The Hype Issue 2

Vol. 1 Issue 2 17th October, 2018

Music

Carter V is X out of X

Lil Wayne’s most recent album solidifies him as a modern rap God, writes Hugh Farrell.

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ha Carter V almost never was, but after four years of legal battles and a world of health concerns for Lil Wayne, it has finally arrived.

Besides the obvious concerns around the release of the album, fears arose alongside Drake not featuring due to “clearance issues”.

While many were upset, the album doesn’t seem to have suffered. Tha Carter V remains a solid follow-up to its previous four predecessors.

While having an intro of a mother telling her son how proud she is of him is nothing new to the rap game, its heart-warming sentiment works with the tone of the album’s release.

The first song that enters the mix is Don’t Cry featuring the recently deceased XXXTENTACION. The familiar voice, along with the slow but intense beat and almost foreshadowing lyrics, gives you a haunting yet beautiful track that immediately immerses you in the experience.

Dedicate follows on so Wayne can remind us that he is a god of the modern rap game. It was important to throw this song in early for the sake of its message. Realistically, the track can come across as an ego boost for Wayne.

The redemption from this is undeniable though as Wayne drops Uproar, a diss track fueled with a fiery passion. Sampling the beat from ‘Special Delivery’ by G-Dep, Wayne tells his enemies to beware of him. Many are speculating that the biggest enemy in question is

Birdman, CEO of Cash Money records, with whom Wayne had the legal battle.

The passion can be felt here though, and it’s no suras prise, Wayne takes the b e a t up a

notch w i t h m u c h heated and his disspin on the beat.

Many fans waiting on Let It when Travis Scott be happening. The more like a Travis Wayne’s. Sevn Thomas

more lyrics tinctive classic had been Fly since 2014, tweeted it would song itself feels Scott song than Lil co-produced the beat

which keeps an up tempo modern feel, another aspect of the range of this album as we see Wayne adapt.

Can’t Be Broken and Dark Side of the Moon follow which see the album return to a deeper, more pensive state. Dark Side in particular carries a more loving and calm tone with Nicki Minaj and Wayne singing together.

This pairing in particular, shows how well this album flows and works as an album, as opposed to a random assortment of songs.

Mona Lisa then appears and feels like the standout song of the album, with Kendrick Lamar. Lamar is known for his ability to tell a story and pairs nicely with Wayne on the song. The song has been one of the best in terms of performance in the charts and it’s not hard to see why. The story being told is interesting, the lyrics are clever and and the music runs well with the story.

Unfortunately, the album starts to feel like it was front loaded from this point on. Despite some other impressive artists, the exceptional attributes of some of the early songs are lost from here. The rest of the album follows a good flow and contains some solid songs but seems lacklustre after experiencing the beginning.

While there is nothing wrong with the rest of the album it just doesn’t meet the high bar the other songs had set, or the praise bestowed on it by the likes of Kanye, claiming that his new album would be coming second to it.

Overall the album is well worth a listen but seems to peak too early.

“We’ll Go to a Hidden Place” – A Bjork Retrospective

25 years since her debut solo album, Darragh McNally reflects on the career of the alternative singer

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018 marks the 25th anniversary of Icelandic songstress Bjӧrk’s debut as a solo artist. In this time, Bjӧrk has redefined what it means to be a creative force in the modern music industry. With each release, she has evolved her sound to bring listeners to wholly new worlds of her creation.

In 1993, a newly solo Bjӧrk (formerly the lead vocalist of Icelandic rock band The Sugarcubes) released Debut¸ an off-kilter collection of dance and jazz songs inspired by the singer’s love of 1990’s London club culture. With her debut, Bjӧrk established herself as an exciting new creative force in 1990’s pop music. It’s follow-up Post, released in 1995, built upon the sound of Debut, embellishing the dance-pop production with harsher electronics and beats, and bringing to listeners a more angry, passionate, and more powerful Bjӧrk, one that would further flourish as her career continued.

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After a turbulent period for the singer, including increased media attention and a terrifying encounter with a stalker, Bjӧrk fled to Málaga to record her third album Homogenic. Upon its release in 1997, the album received critical acclaim and has since been regarded as one of the best albums ever made. Its futuristic, ice-cold electronic production has aged remarkably well, and laid the groundwork for Bjӧrk’s signature dramatic, awe-inspiring balladry. Her fourth album Vespertine, released in 2001, is a massive contrast to her previous work, detailing her relationship to visual artist Matthew Barney. Its songs are sparse, delicate odes to the joys of love and passion.

In 2004, Medúlla was released, a bizarre but enchanting acapella album. It followed on in Vespertine’s more introverted style of song writing, and used choirs, throat-singing, and beat-boxing to create an eerily beautiful soundscape to these songs. Her sixth album Volta was released in 2007. The album is her most politically-charged work, inspired by her work as a

UNICEF ambassador, and has a more immediate, pop-friendly sound, with production by Timbaland and Danja among others.

2011 marked the release of Bjӧrk’s seventh album Biophilia, a sparse, intentionally mundane ode to the natural world and cosmology. The album was released with an accompanying app for smartphones, which featured the album in full, along with games and visual experiences. It was the first ever music release to have an accompanying application.

In 2015, Vulnicura was released, a dark and often disturbing account of the demise of the relationship that defined Vespertine. It was the beginning of Bjӧrk’s work with Venezuelan producer Arca, and his abstract, harsh production perfectly mirrors the album’s themes of heartbreak and betrayal. Their next collaboration was 2017’s Utopia, described by Bjӧrk as her “Tinder album”. The album is an epic and joyful celebration of love, life, and nature, a work of intergalactic proportions.

From looking back through her discography, one can attest to the genius of Bjӧrk. Her work is timeless, and she remains one of the most respected voices in music today.

Just one question remains, one that fills this writer with excitement – just where on Earth will she take us next?

Music and movies

Kero Kero Bonito make their Irish debut at Whelan’s James Bentley bops to the London-based band that takes inspiration from J-pop.

Review: A Simple Favour

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Sarah Barrett reviews the comedy-thriller:

rom the director of “Bridesmaids”, Paul Feig.

This neo-noir comedy thriller is an adaption of the novel of the same name by Darcey Bell.

Filled with a rollercoaster of thrill and emotion with many twists and turns that leaves it’s audience wanting more. The two female lead characters are complete opposites yet make the best friends. Anna Kendrick plays the annoying cup-cake mother Stephanie, who goes the extra mile with school activities and is always the parent with the best brownies at the school bake sale. But she is not as clean cut and as goody-goody as when we first meet her.

Blake Lively character is sophisticated PR Fashion Director “Emily” who works in a fragrance company in the big city. A confident blonde with a love for martinis after a hard days’ work of living her best life. Both of their children are in the same class, the two-cross paths after Emily’s son insists on having a play-date after school. Emily living a bustling lifestyle of glamour, tries not to give into her son’s demand but falls short when he gets his own way.

Stephanie goes to Emily’s house to spend the afternoon having martinis and gifts Emily a friend ship bracelet. After a call from Emily asks Stephanie to pick up her son because of an urgent matter at work. A few hours into the play date suddenly Emily never picks up her son, disappears and Stephanie takes to her blog and airs her concern for Emily’s disappearance. She calls into Emily’s workplace and is greeted by her flamboyant CEO who doesn’t offer a valid explanation for Emily’s disappearance. Stephanie is confused as to why Emily would just up and leave for Miami without telling her. How can you pick up your new best friend’s son as a simple favour?

The film is reminiscent of the thriller “Gone Girl” and has enough to fill viewers expectations. Emily won’t answer Stephanie’s calls or text messages so Stephanie takes to her blog to begin investigating Emily’s sudden disappearance. The longer Emily is missing, the closer she gets to to Emily’s beau, consoling the grieving father and husband. Throughout the film we are given many opportunities to make assumptions ourselves a s to what is going on and how this intriguing story unfolds.

Kendrick and Lively are excellently cast for the characters in this film and leaves us remembering the successful “Gossip Girl” series and the “Pitch Perfect” trilogy. The characters are 4 completely opposite. One a powerful busi-

ness woman, the other a stay at home mother with a parenting blog. All characters display psychological trauma and are somewhat delusional. As the story unfolds we are met with the explanation to the secret identity of Emily. The soundtrack of cheesy 60’s French pop only adds to the wackiness of this urban thriller tale. A gamble of friendship on the line and shocking events unfolding, two women living double-lives and a charming husband and children.

“A Simple Favour” is a suburban tale full of psychological suspense. Filled with love, loyalty, revenge, murder and betrayal. The film has currently raked $49 million at the box off domestically in the US and internationally has brought in $27 million. The only thing not complimenting is the screen writer Jessica Sharper never read the book for the film adaption.

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he surprise release of the lead single “Only Acting” in February 2018 marked a change in sound and general theme for Kero Kero Bonito (KKB).

This translates well to the stage. The recently released “Time ‘n’ Place” shows a darker yet still vicariously poppy record that is well encompassed in the line-up and instrumental change in live performances.

While the supporting act by Tim Koh was disappointing, this only helped KKB establish they’re stage presence and general energy as one that is commanding and exhilarating.

