Verve Zine

Issue no. 002

By and for the students at London Met

Drugs:
They do: do you?

Gender: Plan B:
Girls and... Our Plan A
London Mets:
Slam Dunk!

Sex:
Your Kink is OK
 |media activities (verveZine & verveRadio) | democracy |
student council | campaigning for change (24 hour library,
black history month, LGBT history month |
fighting for equality & diversity | student union annual elections
charity work (rag week) | StARs (Student Academic Rep Scheme)
2nd hand book fayre | A.I.R (advice, information, representation)
04 Drugs
No Comment
Editor’s Letter
09 3 Modules... The past month has been a busy one. My fingers are
aching from getting to know my keyboard too well;
The Vervezine team will be here to greet students
new and old after summer. We’re always looking
They said no but evidence said yes
my eyes are square from looking on my computer
screen too much and my body is in a constant mode
for the team to grow and for new ideas. If you want
to join us, as a writer, designer or a publicist e-mail
of ‘go, go, go’.
Staff Columns
editor.vervezine@googlemail.com
16
Thoughts that lie beneath As deadlines are behind us and the next ones are Are you passionate about an issue or know about
already approaching, we are finalising the the second
issue of the magazine. Hopefully, we’ll be able to
something interesting happing at London Met or in
the wider world? Do you think we should know about

|societies| 17 Road to Victory

provide you with a nice break; entertainment and
quality information while you panic over upcoming
it? E-mail us at letters.vervezine@googlemail.com.

London Mets slam dunk to victory coursework or exams you have to survive before the I hope you enjoy this issue of Vervezine. The team
summer is finally here. will keep providing you with news and entertainment
from and outside London Met.
22 Charity Shopping We have some exciting plans for the upcoming

How will you

summer issue as well. There are lots of interesting
Cheap and Charming things going on at the university these days and
whether you’re into hip hop or rock, there should

Sex Column
be something for everyone. The Student Union
24 elections are also behind us with new people coming
What’s your Fettish sir? into office as people all over the UK are heading to
cast their vote in the general election.

get involved 27

Snuffed It
Rock the bucket, don’t kick it

Lots of
Music
Lots of
Film

with your union?

Plan B The Girl with the dragon Tattoo
Joey Cape & Tony Sly Upcoming films
and reviews London Met film soc
and reviews

V i s it u s at
www.londonmetsu.org.uk
12

North Campus City Campus 06

Room TMG-65a 3rd Floor, HUB
Tower Building 2 Goulston St
Holloway Road Aldgate
Copyright © 2010. Published by the London 28
Metropolitan University Student Union (METSU).
phone: 0207 133 4171 phone: 0207 320 2233 All copyrights exist with the indicated authors,
written under the Vervezine name and cannot
be reproduced or altered in any way without

Òputting studentsÕ firstÓ

the respective authors express permission.
This publication is for free, non-commercial
distribution only.

VERVE 1

Christian Eriksson Vervezine staff and readers celebrated the student
magazine’s successful relaunch at the Rocket bar.
Guests were served free cocktails and snacks at
the tropically themed party, which celebrated the
publishing of the Vervezine in its new costume. “It
was great to finally see the fruits of all the hard
work the editorial and design teams put in,” said
Communications Officer of the Students’ Union, Rishi
Pancholi.
“I’m really happy with the new format as it perfectly
sits in between a magazine and a newspaper. I think
we definitely have a shot at the Guardian Media
Awards this year,” he continued.
London Met Vice Chancellor, Malcolm Gillies, who
gladly took the opportunity to mingle with students,
joined the festivities. The VC enjoyed speeches
welcoming the new version of the magazine from
editor Charlotte Sundberg and Students’ Union
President Yeashir Ahmed, and also posed with the
magazine team to immortalize the moment.
During the evening the Vervezine staff handed out
the magazine to fellow students. The publication
received great response, and Sundberg was more
than satisfied with the whole package: “We had a
great turnout for the Vervezine launch at the Rocket.
The editorial and production teams are so happy
to finally publish the magazine and hope to further
develop it in the future.”
VERVE 2
Now, philosophy is about developing
good thinking skills and about clearly writing them
Imagine
down. For those facing difficulties in bending
you enter Talkative, the
their minds around ideas that try to underpin
a spacious members debate
our experiences, they have started discussion
room. In it floats with enthusiasm, their
dissertation groups. These groups, they say, aim
a lit fog that drifts ideas striking without
to bring more discipline to the discussions. More
around your ankles. remorse and parrying with
general topics will therefore be brought forward;
A box sits at the rooms’ counter-concepts. “Philosophy
after all, philosophies underlay every aspect of life
centre and on it is your name. is an old tradition,” Lottie claims.
and every degree you may study.
Inside the box is a voice – yours. Their concern is clear, as they explore
the philosophical implications of both
Philosophy is a broad subject. It deepens your
Now, you may want to drop this hot-button issues and less obvious
understanding while teaching ideas discussed for
magazine on the floor and run away structural elements of society.
centuries by philosophers and ordinary people alike,
at this point, shouting that you’ve
helping you understand and cultivate your own
been trapped in a web of philosophical Although the rest of us, who imagine the
responses to real-life situations. As such, it took a
thought, but no, you resist. You take a subject within easy reach when discussing
while to get the society to grow. Now the Philosophy
deep breath and talk to the box. It recalls with our neighbour the impact of William
society counts twenty-five dedicated members,
snippets of conversation you’ve had in the Irwin’s Twilight and Philosophy, Lottie and
with more brought through their door from their
past, showing you words that are no longer Alisa are keen to stress that philosophy should
imminent merger with King’s College and Middlesex
quite yours, as the old certainties have shifted not be considered as mere meditation - and no,
University Philosophy Society.
under your feet. Whether tamed or stubbornly William Irwin is not a well known philosopher.
moved, your views have changed and it explains But if you go, they’ll explain him to you.
With the likes of Plato, Sartre, Heidegger,
why.
Schopenhaur or Rousseau, the group’s most inspiring
The Philosophy Society holds its meetings every
topics are the dilemmas of Gender (the differences
In a few words philosophy is the study of how Friday in the Rocket from 4pm to 7 pm.
in what our culture demands of men or women), the
to think about ideas and how to ask yourself
countless questions about Education, Justice,
Logic, the Truth, the Good and the Bad. Not self-
methodological issues of Existentialism and, finally,
the great art of Phenomenology - the study Victor
Delvecchio
of human consciousness.
help but self-awareness.
The Philosophy Society has existed as such since
last September. Founding members Alisa Nirman
and the Vervezine’s own Lottie Bowater decided
“We hope it will be a publication that students find
interesting, entertaining and engaging.”
to build the Philosophy Society with the aim
of spreading “the art of wonder.” Given the
abundance of philosophy in real life, they have
During a long and tough re-branding process the also taken their ideas outside the seminar
publishing of the publication had been on hold. But room and into the real world.
after having 5000 copies printed the first issue,
the Vervezine’s staff couldn’t be more pleased.
Communications Officer Pancholi said: “When people
are emailing us and saying they love the new issue it
means that we are doing something right.”
VERVE 3
 In recent months we have been hearing about ‘legal choice during exam periods. A craze brought over
highs,’ in particular a substance called Mephedrone. from America has started to become widespread
Mephedrone is commonly sold as plant food and is throughout Universities in the UK. The Independent
readily available. However, students have found that has reported that Ritalin is becoming sowidespread that
snorting it creates a high similar to that of cocaine. Universities are considering drug testing before allowing
Mephedrone increases alertness, talkativeness entrance into exams. But is taking Ritalin any worse than
and feelings of empathy. It can also cause taking Pro-Plus to help you stay awake and revise?
anxiety and paranoid states and a risk of
overstimulating the heart and nervous
system to cause fits. Although it is legal There is no denying that drug taking is
to purchase, the effects are no less becoming a part of the student culture
dangerous than a Class A drug.
psyche. So I asked some students,
Ritalin is a brain stimulating steroid what makes the drug culture so rife
used to treat the behaviour disorder amongst us students?
ADHD but has become the
‘brain boosting’ drug of
“Some peo
ple can’t h
but they w an
ant to fit in dle the drugs
Illu
str
ati
on
crowd of f w
riends they ith the new
by
Jos
hN
ov
ell
i ’ve met.”

