Archive for May, 2010

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THE HANGOVER

Posted May 26th, 2010 by DIGS Admin. Filed in DIGS Student, Digs Reviews.

“You mind putting on some pants? I feel weird having to ask you twice.”

It has become so rare in this century, to find a genuinely decent and funny comedy. In the crowd of Scary Movie type comedies, Todd Phillips’ fresh and hilarious The Hangover stands out as a clear winner for modern comedy.

The plot is simple: four friends travel to Las Vegas for a bachelor party and wake up the next morning with no memory of what happened the previous night, this plus the fact that they don’t know where the groom is makes for a rollercoaster ride of hilarity as the remaining three friends try to find him in time for his wedding the next day.

In short, The Hangover is just genuinely funny. It may actually be the funniest movie I’ve had the pleasure of watching in a long time, so much so that it has become one of my favourite movies. Galifianakis, the “child with a beard”, effectively makes this movie the brilliantly hilarious trip that it is. His unashamedly idiotic behaviour provides much of the hilarity and it seems as if the movie would be pretty empty without him. But all three leading men have brilliant chemistry together and it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing a different role in this movie.

The Hangover is sure to become a cult classic and I don’t see it ever getting old. I also really never thought I’d be feeling sorry for Heather Graham’s character at the end. So far I’ve seen this five times and I’ll probably watch it a hundred times more. A definite must buy!

MO:RE RATING
★★★★★

This review was brought to you by Ryan one of our Storthes Hall Park residents and film review extraordinaire. You can check out his page here.

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Review // Dum Dum Girls – I Will Be

Posted May 25th, 2010 by DIGS Admin. Filed in DIGS Student, Digs Reviews.

Think old-school Blondie and a Joan Jett-esque attitude, then throw in that rough-around-the-edges, blurry mid-fi 60’s sound, and you might come close to the sound of Dum Dum Girls. The California based girl-group, led by charismatic front woman Dee Dee, practically scream girl-band revival, with all the rebellion and teen heartache to match. Fuzzy electric guitars and an intrinsically catchy, pop-rock sound, make I Will Be, a 29 minute sensation of a debut album, and a perfect scuzzy summer soundtrack.

The majority of the album’s tracks are snappy, fast-pace whirls of punkish liveliness, with a charming rawness of vocals and lyricism. Imagine the simple honesty and high-speed energy of The Ramones doing ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’, and with a touch more innocence and tranquillity, you have the Dum Dum Girls and their harmonious tales of county jail cells and adolescent angst. ‘Jail La La’ stands out in terms of its memorable, defiant charm and the collective sounds of bass, drums, guitar and fiery vocals effortlessly create melodious vividness. Nearing the end of the album, songs like ‘Blank Girl’ mark a noticeable change in tone, with sombre and lonely male backing vocals juxtaposing effectively with the mass of female voices, crafting a somewhat more melancholy, though no less captivating, edge.

This roughly recorded album, produced with the help of Blondie, is both dusky and upbeat; loud, untameable and boisterous, yet in places, touchingly sensitive and soft.  ‘Baby Don’t go’ ends the otherwise high-energy debut on a delicate note, with the soft, hazy guitars and lullaby-like lyrics (“I love you so/Pretty baby please don’t go”) comfortably rounding off the screaming intensity of furious and passionate emotion the rest of the album presents. The punk stylings and catchy appeal of this group of attitude-ridden, turbulent women is set to attract and resonate with the masses, and despite a samey nature to some of the songs, could splash the Dum Dum Girls into the limelight, once and for all.

I Will Be is out now on Sub Pop, you can download ‘Jail La La’ from the album here.

By Rosie Ramsden

Content provided by Faux Magazine. This article was simultaneously posted on ireadfaux.com. For more information on Faux visit ireadfaux.com or find Faux Magazine regionally throughout the UK.

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FIFA World Cup guide for a footballing novice

Posted May 24th, 2010 by DIGS Admin. Filed in DIGS Student. 2 comments.

