Samantha Gilmartin's Articles

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A Short History Of The Muppets The Muppets are perhaps the best known puppets in the world. This article explores how they came to be and their slow rise to fame. Allah, Yamn al-Qayamah And Jannah: The Beginner's Guide To Islam Islam is the second most popular religion in the world with approximately 1.5billion followers worldwide. In this modern world we live in, it is amazing how little people know about the faith. This article intends to outline the basics of Islam. Assisted Performance: The Who, What, Why, When And How Assisted performance is a means by which blind or partially sighted people can attend the theatre, the cinema and sporting events independently. Audio description originated in the theatre and was first used in the USA in 1981 and nowadays is even available for TV programmes. AD is used so people with sight difficulties can gather an accurate understanding of events around them. BANNED ADS: A Look At Some Of The Most Risque Ad Campaigns Ever With the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruling to outlaw the 'Cactus Kid' Oasis commercials this week, we look at some of the most famous banned adverts in history. Blade Debate Sharpens In Run Up To The Olympics Since the double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorious was cleared to run in the Beijing Olympics last month his case has attracted a huge amount of debate. With his dependence on the controversial 'Cheetah' carbon blades to allow him to compete, is it fair that he race against able-bodied athletes? Brand New Second Hand: How Big Brands Help A Flailing Music Industry With UK album sales on the decline, musicians are constantly striving to find the next best way of marketing their music. Enter the big named brands to help out. Carol Vorderman: Countdown To The End Of The Ignorant Celebrity? Carol Vorderman, Jade Goody and Winston Churchill all failed to impress their teachers. But is education now more important than celebrity when it comes to making money? Celebrity Obsession A Stage Too Far? When Sir Jonathan Miller's critically acclaimed version of Hamlet wasn't picked up by any West End producers, he became the latest in a long line of high profile detractors from the recent penchant for star-studded casts. Is he right to hit back at an industry bloated by its own self importance? Or is this possibly the archetypal classic case of sour grapes? Christopher Marlowe: Heady Murder, Spoil And Villainy Born in the same year as Shakespeare and every bit as popular with audiences at the time, meet Christopher Marlowe, the drunken, homosexual hell-raiser that is too often England's forgotten literary genius. David and Goliath: Glastonbury vs. Boutique festivals Glastonbury festival has been in the news even more than usual this year, tickets are still available prompting organisers to sell the remainder in HMV stores in a last ditch attempt to shift the leftovers. This lull in demand has left Glastonbury organisers pondering just what is putting festivalgoers off an event that has become synonymous with summer in England. Digital Ash In A Digital Urn: Does The Digital Age Mean The Death Sentence For Live Theatre? Since the BBC announced that over 7.2 million users have logged on to its iplayer service in only its first two months and the relentless rise of 'less than legal' content streamers sky-rockets, we may ask ourselves: does the dawn of the digital age mean the death sentence for live theatre? Don't Carp About Your Cold Turkey Count your blessings; there's worse things to look at in the New Year than the remains of the Christmas bird. In Eastern Europe it's cold carp that will be filling the fridge. Dylan Thomas: Ballads And Binge Drinking As the new film The Edge of Love is put on general release, we take a look at the current surge in the poet Dylan Thomas's popularity England 'Til We Die: The Future Of English Football Management First we had the "Iceman" that was Sven, then the nonentity that was McClaren now we've got an Italian who might not be here after 2010. Can we as true England supporters be blamed for feeling pretty low this summer? I don't think so. This article will look at the recent past of the English game and see if there's really any chance of football coming home! Entertainment Industry May Be Silver Lining In The Cloudy Economic Climate With the tightening credit crunch, plummeting house prices and an economic recession hanging in the air, the financial forecast looks gloomy at best. However, contrary to popular belief, a new survey suggests that the entertainment sector may be about to buck the greying trend. Eyes In The Dark: What Do Feral Children Mean In A Urban Society? Almost since storytelling began there have been whispers of strange creatures in the wilds, in the mountains, forests and caves. These monsters are neither animal nor human but something in-between, or so the stories go. When these odd creatures are further investigated a disappointingly earthly conclusion is drawn. Fallible Apple - Three Apple Gadgets That Didn't Take Apple have not always had the success we see today. This article takes a brief look at three gadgets the people behind the iPhone have produced over the years that didn't quite make the cut. Foetal Alcohol Syndrome: The Dangers of Drinking During Pregnancy You can't smoke, you can't drink, you shouldn't do too much heavy exercise and yet you shouldn't sit around doing nothing all day long. Oh, the joys of being pregnant. From Decadence to Dissonance: The Aesthetics That Shaped The Late Victorian Era The 19th Century's penchant