Ban Ki-moon is coming to town.

Festive cheer can come along in the most unexpected of guises. In this case, the UN Secretary-General.

T.M.

Guardian Photography Competition

Check out this link to the Guardian's annual 'catch G2 on camera' comp!


K.H.

Go wild with our new theme: WILD

Hello all, and thank you for picking up our magazines so fervently. Quite frankly, we haven't been able to keep filling the stands up quickly enough! If you're still having trouble getting hold of a copy, try the ASS library by the book returns area or read it online here.

Now onto more pressing matters: our new theme has been decided, and that decision was WILD. Awful puns aside, we implore you to unleash your creative powers accordingly in the direction of art, photography, poetry, prose and features. We were also deliberating around the wild, or wilderness, or even chaos, so feel free to draw your inspiration from any of these ideas.

As usual, your submissions can fulfill the theme as loosely or literally as you like. Light-hearted, serious or just plain ridiculous, please email them with your name and medium as the subject (eg. Bear Grylls Poetry) to helicon.magazine@gmail.com before the deadline of February 6th where they'll all be lovingly recieved and provided with full feedback.

Please don't hesitate to drop us an email if you have any questions. Other than that, we look forward to receiving your submissions, and Merry Christmas!


TB.

Ceci n’est pas un profil Facebook

Click on the profile to discover the face behind Facebook.

E.D.

Poem of the Week: 'On the Table' by Andrew Motion

'On the Table'
Andrew Motion

I would like to make it clear that I have bought
this tablecloth with its simple repeating pattern
of dark purple blooms not named by any botanist
because it reminds me of that printed dress you had
the summer we met - a dress you have always said
I never told you I liked. Well I did, you know. I did.
I liked it a lot, whether you were inside it or not.

How did it slip so quietly out of our life?
I hate - I really hate - to think of some other bum
swinging those heavy flower-heads left to right.
I hate even more to think of it mouldering on a tip
or torn to shreds - a piece here wiping a dipstick,
a piece there tied round a crack in a lead pipe.

It's all a long time ago now, darling, a long time,
but tonight just like our first night here I am
With my head light in my hands and my glass full
staring at the big drowsy petals until they start to swim,
loving them but wishing to lift them aside, unbutton them,
tear them, even, if that's what it takes to get through
to the beautiful, moon-white, warm, wanting skin of you.


AW (courtesy of Steven from Helicon Poets)

DISGUISE: Unveiled

In case you couldn't make it to our wonderful launch party (scroll down for a goony picture of yours truly to see just what kind of bliss you missed out on) our Disguise issue is now widely available throughout the libraries, common rooms and other notable locations of our university. Just keep your eyes peeled for our stunning new stands and, fingers crossed, some lovely copies should be awaiting you there.

If, however, you can't make it through the insane (well...) snow drifts then Disguise (and all three back issues from last year) can be read here from the comfort (well...) of your subzero student abode. Watch this space for next term's theme, which will be unveiled before christmas to give you time to hone your creative art of choice whilst toasting chestnuts over an open fire.

TB.

Calling all bookworms - go forth and multiply!

Anyone who has ever had the privilege to truly understand the concept of ‘getting lost in a book’ will know that when you stumble across one that you can hardly bear to put down and end up devouring the whole thing in a matter of hours, this book is worth shouting about. That is the belief that has inspired the organisers of the World Book Night campaign to announce a giveaway of one million books next March. A panel has come up with 25 titles, classics and modern works, home-grown and foreign, that they believe deserve to be read and enjoyed by as many people as possible. The idea is that this will encourage people to start reading again, in an age when literature is being left behind in favour of the virtual world, and where books are having to contend with shiny new eReaders and film adaptations. 

HELICON Launch Party: A Flashback

Great party on Tuesday, the new "Disguise" issue has officially been launched! It was impossible to wipe the grin off Tom's face as he caressed and flipped the pages of his precious newborn; could've sworn I saw sparkling driblets hanging off his eyelashes. He was "so delirious".

To all the editors - fantastic work! But extra bless to the chiefs, Emma and Tom, for putting up with our numerous absences at meetings, and for displaying subtle yet skillful diplomacy with regards to our oh-so-brilliant track record at blogging! Credit to Emma's "reminder SMS" for this blog post.

LISTEN TO: Beach Fossils and find yourself transported by urban infused psychadelia

With the trend in current indie bands from Brooklyn and with a name like 'Beach Fossils', as Pitchfork points out, it would be pretty easy to dismiss Beach Fossils as predictable. Probably just another lo-fi, bland band singing about ice-creams and  being in love with banal girls- more image then substance. However, cast all prejudices aside and have a listen to 'Daydream' (whilst reading Sitting and Thinking from the Disguise issue of Helicon) from their self-titled debut album released earlier this year.

Reminiscent of The Cure's catchy pop jangles in their early days and The Jesus and Mary Chain's reverb masked lyrics, Beach Fossils also claim influence from improvisational jazz, classical music, and Stereolab. The repetitive nature of their songs and constricting song structure may lead to some accusations of a lack of strength, but in a similar manner to the enduring poetic drawl of Mark E. Smith's lyrics drifitng through a mesh of hypnotic repetition in The Fall, Payseur's lyrics capture evocative details we might otherwise have missed 'And we fall in the grass/Of an open park/And the sun will break/When our hands hit the tree'.

This is an upbeat, warm, uncommplicated soundtrack for relief and reflection.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_Yt2LcCqrk

IH

Jules et Jim (1962): My first encounter with the French New Wave

  

                                        Photograph by Raymond Cauchetier, on the set of Jules et Jim.


Just a quick post to point you all in the direction of this beautiful film. I watched it (sort of by accident) last night, wrongly assuming that it would calm my mind on what was proving to be a frustratingly sleepless night. In fact, it kept me up long after the credits rolled, and has stayed with me all day today.

In short, it tells the story of an impossibly complicated love triangle, set against the backdrop of the First World War and its aftermath. Sounds gloomy, doesn't it? But tragedy is not it's defining feature, and the natural warmth of the film triumphs over it's ultimately heartbreaking climax. Created in 1962, Jules et Jim is now considered to be one of the foremost examples of Nouvelle Vague cinema, combining photographic stills and archive footage with broad panning and tracking shots, amplified by a mysterious chocolate voiced narrator and a celebrated soundtrack.

Have a look at this shot, in which the three lovers race across a Parisian overpass. We end up running alongside Jeanne Moreau, catching her up where the others have fallen behind, intimately close, sharing breath, flying almost.

I'm telling you, it'll charm your socks off.

P.B