FIFA World Cup guide for a footballing novice

World Cup fever is cranking up, every shop in the land is packed full of England merchandise designed to strip you of your hard earned cash. For a country that is notoriously unpatriotic we are some how compelled to adorn our cars with flags, buy England beach towels for our jaunts to Spain (if that volcano doesn’t mess it up for us) and paint our faces so we look like we have a bad case of sunburn.

That’s all part of the fun though isn’t it? There’s many a fair weathered football supporter out there and because we aren’t glued to the weekly kick offs during the league season it puts us at a disadvantage when it comes to the post and pre match debates. Fear not though, here’s a lowdown of some facts and figures you can throw out there over an ice cold cider.

  • The concept of hosting a “World Cup” was due to the success of the Olympic Footballing events. The idea was rolled into action on the 28th May 1928.
  • The first ever World Cup was held in Uruguay at the Estadio Centenairo.
  • In total thirteen nations took part; seven from South America, four from Europe (Belgium, Yugoslavia, Romania and France) and two from North America.
  • British teams first competed in 1950, it was held in Brazil.
  • England, the land of footballing fanatics, have only won it once.
  • Brazil have won the most, 5 times; 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002
  • Italy come in second with 4 wins; 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006
  • If you didn’t note that then, Italy won the last World Cup.
  • There is four years between each tournament.
  • Fabio Capello is the England Coach. Amazing fact – He didn’t speak a word of English when he arrived and is now fluent. I bet none of our lot could do that if they went to Italy!
  • England’s highest ever ranking in FIFA is 4th.
  • Lowest is in 1996 when we ranked an embarrassing 27th
  • Peter Shilton (goalkeeper) got the most caps (caps are times they have played for the squad)
  • Top scorer of all time is Sir Bobby Charlton with an impressive 49 goals.

OK, enough for the general World Cup fact file (make sure you revise those) Here’s some team facts.

  • England finished top of their group in the qualifiers. This therefore means the whole country thinks they are going to win the whole schbang. Expect tears if we don’t and vicious headlines from The Sun.
  • We have however drawn quite a tidy group; United States (renowned for being shit, they call it soccer so what do you expect), Algeria and Slovenia. Although the Eastern European’s should not be looked down upon, if we don’t get through we might as well hang up our boots.
  • There are currently 30 players in our squad; 3 goalies, 10 defenders, 12 midfielders, 5 strikers.
  • Rio Ferdinand is our captain (the one with a lip like Elvis) he was given the title after John Terry couldn’t keep his jewels in the safe.
  • Theo Wilcott is the youngest (21), he plays for Arsenal, quite a lot of hype and pressure being put on him to perform.
  • The oldest player is David James (39) he’s a goalie and plays for Portsmouth (the team that have been in the press recently for being absolutely brassic)
  • Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) has the most caps at 78 and is the vice captain.

One more topical fact; Lord Triesman (Chairman of the FA) basically accused the Russians (people it’s not wise to annoy) and Spanish of cheating and setting up bribes so they’d win more points in this year’s cup and Spain would support Russia in their bid to host rather than going for it themselves. This comes as England are bidding to host the 2018 World Cup and needing support and friends… not looking so likely now!

Excellent, that should keep you up with a bit of the banter. The best piece of advice I can give is this…..

If people in the venue you are watching the game in are booing, boo too. If they are cheering and hurling beer everywhere, either join in or duck for cover!

Do NOT, in any circumstances, if you are unaware of what the offside rule is, get into an argument about whether “that goal” should have been allowed or not.

Good luck and let us sing…. “Ennnngeerrrrlllaaannnddd, EnnnGERRRLAND, ENNNgerrrrLAND!”

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Checking out at Storthes Hall and Ashenhurst!

Posted May 24th, 2010 by DIGS Admin. Filed in Ashenhurst, DIGS Student, Storthes Hall.

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WARNING ON FRAUDULENT CHEQUE SCHEMES

Posted May 21st, 2010 by DIGS Admin. Filed in DIGS Student.

