Southampton Solent Food & Dining Society

One of my house mate's, Kaylee, is setting up a new food society at University this year, she's been busy making arrangements the past couple of weeks and now plans are coming together. I'm excited to be involved with the plans and over the next few weeks in the run up to freshers we will be launching a food society blog which is going to be my responsibility. At Southampton Solent University there is a range of different societies available for it's students to join ranging from cheerleading to photography to football. However the biggest range of societies are naturally sports societies but what happens if you aren't in to sports and you just want to learn some new things whilst meeting people and enjoying your self? Well what happens is, you join the new food society.

Everyone loves eating and drinking right? The food society is going to hold cooking classes held by professionals for it's member to attend, linking with healthy eating and organic growing. There will be various exciting trips (details of the first trip are being looked in to) and every month the group will meet for a meal at different restaurants around Southampton and will review their experience and the food during their visit, the review will then be written up and published on the societies blog. As well as this the society will have a partnership with one of the local bars where they will hold a social every week and receive discounted drinks and food and enjoy a great night out!

The society is still in it's early days of planning and arrangements are being sorted for our stall at the freshers sports and societies fair where we will be recruiting new members on September 29th in the Quad at Solent University. If you think you might be interested then take a look at the facebook group and the event page for the fair and keep checking for any updates. It's going to be very exciting and we hope to get involved with loads of different things so make sure you get to the sports and society fair during freshers.

Birthday Fun

It's official, I am no longer a teenager!  On Tuesday I turned 20 - where have all the years gone? Spending it away from home was certainly different, and a complete change from the previous two years which I spent in the comfort of my home in Devon with my mum and dad. This year my house mates spoiled me rotten, in Southampton.

It started with a drunken night out Sunday night, a free fish bowl at 90 degrees, £1 shots at Vodka Revs, a pointless taxi journey to Wahoo, and back again. We finally ended up in UNIT for a silent disco! I don't know if you've ever been to a silent disco but if not let me explain. Basically everyone wears headphones with a couple of different channels on and the music from the DJ plays through the headphones so everyone hears the same music only it's not out loud. The best bit is, if you take your headphones off all you can hear is the terrible drunken singing of all the people around you and the faint murmur of music. It's hilarious! It's safe to say Sunday night was a drunken one, which to be fair is the only way to be on your birthday night out.

                            Myself drinking wine before going out.

                            Myself, Kaylee and James at the silent disco.

  

 Monday night they took me for a meal at a Caribbean restaurant called Turtle Bay for a bit of jerk chicken - lush! Followed by a few more cocktails at Vodka Revolutions and then home with my pink helium balloons for the count down to midnight and then off to bed ready for an exciting day on my actual birthday which had all been kept secret. Before I headed to bed however, my housemates displayed my birthday presents on the cabinet in the living room, just to tempt me. They even told me to open something but I have always figured it isn't actually my birthday until I go to sleep and wake up the next morning, it might be midnight but it still feels like the same day, so off to bed I went.

 

                                           Birthday Presents!

                                            Birthday message on the mirror.

It was half past seven when I woke up with an excited feeling like you get when your a kid but you have to wait for your parents to get up before you can open your presents. In fact it actually was a bit like that, even my boyfriend didn't budge after I continuously poked him. Didn't he know he had to do everything I say on my birthday? After getting bored of poking I got up and made a cup of tea and before long I'd been joined by my lovely house mates. I honestly felt like a little kid as Kaylee handed me present at a time and everyone watched as I ripped excitedly in to the wrapping paper. I may be twenty but I certainly don't feel like it.

If there's one thing most people know about me is that since I was a baby I've had an obsession with cups of tea, I drink it all day every day and I go through milk like it's going out of fashion. Even as a baby my mum would fill my beaker with warm milky tea. When I started University my flat mates soon picked up on how much I drank the stuff every day and now that we are in the house myself and Emily are as bad as each other with the amount we go through. All this is in mind my house mates bought me a cute little tea pot, cups and saucers and leaf tea from Whittards! It's so cute! As well as this they gave me some chocolates, bath stuff from Lush and a scented candle. My boyfriend gave me Calvin Klein Perfume - Euphoria  and a gorgeous necklace. My parents bought a subscription for Company Magazine which is exciting, some pretty shabby chic hooks and they are bringing something else with them when they visit next week.  I was well and truly spoiled!

