Issue 45OctOber 2011

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Want to get your media work on Griffith Digital?

In the coming term we will continue to upload the best media assign-ments after each submission period. We also are offering another op-portunity to get your work on the site with the launch of a fortnightly

student news page.

Pieces must be emailed by 5pm on each date to griffithdigital@gcd.ieThe term deadlines are: Monday 26th September,

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A letter from the Editor

What’s up, Griffitians?Check it out, my very first published magazine.

Whoo!First things first, I would like to congratulate

the ‘The Dublin City Rock Climbers’, the team in the Treasure Hunt who won ‘Best Picture’ during Induction Week. We were so proud of them that we decided to make that picture the cover of this year’s first issue of Griffiti. Congrats guys, you’re all famous now, kind of…

In other news, Freshers’ Week is revisited inside so if you feel like reminiscing over a great week read on.

I would like to thank all of you who contributed, great stuff. Those of you who didn’t contribute, do it, do it now!

The very best advice I can give to people who want to add to the magazine but aren’t sure how is “Don’t write it right, just write it and then make it right later.” – Tara Moss

Bye for now.

Ian DoneganManaging Editor

Contents

GriffitiIssue 45October 2011

Editor: Ian Donegan

Contributers:Anastasiya BondarenkoAnnette SoreideChiara PizziChristina ErasmusDavid YipGrainne DuffyJack JonassonJack RyanJames Keating John EnrightKase BakhatwaKristin KarlssonLance KerriganMartina PettersenOscar FinnPatser GeryPaul ShannonPia StrommeThomas MoylanViviane Stroede

Advertising Enquiries: 01 4150 463

Printed by:Speciality Print and DesignPh: 087 992 0530

Griffiti MagazineGriffith College DublinStudents’ UnionSouth Circular RoadDublin 8Ph: 01 4150 463Email: Griffiti@gcd.ie

Griffiti Magazine is the Students’ Union publication at Griffit College. It was estab-lished in 2004.

All contents copyright of Griffiti, repro-duction of any part of the magazine with permission is strictly prohibited.

The views express in Griffiti magazine do not nessessarily reflect that of the college or the SU

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State of the UnionFreshers’ WeekDiscovery tripattacks on NorwayChina TripIn IrelandMusicGriffiti at the MoviesGenuine Article

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State Of The Union

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Rain AlySU PresidentTel: 01 415 0418Mob: 087 6905 622Email: su.president@gcd.ie

Hi everybody,

I would like to firstly say thanks to everyone for making Fresher’s Week so successful and for taking interest in all of our activities. It has been a busy month for the Students’ Union. We have introduced a new Student’s Union Membership Card that will provide you with discounts on Student’s Union events. e.g. The Discovery Trip was €60 without the card but only €45 with it. We will also have free night club nights with the card and various other offers throughout the year. Those of you who haven’t signed up for it should do so now, it’s only €5. You can also win an iPad2 if you sign up in October. When you receive the card, you also activate it as a Pay Card – MasterCard, but this is totally up to yourself.

Fresher’s Week This year, our events seemed to be enjoyed by everyone. On Monday we had inflatable games on the green and it was a beautiful sunny day, which made it all the better. We also had a Magician, a caricaturist, a face painter, just before we kicked off the live music in the marquee, where we had 3 live acts. A huge step for us this year is that we broadcasted live nationally with Phantom 105.2, and it was Phantom who later hosted the After Party with Arthur’s Bar, which was a

great way to end the night.On Tuesday we had a Ping Pong Tour-nament and later in Arthur’s we had Champions League Soccer Match and a Poker Tournament. Both events went down very well.On Wednesday we had a five- a-side soc-cer tournament with a total of 12 teams entering, which is possibly the most we’ve ever had. Then later that night we had our Fresher’s Ball in Mezz Bar & Venue. Except for the fact that there ven-tilation broke down early in the night, it was mad night in this already mad week. We then finished of the week with Paint Ball, which was once again sold out.Similar to The Discovery Trip to Galway and Clare, were 135 spaces were booked in 3 days! Read on to find out how that went.

Up ComingOn Wednesday October 26th we will have our Halloween Ball, which is taking place in Bono’s and The Edge’s Kitchen Night Club in Temple Bar. Wristbands are on sale for €5, or you can pay €8 on the door. There’ll be prizes for best cos-tume, worst costume and prizes for ‘How did you even get past security’. The new Student’s Union Hoodies are also available in different colours like Red, Blue, Black, Purple, and Green all sizes are available Including T-shirts and Caps.At the end of October there will be a survey carried out by the SU to see if students would like library hours to be extended, if you’re not getting your study done by 10pm then you may want to fill this survey out.

That’s all from me for now,

See you soon,

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Shane Ronan-DugganClubs and Societies OfficerTel: 01 4150 460Mobile: 085 1191 317Email: su.sports@gcd.ie

What’s the craic all?

Hope we have all settled in nicely. As-signments creeping up now, that’s always a great laugh anyway. We have done so much in the Students’ Union over the past month and half I haven’t slept since the beginning of September. But it’s been well worth it. I have also forgotten to shave if you haven’t noticed! Also, this month I became good friends with Bono and a few other famous people (my true story will be revealed in the genuine article further on in the magazine). But my job is not to grow beards and meet famous people; it is to manage the clubs and societies in the college.

Freshers’ week kicked off nicely with sign-ups during the day on Monday and Tuesday. This year we had a huge demand for all our clubs and societies. If you signed up to anything don’t forget to attend any of the sessions related to the various clubs. Please feel free to pop into the SU and sign up for anything, any time. It only takes a minute.

SoccerSoccer kicked off this year firstly with the 5 a-side tournament on the Wednes-day of fresher’s week which proved to be a huge success with 12 teams compet-ing, there was also a wonderful referee that day whose name escapes me but he has adopted the nickname “eagle eye”.

Then we kicked off our training with two trial sessions with our new coach Richie Baker. Good numbers turned out but we could still do better. So look out on the Facebook page for training and also make sure your contact details are with me in the SU. Unfortunately, despite a full hearted effort we did go down to DBS in our first match of the season. But I am more than confident that the lads will bounce back from this and make us proud further down the line.

PokerPoker also started off during Fresh-ers’ week. Combined with Champions League matches it was a successful night. We had three tables of players full. We will be going again soon and intend to up our numbers for poker. We will be having a major poker tournament very soon. With your chance to become Griffith’s poker king or queen you would be mad to miss it. So look out for posters soon and keep glued to the Griffith SU Facebook page.

RugbyRugby training has started nicely with decent numbers showing up. A lot of people who have shown up are only beginners. But we would encourage that. Why not try out a new sport. You never know you might even be good at it. Get your kit on and get out now. Again as always check the Facebook page for updates and make sure you are signed up. A big thank you must go out to Niall McGrath who is been pushing rubgy to no foreseeable end

DanceDance classes started this week with Rock and Roll on the Monday and Salsa on the Wednesday. Both started of suc-cessfully. Make sure you attend the next one. You never know you might meet your partner. Dance partner that is (that is a poor joke I realise but I haven’t slept in a month). On Mondays we will be mix-ing up the styles of dance class we are doing so why not give it a try. Salsa on Wednesday is a great why start of your Wednesday night. Get your hearts racing on these nights? Trust me you won’t be disappointed. Hip-Hop will be starting up on Thursday the 20th of October.

PaintballPaintball was a great day out. I am pretty sure that my team won the overall day so that is in itself a success. I am pretty sure also that I did shoot quite a few of you with some pretty impressive shots I may say myself. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves very much, especially me. Look out for our next event. Due to the success of this one we will definitely be doing it again.

Yoga classes will begin on Tuesday the 18th of October, so make sure you stay in touch for information. Basketball, Cricket, Film, Choir, Creative Writing and Hip Hop classes will be going on soon if not already so make sure you keep in the loop through the Facebook page, posters or simply by popping into the students’ union. Also, this month I can announce the students’ union will present the first ever Griffith Grand Prix (GPP) Go Karting event with an overall champion to come out on top.