The set included a very equal spread of older songs and newer songs including the charming hit “Flamingo” as well as something slightly smaller such as the recently released “Make Believe”. While the set itself plays a crucial role in a performance, one’s enjoyment of the show is reliant on said performance and should be reviewed as a sum of its parts rather than by individual songs. This is an important thing to note for KKB. They are, in essence, a performance act.

This can range from the incredibly bright story enveloped in opening track “Waking Up” or the self-aware and deprecating track “Only Acting”. The band started by riling up the crowd by sending each member on one at a time eventually landing at a fever pitch by the time Sarah (Bonito) Perry had arrived.

This sense of performance is something KKB managed to grasp very early on in their set. Sarah herself is charming, quirky and commanded attention from the crowd while Gus, Jamie, Jennifer and James did exactly what was needed from them as a band.

The crowd themselves were very receptive and so excited that songs almost had a “sing-along” atmosphere. This is something KKB themselves capitalised on by interacting with and even passing the microphone into the crowd.

Whilst this often comes off as rather cheesy and a forced way of engaging crowd participation, it wasn’t overused and felt natural to the flow of the concert.

KKB as a band prioritised fun and enjoyment over the mystique of performing and this fits their style perfectly.

This level of crowd participation can also be a double-edged sword, so to speak, as the crowd themselves were very reflective of the set. One key example of this falling flat is the hit single “Flamingo”.

It started rather deceptively with distortion driven guitar and bass but when Sarah held a flamingo toy over her head, the crowd erupted in noise; clearly very enthusiastic.

Unfortunately, this excitement wasn’t kept throughout the song as when the second verse (sang entirely in Japanese) started, a noticeable and rather laughable lull happened in the crowd as only of fraction of people were brave enough to attempt to sing along.

This didn’t fully deter some. The sense of self-aware fun was emphasised with gimmicky but not unwelcome props such as a pink phone used in a story-based song or a small fake bird bobbing to the music left of the stage. This show was the last of the band’s mid-2018 tour and shows no sign of fatigue.

Sarah herself has an infectiously energetic personality and this is something mimicked throughout the crowd.

Overall, the KKB Whelan’s show was personal, memorable, and, most importantly, wholly enjoyable.

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Film & Television

The art of God-awful cinema Darragh McNally writes on how some films success is banked on how terrible they are

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ilm is an art form. Movies are great. But there exists in this world, a hidden beauty. Diamonds in the rough. Daisies growing through the pavement of a vast metropolis, fighting to be noticed.

These aren’t just bad movies, these are terrible movies. Movies so objectively awful, so critically panned, so maligned by the film industry, that one cannot help but to enjoy them. To find pleasure where pleasure shouldn’t be found.

They’re awful. But in actuality, this is what makes them so good. What is most baffling about these movies is the cult following surrounding them.

These films’ reputations precede them, and often act as the selling point.

Thanks to their ridiculous premises, horrid performances, terrible excuses for plots, among other things, two films of this subgenre stand out.

Sharknado, directed by Anthony C. Ferrante, is a direct-to-television movie that premiered on Syfy in 2013, detailing a tornado that lifts sharks out of the ocean and rampages through Los Angeles. Ergo, a Sharknado.

It has plot holes everywhere.

The special effects are mediocre at best. Its whole setup is ridiculous, with water spouts caused by a freak storm scooping sharks out of the

ocean into a raging tornado. There is a sequence where the protagonist jumps into a shark’s mouth and uses a chainsaw to cut his way out and save his girlfriend. But really, these flaws are the whole point. It is completely, unabashedly, unashamedly, ridiculous. It is a textbook example of a drinking movie, begging for a group of people to get belligerently drunk and make an absolute mockery of it. That is it’s purpose, and is probably why Sharknado is so popular. It has spawned an entire movie franchise, with it’s sixth and final entry, The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time, being released in August 2018. It also spawned a spin-off called Lavalantula. Think Sharknado, but with fire-breathing tarantulas.

The Room is an entirely different beast. The 2003 brainchild of Tommy Wiseau (who directed, wrote, produced and starred) details a love triangle between a banker, Johnny, his fiancé, Lisa, and his best friend, Mark. It has a bizarre narrative structure, employing a Tarantino-esque mix of non-linear storytelling and unrelated subplots. Unfortunately for Wiseau, this structure isn’t as effortless as Tarantino makes it look. It all leads to a bizarre movie, with subplots about Johnny tapping

Lisa’s phone to learn more about her affair, a pregnancy that turns out to be made up by Lisa to cover up said affair, and an entirely unrelated run-in with a drug dealer. All of this nonsense has one thing in common: Wiseau’s less than stellar performance. If one could compare him to anything, it would be a two-legged chihuahua. You can’t help

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If one could compare (Tommy Wiseau) to anything, it would be a two-legged chihuahua.

You can’t help but feel pity for the poor thing, yet you’re rooting for them all the same, because they’re trying. but feel pity for the poor thing, yet you’re rooting for them all the same, because they’re trying.

Greg Sestero, who played Mark in The Room, would later write a memoir called The Disaster Artist, detailing his time working on the movie. It would later be adapted to film in 2017.

Lady Gaga soars in A Star is Born Brendan Fernando Kelly Palenque reviews the film starring the international pop star

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Star Is Born (ASIB) builds on the recent rebirth of the movie musical and blows its contemporary competition out of the water.

The film harkens back to the golden age of the genre. However, it’s still thoroughly modernised and far more grounded than the typical musical. Ally (Lady Gaga) was an aspiring singer/songwriter whose life changed dramatically after a famous musician, Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper), noticed her talent. Jack and Ally’s relationship grew alongside Ally’s musical career. However, Jack’s alcoholism caused friction between them, as well as their differing views on musical integrity and authenticity.

What truly elevates ASIB compared to its modern rivals is surprisingly simple. They cast people who could actually sing. Movies such as La La Land, and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, certainly have their charm, but ultimately lack strong vocalists. It should come as no surprise that Gaga’s vocal abilities are simply stellar. Cooper took a year and a half of vocal lessons, and they were clearly worth every cent.

The soundtrack is the backbone of any musical, and ASIB absolutely nails it. More than that, the songs manage to fit cohesively into the film’s plot, something that a surprising number of modern musicals have failed to do.

“Shallow” is without a doubt, the stand-out track, and will, most likely, receive the most attention. Gaga’s vocalisations in the final bridge, can only be described as mesmerising. Even the purposefully generic track, “Why Did You Do That?” is high quality. It’s clear that a great amount of work was put into each and every song, even the ones where it would make sense to do the opposite.

While Gaga does steal the vocal spotlight, Cooper gives one of, if not ,the best performance of his life. It’s been clear for a while now that Cooper is Oscar hungry, and both his acting and directing in ASIB may be an answer to his prayers.

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cal alcoholic. He’s not a womanizer nor a domestic abuser. Instead, we see how his illness affects others through his interaction with them. Gaga and Cooper have great chemistry that’s completely believable.

Sam Elliott has a supporting role as Cooper’s brother in the movie. Despite having less screen time, Elliott manages to bring a lot of subtlety and depth to his performance.

ASIB is certainly not without it’s faults, however. The film has a running time of 135 minutes, and there are certain moments where that’s quite clear. In particular, the film begins to drag near the end of the second act. It’s by no means unbearable, but it is undoubtedly, the low point of the film Additionally, a lot of the supporting characters introduced in the beginning are of no real importance to the film’s plot. For example, Gaga’s friend (played by Anthony

Ramos) doesn’t really do much of anything. After the first act, he only appears one more time to reassure Gaga’s character that she is talented. However, since the audience doesn’t really know the depth of their relationship, it’s hard to feel anything about the scene. The same can be said for Gaga’s drag queen friends.

That said, Cooper’s first interaction with Gaga could have easily been in just a regular bar. Instead, it’s in a drag bar, which makes the scene more memorable, as well as just more fun.

Of course you can’t really talk about ASIB without mentioning that it’s a remake. This is actually the fourth time it’s been made.

Despite this, it still manages to be utterly captivating, and well worth the price of a movie ticket.

Film & Television

Will Black Mirror’s choose-your-ownadventure episode create a trend?

Choose-your-own-adventure type shows could be the future of television, writes Carrie McMullen

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he theme of morality has existed in storytelling since the beginning of time. All stories end with a moral or value that the writer wants the audience to take away with them. However, what if it was up to the audience to decide the way the story ended?

Later this year, Netflix is giving its audience exactly that power in the form of a Black Mirror episode. The upcoming fifth season of the science fiction anthology will feature one episode in which viewers can vote on how the story unfolds. Not many details have been released for the upcoming season yet, but a choice-based episode could work particularly well for a show like Black Mirror which builds its foundation off human morality.

The concept of ‘choose your own adventure’ has been tried and tested for years in video games and has found to be very successful. Generally referred to as role-playing games or RPGs, players are taken on a journey from building their own character to choosing how they handle difficult situations and how their decisions ultimately change their character’s fate. Introducing the ability to make your character feel unique to you brings a fresher feel to a game against a stock character in a linear storyline of button mashing your way to a final boss whose ultimate and es-

sential demise rewards you with nothing but the end credits.

