cry wolf issue 4

8/14/2019 Cry Wolf Issue 4

1/16

crywolfIssue

04March 2008

Free

www.wolvesunion.org

DRUGS


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2 crywolf//march 2008

Dear Readers,

As the editor of Cry Wolf magazine I must firstly thank mydedicated team for their efforts and contributions to themagazine. Also Id like to thank Jas for her help and Darshfor his help in editing the magazine. Cheers guys! I wouldalso like to say thanks to anybody whos read the last issueand that any feedback positive or negative is much appreci-ated. You can direct your feedback through our cry WolfMySpace and Facebook. Also if you want to get involved inthe magazine your welcome to come along to our meetingsthat occur on Wednesdays at 1pm.

Another item that I feel obliged to address is the com-plaints about one of the jokes featured in the last issue.(Good start eh! The students take over and look what hap-pens). The joke made reference to dyslexia and this obvi-ously caused offence to a couple of readers, for this Iapologise. However, and in no way in defense of its pub-lishing I thought I might highlight that the joke was writtenby a dyslexic individual. If you want to front your ownopinion on the subject the joke is printed below in reallysmall print, so if youre easily offended ignore it, if not geta magnifying glass.

Joking aside I hope you enjoy this issue, we have some newreporters working for us and I hope you arent too of-fended by it.Make music not war, Peace Out,

Jon Gray,Editor Cry Wolf Magazine

contents

editors letter

Editors letter 2Cry Wolf team blogs 3Dont go bananasCry Wolf myspaceStudent mob 4Why commuting is crapBooks you must read before you leave uniFuture or bust? 5

Rex boydSkinny latte fo you madam? 6ShoppingSoaps im a student, get me a life! 7Launch night, Highway 61Drugs 8Reviews 10

Extreme sports @ uni 12Interview with Antonis, founder of the ReActors

Untitled musical project interview 13Megs pasta recipeSabbatical officers blogs 14Adverts 15Facts and jokes 16

page

Aguy Iknow died ofdyslexia, he choked onhisownvimto.


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blogsI once went a week without drinking alcohol. Although myfive senses returned to normal and I was able to rememberpast experiences with general ease, it also enabled me to en-gage in lucid and rather boring conversations and see the

world and how it truly is. It wasnt worth it My organshurt.Andew Heaton

Well what to say? Apart from its all about the fish fingersandwiches. Ive been recycling this week, three boxes inand still not all the empty bottles are gone from my room.

Ah to be a student and a casual alcoholic, talk about handin hand. Stephen Green

Howdy! Im Anna, a second year English Language andMedia and Communications student. I have an unhealthyobsession with soap operas, Brendan Fraser and the sitcomFrasier. I believe Jimmy Carr is god-like and that the MightyBoosh is amazing, although Im not entirely sure why.Ill be entertaining you with my randomness. Peace out andlove for geeks!Anna Maria Clark

My name is Yvonne. I am 22 and a 2nd year student of

English Language & Linguistics. Besides snowboarding andeating sushi, my other addiction is [at ev nfnetk skpt]. Yvonne Skalban

cry wolf

myspaceI feel a certain degree of shame and sadness that we havehad to cave into contemporary Internet trends and create aMyspace page for Cry Wolf. Its a sorry state of affairs Ihear many of you scream at the page, but its when onesteps away from personal pages and moves into the wholenetworking side of an otherwise tacky social website thatone (why have I just turned into the Queen?) realises theinner potential of said tackiness.

Anyway check it out at http://www.myspace.com/ucrywolf

cry wolf team

One in four students in the United Kingdom will have mental health difficulties at somestage in their lives. And despite the fact that you are more likely to murdered by someone

you know than somebody with mental health difficulties, there is still a lot of usage ofterms such as nutter, psycho and dangerous when referring to people suffering from theseserious complaints, particularly in the popular presses. As well as attempting to debunkthese myths, we at the University of Wolverhampton Student Union are running a cam-paign in order to promote methods in order to maintain good mental health.

We are running the campaign across all four campuses during the dates above. There shallbe postcard tips on maintaining good mental health and debunking popular myths aboutmental health, recipe booklets encouraging you to eat a healthy and balanced diet, stresstoys, a workshop on managing your time and exam preparation, details on organisations in-side and outside the university on where to go should you have any difficulties. However,its not simply about your diet, and making sure that you manage your time properly, we

want you to have some fun also and do things that you enjoy doing such as spor ting activi-ties, we have some tokens so that some of you can enjoy free exercise classes in the weekbeginning the 10th March (Contact ? for details of this) and nights out too so Honeytrapand Paparazzi are on side too. In conjunction with Sport Relief the university is holding asport relief mile at the Walsall campus, so you can run either 1, 3 or 6 miles for the charity,

and enjoy the event with stands on Sunday 16th March, and maybe even try out a new ac-tivity. For any more details and information about these events, please [email protected] or come in and see a member of the executive committee inthe meet the exec room just off the main student union concourse, and check out the otherarticles in Crywolf magazine. Sarah Keddie

bananas!dont go


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student mobis it a ninja! Oh no its just a student giving it to the Man!

On tuesday 22nd April at 6.00pm the whole of wolver-hampton is planning to flash mob Asda. The idea beingthat we all go there and purchase one item (the most ran-dom getting multiple cool points).

A secret sign has been set up, this will be a rub of the rightear lobe which can be followed by a chin rub if your are

unsure (because you know its so easy these days to pull onyour own ear and get addmitted into a secert cult), so wecan tell if the weird looking fellow in the milk section is inor out. For more information go to the CryWolf facebookpage and follow the posted link.

