Book Review: About A Boy

Award winning English author, Nick Hornby is author of, ‘About a Boy’ - which is a ‘coming of age’ novel set in the mid 1990’s. Adapted into a film in 2002 staring Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult, the original novel has sold over a million copies. The film adaptation is better known than the original novel (thanks to Hugh) however it is now time to bring it back to life. Read the review of the novel by Violet Daniels below. 

Nick Hornby is an English Novelist and screen writer who is better known for his novels, ‘About A Boy’ and, ‘High Fidelity.’ Hornby tends to write in first person which often features the obsessive nature of his protagonists. ‘About A Boy’ managed to win the E.M Forster Award in 1992 soon after the film adaptation was released; making this novel suddenly become even more highly acclaimed. 

Meet Marcus: he is pale, gawky, awkward but highly endearing. In this case, he is the protagonist of, ‘About A Boy 'and he is obsessive but Nick Hornby uses this in a way which makes the novel highly humours. However in creating this humour through Marcus, Hornby also manages to portray the challenges of adolescence that many teens still face across the world. As we see the story begin to unfold, we see Marcus change and develop throughout. By the end of the novel he is a little less pale, a little less gawky and a little less awkward. However he remains highly endearing.

The second protagonist in this novel is Will Freeman: a middle aged, rich off his own rocket man who’s whole purpose in life is to keep himself entertained in order not be defeated by boredom. You may be thinking: how can a middle aged man possibly be bored? Quite frankly, Will has no life. Without children, a wife, or a job he is lonely and hopeless and crying out for attention to distract him from the boredom he feels from day to day life. In order to refrain from boredom Will tells lie after lie to everybody he knows which manages to get him into mess

after mess. This mess Will creates for himself results in Marcus becoming his imaginary son, in order for Will to seem more appealing to the women he is trying to chase. Yes, he is quite the womanizer. Therefore this is how both Marcus’ and Will’s paths manage to cross, Marcus has to pretend to be Will’s son. In doing so Will manages to accustom Marcus to the teenage styles of the 1990’s. He loses the baggy, rainbow sweaters that are hand-me-downs of his mum’s and suddenly owns Nike trainers (thanks to Will). Thankfully he is no longer awkward and gawky but able to make friends with people at school. And in turn Will gains a son who brings out the feminine sides to him which women apparently find attractive. You might be thinking– what a weird novel? It is a bit but at the same time it is highly amusing and has established itself as a comedic novel and film. 

Aside from the comedy element, ‘About a Boy’ intertwines the horror of mental illness which is featured in Marcus’ Mum, Fiona. Fiona is crippled by depression and having to singlehandedly bring up a young boy. A combination of this results in her having a mental breakdown which is witnessed by Marcus when he arrives home from school. 

Aside from the comedy, ‘About a Boy’ proves itself to be so much more than a laugh and a light hearted quick read. Beneath the sarcasm and humour lies the outcome of depression and mental illness which is evidently very relevant in todays society. 

The rest of the novel follows the lives of Marcus, Will and Fiona as they untangle and end up solving their shambled lives together. For a book I picked up for a quick read, it ended up being a lot better than that. As a result I would highly recommend it to anyone. 

Rating: 3/5

Music Review: Royal Blood

Not heard of Royal Blood? Then read on, because this duo are making waves in the music industry. By Lauren Moon

Hailing from Brighton, Royal Blood are a two-piece with Mike Kerr on bass and vocals, and Ben Thatcher on drums. For a two-piece, they have an incredible heavy, grungy sound. 

Released on 25th August this year, Royal Blood released their self-titled debut album, which includes singles Out of the Black, Little Monster, Come On Over, Figure It Out and Ten Tonne Skeleton. Each song on the album has something different to offer: a different riff, a different drum beat, a different story. It’s one of those albums that you have on repeat until you know every single word, yet you still want to listen to it again. 

The rock scene is huge and full of successful artists. But Royal Blood carved their way through the scene with their huge, heavy riffs that make up their songs and earned themselves a Mercury Prize nomination and two tracks of the day on BBC Radio 1. 

So what’s next for Royal Blood? They’re playing venues across Europe over the next few months, with many of the UK shows sold out. Then, in July and August, they’re supporting the Foo Fighters on their North American tour.  

So, if you’re wondering what the hype’s all about and your music taste swings on the heavier side, Come On Over and listen to Royal Blood– you’ll soon Figure it Out...

15 Christmas Gifts

Giving you a selection of festive gift ideas, from a range of different stores, with products from your
favourite brands!

1. Yankee Candle: Snowflake cookie
2. Estée Lauder: Mini pure colour envious
3. Benefit: Sweet tintations
4. No7: Fresh and gorgeous cracker
5. Bistro Bleu: Lanterns
6. Thierry Mulgar: Alien gift set
7. Zoella: make-up bag
8. Aroma Home: Hand warmers
9. Baylis + Harding Beauticology: gingerbread house
10. Starbucks:Cocoa trio
11. Laura Ashley: Mug in a tin
12. Chocolate On Chocolate: igloo and penguins
13. Lush: Melting snowman bath bomb
14. Lipsy London: Jet set brush collection
15. Body Shop: Glazed apple tin of treasures

Why Winter Is The Best Season For Beauty

There is lots to look forward to this season, including 12 best beauty buys… By Chloe Dench.

At the end of every summer, I start looking forward to the hot weather finally dying off and the cold season approaching. People may think I’m mad, but winter has many benefits: it is acceptable to wear many cosy layers; nobody judges you for buying hot drinks daily and of course, the greatest thing about winter is Christmas. But people can forget how great winter beauty can be!

First off, Christmas parties and events make it so much easier to pull off bold statement colours and lots of sparkle. If you can’t wear glitter at Christmas, when can you? 

You also don’t have to worry about tanning pale skin– everyone is paler in winter. Of course, you should be proud of your natural skin colour no matter what time of year it is, but there is far less pressure in wintertime to conform. Wintery colours, like dark red, look great on everyone too!

Winter is a time for experimentation, not just because it is easier to pull off statement looks. Most make up ranges release new products in time for the festive season and the quality just keeps improving each year. If you don’t have the cash to treat yourself, consider asking for a set for Christmas. There are great sets for all budgets (see next page for details). 

If you want to try something extra special this year, skip the chocolate and try a beauty advent calendar. What could be better than a daily surprise from your favourite brand to count down the days to Christmas?

Talking about days of Christmas, check out the guide to the 12 Christmas Beauty Buys:

Best for… Affordability: Primark Beauty Calendar £15

£15 is considerably cheaper than other brands, so even if the quality is not as great, you won’t have wasted your money.

Lipsy London Jet Set Brush Collection £10

The gold packaging may not be to everybody’s taste, but it is hard to argue with 5 travel size brushes and a case for that price!

Sleek MakeUP Eye and Cheek Palette – See You At Midnight £9.99

A collection of 6 berry and natural blushers/eye shadows with brushes included. Sleek products are great value for money!

Makeup Revolution Glitter Nail Polish Sensitive Heart £1.50

All of the polishes in this range are beautiful and for that price there is nothing to stop you from buying the whole set…

Best for… Cutest Packaging: Ciate  Mini Mani Manor Nail Varnish Calendar £49

Ciate’s packaging is gorgeous as always, but if you are on a budget, last year’s calendar is available for £20 in TK MAXX.

Zoeva Rose Golden Luxury Brushes Set £56.45

Rose gold and black handles, with fluffy white bristles packaged in a chocolate brown clutch—these brushes are too beautiful to spoil with makeup! 

Nars Cosmetics Virtual Domination Cheek Palette £45

A stunning collection of Nars’ finest cheek products in white flowery packaging with a huge mirror inside. 

Tanya Burr Nail Polish Pink Set £11.99

3 gorgeous shades, including 2 new releases in a simple white box. 

Best for… Quality: Benefit Calendar £60

It may seem pricey, but think how much money those mini’s are worth!

