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ADULT FRIENDSHIPS, FLINDERS VS. ADELAIDE, THE FUTURE OF DOCTOR WHO//

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TThe he Team Team EDITOR Eleanor Danenberg SUB-EDITORS Elise Christopher, Ainsley Ewart, Kayla Gaskell, Brenton Griffin, Jack Harrison, Cameron Lowe, Patrick O’Loughlin, Vanshika Sinh, Karen Smart, Marithe Solis, Sundus Raza, Kirsty van der Veer, Leeza Von Alpen COLUMNISTS Amber Anon, Aden Beaver & Tom Goldblatt, Brenton Griffin, Patrick O’Loughlin ARTWORK Sheydin Dew (page 8) Emma Scott (page 2, back cover) Julia Woodall (cover, page 3, 37) PHOTOGRAPHY Chris Galimitakis (opposite page, page 23, 52) Marni Shanks-Bywater (page 4)

CONTRIBUTORS Charles Chiam Chuang Chao, Eleanor Danenberg, Marina Deller, Ainsley Ewart, O.T.G, Kayla Gaskell, Madeline Hand, Katt Hatzi, Stuart Jefferies, Cameron Lowe, Natasha Malone, Jordana Mansfield, Nikita Mickan, Patrick Morgan, Jordon O’Reilly, Hamish Richardson, Jacinta Robinson, Kirsty van der Veer, Kurt Van Ryswyk, Alicia Wood, ADVERTISING/MEDIA Steph Walker stephanie.walker@flinders.edu.au

ABOUT THE COVER ART:

“This piece was completed using acrylic paints in complementary colours to draw attention to warm and cool aspects of tone within portraiture. I particularly focused on creating movement through expressive brush-strokes and framing her inquisitive face as the focal point” - artist and Flinders Uni student, Julia Woodall

WITH THANKS TO:

Everyone who has supported Empire Times behind the scenes throughout 2017; Robert & Kym at Flinders Press, FUSA staff (special shout out to the ever helpful and kind Anthea, Fay, and Stacy), and especially Steph Walker, for being an invaluable mentor and for always being patient and understanding.

The biggest ‘Thank You’ goes to the readers, writers, artists, and sub-editors: thank you for your fierce dedication, creativity, and passion! Please continue to support Empire Times in 2018; this awesome magazine is for students, by students, about students.

Enquiries Level 1, Student Hub, Flinders University (FUSA) 1 Registry Road Bedford Park, 5042

Empire Times would like to acknowledge the Kaurna people who are the traditional custodians of the land Flinders University is situated on, and that this land was never ceded, but stolen. We would like to pay our respects to the elders of the Kaurna nation and extend that respect to other Aboriginal peoples, past, present, and future.

Empire Times is a publication of Flinders University Student Association (FUSA). Empire Times is printed by Flinders Press.

The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the editors, Flinders University, or Flinders University Student Association.

Reasonable care is taken to ensure that Empire Times articles and other information are up-to-date and as accurate as possible, as of the time of publication, but no responsibility can be taken by Empire Times Magazine for any errors or omissions contained herein.

Letter to the Editor To pay HELP (formerly HECS) now, never, or to leave it for later on...

Dear young adult Peers, How strongly do you consider that any Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) funding you have accepted for your tertiary education must be paid back? I’ve talked to quite a number of you informally and there seems to be roughly a 30/70 split between paying now /maybe paying sometime. I’m purposefully ignoring those who say they “never will”, that tertiary education “ought to be/is their right” and “should be free!” (That is, apart from saying ‘dream on’!)

I’m an aged pensioner. I am awarded a little over $300 a week on which to subsist. I’m very grateful for that, since my total earnings never amounted to very much and I had a family to raise. I’m currently doing a Post Graduate qualification which is building me a HELP debt anew. When I retired, I paid my former HECS debt off from my limited Super. I’ll probably never get to the threshold of repayment this time round, but I’m paying back $5 a week to the ATO and I’m happy to do that little bit.

I feel that if most of us paid even that much, it would not change our lives drastically, but it would amount to a considerable amount of money over all. Any interest on our outstanding education LOANS would be much reduced when those of us fortunate enough to earn are faced with paying them back. A change of government will probably not change the situation here despite party philosophies. It may even come to the point when tertiary education funding will be penalised even more on account of the accrued mountainous debt, and education, once more, become available only to children of wealthy parents/perhaps, corporate funded employees. Perhaps only the International students, whose tertiary fees are paid up front, will have the privilege here in Australia.

This letter will probably offend a number of you, but I believe that maintaining silence, when tertiary training may very well be under financial threat in the future, is a very weak option.

Respectfully, Catherine Jones.

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Editorial

It feels very surreal to be writing my last editorial after 2 years of editing Empire Times. A feeling I’m sure so many uni students can relate to, is that when you’re in the middle of something (an assignment, a semester, a uni degree), it feels like it’s taking forever; but when you get to the end and look back, you feel it’s gone frighteningly quickly. 5 years ago I was graduating high school, now I’m finishing my degree - where the flip has the time gone? I’m technically an adult now, how and when did that happen? Did I ever give permission for that to happen to me? I’m considering legal action, actually.

Editing Empire Times for 2 years has been an amazing opportunity; from starting out so nervous and absolutely pissweak with the computer programs we use to make this magazine...now I feel like so much of the job is second nature to me, and my right hand is permanently molded into a ‘mouse holding’ shape. Like any job, editing Empire Times for 2 years has had challenging moments, but I’m proud of myself for sticking it out, and for not giving up during the tough moments. I can look back at ET issues of this year and last year, and I can happily say, I gave my all to each and every one of them.

I was so nervous to run for Empire Times editor. I wanted to do it, and then I decided against it, and then I changed my mind, again and again. Thankfully, it was a risk worth taking. I’ve had so much fun, met amazing contributors, made new friends, and I feel very lucky to have been able to encourage writers and artists to submit

wonderful things - and it was an honour to play a part in publishing these things and getting them out there for others to see and enjoy too.

Even though they don’t need it, I’m wishing luck to Ainsley, Oli, and Cameron, the 2018 Empire Times editors: they are about to embark on an adventure, and I have faith they’ll do a great job!

And to the loyal contributors and readers, thank you for your support, and for reinforcing that what your fellow students have to say is important. Thank you for picking up the issues, for laughing along with the clever pieces, for being moved at the poignant ones, and for appreciating the beautiful stories told through artwork too.

I will truly miss the beautiful, supportive environment of Flinders Uni (and Urban Paddock Co.’s coffee!); and seeing my dear uni friends (Ashley, Claire, Karlee, Lauren, Liam McG, & Marina); and the amazing lecturers who inspired me (shout out to the badass Dr. Heather Brook!)

Thank YOU for reading; these words may be tiny but they mean a lot.

Nervously on to my next adventure...

Love, Eleanor

Artwork by Julia Woodall

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Photography by Marni Shanks-Bywater

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Earth-bound Politics

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‘Natural’ Solutions to an ‘Unnatural’ Body

Poetry: bandaids, Dream & Nightmare

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Interview: Eco-Circus

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A Year in Fast Forward

Flinders v Adelaide: Who Wins?

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Nightmare Reading List

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Board Game Baptism: Civilisation Building Games

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Stevie Nicks: Addiction & Dreams

Toxic Misogynist Male Feminists

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A Journey in Two Parts: Perspectives through a Break-Up

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War of the Worlds: A Radio Phenomenon

Student Council Election: Recap

Veganism: For a more compassionate world

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Student Council Interviews

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Student Council: President’s Report

On Adult Friendships

Placement Tips from a Third Year Education Student

‘I have a Dream’: The life of Martin Luther King Jr

Fiction: Erid and the Dream Pirates

The Future of Doctor Who

The Satire Corner

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The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party: Adventures in Paris

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Book Review: Crush

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Game Review: Sonic Mania

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Musical Review: Firebringer

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Earth-bound Politics ‘Why is there such a blatant disregard of the earth in politics?

Why is it that it is acceptable that the Great Barrier Reef is still dying, and yet Adani is getting its massive mine that will not only continue the destruction of the Reef, but is trampling on Land Rights laws that have been enacted to stop this very thing from happening?’

Brenton Gr if f in

Jack Donaghy: Good news Lemon, we’re going green, and do you know why?

Liz Lemon: To save the earth?

Jack: So we can drain the remainder of its resources.

That the earth has become subject to business and politics is no secret. Remember the fantastic second season 30 Rock episode “Greenzo” where Jack employed the titular ‘Greenzo’ (David Schwimmer), a non-judgemental, business friendly eco advocate?

One of the best lines is when Greenzo proudly declares that ‘The free market will fix global warming, if that is even a thing.’

As always, Tina Fey and her team of outstanding writers keenly critique the soulless support that green politics has found in business, although it is strained at best. This episode also addresses the problems that businesses are facing with people who are becoming conscious about the damage that is done to our planet in the name of profit.

This is the reality regarding politics and the earth. Whenever we talk about global warming, conservation, land rights, etc., in a political context, what we are actually talking about is whether or not the earth is worth saving, or if we should continue ravaging it for profits, despite the fact that we know this won’t end well.

Often, businesses and governments together, in a frighteningly unholy alliance, try and convince us that what they are doing is not going to affect the environment too much, or that their continual plundering of the earth is actually beneficial to the nation. And so, as all good businesses do in the Australian political system, they bribe, sorry, ‘donate to’, political parties in order to have their cake and eat it too.

This is a bizarrely backwards attitude for Australian politicians to have. Most of our worth on the world-stage is due to this islandcontinents’ natural beauty. Some of our biggest industries are situated around a giant rock in the middle of a bloody desert, a dying bed of coral, and the multitude of ranges, forests, and beaches that make this country spectacular.

So, why is there such a blatant disregard of the earth in politics?

Why is it that it is acceptable that the Great Barrier Reef is still dying, and yet Adani is getting its massive mine that will not only continue the destruction of the Reef, but is trampling on Land Rights laws that have been enacted to stop this very thing from happening.

Why is it that we still have politicians, who are supposed to represent and lead this country, denying that Climate Change even exists, despite the fact that they have been roasted on national television by scientists (cc: Malcolm Roberts).

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Because, we all know that the government does not respect the land under their feet, the land that is the basis of their power and wealth. All they care about is that nice party ‘donation’ that Adani has dumped into their coffers, as well as the immense promised revenue they will receive.

Despite the evident corruption that exists in this political system, the government still tries to package the continual destruction of our natural environment with promises of ‘jobs and growth.’

They lull us with platitudes and half-truths, double-speak and optimistic statistics, trying to convince us that the destruction of the environment is necessary for the good of the nation.

And, as much as I would love to pin it on those conservative bastards, this is not a solely right-wing issue. It is Queensland’s Labor leader, Annastacia Palaszczuk, who has been responsible for some of the most damaging environmental policies.

In fact, a few weeks ago, the mural on the opposite page was painted in Queensland. The artist, Scott Marsh, said that he was stopped by police and threatened with trespassing if he did not stop the apparently offensive art piece. This is despite the fact that Marsh had received permission from the owners of the building to paint on their wall. What is truly spectacular about this whole exchange is that satire became reality.

What is further fascinating is the popping up of rebellious murals that portray our beloved leaders in compromising ways. Of course, these expressions of political and social discontent are quickly removed by the powers that be, because these are the glorious ideals our democracy is built upon: the silencing of political dissent and covering up of ideas. Heaven forbid the public be able to vent their frustration at the soul-destroying capitalism that is ravaging this nation, taking what is sacred from traditional owners, and destroying the beauty of this world. But, thankfully, we have the technology to capture these pieces of political art before they are removed. Please enjoy some of the other murals that have been painted in active dissidence.

So, in conclusion, fuck Adani. Fuck the government for allowing these companies to come and destroy our home for their own gain.

Fuck the silencing of dissent and frustration. And fuck the speechwriters and advisors who think that we are stupid enough to think that our politicians aren’t just looking at the paycheque.

Photo Sources: ABC News Online abc.net.au

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‘Natural’ Solutions to an ‘Unnatural’ Body ‘Natural’ methods aim to be a solution to a problem: the problem being vaginas, that are apparently inherently tainted.

Amb er Anon

What do you think of when you hear the phrase ‘natural bodies’?

Chances are it conjures images of lush haired nymphets frolicking in waterfalls; that’s if commercials for cosmetic products are anything to go by. Yet social movements within society which focus on ‘being closer to nature’, ‘eating healthy’ and ‘going clean’ are not just for those way too into fitspo, gorpcore or other niche health related hipster movements; it’s about self improvement. The philosophies behind these movements aren’t just about clean eating or reducing your carbon footprint, everything could use a refresh - even you genitals could do with improvement. Celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and her company Goop endorse “steam baking your vagina” for a healthy glow, or Khloe Kardashian suggests “putting coconut oil on your vagina” for a natural plump feeling. All of these are meant to be ‘natural’ solutions to a problem; the problem being vaginas, that are apparently inherently tainted. In order for you to be more pure and “closer to nature” you need a product to rectify the situation.

However, are the companies that sell us these products, and the people who endorse them, aware that the vagina is a self cleaning, self sustaining organ? It sheds, it gives you signs if something isn’t running right, and generally speaking it can handle itself. So why on earth would people try and sell products that are pointless or could potentially do more harm than good? Well, maybe it comes down to thousands of years of tradition and religious belief that impact the way our society treats vaginas now? Let’s take a step back in time to when western history, or perhaps pagan religion to be specific, believed that women were sacred vessels who were in tune with the calls of Mother Nature.

Rituals involving fire, eggs and hazelnuts (as well as many phallic symbols) are aimed at increasing fertility. But it wasn’t, and isn’t, only paganism that treats the womb, fertility and all things vagina as close to holy; many cultures around the world still celebrate the closeness and spirituality that the earth, fertility and the vagina have with one another. From these perspectives, vaginas are seen as holy vessels which bring life to this world; so it sort of makes sense that this need to make vaginas and nature one still permeates the core of our perspectives on fertility and health today. The only problem is that when something has been celebrated for so long, it has the tendency to be deeply pervasive and subject to hierarchy.

So what has this got to do with modern vaginal products? Well this perception of the vagina being tainted encourages people to see those who have vaginas in the same vein. If your vagina isn’t thought of as being immaculate by default, consumers will buy products to fix the problem. Aside from playing on peoples’ insecurities, these products sell you a solution as well as bragging rights. The same sort of principle can be seen in most vagina related products. For instance, take vaginal douching - apparently your sexual organs need to smell like roses or no one will want to settle down with you, get a mortgage, and have 2.5 kids. This hierarchy of holiness is still associated with natural vaginas is divisive to say the least.

It immortalises those who use these products as being far more holier than thou while excluding anyone who doesn’t conform. So can we as a society please stop glorifying the marketed ‘natural’ vagina, and start glorifying the actual natural vagina - and accept that not only do they come in all shapes and sizes; but also come in all smells and colours, and are attached to more than just well-todo hetero women that you see in tampon commercials.

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The Satire Corner Aden B e aver & Tom G ol dbl att Not one, not two, but THREE satire pieces to finish the year off (against all legal advice)

1: “I hate my greenie flatmates and their life choices”

Yesterday, I burned a stack of old tyres in my backyard without a permit. Black fumes billowed into the atmosphere while ash covered the garden. Next, I poured half-empty goon sacks onto the plants, left over from last Saturday with the boys. I then moved through the street, placing my neighbours’ recyclables into the landfill bin, and vice versa. Perhaps I should explain myself, and why I am this way.

When I was going through university, I had to move into a sharehouse with two women. They were nice people, but after a few months I slowly started looking for a way out that didn’t involve bleach or a mass homicide. You see, these two were what the more seasoned readers among you would describe as Radical Left-Wing Vegan Eco-Feminists. You and I would just call them greenies.

Now, I don’t like to assume stereotypes to people, but across my life I’ve found that they exist for a reason. These two listened to Triple J; they had a compost going and attended eco-rallies; they subscribed to Buzzfeed (and took it seriously) on a daily basis; they spat on the postman for delivering their “Mail”, shouting racial and gender charged slurs at him (he was a white man) for misgendering their parcels. I was a few shades darker than him so I was okay in their book.

