**THE GREAT ABERYSTWYTH SEX SURVEY 2010**

Hey guys and dolls, we are preparing ourselves for the sex-edition 2010. Of course we are once more launching our infamous sex-survey to get you in the mood.
Follow the link below to the online survey. The survey will close Friday the 5th February at 5.00pm

http://www.esurveyspro.com/Survey.aspx?id=57cfbc57-a52f-4268-be00-3c9ee6ce4c4c

Feel free to forward this link to all your friends. :)

The Courier Team

Why ‘Cool World’ turned out badly....

Article by Ruth Hueneke

I have to start off by apologising to the readers. This is, of course, the extension to the quick article I wrote about why ‘Cool World’ should be remade. My apology is for the delay in getting this article written up. You see, my hope is that after reading the quick summary in The Courier, readers will then come to this website to read my more detailed arguments.

The writer and director of this movie is a man called Ralph Bakshi. ‘Who’s he?’ you might ask. In the 70s he established himself as an independent animator, debuting in 1972 with ‘Fritz the Cat’, which was the first animated feature film to get rated X in the US. Not all his films were aimed at adults though, as demonstrated by ‘Wizards’, and then by his most well known work: the animated ‘Lord of the Rings’. Throughout most of the 80s he laid low, staying out of the movie industry.

After about 10 years out of the business, Bakshi decided to re-enter it. He was inspired to do a live action/animated hybrid horror story and even wanted it to be rated R. The basic premise of his script was that an underground comic artist created the graphic novel ‘Cool World’. Portraying the idea that an artist can never escape his work, ‘Cool World’ deals with cartoon characters (‘doodles’) that live alongside humans (‘noids’).

Allegedly Paramount bought the script within 10 minutes and Frank Mancuso JR. was assigned to the project as producer. Mancuso’s previous production work was every single ‘Friday the 13^th’ sequel, so he was believed to be the perfect man for the job. Well actually, Mancuso wanted to be involved in a different genre and this motivation led to bad blood between him and director Bakshi.

First of all, before even shooting, Bakshi and Mancuso had heated telephone conversations. One argument was over casting: Bakshi wanted up-and-coming stars to act in the movie whilst Mancuso was looking for established actors so that the movie would attract more spectators. In the end Gabriel Byrne and Kim Basinger were assigned the lead roles in the production, and Bratt Pitt got to portray the newly created character Frank Harris.

There were no doubt plenty more arguments and compromises, but Bakshi still believed he had creative control. He was in charge of the animation studios and even personally chose the animators. On the first day of shooting he went to the set and learned something unbelievable: Mancuso had secretly hired 2 writers to completely rewrite the script. Bakshi was so furious that after effectively a shouting match with the producer, he punched Mancuso and left the set. The rewritten script, and consequently the finished product, was far from the original. Determined to ditch the movie, Bakshi came into conflict with Paramount President Mancuso SR who threatened to sue Bakshi if the film would not be completed. Consequently ‘Cool World’ was released in August 1992 in America with a rating deemed suitable for teenagers and turned out to be a gigantic flop.

Being in sole control of the animation, Bakshi worked hard (despite the messed up-script) to make cool world look…well, cool, as well as somewhat intimidating and disturbing. He even encouraged his creative team to put in their own elements, so the ‘doodles’ come in all shapes, sizes, animal types and animation styles. It also meant having the movie suddenly pause while we watch strange animated sketches.

If you’re truly curious enough to see this movie, you can click here. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcFXAzLsw-I&feature=related]

If you’d rather stick with a more in-depth review, feel free to watch this [http://blip.tv/file/2177371/]. Only lasts about 20 minutes or so.

EDITION 61.1 out now!!

Pick up a copy from the Union Shop or grab one from the tables in the Underground, Joint and Bar9!

Enjoy...

The Courier

Documenting the Pants World Record...

It has been achieved! The World Record for the largest amount of people in pants in one place has been broken!!

Well done to everyone who participated and thus supported Union initiative.

All the images and comments from the day will be posted asap. The editing and typing up process is taking longer than anticipated.

The Courier

World Record Attempt


Show your LOVE for Aber - Come in your pants!

When?
Monday 16th November 12:30pm

Where?
The Joint, then weather-permitting, the concourse outside!

Why?
Help us break the World Record for the most amount of people wearing only their pants!

How?
From Wednesday 11th November, you can buy your pants from the Union - £2 will get you the pants and a celebratory drink afterwards!
Then... just turn up in your pants!

In support of the attempt to break the World Record (as detailed above) The Courier will be attending in order to fully document this epic event. Lauren (Copyeditor) and Christine (Editor) will be capturing the spirit of the day through photographs and informal interviews. All material will be published as part of this blog.

If you fancy coming along for a laugh (and maybe help us get something written down for the blog afterwards), meet us outside the Union main entrance at 12:00 noon. You will recognise us by our grey Courier t-shirts.

Hope to see some of you there.

The Courier

Blog Launched

Welcome to The Courier Blog!

This is where you will find updates and information about the society and the magazine. If you would really like to contribute more to the magazine, but keep missing those Contributors' Meetings, don't worry. You can submit articles, comments and photos/illustrations via the blog. This way you can get stuff published, regardless of edition deadlines, and get feedback from the Editorial Team AND other Courier members/contributors.

We hope that people will find this blog useful in bridging the gab between editions, meetings and socials and will seize this opportunity to communicate with like-minded fellow students.

This blog will also contain regular updates on planned events, trips, workshops, presentations and socials. So if you miss anything you can read up on it online.

We hope this will make things easier for everybody involved.

THE COURIER TEAM