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wessexscene.co.uk 11th Ocotber 2002 - ISSUE 757 - PRICELESS
DOUBLE OR QUITS
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Halls Accomodation Crisis
Cat Brown & Jonathan Walsh
Over 500 students will be turning
up for the start of lectures this
term with the matter of where
they will be housed still hanging
in the balance. It is currently
unclear whether the blame for
this crisis lies with the
Accommodation Office or in a
fault with the Admissions process,
but the fact that there are considerably more students arriving
than rooms to put them in proves
that there has been a serious
breakdown in communication
somewhere along the line. Of the
500+ students involved in the fiasco, around 300 have been housed
in shared rooms in South
Stoneham Tower, and a further
170 have been similarly accommodated in Traditional Halls and
in Clarkson House. Another
group are, at time of writing,
being put up at Chilworth Manor
and in Bed & Breakfast accommodation around Southampton.
As bad as being displaced as
across the city may seem, there
Johnathan Walsh
www.wessexscene.co.uk
PAGE 2
Wessexscene.co.uk
SCENE
WESSEX
FRESHERS WEEK
IN PICTURES
If you’re in a picture, contact the Wessex Scene to claim a prize!
Photography by Simon Blazquez, Tim Thornton & Peter Wood
SCENE
WESSEX
Scrub my back?
Halls bathrooms are now pushed to double capacity
Accomodation crisis cont........
are students in still worse situations: up to 60 students whose study
is based in Southampton have been
housed at Erasmus Park Halls in
Winchester - 12 miles away. The
University initially promised that a
shuttle bus service would be provided between the two cities, but as
this proved unsuccessful it has now
been promised that the students
affected will receive a one-month
Blue Line bus pass to use for commuting to their place of study.
Business
Services
is
the
Department within the University
responsible for the Accommodation
Office, as well as for Catering
Services, which bring you Garden
Court and the Piazza. Business
Services’ plan was to keep South
Stoneham Tower and Traditional
Halls empty this year, as both are
run down and desperately in need of
renovation. Several of the rooms
are still being rewired, and have
obviously not been cleaned since
last term. Another problem to consider is the shared facilities: instead
of the twelve students normally
sharing two showers on a floor in
South Stoneham Tower, the number
is now twenty-four. How can
twelve students be expected to
share one shower and still make it
to lectures on time? When a student
housed in Traditional Halls was
asked to comment, she joked:
“It’s bad enough sharing a room,
but don’t even mention the washing
facilities”.
But unfortunately, this is no laughing matter. One student, arriving for
the first year of a nursing course,
received no accommodation information whatsoever prior to her
arrival in Southampton. She turned
The Wessex Scene was brought to
you by;
Editor in Chief: Kate Messer
News Editor: Nigel Massen
News Asst.: Ellie Harrison-Read
Features: Adam Charlton
Clubs & Socs: Sarah Bennett
Sport: Laura King
Edge: Tim Houghton
Edge Asst.: Rich Heap
PAGE 3
Wessexscene.co.uk
up on Monday, the registration day
for her course, with a car full of
belongings expecting a ‘single
study bedroom’ as stated in the
University prospectus.
Unfortunately for her, the single
study bedroom allocated to her that
she has paid for has been modified
to sleep two people. This has been
achieved by removing the desk in
order to fit in a second bed;
“We tried rearranging the furniture,
but soon discovered that it’s physically impossible to fit a desk in here
with both beds”.
So the room is no longer a single,
and neither of the inhabitants will
be able to study. The situation is
made worse by the fact that the students’ room-mate is a medic who
will also be working shifts,
“This is ok as a temporary measure,
but as we both do shifts, it’s only
going to get worse.”
It is unclear exactly when the decision to make students share rooms
in these Halls was taken, but it is
apparent that it was a long time
before any of the affected students
were notified. In a letter of complaint received from one parent:
“... I imagine the shock of receiving
a phone call at 2pm yesterday
[Saturday 28th October], exactly 20
hours before we expected to arrive
at the University to say that our
daughter had been allocated a
shared room in New College campus from next Friday [4th
October]?”
When asked to comment on this,
David Berry (Deputy Director of
Business Services) said:
“we should have told students sooner, perhaps as soon as we started to
order the extra beds”.
At the suggestion of issuing compensation to the students that have
Contact Us At:
[email protected]
Advertising
Vicky McManus
[email protected]
been affected by this fiasco,
Business services admit:
“We’re not going to give out compensation, it’ll only put Hall fees up
next year”.
Surely the University should be
paying for its own mistakes, and not
passing the burden on to students
who have not even applied to come
here yet.
By Monday 7th, it was known how
many students would not be turning
up for the start of the semester, and
therefore how many empty rooms
there will be. The order of priority
in which students will be moved
into these rooms is:
1) Students currently housed in
Chilworth Manor - a luxurious hotel
-presumably because this is costing
Business Services a great deal of
money. As David Berry put it:
“The first thing we need to do is get
people a place in Halls. The second
thing is to get them a single place in
Halls”.
2) Students in shared accommodation, starting with those needing to
be moved for medical/welfare reasons, then those in South Stoneham
Tower and Traditional Halls. Those
in Clarkson House will be left until
last, as “the facilities are better
there”.
3) Students in Winchester and in
lodgings (mainly insurance choice
students).
The exact cause of the dramatic rise
in student numbers is unknown, but
it
seems
likely
that
the
Government’s removal of the cap
on numbers of students that
Faculties are allowed to admit may
be at the root of the problem. With
over 500 students being admitted to
the University through clearing this
year - the average being 100 in previous years - it is perhaps unfair to
place sole blame on the
Accommodation Office for the current situation. With the Government
planning to increase university participation to 50% of the population,
the situation is only likely to deteriorate in the coming years. The
Students’ Union has been chasing
Business Services and the
Admissions Office for answers but
we, like the students involved, were
only informed of the problem in the
days leading up to Freshers’ Week.
As soon as the immediate accommodation crisis has been resolved
we will be making all efforts to
investigate the reasons behind what
has happened to prevent the same
thing happening in future years.
The Student’s Union would like to
extend its gratitude to the JCRs and
the Halls staff for working as hard
as they have in the circumstances.
The views expressed are
those of the authors and
not necessarily those of
Southampton University
Students Union (SUSU)
PAGE 4
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WESSEX
Wessexscene.co.uk
Freshers’ Faces
Ellie Harrison-Read
Name:
Javier Clemente
Name:
Lydia Palmer
Name:
Eleni Pappa
Name:
Catherine Loh
Age: 23
Age: 18
Age: 25
Age: 18
From: Spain
From: Bromley
From:Athens, Greece
From: Malaysia
Course:
Acoustics at ISVR (Institute of Sound
and Vision Research)
Course:
Occupational Therapy
Course:
Post-graduate information systems
Course:
Maths with Actuarial Science
Qu: Halls - communal paradise or communal purgatory?
Qu: What is the most desirable item on
sale in the Union shop and why?
Qu: Which chat-up line have you heard
the most since coming to the
University?
Ans: I was offered an ERASMUS studentship and I’d heard that ISVR is
the best place in Europe for studying
acoustics in Europe. So as you can
imagine, I jumped at the chance.
Ans: Paradise, definitely. Mine is
really nice and I’m getting on well
with everyone. No one’s stolen any of
my food - yet.
Ans: I’d have to say muffins - the big,
double chocolate ones.
Name:
Kiwi Fu
Name:
Craig Bryant
Name: Sebastien
Daruty
Age: 18
Age: 18
Age: 20
From: China
From:
Portsmouth
From: Mauritius
Qu: Why did you choose Southampton?
Course:
Management
Qu: Which event are you most looking
forward to in Fresher’s week?
Ans: I’ve heard that there is a huge
fair on the 4th of October with loads
of freebies. I’m really looking forward to the pizza - its my favourite
food, I love it!
Ans: Well, it wasn’t directed at me,
but I heard a guy asking a girl if she
had a ladder in her tights or was it a
stairway to heaven. I thought that
was classic considering she was wearing trousers.
Name:
Charu Sharma
Age: 20
Course: Maths and Finance
Qu: How do you rate the Southampton
totty?
Ans: I’ve just got here but I’m sure
it’s all good. Nicer than what I saw on
the train on the way up anyway.
From: India
Qu: Which stereotype about Freshers do
you plan to either live up to or disprove?
Ans: Well, I’m certainly planning on
getting very drunk at some point. I’m
also doing the ‘friendly fresher’ thing,
so hopefully I’ll have some good
mates to carry me home if I get paralytic.
Ans: The degree, without a doubt. I
can party all I want in India, but my
resources have been put into this
degree and that’s what I’m here for.
With the effort I’m putting in, I
expect first class!
Name:
Annie Baskaville
Age: 19
From: Lee-on-Sea
Course:
Medicine
Qu: Are you prepared to let the rest of
the student population know if you’ve
pulled any of your flat-mates?
Ans: Oh go on then, but I’ve been terrible. I’m the only girl out of a group
of six and I’ve already had four of
them! The fifth one is - how shall I
put it - a bit of a geek. I think I’ll
manage to restrain myself.
Course:
MA English
Qu: In a choice between a first class
degree and a first class social life,
which one comes out on top?
Do you hail from afar? Got a pic of
yourself and a brief bio? Send it in, go
on, you’ll be famous!
SCENE
WESSEX
PAGE 5
Wessexscene.co.uk
GIRLFRIEND
FROM HELL
Beryl’s
photo casebook
no. 2
Through the frosted pint glass
Your essential guide to the stars
Holly Boulton & Laura McKinnon
Taurus
They may be playing
‘Like a Virgin’ on the dance floor
but that’s certainly not how you’re
feeling this month. Remember - if
you can’t be good, be careful, you
horny thang.
Sagittarius
You are at a crossroads my
friend. Make sure to look both ways
and remember - it’s always best to
take the road with the most pubs on
it.
Pisces
You may be feeling like a
fish out of water but keep
swimming. You’ll find your depth
(we recommend pint size depths for
starters).
Aries
To all the Aries freshers out
there - STOP walking around campus in groups of 20+. It’s not cool.
It’s not hard. Pack it in.
Capricorn
Lets go for the mature
approach this month Capricorns
and try to remember their names on
the night before that awkward next
morning encounter.
Libra
Take your parents advice
and keep a balanced diet.
Make sure to balance that pint to
shot ratio out correctly.
Got a
problem?
Dear Beryl,
Dear Simon,
I’ve been going out with my girlfriend since our first year in halls
and we’ve always got on really
well. Recently she’s started to
behave a little eratically - she
shouts out in public places, often
using really offensive swearwords
and blashphemy. I’m too scared to
take her anywhere, I definitely
can’t introduce her to my parents.
What can I do Beryl? How can I
make her behave more... appropriately. It’s only a matter of time
before she’s arrested or gets in a
fight, this has gone too far. I can’t
take any more profanity from the
girl I love - she’s turning into a
nutter.
Cor blimey guvnor, swears like a
trooper does she? Got a mouth like
a sewer load of shh, err, rudeness?
Filthy cow! I never like to make a
diagnosis from one letter and a few
pictures but it looks like your
sweetheart is suffering from
Tourette’s Syndrome, it’s a combined vocal and multiple motor tic
disorder - obvious really. Anyway,
take her along to a friendly psychologist or seek the advice of her
GP. Alternatively dump her in
favour of someone with better
manners, a faster car, more cash,
bigger tits and better legs. Go look
for a girl with the voice of an
angel, Charlotte Church maybe.
Did I mention I’m single...
Beryl
Simon
Something you’d rather no one
knew about? An embarrassing
secret? A dirty disease? A crush on a
family member? Or maybe you just
need some relationship advice from
a friendly voice. E-mail Beryl,
Southampton’s very own student
agony aunt.
The Worlds Number 1 Mature
Student Agony Aunt
e-mail:
[email protected]
Cancer
To all the smokers: you
might be away from home, your
parents might not know that you
smoke but try to contain that smoking habit else your star sign’s name
might get the better of you...
Gemini
Earth is full. Go home.
Leo
You know what you
should be doing; working budgeting etc. SHOVE IT. You’re a Leo go party.
Aquarius
If that minger at the end of
the corridor starts to look vaguely
human, STOP - Step away from the
alcohol.
Virgo
Your creative side may be
buzzing but be careful;
there’s a fine line between ‘alternative’ and ‘fancy dress’.
Scorpio
Have no fear. Unless you’re
ginger (in which case, get yourself
down to Boots and acquaint yourself with Wella Chestnut Brown).
PAGE 6
Wessexscene.co.uk
CRIME CAPERS
IN AND AROUND THE PORTSWOOD GHETTO
Nigel Massen
BURGLARY
The last two weeks have seen an
alarming wave of crime in
Portswood suggesting that local
burglars are tuned-in to the academic calendar. On the evening of
Monday 30th a student house in
Alma Road was broken into via
the front door. Unfortunately not
one of the seven 2nd year boys
from the house was in to scare the
thieves away and they made off
with a haul including a laptop,
DVD player, minidisc player,
clothes and a watch. Police took
details and offered advice on
crime prevention.
They were lucky it seems, further
down Alma Road on the following
evening Samantha was home alone.
Thankfully she had bumped into
one of her recently burgled neighbours and was on her guard. At
01:30 she heard someone on the
front path of her house and looked
out of the window to see a man in
his 20’s with a screwdriver. She
shouted, “can I help you”. He
offered a lame excuse asking for
directions and then moved off.
Whilst he was still to be seen loitering up the road Samantha called the
police, explained that she was
alone, got her crime reference number and waited for some assisstance
- none came; the police never turned
up.
SUSU
OVER
PRESIDENT
DONE
Cowardly thieves have struck at the
heart of the Students’ Union, relieving the President, Tim Rowlandson,
of his laptop computer. A broken
window is the only evidence of
what possibly could be an inside
job; either that or a very lucky
tealeaf was just passing by. Anyone
know whodunit? Answers on a
postcard to the Wessex Scene.
CLOWNING AROUND
The following day our brave heroine had the good fortune to spot an
officer of the law in Alma Road, she
recounted the events of the previous
night. Even though he was the beat
officer for the area he was oblivious
to both the attempted burglary and
the previous night’s successful
break-in. His response suggested
there was little the police could do
and that student’s houses always get
burgled in freshers’ week.
The popular student drinking den
Clowns was the victim of a break-in
last week. Rumour has it that a
video and some booze were stolen,
however, the manager of Clowns
refused to discuss the matter with
our reporter even after she waited
for half an hour to see him! I hope
he doesn’t think we done it. A more
likely source of hostility is due to
the Union withdrawing Athletic
Union nights from said drinking
establishment.
STUDENTS TERRORISED
Accomodation problems were soon
forgotten by freshers’ celebrating
their first Friday night in
Southampton at Stoneham Bar.
Three baseball bat weilding locals
smashed windows and shouted
abuse as students looked on in terror. Sadly this is all we have come
to expect from the more pikey contingent of the Flowers Estate, an
area which increasingly resembles a
warzone, largely ignored by the
police and closed off to all but
armed militia.
NO MOOT POINT
Ellie Harrison-Read
If you don’t know your statutes
from your soap operas and you
think the Judiciary is a type of
soft drink, then it may be that
mooting is an activity that you’re
not overly familiar with. But
thanks to two very gifted students
from Southampton’s faculty of
law this could all change, as the
art of mooting looks set to do for
the University what curling did
for the Olympic team.
