Debate | Issue 24

debate ISSUE ISSUE 24 19 | OCTOBER | AUGUST2015 2015

CREDITS EDITOR Laurien Barks laurien.barks@aut.ac.nz SUB-EDITORS Matthew Cattin Amelia Petrovich Julie Cleaver DESIGNER Ramina Rai CONTRIBUTORS Amelia Petrovich, Matthew Cattin, Julie Cleaver, Sharyn Graham Davies, Shivani Rajan, William Bowman, Kerryn Smith, Savannah Welsh, Shivan, Ethan Sills, Maya ADVERTISING Harriet Smythe hsmythe@aut.ac.nz

Pg 5 Editor’s Letter

Pg 19 What’s up Arli Liberman?

Pg 6 Albi And The Wolves

Pg 21 Sex and Sexualities in Indonesia

Pg 8 Work It

Pg 22 Lord, Shave Us All

Pg 10 Cool Shit

Pg 25 Recipe

Pg 11 Wales Rider

Pg 26 Is That Your Phone or My Face?

Pg 12 Coming of Age

Pg 28 White is the New Black

Pg 14 Social Modesty

Pg 30 Reviews

Pg 16 Not Liking Disliking

Pg 32 Puzzles

Pg 18 3am Thoughts

Pg 34 Vox Pops

Contributions can be sent to

lbarks@aut.ac.nz

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3

Because co-ed gym classes with a bunch of 13 year old hormone vessels running around weren’t awkward enough, the Canadian school system forced us to learn square dancing for about a month. This meant touching boys. And not in the rough-housing, muddy way I was used to with my pals/bro/ cousins (I was dainty af). We had to hold hands, I had to touch shoulders, and I had to be okay with my waist being hoverheld. It was a nervous gal’s nightmare. To make matters worse, I was always paired up with the tallest boy in the class, one I had a very secret crush on, so I would spend the entire hour looking like a sunburned lobster, trying to sputter out clever banter that wound up sounding a lot like the kid from those Cuddly fabric conditioner ads.

EDITOR ’S LETTER Hey All, With the Rugby World Cup alive and well, I’ve been thinking a lot about my own sporting experiences. While I’ve never been a die-hard fan, I’ve always had fun getting amongst sports when the opportunities have presented themselves. I like to chill out and watch a game when I’m with people (who can explain things to me when I need it…), and I love getting amongst some social sport on a sunny day. I can count on two fingers the number of sports I’ve been able to somewhat hold my own in, and I can count on several hands the number of sports that wind up with me being told to “go long…nah, longer…just get off the field!” But that’s alright, I always have a great time. I figure, being one of the worst players at all times means you’re never bored, you always feel like you’ve been challenged.

That being said, I wasn’t always so optimistic. Gym classes in those intermediate/early college years made up my most dreaded part of school. Never did I feel like more of an awkward gawky teenager than when I was thrown into a group of kids, and forced to jump around in old droopy basketball shorts and a completely unnecessary training bra. Though never one to make up an excuse to be a benchwarmer all class, I sweated through more than a few sweaty, acne-flared experiences. Thankfully there came a day when puberty hit, I gained something that resembled vague confidence, and was finally able to relax and enjoy myself a bit more. But it was a long and gangly road to get there. I thought I’d share a few of my more memorable shining moments.

I went to kindergarten at one primary school, then swapped over in time for second grade. This meant that I had to say goodbye to all of my kindy besties and hope that, when the timing was better, we would come together once more. This is what wound up happening, but not in the magical way I’d always imagined. When I was 11, I joined the basketball team at school. I wasn’t great, but it was fun to play different schools in the area and have some good ol’ fashioned clean competition. Until my old school came to the court. My kindy bestie, Tory, was the star player, and my oh my had she grown up from the tiny wee mouse she once was. About a head and shoulder taller than me, and with a womanly figure that put the plywood-inspired look I was rocking to shame, I gulped back my fear and went to say hello. She either didn’t recognize me, or just wasn’t feeling my vibes, but this 11 year old, puberty-bazooka’d giant told me to “fuck the hell off”. Her sportsmanship didn’t improve as the game progressed either, I was elbowed to the ground, body checked, and took a ball to the face. And all for nothing, it didn’t reliever her tension one bit…she was still pretty pissed, and it was her eventual scream of “oh shit!” after a mildly disappointing play that eventually got her benched. I guess that half a BFF necklace didn’t mean as much to her as it did to me.

I feel like the fact that I was curling in the first place is lame enough on its own, let alone with an added awkwardteenager bonus story. For a novelty gym class in Canada, we were taken to a rink a couple times a year and taught to curl – if you don’t know what it is, count yourself lucky. Basically you’re sliding giant-ass stones down an ice runway, and trying to get closest to the centre dot while people with brooms try to help you reach your target (I thought brooms would make it cooler, but you wind up feeling more like an underpaid janitor than a Quidditch star). On top of all the giant stones and cleaning supplies, you’re also given a little pad to attach to your shoe to reduce traction…yeah, they give you something to make the ice more slippery. Normally I’d blame a natural klutziness, but the whole sport seems to be a recipe for disaster.

Ultimately, I threw a stone, slipped, failed to let go in time, and was dragged along, face-to-ice toward the centre. I didn’t win, but the rest of the team did when they got to sit out while I got my facial ice burn tended to. You’re welcome, team.

Have a good week everyone!

Laurien 5

Albi And The Wolves Interviewed by Laurien Barks 1) If you had to summarize your band in three film titles, what titles would you choose and why?

Matt: Dancing with Wolves. The title says it all really, we sure do like to make people dance, even better, we like to jump off and dance with them!

Chris: I would say something like Little Miss Sunshine because what the band becomes is a tiny little dysfunctional family. The bonds that you create are literally the best and worst things depending on the time, and just like any family it is never an easy journey so you have to work on the relationships inside it.

I think anything in Simon Peg and Nick Frost's catalogue because when we are together for gigs, rehearsals or trips we pretty much never stop talking.

The banter is sometimes good, the banter is sometimes shite but more than anything it is constant so you are bound to crack a funny eventually.

2) How did Albi And The Wolves come to be?

Chris: I had moved up to Auckland and after a long relationship that ended, I was wandering around Auckland trying to figure out what to do with my life. I stumbled upon one of the most enthusiastic people I had ever met, that was none other than Matt Owens.

Matt: I finally saw Chris playing at a bar in Kingsland, his rhythms and songs were amazing and a perfect fit with what I was into and the style I played so I confronted him, took him hostage, and after a week with no food in my dungeon he agreed to start a band with me. He knew Micheal young, and I brought in Pascal who had played with me in my previous band. All of a sudden, we were a pack.

3) Where did the inspiration for your guys’ name come from?

Chris: Matt’s head, before writing this I read over his comment and his

answer was pretty good. I was Albi for a few years before so it made sense to hold on to that and when Matt came up with The Wolves I was more than stoked, but to be honest I don’t have much to say about it except that Matt made it and I was Albi before.

Matt: I was thinking long and hard about names for quite some time, with no luck, and plenty of frustration.

I was at home and noticed my 'where the wild things are' book, the cover has the little lad in the white suit and glasses standing with wild things. I thought to myself, hey that looks like Albi, I replaced the wild things with Wolves, and a name was born.

4) Which classic television show character do each of you identify with the most? Why? Matt: The Terminator, because he's just a total badass and so am I. Realistically though, I'd probably have to say Charlie Sheen.

5) You have to get pretty creative sometimes to have success in this industry – any quirky marketing/ advertising/we-need-to-get-ourmusic-heard strategies worth sharing?