Any other questions on any of our clubs and societies drop me an email or call into me in the SU. Also, make sure you all grab your student handbooks for this year from the SU. Plus don’t forget to get your tickets for the Halloween monster ball on the 26th of October, they are only five euro if you buy them now and there are prizes on the night for fancy dress costumes. My costume will not disappoint! The reason for the beard will also come clear then as well.

Chat soon guys, hugs and kisses .

Shane.

State Of The Union

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The first few weeks in college immerse you into a whole new world, which can be both exciting and overwhelming. Trying to remember names, finding your way around the campus, getting lost in Dublin and getting used to new food...and weather!Leaving home and moving to Dublin, whether from another part of Ireland or another country, is a big event.I remember well arriving in Dublin from Scotland with only my rucksack and my Sony walkman. I knew no-body in Ireland. The weather was similar to Scotland, ex-

cept the rain was warmer. The food was different, and I missed, and still miss Scottish food. The names in Ireland were names I had never heard before - Siobhan, Sinead, Oisin, Darragh.Everyone gave me directions using only pubs as landmarks, never street names.Although I came from an English speaking country I failed to understand what people in Ireland meant when they said a child was BOLD, which I learned meant badly behaved. Irish people say sorry all the time when they often mean excuse me. They say yes to everything, when they often mean no. Having said all that I love living in Ireland. It is a unique place where it is possible to achieve anything you want in life.One of the biggest changes in starting college is learning to live with other people. This is a character building excercise for sure. Some people like noise, others quiet. Some people have very different tastes in music, ideas in cleanliness to you. Its not easy!Then there is the academic work. Going to lectures and study-ing. How many have yet to spend any time in the library? Studying in college is a discipline, especially with so many distractions. Try and develop good study habits now to avoid anxiety and panic later.Going to college means starting or sometimes ending relation-ships. Some of you will have boyfriends/girlfriends at home, and these relationships may change now that you are at college. It is difficult to maintain relationships at a distance.Some of you will get together with someone from your class, and it will be the greatest thing ever...or sometimes not! This is all part of college life, so enjoy the good times, and learn from the not so good. If anyone would like me to cover

any particular subject in future issues please let me know.

If anyone has any specific issues they would like to discuss in confidence, please email me and I will be happy to reply.

Carole WardlawStudent CoulsellerEmail: Carole.wardlaw@gmail.comMob: 087 972 9335

State Of The Union

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Dental Practice

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Freshers’ Week 2011

As many of you visit-ing Ireland may have noticed, the weather

here isn’t the very best. However, it seemed like somebody flipped the switch Freshers’ Week because from beginning to end we had im-maculate weather. A warm sunny week was just what we needed to kick off this year and we got it. What are the chances? Obviously, someone up there loves Griffith College. We had some high hope for this week as we had a turnout of almost 500 people for an event that took place before Freshers’ even started, and we were not disappointed. So, what went down Freshers’ Week...

Monday

With the Marquee erected on the island students were able to start off Freshers’ Week by signing up to all their favourite societies including Soccer, Bas-ketball, Yoga and, of course, Griffiti.

You may also have noticed the little green van on campus. This was supplied by Phantom FM who favoured us with a Live Broadcast, Griffith College live across Dublin!

If you weren’t signing up or rockin’ out to Phantom you were probably reliv-ing your childhood on the inflatables, those things are never a bad idea.

Then, because Griffith was the place to be that day, the Heiniken Rugby Cup arrived on campus.

We cannot forget the Party on the Green topped off by a number of live performances inculdeing two bands, a magician and a caricaturist (whose handy work can be viewed in ‘State of the Union’). Once the live music ended The Party on the Green became The Party in Arthur’s Bar. With excellent drink pro-mos and everyone just getting to know each other this

was an epic night, indeed,

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Freshers’ Week 2011

Tuesday

Wow, and that was just Monday, Fresh-ers’ had just begun! After such a long day we decided to take it easy on Tuesday. We had the Ping Pong tournament downstairs in the Student’s Union. The destination that night was once again Arthur’s Bar, but not to party hard. We had a relaxing night of Poker and Cham-pions’ League.

Even though buy backs were only al-lowed until 9:30pm the battle raged on until 2:30am so it wasn’t exactly the relaxing night that we had planned, but a great time was had by all none-the-less. After many hours of plottng and scheme-ing the poker tournamnet was finally won by Julien Dupre, picture below holding his many riches.

Wednesday

After a whole day’s rest we were up and ready for another day of it. Shane was kept busy most of the day refereeing the five side soccer on the green. This grueling clash of titans was finally won by Team Dukaay.After a quick shower and a shave it was time for the Freshers’ Ball at the Mezz Bar in Temple Bar where attendees had the choice of a dj down stairs or a live reggae band upstairs, both went down well, and at five Euro entry if you bought your ticket from the SU, this night was a bargain. As always, your fearless SU members made sure you all got their in one piece. For the second time in Freshers’ Week, Griffith Students’ partied long into the night putting surrounding bars to shame.

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ThursdayOnce again we were in need of a chill-out day. You may have competed in the Wii Tournament in the Students’ Union, a competition we hold in very high regard indeed, here in Griffith College. Thursday evening was spent by many in Arthur’s Bar for the Pub Quiz (to be renamed ‘internet phone quiz’ next year) presented by Shane Ronan-Duggan and Ian Donegan. By the end of the quiz,‘The Skittles’ stood victorious. However, the show did not end there. They could take their prize, a goodie bag, or they could gamble. This meant that one more round was open to everyone. One question would be asked and the closest to the right answer would win. If the winners won they would get the goodie bag and a hoodie each. If one of the other teams won they would get the goodie bag.The question was ‘How many tones does the Eiffel Tower weigh?’. The closest to the answer was the one man team Ng Choon Yon, our Malaysian buddy, pictured right holding his well deserved goodie bag.

Friday

The end of Fresher’s Week was marked by a paintball trip, even though we were all after a very long, very awesome week, a crowd of fifty students turned up at the SU Friday morning to bring a world of pain to their fellow classmates. As with the rest of Freshers’ Week, we had the weather and we had a group of insane students ready for a great time.

Fresher’s Week 2011 was a screaming success and a great start to the year usually means a great one ahead. Keep up the good work guys, if we continue this kind of madness until May then this is going to be a year that will never, ever be forgotten!

Freshers’ Week 2011

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Party

People

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It was a grey day and the rain was hammering on my window. Not unusual for a summer afternoon in Norway. But when I turned on the TV I realised that it wasn’t thunder I heard minutes before. A bomb had gone off in Oslo.

It was the day when the un-thinkable happened. The day when Norway got attention from every corner of the world. It all happened very fast. No one knew what was going on. But most disturbing, no one knew what would happen next. The police warned us not to leave our homes, and to stay out of the city centre. Not long after the shooting on Utøya began. This time the message from the police

was not to call the people at the island; they were hiding from the killer.

As the hours went by more questions were answered, and more horror filled the Norwe-gian people. We were all glued to the TV screen, and went to bed that night thinking “Is this really happening?” But the real shock came early Sunday morning. The headlines that morning made my heart stop; at least 80 people were dead. Shot, killed, and gone forever.

Andreas Behring Breivang planned his attacks for nine years, and described his actions as“gruesome but necessary”. He dressed up as police man, told the terrified children they were safe, and then shot them dead.

The day that changed Norway forever

by Pia Stromme

Thousands mourn their lost ones in Oslo City after Andreas Breivik’s Ter-rorist attack

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Gruesome doesn’t even cover it. How can one man commit such a crime, and have no respect for another person’s life? How can one man have so much hatred and not feel any regret?

