2012 Olympics

Virtual Bands

Fitness on a Budget

3D Films

Gambling Addiction

FORWARD>> TECH >> MUSIC >> SPORT >> SCREEN TIME >> LIFE >> IMPROVE Yourself >>

What ever Direction You Take. It’s the way Forward. FREE

APRIL. Issue One

On youth, education and his plans for the

future

++ PLUS ++

BillBailey

MUSIC & REVIEWS

4 LONDON FESTIVALS

Fancy some fun in the city

this summer?

5 PROFESSOR PENGUIN

The new London-based

Indie collective.

6 VIRTUAL BANDS

Virtual bands show real

talent.

TECH & GAMING

8 BUILD A TELESCOPE

Spoiler: it doesn’t even take

an astronomical sum.

10 GAMING

Tomb Raider 2012

FILM & TV

16 TV SNACKS

Breaking Bad. American

Only Fools & Horses.

17 AMERICAN

REUNION

The American Pie gang

are back with another in-

stallment of the franchise.

18 HUGO

Martin Scorsese’s first

foray into 3D.

SPORT

22 LARRY ACHIKE

Meet team GB’s Olympic

triple jump star.

IMPROVE YOUR-

SELF

11 LIVE YOUR LIFE THE

COOGAN WAY

You too can be Alan

Partridge.

12 FITNESS

Looking to get fit for free?

LIFE

14 BILL BAILEY

Get a glimpse of the funny-

man’s world in this exclusive

interview.

20 DOWN THE DRAIN

A look at the downfalls of

gambling addiction.

Editor: Miyo Padi; Deputy Editor: Graham Searles; Art Director: Samantha Loveridge; Picture Editor: Stefan Vasilev ; Sub: Emily Venables; Chief Sub: Marine Dalbard

CONTENTS

FORWARD IS...

4

18

14

FORWARD 3

gutte

r tex

tED’S PAGE

We know you’re a busy man but you’re probably a slightly annoyed one too. The end of the second term is rubbish celebration, isn’t it? A bit like a night in the pub !"#$%&$'()%*+",-.%/0#%1&23%4,%#$'%.#'+'45%

% 64#%4,73%".%#$'%!'(#$'+%8+"973%20&#0(#",8%:+49%;+&#"&%&$"77.%#4%6'<(*(%$'(#%but exams are so uncomfortably close it’s like you’re on the tube at rush hour. But ,'<'+%:'(+=%!'%(+'%$'+'>%

% ?40@<'%(7+'(*3%9(*'%(%/+"77"(,#%&$4"&'%/3%)"&-",8%0)%#$".%(!'.49'%<'+3%A+.#%copy of Forward. Well done you and, we hope, well done us.  It’s a good one, we )+49".'5%B44*%',408$=%",%:(&#=%#4%.#(<'%4C%#$4.'%/70'.%:4+%(%!$"7'%74,8'+%(,*%.''%you into Easter with a smile on your face.

% D0+%#'(9%$(<'%.7(<'*%(!(3%#4%/+",8%340%74#.%4:%#$408$#E)+4<4-",8%(+#"&7'.%and all the latest news. We think you’ll like it. It’s like a well spent hour on the net /0#%!"#$40#%#$'%#'9)#(#"4,%#4%.#(+'%(#%)"&#0+'.%4:%(&F0(",#(,&'.%)+'#',*",8%#4%$(<'%fun. 

  Forget lad’s mags. This is an ambitious young man’s mag. We know you’re !4+-",8%$(+*=%#+3",8%#4%A#%",%#$'%#"9'%#4%)7(3%$(+*'+=%744-",8%#4%#$'%:0#0+'=%$47*Eing down friends, work, girlfriends and uni and we want to make things easier by .'7'&#",8%#$'%<'+3%/'.#%A79.=%GH=%<"*'4%8(9'.=%A#,'..%(,*%.)4+#.%,'!.%:4+%3405%I"8$#%here. 

% J4%!'77%*4,'%(8(",%4,%#$(#%8+'(#%*'&"."4,=%!'%$4)'%!'@<'%9(*'%.49'%8+'(#%choices of articles for you and don’t worry the end of term is looking up…

In fact, it’s looking Forward.

                               Editor, Forward magazine

Screen Time > Gaming > Life > Sports > Music >Reviews > ImPROVE YOURSELF>

Hello

Stefan

Sam

Emily

Miyo

Graham

marine

@FORWARDbrunel

Seems as good a place as any to start.

Follow Us, Tweet Us

}}

4 FORWARD

TEXT: Emily Venables PIX

: fitnpretty.wordpress

Music

forward festivals

London’s premium outdoor dance event SW4 is returning to Clapham Com-mon for its ninth year. Held over the Au-gust bank holiday weekend for the first time ever, the event runs from noon till 10pm each night. Bit too early for you? Spare a thought for the residents side of London! (At least you can get the tube home or roll in for last orders at the pub.) Plus our SW4 veterans tell us that there are after parties which’ll keep the rave alive till the early hours.

Dubstep and electronica heavy weight Skrillex takes the headline slot on Sunday night as a London festival exclusive and fresh from collecting three 2012 Grammy awards, Skrillex has rapidly become one of the hottest acts over the last few years. Not to be missed!

Boozy BBQs and lazy days with your mates are a standard summer staple, how about a festival too? And the best thing about living around here? You don’t even need to leave the city with London playing host to a number of festivals across the Summer.

Expect a weekend carnival of anarchic entertainment as we celebrate a summer of love. Across 10 stages, London’s Victoria Park will be taken over by music, cabaret, cirque and entertainment.

Hackney’s Vicky Park is only a hop skip and a jump away from East-end hotspots Brick Lane and Dalston which gives the fes-tival a trendy, laid back feel. Expect lots of hipster glasses and strawberry beers.

The atmosphere is a lot more easy-going then that of your all-out carnage, camping festival - and the acts are great too!

Expect a mix of indie, folk and dub step. This is a chance to soak up the sun, listen to some banging beats with your mates and even get your face painted before jumping on a mini ferris wheel.

Now, how many festivals can offer that?

Rihanna, Nikki Minaj, Example, Rizzle Kicks, Professor Green, Cher Lloyd, Jessie J, Calvin Harris, Labrinth, Wiz Khalifa, Nero,

Tulisa, Pitbull, Flux Pavillion.

Beer? Check. Friends? Check. Award-winning, international superstar chart top-pers? Check and check!

In a former life, as the O2 Wireless Fes-tival in the heart of London, it attracted massive stars and, of course, huge crowds. The wireless festival has a new sponser and a name this year, but expect everything else to stay the same as the line-up does not dis-appoint!

Rihanna will be rocking up for her only UK festival appearance. There is no doubt that the woman of the moment will be the highlight of the summer for the lucky festi-val go-ers who bag a ticket. Do not miss the songstress lighting up the stage on Sunday night.

If electro house is more your thing then catch Deadmau5 on Friday.

Benji B, N Type, Shy FX, Skream, Zinc, Kelis, Camo & Krooked, Danny Byrd, Emile Sande, Friendly Fires, London Elektricity, The Prototypes, Lana Del Rey, Patrick Wolf,

The Rapture,

Chase & Status, Skrillex, Skream & Benga, Andy C: Alive, DJ Fresh, Flux Pa-

villion, Borgore, Friction, Doctor P.

TicketsFriday - £55.25 inc BF

Saturday - £55. 25 inc BFSunday - £58.50 inc BF

Tickets3-day weekend ticket: £99Saturday & Sunday: £87.50

Friday & Saturday: £65Saturday or Sunday: £49.50

Friday: £29

TicketsDay Tickets: £45 each.

2-day Weekend Ticket: £85.

Barclaycard

Wireless Festival

Hyde Park

6–8 July

LoveBox

Weekender 2012

Victoria Park

15–17 June

South West Four

Weekender ’12

Clapham Common

25–26 August

Acts

WHAT TO EXPECT...