Real Techniques Nic’s Picks £20

5 beautiful duo-fibre brushes available in a limited edition set. What more could you want?

 

Urban Decay Naked 2 Basics Palette £22

Everyone raves about the Naked palettes, and this new edition of 6 matte shades is no exception.

Essie Luxe Effects Jazzy Jubilant 301 £7.99

This colour is Christmas-in-a-bottle and is perfect for Christmas parties. 

TV CHOICE: TEEN WOLF, OUAT AND AHS FREAKSHOW

Reviewed by Franki Dean

The first show I have chosen to review is Teen Wolf. This program has grown in popularity since it first started out in 2011. I want to start off by outlining why season 4 doesn't quite match up to the previous seasons. Every season has an opening plotline that gives away the story of the main one, but in this season, the Benefactor plotline was SOOO ambitious that it required too many episodes to clear up. No TV show really dwells on the idea of real life logic, especially not Teen Wolf. Teen Wolf is a show that should be appreciated for the impact of its emotions and visuals. Although season 4 was nowhere near as good as the previous, it was jam-packed with fantastic ideas, however, I don’t feel like the producers gave us enough mentions of the tragedy that happened at the end of 3B for fans of the show to truly get over Allison’s death. In the final episode, a showdown between Kate and the teenagers erupted. It didn’t last long though and soon enough, everyone was gathering outside waiting for the sun of Mexico to set. The final moment where Coach yelled at the boys for going to Mexico instead of lacrosse practice before reminding them that they needed to watch out for each other was touching and really indicates to me and the viewers of the show, the true meaning of friendship. That final scene taught us all that you don’t need to smother each other and never leave each other’s sides to be a true friend, but when your friend is in danger; you’ll fight to the death for them.

The second show I want to talk about is American Horror Story or AHS for short. There have been 4 seasons so far, this one being the fourth. This season, the plotline is all about “freaks” working together as circus acts to earn money for themselves.    

The promo poster above portrays a screaming woman with blood over her face, indicating the real horror of the show.

 Although we aren’t able to watch AHS in England (well we can but we’re like 3 weeks behind), the show is available to watch on Netflix. This whole season is based on real life “freaks of nature” such as the two headed woman and lobster finger man. Jimmy Darling (Evan Peters) plays a young man with a charming personality who is able to win the hearts of all the women in the town. However, he isn’t able to show his hands to these girls as he has “lobster fingers”. Jimmy faces the most struggles throughout the season as he battles to keep the freak show going so he is able to earn money and also fights to be a normal person. Just when he’s given up hope of ever being accepted for who he truly is, Maggie Esmeralda (a fortune teller) turns up at the show begging for a job. Jimmy is infatuated with her and makes it clear to everyone that she is to be offered a job. Unfortunately, later on in the episode we meet her; we find out that she is working alongside the man who is trying to shut the freak show down. The man has lost all hope of ever being able to just shut the show down, so he hires Maggie Esmeralda to win the trust of the acts so she can kill them and earn herself some of her own money. Though the season has not yet ended, I doubt very much that she will go ahead with the man’s plan, despite the gruesomeness of the show itself.

Captain Hook is featured above looking strong and fearless, although that is not the case.

Season 3 of Once Upon a Time isn’t recent, although it is my favourite season, purely for the fact that it features one of my favourite Disney characters, Peter Pan. However, the producers of the show created a twist and decided to make Peter Pan evil. I also found out recently that the character of Peter Pan is also supposed to be the Pied Piper. The intriguing character played by Robbie Kay brought an entirely new personality for Peter Pan which left fans of the show on the edge of their seats throughout the entire season. Although most of the characters stay the same; we are also led to view them as completely different personas as well. Wendy still portrays the same personality as the Disney character; however, she isn’t as feisty and definitely doesn’t talk back to Pan like she did in the Disney films. Tinkerbelle has no connection to Peter Pan whatsoever and helps the other characters try to destroy Peter Pan in the end. Finally, there’s Captain Hook as shown in the promo poster to the left. I feel that he is one of the truest personas to come from the Disney film (although no one ever walks the plank) as we see the ongoing feud throughout the season between Peter Pan and Hook. Hook is also proven to be very weak and doesn’t seem to like much confrontation. Even when the fighting scenes are happening, he still manages to keep out of the way until it’s just him and Peter Pan left. The only thing that upsets me about Captain Hook’s character is that his sidekick Captain Smee wasn’t ever shown and there was no crocodile constantly haunting the poor man. In the end, all of the Storybrooke characters work together to kill Pan, but there’s only one problem; for Peter Pan to die, Rumpelstiltskin has to die too. Both characters die in a brutal way and vanish in to thin air leaving the rest of the characters to pick up the broken pieces of their lives. However, in the second half of season 3 (which has nothing to do with Neverland), Rumpelstiltskin reveals he didn’t ever die, so the viewers are left wondering what this means for Pan. Is he still alive?

THIS DECEMBER, YOU SHOULD WATCH…

Fringe (Season Three) 

Brooklyn Nine Nine (Season One) 

Sleepy Hollow

Once Upon a Time (Season Four)

The Walking Dead (Season Five)

2014 – A Space Odyssey

From probes landing on comets, to commercial space flight, to an Indian Mars mission, it’s been a phenomenal year for pioneering the stars– By James Sullivan.

Scientists are continuing to push the boundaries of space, slowly unravelling the mysteries of our universe, one space mission at a time. 2014 proved another year where impressive feats continued to be achieved, even the exciting prospect of commercial space flight...

 

The most impressive feat is that of the Philae probe. After initially launching in 2004 it finally landed on the designated comet. 

Despite a faulty landing prohibiting the solar battery recharging, the probe still collected information about the organic molecules on the comet, hinting at how life began on earth. Above all it proved just what scientists could achieve.

India also entered the Space Elite. On it’s first attempt it managed to launch a satellite in orbit around Mars with a budget of $74 million. Interestingly, the movie Gravity had a budget of $100 million.

In comparison, commercial space travel is surprisingly cheap. Virgin Galactic began testing SpaceShipTwo this year (although it ended in disaster), with hopes to transport over 800 space tourists, for the mere price of £150,000.

Branson is not the only person aiming a commercial takeover of the stars. The company World-View Enterprises is offering a staggering view from a capsule suspended by balloon, which is even equipped with a bar! It even costs a third of Virgin Galactic, just £45,000.

While perhaps not pocket change to you and me, it does offer the promise that commercial flights like these would become cheaper and more frequent in the future. 

An invaluable opportunity to witness the wonders of space with our very eyes. Wouldn’t that make one heck of a Christmas present?

Are You Going to Vote?

With the General Election coming up how many of you that are eligible to vote, will actually use your vote? - By Hannah Brown.

   Are you going to vote? A question that if presented to the majority of the people in college would be “don’t know” or “probably not.” But with the general election in May 2015, and with many of us in college having the right to vote for who we think should be leading this country on our behalf, it begs the question why many of us are still so uninterested in our vote.

   Personally I believe, through observation and personal experience, that young people as a whole remain uninterested in politics in general due to a lack of information, or to put it bluntly ignorance.

  How can young people be asked to be interested in something and then make a decision when they know relatively nothing about the subject matter at hand. For instance recently on the train I overheard another college student ask their friends who David Cameron was, once they were informed that he is in fact the Prime Minister they replied that they thought he was a footballer.

   This is a clear example of a lack of information. If they don’t even know who the current prime minister is how can they make an informed vote for the next one?

   But more is needed than just knowing the main leader of the party, you need to know their policies, what they say they are going to do. Although the media does release details of some of their policies, to know enough to make an informed vote you need to research more in depth, for example you can read their manifesto.

   Here are some pointers to help you to help yourself become more informed:

• Listen to the news and the party broadcasts.
• Research what each party promises to do (manifesto).
• Look at what they have done in the past.
• Talk to other people.

