How Do You Solve a Problem like Benefits/Unemployment/Youth Employment?

Not by taking away money Mr Cameron.

Today, David Cameron promised that if re-elected at the next general election, he will strive for a "land of opportunity," where those under 25 will no longer be entitled to housing or jobseeking benefits. Instead, they will have to be earning or learning. Cue a barrage of swear words from me, and a backlash instantly erupting on Twitter.

Here's why Davy C's new big idea is naive (Apologies in advance if this isn't my usual vaguely humourous/less drivel. This might actually be somewhat comprehensive and informative. WHO KNEW?!)

I am in total agreement that something needs to be done, that something needs to change to help our economy and that we need to stop people just scrounging off benefits and never getting a job. What I don't understand, is how taking away help for young people is going to somehow create a bunch of jobs and get rid of youth employment. It just doesn't work like that. To me, this just seems like another example of blaming and punishing the young (and, more often that not, ambitious AND hard-working) for going to university like Mr C encourages but sadly, coming out to find no jobs. Surely, the bigger problem is those who have been on benefits for 10 years and have made little or no effort in finding employment.

Trust me, out of all those I know who are or have been on jobseekers' allowance, not one of them (including myself) have wanted to be there. I personally find it somewhat soul-destroying rocking up to the job centre with my degree just to confirm that yes- I have been looking for jobs, yes- I have had rejections and no - there really aren't jobs. Promise. For every job there is, there's a couple of hundred or more applicants standing in the way. It's all becoming a bit of a lose-lose situation. We're grateful for the help of course, but choosing jobseekers' is not the easy option. When I signed up, I felt like I was admitting defeat. It's mentally and emotionally tiring, even more so when you then get penalised for unpaid work experience that will help you get a job, but will stop your monetary help in the mean time (but that's a whole other debate).

What annoyed me EVEN FURTHER was this comment :

"Think about it: with your children, would you dream of just leaving them to their own devices, not getting a job, not training, nothing? No – you'd nag and push and guide and do anything to get them on their way … and so must we. So this is what we want to see: everyone under 25 earning or learning."

Here's the thing David. Of COURSE my parents would rather see me working than on benefits, and of course they're helping me the best they can. But they cannot just give me a job on a plate. What you're suggesting is that my parents have just left me to my own devices and I've strayed over to benefits. Bit offended by that. Unfortunately, we're not all born in huge amounts of wealth, where Mummy and Daddy can fund every part of our lives. I feel that's what you're seeing through your rose tinted glasses. My parents know I hate being on benefits, but they can't afford to keep paying for me, and would rather I was getting help until someone finally decides to employ me. 

Mr Cameron seems to lack any understanding of the graduate climate right now, seemingly thinking that because we don't have jobs, we are not hard-working. Bollocks to that. Bollocks even more to the idea that taking away our money will suddenly magic jobs into our worlds. Again, that just isn't the solution. Even telling us to get training isn't a great help, as training can cost MONEY that we only get through JOBSEEKERS which you want to GET RID OF. Good one. I'm all for tackling those who are too lazy to work, but let's not target those who are genuinely working their butts off to get some form of work. The internship issue will only get worse, and some of the poor will end up poorer. As per usual. 

I always knew my career would be a difficult one to get into (whole other kettle of fish right here), and jobseekers, until I get some work, is the only thing pulling me through. Monetary-wise anyway.

So Mr Cameron, I end my rant here. Stop generalising us and tarring us all with the same brush and realise that WE DO WANT TO WORK, there's just no jobs. Or the jobs are over-subscribed. Please tackle those on benefits who need to be tackled. Back to the drawing board and back to your bread-maker.

Anything to add to the debate? Comment below :)

Normal service resumed next post...

Ciao! x

Brit Awards 2013

It's horribly long since I last wrote one of these. The stress of third year has definitely got to me lately (cue Tragic Tuesday breakdown last week and three days of drinking honey and lemon constantly) so sorry about that! Coming back with a (slightly delayed) little review of last week's Brit Award ceremony. It was a mutual feeling between my friends, my Dad and I that there was something missing this year. There was nothing wrong with the hosting or award winners, and I enjoyed all the performances, but there was some sort of spark or controversy that we always look forward to that just wasn't there, almost like everything was too controlled. Hopefully this won't be the case next year, and we can look forward to the controversial and risky Brits that we're used to and we love.