FORWARD 5

TEX

T: G

raha

m S

earl

es P

IX: G

raha

m S

earl

es

MUSIC

Professor Penguin’s electronic sounds marry with their more traditional indie feel producing a beautiful radiophonic sound which, demonstrates the incredible depth and breadth of musicianship they offer.

“I just hope that we can continue to play together as a band and keep having fun, be-ing such a big group there’s a lot going on and everyone’s always very busy with their own projects, as well as trying to earn a liv-

ing.“We’re really looking forward to

playing some festivals this summer. Fingers crossed the record can at-

tract a fair following and then we’ll have to wait and see what

happens next!”

I had finished a song I could just bring it to the band and we’d set about learning it. Everyone was so committed to making the record sound as good as it could do live, it was an amazing thing to hear Planes com-ing together.

“I think we’ve done our best to realise the sound of the record because when we were making it there were a lot of decisions we made that were important to shaping the final feel of Planes, like the electronic el-ements. As much as we can we want to bring those parts into the live show but make sure still not to rely on them. It’s a good balance.” Johnny helps pinpoint ex-actly what makes them such an exciting new prospect.

Professor Penguin: making waves

With debut album Planes be-ing launched on 9 April, bookings for festivals such as The Secret Garden Party,

praise from Brian Eno who described de-but single Pilot as “a beautiful piece” and airtime on BBC 6 Music Professor Pen-guin are being recognised as something special.

A lot has changed since Professor Pen-guin’s inception back when lead singer / songwriter Johnny Abraham was at col-lege. It all started as a solo project but realising what he had written couldn’t be performed alone, he drafted in his friends to form the group.

In our interview with frontman John-ny, he muses on Professor Penguin’s pro-gression over the years, “There are a lot of us now and that has given the live show a really dynamic feel. It’s a lot more fun to be playing with so many great people instead of on my own.”

Following their two-month residency at Ronnie Scott’s, the band will be moving onto The Social on Oxford Street, on 10 April, in time for the release of their de-but album.

Johnny reveals that the album came more easily than expected, “The writ-ing process for Planes was pretty simple as the band only formed after I’d writ-ten the record. Once Jono [synths] and

The future looks bright for Professor Penguin, London’s hottest new indie band.

Debut album

out 9 April,

available on

Spotify!

Planes

6 FORWARD

PIX

: ©

EM

I, SY

OR,

Cas

h M

oney

Rec

ords

, Bea

t The

Wor

ld, M

ercu

ry R

ecor

ds, 6

79 R

ecor

ding

s

VIRTUAL BANDS, REAL TALENTS

In 2001, four animated musicians took over the world with a single song, a catchy mix of electronica, hip-hop and rock entitled Clint Eastwood. From that original single, Gorillaz went on to become the world’s most

popular virtual band, and a record break-er, featuring in the Guinness Book as the “Most Successful Virtual Band” ever. Be-hind the musical genius of the colourful 2D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle and Russel Hobbs,

munks are the very first example of a vir-tual band. Widely popular, they became a multi-million dollar franchise with a TV series (The Alvin Show, 1961–1962, Alvin and the Chipmunks, 1987–1990), animated films (Alvin and the Chipmunks in 2007, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel in 2009, Alvin and the Chip-munks: Chipwrecked in 2011), live shows and almost 50 albums.

Since the 1960s, cartoon bands have became increasingly prolific, with nu-merous animated TV programs devoted to both real-life bands (The Beatles, 1965–1967, The Jackson 5ive, 1971–1972) and fictional ones (The Archies, 1968–1973, whose hit Sugar, Sugar was one of the most famous pop songs of the 1970s) making their way to the small screen. The genre however slowly ran out of steam during the 1980s.

One thing that had fundamental-ly changed by 1997, when Albarn and Hewlett restored virtual bands to their former glory, was the technical environ-ment. Once Gorillaz paved the way, oth-ers soon developed their own concepts

MUSIC

Gorillaz recently returned with DoYaThing, featuring Outkast’s Andre 3000 and James Murphy organised by Converse. Forward’s Marine Dalbard looks back at the origins of virtual bands and, most impor-tantly, at the future of the animated music scene.

two men were later revealed to be at work: Damon Albarn, Blur frontman, and Jamie Hewlett, comic book artist and designer.

The two friends and former flatmates envisioned Gorillaz as an alternative to the humdrum reality of the late 90s music scene. “If you watch MTV for too long, it’s a bit like hell – there’s nothing of substance there,” explained Hewlett in an early in-terview. “So we got this idea for a cartoon band, something that would be a comment on that.”

Albarn and Hewlett ended up imagin-ing an entire (and complicated) back story. It starts in 1997 when a mentally deficient keyboardist is put into a coma, by a Satan-worshipping musician, after a failed at-tempt at a robbery. Following many adven-tures and life-threatening accidents, the unlikely pair eventually start a band and their troubled journey to stardom.

A similar journey had been taken de-cades before, as long ago as 1958, by three animated singing chipmunks - Alvin, Si-mon and Theodore - band members of the famous Alvin and the Chipmunks. Created and voiced by Ross Bagdasarian Sr, the chip-

Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded Whether Nicki Minaj’s second stu-

dio album will be a stroke of genius or an absolute disaster is still pretty much up in the air. Two of the titles released so far have received extremely mixed reviews (Roman in Moscow, Stupid Hoe), while Starships and Roman Reloaded both enjoyed greater success and billboard recognition. Will the hip hop sensation survive her sophomore album?

Release date: 3 April 2012

The Dandy Warhols, This MachineThe Dandy Warhols’ long-awaited ninth studio album, This Ma-

chine, is finally just around the corner. The 18-year-old band have prom-ised fans a “stripped down, woody and extremely guitar centric” record. Well They’re Gone, the first single, certainly lives up to that promise. On the heels of the remixed album The Dandy War-hols Are Sound (2009) and the great-est hits compilation The Capitol Years 1995–2007 (2010), This Machine will be the Dandys’ first opus, since 2008, to comprise entirely new material.

Release date: 24 April 2012

LOOKING FORWARD TO...

FORWARD 7

PIX

: ©

EM

I, SY

OR,

Cas

h M

oney

Rec

ords

, Bea

t The

Wor

ld, M

ercu

ry R

ecor

ds, 6

79 R

ecor

ding

s

for a year or so, and eventually met Kid.Dig-it-Ø, who I knew in Octagon City in pass-ing. He came here with Ceddy. Together we created 07017, kinda... And voilà, that’s how SYOR came to be,” recalls Maza.

“The music came first, the comic is basi-cally our autobiography... With it we’re try-ing to give you a glimpse of who we are.”

SYOR are now set to release a new mix tape this spring and a second LP later this year. Other comics are also planned, as the band intends to provide the “next level of music entertainment”... An idea which pretty much sums up the concept of virtual bands, who not only offer excellent sound, but create a world where visual, intellectual and musical entertainment collide.

Find SYOR at startyourownrebellion.com

“For the last 700 years, every single Glob-al President has been under the control of Kerry A. Cozack through an advanced ver-sion of the civilian chips you have lodged in your forearms. Aside from being watched constantly, you are also being robbed of your freedom to express yourselves as indi-viduals. It is said that the most dangerous man in these times is an inspired one. Well, we’re inspired, and won’t stop until every-one knows the truth. We encourage you all to remove your civilian chips and live under the radar. Join us and Start Your Own Re-bellion!”

The band has four members, four out-laws living in the “Desolate Zone”: Maza, Kid.Digit-Ø, Ceddy and 07017.

“I (Maza) was out in the Desolate Zone

and promoted them online. Sometimes, it was a success, as with the metal band Dethklok, hugely successful among metal fans. Sometimes, it wasn’t quite so well received... Remember Crazy Frog? The Gummy Bear Song?