e fro m your
tim es you com independent
“Some ouse into this ent with
s ’ h er im
parent w an t to exp keep it fun,
Emma Abboh I lived with a boy called Dave in halls during my first
year as a student. He smoked marijuana regularly;
Smoking marijuana can make you feel giggly and
happy, or wanting to eat up your flatmate’s weekly
yo u
life and s. As long as yo
u
te
your ma ig deal.”
most people in my halls did. A couple of his flatmates food supply in one sitting. It can be a very sociable
took coke on nights out to get them a bit hyped up. drug and you often see large groups of friends
ab
Dave decided to try it out. Cocaine soon became his
life and his crutch. He stopped attending classes,
smoking and laughing. Marijuana may not have the
effects of heroin or crack cocaine but like anything
it ’s not “I think the media portra
ys
stopped socialising and spent his life locked up in it has its downsides. Excessive marijuana use can
“I t drugs like it’s nothing now.
drugs a hink t
I mean, all we hear abou
his room with his stash. Coke took a hold on every lead to paranoia, mood swings, a lack of motivation
part of his life. He went from being the joker to being to get up and go to lectures and - if you’re extremely nd stud
ke
is this celebrity doing co
life don ent
paranoid and thinking everyone was against him. By unlucky – mental illness. ’t mix. H
ow can
d then getting major
the Christmas break, his family had packed his stuff you be
when yo dying for a de an
stu
and taken him home, never to return again. How Talking to students around campus has made me
common are stories like this at University or is this realise that certain social groups are associated
u’re hig g
h off yo ree advertising deals.”
just the extreme side of the scale? ur face?
with certain drugs. I found that Hip-hop listeners ”
were attracted to smoking weed whereas hardcore
Being a student is all about living the crazy life, right? House ravers tended to enjoy pills or cocaine.
Everyone has a cliché of what the typical student
is like: lazy, messy, scruffy and eating cold beans This isn’t an exact science obviously and of course Is peer pressure the main reason or are we affected
out of a tin. Students have forever been associated there are hundreds of people who don’t fit into by celebrity and the media? How about NME once
with excessive behaviour – constant partying, binge any category. naming known heroin addict Pete Doherty as the
drinking, chain smoking. What about experimenting ‘coolest person of the year’? Or that Kate Moss’
with drugs? Is that just a part of the uni experience or National statistics published by the NHS say that exposure tripled after her ‘cocaine scandal’?
is it something darker? one in four 16-24 year olds have tried some form
of an illegal substance at least once – primarily Whatever your views on drugs and student life, are
How many students have sat in their halls after a full
marijuana. But illegal drugs are not the only substance they just an inevitable part of the student experience
day of classes and smoked a spliff or dabbled in a little
creeping into the student culture. or a major problem that needs to be tackled urgently?
coke here and there? How about popping a couple of
E’s before going to that neon rave in King’s Cross? My personal view?
I decided to speak to a number of London Met I think it’s a combination of the two.
students to find out what the opinion on drugs and
student life was. I found that a number of students
saw smoking marijuana as ‘nothing major’. I even ***
bumped into a couple smoking around uni. If you or anyone you
2nd year student Michael said, “Smoking weed is a know is struggling with a drug
minor. It’s not like it’s crack or heroin.” I found this to
be a common view around the students I spoke with
addiction and need some help,
who felt that marijuana wasn’t a ‘hard’ drug. Talk To Frank on 0800 77 66 00
VERVE 4 VERVE 5
 Online Bill’s iPhone App Review
Digits are 1 Dictionary by Dictionary.
com: An essential app
It seems as if our lives are being
taken over by the Apple iPhone.