For the sake of those who require
further explanation as to what it
means ‘to moot’- and lets hope
there are no law students among
you - the term refers to the staging
of a hypothetical legal case for the
sake of developing skills key to the
court room. Jodie Mittell and Ellie
Fargin, both studying second year
law, used the public speaking skills
garnered from internal mooting
contests held annually at the
University to take on competitors at
a national level. The event, fronted
by The English Speaking Union, is
a knock-out competition of four
rounds taking place over seven
months, in which Universities from
across the country battle it out for
the title of mooting champions.
The final took place at the Royal
Courts of Justice in The Strand, in
front of a packed public gallery and
an impressive bench that included
Lord Steyn and Nicholas Roberts
QC. Despite daunting conditions
and an inarguably well-fought
attack
from
Sheffield,
the
Southampton duo stormed to victo-
ry, winning the moot with a performance worthy of national
acclaim.
As well as the prestigious title of
champions, Jodie and Ellie were
also awarded the coveted sterling
silver Observer Mace as well as
£1000 each of prize money and a
further £1000 to the University’s
Law faculty. Southampton will
retain the mace, and the honour,
until next years’ finals where they
will also be given the role of competition adjudicators.
The triumph is a huge achievement
for the girls and the department of
law, proving as it does that out of
the sixty-four universities taking
part, none could out-moot the
Southampton team. The girls have
claimed to be ‘ecstatic’ with the
win, which has proved them to be
less of a law unto themselves as in a
league of their own when it comes
to arguing their case.
SCENE
WESSEX
WESSEX SCENE
ROMPS HOME
Ellie Harrison-Read
It could be said that it’s about
time the Wessex Scene won something. And it looks as though the
time may be upon us for the
efforts of last year’s Editor in
Chief, the delectable Pete Wood,
and Joel ‘The Webmaster’
Stobart, to be duly awarded. The
Student’s Union has received the
exiting news that Wessex Scene
online has been nominated for the
prestigious Guardian Student
Media Awards and NUS/
Independent Student media
awards in the media website categories.
Vindication of the site’s success
comes in the number of hits that it
has received in its first year - a cool
2 million is the latest figure.
A-BROAD EDUCATION
Stephan Malessa
Wednesday saw the University
awash with Freshers like every
other day at the start of term, but
these new students were contending with more than just a new city
and some unfamiliar faces. The
middle of Freshers’ week was
designated International
Students Welcome Day, meaning
that the Highfield Campus
played host to students from all
over the world as they took part
in a programme of events
designed to introduce them to
both Southampton and to Britain
in general.
The Vice-Chancellor of the
University, Bill Wakeham, gave an
emphatic welcoming speech to a
packed lecture theatre, introducing
the unsuspecting students to what
might be termed as the eccentric
British sense of humour
“Especially for the overseas students this might be a bizarre culture. Experience the British education!” They got further introduction
from Clare Best - International students’ advisor, and from the
Students’ Union President, Tim
Rowlandson. “You get out of the
University what you put into it”,
was his wisely offered advice. But
before the international students
were able to get something out of
the University, they needed to be
shown around it, which they were
thanks to the help of guides from
the Students’ Union.
Students were happy to share their
opinions on how the event went,
“It’s a nice day and a good idea for
introducing us. But much of the
information they provided I already
knew”, said Martin Chocron an
MBA from Argentina. Emanuele
Braco from Italy had his own view
on the day: “This is a good chance
to get to know people. And that is
the aim of this day, isn’t it?” The
students had their pockets stuffed
with information and advertisements for freshers’ week, the freshers’ fayre and much more, as well
as their heads loaded with information about accommodation, opportunities for working, health issues
and learning, provided by the staff
of the University and the Students
Union. Besides that, they got to
learn more of the famous names,
cities, and facts and figures about
Britain as they took part in a tea
quiz in the marquee. “It’s good to
communicate with people from all
over the world”, said Zhou Xin, an
economy student from China,
whilst his friend Shen Qings added:
“It is all easier then I thought it
would be.” Thilo Koch and Jost
Grünwald, both engineering students from Germany, were
impressed by the care that staff
from the University had put into the
day: “They take you by the hand
here. At my home university they
are not so friendly, polite and
relaxed.”
My opinion of the day matches
their sentiment. I would like to
thank the Student’s Union and
members of the University staff for
conducting a truly successful welcome for the international students.
My only criticism is that I would
like to see more integration
between
the
British
and
International contingents of the
University. As Bill Wakeham said,
they are here to learn something
about the British culture, and perfecting a true blend of cultures
would create the perfect opportunity for this.
Letters to the Editor, A Right to reply
Dear Editor,
A big pat on the back for running
such a detailed and witty lead story
on the Union Refurbishment
(“FAN-TASTIC”) - without a doubt
the biggest change to the Union in
a long time...
.......I’m looking forward to enjoying my retirement, slumped in a
chair in the “pipe-smoking atmos-
phere” of ‘The Bridge’...albeit with
a cigar!
Stephen Edwards
Union President 2001-2002
Letters may be edited for clarity
and to address the pressing needs of
limited space. To read Stephen’s letter in full, and other stories, log on
to:
www.wessexscene.co.uk
SCENE
WESSEX
PAGE 7
Wessexscene.co.uk
Autumnal
Treats at The
Mayflower!
English National Ballet will be
returning to The Mayflower in the
Autumn with a stunning Triple Bill
(12 & 13 November) and a brand
new production of The Nutcracker
(14 - 16 November).
With only two performances the
Triple Bill (12 & 13 November) and
five
performances
of
The
Nutcracker (14 - 16 November)
seats are likely to go quickly.
Wessex Scene can offer lucky readers the chance to get their hands on
two pairs of tickets simply by
answering the following question..
Which famous composer
wrote The Nutcracker?
Box office details:
The Mayflower,
Commercial Road, Southampton,
SO15 1GE
Ticket enquiries:
023 8071 1811
[email protected] or
www.themayflower.com
Action packed and bursting with
adventure The Scorpion King promises to take you on a voyage full of
conflict, vengeance and destiny. Set
over 5000 thousand years ago in
5 Cases of Kingfisher Larger Up for Grabs
On Tuesday 22nd October 2002 the
Kingfisher Curry Bus will pull up in
Southampton as part of the fun
filled action packed week, which
aims to promote Indian Cuisine and
to raise money for the international
charity, Action Against Hunger.
The public will see the red, distinctly
branded
double-decker
Kingfisher Curry Bus touring the
city during the day before stopping
at P.O.S.H. (Port Out Starboard
Home), 1 Queensway, Southampton
ñ an Indian Colonial style
Restaurant. The proprietor and his
staff will be pulling out all the stops
to prepare sumptuous specialities
for customers that evening and for
the remainder of the week.
Be sure that you come and join in
the fun and enjoy a truly ethnic
meal at P.O.S.H on Tuesday 22nd
October 2002. Plus a hamper of
Kingfisher and other prizes are up
for grabs. But remember to book
well in advance!
For further information log onto
www.kingfisherworldcurryweek.co
m.
To win 1 of the 5 cases of
Kingfisher Lager you must be over
18 and need to answer the following
question:
What date will the
Kingfisher Curry Bus
arrive in Southampton?
ancient times the epic tale of The
Scorpion King sees The Rock star
as the assassin Mathayus who dares
to challenge the wicked Memnon,
Steven Brand (Casualty). Enjoy the
thrilling combination of an exhilarating plot, daring action sequences
and an adventure to rival all others.
It is this which makes The Scorpion
What deadly sport is The
Rock better known for?
LA LUPA
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†
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• Pizza • Pasta • Theme Nights
• Fully Air Conditioned
Every Thursday – LIVE MUSIC
Every Friday – Our Resident MAGICIAN
Students favourite Meet, Greet and Eat venue
in Southampton
La Lupa boasts the only open Pizza Oven in Southampton
providing succulent pizzas cooked in the traditional Italian style
A N Y PA S TA o r
PIZZA only £ 5
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Email all competition answers to
[email protected]
King such a hit, and Wessex Scene
just happen to have a copy to give
away! To win, simply answer the
following question...
valid NUS Card
BOOK NOW ON 023
8033 1849
123-124 HIGH STREET SOUTHAMPTON SO14 2AA
FAX: 023 8022 3400 www.lalupa.co.uk
† As voted by Daily Echo readers Night & Day Awards
PAGE 8
Wessexscene.co.uk
SCENE
WESSEX
S Legalise?
WX
Forward your responses to WSX@wesThe central theme for this issue
revolves around the topic of drugs.
Included are various articles, not all
negative towards drug use in their
content, which hopefully will raise
awareness of this important issue.
Devil’s Advocate asks whether
drugs should be used recreationally
Andy Farmer looks at the effects of
drug-taking. Driving Ambition is
not included this issue, but rest
assured, it will return in the near
future.
Other articles featured look at the
increasing problems of drug-rape
and preventative methods that can
be taken, as well as a special report
on studying for a degree whilst coping with a disability.
Remember to contact me if you
want to be part of the WsX team.
Enjoy the articles.
Adam Charlton.
Ian Joyner
Britain has some of the strictest
drug laws in Europe, yet suffers
with one of the highest drug
addiction rates, so it appears the
current laws are falling short of
reducing the drugs problem.
Leaders:
Should heroin be legalised in this
country?
Drug Rape:
Catherine Jones looks at the fastest
growing crime against women and
the difficulties convicting those
responsible.
Regulars:
Devil’s Advocate:
Should illegal drugs be used recreationally?
Special Report:
Home Secretary David Blunkett
recently downgraded cannabis possession to a non-arrestable offence,
giving weight to the arguments of
some of the more radical backbenchers that all drugs
should be legalised.
The idea that heroin could be
legalised is not simply based on the
principle that people should be able
to do what they want to their own
bodies, a principle that is used by
many who advocate freedom to use
drugs recreationally.
Prohibition forces heroin users to
seek their fix from black market
sources, often supplying impure
and unsafe forms of the drug. Users
invariably turn to crime to fund
their habit and pay black market
prices for the drug. If heroin were
prescribed legally to users under a
policed and inspected system, many
believe that drug-linked crime
would be reduced, and the dealers
forced off the streets with no
demand for their illegal supplies of
the drug.
The issue of legalising any drug is
made all the more difficult by the
sheer number of different types of
drug in use today. Schemes such as
the licensing of heroin could not
necessarily be applied to other,
more recreational, drugs as users
have different motivations for using
and different levels of addiction.
However, even to consider part-legalisation
as a possibility, along
with the realisation that
prohibition has not
worked, is a step in the
right direction to make
the use of drugs safer
and reduce the amount
of crime linked to
drugs.
At a recent conference
organised by the North
Wales
Drug
and
Alcohol forum, a senior
police chief was outspoken in his belief that
heroin should be sold
under licence in attempt
to reduce drug-linked
crime.
Epilepsy: Dealing with disabilities
whist at university.
DRUG RAPE
Catherine Jones
‘ROHYPNOL’- a name that is
becoming all too well known, and
for all the wrong reasons. Its use
has been widely documented
because of its links with attacks
known as ‘drug rape.’ Rohypnol (or
Roofies) is a tranquilliser which
causes sedation, muscle relaxation,
the slowing of responses and amnesia. Used as a ‘date rape drug’ it is
frighteningly effective. Sedation
kicks in approximately 30 minutes
after it is taken and lasts several
hours. The victim is rendered powerless against attack, and its amnesia producing effect leaves the victim confused as to what has happened.
It is due to the victim’s lack of
memory that it is estimated only 1015% of attacks are reported to the
police. Despite such a small number of attacks being reported, chari-
ties set up to help victims ‘The Drug
Rape Trust’ and ‘The Roofie
Foundation’ take thousands of calls
every year.
Although Rohypnol
is perhaps the most
well known rape
drug, there are many
other drugs circulating the pubbing and
clubbing scene. The
most common is
scarily the most easy
to get hold of, and
often willingly consumed - alcohol.
The most commonly
used chemical is
GHB
(Gamma
Hydroxy Butyrate).
This is a colourless,
odourless liquid, and
is undetectable. Like Rohypnol,
GHB will immobilise victims and
leave them helpless long enough for
an attack to take place.
Drug rape is the fastest growing
crime against women, with twice as
many calls to The Drug Rape Trust
University Campus, the use of rape
drugs is increasingly common.
PREVENTION IS BETTER
THAN CURE
This
may
be
advice
you’ve
heard dozens of
times before. But,
reading it once
more might just
stop you or one of
your
friends
becoming a victim.
- Never, ever
accept drinks from
a stranger. You
have no way of
telling what is in
there.
in 2001 than 2000. Unfortunately
very few cases lead to conviction.
In places with a large number of
pubs and clubs, or a large
- Don’t leave your
drinks unattended, even to go for a
quick dance.
- Watch out for your friends, and
avoid going to pubs or clubs alone.
- Remember that drugs can be
slipped into soft drinks and tea or
coffee as well as alcohol.
- Think very carefully about who
you leave a night out with - are you
sure that you can trust them?
- If you think that you have been
drugged tell someone in authority
immediately.
- Don’t trust a stranger acting like a
good Samaritan - you don’t know
what their motives may be. Phone
your parents or a partner and ask
them to come and get you.
Contact Details:
The Drug Rape Trust
Tel: 01702 317695
www.drugrapetrust.org
The Roofie Foundation
Tel: 0800 7832980
www.roofie.org.uk
SCENE
WESSEX
Wessexscene.co.uk
The Kids Are Alright... Until Now
11th October 2002
TA
G
IN
K
ES
IN
RT
BE
LI
photo - Rich Heap
The Libertines... Hell Is For Heroes... Max Tundra... Hem... Barry White
11th October 2002
GIG LISTINGS
Tues 15th Oct - The Beatings (&
Kinesis) @ Joiners
Fri 18th Oct - Beth Orton @
Guildhall
Bore yourself into a coma at great
expense.
Sat 19th Oct - Martin Grech @
Joiners
Sun 20th Oct - Goldrush @ Joiners
Mon 21st Oct - Hoggboy @ Joiners
Tues 22nd Oct - Shed Seven @
Jumpin Jaks
Shed Seven? In a converted barn?
Ha ha ha.
Weds 23rd Oct - Whigfield @
Jumpin Jaks
Listen to Saturday Night again. It's
staggeringly sh*t.
Thurs 24th Oct - Supergrass @
Guildhall
Fri 25th Oct - Ian Van Dahl @ Ikon
Ian Van Dahl? Ikon? Ha ha ha.
Mon 28th Oct - British Sea Power
@ Joiners
Weds 30th Oct - Hundred Reasons
@ Guildhall
Thurs 31st Oct - Queens Of The
Stone Age @ Guildhall
The MOST EXCITING thing happening in Southampton this year.
Sat 2nd Nov - Kids Near Water @
Joiners
THE EDGE
TEAM
Editor: Tim Houghton
Assistant Editor: Rich Heap
Film: Nina Dubravec
With: Alex Mattinson, Rob
Barbour, Katherine Butler,
The Edge
S.U.S.U
Highfield
Southampton
S017 1BJ
tel: 023 805955230
fax: 023 80595252
e-mail: [email protected]
PA G E 2
Welcome to...
THE NEWS...
