pram in print - PC4Me

Issue 2
Pram in Print
20th May 2014
PRAM IN PRINT
School News
2014 School Fair
By Grace Lindsay
On April 12th 2014 we had
our school fair. With over 100
stalls and activities, as well
as various performances
from students and other
people from the community
throughout the day, we were
sure to have a great turnout.
The small spell of poor
weather wouldn’t keep the
thousands of from gathering
on the field for a great day
out. This was a great
fundraiser for Paraparaumu
College, also supporting
KYS and the food bank.
Lady Macbeth
takes College
to Nationals
page 11
Some fair-goers perusing the stalls.
Photo: Nomad Photography
The stalls ranged from food, jewellry, and loved books and clothes, as well as
activities such as bouncy castles and sumo wrestling. There were plenty of
things for fair goers to eat, do, and buy.
Students (along with members of the public) also had the opportunity to throw
sponges at some of our teachers in the stocks.
Some of the entertainment included performances from Paraparaumu
College’s WOW Factor musicians, The All Star Victory Cheerleaders, Grace
Lindsay, Vanessa Cone, and Jo Jenkins with Kaitlin Bothamley.
Everyone behaved very well as a whole, and the day ran really smoothly, with
many stallholders praising the great helpers on the day for their amazing
support and willingness to help stallholders with setting up and packing down,
allowing them to take short
breaks through the day,
and just being great in
general.
Delicious
Smoothies
page 13
Eurovision:
Where Music
meets Politics
page 17
It was a great day for the
college and public, and will
hopefully continue in the
future. |
A popular sumo wrestling
attraction at the fair.
Photo: Nomad Photography
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Issue 2
Pram in Print
International News
20th May 2014
FUN FACTS
International News Summary
By Matt Southcombe
African leaders have met in Paris, and agreed to wage “war” on the militant
group Boko Haram, who were responsible for the abduction of 223 schoolgirls in
north-eastern Nigeria recently. The host of the meeting, President Hollande of
France, said regional powers had pledged to share intelligence and coordinate
action against the group.
In 2009, Boko Haram carried out several
attacks on various government buildings in
Maiduguri, leading to shootouts on
Maiduguri's streets. Hundreds of Boko
Haram supporters were killed, and Nigeria's
security forces eventually seized the
group's headquarters, capturing its fighters
and killing Mohammed Yusuf, the group’s
previous leader. His body was shown on
state television and the security forces
A recent alleged image of the girls
declared Boko Haram finished.
kidnapped by Boko Haram, one of the
more public attacks by the militant
However, recently the group has
group.
reformed under Abubakar Shekau and
Photo: Reuters
have stepped up their insurgency in
response to this violent
retaliation.
Boko Haram has allegedly killed thousands in recent years and remain highly
active, regardless of the death of their previous leader.
Last year, a Reuters news agency reported that the Nigerian government paid
a ransom of more than
$3m for the release of a French family of seven, including four children,
abducted by Boko Haram in neighbouring Cameroon. It is also alleged that backdoor hostage trades have been performed before by the Nigerian government,
including Mr. Shekau's wife in exchange for the release of the wives and children
of government soldiers.
Boko Haram promotes a version of Islam which makes it "haram" (forbidden)
for Muslims to take part in any social or political activity relating to the West. This
includes voting in elections, wearing shirts and trousers or receiving a secular
education. It aims to convert Nigeria into an Islamic state. Though the country
has had a Muslim president, Boko Haram regards the Nigerian state as being
run by non-believers.
Despite vast resources, Nigeria ranks among the most unequal countries in the
world. The threat will disappear only if Nigeria's government manages to reduce
this extreme poverty and inequality and build an education system which gains
the support of local Muslims, the analysts say.
The population of
Ireland still hasn’t
returned to where it
was before the Potato
Famine.
Many national
security services
across the world still
use typewriters to
write certain
documents due to
their inability to be
hacked.
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Issue 2
In the time period which
Quentin Tarantino’s film
Django Unchained is set
(the antebellum period),
despite its heavy use in
the film, dynamite wasn’t
to be invented for
another decade or so.
Dr. Gay Hitler, son of
George Washington
Hitler, was a local dentist
in Circleville, Ohio, and
served the community
from 1922 through 1946.
Pram in Print
20th May 2014
In other news, Libya continues to be politically unstable, with dozens of people
killed in Benghazi on Friday in some of the worst fighting in the city for months.
A no-fly zone has been declared, but it is unclear how the army will deliver on
its statement to shoot down any military aircraft flying over the city.
The declaration was brought about by the use of at least one helicopter in the
fighting on Friday.
Retired colonel and former rebel commander Khalifa Hafta and his
paramilitary force also launched a ground assault on Benghazi's Islamist militia
brigades. He stated that although his troops tactically withdrew from the city,
the operation will continue until "Benghazi is purged of terrorists".
Libya has a complex system of militants and some members of the army and
air force are part of the paramilitary force.
"We'll come back with force," ex-Col Haftar told reporters in Abyar, a small
town to the east of Benghazi. "We've started this battle and will continue it until
we have reached our goals. The street and the Libyan people are with us."
On Saturday ex-Col Hafter's spokesman called on residents living in three
western districts of Benghazi - where most of the Islamist militants are based to leave their houses.
Meanwhile in the capital, parliamentary speaker and military commander-inchief Nuri Abu Sahmain stated that Hafter was trying to stage a coup.
A planned constitution remains unwritten and the country has gone through
three prime ministers since March. It has not reached a reasonable state of
stability since 2010, when Gaddafi was removed from power.
