Nejra Cehic, Sarah Karacs, Rachel Fraser and Rhiannon Nicolson investigate cycle safety in Oxford…
Blog Page 2223
Great Novels: The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
Although an ostensibly futuristic novel, the terrifying power of The Handmaid’s Tale lies in the fact that it is really about the present. Atwood’s novel vividly exposes the potentially disastrous consequences of contemporary social and cultural trends, taking them to their most extreme logical, and horrifying, conclusions. Finding herself “increasingly alarmed” by the events of the 1980’s – including the growth of religious fundamentalism in America and the Iranian revolution – Margaret Atwood’s response was The Handmaid’s Tale. In her fictional creation, plummeting Caucasian birth rates as a result of nuclear waste has led to a world rife with infertility. In order to ensure the survival of the human race, American extremists invoke military rule and create the Republic of Gilead: “they shot the President and machine-gunned the Congress and the army declared a state of emergency”. In this horrifying monotheocracy, men reign supreme, and women are divided into categories based on their childbearing abilities. Those who are able to procreate are termed Handmaids, swathed in symbolic red clothing, and “assigned” to men of superior social status. They are forced to engage in a weekly Ceremony in which they must have sex with these “Commanders” (who have often retained their wives from the pre-Gilead world) in order to bear children. Those who fail to conceive are eventually exiled to radioactive waste sites and left to die, along with those too old to bear children. Gilead justifies itself on biblical grounds, claiming it is woman’s duty to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth”: the idea of surrogate mothers stems from the story of Rachel in Genesis, who used her maid to bear her children. The novel is told from the point of view of Offred, Handmaid to the Commander Fred – the Handmaids are named according to whom they belong. We are never told her real name. Past and present are juxtaposed, as Offred recalls her pre-Gilead existence with her daughter (whom she never sees again) and her partner, Luke. Atwood uses such narrative juxtaposition to illustrate how extremist beliefs in the pre-Gilead world have culminated in such a shocking dystopia, where life among women is conducted in silence – only greetings such as “Blessed be the fruit” are allowed – for fear of public executions at the hands of “The Eyes”. Distrust and fear are prevalent in the society, as are poignant descriptions of the loneliness of the Handmaids: they are isolated even amongst other women, who are either Marthas (assigned to be household servants) or Econowives (wives of a lower social status). Every sentence in this carefully-crafted novel resonates with multifaceted significance, questioning the very essence of relationships between men and women, and causing the reader to re-evaluate gender assumptions. This is a novel pervaded by violence, sex, terror, but also by contemplation, analysis and – occasionally – by hope. Its brilliance cannot be conveyed in that single description, however. Gilead’s attitudes towards women, homosexuals and abortion are exaggerations of commonly held views at Atwood’s time of writing, either by common people or by extremists. Christian fundamentalists believed (and indeed still believe) that homosexuality was an abomination; in the novel, homosexuals are labelled “gender traitors” and hanged. Doctors who perform abortions are also hanged, a reference to the fundamentalist belief that abortion is against God’s word and should be re-criminalised. In fundamentalist doctrines, women are urged to return to “traditional roles”, i.e. child-bearing; in the novel that is their only function. Atwood exaggerates these elements of her present to a point where they become graphic and shocking; she takes common beliefs to their natural conclusions, and Gilead is the embodiment of these beliefs. By amalgamating these recognizable elements of our present in one novel, Atwood shockingly reveals what we could be capable of. The concerns of the novel lie in our present, but Atwood uses the future to present them in a more vivid, and therefore disturbing, way. Her dystopian vision is utterly terrifying because it could easily have been real.
By Elly McCausland
By Elly McCausland
Video: Chase & Status Interview
Catherine Molony interviews Will from Chase & Status for Cherwell24. Ravers, keep your eyes open for Cherwell24's interview with Hazard this weekend!
Super Tuesday: the aftermath
Emily Packer examines the repercussions of a not-so-decisive week'An election is a moral horror,’ George Bernard Shaw once grumbled, ‘as bad as a battle except for the blood; a mud bath for every soul concerned in it.’ Shaw would have found little to surprise him in, say, the American presidential elections of 2000 and 2004. Yet that of 2008 has about it an unusually optimistic aura that would seem to belie Shaw’s complaint. In fact, the upcoming presidential election promises to be unique and historic in a number of ways. It is the first since 1928 in which no incumbent president or vice-president is seeking his party’s nomination. It is the first to feature a black man or a woman. It boasts a close race between a startlingly broad array of serious candidates, and it follows upon one of the lowest ebbs in America’s appeal abroad. More relevantly to Oxford students, it has also inspired an unusual degree of attention from young people in America and elsewhere.
