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Friday 24 January 2014 Volume 65
Issue
Plans underway for new astro pitch and pavilion on UoR Whiteknights Campus tom newbold
A new Astro Turf pitch will be in place on Whiteknights campus for the start of the 2014/2015 academic year. The announcement has been met with widespread approval with many of those connected to sport at the University of Reading. Among the delighted parties is Josh Cave, the RUSU Student Engagement Officer. He said: “The new STP is a long awaited win for many of our sports teams. It is also great to see the University and the Student Union continuing to work in partnership. This is a good step forward for the Universities Sporting commitments and is a good sign of things to come with the Whiteknights Pavilion project underway. “I extend my thanks and gratitude to Nick Cook VP Student Activities last year for his initial work on getting the STP resurfaced – along with the support of our three Hockey Clubs and our many other sports teams.” The annoucement was also welcomed by Director of Sport, Iain Akhurst: “The SportsPark is really delighted that we can look forward to providing a first class astro turf for all our student sports clubs. The University is very proud of the achievements of all our clubs and
Interview
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Spark* editor and novelist Jack Marshall I’m sure everyone will enjoy our hockey teams playing their matches next season on campus again.” Iain Akhurst was also recorded as praising the student pressure and support for the new project, noting that it really does pay-off. In addition to the new Astro Turf pitch, plans are also underway for a new sports pavilion for Whiteknights campus. The propsal is to replace the current Athletics pavilion with a more modern facility. The current pavilion was built in 1938. The new building would meet ‘Sport England’ criteria, and would include changing rooms, toilet facilities, showers and a club room among its many features. The new
pavilion will have a photovoltaic renewable energy source on the roof to generate electricity for use in the building and will save over £1000 per year in energy cost. The current pavilion will remain in use during the proposed construction of the new facility in order to minimise disruption to the University’s sports teams. The site of the existing Athletics Pavilion will be reinstated as a grassed area, providing an extension to the current cricket pitch’s boundary. An exhibition was held in the middle of January for students, staff and members of the local community, and feedback is being welcomed
before proposals are finalised and sent to the council. The proposed ‘SportsPark Pavilion’ will be a single storey construction and situated within the natural setting with soft landscaping and tree planting. The project has several sustainability benefits and will be highly insulated & airtight, and incorporate features such as LED lighting, low water use appliances and fast response heating systems. If planning consent is given, the University would aim to start construction work for the pavilion in June 2014.
Real Ale Society brews ale for Campus David Tilbury
Ale brewed by University of Reading’s own Real Ale Society is set to be sold on campus while stock lasts. The Real Ale Society met with local brewer Peter Cook, who is the Head Brewer at Sherfield Village Brewery, with the ambition of designing and brewing their own ale. Jamie Duffield, President of the Real Ale Society, said of the opportunity to visit the brewery: “This all started over a pint down in the Alehouse when Pete Cook, who happens to be a friend of ours, said to me, ‘so when are you bringing the students down to brew?’ We thought, well why not? It would be great experience as many of our members are amateur brewers ourselves, but have never had the chance to use
What’s Inside?
proper, full-scale equipment. We’d be going from brewing 40 pints at home, to brewing 1100 pints in his brewery” After speaking with the society and communicating with the Park House bars on both Whiteknights and London Road campuses, it was agred that both bars would sell the ale to students, a first for the University. Jamie explained: “After negotiations with Park House they kindly agreed to stock our beer while it lasted. We also have connections in the local pub area, with our beer going in the CAMRA pub of the year and runner up, The Nag’s Head and the Alehouse.” The beer, named by the society as Extra Curricular, was first sold on Friday 17 January for the price of £2.50 a pint, and the whole barrel
sold (72 pints) in less than 90 minutes. Extra Curricular was brewed in November 2013, and was stored at Sherfield Village Brewery for two months. It is a strong, amber/pale beer brewed from 5 varieties of hop: Admiral, Green Bullet, Amarillo, Pacific Jade and Pilgrim. As creators of the first studentbrewed ale to be sold on campus, the Real Ale Society has drawn a lot of media attention – the team filmed a short story for BBC South on site in the brewery and in Park House, Whiteknights Campus on Tuesday 21 January. On the success of the ale and the recent news coverage, Jamie said: “At the end of the day, all of the hard work the committee and I put into this was not with the intention making headlines- it was done with
the hope of enriching the Real Ale Society for all our members. The involvement of the BBC, coupled with the fact our beer continues to be a success, comes as unexpected but welcome recognition- I’m very proud of what we have been able to achieve this year.” “Of course none of this would be possible without beer wizard (head brewer) Pete Cook from Sherfield Village Brewery, this year’s Real Ale Society committee (JD, Tom, Ryan and Naomi), its ‘brew team’ (Ron, JD, Xavier, Joel, Mike, and Tom) and of course the fantastic participation of Park House and the Park group.” “We hope that this will start the ball rolling for this to happen again.”
Give it a go week
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Fashion
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Style on campus
2 News
news.spark@reading.ac.uk
Dementia research centre opens Abbie Weaving
The University of Reading has opened its new dementia research centre to help better understanding of how the disease develops and the effects it has on those already influenced by it. Affecting forty-four million people worldwide and eighty thousand in the UK alone, the incurable and devastating disease of dementia requires crucial exploration into how we can help to control and ultimately, prevent it. The Berkshire Memory and Cognition Research Centre, which opened on Wednesday 8 January 2014, is the brainchild of a joint initiative between the University of Reading and the Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. Situated in the University’s School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, the new centre includes a renovated waiting area, a consultation room, two offices, and a clinic room. The centre aims to focus on how diet and lifestyle can affect the onset and later development of dementia, as well as the consequences it has on carers and families. Dr Laurie Butler, Head of the University of Reading’s School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, said: “It will allow us to continue and expand our renowned research in areas such as the positive effects of nutrition on cognition. Recent research from Reading has shown that that consuming foodstuffs such as blueberries
could help delay the onset of degenerative brain disorders such as dementia.”
The centre will focus on how diet and lifestyle can affect the onset and later developments of dementia In the Thames Valley area alone, 1% of the population suffers from the disease and 135 million worldwide are thought to develop the illness by 2050. The G8 dementia summit, however, is determined to find a cure by 2025. The UK alone already spends £23 billion dealing with dementia, while the global cost is a staggering £370 billion. However, the UK government only spends 2.5% of its medical research budget on dementia. The University’s new centre therefore, is a welcomed addition in the underfunded battle against the disease. Health ministers have, however, recognised that this “big ambition” of finding a cure will need additional funding, and will double the country’s annual research fund to £132 million by 2025. With some of the finest neuroimaging equipment the UK has to offer, the centre will become a research hub not only for clinicians and scientists but also for charities and businesses.
Friday 24 January 2014 Spark*
UoR appoints new Pro-Vice Chancellors Rebecca Scotter
The University has appointed two new Pro-Vice-Chancellors to help lead its future plans over the next decade. Both appointments will involve sitting on the University Executive Board, which is chaired by the current Vice-Chancellor, Sir David Bell. Vincenzo (Enzo) Raimo, a Reading graduate, is the new Pro-ViceChancellor for Global Engagement. His new role will involve leading Reading’s global strategy developing new markets, building academic and business partnerships overseas and raising its profile internationally. Enzo Raimo graduated from the University of Reading in 1990 with a BA in Italian and International Relations. He has spent much of his career in senior management within higher education. This experience includes being Head of International Student Recruitment at the University of Nottingham, later becoming a very successful Director of the International Office.
The University has appointed two new Pro-Vice-Chancellors to help lead future plans Enzo Raimo said: “I’m genuinely very excited to be joining Reading not only because I’m a graduate of
New Years Honours for UoR Staff David Tilbury
The work of four members of the wider University of Reading community have been recognised in this year’s New Year’s Honours list. Both Jim Knowlson and Paul Swaddle were awarded the title of OBE, whilst Professor Julia Slingo was made a Dame and Professor Peter Lanley was appointed an MBE.
Four members of the wider UoR community have been recognised in this year’s New Year’s Honours list Knowlson was appointed an OBE for his contribution and services to literary scholarship, in particular his role in founding the Reading Beckett International Foundation. Knowlson, a close friend of Beckett’s, also played a major role in the formation of the Beckett Archive – the largest collection of books and material on the author in the world. The OBE adds to Knowlson’s already extensive list of honours, including the French Officier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques – an Order of Chivalry awarded
to those who contribute to French education and culture. Knowlson said of his honour: “It is wonderful to be recognised for something that you love doing and something that you are passionate about. I was a close friend of Samuel Beckett for the last 19 years of his life so take great pride in the collection and archives that have been put together.” In addition to Jim Knowlson, Councillor Paul Swaddle received an OBE for his voluntary political service. Cllr Swaddle, a former Student Officer for RUSU and current RUSU Trustee, has risen through the ranks of the Conservative Party, acting as regional chairman for South East England and President of for the Party’s National Convention. He said that he was: “deeply honoured and thrilled to have received this award which recognises not only my personal achievements within the Conservative Party but also the great team I have had around me throughout my time serving the membership of the party as well as my time serving the public as a Councillor on Wokingham Borough Council.” Professor Julia Slingo joined Knowlson and Swaddle on the New Year’s Honours list, being made a Dame for her services to weather and climate science. Professor Slingo said: “I’m honoured by this
recognition, which acknowledges not just my work but also the excellence of Met Office research and those we partner with around the world. The UK has been at the forefront of great advances in this field and, with continued investment, we can continue to lead the way and provide tangible benefits to peoples’ lives, to businesses and the wider economy.” She also founded the University’s Walker Institute for Climate System Research and was a Professor of Meteorology at the University. The fourth member of the University’s community to be recognised on the New Year’s Honour list was Emeritus Professor Peter Lansley, appointed an MBE for his services to research into aging and well being of the elderly.
“It is wonderful to be recognised for something that you love doing.” Lansley noted that: “It is a recognition of the many different players who have made these projects such a success.”
the University but because it feels as if there is real ambition around its international agenda. I’m looking forward to working with my new colleagues to further grow Reading’s standing and activities overseas.” Professor Robert Van De Noort has been appointed the new ProVice-Chancellor for Academic Planning and Resource. His role will oversee all academic resource planning at Reading- including the overall course programme and shaping the capital investment programme in teaching and research facilities.
Vincenzo Raimo, a
Professor Van de Noort said: “I am delighted and honoured to have been appointed. I look immensely forward to the opportunity to work with my new colleagues to deliver the world class, forward looking, confident and ambitious ahead of its centenary.”
“I am delighted to bring two outstanding, experienced and highcalibre leaders to the University of Reading.”
Reading graduate,
The University’s Vice Chancellor,
is the new Pro-Vice-
Sir David Bell said: “We set out to
Chancellor for Global Engagement Robert Van De Noort graduated from The University of Utrecht with a BA in History and also a BA in Archaeology from The University of Amsterdam. In 2000 he was appointed Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at The University of Exeter. In 2003 he became Head of Department and three years later became personal chair. Since 2011 he has been Dean of the college of Social Sciences and International studies.
recruit the best so I am delighted to bring two outstanding, experienced and high-calibre leaders to the University of Reading. We have big ambitions for the future as we develop a strategy to take us forward over the next decade leading into our centenary year as a university in 2026.” The new positions will come into effect on Friday 1 August 2014. This announcement comes after other changes were announced to the University’s officer team last summer.
University Challenge defeat Emily King
The last time the University of Reading took part in University Challenge was way back in July 2013, where they competed against and defeated St. John’s College Cambridge with a 180-120 win. Reading’s team remained unchanged since then with, Peter Burgess as their Captain, and Michael Dunleavy, Christopher White, and Luke Tudge making up the rest of the team. Reading’s opponents this time were SOAS (University of London, The School of Oriental and African Studies) who defeated their last opponents, back in Mid-August, with a 230-155 win. The game started off with SOAS in the lead after getting the first two starters and continued this winning streak after Reading’s first buzzer resulted in a penalty, giving SOAS more points. Success came for Reading in the sports rounds, with Peter Burgess getting all of the first picture starters right. Reading took all three bonuses on Sport’s teams, therefore reducing the gap between themselves and SOAS to 75-20. However, SOAS then managed to regain strength again, with all four players having at least one starter each. SOAS’ buzzer strength was strong enough to see them take a
big lead. The music starter was missed by both teams, but Peter Burgess managed to gain the music bonuses for Reading University, with Desert Island Disc selections.
SOAS beat UoR 240-90 Now behind, with SOAS in a 13545 lead, Reading were not getting many of the buzzer questions but were successful with the bonuses, when they had the chance. SOAS kept up a strong fight in this round. Although they slipped up on the first starter, one SOAS team member gained his fourth/fifth starter of the night and gained all three bonuses that went with it. The second picture round, on artworks named after Venus, went to Reading, who also got all of the bonuses to go with it. SOAS were now winning, 170-65. Peter Burgess got his third starter of the night but only one starter went with it this time. SOAS gained the second starter and in the third starter both teams missed out with Luke Tudge unsuccessfully spelling ‘isosceles’ and SOAS’ team member giving up half way through trying to spell it. In the next round Luke Tudge took another starter for Reading, but no bonuses went with it. One last starter to SOAS and they had won, with the final score being 240-90.
news.spark@reading.ac.uk
Spark* Friday 24 January 2014
High Fliers Research: Graduate Market report Daniel Mitchell
A recent report by High Fliers Research has shown that graduate employers are planning to increase the amount of graduates taken on this year. The survey was conducted with the top one hundred graduate employers and found that there will be around an 8.7% increase in recruitment, which amounts to about 1,400 extra jobs for graduates. This is by far the biggest rise in recruitment annually for four years and the report showed that: “Graduate starting salaries for 2014 at the UK’s leading graduate employers are expected to remain unchanged for an unprecedented fifth year – at a median of £29,000.
Graduate employers plan to increase the amount of graduates taken on this year A quarter of top graduate programmes will pay new recruits more than £35,000 when they start
work and ten organisations are offering at least £40,000 to this year’s graduates.” The research is based on a survey of top private and public employers and has shown that the largest recruiters of graduates in 2014 will be the charity Teach First. Other employers in the research included PwC, Tesco and Apple.
There will be an 8.7% increase in graduate recruitment, amounting to 1,400 extra jobs Martin Birchall, managing director of High Fliers Research, said: “This very significant increase in graduate vacancies at Britain’s top employers means the job prospects for graduates leaving university this year are the best they’ve been since the start of the recession seven years ago. And there are more opportunities than ever for university students to get paid work experience with the country’s most sought-after graduate employers – together they are offering over
11,000 paid internships and work placements this year for first and second year undergraduates.”
There will be around 12,000 paid placements available this year However, the report also found that top businesses are reserving around forty per cent of graduate jobs for students who have completed work experience, work placements or internships with the respective companies. This year, people who have already spent time within organisations will take thirty-seven per cent of entry-level positions. The study stated that: “Over half the recruiters who took part in the research repeated their warnings that graduates who have had no previous work experience at all are unlikely to be successful during the selection process and have little or no chance of receiving a job offer for their organisation’s graduate programmes.” Despite all of this students are still encouraged to focus on the
positive growth in the student job market. Companies will also be creating more internships with around 12,000 paid placements being available this academic year. David Willetts, the Universities Minister, said: “The substantial rise in the number of graduate vacancies demonstrates that confidence in the UK economy is growing and businesses really value the skills the UK’s first-rate graduates can bring to their companies. A degree is still one of the best routes to a good job and a rewarding career.”
Top businesses are reserving around 40% of graduate jobs for students who have spent time with the respective companies The report has ultimately shown that work placements and internships could be the way forward to accessing the very best of the graduate jobs.
Bee shortage in the UK Heston’s hospital meals Abbie Weaving
Europe lacks a total of 13.4 million honeybee colonies, approximately 7 billion individual bees, to help pollinate food crops according to new research from the University of Reading. The UK has one of the greatest shortages of the pollinator, with a staggering one million additional honeybee colonies needed to increase the deficiency and only Moldova, with an economy 300 times smaller, sits below the UK. Although the honeybee population grew by 7% over 41 countries between 2005 and 2010, the increased demand for biofuels throughout the same period led to a dramatic rise in particular crops. These, including oilseed rape, soybeans and sunflowers, have expanded by over a third. Honeybees therefore, are no longer able to keep up with this demand, and coupled with pesticide use and disease, their numbers have begun to fall over recent years.
One million additional honeybee colonies are needed to increase the deficiency Lead author of the research journal, Dr Tom Breeze, from the University of Reading, said: “There have been big increases in lots of countries with oilseed rape.In Greece in 2005, there were a few hundred hectares grown, but since then it has exploded because they can get biofuel subsidies for it.”
To compensate for this decline in honeybees, other wild pollinators such as bumblebees, solitary bees and hoverflies, are now doing much of the work. There is a reliance on natural pollinators, which are not being monitored in the UK, that could be hindering yields and thereby threatening the country’s crops. Further regulation and protection is therefore needed to encourage honeybee populations and to maximize their services to crops.
“We face a catastrophe in future years unless we act now.” Co-author on the paper, Professor Simon Potts, from the University of Reading, added that: “We face a catastrophe in future years unless we act now. Wild pollinators need greater protection. They are the unsung heroes of the countryside, providing a critical link in the food chain for humans and doing work for free that would otherwise cost British farmers £1.8 billion to replace. There is a growing disconnection between agricultural and environmental policies across Europe. Farmers are encouraged to grow oil crops, yet there is not enough joined-up thinking about how to help the insects that will pollinate them. We need a proper strategy across Europe to conserve wild bees and pollinators through habitat protection, agricultural policy and farming methods - or we risk big financial losses to the farming sector and a potential food security crisis.”
Leigh Anderson
Recently food scientists at the University of Reading have been working with TV chef Heston Blumenthal to improve hospital meals. In July 2006, the University of Reading presented Heston with an honorary Doctor of Science degree in recognition of his unique scientific approach to food and longstanding relationship with the University’s Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences. Heston, who is known for his scientific cooking approach, and the team of food scientists have discovered that the foods the patients found more appealing were foods made with ingredients that contain umami, the fifth basic taste. The other four basic tastes are salt, bitter, sweet and sour.
Heston and the team of food scientists have discovered that foods made with ingredients that contain umami, the fifth basic taste, are more appealing
tastier and they also ate more of Heston’s dish.