After a few weeks of living with them they slowly started forcing their lifestyle upon me. Now in my opinion, vegans are worse than

atheists, because they act so high and mighty. All the meat in the fridge had disappeared, followed by a smug “Your way of life is wrong and you’re a disgusting human being”. Soon after, the milk had disappeared, replaced with soy milk. My honey was gone, too, replaced with “Honey Substitute” and my Weet-bix have never tasted the same again. I sometimes felt like saying “The wage gap is a myth” but the sheer fear of what they would do to me was enough to keep me quiet.

Finally one day I cracked; though I couldn’t kill my roommates, perhaps I could kill the one thing that they care about the most… the Earth. At first I had to force myself to drive to the mailbox, or to use as much hairspray as possible. I even began to delve into more malicious depravities; I would only eat meat, I’d flush plastic bags down the toilet and fantasise about the turtle that would choke to death on it mistaking it for a jellyfish. Soon enough my very person began to change: my voice became husky, my blood became thick like oil, wherever I went a stench of sulphur and methane was left for several hours. I had become the forsaken Anti-Green.

Finally my roommates had enough, and they kicked me out for saying that Donald Trump made some good points sometimes, and that being skeptical about climate science is okay.

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2: “Same-Sex Satire” ‘I fully support two people who love each other and want to express this before God no matter their sexuality.

Let the gays get their rings. There is just no way that I could ever support same sex divorce in this country’.

Aden B e aver & Tom G ol dbl att I am not a homophobe. I do not hate gay people, I am not scared of gay people, and I have many friends all across the LGBT spectrum.

With all this fuss about the same sex marriage survey coming up though, it’s made me think about something. I fully support two people who love each other and want to express this before God1, no matter their sexuality. Let the gays get their rings. There is just no way that I could ever support same sex divorce in this country.

Now, say what you will about me, but before you get the glitter cannons out someone must think about the children for once.

With the divorce rate in this country at nearly 43%2, one could assume that the rate would be similar for same sex couples. Now where does that leave little Timmy? Is he staying at his dad’s this week or his dad’s? And in a case like this, who will pay the alimony/child support? Will legislation surrounding this have to be changed? Furthermore, with homosexual individuals experiencing the ‘gay pay gap’ of 19%3 would it even be fair for them to go through this litigious system of divorce when they are already at a disadvantage? The way that I see it I’m just making a better world for same sex couples in a financial sense.

1 Or before the state, if you’re into that sort of thing. We all have someone looking down on us, brothers and sisters.

2 Marriages and Divorces, Australia, 2015. 2017. 3310.0 - Marriages and Divorces, Australia, 2015. Available at: http://www. abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3310.0. [Accessed 28 August 2017]. (That’s right this motherfucker is sourced) 3 2015, Andrea La Nauze, The Economic and Labour Relations Review, volume 26(1), pp 60-81

And don’t get me started on gold-diggers. You might think that you’re madly in love and perfect for each other, but trust me when you’re into your third year of marriage and you’re watching your salary go down the toilet to pay for his Netflix, makeup and dildo collection, you’ll be ruing the day you decided to say I do. While the draconian idea of outlawing divorce may seem unappealing to some, I say its perfect, for you really must be sure that your partner is the one for you, and not just some money hungry leech who doesn’t even put out in return.

Someone ought to let them know that marriage isn’t all that its cracked up to be anyway. I grew up with divorced parents, and look at where I am now: an alcoholic racist who chokes back tears at the very sight of a happy couple with an equally happy child. Even worse still, the thought of seeing a happy gay couple with a happy gay child makes me literally sick, hurrying to pick up the phone and call the doctor. Daddy, why did you leave me and Mummy?

She told me that you’ve been spending a lot of time at Bill’s house.

You always came home late at night, covered in sweat. At least, I thought it was sweat. She got really angry, and she told me that he was your special friend, and it was all very confusing.

I mean, in all honesty, I really think we should re-criminalise homosexuality. I want to feel dirty when I do it, and a blindfold and a belt just doesn’t cut it for me anymore.

From the boys at the Satire column, we hope you voted in that plebiscite! Or at least, that you drew a nice big cock and balls on the ballot, or some big ol’ tits if that’s more your playing field.

Canberra doesn’t listen to your opinion, and neither do we.

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3: “So Long and Fuck Off ” ‘Dear students: It has come to our attention that you are still at this university, reading this magazine. We only have one question for you: Why?’

Aden B e aver & Tom G ol dbl att We’re both pleasantly surprised that our column is still allowed to be published. We would have thought that by now, someone somewhere would have intervened, be it either censoring us or carpet bombing our houses. Or maybe people just don’t read Empire Times, we simply can’t tell. But if you are reading this right now, we thought that for our last edition of the year we’d publish a little warning specifically for you. We’re not coming back next year, so we hope you’ve enjoyed it.

Dear students, It has come to our attention that you are still at this university, reading this magazine. We only have one question for you: Why? Why don’t you all go and do something productive with your lives?

As we speak, you are currently enrolled in a university with the highest unemployment rate for graduates in Australia, so whilst you might ‘enjoy the vibe’ and ‘like the people’ you’re shooting yourself in the foot and completely fucking your future with the kind of dildo that you need a mortgage to afford. Literally any other university will give you a better outcome than this one, so this is a warning. You’re on the Titanic, and we’re officially telling you: fuck the women and children first rule. It’s everyone for themselves at this point.

Better yet, why don’t you go to trade school and try to benefit society? I assure you unclogging someone’s toilet or installing a solar panel, whilst not sounding romantic, is far more useful than that novel you’ve been trying to write for the past 12 years. And it’s much more satisfying than wondering where and how to use your degree in Art History. Or Law. We can personally guarantee

that earning real money is much more sustaining than living off Daddy’s Credit Card™.

Need we point out the glaringly obvious, that universities today are purely in the business of stealing your/daddy’s money? These so called “Degrees” you think you’re getting will only set you up for one thing: the Centrelink line. And the Administration (VC) is too busy cutting academic jobs and student services, i.e. running this place into the ground to actually care about your future. They only want your enrolment fees. This cycle is perpetuated by a government that continues to defund these institutions for no other reason but “budget saving”. Yes, we can get that universities cost a metric fuck-ton to support. But considering that you, the Government, have thrown money away like a thirsty pack of teenagers at the strip club on comparably useless shit, you could have surely thrown us a nice cheque to keep Wholefoods open.

We’d also like to shout out a big “fuck you” to students who think the saying “P’s get degrees” is a mantra to live by. You don’t care about your future either, so why are you here? Why are you buying into a system you don’t have the intellectual capability to understand? Go to TAFE. So in conclusion. From everyone here at Empire Times, or at least here at Satire HQ, we hope that you fail your exams, drop out and do something worthwhile with your life.

Hugs and kisses, Tom and Aden.

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A Year on Fast Forward Each new year brings with it new challenges and opportunities.

Ma d el ine Hand New Year’s Eve represents a clean slate for everyone, a chance to make the next year better; it’s a celebration of the promises we make to ourselves and to each other. A new year symbolises a fresh start, and for some, a chance to forget their past and move on. With the start of 2018 hastily approaching, I want to reflect on the years of 2017 and 2016 and share my thoughts of the year coming.

I believe that Year 12 is the most stressful year of our lives because we have so many exams, tests and assignments to worry about.

We’re exhausted from balancing school work with our personal commitments; one misstep on that fine line and we’ll fall all the way down. Our opinions are drowned in the storm of voices telling us what to do with our lives that our own voice is drowned out. We get caught in the ATAR trap, believing that it’s of utmost importance.

Graduation provided a break from the stress, allowing us to take a step back for a moment and breathe, because we survived. It still seems like my last year was on fast forward, where the days blur and the dates are a little fuzzy.

Back then, I didn’t know exactly where my life would lead, and that uncertainty and change scared me. I knew I wanted to study Arts and Science at Flinders, but anything outside of that was a mystery. 2017 has been a year of first experiences for me: my first year at university, my first time writing for a magazine, and my first time skydiving. I’ve tried new things from tree planting to poetry slams to wine tasting. This year, I think I’ve really grown and stepped outside of my comfort zone.

For a girl who’s afraid to try new things, I’m glad I can look back at 2017 and be proud at what I’ve done. And for someone who knows what it’s like to feel overwhelmed, I’d like to share some advice: - You might feel lonely, but you’re not alone - Ask for help if you need it, don’t let it get out of hand - Don’t push it aside and hope it goes away (it never does) - Be inspired by and love your topics, it makes studying so much easier - Socialise and spend time with people who make you happy - Limit your worrying - does it ever help?

- It’s never too late for you to break your habits and have a fresh start - Say “yes” Just as the flowers bloom in spring, we too become better, brighter versions of ourselves each year. Make 2018 a year of new experiences and you won’t be disappointed by the path you’ve forged for yourself.

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Placement Tips from a Third Year Education Student Freaking out about your placement? Here are my top 10, tried and tested tips to help you out!

Nikita Mickan So, you’re in your second year and you’re getting ready to apply for a third-year placement. Or you’re a third-year student and you’ve just been told where you’re going. Suddenly, you’re faced with being in front of students, teaching for the first time. You’re probably wondering what the hell you’ve gotten yourself into.

I’m a third-year student. I’ve finished my four-week teaching placement and am now preparing for a ten-week teaching placement rather than the standard six-week placement. Here are my top ten tips and tricks to help you get through four of the most terrifying weeks of your third year.

1: Plan. Plan. Plan: Be prepared. Make sure you are at least one lesson ahead in your planning. You will have some students who want to work ahead and you will need to cater to that.

2: Don’t freak out if it goes wrong: I had a 2.5 day summit occur during my last week at my school which reduced the time I had in the classroom and I had to change my unit/lesson plan accordingly.

I had my mentor teacher absent for one day so I was the main ‘adult’ teacher in the classroom because the relief teacher didn’t know what the lesson was (don’t worry, they knew that I was taking the class!)

3: Spend time at school marking: I spent my free time marking so I didn’t have to do it at home. Also, I was able to ask my mentor teacher if I was being fair with my grading.

4: Spend down time doing what you love: Go to the gym, binge watch Netflix in bed, do what makes you happy and have some down time. Try to reduce overall stress as much as you can so you have the best placement experience possible.

5: You will get sick: Sorry, peeps, hate to break it to you but you’re on placement for the first four weeks of term three. It’s still cold season, students are getting sick, teachers are getting sick; you’ll get sick. I lucked out and got sick in my last week so I was able to tough it out.

6: Keep a diary/journal: Seems stupid, but keeping a diary/journal makes keeping track of what you’ve covered in each class easier. I

had two year eight classes, doing the same unit of work but were consistently at different stages of the unit – having a journal kept me from going crazy.

7: Share resources: Sharing resources with your mentor teacher and other staff members is great because you can take what they did and adapt them in the future - and they also have your stuff that they can adapt as well.

8: Attend staff/curriculum area meetings: Yes, they’re boring. Yes, they’re a pain. But you get to know the staff and you get to know the school community. I attended mine and I was able to help the staff prepare for an external review which took some of the pressure off the staff members and it was a valuable professional experience I wouldn’t have had otherwise.

9: Chocolate and gummy snakes make for perfect bribes: I was able to bribe all three of my classes to behave for the last lesson I had with them with Freddo’s and Natural Confectionary Snakes.

The students loved me and they were perfect angels – until the bags were opened and they turned into seagulls.

10: Consult your mentor teacher about behaviour: You will have some students who push the boundaries or (worst case scenario) show up to school drunk. Always, always, always consult your mentor teacher if you feel that you cannot adequately manage their behaviour or if you’re getting overwhelmed. They’re there to help you. They know that you’re still learning. They’ll be OK with helping you.

Most of you are probably reading this and hyperventilating, wondering if it’s all going to be doom and gloom. It’s not, I promise you. You’ll have fun, you’ll probably want to pull your hair out and you’ll probably lose your voice by the end of it. But you’ll come out of it having learnt a lot and you’ll be confident for your six-week fourth year placement.

And you’ll probably be addicted to coffee. Just sayin’.

fe atu re / stu d ent c ou nc i l

15

FUSA Student Council Election: Recap Recently, Flinders University students voted for their student representatives for 2018 (#democracy). On Thursday October 12th 2017, the votes were counted, and here are the results:

STUDENT PRESIDENT Ashley Sutherland* (Unite)

SOCIAL ACTIVITIES OFFICER Bradley Martin (Activate)

GENERAL SECRETARY Katt Hatzi* (Activate)

MATURE AGE OFFICER Tash Malone# (Activate)

EDUCATION OFFICER Josh Rayner (Activate) WOMEN'S OFFICER Grace Hensel# (Activate) WELFARE OFFICER Kate Gallagher* (Activate) POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS OFFICER Satya Venugopal (Activate) INTERNATIONAL STUDENT OFFICER Keon Simmons (Activate) INDIGENOUS STUDENTS OFFICER Yaritji Green# (Activate) QUEER OFFICER Sean Henschke (Activate) ENVIRONMENT OFFICER Andy C (Activate) DISABILITIES OFFICER Louise Nixon (Activate)

GENERAL COUNCIL MEMBERS (SIX POSITIONS) Jesse Stevens (Activate) Josh Jarvis (Unite) Kathryn Venning (Unite) Tarmia Klass (Activate) Alexandra Edhouse (Left Action) Lydia French (Activate) EMPIRE TIMES EDITORIAL TEAM Ainsley Ewart, Oli Glenie and Cameron Lowe NUS CONFERENCE DELEGATES Hamish Richardson (Activate) Ashley Sutherland (Unite) Kathryn Venning (Unite) Jordon O’Reilly (Unite) Hilary Wigg (Activate) Kate Gallagher (Activate)

Key: * This candidate held a different position on Student Council in 2017 # This candidate has been re-elected into the same position they held on Student Council in 2017 (Activate)/(Unite)/(Left Action) are the factions the successful candidates represented. For more information about the different factions and their political beliefs, check their respective Facebook pages: Activate Flinders University, Unite Flinders Uni, Vote #1 Left Action at Flinders Uni.

fe atu re / hi stor y

“I Have a Dream” The life of a civil rights activist who changed the course of history.

Jord ana Mansf ield

Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on the 15th of January, 1929. It’s hard to say when his work as a civil rights activist specifically began, but his first known involvement was in 1954, when he was 25 years old, as a committee member of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People. The following year he led the Montgomery bus boycott, which lasted for 382 days. Rosa Parks famously took part in this boycott, and was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat to a white man. During this time, though King was arrested, and his house and four black Baptist churches were firebombed, he was being established as a great civil rights leader.

On October 14, 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership and nonviolent resistance to racial prejudice in America. He was fuelled to act in this peaceful manner by his Christian beliefs and the inspiration he received from Mahatma Gandhi's similar activism. He also received several other awards before and after his death, such as a Grammy, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and being named both Person of the Year by Time and Person of the Century by Time’s online poll.

King’s most famous speech, I Have A Dream, spoke of his hope of ending racism and achieving racial equality in America. 250,000 people heard this speech given at the Lincoln Memorial. The

location was pertinent as King showed that despite the Emancipation Proclamation issued by Lincoln to end slavery, coloured people were still not free. Incredibly, this famous speech speaking of King’s dreams was impromptu, evoked by a friend in the crowd. King’s words inspired many people that day, but as American Clergyman Andrew Young said, “nobody black had learned anything from the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. That was a revelation of white people”. King was already a great man, but from this one speech he joined the ranks of great historical figures, and went on to change the world for the better. As expressed in the film Selma, a realisation of King’s dream and the dream of many other African-American people occurred when Barack Obama was elected President in 2008.

Sadly, on April 4, 1968 while standing on the balcony of his Tennessee hotel room, King was shot and killed. He had been in Tennessee to lead a protest march in sympathy with the city’s garbage workers.

