The Hype Issue 3

Vol. 1 Issue 3 31st October, 2018

Music

“iridescence” marks a new era for BROCKHAMPTON Aoibhín Bryant reviews the new album by the self acclaimed “best boyband since One Direction”.

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ip-hop band, BROCKHAMPTON skyrocketed into prominence in 2017 after releasing three full length albums all in the space of one year.

This increase in popularity culminated in a year-long world tour and $15 million record contract, where they played on DCU turf with two sold out shows at the Helix.

This is the band’s first album after former member, Ameer Vann left due to sexual and emotional abuse allegations.

As Vann was considered to be the member that gave the band, who met on a Kanye West forum, more “grit” it was interesting to see what the band would deliver following his departure iridescence is their first album of a trilogy, and knowing the band’s track record, the next one may land on our doors before this year closes.

The album begins with high energy song NEW ORLEANS with a mix of different but distracting samples. The drone-like sounds that pervade the entire song begin to manifest into a form of a headache. It’s a weak

start to the entire album, with verses drowning out to the loud music, except for Joba’s.

The album begins to pick up with WHERE THE CASH AT, as the band member Merlyn Wood takes centre stage. It’s the first proper fun song with the warping sound effects as Merlyn spits out his verses.

BROCKHAMPTON is known for jaunting instrumentals and whiplash m u s i c a l l y, which can be seen with the song right after WHERE THE CASH AT. Although WEIGHT is completely different to its predecessor, beginning with a slow violin pervading the entire track, it transitions seamlessly. Founding member and “leader” of the group, Kevin Abstract delivers emotional honesty in his lyrics partnered with a slight auto-tune manipulation. Rapping “And she was mad ‘cause I never wanna show her off (Scared) /And every time she took her

bra off my d*ck would get soft /I thought I had a problem, kept my head inside a pillow screaming”, he is upfront about his struggles with his homosexuality. The emotion in his voice is raw as he laments on his nostalgia for BROCKHAMPTON when they were a smaller group.

Their single J’OUVERT is probably a favourite of most.

However, there is a weak link to the group and this is Joba. Although a talented producer, his rapping is underwhelming, not because of his flow but because of his voice. His vocals sound like something akin to a cartoon character and it’s just too distracting, it prevents his lyrics from being taken seriously because they are presented in such a silly fashion. Everything is yelled in squawk-like manner that ruins the emotion of the song.

The second half of the album takes a more depressing note than the first, which is a rather new turn for the band in comparison to their other albums. More specifically in TAPE and SAN MARCOS. Although the strong lyrics by Abstract in WEIGHT fail to really make a re-occurrence once again, his performance peaks quite early on.

The album ends on a strong note with FABRIC, one can tell there was a lot of hardship involved with the decision to kick Ameer out from the group after allegations emerged, exemplified in the song. The end of the song, with a strong beat and echoing sound effects, group members Matt Champion, Merlyn Wood, Ashlan Grey, Jabari Manwar and Romil Henmani in a chorus rap “It’s the best years of our lives, motherf*cker / You are now about to experience / These are the best years of our lives I feel you”, warning of what’s yet to go. All in all, a strong album although with some shaky deliveries, this is expected considering it is a new era for the band.

of the 1950s and 1960s, and this influenced its sound and aesthetic at large. Back To Black was released in October 2006, receiving critical and commercial acclaim. The album is intimately personal, immaculately written and produced, and a modern classic. It was the best-selling album in the UK in 2007 and led to a meteoric rise to superstardom for Amy. After strings of successful performances and a world tour, Winehouse’s alcohol and drug addiction began to catch up with her. Her final solo performance was on the June 18th, 2011 on the first stop of a new tour in Belgrade. The singer was reportedly unsteady on her feet, unable to remember lyrics and her bands’ names, and she was booed off the stage due to being too drunk to perform.

Amy died on July 23rd, 2011 in her residence in London. An autopsy ruled that she had drank five times the legal driving limit of alcohol, and thus, died of alcohol poisoning. A compilation album of new songs and unreleased demos, Lioness: Hidden Treasures¸ was released that December.

The first attempt to immortalize Amy’s life in film was 2015’s critically-acclaimed Amy, directed by Asif Kapadia. The film is a beautiful but often distressing account of an immense talent, who’s life was tragically cut short by alcohol addiction. It perfectly captured the kind yet blunt nature of the singer, and the deep relationships she had with her father, and close friends and producers Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi. It captured her early upbringing in Camden,

her rise to superstardom, and the tragic fall from grace that followed in a poignant but very respectful manner.

In conclusion, in order to make a good Amy Winehouse biopic, one must capture the life of a blunt, talented woman, wise beyond her years, whose talent was often held back by an eating disorder, and an addiction to alcohol and hard drugs.

The makers of Amy Winehouse: Back To B l a c k h a v e their work cut out for them.

Capturing Amy Winehouse’s Musical Legacy

Darragh McNally goes back to black to look at Winehouse’s tragic life after biopic announcement.

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he life and tragic death of late jazz icon Amy Winehouse is to be immortalized for the second time in Amy Winehouse – Back To Black, due to be released in November by independent Canadian studio Eagle Vision. The film aims to capture the recording and post-release period of the singer’s final album in her lifetime, but to only focus on the production of the album could prove detrimental to the documentary’s impact. To succeed as a true Amy Winehouse biopic, the forthcoming film has a lot of ground to cover.

Amy was born in September 1983 to Mitch and Janis Winehouse, in Camden, London. She was born into a practising Jewish family, and even at a young age, her rebellious nature was present. Later in life, she described how she would beg her father not to send her to Sunday school, and that she would only go to the synagogue once a year on Yom Kippur “out of obligation”. She was born into a lineage of jazz musicians, and this legacy was a massive inspiration throughout her career.

In her late teens, Winehouse met producer Salaam Remi and began work on her debut album Frank, released in October 2003. The jazz album was positively received critically and commercially, and lead single “Stronger Than Me” won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song in 2004. In the production of its 2 Contemporary follow-up, Amy became interested in the girl groups

Music

The big bucks in big fights Róisín Phelan looks at feuding in the music industry and the big profits it can gain

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umans have an undeniable intrigue for conflict.

This combined with society’s obsession with the rich and famous means we love feuds between musicians, and everything that comes along with them.

Their ‘hard to look at’ yet ‘can’t look away’ appeal is brutally entertaining to the public eye.

Whether they are staged or real, they do an excellent job at taking centre stage on magazine covers, social media, entertainment platforms and radio. Most of all, they become part of public dialogue, conversation and controversy starters until they run their course or are resolved. The roots of feuds in the music industry are often buried in jealousy and competition. Though feuds are usually filled with plenty of drama and content, a good feud always has a diss track, or a few.

Diss tracks have revolved around several hip-hop industry feuds in particular.

In 1996, 2Pac released ‘Hit ‘Em Up’, which has widely become deemed as one of the greatest diss tracks of all time. The song targeted East Coast rappers, in particular The Notorious B.I.G, otherwise known as Biggie Smalls. Produced by 2Pac as a response to ‘Who Shot Ya?’ by Biggie Smalls, ‘Hit ‘Em Up’ fuelled an already ugly feud, making it one of the most famous feuds between rappers to date.

A recent, ongoing feud in the hip-hop industry is that of female rappers Cardi B and Nicki Minaj. The pair have been in competition since Cardi B stepped into the limelight in 2017 with her hugely successful song ‘Bodak Yel-

low’. Though they were cordial and encouraging to one another at first, a feud was bound to form between the two and several diss tracks have demonstrated this.

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The publicity that accompanies the drama of a feud increases the public’s and media’s interest in artists.

When Minaj featured on the song ‘No Flags’ In 2017 she used the lyrics, “I heard these labels tryna make another me. Everything you’re getting little hoe is because of me.” Though Minaj has denied it, fans have speculated that these lyrics were about Cardi B. In August Minaj released ‘Ganja Burn’ on her new album, in which she calls out her competitors. The lyrics, “They done went to witch doctors to bury the Barbie, but I double back, kill b*tches,

bury the body,” is widely thought to be about Cardi B specifically. After many interviews, tweets, and ‘clearing up’ of rumours the pair finally came to a head in September this year at the NY Fashion Week, when a physical altercation broke out between them.

The publicity that accompanies the drama of a feud increases the public’s and media’s interest in artists. Business and sponsorship opportunists come with this, as well as a heightened interest in the artists’ music, especially any diss tracks. For Pusha T and Drake, this is certainly true. These rappers have been passing diss tracks back and fourth for years in their fiery feud.

Research done by ‘The Economist’, showed that at the height of their feud, between May 27th and June 2nd of this year, Google searches for the pair spiked. This coincided with the release of ‘DAYTONA’, Pusha T’s Album, including diss tracks directed at Drake. Google searches for Drake nearly quadrupled and searches for Pusha T was fifty times greater than the previous week. Public interest translated into sales for ‘DAYTONA’ which became Pusha T’s highest charting album on the Billboard 200 to date, for Drake’s album ‘Scorpion’ which struck back at Pusha T’s diss tracks reached platinum on the day of its release.