Bad Touching
for any student. It runs Ask a question aloud and half
smoothly and has an easy- the time you will receive the
to-use search feature. It also response: “there’s an app

Mark Oxley
boasts a Thesaurus, and an for that.” Whether it’s just

Steven Robinson Victor Delvecchio obscure “word of the day”. a joke or an app really
does exist, the iPhone
Alongside the pillars of 78 Rivington street in the The Digital Economy Act brings up the issue of file permeates our lives.
hyperactive Shoreditch area, runs a cobbled wall. downloading - but there is more at work than is let
Tuesday the 9th of March saw the launch of IMPACT, On the wall a wooden frame delimits a conceptual on. While there are many
the all-new ICT (Information Communication space with “War on Art” daubed on it. The work apps that can be

2
Technology) initiative. It aims to provide “Practical looks man-made, fingers dipped in paint. But it isn’t. The Bill has become law without real debate, Flashlight by John Haney bought, a vast majority
tools for professional success” for anyone looking at pushed though the ‘wash up’ as Parliament finished Software: While simple, of them are free and
a career involving computing. Nicko Straniero found the image online. His re- before the elections. But despite the government’s this app is a lifesaver at night incredibly practical.
application of the piece is a classic example of unseemly haste, the new Act simply isn’t that popular. when you can’t find your keys The VerveZine has
The event took place in the Tower Building, where appropriation and regeneration, with his explanation Internet Service Providers don’t want it, big players in the bottom of your bag. searched these apps
guests enjoyed presentations from a number of people, coming from the title : ‘Unbombed and bitten’. on the Internet (Google, Yahoo, eBay and the like) You can choose the color of to find the best,
including Professor Dominic Palmer-Brown (Dean of the don’t want it and, judging from the public’s reaction, your flashlight too, which is a funniest and/or most
Faculty of Computing), Dr Mark Ratcliffe (Director of HE ‘In the graffiti world,” explains Nicko, ‘the word they don’t want it either. nice touch, although the white useful ones, and
Engagement of e-skills UK), and Anvar Nazarov (Leader of bombing expresses the covering of a surface. screen is by far the most useful. these are our top

Nicko
IMPACT). All of whom spoke about various topics and Therefore, “unbombed” is word meaning that I Why so unloved? Well, because it wants to cut off eight favorites:
many pictured below. haven’t covered the wall, which I have in reality and services for up to two years, once people receive

3 4 5
“bitten”, which means stealing someone’s work, the three accusations of copyright infringement, a clause

Elisabeth Goldman
The event itself was highly interactive. Both idea wasn’t to create something completely new. almost entirely created by the the media industry. A Tube Map by mxData NY Times by the New York DoodleBuddy by Pinger
students and guests had the opportunity to enjoy big problem here is that is requires service providers Ltd: This app is a must Times Company: This is an Inc: This is a fun and
the interesting presentations by the expert guest Playing with the bubble-thin boundary between to monitor sites and can penalise those who offer for anyone new to London, and essential for any news junkie, simple app that allows you
as you can search for and

Straniero
speakers. By listening to the experienced speakers, creative process and representation, it plays with free wi-fi, or have had their internet hacked. Given is also useful for any seasoned to draw on screen using your
participants could gain valuable information about Londoner. It provides an easy-to- access any article that has ever finger. You can add stamps and
the final dimension of time: something that once how easy it can be to spoof computer identities, it run in the New York Times.
work placements, internship opportunities and read tube map, a “Lines Status” backgrounds to your drawing,
existed had disappeared and is now resurrected. It is unlikely to stop serious downloaders, especially While it does run a bit slow, as well as choose a photo from
programs and events planned for the future, aimed to talks about the history of the gallery and about the as legal firms have already been bullying innocent feature where you can check for
the ability to save articles of your albums to draw on. There
enhance the employability of any graduating student controversial topic of street art. people. delays or planned works, and a interest and browse the latest is also a “Draw with friends”
in their chosen career. Route Planner. as well as “most-emailed” feature that can be used with
Nicko Straniero exhibit at Not too sure to whom the wall belongs, pressure is on The government also wants to change copyright law articles makes up for it. other iPhone users.
Anvar Nazarov, leader of IMPACT, announced: “We Met Commercial Road Library to confirm the piece as originally Banksy’s work and without legislation. A Minister, constantly lobbied by

6 7 8
are sure that IMPACT will become the linking platform
between our university, students and the industry
from the 12 april - 23 april. be able to preserve the space where the Dirty Square media companies, able to change the law without an
Skype by Skype Software Classics by Andrew Kaz GorillaCam by Joby Inc.:
Gallery unofficially started in 2006. The movement, open process? How could that go wrong? the best camera is simply
and we have made a successful launch towards this S.a.r.l: This app is very & Phill Ryu: Great for any
is said to come from the development of pop-up The law will also make Internet providers responsible similar to one you use on your the one you have on you when
book-lover. Open the app and
direction.” The initiative has had great success from Opening hours: galleries. “There is a trend for pop up galleries and for any data that passes through their networks. computer, though without find Alice and Wonderland, you need it. While the iPhone
its launch, gaining a good number of 65 student
members in its short time of existing. From the
Mon to thurs 09:00 to 20:00 especially in the way the internet creates illusion,” Given that the EU parliament has already decided the video-chat component. It Pride & Prejudice, the Odyssey camera takes pictures with fair
tells the gallery director, “the gallery has more that this, Is an unacceptable breach of people’s is easy-to-use and allows you
members’ feedback it is the general consensus that Friday 09:00 to 18:30 friends and fans than more established galleries.” rights, the British government is heading for a clash to call and chat with other
and other great classics right clarity, it is lacking in features.
they would like to see IMPACT keep to a similar format at your fingertips. GorillaCam allows you to zoom,
with EU lawmakers. Skype users for free, as well has an anti-shake feature and
in their future workshops. Most of the attending Nicko Straniero is a London Met graduate. He drifted make cheap international calls.
students are also looking forward to participating in self-timer, as well as an array of
from picture to sculpture, becoming his main focus. Still But this law isn’t really the problem. The Digital other functions.
future events of IMPACT and have contributed their working on paintings, installations and photography, his Economy Bill is part of a bigger international problem
ideas on developing the initiative. approaches are the ‘fake in environmental and domestic – the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. What
life, assemblage, re-assemblage of recycled material.’ does counterfeiting have to do with copyright
Students say they can already see how their Using objects, especially through the potential the infringement? As talks are being treated with the Obviously, the Vervezine does not encourage taking What is Piracy?
participation in IMPACT events and initiatives will subject explored: Fake and with Seventies minimalism. same secrecy as nuclear secrets, it’s hard to say. But people’s work without purchasing. But there is a wider Copyright infringement or illegal downloading,
be a significant factor towards boosting their future Composition created on organic abstraction but still apparently pushing for random border searches of debate to be had about technology and companies is where people share copyrighted material
professional development. related to paintings. people’s iPods or laptops for downloaded material are excluding the public from it. (commercial music, films, etc.) without paying
(with offending devices being destroyed) are part of something to the creator (or, at least, the media
The Dean of the Faculty of Computing, as well as He finds London Met challenging but useful: ‘It’s been the talks, as are the parts of the Bill described above. For example, companies stifle creativity by extending companies). Some sell what they download, which
the teachers from that faculty themselves, are all an interesting way of experimenting with the support But this again is part of something bigger. copyright laws. Disney’s classic films were all based is straight-out illegal, but most simply share their
supporting this initiative in any way they can. They of my tutors. Enough to keep you going through the on (uncopyrighted) fairy tales. George Lucas allows media files with strangers in a big, online tape swap.
also encourage all ICT students or student’s whose work in progress Art is. But there are never enough Last year, a report claimed that £120 billion was lost
careers may involve computing to enhance their fans to make their own Star Wars films and these
experimentations’. to copyright infringement. Although the story made people have gone on to better things. Culture must
employability by joining this initiative. the front page, the papers forget to mention that be protected, not locked down.
the report, coming from University College London,
Those who attended the event and the launch have was based on the industry’s own press release rather
already started to find out about various internships than proper research. The real amount was, in fact,
and work placements, as well as related programs £12 billion. A lot, if taken at face value, but ten times
and events aimed at developing interpersonal and
business skills. IMPACT plan on continuing their work
less than claimed. Want to Know More?
in the future through various seminars, workshops, Meanwhile, the Norwegian School of Management Want to Know More? Google for ACTA – it has
competitions and industry trips. (and others since) found that downloaders are much a Wikipedia page. BoingBoing provides good
IMPACT team (From left to right); Sara Stephens (YPG
Executive Committee Member), Aneeta Chatlani (Secretary), more likely to buy music than those who don’t, coverage. Look for pieces in The Register written by
Adelola Johnson (Deputy Leader), Andrew Brown (BCS making downloaders the industry’s best customers. Out-Law.com. Read michaelgeist.ca and check the
Council Representative) Mehmet Mulla (Press & PR public whip to see if your MP voted.
Officer), Yangou Jing (Faculty of Computing), Emmanuel
Uranta (Treasurer) and Anvar Nazarov (Leader)