This mechanic of creating your own story is seen in popular games such as Skyrim and Mass Effect made

by Bethesda Game Studios and BioWare respectively. Both studios have made millions from their RPG games with Bethesda reportedly worth $3 billion. These games typically include creating your own characters from scratch, building friendships, romances and enmities from choice-based interactions and finishing your game with one of a selection of ‘good’ or ‘bad’ endings.

Will Black Mirror be able to bring all these essential characteristics of RPGs to the upcoming season? Let’s look at an example of a game inspired by a TV show and comic.

Telltale studios bought the rights to create a game of The Walking Dead back in 2011. In April 2012 they released the first episode of what would turn into a critically acclaimed RPG and follow with four more seasons with four to five episodes in each. The game follows the story of a young girl called Clementine as she grows up in the zombie apocalypse from an eight-year-old girl until her mid-teens. The game slowly builds the player’s emotional attachment to Clementine as you watch her grow up. In the first season, you control the character of Lee who meets Clementine stranded in her treehouse at the outbreak of the apocalypse. Throughout the game, you instil values in Clementine which help build her character for when the player ultimately controls her in the following seasons.

Telltale’s The Walking Dead is special in that the player doesn’t just suffer the consequences of their actions throughout the first game, every choice carries over into the next game. Past choices come back to bite and old characters can love you or hate you when they pop up again.

The game is a true test of human morality with some of the biggest decisions being between who lives and who dies.

The anthology style of Black Mirror may be its only downfall for a ‘choose your own adventure’ episode. There simply wouldn’t be enough time to build the viewer’s emotional attachment to the character. However, Black Mirror’s unfailing use of shock factor will likely make it a hit as viewers will be tested on their common human decency.

Insatiable v. Sierra Burgess is A Loser

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Aoife O’Brien determines which Netflix original fares better in relation to themes of body image.

nsatiable and Sierra Burgess is a Loser, two new Netflix originals, have received criticism for fat shaming despite proclaiming to promote body positivity.

Insatiable focuses on the story of a teenage girl, Patty (Debby Ryan), who loses 70 pounds and seeks revenge on those who bullied her for being overweight.

Sierra Burgess is a Loser follows Sierra’s (Shannon Purser) virtual romance with a boy, Jamey (Noah Centineo), who thinks he is talking to somebody else and has no idea what Sierra looks like.

Insatiable’s message is that even if you outwardly ‘fix’ your problems, in this case by becoming skinny, everything under the surface still remains.

It explores issues of over-consumption and body dysmorphic disorder and addresses the misconception that an individual must be dangerously underweight to suffer with disordered eating.

Despite losing weight, Patty still obsesses over it, repeatedly telling herself “skinny is magic.”

Her offhand attitude towards laxatives and fasting, to counteract her binge-eating and her anxiety when confronted with the image of herself in a swimsuit, represent the everyday experience of those with a high functioning eating disorder.

A major point of contention for viewers however, is the use of Debby wearing a fat-suit. Despite only being used in one episode, it is viewed as a crude and unrealistic caricature that sets the tone of the show.

While Insatiable’s sentiment is clear, the lack of character devel-

opment takes away from the overall message.

In the first episode, the newly skinny Patty looks around a classroom telling herself, “I could be the former fatty who turned into a brain. Or an athlete. Or a princess.” This idea that being overweight defines a person, where skinny people have limitless possibilities, is a damaging concept.

The problem with Sierra Burgess is a Loser is not underdeveloped characters but a poorly written script.

Sierra is not introduced as ‘fat.’ She is described as intelligent and funny and when she looks in the mirror she calls herself “a magnificent beast.”

However, marketed as a rom-com that shows ‘fat women’ deserve love too, a believable love story is needed.

Yet aside from the fact Sierra and Jamey’s relationship is based on lies, their conversations are so unbearably generic that we never see the pair fall for each other.

Then, when Jamey finally realises he has been “catfished”, all of his rage simply disappears so that the movie can be wrapped up nice and neatly.

He comes to Sierra’s house before homecoming to tell her that, “even though she isn’t everyone’s type,” she’s still exactly what he’s looking for. That despite being fat, he’s still into her.

While, as a whole it manages to avoid the stereotype that being thin and being happy are mutually exclusive, it creates the idea that weight is a barrier to love. When Sierra is called “lesbian” and “trans” as an insult, because she is not typically feminine, this idea is reinforced.

Insatiable highlights the fact that a journey may not always produce the expected results, but the lack of effort put into Patty’s character before she lost weight obliterates the message of the show. Once again we have a fat person defined only by their weight.

Sierra Burgess is Loser is refreshing in terms of its casting because the story is not reliant on Sierra’s weight. It is definitely more progressive in terms of body positivity, however a poor script that targets marginalised groups such as the transgender community for humour takes away from the integrity of the film.

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Television & Podcasts

South Park’s season premiere critique’s artificially “woke”

David Kelly heads on down to South Park to give his opinion on the season premiere.

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outh Park’s twenty-minute season premiere tackles numerous sensitive issues in classic South Park fashion. Cavalier humour is used to explore phenomena such as school shootings, virtue signalling and identity politics.

The episode opens rather innocuously with the student’s receiving the results of their maths test. Cartman fails despite copying his neighbour, a black student named ‘Token’. This leaves Cartman to believe that Token sabotaged him, thus setting up the A-story.

Simultaneously, the class is interrupted by a school shooting, which the teacher does her best to ignore.

The dismissive attitudes of her and the students give us a glimpse as to how Trey Parker and Matt Stone intend to examine this issue, establishing the B-story.

Cartman becomes obsessed with the idea that Token sabotaged his attempts at cheating because he criticised Black Panther, a film many consider to be a cultural cornerstone for the black community.

Cartman’s shallow deduction is predicated on the idea that all black people saw Black Panther and consider it to be a major part of their heritage. Despite claiming to not like the film on its technical merits, Cartman assumes any criticism of the film is tantamount to racism.

Cartman is a parody of the typical ‘Woke’ individual.

He engages in insincere virtue signalling to prove that he is not a racist, despite having not said anything racist. Paradoxically, his reduces Token to his race identity by assuming that all black people think collectively.

Despite Token’s insistence that he did not see Black Panther, Cartman refuses to entertain the possibility that a black person may not have seen the film. He goes to lengths to confirm his theory that Token dislikes him as a racist, rather than as a person.

In an age where identity politics is prevalent, Cartman lacks the nuance to distinguish an individual from their race.

Consequently, he concludes that rather than not actually seeing the film, Token did not like it, and is afraid to admit it publicly for fear of being ostracised from his entire race.

Whereas Cartman used to be explicitly despicable, he is now implicitly racist. Rather than be honest, Cartman signals his virtuosity to black people by espousing how much he loves Black Panther in a desperate attempt to appear tolerant.

The B-story is handled in a comparatively less subtle manner. Stan’s mom, Sharon, is understandably distraught about the recent shooting at the school. However, her husband, Randy, and fellow parents cannot understand her distress.

Randy becomes convinced that her frustration is due to being on her period, and eventually concludes that she may be forgoing the menopause. The message here is self-evident, as Parker and Stone highlight the normalisation of school shootings in America.

The jokes are simplistic, and the story ends on a rather harrowing note as Sharon accepts that perhaps she is overreacting to what should be considered a trivial issue.

Evidently, Parker and Stone have taken a fatalistic attitude to the school shooting epidemic, offering no solution to the 6 mass desensitisation towards such a painful issue.

The podcast according to Blindboy

Roise McGagh reviews the live podcast hosted by the plastic bag disguised man at Vicar Street.

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s part of the Dublin Podcast Festival 2018, Blindboy Boatclub from the Rubberbandits performed at Vicar’s Street. The Blindboy Podcast has gained a large listenership since it launched in October 2017, so much so that it quickly sold out the venue.

Blindboy describes his podcast as ‘an eclectic podcast containing short fiction, interviews and comedy.’

He has become known for talking about mental health in Ireland and discussed his own mental health and his concerns about the state of mental health in Ireland on the Tommy Tiernan show in February 2018. He often speaks in strong favour of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and thinks that cognitive psychology should be taught to young children in school so people have the words to describe what they’re feeling and why they do things.

Vicar Street is an intimate venue hosting just over 1,000 people. The ground floor was covered in low tables and stools. “It’s a conversation, not a gig,” tweeted Blindboy a week before the show.

The show was very relaxed and informal. The stage had a simple, centred setup of two chairs, a table, two mics and a spotlight. Blindboy casually strolled in carrying a can of beer and smoking his vape, that he ensured was only water vapour and part of his act.

He sat down and introduced himself and then read a short story from his book, The Gospel According to Blindboy. He does this in all his episodes and this time it was about two boys from Cork, who fantasised about poisoning Rory Gallagher at one of his concerts. They were going to tranquillise him with ferret poison and skin him alive, then wear his skin as a suit and go back on stage. As always the story was very detailed, poetic and dark.

