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CON-TENTS

CONTRIB-UTORS

CREA-TORS

F A T & F U R I O U S B U R G E R S

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1 3FAT & FURIOUS

BURGERS

CHLOE NEWMAN

EMMA CLARK LAM

BEATS ON TOASTADIANA KUPRESAK

JOHN RANJITH

PAMODOU CEESAY LENA GHANINEJAD

JOSE A. GARRIDO

MONICA GOMES

E D I T O R & C D F E AT U R E S E D I T O R I L L U S T R AT O R

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pam@p-oint.com lena@p-oint.com

HA

GG

E R S T ON

sssmog@gmail.com

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D AV I D A . R E E V E S

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JOHN RANJITH

G L I P H O

GÉRALDINE VAN W

ESSEM

GÉRALDIN

E

VAN WESSEM

HAYLEY

BROWN

JUDY BARRETT

ANNALIN

DE LOUW

CONSTANTIN

PREDA

MASKED HEROES

CERIAN JENKIN

S

HRISTINA KAMBUROVA

BETHANY

MICHAELS

DAVID A. REEVES

CHARLOTTE HUCKLE

SAM OWENS

TINNEDRAVIOLIONTOAST

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Fat and Furious Burgers -

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Piggyboar Burger: Arrou’s boar marinated in red wine, bouquet garni, nutmeg, clove, carrot and garlic. Superdry Marasmius©, bo-letus and oyster mushrooms. Red onions caramelized in honey and red wine. Flat parsley. Country bread. It’s open season on burgers!

The Authenticity of Horse Meat

I N T E R V I E W

F A T & F U R I O U S B U R G E R S

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Tell us a bit about yourself. where you come from, your educational background, how you met...We both come from large families and each of us has two older brothers, so we’ve al-ways felt like a burger between two buns. One day we met in a liposuction clinic and we’ve been inseparable ever since.

How did this idea start? have you always been interested in food or did you start by chance?We work together for a graphic design stu-dio and we’re lucky enough to have a little kitchen in the office. We were fed up with eating bad stuff for lunch, so we started to make our own burgers. It’s become a ritual at lunch break: an hour and a half to find the concept, go get the food, cook and di-gest.

What type of tools do you work with?Our fingers and colon do most of the job, as for the rest we shift from the spatula to the computer mouse.

What’s your favourite thing to eat in the whole world?Without hesitation, seafood sauerkraut.

Where do you take inspiration from?We like to get ideas from the news and current affairs... but most of the time our empty stomachs are the ones that dictate the recipes.

Who’s your favourite visual artist?Fat fan of David Hockney, Maurizio Cattelan and Bernard Pras.

If you could be a burger what would it be?We’d definitely be a Royal Cheese to be bitten by this bad motherfucker Samuel L Jackson

How about a horse burger soon?We’re really thinking about it but how can one be sure of the authenticity of horse meat?

Do you think burgers can contribute to world peace?To eat a burger is also to save a hotdog.

What are your plans for the future? are you thinking of taking it to the next level? We’re not against developping the project but it has to stay entertaining, fatty and cost-free.

Where can we eat your burgers?We have collaborated with a Parisian restaurant. Others plans are on the way for April. Apart from that, you can always try and scavenge in our bins, who knows...

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F & FB

Fricocotte: Multiseeds bread shell. Nest of spinach sprouts. Steak of soft-boiled beef. Egg on top. Cancoillotte.

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F & FB

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F & FB

The Burgiving: Roast turkey. Sweet potato with cinna-mon and nutmeg. Redcur-rant and cranberry. Melted cheddar. Salad. #firstcolo-nists #blockedcolon

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F & FB

‘My name is Bun, James Bun’: Scaviar fall, Golden ail (French for garlic), Casidorade (sea bream) Royale, Creme Fraiche goes off tomorrow, Quantum of Salad, Oc-topussy, The Man with the Golden Bun, The Spy who loved miso.

HAGG ERSTON

ST

MARCH

311 8 - 2 0 // T U L S E H I L L // B R I X T O N // S W 2 2 T P

V I N T A G E

P O P U P S H O P

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Géraldine van Wessem -

dreaming of desolate destinations

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Géraldine van Wessem

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By HayleyBrown

Géraldine van Wessem is a photographer based in Belgium who mainly works in portraiture, although sometimes also shoots landscape. Her website describes her style as follows: “Her work revolves around the subjective observation of people, places and light. She attempts to record colours, moments, textures, impressions and emotions whilst never losing her aesthetic focus.” To me, her images evoke a nostalgia deep down and work hand in hand together to create an unmistakably diaristic feel.

In taking her portraits, Géraldine softly rediscovers the faces of her subjects, ap-proaching each one carefully and gently teasing out a personality for us to read from a look, a smile, a furrowed brow. She captures her models at a natural ease, comfortable enough before her camera to look directly at us and express something of themselves to us.

What strikes me most about these images is the poetic combination of colour and light, particularly the series “Be as wise as you are beautiful” which flows beautifully through each click of my mouse and which I stared at for several minutes before enlarging an image.

Wessem also works in land and seascapes, her wide angle shots of rolling coun-tryside and jagged cliff edges always distinctly lacking in human presence. She appears to be capturing places from her travels, occasionally her shadow is caught within the frame wearing a backpack. This is particularly true of the series “Keep Walking” which seems to document one long journey undertaken by Wessem and only one or two others through a vast array of various exciting yet barren locations.

The project that caught my attention most is entitled “Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory”, a series so saturated with nostalgia that each image suggests to me a moment from my own past. This beautiful collection of vague images appears to take a look at holidays and points in time only specific to the artist herself. This collection makes less sense as a series than her others, the photographs are quite random and obviously from different points in time, but it is this that i particularly like. There is a scrapbook effect like torn out pages from her diary, or fragments of a letter that we must try and piece together ourselves.

Géraldine van Wessem

R E V I E W

Everything comes naturally

I N T E R V I E W

G E R A L D I N E V A N W E S S E M

Your portrait and landscape series’ differ quite a lot aesthetically and stylistically, why do you think you prefer to work with such contrasting subjects?People and nature are the two things that fascinate me incredibly. There is so much beauty in each, but in a completely different way. People amaze me visually just as much as landscapes. But I photograph them differ-ently: I approach a person otherwise (and strangely enough by taking more time) than a landscape, and with a different camera and analog instead of digital. Colour is very important and I always use natural light. For each person and landscape a certain type of natural light (white balance, intensity) can emphasize its beau-ty in a great way.

