Debate Issue 21, 2010

issue 21 2010 I

surviving an earthquake

issue 21 2010

jimmy eat world interview

north shore stereotypes

monster movie review section

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facebook.com/atriumonelliott

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this issue of

on the cover Miriam with Kite Tamsyn Solomon

editor

Samantha McQueen samantha.mcqueen@aut.ac.nz

designer

Nonavee Dale nonavee.dale@aut.ac.nz

sub editor

Jared Van Huenen

contributors

Mike Atkins | AuSM | Jo Barker | Samuel Blackmer | Nureete Burnie | Hayley Burrows | Alicia Crocket | Vinny Francesco | Tenani French | Frances Gordon | Benjamin Hope | Elana Kluner | Soo Park | John Probert | Meg Rivera | Heather Rutherford | Mystery Shopper | Tamsyn Solomon | Alan Wightman | Matiu Workman

advertising contact Kate Campbell kate.campbell@aut.ac.nz

publisher

AuSM – Auckland Student Movement @ AUT (Inc.)

printer

PMP Print Ltd.

all rights reserved.

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.

disclaimer

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

debate is a member of

ISSUE 21

4 Octoberfest Calendar 5 Editorial 6 Creative Corner 7 Letters / Wordfind 8 AuSM Update 9 News 10 Preparing for the Worst 11 Sport 12 Religion Debate 13 How To / Recipe 14 Iraq Troop Withdrawal / Cordoba House Mosque 15 Media Hype 16 Red Nicholson Interview 17 Quiz 18 AuSM North Shore Profiles 19 North Shore Stereotypes 20 Jimmy Eat World Interview 22 Doing the Twist 23 Agony Aunt / Retail Review 24 Columns 26 Suggestions / Horoscopes 27 What Are You Wearing 28 Fashion 29 Reviews 33 Spot the Difference 34 Micro-celebs

• 10% permanent student discount* • We buy and sell second-hand textbooks* - instant cash if you sell • Over 100,000 books in stock* - no waiting weeks for books to arrive • Four stores Auckland wide • Open Monday to Friday or buy securely from our website 24/7

www.ubsbooks.co.nz issue 21 2010

City Campus Phone 366 4550 Fax 366 4570 Email aut.city@ubsbooks.co.nz

Akoranga Campus Phone 489 6105 Fax 489 7453 Email aut.akoranga@ubsbooks.co.nz 3

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Sevens

Labour Day

At Free Feeds

Nachos week

Pub Quiz!

Destress

and massages

BEERFEST

Vesbar Halloween Party

Blues Awards

U

nless you spent your holiday break hidden in a self-made nest with zero contact from the outside world, chances are you heard about the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that hit Christchurch at 4.35am on Saturday, September 4. It was hard to miss; continuous coverage on TV One, the front page of all the newspapers around the country, and a trending topic on Twitter for most of the weekend. A lot of people spent Father’s Day weekend glued to their televisions or computer screens, watching the disaster unfold, or with their ear glued to a phone, making sure everyone was ok.

Or perhaps you were like me, and got to experience the madness first hand.

Yes, I was in Christchurch the weekend of the earthquake. I had planned the trip thinking that I’d be escaping the madness of the Auckland roads, because of the Newmarket road closure. I softly chuckled to myself at all the poor souls as I boarded my Friday night plane (the last of the evening) and even though I was slapped in the face by the bitter cold as I left Christchurch Airport, I went to bed smug in the knowledge that I was in for a long, relaxing weekend.

Apparently, Mother Nature didn’t get this memo. So in the wee hours of Saturday morning, when I’m dreaming about escaping a murderer and playing basketball in the St Paul Street car park (true dream) I find myself being woken by the sound of rumbling glass and the feeling of being stuck on top of the world’s angriest washing machine. Before I even had a chance to register that it was FOUR THIRTY IN THE MORNING, I was leaping across the room in the most graceful* fashion and cowering in a doorframe. For those of you have stepped inside the earthquake house in Te Papa, Wellington, please know it’s nothing like the real thing.

After many aftershocks, and a couple of hours nap, I awoke to a bombardment of texts asking if I was ok and one asking if I was making the most of the looting opportunities (thanks, dad). But to be honest, aside from having no power for a few hours and not being able to drink from the tap, the house I was staying in came away with not a scratch (or crack) on it.

The worst that happened was a few drawers opened up, but surprisingly nothing fell out or smashed. It was pretty miraculous, considering that you expect student flats to topple at the first sign of danger. Looking out on the undamaged street, you had to wonder whether there was an earthquake at all. Well, that is until you walked into the supermarket (along with every other resident) and are hit with the overpowering stench of split booze. And the remaining stock was quickly being scooped up – along with all the bottled water, torches and batteries – as people turned to a familiar tipple to calm their nerves.

While many people used the earthquake as a chance to steal or to actively gawk at other people’s destruction, I remained holed up at home contemplating where my relaxing weekend had gone. There were a lot of “what ifs” going through my mind, the most prominent being: what if this had happened 12 hours earlier or later, when people were in schools, at work or wandering around the city centre. The earthquake in Haiti measured 7.0 on the Richter scale; an estimated 230,000 people died, 300,000 were injured and 1,000,000 were made homeless.

In 1931 the 7.8 magnitude Napier and Hastings earthquake killed more than 250 people. Yeah sure, our buildings are a little bit safer than those in Haiti, but still, there were no fatalities in Christchurch, and few major accidents. It’s hard not to credit that to the fact that Mother Nature decided to hold off on her reign of terror until most people were tucked up safely into their beds.

Guess the bitch has a heart after all.

*as graceful as one can be when they’re half asleep and the floor is moving like a violent sea.

RECEPTION City Campus Level 2, WC Building 921 9805 8am-5 pm Mon-Thurs 8am-3.30pm Fri North Shore Campus Level 2, AS Building 921 9949 8.30am-3pm Mon-Fri Manukau Campus MB107 921 9999 ext 6672 9am-3:30pm Mon-Thurs MANAGEMENT Sue Higgins General Manager 921 9999 ext 5111 sue.higgins@aut.ac.nz REPRESENTATION Veronica Ng Lam AuSM Student President 921 9999 ext 8571 vnglam@aut.ac.nz ADVOCACY Nick Buckby Liaison Manager 921 9999 ext 8379 nick.buckby@aut.ac.nz MARKETING Rebecca Williams Marketing Manager 921 9999 ext 8909 rebecca.williams@aut.ac.nz EVENTS Barry Smith Events Team Leader 921 9999 ext 8931 barry.smith@aut.ac.nz MEDIA Samantha McQueen Publications Co-ordinator 921 9999 ext 8774 samantha.mcqueen@aut.ac.nz SPORTS Melita Martorana Sports Team Leader 921 9999 ext 7259 melita.martorana@aut.ac.nz VESBAR Zane Chase Vesbar Manager 921 9999 ext 8378 zane.chase@aut.ac.nz

For a full list of contact details plus profiles of AuSM staff and student executive visit: www.ausm.org.nz issue 21 2010

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by Soo Park

IMAPS Inviting all Mäori & Pasifika Business and Law students Two rooms have been booked for you to utilise throughout semester 2. Come and study, get access to computers and people who can help you with your assignments. There is a ‘quiet study’ room or a ‘group discussion’ room to cater for your different study needs. We hope to see you there!

ROOM: WF214 OPEN TIMES: 10 - 4PM Comic by Tamsyn Solomon

DAYS: Every Wednesday PHONE: 09 921 9999 extension 5095

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FACEBOOK: imaps@aut.ac.nz

Dear debate, Cheers for all the recent free movie passes you have put in the magazine recently. It’s hard winning prizes when you’re competing against the whole of Auckland but having AUT only competitions rock!! Please tell me you’ve got more prizes up for grabs… I LOVVVVEEEE movies!!

Rock on, Movie Lover

To all the other legging haters, Its about time a Legging lover spoke up! Leggings, jeggins, treggings are awesome!!

Some people wear them with short tops (which is not exactly pleasing to the eye) but for people who wear other wise, there is NOTHING wrong with them. Leggings may ultimately have even more longevity than drainpipes.

Simply cos they are so much more comfortable and forgiving for some people.

You can wear em under dresses, tunics, oversized boyfriend jackets, baggy T-shirts, mini-kilts, cocktail dresses and other ingenious thighconcealers Marks & Spencer sells more than one pair of leggings every minute!!

May be now you dont hate em as much as you did before?

Right? Yea? k, i guess its still a no…

Oh welll, ACCEPT IT! We love them and we are going to wear them!

Xo Legging lover

Response from debate: Thanks for the feedback! We’ve had four successful movie giveaways so far this year and hopefully we’ll be able to squeeze one more in before everyone goes on holiday. You’ll have to keep your eyes peeled and keep reading debate to find out.

AuSM also runs competitions on our Facebook page from time to time, so if you’re not a fan, become one!

Keep on reading debate, Sam

Dear anon, I m glad you brought up legalizing cannabis! I’m so for it!

Alcohol & tobacco do a great deal of damage to our society Our social lives & memories are built around alcohol. Lets not forget (if we can remember) those drunken house parties, stealing cones, puking on queen st, snickering at the bitch fights on k rd, or fending off your mate from nearly getting punched in the face cos he thought he was the man after 20 bottles of beer. All these things are good times we’ve all had whilst in the influence of alcohol.

But what about the bad ones?

I always dread picking up the newspaper, especially a day after a public holiday because I know there will be some or the other ‘bloody idiot’ who got himself killed &/ or killed other people.

New Zealand govt spends MILLIONS of dollars on drink driving, alcohol related violence & smoking campaigns.

Where does pot come in the

picture? No- where! Because if you’re high you’ll probably be munching on pizza or be buzzing out on an insect. ( haha good times) There is no way one can cause violence whilst in a state of immense exhilaration.

Ah well I can go on forever, but the word limit is running out. ‘we be burning not concernin wat no body gonna say’ Legalize it, time u recognize it lol xox

Learn from award winning writers MASTER OF CREATIVE WRITING The Master of Creative Writing is designed for writers wanting to take their craft and creativity to the next level.

Our staff are award winners for both their literary prowess and their teaching skills.

This unique programme features a residential course bringing writers, artists and publishers together.

words to find CHRISTCHURCH DANCE EARTHQUAKE MOSQUE MOVIES

NORTHSHORE SPRING EXAMS FASHION JIMMYEATWORLD

issue 21 2010

0800 MASSEY www.massey.ac.nz

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Welcome back to campus for the last chunk of lectures for 2010. While you were away, the AuSM team was hard at work sorting out sports, events and giveaways to make the last few weeks at uni extra special and we have a massive couple of months lined up.

October will be AuSM! October will be epic as AuSM celebrates the final weeks of lectures before you head into exams. This year we have the October Beerfest at Vesbar (mit Deutschland bier magd und BEERFEST wieners)! And our annual big October Odyssey Show. We’ll also bring live comedy and hypnotist shows to you.

AuSM will also be running a destress zone in WC202 so you can take a load off with some snacks, free shoulder massages, bean bags and other goodies.

It’s also a big month for sports with the Blues Awards on October 2 and AUT sevens on October 3. Come along and support the AUT team if you can! The sevens will be held at Hato Petera College on the North Shore (just down from North Shore Campus).

What do you think of us?

Every year we survey students to find out how we are doing and what we can improve on (if anything). The feedback we receive is very important to us and we take your comments and suggestions very seriously.

As a result of last year’s survey we changed our Free Feed menu to include more options like macaroni + cheese and nachos. We have also introduced new services such as the discount directory. Please let us know what you think/ want/love/hate/like sort of.

As an added incentive, everyone who completes the survey will go in the draw to win a laptop! Start now:

NZ Blood donations Our good friends at NZ Blood service have asked us to advertise their Takapuna office to students because they can no longer operate blood drives on the North Shore Campus. If you can donate they will arrange transport for you from campus if necessary, contact Lynn from NZ Blood on 486 7583 or linda.williams@nzblood.co.nz Diary Cover Comp Time to vote for your favourite diary cover on Facebook.

The winner will get a $500 Gordon Harris voucher plus their artwork will be on the cover for YOUR diary in 2011.

More Free Pizza Are you an AUT student? Do you like FREE pizza? How about some refreshments?

Come along to the AuSM Special General Meeting at 12pm on Monday, October 11 in the marae (across the car park from WC202) and all this will be yours.

The purpose of the meeting is to set AuSM 2011 membership fee and budget and confirm 2011 executive council members.The agenda will also include constitutional changes and election of vacant positions.

Breakers Open Day Catch a game between the Breakers and NBL All Stars at the North Shore Event Centre on October 10 from 11am to 3pm. Entry by gold coin donation.

Cheap film and cheaper parking If you haven’t picked up an Event Cinema student VIP card from the AuSM office, do it today. You get cheap films for a year and a free film on sign-up.

If you fancy a night in town, Event Cinemas Queen Street is now validating parking for Wilson Parks, Victoria Street so you can park all night for $5.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XRW7V39

Win tickets to the Chemical Brothers We are giving away a double pass to the Chemical Brothers Auckland show on March 2, 2011. To go in the draw email rebecca.williams@aut.ac.nz and tell us why on earth you deserve to go. Extra special bonus points to anyone who sends us a video submission!

Facebook – what’s been happening?

