Katie Cowell Reviews: Heidi Thomas

From the tender age of 8, Heidi Thomas has been writing music. She had a different introduction to music: having missed the school play due to a severe chest infection, she decided to write her own musical whilst languishing in bed.

From the age of 20 she started taking music seriously, and has been trying to forge a path in the industry since then. She has a no-nonsense attitude, and will not take any hassle from anyone. This attitude is complemented perfectly by brash lyrics and catchy rock tunes. She writes about her personal experiences, relationships and life in London.

She loves her rock music, and sounds like a cross between Pink and Katy Perry. She has just penned a tune for newly signed 'Chantelle Redman', and though happy writing for others, she still wants to be up there on stage rocking out with songs that have a positive and uplifting message for women.

www.myspace.com/missheidithomas

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a foul stench in the air

MEGABUS:
It is cheap for a reason.

Last weekend, in a bid to save cash, I braved the 4 and a half hour journey to Manchester onboard Megabus. Friday evening, after a sedentary day at work, is not conducive to a long coach journey. That being said, I was prepared to sit back, doze and remember the cash I was saving.

Unfortunately this was not the case. Instead, I had the misfortune of being sat behind a rather large woman. Not only did she have a screaming child perched on her knee, she was also the owner of the most horrendous body odor I had smelt in a long, long time. It was a pungent scent that assaulted my nose- hitting me straight on. Every time she shifted, a new and even more nauseating wave emanated my way.Coupled with the crowding on the bus, unopened windows, heating turned up to full and no chance of fresh air, this was a journey I do not ever care to repeat.

Coming into summer, this is an especially contentious issue. As welcome as summer will be (especially after this painfully long winter) I am dreading the legions of people who somehow have no concept of their own stench. Why do people not see the need in
a) wearing deodorant
b) washing their clothes regularly?

I am baffled and repulsed in equal measures every time I am confronted with such foulness. In places like the gym, bad Body Odor is tolerable, if not unpleasant.

In the work place it is awkward, and at times nauseating. But in confined public spaces it is downright vomit inducing.

Among friends and colleagues, it is a sensitive issue - but usually some brave spark can take it no longer and something is said.

What do we say, however, when the stranger is the offender? How much can we maintain a polite front whilst trying not to suffocate?

Despite my not so subtle sighs, under my breath comments about rank B.O. and audible shifting in my seat, i did not have the nerve to actually say anything to this woman. Save for spraying her with industrial strength deodorant, what else can we do?

I suppose we must just suffer in silence and pray that these people show us mercy in summer!!


Words: Frontpage

Fat Talent LIVE: The Meds Collective

The Meds Collective are a trio of London boys- Mark, Enel and Sampson. Despite each having a day job, they work tirelessly in the evening to create the tunes they want. Their love of music propels them to brave the tube in order to cross London for their late night practicing sessions.
Formed 18months ago, they all bonded over their shared goal of self-expression through hip-hop.

They love the genre of hip-hop as they love the word play it allows. They love the freedom of language, and how versatile it can be, and how they can manipulate it in order to create their sophisticated and clever verses.

Their songs are catchy and their live shows fierce and energetic. Each singer compliments the other and their collective passion is apparent. Listen out for 'Let me Tell you' and 'something to say'.

These boys are not interested in rapping about gun culture, life in the hood, or any other ghetto cliches. Instead, they write about their own experiences - and experiences which we can all relate to. In doing so, they bring a refreshing spin to the genre. Their ultimate goal is to have an accessible brand of hip-hop that transcends subculture and speaks to everybody.

Their clever lyrics, catchy hooks and smooth vocals will no doubt seal the deal in having them on everyone's ipod: their ultimate goal. In their own words: "they are here to stay, and to welcome us all with open arms and open legs!"

www.myspace.com/themedscollective


Review: Frontpage

a certain type of man

So I was walking along today , rugged up in scarf, gloves and beanie cutting some vague figure of a woman. And a steal truck pulled up – containing two leering men who were leaning out the window.
They made some obscene comments to which I ignored and went on my way, effectively putting me in a bad mood.
To make it worse, the same thing happened at lunch – except this time they were suspended from above on scaffolding. In this instance, I twirled around and told them to f**k off. They weren’t happy with this reaction and made their feelings know. why is it though, that men feel so compelled to yell comments at complete strangers?

How common is it for a group of women to leer and undertake a gross sexual commentary of some hapless man?
Not very.

As women, are we supposed to feel flattered? More importantly, how many times has it actively worked?
Does this approach work?
WHO has been spreading the word amongst men that women go wild when they’re yelled at from a Garbage/ Tesco delivery/ removal truck?
Has a woman ever rushed across the street, ripped off her blouse and flung herself into his arms and BEGGED him to take her then and there?

Unlikely

So why do men do it? surely they’re NOT that bored?
Is it to assert their manhood, their masculinity – their heterosexuality? Are they in such doubt of their persuasion that they need to yell at a woman on the street to emphasise that they love the ladies?