   At the end of the day politicians want votes, as votes get them into power, so they will therefore make policies that are targeted at the groups of people who vote. If you want the government to make policies that are benefiting young people then you need to make an informed vote at the next election, so that young people can be a voting force.

Why Animal Testing Should Be Banned

50 to 100 million animals are used for such purposes as scientific experimentation. By Charlotte Osment.

Firstly, animal studies can’t confirm or refute hypotheses about human physiology and pathology. The research done on humans is the only research which is relevant to humans. Animal testing cannot be trusted to have the same effects on humans as it does on animals. Therefore there is no need to unreasonably harm animals.

Animal testing is not the core of medical advancements in the world. While scientific advancements have been made on account of animal experimentation, these advancements have been too rare to justify animal testing as a reliable source of scientific testing. It’s sadistic that an entire line of study that involves killing thousands of animals will lead to no substantive scientific benefits. 

This makes it highly inconsistent that the ethical trade-off is "worth it". This inconsistency means that a large portion of tested animals will not meet the ethical criteria of being "worth it", and could thus be called ethically wrong. 

“What is animal testing?” - One student.

“If you want to test cosmetics, why do it on some poor animal who hasn't done anything? They should use prisoners who have been convicted of murder or rape instead.” - Ellen DeGeneres

There a huge amount of alternatives to animal testing but the main reason why the alternatives to animal testing are not being used is that they are impractical or a lot more expensive than animal testing. This places the dignity of animal life far below its actual value which is unfair and inhumane. Alternate techniques include:

a) Testing human cell cultures

b) Using computer models

c) Studying human volunteers

 “Animal testing is unethical and unreasonable. It has led to scientific breakthroughs but a large amount of the time they are slaughtered for no reason.” - Another student.

Personality Power

Finding out who you are is a daunting prospect because you’re always growing as a person, but what if there was a way to learn about who you are?

Tom Hiddleston, self declared INFP.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (or MBTI for short) gives you the opportunity to learn just that. The assessment gauges your psychological preferences in how you see the world and ultimately how you make decisions: it can tell you if you’re introverted or extraverted, and give you a detailed view of your strong and weak traits which helps with personal growth.

 If that doesn’t interest you, famous authors, actors and other celebrities have been categorized into personality types, which means that you can see who shares the same type as you.

For instance: Tom Hiddleston, Johnny Depp and J.R.R Tolkien share the INFP personality type. Just the same as the INFP’s; Steve Jobs, Steve Martin and Jim Carrey share the ENTJ personality type – but there are still 16 other outcomes that you can get. The test analyses if you prefer sensing over intuition, thinking over feeling and judging over perception, as well as introversion and extraversion, and these traits ultimately make up your type.

 One misconstruction from the MBTI is that if a trait is given to you it means the other possible trait doesn’t apply, for example if you get perceiving as a result in the test rather than judging, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are more perceiving or less judgemental, it simply means that you have expressed a preference. But what’s probably the most interesting thing about the 16 different ‘types’ that the MBTI gives, is that our personalities are still hugely varied and that we can all interact and form friendships with completely different people. If you and a friend take the test (or you and your partner, it doesn’t matter who does) it can even lead you to find out about your relationships according to your type. 

An excerpt from an article on ‘personality café’ about the relationship between INFP’s and ESFP’s calls their relationship like ‘two peas in a pod’ – and goes on to liken their friendship to Rory and Lorelai Gilmore from Gilmore Girls and Harry and Ron from Harry Potter. Now, I could go on forever about the significance and insignificance of your MBTI type, and how it may help and affect your relationships, but this article has to stop at some point, so, to find out more information and learn what your type is, take the test on www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test

Key:

Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving  

Extroverted Sensing Thinking Judging 

October/November Movie Preview

The summer blockbuster season is over and the September dry patch is done so now we find ourselves at the teasing period as we move into Oscar season. Films always risk crossing a fine line in this season, blending in with all the other dry contenders for the academies attention and trying to hard, delivering a forced and boring final picture or being mindless and silly in comparison to the relatively high bar everyone else is trying to hit. This is the season for filmmakers to get noticed in and there is a mixture of films that want your attention this year.

Arguably the most prominent of them all is The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (20th November) but talking to in depth about this is probably a waste of time as anyone that will watch this movie probably already knows they want to. The Hunger Games is a massive franchise with a huge fan base and films that seem to be raising their game with each instalment and while it’ll probably end up being good is it going to be great? We’ll have to wait and see, though it is based on the dullest time in the books so that doesn’t raise much hope.

On the opposite end of the addition to a franchise scale Michael Bay’s new movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (17th October) isn’t one that seems like it would appeal to anyone really. The turtles are too gritty and serious looking to appeal to the young kids that the ninja turtles are meant to appeal to but the pure concept is to silly to be taking as a gritty and serious movie by anyone. It’ll probably end up somehow doing well in box offices, mainly down to Megan Fox playing the role of “girl” and the big name in the title but this one looks to be mindless and boring trash and you’d probably get more excitement investing your money into an actual turtle. And they’re dull pets.

It’s difficult to pin David Ayer’s Fury (24th October) down. It’s coming fresh from the director of last year’s excellent cop action flick End Of Watch so it’s in capable hands but the tone of the film is difficult to grasp from the trailers. On one hand it could be an attempt at bringing something gritty to Oscar season, maybe even a best supporting actor grab for Logan Lerman who until now has put on talented performances but not really found his footing as an actor. However, it could also end up being a mindless war flick that’s trying a little bit too hard to feed morals to it’s audience. The film will have to find out what message it’s trying to convey, war flick or powerful story of friendship between soldiers, if it’s going to succeed. Brad Pitt is currently having an unstoppable career so it can probably be predicted that he will put on a show as the man in charge of this platoon, a role that undeniably suits him. The weakness in the main cast is love him or hate him Shia Lebouf who could be using this as a comeback after all the press against him recently. It’s still difficult to argue against the idea of him playing a religious soldier in a tank squadron, especially after all his stuttering school boy roles he seems to have been grabbing, is an odd one.

Death seems to be a bit of a running theme this season with Book of Life (24th October) and Life After Beth (1st October) both addressing it. The former is an animation by filmmaking legend Guaellmo Del Toro about the Mexican festival of death and the latter being an addition to the zomromcom genre starring up and coming talents Dane Dehann and Aubrey Plaza. To be honest the animation seems the more appealing of the two with the trailers showing so much stunning content and giving off a similar vibe to movies such as Coraline and the Box Trolls, that genre of kids films that can mess a child up, teach them some important lessons and show them enough fun imagery to entertain them. Those are the best kids movies for the Halloween season and Book of Life looks set to deliver just that. Life After Beth on the other hand is this seasons Halloween date movie for the couples that don’t want to see an actual horror film and it could probably go either way. The cast are really good but the plot seems very dejavu, the idea of a girlfriend coming back from the date feeling like it’s been done before even if it hasn’t. For zomromcoms Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland are out on dvd people and they’re probably better investments.

A quick run through of other films coming out this season would include Interstellar (7th November), Christopher Nolan’s new movie. This is a man who always delivers something unique and interesting when he directs though the film does appear to be shooting for crazy heights in terms of plot and it’s a struggle to work out how all the content promised by trailers is going to fit in. Nevertheless Nolan will undoubtedly give it his best shot. The Judge (17th October) is a father son bonding story starring Robert Downy Jr, a man who’s career right now can do no wrong. It’s unclear as to whether the film will focus more on the parent/child relationship or the lawyer story that it’s based around but it’s definitely going to be well acted, that much is true. There’s also The Drop (14th November) starring Tom Hardy. This film is an old fashioned crime noir that has received nothing but positive press from the film festivals it’s showcased at so if crime is your thing it’ll probably be worth checking out.
Finally Gone Girl (3rd October) is the film to watch this season. It’s a psychological thriller of epic proportions based on the best selling book and nothing but good things have been said about it. The plot is still shadowed in mystery and intrigue and in that way it’ll keep you guessing until the final second. See this movie and then encourage your friends to see it just so you can talk to them about it, Gone Girl is this movie seasons must watch.