A little more than a year ago, an inven-tive newcomer entered the virtual bands scene, blending hip-hop, alternative rock and electro. StartYourOwnRebellion (SYOR) released its first album LP320 on-line, in early 2011. They have since record-ed with Grammy Award winner J. Cole, and caught the eye of more than a few hip-hop fans. SYOR’s elaborate universe includes animation, music, merchandis-ing, and an animated comic book which narrates the band’s backstory.

MUSIC

Neon Trees, Picture ShowTwo years after their big break with

debut album Habits and its smash-hit single Animal (#1 on the US Billboard Alternative chart in 2010), the alter-native American band Neon Trees return this spring with their second album, Picture Show. The first extract, Everybody Talks, feels like a joyous ode to 60s pop, and teases with the prom-ise of an incredible new record.

Release date: 17 April 2012

Marina & the Diamonds, Electra HeartAfter a critically-acclaimed first studio album, The Family Jew-

els, and months of touring the globe, the Welsh singer-songwriter Marina Diamandis is back with the highly conceptual, Electra Heart. The album revolves around the adventures of Electra, an imaginary character that “embodies the lies, illusions and death of American ideologies involved in the corruption of self”. Radioactive, the new album’s first single, a suprins-ing euro-synth radio-friendly ditty, was released to poor reviews last year.

Release date: 30 April 2012

LOOKING FORWARD TO...

8 FORWARD

Text

::Ste

fan

Vasil

ev

PIX

: Ste

fan

Vasil

ev

How to Build A Telescope

Tech

It is an all too familiar sight, that orb in the sky that we have always known: the Moon.

It’s only natural to be fasci-nated by this mysterious con-stant orbiter of our otherwise

lonely planet. The Moon never ceas-es to amaze, and the more you look at it the more you want to.

All you need to do to take a close peak at this ancient celestial body and the stars accompanying it on its mysterious journey is to have a decent telescope at your disposal. In case you just don’t want to spend an astronomical sum of your hard-earned money, you can build your own telescope with just a bit of self-fulfilling productivity and less than £50.

It stands out in the sky every night in different forms. It beguiles with its mystery, effortlessly capturing the imagination of man throughout time. Without it, we could not exist.

1. Achromatic objective 60mm and 900mm focal length2. Kellner eyepiece 20mm focal lenght (40-50 ° field of view)3. Rack and Pinion focusing sys-tem

You can buy all three from most of the astronomy shops and provid-ers.

4. 60mm Round Downpipe5. Two 68mm Blackpipe sockets6. A pack of 1 1/2 inch waste fitting pushfit rings7. Glue

You can buy these from the plumb-ing sections of any of the major warehouses.

Materials

FORWARD 9

Text

::Ste

fan

Vasil

ev

PIX

: Ste

fan

Vasil

ev

TECH

Building it

This is the most important step. The length of the tele-scope depends on the com-bined focal lengths of the achromatic objective and eyepiece. So in this case we have a focal length of 900mm of the objective plus the focal length of 20mm of the eyepiece. This makes the length of the telescope ex-actly 920mm or 92cm. It is important that you cut out exactly that length from the 68mm round down pipe. Otherwise the telescope will be out of focus.

Cut out the thinnest part of one of the black pipe sockets.

Remove the screws from the rack and pinion system and insert the previously cut out piece from the black pipe socket - that would be the thin part of it - securing it by putting the screws back on. Make sure you insert it with the cut side facing the focus-ing system as it will fit much more easily.

Now insert the 60mm achro-matic objective lens into the wide side of the other black pipe socket. Make sure you use the waste fitting push fit ring as it will serve as isolation and the lens will fit in better.

Use a screwdriver to push the ring into place.

Use glue to attach the objective lens, which is mounted on the black pipe socket, to the one side of the 92-cm long round down pipe.

Then do the same with the rack and pinion system to the other side of the down pipe. Make sure the device is tuned up to its mid-level. Remember that the length between the lenses must be exactly 92cm. Any ir-regularities can be fine-tuned later by the focusing system.

Insert the eyepiece into its des-ignated place on the rack and pinion focusing system.

You are now the proud owner of a tele-scope with 45x magnification. Of course, when observing celestial bodies so far away, every shake of the hand will send them cha-otically moving in and out of your view. For that reason it is very important to secure the telescope before observing - ideally by mounting it on a good tripod or a home-made mount.

The view can be spectacular in clear skies. Despite being a quarter of a million miles away, with just a little bit of work, you can clearly see the mountains, lava plains, valleys and craters formed over 4.5 bil-lion years. You cannot help but feel over-whelmed by this magnificent sight.

Result

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 4

Fig. 3

Fig. 8

Fig. 7

Fig. 6

Fig. 5

10 FORWARD

F: The new game seems to embody a dark and gritty undercurrent. What caused the shift in tone for this reboot?

K: Our goal is to place the player in as many real world situations as possible. In order to do that we entered into the ma-ture space to ensure that we can immerse the player into our vision of emotion-ally charged survival. We’re dealing with a mature theme in survival and it’s essen-tial that we make a situation feel as real as possible to be believable.

F: Why chose to do a prequel rather than another sequel?

K: I think Lara’s a beloved character and Crystal Dynamics have really enjoyed working with her. We wanted to make her more relevant, approachable and relat-able to gamers and this was a perfect time for us to re-imagine the franchise, tak-ing Lara back to her roots. We think it’s a great way for players to learn who Lara is; what makes her tick.

F: What makes this Tomb Raider stand out from the others?

K: To us it’s about creating a new ac-tion/adventure that stands out. When we sat down and began re-imagining this new Tomb Raiding experience we thought about throwing everything out and start-ing from scratch. But we quickly realized that you forget who you are and what made you special. For this new vision it wasn’t about starting from scratch, but about taking the core pillars that made Tomb Raider special and re-imagining them for today’s gamers. Lara will still have the essence of what made Lara Croft special, the biggest difference is that you will now feel like she’s culturally relevant.

Fans will have to wait patiently to see if the new Tomb Raider will live up to ex-pectations. It has been 16 years since the original Tomb Raider game was released, so perhaps this new vulnerable Lara will be just the refresher the franchise needs.

ally customised experience, sometimes a QuickTime event is a great way to do that. What we’re trying to do with these is have some parity between the on screen action and what you need to do on the controller to be successful so these evolved quick time events really fit into the game world. We are only using these events where necessary though, the game is still designed in a way that fans of the originals are going to enjoy.

F: Will logic puzzles and the idea of ‘dungeoneering’ still have their roles within the new game?

K: This is still a really big part of the new game as raiding tombs is what Lara is best at, the difference is that we’re going to show players how Lara developed the skills you have seen in her previous games.

TEXT: Samantha Loveridge PIX

: tombraider.com

Gaming

Tomb Raider is a huge franchise. Nov-els, films, comic books and, of course video games. Fans of the action adventure series will no doubt have noted that games de-veloper Crystal Dynamics are releasing a brand new reboot later this year. The new-est game will take players back to Lara’s first adventure.

We caught up with Crystal Dynamics’ Global Brand Director Karl Stewart to give fans an idea of what to expect.

FORWARD: The most recent Tomb Raider Games have been far more linear than the original games, especially with the appearance of QuickTime events. Do you think this new reboot will hark back to the original series?

Karl: If we want to come up with a re-

Looking forward: Tomb Raider 2012

FORWARD 11

TEXT

: Mar

ine

Dal

bard

, PIX

© C

athy

Kan

avy/

Focu

s Fe

atur

es

Improve yourself

Steve Coogan has it all: hu-mour, fame, money, family, and, if the tabloids are to be trusted, a girlfriend less than half his age (21-year-old un-derwear model Elle Basey).

Yet, the 46-year-old comedian started off with all odds against him. As his older sister Clare once recalled: “Very early on, he lived with not being brilliant, not be-ing good-looking. If we’d been puppies, I think he would have been the runt of the litter.” Coogan somehow found his way to the top from these early days as the “least confident” member of 7 siblings. If you’d quite like to achieve this feat, here are some tips to get you started living life the Coogan way.