Anything out of the ordinary?

Chris: Try everything. Seems like the best tactic is to talk to everyone, on the internet and in person, because you never know what they may turn out to be. You may make a friend or you may meet someone who wants to help you on your journey, but if you never start the conversation then you will never get the opportunities.

Matt: I’ve used Twitter Instagram and Facebook to really slut ourselves around, we've had some fantastic responses from all of those platforms, social media is essential. I've thought about hanging banners over motorways during peak hour traffic but I'm not keen to pay the bill when there's a 220 car pileup. You'd get noticed though, wink emoticon. I recently got our music video on a certain airline. Believe it or not.

We can thank Tinder for that.

6) What’s the worst day job you’ve ever had?

Matt: Washing cars at CarFe. The wet bus rides home made me want to shoot myself.

7) Where do you draw your song writing inspiration from?

Chris: People mainly, I love people and getting to know them. So every song I have written ever has been about people I have met and their stories or our interactions. This has its ups and downs as sometimes you have to hide the characters into the story somehow, but yeah. I don’t think I know how to write about anything else.

Matt: I feel like I shouldn't say it, but it's the truth. I was inspired to play by Mumford and Sons, so I guess there's a bit of them in the mix from my side.

I'm inspired by people like the Black Seeds and their dubby sounds which

I’d like to mix up with folk noise. Jimi Hendrix will also be an idol too.

8) What’s coming up for you guys?

How can people get amongst your awesome sound?

Chris: Well, I implore you to come to a gig because that is what we do best. So if you want to know what we are about then there’s that, but if you can’t, we have our music all over the internet on Spotify, Youtube, iTunes, Bandcamp and Soundcloud.

Matt: We have so many amazing things coming up, some of them are truly epic but I'm not allowed to disclose the information at this time. But think big festivals, amazing locations, tours, collaborations with beautiful talented people, and a whole lot of good vibrations through music and dance. Who knows, we hope AUT and its students dig our sounds and want us along at an orientation sometime, I certainly miss O-Week, it was an awesome time!

7

WORK IT

Amelia Petrovich | Illustration by Logan Gubb Imagine yourself.

Imagine yourself five, maybe even three years from now.

Do you see kids? Do you see your own home?

According to a recent report, over one third of us young students aren’t this optimistic.

The New Zealand Students Association just released a report on student debt and how it shapes the way students see their own future; as it turns out, a huge amount of us reckon we’re screwed.

I mean this shouldn’t really come as much surprise; uni is expensive and we all knew that when we jumped onboard this cash-draining train. Sure, our parents and politicians and so many real-life, successful adults got all of this education and advantage for free, but we won’t, and that’s a fact many of us have more or less come to terms with.

What’s absolutely not okay though, is the amount of people telling us that even though we have this enormous, disgusting debt to look forward to, we shouldn’t study and be employed at the same time. This is legitimate advice I have been given by real, actual tutors- apparently working any more frequently than ten hours a week as well as studying full time means that you will do badly and you will probably fail.

The problems I have with this kind of mindset are one thousandfold.

Firstly, even if doing this were a fair request, the execution for many students would be nigh impossible.

Like, I don’t know if anybody has noticed recently (hint: they probably

yourself in 15 more somewhere else.

Like I said, fees aren’t cheap and it

have) but Auckland is a hideously expensive city to live in. Annoyingly,

doesn’t help any of us to be wasting time here, a lot of us are going to

the universities and student life up here are also kind of awesome, so

make up hours somewhere else.

The most successful people I know

if we want to be educated and equally awesome, we have to put

in my own degree are also fantastic at their respective jobs- dedication

up with Auckland being dumb and expensive.

is something that spans across your entire life; it doesn’t necessarily stop

Its great for anybody who still lives at home, but for the multitude of students out flatting and paying their own bills, this means a hefty chunk of extra money has to be flowing in from somewhere. Yes there’s Studylink and thank God there is, but personally Studylink will pay my rent only, leaving me the grand sum of seven dollars to play with every week. This is not okay if you’re the kind of person who enjoys luxuries like, you know, basic food, power and water.

Like I said, fees aren’t cheap and it doesn’t help any of us to be wasting time here, a lot of us are going to make up hours somewhere else.

As for work disadvantaging your studies, that’s just utterly overstepping reality. If you’re studying and not making enough time for uni work, you’re disadvantaging yourself enormously, that makes sense. But who’s to say that students who work are also not making time? Surely if you lose 15 prescribed uni hours of work every week, you’re going to factor

when you cross over from employee to student.

And to be totally honest, the “if you do x, y, and z you won’t do well” scaremongering is just plain mean.

I came to AUT from Wellington because it was where I wanted to be, but I guess I could have chosen to stay at home, leeching off my parents’ funds if I really wanted to. What about people who don’t have options like that? Take the ambitious would-be advertising major and father of one in my class for example. You can’t tell him that by working to support a family, he’s going to do terribly at the course he’s forking out so much to be part of. Its shitty and horrible, but more importantly, it’s incorrect.

With so many more practical, placement-specific subjects reaching degree status, there is constant chat about and reverence for “the workforce”… so why are people ripping those of us already in it?

Study is important, work is important, but the most important thing is that you do you. If you want to do well and you’re not working, it’s likely you’ll do well. If you want to do well and you are working though, it’s likely you’ll do well too.

Just get out there and make it happen, you know what you’re about.

9

WIN

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O L D E H A L LO W S E V E

W

IN

!

This Halloween, the Danse Macabre is making its chilling debut amongst the Victorian buildings and historical grounds of MOTAT. Legend has it that The Grim Reaper rouses at midnight, summons skeletons from the grave, and they all boogie down until the rooster crows at dawn. Dress up in your scariest costume and frolic with the creepiest characters from one of the darkest eras in history at MOTAT’s Olde Hallows Eve – New Zealand’s largest Halloween event.

Debate has two double passes to give away to the first two people to email with their name, campus, and favourite Halloween treat.

WA LE S RIDER Shivani Rajan Considering I spent years waiting for this opportunity and then months counting down to my flight, I felt home sick waaaay sooner than I expected!

Although the two 12-hour flights here were convenient times to do some thinking, I didn’t process what I had actually signed myself up for until I got off the plane in London.

I looked around, saw British flags, massive “Welcome to London!” signs and only then did I have my epiphany; I was completely alone, the furthest away from home I could possibly be and this was my life for the next six months. It was probably the most delayed response in history, but I just had to remind myself it was temporary nerves and that I would be okay soon.

Another thing that has surprised me about myself is my instinct to go toward familiarity. Although I was warned about “culture shock”, I ignorantly assumed I would be immune to it and felt prepared

for whatever this side of the world had to offer. But already I’ve been checking the Shorty Street Facebook page to keep updated, and streaming Flava online - not really making the most of Europe life!

Although my days in London were limited, I was determined to spend an entire day trying to meet the All Blacks, even though this meant sacrificing a day to explore the city.

But I was okay with that since I knew being near the AB’s would mean being surrounded by Kiwis here for the RWC and being reminded of home. When I met TJ Perenara, he asked if I was “from back home”, and having a chat with a familiar Kiwi voice (especially an All Black!) made me feel better.

While in Paris a few days later, although I was surrounded by beautiful French cafes, I happily had the familiar teriyaki chicken from Subway for lunch. It was less intimidating than having to speak my broken French to an unimpressed Parisian while ordering something I was unsure of.

Missed opportunity? Maybe. But perhaps this has been my way of adjusting to the culture shock of Europe. And considering my delayed response, you can’t blame me!