If you are not our friend on Facebook or following us on Twitter you are missing out on all the good stuff. This month we gave away Chiddy Bang Tickets to the winner of our Facebook rap comp plus a road trip in an Alpha Spaceship campervan. We have a whole lot more lined up for this month so come along!

Snowboard scooped up Sean Page was the winner of our AuSM Lodge snowboard giveaway. Everyone who booked a night at the lodge this winter automatically went into the draw to win. We’re hoping to get a mountain bike to giveaway this summer – so stay tuned. Thanks again to Candleman Snowboards for the awesome board!

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AuSM Mates Rates Don’t miss out on your AuSM Mates Rates card! We are hooking you up with heaps of exclusive discounts so you can save money during the summer holidays! Register for your card on the AuSM website www.ausm.org.nz. The card is free for all AUT students.

Studylink Stuff If you have any concerns, problems or questions regarding Studylink and the new changed, you can contact the AuSM advocacy team for help. Email: nick.buckby@aut.ac.nz or rebecca.little@aut.ac.nz

Win $100 cash?

The AUT Breakfast club will be awarding $100 to the designer of its new logo. Please email breakfastclub@aut. ac.nz for more info!

Thanks all from us, enjoy your week!

AUT students juggling national sport with academic study

by Matiu Workman Hannah Wilkinson is like most teenage girls.

Her flat, at the Akoranga Student Village, is decorated with posters of popstar Justin Bieber, actor Taylor Lautner, and a giant Barcelona flag, as a celebration of her birthday two months ago.

However, there is one thing that separates the 18-year-old from most. Aside from being a physiotherapy student at AUT University, she pulls on the New Zealand women’s football team shirt and runs on to the pitch in front of thousands of cheering fans. Wilkinson has been in the Football Ferns since she was 17, making her debut at North Harbour Stadium against Australia in 2009.

The telling factor of her footballing prowess is clear, her uniform from the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup is proudly on display in her bedroom.

“I thought that I would be a lot more homesick than I am, but I just try and decorate my room as much as I would do at home,” she laughs.

But homesickness isn’t the hardest thing about being an academic athlete, Wilkinson says.

“The main struggles are when we have any fixtures. If we have a fixture, be it a home fixture here in Auckland or an away fixture, we have to be in the team camp for a week and it’s always at awkward times with assignments.”

Getting support while studying has always been a dilemma for athletes.

The New Zealand Government has assisted athletes by contributing $4.25 million in the way of

Prime Minister’s Athletes Scholarships. However, this year the support has decreased by $250,000. As a result, the number of recipients has reduced from 380 to 350.

AUT sport development manager and athlete support co-ordinator Bruce Meyer says athletes need to be realistic when considering doing both sporting and academic commitments.

“If they want to undertake serious study and serious sport they would be fooling themselves if they thought they were going to do it in the standard time.”

Meyer says AUT’s athlete support program, revived after a long period of neglect, is doing its best to support academic athletes.

That need for support is reflected by leading

sports psychologist Vicki Aitken.

“When an athlete is happy outside of sport it helps them be more focussed and relaxed when performing.”

But not all athletes are getting the support they need.

Roneel Hira, 23, plays cricket for the Auckland cricket team, the Auckland Aces, which means his time between university and sport is often conflicting. But Hira says university education is incredibly important.

“It keeps you grounded, and keeps you with the real people,” he jokes.

Hira has only learnt of the athlete support program recently, despite studying towards a Bachelor of Social Sciences at AUT for the last four years. He says this level of support is crucial for all athletes.

“We’re not asking for a lot – we’re not after extensions or anything like that. We just need to ask for support and guidance when times get tough.”

Like Wilkinson, Hira finds the balancing act between study and sport demanding.

“It’s always a bit tough, but I try and find support where I can.”

Meanwhile, Wilkinson’s football skills have seen her earn a place in the NZ team to play in the Oceania qualifiers next month. While this means more training, she is enjoying her time as a student.

“Obviously the level of work is a lot higher”, she says in a level of expectation.

“But it’s great. I really enjoy it here.”

We’re making it easier to change the world.

AUT is committed to fostering a community of postgraduate study and research with the availability of thesis-year Masters scholarships based at the AUT Manukau Campus.

If you’re in your first year of a Masters, about to complete a Postgraduate Diploma or finishing an Honours Degree, applications are now open.

Find out more at www.aut.ac.nz/scholarships, or call the Scholarships Office on

issue 21 2010 09 921 9837

AUTMAN/322/DEB

The University for the changing world 9

Preparing for

the worst

by Samantha McQueen

Watching the destruction unfold in Christchurch over the past

few weeks has been devastating for New Zealand. One massive 7.1 magnitude quake, followed by more than 400 aftershocks; it’s enough to drive anyone batty.

For some, they were part of the drama, and they could only watch in despair and defect as their homes, valuables and their community slowly crumbled towards the shaking earth. Those out of harm’s way could only watch on in horror, as the damage became more widespread and even more heartbreaking.

Disasters of this magnitude seem to strike everywhere except where you are, but this unexpected chaos got the country thinking – how prepared are you for a natural disaster?

I was one of the violently shaken in Christchurch. I was staying in a student flat in Ilam and although the house suffered no damage, we were left without power for a few hours and clean water for the rest of the weekend. We were one of the lucky ones, but if we had been without power for the rest of the weekend, we would have been starving and more than a little cold. A supermarket nearby was open, but every man and his dog was there stocking up on hot ticket items like bread, batteries and bottled water. When we arrived no later than midday, the entire water aisle was sold out! I’m no expert of preparing for a natural disaster, but my trusty friend, the internet, has helped me compile a very basic emergency kit in case disaster strikes our ways in the future. If you’re already living on the bones of your ass and can’t afford such luxuries as a first aid kit, ask the folks or grandparents to get you one for a birthday or Christmas present. It’s better – and more practical – than the millionth pair of socks you didn’t want.

What you should have in your basic emergency kit -Battery powered flashlights and a radio, with spare batteries! You may have internet on your phone, but if the power is out, it won’t be long until the charge on your phone is too. Check the batteries are still working every six months; someone could be sneakily using your flashlight for a game of spotlight.

-A basic first aid kit. If you are stuck in an earthquake, or other natural disaster, you or a loved one could be injured by falling objects, glass or rubble. Christchurch hospitals were urging people with minor injuries to stay away from the hospital, so you need to be prepared to look after someone’s cuts or bruises at home. All first aid kits should include multiple pairs of latex gloves, sterile dressings, antibiotic ointment or toilettes to stop infections, gauze pads, burn ointment, bandages, tweezers, scissors, a thermometer, eyewash, personal hygiene items, panadol and any prescription medicines needed (even something as simple as a spare inhaler).

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-A waterproof poncho or rain jacket and waterproof shoes. Christchurch had a perfect day weather-wise after the quake, but in a climate as volatile as Auckland’s, there’s just as much chance that you could be leaving your house in the pouring rain.

-Survival blanket or sleeping bag – you never know if you have to evacuate your house.

-Water containers and enough water stored for three days (minimum three litres per person per day). Also include water purification tablets in case the water is contaminated. A case of gastroenteritis is the last thing you need when you can’t flush the toilets.

-Emergency food supply, including food for any pets or babies that you have in the house with you. If you are stuck in your house without power, eat your refrigerated stuff and your frozen stuff first; the fridge will keep them cool for at least a day without any power. Eat canned and non-perishable food last; canned fruit, baked beans, canned soup, muesli and protein bars, cereal, nuts, biscuits, tuna, powdered or UHT milk etc. Don’t forget to add a can opener to your kit; canned foods aren’t much use if you can’t open them! Basic utensils and paper towels are also handy to have. Remember to check and/or renew this food every year!

-All your important documents, including passport, birth certificate, banking and insurance information, important phone numbers and any sentimental photos or small valuables (like jewellery or petty cash) that you couldn’t bear to part with. Keep these in a well hidden, but accessible place in your house. If possible, keep a digital or disposable camera in there as well, so you can easily record the damage to your property for insurance purposes.

-Spare underwear; it may not seem essential, but if you’re away from clean clothes for more than 24 hours, you’re going to be so thankful for something as small as a fresh pair of knickers.

The Rugby World Cup and what it means for you!

D

emographics besides ours (students, usually young, poor) don’t care too much about us. We get told we’re important and that one day we’ll become something, but besides that, the rest of the country think we’re kind of shit. Which is why nobody even thought about us when they decided to win this whole World Cup hosting thing. Ridiculous. We’re STUDENTS, does the government really think we want masses of foreign young people invading our shores, having awesome fun and drinking ALCOHOLIC beverages when we’re trying to study?

I think next September/October is going to be awesome. As we’re all well aware, a busy Auckland city can go one of two ways. Either you get on it a bit and make 24 new friends in half an hour outside the kebab shop by Met OR a pack of popped collar dickheads ruin the evening after one of them hits on all the girls and then throws up, while his friends are trying to fight you because they think you made a racist joke.

Imagine how awesome town will be when there are over 300,000 extra people around! I say awesome with a hint of scepticism, because, like the aforementioned Friday night, I figure it will go one of two ways.

Firstly, there will be a lot of fighting. That’s guaranteed because the only countries that really care about rugby are the ones that LOVE to get drunk and fight. I think English people actually invented the drunken brawl. So that’s a tick in the negative column, counteracted by the massive influx of new hot people.

Whenever there’s a sporting event in a cool city, thousands and thousands of hot people become interested. I don’t know where hot people live or what they do during the rest of the year, but let’s use the Wellington Sevens as an example of the fact that they love to party.

Back to the negative column, public transport. Our public transport has been coming along nicely in the last six months, and it’s almost at the point where it works. With another few hundred thousand people, however, our fair city looks set to fall to pieces. These people are all going to be using trains and buses and ferries to do Aucklandy type tourism – like catching the bus to the Zoo, or the ferry to Waiheke, or the train to Sylvia Park. All of these things would go very badly.

On another negative note, beer will get very expensive. When English and Australian people travel, they like to drink the same, if not more than they usually drink (a lot). So the bars here will be inundated with a massive number of people and ridiculous prices because foreign people don’t know what things are usually worth.

This may turn out to be a plus for you, if you go out and buy a few hundred beers now and sell them for five bucks next year. Is that illegal?

Yes, but I doubt you’ll get caught unless you advertise it on twitter.

Also, remember that you’ll still have classes for most of the Cup, so the streets will be packed and the shops will be full of people and they’ll sell out of everything and it will get smelly and dirty. And that’s just Queen Street. You’re probably in luck if you live in Ponsonby or Parnell, but if you live in Kingsland or Mount Eden you’re pretty much fucked. Unless...

The Hilton is charging about $1500 a night for a piece of shit hotel issue 21 2010

room the size of your closet. This leads me to believe that if you live close to town and have a decent sized room, you’ll be able to charge at least $500 a night to some unsuspecting foreigner. Again, this is actually illegal unless you own the place, and it’s really bad for the economy, but we’re poor and it’ll make up for the $15 beers you will have been buying. You’re welcome.

So what will the World Cup really mean for us students? Well it’ll be fun, that’s for sure. And while it will cost us heaps of money and our city will be a bit shitty for a couple of months, we’ll all make some new friends and, provided the All Blacks win, be a bit happier.

You

can help save someone like Liberty!

Please Give the Gift of Life

AUT AKORANGA CAMPUS STAFF & STUDENTS

are invited to come and donate blood at our Takapuna rooms Please contact Lynn from NZ Blood on 486 7583 or linda.williams@nzblood.co.nz and we will arrange an appointment and a ride for you Please remember to bring ID and make sure you have plenty to eat and drink beforehand

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Please bring along your Donor Card or photo ID, such as a drivers

Is Religion Relevant in a Modern Age? John K Probert

yes

In February 1993 I resigned

from my position as a Church Minister, having first been ordained in January 1980 following theological training in Sydney. In no way had my personal belief system changed in respect to my Christian faith. What had changed was my relationship within what we call the ‘established church,’ across the denominational spectrum. Basically we understand all religions within our multi faith world as a person’s belief about existence, nature and the worship of one greater than ourselves who we call God or Allah or Kristina or Buddha or other names and titles.

We believe that one greater than ourselves and about whom none greater can be conceived, as having involvement in the universal and natural world and in our human life. The way that this greater being is acknowledged is through corporate Worship with set liturgical practices and beliefs we call doctrines. However down through the centuries, religion in its diverse forms has become organised and institutionalised and used as a pretext for injustice, violence and war.

Therefore any affirmation of Religion as being relevant in the world of today has to take into account the faults and failings of structured/organised denominational religion as it has evolved and continues to evolve. What I believe is emerging is a sense of inner spiritually which underpins personal ethics and behaviour in a manner that is tangible and the allegiance to denominational labels is far less rigid. Ours is an uncertain world in a global sense with immense issues such as poverty, hunger, unemployment and the whole issue of climate change confronting governments, regional groupings and the United Nations.

It is within such a modern technologically advancing culture that religion/ spiritually provides our own personal quiet place of reflection, meditation and prayer. To incorporate a belief system into our daily lives in a world where so much is beyond our control is a precious and special thing. I can testify that in my own life reverses and problems that I have encountered have only been handled and turned into positives because of my personal faith and belief that at a mature age my life still had some meaning and purpose. The majority of you that may read this article are much younger than me. In fact many could be my grandchildren!