Feuds and diss tracks are eerily becoming an extremely profitable business venture in the music industry. They provide a tempting reward, leading to the question of whether all feuds are genuine, or whether they’re smart, well paying, decision.

Super organism’s infectious Academy gig

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Tadgh McNally reviews indie pop band Superorganism.

he crowd erupts into cheers as Orono Noguchi, the lead singer of Superorganism, cartwheels across the stage. Following four failed attempts, where she nearly knocked over equipment and came very close to falling off the stage, she returns to the mic to begin the next song.

This is just a small sample of what Superorganism would do when they came to the Academy on October 18th. The band, who released their first album in 2018, formed with eight members spread out across the globe.

Although they are a relatively new player to synth and indie pop, they have a lot of potential due to their soaring vocalists and shiny production.

The venue itself was very busy, with the pit in front of the stage packed with fans holding the rails.

The band first emerged after a short video by Robert Strange, the band’s visual artist. They slowly walked out, their faces masked by cloaks until Orono exploded onto the stage and they began to play their first song, “SPROGNSM”.

The crowd was immediately brought to life by the pulsing synths of the song. Orono’s voice carried through the venue, with it suddenly becoming high or low though voice modification. The chorus was catchy and clear, with the background vocalists, B, Ruby and Soul taking centre stage.

From there, the band played songs from their album.

One of the clear highlights of the night was “Nai’s March”.

The vocals were soft and sweet, with Orono singing about her home country, Japan. The interlude during the song is the centrepiece, with the visuals of frogs ribbiting lining up with samples played throughout the song.

During “Nobody Cares”, Orono was surprised to hear everyone singing along when she pointed the mic at the crowd, mentioning that at previous concerts people didn’t

know the lyrics. The effective looping of guitars and the emotional weight of the song made this a highlight of the show.

Between songs, Orono took time to interact with the audience. Whether she was answering their questions or asking her own, the crowd was very involved, especially during the segment the band called “Orono’s Time”.

All of this would culminate during their penultimate song, “Relax”, where Orono picked out members of the front to come on stage to dance behind the band.

Before the final song was played, the entire band disappeared backstage.

The crowd yelled for more, until they reemerged with pints of Guinness in each of their hands. A glass was handed to a member of the audience, who with encouragement from the crowd, finished the pint in one.

The entire gig was painted with flashes of dazzling colour, with band-members emerging from backstage in shiny, sequined

cloaks. The background projector lit up with intense visuals, splattered with animations of various animals and objects.

The stage itself was mostly equipment, with B, Ruby and Soul, doubling up as background dancers. During the set, they would change from clapping, to tambourines and to maracas shaped as moons.

However, the show wasn’t without its imperfections.

While “Orono’s Time” was engaging for the crowd at the front, it may be a “time filler” due to a lack of original songs by the band. As well as this, there were some signs of strain on Orono’s voice, and she did shout rather than sing some of her lyrics.

Despite these hiccups, the entire show was incredibly enjoyable to watch.

The charisma of the band is undeniable, with each band member visibly having a great time on stage. This, combined with catchy synth pop, lead to a very good show.

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Film & Television

Welcome to the House of Horrors Clara Kelly delves into the components of cutting-edge horror

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ith Halloween just around the corner, horror movies seem to be everywhere, but what are the components that actually make a good horror movie?

To understand what makes a good horror film, the key elements of the genre must first be understood.

Horrors tend to be split between supernatural, scientific and naturalistic. The supernatural being the oldest and most classic form, plagued with monsters such as zombies, vampires like ‘Dracula’ and werewolves.

Meanwhile, the ‘sci-fi’ side, tends to show aliens and extraterrestrial things, with an occasional rogue scientific creation thrown into the mix.

However in more recent years, the most popular type of horror movie is naturalistic. The reality of these movies tend to often be what makes them so terrifying, and subsequently, so enjoyable.

Naturalistic horror is filled with the same psycho-killers and serial murderers that the average person has just as much chance encountering on their TV screens on the news, or as a headline in their local newspaper, making it more real for the audience.

The idea that none of it is impossible is what has kept some franchises such as ‘Halloween’ running for forty years. Movies like Halloween or Scream, have been some of the most popular movies in the genre, for this very reason. The appeal of a horror movie is being afraid, and nothing is more frightening than the ‘monsters’ not actually being monsters, but rather, people.

This particular brand of horror, is the epitome of good

horror, because it feels so real. And when it comes to this naturalistic section of the horror genre, the most popular and loved movies also follow their own formula.

Movies such as Halloween and Scream,

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What makes a horror movie both popular and durable, is this formula that has made them so successful thus far.

The protagonist is supposed to come across somewhat smarter, more reserved and nicer than her counterparts, and so, is allowed to survive.

Part of what makes these movies so enjoyable for people, is their self-awareness. The directors and producers

The appeal of a horror movie is being afraid, and nothing is more frightening than the ‘monsters’ not actually being monsters, but rather,

all follow a certain set of rules as is commonplace in this genre of film. The movies that tend to qualify as classic horror, are often the ones that incorporate the ‘Madonna complex’ into the movie.

The majority of these movies start with a usually young, pretty and female protagonist, who ultimately is one of, if not the only survivor. The ‘Madonna complex’ suggests this protagonist survives, due to her purity in comparison to the other characters. With all secondary characters, usually promiscuous ones get killed off quite early on, this is seen in both movies mentioned above.

This concept has been explored many times before, and often a point is made of featuring nudity during the killings of the women in these movies who express sexuality, such as in the opening scene of Halloween.

of more recently released films, such as 1996’s Scream, poke fun at what makes the movie so good, these rules.

One character going as far as to take a somewhat meta approach, talking to party-goers in the movie, but also to the audience to a certain extent. Even saying, “there are certain rules one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie. First, you can never have sex.”

The producers of these movies know that people want this realism, the fear of them being similar to the characters. Everyday people who make human mistakes, is what makes audiences flood into cinemas to see the exact same structure play out on the big screen for so many years.

The wrath of Michael Myers, 40 years on Michael Myers makes a murderous return in Halloween, the sequel, writes Aoibhín Meghen

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he story that has inspired generations of slasher movies is back, but does it placate the fans rather than thrill them?

Halloween, a direct sequel to John Carpenter’s 1978 slasher thriller by the same name, takes place 40 years after the Michael Myers Halloween night babysitter murders. Now he is back and it seems that he has a single mission, to kill the one girl who escaped from him all those years ago, Laurie Strode (JamieLee Curtis).

This time however, Strode is ready for him.

Since that Halloween night, Micheal Myers (Nick Castle and James Jude Courtney), has been locked up in Smith’s Grove Sanatorium under the watchful eye of Dr. Ranbir Sartain (Haluk Bilginer), but is now being transferred to a new facility. However, the transfer does not go as planned and when the bus crashes into a ditch, Myers manages to escape. Now the silent killer is loose allowing

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him to once again butcher the peoas Strode who has been torple of Haddonfield, Illinois. tured by that fateful HallowCarpenter’s original film set the een night, finally gets her own standard for what a classic slasher Halloween reminds audiences revenge. Yet, the chilling fear, movie should be. There have been the kind that makes you hold what a ruthless killer Myers your breath for fear of Myers 11 instalments in the Halloween film franchise, including an entire really is, slaughtering anything hearing you, is missing. A lack remake of the original film in 2007, of atmosphere, and the clear followed by its sequel in 2009. Al- that comes across his path. He cut directing from Green, dulls though they have all been well re- is completely void of emotion, the horror. ceived by horror fans, none have shining star in the an unstoppable killing machine. filmTheis real lived up to Carpenter’s chilling film, Curtis, who reclaims depicting Myers as less of a human This is the true terror of Michael her most iconic role as Laurie and more of a vicious and efficient Strode. The first Halloween Myers. killing machine. was Curtis’s feature film deThis adaptation, which entirely but. She played the heroin of ignores any of its previous sequels, falls short in depict- the story; young, innocent and entirely unprepared for the ing the chilling efficiency and absolute dread which is so horrors of Myers’s butchery. This time around, Strode is a present in the original. survivor who has taken matters into her own hands. She Green, however, man- has spent the last 40 years preparing herself so that she ages to make Myers into a would be ready for his return. less predictable murderer.

Curtis’s character has many dimensions, which is a Over the years, the fran- very rare trait for a horror film. She is a badass woman, chise created a painfully determined not to be a victim. Strode has trained herself repetitive killer, out to mas- to shoot, fight and wield a knife, however, you still get a sacre unruly teenagers, but glimpse of the young girl she used to be as she bears the not this time. scars of what happened to her all those years before.