In July 2006, the University of Reading presented Heston with an honorary Doctor of Science degree Further trials need to be made to investigate whether or not Heston’s recipes will prevent malnutrition as the patient will be eating more. Currently one in three people who are admitted to hospitals or care homes in the UK are malnourished or are at risk of becoming malnourished. Umami is the Japanese word for savoury and the flavour of foods can be increased by umami, which detects an amino acid that is common in meat, cheese, broth and other foods rich in protein. Umami can be found in many ingredients including, Worcester sauce, soy sauce and ketchup.
The trial involved thirty one elderly patients and they were asked to eat as much or as little as they wanted of two different cottage pies, one was made by Heston and the other was a standard cottage pie. According to the journal Nutrition and Aging, Heston’s dish was the overall winner. The patients claimed that his cottage pie was far
Heston commented: “Mealtimes should be something to be celebrated in hospital. They should be something to look forward to. “Umami is a great way to rejuvenate the dining environment in hospital and improve the flavour in the mouth.”
News 3
Editor’s Picks Reading floods
The nationwide floods affected Reading over the Christmas break with several flood warnings put into place in and around Reading; as well as in several places on the River Thames. The University of Reading’s weather station recorded that there was 152.3mm of rain that fell from Monday 16 December to Monday 6 January. This is equivalent to 24% of Reading’s yearly rainfall in just over three weeks according to Dr Roger Brugge, Senior Computational Scientist in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading. At the University itself, the conditions were fine and the floods were rather unnoticeable, apart from some of the sports pitches being waterlogged. Flood warnings on the Thames were lifted on the Tuesday 14 January although river levels still remain high.
Student Beans app
Student Beans have launched a new iPhone app for University students in order to help students save more money and stretch funds even further. The app, Student Beans ID, acts as a digital form of a student card and allows students to discover even more discounts on the high street. StudentBeans are hoping that their new app will replace the need for traditional student discount cards that can cost up to £10. The app also consists of several money saving tips and includes more local content than on any other student discount app. Student Beans ID can be used at high street shops, restaurant and entertainment venues with lots of well know businesses signing up to make the card usable in over 5,000 venues nationwide.
Join the Media team
RUSU Media Applications are now open! This is the first time Spark*, Junction11 and RU:ON Tv have run their applications and elections together. We’re looking for enthusiastic, creative and passionate students to take the lead for next year’s media executive positions. It’s great experience and means you will get to lead a media outlet and work within a team. We already have the studio, offices and equipment, feel free to come in and have a look any time at the Stephen Lawrence Media Centre. As exec committee you will work in conjunction with the elected Student Engagement Officer who is Head of Student Media – working on branding and distributing your content across campus. If you’re at all interested either drop by Student Activities or email studentengagement@rusu.co.uk. Find more info here: www.rusu. co.uk/media.
4 NEWS
news.spark@reading.ac.uk
Lecturers ‘send off’ students Amelia Longman
Some lecturers are resorting to desperate measures to stop and deter disruptive and infantile behaviour in lectures by using a red and yellow card method found on the football pitch, and notably a method often used by primary school teachers.
Professor Jackson argues that a majority of disruption comes from male students Professor Caroline Jackson from the University of Lancaster observed and interviewed students between 2011-2013 at a University in the South East of England to observe such behaviour, behaviour that has been deemed ‘laddish’. Professor Jackson argues that a majority of disruption come from male students. In her paper ‘Lad Culture and Higher Education’, Professor Jackson details of how this behaviour involves: “talking and generally being loud (which disrupted classes); being a joker; throwing stuff; arriving late; and being rude and disrespectful to lecturers”. She then goes on to detail
how: “Some lecturers told alarming stories of aggressive and very antagonistic confrontations between lecturers and male students”. The paper suggested that after the first year of University the most disruptive students would have failed their first year exams had this method not been used. With ‘Lad Culture’ being a relevant and current topic amongst Universities the research found that there was no link between the disruptive and ‘laddish’ behaviour found in the research with “rape-supportive attitudes” that ‘lad culture’ employs.
The paper suggested that after the first year of University the most disruptive students would have failed their first year exams Recalling Edinburgh Univeristy’s decision to ban Robin Thicke’s song ‘Blurred Lines’, Professor Jackson’s research dispels any link between laddish behaviour and the misogynist attitudes associated with the label.
Friday 24 January 2014 Spark*
Fire breaks out at Bulmershe Rebecca Spokes
At around 7pm on the evening of Tuesday 24 December, a fire broke out in the Bulmershe Court Campus, Woodley. The former halls of residence was previously owned by the University of Reading and was due for demolition after all teaching and student halls have moved to the Whiteknights and London Road campuses.
The halls of residence had been owned by the University and was due for demolition Prince Gibril, a security guard at the site, spotted the fire and called the emergency services immediately as it consumed the Louden Block. He stated: “I saw a plume of smoke and I knew something was wrong.” By the time the first fire and rescue services arrived at the scene, the fire had taken hold of the roof and upper floors. Steve Borham, the crew manager of Wokingham Road Fire Station stated: “By the time we arrived the second floor
Spark* weather forecast
was gone. The flames were coming out of the roof space about ten feet into the air.” The three-story building was empty when the fire broke out although a number of students had been living there temporarily until last month. The fire was bought under control at around 9.30pm but was still not fully extinguished. Firefighters were taking part in their union’s latest strike over Government pension policy. They handed over to a ‘resilience crew’, manned by volunteers, who continued to deal with the incident until the fire was completely out. This happened at around midnight, five hours after the initial alarm was raised. Senior officers remained at the scene throughout the night.
A number of students had been living there temporarily until last month
The University of Reading also confirmed that the sale of the building to the developers CALA homes, the UK’s most upmarket major home builder, was completed on Monday 23 December.
“We understand there is now a police investigation into the cause [of the fire]. We will assist the authorities fully” Fires also took place at the University of Reading last term with both St. Georges Hall and Bulmershe Court Campus, before it was closed, having the emergency services called out to them. Although the cause of the fires
Upon the subject, the University of Reading tweeted: “We understand there is now a police investigation into the cause [of the fire]. We will assist the authorities fully.”
were identified to be cooking attempts by students, the cause of this fire is still unknown to this date.
Snow forthcoming?
Image courtesy of the University Press Office Weather watcher
Samuel Lanckmans and Daniel Page
Friday 24:
A cold but dry start to the day, however later on in the morning a rather persistent spell of rain will start to spread in from the west, setting the theme for the rest of the day. The rain will have occasional heavier spells, especially in the evening. As a result of this lingering rain, the temperature will not drop off overnight on Friday so it will remain frost free. The rain however will have died out by the morning.
Saturday 25:
A largely fine and dry day. Mainly cloudy with occasional sunny spells, however there is an outside chance of a shower, which could
potentially be on the heavy side. There will be a brisk westerly wind which will make it feel colder than the temperature values suggest. The cloud should start to clear by the evening, and with added wind chill factor it will feel below freezing on Saturday night, so take a coat if you’re heading out.
Sunday 26:
The morning will begin on a dry, chilly and cloudy note. Another band of fairly heavy rain is expected to pass through Reading in the afternoon and evening, however should clear off by night-time, to leave the potential for another frost by the early hours. High wind speeds will once again make it feel very chilly both in the day and night.
Into next week:
The unsettled theme continues, however with slightly lower temperatures than we have seen of late. No sign of a significant cold snap however, with the Atlantic still firmly in charge of our weather.
If there is one question I get asked most as a student meteorologist at this time of year it has to be, will there be any snow? For the last month I have been promising friends and family that snow is a couple of weeks away, and I have always been disappointingly wrong. One of the main reasons for this lack of unseasonal weather is something called the polar vortex, an area of low pressure that sits predominantly over polar regions, and locks in all the cold in the arctic. This year, the polar vortex is particularly strong, it’s powered by the temperature difference between the cold arctic night, and the warmer temperatures of lower latitudes. The strong polar vortex, powers a strong jet stream and this is a key player in what has brought along the many storms that have tracked over reading
this winter. So why did I promise snow and cold? Well, usually in the UK, a requirement of cold and snow is for high pressure to set up over high latitudes, such as Scandinavia or Greenland. Currently, as I write this article, high pressure is set up over Scandinavia, perfect for cold and snow, as was predicted a few weeks ago. The big problem has been the polar vortex; it has stopped the cold air in its tracks over Europe and kept us in a stormy and mild regime. So what do we need to let the cold air ashore into the UK? We need a weakening of the polar vortex, and only then will we start to see some proper cold along with the risk of some snow fall. A weakening of the polar vortex is often initiated by a warming of the upper atmosphere (a sudden stratospheric warming) and this is what meteorologists are on the lookout for!
Spark* Friday 24 January 2014
editor.spark@reading.ac.uk
CAREERS 5
Careers Beating the January blues The holidays are over, a new term has begun and everything is suddenly, alarmingly in full swing. We’re over half way through January, and some of us are still missing the comfort of our Christmas jumpers… However, don’t despair, 2014 is just beginning, and it’s the perfect time to start planning how to best use the year ahead. It’s important to plan how you’re going to enjoy 2014. Make the most of your holiday time, and plan a getaway or road trip, book a festival or schedule in some mini breaks…it’s great to have things to look forward to and brightens up the 2014 calendar.
As well as organising the fun stuff, fitting in some plans for development and progression in your career or studies can be a satisfying and productive activity. Here are some ideas: • If you’re a finalist, perhaps start looking at the graduate schemes available to you. If you’re not interested in the big schemes, you can research local small companies that might be interested in taking on graduates. • For first and second years, have you considered a placement? It’s a good way to get some all-important work experience and earn some money before graduating.
• And for all students, remember the Easter, summer and winter holidays are a great time to fit in an internship or work experience. • As well as paid work and work experience, volunteering can be fun, add value to your CV, and a fantastic way to meet new people. The RED Award is also available to all current students and is a great way of getting your hard work and time well spent acknowledged. For more information on careers, volunteering and to see how we can help you make the most of 2014, visit our website, www.reading.ac.uk/careers.
Careers centre events (24 January - 7 February) Happy 2014 everyone, and welcome to a new term! We are back to our normal 9am-5pm opening hours here in the Careers Centre, and our Careers Advisers are available for fifteen minute ‘quick queries’ between 11.30am-2pm. So if you’re stuck on where to go next in your job search, want to explore your options, need CV or application help and more, drop in and see us! Remember we also run careers events every week, and you can find more about these and how to book on to them at www.reading. ac.uk/careers/myjobsonline.
Monday 27 January:
Carrington 101. 1.00 - 1.50 pm.
Monday 3 February
Wednesday 5 February
Mock interviews. Carrington 116. 10.00- 12.00 pm.
RED award training session: business networking. Palmer 103. 6.00 - 7.00 pm.
Assessment centres with Mondelez International. Carrington 101. 1.00 - 1.50 pm.
Application forms with Grant Thornton. Carrington 101. 1.00 1.50 pm.
Psychometric testing with PWC. Carrington 101. 1.00 - 1.50 pm.
Wednesday 29 January:
Making applications with skills transformer. Palmer G05b. 1.00 1.50 pm.
Thursday 6 February
Exploring your career options: science/life sciences. Palmer 104. 1.00- 1.50 pm.
Tuesday 28 January: ‘I’m an arts/HUMS/social sciences student’ - job searching beyond the graduate schemes. Carrington 101. 1.00 - 1.50 pm.
Career options for humanities and social sciences students. Carrington 201. 1.00 - 1.50 pm. CV workshop. Palmer 105. 1.00 1.50 pm.
Thursday 30 January: Assessment centres with Mondelez International. Carrington 101. 1.00 - 1.50 pm.
Placements and work experience for science/life sciences.
Tuesday 4 February PWC coffee cart event. Outside the Palmer building. 11.00 am - 3.00 pm. Career options: getting into teaching and where to find the experience.
Career options: media and publishing, and where to find the experience. Carrington 101. 1.00 - 1.50 pm.
Friday 7 February Career options: accountancy. Palmer 106. 1.00 - 2.30 pm.
CV workshop. Palmer G05. 1.00 1.50 pm.
Top Jobshop jobs: Chosen by Careers Service See the following for a selection of jobs selected by the University Careers Service: Job Title: Casual Front of House Assistant Company: University of Reading Location: Whiteknights Pay: National minimum wage Closing date: 8 April 2014 Job Title: Retail Assistant Company: Pisclove International Ltd Location: Legoland Windsor Pay: National Minimum Wage and above
Closing date: 30 January 2014 Job Title: Customer Support Agent Company: Hyperoptic Limited Location: Reading Pay: £8ph Closing date: 31 January 2014 Job Title: Fun science presenter Company: Sublime Science Location: West London and Berkshire Pay: £11.01-£12.00 ph. Closing date: 07 April 2014
Job Title: Waiter/waitress. Company: Elmhurst Hotel. Location: Reading Pay: £76 per week Closing date: 31 January 2014 Job Title: Lunchtime playworker Company: Oxford Road Community School Location: Reading Pay: £7.71 ph Closing date: 31 January 2014 Job Title: Cleaner
Company: GSF Sandylight Limited Location: Reading Pay: National Minimum Wage and above Closing date: 13 February 2014 Job Title: Analyst Expert Company: 15 Healthcare Location: Local Pay: £11.01-£12.00 Closing date: 17 February 2014 Job Title: Primary School Sports Coach Company: The Elms Sport in Schools
Location: National Pay: £10.01-£11 ph Closing date: 01 April 2014 Job Title: Bartenders and Waiting Staff Company: At Your Service Event Staffing Limited Location: Local and National Pay: National Minimum Wage and above. Closing date: 02 May 2014
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Friday 24 January 2014 Spark*
comment.spark@reading.ac.uk
Spark* Friday 24 January 2014
DEBATE 7
Debate
Do the actions of celebrities like Miley Cyrus have a negative impact on young children? Yes No Kitty ruskin
2013 was dubbed ‘the year of Miley Cyrus’. Unsurprising; if you looked in magazines or browsed the internet, it was hard to avoid hearing about her. And why this was is simple: she took her clothes off. To give Miley Cyrus her credit where it’s due, ‘Wrecking Ball’ was her first single to reach number one; her 2013 album ‘Bangerz’ sold 270,000 copies in its first week. But can this success really be pinned down to the quality of the songs in themselves? We’ve all seen ‘We Can’t Stop’, the first video where we saw her scantily clad and ‘twerking’. This video got 10.7 million views in the first twenty-four hours of its release. The trend was followed in ‘Wrecking Ball’, which now has 495,515,491 views, in which she swings on a concrete ball naked and licks a hammer. Her latest video, ‘Adore You’, continues the trend in its attempt to be sexually provocative. And unless you live under a rock, you will have heard of the VMA performance where she got intimate with a foam finger and twerked on Robin Thicke in a bikini.
To be successful in the music industry you must be overtly sexy, which means taking your clothes off But would we be talking about Miley Cyrus if she had sung ‘We Can’t Stop’ fully clothed? Would these videos have got even half so many views if they weren’t so sexually provocative? If she had followed ‘We Can’t Stop’ with a video in which she was covered up as much as any male singer is, instead of stark naked, would ‘Wrecking Ball’ have 495,515,491 views today? It’s interesting that the director’s cut– in which we only see Cyrus’ face – has a vastly smaller 16,767,022 views at the time of writing. Would her album have sold so well if not for the mania that re-
Amy gastman
sulted from her new, provocative image? Put more simply, would it have sold so well if Cyrus had kept her clothes on? In my opinion, definitely not. And is it surprising? When you think of the most successful popstars – Britney Spears, Beyonce, Shakira, Rihanna, Katy Perry – one thing that they all share in common is that they’ve appeared semi-naked in music videos at some point.
The effects this could have – already in motion perhaps – could be enormous Artists like Adele with a similar level of success are viewed as exceptions. And this is at the heart of the issue. It seems that, for the majority of women, to be successful in the music and entertainment industries you must be overtly sexy, which means taking your clothes off. And if you’re not sexy, you are very likely irrelevant: at best demure, at worst boring. Cyrus herself acknowledged this in an interview: ‘No matter what I do, I’m either boring or I’m a slut.’ Have you ever heard a male celebrity say this? Still, don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with taking your clothes off for artistic expression. It’s only a problem when you feel as though you have to take your clothes off if you want the song and music video to do well. And this is where I feel we are today. Yet surely it’s just as oppressive for women as the restrictions a hundred years ago not to expose ourselves. So what effect could this have on children? It spreads the message that women and girls are not relevant as long as they are not attractive. Looks are everything. Girls may grow up thinking that they are irrelevant in the world so long as they are not good-looking, and boys may grow up thinking that of them too. The effects this could have – already in motion perhaps – could be enormous.
Nothing annoys me more than the self-righteous media industry targeting celebrities like Miley Cyrus and dubbing them a bad influence. It is the easy option to blame the star shoved into the limelight, hounded by paparazzi through no fault of their own. Essentially, Miley Cyrus is a twenty one year old young adult, and I for one can think of far worse things my peers have done at that age. Fame should not hinder an individual’s life. It is not the responsibility of a celebrity to ensure they portray a ‘butter wouldn’t melt’ persona just in case the intrusive paparazzi invade their privacy or the media industry broadcast their controversial music video 24/7.
It is the easy option to blame the star shoved into the limelight, hounded by paparazzi through no fault of their own A crucial error in the question lies in its assumption that celeb culture has a young target audience. Miley Cyrus has grown up along side the original fans of Hannah Montana, first airing in 2006, the youngest of which now fourteen to fifteen have surpassed the bracket of ‘young children’ and are capable of perspective when recognising some of the ridiculous lengths she will go to for media attention. Perhaps it is the powerhouse Disney franchise that should be held accountable for the mixed signals even younger children receive by still promoting her squeaky clean image through reruns of Hannah Montanna three years after the final season.
We are creating a generation of cotton wool kids However, even if the actions of controversial pop stars are being
shoved down the throats of the young and so-called susceptible, what has changed? Celebrities like Miley Cyrus have been around from day dot – Marilyn Monroe being the perfect example of scandalous star of the 50s and 60s, whom to this day girls idolise and plaster inspirational quotes all over her pictures. Every generation has had a plethora of outrageous idols the young have aspired to be; yet here we are in 2014 – not in the dystopian future the media so lavishly predict for our young children.
