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indigo University Challenge exclusive interview

+ undercover reporter + fashionable freshers photo shoot + instagram your greens

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Kate Wilkinson - indigo@palatinate.org.uk

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INDIGO

3 STAGE What can you get out of Shakespeare in translation?

4 & 5 FA SHION The most stylish freshers let us in on their secrets

6 & 7 F E ATURES We chat to two members of the University Challenge team while our undercover reporter goes pole dancing

8 V I S UA L ARTS We dive into an exhibition of paper cut-outs

9 M U S IC Stay in the loop with local and international music 10 BOOKS Take a closer look at the recent debate surrounding Orwell’s writing 1 1 C R E ATIVE WRITING Our poets offer a range of responses to the theme of ‘play’ 1 2 & 1 3 FILM & TV We take a closer look at the best films of the summer 1 4 TRAVEL Be dazzled by the views from Macchu Picchu 15 FOOD & DRINK We explore the effects of instafood culture on restaurants For more arts and lifestyle articles please visit www.palatinate.org.uk www.facebook.com/palindigo @palatindigo Cover photo by Kyle Wong Illustrations by Mariam Hayat and Asher Klassen

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he first Monday of Michaelmas Term marked a rather melodramatic transition between Freshers’ Week and the start of lectures. The heavens opened and God boomed a sarcastic “Welcome to Durham!”, drenching us with his celestial power shower. It was on this bleak morning that the charming Daniel Morgan-Thomas and Freddie Lloyd from the University Challenge team agreed to be interviewed and have their photos taken. Fortunately we were indoors, in the 17th Century Bishop Cosin’s library at Palace Green, to be specific. “In my two-and-a-bit years at Durham, I can’t believe I’ve never been here!” I say to the lovely Head of Heritage Collections, Sheila. She frowns - she’s heard this before.

She finds it a shame that so many students pass their time at Durham without visiting the place. It’s been a bit of a building site for the past seven years, she concedes. Now that much of the restoration work is done perhaps the footfall will increase. For now, find out what we got up to in the library (p. 6-7).

Bringing a rainbow to drizzly Durham, Osbourne’s LGBT launch night also took place on this first Monday. They answered my question ‘Is Durham Finally Coming Out?’ (Features, 2nd October) with an affirmative ‘yes’. I’m excited to see how this regular night will develop.

It’s always good to try something new and Michaelmas term is one of the best times for this with so many societies offering taster sessions. You never know what might happen if you leave your comfort zone - like Maurice Samely (p.7) who went pole dancing! This is the first in our ‘undercover reporter’ series. Keep an eye out for more to come.

This edition of Indigo also marks the launch of Creative Writing as an independent section. Our poets bring you a range of responses to the theme of play (p.11). Our Fashion editors have been on the hunt for the most stylish fresher. It turns out you’re a pretty fashionable bunch (p.4-5). From fashion to food, the craze for snapping and sharing your fabulous lifestyle now extends to every morsel on your plate as Food & Drink discover (p. 15). Enjoy! KW

INDIGO EDITOR Kate Wilkinson

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DEPUTY INDIGO EDITOR Sraddha Venkataraman BOOKS EDITORS Atifa Jiwa Florianne Humphrey CREATIVE WRITING EDITOR Celeste Yeo FASHION EDITORS Jessica Ng Megan Magee FEATURES EDITOR Francesca Jaworska Zosia Eyres (deputy) FILM & TV EDITOR Jonathan Peters Caroline France (deputy) FOOD & DRINK EDITOR Anisha Mohan Tanya Birkett (deputy) MUSIC EDITORS Anastasia Symecko Will Throp (deputy) STAGE EDITOR Amy Price TRAVEL EDITOR Oliver Collard Naoise Murphy (deputy) VISUAL ARTS EDITOR Frances Marsh WRITERS

David Thomas Cotter Sam Nicholls Ruth Townshed Laura Hely Hutchinson Naomi Ellis Oliver Collard Megan Pattie Eva Hodgkin Chutian Xiao Hestor Ormerod Kathy Park Caroline France Jonathan Peters Imogen Rolfe Alice Evans Anisha Mohan PHOTOGRAPHY / ILLUSTRATION Venus Loi Kyle Wong Bilgi Demisoz Mariam Hayat Cory Doctorow Celeste Yeo Alice Evans Anisha Mohan

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Amy Price - stage@palatinate.org.uk

STAGE

lost in translation

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Sam Nicholls discusses the taboo of translatimg English plays, and the value of foreign drama

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hakespeare is undeniably Britain’s most famous playwright, an integral part of the national curriculum and a firm favourite of many theatregoers.

Yet as news comes in that the Royal Shakespeare Company is being paid 1.5 million pounds to translate Shakespeare into Mandarin, the question of whether or not we should allow Shakespeare to be translated into other languages has been raised.

This questioning seems ludicrous, as the translation of his works is surely a logical step. It will give Chinese theatre groups the opportunity to perform the plays to their native audience, as well as allowing the RSC to tour further and widen their audience. The translation is part of a cultural exchange, with fourteen important Chinese plays also being translated into English for the first time.

The debate seems to me to be entirely one-sided. The UK benefits from any number of foreign plays, to which we have access almost entirely as a result of translation. The works of Chekhov and

Ibsen, for instance, feature on a core module of Durham’s own first year English Literature course, read entirely in translation.

The question should not be whether Shakespeare is translated, but how it is done.

Although Shakespeare’s works are sometimes modernised for younger audiences, they are often read and performed in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century English in which they were written. This presents a problem for the translator: do they translate a modern English version, or attempt to translate the plays into archaic Mandarin? The latter would keep more of the sense of distance that we have in the English versions, but might create difficulties in the reception of the plays. Then there is the problem of idioms and other peculiarities of language, which cause issues for translators of even modern English.

According to playwright Christopher Hampton, “The best translators remain as invisible as possible”. Nonetheless this raises further questions; is it better to concentrate on conveying the meaning, or to remain close to the original language?

Translators have the difficult task of producing something that must not only be read, but also performed, in a new language. Pam Gems explains that historically, “translators translated because they spoke Norwegian or Russian or whatever…but of course what they produced was not drama”. This kind of statement inevitably leads to a schism between the academic and theatrical worlds. Does a translator also need to be a dramatist? Writing dramatic pieces even in one’s own language requires considerable creative talent, and some argue that a translator with no theatrical background may not be able to match this level.

There are also often cultural differences to consider during translation. Gunilla Anderman reveals the case of a French critic reacting nega-

tively to Pinter’s The Caretaker when it was staged in translation in France. Rather than Davies, the tramp, drinking tea, he would have preferred him to be drinking wine since in France “tea is a drink taken mainly by genteel old ladies”. Although this is a comedic example, mistranslation has led to more serious errors; for instance Jean-Paul Sartre’s infamous line: “Hell is other people”, from his one-act play No Exit. The original French is “L’enfer, c’est les autres”, and has been alternatively translated as “Hell is just – other people”, and “Hell is the Other”. Although these lines are in

“The

question should not be whether Shakespeare is translated, but how it is done.”

essence very similar, they have subtly nuanced meanings, and Sartre himself is reported to have said ‘“hell is other people” has always been misunderstood’.