A week ago, most newspapers were predicting that February 5th, Super Tuesday – on which Democrats and Republicans in twenty-two states would decide amongst the nominees from their respective parties – would be the decisive contest in ‘the greatest race on earth.’ How decisive it in fact was remains to be seen. Nevertheless, the day marked a culmination of months of feverish political activity, both amongst the candidates and amongst the students and voters choosing between them. Last week, two first-years at Christ Church organized a debate in which speakers from the college and from the Union answered questions in character for each candidate. (For the record: Obama and McCain won the mock nominations, McCain the mock presidency.) David James, a PPE student speaking as Mr Obama, observed a ‘sharp divide between those who are very interested and those who follow very little snippets in the news,’ but agreed that it was difficult to escape the press coverage. The Union, for its part, shared in the Super Tuesday proceedings by hosting a delegation from the UK division of Democrats Abroad (according to Secretary Charlie Holt, no corresponding Republican group exists, a testimony to exactly how much the GOP values the much-vaunted ‘special relationship’). A sizable, diverse crowd of Obama devotees celebrated their candidate’s capacity to inspire and chanted, at regular intervals, ‘Yes We Can.’ A smaller Clinton constituency responded with their rather plagiaristic ‘Yes We Will.’ However, the Hillary camp did count among its members ex-President Luke Tryl and Standing Committee member Leo-Marcus Wan, the former of whom spoke to the Democrats Abroad that evening on behalf of his favoured candidate, while the latter had already represented her at the Christ Church debate the prior week in a blond wig and ear-grating accent. Mr Tryl emphasized that America must ‘regain its standing in the world’ and address its image as a state that is ‘isolated, bullish, and concerned only with its own interests.’ He stated that he has supported Mrs. Clinton because ‘the world can’t take chances’ and may possibly join her campaign in America later in the year. Speakers for Obama countered by observing that Mrs Clinton’s much-mentioned ‘experience’ can often mean ‘politics as usual,’ that their candidate panders less to Washington lobbyists than his rival, and he stands a better chance of repairing relations with America’s enemies and former allies abroad. In truth, with only three or four listeners undecided at the outset, the debate was largely a formality. But the degree of enthusiasm was unusual among students considering the fact that they were discussing a foreign election in which they were not eligible to vote.
Regardless of the outcome of Super Tuesday, or even of the election, I have been heartened, as a native New Yorker, by the hopeful interest shown with regard to the election abroad and by a momentary lull in the casual anti-Americanism that often suffuses discussions of our nation’s politics. I am also pleased, for once, to be choosing not amongst greater and lesser evils but amongst candidates from both parties whom I feel I could endorse without cynicism or compromised beliefs.
In Mr McCain, despite his – in this journalist’s view – antiquated, improbable views on Iraq, I recognize a likely Republican nominee whom I can genuinely approve of, even after eight years of astonishing mis-government by the party at home and abroad. McCain’s independent views on immigration, climate change, the religious right, and government spending separate him from the Republican stereotype that has long tarnished America in the eyes of most international commentators. In Mrs Clinton, I see a tried-and-tested politician who stands a very good chance of defeating a Republican opponent in November; though she would not be my choice for the nomination, I believe that her policies are for the most part sound and I would not be ashamed if she were to be the next commander-in-chief my country. In Mr Obama – who, in the interests of full disclosure, has been my preferred candidate for some time – I have found a gifted, articulate politician who challenges the stereotype of his profession as one too morally stunted and too casually corrupt for young people ever to care to enter. Obama’s intelligence, charisma, independence, and consistency – on Iraq and elsewhere – represent, to me, the best hope for a ‘face of America’ that the other world powers can respect.
In any event, whether our readers share my particular biases or not, I hope that they will benefit from the summary of the current state of the primaries below, and that they will recognize in the election a crucial opportunity for a cessation of the rather brutal political climate that has prevailed on a global scale since the outset of the Bush administration.The Republicans
For the Democrats, Super Tuesday has proved only the first of a series of contests in the struggle for the presidential ticket. Yet for the Republicans, it has provided exactly what the newspapers promised: one candidate with a clear path to the nomination. That this candidate is Senator John McCain is the result of one of the most surprising political reversals in the past few decades. As the press has noted ad nauseum, McCain had nothing more to his name in July 2007 than a sputtering campaign and an unpopular voting record. His optimistic outlook on Iraq, his opposition to the Bush tax cuts, and his bid for gentler immigration laws provoked the bedrock of his party to brand him a traitor. As 2008 began, however, a collusion of lucky circumstances conspired to propel him to the front of the race. The troop ‘surge’ in Iraq temporarily brought reality closer to McCain’s impression of progress there, and furthermore, after the turmoil in the credit markets and the emergence of a possible US recession, the economy replaced Iraq in exit polls as the most important issue in the election. This benefited McCain’s businessman rival Mitt Romney, but it also drew attention away from his own controversial views on Iraq. Also, McCain’s early momentum after New Hampshire and South Carolina was sustained by the consistent ineptitude of the other candidates’ campaigns.
Rudy Giuliani, the other Republican rebel, eschewed the early primaries and instead staked his candidacy on a single prolonged campaign in Florida. But the Floridians did not necessarily like him any better on long acquaintance, and consequently favoured McCain. Mike Huckabee had surged to a surprise victory in Iowa, but he had little chance of attracting voters beyond his evangelical base. McCain was left as the only really viable candidate standing, his wartime heroism and his independent decision-making translating into a reputation for integrity remarkable in the scandal-ridden Republican Party. On Super Tuesday, he carried the crucial states of New York and California, as well as Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Arizona. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney collected his expected wins in Massachusetts and Utah as well as in a few smaller states. Nevertheless, delegate totals display a clear triumph for McCain, who will now most likely be the Republican nominee in November.