Jens Stoltenberg, the Norwegian Prime Minister, said: “I have a message for the culprit, and the people behind them. It is a message from all of Norway. You will not destroy us. You will not destroy our democracy or our efforts for a better world. We’re a small nation, yet a proud one.No one will bomb us to silence, no one will shoot us to silence. No one will ever scare us from being Norway. Tonight we will take care of each other, comfort each other, talk together and stand together.”Two days later two hundred thousand people gathered in the capital. It was a march for peace.

It was difficult to understand what had really happened and it was hard to ac-cept. Brutally and suddenly, Norway’s capital was turned into what looked like a war zone. However, it didn’t take long before candles and flowers filled the streets.

The people who survived the Utøya mas-sacre told stories we will never forget. How they jumped in the freezing water trying to escape the island, and how many of them never made it to the main-

land. How Breivang shot the children hiding in their tents. How he ran after them, cheering and shooting at everyone he could spot, even those hiding under dead bodies, their dead friends.

We are all left with many unanswered questions.

The war against terror seems to be a bad dream that is hard to wake up from. So much blood has been spilled over political and religious differences; and what has been achieved?

Maybe we can find a little comfort in the hope that the man behind these murders

meets justice. He now faces the possibil-ity of the longest prison sentence that has ever been passed in Norway, 30 years. But nothing will ever give us back the lives of those we have lost or give justice to the crimes he committed.

We are a small nation, and this affects us all. Our hearts go out to those who lost a son, a daughter, a brother or sister; a friend or a loved one. Now whenever I hear the thunder, I hear the bomb and my thought go back to what happened in Oslo on 22 July 2011. This will be remembered as a day filled with shock, tears, loss and anger. A day like we have witnessed from a distance time before. 9/11, 7/7 and the bombing in Madrid. But this time the distance was gone.

“When one man can show so much hatred, imagine how much love we can show together.” Member of AUF and survivor of the attack.

“No one will bomb us to silence, no one will shoot us to silence”

Many children will never know their brothers, sisters or parents because of the whims of one man

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Every year hundreds of stu-dents travel from China to Ire-land to study here at Griffith College to experience our lan-guage and culture. This year a group of Irish students from Griffith would get the chance to visit China and learn about the country where so many of our fellow students come from.

There were six of us on the trip, former SU President Gra-ham Butler, Morana Mavr-icek, Gordon Connor, Aaron Dignam, Selene Ramirez, and myself. We flew to the City of Changsha, which is the capital city of Hunan located in south-central China. We arrived to an incredible welcome from the students of Hunan Uni-versity of Commerce who we first spotted thanks to the large green sign with “Griffith Col-lege – Graham Butler & Irish friends” emblazoned across it. They were an incredibly

friendly group and we were very impressed with the stan-dard of their English.

We found the people of Changsha to be very friendly and welcoming. The city does not get many westerners so we were frequently getting stared at and photographed, with some of the more adventurous locals asking if they could take their picture with us.

Over the next few days we got to explore the city and be-come acquainted with daily life in Changsha. The students who accompanied us showed us all the best places to eat and I think we were able to settle

in to the city and experience more of the culture than if we had been by ourselves. We also got an extensive tour of Hunan University’s campus, their library alone could easily hold several AF buildings.

We attended several classes where we learnt about college life in Changsha, some basic Chinese, and we were shown presentations prepared by the students teaching us about Chinese history and customs as well as showing us tradi-tional crafts such as Origami, Paper cutting, and cross stitch.

Chinese Students are thriving in Ireland but how did six Irish students feel about two weeks in China

The Advenutres of Oscar Finn in China

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We also gave presentations on Irish life & culture, however we let the side down a little when we were requested to demonstrate traditional Irish dancing, despite Graham’s enthusiasm.

After the classes we travelled to Yuelu Mountain which overlooks the city. While there, we got to visit the Yuelu Academy which was the predecessor to Hunan University, it was founded in 976AD and was one of the four most prestigious acad-emies over the last 1000 years in China.

The next night we travelled to Orange Island to see the fa-mous fireworks display which are a sight not to be missed, afterwards we drank beer on the rooftop of our friends apartment building which gave us an amazing view of the city.

One of the biggest surprises of the trip was the three day ‘home stay’ where we had the chance to live with a Chinese family. The family I stayed with were amazing, I gained a great insight into Chinese life and they also introduced me to their collection of home-brew wine, which was very tasty indeed.

In the evenings we went shopping which is different to Ireland as you haggle over everything, to the extent that if you offer to pay the marked price some of the retailers seem disappointed that you don’t want to play the “name your price” game.

After shopping we would go to amazing restaurants, the food was incredible and I don’t think I have ever been so well fed in all my life. I

was lucky that I have been us-ing chopsticks from a young age but some of our group had a steep learning curve in order to prevent starvation, however after the initial real-ization that chopsticks work very differently to a knife and fork they were able to get stuck in.

After the home stay we regrouped in Changsha before hitting the road to visit Sha-oshan, the birthplace of Mao Zedong. It was quite a surreal experience as it was a major Chinese tourist attraction but with us being the only west-erners to be seen many in the crowd were as curious about us as the birthplace of their former chairman.

Our adventure in Changsha was drawing to a end but before we left the university hosted an amazing closing ceremony were we had a big party and the students sang and performed traditional dances, yours truly was even asked to give an address to the group, fortunately I could speak in English but thanks to some excellent translation work by my new friends I was able to say a few words in mandarin.

Our next stop was Hebei University. When we arrived we were warmly greeted and brought to dinner in the cam-pus restaurant where they had prepared a most impressive selection of food. After dinner the students had prepared an evening of entertainments fea-turing everything from poetry, traditional calligraphy, pop music and even Kung Fu.

The next morning we were treated to a breakfast where we sampled some of the local delicacies, it was quite an ex-perience to sit down to break-

fast at 6am and be confronted with a bowl of porridge and a tray of donkey burgers. The vegetarians among us found this a particularly unique way to start the day. Truth be told the burgers were rather tasty but I think it will be a while before the option of a McDonkey and fries becomes a regular feature in Ireland.

After breakfast we travelled by bus to The Great Wall which was an amazing experi-ence, it is one of the world’s most famous landmarks and to actually walk along it was incredible.

On our second last day we visited Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. In order to enter the Square you have to go through a security checkpoint like at an airport, however what we found most surprising was the walls along the checkpoint were plas-tered with Westlife posters for their upcoming tour. It is surprising to see how popular Westlife are in Asia although somewhat less popular after Graham and I decimated their back catalogue in a karaoke bar a few nights previous.

As with the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City were incred-ible sights and I had to stop and pinch myself so I knew I was really there. Having only seen pictures of the Forbidden City I never realized the scale of it, we were there for a few

hours and we saw a lot but I reckon you could spend a week exploring it.

We spent our last day in Beijing shopping like it was going out of fashion and in the evening we discovered an Irish Bar called ‘Danger Doyles’ which became sig-nificantly more Irish after we walked in, however they did do a fine pint of Guinness. We sat at the rooftop bar looking out over the city and remi-nisced about our adventures. The China trip truly was a once in a lifetime experience and on behalf of the group I would like to say thank you to everyone involved in making it happen.