It’s been overwhelming and scary at times, but nonetheless all a part of my learning experience. But I’m happy to say Cardiff is the best city by far. If Auckland had a twin city anywhere in the world, I feel as if it would be Cardiff. Friendly faces, beautiful mountains, sheep within a five kilometre radius, and the nicest drunk people you’ll ever meet. But it’s also the right amount of foreign with the Welsh language, different accents and unfamiliar city.

The atmosphere has been extra special with the RWC and it goes without saying I’ve been wearing my New Zealand shirt and flag at the Cardiff RWC fan zone for every game!

Classes start from next week, so time to feel at home and get back to the books!

11

Coming of Age Sometimes I like to daydream about what my childhood would look like as a coming of age classic. With soft focus, an early 90s soundtrack, and perhaps Rob Reiner or John Hughes behind the lens, my glorious childhood would be captured, scraped knees and all. Simple, yet important, lessons would be learned throughout… Learning to ride a bike with Dad running behind, finding out the hard way that selling grapefruit juice on my quiet street won’t make me rich, you know, the important stuff. Sit back, set your imaginations to soft focus, and read through a few of my life’s most script-worthy scenes.

Matthew Cattin My Fir s t Lov e.

When she sat cross-legged on the mat, her glistening hair plummeted like a phoenix tail down her back. Her smile was shy and bright, her disposition sweeter than a Juicie fresh from the tuck shop. No matter the duration of S.S.R, her posture remained impossibly erect, teaching me all I would ever need to know about right angles. I used to sit behind her and try to mimic her attentive posture, but my spine always surrendered to a disappointing slouch. I first noticed her mid-Goblet of Fire. Harry’s awkward longings for Cho Chang encouraged and narrowed my gaze upon this oriental blossom, and whenever our eyes met, my spirits never ceased to wingardium leviosa.

The teacher would often pair us up for dance sport. Perhaps it was because our heights matched, but I suspect it was more because he was guided by the winds of fate. My hands would

sweat, my pulse would race, and as we jived and fox-trotted around the school hall, I knew our love would last until at least term three. We made it to early 2000’s second base and traded hotmail addresses. Our dial up modem relationship grew and grew between mum’s phone calls, until one day we filled out quizzes about one another. ‘23.

Are you sending this to your crush?’ “Yes… lol.”

The secret was out. We liked one another. And with bated breath we awaited each other’s sweet nothings on MSN messenger, and decided we should probably go out.

We lasted about a week before she called the whole thing off. Maybe I was too forward… I mean, I did almost hold her hand during concert band (before I lost my nerve) and I may have even given her a brief hug at some point.

Whatever her reasons, we decided it was for the best to go our separate ways, and there was nothing I could do to accio her back.

T he F ir s t Expe r ie nce with D eath.

Anybody with a cat will be familiar with blood and guts the fact Wes Craven based Freddie Krueger on his pussy absolutely does not surprise me. Furry agents of death, your beloved kitty is a constant source of deceased treats, bringing them to your doorstep with the eagerness of a Jehovah's Witness. As a youngster, I’d seen my fair share of dead birds, mice and lizards, but the first time it upset me was when the bird brought home was still kickin’. Mum and I stole it from the proud kitty’s clutches and put it under the washing basket with a towel on top to keep the light low (and hopefully calming).

M y F irst K iss.

That awkward moment when you plan a cliche first kiss at the cinema and there is nothing on amiright? The film buff in me cried NO as I forked out for two tickets to When a Stranger Calls, but my raging hormones screamed… No wait, they screamed NO too… I was so nervous I could barely walk.

You’re all probably thinking, omfg lol, what a lame ass mofo taking his girl to the movies for a kiss, and you’re one hundred percent right. There was no grand gesture, no heartfelt sentiments, and no singing outside her window at 2am. I was as uninventive as a catholic couple on their 25th wedding anniversary.

For the next half hour or so, I kept my head under the towel, peeking through the cracks in the washing basket. Shivering and giving only the occasional panicked flutter, the black bird lay collapsed on its breast. It seemed to be waiting for something, like an old man asleep at a bus stop, his chin resting on his chest. For the first time I admired a live bird up close, it’s downy feathers and crinkly talons. Mum told me to leave it be and quit disturbing it, but I couldn’t pull myself away.

So there we were, back row at Hoyts Hibiscus Coast. Nobody else was there because apparently they have good tastes in movies and classier makeout spots. I had brought my own Whittakers chocolate from home because - as you may have noticed - I’m a bit of a romantic, but I remember she didn’t want any. Me on the other hand… Well I couldn’t resist. I knew I wanted to try and kiss her, but the chocolate was so delicious, I couldn’t help but keep eating it, and after every piece, I would self-consciously try and get all of the chocolate out of my teeth in case that was considered bad kissing etiquette.

I felt strangely peaceful when it finally stopped shivering, and in the darkness under the towel, it was a moment shared by the just the two of us and I liked to think the bird was grateful I was there with it. I tried to keep my composure as I walked to my room, but once I made it to my bed, the tears came.

I remember being ashamed of my tears for ‘just a bird’, but in hindsight, I’m proud that little me felt such compassion for something so small. Mum must have noticed however - as mothers do - and she came in and hugged me until I felt better. Aw.

I wish I could say I was cooler than Eagle Vs Shark’s Jarrod, but I straight up turned to her, and in my best kiwi accent managed to say “d’ya wanna kuss?” Turns out she was keen though, and before I knew it her braces had clashed with my teeth and shock waves ran up my jaw. I hung on in there for what felt like ten minutes (but was probably less than one), and then exhausted, embarrassed, and giddy, I sat back to cringe through the remainder of the film. Still single ladies.

Help yo’self.

13

SOCIAL MODESTY

Julie Cleaver Trying to brag about yourself whilst still appearing humble is an important skill. And it’s a skill many people are trying to master on Facebook – the biggest boasting ground in the world. Incase you haven’t mastered this skill yet, no worries, I’ve analysed each different arrogant-boasting style for you. You’re welcome.

First of all, some people attempt to achieve this skill by coupling a negative comment with a positive one. For example, “Right now I’m studying for my last exam and it sucks, but tomorrow I’m going to Europe!” According to the urban dictionary, this phenomenon is called the ‘humblebrag’. Where you “subtly let others know how fantastic your life is while undercutting it with a bit of self-effacing humor”.

This can be a clever and subtle approach to Facebook popularity.

As if you bring yourself down first, people will not judge you when you bring yourself up later. So long as it’s not obvious, like the example on the urban dictionary, “Uggggh just ate about fifteen piece of chocolate gotta learn to control myself when flying first class or they'll cancel my modelling contract LOL :p #humblebrag”. This lack of nuance will just make you look like a twat.

Then there’s the whole “I’m not really much of a Facebook poster, but this really awesome thing just happened to me.” I love this one because it addresses the fact that talking yourself up on Facebook all the time is undesirable. Therefore the

author makes sure you know they only post when something really supercalifragilisticexpialidociously awesome happens to them. This type of status usually gathers approximately 100+ likes depending on the person’s friend circle and frequency of posting.

Other ways to write these statuses are: “Hate to be one of those people and make one of those statuses, but…”

“I don’t normally post things like this but…”

Another type of status is the casual brag. “So yeah, this just casually happened to me…” By using a relaxed and ironic phrase, the status may come across as modest. It’s also funny, especially when coupled with a post about something very far from casual. However, this style can often backfire. As by trying to make cool things you do seem unimpressive, you in turn make your life seem so incredible that even when you meet Ed Sheeran, it’s ‘just casual’.

Then there’s the hipster approach.