                                     My teapot and cups and saucers.

After a lush breakfast we caught the train to Brighton where we went vintage shopping in the lanes! Surprisingly I didn't buy very much while I was there but I had such a brilliant day. We had lunch at Wagamamas and a mocha with loads of cream at no other than Starbucks. When we'd had enough of walking around the shops we headed to the Pier and played a little in the arcade and went on a couple of rides one of which was the worst ghost train in the world but we found it pretty funny to be honest! After that we had doughnuts and watched a seagull literally take an ice cream out of a guys hand which amused us a little too much.

                                               Alex and I on the pier.

                                  Kaylee and I at the end of the pier.

                                   Alex and I at the end of the pier.

With a couple of hours to kill before our train we went to Vodka Revolutions for a couple of cocktails. Now call us light weights but as we headed towards the station we were definitely slightly drunk. The voices got loud, the conversation got ridiculous and any regard for the people around us was totally gone. I still don't really know how we came to the decision to buy McDonalds and two bottles of Rose wine for the journey home but it certainly made the journey go quickly and by the time we stepped of the train we were off our trolleys. With plans to head out as soon as we'd dropped our shopping home tiredness hit me and the thought of leaving the house again was not welcomed and therefore a nice cup of tea on the sofa with my Uni family rounded off a perfect birthday!

London Riots

"There are people in 3rd world countries starving to death & our youth are nonsensically destroying local businesses and homes without reason."

Paloma Faith tweeted this during the absolutely disgusting behavior that was going on in areas of the UK last night. To me she voiced exactly how I felt, there are so many people in other countries suffering because of the conditions they are forced to live in when Britain's youth of today are causing suffering in our country for no real reason. What is wrong with them?  Areas of London and Birmingham were affected last night and I woke up to news this morning that there were even disturbances reported in Bristol, Nottingham and Liverpool and where I am in Southampton, Hampshire police were on stand by for any disturbances which had been rumored through social networking such as facebook, twitter and blackberry messenger.

This map shows the areas of London that have seen disturbances over the last few days, mainly last night however:

                       To view this map in full Click Here

Yesterday evening, I sat with my flat mates watching the havoc unveil on the BBC, one of my house mates was watching his home town go up in flames, Croydon was one of the areas of London which was badly attacked. We sat and watched in absolute shock, I couldn't understand what the hell was wrong with people. We felt anger rise and we shouted at the television, at the footage of the mindless violence coming from the youths of today. Cars were set on fire, buildings went up in flames, windows smashed and the looters were taking all they could from businesses. We watched these people in gangs attacking shops and running away with armfuls of clothes, electrics, anything they could get their hands on. A clip even showed a women try on some trainers to check they fitted - before she stole them. What also shocked me was the disregard towards the police, things were thrown towards police officers, yobs attacked them verbally and physically. It's disgusting, the police are their to protect us why fight them?

Do they think they are cool? Do they think they are achieving something? Will they look back when they are older and think, damn we did good? The fact is, the young people involved are thugs, they are horrible little people that have absolutely nothing going for them. They will grow up with criminal records, they will gain no respect, they will have nothing to live for and why is that? Because people that have no regard for other people on such a scale of this deserve nothing from society. In my opinion people like that need to be drowned or hit by large vehicle or something similar. Can you imagine setting alight someones house, just because you can? Just think of all of the lives that these young yobs have destroyed. I can't quite describe the anger that builds inside of me when I think of all the people that thought it was just a bit of fun, what is wrong with these people?

  

Street in Hackney (Image: The Sun)

                    A women jumping to avoid fire in Croyden (Image: The Sun)
                 
Think about all of the old people, they must be terrified. All of this going on, on the streets and what can they do to keep themselves safe? What if a brick flies through their window? What if a gang raids their house? What are they going to do? They must have been so scared. Similarly what about all the families with young children, what can you do when all of this is going on, on your doorstep? It scares me and I'm not even there. My heart goes out to all of the people that are just trying to live their lives but are getting caught up in they mayhem across London and other major cities.