McCain has already secured the resigned Giuliani’s support, and it remains to be seen whether the Republicans will now turn their attention away soon from infighting and unite in creating a viable strategy to combate the Democrats in November. McCain’s successes have given the Republicans new life and perhaps even another chance at the White House. Nevertheless, the Republican status quo is still the party of Bush, Rove, Rumsfeld, and failure, and the Republicans will have to counteract this image without estranging their hawkish, religious base if they are to keep the presidency. The DemocratsDue to its sequential quibbles and impenetrable processes of delegate selection, drawing firm conclusions from Tuesday’s Democratic contest was not unlike divining the next season’s crop yield from the entrails of a bull or decoding the pronouncements of the Delphic oracle. Delegates were awarded to candidates proportionally based on the number of congressional districts won, so even clear-cut leads in major states could not guarantee overall victory. To complicate the issue further, no candidate came into Super Tuesday with an obvious advantage; Iowa and South Carolina had voted strongly for the one, New Hampshire and Nevada for the other. Nevertheless, the Democratic caucuses of February 5th did produce a frontrunner, and that frontrunner is Hillary Clinton. The media furore surrounding her rival, Barack Obama, had often obscured the quiet, steady successes of Clinton’s campaign, her ability to discount the transient pronouncements of the press and to focus on under-served or under-publicised groups of voters. Thus, although Obama had recently been gaining on his rival in the national polls, Clinton nonetheless made off with all of the major states voting on February 5th – New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California.
Of the four great prizes that Obama failed to capture on Tuesday, three were easily explicable. New York was Clinton’s home state, and New Jersey is closely linked to it. Furthermore, Clinton had already secured a cautious but priceless endorsement from the New York Times, the state’s premier liberal newspaper, despite massive support for Obama among the young (like myself) and among city luminaries such as entertainment personalities and hedge-fund managers.
Like New York, California boasts a crowd of celebrities, college students, and others who have campaigned for Mr. Obama, but it is also home to a large constituency of Latino voters, a group with which Clinton has been particularly strong. Though a leading Spanish-language newspaper actually pledged its support for Obama, racial tensions between blacks and Latinos in inner-city districts and a leaning towards Clinton among low-income voters permitted her a 32-point lead in the Hispanic vote. She also led by 18 points among women – despite a recent California rally for Obama attended Caroline Kennedy, Oprah Winfrey, and Governor’s wife Maria Shriver – and performed well amongst the absentees, many of them older professionals or expatriates, whose ballots take longer to be counted.
But how did Obama lose Massachusetts, a state in which he had secured the endorsements not only of Senator John Kerry and Governor Deval Patrick but of the hallowed Kennedy clan? Though Clinton had long been leading in its preliminary polls, Massachusetts would at first appear the perfect venue for an Obama campaign. It is generally prosperous; it is fairly freethinking; it boasts a constellation of leading universities within which support for Obama is very strong. Yet although Obama won easily there amongst those who identify themselves as very liberal, Clinton defeated him amongst self-described conservatives and moderates. Clinton’s success in Massachusetts, then, is a belated testimony to her ability to accomplish exactly what her campaign set out to do in the first place: to offer a centrist option for those wary of excessive change.
Obama is by no means out of the running; though Clinton now claims about a hundred more delegates, he may still persevere in upcoming caucuses of Ohio, Virginia, Texas, and Washington DC. Nevertheless, the Super Tuesday results have halted his momentum, and his campaign will have no choice but to play catch-up. The Clinton campaign machine has skillfully undermined those qualities that once set him apart from his political peers. Obama was once a post-racial candidate, but the Clintons have branded him a black candidate; as a result, he is carrying significantly black states in the South but losing in heavily Hispanic districts and perhaps elsewhere. Obama has been lauded by Republicans and depicted as a ‘unifier,’ but Clinton’s success among moderates and independents in the Massachusetts caucuses show that wavering voters can no longer be counted upon to swing his way. Obama’s campaign must draft a fresh strategy, address weaknesses, and regain appeal among centrists in order to reverse the trend.