for aesthetics helped define one of the most vibrant and vital periods in modern history. But the highly eroticised works of Klimt, Wilde and Beardsley would come crashing down through the courts, the irons, the fire and the brimstone of the impending 20th Century. From Stanford To Chrome: Ten Years Of Google After ten years of search engine supremacy, Google has entered the realm of web browsing with the release of Google Chrome. Take a brief look back in time and see how they became potentially one of the biggest companies in the world. Gossip or Gospel: Are Women the Real Victims of the Celebrity Culture? Following Kerry Katona's disastrous interview on This Morning last week, a group of British academics claim that the harsh backlash she received was fuelled by a sexist bias found at the heart of 'bitchy' gossip programmes and magazines aimed at young women. I Have a Complaint! A Look at the World of Outrage and Complaint in the British Media With the recent furore over the offensive radio broadcast made by Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross still fresh in everyone's minds, we take a look at how complaints are processed and what other famous broadcasts have attracted severe critical backlashes Illegal Music Downloads And The Law The law is changing regarding illegal music downloads, but nobody is really sure what's going to happen. From Napster to Gnarles Berkley, this article should give you some information about what's what in the world of illegal music downloads. Independents Day: The Rise And Rise Of Independent Music July fourth has always been renowned for its huge fireworks displays and overexcited Americans celebrating their independent status from their British Counterparts. From 2008, the British music industry is planning on celebrating the day for an altogether different reason: Independent music. Is The Tomb Raider Franchise Dead? Tomb Raider games and their world-famous heroin, Lara Croft have been staples in the software collections of gamers across the globe since 1996. After constant reinventions, re-releases and merchandising has the franchise grown stale and can the latest installment save the once beloved title from falling into games store's bargain bin. Kings Of Calamity: English Heritage Search For Britain's Worst Ever Monarch In the run up to this year's Festival of History, English Heritage have composed a shortlist for the public to vote for who they think takes the crown as Britain's worst monarch. Les Enfants Magnifique: A Look At Some Of The Most Influential Young Artists Of Recent Times Often culture seems to be driven by the youngest and most dynamic artists in the field. Proof, it may be argued, that 'experience is often just the name everyone gives to their mistakes'. Let's Get Fiscal : Relaxing The Fiscal Rules In the cool and positively gloomy light of the current financial forecast, the government are considering relaxing the "fiscal rules" that had shaped economic management since Brown invented them in 1997. LIFTING THE BAN: Celebrating 40 Years Since The End Of Theatre Censorship Theatre censorship was abolished 40 years ago this month. Here's a look back at the playwrights and the people that overturned centuries of artistic stuffiness, and how their rather fruity new productions managed to pave the way for the liberated theatre we enjoy today Parents Guide: World of Warcraft Online gaming has, perhaps unfairly, gathered a great deal of negative press recently. Described as addictive, antisocial and blamed for the deaths of several young people around the world. Phone Lines Are Now Closed: Giving the Viewer What They Want Or Repackaging What They Have? In the last five years the stream of phone-in talent shows on television has tripled into a raging torrent. Are these programmes a new way of giving the viewer what they want, or just a new way of repackaging what they've got? Puff Puff Give: The Great Cannabis Debate Continues Now a class C drug, the government are thinking of re-categorising cannabis back to Class B. This articel covers the main arguments of both sides. Real Monsters: Five Of The Scariest Creatures Of All Time A list of the five most terrifying creatures to have ever walked/crawled/swam the earth. Reforming At The Mouth: The Rise Of The Lost Bands We are currently witnessing a number of comebacks from bands we all thought were dead and buried. From Take That to Rage Against the Machine, it would seem that everybody is doing it. But why? RFID - More Interesting Than You Realised Radio Frequency Identification technology has been around for years but now it is starting to be used in new and exciting ways. RFID could soon replace barcodes, track parcels and livestock and even be implanted into human beings to replace keys, passports and to provide vital medical information to doctors in emergency situations. Rising Theatre Audiences - Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? Barely a day goes by without either Andrew Lloyd Webber or Cameron Mackintosh announcing further proof that their recent string of television shows have bumped up theatre audience figures all over the country. In the wake of inflation and the credit crunch however, we may have to ask: just how long will our love affair with the West End last? Smaller Brain From Smoking Too Much? Recent reports suggest that heavy cannabis consumption can lead to certain areas of the brain shrinking. Reopening the debate of the dangers of smoking cannabis and the effects on the human body. Special Brew Supernova And Marvellous Musical Marketing You can't just release an album today without employing some clever marketing