Do you set out to make photographs or do they come naturally whenever the mood takes you? Everything comes naturally. Of course, for a portrait I have a date with the person I will portray, but the initiative comes naturally as well. My inspiration is very cyclical: some periods I shoot a lot, other periods I don’t. When I am travelling, I always have an enormous amount of energy for taking photographs. I can really get lost in the landscapes and it makes me very happy.

Do you find where you live to be a big influence on how your photographs turn out?For portraits it doesn’t. But in general, for landscapes and snapshots Belgium doesn’t inspire me at all to go out with my camera.

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W h i c h p h o t o g r a p h e r s m o s t i n s p i r e y o u ?I see stunning work all the time, whether it comes from Magnum photographers or seen on Flickr, but here are some of my all time favorites: Eva Vermandel - Alec Soth - Joel Sternfeld -Joel Meyerowitz - Harry Gruyaert - Nelli Palomäki

You seem to travel a lot, are these trips planned around photography or are you travelling for other reasons?Kind of. I like to travel to places that I think are beautiful. You won’t see me lying by a pool or on the beach: I need to be able to wander around, discover a city or discover nature, find out what the light is like over there and take photographs.

Are you working on anything new at the moment?I am still making portraits. Next month I will be traveling from Vegas to LA, so I hope that’ll bring about new work…

Your series ‘Set Photography’ is quite drastically different to your other work as it is commissioned, do you enjoy working in this way or find it a means to an end?It’s nice to spend time on a set, I really enjoy it. But it’s never “my” movie and therefore the photographs differ too much from the ones I usually take because the subject matter is so different. Probably a talented and skilled photographer could still make his own version by putting his personal style in that commissioned work, and I admire that a lot, but I haven’t succeeded in doing that yet… Mostly my “commercial” work differs too much from what I make for my myself and that is why I try to do it as less as possible.

Géraldine van Wessem

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What is your camera of choice?Hasselblad for portraits. Definitely.

Lastly, can you give us some names of some up-and-coming photographers who you think are worth a look?Athos BurezAn-Sofie KesteleynVeerle Frissen

Géraldine van Wessem

I N T E R V I E W

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How did you find the difficult transition from graduate to freelance photographer? Any advice for aspiring photographers?I am somewhat in the luxury position that I also studied something else than photography before going to art school. My aim is to have a fixed income outside of photography so that when I photograph, I can just do my own thing as much as possible. That way I will always enjoy doing it. My way of life is less free and less flexible because of my fixed job, but I have peace with it. I am not someone who can “sell herself ” as a photographer. I am also rather shy and I find it hard to be the centre of attention and to ask people to pick me, when I know there are so many better photographers then me. In a nutshell: unfortunately I can’t function well enough in that competitive environment. But I still do freelance work anyway whenever I can, because sometimes I have an interesting assignment for a magazine. So what I did was print a small booklet with some work and sent it to magazines etc. And some obvious advice: show your work online on FB, Flickr, Tumblr, make your own website…: it can spread around quickly, people will notice you: that visibility is really important if you want to get assignments. And always photograph what you absolutely love, that’s the only way to keep enjoying it. Never photograph what you think others will like, but that the pictures YOU want to see.

DAVID A. REEVES -

I write music, photograph, and design to express whatever it is I feel that day- which

is mostly geek related.

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PAPER CUTOUTSILHOUETTES

I N T E R V I E W

D A V I D R E E V E S

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your educational background?

I’m 28 years old now. I grew up in Rhode Island and wasn’t interested in college until I was about 24. I worked in restaurants as a cook and moonlighted as a drummer in a local band. I started out at CCRI (Com-munity College of Rhode Island) as a music major but switched to fine arts after a semester. I studied a variety of mediums: Photography, Graphic Design, 2D Design, Drawing. I transfered to SVA (School of Visual Arts in New York City) after a year at CCRI, declaring Photog-raphy as my major. I also took a few film study classes that weren’t available at my first school: editing, cin-ematography, and screenwriting just for fun. After a year at that school, I transferred up to NSCAD (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design). I’m currently in my final year here and plan on graduating in December.

How did you start this project? Where did the idea of paper cut silhouettes come from?

A video game called “Limbo”. I’m a super geek, so I play a lot of them but Limbo is especially stunning. It has a very simple but highly effective artistic style that I absolutely love- the silhouettes and backlighting, all in a grey scale makes a great aura. Anyway, in January 2012 I just moved here and it was of course snowing because it’s Nova Sco-tia. I found myself playing the game and thinking I wanted to build a few scenes as both a love letter and a lighting study for class... and also be productive as a photographer who doesn’t want to go out in bad weather. I mostly chose paper because it’s cheap and you can make any shapes you want with an x-acto knife- I think the most expensive thing to build the scenes was the cutting board. Also I think subconsciously Kara Walker’s paper cutout exhibi-tion at the MoMA stuck into my head when I visited a few years ago. I love her story telling capabilities with such basic but beautifully crafted materials.

Your work is reminiscent of chinese shadow puppetry. Is it something you’re consciously trying to emulate?No, not consciously. I was trying to emulate Limbo for sure, but the other pieces were just assembled after I cut out what I felt was enough pieces. They were really spontaneous in that I was working from my mind and just building as I went and up until I thought it was complete.

It is also very cinematic and in your profile you state that you are inspired by films. is there a genre of film or director you particularly relate to?I certainly love action and horror movies, but I get inspired by really everything. I think that’s why I chose so many different themes for the series. That and my incredibly limited attention span.

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You write music? What genre? I write music occasionally, but just for fun. I’ve played drums my whole life, but I left the kit in RI since I wouldn’t have the space in my apartment. The music I write now is sort of chill electronic based off layering multiple parts. I just like listening to relaxing repetitive music while I’m working, and sometimes I get inspired to create my own. It’s a gag really. I have no intention to do anything with it besides sharing on the internet.

David Reeves

Who is your favourite visual artist/photographer?

Visual artist- my brother Michael, he’s brilliant. His animations are really creative as he’s highly skilled in multiple mediums, especially painting. A lot of my work I couldn’t have done without his advice and guidance. For a photographer, my first favorite photographs were Sally Mann’s Immediate Family series. They reminded me a lot of being a kid at my grandparents cabin in the woods. There’s this nostalgic connection I get looking at them and I can remember what it feels like to be young.