One rule, every one most wear black.Stephen Green

books you must read

before you leave unias voted by the cry wolf team if you have any alternativesuggestions let us know

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Everyones read 1984, thats a safe assumption. But noteveryone has picked up a copy of Animal Farm. Dont letthe fairytale structure lull you into a false sense of security,this book is actually a bitter and scathing account of StalinsRussia. It relishes in the idea of animals running their owncommunity, only to have it corrupt by those have desig-nated themselves as the leaders. This is an important bookabout how power can turn a person sour and how quicklygreed can overtake the integrity behind those who set out

to create a better world.Andrew Heaton

Disco Bloodbath by James St JamesDisco Bloodbath by James St James This story of drugs,murder and extravagancy is the perfect read for any studentinterested in the lifestyles of the famous Klub Kidz in the1980s. The humour conveyed contributes to the overallcynical tone which makes this book a page turner. Chickensuits, special K (not the cereal) need I say more? Well, ifyou cant be bothered to read it, Macaulay Culkin and SethGreen star in the film version, Party Monster.Anna Maria Clark

Im writing this on the 50 bus which is stuck in traffic in Moseley. Oh woe is me! I go through this ordeal four days a week.Why not move to Wolverhampton? I can answer that. The cooking expertise of my Mom, Virgin Media and lack of rentpayments. My bus, which happens to smell like crusty old man underwear, (N.B. just an assumption, not from personal ex-perience) and Charlie Red is full of school kids who are fuelled on chocolate and arrogance.My next port of call is the beautiful New Street station. The dcor is enough to make me quit uni and take a full time job

within the demolition industry.My favourite train, if thats possible, is the 21 minutes past from platform 4C. This is the Liverpool Lime Street train.Drinks are served. All is well. The journey is one you would find in the Chronicles of Narnia. Oh the sights, the magic, andthe obnoxious chavs who wish to share their ever-so inspiring music with me in the quiet zone.I dont mean to criticise commuting, but it is cr*p. But many of the students here commute and every day we get on thebus and the train, same t ime, same place. Its just routine. One good point, it gives you time to do all that reading you weresupposed to do before your lecture. Bostin! Anna Maria Clark

whycommuting

is cr*p

Don't Hassel the Hoff: The Autobiography

Is there really a need to say anything? An obligatory readfor all Germans. He will always remain in our hearts as theman who single-handedly crushed communism, broughtdown the wall and reunified Germany. How could any

woman not jump in his car?The book supplies you with everything you ever wanted toknow about the Hoff, who has officially been nominatedthe most watched TV star in the world by the GuinnessBook of Records. Just like Michael Knight he went on a

crusade to save the world - but ended up having to savehimself... Bless!Yvonne Skalban


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future or bust?Everyone dreams of escaping to paradise, living a carefreelife away from the troubles of everyday life. Thousands ofmiles away from western civilization with just the land tolive off, will you be the next to join the tribe?

In April 2006 Vorovoro Island, one of Fijis 333 islands be-came the centre of attention, when it was announced that asocial experiment was about to take place. Travellers fromaround the globe would live together in a utopian, sus-tainable and democratic community alongside the Malitribe. A hard fact to accept when only a month ago, if youapproached somebody in the street and asked them where

Vorovoro Island was, many would just shrug their shoul-ders. But this isnt just an island where people go for a holi-day, its a community in reality and online.

Similar to Myspace.coms online network, you can subscribeand interact with people from around the world in an on-line environment. The difference is that online tribe mem-bers can pay 120 a week and spend up to 12 weeks livingout their tribal fantasies on this alluring island. This isntjust a question of how many online friends you can add,this is a way of life for over a thousand people across the

world. Both the website and the island are run democrati-cally, with online votes deciding who is the next chief onthe island.

Tribewanted.com have leased Vorovoro Island for threeyears from real-life chief, Tui Mali, who lives on the island

with his family. The majority of the Mali community live onthe neighbouring island, working alongside the foreign tribeto create a sustainable community, a far cry from our west-ernised Starbucks filled streets.

When I first heard about this project my mind was overrid-den by Danny Boyles portrayal of paradise in The Beach,

with a sun-kissed Leonardo DiCaprio and a beautifulFrench couple living the dream. This begs the questiondo they actually survive? Well, the answer is yes. Unlike in

the film where people are savaged by sharks, over onethousand members make this community far from a disas-ter.

Although living in paradise may seem to like a dream,Tribewanted.com have had their fair share of trouble onthe island. When the idea was first introduced the mediascrutinised the project claiming that it was merely a time-

share or another online scam. In todays society, it is easy tocreate fear amongst the public when it comes to onlinescamming. Especially with articles such as Jem Reportsscrutinising online review circulating, it may make prospec-tive viewers think twice about joining the tribe. Yet

Tribewanted.com appear to have overcome this, provingthat they arent just another Castaway or Big Brother, creat-ing a self-sufficient multi-national community.

After a five-part BBC documentary that was aired in Janu-ary this year, it is obvious that the island will attract moretravellers seeking the desired eco-friendly existence. Thequestion that rests on everyones minds is whether the proj-ect can survive any longer? It is clear that the project is vi-able and the Mali community are happy living alongside theforeign tribe. The lease for the island will run out in 2009,then it is up to the Chief Tui Mali as to whether the project

will continue. As more people sign-up to the online com-munity, seeking to travel to the island, it is not out of ques-tion to say that there is a possibility that this is what thefuture of eco-friendly living holds. It is what connects ourInternet obsessed culture with an eco-friendly sustainablelifestyle.

If you would like more information about the island andonline community go to: www.tribewanted.com or catchthe BBC 5-part series on BBC iPlayer :

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/To read more about the Jem Reports article:http://www.thejemreport.com/mambo/content/view/260Emma Robins

Rex started his stage life at 16 in school plays, he then went on to do open mike nights in his hometown of Kansas beforemoving to simply setting up on the street and getting his comedy out there.