Rejection is not the endDetermined to become a comedian,

Steve Coogan applied to a variety of Lon-don drama schools at the age of 19. He was rejected by all of them. Instead of slinking away with his tail between his legs, he then decided to use his flaws to his advantage. To that end, he went to his next audition in character, as a young man called Duncan Thickett. “I walked in with my books and dropped them all over the floor and scrabbled to pick them

up like I was very nervous,” Coogan told the New Yorker in 2007. “I did a deliber-ate rendition of an incompetent, idiotic person trying to get into drama school.” And it worked.

Take chancesCoogan’s big break came in 1992, when

he entered the radio world in character as sports correspondent Alan Partridge. The character came to define Coogan’s career. From the BBC Radio 4 programme On The Hour, Partridge went on to have his own TV shows, Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge (1994–1995) and I’m Alan Partridge (1997–2002). But Coogan was not about to stop there. He moved on to create a new character, Tommy Saxon-dale, in 2006. He also appeared in various TV shows including the role of Satan in the American comedy series Neighbors from Hell, and playing a fictionalised ver-sion of himself, alongside friend Rob Bry-don, in the BBC’s The Trip. He ventured on to play various parts on the big screen, and is due to play porn mogul Paul Ray-mond in an upcoming biopic. “Most of all I don’t want to be bored,” Coogan told The Telegraph in 2010. “That’s why I’d rather do something that has some sort of ambi-tion, that risks failing, rather than make

LIVE YOUR LIFE THE COOGAN WAY

safer, more confortable choices. If I’m a bit scared about doing something, then I take that as a good signal.”

Buy carsA former Ferrari owner, Coogan drives

a Porsche and never misses an opportunity to read a good car magazine or test a new model. In 2004, he appeared on Top Gear to race host Jeremy Clarkson in a Ferrari 575M. He lost. Coogan says, the first thing that comes to mind when asked what would improve the quality of his life is “a large private classic car collection”.

Grow upOnce a scandal magnet (infidelities,

alcohol, drugs, sexual encounter on beds covered with cold hard cash, lap dancers, and rumours of a fling with the infamous Courtney Love have all plagued Coogan’s illustrious career), he now lives quietly in an East Sussex mansion in order to be close to his teen daughter. There, he culti-vates his own garden, and once confessed to a journalist that “one of the proudest things” he had achieved was making a cheese-and-onion pie, for his daughter, made from his own vegetables. Small vic-tory, perhaps, but Coogan clearly knew when the party had to end.

He’s Alan Partridge. He’s also a variety of other characters, a multi millionaire and a very cool man. Let him show you a thing or two.

12 FORWARD

PIX

: Em

ily V

enab

les

Forward Fitness

IMPROVE YOURSELF

With lighter and brighter days beginning to make an appearence, this time of year even tempts die hard sofa dwellers to dust off those running trainers and drag themselves away from the TV in a bid to get fit. Emily Venables gets some tips on free ways to get fit from personal trainer, Chris.

Targets: Hamstrings

This may remind you of an exercise for dancers in a music video, but actually re-quires a lot of strength in both your legs and back, and it can help develop muscle quickly.

Stand straight with your feet slightly more than hip-width apart and your hands behind your head.

Bend your upper chest slightly forward and your hips back, bend your knees and shift your weight onto your heels – as if you were sitting in a deep chair.

Lower yourself down as far as you can go. Hold the squat position for the 5 sec-onds and then return to the upright posi-tion. Maintain a straight back on the way up and repeat.

Targets: Shoulders, deltoid, triceps

Make sure you have had a good stretch and you are warm before this exercise.

Something that’s not just for kids – the handstand works the same muscles as the shoulder press. Like all of our exercises, the handstand relies on you using your own weight, on balancing and working against gravity to strengthen your muscles.

With plenty of space around you lunge forward and roll onto your palms, which are flat on the floor. Kick yourself up as you go. Squeeze your legs tight together, hold your stomach muscles in to help strengthen your back. Balance on your hands, hold for as long as possible and release by letting your legs separate and rolling back onto your heels.

!Have a spotting partner to ensure safety.

Too hard?Do not run before you can walk, if you

are not used to doing handstands without the aid of someone else start here first.

Sitting with your front against a wall, slowly place your hands on the floor. Move from a crouch to a position where you legs are against the wall with your back facing it. Kick your legs up or walk them up the wall. Keep your back as straight as possible. Once you feel comfortable, and are stable, you should feel the muscles stretch in the back of your shoulders.

If you’d prefer to use the strength of a partner then do so.

Too Easy?Go into a handstand. When stable lower

yourself slowly towards the ground. Keep your arms straight and your back straight and engage your abs to support yourself. Ease yourself back up.

2. squats1. handstands

1

2

FORWARD 13

PIX

: Em

ily V

enab

les

improve YOURSELF

Targets: Pectorials

Lie face down on the floor, your hands flat on the ground and slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.

Keep your elbows tucked in at 45 de-grees to your body. Face the floor so your neck is straight with your back.

Pull in your abs and glutes to properly support your lower back. As you push up with your arms your body should be straight from your shoulders to your an-kles. Don’t let your hips drop down.

Exhale as you go up. Hold. Lower your-self back down in a controlled fashion. In-hale as you go down. Repeat.

Targets: Latimus Dorsi, biceps and triceps

Find a bar which is taller than you. Standing with your legs shoulder width

apart, hold your arms up with your elbows tucked in under your armpits and with your palms facing toward you. Grip the bar from the inside and pull yourself, keep your body in a nice straight line so your chin comes to the top of the bar. Exhale on the way up and inhale as you hold your body straight and ease yourself back down.

Targets: Abs

This is one of the most important and useful exercises to tighten and strength-en muscles in time for summer. If done properly, you might even find yourself with washboard abs!

Lay face down on the floor, resting on your elbows and forearms. Lift your bum off the floor, shifting your weight onto your knees. Lift your knees into a straight line with your body, and balance on your toes. Keep your back straight, inhale on the way up and hold.

Mixing up these exercises means you can create any-thing from an easy workout to a hardcore muscle ton-ing and fat burning session. Always stretch beforehand. Team these exercises with a healthy diet and make sure you work within your fitness level.

Chris says: “If these exercises are kept up, then you should be changing up levels of difficulty every three weeks, depending on your results. If you find it to easy then go for longer or make them harder.”

3. Press-ups

4. Pull ups

5. the plank

Too Easy?Keep your knees on the ground.

Too Hard?

To increase the results of this exercise, in-crease the incline of your body. Elevating your feet in the air would put your body at a more vertical slant, increasing the strain.

Kneel on the floor in front of a stable surface – such as a bench or sturdy chair or table at home.

Place your feet on the elevated surface one leg at a time. Keep your legs and body straight as you raise and lower your body to the ground. Hold and Repeat.

3

4

5

PIX: Bill Bailey

gutter text

The Inimitable World of Bill Bailey

LIFE

The “Part-Troll” of comedy talks to Samantha Loveridge about evolution, stand-up,

and his relationship with “Never Mind the Buzzcocks”

“T here’s a sense of rest-lessness, and also rawness about being 21 that I miss. A kind of attitude.”

Bill Bailey sits at the dining table of his London home, drinking from a bottle of wine he’s been saving for a special occasion. A cacophony of his dogs, parrots and a recording of the Indonesian nighttime, playing in the back-ground, all create a surreal tropical ambi-ence.

“I wish I’d put it down in writing. I think it would be fascinating to listen to your 21-year-old self, how you were. I mean I’m in my forties now and it would be interest-ing to see what you were like. To look back.”

It’s getting late in the evening and Bill’s home is bustling with people; a hubbub

of noise and the tantalising smell of a curry bubbling away on the hob. Sud-

denly, I feel a flutter on the back of my neck and find a tiny parrot

has perched there. No one rais-es an eyebrow. The stunning

bird makes its way round the group, settling even-

tually on Bill, his char-acteristically wispy hair providing an unusual resting ground.