VERVE 6 VERVE 7

Katie Cross Celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day is a must for students
wanting to enjoy everything Irish and green. The
Daisy Grimshaw
Writing/Photography
venue: where else but London Mets very own hang
out – The Rocket.
In full Irish glory people were dressed head to toe
in green, leprechaun style. Faces were covered in
clovers and drawings of the Irish flag. The venue
had kept its word and had been transformed into a
green wonderland. Guinness was flowing, bringing a
friendly atmosphere with the DJ playing Irish music
to get everyone in the mood for a good old-fashioned
Irish ‘knees up’.
As common for a lot of students, the first port of call
was the bar. With special Irish themed offers on the
drinks such as Guinness, Bailey’s and cider it was easy
to spend less than a couple of pounds on a drink. This
seemed to go down well with the crowd which was
taking full advantage of it.
The bar staff were in the mood for an Irish throw down,
dressed for the occasion with traditional oversized
hats and green lighting adding to the atmosphere
whilst waiting for a tipple. It was crowded. The waiting
and queuing seemed to take a long time, but with the
excitement, the friendliness and buzz of people, the
wait was somewhat entertaining.
All guests were there to celebrate and have a good
time and the atmosphere was on a high. Despite
some didn’t know who St Patrick was or what his day
is about, it hardly mattered because it is an excuse to
have a good night out.
VERVE 8
Junior, 22, studying Business and Marketing at London
Met nicely summed up the atmosphere of the night:
“I don know who St Patrick is, but I love him. He’s
bringing everyone together; everyone’s having a good
time, drinking and wherever that happens I’m down.”
The Dance floor was a, slightly crowded, sea of green.
The DJ mixed up the Irish tunes by blasting out current
dance and R‘N’B tracks.
The `Irish step` went down well while some, more
courageous than others, took it upon themselves to
show off their river dance skills. The DJ paid a special
tribute to London Met student Joanne, who turned
23, and shared her birthday with St Patrick’s Day: “I’m
Irish so my birthday is extra special for me. All my
friends come out and celebrate with me, the Rocket
is the best place to go, it’s so cheap and friendly, and
we always know it’s going to be a good night,” she
said whilst proving that the Irish girl can drink a pint
of Guinness faster than any English boy.
The Rocket as a St Patrick’s Day venue is perfect for
students wanting a cheap, friendly, buzzing night. The
floor was sticky, the glasses were plastic and by the
end of the night the green decorations seemed a tad
tacky. However, who cares?
The night was consistent with the mood and
atmosphere going from good to great. Everyone left
on a high and is sure to say looking forward to the
next St Paddy’s Day at the Rocket.
3 Modules... follow up
Change That Will Happen (Like it or Not)
A complete change in the undergraduate degree structure will be a fact at London
Met from 2012/13. The complete turnaround of the degree structure is a result of a
periodical review at the University.
“The intention is that we would implement this in 2012/13,” the Director of Academic
Development and Review, Jean Fawcett, said. “They will probably take three 20
credits modules and we are building in the opportunity for 10 credits as well,” Jean
Fawcett continued.
Academic leader for Academic Planning and Student Support, Rosemary Skordoulis
said she had a meeting with some of the executive members of the Students’ Union
about the three-module system. “The initial response was quite positive actually.
We’ve had two meetings so far.”
The Vice President of the North Campus Students’ Union, Richie Sethi, commented
on the changes happening. “The SU and indeed the Student Council does not support
the shift to 3 modules, this was made very clear to the academic board.”
A report submitted to the Student Achievement Group in 2008 about the possible
advantages and disadvantages of the new three-module system. Disadvantages
with the system were lined out as, “reduction of choice removes the flexibility
available for re-programming less successful students in ways which support their
achievement and progression.”
Other issues with the three-module system, according to the same report, can be,
“costs attached to revamping module teaching events descriptors” and “uncertainties
about the impact on room timetabling/estate usage.”
The Students’ Union is fighting against the extensive change of the undergraduate
degree structure. Richie Sethi said “We believe that it will restrict choice, potentially
water down students’ degrees, cause further harm to the poor academic standing
of the institution externally and with professional bodies, reduce contact time with
staff, reduce the actual amount of knowledge and skills gained and ultimately reduce
significantly the employability of our graduates, which is already the lowest in the
UK at 57%.”
Illustration by Maxime Diard
Charlotte Sundberg
The major change will impact on new students starting in 2012. “For making major
changes to framework like this, it impacts only on new students,” Fawcett said.
However, an existing student can be affected if they study part-time. “The only way
an existing student might be affected is if they started now and they would be four
years into study part-time mode.” Most likely the students which study part time
and are affected by the change will be able to finish their studies after the current
degree structure and system.
Under the current system, the students take four modules per semester, each
consisting of 15 credits. Disadvantages of this system are described by the Academic
Board as “potential load on students’ brains” and “transaction costs of administering
8 modules.”
Under the new system, the students will have to attend three modules per semester,
but the goal is that each module will have more learning hours and contact time with
lecturers to meet the national standards of learning.
HOT TOPIC
The reduction from four modules to three directly affects students, yet there
has been little in the way of consultation – and the results of such consultations
appear to have been ignored.
Vervezine has written twice on the issue now. In both occasions we investigated
the subject because you have a right to know. Both times we wrote because
the change will affect our reputation in the eyes of future employers – and not
necessarily for the best.
The magazine wants to hear your opinions. Do you like the idea of further depth in
each module, or do you prefer a broad education? Do you feel that the university
is right, or that you have a right to greater consultation?
Email us at the usual address: letters.vervezine@googlemail.com
VERVE 9