You are privileged to attend AUT with the opportunity to develop yourself in the most amazing ways. As you pursue your studies you are also well aware of issues within our nation that are taking from us too many of our young people. Alcohol, drugs, speed while driving, these paint a picture of lives living for the moment with no thought of the consequences in the short or long term.

May I humbly suggest that embracing a personal faith/ sense of spiritually in a manner that works for you, and linking with like minded people in worship and fellowship, can of themselves be rewarding and fulfilling and need meaning and direction can be among the benefits.

Do I believe that religion is relevant in a modern age? My answer is a resounding YES.

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Vinny Francesco

what is religion? The word

NO

provokes associations of ceremony, ritual, dogma, doctrine, sacred text, priesthood, belief, and “super-nature”. We think of religion as an archetype, with such types as Hindu, Judaic, Jain, Buddhist, Christian and Islamic injunctions. Technically the word “religion” extends to such entities as Pantheism, Thelama, Shamanism, Discordianism, Gnosticism, Unity consciousness, Satanism, Animism, Theosophy and Anthroposophy, plus many more.

Then there is the more exhaustive list of localised “tribal” religion, which makes up a bulk of the around 4,000 known religious injunctions of this planet. There are also more “liberal” easy going types that we [officially] give the name “religion”. For instance, there is “Pastafarianism”, which centres around the deity of The Flying Spaghetti Monster, focusing on the worship and adoration of His divine noodly appendage (obviously in a sardonic, taking-the-piss way). There is also the matter of the Jedi census phenomenon, in which 53,000 people listed as their religion in the 2001 New Zealand census.

This rather exhaustive introduction is designed to clue you in with the ambiguity surrounding the word “religion”. Religion can be defined as an institution, based around the mystical/spiritual. Religion could also be defined as “training how to love God”. Personally, I find no quarrel with loving God, however the training and the institutional aspect, I do find quarrel with.

However, this is not about me, this is about the modern age.

In a way, religion is highly appropriate for the modern age. This is because [organised] religion is an institution; institutions being the cornerstone of modern life. Institutional mathematics1 may be relevant to modern life, institutional spirituality, however, is not. The main reason for this, is that modern life is fundamentally regarding the phenomenal world; materialistic, consumerist, sensatory and “objective”. Religion is fundamentally regarding the noumenal world; ethereal, spiritualistic, intelligible “subjective”.

We can see how this may conflict. Say for instance, Jain religion has managed to grasp some governmental power within India, and enforces its strict vegan diet on the population. In a country of over one billion people, consumption of meat, fish, eggs, animal derived products, and root vegetables will drop drastically. This would not only affect the domestic market, but have flow on affects to “other” states and nations. Surely overnight, New Zealand’s farming industry would take a hit, our GDP in general, and arguably our economy would suffer, i.e. through unemployment. Technically this is a good thing, at least from the purview of Jain religion, because the principle of “Ahisma” (non-violence) has been upheld.

In other words, modern society is a beast with a large appetite. Modern life is all about feeding modern societies beastly appetite. And, when an entity such as religion comes along and proselytises “Hey, Mr Beast, perhaps you have had enough? If you eat too much food, that is gluttony, and from gluttony comes obesity, lethargy, and ingratitude”. Of course beasts are generally not interested in austerity or philosophy; it’s not relevant. In the same way religion does not present much appeal to anyone immersed in modern life.

In a nutshell, we want freedom. Modern life teaches us that true freedom means freedom of choice; the ability to choose between many alternatives.

This type of modern freedom is all about options, it’s an options equal’s freedom philosophy. Clearly however, a beast lorded and governed by appetite cannot be considered free. Religion basically tells us that we are not free, that we need to be master of ourselves and govern our appetite in order to be free; that true freedom is liberation and autonomy. Whereas modernity basically tells us that a beast in a buffet has freedom; there is choice, but not necessarily autonomous choice. In this way, religion is not relevant to those who treasure the values of modernity.

1 Ironically, Pythagoras, a famous mathematical philosopher, had a cultic/religious following in Ancient Greece during his lifespan.

k o o c o t How power -

ter s a s i without d a g n i r lp du e h o t s p i t y eas

by Alicia Crocket So the earthquake has hit and luckily your emergency food kit didn’t disappear into a crack in the ground. Phew, you’re thinking, but then you realise you now have to prepare food without power and this might go on for day. Never fear, you can do it. You might not make a meal worthy of Rick Stein, Gordon Ramsay or Jamie Oliver but it will do the trick in a tight spot!

One of the most important things to remember is that you can keep food cold or frozen for at least 24 hours in your fridge/freezer even without any power so you don’t have to immediately crack open the dehydrated camping meals. To keep your fridge/freezer cold for longer either pack everything into your freezer or into your fridge. The more cold stuff you have in a fridge or freezer the longer the food will stay cold. Only open the fridge when absolutely necessary and don’t leave it open for very long. Where possible use your refrigerated food first, then your frozen food and finally you can go onto your canned food.

If you have a working BBQ (with a full gas tank) then you’re in luck – just cook outside until the power comes back on. If you have an old saucepan you can put this directly on the BBQ plate to heat sauces and liquids. This might ruin your saucepan – but hey what’s a ruined saucepan compared to eating cold baked beans out of a can for days on end? Same goes if you happen to have a camping stove that runs on gas bottles – just make sure you set it up somewhere flat and away from things that will burn.

If you haven’t got a BBQ or a gas cooker (and you neighbours don’t either) then you’ll have to make do with a campfire for your hot food. Make your campfire on a concrete surface if you can - you don’t want to add ‘fire in the backyard’ to your list of problems! Kindling size twigs and small branches are enough to cook on. If you make a campfire you can cook vegetables and meat wrapped in foil –the smaller the pieces of food the faster they’ll cook, so cut them up first. Just put your foil package straight onto the embers – camping styles. Use a double or triple thickness of foil to make sure it doesn’t get punctured and always have the shiny side facing inwards. Remember to fold the ends up several times to make it as airtight as possible.

If you don’t have foil or want to make something liquid then grab some fallen down bricks from your house and put them around the fire. Grab the wire rack from your oven and put this on top of the bricks to give you a surface to put pans on. Remember you still need enough room to shove more wood/ charcoal into the fire while the food is cooking. Use only dry wood, don’t use painted or treated wood on a fire because the toxins released are dangerous.

If none of these options are available to you, sandwiches are always a good option, raw veges are sweet as and dry cereal can keep you going as well. Food in cans is already cooked so it’s OK to eat these cold as a last resort.

Hopefully you won’t have to last too long without power and you’ll be back in your kitchen with your oven before you know it.

Frittata

It’s hard to write a recipe for frittata because it changes every time, depending on what I have in the cupboard but here goes…

Serves: 4 Cost: $1.40 per serve Gluten free, Dairy free

Corn fritters & frittata Corn fritters are a great camping or “cooking without power” meal. If you’re feeling particularly inspired you can always add a bit of chilli, bacon or feta into them for some more flavour. Frittata is another versatile dish where you can add veges and flavour depending on what you’ve got on hand. Unfortunately it doesn’t work quite so well on the campfire!

Corn fritters

(Edmonds cookbook)

Serves: 2 Cost: $0.70 per serve

1 can cream-style corn ¾ cup plain flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 egg Salt and pepper to taste

6 eggs 1 medium or 2 small potatoes, cubed (or pumpkin or kumara if you have it on hand) 1 small onion, diced 1 capsicum, diced 2 -3 slices shaved ham or bacon (depending on your budget) 3 - 4 sundried tomatoes, chopped OR 1 fresh tomato if they’re cheap 1 handful frozen peas Salt and pepper to taste

directions

directions

1 Mix all ingredients in a bowl 2 Drop spoonfuls of mixture into

Wash and dice the potatoes into approx one cm cubes and cook them in boiling water until they’re nearly cooked (about 10 minutes)

a hot frying pan with a little oil

INGREDIENTS

INGREDIENTS

3 Turn after about three minutes

or when the top of the mixture starts to bubble 4 Serve with some sweet chilli sauce

issue 21 2010

1

2 While the potatoes are cooking prepare the rest of your ingredients

3 Beat the eggs and add salt and pepper. If you’re trying to make the frittata stretch you can add about ¼ cup milk 4

Heat one tablespoon of oil in a fry pan at a medium heat.

5 Add the onion, capsicum, ham/ bacon and sun dried tomatoes and sauté until cooked 6

Add the cooked potatoes, the beaten eggs and the peas

7 Using a spoon or fish slice, gently push the cooked egg from the bottom of the pan into the middle of the pan so the uncooked egg at the top can go to the bottom of the pan 8

When about half the egg is set turn the element to low and put the lid on to help the top set. If you have a fry pan that can go in the oven you can put the frittata under the grill to finish it off.

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Cut and serve when the top of the frittata has set.

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Iraq Troop Withdrawal

Seven years ago,

the U.S. and coalition forces (Great Britain) invaded Iraq, and now, the troops are coming home.

All of them?

Well, no, the troop withdrawal put in place by former President George W. Bush, and followed through by current President Barack Obama leaves 50,000 troops still in Iraq, scratching their heads wondering if there’s been a mistake.

But the event is still a milestone for the conflict in Iraq. What has come to an end, and few U.S. papers are getting right, is this day marked the end of U.S. combat missions in Iraq. The troops that remain in Iraq do so to train Iraqi troops, support Iraqi troops in combat operations (there is still a war going on), and a few combat troops to protect the troops doing those missions.

When can you expect the rest of the withdrawal? You might ask Germany or Japan, who both have a residual troop presence from World War II. This may not be a bad thing for the security of Iraq. While Iraq has recently become

Cordoba House Mosque

Samuel Blackmer calm, it is quite possible it is the calm at the centre of the storm. Al Qaeda is no longer the threat they once were, but it is now up to the different factions in Iraq to form a government, and it would not be unusual for the new government to falter, and things good turn violent. Having U.S. troops stationed in Iraq for the foreseeable future is in the interests of the average Iraqi until the new government is more firmly established.

But this is only a possibility. There has been a strong movement in the U.S. to remove all troops from Iraq. With the end of combat missions, the majority of Americans may be satisfied to leave a troop presence in Iraq, but because the war has been such a political hot topic, it is also possible a large portion of the U.S. populace will not be satisfied until all U.S. troops have come home.

Were this to happen, it would not be the first time a nation has gone through political strife without someone to help them out. In fact, it has been the way of most of history, when a nation goes through political strife, they do it on their own. It is also not uncommon for the political strife to spread to neighbours and create regional instability. Were this to happen – and it is by no means guaranteed – it would mean the U.S. would likely be returning in mass to try to stabilise the region.

Were it Africa, the U.S. would likely let the strife go. The U.S. does not need stability in Africa, but since the Middle East is sitting on billions of barrels of oil, the U.S. and the world needs the Middle East to be stable enough to keep the oil flowing. So in at least one way, the critics who claim the war is about oil are right.

It is difficult to know if the troop pullout is too early, just right or long over do; only time will tell, and it will only tell if it was too early. The stability of the region is of international importance, so to err on the side of caution would be preferred to risk the stability of the region. But the U.S. may all ready have erred on the side of caution. Sooner or later the U.S. had to find out if the time was right.

Samuel Blackmer

The U.S. is a polarised country; it is divided into right vs. left, red vs. blue, conservative vs. liberal and Republican vs. Democrat. Anytime a discussion arises, the first question asked is “where do you sit”? And if the person sits on the other side of the isle, there is no reason to continue the discussion; their arguments are ‘their’ arguments.

Enter the Muslim community centre, the Cordoba House, currently planned for a site a couple of blocks from where the World Trade Center stood.

Everyone has an opinion on the subject, and if you don’t share their opinion, you are clearly an idiot. The arguments for and against the Cordoba House don’t even seem to make contact.

For the left, the blue, the liberal, the Democrats, it is a matter of the first amendment of the constitution which guarantees the right to freedom of religion. To be completely clear on what this means, because a great many Americans don’t understand it, is the Government of the United States will not deny anyone the right to worship as they see fit… So long as human sacrifice or other outlandish practices are not a part of your belief system.

For the right, the red, the conservative, the Republicans, it is a matter of taste. It has nothing to do with government stepping in and denying anyone the right to build a mosque or temple or cathedral, it has to do with whether a Muslim group should build a mosque so close to a place where radical Muslims killed 3000 people in the name of Allah and his prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him.

The man behind the mosque, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, is a Sufi Muslim.

It doesn’t get more moderate than the Sufi branch of Islam, so much so that extremist fundamentalist Muslims don’t consider Sufism to be a branch of Islam at all, and feel they are no better than any other non-believer and should have their heads removed. His stated goal of building the community centre is to create tolerance and understanding between cultures.

To be fair, the divide is not along the lines of left and right, 70% of Americans oppose the building of the mosque. But the bitter argument is among between the left and the right. The right says if 70% of people oppose a mosque so close to the sight of the World Trade Center, Abdul Rauf and his financers should respect their wishes and find another spot to build their mosque. The left says those people who are opposed to building the mosque are bigots and suffer from Islamophobia (newly coined word, meaning people who suffer from an irrational fear of Muslims.)

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What is agreed by both sides of the isle is Abdul Rauf does have the right to build the mosque, and the Government should not intervene to stop its being built. This, by no means, means politicians shouldn’t get involved in the issue. And the U.S. press is happy to voice the opinion of any politician welling to speak on the subject, no matter how crazy the opinion might be.

