Kenny’s Corner: The Guardians liked it, so they put a Power Ring on it!

Welcome back to my own little den of mayhem! What’s up this week? Well, judging by the tag line, today it’s about Green Lantern!

As I’ve mentioned before, DC comics recently rebooted their entire franchise. I’m not gonna go back over that, but what I will say is that Green Lantern, and its associated titles, seems to have escaped relatively unscathed. Probably because it is the pride and joy of the Chief Creative Consultant, Geoff Johns.

So, 6 issues in, what exciting things are occurring for Hal Jordan and the other wielders of the Emerald Light? Well, there has been some interesting developments but I’m not going to go over some stories you have already read (and if you haven’t, why not?) Instead, I want to look at an interesting comment from the final page of issue 5 of Green Lantern. The Guardians are gathered in their citadel, discussing recent developments, and one says “The First Lantern will lead the Third Army. And the Third Army will replace the Green Lantern Corps”.

Doncaster The Brave

Geography buffs received a shock last month when it was revealed that Doncaster, a southern Yorkshire industrial town, is in fact a part of Scotland. This peculiar realisation came about due to an examination of the medieval law treaties concerned with the Anglo-Scottish relations. As part of the Treaty of Durham – an agreement designed to belie animosity between the kings of Scotland and England in 1136 – Doncaster was given to Scottish rule, an act which has never technically been reversed. Unofficially Henry II reclaimed Doncaster for the English crown in 1157, but since this was never entered into the law tracts it was not legally binding.

Not So Civil Servants

With a referendum coming closer, Whitehall’s position on the question of Scottish Independence is becoming clearer and clearer. In a move sparking anger across both sides of the debate, senior Scottish civil servants are to be aggressively kept out of the loop by their English counterparts.

Anonymous Arrests

Here’s a bit of advice. Don’t start a flamewar or hack campaign against South American and European governments. As of Tuesday the 28th of February, Interpol released a statement claiming to have arrested 25 suspected hackers from the loose knit (dubbed ‘hacktivist’) group, Anonymous.

Scotland, Gateway To Space?

When this was first brought to my attention a few weeks ago, my first thought was ‘Scotland: The Final Frontier’. Yes, I am that geeky. However, upon looking into the situation a bit further, in reality its more like ‘Houston, we have a problem’.
 
To give you some background, Virgin Galactic, part of Richard Branson’s behemoth of a company, are looking to set up a commercial spaceport. This would allow them to offer trips into space for $200,000, or about £127,000 in British money. A total bargain? Considering the adventure only gets you about 5 minutes of weightlessness, it’s not exactly pocket change, but this being Virgin I’m sure you can get a discount if you take their broadband and TV package.

Election Time At The QMU

In case the colourful T-shirts, cheerleaders, hula-hooping and free sweets around campus didn’t tip you off, the QMU Board of Management Annual Election was held on Thursday 1st March. There was a definite buzz around the QMU this week. Well over a hundred people filled Jim’s Bar for Hustings on Tuesday to ask the Candidates questions; indeed, so keen were the voters to quiz the hopefuls that the event ran two hours over! On election day campaigners thronged around the QM, handing out bribes in sweetie form in a desperate attempt to secure as many votes for their candidate as possible. Possibly because of the sugary incentive the election turn-out was also around 600 despite the heavy afternoon rain, a significant growth on last year’s turn-out.

Jason Russell, mastermind of Kony 2012, arrested by San Diego police.

The man who is responsible for clogging your news feed for the past couple of weeks was found ‘in his underpants’ around 11.30am Thursday morning.

Calls to 911 suggested Jason Russell had been vandalising parked cars, was under the influence and had been masturbating. In public.

While most people have agreed with the lofty aims of the Kony 2012 project, it has been met with criticism almost since its inception.

Will the actions of its founder leave Invisible Children the subject of more ridicule? Or will it be an opportunity to reassess its methods, goals and contributors?

The father of two is apparently NOT being charged with any crime by local police forces and is currently ‘recovering’ from what Invisible Children CEO Ben Keesey calls ‘exhaustion, dehydration and malnutrition’. Sounds a lot like ‘tired and emotional’ to us.

For more coverage, check out the Huffington Post
and TMZ for a developing timeline.

If you somehow still haven’t seen the video. The Kony 2012 website can be found by clicking here.

Glasgow Comedy Festival Preview: James Acaster

This year’s eagerly-awaited festival kicks off today and runs until April 1st. On Saturday 17th March, James Acaster will be performing his critically acclaimed show, Amongst Other Things, which he debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with great success. James has supported pun machine Milton Jones on tour and made appearances on Russell Howard’s Good News and Dave’s One Night Stand, so he’s one to look out for.

We’ll be reviewing this Saturday’s show, so watch this space. Until then, here’s a quick Q&A with the man himself to whet your appetites…

Issue 95

All stats on page 9 from the Refugee Welcome Trust.

To Have A Voice: GSA, 4th February – 31st March 2012

To Have A Voice collects seven painters in a fairly big group painting show, including works by Hernan Bas, Kaye Donachie, Moyna Flannigan, Chantal Joffe, Bruno Pacheco, Gideon Rubin and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. The exhibit explores contemporary figurative painting and its ability to give a fresh perspective in light of the legacy of the past. It looks at why the artists choose these particular characters to voice new perspectives, and whether there is anything new to be said through this medium given the diversity of today’s world where anyone with a camera phone can brand themselves ‘artists’.

Certainly, the artists are talented in approaching their subjects from various angles. They’re obviously aware of their own subjective interpretations, neither trying to be completely truthful, abstract, nor conceptual. However, no clear cut themes is a bit of an artsy way of saying it’s subject to your own interpretation, which means it will be a bit confusing.