Officers from Lothian and Borders Police Specialist Fraud Unit and the Serious and Organised Crime Unit have advised that they believe crime groups are targeting students in a fraudulent scheme involving students paying fake cheques into their bank accounts.

It appears that criminals offer students a share of the cash, a few hundred pounds at most, to carry out these fraudulent transactions.

Ds Aitken of the Specialist Fraud Unit, warns us that: “The students are told by the criminals that they will not get caught even although they know the activity is criminal. In fact they are involved with organised dangerous criminals who will pursue them and demand their ‘pound of flesh’ even if the transactions fail. Many of the students are foreign nationals, and if found guilty at court of fraud will have a criminal record, probably be expelled from the universities or colleges they are studying at and will in all likelihood be deported. It just not worth the chance.”

Police are now asking anyone who has been approached in relation to this scheme to contact police immediately and avoid becoming involved in this illegal activity.”

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Interview // Zoe Jervoise

Posted May 21st, 2010 by DIGS Admin. Filed in DIGS Student, Digs Reviews.
Interview // Zoe Jervoise

Photo by Max Knight.

London-based designer Zoe Jervoise has been making waves for a while now with her distinctive range of tapestry-adorned jackets. I caught up with her for a piece in Faux Vol 1.3 (which you can view here), and you can now view the extended version of the interview below. Enjoy!

How did your exposure through the NME Tour come about? Talk me through what happened/special designs/projects?
I got the NME Tour exposure as I was friendly with and knew all the bands before. My friend Elisa Aimi was fundamental in helping to organise everything. I wanted my jackets to be closely knitted with musicians and Elisa does Local Natives online PR. All the bands were really excited about borrowing jackets for the tour. Lead singer of Golden Silvers, Gwilym had a jacket that he wore on stage every night and has since commissioned one. My inspiration for this piece was their debut album’s artwork. He says wearing it on stage gives him his mojo.

Marina wore her jacket which had a geometric colourful diamond on the back, which she loves. The shoot we did with all the bands on the roof of the Oxford Academy wearing their Jervoise jackets was truly exciting.

Where do you live? How does it and the scene around you influence you?
I live in Ealing, but my inspiration comes from everywhere really. My Mum travelled a lot with my Grandfather who was a documentary film maker so we have many interesting finds all over our home. Right now my main inspiration is Aztec art. love it.

Obviously Marina is massive now, as is Ellie Goulding who you’re linked to. How has their success helped you spread/develop Jervoise as a brand?
Marina and Ellie are both friends of mine. They’ve been very supportive of me which is great. They both have special commissions I made them. Marina has got me involved with her merchandise as well; I’m making 50 limited addition t-shirts for her. I have my own Jervoise Jackets: Diamond Series which is inspired by her. Marina gave me a shout out when she was wearing her diamond jacket on stage at Latitude Festival…. Got a few emails after that!

Where do you draw the inspiration for your pieces from?
My pieces are based on the style of the 60’s/70’s and psychedelic poster art. Most of my designs feature mythical birds, so Indian, Aztec and Egyptian art have been an inspiration. The intricate designs and patterns inform my work.

Talk me through the latest Jervoise material. Obviously there are the jackets, but what else is in the pipeline?
I’ve been focusing on denim shirts and t-shirts at the moment, painting and tapestry. I’m also getting into jeans which bands like Mumford & Sons and Local Natives will be wearing. The colours will be more natural, following the bands innate styles.

How can people get hold of your pieces at the moment?
On my website I have jackets up for sale. I’m also doing monthly eBay auctions; a lot of customised vintage things and tapestry denim shirts, if you’re lucky! I’m always keeping people updated with the sales on my website, blog and my Facebook fan page.

Plans for the far future? Where would you like to see Jervoise as a brand ending up being positioned?
I’d like to work with a large company and create some limited addition collections. I’ve been in talks with a major denim company, which will hopefully enable the expansion of the Jervoise brand. In the future I would like to have my own ready to wear label. I’m particularly interested in doing menswear.