Finally, Malaysia
Airlines is feeling the
economic impact of
Flight 370, with the
company's net loss
rising by 59% to
$138 million dollars
in the January to
March period. The
firm is now in its fifth
straight quarter of
loss, and attributes
this to “tough
operating conditions”
Malaysia Airlines is feeling the economic impact of the Flight 370
mystery.
and “negative
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
sentiment.”
However, Shareholders appear to have shrugged off the news, with shares
rising 2.4%. This increase is not sufficient, though, for a firm that has lost more
than 40% of its market value this year.
There is still no sign of the missing flight, and with no sign of the finish line,
the cost of the search looks set to climb into seven digits. |
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Issue 2
Pram in Print
9th June 2014
Sports
International Sports
All Black Test Team 2014
By Lauren Grant
New Zealand’s rugby team, the All Blacks,
have announced the 35 man squad for June
tests. All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has
named his new wider training group that will
soon be preparing for the home test series
against England which will be happening
next month in June.
There have been four new named players
that have been introduced to the developing
squad. Hookers Nathan Harris and Liam
Coltman and the lock: Patrick Tuipulotu and
centre Malakai Fekitoa. Crusaders lock
All Blacks training squad announced
Forwards: Keven Mealamu, Nathan Harris, Dane Coles, Liam Coltman, Charlie
Luke Romano is missing, ruled out of New
Faumuina, Tony Woodcock, Ben Franks, Wyatt Crockett, Owen Franks, Patrick
Zealand’s three home tests after breaking
Tuipulotu, Brodie Retallick, Jeremy Thrush, Dominic Bird, Sam Whitelock, Jerome
Kaino, Steven Luatua, Sam Cane, Liam Messam, Victor Vito, Richie McCaw, Kieran
his ankle in the second half of the
Read, Luke Whitelock.
Crusader’s 57-29 Super Rugby win over
Backs: Tawera Kerr-Barlow, TJ Perenara, Aaron Smith, Aaron Cruden, Beauden
the Queensland Reds in Brisbane on
Barrett, Colin Slade, Ma’a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Ryan Crotty, Malakai Fekitoa, Cory
Jane, Julian Savea, Israel Dagg, Ben Smith.
Sunday. Also missing from the wider
training group through injury are
fullback/wing Charles Piutau with a knee injury and midfield back Francis Saili (ankle).
Training camps are to be held in Christchurch from May 18-20 and Wellington from May 25-27, with the
31-man squad for the England series named in Auckland on June 1. Coach Hansen says the two camps
would once again form a massive part of the team’s preparations for the “Steinlager Series” against
England. “With players coming from five different Super Rugby teams, it’s important that we get aligned on
our game plans and skill sets,” “The challenge the English bring means we will need to be at our very best
as quickly as possible.” he says.
He also said the camps give All Blacks management time to meet and learn about some of the younger
players who have been named in greater detail which proves to be beneficial for all parties. He said the
number of players attending the camps is limited to 35 so there are several players the All Blacks
management already knew about who would not be attending.
The All Blacks play England at Eden Park in Auckland on June 7 and at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin
a week later, with the final Test at Hamilton’s Waikato Stadium on June 21. |
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Issue 2
Pram in Print
9th June 2014
Match-fixing in cricket
NASA asked Buzz Aldrin
to refrain from quoting
the Bible on the moon.
It is estimated by WHO
(World Health
Organization) that more
people suffer from
obesity (more than 1
billion) than hunger
(roughly 900 million).
By Jayden Miles
New Zealand Cricket is
adamant national captain
Brendon McCullum won't face
sanctions for ''a small delay'' in
reporting a world-renowned
former cricketer who allegedly
offered him up to US$180,000
to fix matches in 2008.
NZC chief executive David
White said he was
disappointed McCullum's
testimony to International
Cricket Council (ICC) anticorruption officials was leaked
to the Daily Mail today.
According to the Mail's story,
written by Ed Hawkins, an
authority on cricket match
fixing, McCullum told
investigators he rebuffed two
approaches from his ''hero'',
both in 2008 while playing in the Indian Premier League, then in Worcester
during New Zealand's tour of England.
McCullum didn't immediately report the approaches, as players are required
to do, but White backed his skipper to the hilt and said he had "absolute 100 per
cent confidence" McCullum wouldn't face sanctions. McCullum told
investigators he had never fixed matches.
"I've spoken to Brendon and he's very disappointed he's in the public
domain," White said today "He's not under investigation and his testimony has
been applauded by the ICC. He was approached and he rebuffed those
approaches and he reported it to the ICC. We believe he's done the right thing
and we've got 100 per cent confidence in our captain and his role in tackling
corruption. We understand there might have been a small delay in reporting the
approaches but we know this has been canvassed by the ICC and they have no
issues with it, at all."
White was aghast that the testimony had been leaked and said he would take
the matter up with ICC chief executive Dave Richardson.
McCullum is playing for Chennai in the Indian Premier League and confirmed
last night he was returning home this week for the birth of his third child.
White confirmed McCullum was interviewed more than once by anti-corruption
officials and NZC was kept updated.
He was aware of other New Zealanders who had given evidence to anticorruption officials but was unaware of any other current players.
"A lot of this is linked to six or seven years ago so it's quite historic in terms of
the people they can talk to," White said.
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9th June 2014
Issue 2
Pram in Print
News of McCullum's interview comes days after former New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent's explosive
testimony, where he admitted to spot-fixing, was also made public.
