Tunes On Tuesday

Josh Beech and Shenae Grimes-Beach are like the grunge version of Jay & B. Building their own empire at Two Halves, a space where 'the couple decided to join forces professionally' 

Josh Beech just released the video for his new tune Dance for the Money which I instantly fell in love with.

Shenae Grimes-Beech is amazing in the video, lovely how they can both combine their talents and passions to produce joint art work. Just wonderful!

Bloggers not allowing me to upload the video for some reason but I love the song "Lovers" by Beech so have a little listen to that and you can find Dance for the Money here.

Also new this week is the release of Ed Sheeran's video for his song "Don't". 

Charting at number 35 this week (with two other songs in the top forty), as well as his new album X staying at number 1 for the last 6 weeks on the album chart! I did like Ed's first album but wasn't overly excited by it. X however, I have on repeat most days! 

What new music have you been listening to this week? Share, share, share! 

Fashion Focus // Backpacks

1 New Look 
2 Etsy
3 Marni
4 New Look
5 Topshop

What are your thoughts on the backpack trend?

 It took me a while to get to grips with it as I kept having images of "scene kids" with Disney backpacks popping up in my mind but I have fully come round to the idea now!

I quite like the ease of it and the freedom it gives your arms when walking around...lazy. These are my five favorite items I've found browsing the internet.

My fav is the handmade backpack from etsy. I love the aztec print and the worn leather.I also love the silver 'formal' backpack from New Look, this one is really reasonable priced and is perfect for brighten up an outfit! I also love the fringing on the black New Look backpack, perfect for festivals this summer.

Please share yours with me, I'd love to see!

Pubic Porn.

Portrait of Ms Ruby May, Standing by Leena McCall

An art gallery removed a piece of art claiming the pubic hair it depicted was too erotic for children and lots of people got mad.

Hashtag Pubegate.

The Society Of Women Artists has held an annual exhibition in London since 1857, according to their website. "In the mid-nineteenth century, women were not considered to be serious contributors to the field of art and had great difficulty in obtaining a public showing. At the first exhibition, 149 women showed 358 works, some hiding their true identities for fear of social recrimination."

Social recrimination indeed, it is to my knowledge that the artist Leena McCall wasn't even informed.

Leena McCall said - “My work deals with female sexual and erotic identity.  The fact that the gallery has deemed the work inappropriate and seen it necessary to have it removed from public display underlines the precise issue I am trying to address: how women choose to express their sexual identity beyond the male gaze.”

What I see, is the fact that this is a piece of art. A beautiful piece of art. Removed from an exhibition for fear it was too inappropriate for children who may be visiting. Children who on their way could have picked up (or purchased for 20p of their pocket money) a discarded copy of The Sun on a tube seat. Where every page is another teeny bikini clad woman with full arse and tits on show. Or fat shaming a D list celebrity. No pubes though, for that's what today has become accustomed to. Courtesy of the shaven haven baring all from surplus porn star vagina's everywhere online. Mostly all of the above for the purpose of the male gaze, what McCall is trying to direct away from. Maybe too much for children to be totally aware of, but if they are subjected to a heavily male dominated version of the way a woman is to express herself, then why is a women's perspective not allowed?

Charlotte Crosby, Geordie Shore - Criticised for weight gain. 

There is nothing wrong whatsoever, in fact, its complete normality, to have a few pubic hairs on the pubic bone. The world can try to shelter the young generation but there is nothing stopping them from being exposed. They have iPads, kindles, laptops, smart phones all equipped with a search engine that can answer their questions ..and then some, within a matter of seconds. My ten year old sister once asked me an inappropriate question to which I replied "I'll tell you the answer in a couple of years" To which she replied "fine then! I'll google it."

The world is not always a nice place. You only need to watch the news to see bombs being dropped in Gaza, a burning plane or Jimmy Saville's victims. Children are constantly exposed to reality.

Take a trip to many an art gallery around central London and you shall experience much nudity, in the form of art, not trying to be harmful and expose children to an adult world before their years. Pubic hair is being deemed as porn here and it seems extremely excessive. This is not a naked women exposing herself in any form of pornographic way. This is a painting in a gallery, especially for Women Artists. Where the artist is trying to address women's identity beyond the male gaze. I feel this highlights ignorance all round and reflects the lack of any useful education regarding modern sexuality.

Discussion was taken to twitter under the hashtag #eroticcensorship and there is a panel discussion being held at the Leyden Gallery on Thursday 24th July.

What are your thoughts on the painting being removed? Please let me know.

Recipe for Disaster

Last night I made a vegan cake and everyone in my family hated me for it.

'Chocolate Avocado Cake' to be precise. There's me, buzzin on making something gluten free, vegan - all coming from plants not the animals. Pretty healthy minus the shit loads of sugar.

"Why have you put loads of guacamole on top of a cake?" and "How many eggs did you use?"

I don't have a picture of the cake so you can just look at my face when I realised how disheartening it is to slave away for a few hours in the kitchen just to cook up something so unappreciated. But you can click here to see what everyone else's look like.

So, I did what any other self sympathising person would do - used a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut ma self a nice slice of hearty (sorry!) green cake to eat at my desk for lunch...it didn't go down too well there either.

I love avocados. I don't really like cake. So as unappealing as an avocado cake may sound to the majority of people, to me it sort of sounded like a way in to Mary Berry's crazed clique and all the great British that love getting their bake off.

