Your Fridge Is Your Friend.

Take a look inside your fridge and freezer. What do you see? Reckon you could rustle up a meal with your leftovers? If you think you can then read on and you could even win £50 of Amazon vouchers.

Scotcampus has teamed up with the Food Standards Agency to bring you some hot tips on making the most of what you’ve got sitting spare in your fridge and freezer. Just click on the logo below for all the info you need on using leftovers safely. Once you’ve had a look why not think about how you can better use what’s in your own fridge? You can even use this handy recipe card to help you out.

Remember to follow the FSA on Twitter and Facebook for more information on how to eat well and save yourself some dosh!

To stand the chance of winning £50 of Amazon vouchers (we have four vouchers to give away) simply share your leftover recipes with Scotcampus by emailing them to info@scotcampus.com

One entry per person, winners selected at random on June 1st 2012. Winners will be informed by email within a week of being drawn. Over 18s only. Please include your name, email address, date of birth and postal address with your entry.

‘Machina/The Machines of God’

The biggest artistic selling point of Smashing Pumpkins was that the group knew how to play it fast and play it slow. It’s a skill few alternative acts master. Yet despite their ability to change tempo and tone, not every Smashing Pumpkins album prior (or
after) this was an outright success. Their most famous album ‘Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness’ is as bloated and self indulgent as anything ever released in the ‘90s. Yet it works because the songs are good. Machina on the other hand is not very good; mostly because the songs aren’t. The album also suffers from the fact that its hard rock isn’t quite as cocksure and anthemic as it ought to be while the slower moments drag on and on. This was supposed to be the group’s sign off and thankfully it wasn’t because if it had been it would have been an inglorious end to an at times excellent run.

Rolling Stones

‘Their Satanic Majesties Request’

Like a better Blur and Oasis, The Beatles and Rolling Stones fought it out over the decades in an endless (yet friendly) battle for musical supremacy. Whatever the Beatles did, the Stones thought they could do better and vice versa. This relatively
relaxed Cold War situation came to a head when the Stones decided to offer up a reply to the Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’. The similarly ludicrously titled ‘Their Satanic Majesties Request’ was a complete disaster. Coming at the height of the Stones dalliance with drugs it was unsurprisingly ‘out there’. Badly (self) produced, messily psychedelic and gratuitously self indulgent the seldom self-deprecating Mick Jagger even admitted much of it was ‘rubbish’.

REM

‘Around the Sun’

Indie rock princes of modern America they might have been, but that didn’t stop them from signing off some absolute shite in their time. Post ‘Automatic for the People’ REM struggled to cope with the demands of their extremely large, increasingly mainstream fanbase. First they punted us the ramped up ‘Monster’ and then inflicted several other inconsistent though not incorrigible efforts on the public. By 2004 though they’d seemingly run out of creativity; choosing to thrust ‘Around the Sun’ onto the market. Predictably strong sales couldn’t hide the fact that Stipe and the lads had run out of ideas and still missed influential drummer Bill Berry. Timid and turgid in equal measures REM never sounded so boring, banal and broken.

David Bowie

‘Outside’

Any artist with a discography stretching to over 20 studio albums will have had a few stinkers in their time. And Bowie, bless him, has had more than his fair share. Many critics point to the bombastic but artistically dead ‘Never Let Me Down’ as being
Bowie’s worst work. Glitzy and excessively ‘80s though it might be, there was something commercially acceptable about that particular release. It was, a product of its time, as they say. What wasn’t a product of its time, or indeed any other, was ‘Outside’. Artistically Bowie has (with one or two exceptions) always dabbled and crafted his music to suit his own personal direction. Concepts and creativity were always bywords for Bowie. And ‘Outside’ is no less creative or conceptual than even
Bowie’s best work. It’s just that the hazy, garbled, electro-rock dross of the instrumentals coupled with a whiffy mini rap from pre Play-Doh faced Mickey Rourke didn’t work. On any level.