The
EDGE
with EDGE 3am Girl, Rich Heap TOP
20
MASSIVE ATTACK have added
to the campaign against the potential war on Iraq by joining
September 28th's march through
London. "We have to do everything
we can to stop this going ahead,"
said 3-D in an attempt to stop
George W. Bush from bombing the
crap out of Saddam Hussein. Bald
electronic
ad
music-monger
MOBY is also said to be 'uncomfortable' with the prospect of war,
suggesting that it may only be so
that the U.S. can get their hands on
Middle Eastern oil reserves. What
an incredibly cynical man. After all,
we all know that America would
never do something liked that.
Don't we?
GAY RIGHTS CAMPAIGNERS
from the group Outrage!, staged a
small protest outside the MOBO
awards ceremony against the presence of CAPELTON, TOK and
ELEPHANT MAN who have
gained notoriety for lyrics which
advocate the shooting and burning
of homosexuals. "We should stand
together united against all forms of
discrimination," say Outrage leader
Peter Tatchell. Inside, meanwhile,
MS. DYNAMITE followed up her
Mercury win with three awards
(UK Act Of The Year, Best Single and
Best Newcomer), while Alicia Keys
and Ashanti also picked up prizes.
Two posthumous awards were
given to Aaliyah (Best Video) and
Lisa 'Left-Eye' Lopes (Outstanding
Achievement).
MISSY ELLIOTT and ALICIA
KEYS are playing concerts in
Seattle and Cape Town to mark
World AIDS Day. On November
7th Missy will play (with Dave
Stewart and others) at the Seattle
Experience Music Project, and then
Alicia Keys will play at the Cape
Town Greenpoint Stadium on
November 23rd. Both will be
shown on MTV on World AIDS Day
(December 1st).
COURTNEY LOVE has reached
an agreement with Universal, which
leaves the way open for a Nirvana
greatest hits album. Now I don't
want to go into the boring legal
details but what with this and the
recent
release
of
KURT
COBAIN's journals, it all seems
like an attempt to exploit the moderately sick cultish following which
has grown up over the last 8 years.
Presumably any diehard fans will
have the albums, but it's still
released on October 28h.
BARRY WHITE has undergone
kidney dialysis, with high blood
pressure being blamed for his
decline in kidney function.
According to Island Def Jam, "Once
stabilised, he will be a candidate for
a kidney transplant." The 58 year
old mountainous lurve beast has
sold over 100 million albums during
a career which spans 30 years. He
has been admitted to hospital with
hypertension twice before (in '95
and '98), presumably from the
excitement of listening to his luxurious chocolate-coated aural
pornography.
IDLEWILD have confirmed that
bassist Bob Fairfoull is out of the
band, though luckily there are no
signs that they’ll be splitting up.
ALIEN ANT FARM have had a
bus crash and are, apparently, struggling to play guitar... no change there
then. Other good news is that
PHIL COLLINS has quit touring
forever and that HEAR'SAY have
'had enough' after two years.
According to Shrek they were
"travelling three hours to a roadshow only to get booed” which is,
by all accounts, unsurprising. Oh,
and professional tosser ROBBIE
WILLIAMS has signed a deal
worth £80 million, the biggest in
UK history, quite a coup considering his last three albums have been
self-indulgent ego masturbatory
rubbish.
Famous Peoples
Name Anagrams
1. Stolen Caravans
(Vanessa Carlton)
2. Neon Islamabad
(Osama Bin Laden)
3. Thick Mob Avarice
(Victoria Beckham)
4. Lager While Ill
(Geri Halliwell)
5. Midas Sunshade
(Saddam Hussein)
6. Brutal NYC Knob
(Tony Blackburn)
7. Guerrilla
(Uri Gellar)
8. Geriatric Anus Hail
(Christina Aguilera)
9. Iraq Geniuses Lie
(Enrique Iglesias)
the edge wants you!
10. Koreans Govern Sins
Free CDs! Free entry to gigs! Meeting the stars!
(Avril Lavigne)
Working for The EDGE may sound like an unattainable and glamorous lifestyle, but it’s not (unattainable, that is...). If you’ve got opinions on music or films and want to write, or want to go along to
gigs and take photos, then you’re exactly who we’re looking for. Whether you’ve just arrived or
wrote for us last year, e-mail us on...
[email protected]
...and we’ll chuck some CDs your way. But if that’s not enough then it will also
(1) make you more attractive to the opposite sex and (2) look great on your CV
(Sven Goran-Eriksson)
11. Imagined Union
(Dannii Minogue)
12. Vaginal Liver
13. Pakistan Melon Mortar
(Tara Palmer-Tomkinson)
14. Alchemic Gore
(Michael Greco)
15. Chloric Signal
(Craig Nicholls)
16. Back In Tour
(Kurt Cobain)
17. Screwy Diehard
(Richey Edwards)
18. Harlem Halts Arms
(Marshall Mathers)
19. Presbyterians
(Britney Spears)
20. Grim Chanter
(Martin Grech)
11th October 2002
albums
JJ72
I To Sky
(Lakota)
THE DATSUNS
The Datsuns
(V2 Music)
The Lord works in mysterious ways
and, on this record, it becomes perfectly obvious why He degined not
to deliver a pair of testicles to Mark
Greaney’s parents’ Irish home as his
shrill hamster-like helium-induced
vocals juxtapose perfectly with
darker musical backing. It is a combination that captures those rare
atmospherics that most indie
bands, including Coldplay, have failed
to render. The fact is that, even
without Greaney’s idiosyncratic
vocals, this would still be a good
album, yet he makes it a prospect
different from anything else. On
Serpent Sky and the single Formulae
everything fits together in Muse-like
contrast (except without the 12
minute classical piano solos), whilst
on the other hand Sinking is the
perfect example of a moody slow
burner, while Seventh Wave builds
up slowly to its uncontrollable conclusion.This is a great album with an
all-consuming majesty that should,
partially at least, restore some faith
in Irish music after Ronan and co.
Bring your daughter to the slaughter because the offspring of AC/DC
are marching over the horizon with
air guitars and comedy wigs
because, ladies and gentlemen, hair
metal is back in the form of The
Datsuns, an album so unashamedly
retro it hurts. It’s not new and it’s
not clever but it rocks, as the second track would suggest, like an MF
From Hell. On viagra. In the back of
a pimp’s suspension-less car. This is
big, dumb Kiwi stadium rock, with
all the extended stadium-sized electric guitar riffs you could possibly
hope for as part of this shallow,
hedonistic experience, and though
it won’t be pushing back boundaries, it couldn’t do what it does
much better. In Love (with backing
vocals from The Von Bondies’ girls)
is the obvious choice for the single,
and Freeze Sucker and Sittin’ Pretty
are both comedy mock rock at
their finest. Dude, you’ll not find a
better reason to get speakers that
go up to 11.
9/10
RH
LITTLE HELL
Demonic Advisory Centre
(Double Dragon Music)
“Don’t touch the monkeys, they got
diseases .. “ starts Hemotoxic.
What? How good is this album? It’s
a few blokes and a girl, but it doesn’t sound like The Bellrays or No
Doubt, and played in a smoky bedroom after a heavy night it sounds
cool as f*ck. Little Hell are a garagerockesque kick up the arse, with
the most uplifting use of “It’s getting
worse” as a hook that I’ve ever
heard.The lyrics are mildly insane
( “I will sock it to you – destruction
of tissue”) and this album gets
steadily better on each listen. It’s
exciting and spunky and, ooh, it
makes me all happy inside! This
debut brims with genuine passion
and rock ‘n’ roll energy, and the
most infectious hooks this side of
the leper’s fishing club. On Music
Masochists, Little Hell sing that they
are “sick of music, of corporate
sounds, of all the boy bands and girl
groups .. I hate this business, so full
of sh**e”. They’re doing this cos
they care, maan. Listen to them. and
to do that you’re going to have to
go and buy the album, so do it.
9/10
RB
BUY THIS. Or Else!
THE BOGGS
We Are The Boggs We Are
(Rykodisc)
July of this year saw the death
of author, historian and musicologist Alan Lomax. During his lifetime Lomax recorded such massively influential and important
figures as Leadbelly,Woody
Guthrie, Son House and Blind
Willie McTell. It is in no small
part due to Lomax that American
folk music enjoys the renaissance
that it is doing today.
The Boggs are part of that tradition, and with the release of
this, their debut album recorded
and mixed in just two days, they
haul the blues kicking and
screaming back in front of yet
another new generation. Singer
and guitarist Jason Friedman
penned all the tracks himself,
including the rollicking opener,
‘Whiskey and Rye’, a classic ode to
the hardship of agricultural life in
the deep south (despite The Boggs
originating from New York City).
The tempo slows slightly for the
next track two tracks ‘How Long’,
and ‘On the North Wood Ground’
which deal with familiar blues
themes such as encounters with
the devil and digging the grave of a
dead girlfriend.The combination of
upbeat versus sets the pattern for
the remaining tracks.
One of the most impressive
things about the record is the
recording technique, which manages to perfectly capture the feel
of those early blues records
recorded by Lomax and his contemporaries - The Boggs have
taken the brave but logical step of
recording the entire album in
mono.
The 20 track album is punctuated throughout by occasional
untitled instrumentals which
show off the vintage guitar picking of Friedman, or, as in the case
of track 11, the accordian playing
of fellow Bogg, Ezekial Healy.The
highlights come, however, when
banjo, traps, harmonica, washboard guitar and gravelly vocals
combine to stunning effect on
‘Poor Audrey James’, and when
on the final song, ‘Pauline,
Pauline’, Friedman closes out the
album with a pining ode to a distant lover.The stark combination
of guitar and vocals makes for a
truly chilling finish.
the combination of Alan Sparhawk
and Mimi Parker’s twin vocals,
excellently showcased on the likes
of the atypically upbeat ‘Canada’
and the interminably dark song
‘The Lamb’. If you were to only buy
one Low album, then I would probably recommend ‘Secret Name’ or
‘Long Division’ over ‘Trust’, but
then, if you were to only buy one
Low album, then this really isn’t the
band for you anyway. The sheer
brilliance of their songs is truly a
force to be reckoned with, especially in this sadly fickle age of twoa-penny retro guitar bands.
though, Queens also has her other
band, Lo Hi, to concentrate on.
Here the gender roles are reversed,
with Martin Owens of Speedball
Baby taking on the role of skin-hitter, while Queens wrestles with the
mic and guitar.
Say It More is actually Lo Hi’s second album, and with the addition of
Jens Jurgenson on guitar and Justin
Holub on bass it signals a move
away from the sparser rhythm and
blues of their debut ‘Kind of Feel
Like A Good Thing’ towards a fuller
garage-rock sound. In fact, if you
were to find Lo-Hi jamming in a
suburban garage you’d probably
also find that the rest of the street
had moved out and the houseprices had taken a nose-dive, which
is surely as accurate an indicator of
a good band as any other.
OK, so unless you’ve never experienced the joys of rock and roll
record before this is unlikely to be
a life-changing experience, but it’s a
fine record nonetheless.
9/10
TH
8/10
RH
NIGHTMARES ON WAX
Mind Elevation
(Warp)
My first introduction to the world
of George Evelyn’s Nightmares on
Wax came on a distinctly wet
evening, way back at Glastonbury
1997. Not being particularly
impressed (although it has to be
said that my taste in music back in
those days now seems vaguely
embarrassing) I promptly forgot all
about them until a year or two later
when I bought myself the triple
vinyl Warp compilation, “We Are
Reasonable People”, which features
the wonderfully infectious NOW
tune “Fishtail Parker”. Becoming
something of a Warp records
addict, I eventually got around to
investing in Evelyn’s second album,
“Smokers Delight”. Unfortunately,
this is probably the worst Warp
release I have ever heard, a CD of
endlessly repeating drug (and dub)
induced loops, with that most dangerous of offenders, the aimless
noodle, occasionally scribbled on
top.
So it was with mixed expectations
that I approached NOW’s latest
album “Mind Elevation”. Thankfully
it didn’t quite have me gnawing my
own leg off in boredom, but by the
same token it isn’t exactly the most
inspiring album in the world either.
The best moment comes when
Evelyn forays into the world of pop
with the cliched but infectious
“Date with Destiny” and the reggae-styled “Know my name”, featuring vocals from soulful chanteuse
Chyna B. The rest, though, is yet
more of the same, which leads me
to the conclusion that this CD is
for (that most mythical of creatures) the Warp completist or (that
most modish of creatures) the
trendy wine-bar owner only.
5/10
TH
LOW
Trust
(Rough Trade)
The record label may have changed
(this is Low’s first for Rough Trade,
following their departure from the
excellent Kranky) but the music
stays the same - well, more or less.
But, considering that Low are the
finest bunch of post-shoegazing slocore rockers you’re ever likely to
find, this really isn’t that much of a
problem. Low’s real strength lies in
8/10
TH
LO HI
Say It More
(Tigerstyle)
Boss Hog’s male/female
guitar/drums pairing of Jon Spencer
and Hollis Queens is the perfect
antithesis to The White Stripes
sickeningly dull drek. These days,
7/10
TH
PA G E 3
11th October 2002
s in g l e s a l b u m s
THE SHINING
True Skies
(Zuma)
does seem to offer something
unique. Away from all that sweet
piano and cliched lyrics, Avril
offers something much more
demanding-a mix of school-girl
innocence and rock-chick rebellion. With raw talent like this she
certainly won't be taking any sh*t
from anyone.
If you ever needed an excuse to
burn your Cast and Charlatans
records, as well as consign Oasis to
the history books and give up on
yet another Stone Roses reunion,
then The Shining are that band.
Now, I don’t know if they’re from
Manchester and, frankly, I don’t care.
If they aren’t then they should be,
and if they are then they’ve given us
the best, ballsiest, gutsiest Northern
indie record this year bar none.
With fervent all-consuming mantras
that would appeal to the youth of
every generation, The Shining look
like they’ve got the Dovesian combination of good guitar-based songs
and widespread appeal, and hopefully that’ll prove to be right on the
mark as, for a change, this is an
album that actually has something
about it, with a zeitgeist that engulfs
lead singer and listener alike. If they
manage to break into the mainstream, the future looks bright for
these Northern lights.
9/10
KB
8/10
RH
AVRIL LAVIGNE - playing guitar in a wind tunnel
AVRIL LAVIGNE
Complicated
(BMG/Arista)
This brilliant single comes from a
Canadian prodigy who seems to
be on the same wave-length as
Alanis Morrisette except she's
that little bit younger and more
feisty. Following on from a string
of young female singer-songwriters from the States she really
THE PATTERN
Nothing Of Value
(Wichita)
While Nothing Of Value isn’t the
best song of this stripped down
rock ‘n’ roll movement, it’s still
pretty good in an indie way. And
the video’s got young German
men synchronised swimming in
Speedos. Nice.
7.5/10
RH
ALICIA KEYS
Girlfriend
(BMG)
Anyone who’s a friend of Alicia
Key’s earlier singles are advised to
steer well clear of this. Unless,
that is, you’re after a poor imitation of J.Lo’s bland back catalogue,
which this closely resembles.After
Alicia’s exhilerating collaboration
with Eve on “Gangster Loving”, it
is somewhat surprising to hear
such unimaginative tosh from one
who clearly has talent. Perhaps Ms
Key’s penchant for bizarre and no
doubt expensive fashion experiments have necessitated another
single for purely financial reasons.
God only knows it’s not for musical ones.