He then came to England and went to university for a couple of years before going to a drama school (explains the jug-gling) but he didnt feel confident so he left a year out and did comedy mostly at nearby students unions who were advertis-ing for acts at a comedy night. He then came back with his newfound confidence and took drama and dance.

In possibly a shameless attempt to get us on his side Rex reckons that students are cool and are always good to performtoo. He likes playing both sizes of venue, with the larger ones you get a massive buzz and a big response, but with thesmaller more intimate ones there well more intimate and you can talk to the audience more, actually having a conversation

with them.

It took Rex a while for Rex to get into his groove, his own particular style. He says the best thing to do is just gig and gigand gig and you will get better.

We asked him if you need think skin to be able to do stand up, he told us that you almost have to go up there and fail a fewtimes, he recalls one time when he went on and nobody in the bar even knew there was stand up on and the whole gig he

was basically shouting hey look over here!, whats worst though is when a really good guy goes on first and hecklers areyelling out go home the f irst guy was way funnier.

He loves the huge buzz you get from stand up, he points out that its better than working all day. In the beginning Rex onlydid stand up to see if he could, thats lasted twenty years now, the last time he had a proper job was working as a stagehandfor the university.

Visit Rex at rexboyd.co.uk or watch his stuff on youtube.com.Stephen Green

rex boyd


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skinnylattefor you madam?

Whatever happened to the good old sayings size doesntmatter and good things come in small packages?

With the rise of the size zero trend and increasing popular-

ity of new curvy figures they seem to have faded away likelast summers tan.

Now Im all for the anti-size zero campaign, its dangerous,stupid and far from healthy.But I would like to just take a minute and give a little shoutout to all those young girls and women out there who arenaturally slim, without the aid of seaweed shakes and agrape for breakfast.Now I have nothing against the curvier figure, but for onceI would like to go into a shop and easily find a top in mysize. Instead, I have to wrestle with the clothes rail to get tothat solitary Size 8 jumper at the back, covered in fluff,

with a questionable stain.

Speaking of Size 8, since when did it become so frownedupon? Reading a magazine the other day there was a

celebrity discussing her weight who said shed rather have ahealthy, curvy figure than be a skinny size eight.

Am I wrong to find that slightly offensive? I mean ahealthy curvy figure is perfectly fine, but I dont think being

a Size 8 makes you unhealthy. Im certainly not about tosend for the doctor.

It seems to be acceptable to joke Oh youre so tiny; youdslip down the plug hole or look at you all skin andbones. But would the comments Oh I bet youd getstuck in the plug hole or look at you all round andchubby be met with the same hearty laughter?...I dontthink so.

Also why do people assume that if youre slim you donteat enough? You wouldnt catch me missing a meal! I eatcookie dough ice cream, I have whipped cream on my hotchocolate, and I enjoy plenty of other calorific naughties.

The curvy style is a healthy body image, but if some slimpeople dont have the curves to join the group it doesntmake them any different.

So no Mr Waiter-man, I wont be having a Skinny Latte, Illbe having a normal cup of coffee please, and you can make

it anyway you want, small, regular or large.

After all, size doesnt matter.Rachael

shoppingIts Saturday morning, 0900 hours, youve worked hard all

week at Uni (well sort of) and now youre preparing your-self for the shopping ahead. Your friends have called, thetime is set and the destination is Wulfrun Shopping Centreand surrounding high street.Purses will be jingling, bargains will be brought, clothes willbe flying off, and shoes will be hunted. It may get messy, itmay get violent, and it will most probably be expensive, butthis is your missionand youve chosen to accept it.

What might seem a simple shopping trip is actually con-ducted with military precision. It can start with choosingthe shoes youre going to wear (comfortable and able to

withstand prolonged queuing), or deciding on the handbagto take (large, but not too bulky).

As you enter each shop you become determined and fo-cussed, scanning the layout and deciding on an appropriateshopping structure. Perhaps starting from one side of the

store and working your way around to the other, not for-getting the middle of course, or the jewellery section in thecorner.

Some students will brave it alone, carefree and leisurelybrowsing from shop to shop, and there are those who huntin packs hitting Topshop, River Island and Next one by

one leaving no shoe un-turned. They take their time, they

know what theyre looking for, and they get the job done.

Whats more, armed with their trusty NUS Student Cardsthey can get the job done very well and with 10% off too guilt free shopping at its finest!

At some point however batteries will need to be rechargedand any casualties attended to, so a frothy coffee andchocolate brownie is more than adequate. Here the perfectopportunity arises to discuss shopping tactics or possiblestrategical manoeuvres (such as hiding that dress youre notsure about behind a rack of jumpers, so its still there ifyou decide to come back and buy it).

Several more hours spent marching through shops and de-partment stores, and eventually its time to halt. Yourshiny, big bags are starting to weigh you down and your

friends have fallen behind. After loading yourself into ataxi (its only 10 minutes to your student house, but desper-ate times call for desperate measures), you collapse ontoyour sofa. Bargains were brought, shoes were hunted andpurses did jingleat ease soldier, your missions complete.

Rachael


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soapsIm a student,

get me a life!I, like millions sit down and watch this poo. Crap it maybe,but its oh so addictive. Im already battling against myFacebook addiction, which has already lost me hours frommy glorious MSN.

You see, soaps are very similar to good ol sex. You do itbecause you feel you have to, but when it stops you wantmore. My good and dear friend Yvonne has also pointedout that a soap will usually last longer. Good observation.I have worked out that I religiously watch over seven hoursof soaps every week. Those hours could be spent working

on a bibliography (they take longer to write than an essay)or I could watch a documentary which analyses the eco-nomic state of Peru, or really anything other than thisgenre.