He told investigators that the star-- known as X--telephoned him to meet at his hotel in order to discuss a
"business opportunity". McCullum told investigators he was first approached in 2008 in Kolkata before the
start of the inaugural IPL.
"We spent some time talking about various things over dinner," McCullum said. "During the course of this
conversation he asked me if I knew what spread betting was in cricket games. I told him not really, so he
took a piece of paper and wrote down and explained the process to me. I was really shocked as I saw X as
a good friend and it totally confused me. X said that everybody was doing this in games. He said that the
'Big Boys' in international cricket were doing it and he didn't want me to miss out."
McCullum told investigators X explained the basic principles
“During the course of this
which were to score below a certain rate for the first six or so
overs and then towards the end of the game there was another
conversation he asked me if I
knew what spread betting was split.
He was told he could get between US$70,000 and US$180,000
in cricket games… I was really (up to NZ$208,000) a game.
"X told me he had a good group working for him in the ICL and I
shocked as I saw X as a good
understand this to mean fixing for him," McCullum said. "It was
friend and it totally confused
my opinion then, as it is now, that X was actively concerned in
me.”
fixing . . . I believed he was asking me to do the same thing for
him in the IPL as others were doing in the ICL."
Despite McCullum saying he has "never, ever fixed", he didn't have the courage to say no immediately
and instead said he would think about it, before returning to his hotel in a "state of shock", his evidence
stated.
Later the star telephoned him and McCullum told him he was not interested.
"He was a hero who became a friend so I always found it difficult to say no," McCullum said.
Weeks later, the superstar tried to coerce McCullum again, the Mail reported. After his stint in the IPL,
McCullum joined the New Zealand squad in England.
"We were staying in Worcester and he called asking to catch up," McCullum said. "He said he was just
down the road and suggested we meet for breakfast. I thought it strange he was in the area. X asked if I'd
changed my mind and I knew he was talking about fixing. I told him I had not." |
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Issue 2
Pram in Print
9th June 2014
School and Community Sports
Good and bad for PC Sport
Scrat in the film Ice Age
was based upon a made
up creature (a “sabertooth squirrel”), until a
fossilized Cronopio
dentiacutus, colloquially
known as a “saber-tooth
squirrel” was discovered
in 2012.
By Jack Hibberd
Friday night at the Mazengarb turf saw both our boys and girls hockey teams
battle it out with other colleges in the region. The boys played a good game,
emerging victorious over Hutt International Boys School with a score of 6-1.
Unfortunately, the girls’ match didn’t go quite as well, as they narrowly lost to
Samuel Marsden College with a score of 3-2 after a highly exhilarating match.
Over in the gym, the Girls Senior ‘A’ basketball team beat Titahi Bay by a
significant margin, closing the game with a score of 80-39. Happily, their
performance was then matched by
“Paraparaumu College [is]
the boys who bested Saint
Patrick’s College with the
a force to be reckoned
scoreboard reading 84-62, clearly
with on the basketball
establishing Paraparaumu College
as a force to be reckoned with on
court.”
the basketball court.
The Paraparaumu College fields
were then packed on Saturday as two rugby and three football teams hosted
their own matches. The Under 15 Boys football team went first, suffering a
painful 9-0 loss to St. Patrick’s Silverstream College. Next up were the 1st XI
Boys football team at 11am, who, for the second week in a row, went one up in
the first twenty minutes. St. Patrick’s Silverstream then equalised with about 25
minutes to go, and sadly, we never regained our lead, resulting in a draw.
However, it was a hard fought battle with every single player putting their body
on the line for a result probably deserved by both teams.
Meanwhile, over on the court the Netball Girls unfortunately lost 27-37.
Paraparaumu College nearly managed a comeback at the end, but tragically, it
turned out to be too little too late.
Back on the fields, the Under 65s rugby team were pipped in the closing
minutes of the match, ending in a loss to Tawa College by a narrow two point
margin.
Later that afternoon, the Second XI Football boys earned their first win this
season with a 4-2 victory over Wellington High School, thanks to a hat trick
from attacker Matthew Morris.
Finally, in the afternoon we had the 1st XV Rugby boys, who, for the first
time this season, showed off the school Haka before taking to the field against
Mana College where they gained a comfortable win of 33-5. |
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Issue 2
Pram in Print
9th June 2014
Arts
Music ♫
Film Music and Culture
By Kadin Thompson
What role does music play in film, and what does this role say about modern story telling culture?
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of film is the meticulous, crafted use of music and sound. An
astonishing property of music is that it, as a whole, is applicable to any genre of film, whether it satirical or
sombre, and thus the two art forms work together compositely. Because of this relationship, the music in
film must carry a purpose – a role – and this investigation will identify this role and explore how it might
change from genre to genre of film. Furthermore, the importance of this role will be discussed, and how it
reflects a cultural significance to use music as a means of communication in modern story telling.
Where did the idea to have music in film come from?
The website Music in Film – A brief History states that “before the invention of the “talking picture”, all
movies were completely silent”. Not only is this referencing the beginning of film-music, but the beginning of
film itself, where it began as a form of entertainment completely void of noise. Silent films like Safety Last!
(1923) and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) certainly propelled the popularity of moving
pictures as art-forms, but carried with them no built-in sound and relied only on the visual aspect of
storytelling; like looking at the pictures in a book without reading the words. Watching one of these films (by
today’s standard) feels empty and unengaging, as though a major component of the experience is missing.