Nirvana

‘Incesticide’

Released shortly after ‘Nevermind’ this collection of rarities, B-sides and covers was hardly required. But with Nirvana worship at its peak, the band and the execs decided to take a gamble on throwing something together in what always looked like a half-arsed cash in. While the release made plenty of bucks, it didn’t give us anything musically. Age has also been particularly cruel to the title with both the quality and the direction of the included tracks seeming slapdash and unintended. Hardcore fans might argue otherwise, but we feel the world would have been a better place without us having to hear ‘Incesticide’.

Guns n’ Roses

‘Chinese Democracy’

Seldom have groups teased their fanbase with as much regularity as rock gods Guns n’ Roses. Famed for their sterling debut and a string of mediocre follow ups, their supporters had been awaiting the semi-legendary ‘Chinese Democracy’ release for over a decade. After years of petty infighting and break-ups the most protracted album in rock history hit the shelves of the world’s music stores on November 2008. Had it been released a couple of months after 1993’s ‘The Spagetti Incident?’ it might have been hailed as a return to form for the group. However with so much time spent in anticipation of its release, it’s difficult to listen to it and think it was even worth a quarter of the wait or the exorbitant cost. Clumsy lyrics and Lady Gaga-esque production levels combined with flaccid overbearingly aggressive guitar work do not help to make this an original or enticing album.

Northfoto / Shutterstock.com

It’s the morning of Baroness Warsi’s visit to the Vatican and the radio buzzes with arguments on whether religion has any place to play in the governance of the United Kingdom. Sayeeda Warsi, is set to make a speech on her visit in which she’ll argue that the UK’s increased secularisation is damaging, both to those who practice religion, and the country as a whole.

This comes shortly after David Cameron claimed that Britain was a “Christian country and should not be afraid to say so.”

Two issues need to be addressed here. Firstly is Britain really a Christian country and secondly even if it is, should Christianity or any other religion play any part in public life?

Determining the extent to which the UK is a Christian country is a near impossible task. Recent surveys suggest that as few as 15% of people in the country attend church once a month or more. Yet you’d be hard pushed to find anyone who would believe less than a quarter of the UK practice a form of Christianity.

Yet international polls place the UK closer to the atheist end than the Christian end on the list of nations. A Eurostat survey suggests that British citizens are far less likely to believe in God than Italians, Greeks, Germans and the Irish. However we have nowhere near the level of atheism found in nations such as France, Estonia, Sweden and the Czech Republic.

Conservative estimates suggest that about 20% of the country is atheist while under 40% believe in a God. The rest? Well the rest either aren’t sure what to believe, or don’t want to align themselves with any particular religion.

Survey by survey, recent and old, they all point to the fact that the majority of people in the UK are not practicing Christians. Therefore why even consider bringing a belief system with little or no bearing on the general population back to the fore of public life? Why upscale the value of, or give increased credence to, something which does not need to be intrinsically linked with who we are or how we’re governed?

There is no reason.

In February, Devon Town Council was forced to stop holding prayers during meetings. Non-Christian members of the Council had expressed discomfort with the practice and the National Secular Society (NSS) moved to support them and lobbied to have the practice stopped. The same organisation is now targeting Edinburgh council, one of the few councils in Scotland to hold prayers before their monthly meetings.

And why shouldn’t they move to stop the practice? What relevance does a prayer have when discussing bin collections and road works? Blatantly none; just as it wouldn’t have any bearing on the UK Government’s policy discussions.

While there are no suggestions that David Cameron and co will be holding a quick prayer before getting down to cabinet business, the very suggestion that they might try to strengthen the church-state link is one that should be discouraged (and discouraged vigorously) where possible.

Yet shortly after the legal move to ban the prayers Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles defied the High Court and acted to give the power to pray back to English Councils.

So what are the arguments for halting or decreasing secularisation the UK Government would like? Well according to Warsi, she thinks Britain needs to be strong in its religious beliefs so that we’re better able to attack overseas persecution. She has also said that religion can be the key to bridging divides.

Religion can also be the barrier to union as we have seen both at home and abroad on numerous occasions. And as for non-secular nations having a better record of battling the ills of the world? It’s difficult to find any evidence for this.

Warsi’s position seems to be that the UK is a better and stronger country when the church has an influence. But is this really the case?

The fact Britain is a considered a Christian country seems more of a historical concept than actual fact. Indeed if you look at church attendances today and compare them with even twenty years ago it’s clear that practiced Christianity is in decline. With this fact in mind it seems nonsensical to start increasing the church’s influence rather than decreasing it.