The Republicans roundly oppose the mosque – a very safe stance in a senatorial election year. The Democrats are a mixed bag, with those facing difficult elections in November opposing the mosque and those not facing re-election or sitting in safe seats endorsing the mosque with some. Even the President weighed in on the subject coming out strongly supporting the mosque and then back tracking when he received a strong backlash.

So where does this leave the Cordoba House? There is an offer on the table from the State of New York to work with Abdul Rauf to find another location for the Cordoba House and there are also those who are adamant it will be built on the current planned location.

Abdul Rauf, who is currently in the Middle East for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Programs, has said on his return he will speak about the his plans for the Cordoba House. In the meantime he released this statement: “I can assure that whatever we do will increase harmony and peace and well being, both within our city, our community, our nation and the world”.

It might serve both sides well to listen.

To believe

or

Personal sins should not require “press releases and problems within a family shouldn’t have to mean public confessions.

-Tiger Woods

”

not to believe By ByHayley HayleyBurrows Burrows

S

candal sells magazines, even if it’s not necessarily true. The sad thing is, we want to believe all these horrible stories about celebrities, because we want them to be just as human as the rest of us (even though our dirty laundry isn’t the front page of OK magazine). We want to read about Britney Spears running around her house naked, screaming like a psycho. We pick up the millionth magazine cover claiming the “exclusive” on Angelina Jolie, and how she used her evil bitch power to steal Brad Pitt from the beautiful Jennifer Aniston. We are just sucking in the information the media want us to believe in order for them to sell more copies; the juicier the gossip, the more magazines will be sold.

It’s the type of lazy journalism that sells newspapers and attracts readers but none of the stories go into any detail, and if they do, the majority of it is made up. I’m sure someone just sits at their desk all day thinking, “Hmm, what can I make up today? I haven’t heard about Jennifer Aniston lately. Let’s say she is dating this person this week”. Seriously, how many times a week do you hear she is dating someone new? Last month they were saying she was back together with John Mayer, then another magazine said she was having secret meeting with her ex hubby (for the umpteenth time). Last week they apparently they have “photographic evidence” that she is dating Courtney Cox’s co-star Josh Hopkins, when in reality she had just finished filming her guest spot on their TV show Cougar Town. Seriously, it doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out. Get better work stories buddy.

What about the very infamous Tiger Woods scandal? That one just went waaay out of control. Everywhere we went it was being plastered on magazine covers, the news, the radio, everywhere – you couldn’t escape it.

Every day there were new woman coming clean about having an affair with the golf star; in the end there were about 14 women. How many of them were actually true? In his press conference he admits to having an affair but he does not admit how many people he slept with. So were we all taken for a ride? Were all those fame hungry sluts full of shit? I think some were. Soon after this there were allegations that David Boreanaz, along with others had affairs and it turns out, they were full of crap!

The media sometimes gets it right though. Sandra Bullock’s ex Jesse James is a douche. The day after she thanked him in her Oscar acceptance speech it came out he had been cheating on her, with a number of women.

It turns out that the press weren’t too out of control with their claims. He has admitted to nearly all claims and even went to rehab, but now the media is saying Sandra adopted her baby to heal her from the hurt her husband caused her. In reality she had planned to adopt her little boy for a couple of months before it came out he was cheating on her.

What about Lindsay Lohan? Is she really as messed up as they make her out to be? I vote yes and no. True, she is a bit of a drug fiend. And she did have F U written on her middle fingernail while in court, but can anyone blame her? She is constantly being harassed by the media and her moves are always documented. So what if she likes to party too hard every once in a while… she is human right? Miley Cyrus is another star that is on the cusp of adulthood and has to deal with “will she turn out like Lohan?” remarks.

Magazines claim she cheated on her boyfriend Liam Hemsworth but is so devastated by the breakup she has been partying till the wee hours of the morning and getting tattoos. Reality: she was seen at a club with her LOL cast mate Ashley Greene as they were filming a scene for their movie. And that tattoo? That was in memory of her friend who recently passed. Out of

issue 21 2010

control? I think not. And don’t even get me started on Justin Bieber and that 3D movie. Seriously, next time I see him shake that mop of hair I may not be responsible for my actions.

Most of the time, celebrities just let these allegations wash over them; after all, a new scandal involving someone else is just around the corner. But sometimes, celebrities lash out at these lies. Prime example: Ashton Kutcher.

He recently put InTouch magazine to shame when they reported that he had been out kissing another women at a club in LA. He tweeted the next day: “so um.. I was at home with my wife… see?”, and then posted a picture of the pair. Take that!

Tiger made a good point in his press conference when he states “Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn’t have to mean public confessions.” I get that they are public figures, but come on give them a break. So next time you pick up a magazine or are watching something on TV, remember they are most likely taking you for a ride. If you want the real gossip, take to their Twitter pages. Now those are interesting.

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Twenty-four-year-old Red Nicholson is just like anybody else. The former AUT student, who graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor of Communication Studies, likes to go to clubs, has served on the Auckland City Youth Council, and most importantly, he loves going to concerts. But for Nicholson, who was born with cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair, going to concerts often means forking out top dollar for a seat, rather than paying what most concert goers pay. I met with him at Roasted Addiqtion in Kingsland to talk about the latest concert debacle, his blog, and his recent trip overseas.

For people that don’t know you, can you explain more about your disability?

I’ve got cerebral palsy, which basically you get it at birth. It often comes about from a lack of oxygen at birth or like a knock on the head or something. So yeah, this is all I’ve ever known so I guess in that respect it’s never been [a problem].

When I’m out at clubs and stuff people congratulate me and say “you’re so brave, you’re so amazing for coming out”. There’s this whole idea that being in a wheelchair is the worst thing that could ever happen to anybody, but because it’s all I’ve grown up with, it’s totally normal.

You’ve got a blog called Walking is Overrated, which focuses on news in the disability community. When and why did you start that blog up?

I was procrastinating doing a media comm one essay back in first year, so I decided [to] start a blog. I originally intended it to be a place to review cafes, restaurants and hotels around accessibility… but it very quickly turned into a very general news/discussion… like a hub for disability discussion, because there’s really nothing out there.

The thing with disability too is that some people are non-verbal, some people are deaf, blind; you’ve got a multiple array of impairments, so trying to get them all in a room to have a discussion might be impossible. But when you’re online it puts everyone on an equal playing field, it’s the great leveller.

You were in the media earlier this month about the price of disability access tickets to U2 and Jay-Z and a letter you had sent to promoters?

Was this the first time you had written a letter to the ticket promoters and what prompted you?

This is something that happens quite a lot and I’ve been successful in the past with writing letters to the promoter. If you take Vector Arena for example, the wheelchair seating is in one very small section of the lower bowl, so the price for the wheelchair seats is reflected in the price for the lower bowl seats. What that means is it’s out of whack with what the majority of the people that come along pay. In the past I’ve just liaised with Ticketmaster and the promoters and sent them emails and they’ve been able to lower them but I guess there’s two things… One: the news media picked it up this time because it’s so timely, and second: I was happy to run with it on the TV and stuff because I’m a little bit sick of having to lobby them every single time. It should be just put into practice without having to go through all this rigmarole every single time. Overseas, in the UK and stuff, it’s just standard. You’re either able to bring someone with you for free, which kind of makes sense because for people with a significant disability they need a support person, or you get a discounted ticket of around the same price as the GA tickets.

As a result of all the media attention, what happened?

What they’ve agreed to do is open up a selection of the wheelchair seats in the cheaper priced category. I don’t know the specifics of that but I got an indication that they’ve agreed to open up a selection in the cheaper priced categories, and that was a win for me.

You recently went on your OE this year – how much extra planning had to go into your trip before you even took off, because planning an OE is stressful enough for anyone, but for you, it would probably be harder.

16

I planned for about six months before we went. There’s so much to try and take into account. We went to Europe, so for each city we wanted to go to, I had to figure out how do you get there – fly, train – how do you get into city or to where you want to stay? Is the hotel accessible? Does it have an accessible bathroom?

How accessible is it? You can’t always rely on [what you read] on travel.com, you have to ring up or email and ask for photos. And even when you do that it’s not guaranteed. I turned up to a hotel in Vancouver and it just had a bath. It’s like “have you ever tried lifting a 23-year-old disabled guy out of a bath?”. It just doesn’t happen. So we had to bail out of that and go stay in a hostel while we were in Vancouver. There were so many pitfalls.

You were saying in the UK they have measures in place for people with disabilities when it comes to concerts and shows; did you get to experience that when you were overseas?

Yeah, absolutely. My girlfriend and I were in London for two weeks and we went to a couple of West End plays and we both got in for about 20 pounds each, and I think the regular price was about 40 pounds. Some people say it’s the perks of being disabled, some people say it’s fair because we’re generally on benefits or don’t earn as much as everybody else. I guess the people in the UK are just like “bugger it, if we lose 20 pounds because a person in a wheelchair comes it’s not a big deal”.

You were a student at AUT from 2007-2009 doing the communications degree. How was it being a student at AUT with a disability? How difficult was it to get around the campus and how accessible were the facilities?

AUT was really great. I’d been to Auckland University for a semester and that was a lot more challenging, probably owing to the age of the buildings more than anything else. AUT’s obviously new; all the doors have those red push buttons that open automatically which is pretty handy. The campus is all ramped and lifted and stuff so there’s no issues with classrooms being inaccessible. The tower lifts were always a “fun time” for anybody. AUT was great; we had the disability representative on the board, so it was the recognition of accessibility around campus.

We’ve been talking about people being ignorant about your disability.

What do you think is the biggest misconception people have around disabilities?

People often get the impression that we need to be fixed or saved. You know that campaign on television for family violence – it’s not ok? I’ve always sort of wanted to create one around disability that’s the opposite – it’s ok. I think what people struggle to come to terms with is that people in wheelchairs are generally ok about the fact that they’re in a wheelchair.

Funnily enough, I think the biggest thing in the disability awareness movement in the last year or two is the kid on Glee. I reckon there will be kids in wheelchairs all across America who are benefiting from that guy, because he’s not a disabled character, he’s just part of the group. I think that is so powerful – that’s saying “hey, it’s normal”. It makes people aware of the issues faced by disabled people without putting it in a 60 Minutes kind of framework. I like that, I think it’s the key; comedy, pop culture… those things will be the way we move ourselves forward.

Which MP used a dead child’s birth certificate to get a fake passport? a) Rodney Hide b) Garrett Brown c) Heather Roy d) John Boscawen Which celebrity did not quit the Twitterverse in the last month? a) John Mayer b) Amanda Bynes c) Demi Lovato d) Paris Hilton Rafael Nadal beat whom to become only the seventh man to win all four major tennis Grand Slam titles? a) Roger Federer b) Novak Djokovic c) Robin Soderling d) Gael Monfils If you drove non-stop from Los Angeles to New York City, approximately how long would it take you? a) 24 hours b) 37 hours c) 45 hours d) 62 hours

Who is the mayor of Christchurch? a) Bob Parker b) Jim Anderton c) Bob Barker d) Tim Shadbolt What did the audience of Oprah’s receive on the premiere episode of her final season? a) Dinner with John Travolta in his private restaurant b) A new Mercedes Benz c) A trip to Australia d) An all expenses paid trip to Disneyland What meat is pastrami predominantly made from? a) Chicken b) Lamb c) Beef d) Fish Who is the current president of Russia? a) Vladimir Putin b) Dmitry Medvedev c) Boris Yeltsin d) Aleksander Kwasniewski Where would you find a philtrum? a) In a car’s engine b) On a bicycle c) Underneath your pancreas d) In between your nostril and your upper lip

answers:

1a 2b 3d 4b 5c 6a 7c 8c 9b 10d

What was the magnitude of the massive earthquake that first struck Christchurch at 4.35am on September 4? a) 7.1 b) 7.4 c) 7.8 d) 8.1

Find out about opportunities for postgraduate study and research in Architecture, Planning and Urban Design, Dance Studies, Fine Arts, Music and Sonic Arts.

Thursday 30 September, 6pm NICAI Student Centre Level 2, Architecture and Planning Building 26 Symonds Street, Auckland City Free admission – register online: www.creative.auckland.ac.nz issue 21 2010

Phone: +64 9 373 7067 l Email: info-creative@auckland.ac.nz

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So Dawn, what’s your role here at AuSM? Student Information Officer What were you doing before you started working at AuSM? Before AUSM I had a small stint at AUT doing a Health Certificate. I wanted to do a Bachelor of Nursing degree but discovered when we did a dissection that I had issues with blood and decided I wasn’t going to be able to become a nurse after all. Prior to that, I was working at a company formation company.

What are the biggest differences between the campuses and the students over on the Shore?

There are thousands more students on the City campus compared to the North Shore so it is very, very busy… the North Shore campus seems much quieter and relaxed almost!

What do you like to do when you’re not hard at work?

My kids take up most of my spare time. I have a 14-year-old daughter and a 12-and-a-half-year-old son. [Other than that], family life, going to the movies, travelling and walking the dog.

What type of student were you at university?

I went back to uni as a “mature student”. It was only for one semester, but I was a very studious one! Some may even have called me a “geek”!!