However, this is not a recent issue by any means.

The very foundations of modern theatre lie in the Renaissance revival of classical texts; plays by the likes of Euripides, Sophocles, and the Roman Seneca. These dramas have been translated into countless languages across the years, with innumerous variations within each language. These playwrights are an integral part of the heritage of Italy and Greece, yet we are in a position where we can watch, read, and learn about these plays.

Who are we to deny other nations the chance to do likewise with surely one of our most treasured symbols of national identity? By overcoming difficulties of translation, and allowing Shakespeare to spread around the world, we are contributing to a global exchange of culture and art.

This can surely only be a step in the right direction.

Illustration:Bilgi Demisoz

five quick questions with DST President Dan Gosselin 1) Biggest mistake a production can make in your mind?

It’s probably slow scene changes or bad lighting.

Having spent a lot of time at Durham behind the scenes before I was ever seen onstage, I have a pretty good understanding of tech, which makes me both sympathetic and a critic at the same time.

Scene changes are a personal pet peeve, and I would live in a world without them if possible, as they can really disrupt a show’s flow. I often find bad design can distract me from the action onstage (or not being able to actually see it), but I’m fairly certain it’s just me who notices most of the time!

2) If you had an unlimited budget, what production would you put on?

I have a list of shows I would love to put on, I’m a musical aficianado so I would have to say Next To Normal. A six-cast show with an amazing rock score and a powerful storyline, plus so much opportunity for awesome set design. I think what I love so much about it is how it shows that mu-

sicals can deal with hard hitting subjects (in this case mental illness, family, and the loss of a child) just as much as dramas can, as so many people seem to think they are limited to wishy-washy story lines with kick-lines and jazz hands. Not to mention it won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

3) What’s the worst thing that could happen in an audition?

I don’t want to put people off auditions, so a disclaimer that all audition panels in Durham are lovely and you should just go for it! However, I think from my point of view, it’s attempting and failing an accent, I once tried to do a West Country accent in the first round of an audition and it was awful!

4)What makes Durham Drama unique?

Durham drama is unique because of how much is going on, without a drama course. DST is one of the most prolific student theatre groups in the UK, and one of the only of its style. We have 26 different theatre companies, all offering different styles and pro-

ductions throughout the year, and on top of that we have DST who centralises all of them. Having over 600 members gives us a serious body of representation at both a university and national level, meaning we can work to make our members voices heard.

5) Best moment whilst part of DST? I can’t put it to one single moment, but I do get a great amount of joy from getting to represent our membership at events across the University and UK, seeing people’s faces when I say I’m president of a theatre society that puts on 60 productions a year, with over 600 members and a wonderful community people. That, and these events also have free food most of the time!

Find out more visit www.dur.ac.uk/DST or email Dan at dst.president@durham.ac.uk.

Read a further five quick questions with Dan online.

Illlustration: Mariam Hayat

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Jessica Ng and Megan Magee - fashion@palatinate.org.uk

FASHION

ain’t nobody fresher

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With a penchant for stash and an unhealthy weakness for Hunters, the typical Durham student is hardly known for their ground-breaking and edgy sartorial sense. Luckily, this year’s batch of freshers show no signs of retreating to this old adage any time soon.

With everyone from Carrie Bradshaw to Dita Von Teese being cited as style icons, our newest recruits promise to continue the eclectic mix that constitutes true Durham style.

Without further ado, meet nine of Durham’s freshest fashionistas who, in the style stakes at least, prove that Durham is so much more than its stereotype.

Aoife

Lizzy

Amy

Classics

English & Education

Sociology & Anthropology

Style icon: Carrie Bradshaw

Never wear: Ugg boots

Style icon: Tavi Gevinson.

Last fashion item purchased: A vintage cream round-neck jumper, for layering over collared shirts.

Style tip: Only pair short skirts with high-neck tops and lowneck tops with longer bottoms.

Go-to style piece? A simple, oversized white tee, ideal for pairing with almost everything.

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Jessica Ng and Megan Magee - fashion@palatinate.org.uk

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FASHION

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Bryony Biosciences

Style icon: Dita Von Teese and Rita Hayworth.

Jon French and Spanish

Go-to style piece?

Chelsea Boots

Hannah

Julien

Kate

Theology

English

Chemisty

Last fashion item purchased: My pink cocoon coat.

Describe your style: Vintage, eclectic and laid-back.

Never wear: Leggings and all black.

Photographs: Venus Loi

Francesca Jaworska (dept. Zosia Eyres) - features@palatinate.org.uk 2 3 O C T

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F EAT U R E S

A new academic year means a new series of University Challenge - the country’s hardest quiz show - testing both students’ general knowledge and their nerves to the very limit. On Monday 6th October, Durham kicked off their 2014-15 campaign with an emphatic victory (250 – 35) over Brasenose College, Oxford. David Thomas Cotter caught up with two members of the Durham team (Daniel Morgan-Thomas and Freddie Lloyd), quizzing them on their big TV experience, their love/hate relationship with Paxman, and how they’ve managed to acquire so much knowledge!

‘The Authoritative One’ DC:

Fred Harvey 4th Year, Collingwood Physics

‘The Eccentric One’

Nikeel Boyd-Shah 3rd Year, Butler Law

‘The Charming One’

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Only one place to start, why did you even apply?

Freddie: Well, I’ve been watching it since I was about 7 or 8, and just always knew that when I went to Uni I’d definitely apply. I just like quizzing… and it’s cool to be on TV. Daniel: I’ve also watched it from a very young age, but also very c o m p e t i t i v e l y, getting 20 to 30 questions right a week, competing with the family to the point that I don’t actually enjoy quizzing, I

just want to win. Is that bad? It probably is bad. The first thing I did on Fresher’s Week, on the night of our Welcome Formal, was ask about the University Challenge Team…which is rather needy.

DC: You were both second years when you got onto the show, so what happened first year?

Daniel: First year I got on to the college team, but it didn’t do particularly well.

Freddie: Well I didn’t even get on to the team.

Daniel: And ironically, second year was my turn to not even get on to the college team. Luckily, the college recommended me amongst a couple of wildcards. Based on my individual score I was then invited back to do another paper test with about 20-30 people (occurring simultaneously with another open wildcard selection) until it was whittled down the final 8 potential contestants. We sat in a tiny room, with a buzzer each, ready to be confronted by a final 20 questions, in an all-versus-all format until finally, the team was formed: 4 contestants and a reserve!

Daniel: But even then we hadn’t made it onto the programme. We had to get through an ITV interview, whittling 120-odd Universities down to just 28.

DC: To buzz or not to buzz? The biggest conundrum is whether to buzz even if you’re not completely sure on the answer.

Daniel: The useful thing about having a college competition beforehand is that you get used to having to be fast if you think you know the answer - you do need to build up your speed - go for it! You do see people, especially in the pressure of the studio, do bizarre things, like when they buzz in and you then see the answer just leave their minds.