Throughout his life, Martin Luther King was jailed 29 times, stabbed, abused, and almost killed. But despite everything, King continued to rise above and focus on his dreams. His involvement allowed African Americans to progress further towards equality than they had in the past 350 years. In the I Have a Dream speech, he said, ‘even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream’ and it was through this dream that he inspired people, repaired a nation, and changed the world.

“I say to you today, my friends, though, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

17

fe atu re / mu si c

Stevie Nicks; Addiction and Dreams Ainsle y Ewar t

In 1975, Lindsey Buckingham - of what was then Buckingham Nicks - was offered a position in the frequently rotating Fleetwood Mac roster. He agreed, providing that his girlfriend, and other half of the band Buckingham Nicks, Stevie Nicks was also brought in to the band. With this induction, one of the greatest rosters of rock songwriting was formed (Christine McVie, Buckingham and Nicks) and the most successful iteration of Fleetwood Mac was born.

Around” with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and “Leather and Lace” with former Eagles’ founding member, drummer and co-lead singer Don Henley. However, the song you may be most familiar with is “Edge of Seventeen”, a song Nicks penned after the deaths of her uncle Jonathan and John Lennon within the same week (which, by the way, is sampled in Destiny’s Child’s 2001 single “Bootylicious”) and is used in the 2003 film School of Rock.

Their 1975 self-titled effort (not to be confused with Fleetwood Mac’s 1968 debut self-titled album) featured two of Nicks’ now signature songs, “Rhiannon” and “Landslide”. Due to the success of “Rhiannon”, there were rumours that Nicks herself was a witch, like the character of Rhiannon, which resulted in her avoiding black outfits for two years. During this period, she established a theatrical stage persona that involved flowing skirts, shawls and platform boots, as the tiny Nicks (5’1”) was dwarfed by drummer Mick Fleetwood (6’6”).

In 1986, after wrapping up an Australian tour with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, she was admitted to the Betty Ford Clinic to combat her cocaine addiction. Upon release, she was prescribed Klonopin to avoid future relapses. She went back into the studio with Fleetwood Mac to record 1987’s Tango in the Night. On this album, her song “Welcome to the Room… Sara” is about her experiences within the clinic, where she was admitted under the pseudonym of Sara, with “Sara” being an earlier Fleetwood Mac song. Promotion of this album and subsequent tours were hindered by her growing addiction to Klonopin, and many disagreements took place between Nicks and both Lindsey Buckingham (due to his departure from the band) and Mick Fleetwood (as he wanted “Silver Springs”, a rejected track from Rumours to go onto The Chain, the band’s 25-year box set as opposed to Nicks’ own Timespace album).

With 1977’s Rumours, it was a tumultuous time for all band members; Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham’s off-and-on relationship reached its end for good, and during the same period Christine’s marriage to bassist John McVie also failed, and Mick Fleetwood and his wife divorced. These relationship breakdowns, and absolutely insane rumours about the band members being spread by the press, created the highest selling album of 1977, and one of the best-selling and highest regarded albums of all time.

Nicks’ “Dreams” became Fleetwood Mac’s only number one single in the United States, and overall highest selling single. Also on Rumours is “Gold Dust Woman”, a song written by Nicks about her cocaine reliance following her breakup with Buckingham. Nick’s cocaine use was responsible for her infamously tearing a hole in her nose. During their tour for Rumours, Nicks and Fleetwood started a brief affair.

Bella Donna (1981) was Nicks’ debut solo album. She recorded it concurrently with Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk (1979), and the album contained two chart-topping duets: “Stop Draggin’ My Heart

When Fleetwood Mac reunited to play Bill Clinton’s inauguration, Nicks was criticised for her weight gain, for which her Klonopin addiction was responsible. She has said of this time “I lost those 8 years of my life [when on Klonopin]. I didn’t write, and I had gained so much weight.” She entered hospital to detox, and when finished, started writing again.

Stevie Nicks continues to this day to inspire and encourage so many within the music industry, including performing with and/or interviewing HAIM, Lana Del Rey, Harry Styles and Taylor Swift, to name a few.

She will be touring Australia in November with The Pretenders and will be in Adelaide on Saturday November 4th at Botanic Park.

19

fe atu re / env i ronment

Veganism: For a more considerate world Giu li a Prosp er i-Por t a When I first became vegan, I hated telling people. I would avoid saying ‘I’m vegan’ at restaurants or to anyone who offered me food I could not eat. Instead I would simply say I did ‘not eat meat, dairy, or eggs’ and hope I would not be questioned further. If I were questioned I would lie and say it ‘made me feel sick’, or I was ‘allergic’ because I did not want to potentially be subject to ignorant or snide questions or remarks about my lifestyle choice.

I knew vegans had an unsavoury reputation and were mocked by the majority of society and I did not want to perpetuate the ‘annoying, preachy vegan’ stereotype. But now I do not care because I strongly identify with what veganism stands for. I felt compelled to write this because I feel like society’s understanding of the true purpose of veganism has largely been lost amongst all the hate, jokes, myths, and misunderstandings. I never thought I would become a preachy vegan asshole; yet here I am.

At its heart, veganism is about justice, compassion, and nonviolence. The millions of animals slaughtered each year for food, cruel conditions in factory farms and the environmental impacts of animal agriculture such as deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, are the most common reasons people become vegan. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2014 ‘Mitigation of Climate Change’ report revealed livestock produces 70% of agricultural emissions.

Vegans seek to protect and minimise harm to animals and the environment through lifestyle choices. The most obvious is the nonconsumption of food including meat, dairy, eggs and any product that contains ingredients derived from animals. It extends to the exclusion of everyday items derived from, or tested on animals; from make-up, clothes (wool, leather) and cleaning products, to bags (leather), pillows (feathers) and blankets (fur).

I personally chose the vegan lifestyle because I strongly believe it is important to protect animals as they are sentient beings with thoughts and preferences of their own. My love of animals started with my obsession with dogs (for the record I am the mother of two adopted cavoodles). It dawned on me that dogs are no different to any other animal; they all feel joy, sadness and pain, just like humans. They all have the capacity to love and nurture. They are innocent beings that have not been corrupted by money or power.

I simply do not want to consume products that contribute to the harm and suffering of animals and the environment, when there is an abundance of cruelty-free and environmentally-friendly options readily available.

Dispelling the vegan myths: It’s difficult to get enough protein on a vegan diet Plants have protein. Lentils, beans, quinoa, spinach, tofu……….the list goes on. Lentils and red kidney beans contain about 25 grams of protein per 100 grams, which is about the same amount as beef and chicken (Food Standards Australia New Zealand). Impressively, soy beans contain about 35 grams of protein per 100 grams.

Vegan products are expensive and hard to find I am a poor student. I can still easily afford all the essentials such as fruit, vegetables and nuts. You can buy tofu for $2.50, a can of beans, a packet of pasta or a bag of oats for $1.50. With society becoming more and more environmentally aware, supermarkets are stocking an increasing number of vegan cleaning and personal care products by brands such as Earth Choice, Aware Environmental and Thank You. Vegan food tastes like cardboard While foods such as fruit, vegetables and nuts are naturally tasty, any vegan meal can be spiced up the same way non-vegan meals are enhanced - with herbs, spices and sauces. There are so many delicious vegan recipes available on the internet. Before I became vegan, I loved my food, but veganism has brought a whole new appreciation for food and nutrition. As the vegan movement continues to grow, so does the number of restaurants and cafes that offer tasty vegan options. I have never come across a vegan meal at a restaurant I have not enjoyed. My non-vegan friends regularly enjoy eating vegan food with me. I can get vegan burgers, vegan pizza, vegan ice-cream, vegan donuts. I certainly am not missing out. There is a wealth of vegan alternatives available at supermarkets, such as ‘veganaise’, vegan cheese and meat alternatives… which brings me to my next point.

Vegans who eat fake meat and cheese are hypocrites Vegans don’t avoid meat and cheese because they don’t like the taste.

We avoid it because we believe animals shouldn’t have to suffer for our own pleasure. If there is an alternative that tastes similar, that’s what we would choose. Before I became vegan, I could not get enough of chicken. But if a chook is forced to endure a miserable and meaningless life just so I can enjoy its meat for five minutes, I’m not having it. If I was ever craving the taste of chicken, I would simply go for fake chicken. I would get the taste, minus the cruelty.

Vegans are weak/unhealthy Venus and Serena Williams are vegan. Nine-time Olympic gold medallist track athlete Carl Lewis is vegan. Germany’s strongest man Patrick Baboumian, who holds two world records in the sport of strongman, is vegan. America’s best weightlifter who competed at the Rio Olympics, Kendrick Farris is vegan. While he was a meat-eater when he started his lifting career, last year he broke an American record at the Olympic trials; this was two years after he became vegan. Australian test cricketer Peter Siddle, UFC fighter Mac Danzig, and ultramarathon runner Scott Jurek who has taken out some of the most challenging ultra events several times, are vegan.

According to the Dietitians’ Association of Australia ‘with good planning, those following a vegan diet can cover all their nutrient bases’. There is significant evidence that vegetarians and vegans

21

‘I simply do not want to consume products that contribute to the harm and suffering of animals and the environment, when there is an abundance of cruelty-free and environmentally-friendly options readily available’.

experience lower blood cholesterol levels, lower body mass indexes, lower rates of hypertension, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, stroke and cancer compared with omnivores. (Nutrition Australia). As a fitness enthusiast myself, I have not seen a drop in my fitness or strength levels since becoming vegan. #vegainzzzz Why don’t you just eat ‘free range/ethical/humane/all-natural/ grass-fed/compassionately farmed’ products?

Each state in Australia has laws against animal cruelty, but exceptions are in place for animals reared for food (Voiceless: The Animal Protection Institute). However, laws that regulate ‘humane’, ‘ethical’ and ‘grass-fed’ farming practices that producers must adhere to are non-existent. Model Codes of Practice for Animal Welfare developed by the Federal Government’s Primary Industries Ministerial Council exist, but they are not mandatory. Effectively, producers can claim their practices are ‘humane’ even if they do not meet a widely-accepted ‘humane’ standard. Disturbingly, the suffocating of pigs in gas chambers is common in the industry, as it is considered as a ‘humane’ slaughter method under the Animal Welfare Model Code of Practice for Pigs. Regardless, ‘humane slaughter’ is an oxymoron. The definition of ‘humane’ is ‘having or showing compassion or benevolence’ (Oxford Dictionary). No matter the method, taking away the life of a sentient being without its consent, does not show compassion. No matter what gentle words are used by the industry to make consumer’s feel at ease about purchasing their products, the animal will still end up dead and on someone’s plate. In the words of renown and respected animal rights activist James Aspey, who spoke at Adelaide’s Vegan Festival in October: “You can’t humanely murder a human, so how can you humanely murder another species?”

In July, one of Australia’s largest egg-producers Snowdale Holdings was fined $750,000 by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for falsely labelling its eggs as ‘free range’. Cases such as this shone a spotlight on the egg industry, with legislation

regulating the labelling of free range eggs adopted this year (the Australian Consumer Law (Free Range Egg Labelling) Information Standard 2017). However, the legal definition of ‘free range’ under these laws remains ambiguous and controversial. For example, the legislative definition of ‘free range’ permits hens to be locked into barns at night, with no recommendation regarding inside densities. The legislation provides that eggs labelled as ‘free range’ must be produced by hens with ‘meaningful and regular access to the outdoors’. Further clarification is not provided, leaving the phrase wide open to interpretation by producers, who would likely interpret the phrase to suit their business needs and bottom line, with little or no regard for the welfare of the hens.

Vegans come across as angry/preachy I don’t doubt that I have portrayed myself as an angry, preachy vegan. I couldn’t have explained it better myself, than vegan activist ‘Earthling Ed’. Words such as ‘militant’, ‘cult’ and ‘crazy’ are regularly used to describe vegans/veganism, as well as other minorities such as feminists and civil rights movements. “Utilising such phrases creates the idea that these people are aggressive. In regards to veganism it takes away the emphasis from the compassion and equality that we seek to spread and makes it seem like we are more individualistic and ego-centric people that exist mainly on the fringes of society.” Vegans are passionate individuals who seek to make positive changes in the world, but are often victimised and labelled as selfish for it. “We get angry for the same reason black rights or feminist movements get angry. We get angry because we are invalidated, mocked and segregated by society because we seek to contradict and alter the status quo and the way society has been conditioned.”

So, please. Before you label a vegan as ‘angry’, ‘selfish’ or ‘crazy’, “think about why we are angry and what it is we stand for – compassion, equality, non-violence. We’re angry because we need to change and we’re not changing fast enough”.

fe atu re / t r avel

The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party Biscuits, tea, and poetry at Shakespeare & Co., Paris.

Kirst y van de r Ve e r ‘From all over the world, lovers of books and words have ended up in this lopsided room on top of a bookshop, drinking tea and eating biscuits. You don’t know any of them, yet you’re alike enough to have found yourselves together here, today’.

It’s beginning to rain again. You’re tired. You’re cold. But, you’ve got a little over an hour to kill before you meet back up with your tour group. You’ve been everywhere today; having walked 27,000 steps you don’t want to walk much further.

on the right are mounds of ancient, yellowed, precious-looking books, and a sign inviting you to sit and read them. Tempted as you are, you explore the rest of the floor, going back to the top of the staircase and walking through the doorway that lays ahead.

So you stand outside the Notre Dame and wonder what you’re going to do. You’ve already been inside. You’ve already had your fill of croissants and pastries at cafes. There’s a bookshop across the way, though.

For a moment, you hesitate. Without realising, you appear to have stumbled into some kind of class, or seminar. A room full of heads swivel to look at the person entering the space. You take a step back to leave, but before you can an elderly British lady barks politely at you – “Sit! Sit! Everyone’s welcome! It’s a Mad Hatter’s tea party.” She explains that it is also a poetry reading, and that the rules are simple: everyone must read a piece of poetry (their own or a piece she will supply), and everyone must have a cup of tea and a biscuit. While she waits for the kettle to boil, she demands that everybody in the room introduce themselves. It’s a diverse group, and you’re the only Australian. People have come from all over the world, and like you they’ve seemingly stumbled upon tea time. Only two girls are returning guests, one equipped with a notebook of her own poetry and a black pen which she uses to ferociously scrawl notes with. You take your tea, and fill it with a large amount of milk to mask the taste (because you don’t actually like tea). Even so, you aren’t prepared to ruin the experience or argue with the old lady. You pick a small, familiar looking wafer in a tin of unusual biscuits and return to your seat.

Before, the bookshop was where you wanted to go. Shakespeare & Co. has a worldwide presence and you’ve heard about it even in little old Adelaide in Australia. You wanted to go there even before you booked this trip. After you booked the trip you started Googling how to get there from the hostel.

Earlier, though, the line of about two dozen people had woven down the path, and after twenty minutes waiting you were no closer to the door. Everyone wanted to go to this shop, not just you, it appeared. Impatient as always, you abandoned the queue and left the area.

Only to end up standing outside it again… with time to spare… and a line that had dwindled down to three. # In no time at all you set foot inside the dilapidated, yet organised, bookshop, immediately feeling welcomed by the warmth from the heaters and floor to ceiling rows of books. Crooked shelves straining with books cover every inch of the wall, and tables hold the stacks that the shelves refuse to contain. There are more books in this shop than there is space for, piles of novels squished in whatever area the staff could find. You take your time perusing, eavesdropping on book requests and following voices to books that sound interesting, cursing under your breath when the staff member hands them On Beauty by Zadie Smith saying, ‘Lucky you, that’s our last copy!’

Small and cramped as the shop may seem, it also feels like a labyrinth. So many nooks and crannies make you keep asking yourself whether the doorway in the crime fiction section materialised after you first walked past it.

You come to a stairway. Do I go up? you ask yourself. Once more, a wave of exhaustion and a vague sense of fear washes over you; the same feeling that has been tailing you all day through this new city, telling you to throw in the towel and crawl back to the safety of your hostel’s bed. You falter and your foot falls from the step.

