Glasgow University

Scottish Student Newspaper of the Year27th April 2009

As student debt in the US hits $700 billion American international students are resorting to self-imposed exile rather than paying off their “exploitative” student loans.

Sallie Mae is the primary student loan company in the US with over 10 million borrowers holding a total debt of over $126.9 billion. The company has attracted extensive criticism from borrowers across the world, with accusations of predatory lending practices.

Andrew Wilbur, an American PhD Candidate in the Department of Geographical and Earth

US students choosing exile over debtsSciences, graduated from Glasgow University in 2005 with total balance of $29,048.52 on his Sallie Mae student loan.

Since then he has made over $5,000 dollars in payments but his current balance stands at $33,227.90.

The variable interest rate on Wilbur’s loan has been as high as 14%. He has since decided to stop making payments, even though this means he cannot return to the US.

He explained: “I took the loan and have tried to pay it back in good faith, though I now feel like it was sold to me in bad faith, with the conditions so difficult that I'll never get on top of it. For that reason, I can't return to America to work or buy a house. My credit rating will be ruined and any income I make will be swal-lowed up by loan repayments. It's just not worth putting up with that – paying Sallie Mae to make my life a misery.”

The U.S. Department of Education recently reported a rise in the student loan default rate

from 5.2% to 6.9% in the past year. Wilbur went on to criticise Sallie Mae’s practice of running its own debt collection agency.

He said: “The fact that Sallie Mae actually owns its own debt collection agencies who profit when you default on your loan shows how exploitative the system is.”

Patricia Nash Christel, a spokesperson for Sallie Mae, pointed out that the company was able to be flexible on repayments when borrowers were in difficulty.

(Continued on page 2)

George Binning

STUDENTS LIVING AT MURANO Street Student Village have voiced their concern at the relative lack of information given to them about crimes in the nearby area.

Over the past year, Guardian has reported on a number of incidences involving the student halls, including students mugged at knifepoint during Freshers’ Week and the failure of police to inform Murano residents about an indecent assault, which took place on the footbridge entrance.

Guardian spoke to a number of students who expressed their worry about safety at Murano Street, partic-

ularly with regards to the information they are given.

Emails are sent to residents with safety advice but many of the students Guardian spoke to felt that the impor-tant emails became lost within the numerous other emails sent to them about the halls.

Claire Adams, a first-year English Literature student, told Guardian: “A lot of what you hear is gossip and it would be good to be told some facts because you hear all sorts of horror stories.

“I think they should let you know what is going properly – not just by email.”

(Continued on page 5)

Residents question Murano safety

Sarah Smith

GUSA ball loses £4000

Sarah Smith

GLASGOW UNIVERSITY SPORTS Association (GUSA) lost a total of £4135.47 through its annual ball and Blues awards reception.

The majority of the loss was due to the free tickets and drinks made available to Blues winners and half-price entry for half Blues.

The ball itself lost £1400 chiefly through unsold tickets and a desire to keep ticket prices at £35.

Newly elected GUSA President, Stephen Flavahan, told Guardian that the event is not designed to make a profit and that there were other considerations, which were not financial.

He explained: “The biggest thing for GUSA was keeping the ticket price at £35 so that it was still afford-able for students. If we were a busi-ness it would be considered a profit loss but we’re not so it is considered an expenditure.

“It was a very successful event that was designed to be of high quality whilst remaining affordable. It is about honouring high sporting achievers at the University of Glasgow – we didn’t set out for it to break even.”

Flavahan claimed that, because the loss was expected, it will not have any affect on next year’s spending.

(Continued on page 5)Cirque du Soleil raise the roof at the SECC Insight

Catriona Reilly delves into the surprisingly quirky Swedish pop scene

Music

Pete Ramand commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Miners’ Strike

Pit Ponies

Features

Swede Sounds

news@glasgowguardian.co.uk 27th April 20092 NEWS

IN BRIEFLecturer dies in biking accidentGLASGOW UNIVERSITY LECTURER Dr Andrew Cathcart has died in a biking acci-dent at the age of 31.

The accident happened on April 21 whilst on a research trip in South Africa.

Dr Cathcart specialised in neuroscience in the Faculty of Biomedical Life Sciences and was post-graduate superviser and an adviser of studies to many undergraduate students at Glasgow.

The SRC co-ordinated additional academic support for his students alongside the science faculty.

Dr Cathcart will be sorely missed by his peers and students alike.

Sallie Mae accused of predatory lending

Government improves disability support

Breakthrough in drug treatment

THE SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE HAS announced plans to implement new measures aimed at giving greater support and advice to disabled students.

The new procedures will mean that an expert group will review the case of any student who does not meet the existing criteria for assistance if their application has been supported by their institution.

Scottish students will be the first in the UK to benefit from the introduction of a formal procedure for exceptional cases.

Other changes announced include improve-ments to the applications process, an exten-sion of the non-medical help allowance, and improved guidance to increase awareness of Disabled Student Allowance eligibility.

Fiona Hyslop, Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, believes that the changes will help to improve the access to support for disabled students.

She said: “Colleges and universities are working to continuously improve access for disabled students. This review will help us build on that work and ensure that disabled students get the support they need to under-take their studies on a level playing field with their peers.”

Gavin Lee, SRC President, welcomed the moves, hoping that they will help to possible barriers to higher education.

He said: “Increasing awareness of this support is crucial – funding can only be of use if students, or potential students, are aware of the resources. The University and the Government must ensure there is not an ‘information barrier’ to entering higher education.”

“For many disabled students, part-time study is the best option. It is concerning, then, that disabled students cannot receive funding if they are doing less than 50% of a full-time course.

“We’re looking forward to seeing the government providing support for these part-time disabled students in the future.”

Jo Evans, a fourth-year student at Glasgow University who requires the use of a wheel-chair, believes that it is important to ensure that disabled people are aware of the support avail-able to them at university in order to encourage more applications.

She said: “For people who aren’t aware there is support available there needs to be more publicity about the help available to help encourage applications.

“It is important to make people aware that there is help available and that they are entitled to it.”

Craig MacLellan

(Continued from front page)She said: “Individuals need individual loan

repayment solutions, and in this environment, we want to work with students to make sure they can successfully manage their loans. We do everything we can to offer counselling and individual flexibility to help students avoid default.”

The burden of student debt is often carried over generations. Sculpture and environmental art student Kira Thomas told Guardian that her grandparents had to act as cosignatories for her Sallie Mae loan as her mother was still paying off her own student loan.

Provided she makes every payment on her private loan, which constitutes 80% of her total borrowing, she will eventually pay back more than twice the $43,000 she borrowed.

“I am worried that if my grandparents get to old to cosign and I am unable to borrow more I will have to drop out of art school.” she said.

Caleb Churchill, a photography student at Glasgow School of Art, originally took out loans totaling $85,031 in 2005. Since then, in

spite of making regular payments of over $500 per month on the accrued interest, he now owes Sallie Mae over $94,000.

However, he took a different view on his situation, as he explained:

“This is the way it goes, the way the system is structured. I don’t understand why students borrow from Sallie Mae then bitch about it; they should know the conditions before they sign up.”

American student loans are divided into federal and private loans; federal loans are limited but have a lower interest rate as they are guarunteed by the government; private loans have higher interest rates and no state subsidy.

Speaking for Sallie Mae, Christel claimed that their private loans had a higher risk for the lender: “Sallie Mae offers private loans, which are different from federally guaranteed loans in that all risk is assumed by the lender and there is no government guarantee.”

However in the case of federal loans, companies such as Sallie Mae are able to take payments from a debtor’s social security fund

or pay check if they default on a federal loan, giving the lender total security.

Alan M. Collinge, spokesperson for the resistance group StudentLoanJustice.org, was more critical of the American loan system than Sallie Mae itself, citing the gradual reduction of borrowers protections as the reason for the exploitation of student loans.

He said: “Student Loans are the only type of loan in modern US history to be specifically stripped of bankruptcy protections, statues of limitations, refinancing rights, and other funda-mental consumer protections.

“The root cause of most of these problems lies in the fact that Congress removed these fundamental protections. This has made it more lucrative for the system when students fall behind, and has caused predatory behavior to occur. This predatory lending system also has contributed greatly to the astonishing rise in tuition costs – much like in the subprime home mortgage industry.”

Christel defended the practicality of their student loans:

“When compared to other types of consumer debt, for example credit cards or car loans, student loans offer a variety of options.”

Collinge called for a solution to the problem, he said: “The answer is simple: Congress must, at a minimum, return the standard consumer protections to student loans that it took away. This is at a minimum.”

In accordance President Obama has already expressed a desire to expand the availability of Direct Loans from the Board of Education, thus bypassing the private loan companies. This move is being resisted by lobby group America's Student Loan Providers.

RESEARCHERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF Glasgow have made a major break-through which could lead to the develop-ment of safer drugs for the treatment of Sleeping Sickness.

The illness, also known as Human African Trypanosomasis, is generally accepted as one of Africa’s neglected diseases, killing up to 50,000 people every year.

The disease, which is transmitted by the tsetse fly, causes an infection in the brain which results in confusion, paralysis, coma, the reversal of the normal sleep cycle, and if it remains untreated, death.

However, the current treatments are so toxic that they kill one in 20 patients who are given it, as Melarsoprol, the arsenic-based drug used, can trigger very severe brain inflammation.

Staff from the University’s Medical, Veterinary and Life Science faculties have now found that inhibiting a particular metabolic pathway in the brain – known as the kynurenine pathway – can signifi-cantly reduce inflammation in the brains of animals infected with the parasites which cause Sleeping Sickness.

The study was led by Burton Professor of Neurology at Glasgow University, Peter Kennedy. He believes that the discovery brings scientists closer to developing a safer treatment for the disease.

He said: “We are unquestionably one step closer to developing safer combination drugs for the treatment of sleeping sick-ness.

“We believe that when treating patients with Melarsoprol it would be possible to minimize brain damage if a specific anti-inflammatory drug was administered before the patient received Melarsoprol.

“We will of course need to test this theory, but this finding is extremely prom-ising.”

Jim Wilson

Jim Wilson

news@glasgowguardian.co.uk27th April 2009 NEWS 3

LARGE CROWDS GATHERED AT GARSCUBE LAST weekend to attend the University of Glasgow’s largest annual fundraising event, the Vet Rodeo.

Now in its 49th year, the Rodeo plays host to numerous attractions for children and adults alike, with all profits from the event being given to nominated charities.

This year, money was being raised for a number of organisa-tions, including the Scottish SPCA, Boxer Welfare Scotland, and Riding for the Disabled. In addition to these charities, money was also being directed to the new Small Animal Hospital at the Garscube Estate, which has been under construction since late 2007. The state-of-the-art hospital is scheduled to open later this year.

Visitors were able to enjoy a number of stalls, displays and competitions across the Rodeo site. Younger guests made the most of the funfair, face painting and bouncy castles, while dog owners were given the chance to test their pet’s obedience and agility on a tricky assault course.

Of course, certain attractions proved popular with visitors of all ages – ferret racing in particular drew a formidable crowd around the plastic pipe racetrack.

The main arena hosted the majority of the key events during the day. Early in the afternoon, Husky teams gave a demonstra-tion of sled and scooter pulling, with the dogs romping around the arena, handlers in tow.

Later, large numbers of visitors gathered for a falconry display, where crowds watched as small falcons dived into the arena over their heads, and several members of the audience were invited in to hold large vultures.

Rachael Forgie and Susanna Spence, heads of this year’s Rodeo, explained how they felt the event was going.

Forgie told Guardian: “We think it’s going pretty well, there seems to be a good turnout. We’ve had a few mishaps with the

Rodeo raises £14,000 for charityJames Porteous

riding arena, and things pulling out last minute, but it doesn’t seem to have affected anything, and the weather’s been good, so pretty good!”

Spence also gave her thoughts on the best attractions at the rodeo itself, touting an unusual form of carpentry as a hidden gem at the event.

She said: “We’ve got a chainsaw carver at the top of the campus, and he’s so good, he makes these amazing sculptures.”

Last year, the event got off to a damp start, with miserable

weather on the morning of the Rodeo affecting the money raised for charities.

Talking to Guardian after the show, Spence spoke positively about the funds raised by the 2009 event.

She said: “This year's Rodeo was a great success, bringing in over £14,000 on the day. We are hoping to give our selected charities £3,500 each. Organising the Rodeo takes a lot of hard work, but when the time comes to hand over cheques to very worthy charities, you know it is all worth it.”

Glasgow students make a break for itAmy Macgregor

FOUR GLASGOW UNIVERSITY STUDENTS recently managed to make their way to Alicante – without spending a single penny.

As part of a fundraising attempt for Comic Relief, the Jailbreak Challenge required the

nine participating teams to travel as far away from the Queen Margaret Union as possible for free in 48 hours.

Neil Docherty, Chris Jones, Andrew McAllister and Jamie McGeachy managed to raise over £1100 in sponsorship for their 1,225 mile-long journey.

Speaking to Guardian, Andrew McAllister explained how daunting the challenge initially seemed to his team.

He said: “We left armed only with red noses, kilts and passports. The kilts helped massively but everything else was to be acquired through sheer charm.

“We can’t believe we made it all the way to Alicante. We thought we’d most likely get as far as the end of Byres Road.”

The team encountered difficulties almost immediately, when they tried to persuade taxi drivers to transport them for nothing.

Christopher Jones told Guardian: “We ran from the QMU thinking that we could blag a free taxi to the airport. The two taxi drivers we stopped literally told us to get lost.”

The team did eventually make it to the airport but encountered further problems when they were told that there were no airlines able or willing to allow them onto a flight.

Jones continued: “We phoned the Jailbreak headquarters at 7pm and we were told that we were the only team not to have made it out of Glasgow. We were devastated.”

The four were then able to convince Virgin Trains to allow them to travel to Manchester in First Class seats.

Once at Manchester Airport, travel operator Thomas Cook gave the team four tickets to Alicante in Spain.

Not content at having travelled over a thousand miles from home, the team decided to try and make it to Algeria by boat. All that prevented them from carrying out this plan were warnings from locals about the potential safety risks of such a venture.

Raymond Bell and Mark Cook, QMU stew-ards, managed to go even further during the challenge. The pair travelled 2,009 miles to Las Palmas in Gran Canaria, also using free flights from Manchester offered by Thomas Cook.

Bell described to Guardian the methods he used to secure free transport and his disap-pointment at having to pay once more after the 48-hour challenge was up.

He said: “We found it far too easy to get on to trains, and even planes, as we look like we are in need of help so it was simple.“We were offered flights to the Dominican Republic but realised we might not be able to get back if we went that far.”

“I was truly amazed to have travelled 2,009 miles for free, but to then have to pay £4 for a taxi just from the centre of Glasgow to the QMU was a shock.”

Other, less far-flung destinations reached during the challenge included London, Ipswich, Wick and Newcastle.

The amount raised by all nine teams for Comic Relief was over £3,000 with a combined total of 5,263 miles travelled.

James Porteous

Andrew McAllister

news@glasgowguardian.co.uk4 NEWS 27th April 2009

GSA exhibits in Beijing SRC speaks out against SNP alcohol proposals

Students set to launch space webSIX PHD STUDENTS FROM Glasgow University have won the opportunity to see their design for a space web launched into orbit.

After a successful proposal to a panel of experts, the students will construct the web with the aid of a grant from the European Space Agency (ESA).

Made from high performance polymer, an ultra-light, ultra-strong fibre used in a variety of applications including fishing lines, the web will be deployed from a rocket once it has reached orbit.

The team have designed the light-weight space web in the hope of providing a construction platform that does not incur the huge cost of launching heavy materials from Earth.

The web will provide a light-weight platform for miniature robots to use as they help build large struc-

tures. These could include satel-lites to harness the Sun's energy, or antennae for further exploration of the universe.

The team had to present their proposal to a panel of experts from the ESA, Swedish National Space Board, Swedish Space Corporation and German Aerospace Centre.

Christopher Murray, one of six PhD students involved, told Guardian: “The presentation to the panel was quite nerve-racking but we were confident that we had a techni-cally sound proposal, and we had the people and skills to both build the experiment and achieve the experi-ment aims.

“It is our proposal that by control-ling the deployment of the spinning structure, deployment and stabilisa-tion of the web can be achieved.”

The project is part of an ESA programme of experiments for university students conducted on rockets and balloons. The team will

have just one year to prepare the web to go onboard a rocket launched from northern Sweden, but Murray, who specialises in mathematics and physics, is confident of success.

He said: “We are extremely pleased and obviously very excited about the prospect of designing and actually seeing our experiment fly. We have the opportunity of being

involved in every stage of this project, which is extremely rewarding.

“If the experiment is successful we would certainly like to develop the system on a larger scale.”

The team will be able to call on support from two leading figures in the field based at the University of Glasgow: Matthew Cartmell, James Watt Professor of Mechanical

Engineering at the University of Glasgow and the UK’s leading authority on space tethers; and Dr Max Vasile. The group is also receiving technical support and hard-ware from Glasgow-based small satellite company Clyde Space.

The space web is due to be construceted and then launched onboard a rocket in March 2010.

Ishbel Begg

George Binning

James Porteous

The Glasgow University SRC has aligned itself with members of the alcohol and retail industry in questioning the Scottish Government’s proposed controls on the sale of alcohol.

President Gavin Lee made the comment in response to the SNP’s plans to implement minimum retail pricing on alcoholic drinks.

The plan, developed to help curb Scotland’s reputation for alcohol abuse, makes a number of recommendations on reducing alcohol consumption, through measures such as the restriction of off-license promotions, and a total ban on the sale of alcohol as a loss-leader.

Lee stated that although the SRC supported the idea of action on alcohol abuse, it did not agree with minimum pricing as method of curbing excessive drinking.

He said: “The SRC applauds the govern-ment for attempting to tackle the binge drinking problem in Scotland. However, there is no evidence that the rise in the price of alcohol prevents alcohol abuse: our mainland European counterparts do not have a problem with binge drinking, despite comparatively low prices.

Lee went on to call for further research into the other causes of abuse.

He said: “An alcohol abuse culture is main-tained through a variety of different factors; the Government needs to investigate the root causes of the problem, not simply increase prices”.

These views follow criticism levelled by those involved in the production and retail

of alcohol, who have expressed concern over proposals involving minimum pricing.

Scottish & Newcastle, producer of brands such as Strongbow and Fosters, stated their opposition to minimum pricing in a response to the Government’s discussion paper on Scotland’s relationship with alcohol.

They said: “Setting a minimum price per unit of alcohol is a blunt instrument which will have a disproportionate affect on responsible and law abiding drinkers.

“Those who abuse alcohol will find an alternative source, risking a rise in demand for cheap or even illicit alcohol.

“We do not believe this proposal will tackle harmful drinking patterns, nor do we believe it is the role of Government to set prices for consumers. On those grounds, we oppose this proposal.”

Retail giant TESCO has aired similar views, and like the SRC President, points to Europe as an example that pricing is not a key issue in the drive to reduce binge-drinking.

Executive Director for Corporate and Legal Affairs for the company, Lucy Neville-Rolfe, stated: “Binge drinking and other alcohol-related social problems are a serious concern to us all, but it is far too simplistic to apportion responsibility for this on price alone.”

