do in terms of Sidewaves. It would be great to get back to New Zealand. The last time we come down with Disturbed, was right after the earthquakes and stuff, so it has been a while since we last played, so it would be a lot of fun to get back over there again.

It’s a great bill for Soundwave; it’s one of the best travelling tours in the world, so we are really looking forward to it.

Debate: What’s your favourite album released so far this year?

Corey: The last album I got was the new Devildriver album, which I think is a killer record. And then I got the new Revocation album, which is pretty nutty and has some great guitar playing.

Other than that I have been rediscovering records that came out a long time ago that I haven’t listened to in a while. I’ve kind of gone back and gone, oh, I love this record. Like Megadeth – Killing is My Business, is a record I have been playing non-stop for like the last week, cause I haven’t heard it for a couple of years. So just going back and rediscovering albums I haven’t heard in a long time. It’s a memory lane kind of vibe.

Trivium’s new album, Vengeance Falls is available from Roadrunner Records now.

Debate: What are your and Trivium’s goals for this album and the future of the band?

Corey: We strive on each album just make the best songs possible, and the songs that at that time is what we want to play and what we want to do. After doing one record, on the next record we always find things, and elements that we want to emphasise and just keep things fresh and fun, and not write the same album over and over again. So as I said before, bringing the groove element that we did on In Waves, and wanting to emphasise that aspect of the sound.

The goal is that we want every song on the record, to be a song that you can picture playing at an 80,000 person festival and as soon as you kick into it, everyone’s headbanging, and moshing and feeling the groove and getting into it. So it was just trying to write massive epic metal anthems, that was the goal. I www.ausm.org.nz

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ACROSS

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DOWN

3 4 6 8 10 11

Which kiwi star recently received hateful tweets from Mileys fans?

What culture was Rihanna s latest tattoo inspired by?

Which star who was carried up The Great Wall Of China by their security guard?

Zac Efron is reportedly addicted to what drug?

What celeb had a naked sculpture created of them?

At what age did Chris Brown lose his virginity?

1 2 4 5 7 9

Which member of the Kardashian clan recently announced their marriage separation?

When does Miley Cyrus believe people stop having sex?

Kanye is reportedly begging Kim for what?

What does Jennifer Lawrence refuse to do for a role?

Which brothers cancelled their tour due to creative differences?

What did Rihanna compare New Zealand paparazzi to?

www.ausm.org.nz

MOUSTACHE WORDFIND

BRISTLE BROMERANG COOKIEDUSTER CRUMBCATCHER FANNYDUSTER

HANDLEBAR IMPERIAL LADYTICKLER LIPFOLIAGE LIPHOLSTERY

MANOMETER MOVEMBER NEDFLANDERS TEASTRAINER TOMSELLECK

RONBURGUNDY SUPERMARIO WALRUS WHISKERS WOMBBROOM

Circle all the words in the Moustache Wordfind, tear this page out & pop it into the box on the side of the red debate stands, and you could win two "Squawk Burgers' vouchers for Velvet Burger, Auckland CBD! Tooooo easy!

Name:

Email: www.ausm.org.nz

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INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

by Samuel J Hennesey It’s nice, getting the kind of endorsing nod or smile from people in a café…usually right after me and the people I work with have destroyed whatever sense of tranquility a Sunday coffee is expected to bring. I appreciate being recognized for the relationships I have with the service users, but in all honesty my role is totally in my niche. In contrast, you bring me your clapped up Toyota Corolla, and I won’t be able to aid your woes except to offer you a beer to lament with. I wouldn’t know where to start! For me working with the intellectually disabled is more of an experience of finding my fit than any sort of virtue or quality: I can clean up shit, and shower funny shaped bodies without a problem, your carburetor however would do my head in.

When I began the job I was really hot headed about it all. If I was trying to save face I’d say I was driven by “compassion”, truth is though I was driven by “pity”.

“Oh, these poor intellectually disabled adults, oh god let me fix this!” – or a similar sort of mantra.

Three years into the role and intellectual disability has become something very different for me. While there’ll always be a protective instinct for my people, because of their heightened vulnerability, the pity has more or less dissipated and I think that’s a more empowering place to love from for these unique individuals.

I may be letting you in on a trade secret here, but the resources allocated for the care of intellectually disabled people who are under the care of a big business like IHC are ample. Though the financial crisis has led to some unfortunate decisions made by the suits in the organization, forcing some grievous injustices to bring the accounts into black. But those recent factors aside, I have to say, the four adults who I spend a great amount of time with have a sweet lifestyle.

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Beautiful, spacious and secure homes, full cupboards of high quality culinary faire, fully furnished living spaces, and the pièce de résistance: a late model Toyota Hilux to roll round the hood in. So much for the cliché “handicap van” yeah?

All this without mentioning the role of the support worker who functions as cook, cleaner, accountant, buyer, counselor, stylist, driver etc etc

For me working with the intellectually disabled is more of an experience of finding my fit than any sort of virtue or quality: I can clean up shit, and shower funny shaped bodies without a problem, your carburetor however would do my head in.

Now the role of the support worker needs to be that broad, and I hold no complaints in the bizarre and difficult parts of my job.

These guys need the assistance - I’m so fucking glad to live in a country that reacts appropriately to those needs.

But something has shifted in my convictions.

I have a feeling that in some cases, people who are intellectually disabled may have access to too many resources. Yes, I am a bad person for saying that. But resources are limited, shit is tight, and I’m increasingly aware of families who are working their asses off in underpaid work to scrape through on the bare essentials to provide for the vulnerable in their whanau… And me and my people are rolling up to café’s in our Hilux stirring up chaos. Is that ok? Is the striving working parent entitled to a break? Who’s

going to cook those people a beautiful piece of scotch fillet, sided with potato gratin, and rocket? Can their wee ones hit the zoo for kicks? Or buy a feather duvet because the three running oil heaters just aren’t cutting it? I spent some time with the mental health services in Auckland; their carpet needs replacing, they need more psychiatrists, they don’t have the resources to meet the high demand on the system. Our elderly are holed up in crusty, profit driven institutes waiting for a visit from a loved one who’s too busy trying to put food on the table to pop in.