Listings: February 8th – 14th
Friday February 8th
Film
Cloverfield (15) Odeon George St 1400, 1630, 1900, 2115
Definitely Maybe (12A) Odeon George St 1245, 1530, 1815, 2100
Juno (12A) Odeon Magdalen St 1315, 1545, 1815, 2045, Phoenix Picture House 1300, 1500, 1700, 1900, 2110
The Kite Runner (12A) Phoenix Picture House 1245, 1820
National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (PG) Odeon George St 1430, 1730, 2030
No Country for Old Men (15) Odeon George St 1420, 1715, 2015 Phoenix Picture House 1530, 2100
Over Her Dead Body (12A) Odeon Magdalen St 1230, 1500, 1730, 2015
P.S. I Love You (12A) Odeon George St 1200
Penelope (U) Odeon George St 1215
Salo (18) Ultimate Picture Palace 2330
The Singer (12A) Ultimate Picture Palace 1800
Southland Tales (15) Ultimate Picture Palace 2030
Sweeney Todd (18) Odeon George St. 1215, 1500, 1800, 2045
The Water Horse (PG) Odeon George St 1415, 1700, 2000
Music
Oxford Philomusia: Tchaikovsky. Sheldonian 2100
Concert for Tanzania: Opera Anywhere and the Oxford Fiddle Group. J de P 1930
Laura Veirs: Singer-songwriter. Zodiac 1900
Alvin Roy’s Reeds Unlimited: Jazz. Old Orleans Bar, George St 2030
Gabrielle: Unique soul singer. New Theatre 1900
Little Fish and others in eclectic mishmash. Wheatsheaf 2030
Outraze and others: rock. Jericho Tavern 2000
Yabbafunk Bossaphonic: Jazz / funk. Cellar
Stage
A Trip to Scarborough: Alan Ayckbourn. Oxford Playhouse 2000
Desert of the Real. Burton Taylor Studio 2130
Donkeys’ Years. Worcester College 1430
The House of Bernarda Alba. OFS Studio 1930
I Love Peach Blossom, OU Chinese Drama Society. Burton Taylor Studio 1930
The Oxford Imps. Moser, Wadham 1930
Other
Maiolica: Lunchtime gallery talk. Randolph Gallery, Ashmolean 1315
Palmyra of the North Society for Graduates: 18th C St Petersburg building talk. Okinaga Rm, Wadham 2000
Dancesport Beginners’ Ballroom St Columba’s 1800
Dancesport Beginners’ Latin St Columba’s 1900
Dancesport Beginners’ Argentine Tango St Columba’s 2000
Dancesport Beginners’ Salsa St Columba’s 2100
Saturday February 9th
Film
Cloverfield (15) Odeon George St 1145, 1400, 1630, 1900, 2115
Definitely Maybe (12A) Odeon George St 1245, 1530, 1815, 2100
Ducks Ultimate Picture Palace 1700
Juno (12A) Odeon Magdalen St 1315, 1545, 1815, 2045, Phoenix Picture House 1300, 1500, 1700, 1900, 2110
The Kite Runner (12A) Phoenix Picture House 1820
Michael Clayton (15) Ultimate Picture Palace 2100
National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (PG) Odeon George St 1115, 1430, 1730, 2030
No Country for Old Men (15) Odeon George St 1420, 1715, 2015 Phoenix Picture House 1530, 2100
Once (15) Ultimate Picture Palace 1900
Over Her Dead Body (12A) Odeon Magdalen St 1230, 1500, 1730, 2015
P.S. I Love You (12A) Odeon George St 1200
Penelope (U) Odeon George St 1215
Salo (18) Ultimate Picture Palace 2330
Sweeney Todd (18) Odeon George St. 1500, 1800, 2045
The Water Horse (PG) Odeon George St 1130, 1430, 1730, 2030
Music
Queen’s College Recital: Clarinet & piano. Queen’s College Chapel 1315
Cello & Piano Recital: Beethoven & Mozart. St Margaret’s Church 1900
Enon: Indie/electro. Cellar 2030
June: Indie rockers. Wheatsheaf 2000
Soweto Gospel Choir: Grammy award-winning. New Theatre 1930
Raggasaurus: Reggae. Jericho Tavern 2030
Stage
A Trip to Scarborough: Alan Ayckbourn. Oxford Playhouse 1430, 1930
Desert of the Real. Burton Taylor Studio 2130
The House of Bernarda Alba. OFS Studio 1430, 1930
I Love Peach Blossom: OU Chinese Drama Society. Burton Taylor Studio 1930
Other
TSAF Art, Photography & Poetry Exhibitions Open all week JCR Conservatory, Jesus; Library Corridor, Lincoln 1600
Small and Shocking: 17th C Microscopy Microscopy in Restoration London. Museum of the History of Science 1400
Sunday February 10th
Film
Atonement (15) Phoenix Picture House 1100
A Trick of the Light (15) Phoenix Picture House 1115
Cloverfield (15) Odeon George St 1145, 1400, 1630, 1900, 2115
Definitely Maybe (12A) Odeon George St 1245, 1530, 1815, 2100
Juno (12A) Odeon Magdalen St 1315, 1545, 1815, 2045, Phoenix Picture House 1300, 1500, 1700, 1900, 2110
The Kite Runner (12A) Phoenix Picture House 1315, 1820
National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (PG) Odeon George St 1115, 1430, 1730, 2030
No Country for Old Men (15) Odeon George St 1420, 1715, 2015 Phoenix Picture House 1550, 2100
Over Her Dead Body (12A) Odeon Magdalen St 1230, 1500, 1730, 2015
P.S. I Love You (12A) Odeon George St 1200
Penelope (U) Odeon George St 1215
Salo (18) Ultimate Picture Palace 2230
The Singer (12A) Ultimate Picture Palace 1700
Southland Tales (15) Ultimate Picture Palace 1930
Sweeney Todd (18) Odeon George St. 1500, 1800, 2045
Three Colours: Blue (15) Ultimate Picture Palace 1445
The Water Horse (PG) Odeon George St 1130, 1415, 1700, 2000
Music
Maggini Quartet: Hadyn, Mendelssohn. Holywell Music Room 1500