The swell of the media industry has brought with it an over sensitivity in regards to the impact of celebrity culture With the likes of Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears as my equivalent ‘Miley Cyruses’, it was more than likely you would find eight year old me prancing around my bedroom imitating Aguilera in the ‘Dirrty’ video – of equal, if not more, sex appeal than anything Miley Cyrus has produced. But, here I am studying for my degree, twelve years later and relatively normal. The swell of the media industry in the last decade has brought with it an over sensitivity in regards to the impact of celebrity culture. By shielding our young children from the actions of scandalous celebs the media deem damaging, we are creating a generation of cotton wool kids who have not had their childhood to harmlessly copy and imitate their idols. Instead, we have a naïve generation who will hit their teens and be greeted with an influx of overwhelming tabloids. It is the impact these tabloids will have on a young adult unaccustomed to celebrity culture that may have a detrimental effect.
8 INTERVIEW
Friday 24 January 2013 Spark*
interview.spark@reading.ac.uk
interview
One small step for a Spark* Editor on different days. It was very rewarding; the book garnered some very flattering reviews and it was great exposure for myself and the novel.
Currently I’m working on the third novel in the trilogy
Lily Brown
This week we interviewed Jack Marshall, Physical Geography student and self-published author of When the World Ends... He gives us an insight into the world of publishing and juggling a writing career with a degree. The first installment of the trilogy is now available to dowload or to purchase online. Could you give a brief outline of the storyline (without giving too much away) for those who have not read the book? The story is set 100 years into the future, where humanity has mostly abandoned the Earth and now lives in space stations above it. Alec Corbett is 17 years old and the story follows him as he learns terrible things about the Board of Officials, who now control humanity. One of many problems he has in uniting people against them and raising awareness of their true nature is the fact that is father is a member of the Board of Officials. From there everything spirals out of control and Alec instigates humanity’s biggest revolution.
There’s always been ideas and plots running through my mind Has writing always been a passion of yours? Writing has always been a passion, from a very very young age. I can remember reading the first Harry Potter book when I was nine or ten and then going on the computer
and writing my own version of it! But there’s always been ideas, characters, themes and plots running through my mind, all of the time! I’ve gone through so many notebooks where I’ve tried to keep track of all of them. How long did it take you to write When the World Ends...? When the World Ends… took about two and a half years to write. I took about six months off because I came to university and I just didn’t have the time – I was having far too much fun! The longest part was preparing it for publication and trying to make it the best it could possibly be. The writing only took a year-or-so overall. How long was the process of publishing and was it a rewarding one? The publishing process was incredibly fast; I signed up to the deal in about April, I think. So once I knew it was going ahead, I had time to get the book ready and then I could start the process, which was very fast, efficient and simple to do. The most rewarding part was holding a physical copy of my book in my hands…it’s still such a surreal feeling! I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to it! How have you been advertising your book in order to generate interest? There is a Facebook page for the book, as well as Twitter and the official website. I recently collaborated with another blogger who arranged for When the World Ends… to go on a blog tour, which is essentially an online tour where different blogs feature my book
You published with AuthorHouse, did this allow you to publish more on your own terms? Definitely, everything was completely on my terms. There were some limitations, such as how many times I could reject their cover design, but otherwise everything was left entirely up to me which made the process even more rewarding because it became exactly what I wanted it to be, when I wanted it. The only thing I didn’t get to decide was the price!
her my middle name was Jasper – I don’t actually have a middle name!
Are you currently working on new material? Currently I’m working on the third novel in the trilogy, which I’d say is about 1/6 of the way there, so there’s still a long way to go! I’ve got stuff lined up for after the trilogy too. There’s always something that I’m writing! But I can only focus on one thing at a time. Did working on and publishing When the World Ends... interfere with your course at all or did you feel it fitted well with your degree?
You use a pseudonym when writing, what was the reason for this? I felt that my own name was a little blunt and sharp and didn’t stand out enough. I wanted something that sounded catchy, and I’d always liked the sound of “J.J.” – it just has a ring to it that I like. Plus it’s based on a personal joke with a friend where I once lied and told
I’ve always been told that you get what you give Lastly, any advice for budding writers who are struggling to get their work noticed?
It’s all about the work that you put it. I’ve always been told that you get what you give, and it’s exactly that. But that doesn’t just go for what you do to promote yourself, it goes for what you write too. If you’ve got something good, then give it everything you’ve got and who knows what you might get in return?
Would you advise using this method to other young authors? It depends. Before I did it, I showed the book around to a few people that I could trust to give me an honest opinion and they all told me they loved it. So I’d say do it if you’re confident. The last thing you want to do is invest in putting something out there that doesn’t meet the mark. I’d never have considered it if people hadn’t encouraged me to. Will there be more books in the When the World Ends... series or is it a standalone title? There will indeed! When the World Ends… is part of The World’s End Trilogy. Book two, titled “… Humanity Falls…” is due to be released this Christmas and is currently going through a number of editorial stages. Book three, the title of which has just been released (“…To New Life.”) should hopefully be ready for a Christmas 2014 release. The Trilogy chronicles Alec and his friends as they attempt to bring down the Board of Officials and fight for the whole of humanity in this future, dystopian world.
that the books take place in, albeit it highly exaggerated! But I suppose it does; my imagination does get carried away when I imagine the worst environmental situations, like climate change or ozone depletion (as in When the World Ends…). Perhaps my novels in the future may take a closer look at environmental issues or changes as a driving mechanism rather than a background setting.
Do you currently have any plans for any books or writing projects after the trilogy is completed?
It didn’t until I got it published, but I definitely notice it now, especially in my third year. It’s a real juggling act to keep everything spinning: degree, novels, promoting the novels as well as a parttime job. I often don’t get time to do any work on my books at the moment, as is the intensity of third year! So no, I can’t really say that it does fit with my degree! But I’m glad for that because when I do have free time I can completely get away from university work.
There’s always something that I’m writing! Having read the introduction to When the World Ends... the topic of environmental change is apparent. Did you interest in this come from your course? It does play a role in setting up the entire background for the world
I have a few ideas for what might come next, but to me this Trilogy was like hitting a bit of a gold mine and ideas don’t always come to fruition. There’s a series of books that I wrote when I was younger which I’d like to revisit. I know I will always be writing, no matter what it is or where it leads to! Do you think you will continue to write once you have left university and started work?
For sure. I imagine it will be much more difficult to write whilst doing a full-time job. Writing has always been such an important aspect of my life that I could never see myself not doing it. When I first came to university I stopped writing for five months or so, so I imagine post-university life will be somewhat like that; adjusting to new pattern of life and starting writing again once I’m settled.
Do you want to be involved in Spark*? Email Lily & James: interview.spark@ reading.ac.uk
Spark*
Friday 24 January 2014
music.spark@reading.ac.uk
music LIVE REVIEW
Black Sabbath/ Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats harvey connolly
Black Sabbath, are, let’s be honest, fairly iconic. They’re a band who, unless you’ve been living in a soundproofed cave or somewhere totally isolated from the rest of the world, you’ll have heard of, if not have been musically exposed to at some point or other. Having reformed a few years ago, the fruits of Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler’s labours were finally released in the form of a new album, 13, in the summer of last year. The ensuing tour led the band, on 10th December, to appear at the O2 Arena in London. On the one hand, I was thrilled at the prospect of seeing these guys live,
and even more surprised that the opportunity had come along – it’s been 44 years since the release of their eponymous debut album, so to have the majority of the line-up still intact and willing to perform seemed something of a miracle. On the other hand, there’s the obvious fear that an aged bunched of men may have lost that charisma and talent which propelled their careers in the early years, so I was initially a little wary. Support was provided by Cambridge-based band Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, hand-picked by guitarist Toni seemingly on the basis that they’re essentially a Sabbath sound-alike, to the extent that each track seems to pay glaring homage to his playing style. But, of course, this is the sound I’d paid to hear,
MUSIC NEWS
Harvey reviews the legendary rockers Black Sabbath...
and they certainly didn’t disappoint in the supporting role – any Sabbath fans out there, I’d recommend giving the track ‘Desert Ceremony’ in particular a listen!
I was thrilled at the prospect of seeing these guys live Sabbath themselves were heralded by Ozzy’s sound-check (‘Let me hear you scream!’) from behind the curtain, followed by the blaring sirens and warning lights which served as the prelude to ‘War Pigs’, the opening track to the 1970 album ‘Paranoid’, setting the tone for the set-list of classic material which was to follow. Ozzy’s
Blur and Gorillaz mastermind Damon Albarn has just announced his debut solo LP. Titled Everyday Robots, this will be the first album that Albarn has released under his own name, and will include guest appearances from the likes of Brian Eno. The album will also explore themes of ‘nature vs technology’, so it will be interesting to hear the final result of this.
The album will explore themes of ‘nature vs technology’ Speaking of new albums, the Foo Fighters have been dropping hints
MUSIC 9
vocals were surprisingly coherent, more so than his addresses to the crowd. The sentence ‘Hello London!.....’ trailed off into mumbled incoherence, eventually coming back together with the word ‘… song is called Snowblind!’, at least confirming that he knew where he was, and what he was supposed to be singing. It was pretty endearing to watch the still self-proclaimed Prince of Darkness shuffling haplessly about the stage, occasionally hurling a merry expletive or bucket of water at an unsuspecting spectator in the front row, but while old age (and undoubtedly a whole range of narcotics) may have taken their toll on his body, they’d done little to dilute his stage presence and charisma. The eerie silhouette of the singer against a glowing bank of green lights accompanied the tolling bell at the start of ‘Black Sabbath’, while he otherwise spent much of the show engaging in good-natured theatrics with Iommi, bowing before him whenever the time came for a heavy, bluesy guitar solo.
It was endearing to watch the Prince of Darkness shuffle around the stage The guitarist was undoubtedly the star of the show; already inspirational for his determination to continue playing after the loss of two fingertips many years ago, watching a man now emaciated
by chemotherapy still standing on stage, shredding guitar and beaming out at the crowd like the happiest man on earth was truly heart-warming. On tracks like ‘Into the Void’, ‘Behind The Wall Of Sleep’ and the newly recorded ‘Age of Reason’, his playing shone, the apocalyptic riffing towards the end of the latter proving his ability to write music had in no way diminished over the years.
The guitarist was undoubtedly the star of the show Bassist Geezer Butler remained predominantly in the background, but eventually stepped into the limelight to deliver an immensely funky, wah-smothered solo, whilst drummer Tommy Clufetos, the only non-original member of the touring line-up, delivered a thunderous, relentless drum solo midset, which if nothing else, wasn’t lacking in bass pedal. The band concluded with ‘Paranoid’ as an encore, perhaps their most widely known track, before the band took their final bow. Sonically, the band were in fantastic form, but more than that, the very fact that they continue to perform and write music to the same standard as their heyday, despite their personal challenges and the debilitations of old age, made the experience that degree more awe-inspiring.
Metal fans scorn The Simpsons about their upcoming eighth LP recently. As you would probably expect, they’re not very subtle hints- the band posted a photo of the album’s master tapes on Instagram with the caption ‘It’s fucking
ON’- but as one of the biggest rock bands in the world with an impressive back catalogue behind them it’s safe to say that whatever they put out will be highly anticipated.
UK Band Judas Priest received an apology from the writers of The Simpsons after a recent episode referred to them as a ‘Death Metal’ band. The episode, which involved Homer illegally downloading movies and music to show to the rest of the town, received scorn from metal fans who argued that Priest are not part
of the Death- Metal subgenre and that labelling them as such was a case of lazy writing in order to gain a quick joke. Although that’s not exactly surprising to anyone who’s watched a recent episode of The Simpsons, the chalkboard gag above was shown an episode later in order to correct the matter.
10 MUSIC
music.spark@reading.ac.uk
ALBUMS
Beyonce Self Titled columbia
siobhan maguire
She released this album within hours. No press, no promo, just 14 songs and 17 videos. Beyonce’s fifth studio album took everyone by surprise, and I can safely say that its content surprised me even more. The record is not like her old stuff. There are no massive ballads like ‘Halo’ or ‘Listen’, and each track has a slower, quite soulful vibe. I have to admit, I was not overwhelmed by the album on first listen however, I feel like it could be a grower. I am already listening to the tracks, ‘Drunk in Love’ and ‘XO’ on the
We take a look at some of the best new releases...
regular and embracing Beyonce’s notorious high notes and riffs.
Each track has a slow, quite soulful vibe There is a different sound to this album compared to her previous releases like ‘4’ and ‘B’day’, perhaps it’s the pure emotion which the artist has put into it. The song ‘Blue’ is an obvious ode to her daughter, who features in the video itself. Beyonce’s vocals have a haunting quality in the tracks opening, as only her voice and a simple backing showcase. The song is peaceful, with gospel resonances and Beyonces voice is faultless to say the least. Other songs like ‘Blow’ are sexy and
sophisticated and Beyonce has no problem with flaunting her body as easily as she does her emotions. The ‘Visual Album’ as it has been dubbed marks Beyonce’s comeback not only as a singer but as an artist. Each video has an artsy quality and enhances the album, making it an experience rather than something simply for the ear. In the video for ‘Partition’, Beyonce flaunts her super toned body in not much more than a corset. Whilst the visuals for ‘Flawless’ compliment the songs deep sound with Beyonce and her entourage dancing aggressively at the camera.
This definitely marks Beyonce’s comeback as not only a singer but as an artist
Mogwai Rave Tapes sub pop
patrick scott
The most prominant thought I had whilst listening to Scottish band Mogwai’s eighth studio album Rave Tapes was the feeling that they have a sound that is
easily identifiable yet varies so consistently. Over their near 20 years as a band they’ve created a heavily instrumental template that they rarely stray from, but have managed to broaden it to the extent that their music never starts sounding redundant. That template is once again explored on the 10 tracks present here, and
My main criticism? Well, not for me. The album as a whole sort of amalgamates into one sound. A lot of what is good about each song becomes what’s bad about it when they are listened to altogether. The dark undertones and low basses of each song are great when combined with the lyrics and the videos, but to the ear, they just don’t surprise.
Pharrell Williams Happy columbia
The album as a whole
patrick scott
amalgamates into one
If there was one certain thing about music in 2013, it was that if you were listening to a charttopping, multi-million selling song there was a very good chance that Pharrell was on it somewhere. It’s appropriate, then, that he rounded out the year with ‘Happy’ hitting number one in the UK, a song that succeeds because it’s just as simple as the title suggests it is. Unlike that other, slightly misogynistic chart topper that Pharrell featured on last year, ‘Happy’ doesn’t aim for any sly humour or attempted parody. Instead, it’s three minutes of bouncy trumpets and consistant enthusiasm, making it just as inoffensive as it is catchy. I struggle to think of anyone making it through the 24 hour music video released alongside it (I’ve seen the 3 minute version and that felt a bit too long), but as it stands this is one of the rare number one hits that actually deserves to be at the top of the charts.
sound The album, none the less, is different and this is not a bad thing. An avid fan of Beyonce, it is quite nice to be challenged as a lis-
the results are just as intriguing as they’ve always been. Whilst Rave Tapes is a lot softer and more synthesizer driven than most of Mogwai’s recent albums, it still manages to feel emotive in a new way whilst hinting at call-backs to some of their earlier work. A good example of this is ‘The Lord Is Out Of Control’, probably the albums’ standout trackthe understated, melodic guitar work combined with the vocoderladen singing transform the song into something that sounds almost hymnal, whilst also playing around with effects the band used on 2003’s excellent Happy Songs For Happy People.
the LP’s (admittedly ironic) title,
Other highlights include the scraping guitar riff of ‘Master Card’, which flips in and out of solos and piano interludes like most of the best Mogwai songs do, and album opener ‘Heard About You Last Night’, which uses voice samples and xylophone tracks to create an ambient tone. ‘Remurdered’, on the other hand, is probably the only thing on here that lives up to
SINGLES
many of the tracks really stuck out
Beyonce seems to have really embraced her RnB roots with this album. Collaborations with Drake, Frank Ocean and her husband, Jay Z incorporate rap and vocals to match the low beats and bass which runs throughout the record. Her lyrics are as always relevant and quite relatable. In the song ‘Ghost’, she raps about ‘all those people working 9-5 just to stay alive’. However, I do have to question quite how much she would know about this sort of life…
They have a sound that is easily identifiable
Friday 24 January 2014 Spark*
tener and have something which I can really get my teeth into. I am slowly warming to the album Beyonce, and whilst it’s taking it’s time to grow I’m sure that Bey’s songwriting and irresistable style will have me putting the record on repeat within a month.
HHH and also the first Mogwai track that sounds ideal to play in some sort of weird underground nightclub in Germany. That’s mainly
HHHH
due to the synths and loops that grow until they swallow the track whole, resulting in something that sounds like their usual style but with a disco groove.
Mogwai have created a template that they’ve rarely strayed from With Rave Tapes Mogwai have once again created a consistently great album that doesn’t stand out as their best but showcases why they’ve achieved the status that they have today. It would be easy to criticise them as not attempting to go in a new direction, but when
If you have any album, gig or single reviews, or any music related thing you’d like to write about, let us know!
they’re doing what they do as well as they are, a view like that would be missing the point.
HHHH
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Spark* Friday 24 January 2014
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12 FILM&TV
Friday 24 January 2014 Spark*
film.spark@reading.ac.uk
film&TV
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: We don’t have a jiffy! Directed by: Peter Jackson Starring: Ian McKellan, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage Running Time: 161mins Genre: Fantasy Adventure Siobhan Whitebread
It’s a new experience not to have to start a review with a recap. Everybody, from grandmother to newly born babe, knows The Hobbit - as such, it’s safe to assume that pretty much everybody will know of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug as the second film of Peter Jackson’s three-part adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s masterpiece.
It sometimes feels overly lengthy Now that’s out of the way: it’s not a straight adaptation of the book, but it’s pretty damn great anyway. Drawing from the appendixes and The Silmarillion, Jackson paints a far wider world around the short children’s book. As a result the tone of this film differs
a lot from the first, becoming a lot darker. It is still enjoyable, however, and in my opinion the added darkness gives a grounding that sometimes wasn’t present in the first film. You get the sense that Jackson is building towards something, and you feel perfectly happy to sit back and enjoy the ride. This is made easier by the excellent performances. Most of the dwarves get an equal share of the lines, all the old actors grow even further into their characters and
all of the new seem determined to have a fair crack of the whip. Richard Armitage and Martin Freeman, in particular, handle their character development excellently and have a thoroughly compelling chemistry. The award for the most enjoyable performance, however, has to go to Lee Pace as Thranduil – he seems to have wandered in from an alternate universe where The Hobbit films are terrible, and is deter-
mined to be the best thing about them. The biggest fault that I can really think of with The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is that it sometimes feels a little… overly lengthy. Much like The Hobbit, thirty minutes of the action could’ve been cut and little would’ve been lost. It was nice to see Legolas back, but at no point did I see why he was actually needed. Tauriel, likewise, was enjoyable but pointless. And the unneeded focus on them led to a lack of needed focus on Smaug – cutting the film thirty minutes earlier would’ve left him a legitimate threat, as it was he seemed a little powerless.
ing. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug wasn’t perfect – but it was richly detailed, lovingly acted and legitimately enjoyable. And that, I think, is the best possible compliment you can give a film.