And What is the best way to respond? If you abuse them back, then it’s very likely they’ll continue with their remarks – or just laugh.
Sometimes, if it’s a particularly nasty type of man, he’ll become even more abusive.
If you ignore them, as you would a child, they may lose interest. Or they may not.
The approach that has worked best for me is to stare (if they’re not in a moving vehicle) quizzically at their crotch, look perplexed and then stifle a giggle then go about your business.
They have no idea what to do!
This particular type of guy will have no idea what to do. The very fact that he is yelling is his attempt to assert his manhood. If you’re laughing at ‘what he has to offer’, then he’ll realize what a *!% he’s actually being.
This is enough to stunt his words, quicker than anything else lol!

Words: Frontpage

Perils of online social networking sites

Isn’t it the way these days, that you go out and inevitably somebody whips out the ubiquitous phone camera and all of a sudden you find yourself thrust in a fake pose. Everyone is pouting, sticking their chest out or doing something strange with their fingers – each with the hope that they’ll be caught at their best angle, and a ‘hot’ pic will be produced and subsequently tagged on facebook.

For some, facebook is an on-line shrine to the minutiae of our daily lives


Why do people feel the need to constantly update their status with the most mundane and pointless of sentences? Personally I couldn’t care less if someone was ‘watching Eastenders and wondering why their steak got burnt in the oven’. Even worse, I don’t need to hear other people’s opinion on that very status.
There has been such an on-line celebration of mediocrity that this is something of a phenomenon.

I don’t like the passive aggressive way in which someone will update their status saying how pissed they are at a ‘certain’ somebody. It could be their hapless boyf/ best friend/ sister whatever. Rather than addressing the issue face-to-face or via phone, they’re quite happy to have their 345 friends be privy to their emotions.

There’s no anonymity anymore. I’ve been tracked down by people who I haven’t seen since early high school, and who I’d happily not see again. I’ve had them asking me inane questions like ‘what I’ve been up to for the past 10 years’. I manage to fob them off, only to have them pop up on facebook chat, brimming with meaningless chatter. I don’t need to know that what they’re doing at 3:15pm is ‘ thinking about eating the last biscuit in the packet’.

I don’t give a f*ck

And what is it with the ‘recommended’ friend application?! Surely if I LIKED the person recommended, I’d have sought them out? Sometimes I see the recommended list, and I literally shudder and start rocking back and forth. Do I need to emphasise the fact that there was a REASON why we ‘lost touch’ when I was 16?! Let’s not re-live old PE and maths class experiences.

I find it endlessy ironic that we spend so much time on-line , leaving inane wall posts and uploading photos of one messy night to another, as if to illustrate that we have interesting lives. Surely if we did, we’d NOT be on facbeook??

I hate how vain it’s made me. before Facebook, I wouldn’t care if someone were to take a bad picture of me. I’d probably never see it, thinking it would be relegated to some old photo album, or even thrown away.
In this digital age, however , there’s a paranoia that some renegade photo will sneak up on facebook, and I’ll be tagged in a dreadful photo in which I’m trashed/ my hair has gone flat/ my skin Is a strange sallow hue and I’m definitely not caught at my best angle.
Normally I wouldn’t care, but when it gets uploaded to a site where my current flame, frenemies and those back home can see, then I aint happy!
This brings me to my next point: ex protocol. If you’ve updated your relationship status to ‘being in a relationship’ and the relationship goes horribly wrong, how do you judge then update the facebook status accordingly? Is it a break (in which case, we optimistically leave the status as is) or have we broken up, in which case we list ourselves as SINGLE.

So when the relationship does go Pete Tong, the ex needs to be deleted.

I’ve had to delete so many exes as I spend countless hours STALKING them. I look through their photos, hoping they’ve gotten fat, looking at their wall posts, cursing the hot blonde who has appeared alongside them in the latest barrage of tag pics.
I’ve also had to delete their friends, their relatives., only to re-ad them in 6 months time. it’s just one big mess

I just wish my life wasn’t so mundane at times, that I felt the need to log on.

Facebook has its advantages. It’s great way for me to stay in touch with my family and mates down under, it’s a great place to find out about events/ nights out etc, and if you want to procrastinate, what better site is there?
It’s only perilous mid break up / if a camera is whipped out on a big night/ and if you actually believe that all your 400 friends actually give a shit about you – when only half of them probably do.

becoming a playa....

I’ve recently heard that the feminist movement is now seen as somewhat redundant, that the battle has been won and women can sit back and enjoy the privilege their second waves sisters fought for. Women are in high paying jobs, we had women candidates running for the presidency one of the most powerful, if not dysfunctional, countries on earth and we’re no longer shackled to the kitchen.

One afternoon in the gym, however, quickly dispels that notion! I say the gym, because that is the only time I happen to be watching badly produced music channels.