Book Review: A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire

A Game of Thrones is the first in A Song of Ice and Fire series. It’s an epic journey told by author George R.R Martin. The first series alone has captured the hearts of 24 million. Will it capture yours? Read the review of, ‘A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire’ by Violet Daniels.

It was a cold, dark Sunday evening when I picked up ‘A Game of Thrones.’ It had been lying on my ‘to read’ pile for weeks but I hadn’t felt the need to dive into it before then. The rain continued to pour and the wind battled the delicate glass of my windows and it was then that I thought it would be the right moment to pick it up.

A Game of Thrones hit our TV screens with lust, blood, war and drama since April 2011. TV critics have either loved or hated the infinite series that continues to provide us with bloodthirsty battles and various raunchy love affairs. However have you ever considered tearing your eyes away from the screen just for a moment to pick up the book? Who knows, maybe you will after this article.

A Game Of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire has dominated the bestseller section of our high street booksellers for years. The story is the first in a major series by George R.R Martin and it in captures the heart of the War of the Roses whilst maintaining its original set of characters and families. The story revolves mainly around one family in particular, this family is named the ‘Stark’ family. The narrative of the novel is told through various characters in the story but it features the family of the Starks heavily throughout the tale. Eddard Stark is the head of the family who is King Roberts right hand man. Being best friends with the King obviously has its virtues, however we soon find out that it can land Eddard Stark and the rest of his family in a lot of trouble.

As the story unfolds the battle for the Iron Throne commences and with this comes family feuds and intense violence on the battlefield. The feature of the Iron Throne bestows acts of treachery amongst Ned and a split in his family emerges–  they are torn apart and no longer have their father for protection. His many children now have to fend for themselves in a corrupt kingdom without their claim to the King for protection. 

Whilst the Stark family is torn apart by the various feuds at court we also meet other characters in different houses along the way. 

You will also be captured by the enthralling, steamy romance between Daenerys and Khal Drogo; a couple that are joined together for marriage in the beginning go the book. Husband, Khal Drogo is of Dothraki and Daenerys is of the house of Targaryens. Their marriage is a lusty romance which ends in tragedy, however I know it will grip you throughout the whole novel as it certainly never failed to grip me. With the Dothraki we enter a completely different world; a world of passion, culture, intense romance and unfortunately, tragedy.

Martin manages to capture eloquently the lives of many families in the times of the Wars of the Roses and thus this makes it an intriguing read from a historical point of view. It’s hard not to fall in love with the complexity of the novel and I found myself emotionally invested in the fate of the Stark family. I was enchanted by the words from Martin as he pinpoints all the intoxicating aspects of the Wars of the Roses. If you are thrilled by action, drama, by history or by romance then get yourself a copy of this book!

Overall rating: 4/5

Autumnal Make-Up Tutorial

3 different ways to wear this season’s autumn make-up trends! 
By Chloe Dench and Lauren Moon

Look 1– Big Lashes

Start with applying a nude eye shadow all over your eyelids, to even your skin tone. I used the MUA Undress Me Too palette. 

Next, add a thin line of eyeliner if you wish. I used a thin liner of black eyeshadow to add definition. 

The most important step in this look is the mascara. I used Maybelline The Colossal Volum’ Express mascara for the first two coats then I finished off with a coat of Rimmel Scandaleyes Retro Glam mascara.

Look 2– Plum Lips

Start by lining your lips with a plum coloured lip liner– this will help to stop your lipstick from bleeding. For this look, I used the Sleek Eau La La Liner in Raisin 293.

Next, apply your lipstick all over your lips. I used Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Dark Night Waterl-oops!. This lipstick is quite moisturising, so you don’t really need a lip balm underneath. If you’re out and about take it with you though, as it does tend to come off quite easily when you eat!

Look 3 -Bronze and Purple Eyes

Start by applying a bronze cream eyeshadow, such as Maybelline Color Tattoo in On and On Bronze, all over the lid.

Add a touch of gold eyeshadow to the centre of the lid, and a lighter shade to highlight in the inner corner. 

Blend a dark purple eye shadow into the outer corners and along the lashline, then finish with mascara and eyeliner. This look works well with bronzed skin.

10 Best Beauty Buys

Giving you an up to date guide of the top must-have beauty buys of the season, with products from your most loved brands!

1.Daisy Dream, by Marc Jacobs (pictured above):

A light fragrance with a floral and fruity scent, in an array of sized bottles. This 

perfume has a 

faultless balanced blend of blackberry, 

grapefruit, and 

jasmine, amongst 

other infusions.

-Priced from £39

2.Mini hand creams, by the Body Shop:

These 30ml 

hand-creams are 

perfectly purse sized, and come in a range of scents 

including mango, 

coconut and 

strawberry. A 

method of ‘on the go 

hydration’, which 

softens and protects your skin.

-£3.50 each

3.Color drama in Berry Much, by Maybelline: 

This lipstick shade is a new season trend: high end, but not high priced! With a creamy velvety texture, it 

couldn’t be better… it even comes in eight other shimmering shades too!

-£4.99

4.Wonder’ Full  

mascara, by Rimmel:

This feather light 

mascara , gives added length and volume, and is 

perfect for day to day wear. The 

argon oil leaves lashes feeling soft and conditioned, 

giving added 

definition from root to tip.

-£7.99

5.Pro-Base prime and conceal 

Palette, by MUA:

This new ‘complexion 

corrector’ gives you an even skin tone to brighten and 

illuminate your 

facial features. With five fabulous shades, different skin tone problems can now be easily resolved! 

-£4 at Boots

6.Baby Skin 

Instant Fatigue Blur Primer, by Maybelline:

This water based pore-eraser product refreshes skin, 

creating a smooth and silky finish, along with leaving a hydrated glow! It comes in a choice of colours: either cool rose, or warm 

apricot.

-£7.99

7.Colour crush nail varnish, by the Body Shop:

This new deluxe nail range offers a 

selection of twenty-six nature related shades, including Rosy Cheeks, 

Almond Kiss and Oh Petal. With a quick drying time, and high gloss

finish, there’s 

nothing more you could ask for!

-£5 (6.8ml)

8.Naked 3 Palette, by Urban Decay:

This palette is a 

follow up from the 

Naked and Naked 2 selection. It is packed with never before seen shades, and finishes

including: ultra-smooth mattes, pretty pearls and unimaginable 

metallics!

-£37

9.Baked Box Collection, by Beauty UK:

This blush comes in a choice of four lustrous shades: popsicle pink, rose rouge, halo and goddess, all of which are guaranteed to 

highlight and define 

facial features, leaving you with a healthy glow. For easy 

application, there is even a compact mirror built in to the box!

-£3.99

10.They’re real! Push up liner, by Benefit:

The first ever gel-liner, in a pen form! This specific 

formula promises not to smudge, but instead hug your lash-line. This eye-liner also has an AccuFlex™ Tip, which is custom 

angled to help draw an easy line, and a wide base for stable application. Perfect for those that want bigger looking eyes!

-£18.50

Movie Review: If I Stay

Chloe Moretz and Jamie Blackley have recently starred in the new movie ‘If I Stay’ based on the 2009 novel written by Gayle Forman.

Mia Hall (Chloe Moretz) is a young, shy teenager in high school with a passion for musical instruments—especially the cello, whilst   Adam (Jamie Blackley) is an up and coming Rock Star, in love with himself and music. When the two teenagers meet, a strong connection is made, and they begin to realise that despite their differences, they are well suited to each other.

The time frame of the film moves quickly and soon it becomes apparent that a year has passed since the two lovers have begun dating, although their awkward encounters would lead us to believe     otherwise.