He then introduced his guest, David McWilliams who is a well accomplished economist,

as well as an author, a journalist, a documentary-maker and a broadcaster. He is a Professor of Global Economics at Trinity College Dublin and is ranked 10th most influential economist in the world.

David talked about the economy and brought it to life by linking how people earn, borrow and spend to society and culture. Him and Blindboy discussed how the recession came about, and how David was one of the few to predict the crash. “The truth is that in 2008, the Irish economy was set up to crash.” he said, “because if you have banks borrowing money for three months and loaning it out for 30 years there is other possible outcome”.

He explained how this eventually led to the housing crisis, as large amounts of property were bought up, especially apartments, by Vulture Funds and then hoarded or rented out at high prices.

They also discussed the Take Back the City movement and how we could solve the housing crisis moving forward. The audience seemed inspired and were very active during the short period at the end reserved for questions.

At the end of the show someone stood up and talked about their experience in navigating the world as a person with personality disorder. Cúnla Morris praised Blindboy’s Podcast and thanked him for his work. They said after the show that, “In Blindboy’s podcast he democratises the core foundations of CBT and other therapies and his podcast reminds people like me that recovery is possible.”

The Dublin Podcast Festival ran from the 26th of September to the 17th October 2018. It featured well known Podcasts such as The Guilty Feminist by Deborah Frances-White, The Adam Buxton Podcast and the Conspiracy Guys.

Art & Theatre

A visit to Roderic O’Conor and The Moderns

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nside the National Art Gallery’s exhibition room, the walls are painted a calming violet that harmonises with the vibrant paintings of Roderic O’Conor and his contemporaries. O’Conor, an Irish artist who hailed from Roscommon, was a quiet figure of the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist movements in the late nineteenth century.

Each room is dedicated to the different stages in O’Conor’s career, as we proceed across the floor, we can see O’Conor’s style constantly shifting through his life as influences make their presence, yet there is still something distinct that makes all of his work recognisable.

Although the exhibition displays some of O’Conor’s earliest work, the painter really comes in to his own once he makes his debut to France. From the onset, we can see the Impressionist style beginning to mould how he paints, with the use of optical mixing and thick strokes of the paint brush. From his work in Wales in comparison to his work in Pont Aven, he begins to experiment with artificial colours in natural settings, incorporating pinks and purples to reflect light upon the water, similar to Monet’s Water Lilies series.

However a key player in O’Conor’s development as an artist is Vincent Van Gogh, despite the fact that the painters never met. Arriving two years after the Van Gogh’s death, O’Conor was one of the first to only know the Dutch painter solely through his work. Van Gogh’s use of harsh, unnatural lines to convey direction and shade.

This is evident in O’Conor’s Still Life with Apples. The

striking, red lines began to become commonplace in his works, a recognisable trait in many right until his death.

“

Similarly, one can see how O’Conor begins to discard the styles of Impressionism. Instead, he focuses on the emotions that pervade a painting and how that can change its direction. Within this room, we can see when O’Conor truly embarks into Post-impressionism territory

“

Roderic O’Connor’s exhibtion showcases the artist’s evolution into a figure of the Post-Impressionism movement, writes Aoibhín Bryant

A colleague and close friend of O’Conor, Cuno Amiet also began to paint with the trend of stripes. The exhibition room places O’Conor’s and Amiet’s work at two, opposing walls to emphasise how close their paintings began to re-

semble each other. They act as a mirror of the two, each finished work is enclosed between two dark sketches that allow the painting’s liveliness to fully shine through.

However, the turning point in O’Conor’s career is when he met the post-Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin. The two artists began to work close together, and Gauguin’s style began to steer O’conor’s in a new direction. The red lines began to blur as the artist becomes more interested in the vibrancy of colours within a painting. The exhibition places two of O’Conor’s work, side by side - before Gauguin and after Gauguin (The farm at Levazen Finistère) to demonstrate this point.

Similarly, one can see how O’Conor begins to discard the styles of Impressionism. Instead, he focuses on the emotions that pervade a painting and how that can change its direction. Within this room, we can see when O’Conor truly embarks into Post-impressionism territory alongside Gauguin.

Although Gauguin departs to Tahiti and dies soon after, his influence lives on, especially in O’Conor’s work.

In the last room, the exhibition shows two self portraits, one of O’Conor on his own, staring at the viewer, he looks old and hardened to the world. In the other portrait, it’s a full figure and he’s facing away from the viewing, in his art studio. This painting is more flattering with softer strokes, perhaps showing that O’Conor is far more comfortable as an artist than he is as a person.

The exhibition’s curation is excellent, following the story of O’Conor’s own career as well as Post-Impressionism as a whole. The featuring of other contemporary artists helps draw a line between them all, even if they never met.

Thy name is woman, Ruth Negga stars as Hamlet in The Gate Theatre Aoibhín Meghan examines why women are often picked for the male role

“Frailty thy name is woman.” In William Shakespeare’s play ‘Hamlet’ the protagonist is disgusted by the women around him, to him they are all weak and fickle, but what about when the tormented prince himself is a woman?

On September 21st, 2018 The Gate Theatre opened a new production of William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ starring Ruth Negga and directed by Yael Farber.

Negga’s name entered international headlines after her role in the 2016 film Loving, which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Now the Irish-Ethiopian actress will take on the role of the lost and vengeful Hamlet.

Traditionally, all of Shakespeare’s characters were played by men. Women were not allowed to perform in any of his plays even in the most feminine of roles like Juliet from ‘Romeo and Juliet’.

It was the 17th century before the first woman ever played a role in one of Shakespeare’s plays but now both men and women can be seen acting in all of his work.

Negga is

certainly not the first woman to play Hamlet, since the 18th century many women have taken on this iconic role.

In James Joyce’s Ulysses one character remarks “I hear that an actress played Hamlet for the 408th time last night in Dublin.”

English actor, Sarah Siddons began playing Hamlet in 1775 as a young actress and carried on playing this role until she was 47 years old. Siddons was also renowned for her performances as Lady Macbeth, a character who she made entirely her own.

The first woman to play Hamlet in film was a French actor, Sarah Bernhardt at the very beginning of the 20th century. Bernhardt had very strong views regarding Hamlet’s gender, saying “I cannot see Hamlet as a man.”

Many people find it easy to imagine Hamlet as a woman because of his youth. Actor and director, Eva LeGallienne, who took on the role i n

1937 said that the age you interpret Hamlet to be dictates whether the character should be played by a male or a female.

“If you view Hamlet as a mature man than I don’t think he should be played by a woman” said LeGallienne. “I think psychologically one feels Hamlet was a youth ... He’s still going to Wittenberg, to college, you know.

He can’t be a mature man. The whole thing points to a very young youth, and therefore because a boy of that age might not be technically equipped to play the role.”

In a 1982 production of Hamlet which saw Diane Venora playing the Prince of Denmark, American director Joseph Papp stated that it is vital for Hamlet’s character to be vulnerable and therefore the actor who plays him must be able to show their emotions.

“The person playing Hamlet should be able to weep unabashedly and unashamedly” Papp said to the New York Times.

Farber a Sout African director currently living in Montreal has explained why she chose Negga in particular to portray Hamlet. “I believe that the role is in the hands of an artist, who can do something incredible with it” said Farber.

She explained to the Irish Times that casting Negga was not meant to be provocative. “All I want to know is if the story will be told with the velocity and beauty and power that it can be”.

This is Negga’s debut performance in the Gate and working alongside powerful woman from the industry like Farber and the shows Tony-award winning designer Susan Hilferty.

It seems like this trio are the perfect team to present ‘Hamlet’ at the Gate as they are not afraid to push beyond the boundaries of Shakespeare’s work.7

Books

R

Matt Haig’s Reasons to Stay Alive inspires hope The book helps give an insight into living with depression and anxiety, writes Orla Dwyer

easons to Stay Alive gives the reader not only what its title describes, but an insider’s perspective on living life with mental health problems.

This book deals with anxiety and depression, issues very familiar to the author, with honesty and critical distance. It is difficult to read at times, but you will learn a lot more about them by reading this book.

Haig begins by saying he could not have written the book 13 years ago at the height of his depressive stage.

This stage began for him all at once in his early twenties and remained for many years, affecting and changing his life forever.

Although the author says it all came at once, he also delves into his past and admits the signs of depression and anxiety were always there growing up. They just didn’t hit him until they suddenly did.

The honesty and self-exploration Haig displays in this novel is a keen thing to witness.

It is inescapable. It can get overwhelming at times, but as Haig mentions in the book, everything comes in peaks and troughs. The book has moments of intense descriptions of his depressive episodes that are sometimes too vivid to read.

There are chapters where the author talks to his former depressed self. These can feel like you are peering through a crack in the doorway, listening in, but they are very useful to those who could be feeling the same way as

Haig 14 years ago, when it all began.

These are contrasted by articles about what helps the author carry on, such as running, reading and being with his loved ones. Such simple things ground the book and remind the reader that Haig improved and he did not feel this way forever.