“If low-cost alcohol were the only factor then countries such as France and Spain, where prices are much lower than in the UK, would have similar problems and countries like Finland, where alcohol is expensive and its availability restricted, would not.”

STUDENTS FROM GLASGOW SCHOOL OF Art (GSA) exhibited work alongside Chinese contemporaries in the Central Academy of Fine Art (CAFA) in Beijing early this April.

The show comprised of 20 third year GSA students and 15 from the CAFA. Steve Rigley, visual communications lecturer and organiser of the venture, explained how the exhibition had been coordinated in spite of linguistic and cultural barriers: “We both tackled the same brief then we exhibited together in the CAFA in Beijing. The brief was centered on the theme of translation.

We had the opportunity to see what was going on at art schools in Beijing. It seems to have become a lot more commercialised in the past two or three years.”

The project was supported mostly by the fundraising efforts of students and received a £3,000 grant from the Scottish Government.

As well as receiving financial support, the exhibition was supported in person by members of the Scottish Government as Rigley described:

“As luck would have it the exhibition coincided with the visit to China from Fiona Hyslop so she opened the exhibition.”

This news comes in the light of the Education Secretary, Fiona Hyslop’s announcement of two schemes to promote economic and cultural ties between Scottish and Chinese Universities, revealed during Hyslop’s same visit to Beijing.

The initiative aims to encourage exchange programmes for PhD students between nations. In addition a new programme of scholarships for Masters scholars from China, jointly funded by the Scottish Government and Scottish universi-ties will provide one-off funding of £2,000 for 50 scholars from China who wish to come to study in Scotland later this year.

Hyslop claimed that these projects would develop Scotland’s potential as a strong economic force in the future.

“By encouraging the long-term exchange of education and knowledge between our two countries, these two new schemes will help our students, institutions and industry develop the knowledge they need to compete in today's internationally competitive markets.”

University of Glasgow

Li Jing

University of Glasgow

news@glasgowguardian.co.uk NEWS 527th April 2009

Losses at GUSA ball

(Continued from front page) A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman told Guardian that the

police work with students and offer advice to help them stay safe whilst living in Glasgow.

She said: “We give students at Murano Street Student Village a safety talk during Freshers’ Week and have informa-tion on our website about how to stay safe, including how to plan a safe night out.”

Whilst there is a general belief that the University and local police do go some way to ensuring the safety of Murano residents, it is felt that more could be done and that the safety measures currently implemented could be improved upon. One idea for improvement commonly mentioned is for the SRC to expand its minibus service to continue running at later times. Currently, the last bus to take students to Murano Street leaves at 10.35pm, which many students feel is too early.

18-year–old Business and Management student, Jodie Davidson, explained the ways in which a later bus service would be of benefit.

She said: “Even if they just went on until midnight it would be better. I know a lot of people who don’t use the library at night because they are put off by the fact that they would have to get a taxi or walk back.”

SRC President, Gavin Lee, explained that the SRC tries to reflect the needs of students in the ongoing development of its minibus service.

He told Guardian: “The SRC minibus service runs until 11pm each weekday, giving students the opportunity to travel

home safely from campus during the evenings. Reacting to student demand, the SRC has developed the minibus service to include morning services to Wolfson Hall next year, and hopes to eventually roll this out to all halls.

“We will continue to monitor student demand and look further into this service where appropriate.”

Lee also detailed the other ways through which the SRC currently works to ensure student safety.

He said: “When travelling home late at night, we would recommend students sharing a taxi home, or walking with a group of people in well-lit areas. Stay safe by knowing about all the options available to you before walking home.

“Free attack alarms are also available from the SRC Advice Centre for any student wishing to carry one.”

A number of students also explained their concern about the public access footbridge entrance of the student complex. Some recalled being followed and intimidated when using the footbridge, particularly when members of the public gather near the entrance.

A comparison of the crime statistics for the past year of Maryhill with those of Glasgow’s West End show that there is a much higher incidence of violent crime in Maryhill, although the figures for rape and attempted rape are slightly higher in the West End. A significant proportion of the Murano Street resi-dents knew personally at least one other student who had been a victim of crime during their stay at the halls.

Patricia Ferguson, Labour MSP for Glasgow Maryhill, told Guardian that a number of different measures were underway to

reduce crime in her constituency and that the student presence helped to enhance the area.

She said: “There are several initiatives being taken forward at the moment but perhaps the most significant is that the local Community Planning Partnership have funded the employment of an additional ten community officers to work in the area. This, together with action to crack down on the illegal sale of drink and the provision of diversionary activity will, I hope, help to reduce the statistics.

“The student halls in Murano Street have been good for Maryhill’s economy and the students are a welcome addition to what is a very diverse area.”

A spokesperson for the University denied that there was any serious crime problem affecting the student residents of Murano Street and claimed that the safety of its students is a priority concern for the institution:

“The personal safety of our students is of paramount importance to the University. Safety messages are constantly reinforced to by staff at all student residences and Residential Services continue to make security awareness a priority.

“The University has no figures to suggest that violent crime is any higher in the Murano Street area compared to elsewhere in the West Wend. There was one violent incident involving students recorded last year and the police made an arrest. Residential Services liaise closely with police on a continual basis to ensure that student safety is maintained.”

For more information on this story and others, please vist www.glasgowguardian.co.uk

Dentists win innovation awardRoss Mathers

Murano students express concerns over safety

(Continued from front page)He said: “It won’t have an effect financially

next year because the costing for the event was included in last year’s budget. We want to provide a good service for students and we have very good control over money.”

President of the SRC, Gavin Lee, expressed his concern at GUSA’s management and the loss generated by the event.

He told Guardian: “It is surprising that an event which generates such income can go so badly wrong: a loss of this size brings up serious questions over management and finan-cial control. It has to be said that this represents poor value for students’ money.”

Also confirmed by Director of the Sport and Recreation Service (SRS), Julie Ommer, is the increase in cost of gym membership for next year from £35 to £40.

She said: “The new £40 membership fee was part of ongoing budget plans set in the 07/08 session, to coincide with general facility investment plans and the upgrading of changing facilities at the Stevenson Building.”

One of the most prominent aspects of Stephen Flavahan’s presidential campaign was his pledge to freeze the gym membership fee.

STUDENTS FROM THE GLASGOW University Dental School have been awarded the top prize in this year’s Dental Innovation Technology Ideas awards.

The final year students — Adam Gray, David Lagan and Pearce Hannigan — devel-oped their entry using a Nintendo Wii console to replicate an environment in which dental students can practise their clinical technique.

Speaking to Guardian, Craig Leaver, CEO of the awards’ sponsors, Dental Innovation, explained the significance of the competition.

He said: “The recent Dental Innovation Technology Ideas award was developed to

promote out-of-the-box thinking by final year dental students.”

Speaking on behalf of his team members, Pearce Hannigan described their reaction to the success.

He told Guardian:“We were absolutely thrilled at winning first prize. We were aware of the high standard of the entries put forward by our colleagues and never believed for a minute that our entry would win the prize.”

“We hope that our dental innovation reflects Glasgow Dental School’s commitment to improving teaching standards and the devel-opment of highly skilled dentists.”

The winners received a cheque for £300 and a glass obelisk, presented by Leaver.

Emma O'Bryen, 18

I think the University should look at housing students elsewhere or improving awareness because things do happen. A friend was followed home by a guy who was pulling his pants down.

Jim Wilson

Donald Steven, 18

I know a few people who have experi-ence violent crime but when I first came I didn’t really have any awareness about safety. The police sent an email once but it just said to watch out.

Simone Kupisz, 18

I walk home by myself at night because I generally like walking. I’d rather walk most of the time rather than get a taxi because it doesn’t seem worth paying £3 to get home.

Chris Forster, 19

I've seen quite a few people from Maryhill walk through Murano. It would be good if the police who patrol Maryhill late at night would walk through the student village sometimes as well.

Speaking to Guardian, Flavahan explained that he had made it clear during his campaign that the price freeze would be something for which he would have to fight.

He said: “The reason I campaigned to keep the gym fee at £35 because I think it is in the students’ best interests that it doesn’t increase.

“For me it’s the principle of prices going up consecutively. The reason sport at Glasgow University is so good is because it is accessible and the affordable gym fee is a part of that.

“I think I made it clear during my campaign that it was always a lobbying issue. When I take office in June I will be lobbying for the decision to be changed. I can’t promise that I will be successful in my fight but I think the fact that I was elected with a mandate from the students to freeze the fee strengthens my case.”

When asked to comment on the decision to raise the cost of gym membership, Gavin Lee emphasised his belief that students would still be receiving a valuable service.

He explained: “An increase in cost must come with an increase in standards. However, one of the cheapest university gym member-ships in the UK still represents fantastic value for money.”

news@glasgowguardian.co.uk6 NEWS FOCUS 27th April 2009

You have been Rector for nearly a year now – how has the experience compared to your expectations?

I suppose in a way I came in in a curious situation because obviously the previous rector had never been able to visit, so there was a gap in everybody’s experience, so in a sense I suppose I was a bit fortunate as you were really starting with a blank sheet of paper.

But I took the view, and I believe this more now with my first 12 months, that the more you put into it - not just in a personal sense - the more you get out, and people want you to get involved, which is a good sign.

I find that combining it with parliamentary work and constituency work is not difficult just because of the geography. I work regularly from my office on campus here now, and I’m on campus just about every week. Last week I was back and forth probably about three times.

I was on the selection panel for the new principle and that’s an indication that the University authorities are taking the position of rector seriously. They wouldn’t ask you to do that unless they thought you were serious about the job.

So it’s very much a working job, and I’ve started using the platform now in the House of Commons, I’ve started raising questions about issues that I see coming through the pipeline of which Glasgow is experiencing; issues and experiences in common with universities right across the board. It’s keeping me extremely busy but it’s very worthwhile and good fun.

What areas are you particularly keen to see a change in? Do you have any plans you would like to implement in the future?

I’m working quite a lot with the alumni office, Cathy Bell and her colleagues, who do quite a lot already but there’s a lot more that could be done. Although the recession means people have less money, if you look at what universities in the United States now do, leaving aside the political argument about how to fund students and how to fund universities, the hard reality of life is that any university now is going to have to be calling more on its alumni, on its graduates, to put their hands in their pockets.

And although we’re active on that front in Glasgow, when you look at what competitor universities in the United States do, where this has been the absolutely taken as read approach for generations, we’re miles behind. Not just Glasgow, British universities gener-ally, so there’s a huge amount to do in terms of building up all that, and that’s something that with my other roles in life, and my role as rector I can help with.

How have the rector’s surgeries been going? Do you find the same issues crop up or is there a wide variety?

They are busy, which is good, so clearly there is a need to be dealt with there. So far - and I’ve waited a year to sample this - if you look at all the issues people are coming to see me about, they are enormously wide-ranging.

Q&A with Charles Kennedy

They can be everything from issues like Gaza, big international concerns, down to individual difficulties over, not so much courses or course-work, but funding issues as you’d expect.

But of those, the biggest single proportion so far have in fact come from returning students: post graduate students; mature students; and students who are back now part-time. What I have seen is that they encounter more difficulty with bureaucracy than anything else.

What I would honestly say, because I’ve spent 25 years as an MP dealing with beauracra-cies, is that with most of these issues that come my way, the institution of Glasgow University has done as much as it can. The brick wall is being met somewhere else: it might be with student grants and maintenance; it might be with the department of work and pensions; or it might be that people’s family circumstances are such that their benefit entitlement is compli-

cated by their student status, so they lose out in some other way. There’s a glitch, whatever it might be, and in that I’ve had dealings with MSPs’ offices as well, and through that we’re usually able to improve things, and that’s quite significant.

You mentioned that you were around campus a lot during the recent Gaza protests and it certainly seems that political activism is alive and well on campus. Are you pleased to see students protesting?

I’m certainly pleased to see students being politically active, yes, and I’ve written a piece about this for the House magazine, which is a weekly publication for Westminster, because I was contrasting watching the occupation and what led from it, and how that unfolded, with what would have happened thirty years ago as a student in similar circumstances, and the

extent to which the Internet has transformed issues like this out of all recognition is very significant.

People might not be willing to take direct action about an issue one way or another, but might have strong feelings about the effect that what was happening was having on them. They are now able to use the Internet to mobilise that viewpoint, and it’s not something that’s going to publicly be seen.

It doesn’t require a poster, it doesn’t require anybody standing on a picket line, but the Principal and other University authorities can receive hundreds of emails, and that affects the way they have to judge how to solve an issue like this. It’s amazing how the conduct of an issue like this works in politics. It’s an inter-esting point of inquiry I may suggest.

In a recent issue of Guardian it was reported that Sir Muir Russell received a pay rise almost four times the rate of inflation last year, yet some Graduate Teaching Assistants have not received a salary increase since 2002. What are your thoughts on the matter? Is this an issue you can or will raise?

In my opinion, I know that the Principal himself reads not just the Glasgow University Guardian newspaper but other outlets as well, such as the letters in the Herald for example, where members of staff and the public have been making their views very clearly known about that, and I think that he’s probably bound to be sensitive to it.

But I think it’s inconsistent for me, given my other role: I’ve always argued that MPs should not decide their own pay levels, and I’ve always voted against that, and I think it should be taken out of our hands entirely, and I don’t vote for pay increases and expenditure increases for myself. I think it is ridiculous that that should be left for MPs, and as every day goes by you see more and more evidence of how ridiculous that is.

So I’m slightly between a rock and a hard place on this one, but you’re right, this is comparatively a lot more money than other members of staff are receiving, and I think I’m right in saying that that now makes the Principal at Glasgow University the highest paid prin-cipal in Scotland. You can understand,at a time of recession, why people feel bruised.

Will you be following in the footsteps of Boris Johnson and popping up on Twitter anytime soon?

I am not Mr Technology I can assure you! The Blackberry is as far as I’ve got. I probably won’t be popping up on Twitter, actually. I’ve got friends in the Commons who have blogs and are on Twitter, and I think there’s various other outlets of that type as well, and good on them, but I just don’t know where they find the time, to be honest. And of course the minute you do something like that you generate feed-back, and that means if you’re going to do it properly that’s more time, so I think I’ll stick with more traditional forms of getting my message across and hope for the best.

Glasgow University Rector, Charles Kennedy talks to Ishbel Begg about how he is finding his role, and why he won’t be Twittering anytime soon.

Jim Wilson

James Maxwell examines the difficulties faced by Glasgow’s refugees and asylum seekers – and those who try to help them.

Refugees and the recession

features@glasgowguardian.co.uk27th April 2009

The Unity Centre sits on the corner of Ibrox Street in Cessnock, two or three hundred yards from the gates of the Home Office immigration compound that its volun-

teers picket weekly. The peeling pale-blue paint of its facade suggests a decades old residence, but in fact it was established just three years ago, as a means to providing asylum seekers and refugees with support, legal advice and ‘solidarity’.

Of the approximately 20,000 people who were granted temporary political and humanitarian sanctuary in the UK last year, around two or three thousand have settled in Glasgow, and of those only thirty to forty percent will be allowed to remain permanently. Although that number may seem negligible, according to Phill Jones – a senior staff member at the Unity Centre – it represents the highest concentration of new, non-economic, migrants in any British city outside London.

Mr. Jones speaks warmly of Glasgow’s attitude to immi-gration: “It is one of the most welcoming places in Britain for asylum seekers, partly because the families who come here have a profound impact on local communities, and the local people see that. There is a life-boat mentality with these families. The kids are keen to work and do well at school because they want to help out their parents. The parents are often involved with churches and community projects because they want to integrate and prove they can be successful.”

But recent projections have anticipated that Scotland, and specifically Glasgow, will suffer heavily as a result of the current economic crisis. It is expected that upwards of 180,000 Scots will be on the unemployment register by the start of 2010. This will leave little space in an over-saturated jobs market and will stretch the limits of an already strained benefits system. As we lurch further into the depths of recession, what will be the fate of those who are already exposed and susceptible? Is there a risk that native Scots will scapegoat asylum seekers in the way that some in the north of England have?

Jones insists, “It is worth remembering England and Scotland have contrasting attitudes on this issue. The atmosphere south of the border is much more hostile. Whereas here, the SNP govern-ment have put a lot of time into promoting the idea of a tolerant and multicultural Scotland – which is at odds with almost every other nationalist party in Europe. Also, there is a tradition of internationalism in Glasgow’s politics and history which still means something today.”

The debate concerning asylum and immigration in the UK has long been warped by a litany of half-truths and false impres-

sions – some of which have been promoted by the far-right, some by the state. Perhaps the most pernicious misconception is that Britain is a ‘soft-touch’; a magnet for foreign free-riders, welfare-cheats and scroungers. On average, however, a single asylum seeker is expected to live on little more than £30 a week; barely enough for basic amenities.

In the midst of the most severe economic slump of recent times, the conditions of the poorest are only going to worsen. It is conceivable that an individual, with three ten pound notes in his pocket, might previously have been able to scratch together the very minimum necessary to sustain a tolerable standard of existence. But today, with rising food and fuel prices and government plans to cut £15bn from public finances, surviving on such a meagre amount no longer seems possible.

In addition, the UK Border Agency – the body that processes asylum claims – is a monolithic, impersonal bureaucracy that forces applicants through a series of degrading proce-dures. Officials at the immigration compound in Cessnock, for instance, subject new arrivals to five separate searches before they will consider specific requests.

A Kenyan asylum seeker sitting with her infant daughter amongst the clutter of the Unity Centre’s tiny, single-room office explains, “You come and they don’t seem to know or care what you have been through. The authorities make it as difficult as possible. They don’t treat you as an individual with particular difficulties, but as just another foreigner. They make you feel like a criminal.”

Jones argues that British immigration policy is not only unfair and inefficient, but chaotic too. He offers this example as illustration of systemic disarray, “Through the Gateway Project (a UN funded programme), the United Kingdom takes in around 500 refugees a year – that’s from a global total of twenty-three million, by the way. Two years ago the UK offered accommoda-tion in Motherwell to two hundred men, women and children from the Democratic Republic of Congo, whilst at the same time conducting dawn raids on dozens of Congolese families in Glasgow. Sometimes it seems such confusion is deliberate.”

The Kenyan asylum seeker – who wished to remain unnamed – confirms Jones’ view. She describes how the Home Office has

kept her in legal purgatory; unable to get a job, or an education, or even a bank account because her status has yet to be resolved – a full eighteen months after she first arrived in Scotland. “I’m not allowed to possess any identification. I can’t enrol at a college or get an education. I wanted to study childcare. I can’t work because I don’t really have an official place here.”

Evidently, this disorder benefits no one. Refusing asylum seekers and refugees the right to work and to learn serves only to marginalise and isolate groups who need extra support during this period of extreme economic uncertainty. It also discourages them from following the available legal avenues to citizenship, as Jones points out, “The reality is that asylum seekers can be imprisoned if they work. But because they can’t get work many of them are made homeless. Once National Asylum Support Service (NASS) payments are stopped, they can’t afford to keep up payments and their things are repossessed; sometimes without any warning. This can give them the impression they are about to be deported and drives them underground, out of the reach of the authorities.”