It wasn't tremendously bad. I think I will have a second attempt. Although I would like to find a healthier version without so much sugar. Any recommendations? Please let me know!

I defo's over done it with the lemon juice in the icing. It made me wince a lot but I tried to style it out into a smile so I could pretend that at least I enjoyed my creation. The cake itself was spongy yet a Sahara desert style dry. And as for the aesthetics, it wasn't overly pleasing on the eye. So for now I will stick to making clean, healthy, savoury eats which can be found over here. Please feel free to take a look around.

Traumatised, I returned to what I am best at. Drinking.

Simple Happiness

"But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads?" 

- Albert Camus 

 

 

S.A.D has hit with full force on dark, wet, bleak mornings in a morbid, eerily quiet wait in the train station. I find it SO hard to get out of bed and drag myself to work in the winter. No body likes getting up in the dark, but I especially hate going home in the dark. Due to the blinds being shut I rarely see the sunlight throughout the day, so I could be somewhere in Scandinavia for all I know. Except its not that cold and really not that dark, I'm just being a dramatic diva. 

I am so tired after work that the other day I slept standing up for three stops on the way home. A new talent I have discovered as part of growing into a responsible adult. 

If you don't make time for the things you want your life can be consumed by work and tiredness and feel like your drowning in a pool of miserableness.  

This Christmas holiday period I think we should all do more of the simple things that make us happy. 

Everyday should be filled with dancing, laughter, smiles and love as the free, simple things in life bring the most happiness.

Dance

Smile

Laugh

Love

Return to Leeds

I had a nice long weekend back in Leeds but started early on Thursday by consuming cocktails.

Yeah Mojito, sayyy what?

I went back up to Leeds for a Stereophonic's gig. I have to say it's up there with one of the best live shows I've been to. Kelly Jones' voice along with the effects that were put on really made it. The lighting was amazing, it rained glittery things from the sky (a bit like all the crap that constantly falls from the X Factor ceiling every single performance), we got TP'd on and there was giant bouncy balls floating around everywhere. Leeds arena itself is big yet intimate. I hadn't even noticed it there wedged in behind Morrisons. Here's a video Kelly took of the crowd, if you squint you can almost see us. Joking.

We asked a woman to take a group photo and this was the result... yeah thanks!

Afterwards we headed to a bar where we danced away the night with copious amounts of white wine. Shockingly, Gabby and I were surrounded by a high volume of men. More so than our whole University lives together. Sadly though, they weren't there for us, but my mother. Which brought on an entertaining evening.

 Eventually tiring and getting late, it was chicken time. Time to introduce my mother to the after party culture. Leeds is abundant with chicken shops and I have no idea which ones are best or how they differ so its mostly decided by a drunken stumble. My mum had a free drink with her meal and she asked for a sauvignon blanc spritzer?! Yeah, the chicken man didn't know what it was.

The rest of the weekend was spent lazing about eating and drinking. Eating and drinking, did I mention eating and drinking? Myself and my friend Sarah popped out on Sunday eve and ordered shots of tequila and cokes at the bar before heading off to a gay club. Its super glittery and they have cool pillows...just what you need for a night out obviously.

Miley? Are you there?

I returned home prepared to go to work, harrowed that I was no longer a student and have to spend 40 hours of my week pretending to be a responsible adult.

P.s. Is anyone else finding this UK season of X Factor really disappointing? I can barely bring myself to watch it. I love Sharon and Nicole, they make the show and I want to go partying with the pair of divas. Personally I think the talent is really good but nowhere near the caliber of last years contestants. Not that I can judge, I sound similar to this vine when I sing -

Lush: Autumn Nights Relaxation.

Bath & Film time. 

Autumn is definitely upon us. With frosty mornings and dreary dark evenings becoming ever more present there's nothing better than a nice relaxing bath at the end of the day. After getting caught in the rain on the way home from work I decided to treat myself. Dashing into Lush as I had a few spare minutes before my train I asked the shop assistant what she would recommend to brighten up this damp, cold day. I left with a Big Blue bath bomb, a Blackberry bath bomb and a massive smile on my face from the excitement to get home. 

Big Blue

The Big Blue is perfect for a nice relaxing dip on an evening. It transforms your bath into what seems like the deep ocean with its rich blue colour. It contains lavender oil, lemon oil and seaweed so it is fab for relaxation as well as being super kind to the skin.  I was completely taken by surprise when the bath bomb was coming to an end by the seaweed strands that were released. These are so moisturising. perfect for the skin after being exposed to the harsh, bitter cold.

When I was younger my mum always used to purchase the sea vegetable soap which is a great match for the Big Blue. Similarly filled with seaweed and lavender helping to sooth and relax whilst also adding softness to the skin.

Blueberry Bomb

The Blueberry bomb is perfect for your end of day relaxation bath. The lovely shop assistant recommended this to me because I was feeling under the weather after being drowned by the weather. Its excellence lies in its simplicity. It transforms your bath to a wonderful lavender purple colour and the fragrance is sweet but not too strong or overpowering. According to the website, 

"This is a good one to use on days when you are feeling out of sorts, rushed or just can’t think straight. It brings calm and clarity to a busy hectic life. Step out of the bath and leave your cares behind." 

Have you tried either of these two? What are your favorite's after a hard autumns day? 

xx