Like spoof movies, hipsters take the piss out of something whilst simultaneously doing the exact thing they are mocking. For example, “Morning selfie because I want attention.” I think this is a hilarious and smart way to post.

As by being aware you are doing something and saying what people are thinking, you are being metaawesome. But still, even hipsters find hipsters annoying.

Some people will post an absolutely beautiful photo of themselves, then comment on a trivial detail in the photo - like, “featuring awkward elbow position”. By doing this they are drawing attention away from the fact that they look smoking and bringing themselves back down to earth. Essentially they are saying, “I’m just an awkward human with insecurities even though I look amazing.” Well played.

My personal approach to Facebook modesty is by tagging where I was in a photo without explicitly saying it. For example, I have a photo of me in Korea, but instead of me saying, “OMG I’m so cool I travel and I’m in a foreign country” I say “Totally blending in … in Seoul Korea”. I guess this approach is kind of douchey, because you are trying really hard to seem as though you are not trying at all. But it seems to go down well with my friend group.

When historians look back at our era in three thousand years, I think the main thing they will study is social media. They will look at how our way of communicating, gathering information and thinking about ourselves changed with the invention of likes and profile pictures. They will look at how social media changed cultures all over the world. And they will examine specific people’s cultures and how they are visible through social media posts and trends.

I wonder what they will discover about tall poppy syndrome in Kiwi culture…

15

Not Liking Disliking Amelia Petrovich | Illustration by Tyler Hinde As a general rule, web designers and big online corporations don’t alter the way they do stuff to fit public opinion. You can beg for a more cohesive layout, or for the abolition of access fees, but generally speaking computer-y interweb people plan their online role with care and everything is done for a reason.

I thought I understood the reason Facebook only had a ‘like’ button, therefore you can imagine my total shock at discovering they’re about to prove me wrong.

“As soon as you introduce the option to rate a post negatively, contributing to an online space becomes a bit of a gamble

One of the biggest motivating factors for frequent Facebook posting is the promise of positive response. We all love being “liked”, so much so that some of us will even pull down a post if it hasn’t collected enough approval over a long period of time. In 2010, the release of the new “like” feature lead to a 150 – 500 percent increase in clickthrough traffic for widely “liked” content. As soon as you introduce the option to rate a post negatively, contributing to an online space becomes a bit of a gamble. Essentially, it’s the new kid in a big school game, “what if they don’t like me, Mum?” I mean sure, people are still free to express negative responses on Facebook currently, but the addition of a dislike button would make this so much easier and more frequent, meaning that posts from your average Joe Bloggs

The campaign for a ‘dislike’ option on Facebook actually kicked off around 2009, largely in response to the launch of the original ‘like’ button that we’ve all come to know and love. According to Bret Taylor (the guy who designed the button in the first place), there was a lot of discussion about whether to include a ‘dislike’ option or not during the initial design process but it never came to be because its inception could have led to “negative consequences”.

could end up becoming significantly less frequent.

“But what about ‘disliking’ indicating sympathy?” I hear you asking, “Surely that isn’t negative!” Indeed, this seems to be Zuckerberg’s primary reasoning, the Facebook creator saying that what people really want is a way to express empathy because “not every moment is a good moment”. Forgive me, but are there not multiple ways to indicate sympathy via social media without a button as a

So this year, when Zuckerberg announced that Facebook

shortcut? I’m talking about sensitively worded comments or

were “working on a ‘dislike’ button”, it left me wondering

maybe even a gentle private message here, a significantly

if in the gloriously enlightened social space of 2015, these

more involved human response than simply hitting one

“negative consequences” had somehow disappeared,

button and going about your day. Bret Taylor explained to

leaving us in a blissful oasis of social media harmony.

The Independent in 2014 that the “like” button was created to streamline people’s newsfeeds and eliminate benign

Spoiler alert: they didn’t, so what the heck is going on?

I mean, the ‘like’ system is hardly a perfect one; it’s

positive comments like “wow” or “cool”, but do we really want to annihilate messages of sympathy too?

ambiguous at best and lazy at worst. People will often

I’m going to hazard a total ‘no’ here, I feel we’re all just

‘like’ a post and leave it at that, but for what? What does

too used to socially mediated sympathy being expressed

a like even mean nowadays? Is it support? Is it an actual

through actual typed words. Imagine posting a status

indicator of positive emotion? Is it ironic? Or is it merely

about a loved one who had passed away, if this prompted

an action we take to fall in line with everybody else? It’s

several “dislike” hits from your friends but no actual

become extremely hard to define and explain, but the one

messages of condolence or support it’s likely you’d feel a

thing that has held true is the positive connotation of the

little ignored. Well I mean, I would anyway. Some things are

word itself- “like”.

worth slightly more than a solitary click.

This positivity matters, believe it or not.

Also this could be seriously crap for advertisers and

B.F Skinner, an American behavioral psychologist who died in the early 90s, did a lot of work around something called ‘Operant Conditioning’ which I reckon is an invaluable way of explaining why Facebook’s recent decision is so damn stupid. Skinner said that positivity (reinforcement), negativity (punishment) or a lack of these (extinction) were the three primary factors that affected human social behavior. Because we like good, happy things, we’re more likely to do stuff that we know will elicit a positive response from others rather than a negative one. Negative responses

marketing. Right now, Facebook will allow targeted ads to pop up on your news feed that you’re free to like, share, comment on or ignore completely. All of this works relatively well at present, but holy heck what if you were able to dislike these ads as well? Nobody on the internet actually enjoys ads (not a statistically backed up fact, but I’m fairly sure it’s true), so the flurry of negative down-voting would most likely be pretty intense. I’m no PR expert, but I feel like this isn’t exactly an ideal feature for the people looking to promote stuff and fund Facebook in the process.

usually prompt a decrease in behavior, and no response at

How terribly ironic that if this new button did come to be,

all often leads to a slow decline.

the first thing I’d be ‘disliking’ is disliking itself.

17

3 AM THOUGHTS These kids grew up into people like me, and what I was discussing with my buddy is how goddamn dangerous it is to ironically indulge in stuff you think is lame for humor’s sake, because it ends up turning into something you actually do. Ironic appreciation is all well and good (kind of), but there is a point where it goes too far and you lose sight of yourself.

Like, do you remember The Simple Life with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie?

There was a point in time when just about everybody I know would head home and devour episodes of that show, watching the two celebrities mince around farmyards in their heels being vapid and ridiculous. On the show, both women would drawl “loves it” to convey mild to extreme enthusiasm about an array of subjects.

This is something that my friends and me picked up on and would splice into conversation here and there, a subtle reference for those in the know, totally ironic of course.

3:00am, September 12th Thought: “Enjoy irony when it still is”.

Amelia Petrovich Upon waking up and re-reading this thought, I got excited. This week I struck that perfect point between uninhibited insight and delirium, because for once, this statement actually makes sense to me.

Grammatically it’s a bit lacking, but it links into something I was chatting about with a friend fairly recently.

Ironic humor is a thing that will be really huge for you if you think you’re cooler than everybody else. Or if, like me, you suspect that everyone else is cooler than you and therefore, need to make fun of stuff in order to validate your own tastes. It was a silly thing, but a few of us who were teens in the 2000s developed

a sense of scorn for ‘mainstream’ culture because the weird-ass stuff we were into was oh-so-superior and waaaaay more refined. There was a term for people like us, we thought it was “alternative”, but actually it was “pretentious dickbags”.

Anyway, what that meant is that there was a solid contingent of skinny jean enthusiasts who had a lot of fun taking the piss out of stuff that a lot of people really liked. Bright colours? Lame. Taylor Swift? Lame.