Halloween reminds auThere are a few troublesome moments in the movdiences what a ruthless ie. Strode’s granddaughter, Alyson and her high school killer Myers truly is, slaugh- friends presence only exists to serve as more victims for tering anything that comes Myers,5 and Dr. Sartain’s storyline is borderline ridicuacross his path. He is com- lous. pletely devoid of emotion; Although this Halloween may not capture the horrific an unstoppable killing ma- magic of the original, Curtis’s powerful performance of a chine. This is the true terror victim’s empowerment, and the always chilling portrayof Michael Myers. al of Michael Myers makes it well worth the watch this The film will satisfy fol- Halloween. lowers of the franchise,

Film & Television

A modern twist on classic horror, The Haunting of Hill House The Netflix original, The Haunting of Hill House, is the cliché horror we’ve all been waiting for, writes Joseph O’ Gorman

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he Haunting of Hill House is Netflix’s latest hit, a horror drama that is, in the opinion of one the best horror writers of all time, Stephen King, “a work of genius”.

The premise of the series is probably the most common horror trope; family moves into a haunted house, terror ensues. It is how the series deals with overcoming the clichés that makes The Haunting of Hill House such an effective horror.

This modern reimagining of the Shirley Jackson novel from 1959 follows siblings who, as children, grew up in what would go on to become the most famous haunted house in the country.

Now adults, they are forced back together in the face of tragedy and must finally confront the ghosts of their past. Some of those ghosts still lurk in their minds, while others may actually be stalking the shadows of Hill House.

The genius of the series The Haunting of Hill House, written and directed by Mike Flanagan, is to draw a line between supernatural terror and the unresolved traumas of childhood – the closest the

majority of us will come in real life to being spooked by our past.

Flanagan has pedigree in the genre; he turned a Stephen King novel previously said to be unfilmable (Gerald’s Game) into a very well received Netflix hit.

King recognised it as a piece of true originality. “I don’t usually care for this kind of revisionism, but this is great,” he tweeted. “Close to a work of genius, really. I think Shirley Jackson would approve, but who knows for sure.”

What is fascinating about the approach that The Haunting of Hill House takes is how we can see just how the time spent within the walls of Hill House effects the Crain siblings as they grow up. Flanagan flashes back and forth between the present-day adulthood of the dysfunctional Crain siblings, and their ghastly memories of the early nineties, when their parents moved them into the fixer-up mansion, which turned out to be possessed by the malevolent spirits of the long-dead Hill family.

The real brilliance of Hill House is how it builds tension, it is almost like a novel in how the suspense and dread grows. A TV series can’t rely on the same tricks that a full length feature film can.

The series never really hides what it is. It is quite obvious from the outset that the family are under some kind of curse thanks to Hill House and because of that there is always an underlying sense of dread, which builds and builds.

Hill House is a series that really digs its claws into you. Even if it doesn’t bring you out in a cold sweat, you will get wrapped up in the trials and terrors of the unfortunate Crain children.

When it’s scary, it’s pretty damn scary.

What Hill House does very well is hold a mirror up to real life, and makes the viewer confront the terrors of their own life. After all, maybe that’s where the real demons are.

Behind the cover of book adaptions

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Caitlin Laird examines the highs and lows of TV and Film adaptions of books

ook to film and book to TV adaptions have to make the movie more of a spectacle to see and this their highs and lows, with some of the best doesn’t always work in their favour. Some films do the films and TV shows being produced based on complete opposite of what is in the book and this throws a book, alongside those that simply flop. the audience off altogether.

There are a lot of great, successful films Many films have fallen due to the director not being that have come able to display the story as good as the book. from a book like The For many there is the Examples of these are Paper Towns, Beautiful Godfather, The Help, and The Mortal Instruments etc. Some of excitement of their fa- Creatures, The Hunger Games, these were meant to go on to be a trilogy but did not The Fault in our Stars, vourite book being made do well enough with their audiences and ultimately Harry Potter and many in to a film and getting to flopped. more. These films all A lot of the TV shows that are on today have see the characters come come from a book. There is Game of Thrones, 13 come from a long list that has been able to to life. This can some- Reasons Why, Orange is the New Black, The Handadapt to the big screen maid’s Tale, Big and bring the narrative times be an issue as the Little Lies and of the book to life. casting has to reflect many more. All There are many of these shows challenges with this as what the book describes have been able with a film you have to the characters as and to to catch peokeep the audience eneyes and getting the right people ple’s tertained and gripped become very for that hour and a half to play them is difficult. popular. to two hours. Many They have people in the audience been able to would also have read the book beforehand and are hopconvey the ing for it to be just as good as the book. story in such a way This forms one of the cons of book to film adaptions that it connects with as with film there is a lot to be shown and proved in such people and they a short space of time and there can be many comments are unable to stop such as “it didn’t live up to the book’s standards” or “the watching it. book was better”.

These TV shows For many there is the excitement of their favourite have all been rebook being made into a film and getting to see the newed for new seacharacters come to life. This can sometimes be an issue sons and have gone as the casting has to reflect what the book describes the on to win awards characters as and getting the right people to play them is and have become difficult. binge-worthy shows.

Also many things have to be chopped and changed Not all shows are as lucky with their viewers. Trying to

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adapt the story to the screen doesn’t always work well as trying to stretch a story out to a full season can sometimes fall apart as the audience gets bored.

Book to film and also book to TV adaptions have many of the same problems involving the story and casting and trying to make it as good as the book.

With all of the good and bad mentioned on both of these it shows that book to TV has more of a chance of doing better adaptions.

There have been many good films made but also many that didn’t live up to much. There are TV shows that have gone on and will continue to have more and more seasons that all started with a book and this keeps the audience hooked.

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Television & Video Games

Doctor Whoman David Kelly hops on board the Tardis with Jodie Whittaker as the new Doctor.

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octor Who is back, and the eponymous character is now a woman.

The Doctor has never been overtly masculine or feminine. In terms of the Five Factor Model for personality, he’s never really conformed to any masculine stereotypes. Generally, he displays the finer traits of both genders, so his gender change is more aesthetic than anything.Bearing this in mind, the series 11 premiere, The Woman Who Fell To Earth, creates another rather asexual Doctor in Jodie Whittaker. Her personality feels like an amalgamation of David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor and Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor.

The Thirteenth Doctor has the charming, somewhat dashing characteristics of Tennant while maintaining the alien, almost childlike characteristics of Smith. As of yet, it’s hard to exactly pinpoint the finer details of her character. The staple trait of immense compassion is still obvious.

Another staple of the show is the companions, of which there are now three. Ryan, played by Tosin Cole, is an insecure young man suffering from dyspraxia, Yazmin, played by Mandip Gill, is a no-nonsense police woman and Graham, played by Bradley Walsh, is an older, conservative working-class man.

While all the performances are decent, Walsh absolutely shines as Graham. His character is essentially the stickler with a heart of gold and some of the truly emotional moments derive from his acting.

In terms of the show itself, Chris Chibnall, the new showrunner, created a passable introductory episode.

The show is rather aesthetically pleasing, with the cinematography finally matching that of other big budget television shows.

However, while the style of show has improved, the same cannot be said for its substance. The plot is mundane. A Predator-like alien arrives on Earth to hunt. He’s been assigned to kill some random human for sport.

Where’s the sport in sending a trained, advanced alien hunter to Earth to kill a normal civilian human? It’s like sending a Navy Seal to hunt a rabbit. Expectedly, his plan is foiled by The Doctor.

Another problem with the episode is the creation and use of The Doctor’s iconic Sonic Screwdriver. It was assumed that the Sonic Screwdriver was advanced alien technology and that’s why The Doctor can use it like a magic wand.

Apparently not. The Doctor manages to make it from spare parts in a mechanic’s shop. She then uses it perform all kinds of functions explained away via techno-babble. Genius Doctor or lazy writing?

The Doctor does have some nice moments. Her little speech about integrating her family into her personality to celebrate their memory is rather touching. Whittaker does show potential to be a good Doctor.

Yet, compared to the other introductory episodes, she doesn’t shine like her predecessors. I don’t think it’s fair to chalk it down to her performance but the rather stale writing that has characterised Chibnall’s previous episodes.

The Woman Who Fell To Earth is adequate. It provides its audience with an introduction to a new, affable, female Doctor who little girls may identify with more.

However, while Whittaker’s performance is warm, Chibnall’s writing is not, and if Whittaker is to succeed, it needs to be.

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Rockstar under pistol fire for work conditions during Red Dead Redemption II

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Hugh Farrell looks into the controversy surroudning the release of the cowboy game.

ockstar have recently come under fire for claiming that their developers have been working 100 hour weeks.

Dan Houser, Rockstar co-founder, was quick to respond to these allegations claiming that the level of work in question is only done by a small team. “The senior writing team, which consists of four people, Mike Unsworth, Rupert Humphries, Lazlow, and myself, had, as we always do, three weeks of intense work when we wrapped everything up. Three weeks, not years. We have all worked together for at least 12 years now, and feel we need this to get everything finished.”

Houser continued on to say, “we obviously don’t expect anyone else to work this way” and “that additional effort is a choice, and we don’t ask or expect anyone to work anything like this.”

This isn’t the first time Rockstar have received allegations of overworking employees during the creation of the previous Red Dead Redemption.

Rockstar have lifted a ban on speaking to the public about work following these allegations and many staff have come out as saying that the allegations are false and that they haven’t been pressured to work anything near these hours.

Other companies such as EA have faced similar accusations during periods where they are expected to be behind or failing to meet their schedule otherwise known as crunch time.