2/10
LB
INME
Underdose
(Music for Nations)
Underdose has an exciting first five
PA G E 4
seconds, as the bouncy riff kicks
the song off, but once the drums
come in EXACTLY WHERE YOU
EXPECT, nothing interesting happens beyond the angst-ridden, subCreed screaming. “It’s all gone
wrong! You spoiled the perfect
fumes!” What the f**k are you
talking about?! They were clearly
put together from an aggressive
lyrics magnetic poetry kit. Utter
crap.
1/10
RB
FEEDER
Come back around
(Echo)
This sounds a lot like a slightly
limp-wristed Foo Fighters tune. So
if you like limp wrists or the Foo
Fighters there’s a chance you’ll like
this.
6/10
AGR
MCALMONT AND BUTLER
Bring It Back
(EMI:Chrysalis)
Let's go Starsky. Let's get into a
cheesy 70s cop show then change
to The Lighthouse Family trying to
be Marvin Gaye. It wants to be
feelgood but only made me feel
good when I removed it from the
PC and obliterated it with the
office gullotine.
3/10
RH
BOWLING FOR SOUP
Drunk Enough To Dance
(Music For Nations)
I really, really, really wanted to hate
this. As The Edge’s emo skatepunk
metal boy I feel it is my duty to protect the world against these kind of
‘punk’ bands.All the signs are there;
Texans Bowling For Soup are all ugly
as sin, in a knowing “ooh, how ugly
are we!” way, and the album has two
songs with girls’ names in the titles,
and a song called She’s Got A
Boyfriend. Having said that they’re
uplifting and (usually) catchy as hell,
despite the novelty lyrics (“You
make me wanna be a homosexual”,
“all I’ve got’s a moped”). The songs
are cheery and fast, and you can’t
ask much more of a pop-punk band.
True, they’ll never have the songs of
The Ataris, and I doubt they’ll rise
up from their novelty comedy-punk
niche, but this album will sound
great every summer. It’s original like
George Bush is intellectual, but it’s
better than sodding Busted.
7/10
RB
THE LIBERTINES
Up The Bracket
(Rough Trade)
I’m in danger of O.D.ing on The
Libertines, what with the interview
and live review (see centre pages)
and now the album review but, luckily, my mind is being concentrated by
the mains-connected nipple clamps
that’ll fry my upper
torso if I stop typing for at least
two minutes. And though their
beauty lies in the live performance,
the album has some darker numbers tempering your desire for a
good ol’ knees up.True, it can sound
like Joe Strummer (including, often,
the incomprehensibility) fronting a
pub rock band but that’s doing The
Libertines a disservice as, for example, Radio America is a touching
folky lament and The Good Old Days
has a touch of funk. So whilst all the
live favourites are here (except, disappointingly, What A Waster), perhaps this is the link between their
riotous live performance and their
idealistic core
beliefs. Hmmm. But if you like the
sound of The Jam mixed with The
Clash and Chas and Dave, married
to unpolished production values,
then Up The Bracket is for you.
understand?/When things that once
were beautiful/Are bland’
Don’t worry, we understand.
5/10
TH
MICHAEL J. SHEEHY
No Longer My Concern
(Beggars Banquet)
I have to admit that, having never
heard of Sheehy before, I was
extremely sceptical upon reading
the press blurb accompanying this
CD telling me that the main inspirations for the album were “drinking, fucking and tragedy”. I mean,
how many Nick Cave wannabes do
7.5/10
RH
THE DELGADOS
Hate
(Mantra)
When The Delgados originally
started their fledgling Glasgow
record
label
Chemikal
Underground it was with the intention of putting out their records.
But it was records from later signings such as Mogwai and Arab Strap
that stole the limelight and truly
brought Chemikal Underground to
the attention of the wider record
buying public.
Since then both of those bands
have left the CU stable and now
even the founders themselves have
signed to Mantra, perhaps in search
of a wider audience. With their
fourth album, Hate, they pretty
much pick up where their last
album The Great Eastern left off.
With the nearly-title-track ‘All
you need is hate’ The Delgados
make an unsubtle jibe at the Fab
Four - thankfully the song itself isn’t
anywhere near as irritatingly jaunty
as ???? era Lennon and McCartney.
The 16 strong list of additional
guest musicians (as well as a choir)
gives some indication of the
record’s intentions, although admittedly these aren’t quite as bloated
as Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce.
In fact the songs stick to a pleasant but tried-and-tested formula meaningful vocals + swelling strings
+ Scottish indie sensiblity + slightly
experimental
production
by
Mercury Rev’s Dave Fridmann =
songs that appeal to everyone but
engage no-one.
Ironically,The Delgados sum it up
best themselves in the song ‘The
light before we land’: ‘Don’t you
we really need in this world?
Thankfully, Sheehy’s attitude to
religion is distinctly less po-faced
than the raven haired doom-meister, as evidenced on the wry “Ballad
of the Pissed Apostle”, with the
brilliantly acerbic couplet “Oh
sweet Jesus, what have I gone and
done/While they nailed you to the
cross, I was out runnin’ ‘round having fun” underpinned by a husky
blues guitar riff.
Elsewhere, Sheehy shows us his
gentler side with the likes of the
misleadingly titled “Distracting
yourself from the doom”, a pianoled lullaby which is enough to make
even the most cold-hearted melt,
and the equally lonely “Modest
Beauty”.
Those of us who have the attention span of a gnat will find this
record boring, but for everyone
else it should prove to be a more
than diverting album.
8/10
TH
Finding out about Shell
will really take you places.
Join us for the evening to find out about the exciting employment and pre-employment
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And did we mention that we’ll also be giving away a top-of-the-range mountain bike
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Thinking about a better future?
www.shell.com/careers
Date: 29th October 2002 Venue:
Time: 18:30
University of Southampton –
Staff Dining Room
PA G E 5
11th October 2002
STATUTE OF
THE EDGE CAUGHT UP WITH THE LIBERTINES TO SEE IF THEY
REALLY ARE THE BEST NEW BAND IN BRITAIN
PETE DOHERTY
DOHERTY AND CARL BARAT
BARAT - two boys in the band
The Libertines’ tourbus is a
pokey little thing, consumed by
smoke residue, but this is where
Carl Barât and Pete Doherty have
spent their day so far. They’ve only
just arrived at The Joiners, after
travelling down from Southend-on
Sea from the previous night’s gig.
What was that like?
“Yeah, it’s nice,” Pete begins.
“They decided to build a town and
fill it full of arseholes.”
“The gig was good though,” adds
Carl.
“Yeah, the gig was good. The
crowd at the gig were good, but
there were lots of muscle vests
though; the kind of people that if
they were in Soho in London you’d
keep your backs to the wall.”
“Not in that sense.”
“But you can always get misconceptions and misconceive. Like
there were these huge four fellas
who were quite old really but were
all massive. You wouldn’t want to
step on their shoes. I was just getting a really bad vibe off
them, but then one came over was
really nice, even though through the
gig they’d just stood there staring at
us evilly.”
In retrospect this all seems too
media-savvy. After all, I’m being told
to forget my misconceptions before
I’ve had the chance to warm the
seat but, then again, it’s understandable as The Libertines are a muchmisunderstood band. On record
and on stage they’re foul-mouthed
Union Jack toting Cockernee patriots, but in interviews they come
JOHN with his amazing immovable face
PA G E 6
across as pretentious wannabe
philosophers as much due to journalistic misrepresentation (and
probably laziness) as Pete’s wild
tangentialism. And then again
they’re the band that has a bust-up
or a fall-out every other week, but
are any of these the ‘real
Libertines’? First, the patriotism
question; when all of the mosthyped bands are foreign, do they
feel the need to represent
Britain?
“I think we should turn the world
into a big game of Risk,” says
Carl. “If you’re going to think of it
like that then yeah, we’ll take the
English crown, but I don’t think
anyone cares that much.”
“We’re in a band to get away
from those kind of schoolyard
things,” confirms Pete.
But Englishness is a big part of
your image.
“Oh yeah,” says Carl,“but it’s just
who you are. It doesn’t really matter. I mean, we’re patriotic about
some things...”
“We’re patriotic to an idealised
view of the nation, but not one that
exists where I live. It’s a spiritual
nation...”
So they’re only such an archetypally ‘English’ band because of
both an accident of birth and something that has been forced upon
them by a lack of fashionable
young English bands. It’s about rep-
resenting who they are rather than
the whole nation.They are, however, idealistic which is how we come
to the much talked about(in their
interviews at least) Arcadian
Dream, but what is it?
“It’s in your heart,” begins Pete,
the band’s in-house philosopher.
“It’s in whatever vision you have of
it. I don’t want to sound like a religious cult or anything, because it’s
not about worship. It’s about free-
“We’re patriotic to
an idealised view of
a nation”
dom and release.”
But what is it?
“It was the last refuge of two
dreamers. It was the only alternative to the bottom of a canal at one
point. It was all that was left.”
Okay, so that’s the abridged version but, as far as I understand it,
they are striving to reach their
Arcadia (a.k.a. total freedom and
purity) through music. It’s their
guiding principle, and has been
since their lowest moments together. It’s thought-provoking stuff, far
away from the pretentious pseudohippy art school drivel that it can
often appear to be. You just know
that they take this seriously but,
then again, you have to experience
it:
“You know when you’ve got this
family secret or this distant auntie
that sounds really incredible but noone feels the need to talk about it
because everyone just knows it,”
Pete says. “Like, you marry into
someone else’s family and the best
things for them to do is meet the
auntie themselves and say, “Why
didn’t you ever tell me about that?”
and you say, “Well now you’ve met
her and found out for yourself.””
So that’s the Arcadian Dream, as
far as I understand it. It’s what
guides The Libertines, and it’s what
inspires them to create and find fulfilment in their music, but that’s
enough philosophy. Except to say
that on their journey to Arcadia
they’re keeping a set of journals, the
Albion logbooks. But how much of
their influence comes from art and
literature?
“Unintentionally and subconsciously I think a lot of it must do,”
Pete replies. “It’s not like we sit
down and think, “Well, this dead
poet has inspired the whole of the
band” but maybe an author or filmmaker. Anything that can inspire
you, or just tantalise you, and make
you think, “Sh*t, how did I ever live
before hearing that sentence?””
Okay, moving on. Every other
week the NME reports another
Libertines-related argument, but is
life like that?
“If you spend two and a half
months on tour and play together
11th October 2002
LIBERTINES
and live together and have spent
every day together for the last
seven years it’s going to get a bit
tense sometimes, isn’t it? I don’t like
all of this stuff about us fighting all
the time. I mean, do they want to
see a f*cking bunch of people having a scrap? If you want to see a
scrap go and watch ultimate fighting.”
And it’s true, through the course
of the interview they have two
mini-’arguments’, but they’re just
brotherly-style things. The first is
because, err, Carl went to the bank
and Pete thought that there was
money that Carl was hiding in their
joint bank account...
“It’ll probably be in the NME
next week that there was a bit of a
fight at the bank,” Pete says.
“You could probably send this to
the NME actually,” Carl later
confirms.
And the second? It’s about Carl,
apparently, blagging his way into
gigs.
“I just wanna have a good
knees-up,” says Carl, “and I can do
this at a gig, but Pete knows this
and accuses me of being a f*cking
Hello! Magazine reader, which is
just bollocks.”
“I’m just jealous because he gets
Sadie Frost down his trousers,”
Pete adds, “and I just get random
birds. From Norwich.”
“She just asked to come into my
trousers. It’s not like I said,“Hey, I’m
a ligger. Come down my trousers.””
What’s clear is that they aren’t
going to break up soon and that it’s
all being blown out of proportion.
“Yeah. Old proportion’s coming
in for a hard time,” says Carl.
Yet even though, at the moment,
there seems little chance that
they’ll be splitting up. But if it came
to that then they wouldn’t have
PETE tries to do a Linda Lovelace
THE LIBERTINES
The Joiners’ Arms
Wednesday 18th September
trouble walking away from the band
(“There’s no shackles,” says Pete).
But they’ve got what many groups
crave; a shared vision and a tight
family-like structure. After all, pre-
“He gets Sadie Frost
down his trousers and I
just get random birds.
From Norwich.”
gig preparation consists of trying to
“achieve a sense of togetherness”
(Carl), which may explain why, during gigs, they don’t talk to the audience in case it interferes, but that’s
just speculation.
But at this point Pete’s been
called away to do a Swedish phone
interview, so lets have a chat about
him and, more precisely, his psycho
ex that’s now suing for the lyrics to
a song (The Horror Show):
“Basically, we just found a scrap
of paper on the floor... and the first
line was really good... and we asked
her if we could use it and she was
like, “Yeah.Whatever.” And then we
started to get famous and... she
decided that she wanted a piece of
the pie.”
What’s the current situation
with that?
“We put her on the T-shirts.
She’ll probably... show her face
again. She can have some money if
she really wants. She can have one
line’s worth.”
So is it important for them to
make a load of money, then?
“Well, I can fall into a cliché with
that can’t I? We’re in it for the
music, man! I don’t know. As something to put the bread on the table
then good, but the aim has always
been to write good songs.”
Okay, so it may be cliché but,
quite frankly, they’re allowed one.
After all, they’ve got a collective
vision that inspires life in the band
and, through my limited experience,
are a unique proposition. They’re
not the Strokes bandwagon
jumpers that the 70s sound, black
leather jackets and Rough Trade
recording contract would suggest
and are, in fact, just individuals trying to find fulfilment. And, as far as
I’m concerned, we can only wish
them well with that, though we
don’t need to actually like what
they’re doing as well. But with a live
performance as good as theirs, it’ll
be hard not to like them as well.
It’s always a nice surprise to
walk into a packed Joiners’, with
the annoying and time-consuming
fight for a drink offset by the fantastic intimate atmosphere. But,
with The Libertines playing, it
shouldn’t really be any surprise.
After all, these are NME cover
stars.These are the visceral
young men taking on the Union
Jack toting mantle from the likes of
The Who,The Jam and Blur.This is,
let’s not forget,“the best new band
in Britain.”
But last time they were here, in
May, it was a very different scene;
before the covers, the articles and
the hype a half-empty Joiners’ was
left slightly
disappointed by these four men
who were, apparently, postStrokesian black leather jacketed
bandwagon jumpers. Four months
on, however, all has changed. The
Libertines are exonerated and, for
this evening at least, a pub full of
enthusiastic and enquiring punters
loves them. It’s all so poetic. Yet it
all starts so similarly as they come
on later than expected. But this
time the buzz and enthusiasm has
had no chance to wane and,
though they may be playing to
those who want to love them, that
doesn’t take anything away from
one crucial fact; they are brilliant.
So, as expected, there’s no audience banter, but it doesn’t matter
with a set that is tight, precise and
honed to perfection. It’s enough to
make you forget
about the Starbucks culture of the
nearby high street as everything
seems so perfectly 1970s. From
the black leather jackets of The
Ramones (and others), to
the unhinged feel of the Sex
Pistols, and the frontline pogoers
from, well,every 70s punk gig. Even
down to the retro obscenities
of debut single What A Waster
which, when brought out of The
Libertines’ surprisingly large
armoury (cynics should note
they had 25 to choose from for
forthcoming album, Up The
Bracket), takes the atmosphere
up another level. But songs has
been the band’s strong point all
along, with I Get Along, Up The
Bracket and The Boys In The Band
just three of their best offerings.
These are all given great run
outs, notan easy task when
Doherty is in the middle of the
stage at his (apparently) uncontrollable best. It is a beautifully
exciting sight to behold, though
the only thing is that, at points,
they seem to be trying too hard
(like with softly-spoken bassist
Hassall’s immovable facial
expression.) But I guess that it’ll
seem more natural the closer
they get to Arcadia. Or something (read the interview to find
out moret!)