The volunteers at the Unity Centre do what they can to ensure that some support exists. They operate in a dark, cramped space with the full weight of the British state pressed against them. On the dirty walls, pictures drawn by the clients’ children hang next to a board with a list of the names of recently deported failed applicants. Nonetheless, it seems like gratifying work. Phill Jones grins, leans forward with his hands clasped on his desk, and says, “It’s a good thing to be a race traitor.”

FEATURES 7

“A single asylum seeker is expected to live on little more than £30 a week; barely enough for basic amenities.”

Sean Anderson

Sean Anderson

27th April 2009

On April 2nd, the leaders of twenty leading industrial nations met for the Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy. In preceding weeks, Gordon Brown had already come under fire. Mervyn King’s muttered criticisms on Brown’s plans for further

financial stimulus sparked a media frenzy. Divisions also appeared in the G20: Nicolas Sarkozy, anxious to prove his ‘Gallic’ temperament, threatened to leave an ‘empty chair’ at the summit if no agreement could be reached on regulating financial markets, and organised a separate press conference with Angela Merckel to argue against Brown and Obama’s lavish socialist free for all ... well, all the rich.

If times are tough for the Masters of the Universe, they aren’t much better for their subjects. In Britain, the official number of unemployed has rocketed to 2.3 million people. For youths aged 16-24 it is much worse: the rate of jobless-ness stands at 15 percent. By the end of the year, analysts predict the dole queue will stretch to 3 million, but some go further. David Blanchflower of the Monetary Policy Committee argues that without drastic action 4 million people will be on the dole in 2010.

Four weeks before the G20 I visited the Prisme packaging plant in Dundee. On March 4th, the 12 employees at the plant had filed in for work at 8am as usual. An hour later, the managing director resigned and they were told to await instructions from the company secretary. Several frantic phone calls later they discovered that the secretary was on holiday.

Later that day a man they had never met came to the factory and claimed to be the owner. He issued redundancy letters which said that although the workers were entitled to redundancy pay, the company would not pay it. They were told to contact Citizens Advice Bureau for assistance.

More problems soon emerged. Every time Citizens Advice tried to identify the owners of the plant, they hit a brick wall. The same people who had claimed to own the plant hours earlier now denied any knowledge of its existence.

The workers were left with a choice: leave quietly or take action. By 5pm, they had decided to occupy the factory.

I spoke to Matthew Duffield, 25, who had worked at the plant for two years since leaving Abertay University. He told me that the occupation was a prin-cipled stand: “Some of us have been working here for 12 years or even longer. This plant is part of the community. But we aren’t doing this because we expect anything. It is a matter of principle.”

The mood at the occupation was simultaneously militant and apolitical. Militant because it was a principled stand against employers who use the economic crisis as a way to lay off workers without compensation, and because they refused to be cowed by threats from the owners and the authorities. More than a month on, they are still occupying the plant. Apolitical because although the occupation was the first of its kind in Britain, nobody at the plant thought of themselves as leaders. When I arrived, they had not even issued a press release. When I asked why, I was told: “Aye, well, The Courier was down earlier, and that’s fine for us.”

These confused, spontaneous outbursts of anger at unemployment and cuts are emerging everywhere. Prior to the demonstrations at G20, workers at the Visteon car plants in Belfast, Essex, and Enfield, North London, staged sit-ins and picketed their factories over layoffs. After the G20 demos were over, I received a phone call from Glasgow to say that two local schools had been occupied after a 12-week campaign against closures.

A ruling class weakened, lacking in ideas, unable to piece together any semblance of unity; young workers and students mobilising enormous collec-tive energy and anger, but in the most sporadic and confused forms. These forces lined up against each other at G20, with antagonisms so irreconcilable

that even the razzle dazzle of Barack Obama’s first appearance in Britain could not lighten the mood.

There were two mobilisations around the G20. On March 28th, the Put People First Coalition of NGOs, trade unions, and environmental groups organised a peaceful March for Jobs, Justice, and Climate, attended by about 35,000 people. This passed off without violent confrontations, and has been subsequently forgotten by the media. A day before the conference on April 1st, there was a more militant demonstration at the Bank of England organised by G20 Meltdown, a coalition of anarchists and other activists from London. There was also rioting in the city of Strasbourg in opposition to the 60th anniversary celebrations of NATO.

Around 30 students from Glasgow travelled to London and Strasbourg for this week of protest. Benjamin Wray, 20, a History student from Strathclyde University who is leading a campaign against department cuts and layoffs, told Guardian that the mood on both demos was heated. Speaking about the Put People First demo, he said, “Not such a broad layer of people has been seen on a demo since Gleneagles and Make Poverty History in 2005. NGOs, trade unions, activists like myself, all marching to say that the government should be putting the interests of the vast majority of the people first. The student section that I was in was extremely lively, extremely militant.”

According to Wray, the effervescent fury of the protest’s student section stems from the problem of graduate unemployment: “Students are going to leave university now and they’re not going to be able to find a job. In Scotland there’s going to be 300,000 graduates this year fighting it out for 80,000 jobs. So people are going to end up flipping burgers instead of doing what they’ve spent years, and got into lots of debt, to get a degree for.”

Wray attended both demonstrations in London. Describing the later demo, which converged memorably on the Bank of England, he said, “There was more media than I’ve ever seen on a demonstration, and the same could be said for the police presence.”

The Bank of England demo marched from four underground stations to represent “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”. From Moorgate, the red horse against war. From Liverpool Street, the green horse against “climate chaos”. From London Bridge, the silver horse against “financial crimes”. And from Cannon Street, the “black horse against land enclosures and borders” to honour 360 years of the revolutionary Diggers of the English Civil War.

As they converged on the Bank of England, thousands of protestors were cordoned into an area and enclosed by lines of riot police as part of Operation Glencoe, the codename of the G20 security operations. Protestors were left without food, water, and shelter for up to seven hours. This crowd-control tactic, nicknamed “kettling”, has been particularly controversial since footage emerged of a policeman pushing and hitting Ian Tomlinson, a local newspaper vendor who was walking home past the demo and had no involvement in it. He died five minutes after the assault.

Initially the media greeted the protest with predictable contempt. The Sun was scathing in its assessment. Under the title “Rabble are the real circus clowns”, they reported that “up close” the protestors are “a rabble of lost

features@glasgowguardian.co.uk8 FEATURES

Anticapitalism in the capital: rioting rocks London

“Weeks of protests, police violence, factory sit-ins, and the mysterious martyrdom of Ian Tomlinson might make March-April 2009 the most explosive month of protest since May 1968.”

helloGuy Smallman Workers occuppy their factory in defence of jobsPolice clash with protestors at the G20 demonstrations in London

As the economic crisis deepens and unemployment continues to rise, James Foley reports from the recent anticapitalist demonstrations in London.

27th April 2009

Around 30 students from Glasgow travelled to London and Strasbourg for this week of protest. Benjamin Wray, 20, a History student from Strathclyde University who is leading a campaign against department cuts and layoffs, told Guardian that the mood on both demos was heated. Speaking about the Put People First demo, he said, “Not such a broad layer of people has been seen on a demo since Gleneagles and Make Poverty History in 2005. NGOs, trade unions, activists like myself, all marching to say that the government should be putting the interests of the vast majority of the people first. The student section that I was in was extremely lively, extremely militant.”

According to Wray, the effervescent fury of the protest’s student section stems from the problem of graduate unemployment: “Students are going to leave university now and they’re not going to be able to find a job. In Scotland there’s going to be 300,000 graduates this year fighting it out for 80,000 jobs. So people are going to end up flipping burgers instead of doing what they’ve spent years, and got into lots of debt, to get a degree for.”

Wray attended both demonstrations in London. Describing the later demo, which converged memorably on the Bank of England, he said, “There was more media than I’ve ever seen on a demonstration, and the same could be said for the police presence.”

The Bank of England demo marched from four underground stations to represent “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”. From Moorgate, the red horse against war. From Liverpool Street, the green horse against “climate chaos”. From London Bridge, the silver horse against “financial crimes”. And from Cannon Street, the “black horse against land enclosures and borders” to honour 360 years of the revolutionary Diggers of the English Civil War.

As they converged on the Bank of England, thousands of protestors were cordoned into an area and enclosed by lines of riot police as part of Operation Glencoe, the codename of the G20 security operations. Protestors were left without food, water, and shelter for up to seven hours. This crowd-control tactic, nicknamed “kettling”, has been particularly controversial since footage emerged of a policeman pushing and hitting Ian Tomlinson, a local newspaper vendor who was walking home past the demo and had no involvement in it. He died five minutes after the assault.

Initially the media greeted the protest with predictable contempt. The Sun was scathing in its assessment. Under the title “Rabble are the real circus clowns”, they reported that “up close” the protestors are “a rabble of lost

Anticapitalism in the capital: rioting rocks London

hello

features@glasgowguardian.co.uk

ex-public school kids and university drop-outs, hollering meaningless slogans without direction”.

When Tomlinson’s death was discovered, the media was quick to blame protestors. The Irish Independent was among many outlets to report, without criticism, that “as police tried to give the casualty urgent treatment, they had to carry him away from the area after bottles were thrown at them by protesters.” The Telegraph reported that “a man who died during the G20 protests was not a demonstrator and collapsed after getting ‘caught up among the mob’”. The phrase “caught among the mob”, quoted in various reports, was appar-

ently taken from an “unnamed newspaper vendor who said he had known Mr Tomlinson for 25 years”. The unnamed vendor had not seen the incident.

Due to misinformation, the true circumstances of his death have only gradu-ally become apparent. Tomlinson was not a protestor, although, as a homeless alcoholic working as an Evening Standard newspaper vendor, he had certainly experienced the humiliations of the capitalist system more than most. As he casually walked home from work, hands in pockets, he was set upon by a police officer, pushed, and beaten with a baton. Five minutes later, Tomlinson collapsed. As news reporters and protestors came to his aid, police officers surrounded him. When 999 was called and the ambulance operators asked to speak to the police, they refused. Tomlinson was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. An early autopsy attributed this to heart failure, but subsequent autop-sies suggest internal bleeding was the cause of death, raising further suspicions about the role of the police.

Although the BBC refused to cover the story until days afterwards, the Metropolitan Police’s bungled cover-up has ensured that Tomlinson will go down in history as an unlikely martyr to the economic crisis.

Protestors like Wray feel that the death of Tomlinson and the police violence at the G20 will prompt members of the public to think twice about the role of the police in British society. “The violence of the state had been clear to me for some time,” said Wray, “but it’s growing in society, the police who are supposed to protect people, supposed to look after the ordinary person, are doing no such thing. They are looking out for the interests of the rich and powerful.”

Tomlinson’s death is currently under review by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). IPCC chairman Nick Hardwick has expressed “serious concerns” about the supervision of officers on major demonstrations.

Sir Ken Jones of the Association of Chief Police Officers responded that, “I can’t think of any other country that doesn’t use water cannons, CS gas, rubber bullets. Our approach is proportionate and has delivered on a number of occasions.”

Underlying the question of police brutality is a deeper problem. The notion peddled by The Sun that protestors are merely “a rabble of lost ex-public school kids and university drop-outs” is increasingly nonsensical. The protestors who travelled from Glasgow told me that not one among them attended a public school. Most were seeing people from their schools and hometowns driven to long-term unemployment; several protestors felt that they were being forced out of university for financial reasons; others faced the grim possibility of joining other graduates on the dole queue.

The likes of Sir Ken Jones and Gordon Brown are terrified that the young unemployed and students in precarious employment might unite around these questions. As unemployment ticks up and up, the legions of young people armed with ideas and paving stones are becoming the number one threat to “order” in Britain, and they could easily face the sort of draconian measures meted out against the Muslim community after 9/11. Many protestors have told me that they have been personally harassed and followed by police officers while trying to organise protests in Glasgow.

If Gordon Brown hoped April’s G20 summit in London could calm the turmoil of swelling dole queues and financial meltdown, he was quickly disabused. Weeks of protests, police violence, factory sit-ins, and the myste-rious martyrdom of Ian Tomlinson might make March-April 2009 the most explosive month of protest since May 1968. Like ‘68, last month’s events emerged from a population derided as passive, immature, and unfit for democ-racy. Unlike ‘68, the genie cannot go back in the bottle, because these protests come on the back of the greatest financial crisis since the 1930s.

Inevitably, these are turbulent times. The G20 protests have exposed the lines of battle. Lined up on one side are those who argue that living standards must be cut across the board to save the system from meltdown. On the other side are those who, like Benjamin Wray, insist “that we shouldn’t have to pay for this crisis and this is the start of the fightback.”

As the economic crisis deepens and unemployment continues to rise, James Foley reports from the recent anticapitalist demonstrations in London.

FEATURES 9

“Without drastic action, 4 million people will be on the dole in 2010.”

Charlie Kimber Guy SmallmanDemonstrators assemble for anti-NATO protests in Strasbourg as tear gas and smoke fill the sky behind them

features@glasgowguardian.co.uk10 FEATURES 27th April 2009

With the success of Kelvingrove’s new Doctor Who exhibition, Tara Hepburn examines the British love affair with the Time Lord

When Russell T Howard took the reigns of Doctor Who in 2005, he was asked by one of many baiting

journalists why he thought people loved Doctor Who quite so much. He answered sincerely: “because it is the greatest idea in the history of the world”. This seems somewhat ridiculous, of course, but with recent visitors to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum choosing in vast numbers to scope out the new Doctor Who exhibition instead of the works of Da Vinci or Van Gogh which hang elsewhere on the walls of that fine building, you’d be forgiven for thinking Howard’s claim may have some merit in it after all. The exhibition showcases some of the best, and most recognisable, Doctor Who props from its 50-year history, and has been the subject of unprecedented demand, being sold out virtually every day since it opened a few weeks ago. Staff stress that you book in advance online, the burden of turning away excited Whovians on a daily basis having obvi-ously become far too much to bear.

The Doctor Who of old has long-held an almost national-treasure-like place in British hearts, proving that good ideas and exciting storylines are sufficient compensation for high-tech sets, or high-brow scripts. Nonetheless, during the show’s years of absence from tele-vision between 1989 and 2005, Doctor Who quietly cultivated an image for itself as a haven for geeks and nostalgic enthusiasts. When the Doctor came back in 2005 after a 16-year-long regeneration period, there was a sense that the whole thing really had to be pretty good. With

the best technology and writing that licence-payers money can buy, coupled with part-time television impresario and full-time Whovian Russell T Howard at the helm, the new series did not disappoint. Doctor Who stepped up its game, and was picking up ratings and awards faster than the speed of, I suppose, the TARDIS.

More telling, however, than the show’s crit-ical success, was its success in achieving that rarest of feats – Doctor Who actually became, for the first time in its geeky history, almost cool. The series seemed to be made, rather than broken, by shafting its familiar low-budget special effects; successfully doing the Doctors exploits the often-frightening loyalty they deserved, and making the whole thing seem a lot darker indeed. The women in the series were lifted from their occasional 20th century

position as screaming ciphers, to intelligent and genuinely helpful sidekicks. The Doctor, too, became full of warmth, love and charm, elevating him to a level of social aptitude that would almost allow him to pass for human - and indeed endowed him with far more heart than a vast number of supposedly actual-human characters on British television today.

For all that the technology was, of course, far better than the older incarnations, this alone rarely ensures improvement all-round, as the recent high-tech/low-quality Star Wars

“Doctor Who actually became, for the first time in its geeky history, almost cool”

films prove. The storylines and ideas - which were almost always gripping anyway - broke into mainstream consciousness thanks to a quality of script-writing that the show had not consistently seen before. With one of the UK’s leading screenwriters Steven Moffat (recently Steven Speilberg’s selection as scriptwriter for his forthcoming Tintin project) on board, the series became witty, tender, and emotionally-driven on top of all else. Moffat’s episodes were huge hits with audiences and critics alike, with the speech given by Professor River Song in “Forest of the Dead” which begins “Everybody knows that everybody dies…” considered to be amongst some of the most touching dialogue on British television last year. The greatest achievement of recent Doctor Who writing exists in the respect that it has for the intellect and attention-span of its audience, which is not only lacking in much of current childrens’ television shows, but which seems increasingly elusive in television scripts in general.

As it happens, Saturday night television needs stuff like Doctor Who. With much of the TV-time afforded to talentless people audi-tioning for praise that is rightfully out of their podgy grasp, or lottery numbers idly rolling out of a glorified bingo machine, it is clear that this once-lucrative evening of TV is plagued by people chasing all kinds of fictional dreams. It would be far less ridiculous to curl up and watch David Tennant chasing cybermen, or Charles Dickens. The idea of spending a Saturday night watching TV that was essen-tially made for children, and which features

Is there a Doctor in the house?sub-human alien creatures seems, then, to be the rule, rather than the exception.

This breakthrough in the new-found cultural importance of everyone’s favourite Time Lord was made clear two summers ago, as the organisers of London’s gay pride march found themselves in last-minute disarray, having acci-dentally scheduled their festivities to clash with the Doctor Who finale. Fearing a low turnout, a big-screen was organised for Trafalgar Square, meaning that the Doctor’s antics were played out to a keen crowd of Londoners, a privi-lege that the capital only usually reserves for important national sporting events – such as the World Cup final, or watching England getting beat in the World Cup quarter-final. Newspaper columnists had a field day, wondering exactly what had turned the Doctor into such a hero for the modern-day gay community – musing that his sidekicks were beautiful and spirited enough to qualify as modern-day gay icons, or even – somewhat embarrassingly - that David Tennant’s handsomeness had something to do with this new-found keenness for the show.

What was actually interesting, however, was not that Doctor Who had potentially gone all gay but, rather; the fact that a large-scale public event of any description could be threat-ened by a Doctor Who episode seemed an incredible reflection of just how important the series has become. Time will tell whether or not Doctor Who is the greatest idea in the history of the world, but with more people visiting Kelvingrove to look at a Dalek than a Dali – it doesn’t seem quite so ridiculous after all.

A cyberman grabs a visitor by surprise at the Doctor Who Exhibition at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

Striking back: memories of a minerfeatures@glasgowguardian.co.uk27th April 2009 FEATURES 11

It is 25 years since the miners’ strike, which is widely regarded as a pivotal moment in British history. Margaret Thatcher considered the National Union of Mineworkers

(NUM), especially its leader Arthur Scargill, an “enemy within”. Her allies in the right-wing media portrayed the union as a subversive force in British society and alleged that it operated in consort with international terrorism and the Soviet Union. A seven week strike by the NUM brought down Edward Heath’s Conservative government in 1974, and Thatcher made defeating the union a key component of her economic strategy. I spoke to Ian Mitchell, a mental health worker in the Southside of Glasgow who lost his job as a miner, about life in the NUM and the legacy of a strike that divided Britain.

Ian grew up in the South Yorkshire town of Rotherham, a Labour Party stronghold dominated by steel, mining, and engi-neering. Both of his parents worked in the steel industry and were Labour supporters. He left school to work at Silverwood Pit in 1974, at the height of the NUM’s industrial militancy.