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Let it never be said that Griffith Students don’t make the most of a great opportunity. This weekend was nothing short of epic and it was the combined forces of the SU staff and 135 party-hungry students that made it so. Few of us knew that over the next three days we would get little more than six hours sleep and would be dead on our feet by Sunday.At 9:30am on Friday 14 October a crowd of excited people were to be seen outside the Students Union, ready for action. They were loaded on the bus and we were off. Our first point of call was the Fore Abbey, an old Bene-dictine ruin, situated to the north of Lough Lene in County West-

meath. The abbey sports seven wonders including a tree that can’t be burned and water that runs up hill.Leaving the abbey’s wonders, we set our sites on Galway City where we would spend our first night. You would think that hav-ing been up so early, traveled so far and seen so much that our group would want to see nothing more but bed. Not the case. No sooner were we at the hostel when the questions started. “Where now?” “Are we going out?” “Where is the nightclub?”. We first went to ‘The Hole in the Wall’ Pub, a cozy Irish bar that holds a special place in Shane Ronan-Duggan’s heart, please

see him for further information. 11:00pm rolled around and we left the pub and moved to the night-club, Club K. Considering how hard every-one was partying and that they showed no signs of stopping any time soon it was something of a miracle that everyone was to be found outside the hostel the next morning ready to go again. In-deed, Ian Donegan did not arrive back at the hostel until 10:25am (check out was 10:30am). No one is quite sure what became of him that night.However, pondering the myster-ies of the previous night, we were once again on the road. This time headed for Connemara National

Discovery Trip 2011

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Park. I kid you not, one of the most beautiful places I have ever set foot. If we were not acting like kids in the playground we were exploring the park. It is huge, green, mountainous and awesome with sites that could keep you staring for hours.We managed to tear our eyes from the park and we traveled a mere five minutes down the road to Kylemore Abbey. A huge, lake-side castle which once belonged to the family of Henry Mitch-ell. The castle is filled with the antiques which were once the art-work and equipment used by the castle’s staff and residents. If we weren’t learning about life in the olden days in the Abbey we were taking in the landscape, whose beauty rivaled even that that of the National Park.Having got our fill of culture for the day we were off to County Clare and our second hostel, Sleepzone. Ironically, no one got very much sleep there. Now I was bewildered. All the laws of physics and biology dictate that every student should have collapsed on their beds for the night once we were back at the hostel having had two very busy days, a night out in between. But no, we were no sooner there when we were on our way to a very traditional Irish pub called The Roadside Tavern where there was live music and free food for all. I doubt the Tavern has ever, nor is it likely to ever again see such a diverse group of nationalities all drinking,

singing and going wild together. It is unlikely that any of the resi-dents of the surrounding houses got much sleep either, so great were the waves of sound booming from the pub that night.When the pub finally kicked us out we went back to the hostel, but the party did not end there. Luckily, the hostel was inhab-ited exclusively by the Students of Griffith College that night as we went hard at it until 8:00am. Some of us got an hour or two in bed then it was time to see the Cliffs of Moher which is con-sidered by many to be the eighth wonder of the world. Words and pictures simply cannot capture the sheer awesomeness of the place, you have to see it for yourself.Our cameras full of photos and our heads full of memories we would not be forgetting anytime soon, we were back on the bus. The destination this time was the much missed Griffith College.A very long, very enjoyable weekend had just passed and now we were back at college. I bet you think it ended there and then. Madness! This is Griffith! Off the bus, home, shower, shave and down to the Headline Bar for the after-party were the locals lis-tened wordlessly to all our thrill-ing tales of sites and insomnia. This was the last session of the

weekend. It is said that a few students even yawned towards the end of the night. But, alas, we had to return to the real world of study and assignments the next day so we finally put our heads down for more sleep than we had had in days.Personally, I cannot wait for the next trip next semester. I will definitely be on it. I can only hope that we have a crowd of students as wild and party hungry as the 135 we had this weekend. What am I saying, of course we will. THIS IS GRIFFITH!

17

Untitled-2 2 10/17/2011 1:15:18 PM

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Free Bets during Cheltenham

Issue 45.indd 16 10/14/2011 9:40:32 AM

In Ireland

I came to Ireland on 17th of October this year. It is my first time here.

During the plain landing there were only two thoughts in my head: “Gosh, I am alone now” and “Gosh! I am in Ireland!” To tell the truth, the second won. However, GCD had decided to play a small joke and sent a true old Dubliner to collect me from the airport. His accent was so thick that I could hardly understand a word, even though it was English, a language that I used to study for years at school. I was completely mixed up, because if I did not understand his speech how was I supposed to study in English?

But then it turned out to be much better as I realized it is not that bad and this accent is also understandable, you just need to get used to it.

In few days I have found out that Irish culture is quite different from Russian. But we still have something in common like

small streets, covered with paving blocks and huge cathedrals with amazing paintings of famous artists.

The first thing that we think, while speak-ing about this countries is, I believe, a pas-sion for drinking – both Russians and Irish really like to spend long evenings in pubs and both agree that Irish pubs are the best.

I should definitely mention that both nations are very welcoming and glad to see other people most of the time. I have not met something like that in any other part of the world, where most people just don’t care, unless you pay them. Not everyone, of course, but still it is really nice when you can give someone a smile and then find yourself in the pub with the pint of Guinness, drinking with this person as if you knew each other for ages.

Also, Irish and Russian climates are very alike. Though Ireland doesn’t have such extreme temperatures in winter and Russia doesn’t have such crazy winds, but I really feel that it turns situation to better in each case.

One of the biggest differences is open

mindedness. It seems that we have lost the most part of ours during the Soviet Union. But we are now moving to recovery.

Another point is prices. To compare, €1 is approximately 42 rubles. But in Dublin you can cook a good dinner for €5 and eat out for €10 and in Russia you can make a dinner for 50 rubles and have it in cafe for one thou-sand. See the difference? Me too.

But the wages are also different. Even though it is not the best time for Ireland they pay each other much more money. Though, prices are also higher, so it sounds fare.

In the end, one more same thing is that either in Ireland or in Russia you are never completely alone. There is always someone standing by your side. And it is great, espe-cially if you are a foreigner.

From Russia to IrelandByAnastasiya Bondarenko

So there I was, just finished school back home in Berlin. I thought I had the whole world at my feet - “I can do what-ever I want, I can go wherever I want”, in theory. Meanwhile in reality, I was stepping off a plane in Dublin Airport.

It all started when a friend told me, after she returned from living in Ireland that I would love it. Then it occured to me “of course”, that little green island I mainly knew from fairy-tales.

Obviously there were no leprechauns, no fairies and no pot o’ gold at the end

of the rainbow. At least one thing was true- the rain, the constant rain!

As a result I spent the next few months thinking about this “friend” giving me advise to move here.

I moved from a city that never sleeps with plenty of cheap things to do, to a town where you are physically ejected

from a club when the clock strikes 3, where pubs actually make a profit, drinks get taken off you on the street and a public transport system I’d rather not talk about.

Back home you are surrounded by political hipsters talking about evil capitalismall day, whereas in Dublin the inability to buy a drink after 10pm takes the award for the inconvenience of the century. This also caused me to learn that it is very dangerous to bring your Irish friends to Berlin - sleep is the the last thing on the agenda and you are com-parable to a war criminal if you are not drunk 24/7.

As I settled in I learned the fundamen-tals like that there is no camomile tea or mint tea, there is only TEA ! Also, there is apparantly nothing better than a hot whisky to fight against a cold.

Another lesson I learned is that being spoiled for choice is just as bad as being deprived of choices when planning your weekend, so there is something the two cities have in common.

Back home there is a motivating slogan said amongst students “Poor but sexy!”,

if I was to apply it to Ireland it would probably be “Poor but at least drunk!”. If you consider it, it is propably not that bad, it helps us to deal with the reces-sion. Obviously leaving out the mystery and contradiction of how everyone can still afford drink.

However after 2 years living here I consider Ireland to be my grey blurry 2nd home. By moving here I learned a lot. I got to know that I should never say Ireland is just like another England, I learned about the existence of fake tan and full body make-up. Additionally I figured out that mumbling is the secret to the irish accent, I learned about the vari-ous possibilities on how to sneak drink into clubs and most of all to never trust property descriptions on daft.ie.

“There is no camomile tea or mint tea, there is

only TEA !”