strategy. Radiohead released their latest work of art through the medium of download whilst Oasis have taken to the streets of Manhattan with a band of burly buskers to promote their own. Does it pay to give music away? Spring-Heeled Jack: A Great Mystery Of London Legend has it that in the flickering gaslight of early-Victorian London a monster named Spring-Heeled Jack roamed the city, attacking citizens apparently at random. This villain of the sepia-toned age became somewhat of a celebrity, appearing as a regular character in the 19th century equivalent of Stephen King novels - The Penny Dreadful. Tezcatlipoca and Princess Diana: The Timeless Cult Of The Celebrity Some cite the unquestionable rise of celebrity culture as a mark of decline in our society. Magazines like Hello and OK! chart every sordid detail of celebrity lives, following the rise of new stars and gleefully revelling in the downfall of the old ones. The Adoption Of The Feminine Into Men's Fashion And Culture Fashion can be considered a form of communal art, designers and the general public work together to create an ever-changing urban uniform. Of course fashion can refer to almost anything, architecture, dance and even food all change according to the mercurial tastes of the masses. Arguably the most interesting aspect of fashion and the one which reflects culture most thoroughly is clothing. The Apparent Rising Cost of UK Attractions The Times recently submitted an article entitled, "The Horrifying cost of Britain's top attractions" which slammed the high prices we pay in order to treat the family. In an ever-increasingly expensive world, we are all looking for cheaper ways to entertain our loved ones and the best way to avoid hidden charges. The Con Of The '60s : A Look At The Reality Behind The Decade Synonymous With Peace And Love Today the 1960s are viewed with the warming sparkle of nostalgia: Hendrix, The Beatles, peace, love, drugs, flowers and freedoms. However, with the decade also heralding the gruesome Vietnam War, numerous political assassinations, the Altamont Concert and the Kent State Massacre, we may question just how legitimate this rosy tint really is. The Dragon And The Bird's Nest: The Clash Of Sport And Politics At The Olympics Though the Olympic Games kicked off in considerable splendour last week, the 29th games has been shrouded in a thick cloud of controversy ever since China was announced as the host. But with zero countries deciding to boycott the competition, we look at the conflict between the political and the sporting concerns that surround the Olympics. The Edinburgh Fringe and the Great Beyond The Edinburgh Fringe has become a staple part of one of the most iconic and popular arts festivals in the world. But with many criticising the modern shape and content of the event, has the Fringe cut itself off from tradition and lost its distinctive look? The Fundamentals Of Scientology Control over space and time, everlasting happiness and a sense of Clear are all achievable through the wonders of Scientology. But how much truth is there in L Ron Hubbard's theory of Dianetics? The History Of Halloween: The Facts Behind The Fiction A brief history of Halloween, from the folk beliefs of Europe to the commercial candy-bonanza of the modern holiday. This article explores the where the traditions of modern Halloween came from and those beliefs and practices long forgotten. Discover where Jack'o'lanterns came from and why we wear costumes just in time for the holidays! The iPhone 3G - It's Not Perfect But It's Close After months of online speculation the new Apple iPhone was finally showcased at this year's WWDC in San Francisco. The announcement will come as a welcome relief to those who were disappointed by the original iPhone's surprising lack of 3G capability as well as its lamentable business usability. The Large Hadron Collider: Making Physics (Almost) Interesting The end of the world, black holes, and anti-matter: it's all exciting stuff but how much of it is actually true and how much should be consigned to the pages of an Arthur C Clarke novel? The Shell Ladies Of Margate From a distance you could be forgiven for mistaking some of Margate's most distinctive visitors for lonely brides standing sentinel on the seafront, their large white dresses and slightly achronistic bonnets creating a stark contrast with the grey, crumbling prom of the almost forgotten Kent seaside town. Three Strange European Christmas Traditions Christmas is coming and with it come a whole host of rituals and traditions that have become commonplace in the USA and UK. In some areas of Europe however, Christmas is celebrated in some very interesting and unusual ways. Up In Smoke: The Facts About Cigarettes As Holland join the ever growing list of countries enforcing a smoking ban in public places, I have decided to take a look into the filthy habit that kills approximately four million people a year. What Happened To Dance Music? Dance music is presumed by many to be dead. Not so quick. Dance music actually morphed and led to the revolution that created the best sounds of this century. What Is A DJ If He Can't Scratch: A History Of Turntablism In this day and age, anybody can be a DJ. CD decks and computer programs have made the scene so accessible that users can simply push a button and hey-presto, the two tunes are beat-matched. Worst Case Scenarios : Zombie Outbreak A tongue in cheek guide to surviving a zombie outbreak this Halloween. All you'll ever need to know to escape the shambling undead hordes should they rise from the grave on October 31st.

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