“I was in a ter-rible hurry when I was 21. I was very restless and impa-tient and I didn’t finish my studies. I regret that and I wish I had. I think that because it seems like a long time when you’re 21, but it isn’t. You can do your studies and still be in your 20s, you’ve still got years

14 FORWARD

FORWARD 15

PIX

: Bill

Bai

ley

everyone and are very paranoid about ideas. It’s an interesting place to go.”

Bill’s plan for 2012 will mean expand-ing his horizons. He wants to find pockets of the world that he hasn’t played in yet, to help inform his stand-up as much as to find a new audience for his material. He classes travel as “rich material” for the show, and I sense that his new shows may prove a radi-cal departure from what we may expect.

“Nah, I think I’ve done [Never Mind the Buzzcocks] now. I’ve had fun with it, but you know I want to do other things. I’ve stood there humming the introduction to Toxic by Britney Spears with some pinhead from Hollyoaks. I don’t need to do it any-more.”

Instead his focus is on education. Mov-ing from his ornithological documenta-ries, he is soon to film a documentary for the BBC about evolutionary theorist Alfred Wallace, which is due to air in 2013.

“He was an extraordinary guy, but he’s been airbrushed out of history a little bit. I wanted to restore him as an equal to Dar-win, in terms of his contribution to evolu-tionary theory. But nobody knows who he is. His name should come up every time you mention evolution, it should be Darwin and Wallace.”

Revealing this more serious interest, Bill sits down at the table and his face becomes serious as he talks of evolution and the im-pact of Wallace’s research.

“It’s a subject that I’ve been research-ing now for the past three or four years. Part of it has meant travelling through Indonesia, because Wallace travelled a lot in Indonesia. He wrote a fantastic

book called the Mamay Archipelago, which is a brilliant travelogue of travel in Indone-sia in the 1850s. I mean hardly anyone had been there then. I mean hardly anyone’s been there now! It’s really difficult to get there now, never mind in the 1850s. He was extraordinarily prophetic and a brilliant man. That’s my mission for this year.”

Bill looks up to see that dinner is served at this point, and his face lights up. He push-es a bowl full of what looks like fried brus-sel sprouts towards me. “Flower sprouts”, he announces with a look of pure glee.

“They are a totally new vegetable. I mean, I never thought I’d get to taste a brand new vegetable in my lifetime.”

He takes a huge spoonful of the first new vegetable to be created in a decade, a cross between the humble sprout and curly kale.

“And to think, I wanted egg and chips for dinner.”

conversational topics is not only impressive but also fascinating. With each of his shows it seems his interests evolve and develop.

“I’ve been a comedian for twenty odd years, so I’ve changed a lot in that time. I’ve grown up a lot. You talk about differ-ent things. It’s quite good, it’s like having a narrative on your own life … which you

share with millions of people”, he chuckles.

“The best thing about being a come-dian is that you have a voice. It is some-thing I never take for granted, and that is through whatever cir-cumstance of me be-coming a comedian. When I go on stage,

hundreds if not thousands of people turn up to hear what I’m saying because I have a voice. You can say things, have opinions, and talk about all kinds of subjects and it’s fantastic.”

How does he know what to choose for his shows if his interests and knowledge are so vast?

“There’s a tyranny of laughter with stand-up. However interesting and amus-ing you may find [a topic], there’s an obli-gation for jokes to appear and for people to laugh. Sometimes that can mean that cer-tain subjects that I feel greatly passionate about or are deeply in-terested in don’t earn their place in the set.”

“If you find a rou-tine that clicks and works for the show then it’s in. All that stuff that didn’t make it in, I’m compiling and building up. I’ve amassed a huge amount of it which I will one day put into a book.”

Bill starts to play “pillow football” with his son, Dax, who he names as the greatest achievement in his life so far. He is full of energy, despite spending all day rehearsing his new show, which will tour worldwide. He beams when he speaks of it, saying it’s going “great, really well”.

“I’m actually also going on a trip to China. Three weeks I’ll spend travelling round, just to absorb it, see it. I’ve never been. There’s a literary festival in Beijing that they want me to perform at. So it’ll be interesting to see that, to see how the Western culture has pervaded into the sort of Chinese intelligencia as it were. Because there’s a real sense of that they’re doing it in the face of the government. The Chinese are very sensitive of outside influence. They are born into a totalitarian regime, they censor

of travelling and doing all those things you want to do”.

Bill started an English degree at Uni-versity College London, but found it to be lacking. The enthusiasm of an Eng-lish teacher, at school, had given him a great hunger for literature that he felt the course couldn’t satisfy. This endless thirst for knowledge runs through both his stand-up and act-ing.

“There’s not any great hurry to get on and travel and do things. There’s plenty of time for that. If you can, now is the time to do some studying and learn some skills. I think that’s really crucial. Just learn how to do things. Be it, I dunno, ski or snowboard, drive a trac-tor, dig a well, learn how to plough, help Indonesian communities, find out how to get water out of the ground. Some skill.”

I first met Bill and his family on the Indonesian island of Bali. His passion for the culture and wildlife of the island has clearly influenced the humble Somerset lad. Indigenous plants creep across the ceiling, the meal we will later eat is tradi-tionally Indonesian, and even their dogs are Balinese.

He speaks a lot of travelling, the exotic places he’s been and plans to go. Bill is a true conversationalist. He questions me on the places I’ve visited and where I feel my future could take me.

“Do something where you’re helping out. Go somewhere that’s totally different from where you’re from. You know, go to Africa or Asia or somewhere that’s a total-ly different environment. Where people live in a different way: learn and see how people live. Help out. It’s so important. I mean I did a bit of it, I wish I’d done more. Get involved and help some people dig a well in Lesutu. You know what I mean? That’s what you’ve got to do.”

The parrot has moved to another perch by now, so Bill gesticulates wildly as he talks, intermittently pausing to eat an-other of the crackers that are on the table. Another Indonesian treat.

“I mean you get life skills because you’re working with a load of other peo-ple. You get a sense of achievement for yourself, a great sense of belief in yourself. And you also learn about yourself, you fig-ure out things about yourself a lot quicker if you’re outside of your comfort zone.”

There is something instantly calm-ing about Bill. His voice is deeper than it sounds on stage, and the sheer scale of his

LIFE

gutter text

“Now is the time to do some

studying and learn some skills.”

“There’s a tyranny of laughter with

stand-up.”

16 FORWARD

Scorsese lends his gifted hands to 3D for the first time.Graham Searles investigates the beautifully rendered homage to the beginnings of cinema which sets new standards for technical production.

PIX

: film

ofilia

.com

screen time

Hugo: Martin Scorsese’s love letter to film making

FORWARD 17

of Scorsese’s homage. The choice of such an iconic image as that from La Voyage dans la Lune, widely regarded as cinema’s first ever sci-fi film, is no doubt one that sparks the same imaginative bonfire with todays audi-ence as it did with the first people who saw it over a hundred years ago.

The emphasis of Melies’ pioneering cinematography echoes the fact that he, like Scorsese, believes that “films have the power to capture dreams”. Melies as a young man was astounded by the raw power of the Lumieres Brothers cinema of attrac-tions and by using his prowess as a magi-cian managed to transform this power into a vehicle to let his imagination run wild and transport the audience to places they never thought possible. Melies’ use of ed-iting and set design was ground-breaking and Scorsese’s use of 3D in such original ways to tell his story reveal his passion for the past and present of cinema’s mechan-ics. Hugo’s visual effects show that Scorsese is inspired, like Hugo’s father, by Melies and seeks to replicate the wonder he managed to conjure.

Hugo was rightly recognised at the Acad-emy Awards for its technical brilliance,

scooping up 5 Awards of Merit including ‘Best Visual Effects’ and ‘Best Cinematog-raphy.’ It shows how highly Scorsese’s ef-fort is rated, Hugo is a film to remember

with regard to its stunning visual and con-ceptual beauty.