But that doesn’t matter as
tonight they are heroes, creating
an endless supply of sycophants
streaming into the cavernous
downstairs area trying to cop of
with, or at least chat to, their
new favourite band member.
Trying to preserve
the memory, it was better to
leave that sickly atmosphere and
disappear Civic Centre-ward,
with their future looking
brighter than even the illuminated clock tower. Supergrass will
have to raise their game at the
Guildhall (Oct 24th) with
these young men in support.
All text and live photos by
RICH HEAP
PA G E 7
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Last year, Brian rebuilt
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to our Technology Presentation on
This year, Brian helped design
a worldwide trading network.
Wednesday 30th October 2002 at
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PA G E 8
all sewn up..
New York’s Hem take on the wide
open space of London’s Queen
Elizabeth Hall
11th October 2002
HEM + LINCOLN
Queen Elizabeth Hall
27th September
London based six-piece Lincoln
are an unusual prospect. Combining
an apparent love for shambolic
indie-rock (think The Pastels or the
TV Personalities) with an equal
interest in Americana, the most
striking thing about the band is
their unusual instrumentation. As
well
as
the
standardised
guitar/bass/drums/vox line-up, the
keyboardist also doubles as trombonist, while guitarist and bassist
both have a trumpet playing alteregos, recalling in many ways the
expanded live set-up of Calexico.
At it’s best, Lincoln’s music is a
soulful mariachi-inflected affair,
complimented by the occasionally
silken female vocals. Unfortunately,
though, they too often feel the urge
to veer off into a messier darker
side, in which the lyrics get
drowned out by the wash of distorted guitars - and not drowned
out in a My Bloody Valentine way
either, but more in a “I got my
mate’s brother to work the mixing
desk for us” way. Overall, though, it
was pleasant enough.
When Hem’s debut album, Rabbit
Songs emerged on the Setanta label
in October last year, it somehow
managed to escape the attention of
all but the most ardent alt. country
fan.
Guitarist Gary Maurer is a seasoned studio-wizard who has engineered the likes of Jon Spencer’s
Blues Explosion and Luna. During
the spring of 1999, however, he
teamed up with pianist Dan Messe
and guitarist Steve Curtis to make
an album that would reflect their
love for traditional American music.
All that was needed was a singer,
who they found in the form of Sally
Ellyson, an inexperienced vocalist
who nevertheless won herself the
job by singing lullabies on to Messe’s
answering-machine. One of them,
‘Lord blow out the moon please’
opens the album.
In the summer of 2001, as ‘Rabbit
Songs’ was nearing completion, the
studio where Hem had been
recording caught fire. Refusing to
accept that they might be about to
lose everything, Maurer dashed into
the blazing building to rescue the
master tapes, escaping only
moments before the roof collapsed.
Tonight, in the slightly calmer
atmosphere of the Queen
Elizabeth Hall, the core Hem quartet is joined by drums, violin,
upright bass and pedal-steel guitar.
Their fan base also appears to
have swelled over the past 12
months, as they are playing to a
near packed auditorium.And while
they appear rather awkward when
first taking the stage, when it
comes to the art of songwriting,
Hem know exactly what they’re
about.
For the most part, the set comprises tracks from the debut.
Songs such as ‘When I was drinking’, a beautiful piano driven ballad
of lost loves and loneliness, and
‘Betting on trains’(with the heart
wrenching lines ‘I held a silver dollar tight inside my fist and let you
go/I’ve counted all the things I’ve
lost that point to this and let you
go’) are the perfect vehicle for
Ellyson’s gorgeous voice. Unlike
Lincoln, where the vocals just
seemed to dissolve into the surrounding haze, here they literally
float around the room refusing to
become muddied.And with ‘Stupid
mouth shut’, perhaps the most
straight-up countrified track in
their armoury, Hem recall the likes
of the Cowboy Junkies and even
Emmylou Harris.
As well as treating us to almost
all of Rabbit Songs (including the
piano and violin instrumental duet
‘Half-acre’), Hem also perform
tracks from their most recent
release, ‘I’m Talking with my
Mouth’, a covers EP featuring
songs from the likes of Elvis
Costello (‘Red Shoes’) and Bruce
Springsteen (‘Valentine’s Day’). It
also contains one of the highlights
of this evenings performance,
Johnny Cash’s ‘Jackson’, in which
slide-guitar and vocals combine to
spell-binding effect.
If there was any justice in the
world then Hem would be giving
Avril Lavigne a run for her money
at the top end of the charts. As it
is, they might just have earned
themselves a few extra column
inches in the national monthlies.
Tim Houghton
Hem’s Sally Ellyson, with guitarists
Maurer and Ellis
Photo - Tim Houghton
PA G E 9
HELL IS FOR HEROES
11th October 2002
FROM THE ASHES OF SYMPOSIUM CAME A BAND, BUT WHO THE DEVIL ARE THEY?
What are your ambitions for
2003?
TOM - I think it’s just to tour a lot
really and to play to as many people
as possible but no major goals. The
album’s (The Neon Handshake) coming out in February next year,
though.
shelf. And that’s coupled with the
fact that we were away for three
months making the album so we
came back and had some catching
up to do on the tour. So we haven’t
released that much but we feel like
we’ve done a bit recording-wise and
we’ve got an album that we’re
proud of. We’ve made the loud bits
as loud as possible, and the quiet
bits as quiet as possible for that
contrast.
T - Most of the pressure comes
from ourselves really because we
want to play good shows every
night and making sure it’s good is
the only real pressure we get. We
don’t want to give ourselves too
high expectations.
JUSTIN - Well, we’re not the most
kind of prolific songwriters in the
world but we make up for it
through a high level of quality control, so even though we don’t write
that many songs, whenever we do
write a song that we’re not all
bowled over by, we leave it on the
You were nominated for Best
British Newcomer by Kerrang!
Were you bitter that The
Cooper Temple Clause won?
FIN - Oh absolutely. (laughs) No,
they’ve done really well this year
playing in big venues and having a
big album.They had a head start on
us anyway.
Do you feel pressure for your
first album?
Why haven’t you released
much until now?
J – Generally, the only criteria we
have sonically is making it as loud as
possible. And making the quiet bits
as quiet as possible for that contrast. But the only kind of genre that
we’d put to it is rock, just because it
is guitar-based music. Anything
more concentrated than that
becomes more tricky.
TOM - won’t be pinned down
So for all the people who
haven’t heard you, how would
you describe your sound?
T – I don’t know.We’ve just got lots
of dynamics going on so it’s hard to
pin it down and I’m not sure that I’d
want to. I think you can hear some
of our influences but I we’re just
trying to get our sound together.
J - I remember the awards as being
really drunk and going up to them
and, you know how when you get
drunk then you can get a bit over
the top in your kind of niceties and
stuff and I was going up to them and
saying stuff like “Oh, I’m so glad you
won it” and I think he could have
possible interpreted it as me being
completely bitter and twisted like,
“Oh, I’m so glad you won that
f*cking award.” I was just being
drunk and happy. I hope they didn’t
take it the wrong way because
they’re really nice guys.
Do you regret signing to a big
label?
J - I think before we got signed we
always imagined ourselves on a
smaller label but the reality is that
for us to survive as a band we need
the money. And since we’ve been
with our label they’ve been pretty
fucking cool to us; they’ve never
ever told us to write hits pop songs
or go away and come back and
sound like Stereophonics. They
knew what they were getting into
when they signed us and they knew
what sort of band we were and
they just let us get on with it. And
they’ve been signing all the cheques
which is good.
So who’s the best band you’ve
toured with?
J – Probably Hundred Reasons or
the Icarus Line. I mean, when it
comes to supporting bands we can’t
be that precious. As long as noone’s telling us what to play then
we’ll pretty much go anywhere, play
anywhere, with anyone. But there is
a line that we wouldn’t cross… we
said “No” to Wheatus.
JUSTIN - Kelly Jones wouldn’t move around this much... or at all
PA G E 1 0
All Photos - Rich Heap
WITH award nominations, a
cult following, and a banged up
80s Dodge van bought off
...Trail Of Dead The EDGE
meets Hell Is For Heroes’
Justin, Fin and Tom downstairs
at The Joiners...
FIN - shortly before realising
his right hand had melted
Hundred Reasons have made it
big this year, so have they
inspired you?
J – Yeah. We toured with them at
the end of last year and got quite
close, and I think it’s amazing what
they’ve achieved in the last year and
that makes us think that there is
hope for us and other rock bands
after all.They’re just really nice guys
and I don’t think anyone could
deserve what they’ve got more
because they’ve worked their
HELL IS FOR HEROES
The Joiners Arms
Wednesday 2nd October
Do nice guys finish last? Well, in
this new wave of exciting British
rock bands, no. First there was
Hundred Reasons and now, snapping at their heels, Hell Is For
Heroes. So they may not have an
album out (yet) but does anyone
care? Well not tonight, as HIFH
have come to Southampton (their
first time) on a mission to rock
the good folks who sacrifice their
Wednesday trek to Rhinos. Three
songs in, after guitarist Will suggests that the good people at the
Joiners only know how to ‘indie’ (a
style of musical appreciation based
around head-bobbing and pint-
f*cking arses off.
Do you ever wish you weren’t
in the band?
J - No, not really. I mean when
you’re on tour you’ve always got
your highs and lows but during your
lows you just kind of check yourself
and go, “Whoa. This is what any
band would want,” just getting to go
on tour and play shows every night
is just such an amazing privilege.
holding... I ‘indie’), they set out to
‘rock’ and prove him wrong by
creating the most violent Joiners
moshpit your good correspondent has ever seen. And to be
honest I was too busy enjoying
their exciting show to think about
what they ‘sound like.’ If pushed I’d
describe it as hard energetic rock
who, if you see them live, will not
disappoint. They’ll probably get
lumped into the emo metal scene
(if they haven’t already) and will
turn out to be its leading lights. If
Hell Is For Heroes don’t make it
big in 2003, I’ll pierce my nipples
with the two (not one) free
badges I picked up after the show,
without anaesthetic or proper
sterilisation procedures.
All Text By
RICH HEAP
11th October 2002
Max Tundra - a.k.a. Ben Jacobs’
- latest album ‘Mastered by
Guy at the Exchange’ is one of
the most downright weird
albums of the summer, combining Squarepusher-style beat
thrashes, sixties pop, Destiny’s
Child-esque R’n’B (with vocals
courtesy of sister Becky) and
about a million different
instruments (all played by
Jacobs). The Edge caught up
with the original actionpacked mentallist...
What were your favourite TV
shows when you were a kid?
Well, I don’t know if you remember
a TV show called Bod, that was a
kind of favourite.When I got to secondary school, I actually got the
nickname Bod - I seem to remember doing vague impressions of Bod
as a child and the nickname stuck,
so some people still call me Bod
today.
What are your lasting memories of your childhood?
I’m not sure really. I had a very
indoors kind of a childhood really. I
wasn’t very sporty and I didn’t used
to go out and play very often. The
other kids used to kick a football
around in the street or ride around
on their bikes and stuff but I wasn’t
really into that, so I used to just
geek about on my computer really.
I go out these days, of course, but
not really as a child.
What were your earliest musical influences?
I was lucky enough to grow up in a
house where there was a massive
record collection - my mum’s and
dad’s records were all just in the
front room piled up, and I just used
to dip into them. Quite early on I
discovered the delights of Steely
Dan, who still shape my listening
habits to this day. Obviously when I
was very young I heard the Beatles,
because there were loads of Beatles
seven-inches lying around and stuff
like that.
The first electronic thing that I
started listening to was the Art of
Noise. Their first album, ‘Who’s
Afraid of the Art of Noise?’ was
kind of the first album to use samplers all the way through.
What was your relationship
with [your sister] Becky like
when you were young?
Well, we used to hate each other
really. I used to kind of beat her up
all the time and nag her and try and
get her in trouble with my Mum but
it was always me who ended up
getting a smacked bottom in the
end. I got my come’uppance pretty
much every day.We didn’t get on at
all until we were teenagers when
we kind of figured out that it was
alright.
why I did it. I really like to challenge
myself wherever possible, because I
think I produce the best music I can
whenever I’m quite stressed out
and whenever I’m doing stuff which
is a total hassle to make. When it
gets too easy I try to stick another
spanner in the works, and this time
it was writing lyrics and learning
how to sing.
Was it difficult to persuade her
to sing on your record then?
Not that difficult, but if I’d asked her
ten years ago she would have probably told me to “f*ck off”, but seeing as we’re friends now it was
almost like a logical conclusion.
We’re having a lot of fun now driving around together and doing all
these live dates and getting to
know each other better.
Did you find it hard to come up
with the lyrics?
It took ages because I’ve never really studied English. I was kind of
spurred on by listened to the
cliched rubbish on daytime radio,
and I thought to myself ‘Here’s
someone in the top ten, and every
single line of this song is a totally
overused phrase or cliche’ and it
made me realise that my lyrics are
actually a little bit wittier than that
so it kept me going really.
When you are writing a song
do you try and think it all up in
your head before you try and
put it down on record, or do
you mess around for hours
with various instruments?
I try to reproduce as faithfully as
possible the music which appears in
my mind. The songs are pretty
much fully formed when I hear
them in my head. Sometimes I hear
certain instruments and noises
appear in certain places which, if I
want to be true to myself, I have to
try and learn how to play rather
than cut corners. So if I hear a song
in my head I feel a responsibility to
carry it out exactly as it was intended, which might involve forcing
myself to learn new musical instruments.
On ‘Mastered by Guy...’ you
sing on nearly all the tracks
which is completely different
in that respect to ‘Some Best
Friend...’. Did you find that a
difficult transition to make?
At first I did, but that’s the reason
It’s been said before that you fit
about 10 albums-worth of
material into a single 40minute album, which is pretty
short by today’s standards isn’t
it?
Well, since the invention of the CD
people have felt obliged to bombard
us with 74 minutes worth of music,
and when it comes down to it a lot
of it is filler. So there’s absolutely no
reason why albums need to be that
long. If you run out of ideas there’s
no reason why you should try to
expand it to try and fill up a double
vinyl-pack for example. Most of the
classic albums in history are just
single pieces of vinyl.
Do you think that a lot of
artists are just lazy by repeating the same ideas over and
over again?
I think that probably about 99% of
the music that I hear is very formulaic, so once you’ve heard the first
two minutes of a track, you can usu-
Getting chippy with it - Max t enjoys good old
English Haute cuisine
ally predict what happens next. It
usually happens in multiples of four,
and then there’s the chorus and
then it repeats itself. I’m astonished
that so many people adhere to
these tried and tested formulas.
Your music often gets grouped
together with the whole
Warp/Rephlex records scene.
How much is programming
and sequencing part of the way
that you work?
I try and think of songs in terms of
the finished article rather than by
the process which is used to
achieve. I try to make the notion of
programming irrelevant, so that
when I’m playing a real instrument
it might sound like it’s being
sequenced and vice-versa.
I continually get compared to
Aphex Twin, which is really bizarre
because I don’t sound anything like
him. Every review of any record I’ve
ever put out says something like
‘Aphex-Twin-meets-whoever’, and I
think that unfortunately Richard
James, nice though he is, has
become like the spokesperson for
anyone who has ever used a
sequencer on any of their music.