Freddie: I found you lost more marks by not saying anything. There were lots of times when someone said that they had known the answer but were too afraid to buzz in, which is not great.

DC: I watched a two-part series over the summer about how the teams were picked this year…and Durham weren’t even mentioned once.

Daniel: Well, we appeared very briefly in the final thirty seconds of the second episode. I think it’s because geographically we’re very out of the way, and we’re the only university in the North East to be selected. They did our interview in a hideous building in Newcastle University, a really ugly building, so you can see why they didn’t bother filming it.

But even then there was a further test. But they also wanted to take personalities into account.

DC: Taking personalities into account doesn’t strike me as entirely fair.

Daniel: Actually, the most interesting people to the University Challenge audience is the really really bright ones, so there isn’t too much of a clash.

Some people were so incredibly clever, it was almost rather terrifying.

Freddie: Did you see the Trinity College Team? The

“we were one of the only teams who actually enjoyed our time doing it” ones who did things like learn Icelandic, and all of Chopin backwards in their spare time.

Daniel: Well here’s the thing, we were one of the only teams who actually enjoyed our time doing it.

We were sat there thinking, “Well at least we’re having fun!”

DC: So after your ‘unpleasant’ Newcastle interview, how long did they make you wait?

Daniel: Well they said it would be a week or two until we got the phone call, but in all honesty, it was painfully long.

Freddie: Here’s another thing why we didn’t get into the documentary. We were asked to film our responses when the phone rang, but we kind of, didn’t, do that…

Daniel Morgan-Thomas 3rd Year, Aidan’s Ancient, Medieval & Modern History

‘The Pessimistic One’

Freddie Lloyd 3rd Year, Collingwood Philosophy

Photography by Kyle Wong and courtesy of the DSU

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Francesca Jaworska (dept. Zosia Eyres) - features@palatinate.org.uk

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F EAT U R E S

DC: Well, what was the reaction then?

Freddie: Relief. We all just felt sick with nerves, and it wasn’t really jumping for joy, just someone threatening to throw up if we didn’t get on.

DC: Okay, so after that eureka moment, how did you prepare?

[Sees blank expressions] Okay, what did you do?

Daniel: Nothing. We did piteously little. I think we went to about two pub quizzes together.

Freddie: Yes, the pub quizzes definitely helped us to identify weak spots…but we then, well, did nothing about it.

DC: This is cringey guys! This is not good!

Daniel: Well there were people, when we were put up in this ‘interesting’ hotel, who would come down to breakfast in the morning with their laptops, quiz books, encyclopaedias etc and not say a word.

We were just there, getting the free breakfast, thinking “What are you doing?!”

DC: Next question: Paxo?

Freddie: He’s just a grumpy man. Irritable.

Daniel: I did answer a question quite wildly wrong once, and he just gave me that look which made me feel “Ooh, I’m special…fwend”.

DC: Okay, so Paxo annoyed you, but how about any of the other contestants? I know the show is quite good at attracting…what shall we say, eccentrics?

Daniel: There was a guy who stroked his quiff every time he got a question right, and it was the most annoying thing ever - Twitter would have been going mental. It was the most arrogant thing I’ve ever seen. Call it an ‘arrogant flick stroke’ - that’s not a euphemism. What’s more, he also felt the need to always state his middle initial when saying his name.

A different team picked up on this, and started introducing themselves using ‘J’ as a fake, yet humorous, common middle name…needless to say the production team quickly picked up on this and instantaneously put a stop to it.

DC: You just mentioned about Twitter exploding…have you seen the Tumblr page - I believe it’s called ‘Cuties of University Challenge’?

Daniel and Freddie: [Cue an ecstasy of fumbling, as both quickly grab their phones] Ooh…ahh…keep scrolling... yes…keep going…no…wait, we should do a really dirty TAB interview…

After arrival on the theme of ‘academic totty’, the interview comes to an end. Despite the entire series having been filmed, both Daniel and Freddie remain staunchly loyal to the programme’s traditional rules of NOT TELLING ANYONE. From the quickening of speech, gleeful recitations of an almost infinite number of stories, and excited exclamations of how University Challenge has changed their lives, I can tell Durham has done very well this year!

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undercover reporter: society watch Maurice Samely tries out pole dancing It took me I first saw the and girls lookcorner of the

two attempts to enter Durham University’s Pole Dance Society class. When Tempest Dance Studio in Gilesgate, which was a small room full of poles ing back at me, my boldness fled and I continued smoothly around the building. It was here that I met a guy sitting on a bench.

“Are you here for kick boxing?” he asked.

“No, I’m here for pole dancing.”

His face hardened.

“Just round there,” he said.

One of the poles is called Bill.

“He’s thicker than the others.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

As I enter, I’m greeted with the cries of a tall woman in very short shorts and a vest top - “Woooo I’ve got a boy! I love it when I get boys.”

Sam introduces herself as the instructor and leader of this taster session. There are around twenty girls attending but I am the only guy. After a warm-up, Sam explains the poles - there are six: some are static, some rotate. All are lightly greased. The rotating poles are easier to use, because once you jump onto them they spin you round indefinitely. One of the poles is called Bill - “He’s thicker than the others,” Sam adds.

There is an easy bawdiness to her approach, but when things gets technical she is professional and encouraging.

As the class progresses people forget their embarrassment and improve dramatically, while I start accidentally banging my groin into the pole, reducing my confidence somewhat. It can be painful in various ways: the poles often bruise and burn your legs, but no one minds particularly, simply because it’s a lot of fun. The mixture of physical exertion, skill and bodily expression is popular. The society has around one hundred active members, despite high prices: there’s a £25 membership fee, and it’s £40 for a two-month course.

Near the end of the lesson Sam pauses gravely and says she’s going to make us dance.

“If anyone doesn’t feel comfortable doing this, you do not have to do it, this is just for fun.”

It is not clear what she means but we soon find out. ‘Dancing’ is a euphemism for the sexual pole dancing moves: body rolling (Sam: “Basically humping the pole”), bottom wiggling, something called ‘the drop’, followed by the ‘peek-a-boo’ – you drop onto your haunches with the pole behind you and push your knees apart with your hands.

This is the first time we’ve touched on pole dancing’s sleazy side and initially it feels out of place in the well-lit, cheerful dance studio.

Once, however, you replace pole dancing’s traditional negative associations - the sex industry, seediness and misery - with those of this fresh, exuberant room, you realise that a change of context can transform pole dancing into an activity of personal enjoyment.

There are mirrors along one wall to help you practice by watching yourself. Pop drifts from the speakers along with the occasional fruity trumpet tune and that seems characteristic of the society’s spirit: hard work goes hand-in-hand with a raunchiness that’s generally for your benefit alone. Suspicion and hostility towards pole dancing are out of place here, with DUPDS, pole dancing a form of self-expression open to all – and I think that the society is healthy, friendly, and changing perceptions.