Hugo is more likely to be remembered as 3D’s obituary rather than its champion though. Films released in both 3D and ‘2D’ in 2010 would garner 78% of audience for it’s 3D version, whereas in 2011 only 60% did the same. In 2012 there will be 33 3D films released compared to 47 in 2011. Also the to-tal ticket share for 3D fell to just 20% drop-ping box-office receipts by £7m to £230m.

Despite the current grim outlook for 3D, that is on the most part deserved, Scorsese still feels that a lot of its creative power lies untapped. Concluding his interview with Empire, he teases with a somewhat tongue-in-cheek comment, “Imagine Citizen Kane in 3D... I’m not saying do it.” Clearly he feels there is a connection between the influence of film’s greatest cinematography and 3D’s potential, but the ever growing hunger of Hollywood for billion dollar blockbusters could destroy this opportunity.

PIX

: film

ofilia

.com

screen time

‘3D’ has become a dirty word. A cinematic taboo, much

like saying you enjoy The Notebook or the works of Michael Bay, and for good rea-son too. Since the 2009 release of James Cameron’s Avatar the box office has been swamped with an array of shoddily made copy-cat 3D packages. Films, such as Cap-tain America or Ghostrider: Spirit of Ven-geance are are made and shipped to In-dia where they are then converted into 3D just for the sake of making a few extra dollars at the box office. Another avenue trodden alll too often is the 3D re-release. Viewers who know and love films such as The Lion King and Titanic are then asked to pay again for the privilege of seeing it afresh through special specs. It is fair to say that the cash cow is well and truly milked and, the medium, in dire need of salvation.

Hugo Cabret’s (Asa Butterfield) world of 1930s Paris could well be it’s saviour, the sheer beauty of Scorsese’s work de-lights and captivates in equal measure. The 3D element brings the film to life; whether it be the continual snowfall, flut-tering around the characters and dancing out of the screen or the smoke and ash from the steam trains that seems almost to waft into the aisles.

“3D brought us back to basics, it made me completely rethink how to make a pic-ture, every shot was that way and it was enjoyable,” Scorsese mused in an interview with Empire. “It is part of the artistic me-dium of Hugo; it was just like having addi-tional colours to paint with. Every subject matter can encompass 3D.”

However these visual elements of Hugo are just the artisan paper that Scorsese’s billet-doux to cinema is written on. It is

through Hugo’s des-perate struggle in find meaning to his life and the connection between film mak-ing techniques of the past and present that Scorsese truly unveils his love affair with the history of film mak-ing.

The eponymous hero, Hugo, tells the story of how the first film his late father (Jude Law) saw was Georges Melies’ 1902 film La Voyage dans la Lune. A 14-minute long silent French film which features an iconic image of the man in the moon with a rocket in his eye – one of the first special effects ever used in cinema. This image along with a broken automaton, he and his father were fixing together before his death, are all Hugo has left of his the man he loved.

With the help of another orphan, Hugo solves the puz-zling secret behind the automatons drawing and learns of the beautiful worlds that Melies created which his father had described as “see-ing his dreams in the middle of the day.” The self-referential nature of the combi-nation of a fictional film referencing the real beginnings of cinema is used to ex-plore Melies’ avant-garde work, it also marks the beginning

“3D brought us back to basics, it

made me completely rethink how to make a picture.”

“Imagine Citizen Kane in 3D... I’m not

saying do it.”

18 FORWARD

TEXT: Miyo Padi. PIX: ABC.com

tv

Walter  ‘Walt’ White  (Bryan Cranston), a failed chemistry genius who has  fallen  into high school chemistry teaching, is told he has terminal cancer. Struggling with the  idea of leaving  his  pregnant wife  and disabled  son penniless, Walt  takes  his  chemistry  smarts and turns them to cooking up crystal meth in a campervan with former bad boy student Jesse  Pinkman  (Aaron  Paul).  Dark,  brood‐ing and wryly comic, Breaking Bad will take you by surprise. Each and every episode has you on the edge of your seat as the pair spiral down into the murky depths of New Mexico’s drugs scene. It’s so gripping you may well be turning down  nights  at  the  pub  just  to  get     !"#$%&'()*+(

ons,  junkies  and  the  arrest‐happy  Drug Enforcement Agency. 

If  the  series  is  quite  so  brilliant,  then why have you missed it? Channel 5 picked up the rights to series 1 and 2 and has been       ,%#-."/($%&0(#"(!"1(#2(!$(0.1"./%$(#3&'(the last couple of years but no one has, so far, bought into seasons 3 and 4. Breaking Bad is really something you’ll have to hunt out for yourself. There are two more eight‐&4.,#1&( ,&!,#",( -%.5%( !'&( )60."/( "#-(so expect them to air  in the US later this year and be on DVD by 2013 – that means you can take your time watching the four seasons now available. It is intense but if you’ve got the guts so has Breaking Bad.

Brought to you by AMC, the kind folk who gave you the smash‐hit Mad Men, and creator Vince Gilligan, who wrote The X‐Files, Break‐ing Bad has received rave reviews across the pond. Master of suspense Stephen King even dubbed it “the best series on American TV”. Cranston, who you may know as the dad in Malcolm  in  the  Middle,  bagged  an  Emmy for  Best Actor  for  his  role,  three years  run‐ning.  Breaking  Bad  is  believable  for  these ver  reasons:  it  is  exceptionally well written and acted. The success of the series is spin‐ning realistic and horrifying situations  into the seams of Walt’s normal family life. As the family man struggles to keep it together, the money rolls in as do, predictably, drug bar‐

DID YOU CATCH?

Del Boy and Rodney Trotter as they desper‐ately try to get rich quick. “This time next year Rodney, we’ll be millionaires” and all that.           John Leguizamo  (Carlito’s Way, Moulin Rouge)  will  take  the  role  of  Del  Boy  while Rodney will  be  reinvented  by  the  relatively unknown Dustin Ybarra. Best of all though, the role of “Uncle Albert” will be brought to you  by  Christopher  Lloyd,  most  famous  as Doc Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy. Now surely that’s worth a look?    Sadly, this is not an April Fools, but don’t 

think you’re alone in raising an eyebrow.    Sir David Jason, Peckham’s original Del Boy,  recently  aired  his  own  concerns  to the BBC, saying: “They do brilliant com‐edy [in America]  but  I  don’t  see  that  they  can 7'."/(#2(8"69(:##6,(!"1(;#',&,+<((((;&(!11&1($%!$(%&(%!1(="#(.1&!(-%!$($%&(American equivalent of  a  ‘plonker’  is”  – and neither do we, but we bet it’s nowhere near as funny.

 The pilot will air in the US this spring. 

     They are at it again.      Americans are trying to drag British favourite  Only  Fools  and  Horses  from  its cosy resting place in the Christmas schedules and Americanising it for prime‐time.        The ABC remake, which will follow the >#'0!$( #>( $%&( ?'.$.,%( ,.$5#0( )',$( !.'&1( ."(1981,  is  currently  being  rewritten  for a US audience by the writers of hit sitcom Scrubs.         The  show  will  remain  faithful  to  the premise of the original, following brothers 

onLY american fools and horses

If you like: The Shield, Burn Notice, Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos.

Breaking bad

FORWARD 19

Text

: Em

ily V

enab

les

PIX

: am

eric

anre

uini

on.c

om

screen time

There is a buzz surrounding this release, which none of the more recent straight to DVD spin-offs had or rightly de-served. (If you are ever bored enough there are four of them

to be found in a bargain bin near you.) This critical enthusiasm may be due to the fact that this sequel has pulled off a coup which many others cannot manage – all of the stars are back. The cast who brought the word “milf” into the mainstream are all returning for the final instalment.