It’s just something to think about.

I firmly believe that empowering our intellectually disabled individuals to engage in community is necessary for a flourishing society. I also believe that part of the human flourishing is found in our plasticity, our adaptability - and a good way to practice plasticity is when you have to overcome some challenges. Overcompensation lends to stagnation and isolation, these labels needn’t be attached to intellectual disability.

My guys are talented, capable learners, just with a very different experience of reality. But not so different that challenge and growth don’t count in the same way it does for you and I. That kind of thinking is strictly limited to a New Zealand context. I remember bumping into an intellectually disabled teenager in Cambodia, who looked to me very dehydrated, so I offered him my water bottle. Only as the neck graced his lips our driver slapped it from his very deformed hands. Obviously, in some contexts, nothing but a massive overhaul of worldview, a big hug and some adequate care will begin to reveal the value of intellectual disability in a community. Let us never brush that, but equality is something worth putting first in our nation, but equality and its meaning gets sticky in times and people like these.

Method Acting Madness

by Matthew Cattin Robert Downey Jr made 50 million for 2012’s swollen abscess The Avengers - fifty million dollars for just 37 minutes of screen time.

That’s over 22 thousand dollars for every second he showed his well-groomed face. This bugs me. Not just because he’s earning the annual salary of doctors, teachers, fire fighters and student magazine editors combined in about ten seconds of screen time, but because he doesn’t appear to be doing anything too strenuous to do so. In fact it wouldn’t surprise me if he was drunk during the shoot – he certainly seemed it. Sure he might have put in a few gym hours to keep his pot belly at bay, but let’s be honest, most of his action scenes were either CGI or a body double – comparatively, RDJr did sweet FA. Don’t get me wrong, I love Downey Jr just as much as the next sexual identity-confused male – he was just a prime example of many grossly paid actors who happened to star in a film I despised (sorry). The point I am finally arriving at (apologies everyone) is actors are hideously overpaid and I would like to see some of them work harder for their coin.

However, in saying that, there is a rare breed of actor that goes the extra mile, sacrificing more than just time for a role. Here are a few examples of incredibly dedicated actors and actresses who deserve recognition for their roles.

Octopi were Harmed in the Making of this Film.

Weight Watching

In the mind-blowing Korean thriller Oldboy, lead actor Choi Minsik, well… There’s no nice way to say this… He eats an octopus. It is epic. And atrocious. And it makes me feel slightly ill… But my god it’s impressive. The first time I saw it, I thought it must have been CGI. But no. It was a live, raw octopus – and not a small one either.

As he clamps his teeth down on the head, its soggy tentacles clamber for a hold on his face. I can’t even imagine what poor Min-sik went through for that scene… As a Buddhist, he apparently said a prayer for each one. Each one? Oh yeah, four octopi were devoured for the scene… Choi Min-sik, you’re one tough son of a bitch.

Gaining muscle and shedding pounds for acting roles comes with the territory – but there are a few that deserve an extra special mention.

Christian Bale is the king of drastic weight changes – it’s actually ridiculous. In 2004’s The Machinist, Bale dropped down to 55kg to plan a creepy insomniac before slogging it at the gym to play Bruce Wayne in 2005 (in which he weighed around 85kg). Over the next seven years he fluctuated between similar weights to portray various thin and bulky characters – I imagine his poor body will not thank him for it in the near future. Natalie Portman dropped nearly 10kg to portray a ballerina in Black Swan – a pretty amazing feat considering she wasn’t at all big to start with. She also trained eight hours a day, six days a week to get her dancing skills up to standard. Acting powerhouse Meryl Streep went all out for her Academy Award winning portrayal of a concentration camp prisoner in 1982’s Sophie’s Choice. Not only did she lose over ten kilo, she also cut off her hair, learnt German, Polish and most incredibly, how to speak German in a Polish accent.

All Hail the King

Dedicated De Niro

No article on dedicated actors is complete without mention of the king of method acting himself – Daniel Day-Lewis. The only male to take out three best actor Academy Awards (surpassed only by Katharine Hepburn who won four for Best Actress), Daniel DayLewis is an absolute madman when it comes to commitment to roles.

When playing a frontiersman in The Last of the Mohicans, Day-Lewis apparently lived in the American wild for weeks, eating nothing but what he killed and cooked with his hands. Ridiculous. When playing a cerebral palsy character in My Left Foot, he remained in role at all times, confined to his wheelchair, being spoon fed and carried. His efforts earned him two broken ribs, some frustrated crew members and his first Oscar. As for his other films, he is constantly reinventing himself in order to become fully immersed in roles – bulking up, slimming down, learning languages and refusing to indulge in modern luxuries when shooting old stories. He’s also known for staying in character at ALL TIMES during filming – a method that has driven fellow cast members batshit insane.The man is a beast.

You best start respecting. All hail the King.

It is no coincidence that De Niro usually tops greatest actor of all time lists – he is flippin’ epic. He studied and lived in Sicily to prep for The Godfather: Part II, he worked as a cab driver in New York for a month to play Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver and gained 60 pounds to play Jake La Motta in Raging Bull. He also spent five grand at the dentist getting his teeth ground down to play the violent sexual predator Max Cady in Cape Fear. I get shivers just thinking about that procedure… Luckily de Niro had a further twenty grand handy to get his chompers restored. If you’ve ever seen the unnervingly intense Russian roulette scene in The Deer Hunter, I’m sure you can vouch for De Niro’s incredibly realistic portrayal of a man flirting with death. Perhaps it had something to do with the live round De Niro requested in his pistol. True story.

Yes it was a controlled scene and before every take the gun was checked and checked again, but still - shit can happen. The man has balls of steel. www.ausm.org.nz

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Moments Of Happiness

By Hazel Buckingham As we draw closer to the end of the year, people’s faces seem to be getting glummer around campus. Especially for third years, who are having to confront the diabolical situation of having to graduate, find a job and enter the ‘real world’. So while you put off thinking about that for yet another day, here’s a list of the top 10 things you can do to make yourself smile! If I don’t see at least 10 people smile at me across the next week, then I will draw the conclusion that you are all cold, heartless monsters who don’t deserve to read debate anyway. So, SMILE. 1.