Cheerleader, Save the Team
Buy a
James Canlas While building up the anticipation for a nationwide
cheerleading competition in December, the London
Met cheerleading squad took over the Rocket last
month to hold an auction.
The aim was to raise money for uniforms and
pompoms, but the items on sale at the auction were
somewhat untraditional.
“On the auction night we raised £450. The
cheerleaders sold themselves and played games, like
drinking games, sex related games and had a wet
t-shirt competition. It was fun, a good night,” said
captain Jenny Williams.
Williams landed second place in the auction, bringing
in £50 while co-captain Sinnead Ali took home first
place as she was sold for £125.
The squad have regularly held events at the Rocket,
where they get both experience and exposure.
“As I’m the choreographer I come up with stuff at
home, teach it to the girls in training and then we
perform it in the Rocket or at Basketball games. It’s
just to get awareness, and so the girls gets chance to
perform in order to get their performance practiced
before the Winter Wonderland cheer competition in
December. It’s a massive cheerleading competition
VERVE 10
for all squads in Britain which takes part in Crystal
Palace each year,” Williams explained.
After struggling to launch the squad last year, when
only a few friends of Williams and Ali showed up at
the tryouts, the two this year have managed to get
the team up and running.
Williams said: “In September we’re going to get
our uniforms, we nearly have enough money for
them. We will also have new tryouts and then from
September to December, all we’re going to work on
is Winter Wonderland. That’s our short term aims.”
Nursery
Doors Close
For Last Time
For many at London Met, returning after the Easter
holiday means having to focus on coursework and
exams. For a certain group of students, the concerns
are much greater – where will their children be when
their parents study?
This urgent question is driven by the Vice-Chancellor’s
decision to close Hornsey Road nursery facilities.
Stationed next to the university, the facilities
employed 10 staff and provided care for 48 children,
with more on the waiting list.
The facilities, the last of three, will remain open until
July 2010 – the end of this education year. Then it
will close its doors.
The decision was originally taken in late 2009 by
ex-head of Student Services, Julie Walking, who
described the decision as ‘the worst thing I had to
do’. The question of closure was then re-opened,
with UNISON providing a report in an attempt to find
alternatives to closure. Before the Easter holidays
Vice Chancellor Malcolm Gillies finally announced
the decision to close the facilities.
To the average young, childless student, childcare
facilities are not going to be a big issue. But the
university is part of the Widening Participation
programme, meaning that it seeks to provide higher
education to those who aren’t the usual students.
This includes mothers and single mothers and, people
who are very much at risk of withdrawing from
university if affordable childcare is not available.
According to the Student Union, the nursery serves
both campuses. “Students are happy to travel half
way across London because it’s cheaper,” said SU
Communications Officer, Rishi Pancholi. He also
voiced concerns over the closures. “Students now
more than ever are being caught in a poverty trap…
they simply can’t afford [another nursery]”.
One parent said “it’s a fantastic nursery. My son
actually cries when I come to collect him because he
doesn’t want to go home”.
London Met confirmed that former employees will be
helped to find new jobs through the Remploy service,
but parents still lack options. The nursery’s closure
would mean that the users would be driven into more
expensive care, possibly more than they can afford.
In his first meeting with the Student Union, Gillies
addressed the issue of the nursery head on, saying
that he was actually “surprised so few students used
the nursery”. However, the service is believed to
have been heavily oversubscribed. In addition, the
UNISON report criticized the university, claiming that
too little was done to promote the facilities internally.
The UNISON representative for London Met, Max
Watson, has been campaigning to prevent the closure.
In an email to all London Met Unison members, he
said “despite support from the London Enterprise
Office staff; despite hundreds of signatures showing
support; despite promised support from the council;
despite the fact that the nursery had a ‘Good’
OFSTED report (with Outstanding elements); despite
all of that, Malcolm Gillies is shutting the door on
education opportunities at London Met for parents.”
It is believed that the decision to close the nursery was
part of a plan to reduce costs due to the university’s
funding crisis. Figures suggest that the nursery ran
at a deficit of over £300,000 a year although the
UNISON report claimed that the universities figures
were ‘confusing’ and hard to confirm.
The Faculty of Computing’s StAR, Claire Locke,
questioned the closure in light of the Rocket’s
refurbishment. In an email to the Vice-Chancellor, she
wrote “I wonder if they [students] will be comforted
in the fact that they have a nice refurbished student
bar to drink in?”
Tom Knock, Mark Oxley
Alternative proposals were made in the ‘Save our
nursery’ report prepared on behalf of Unison and
submitted to the university. These included using
the nursery for research into children and training for
business students, which happen elsewhere.
SU Communications Officer, Rishi Pancholi, raised the
idea of the nursery being run like a business, splitting
the funding between University and private sources.
He also described the closure as bad press for the
university, saying “the last thing you want to do with
a University that already has a bad reputation is kill
it more.”
When the Vervezine approached the University
for comment, those spoken to – Student Services
Childcare, Student Services Childcare Public
Relations, London Met Public Relations – were
unable to provide context, saying that they had not
been party to the decision and did not know about
it. The Vice-Chancellor did not return the Vervezine’s
emails, although the university later pointed out that
he had made a statement on the matter.
The statement read: “[...]I now have to reaffirm the
closure of the Nursery. What has not been able to be
demonstrated by anyone in recent weeks is a viable
way of recovering a really significant percentage of
the costs. Only by much higher fees and privatising
a large percentage of places – that means, offering
them to the outside community at three times
the price, and denying those places to University
members – can significant inroads into the current
subsidy level be made. And this, to my mind, is not
the function of a public university.”
The Faculty of Computing’s StAR, Claire Locke,
questioned the closure in light of the Rocket’s
refurbishment. In an email to the Vice-Chancellor, she
wrote “I wonder if they [students] will be comforted
in the fact that they have a nice refurbished student
bar to drink in?”
VERVE 11
 The world is still in recession and say what you want about it, but it has affected
us all in some sort of way. Some of us have lost our jobs, houses have gone down
value and some cannot afford to rent a place to live.