Visibly enjoying life and being an active member of society? Lame, so lame, give me more Fallout Boy please.

But years later, we’re still peering out the window of our flat at the blossoming magnolia tree going, “oh my gosh summer is coming so soon, loves it.”

The sheer overuse of ironic humor has turned us into the vapid sounding people we at first sought to mock. Now we are the kind of people who say, “loves it” and we’re trapped. None of us can stop, and it’s terrifying.

So I suppose if this 3am thought had one lesson it would be this: don’t end up like me and my snobby, ironic friends. Enjoy irony, but in moderation, like a snooty cupcake or something, otherwise it will rot you from the inside out and morph you into something a little like me.

And that’d be the worst.

What’s up Arli Liberman?

can they find this frequency that I happen to generate. I never had anything recorded, so luckily Marigold Records approached me to record this album with them.

You’ve had quite a few different performances in exciting places, any crazy gig stories/culture shock-related incidents you can share with us?

I’ve been so lucky to play some epic shows across the world, so it’s mega hard to choose, but one that stands out would be the almighty Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland! Playing this musically historical festival on the Lake Geneva shoreline it took me to highs that literally blew me away. I had to play my best and as the producer said there: “you have to rise to the challenge and match the quality & expectations of the place”.

What are you most looking forward to hitting up on the Sunshine Coast when you’re there in October?

From Israel to New Zealand, Arli Liberman’s background is as interesting as it is diverse. Playing in one of the Middle East’s first world fusion bands made up of both Palestinian and Israeli musicians, performing on the revered stages of Montreux Jazz Festival to the desert sands of Sinai, crosscontinent Wanderlust appearances to Russia’s Creation of Peace Festival, the multi-faceted guitarist and composer’s story is both unique and intriguing. Debate had a chat with him about his music, career, and latest album.

It sounds like your latest album has a bit of a story behind its inspiration, can you fill us in on the thought and purpose that went into making it?

The thought behind Fata Morgana was to pretty much scratch the edge of my ambient spectrum in terms of how relaxed I can get musically and how relaxed I can make the listener. Relaxed isn't necessary sitting back and slobbing out, it's just to transfer your headspace into a positive inward place. It’s good for studying, good for meditating, it’s a good background for anything really that you want to achieve. So that was the thought and purpose behind it and when I actually performed the tracks in the studio, I tried to have a few people around to test it on them to see if those feelings came across and most of them responded in that way. I’ve also been playing this kind of music at yoga festivals and mass meditations and there was way too many people asking me where can they get this music, where

Really looking forward to playing with the headlining teachers from the US, Canada and Australia, I am providing the live soundtrack for their classes. It’s a pretty incredible feeling, especially towards the end of the classes when everybody is sitting down just closing their eyes, there's always some magic moments there. It's one of the only musical environments that I'm just playing where every single person there is fully listening and focused on everything I do, while I'm completely improvising and bouncing off the energy of the people. It’s a pretty awesome feeling.

If you had $50 to spend on a grabone voucher, what kind of deal would you gravitate toward?

I hardly log into Grab One but if I could get whatever, I would probably get some kind of beauty therapy stuff for my wife or some cool funky clothing.

Anything exciting for you on the horizon? Things people should know about?

Totally! Basically once I am done with the Sunshine Coast, I am back into the studio to record my next album. The next one is still going to have the values of this album in terms of all the ambient and the cool soundscapey sounds, but probably more rhythms in there to make it a lot more groovy and uplifting, that’s the plan. I will also be performing in a one day Wanderlust Festival (Wanderlust 108) in Auckland.

It’s going to be huge, will be playing for a mass meditation and little set on my own. You should totally come, it's gonna be epic.

19

Jet off somewhere different in Asia

You’ve partied till dawn at Koh Phangans full moon party, Phukets been your go-to beach flop since you were knee high and you’ve backpacked your way through rural Vietnam, you love Asia but you feel like you’ve well and truly discovered it.

are on your holiday agenda, swap your Bali trip for a visit to Langkawi. Located in Malaysia, Langkawi is an archipelago of 99 islands with UNESCO Global Geopark status and is ideal for rest, relaxation and excitement.

It’s time to press reset on your travel mind set. There are plenty more island locations, historic cities and beautiful beaches just waiting to be discovered in Asia, you just need to know where to look. Luckily, the globe-trotting team at Student Flights have just the list for you…..

Take a speedboat tour of the islands and explore the ancient rainforests in Machinchang, Kilim and Dayang Bunting. Most facilities are on the main island (Langkawi) and Pantai Cenang beach is Langkawi’s version of Seminyak with shops, eateries, bars and beachfront accommodation.

If you like Hanoi in Vietnam, head to Vientiane in Laos Both Southeast Asian cities have French colonial heritage and broad treelined streets, but Vientiane is a muted version of the bustling Vietnamese city.

The Laos city is quiet, laidback and petite with lots of multicultural influences, including traditional, French and Soviet architecture near the river area.

Wat Si Muang, Pha That Luang and Wat Si Saket are some of Vientiane’s mustsee temples or wats, harking at the city’s cultural heritage while the Patuxai (Victory Gate), is a tribute to that iconic French landmark, Arc du Triomphe. Head downtown to sample French fare or spicy Lao cuisine.

If you like Koh Samui in Thailand, try Cebu in the Philippines If adventure is your bag, swap the chilled-out surrounds of Koh Samui for the Philippine island of Cebu, with white sands and jewelled seas. Also a gateway to explore the Visayan Islands, Cebu is a mecca for divers, beach-goers and the rugged interior is ideal for mountain bike treks.

For food and after-hours fun, head to the bustling Fuente Osmeña roundabout in the city centre for beer houses, clubs, shopping malls and clubs.

elaborately decorated monasteries on Mandalay Hill and the ancient Burmese capitals of Amarapura and Inwa nearby.

As well as the Bamar culture’s traditional music, art and crafts and dance, Mandalay also has remnants of colonial British architecture. For a taste of Mandalay, try Burmese curries and for a souvenir, shop Zegyo Market for textiles.

Get there Student Flights can hook you up with cheap flights, accommodation and tours to Asia, like the Laos (Rhymes with Wow) Geckos Adventures tour from $1,177* per person, twin share. Depart from Bangkok and make your way to Chiang Mai, Huay Xai, Pakbeng, Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng before finishing in Vientiane. Includes 11 nights’ accommodation in hotels, guesthouses and on a sleeper train, two breakfasts, transport in mini-vans, local bus, tuk-tuk, songthaew and a boat and selected activities and attractions including a slow boat cruise down the Mekong River. *Prices are correct as at September 28 2015, are subject to availability & are subject to change without notice. Valid for sales until October 10 2015. Travel on selected dates between

If you like Chiang Mai in Thailand, jet off to Mandalay in Myanmar

December 5 to 26 2015. Airfares are additional.

Passengers must be aged 18 – 30 years at the time of travel.

If you like Bali in Indonesia, visit Langkawi in Malaysia If natural beauty, stunning beaches, highend resorts and shopping opportunities

The northern Thailand city of Chiang Mai is renowned for its temples and traditional culture and you’ll find similar attributes in Mandalay in Myanmar. Here you can explore gilded Buddhist pagodas and

For further details and bookings, visit www.studentflights.co.nz or phone 0800 255 995

SEX AND SEXUALITIES IN INDONESIA Sharyn Davies Many people would be surprised to know that the country with the world’s largest Muslim population, Indonesia, is also home to an LGBTQI-supportive civil society and government. For instance, instead of persecuting LGBTQI people, the Mayor of one Indonesian town has made numerous speeches celebrating the inclusion of LGBTQI. Some towns have separate toilets for transgender folk. And in 2014, one of the finalists for the position of Human Rights Commissioner, a big job given Indonesia’s population of 250 million population, was an openly gay man, Dede Oetomo. In its tolerance, if not widespread acceptance, of LGBTQI, Indonesia is vastly different to its nearest Asian neighbours, Singapore and Malaysia. In these latter countries, people are routinely punished and imprisoned for their sexuality. Most notable in this respects is perhaps Anwar Ibrahim, former Malaysian opposition leader, who was imprisoned on trumped up charges of homosexuality.