The chapters travel through time and mental space across all realms of the author’s life over the past 14 years. From living with his girlfriend in Ibiza, to moving back in with his parents at his worst and not being able to visit the corner shop alone without a panic attack gripping him and manipulating his thoughts.

For those who have not experienced any version

Joseph O’Gorman investigates as to why we love the literery detective so much

Doyle’s works expired in the United Kingdom and Canada at the end of 1980, was revived in 1996 and expired again at the end of 2000. The author’s works are now in the public domain in those territories. All works published in the United States before 1923 are in the public domain; this includes all the Sherlock Holmes stories.

This has allowed directors to run wild with the concept in the last few years. In 2009, we saw Robert Downey Jr, and Jude Law take the lead roles, in what ended up being almost a Victorian era Bond film, the third of the franchise set to be released in 2020.

Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal of a present day Holmes in the BBC series is probably most famous, with the series having won multiple Emmys, and has amassed a cult following online.

However the question must be asked, why the continued revivals? What is it about the detective stories that have such lasting appeal?

Human beings have a natural need to find solutions. The brain is a puzzle solving machine.How else to explain the eternal popularity of jigsaw puzzles, or Rubik’s cubes? Give the brain a problem and it will automatically try to find a solution. We are all puzzle solvers by nature. It may be even more appealing than a jigsaw puzzle or Rubik’s cube because not only does it satisfy

of what Haig went through, the book gives a valuable insight into what someone you know could be facing or what you yourself could be be living with in years to come.

That is one thing the author makes very clear. Depression, anxiety and any mental health problems can affect anyone and everyone. Haig goes so far as to make a list of celebrities who have been through them. This hammers home the point that depression and anxiety do not pick and choose who to affect. Being rich or successful is not an immunity against mental health problems.

Recent CSO figures have shown that men accounted for eight out of 10 deaths by suicide in Ireland last year.

Although this book was released in 2015, it continues to be relevant when these statistics remain so stark. Men who are facing the same problems as Haig should read about his experience and be reminded that they are not alone.

One of the book’s best chapters describes how depression is smaller than you.

“It may be a dark cloud passing across the sky, but - if that is the metaphor - you are the sky. You were there before it. And the cloud can’t exist without the sky, but the sky can exist without the cloud.”

This is vital to remember even when it feels like it can’t possibly be true. Haig realised it after many years of depression and anxiety, and so too can the readers.

The universal and timeless appeal of Sherlock Holmes

I

n the latest of a long line of adaptations, comedy duo Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly have decided to turn their hand to the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The upcoming Holmes & Watson is set to be released in December 2018. Will Ferrell will breathe life into Sherlock Holmes, John C. Reilly will play Watson, and Hugh Laurie will take on Sherlock’s brother Mycroft.

Ralph Fiennes, best known for his role as Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter film adaptations will play the villainous Mycroft.

Guinness World Records has listed Holmes as the “most portrayed movie character”, with more than 70 actors playing the part in over 200 films. His first screen appearance was in the 1900 Mutoscope film, Sherlock Holmes Baffled. There has also been many foreign language adaptations, most interestingly in 1984 in Japan, an anime series for children with the characters portrayed as anthropomorphic dogs.

There is a very simple reason why the brilliant detec8 tive consistently returns to our screens, particularly in the last 10 years. Money. The copyright for Conan

the “puzzle solving” element of traditional puzzles, but it allows us to invoke our imagination, be gripped by the suspense of a “whodunit”, making the puzzle even more fascinating and the desire to reach the “goal” stronger.

We approach such stories differently than normal books or films. Detective fiction strengthens our memory, by changing how we think about details no matter how

“

There is a very simple reason why the brilliant detective consistently returns to our screens, particularly in the last 10 years. Money. minor they are. As the puzzle is being put together we are forced to recall pieces that we read earlier that at the time may have seemed inconsequential but make all the difference in the conclusion. Detective stories offer a change from the normal, the release and escapism coupled with the enjoyment of solving a puzzle.

Health & Beauty

Dealing with the setback of an injury Eoin Harte discusses how active people are more likely to have experienced one or more injuries in their lifetime.

W

hile they are far more prevalent in some sports than in others, each physical activity comes with the risk of injury.

While many injuries are minor and may only keep people out of physical exercise for a couple of weeks, others can be far more serious.

Serious injuries can have a dramatic effect on your life and can leave people feeling very frustrated as their abilities are seriously limited. Clumsily attempting to keep a cast dry when showering while it’s wrapped up in a plastic Tesco bag is somewhat amusing at first, but soon those feelings will give way to frustration and exasperation.

For people whose lives revolve around sport and fitness, long-term injuries can have a damaging effect on not only their physical state, but their mental state too.

Third-year DCU journalism student Joshua Freeman spoke to the College View about the difficulties he faced after tearing ligaments in his right ankle while playing rugby for Boyne Community School, taking him out of sport for almost a year.

“I didn’t know what do”, Freeman said. “I had just had trials for Leinster a year before and the team was flying, it hit me really hard. Then with it being fifth year the work load was insane, so I had very little time.”

Freeman struggled with his weight following the injury, gaining between 20 and 25 kilos in the following years. He struggled to get back into sport following the injury lay off, saying, “I still had slight pains in my ankle. I tried to play for the school team again, but I gained so much weight I just wasn’t the same player.”

Freeman bemoaned the lack of advice given to him by his coaches regarding the injury. “I wasn’t given a programme or anything to help keep fit and my mental state took a hit too due to this”, he said.

In the past two years Freeman has lost 25 kilos and is down to a healthy weight of 71 kilos. He had this to say when asked how others should deal with receiving a serious injury. “Make sure you do something, keep

active in some way. If you can’t run keep doing some core fitness or something and ensure your coaches look after you. It’s up to you and mentally I wasn’t right after and gained weight slowly bit by bit.”

Freeman’s story is far from unique amongst athletes who suffer serious injuries. Many sports-oriented people are on high-calorie diets to fuel their active lifestyle.

However, when the amount of exercise they normally get comes to an abrupt stop it can be difficult to drop the amount of calories they consume.

Used to having a large appetite, these out of action athletes, now deprived of an important part of their lives, eat far more than is necessary for a low activity lifestyle.

“

“When returning from a long injury lay-off it’s natural to be anxious about using the afflicted body part again. However, being overly cautious could have negative effects as strength can only be built up again through using said body part” To make matters worse, dopamine is released both after we exercise and after we eat. Dopamine is an important chemical that helps people feel good. Active people who are used to regular dopamine releases from exercise can turn to food to replace this feeling.

Therefore, it’s important to find some way to stay relatively fit when recovering from an injury. If you have injured an upper body part such as an arm or shoulder, using cycling machines can be a viable source of exercise that doesn’t put yourself at risk of more injury.

If you have injured a lower body part such as a knee or an ankle, upper body exercises that can be done when sitting, such as shoulder presses, can help you stay fit while you recover.

For those without access to proper exercise equipment, remember that body weight exercises can be just as useful. While an injury may greatly reduce the number of body weight exercises available, simple stretches should be done, as gentle exercise is better than no exercise at all.

These stretches can also help to reduce the length of recovery time, as well as decrease the chance of further injuries. If struggling with a lower back injury for example, stretching your hamstrings with simple exercises such as touching your toes can greatly help. This is because it reduces tension in your hamstrings which then in turn helps to reduce the tension in your lower back.

When returning from a long injury lay-off it’s natural to be anxious about using the afflicted body part again.

However, being overly cautious could have negative effects as strength can only be built up again through using said body part.

The phenomenon known as ‘muscle memory’ also means that while the strength of the afflicted muscle may be greatly diminished at first, it is much easier to retrain the muscle than the first time around.

While dealing with injuries is hardly pleasant, it is not the end of the world. Avoiding certain pitfalls like overeating is important if you want to quickly get back to your best. While maintaining a level of fitness when injured can be difficult, it will be greatly appreciated after fully recuperating.

9

Health & Beauty

Final year frenzy

Caitlin Laird reflects on how final year in college is an important one but the student’s mental health is even more important.

F

or most final year college students they are all hyped up on the buzz but also the dread of final year.

Students find out what their year entails, the preparation that needs to be done and the hard work that needs to be put in to get them to that finish line.

This alone can absolutely scare the hell out any final year student and this is when the stress and worry begins for students.

College alone is stressful no matter what year a student is in but the final year really is the top liner. It’s the decision maker.

Keeping on top of one’s mental health should be a big priority as well as doing the work.

There are so many simple things to control one’s mental health. Take time to just slow down and read a book or magazine.

Reading something that can just switch off the overbearing stressful thoughts and bring you into a different world of just about anything is a nice lift. This can take any student away from the relentless information overload that is going through their head on what needs to be done and what not.

Go outside to the fresh air and go for a walk or run. Getting out and clearing the head is a big help to just relieving the stress or pressure one may be under.

Forgetting about these things for a while makes you feel better in the long run as you always come back feeling refreshed and ready for whatever you are up against.

Music is another big help. No matter what may be stressing people out, just by putting on a bit of music in the background is said to ease the tension.

It can help you relax and ultimately change how you feel. It is just getting an interest in these things and really delving into them can be very beneficial to one’s mind.