As rumours of a(nother) sequel began to do the rounds, in late 2008, so did mut-terings that the original actors were tak-ing more than a bit of persuasion. Once co-writers and co-directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg had bagged Ja-son Biggs and Seann William Scott to play hapless Jim and border line sex pest Steve “Stifler”, it was only a matter of time before the rest of the cast got on board. Executive producer titles for the pair of them can’t have hurt. A possible box of-fice success was born.

As the subtle-as-ever name suggests, the East Great Falls high school friends are back ten years later for their school re-union to discover what has changed, and to see if their friendships have sustained since high school.

Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) are once again heading up the story line. Their marriage (see American Wedding) is still on track and, despite in-troducing their two-year-old son into the equation, married life and fatherhood does not seen to have discouraged Jim from ex-perimentation. Expect to see more of Jason Biggs than ever before! In fact, Seann Wil-liam Scott has let slip that you will expect to see all of Jason Biggs! Biggs by name…? But of course Jim’s dad (the hilarious Eugene Levy) is once again on hand to attempt to guide him through his puerile ways.

A baby is not all that’s new. Chris “Oz” Ostreicher (Chris Klein) is living in Malibu,

It has been a little over a decade since we learnt that it is always best to check your webcam is turned off. And this April, Jim and the gang are back on our screens in American Reunion, the final slice of American Pie quadrilogy.

Kevin Myers (Thomas Ian Nicholas) has not re-kindled his love with high school sweet-heart Vicky (Tara Reid) and is married and working as an architect. Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) returns still very much single and lusting over the original M.I.L.F and queen cougar. “Stifler’s mom” Jennifer Coolidge, now 48, proves that age is nothing but a number.

Along with re-appearances from Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth), Jessica (Natasha Ly-onne) and Sherman (Chris Owen), there are plenty of fresh faces too!

Since graduating, but not necessarily growing up, many of the gang have found themselves with new partners, careers, and they have, inevitably, grown apart. Howev-er, don’t be disappointed, fans of the origi-nal film, Stifler is still up to his old tricks. And with rumours of Seann William Scott having a say on his characters wild ways, expect nothing to be too gross or too filthy for his return!

Readers will be pleased to know that this instalment is lined from beginning to end with in-jokes. The film promises an enjoyable walk down memory lane for those of us who first giggled over the “pie incident” all those years ago. So let’s re-live those flute toting, band camp, beer swigging memories.

Lets hope they really did save the best piece of the pie for last!

It’s time for the final slice of pie

American Reunion is out 6 April at cinemas nationwide.

20 FORWARD

Jake, 22, recalls arriving at his lectures late with dark circles under his eyes. He’s got no cash for lunch and has forgotten half his books because his head is dulled from four hours sleep.

But Jake is not rolling in from a night out, he has been up most of the night playing online poker, only crawling into bed at 5am when his bank account was empty. We meet in a coffee shop in West London. He’s infectiously friendly and quick to a full bodied chuckle - but has a serious story to tell. “It started with matched betting,” he begins, sipping a latte he probably couldn’t afford to buy for himself. “I started a couple of weeks af-ter going to uni. A mate got me into it by saying it was risk free. He’d done it and had made a couple of hundred quid so a

£9.08 doesn’t mean much to most 18 year olds. “My dad had put a flutter on for me a few

times as a kid but I’d never made money from nothing before. It was just too slow and I’d opened something like ten accounts, for the free bets, and they send you emails tell-ing you about good odds and

big things coming up so I just started using the sites for sure things - anything really,” he adds. “I bet on foot-ball [at] first, it made watching a match really exciting, I got a huge buzz from it. Every minute was the edge of your seat, you know?” Within six months of his first bet, Jake’s problems spiralled as his gambling es-calated. “When I was betting on sport it wasn’t so bad, but I got bored of waiting for a match to come up and started betting on the horses and things I didn’t really know anything about. I lost a lot [of money] that

Words: M

amiyo padi Pix: Stockphoto.co.uk

whole group of us decided to give it a go. “When you sign up to an online bookies they’ve got all these free bet offers so you put in twenty quid and they’ll match it for your first play. They’ve usually got minimum odds but you bet against what-ever your first bet was, with a betting exchange, so either way you win something.” By betting simultaneously for and against an event, a matched bet is sure to win a proportion of the bet back and, as it is

free – this is profit. The process is perfectly legal but time-

consuming and gener-ally pays small sums of less than £10– but Jake was hooked.“Most of the guys left it after a while, it takes ages to sign up to all the

sites and something like

Gambling addiction among young men is on the increase. Miyo Padi meets a 22-year-old who lost his place at university due to gambling – despite never having stepped foot in a betting shop.

LIFE

Everything on red

“Every minute was the edge of

your seat.”

FORWARD 21

Pix:

Stoc

kpho

to.co

.uk

tive parental blocks on his family computer.     “I went to a GA [Gambler’s anonymous] meeting but it wasn’t for me, I just couldn’t relax. I think now that maybe I was scared; starting uni, too much freedom, I don’t re‐ally know. But I know I can never go back to that life. I ruined everything.”! ! ! ! !"#$%!&'($)! *+!#$!#&'!&!,%&-!.$''&/$!to give to other young men who might be in his position, he says: “Get help. My fam‐ily  helped me  but  you might  need  an or‐

ganization,  you  know. Really,  just  tell  some‐one. Once  it’s out there you  can’t  get  away with it  anymore  and  that’s what  you  really  need  if you  can’t  control  your gambling.

        “It might be online but  it  is  real mon‐ey that you have to pay. Gambling is not a game.” As we get up and leave, he adds “It’s funny  really,  I’ve  never  even  been  into  a bookies.”

Do not think it can’t happen to you because you are young.”!!!!01*)$!2&%!3145$!6#$!/1$&6$'6!)*728-69!*%!getting help. “I remember the day I realised uni was over,” Jake says. “I had nothing and my mum and dad were starting to get suspi‐cious. I just remember this feeling of pure dread.”        By  this  time,  Jake  had  spent  over  the limits  of  both  his  overdrafts  and was  be‐ing inundated with letters from his banks. It was his  third  term of university. He had tried and failed to get a short‐term loan and his  accommodatio Fees were  long  over‐due.    “My mum came to visit and I asked her for money even then.” He shakes his head. “When it all came out, my dad was disgusted with me. I have nev‐er, ever felt so bad.”    When Jake’s parents went to the univer‐sity  for  help,  they discovered  that  he  had failed the vast majority of his assessments 

and  his  attendance was shockingly low. “I  just realised all of a sudden,  I’d barely  left my  room  for  a  year. Everyone else was get‐ting  in  relationships and  making  friends but  gambling  had taken  everything.  My 

mood, my social life, my work, everything.”!!!!:&($;'!3&1$%6'!3&*)!4<!#*'!)$=6'!&%)!)$‐stroyed  his  debit  cards.  He  commuted  to 8%*5$1'*69!64!24.3-$6$!#*'!,1'6!9$&1!$>&.'!but was  asked  to  re‐sit  due  to marks  of less than 30%.         “My  mum didn’t  feel happy,  you know,  with me  go‐i n g back to a uni so far  away,  so I tried to apply for the one near home but they wouldn’t have me.”       “I  lost  everything,”  he  admits.  “And  the bad thing is that I know I’d do it all again if I  had  the cash.” Two years on,  Jake  is  still living with his parents and is working in a bar  to help  repay  them. He doesn’t own a computer of his own and there are restric‐