My Little Green 2nd HomeByViviane Stroede

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Issue 45.indd 17 10/14/2011 9:40:32 AM

I want to be like you

Many children grow up dreaming of being one of their favourite characters from the world of media. Young boys have strong, athletic and inde-pendent male role models to look up to. Girls, on the other hand are left with skinny supermodels, TV housewives and sex symbols. While the media industry is glorifying the physical beauty of women, one might ask if young girls need better role models to aspire towards. Psychologist, Doctor David J. Carey, says it is extremely important for young children to grow up with healthy role models in the media. “Chil-dren learn how to be adults by watching adults, not by listening to what they tell them to do.”A study carried out by Doctor Maya Götz for the Inter-national Central Institute for Youth and Educational Television shows that while women make up 49 percent of the world population, only 32 percent of the main characters on TV are female characters.

The study also

shows that the only medium where girls are over-represented are Magazines. Nevertheless, 70 percent of the editorial content in teen magazines focuses on beauty and fashion, while only 12 percent talks about school or careers. The media is a powerful in-stitution that directs attention and shapes cultural attitudes and values. Society’s message of what girls should be like does not add up with their self-images. Dr. Carey believes that the role models in today’s media are not healthy for young girls. “[In the world of fash-ion and glamour] it is beauty that is the most sought after thing, to be thin to, have the best clothes, to conform and try to be like everyone else. We need young people, men and women, boys and girls

who can be indi-

viduals.” While boys can look up to healthy, athletic role models in the world of sports. It is unfortunately not the same for young girls. Despite the growth in women’s sports in the last three decades, elite female athletes typically receive only about 20 percent of print media coverage. Sue Ronan, the president of the Women’s Football Asso-ciation of Ireland (WFAI), be-lieves that the lack of female presence in the sports media make girls feel that sports is for boys. She adds; “I think it’s important for young girls to see role models in sport as it encourages them to partici-pate and some others to aspire to be the best.” It is scientifically proven that sports are essential not only for the physical fitness and growth of a child, but also for its mental growth. Doctor Carey believes that

Are the role models portrayed in today’s media healthy for young girls?

By Martina Pettersen

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Issue 45.indd 18 10/14/2011 9:40:33 AM

sports can help kids to suc-ceed in the future, by show-ing them that everyone can go out there and strive to be their best and work hard. Nevertheless, women are also misrepresented in sports media. While male athletes are often portrayed in images as muscular, aggressive and sweaty, women are usually shown as sex symbols or in traditional female roles such as wives and mothers. Madeline Hawke from the Irish Feminist Network believes that people have a difficulty going against social stereotypes. “The concept of women being strong, competitive and driven goes against what we are cultur-ally familiar with and that makes it hard to engage with female sports”.Irish society over the last century has being witness to a number of successful achieving women who are giving leadership across the many diverse areas of human endeavor and whose success is not an end in itself but rather the start of a respon-sibility to empower other women. There are successful women out there. In the world of sports Katie Taylor, an Irish boxer and footballer has won the World Championship Gold Medal in boxing 3 times and she has scored several goals for the Ireland Senior Women’s Football Team. Madeline Hawke believes that since many large sporting events have historically been limited to male sports it has contributed to a lack of exposure to talented female ath-letes, making many people unfamiliar with the skill and aptitude that women have for sport.The Women’s Na-tional League that will be launched on October 20th

of this year and kicked off in November, might be the boost young girls need to see that female athletes can be successful and play on a high professional level.The League is the corner-stone of the FAI’s Womens Development Plan, which was launched in 2006 and it

aims to nurture and develop talent to a whole new level. After the launch of the de-velopment plan, the numbers of registered female play-ers have doubled, coaching standards have improved nationwide and international rankings have increased at all age levels. Ronan believes that the

Women’s National League “will be testament to the work that the FAI and the WFAI have been doing so tirelessly to grow the women’s

game”. If women can over-

come a traditionally male dominated media industry maybe one day young girls can have better role models to look up to than Paris Hilton and

Britney Spears. “Any oppor-

tunity for young women to see assertive, poised, present-able women is a very positive thing. Be that in sports or in the business world it is very good because it sets an excellent example to what a woman can become”, Dr. Carey adds.

“Children learn how to be adults

by watching adults, not by listening to what they tell them

to do”

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Issue 45.indd 19 10/14/2011 9:40:34 AM

Arctic Monkeys – Suck It and See Alex Turner could never be accused of being a layabout. Ever since Arctic Monkeys’ debut in 2006, he has man-aged to record an album almost every subsequent year (what happened in 2010, Alex?!). Suck It and See isn’t even the prolific frontman’s sole record from 2011 - check out the soundtrack he pro-vided for Richard Ayoade’s Submarine, his first solo release. But it’s the Sheffield outfit’s fourth long player (dodgy title and all) that proves he is one of the most talented artists around. The follow-up to the underrated Humbug is full of the lyrical bite and wit Turner is known for; not to mention the strong performances by all mem-bers of the band from start

to finish (most notably Matt Helders’ ferocious drum-ming). Tracks like ‘That’s Where You’re Wrong’, ‘Love is a Laserquest’ and ‘The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala’ are particular highlights that help make a case for Arctic Monkeys to be considered among the consistently great acts working today

Bon Iver – Bon IverJustin Vernon has avoided the sophomore slump with this luscious, atmospheric album; a much more band-orientated affair than For Emma, Forever Ago. In the four years since For Emma’s release, the Wisconsin native brought out 2009’s Blood Bank EP, kept busy with side projects (Gayngs, Volcano Choir, as well as Kanye West collaborations) and carefully crafted this ten-song collec-tion. There’s no mythical

back-story this time around, just first-rate song writing and musicianship as shown on songs such as ‘Calagary’, ‘Holocene’ and ‘Perth’. He saves the biggest surprise for last – the Bruce Hornsby-ap-ing ‘Beth/Rest’, which has divided fans thanks to the cheese-tastic use of a Korg M1; a little too close to Phil Collins territory for some. But once again, it is Vernon’s voice that is the star of the show; his falsetto remains incomparable to his peers. On the basis of this form, we don’t mind how long it takes for album number three. The wait for this has been more than worth it.

The Horrors – SkyingHands up who thought The Horrors would turn out to be this good? When

they emerged in 2007 with Strange House, the London five-piece were dismissed as more of a haircut than a band. It was easy to sneer at their image (and the music to some extent), but 2009’s Primary Colours proved all doubt-ers wrong. While it wore its inspirations on its sleeve (numerous shoegaze and krautrock acts), the album displayed The Horrors knack for reinterpreting the past and making it sound current. Skying demonstrates this skill even further by throwing more influences in the mix (synth pop, baggy, Britpop) and also showing off their tal-ents as producers. With ‘Still Life’ they’ve created one of the finest singles of the year (managing to evoke Simple Minds in a good way) and in ‘Moving Further Away’ they possess a worthy sequel to their best song to date – ‘Sea Within a Sea’ – that never wastes any of its eight-plus minutes. While Skying may not be as excellent from beginning to end as Primary Colours, it’s a welcome ad-dition to an increasingly impressive catalogue.

Summer Music Overviewby Jack Ryan

As their name suggests, originality is the keyword of this young new band formed in march 2011, their debut single “Stars in my eyes” , available on iTunes on this

14th October, is the proof of that. As a matter of fact the “Original Rudeboys” is the first hip-pop band that combines a soulful and delicate voice, like the one of Robert Burch ,who opens this song with an extreme tenderness, with the raw and “dirty” voice of Sean Arkins, also known as Neddy, who is engaged with a softer way of rapping. These two different ways of singing have been strictly related and perfectly matched by the sound of the ukulele , played by Sean Walsh and by the melody of the acoustic guitar. “Stars in my eyes” is a puzzle of pieces so different from each other , that perfectly match together and are able to create something bitter - sweet, melancholic and light-hearted at the same time. That’s the

surprise and the key of the huge success this trio is having right now. Most likely the two voices of the trio ,Rob and Sean, would have never reached that success by themselves because of their own genres, one pop and the other one hip-hop, which are competitive and difficult fields to as-sert yourself. But their fusion highlights their voices and achieves a great success all over the world despite the strong North Dublin accent of Sean. That’s probably the point: the audience is looking for something surprising and new, something different from all the songs listened before and these three young Dubliners suc-ceeded in that creating a new sound and a new music concept.