However, it is not just the financial sector that has been affected by this so-
called recession. The creative world has also been affected but in a completely
different way compared to the rest. For instance, the music industry has had a
dramatic drop in sales but a rise in new music genres. This happened around
the same time of the last economic fall when Mrs Thatcher was in power. Music
has taken a new independent turn with bands now releasing their material
independently because bigger labels will not sign them.

Visual art has taken a new turn with the rise of artists like Banksy, who could be
considered an artist of the recession. But in a world filled with money issues,
with people having a lack of funds to buy such creative delights, how does a
the market of tattooing live through this when it is still such a niche are of art?
Haunted Tattoos owner Allan Graves, who has just opened a new tattoo shop on
Holloway Road a few months ago, talked about the ideas of tattooing and how
it fits in a society of economic depression.

Allan Graves didn’t start off in the tattooing business straight away, but
he always wanted to do ‘something creative’. So he worked on comic book
illustrations before launching off into the tattoo side of things. He realised that
not all tattoos were the “shitty eighties tattoos, you can actually do something
nice”.

Before he came to Holloway Road, Graves worked in Soho for five years in a
well established parlour. He believes that despite being in a time where people
cannot spend as much money, it’s not all negative, and it hasn’t all been a
struggle to open up a new business. “There have been some positives that have
come from the recession, such as more offers in great places, like rent, and
we managed to get a really nice shop” said Graves, leading into the question
of customers. With the tattooing parlour being new in the area, is there any
business in the place? With Graves previously working in Soho, it isn’t a simple
case of “taking customers from there to here. It was more about finding the
right shop”.

A few years ago not everyone had tattoos; it was more linked with rock music,
especially metal, with rock stars covered in them. But recently there has been a
huge rise in them amongst working class people. It seems you cannot be more
than ten yards from one. With girls getting them on their lower backs, guys getting
something tribal in order to show off the extreme size of their upper arms, tattoos
are everywhere today. When speaking on how the tattooing world has moved
away from the rock music genre, Graves explained, “It’s becoming more trendy,
and it brings me more types of people.”

Because tattoos are for life (unless you fancy the painful laser removal treatment),
they are precious things that take a lot of thought and decision making before
actually going in under the drill. There are however some people in this world who
lack common sense and will end up with something embarrassing due to doing it
drunk or something similar. As he has a fair amount of them, Graves talked about
the meaning of his ink. “Some have a meaning, but some are also jokes. If you are
an Arsenal fan, you are still an Arsenal fan with or without the tattoo, so when it
comes to stupid tattoos I don’t really mind,” he said with a smile on his face.

It is a unique art form that has risen over the years, maybe due to the concept of
celebrity with the likes of David Beckham and Angelina Jolie openly getting tattoos
and showing them off to the public. The world may be in a financial depression at
the moment but it has led to art rising, even within the tattoo world. By being a
still standing new parlour, Haunted Tattoos is a fine example of this, because the
positive outcomes of the recession has offered them to flaunt their given talent.