!!!!?5$1!#*'!,1'6!9$&1!&6!8%*5$1'*69!:&($!estimates that he lost over £5,000. “I had an  overdraft  of  £1,500,  some  savings,  a maintenance loan and my parents would give me a bit here and there,” he recalls. “I left uni with less than nothing.” Jake even‐tually took out a second student bank ac‐count, with a second overdraft.     “When I’d spent both my overdrafts I’d ask my dad  for money  because  if  I won I could sort myself out. That’s how I was thinking at that time. Just one big win to sort everything out and I could stop.”    The “big win” never came. “My biggest [single win] was £600 but that was gone within a couple of days. It’s just ridiculous now I think about it, I can’t believe it’s my life” he adds.  “If  I had 10p  left  in my ac‐count I’d play penny slots. Just   spending every  last bit until  I had nothing  left  “I’d '3$%)!$5$19!3$%%9!@!#&)!&%)!6#$%!,%)!&!way to get some more cash and before  I knew it I was back online thinking I could double it.”    Jake may think his tale is unbelievable, =86!,/81$'!'#4A!6#&6!/&.=-*%/!&))*26*4%!among  young  men is  on  the  increase. Gambling  addic‐tion  has  tradition‐ally  been  higher in  men  than  in women,  but  suf‐ferers of  the addic‐tion  of  both  sexes have  typically  been 45$1!BCD!@6!*'!6#48/#6!6#&6!.$%!.&9!'8<$1!more  from  this  particular  addiction due to a more competitive culture. Sports bet‐ting  and  24‐hour  online  gambling  facili‐ties are blamed for the rise in  compulsive gambling amongst students.        Figures show that up to 90% of  19‐25 9$&1! 4-)! .&-$'! $%E49! &! 1$/8-&1! FG866$1H!and  over  £5  billion  a  year  is  staked  on‐line. A recent government study reported that over a million people in the UK have a problem with  “compulsive and uncon‐64-&=-$H! /&.=-*%/D! I#$! $>&26! ,/81$'! 4+!compulsive  gamblers,  in  this  age  group, though  are  thought  to  be  vastly  under‐reported due to a stigma, for young men, around  accessing  help  from  their  GP  or addiction charities.     A spokesperson from Gamblers anony‐mous said: “The average age of our group members is certainly decreasing,” adding “we  urge  anyone  who  thinks  they  may #&5$!&!314=-$.! 64!2&--!8'! *%!24%,)$%2$D!

LIFE

“The bad thing is

I know I’d do it all

again if I had the

cash.”

1. You secretly gamble.

2. Your gambling makes you  take  time away from work and family commitments.

3. You  try  quitting  gambling  but  then start again and again losing money that is needed to pay bills.

4. You lie, steal, borrow or sell things to get money for gambling.

5. You gamble to win back your losses. You dream of  the  "big win".

6. You gamble when you feel down or when you feel like cel‐ebrating.

7. Relationship are breaking down because of your gambling.

!"#$%"&'()&*+,-$.)-/$,&($,(0+%)$contact GamCare on:

www.GamCare.org.uk

Or call: 0845 6000 133

8am-midnight 7 days a week.

You Might Have A

PROBLEM IF...“If I won I could sort

myself out.

Just one big win to

1"#*$)0)#2*.+&3$"4*$,&($5$%"4-($1*"/67

22 FORWARD

PIX

: get

tyim

ages

.com

Team GB triple jump star Onochie Lawrence “Larry” Achike, 37, has already taken part in two Olympic Games. Currently in training for Lon-don 2012, he shares his story

with Stefan Vasilev.This year’s Games in London are among Larry Achike’s last chance to compete for a medal at the highest level of athletics. Though, he is certainly no stranger to glory. He tasted gold in the World Junior Championships in 1994, an achievement which sparked his career, and then fin-ished first in the Commonwealth Games four years later. His personal best of 17.29 m, a feat achieved at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, where he finished fifth. Inju-ries have marred his career, but in 2008 he managed to get back on track when he finished a respectable seventh by jumping 17.17 m at the Beijing games. The GB sporting hero holds volumes of knowledge about triple jumping, which he is happy to share. I caught up with him at Brunel University’s indoors running track to explore his experience and ask him about his aspirations for the upcom-ing London 2012 Olympics.

FORWARD: Hi Larry, thanks for talking to us. First off, is there an age limit to tak-ing on triple jumping?Larry: I’d say definitely not. I think it’s ob-viously easier if you start a little bit early on as this is quite a technical event. I don’t think there is an age limit. It’s all down on how determined you are to get the tech-nique right and how good your coach is, really. F: And you can go on as long as you feel fit I suppose…L: I think that’s definitely the key. I’m an example of that. I’m 37, trying to go to

“Keep your options open,

don’t just go into sprint.”

Sport

Athletics with Larry Archike

FORWARD 23

PIX

: get

tyim

ages

.com

Sportthe point when I became an international athlete, and in the juniors I was only good enough in the long jump and triple jump, so that’s what I focused on. And when I

became a senior, I was only good at the triple jump, so that kind of picked me out. I’d say the event chooses you, but you have to give yourself as many options as possible. F: You are trying to

get to the Olympic Games this year. What are your expectations?L: Fingers crossed. It’s going to be tricky to get in. It’s maybe the hardest qualifica-tions ever. I have to jump over 17.20 me-ters, which I have jumped before in the past, but it’s going to be very difficult. I believe I can do it. My first target is to get into the final. I’ve been in the final twice before at two Olympic Games and made the cut for both of those finals. What I haven’t come back with is a medal, that would be my goal this year, and with the home crowd behind me, who knows.

THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS

FACT BOX• Born on 31 January, 1975, in Islington, London• A former rugby player• Has a degree in Biomedical Science• Current club is Shaftsebury Barnet Harriers, London

greatest athletes in the world, like Carl Lew-is, who was a sprinter and a long jumper, Jes-se Owens – same thing, very good sprinter, very good long jumper. Someone like Daley Thompson: fantas-tic sprinter, fantastic long jumper, fantastic pole-vaulter. The guy was an all-rounder. So, I would say, definitely keep your options open, especially when you are younger. F: But time comes when you need to specialise or is it not man-datory?L: No, without a doubt. I think what you’ll

find is that if you give yourself the options, as you get older you’ll find that the event which is right for you will pick you out, rather than you picking the event. I started as a 100m and 200m runner, then I used to go to compet-tions for my clubs and do the 100, 200, long jump, triple jump and high jump. It got to

my third Olympic Games, so, yes, I think as long as you believe you can still do it at whatever level you want to achieve at, then it is possible. F: What are the most important qualities one needs to be a good triple jumper?L: I think one of key things about the triple jump – or any other jump event, long jump or triple jump – is your speed on the run-way. It’s something that we work on – I’d say probably around 70% of our training is working on getting fast and consistent on the runway. The next bit is power to strength ratio. I mean you have got to be strong, but you have got to be able to ap-ply that force to get your body up, so it’s very important. You want to be as light as you can and be as strong as you can. I’d say

those are the key things. It’s a very tricky event in the sense that you’ve got to be quick like a sprinter and, at the same time, you’ve got to be extremely agile like some-one who, maybe, does gymnastics. F: Are there any simple tricks or exercises that can help you?L: Running drills. I think running drills are really important. Stuff like high-knee drills, heel-flicks, quick-feet-contact drills, a lot of the skipping drills, getting light on your feet, teaching yourself how to take off and go really high without having to put too much effort in. All those drills are something which I have to do week-in week-out. I’ve been doing it all the way through my life and I don’t think I will stop them until I stop competing. F: In a way, you are conditioning your body…L: That’s critical! Conditioning is so, so im-portant, and it’s so hard to get right. In an event like the triple jump, if you overdo it, you end up injured. If you underdo it, you end up injured in competition. It’s such a fine balance, so that’s where your coach re-ally plays a key part. Your coach should be aware of what you need to do and make sure you don’t over-train or under-train. So, yes, a good old coach is very important to have.F: Who would you advise on taking on the triple jump, or any kind of sport for that matter?L: Oh, I’d say anyone, youngsters who are at school…I think there are a lot of people who are keen to do athletics but they seem to only want to sprint. I’d suggest to those people, “keep your options open, don’t just go into sprint.” I mean look at some of the

“Conditioning is so important and hard

to get right.”

Next timeForward brings:

*Interview with a man on death row*Men In black 3*How to quit

smoking*Max Payne 3

music > sports > improve yourself > screen time > life > Tech & gaming