The soap opera has a magnet-like force similar to howteenage boys are drawn to the chest area belonging to JodieMarsh.

As an avid viewer I guess Ill just have to realise that Imdestined to be forever interested in the collection of ear-rings owned by Pat Evans, the sheep of Emmerdale andthat great institution known as Roys Rolls.Anna Maria Clarke

launch nightHighway 61Cry Wolf made its presence known at the Students Union re-launch, because not only are they back, we are and were aim-ing to be the best we can be. The first issue was just a tester with our new team which thanks to our opening night hasgrown. We have got into the swing of things now and will be going from strength to strength bringing into the murky lightof day everything you, the students, need to know.

What can I say folks? Our opening night was a blast, we dominated the indie rocks room (Im dimly aware that they mayspell rocks with an x but I have principles.) throwing out lollypops left right and centre like some kind of ... well so kind

of lollypop spreading machine I suppose.

Because we are so nice and kind and great and awesome and modest we even put on a band for you, because we firmly be-lieve in supporting local music, the superbly talented Highway 61 playing classic rock tunes with one or two of their ownthrown into the mix, they didnt falter one jot aside from an unfortunate broken string. They didnt let this get to themthough and were back with even passion after a shor t break belting song after song, including Sweet Home Alabama,Nothing else Matters and House of the Rising Sun among others. Each with their own particular twist. I immensely en-joyed their set, the stand out for me being a cover of Radioheads Creep.

The crowd seemed well impressed and the room was packed from the start of their set till the end, they defiantly wentdown well and I am proper looking forward to seeing them again.

A big thank you then to Juliana, Dave, Nathan and Tim and I leave you with sage words of wisdom which may or may notcontain a hidden message to the band.Next time, you can carry your own amps. Stephen Green


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20. KFTATStreet names: Abyssian Tea, African SaladStreet price: 4 a bunch.UK users: 40,000UK deaths per year: none recorded

19. Alkyl NitriteStreet names: poppers, liquid goldStreet price: 2-6 a bottleUK users: 400,000UK deaths per year: none recorded

18. EcstasyStreet names: E, love drug, hug drugStreet price: 1 -E8 a pillUK users: 500,000UK deaths per year: 27

17. GHB

Street names: Liquid EcstasyStreet price: 5 a doseUK users: Not known

16. Anabolic SteroidsStreet price: 20 for 100 tabletsUK users: 42,000UK deaths per year: 0 recorded

15. MethyiphenidateStreet names: Vitamin RStreet price: 15 a hitUK users: 40,000UK deaths per year: 0 recorded

14. LSDStreet names: Lucy, Trips, Paper MushroomsStreet price: 1-5 a tab -UK users: 83,000UK deaths per year: 0

13. 4MTAStreet names: Flatliner, Golden EagleStreet price: 1-f8UK users: unknownUK deaths per year: 0 recorded

12. SolventsStreet price: 2 and upUK users: 30,000UK deaths per year: 5 0-60

11. CannabisStreet names: Dope, Hash, BobStreet price: 40-E10 per ounceUK users: 3 millionUK deaths per year: 1

10. BuprenorphineStreet names: Subbies, TemmiesStreet price: 2 a doseUK users: unknownUK deaths per year: 2

9. TobaccoStreet price: 5+UK users: 10 millionUK deaths per year: 114,000

8. AmphetaminesStreet names: Speed, Whizz, Dexies, BillysStreet price: 8-E12 a wrapUK users: 430,000UK deaths per year: 35

dr


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Drug policies in Britain have remained largely unchanged over the last 40 years. The ABC sys-ten?.vas introduced in 1971 after an explosion of recreational drug use in the 1960s. Over severalyears, scientists and members of the governments drug advisory committee have been looking atwhether this classification system is outdated and irrelevant, and guess what... it is! They compileda list of the top 20 most dangerous drugs, helped by a team of psychotherapists and specialists.If the current system was retained, alcohol would be considered a class A drug and tobacco a classB. However by their analysis, these substances are more dangerous than ecstasy, LSD andcannabis. Ecstasy is currently a class A drug but considering the amount of fatalities caused by thedrug, (there are around half a million users of ecstasy each year and fewer than 10 deaths) alcoholshould surely be considered way more dangerous, considering that one adult dies every day fromacute alcohol poisoning. The boffins are now putting pressure on the government to scrap this

outdated system and introduce a new one, which better reflects societys drug use.Read on for the top 20 most dangerous drugs, I guarantee you will be surprised! Lisa Rose

7. Benzodiazepine (Valium)Street names: Benzos, DownersStreet price: 1 a dose UK users: 100,000UK deaths per year: 406

6. Ketamine (Horse tranquillisers)Street names: Special K, Vitamin KStreet price: 15-E40 a gramUK users: 100,000UK deaths per year: 1

5. AlcoholStreet price: 1 upwardsUK users: 40 millionUK deaths per year: 40,000

4. Street MethadoneStreet names: The precious, slime, greenStreet price: 10 per lOOmiUK users: 33,000 (illegal users)UK deaths per year: 295

3 .BarbituratesStreet names: Pink Ladies, Red DevilsStreet price: 1 -2 a tabletUK users: unknownUK deaths per year: 20

2. CocaineStreet names: Charlie, Coke, BaseStreet price: 30+ powder 10+ crack rockUK users: 780,000UK deaths per year: 214

1. HeroineStreet names: Brown, Skag, Gear, SmackStreet price: 10-20 a bagUK users: 300,000UK deaths per year: 700

gsData obatined from:www.bbc.co.uk/horizon


10/16


guitar hero 3

review

sI stand legs apart and braced, the neck of my Kramer feelssweaty in my palm, my bassist beside me flicks back his hairand readies himself as the drums kick in and the first notesof Holiday in Cambodia ring out.