Sleep is also good for the mind as everyone needs sleep to function. There is no point staying up till late worrying or stressing over things that you inevitably cannot change. It is hard to actually put an over-thinking mind at ease and sleep but you will feel better for it in the morning.

Going out with friends is a must. Having friends there to help whether it is to talk to them over a cup of tea or going out and doing something fun can seriously help.

Your friends are all going through it and they know the struggle.

These may be the main things a lot of people hear when told on how to control one’s mental health but it is these things that actually work.

Talking to someone whether it is a friend, a family member or even a counsellor, in turn, can ease the pressure.

Caroline Foran, the author of Owning it: Your Bullsh*t-Free Guide To Living With Anxiety has a lot of good tips on how to combat anxiety.

In one chapter on owing your vulnerability she states that “Embracing

10

our vulnerability is so important not just in terms of our personal happiness but in terms of managing your own anxiety”.

Being able to open up and tell someone that you’re not doing so great shouldn’t be something you’re afraid to say, as you never know that person could be feeling the same way too.

Niall Breslin commonly known as ‘Bressie’ has so much good advice on mental health as he has gone through the same struggle and he knows the pressures and stress students are under.

“As individuals, one of the biggest things you can do as a student is to create a culture of openness amongst each other”, said Bressie when talking on the youth and mental health.

‘A Lust For Life’ is a charity that Bressie is involved with and it is there to help people talk openly about their mental health and break the stigma.

The website alone is very useful as it gives tips on how to control anxiety and stress, it has personal stories of people that are all going through it and it teaches you how important mindfulness is for the brain and so much more.

Mental Health week in college is very advantageous to all students as it is a week dedicated on showing students that there are so many helpful strategies like workshops and talks on how to cope with the stress and pressure.

Mental Health week shows students that it is okay to open up and talk and let out your worries.

Students need to know that they are not alone. There are so many things mentioned above that can seriously help.

The most important one is talking.

Talking to someone is the

beginning and the help from then on can get you through the things that may seem so big right now but will eventually ease when you learn to control your mental health.

“College alone is stressful no matter what year a student is in but the final year really is the top liner.

It’s the decision maker.”

Health & Beauty

Makeup bag essentials: save or splurge With so many different makeup brands on the market, it can be hard to know what is good and what isn’t. Clara Caslin breaks it down.

From the high end to the high street the make up world can be very overwhelming when deciding which products work best for you. Here is a quick guide to help you decide whether to splurge or save.

Kit BH Cosmetics Rosé Romance – 12 Piece Brush Set With Cosmetic Bag The set of twelve face and eye brushes are made with super soft synthetic bristles and are perfect for blending powders, creams and liquids. They are vegan friendly, cruelty free and come with a matching bag. The 12 brushes are so affordable! They are on sale on bhcosmetics.com at the moment for €13.59 or can be bought for €29.50 on beautybay.com Foundation: Estée Lauder – Double Wear Foundation (Splash) This foundation doesn’t streak on the skin or come off on clothes. There is a medium to buildable coverage and a natural, semi-matte finish. The foundation feels light on the skin and has a 15- hour staying power. The bottle size is 30ml and price is €40.00 in Debenhams.

Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid (Save) This is an amazing drugstore foundation.

It is a liquid foundation, which has an airwhipped formula so gives the lightness

feeling of a mousse. It keeps your skin hydrated and has a medium coverage.

The bottle size is 30ml and price is €11.99 in Boots, which has a buy one get the second half price on selected Maybelline at the moment.

Baking Powder Huda Beauty Easy Bake Loose Powder (Splash) This baking powder gets a 10/10. It creates an airbrushed complexion and brightens up the under eye area. Apply this beneath your contour for a defined and sculpted look. It comes in eight shades and is best applied with a beauty blender. It is €32.00 in Brown Thomas.

illuminating tint that blends and gives a radiant and refreshed look (perfect for early college mornings). Price is €25 in Brown Thomas.

L’Oreal Paris Touche Magique Concealer Pen (Save) This is an anti-fatigue concealer, which leaves the eye area looking smooth.

Apply this before using the Huda Baking Powder for a full coverage look. It is available in six shades and costs €11.99 in Boots.

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This baking powder gets a 10/10. It creates an airbrushed complexion and brightens up the under eye area. Apply this beneath your contour for a defined and sculpted look.”

Ben Nye Luxury Powder (Save) Kim Kardashian made this banana powder famous. This powder is developed for screen and stage and are resistant to sweat. It minimises pores and sets concealer. A great save purchase available for approximately €5.67 on ebay.ie.

Concealer: Bare Minerals Stroke of Light Eye Brightener (Splash) This product literally wakes your eyes up. It immediately brightens the eye area and gets rid of dark shadows while also reducing the appearance of dark circles and fine lines over time. It has an

Beauty buzz: Carter Beauty

Carter Beauty by Marissa Carter has just been released into Penny’s and nationwide and her followers couldn’t be more excited for the highly anticipated cosmetic line launch. Lifestyle Editor Lorna Lawless gives us her thoughts.

T

he Cocoa Brown owner didn’t just bring a few products to her new cosmetic brand , she released 103 products in total, all in one go. The makeup line ranges in price from €3.95€14.95 so it really is an affordable price point especially for students who don’t want to spend a fortune on top of the line makeup products but still get quality. We wanted to suss out whether this new range was worth all the fuss and if it lived up to Cocoa Brown fans expectations.

This review includes three products from the range: HD Full measure foundation, Half-Measure Dewy foundation and the steadfast liquid liner pen. The packaging on these products is mainly lilac themed which is eye-catching and very cute. This is totally different branding from the Cocoa Brown look.

HD Full Measure Foundation €9.95 This foundation does everything it says on the tin, it provides flawless full coverage with a matte finish which is perfect for a special occasion or night out. Thankfully the range comes in loads of different

shades, more than your regular drugstore foundation so whether you need very very pale or very dark foundation there is a certainly a shade for you. It is to be noted that this is quite a heavy foundation so if you are looking for a dewy look this wouldn’t be recommended for you.

It stayed on all day and only at the end of the day it might need to be powdered up.Generally the consistency of it quite powdery so sometimes you wouldn’t even need a setting powder on application. It definitely gets an 8/10 rating.

Half-Measure Dewy Foundation €9.95 When you open the product you immediately notice the unique droplet applicator which proves very effective.

This foundation is designed for lightweight coverage and it definitely is. The dropper makes sure you don’t squirt too much out of the bottle giving you the ideal amount for a dewy finish. It is important to note that this foundation does not last near as long to the Full Measure one, however it is a lot lighter on the face therefore can be rubbed off a lot easier. This foundation

gives you a gorgeous glow perfect for just day to day at college. It does it jobs well but it could last slightly longer but it is difficult to find a dewy foundation which lasting power. If you have oily skin it would be recommended you choose the HD Full Measure to get lasting power. This foundation rates 7/10.

Steadfast Liquid Liner Pen €4.95 This eyeliner is impressive for the price point. It is extremely waterproof and it does not budge at all. It creates a smooth line and even if you are not confident in cat line flicks this pen would make it very easy with it’s pointy nib. This will definitely replace any other liquid liner you have being such good value and just great quality. This liner is a makeup bag essential and it rates 9/10.

This range will rock other high-street brands without a doubt. Marissa created quality products at a great price point and it is widely available. You can buy the products https://carterbeautycosmetics. com/ .

11

Grub Guide: Boojum

Food

Looking for a casual place for a filling meal? Haven’t made plans for dinner? Lunch with college friends? A little hungover? Going on a date? Roisin Maguire discovers Boojum is a relaxed burrito bar which is perfect for any occasion.

B

oojum arrived on high streets in 2007 as a casual Mexican restaurant. Their menu focuses on traditional Mexican dishes, tacos and their mouth watering

burritos.

Boojum first originated in Philadelphia where the founders, John and Karen Blisard opened their first store which then transplanted to Ireland with the first store opening in Belfast. Boojum now has restaurants located in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Belfast and Limerick.

With nine locations in Dublin City you are sure to find a Boojum near you. With Boojum’s helpful website you know what you want to order before you even arrive.

Service is fast and simple; customise your burrito with whatever you want and enjoy. The queue moves fast because of the dedicated workers in the production line.

There’s a choice of vegetarian, chicken, chorizo, pork, chilli and beef with a choice of rice (cilantro-lime or Mexican savoury), choice of beans (black or pinto) filling and salsa, cheese and sour cream. These ingredients can be made in a burrito or a burrito bowl.

The interior is edgy and there is always a lively buzz in the restaurant. The only disadvantage to some of the restaurants is the small size which results in people having to eat out at peak times. However, this only applies to some of the Dublin locations such as the smaller Abbey Street restaurant. The service counter is often right beside the entrance therefore the queue is sometimes outside the door which isn’t ideal when it comes to Irish weather.

The interior features Mexican reference to the Day of the Dead festival which is best known for decorative skull artwork.