Of course their was a reason that all of this begun. Last week police shot dead suspected gangster and father of 4 Mark Duggan, in Tottenham. The bullet went right through him and although the police shot at him twice only one shot hit him. It was thought that he had fired at them first but it is now unclear as to what happened. Family and friends of the 29 year old took part in a peaceful protest in Tottenham which very quickly grew out of hand and before police knew it they had a full blown riot on their hands which as we all know as escalated ever further and last night was totally out of control. It may have started with people standing up for what they believe in and defending the man that police correctly or incorrectly shot but I think it's obvious now that those involved don't really care, they are opportunists and the idea of creating mayhem and stealing from smashed up and burning shops seems like an excellent night of fun. They have no reason to take part other than the fact that they can, and I think that says a lot about the sort of people they are.

                Smashing in a jewelery store window in Birmingham (Image: The Sun)

         Cars set on fire in Ealing (Image: The Sun)

It has been suggested that social networking such as facebook, twitter and BBM have played their part in the organisation of the riots. Today's technology allows communication within an instance and messages become viral within seconds, providing the medium to organise gangs to meet and to take part in the mindless violence that plagued London last night. People like myself however, used it to keep up to date with what was going on, to post messages of support, anger, disgust and to keep an eye on disturbances a little closer to home. Last night Hants Police were tweeting about rumored disturbances in Southampton which thankfully mounted to nothing but they were so informative that at least we knew they were there and they were keeping an eye on what was going on. I wonder though, what would have happened if Southampton broke out in riots, how would the Hampshire Police of coped because I'm pretty sure that every where else that was affected, the police struggled.

I was glued to twitter last night, reading all the tweets of support, especially from celebrities that of course live in London and are probably being affected by the mayhem.

T4 Presenter Jameela Jamil tweeted: "Its all so very sad. What have we become? Riot has reached my road... Door bolted. Fingers crossed."

and later: "Let's just pray there's a city left when we all wake up tomorrow. My heart goes out to those who have lost their homes tonight."

Jessie J: "This is NOT how to gain respect. This is NOT how to get justice. This is NOT how to gain peace."

Holly Willoughby: "This is one of the most frightening things I've ever seen, can't believe what is happening in London tonight."

This morning Fearne Cotton tweeted: "Sending love and peace to all the poor innocent people who have been affected. This beautiful city needs to get back on its feet."

Across twitter this morning, people are following hashtag #riotcleanup and local people are going out in to the community to help clean up this horrible mess and to get businesses, homes and lives on the way to recovery. If your from one of the areas that was affected get on twitter and see what you can do to help but make sure you stay safe. It really is a horrible mess and I wish all those affected all the best. As for those that have caused this I hope justice is found and that they suffer in the future, they don't deserve anything else. 

Southampton Strikes

I have always been bought up to care about the world around me, my parents recycle everything that they can, the TV is turned off at the wall when it's not being used and the rule always stands that if you leave a room you turn the light off. My dad has drummed this in to me from a very young age, I will admit he does still have to moan at me now and then when I leave something on over night or I put cardboard or plastic in to the rubbish bin, but I do what I can.

Now that I am living in a rented house with other young people I'm struggling to live by those rules which at the moment is made even harder by the continuous bin strikes in Southampton (yeah that's right, bin strikes - they are not kool.) Our recycling bin is still full from the people that lived in this house before and I would put money on the fact it doesn't even have recyclable items in it. The strike is a massive hassle and the streets of Southampton are absolutely disgusting to say the least. Bins are full to the brim in the high street causing litter to fall on to the floor and be swept up and down the street by the wind, gathering in shop door ways and around seating areas. I wonder, what people think if they are visiting Southampton for the day or for a holiday. They wont exactly leave thinking it's a gorgeous city with well kept streets will they now? As for the polygon where a lot of the student houses are, bins are full causing bin bags to be thrown on to the pavement and during the night ripped and torn apart by animals which leaves rubbish up and down the pavements and no one clears it up. It doesn't just look awful, I can imagine how much of a health hazard it is. With the weather like it has been lately the high temperatures cause it to smell and I'm sure I don't need to tell you it's a rats haven. I dread to think what goes on outside my bedroom window on the roads when we go to sleep at night.