Surely it’s time we all accepted that you don’t need to be a Christian to have morals and values? We should be proud of our religious diversity, but we should not connect any belief systems with our forms of government. No God made David Cameron head of the Coalition Government, the voters did. Surely it’s their interests he should be protecting rather than those of a particular deities’ followers?

Football is not an exact art. Heroes can swiftly become villains, great sides can crumble into nothing overnight and sometimes even the least talented journeyman can propel a team to glory. Occasionally though a club makes a signing which really looks like adding something to the side yet somehow the player fails to deliver at every attempt. Scotland’s top teams are littered with big money flops, overseas internationals who couldn’t hack the cold and also Scottish stars happier to pick up a pay cheque and go for a pint than put any effort into their time on the pitch. Here is a selection of the worst buys from Scotland’s biggest clubs.

Nigel Pepper (Aberdeen, 1997)

When Sky money was much more abundant in the SPL, the board at Aberdeen weren’t shy in opening the purse strings. Their signing of injury magnet Paul Bernard for £1 million remains the record transfer fee of any non-Old Firm side in the country. And while most Dons don’t look on the Scotland midfielder as a bargain, he wasn’t nearly as bad as Nigel Pepper. Pepper was the blood and thunder captain of mighty Bradford City and made the move from the English Championship to the SPL for a cool £350,000.

He was a disaster from start to finish. Sent off after 17 seconds on his debut against Celtic for a career threatening challenge, he then managed to muster 14 games for Aberdeen in a stay many thought 13 games too long. While Dons fans have always appreciated a combative midfielder they are also quick to turn on one who can’t pass, shoot, run, dribble or simply stay on the pitch for a full 90 minutes. For all Nigel’s commitment his crapness and cost mean he won’t even be remembered as fondly as other disasters such as chain smoking, strip club residing gnome Ilian Kirakov or Leon Mike, a former Coronation Street extra who masqueraded as a striker.

Raphael Sheidt (Celtic, 1999)

John Barnes managed Celtic like a six year old would manage a team on Football Manager. Indeed much fuss was made in the media at his signing of Brazilian international defender Raphael Sheidt for a massive £5 million. South American sources said he was a poor footballer and questioned the buy, but the fans and press over here were seduced by the prospect of one of the Samba Boys turning out in Celtic colours. The move was a complete disaster and perhaps mercifully the cumbersome; accident prone defender was only allowed to disgrace himself three times for the Glasgow side.

Other notable big name Celtic shockers include fellow Brazilian Juninho, former Real Madrid carthorse Thomas Graveson, panic stricken ex-Chelsea stopper Magnus Hedman and the tough as toilet paper Eyal Berkovic.

Walter Rojas (Dundee Utd, 1991)

Sometimes in Scottish football something so sublimely silly occurs it becomes instant legend. The signing of Argentinean ‘winger’ Walter Rojas by Jim McLean rates as one of the beautiful game’s most ludicrous moments. In Walter Rojas Dundee Utd thought they were getting a man on the cusp of international stardom, a player so good he could become the next Maradonna. He came in, he played once and he left. Myth suggests that they signed the wrong Argentinian, or that they signed the brother of a professional player, or that Walter’s agent had in fact punted him to Scotland as a footballer when he in fact he played basketball.

Whatever the truth of it, Walter Rojas remains one of Scotland’s most embarrassing signings. Despite having their fingers burnt Utd raided South America once more ten years later, conjuring up a trio of equally untalented super stars. While they didn’t last long in Dundee, better known and more expensive Scottish duds such as Paul Ritchie and Lee Miller will perhaps merit as much mockery as their more exotic predecessors.

Mirsad Bešlija (Hearts, 2006)

You could write a book about the odd comings and goings at Hearts in recent years. Actually you could write more than one. The Edinburgh club have had so many signings and loan players through their doors it’s no wonder even the best accountants at HMRC haven’t got a clue who is or was employed by the city’s most successful side. Bosnian winger Misrad Bešlija was very definitely employed by Hearts, but that’s only because UEFA threatened the Gorgie Giants with a transfer embargo after the player’s £850,000 transfer fee seemed to go missing in the post. Finally though the payment to Genk was made and the allegedly tricky, allegedly talented Bosnian international clocked in with nine instantly forgettable cameo appearances. He now plays (sporadically) for Željezniar in his homeland after being released in 2008.