How prepared are you and your home if Auckland was to experience an earthquake or other natural disaster tomorrow?

I have a very super organised builder for a husband and he has it “all under control”. In fact, I asked him what would he do and he said “bring it on!” We have water tanks in the garden set up, petrol generator, torches, batteries, candles, matches... you name it, we have it! I am sure half our street will be camping at our place, he has it that organised. He even has the trail bike ready to go should roads be uprooted and closed!

What are your thoughts on the impending Super City elections?

Don’t have any particular views on the Super City elections at this point. The only good thing so far is that it created quite a bit of work for my husband building and erecting signs for one of the candidates!

If you could jet off to any holiday destination in the world, where would you most like to go and why?

I would love to go back to Disneyland and take my kids – it is such a magical place!

What is your ultimate pet peeve?

My ultimate peeve is when people don’t use manners; a simple “please” and “thank-you” is just common courtesy and costs nothing!

Spring has quietly crept upon us and soon it will be summer; what are you most looking forward to about the upcoming warmer months?

I am more a winter person, so whilst most people who would be asked this question would say “going to the beach”, “sunshine” etc, I am looking forward to our decking and front gate finally drying out and the mould and slime drying out and going away. Everything is so wet at the moment!

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So Jacki, what’s your role here at AuSM? I am a Student Information Officer at the North Shore Campus. There is only Dawn and myself representing AuSM over here.

What were you doing before you started working at AuSM? I was working for Hospital TV Rentals supplying TVs to patients at North Shore Hospital.

What are the biggest differences between the campuses and the students over on the Shore?

I feel as a health faculty it is a very caring campus with caring students who I enjoy working with and helping.

What do you like to do when you’re not hard at work?

Looking after my two cats, Rupert and Poppy (my 3-legged girl), and my 14-month-old granddaughter, Rosa, making greeting cards for my friends, shopping, gardening and reading.

What type of student were you at university?

I don’t know what sort of student I would be because I did not attend university.

How prepared are you and your home if Auckland was to experience an earthquake or other natural disaster tomorrow?

My pantry is always full, but I need to do something about storing water. I have glow-sticks, candles and lighters, first aid kit, batteries and a transistor radio.

What are your thoughts on the impending Super City elections?

I have not given it much thought as I am not very enamoured with the standing candidates If you could jet off to any holiday destination in the world, where would you most like to go and why?

I would go to Great Britain and the continent as I still have a brother there. I came out from England as a child and would love to see the places I vaguely remember.

What is your ultimate pet peeve?

Good manners cost nothing.

Spring has quietly crept upon us and soon it will be summer; what are you most looking forward to about the upcoming warmer months?

I am a summer person. I love to listen to birds tweeting, getting outside with my darling cats, walking the baby and a little bit of gardening.

by Samantha McQueen with help from the power of Facebook

Stereotypes. We’ve all used them at one point or another. All women are bad drivers, men don’t ask for directions, all blondes are dumb... you get the drill. There are racial stereotypes, gender stereotypes, age stereotypes and even country stereotypes. But aside from JAFA stereotype, I didn’t know about some of the stereotypes that went on around Auckland. This week I wanted to take a look at the North Shore stereotypes – seeing as our second biggest campus is located over on the North Shore. Westies may have Outrageous Fortune, but recent TV series Go Girls captures the essence of the stereotypes. In one interview, the show’s creator said about one of the characters “Amy may typify the blonde, white-pants-wearing Shore girl in the way she looks, but we’ve stayed well away from the ‘Shore girl, sure thing’ thing”.

As someone who is not an Auckland native and had no idea about the “shore girl, sure thing” saying until a couple of weeks ago, I turned to Facebook to ask the students what the stereotypes are and what they thought of them! Here’s what they came up with.

“Shore girls ar e NOT a sure thing, if I’m anything to go by .”

- Carmin-Moniq

ue Rope

“Having lived ou t south, west, ea st, central, and now residing on the Shore, perce ption is reality... Shore gir ls, sure thing. This place has not-poor-but-not -quite-rich kids wh o drink too much and can ’t handle their alc ohol.

Sure there are ex ceptions to the ru le, but the stereotypes are there if you’re loo king for them.”

e girl. not easy! Shor ore girl, but I’m ; makes all shore sh ue tr a ’m “I ying hate that sa sure thing...I

.” ts slu e lik girls sound ick - Kelsey Renw

rich a bunch of snobby “People think we’re its on their lim no ve ha ts ren kids whose pa and ve around in BMWs credit cards. We dri of n sio ver e tur a minia Range Rovers, like the OC.” – Matthew Berridge

- Gareth Hooton

“The majority of people who live on the Shore do work really hard for what they have. They do their best to better themselves and give their kids what they never had when they were young and there is nothing from with that. I think the rest of the general Auckland population is just jealous.”

– Matthew Berridge

ard . Try h e hitbags s ag n t e il e o rs. T ys. Sp gangste ies’ bo m e m b u a “M ann es. W an badass - Vaugh

Sluts.”

“I’m a Shore girl, so eve ryone thinks we’re better than the m, we have big houses and drive around in flash cars... ummm, partially wrong.

I hate it how everyone asks me if I could shout lunch just because I live on the shore and they think parent s give weekly allowances....WRONG AGAIN! I work just like everyone else . We are not snobs.”

-Sky Kim

“Most w orr For exam y too much abou t their ap ple, I’m a pearance Westie a the shop s. nd can w s in [rugg alk down ed] pants and nobo to and a ma dy cares. ss iv But if wh and do th en I go to e hoodie at I get the Shore g weirdo o n the wro lared at like I’m some po ng side o or f th e bridge.”

– Jamie Jo hns

If you’ve got your own stereotypes or your own opinions about how North Shore residents are represented, flick me an email at debate@aut.ac.nz – I’d love to hear them!

Notable North Shore residents; do they fit the stereotype?

Rachel Hunter Judy Bailey

Sir Peter Blake Luke McAlister Winston Reid

Rosita Vai

Danny Morrison issue 21 2010

19

Interview with Mike Atkins Jimmy Eat World were the first band I ever heard the word “emo” attached to, proving my belief that it was something before it was a joke. I swear to god, I was right. Formed in Mesa, Arizona in 1993, they were around during the days of bands like Sunny Day Real Estate, and came up in the same genre as Weezer in their early, early days, back when it was called “emocore”. Everyone who heard the term thought it was something that music writers had made up.

They are probably best known for their single The Middle, with its wormy guitar solo, which I’ve had stuck in my head since talking to the man responsible for it. The Middle was a pretty big hit, appearing on a bunch of movie soundtracks, and in Rock Band 2. Two albums before The Middle, Jimmy Eat World signed to Capitol Records ending their careers as independent musicians.

Somehow though, they managed to maintain their indie cred.

They’ve got a new album coming out soon, called Invention, so I jumped on the phone to talk to guitarist Tom Linton (until karma cut the phone call off as punishment for my unfortunate use of the word “seismic”. He was good enough to call back, but did ask if it was another earthquake).

Fun Fact: Tom was Jimmy Eat World’s original lead singer, before band mate Jim Adkins took the reins. However Invention contains the first song sung by Linton on a Jimmy Eat World record since their debut.

20

Did you know that you’re one space above “Jimmy Page” on Google Auto-complete?

No, really?

I kid you not. Alright, here’s the first proper question. How do you feel about the whole emo thing?

I think it’s weird for any band when they get a label put on them like that, whether it be “grunge”, or whatever.

So the label was put on you?

Tom: Yeah. I don’t know if a writer somewhere said it or something. We don’t know how it happened.

The whole emo thing only filtered down here a few years ago, but you’ve been around for a while. We always assumed you guys were among the ones who started it.

No. I don’t know how it happened.

How do you think you got that label? Or what do you think you have in common with the guys who do call themselves that, if anything?

I don’t know, because I don’t know what an emo band is. In New Zealand, what do people think an emo band is? We just say we’re a basic rock band.

I don’t think what we think it is would be all that authoritative. It was kind of played out by the time it got here. Your lyrics are pretty aspiring though; do you think that that was part of it?

Are there any thought of touring down here?

Maybe. We were really young when we’d just started out. A lot of the songs were about being a kid, and growing up – about the goals that we set.

There’s talk of something next year.We don’t have anything booked yet, but we definitely want to get down there. What city are you in?

Now that you’re a bit more grown up, what influences the lyrics now?

Auckland.

Jim [Lead singer Jim Adkins] took a new approach when he wrote the lyrics for Invention. There’s a photographer called Cindy Sherman; he would flip to a page in her book; the pictures that she takes are pictures of women in these scenes. He would look at the picture and write lyrics based on her facial expression and the background. It’s hard to explain how, but that was a different approach.

That’s very grown-up, very un-emo, assuming that emo is a teenagery thing. Is there a more grown up approach to song writing in terms of instrumentation, tone, and melody too?

It varies song to song. Sometimes the music does come first. But the lyrics are the most important part of the song, we think. They’re something that we take seriously.

What’s it like playing those tours where you play an older album in its entirety?

We just did one where we played the Clarity record front to back. It was something that our fans wanted us to do. A lot of kids on our website were requesting it. We just thought that it would be a cool thing to do. It was really fun to do.

The Big Day Out goes there, right?

That’s right.

In, I think it was 2002, or 2003, we did the Big Day Out in Australia.We were supposed to do Auckland, but something happened. It had something to do with the Foo Fighters. They were playing, but they weren’t going to do the Australia shows, so we couldn’t do the New Zealand show because of that.

We were all really bummed out. But hopefully sometime next year.

So, you were brought in to replace the Foo Fighters on the Australian leg, is that how that worked? How does it work when that happens. Because it’s happened since, hasn’t it?

It happened just recently too. There is a festival called the Soundwave in Australia, and My Chemical Romance... something happened where they couldn’t do the festival. Two or three weeks before the festival, we were recording our record, and we were offered [the chance] to go down there and play it, and we said yes. It ended up being really cool. We weren’t sure how it was going to go over, because a lot of their fans brought tickets, and were looking forward to seeing them. I think it ended up working out.

Albums are such constructs. Does it take more practice than the average tour?

It did. A lot of the songs from that record, we haven’t played since we recorded them. It was the first time playing some of those songs, so we did a lot to get ready for that tour.

issue 21 2010

21

Doing the

Twist

How dancing feels a lot like dating

by Meg Rivera

For the past eight weeks I have been undergoing a field of creative research, in an attempt to better link the vast world of relationships to a parallel that best describes them to the untrained single. At least, this is what I tell myself to justify going out on a Monday night. Most of the time I am having too much fun to even think of researching.

I have always loved dancing, particularly ballroom dancing. Its simple elegance and style was always the selling point to me, and after having grown up watching cartoon couples on Disney sashay through the ballroom in their happy endings, I was sure that one day I would be able to do the same.

I discovered Ceroc on a drizzly Monday night. I was walking through Lorne Street on the way home from the public library when I heard music coming in from one of the buildings. My eyes found the massive orange signage above the front door, and like Alice down the rabbit hole, I ventured upstairs to find out more.

On the top floor was a dance studio and a beginner class that had just finished. The grizzled receptionist looked me over and said, “You might want to try going for the intermediate class missy, the beginner one just ended.”

Ten dollars later, I was paired up and learning to do the basket weave like nobody’s business.

Ceroc is derived from the French c’est rock, a dance style that imitates the hand and footwork of a Spanish Merengue and the styling of the Lindy Hop and the French Jive. It is a male-led dance, with the ladies needing to trust their partner to lead them to exactly where they needed to be.

This of course, called me out on all my relationship hang-ups.

Speaking as a chronic single, I was not keen on having to depend on somebody else to lead me around. I most certainly was not keen on having to trust that they were not going to spin me into a wall or drop me on my head. But epiphanies are not restricted to golden sunrises or evenings nursing a vom bucket, so I decided to stick around and see what better understanding I could gain from all this.

Dancing with a partner, I have realised, is very much parallel to the game we call dating. I realised this on my second lesson. After having a turn with several partners, one of them picked my hands from his shoulders and told me quite firmly to “Let me lead! Trust me, I’ll make us look good”. I shut up after that and just let him have his way. Independence is a good thing, but when you are dancing with somebody else, you cannot afford to have your own way all the time. Once I was chastised properly we got back into position and we sliced through that ballroom floor like a surfboard goes through a wave. It was the most liquid feeling, and I didn’t have to do anything but look good and follow!

Another similarity I found was that like dating, dancing requires that you pick your partners with much discernment. Just as there are no identical snowflakes, there are no partners that are equally 22

alike. Some are forceful, shoving you every which way while others cannot lead you at all. The balance to be struck is one where your partner leaves you no room to be mistaken when he leads you into a move while at the same time giving you the chance to be creative and experiment with something new.

Relationships should never be a matter of guessing; one goes into them knowing fully what they want and where they are going.

Yet another thing I have had from this whole experience is that if you get turned down, do not assume immediately that there is something horrendously wrong with you. Just like dating, dancing also has rejection, and never for the reasons that you can conjure to upset yourself. I was hanging around during the after-class freestyle time, where members at the studio come together for a few hours of freestyle dancing. I had my new shoes on and I was eager to try out a few of the new moves I had learnt earlier in class. Nobody came up to ask for a dance. In fact, all of them had a partner each and none of them were changing around!