Lizzie Newbery Jazz Trio. Cape of Good Hope 1900
Dropkick Murphys: Irish punk mayhem. Academy 1900
Royworld: New wave. Jericho Tavern 1930
Polysics & Robots in Disguise. Zodiac 1900
Alison Moyet Mint. New Theatre 1900
Stage
TSAF Whodidit? Habakkuk Rm, Jesus 1400
TSAF Play in a Day Oakshott Rm, Lincoln 1630
Other
TSAF Talk on Bernard Shaw Ivan Wise Lower Lecture Rm, Lincoln 1430
TSAF Launch Party Thirst Lodge 2000
Dancesport Social Dancing St Hugh’s 2000
Monday February 11th
£3 entry to Eclipse before 10.30pmFilm
Cloverfield (15) Odeon George St 1400, 1630, 1900, 2115
Definitely Maybe (12A) Odeon George St 1245, 1530, 1815, 2100
Juno (12A) Odeon Magdalen St 1315, 1545, 1815, 2045, Phoenix Picture House 1300, 1500, 1700, 1900, 2110
The Kite Runner (12A) Phoenix Picture House 1245
National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (PG) Odeon George St 1430, 1730, 2030
No Country for Old Men (15) Odeon George St 1420, 1715, 2015 Phoenix Picture House 1530
Over Her Dead Body (U) Odeon Magdalen St 1230, 1500, 1730, 2015
P.S. I Love You (12A) Odeon George St 1200
Penelope (U) Odeon George St 1215
Salo (18) Ultimate Picture Palace 2230
Sweeney Todd (18) Odeon George St. 1500, 1800, 2045
Three Colours: Blue (15) Ultimate Picture Palace 1800, 2030
The Water Horse (PG) Odeon George St 1415, 1700, 2000
Music
Alfred Brendel: Pianist plays Hadyn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. Sheldonian 2000
Polysics. Carling Academy 1900
TSAF Piano Recital & Chamber Concert Exeter Chapel 1300
Stage
TSAF Whodidit? Habakkuk Rm, Jesus 1930
The Oxford Imps: Improvised comedy. Wheatsheaf 2000
Free Beer Show: TBC + support. Cellar Bar 2115
Mark Watson: Comic alchemist. Playhouse 2000
Other
The ‘Dark’ Side of the Universe: Dr R Trotta. Green College 1830
TSAF International Dance Showcase. Oakshott Rm, Lincoln 1530
TSAF Discovering Queen Elizabeth: The Jesus Portrait. Talk Hall, Jesus 1600
Dancesport Beginners’ Latin. Catholic Chaplaincy 1800
Dancesport Beginners’ Salsa. Wesley Memorial Hall 1800
Dancesport Beginners’ Ballroom. Catholic Chaplaincy 1900
Dancesport Beginners’ Fast-track Salsa. Wesley Memorial Hall 1900
Tuesday February 12th
Film
Brick Lane (15) Ultimate Picture Palace 1845
Cloverfield (15) Odeon George St 1400, 1630, 1900, 2115
Definitely Maybe (12A) Odeon George St 1245, 1530, 1815, 2100
Into the Wild (15) Odeon Magdalen St 2015
Juno (12A) Odeon Magdalen St 1315, 1545, 1815, 2045, Phoenix Picture House 1300, 1500, 1700, 1900, 2110
The Kite Runner (12A) Phoenix Picture House 1245, 1820
National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (PG) Odeon George St 1430, 1730, 2030
No Country for Old Men (15) Odeon George St 1420, 1715, 2015 Phoenix Picture House 1530, 2100
Once (15) Ultimate Picture Palace 2100
Over Her Dead Body (12A) Odeon Magdalen St 1230, 1500, 1730
P.S. I Love You (12A) Odeon George St 1200
Penelope (U) Odeon George St 1215
Sweeney Todd (18) Odeon George St. 1500, 1800, 2045
The Water Horse (PG) Odeon George St 1415, 1700, 2000
Music
Sit, Sip and Listen: Classical. St Michael at the North Gate 1800
Carlos Prieto: Cello. Balliol Chapel 1715
Songs and Shakespeare Setting: OUMS. Holywell Music Room 2000
Charlottefield. Wheatsheaf 2000
Glasvegas and guests. Jericho Tavern 2000
TSAF Organ Recital Chapel, Exeter 1300
Stage
Blood Wedding: More Lorca. Trinity 1930
Celebration: Pinter. BT 1930
Stomp. New Theatre 1930
Timon of Athens. BT 2130
TSAF Whodidit? Habakkuk Rm, Jesus 1930
TSAF Be My Baby. Saskatchewan Rm, Exeter 1930
Other
Representations of Surveillance Practice in contemporary literature: Mike Nellis. Said Business School 1600
Lord Arundel and the Arundel Marbles: Lunchtime gallery talk. Randolph Gallery, Ashmolean 1315
TSAF Origami Workshop & Exhibition Stapleton Rm, Exeter; Library Corridor, Lincoln 1100
TSAF Turl Street Treasures: Lincoln Chapel Windows. Chapel, Lincoln 1600
Dancesport Hiphop Wesley Memorial Hall 2000
Wednesday February 13th
Film
Cloverfield (15) Odeon George St 1400, 1630, 1900, 2115
Definitely Maybe (12A) Odeon George St 1245, 1530, 1815, 2100
Juno (12A) Odeon Magdalen St 1315, 1545, 1815, 2045, Phoenix Picture House 1300, 1500, 1700, 1900, 2110
The Kite Runner (12A) Phoenix Picture House 1820
National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (PG) Odeon George St 1430, 1730, 2030
No Country for Old Men (15) Odeon George St 1420, 1715, 2015, Phoenix Picture House 1530, 2100
Over Her Dead Body (12A) Odeon Magdalen St 1230, 1500, 1730, 2015
Penelope (U) Odeon George St 1215
The Singer (12A) UItimate Picture Palace 1830
Southland Tales (15) UItimate Picture Palace 2100
Sweeney Todd (18) Odeon George St. 1500, 1800, 2045
The Water Horse (PG) Odeon George St 1415, 1700, 2000
Music
Organ Recital. Queen’s College 1310
St Hilda’s Music Soc Recital: French music for flute and piano. Bach J de P 1315
Last Gang: Indie. Jericho Tavern 2000
TSAF Exeter College Orchestra Chapel, Exeter 1300