Dr James Wierzbicki once said in an interview with YouTuber Samuel Joshua: “I’d actually make [my
students] watch ten minutes of film in silence. It’s extremely uncomfortable… extremely uncomfortable”.
This begins to demonstrate that without music, films are an unfinished media of which music in an essential
aspect.
Music in Film – A brief History goes on further to show that the initial incorporation of music in film is
resultant of a number of reasons, ranging from the tradition of music in story telling (i.e. theatre
performance) and the fact that late 19th century technology did not allow sound to be synchronised with
picture. Incidentally, the use of music with film happened in an almost identical way as music worked in
theatre – where musicians (ranging from solo piano to small ensemble) played live alongside the
performance as this was easy to
achieve. In a cinema, during the early
1900’s, silent films were viewed with an
An example of a musician, Stephen
Horne, accompanying an old film on
piano.
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Issue 2
Colorado switched the
mile marker “420” to
“419.99” in order to stop
people stealing it.
Over 3000 people have
jumped to their death off
of the Golden Gate Bridge
in San Francisco. Of the
26 who survived the fall,
all twenty six said that
they immediately
regretted their decision
after jumping and wanted
to live.
9th June 2014
Pram in Print
orchestra playing simultaneously just like it had been done in theatre
previously. However, the music they played was never specific, instead
“suggestion lists… categorised by mood, event or element” (Music in Film)
were given to the accompanists to provide a general idea of what music to
play during each scene.
It is a malleable tool; given that even unorganised, nonspecific music was
enough to still be effective for an audience. Because of this, we see how
applicable music and film are even as different art-forms. Despite being a
good way of hiding the “cacophony of noise spewed from the projector”
(Music in Film), it –more importantly – offered another element to the
experience: it provided an emotional stimulus; “to add a depth to the twodimensional image that appeared upon the screen” (also Music in Film).
In his video series Film Music History, Samuel Joshua interviews Dr
Wierzbicki (from University of Sydney) and asks: “An interesting question,
though, is why was music provided at all?” To which the professor
responded:
“I do spend a lot of time talking about silent films. Because one of the most
important questions to me, is why was it so important to have music in film?
Why wasn’t a motion picture good enough on its own? … It’s always an
interesting discussion as to why it’s so, so, so unbearably uncomfortable [to
watch a film without sound or music]. And then, you can play the same film
with music and be relaxed and be easy… and why is that? I mean, some
very strange psychological phenomena are happening when music
accompanies film.”
As Dr Wierzbicki alludes to, the importance of film-music goes hand in
hand with the story telling quality of film. Before this quality emerged, “about
1903” Wierzbicki estimates, having no music did not matter, as the film itself
was enough of a spectacle on its own. When narrative stories became a
part of film, music to accompany it was designed to accent the excitement,
to provide a sense of tension via stimulation of another human sense other
than sight. Wierzbicki explains: “Music did what it basically did in the Opera
house: it propelled the action – that was the model. Operatic music, late
19th Century: Puccini, Tchaikovsky … things like that… Filmmakers wanted
to make stories, they realised the possibilities. These [films] were probably
accompanied by music. Because they told stories; they had climaxes, they
had drama…” As Wierzbicki illustrates, it became evident to filmmakers of
the early 20th century (like Méliés, Thomas Edison), that the cruxes and
apexes of their stories would best be accented by the tension and flow of
music – an already anciently developed art. In conclusion, it can be
observed that the very idea of film – moving pictures on a screen almost
always involving humans – is related to the emotionality of music; the two
media feed off each other. The music is included because it supplements
and extends the ideas in the story that the film present. The reason for this,
why music is the most suitable way of complementing the journey of a story,
lies within the psychological nature of music itself, and this will be discussed
later in the section that focuses on modern story-telling culture. |
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9th June 2014
Drama
Lady Macbeth takes College to Nationals
By Alannah Bradbury
On Saturday April 5th, several groups of Paraparaumu College students attended the annual Sheila Winn
Shakespeare Competition, each portraying a short piece from their chosen Shakespeare play. The college
has participated in this competition for many years now but never has it received such an incredible turnout.
One performer stood out from the crowd and managed to receive an outstanding award. Flora Dryburgh,
a year 11 student from the college participated in a 5 minute long student directed piece of Shakespeare’s
Macbeth. Flora thought the day went really well, a sentiment reportedly echoed by teammates William
Lopez-Sanchez, Sarah Robinson and director Renee Black--“we were all very proud of our performance”
Flora says.
The group didn’t manage to get a placing in the competition, but Flora (portraying the character of Lady
Macbeth), received the ‘Kapiti Mayors Award for Direct Entry to NSSP’. This award entitles one chosen
performer from the Kapiti region to participate in the national production in Dunedin later this year. Flora will
be working alongside 47 other extremely talented young students from across New Zealand. She will
participate in a number of workshops, work with a ‘high calibre’ director and perform a 40 minute excerpt
from one of Shakespeare’s plays. From here, Flora has the chance to be 1 of the 24 students selected to
travel to the UK in 2015 as a member of the SGCNZ Young Shakespeare Company.
“For days afterwards I still didn’t believe it,” Flora admits, “acting is my passion and so this award has
been such an encouragement to me.” For anyone who is thinking in participating in this competition next
year, Flora advises to “just do it and enjoy every minute of it.”
Congratulations to Ms Wallis, the student directors and all the participants who performed amazingly at
the competition. Also, best of luck to Flora Dryburgh who is sure to make Paraparaumu College proud at
nationals. |
Visual Art
New Zealand Portrait Gallery
Tim; the winning portrait by Henry Christian-Slane.