2.

3.

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First of all – know you are beautiful. Inside and out. Every single person has the potential for greatness, and should emulate it.

While that does sound very cheesy, it’s very true, and you should know at least one person believes in you!

Youtube “A father sees his son for the first time after thinking he was dead”. It is the most heartwarming thing ever. A Syrian dad is reunited with his toddler who he thought was killed in a chemical attack. If you are not shedding a tear after three minutes, there is something genetically wrong with you.

Slow Loris. Google it. Or YouTube it. Or buy one. If you buy one, I want to be your new best friend and I want to move in with you and spend every waking moment with you. Well maybe not with you, but at least with your Slow Loris. Potentially the cutest thing on earth. I am getting the warm fuzzies just thinking about it.

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I’m going to YouTube it again….. awwwwwww :D so much happiness 4.

Go for a run. Now this may be a bit of a hypocritical statement to make, since I manage to go for about one run every three weeks (despite constant promises to myself that I will get up early every morning and begin the day with a jog), but do what I say not as I do! Exercise releases endorphins, and endorphins make you happy (and as Legally Blonde taught us – “happy people don’t kill their husbands”). It’s like scientifically proven and stuff. So do it.

5.

BuzzFeed “14 Hiss-Terically Cheesy Cat Jokes”. They really are ridiculously cheesy, and just get worse as the list progresses, but they are guaranteed to put a smile on your face. For example: What did the cat do when he swallowed some cheese? Waited by the mouse hole with baited breath.

Ahahahaha. Geddit? Geddit?

GEDDIT? So much goodness.

6.

Music. Put on your favourite song.

But not your current favourite song. I mean like your all time favourite song – one you probably haven’t listened to in a while. And turn it up really loud, dance around like a crazy person and just forget about everything else. If you’re struggling, Drops of Jupiter by Train is fool-proof, or Somewhere Only We Know by Keane. I know, admitting my terrible music taste, but they make you happy, I guarantee.

7.

While we’re on the music bandwagon, YouTube Carlos Guevara’s 2013 X-Factor USA audition. Carlos is a ninth grader with Tourette’s and OCD, and his life must be pretty damn difficult.

He can barely string a sentence together without neurological ticks invading his communication.

But as soon as the music comes on, it takes over his soul and he transforms the situation into a magical experience. That audition is actually watching someone’s dream come true. Watch it. I cried.

True story.

8.

Random acts of kindness. You’ll be surprised how much happiness you can get from doing something for someone else. Whether you pick up a volunteer shift or just bake someone cookies, doing something to help others and watching them smile will rub off on you. Happiness is like the plague – highly contagious!

9.

People watch. Kids, elderly couples holding hands and walking slowly through the supermarket, tourists discovering a new world. Watching people just be people will make you realise just how beautiful humanity can be.

10. If you’re still not smiling, come and find me. We will go for coffee or tea or hot chocolate or water or alcohol or ANYTHING and I will constantly ramble and sing and dance and tickle you until you smile. I promise. Because life is good.

HOW TO MONEY

by Kieran Bennet

by Kieran Bennett

Here at Studylink, we want to help. When we're not setting fire to contracts or running our phones through the blender, we're constantly thinking of ways for you to save that little bit extra so you can be free from your unreasonably large loan one, maybe two days earlier. Here are our tips.

1) Stop eating.

-Food is vastly overrated anyway, so why should you buy it when it’s just so expensive? Food is in fact 86% likely to be your largest bill after rent, power, water, internet, loan repayments, textbooks and public transport.

2) Can’t hack not eating? Eat cheap.

-Balanced meals with meat and vegetables and carbs are for chumps.

Chumps who are poor. Go into the supermarket with no idea what you’re going to buy and you won’t be tempted. It will be even better if you go hungry as your stomach will guide you instinctively.

3) Cease doing anything other studying, sleeping, eating and pooping.

-As a student, your studies are a high priority. If you make it your only priority, you'll save just that much more cash. If your friends invite you out for drinks, politely decline. Instead, stay at home and stare at a piece of drywall.

4) Make your own fun

5) Stop catching public transport

-Public transport is a huge cost for students. Instead of relying on a fairly inept system why not go the environmentally friendly route and walk?

After all, every student there was and ever will be lives right next door to their chosen university right? If walking isn’t an option, try running, it's like walking, only slightly faster.

6) If you haven’t already, leave home

-Leaving home is incredibly easy and cost efficient. Not only will you gain large amounts of independence, but you will also never run out of money thanks to Studylink’s FlatHelper ©. FlatHelper is a free allocation of money towards your flat in order to help pay for your living expenses.

We’ll be happy to set you up with it and then spend the next 30 years ripping away half of every pay check.

7) Ask your parents for help

-Your parents are never-ending fountains of money that exist solely to support you financially and so when money is tight, just take theirs. Your parents don’t need to eat, pay bills or really do anything other than pay for your university education. This option is attractive as your parents have no bills of their own and the economic climate is in perfect health, meaning that everyone has lots of money to go around.

8) Sell Meth

-Cause that’s cool right? It's on the TV and everything….

-Just kidding. You can’t afford fun and really shouldn’t be having any anyway. www.ausm.org.nz

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GRAVITY reviewed by Matthew Cattin Starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney Directed by Alfonso Cuarón

When Star Wars Episode IV made its cinema debut in 1977, audiences were stunned by the ground-breaking special effects. I’ve spoken with people who remember the event vividly – they smile enthusiastically as they reminisce on their first experience with the franchise. And that’s precisely what it was – a new experience. Audiences were not accustomed to such astonishing visuals – it caught them off guard, extending the boundaries of their perceptions of cinema. Having grown up in the 90’s, I never had such an experience.