Crunch time has become a defining characteristic for the video game industry due to the pressure of meeting consumer demands for release dates and competition from other gaming companies.

In 2004 the EA spouse story was at the forefront of the debate. An EA employee’s spouse came forward on his behalf to talk about the conditions that were being faced.

The employee was aware that he would have to work many extra hours when the deadlines were approaching.

When he began working at the company he was working eight hour days, six days a week in a state of mild crunch to

prevent the bigger crunch at the end of the project. The schedule was due to return to normal by a certain deadline but it didn’t change for quite some time when it then rose to 12 hour days, six days a week. The reality of this situation was also that there was no compensation for those overtime hours.

The EA spouse story led to a movement against the conditions with many others sharing their stories. The current Red Dead situation has seen the opposite occur where the developers have been allowed to come forward and speak with none criticising the workplace for it’s conditions.

Vivian Langdon came forward with one of the most descriptive threads on Rockstar conditions. It began with her saying “I have never worked more than maybe 50 hours a week (and that’s a rare occurrence), but I generally work about 2-6 hours of paid overtime per week.”

She continues to defend the legality of the situation by saying “I’m “non exempt” so my overtime pay starts at 1.5x salary and scales to 2x after 8 hours of OT in a week or 12 hours in a single day, in accordance with California law. Also, I have only been asked to work on weekends once or twice in my entire time at R* on the Tools team.” Her tweets continued to say that she has not felt mistreated or overworked.

While the claims that time crunch is still a massive issue in the gaming industry, it does appear that many companies are attempting to solve their issues without overworking their staff and are succeeding in comparison to the reality that EA workers faced in 2004.

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Other companies such as EA have faced similar accusations during periods where they are expected to be behind or failing to meet their schedule otherwise known as crunch time. Crunch time has become a defining characteristic for the video game industry due to the pressure of meeting consumer demands for release dates and competition from other gaming companies.

Art

Banksy’s prank doesn’t quite make the cut

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Emily Sheahan questions the authenticity of Banksy’s prank

he public were left stunned when a work of art was shredded before their eyes at Sotheby’s auction in London. Shielded by his anonymity, street artist Banksy has been attempting to turn a mirror on society since he first made a name for himself. On October 5th, his latest stunt saw a print of ‘Girl with Balloon’ slid through the bottom of its ornate frame, shredding itself moments after it was bought in auction for £1.04 million.

On the surface, the prank - destroying a piece worth a million - seemed like a piece of commentary on capitalism and consumerism. However, this could have just been a very successful marketing campaign by Banksy, for Banksy. The shredding of the print poses the question of the monetary worth of the art.

As prints, they can be recreated time and time again. Ironically, the artwork has since increased in value since shredding itself.

However, if Banksy profited off this artwork then the authenticity of his intentions is questionable. Banksy’s stunt may be seen as critique of the art world where simple, recreatable, disposable stencil prints sell for millions - where their name tags sell for millions. To shred a work of art once it was bought for such a high price is a mockery of that society. If Banksy received $1.04 million for the semi-destroyed artwork, it’s role as mockery is not so convincing.

Perhaps he intended no deeper meaning to the performance and was simply pulling a long-con, a practical joke, knowing the world would take it

and run with it. Maybe Banksy knew that everyone else would do the work for him, if his goal really was to make society take a long, hard look at itself.

In a video uploaded to Banksy’s YouTube channel, he gives a walk-through of the process and shows a rehearsal where the print shredded in full, implying the final project was intended to do the same. The piece changed from one artwork to another in a matter of seconds, earning itself a new name in the process: ‘Love Is in the Bin’. This was granted a certificate of authentication by Pest Control, Banksy’s handling body, naming it as an official Banksy piece.

The person who bought the painting not only watched it increase in value before her eyes, but also acquired a completely unique Banksy piece. She said that she was happy to go through with the purchase, explaining

that: “When the hammer came down last week and the work was shredded, I was at first shocked, but gradually I began to realise that I would end up with my own piece of art history”.

Banksy uploaded a video to his Instagram page showing the process of making the shredding device and scenes from the shocked onlookers as it shredded in Sotheby’s auction. In that video he said he secretly built the shredder into the painting a few years ago “in case it was ever put up for auction”.

Banksy’s stunt could have been hilarious. It could have sat back and watched the world of people with too much money for their own good, panic.

This was what Banksy’s work started off trying to achieve. In this case, he seems to have failed.

When the piece increased in value, the snobbery of the art world subsequently fell back onto the street artist himself. While trying to be progressive, Banksy managed do a full circle and lumped himself into the pool of pretentious artists, profiting off a shock factor. His prank gave audiences a glance into his superiority complex. The humble, anonymous artist with well-meaning intentions is fading with each artwork that goes under the hammer.

Photographer Vanessa Ifediora talks finding inspiration through her mental illness

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Aine O’Boyle interviews budding photographer Vanessa Ifediora about her recent exhibition “Zone In”.

anessa Ifediora embraces her unique style of photography as a creative medium to overcome her own mental health issues.

The Irish-Nigerian, Belfast native has always had a creative flair and has expressed this through various outlets throughout her life.

“I’ve always loved creating things whether I’m good at it or not, I used to be really into making jewellery, then it was knitting. I bought my first camera 2 years ago and that’s been my major passion ever since” said Ifediora.

Ifediora explained that it was never her plan to get into photography, and that she used it more so as a tool to overcome her own anxiety than as a potential career path.

“When I first got my camera, it was really a tool to help get me out of the house since my anxiety was so bad back then.”

“I used the camera to push me out of my comfort zone, to maybe travel a little further from home this time. My camera gave me a lot of freedom and the expression came from there.”

Ifediora is self-taught in the art of photography. With a friend teaching her the basic functions of the camera and from there on mastering her art through trial and error and learning from the widely accessible medium of YouTube tutorials.

In her most recent exhibition, ‘Zone In’ that ran from September 27th- 29th, a creative process and journey is evident as Ifediora draws on her own personal experiences with mental illness and how she overcame them.

Inspiration for this exhibition came from feelings of being zoned out from life. This state of complete daydream brought Ifediora further away from reality and she struggled with a disorder known as Maladaptive Daydreaming

that distracted her from real life.

The name ‘Zone In’ is synonymous with her own recovery, when in 2018 she sought medical treatment for her depression after living for many years in the fear of the stigma that is associated with it.

“I was Zoned In” said Ifediora.

The exhibition explored 10 songs that Ifediora selected on a random basis and she visually interpreted these songs in the form of portraits of nine strangers, representing the feelings that these songs triggered for Ifediora.

“I love portraits. I love working with people. I love people’s faces and their energy. I want to try and make that energy come out in the images” said Ifediora.

Ifediora explained that she particularly loves working with people who have no previous modelling experience. “I love seeing their confidence change as I show them how good they look in camera.

I’m not sure how I’d draw that kind of emotional reaction out of a picture of buildings.”

Rather than profiting from this exhibition, all proceeds

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went towards the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre whose work Ifediora hailed as being “lifesaving”. “[They] need all the funding they can get” said Ifediora.

Struggling with her mental health, Ifediora sought help from GP’s and others, but said that “without the help of the Rape Crisis centre I’m not sure I’d ever have been brave enough to make any further steps.

Advising creative youths on overcoming artistic blocks or lack of inspiration, Ifediora said “I would take pictures of anything at all just to help me learn how to use my camera, how to compose an image, how to edit.”

“Keep drawing, keep painting, keep practising whatever your medium is. Everybody finds inspiration in different ways, so don’t get caught up in what other people are doing or whatever trend 5,000 IG [Instagram] photographers are churning out. Just keep doing you.”

In her most recent exhibition, ‘Zone In’ that ran from September 27th- 29th, a creative process and journey is evident as Ifediora draws on her own personal experiences with mental illness and how she overcame them.

7

Art & Poetry

How art can change our perception of beauty

n an ever-changing world, one thing that remains consistent is our obsession with all things beautiful, this is reflected in what we wear, how we present ourselves and the things we surround ourselves with, whether it be art, sculpture, architecture, fashion or nature.

It is deeply engraved within our human nature to be vain and engrossed with our image and how others perceive us and this stems from a societal obsession with all things beautiful and aesthetically pleasing.

With each generation that passes, trends come and go and we make vain attempts to conform and keep up with what these trends consist of. The face of what we consider to be conventionally beautiful is volatile and changeable, yet some things will always remain the same.

A fine line exists between what we consider conventionally beautiful and what is popular at that current moment in time. Is it true to say that we would consider an attractive girl with perfectly sculpted brows and a brilliantly white pair of Fila Disruptors to be conventionally beautiful because she is reflective of what is trendy in popular culture at this time or because she is beautiful?

The idea of this kind of beauty is extremely subjective, what one person may find attractive or beautiful is based

on what society is dictating to them as being popular at that current moment in time.

In a more classical sense, the traits of conventional beauty are somewhat unrealistic for regular people to try and replicate as they are heavily idealised and subjective.

When artists paint, draw, sculpt or produce anything, for the most part, they are going to compose it so that it works aesthetically, not because it is realistic or because it may replicate the ugliness of real life.