HHHH
Jackson paints a far wider world around the short children’s book Saying this, though, I still enjoyed every moment of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. I went to see it on a day where pretty much everything decided to be slightly awful at once, and still came out smil-
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom: A balanced account of remarkable man Director: Justin Chadwick Starring: Idris Elba, Naomi Harris, Terry Pheto Running time: 146mins Genre: Biography/Drama/ History Niki Igbaroola
On hearing about the possibility of this movie being made, my first response was exasperation at yet another biopic depicting a highly
skewed picture of Mandela’s life. However, the casting of Idris Elba to portray such an iconic figure left me with some hope and slowly started to garner some excitement within me.
Not completely flawless but it does justice My fear for this movie was that it would present a facade of perfection around Mandela’s life, omit-
ting his humanity in favour of hero worship. Pleasantly, I was surprised. The womanising Mandela, the thrice married Mandela and the freedom fighter Mandela as well as other aspects of this very complex man were all represented within this movie. Many critics believed the movie to have been rushed; packing too much of a well lived life into so short a space of time. I however, did not feel hurried whilst viewing this movie. The transition from youthful, money oriented Mandela to a man who realized his life purpose was very gradual and well played out.
This is no wholly onesided portrayal of significant years in a history Idris Elba embodied this character so well and seamlessly, a truly Oscar worthy performance. He took on the South African accent and intonations with the expertise of a native. Naomi Harris as Winnie Mandela was phenomenal. Her execution of her role as a woman who grew up in hate and bred it
within her in order to survive a horrendous time was breathtaking and thought provoking. This movie reminds us that Mandela alone did not end apartheid. The group of men with which he served in the first of the ANC are paid their due in this movie. This is no wholly one-sided portrayal of significant years in a history that affected the whole world but a fairly balanced portrayal of events; as balanced as any audience member can imagine at least. The director is wise not to
encase the movie in stifling severity. There is a wonderful scene in which Mandela and his fellow inmates after years of campaigning finally receive ‘long trousers’. It is a very poignant moment of celebration and laughter that lightens up a grim situation for both the characters and the audience. This is a brilliant movie, not completely flawless but it does justice to a great legacy!
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FILM NEWS IN BRIEF: The Game of Thrones Season 4 trailer dropped last week. Scheduled for April, it’s got everyone talking! Still plenty of time to watch...
Spark* Friday 24 January 2014
film.spark@reading.ac.uk
FILM&TV 13
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: We learn it’s good to dream Directed By: Ben Stiller Starring: Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott Running Time: 114mins Genre: Comedy, Drama Jonathan Edney
Ben Stiller has proved to be a deft pair of hands behind the camera with the hilarious Tropic Thunder
(2008) and here he brings new life to a short story by Walter Thurber, where the title character is a daydreamer who imagines himself in various different adventurous situations that are infinitely more exciting than real life. Stiller keeps the central concept but expands it so that Mitty is now an employee of LIFE magazine in charge of photographs and after
misplacing the image required for the new cover, he takes a leap into the world of adventure in search of the photographer.
ends up in a skateboard/ski highway chase. His eventual experiences don’t seem as exciting or entertaining as these but maybe that’s the point: nothing is quite as we imagine it and Stiller marks Walter’s momentous decisions with impressive flair, notably with comic-book style graphics seamlessly incorporated into the film’s environment and with his choice of song as he rushes into a departing helicopter.
Kristen Wiig makes a strong impact as Mitty’s colleague and crush At the film’s heart is Stiller’s performance as Mitty which, despite his comedy credentials, is remarkably restrained. Even when he begins his bizarre adventures, Mitty remains grounded in reality, both in terms of the character reacting in a realistic fashion rather than suddenly turning into Bond but also in terms of Stiller’s worldweary appeal. Mitty is a character that many can latch on to (who hasn’t imagined getting their desired partner or insulting their boss?) so that when he skateboards down the road in Greenland or treks in the Himalayas, you are rooting for him every step of the way. Kristen Wiig makes a strong impact as Mitty’s colleague and crush and the supporting cast are gener-
ally good, although Adam Scott’s performance as LIFE’s new boss verges on pantomime compared to the restraint of Stiller and most of the cast. The first half of the film is often funny, with Walter’s daydreams arriving with plenty of fanfare (jumping into a building) or just suddenly entering a scene (insulting the boss). The highlight is a bust-up between Walter and his boss that starts in an elevator but
At the film’s heart is Stiller’s performance as Mitty which, despite his comedy credentials, is remarkably restrained Stiller also takes advantage of the glorious scenery to give the simple story a sense of scale. Some have compared it to Forrest Gump and although lacking the emotion of Gump’s odyssey, Walter Mitty still teaches us that it’s good to dream.
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American Hustle: Lots of character but little plot Director: David O’Russell Starring: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawerence Running Time: 138mins Genre: Crime, Drama
from Amy Adams, whose multiple-crossings and fake English accent highlight her simultaneous confidence and loss of self. Jeremy Renner also gives some of his best work as the corrupt but understandable mayor, and Christian Bale proves again that his performances are transformations of both body AND manner. Jennifer Lawerence is also a standout as the eccentric Rosalyn, but unfortunately the movie keeps contriving reasons and set pieces to have her in the film, and it ultimately makes her character seem superfluous.
Matthew Crowe
All art is basically a con, and no movie this year seems to articulate that more than American Hustle. The opening sequence is that of Irving (Christian Bale) carefully placing his toupee and throughout the film the camera movements pay close attention to period detail and very revealing clothing (American Cleavage). This attention to the aesthetic of the actors and the style of the film is where American Hustle’s ultimate focus lies, to the detriment of other aspects.
The thing that makes the movie stand out are the individual performances Many great movies have been constructed from essentially no plot and those movies work best when they allow the characters and the
film’s tone to become the narrative (Lost in Translation, Withnail and I, most Richard Linklater films). The main problem with American Hustle is that although the focus on characters compared to the con is what distinguishes it from most heist movies, inconsistencies of character and a clearly structured plot which meanders as the actors go on various improvisational tangents is of a detriment to the story being told. While these moments can produce great individual sections - a kiss in the bathroom, the “ice fish-
ing” story, humourous conversations between Irving and Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawerence) - they never coalesce into a consistent whole, especially when we learn that the ending could have occurred without many of these elements. Although winning the Golden Globe for Best Comedy, the story isn’t structured or edited comedic aside from sequences with Bradley Cooper and Louis CK, with only occasional witticisms providing the laughter. O’Russell’s direction is being compared to Goodfella’s, but with
the seventies visuals and a lack of villains it is more comparable to Boogie Nights. And like Boogie Nights there is a prevailing sense of characters losing an identity as they go further into their own self delusions. But this idea of “identity” is taken to a literal surface level with the costumes and sets, and although this creates a sense of exuberance and gloss it also makes some elements feel cartoonish. The thing that makes the movie stand out are the individual performances, the best of which comes
Jennifer Lawerence is also a standout as the eccentric Rosalyn but... her character seems superfluous American Hustle is a good movie with great performances. I guess that can be taken from a director who has been reported saying “I hate plots. I’m all about characters, that’s it”. That’s fine I suppose, but then the question arises: if you don’t care about the plot, why should we?
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FILM NEWS IN BRIEF: 12 Years a Slave and American Hustle scooped “ Best Picture” awards and this year’s Golden Globes; Gravity earned Best Director.
14 FILM&TV
Friday 24 January 2014 Spark*
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film&TV
TV Spotlight: Bron/Broen, ‘The Bridge’ season 2 This review contains no major spoilers for season 1 or 2. Although Sherlock is undoubtedly the big-name detective serial on the BBC, you may well be missing out on a rare gem from Scandinavia. Bron/Broen (‘Bridge’ in Swedish and Danish respectively) is a serial not easily classified by genre given its diverse content. The individual dramas of the many characters weave in and out of the main narrative. A comparison could be made with The Wire but really you’re better off approaching it as a special TV offering.
she says only “no thanks, this isn’t very tasty”). The series won no small amount of praise for treating Aspergers (or whatever it is that’s up with Saga) in a very grown up fashion. Martin, also, isn’t simply a ‘walking disaster area’ like some kind of Danish-speaking Jimmy Mcnulty. His life is off the rails but working with Saga seems to be having a therapeutic effect.
You may well be missing out on a rare gem from Scandinavia
The magic of Bron is in the characters The two main characters in Bron, Martin and Saga, are detectives from Denmark and Sweden. These two countries, as you may know, are linked solely by the enormous, titular Øresund Bridge. In the first season the two investigated the case of a corpse placed almost exactly halfway across the bridge and the ‘truth terrorist’ behind the crime. Season 1 was something of a surprise hit in the UK when it was broadcast in 2012, hidden away on BBC 4 – the finale netted a total of over a million viewers when aired live. This reviewer was only alerted to the quality of the
series by a previous Spark* editor, to whom he is in indebted.
The series won no small amount of praise for treating Aspergers in a very grown up way Martin, not quite the ‘rogue cop’ stereotype but definitely not ‘by
the book’, is something of a mess. By the second series he is separated from his wife and children and haunted by the occurrences of season 1. Saga, whose ‘condition’ is never named (in the US remake she is explicitly described as having Aspergers) consults Martin on a case involving an unpiloted ship carrying five delusional and sickly passengers crashing into the bridge. The two resume their partnership, sleuthing around Swe-
den and Denmark to get a grip on a sadistic eco-terrorist group. As with season 1, though, nothing is as it seems at first glance. The magic of Bron is in the characters. None of them play to stereotypes – unlike in other serials which will go unnamed, Saga’s awkward behaviour is not just a comic device used to raise cheap laughs (although it is often funny in a deadpan manner; for example, when offered a recipe by a host
Bron’s formula has been seized upon worldwide, with the aforementioned US series and a French/ British collaboration (‘The Tunnel’). The BBC releases two hour-long episodes of the season each Saturday (10 episodes total) presumably in an effort to catchup with the Scandinavian TV run which finished in November last year. Although season 2 is certainly shaping-up to be excellent it’d be a crime to not watch the first beforehand. You’re in for a real treat. Bron/Broen is broadcast on BBC 4 starting at 9pm.
Nebraska: A surprisingly thought provoking film Starring: Bruce Dern and Will Forte Directed by: Alexander Payne Running Time: 110 mins Genre: Comedy-drama
the year, his ‘golden ticket’ set to make him a millionaire, not that he ever seems particularly concerned by the jackpot.
Tom Flew
The arrival of Nebraska in cinemas roughly marks the start of this year’s Oscar season, it having been touted as a contender for major awards – particularly Best Actor following Bruce Dern’s victory at Cannes this summer. It’s a time of year that brings as much trepidation as it does excitement, with every innovative and powerful film being matched by another equally sentimental and manipulative. Whether Nebraska itself is ‘Oscar-bait’ at all is arguable, as any significant haul of awards
would come as a surprise, but given director Alexander Payne’s track record at the Academy Awards (Payne having won awards for the screenplays of his last two films) to say the film is a complete outsider would be unfair. Nebraska tells the simple story of Woody Grant, a borderline senile resident of Montana, and his trip to the eponymous state of Nebraska. Woody is under the impression that he’s won $1,000,000
in a clearly fake prize draw, but his son David, humouring him in what looks to be the concluding chapter of his life, agrees to take him on a journey doomed to end in disappointment. As in all road movies there is a very slight plot, which allows plenty of room for characters and atmosphere in place of action. It’s clear that next to nothing happens in these small Midwestern towns, as Woody becomes the biggest news story of
It provides a unique, charming look at a part of the USA which is often deemed too drab for the silver screen. With 110 minutes to fill without anything much happening, Nebraska relies heavily on there being some kind of emotional connection between its characters and the audience. And this is a clear issue at the start, where we have been given only a narrow view of the main characters, making them appear somewhat unpleasant, particularly Woody and his wife Kate.
That said, despite the characters staying very much the same in the week or so we spend with them, our perception changes dramatically, eliciting genuine sympathy, particularly for Bruce Dern’s perfectly played Woody, as well as the rest of the Grants, all of whom bring excellent performances. With its low-key visual style – including the bold but wise choice to shoot in black-and-white – and minimal plot, Nebraska is more than anything an actor’s film. Using the construct of a road-trip we meet the extended family, who bring humour and drama in equal measure. This isn’t the kind of film to change your life, maybe not even your day, but it provides a unique, charming look at a part of the USA which is often deemed too drab for the silver screen.
FILM NEWS IN BRIEF - Unfortunately, the much awaited Batman vs Superman has been pushed back to the year 2016!
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Spark* Friday 24 January 2014
film.spark@reading.ac.uk
FILM&TV 15
Carrie: Another hugely unnecessary sequel She even seems at home playing the terrifyingly powerful girl on the brink of snapping. However, it’s hard to believe her as a true outcast and since this is so essential to the character, it becomes a disjointed performance. Luckily, Chloe Moretz is likeable and the supporting cast balances it out. Julianne Moore is wonderful as a wreck of a mother, too wrapped up in her faith and trauma to realise the damage she’s doing to her young daughter. Portia Doubleday is nasty yet complicated as Chris and Ansel Elgort is sweet as Carrie’s prom date Tommy Ross.
Directed by: Kimberley Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Julianne Moore, Judy Greer, Gabriella Wilde, Portia Doubleday, Ansel Elgort Running Time: 90 mins Genre: Horror Eleanor Alice Ring
Carrie White (Chloe Grace Moretz) is a shy teenager abused by her peers and her religious fanatic mother Margaret. After she is humiliated by her female classmates in the locker rooms, Carrie discovers that she has telekinetic powers and shakily begins to take back more control. Feeling guilty for her actions, one of the bullies Sue Snell (Gabriella Wilde) decides to ask her boyfriend to take Carrie to the prom so that she can have one happy night. However a long term bully of Carrie, Chris, is enraged at her suspension over the incident and plans a spiteful revenge for prom night that pushes Carrie over the edge.
This version of Carrie grabbed my interest when I heard the creators wanted this film to be an re-adaptation of the original Stephen King novel rather than a remake of the classic Brian De Palma film, both of which I am a huge fan. Thankfully, they kept to their word; it is more faithful to the book’s themes and chooses a modern day setting over nostalgia for the 1970s. It’s a shame that despite the rich source material and a great deal of potential, there
isn’t much point to this film. Beside using technology as a means for cyber-bullying, it doesn’t bring anything new to the story and overall, it is very flawed. Chloe Moretz does her best but it’s less an issue of her acting ability and more an issue of casting. Unfortunately, she isn’t a convincing choice as an awkward, sheltered victim. She is endearing as the shy, dolled up girl at prom, nervous yet excited as she experiences brief social acceptance.
Anchorman 2: First is best Directed by: Adam McKay Starring: Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, David Koechner, Steve Carell Genre: Comedy Running time: 119 minutes Alex Lawler
Anchorman 2 is the sequel to Anchorman, one of the funniest and most quotable movies of all time, which centres around a 1970’s news team of ludicrously over the top characters; namely the oldschool Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell); the sex-fiend Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd); sports nut Champ Kind (David Koechner) and special needs weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carell). Together, they meet and fight Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), who threatens to disrupt their male-centric utopia. From there, it escalates quickly, going through stages of love, loss, betrayal, revenge, war, redemption and sacrifice, in the most ludicrous manner possible. That naturally creates a rather awkward situation. On the one hand, this film should be great, with the talent behind it, the starting point, and the impact of the first film, this is very promis-
ing. But on the other hand, it has a very high standard to match up to, especially after nearly a full decade, and sadly it fails in that regard. But that hardly makes it a bad movie. On the contrary, it’s very worth your time, and even fans of the original will walk out of this satisfied. Unfortunately it’s just not as good as the first, both in terms of the jokes and the story.
Overall the film structure is a mess. What is the story though? Well, the news team and Veronica are back, and now they join the exciting, cutting edge world of 24 hour news. From there, a lot of stuff happens, but unfortunately, while the first film had a tight, continuous focus, which initiated all the rest of the nonsense, with just a few complete non-sequiturs, this one is all over the place. Plot points appear and disappear all over, have little to no impact, come back again, then get dropped again. Mini-plots appear all over, dealing with all sorts of scenarios, including a racially tense dinner, the complete failure of modern news to actually be news and the corruption of large corporations. None of these really amounts to
much, it just sits there and does nothing, and overall the film structure is a mess. That said, however, a lot of it is incredibly funny, as you’d expect it to be. Personal highlights for me were a stupendously forced car crash, nonchalantly smoking crack on air and Brick in general, thanks to the sheer unexpected moves he makes, and the show-stealing performance by Steve Carrel. Though, to be honest, for example, the romance between him and a similarly disabled lady, was a little too awkward, even for comedic purposes. A lot of moments are similarly cringe-worthy, and some of the jokes are more than a little confused. One final criticism is that there’s also some considerable rehashing of the first film’s plots and moments, including the infamous battle scene. Though in all fairness, that may have been my favourite part of both movies. So, boiling this all down to a set of simple questions, it runs thusly: Is it as good as the first? No. Is it funny? Most certainly. Is it worth seeing? I’d definitely say so.
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done special effects make every telekinesis scene cringe-worthy. Carrie may be disappointing overall but it does have heart, even if it’s misguided in its approach. Those unfamiliar with the story will probably find it to be a decent popcorn flick of a horror.
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Carrie may be disappointing overall but it does have heart There are other problems with the film such as the out of the place soundtrack, the rushed ending and Gabriella Wilde’s bland performance as Sue Snell but the worst offender has to be the CGI. I would have preferred to see objects be flung around on a bit of wire rather than watch the over-
This fortnight at the RFT... Student Tickets: £5.50
The Reading Film Theatre was established 40 years ago as an independant cinema with a policy to show the best films from around the world. With a mix of mainstream films and independant cinema, as well as foreign-language films, there is something for everyone and all are welcome. Below is a listing of showings for the upcoming fortnight...