Bešlija’s dubious honour is no small achievement when you consider other catastrophic buys such as Kevin James (the world’s tallest traffic cone), Gordan Petric (£500,000 of pure mince) and Christian Nade a striker so ineffective Hearts would have been better off playing with ten men.

Nuno Capucho (Rangers, 2003)

From the gold plated Tore Andre Flo (good but not worth £12 million) to the mysterious Daniel Prodan (£3 million for zero appearances) Rangers have a hall of shame so extensive and expensive only their Glasgow rivals could possibly compete in the dud-stakes. Yet who was the worst buy of all time? Grumpy World Cup winning ‘striker’ Stephane Guivarch? Or maybe the inexpensive but inexplicable Marcus Gayle? No, our choice of the worst buy ever was the highly skilled, highly decorated, highly disappointing Nuno Capucho.

As a Porto legend and regular Portugal international Capucho undoubtedly had talent, yet he seemed intent on making sure nobody during his stay in Scotland witnessed any of it. Lazy, bored and overweight he stalked the line at the pace of a gout riddled golfer. Despite the odd goal, he was so utterly hopeless Celtic fans cheered him onto the pitch during his last Old Firm encounter.

Losing a band member on the cusp of a tour is enough to dent even the most seasoned groups’ confidence. Losing two members at the same time is enough to destroy it completely. But for London-based rockers, Rise To Remain, it seems to have increased their self-esteem ten-fold. Already taking 2012 by storm, vocalist Austin Dickinson talks new beginnings, new material and a zombie joke which has gone way too far.

As we sit to talk, Austin is flustered. “We’re running way behind,” he sighs.“It’s OK though, it was worth it. We were in Liverpool last night and think we made too many stops for coffee. But we need to be on top form for the Glasgow crowd. You Scots are insane.”

His band, Rise To Remain, are currently on their much-anticipated Progression Tour, hitting a number of intimate UK venues and playing tracks from their critically acclaimed debut album, ‘City of Vultures’. “I can’t get over how well the fans have taken to the new material. I think it works so well because we put this album together to sound familiar but completely different at the same time. We’ve kept a lot of the hard riffs that fans love but there’s much more melody to the songs and that works great live. There’s a lot of songs where fans can sing back and when they do, I get shivers. There’s no feeling like it.”

Yet embarking on the tour wasn’t as plain sailing as the baby-faced singer would have you believe. Shortly into 2012, Rise To Remain took to their Facebook page to announce that they were parting ways with long-term band members Pat Lundy and Joe Copcutt. The news shocked fans who have been loyally supporting the band since their 2008 formation.

“We were obviously upset that we had to let a lot of people down. At the time we didn’t know how to get everything back on track but thankfully we were introduced to these two special guys and just thought ‘hell yes, we’re back’.”

These ‘special guys’ are Josh Hammond who took over on bass and Adam Lewin who plopped himself behind the drums. After a brief spell of chaos, Rise To Remain were whole again. “You have no idea how intense everything feels now,” laughs Austin.“It’s as though these two guys have been part of the band since we started. Their energy is insane and we couldn’t have found two nicer guys to write and tour with. They’re family already.”

This last-minute change to their line up boosted band morale just in time for the announcement that they were to play the infamous Van’s Warped Tour this summer, hitting 40 cities across the USA.

Reminiscing about the first time he heard a line in Blink 182’s song Rock Show ‘acting stupid, getting drunk with my best friends/ I couldn’t wait for the summer and the Warped Tour’, Austin gushes: “As soon as I heard that line and saw the bands that played the festival, it was a dream of mine. A dream I never thought would come true but here we are. I can’t believe it. We’ll be playing with most of my idols and that’s the part I can’t get over.”

Staying closer to home, Rise To Remain were also added to the main stage bill for Donnington’s legendary Download Festival in June. “I mean, wow,” he laughs, shaking his head in disbelief. “This will be our fourth time playing but to now be on the main stage. We’ve worked damn hard to get where we are but it still doesn’t seem real. As a band, we like to do a huddle before we play to rile each
other up but before Download we’ll probably be too nervous.”