Within drawings and paintings, they rarely feature traits that would be considered unattractive, and if they do, it is purely to exhibit the technical skills and mastery of the artist.

The famous quote by Oscar Wilde, saying,“life imitates art far more than art imitates life” rings true in the sense that we aspire more imitate the idealised aspects of art as we consider them to be more beautiful than real life and its trials and tribulations.

It is undeniable that what is classically beautiful will always remain to be considered that way. The ancient Greeks were renowned for omitting traits and irregularities from their sculptures that did not conform to their perceptions of the ideal body type.

It is believed that they did not even carve their sculp-

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tures whilst looking at a real life model, as there is no human figure quite as symmetrical and perfect as that of an ancient Greek sculpture.

This greatly distorts the perception we have of beauty and what it entails, we may be aspiring towards a level of beauty that is not tangible or attainable because we will simply never be as perfect as the non-human, angelic like beauty of an ancient Grecian sculpture.

The Greeks idealised the natural form in a similar way to how a photographer may use photoshop to remove blemishes and make an image look more beautiful than it is.

The human race is constantly aspiring for a level of perfection that is just beyond our grasp, the fact that Leonardo Da Vinci ruined many of his own works of art because they were not perfect enough is reflective of this.

The famous quote

by Oscar Wilde, saying,“life imitates art far more than art imitates life” rings true in the sense that we aspire more imitate the idealised aspects of art as we consider them to be more beautiful than real life and its trials and tribulations.

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I

Art can tell the story of beauty standards throughout history, writes Aine O’Boyle

Bukowski: Lessons from “A laureate of American low life”

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Craig Shaaban reviews the works of the acclaimed American poet

hen you think of the most influential poets in history, you may think of Yeats’ “Sailing to Byzantium”, or Poe having “A Dream within a Dream”, or Robert Frost’s “Revelation”. Geniuses no doubt but geniuses whose work are littered with complex metaphors and similes.

We spend our adolescent years studying them while somehow desperately trying to relate to their delicate construction of words.

A drunk, old, vulgar man should not only have a seat at the table with these poetic aristocrats, but he should sit on the throne.

Charles Bukowski is a name you’re probably unfamiliar with.

He is a German born American poet who epitomises the down and out loser who sits on a bar stool drinking and smoking his life away. His work predominantly spans from 1951-1993.

What separates Bukowski from the ranks of other famous poets is that his language is comprehensible and sadly simple. There is no room for rhyme, alliteration or onomatopoeia in his 1500 collected poems, so how can he even be considered a poet? What makes this cynical alcoholic a poet is that he evokes genuine feelings from the reader.

“People empty me. I have to get away to refill”. This is an excerpt from a book published

by Bukowski. You might say this man is perhaps a nihilist, but, we know at some point in our lives we have been able to

relate to this. He speaks of solitude as if it’s a celestial place, “being away from people is one of the most marvellous fulfilments a man like me can have”. He normalises being alone here.

Bukowski seems to be a pessimistic coward who is tragically underwhelmed at life, but if we look deeper into the cracks of his work, we can start see the true hero that he is.

“We are all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn’t. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities. We are eaten

up by nothing”. From a young man’s perspective, this line is extraordinarily significant. In a society where our social hierarchy is predicated on Instagram likes and social affirmation is achieved by gaining followers, many of us can be left feeling worthless and undervalued.

There is no doubt that our current social climate can have damaging effects on the way we feel. For those of us that don’t subscribe to the superficial online dimension, it is difficult to find a sense of belonging. Hardly anyone around us is shown to be struggling as they only post the positive aspects of their lives. Negative emotions are inevitable to humans and it is of utmost importance to face them head on. This is why Bukowski’s writings are so pivotal as he is the voice of reason and honesty in a world where pretenders are ubiquitous. We find a sense of community and relief when we read of another man exhibiting feelings of discontent and sadness.

Though his poetry is profound and somewhat hard-hitting, he creates a silver lining in most of his poems. Poems such as “The harder you try”, “No leaders please” and “Style” leave readers hopeful in their melancholy. In the words of the great Leonard Cohen, “He brought everybody down to earth, even the angels” “Dismiss perfection as an ache of the greedy but do not give in to the mass modesty of easy imperfection and remember the belly of the whale is laden with great men”

8

Health & Beauty

Let’s talk: toxic friendships

Lorna Lawless discusses the effects of toxic friendships and why you need to remove them from your life.

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ave you ever stopped and looked around at the people you hang out with on a daily basis? Who do you attract? Who is draining your energy or who is cheering you on during the daily grind?

Who is your tribe? The people who spark inspiration, the people you go to for advice. These people are individuals you associate yourself with, why are you friends? These are people, you choose to spend your time with every day therefore should add great value to your daily mindset.

Do you look forward to seeing this person or is it a case whereby it’s just part of your daily routine? It is important to recognise the difference between someone who just happens to be there and someone who is putting the effort in to see how you are actually feeling?

Sometimes friendships break down because it’s time for a new season. The ones that were once beneficial have turned toxic over the years. It is essential to remind yourself that good things end and it’s okay. Just appreciate what the friendship was and what you gained from it, but most importantly recognise the need to move on. Take it as a lesson, it was great in that season but you have grown and most people don’t grow in the same way or at the same rate. If you hang on to old ways you will never challenge yourself to become better.

Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, lined out the basis for friendships. He categorised three primary friendships: friends of utility, friends of pleasure, and friends of the good. If we were using examples utility friends would be your work friends whereby both people understand you have your friendship at work and don’t desire to spend time outside of that. You enjoy your time in work and that is the dynamic of the friendship. Then we examine friends of pleasure who may be the type of friend who is just fun to do fun things with, who is up for anything but maybe not the most reliable. Finally, we have a friend who is good for you in other words, they are by your side when you need them and the friendship is not based on conditions.

Aristotle also states that friendships are fluid and subject to change over a period of time.

If you are sitting reading this and thinking how does somebody identify a toxic friendship? Firstly, you need to honestly ask yourself how do I feel when I am around this person, are you happy? According to ReachOut. com signs to show that someone is a toxic person in your life they will: constantly be reminding you of your past failures, have an angry attitude towards life, gossip about others and you, criticise you subtly or not, stress you out and try to manipulate you into a feeling a certain way or doing something you are not comfortable with.

These signs indicate a toxic friendship that needs to slowly come to an end. As ReachOut. com clearly emphasises this is not about pointing at them or to try and make them feel bad but it is about meeting them where they are, explain how you’ve been feeling and if either of you gets angry, calmly remove yourself from the situation. The last point which is critical, leave the conversation as politely as you can, for their well-being and yours. This is especially important in a home or college environment because more than likely you will meet/see this person on a daily basis which makes the situation for both

parties unbearably uncomfortable.

One important point to note however that it is a positive thing in a friendship to be challenged by each other. If a person challenges you it makes you learn to take another person’s opinion on board with regards to the topic of discussion. However, if this person is pushing you to your limit where you feel undervalued and that your opinion doesn’t matter then that’s a serious warning sign.

You may find yourself dragged into a situation which makes you uncomfortable and let peer pressure take over, ignoring your better judgement. You may see a pattern occur whereby you don’t have enough time to work on your own projects because you are constantly running around after everyone else. Some friends demand too much without giving anything or enough back. It is essential you invest in yourself and not burn out because of this. People in this social media-obsessed age, are trying too hard to impress their peers but are actually putting themselves on the line more often than they should physically and emotionally. If a person says “no” to someone, they fear they will endanger their relationship with that person so they passively comply but inwardly resent the decision.

Healthy boundaries of being able to say “no” to close friends whether it’s no to the night out or rejecting being part of the group project with close friends because you will be left with the work. You need to exercise self-control in these instances to know what’s best for you.

One serious question to ask yourself is: Is it you that

needs to change?

This is harder to realise than anything mentioned above, but sometimes it’s you who needs to change.

You could be the person who causes other people to feel undervalued because you are so passionate about a topic, you ignore other people’s opinions. You may think small things like cutting across people while they speak isn’t a big deal but that can really knock somebody else’s confidence. On a different note, maybe you are the friend that needs to put in a small bit more effort, to make some of your friends feel valued. It may seem small to you but it could potentially be massive for them.

Friendships changing is inevitable but it’s a natural process every person has to go through, it is essential to learn the need for change in some areas in order to let yourself be challenged and grow.

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If a person says “no” to someone, they fear they will endanger their relationship with that person so they passively comply but inwardly resent the decision

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9

Health & Beauty

Transition period

Béibhinn Thorsch talks of changing our ways and looking towards a more ethical approach towards your time of the month.

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alk of switching from disposable synthetic pads and tampons to menstrual cups and period underwear is sweeping the western world currently.

Advertisements for period underwear are constantly on YouTube, and the growing popularity of menstrual cups causing established companies such as sex toy manufacturers FunFactory and Jimmyjane to create their own lines. Are these a realistic alternative?

Period underwear seem like a dream to a lot of people, and in reality, they can be an absolute lifesaver. More so they are a huge reassurance. Thinx is the most commercial brand and definitely top of the line. They don’t come cheap, many people have opted for trying out incontinence underwear as an alternative but these don’t always work the same and can be just as expensive.