Illustration by Asher Klassen

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Frances Marsh - visual.arts@palatinate.org.uk

V I S UA L A RT S

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drawing with scissors: matisse’s cut-outs Ruth Townshend reviews Tate Modern’s spectacular exposition of Matisse’s paper cut-outs which moved to New York

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aper falls around the old man brandishing an enormous pair of dress-making scissors, surrounding himself in flimsy snippets of colour. His movements are purposeful, his concentration is intense; this is Matisse in the final years of his life, enjoying what many considered une seconde vie. As the victim of a botched operation and no longer able to stand to paint, Matisse threw aside the shackles of traditional easel painting in order to explore the effect of pure colour and pure line, embracing gouaches découpés,

Matisse threw aside the shackles of traditional easel painting in order to explore the effect of pure colour and pure line or, in other words, paper cut-outs. For Matisse, artistic freedom offered itself only in convalescence: “only what I created after the illness constitutes my real self”, he said. “Free, liberated”.

To explore the Tate exhibition is to be greeted by over 120 works produced between the years of 1936 and 1954, pieces which overwhelm, envelop, and pulsate with a cheerful

Photograph: ‘The Parakeet and the Mermaid’, Shiraz Chakera

intensity. The bedridden Matisse would cut out shapes from coloured paper to then be positioned and pinned onto his wall by an assistant, referring to the cut-outs as his ‘garden’. Indeed, many

the famous seaweed motif is repeated in bright blues and deep greens, offset by lively golds, oranges and magentas of these sprawling compos i tions convey a sense of growth and energy.

In Oceania, The Sky, white sea creatures appear to mingle and multiply in an organic manner, transforming t h e pale background into a limitless seascape; inspired by a visit to Ta h i t i sixteen years previously, the cutouts must have had a powerful transformative effect when pinned on the invalid artist’s walls, who stated that “it’s as though my memory had suddenly taken the place of the outside world”.

Symbols taken from nature run throughout the collection, bringing ‘the outside world’ into the brightly lit galleries of the Tate. In The Parakeet and the Mermaid, Matisse’s famous seaweed motif is repeated in bright blues and deep greens, offset by lively golds, oranges and magentas. He had self-proclaimedly attained “a form filtered to the essentials”; an idea demonstrated by his 1953 work The Snail.

“First of all”, wrote Matisse, “I drew the snail from nature, holding it between two fingers; drew and

drew. I became aware of an unfolding. I formed in my mind a purified sign for a shell.

Then I took the scissors.”

Like many pioneering artists of the twentieth century, Matisse prioritised qualities such as colour, expression and line over any kind of descriptive function. For all the appearance of joyful and naïve effortlessness, Matisse’s cut-outs have an u n d e r c u rrent of meticulous design. There was nothing random in the way he constructed his compositions, nothing of Pollock’s cathartic splurge; many pieces of paper are peppered with hundreds of pin marks as he frequently altered the arrangements as he worked. Pieces remained on his studio walls for months, even years, until the shapes were arranged pleasingly, the end result of a lifetime of design.

Throughout the Tate exhibition, films by Adrien Maeght show footage of Matisse practicing his cutting method. In the way that a lazy drawing rambles along a notepad’s margin, appearing to fall

the technique was both drawing, cutting lines to reveal an outline, and carving, removing the paper to reveal new forms from the nib of the doodler’s pen, so Matisse’s scissoring technique navigates the vast expanses of colour. When the artist takes those great metal scissors to paper, he cuts so expressively that the boundaries of dimension appear to transcend, modelling it “like a clay sculpture,” (his assistant Lydia Delectorskya) “sometimes adding, sometimes removing”. The technique involved both drawing and cutting lines to reveal an outline, and carving, removing the paper to reveal new forms. Pins, not glue, were used to attach the scraps of colour to the artists’ walls, and Maeght’s footage wonderfully captures what is lost when the cut-outs are definitively presented.

Coral reefs swell and pulsate; butterflies flicker, and flurries of stars scintillate every time a breeze enters the artists’ room. The cut-outs are permeated with a sense of movement, the cutting technique described by Matisse himself as “the graphic, linear equivalent of the sensation of flight”.

He may have been elderly and an invalid during these final years of his life, but the cut-outs are the triumphant culmination of a sixty-year career: the ultimate celebration of form, colour and line, of sheer joie de vivre.

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Anastasia Symecko (dept. Will Throp) - music@palatinate.org.uk

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MUSIC

Karen O: Crush Songs Laura Hely Hutchinson

Dry the River: 4/10/2014 Naomi Ellis

When it comes to Dry the River, expectations are consistently upended. With songs whose unassuming beginnings leave you raw by the end and better hair than most teenage girls, there’s never a dull moment, so catching the Stratford-based quintet as they began their UK and US tour was a treat.

Opening with two support acts, the buildup to the band’s appearance was an extension of the roots of their own sound. The indie-rock group Gengahr were the stand-out warm-up, engaging the crowd with their fresh sound, reminiscent of The Smiths. Then, quietly emerging stage left, the band opened with their single ‘Gethsemane’. A deceptive beginning soon unfurled into their hallmark, emotionally charged sound and the audience were hooked. A spattering of amicable hecklers and a lot of singing along later you could tell that the crowd was already captivated by the band’s new work only two months after its release.

With the majority of songs coming in at under two minutes, ‘Crush Songs’ feels very much like a selection of invasive short poems written for a diary that we probably shouldn’t be reading. The album’s lead single, ‘Rapt’, expresses the bipolar feelings most of us suffer with when it comes to the L word, with this juxtaposition immediately putting the listener at ease – as if you’re having a glass of wine with a friend after a break-up. Avoiding common pop structures provides a feeling, not of an adult writing songs in return for a cheque, but instead a teenager using a cheap guitar to briefly sing the pain away.

‘Crush Songs’ provides a pleasant change from many current pop albums due to the lack of heavy editing, which complements its raw emotion and longing. “When I was 27 I crushed a lot,” Karen O admits, and this seems like a perfect tag line to her solo debut, as the lyrics don’t go any deeper than forgettable lusting (apart from the rather out of place ‘King’, an ode to the late Michael Jackson). Despite most people’s first thought of Yeah Yeah Yeahs (another Karen O project) being the remix of ‘Heads Will Roll’, which tends to feature at the majority of wannabe-Project X house parties, there has always been an underlying hint of fragility and sensitivity in their work, and on ‘Crush Songs’ Karen O’s voice ranges from bleeding broken-ness to providing warmth and gentleness.

[there’s] a feeling, not of an adult writing songs in return for a cheque, but instead a teenager using a cheap guitar to briefly sing the pain away It is, however, hard to ignore the feeling that some of the songs would have been improved infinitely if performed with a full band – right from the beginning I found myself imagining ‘Ooo’ extended and with a drum and electric guitars to provide some momentum. Therefore, although ‘Crush Songs’ feels like it understands and comforts you on the first listen, the lack of standout moments or tracks means that, as a whole, the album is underwhelming and forgettable.

A deceptive beginning soon unfurled into their hallmark, emotionally charged sound and the audience was hooked

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voice is deeply affecting as he sings of a reclaiming of selfhood - ‘these are my words and this is my mouth’.