The Origional Rude Boys By Chiara Pizzi

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Issue 45.indd 20 10/14/2011 9:40:49 AM

New Releases

Blink 182 - Neighborhoods

It sounds too much like Plus 44, It sounds too much like Angels and Airwaves, this is just a sample of what I have heard regarding Blink 182’s album, Neighbourhoods. I for one am at a loss as to why this is a surprise to anyone. The fact of the matter is that Mark Hoppus and Tom Delonge haven’t written a song together for the best part of six years before beginning work on Neighbourhoods.

It is only natural that their singing style will be more similar to that heard on Angels and Airwaves and Plus 44 albums than the late 90’s early 00’s hits that were Enema of the State and Take off your Pants and Jacket. If you are looking for flaws in something you are going to find them. If, however, you are a proper Blink 182 fan or a fan of Alternative rock music in general you will love this album. This is Blink 182s most ac-complished and mature work since forming in 1992. Take the opening song “Ghost on the Dance Floor” its 80’s rock stadium filling chorus of “I saw your ghost tonight the moment felt so real, if your eyes stay right on mine my wounds would start to heal” this is a tribute to long time friend of Hoppus and Barker, Adam Goldstein (DJ AM) who died tragically in August of 2009.

This is a far cry from a band whose original claim to fame was a music video in which they spent the entirety of naked, and a hit single that poked fun of the major pop stars of the day. This new album has shown the diversity of Blink 182’s song writing on a whole new level, whether it’s the sombre tones of “Kaleidescope” to the pop punk rollercoaster ride that is “Hearts all Gone” to the alternative sing along “Even if she falls” this album has really showcased the talents of the legendary pop punk trio. Perhaps the one constant throughout the album is the unquestionable talent of Travis Barker, his ability to call on drumming styles from a wide variety of music is perhaps unparalleled.

To sum up, this album is Blink 182s most polished work to date and will certainly satisfy not only its already large fan base but bring in new fans due to its maturity.

Trivium - In Waves

How do you create a masterpiece of modern metal? Is it a conscious effort on the part of the artists or is it something more organic? – a confluence of events and moods, emotions and me-chanics that all come together in the right place at the right time? That’s the question that comes to mind upon the first listen to Trivium’s fifth studio album, the mighty “In Waves”. Guitars rip, drums pound, bass thunders and lyrics resonate as the Floridian quartet soars past the bar set by its critically-lauded predecessor “SHOGUN”. If Shogun was the sounding of the trumpets, then “In Waves” is the arrival of the hordes: dense, aggressive and inescapable.

Over the years we have seen Trivium grow and explore new sounds; from the hit or miss sounds of The Crusade and the over “Metallicisation” of Heafy’s lyrics to the band’s best received stu-dio effort Shogun, listeners’ didn’t know what to expect. For the most part In Waves does hit the heights anticipated by fans, even with it’s rather radio rock soundings. On most tracks it is easy to notice the use of hooks which increases the album’s overall catch-iness as well as creates a more memorable listen. On the other hand, this may promote a repetitive feel to some songs. Some of the heaviest songs on the album include “Dusk Dismantled,” “A Skyline Severance” and “Chaos Reigns”. All of these tracks feature intricate drum rhythms, up-tempo guitar riffs and some of the most powerful vocals from Heafy.

What makes “In Waves” dynamic is the many layers the band displays, as captured in songs such as “Inception of the End” and “Caustic Are the Ties That Bind.” Heafy’s voice goes from screams to an angelic harmony in one of the last tracks on the album, “Of All These Yesterdays,” which has a lullaby element to it at the beginning. It is simplistic, yet it has a swift pace and an epic chorus, not to mention an impressive guitar solo. Trivium has put together an album that will get plenty of air and stage time while recruiting thousands of new fans. In my opinion, their more simplistic approach to song-writing on this record has made for an album that is nothing but pure badass heavy metal that fans will know and love, and that will establish them as a force to reckoned with in the metal world.

John Enright Thomas Moylan 23

Issue 45.indd 21 10/14/2011 9:41:02 AM

The Oxjam festival is running all over Ireland and the UK at the moment, aiming to raise money and awareness for Oxfam. The festival, taking place in pubs, schools and on the streets, is expected to attract almost 250 000 visitors from the first to the 30th of October. The participants are bands and solo artists of all genres. This year the festival offers around 2500 concerts, among them a busking festival in Dundalk and a so called Takeover, where Oxjam will be taking over 8 venues on Dame Street in Dublin on the 30th of October. Another example of an Oxjam event is an Ipod party, an event where an Ipod is being used as a jukebox during a party. This really shows the variety of events that is on during the festival. Ger Murphy, Event and Outreach Coordinator at Oxfam said, “Anything slightly music related can be thrown in under the Oxjam umbrella.”There are also concerts in sec-ondary schools, bands coming into Oxfam shops to play and the regular concerts in venues all over Ireland and the UK. The festival is allowing for anyone to organise and/or participate in a music event in the name of Oxjam and raise money for charity.During the past five years Oxfam have raised €5 million through the Oxjam festival, money that has gone into the different Oxfam projects. Ac-

cording to Murphy the bands usually leave it up to Oxfam to place the money where it is needed, however, as an organiser you can choose where you want to donate the revenues. For example, the reggae band Barley Mob, chose to have the money they raised donated to projects aimed at helping the earth-

quake victims in Japan. Murphy believes the success of Oxjam lies in the fact that anyone can participate and organize an event, giving the organiser a sense of owner-ship. Not to be forgotten is the power of the mi-crophone, “Whether you are on a stage in front of ten people or 10000 people you have a voice that has to be listened to.” Patrick Geoghe-gan from Wexford, lead guitarist of the band

BIRD, arranged a concert with Oxjam in 2008. Geoghe-gan felt that combining music with charity suited him perfectly, “Music is a huge passion of mine, so I thought, what better way to get involved with a charitable cause than through music?” The concert had several bands playing at a venue in Wex-

ford and the entrance fee was donated to Oxjam.Johno Leader, singer and gui-tarist in the band The Radioc-tive Grandma was contacted by the Oxjam team and asked

to play a gig for Oxjam dur-

ing this year’s

fes-tival. In this

case Oxjam orga-

nized the event taking place in Maynooth on the first of Oc-tober. Leader points out that any band taking themselves seriously will take the chance to play in front of an audi-ence, especially when Oxjam is presenting a platform for their music.Murphy explains that here are three different kinds of Oxjam gigs, the Do It Your-self (DIY), where the band itself choses to organise the concert. In this case Oxjam will help out with PR material and advice. The second type is the kind where Oxjam joins in with big bands with already planned concerts for PR purposes, getting the audience to sign different Oxfam peti-tions. The third kind is where the Oxjam team organises the gig themselves. Oxjam is the music branch of the charity organisation Ox-fam, working against poverty and injustices all around the world. Oxjam is an ongoing project that first started in Northern Ireland in 2006 and then quickly spread all over Ireland and the UK. It culmi-nates in the Oxjam festival in October every year.

The Oxjam Festival

“Whether you are on a stage in front of 10 people or 10000 people you have a voice that

has to be listened to”

Ken O’Neill Oxjamming

Turning music into money

By Kristin Karlsson

Issue 45.indd 22 10/14/2011 9:42:00 AM

“Dublin Contemporary” is a visual arts museum that runs from 6th September until 31st October and is intended to be a regular annual event. They have several exhibitions around Dublin, but their main one is at Earlsfort Terrace, former home of University College Dublin. Its theme, “Terrible Beauty – Art, Crisis, Change & The Office of Non-Compliance”, is not particularly positive, but complements the doom and gloom of the past few years.