By Luc van Kradenburg
In Shed 11 Customhouse Quay, Wellington, a
competition was held and won by 23 year old Henry
Christian-Slane with a painting titled: Tim.
Slane has blown away New Zealand with his fine
portraiture skills taking the Adam Portraiture Award this
year, topping many skilled artists that have far more
experience than he has. The runner ups for the award
this year include: The Artist Euan MacLeod by Justin
Pearson, The Artist's Wife by Mark Cross, Heroin
Heroine by Jackie Fitzgerald, June and Mt Taranaki by
Marianne Muggeridge,and a Self Portrait by Esther
Deans.
The Gallery will be open until the 25th of May; entry is
free and there are numerous superb artworks. Each artist
has variations in style and are all definitely worth seeing
as each work has taken many hours to perfect and to
complete Clearly, being a judge in this competition would
be excruciatingly difficult.
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My personal favourite piece of artwork from the gallery was:
9th June 2014
The Artist's Wife by Mark Cross
The disclaimer “No
animals were harmed
during the making of this
film” can still be legally
used, even if animals died
during the production
period, as long as the
cameras weren’t rolling
at the time.
Deaf babies exposed to
sign language babble with
their hands.
The clear water and glossy feel
of the water and background,
to the dripping water off her
arms tie the feeling of a cool
summer breeze together,
imprinting the feeling of
summer on my mind allowing
me to get a grasp the emotions The Artist's Wife by Mark Cross.
the artist felt, and show pure
admiration for Mark Cross’s work and passion for art. |
Fashion
House of Dior Fashion Showcase
By Willow Singh
"It was French, but with American style".
Whether it's Chanel, Mulberry, Versace, Prada or Burberry, we are always
ready for one of their popular models to take to the catwalk with inspiring
designs on their backs and an astonishing fashion showcase ahead.
Just to our luck, early this May the House of Dior and their artistic director
launched yet another fashion showcase, this time choosing to bring New York
and all fashion hotspots to Brooklyn as the locale for their 2015 fashion
cruise on Wednesday evening.
Dior showed off Autumn and Winter collections, receiving superb feedback
from 'America', the Belgian designer who expressed in his show notes that the
show "is a constant inspiration for me".
When the French label brought out the first group of models to the catwalk,
his adroitness with the tailoring was evident. Selected pieces were unique and
abstract with contrasting colours. Dior also combined stripes, floral patterns
and beading that made the designs look potentially awkward --but without any
surprise--Christian Dior and artistic director Raf Simons made it look
effortlessly flawless.
The Dior fashion showcase was then turned into a major branding
opportunity, as guests who showed up to this spectacular were greeted with
stewards bearing champagne.
However, the Belgian designer wasn't the only person to be intrigued by this
glamorous showcase. Plenty of A-Listers attended the event, including Marion
Cotillard, Rihanna, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Margot Robbie and Leelee Sobieski,
with her tiny baby bump. Even fashion lion Anna Wintour made an appearance.
Said A-Listers were very enthusiastic with their feedback, mentioning that "It's a
little bit of a real New York", and "It's exciting to bring the French bit to
Brooklyn". Their expressive delight was eagerly echoed through the rest of the
crowd, and at the end of the night, all seemed to be in agreement that the
showcase was "really young and hip and relevant." |
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9th June 2014
Food
Food News and Recipes
Smoothies
By Grace Guerin
For hundreds of years Mediterranean and Eastern cultures have served pureed fruit drinks that resemble
what we call smoothies.
They have become more and more popular over the years, with new recipes which include a wide range
of ingredients, from fruits and vegetables, to things like chocolate, peanut butter, honey, oats, and
sometimes chia seeds and flax seeds.
People use them to boost energy levels, to ensure that they get the vitamins and fibers they need and
much more.
There are many, many different recipes for smoothies. They can be a delicious snack or even a whole
meal depending on the ingredients. All you need is a blender or a food processor of some sort and off you
go!
Chocolate Avocado Smoothie
This recipe for a chocolate avocado smoothie sounds a little strange, having avocado in a sweet chocolate
smoothie, but it provides a uniquely silky texture to the smoothie without
an overbearing taste, making it creamy and delicious!
All you need is:
• ½ of a cold avocado
• 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
• 1 medium cold banana
• ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt (or regular yogurt - just leave out
the milk or use less)
• 2 tablespoons milk
Step 1
Blend everything together in a food processor or a blender, until it's very
creamy. Add more milk until it's the desired thickness.
Step 2
Serve immediately or keep covered in the refrigerator for up to one day.
Vegan Fruit Smoothie
There are even vegan smoothie recipes. I have it on good authority that the vegan recipe below is
especially good!
All you need is:
•
¼ cup apple juice
Step 1
•
¼ spirulina drink
Blend it all together.
•
1 cup frozen mixed berries
•
1 diced kiwi fruit
Step 2
Serve immediately.
•
2 feijoas
•
½ - 1 banana
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9th June 2014
Fluffernutter Banana Smoothie
There are some really kooky recipes for smoothies which throw together some unusual ingredients like the
Fluffernutter Banana Smoothie which is two flavours rolled into one: Fluffer = Marshmallows and Nutter =
Peanut Butter, which sound crazy but I’m sure would be delicious!