Mia decides reluctantly to go on a family trip for a few days, but tragically, whilst  driving along the icy roads, her father is not concentrating fully and by the time he realises a truck is speeding towards their car, it is too late. The horrific accident leaves Mia, her parents and her brother comatose.

Most of If I Stay is based around an out-of-body experience with Mia watching herself lie motionless day after day. She also begins to have flashbacks to her time with Adam.

She is told by the nurse (whilst she is still in a coma) that it is up to her whether she lives or dies. This means that she has to decide  whether to die and be with the rest of her family (who have since been declared dead) or to live and carry on her life with her boyfriend and friends without her family.

The fantastic acting from the two main characters as well as the rest of the cast portrays to the viewer how fast things you love can be torn away from “Today.” Although it is cheesy, it feels like life which contrasts the tone of the rest of the film.

Like most films created from books, it doesn’t measure up to the story as well as fans of the book may have hoped. 

Nevertheless, it’s a great film and highly recommended to anyone who is thinking about going to see it.

The movie received a 7/10 and managed to stay at number one in the box office for  4 weeks before dropping 1 space to number 2. 

By Franki Dean.

Top Halloween Films

October is upon us and with October comes Halloween: next to results day, the scariest day of the year! And we here at Pulse believe that the best way to celebrate this holiday is to stuff yourself with chocolate and watch some good ol’ horror movies. But which ones look most promising? Well, to save you the trouble, we’ve compiled a list of our picks for the Top 21 Halloween Films. Be advised, though, many of the films on this list contain mature content.

21. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
One of the sillier entries on this list (which is saying something when you see some of the other stuff we’ve got on here). Rodriguez; brings his usual, fun shtick to the table, and Tarantino, who always has some great one-liners up his sleeve, both deliver a totally ridiculous take on the vampire genre, set almost entirely in a…err…gentleman’s establishment. Fast-talking, blood-spattered hijinks ensue.

20. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
This seminal horror film may have lost its edge as an actively scary film, however the danger and uneasiness that Roman Polanski’s direction conveys still feels very real, with Farrow shining as the naïve title character. As a piece of storytelling, it still remains on that top notch that it was on way back when.

19. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Also known as the one that started all those other found footage films, most of which no one asked for, Blair Witch has some terrible acting from its lead star, but with a bone-shaking premise and finale, it’s a satisfying film and upholds the theory that films made on a ham-sandwich-sized budget can actually be a lot better than some of the stuff that mainstream horror films are peddling.

18. Blade 2 (2002)
The first film left much to be desired. However with its sequel, director Guillermo Del Toro presents a much sleeker, better-looking and more fast-paced film, which realises that you can’t take this kind of stuff seriously and just goes for stupid, über-violent fun. Popcorn nonsense, for sure, but popcorn nonsense of the highest order starring Wesley Snipes and Ron Perlman.

17. 28 Days Later (2002)
Director Danny Boyle brought us this fantastic little horror gem at a time when zombie films were at their weakest. This breath of fresh air not only gave us some terrifyingly fast ‘rage mutants’ (oh, who are we kidding, they’re zombies) but also very often opted for scaring us with its startlingly-realised social commentary and ideas of what would happen in a social collapse instead, which was often much more effective.

16. The Haunting (1963)
You’d think that the man behind The Sound of Music, West Side Story, The Sand Pebbles and The Day the Earth Stood Still could deliver on a satisfying film. And, you’d be right. Relying more on the psychosis of its characters rather than flashy jump-scares, the film doesn’t date itself and only becomes cleverer with every repeat view. Maybe not something to watch for a laugh, but a thoroughly well-made piece of cinema nonetheless.

15. Nosferatu (1922)
This iconic silent film is still a marvel even by today’s standards, despite the absence of sound. Director F.W. Murnau blends the disturbing with the scale of the true Dracula story to great effect and the design of the vampire was a revolution. You can keep your True Blood and Hammer horror, this is still the best vampire movie ever made.

14. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Often mistaken for a gross-out slasher flick, there is in fact so much more to Chainsaw Massacre. True, at its heart it’s pure gross-out (perfect for a night in with friends), but around that is a cinema gem with stellar-performances and masterful technical execution, pun intended. Watch it and enjoy, you sick, sick person.

13. The Fly (1986)
I think we’re better off not knowing what goes on in David Cronenberg’s head when I tell you that this is his idea of a romantic story. With that being said, though, this really is something special, and even manages to function pretty well as a romantic tragedy. Come for the character driven narrative, and stay for the glorious prosthetics that capture the physical decay of the main character (whose insect half is slowly taking over) perfectly.

12. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
John Landis’ take on the fish (or should we say ‘wolf’)-out-of-water genre is every bit as bizarre and comic as you’d expect from the man who made The Blues Brothers and the Thriller music video. Going all-out to make something truly unique, Landis swaps out silver bullets for an ironic moon-themed soundtrack, mutant Nazis, Brits from an American’s point of view and a climax in a…errr…another gentleman’s establishment. If that doesn’t sell it to you, then nothing will.

11. Shaun of the Dead (2003)
Fresh off the Spaced wagon, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg bring us arguably their most popular film. A film that contains so many nods to pop-culture and their previous work, that people have actually written essays and created drinking games because of them. Spend a joyous evening laughing your head off and quoting the glorious dialogue. I just have to ask, ‘want anything from the shop?’

10. The Wicker Man (1973)
For the record, we’re not talking about the remake starring Nicolas Cage (however, listening to him screaming about bees is very funny; treat yourself and watch it on YouTube). The original starring Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee still remains superior: a fantastically scary tale of human sacrifice and what people will do in the name of religion. It’s withstood the test of time so far, and won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

09. Night of the Living Dead/Dawn of the Dead/Day of the Dead (1968-1985)
Boyle may have rejuvenated the zombie genre and Wright may have offered a nice throwback, but the true kudos has to go to the George A Romero originals. Night provides us with terror of the unknown through the use of TV broadcasts and the threat of a group of stragglers killing anyone they come across; Dawn throws genius consumerist satire at us; while Day just opts for all-out gore. Watching a colourful roster of characters blasting their way through undead hordes has never been more fun.

08. Halloween (1978)
How often can you say that you inadvertently created a new genre, huh? HUH!? By the time you’ve finished watching it first time round, I guarantee you that this will have almost as big an impact as it did on horror movies. Stunning score and direction from John Carpenter and turns from Donald Pleasance and Jamie Lee Curtis all work up to make this jarring concept of suburban invasion the best of the best, slasher-wise.

07. The Exorcist (1973)
The so-called scariest film ever made sadly doesn’t live up to its title anymore. But that’s not to say that it doesn’t a) retain some of its horror and shock value b) continue to be an astonishing feat. Stellar performances and groundbreaking effects make this definitive take on the sub-genre of demon possession thoroughly eerie. Watched best at night, on your own with the lights out. Actually, er…lights on…Mummy!!!!

06. The Thing (1982)
After Halloween there was the question of where John Carpenter was going to go next with horror. Answer: The Thing. And listen, when I say that Kurt Russell and a soundtrack by film-score composing legend Ennio Morricone are some of this film’s minor accolades, you know that this is going to be good one. As the film progresses, Carpenter amps up the suspense to nail-biting levels and every so often chucks groundbreaking practical effects at us with every reveal of the newly-formed creature. The Thing is truly the definitive monster movie.

05. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Adorable and friendly doesn’t seem to be a recurring theme on this list, but because this film brought back stop-motion, we thought we’d make an exception. Combining the creative zeal of both Tim Burton (fresh off the Batman wagon) and Henry Selick, the film is a creative powerhouse combining fantastic musical numbers and iconic designs with a bittersweet story of curiosity and love.