Tuesday 28th January (8.00 PM) Fill the Void (U) Thursday 12th January (7.45 PM) The Railway Man (15) Tuesday 4th February (7.45 PM) About Time (12A) Wednesday 5th February (7.30 PM) Born in Flames (15)
Prices: Members £5.50 Non-members £7.50
RFT@reading.ac.uk www.Readingfilmtheatre.co.uk
FILM NEWS IN BRIEF - New trailer for the upcoming 300 film, Rise of an Empire, the weight is nearly over!
16 GIVE IT A GO WEEK
Friday 24 January 2014 Spark*
Find things to do at Give it a Go Week Calum mcintyre rogers
Do you find your spare time is spent just watching TV? Does your CV still list a 2011 Duke of Edinburgh award as your most recent extra-curricular accomplishment? Do you wish to change this state of affairs? The idea of Give it a Go Week at RUSU is to let students experiment with various student societies and sports teams at Reading, either for free or a discounted rate. GIAG is between Saturday 25 January and Sunday February 2 with several activities available every day during this period, including ‘tester sessions’ for sports, trips out, film screenings and more. A timetable of available events is below, but for a more substantial briefing head to rusu.co.uk/activities/giag. Although the fayre at which societies took bookings has been and gone, you can contact societies directly. Find their contact details at the society listings on rusu.co.uk/ activities and most will be happy to accept a booking that way.
Sample GIAG events: Sunday 26 January: Archery Balloon Poster Shoot (Reading Knights Archers)
Tuesday 28 January: Poker Session (Reading University Poker Society)
Location: Reading University Sportspark. 12.00 - 3.00 pm.
Location: Upper 3Sixty. 7.30 - 9 pm.
Find your inner toxophilite by bending the bow at “posters of celebrities and historical and fantasy villains. Sweets are tipped as prizes for the best closet Robin Hoods.
Learn when and how to hold ‘em and fold ‘em with an introductory session to the noble sport, with prizes available in what the society describe as a “risk free environment” (leave your six-shooters at home). Poker novices will be advised on how to play.
A fee of £1 is required for this event.
A fee of £1 is required for this event.
Monday 27 January: Try SCUBA Diving (Reading University Sub-Aqua Club)
Wednesday 29 January: Swing Dance Society Tea Party
Location: Carrington Building and a local swimming pool. 7.15 - 9.00 pm.
Location: Wessex Hall. 7.30 - 9.30 pm.
If you’ve not yet tried SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) diving this is a good opportunity to give it a shot. In this session you will learn the basics of diving and diving safety in the comfort of a pool. This event is completely free (!), so book ahead to ensure you have a place.
Rather than haranguing Barack Obama for instituting healthcare reform or dumping boxes of tea into Whiteknights Lake, Swing Dance Society are putting on a “vintage tea party” This event is free, so book ahead to avoid disappointment.
Spark* Friday 24th January 2014
arts.spark@reading.ac.uk
ARTS&BOOKS 17
Arts&BOOKS
The Phantom of the Opera Phantom Review Charlotte Coster
Phantom of the Opera is a classic musical. One that has been in the West End forever, and probably will stay there forever more. And now I have finally seen it it is easy to see why. Apart from having heard of a few of the songs, I knew very little about this musical before this evening. I hadn’t seen the film or even googled the plot or anything. And I wasn’t even that sure I would like it. But I was pleasantly surprised.
rise to be one of the stars of the opera…I won’t give away the ending but believe me it will keep you gripped throughout. It contains love, desire, murder, humour and a varied range of dance numbers which all adds together to make this such an overwhelmingly huge production.
Containing love, desire, murder and humour, it is a magical production On top of the plot (based on a novel by the French author Gaston
Leroux) what adds to the musical’s impact even more, are the huge pieces of scenery and the special effects that are used throughout. I can not praise these enough! There were magical illusions, fire, falling backdrops and a chandelier that flies over the audience. All of these take a very skilled backstage team who were flawlessly slick to make the complicated production a success. And with all that incredible support, they needed a very strong cast! Within the biggest company I have ever seen, there was some incredible talent, led ably by the leading members. Geronimo
Rauch in particular, was wonderfully creepy as the Phantom, switching between his varied emotions with well practiced ease.
There is fire, falling backdrops and a chandelier that flies This musical was intense and slightly creepy but over the top of it, hugely entertaining. It really is a roller coaster of emotions and definitely should not be missed. Make sure you go and see it!
It is the 25th anniversary, so head on down to Her Majesty’s Theatre, London and attend a fantastic, unforgettable show.
Times: Monday – Saturday evenings 7.30pm Thursday & Saturday matinees 2.30pm Price: For performances from 28 April – 25 October 2014: Monday to Saturday; £67.50, £50, £41, £36, £26, £21
It will keep you gripped throughout Just to get the plot out of the way first of all, as it is rather complicated… the basic premise is that there is a phantom (funnily enough!) who is stalking an opera house in the 1800s. After the lead singer storms out due to the Phantom’s ghostly doings, the young Christine is auditioned and allowed to take on the main role. It turns out that the Phantom, or The Angel of Music as Christine knows him, is actually the one who taught her to sing so beautifully. But she pays dearly for her opportunity to
Fancy being an editor for Spark*? It has come to the end of the road for Lucy and I and we’d like to thank you all for your fantastic contributions throughout the year. If you fancy taking over from us and becoming the new Arts and Books editor/s, please apply via RUSU- http://rusu. co.uk/activities/media_home/ and check out the new Spark* roles and responsibilities file to know exactly what it is we do. There’s also loads of info on the brand new editor positions and how you can get involved. Join Spark* and experience working in a thriving team of journalists/editors firsthand! Ellen and Lucy ‘Bark’ and ‘Half of What I See’ Sophie Jefferies
18 THE SPARK TEAM
Friday 24 December 2014
editor.spark@reading.ac.uk
Spark*
THE SPARK* TEAM NEWS
EDITOR
COMMENT & DEBATE
editor.spark@reading.ac.uk
Calum Rogers
Daniel Mitchell
news.spark@reading.ac.uk
INTERVIEW
POLITICAL COMMENT
Nathalie Lowe
politics.spark@reading.ac.uk
James Clayton
Lily Brown
interview.spark@reading.ac.uk
interview.spark@reading.ac.uk
TRAVEL
Hannah Banks
travel.spark@reading.ac.uk
ARTS & BOOKS
Lucy Snow
arts.spark@reading.ac.uk
FASHION
Samantha Yates
Sabina Rouse
Ellen North-Row
v.purcell@reading.ac.uk
MUSIC
Siobhan Maguire
music.spark@reading.ac.uk
GAMING
Aaron Hall
Jodie Hitch comment.spark@reading.ac.uk
SCI & TECH
Patrick Scott
music.spark@reading.ac.uk
Matt Twells
scitech.spark@reading.ac.uk
FILM & TV
Jack Marshall
Ollie FitzGerald
gaming.spark@reading.ac.uk
film.spark@reading.ac.uk
film.spark@reading.ac.uk
BEAUTY
HEALTH
SPORT
PR
Tom Newbold
Alice Stentiford
Elle Turner
fashion.spark@reading.ac.uk
beauty.spark@reading.ac.uk
DESIGN DIRECTOR
PHOTOGRAPHY
ALSO
Charlotte Coster
(Film & TV online editor)
Emma Reeves (Travel Editor)
Will Trickey (Designer)
Chrissie Levick Sarah Harvey-Kelly
Could this be you? Email:
arts.spark@reading.ac.uk
fasion.spark@reading.ac.uk
Sam Winslet
Abi Gammon
news.spark@reading.ac.uk
(Designer)
Ioulia Zoukova (Designer)
Sarah Lienard
health.spark@reading.ac.uk
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Spark* is written, designed & typeset by students at the University of Reading. Printed by Newbury News Limited, Newspaper House, Faraday Road, Newbury, Berkshire. RG14 2DW. Published and funded by Reading University Students’ Union - studentengagement@rusu.co.uk. Spark* is completely editorially independent. Complaints should be made to the Editor, in the first instance, and thereafter to RUSU. All complaints should be made in writing. All articles, letters etc. must include a name, address, and contact number/e-mail address. These may be withheld from publication at specific request. Spark* or RUSU can take no responsibility for products or services advertised herein. Spark* reserves the right to reject or edit any submissions. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the Editor. The views expressed in Spark* do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, particularly those expressed in the comments pages, which are often the opinions of the specific authors. Photographs in Spark* are copyright to the photographer concerned.
Spark* Friday 24 January 2014
fashion.spark@reading.ac.uk
FASHION 19
Celebrity vogue Winter campus style Hannah Stanford
Two of the most controversial names in the celebrity world have recently entered the fashion sphere to spruce up fashion for the fabulous 2014 and it has certainly caught our attention. Both Kristen Stewart and Miley Cyrus, both famous for maintaining a perfectly practised pout even in the most desperate of situations (mostly love related), have been elected to represent two of the biggest fashion houses. Some people just have everything. Many took to twitter in shock in December as Kristen Stewart was announced as the new face of Chanel for May 2014. Naturally, the Twilight star’s well renowned emotionless face amused many when the news was leaked. It seems that the criteria to be a cover for Chanel is as follows: You have to be a famous actress who refuses to smile. Mona Lisa impressions are welcome. This is a strong precedent for Chanel. Actress Keira Knightly, Stewart’s predecessor, is also
renowned for being pictured with a less-than-ecstatic facial expression. Undeniably, Stewart’s relaxed, grunge type, adrogynous style is very much Chanel and their joining can only be described as a match made in heaven. Now January has arrived Marc Jacobs have also surprised by releasing their dark SS 2014 campaign where the one and only Miley Cyrus can be seen staring, cross-armed, into space amongst misery and death. Although somewhat depressing in this lifeless month of January I suppose we should all just be grateful that Miley Cyrus is wearing clothes at all. The photographs emerged after news that acclaimed photographer Juergen Teller had refused to shoot her for campaign. Marc Jacobs’s designs are made for Cyrus, as she often receives positive comments when wearing the designers’ couture. Who needs a real life romance. Cyrus and Stewart have finally found their Prince Charming of Couture and they both are living happily ever after.
and comfortable”. We love her bright printed scarf and this is a no-hassle way to make a simple outfit more interesting.
article by Caitlin mcclinchy photographs by andrew rudgewick-brown
As term starts again, we are here to provide you with some outfit inspiration for the upcoming colder weather!
You can never go wrong with a classic coat to suit any occasion and Holly makes it look easy with this one from Primark. Dan shows that a shirt buttoned all the way up is an easy way to achieve effortless style – for both girls and guys!
Third year Politics and International Relations student Shilan is bang on trend with her bikerinspired coat. Team this with some must-have ankle boots, and you’re ready to go.
Top of the shops
Charlotte Coster
Topshop has to be one of my favourite shops on the highstreet. Yes, it is kind of on the expensive side but they have good sales and they are good quality clothes that can be used over and over again! So when I heard that the pitifully small Topshop in The Oracle was being expanded into something that was a lot bigger and better, I, naturally, became very excited! And I wasn’t disappointed. Light, airy and a lot bigger, this refurbishment was definitely for the better. There is more space to move around, more stock and, most importantly, you don’t have to shove past everyone in the crowded Topman to leave the store. Topshop has now been given pride of place on the ground floor while the boys are forced to climb the original rickety escalator up to the top floor. I looked up there
out of curiosity as to what they had done with the place. They have a much greater range as well, and far more space especially in the shoe section! And while I was in Topshop, it would have been rude not to have a mooch around. I have to say I am loving this seasons new trends. The clothes are sleek and simple, keeping to classic styles such as black trousers, high waisted shorts and pastel coloured strap tops. These versatile items are the type of staple pieces that can remain in your wardrobe for years, being constantly used. And I absolutely love the fact that jump suits have made a reappearance, again keeping the colours simple, sticking to black and white for a classy look that seems effortlessly elegant! I am definitely looking forward to the expanded range that this bigger Topshop can now offer and the great number of clothes that will soon appear.
Jessica layers up neutral separates to achieve this country-casual look.
Everyone loves a duffle coat and luckily they’re not hard to find on the high street at the moment. Maisie’s bold beanie completes the colourful ensemble – don’t be afraid to mix different colours and patterns, even in winter. Jennie’s style depends on “whatever is clean” but we love her cosy purple jumper – a great colour for autumn. Quirky jumpers are a care-free way to keep warm but also stay on trend. The high street is brimming with great versions at the moment so you can let the jumper do all the talking!
Alanna studies Film and Television and describes her style as “casual
Coats don’t have to be boring and Fiona proves this with this elegant yet fun take on winter fashion. Following fashion doesn’t mean you have to be eccentric as these stylish students prove. Subtly rock the trends for AW14 with one stand out piece, the colour shades of the season or a cleverly combined outfit! Our style hunters are always on the look out for fashionable students so look out for the next issue of campus style, you never know, it might be you! Want to be involved in campus style? Email fashion.spark@reading.ac.uk for more information, or if you’re interested in photography, email phots.spark@reading. ac.uk.
20 FASHION
fashion.spark@reading.ac.uk
FASHION Foray into the fashion industry Niki Igbaroola
Nearing the end of First Year, I fell into a deep panic about life and the future. I knew that Public Relations was an area I was interested in but I was also dying to work in the glamorous Fashion industry and so I intensified my search for experience combining both.
Finding work experience in the current economic climate is very hard but finding one in media within the fashion industry is like trying to draw blood from a stone. Time and time again I was informed that I could not be offered experience without previous experience. Finally, my internet search led me to a small PR company called Style News; a company that specializes in providing content for other companies. This means that many of the articles you see on leading websites could be written by Style News on behalf of the company. Content provided ranged
from Street Styles, to articles on current trends and Fashion Week reports.
After an interview, I was offered the position of unpaid intern from June 2013 to September 2013 but expenses were covered. I was very excited to find that my boss to be was also an in demand stylist and as such I would be assisting on set at various shoots. My summer was set and it was going to be fun and fabulous. This turned out to be both wrong and right. I did have a great deal of fun and was able to meet celebrities and go backstage at shows during Fashion Week (both men’s and LFW) to speak with designers. I was a member of the exclusive Press Circle. However, there was
a lot of heavy lifting; picking up samples for shoots: because Fashion can be very last minute, and running through central London trying not to bump into tourists. I also spent a great deal of time outside trying to shoot Street Styles in the boiling sun. My computer and I became such firm friends as I was constantly checking, sending and replying emails which is surprisingly exhausting and time consuming.
Due to the company being relatively small, I was able to learn a
great deal from the director of the company; Charlene Campbell who I was working under. Her ability to balance the various duties she had was mind-blowing.
Although the best of the public vehemently denies it, not even the fairest of people can run from natural powers of deduction. Most judge others by their appearance, more specifically, arriving at conclusions based on apparel. Fashion, is an industry made infamous for labelling, however, with its constant genius and creativity, in reality attempts to create projections of personality heavily immersed in individualism. It is no surprise then, that, with the influx of androgynous menswear for Spring/Summer 2014 and Autumn/ Winter 2014/15, the industry makes a powerful statement against rudimentary labels.
Hood By Air (better known as HBA), Rick Owen, Julien David and Sibling are a few among the many sending androgynous garments down the runway, incorporating classic female trends into menswear. Accompanying sheer fabrics is a lowering of hemlines to the point where male models show off spindly legs in shirtdresses and oversized t-shirts, all of which are shapeless and flattering to both the male and female anatomy. The continuation of the look for A/W 2014/15 combined with cult classic monochrome leaves no grey area with the statement, that fashion, does not define us, we define it. That clothes are just that, clothes. They do not limit us, nor
Top 5 celeb outfits of 2013
Lindsay Coles
I would advise anyone trying to work in the industry to never stop looking for that first experience opportunity, no matter how hard it seems to be because once you have that, doors open up for you. Be prepared to work your butt off: I came to quickly realize that the pressure captured in the movie ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ is not exaggerated. Most importantly, when you get into the industry, network like crazy! Shy people do not make it in out there; speak out and get to know all the ways you can serve in the industry you are interested in because the job market is expanding so rapidly.
Capturing confines: Androgyny Reya Raj
Friday 24 January 2014 Spark*
do they label us. The look is genderless, the sharing of male and female characteristics so apparent, that the garments themselves are indefinable. Where then, do labels fit in? The answer is, that they don’t, not in with the clothes at least. Labels arise when we as humans, make judgements based on what we see, labelling itself is not negative; it is when labels define us that life becomes skewed. Without classification of some sort, there would only be chaos, androgyny destroys the most basic segmentation, that of male and female, expressing the power of the individual as opposed to their biology.
This article lists some of the most iconic fashion moments of 2013. So, let’s take a quick step back to last year and remember those fashion moments that made you either gasp in horror or admiration. 5. Katy Perry Katy Perry’s dress at the X Factor final depicted a winged gold bird. The iconic dress was a Grecian style with a gold bejewelled bustier and a racy pair of fishnets. 4. Gwyneth Paltrow Sheer went to a whole new level in 2013. Celebrities seemed to be saving money on underwear and Gwyneth Paltrow is no exception. Paltrow’s daring dress worn to the Iron Man 3 premier shocked onlookers due to the amount of ‘leg’ on show. 3. Catherine Middleton The world waited with bated breath for Catherine Middleton to exit the Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital in London. One of the questions was: what would she wear? Middleton’s bespoke Jenny Packham blue polka-dot dress was so iconic that, afterwards, ‘Polkadot’ became the most searched for term on George.com. 2. Met Ball As always, the A-Lists took the Met Ball theme very seriously. Last year, it was ‘Punk: Chaos to Couture’. Kristen Stewart’s Stella McCartney burgundy pantsuit and Miley Cyrus’ mesh dress was the most iconic, but also the most horrendous fashion statements. 1. Jennifer Lawrence J-Law wore a stunning pale pink Dior Haute Couture Dress to the 85th Academy Awards which had an almighty 5-foot circumference. J-La certainly won the Best Actress award in true style by tripping up the stairs whilst collecting it! Despite this, the actress showed the most beautiful of dresses could be in the plainest of colours. It’s fair to say 2013 had some pretty memorable iconic fashion moments. It’s time to roll on to 2014 however and embrace the celebrity fashion moments to come!