But no Im not onstage at Bar Korova (bonus cool points ifanyone knows where that is) but in the much less glam-orous setting of my room, I am of course talking aboutpossibly the best and defiantly the most addictive consolegame of our generation. It is Guitar hero III.

The latest installment builds on the popularity of the earliergames and adds a few new touches, the best being the newco-op career mode allowing you and a friend to claim noto-riety as guitar wielding b*st*rds from hell. The only prob-lem with this mode is the fact one of you will have to stepback and accept the role of playing bass as not enoughsongs have lead and rhythm par ts.

The boss battles are a cool, though at times frustratingtough nothing can ever beat the massive ego rush you getfrom beating Slash.

For your money you get an impressive array of over 70songs including bands like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath andsurprisingly The Dead Kennedys to name but a few, also ifyour lucky enough to own an Xbox 360 you get the option

to download yet more songs via Xbox Live.

Where Guitar Hero really excels is as a party game, nothingbeats getting drunk and playing really loudly and very oftenreally badly, the downside is to play effectively at a partyyoure going to need two controllers for some head to headaction to go down and these are not cheap. Hopefully youknow someone with the game or can get hold of a secondpad wise, if you can I urge you get the beers in get themates round and have a guitar hero party!

Now Im going to say something that may shock and scaresome of the hardcore Guitar Hero fans among you, buthere goes, I prefer Guitar Hero II. Boo, hiss etc... I reallydo prefer it and no not just because its easier (which I havenoticed it actually noticed I was wonder why I was sh*te onIII but pretty handy on II, so I played one then the other

and the notes attack you faster on the latest version) but be-cause I believe the tunes are just so much better, that mayjust be the electro-pop robot in me but excuse me while Igo play Less Talk More Rock for the twelfth time today.

After watching the very impressive Cloverfield I startedthinking about the whole idea of giant monster movies (or

Kaiju as their known in Japan) and how the creature alwaysseem to contain a metaphor, the film having a moral or a

warning to it.

Now its not just giants that do this back in the 50s everywell behaved invading Martian was a communism, StarshipTroopers was a fascist film and Lord of the Rings couldbeen seen as a film that rails against unchecked industrial-ism and its a fantasy representation of the first world war.

But now what you have been waiting for on to the big guys.

CloverfieldThis is the 9/11 monster, the first you know of him is hisnow legendry decapitation of the statue of liberty, whatbetter way to attack the American ideal of freedom.

GodzillaThis radioactive killer lizard is the embodiment of Americaand its nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Icant help but to think that America missed its mark when itremade it in the 90s though. Taking it completely out ofcontext a bit and rather charmingly blaming the creation ofthe beast on France.

King KongThe original big monster is meant to show the animal sav-agery of the remote corners of the world, poignant when itfirst arrived to the cinema not so much now that prettymuch every corner of the world has been explored todeath.

PulgasariNow this film is meant to show the evils of capitalism. Per-

haps the way it was made has become more famous, witheverybodys favourite dictator, Kim Jong-Il, kidnapping aSouth Korean director and forcing him to make it.Steven Green

monstermadness

Its important to remember that what you are seeing here isnot a stand-up show. Granted Henry is able to make the audi-ence laugh with the grace of a professional comedian but theshow is titled Henry Rollins: Spoken Word. And thats whatit is; a 3 hour show comprised of the man himself regalingthe audience with whimsical tales and amusing anecdotesfrom his own life.

And yes you did read that right3 hours! With no interval!You dont get that with many shows. Thats value for moneyright there. You wouldnt think that a huge, square-faced hardman would really have anything interesting to say to an audi-ence, but youd be wrong. So very very wrong.

His anecdotes and tales lead one to suspect that he has lived arather interesting life. From his gigs in South Africa to wakingup one morning and suddenly deciding to visit parts of Asia,Henry is never stuck for something to say. And if that littlestory happens to make the audience explode in to laughter,then thats all the better.

He also has no shame in telling people about his past achieve-ments, everything from fronting Black Flag in the 80s, to

henry rollins:Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Monday 28th January 2008

publishing 16 books and to owning his own radio show con-veniently titled The Henry Rollins Show. His opinions (as wellas his stories) entertain, inform and make people laugh. Andthis goes back to what I said earlier about the importance ofunderstanding that this is more than a comedy gig. Henry hasa lot to say about the world and some of it from a politicalstand point.

Hmma big American guy talking politics, this can only leadto jokes and rants about President George Bush. Again withthe wrongness. Although he makes reference to the Bush ad-ministration and gives insight into his own personal opinionabout the war in Iraq, he doesnt mould parts of his showaround that in the hopes of gaining audience sympathy whichis something that a lot of comedians fall into because, quitefrankly, its a cheap and easy way of getting laughs.

The good thing about Henry Rollins and his spoken wordshow is that you dont specifically have to know a lot abouthim in order to be able to get what he is saying. Hes comingfrom a different angle with this tour so anyone who attends(whether fan or otherwise) is sure to be entertained by him.Maybe even a little inspired. Maybe.Andrew Heaton


11/16


Ia

mlegend

I dont wish to nag. And I dont want to come across as beinga cynical moviegoer. But when it comes to having certain ex-pectations about a film, and then having those expectationsconfirmed, I cant help but feel a little smug. You forgive me,right?

My expectations for this film: A sub-standard interpretationof a classic piece of literature that has no (or little) artisticmerit and is produced by a group of cigar-smokers with dol-lar signs for pupils. And in this instance Hollywood provedme right. I Am Legend is another attempt at cashing in on thehorror/thriller franchise whilst doing not a lot of justice tothe original source its adapting.