04. Psycho (1960)
You’d expect nothing less from the master of suspense, Hitchcock. Shot on a microscopic budget, with the cast of his TV series, it seemed like it was going to be a doomed project. But one chronicle of young-secretary-meets-timid-little-mother’s-boy, set to Bernard Hermann’s iconic soundtrack, later and audiences were enthralled by one of the greatest directors’ best work. If you haven’t seen this film, you don’t like cinema, and you can immediately declare yourself totally cut off from society if you haven’t heard of the shower scene.

03. Alien (1979)
Offering nothing fancy (other than the sensationally realised and detailed sets), Alien relies  much more on sound design, score and just the notion that there’s something out there to generate scares from its audience - oh yeah, and when you do catch little glimpses of HR Geiger’s brainchild, you know straight away that it was fully worth the wait. Not only a great horror film, but also a great work of science fiction, which deserved mention in the same breath as Blade Runner and 2001.

02. The Evil Dead Trilogy (1981-1992)
Horror icon Sam Raimi entered the spotlight with his great feature debut, The Evil Dead, before turning the franchise round and opting for a more silly take on his version of the ‘demon possession’ genre. With the help of brother, Ted and college buddy, Bruce Campbell (sorry, BRUCE CAMPBELL!!!!!!), the sequels offered tenfold what the original did, with glorious slapstick and hyperkinetic camerawork. Hail to the king, baby.

01. The Shining (1980)
Stanley Kubrick’s peerless horror epic not only looks and sounds exquisite, but also functions as the best horror film ever made. Kubrick’s gorgeous trademark cinematography at work makes this something to behold in and of itself and his near-obsessive quest for perfection led to many weird and wonderful things (not least, making Jack Nicholson eat his least favourite food: cheese sandwiches). It’ll make you jump even after the seventeenth viewing, as it builds a perfect level of suspense and chills throughout, before dumping an elevator full of blood on you.

What is there to look forward to in Autumn?

There is so much to look forward to in Autumn; cold nights and Halloween included! 

Autumn is cosy jumper and boots season, so now you can stay warm all day no matter what the weather.

Warm drinks are a must, especially hot chocolate! The cold weather can sometimes be harsh so a warm drink is always a good thing to cheer you up.

Autumn is definitely the season as well where you have to cuddle up and have a movie night with friends in the warm while it’s horrible weather outside.

However when you do venture outside, make sure you look at how beautiful the leaves look with their astonishing array of colours.

Not everyone is a fan of baking but it definitely improves when you feel less guilty for cooking warm cookies and pies all the time.  

Obviously, Halloween is a huge part of Autumn, it’s always fun to get sweets and have parties with your friends—even when you don’t know whether to 

seriously dress up or not.

There is so much to appreciate in Autumn and it shouldn’t be regarded as ‘that season’ between 

Summer and Winter since it holds its own significance. It’s the season for fireworks, bonfires and carving pumpkins, all of which would not be the same in any other season.  

Charlotte Osment

The IB Decline

First year IB student Madeleine Bishop discusses this year’s (rather pathetic) IB intake numbers—and the course’s girl-dominated demographic.

Worldwide, the number of schools offering the IB Diploma has increased by 7.85% this year. According to the Guardian, last year’s IB students made up about 1.2 per cent of pending qualifications for university applications – up from 0.8 per cent in 2008. Both the number of institutions offering IB, and the number of students taking it is increasing. Why, then, did the number of students who enrolled for it at the college this August drop so drastically?

Like, seriously. We have one boy (“We’re devastated,” says Jess, first year IB student) and a grand total of 27 students altogether. As an IB student I’m pretty concerned. Is there some secret, previously unknown flaw that’s come to light, that I’m somehow not party to? Our classes are unprecedentedly small this year - only one person enrolled in IB Physics. (Alright, it’s Physics. But .)

Okay, the IB’s not for everyone. I’ve heard the horror stories about the second year workload. We have compulsory DofE. The classes are pretty small anyway. But there’s more to it than that!

• No external exams in the first year

• It’s really well recognised, especially in the US

• The average IB student at the college achieves a point score of 34, equivalent to a UCAS of more than 4 A grades at A Level

• The grade boundaries for IB are managed centrally from Geneva - not by the British government, who (let’s face it) very much have a political agenda. As a result, grading etc, has remained consistent for nearly 20 years! 

Beyond the more surface level, academic type stuff, the IB has a really cool community of generally lovely, motivated people. One misconception is that everybody in IB has genius-level smarts, but in reality, you just have to be prepared to put a bit of work in - work which actually pays off.
Maybe people are put off by the forced language/maths/science option. The thing is, there’s basically some cop-out options for all of those if they’re not your forte.

• Taking an ab initio in Spanish or Italian is like taking language back to year 7 - while it’s useful and worthwhile, the courses aren’t advanced. It’s conversational. 

• Maths Studies Standard is the most popular maths option among IB students - the Higher is only for the Einstein inclined and is notoriously closer to a university level than A Level. Studies is much more manageable, and focuses more on statistics and uses of maths. 

• Environmental Systems and Societies is the Standard level for the un-sciencey. A mix of Geography and Biology, it’s still science, and interesting, but less full on. 

Beyond the curriculum (and I have to say, I’m an advocate of the well-rounded approach), there’s an early advantage for IBers… Making friends! I guess a lot of people come to the college with a fully formed friendship group, but that wasn’t really the case for me. Just one close friend came here with me, and we only share one free a week. Being in the IB meant that there was a consistent overlap of students between classes, so everyone was acquainted really quickly. With frees here, there and everywhere, it’s great to have a large group of people you immediately know and can have lunch with. It’s a way to find a niche within the wider (very wide) community of the college at large.
I would like to point out at this point that although there’s a reputation for IB having a lot of drop outs - thus far, only one student went over to the Dark Side, and, get this… She came back!


"At the start I found IB quite overwhelming,” says Megan Kiddy, our resident re-enrolled student (and former traitor). “But actually you get used to it really quickly. I found the IB had a wider range of subjects and more of a family vibe - my short stay in A Levels was far less friendly.”

See? Megan loves it. So it’s still a bit unclear to me why the numbers in-college have gone down while they’re increasing everywhere else. This year was a 50% drop and (forgive me for going on about it) but a boy-girl ratio of approximately 1:10 has soared to… 1:26. Seriously, we’re boy-starved.

I wonder why the IB demographic is so girl-dominated? Are we girls more prepared to take up something that screams “hard work”? Or is it because boys are still, somehow, generally more inclined to science-based subject choices, which perhaps work better at A Level than IB? 

  

“Because of its innate structure,” says Mike Flower, personal tutor for an IB form this year, “The IB is non-specialist. In my experience, boys are more prone to specialising earlier on, taking a route specifically tailored towards science or language, for instance. Why are they doing this? And are they doing it too early? It’s hard to say. 

  

“As for the IB decline this year, I wonder whether transport costs  are a factor. We used to get a lot of IB students travelling in from long distances for the course, but due to the recession those in that situation may hesitate to do so now. Also, A Levels did go through a period of bad press which may have encouraged more IB subscription for a short time. 

  

“I think that the IB suffers from a lack of publicity - it’s an amazing educational experience, but is it being endorsed enough at the secondary school level? In particular, there’s a lingering misconception that it’s for high achievers only, when in fact middle achievers may benefit the most.”

  

Basically, A Level students, if you work out that someone’s from first year IB, be our friends! We’d appreciate a little diversity in our society. Boys welcome. 

The Truth Behind The E-Cigarette Ban

After the slightly controversial (and nonsensical seeming) ban in college, Madeleine Bishop investigates the risks attributed to the increasingly popular e-cigarette

A recent notice in the student bulletin has banned all e-cigarettes from college  - “in the light of advice from the World Health Organisation and other medical professionals concerning the long 

term harm caused to the user.” 

When this notice was read out during registration recently, there was uproar in my form. Despite there being only one smoker present, most people found the ban ridiculous (mostly as actual cigarettes haven’t been banned) and I was inclined to agree. Everything that we’ve seen in the media has given us the impression that e-cigarettes are the harmless alternative to smoking. 