Who do you think is still making interesting albums in that
field?
Well, in electronica there’s no-one,
but if you expand that to mean people who use sequencers then I think
people like Timbaland and The
Neptunes who are producing R’n’B
style albums which are much more
forward thinking and experimental
than so much laptop stuff that people are coming out with at the
moment.
You once did a B-side titled
‘Song for Alan R. Splet’, named
after the guy who did the
soundtrack for ‘Eraserhead’
with David Lynch. What films
have influenced you?
Well, obviously Lynch plays a big
part. I think he’s been getting better
and better recently. ‘Lost Highway’
and ‘Mulholland Drive’ are his two
best films. And ‘Brazil’ by Terry
Gilliam is my favourite fim of all
time. Films like ‘Brazil’ I will always
go and see at the cinema if they’re
ever on.
Have
you
ever
been
approached to do a soundtrack?
I did get a near-miss quite recently.
There’s a new film coming out,
called Morvern Callar by Lynne
Ramsey, and I did very nearly get a
track from my first album called
‘Carbon Cones’ into it but in the
end I lost out in the final edit.That’s
my closest scrape yet.
I’d love to score a whole film
though. That’s one of my greatest
ambitions. I’m really excited about
how music and visuals work together.
I’m intrigued by the artwork
on the new CD. Who is Dando
Moore?
He is the cousin of my sister’s exboyfriend. He does this excellent
comic-book style artwork, so I did a
rough sketch for him of what I
wanted the album cover to look like
- although I can’t really draw too
well - and then he produced the real
thing from that.
You’ve said before that you like
to sing to yourself and whistle
to yourself a lot. Does it ever
get on anyone else’s nerves?
I am a big whistler around the
house, but the people I’m living with
haven’t really mentioned it. In fact,
since I moved in everyone else
seems to whistle a little bit more, so
it must be catching.
PA G E 1 1
11th October 2002
FILM
THE
IMPORTANCE
BEING EARNEST
beginning, but as you get used to
them something more is needed to
keep the quality of the film going
and it is not the axe and excessive
amounts of blood that Evans introduces. He also relies on the fact
that this may actually happen in real
life, maybe I am being a bit too idealistic here, but I think it is rather
unlikely, even in America.
OF
Director: Oliver Parker
Starring: Rupert Everett, Colin Firth,
Reese Witherspoon, Judi Dench.
Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of
Being Earnest’ is undeniably one of
his finest works. An elegant farce
which draws on mistaken identities
and parodies the absurdity of the
English class system, it is a timeless
play full of quotable lines. (eg: ‘All
women become like their mothers.
That is their tragedy. No man does.
That’s his.’) The story is that of two
men who are not called Earnest, yet
claim to be.There’s slightly more to
it than that of course, but without
delving any further into the superfluous plot, let us just say that it is
extremely funny, and extremely
clever.
So, match a brilliant play with an allstar British cast, and what do you
get? Unfortunately, not the result
one might expect.Thankfully, Oliver
Parker chose to remain faithful to
the original text, which means that
the film is not at all short of
humour. Oscar Wilde’s wit and
genius shine through with every line
delivered. Furthermore, the costumes are lovely, and so is the setting. Sadly, what lets the film down
in no small way is the acting. Judi
Dench in particular is atrocious as
the shrill Lady Bracknell. She
overemphasises every word, as
though she were trying to steal the
show with her exaggerated acting.
In fact, she does steal the show, but
in an altogether ghastly way. Colin
Firth, on the other hand, (handsome
as ever), is rather more brilliant as
wannabe-Earnest Jack, and makes
up for Dench as much as is humanly possible. ‘The Importance of
Being Earnest’ is a funny, pleasant,
and aesthetically pleasing adaptation
of Wilde’s play. However, it would be
very difficult indeed to stick to the
original text and not be funny at all.
Oliver Parker has succeeded only in
making a good film out of a brilliant
play.
Tim Houghton
THE BOURNE IDENTITY
Director: Doug Liman
Starring: Matt Damon, Franka Potente,
Chris Cooper, Julia Stiles.
The eighties version of The Bourne
Identity was one of my favourite
films when I was younger, so I was
rather interested to find out what
this updated version of Robert
Ludlum’s novel was like. Especially
since it has received so much hype
compared to the cheaply made TV
version.
Jason Bourne, played by Matt
Damon, is found at sea by a French
PA G E 1 2
Nina Dubravec
fishing boat, with two gunshot
wounds in his back. After regaining
consciousness Jason suffers
from amnesia and the only thing
giving him any kind of clue about his
formeridentity is a chip in his back,
which contains the details of a bank
account in Zurich. In Zurich he
attempts to learn something about
his past, but is instead confronted
with more questions since his safety deposit box contains passports
from various countries and large
sums of money. He is also rather
surprised by his fighting skills and
his ability to speak many languages,
however he doesn’t quite click that
he may be some kind of secret
agent until he has the whole of the
CIA chasing after him and the girl
he has paid to give him a ride to
Paris. As we find out, although it is
still a mystery to Bourne, he is a
CIA assassin who failed in one of
his jobs to kill an African president
and now the whole incident needs
to be covered up- by having him
‘removed’.
The Bourne Identity has more
action than I can remember the old
version having,although it is not
quite your typical James Bond style
action film. All the location shots
were filmed in Europe, which makes
it look less glossy and not
entirely Hollywood. Franka Potente
(of Run Lola Run), who plays the
German girl that drives him to Paris
and coincidentally falls in love with
him, is also not your usual action
movie babe, for a start she can act,
and adds to the European influence
in the film. If you take The Bourne
Identity for what it isan action thriller, you will enjoy it,
and the Mini car chase will make
you think twice about the Mini’s full
potential.
Nina Dubravec
MY LITTLE EYE
Director: Marc Evans
Starring: Jennifer Sky, Laura Regan,
Kris Lemche and Stephen O’Reiley
Although not released in America, I
was still rather excited about going
to see this film, due to its good
reviews in the UK. Perhaps if I had
gone to see it without having read
any reviews I would have enjoyed it
a bit more...
My Little Eye is a very modern film,
in terms of the content, but also in
terms of the technology used for
filming. Digital film is used to create
the effect of a wall mounted surveillance camera, which follows the
story of five young people isolated
in an old house in the middle of
nowhere. In the style of Big
Brother, they applied to share the
house for six months whilst being
broadcast on an Internet site, the
prize being $1million. The only
catch is if one of them leaves, they
all lose. Only a few days away from
their prize, the housemates get
more and more paranoid as it
appears that the ‘company’ in
charge is bringing up secrets from
their past to scare them into leaving. They start discovering more
about the mysterious website and
this is where the film becomes gory
and the death count rises by the
minute.
Although rather innovative and
scary at the beginning, mainly due
to the use of sound and editing, the
film lacks any kind of innovation
near the end as it simply surrenders
itself to a traditional slasher film.
The zooming sounds of the camera
as well as the emphasised crashing
noises make you jump near the
LOST IN LA MANCHA
Starring:Terry Gilliam, Johnny Depp
Directed by: Keith Fulton and Louis
Pepe
Documentaries that make it on
to big screen are few and far
between. Good ones are even
rarer. Eleanor Coppola’s Hearts of
Darkness
(the
making
of
Apocalypse Now!) and Jim
Jarmusch’s Year of the Horse (a
Neil Young road movie) are the
only two that readily spring to this
clogged up mind, anyway.
Lost in La Mancha is comprised
of on-the-set footage of ex-Python
Terry Gilliam’s adaptation of
Cervantes’ canonical novel, retitled The Man Who Killed Don
Quixote. And in case you’re wondering why you’ve never seen the
film, it’s because it was never made.
After a decade of scheming and
months of pre-production, Gilliam
was forced to shut down production after just six days, and hand
over the rights to the film to the
insurance company. This fact is, of
course, why Lost in La Mancha is so
much more watchable than Fulton
and Pepe’s previous Gilliam documentary,The Hamster Factor (a.k.a.
The making of 12 Monkeys). That
the budget of $32 million - the
biggest for any European film - is
only half of what the ambitious
project requires only adds to the
mayhem - and serves to remind
both audience and Gilliam of the
spectre of his 1988 turkey, ‘The
Adventures of Baron Munchausen’,
which ran up a bill to the tune of
$46 million.
The teeth-gnashing failure of The
Man Who Killed Don Quixote is
living testament to the veracity of
sod’s law. Just so you get some sort
of idea, here are a few of the crises
that torment the film crew.
1.The horses won’t do what they’re
told
2. A major set location sits alongside a NATO bombing range - the
patrolling F16s never fail to intrude
at vital moments
3.A flash flood destroys the set and
many pieces of equipment
4. Lead actress Vanessa Paradis
never shows up for rehearsals or
even filming. It later transpires that
she hasn’t even signed a contract.
Throughout the movie the tension mounts between the everoptimistic Gilliam and his faithful
but weary sidekick Phil Patterson;
so much so that the comparisons
between the pair and the fictional
Quixote and his man-servant
Sancho Panza are played on too
heavily by Fulton and Pepe.
The final straw comes, however,
when it transpires that Rochefort,
who must do most of his filming on
horseback, has a severe prostate
infection and requires extensive
surgery. And despite Gilliam’s
valiant efforts, it becomes painfully
obvious to all concerned that his
dream is finished. “We can’t make
this film - not the film you want to
make, anyway” shouts Patterson to
Gilliam, shortly before quitting.
Tim Houghton
SCENE
WESSEX
PAGE 21
Wessexscene.co.uk
Bizarre
Should Drugs Be Used Recreationally?
World
YES NO
Matthew Heath
Alex Moss
Katherine Butler
Caroline Johnson
If recreational drug use became
less of a taboo and a common
place past time I believe our society, especially this university,
would be a much more fulfilling
place to spend time (and there
would be more of it!).
The neurotic bonds of everyday life
would be broken and student’s
minds and spirits lifted to new levels of peace and togetherness-no
need for those pesky security guards
spoiling our fun. It is also a lot
cheaper than alcohol and isn’t taxed
either thus reducing the annoyance
of paying through the nose twice
when spending government loans
on booze.
The music scene shall surely flourish, enhancing the inspiring sounds
of Hendrix, Marley and Armstrong
(to name a small few) with our newfound open minds into another
world. As well as drugs’ contribution to music let it be said that if it
weren’t for opiates we wouldn’t
have Alice in Wonderland which I
believe is the only book on wonderland ever written!
When sharing life-altering experiences people relate in a positive
fashion stripped of the falseness,
games and scripts we so often have
to endure and thus creating an
enlightened existence of harmony
and togetherness. Drugs also are a
useful form of rebellion allowing
new generations to be different than
their parents producing new cultural
trends, as Hendrix put so well, “I’ve
got my own world to live through
and I ain’t gonna copy you”.
In areas with thriving drug cultures
an important local economy develops and a fantastic network of communication providing new employment
opportunities
(dealers,
lawyers, mafia, police and many
more). The benefit to the government would be increased control as
people have a reduced need for education as they can’t remember anything. The money saved on lectures
could be spent on a hash bar during
refurbishments. And as it is illegal it
makes a dull life exciting!
For hundreds of years now people
have been using drugs for recreation as well as medical purposes.
Obviously these days the drugs
have a tendency to be perhaps a
little more potent, however there
are many good reasons why we
should still use drugs in a recreational manner.
There is no doubt that recreational drug use is not a new thing.
However it is now thought to have
risen by 30% in the last five years
due to the increasingly widespread availability of recreational
drugs like Ecstasy.
Some researchers do not seem concerned by this serious increase.
They define recreational use of
drugs as “non-dependent, not using
hard drugs.” Judith Aldridge, one
leading researcher says, “Most are
careful and rational consumers who
plan their drug use to occur with
friends in places they feel safe and
sercure.” What a nice picture this
paints of drug use.
Funnily enough there are reasons
why these questionably “soft” drugs
are illegal to use. Do the harrowing
pictures like that of Leah Bettslying in a coma after an ecstasy
tablet not affect the 56% of
teenagers who admit taking ecstasy
in a nightclub situation. However
many times you use drugs like
ecstasy and amphetamines, it only
takes once for the consequences to
be tragic. On top of this, the longterm effects of recreational drugs
are unquestionable.
However users try to limit their
drug use, even with Cannabis, people may become both physically
and psychologically addicted to it.
Then there are the worse effects
such as memory loss, paranoia,
depression, increased blood pressure and insomnia.
The risks cannot be stressed
enough-not only for the user themselves but for those around them
too. Just look at a most recent case,
that of Jade Slack, aged 10, who
died after apparently swallowing up
to five ecstasy tablets whilst playing
at a friend’s house. These tablets
were just left on an upstairs table -a
recreational drug user it seems who
was neither “careful” nor “rational”
in their usage. You wonder how
much more tragic things need to get
before these drug users wake up and
realise the true consequences of
their actions?
As young people we are constantly being bombarded with statistics, research and opinions on the
recreational use of drugs, all trying to persuade and manipulate
our young minds into the ‘correct’ opinion concerning them.
The debate over the laws governing drugs seems to have become
continuous, and increasingly
heated.
For a start drugs seem to bring out
the best in a lot of people, especially those with a creative nature about
them. Don’t believe me? Well what
about Kurt Cobain, music wouldn’t
be the same if it weren’t for his drug
induced guitar playing. Picasso was
rumored to dabble in drugs and he
has given us some of the most imaginative pieces of artwork ever, sure
they look drug induced but they are
still inspiring to millions. Then
there are the great actors of today
that had, or still have, a drug habit.
John Belushi was a comedic legend
until he finally snuffed it, sorry no
pun intended. After all who can forget his side splitting roles in such
films as Animal House, a must see
movie for all students, and Blues
Brothers, simply a must see movie
because of Belushi and a thin Dan
Akroyd. Then there are today’s
actors like Charlie Sheen, Christian
Slater, and Brad Renfro who are all
still with us and frequently dazzle
us with their drug induced performances.
Secondly drugs are permitted to be
used recreationally in certain countries like Holland. Britain is
renowned for having a stiff upper
lip, is it not possible that if we started to use drugs in a recreational
manner that we would lose this reputation and gain one of being laid
back and cool like our European
contemporaries.
Students
of
Southampton join forces in trying to
prove this theory TAKE DRUGS
FOR S***S AND GIGGLES.
While this debate is raging the use
of drugs has become a standard
option to help people have fun,
relax, even to socialise; as people
are introduced to each other through
drugs. They have even become a
source of incredibly bad chat-up
lines. The popularity of drugs is
reflected in the media. Fictional
characters using drugs are portrayed
on television, in books, and celebrities are constantly owning to having
taken some type of recreational
drug. As the profile of drugs
increases, the attitude of society
towards them seems to be becoming
increasingly more tolerant. Who has
the right to dictate what others do in
their free time?
So what is the result of this attitude
- that drugs are okay? The fact
remains that there is sufficient scientific evidence to show the harm
which drugs can do to the body and
personality, such as the most recent
research which shows that the use
of ecstasy can lead to Parkinson’s
Disease. All one needs do for confirmation of the damage which
drugs can do is to look at the state of
Ozzie Osbourne. The taking of
drugs is no longer glamorous.
Books and films such as
Trainspotting have revealed them in
their revolting reality. Who can forget Renton and his anal opium suppositories? Perhaps most importantly of all, scientists do not yet fully
know the long-term effects of drugs.