Hanging lanterns are the main source of lighting in the restaurant with wooden benches being the most commonly used seating in Boojum restaurants. Some might think this isn’t the most comfortable however it fits in with the style of the burrito bar which is casual and relaxed.

Boojum addicts can require a loyalty card and with 10 stamps the next meal is on them. Real Boojum addicts with 40 stamps will get a main meal and a Boojum addict t-shirt.

Their website is colourful and has all the information you need for your next visit and with snippets of staff serving up burritos packed full of ingredients, it certainly is enticing.

Boojum caters for all as there are vegetarian options as you can pick exactly what you want in your burrito or burrito bowl to suit your dietary needs. All information about allergens is available on the Boojummex.com website.

Boojum mainly caters for young

professionals and students because of their affordable price and student deal which is €5.75 for a burrito or burrito bowl.

They recently did a Facebook competition for students only, with the prize being free Boojum for life. The Boojum team visit college campuses at the beginning of the academic year to build up a loyal fanbase.

Upon opening in Philadelphia, the founders were told to change their menu because students are only interested in unhealthy food however they stuck to their idea which has become extremely successful as burritos are quickly becoming loved by all, even picky eaters.

They maintain a prominent presence on social media as their Facebook always updates the latest news in relation to new

available to download from the website.

It details the prices of different fillings very clearly and advises customers about which ingredients work best together and how much extras are.

Their website features a news section about the latest updates regarding Boojum and their future plans. This section is almost like Boojum’s very own online newspaper with interviews with staff members, how the company donates thousands to charity, donates burritos to shelters in the City and how they plan to greatly reduce their use of plastic through 2018.

Atmosphere 7/10 Food 9/10 Service 7/10 Location 10/10 Value for money 9/10

offers and promotions such as the Pollo Pibil shredded chicken burrito which was a limited edition on sale for one month. Due to their social media presence, this was often sold out by lunch time. Their social media presence is humorous through their use of memes, but at the same time still advertises well on new deals and pop up menus.

Boojum offer delivery and a click and collect service which is extremely helpful for any gathering. They also cater for parties offering burrito party boxes for 20150 people and individual burrito meal boxes for a party of 20-50 people where you can pick and choose the ingredients.

The Boojummex.com website is easy to navigate as the opening and closing hours for each of the nine Dublin stores is available at a click. They also have a jobs sections which shows all jobs available which will benefit students looking for flexible hours.

Separate menus for burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, salads and nachos are

“Boojum mainly caters for young professionals and students because of their affordable price and student deal which is €5.75 for a burrito or burrito bowl.”

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Food

A vegan’s guide to DCU dining Ciara O’Loughlin takes us through the vegan options available in DCU’s Glasnevin campus

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inding healthy vegan options in DCU can be difficult. Amongst goujons and chips in NuBar, the new pizza joint in Londis and the numerous vending machines across campus; DCU does not tempt us with healthy wholesome foods. This struggle is especially heightened for students who follow a vegan diet. Here is a breakdown on healthy vegan options available on the Glasnevin campus.

Breakfast As a vegan, eat breakfast at home.

There is a very sparse menu in the canteen. The only suitable breakfast is hash browns, mushrooms and beans; not the worst, but definitely not a breakfast for every morning. It was disappointing to find no dairy-free yogurt options.

Starbucks will satisfy your vegan coffee needs with soya milk (they’ve no almond unfortunately). Try an Americano either black or with a dash of soya milk.

“I prepare and bring in a lunch to DCU every day.

It would be impossible for me to eat a wholesome vegan meal bought in DCU. The option simply does not exist”

add unwanted calories to an otherwise healthy salad.

Londis have one ready-made vegan wrap which has hummus, spinach and peppers; it’s just okay. Their sandwich bar is slightly better than the Canteens as they have falafel. Try this in a wrap with a mixture of salads and get it toasted, this should satisfy any hot food cravings!

Dinner The pasta from the canteen can be vegan depending on what sauces are available. Look out for tomato-based sauces and ask if they are vegan. Another option is potatoes and vegetables from the carvery section. Again, it’s not extremely wholesome but an option for any vegan students who find themselves stuck for dinner.

Lunch NuBar is a complete let down. Nearly all of their salads contain mayonnaise. The only vegan salad option from their selection is mixed leaves and peppers.

The canteen for a vegan lunch isn’t a bad shout, the salad and sandwich bar has decent enough vegan ingredients. However, it’s nothing too exciting. Putting together a wholesome vegan meal from the canteen proves difficult.

The salad bar in the gym is similar enough to the one in the canteen. However, they make it look a bit fancier and they do have some more options including chickpeas and lentils (a great source of protein) and they also have a wider variety of dressings. Try go for something like a vinaigrette as many other dressings

Conclusion Overall the lack of vegan options in the Glasnevin campus in DCU is very disappointing. As veganism continues to grow as a lifestyle for many people, it is very surprising that a campus as big as DCU does not provide for them.

Mark Philbin, an Assistant Professor in Health and Society, spoke to the College View about his experience of being a vegan in the DCU campus: “I prepare and bring in a lunch to DCU every day. It would be impossible for me to eat a wholesome vegan meal bought in DCU. The option simply does not exist”, he said.

He also stated that, “The lack of provision for a vegan diet in DCU needs to lie questioned by the reference to the universities policy on diversity and inclusion. At present, vegans are effectively excluded from being customers of the DCU food outlets.”

Cooking for College: the main ingredients

When football training and all the society meetings kick in, it will be hard to get time to eat without even considering cooking, so you need to have it pre-prepared. Lorna Lawless gives her tips

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e have all heard the saying “Ab’s are made in the kitchen” yes this may be true, however, nobody seemed to tell us how being healthy in college can turn out to be an expensive habit, if you are not prepared.

Here are the money and time-saving tips you might not have been told before.

what to cook and won’t spend money on stuff you don’t need in Lidl.

Pack your lunch How many €5.50 lunch deals have you already spent your precious money on this year and we’re only just back? This might be falling on deaf ears but, if you think about it, you are wasting money on basic salads and sambos which could have been made for a quarter of the price if you got up ten minutes earlier in the morning or even the night before.

Cook in Bulk Your mother probably said this before she sent you up to the big smoke but honestly, if you get a chance to cook during your hectic week in college then you might as well do so in bulk. The best trick is to use the staples.

Steps to follow are..

1. Pick a meat

2. Pick three vegetables

3. Pick one seasoning

4. Use Extra Virgin Olive Oil to fry it all off

5. Then add some carbohydrate like pasta or

rice to make sure its filling and whole some.

It’s that simple. If you want the leanest example from these steps you would choose turkey, sweet potato, peppers and onions with some cumin seasoning, then fry it all off and pair it with some basmati rice. Keep trying different variations of the ingredients until you find your favourite and then cook enough for more than one day.

Once you do, you will no longer waste time wondering

“How many €5.50 lunch deals have you already spent your precious money on this year and were only just back?“

Things you need for a cheap tasty salad:

1. A Lime

2. Lettuce

3. Peppers

4. Meat

5. Sweetcorn Chop the peppers, meat and lettuce and throw it into a lunchbox, add some sweetcorn and then cut half the lime and squeeze it over it. It gives it such a zesty and fresh taste without adding the high calories dressings.

This salad will keep well and it is so tasty. You can make five days of salads for the same price as one. You can’t really go wrong.

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Travel

Dublin ploaded: What to do this weekend There is an abundance of things to do in Dublin at the weekend, Ellen Fitzpatrick gives us the key to the city’s best activities.

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wide range of exotic restaurants, pubs galore and places to visit that are so unique. No matter where you are in Dublin, you’ll always find something to do to keep you busy in the city.

The first and most obvious place that is a must-see is the Guinness Storehouse. Although it’s profoundly known to be the biggest tourist attraction in Dublin, there’s no denying that the place is some amount of craic. They go through the history of the brewery from how they extract the barley to the delivery of it to pubs all over the world, while also showing the iconic ads we all know and love from over the years. The end is the best part as they show you how to pull the perfect pint, which apparently takes 119.5 seconds. You can then enjoy your pint while looking out over the entire city from the Gravity Bar. A student ticket here is €18.50 and worth the money for this attraction. The Tea Garden on Lower Ormond Quay is a more mellow and relaxed place to visit in Dublin, but one of the best places to experience in the city.

Filled with cushions, calm music and mood lighting, Tea Garden offers a variety of soothing teas and shishas, all with different flavours and health boosting teas to choose from. If you’ve had a long week of lectures and assignments, this is the perfect way to unwind and relax with a group of friends. This inexpensive hideout is ideal for the times you need a break from everyday life.

If you’re looking for somewhere more historical in Dublin, you’re in luck because Kilmainham Gaol and Glasnevin Cemetery are two of the most interesting and worthwhile historical sites in the city. Both of these sites bring you through the history of the 1916 Rising and the fight for Irish independence, with Kilmainham being the place of execution for Irish rebels and Glasnevin being the burial site for the majority of Irish historical figures.

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Both walk you through significant moments in Irish history which are chilling at times but essential for our society to know. Stu dent tickets for Kilmainham are only €4 but sell out fast.