You check the time. You still have an hour before you meet your group. Okay.

You hike up the steps with purpose, trying to trick away the tired, wary feeling. At the top is a poetry section, and through a doorway

The poetry starts. Everyone will read, going clockwise around the room. Paper is passed out containing the poetry the lady has brought, and people read it with varying responses — some stumble over the foreign language, others reading it as fluently as though they spoke it all their life. The old lady would interrupt when someone read too fast or too slow with a screech of “STOP.” She does this suddenly, and the reader two seats ahead of you freezes in fear, wondering what his mistake was, and then she explains. “Read that line again”, she tells him. “I love it.”

She provides commentary on every poet and poem: its history, the poet’s story, why she loves this piece and why you have to, too. Then it’s your turn and you’re equally exhilarated and nervous, not having read aloud since high school. You read it, remembering every rule from English class on when to pause, when to emphasise, and when to keep going. She doesn’t interrupt you, and the room listens, gazing at you in silence while you read, and it feels like a triumph.

These are your people. From all over the world, lovers of books and words have ended up in this lopsided room on top of a bookshop, drinking tea and eating biscuits, to read with you. You don’t know any of them, and they don’t know you, yet you’re alike enough to have found yourselves together here, today.

An hour ago you were alone, cold and slightly afraid in a foreign city. And now you sit in a warm crowded room, reading poetry with strangers, the world outside completely forgotten.

fe atu re / d o c tor w h o

The Future of Doctor Who C ameron L owe

In what has possibly been the biggest change in Doctor Who’s history since the start of the revived series, a female Doctor was announced. Jodie Whittaker (pictured opposite), known from Broadchurch, was confirmed as the 13th Doctor in July 2017 as the successor to current 12th Doctor Peter Capaldi. This was announced through an online video posted by the BBC on their YouTube page. Fans have been eagerly awaiting an official female Doctor since 4th Doctor Tom Baker made a passing comment to tease journalists in the early 1980s.

As a long time Whovian myself, I was excited about the announcement. Whittaker is a great actress and is fitting for the role. But what I was really curious about though was what other people actually thought about the announcement. I also was curious in what it could mean for the future of Doctor Who. I approached Whovians, both inside and outside my friendship circle for their opinions. Two main conclusions came out this: The Change of Doctor and the ‘Role Model’ aspects. The following is what I found in my search for information from others.

The Change of Doctor The end of one Doctor’s tenure has always been a difficult time for Whovians across the world. People are always critical about a new

Doctor, often remarking how they’d never top the outgoing one.

Fans were critical about Patrick Troughton (2nd) when he replaced Hartnell (1st), believing the show wouldn’t last. Current Doctor Peter Capaldi too was originally criticised for being too old.

However, unlike these previous Doctors, the critical reception to Jodie Whittaker has been different. Rather than just age or star power, Whittaker has faced criticism due to gender. Some fans believe a woman can’t be the Doctor as it makes no sense since all previous main incarnations have been male. Other fans have considered political correctness is stealing their show away. This has all come before she’s appeared in her first episode, which will be the Christmas special (airs December 26th, 2017 in Australia on the ABC).

Despite the negative comments, there’s been a fair amount of positive critical reception towards Whittaker. Some long-time fans of the show see the selection as opening the show up to new audiences. Almost all living previous Doctors have praised Whittaker’s casting, also believing it expands the franchise’s audiences. The most interesting aspect to the discussion is that The Doctor is not a human being. The Doctor is a Timelord and Timelords have changed gender before, with The Master becoming Missy in 2014.

25 ‘The future of Doctor Who is at its most uncertain point for the first time since the cancellation of the classic series in 1989. The series is taking a major risk changing The Doctor’s gender, one that could alienate it from some fans.

Then again, it’s a show built on risks’.

It should be noted that Jodie Whittaker isn’t the first female Doctor.

The first actress to play the Doctor (unofficially) was Joanna Lumley in the 1999 charity serial The Curse of the Fatal Death.

The ‘Role Model’ Aspect The change of the Doctor from male to female means a lot of potential for the future for the show. For many female Whovians, to see a female in the lead role will be a positive experience.

Having a female Doctor will allow younger female fans to finally be the hero, rather than just a sidekick or romantic interest. This will hope to aspire them to advance them in future and make them realise they too can lead in society. A female Doctor too will give boys a positive female role model to look up to, which is essential to them. Having a positive female role model will hopefully allow them to be able to learn to respect women.

However, there have still been questions raised against the idea.

Some female fans of the show have seen the Doctor as a positive male role model. Having the Doctor there for them growing up allowed them to see that not all men in the world were horrible. The Doctor’s choice to fix problems with words and a sonic screwdriver rather than violence made these female fans keep faith in men.

It’s with the changing of the Doctor from male to female that has them worried. To some, it feels like their male role model has died.

This has been a sad time for them as they and possible future fans are cheated out of having a positive male role model as the hero.

The question of the loss of a role model has been raised for boys and men too. In a recent San Deigo Comic-Con panel, former Doctor Peter Davison said: “it’s a loss of a role model for boys, which Doctor Who is vitally important for.” This passing comment of a much larger conversation infuriated fans and created a division between Davison and other former Doctors. Despite the

controversy, what Davison said has truth behind it. The Doctor has been a role model for boys and men all over the world for over fifty years. For some male fans, it’s difficult to know their role model will be female. And if the show were to have nothing but a female lead and companions then it might make these male fans feel lost and not represented enough.

Conclusion The future of Doctor Who is at its most uncertain point for the first time since the cancellation of the classic series in 1989. The series is taking a major risk changing The Doctor’s gender, one that could alienate it from some fans. Then again, it’s a show built on risks.

Even in the early days, the show was taking risks which few shows at the time were eager to do so.

Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor reflects a changing of the times. The upcoming Christmas special will be viewed as the ‘final’ episode to some Whovians, but from the fans lost, new ones will be gained.

A female Doctor will open the show up to more people, both male and female, from many different backgrounds. These new fans will also destroy old public stereotypes of Whovians and give the show a lot more opportunity to become more culturally and socially accepted.

It’s been amazing to see the many different thoughts and opinions regarding Doctor Who’s future, all right before the first Whittaker episode has even aired. What does the future hold for the show?

It all depends on that first episode, which will air in spring 2018. If the writing and characterisation are good, then many people won’t see the difference and it could spark a new golden age. If done wrong though, this upcoming period may one day be regarded as a dark age of the show’s history.

fe atu re / i nter v i e w

Interview: Eco-Circus Inte r v ie w by Kur t v an Ry sw y k

‘Entertainment that doesn’t cost the earth: it’s more of an ecological and moral approach to entertainment; our society has done amazing things, but it doesn’t have to cost the earth’.

At the 2017 Adelaide fringe, I had the privilege to be a circus performer based in ‘Gluttony’. Our venue ‘The Empyrean’, was a lovely open air stage with tented cover for the audience. It was a joy to perform at such a comfortable open venue, with such supportive operators. I found that the owners, Jacob and Sophie MacGraff, had a strong focus on sustainability. Jacob sat down with me to discuss the running of an eco-circus.

So, I’m here with Jacob MacGraff, builder and manufacturer, who runs “Dreamstate Circus”. Jacob, you had a couple of shows on at this year’s Adelaide Fringe.

It was our 2nd year at the Adelaide Fringe, and we presented 3 shows. “Fuego Carnal”, “She’s Killing Me”, and “Diamonds Found in Dreams”, which is a family show.

I’ve seen “Fuego Carnal”, which is basically fire everywhere, loud music, and wonderful, hot awesomeness. Do you find that your inner pyro argues with your inner greenie?

Ah, no. I see the use of fossil fuels through entertainment a really valuable use of the precious resource it is. The amount of fuel that we use in an entire show is comparative to what it would take one person to drive in from the outer city to come see a show.

But the whole show I think is a real display of what those fuels can be used for outside of just pumping it in [a car] and burning it up.

But you see your use of fossil fuels as a benefit, in the promotion of an ecomessage?

Yeah, it’s a way to display how special, how valuable they are, how a small amount can give so much joy and entertainment to so many people, by comparison as I said before to what they put in their car to drive home.

I noticed your company motto is “Entertainment that doesn’t cost the earth”?

That was the motto of a portion of Dreamstate entertainment called ‘Cirque Eco’. It’s more of an ecological and moral approach to entertainment. When we set up Cirque Eco, we just set up a trapeze rig and a backdrop. All the sound and lighting is run by renewables. We have a display zone with banners of how people can calculate and improve their carbon footprint through their fossil fuel use, through renewable energies, biodiversity. Different ways that are more in equilibrium with nature then ‘charge ahead’ industrialism. That has driven our society; our society has done amazing things, but it doesn’t have to cost the earth.

In Fuego Carnal, you tell the audience that this venue was built by you, and that you’ve done it a bit differently?

Where Cirque Eco is just a truck, a rig, and a back drop, the Empyrean actually houses an audience, and creates an ambiance, a mood.

Sophie and myself have done coming up to 4000 shows over the last 17 years and we know what we want as performers. We designed this venue to have a real wrap around intimate feel, really as close to the street as I could make it. Where people are comfortable, sitting down, but they really are wrapped around tight, with enough space to do all major circus disciplines, from Rue Cyr [Russian Wheel] and teeter board to trapeze and acrobatics. We’ve had 40 tap-dancers in here. And the affordable and ethical side behind this build was my strong belief in finding everything we need in our local environment. I tried to use as much reclaimed materials as possible. Being a fabricator myself, I reused a lot of old sets and a lot of old projects.

Has there been any design issue or consequence to your use of reclaimed materials?

Probably the main factor when using reclaimed materials is that if you buy something from a manufacturer, new off the shelf, you already have a rating. You already know what that material is capable of and engineer to it. When you’re using reclaimed materials there’s an unknown of what the material’s been through in the past. Has it been heated, has it been sitting in chemicals? For something like the trapeze rig, I’ll design it, I’ll fabricate it, and then I take it to a rigging yard and have it tested by someone like ‘Bullivants’ or ‘UniRig’. You say “right I want this to be rated for 1.5 ton”. They inspect it, load it, inspect it again, they give you a load certificate and there’s your liability, there’s your sign off sheet. So it’s matter of sometimes doing things the other way around, design then test. I’ve done 10 years at least of [as an advanced rigger], and whenever we rig there’s always a huge factor of safety involved. That kind of safety factor is really what I’ve carried through into the design Where do you source material?

Mainly agricultural. A lot of the stuff I’ve used for trussing, the uprights, are all pipework. There are a lot of farms out there with irrigation. I did a bit of study into it.

It’s actually a really high grade aluminium, made in Spain. Its folded, welded sheet and it’s really got quite a remarkable rigid nature to it. A lot of your softer alloys, the 6061’s, are quite soft and buttery. You can bend them and mould them, which is great for creative stuff and sculpture, but then you start getting into the T6’s and 6082’s. They’re a lot more rigid, and easier to snap. But the rigidity gives it a much greater usefulness for load bearing things.

It’s just a better [structural] material [for my purposes]. So, the pipe is there, agricultural pipe, and it’s cheap. It’s dirty, so it’s hard to recycle because it’s got a huge surface area. I’m buying it for like $5 a 9 metre length.

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So you’re actually saving materials that are difficult to recycle?

Absolutely. A lot of aluminium recyclers won’t take the farm irrigation because it’s had fertilisers through it. Some of them have had insecticides, some of them have just been laying in the paddock in the mud so long that the oxidation makes them this rusty brown colour. But with what I’m creating here, that’s the perfect look. I want that. I want it to look like metal and steel and rusty and earthy and grundgey, and then you just let elements of it shine. Like the performers. Or the lighting.

Design to end of life, or to the next planned reuse is an important concept. How do you anticipate disposing of this stuff?

I have a reclaim approach to the way I make things. Nothing gets wasted. I’ll turn trapeze rigs into set pieces, truck bases into trailers.

I’ve cut up sculptures I’ve made and made tables out of it. And that’s one of the joys of working with aluminium. It doesn’t rust, and you can literally just keep welding and rewelding it into a whole new purpose.

Do you find that digital technology is lowering power requirements?

Massively. Massively. There are sound systems now which are 1000W, a huge decibel rating on them and they run on 2.5 amps. The power conversions are exceptional. A much more efficient design.

I’m using the satellite speakers which are beautiful and clean. You can run it off a small inverter and a car battery for 6 or 7 hours. It’s really, really, efficient.

What technology improvements are you particularly looking forward to?

I think anyone looking to run a system more and more efficiently is waiting on the edge of battery technology. There are some amazing cells out there that make mobile entertainment so much easier already, but price is a massive offset. And yeah we certainly try to keep on top of new technology. All our lighting is LED. Now the LED stuff is getting much better. You get red, green, blue, amber, white, UV out of one fixture. Really efficient.

In the process of getting this going were there things that did not work as you were expecting, or that didn’t work?

I think probably the biggest things this year, because we are on gravel, dust is a huge problem. It gets in everything. It gets on the dressings, the seating, it gets on the stage.

It’s got in the tech and I’ve lost two speakers so far. We’re backed onto an access road and there’s a dump out the back. Dust is an environmental issue we didn’t face last year because it was parkland.

I also noticed that you have some water ingress problems?

It’s an outdoor venue. We water protect as best we can, but certainly with high winds and rain, things get wet. One light was forgotten behind the backdrop, and got in a puddle. Otherwise we cover stuff, and roll with it. One of the trade-offs of having an outdoor venue over a sealed one. In an outdoor venue you can do extreme arts, but a sealed venue keeps you dry.

Your kids show, “Diamonds found in dreams”. At the end of the performance, we were given a sunflower seed to take home and grow something green, along with some messages for the children.

I interpreted the seed to be the diamond.

I quite liked that message.

We wanted to create a message that people could take a little piece of gold home with them, in experience or in thought. Or activate a part of their brain, giving them options. A lot of the agriculture industry, which I come from, they cop a lot of grief from people saying, “oh they do it unecological”, or “they don’t think about the environment”. But they’re the ones providing food for everybody, and they work as efficiently as they can with what they know. A lot of studies show that by the year 2050 our current primary producers won’t keep up with population growth based on current methods. So I think really of the next generation. And that’s got to start somewhere. I think if people understand where food comes from, and doesn’t have to come from an animal, it can come from a plant, that helps the environment. The long-term goal with that is that children and the next generation understand that they can plant things that grow and that is a way of making food. If they can learn from a very young age, then they don’t have to start learning later. The next generation thinks so much faster than we do, and they’ll have to. If they know the concepts, in their radical minds, they will be the ones that come up with the resolutions or the answers. They’ll have to reclaim, to reuse all the resources around them to be able to make a sustainable future.

Well I think that your setting a wonderful example. My compliments to you, and thank you for your time!

Dreamstate Entertainment can be found at: www.dreamstatecircus.com/empyrean

fe atu re / f r i en dship

On Adult Friendships Mar ina D el l e r

I’m a big advocate for relationships; for knowing people, loving people, drawing inspiration and strength from those around you, and giving back whatever you can. Perhaps this stems from the fact that I just really like people, but I think it’s also what life is about in general – understanding other humans, connecting with each other. And it isn’t just sappy old me who thinks that people enrich our lives; when researching an essay for uni a few years ago, I found information which stated that those who are an active part of their community, and have a good variety of friends, are more inclined to be mentally stable and fulfilled. So with the importance of strong friendships so clearly evident, why don’t we prioritise them more?

Perhaps it’s because we’re taught a rather rigid narrative of ‘love’ from a very young age. Meet the person you adore, become each other’s worlds, spend every second together and fit like pieces of a puzzle… but where do our friends, and our families fit? I’m not totally dissing this structure – I love being ‘in love’ too, and sometimes my partner truly does feel like my better half – but it is a seriously flawed way of living to only focus on one human, one objective of romantic love. It’s borderline terrifying to consider how romantic relationships can draw energy and time away from our other relationships. I’m here to tell you, albeit quickly, why we should be giving more energy and time to relationships more widely.