You can view more of Zoe’s work at her site here or on Facebook here.

By Annabelle Moore

Content provided by Faux Magazine. This article was simultaneously posted on ireadfaux.com. For more information on Faux visit ireadfaux.com or find Faux Magazine regionally throughout the UK

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Survival of the Dead (Cert 18 , 2010)

Posted May 21st, 2010 by DIGS Admin. Filed in DIGS Student, Digs Reviews.

“We gotta get these things to lean to eat somethin’ other than us!”

As an avid watcher of zombie movies, particularly George A. Romero’s Of The Dead movies, I was optimistic for this latest instalment. Survival of the Dead is Romero’s sixth Of The Dead movie, but after 2007’s disappointing Diary of the Dead it’s beginning to show that he’s running out of ideas.

Survival of the Dead does try to put an original spin on things though, with a group of people attempting to get the zombies to feast upon something other than human flesh. It’s an interesting idea, too bad it isn’t played out as well as it could be. The acting isn’t as bad as in Diary of the Dead, despite its relatively low budget feel and slow story progression, it manages to outdo Diary of the Dead in literally every way.

Another major flaw: it’s not scary at all. Romero’s previous Of The Dead instalments (we’ll forget Diary) have all been, at least, a little scary. This, sadly, is where Survival fails. There isn’t anything even remotely scary here, and the jumps are far in between and very, very few. Romero leaves the scare factor box well and truly unchecked.

As you may have gathered, it’s not terribly amazing stuff, but the cast all play likeable characters and there’s enough gore in here to satisfy. Nothing on Dawn of the Dead but miles better than Diary of the Dead.

Rating:★★½

This review was brought to you by Ryan one of our Storthes Hall Park residents and film review extraordinaire. You can check out his page here.

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A Jealous Cow.

Posted May 20th, 2010 by DIGS Admin. Filed in DIGS Student, Storthes Hall.

Ever since Cyril got his say on the blog, the cows have been kicking off big time. So to keep them on side, I offered Mrs Cow, head of the cow crew to give an interview….

DIGS Lady: So, Mrs Cow, how long have you been kicking aound at Storthes Hall then?

Mrs Cow: Well, I’ve actually been here for 3 years, mooing, chewing the cud and being a cow. It’s a great life usually and me and my gang love it here but then that pheasant came and stole away my lime light, it’s just really unfair. I know you all worship Cyril the Pheasant. I know you think that he is all cute and you think I’m creepy. I’ve heard you lot saying I have crazy beady eyes. How mean! I just want to be your friend but ya know, if I’m not good enough, it’s fine…

DL: Now don’t think like that Mrs Cow! I’m sure you’re good enough to be our friend and you’re kinda cute, in a cow like way. What do you think you can bring to the people of Storthes that Cyril can’t?

MC: Well, Digs Lady, let me tell you something about me. I am a cow and proud. Cows produce milk and burgers and steaks. I’m not suggesting you eat me or any of my close family but suck on that Cyril the Pheasant! You got no steak. Therefore I am infinitely better than you.

DL: This is very true, a steak is a steak after all. What do you say to recent comments about you being beady eyed?

MC: Well, that’s just mean, horrible even. I was actually born with beadyeyeitis. It’s a terrible disease that is genetic. The vet could do nothing for me as a youngster, my Mam was devastated. It doesn’t make me inferior! Not in the least. If you had gotten close enough to Cyril you’d have noticed that he has a rather bad case of athletes foot. That’s totally worse than beadyeyeitis.

DL: So, tell me what happened the other day?! Some students were definitely over excited…

MC: That invasion the other day? Yeah that was me and the crew and there are others planned! You need to show us some more love or the cows will bring it and maybe withhold milk in protest. It was fun though. We escaped from Mr Farmers field in a plot good enough to rival Animal Farm without the human hating bit, obviously. We just want to be appreciated. Moo!