TSAF Valentine’s Jazz Evening Rector’s Lodgings, Exeter 2000
Stage
Celebration: Pinter. BT 1930
Oxford Revue. Wheatsheaf 2000
Stomp. New Theatre 1930
Timon of Athens. BT 2130
TSAF Be My Baby. Saskatchewan Rm, Exeter 1930
Other
Institutional Roadblocks: Norman Myers, ecology & economy expert. Magdalen College Auditorium 1700
The World as Assemblage: Professor Alex Potts. University Museum of Natural History 1700
Amnesty Lectures: Can Human Rights Accommodate Pluralism? Chantal Mouffe. Holywell Music Room 1730
TSAF Poetry Workshop Quarrel Rm, Exeter 1300
TSAF Poetry Recital Chapel, Exeter 1700
TSAF Kungfu Workshop Lower Lecture Rm, Lincoln 1700
TSAF Tea and Cake and Words and Pictures Vaults and Gardens 1700
Dancesport Beginners’ Fast-track Latin St Columba’s 1900
Dancesport Beginners’ Ballroom St Columba’s2130
Thursday February 14th
Film
Atonement (15) Ultimate Picture Palace 1830
Cloverfield (15) Odeon George St 1400, 1630, 1900, 2115
Definitely Maybe (12A) Odeon George St 1245, 1530, 1815, 2100
Jumper (12A) Odeon Magdalen St 2015
Juno (12A) Odeon Magdalen St 1315, 1545, 1815, 2045, Phoenix Picture House 1300, 1500, 1700, 1900, 2110
The Kite Runner (12A) Phoenix Picture House 1245, 1820
National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (PG) Odeon George St 1430, 1730, 2030
No Country for Old Men (15) Odeon George St 1420, 1715, 2015, Phoenix Picture House 1530, 2100
Once (15) Ultimate Picture Palace 2100
Over Her Dead Body (12A) Odeon Magdalen St 1230, 1500, 1730
P.S. I Love You (12A) Odeon George St 1200
Penelope (U) Odeon George St 1215
Sweeney Todd (18) Odeon George St. 1500, 1800, 2045
The Water Horse (PG) Odeon George St 1415, 1700, 2000
Music
Salute to Love: City of Oxford Orchestra: Vivaldi, Pachelbel, Barber, Mozart, Elgar, Schubert Sheldonian 1900
A Valentine’s Day Recital: Music for organ and recorders. St Ebbe’s 1430
Rêve d’amour: Handel, Brahms, Faure, Hahn, Chaminde. J de P 2000
Steve Rose: Top UK pianist. Wheatsheaf 2100
MXPX: Skate punkers. Zodiac 1900
Inspected by 10: Indie pop. Jericho Tavern 2000
Stage
Celebration: Pinter. BT 1930
Stomp. New Theatre 1930
This Is Our Youth. Moser, Wadham 1930
Timon of Athens. BT 2130
TSAF Invisible Theatre. Saskatchewan Rm, Exeter 1600
TSAF Be My Baby. Saskatchewan Rm, Exeter 1930
Other
Letting Go of Guilt: Ken O’Donnell ‘provides tools to set us free.’ Oxford Town Hall 1930
Dancesport Beginners’ Fast-track Ballroom Wesley Memorial Hall 1900TSAF: Turl Street Arts Festival.Dancesport: Voucher in thi
week's Cherwell print edition redeemable.
Comic Relief?
Jennifer Anne-Hill champions the cause of the graphic novel
So you want to read comics, do you? Well, you’re going to need lots of storage space. Flat boxes, acid-free polythene bags. I can recommend a good website.
Let’s debunk a few stereotypes here. I don’t deny that there are people who go in for all that geeky stuff but for most, the fun lies in reading them, not preserving them. In the interests of breaking down preconceptions and providing a comprehensive introduction to the novice, I’ve read the best and the worst comic book offerings, so you won’t have to and lined up a little something for everyone. And while we’re debunking stereotypes, I’m a 21 year-old young woman in a Topshop t-shirt who is planning to show you that comics aren’t just for slightly strange men or monosyllabic teenagers – in fact, most parents would be shocked to see their precious little darlings reading a few of the titles I’ve listed here.
So why should you read comics? For one thing they’re intellectually fascinating, often capable of subjecting the reader to the most rigorous literary and psychoanalytic theory. The variety and range that is available means that whether you’re after horror, crime, or romance there’ll be something to satisfy your tastes; comics may be well-known for their costumed superheroes but there’s not a genre that this medium hasn’t touched.
In the 1930s and ‘40s, an American publisher called DC Comics launched a line of superhero characters which included the debuts of Batman (1939) and Superman (1938). This has come to be known as the golden age of comics, and purists maintain that standards have been slipping ever since. The silver age began in the 1960s when the American company Marvel Comics, headed by legend Stan Lee, created a completely new line of superheroes including the Fantastic Four (1961), Spiderman (1962), and X-Men (1963). The third age of comics started somewhere in the ‘80s when comic books had fewer problems with censorship, and also began to display a propensity to question the genre itself. Alan Moore’s Watchmen (1986) told the story of a superhero team over two different generations which tackled adult themes and psychologically profiled its ‘heroes.’ After all, what exactly does motivate a man to put on tights and a cape and start hanging around looking sinister on rooftops at night?