Dry the River revealed a mature side, showing themselves capable of marrying intelligent lyrics with catchy riffs to create a sound that never leaves you where you expect.

Even in whispered lyrics the power of Liddel’s voice was deeply affecting as he sang of a reclaiming of selfhood

The gig was counterpointed with songs from their first album, continually unfurling the sound into an emotionally charged display. Old favourites like ‘Weights and Measures’ and ‘Shaker Hymns’ were carefully rendered in their unplugged encore that left us all speechless.

These modest lads have refused to become stale in the alternative music culture we find ourselves mired in these days, producing an evolving sound of insightful heavy folk. As an audience we were swept up in their intense harmonies that collided with weighty bass, culminating in a unique experience that was well worth the train ride out of the Durham ‘bubble’.

Peter Liddel, whose voice articulates perfectly both the transcending heights and whispered vulnerability of the new album, was styled almost as a Messiah figure: transfigured in white, bearded and barefoot, to set the tone of the album’s biblical theme.

Their unexpected riffs and changing tone depicted modern England as a fallen Eden with subtle honesty. Speaking of the ‘garden overgrown’ and the ‘talking snake’ we were taken into the disillusioning realisation of a lost naivety. ‘Vessel’ was one of the most striking songs of their performance, declaring that ‘now the burning bush never speaks to me’, which was later compounded by the thudding repetition of the hymnic refrain ‘I don’t want to be a vessel any more’. Even in whispered lyrics the power of Liddel’s

Images courtesy of Cult Records and AMG Press

Upcoming Gigs Date

Performer

Location

Price

Oct. 28th

Johnny Marr

O2 Academy, Newcastle

£27

Oct. 24th

Jez Lowe

Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham

£15

Oct. 25th

Inlay

Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham

£11

Oct. 29th

Katy B

O2 Academy, Newcastle

£18

Oct. 31st

Hafdis Huld

Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham

£10

Nov. 1st

The Zu Zu Cats + DJ Richie B

Empty Shop HQ, Durham

FREE

Nov. 4th

Counting Crows

O2 Academy, Newcastle

£40

Nov. 6th

Mark Williams Duo (Jazz sessions)

Empty Shop HQ, Durham

£4

Nov. 7th

Ben Marwood

Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham

£9

Nov. 10th

The Kooks

O2 Academy, Newcastle

£22

Nov. 14th

Henry Priestman (The Christians)

Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham

£14

Nov. 16th

Dan Walsh & Meaghan Blanchard

Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham

£13

Nov. 29th

Professor Green

O2 Academy, Newcastle

£21

Nov. 29th

Blue Rose Code

Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham

£15

* Only selected O2 events shown, check website for further details

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BOOKS

the lion and the inkhorn

N D I G O

Oliver Collard knocks a literary great off his pedestal

f there is one bust that sits atop the pedestal of British literary culture, it is that of George Orwell: novelist, radical journalist, and tireless crusader for social justice. However, Radio 4 recently aired an episode of A Point of View in which the writer Will Self declaimed him as “the supreme literary mediocrity” of the post-war era.

Understandably, this attempt to dislodge the sacrosanct author rattled a few cages with commenters on newspaper websites from The Telegraph to The Guardian, enraged by Self’s indictment.

Self takes issue with Orwell’s faith in a version of plainspoken English, enumerated in his famous essay, Politics and the English Language. Skewering Orwell’s forthrightness, Self enunciates the writer’s rejection of the “half-conscious belief that language is a natural growth and not an instrument which we shape for our own purposes.”

How Orwellian is that? Rubbishing the enemy without even listening to them.

He himself argues that “Orwell’s ideology is ineffably English” believing in the “inherent reasonableness, impartiality and common sense of a certain kind of clear-thinking, public-school-educated but widely experienced middle-class Englishman.”

For a writer whose whole style hinged on truthtelling, nothing less than total control over the written medium would do. Yet, as Self points out, our understanding of linguistics has come a long way and language is surely a natural outgrowth which is resistant to any attempts to prune it into the more conventional shape of an English country garden.

Yet in reactions to the piece, commenters expressed a refusal to entertain the idea that Orwell is anything other than the best post-war British novelist, a devotion which he himself may have been uncomfortable with.

Perhaps we shouldn’t expect great insight from online comments. But they are ultimately a forum for majority opinion. One such example, a panegyric which terminated with a mildly funny put

Editor’s Pick of...

down was by grumpy_old_ben on The Telegraph website, “Will Self isn’t fit to stack Orwell’s works in Waterstones.”

The idea of a morose Self irritably stooping to tend the shelves makes me titter. Nonetheless, it is genuinely disconcerting that for a supposedly pluralistic literary culture, most of the commenters hadn’t even listened to or read the argument first-hand. How Orwellian is that? Rubbishing the enemy without even listening to them.

For Orwell there is a danger that his enlarged stature may obscure the minutiae of his work. Like me, Self seems passingly bitter that the anti-statist writer is invoked more frequently than the social democrat who wrote about his conflicted experiences as an imperial policeman in Burma, spending time among the homeless in London and the working classes in the industrial north.

Though the drive for accessibility is laudably democratic in one way, Orwell’s ideas about language are ideologically exclusory.

This is what Self is hinting at when he opines that “the clarity they so admire in his writings is Photograph: Cory Doctorow simply another kind of opacity, since in the act of revealing one truth it necessarily obscures many others”. If there is one danger in Orwell’s line of reasoning, it’s the insistence on moral clarity above all else.

We’re launching yet another war in the Middle East, dropping bombs on the same people (ISIS) to whom we gave weapons just a short while ago.

This is all very Orwellian. He called it in his writing, but his faith in the power of signification is his biggest blind spot. Just because they say it in rational, plain English, it doesn’t make it any truer.

Self’s intervention is a timely one. But can we simply dismiss Orwell as a mediocrity? If he isn’t to be a writer’s writer, then the rousing response still confirms his place as a true people’s writer.

In our literary post-mortem of Orwell, we may feel we have discovered everything his novels have to tell us and more, yet we are brought inexorably back to the man who, in many ways, taught us everything we know about the post-war world. At once, we are torn between reverence for a man deeply embedded in our cultural history, and the recognition that we need more radical literary mediocrities for our own time.

Mini Review The Wild Places Robert MacFarlane

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The Funniest Book Quotes “To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness” Oscar Wilde “The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t. “ Douglas Adams

Word of the Week

Abibliphobia: A fear of running out of books to read.

Photograph: Granta Books

re there any truly wild places left in Britain? This is what Robert Macfarlane asks himself as he sets off on a series of awe-inspiring walks through our most remarkable British landscapes. Everything Macfarlane writes is perfect and The Wild Places is no exception. Beautiful and lyrical, filled with bright and rich evocations of the natural world.

N D I G O

i

Kinesis Megan Pattie I began, I was spun, like a toy with a weight.

I am sinuous shape.

I amuse, I am even to some perhaps wonderful.

A coin flipped occasions a sphere—me—and I live responsively. Breathe in a tree’s respirations, while trees share my breath.

But they lived before me and they will continue.