It’s not about a competition between love and love – it’s merely about putting energy into a wider ‘community’ and finding those who complement the way you want to live your life. Pick and choose them from around the place. For instance, I have friends who will happily rant into the early hours of the morning about politics with me, those who love to brunch and picnic, those who will help facilitate my op-shopping addiction, those who will help me knuckle down and study in a shared, caffeine-induced, buzz.

I’ve collected them from around the place – stragglers from high school, a handful of family friends, one or two from my last job, some from my old drama school, a bunch who are sweating and crying through arts degrees with me. They’re a strange little group – and if you put them all in one room they may not immediately appear to have much in common, but what they do have in common is me. They’re all people who matter to me, who make my week-by-week life interesting, fulfilling and colourful.

Although I adore coming home each day to my cat, and my partner, and the latest Star Trek episode, I also adore whinging about said partner to my girls, downing shots with the uni crew on a Wednesday night, and bullying my older friends into doing my L-plate driving hours with me. They complete my life.

When it comes to spending energy and time on friends, choose people that lift you up, complement your lifestyle, and are worth

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‘As adults, life can be difficult. The monsters are no longer under our beds, they are in our wallets, our homes, our bedrooms, our workplaces. They’re in our minds. To feel supported, we need a team around us who care, and to feel fulfilled, we need to support those we care about in turn’.

expending the effort. The ones who will bring you soup when you’re sick, or even just funny memes – and who you love enough to do the same for – are the ones you want.

As uni students (or staff), we know that time is something which isn’t readily available, let alone emotional energy. The idea of prioritising friendships alongside partners, work, money, family responsibilities can be daunting. If you’re going straight from uni to work, and straight home to bed, where are you meant to find the time? If you’re living pay-check to pay-check where are you meant to find the money? Friendships fade into the background, when they should be part of our support systems, part of what makes each day enjoyable, despite the stresses. If we can make the time and money for relationships, we can do it for friendships. True friends won’t demand the moon, anyway.

Now, I’ve lost a few friends over the years, I know how easy it can be for them to just ‘slip away’ so to speak. This is, in particular, due to the fact that I graduated high school only a few years ago, have changed part time jobs a few times and am about to complete a degree – people fall away like petals when you’re no longer forced to spend time around them. Aside from those fading friendships, there are also the forceful friendship cuts, where you make it clear to someone (or they make it clear to you) that they are no longer a part of your life. It may be for a myriad of reasons, but social confrontation in any form is uncomfortable at best. When it comes to losing friends, although it can be hard to approach at first, ask yourself the real questions; is this person worth fighting to keep in your life? Do they bring you joy? Do you bring them joy? Do you help each other grow? Sometimes the answer is no, and that’s

okay. Not all friendships – just as not all relationships – are meant to be.

Luckily, if you’re indecisive and non-confrontational as I am, there isn’t truly a dichotomy between ‘fading out’ or ‘cutting out’ unwanted friendships, as I may have slightly misleadingly portrayed. In our technology-rich age, we are able to see people’s lives from afar, enjoy their growth and happiness from their online presences. If not for Facebook, I would not have been able to recently reconnect with a friend who moved overseas six years ago, and came back to visit Adelaide for a weekend. Similarly, as adults, you may only see someone who you count as a ‘best friend’ once or twice a year. Friendship is more nuanced and complex a topic than ever – it is what you make it. Just make sure to, y’know, actually make it in the first place.

As adults, life can be difficult. The monsters are no longer under our beds, they are in our wallets, our homes, our bedrooms, our workplaces. They’re in our minds. To feel supported, we need a team around us who care, and to feel fulfilled, we need to support those we care about in turn. Community and friendships are everimportant, especially to our health. Pick that small, dedicated team, pour energy and love into them – even if it’s just a morning text now and again, or a monthly coffee catch-up. Do all the things you’d do in a relationship; show them love, show them affection, tell them you care. Don’t be afraid of loving – in all forms of love – without fear.

Adult-life is scary – let’s tackle it together.

fe atu re / re v i e w

Flinders v Adelaide: Who Wins?

Forget degrees, forget ducks. The real test is the burgers.

Pat r ick Morgan Being a cross-institutional student, that is, belonging to both Flinders and another University (in my case, the one with inferior ducks) brings many things, including a tendency to compare the two places.

So, as a meat eater, I figured it was only a matter of time before I decided that the Tav wasn’t enough to satisfy my desire for burgers! Hence, I decided to go give Burger Theory at Adelaide Uni a try. Both times, I went for a Burger # 1 with chips, which set me back $14 each time.

Visit 1: The Tav at Flinders. Monday, late July, around 4pm.

I wandered up to the bar, which was unattended while some tables were being cleaned. After a short wait, a very friendly member of staff came to take my order, making some small talk in the process.

We both agreed that it was a very quiet day. I decided to try the balcony, and I was very happy with it. I had a nice view of the Lake, the music was set to a good volume, and despite it being winter, the heaters made it quite a nice space. After just eight minutes, my burger arrived. It tasted nice, there was a good amount of salt on the chips, and while it was messy, it held together. I made a mental note to buy a drink next time.

Visit 2: Burger Theory in the Hub at Adelaide Uni. Thursday, mid August, around 1pm.

I was served almost instantly, although unlike at the Tav, the staff member seemed slightly uninterested, and didn’t show me any courtesy, not even responding to my ‘thank you’. The entire building was packed, I had no idea where to sit. In the end, I sat outside. It was cold and very windy, and the view wasn’t very nice.

As for my burger, I was disappointed. The meat was very pink, the chips were soggy and very salty, and the cheese on the burger was not fully melted.

The meat was so pink that I didn’t like the texture, and I wondered if it was fully cooked. Despite all of this, the burger held together, but unlike at the Tav, I found it too messy to enjoy.

In conclusion, the Tav wins, hands down. It’s a more comfortable and more pleasant environment, I received much better service, and the burger itself was nicer.

Even taking into account the busy time of day, I’m in no rush to go back to Burger Theory at Adelaide. While I understand things being different during the lunchtime rush, things should not have been so underwhelming.

Like many aspects of university life for me, when it comes to burgers, Flinders wins!

fe atu re / r a d i o

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The Day Martians Invaded Earth: ‘The War of the Worlds’ Radio Play C ameron L owe

‘We know now that in the early years of the twentieth century this world was being watched closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own’.

– Orson Welles, 1938 Few radio dramas have caused the same level of mass hysteria, or felt as real as Orson Welles’ The War of the Worlds. First broadcast by the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) across the United States on October 30th, 1938, The War of the Worlds details a Martian invasion of Earth through a series of radio news bulletins. The play is a loose adaptation of the 1898 novel by H.G. Wells; however, it is set in the 1930s in the United States as opposed to 1890s England in the book. As a fan of H.G. Wells’ novel, Orson Welles had long desired to adapt it for radio.

While it was made clear the drama was an adaptation, many people across America tuned in during its performance and believed it was genuine news. Many Americans believed an actual Martian invasion of the Earth was underway. Information on Mars at the time was scarce and many believed there to be life on the planet. Others believed it to be a Nazi Germany invasion. This was a common fear during the late 1930s, especially with America at the tail end of the Great Depression and the growing fear of another global war. As a result, police stations were swamped with calls while others fled to their local churches, anticipating the end of the world.

The War of the Worlds’ very convincing telling of an alien invasion of Earth fooled the United States at the time, but was quickly realised as a superb way of storytelling. This play helped launch Welles’ as an artist, allowing him to create classic films like Citizen Kane (1941), and The Lady from Shanghai (1947). The play also proved to people how fast news could travel on the then still new radio technology, and to not always believe everything said through the media.

(Foreshadowing #fakenews, much?)

Even now, nearly eighty years after it first broadcast, The War of the Worlds is still a chilling and frightening radio drama. If done right, a contemporary version of this play which incorporates social media could be able to still make people believe an actual alien invasion of Earth is happening. A similar incident happened in 2015, during Activision’s promotion of Call of Duty: Black Ops 3. Changing the Call of Duty Twitter page to ‘Current Events Aggregate’, they managed to convince a number of people a terrorist attack had taken place in Singapore. This of course was fake, but it still fooled people, much like Welles had with his drama back in 1938, making it possible to create a contempary The War of the Worlds drama today.

A Journey in Two Parts Perspectives on life through a break up

Trigger Warning: mentions of self harm and suicidal thoughts.

Stuart Jefferies Part 1: Reminders July/August 2017 We go to some very dark places sometimes, as human beings struggling with events in life that we don’t see coming. Like an emotional coup de grace, existence suddenly finds a way to twist the knife. About a month and a half ago (at the time of writing), I split with my partner of roughly a year. It was my longest, and most substantial, relationship to date. Two days ago I found out through social media that he was in a new relationship. He didn’t even text me to let me know, or anything decent; considerate even. Instead, I had to find out second-hand from someone else, in a group chat no less. A truly excellent end to my Saturday.

I did some reading on rebound relationships out of spite. What else would you call something which started so soon after a solid, year-long relationship? I visited his hometown, I met his family a couple times, I helped out in his parent’s store, we went on trips together, we watched shows together, we slept together, we went out together, we even had lunch at uni together. For the most part we were a solid unit. I felt like my life was finally, at last, as satisfying as it should be. Unfortunately, most of the memories I have from that time are now gone, either repressed or corrupted by several dissociative episodes that have happened since.

The last thing I heard from him was ‘take care of yourself’, which seemed a half-hearted platitude to comfort his own small desire for me to remain intact. Since the breakup, however, I am less than whole in a number of ways. There are parts of my body, usually hidden behind clothes, that are marked; sections of flesh at various stages of healing. My mind, as I said, retains very little.

I can remember names, places, and sights from a very young age in a different country, but couldn’t tell you what I did yesterday.

Every time I wake up, I’m invariably thinking of him or this fucked up situation between the two of us. It consumes me.

Every day I take my meds, some vitamin D, and zinc expecting to feel better. Mostly I just fall asleep, which isn’t helpful because I work nights. But in my dreams I find solace. I get to speak to people that want nothing to do with me, kiss people that I haven’t physically seen in a long time. I get to experience joy and happiness and the feelings of euphoria that often come with dreams. Waking up is the hard part. My bed has become almost like a prison. I still attend classes and drag myself to work and put on the face that people expect to see, but in reality I’ve been turned inside out. As Diana Ross once sang, ‘upside down, boy you turn me, inside out’, and that about sums it up.

Many people have heard, I’m sure, anecdotal evidence about the deepest depressions experienced by others simply by existing in today’s complex and emotionally tumultuous world. For the past few weeks at least I’ve felt like I’m scraping the bottom of the deepest ocean point, slowly drowning beneath a surface impossibly out of reach. I haven’t felt genuine happiness in a long time, save for momentary blips usually provided by uni pals or work colleagues. In between all this existential turmoil, there’s a resounding numbness, and an enduring notion of pessimism: what’s the point in all of this?

Many of you I’m sure will have heard the expression ‘it doesn’t help to dwell’, and while that may be true, my experience with depression has shown you don’t always have a choice. I do my best to avoid reminders or memories from this obliterated past life, daintily tiptoeing through the detritus of my life like a minefield.

fe atu re / bre a kup s

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‘Many of you I’m sure will have heard the expression ‘it doesn’t help to dwell’, and while that may be true, my experience with depression has shown you don’t always have a choice. I do my best to avoid reminders or memories from this obliterated past life, daintily tiptoeing through the detritus of my life like a minefield’.

Every now and then, something detonates. Chaos: tearing, churning, dizzying, crippling. The thoughts will break the levees like an emotional Hurricane Katrina, flooding my mind with toxic waste. Thoughts like my ex and his new dude watching shows and having sex and sharing a bed like we used to do, the same bed I once happily shared. Thoughts like ‘does he think of me?’ and ‘how did he replace me so quickly?’ All of that is brought into sharp focus as I watch myself eating dip and crackers in my quicksand bed binge watching Netflix in a semi-successful attempt to fill this colossal void in my life.

Of course, anyone who has experienced loss in any manifestation will tell you that a person leaves a chasm that cannot ever truly be filled. Friends tell me that it just takes time. Time is all I have, like an endless purgatory waiting to descend into Hell. These morbid images swirl around like the shark in Jaws, waiting to sink their teeth in and draw blood. Most of the time the shark gets me, leaving ugly wounds in its wake. There are days when things seem particularly bleak and I consider suicide, often counteracted by some deep-rooted anxiety. The most crippling limbo of all is yearning to not exist but simultaneously not quite wishing to die.

The finality of everything trumps whatever else, I find, though for some people this sadly isn’t an issue. It’s a very tough place to be in. The one thing that seems to keep me going is my cat, who keeps me company at various times day or night. He’s done so every day since the breakup without fail, and the connection between us has only strengthened. It’s good to have that company at home.

I’m less likely to do something harmful if he’s there. He wouldn’t understand, and it feels wrong with someone watching.

While there are certainly some people out there that would selfharm for some misconceived goal of attention, I’m the opposite.

I do what I can to avoid attention, avoid speculation, and above all dodge the intense questioning that comes from curious injury.

Indeed, like a person with something to hide I’m adept at lying.

I can mask a painful truth behind a convenient excuse and sell it with a smile. It’s almost sociopathic. But I don’t want people knowing. I don’t want people asking.

All of this mess combined with work and study most days of the week, it’s no wonder I feel so exhausted. No wonder I so desperately crave sleep. I don’t blame my ex for doing what he did, though it was kinda gutless to let me hear it from someone else, even blithely posting on social media. I made my mistakes and I’m still living with the consequences. My life looks like this because of my own inadequacy, both in my relationship with my then-partner and indeed my inability to prevent further emotional fracturing.

During particularly bleak periods like this, I find an immense amount of solace in music. This mangled situation, for instance, I think is best surmised by the Smiths song ‘I Know It’s Over’, an enduring favourite of mine during breakups – because wallowing in sorrow fuels and nourishes the negativity. Cliché, I know. It doesn’t help to dwell. As Morrissey wails, ‘I know it’s over still I cling/ I don’t know where else I can go’, I can’t help but feel a kinship to the figure in the song. Perhaps what hits hardest is the penultimate verse, which has never seemed more relatable: If you’re so funny Then why are you on your own tonight?

And if you’re so clever Then why are you on your own tonight?

If you’re so very entertaining Then why are you on your own tonight?

If you’re so very good looking Why do you sleep alone tonight?

I know because tonight is just like any other night.

People might say the 80s aren’t so relevant anymore, but those lyrics from 1986 have spelled out my feelings from the past four breakups over the last four years. While I’m hoping, as my friends have told me, that time will heal things and hopefully make things better, I can’t help but wonder if all that’s true. Then again, Morrissey also sang ‘these things take time’, and sometimes the things Morrissey says aren’t complete bollocks. To borrow again from music, this time from Fleetwood Mac, ‘I never did believe in miracles/but I’ve a feeling it’s time to try’. It looks like I’ll need a miracle at this point.

Time does indeed heal wounds, certainly the physical ones anyway. The pink skin melds with the rest and suddenly those grisly reminders are less vivid. Other gaps, however, other patches of nothingness in life are much harder to fill. But everyone should know, honestly, that I’m trying to get on with things and make the best from a thoroughly shit situation. Trying is better than simply wallowing. From all of this, the only thing I have left are the pictures, smiling joyous fulfilling memories lost in time, and reminders that life once felt so complete, and I was so whole. >>

‘I thought this emotional saga, though they don’t always end this way, deserved a happy ending, and indeed as do we all. I’m enjoying this “good place” as a mentally healthy person living their best life. The support of my close friends has been immeasurable during my darkest periods’.

Part 2: Resolution NOTE: A lot can happen in what seems such a short time. In reviewing Part One, I found so much of my life had changed, and in many ways much to my surprise. Change and transformation can certainly occur over time, despite the misconception that places, people, and moments in life itself rarely, or indeed ever, change. I couldn’t even tap into the mindset that spawned Part One, given the current landscape of my life. Indeed, Part Two, “Resolution”, reflects that sense of personal transformation that can have positive repercussions in many facets of daily life, as unbelievable as it may seem.