Nerves have certainly never been a problem for the quintet. Renowned for their passionate live gigs and angst-fuelled stage presence, their performances rarely leave audiences without a bruise or two. Austin’s transformation from the pleasant boy-next-door at our interview to a ferocious animal on stage is impressive in itself. Their connection with fans is also unrivalled, as depicted through a bizarre trend emerging during this tour: zombies. At the mere mention, Austin grabs his hat as he roars with laughter: “Oh that. Yeah, I made a joke that if you dressed up as a zombie you could come on stage to sing with me. There have been one or two fans who have actually turned up as zombies. It’s really awkward but absolutely hilarious. I love our fans.”

Head-pounding drums, ear-splitting guitars, blood-curdling vocals and cameos by the walking dead – if that isn’t reason enough to peg Rise To Remain as Britain’s best new metal act then hell knows what is.
Check out www.risetoremain.com for more details about the band’s latest tour dates and releases.

The answer, much to the Evil Queen’s dismay, is of course Snow White. It’s always Snow White.

But which one?

This year sees the release of two films based on the original brothers Grimm fairytale. In the red corner we have ‘Mirror, Mirror’ starring Julia Roberts, Sean Bean and Lily Collins (daughter of musician Phil) as Snow White. In the blue corner we have ‘Snow Whiteand the Huntsman’ with Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth and that vampire loving emotionless robot Kristen Stewart as Snow White. But which one is better? There’s only one way to find out. Fight! The first rule of fairytale fight club is we do not talk about fairytale fight club. Especially not the mud wrestling part. Both films despite following the same basic plot (Evil stepmother, dark forest, poisoned apple, dwarves) do appear to be coming at the source material from wildly different directions.

‘Mirror, Mirror’ from the trailer looks vibrant, playful, fun with weird Bollywood style dance numbers, childish humour, Lily Collins monstrous eyebrows and Julia Roberts chewing the admittedly very pretty scenery. Weirdly there is no sign of Sean Bean which hopefully means he turns up at the end with a pint of Guinness in one hand and a massive sword in the other and puts an end to all the silly nonsense while loudly proclaiming “I’M SEAN BEAN”.

‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ on the other hand looks surprisingly adult and gritty with big battles reminiscent of the opening scene of ‘Gladiator’, ominous dark forests and what sounds like Charlize Theron having an orgasm. Sensibly the trailer has very little Kristen Stewart which hopefully means she is brutally slain in the first scene by Sean Bean despite the fact he isn’t even in the film. It doesn’t make a difference to Sean Bean. He’s “SEAN BEAN”.

The most important question though is why are there two Snow White films coming out this year?

The answer is one of those strange quirks of filmmaking that happens every few years where two films with a similar subject matter are made at exactly the same time for no discernible reason.

The best example of this would be the two meteor films of 1998. The thoughtful but dull ‘Deep Impact’ and the entertaining but silly ‘Armageddon’. Both of these films came out within months of each other. ‘Deep Impact’ beat ‘Armageddon’ in terms of release but ‘Armageddon’
won the box office booty. 1998 also saw the World War Two films ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and ‘The Thin Red Line’ duke it out at the box office. Saving Private Ryan’ was the more commercial film and won but ‘The Thin Red Line’ is a more philosophical deeper work that lingers in the memory longer.

Other notable examples of films with a similar subject matter are the volcano films ‘Dante’s Peak’ and the less imaginatively titled ‘Volcano’ from 1997 and the two Truman Capote films ‘Capote’ and ‘Infamous’ from 2005/2006.

The reason that there were two meteor and two volcano films at the same time was the success of ‘Independence Day’ which brought the disaster movie, with its scenes of wanton destruction and pioneering special effects, back into the mainstream. Ultimately the studios got on the bandwagon by starting small (volcanoes) and then upping the ante (meteors). Effectively a lack of creativity meant that these films were developed at the same time. The Truman Capote films however are trickier, the likeliest explanation is that the scripts had been a work in progress for a while and both were green lit at the same time through nothing more than serendipity.