The Brit Awards have always been met with an air of tension, and a feeling that anything could happened.  From Jarvis Cocker’s stage invasion to Samantha Fox and Mick Fleetwood’s disastrous hosting, and the cutting off of Adele’s acceptance speech, there’s hardly been a year when there hasn’t been some sort of Brits’ controversy. However, this seemed to be lacking this year. Yes, James Corden was an excellent host, and yes, there were plenty of drunken celebrities to go round, but this celebration of British talent just didn’t seem to deliver this year.

The problem was not in the performances. The ceremony opened with a expectedly loud and proud performance from Muse, setting the tone for the level of performances during the ceremony, with a variety of acoustic, pop and a certain American music star. One Direction gave an exclusive, energetic, pinball-inspired performance of their Comic Relief cover of One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks), a cover which has divided the public over the song choice (just take solace that it’s for charity).

The Brits even had international superstars take to the stage, starting with Justin Timberlake making a super slick appearance, adding a huge level of class to the evening. Making women all over the UK drool, faint or scream over his performance of new single Mirrors, this was probably a much-needed highlight of the evening for many. Taylor ‘legs for miles’ Swift later took to the stage in an unusually ferocious get-up, perhaps taking inspiration from having ex Harry Styles sat metres away in the audience. The night ended with Female Solo Artist and British Album winner Emeli Sandé, who luckily decided to end with Next to Me, thankfully more upbeat than her Olympics’ appearances.

There were no massive surprises when it came to the winners either. There was some confusion over who Ben Howard was from disappointed Olly Murs fans, and of course mixed reactions over acceptance speeches. Aside from this, other winners could have easily be predicted, and were all well-deserved (according to most). There was no protest over winners like that seen a few years ago from Kanye West, and no cutting off of speeches because of time constraints, although mocked by host James Corden and Adele herself. Everything seemed too rehearsed, as if the winners were actually briefed beforehand that they had won.

           

It’s not like there wasn’t plenty of opportunity for scuffles or misbehaving, what with Taylor Swift and Harry Styles in the same room, along with more than enough drink to go round. There was Sharon Osbourne’s mention of Harry Style’s manhood and Robbie William’s confused award presentation, yet these moments were overtaken quickly but some table interviews that were seemingly only used to fill time. Perhaps it was the calamity of last year’s ‘speech-gate’ that caused producers to be over-careful of what was broadcast which shattered any hopes of an actual talking point for this year’s ceremony.

As the night carried on, even the free-flowing of alcohol couldn’t provoke outrageous behaviour, although jokes became looser and more adult-friendly, sometimes falling flat to those of us not lucky enough to be there in person. Even the mini-concert we’re used to at the end of the night wasn’t there, as the Outstanding Achievement Award is no longer awarded, meaning the end of the night was met with little impact. Maybe this summed up the night as a whole.

If it wasn’t the performances, hosting or actual winners that caused the fall-down of this year’s ceremony, then perhaps it was the lack of a competitive atmosphere and an over-cautious producing approach that denied us the controversy us viewers always look forward to at the Brits. With so much talent in the UK at the moment, it seems a shame that an event that so many across the world will see failed to produce a talking point on the same level as previous years. Music stars, start planning your stage invasions and protests for next year’s ceremony please. 

The Night’s Food in Numbers
60 chefs
100kg of tomatoes
120 litres of fresh lime juice
130kg diced lamb shoulder
150kg butter
220kg red cabbage from Cambridgeshire
550 front of house waiting staff
1200 lamb best ends
1500 food preparation hours
3000 eggs
5200 pieces of crostini from 175 foccacia slabs
7800 “truffles” rolled
15000 glasses

List of Winners

British Male Solo Artist – Ben Howard

British Female Solo Artist – Emeli Sandé

British Breakthrough Act – Ben Howard

British Group – Mumford and Sons

British Live Act – Coldplay

British Single – Adele – Skyfall

Mastercard British Album of the Year – Emeli Sandé – Our Version of Events

International Male Solo Artist – Frank Ocean

International Female Solo Artist – Lana Del Rey

International Group – The Black Keys

Brits Global Success (For International Sales in 2012) – One Direction

British Producer of the Year – Paul Epworth

Critics’ Choice Award – Tom Odell

Special Recognition Award – War Child

(I was trying to get a video of JT doing Mirrors but that didn't work so here's Taylor Swift instead)