Richard Mathesons 1954 classic sci-fi has perhaps unforgiv-ably been given a makeover. A 21st century upgrade, if you

will. This is by no means a bad thing if you want to appeal toa demographic that watches Pimp My Ride and is sponsoredby Apple Computers. It does make me wonder if, somewhere,at some point, prior to production, a board meeting was held

were a discussion took place about whether or not to renamethe film iAm Legend.

Okay I may have been slightly over zealous in those first cou-ple of paragraphs. The film itself is not actually that bad. Itsby no means awful, but it definitely dominates the wholecould have been so much better slice of the pie chart. It didhave some good moments in which I will come to in duetime. Patience children. Patience. Im also not going to spenda lot of time comparing this to the novel, simple because Ihavent read it in a few years so my memory of it is fuzzy.However, I will try to make comparisons from what I can re-member.

As the last man alive, it is mainly a story about survival in anisolated environment. His struggle as he tries to continue liv-ing with the rest of the world hunting him down at night as

vampires is the entire essence of the story which is kept wellin this version. What gets me is this should have been a lessonabout being able to cope with loss of technology and com-panionship and all other things that we mere mortals take forgranted. But the film seemed to miss this point entirely.

One thing that did perplex me, however, was their choice tocast Will Smith as the protagonist Robert Neville. An actionhero who raps about getting jiggy wit it (whatever the hellthat means) and shoots aliens with middle-aged Caucasians isnot the kind of person I wouldve personally picked to playthe last man on Earth. But as the film progresses you do seethe reasoning as to why they chose a muscular specimen toplay the role; what with all the hunky action moments andbulging, glistening bicep parts. And therein lies the problem.

As far as I can recall, Mathesons idea of Robert Neville is notsome health conscious, tee-totalling, everyday exercising beingliving in a giant apartment complete with perfectly fitted barri-cades and an arsenal of weaponry. This fully protected andcapable hero unfortunately took away some of the moretense moments of the film as I didnt really feel that he was inany danger due to his knowledge, expertise and calmness. Did

I say rippling biceps already?

As I said earlier, as a stand-alone film its not actually that bad.Of the few action sequences that took place, they were nottoo elaborate (apart from maybe one) that they made a mock-ery of the original work and turned the whole film into justanother action flick. The quiet, tense scenes were also quiteenjoyable but as is the case with a lot of contemporary hor-ror films rather predictable. A lot of the scenes that takeplace show Nevilles progression throughout his days as aloner who is obviously trying to lead as normal life as he can,

whilst at the same time coming face-to-face with this ratherabnormal scenario. How the hell do you cure 6 billion peopleof the lesser-known disease vampirism (suckius-lots-o-bloodi-ous to give it its Latin term)? Im sure Calpol would no doubtbe on the case had they not all been turned into vicious crea-tures or died in horrible horrible ways.

In general the bad points seemed to outweigh most of thegood points about I Am Legend. Its clear even from the out-set of the target audience for this film and was not made asan attempt to honour Richard Matheson or his work. Perhapsthey felt the wagon for Sci-Fi / horror movies (see ResidentEvil and Silent Hill) was still very much ripe for boarding. Per-haps Im just being a spiteful twat. Either way I would onlysee it once. Possibly when drunk. Andrew Heaton

why Cloverfield1) It is largely an unhappy filmThis may seem like an unusual reason to enjoy a movie.Wheres the lovey-dovey ending where all the characterspredicaments are resolved at the last minute and they allskip off into the sunset to get ice cream as a cartoon ferretor something winks at the camera in an everythings goingto aaallllright kind of way? Well, f*ck that! Im a bit tiredof Hollywood style endings that bring the characters out ontop in what is blatantly an impossible situation to get outof. If you want to see a film where the protagonist realiseshis/her (lets face it, its generally men anyway) heroic po-tential and saves the day just in time for the inspirational or-

chestra music to kick in and the credits to roll by, then gosee a f*cking Disney film.

2) No details given about the monsterOn a serious(ish) note now, this is a great aspect to Clover-field. Think about it: Whats worse than a giant monster de-stroying your home city indiscriminately? A giant monsterdestroying your home city indiscriminately that you (thatsyou the viewer) have no background information on. Weknow nothing of its name, where it came from, where itsgoing, what it wants or even how it came to be. This leavesthe mystery of the monster open to interpretation by theaudience. Seriously, films dont have to spoon feed youevery sordid detail so you dont have to think about thingsin order for it to be good. Use your f*cking brains for once.

3) Unconventional filming styleWhenever we watch a film in which something frighteningor dangerous is happening to the characters, we can usuallysit back in our comfy chairs safe in the knowledge that al-though what we are seeing on screen is bad we are pro-tected by the 4th wall. Not in this film. With the only pointof view being entirely from one mans camcorder the 4th

wall is broken when we are taken on the main charactersjourney through danger. This makes the film a lot morepersonal and intimate as well as making the encounters withthe monster a hell of a lot more intense. And say what you

will, but this made Cloverfield so much more terrifying

than any horror film I have seen in recent years.

4) No logical conclusion. No closure.Again this all ties in with the ambiguity of the film and themonster itself. The ending is abrupt and sudden and leavesthe audience guessing as to what happens. This was toomuch for some moviegoers as they were not smacked in theface with tied up loose ends and an ending and thus left thecinema with the intent of complaining to the staff aboutthe film (something my girlfriend actually overheard some-one say). As for the film having no closure, I disagree.Maybe not on a grand scale but in terms of the main char-acter (Rob) and his journey there is an element of comple-tion in his sense. Think about it.Andrew Heaton

Thisisyournon-stan

dardfilmreview.Ratherthan

giveanintricateacco

untofmyexperienceofthe

filmitselfIwillrunyouthroughfourmainreasons

whyCloverfielddoesNOTsuck.

doesnt suck


12/16


eXtreme@unisportsDid you ever think that you would like to learn climbing,skiing or snowboarding but for some reason you never gotround to doing it or just didnt know where to start? Are

you looking for a new challenge? Are you already experi-enced but want to take your skills to the next level? Do you

want to meet like-minded people at university?If your answer is yes to any of these questions, the Recre-ational Activities Society might be just right for you! ReAc-ters is a society for everyone interested in outdooractivities, such as climbing, skiing, snowboarding, mountainbiking, etc. Everyone is welcome, regardless of level ofability. Members encourage and push each other but alsogive you a helping hand when you are face down in thesnow and theres always someone to reassure you when the

vertigo kicks in.