All of these titles were published as separate monthly or weekly comics, telling a story over a period of months or years. Story arcs that sell well will almost certainly be collected into larger volumes and published as graphic novels, even if writers struggle to keep their heroes relevant to new decades. The nature of the graphic novel itself is a complicated issue – some would say that it is just a pretentious term for a longer comic book, rather than anything more unique, and they’re probably right. However, for non-US residents, graphic novels are incredibly important, since it’s really difficult to get hold of comics, and unless you live near a decent comic shop you invariably miss some issues. Waiting until the collected edition is available in Waterstones is, frankly, much easier, and you end up with an attractive tome to adorn your shelves.Transmetropolitan: Back On The Street Warren Ellis
Foul-mouthed, gonzo journalist Spider Jerusalem makes the leftie press look cool in this rip-roaring, paranoid ride through an urban dystopian sprawl merely referred to as ‘The City.’ Spider takes on corrupt politicians, his editor and an apathetic and ignorant populace of thousands in a city where a new religion is invented every 35 minutes and a new cable channel every 20. It’s like Hunter S. Thompson. But in the future.
Like this? You’ll never find anything as good and you’ll cry into your alcoholic beverage of choice every night wishing that you could just go back and read it with new eyes. And if Ellis’s predictions about the future come true, one day you possibly might.
The Complete ‘Maus’ Art Spiegelman
In an intensely biographical and autobiographical work, the writer records interviews with his aged father who survived the Nazi concentration camps. We switch between the narrative which takes place during WWII and the narrative during the present day, in which Spiegalman attempts to relate to his father in the aftermath of his mother’s suicide. We see the writer and budding cartoonist decide on the best way to tell his story, deciding on a very simplistic, detached style in which the Germans are portrayed as cats and the Jews as mice. This amazing work has won a Pulizter prize, and is often and justifiably compared to Schlinder’s List.
Like this? Try Palestine by Joe Sacco or Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan.
The Astonishing X-Men: Gifted Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame) takes on Cyclops, Wolverine and the team in a way that invites new readers of the comic to enjoy them alongside the old readers, using his trademark witty dialogue and showing what happens when a brilliant writer who grew up with these long-running characters is handed the series and let loose.
Like this? Try the next instalment; it’s even better. (I won’t tell you what they do to Wolverine, but it’s wonderful and humiliating and worth waiting for.) Alternatively, Buffy fans should try Joss Whedon’s Season Eight, the official continuation to the TV series in comic format.
Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes Neil Gaiman
This title introduces the Endless; near-immortal beings who embody essential parts of humanity and the universe. Desire is everything that you have ever wanted, with eyes as tawny and sharp as yellow wine. Dream, the Sandman, is the prince of stories, the muse of many. Death is a goth girl wearing lots of eyeliner. The first in a ten part series, these graphic novels begin slowly but end superbly. Each book is enjoyable by itself but the true power of the series only becomes apparent once you have finished the entire story, so only begin these books if you have lots of money and time. Like this? Try: Fables or Death: The High Cost of Living
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Frank Millar
The mini-series that made Batman cool again. Released in the same year as Watchmen and projecting much the same mood, this series did away with the camp image projected by the Batman and Robin seen on TV and re-introduced readers to the brooding and lonely detective figure employing dubious methods of justice in order to keep crime-ridden Gotham City safe. Millar also introduces us to the first girl Robin.
Like this? Try Moore’s Watchmen or the noir feel of Millar’s Sin City.
Fables: Legends in ExileBill Willingham
Another one for English students and anyone else who enjoys a new take on an old genre, Fables crafts the characters of Eastern and European fairy tales into creatures living in our modern world, their survival dependant on their continued presence in storytelling. (Note – if they ever make a movie of this, Bigby Wolf – get it? – would clearly be played by Colin Firth and a wet shirt scene would be mandatory.) It’s a romance, but it’s intelligent. Spotting minor characters from obscure folk tales provides plenty of fun too.
Like this? Try Gaiman’s Sandman or Moore’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Pete’s Week
I’ve not denied any holocausts, and I even invent extra ones
Students can’t do anything. Put ‘student’ in front of any art form – journalism, comedy, drama – and you might as well switch it for ‘dismal’ straight off. We’re all just preening, scrabbling amateurs, harping on into the void; maybe someday, they’ll let us try it for money. Students are useless. So, I don’t like being told what to think, say, do, or listen to by students. This means I don’t like No Platform policies, in any form. I could just mock all the old arguments for it, but even the best ones have been crushed more times than Krishna Omkar, and the worst ones aren’t much more than ‘how would YOU like it if Hitler killed YOU?’ You wouldn’t, you see. You’d be dead! Deep stuff. My main objection is more personal. I don’t like OUSU banning fascists for one simple reason: according to them, I am one. This came as a shock. I’ve never killed anyone; I’ve not denied any holocausts, and I even invent extra ones, just in case I might be forgetting some. I’m not homophobic, or racist (some of my best gays are black). I didn’t deserve this.This began in my first year, when I founded the ‘Oxford Uni. Society Union’ (‘OUSU’) – half drinking society, half juvenile satire. We copied the ‘real’ OUSU in some respects – we all called ourselves ‘Vice President’ for the sheer gurgling heck of it – and improved on it in others, in that we chose our President by Rock, Paper, Scissors. A few months down the line, we thought it a masterstroke to take ‘OUSU’ to Freshers’ Fair, stand around in our t-shirts, and demand to be taken seriously. In the end, we lasted about two hours: arriving back from lunch, everything on our stall had gone, confiscated. I’d included a reference somewhere to ‘cock-guzzling corporate whores.’ Clause 12 of their regulations banned this, they said, and out we were turfed.Later on, I was to find that the clause was one to ban groups that ‘advocate, incite or perpetrate… violence against ethnic, religious, cultural or sexual groups,’ the precise words of the No Platform policies, old and new. They’d used this to clear us out: I was a fascist, and a violent one at that. I wonder what cultural or sexual groups we were supposed to have ‘incited violence’ towards – IB interns with semen-heavy diets? Are they even a sexual group? Since then, it seems our letter of complaint got lost. Four months after handing it to the organisers in person, there’s no reply. This, kids, is the problem, put simply. The ‘fascists’ we’re against are whoever OUSU say they are, and at times we’ll disagree. Censorship might make sense sometimes: but if anyone gets to decide, it should never be students. Students are useless. Let fascists talk: take it from me. I am one.