Catching Up

Basically, over the last few days, there's been a few pieces of news that I've thought "I should put that on my blog," but then I've looked at the packing that needed doing, and I forgot. Needless to say, the packing didn't get as done as it should've been, and a day before moving out, I am slightly panicking. But that's another story. Anyway, this post is to quickly catch up on things that have been missed. Apologies if there's been anything missed.

1) Katie Holmes has filed for divorce from Tom Cruise. Obviously the Daily Mail is now full of speculation as to how much Katie will get, but that's not a surprise. This news was a bit of shock for me, as they have only been married 5 years, and I never noticed any stories of things going downhill (then again, I might've missed that...).

2) Adele is pregnant! My friends was especially excited about this, and I think it's brilliant news for Adele. Although it has made me wonder what her next album will be about. The trials and tribulations of motherhood?

3) This is a few days old now, but Spice Girls have launched their musical 'Viva Forever!'. It will open at The Piccadilly Theatre, and is written and produced by Judy Craymer and Jennifer Saunders. I'll let the videos below tell you the story, but I'm personally a bit unsure on how good it will be. I am in no way doubting the comedy genius of Jennifer Saunders, as I'm sure she's written something great, but I have such high hopes for this, and I don't want to be disappointed after my childhood years of being a HUGE Spice Girls fan. It's a can't miss for me, and I'm sure for many girls my age too. (P.S two of the videos below are pretty much the same, but I thought I'd put both incase you wanted to see both).

Sorry this isn't more interesting/well written/more full of opinion and all that, but as you can probably guess, I still have packing to do. WOOHOO.

S Club 7 Reunion

According to Digital Spy, (http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a372267/s-club-7-reuniting-in-summer-for-tour-two-albums.html) a S Club 7 reunion is on the cards for this year, which I'm not gonna lie, has pretty much made my day and more. S Club 7 were my childhood, my first ever concert, my first band t-shirt (which I can still fit into, not that I've tried or anything...) and probably the first band I fell in love with (not in a creepy or relationship-y way, I was only about 8 years old). As my parents and neighbours can testify, I knew every word to every song, and every dance move. Yeah, I know, I was the definition of cool. Anyway, I for one am willing this not to be just another rumour, because I would pay good money to relive my childhood and see them one last time.

And yes, Rachel was my favourite because she has the same name as me. Oh yeah.

Gonna be honest, it took me a while to decide which song to put on here. Decided this one might be best, but they're all good.... my 90s kid is definitely out to play today.

Reading Festival 2012

Bit late posting this but here is the line-up for Reading 2012 (and Leeds). Bit skeptical at first as the last of years have had some shoddy lineups, but this actually looks pretty good!

(Thanks http://www.thrashhits.com/2012/03/reading-leeds-festival-confirms-foo-fighters-paramore-bullet-for-my-valentine-among-first-41-acts-announced-for-2012/ for the photo)

Kony 2012

(I'm hoping this works. University computers only have internet explorer and this blog seems to be struggling. We'll see).

[EDIT]: There's been some controversy about this campaign today (http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/), some of which I agree with, some I don't. The most important thing at the moment is raising AWARENESS, so even if you just spread the video, you're helping. I'm not claiming to be an expert on the situation, I'm just going on what I know so don't blame me...

This is not another music review, song of the day, or anything like that. This post is more important than anything, and if you don't read anything else on my blog, PLEASE read this.

Hopefully you've heard by now about the vile Joseph Kony and what he does, and has been doing for 20 years. If not, I need to inform you, which is why I'm writing this now. For 20 years, Kony has been abducting children in Uganda, and turning them into sex slaves and child soliders, and making them kill their own parents. It's not just a few children. As the video I'm going to attach will tell you, those who knew never knew how to stop him. There was an attempt, but Kony discovered what they were doing and changed his tactics. I'll be honest, I never knew about any of this until yesterday, but it completely shocked me, and now I believe everyone HAS to know about this, and help stop it. Every child has the right to a childhood like the one I'm sure the majority of you all experience. If you're reading this and you have kids, how would you feel if your child was abducted and forced to partake in these horrific activities?