Sure the visuals in Avatar and Lord of the Rings were pretty damn impressive but having taken for granted the magic of CGI years ago, I found it too easy to lump the achievements into “oh, this sequence must have taken ages to render digitally,” box. Yes I’m ungrateful, demanding and a little bit Veruca Salt right now but to truly impress me in the cinema these days, directors need to have more than just a multimillion dollar digital effects budget. I want to watch a film and think “by the beard of Spielberg! How the feck did they film that?!

What is this wizardry!?”

Alfonso Cuarón’s new space drama Gravity has pulled in an incredible amount of hype. James Cameron has labelled it “the best space movie ever done,” Rolling Stone claims it’s “some kind of miracle,” and Time states “Gravity shows us the glory of cinema’s future”.

Does it live up to the praise? Absolutely.

Gravity begins with a 15 minute shot. If your jaw didn’t just drop, pause for a moment to consider the implications of this achievement.

That is 15 minutes of perfect dialogue, precise camera movement/ focus and flawless effects – a big ask for any filmmaker, let alone on the scale and majesty of a film like Gravity. Cuarón is no stranger to incredibly orchestrated long sequences – in fact he has a reputation for them. His 2006 film Children of Men displayed several stunning examples which are still considered masterpieces of the technique – yet they were nothing on this. Let me set the scene – the space shuttle Explorer is floating peacefully through space as astronauts Sandra Bullock and George Clooney make external repairs. Planet Earth anchors the shot, bright and quiet below, comforting yet so isolating. The camera floats between the characters, fluid and graceful, ever changing between stunning wide shots and intimate close ups and all the while never cutting once. Just as you adjust to the wonderful sensation of space, disaster strikes and space debris rips through the shuttle, sending poor Bullock hurtling through nothingness. All of this happens in one incredible sequence you really have to see to believe (and even then you won’t believe it). “It’s the idea of trying to create a moment of truthfulness in which the camera hap-

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pens to be there just to witness, and respecting that moment in real time,” Cuarón explained to Wired magazine.

Like I mentioned earlier, Gravity is not just a film – it is an experience. For 90 minutes, you are trapped in the most challenging environment imaginable, tantalising close to earth yet so isolated from any means of rescue. You feel the claustrophobia sinking its claws when the O2 levels drop below two per cent in Bullock’s suit. You cringe in desperation when she gets thrown into a nauseating spin.

Like Das Boot, Lebanon and Open Water before it, Gravity uses the environment so successfully that you’re reluctantly pulled into a world without means of escape. You’re no longer a casual spectator – instead you are nauseous and frayed after experiencing a perilous zero gravity manoeuvre. It’s terrifying and a testament to the fact that other directors need to step up their game.

It wasn’t by any means a perfect film. George Clooney – while a delightful silver fox – I felt was a little too casual in his role to be compelling. Yes he kept a calm façade throughout to keep Bullock’s character chill but I got the impression he would have been perfectly content to just float on blissfully through space and forget the world.

So yeah, the acting and dialogue didn’t blow my mind, tending too close to cliché and clutter for my liking. But flip, I was in space, I was loving the view, and I honestly couldn’t care less.

A favourite moment of the film was when Bullock defied odds to make it back to the safety of a space station. With next to no oxygen left in her suit, she tears it off piece by piece in desperation, shedding death and embracing the life-giving atmosphere of the module. It’s a touching moment – curled up in her undergarments like a baby in the womb, she has a moment of peace, suspended and still in zero gravity. An oxygen tube floats alongside her resembling an umbilical cord and while the moment doesn’t last long, it’s enough to make you pause and think “faaaaark. This is a beautiful film…”

In the hands of a classless director, such as Michael Bay, Gravity would have been appalling – let’s be honest. A mix of Open Water and Apollo 13, the premise needed a talented filmmaker to fully reach its potential – and that it did. It’s not the best film I have ever seen and it’s not “the best space movie ever done,” but in terms of modern blockbusters, it has set the bar pretty fricken high if you ask me.

Visually stunning, gripping and emotional, this is worth a trip to the cinema.

image source: wikipedia

The World (AMERICA) is Ending!

by Connor McLay We all know about those Tea Party Republicans sitting in the US Congress right? That gang of recently initiated ‘Merrica! Hollerin southern boys who go deer hunting on the weekend and like to use buzz words like ‘freedom’, ‘constitutional’ and ‘God given’ even when they don’t even remotely apply to the situation. Well not long ago they decided to pull what is destined to be one of history’s greatest moments of assholery and basically took their own country hostage.

Here’s a brief summary of what has been going on in America. As one of his election promises, President Barack Obama implemented a national healthcare program. That promise survived his re-election and it became a bill which became a law. Please take the time to understand that one fact fundamentally - the fighting over the bill has been done, the American people decided they wanted it, Congress passed it and it is no longer just a plan for the future or a promise anymore - it is a law of the United States. It. Is. A. Law. Get it?

The Tea Party republicans - whose stance on politics consists of a take no prisoners, no negotiation, dig our feet in until the other guy gives up or the country burns under our set of ideals - hate this law. They hate it as if it were the Nazis, Viet Cong and the Soviets all rolled into one great big anti-American package. They hate it so much, that when the time came for the federal budget to be approved, they refused to do so until Obama delayed the health care law for a year.

The consequences of this? America has effectively shut down.

Hundreds of thousands of government employees are not going to work because the nation is not paying them. National parks, memorial sites, essential government services, are closing their doors because of an act of self-sabotage so monumentally childish, it would almost be funny if it wasn’t so damaging and damn scary that these people actually have power.

The budget has nothing to do with the healthcare plan. The Affordable Healthcare Bill (Obamacare) kicked off the same day the nation shut down and one million people had signed up within the first day. It is currently in practice. In other words, the Tea Party Republicans have lost this one. However much they hate Obamacare, it’s too late.

The time to oppose it and gain public support to get it shot down, passed long ago. America decided they wanted it and voted it in. The

law came to be by the letter of the very same constitutional laws the Republicans are now claiming will somehow implode if Obamacare continues. Now Tea Party Republicans are holding the federal budget hostage in a blatant, selfish attempt to force through their own political agenda, effectively choking the country by the neck until it gives them what they want or dies under them.