For now I’m immersed in my body’s contortions; my bones’ interplay, my synergy in space. I am moving, amusing, but my motion will slow.

Like a forgotten clock, unwound I will keep time only my own

Celeste Yeo - creative.writing@palatinate.org.uk

C R EAT IV E W R IT I N G

p l a y

Might we not say that every child at play behaves like a creative writer, in that he creates a world of his own, or, rather, rearranges the things of his world in a new way which pleases him? - Sigmund

and will cease.

Into the Woods Eva Hodgkin Mountaineering up the stairs Skipping ropes wrapped tight about the banisters.

Leaving out food for the Borrowers; Bits of broccoli quietly mouldering Beneath my bed.

Older children pressing the cold, clinical bodies of Barbies Up against each other, Telling me earnestly that this act, under the miniature covers, Was how babies were made.

An orphan on the run; Liesl from the Sound of Music, Leaping from sofa to sofa.

Complaining that I always had to be the boy: The Prince, Legolas, the husband to a child bride Solemnly processing across the carpet.

Freud

The Big Bad Wolf Hester Ormerod The big bad wolf is coming to play He stretches and yawns as night turns from day.

He’s sleek like a panther, cold as distain Bites down with steel fangs; despair is his game.

Surrounded by mist, stalking his prey Once in his sights you won’t get away.

He’ll come if you’re strong and he’ll come if you’re not He makes no distinctions if depression’s your lot.

Surrounds you in dark as he blocks out the sun You’re falling to pieces as he’s having his fun.

No one told me the rules, now I am stuck Like a fly on a web, deserted by luck.

I’m a pawn in his chess set, played by a master Standing on the precipice, one inch from disaster.

At some time the clouds clear, and day turns from night A new day is drawing and the future seems bright.

You’ve unshouldered your burden, gone out to make hay But somewhere still lurking, the big bad wolf wants to play.

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Play Kathy Park My playmate knows not the games we play; Rules are sooner forgotten than taught: Dices are thrown, but the counters stay; Hide in a corner, not to be sought.

I wasn’t her first playmate – though her last; She’d played before with girls, mothers now.

She’s my first playmate – but all that’s past.

My mind’s the only playground I’m allowed.

No more, I cannot explain the rules; I’ve grown old, though she never for me.

She stares after me, leaving for school: Her dream, but fields never set her free.

My playmate and I are too old to play, And yet, in my mind, we play and play all day.

Photography by Celeste Yeo

So many roles, played out in a world which sprang up Benevolent and ready to be played with, Warped and moulded to my design.

Now the possibilities shrink down, And the escape into imagined woods Only occurs as the wine-soaked room dips and heaves All at sea.

As a friend whispers that the floor is covered in snakes, As the cold rub of barbies becomes a real embrace, A touch of skin to skin.

The stakes are higher in this adult game: Grazed knees are now bruised hearts.

It frightens and compels.

The Love Story of a Baker Chutian Xiao Having ground that casual encounter into flour And taken the glance from her as baking powder, He kept kneading his heart day and night, In case it cooled down like a stone.

He picked a day, When nothing would happen.

He opened his left chest, And put that heart On the flame of his past.

The fire in the furnace started a slow burning, As slow as a summer.

He still got up early.

The fragrance of his bread Flowed out on the street.

The flavour of his bread, Warmed every household, Kept every hearth crackling Families said their graces threefold.

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12 boyhood

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Jonathan Peters (Caroline France - deputy) - film@palatinate.org.uk

F I L M & TV

the best films of the summer reviewed

i

N D I G O

ne of the most interesting films of the summer was the critically-acclaimed Boyhood. With the director, Richard Linklater (Before Sunrise), taking an orignal and ambitious approach to filming, and the unique narrative itself, the film garnened a great deal of attention recently.

Shot for a few days over a period of twelve years, the narrative focuses on Mason (Ellar Coltrane) and his journey from childhood to adulthood. According to Linklater, the narrative took direction in part from Coltrane’s own life experiences, and this blurring between fiction and reality is something you get swept into as you watch Mason and his sister (Lorelei Linklater) mature both within and without the world of the film.

The passing of time is what brings much of the emotion to the film; we are literally watching Mason’s childhood flash before our eyes. Family life is portrayed realistically, and aside from an incident of domestic violence, the drama is kept to a minimum, proving that ordinary domesticity can create cinematic entertainment. The film gives the audience as relatable an experience as possible, and it achieves this through the presentation of near-universal life events and the character’s perceptive observations. The supporting cast is superb: Patricia Arquette is the strong single mother who we see struggle through the family’s hardships, while Ethan Hawke is recognisable as the loving – yet somewhat disconnected – divorced father.

One of the drawbacks is that the film is overly long; some scenes appear unnecessary and Boyhood would benefit from some taut editing. However, this does not spoil what is an experimental and groundbreaking film depicting the classic coming-of-age story.

By Caroline France

Image: IFC films

how to train your dragon 2

F

ive years after the events of the original film, the Vikings of Berk have fully incorporated dragons into their culture and lifestyles, and they now act as companions rather than foes. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (Jay Baruchel) has matured into a stable and confident young man, who struggles with the pressure of being the future chief of his village. Whilst flying with Toothless the Dragon on a journey to map the surrounding islands, they discover an extraordinary new place with an incredible secret, as well as the threat of Drago (Djimon Hounsou), a violent megalomaniac set on building a dragon army to take over the world.

The clear and most important highlight of the film is the visuals, from the expressive character animation to the richly decorated and imaginative art design. Whilst Frozen chose to emphasise the crisp ferns and soaring spires of the Nordic landscape, HTTYD2 revels in the textural imperfections of the craggy seafronts, bitter mists and the bright northern sunlight casting intense colour across dramatic horizons. The land is fantastical, but not a fairy world – it is harsh, varied and beautiful, and what better way to tour such a place than on the backs of dragons? Exhilarating and immersive sequences of dragons in flight accompanied by Jónsi and John Powell’s awe-inspiring score is the perfect recipe for a joyous visual-effects-induced adrenaline rush.

A new film demands new creatures, and we are treated to the latest and best designs that concept art and animator veteran Nico Marlet has to offer. The new dragons seem as if they had leapt off the pages of an illustrated children’s fantasy book, whilst retaining the vitality and dignity of a wild animal. The modellers clearly referenced the real-life animals which inspired each dragon in their designs, and the animators reinforce this familiarity by referencing such animal’s mannerisms and movements, whilst still letting the audience belief that this is a unique creature.

The story in HTTYD2 is ambitious and rich with ideas, some of which are realised more strongly than others. Much of the drama and urgency of the film comes from the bloodthirsty, power-mad ruthlessness of the main villain, however the filmmakers seem to ultimately sideline the character. A key theme is that people can change and that forgiveness is a virtue even in the direst circumstances, and this is realised sweetly in the story arc of Valka.

HTTYD2 follows the footsteps of Kung Fu Panda 2 taking the opportunity of a sequel to explore darker and more menacing concepts present in their respective universes and push the characters to their limit. The original film had plenty of powerful moments and drama, however this film pushes the intensity and tragedy to the upper limit of what can be expected from a mainstream family film. As fantastical and magical as the beautifully rendered ecosystem is, it is still red in tooth and claw. This is refreshing in an animated film based on a popular franchise set in a world of child-like fantasy imagination.