VERVE 12 VERVE 27 VERVE 13

Poetry
I.
Time is eating my fingers and toes
First the hard white plaster
That serves as a false barrier
Then slowly, so slowly it is excruciating,
The pink flesh is consumed, pretty bubblegum pink
On my alien toes
Less than ten, more than eleven
Did you call death in the dusk?
I will forgive you
Promises are my golden cage
As my limbs fall in bits and pieces
Blue, white, a foggy bottom
Of a well
Far off from here in a grassy, angry field
There is no horizon here
For there is no sun to warm the essences of the
people who reside there
It is full of screaming tiger lilies
False, it is mechanized nature
Brick by brick I dug with chipped fingernails
A tunnel upward
Among the under dwellers of the earth
The creatures of our foundations
I found something
It is perhaps
The truest thing I have yet to know
II.
I stood upon a cliff
And an earthquake altered my life
I jumped from the ground
And landed in the sky
I proceeded to the ocean
I eat the stomachs of all my fears
Until I have eradicated the mirrors that
Show me an untimely world
One I will never be fit to know
Please remove me from the sediment
I want to taste the sun
And the stars one by one
I know I am not infinite
But I cannot dismiss the thought
For it carries me under everything else within me
And it lives in my skin, even within my marrow
So much was found when I lost you
And I will break every bone within me to retrieve you
From where your mind has brought you
Time heals most
But I am tender
And I have always been delicate
But the frailty that veiled me
Will soon be annihilated
Sometimes, lately and in the past
I have wished to be a bird
So deeply
At times humans are so mundane
And whatever the creature may be lacking
In capacity, be it mental or physical
VERVE 14
You
Election Angela yussuff
Spring is just around the corner and it won’t be long
Column
till we’re reading columns from fashionistas advising
Is far less covetable than wings us to clean out our closet and begin culling those
mona azam.
Than the ability to truly, to actually items of clothing that we either no longer wear. I got
And literally be above to thinking, if spring is the time to cull clothes, why
Sometimes I read dictionaries
And sometimes I am trapped
The life you choose for yourself is not yours it belongs
to others,
It’s what you make yourself to hide what you truly are
Mark Oxley not extend the practice to our friendships?
Beneath one page For those of you that aren’t familiar with this term,
from the depths of your core,
On a word that bite and tear my flesh to cull someone means to totally end a friendship to
I look at the mirror, the pretentious illusion of myself
And paralyze my bones the point where you have no more contact with that
that you left me with,
But I bask in a pool of letters person. Ok, initially this may sound like a negative
And wonder, am i withering in to nothing?
Unfamiliar syllables and accents initiative, and I can hear you saying, “Why would I
A person once so blithe, loathes, to what you made
Swivel like a clock 2010 is an important year for the UK. In early May, want to axe my friends?” But let me explain:
of her.
And tick and cease students could have uncomfortable experience of
You are untouchable.
And I will go with them being courted by political parties when they head to Take Facebook for instance. After time your friends list
Soon, soon. cast their votes in the general election. begins to clutter with people from random meetings
and you agree to be friends with the neighbour’s dog
III. The question is whether the courtship will work. (it seemed like a great idea at the time). After years
Voting amongst young people is the lowest of all age of being subjected to zombie attacks and ‘which hair
On one of my many broken mornings groups; just under 40% for those between 18 and 24 product are you?’ surveys, you decide to cut your
I woke to Bob Dylan
Permeating my brain Kerris Gibson in 2005. Interest is worse amongst minorities; about
62% of whites voted, with non-whites 15% less likely
friends list down. Reeling off of this success, I moved
on to culling two of my “real life” friends last month.
I Wish I Remained
And When she first came out, she wasn’t all that fresh, but to vote. But with the parties almost neck and neck
For a very brief frame of what we refer to as time (it in the polls and many people voicing a desire to vote This type of culling can be a lot more difficult and is
now Lady Gaga is backing a new branch of celebrity.
is very fickle, slippery) ‘none of the above’, politicians will surely have to not something for the faint of heart; you should be
Maya Salata When ‘Just dance’ and ‘Pokerface’ came out, the
I understood look for votes in unusual places. prepared for the impending backlash. In my case, my
New York singer/songwriter proved she had some
What I in fact understood I cannot completely relationship with the two girls was already dead in the
potential. However, people have argued Gaga, whose
comprehend Politicians may look at Barack Obama’s campaign, water. I had known them for around five years and
Eagle eyed fixated on the window pane, eyelids real name is Stefani Germanotta, has morphed into
But it was something truly acidic which succeeded in part by encouraging turnout our interaction mostly consisted of drunken nights on
outstretched, tense and condense. somebody unrecognisable to who she started out as.
And I wait for the music to take amongst teens and minorities, typically abstainers the town or shopping trips - for those drunken nights
Your hands on a familiar wheel steering in the
Me back one day, any day Now claiming to be a fashion role model, drinking from US politics. Of course, his campaign worked by on the town.
direction of fate, my head merely floating in space.
For one too many mornings out of a teacup and of course (my favourite) the providing a candidate able to convince a disillusioned
Only in your arms will I ever feel safe, by your side I
To wake up with an empty head notorious leakage of the video rumouring her to be America that there was an alternative to ‘politics as The only time I saw them after my move was last
wish I remained.
Begins to become very lonely a transsexual – labelling her as what my brother likes usual’. Tony Blair has already used that line over here month when they came down to London for a night
Sorrow calls out, you remain deaf; Soul speaks out, I
And leaves too much space for contemplation to call “Lord Gaga”. This newfound attitude is what and, while some things did get better, the Iraq war out and thought they would crash at mine at 3am as
remain deaf.
And it is evident, the danger that lives in I call the ‘shock factor’. Germanotta is not an idiot. and the credit crunch discredited Blair’s attempt. it meant free accommodation. As a result I decided
Apprehensive, we make sure our eyes do not connect,
Unchecked thoughts She has picked up on this; elevating every strange to nip things in the bud and gently told both of them
detached by choice the pain still stained.
I pressed a pen deep into the creases of my brain attitude she can muster to receive attention of any Though the government seems tired and unable to the next day how I felt and that, in the nicest way
These wilting roots once blossomed beside you, as
And found the most beautiful string of words kind of form. get a proper handle on matters, the Conservatives possible, I’d rather not be friends anymore.
you accelerate, they wither in despair.
Not English, not a spoken language have continually failed to convince that they can
Our eyes finally connect, we stare and stare…
Thoughts speak in another realm completely Think I’m being too harsh? Sorry, but she DOES openly improve the nation. Part of this is the Conservatives’ They reacted just how I predicted and played on the
Then heartache surrenders, our thoughts collide
And I have tried many times to pass it through admit that she’s a proud “freak”. Not only in her Bad own problem. David Cameron has yet to prove that old “oh but I need you” or “where will I come to now?”
with splendour.
my teeth Romance lyrics, but in an interview with talk show unpopular attitudes have been left behind. The lines which I was fully prepared for. I pointed out to
This brief moment of ours had no room for words;
To no avail, oh. host, the fabulous Ellen DeGeneres. We’ve seen her nation may be on the cusp of fulfilling a dream of them that they have other friends and it’s not as if we
entwined in your embrace I wish I remained.
walk into a club with huge horns, a red laced head outing Labour, but it is now faced with memories of really even speak anymore. It was like dumping two
IV. ‘Hang Mandela’, race riots, Poll Tax, Section 28, the boyfriends simultaneously.
to toe covering outfit, a Kermit demolished garment
I have to go back to the day brazen sleaze, all memories from the last time the
and a leotard made of bubbles. She’s no Vivienne
We picked blueberries Conservatives were in power. However, four weeks on and I am already seeing the
Westwood though. Call me crazy, but so far I don’t
Our heads in the sky benefits of my decision. A friendship is a two way
feel inspired to dress like Big Bird.
Our hands on the ground This may be still a year of change - the population street. If you don’t feel that people are making that
For I left my soul in that field may choose its own path. effort then why should you waste your precious time
“She’s a breath of fresh air to fashion and music. I
And it may be a while, really quite some time and energy?
think she is just what we need in the 21st century,”
Before I retrieve it Look out for Vervezine’s full analysis
says Ali Day, a Fashion Marketing student. Former
Sometimes a friendship just doesn’t last as long
student Daniel Baird has a very different take on it: of the general election in issue 3.
“When I’m watching TV with my dad and she comes as you thought it would, whether it was a break in
trust, or just not the right fit. Making the decision to
on, I cringe. I feel embarrassed because she is one of
end a friendship can be a tough call but sometimes
our generation’s role models.”
is necessary. Although good friendships are hard to
come by, deciding that a friendship is over can be
Asking people about her makes me realise that maybe
better for all sides involved. After all, sometimes in
we’ve judged the soon-to-be-24-year-old too quickly.
life you have to be cruel to be kind.
I suppose we’ll just have to accept the peculiar art-
lover and her inevitable success.
VERVE 15
 With a very difficult start in July last year, we are
still struggling to achieve our goals. Goals that I have
promised to achieve in my one-year period of office
as President and University Governor.
We have some success stories to tell you and also
some un-successful. With the Students’ Union having
very limited resources and a difficult organizational
culture within the university, it is very unlikely for the
SU officers to succeed on every aspect that we aimed
for. Nevertheless we are adherent to our goals.
Our main aim for this year is to restructure the
Students’ Union to ensure that it is financially
and logistically independent. We will be doing
this by registering the Students’ Union as a CIO
(Charitable Incorporated Organisation) with the
Charity Commission. This massive organisational
change will also involved re-writing our Students’
Union constitution from scratch meaning that we, as
students and members have a golden opportunity to
Staff Unions (Union & UCU) and the National Union of
Students (NUS) we managed to organise the biggest
demonstration at the Moorgate building in the
history of London Met. This demo was in response
to the damning article which The Independent
newspaper published saying that the government
(Hefce) threatened to stop funding London Met as
it had lost confidence with the way the university
was being governed by the Board of Governors and
Senior Managers. It is surely a shame that we were
put in such a position to demonstrate against our
own university and in my opinion it should be the
very last resort. Nevertheless we had to fight for
our education and show the BOG that we have to be
taken seriously.
Now it is time for all of us to work together to rebuild
the reputation and image of the university that
we have lost over many years from the scandals of
students data quality. I believe it is the right time
to have a new start with new thoughts and ideas to
TOUGH ROAD TO GLORY JAMES CANLAS Sports Poll
Kristian Jasper M Canlas
Which football club do you think will win the
English Premier League?
Arsenal 30.7%
Chelsea 49.3%
Manchester United 20.0%
Team Focus
Arsenal
For: Arsenal is widely known to house the
youngest players in the premier league. While
it has its highs and lows, the consistency of
excellence is still there. This was shown from
past seasons of firmly holding its place on the