All you need is:
•
2 ripe small/medium bananas
(previously frozen in chunks is preferred)
•
1/2 to 2/3 cup cream or milk
•
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
•
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (optional and to taste)
•
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
•
1/3 to 1/2 cup mini-marshmallows
Step 1
Combine all ingredients except for marshmallows
in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
Step 2
Add marshmallows and pulse or blend until just
incorporated, allowing some texture to be retained.
Step 3
Garnish with a few additional marshmallows and
serve immediately.
There were also some yummy optional add-ins for
this recipe, which were:
•
•
•
•
•
•
1 to 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 whole Digestive Biscuit
1/ 4 cup semi-sweet, peanut butter, or
white chocolate chips or chocolate syrup
1/4 cup shredded coconut flakes
1 scoop of ice cream for a milkshake
garnish with whipped topping or whipped
cream, coconut flakes, graham cracker
crumbs, dollop of peanut butter, or
sprinkles.
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9th June 2014
Technology
Video Game News and Reviews
Thief
By Sam Williams
Although there are many newer games to talk about in recent memory, I am trying to make a point of
reviewing games that are either not given enough credit, or are so ‘up in the air’ as to their rating that even
the creators don’t know. One of the titles that come under this grouping is Thief. This Square Enix new
release title is based around the very popular games by Looking Glass Studio, Thief: The Dark Project (one
of the best titles ever) and Thief: The Metal Age (one of the most misleading titles ever). While these
games were excellent when I played them as a 12 year-old, they don’t really stand up to new-age gamer’s
idea of a “good game”. Because, let’s be honest, we have a lot less patience than our video game playing
forefathers. Seriously though, in these games you get told how to play and beyond that, nothing else apart
from your target. Now-a-days you get a whole lot of pillows thrown all around you, because you're the big
superhero man or lady that is going to stop the world from being blown up or eaten by a bunch of super,
secret space squids (Yes! Alliteration!) Now, I know that this is all a part of the whole reason that we have
video games. They are for us to be in a world that is nothing like school or work or any of those “lovely
things”; a world that we can be superior and do what we want. But why must it be so easy? That’s one of
the reasons that I can’t get solidly into games anymore. They are just too damn easy! (Not being cocky, just
stating a fact).
Now I have realised that this article has just become me going on a personal crusade against modern
games, so back to Thief. The only really great thing about Thief is the fact that you can set the difficulty to
your play style. For example if you want to kill every person in the game, you can have less silence based
challenges. I find this really awesome. However, you might not find that the reaction that you were
expecting out of something or someone to be as entertaining as a cupboard opening and closing (Warning,
if you do find that entertaining I sincerely apologize and you can voice your complaint by emailing me at
[email protected]). However, I do find this quite great because you have choice. A choice
on how to play, and a choice on ultimately how you die over and over again. These choices however, dry
up very, very quickly as you find out in the second mission, where the whole point of the game is a “choice”
on how to get into and out of a location that turns into hallways of single directions and points-of-no-return.
This continues through the most part of the game. However it does make up a little ground because it has
some RPG elements to it. This will drastically improve any game; If you put some kind of leveling system or
upgrades then it makes the game ten times better. An excellent example of this is Borderlands. That game
was and still is brilliant, but it was going to be just an FPS with an open world and a story. However, with
the almost infinite guns and upgrade system, it is high on my list of great games. This same principle has
been put into Thief, but really, it’s a little unnecessary and kind of rushed.
Ultimately, to conclude, this game is just a whole lot of unnecessary things that Square Enix saw in the
other games of today and tried to replicate in this great old series. Speaking of rushed, I’ve also just
realised that most of this article I haven’t really talked about the game. So just to rectify the situation…Thief
is a first person, stealth simulator where you play
as Garrett, a guy who grew up stealing things and
was good at it, so now he does it for a living and
with the help of his daughter/student/gym partner.
He saves a city by stealing things.
So the upshot the whole story is that you should
buy Thief’s dad, Thief 3: Deadly Shadows which
is a great mix of the old and the new style of
gaming. You can buy it on Good Old Games for
about $10 USD, which is cheaper than Thief and
more enjoyable than Thief as well. I think we can
all agree this is a great thing all around. |
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30th June 2014
Editorial
Eurovision: Where Music and Politics Meet
By Bogdan Barota
2014 marks the first year when the Eurovision Song
Contest is broadcast in New Zealand, joining Australia and
the USA as some of the few nations outside of the pool of
eligible competitors to do so.
Famous for giving rise to stars such as ABBA and Celine
Dion, the show is a yearly competition established in 1956
to see which nation can write the most Eurotrash song,
never quite seeming complete without a few outlandish
costumes, laughably pathetic musical entries and
embarrassingly large hair--or in short, Jedward. Despite this,
the show is known for having accommodated some big
names in the past, including Cliff Richard and Johnny Logan.
As always, all competing countries hold a public vote, which, starting this year, is averaged out with a jury
vote from each nation in order to produce an overall national ranking, after which the top 10 are awarded
between 1 and 12 points. Ultimately, the winning country receives the expensive honour of hosting the
competition the following year. Naturally, a country may not vote for itself.
This year's semi-finals were kicked off in Copenhagen before 180 million viewers in usual Eurovision fashion
with a performance from last year's winner, Danish contestant Emmelie De Forest. Backed by an ensemble of
amateur singers from all over Europe via recordings, she sang the song that earned her victory in Malmö last
year, Only Teardrops, brought back to life through the dulcet harmonies of the aforementioned backing
singers, establishing Eurovision as a spectacle of unity from the word "go".
The show was then handed off to the three Danish hosts, who tragically seemed to have less charisma
between them than your average corpse. The trio attempted a barrage of asinine jokes, coming off as very
stiff and at times, outright awkward. Mercifully, they did not have to be endured for long.