If I were Vice-Chancellor for a day…
…I'd turn quads into swimming pools
After careful and sustained watching of television programming in the JCR, I have come to the conclusion that what Oxford needs is swimming pools.
The cause and effect relationship between swimming pools and their surroundings has, in the past, been mistakenly analysed. It has been argued previously that swimming pools are the result of hot climates and extensive wealth but this is, in fact, not the case. The reality is that hot climates and extensive wealth are the result of swimming pools. Simply by digging a pit 50 metres long, 25 metres wide and 2 metres deep, tiling it and filling it with water, all these could be Oxford’s. Furthermore, Oxford has the perfect spaces for such constructions. At the centre of every college is at least one quad filled with useless grass (that no one can walk on anyway) and just crying out to be made into a swimming pool.
The effects of installing swimming pools in Oxford quads would be both immediate and life-changing. Firstly, the sun would come out. No longer would sunny days be the preserve of those last two weeks of Trinity, when everyone’s too busy to enjoy it anyway. No, the sun would shine on Oxford from 0th week of Michaelmas, to the beginning of the Summer Vacation. Hell, it would probably shine right through the vacations, because where there are swimming pools there has to be sun. This has benefits beyond the poolside. Gone would be the dark days of Hilary where you arrive at a tutorial soaking wet after a cycle ride from the Cowley Road. Gone would be red flags and waterlogged pitches. Gone would be the need to wear unflattering and bulky winter coats.
The second effect of pools is directly related to the first. Post-bop pallor and skin that hasn’t seen the outside of a library since a week before collections would no longer be a concern. Days spent lounging by the poolside – because it has been proven that swimming pools reduce the stresses on your time in order to allow more time to spend in or near the pool – would endow us all with golden, glowing tans. Even those of us with skin the colour of curdled milk would suddenly be as sun-kissed as a Californian cheerleader. Let’s face it, kids; no one in The OC would be caught dead without a suntan.
Thirdly, we’d all become super-fit and super-attractive. Swimming for an hour can burn up to one thousand calories. Moreover, all Oxford students would be in possession of perfect noses, vast wardrobes and chiselled cheekbones. Don’t ask me how; it happens. Such a dramatic improvement in physical attractiveness would obviously have a dramatic effect on our dreary sex lives – and what setting could be better for a bit of dangerous sex than the college pool? Just make sure your pool-style is more Marissa Cooper than Tanya Turner.
The aesthetic improvements created by installing swimming pools should stand alone as recommendation for this plan. Imagine the beautiful sight of an infinity pool running over the edge of Exeter’s Fellows Garden, down into Radcliffe Square. The deer of Magdalen would become even more spectacular when positioned next to a veritable lake of a pool, complete with wave machine. Christ Church – who, alongside Worcester, must be credited for leading the way in pool development – could submerge Tom Quad with water, keeping the original fountain as a charming centre piece.
Start petitioning your Master, Rector, Provost or Dean now. Pools, my friends, are the future.
Gee Whizz: Oxford BabyLab
Babies are strange creatures. Small and pudgy, they elicit either cries of delight or frowns of irritation, but their parents worship them like little demi-gods. Today’s infants are able to lead something of a social whirl, with a bewildering array of activities and classes at their disposal, ranging from baby yoga and massage to nappuccinos – ‘coffee mornings where you can have a chat and find out more about cotton nappies from the experts.’
One could say that they have their household under their tiny thumb, and it is doubtful whether any Nobel prize winning author received more raptured approbation than your average baby upon the pronouncement of its first few words.
It is this – the way that babies learn about words – that is researched at the Oxford BabyLab, part of the Department of Experimental Psychology. While we can all remember the traumas of learning to solve quadratic equations, or of trying to remember the dates of First World War battles, few people can remember anything before three to four years of age, and so research is the only way of finding out about children’s early development.
Current research at the lab covers a range of different areas, including investigating when children first understand words – that is, whether they are able to link a picture with a word – something at which it appears they are remarkably good.
A rather interesting area focuses on how we identify what we see. Apparently, when shown a picture of an animal, adults first look at the head, and in particular the eyes, before moving on to other revealing features, such as a tail, and current research is aimed at seeing whether babies identify objects in the same way.
Those who possess a baby are in great demand as all these institutions are constantly on the look out for volunteers to research. So get yourself a baby and then get down to a babylab near you. You could be amazed what you discover. by Laurie Eldridge