ReActers organise excursions and socials, such as the regu-lar jaunt to the climbing centre in Wolverhampton, or tothe dry slopes in Telford or the snowdome in Tamworth.

The highlight so far and the reward for all the hard practice

was the societys big ski trip to Vars, France. Due to thesize of the group, the ReActers get very attractive dis-counts for many activities. Yvonne Skalban

antonis,founder of the ReActers:How long have the ReActers been running for and how many membersare there?

The society has been running for about a year now and counts 60 members.

You have just returned from a skiing trip to France...Yes, it was our first big skiing trip. 16 people went and because we were such a big group,

we got a really good deal; we paid 350 altogether. It was a lot of fun.

And you are already going on a second trip in March/April?Yes, from 28th of March till 5th of April 2008 we are going to Saalbach in Austria withthe BUSC, the British Universities Snowsports Council. About 2500 students from univer-sities all over Britain will take part. Saalbach is well-known for its good snow conditions, di-

verse slopes, a picturesque village and thriving nightlife, so we will surely have an amazingtime.

What activities are planned for the future?As soon as the weather improves we are planning to go camping for a weekend, maybe

Wales, to do all sorts of outdoor sports like rafting and cycling.

If you fancy an adrenaline kick, dont hesitate to join the Recreational Activities Society!Email [email protected] or checkhttp://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9943488988 for further information.

Some useful links:

http://www.abc-of-snowboarding.com/http://www.abc-of-rockclimbing.com/http://www.abc-of-skiing.com/

Really good websites with nicely animated tutorials, equip-ment guides and anything else you need to know.

interview with


13/16


untitled musicalproject interview:Birmingham based Untitled Musical Project have been playing around the local circuit, throwingtheir noisy, energy fuelled music at whoever stands in their way. With a recent line-up change and acurrent tour I caught up with lead singer Kieran Duffy, to see what the guys were up to.

What have you guys been up to lately?Drinking, eating, sleeping, writing and getting UMP 2.0

road worthy.

Did you find the new album a challenge torecord?No, it was a fairly painless experience due to the fact thatDan Swift is probably the funniest man alive.

Are you going to film any more videos for yournew tracks?Probably not for any tracks that we have released so far. Imsure well have some sort of release before the years out,

which will require us to do another.

How are things working with the new drum-mer?Really well, it helps more than I would of thought having a

drummer who likes to drum. No disrespect to James but hejust didnt want to be in a band anymore and it was show-ing. Hes still involved helping us record demos and such,so we havent quite got rid of him.

If you could compare yourself to any band,who would it be?When we started we aimed to sound like a mix between Pix-ies/Jesus Lizard/Ikara Colt/Mclusky. Weve moved awayfrom that towards something between The Fall, BeastieBoys and Mclusky. Admittedly thats 3 bands but oh well.

What has been the highlight of playing so far?Hard to say really its all rather a blur.

and the worst part?Playing bad gigs in general due to our equipment beingcheap and knackered is really frustrating.

If you can describe your music in threewordsFast, Rambling and Sweaty

If you could play alongside anyone, who wouldit be?Probably the Pixies as they were my later teenage years ob-session.

What are your plans for the future?Write.Record.Gig.Repeat.

Listen: www.myspace.com/untitledmusicalproject

Buy: Untitled Musical Projectat www.play.comLive: 1 March Kasbah, Coventry16 April - The Yardbird, Birmingham.Emma Robins

megspasta recipeRight, first, I have to explain a few things. I am not a chef. In this recipe there will be lots of phrases such asbung a bit of this in and lob a bit in. If you have trouble understanding with this, please, replace them inyour head with your own alternatives, such as place the mushrooms lovingly in the frying pan, or whateveryou do to mushrooms. Secondly, my pasta sauces contain whatever Ive got lying around in the cupboard,and so never turn out the same twice. Hopefully, youll experiment with yours too.

Whatyouwillneed:

Somepasta.

Somesalt.

Someoil.

Atinofchoppedtomatoes,ortwoifyourecookingforfourpeople.

Atinoftunaorapacketofham,whicheveryouprefer.

Somecheddar.

SomeParmesan.

Somemushrooms,andonionstooifyo

uwant.

1) Grab a saucepan, and ensure (or assume, its up to you) that it is clean.2) Put some salt in the saucepan, along with a little bit of oil. A LITTLE bit, otherwise the pasta will end up like someform of slimy fish. Eew.