The Thinx underwear were recently released on UK website ‘Soda’, which made them available for delivery to Ireland also. Currently, Soda are offering free shipping to the UK and Ireland.

They only stock three of the styles, each £1 dearer than the next, from £26 (€29) to £29 (€32.50). The highwaisted style is the most expensive, and the sport style the cheapest, though there is obviously very little difference.

The packaging for the Thinx underwear is well thought out and very welcoming. You receive care instructions with the underwear - that they are to be rinsed before being placed on a cold wash and hung dry. The underwear themselves feel like swimsuit material, but smoother.

They are comfortable, and they definitely work.

The lighter styles of the Thinx underwear is said to hold up to one tampon worth of fluid, while other styles (the vast majority of which were not listed on the Soda shop website) such as the high waist style, can hold up to two tampons worth of menstrual fluid.

It’s useful that Thinx use tampons as a unit of measurement to help buyers understand which style will work best for them. They also recommend that the underwear, particularly on heavy days, be worn mostly as leak protection. The panties are suggested to be worn with your menstrual cup, pad, or tampon.

It has also been mentioned that these underwear are suitable for those with weak bladders, or women with high levels of discharge particularly surrounding the time of menstruation.

Thinx underwear work, but many people do not want to go through the trouble of washing their underwear a certain way, or spending €30 if they can’t even wear it alone 100% safely. It’s easy to understand why you would say that the panties are pointless since it’s suggested you use other forms of protection without it, but that seems like more of a disclaimer than anything. Particularly when it’s not the heaviest day of your period, many people have attested to using the period panties solo.

Now for the soft and unobtrusive menstrual cup.

Menstrual cups are basically the exact same no matter where you get it - though cheaper brands are often thinner and less reliable.

Cups are inserted similarly to a tampon though sit lower in the vagina, and works through suction. Costing around €30, and said to last for ten to fifteen years at least, the menstrual cup is very alluring to many people.

It’s easier to focus on the few drawbacks of the menstrual cup rather than stating the often repeated benefits.

Firstly, you have to get used to being comfortable with touching your own blood.

Using a menstrual cup is not so much messy as it is graphic. It’s easy enough to use in a public bathroom if it’s essential to change it - use either a tissue or a wet wipe to give it a small clean before re-inserting. But still you have

10

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Using a menstrual cup is not so much messy as it is graphic.

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to have clean hands to insert and remove the cup, and you will definitely be confronted with a lot of blood in a way you probably haven’t before unless you’ve had the experience of bleeding out overnight from an unexpected period.

There are methods for using the menstrual cup when you are camping or in similar situations - but remember that becoming more sustainable is not linear. It is ok to use panty liners the odd time, or other methods that you made have used previously. As long as you are using less you are still going towards sustainability and that is what counts.

Are these seemingly new-fangled methods of menstrual hygiene really practical for the college girl? Absolutely! It is just as easy to integrate these sustainable methods as it may have been to start using the more classic methods when you first started getting your period. Easier, in fact.

Don’t be stressing over perfection when it comes to ethical choices, especially when you’re trying something new. The pressure to be the most ecologically aware person alive is heavy, but small steps are always going to be better than none.

Health & Beauty

Not good enough to be a pro

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While many people have ambitions to become sportstars most won’t make it that far.

Eoin Harte takes a look at those who were not good enough to make it to the top.

t’s no secret that many children dream of becoming a professional sports star when they grow up. A life that is characterised by fame, wealth and the ability of making a living from doing what you love is sure to appeal to many.

Some get to live out this dream, many escaping a life of poverty and hardship in doing so. Be it Ashwin Willemse, who played international rugby for South Africa despite being part of a criminal gang in his younger years or Kassim Ouma, who became a professional boxer despite being a child soldier in Uganda, there are no lack of inspirational stories in sport.

However, not every dream comes true. The vast majority of starry-eyed kids who hope to become the next Lionel Messi will find that they are either not skilful enough, not fast enough, not strong enough, or a mixture of all of the above.

According to the book ‘No Hunger In Paradise. How to Make It As A Professional Footballer’ by Michael Calvin only 180 of the 1.5 million players who are playing organised youth football in England will make it as a professional in the Premier League, a success rate of 0.012 per cent.

Even children who enter football academies at a young age have the odds firmly stacked against them.

Of all the boys who enter a football academy at the age of nine, less than half of one per cent make it.

Third-year Sport Science and Health student Coly O’Brien spoke to The College View about his dreams of playing professional football. “When I was really young I went through phases of what I wanted to do when I was grown up. I had stages of wanting to play football professionally in like the Premier League or something, but I also had phases where I wanted to be like a detective or forensic scientist, so it depended on my age.”

O’Brien said he came to the full realisation that he wouldn’t make it around the age of 15 or 16, although he was never convinced he would become a professional.

“I probably always realistically knew I was never going to make the Premier League because only a very small percentage of people do and the fact that I wasn’t playing anywhere near the level I should’ve been at the time.”

Although his football aspirations are in the past, there may still be time for O’Brien to become a detective, although he is not currently pursuing this option. He is certainly not alone in putting aside a dream of becoming a professional sports star for something more realistic.

Third year St. Patrick’s College geography and history student Sean Baxter had no doubt in his mind when stating he would prefer to be a professional footballer rather than pursue a career affiliated with his current degree.

While Baxter never believed he would make it as a professional footballer the goal of playing gaelic football for Dublin at an inter-county level was more feasible for him.

“When I was 13 or 14 I wanted to try to make a minor team and always in the back of my mind playing senior was the dream, but I knew it wouldn’t really be the reality.”

Baxter could at least take comfort in knowing that he wasn’t alone in not playing at the level required to make the Dublin senior panel. While playing for his school team in fifth year, he recalled the team manager telling his players that “none of them would ever play for Dublin.”

While maybe not the most inspiring words a manager can give to his young team, it has proven to be correct at this point in time.

The dream of playing inter-county football for Baxter is now firmly dead in the ground, although he did say, “I

definitely think I’d be able to make a panel in the likes of Leitrim, Waterford or Louth.”

However, life isn’t perfect if you do make it as either a professional sportsperson or inter-county GAA player.

Many players crumble under the pressure of having thousands and sometimes even millions of people’s hopes and dreams on their shoulders.

Crusaders and New Zealand fly half Richie Mo’unga for example has spoken about the effect the pressure of performing to a high standard has had on him during his career.

Back in 2016 Mo’unga, who was only 22 years old at the time, revealed part of his pre-game routine.

“The only thing that’s weird about my pre-game is before I run out I sort of sit on the toilet and just sort of make myself spew up a little bit.”

Mo’unga put this down to the nerves he experiences before running out, as well as his desire to feel “light” for the game. While professional sportsmen are often quite superstitious when it comes to pre-game preparation, making yourself vomit can hardly be considered a healthy routine.

This pressure can lead to athletes falling out of love with their chosen sport, viewing it as just a way of making a living rather than living out a lifelong dream.

American tennis player Andre Agassi, widely considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, wrote in his autobiography ‘Open’, “I play tennis for a living even though I hate tennis, hate it with a dark and secret passion and always have.”

However, athletes such as Agassi who detest their sport are likely few and far between. Although he may have been less than fond of tennis, his career earnings of $31.2 million isn’t bad for twenty years of work as a tennis player.

Being a professional sportsperson will always be a dream for many young

people a n d will likely continue to be a dream for them as they enter their middleaged years and beyond.

“The vast majority of starry-eyed kids who hope to become the next Lionel Messi will find that they are either not skilful enough, not fast enough, not strong enough, or a mixture of all of the above.”

11

Health & Beauty

Beauty Buzz: Anastasia Norvina Palette Caitlin Laird gives us the lowdown on the latest release from Kim K’s favourite brand.

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he Norvina eyeshadow palette is one of the latest products released by Anastasia Beverly Hills. It came out in July of this year and has gotten mixed reviews.

Anastasia Beverly Hills is one of the most popular makeup brands, renowned for its brow products and contour kit. The new Norvina palette is the new talk of the town for beauty bloggers. It became the brand that everyone needs straight after Kim Kardashian featured it on her Instagram.

The palette itself comes in a nice packaging with a purple velvet feel exterior and is nice and compact. It has a big mirror on the inside to see what you’re doing and it also comes with a two-sided brush.

The palette costs around $42 which is around €36 which isn’t bad at all, considering the quality of the palette you are getting. It is named after the president of Anastasia Beverley Hills and is based on her favourite and most used shades. It has 14 shades altogether. These shades are broken up with one half being seven metallic shades and the other half consisting of seven matte shades.

These shades work well together when blending and are very nice shades to use when going out or just for a day-to-day makeup look.

The matte shades are quite warm

and soft, a mixture of browns and a burnt orange shade with some lighter shades like pink and a pale purple.

The metallic shades are made up of light and dark also with a ‘rose gold’ shade to a ‘wild child’ shade which is a light-toned pink. There is also a mixture of a light and dark purple in the metallic shades to give that darker feel to the matte colours. The brighter metallic shades compliment the matte shades nicely as they brighten them up and give that pop of glitter and shine.