But back to the question of Snow White, why is she the fairest of them all back in vogue?

Well, living in the troubled times that we do, maybe there is something reassuring in the message of everyone living happily ever after. The current superhero fad which will probably peak this summer with ‘The Avengers’, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and ‘The Amazing Spiderman’ will leave a slot open for larger than life heroes in fantastical environments and it looks like fairytale characters may fill the void.

Snow White is easily one of the most iconic fairytale characters, something that Disney realised when ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves’ became their first full length animated feature. This cycle looks to be starting again but now in live action and with proper actors (and Kristen Stewart). Upcoming films about fairytales are the Jack and the Beanstalk inspired ‘Jack the Giant Killer’ with Ewan McGregor, ‘Hansel and Gretel : Witch Hunters’, the Sleeping Beauty inspired ‘Maleficent’ with Angelina Jolie and two Beauty and the Beast films, one of which may be directed by Guillermo del Toro and starring Emma Watson.

Fairytales have also trickled into television with two of the biggest hits in the States being ‘Once Upon A Time’ and ‘Grimm’. You could arguably say that ‘Game of Thrones’ has a slight fairytale vibe through it amongst the sex and violence. Plus Sean Bean is in it.

He made me say it. He’s “SEAN BEAN”!

5 Fairy Tales starring Sean Bean

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Sean Bean playing Goldilocks shows up at the bears’ house, he eats their breakfast and sleeps in their beds. The bears are too afraid to say anything. He stays for a month.

Red Riding Hood

Sean Bean plays the wolf and instead of trying to eat Red Riding Hood he instead takes her out for a drink. He is ultimately dumped for two timing with Red’s grandmother. He doesn’t care.

Jack and the Beanstalk

Sean Bean plays Jack who mostly just stands at the bottom of the beanstalk shouting to the giant “Come on you bastard, I’ll ‘ave ya!”. He would as well.

Sleeping Beauty

Sean is Prince Charming (obviously) who decides to let her sleep so he can go to the football and get pissed. He’ll see to her after. Although he’s not the kissing type.

Beauty and the Beast

He plays both parts. He’s very versatile.

Digital Theatre and live streamed performances are the zeitgeist within contemporary theatre. Undoubtedly it is a child of our time, a new and vibrant format that for the first time opens up live theatre to ever wider audiences irrespective of their location. The obvious down side is that if audiences have the opportunity to see shows without having to actually go to the theatre, this could seriously affect numbers of ‘live’ theatre goers, with subsequent effects on financial and (from the actors perspective) performance viability. The primary concern among industry professionals appears to be that Digital Theatre cannot emulate live performance. Whatever the general consensus may be, Digital Theatre and live streamed performances are becoming increasingly popular.

In their manifesto, The National Theatre of Scotland outline their desire to tour internationally, to bring drama in all its forms to schools and communities and to work with designers, playwrights, directors and numerous other artists to develop the pool of talent in Scotland. The Company has no venue, therefore one understands the thought process they had last year when conjuring up ‘5 Minute Theatre’ as it allowed them to fulfil many of their objectives without the constraints of their own venue becoming critical.

The event lasted 24 hours, and took place on what the Company like to call their ‘virtual stage.’ It consisted of 207 back-to-back five minute live streamed performances, which were watched by 6,300 unique viewers in 51 different countries, who visited the site 22,000 times. The pieces are still available to watch online, and since being posted, have gained a further 33,000 viewings. This creates a virtual audience of 55,000 to date.

Following the accomplishment of last year’s inaugural ‘Five Minute Theatre’ the format has been improved. There are to be five shorter digital and interactive bursts this year, with the first live streaming set to take place on the 1st of May. The theme is ‘protest’ and theatre makers can focus on the personal, private protests or global and political protests. Alongside offering the opportunity to be seen by thousands, the national theatre’s website also offers theatre makers classes and advice on how to make and deliver a piece of theatre. The essence of this project is certainly encouraging to professionals and amateurs alike. Whether you want to apply to take part, view shows, or simply keep up to date with their plans, then go to www.fiveminuitetheatre.com

Whilst it is arguable whether the essence of live performance can be captured remotely on a screen, it would seem live streaming and Digital Theatre’s benefits outweigh the negatives. Scotland’s National Theatre has proven this. For the first time in the history of Theatre, a production has a potentially unlimited worldwide audience. The future for Theatre is one without boundaries and whatever your view on the digital advancement, conjecturing as to how it will change the face of Theatre as we know it, is both intriguing and exciting.