He was heavily influenced by a generation of radical young miners that included Arthur Scargill. In the 1960s, they led a campaign for a national pay rate: previously, miners were paid “piece rates” by the units of coal they produced. “Piece rates were seen as divisive and led to huge differences in pay depending on where you worked and what conditions you worked in,” Ian explains. “This led to a number of strikes led by the rank and file which included a young Arthur Scargill. These militants became the Barnsley Miners’ Forum and went on to play a key role in the national strikes of the early seventies.”

Most of these young militants were attracted to some kind of socialist politics. Ian was part of an angry minority who broke with the socialism of their fathers, a socialism which was largely based on electing the Labour Party to Parliament. Ian’s socialism embraced international politics and anti-racism. “In the late ‘70s I was active in the Anti Nazi League which was set up to combat the rise of the National Front,” he told me. “Reading socialist newspapers opened my mind up to a whole range of interna-tionalist issues such as the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa and the fight for a united Ireland.”

As Ian embraced socialism, British politics was moving to the right. A series of botched deals between the Labour Party leadership and the trade union bureaucracy weakened both parties, culminating in the “Winter of Discontent” in 1978. Next year’s General Election produced a landslide victory for Margaret Thatcher, whose evangelical support for free markets was equalled only by her vociferous opposition to collectivism and trade unionism.

Thatcher knew that she could not break Britain’s trade unions without assaulting the NUM. I asked Ian why Thatcher took five years to attack the miners’ union: “When it looked like a national miners’ strike would break out over closures in the early ‘80s she backed off and allowed money to be put in to the industry that staved off the closures,” he told me. “She knew that it was too risky to take on the NUM at that moment and she bided her time.”

Thatcher’s strategy to break the miners dated back to 1974, five years before she was even elected. It was the brainchild of Nicholas Ridley, founder of the Selsdon Group, a pressure group of radically pro-market Conservatives. The Ridley Plan advised building up coal stocks at power stations, “slashing benefits to strikers”, employing “good non union lorry drivers” to move coal from rail to roads, and “importing large amounts of coal from abroad”. In addition, it called for “training a large mobile squad of police equipped and prepared to uphold the law”. Thatcher made Ridley her Secretary for Transport after her post-Falklands War re-election in 1983, and pursued the Ridley Plan to the letter, at considerable public expense.

The man specifically employed to defeat the miners at the National Coal Board was Ian McGregor. McGregor proved his worth to Thatcher during his tenure at another “nationalised monolith”, British Steel, where he halved the workforce in two years. For Ian Mitchell, whose parents worked in steel,

McGregor’s reign evokes particular fury: “His appointment was greeted with universal disapproval amongst miners and their families. Both my mum and dad worked in the steel industry at this time, and both lost their jobs thanks to McGregor.”

After stockpiling coal and recruiting anti-union road hauliers, the Coal Board under McGregor announced that they were closing 20 “unprofitable” (the accounting has been disputed) pits without consultation. Miners in Yorkshire, County Durham, Kent, Scotland and other areas walked out in protest. “Thousands of young miners signed up for action and there was massive enthusiasm for the fight,” Ian remembers. “This was reflected in hundreds of huge branch meetings across the country that, like my pit, voted unanimously to support the strike.”

Even today, this mass walkout is controversial because there was no national ballot of all NUM members. The vast majority of miners backed the strike, but in Nottingham, many workers opposed the strike and later formed the Union of Democratic Mineworkers to oppose the NUM. Ian, like most miners, fully supported the NUM: “We were right not to hold a ballot. As far as we were concerned, the union had already got a mandate from its membership to oppose pit closures. This was taken in 1981 when over 80% voted to strike against pit closures.”

Given that the ballot was being pushed by the right-wing media and the NUM’s opponents, Ian believes that it would have sold out a strike that already had mass support. “For the majority of strikers the fight was on,” he argues. “It was a question of taking sides.”

Many attribute the failure of the strike to its leader, Arthur Scargill. Scargill was vilified in the media as a pro-communist

and pro-terrorist traitor to Britain. However, Ian remembers Scargill fondly: “We did not have enough Arthur Scargills during the strike. His biggest mistake was relying on local NUM officials to conduct the strike. While Arthur supported mass militant activity, area leaders preferred more moderate tactics. Arthur should have appealed over the heads of these leaders to rank and file militants like myself.”

Despite the defeat, Ian has many fond memories of the strike. He points to the solidarity organised by working class communities around the country, who ran Miners’ Support Groups to keep the strike going. Support often came from unlikely sources. Lesbian and gay activists in London drove a pink mini bus filled with money, food, and toys to a mining community in South Wales. They challenged the homophobia of some miners and helped to break down barriers. “Gay activists and miners swapped stories of instances of police brutality and harassment,” he recalls. “In 1985 the Gay Pride demo was led by the Welsh NUM banner.”

Ian paid a heavy personal cost for his union activity. “I was sacked in 1988 and placed on a blacklist which obviously made it difficult to get a job.” Nevertheless, he remains a committed socialist. With his partner Gill, who formed a Miners’ Support Group at Leeds University and later led the campaign against the G8 Summit at Gleneagles, he is an active member of the Stop the War Coalition in the Southside of Glasgow. I asked Ian if the strike could inspire workers facing unemployment today: “Despite the odds we showed daring and initiative when we started the strike, courage and endurance while we waged it, and pride and defiance when we ended it,” he said. “With the present recession we are seeing many workers being told they have to accept wage cuts and redundancy. Some of these workers are being encouraged by their unions to go along with it. Fortunately there are others who are fighting back, from Belfast to Dundee, with courage and determination. I hope their example will inspire others to resist and hopefully this time we’ll win.”

On the Twenty-fifth anniversary of the miners strike, Pete Ramand speaks to former miner Ian Mitchell about the dispute that changed Britain.

“Despite the odds we showed daring and ini-tiative when we started the strike, courage and endurance while we waged it, and pride and defiance when we ended it.”

Photo courtesy of Lukács Galeano

editorials@glasgowguardian.co.uk12 EDITORIAL 27th April 2009

John McIntyre BuildingUniversity Avenue

Glasgow G12 8QQ

0141 341 6215editorials@glasgowguardian.co.uk

www.glasgowguardian.co.uk

Glasgow University

glasgowguardian.co.ukPapering over the cracks

The news that Daily Record and Sunday Mail workers are taking further strike action, in response to the threat to jobs at the newspapers, is a worrying continuation of a more prolonged employment issue in the media.

With recent circulation figures suggesting that fewer papers than ever are being sold in Scotland, and job cuts worldwide in many sections of the press, it certainly feels like a bleak time to be pursuing a career anywhere within the media.

Whilst this issue is felt hardest at publi-cations and organisations where people are working for a living, it is also felt at student publications like ours, where the financial downturn has had a serious affect on the news-paper and its staff.

As many of Guardian’s staff join the paper as a starting point to go on to work in the main-stream press in one manner or another, constant news of strikes, redundancies and cost-cutting makes it feels very much like a door is closing on the accessibility of the press as a career path

– a major issue at a time when graduate recruit-ment is at such a low level across the board.

This trickle-down effect could perceivably see a reduction in the participation in student media, should the situation not improve, which could subsequently impact on the quality of future quality in the mainstream media itself.

At present, it is difficult to see how the industry can haul itself back to past levels of prosperity – all publications, be they staffed by employees or volunteers, must work out how to embrace new media, and idea which seems remarkably difficult for print publications to master in a purposeful manner, given their reli-ance on traditional advertising.

The key question is how can newspapers make money out of online content, a medium people expect, from experience, to be free?

Whatever the solution, student journalists across the world can only hope that their poten-tial employers can at least begin to resolve the current climate of employment turmoil, before the time comes to leave university.

Lending is one of the essential mecha-nisms of a fluid economy, whether it be for starting a business, buying a house or funding a university education. Without the availability of loans, huge, useless reservoirs of liquid assets would sit stagnating to the detriment of society as a whole.

It seems only right then to encourage those with the means, to share the wealth; to make it desirable to invest in the potential of others; and if that means allowing them to set a profitable interest rate on a loan then so be it. However the aggressive profiteering that is taking place on loans intended to fund the education of young Americans seems a step too far. It is objectionable in the same way that it is objectionable to pay to go the loo in bus stations. Education, like a bodily function, is a priceless and vital commodity that should not be sold with profit in mind.

This is one economic problem that precedes this recession, the one before it and the one before that. As a second generation of

Americans become enslaved to their student loans, as communications improve and the recession tightens its grip an increasingly vocal and disgruntled movement is arising on the Internet. Comments on relevant news articles, and websites such as StudentLoanJustice.org provide an insight into the various states of despair that such a huge proportion of American graduates are suffering.

As well as lobbying for the restoration of borrower protections to American law, some groups are calling for a total amnesty of student debt in the US. Having seen what some students have already been through it may seem like a good idea, but who will be willing lend to future generations students if their debt is to be cleared once every few decades?

The US President is promising reform across the board, including in the area of college debt; the effects of recession are being felt acutely, by heavily indebted American graduates in particular, and change, whether regulated or radical, is imminent.

FREE to attend

The summer graduate fair in Scotland 2009 at the SECC Glasgow27th May 12pm-7pm & 28th May 10am-3pm

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Living on borrowed time

glasgowguardian.co.uk

27th April 2009 letters@glasgowguardian.co.uk LETTERS 13

To the Editors…

Exams inevitably bring with them gorgeous sunshine and reasons to spend time in the park, not the library. They also embody the beginning of nostalgia for the previous year - not quite over yet - and an excitement of what lies in the year ahead. Here at the SRC, we’re both looking back, and looking forward.

Looking to the coming academic year, we’re eager to continue to represent students as well as possible. Our by-election on Wednesday 6th May gives you the opportu-nity to decide who you’d like to see support and represent you in 2009/10. This includes deciding who - from the candidates standing for VP Media and Communications - you would like to be responsible for how the SRC communicates with you.

Without continuous and relevant dialogue, much of the help the SRC can provide students would go unnoticed.

Think carefully before you vote for candi-dates at www.glasgowstudent.net.

There is still over two months, however, before the holidays start and the next academic session comes even closer. Nominations are now open for the SRC’s Clubs and Society Awards, taking place on 20th May.

Clubs can nominate themselves - or others - for a variety of different awards including Highest Achieving Society, Best Event, Best Publicity, and Best Website. Cash prizes for the winning clubs will be given at the event; an evening designed to celebrate the wide range of work each club or society has contributed to the University this year.

Meanwhile, the SRC will also be rewarding a company who has contributed to students’ accomodation problems with our annual SLAP award: the Glasgow Student Letting Agent Prize. The list of nominees for this award is collated from the large number of complains received throughout the year. Local MSPs will decide which company deserved to be named and shamed. We’ll present the award in June.

SLAP awards not only encourage partic-ular companies to pull their socks up when it comes to customer services for students. They also send a message to all letting agencies that student rights will be fought for, and a lack of respect for them will not go unnoticed.

Don’t forget that all the SRC’s usual serv-ices are available throughout the exam period, from the cheapest photocopying on campus (for those dissertations and notes), to the second-hand bookshop (for that essential text-book you haven’t got round to buying yet) to the Advice Centre (for when you’d like some professional advice about a problem).

Zoe Grams

The Glasgow University Guardian is editorially independent of the SRC and University. All complaints should be adressed to the editors, who can be reached via the above contact details.

Editors: George Binning & James PorteousDeputy Editor: Tom BonnickNews Editor: Sarah SmithFeatures Editors: Tara Hepburn & Pete RamandSports Editor: Harry Tattersall SmithMusic Editor: Oisín Kealy

Film Editor: Lewis PorteousLifestyle Editors: Michelle Williams & David KirkpatrickPicture Editor: Jim WilsonReporters: Ishbel Begg, Craig MacLellan, Ross Mathers, Amy McGregor Columnists: Jamie RossPhotography: Sean Anderson,

Guy Smallman, Charlie Kimber, David GourleyContributors: Dominic Maxwell-Lewis, James Foley Claire Strickett, Ben Freeman, Rosie Davies, Andy Bryce, Catriona ReillyThanks to: Li Jing, Gordon Boag, Andrew Mcallister

This newspaper is funded through and supported by the Glasgow University Students' Representitive Council.

Glasgow University

Scottish Student Newspaper of the Year3rd March 2009

A TOTAL OF £673.27 WAS RAISED FOR the DEC appeal on the University’s fundraising day. However the preceding occupation of the Computer Sciences Department provoked a wave of complaints from students in Glasgow.

The occupying activists had won their demand to publicise the DEC Appeal but were heavily criticised for both their low turnout on the fundraising day and their refusal to collect for Save a Child’s Heart, an Israeli-based charity that supports children from developing nations who suffer from heart disease. The

Occupation members come under firecharity sends 49% of its proceeds to help chil-dren in Palestine.

Although around 30 students took part in the occupation, the group only signed out four collection tins for the whole fundraising day. Gavin Lee, president of the SRC, criticised the occupiers’ lack of positive action saying:

“We’re extremely disappointed that those who called for the fundraising day didn’t actu-ally support it. Had more people participated

we would have been able to raise significantly more money.”

Raymie Kiernan, a representative of the Stop the War Coalition (SWC) rebuffed, criti-cising the haste and lack of consultation with which the day was organised.

He said: “The fundraising day wasn’t organised properly, the agreements weren’t stuck to and the university didn’t give much notice that it was happening and that had a serious impact on the money raised. Everybody knows Friday is not a busy day.”

“Without enough notice you can’t expect people to drop everything to do the collection, we got as many people as possible on a shift rotation for the four cans we signed out.”

There were also concerns as to the aggres-sive nature of a number of the slogans that the group chanted. The SRC took a strong line of disapproval against the reported antagonism. President Gavin Lee told Guardian that the council had received anxious reports from students across campus.

(Continued on page 4)

George Binning

THE FOUR MAJOR STUDENT organisations at Glasgow University have announced the nominations for their upcoming elections, and a number of governing positions have been left without candidates.

The elections for all four of the organisations will be taking place this week, although many of the important jobs have no students running for them.

The Students’ Representative Council (SRC), Glasgow University Union (GUU) and Queen Margaret Union (QMU) will be holding by-elections later in the month for some of their most crucial spaces, after the initial nominations process resulted in too few applicants.

15 out of 20 positions at the SRC have been left either uncontested or unfilled.

Both the SRC and GUU have only one candidate for their President. The SRC will be holding an election with just one nominee, Laura Laws, while the union has announced its new president, Chris Jubb, ahead of the elections.

The QMU has three candidates for its presidency, but a number of other board positions are currently without nominees.

In contrast, GUSA’s elections are set to be one of their most-con-tested for years, with two students competing for its head position and 20 nominees for the six Ordinary Member places available.

(Continued on pages 2 and 3)

Seats left vacant in student elections

News Staff

Scholarship initiative is announced

Ishbel Begg

THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES Kennedy MP, last week launched this year’s Glasgow University Talent Scholarship drive.

Designed to aid students who could face financial difficulties in taking up their place to study at Glasgow, fifty scholarships worth £1000 are being awarded each year.

Mr. Kennedy, the current University rector, delivered the awards to the first 76 beneficiaries of the scholarship at a ceremony attended by recipients and donors.

Kennedy told Guardian why he is promoting the scheme.

He said: “It’s about widening the opportunity for people from backgrounds where financially they wouldn’t be able to come to university, although they’ve got the academic qualifications to do it.

“I was the first member of my family ever to go to university, and I’m the youngest of three, but my parental income was such that I quali-fied for a full maintenance grant. But suppose I had been the eldest of three, and there were two other mouths to feed, I wonder if that would have been a contributing factor.

(Continued on page 5) Sean Anderson

Claire Strickett is impressed by Clint Eastwood in what could be his last role

Film

Robin Perkins joins the carnival at Bolivia's cultural celebration

Bolivin' la vida loca

Features

Gran Master

Dear Editors,

I am baffled at the logic behind the recent deci-sion to introduce “balance” into a humanitarian fund raising effort. The people of Gaza have suffered terribly with unprecedented levels of destruction of infrastructure as well as loss of lives.

There is a very real risk of cholera and other preventable diseases adding to already intoler-able torment. That the people have suffered is beyond question. Their predicament is a genuine humanitarian crisis, irrespective of the cause.We are obliged, as a country of rich, healthy people to do what we can to alleviate the awfulness of their situation, as one group of humans to another. There is nothing to balance!

When we raise funds for people whose lives have been devastated by an earthquake, do we need to balance that assistance? And what of the Tsunami, which generated such a generous response - how would we have balanced that aid? Of course the answer is not just that we would not and could not have done so the fact is that nobody would have been stupid enough to suggest it.

Why then does humanitarian aid to the Palestinians of Gaza need to be balanced? The answer, once again, is that it does not and could not need such a thing.

Of course there is presumably no harm in itself in the support given to Save a Child’s Heart - it seems an honourable organisation. It is the muddle headed and frankly cowardly decision to obscure a simple humanitarian issue by introducing politics under the specious banner of balance to which I object.

Yours,

Paul Coyne

Want to air your views about Guardian in any way? Feel free to send your opinions and letters to us via email or post - a selection are published in each issue. Alternatively, go online and discuss articles on our website.

glasgowguardian.co.ukThe Glasgow University Guardian’s new website is now on-line,

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You’ll also be able to read the full paper before it’s available in print, without even having to leave your home, and catch up on any issues you’ve missed during the year.

We relish a heated debate, so the site is your chance to have your say on current news, sports events, and a wealth of features and lifestyle content.

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27th April 2009

One ring to rule them allRosie Davies takes to the hills to investigate the latest toast of cycling’s thrill-seekers

14 SPORT

Shinty on receiving end of capital punishment

The railings at Blytheswood Square, one of Glasgow’s highest points, are covered in bikes. Beneath the streetlamp’s orange glare is the glint of metal upon metal. It’s beautiful.

But tonight, on a balmy bank holiday Saturday evening, it’s not just bike couriers gathering at the square.

Members of the Glasgow Fixed Gear and Single Speed (GFGSS) forum are preparing for the third event of the Fixed Gear Easter Weekender: the Alleycat. The boys must hit all 15 subway stations, noting down a symbol displayed at each, before returning to the Square; the first one back wins.

Already today, most of the competitors have taken part in a ridiculously difficult Hill Climb Challenge, taking in hills such as Gardner Street in the West End. Last night, it was an intensive sprints race at the “velodrome” in Bellahouston Park. Muscles are aching, but the unmistakable tang of competitive adrenaline is high.

Along with competition, though, is a sense of community. The Weekender ended with a sun-drenched cycle to Loch Lomond, which saw couriers and regular fixed gear riders take over the cycle path, heading for a BBQ and beers on the beach, joint in their common purpose: fixed gear cycling.

For those not familiar with the phenomenon, fixed gears, or ‘fixies’, are assembled with the rear wheel attached to the cog. In layman’s terms, when the rear wheel turns, the pedals turn, making coasting impossible. Many choose not to have brakes , with the rider resisting the rotation of the pedals to slow down, or perfecting skid stop by also shifting their weight forwards.