So there is much to celebrate in terms of LGBTQI rights in Indonesia – and this is something we wanted to show in our book Sex and Sexualities in Contemporary Indonesia. To be fair this is not a book about queer sexualities per se, but as we argue in the book, queer politics and theories should not be limited to LGBTQI, but should in fact permeate all aspects of social life – everything needs queering!

AUT has done much to support the publication of this book. In fact, AUT fronted up with $7000 to offset the costs and travel expenses of bringing together leading experts on Indonesian sexuality studies. It was at a seminar held at

AUT in November 2011 that we started putting together the book – it was another four years before it came out in print though! One of the great things about this book winning the 2015 Ruth Benedict Prize for Best Edited collection is that it provides a platform for starting conversations that bring sexualities to the fore. Indeed an invitation to write an article for Debate is precisely evidence of this.

In closing, though, I should note that Indonesia is not a LGBTQI paradise, and blatant and violent discrimination is an everyday occurrence for many people. Often this discrimination is subtle, such as someone not getting a job because of their sexuality, but sometimes it is physically violent, such as when hardline Islamic groups deploy vigilante tactics. There is then much work to be done to ensure the rights of LGBTQI in Indonesia are respected, and one way of doing that is through sharing stories, something that we hope our book does, and that it inspire students to take an interested in issues of social justice, particularly regarding sexualities.

Sharyn Davies is Associate Professor in the School of Social Sciences and Public Policy and author of a number of books including Sex and Sexualities in Indonesia: Sexual Politics, Diversity, Representations and Health (2015), Gender Diversity in Indonesia: Sexuality, Islam and Queer Selves (2011) and Challenging Gender Norms: Five Genders among Bugis in Indonesia (2007).

21

LORD,SHAVE US ALL

Julie Cleaver I first started to question body hair when I was in a bathhouse in Seoul, surrounded by hundreds of naked Korean ladies. In case you don’t know what a bathhouse or jimjilbang is, imagine going to the pools, being segregated into male and female rooms, and then having a spa/shower butt naked.

When I walked into my first bathhouse I nervously kept my eyes down, as the thought of making eye contact with naked strangers freaked me out. But I quickly learned there was no safe place to direct my gaze, because when I looked down, I was greeted with fluffy balls of pubes.

I later found out that in South Korea having carpet on your floor is viewed as a sign of sexual desirability and fertility - the thicker the carpet, the better. Many people even get pubic hair transplants if they don’t have enough hair down there. But in the West, being smoother than a six year old is considered sexy. And it was this contrast that got me thinking.

Why is it seen as disgusting for women in the West to have any hair below their eyebrows, yet in many cultures around the world, it’s super sexy? We all know the obvious answer: beauty is a social construct. But where do these constructs come from? And why do we buy into them so much… literally?

To find the answers I went back in time, to when shaving was first integrated into Western society. In the 1920s, when skirts became shorter and dresses radically became sleeveless, women were pretty cool with being hairy. That is until the beauty and media industries got involved. Those two notorious groups started working together to promote the idea that hairless armpits and legs are desirable. The media made celebrities hairless, and the industries started advertising shavers.

At first people didn’t buy into it, but after a few years shaving became extremely popular for women. Today this construct is so ingrained, that smooth legs are pretty much synonymous with sex appeal. And this belief is what drives the multi-billion dollar hair removal industry.

On the other hand, Korean women are naturally more hairless. So selling hair-removal products isn’t a great moneymaking scheme, as they don’t really need them. But the industries still wanted to make money, so they did the same thing that happened in the West, but backwards. The media and beauty industries promoted hairy pubes to make money off transplants and growth supplements.

So as much as people think smooth legs are just “their own personal preference”, they actually originate from large-scale marketing schemes. Ones that are designed to make women feel inadequate for not looking a certain way, just so they can sell products to make them look different. I hate to tell you this, but we are all the victims of propaganda.

“The media and beauty industries promoted hairy pubes to make money off transplants and growth supplements.”

To make the whole situation even worse, so many of the beauty standards only apply to women. So if you’re a dude and you want to have a hairy face or hairy legs, go ahead. It’s acceptable for men to look like Chewbacca, but not for us females.

“But it’s all your own choice; why not just leave your legs hairy?” I hear you asking? Well, it’s just not that simple. We all have the choice to run around in rubbish bags singing the Spice Girls, but I don’t see anyone doing that (very often). The desire to fit in and be part of society is massive, a human emotion that is sometimes even stronger than love. So to simply ignore these constructs and have people think you’re hideous is not an appealing option to most.

Trust me, I’ve tried. When I let my leg and armpit hair grow, I was called an unattractive, tree-hugging feminist. One of my friends wasn’t even grossed out, just concerned. “Why would you want to turn your boyfriend off?” she asked, with a kind yet offensive amount of worry on her face. She didn’t even realise she was telling me to be ‘attractive’ to please men and not myself, but I don’t blame her.

I hope one day women will have the freedom to choose whether or not they want to waste hours slicing up their legs and ruthlessly ripping hair off their ‘bikini lines’. And I hope that one day Korean women will not feel the need to waste 2000 dollars on a pubic hair transplant surgery. But right now, it seems like a distant dream. Especially when Miley Cyrus having hair underneath her armpits made it to the front page of the Daily Mail. Sigh.

23

STUDENT SERVICES

JUST ASK

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It’s simple: if you need help or support with anything at all while studying at AUT – don’t hesitate, just ask us. Student Services are FREE and available Monday to Friday on all campuses.

Call the Student Centre and tell us what you need (09) 921 9779

P OTATO L AT K E S William Bowman

Serves 4 Potatoes seem to transcend food cultures – they soak up the spicy aromas of Indian curries, bathe in garlicky cream and butter in the French Gratin, and stand tall in the ubiquitous red carton with golden arches that the Americans so kindly gave us. Yet, in my mind, there is NO better way to enjoy this humble root veg than in the achingly simple, Jewish ‘Latkes’.

INGREDIENTS ·

4 medium agria potatoes

·

2 tbsp olive oil

·

2 knobs of butter

·

Salt and pepper

Peel potatoes and cover in cold, salted water. Bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes.

Drain and cool in colander. While they are cooling, put large frying pan on medium heat with olive oil and butter – the amount of oil and butter you use is entirely up to you.

Grate potatoes into bowl and season generously with salt and pepper – go crazy with the pepper.

Wet your hands, form potato into thin pancakes, and gently place them in the pan – it is best to cook them slowly to ensure a crispy outside and soft inside. Flip once then remove. Rest on paper towels while you cook the next batch!

Eat them while they’re hot with a simple dip like lemon mayo or hummus or throw them together with some lemony wilted greens and soft poached eggs.

25

I s th at your face or my ph one?