When it was announced that Stone Roses had reformed music fans across the planet became delirious with delight. Formed back in the 1980s, this seminal Manchester group took off from where The Smiths left off and pushed the British indie music scene onto the next phase of its evolution.

The Stone Roses eponymous debut album wasn’t the only thing which catapulted them to the nation’s attention. Style-savvy lead singer Ian Brown took the baggie ‘Madchester’ vibe from the realm of the ravers into the mainstream.

Back in the early ‘90s the baggie look was all about the big jeans and big t-shirts of the US hip-hop scene. Acts like the Happy Mondays and Stone Roses took to the style with aplomb, but Brown, perhaps more than his contemporaries, chose to add a British edge to the look. This consisted of short cut military jackets, mod apparel and darker more mainstream colour tones. Gaunt and gangling, Brown’s memorable features added to the iconic look he helped create. His wasn’t a look for fat boys; it was a look for the lean, confident and culturally couth urban rascal. Still sporting similar garments today, the singer’s style has become a staple of the British High Street. Adidas trainers, paper thin box jacket, loose fitted t-shirt, combat belt and a good pair of jeans are everyday apparel today. It’s in no small part down to trendsetters like Brown, that these styles and cuts are going strong over twenty years since they started to saturate the market.

This summer The Stone Roses will be hitting the festival circuit for the first time in over a decade. And with each performance we can expect to see Ian Brown sporting the same sort of threads as he did the last time we saw his band play together. Some might call him a dinosaur. Maybe he is, but he’s an important one in

Noam Wind / Shutterstock.com

As complex a strategy game as you could hope to encounter, Crusader Kings II lets you rule in a feudal world where friends, family and foes all
play important roles in the direction of your nation. Essentially there’s no real end goal in Crusader Kings other than the survival of your dynasty. It’s up to you to govern your realm, forge alliances and if you want even wage war. How you go about this is up to you. You can marry off your children to gain favour with rival monarchs, join other nations on crusade or simply plot and manoeuvre the downfall of the enemies you have at home. There’s a steep learning curve to this game, every action you take can have positive and negative effects. Some of your servants will help you; some will plot to kill you. Layered, endlessly interesting and tricky as hell, Crusader Kings II is a title for those who enjoy hours of play and don’t mind the ‘no pain no gain’ philosophy of this medieval masterpiece.

I Am Alive (PS3, XBOX 360)

When it comes to gaming there’s nothing like surviving an apocalypse. Except that is when it comes to I Am Alive. Kicking off, this relatively hard survival game starts promisingly. The hero is refreshingly average. If he falls he gets hurt, if he climbs he gets tired, if he gets shot he’s dead etc. This makes your choices extremely important. Facing off against bad guys isn’t a simple task; neither is surviving the city itself. It’s also doubly difficult because the combat mechanics absolutely stink. You can wave a gun at an aggressor and he’ll back off terrified. Fine. Except as soon as you pocket your pistol he seems to forget you have it and charges straight for you. Not fine. Repetitive, clunky, buggy and cursed with a map system a 1990s game would be ashamed of, I Am Alive is drearily disappointing.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
(PS3 and XBOX 360)

Few franchises excite as much as the Resident Evil one. The series has given gamers some deliciously tense moments over the years. Sadly though this most recent offering is a huge let down. Firstly, rather than being a slick, creepy action adventure like the previous games, this is a combat heavy third person shooter. A change in direction isn’t always a bad thing. However what sort of shoot’ em up limits your ammunition? Not a good one anyway. Hordes of mindless (the AI ain’t great) mutations and zombies throw themselves at the heroes, and while there are a few set pieces the lack of bullets takes away the fun of the fire fight. There are some good concepts here but they just don’t work, which is a shame because if they did they could change the whole way the series evolves.