In fact, this isn’t quite true. While the e-cigarette is largely considered to be an effective means for smokers to kick the habit (by maintaining/weaning themselves off current nicotine levels while eliminating all of the nasty tar/carbon monoxide/rat poison stuff) it isn’t actually harmless. Just less harmless than smoking. The worrying thing is that the e-cigarette is increasing in popularity drastically among teenagers - including those who didn’t smoke to begin with. 

Some e-cigarettes have been found to give off formaldehyde, a known carcinogen. Silicate particles, a cause of lung disease, are also present in some e-cigarette vapour. The nicotine itself can lead to circulation problems and heart disease. 

This misconception of the e-cigarette as completely harmless is pervasive, and has started to re-glamorise (or at least de-sensitise young people to) the cigarettes which have been so declining in popularity among teenagers, mostly due to better education and more powerful campaigning. The Health Department is likely to at least ban the sale of the e-cigarettes to under-18s in the light of WHO’s report. 

One of the other risks is passive smoking - the e-cigarettes that give off formaldehyde do so at a higher level than ordinary cigarettes, thus increasing the risk to passive smokers of consequences such as lung cancer. 

All in all, e-cigarettes aren’t so terrible - but they aren’t completely safe either. 

However, it still seems odd that the college would ban them while tolerating ordinary smoking, when, in fact, e-cigarettes still may be the answer to weaning current young smokers off of cigarettes. 

We just need to be careful to remember that the electronic substitute still comes with risks, even to those not directly smoking them - and to bear in mind that as a relatively new innovation, we don’t know everything about them. It isn’t clear what other drawbacks they may currently have, or the long term effects of perhaps more intense use of nicotine. Only time will tell. 

Architects; how their style has changed over time

British metalcore band Architects release their new album ‘Lost Forever // Lost Together’ through Epitaph records, and so Lucy Neill looks back on how their style has changed.

Hailing from Brighton, metalcore band Architects have just released their sixth studio album ‘Lost Forever // Lost Together.

Architects are made up of vocalist Sam Carter, guitarist Tom Searle, bassist Alex Dean and drummer Dan Searle. The band originally formed in 2004, when Matt Johnson was lead vocalist and Tim Lucas was on bass; Carter took over from Johnson in 2007, and Alex from Tim in 2006. The band’s second guitarist, Tim Hillier-Brook, left the band in 2012.

They released their debut album ‘Nightmares’ in 2006, followed by ‘Ruin’ in 2007, which was their first album featuring Carter on vocals. Ruin, compared to Nightmares, included more cleaner vocals and changed from the earlier mathcore influences, which features in bands such as The Dillinger Escape Plan, to more of a metalcore sound. 

Carter’s vocal style changed with the release of their third studio album ‘Hollow Crown’, which not only featured more clean vocals, but his harsh vocals changed from the low register on ruin to more high-pitched screams.

‘The Here and Now’ changed once again to feature more melodic hardcore sounds than Hollow Crown. There is a wider use of harmonies and electronics in Architects’ fourth album, and has included “discordant guitars and Sam Carter’s combination of fierce roars and clean, soaring vocals”. 

During the development of the The Here and Now the band felt a lot more positive and appreciative of the level of success they had achieved. This had an effect on the band style, but also a significant influence on the album's lyrics, which became far more positive. 

Fast-forwarding to May 2012, we saw the release of ‘Daybreaker’, the band’s fifth studio album. The main genres worked into Architects’ follow up to The Here And Now included metalcore, post-hardcore and progressive metal. 

The album is defined by its contrast of both singing and extreme metal singing, melodic chorus’ complemented with “soaring” vocals, technical guitar work with palm muted breakdowns, and the use of string instruments and piano to generate atmosphere. 

Daybreaker has been said to have fused the styles of The Here and Now and Hollow Crown, and how they have also been returning to their heavier, more technical roots.

So what now? On March 11th 2014, Architects released ‘Lost Forever //  Lost Together’. 

The track listing includes Gravedigger, Naysayer, Broken Cross, The Devil is Near, Dead Man Talking, Red Hypergiant, C.A.N.C.E.R, Colony Collapse, Castles in the Air, Youth Is Wasted On The Young and, my personal favourite, The Distant Blue.

The band consider their sixth album the heaviest so far. There is noticeable influence from post-rock bands Sigur Ros and This Will Destroy You, creating a sound that “weaves in ambient elements that sometimes verge on gauzy and dreamlike”.

The lyrics on Lost Forever // Lost Together drift away from Daybreaker’s political lyrics and focus on big theme pictures which people can relate to far more.

Architects kickstarted their tour in March with support from Stray From The Path and Northlane, playing academy venues in England before moving on to European dates, which they are currently playing. 

‘Lost Forever // Lost Together’ is available now!

Facebook—http://www.facebook.com/ArchitectsUK

Introducing: Sky Is Red

Lucy Neill talks about Ipswich band Sky Is Red and their unique post-rock and ambient sounds.

Sky Is Red are a post-rock band hailing from Ipswich, Suffolk. The band consists of guitarists Alex Coombes and Lorenzo Infantino, bassist Peter Yarham and drummer Aaron Dunkling. 

The band were formed in early 2012, starting out with only Aaron and Alex, they soon added in Lorenzo and Peter in June 2013. The two released the band’s debut EP ‘Hyperion’ in late January 2013; the five-track EP, named after famous Greek gods, included Hyperion, Athena, Atlas, Chronos and Titan. 

Combining post-rock with elements of metal and ambient soundscapes, this was the first band of its kind that I’ve heard of in the local area. The band played their first show on November 8th 2012, and recently played at the Grinning Rat in Ipswich, supporting local legends Sleepless Wild and The Aurora. 

Their music is both relaxing and, well, quite frankly awesome, and you’re missing out if you haven’t listened to them yet. One of my favourite local bands. Looking forward to seeing more of them in the future. Check ‘em out.

Facebook—http://www.facebook.com/skyisredband 

When I grow up I want to be a…(Power Ranger)

Is 16/17/18 years of age really old enough to be deciding on what we want to do for the rest of our lives? By Kayleigh Peters

Are we too young to decide what to study at university? Which career we want? And just what we want in life in general? From personal experience, I would say yes. Yes we are!

By 18, some people are already engaged, some have babies on the way and I’m just sitting at the computer, with a ton of junk food, being a typical student, having a breakdown over what the next chapter of life holds for me! Your life is like a book; you have a beginning, an end and a whole load of other stuff in between, of which we get to dictate what happens. At 18, for most people, we’re only a quarter of a way through our story, so do we really know what we want the final three quarters of it to contain? I certainly don’t! Exams are fast approaching and I’m nearing the end of my time at Sixth Form, and I’m nearing the end of another chapter in life. Am I certain Linguistics is what I want to study at university? No. Do I want to spend at least 3 years of my life, dedicating my studies to something I may not even want to do in the future? No. It’s a big decision and to be honest I don’t think I’m at the age where I can make such an important life decision with a high degree of certainty.  

A question we’re asked from a very young age is “What do you want to be when you grow up?” For most people it’s a an astronaut, a singer and in some cases, even a dinosaur… let’s be real, for the majority of us, that changes drastically in our first 18 years of life, and may still be changing now. I know I’ve gone through many phases including,  wanting to be a power ranger (the green one was definitely the coolest), an artist, a  policewoman, a physiotherapist, a primary school teacher and currently a forensic linguist. All very different from each other, and who knows, it’ll probably change again once I go to university.

3 in 5 Britons have come to realise the career they’ve chosen isn't what they thought it’d crack up to be and are desperate for a career change, according to the Microsoft search engine Bing. To be fair I don’t blame them. They probably knew less than we do today about the array of careers out there, because they didn’t have the internet to google search the jobs that aren’t as dull as others, can earn you a bit more money, and are without those all annoying colleagues. 