Always with these palettes, there are some downfalls.

There is a lot of fallout with the matte colours. They are quite soft so there is a lot of excess on the brush and the

actual palette itself. It can be a bit messy but this is a con with a lot of palettes that is easily fixable by just cleaning the palette.

The brush that comes with the palette wouldn’t be the best to use. The bristles aren’t that good and it doesn’t help blend the eyeshadow all that well. These are really the only issues with the palette, these alone wouldn’t put you off because the shades are so pigmented.

All in all, this palette is very much affordable for anyone.

It has nice shades that would suit anyone who wants either a dark matte shade matched with a bright metallic shade or a light matte colour blended with a bit of dark.

It is perfect for all occasions and would rival the Urban Decay Naked Palettes any day.

“The palette costs around $42 which is around €36 which isn’t bad at all considering the quality of the palette you are getting.”

Spotlight smile Nicole Cassidy investigates hat brand will give you the brighter smile.

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e have all seen the influencers and Celebrities promoting the “Perfect Smile” on our social media. White teeth have become the new “pretty” which means whitening strips and custom bleaching trays have become an essential beauty product of this social media age.

Spotlight Teeth whitening was created by two Irish dentists, Lisa and Vanessa Creaven in September 2016.

They created this brand to provide their clients with a safe way of teeth whitening at home using the same ingredients they use in their clinical dental practice for professional whitening.

These two entrepreneurs created a new formula for their product, it includes a very small amount of peroxide (0.01%). This is the only ingredient clinically proven to whiten teeth.

Products include the spotlight whitening strips kit (2 full weeks supply), this is also available in a men’s kit and is tailored for the size of the male mouth. Both Kits retail at €39.95.

Due to the demand for the teeth whitening strips, the brand released three more products, The Spotlight Whitening Toothpaste €9.50, Teeth White Pen €14.99 and Spotlight x ISPCC Kids Toothpaste €5.95.

Spotlight whitening has been a huge success over the last two years and the brand received three awards last year. They were awarded Best Beauty Gadget 2017 at

the RSVP Beauty awards.

In 2017 Lisa and Vanessa were also given an award at the Image Beauty and Image Magazine Awards for Business Woman of The Year.

The brand has been a great success even in a short timeframe and has featured in VOGUE, BAZZAR and ELLE Magazine. These articles can be found on spotlightwhitening.com.

“In 2017 Lisa and Vanessa were also given an award at the Image Beauty and Image Magazine Awards for Business Woman of The Year.”

All of the products are now available in pharmacies and Boots stores in Ireland, the UK, Norway, Finland and the U.A.E. Delivery worldwide is available on the website.

As the demand for sparkling white teeth has grown rapidly, so have the teeth whitening companies. Although Spotlight has been a great success in Ireland and the UK, HiSmile is its biggest competitor.

HiSmile is the most popular Teeth Whitening brand at the moment with customers all over the globe.

Founders Nik Mirkovic and Alex Tomic used social media to turn it into a $10 million dollar business in just two years. Three years on it has now grown to $40 million dollars.

They invested $20,000 of their own funds into the business when they first started and with their use of social media and influencers such as Conor McGregor and Kylie Jenner the brand has taken over.

HiSmile says it whitens in 10 minutes leaving your teeth up to 8 shades whiter. There is no sensitivity, it is veganfriendly, convenient and easy while being safe to use.

The kit contains 3 gels which is 6 uses, one LED light, one mouth tray, shade guide and instruction manual. The ingredients include sodium bicarbonate, sodium chlorite, pomegranate, aloe vera and chamomile. It retails at €54.99 and free shipping is included.

Other products include gel refills for €21.99, a whitening pen for €21.99, a coconut whitening mouthwash for €21.99, and a day and night toothpaste for €13.99. The great advantage about HiSmile compared to other brands is that they offer 100% results guaranteed or your money back.

12

Food

Grub Guide: The Lovely Food Company Looking for a cosy cafe that serves tasty and affordable food? Mikey Walsh may have found the perfect place for you.

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ith two locations, one north and one south of the Liffey, the Lovely Food Co. is never too far away from the hungry Dubliner.

The small but cosy restaurants offer a range of European dishes to satisfy an empty stomach.

Owner Paul Breen has made his vision of creating a friendly, homelike atmosphere to eat delectable food a reality.

Located on the beautiful rustic Drumcondra Road, the contemporary black and white colouring of the exterior gives the impression of a trendy, new-era eatery which is both inviting and stylish. Solid white tables and chairs sit outside giving the option to eat al fresco, if it is weather permitting, and look out upon the mature trees that line the road.

When you walk through the front door you’re immediately greeted with an array of cakes and pastries through a glass fridge counter. The waitresses are quick to seat people and no time was spent waiting at the door. The large front window illuminates the room along with the yellow glow of small lamps fixed to the wall under large grey letters simply saying “LOVELY”.

The inside is tight with very little room between the wooden tables, making it a struggle to get past the neighbouring table without nudging it in order for you to sit on the grey leather bench, stretching across the redbrick sidewall of the restaurant opposite the row of wooden tables.

The snug environment makes it an excellent place to engage in conversation.

The closeness of the neighbouring table encourages the chat to flow to avoid the invasion of their privacy.

The menu offers both healthy and hearty meals for people going for breakfast or lunch. There are vegetarian dishes like fruit salads and goats cheese salad bowls. Although there are no vegan dishes, as most are served with dairy, they have no problem with any dietary restrictions if you just ask.

The midweek breakfast menu finished at 12pm and offers smoothies, porridge and any amount of egg dishes to tantalise your taste buds. Cakes and pastries are made fresh daily if you’re just there for a quick bite and a coffee.

The Lovely Food Co. say that “variety is the spice of life” on their menu and the main courses on the lunch menu change daily so that you can get something new and delicious every time you visit. The main dishes are displayed on the board and all come with a serving of homemade fries, a welcomed addition to any savoury dish. There is a broad range of appetising salad bowls and sandwiches that are made to order.

Savoury scones that change daily are served warm with a sundried tomato tapenade and a herb butter are also a nice addition to the menu, something rarely seen in your average café. Traditional scones are served with whipped cream, Irish jam and real butter, not the fake hydrogenated vegetable oils that can ruin any good baking.

Artisan breads with a gluten free range make the experience one of delight. Coeliacs need not worry about enjoying their experience here as they are well catered for. Some may see this as absolute nonsense but here it fits in perfectly, adding an extra dimension of class and showing that The Lovely Food Co. care about their customers.

The wide range of Wall & Keogh herbal teas available insures that people who aren’t into the standard cup of Irish black tea are catered for.

The weekend brunch menu is a mix of the lunch and breakfast menu, bringing the best of both into a more contained sleek menu. Gourmet sandwiches like chicken

and stuffing with cranberry mayo and baby leaves are served on sourdough baguettes, levelling-up your average sandwich.

The Breakfast Potato Cake comes with poached eggs, spinach, half a tomato, toasted artisan bread and black pudding with a side of hollandaise sauce. The black pudding went particularly well with the steamed spinach and poached egg. The artisan bread was perfectly toasted and not one bit soggy, something that is a common experienced while getting toast in other restaurants.

The dish cost €9.95 by itself which is very reasonable for such a flavoursome breakfast, although similar café-restaurants offer tea or coffee with breakfast included in the price.

There is a handy option on the card machine to add a tip if there is no change to hand. Waitresses are friendly and give enough time to look at the menu fully before coming to take an order, not interrupting patron’s mid conversation to ask if everything is alright, unless signalled for.

The tasteful and minimalist interior matches the satiating food wonderfully. It is a hangout spot with class but isn’t pretentious. The calm, quiet setting and lovely ambiance is perfect for a late breakfast, a coffee date or a lunch with colleagues, despite it being slightly cramped.

The outdoor area is perfect for enjoying your

meal among the fresh air in a charming location. The fantastic locations in Drumcondra and Terenure make it accessible to everyone in the Dublin area.

The flavourful food doesn’t break the bank and the fresh baked pastries and cakes add an extra dimension to the average café-restaurant environment. Fresh food is good food and there is nothing quite like new dishes, breads and pastries prepared daily. The Lovely Food Co. embodies everything that’s good in the culinary café world.

See for yourself: this place is just “lovely”.

Ratings Location 9/10 Venue 8/10 Atmosphere 8/10 Value for Money 7/10 Food 9/10

“The black pudding went particularly well with the steamed spinach and poached egg. The artisan bread was perfectly toasted and not one bit soggy, something that is a common experienced while getting toast in other restaurants.”

13

Travel

Wanderlust in New York

Living in Dublin you notice one thing – the city is becoming more and more American. Shane Brennan compares his experiences of visiting New York.

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ometimes it feels like Dublin is fighting with London to be America’s 51st state capital, a stroll through town or any major shopping centre will show that Dublin culture is becoming Americanised at the same rate (not least in Krispy-krazed Blanchardstown).