As always, the songs could be found on the internet several weeks prior to the show, giving the few who
cared enough time to get properly acquainted with each piece. The first semi-final went without a hitch, right
up until the votes were announced which allowed the beast to rear its political head. Indeed, Eurovision has
always had strong political undertones, and following Russia's recent annexation of Crimea, all eyes were on
Russia and Ukraine, both competing in the first semi-final. Ukraine's act, 21-year old Maria Yaremchuk, was
met with strong bouts of applause and encouragement, gliding straight through to the final which took place
on Saturday 10th May. However, the 17-year old Russian Tolmachevy Sisters received a cacophony of boos
upon their advancement to the final, which echoed all throughout the grand stadium in Copenhagen and
which seemed to follow them around wherever they went, given Russia's actions in Ukraine and their newly
strict anti-LGBT laws. British commentator Graham Norton reportedly expressed his sympathy for the duo,
stating "They are only seventeen," yet the Danish audience continued to show steadfast solidarity against
Russia, a sentiment which was found to be mirrored all throughout the rest of Europe as LGBT rights went on
to take centre stage.
Given the early release of each competing
song, Eurovision fans were able to pick out
their favourites long in advance. Personally, my
favourite was the Austrian entry, which could
easily have been mistaken for a James Bond
theme, a captivating power ballad entitled 'Rise
Like A Phoenix'. However, I must admit, I was
feeling very pessimistic about Austria's
chances this year, nevertheless. Therefore, you
can only imagine my surprise--in fact, Europe's
surprise--when Austria took to the stage in the
second semi-final to receive the reactions it did.
You see, the photograph to the left depicts
Conchita Wurst, the 25-year old drag queen
who represented Austria this year at
Eurovision. As the linguistically-minded among
you will have realised, "wurst" is German for
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sausage, hence Conchita is the alter-ego of Tom Neuwith, who, despite being a male, sings like Celine Dion,
and who created the bearded lady as a teenager growing up in a conservative Austrian village as a form of
release and self-expression. As his fame developed, Tom adopted Conchita as a more permanent stage
guise, explaining that the beard represents the fact that you can make it no matter who you are or what you
look like. Despite being able to sing like a diva, it turns out Conchita has balls--no pun intended. She once
took part in a reality television show where participants spend time living in the African bush alongside
Namibian tribes--not exactly renowned for their gay-friendliness--to which she showed up in full drag. Look it
up.
I digress; as I said, as much as I loved Conchita's song, public opinion towards the LGBT community in
Eastern Europe right now left me very pessimistic towards Conchita's chances, largely due to the frustrating
bigotry which still affects a large portion of the region today. As a result, I was left in awe when the entire
Danish stadium erupted for Conchita, and only Conchita. Following her performance, it is reported that betting
on Conchita at bars was shut down immediately, only to be re-opened an hour later with Conchita emerging
as the new favourite. However, we have to remember that Denmark is one of the most gay-friendly countries
on the planet, which begs the question: would she have received the same reaction had the contest been
held in Bucharest, Belgrade, Kiev or even Rome? In the weeks leading up to the competition, there had been
petitions issued by the Russian, Armenian and Belarusian governments to have Conchita removed from their
broadcast, all of which the show's organisers, the EBU, declined. Furthermore, Vitaly Milonov, the fiercely
homophobic pioneer of the Russian 'gay propaganda' bill, publicly denounced Conchita as "the pervert of
Austria", labelling Eurovision as a "hotbed of sodomy". On top of this, thousands of people went on YouTube
to voice their disgust in the comment section of Conchita's official music video, and it seems that even other
contestants felt compelled to chime in, with Armenia's Aram MP3 making some potentially homophobic
comments against Conchita, stating that her way of life is "not natural" and that he hopes his team will "help
her to eventually decide whether she is a woman or a man". He then went on to say that he speeds up his car
when passing through Yerevan's gay district.
These comments caused him to be booed during a
visit to Amsterdam, while sass queen Conchita
responded with "I guess that means he doesn't
want to marry me".
No matter; amazingly, Conchita made the finals
in the end, dramatically left as the last contestant to
be announced, causing the crowd to chant
"Austria" in the build-up of anticipation. Most heartwarming of all was Conchita's obvious gratitude,
expressed as though every individual cheer meant
the world to her. In the finals, Conchita faced even
tougher competition, going up against favourites
such as Spain, Sweden, Romania and the UK.
This, coupled with the fact that she overcame all of
the petitions and negativity from Eastern Europe,
make it all the more astonishing that Conchita went
on to win.
On the night of the final, Copenhagen became a
sea of rainbow flags as thousands of people took
this opportunity to show their support for the LGBT
community in the wake of a new icon. Most
shocking of all was that almost every country in
Europe gave Conchita a hefty number of points,
including the east, where she actually received a
full twelve points from Georgia. Ironically, in the
three nations which had filed petitions petitions
against her--Armenia, Russia and Belarus--she
came second, third and fourth in the public voting, respectively. The Lithuanian vote presenter made a rather
snarky comment towards Conchita, pulling out a razor and telling her "It's time to shave", but with Austria
coming next in the voting order, there was much enthusiasm in the Danish stadium as the Austrian vote
presenter appeared wearing a fake beard as a show of support.