Spark* Friday 24th January 2014
beauty.spark@reading.ac.uk
BEAUTY
Christmas beauty haul: What santa brought Hannah Stanford
Back from Christmas means one thing... That the dapper young man that they call Santa has lovingly refilled our make-up bags, and this year Santa did well... I received two amazing make-up sets this year that I can’t stop raving about. The first is the Ted Baker make up set. The packaging is in the style of The Great Gatsby, a very prominent party theme for this upcoming year. The set comes complete with Ted Baker make up brushes, false eyelashes, liquid eyeliner, bronzer, two illuminators, a pale pink eyelid glitter, and base eye shadow as well as two lip crayons one in a pale pink, the other in a
dark burgundy. Being a lover of a bold lip, I felt very 1920s modeling this colour and it certainly set off my outfit at New Years Eve.
Ted Baker must also be commended for their fine eyelashes that are a perfect delicate texture, and also
their liquid eyeliner, similar to a felt tip pen, it is easy to apply and really long lasting. My second make-up set is the Benefit ‘Groovy Kind of Love’ make-up tin. It has practically every essential you will need in there for a natural look. Being a huge eyeliner fan, it was difficult for me to leave my eyelids so bare. The eye shadow palette is great for achieving a natural eye, and you are also treated to their miniature bestselling “they’re real!” mascara, a ‘benetint’ lip stain that can also act as a cheek colorant and ‘pores away’ a magic bottle to hide your blemishes behind a cute glittery blush. Now to start the New Year, can we just commend and applaud Emma
foundation. I prefer to use Clinique foundation as it makes the skin less shiny and what is more important doesn’t look like a foundation on the contrary it looks more like a perfectly smooth skin. Then move on to eyes. Personally, I prefer to use Mac eyeshadows. So, first take a creme eyeshadow using Mac brush number 23 and apply it to the lid smoothly. If you want to open your eye, you should apply it up to the eyebrow. After that, take a shimmery, frosty powder and put it over what you’ve just applied. Rather than brushing it on, pad it to make your look brighter for the evening. As soon as you have padded shiney
eyeshadows, with Mac brush number 11, draw a line using dark brown eyeshadow on the very top of the lid and then using a bigger brush blend it across to give the eye a slight definition. Now, use some mascara. While the first mascara coat is getting dry, use brown or black pencil to highlight underneath the eye starting from the side corner all along the bottom lash line. Finally apply a second layer of mascara and finish your look with lipgloss or a lipstick. It is up to you what to use and what color, as any color will look good with naturally looking eyes. Now you just have to choose an outfit and have fun. Have a good weekend everyone.
Watson’s make-up artist for her fine work at the Golden Globes. Bravo. I know what look I will be experimenting with next.
Simple evening out makeup tutorial Mariya Kaufman
The weekend is coming up and I am pretty sure that most of you are planning to go out to the club, or for a dinner with friends or maybe planning on attending somebody’s birthday party. All of these occasions are different but still have one thing in common: for all of these each of us, girls, has to look perfect. Today all fashionistas, fashion bloggers and magazines try to encourage us to stay as natural as we can, so in order to keep up with fashion, I would like to tell you how to look both natural and sparkling no matter where you decide to go. You should start with applying a
What’s in my makeup bag: A sneak peek Mariya Kaufman
Since the age of 12, I think, I fell in love with makeup. It was on my twelth birthday when my mum gave me my first makeup bag which contained eye pencil, mascara and a lipstick. Since then I knew that I can get out of the house having nothing else, but my makeup bag. So I would like to share with you what I carry around. My “number one” thing is foundation. I prefer to use Clinique as it covers everything you would like to hide perfectly and looks smooth and nice. “Number two” are eyeshadows. I use the Bobbi Brown “chocolate collection”. I love them. They contain 6 different brown colors starting with the lightest
one end and ending up with the dark brown . They can be easily combined and used for any occasion. I use them no matter where I go. The range of shades allow me to make eyes brighter for the evening and more natural for the morning.
“Number three” is mascara. I use Rimmel Scandal Eyes waterproof mascara. I have tried hundreds of mascaras from almost every brand known and Rimmel is the one I have been using for the longest, almost two years. It’s brush is quite thick, so when applied it
make eyelashes darker and longer from the first layer.
Number four” contains two things. These are the lip pencil and the lipstick. They are both Bobbi Brown and they are both light pink which makes lips look bigger and fuller, especially when yours are quite small. Finally, my last, but not least favorite thing is blush. Mine is also Bobbi Brown. It is pink with a bit of sparkle that makes your face look fresh, espe-
cially in winter, when it is very cold outside and our faces look more pale.
This is pretty much what I use every day. It does not take a lot of space in my bag so I can take all of these things with me and use them when I need them.
BEAUTY 21
Little Bo Peep
Elle Turner
I’ve always been a big fan of Rimmel London’s 60 seconds nail polishes, so when I saw this little beaut in the aisles of Boots, I had to add it to my lacquer arsenal... and no, it’s not just because of the adorable name! On the shelf alongside all the other Rimmel nail polishes, this shade looked a tad cold and more of a white-grey, but don’t be fooled... once applied to the nails a beautiful blue shade emerges into the mix to form more of a dove grey shade which is so unique and pretty. I worried a little that the colour would pale me out but the cool shade actually seems to warm up my skin tone which I really like. Now onto application... I’ve always got on really well with the Rimmel formulas but this one was a little different... Because the shade is so light it applies very sheer and therefore you’ll need at least 3 coats to make it opaque. The trick here is patience... Wait for each layer to thoroughly dry before applying the next one or you’ll find that it becomes quite thick and gloopy on your nails. Also and I know you girls know this, finish off with a quick drying top coat! Having just unpacked back at uni after a few weeks at home over Christmas, I was unable to find my treasured Seche Vite (which I later discovered in my laundry basket, doh). Without it, my nails took so much longer to dry and I ended up indenting little marks into my freshly painted polish *cries*. Overall though, I love the finished look and I’m sure this little polish will be taking pride of place in my varnish stash for some weeks to come... So if your looking for a new lacquer why not try Rimmel’s Little Bo Peep!
22 HEALTH&FOOD
Friday 24 January 2013 Spark*
health.spark@reading.ac.uk
HEALTH 2014: Your most effective resolutions Séana Gatehouse
Every year, we make new rules and regulations in order to better ourselves. But making New Year’s Resolutions is no easy feat, and it’s been proven that around 80-90% of resolutions fail every year. I can safely say for myself that I cannot remember one single resolution that I have kept to, but like many others, I’ve told myself that 2014 is my year and I will most definitely be keeping to my new resolutions. If you’re stuck on what to do, or
how to do it, here are five of I believe to be the best and effective (if a little cliché) Year’s Resolutions to make our year!
what most New 2014
Be super healthy So this is probably the most obvious and over-done resolution, but it’s something we all strive for and the New Year is the perfect opportunity to jump start this one! This year I’ve decided to sign up for a 10k run, which will hopefully be a perfect way to motivate myself.
Paying £30 to enter a race and raising money for a charity I believe in should be enough to make me get up early, get my running shoes on and get training. Of course, along with exercising, eating well is something that’s on most of our minds after all of the yummy food from Christmas, and making meal plans is a great way to keep on top of what you’re eating. Instead of going on some new-age fad diet, why not try using the myfitnesspal app to monitor your calorie intake, and commit yourself to something that will get you moving!
Experts believe that constantly comparing your life to others can worsen conditions such as social anxiety and depression Do more work This is on the agenda for every student I speak to. Do more work and get better grades. Easier said than done, but at the end of the day,
although uni is the perfect place for cheap nights out, cosy nights in and lots of alcohol, the ultimate reason for us being here is to get our degrees. So now is the time to get organised! In 2011, over half of students reported suffering from insomnia, headaches and migraines as a result of stress, so to counteract this, plan out your time, break down your goals into manageable chunks and remember to schedule breaks and treats along the way!
Switch off from social media
As the years have progressed, we’ve become way too attached to our phones and laptops. It’s a common occurrence for me and my housemates to be sat in a room ‘socialising’, but never once looking up from our phones. Seems that we’ve all become more interested in what is happening on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram than in the real life around us. However, experts believe that constantly comparing your life to others can worsen conditions such as social anxiety and depression, as well as increasing stress by disrupting your work schedule. 2014 should be the year that we take some time off
from our phones, and spend more time actually speaking to real people, face to face; you never know who you might meet!
Paying £30 to enter a race and raising money for a charity I believe in should be enough to make me get up early, get my running shoes on and get training Love yourself With all the overly beautiful, impossibly thin and intimidatingly successful people in the media nowadays, it’s no surprise that so many of us are unhappy with our weight, our grades, our jobs, and our skin. But this year is the year to take a hold of yourself, look in the mirror and understand that you are who you are, and that’s all you can be - why not enjoy just being your unique self? It’s super cheesy, but loving yourself is the first step to being truly happy and healthy.
The 5:2 diet: What, why and how? Viren Mistry
Recently the 5:2 diet has been the talk of the town: every town. My friends, my family, it seems everyone is more than ready to give this miracle diet a try. Eat what you want for five days a week? Yes please! But is it all sunshine and rainbows? Well here’s everything you need to know in a nutshell, the good and the bad.
What Is It?
The idea itself is quite straightforward really; break up your week and eat normally for five days and fast on the other two. It sounds simple enough, but is it really? Well here’s what your 600 calorie day will look like. Breakfast might be a couple of eggs and a slice of ham, and an evening meal might be grilled salmon with mixed vegetables. Drinks can include water, black coffee, or green tea - and that’s it. As you may have expected this isn’t very much at all. But if you’re willing to make big sacrifices, then here’s what’s in store for you!
What’s Good?
It’s a simple weight loss program, you get fairly quick results… and a quick confidence boost! It seems
too good to be true, but people championing the diet claim that there are other benefits besides losing weight that can come from Intermittent Fasting (IF). Anything from an increased lifespan and immune system to improved brain power could be on the cards for you! People everywhere are noticing changes in their weight, fast. As you may expect this has given them huge confidence boosts and appeared to effectively promote weight loss. But the 5:2 diet hasn’t been around for very long, so there is little scientific evidence to support these claims.
It does seem that following other methods of weight loss would be safer and yield better results in the long run What’s Bad?
Possible side effects of the 5:2 diet could include any or all of the following: sleeping difficulty and daytime drowsiness, bad breath, irritability and anxiety and dehydration. Admittedly more research is needed to confirm this, but even
just thinking about how Intermittent Fasting will impact your life (especially on the fasting days) should be enough of a warning sign. It may only be two days a week but on those days your lifestyle will have to change. Besides being very hungry you’ll have less energy and your ability to function will be weakened. Your concentration will take a turn for the worse (bye-bye getting top marks in essays), and you can pretty much rule out doing any form of exercise! Also it’s important to note that pregnant women or anyone with
a specific health condition (e.g. diabetes or a history of eating disorders) shouldn’t try this diet. If you really want to give 5:2 a try please consult a doctor first to see if it’s safe for you.
Can You Maintain It? Probably one of the simplest arguments against the 5:2 diet is the question of long term success. Will people be able to keep going? After all we all know the terrors of the dieting ‘rebound’ period – where you snap and demolish a whole chocolate cake after a few months
of eating nothing but salads and couscous!
The 5:2 diet hasn’t been around for very long, so there is little scientific evidence to support these claims Are There Other Options?
A study carried out by Dr Michelle Harvie in 2012 tested the 5:2 diet and actually found that women who were placed on a calorie-controlled diet achieved similar levels of weight loss as those on the 5:2 diet. Research and professional opinion surrounding 5:2 is very limited, however it does seem that following other methods of weight loss would be safer and yield better results in the long run. We’re students! So proposing we all drink less isn’t going to happen (I definitely couldn’t do that). There is also plenty of evidence that eating well is crucial to exam and coursework performance. Personally I’d just recommend trying to eat relatively healthy and popping out to do some exercise every once in a while.
Spark* Friday 24 January 2013
health.spark@reading.ac.uk
HEALTH&FOOD 23
Food Have a lucky, global New Year’s feast Nathalie Siah
Let’s face it, New Year’s dinners are a chance to eat. People everywhere gather during this special time of the year for smells and tastes that delight and provide luck for the upcoming year. The international recipes listed here sometimes use cups instead of weighing scales to measure out ingredients, but if you don’t have any cup measurements, one US cup is equal to around 240ml, so you can substitute a good old measuring jug instead.
Steamed Fish Growing up in a Chinese household, the taste of a freshly steamed fish is an enticing, soft and flaky dream during this time of year. These swimming creatures, pronounced ‘yu’, similar to the word for abundance, are believed to aid riches
for the year to come. This recipe requires a steamer, which keeps the fish tender and full of flavour. This recipe serves two to four, depending on how large your sea bass is (pictured below).
Ingredients: 1 large fresh sea bass, cleaned and patted dry 2 tbsp scallion, shredded 1 tbsp ginger, shredded 3 tbsp soy sauce 1 tsp brown sugar 1 tsp cooking wine Several pieces of sliced ginger Scale the fish first, then make three cuts on each side of the fish and rub both the inside and outside with salt. Place a few slices of ginger and scallion at the bottom of the steamer plate, where the fish will be placed. Steam for around
7-8 minutes until the fish is cooked. The eyes should pop out into a brilliant white and the fins should be open. Mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, cooking wine together and pour over the fish evenly. Top with shredded ginger and scallion.
Pork Loin This hearty pork cooked with potatoes and sauerkraut is a Polish New Year’s treat. Pork is a symbol of wealth and prosperity, while sauerkraut’s long strands symbolise long life. Simmer slowly in the crock pot to fill your kitchen with enticing smells of sweet, sour and juicy meat. This recipe serves four.
Ingredients: 2 lb boneless pork loin 2/3 cup sliced onion 3 medium potatoes, quartered 1 1/3 lbs sauerkraut 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/3 teaspoon black pepper Place the pork in a large crock pot and arrange the potato pieces around it, to allow the potato to soak up any sauces from the meat during the cooking process. Cover with sliced onions and sauerkraut. Sprinkle the brown sugar and pepper on top of the mixture. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. The pork will come out soft and tender when finished, with a sweet yet tangy finish. If it tickles your fancy, add gravy on top. If you’re only serving two - even better!
You’ll end up with leftovers that can be used to make fantastic sandwiches too.
Cornbread
Golden, soft and buttery—this fluffy cornbread is a Southern United States tradition which warms ovens and hearts on New Year’s. The lovely golden colour is a good luck symbol for prosperity in the New Year. Because of its careful balance of sweet and savoury, it can be eaten as a side dish to blackeyed peas, beans, rice, or simpy on its own. This recipe serves six (pictured above).
Ingredients:
1/2 cup milk 1/8 cup butter or margarine, melted 1 egg 5/8 cup yellow cornmeal or white cornmeal or blue cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt Heat the oven to 200ºC / 400ºF / Gas Mark 6. Grease the bottom and sides of a round pan (9x1/2 inches) or a square pan (8-8-2 inches) with butter. In a large bowl, beat the milk, butter and egg with a hand beater or whisk. This will allow a frothy texture to arise when the cornbread is baking. Stir in the remaining ingredients until the batter is consistent. Pour into the pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Cut the cornbread into little triangles or squares to pass around the table or share with friends. Served best when warm as the pieces melt in your mouth. So there you have it - three ways to have a lucky, foodie New Year!
Eat your greens, and enjoy them too Ebba Fredriksen
Back at uni and your wallet is not quite as full as it was before Christmas? Cabbage might not have the most tantalising reputation, but it contains important vitamins and antioxidants, and is high in fibre. It is possible to make the members of the cabbage family taste nice and, as they tend to be cheap as chips, it is worth the try, especially if you are on a tight student budget. Some basic recipes are all you need to start, which you can add to or alter to suit your taste. Cabbage can become sulfuric if cooked for too long, but this does not apply to red cabbage. Sprouts are a bit of a challenge, and if they are not cooked right, they can be horrible. I didn’t like sprouts until this Christmas when I realised that they are not only edible, they are actually nice!
Tastier sprouts
Red cabbage salad
Stuvad (stewed) cabbage
Ingredients:
Ingredients:
This is a traditional Swedish cooking method, often used for potatoes, macaroni and carrots, but works just as well with cabbage.
Serves 2
Around 20 sprouts, stalk removed and halved 10 mushrooms, quartered 2-4 rashers smoked bacon Salt and pepper Put them in a pan and boil them carefully for four minutes. Try to not boil the life out of the sprouts, but keep them green, not grey. When done, drain the water and put them in a bowl. Fry the mushroom on high heat. Cut the bacon in to small rectangles and add them as well. When the bacon and mushrooms are done, add the sprouts. Season with salt and pepper, and once the sprouts are hot, the dish is done. Serve on its own or as a side dish to a main.
Serves 2
Half a red cabbage 2 carrots 1 apple 5 spring onions or 1 red onion Vegetable oil Lemon zest Parsley Nuts or seeds Use the rough side of a grater, or if you don’t have that, a cheese slicer or potato peeler. Grate cabbage, carrots and apple into a bowl. Add some oil and you’re done. The red cabbage, carrots and onions are the basis of the salad and you can always add some lemon zest, parsley and nut and seeds. Serve with a meat, omelette, or as the leafy bit in a sandwich.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
½ cabbage, shredded A knob of butter I small tablespoon of flour 1 mug of milk Salt and pepper Melt the butter in a pan, and add the cabbage, ensuring that it is evenly coated in butter. Add the flour, again coating the cabbage, and stir. Pour the milk in a little at the time and bring the mixture to boil whilst stirring. Season with salt and pepper. Adjust the stove to low heat and leave the cabbage
to stew until it is soft, being careful not to over cook it. The time this will take is dependent on the season, spring cabbage will take around 5 mins and winter cabbage can take as long as 15 mins. The easiest and most reliable trick is to taste it until the texture is to your liking. This dish goes nicely with strong flavours, such as smoked or salted cuts of meat like sausages or bacon.
24 SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY
Friday 24 January 2014 Spark*
SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY
Could someone hack into your brain remotely? Maybe.. AAron Hall
It’s a bizarre notion to think, that our brains could be the target of an unwanted infiltration. They are nothing more than supercomputers on the surface, processing and actioning our thoughts and desires, responding to inputs and external factors and adjusting our bodies accordingly. All that differs is the internal components and how they are connected to work together; something we quite frankly still don’t understand. Human brains are an unfathomable creation, but technology is forever evolving at a rate that far exceeds our own evolution, so it raises an interesting question: Could you really hack a Human Brain?