This was my absolute worst nightmare, where I am waiting for a turn to dance and am left sitting on the sidelines the whole time just watching.

The kindly receptionist came sidling up and casually asked if I was competing. “Me? No, I just started here,” I fumbled, trying not to look too disappointed. “Well, you probably won’t get a dance out of them tonight. There’s a big competition happening on Saturday and they’re all practicing for that. Come back next Monday, everybody will be free again,” he suggested.

And right there was my biggest revelation. You may be 100 per cent ready to dance with a partner, with your new shoes strapped on and a new confidence to let yourself be led through the dance floor. You may have worked through your trust issues and allow yourself to be dropped in a dramatic arch over your partner’s knee.

Everything is in place, but yet nobody is asking you to dance. Do not be discouraged because there is nothing wrong with you. You are perfect just the way you are, it just isn’t the right time. The longing in your chest will be satisfied when you finally are asked by a partner who you follow perfectly and trust with all your heart. And when you look up into the mirror and see your reflection, the picture you both make will assure you that the wait and work you put into this was truly worth it.

Dear Agony Aunt Every night when I get home from uni I have about an hour to myself and then I have to go to work, that’s fine, but as soon as I get through the door my mum is nagging me to do some sort of chore like washing or vacuuming and I don’t feel like I have any time to myself. She doesn’t seem to understand that I am tired and study is as hard as work sometimes. What can I do to make her realise I’m tired too.

From Too Tired

Dear Too Tired,

No doubt about it, studying and working is hard work and it must be difficult to fit in some housework as well. It sounds as though your mum would like you to help her out a bit more around the house. Let face it, housework is repetitive and boring and it can get you down, especially if you feel as though you are the only one doing any. What about taking your mum out for a coffee somewhere nice and asking her about her workload and then talking about yours, or going for a walk with her.

Negotiate with her about what you feel ABLE to contribute and THEN DO IT. If you would like some good ideas on how to talk with your mum about this, you could book to see a Counsellor at the Health and Counselling Centre (FREE). You do sound pretty busy; what about doing one of the time management courses on offer, check the KEYS site here at AUT. You never know, it might make your life a bit easier in future.

Dear Agony Aunt I have shaved down below recently and now have an itchy rash, how can I get rid of it and still be smooth for my boyfriend?

From Furless Friend

Dear Furless Friend,

Sometimes it depends on what type of skin you have whether you get a reaction to shaving. Some people have tougher skin than others and can easily tolerate shaving and for others it can result in a rash. The rash is often uncomfortable and itchy. It’s best to leave it alone and let the hair grow back. If the rash persists book to see a nurse or doctor and get checked.

If you have cut yourself shaving it is possible to get a bacterial infection under the skin and you may need treatment for that.

You could try waxing next time or use a hair removing cream.

If you use cream make sure you test it out on your hand first to make sure you’re not allergic to it. If all else fails and you keep reacting to hair removal methods then you and your boyfriend may have to learn to love your pubic hair.

Heroes For Sale

277 Karangahape Road, Newton

Mon - Thurs: 10am – 5.30pm Friday: 10am – 8pm Saturday: 10am – 5pm Sunday: 11am – 4.30pm

I have to admit, I’m a bit out of my depth when I walk into Heroes For Sale on K Road, but I’m keen to have a look, out of curiosity. I’ve never really noticed it when walking past; it’s tucked into a corner among many other stores. There’s lots of cool stuff in the window as you walk in, which immediately get my attention. Small, packaged action figures scale the walls and several cabinets display statues of many well-known characters. The statues are in various sizes, and range from recognisable icons to the more obscure characters (well, to me anyway). Some are on the more expensive side, but for enthusiasts, it’s worth a look at least. The action figures start at around $20, and there’s quite a collection of these to choose from. Family Guy, superheroes, cartoon characters and heaps more, there’s something for almost everyone. Looking around more, I find several styles of t-shirts and some board games for sale as well, which are quite cool. There’s also a poster stand, but not many options there right now unfortunately.

Moving further into the shop, I have a browse through the many

Price Range: Comics from $7 action figures from $20 statues from $90 comics available. There’s so many on offer, shelves full in fact, and quite a range of different types as well. New ones, retro ones, whatever comic you’re after, this seems a great place to start your search! The smaller, paperback comics start from quite cheap but obviously the prices increase, depending on what you’re after. The bigger, hardback comics start at around $30 and go up from there, depending on rarity and so on. I find several options that would be great as presents. Some of the cute Disney ones would make good kids gifts (and yes, maybe for those young at heart as well). I’m stoked to find a Peanuts book, containing a collection of the old comics, ahhh the memories! Charlie Brown, Snoopy, wow haven’t seen these guys since I was little! In addition to a wide selection of products, the customer service in store seems great. There are a couple of regular customers in there during my visit, ordering their books in, and the shop assistant seems pretty happy to help. Overall, my experience in store has been really positive, and I’d definitely recommend a visit if you’re into comics, or shopping for those who are.

This review was written by a graduate in Retailing. If you are interested in retail and why people buy, take a look at papers in the Retail major in the Business School. You don’t have to be a business student to take the papers, so check out the website today!

issue 21 2010

23

So as this semester winds down, I find myself

at the point that so many who come before me have found themselves: it’s time to graduate (knock on wood). Things are about to get real.

With degree in hand it’s time to find the real world, get jobs, mortgages, complain about inflation rates, go to bed at a reasonable hour and drink low carb beer to stop being bloated. Oh how exciting it all seems.

But before I go, there is a few things I need to get off my chest.

Communications girls: you seem to get a bad rap. Everyone mocks you for how you show up in first year ready to go to town, decked out in designer labels and high heeled shoes. Then some rural or nonAuckland person shows up and decided to rant about how they don’t fit in and want to wear sweatpants. Go hard! Wear sweatpants, no one really cares at university anyway. For so many people in first year, coming from a high school where they had to wear a uniform means they suddenly feel a need to impress people. Just be comfortable.

Sure, some will say you’re going for jobs in the media so it’s all about looks and style and what not, but let that slide till at least half way through second year, and then you need to start impressing guest lecturers.

Art, design and fashion kids: you are all awesome, with your trendy clothes and varied changing art displays. How I envy your creative style and flair; my brain, however, does not allow for me to be original or even remotely cutting edge. You’re tu meke.

Business kids: Well I don’t know many of you (except for the guy who left communications to do business), but you have a flash building – at least until the new media centre is built. Plus you’re the home of the greatest café on campus. Sometimes you wear suits, which is cool, and it makes us look really professional like we’re at Harvard Business School or something equally as impressive.

Some of the lecture theatres can be less than accommodating with their technical malfunctions, and everyone loves to have a whinge, but while it can get frustrating, it’s all part of life. I have never seen more people whinge and moan about technology stuff ups than I have at university, and when the lecturer can’t fix it someone lets out a sigh of annoyance, which helps about as much as poking your tongue out while thinking. If it was the real world, you’d call the techie and have to wait hours (unless you had one on staff). So can I say thanks to the technology guys for doing a seemingly thankless job.

Go overseas. Seriously, check out your faculty and head overseas for a semester around the world. It’s an amazing experience to travel while studying; there is heaps of scholarships to apply for and you don’t miss out on stuff back here because it counts as one semester’s work.

There will be more thanks next week. I might even name drop.

Plus, I wouldn’t mind feedback. I have been writing for almost a year after all. Send it debate. It’ll get to me.

24

ea ls

M

ls

by Ben Hope

, s l Hee

gD ea

li n

But hey! That’s just what I think

&

Se a

by Elana Kluner

I was talking to a close male friend the other

day and he was telling me about a system him and his buddies had worked out. They called it the level system. How it went was that there were five different levels that a girl could be classified in. The lowest level is an acronym for “stay away from me”, the fourth level is a made up word for “ugly”, the third level is the “what if girl”, the second level is the “dream girl” and the first level is the “one and only”. When I first heard this, my Leo instincts kicked in and I claimed this was a bunch of BS. How in the world could your one and only be higher than your dream girl? Isn’t your dream girl supposed to be your one and only? And what the heck is a “what if girl”? Isn’t that a hypothetical question stating that this girl is impossible to get? And if so, then wouldn’t that technically be your dream girl?

And is there a level of ugliness that institutes someone to be lethal to you? All these questions were my hypothesis to my theory of proving him wrong. Well, in fact, he might have proven me wrong.

He explained it like this: Your one and only is the girl that wins over every other girl, no matter how pretty, intelligent, successful or whatever other qualities these men nowadays find attractive. She is the one that holds your heart. She is the one you would do anything in the world for. Your dream girl is usually a celebrity; someone who is generally classified as “hot” by every guy (straight or otherwise) in the world. She is someone you dream about or even fantasise about, but she is in no means capable of replacing your one and only. Your “what if girl” is that everyday good-looking girl you pass on the street.

You might think for a second what it would be like to be with her, but the thought usually passes as fast as she does. Your “ugly” girl is, well, ugly. And your “stay away from me” girl, is either so hideous inside and/or out that you can’t even stand to be around them or an ex who you had a horrible ending with.

As much as women strive to be the dream girl in as many guy’s lives as possible, we all know we truly just want to be someone’s one and only. So, how do we stop being levels two through five and start being level one? What is that extra leap we have to take to land on the other side? I asked my friend what it took for his one and only to qualify for that position. He said her personality just clicked with his.

She was everything he needed and more. I asked him what would happen if he met his dream girl or got to know his “what if” girl and she ended up having the same qualities. How would his one and only compare to her? He said back to me, “I would leave my girl for her. It’s called survival of the fittest”. Of course he was joking, but it made me realise something. We women need to make the effort to be the one and only. We can’t just wait around any more like those urban legends used to tell us, “don’t look for him, he will come to you”. Becoming his one and only is an active effort. We need to be persistent, dedicated and willing to look for him. And once we have found him, we need to be ourselves 100 per cent, for him to fall and stay head over heels (hopefully not high heels) for.

neet's totally metal Metal bands and their record companies have

never had as much business savvy as the mainstream. This isn’t surprising really, and normally it doesn’t create a whole lot of issues.

But it does create an issue for me personally when we get what I like to call “album waves”. By this I mean that we tend to get waves of album releases, then lulls where all these bands are touring. The last year or so has been quite a lull, with very few albums coming out. But in the last few months we’ve hit a wave, with new releases from Iron Maiden, Kamelot, Tarja and Tristania just to name a few. The Iron Maiden album even made it to number one in New Zealand! Good work!

This week I’m going to have a quick look at two albums that are of particular interest to me, Tarja’s What Lies Beneath and Tristania’s Rubicon.

I still believe that Vibeke Stene leaving the music industry is one of metal’s greatest losses. Her voice was really the only reason why I kept listening to Tristania after Morten Veland left and took his writing skills with him. Her replacement Mary really had her work cut out for her. As Vibeke left right after the release of their previous album Illumination, the band had no choice but to tour on existing material. I’ll be the first to admit I judged Mary harshly on some of those first performances, but I just couldn’t forgive her World of Glass. I was quite interested to see what she would sound like on her own material. I wanted to like Rubicon, I really did, but I just couldn’t. Mary sounds much better on this material than any older Tristania stuff I have heard her sing, but the writing is average at best, suffering from Tristania’s constantly rotating membership. The production also leaves a lot to be desired, with the vocal layering used throughout the album making everything sound muddled.

Overall an average album, nothing compared to the past likes of Widows Weeds and Beyond the Veil.

Anyone who has read about two of my columns will know I’m a huge Nightwish fan. Tarja as a solo artist on the other hand I’ve always felt a bit indifferent. No doubt she has an amazing voice, but My Winter Storm was a disappointment and I found myself only liking one song. That’s why I found myself looking forward to her next release as soon as My Winter Storm was released, to see what she could come up with second time around on her own. The first thing that pleased me about What Lies Beneath was the number of songwriters she used were cut, which has given the album a more cohesive sound.

What Lies Beneath is definitely a step up – I like more than one song to start with! However it is pretty opposite to My Winter Storm. On that album the ballads shone out from an average album, whereas on this effort the ballads feel weak and uninspiring, dragging down the rest of the album. And while the cohesiveness of this album is better, it starts getting to the point where a lot of the songs sound the same.

Variety is the spice of life, and this album needed some. Tarja’s vocals are amazing again, but it just feels like she’s not hitting her potential.

What I feel it really needed was a producer that would just push her and the album that little bit further.

So out of two albums I was looking forward to hearing, both have been a bit of a disappointment. Guess I just have to wait for next wave of albums to hit, which I’m guessing to be around early/mid 2011. Hopefully New Zealand gets to see some touring action this time as well.

issue 21 2010

by Frances Gordon

I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met

whose eyes have kind of glazed over when I’ve told them I’m studying abroad in Missouri, and you know what – it’s understandable. Missouri is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and it’s not known for much, apart from its caves (there are lots) and the Cardinals (famous American baseball team). So, before I get into the nitty gritty of school life – here are a few fun facts about the University of Missouri: Student population is 32,000 The rec centre was voted best in the country for four years in a row by ESPN (I think it was the Playboy mansion-inspired swimming pool that did it) The famous columns in our quad are the most photographed attraction in the state of Missouri Famous alumni include Tennessee Williams, Sheryl Crow and… wait for it… Brad Pitt.

That’s right ladies and gents, I am walking the same hallowed grounds as Mr Angelina Jolie himself. And I love it.