You get the grand irony of the situation right? A minority that doesn’t like the way the country is being run has managed to jam a spanner in the gears of the nation to grind the entire system to a screeching halt.

Because Obamacare is a threat to American freedom how? I don’t really know. The exact reasoning behind the connection between the law and the disastrous collapse of America and everything it stands for has not been clearly explained. The prevailing logic is that the less government control the better, and here is where that irony comes in.

This health care law was not forced onto America, they chose it. They chose to no longer be virtually the only civilised nation in the world without one. The ones denying America its essential freedoms are the ones sitting in office and saying it’s not free unless we decide it should exist.

My prediction is this: Obamacare will not be the end of America as we know it. Bold claim right? And made on such little basis as the fact that nearly every other first world country has a similar bill and yet we all seem alright. But yet another grand irony of the Tea Party rebellion could become very disastrously obvious come mid-October. You see, sometime around the 17th, unless this situation can be resolved, the United States is going to run out of money. The USA faces a fiscal cliff and if a higher debt ceiling is not approved, America is going to collapse, and when they do, they will drag the entire world down with them.

Many Republicans now outwardly admit that this continuing refusal to deviate from their path of total genocide is not even about policy anymore so much as pride. Marlin Stutzman, a Republican representative from the state of Indiana, has been quoted to say “We’re not going to be disrespected … We have to get something out of this, and I don’t know what that even is”. He later apologised for what he said was a careless statement, but the sheer immaturity of that viewpoint still leaves me wondering whether America wouldn’t be better off if they replaced most of their own congress with a large gang of howler monkeys. www.ausm.org.nz

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Crackhead Comedy Set to Daze

by Matthew Cattin No matter your stance on drug use, you can’t deny its fantastic contribution to cinema history. Requiem for a Dream, Pulp Fiction and Trainspotting all set the standards in decades past and now it’s New Zealand turn to carry the torch for hopeless junkies and delirious addicts everywhere.

Crackheads, directed by Tim Tsiklauri and Andy Sophocleous, is an upcoming Kiwi black comedy with “substance about substance abuse.”

Tim and Andy, who are also both writers and executive producers of the flick, caught up with debate to discuss the film in all its glory. “It charts hilarious and painful descent of four normal guys into the mayhem of drug addiction,” they say. “As with many drugs, at first life just seems to be better on crack. But what goes up, must come down.”

I just checked out the trailer. It looks excellent! Well done. You didn’t seem to hold back on offensive material though – was this a conscious decision, to just say fuck it, we’re making a film about P, let’s not hold back?

Well, actually, we left most of the offensive material out of the trailer.

Because we’re really hoping to also attract the “grey dollar”, an industry term for senior citizens. Yes, it was a conscious decision to not hold back, because we wanted to create a truthful depiction of the world that our characters plunge into. This is the reality of the world you end up in if you follow the trail of P, the world where you lose the concept of holding back.

P seems like an interesting choice for a comedy. How do you deal with such a serious issue lightly?

We got ridiculously high one night and it seemed like a really good idea.

By the time we got sober, the film had already been made. Frankly, we don’t remember any of it. But seriously, comedy is almost always about adversity. Take Meet the Parents or The Hangover for example.

Those characters are having the worst time of their lives but it can be expressed through humour. We are very clear in showing that P would ruin your life. We have just chosen to show it through humour rather than another dark drama.

It’s been recognised as NZ’s Breaking Bad. Do you feel this is an accurate representation?

There are definite similarities. If you’re a fan, there’s a high chance you’ll like our film. At the same time, Crackheads is more like Breaking

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Bad meets The Hangover. There is more straight comedy in our film than in Walter White’s story. We’re also probably more “un-pc”.

You’ve won official selection to the Mexico and Austin Film Festivals but will you have any screen time in NZ? It’s a resolute “yes”. We’ve decide to create an event that stands out by using the Maidment Theatre rather than a usual multiplex. In association with Sony New Zealand, we’re bringing a genuine cinema experience right into the heart of the student community. The film will premiere on the 16th of Nov, with more dates to follow in Nov and Dec. All details on how to buy a ticket will be on our website www. crackheadsthemovie.com from next week. By the way, the film screened in Mexico to a sell-out audience and it was a riot. Some late arrivals were allowed to sit on the floor and in the fire exits. I don’t think we’ll get away with it here in New Zealand. So you may have to hurry to get your ticket – this is a one-off strictly limited season.

Tim you’ve been invited to a panel discussion at the Austin Film Festival to chat about making films on a micro budget. How much of a budget did you have to work with? Did the NZFC come on board?

We’ve made a million dollar film for fifty G’s. Repeatedly, we’ve been told by industry professionals that it was impossible. But we proved otherwise. That’s why we’re on that panel. As for the Film Commission, we had a meeting over coffee and they offered to pick up the tab. But he left his card at home. They still owe us $3.50.

Did you have any major challenges to overcome when filming?

The church was against it. Apparently we got reported to the higher authorities. We believe that’s why the Pope resigned. As for the challenges, if you don’t have money, you end up paying in other ways.

There are many examples of that. We had to do many jobs and help with every aspect to ensure this monster of a project didn’t fall apart.

It’s safe to say the shoot was the most intense four weeks of our lives, and the four years it took to make the film – the biggest test of our endurance.

This film has been a long time coming. Why did it take so long to develop the script?

We’ve always treated it as a million dollar film and we wanted to produce a script that we could confidently hand over to a Hollywood exec. We believe that the script is the very foundation of a good film. Even if you have the best actors in the world, or the best cinematography, if it’s not built on a solid foundation, it will fall over.

So we just gave it the time that it deserved. And that’s why the film got into Austin, which is the “writers” festival on the festival circuit.

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27

PREDICTING THE FUTURE

by Nigel Moffiet Wouldn’t it be amazing to see into the future? Imagine what might take place if science could accurately predict events 100 years from now? I’m not sure if it would be a good thing but it’s a very enjoyable thought experiment nevertheless.