Despite fixed wheels being the standard bike before the 1950s — used for everything from time trials, track racing and hill climb competitions as well as everyday cycling — the arrival of the multi-geared derailleur in the 1960s meant the number of fixed gear users declined. In the past ten years, however, there has been a revival, and it’s growing daily.

The huge cult presence in urban North America, which emerged in 2000, spread to Britain a few years later, and is usually attributed to bicycle messengers. Anyone who has walked through Blytheswood Square will have seen them in huddles, perched on the railings like birds, ready for flight.

Functional, low maintenance, and the most practical bike for short distance urban cycling, the bikes also have an aesthetic draw. Forget bicycle manufacturers’ drive towards more gears, more suspension and ultra-lightweight carbon-fibre everything; fixed gears take cycling back to basics. They are lighter, pedal-ling is more powerful and efficient, there’s no fussing with gears and brakes to interrupt the flow.

When I ask 22-year-old Dan, from the Manchester forum, what converted him, he says immediately: “It’s something you just have to experience. Once you’ve tried it, you never want to go back.

“You can feel every movement so much more than on a regular bike. You get feedback from the road, so going round corners and changing speed is a lot more intuitive. You’re in total control.”

It seems the same cyclist’s obsessions are at the heart of the new trend: control, speed, technique. At their weekly social meet up ,two weeks before the events, chewing over steak and Tennents, the same topics keep emerging: weight, speed, hills. But, undeniably, an element of fashion lurked beneath. Shaun had just fitted a pair of Nitto B123 steel handlebars — big news in the fixed gear world. The question is, is the classic look worth the extra weight? “I’m not sure”, says Andy, who founded the forum a year ago. “I’ve never been one to sacrifice speed for style, but those handlebars…”

‘Fakengers’ is a term ‘awarded’ by couriers to riders dressed in messenger gear: courier bags, rolled up jeans, and U-locks in belt loops. But, in every trend there are fakengers, albeit known through a different name — wannabes, scenesters, trendies. Andy certainly isn’t worried: “I’m happy that more and more people are getting in on the act. More riders means more cycle awareness in car drivers, more local bike shop support and more people to ride with.

“There are always a few who get into it for the fashion side of it and they will eventually get bored. The up side to that is that their components will soon flood eBay and the rest of us will be able to buy it all up.”

As Shaun adds, the reason most fixie riders copy the messen-gers’ accessories is because they are the most practical. Joe Allan, owner of bike shop Gear, agrees. “There was a big fuss recently when Topman in Oxford Street had a whole fashion display in the window, including bikes, with the models wearing the bike caps, checked shirts, and of course the rolled up jeans. It’s ridiculous.”

Allan, 42, who has been riding his fixed gear for over 20 years — “a 1954 Flying Scot” — said: “A lot of people are

cycling around the city, going to work, on mountain bikes with 27 gears. They are suddenly realising that they aren’t using the most efficient bike for this type of use.”

One courier blog, House Of Pistard, praised the GFGSS forum for taking the intiative and creating events when the courier circle in Glasgow is not. Did Andy envisage this when he started the forum?

“I wanted to bring together the fixed-gear riders in Glasgow. Before it there were many people riding fixed-gear around Glasgow but with very little sense of camaraderie outside of the cycle couriers.

“Since then the Glasgow fixed gear scene has exploded. I’m happy with the growth of the forum so far and I’m looking forward to new members joining over the summer. Hopefully by August we’ll have 30 people out to Fixed Beer on a Tuesday night. That’s my target anyway.”

Fashion aside, this style of cycling is about a balance between grace, beauty and power. Scott Larkin, a fixie blogger from New York, describes the moment he converted.

“Walking in down town San Francisco several years ago, before I’d ever even ridden a fixed gear bike, I remember seeing a messenger riding through slow traffic, weaving in and out, looking like a needle stitching all the cars together. I was struck by the utter grace of it. The subtle adjustments he made in his speed and direction were like the subtle adjustments a bird makes in flight.”

It’s time to leave, and as they chat about the possibility of bike polo next week — Scout has come equipped with polo mallets, emerging from his rucksack like antennae — they start to cycle away, slowly, wheel to wheel. Under the orange street-lamp is the glint of metal. It’s beautiful.

(Continued from back page)It was here they were able to apply their

greater experience as they clinically finished off the game with a couple of early second half goals and were soon able to run the legs off a tired Glasgow side.

At times in the second half it was very much the Norman Araas show, with the stopper being constantly called upon, as Edinburgh proceeded to bombard the Glasgow goal.Anyone expecting a loss of confidence after his

earlier error were to be left pleasantly surprised as he more than atoned for his mistake with a series of smart saves. He was helpless however for Edinburgh’s third. A long–range shot skidded through a crowd of players leaving him wrong footed, whilst their fourth was down to a moment of sheer individual class. The Edinburgh midfielder was able to pick up in his own half and drive at the Glasgow defence, and with the defenders backing off he was able to pick his spot from thirty yards and unleash a

fierce drive that Norman could only helplessly watch sail in.

Edinburgh’s fifth came courtesy of an inci-sive counter-attack after Charlie English was unlucky to see his effort crash of a combination off post and goalkeeper. Edinburgh rounded off the scoring as Glasgow pushed for consolation.There were inevitable holes at the back, and as Glasgow probed at the visitors defence, a simple long ball turned defence into attack, and the burly Edinburgh centre forward was on

hand to smash home from close range past an exposed Araas.

Afterwards team captain, Colin Tarbat, spoke of the difficulties faced for Glasgow University Shinty: “Most of our best players are committed to clubs up north and thus have missed a lot of games. It’s a shame but we’ve got a lot of new faces in this year, we are in a bit of a transitionary period at the moment, but I’m really confident that by this time next year we will be competing for some silverware.”

sport@glasgowguardian.co.uk

GUSSC enjoy winter of content

sport@glasgowguardian.co.uk27th April 2009 SPORT 15

Women’s hockey heartbreak

Saturday 28th February saw over 100 of Scotland’s best student skiers and snowboards descend on Cairngorm Mountain Resort, Aviemore, for the Scottish Universities Snowsports Championships. Degrading snow conditions over the last decade have meant that the competition has not been able to run, however record snowfall this year lead to a team of talented and enthusiastic skiers and snowboarders from Glasgow University Ski and Snowboard Club, and The Scottish University Snowsports Council resurrecting the prestigious event.

Perfect weather on the day along with a massive effort from the team at Cairngorm Mountain meant that the racing on The 105, freestyle in the terrain park at the top of the Ptarmigan t-bar, and inter-uni team duals on The Ciste all ran perfectly.

The ski and snowboard race events saw zero wind and hard packed snow, on a excellent course set by Donald Hall of Snowsport Scotland, whilst the freestylers were

able to enjoy massive air in the park at one of the top resorts in Scotland.

Winners in the ski GS were Ross Jardine of Glasgow University and Michelle Bowman of Glasgow Caledonian University, whilst snow-board GS winners were Tom Akass of Napier University and Sam Filsell of Edinburgh University. In the park, Edinburgh University made a clean sweep of the ski slopestyle, with Gareth Kingsford coming out on top. Tom Akass found himself on top of the podium again with a first in the male board slopestyle, whilst Alex Mills of Edinburgh University triumphed in the female board cate-gory. Glasgow’s A team won the team dual slalom, whilst Napier’s team took home 1st place in the snowboard team dual.

Those not competing on the day were able to chill out in the red bull tent aside the Ptarmigan, with a slope-side DJ and unlimited red bull, or test out the brand new British designed

and produced skis from White Dot Freeride, which recently featured on national news.

Although the days skiing was hard to top, the organisers definitely tried their hardest to show everyone the ultimate Aviemore experience. Dinner was provided in the Vault bar, along with a DJ and some spec-tacular celebratory drinks deals. Prizegiving followed shortly, with all podium finishers receiving a bag of goodies from sponsors Boax Custom Headwear, Joystick Skiing, White Dot Freeride, Red Bull and of course local sponsor Blacks, who had very kindly offered all competi-tors discount in store on the day of the competition. The event as a whole was a massive success, and a spectacular advert for the vast poten-tial of Scottish Skiing, thanks to the efforts of all involved, and the enthu-siasm of the competitors. We are hoping to see these spectacular snow conditions continue next year, so the event may run again, hopefully on a much grander scale!

Harry Tattersall Smith

It is the consoling pundit, with arm draped around the losing finalist, who claims “it’s better than losing in the semis” yet that remained a hard fact to swallow judging by the despair etched on Glasgow faces after an agonising cup final loss at the hands of bitter rivals Edinburgh.

It was a scoreline that did injustice to the Glasgow outfit, on a day when the only difference between the sides was the ruth-lessness demonstrated from Edinburgh at set pieces.

In a match where so much was at stake, it was perhaps inevi-table that the opening exchanges were a tad nervy, with both sides struggling to generate any early rhythm.

However, it was Glasgow who gained the early initiative, and with Edinburgh dithering at the back, were unlucky not to take an early lead. Katherine Kelly, who tormented the home side all afternoon with a series of amazing runs, cleverly released Fiona Cairstairs with an incisive through ball. The fresher looked certain to break the deadlock but for some acrobatics from the Edinburgh goalkeeper. A smart shot was parried away before she was able to dive and scramble away the rebound with the preda-tory Cairstairs looking odds-on to slam home.

In an event indicative of Glasgow’s overall performance, intricate and clever passing combined with a failure to make the final killer pass. They were guilty on several occasions of attempting to walk the ball into the net. They exhibited what can be only be described as hockey’s answer to ‘Total Football’, yet the sizeable travelling support were to be left frustrated by Glasgow’s refusal to finish.

Sport is a cruel mistress, and after Glasgow’s early domina-tion it seemed almost inevitable that Edinburgh would score on their first attack. It was harsh on Glasgow and the controversial nature of the goal can have done nothing to alleviate the away side’s sense of injustice. A debatable short corner was fired in and after a series of countless ricochets the bouncing ball was

slotted home, although in and amongst the pinball Glasgow had sizeable shouts for feet waved away by the umpires.

It is a slightly over used cliché to refer to the power of a goal, yet in this instance it utterly transformed the game. It seemed to free Edinburgh from the nervous shackles and allowed them to play some pulsating counter-attacking hockey. The game could have been over by half-time but for the goalkeeping heroics of Camilla Persilli. The keeper, who could do nothing about the opener. kept Glasgow in the match with a string of several

superb saves, as Edinburgh pushed to double their lead.Glasgow ended the half with a spell of concerted pressure,

and were unlucky not to go in level at the break. A series of short corners caused havoc in the Edinburgh defense yet they remained resolute on a day which looked increasingly like the gods were smiling on the east coast outfit.

Edinburgh came out with fierce levels of intensity and with Glasgow minds seemingly still in the changing rooms, Persilli was again called upon to make a sublime stop, saving down low after clever Edinburgh interplay.

It was the impetus Glasgow needed, and the match soon evolved into a lung-busting end-to-end affair with the two teams intent on attacking at every opportunity. Glasgow had chances to level, with Carstairs again denied by quick goalkeeping whilst Ruth Abernethy was unlucky to see a snap shot flash wide.

With Glasgow pushing so hard they were always going to be vulnerable in defence. For long stretches Edinburgh seemed happy to soak up pressure and exploit on the quick counter attack. There was to be more joy for the home side from short corners; a slick move wrong-footed the Glasgow back line and the ball was eventually bundled in as Edinburgh looked to tighten their grasp on the silverware.

Glasgow, to their immense credit, refused to buckle and continued to press and probe the Edinburgh side. With tiring Glasgow legs evident however, a slick Edinburgh move earned a short corner, and from the resulting set piece the ball was glee-fully smashed past the stranded Persilli.

The final whistle sparked scenes of mass jubilation from the home side, and the end of Glasgow’s remarkable cup run. Coach Euan Miller spoke afterwards about his pride in the team, “It’s an incredible achievement making it to the final, and I’m so proud of the team. It was one of those days where we know if we’d got a bit more luck anything could have happened, but they are a young team and I know next year they’ll push on and will definitely be challenging for trophies again.”

Sean Anderson

Andy Bryce

Red Bull

Inside: Guardian gets a taste for the latest two-wheeled adrenaline craze

27th April 2009

guardian

also: Women's hockey team edged out in cup final thriller

A DEPLETED GLASGOW SIDE WERE OVERRUN BY AN experienced Edinburgh team on an icy day out at Garscube. The East-coasters edged out their rivals in a feisty encounter with the club from the capital displaying a master class in finishing from which the young Glasgow team can only hope to learn. It was a day when chances went begging for Glasgow whilst Edinburgh exerted the efficiency that has seen them propelled to one of Scotland’s premier sides.

It was an Edinburgh side brimming with confidence that started the sharper and with the first meaningful attack of the game, caught a Glasgow defence napping. A flowing move was sharply converted past the stranded Norman Araas in goals. The faithful support could have been forgiven for fearing the worst: Edinburgh playing with such a verve and vigour that a rout looked ominously close. Yet Glasgow managed to fight their way back. Inspired by captain Colin Tarbot’s strong leadership at the heart of defence and the talismanic Louis Munro, the home side were able to draw

Shinty club hit for six

Sean Anderson

level. A ferocious drive from Munro could only be parried by the Edinburgh goalkeeper and Allan Macdonald, a constant nuisance to the Edinburgh defence,was able to bundle home the equaliser from the resulting rebound.

After such a fluent start Edinburgh seemed unable to cope with the intensity of Glasgows pressure game. Glasgow who had perhaps shown the visitors too much respect in the opening exchanges hassled and jostled and gradually developed a stran-glehold over the game as the Edinburgh side showed signs of nerves. The composure that had so defined the visitors opening play was replaced with a real sense of anxiety as mistakes started to infiltrate their game. Sloppy Edinburgh defence saw Sinclair

Cooper burst through, only to see his shot flash narrowly across the face of goal, whilst the majestic Louis Munro saw another trademark long range drive acrobatically chested away by the scrambling Edinburgh goalkeeper.

Glasgow however soon fell behind and it was very much a case of hero to villain for goalkeeper Norman Araas. He was to keep his side on level terms with some instinctive shot stop-ping, only for moments later to see a scuffed clearance fall at the stick of an Edinburgh attacker, who was all to happy to bundle in from close range.

Glasgow again refused to buckle and were almost instantly back on level terms.An Edinburgh counter-attack was broken up by the imperious Peter Grace and his through ball was latched onto by Louis Munro who was able to lash home past the on rushing keeper.

The start of the second half in many ways mirrored the first, with the visitors coming out for the second half full intent on stamping their authority. (Continued on page 14)

sport

Harry Tattersall Smith

Glasgow 2 - 6 Edinburgh

The Noisettes | State of Play | Cirque du Soleil | Frightened RabbitinSIGHT

27/04/09 Seeing redGuardian meets the stars of In the Loop

Glasgow University

lifeSIGHTin27

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/09

All fluff and nonsenseL

ooking back at pictures from Hollywood’s Golden Era, the glamour of the 1950s sim-ply drips from the pages of history. The women are swathed in jewels and fur, only

adding the decadence that era showcases. In this context fur can be alluring, bearing in mind that during that period, wearing real fur was considered completely acceptable. Fur was unashamedly glam-orous and sexy, and there is still nothing more sen-sual than Marilyn Monroe posing in a sumptuous white fox fur. However, despite its beauty, the cost of fur is too high.

When Jennifer Lopez wears her floor length chinchilla everyone is stunned by the glamour she evokes but also by her brazen use of real fur. In 2009 we must shake off the aesthetic orgasm fur can cause and think as rational creatures. Fur, despite its looks, can be the product of an intensely

cruel process. Unlike leather - a byproduct of the meat or milk industry - fur is collected by rearing animals only for them to be murdered for their skins. This begs the question, is it morally justifi-able to breeding living things to kill them simply for human gain? In an ideal world, no. Unlike vivi-section or the meat industry, fur is not essential for the survival of the human race; it is not a necessary evil, it is an unnecessary evil. As compassionate and rational creatures, humanity should logically examine the morality behind the fur industry. It’s a simple cost-benefit analysis, with the grisly nega-tives far outweighing the positives.

In some countries where a fur industry still exists, the process by which fur is harvested from its owners usually involves the victim experiencing intense levels of pain. The previous owners of JenniFur Lopez’s coat may have experienced living conditions that could be described as unbearable at best. According to People for the Ethical Treat-ment of Animals (PETA), it is not uncommon for animals in some fur producing countries to spend their short existence in minute, filthy cages, with no room to move, often forcing them to self-mutilate - biting at their tails and feet out of sheer frustration. These unnatural conditions are imposed on inno-cent animals to provide humans with a luxury item, which is not even required for their survival. The ways in which the poor creature’s misery is ended are not any better than the unnatural, disgusting conditions they may have been forced to endure in life. Practices can include the animal being skinned alive or electrocuted through the anus. Regardless of what is believed of animals’ spiritual capacities, the ability of a fox to feel pain is as pronounced as a human's. This fact alone should turn us off fur.

It is clear why fur is completely unacceptable in 2009. It is unnecessary and it can be horrendously cruel. As stated previously, fur can look good, but with fantastic fakes available, genuine modern fur should not even be considered as a viable option. A nation of people proud to keep some animals as pets surely cannot tolerate wearing other animals' pelts on their backs. Many argue that what sepa-rates humans from other species is their ability to make choices based on morals. To maintain the ethical integrity of the human race, fur is one instance where this ability must be exercised. (BF)

These days, to declare a penchant for fur can spell social suicide on the scale of publicly subscribing to a deviant sexual fetish. Fur lovers make furtive enquiries in vintage

shops, disclosing their dirty secret in hushed tones. Rationally though, can such extreme ostracising be considered proportional given the cruelty inherent in other industries involving animals?

For a believer in animal rights (as opposed to animal welfare), the breeding of animals exclusively to be killed for fur is morally unacceptable, but then so too must be all practices resulting in human gain at animal expense. The argument that fur is a super-fluous luxury whereas meat is a necessity to sustain human life no longer holds water. In a developed society where food is plentiful, vegetarians and vegans show us that living without meat is entirely viable. This must leave meat eaters to admit that their animal consumption is not justified by neces-sity, but taste – a characteristic no less superficial than style. In fact, whereas a single fur purchase would last a lifetime of winters, whereas meat is casually devoured day after day, without carnivores living in fear of paint attacks in the supermarket.

The demonising of fur over the past fifty years has pressurised the industry to comply with ever-stricter regulations on farming and welfare stand-ards. The British Fur Council endorses the Origin Assured (OA) initiative of fur labelling, a system to authenticate that a product has been sourced in a country where national standards governing fur production are in force. This includes a tight ban on the use of endangered species, with the International Fur Trade Federation (IFTF) keen to promote its commitment to welfare, sustainability

and reason, heralding OA fur as a natural, reson-sible choice. Regulations ensure that fur is one of the most strictly governed and transparent animal product industries, still only accounting for a tiny proportion of commercial animal use. Many quick to condemn fur would never stop to consider the

origins of wool or leather products they purchase, despite the fact that the lack of negative publicity given to practices in these businesses can mean that cruelty is rife. Thinking of leather and wool as harm-less by-products of another industry allows people to mentally brush over the abuse that animals may have suffered in the process to provide us with food and non-fur clothing.