Instagram has no shortage of posts of donuts and Starbucks in the morning, and Irish fashion is filling up with American labels.

Nowhere in the world personifies American-style city life more than New York.

NYC is certainly one of the few cities in the world that makes you say ‘wow’ the first time you see it, and feel like an excited child when the Empire State Building first comes into view. Traveling through the notorious neighbourhoods of Harlem and the Bronx, the city’s night lights and iconic towers overshadow the urban squalor and demand attention.

Midtown Manhattan is always alive.

At 11pm the buzz surrounding Madison Square Garden for a concert fills the streets with energy (and a fair share of dodgy characters).

Times Square can feel like the space age.

Wearing shades at midnight isn’t frowned upon because the famous advertising boards are equal parts bright and amazing.

Staying just around the corner with the absence of blackout curtains means the room is always lit up. Sleeping next to Times Square is like taking a nap up the road from an entrapped sun. If you’re not there for long the lights outside the window can be more of a novetly than a sleep-depriving pain.

There are many options available to tourists with the New York Pass, and while deliberating on what to do first, a good option would be to stroll through some of the souvenir shops in Midtown. The level of Trump merchandise is huge, especially a patriotic-looking mug that was made in China. Flea markets that en- gulf whole avenues for two or three blocks are also a good way to spend time.

If you ever make the trip to New Y o r k , the Ground Zero and the 9/11 Mu-

14

seum is a must visit that isn’t often seen in postcards. It may not be the happiest place you’ll ever go on holiday, but it does make you feel the weight of importance the September 11th attacks had on the world.

The stories of horror and bravery displayed in the underground museum elicit intense emotions from visitors. There are stands with boxes of tissues dotted around the headline exhibits, which lie underneath the tower’s footsteps. Phones and cameras are banned under the footsteps, leaving a sombre atmosphere in the Museum.

The significance of where you are is felt by everyone in the room. There is no plasticity, just emotion. Strong messages, combined with the beauty and reverence of the memorial on the surface, the footsteps of the towers, make this a must-see.

It’s not just a nod to history that makes the World Trade Centre special, what they’ve done with the building in the seventeen years since, is stunning. The 1776-foot WTC 1 tower is a new age icon, and its sister towers are gleaming beacons of what cities look forward to in the 21st Century.

The Oculus transit centre in the WTC is also astounding. The ice white pillars that stretch from subway level into the sky are like a beautiful ribcage, enclosing the beating heart of New York and New Jersey transport and a wealth of shops and food outlets in between. Everything felt so clean, the whiteness was glowing and there was room to breathe amongst the towers.

If heaven were to have a shopping centre/ train station, this would be it.

The problem with New York is that this sense of cleanliness is rarely felt anywhere else. Almost every Subway station and its technology seems aged. The stations smell of urine and the noise of sewer rats are only drowned out by the growl of fans relieving you of the underground humidity.

The subways aren’t the only unpleasant thing about Manhattan, a lot of the people aren’t very welcoming either. It is advisable not to holiday in New York on your own, it can be intimidating at times.

Tr a v e l -

ling with friends makes memories of visits to Madame Tussauds and the Empire State Building sure to stay for a long time. ‘Top of the rock’ is also a majestic place at night, perfect for photo opportunities and a great place to find an eerily peaceful atmosphere in the middle of a bustling city.

There must be something about the tall buildings that drain the personality out of people in Manhattan. Most workers in restaurants and shops were just soulless, more so than in Dublin, and much duller than the helpful workers in rivaling Boston.

Your existence is an inconvenience, their day a drag. They just want to get the train back home and off the island where they can be more themselves.

Even the home of New York’s most iconic sports team, Yankee Stadium seems plastic. The 2009 built stadium tries too hard to emulate its iconic and soulful predecessor which was a cathedral of baseball. In comparison to Fenway Park or Croker, the atmosphere is dry and is killed by the bright advertising, expensive treats and corporate boxes.

It’s this kind of city soullessness that people fear might migrate over to Dublin, the ‘big city’ mindset coming over here is a prospect that is not welcome to anyone who fears Americanisation.

New York wasn’t all bad. Most of the good personalities you will see are usually tour guides, such as the one who gave anecdotes about smoking weed in the 70s, or an old nutjob sports fan doing the tour at Madison Square Garden.

Common kindness is a virtue that all the celebrities talk about when they come to Ireland. Generally, they talk about the buildings if they are in New York. Dublin hasn’t got many of them worth shouting about, so personality is key to Dublin’s success in being tourist friendly.

New York is still a fabulous city to visit, just make sure you visit it with some friends.

Bringing your favourite personalities to the icons makes for a more perfect trip.

Fashion

Being thrifty in Dublin city

Rachel Halpin digs into second-hand shops, to let us know how to get the best items for less.

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hen Macklemore and Ryan Lewis released their song Thrift Shop in 2012 it brought the concept of thrift shopping back into popular culture. Making second-hand shopping a trendy activity and brought the counterculture craze back into society.

A thrift shop is a place that sells second-hand clothes, accessories, homeware, and other miscellaneous things. They typically sell their stock to raise money for a charity. Thrift shops are popular because of the vintage and tacky clothes and trinkets that you can buy at a cheap price.

There are many thrift shops around the country, with many being in Dublin City. In and near Temple Bar there are a lot of shops that cater to a variety of people and their tastes, which makes it a great starting point. George’s Street near Temple Bar is home to many charity shops and has a good selection of vintage clothing.

Clothes are the biggest appeal in thrift shops and why so many people shop in them. Thrift shops are good for getting clothes that can be expensive, like designer pieces, at a much cheaper price, though these pieces can be hard to find as you’ve to have a good look through the clothes. It may take a few trips to thrift shops before you find the good stuff.

Different shops have different ways of displaying the products they are selling. Most shops will have various sections for different kinds of products. The general layout is that clothes are in the centre and towards the front as they are the main stock sold in thrift shops.

They will have things such as books, DVDs, CDs, and vinyl together and put into their own separate categories, from there they may be put into alphabetical order.

How clothes are laid out depends on the shop. Most keep the same kinds of clothes together, putting dresses with dresses and trousers with trousers. Some shops separate the clothes by size, this way you can search easily by your size and it’s all together. Other shops organise their products by colour, which makes it harder to find things that fit you or if you’re looking for something specific this layout isn’t ideal.

One major problem with shops that sell second-hand clothes is that some shops don’t wash the clothes after getting them in, so they can still be dirty when a person buys them. It is best to wash the previously-owned clothes you buy before wearing them.

Tara Callan, a third-year student in the National College of Arts and Design (NCAD) is a frequent shopper at thrift shops. She visits them often as there are loads on Thomas Street where NCAD is so she goes into them going to or coming from college.

When she goes into thrift shops she isn’t looking for something specific most of the time, unless it’s for one of her college’s balls because then she knows just to look for anything that is funky, the weirder the better usually goes for them.

“It’s like TK Maxx, you gotta look through everything because some really funky things can be hidden behind something else, which is kinda half the fun,” said Callan, about what shopping is like in thrift shops.

“Well for me anyway because when you go shopping in stores you know the brand of, like let’s say Topshop or River Island, you kinda already know what to expect whereas when you go thrift shopping you never know what you’re gonna get.”

When she is thrift shopping she never spends too much money, the most she has ever spent on a single item of clothing was €15 and the rest is usually around a fiver or less.

Her favourite clothing piece that she has ever bought

is this ridiculously baggy, red jumper because it’s one of the comfiest things that she owns. But the thing that she finds the most interesting thing she has that has come from a charity shop would have the be the random ornaments she has picked up.

“ look for

anything that is funky, the weirder the better usually goes “Which is funny because I never think of buying ornaments when I go into one of the shops but always usually end up coming out with one and sometimes the people working there know where they came from so you just have this collection of items with these past lives come into yours,” said Callan.

A tip she has for thrift shopping is to try to find out when the sale is on because usually, that’s when the window front goes on sale so if you do have your eye on something specific in the shop front you can grab it. She also says that the key to shopping in a thrift shop is to just try to root through as much as possible because otherwise, you’re going to miss some amazing items.

15

EXPOSURE

Spooky: Getting into the Halloween Spirit in The National Botanic Gardens, Dublin. Credit: Alison Clair

Light painting in the Nore Valley, County Kilkenny: Credit: Mikey Walsh.

Black Cat: Graffiti painting of a black cat walking down an alley in Bratislava. Credit: Cรกit Caden.

Burnt orange: Evening October sunset pictured over a grove of conifers in Roscommon. Credit: Gabija Gataveckaite

Image Credits Page1: Pinterest, Page 2: The Fader, Flickr, DeviantArt, Page 3: Variety, The last mixedtape, Page 4: IFC centre, Variety, Page 5: Geek tyrant, The independant Page 6: Radiotimes.com, Gmerant.com Page 7: NME.com, AfroPunk.com, Page 8: Wikipedia, Imdb.com, Page 9: amansquest.com, Page 10: Pixabay Page, 11: Northwalesruc, Page 12: Caitlin Laird, Page 13: MikeyWalsh, Page 14: LornaLawless, Page 15: id, Page 16: Credited. above