3) Add hot water to the salt and oil, and pour enough pasta for however many people that youre cooking for. I cant giveyou measurements, cos I always bung in whatever I think I need, Im afraid.4) Grab another saucepan and into this, lob the tomatoes and the tuna/ham. While this is heating through, grate somecheddar, and then throw that in too. Make sure you keep stirring this, otherwise it goes a bit burnt in places.5) Slice up the mushrooms and onions, then suddenly remember to stir the pasta. Thats what I normally do anyway.6) Grab a frying pan (did I not mention how much washing up this creates?) and put into this the chopped up mushroomsand onions. Fry until a nice brown colour. Not black. Black means they are burnt. Add these (when brown) to thetomato/ham/tuna/cheese mixture, which should be boiling nicely by now.7) By this time, the pasta should be done, so tip this into a colander or sieve to get rid of the water, then rinse with someboiling water to get rid of the oil that will have attached itself to the pasta. Put the pasta back in the saucepan, and thenthrow the contents of the other saucepan in with it.8) Mix the pasta and sauce together well, keeping it on a low heat, otherwise you end up with someone with a pile of toma-toes and someone else with a bowl of plain pasta.9) Serve out into bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan.10) Eat it. Run out of the kitchen before someone comes in and asks why youve used all of the saucepans.Megan Hellowell


14/16


The usual routines of Wednesdays over at Walsall are startingto draw to a close. This year has been exciting and my2006/2008 manifesto predictions of Female sport rulingsupreme have been confirmed. The Girls have grace Walsallfootball pitches and I have been over there to see them qualifyfor the knock out stages of BUSA as well as other teams suchas The Basketball Womens and Netball 1st. Both the Basket-ball and Netball managed to get through their first roundhowever unfortunately the Girls football fell at the final hur-

dle as they lost in extra-time, it should be noted they weremissing their new English Female representative Cloe as shewas training with the English team.

I have continued with member of the AU to tackle on goingpaper work and held discussion regarding the relationship be-tween the Union and its sports scholars. The A.U have re-cently booking members of The Track and Field team to theupcoming Indoor National competition over the Weekend ofthe 16th of March. The track team will be taking a number ofscholars with them and will be hoping for much succsess. Ifyou see them around please wish them luck.

CheersLeigh French

Yet again my time spent blog writing has been limited soheres an update on what Ive been doing lately.

I suppose my biggest project has been on one of our smallestcampuses! With the help of some of our permanent staff, lastmonth was spent renovating Telfords bar. I previously hadbeen described as old, a working mens club and outdated butmiraculously I is now a bright shiny new bar. It will be open

throughout the day for coffee very soon and a whole host ofnew activities ranging from yoga to self defence to Africandrumming. You tell what you want and well make it happen!

On the subject of telling us what you want, some of you mayhave seen my fill us in posters have gone up now. This nowneeds you to give us feedback and tell us what you like, dontlike or what we should be doing better. I need your help onthis one so please get in touch, and dont forget to leave acontact on there!!

I promised that I would compare us to other unions and Ivecertainly made a good start to that carrying out valuable re-search at Warwick, Birmingham, BCU, Queen Marys, Leices-ter and Loughborough, not a bad start!

Richard

It is the beginning of my final semester at Wolverhamptonand as I look towards the future, I will tell you what I havebeen doing in the past month or so.

Nationally

I have written to our MPs for City (Rob Marris) and Walsall(Bruce George) to register my disgust at the governments de-cision to withdraw funding for students studying equivalentand lower-level qualifications.

I am attending the great Higher Education funding debate inLondon on March 18th to make sure that the voice of stu-dents from institutions such as Wolverhampton are heard inthe impending 2009 fee review. We need to start acting nowto make sure that the government do not raise fees higher in2010.

Locally

I have been starting to put together the Student Written Sub-mission for the Universitys upcoming audit this year. I will becontacting student reps over the next few weeks to see if theyagree with my conclusions after all it is important that anyreport written by the Students Union mirrors the view ofstudents at the University.

All the best for the upcoming semester,

Karl

Hello all, as if we are on issue 4 of the year! Its brilliant! I amstill having a great time in office and achieving really goodthings. The university have committed 250k to CCTV on andaround our campuses which is great. We also received acheque from the University to symbolise the 1.3 millionpounds of unspent bursary money. The University spent it onstudent matters, including the CCTV.

I have loads to tell you and cant wait for Dont go Bananasto start. My full blogs can be found at www.wolvesunion.orgunder the meet your exec section.Love to you all!

Caz x

blogsto read all blogs in full visitwww.wolvesunion.org


15/16



16/16


5 funbroccoli factsIn this world where Slim Fast rules all and Atkins kicks the carbohydrate ass in all of us, Isay forget all this nonsense of fad diets and let us do it properly with a good solid diet andplenty of exercise. Now I know that as students you probably wont want to do this, there-fore I have compiled 5 fun facts about our friend Broccoli to try and change your fickleminds. After all broccoli is a rich source of blah blah blah and it looks like a mini tree.

1) The real name belonging to the broccoli is Brassica oleracea botrytis asparagoides

2) George W. Bush famously stated I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since Iwas a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I'm President of the United States andI'm not going to eat any more broccoli. So there!

3) Broccoli consumption has increased over 940% over the last 25 years

4) It was introduced to England in 1720. Wow!

5) Studies have shown that intake of broccoli can help reduce the chance of getting cancer.Hippocrates believed that food is your medicine and stated Your food will be your rem-edy Anna Marie Clark

things to do with an

easter egg1. Convince a naive child that if they stare at it for long enough itll hatch into a chocolatechicken.2. Paint it black and white and convince the same nave child that the egg is a misshapenfootball.3. Cut one in half and use as an edible bowl.

4. Make a hole in each end and use as a rubbish telescope.5. Bunch loads together and pretend youre a pixie surrounded by poo.6. Clap two halves together in quick succession to create the sound of a horse trotting (seeMonty Python & The Holy Grail).7. Melt it down and smear it all over your body, pretending youre some kind of chocolatejellybaby.8. Smash it over someones head, just for the lolz.9. Make yourself a giant Kinder Egg by opening it and putting a toy inside.10. Epic Easter Egg hunts.11. Use as a substitute for coconuts and make a coconut bra.12. Eat the b*st*rd thing. (Though not if youve previously done number2 or 8).Megan Hellowell

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12

pubs of the future

cry wolf issue 4

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