Take a good look at Scotland’s brewing industry and you will see change wherever your eyes fall; be it in the local village or the modern city, the Highlands or the Lowlands. But change works at its own pace and it often takes years to discern where it has impacted most. Change brings a host of contradictions too. Since the smoking ban more and more pubs are closing, yet they are also diversifying, occupying ever more subtle market niches and market segments. Lager sales across Scotland are down but more ales are being sold than ever before. There are less pubs but thanks in part to the Campaign for Real Ale – more choice.

Scottish Students are also becoming more conscious of what they sup and the old stereotype of the binge drinking lager lout (whilst holding true in a general sense) is similarly evolving. I spoke with a busy Lindsay Grant, CAMRA’s Scotland & Northern Ireland Director, (busy because CAMRA are preparing for their 2012 Good Beer Guide launch) about the peculiarities and particulars involved in both Scottish brewing in general and young Scots in particular.

The battle between beer and lager is a complex one, combining historical factors with changes in the UK’s social pyramid, but undoubtedly lager’s ascension brought with it a dirty war of marketing and branding which real ale lost. Grant attributes the beginning of lager’s success to “aggressive marketing by large brewers that resulted in a change in the Scots’ palate with a preference for bland, highly carbonated products. By the late 70s only a few breweries still produced real, cask conditioned ale.”

But there is a resurgence from real ale and the fight-back has been growing throughout the noughties. Interestingly, this fight-back rests on pressure from below (demand); not above (supply). It’s people-led, thirsty for a ‘proper’ beer, and it’s publican-led, supported by a range of successful micro-breweries who have understood the market opportunities for ale. But the flag-bearers of real ale’s resurgence surely comes form the eponymous CAMRA and its missionary zeal in bringing back the brown and black stuff.

So what about young Scots? Surely real ale’s fight-back rests on old men grumbling about the demise of ‘proper’ beer. Surprisingly no, young drinkers can also be receptive to the subtleties of bitters and ales. The problem is, their demand is more elastic, pricesensitive and marketing-influenced. As Lindsay concedes, CAMRA’s outreach to young Scots is based on
budget; “young drinkers – at which most beer marketing is targeted – including students, are probably more influenced by marketing than their older counterparts and the much smaller real ale producers simply can’t compete.”

Yet there have been some efforts, such as Hobgoblin’s successful poster campaign, ‘What’s up lager boy, afraid you’ll taste something?’ So, too, has events sponsorship begin to prove a fighting ground for ales against lager. Tennants’ may sponsor
T in the Park but the Caledonian Brewery is fighting back with their sponsorship of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Grant says; ‘their Deuchars IPA is probably the most widely drunk real ale in Scotland.’

Alas, the resurgence of real ale in Scotland, amongst the young and old alike, needs to be qualified. It must be contextualised, viewed through national and local conditions. Lindsay makes the point that; “there are far more pubs in England than Scotland offering real ale and in many of them real ale is the choice of the vast majority of their beer-drinking customers. Some pubs do not even offer lager or it is relegated to being very much a secondary offering. The same cannot be said of Scotland, particularly in the west, where fizzy keg is the norm and a real ale drinker has to research which pubs to visit.”

But in other areas Scotland’s ale situation is far brighter. Edinburgh for example has real cause for joy as entire pubs dedicate themselves to a varied provision of micro brewery ales. Indeed, even Leith Walk is now a positive haven for continental beers
and UK based offerings. In the north of Scotland Cairngorm and Black Isle breweries are selling in Scottish and English cities. Lindsay notes that in Glasgow “there are 90 real ale pubs out of a total of 452 listed in Yellow Pages and so the market must exist, otherwise these pubs wouldn’t bother stocking it.”

“The real ale scene in Scotland is improving,” says Lindsay. “We now have 48 breweries brewing real ale compared to a handful 20 years ago. I returned to my ‘homeland’ of Ayrshire in 1998, after 15 years in England, and after a short time could quite proudly say I had visited every real ale pub in the county; there were 28. Now we have 70, too many to have visited them all!”

So good news overall, Scotland is becoming an important battle ground in the UK-wide war against lager. I asked Lindsay perhaps the most important question of all; could Tenants ever be trumped by CAMRA? “In a nutshell, extremely unlikely, they have the marketing budget we don’t.”