Fur, as a symbol of decadence and luxury, is an easy target to criticise for those who wish to promote an appearance of caring about animals. In reality, fur is on a moral par to many other animal exploiting industries, yet has been disproportion-ately vilified, as its use is not a choice that people are readily faced with day to day. Fur stirs up venom, and invariably brings out people’s inner hypocrite – the vegetarian who wears Ugg boots and has a sheepskin rug, the militant animal rights defender who says vegetarian shoes are "too expensive”, so they can turn a blind eye to leather.

Choosing to distance yourself from animal exploitation is perfectly legitimate, if not admi-rable, but make sure that if you choose to take this stance, that you're also happy to take a look behind the scenes of your own consumption. (MW)

Ben Freeman and Michelle Williams discuss the state of fur today: wanton cruelty or standard practice?

“It's clear why fur is completely unacceptable in 2009”

“Fur invariably brings out people's inner hypocrite”

Jim Wilson

SIGHTlife in PAG

E 3

Skinted or mintedCharlotta Poppius makes a case for treating your living room to a design feast

Board Room Games

When the weather’s too miserable to venture out, it has been known of my friends and I to indulge

in a board game of an evening. Being inept at general knowledge and hope-less at sport, board games are one of the few opportunities I have to shine. On one such recent night, triumphing at Monopoly seemed a good omen for the interview I had the next day for a post-graduate course. I was wrong.

I’ve only had one real interview in my life. I was sixteen and applying for a part time job. In my black school trousers and generic white shirt, I ran through the list of things my mum had told me to say. This was needless, as I was the only applicant to show up, (well, the only applicant who wasn’t playing with matches when the manager appeared), and I’ve been in the same job ever since.

Now, sitting in my cardigan and jeans, I felt slightly less impressive than the boy in the suit who had walked in before me. The fear that I was in over my head was starkly realised when I was assaulted by a battery of questions that I didn’t know the answer to. Failing fast, I did what students of English Literature do best. Wandering off on a tangent, speaking about something entirely different, throwing in words like ‘paradoxically’ to give my answer the appearance of an educated, if not exactly relevant answer but nothing seemed to work. I pictured myself being told: ‘Do not pass go, do not collect a postgraduate degree’. Faced with an expression more Alan Sugar than sugar and spice, I sat trembling, waiting for the finger of rejection to be thrust in my face. However, like all good stories with a convenient plot, the interviewer was distracted by the phone ringing.

Replacing the receiver, I was aston-ished to hear the him say that I had in fact been accepted. Maybe it had always been based on the strength of my appli-cation form. Or maybe that had been Margaret on the phone to sway Sugar’s decision with a raise of her brow. Either way, I didn’t care, I got in, and it felt a lot like winning. I didn’t even need to be a top hat or an old boot to do it.

“An expression more Alan Sugar than sugar and spice”

Student budgets plus cheapskate landlords don’t exactly add up to the greatest interior design combination. But when you feel that your flat is looking a bit bare, or you’ve run

out of places to stash your stuff, where’s the cheapest place to get hold of some decent-quality furniture? Ikea? No, cheaper than that. Charity shops? Better, but still no. Believe it or not, the answer can sometimes lie right outside your front door – quite literally. You’ll have to beat the dustmen to it, though. You’d be amazed at what you can find discarded as rubbish and sitting on the pavement. This sort of recycling is a long estab-lished, unnofficial practice; what might surprise you is how great your finds can be made to look. To prove the point, every item of furniture in this photo was sal-vaged off the street – so why bother spending, when you can get so much for free from right outside your front door?

This time of year is perfect for furniture-hunting, with (slightly) drier weather and a lot of spring-clean-ing-out going on. A few things to bear in mind before you dash outside: make a note of the day of the week that the council has set aside in your area for the collec-tion of large items of rubbish. This will tell you when it is that people will be putting out their unwanted furni-ture for collection, so you can keep an extra keen eye out around this point in the week. Steer clear of soft furnishings and heavily upholstered items: they soak up

damp too easily and are difficult to clean thoroughly. All electrical goods, similarly, should be given a wide berth – they could have been discarded because of a potentially dangerous fault. The best picks are items such as desks, hat stands, chests of drawers, chairs… all things that can be easily cleaned.

If you do decide to adopt some abandoned furni-ture, once you’ve carried it home (possibly with the aid of some useful flatmates), you need to clean it thor-oughly, using a cloth dipped in warm water mixed with

a few drops of bleach. After that, you’d be amazed the difference that a session with a duster and furniture polish can have on scruffy wooden surfaces. And, if you want to get a bit fancier with your DIY skills you have options such as sanding, painting and transfers. You can do so with the knowledge that even if things go disastrously wrong, you’re really none the worse for it. There’s no point aiming for perfection, though – embrace a ramshackle, shabby-chic aesthetic, and be creative: old crates can become bedside tables; the frame from a broken mirror can turn a cheap poster into a classy-looking print, and so on. Think outside the box, and take a look outside your front door – just make sure you leave something behind for the rest of us!

>> David Kirkpatrick

“You'd be amazed at what you can find discarded as rubbish”

If your wallet can't stretch to designer, Claire Strickett finds an alternative

Spring cleaning should definite-ly be on your to-do list at this time of year, especially with re-vision to be distracted from. As

you get ready to chuck out your battered toaster or replace the broken Matalan tumblers that you used to death, would you ever think of rewarding yourself with a piece of furniture that would perk up your humble student abode? A single quality design piece can transform the rest of a room and instantly add class.

A quality design is something that you would still display with pride in 10 years time when you’re a successful career minded 30-something living life in the fast lane, with a riverside pent-house thrown in.

The design scene in Glasgow is in its infancy, but design store/gallery Goodd on James Morrison Street is blazing a trail. This funky establishment already earned the major accolade of being the only UK store outside London to be featured in Wallpaper magazine’s Retail Directory of 2008. Goodd touts itself as a design destination rather than just a retail outlet, with an ‘art over business’ influence. The space itself is intimate, with a well-edited selection of prod-ucts on display, and you also have the option to purchase their ‘goodds’ online at www.good-d.com. Although their

Capellini-furniture might be a bit out of range for the student budget (£3,800 for a chair, anyone?), there are student-friendlier options available such as the versatile monochrome ‘Sticky Lamps’ (£15) by cult-favourite DROOG, and the über-cute snowman salt and pepper shakers (£8 for a set) by Japanese design duo Shin and Tomoko Azumi. While you are at it, why not invest in a multifunc-tional piece of furniture, à la Established and Sons? The British brand’s ‘The Crate’ (£95) can be used as a storage unit, bedside table, side table or stool; how’s that for stretching your pennies?

Another design hotspot in Glasgow is Dallas + Dallas on Montrose Street. They stock the hottest classic design pieces from the likes of Moooi, Kartell and B&B Italia, the latter providing the furniture for the sets of the latest Bond movie. Fancy owning a museum piece? While their spring sale is well under way you could bag yourself a ‘Myto chair’ for under £100.

Your final stop for gleaming, classic design is The Lighthouse on Mitchell Lane. It takes pride in housing a show-room of Vitra, the manufacturer of famous designs by the likes of Charles and Ray Eames and Philippe Starck. The showroom makes interesting design spotting, but if you can’t quite afford

a Vitra piece just yet, the design shop also stocks goods from Finnish design houses Marimekko and Alvar Aalto. Get a piece of Scandinavian chic at just £15 for Marimekko’s retro towels emblazoned with bright colours, perfect for summer picnics or beach holidays.

So, whether you choose to adorn your student digs with some Hollywood movie set pieces or decorate your bath-room with gorgeously patterned towels, a well selected piece or two will inject the grubbiest of student flats with some serious style.

“A single quality design piece can transform a room and add class”

Charlie Samler

Established & sons

artsSIGHTin27

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In the wake of Harold Pinter’s recent death there has, unsurprisingly, been a resurgence of his works throughout the country and a respectful hush of admiration at the mention of his name; playwrights and critics the world over adopting a demeanour not dissimilar to Uriah Heap when discussing

his works. The recent production of The Birthday Party by the Viventi theatre group at The Butterfly and The Pig pub seemed to be a welcome addition to

Cause for celebrationA pub setting creates great intimacy in The Birthday Party, writes Dominic Maxwell-Lewis

the steady stream of retrospective performances. The setting is both a bless-ing and a curse. The subterranean pub on Bath Street that served as a venue allowed for an intimacy that would have been more difficult to achieve in a conventional theatre space, yet the occasional daytime customers using the pub for its primary function did serve as a distraction and a hindrance to the performance.

The atmosphere of the play was sufficiently claustrophobic, with great care taken to display the wearisome routine within the guesthouse, which is executed with a mechanical precision by Meg, the proprietor’s wife. The staging, put up minutes before the start of the play, gave a real sense of a living area with a kitchen unit snaking round the back of the audience, allowing for characters to travel back and forth through the audience. From the outset this created a tremendous naturalism that gave the play cohesion and a flow that was most impressive. The introduction of Stanley, the lumbering tenant, is the first moment where Pinter’s trademark feeling of a leering aggression is felt. The fine line between friendly discourse and combative argument was handled very well; an obvious change in dynamic between the two could have ruined much of the play given its reliance on the unsaid and the menace of ‘what if?’ However, the arrival of the two visitors that is central to the play’s denouement seemed unfortunately two-dimensional.

Too much emphasis put on climactic moments of dialogue exposed a reli-ance on the printed text, and a lack of real interpretation let the performance down. The sophistic attack on Stanley at the end of the play that has an ability to unnerve the audience to an uncomfortable point instead seemed clumsy and sedate. This was a shame, given the care taken to build up this moment throughout the play steadily was apparent and commendable.

The Birthday Party sets out to make one of Pinter’s pet points, that beneath the veneer of a structured and seemingly civilized routine of speech and according behaviour there lurks an untamed character, unwilling to comply. Viventi's production is clear in its portrayal of the darker parts of social contre-temps and, moreoever, is an encouragingly promising inaugural production with impressive performances.

The Birthday Party will be at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, August 24-29, at The Jury's Inn

The entertainment game

For those familiar with The (other) Guard-ian’s Lost in Showbiz column, Celebrity: How Entertainers Took Over The World And Why We Need An Exit Strategy will un-

doubtedly be greeted with a rapturous welcome. Marina Hyde has turned her weekly railings against the inanities of celebrity culture into a proper book, with all the same acerbic wit and keen sense for

melodrama that readers enjoyed and that Hyde has an obvious, natural talent for.

This is not to say, however, that Celebrity is an unqualified success. Turning newspaper columns into books is an oft-repeated, rarely successful trick, and whilst Hyde is infinitely more suited to the task than, say, Richard Littlejohn, the limitations of her subject matter quickly become apparent.

Problem number one can perhaps be best described as being a classic example of the famous fish/barrel/shooting paradox. If Ms. Hyde comes across fish in a barrel, what should she do? Sure, blasting the sea creatures away for collecting foreign babies like handbags might seem fun, but

it would also undoubtedly become rather weari-some after 250 pages: not fun for the fish, not fun for Ms. Hyde, and not even fun for the gun, which in this analogy is the author’s prodigious and uncanny talent for insulting Scientology.

And blast away she does: at Tom Cruise, for pedalling his made-up religion to victims at the site of Ground Zero on September 11th; at Richard Gere, for claiming to speak on behalf of “the entire world” (seriously); at Sharon Stone, for having such astonishing self-regard as to believe that by making out with a few dudes she might bring about peace in the Middle East. The results are undeniably enter-taining, albeit in somewhat nihilistic way - and truly, fish have never deserved it so badly - but reading Hyde’s hyperbolic, faux-reverential style of prose gives the impression that a greater purpose is intended; one more deserving of a book.

Hidden behind the sarcasm and catty asides is a serious criticism not only of the actions of a few narcissistic stars, but of the entire culture of celeb-rity-obsession which we have assimilated into our everyday lives. In this regard, Celebrity seems a far more interesting endeavour, and a task to which Hyde is uniquely suited.

(Tom Bonnick)Celebrity is out now in hardback by Harvill

Secker, R.R.P. £11.99

The last fortnight can only be described as an interminable nightmare. After spending a vast proportion of my recent time boastfully lauding it over other cancer patients due to feeling tip-top, the Cancer Fairy finally took it upon himself to mercilessly beat me into the ground with his giant stick of misery.

The problem arose around this time last week when I was diagnosed with a chest infection. I wasn’t particularly worried about this, I had been told to expect all manner of infections here and there due to the fact that I currently have the immune system of a small HIV positive insect. However, there’s something about having six visibly concerned medical professionals gathered around you that makes you question what they know that you don’t. After much deliberation, they decided that I’d need to spend at least two nights getting constant antibi-otics through a drip at Ninewells Hospital.

This news whipped up scant enthusiasm within me. I had been to Ninewells a few times before and each visit appears to be more emotionally crippling than the last. If I’m not getting diagnosed with cancer I’m visiting dying relatives, getting my neck sliced open or ejaculating into a tiny pot in a cold, lonely room. If something goes wrong in my life, Ninewells almost always rears its ugly head as the grim setting. It is to me as the Führerbunker is to Adolf Hitler.

Arriving at the haematology unit, I couldn’t help but notice that there was a tantalising selec-tion of whisky, gin and other spirits on a tray next to the massive TV. I don’t know why Dundonian cancer patients require a minibar but I felt comforted by the fact that, if my boredom was to reach dangerous levels, I could always get off my mash and stomp around the corridors after midnight - most likely wearing nothing but a vast array of medical para-phernalia as a giant, funny hat.

After 20 full minutes of fantasising exclusively about this possibility, I was ushered through to a small room by a young female doctor who looked uncannily like Geri Halliwell to learn my grim fate. “Can I come?” asked my Mother, at which point Doctor Spice looked at me and whispered “Do you know her?” - evidently thinking that she was an insane drifter woman desperate to latch onto a complete stranger’s medical consultation.

Bracing myself to be told that one and a half of my lungs had fallen off, the Doctor tapped me on the chest a few times, made me breathe a bit and then shooed me away home with a big sack of drugs to keep me happy. I didn’t quite know how to react - what had she missed that my Perth doctors were so gravely concerned about? Also, I couldn’t help but feel slightly aggrieved that the decision to stick a giant needle in the back of my hand in prepa-ration for intravenous antibiotics had proven to be overenthusiastically premature. Anyway, I removed such trivial matters from my head and skipped away home once again reassured that I am, in fact, indestructible.

+Cancerous Capers

>> Jamie Ross

“The results are undeniably entertaining, albeit in somewhat nihilistic way”

Indra Mangule

SIGHTarts in PAG

E 5

Anonymous strangersJames Porteous spends some quality hanging around with the cast of Cirque du Soleil’s Quidam

Hearing the interior of the SECC described as anything other than a monstrous col-lection of ironwork is a fairly uncommon event. Yet the man sitting beside me,

Sean MacKeown, Artistic Coordinator of Quidam, has just been overwhelmingly complementary about the place. Bizarre, considering the reputation for beauty and spectacle that Cirque du Soleil car-ries, but what’s even more peculiar is that I agree with him entirely.

This revelation came as we sat watching the technical staff of the production working on the stage to be used throughout Quidam’s seven show run at Glasgow’s SECC. Using the word stage hardly does it justice – the forty square metre platform conceals all manner of trapdoors and revolving sections, and sits beneath the magnificent ‘Telepherique,’ a massive 37.6m rail structure that sits snugly between the eaves of the exhibition hall. At its peak, it’s the height of three double-decker buses off the floor – Cirque du Soleil say that it took them over three years to figure out how to transfer the show from the big top to an arena, and it’s easy to see why.

Following on from performances at the likes of Dublin’s Point Theatre, and London’s Royal Albert Hall, the current tour represents the first time Quidam (meaning “anonymous passerby” in Latin)

has ventured out of the traditional circus big top and into the wildly different surroundings of arenas and concert halls. Rather than traditional shows at these big venues, the custom stage means the audience surround the performers, offering a much more involved view.

The show itself is the second time Cirque du Soleil has been in Scotland, as MacKeown confirms: " We did come here once before with a show called Delirium. Actually, I saw Delirium in this same space, but it’s a very different format show - it’s very much a montage of different acts from different shows, whereas what we’re presenting now is a full Cirque du Soleil show for the first time.”

Quidam, like every show the French-Canadian group has created, has a rich narrative that serves to enhance the individual acts themselves – rather than a collection of acrobatics, the show tells the audience a story, albeit in a visually abstract manner. In essence, it can be more directly compared to an opera or ballet than a traditional circus perform-ance with a ringmaster, and all the other associated accoutrements.

“The theme … people always ask me that!” laughs McKeown when quizzed on the current show. “The great thing about our shows is that people can come and make up their own theme.

“There is a story – of course there is one – and

the story of this show is about anonymity and about people re-connecting, and recognizing all of our similarities and all of our differences.”

The Quidam veteran’s response seems purpose-fully enticing in its ambiguity, and gives nothing away about what to expect from the show itself. Even the official Cirque du Soleil description of the performance is delightfully mysterious, leaving as much as possible to the imagination of those coming to the shows.

This mystery makes an invitation to the warm-up for the first of the Glasgow shows all the more appealing. As the technicians continue work, and one of the show’s acrobatic performers prac-tices high above the arena floor, swinging on a rope that dangles beneath the vast metal Telepher-ique, McKeown talks about the show’s relation to conventional circus. “It’s tough, there’s always room for tradition. This show has toured the world, we’ve been lucky enough to see a lot of traditional theatre and shows along the way, and there’s still a really nice place for traditional circuses.“

With a cast of 52 performers, Quidam certainly rivals the size of a regular circus, albeit without the element that has led other circus groups to contro-versy in the past – the use of animals in shows.

For Cirque du Soleil, the attraction lies in the abilities of their human performers, as McKeown

confirms: “What we did, was create something different. We set out to re-invent the circus, in a way and that’s why we’ve just stuck to having people.

“We were originally just a group of eight street performers, who set out to do amazing things as people. So we continue to focus on what we could do with people, and how far we can push the phys-ical boundaries.”

In the cast, the show certainly makes the most of the best the world has to offer, with representa-tives from 14 countries filling the various roles in the complex performance. Of these, only one is British – Julie Cameron, who is in fact from the West of Scot-land. The young sports acrobat became involved in the show after sending a recording of her perform-ance to producers in Canada, and being picked up for a position in Quidam.

Her role as an Albino sees her dressed entirely in white, with her starring moment coming as part of the Banquine phase of the show – Cameron and the other members of the act work through a routine of staggering acrobatic agility, launching into the air and across the stage like bottle rockets.

In talking about the show, Cameron does not come across as someone who performs to pay the bills. There is a dreamy enthusiasm to her answers when asked about the show – references to magic, and comparisons to the feeling of reading a capti-vating novel for the first time give the impression of someone who is as much caught up in the enchant-ment of the show as you’d expect from an audience member. It’s an aura that surrounds everyone that’s involved in the production, be they performer or publicist, and it’s infectious.