October 2017 Like the mega-famous Bob Dylan song of the 1960s, there are events that are constantly evolving. Sometimes we stick to a medication that works, thinking that the effects are just something to deal with. Sometimes, in order to survive, we surrender all hope of reconnecting with prominent figures of our past. Sometimes, though, as the proverbial saying goes, miracles happen. It seems melodramatic to ascribe such a momentous moniker onto something as seemingly banal as reuniting with an ex, but after everything that has happened, it feels like something Biblical.

In an ocean of changes and clouds of turbulence, somehow things in life softened and became comfortable. Tiles fell into place and texts became pleasant, and not lengthy emotional diatribes. After dating a broad range of emotionally compromised and inadequate partners over the years, I expected the status quo to remain the same. But since the night we first met, after a record-breaking five-hour date that seemed so perfect it practically, to borrow from Auden, stopped all the clocks. I had always hoped, after the dissolution of any relationship, to find some solace in the debris of such cataclysm, but my ex had moved on so quickly and so forcibly – what my generation would call ‘Facebook official’. It just didn’t seem possibly or indeed likely.

So I too pushed myself, at a time which felt right and the fissures of torment within me had mostly healed and faded, also tried to move on. It’s always been difficult for me to tap into my state of mind during depressive periods. Time does indeed heal all manner of wounds. After a period of half conversations and attempts to arrange proper dates and encountering people on dating apps that didn’t seem too fussed or just weren’t quite right, I resigned myself, quite willingly, to a general nonchalance towards dating. Things were pristine as a single man; my relationship with my mother improved, I was able to give more time to friends who I hadn’t

seen as often, and began to relax into an existence that wasn’t as emotionally dependent on men. Human beings are naturally hardwired for companionship, true, but sometimes what we want isn’t always what we need.

But I also never expected things to change. I wholeheartedly expected that status quo to remain, concrete, for the foreseeable future. In between therapy sessions and attempts to reconnect with my ex over text, which proved an emotional minefield at times, I received B12 boosters over a fortnight at the GP to increase my mood and, most significantly, switched from a medication whose effects, as mentioned, I thought were also just another burden to bear. Turns out I was wrong. Switching from 100mg Zoloft to 10mg Lexapro (generic names) truly changed my life just as much as Zoloft had the first time round. Back then, I had harmful behaviours that needed rectifying, things that aren’t said aloud and are often startling to hear, both as a listener but also to hear coming from your own mouth.

Suddenly I wasn’t falling asleep in the middle of the day or weary before even starting work. Suddenly I had this near-euphoric mental state without having to sacrifice my mood or my consciousness.

Something I never expected to change, but it did. Amidst this, my ex dropped a bombshell: I’m breaking up with X. Things quickly got a little complicated, as they would, given my ex’s emotional ambivalence to someone whose flaws he would later extol and for me to internally wave a flurry of red flags. But something else I never expected, besides the relationship between my ex and his newfound thing to expire.

My ex, let’s call him “Javier” for privacy’s sake, acknowledged wrongdoing. I, on my part, hadn’t stopped flagellating myself over the mistakes I had made in the depths of depression, crippling stress, and what my psychologist described as a “survival mode” which resulted in my partner’s emotional neglect and ultimate exit.

Javier also, without prompt, acknowledged things between him and X were a rebound. This was something my friends, psychologist, and I knew from the get-go but something I never said because I wasn’t about to kick the proverbial man when he’s down. Through Javier’s emotional torment about having to leave this person he no longer loved and the return of precious memories that hadn’t quite faded despite months and months in between seeing my face and hearing my voice, I was there. I don’t say that for respect or medals or commendation, no, it just felt good to be there for someone who I couldn’t emotionally provide for when I was dating him.

Perhaps, given everything that had settled with me, this boosted morale between Javier and I. Throughout this period there was constant change, and I infrequently kept my uni pals and other close friends updated because one day’s debriefing may be different to the next. There’s a tendency to be skeptical about this, but there was reason and logic in Javier and I reconnecting. Between his breakup with X and

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his reunion with me, which came earlier than we both planned but was nonetheless as cathartic as it could be, Javier had settled into his singlehood identity and become comfortable again in his own skin. Liberated from a relationship he once again no longer enjoyed, memories and feelings and experiences not strictly tied to companionship but, according to him, tied specifically to me began to blossom and flourish.

After a nerve-wracking forty-minute drive up to his place one weekend not too long ago, we faced each other for the first time in three and a half months. I acknowledged to my psychologist that, yes, this might not seem like a long time but, and she agreed, that someone who you saw almost daily at the peak of our substantial, year-long relationship and then suddenly, instantaneously, didn’t see at all, this was big. The time spent after that initial reunion, after a long embrace and some tears, involved healing, catharsis, and explanations about our own emotional choices. It was healthy. We didn’t just jump back into bed with each other. We each acknowledged our own faults, though we both knew mine were cataclysmic enough to sever what we had. But we both also acknowledged that we were each in a “good place” in our own lives, and that’s the important part.

We knew a few days after meeting that we would be seeing our respective psychologists, and decided that it might be good to get back together. Our dynamic remains, still, intact from the time when we were together, surreally so. Both our psychologists separately approved of this decision and wished us luck with repairing our toxic behaviours and continuing back on this path together.

That’s the miracle: after so much torture, emotional upheaval, blood and tears, and everything else that comes from an intense breakup… there was peace. It was as though life had returned to its emotionally satisfying plateau, something that happened after Javier and I first met. We didn’t rush in, we didn’t make rash choices, and we are continuing, me especially, to be the best we can for one another. It’s my first real-life experience with a gay relationship of my own working out, especially after a such an intense breakup.

Javier proved that he was different from all the others, that deep down he was still compassionate and considerate and neither of us lost sight of wanting to be in each other’s lives in some capacity.

Neither of us expected that to evolve into becoming partners again, which hasn’t been made official yet, but we continue, as I said, to work out to iron the creases and deal with things as emotional stable adults with psychological support and the tools necessary to communicate and tackle whatever comes our way.

Things are looking up after endless grey skies and torrents of sleeting rain. I don’t want the takeaway message from this to be that all you need in life is a partner, no. Be you, be your best self, know your self worth isn’t dependent on what others think or how they make you feel. Sometimes, as I said, what’s best for you isn’t what you need, but it can be something you want. Javier and I have chosen to go down this path as better people than we were before, with memories of past wrongdoings still cemented in our minds and a burning desire to not repeat those same nasty behaviours and events.

I never did believe in miracles, but I’ve a feeling it’s time to try, because this truly feels like some preternatural gift – and yes that sounds like hyperbole but this was a change I never expected but wholeheartedly welcome as a person transformed, and as someone who had never experienced a good outcome from a breakup, nor change to come from people that I had hoped would.

I thought this emotional saga, though they don’t always end this way, deserved a happy ending, and indeed as do we all. I’m enjoying this “good place” as a mentally healthy person living their best life.

The support of my close friends has been immeasurable during my darkest periods and despite the fact that things have now changed between Javier and I, their words of wisdom, support, and encouragement pulled me out from beneath a canopy of misery and allowed me to experience daily existence with a better outlook than would have been achieved in isolation. I’m grateful to them all for everything they’ve provided in my life.

In a way, life improves; it gets better, and often in ways we least expect. If anything, the takeaway message from this mess, I think, should be: no matter how deep in the shit you are, hang on. Life changes in so many bizarre but often magnificent ways. It sounds wanky I know, but things have a way of working out, despite how inconceivable that might seem right now.

fe atu re / fem i n i sm

Toxic Misogynistic Male Feminists ‘We should keep our eyes out for the toxic misogynistic male feminists. Unlike the overt, out and proud MRAs/trolls/ sexists, these guys claim to be, and actually think they are, “good guys” who support women’.

E le anor D anenb erg We all know at least one; the dude that insists he’s totally on board with gender equality…and then comes the ‘but’. That’s typically the part that where I release a big sigh, where the other shoe drops, where I mentally check out of the conversation. His lips may still be moving but in my head, I’m already home in my pyjamas bingewatching Parks & Recreation and wishing all men could just be like Ben. Unlike Ben Wyatt in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana, these guys are toxic.

Like the guy who grew up surrounded by sisters and feminine energy, and thinks your feminism and passion is ‘cool’…but then informs you no one will fuck you if you have hairy pits. His career and goals are very important and serious while yours are silly. He makes you feel like a child because he treats you like one.

Then there’s the guy who claims to want an independent, confident woman not afraid to speak her mind…but when you get too independent and confident, and speak your mind, he changes his tune to, ‘shut up you bitch, the world would be a better place if you pissed off’. When you tell him you have a haircut booked, he informs you he doesn’t like girls with short hair. He pits women against each other and stares blankly, indifferently at the wreckage he’s left. Does he even know what he’s done? Will he ever learn?

Women in real life are as disposable as the magazine pages of bikini-clad women stuck up on his bedroom wall.

Then there’s the guy raised by a single mum who therefore has the utmost respect for women…but then he believes that his flirting and touching, his attention, will benefit and improve all girls’ self esteem. Even the girls he has zero interest in and thinks are dogs.

He’s just doing his bit to help, you see, kind of like community service for underprivileged young women. He’s the hero we need, a miracle indeed. Emotional manipulation is the name of the game and he’s a self-described player.

If you were suspecting it, yes, the above is a frightening mosaic collage of previous male characters from the sad comedy of my own life, a little something I like to call, ‘I can’t believe I was into that guy’. I look back at this douchey catalogue and while I now can laugh, my lessons learned, I remember the psychological effects at the time.

Like a form of gas-lighting, when they doubted me or my feminism, I started to doubt myself. Maybe they were right, my dedication to feminism was silly, maybe this inequality that feminism is based on wasn’t real. I imagine the process as a toxic gas coming over me,

invading my mind, the stench sticking to my skin and clothes. Like my brain chemistry temporarily changed, I started factoring them in to everything.

Will he like this outfit? Will he mock it in-front of his friends again?

Will he like this pair of underwear? What about your hair? Make sure to keep your hair long, as your beloved boyfriend told you if you cut it short again he would break up with you, and you don’t doubt it for a second. He said he liked your hair better down so make sure you wear your hair down, even on the hot summer days when the back of your neck is slick with sweat and all you want to do is pile your hair on the top of your head in a bun and let the air on your skin, even though your mum says your hair looks so nice up in a bun, don’t do it in a bun, leave it down because that’s how he likes it. How do you best like your hair? Does it matter what you think, who are you again? Would he approve of this book you’re reading, this food you’re eating, the amount of exercise you’re doing, the volume at which you’re speaking, the status you’re liking, this thought you’re thinking?

I look back now and think…even if these men swore up and down that they were feminists, was the quality of my relationship with them indicative of that? Did I feel like their equal? Was I fully supported, my thoughts, emotions, and goals respected? The answer is a clear and obvious no.

The sad thing is, I’m sure these guys didn’t do all of these things consciously and intentionally. Male privilege and notions of gender roles and superiority are ingrained in our minds in childhood, and they only get hammered in harder as we get older. It’s frightening that we aren’t aware of what we’re doing while we’re doing it. After all, I wasn’t aware of what I was accepting until long after those relationships ended, and I adjusted the relationship bar accordingly.

We should keep our eyes out for the toxic misogynistic male feminists, as they’re dangerous. Unlike the overt, out and proud MRAs/trolls/sexists, these guys claim to be, and actually think they are, ‘good guys’ who support women. They may even claim to be feminists, pro-feminist, or feminist-allies. The thing about dating someone like this is that after a while, you accept that this is what you deserve, and no more. This can be hazardous for your emotional and mental well-being, and for your self-esteem and self worth.

And thinking that you actually deserve this is the most toxic thing of all.

cre at ive / f i c ti on

Terra

By Cameron Lowe

My Nanna used to tell me many stories about space when I was younger. Out of all of them, none fascinated me, or powered my imagination, more than the ones she told about Terra.

Together at night, Nanna and I would stare up at the double star that was Terra and its moon, Luna. As I looked at it I began to imagine what this mysterious world looked, smelt, felt, tasted, and sounded like. Was its plant life like ours here on Mars? What creatures roamed it? What did they look like?

There were many stories Nanna would tell me about Terra. She told me Terran humans are called Homo-sapiens, and appeared very similar to us Homo-barsoomians, only they had nails on the tips of their fingers and toes, hair all over their bodies rather than just their heads, and noses that poked out of their faces. She also said all life on Mars evolved from Terra, or Mother Earth as it was so often called by the elders.

Even after all of the stories, I still had one question that was never answered: why had I not seen anything from Terra itself? If we had all originated from Terra, why couldn't we travel there? Why had the Terrans never visited us? Nanna never told me the answer, no matter how much I asked. She eventually took her knowledge to the grave with her when she passed away not long after my ninth birthday.

I found out no more about Terra in school than I did apart from

the stories Nanna told me. No matter how much I asked for more information my teachers refused to give it. That’s when more questions arose. Terra’s the closest planet to us; why was information so hard to come by? Or was there information and they were withholding it from me?

After school, I was accepted into Curiosity University, the top tier tertiary institute in Thoris, my region’s capital. I studied ancient Terran History and Arts, where my desire for more information was fulfilled. My favourite topics included the classical works of Terran literature, and of its many different ancient cultures.

Still, I found no answer to my question about why I've never seen anything or anyone from Terra. I asked my professors as to why that is, but they always changed the conversation topic.

It was in my second semester I met a group of people with the same eagerness for answers. It was through these people that I learnt Terra was in a prohibited space zone, something I was never told before. We spoke of someday being able to travel beyond that zone and see Terra up close, believing they’d get more of a chance to study it.

Our wishes came true not long ago, when we stole a cargo ship from the Thoris Spaceport. One of my friends was a former starship pilot and knew the places to sneak into. We ignored all the warnings given to us by the Martian Space Navy and passed by the prohibited space zone.

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It took us five weeks to travel to Terra. Each day we approached closer, I would glimpse out of the main window at the unfamiliar planet. Nanna was correct, this planet was a marble of blue and green, one of beauty, and one of mystery. One thing though she never told me was how the entire world at night was plunged into darkness. Did they have power shortages on Terra? Is that why we could never see lights on the surface? When we arrived in Terra’s orbit, we became even more curious at what we were seeing. There weren't as many green spots as I originally thought, nor any communication signals from the surface. A simple orbit wasn’t enough for us and we decided to make a landing.

After many discussions on where to land, we picked an island continent in the southern hemisphere. Most of its landscape was a reddish orange, similar to the deserts of Mars, with a hint of green along its eastern and southern coastlines.

The trip through Terra’s atmosphere was by far one of the most frightening moments of my life. Flames covered our ship as we travelled through it. My former pilot friend managed to make the flames disappear and bring the ship back under our control, and gave us an opportunity to slow down, in an attempt to make our landing softer.

Our landing spot was by a massive bay on the southern portion of this southern continent, where we hoped there’d be life. Placing on our pressurised suits, we stepped out onto Terra’s surface,

fulfilling my lifelong wish to walk on the planet. My happiness soon disappeared. These magical creatures Nanna used to speak about, I saw none of them. Instead, I only saw the overgrown ruins of a city. Alien plants consumed building ruins, while small puddles of green surrounded us.

‘This can’t be right,’ I said. ‘Where are all the great cities? Where are the strange creatures? Where are the Homo-sapiens?’

My friend was doing some biological tests and found the answer.

They said the land was infected with radioactive material, possibly caused by the uranium within those green puddles. They also said we would be better off leaving as not even our pressurised suits could hold back the lethal dosage that was infesting this planet.

We took off from there shortly afterwards, returning to Mars.

We were arrested by the Martian Space Navy once we crossed over the prohibited zone. If it wasn’t for the forgiving nature of the judge and the jury, then I might’ve been unable to finish my degree, or ever leave the planet again.