DL: Indeed.  So in a perfect world, what would you like the outcome to be of this interview?

MC: Well, I would like notoriety and fame of course, I already have a publicist so I’m half way there. Failing this (I’m a wise old cow after all) just a little bit of love and appreciation now and again. Maybe a nice hello or a pat on the nose. A handful of grass would be nice. That’s all I ask for!

DL: Not much then, I am sure our lovely students will oblige! Now, can we ask you some silly questions?

MC: I’m a very serious person. I mean cow.

DL: Just some little trivia questions…

MC: Fine, ok. Nothing about that time I hooked up with Mr Cow though, yeah? My publicist already told you we aren’t talking about that.

DL: Umm, ok. What’s your favourite colour?

MC: Black. White. No, black. White! Oh I don’t know.

DL: Favourite flower?

MC: Buttercups. They taste delicious.

DL: Do you have a cowbell?

MC: No, should I?

DL: Yes you should. Favourite song?

MC: Black and Gold by Sam Sparrow. (At this time Mrs Cow drifts off in to a kind of reverie and it takes some time to get an answer to this question). It reminds me of Mr Cow. He was black and gold, a special kind of Moo Cow. So dreamy!

DL: You said we couldn’t mention Mr Cow?

MC: We can’t. Interview over.

So that’s Mrs Cow. I found her to be a rather hard interviewee, but make of her what you will.

Sam (aka the Digs Lady)

The DIGS Team.

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Review // Dead Weather – Sea Of Cowards

Posted May 17th, 2010 by DIGS Admin. Filed in DIGS Student, Digs Reviews.

Rushed to release in typical Jack White style, the second coming from his other other band has crash-landed with barely enough time for the media hype machine to start it’s cogs turning, which can only be a good thing. Also in typical Jack White style, in a time where every band is trying to surprise with each new album, Sea of Cowards is pretty unsurprising. It’s more of the same, but much, much better.

While Horehound was far from bad, it had a habit of losing itself in a haze of muddled ideas and scuzzed out guitars. From the opening notes of the swaggering riff of the killer opening track ‘Blue Blood Blues’ it is clear that if their debut was a drunken brawl, Sea of Cowards is a clinical and brutal attack going straight for your vitals.

Building on the principles laid down with Horehound; Fertita’s guitar and Lawrence’s bass are more considered yet just as effortlessly awesome. Mosshart meanwhile is more deliciously menacing than ever, her sexually-charged voice alone enough to send thousands of male skinny jeans-wearing listeners running sheepishly for the nearest bathroom, while Jack White proves that Meg, with all due respect, isn’t even the best drummer in The White Stripes.

The aura of insanity is also back with a vengeance, and from Jack preaching such demented-genius lines as “shake your hips like battleships” like a madman, to Mosshart’s consistent psychotic freak-out, particularly potent on album highlight ‘I’m Mad’, it’s all delivered with a tangible conviction and kept afloat on the layers of heavy as hell guitar/bass double attack.

Acting as an excellent counterbalance, the record’s more chilled (yet still murderously visceral) moments come in the form of the reggae-tinged blues flirted with on Horehound, cultivated and refined on tracks like ‘Hustle and Cuss’ to be worthy to stand up next to angrier tracks, such as lead single ‘Die By The Drop’.

By improving on every flaw of it’s predecessor, Jack White might just have made one of his best albums yet with Sea of Cowards. As he beats the hell out of his drum kit, and screams along in each disturbingly beautiful duet with Mosshart, it is almost too easy to forget that White even has another band. Meg White be afraid.

Sea Of Cowards is out now on Warner. You can view the video for ‘I Can’t Hear You’ below, taken from the new album.

You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video

Content provided by Faux Magazine. This article was simultaneously posted on ireadfaux.com. For more information on Faux visit ireadfaux.com or find Faux Magazine regionally throughout the UK

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Smoking @ The Pavilions. Please Read!

Posted May 17th, 2010 by DIGS Admin. Filed in DIGS Student, Pavilions.

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