By Imogen Rolfe

The land is fantastical, but not a fairy world

Image: Dreamworks

N D I G O

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Jonathan Peters (Caroline France - deputy) - film@palatinate.org.uk

F I L M & TV

edge of tomorrow

E

dge of Tomorrow was a notable box office flop this summer, with critics quickly pointing to the diminishing appeal of Tom Cruise, generic title (it has been renamed Live. Die. Repeat. for DVD release) and poor marketing as reasons for its failure. However, unlike Cruise’s mediocre 2013 effort Oblivion, this time audiences missed out on a truly exciting, intelligent sci-fi movie, and a return to form for both its star and director Doug Liman (Swingers, Jumper).

Cruise plays William Cage, the face of the human forces fending off against an alien invasion – he’s a PR guy, paid to look good in army uniform despite having never seen a day of combat in his life. After an insubordination he’s forced onto the frontline by his commanding officer (a scenery-chewing Brendan Gleeson), and – here comes the big twist – dies within the first twenty minutes of the film. However, he wakes up with a mysterious power which allows him to respawn on the morning of his death, and will remain stuck in this loop until the source of the alien intelligence is defeated. He is joined in his mission by Rita (Emily Blunt), channeling Aliens-era Ripley as a tough-as-nails mercenary.

Liman treats the audience to montages of his various deaths, including a spectacular training sequence in which viewers get to see the character decapitated, crushed and shredded to pieces over and over again. Rita’s repeated deaths give the film some surprising emotional depth, and the poignant sequence involves Cage trying to delay the mission as much as possible as he knows that Rita will never make it past a certain point alive.

With Edge of Tomorrow, Liman gets closer than any other director to capturing a videogame experience on camera – viewers follow the characters as they feel the frustration of dying, but reset with improved skillsets, and make painstaking advances towards the ultimate goal. It’s fun to know from previous scenes what dangers lurk for the characters around the corner, and then to see them take sidesteps to avoid the same demise.

Filled with eye-popping action sequences, excellent performances, and a unique, videogame-esque twist, Edge of Tomorrow was the most underrated film of the summer, and a must see now that it’s out on home release.

By Jonathan Peters

I

Image: Marvel Studios

Image courtesy of Universal Pictures

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Image: Warner Bros

Image: 20th Century Fox

guardians of the galaxy

t can be all too easy to level accusations of homogeneity at superhero movies, given the number that studios seem to churn out each year. However, this isn’t entirely fair, as filmmakers now seem to be making a conscious effort to move away from the formulaic origin story of countless early ‘00s films. 2014’s Captain America added some serious political intrigue to the mix, whilst X-Men featured inventive uses of time travel.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is something completely different altogether. This is evident from the moment Chris Pratt’s Star Lord swaggers onscreen, belting Redbone’s ‘Come and Get Your Love’ into a makeshift space weasel microphone, whilst blasting pirates competing to find hidden treasure. The film never lets up from this confident opening, as we later follow a dysfunctional group of adventurers in their quest to save the galaxy from fanatical warlord Ronan the Accuser. Each member of the team manages to provide their own highlight; Pratt’s Star Lord and Bradley Cooper’s Rocket Raccoon compete in their performances for the best Han Solo impression, Zoe Saldana’s Gamora finds herself trapped between different loyalties, Dave Bautista’s Drax can only understand statements in their most literal sense, whilst Vin Diesel with the character of Groot can lay claim to having been cast as a tree, and a truly adorable one at that.

Director James Gunn aims for a Star Wars vibe with Guardians, recapturing the sense of wonder from that film and echoing its dynamic as the team travels round, exploring star systems in their spaceship. They embark on daring rescues, prison escapes, epic dogfights and even dance-offs throughout their adventure, all to a rocking ‘70s soundtrack, the explanation for which provides a surprising emotional undercurrent to the film. The villain is a bit weak and some plot points seem a little rushed, but the audience is just having too much fun to care.

By Jonathan Peters

A

s one of the biggest blockbusters of the summer, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes shows us that big budget films can combine a good script and cast with the special effects they are made famous for. The sequel is set ten years after Rise of the Planet of the Apes, where the revolt of the apes coincides with the outbreak of a ‘simian flu’. This virus has destroyed humanity, with only one in 500 people being immune. A group of the remaining humans have congregated in the now derelict San Francisco, led by former police chief Dreyfus (Gary Oldman), in desperate search for resources.

Meanwhile in Muir Woods, we once again meet Caesar (Andy Serkis), who is the leader of a surprisingly sophisticated society of apes. Using state-of-the-art performance-capture technology, the apes communicate through grunts, complex sign language and occasionally human speech. Serkis has honed the skills he used as Gollum and King Kong to become a thoroughly believable ape, which is counterbalanced by his character being one of the most rational in the film.

Interestingly, the film does not dwell on the immorality of humankind as many other animal films do. Instead you recognise the desperate situation the humans are in; for both sides the motivation for action comes largely from a will to survive. The action scenes provide a break from these ethical dilemmas – the ape community descending upon San Francisco, backed by tension-filled soundtrack, gives you a much-needed release from the sense of unease. The film is the eighth in the Planet of the Apes franchise and I for one am excited by the promise of more to come.

By Caroline France

dawn of the planet of the apes

Image: 20th Century Fox

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Ollie Collard - travel@palatinate.org.uk

T RAV E L

a journey like no other

N D I G O

Alice Evans leads a team of fifteen DUCK members on a trek to Machu Picchu

Photographs by Alice Evans

T

here I sat outside the M&S at Gatwick airport with clammy hands and butterflies in my stomach. It was 1pm. No one was there.

Had they missed their trains? Had they broken down? Had they decided not to come? “So it begins,” I thought - worrying on behalf of fourteen other students. Because this was my role: Expedition Leader of the 2014 DUCK (Durham University Charities Kommitee) trip to Peru.

Luckily, the whole team did show up eventually, one clutching a spilling strawberry tart (the last safe dairy product to be consumed for the next six weeks), another grasping a guitar - “Customs will be no problem, trust me” - and one more began to ask me which shops in Cusco sold stamps.

Bearing in mind that I had never set foot on South American soil before, I doubted that leading this trip was going to be anything close to a ‘holiday’.

And I was right - but mainly because the itinerary I had drawn up for the group was absolutely jam-packed (despite indeed steering clear of strawberry tarts). After forty hours of travelling, followed by just three days of acclimatisation in Cusco (at an altitude of 3400 metres), the team and I embarked upon our first adventure: the five day Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu. The first four days cover a 50km route, far less touristy than the famous Inca Trail, as well as offering a greater challenge and more impressive scenery.

This was no Lake District, as I was used to back

in England. Oh no. Stretch all of those English molehills upwards into the shockingly clear sky until they tower 6500 metres above you. Then steepen the sides so that the Cumbrian scree slopes transform into precipices on the brink of avalanching. Next, suck 40% of the oxygen out of the air, and you’ll have left the Lakes far behind: this is true Andean trekking.