Favourite video game?Half-Life! The greatest series ever, in my opinion. The scale of the series is really grand, and totally immersive. Video games are a way for me to really relax and/or have fun. I don’t play multiplayer games anymore because I don’t like the idea of competition. It’s like having to go to work on vacation. I get all stressed out about doing well and getting a high score when I originally went on just to take a break. I don’t even like the HUD (head up display) or maps for most games because I find it distracting. I also really like the Batman: Arkham games, I think they did an amazing job making the player actu-ally feel like a superhero. I do enjoy a large variety of games though. I’ve been playing them my whole life, starting with the original Nintendo Entertaint System.

What cameras and lenses do you shoot with?I use a Canon 5D and an 85mm to shoot the scenes. For some of the figures, I use a 28mm so I can model in the pose I want to use.

What are your plans for the future?I’m currently writing a story book in which I’m going to build paper scenes and photograph to coincide with the text. It’s a traditional hero’s journey involving a hermit named Hubert who leaves his small island home in search of his father’s whereabouts as well as hidden treasures.

David Reeves

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Ever thought of linking the two to create animated puppetry scenes?Oh yes, but actually I worked on a small live production of the children’s book, “The Longest Night” back in my hometown in December. We used a few of my cutouts of animals on an overhead projector and a few voice actors read the parts. It was super fun, the kids loved it. But yes, I do have ideas about animations for future projects.

What would you have done if you didnt choose to go into photography?Probably Film. I’m still really interested in taking cours-es and helping out on local sets.

David Reeves

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David Reeves

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“

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A R T & C U L T U R E

Dark Side of The Lens(Mickey Smith)By Chloe Newman - @Clo_Newman

ark Side of the Lens is the visually breathtaking and liberating short film by filmmaker Mickey Smith. Mickey has also lent his directing talents to the likes of musician Ben Howard’s music videos. Originally a surf photographer,

Mickey has found himself entering the world of film and creating more personal pieces of work, dealing with his relationship with the ocean. He has won admirable awards for Dark Side of the Lens including, Best Cinematography at the Rhode Island International Film Festival in 2011. It doesn’t come as much of a surprise this film won for its cinematographic flair, the shots are poetic and flow beautifully.

As opposed to a straightforward documentary look, Dark Side of the Lens acquires a cinematic aesthetic, with incredible slow-motion shots of waves consuming the land and Mickey diving out into the watery abyss. Notions of freedom seep through images of clusters of birds and displaying more isolated times of a lone figure exploring the deep caves. The chaos of the waves, something so powerful is made to look gentler, creating a more intimate understanding of Mickey’s relationship with the waves accompanied with the rhythmical narration from the films director. The suns rays light many of the shots creating picturesque tonal skies and golden paths on the waters surface. However, we also get the moments of heavy rain pummeling the oceans skin shown in the enough detail to see each droplet hit.

Mickey explains how each wave is individual and beautifully describes the sea as an ‘ever-changing canvas’. It seems like a great marriage of activities, surfing the waves whilst capturing that moment in time with photography and film. What makes Mickey’s place in this creative field even more fascinating is the sometimes dangerous and rough conditions he can face with the waves, making capturing the right moment all the more challenging. But Mickey embraces this challenge; it makes it all the more fun and rewarding when he leaves with the special shot.

Behind this film is the inspiration, not just from the waves but also from Mickey’s sister, Cherry who sadly passed away. Mickey’s approach to Dark Side of the Lens is reminiscent of the film Into the Wild (Sean Penn, 2007), where the protagonist finds his retreat in the wildness of Alaska, Mickey finds his along the coastline of Ireland in the sea. It is a poetic film piece about doing what you feel is most special to you, despite the implications, in Mickey’s words; “If I only scrape a living, at least it will be a living worth scraping”.

The film is honest, documenting the feeling Mickey has when he’s out at sea, and upon viewing Dark Side of the Lens, you can’t help but feel tempted to treat life as Mickey does, just dive into the water and see where the waves take you.

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Sex and dogmaBook review: Amity & SorrowBy Emma Clark Lam - @EmmaClarkL am

here is something oddly titillating about the idea of polygamy, especially when it runs counter to the prevailing culture. Why would a group of free and consenting women choose to share one man? As for the husband... well, perhaps that’s self-evident. Not so

long ago, The Sunday Times ran a feature on the so-called ‘rampant rabbi’ of East Sussex and his seven wives. In an attempt to justify his lifestyle, the husband told the newspaper: “A man is capable of looking after more than one wife and it’s natural that a woman needs covering and safety.”

When it comes down to it, our fascination with polygamy revolves around sex. How seven wives share the housework is less interesting. Rather we want to hear about the antics in the bedroom. In Peggy Riley’s debut novel, Amity & Sorrow, there is plenty of sex to sauce her portrayal of a fundamentalist, polygamous cult. Sexual relations evolve into a ritualistic act to bind together Zachariah, the patriarch, and his fifty wives. More significantly, the nub of the story - the crisis that sets everything in motion - turns on a repugnant act of sex.

The book begins with the flight of Amaranth (the first wife) and her two daughters, Amity and Sorrow. They leave behind a secretive and insular community in Utah, on the brink of self-destruction. For four days, Amaranth drives non-stop before crashing the car on a farm in Oklahoma. Soon after their arrival, Sorrow suffers a miscarriage - or at least that is what we deduce as nothing is over-explained. This slightly fuzzy storytell-ing enhances the ‘otherness’ of Amaranth and her daughters. We can feel sympathy towards them, but it will take a while before we truly understand them.

The events of the novel unfold like a series of revelations, very much in keeping with Sorrow’s apocalyptic view of life, imbibed directly from her charismatic, but deeply suspect father. We are not alone in having to piece together the fragments of their story. Even Bradley, the jaded farmer on whose land they end up, can’t help but feel curious.

“Are you married? he asked. He has no idea.” There follows four para-graphs of Amaranth’s thoughts before the question is finally answered: “Yes she is married and married again. She is married fifty times, once for every wife. She was married to him first and last, married to him always.”

It is like a riddle that we have to solve. Amaranth still feels bound to her husband and the dogma of her former community, but her delay in answering shows a competing need to suppress the past. This dy-namic runs throughout the novel as Riley weaves together Amaranth’s backstory with the family’s new life on the farm, often using the same motifs in both settings: fire, a key, seeds, the wives’ habit of spinning in religious ecstasy.

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DOWNPOURPoetry

By aLfriendo - @aLfr iendo

The skies split open; proceed to pour down

optimistic downpour: rain, the tiny splatters

straining to sustain;

a soaking, repetitive chorus

washes away the untiring dust,

rinses the determined grit off the insane,

abruptly clears away the mundane.

The heavens’ emotions drench humanity;

dejections dissipate

and melancholies melt.

Worries withdraw

and magic materialises…

Leaving the awed observers,

the elated participants and the shrewd decision-makers

bright-beaming, simply sparkling.