Come the evening, and the show itself, there is a feeling that the time spent in conversation with the Cirque du Soleil team has only heightened antici-pation over what to expect from the performers. With clowns toying with members of the audience as they try to pick their way to the seats, the show begins immediately upon entering the arena, and continues onwards relentlessly until the house lights come up.

Simply put, Quidam is utterly captivating. The various extraordinary performances within each of the multitude of physical feats are complemented with sublime musical backing, and playfully inter-spersed with audience interaction and physical humour. The pacing is perfect, with each section building to its own finale in such seamless succes-sion that the length of the show becomes imper-ceptible; it is an astounding, beautiful piece of performance art.

With the show having now finished its run in Europe, and heading off to South America for a year, the performers and crew have the chance to take five weeks off. “Not long, but enough … We’ll be ready,” muses MacKeown. “You don’t want to rest too long, or you lose shape,” he chuckles.

From the time spent watching over the day, a loss of form does not seem an issue that’s likely to arise for Quidam.

For more images from Guardian’s day with the cast and crew of Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Quidam’, log on to glasgowguardian.co.uk

James Porteous

the interviewSIGHTin27

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Swearing allegiance to the flag

For someone who commands a position of utmost respect and near-unanimous reverence within his field, Armando Iannucci is remarkably blithe to his achievements. Perhaps this is because, even though he is responsible for some of

the most enduring television and radio shows of the past fifteen years — The Day Today, I’m Alan Partridge, The News Quiz — he has never been exposed to the levels of fame of the shows’ stars.

While Steve Coogan and Chris Morris made their names reading Iannucci’s jokes, the writer and producer steadily built up a resume that included a ridiculously high proportion of intelligent British comedy.

2005’s The Thick of It seemed destined to continue the honour-able tradition of perpetuating its creator’s near-anonymity. Set in the fictitious Department of Social Affairs, and filmed in a dizzying fly-on-the-wall style, the show was a cult hit after its initial run on BBC Four, but its critical success was eclipsed by star Chris Langham’s conviction for downloading indecent images of children in 2007. Two specials followed the series, broadening the canvas to include the opposi-

tion party and removing the spotlight from Langham’s incompetent minister. The show has now evolved into a film, In the Loop, which carries across from the series the same visual aesthetic, realist style and deadpan humour. The focus has shifted from Social Affairs to International Development, and the domestic microcosm of govern-ment has been expanded to encompass the American Secretary of State in the run-up to an unspecified and dubiously motivated war in the Middle East. However, the film, Iannucci insists, is not simply The Thick of It: The Movie.

“I don’t want people to think that you’ve got to have seen the show to see the film. I see it as a kind of cousin. Or brother-in-law.”

When I meet Iannucci and two of the film’s stars, Peter Capaldi and Chris Addison, the director professes an ignorance of the limelight into which he has been thrust that is accompanied by such childlike glee that it is impossible not to find endearing.

“I’ve never been to a premiere. I don’t quite know what happens.”Capaldi joins in. “This is a Glasgow premiere, though. It’s just

Tennants everywhere.”

Such supposed naivety comes across in Iannucci’s work as a real empathy for the underdog, as if he identifies personally with the plight of the everyday individual. Neither the film nor the show ever reaches the highest echelons of political power, concentrating instead on the day-to-day work of civil servants and junior politicians.

The obvious parallels between the plot of In the Loop and the war in Iraq — the film includes sexed-up dossiers, war-mongering Secretaries of State, British diplomats facing crises of conscience — belie a set of themes which are at once both less simplistic and more absurd.

“The story of the war; how the Brits were sort of sucked into feeling important, getting a bit giddy about going to Washington and being in the Oval Office and forgetting what they were there to do — that struck me as a funny story.”

For the film, Capaldi has reprised the role of Malcolm Tucker, the hilarious, baroquely foul-mouthed spin-doctor who exists in a state of permanent aggression; ready to spring into furious action at any moment. The character is the only one to transition from The Thick of

Tom Bonnick speaks to the director and stars of In the Loop about Washington motorcades, being too clever for success, and finding comedy in unexpected places

Swearing allegiance to the flagTom Bonnick speaks to the director and stars of In the Loop about Washington motorcades, being too clever for success, and finding comedy in unexpected places

“I have no idea how these things work.”The other obvious reason for hesitancy that has been seized upon

by the Lack-of-faith-in-the-public crowd is that now is the “wrong time” for the film — that when America has fallen in love with its leaders again and renewed faith in itself and its politics, it does not want to watch a sarcastic, polemical film that takes swipes at government and reminds the public of their complicity in the events of the past eight years. I would argue the opposite: that these are times when exactly this sort of film ought to be released, if for no other reason than so as to wake people up from complacency. (I would also argue that any time is the right one for a film as funny as this one.)

To this charge, Iannucci responds with the manner of a cheesy salesman, gung-ho and earnest (Is this the wrong time? “No! This is the right time!”)

I suspect that this is masking a slight exasperation at so many people wondering aloud whether Iannucci is too clever and mean to be a success. His more measured response, however, betrays a mind that has seriously considered the question.

“When we showed it at Sundance, the response was unbeliev-able. I think they just wanted to get it out of their system. The audi-ence were relieved to see it in front of them, being dealt with. But also, there is that sense that it could happen again. Because it’s not about evil, nasty people. It’s about slightly fragile people occasionally making the wrong decision, or not quite having the courage of their convictions.

Already, we’re getting Hillary Clinton being very bullish about Iran, and Obama talking about a surge in Afghanistan — I’m not saying there’s going to be another war, but I think it’s important to see how these things happen. It’s not to do with one person pressing a button; it’s to do with the collective atmosphere really.”

Chris Addison sees it slightly differently: the film is actually uplifting, precisely because of the years under Bush and Blair.

“It would have been gallows humour if McCain had got in, but now it’s the laughter of relief. I think there’s something appealing about that.”

In a way, both The Thick of It and In the Loop’s style of comedy can be characterised by their ability to find humour in unexpected places.

It is a mark of how rounded they are as pieces of drama that even with writing so uniformly excellent, the funniest moments in each are often the long, awkward silences which follow one of Malcolm’s rages or a fresh new ministerial gaffe.

“Sometimes,” says Iannucci, “I took out lines because they were funny — they felt like, under those circumstances, that character wouldn’t say something like that. They wouldn’t have the wherewithal to come up with something so elaborate — the funny line suddenly makes you aware of the artifice.”

In this sense, Iannucci’s comic sensibilities seem similar to those of Ricky Gervais’, except In the Loop does not simply finish the joke with the social faux pas lingering in the air, as The Office did. Like Stewart Lee or Eddie Izzard, Iannucci’s real gift lies in carrying each riff to its logical, albeit absurd, conclusion — and nowhere does this technique work better than in the machinations of political office.

In the Loop is in cinemas now.

It: evidently, neither Iannucci nor Capaldi were willing to give up such a gold mine of dramatic and comedic potential.

There is an interesting irony to Capaldi’s performance that makes it almost impossible to pin down. Tucker — easily the most interesting figure: seductively, charismatically Machiavellian, quick-tongued, and omniscient — seems somewhat incongruous with Iannucci’s obvious dislike of political spin and the work done by the character, thought by most to be based on Alastair Campbell — and perhaps this is what makes him so irresistible to his creator and viewers.

I have a fantasy that Capaldi will resemble Tucker in real life; that I will be shouted at for asking stupid questions and maybe — just maybe — get called a horsecock. Inevitably, he is nothing like the monstrous figure he so magnificently brings to life on screen. Throughout our meeting he is consummately charming; rather soft-spoken. He displays an impressive talent for being able to sound modest without seeming disingenuous, constantly deferring the praise which has been lavished on the film, and his character in partic-ular, to the writers, Iannucci, and his co-stars. When I ask whether it is ever frustrating not being able to swear as fluently as Malcolm can, he is effusive not only in his admiration of his peers, but also in his own

supposedly limited capabilities.“It’s a constant frustration. Not just the swearing – I can’t speak; I

can’t reach the end of a sentence effectively at all, whereas the writers provide these fantastic lines. That’s what I get worried about. His [Tucker’s] mind is very fast, and a bit of mine is. But not the bit with words.”

The only moment which causes me to excitedly inhale, in antici-pation of the spew of expletives The Thick of It has taught me to expect, is early on, when I am sitting alone waiting for everyone to arrive. Through a wall I hear a familiar Glaswegian twang bellowing for a pastry in what is obviously an affected diva-esque tone, although I pray that it is not. Later, when Capaldi is asked a question about returning to Glasgow for the UK premiere of In the Loop, he replies with a relaxed smile on his face, and I exhale with a mixture of relief and disappointment.

“It’s nice. I get to see my mother and sister. For free. And there’ll be a croissant along in a minute, and you’ll see it has my name on it.”

When the film first started attracting attention, on the back of its Sundance screening, the reaction was a distinctly confused one. On the one hand, critics went out of their way to comment on how funny it was, how acute, and how refreshing it was to see truly astute political satire on the big screen. Another camp felt differently. Sure, they still thought it was a great film — the problem was that it was too great. The jokes were too clever, the brushstrokes not broad enough, the characters too morally ambiguous. When I left a screening some months ago, I overheard a typically snooty critic opine to their companion that they didn’t think Joe Public would “get it”.

Iannucci doesn’t agree. “If you peel away the politics and the natu-ralism and stuff like that, it’s structured like a screwball comedy. And I think people like that it’s different to what they’re getting.”

So, does he anticipate much success?“It’s not going to be Star Wars. Hopefully a word of mouth will

build up. If we can persuade enough people ‘Don’t worry, it’s not really about politics’, I think it may generate…” He begins to trail off and the faux-naïve grin returns.

SIGHTin PAG

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“It would have been gallows humour if McCain had got in, but now it’s the laughter of relief. I think there’s something appealing about that”

“Its not about evil, nasty people. It’s about slightly fragile people occasionally making the wrong decision, or not quite having the courage of their convictions”

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SIGHTin

I suppose it’s inevitable that eventually Seth Rogen would tire of playing the same lovable stoner goofball in each of his tri-monthly releases. Caveats aside, Pineapple Express didn’t prepare anyone for Observe and Report — a sort of Bizarro World version of Paul

Blart: Mall Cop — in which Rogen plays Ronnie Barnhardt, the Travis Bickle for the Judd Apatow age.

Barnhardt is the head of security at his local mall, who spends his time pining after Anna Faris’ make-up counter girl Brandi, giving motivational speeches to his security underlings, and propping up his alco-holic mother (the sublime Celia Weston). When a streaker starts terrifying patrons, Ronnie finds his raison d’être in catching the pervert before he strikes again.

So far, so Mall Cop. But Ronnie’s delusions of gran-deur aren’t of the traditionally innocent sort, and his efforts to impress Brandi are a little less than wholesome, even for the star of Knocked Up. Rather unsettlingly, it’s never quite made clear which aspects of his personality or behaviour are supposed to be found amusing: Bipolar disorder? Obvious (though never expli-

The play’s the thing

After a somewhat fraught production proc-ess, the film adaptation of the acclaimed BBC mini-series State of Play has finally made it onto the big screen. The action

has shifted from London to Washington D.C, and none of the original actors remain, but otherwise, this taunt, character-driven tale of political corrup-tion and crusading journalism remains as true to the original as it’s possible to be, given a 6-hour se-ries has been condensed down to a 2 hour film.

A maverick journalist for the fictional Wash-ington Globe, Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe) is looking into what appears to be a run-of-the-mill drugs-re-lated shooting when he finds himself locking horns with the paper’s young political blogger, Della Frye (Rachel McAdams). She’s hoping he can supply her with some gossip on his former college roommate, now Senator Tom Collins (Ben Affleck), in the spot-light due to an investigation he’s heading into the outsourcing of the US military to the sinister Point-corp Corporation. When Collins’ lead researcher dies in suspicious circumstances, the truth about his relationship with her begins to emerge, and the Senator finds himself mired in allegations of adul-tery — and more. McAffrey and Frye form a reluc-tant partnership to untangle the web of corruption, scandal and violence that link their two seemingly unrelated stories into a much bigger and more troubling picture — all before their stressed and increasingly impatient editor (Helen Mirren — and why, incidentally, are British characters in American movies always made to swear in oh-so-amusingly British ways?) gives up on them completely.

The film’s plot is dense but well told, with a

tight script, solid performances, and deft direction that ensures you’re never bored for a moment. It’s refreshing to watch a thriller that relies on its plot and the relationships between its characters to build tension and drama, rather than on explosive action scenes.

That said, the balance between personal and public life is something that State of Play doesn’t pull off entirely successfully. That nobody, even in the highest of offices, can ever truly separate their work from their private life is a point State of Play makes with subtlety and intelligence, examining just what elements of politicians’ lives they should be judged on. Yet the over-complicated relation-ship between Collins, McAffrey and Collins’ wife adds little to the story, while that between McAf-

>> Claire Strickett

State of PlayDir: Kevin MacDonaldOn general release now

It goes without saying that organising the content of a bi-weekly student paper's two page film spread is a job of which there are many perks. One such lagniappe is that I am occasionally invited to special events where I am free to rub shoulders with the elite of Scotland's entertainment and media industries, an opportunity which I have long regarded as not so much a benefit as a birth right.

Usually these happenings are akin to embarking upon some kind of mind-bending hallucinogenic trip. Words cannot even begin to describe how utterly surreal it is to find yourself in the same room as someone you suspect to be Dominic Diamond, while surrounded by an assortment of people whom your companion for the evening assures you are anonymous River City cast members.

If one wishes to see for themselves just how inferior mainstream Scottish media is to its national equivalent, then they need look no further than STV's daily double-header of mediocrity, 'The Five Thirty Show' and 'The STV News at Six'. Both are shows in which witless nonentities are given free reign over quaint local features, the capabilities of supposed media experts are limited only to refer-ring to reality TV contestants as 'legends' and head news anchors will adopt stern poker faces while reading out a succession of words with evidently little comprehension of their accumulative meaning, varying their intonation seemingly at random. Grown, Scottish adults playing at being serious TV presenters like what they have in England.

Whenever I find myself unconvinced that the aforementioned shows represent the tip of a lamentable media iceberg, I like to attend invita-tion only, 'talent introduced' advance screenings of Richard Curtis' 'The Boat that Rocked', reassuring myself that my opinion is correct, and leaving before having to endure the actual feature. I like to strike up conversations with freelance journalists in which they bore me with details of how good that morning's press screening of 'Duplicity' was. I like to do this for several minutes until a reviewer from the Scotsman turns up and criticises the 'Duplicity' as being one of the worst films of the year. I then like to watch the spineless freelance writer disregard his strongly held opinions as he agrees with every word the well-connected journalist says. I like to stick around the screening room listening to audience members discuss how much they enjoyed Richard Curtis' previous films until I feel as though I'm about to throw up, and then finally leave, passing Nick Frost on the escalator. I like to return to the cinema and break into the projection room, decapitate the projectionist and mail each of his organs to Richard Curtis individually, while a montage of 'great' rock 'n' roll album sleeves, including Keane's debut, is shown on screen, and meditate on how it is prob-ably Karen Dunbar's favourite record of all time.

And then I like to text everyone that I think I was just standing next to former 'Red Amber Green' presenter Brian Burnett for a whole five minutes in the foyer afterwards!!!

Perks of the job

>> Lewis Porteous

cated) learning difficulties? A willingness to embrace violence at every turn? Date rape?

That last possibility has brought Observe and Report to the attention of a myriad roundtable discussion shows that have endlessly — and quite

obviously futilely — debated the morality of the “rape scene”. I say obvi-ously futilely because clearly, Barnhardt does not inhabit the same moral universe as the rest of us. To him, ethics means not stealing some cheap jewellery — but getting high and hospitalising some

rogue skateboarders is a-okay. And I put “rape scene” in conde-scending quotation marks because in this dubious ethical

landscape, consent is sort of conceded.Really, every aspect of Observe and Report defies

the principles of criticism, and for the simple reason that criticism would necessitate over-thinking. Germaine Greer can argue with Mark Kermode all she likes as to whether or not Brandi drunkenly slur-ring, “Don’t stop, motherfucker” is really an invita-tion to continue carnal proceedings, but I suspect director Jody Hill just put the scene in because he thought it would be funny. And that’s more or less the score for the film’s entirety: fairly unpleasant events transpiring, and Hill daring you to over-analyse. If it weren’t for such a great supporting cast (Weston, Ray Liotta, Michael Peña), there’d really be no excuse for such a misanthropic

notion of comedy.

frey and the youthful Frye is underdeveloped and one-sided: she learns how to be a real, grown-up journalist from him, while he appears to learn nothing from her. The big political questions raised are never satisfactorily explored, but perhaps that’s because there are no easy answers.

At the heart of this film lie a series of opposi-tions: corporate vs state-run, public vs private, and — perhaps most obvious and most poignant of all — good old-fashioned investigative journalism vs comment-driven Internet blogging. More than anything, as the final credits roll over images of the newspaper’s printing presses, State of Play feels like a passionate but possibly futile defence of what could soon be a seriously endangered media species. No wonder I liked it so much.

>> Tom Bonnick

Observe and ReportDir: Jody HillOn general release now

Noise off with NoisettesSIGHTmusic in PA

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9

It is probably the sunniest day we have had at this point since the calendar turned 09, so it seems a shame to have to leave the light for a dimly lit dressing room in ABC2. The atmosphere is just as warm inside though, lead singer Shingai Shoniwa greeting me

with a hug as if we were old friends. “We are going to do this whole interview through song, is that okay?” I oblige, but she unfortunately does not follow through with the promise, ruining my plan to release the interview under “The ABC Sessions” as their star ascends, which I am sure it will. Their tour has been going well, guitarist Dan Smith tells me. “It’s been a lot of fun, most of the shows have been sold out. Especially in the state of the credit crunch and all that kind of shit, in the middle it’s really tough and we feel really lucky”.

Listening to their new album, you would be forgiven for thinking that this is a different band to the one that released the punchy ‘What’s The Time, Mr Wolf?’ to great critical but lukewarm public reception two years ago. New cuts such as title track ‘Wild Young Hearts’ and ‘Never Forget You’ seem to bridge a gap between rock and roll, disco and sixties girl bands: a jump from the urgent punk-pop they played before, and a move which has been instrumental in their breakthrough to the public’s consciousness.

“Well, Once you make one record you don’t want to make the same record twice,” drummer Jamie Morrison, “unless you’re the Kaiser Chiefs”. Shoniwa chimes in at this point, “Oh, three times”, letting out a laugh. Perched knees-bent on the arm of the sofa I’m sitting on, her position betrays a dislike of staying still – something to be seen at their gig later that night as she climbs barefoot into the audience to sere-nade the forgotten members at the back, myself included.

Speaking on the influences for this record, Shania looks to staples of the past. “There’s a lot of Bacharach and Bernard Hermann with string arrangements, there’s also an early eighties Fleetwood Mac ‘Rumours’ era filtering though as well”. Morrison acknowledges the influence of their contemporaries. “I’ve got a lot of influence from the bands we toured with and supported for the first record like Bloc Party, TV on the Radio, from a personal point of view, thinking about beats”. “Foals?” Shingai offers. “Oh yeah, definitely Foals”.