It’s been a few years since my friends and I first stepped onto Terra.

I still continue to learn about it even now, but it doesn’t give me the same excitement as it once did. Still, many nights I go out and look at Terra in the sky. As I do, the stories Nanna told me return to my mind. They might’ve been nothing more than stories, but they fuelled my imagination as a child and allowed me to dream of great things. Most of all, they allow me to reminisce about those long cold nights me and Nanna spent together, speaking about Terra, its beauty, and unsolved mysteries.

cre at ive / p o e tr y

bandaids

it’s an uncomfortable thought i had one day i was covering the spot of my shot with a bandaid and the action reminded me of one so familiar for a totally different reason, but the clean-up so similar i’ve always associated these thick fabric bandaids with the ugly lines on my thighs, carved by hand and now, not three months after i last used them for that i was using the bandaids from the same pack i am pinching my skin and pushing the needle in deep and even though it hurts like hell there’s a sigh of relief because finally this is real and i am real and finally; finally! my mind can begin to heal it’s the best antidepressant i’ve ever taken i peel the paper off the bandaid and there’s the action; not two inches from the scars on my thighs smoothing the thick fabric over the injection site it’s a harsh reminder, but also a beacon of hope because now i’m here, and i’ve been through all this, and i know, that i’ll never need to cover up another ugly cut with a bandaid. o.t.g

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Dream Deep inside your mind Reality has no power over you Enter your imagination and fantasies A new world you wake into by sleeping Magical realms of the endless dream

Nightmare Dreams that terrorise You are not safe when you sleep Wake up, fear remains

Poems by Charles Chiam Chuang Chao

cre at ive / f i c ti on

Erid and the Dream Pirates

By Alicia Wood

It goes the same way every night.

“Wow,” I whispered. “Is that… Are those the dream pirates?”

I’ve heard stories tell of strange people, rare individuals, who can dream on their own. They don’t connect with the same dream world that the rest of us meet in; their mind concocts an entirely new scenario in a world of their own making, each and every night.

“Hide!” said grandma suddenly. She lunged forwards with surprising speed and grabbed my wrist, before dragging me towards the small garden shed. Flowers were crushed beneath her boots, but she paid no heed to them as she ushered me inside.

But for the rest of us? Our dreams take us to Kemmer.

“I thought they were just a legend,” I whispered into the musty, dim light that filtered through the shed window. It set ablaze the tiny dust particles that floated through the air, creating a streak of moving gold. Garden tools cluttered the walls and squatted in the corners, seasoned with dirt and grass clippings.

It was here that I often visited my grandma, who lived overseas.

Travel in Kemmer is not like the real world, because you can wake up wherever people are thinking of you the most. And in the dream world, my grandma often has me on her mind.

We would play in the garden of her childhood, recreated by her mind to merge within Kemmer and become a permanent place of sanctuary, a time and place before she moved overseas. It bloomed with fresh lavender, intertwined with rosemary, and pocketed with the rich yellow of daffodils. She watered them, although they’d remain forever in bloom without her loving touch. Through this garden lumbered her golden retriever Albert, another keepsake from her childhood. Albert could live here forever, eagerly waiting through the day for his beloved mistress, my grandma, to return to her dreams each night. I adored Albert, and he greeted me with sloppy kisses as soon as I began my stroll down the garden path.

“No,” grandma hissed. “But I wish they were. Stay quiet, and hold your breath.”

“Hold my breath?”

“Yes. You’ll disturb the dust, and then they’ll know we’re here.

No one talks of them, because the more they are talked about, the more they appear. I suppose someone must have been discussing them at length for them to be so close to the centre of Kemmer. Hush now Erid, and take a deep breath!”

“What will they do if they find us?” I whispered, panic and confusion disregarding her advice.

“Erid.” Grandma smiled at me as I dodged around Albert. “How have you been sweetheart?”

Grandma’s grey eyes locked with mine, the colour of a darkening storm.

“Good,” I told her, plucking at some lavender and crushing it between my hands so that its soft sweet smell drifted up my nose. “Nearly finished school for the year. Then that’s it, I’ll graduate and be out of there!”

“They’ll take you my love, and make you one of them. And once you’re a dream pirate, you’ll never wake up.”

Grandma smiled warmly, eyes brimming with pride, when a dark shadow passed over her figure. She frowned slightly – just another wrinkle in the rippling ocean that made up her face – and then she looked up. Her whole garden was cast into darkness, and I joined her surprised gaze upwards.

Fifty feet above our heads glided a ship, fitted with enormous snowy white sails. The wooden giant flew effortlessly, cutting through the clouds, and a grinning man perched as its figurehead, his arms crossed over his chest, a pair of melted wings protruding from his back.

Fear made my knees weak, and I fell silent. We stared at the closed shed door, her arm wrapped protectively around my shoulders. Her floral scent and warm arms gave me some comfort, and I withdrew closer into her soft purple shawl.

With a creak and a groan, the shed’s roof was suddenly ripped from its bearings. The wood splintered and panels collapsed, and I could hear Albert barking as loudly as his lungs would allow.

But the dog barks were deafened by the sound of shouting and the pounding of boots aboard the pirate ship, which now hovered not ten feet above the shed. It had torn the roof off and cast it aside using long ropes with hooks attached to their

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‘I’ve heard stories tell of strange people, rare individuals, who can dream on their own. They don’t connect with the same dream world that the rest of us meet in; their mind concocts an entirely new scenario in a world of their own making, each and every night’.

ends, and pirates were now readily scaling down and landing with grunts and curses onto the freshly mown lawn.

“You have to wake up now!” Grandma hissed. “Get out of here! I’ll distract them!”

I shrank a little; I’d never forced myself awake before. It always happened naturally, whenever my mind became too distracted or when my body woke up on its own accord. One time, I’d been helping grandma cook in her kitchen here in Kemmer when I had woken up, and the tongs I’d been holding had clattered to the floor in my sudden absence.

“I can’t,” I told her. “I’ve never really tried!”

“Erid-” There was a polite knock on the shed door. Both grandma and I stared, the pirate ship still hanging in the open sky above us and the remnants of the torn open shed.

“Excuse me?” asked a voice politely, muffled by the door.

I looked at grandma.

“Stay out!” my grandma growled. “We’re not interested in joining you!”

“Come now, I’m being courteous here,” the muffled voice continued. “Don’t make us rip the door off too. Such a nice little shed, must have been modelled from a very precise and valued memory, right?”

Grandma glared at the door a moment longer, before cautiously opening it.

In the doorway stood a grinning young man, dressed in a navy-blue coat and grubby white breeches. A three-cornered hat perched on his head of dark hair at an odd angle, and his eyes were a blend of blue and green, like shallow sea water on a sunny day.

He bowed lavishly, his hat nearly brushing the grass.

“Lovely to meet you two ladies! Terribly sorry for the damage done to the property, my first mate gets a little excited at the prospect of another recruit. Doesn’t like things getting in the way, be that people or an unfortunate ceiling. My name’s Tomley, Tomley >> Gibbon. I’ll be your captain from now on.”

He was grinning directly at me. I stared slack-jawed, my common sense absent.

“You’re not taking her,” grandma stood between the pirate and me protectively. I heard her voice crack, “You already took my daughter! The girl grew up without a mother, and now you’d take her from me too?”

rather like it resurfaced from a place where I’d always known it was, a piece of knowledge buried deep in my subconscious. I stared intently at the arms that held me tightly, imagined that the sunlight was becoming very hot just on those bare patches of skin.

Tomley gave a shrug. “Her name came up on our radar. You know how this works then, m’lady. We take her, she has a great time helping us sail through Kemmer-“

As they dragged me towards one of the hanging ropes, one of the pirates began to wince and moan, sweat beading his forehead. Staring intently at his arms, they began to glow red, and blister. He cried out in pain and let go, a string of curses flowing from between his teeth.

“Raiding dreams, creating havoc!” grandma snapped. “What purpose that serves, I don’t know!”

“Hurry up and get her on the ship! She’s getting dangerous!” the pirate shouted.

Indignant, Tomley tugged up his collar. “I’ll have you know, we pirates are not all bad! You wonder why Kemmer is such a beautiful, peaceful dream world? It’s because we keep the nightmares at bay! So we sometimes take things without payment, or stir up a little trouble, you people forget what we defend you from! Ungrateful lot.”

I was shocked that my imagination had been capable of such a thing, but my surprise broke my concentration and the heat disappeared. The pirate clutched at his burnt arms, glaring at a rope that he was now negotiating how to climb.

“You protect us from nightmares?” I whispered, finally finding my tongue.

Tomley looked back to me with a ready grin as broad as the horizon. “That we do! It’s not a job without danger, that’s for sure. We keep them at the edges of Kemmer, where real world and dreams blur. And you, young Erid, are our latest recruit!

Picked up on our radar as a skilled dreamer with a creative mind, you’ll do just fine!”

“But I don’t want to go.”

At that, the young pirate’s smile faltered. It became a little stiff on his face.

“Oh, this isn’t a choice-thing.”

Three pirates, who had been standing behind him, lunged forwards into the shed. They shoved grandma aside and grabbed me by my arms, dragging me from the shed.

“Don’t, please!” I heard grandma shriek from where she had fallen. My heart squeezed a little at the sound of distress in her voice.

“No!” I told them, trying to wrench my arms from their grasp.

But the three pirates clung on tight. What had Tomley meant, that I was a skilled dreamer? A creative mind? Why in all of Kemmer would they want to take me?

An idea occurred suddenly to me, but there was something odd about it; it didn’t come to me as most ideas do, in a flash, but

“Erid!” I could hear grandma shout. I swivelled my neck around to see Albert galloping towards me. I was about to shout for him to go back and stay away, that the pirates might hurt him, when grandma cut me off.

“Take Albert with you!” she shouted. I could see her eyes coated in a thin film of tears. “He’ll keep you safe, and bring you back to me! Wherever you go, he can find his way!”

As Albert ran towards me, his great furry golden body bean to shrink. By the time he got to me, and I was being tied tightly into a harness, he’d shrunk to the size of a tennis ball.

He jumped, and I caught his soft furry body in the palm of my hand. I stared into his brown eyes, now the size of raisins.

They still contained the same amount of love and adoration, condensed into his tiny new body.

“Grandma-” I began, but was cut off when the air was pressed from my lungs, as I was hauled upwards into the sky. The rope I was attached to flung skyward, and I gasped in shock as I drew closer to the ship and its crew of dream pirates.

I clung tightly to Albert, careful not to squash him. I could feel his tail wagging between my fingers, and a small smile made my tears that threatened to spill feel rather tight and painful.

“It’s okay, Albert,” I whispered into my hand, as the wind pushed back my head of auburn curls. “We’ll be back for her.”

I turned my head and saw Tomley hanging casually from another rope, being pulled upwards just as I was. He grinned at me.

I dropped my voice, and looking the captain dead in the eye, said quietly, “I promise.”

stu d e nt c ou nc i l /pre si d ent’s rep or t

45

Student Council President Well, here we are folks. My last Student President report for 2017.

Before my term officially begun, a then close friend at the time told me that “you would be just another mediocre President who will just ride the year out and won’t ever achieve anything”, Safe to say me and that friend have since grown apart, and maybe they didn’t mean it like that, maybe they had their own internal struggle at the time but none the less those words have stuck true with me since day 1…

Jordon O’Reilly

You know it’s funny the emotional rollercoaster of being the Student President, sometimes you hate every second of it, the struggle of trying to create change in an institution that’s so scared of change. Other days you are constantly wishing you had more time and that everything is moving so quickly you can’t keep up but you just don’t want it to end. As I sit here writing my final piece for ET, with Gang of Youths latest album playing (you should check it out if you want to take a ride down the feels train), I’ve taken a lot of time to reflect on my time as Student President and who better to sum it up than Oprah.

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough”

every committee, we’ve given the 2018 Student Council the ability to have an alternative revenue stream, we had our first Student Council Bar at our FUSA night market, we’ve had our biggest growth in membership since our creation, I got to address the South Australian Mental Health Commissioner on the mental toll university can have on students, and for all of that I can be proud.

I wanted to avoid giving anyone a special mention to anyone because the people who help you in a role such as President are endless, but this guy deserves a bit of credit because he has worked tirelessly in his role, Chris Norman as your 2017 General Secretary has constantly played bad cop with the University management which makes it so easy for me to play good cop. His role is probably the weirdest to the average student, but it’s vital and he’s hit the nail on the head this year and he can hold his head high knowing he’s served you all well.

So… to the 2018 Student Council, especially Ashley Sutherland, Student President-elect, remember one thing next year. Enjoy and celebrate every win you get, learn from all of the loses and setbacks, but most importantly don’t lose track of achievements you make, big or small, it all matters.

A lot of people - staff, management, other students have started to tell me that I should be proud of some of the achievements we’ve managed this year. But for me that was never enough. That comment at the start of this year haunted me, but now in my last few weeks, I’ve come to peace with my term as President.

P.s. FUSA would never be as strong as it is without the hard working staff who help FUSA be so student led and focused.

While I haven’t been able to achieve everything I set out to, I also managed to do some things we never thought possible, we removed pesky, annoying by-elections.

We now have a mandate for 2 students on

- Jordon O’Reilly

Don’t forget that, and a thank you goes a long away.

Yours in Unity,

Flinders University Student Associations 5th Student President.

stu d e nt c ou nc i l /i nter v i e ws

Student Council Interviews YOUR STUDENT COUNCIL IS MADE UP OF 19 POSITIONS, AND THROUGH EMPIRE TIMES, WE’VE INTRODUCED YOU TO ALL OF THE 2017 COUNCIL MEMBERS/

Mature Age Officer What drew you to the position of Mature Age Officer?

I was drawn to the position of Mature Age Officer because as a student in the same cohort with similar life responsibilities to my peers I felt I had a lot of insight into what fellow mature age students needed academically and emotionally, and I wanted to make a difference.

What have you achieved this year as Mature Age Officer?

Taking over this position in April I feel I have achieved a lot of practical support. This includes liaising with many services around campus to create positive experiences. I organised a pop up workshop with SLC, which offered one-hour weekly academic support and technical help, I organised career networking which linked students up with potential employers, stylists, and gave in depth interviewing skills and CV help, I organised events that offered free childcare - something that hadn’t ever been achieved on campus! I also organised fridges to be installed in every parent room for breastfeeding parents who pump milk and need safe storage while at class.

Why is Mature Age Officer an important position on Student Councils across Australia?

Having a mature age officer on campus is important because mature aged students come with unique issues and complex life responsibilities that differ from students who come straight from high school.

We need someone who gets our complexity of needs and who can facilitate and accommodate change for our busy schedules.

Natasha Malone

Education Officer What drew you to the position of Education Officer?

I ran for Education Officer because I have always had a passion for quality education; a belief that Universities have the capacity to change lives for the better. Key to this, however, is a student focused approach – and we just don’t have that in our Universities today. For years, Governments of all stripes have whittled away at education funding to a point that Universities are simply degree factories, achieving bare minimums for students, and making as much profit as possible. I believe that the only way to reverse this goal is a strong student voice, and the best body to achieve this is the student union movement.

What have you achieved this year as Education Officer?

I am proud to have fought, successfully, for expanded student voice at Flinders University, and joined forces with Education Officers from around Australia to play a significant role in a campaign for properly funded tertiary education.

Hamish Richardson

Why is Education Officer an important position on Student Councils across Australia?

The role of Education Officer throughout Australian Universities is absolutely crucial to giving direction to the student struggle as we see constant attempts at deregulation, staff cuts, restructures and our voice on university boards. All these things are part of a broader vision to milk more profit out of you, by decreasing the quality of your education whilst making you pay more – it is incremental, in the hope that students won’t notice. Unfortunately for the Government and University Administration, we have noticed.

stu d e nt c ou nc i l /i nter v i e ws

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Postgraduate Officer What drew you to the position of Postgraduates Student Officer?