The building itself is majestic, with its high ceilings and massive staircases. The old look of the interior fits perfectly with the theme. One could easily be lost in-side, the interior is much bigger than the exterior of the building would suggest. In addition to the main building at Earlsfort Terrace, an additional building, outside the main building, called “The Annex”, hosts several more artworks.

Many of the works were difficult to decipher, but as the theme suggests, light, fun artworks were not on the menu. The most memorable artwork was a gigantic cot with dozens of televisions

hovering above it, broadcasting various news channels. People were allowed to climb onto it, and many people could be seen relaxing on it while gazing at the televisions unaware of the message the artist was trying to convey: that we are subjected to the media from all angles from a young age.

Other memorable artworks included a video attempting to hypnotise its audi-ence. Another one was a creepy live performance called “Spit, spit, scrub, scrub”, where three performers were wrapped in a gigantic silk cloth, drool-ing and babbling at their audience. Some others worth mentioning were a massive mesh of barbed wire hung on the ceiling, and a fun interactive video installation, “Studio 1: Plus/Minus”, where one can create patterns on the wall.

Most of the staff work on a volunteer basis, but were friendly, helpful and knowledgeable, as was demonstrated when a curator explained to us the mo-tive and history behind a painting.

One could be forgiven for leaving the exhibition in a heavier mood as Studio 1: Plus/Minus was one of the only displays that was intended to bring smiles to faces.

You should prepare your wallet, as student tickets cost €10, and adult tickets cost €15. Information booklets, food, and beverages are also available on the ground floor.

All in all, this museum is worth a visit. It succeeded to entertain and made me think for the best part of two hours. The quantity of different and culturally diverse artists who brought their work to the exhibition highlights how ambitious and successful this exhibition has been.

An exhibition that fits its era

David Yip visits the ‘Contemporary Art’ exhibition in Earlsfort Terrace.

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Issue 45.indd 23 10/14/2011 9:42:01 AM

Griffiti at the Movies

Red State is a departure from what we’re used to from Kevin Smith - Equal parts horror, action and teen comedy, never quite settling on one. The plot is suitably thin, a trio of sex-starved teens are abducted by some hillbilly nutcases and realise

they’re going to die in order of attractiveness. Smith, however, has infused this well-worn plot with some political sideswipes, mostly directed at extreme right-wing religious groups, but also at US government policy.

This makes for a thematically awkward movie jumping between styles at rapid pace. Red State isn’t a bad movie, but it feels as if it were made for two different audiences who don’t mix. The shifts in style and sudden, unexpected twists suit those with the attention span of a 6-year old full of cola, but long-winded dialogue seems to speak exclusively to Smith’s personal preference for slow paced comedy.

After a speedy introduction to our heroes, who are barely given any characterisation, we jump to a nine minute mono-logue from Michael Parks. It’s almost as if Smith couldn’t quite put together a full-length movie with a tangible plot.

We might not care for the protagonists, but the members of the ‘Five Point Church’ are wonderfully hateable, if a little one-dimensional. They’re introduced as being similar to the West-boro Baptist Church, famous for celebrating God’s dislike for cigarettes, and the opening foreshadows their true nature well.

With Smith’s political messages getting out of hand, the inclusion of some scenes which could have been genuinely affecting or interesting just don’t fit. The ending is suitably con-fusing, and comes quite suddenly, shifting the tone yet again. Smith just doesn’t seem sure of himself when he hasn’t written the script. It’s not all bad, just all over the place.

Warrior follows the stroy of former marine Tommy Colon (Tom Hardy) as he returns home to his alcho-holic ex-boxer father Paddy (Nick Nolte). Paddy has turned a new leaf and is totally sober for more than

two years, and is desperatley trying to earn his son’s forgive-ness.

Tommy’s only concern is the widow of his brother-in-arms that died in Iraq, and finds a way to look after her by winning the 5 million dollar prize of the MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) contest ZPARTA.

On the other side of the spectrum you follow Tommy’s broth-er Brendan Colon (Joel Edgerton), who lives a peaceful life with his family working as a physics teacher at the local school. But things turn bad for Brendan when he finds himself unable to pay the mortage on his house, and getting suspended from work after a street fight incident leaves him with no choice but to take up the gloves one more time for the ZPARTA contest.

The movie carries many of the classic content of fighter mov-ies such as Rocky (which it has been called a spiritual sequel to), but does not fail to deliver as much as a I feared. While Tommy is a veritable train of destruction, whom you can’t help but cheer for because of his sheer excellence. Brendan wins as many hearts as the teacher-gone-fighter underdog.

Both Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton put on strong perfor-mances considering that they are both relatively new in the blockbuster elite, and they benefit greatly from having a movie veteran like Nick Nolte on board who shines as the alchoholic and abusive father trying to find a better path and unite his estranged brothers who suffer from his abuse, and manage to suck in the entire crowd in emotionally with a couple of the strongest scenes I’ve seen in a while.

With a ending that left me with a tear in my eye I can’t help but recommend it to any fan of well shot fights and a top class tale of brotherhood.

Title: Red stateCert: 18Runtime: 102 MinutesRelease Date: Out Now

James Keating

Title: WarriorCert: PG-13Runtime: !40 MinutesRelease Date: Out Now

Jack Jonasson 26

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The debt, a thriller directed by John Madden, is a remake of the 2007 Israeli drama by the same title. The film stars Helen Mirren and Tom Wilkinson. It begins with Rachel’s (Jessica Chastain) Daughter launching her book, which focuses on the chronicles of her mother and colleagues assignment; to identify, capture and return to Israel “The Surgeon of Berkenu”, a Nazi criminal in-famous for his unethical medical experiments during world war two leaving many “disfigured or dead”. The film flashes back to New Years Eve 1966, Rachel is on duty watching over a restrained Dieter Vogel (Jasper Chris-tensen). However things go horribly wrong when Vogel brakes free and attempts to escape. Rachel is attacked and left unconscious, but she regains consciousness soon enough to crawl to the door and shoot Vogel dead. Return-ing to 1997, it’s made clear that something went wrong that night and was covered up, and the three had to live with this secret for thirty years. Learning the death of former colleague Peretz, and a man claiming to be “The surgeon of Berkenu” Rachel is forced to travel to the Ukraine and complete unfinished business. The film reminds us that no

matter how hard you try to cover something up, the greatest liability, can be within your own circle. The film was well structured and the flash backs of the past were incorporated well into the storyline, which in my opinion can sometimes make or break a film, in this case, it definitely made it. The film is fast moving but easy to follow. What I really liked was the unexpected twists in the plot. Although very different from her typical roles Mirren has once again proven to be an actress of high calibre, with the ability to perform a range of different characters. The one weakness I found about the film, was that it tired to tell two stories at once but did not give itself enough time to cover both adequetly. Another half an hour wouldn’t have gone amiss. In conclusion, I would rate this film four out of five, for the simplistic plot, a film with many twists but not a complicated sto-ryline. I dropped a star because in my opinion it’s the type of film I enjoyed viewing and am glad I saw it, but wouldn’t be in a rush to see it again. I recommend this film to those who enjoy a good thriller, but who also crave a realistic plot.

Ronan Atkinson returns as Johnny English, MI-7’s ac-cident-prone top secret Agent. However, a catastrophic failure on a mission in Mozambique saw his knightship revoked, and his status as an agent disgrace-fully terminated. Five years later he is reinstated. In attempts to regain his reputation he begins his mission, he travels to Hong Kong to investigate a plot against the life of the Chinese Premier. His attempts to return an artefact to headquarters that will halt the assassin’s plot is quashed leaving him yet again the laughing stock of an embarrassed agency. Not giving up, he continues his mis-sion with the help of his novice partner “Agent Tucker’. It’s not long before he tracks down another lead who on his last breath informs English that there are moles within CIA, KGB and even his own organisation, and his failure in Mozambique, not only was out of his hands but plays a key part in his present day mission. Now with the help of his partner, a beautiful lady and the latest sophisticated gadgets he sets of on a quest to stop the conspirators before they reach a conference with heads of state.