Fresh… finally flawless.

T E C H N O L O G Y

fter much feedback from users Bandcamp decided that yes, Bandcamp could have a fan platform without “going all Myspace” and losing its integrity. After much work by their team and a positive beta test, it’s now live and looks great.

It’s clean, it’s clear and its only as social as you want it to be. It gives you the opportunity to discover more. I am going to outline the features below, with what they will entail for the fan as well as the artist.

Collection Pages

The collection page is essentially you as the account holder’s profile page. It shows what you’ve bought, what artists you follow, what you thought about the records you bought, what records you want to buy (more details later) and who you are.

From here you can share (what is essentially) your digital “re-cord” collection, with your followers on the site and by the usual; Facebook, Twitter and email routes. People will be able to see you’ve liked the music enough to buy it and might give it a listen themselves.

For artists this is obviously great, it is a recommendation by action. It shows whoever lands on the fans page, that they have took action and bought your music because it is obviously the dog’s bag of nuts. Which is much better than a “Like” on Facebook any day. That fan just promoted you, just by buying your music.

Following Fans

Fans can follow fans as well as artists, which may eventually lead to some fan accounts becoming “Go-to-guys/girls” for new music but will essentially lead to like minded people connecting and discov-ering music together. On your collection page you’ll see suggested people to follow, so that makes that easier. You’ll also be notified when people you follow collect (buy) new music and when you buy music people will be able to see what you have to say about it.

A notable feature is that if someone else buys music they have found through your collection, you will be notified about it. How’s that for a little ego boost?!

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BANDCAMP FOR FANSThe New Social Music Discovery ServiceBy BeatsOnToast - @TomSSatchwel l

Wishlist

This is something obvious but still brilliant. Often I’m sent to a Bandcamp page but can’t afford to get the record right then. I might forget all about it after that, always knowing there is a small part of me missing. A hole that needs filling. Well not anymore, now I can add that record to my wishlist and come back to it when I’m in the black. Perfect!

Following Artists

Similar to any other following service, you will get notifications when those artists upload to music. So you will quite often be the first to get your ears around it. Then you can wave it around in eve-ryones faces, with a smug grin because you have a Bandcamp Fan account set up because of that amazing blog you read. Yep…

Following artists also adds you to their mailing list, not really a big deal for fans at the time but good for artists, as that email is a vital bit of information for future reference. It enables you artists to have secondary contact with fans; thank them personally for the pur-chase, send out newsletters, give aways and gig announcements etc.

That’s all so far, more will develop as people search and play but those are the key features. It’s going to be interesting to see how this develops. Bandcamp have reported it has increased the sales for artists massively during Beta testing, with more sales now com-ing from fan accounts than Twitter led Bandcamp posts, which is nice.

In their own words: “Bandcamp for Fans is a social music discovery system based on the high friction concept of ownership” - Essentially; if you like an artist enough to buy it, people are going to take more notice. It looks like Bandcamp could be an artist managed digital store, allowing both ecommerce, discovery and attachment simul-taneously.

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BLACKBERRY 10By AdrianaKupresak - @adr ianakupresak

here is one thing my ex boyfriend will attest to, there was a third in our relationship: My BlackBerry Bold. I spent more time glued to my BlackBerry than in my dwindling love. People often ask me why I haven’t made the i-something switch. Truth

is, it has never crossed my mind. Having an iPad for my Gen-Y fix, is enough. Plus, I feel the BlackBerry looks better with all my outfits.

Hillel Fuld made an interesting point about BlackBerry in his recent post, “Here is the thing with the world of tech. It moves way too fast. What that causes is a lack of customer loyalty. What I mean is that every day millions of people switch from iOS to Android, Android to iOS, iOS to Windows Phone, BlackBerry to iOS, etc etc. The most loyal type of mobile consumer I can think of is the BlackBerry user.”

I’ve been a blackberry user for the past seven years and despite the Smartphone competition that has risen over the years, my tempta-tion to merge over was never met because my BB never failed me, or cracked on me.

You could imagine my excitement when @BlackBerry_au invited me along to the BlackBerry10 breakfast demo on par with the rest of the globe, sending #BlackBerry10 trending all over social media.

So here is what you need to know about my new Boyfriend aka The BlackBerry10. One of the best features of the Smartphone has always been its email function. This has improved more so, with a touch screen keypad that will learn the way you type, the errors you make and the words that you use. For example, if you’re pressing the “G” button instead of the “H” (right next to it), creating a constant spell-ing error, The new Blackberry10 will automatically pick up on this and in future with its own spell check, rectify the issue for you. No more embarrassing auto-correct typos, although they are amusing to see. It will also pick up on common words you use in your interac-tions and display them above certain letters, allowing you to swipe them up into the body of the email and sentence, would anyone like time efficiency today? Yes thank you. New to the BB world is “Screen Share” aka “Screen Shot.” This is fantastic, so watch what you text me from now on guys.

T VIRTUAL REALITY

irtual reality (VR) is not a new technology as it dates back to 1962 when Morton Heilig was issued a U.S. patent for his invention titled Sensorama Simulator. Though it has been around for more than fifty years, it is only in the last decade

that its importance became well known. There are many common applications for virtual reality. Alan Wexelblat has explained some of its applications such as games, television and film, interactive advertising, virtual amusement parks where VR technology has rapidly influenced the boundaries of multimedia. VR has also been used for human action and perception research. Different ways have been in usage for interpreting the term ‘virtual reality’. Different authors have proposed definitions based on their research. Riva and Mantovani explains VR as an advanced communication tool: a communication interface in single user and a communication medium in the case of multi user virtual environment. As they say, VR holds an important place in communication in future.

With virtual reality, the user becomes an essential participant in the virtual environment rather than being a passive observer. To make the user immerse and interact with the virtual environment, a good design is essential. But principles for designing good virtual environments have not been done well. Alistair Sutcliffe explains that this might be because the designer’s follow an experiential approach rather than a design philosophy. Some researchers have tried to give qualities of a good design in virtual environments. Reeves and Nass revealed that one of the heuristics for aesthetic design is the use of personality in media to attract and persuade. This idea was again insisted by Kim. He confirms that one of the most important objects in VR or in digital content is including human characters. Characters can contribute to making a virtual environment more believable.