Glasnevin is a more local spot for DCU students, with student tickets costing €10.

The Viking Splash is another historical adventure in Dublin but this one has a twist. The tour brings you around the city, showing all the historical sites Dublin

“Both of these sites bring you through the history of the 1916 Rising and the fight for Irish independence, with Kilmainham being the place of execution for Irish rebels and Glasnevin being the burial site for the majority of Irish historical figures.” has to offer except its all done from a Viking-like boat on wheels while you’re made wear a Viking helmet. It’s the most thrilling tour of Dublin you’ll ever go on and for a student ticket it costs €22, which may seem like a lot but is completely worth it for a trip that you won’t forget.

History isn’t for everyone, and that’s fine because there are plenty of other things to keep you on your toes in town. Dublin has recently seen the arrival of alternative hang out spots and restaurants in the last few years. The Hideout and Token are two new enough places that are nothing like anywhere else in the city.

The Hideout on South William Street is a BYOB pool hall that allows you to hang out with friends while play-

ing pool and listening to good tunes, what more could you want? Its €10 per pool table per hour, or €15 all day on Fridays and Saturdays and you bring all your own drink which will save a lot of money. Across the Liffey in Smithfield, Token has a similar take on the alternative hang out spot as this is a trendy restaurant and bar with old-school arcade machines.

From Pacman to Mario Kart, Token has so much more to offer than merely a quick bite to eat. You could easily sit there for hours of fun and nostalgia.

Staying on the topic of food, burrito bars have been popping up all over the city. Boojum seems to be the students favourite but there are so many others to choose from. Burritos and Blues, Tolteca and Mama’s Revenge all offer a tasty Mexican food experience. K Chido, however, is a new take on these burrito hotspots. K Chido sells traditional Mexican cuisine from an old renovated Citroën van, painted in vibrant colours in a Chancery Street warehouse. You’re spoiled for choice here which has a wild take on the city’s beloved burrito bars.

The best pint in Dublin is one of the biggest arguments you will have with a Dubliner, other than the Northside/Southside debate. Arguably, Mulligans on Poolbeg Street is the best one there is. In an authentic and traditional Dublin pub right in the city centre, you’ll be served the most perfect looking and tasting Guinness in the city. Not to mention that the staff are the biggest Dubs you’ll ever come across. What more could you want on a good night out?

Escape rooms are always going to be good fun no matter where you are in the world, it’s almost a guarantee. Lucky for us, there are a good few escape rooms to choose from in the city. Adventure Rooms on Little Britain Street is Trip Advisor’s most highly rated escape room, with Incognito Escape Rooms on Bridgefoot Street following. Both offer a series of different scenarios you have to figure your way out of in a certain time frame. These cost around €20 per person, depending on the room you choose and the number of people with you. Like with everything in Dublin, there’s a twist. Escape Boats on Grand Canal Quay offers the traditional escape room only on a boat. Instead of a themed room, you’re made to escape from a ship in 60

Fashion

Bang for your buck with online shopping

For busy students, online clothes shopping is a lifesaver. Gillian Hogan finds out where to get the best value for money. to measurements of particular items is a necessity.

Ordering something at the last minute is a big part of online shopping. If there’s no time to get to the shops before a night out, the immediate solution is to use next day delivery. Like it’s competitors, ‘In the Style’ offers next day delivery to the Republic of Ireland for €5.99. ‘Missguided’ still ranks way ahead of the crowd as their price is only €2.

‘In the Style’ also offers a reasonably priced standard 3-4 working day delivery at €3.99 for those in less of a hurry. Unlike many others that offer fast delivery services, ‘In The Style’ carries through and orders are received within the specified time range.

‘Zaful’’s delivery process is not as pleasant.

Orders are shipped from China so a longer waiting period can be expected. Ireland is not specified on the website’s shipping information so it is not possible to know exactly how long delivery will take.

However, the UK takes 7- 10 business days for standard shipping and 3-7 for express. Standard shipping costs €4.34 and express is a steeper €11.31. This is not the price or time your clothing will reach you though.

Before your items can be shipped they will need to go through processing which takes up to 10 business days.

After three weeks of processing and shipping, dreaded customs come into play.

An added fault to the ‘Zaful’ delivery system is that different clothing items come from different warehouses, so it will not arrive at your doorstep at the same time. Instead, it starts to feel like you are receiving random jigsaw pieces of your order.

Due to the nature of online shopping, mistakes will always happen.

A company’s quality of customer service plays a big part in whether you will continue to shop with them in the future. ‘In The Style’ constantly save themselves with excellent customer service.

Their excellent online staff, who answer

customer queries via their website live chat, have 24hour response rate. They are efficient in understanding the problem and coming up with solutions, offering full refunds as well as superb size advice.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for ‘Zaful’.

This is mainly due to language barriers as they deliver to a much more international clientele than ‘In the Style’. It takes a lot more time for their customer service team to understand exactly what the problem is and come up with a solution satisfactory to the customer. ‘Zaful’’s live chat equivalent feels like you

“

If you’ve ever watched reality tv, you’ll know that new up and coming clothing sites usually sponsor the shows.

‘Missguided’, ‘Boohoo’ and ‘Pretty Little Thing’ have all had beautifully done advertisements before and after the ad breaks of ‘I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!’, ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Love Island’. How you say ‘Boohoo.com’ in your head probably still mimics the woman in the voiceover.

The new site of the minute is ‘In The Style’.

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I

t’s possible to pay anything from €5 to €40 for a t-shirt but the price isn’t everything. On a student budget, it is important to know that what you buy won’t end up being a false economy. Why buy bargain €10 jeans once a month when a €50 pair would last longer than your course itself?

‘Inthestyle.com’ and ‘Zaful.com’ have both recently crept their way into conversations of the fashion conscious. Similar high street style can be found on both sites at very different prices, but how do they compare in other aspects?

If you’ve ever watched reality tv, you’ll know that new up and coming clothing sites usually sponsor the shows. ‘Missguided’, ‘Boohoo’ and ‘Pretty Little Thing’ have all had beautifully done advertisements before and after the ad breaks of ‘I’m a Celebrity...

Get Me Out Of Here!’, ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Love Island’.

How you say ‘Boohoo.com’ in your head probably still mimics the woman in the voiceover. The new site of the minute is ‘In The Style’.

Average prices are €35 for jeans,€28 for knitted jumpers,€40 for jumpsuits and dresses, and €63 for winter coats.

Clothing quality can be described as hit and miss but mostly hit. It matches the quality of high street stores such as ‘New Look’, ‘Zara’ and ‘H&M’. Items don’t have quite the same durability as ‘Topshop’ or ‘River Island’ but with their pricetag, they are not expected to. Ordering white clothes should be done with caution as, depending on the product, the material can be quite see through.

‘Zaful’ is the online Asian clothing shops whose ads continuously pop up all over your Instagram, and who knows where else. It is also one of those sites your parents warned you not to give your bank details to at risk of getting scammed.

‘Zaful’ has been around for years but is only recently coming into the spotlight as influencers have spent 2018 plugging their items, in particular their bikinis.

Their average prices fall at €21 for jeans, €16 for knitted jumpers, €15 for jumpsuits and dresses, and €25 for winter coats.

‘Zaful’ swimwear is currently much more reliable than their clothing.

Their range of over 3,000 bikinis and swimsuits, which cost an average of €15, are made with thick, supporting materials and have yet to be matched by other brands.

Alternatively, you can tell that their clothing comes at a cheap price, just not as cheap as it actually is. It is of much better quality than to be expected considering, it’s cheaper than ‘Penneys’. Sizing can be irregular, especially in jumpsuits so paying particular attention

are talking to robots and trying to get your wording exact so that they can’t just redirect you to a page on their website which you have already visited.

‘In The Style’ may seem like a clear winner but ‘Zaful’ should not be completely disregarded. We are used to shopping on sites similar to ‘In The style’ as most UK companies use the same model. ‘Zaful’ is the best site of it’s kind but still has room for improvement.

It offers fashionable clothing at a price which should be taken advantage of by students.

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EXPOSURE

A cold October sunset.: A lone walker on Lahinch Beach, County Clare. Credit: Alison Clair.

Floating: Credit: Sonja Tutty

The Southern Cross Monument, Portmarnock, County Dublin. Credit: Daria Jonkisz.

Driftwood: A windy day at Curracloe Beach. Credit: Mikey Walsh.

Life is better with a little sand in your toes. Credit: Alison Clair.

Image Credit: Page1: Acast, Page 2: Love this Track, Alchetron, Page 3: Slash Film, YouTube, Page 4: eylandt.info, Playbill, Page 5: Nerdist, Youtube, Page 6: Paste Magazine, Acast, PAge 7: Twoeggz, The Irish TImes, Page 8: Dearestsomeone, MeganHannan, Page 9: The Daily Mail, Page 10: Alison Clair, Page 11: Orla Dwyer, Carter beauty cosmetics, Page 12: Boojun Dublin Facebook, Page 13: Alison Clair, Gillian Hogan, Page 14: Sonja Tutty, Page 15: Ă“rfhlaith, Page 16: Credited. above