Sounds like Inception? It might not be just a movie for much longer Marc Salem, a psychologist from New York is able to deconstruct a person’s thoughts by simply studying body language to the minutest of details. He ‘reads’ minds by looking for a collective ‘packet of signals’ - body movements that string together and can be decoded as meaning one of several things. “A scratch of the nose can mean you’re lyingvor it can simply mean your nose itches”. The use of technology, on the other hand, can give us even further direct access into the human brain. Philip Low, a neurotechnoligist and inventor, is in the midst of developing a portable, fully functioning brain monitor called iBrain.
iBrain is able to detect electrical activity from the surface of the scalp, and suggests the notion that sufferers of Lou Gehrig’s disease - or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis to give it is proper name, more commonly known as Motor Neurone Disease here in the Commonwealth - and other forms of paralysis could use the technology to allow their thoughts to control a virtual hand on a computer screen.
Paralysis patients might gain new independence through controlling computers with their thoughts It is often the case that MND sufferers and those with varying levels of paralysis have completely healthy brain activity, it is just lesions elsewhere in their body that prevents fine motor control and neuronal activity. The simple notion of using thought to control a virtual hand on a computer can have huge ramifications, the potential of the technology used in entirely novel treatments is just unthinkable! We then delve into possibly one of the most exciting brain studies actively researching currently, but one that also lets the doubts of what we have at our disposal subtly creep in. Jack Gallant at the University of California, Berkeley, is compiling a ‘Brain Dictionary’. Using fMRI - Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging - Gallant is measuring brain activity on exposure to different
Progress is good : but at what cost? Image courtesy of siliconvalleynorthof49.wordpress.com images, sounds and words. From this, he is able to reconstruct approximately what his subjects were exposed to, effectively turning electrical activity into plain old English. In turn this dictionary is being used to create concepts and scenarios, allowing his team to effectively guess and begin to work out what people think about when exposed to the images they’re seeing. So surely, if we are able to decode the thoughts and subtleties of our brains and behaviours, could they not also be altered? So what, if other people could hack into another’s brain? And
plant thoughts? Hackers break into secure programmes and systems using ‘cracks’, exploring gateways and vulnerable passwords or security setups.
Ilana Hairston has managed to use our sense of smell as a crack into the brain Her and her team use smells to plant information in people’s brains while they sleep; she trains dozing subjects to associate certain odours with particular sounds, utilising a
Sci-tech Spark* is always on the look out for new writers! We need people to write about all the ridiculous , amazing and pointless stuff that our taxpayer money is going towards. If you reckon you could string together 700 words on Science or Technology - send it to matttwells@hotmail.com!
pathway into the brain that responds to olfactory perception in an unconscious state. There is nothing to say that, using the examples put forward in the episode, one could not one day use findings from these studies to hack into another’s brain. What could you do with an entire dictionary of brain activity? A decoded language of electrical signals at our disposal. What does the brain think of when we see images of violence and death? Sadness? Happiness? Could these signals then be attached to a certain smell and therefore be implanted into our unconsciousness?
Keep up-to date and read more online at www.sparknewspaper.co.uk
Spark*
SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY 25
Friday 24 January 2014
Schrodinger’s Cat : Wanted dead /alive Matthew Twells
Quantum Physics is a funny branch of science. Literally everyone pretends to understand it at parties – but tend to be talking out of their arses, and those who do actually understand it tend not to get invited to said party in the first place. It’s the branch of science where everything you learnt at school about atoms gets mixed up with an industrial hit of LSD and all sorts of weird stuff starts happening. One of those things is a state known as quantum superposition – and researchers at Simon Fraser University in Canada have managed to get phosphorous atoms to stay in superposition for 39 minutes – a landmark achievement that has major applications in the future of computers.
Quantum superposition could hold the key to computers faster than anything ever built Quantum superposition is a fundamental concept in quantum physics that states that any physical system, such as an electron in an atom , exists partly in all its theoretically possible states at the same time, but when measured or observed it gives a result of only one of these. For those who are currently trying to stem the flow of brain matter from their ears , I’ll give you an example of what this means in the form of Schrodinger’s Cat. This is a very famous thought experiment
where a cat is locked in a box with a vial of poison that is designed to crack based on the spin of a quark ( a subatomic particle) – until we open the box and find out if we have a happy, healthy , indifferent kitty or an awkward conversation to have with its owner , the cat is both dead and alive. Mind=BLOWN. Apart from possibly alerting the RSPCA , what the fudge does this have to do with computers, you might ask? Actually, you probably didn’t ask, but it’s my article, so I’m gonna say it anyway. Basically, the principle of superposition that I just explained means that instead of just being able to process bits of information in 1s and 0s like normal computers , a quantum computer with an array of superpositioned processors could potentially process a 1 , 0 or both at the same time, letting your PC work hundreds of times faster. Usually this requires chilling the computer to just above absolute zero and therefore is extremely expensive and impractical. However, the researchers in Canada managed to get superposition happening at room temperature – a massive leap forward in building quantum computers. Once easily replicated it could signal a massive leap forward in technology and an end to Moore’s Law (computers double in power every 2 years due to smaller components) , which is becoming more and more difficult with our current tools.
Though I’m willing to place money on the first one being built immediately having multiplayer Call of Duty installed on it or being used to create ALL the lolcats theoretically possible under the Standard Model. With great power comes great responsibility, eh?
The future could see computers being built with the power of quantum physics that are 100 times faster than ours now.
It will be interesting to see whether the private sector or the military get a working quantum computer going the earliest - they both certainly have an economic incentive to do so - a computer like that would revolutionise almost every industry it touched. But in the era of Tor and Silk Road, the military need to be faster and more powerful than the enemies and the criminals that they’re facing. Either way, computing has a very interesting few years ahead of it , it would seem.
So in conclusion, you have some serious pub ammo now on one of the more tricky branches of science. Computing certainly has a few interesting years ahead of it.
Schrodinger’s cat ponders his choice to enter science. Image courtesy of animalshaveproblemstoo.com
Free app of the week: Lift,the goal app Matthew Twells
Are you one of those people who starts out really well whenever you make a New Year’s Resolution? Everything goes swimmingly until that cinnamon swirl comes by or you miss a workout.
Finding that New Year’s Resolution especially difficult to stick to this year?
Thankfully, there’s an app for everything these days and changing your life or body is no different. Enter LIFT , the goal achievement app. It has thousands of pre-made goals and programs for anything you can think of losing weight, learning to knit, how to run a 10k. They’re also all split up into easy , daily segments. And that’s the secret of Lift you only do a little bit each day - just the task you’re given in the morning and check in when you get back.
Lift is incredibly simple, just pick a goal, check in and get going! Dieting is a lot easier when even your phone is encouraging you - and it’s not just that, you can talk to everyone else on Lift doing the same goal as you to swap tips and give each other props for sticking to the goal.
Download the app for free at www.lift.do. You can even join one of the largest studies of popular diet plans in recent years - The Quantified Diet. This is where you pick one of ten popular diet methods and log into Lift over four weeks to see which works best. You could say you’ve made a real contribution to science at your next dinner party! To be honest, Lift is an app I’d pay for even if it wasn’t free, so the fact that it is free is even more reason to give it a try. Try it at www.lift.do
26 GAMING gaming.spark@reading.ac.uk
Spark* Friday 24 January 2014
GAMING Review: Rockstar’s Max Payne 3 The troubled New York City cop returns Gabrielle Linnett
If Max Payne 2 was The Fall of Max Payne, then Max Payne 3 is Max at rock bottom. He starts the game in a purgatorial funk, bodyguard to a Brazilian industrialist and his family of rich playboys and politicians, drinking his way through the days - the end of chapter one sees him lurching around his apartment, throwing up in the kitchen sink and then crying himself to sleep - while we listen along to his internal monologue. For a while though, it seems as though time has been surprisingly kind to Max Payne, the thirdperson shooter with Bullet Time that first graced our screens in 2001. It hasn’t changed much since then, even with the transition from Remedy to new developer Rockstar Vancouver, and when paramilitaries start violently abducting Max’s employers that turns out to be just fine. Max may have piled on the pounds and lost his selfrespect, but his iconic Shoot Dodge hasn’t aged badly at all. Tooled up with a pair of pistols or Uzis and faced with a room full of enemies, Max can throw himself out of cover in slow motion, diving through the air and nailing his adversaries one by one. When life snaps back to normal speed, they all fall down. (And if for some reason they haven’t, Max can lie there on the floor, twisting around as you swivel your gun-sights, firing away until you drag him back to his feet.) Max Payne 3 is at its best when Rockstar contrives interesting Shoot Dodge scenarios, which usu-
ally involve jumping off something, like a balcony or a ramp, so that Max can hang in the air longer and puncture more enemies. My favourite is the sequence early on where Max is downing scotch in a nightclub VIP lounge when paramilitaries appear out of nowhere and snatch his boss’s wife. With no hesitation, Max bulls the nearest guy backwards through the glass wall overlooking the dance floor, and then soars through the smoky air, firing all the way down and using the bad guy to cushion his landing.
Max Payne 3 oozes of Rockstar’s love & most creative talent Max can also slow down time without diving around, using up his rechargeable Bullet Time meter in the process, and the health system is also familiar - a grey silhouette of Max that fills up with blood until you pop some painkillers. One change is that Max can now snap to cover, and this becomes more important later in the game as you move through car parks, offices, docks, hotels and alleyways swimming with enemies who won’t go down easily. The biggest difference from previous entries in the series is that now we’re in more expensively assembled car parks, offices, docks, hotels and alleyways, infused with the sort of fine-grain environmental detail we’ve come to expect from Rockstar’s worlds. A slow walk through a Sao Paolo
Who says you can’t look good when fighting crime? Brightly coloured Hawaiian shirts all round! favela halfway through the game is almost on a par with Uncharted 2’s stroll through a Tibetan village; as Max prowls the alleys in a bad Hawaiian shirt, street kids play football on a rundown basketball court, startled mothers rush to close wooden shutters, and gang members stalk the player’s shadows with AK-47s. But all this polish can only sustain your enjoyment for so long when it’s punctuated by such repetitive and increasingly frustrating combat. Even on the regular difficulty setting, using Shoot Dodge - the most entertaining thing about being Max Payne - soon becomes impractical due to the weight of enemy numbers and their pinpoint accuracy. We’ve learned to cope with the occasional balancing issue in a vast Grand Theft Auto game, but the difficulty spikes and checkpointing mistakes in Max Payne 3 betray Rockstar’s lack of experience in pure thirdperson shooters. After a few respawns, the game gives you some extra painkillers, suggesting even Rockstar realised its game wasn’t perfectly weighted.
Bursts of nostalgia are peppered throughout
Max isn’t quite one for the quiet, stealth approach at times
Little niggles quickly start to pile up, too. When cut-scenes finish, the game switches you back to a single pistol, forcing you to fumble with the inventory every time you retake control. Enemies hurl grenades in your direction to force
you out of cover, but you don’t get grenades of your own. And enemies take far too many bullets to go down. You can understand them getting back to their feet in body armour - however annoying it is but when they’re wearing shorts and a T-shirt?
Environments are big, bold and richly detailed One success is Rockstar’s decision to stop telling the story using graphic novel panels and bring in cut-scenes and interactive sequences instead. You can understand why: the developers now have the technology and budget to do aerial shots of Sao Paolo from a helicopter, or to let you stumble after your partner Passos through the guts of a football stadium while you nurse a gunshot wound and he beats up and disarms your enemies. It’s more immersive, more spectacular and, of course, more Rockstar. And, whether they admit to it or not, it wouldn’t be a Rockstar game without some gratuitous violence. For them we have super slow-motion deaths that come at the end of a sequence of enemies, or whenever you take a critical hit. These allow you to fire repeatedly at a stricken adversary and watch in gory close-up as your bullets cut through their eyes, cheeks, nose and mouth. Elsewhere, multiplayer has a bunch of decent ideas, like a Gang Wars mode that feeds back into the
campaign to some extent, and the way Shoot Dodge is implemented so that it traps you and your lineof-sight target in a brief window of slow motion, but otherwise it’s all fairly predictable: perks, XP, custom loadouts, revenge kills, and tweaked versions of captureand-hold, deathmatch andcapturethe-flag It’s also possible to play the game in an Arcade mode, as a score-attack, and New York Minute, where you start with 60 seconds on the clock and get extra time for every enemy you kill. Max unfortunately is not as wellserved by the game around him as he used to be. At one point you’re in a New Jersey flashback and Max is fleeing the mob when he’s interrupted by a neighbour, a bearded anarchist in his underwear, who joins in on your side. It’s a little burst of the unexpected, a glimpse of the world going on outside of your crosshairs, and as you pick through his apartment afterwards, sifting through newspaper clippings and half-built bombs, you’re reminded that Max Payne used to have a lot of that. Max Payne 3 has flashes of it - a football player gunned down in a nightclub pops up in a memorial a few levels later - but not really enough. What it has in abundance, though, is expensive-looking environments for Max to dive around in and then talk to himself, and that’s just about enough to keep you going for as long as it takes to settle the score.
Spark* Friday 24 January 2013
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28 TRAVEL
Friday 24 January 2014 Spark*
travel.spark@reading.ac.uk
travel Study Abroad:‘O Canada!’
Improve your employabilty? Take a semester abroad!
Jess Freeland
The word ‘Canada’ can be traced back to the Spanish or Portuguese settlers. They recorded on their maps Cá nada which translates as ‘nothing here’ – and I can tell you that they were very wrong. I have recently returned from my term abroad where I studied at the University of Ottawa, which is the capital of Canada if your geography is not too sharp. It was an unforgettable experience and every second was worth it. By taking a semester abroad I have improved academically as I have been taught in new and refreshing ways. I have also gained more independence after moving to, and succeeding in a different country.Studying abroad has been a life changing experience and I would recommend it to anyone. I would particularly recommend Canada as its such a diverse and exciting country.
If you’re inspired by Jess’s study abroad experience and would like to find out more information on how you can get involved there are many information talks available to attend. Dependable on your course, you may have the opportunity to study abroad for a year or semester in various locations such as Taiwan, France and Norway!
Pop along to one of the information talks:
Changing seasons: The Rideau Canal, Ottawa the world! My tandem partner summed it up quite nicely: “Now you know why the birds are always singing!”
Nature Canada is quite simply beautiful. I arrived to glorious sunshine, saw the gorgeous Autumnal tones of Fall and left my new home blanketed in a good few feet of snow. I dreaded the bitterness of the Canadian Winter. Admittedly I had to wear six thick layers so that I did not succumb to temperatures of minus thirty!! But I survived and I feel the cold at the best of times so this was quite an achievement for me.
cobbled streets of Quebec City and gaze upon the most photographed hotel in the world. Take in the inspiring view of the city skyline from the Olympic Park or have a stroll by the river in Montreal. Head to Toronto for a more urban environment and visit Ottawa if you want the whole package. The guide books worried me saying that my prospective home had little to offer, but it was my favourite place by far. Ottawa was interspersed with English and French styled architecture and was dotted with fascinating museums that effectively portrayed Canadian history. One could relax with a walk along the Rideau Canal or spend hours exploring the little shops in the market.
28-01-2014 Tuesday Studying Abroad: All you need to know
Palmer 104
12-02-2014 Wednesday Study Abroad in Europe (ERASMUS)
Palmer 104
27-02-2014 Thursday Study Abroad in Australia
Palmer 104
For further information contact: studyabroad@reading.ac.uk Or visit the website at: http://www.reading.ac.uk/studyabroad/
By taking a semester abroad I have improved academically through being taught in new and refreshing ways Here are just a few things that they had to offer: Adventure I had some aims of what I wanted to see and do whilst in Canada but I never thought that I would get the opportunity to experience the extreme. In between mid-terms and assignments I managed to fit in a quick bungee jump, plus some skydiving - the scariest and most exhilarating moments of my life. Bungee jumping was so surreal, particularly bouncing back up and feeling completely weightless. Skydiving was even greater as you are quite literally on top of
However cold, Canada was breathtaking, and never ceased to amaze me, whether it was in the city, high up in the mountains, or in the shadow of the majestic Niagara Falls, hearing their roar and feeling their spray. The wildlife also was incredible; seeing a blue whale was one of the highlights of my trip.
Culture Some hold the presumption that Canada, most notably Ottawa, does not have that much to offer culturally, but this is false. With numerous influences from all over the world, the country has plenty to see. Walking through the old
Ottawa is neither the biggest city, nor the most popular but it was a perfect home. It was exciting, interesting and surprising, and I wholeheartedly would recommend anyone to travel there.
If you would like to read more, please visit: http://itsafreeland.wordpress. com
Taking advantage of the minus 30c temperatures, Ottawa All photos taken by Jess
Spark* Friday 24 January 2014
fun&games Crossword (cryptic)
Across 1 Presbyterians spoiled singer (7,6) 8 Send abusive message to non-commanding officer at dance (8) 9 Part of a ladder when new diamonds are curbed by control (6) 10 Annoy informant (4) 11 Factor in ageing that can(‘t) be reversed? (4,5) 13 Hint involving saint about first troglodyte (7) 14 Filler not consumed in chew (6) 15 On a roll, yet turned away for social bath? (3,3) 17 Enclose key at start of novel, perhaps (3,4) 20 Medicine altered upon brief (9) 21 Plant’s artificial intelligence about calcium (4) 23 End imposed over American city drink (6) 24 Cover layer on note (8) 25 One who falls on young pitch? It could end badly
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Down: 1 Jigsaw, 2 Holy place, 4 Hoist, 5 Peep, 6 Ali, 7 Naevus, 9 Cushat, 12 Elaborate, 13 Grunge, 15 Belief, 16 Graham, 19 Label, 20 Brow, 22 Fur.
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Missed out on the Spark* Christmas crossword (to the right)? Head over to the Spark* website at sparknewspaper.co.uk/home/funand-games to catch up on it.
John Graham memorial crossword solutions
(8,5) Down 1 Swim around prick with volumes to put money in order (7,3,5) 2 Setter’s ethical? Just the opposite (7) 3 Dog of novel fool (4) 4 Hi! Hi...my rounds! (3-3) 5 Social acts done at political conferences? (5,5) 6 Lift alien ring (7) 7 Political group pick guardians (6,9) 12 Criminal cad with wrong purpose for fruit (10) 16 Film’s tip on Ford model’s dish being cut (7) 18 Rejection by bottom party? That’s impossible! (2,3,2) 19 Suggestion that can be touchy? (6) 22 French friends of writer (4)
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Festive Christmas tree crossword solutions
Across: 1 John, 3 Chaplain, 8 Gel, 9 Chile pine, 10 Apposite, 11 Zebu, 14 Araucaria, 17 Exec, 18 Clangour, 21 Inferable, 23 Aah, 24 Farewell, 25 Neem.