VBy John Ranjith - @JohnR anj ith

E N T E R T A I N M E N T[ S P O I L E R A L E R T ]

Last weekend I went to see “Zero Dark Thirty” with The Real Hero. Given the buzz around the film , I was pretty excited to get my teeth into it. I was also thrilled to be going with The Real Hero (R.H) because I knew he would explain it to me. If I got lost. I attempted to go in with a blank slate, having avoided reviews so far. This was slight-ly jeopardized on the way up to our screen, as R.H told me about an open letter to the director (Kathryn Bigelow), comparing her to Nazi propagandist (and film pioneer) Leni Riefenstahl – in the sense that she is normalizing and therefore endorsing something horrific. In the case of “Zero Dark Thirty”, this was torture. I told R.H to be quiet, and to his credit he did, and then laughed loudly at a “Wonga” ad, which had me temporarily doubting his judgement.

We watched. We came out feeling a bit funny. I did at least. The film needed to be digested. From the brutal torture scenes, the coldness of Maya who leads the chase for OBL, the strange insight to the C.I.A’s activities, and the stark portrayal of the operation that resulted in OBL’s death. And a reminder that these events happened. No matter how hard a director tries, the screen will always remove us from reality slightly – although I’m not claiming that Bigelow was trying to make us feel as if we “were there”. I’ve got four points/objections about this film.

L I V I N G R O O M S O N G svariations on the theme of inspiration in a Reykjavik f lat.

here is a perverse underside to the Romantic con-cept of inspiration, or better yet, to the “vox populi”, shared type of knowledge about what it might mean. It somehow resembles a mercurial, impish

and most importantly dictating “It”; a coveted visitor, who alchemically transforms the overpowering banal into the sublime. And so it does not take a cynic then to see why this is such an alluring perspective, taking the creator away from tethered existence that most of us undergo, in a ethereal sphere of freedom whilst obstinately humanizing their efforts at the same time.

In October 2009 Ólafur Arnalds, the Icelandic prodigy of the neo-classical music world, received this visitor, much like, the famous Coleridge did, two centuries earlier when writing Kublai Khan. In his memoirs, the latter remem-bers how he fell asleep whilst reading a description of the remote Xanadu and upon waking, in churning torrent of fevered inspiration, an almost definitive variant of his last great poem was written. Correspondingly, Arnalds composed the exquisitely contemplative “Founds Songs” (released in 2009) in only seven days at the astounding rate of a song per day. A few years years later he was to repeat the process with the album “Living Room Songs” which followed the same strict output requirement.

The albums opening track ‘Fyrsta’ (“the first” in Icelandic) sets the tone in terms of generating a space through an acknowledgment of purpose and methods. It surreptitiously creates a broad emotional landscape through the use of a deceptively simple piano theme that billows and stretches into a seamless composition by means of the added parchment like string quartet.

T What amazes though is that this sense of immediate intimacy that is achieved with the listener is maintained as the album progresses and more layers of complexity are added in ‘Near Light’, the eulogistic ‘Ágúst’ and the final ‘This Place is a Shelter’. There is nothing to be found in them that distances, even as the textures grow richer, towards the end of the album when it hits an emotional zenith in ‘Lag fyrir Ömmu’ (Song for my grandmother).

Far from these alpine emotional horizons Arnald’s as-tounding talent is most redolent in the superbly nimble composition ‘Tomorrow’s Song’; a song that is nothing short of a excursion into the possibility of a handful of notes, a study in confidence and the promise of intimacy that underpins so much of minimalist art.

Whatever the shortcomings of such a short 7 days production process might be ‘Living room songs’ succeeds in achieving an impossible feat in our simper-ing post-ironic world; it manages to be earnest about sentiment, and tackles the potentially maudlin emotion of melancholy with a sense of both timelessness and innovation. When inspiration visits with Ólafur Arnalds, even the outdated, gushing Romantic type, the world should listen in order to find something intently human.

By Constantin Preda - @C onstant inPrda

Z e r o D a r k T h i r t y: T h e T h i n k i n g M a n ’s A-T e a mThe Thinking Man’s A-TeamBy Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night - @JudyABarrett

he capture of Osama Bin Laden is one of those his-torical events that make you recall exactly where you were when you heard it. I couldn’t quite believe it. Not only because I had an ongoing joke with K.T

about my mission to find Bin Laden. How every time I missed a lecture about Islamic fundamentalists to frolick with him, I was missing out on the revelation of OBL’s whereabouts. (A theory I still adhere to.) But also that it was done. This man – this symbol – was dead. I still wrestle with the idea that he needed to be shot admits the vague rumours surrounding his apparent “resist-ance” versus ‘Mark Owen’s’ (pseudonym of one Navy SEAL present at the raid) claim that OBL had no inten-tion of fighting. But how is any clarity possible when talking about Bin Laden The notorious five foot seven charismatic giant, who hid for years from the long arm of the C.I.A. The vocal leader of the world’s most infamous militant group of Islamic fundamentalists. The wealthy son of a Saudi family who issued fatwas from the tribal regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The exact truth about Bin Laden’s life and death will always be a riddle. But that is not what I going to discuss.

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1. Team America

Maya’s obsession with capturing OBL is fueled by her own conviction that she will, and that she must finish the job where so many have failed (and even died) doing so. This was a C.I.A vigilante, and of course the film would be slanted towards a C.I.A perspective but I felt like something was missing. Like the rest of the world. It was America against OBL - “for God and country” (which was very nearly the title of the film.) There was something romantic about it, noble that really did seem to condone the torture. Indeed, no repercussions of such incredible cruelty were shown. Where was the UN? Or even the U.K, who managed to pipe up in 2006 that “America’s idea of what torture is... does not seem to coincide with that of most civilized nations.” We’re shown scenes of terrorist attacks...there is no indication of the harm that the U.S was causing to the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Perhaps this narrow view was meant to echo Maya’s obsession and the singularity of her world. Or perhaps this was just a thinly veiled superhero story, with Maya as the all-American hero.

2. Maya

Ahhh Maya. The C.I.A lioness played by Jessica Chastain. I loved you for a while, with your hijab and your perfectly blow-dried hair and your shouting at your superiors. Feminists all over the world swooned at this woman with ice-cold ambition and determination. She was free from being defined by her relationship with men. Or really her relationship with anyone. She was the iceberg and OBL was the Titanic. This woman obsesses, shouts, scowls and waterboards her way to victory. Wait...what?! That’s not OK. That’s not what heroes (or heroines) do! So finally we have a strong female lead, who can hold her own with the men. But she is often totally devoid of any humanity. We catch glimpses, but generally – she is a machine. She’s frightening. She is a blank slate, not a woman. She is acting in a way that is traditionally quite male. Fair enough, gender roles/attributes should not be defined. But throw us femmos a bone...if you’re going to give us a female ‘hero’ give her a bit of femininity. Give us a strong woman, not a character of almost accidental androgyny. There is a difference between the sexes, and it should be celebrated – and it shouldn’t have to appear that one needs to portray traditional male traits in order to succeed like Maya. Maya is not real. She is meant to be an amalgamation of people who worked towards the capture of OBL. Perhaps this is why Maya feels not only off-piste, but unfinished.