Johnny English Reborn brings together the hilarious humour of comedy and the seriousness of action thriller to give its audi-

ence a real threat. But none of this could be achieved without the hilarious talents of Ronan Atkinson who never fails to leave his audience in stitches. Atkinson is famous for his signature role of Mr. Bean and Blackadder but his talents go beyond British sitcoms, as he is internationally recognised in the world of film and his talents also stretch to producing and writing.

It has it all, explosions, chases, exciting gadgets and seductive ladies.

You are sure to get great laughs at hilarious mistakes by agent Johnny English.

What I enjoyed most about it was the simplistic plot. It’s James Bond with extreme comedy and it is mission impossible with-out the complicated storyline. The mind set should focus on the comedy side more than the action for full enjoyment. That’s not to put down the action part; on the contrary the action is very exciting. Those of you who love gadgets will love this film.

There isn’t much to criticise. One thing I would be down on was that the story tried too hard to create comedy in certain parts. It was a case of ‘less is more’, leading to some scenes becoming stupid rather than funny.

In conclusion the film is an exciting, hilarious, jaw dropping, edge of you seat comedy and well worth the trip to the Cinema.

Title: The DebtCert: 15Running Time: 113 MinutesRelease Date: Out Now

Title: Johnny English RebornCert: PGRunning Time: 101 MinutesRelease Date: Out Not

“Master, am I ready…”“No!”

“What if we could go back?”“We can’t go back.”

Lance Kerrigan Lance Kerrigan 27

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THEGENUINE ARTICLESU Escapades Revealed

Students’ Union Declares this year’s Freshers’ the “Sluttiest Ever”Entire College

Rejoices Typical Griffith Fresher

Griffith College has rarely experienced such a well kept secret as what became of Paul McCorrmack and Shane Ronan-Duggan after the In-duction Week Party in Break for the Boarder. However, the Genuine Article snagged exclusive interview with both during which time they told us their whole, unbelievable story.“It was a great night, and I was standing there practising my poems, and it got to me. I got all emotional about it. I started crying” Shane tells us. “Next minute Paul, or as I Paulander the Extravagan-der (I made that up as I’m a poet now, hence the beard) , comes up and hugs me, the way he does, and goes, “Getin in the Taxi”’ I says, “wha?” Wiping the tears from my eyes. “Get in the taxi”.So I did. Paul told me I was on my way to a house party

that would blow my mind. Next minute, we’re in Kiliney, so posh. Not a farm animal in sight, which to me says it all. Paul suddenly stops the taxi, buzzes on this large gate and suddenly we’re driving into a big mansion. Party was kicking off. Massive house, they even had a pond with a fish in it. We walk through the open oak front doors and were greeted by a lad called Paul, the im-age of Bono, couldn’t believe it. I tell Paulander, and he tells me it’s a look-a-like party. And you wouldn’t believe it! There was a Gynette paltrow one, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, The Edge, Kermit the Frog, and a guy that looked like me called Johnny Vegas. Man did we stare each other out of it....Next minute, Paulander’s at the piano playing Trouble by Coldplay. And I say to this Liam Gallagher lookalike,

“that’s Golden”. Sudddenly this dude sits beside Pauland-er and starts singing along, perfectly. Too perfectly. Then it hits me, Liam Gal-lagher that is, hits me right in the face. I say “who do you think you are”. He goes “F**kin Liam Gallagher!” Suddenly I realise, these aren’t lookalikes, these are the real thing. It brought tears to my eyes, and I starting writ-ing a poem in my head“It’s there, where? Just there, right in front of you.I can’t see it, but it’s there, not just there, but everywhere.It’s found, but wasn’t lost, there is no price, there is no cost.I feel sad, now I know, It was there, and now I care”Genius. I feel like this is all a sign. I belong with these people, a future troubadour. A bohemian master of words. So I say to paulander later,

this is legendary. He then brings me over and gets me in a photo of Bono and Chris Martin from Coldplay. He tells me “We should have a party in Bono’s Kitchen for Halloween”. I was like, “that’s nuts but let’s do it.” The Genuine Article caught up with Paul on his way back to office. We quizzed him on the nights events. “I have no idea what Shane is on about” McCorrmack says in his thick inner city Dublin accent. “We just went back to mine, Shane collapsed on the floor, locked, and started shouting at my Kermit the frog teddy bear “Get out of the pond and leave that fish alone, that fish is golden!”. I left him at it, it was four o clock at this point and I had to be up at five to decide what scarf I was gonna wear that day.

By Patser Grey

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Typical Griffith Fresher

NEWS

IN BREIF

Abstinence Society a success, pints in the Headline Bar to celebrate

‘Discovery Trip’ to be followed up with the ‘Recovery Trip’

Shane’s Bar now serving Absynth

Griffith Halls of Residence report not one single party over Freshers’ Week

Redmond sighted at 97 and a half parties in GHR over Freshers’ Week

Rob from the library finally admits ‘I don’t know how to use the book catalogue’

Ian Donegan obsessed with finding another word for ‘thesaurus’

Inspired by his early days of cooking, Journalism lecturer Barry Finnegan has now become a household face on the famous cooking show ‘Master Chef’.

I used to pour the alphabet soup out onto the counter. That was the journo inside of me.” Barry tells The Gen-uine Article. “I’d move the letters around until it spelt out a dish. First time I tried it, it spelt out PHISH.”

I couldn’t believe it, there’s a fish shop next door to my house. Days like that just don’t come often enough. A journalistic, cu-linary genius had just been born.”

Barry’s dream has landed him in trouble, however. Due to his recent appear-ances in Master Chef he has

been unable to follow up on his duties on campus.

“I’m grand with my lectures, just about every student in first year alone is a complete liberal by now. I’m just so behind on ev-erything else. I still haven’t been able to eliminate that fascist turnstile at the front of the college yet.Not only is it an eyesore but I still haven’t figured out how to get my bike true it! There’s that, and students can’t bring back people who don’t live in GHR at night, how is the human race supposed to continue with giant chastity belts attached to the fronts of our colleges!?”

The Genuine Article feels your pain Barry. Best of luck on Master Chef.

Barry Finnegan-Master Chef

What about the new pitch, eh? What a transformation. After a grueling campaign the SU took it in hand to make the green everything it could be this year and they delivered. Remember the sandpit? Gone.

That shapeless bit of land-scape has been turned into a Garden of Eden that any athlete would be proud to play on. When asked, the Head of Facilities stated “This didn’t just happen overnight, in fact there was a five year plan putting this together, and I did it all by myself. The sand blowing in the air effect was

the last and final genius move I put in action.”

“This has been my shin-ing moment here at Griffith College. Next move, flowers. I want to plant flowers all over the place. Everything from pink, to off pink.”

The services of the entire design faculty along with engineer Mott MacDonald (Wembley Stadium) were availed of to bring us this master piece.

They told us that after weeks of discussion they all agreed that “Rectangle” was the way to go. Inspired.

Name: Chris

Occupation: Manager of Arthur’s Bar

Greatest Ambition: Charge Students to breathe air in Arthur’s

Hobbies: Pretending to be English

Likes: Dancing to a lively, yet elegant beat

Dislikes: The lack of an ‘Oxygen Tax’

Interesting fact: Still writes a letter to Santa Clause every year in the hope of getting free stuff

Under the SpotlightRectangular Pitch a Success

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Win a pair of Tickets to four concerts

One winner, 8 tickets

Original Rudeboys Workman’s Club29th October

Kyle Eastwood Whelan’s 30 October,

The Saw Doctors 12 November, Olympia

Roisin O 13 November, Whelan’s

To win, answer this question:What was the name of The Saw Doctors’ Last Album?

Email you answer to Griffiti@gcd.ie

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