“17 years old and I’ve experienced all that there is to be experienced.” Anyone who can says that is probably not human, and is some kind of time travelling specimen. First of all, how do you even do that?! Secondly, I’m jealous that you’ve got your life together already, because I haven’t and probably never will!

The top 10 dream jobs:

1. Pilot              
2. Working for a charity or non-profit organisation
3. Writer/Author
4. Photographer
5. Musician/Singer
6. Sports Trainer/Coach
7. Formula 1/Moto GP/Rally driver
8. Actor
9. Journalist
10. Artist

According to a UK survey by Bing in 2012.

The Transport Games—Catching Buses

Catching the bus is a selfish fight for comfort and reaching your destination alive!
By Kayleigh Peters  

BUSES! Yes, catching the bus is no longer a safe, stress free daily task. It’s become, what I would describe as The Transport Games—not The Hunger Games—The Transport Games. You have to tactfully and skilfully fight your way through the crowds to survive the dilemmas and problems that come your way, on what you expect to be an average bus journey. 

Catching the bus is something I literally detest—not that I looked forward to the hour plus  bus journey before—but it leaves me feeling fatigued, which is just what I need after a long, laborious day at Sixth Form.

I can’t recall the number of times I’ve found myself without a seat on the bus, and have been left standing, holding on for dear life in the cramped and claustrophobic conditions, whilst the bus driver continues to let another 10 people on the bus when there is clearly too much physical contact between you and your fellow bus riders already. It’s a death trap, I mean the other day I nearly found myself in a game of human dominoes, having to hold up 

two people who’d fallen after an abrupt stop, and decided to use me to regain their balance! Like I said, surviving the bus requires skill and tactics; making sure you get that seat you deserve on the bus at 4:15 when school and college kids are out in their masses, is all about Timing, Tactics and Teamwork— the 3 Ts. 

TIMING

As we all know, in order to get a seat you need to be at the front of the so called ‘queue’, otherwise you’ve got no hope. Although, referring to it as a queue sounds a bit too nice and friendly. I think it’s more like the beginning of The Hunger Games when everyone rushes to get their supplies from the Cornucopia. It’s a first come, first served basis—the quicker and more ruthless you are, the better your bus journey will be in terms of comfort. I would say being at the front of the bundle requires you to get to the bus stop at least 10 minutes before your bus. It would also help if the buses turned up on time, but obviously that is too much to ask.

TACTICS    

Being at the front of the queue is all well and good, but standing in a place where the bus is likely to stop is vital. It’s all about judgement—I’ve been caught out several times by waiting directly at the bus stop only to see the bus stop 5 metres away, which is safe to say has cost me a seat many times. You need to observe the environment around you, especially if there is already a bus at your bus stop.

 

TEAMWORK

Finally, you need a friend. If you have a friend, who’s like me and can fit into small spaces between people and make their way to the front of the bundle, they can save you that vital seat that you deserve. On the other hand, having someone who’s tall can also be an advantage, as they can help you through the crowd to board the bus.

These bus companies make ridiculously large amounts of money a month. Particularly from us students. For example, the bus company makes £105 a month from me with a monthly ticket or £6.50 for a return per day. Just imagine the sums they rake in a month from every student and the rest of the general public that use their bus company. Yet they still fail to provide us with the quality service we deserve and pay for. 

Firstly, the actual quality of the buses is atrocious; not all of the lights work, the seats are dirty, there’s always rubbish scattered everywhere. Yes, I understand that lots of people use the bus, but surely someone could clean it or at least remove the empty bottles and food packets in those 15 minutes it just sits in the bus park, whilst the driver has a cup of tea despite it already running several minutes late. One time, I witnessed someone losing a chunk of their hair, as a result of chewing gum getting lodged in their locks. 

They also fail to provide us with enough buses at peak times of the day, for example, in the morning from around 7:30—8:30am and 4:00– 4:45pm. For the one and a half years I’ve been catching the bus, this has always been a problem, it goes from one extreme to the other. They either send 3 double-deckers within a minute of the previous one or one single for everyone who catches the bus and even then, it doesn’t come at the time it says on the timetable. The amount of times the bus has just driven past people is uncountable, it’s even worse when it’s someone who’s maybe a bit older than you or not as able bodied as you.

One thing I can congratulate them on is their consistency in being so inconsistent! Thank you for consistently making me late for lessons, waiting for an hour for the bus, and just being a ‘great’ bus service!  “May the odds be ever in your favour”… or not?!

Turning Days ‘All In The Mind’ EP Review

Lucy Neill reviews indie-rock band Turning Days’ EP ‘All In The Mind’, released in September 2012.

Turning Days have been around for 2 years now, and the five piece rock band from the area are made up off Alex Yousri on vocals, Chris Stagg on lead guitar, Callum Ferguson on rhythm guitar, James King on bass and Blair Ferguson on drums. The band were finalists in the first ‘Rocket From the East’ competition, and have already released an EP titled ‘Made For This’, which has been played on BBC Suffolk Introducing, receiving positive reviews as well as having a feature on the band. Not only that, but the band have made an astonishing impression at Music in the Park 2012 in Ipswich playing just before Polar Collective.

The alluring drum intro for the first song on their EP titled ‘Walk on Stones’ draws in the attention of your ears, and as the song continues, it gives off a catchy Oasis feel, and you’ve got to ask yourself, are you sure this wasn’t an unreleased song from Oasis before they got big?

The upbeat vibe from the chorus of ‘Walk on Stones’ followed by the short bass riff shows that this band really worked hard on this EP. This whole first song has brilliant, classic indie influences, but I do love how Turning Days mix it all up with the rock element. With band influences such as The Ramones, Kasabian and Stereophonics, it’s clear how they mixed that in with this first song.

‘Take Me To the Sun’ came next, and the first 30 seconds gave off subtle Coldplay and Vampire Weekend hints, yet thrown together in a completely individual way. It’s something you’d hear on an NME CD. A clear holiday track, the lyrics talk about a girl and wanting to go somewhere ‘sunny’ and ‘warm’, which could very easily be seen as being with her so things will be happy. It’s a very sweet, happy and lively song.

Strong punk tunes came from third song on the list ‘Bring The Liquor’. The intro sparks a certain ‘The Offspring’ type feel to it, and as the chorus nears, you can hear clear Arctic Monkeys influences with an ever-so small grunge edge to it. The sleazy vocals bring something of a Kasabian vibe to it, which I think is one of the best aspects of this song. So far, this is my favourite track by the guys in Turning Days. Proper tune; I can see this one easily getting great feedback.

The penultimate song on the EP titled ‘You Got Me’ got me thinking of the song Just in Time To See The Sun by Santana, mixed with a similar bassline from Love Cats by The Cure, as well as modern, alternative parts to the song. The catchy lyrics are also a great bonus on top of the brilliant tune; towards the end of the song I was reminded slightly of British indie-pop band Canterbury.

The fifth and final song from the EP named ‘Heart In My Hand’ sounded like The Verve with mellow, flowing vocals, however I wouldn’t say the lyrics are the best I’ve heard. The chorus, again, boasts Kasabian influences, as well as hints of Coldplay, but also parts that sounded like Muse, which threw aside my uncertainty of the first verse. The bridge of the song resembled a similar style to London alternative rock band Brigade’s song “Camouflet”. Good decision to put this song at the end of the EP as it sends it off on a really positive note.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this EP. The whole indie/alternative mixed with hints of rock kind of style really pulled me in, and I also liked the theme of the lyrics on some of the songs, most especially “Bring The Liquor”, as I mentioned earlier, it is by far my favourite song from the EP entitled ‘All In The Mind’. The fusion of different styles worked well and really brought their songs to life and gives a matured outlook on the band compared to their earlier, more experimental material. High hopes for this band in the near future.

Facebook—https://www.facebook.com/pages/Turning-Days/171711936204475