I’ve always been curious about future advancements and the entertainment value appeals much like a mystery or a thriller –The Jetsons in their futuristic utopia, RoboCop in a near future crime spree, or the interstellar adventures of Star Trek. In some remarkable cases however, scientists, writers and visionaries have hit the mark years before their time.

Whether by a stroke of vague assumptions, sheer analytical brilliance or just being a fuckin’ tinarse the future has often been predicted by cool people. Here is a list of some of the most thought provoking and mind-bendingly accurate predictions of all time.

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Arthur C. Clarke

The Onion

Predicted: The iPad and online newspapers in 1968.

Predicted that the Recording Industry Association of America would sue radio stations for copyright.

Maybe we should revisit the term ‘science fiction writer’ as quite often such writers are merely writing about non-fiction decades, perhaps centuries, before their time. Arthur C. Clarke’s screenplay to the epic Stanley Kubrick directed movie 2001: A Space Odyssey basically envisions an Apple or Samsung product a good 50 years ahead of its time. In fact, the movie depicts an Apple product so accurately that Samsung have mentioned Space Odyssey in their law defence against Apple who have said the Galaxy tablet is a product copy infringement. In the movie you can see astronauts using what appears to be an iPad-like gadget as they read the news during breakfast in space. In Clarke’s novel he writes: “When he had tired of official reports, memoranda and minutes, he would plug his . . . Newspad into the ship’s information circuit and scan the latest reports from Earth. One by one, he would conjure up the world’s major electronic papers . . . Each had its own two-digit reference.

When he punched that, a postage-sized rectangle would expand till it neatly filled the screen and he could read it with comfort. When he finished he could flash back to the complete page and select a new subject for detailed examination . . . one could spend an entire lifetime doing nothing but absorbing the ever-changing flow of information from the news satellites.”

Everybody by now is pretty familiar with the satirical humour of the faux news site The Onion. It’s often alarming when people are so easily fooled by a joke, but what’s more disturbing is when Onion news becomes real news. During the Napster piracy debates The Onion published a 2002 story titled, “RIAA Sues Radio Stations For Giving Away Free Music”. It was a good laugh, right? Well in 2008 the RIAA really did start focusing on radio stations as “a form of piracy, if you will, but not in the classic sense as we think of it . . . their argument (is) that they provide promotional value. We think that’s a red herring. Nobody listens to the radio for the commercials,” said music First spokesman.

Dmitri Mendeleev Predicted the missing 40 elements of the periodic table in 1863

Alexis de Tocqueville

There’s something about well-known 19th century Russians – they always look so badass. Chemist Dmitri Mendeleev was one of them.

A pretty smart badass too. In 1863 only 60 elements of the periodic table were known. Mendeleev, however, accurately predicted the weights and properties of the missing 40 by analysing patterns in the existing elements with near-perfect results. Among his achievements was predicting germanium well over 100 years before its official discovery in 1986 –which he had named 'ekasilicon' at the time.

Predicted the Cold War in 1840

Jules Verne

Roughly a hundred years before the start of the Cold War between the US and Russia (when the world was catastrophically close to blowing itself to pieces) some hipster historian from France named Alexis predicted shit would go down between these two nations.

“There are now two great nations in the world which, starting from different points, seem to be advancing toward the same goal: the Russians and the Anglo-Americans .... Their point of departure is different and their paths diverse; nevertheless, each seems called by some secret desire of Providence one day to hold in its hands the destinies of half the world.” Alexis de Tocqueville wrote this in Democracy in America in 1840, and it falls into the category of predictions which were envisaged by sheer analytical brilliance as opposed to being a fluky bugger.

Nostradamus.

Predicted: September 11 attacks circa 1650 Well, I don’t want to get too carried away with this one. This 16th century French seer wrote vaguely enough that you could make what you want from his predictions and people have gotten carried away with them. However, he is like the granddaddy of the occult so he must be included. Yet this vision was rather spooky: “Two steel birds will fall from the sky on the Metropolis. The sky will burn at forty-five degrees latitude (New York City lies between 40-45 degrees). Fire approaches the great new city. Immediately a huge, scattered flame leaps up. Within months, rivers will flow with blood.

The undead will roam earth for little time.” But then again, as one online comment says: “If old Nos was alive today, he'd be pushing a shopping cart around the Bronx and mumbling incoherently to steam vents from manhole covers and envisioning dumpsters as highly intelligent alien forms!”

Roger Ebert Predicted video-on-demand business models and services in 1987.

Roger Ebert’s movie reviews for the Chicago Sun-Times were marked by brilliant observation and pin-point analysis. His reviews did more than merely relay the movie, they almost seemed to add something extra to the films he spoke about. His brilliant analytical mind went one step further when in 1987 he stated in an interview that “We will have high-definition, wide-screen television sets and a push-button dialling system to order the movie you want at the time you want it.” Basically he envisaged every modern on demand system out there today from Sky to Netflix.

Predicted the moon landing in 1865 In 1865 French novelist and playwright Jules Verne wrote about humankind’s first trip to the moon in a short story titled From the Earth to the Moon. More than 100 years later Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would successfully achieve the glorious feat in Apollo 11. Probably not such a far-fetched prediction really but what makes it so incredible was the detail of accuracy. In the 1865 short story the spaceship was launched in December by the US in a base in Florida. The ship was mostly made from aluminium and there were three crew members on board. He even predicted the feeling of weightlessness despite no evidence of zero gravity in space. Finally the capsule crashed into the Pacific Ocean and was retrieved by a US navy boat.

Ray Kurzweil Predicted a lot!

Ray Kurzweil is an American author and inventor who makes a career as a ‘futurist’. He is also the current director of engineering at Google. Among his books on technology, robotics and artificial intelligence he has predicted a whole range of ingenious developments and goes one step further by predicting the date they will take place.

He predicted the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, a computer beating a champion human chess player by 2000, everyday wireless internet in the 21st century, E-books and so on…Kurzweil boasts that since 2009, 89 of his 108 predictions were bang on while the rest were almost correct or haven’t taken shape yet.

Isaac Asimov Predicted the internet and how people would use it.