Eventually Austria pulled ahead, winning with an impressive 290 points, 52 points ahead of the runner-up,
The Netherlands, giving Austria its first Eurovision win since 1966 and Conchita the fourth-highest number of
points ever recorded on Eurovision. As Conchita took to the stage again to perform her winning song, she
gave a short yet rousing speech for the gay community, proclaiming that "we are unstoppable", later directing
these words towards the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
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After the show, Conchita told reporters: "For me, my dream came true. But for society it showed me that
people want to move on, to look to the future. We said something, we made a statement". While Vitaly
Milonov later made more comments about the "moral decay of Europe", calling for Russia to boycott
Eurovision next year, Conchita received encouragement from stars Cher and Elton John. Her win sent a very
clear message that the LGBT Civil Rights movement is currently in its climax in Europe, and there is no lack
of support, even in the east, where it may not be as evident or as superficial, yet is still very much active.
While it is indeed just a singing competition, it is important to remember that it is up to 180 million viewers
across Europe today, and this year, Conchita Wurst rose like a phoenix--excuse the terrible pun--establishing
herself as a new icon for gay rights in Europe and intensifying the LGBT movement just a notch, providing a
distinguishable gay rights anthem along the way.
Although Conchita was perhaps the most unique
competitor this year with a well-deserved win,
Eurovision always provides an abundance of
quirkiness, with occasional spells of good music
interspersed throughout. Certainly, the show is
something of an acquired taste, but I would like to direct
your attention briefly to the Polish entry (to the right):
Frankly, they didn't do much singing--or much of
anything, really, besides point their breasts at the
camera while churning butter slowly and sensuously on
stage. The trouble is, the performance left many of us
wishing that they hadn't sung at all, yet the lyrics of the
piece seemed to correspond with the set: "We Slavic
girls, we know how to use our charming beauty, now
shake what your mamma gave you, clap your hands to
this music". Despite the less-than-mediocre
performance, leaving what is essentially soft-core pornography, the Polish entry came first in the UK public
voting. However, the British jury were not at all impressed, with soprano Laura Wright commenting that the
entry went "two boobs too far", ultimately causing the piece to receive no points from the UK. On the other
hand, one must admit that Eurovision really has it all: bearded drag queens and scantily-clad Slavic women in
tight clothing straddling butter churners. No wonder there are 180
million viewers.
This year's runner-up was The Common Linnets from The
Netherlands, bringing a slow and charming country duet entitled
'Calm After The Storm'. Not too far behind was Sweden's Sanna
Nielsen with her enchanting ballad 'Undo', followed by Armenia and
Hungary in 4th and 5th place. Notably, Ukraine placed 6th, just
ahead of Russia, who came 7th, despite the incessant booing
towards the unfortunate Tolmachevy Sisters.
However, while everybody was busy voting for Conchita and
nobody else, there were a few surprises. Italy had a bona fide
Roman empress on their hands with Emma Marrone (shown in the
adjacent picture), in spite of her unfavourable result, albeit the fact
that her studio version was better. This can most likely be attributed
to the active dance moves and the limited room for breath in her
powerful pop-rock piece, 'La Mia Citta', probably being the cause of
her low ranking despite the catchy tune.
Most astonishingly, however, favourites Spain, Romania and the
UK scored much lower than expected and than they deserved,
especially since the UK finally sent an act they could be proud of
with Molly Smitten-Downes, after failed attempts to rekindle their
former Eurovision glory by sending Bonnie Tyler and Engelbert
Humperdinck in the previous two years. Regardless, the three
nations came 10th, 12th and 17th respectively out of a total of 26
acts in the final, even though Romania was the runner-up in the
second semi-final behind only Austria.
While I may be somewhat biased, it would be fair to say that this year, Romania sent their best act in a long
time with Paula Seling and Ovi, who previously placed third in the 2010 final. This is despite the fact that this
year's entry, 'Miracle', may have been a tad too much on the pop side. Also, the acoustic version was better.
But other than that, still the best in years. Their live performance featured clever effects and staging, including
holograms and circular pianos, as Paula Seling showed off her vast range for the second time on the
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Eurovision stage with a goosebump-inducing series of high notes near the end of the song which would have
Mariah Carey a run for her money. Happily, the duo claim they plan to make a return next year.
Most surprisingly was the reasonably average score of former X Factor UK contestant Ruth Lorenzo, who
represented her native Spain. Submitting yet another pretty ballad, 'Dancing In The Rain', Lorenzo gave an
emotional performance, complete with wet hair, standing out due to the delicate verses which contrasted with
the sheer power of the chorus, all in all creating a truly exquisite combination. Given internet viewing figures,
this also seemed to be something of an audience favourite, making the ultimately low ranking rather curious.
Following the performances on the night of the final, as the votes were being counted, the audience was left
at the mercy of the aforementioned Danish hosts who for some reason saw it fit to present many of the
contestants with food. While the French group, Twin Twin, seemed delighted to receive a dish from their
favourite Chinese restaurant, it appears that the
highlight of the night for most people was Molly
Smitten-Downes's apparent confusion at being
presented with a curly-wurly cake from London.
The cake itself went on to become a Twitter
sensation.
At the end of the day, the Eurovision Song
Contest will always have a unique quality about it
sourced from all the different cultures that come
together once a year, something other singing
competitions will always lack. Acquired taste, so
it may be, but since many readers will not have
come across the show before, it may just be
worth investigating it. While politics has always
added its own flavour to the show, the question is, where would it really be without the infamous political
undertones? I, for one, was most delighted with the song that won this year, and I hope to see more of
Conchita in the future.
All of the performances from Eurovision can be found online. |
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