I'm not going to write much more, because quite frankly the video does a much better job than I could ever do. It is an amazing video, and I URGE you to watch it. If you've got twitter, tweet out #stopkony #KONY2012, whatever you have to tweet to get attention to this extraordinary campaign (Invisible Children). 

This link should work to pledge etc.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/kony2012/kony-4.html

And I'm putting the video here (you can watch it on Vimeo, and if it works, the link above to):



Thank you.
KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

Brits 2012 Review

Guess who's procrastinating again...

I'll write this now while it's fairly fresh in my mind. A quick (since it's boring to go through every category and say "Yes they deserved it" or "No, they did not) review of the Brits last night. 

In general, the first hour (at least) felt REALLY slow, and it felt like the organisers were trying to get all the performances out the way. Not many awards seem to be being given out. But some of the performances were really special. Coldplay opened the show in completely the right way. Another knockout performance from them, and it's made me SO excited to see them in June. Adele needed no special effects to go with her stunning vocals, and she definitely knocked everyone else right out of the water. I also really enjoyed Bruno Mars' performance, and I think he proved he can definitely sing live. Rihanna also put on a great show, although me and my Dad did spend a lot of time discussing how much mess they'll now have to clean up. Sad I know.

In terms of not-so-great performances, I felt Florence & The Machine was weak. I don't know why, I just found it a bit dull. I was also expecting to be completely blown away by Blur, but for me, they were underrated. I still absolutely love Blur, and I heard their performances on ITV2 were brilliant, but I was disappointed with the songs I saw/heard.

Which brings me onto probably the most talked about moment of the Brits, disappointingly. Unless you've been hiding throughout today, you should know that Adele's Album of The Year speech was cut off because ITV were running over. I don't blame James Corden or Blur for this, I blame the organisers. Firstly, if they're going to cut people's speeches off, do it fairly. Blur's speech, although I'm not saying they didn't need their time, was probably way too long, and could've easily been cut off. Secondly, if they knew they were going to run over, they shouldn't have made such an effort to build up to the biggest award of the night, and then not let whoever won speak. I think ITV are big enough to run over by 1 minute to just let Adele say all she needed to say. I found the whole thing hugely unfair, and I think most other viewers did too.

Enough of a badly written rant, onto the awards. I was going to refer back to my original post, but I think it'll turn out way too long winded. Adele deservingly won two awards- British Female and British Album. As great as Laura Marling is, and as amazing as Coldplay's album is, I was more than happy that she won these two. She's had a HUGELY (which still feels like an understatement) successful year and she's worked so hard, so it's great to see that pay off. Ed Sheeran also won two- British Male and Breakthrough. I was expecting Breakthrough to go to Jessie J, so that was a bit of a shock, but a great result none the less. He proved his worth in his simplistic but beautiful performance on the night too.

British Single showed that the result is actually a popularity contest, as One Direction won. Don't get me wrong, I bloody love One Direction, and I got a little bit over-excited when they won. However, I can guarantee that if industry experts had decided the winner, it would've gone to someone like Adele.

Elsewhere, my predictions were pretty spot on I think. Coldplay won British Group (YES!!), Foo Fighters won International Group and Lana Del Rey won International Breakthrough (yay, but also boo for Bon Iver :( ). Overall, I think most of the right people won. I'd love to have seen Bon Iver take International Male, but it was always obvious that wasn't going to happen. I was happy Rihanna got International Female, but I'll always be rooting for Beyoncé.

This was supposed to be some sophiscated review of the Brits, but it's turned into more of a ramble about awards and rants about bad organisation... so sorry about that. Forgot to add, James Corden was a brilliant host, and I hope he presents again next year.

Your thoughts on the Brits?

Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston sadly passed away at 23.43pm (GMT, 15.33 local time) yesterday evening. I'm not gonna write a post about how "she was my life" or "my hero" or whatever people generically come out with when such a legend passes away. Obvious for a HUGE majority of people this is true, but for some, it's just a way of pretending. Before this starts to sound like I don't care or something, I'll get back to the point of this. I'm not gonna lie and say I was Whitney Houston's biggest fan, but when I was watching 4Music's tribute show this morning, it hit me just how much of her music I loved without even realising. From 'The Greatest Love of All,' to 'Saving All My Love for You,' and 'It's Not Right, But it's OK' to the recent 'Million Dollar Bill,' I can guarantee that you will be able to sing along to the vast majority of her back catalogue without even realising. I sure did. This is not forgetting tracks like 'I Will Always Love You' and 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody,' that everyone on the human planet knows and loves. Her voice was absolutely incredible, and let's be honest, there's no-one else on the same level really. We've sadly lost another legend (possibly down to drug abuse, again, but I'm not here to comment on that), and she, and her voice, will be sadly missed.

I'm posting 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody' because it sounds like a girls' night out to me. I think it's one of the best, and most fun, tracks to remember her by. RIP Whitney Houston.

 

The 54th Grammy Awards

Obviously I'm a bit late on this, sorry about that. Attack of the university work once again. Excitement all round...

Anyway, here are the nominees for all 78 categories in the 54th Grammy Awards, due to be held in February 2012. Adele, Bon Iver and Bruno Mars all have a high chance of grabbing a few awards for themselves, having numerous nominations each. Adele in particular in surely on the way to at least winning a couple, having 6 nominations to her name. So here's the list, try not to fall asleep whilst you read it...

http://www.grammy.com/nominees

Me vs The Internet

It's been me vs the internet for some time now, hence a lack of blogposts. Getting very frustrating, as I've been wanting to do Challenge #2, but I've not been able to. So I'm just doing a quick post now to catch up on a couple of things...

1] Mercury Music Prize. Congratulations to PJ Harvey for not only winning, but being the first person to win the award twice (the first was back in 2001). Have to admit, I was hoping for a win for James Blake or Adele, but I am more than happy PJ Harvey won. Might have to have a listen to her and see what I've been missing.

2] Florence + The Machine is back. I've always been a bit on the fence about her music, loving some and not enjoying other bits. BUT 'What the Water Gave Me' has definitely got me on the loving side. Hauntingly beautiful, and a joy to listen to, Florence is back with a bang. Hoping the album will live up to this first track.

3] Ed Sheeran was in the Live Lounge today. Haven't managed to have a full listen yet, but his performance of 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You,' is AMAZING. His talent is insane, and it's proved here. Should be around on the BBC Radio 1 pages somewhere.

4] Staying on the topic of Ed Sheeran, Zane Lowe had the first play of his new track 'Lego House' tonight. Listen here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/zanelowe/. Ed Sheeran can do no wrong it seems, as he delivers yet another beautiful track. There's nothing not to love here, giving reassurance that the album will not disappoint. Already can't stop listening to this.

5] On a final note, Popjustice once again help their 'Twenty Quid Music Prize.' This year it was won by The Saturdays for 'Higher.' Read about it here: http://www.popjustice.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5674&Itemid=206

Hopefully I will win the internet battle again tomorrow.

One of many...

After some time away, and some frustrating struggles with my internet, I've FINALLY managed to get myself back on this blog. So, I'm gonna do a few posts today to try and catch up with everything. Hopefully I won't clog up feeds and such too much.

So firstly, I just want to give my sympathy to all those affected by the tragedy at Pukkelpop Festival. You've probably read just about everything about it now, so I won't go on too much. It's so sad that such an unavoidable event, a storm, affected the festival in that way. My sincere sympathies and love goes to those affected in anyway, and I hope everyone else got home safely. 

Tribute to Amy

In tribute to Amy's tragic death yesterday, I thought I'd share with you my 3 favourite songs of hers. RIP Amy

RIP Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse has today passed away aged 27. The death is being treated as "unexplained." She has had a very long battle with drink and drugs, but her voice bought pleasure to many all over the world. I think the people of Twitter have collectively summed it all up, as have various news websites, so I don't think I can add anything more. My thoughts are with her friends and family, and I just hope she is remembered for her incredible talent, rather than her struggles. As many have already said, she has joined the 27 Club.

RIP Amy Winehouse, you will be sadly missed.