By sampling them you are donating
your bodies to research. Hands up
who wants to be a human guineapig.
We wish to emphasise that the views in this column are not necessarily those of the writers, the WSX editor, the Wessex Scene in general or the
Union’s. The intention of Devil’s advocate is to encourage debate and discussion for the sake of argument.
Dairy Death
Luigi Ferrari, a prosperous Parisian
grocer, was jailed for two years in
1978 for stabbing his wife to death
with a wedge of cheese.
Hot Stuff
Sometime during the late night of
July 1, 1951, Mrs. Mary Reeser,
aged sixty-seven, of St. Petersburg,
Florida erupted in flames and
burned up in her bedroom. No one
knows quite why. All that remained
of Mrs. Reeser when she was found
in the morning was a small pile of
smoking ash and one very shrunken
skull. Experts estimated that it
would have taken a fire of 3,000
degrees to have thoroughly carbonised the woman, yet the heat
had been localised to the corner of
the room where she had been sitting. ‘Never have I seen a body so
completely consumed by heat,’ said
leading
investigator
Wilton
Korgman, who added rather fatuously, ‘This is contrary to normal
experiences.’ Mrs. Reeser was not
struck by lightning. Nor did she
come in contact with inflammable
liquids or an electrical source.
Beyond that, no one knows what
happened- and at this date it’s not
likely anyone ever will.
An even more baffling case of
spontaneous combustion came in
1938 in Chelmsford. Phyllis
Newcombe, aged twenty-two, was
dancing with her fiance at a local
gathering when in full view of several witnesses she suddenly burst
into flames.
On the Job
Felix Faure, the French President,
died from exertion: his heart gave
out while he was putting to use a
specially designed sex chair.
Cold Turkey
After a woman fainted at a checkout
counter at a supermarket in
Nuremberg, West Germany, it was
discovered that she had been trying
to smuggle a frozen turkey out of
the store under her hat. She was
taken to hospital with suspected
brain damage.
PAGE 22
Andy Farmer
I spent a fair few evenings in my
1st year smoking copious
amounts of ganja with
my
friends, and we thoroughly
enjoyed ourselves in the process!
Inhibitions were lowered, stress
was eased, and compulsive laughter flowed. This resulted in lots of
fun and many good times chatting
about nothing and revealing
crazy secrets.
This summer I went to Creamfields
dance festival in Liverpool with
several of my good friends. After
some thorough research on The
Internet and in scientific journal
New Scientist, I decided that
Ecstasy was nowhere near as dangerous as the Daily Mail makes out.
Sensible use would have prevented
pretty much every E-related death
you’ve ever heard about. I ordered
my pills, and attended the festie. I
sensibly took only half a pill a time,
just to be safe, and followed all the
Wessexscene.co.uk
recommendations I could find on
safe Pilling. I danced from 9pm till
about 6am, and I had the time of my
life. I felt such an overwhelming
empathy for everyone. I was the
friendliest person I’ve ever known;
I had an open mind and bags of confidence. As far as I was concerned I
was the coolest person around. I
love to have a little bit of a dance
anyway, but with the confidence
and energy that I had whilst “loved
up” it was the most enjoyable night
of my life. For me, it was the feeling
of being with all your friends, happy
and content as can be, but for an
Sometimes there is hope within
distant places. For this is how
Sanita Lama has always spent her
life and for the foreseeable future
her distant dream shall remain
just that -a distant dream. Nepal
is a most beautiful country but its
beauty equals that of its poverty
and for millions of children alike,
education is a distant dream.
Sanita’s family was for the earliest
part of her life able to live of the
land and support a family of five. It
was during these years that she was
truly content. By the age of seven,
Sanita’s mother and sister had died
owing to illness.
All that remained of her family was
her father. Illness had torn her family apart. What little hope that existed in the heart and minds of Sanita
and her father that they could one
day escape poverty and provide a
prosperous future with a little bit of
hard work and luck for future generations, had been stolen in the dying
breathes of her mothers life. Sad as
this is, this is not an uncommon
sight outside the Kathmandu Valley.
Inside the Kathmandu Valley, there
are thousands upon thousands of
children whose roots originate from
villages such as Sanita Lama’s.
Inside the Kathmandu Valley there
experimentation with drugs and
make a batch of Mega Muffins. We
made our muffins, and consumed
the lot. We most definitely felt the
hallucinogenic effects of the drug!
Time slowed down. 1 minute felt
like 1 hour. I went to the toilet and
back, thought it had taken me hours
when it actually took 3 minutes.
The walls were bending and colours
So why are these drugs illegal? Why
not let everyone broaden their horizons? In truth, not everybody can
handle their drugs. They are easy to
get addicted to, and can have severe
side effects if misused. Sensible use
of alcohol is no more than 21 units
per week at regular daily intervals,
and look at how we handle that.
40,000 people die from alcohol
PROJECT 9
are countless children who work 14hour days so that they may survive.
Many of these children do not see
the money that they have earned
because it is their parents whom
require it. Sanita Lama was one of
the many children who was forced
into child labour due to poverty and
not as some might claim a lack of
love. For four years she courageously worked in a carpet factory so that
she might survive.
I can further name and describe 16
such children who have suffered the
indignity of such events. All 17
children have been rescued by the
Nepali Rug Mark Foundation,
which rescues and rehabilitates children until class eight. Unfortunately
for these children, school does not
finish until class 10. As students in
the UK, it is very difficult for us to
truly understand this -though let us
try. After all, what would you do if
WESSEX
were looking particularly strange.
At one point we were rolling around
on the floor for a very long time
laughing at perhaps the funniest
thing that has ever happened
(although I am not quite sure what!)
Although this was not the most
pleasurable activity of my life, it
was quite an experience. Character
building, and experiment worthy.
The way I figure it, I am at a time of
my life where I can experiment with
sex drugs and music with the minimum of consequences compared to
the rest of my life. I have no career
to wreck, no examples to set.
DRUGS
entire night. Whatever made me
happy, E made it 10 times better.
The ways I could be friendlier, and
more confident than ever have stuck
in my day-to-day life. It sounds
quite sad, but it actually has
changed my view on life and the
way I see people.
A couple of weeks ago, a good
friend and I decided to continue our
Ian Wickens
‘Time slowed
down.
One minute
felt like an
hour.’
SCENE
the University wrote you a letter
telling you that you could not study
the final year of your degree course
because the Government was withdrawing ALL financial support?
There would be bedlam of course.
In Nepal there is just an unnerving
silence and sense of despair -followed by tears. Rug Mark is not to
blame for its inability to finance the
education of these children. They
are unable to because they do not
related deaths every year. I know far
too many people who get violent
when drunk for my liking. If widespread acceptance was gained of
drugs such as Ecstasy, LSD,
Marijuana, then use would not be
such a serious matter as it is today.
Regular use would be more common, addictions would most likely
increase. Sensible use would not be
as likely. I feel that although drugs
such as Ecstasy are illegal, we can
all have a lot to gain from sensible
occasional use.
Moral issues oftan provoke extreme
views, and drugs are no exception.
The following websites have some
slightly biased views to absorb:
www.ecstasy.org
www.trashed.co.uk
www.new-scientist.co.uk
www.urban75.com
have the money to support all the
hundreds of children they try to help
until class ten.
Anita, Sapana, Lila and Mamta
were all told to return home several
months before they could finish
class eight and what did they return
to? Weaving carpet factories. They
are all still children and deserve to
be so. Can you imagine spending
your childhood weaving carpets
from 4:30am in the morning until
darkness, day after day until the
miraculous could arrive? Where is
the happiness in coping with the
cuts and bruises from the thread?
Where is the self-respect in watching the rich kids attending school
each morning? There is none. There
is only the suffering and the humiliation of having nothing.
Project Nine was formed to help
provide education to these 17 children so that they may, god-willing reach distant dreams. We have successfully raised the money necessary to sponsor all 17 children, until
the end of class nine but we must
still raise a further £5400 to reach
our target. So far £1400 has already
been raised but £4000 still remains
outstanding. Project Nine must successfully raise the money by April
of 2003 or Sanita Lama and all her
friends shall return to the carpet factories once again -at the age of 15.
If you think that you can help or
would like further information; email me at [email protected]
SCENE
WESSEX
PAGE 23
Wessexscene.co.uk
Dealing with Epilepsy
Lindsey Brown
This summer I graduated from
Southampton University with a
law degree. It was an emotional
day for myself, my friends and
my family as I had struggled
through my three year course
whilst dealing with the effects of
my disability at the same time. I
had been diagnosed with epilepsy
in 1998. Many people have very
stereotyped views of people with
disabilities, however I (along with
hundreds of others) am testament to
the fact that a disability need not
stop you from achieving your goals
or realising your ambitions.
Most people know that epilepsy
causes seizures, and it is obvious
that their unpredictable nature can
interfere with coursework and revision.
However that is not where the difficulties end, the copious amounts of
medication I take in an attempt to
control the seizures makes studying
difficult. I find it difficult to
remember things such as what the
lecturer has said thus making it difficult to write coherent notes, as
well as losing large amounts of
memory as a result of a bad seizure.
It is common for me to forget how
to spell simple words or how to
even form individual letters.
However I managed to get through,
mainly because the University is so
supportive.
If the law faculty had not proven to
be so fantastic, I would never have
got through my degree, and it is
even less likely that I would be
about to commence a PhD.
Obviously, support is important
from your family and your friends,
yet I have found invaluable assistance in surprising areas, for example the ladies that work in the law
faculty office. The law department
provides such an accepting environment it is unsurprising that they
can be found to be bending over
backwards to accommodate people
with all manners of disabilities mobility difficulties, dyslexia,
chronic medical conditions, or
mental health illnesses - all needs
are listened to, understood and
accommodated.
They pro-actively explored whether
I needed any adjustments to enable
me to take complete the course dis-
creetly and without any fuss. They
showed understanding and, most
importantly, faith in my academic
ability. I am sure that not all departments or faculties are this supportive to their disabled students, but
they should be. The support you
need is probably out there, even if
you’re not sure where to find it.
In
addition,
the
Disability
Discrimination Act Part IV should
help students by getting education
providers to think more creatively
about the support that they can provide to disabled students.
In addition to the support received
from the law faculty, the Disability
Services also gave me tremendous
aid and encouragement. Although
the department is overstretched and
overworked, there is usually someone to answer any queries you may
have, and if not they will get back to
you as soon as possible. They can
advise you on applications for
Disabled Student Allowances and
can counsel your department on
how to help and support you. They
have also set up a ‘Study Skills
Mentoring’ scheme. This is a
unique one-on-one way of developing learning strategies that prevents
Who Nose Best?
Cyrano De Bergerac at the Nuffield Theatre26th September- 19th October
Set in the 17th Century, Cyrano De
Bergerac is a re-working of
Rostand’s original swashbuckling
comedy of passion, heroism and
sacrifice that questions society’s
perception of true beauty. Though
heroic in many ways, the central
character, Cyrano, fails to compete
in society’s beauty test due to his
elongated nose that defies gravity.
However, his poetic manner gives
him an inner beauty that is unrivalled.
Cyrano duels whilst composing a
poem at the same time, refusing to
destroy his opponent until the
rhyme can be completed. The beauty of words and life are inextricably
linked in the play and is infused
with a love of language, of verse
and of wit. The core of the play
revolves around the triangular relationship between Cyrano, Roxane
and Christian and the emotional
tension that runs throughout the
entire play. Cyrano’s love for
Roxane is as big as his nose, though
her heart has been captured by the
handsome soldier Christian. The
play takes an unexpected twist
when Christian asks Cyrano to help
him woo Roxane with the poetic
words that he lacks.
The cast of Cyrano De Bergerac is a
strong collaboration of many talented actors. Unsurprisingly Simon
Robson steals the main limelight
with his excellent portrayal of the
witty and complex character
Cyrano. His loud confident voice
gives an unrivalled stage presence
and his manner is faintly reminis-
cent of Fraser Crane with his complicated language and educated
persona. His humour and ‘panache’
draws in the audience in a way that
helps us understand and relate to
his character.
Cyrano De Bergerac is unique in
the various emotions that are
evoked. The audience is thrown
into a journey of humour, romance,
swash-buckling action and ultimately, tragedy. The emotional tension that runs throughout the entire
play keeps the audience in suspense right up until the final scene.
This entertaining and masterful
dramatic writing is a thrilling journey with one of the all-time great,
complex and flamboyant heroes.
your disability interfering with your studies. It also provides
someone to talk to
about any problems
(and they can offer practical help)
and they make great dissertation
proofreaders too!
Although it was arguably me that
climbed every mountain on the path
to graduation, there have been so
many people supporting me, carrying my bags if you like or dangling
carrots in front of me (I may not
look like a mule but I am equally as
stubborn!). Since I received my
results many people have commented on my determination and perseverance, though I rather see it as
stubbornness and pigheadedness! I
truly believe that it has been my
overwhelming desire to graduate
that has got me through all the difficulties I have faced over the last
three years. When I first began my
law degree I was determined not to
receive any ‘special treatment’, not
to use my disability as an excuse or
to exploit it. However I realised at
the end of my first year that the only
person I was cheating was myself.
Maybe it takes a stronger person to
admit they need help and then proactively pursue it to enable you to
make your ambitions a reality.
PAGE 24
Wessexscene.co.uk
SCENE
WESSEX
Get It Off Your
Chest:
Have a Debate
Phil Whittington
A Club for All
Alex Bazin
Welcome to Southampton (and for
those of you who are not freshers,
welcome back). As the dust from
freshers week settles, and you start
to wade through the thousands of
flyers that you collected at the bunfight, you may find yourself asking
what is the Clubs and Societies
department and why do we exist?
Well in a sentence; We fund and
oversee all of the non-sporting
groups that affiliate to the students
union. In English this means that all
of the Departmental, Political,
Performing Arts, Religious, Social
and International societies that exist
for your social and cultural needs,
are looked after by us. As well as
this we also act as a central contact
for those who wish to join societies
or wish to set up a society that we
don’t have yet.
This year is an exciting year for
clubs and societies, with the addi-
tion of a Student Activities sabbatical to share the workload we can
expand and offer more for our societies and their members. We will be
having the first set of societies honours for those societies and individuals who have made great improvements over the year and deserve our
recognition. These will be presented
at the joint AU and Clubs and
Societies ball in March. Continuing
on the social theme our societies
will be welcome at the Gold night
on Wednesdays at the union, where
in addition to having a fantastic
time, they can earn money for their
society. Finally I will be lobbying
the university for better space for us
to meet, discuss, rehearse and perform.
If you have any questions about getting involved or have an idea for a
brilliant new society, or anything
else for that matter get in touch with
me at [email protected].
Busy at the Bunfight: Southampton students are spoilt for choice with the
huge array of clubs and societies on offer....
A Lifesaving Lift to your CV
As employers are beginning to look
more and more for areas of experience other than academic achievements, student lifesaving has
become one of the fastest growing
diversions for students of all ages.
Southampton University Lifesaving
Club is one of the most successful
student lifesaving groups in the
country and, as at the beginning of
every year, we are currently recruiting new members to gain valuable
qualifications, join our exciting
socials and take part in some of the
most fun inter-university competitions you will find anywhere.