2. C.O.D

I found the Call of Duty style shooting of Operation Neptune-Spear quite amusing. Well, in retrospect. At the time I was on the edge of my seat, and I do think it was the only way to shoot it. It captured the ambigu-ity of what happened, and was generally very exciting. However, I think it would have been more effective to have stayed with Maya during the operation. Oooh the tension! (Not that she would show it much.) Having Maya hear the news after a fraught wait would have added more weight to her shock, relief and satisfaction – as well as the audience’s emotions. Yeah, I know. I’m not a director. Whatever.

And finally....4) “I’m the Motherf *cker Who Found This Place”

(A slightly more childish note) Oh come on guys. I know Maya is as hard as nails, but there is no way that she would get away from saying that, even if she was recruited for the C.I.A in high school and systematically terrifies all her other male colleagues. Come on. This isn’t the A-Team. Or is it?

ass Effect: Paragon Lost is an animated movie that slots in parallel to events in Mass Effect 2. But does it add to the lore? Or is it just throwaway content?

Synopsis For those who played the Mass Effect series (come on, this is everyone right? RIGHT?!), you’ll remember the Collectors from Mass Effect 2, and their bid to abduct humans from their colonies. They are again the antago-nists of this movie, as we touchdown at a point where they attempt to overrun a research facility. This colony however just so happens to be under the protection of a certain James Vega, who was one of the recruitable squad mates in Mass Effect 3. As the primary protagonist here, we follow James, before he ever met Shepard, in his attempts to save the colonists. This plot is interesting enough to indulge fans of the series, but also provides enough in your face space combat and commando sci fi action to satiate the casual viewer. And while said casual watchers might be left wondering what the point of it all was, and probably gloss over the numerous Easter eggs hidden throughout, they will certainly still be entertained.

James Vega stars in Mass Effect Paragon Lost. Is it just me or does he look a bit wimpy? Action Plenty to see here. Watching Vega and his squad fight Krogan, Vorcha and Collector enemies provides am-ple opportunity to see them flex the combat muscle. La-sers, cannons, biotics, sniper rifles, airships, you name it and you’ll see it.

Animation The animation is good, but rarely anything more. It can look a little awkward when a character is giving a long speech as their mouths tends to repeat the same pattern. And the anime style of the characters doesn’t always fit the feel of the games. Vega himself looks far more intimidating in the video game then he does here. But there are no major flaws and it’s a solid viewing experience.

M There is plenty of the Mass Effect action on show What really matters The most important thing about this movie is that they have succeeded in making the animated universe very recognisable for their audience of fans. The whole thing sounds like Mass Effect, from the pop of the Mass Effect fields, to the pulse of a biotic attack or the raspy growl of a Krogan, your senses will feel right at home, and gripped by Nostalgia.

Omni Tools, Biotics..all the Mass Effect goodness is here The Krogan themselves are depicted as much bigger then humans, even more so then the games, which creates an adequate threat level visually. The huge Vega gets tossed around like a goddamn ragdoll. There are plenty of Easter eggs thrown in, my favourite being when they raid an arse-nal, and each weapon they procure is one of the heavy weap-ons you utilise in Mass Effect 2 and 3.

That’s a big a$$ Krogan But the best and truest nod to the series, is watching James have two clear difficult choices to make, and watching him pick one in true Mass Effect paragon/renegade style.

Why this Rocks:More Mass Effect!Sounds greatPlenty of sci fi actionMass Effect fans feel right at home

Why this Sucks:Characters designs a bit plain. Only an average watch for non fans. Needs more Garrus...

Verdict: One for the fansThey aren’t going to win any new fans with this anime, but they have plenty already who will enjoy it. Now I have the overwhelming need to play Mass Effect

A n i m e P i c ks : M a s s E f f e c t - Pa r a g o n L o s tNew media with the “Mass Effect” branding on it. Yes please! By MaskedHeroes - @MaskedHeroes

B U S I N E S S

I n s i g h t O f A n I n t e r n :

P r e pa r i n g F o r A J o b I n t e r v i e wBy CerianJenkins

@C erianJenkins

Do your homework!

- Know the Organisation: showing an interest and a firm knowledge base about the company you’re applying to is es-sential.

There are many ways to go about this; check the company website, read the company news, follow the company Twit-ter account, read any press releases relating to the company, visit the premises and talk to anyone you know who works there already, or who has worked there in the past.

- Know the Role: walking in with a vague idea of what your position within the company would be is not good enough.

Ask for a job specification with a list of the duties and re-sponsibilities that go with it. Then, go through it and make notes of any relevant prior experience you may have relating to those specific details.

Why not ring the nominated person on the job description? They may be able to give you more of an insight, and answer any questions you have.

If you’ve got friends or family in similar roles and industries, pick their brains for advice. Even if they’re not working for the specific company interviewing you, they may be able to provide you with some inside industry tips.

Having been chosen from potentially huge numbers of applicants, you’ve reached the interview stage - congratulations!

Those few days before any interview can be a nerve-wracking time, so it can be difficult to channel your time into doing anything constructive. However, prepa-ration is the key to any interview - though many people don’t actually realise this.

Preparing for an interview is vital for three main reasons:

1 - It helps you answer questions clearly and concisely. Although you can’t second guess every question you might be asked, if you are prepared you can tailor them to fit or at least draw upon them for inspiration.

2 - For your own confidence. If you’re prepared, your body language and demeanor will show it. For both interviewees and interviewers, there’s nothing more soul-sapping than an interview in which you have to drag ill-prepared and under-re-searched answers out.

3 - To show willing. The interview allows your potential employer a first opportunity to judge whether you’re right for the job, and showing you’re keen and organised enough to do your prep work is a big plus on any employer’s tick list.

With this in mind, the following article will provide you with some key pieces of advice for making sure you walk into your interview room armed with as much relevant knowledge and confidence as possi-ble.

The Basics

Before your interview, be sure to find out the following basic pieces of information:

- Where will it be held? - How long will it last? - What format will it take? - Will there be any capacity tests or group exercises? - Do you need to bring or prepare anything specific (such as a presentation)?