In a 1988 interview, Russian born (US citizen) science fiction writer Isaac Asimov didn’t just predict the internet (after all he wouldn’t be alone on this one) he also predicted how all you hard working/last minute AUT student s would be using it for research i.e. he knew Encyclopedia Britannica was a doomed business model. Asimov mentioned the “connected libraries” of information brought together through the internet. This would act as a “teacher in the form of access to the gathered knowledge of the human species,” he said.

He thought this would be a solution to the failure of the mainstream education system. “Nowadays, what people call learning is forced on you. Everyone is forced to learn the same thing on the same day at the same speed in class. And everyone is different. For some it goes too fast, for some too slow, for some in the wrong direction.”

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FILTH is coming to cinemas November 21 and Roadshow Films and Debate are giving you the chance to WIN one of 25 double passes to see this film. Email matthew.cattin@aut.ac.nz with your name, student ID and birth date to win!

SYNOPSIS

Scheming Bruce Robertson (James McAvoy), a bigoted and corrupt policeman, is in line for a promotion and will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

Enlisted to solve a brutal murder and threatened by the aspirations of his colleagues, including Ray Lennox (Jamie Bell), Bruce sets about ensuring their ruin, right under the nose of unwitting Chief Inspector Toal. As he turns his colleagues against one another by stealing their wives and exposing their secrets, Bruce starts to lose himself in a web of deceit that he can no longer control. His past is slowly catching up with him, and a missing wife, a crippling drug habit and suspicious colleagues start to take their toll on his sanity.

The question is: can he keep his grip on reality long enough to disentangle himself from the filth?

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www.ausm.org.nzRated: R18 - CONTAINS VIOLENCE, OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE, DRUG USE AND SEX SCENES.

Photos from the NZBF Cupcake Competition!

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Nine Inch Nails Hesitation Marks Rating: Reviewed by Nigel Moffiet

Lightning Bolt Rating: Reviewed by Matthew Cattin

I missed the steam train of Nine Inch Nails fandom which roared and hissed down the track for much of the 90s and onwards. Although, given the group’s wide reaching influence, I have indeed been exposed to the industrial extravagance NIN is renowned for – most recently with main man Trent Reznor’s original score for the 2010 film The Social Network which won him a Golden Globe and an Academy Award.

Thus, I can claim a certain level of objectiveness listening to Hesitation Marks – the eighth album by the darkly twisted band rumoured to be named after the length of the crucifixion’s building supplies or Freddy Krueger's nine-inch fingernails – hey, whatever suits you best.

Right through college, Pearl Jam was my absolute favourite thing.

Eddie was the consoler of my failed relationships, the stoker of the fire that was my teenage angst. Yes, we went through some times Pearl Jam and I.

I can avoid the hysteria taking place amongst some diehard fans who have shunned the album for its bright, upbeat tracks. Approaching 50, it seems Reznor’s grown out of his angst ridden gloom which at its darkest had him record 1994’s The Downward Spiral in the house where Sharon Tate was murdered by the Manson Family.

I suppose it would be idiotic for me to expect the raw, fuck-you attitude of PJ’s glory years but there it is – I miss the anger, the insanity, the break-neck riffs and howling vocals. What Lightning Bolt brings to the table is a watered down, punk/pop version of the Pearl Jam of old – even more diluted than 2009’s Backspacer (which I actually quite enjoyed).

Hesitation Marks begins with clinical and haunting intentions. The opening prelude The Eater of Dreams sounds like the pulse of a robotic monster. While Copy of A and Came Back Haunted deliver what one would expect of an industrial rock album with electro-synth beats, white noise, and distorted driving hooks built for blasting.

Copy of A gives you a feeling of Reznor’s intent with the lyrics “I am never certain anymore. I am just a shadow of a shadow of a shadow, always trying to catch up with myself”. And while Came Back Haunted is grippingly atmospheric in sound, Reznor’s vocals can get tiresome, especially on the repetitive and uninspired chorus.

When Reznor sings about finding direction on the track Find My Way the album really starts to blossom. It’s slow and pulsating; haunting and poetic. It captures a core feature of what NIN broke into – giving human depth to the mechanical sounds. Or as one All Music reviewer states, the way Reznor lends “emotional extravagance to a genre whose main theme had nearly always been dehumanization”. Even Johnny Cash was able to wear his heart on his sleeve with NIN’s song Hurt.

Perhaps it’s the punk fuelled guitar shuffle of Everything that has many longtime fans raising eyebrows. The song, in its cheerful, boisterous an ambient nature, is so far removed from the twisted nihilistic gloom of past albums that you could even make a Strokes comparison here. Maybe this is disturbing for some, but it all seems like harmless fun to me.

And fun is a simple and accurate way to describe the album. Instead of being caught up in a maelstrom of depressive states and twisted fantasies, you can enjoy this in a positive mood – the atmospheric sounds, sonic tinkerings, and distorted explosions have mixed results but some very exciting pay offs throughout. This is not to say the album’s like a rainbow in the sun after stormy weather. The industrial roots are still dark and the mood is still brooding but thankfully it’s titled Hesitation Marks – instead of going for a deep, fatal cut, Reznor’s just testing the sharpness of the blade.

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Pearl Jam

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Over 11 studio albums (including Lost Dogs), there’s barely one song I have disliked from the band. Having said that, I must admit I would probably rank my love for their albums in chronological order of release. There’s no bones about it – they simply have not improved. And sadly, Lightning Bolt does nothing to disrupt that trend.

Getaway kicks things off with the lack of urgency present in a band that’s already made its mark. It’s a fun – if somewhat unmemorable – track however with a loud bassline and Pearl Jam’s now iconic crunch chords. It’s followed seamlessly by the album’s leading single Mind Your Manners. A throwback to classic punk rock, the track is high intensity from its opening moments. I’m not sold on it though – sorry guys. You have Mike “riff-machine” McCready at your disposal – you can do better than punk power-chord riffs.