Qualifications achieved by SULSC
members during the last year have
included the National Pool
Lifeguard Qualification, RLSS
Lifesupports 1 to 3 and the Bronze
Medallion amongst several other,
well recognised awards. These
cover first aid and water-based lifesaving and lifeguarding from beginner to advanced levels. This means
that anyone is welcome in SULSC
regardless of experience. About 6
times a year, members of the lifesaving club, including competitors
and people who are just there for the
fun of it, travel to other universities
to compete in lifesaving competitions. This is also a chance to meet
loads of people and always an
excuse for a wild night out courtesy
of the host club. As well as being
very successful in recent competitions (5th in last years Nationals)
SULSC’s annual boat party is the
most eagerly awaited social event
The Lifesaving team pose for a pic at the Nationals in Nottingham
on the ‘club circuit.’ During the
summer term, the lifesaving club
starts open water training on
Bournemouth Beach on Wednesday
evenings. This will also give you
the opportunity to do your RLSS
Bronze and Silver Cross open water
exams.The Lifesaving Club also has
close links with Bournemouth
Lifeguards. Any member with a
current Bronze Medallion can go
across to Bournemouth at weekends
and assist Bournemouth Lifeguards
patrol Bournemouth Beach from the
beginning of May through to the
end of September. Club nights are
Tuesday 8-10pm for qualifications
and
Sunday
9-10pm
for
fitness\competition training. All
take place at New College Pool. For
more information contact Neil
Mackin - [email protected] Or
just turn up!
“Free speech is the whole thing,
the whole ball game. Free speech
is life itself”, is the quote that currently is on the front of the Debating
Society’s Website. It is something
that Salman Rushdie said off the
cuff in an interview with a Guardian
journalist back in 1990. After all, he
is a guy who knows a thing or two
about freedom of speech and he is
absolutely correct when he says it.
Southampton Debating Society is
here to provide a forum for debate
for all the students here. This coming year we will, as we have in previous years, meet once a week with
a motion to discuss. People who
wish to speak form teams with each
other and argue one side of the
debate and compete to see who can
be the most convincing. We also
send teams away to compete against
other universities in Inter-Varsity
matches on a fairly regular basis.
This year we will be varying our
motions so that there is something
for everyone. We will be looking at
a few political things such as attacking Iraq, some moral issues like foxhunting and also this University’s
decision to disaffiliate from the
NUS. Do you have an opinion on
any of these and fancy speaking? If
so or you have any other ideas for
other topics you would like to
debate or see debated then please let
me know. If you want to join but
don’t feel confident enough to
speak yet then still come along and
there won’t be any pressure to speak
unless you want to.Our first meeting
will be Tuesday 8th October, in the
Committee Room (Level 2, Union
Building) at 7.30pm. After the
debate, we will of course be going
to the Student Union Bar. Also this
year, in a departure from recent
years, we hope to be getting some
famous speakers down here. None
is presently confirmed, though
check the website for details
throughout the year. I urge everyone
to come along and give it a go. It’s
an excellent way to meet new people, have a laugh in the bar and hone
a skill that will be useful for the rest
of your life. If you are interested or
have any questions then please email me at [email protected]
Finally I want to wish everyone,
particularly the Freshers, a fun and
productive year. Hope to see you at
Debating Society.
Don’t be shy, email
the stories from your
club or society to
[email protected]
o.uk and let everyone
know about it!
SCENE
WESSEX
PAGE 25
Wessexscene.co.uk
Roaming Tiger
Southampton representative at important sporting forum in South Africa
On his return, I asked Tiger a
few questions about his experience in South Africa and his
new role as a sporting politician....
What did you think of South
Africa?
It is without a doubt a very beautiful
country. It is a real shame that this
beauty is still clouded by the aftermath of Apartheid and there were
times when the experience became
quite emotional.
How has your experience in South
Africa changed you?
I think I’m a lot more appreciative
now of the opportunities that I have
had by growing up in Britain.
Whether the surroundings made a
difference is uncertain, but the 6th
FISU Forum certainly tackled the
issue of discrimination head on. In
the picturesque and political setting
of South Africa, 120 delegates from
over 30 countries gathered to share
views and opinions on the role and
world of student sport.
FISU (Federation International du
Sport Universitaire) is the
International governing body of
Student Sport. This 6th Forum presented an opportunity for two
British students to attend as representatives of British Student Sport.
Tiger de Souza (Vice President
Student Activities) made it through
the selection process and found
himself a political delegate in Cape
Town on 7th September.
What brought about this change?
I think learning more about
apartheid first hand and visiting
places like Robben Island, District
Six and the townships had a huge
impact on me. Especially, watching
the kids from the township playing
sport barefoot. I now aim to try asnd
make a difference.
How are you planning on doing
that?
Personally I feel that we as students
hoard vast amounts of old kit. We
throw away perfectly good trainers
and football boots and I hope that I
will be able to encourage donations
of sports clothing and equipment
from local charities, schools and
students and that we will be able to
take that over to South Africa this
summer and help improve the sporting opportunities in townships.
The conference itself was broken
down into sections. The mornings
were taken up with presentations
made by a variety of guest speakers
on issues from Doping and
Performance Enhancing drugs
through to the role that Student
Sport can play in tackling the issues
of HIV and Aids. This was followed
by discussion on the issues raised in
smaller groups and the groups presented their findings to the Forum
the following morning. However,
The findings of the group were that
FISU could do more to represent
students and student sport and needed to expand its horizons beyond its
elite International program. It was
further suggested that this could be
achieved through greater links with
the student body that it represents.
And so historically this Forum
Hockey Team Aim to
‘put things right’
Jon Shafe
qualities of his predecessor.
The Men’s 1st XI hockey team are
aiming to improve upon a disappointing season last year.
Existing stars of the team include J.
Unwin, J. Bowes, H. Reed Herbert
and C.Ridley who will be joined by
new freshers to produce a side of
real quality. A balance between
compassion and composure needs
to be found in order to sustain the
high standard of hockey that was
only barely glimpsed last year.
It would be justified to conclude
that last season was disappointing
for Southampton 1st XI hockey.
Edged out in the BUSA league to
the institute and a quite embarrassing position in the local Saturday
table did not reflect the quality
fielded. This coming season therefore provides a perfect chance to put
things right and begin to establish
Wessex as a Hockey side to be reckoned with.
Hoops for hope
one of the most important issues
raised at this Forum was the lack of
Student Representation on an
International level. The students felt
that this issue needed urgent
addressing and held an extra meeting in order to debate this issue further.
This task is likely to be made more
difficult because of an injury to
Dave Hemsley, last year’s captain
which looks to sideline him for the
whole season. A consistent performer last season and a popular
captain, Hemsley has had to hand
his role over to Roger Ellison who
has both the ability and leadership
The local Saturday league should be
looked at by the team as a chance to
experiment with both new players
and formations and whilst results
are important, performance is their
main objective. Consistent performances will then create a platform to
create a versatile side that can
sparkle in the more important
Wednesday BUSA league.
The 1st XI is more than equipped
and capable of achieving the results
needed for a very successful season, they have the talent and now
consistency on the pitch is the aim.
mn
olu
c
s
’
r
o
t
i
d
E
with Laura King
Hi again!
Term has unfortunately started so its
time for the hard work to begin! I
hope you all enjoyed freshers’ week
and all you first years have settled in
ok. (and recovered from those first
week hangovers!) Now that everyone is back from the summer break
and fully recouperated the serious
business of sport can begin again
too!
This month we have the excitement
of the Walkabout Cup to look forward to. Loads of different sports
and the opportunity to thrash
(again!) our Institute rivals. Our
brave sportsmen and women will be
wanting lots of people to come and
cheer them on so get along to
Wellington on the 13th and get
behind the team. Transport there
and back is provided so there are no
chose to constitute an International excuses!
Student Council for Sport. This
announcement was made in the It was good to see so many Freshers
closing presentation on the last day at the bunfight on Saturday. I hope
of the Forum and was issued in the you all enjoyed it and that you had
Cape Town Declaration. In addi- the opportunity to meet sports club
tion, Tiger was elected the President members and find out a bit more
of this International body and as a about various sports and their sociresult both Southampton and eties.
Britain will play a pivotal role in the
development of student sport on an Congratulations to Tiger for being
voted the president of the
international level.
International Student Council for
Any students that are interested in sport. It will hopefully help to
finding out more about this Council improve university sports and also
or would like to play an active role help to place Southampton on the
in its development, should contact sporting map.
Tiger on [email protected]
PAGE 26
Wessexscene.co.uk
intra mural
it’s fun.....its run for you!
Ben Durrant
Intra Mural sports are a great
way for students of any sporting
persuasion or for those who just
want a laugh to get involved in
‘friendly’ team sports, during
both the winter and summer periods.
Intra Mural sport is run primarily
for the university community and
for non-university team players, so
even if you don’t think you’ll be
good enough, why not just give it a
go, what’s the worst that could happen? Well apart from minor injuries
that is!
Getting involved in the sport is
easy; all you have to do is form a
team within a department (see
departmental notice boards), within
halls of residence, or just amongst
your mates! You can pick up team
registration forms from the DSR,
sign the ‘CONTACTS’ list on the
intra mural notice boards, or attend
the relevant registration meeting
(see table below).
SCENE
WESSEX
8000 of you do
it every week!
The sports take place on a variety of
days, so there really is no excuse not
to have a go, even if you’re only
mildly interested. So what’s stopping you, sign up soon, register a
team, and so what if you get battered each week, its always an
excuse to drown your sorrows or
celebrate down the pub!!
BADMINTON (mixed)
sports hall
BASKETBALL
sports hall
HOCKEY (mixed)
Wellington
NETBALL (women)
sports hall
RUGBY
Wide Lane
SOCCER (11 a side)
Wide Lane
SOCCER (5 a side)
sports hall
SQUASH (mixed)
S.U. building, lvl. 1
VOLLEYBALL (mixed)
sports hall
sports hall
Tuesday
16.30-19.00
Friday
12.00-14.00
Sunday
10.30-12.00
14.00-16.00
12.00-13.00
Thursday
Sunday
10.00-12.00
14.00-16.00
Wednesday 14.00-16.00
Sunday
10.00-12.00
14.00-16.00
Mon/Tues 12.00-14.00
Friday
20.00-22.00
Wednesday 12.00-14.00
SPORTY? your talents are needed!
Want to coach?
Need the opportunity to gain
qualifications
and have fun at
the same time?
Vo l u n t e e r
coaching could be the answer.
Becky, is the new DSR Sports
Development Officer, and she is
looking for volunteers to coach children in a variety of sports.
There are a range of opportunities
available such as officiating leagues
and involvement in the Young
Officials Programme, chances to
attend sporting occasions such as
Wimbledon and free National
Governing Body sports coaching
awards. Volunteers are also needed
to run school leagues, assist in
youth centres and coach people with
disabilities.
Becky is keen to stress that volunteering can be tailored to fit around
peoples individual schedules and
does not have to take up very much
time. It looks great on a CV and can
also lead to careers in sport and part
time coaching jobs. It can also help
to build essential skills such as leadership, teamworking, initiative and
self awareness, as well as communication skills, particularly with children.
If this appeals and you would like
to find out more information, Becky
Dance is based at the Department of
Sport and Recreation, 38 University
Road. Alternatively she can be contacted on 02380 597 168 or at
[email protected].
Mountaineering
Comes to Southampton
Southampton University Athletic
Union are one of only 6 venues to
have been chosen to host one of
the British Mountaineering
Councilís illustrated lectures. This
will take place on Tuesday 12th
November at 6.45pm in the
Lanchester lecture theatre, building
7 on the Highfield Campus.
The lecture may be of interest to
anyone who participates in hill
walking, climbing or mountaineering as it will illustrate skills and
ideas for the winter outdoor season.
Speakers are Andy Perkins (IFMGA
guide) and Helen Teasdale from
Plas y Brenin outward bound centre.
Tickets cost five pounds fifty each
and will be available on the door.
Laura King
Go to the gym, that is! Between
6000 and 8000 people are estimated
to use the SUSU fitness suite every
week, meaning that over 1000 of us
pass through every day. The majority of these users are students with
staff making up only around 800 of
the weekly total.
on the game. Two of these machines
have been ordered on trial and will
be available from the beginning of
November.
An electronic card system may also
be introduced in the next few
months. The system will allow the
users fitness programme to be
Due to this demand and an increase
in the number of students at
Southampton, the fitness suite has
been enlarged three times in the last
four years and it is now over double
its original size. Most of the current
equipment will be moved to the
new sports centre on its completion
in December 2003. The new gymnasium will be roughly twice the
size of the current one with around
100 stations. Some exciting new
pieces of equipment will also be
appearing soon.
A revolutionary new computerised
exercise bike is to be tested in the
cardio room. This has a screen on
which it is possible to play computer games of the type available on a
Playstation 2 console. A choice of
games will be available and the
resistance level of the pedals will
adjust automatically with progress
entered on to it and it then records
each workout when placed in the
holder on a machine. This means
that the user can review their workout and also adjust their programme
with their fitness instructor if needed. It will be particularly useful to
those working towards a specific
event or goal or those on a weight
loss course.
Air resistance machines are also
being considered for the weights
room. These provide an alternative
to metal weights and may be especially useful to those recovering
from an injury as they are slightly
more maneuverable.
Around 1000 students pass through
the fitness suite
each day
New equipment and expansions to
the gym are entirely funded by proceeds from the 14 000 sports membership cards. These have also
assisted the fitting of new fitness
facilities at Glen Eyre Halls and at
the Southampton Oceanography
Centre.
The gym is open from 8am until
9pm weekdays and 9am until 8pm
weekends. Sports cards are available from the Department of Sport
and Recreation.
SCENE
WESSEX
Wessexscene.co.uk
PAGE 27
SPORT
WESSEX
wessexscene.co.uk 11th Ocotber - ISSUE 757 - PRICELESS
Oar-some!
Bunfight fun for all!
Deep in the depths of the
Southampton Students Union
Sports Hall, a large collection of
sporty people collected to represent
the 70 or so sports club.
The day was aimed at freshers and
they turned up in droves, seemingly
keen to try the many weird and
wacky sports on offer.
Several of the clubs were keen to
Row your boat away at Saturday’s Sports Bunfight
SPORTS CARD MEMBERSHIP SCHEME
2002/2003
You need a sports card to take part in a any kind of university sport, from playing on the rugby team to once a
week aerobics. It also provides savings on the
many sports facilities available as well as being necessary for Itra mural sport.
There are three kinds of card available: something to suitt both the more and less active person.
SPORTCARD: free use of indoor and outdoor courts/pitches, partcipation in Intra mural sport and to make casual bookings up to 7 days in advance.
ANNUAL COST: student: £17.00 staff: £23.00 alumni: £40.00
SWIMFITCARD: free use of swimming pool, fitness suite and weights room, attendance at fitness classes and
participation in Intra mural sport. 25% discount on selected DSR coaching courses.
ANNUAL COST: student: £36.00 staff: £42.00 alunmi: £58.00
SPOFITCARD: advantages of both the above cards and 50% discount om selected DSR coaching courses.
ANNUAL COST: student: £46.50 staff: £58.00 alumni £84.00
Users of the fitness suite and weights room must attend an induction courseand pay the relevant fee before using
these facilities.
recreate their sports, even if it meant
dargging a full size yacht into the
hall, or sitting precariously balanced in a canoe.
The day was a huge success and this
should be mirrored in a large
turnout for the many sports trials,
taking place over the next few days.
One can only hope that this will
lead to Southampton creeping further up the BUSA ladder.