Question Preparation

- Remember *STAR*: during your interview, you will undoubt-edly be required to give solid examples from your past that ex-hibit your competencies, skills and qualities in real life situations.

Honestly one of the most useful things ever taught to me for this kind of situation is the *STAR* model, which is a framework for answering questions and keeping you on track.

STAR stands for: Situation, Task, Action and Result.

• Situation - the context of the example you are giving.• Task - what you were asked to do• Action - what you did and how you did it• Result - the outcome and the effect it had

- ‘Lessons learnt‘ examples, where you talk about something you did in the past and how you might now do it better demon-strate a capacity to learn and grow from less than ideal situations.

- Think about why you want the job (barring the money!) and your plans for the future, as employers are usually looking for someone who will be staying with the company long term (or returning after a final year in university, in many placement year student’s cases).

- Prepare your OWN questions - this is one of the most fre-quently missed aspects of preparing for a job interview. Draw upon your earlier research into the company to tailor your ques-tions - are there specific departments or projects you are interest-ed in? What about training opportunities? You could ask about the team you’ll be working in (how large, how frequently do they meet etc). Just show some interest beyond the confines of the interview room!

Now What?

You’ve done everything you can, so now it’s time to pay attention to some of the smaller, more mundane details. Think about what you’re going to wear for the interview - this may seem simple, but you won’t want to be worrying about this an hour or so be-fore you leave for the interview. If you’re going to be using public transportation to get to your interview, make sure you check the times. You don’t want to be late!

Get some rest. A good night’s sleep will do you wonders, and leave you feeling ready to take on that all important interview.

ob interviews can be really stressful. I, myself, am of this type of people who get really nervous at jobs interviews. There have been cases that the only reason I don’t

get the job I wanted is because of my lack of con-fidence during an interview. And this is a shame, because I know I am one of the best candidates with valuable experience and great knowledge!

Here are a few advices for you, and for myself, how not to be nervous on an interview:

J

1. Prepare

A good preparation IS a key to success! Make sure you know more about the company and practise some answers to the questions they might ask you. For this purpose use the job description, research the company on the internet and revise your CV for good examples of your experience. But you have to be careful not to over-prepare! You don’t want to sound like you are recitating a poem!

2. Don’t take it so seriously.

This advise may sound stupid to you but it is actually really useful! If you focus too much on the interview, as it is a matter of life and death, you will definitely get nervous! Don’t look desperate - act like they need you for the job, not like you need the job. Smile and have fun! The interview is actually a great chance to brag how wonderful you are without looking like a peacock! You will have an interesting conversation with someone from the industry you want to work in.

3. Positive thinking.

Spend some time before the interview visualising how you are getting the job. If you think positively you will be more calm and more confident.

H O W T O F E E L M O R E C O N F I D E N T O N

A J O B I N T E R V I E W !

By Hristina Kamburova

@hkamburova

S e l f P u b l i s h i n g P l a n

f o r A u t h o r sBy bethanymichaels

@Baby_B_Fresh

istractions are everywhere. Every day. We have our mind-set to complete a task, and then: the phone rings, we are bombarded by our own thoughts and

lose focus, or something else pops up and pro-vokes our attention to divert. There have been so many times during our own self publishing process when we’ve lost focus or have found ourselves at a dead-end with no compass. But even in those times of seemingly inescapable aimlessness, we have found our way back to clarity by creating and implementing a plan.

Instead of publishing your book first and then frantically running around trying to promote it like a chicken with his head cut off, you must take precautionary steps beforehand. (Believe us...we were that chicken after we published our first book Humantics.) You’ll be setting yourself up for a frenzied failure if you think that you can publish a book with no plan to spread the word.

There are several things you’ll want to assess to create your own plan:

1. WHO is my target audience?

We recommend you read the Marketing Persona post by the marketing company Plum11 to help you find your target audience.

2. WHAT is my social media presence like?

If you’re asking, “what is social media?” then you really need to step your game up and leverage the free platforms that are available to you like Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest to name a few. Also, connect with people you know on Linked In, join a writer/author group on the web to sup-port each other and share stories. Use the web to share short quotes, snippets, ideas, etc. from your book to engage your audience and invite them to read your book. The more active you are, the more connections you can make. We’ve met some wonderful people through Twitter/Face-book/Linked In who have reviewed our book and helped spread the word.

3. WHERE can you find me on the web?One of the most disappointing things an author/self-publisher can do is fail to offer information on how you can contact them. People like transparency. Peo-ple want to know the person behind the words. In-clude a professional picture in your author biography on Amazon like this:

Make sure that your profiles are updated on all your social networks with your picture. If you have a web-site or blog, make sure to include information about yourself, a picture and contact information.

4. WHEN is the BEST time to pub-lish my book?

If you’re writing a book about gratitude and well-being, you may want to schedule your book to debut in early November and promote it as the “perfect Thanksgiving gift.” Or if you’re planning to publish a children’s book, think about launching in before Christmas and promote it as the “perfect stocking stuffer” to go along with your kid’s Kindle. You can use your book genre to determine when would be the best time to publish. For example, with our next book 30 Seconds to Health, Wealth and Happiness, we are planning to publish it just before the new year, when people have their mind-set on making new resolutions and shedding their old ways.

5. WHY am I publishing this Some authors and self publishers never really pinpoint WHY exactly they want to publish their book. Of course one reason may be to acquire revenue...and that’s a very good reason! When you have readable material, you will have much greater chances of making money off of your publi-cation. But that can’t be the only reason you want to share your ideas with the world. Do you want to publish your book to help others with an ailment that you’ve overcome and seen success with? Do you want to publish your book to gain popularity and instant success? If so, you are probably in the wrong industry. Think about WHY you want to publish your book, then capitalize on that idea and use it to appeal to your readers, not to “sell” them something.

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STUDENT MONSTER BURGERS.Recipe: Student FoodBy Charlotte Huckle

1. To begin with, bake your ciabatta at 220c for 8 minutes. Whilst this is baking put your burgers together. Begin by chopping up the onions and parsley and adding them to the mince. Make sure you chop the onions finely otherwise they won’t be any help to the burger when it is trying to hold together during cooking.

2. Once this is done separate the egg yolk from the white and add this to the bowl. Crack in some salt and pepper and then get stuck in with the mixing. Use your hands to combine all of the ingredients together. You’ll get messy doing this but it is quite fun!

3. Now start to shape the mix into burger pat-ties. You will get four patties out of this mixture. Squash and shape until you’re happy with your burgers. You can now fry, grill or Gorge Foreman your burgers. I opted for George Foreman on this occasion. The burgers will take about ten to fif-teen minutes to cook.