Sirens drops us suddenly into ballad territory – it’s also the second single from the record. The best thing about it is McCready’s beautiful delay solo – the rest is somewhat uninventive and stiff. One of my favourite moments of the record is the last third of track Lightning Bolt when Eddie pushes his vocals to their limits. It sounds as though he’s struggling – definitely not quite as powerful as he used to be. However, I like that struggle. It’s human, it’s imperfect and it’s something you don’t hear much of in modern music. It would have been easy as pie to drop the track down a tone but nay, Eddie was up for the fight and it comes across heroically.

Gone are the days of Eddie’s heavenly powerhouse baritone – decades of smoking, gigs and getting on the wine saw to that. But in its place is an older, wiser vulnerability which works in some tracks and not in others. Like an old dog, he barks his way through the energetic tracks and growls his way through the ballads.

Surprisingly Sleeping By Myself makes an appearance – a song used in Eddie’s solo ukulele album. It seems a bit of a filler track and I don’t I like the full band version nearly as much as the uke. It’s a great tune that works well as a sparse, campfire ballad – with the intrusive band it loses its timeless charm. Ballad Future Days closes the record and once again, I am not convinced. The violin is a nice touch, as is the acoustic guitar but as far as PJ ballads go, this is not a strong example.

Hard to admit it but Pearl Jam’s age is definitely showing. Here’s hoping for a greatest hits set at BDO.

Prowler

Wicked

Auckland based punk-rock band Prowler formed in early 2011 out of bands such as Dole Day Rage, Ghost Echoes and Wolves of Night.

Their first full length album Enter the Night was released in September this year, and is proof that Prowler are the next big thing in New Zealand punk.

I knew from the moment the orchestra began that Wicked was going to be the theatre show of a lifetime. As the horns blared, the incredibly detailed, semi-evil looking dragon hanging above the stage was shaken to life, streamers and confetti showered the front few rows, and it’s safe to say every single member in the audience sat up straight captivated by the magic.

But Prowler definitely don’t limit themselves solely within the ‘punk’ label, with multiple elements of hardcore, American rock and of course metal. Having recently opened for both of Bring Me The Horizon’s sold out Auckland shows, Prowler are setting themselves up as the new kings of New Zealand heavy music.

The popular Broadway musical, which tells the story of the Wizard of Oz before Dorothy and Toto dropped in, has been a hit with audiences all round the world for almost a decade. Now it’s finally come to Auckland.

Enter The Night Rating: Reviewed by Carl Ewen

From their opening tracks Enter the Night and Shit City, Prowler have a non-stop energy in their delivery. The fast paced and aggressive punk rock encompasses this album right from the get-go. While at first listen, Enter the Night sounds purely aggressive and pissed off, when listening closer to the lyrics you get the sense that this five piece are fighting back rather than laying down and accepting the inevitable.

Jettison has a feeling about it that reminds me of Kiwi punk legends Sommerset, with more of a punchy, angry tone, which I like. Prowler feel like the Kiwi answer to UK band Gallows, with a harder edge of metal thrown in. At only eight tracks and coming it at around 25 minutes, Enter The Night is still a solid release with a lot to offer.

Prowler more than deliver on their promises made on their official Facebook page, “blending ragged fury with roaring power, Prowler produces a tsunami wall of over-driven guitars, thick- heavy bass, explosive drums and lashings of hoarse vocals.”

Prowler seem to have this ability to remove you from where ever you are listening to the album, and drop you straight in the middle of a sweaty, nasty (in a good way) mosh pit. Track six, Shit Like You is a perfect example, with the harsh vocals and grinding rhythm section that make you want to take on a fight pit head on.

Primarily, I am a metal head, but my musical palate is open to all genres, especially punk and hardcore. Prowler have now cemented their place on my playlist of top NZ heavy acts. And if their recorded work is anything to go by, their live shows must be intense. The energy they are able to fit into such a short album is huge! If you like your music heavy, make sure you check out Prowler.

Stand out tracks: Enter The Night, Shit City, Jettison and Shit Like You.

Theater Show Rating: Reviewed by Hazel Buckingham

I went in with expectations pretty damn high. Not only had the reviews for the Auckland version been glowing and ticket sales rocketing, but I’d seen the magnificent show in Sydney in 2010, and had since become its number one fan. I knew every song, every word, every musical motif off by heart, so nothing but perfection was going to satisfy me. And perfection was almost what I got.

The two leads, Jemma Rix who plays awkward outcast Elphaba (who goes on to become the Wicked Witch) and Suzie Mathers who plays “Galinda” the Good Witch really did steal the show. Rix’s version of Defying Gravity took my breath away and I found myself wishing there was a repeat button so I could watch her over and over again. The entire company was precise, disciplined and energetic, convincingly portraying scenes with enthusiasm and skill. An incredible costume ensemble and a glimmering set complimented the upbeat storyline and witty one-liners.

The set changes and tech cues flowed seamlessly, and every word was not just said, but conveyed with true emotion and power. The plot in itself is genius, communicating powerful themes and an other-worldy story in a relatable and entertaining manner.

What let me down were the male roles. Jay Laga’Aia played the Wizard, and has been the publicity angle for most of the show (because apparently the idea of a “brown” wizard is newsworthy), but he was decidedly average. As was Steve Danielsen who played Fiyero. It’s not that they didn’t have the talent; just they weren’t particularly strong or convincing in their respective parts. Sure there was eye candy, but no real romantic spark between Fiyero and either of his love interests, or much of an emotional journey for the Wizard through what turns out to be quite a rocky road for him personally.

Finally, I just had that nagging feeling of ‘I’ve seen this done better’ in the back of my mind the whole way through. But perhaps that’s just me being a pedantic fan. What I will pull the stage show up on though is the symbolism – the ticking clocks, the time-dragon, the green elixir – all keystones to the plot were there but never really explained the way they are in the book. I could imagine the whole thing could be a little hard to follow for a Wicked virgin.

But all in all, the show was fantastic just as I knew it would be. The cast had talent in bucket loads and it wasn’t just a performance, it was an experience. Besides, I’m sure Galinda will tell you, if you want to be ‘popular’, it’s the place to be!

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