Due to altitude sickness within the group, this first day was cut relatively short, and we arrived at our campsite at around 4.30pm. Campsite is perhaps too civilised a word; our nest for the night was a large grassy plain, pockmarked with boulders, right at the base of the glacier of Salkantay (Quechua for “Savage Mountain”). Our motley crew was the only sign of life. We settled down to eat our evening meal in this exhilarating isolation. The cooks from the indigenously-managed Wayki Treks team (‘Wayki’ is a Quechua term of endearment, loosely meaning ‘friend’ or ‘brother’) produced all kinds of regional delicacies. A mug of warm bean juice or steaming coca tea accompanied choclo con queso (corn and cheese), pumpkin soup, grilled trout, rice, yuca potatoes from the jungle, lomo saltado (similar to a meat stew), fried aubergine, banana and rum fritters, quinoa, vegetable frittatas, apple porridge, grilled plantains, hot kiwi, stuffed peppers… We ate like Incan Emperors.

After a tough night at -14°, our second day led us up the gruelling Salkantay pass, peaking at Abra Salkantay (4630 metres above sea level). Already awestruck by the foreboding glacial mountains of Salkantay and Huamantay, we were further shocked by an ominous groan as an avalanche cascaded down the mountain above us. Andean legend (according to our local guide) has it that the Mountain God of Salkantay causes avalanches in order to stop evil spirits, condenados, from reaching the top of the mountain and therefore the gateway to heaven. Devil or not, this demonstration of the mountain’s power was enough to catch the little breath we had left in our strain-

ing lungs. Luckily, the evil spirits were kept at bay, and for the next two days we descended into deep jungle. It was a fascinating journey through the diverse landscape, from the barren moonscape of the mountains down to the lively and muggy jungle.

After pausing at a coffee plantation to watch the World Cup Final alongside locals (on a postage stamp-sized screen), we began our fourth day. The route took us past an impressive hydroelectric station, and then followed a railway 12km through the jungle to the town of Aguas Calientes, where we would stay the night before visiting Machu Picchu. Throughout the day we caught glimpses of Machu Picchu (‘Old Mountain’) high above us, as well as sections of the Sacred City itself. Morale was high, the path was easy, and as we got closer to the spiralling streets of Aguas Calientes, an electric anticipation sizzled through the group. After an excellent meal at the hotel (included in our Wayki ticket), including Pisco Sours on the house, we hurried to bed.The sooner we slept, the sooner it would be Machu Picchu o’clock.

5am saw our team stuffed in a bus queue alongside every other temporary inhabitant of Aguas Calientes, and two hours later I finally set eyes on the Sacred City. It looks just as it does in the postcards, but what you cannot capture on camera is the majestic and spiritual atmosphere that grips the whole site. The Incan city is surrounded by jungle-cloaked mountains, and the precipitous agricultural terraces sweep down to Aguas Calientes far below. Wandering amongst the houses and temples, the sense of a once-thriving city is overwhelming. The history of this intriguing place clings to you, as thick and tangible as the jungle air itself.

After a captivating two and a half hour tour, we spent a sweaty hour climbing Huayna Picchu (‘Young Mountain’) to gain an alternative view of the city. This was a challenging yet rewarding end to our Andean journey, and gave us spectacular views of the entire route. I gazed nostalgically to the horizon where Salkantay reared its head forcefully above all else, and down into the valley below to retrace our jungle amble. The last five days could be reduced into a snapshot, trapped in time, but the incredible experience I had on DUCK’s trek to Machu Picchu will stay with me forever.

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Anisha Mohan (dept. Tanya Birkett) - food@palatinate.org.uk

FOOD & DRINK

instagram your greens

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Anisha Mohan explores the growing culture craze of “insta food” naturally. Everyone has to eat; not everyone would be interested in great sporting shots. As far as self-indulgence is concerned, food pictures are the more acceptable version of the selfie.

I recently read in an article that taking part in the food photo craze was some people’s favourite part of dining or eating out. This fact has been seen by eateries as so influential to the point that restaurateurs and companies have begun to capitalise on the phenomenon.

Birds Eye found that 52% of Britons regularly take photos of their meals and drinks, with the majority then being uploaded to Instagram. They created a pop up restaurant in London with the intention of providing free meals to consumers in return of them simply uploading a picture of their meal to Instagram with the hashtag ‘#BirdsEyeInspirations’. They hope the “instafood” trend will create conversation among people about their new Inspirations range.

According to their research, one in ten Britons take at least one photo of their food every week. Furthermore, a third confessed to artfully arranging their food on a plate with the intention of sharing it online.

A third of Britions confessed to artfully arranging their food on a plate with the intention of sharing it online.

W

hen once upon a time people may have said thanks or grace before a meal, the protocol now is to stage often lengthy photo-shoots before consuming one’s food or drink. Food and drink have moved increasingly towards being a visual art form through social media, especially through platforms such as Instagram.

Photo-sharing websites enable people to demonstrate their culinary expertise, show their wining and dining activities and fulfil a new need to document small, and often insignificant, details in their lives that are deemed noteworthy due to the self-importance and narcissism that come with social media forums. The constant obsession with the creation of a social profile showing off what apparently resemble our lives is easily achieved through pretty pictures. Food fits the void

S

Customers were unknowingly letting their own food get cold, and then complaining about it!

Conversely, some establishments have gone so far as to ban the act. Almost Famous, a burger restaurant in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, placed signs on their walls warning people that they do not allow photography of their food.

Across the pond, a well-established restaurant received an influx of complaints of cold food, which was most unusual after their many years of few criticisms.

After scratching their heads the owners took to CCTV to try and decipher the problem. They found that customers were presented with their hot foods but would not begin eating for several minutes until after their necessary ritual photography had taken place. Customers were unknowingly letting their own food get cold and then complaining about it!

Photography: Anisha Mohan

palatinate food has Instagram

o, also jumping on to the Instagramming food craze is Palatinate Food and Drink! Without further ado I would like to introduce the brand spanking new Palatinate Food and Drink Instagram account! You can find us @palatinatefood where we will be uploading food and drink pictures daily as well as asking for your food and drink related contributions. You can share your pictures with the hashtag #palatinatefood.

In the near future we hope to run a ”Food Porn” section with the most delicious looking, envy-instilling, mouth-watering delights that you have captured during the week. On the other hand we also want to see the most ghastly, woeful and pitiful meals that are far

too often a staple of every student’s diet (think pasta and marmite, as my old housemate often devoured) i.e. crappest student meal of the week.

Think you’ve found the worst student meal of the week? Or are you a gourmet chef in the making? Hashtag #palatinatecrappymeal or #paltinatefoodporn and tag the account @palatinatefood in your Instagram posts and we’ll share the best ones.

In the meantime, follow the account for a highly professional collection of pictures of street foods in both Hong Kong and Bangkok including scorpions and a 60 pence Pad Thai.

Happy snapping!

@palatinatefood

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comic by Mariam Hayat