As someone who’s been at Flinders for a very long time, finding that there were so many aspects of postgrad life at Flinders were new or different made me want to help other students in the same position.

What have you achieved this year as Postgraduate Student Officer?

My biggest achievement this year has been establishing the Postgraduate Student Association. There was a lot more involvement than I anticipated but we got off the ground in March this year and just had a fantastic Masterclass day. I can’t wait to see next year’s Postgraduate Officer continue to grow the association! It was also great to work with OGR on updating the RHD grievance policy which was very much out of date and is now being reformed.

Katt Hatzi

Why is Postgraduate Student Officer an important position on Student Councils across Australia?

Postgraduate students are a largely invisible part of the student cohort, either because their courses aren’t as long as an undergraduate degree or research candidates are scattered around campus in their offices. Especially at Flinders, where we have a higher proportion of postgrad students than other universities, it’s extremely important that postgraduate students are being well supported through their studies, are understood by the people representing them, and are consulted to when policy is being changed and our education is being affected.

Environment Officer What drew you to the position of Environment Officer?

I have always been interested in environmental issues and thought this would be a great platform to help students see both the small and big things they could do to be more eco-conscious.

What have you achieved this year as Environment Officer?

It has been an enormous year. We have done everything from clean-ups to documentary screenings, to cycling and keep cup promotions, and vegan lunches! A big part of my role is also supporting the many environmental on-campus groups with their initiatives too. I’ve also been doing a lot of work behind the scenes with Flinders’ Sustainability team and even FlindersOne Fitness, promoting their new cycling facilities! This year we’ve held a number of FUSA Op Shops raising money for various organisations, including From Found and SA Dog Rescue. I’d say my favourite events have been our Clean Up Australia Day event with the Bedford Park Residents Association and also our Market Day held in October. Market Day was fantastic, bringing local and sustainable vendors on campus!

Why is Environment Officer an important position on Student Councils across Australia?

My position is amazing, if I’m being honest. It’s so diverse and covers such a broad range of issues that just don’t fit appropriately under other portfolios. It’s covers the physical environment, health promotion, animals, volunteering, science etc. Our environment affects so much of our lives. It’s not something we can ignore. It’s about creating a better environment for everyone.

Yaritji Green was the Indigenous Officer for 2017, but she was unable to be interviewed for this issue.

Jacinta Robinson

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Nightmare Reading Five Short Story Collections to Keep You Up at Night

Cameron Lowe endless rains on Venus in ‘The Long Rain’.

Even the sci-fi tales come with a nightmare feeling, especially the terror of floating out of control in space in ‘Kaleidoscope’. This is a great collection for you to get a great blend of sci-fi and horror.

Looking for some reads that’ll keep you up at night? Want to get into short horror fiction but not sure where to start? Look no further than the five short story collections below, which I believe are great places to start and will make the hairs on your neck stand up.

scare the shit out of you while leaving you clawing for more. The best stories in this collection include ‘Blood Son’, ‘Through Channels’, and ‘Likeness of Julie’. I can’t recommend this collection enough; it’s fantastic, terrifying horror which will haunt you long after you finish reading.

Night Shift – Stephen King

Everything is a Graveyard – Jason Fischer

Short Ghost Stories: The Man with the Axe in His Back – Queenie Chan

This is just one of King’s many short story collections. Within these pages, you’ll find some of King’s earliest works of macabre and terror, which will make you want to leave the light on at night. You’ll even find the stories within here that inspired the films Children of the Corn, The Lawnmower Man, and Maximum Overdrive. This is a great place to start collection of the “King” of contemporary horror’s short stories.

Fischer, an Adelaide author, has crafted some magnificent tales of terror and oddness, tinged with a hint of humour within this collection. Most of these tales have an Australian setting where you’ll find killer Kangaroos, zombies, and dropbears.

Pick this up if you want some tales which will scare the pants off you and bring the horror to a much more familiar place.

Unlike the others on this list, this collection of four short stories are presented in comics-prose (a combination of comics and prose fiction). Each of these four tales from Chan is gut wrenchingly terrifying, only made even better with the addition of visual. The manga art styling of the comics is gorgeous and is well mixed in with Twilight Zone-like storytelling.

The Illustrated Man – Ray Bradbury

Get this collection if you want to read some truly unique, terrifying stories which are unlike anything you’ve read before. You can get a prose only copy too if you’re not keen on comics-storytelling.

Nightmare At 20,000 Feet – Richard Matheson This is a must-have for any fan of horror fiction. In this collection, you’ll be given many different stories, each one more frightening than the next. Matheson will

Unlike the others, this is more of a sci-fi collection than horror, but don’t let that fool you. Some of the tales in here are of pure nail-biting horror, which is why it’s on this list. Some of those horror tales include the Poe-esque ‘Usher II’ and the insanity of

colu m n/ b o ard g ame

Board Game Baptism Shaping the Earth – Civilisation building board games

‘Time often needs to be invested in the bigger games, but this time investment also pays off with a sense of grandeur and escalating excitement. I’m sure the leaders of Rome felt this way, so why not you too?’

Patrick O’Loughlin Rising and falling empires are inherently fascinating to read about, which is why it’s no surprise that the idea of creating and managing your own empire is an appealing one. The player gets to choose who to declare war on, how they progress their civilisation’s technology, and how much of their resources go to elaborate defences due to paranoia.

Board games tackle civilisation-building in surprisingly unique ways, with focuses placed on different elements meaning different player experiences are formed.

Whether it be heavy emphasis on cards, miniatures, or consistent aggression, these games allow players to build a civilisation reminiscent of the grandest (but more so mismanaged and inefficient) empires in history.

If card play is your favoured means of playing games, Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization is the undisputed king of complex card-based civ-building games. Through the Ages requires players to choose between obtaining cards depicting technologies, wonders and leaders. Using these require resources such as food and science, while players with superior military

can steal resources and technology from other players.

The only problem with Through the Ages might be the huge length and rules complexity. Games can take up to four hours, and might take an hour to explain to new players, making it an intimidating beast. For those wanting a card-based civilization game, Nations achieves a similar feel in half the time, allowing you to recruit famous historical leaders, harness military strength, and purchase fancy new technology.

If little plastic men are more your interest, Clash of Cultures is an excellent representation of the civ-building genre.

Unlike Nations and Through the Ages, Clash of Cultures has a sprawling map that players can move their up-and-coming plastic society around, fighting barbarians and navigating a complex technology tree. The (sadly out of print) expansion adds unique civilizations that allow players to start with a bit more personality than they otherwise would.

For those wishing to build a rollicking empire not associated with historical

events or people, Twilight Imperium third edition (with a fourth edition about to be released) is an ideal contender. Clocking in at around 8 hours depending on the number of people playing, players adopt the role of an alien civilisation contending for dominance of the cardboard galaxy.

Players use technologies while strategically moving their plastic ship miniatures and threatening their neighbours with poorly thought out powerplays – the cornerstone of any historical civilization.

If you like the idea of building a bunch of scrappy cards or plastic mean up from nothing, civilisation games are for you. It is important to be aware that time often needs to be invested in the bigger games, but this time investment also pays off with a sense of grandeur and escalating excitement. I’m sure the leaders of Rome felt this way (sans cardboard hexagons), so why not you too?

For other excellent civilization building games, check out Sid Meier’s Civilization (soon to be re-released in a new edition) and Rune Wars for some fantasy fun.

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Crush, the anthology Kay l a G askel l

Confession: I do not often read romance but when I do, I usually enjoy it.

Crush is an anthology of romance stories which centres around the concept of ‘Crush’.

The term itself has multiple definitions, these definitions are used to divide the book into four distinct sections: 1.

An intense infatuation

2.

To cease or crumple by pressure

3.

To hug or embrace tightly

4.

A crowd of people pressed together.

In each of these sections are correlating stories which explore the ideas of each definition. In doing this, the reader can, potentially, choose a story more suited to what they feel like reading.

There is a stigma surrounding romance fiction as having little to no literary merit. It’s usually dismissed as ‘chick-lit’.

The stories collected in Crush demonstrate a wide range of writing styles and genres blended with romance. There is fiction which is clearly for everyone, for the LGBTQ+ community, for people who like experimental writing, and for those who prefer the literary variety. There is a diversity to

this anthology which brokers an appeal to a wide audience.

Romance is a part of almost everyone’s lives to some degree or another. When it comes to real life we don’t dismiss it.

You don’t have to be a certain age or gender to experience it, just as you don’t have to be a certain age or gender to enjoy romance fiction, and you certainly don’t have to be ashamed of showing your support for local, emerging artists who have contributed to this book.

Crush brings together a variety of talented writers who are both local and international.

Quite a few Flinders current or past students are also featured in the anthology, with recent Hons. Graduate Simone Corletto and PHD Candidate Jess M. Miller working with Amy T. Matthews (chair of the 2016 ‘Ain’t Love Grand’ conference in Adelaide), and Midnight Sun’s Lynette Washington to compile and edit the book.

With stories that verge on traditional, literary, and experimental, Crush has something to appeal to everyone.

Women loving women, women loving men, men loving women, and men loving men.

Relationships beginning and relationships ending. Good dates and bad dates. A wide variety of experiences tied together by the central exploration of love.

Whether we acknowledge it or not, love forms a big part of our lives. The writers of Crush have interrogated this in their stories. We see people just like you and me fumbling through life searching for the thing that will make them feel valid and loved.

You may recognise some of the author’s names from your studies here at Flinders, from involvement with Speakeasy, or alternately from previous issues of the magazine in your hands.

This is the same for the book itself. For those of you familiar with Speakeasy or simply aware of the writers around campus, there will be many familiar names in the author list as many Flinders Students and graduates took the opportunity to contribute to the anthology.

This is a potentially perfect book for those of you looking to escape into the world of fiction without the hassle of committing to a full novel coming up to assignment time.

While romance is not normally my cup of tea, Crush provides a variety with something for everyone so why pick up a local anthology and read the published work of your fellow Flinders students! CRUSH is now available for purchase both online and from local retailers.

‘This is a potentially perfect book for those of you looking to escape into the world of fiction without the hassle of committing to a full novel coming up to assignment time. While romance is not normally my cup of tea, Crush provides a variety with something for everyone’.

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Sonic Mania, the game C ameron L owe

Since his jump to 3D, Sonic the Hedgehog has had some good games (Generations), bad games (Unleashed), and downright awful abominations from hell (Sonic ’06). So when Sonic Mania was announced I was a little doubtful. Since playing it, however, I’ve come to realise that it’s actually really good. It’s the revival he’s deserved for so long.

‘Is this the dream Sonic game?

I was a little doubtful.

Since playing it, however, I’ve come to realise it’s actually really good. It’s the revival he’s deserved for so long. This is the game you’ve been waiting for’.

Sonic Mania is a 2D side scrolling platformer developed by Headcannon and PagodaWest Games and published by Sega.

The game contains three playable characters: Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, and three modes: Mania Mode, Time Attack, and Competition.

Within the main game you can collect Chaos Emeralds and extra lives through minigames, which vary in difficulty. There’s an option for local multiplayer too, if you’re wishing to share the nostalgia with a friend.

What do I think of Sonic Mania?

Well, there’s only one word I can use: awesome. I’m a fan of the classic Mega Drive Sonic titles and this game is very faithful to them. The cartoon art styling and 16-bit graphics are gorgeous and scream early90s. The music is a trip down memory lane as it incudes and remixes classic 16-bit tunes like ‘Green Hill Zone’. The game controls are simple to learn which makes this very accessible, even if you’ve not

played a Sonic game before.

One of the boss battles about an hour into the game is also really fun and very creative.

There are only two problems I have this game, the first being its autosave feature. Yes, this feature is great to have, but it’s not really that well done.

There were countless times where I got GAME OVER on the end boss of Act 2 only to be restarted back on Act 1. This frustrated me as that meant having to restart an act so many times. The difficulty in this game also bugged me.

Some levels have difficult to reach platforms which if not crossed properly is instant death. This difficulty though is more of a personal one, so I wouldn’t consider it a major drawback.

I played Sonic Mania on the Nintendo Switch and I believe the game is a natural fit to the system. The Joy-Con controls feel natural and make it comfortable in almost any position. My favourite way to play is having the controllers separate on TV mode without the grip. I found there to be no graphical slowdowns or any technical issues at all in this version. Even in portable mode, the game runs smoothly.

Sonic Mania is the Sonic game fans have been wanting for years. If you spent your childhood playing the titles on

the Mega Drive then this is the game you’ve been waiting for. If you’re new to the series, then this is a great way to be introduced to it. There’s no physical release, but you can find Sonic Mania digitally on Xbox store, Switch eShop, PlayStation Store, and Steam for about $27AUD. 4/5

fe atu re / mu si c a l

Firebringer

A musical about cavepeople, global warming, and ducks ‘Firebringer is a fun musical with some very important things to say. At various points the tribe sing ‘we are womankind’, which makes me wonder how the world would be if we were called womankind instead of mankind?’

Ainsley Ewart From July 6th to August 7th last year, a new musical from the company behind 2009’s viral hit A Very Potter Musical debuted in Chicago, Illinois. This musical is Firebringer, a feminist story about the discovery of fire, and how while it was great for us humans, it has devastated just about everything else. Created through funds raised by a Kickstarter campaign, it is notable as Team Starkid’s first production to have music, additional writing and co-direction in the hands of women. The show was uploaded to YouTube on New Years Eve 2016, and more recently a clip of the show’s work song has been doing the rounds on social media sites like Tumblr and Instagram, with even the cast of Broadway’s Book of Mormon being infected by its charms.

Our leads are Zazzalil (Lauren Lopez) a literal Firestarter whose new ideas and innovations frighten tribe leader Jemilla, The Peacemaker (Meredith Stepien, who also co-wrote the music and lyrics, and provided additional writing on the script).

Jemilla is struggling with the realisation that many of her tribe’s beliefs are unfounded and made up by her predecessor to keep them all in line.

Zazzalil is an interesting and compelling lead character. She wants more from the world and hates cowering in a cave. She wants greatness and, more importantly the

ability to explore new ideas like dance.

As she says to Keeri (Denise Donovan) ‘Progress doesn’t come from the need to understand, it comes from the need to be lazy.’

feminist nods like this. This is also their first musical to have a single female lead, which is truly surprising considering they have been creating content for nearly ten years.

Jemilla is a typical workaholic. She lives for progress and wants the tribe to constantly work in order to survive and thrive. After previous leader Morag (Lauren Walker) reveals she lied about the importance of many of the tribe’s jobs, Jemilla decides to tell them that many of their jobs and beliefs are lies, which of course does not go down well.

But let’s be real here, the most important aspect to the Flinders’ audience is that they worship a duck. As Ducker (Joe Walker), the tribe’s ‘supreme wizard’ sings: ‘He is lord, duck is lord, he is lord, lord, lord, duck is lord.’ Seriously guys, how can you not love this premise already? Honestly, the duck is used more as a skewering of religion, as Jemilla states: ‘Gone are the days of superstition and bowing before false deities. All of that angers the all-powerful duck we worship.’ In fact, Ducker throws himself into the worship of anything, because it allows him easy access to positions of power and privilege (and allows him to wear a ridiculous hat as a symbol of this).

This musical is a critique of so many aspects of our society, but its clearest point is about global warming. This is most well portrayed in the song “Backfire”, where the tribe sings about the many affects caused by fire entering their lives. They can’t find any more mammoths to eat, their village has burned down, and the water is poisoned, so eventually the tribe turns on the Firebringer herself. There is also a song entitled “Climate Change”, just in case you weren’t sure of the writers’ views.

Towards the end, there is a song called “Together” which is sung by Jemilla and Zazzalil, which is a real highlight. It’s the first real girl power anthem to come out of Starkid, and the entire musical has subtle

While Firebringer has not garnered as much attention as the Very Potter musicals, it’s still a fun musical with some very important things to say. At various points the tribe sing ‘we are womankind’, which makes me wonder how the world would be if we were called womankind instead of mankind? Watch Firebringer for yourself and find out.