Savannah Welsh | Illustration by Kerryn Smith How is it that we can get so easily addicted to things? Things like social media and the internet, and feel as though we have to be connected to a device 24/7. It’s interesting to watch the habits of others, the habits of your family members, your girlfriend, and your flat mates. You notice how much people are on social media, glued to their phone or TV. I don’t really use things like Facebook and Instagram because I find it quite pointless. People scrolling down their newsfeed because they can’t sit in silence, or people posting pictures of their breakfast or post-gym shots to show off their toned bods - layered with filters and shit.

I’m not saying I don’t get addicted to things like everyone else does, I just like to use my time in more enjoyable ways.

Like with actual people instead of a screen. Crazy right? What happened to the days of sending letters, writing in notebooks, and actually living in the moment rather than seeing it through your phone?

You go to concerts these days and instead of people watching the performance, they're too busy filming it, taking photos, and making snap stories. I understand capturing a memory through a photograph, but

never putting the camera down is ridiculous. Like were you actually at the concert? You may as well have watched it through YouTube videos instead of spending a couple of hundred bucks or so to barely take in the atmosphere of the live show.

“What h appened to the days of sending letters, writing in notebo oks, and actually living in the moment rather th an seeing it th ro ugh yo u r ph one? ” I go to my classes and take notes with an actual pen and paper while most people either have laptops or iPads in front of them, or don’t even pay attention and are on their phone instead. Is there any point in them attending class except maybe to sign their name off a register? Will they complain later that they don’t know how to complete an assignment or know the answers in their test? Or how about those people you see using their front cam to check their hair or makeup? The people taking a million selfies in public for no reason but to “get the right angle”?

What has made people feel the need to be so excessive when it comes to technology?

There is no such thing as the bare minimum anymore, when we had cell phones that only enabled texts and calls. Now there’s an app for practically everything. Apps that do everything for us instead of doing it ourselves. It’s causing us to lose interest in interacting with others and the way we communicate with people. Need a date, Tinder. A yoga instructor, Yogify. It’s never ending. We spend so much on these little robots that control our world. The panic people feel if they accidentally leave their phone at home. The distraught if their phone goes missing. Children barely play outside anymore, you don’t see them climbing trees or riding their bikes. For Christmas’ and Birthdays they no longer receive swing sets or water guns, instead it’s the latest iPad or iPhone. Technology just keeps on evolving, we already rely on it too much. We need to get out from hiding behind our screens. So before you send that tweet or use your front cam to check your makeup, think…is it really necessary?

27

WHITE IS THE NEW BL AC K

Model: Sophia Doak @ Vanity Models H & M: A Young Kim Designer & Photographer: Shivan from www.gathum.co.nz

Shivan Until now, people are amazed when they hear that I have never seen snow before. Their reaction makes me feel like I am that weird kid missing out on seeing the miracle of frozen rain drops. No, I haven’t built a snow man, or made a snow angel, or ever had a snow ball fight, yet it still doesn’t faze me. I guess it’s because deep inside I know that snow won’t live up to what everybody has been telling me. Or maybe I’m more of a beach person and always have been. I would choose the sand between my toes, and a swim over snow any day. Though, I guess I can’t really say that’s a definite opinion because I’ve never seen snow.

I do love the idea of landscapes covered with blankets of white; the idea of this white aesthetic is quite inspirational. Recently and surprisingly, we have moved away from the blacks and greys of winter fashion, and toward a more pastel and white colour pallet.

From ivory to vanilla white, the colour has always symbolized fresh, clean and new beginnings. However, white has many meanings in different cultures, and the colour white historically has always been closely associated with superstition.

It seems the staple colour, black - found in every wardrobe - has been replaced with white. The clean white aesthetic has really caught on, and this year at New York Fashion Week, we saw white as a staple on the runways. From Calvin Klein to Givenchy, white was at the forefront of fashion in New York, bringing an ethereal feel to every collection. In light of New York Fashion Week, we have designed and styled a white-caped dress to go with this week’s shoot.

29

WHAT'S GOOD?

TRAINWRECK

Directed by Judd Apatow Starring Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Tilda Swinton

Reviewed by Ethan Sills While I haven’t watched a lot of her show, I am a fan of Amy Schumer. She is always hilarious and outspoken in interviews, and the sketches I have seen never fail to make me laugh. And that’s why I’m so disappointed her first feature film turned out so bland.

PEOPLE, PLACES, THINGS

Directed by James B. Strouce Starring Jemaine Clement, Jessica Williams, Regina Hall

Reviewed by Ethan Sills Not all movies have to be big, flashy or unique. Sometimes, you just want something quiet and pleasant to help pass the time.

People Places Things is a perfect example of that: understated, witty, slow moving and the perfect length, this is a comedy that doesn’t challenge conventions but really just forces you to take it as it is, which makes it all the more enjoyable.

That’s not to say I hated Trainwreck. There are some definite bright spots here. Schumer herself is wonderful as Amy, a magazine writer afraid of commitment; the comedian’s trademark sarcastic, nearly deadpan delivery is in full force and she really drives the funnier moments, while also surprising in the more emotional moments. One of my favourite comedy actors, Bill Hader, is fantastic as always as her boyfriend, Aaron, and there’s a wide supporting cast of funny characters, notably an unrecognisable Tilda Swinton as the horrible boss, Diana.

Unfortunately, the plot really lets everyone down. It starts off with a bit of edge and going against tropes through its gender reversal, but the second half of the movie feels phoned in: the couple dates, they discover their not alike, they argue – oh no, whatever will happen next??? Given the ‘risqué’ nature of her show, I would have expected something a bit more diverse from Schumer instead of this, quite by the books, rom-com, which ends up copying and pasting its plot from basically every other Judd Apatow movie.

There is a lot to like about this movie, and really if someone other than Schumer was involved, I probably would have walked away having enjoyed it more. Yet her talent really isn’t reflected in this overly long, extremely traditional movie that’s more boring than funny. All I can really say is that I’m not mad at you, Trainwreck; I’m just disappointed.

Jemaine Clement stars as Will Henry, a graphic artist and teacher living in New York. His seemingly happy life with his twin daughters is torn apart when their mother, Charlie, reveals she wants to separate. A year later, Will is struggling to move on and maintain a steady relationship with his daughters. One of his students suggests he go out with her mother, forcing Will to reexamine his life choices.

People Places Things is perhaps one of the most enjoyable movies I have seen so far this year. It is by no means a fantastic, award winning movie, but it is never trying to be. It is simply an 85 minute story about a dad, his friends and family, and it all works pretty well. Clement is sarcastic and deadpan as usual, but it works in this movie where everyone feels like a real person rather than some caricature like most comedies.

There is plenty of emotion as well, as the film deals with divorce and how it affects everyone. Writer/director, James B. Strouse strikes the perfect balance between light drama and toned back humour, creating something that blends the two in a moving, satisfying manner.

Inoffensive, endearing and dryly funny, People Places Things isn’t going to blow your mind, but it is a perfectly reasonable way to kill 85 minutes that will have you smiling on the other end.

Librarian of the Week DOCTOR WHO

Emma McFadgen

The Magician’s Apprentice / The Witch’s Familiar Season Nine Premiere

communication studies

Written by Steven Moffat Starring Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Michelle Gomez

Reviewed by Ethan Sills The Doctor is back, and what a way to start the season.

Doctor Who isn’t the type of show you’d associate with grand philosophical questions about whether killing one child to save millions is honourable or not, yet that was a common theme throughout this two-part premiere that perfectly highlighted Doctor Who at its best and worst.

The story started off with a bang: war torn planet, small boy flees for his life, gets trapped on a ‘hand-mine’ and is about to die. The Doctor arrives and offers help, but ultimately flees when he learns his name: Davros, the man who goes on to create the Daleks. Years later, a dying Davros calls for The Doctor to be brought to him to answer for what he did, with companion Clara and semi-nemesis Missy coming along.