American college life is so incredibly different I can’t even begin to describe it. Firstly, I’m living in a dorm – I never had to share a room as a kid so to say moving into a room the size of a matchbox with a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed freshman was an adjustment is an understatement.

Then there are the classes. Oh boy. I am never, EVER going to complain about doing readings or in class tests ever again. I turned up to my second day of class and the first thing we did was a pop quiz on the readings, a pop quiz that actually factored into our grade, about readings that I (of course) had not done. Needless to say, the people I was taking the quiz with weren’t very happy when they found out I had not done the readings and had nothing to contribute whatsoever.

But, luckily for me, I possess one thing that has constantly got me out of awkward or sticky situations, one thing that no one in the whole state of Missouri could replicate.

My accent.

All I have to do is kind of shrug my shoulders, bat my eyes and say “I’m foreign” and people seem to forget what they were even saying.

After that all is well, they gush about how much they want to go to New Zealand, I nod appreciatively. Then they ask me about Flight of the Conchords and soon enough everything is right with the world.

25

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Only a couple of months left. Pass or fail, live or die. The choice is yours. Except for the dying thing. That’s not your choice.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Feel like a loser for not doing anything cool over the holidays? Don’t worry, everyone else just fucked around too.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21)

Your lucky number is 15 this week! The stars predict more sex for you if you get it monogrammed onto a t-shirt and/or hat.

CANCER (June 22-July 22)

Your stars are aligning perfectly for a TERRIBLE week. Wednesday will be awful.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

An earthquake may strike the country you live in within the next month. Prepare yourself with a USB internet connection and a Twitter account.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Now that the sun’s out, you need to get way better at cricket. Also, your barbecue skills are a bit rusty. Sort it out.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23)

Summer’s approaching at you know what that means… Bees! You’ll have an unlucky bee encounter within the next week. Don’t panic or you might die.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21)

You’re set to come into some money this week; the stars predict it will occur on, or around, payday.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

Short of cash? Book out your room in the flat to some foreigners for the World Cup! Take the deposit and spend it on shoes.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Fruit of the week? Papaya. Get one from the Asian grocery store on K Road and put it on toast.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

The stars predict intermittent broadband access this Thursday.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

You’ll never succeed unless you accept the fact that you’re not going to marry Jason Gunn. The stars just know.

26

Jess Wang

Diploma of Oral Health Everything from China

issue 21 2010

Charlie ‘Ferrari’ Bachelor of Graphic Design T-shirt: Op shop Jeans: Workshop Beanie: OFSA

Kate O’Mara

Diploma of Fashion Technology Jacket: Vintage Pants: Country road Everything else: Op shop

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by Heather Rutherford

T

at New Zealand Fashion Week, Australian fashion designer Kirrily Johnston his year marks the 10th anniversary of New Zealand Fashion Week (NZFW) event since it’s inauguration in 2001. While to showed her collection, and Hollywood megastar Pamela Anderson and many of us, New Zealand Fashion Week seems so well established, designer Richie Rich showed their collaborative label, ‘A*Muse’. Also ‘Fashion Toast’ blogger from Los Angeles Rumi Neely (www.fashiontoast.com) was in compared to some fashion weeks from the fashion capitals attendance. around the world, ours is still relatively young. The first event to recognise Having our own fashion week puts New Zealand on the map with a viable New Zealand fashion design was the Benson and Hedges design awards fashion industry. It has also been a catalyst for the growth and development which ran from 1968 to 1995 (sponsored by a brand of cigarettes). Later the our industry needed to be a world player. Before New Zealand Fashion event decided to become “smoke-free” and was renamed the New Zealand Week there was very little infrastructure in the form of stylists, magazines, Smoke-free Fashion Design Awards (1996-1998). Prominent winners of the photographers, makeup artists, and models. Having our own fashion week Benson and Hedges design awards include Liz Mitchell (1990 and 1992), who provided to publicity and support this sort of development needed, and got still shows at NZFW today. the public excited about buying New Zealand designs. This year Pieter Stewart The immediate predecessor of New Zealand Fashion week was the launched the “New Zealand Fashion annual, in-season Corbans Fashion Collection, Festival” as a ‘little sister’ to New Zealand later renamed Wella Fashion Collections, then Week. This fashion festival is set Wella Fashion Report, which was broadcast on Having our own fashion week puts New Fashion to be a yearly event, showcasing to the television from 1990 to 1999. It was managed and run by Pieter Stewart. When it became Zealand on the map with a viable fashion public New Zealand Designers in-season known that the annual Fashion Report was due industry. It has also been a catalyst for the fashion on one mega catwalk. Since the inception of New Zealand Fashion to finish in 1999, Pieter and several key figures in New Zealand Fashion decided it was high growth and development our industry Week in 2001, a third generation of New Zealand fashion designers are taking to time for New Zealand to have it’s own week- needed to be a world player. the runway, along with the old favourites long fashion industry event. It took a few years of Nom’D, Zambesi, World and Karen to get the event off the ground and running, Walker. This year AUT Fashion Design but in 2001, under the sponsorship of L’Oreal, Pieter Stewart launched the first New Zealand Fashion Week. It was held in October, right after the events post-grad student Blaire Archibald takes to the runway in the Miro Moda and enormous media coverage of September 11, so obliviously there were a show In the Westpac tent on Friday. And the PWC New Generation show few snags. Many overseas media and buyers pulled out of attending because will exhibit new talent from the likes of designers Kathryn Leah Payne and Celine Rita, and new labels ‘Riddle me This’ and ‘Maaike’. they felt it unsafe to fly and all media coverage was still overshadowed by New Zealand Fashion week is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year the turmoil in the USA. However the first New Zealand Fashion Week was still a success; 30 designers showed and there were buyers from five different with a retrospective show. Last year Zambesi held a retrospective show, showcasing the best designs from their catalogue and it was very impressive countries. so this year, the New Zealand Fashion week retrospective has a lot to live This year there will be over 50 designers showing, and the publicity and up to. I am sure it will deliver. Designers, new and old and been pooling media coverage surrounding the event has grown enormously, growing from $1.9 million to a huge $64 million in publicity. It is estimated to be worth their favourite designs from over the years. Some are making replicas of the $19 million to the Auckland economy. Throughout the years there have been designs they no longer have, and some are going to extreme lengths to source some interesting stories, from magazine editors kicking up a fuss about them. With all this considered I think it is going to be an amazing show and the highlight of the week. their seating arrangement, suspected guns in the audience, to New Zealand Every New Zealand Fashion Week is an amazing event with many stories starlets fighting and dumping their drinks on each others head (I’m sure you know who I’m talking about). However all snags considered, the annual of celebrity faux pas, back stage dramas and amazing fashion. I am sure this year will be no exception. So let’s raise our glasses of Moet and Chandon New Zealand Fashion Week has been a huge success in the last 10 years, and and toast New Zealand Fashion Week’s 10th anniversary! has succeeded in getting media, and attention from around the world to recognise the talent in our country. Last year, two international acts showed

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Surfing The Void

Scandalous

A few years back there was a mini-scene of industrial and electronic-influenced new wave bands being lauded by the British music press. It died out quite quickly, because it was only constituted by a few bands, and some saw it as merely an aftershock of electro-clash. Then there was that neon thing – that was a joke as soon as someone said it out loud.

Having all that against it would have killed any other scene before it started, but this one lived briefly because of a few singles that reinvented the concept of catchiness. They stripped “catchy” back to its most basic elements, and miraculously made singles that were wormier than a lot of the pop that came out that year. These were songs that stuck in the ear even if you only heard them once. Because once was all it took. And The Klaxons were responsible for a few of them.

The Klaxons’ sound was deep and erudite, as well as being punchy (they had a song called Gravity’s Rainbow for chrissakes). They were the perfect band to lead the movement, had the movement deserved to exist in the first place.

Unfortunately, all they managed to achieve was clearing the way for MGMT, who probably would’ve made it anyway. They were victims of circumstance.

The above suggests a band that would stick around whether there was a scene, or not, just because they were stubborn enough to try and prove themselves. That’s only half true though, Surfing The Void does reek of stubbornness... or maybe “bloody-mindedness” is more the term. Because Surfing The Void merely exists, in defiance of having no reason to exist. Gone is what made them so exciting in 2007, that smart surrealism has been replaced by random smatterings of sci-fi nonsense, and the beautifully simplistic dynamic has been replaced with alternating whooshy and pounding effects.

Those effects make up such a large part of the problem here, because they’re such a large part of the album. Myths of the Near Future (their debut) used them to such good effect, because they tried everything. On Surfing The Void, there’s the heavy, sludgy, pounding noise, followed by the space-ship going into hyperspace noise, and some twinkly pianos to bring you down from the “shock”. If you like that, there’ll be more coming up in the next song, if you don’t too bad. Of course you might like that, there’s no reason why you wouldn’t. After all, their previous successes we based, to a certain extent on repetition, but it doesn’t work the same here; here it just gets old, and exhausting after a while.

Say this for them though: they haven’t been standing still the last three years. While their inadvertent contemporaries MGMT followed up a pop album with something bravely non-commercial, the Klaxons sort of did the same, going into heavier, squallier territory. But unlike MGMT, this hasn’t resulted in a rewardingly complex sound – just more ballast. This is especially a shame, since it’s ostensibly pushing them in the direction of more progressive acts like The Mars Volta.

It just goes to show that you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.

In a media landscape like ours, where fame and celebrity act as currency and every word uttered by the glitterati ends up in the annals of history, embossed next to famous scandal and nudity and illegalities, very few celebrities have managed to embrace fame pertinently. Fewer still are those who use it to their advantage. Russell Brand has taken the whole model of fame, the very concept of celebrity, and fucked it.

In about every sense of the word.

Scandalous, Brand’s latest live DVD is a collaboration of everything too sensitive for American ears, an amalgamation of all the offensive things this hirsute British super celebrity could possibly think of. More importantly perhaps, Scandalous is a bit of a truth telling session – reflecting on the show’s apt title in respect to two scandals he has caused in the two years.

Firstly, Brand gets stuck into his hosting of the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards – where he called out the celibate Jonas Brothers (claiming they should “embrace” fame as he has) and called the then President George Bush a “retarded little cowboy fella” – and that was just the opening sequence.

In Scandalous, Brand lets loose with all the lines he was too scared to say, as well as reflecting on his lack of fame in the U.S. and the consequential offensiveness.

“Without fame, this hair just looks like mental illness”, he observes before returning to a scandal more appropriate for British audiences, and one you probably won’t have heard about. In 2008 Brand and Jonathon Ross called up Andrew Sachs (Manuel from Fawlty Towers, who was then 78 and considered a national treasure) on their radio show, and left messages on his answering phone about Brand fucking his granddaughter (true), sexually abusing the septuagenarian and referring to him killing himself. Awful behaviour.

But Brand, with his boyish enthusiasm and beautiful mastering of the English language, comes off looking like the confused, cheeky little shit who stole some lollies from the shop. It really is amazing how an obnoxious, self obsessed bigot can make you want to be his best friend.

I only wish the DVD was longer and had more material from outside of his scandals but, with the content it has, Scandalous is definitely worth a watch.

P.S. I managed to write a whole review about Russell Brand without talking about Katy Perry. Respect.

The Klaxons CD Review by Mike Atkins

issue 21 2010

Russell Brand DVD Review by Jared

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Despicable Me Directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud Film Review by Meg Rivera

Despicable Me is Paramount’s newest creation, venturing this time into the funny place that is a villain’s mind and heart and how sometimes they are really just a giant squishy with a big dream on the inside.

Gru is the one you would depend on for middle-sized thievery. After being mistaken for having stolen the great pyramid of Giza, he attempts to top this heist by going for the big time – the moon! His plans to steal this are met with some resistance, first from the bank funding his laboratory and then from a hot shot noob called Vector.

Enter Margo, Edith and Agnes, three little girls who Gru adopts to help with his plan by means of diversion. But being Gru, he did not see any further than his end result and is stuck with the girls for longer than he plans. Ever so slowly, the girls help him realise that life is much more than being evil, and that dreams have more than one way to succeed.

Paramount manages to score a hit with Despicable Me, but it lands on an unfortunate fan in a distant row instead of going out of the ballpark. It’s a good hit nonetheless, helped on by the comical stylings of Steve Carrell as Gru and of course, his team of tennis-ball yellow minions! They bring the film’s majority of laugh value, especially when a team of them are sent into a store to bring something back for Agnes.

Without them, this film would fall into a painful belly flop of a parody.

The storyline is as predictable as they come but the little twists are what make this take on the villain refreshing. Carrell’s Russian accent fails him at times, taking on an Italian mob boss lilt when the dramatics outweigh the action. Russell Brand is perfect as Dr Nefario, Gru’s quartermaster. The two comics play off each other and the chemistry between them, though stilted at times, still packs a good laugh.

Other noteworthy performances are from Julie Andrews, who plays Gru’s mum. She is in every way, the disapproving mother whose only goal is to see her grandchildren before she goes.

Little Agnes is voiced by Elsie Fisher, who does a wonderful job of bringing the audience into a simultaneous awwww at the right moments. A pleasant discovery was Jermaine Clement from the Flight of the Conchords, who voiced one of the minions.