Whilst the burgers cook you can prepare your trimmings. Slice up the cheese and the tomatoes to make the basic extras that your burger needs. By now the ciabatta should be done. Take it out of the oven and slice into four rolls. Then add salad to the burger along with the tomatoes, jalapeños (if they take your fancy), freshly grilled burger and cheese. I’ve opted to cover mine in ketchup, but smother in whatever you like.

F O O D & D R I N K

ADDICTED TO PEANUTBUTTER.. .Recipe: Peanut butter BrowniesBy A Few Fine Things - @hampanther

1. Set aside 50g each of the peanut butter and chocolate. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line a 20cm square baking tin with baking parchment. Gently melt remaining peanut butter, chocolate and all the sugar in a pan, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has just about melted. Turn off heat and use a wooden spoon to beat in the eggs one by one. Stir in the flour and scrape into the tin.

2. Melt reserved peanut butter in the microwave on High for 45 secs, then drizzle over the brownie. Bake for 20-25 mins un-til it has a crust, but the middle still seems slightly uncooked.

3. Melt reserved chocolate, driz-zle over the brownie, then cool in the tin before cutting into squares.

Ingre-dients:

ou’ll make lots of friends whilst at university. But the

best two will undoubtedly be bleach (that gets chucked around the bathroom every once in a while) and mince. Cheap and easy mince. Spa-ghetti Bolognese and Chilli con carne galore for students. But if you ever fancy doing something different with your mince, then make some student monster burgers.

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Ingre-dients:

For Student Monster Burgers you will need:

• 250g minced beef• Half an onion• Home bake ciabatta• 50g (4 slices) cheddar

cheese• 1 Tomato

• 4 Handfuls of salad• 1 Egg yolk• Few sprigs of parsley• Salt and pepper

Optional:

• Jalapeno chillies• Salsa• Ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise

etc. Or whatever your preferred burger sauce may be.

Okay, maybe that’s an understatement, that’s like saying Jackie Stallone overdid the plastic surgery a little bit.

“ I AM SAMWISE AND I AM A PEANUT BUTTER ADDICT”

I love the stuff. It’s my dad’s fault, at a young age my dad introduced me to peanut butter and cucumber sandwiches (do not knock it until you’ve tried it) the salty, slight sweetness of the thick peanut butter, mixed with the fresh, crisp, crunch of a slice of cucumber... ah-hhh heaven. As a 23 year old I still have this sandwich ever so often because as you know I love nostalgia and any excuse to revisit old memories whilst eating peanut butter (WIN!)

I don’t just love eating peanut butter, I enjoy cooking with it. Give me a recipe with peanut butter in it and I’ll be your friend for life (Slice of Barnes I’m looking at you!). From making my own tahini paste (peanut butter and sesame oil), to making chicken satay to my “All American Cookies” (chunks of white, dark and milk chocolate and lots of peanut butter). I still have yet to make my own peanut butter from scratch (perhaps an-other blog in the making??? Oooo I AM getting inspired)

Anyhoo whilst discussing with the lovely Slice of Barnes about our love of peanut butter (and David Beckham) I discovered a peanut butter brownie recipe. Oh. My. Gawd.

You’ll know from my previous post that I have been making baked goods for my work colleagues to support my Louis participating in Movember and as some of my work mates are a bit peanut butter obssessed too, I de-cided this would be Thursdays recipe!

Ingredients you will need:-

• 225gcrunchypeanutbutter• 200gbardarkchocolate,brokenintopieces• 280gcastersugar• 3mediumeggs• 100gself-raisingflour

This recipe was damn well easy and I knocked it up rather quickly and my colleagues are currently mum-bling incoherent delights as they get crumbs over my desk! I of course HAD to try a square and it is so de-licious the little pockets of melted peanut butter are absolutely genius. I think next time though I will melt milk chocolate on the top to add some extra decadence.

Franks Hamburger House, NorthamptonFood: ReviewBy tinnedravioliontoast

’m going to go ahead and declare the 2010s The Decade of Meat. This is unashamedly carnivorous, American-style, hulk-ing, slap you round the chops, slabs of meat; there is nothing that’s dainty or subtle about The Decade of Meat. Our inner cave-people would be highly satisfied; although they may raise an eye-brow about their meat being served on chi-chi wooden boards.

And so to Franks of Northampton; two restaurants (the Steakhouse and the Hamburger House) dedicated to worshipping good meat. And (spoiler alert) what very good meat it is.

The decision to go for the Hamburger House was purely based on eco-nomics; with steaks from £14-£38 the Steakhouse may have to be saved for a (very) special occasion. However with starters from a cheery £2.50 and a burger for a blindingly good £8.50, the Hamburger House is more of a budget choice.

Now there is something I have to point out before I continue: if you don’t like Radio One, you won’t like sitting in Franks for long. Because there is a soundtrack to your meal, a rather loud one in fact, and it consists of Wiley and Cheryl Cole. There should be a sign outside warning you of the risk of prolonged exposure to Flo Rida. It’s all a bit...youth.

Maybe the Wild West-esque wooden cladding on the walls is an attempt to dampen the sound system. Nevertheless the interior is comfy yet whimsical; rough wooden cladding, rough wooden tables, rough wooden benches, and, er, Union Jack cushions to pull it back from the brink of cowboy.

All served on the now-obligatory wooden boards we got a selection of starters; deep-fried whitebait with aioli, garlic ciabatta, and the Franks scotch egg with an onion relish. The whitebait were crispy perfection, the scotch egg lacked a bit of flavour but was saved by the spiky relish and gooey yolk.

And so to a quick note before we get to the burgers: all the ingredients (including the beef) are locally sourced, the burgers are all 100% steak mince (and gluten-free; ring ahead if you also want a GF bun), and the meat is all cooked over charcoal giving it an authentic taste of smoke. This passion for locality and quality is the main reason I wanted to go to Franks; it’s a rare focus in this neck of the woods but the difference in taste is astounding.

The burgers are awesome. I could just leave it at that but here’s why; the charcoal, the quality of the local beef, and the use of 100% steak mince with no bulk like breadcrumbs mean that the burgers are juicy, tender, and full of beefy flavour. All the burgers come in ciabatta rolls with different toppings (some, like the Express Lift Tower, named after local landmarks); I went for Swiss cheese, smoked bacon, and a spicy tomato relish. The chilli and lime in the relish cut through the rich juice of the burger a treat. By the way, as the name of the place suggests, all the mains are some form of burger; if you don’t like burgers, well then you’re in the wrong restaurant.

@potentia lpoet

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