There were some really tense and brilliant moments throughout these episodes. The chemistry between Clara and Missy was electric, and makes me hope the latter isn’t gone for long. Equally, Peter Capaldi shone during The Doctor’s confrontations with Davros, and it’s clear writer, Steven Moffat, had been saving this dialogue for some time as the nearly episode-long chat between the two was tense, moving and the most engaging Who has been for seasons.

Unfortunately, the conclusion stumbled, using a tired and unconvincing manner of convenience to resolve everything.

It made for a rather boring ending, and all the tension and build up ultimately meant nothing.

Despite that, my hopes are high for the rest of the season.

The dark opening sets an intriguing tone for the rest of the season, and shows that Moffat can have good ideas when he isn’t getting ahead of himself. Unanswered questions around The Doctor’s confession makes for a good story arc, and as long as the Tumblr-friendly ‘sonic sunglasses’ don’t hang around, I’m ready to see what the next ten episodes have to offer.

Hi there I’m Emma, your Communication and weekend Liaison Librarian. I look after the information needs of students and staff members in the School of Communication. Alongside buying the books and DVDs for Communication Studies, I enjoy teaching classes on how to find and manage information in many different faculties from year one through to Doctoral level. Maybe you have already been to one of my classes…

I am also here every weekend to make sure everybody has access to expert help. I think students are the bee’s knees, and I know you are given a LOT of information. I am here to make sure you are using the RIGHT kind of resources. Did you know using the Library is key to getting excellent grades? AND asking a librarian for help is actually one of the SMARTEST things you can do! If you want to make an appointment with me (especially on the weekends) email me using the details below. Don’t have time to physically come into the Library? Don’t worry! You can email me or even use our Library chat function from the Library website.

Good luck with your studies AUTeers!

You’re awesome!

Emma McFadgen Liaison Librarian

emcfadge@aut.ac.nz 921 9999 ext 8394 31

City Campus Library

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SPELLING BEE

Glossolalia

Lilliputian

Corybantic

Aesir

Doxology

Mnemonically

Nereid

Cimmerian

Ayatollah

Arachnophagous

Parandrus

Stygian

Sacerdotal

Hebephrenic

Rhadamanthine

Golem

Hagiographer

Hamadryade

Ogygian

Zephyr

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Across 1 15/33's owner sending delinquent son to ringworld (4) 4 'ey! You! Talk about heart of an improbable 38/43! (4) 8 We intersperse around a 38/43 from 38/20 (1,1,1,10) 11 Prayer sacrificing son to heavenly figure (5) 12/13 Bashful could at times be called this 38/43 (3,5) 14 Warm column rising from a type of underwear (7) 16 Step on ledge limits foot-operated mechanism (7) 18 Lady losing head to cooker of posh meal (3) 19 "Scheme better after 3 drops!" - Queen Alien (7) 21 Is Scalosian scientist in 38/20 one, like Netanyahu? (7) 23 Evenly giving odds to slippery customer (3) 24 Get too hot? Not hot, fat! (7) 25 Clandestine operatives spot a 1 (3,4) 26 Around end, travels to plain (9) 31 "Was it a car or a cat I saw?" (6) 32 Core of 38 discloses a Type 40

transporter (6) 34 Voyager contained her keen emotional state at first (3) 37 Type of flux discovered by viewing alternate endings to "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (4) 38/43 Celeb's trendy hospital (4,4) 39 Gas that is to leave in a rush (3) 41 Beyond light speed, genderless being finds unknown structure - Diaspar, perhaps (4) 42 One church companion for occupant of 32 (3) 43 See 38 44 Liberator's head feels heat in dystopian future? (5) 45 Tip-off indicating a void in diamonds (3) 46 Type of bay 39dn refused to open (3) Down 2 Towards one, German did something people on a 38/43 often do (3,2) 3 He reveals secret scheme to film body found outside the beltway (5,6) 4 Shocking description of grisly date (odd about the duck!) (4,7) 5 Shocking description of ex-member of the Velvet Underground? (5)

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6 Dream of snake fury (6) 7 When to draw up beneath the home of the Gods (6) 9 Lack of motors spelling disaster for a 38/43 (8) 10 Proposing to make a sacrifice (8) 15/33 Press to announce film work, perhaps featuring this 38/43? (10,6) 17 Youth's rarely easy in rebellion (5,5) 20 Star seeks regular employment for long journey (4) 22 Was "The Thing" way out? (4) 27 Carpenter's 38 was like mysterious matter and energy (4) 28 Rising 38 often found on a 43 (4) 29 Eccentric astronaut, and Edward, capered (8) 30 Might be fights before work at retail outlet (4,4) 33 See 15 35 Idle to get only one flower (5) 36 Space Invader's ambulatory vehicle has too many drugs after journey (6) 39 Discovery was handled by this one before IBM (3) 40 Topless nerd could make one scream (3)

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If you could say one thing to John Key what would it be?

Just don’t change man. Just be you.

If you could say one thing to John Key what would it be?

I think the flag is a waste of time and money. The money should have been used on important things like improving public transport or education.

If you could say one thing to John Key what would it be?

I don’t like you.

What is your favourite childhood game?

When I was younger I did a lot of biking.

What is the strangest thing that has ever happened to you?

When I was a baby my mum’s water broke at 19 weeks and I was meant to be a still born.

A week later the water was fine and the doctors couldn’t explain what happened…

If you could say one thing to John Key what would it be?

Firstly stop demonizing beneficiaries. They’re not lazy and stupid, and nobody wants to be poor and unskilled.

Secondly drop the flag debacle and put money into child poverty. Lastly raise the refugee quota. If these people go back to their home country they will probably die and helping others is the right thing to do.

What is your favourite childhood game?

Crash Team Racing (CTR) What is the strangest thing that has ever happened to you?

After a party I woke up in a completely different outfit I had never seen before. The mystery is still unsolved.

What is the strangest thing that has ever happened to you?

The other day I was waiting for a bus down on Queen Street. I was probably standing too close to the curb because a bus pulled in and the side mirror scraped my head. It left a scar and was bleeding everywhere!

JANE

What is the strangest thing that has ever happened to you?

This one time a random homeless man asked me if I had any digits, it was really weird.

What is your favourite childhood game?

I used to play Tetris all the time when I was a child. Also monopoly because I was a nerd.

What is the strangest thing that has ever happened to you?

A few years ago I was out with mates and two or three of us saw a ghost. There was a white silhouette in a darkened window. Then when we looked outside across the lawn, we could see a black silhouette in the fall of the water from a sprinkler.

MIKE

If you could say one thing to John Key what would it be?

Your son is hot.

What is your favourite childhood game?

Heads down thumbs up.

What is your favourite childhood game?

I like Pokémon.

C HRYS TA If you could say one thing to John Key what would it be?

Stop calling people who don’t want to change the flag idiots!

What is your favourite childhood game?

Probably spotlight.

What is the strangest thing that has ever happened to you?

That random people just come up and tell me their life stories.

Like this morning on the bus some old lady told me all about her family and everything.

If you could say one thing to John Key what would it be?

Ever heard of Rogaine?

What is your favourite childhood game?

Spyro.

What is the strangest thing that has ever happened to you?

Someone asked me if I had dyed my beard a different colour, not my hair. I thought that was fricken weird.

LUCIAN If you could say one thing to John Key what would it be?

I hate you!

What is your favourite childhood game?

Pokémon.

What is the strangest thing that has ever happened to you?

Ghosties!

35

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