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On the whole, Despicable Me is a good film to go see if you are stuck with several small children on a rainy day. It’s also one of those films you badger a mate to see with you because you don’t want to be laughing by yourself at those little minions and you walk out of the theatre wishing you had a badass laboratory like Gru so that you could have them for your very own.

The Expendables Directed by Sylvester Stallone Film Review by Jared

The special effects are, of course, amazing.

The explosions are endless and, to Stallone’s credit, the fight scenes have a certain uniqueness (I think it’s how long they are) that makes them really enjoyable. There’s a ton of guns and planes and helicopters and boats and knives which is probably why it looked so fucking cool in the trailers.

And it is cool. But it’s bad, and not bad in a good way like Piranha was (go and see it right now) – like actually bad. It’s tiring and has a really tricky nature to it. It thinks it’s good, and keeps telling you that it is, but it just isn’t.

At least it isn’t in 3D.

The Runaways Directed by Floria Sigismondi Film Review by Meg Rivera

Most films don’t get made by genre these days. There’s no more clear cut action or romance or comedy; they’re all mixed up and tied together to make things more interesting.

Most of the time, it’s a premise that works.

Look at Inception, it has chunks from just about every genre and while it’s more confusing than a cat riding a bike, it works (rather well). This is all relevant, because after watching The Expendables, I was trying to figure out what Sly Stallone was thinking when he made it, and I’ve worked it out in the form of this made up story: Stallone, sick of confusing, muddled up action films that lacked fire, explosions and predictable storylines, decided he’d come back for one last hurrah (actually, he’s currently involved in five more films). The phrase “they don’t make ‘em like they used to” was uttered at least 15 times. At no stage did anyone ask why they don’t make films like Rocky anymore.

So, Sly helped to write and direct a film that was JUST like a “classic” action from the 80s.

Then he rang up some of his action star buddies, who loved the idea, except for Jason Statham and Mickey Rourke (who thought it would be stupid, but who turns down a Stallone action film?). So all systems were go after a few dialogue tweaks from Stallone’s eight-year-old daughter and $150 million spent on pyrotechnics.

That’s kind of mean, I guess, though it’s quite important that I make myself clear, The Expendables is pretty awful. The dialogue reads like it was written by a 64-year-old with varying forms of brain damage and a steroid addiction, though I’m told Stallone had help.

The characters are pretty weak, and their only real depth is supposed from both the age of the main heroes (when 37 year-old Statham’s the young boy you’ve got a few issues), and a few references to past missions.

Rock ‘n’ roll, red lipstick and copious amounts of booze and cigarettes dot this film like E tablets on a tray. The Runaways is more than a biopic of the legendary allgirl rock band; it is a cautionary tale that encourages women’s libido more than women’s lib through the medium of wailing six strings and a microphone.

Set in the mid 70s to the late 80s, the film follows the formation and the popularity of The Runaways to their eventual downfall. In the era when men dominated the rock ‘n’ roll scene, the all-girl band was cutting edge and the film succinctly captures just how difficult it was for them to succeed and be taken seriously as musicians. Noteworthy too is the balance between the glamour of the rock star and the hardship of drug addictions and the price of fanatic popularity.

Dakota Fanning plays 15-year-old Cherie Currie, the blonde lead vocalist of The Runaways. The film follows her story, from being discovered by the outrageous music promoter Kim Fowley (a stunning performance by Michael Shannon) to falling out of an elevator from a cocaine overdose and harrumphing out of the recording studio while the rest of the girls are cutting their record. By no means is this a mediocre performance from Fanning; this is her graduation from the cutesy lil blondie roles she is known for to the gritty and edgy roles she was meant to play.

Kristin Stewart fits perfectly as the gender bending Joan Jett, whose trademark black mullet suits Kristin better than the worn out black leather jacket she purchases at the beginning of the film. Forget what you saw in Twilight, this film captures Stewart as a gritty, chain-smoking lead guitarist for the band. Her tough swagger lends a believable tint of devilmay-care and when she puts that foul mouth of hers on Fanning’s person you know that this as real as she is ever going to be.

The soundtrack features a mix of the original Runaways music and Stewart and Fanning’s voices. The carrier tune Cherry Bomb is an impressive amalgamation of a dark guitar riff from Stewart and the acidity of Fanning’s voice. When combined, you get an explosion of sound, not unlike the aural orgasm that Kim Fowley demands from them: “I want to see the scratch marks down their fucking backs…like you want a fucking orgasm.”

Filthy, yes. But you can’t describe this movie any more accurately than this. This is no marshmallow film with girls in corsets prancing about in guitars. The Runaways grabs you by the collar and leaves your neck spotted with bruises and you are left on your knees demanding more.

Salt Directed by Phillip Noyce Film Review by Samantha McQueen

Angelina Jolie is known for three things; her full lips, her relationship with Brad Pitt and her ability to kick some serious ass in movies. She’s skilfully dodged knifes and grenades in Mr and Mrs Smith and made killing everyone in a circle with one curved bullet look believable in Wanted. And who could forget her as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider? Unfortunately Salt, her latest offering, while packed with explosions and high speed chases, is jumbled together with a weak plot and too many twists for its own good, leaving Angelina to try and salvage this hopeless operation.

To describe the plot of Salt would be to give the film away completely, but to be honest, the trailer does also. Without going into details, Jolie is Evelyn Salt, a CIA agent who is accused of being a Russian spy. Despite professing her innocence, she runs from her team so she can see if her husband is safe. Once she discovers he’s not at home, she goes rogue, leaping from moving trucks and dodging bullets, while still issue 21 2010

screaming she has been set up. Enter a bottle of hair dye, a secret Russian operation and a bunch of confused viewers wondering just who Salt is.

There has been comparisons that Salt is the female’s answer to Bourne, but those are insulting, not only to Matt Damon and the rest of the franchise, but to Jolie herself. Is this jumbled, unrealistic script what she has been reduced to? Screenwriter Kurt Wimmer, who is also responsible for Law Abiding Citizen and The Thomas Crown Affair, has tried to make a movie where audiences can’t predict what the ending will be before it’s happened. He’s succeeded, but he has applied it to the rest of the movie, which leaves it full of unanswered questions (and not the good kind either). The worst part is that for a plot filled with so much ridiculous, director Phillip Noyce has taken it so seriously. When Salt combats and kills a team of Russian spies singlehandedly, there is not even an ounce of humour injected into it; a technique this film seriously lacked. It’s hard to believe it, but this action film might just have too much action in it.

Jolie is the only thing holding this film together. With previous Oscar nominations – including a win – she has the chops to successfully make the transition from loving wife, to vulnerable outlaw on the run, to coldhearted assassin with no fault. And she looks the part of action star; reports are that she did most of her own stunts. Her interactions with other cast are limited – another reason this film seems to drag through its 100 minute running time – but one notable relationship with co-worker Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber) brings a small spark onto the screen. Schreiber’s performance is another solid one; you almost wish he was your leading man, and Wimmer’s transition throughout the film is one that is both surprising and satisfying – it’s a pity there were not more of them.

The tagline for this film may be “who is Salt?”, but the more appropriate question is “do we even care?” and sorry Angelina, but the answer is no.

Tomorrow, When The War Began Directed by Stuart Beattie Film Review by Samantha McQueen

When a film adaption of a book is released, fans approach it with trepidation. Sure, there have been some successes - think Harry

Potter and Lord of the Rings, but other times, fans are left yearning for temporary amnesia (remember The Da Vinci Code and Eragon?).

Tomorrow, When the War Began (TWTWB) – the first book in John Marsden’s seven part series – manages to hold its own on the big screen, with stunning scenery and a strong leading performance, but like most, it lacks the sparkle of its written counterpart.

Caitlin Stasey is Ellie Linton, a country girl from the small Australian town, Wirrawee, who organises a camping trip with a group of friends as a last hurrah before school goes back. Packed in a Land Rover with her best friend Corrie and her jock boyfriend Kevin, delinquent neighbour Homer, prissy townie Fiona (Fi), religious Robyn and love interest Lee, they all set off to the ominously named Hell. After a weekend of carefree summer fun and the promise of being friends forever, the group returns to find their town dark and deserted, and their families held captive at the local fairground by an unknown military force. Suddenly the group of friends must become guerrilla soldiers to seize back their town and free their families.

Director and writer Stuart Beattie may be new to clutching the directing reins, but he is certainly no stranger to penning successful blockbusters, having previously written the screenplays for Pirates of the Caribbean, 3:10 to Yuma and Australia. However, this Hollywood prowess isn’t translated over to TWTWB; a lot of the times the lines seem wooden and clichéd, and any subtle humour results in nervous laughter, rather than genuine giggles. The only time real chuckles ensue in the audience is the cheeky reference to books always being better than their movies; at least Beattie knows he can never outdo Marsden’s literary masterpiece.

New Zealand and Australian films often suffer from not having a Hollywood-sized budget, but this fully funded Aussie film certainly stands up cinematically, with sweeping shots of the rocky cliffs and lush greenery to contrast with the barren fields and browning grass of the town. While the storyline itself is unrealistic – only three “home” planes try to take on the hundreds of enemy carriers – the well-executed explosions and war scenes succeed in bringing the audience into their world. The only downside is they seem to be few and far between; there are only three major explosion scenes – not enough considering its 103 minute running time.

For fans of the series, Tomorrow, When the War Began should leave you satisfied that another book adaption hasn’t been butchered and possibly craving one of the many sequels that should follow. However, those looking for lots of suspense, explosions and actions will be left wondering if the war ever began at all.

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he t t o Sp e c n e r Diffe

Correctly identify the FIVE differences in the two photos, circle them and drop your entry into your nearest AuSM office, or the box on the side of the red debate stands, or post to debate PO Box 6116 Wellesley St before 12 pm Thursday. What’s up for grabs? A $10 voucher for one of the cafes at your campus: the Counter, Beanz Cafe, Lime Cafe, the Hub Cafe or Manukau Cafe.

issue 21 2010

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Anne-Marie Holder Communications

If an earthquake hit Auckland tomorrow, how prepared would you be?

Not prepared at all!

The ninth anniversary of September 11 recently passed. Where were you on 9/11/2001?

I remember that I wanted to watch cartoons before I went to school (primary school).

No cartoons, just news of planes flying into a building What is the best thing about Spring?

The flowers!

In your opinion, what would be the best job in the world?

TV producer What is worse: socks and sandals or crocs?

Crocs by far. I really don’t care how comfy they are, they are possibly one of the ugliest things ever invented

Melissa Bailey Business

If an earthquake hit Auckland tomorrow, how prepared would you be?

I have a lighter and some candles but nothing else. We are always running out of food as it is The ninth anniversary of September 11 recently passed. Where were you on 9/11/2001?

I was at the dentist :( What is the best thing about Spring?

Sunshine, daylight savings, pretty dresses, sandals and contemplating bare legs In your opinion, what would be the best job in the world? obviously one where you get paid heaps but do hardly any work What is worse: socks and sandals or crocs?

Crocs – they are just wrong, it doesn’t need an explanation

KhineZyn Tha Business

If an earthquake hit Auckland tomorrow, how prepared would you be?

Half way prepared; pantry is full with food... even stored under my aunt’s bed The ninth anniversary of September 11 recently passed. Where were you on 9/11/2001?

At uni for a friend What is the best thing about Spring?

Flowers , birds and flowers again . Colourful In your opinion, what would be the best job in the world?

Jewellery maker.You’ve got to play with stones that u can’t eat but are more expensive than anything What is worse: socks and sandals or crocs?

Crocs!

Chaitanya Raoul Ralli Engineering

If an earthquake hit Auckland tomorrow, how prepared would you be?

I’m already taking swimming lessons so that I don’t drown. Oh wait, you said earthquake?

The ninth anniversary of September 11 recently passed. Where were you on 9/11/2001?

Saint-Tropez, France. Nah, my life ain’t that classy.

My home :( 3. What is the best thing about Spring?

The girls, if you know what I mean In your opinion, what would be the best job in the world?

Hooker (or escorts as they’re known as now!). Talk about having fun while working. They’re ballin’ What is worse: socks and sandals or crocs?

Socks and sandals! I mean, why not just wear shoes? To all the people that think that combination is pretty sick, I’ve got news for ya: it ain’t!

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Pushpendra Singh

Master of Construction Mgmt If an earthquake hit Auckland tomorrow, how prepared would you be? well prepared : enough food/water for a week, emergency light, charged batteries, torch, first-aid box and above all an exit plan to safety The ninth anniversary of September 11 recently passed. Where were you on 9/11/2001?

I was busy with my Engineering entrance exams What is the best thing about Spring?

Environment around you blossoms... God’s blessing!

In your opinion, what would be the best job in the world?

Beach resort manager – job blessed with numerous pluses!

What is worse: socks and sandals or crocs?

For sure, crocs.Yes for toddlers but a big no for grown ups

Shivanja Li Business

If an earthquake hit Auckland tomorrow, how prepared would you be?

Not well prepared The ninth anniversary of September 11 recently passed. Where were you on 9/11/2001?

I was at the mall shopping but I did remember the sad event What is the best thing about Spring?

Love the rain in the morning In your opinion, what would be the best job in the world?

Prime Minister because I would love to serve the country and make a change What is worse: socks and sandals or crocs?

Sandals. I think they are out of fashion, not my style

issue 21 2010

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