On the topic of supporting bands, I see that the group have advertised on each stop of this tour for local bands to support them. This is an opportu-nity that is not always given, most chart-topping bands having the one act follow them the length and breadth of the UK.

“That’s what all bands should do” Shoniwa asserts. “So many bands

get signed when they are like ten, they never get to

know what it is like to work their way up venues, not

h a v i n g r e h e a r s a l rooms, having to play gigs and club nights, that’s what gives you your armour as a band. There are so many bands out there that have never had to do any graft, they just get every-thing handed to them in their lap, and you can hear in their music there’s a bit of compla-cency”. Especially recently, I add. Shingai nods her head with a

grimace. “Especially recently, everyone was getting deals man, in the last five years they were handing out deals like peanuts. Most of my friends had record deals, but now that’s been slashed by 40% since the recession hit”.

Aside from lending their exposure to these smaller acts, Morrison sees the support as a signature on each gig. “Now we can create our own evening, it’s cool to have someone else every night it keeps you on your toes a bit”. Particularly true with the local support act tonight, Young Fathers, filling the singular niche of bands which are one part Beastie Boys to two parts Backstreet Boys.

As a live band, Noisettes do nothing by halves. Smith outlines what they aim to bring to a live show. “Chaos, Theatre, to recreate the

sound in a way that’s not static. We want the crowd to feel like we were really there”. The conversation turns to Michael

Jackson’s upcoming sixty-night residency at the O2 and which of these nights, if any, will make the audience feel privileged to have gone. Shoniwa does not need to think before answering. “The last night. With the last night you

see the truth”. Dan laughs, “On the last night the curtain will go up and we’ll see it’s actually been Bubble’s singing all

along”. Shoniwa shakes her head and counters with even more enthusiasm “You are always going to take the

risks on the last night that you would never take on the tour”, relating this to her experience

seeing Grace Jones, a woman the press have been quick to

compare her to– not too unfairly, although she

is proving a much more approach-able interview subject.

When I ask them about what festivals they are playing this year, the sound check

progresses to the drums, which punc-tuate the room at thunderous intervals of

a second. Shingai points at my Dictaphone sitting on the table. “Shall we - speak - inbe-

tween - thedrumbeats - just - in - case?” The band take turns to shout out their summer commit-

ments, including V Festival and Isle of Wight- the latter being a favourite of Shoniwa’s. “You don’t go

there to try and have the same wellies as Kate Moss. If you go to an island, if you go to Isle of Wight or Bestival,

you are going with die-hard people who will queue to get on a ferry for the weekend on an island off the coast of England. Glastonbury,” she shrugs, “2 hour drive. There’s some kind of pagan abandon, people do things on an Island they wouldn’t do elsewhere”.

Asking about the importance of style to the band, the drums suddenly become deafening. This gives Smith a chance to display his secret talent as a mime, answering my question through exaggerated arm gestures, pointing to his sleeves, lolling his head, and finishing with jazz hands at the point the drumming ceases. At this point we decide it’s time to relocate, as much as I would love to have the band answer my remaining questions in a similar manner.

“For me it’s the childhood thing of dressing up” Smith continues upstairs, an open fire door letting in a bit of welcome sunlight. “I used to wear grungy jeans and t-shirts, so it’s nice to get a bit tarted up”. Shoniwa expands on it “It is important to feel inspired by what you’ve got on, if something puts you in a beautiful mood then it’s great”.

Like many bands of late, Noisettes have benefitted greatly from having their song synchronised in an advertisement, with ‘Don’t Upset The Rhythm’ reaching number two in the charts (and number one on iTunes) shortly after our meet, due in no small part to its inclusion in the Mazda spot. I ask about the return on the ad, not monetary but in terms of exposure. “That’s the most important thing,” Smith agrees, “It helped our radio profile, we never had a radio profile before”.

Shoniwa looks at it with a business head. “It gives you profile in the corporate world. The person who runs Island’s marketing used to work for Prêt á Manger. A lot of the labels have hired in special corporate guys to get them in money”. The Brit school graduate (alumni including Kate Nash, The Kooks and Amy Wine house) has no illusions about the nature of the business. “They would never have heard of Gabriella Cilmi, Her song was sitting around for a year and the radio wouldn’t play it, but as soon as she got the deodorant advert: ‘nothin sweet about me, yeah,’–” emulating her voice rather well while elegantly spraying an invisible canister into her armpit, “–then she got radio. Little things like that introduce you to people in corporate world who don’t care about gigs, they aren’t going to put you on the radio unless they see some financial ties. You can’t just have your manager going ‘oh, they’ve just come off tour with Muse’, you need more than that these days”.

A sober thought to end on, but the struggle seems to be over for this band at present. A few photos, a cursory sketch and a bar of “Vogue” sung by Shoniwa later and we part ways. Five years since their inception they have by all accounts arrived, and their packed gig tonight shows a band that deserve every word of praise that flies that flies their way.

Oisín Kealy meets the indie-rock trio turned overnight sensations.

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SIGHTinGigsFamily band values

A lot is made about the fact that you all have jobs outside of the band, do you think that adds to the longevity of the band, that it’s kept as recreational?

It’s a difficult question to answer really. We’ve been doing the group for a long time because we’ve wanted to, but for me the band is one thing I do and I have lots of other things that I do.

Well you have got pretty successful for just having this part time

Yeah, people focus on that a lot with us but I know loads of people in the same situation as us and it never gets mentioned– probably our fault.

John Peel was an early supporter and you did a few sessions for him, how was your experi-ence with him?

We never met him, he phoned me up at home and I felt really privileged for that to happen. We did a session for him that (laughing) I don’t think he liked very much. The second one was really good though, but it was just nice to be involved. Me and Jay were in a band before and did a session for him, and he was always just a lovely man to deal with.

The sound has evolved a lot since the Ameri-cana influence heard then, was that a conscious or unconscious move?

Conscious and unconscious. We say “evolved” but you start off doing one thing and it turns into something else. It’s like you set out to spend the day doing the shopping but you end up going to a museum. We get bored easily, we change our minds and start looking in different directions. It was never a set agenda– I started writing other stuff, Mickey started hitting the drums harder, and it came naturally.

It’s funny you mention hitting the drums harder, I’ve found the band is a lot louder live than on record. Which of the two would you most consider to be your sound?

You know what? Years of being in a band and I’ve never thought about that. I suppose the Cds are fairly important for when I’m seventy years old and trying to convince my grandchildren that I was in a band. I’d prefer to listen to listen to our records than go see us live. (laughing)

That’s probably more practicable as well. Tell me about the new album, was the process any different to your previous releases?

We’ve been making records in the same way for a long time, we decided to give it to someone else who we could trust to mix it. In that sense it was a different process, but in fact he just made it sound like what we’ve always wanted to sound like

I saw the ‘Salivating’ video, I was wondering how did you dispose of the 20 or so sex dolls?

I don’t know what they’ve done with them, I’d like to think they were given to a good home. There’s a good chance our bass player has a few.

I read your Guardian article about band names, is there anyone of late that you could pass judgement on? There is a Glasgow band at the minute called Dananananaykroyd....

Oh yeah, that is a fantastic band name, and they are a shit hot band as well, I love them. I wouldn’t profess to be any kind of an expert but I trust my opinion over most peoples. My least favourite at the moment is that indie supergroup called Mongrel, It sounds like something that Lemmy would have come up with in the eighties. And maybe twisted Wheel, because that’s just rubbish.

Deeds of the SwedesW

henever Swedish music is mentioned, a ubiquitous reference to ABBA seems to follow, but our Nordic friends have more to offer us than 70s euro cheese.

One genre which has been rapidly gaining popu-larity in Sweden is twee pop, and unlike the recent surge of Swedish pop artists, has remained largely uncovered by the UK mainstream. For those una-ware, twee pop is a sugary sweet derivative of in-die with simple melodies and catchy lyrics, and be it the water or the meatballs, the Swedes seem to have a knack for it.

A staple of the Swede-twee scene is Annika Norlin’s Hello Saferide. Discovered after posting a song on the internet in 2005, she has subsequently released two albums, Introducing…Hello Saferide in 2005 and More Modern Short Stories From Hello Saferide in 2008.The songs are both upbeat and sombre, constructed from bounding, tuneful guitar, hand claps and occasional accompaniments from

piano, accordion and glockenspiel. The best part is the lyrics, turning the songs into collection of mini-ature stories and comical insights.

Another curiously named band making waves is I’m From Barcelona. The interesting fact about this band is that it has 30 members who play a variety of instruments ranging from clarinets to kazoos. So far the band has released two albums, and their songs contain equal measures of plucky acoustic guitar and hand clapping, but with the addition of trumpets and a joyful choir to back Emanuel Lundgrens vocals.

Providing a simpler sound, Those Dancing Days may be the youngest of the lot. Lead singer Linnea Jönsson only finished school in 2008, the same year as the release of their

debut In Our Space Hero Suits. The four-strong girl group combine jangly guitar, northern soul vocals and a Hammond organ to express their love for holidays, boys and life.

A less conventional member of the twee collec-tive is Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, a duo comprised of Johan Hedberg and Peter Gunnarson. Their debut, #3, was released in 2005, and they are due to release another sometime this year. The pair make music in the hallway of Peter’s parents house sounding like catchy advert jingles with low off-key vocals and the occasional sample.

These artists are only a tiny glimpse into an exciting scene that is well deserving of y o u r attention. So if you can believe

that there is more to Swedish music than the synth bit

from Final Countdown, then go discover.

(Catriona Reilly)

Oisín Kealy meets Broken Family Band’s Steve Adams Hinterland FestivalThursday 30th April and Friday 1st MayThe first of what will hopefully become an annual event, Hinterland is a new two day music and art festival taking place throughout the city centre. With over 100 bands playing, art exhibi-tions and exclusive club nights, it is well worth the price of a ticket. Expect a mix of homegrown talent with up-and-coming acts from across the UK and beyond. Here are just some the acts we are looking forward to seeing.

The Fall30/04/90The ArchesThe legendary post-punkers top off the first Hinterland curated night. The John Peel champi-oned band will no doubt be delivering a master-class in melodic mysanthopry, get there quick as it will surely be the most inundated set of the entire festival.

Jeffery Lewis and the Junkyard01/05/09ABC2Godfather of anti-folk, whatever that means, Lewis’ latest album marries much lusher instru-mentation to his fey bedroom rambles, but loses none of the geeky charm. If you like astutely observed, stream-of-consciousness folk, you can’t afford to miss this.

Copy Haho30/04/09The ArchesIndie pop outfit from outside Aberdeen. Riding on the back of the success bands like Danan-ananaykroyd are enjoying, this is looking to be a good year for angular Scottish pop with an ear for melody and the smell of teen spirit.

Slow Club01/05/09The ArchesThe boy-girl folk pop duo from Sheffield have been slowly building a dedicated following over the last 3 years and are readying their album for release in July. Great live act with charming harmonies and kitchen sink percussion.

OTHER EVENTS THIS MONTH....

Art Brut02/05/09StereoEnergetic Indie-art-rock-punk-pop peddlers come to Glasgow promoting their latest release ‘Art Brut vs. Satan’ which has been produced by Frank Black. That Frank Black. All the endorse-ment you need, really.

Aidan Moffat & The Best Ofs08/05/09StereoEx-Arab Strap member and sometime X-rated poet, Moffat’s latest incarnation sees him a lot cheerier, but maintains the cynical wit which endeared him to us in the first place.

Sam Christmas

SIGHTmusic in PAG

E 11

>> Oisín Kealy

Be very, very quiet

In the latest blow to file sharers, a guilty verdict has been returned on the case against notorious torrent site The Pirate Bay, the four cofounders now facing a year in prison and a £2.4 million pound fine unless they can argue for a retrial. The site itself is still running, though I wouldn’t advise a visit unless you want to receive a strongly worded letter from your ISP provider.

Although downloads for everything from movies to software were linked to by the site, it quickly became the ubiquitous saviour of skint music fans the world over. Terrified at the pros-pect of a dwindling bottom line, the major labels have shot in every direction like a pro-plussed war veteran on a ghost train, but torrent sites and their ilk may not be quite the boogiemen for musicians that they are made out to be.

A recent study in Norway has confirmed something long known to those in the file sharing community, that those who use file sharing web sites are more likely to buy Cds than the God fearing luddites who abstain from the practice – that is, at least the ones who aren’t using the web

sites to feed an ever-consuming pornography addiction. Ten times more likely, in fact, according to The Guardian.

That said, the fact does still remain that album sales are in decline, but while it hasn’t quite brought the industry to its knees, file sharing has changed the nature of the beast. Live music has now become the main source of income for the musician of today. Rather than the old model of the the tour as promotion for the record, increasingly the record is being seen as promotion for the tour – in terms of monetary intake for the performer, at the very least, labels usually seeing much less of this money than the acts themselves. So increased interest and a return to living, breathing performance; hardly something to condemn unequivocally.

Then again, maybe The Pirate Bay were asking for it. They were rarely less than obstreperous when dealing with their prosecutors, and honestly, if you want to maintain that you activities are kosher, it might be a bad idea to conjure up swashbuckling images with your title. The natural successor to torrented music, Spotify, experiences little friction with the major labels. Perhaps that would change if we heard “Argh, this be Roberta from Spotify, matey” as our reminder to upgrade.

More likely, they have just hit on a sustainable way to please both the consumer and the producer, and by finally learning to work with the internet rather than against it, the music industry can claw its way back out of the grave it has been digging for itself ever since it placed a skull and cross bones in front of an innocent blank tape

Since their 2003 debut album Fever to Tell, Yeah Yeah Yeahs have been carving out a formidable – albeit niche – position within the art-punk rock canon, largely propelled by the powerfully magnetic presence of lead singer Karen O; surely the most credible female figure in rock, Alison Mosshart aside. Up until now, their greatest strength (thanks to O) has always been live performance, an endeavour at which they remain unrivalled by a wide margin.

It’s Blitz! takes a new direction. It isn’t necessarily a better album than Fever to Tell, or 2006’s Show Your Bones, but it’s certainly more… studio-y. Their previous output succeeded not only thanks to superbly put together riffs and vocals, but also in its ability to suggest something else; some untold potential that couldn’t be captured on a recording: you knew however great it sounded, it would always be way greater in a dingy 300-capacity venue.

Opening track Zero contains all of the frenetic energy one might expect from a Yeah Yeah Yeahs record, but the tempo and aesthetic qualities of the album gradually morph into less familiar ones. The punk feel has been eschewed in favour of a more disco-esque electro one – there are hints of Radiohead’s In Rainbows, Blondie’s Heart of Glass, and frequent collaborator of Karen O, Squeak E. Clean, which is all very well, except that it leaves a distinct deficit of aforementioned untold potential - and it’s not clear one way or the other whether the trade-off has been a worthwhile one.

The undeniable highpoint of the album – Heads Will Roll – comes rather early on, and the anthem-y, Arcade Fire-esque nonsense of both Runaway and the intro to Skeleton is mildly irritating, but there is still enough of the angry New York spirit that has come to typify O’s performances for It’s Blitz! to feel worthy of being a Yeah Yeah Yeahs album.

(Tom Bonnick)

The four years between ‘Live It Out’ and this new, self-released album have seen a change come over the Canadian quartet. The production here is tighter than ever, but their music plays it safer than before. When their melodies took the road less travelled, there was room to be amazed by the balancing act the band performed in keeping them tuneful; their chord choices were played riskily but the gambling paid off. Perhaps the challenging,

near atonality of some of the songs on Emily Haine’s solo record has encour-aged her to move towards the more straight forward compositions found here– or maybe a bid to cash in their stadium indie credit for the big time.

‘Gimme Sympathy’, the obvious contendor for breakthrough single which namechecks The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, seems to reflect this. “Stay away from the hooks/ all the chances we took” Haine’s sings, before pleading “play me something like ‘Here Comes The Sun’”. ‘Satellite Mind’ is another great track, marrying soaring vocals to a guitar led chorus that rises and falls like a car shifting gears.

The pet lyrical themes of modern discontentment return in full force with materialism, alienation and the trappings of fame all present and correct. ‘Gold Guns Girls’, presumably the pitch for the next James Bond, takes no prisoners, “Is it ever gonna be enough?” she asks, while Front Row deals with the brain dead idolatry of rock icons, “burned out stars they shine so bright”. For the stan-dout track you have to look to the more muted ‘Collect Call’, a subtle and infec-tious bit of electropop. The production is spot on, giving Haine’s hushed vocals just enough room to breath between elegant synths and distant guitar.

‘Fantasies’ succeeds in balancing this sort of sleek, low-key crooning with hook-laden pop songs. The fantasy here is that they would be laying seige to the charts, but for the reality of public ignorance. (Oisín Kealy)

MetricFantasies

Frightened Rabbit - The Captain’s Rest 31/03/2009>> Neil Cowan

Yeah Yeah YeahsIt’s Blitz!

Last Gang - 27/04/09 Interscope - 06/04/09

That is, if they aren’t using the web sites to feed an ever-consuming pornography addiction

Irate day for Pirate Bay

Attending an acoustic show can be a frus-trating experience. All too often, bands use the occasion to pander to their self-indulgent tendencies; think string quar-

tets and overly earnest Leonard Cohen covers. Everyone loves a cheeky wee glockenspiel solo, but when the amps are turned down and the elec-tric guitars are packed away, the songs often lack the spark which made them so exciting in the first place. Like being promised haute cuisine but being served a Happy Meal, it can be an unfulfilling and disappointing experience.

Playing a sold out Captain’s Rest to promote Quietly Now, an acoustic version of last year’s magnificent Midnight Organ Fight, Frightened Rabbit avoided the clichés and stuck to what they are good at; delivering warm, painfully honest bundles of melodic goodness. Opener ‘My Back-wards Walk’ set the tone for the night, with front man Scott Hutchinson’s engagingly candid lyrics coming to the fore in the sparser onstage set-up.

Converting to an acoustic format perhaps isn’t the most challenging for the band. Cradle of Filth they are not, and the songs were easily stripped back without compromising their original appeal. Gentle guitars and subtle keyboards were the order of the day, and, in truth, the sound wasn’t that

dissimilar from a normal, fully electric Frightened Rabbit gig. The band’s appeal lies in their song’s intensity and sincerity, and this was unaffected by the change of arrangement.

Whilst the majority of the set came from Midnight Organ Fight, there was time for ‘Square 9’, from first album Sing the Greys, and a faintly beau-tiful cover of N-Trance’s Euro-dance number ‘Set You

Free’. Local scene mainstay Ross Clark performed mandolin and backing vocal duties on a rollicking version of ‘Old, Old Fashioned’ before returning to accompany Hutchinson in a delicate and evocative encore rendition of ‘Poke’, delivered in the middle of the audience without amplification, and lit only by the glow of a hundred mobile phones.

With a third album in the pipeline, this may have been their last Glasgow show for a while, but Keep Yourself Warm ended the night in a glori-ously and improbably uplifting manner, leaving the delighted crowd beaming with joyous smiles and happy hearts.

The songs were easily stripped back withour compromising their original appeal

David Gourley