FUN&GAMES 29
fun.spark@reading.ac.uk
30 SPORT
sports.spark@reading.ac.uk
Friday 24 January 2014 Spark*
A footballing Christmas gives no answers Ed Critchley looks back over the ‘make or break’ festive period ed critchley
Christmas comes but once a year and for most football fans it is a period met with silent hope and overwhelming anxiety. The debate as to whether England should adopt a winter break has rumbled beneath the surface of British football for many years.
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the hectic football fixture list to look forward to Personally, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the hectic football fixture list to look forward to, and what a fixture list it was this time round. It has been noted in the past that this period is the ‘make or break’ time for any title contenders. A fit and healthy first XI can often ar-
rive at this period unscathed, but the true test is how each club manages the injury crisis when it hits over winter, as it inevitably does. At the top there was certainly a ‘break’, a break away of the top three and the broken dreams of a 19th title at Anfield. Liverpool went into Christmas day on the top of the pile, admittedly only on goal difference. With arguably the smallest squad of the top 7 teams it was always going to be difficult when some of the big names were injured or overplayed. Not to mention back to back away games at Man City and Chelsea, the resulting five fixtures from Christmas day cast Liverpool eight points adrift of first place. Unsurprisingly City and Chelsea’s squad depth became the key factor in this busy period, picking up five wins from five games. The big surprise for me was the continued form of Arsenal, notorious for dropping off the pace around Christmas, Arsenal sit top
of the league having won five from five with players still to return from injury. Arguably the most severely hit by injuries, Arsene Wenger’s team has displayed resilience in the face of adversity. 1-0 away to Newcastle United and 2-1 away to Aston Villa spring to mind as key results, proving once and for all their title credentials.
Maybe in the next few months
we
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Arsenal fall off It is now a three horse race with all three teams still in the FA cup and Champions League. Maybe in the next few months we will see Arsenal fall off. Personally I think there would be something poetic about the Gunners picking up the league title ahead of the financial tyrants of modern day football.
At the bottom you still can’t call it, as six points separate 10th from 20th. The biggest ‘losers’ of the Christmas break were Cardiff ‘Red Dragons’ City. A moronic display by this year’s pantomime villain, Vincent Tan has showed his naivety in sacking Malky Mackay. Results have not picked up since the baby-faced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed. Obviously he needs time, but Cardiff currently prop up the table with Sunderland and West Ham making up the other two relegation spots. As to what will happen for the rest of the year your guess is as good as mine. The battle for the title, Champions League places and to avoid relegation look as close as it has been in living memory. Personally I think City will win the league based on the sheer quality of their first 20 players, and their incredible goal-scoring ratio; they have already hit a remarkable tally of 100 goals this season in all
competitions. A resurgent Tottenham are back in the race for fourth, Everton are going along nicely and who could count out Manchester United, maybe Fergie will yet return. Yet I do believe Liverpool, with the return of Danniel Sturridge, will secure that long-awaited Champions League spot.
As to what will happen for the rest of the year your guess is as good as mine I am tipping Crystal Palace, Cardiff and West Ham to be relegated, but as I said before, your guess is as good as mine. There are at least seven other teams in it as well. The Christmas period has failed to provide us with any answers as to what will be the eventual outcome of this topsy-turvy season, but has provided plenty of excitement.
Consistency the key as Six Nations draws closer ellis lane
Reigning Six Nations champions Wales are on for a record three straight championship victories, something last achieved in the 1800s, but never in the modern game, should they win this year’s tournament.
Wales are on for a record three straight championship victories It would be an outstanding achievement for this Welsh team, and would unquestionably put them amongst the great Welsh sides if not some of the great world rugby sides from years gone by. Injuries are an issue with Jon Davies, Gethin Jenkins,
Sam Warburton and Jamie Roberts all in the squad but currently not ready to play. The key match for Wales will be Ireland away two weeks in; a win in Dublin would give this team the momentum they need. The Irish have blown hot and cold lately. Their performance for 79 minutes against the All Blacks was nothing short of brilliant. If they perform like that in the Six Nations then they are my favourites to win without question. They have a vast array of talent; the issue is getting them all firing at once. That is the job of the new coach Joe Schmidt, the ex-Leinster coach, who will know how to get the best out of this Irish squad. He has coached most of them at Leinster. Consistency is crucial for the Irish.
England are beginning to gel and improving year on year under the mild-mannered Stuart Lancaster. The loss to Wales last year will have hurt this squad and they will want revenge at Twickenham in the fourth week. That could be the game that settles the title but there is a lot of Rugby to play between now and March 9th. The English pack is a formidable weapon and they are solid up front but for me they lack a little bit of an X-Factor behind the scrum. Christian Wade and Marland Yarde will have a lot expected of them in their first championship. The French do perform well in the Six Nations the year after a Lions series, so a lot will be expected of them this time round. Last year’s championship was their worst ever performance, finishing last and
gaining the wooden spoon for the first time. French selection never fails to surprise and with Michalak, Trinh-Duc and Parra all out, it will be a chance for new faces to state their claim to the Le Bleu jerseys. Although they are not firing yet, you just never know with the French.
This Six nations is closer than ever Scott Johnson is having a good time in Scotland, starting to find his feet and his strongest line-up. With Stuart Hogg also beginning to find his best form again they have a player who can make something out of nothing, a skill which is invaluable to the Scots.
Scotland will target the Italy game as must-win, but out in Rome the Azzurri will not lie down, they are getting better all the time and will be looking to improve on last year’s good campaign. The Italians will have all their home games down as winnable, and the one team they haven’t beaten in the championship come to Rome on the last weekend; England. Although this Six Nations is closer than ever, it would be a safe bet to say that Scotland and Italy won’t be in the running on the final day but they will be able to spoil someone’s party. Anyone can beat anyone in this year’s competition; it will be who holds onto consistency that will be eventually holding the trophy. The tournament starts on Saturday 1st February.
Spark* sport round-up: World sport in brief mike brown
Cricket England’s nightmare down under continued as the hosts added the one day series to their Ashes whitewash following another lacklustre performance from the tourists in Sydney. Set a modest 244, Australia raced to their target with ten of their fifty overs to spare for the loss of just three wickets to complete a convincing seven-wicket win. The damage was done by David Warner and Shaun Marsh who each hit 71,
the latter remaining in till the end to secure an unassailable 3-0 series lead. England now turn their attention to the penultimate one-dayer in Perth, followed by the final match of the series in Adelaide, desperate to avoid another clean sweep. Three T20 matches follow, offering England the chance to restore some much needed pride and confidence before heading home. England moved to within one victory of retaining the Women’s Ashes, following a well-deserved seven-wicket win in the first one
day international. Alex Blackwell produced a superb unbeaten 82 to ensure the tourists convincingly chased down Australia’s 209. England are now 8-0 up in the multiformat series having won the single test match in Perth by 61 runs.
Snooker Ronnie O’Sullivan clinched his fifth Masters title in style; with a resounding 10-4 win over world number two Mark Selby. The world champion was in blistering form and charged in to an outstanding 8-1 lead. A spirited Selby battled
away to reduce the arrears; before the next four frames were shared ensuring the ‘Rocket’ cruised to a comfortable victory.
Tennis There have been surprises on both the men’s and women’s side of the Australian Open. The first Grand Slam of the year witnessed the exit of reigning champion Novak Djokovic, women’s number one Serena Williams, the women’s reigning champion Victoria Azarenka, and last year’s men’s runner-up Andy Murray, all before the semi-final
stage. The men’s final is on Sunday 26th, and will feature one of Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, who clash in their semi-final today (Friday 24th). The women’s final takes place on Saturday 25th, and will be contested by last year’s runner-up Li Na and Dominika Cibulkova. In other tennis news, Great Britain have selected their Davis Cup team to face the United States, but have left out Dan Evans in favour of the youngster, Kyle Edmund. Andy Murray, James Ward and Colin Fleming make up the team.
Spark* Friday 24 January 2014
sports.spark@reading.ac.uk
SPORT 31
Reading FC announce second Intramural 11-aticket offer UoR students side rained off tom newbold
Reading FC are hosting their second ‘RG2 Project’ night for students, after its successful first outing in December. Reading’s home match against Blackpool on Tuesday 28th January is to be the fixture that the club are encouraging students to turn up and support in big numbers for. Blackpool currently sit mid-table in the Championship, in 14th posi-
tion, whilst Reading have recently re-entered the play-off places by moving up the sixth position. Neither team are experiencing great form at the moment, but Blackpool’s four points out of their last possible 30 certainly suggests Reading will be favourites at the Madejski stadium. Reading FC offered an early bird ticket of £8, an offer that has now expired, but tickets are still avail-
able for £10 via the Student Union or online. As before, the club will offer free coach travel to and from Whiteknight’s campus as part of the deal. Two local DJ’s and a Dance Troop performance have also been linedup, and will add to the pre-match atmosphere. Fans will be hoping for a more exciting game than the 1-0 against Charlton the last time Reading held this offer.
Tom newbold
The resumption of the Campus Sport 11-a-side league was delayed last week as a deluge of rain rendered the University’s football pitches in no fit state to hold matches. Besides the waterlogging and puddles that had engulfed the pitches, teams will be grateful for the postponements when later on in the season the sports fields remain in decent condition. It is unclear when the postponed matches will be rescheduled for as
yet, but Wednesday afternoons appear to be the obvious time. There was one match that was fortunate to enough to be played this weekend, on the Astroturf pitch at SportsPark, where St. Georges beat R.U.M.P.S. FC 4-2 to go into second place in Group C. The rest of the teams are expected to resume action this weekend, weather prevailing. It also remains unclear whether Bulmershe campus will be able to hold matches this term after a fire over the Christmas period.
RUBC fly through BUCs indoors charlie rutter
Badminton and Netball teams continue good form emma penn and natasha vaughan
Reading Knight’s Ladies’ Badminton 1s and Netball 3s both won convincingly on Wednesday 22nd January to continue their impressive form this season. The Badminton team beat St. Marys University 7-1 at SportsPark in their South Eastern 2A League match. Of their seven games this season, the ladies remain unbeaten haveing won all but two matches, which they drew. The victory against St. Mary’s was described as ‘easy’, with six players all performing impressively. New partnership, Iouila and Tze, won their first game and narrowly lost their second, but played very well together considering it was their first time as a partnership. The team of Bonnie and Kate worked well together and supported each other well as they won, and Claudia and Rachel won their sngles matches easily. Next up for the ladies in a match against Royal Holloway, as they
look to turn their unbeaten form into a top-of-the-table league position, with challengers Chichester proving an obstacle at present. Elsewhere, the Netball 3s won yet again to cement their status as the best team in the league. Unfortunately the league table doesn’t quite reflect this, due to the Knights having to forfeit a game earlier in the season. Nevertheless, their mighty goal difference of +172 no doubt has spent shivers into the spines of their opponents week in week out. Their nearest challengers have a goal difference of just +2. A home game against Roehampton set the occasion for the team’s latest blistering victory, running out 52-9 winners. The circle worked really well this week, with Sarah making use of the available space and working jumping for each of the rebounds. This allowed her to dictate the circle and open up the lead, which the whole team had worked for. The feeds into the circle were largely accurate, although at the start of the game there were some forced passes, which caused the
team to lose possession. This was a lesson that they need to make better use of the circle edge and moving the ball around more to find the right time to pass in. Moving the ball up the court started slowly, but gradually got better as they used the defensive centre court players. They pressured the opposition when they had the ball, which led to plenty of turnovers from tight man-to-man marking. The defensive circle worked really well with plenty of rebounds, tips and tight marking. Sophie Thompson was awarded status as ‘player of the match’ from the opposition. She was excellent in providing help on both defensive and attacking backlines, with accurate feeds into the circle. The team are really combining well together at the moment, and are in a strong position to regain their position at the top of the league, something they could do after their next match, again against Roehampton, in two weeks time on Wednesday 5th February.
Towards the end of last term on the 23rd November the BUCS rowing calendar kicked off with the BUCS indoor rowing championships. Students from all across the country, a total of 1600 students, competed by rowing 2km on a rowing machine. The University of Reading hosted one of the several venues for the event which saw several of the University’s athletes achieve success. Sam Twine in the men’s heavyweight category came a close second overall in the country with a time of 5.59.8 to the winner’s time of 5.59.0. Success for Reading also came in the Women’s heavyweight category with Emily Ashford coming second with a time of 6.55.6. Both Sam and Emily have recently returned from
a Great Britain training camp in Sierra Navada and are looking forward to the BUCS 4s and 8s head in Boston hopefully bringing more success to Reading University. In the men’s Lightweight category Reading’s Andrew Dowty came a respectable 9th with a time of 6.28.7. Andrew is also looking towards Great Britain selection for the summer Under 23 world championships along with Sam and others with Emily looking to make the world universities team. Across the event Reading managed to live up to their reputation in the rowing circuit with almost everyone who took part achieving personal best times. With this success RUBC are eagerly looking forward to the racing in store to come in the New Year with the next BUCS event being the 4s and 8s head in February.
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32 SPORT
Friday 24 January 2014 Spark*
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SPORT Reading back in play-off places Royals pour seven past Bolton on wet weekend jack mendel
Reading thrashed lowly Bolton 7-1 last weekend, in one of their most impressive displays in living memory. It could easily have been mistaken for watching Barcelona flog Barnet; but that may be a disservice to Barnet, and perhaps to the glorious Madejski stadium. The fortunes of Reading and Bolton before this fixture could not have been more contrasting, and it caught a lot of fans off guard, to see such a comprehensive victory; but of course nobody is complaining. Bolton had experienced just one defeat in their last six, whereas in the same number of games, Reading had one victory. The home side had experienced somewhat of a goal drought, having not managed to score more than one goal a game since November; compared to Bolton who had done it for the last three weeks running. The Royals have only managed three goals in their last six, compared to Bolton who have 10 in that period. Having only won two of their last seven matches, a win was necessary to keep the Royals in the fight for promotion through the playoffs, and this was certainly not an expected turn of events. The fluid movement and brilliant understanding between the home players was apparent from the offset. Reading started the gane attacking, in a minor prelude to the havoc that was to come and last right til the very end. Adam Le Fondre opened the scoring, and tucked away his eighth goal of the season, just 12’ minutes in to the match, before quickly following with two more strikes on 28’ and 33’ minutes. It rapidly became clear that this was going to be a very long after-
Features Campus sport rained off Reading FC annouce another ticket offer Reading players walk off victorious after their demolition of Bolton  noon for Bolton, as they looked like a broken team after barely half an hour had passed. Their defence was especially shocking, with former Royals defender, turned Bolton traitor, Matt Mills getting hostile treatment from the crowd. Even as the goals were piling up, Mills continued to receive a very unfriendly reception. Le Fondre proved to Nigel Atkins, the Reading manager, that although the man in charge had been uncertain about selecting the striker, he was able to capitalise on chances. There was some poor defending, particularly for his second and third goal, but considering the fact that out of seven shots on target, all seven were converted to goal, Reading seemingly finally have a goalscorer. The demoralising effect of a first half hat trick turned to frustration for Bolton, as it became increasing-
ly apparent Reading weren’t missing a trick. Bolton defender, Alex Baptiste, committed a hand ball at the stroke of 40 minutes inside the box which led to a penalty. That was converted by Pavel Pogrebnyak, who had a brilliant match independently, using his big frame and strength to intimidate the brittle Bolton ‘defence.’ When a side is on the receiving end of a 4-0 drubbing by half time, wearing a fluorescent orange away strip draws unwanted attention. At times, especially when stationary, they resembled 11 stewards, and truth be told, stewards probably would have been more combative than the visitors. After a half-time team talk, opposition manager Dougie Freedman was able to seemingly limit the second half carnage. For 15 minutes. Kaspars Gorkss poked in a cross after 60’ minutes, at which point
Photography: Jack Mendel the goals began to flow again. In 18 minutes, Reading went from 4-0 to 7-0, with Hope Akpan scoring his first ever goal, and Nick Blackman his third. As fans began to look up records on their phone, a very late 88th minute conciliation from David Ngog almost went unnoticed. Reading keeper Alex McCarthy was particularly frustrated at losing his clean sheet, after having kept out the minimal shots that were sent his way. Now up to sixth place, Reading will be hoping that this is the start of a surge back up the table. They won 7-1, but the reality of the situation is that it won’t be like this every week. For the last few months they have struggled due to chronic failings with scoring goals. A single fixture may have filled the side with confidence, but ultimately, they need to work even harder now to continue this intensity and form.
Men’s Squash 3s suffer battling defeat karl hampton
Reading Knights battled hard in defeat against Portsmouth in the latest round of BUCs fixtures. The Knights, second bottom in the league, were up against a team in third place who had inflicted a 3-0 defeat upon them earlier in the season. Although Reading experienced another loss this time round, it was an improved showing from the home team at SportsPark. Reading started the match as the underdogs but battled like cham-
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pions, with Matthew Harden up to play first. Despite an excellent start winning the first game, Harden went on to lose the next two. However he then heroically battled his way back to 2-2 to force a fifth and deciding game, but ultimately lost that game. Will Mantell-Sayer was next up for Reading, against the third player of Portsmouth. This match also went all the way with five games, with Mantell-Sayer coming out victorious. The two games lost by the
Reading player were only narrow defeats. Up last for the home team came Karl Hampton, facing the number two player of Portsmouth. The first game began and ended quickly. with Hampton struggling to get a foothold. He then fought back in the second game but unfortuately still suffered a narrow loss. The Portsmouth player then again managed another small margin of victory in the third game to mean an overall loss for the team. The five points gained by Reading should be important in prevent-
ing the team from relegation come end of the season. Albeit well short of the four teams ahead of them, Reading are now eight points above bottom team Brunel, who they face in what could be a crunch match in the last fixture of the season on Wednesday 5th March. Next up for the Knights is a clash with top of the table Roehampton 1st team, away at Wimbledon. Despite not having played Roehampton yet, Reading will know this is a tough fixture, and will be buoyed by their five points gained against Portsmouth.
Uni sport RUBC compete at BUCs indoors Ladies’ Badminton and Netball teams win
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