So why does Southampton currently look like a landfill site? Well, 4,300 council workers including bin men and street cleaners, have been threatened with being sacked from their positions if they do not agree to sign up to new contracts which will cut their pay by up to 5.5 percent from July 11th. These budget savings need to be made to save 400 jobs. The strikes are in to their third month now and the streets are getting worse. Read more here.


So with the strike not exactly helping with recycling in our new house, I'm feeling guilty every time I put a can or plastic in to the bin. I can just imagine my dad shaking is head disappointingly at me. Not only that, I feel guilty. I don't just recycle because my dad says I should, It's because I care as well. Some people are ignorant to global warming, and the effect it has on the planet. I'm no expert to be honest but I do care. Some people just point blank don't!

The issue of having no where to put the rubbish as the bins are full outside is a problem. We seem to generate so much waste and because everything is being thrown in together we are having to take the bins out every couple of days. If we flattened plastic packaging and cardboard etc. and separated our waste the bin in the kitchen definitely would not fill up so quickly. I'll reiterate my point however, with the bins outside still full, if we separate our rubbish there will quite literally be no where to put it. It's like viscous circle. Either way we can't win until the strike ends, we have empty bins and we know what we are doing and where everything goes.

So I now realise how much I sound like a moaning old woman but I think it's all relevant right? I might only be 19 but you can care about these things just as much as when your young and I think some people seem to forget that.

I disappeared for a few weeks but I'm back...

It's been a busy few weeks and therefore my blogging had taken a bit of a back seat on my list of things to do but I'm back and I have so much to write about I'm not quite sure where to start.

A couple of weeks ago I did a weeks work experience with Perfect Wedding Magazine. I can tell you now, it certainly was an experience. I spent the week staying in a complete strangers house in the middle of Bristol completely by myself, in - I must add - a seriously dodgy area! I didn't think she double locked the flat for nothing! When I first mentioned I was doing working experience in Bristol my flat mate instantly piped up: "Oh you can stay with my friend." With out another thought the plans was made.

A couple of months later and there I was arriving in rainy Bristol by train, with a huge pink suitcase that I couldn't hardly manage to stay as I said, in a strangers house. Thankfully I was made extremely welcome and the flat was very cute and cosy but sadly I'd be spending the week there on my own while she was needed away else where. I figured it wouldn't be a huge issue but as I was left on my own that, I realised it was going to be a long and lonely week.

All of that being said, the reason I was there in the first place was for my work experience placement at Perfect Wedding Magazine. I was so incredibly nervous as I caught the lift to the 9th floor reception and waited to be met by the editorial assistant. I didn't really have any idea what to expect. Would I be making tea all day? Would they be nice? Will they thing I'm useless? Will they talk to me? It turned out I hadn't needed to have worried about it.

The office was smaller that I thought and there were less people working on the magazine that I'd expected but that made friendlier and relaxed. Everyone was lovely and made me feel very welcome which was of course very settling. On the first day I was given small photo sourcing jobs to do for their new website which will be launching soon. Basically I spent the first day looking at stunning wedding dresses and breathtaking honeymoon destinations. Easy yes, but also pretty tedious.

By the end of the week I'd had the chance to work on things which would be appearing in the magazine, admittedly not huge features and not masses of writing but it's all experience right? I wrote out captions to images, found out the prices of products and found appropriate pictures for some articles. I also sourced images for two regular pages: "Get the celebrity bridal look," and "Get the celebrity bridesmaid look." So when the issue goes on sale in August I can say, I created those pages. That pleases me quite a lot. The other page I can take credit for is the very back page. You know how Glamour does something like "10 Reasons to emigrate." (Or something similar, that's only my mind because it is raining." Well I wrote Perfect Weddings, "13 reasons we love a budget wedding!"

So there we have it, by the end of the week it felt like I'd learned a lot about how a magazine gets put together, from initial planning to going to print. It was my first my placement and I am excited to see where else I can get some work experience because I loved it, despite my initial worrying. When the week was over I went to London to stay with my boyfriend in Kingston and now I am home again preparing for the move to the house in Southampton, it's all happening very fast. I swear I only started University a couple of months ago.