Much has been written on the hyper sexualisation of pop videos; that is, that children at too young an age are being exposed to overtly sexual behaviour and sexually explicit lyrics. People saying this are absolutely right: children shouldn’t be exposed to gold-stringed bikini girls and blinged up ‘rappers’, but neither should we!

There is a strong sense of ‘ownership’ over women which has begun to permeate most rap videos. Here we have women cooing and gyrating for the benefit of men – vying for their attention – desperate for a bling shower. Beyonce, a supposed advocate of the independent woman has no problem singing if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it. She is ostensibly defining herself as a piece of property that should have been snapped up sooner. It’s as if the consumer - an eligible bachelor - was perusing a shop window. He dallied too long, however, looking at the other items on offer and missed his chance.

This idea is rendered even more frustrating by the incessant and tuneless chorus of ‘all the single ladies’’. What is she playing at? And why does she need to be dressed in a skimpy leotard. In fact, why are women in most of these video clips scantily dressed and seem to be constantly gyrating and pouting?

Look, I know that a critique of rap videos is nothing new but what is startling is its popularity - and that fewer women speak out about it. it's rare that a man is sexualised . What has happened to the feminist movement? Is it because women have supposedly broken the glass ceiling and we can have promiscuous sex, that the battle has been won?

I just want to ask: how many clips are there in which a man is prancing around in his underwear, being photographed and objectified whilst he peeks out from behind a tacky velour curtain, like a coy bunny rabbit? The answer is none. And that is a shame, because If more of this was in offer, I’d have no problem with women performing in the same way.

This is not, however, the case. Instead, we see semi naked women performing benefit of a fully clothed man! The man is usually in dark shades, and baggy clothes – leaving him completely impenetrable and in control. Odds on he claims a dubious drug peddling/ gangster past - when in fact, he’s lucky enough to have a hit song writing team behind him.

All I’m suggesting is that more men become sexualised. If there’s going to be a superfluous pole, then I want the man gyrating around it. if a woman is going to be wearing nothing but a bra and panties, I want the man in a g-string. Beyonce should be demanding that a man please her sexually, that he be the one putting on a show.

Is that too much to ask? Yes, it would compromise their masculine image, but aside from drug peddling, gun fighting, and a spawn of white middle class kids singing along to lyrics of oppression, I don’t understand what this image is really contributing to society.

I’d find video clips much more fun if a man was showing off his muscles by wearing next to nothing. Women should be staring them down in dark shades from their pimp rides or from the safety of a chaise lounge.

Not quite sexual liberation – but at least there would be an equal playing field, where women become the ‘playas’ and the men become performers!

Words: Frontpage

The joys of office work....

Ok , so the whole exploration of the office dynamics has been done– nonetheless, there is something to be said about an office environment – especially an office of media types. Here you have a whole bunch of people from various ages/ races/ backgrounds/ gender/ sexuality – all working together – mostly in a job they can’t wait to escape. So where does this leave us? With a loads of personality clashes and mini groups which inevitably will form.

There’s the boys’ club – dick swingers who ponce around on their blackberries .. even though the only person emailing them is their better paid wife

There’s the lifers club – the middle aged women who’ve been there for years, and have no intention of leaving until retirement. They can be seen strolling around the office, making endless cups of tea discussing the intricacies of excel.

There are the trendy wendies. Mostly they’re girls who strut around , trying to gain the attention of the only half decent looking man in the office - who is invariably gay

If we’re in a media office, then we will also encounter the 2 cool for skool types who think they’re above and beyond. These types are different to the dick swingers as they’re usually more arty/ young and cool. Given that they’re in media, they’re usually in a band/ aspiring film makers/ musicians/ artists.. or all of the above.

There’s the over-worked female manager, battling it out in a man’s world. She’s torn between wearing low cut tops – or power boots. Sometimes she’ll settle on both. She’s overworked, stressed out and a heavy smoker. She hits the booze harder than she works her team – and can often be seen the next day hung-over and orange from last night’s fake tan session. The sun bed is always in lieu of an actually holiday – such are her career demands.

Inarguably the most painful thing about the office life is that the day doesn’t always end at half 5. Sometimes it carries into the evening… this is in the form of work drinks. Once a week some bright spark decides to shoot an email around suggesting we all have ‘team’ drinks – choosing not to acknowledge that NONE OF US HAVE ANYTHING IN COMMON. Inevitably you’re sat in a dingy pub and listening to someone with bad breath rant about their office vision using such terms as ‘deployment’ , ‘going forward’ and ‘strategy’.

Scintialling things. It’s even worse when you don’t drink, and everyone is getting progressively drunk and making passes at you / telling you they love you / telling you their life story. All three distressing. So the manager who you NEVER speak to , is trying to remember your name… , the pervy guy who sits behind you is eyeing you up… and everyone is avoiding the next round.

Note: At this point, I’d just like it to be noted, that this is not indicative of the entire media industry. Not all offices are like this, and this doesn’t encompass my entire experience in the media industry, but it IS based on some of my experiences - and it hasn't been pleasant!

Words: Frontpage