Yeashir Ahmed
President of the Students’ Union 09/10
have a fresh start. The SU Executive team and I have
spent many hours in meetings with the University to
regain the reputation of the university that we had
during the mergers of two prominent universities
Big Four. The stamina of key players such as
Farbregas, Arshavin and Van Persie might help
ensure that we can leave our legacy knowing that our UNL and LGU in 2002. Our new vice chancellor, the club end its trophy drought.
& Student Governor Against: Young players lack the experience
SU can truly be independent. Professor Malcolm Gillies has agreed to take London
I am glad to say that at the time of writing this article Metropolitan University forward by participating in and confidence. While this might be true, the
Dear fellow students, the Board of Governors has approved the proposal the national ranking tables and I suppose this will be Gunners still need to work out their dubious
that we submitted for the SU to be a CIO. very creditable start towards providing good quality midfield and their chaotic goal keeping.
Welcome to the second publication of the Students’ education and hopefully a prosperous future for all
Union’s VerveZine. It is a pleasure to have the With the current Higher Education national and the students at London Met. Chelsea
opportunity to share some of my experience as internal financial crisis, this year has been very For: Probably the strongest club now. The
President and London metropolitan University’s challenging for the Students’ Union and the All the best ….. diamond formation must have shocked other
clubs because the Blues are playing offense with
HUGE CONGRATULATIONS FROM LONDON METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY
Governor over the last nine months. University. Last December with support from the
finesse from the likes of Drogba and Anelka,
coupled with a strong midfield combination of
The London Mets could finally lift the National Cup The support from the students of London Met during Ballack, Essien and Lampard.
after a close match against Manchester Magics, the game impressed him. “The amount of support Against: Stamford Bridge is never without a
during the National Finals at Crystal Palace Sports has been amazing. The game is not known compared controversy. While the Blues are unstoppable
Centre last month. to football, cricket or rugby but seeing the students on pitch, their off pitch matches seem to be
support us and the women of the Cheerleading deteriorating and this was shown from their
Student Council is made up of 46 seats where students from all areas of the University come together to form the governing body of the Students’ Union. The National Cup is the equivalent of the FA Cup of society is incredible.” recent performances. The Blues still find it hard
10 Seats – Executive Committee of Elected officers Football. For anyone like Arturo Noha, who captained to keep the ball in play and while their defence
6 Seats – Independent Student Council Members the team to victory and was named the Most Valuable Being the Most Valuable Player of the match has also may be sloppy at times, still they are favourites
13 Seats – Societies (affiliated) Player of the match, this is beyond imagination. meant a lot of pressure to succeed; “To be an MVP to lift that cup!
13 Seats – Department Reps (StARs) means that you know how to work with the team.
4 Seats – Co-opted members A proud Noah said, “This year we had some ups and You need a group of guys who can trust you and let Manchester United
All students are welcome to sit as observers. downs during the season, but everyone had put a lot you stand on the stage because they believe you can For: Manchester probably has the best English
With a new Students’ Union executive elected, this is YOUR chance to come forward and have your say to make the SU work for YOU. For more of work in training doing their part as a preparation deliver for them. It takes a lot of hard work as well player in the world. The acrobatic, unmatched
information contact Eddie, e.rowley@londonmet.ac.uk for the match and it’s really remarkable to see that on my part where you need to be fit by training and skill of Rooney is the heart of this team. Vidic,
everything paid off,” going to the gym regularly.” Ferdinand and the addition of Owen might lend
a hand to capture that title once more.
He described the training, discipline and patience Asked about what advice he can give on those young Against: This team is not the same without
Clothes Swap @ HUB – 5-8pm required for them to be on top form. “Basically, our players who are passionate about the game, he said, Ronaldo and Tevez. Defence wise, all over
Bring your old clothes and bag as many new clothes as possible for a fiver (£5) practices are intense. We normally do our practice “You need to work hard. Nobody is going to give the place at times and it seems like the team
All remaining clothes will be donated to Oxfam matches during the weekends and during the week, it them everything. They need to improve their game greatly relies on Rooney, which weakens their
is more physical training like running.” by putting an effort in training. They should always performance as a unified team.
Robin Hood Vs W@nk£r Banker Party @ HUB – 9pm til 2am aim high. There is the national league, international
Dress up as the peoples champion or an overly paid banker. In support of The Robin Hood Tax Both teams traded the lead throughout the match. league or even the NBA out there.”
During the first and third quarters, the Mets found
Barnado’s Brazilian Carnival Flirt! @ The Rocket – 9pm til 2am it hard to contain Stephen Gill, who obtained an Winning the National Trophy is just the beginning
An evening of fabulous entertainment, including Brazilian music, samba dancers, a live band and DJs. astonishing 31 points. Noah was stoic when asked for the team. Right now they are hoping to reach
about Gill: “Before the game, we knew it was going the play-offs at the National Championship and,
Plugin Baby @ The Rocket – 9pm til late - FREE to be tough but we just tried to focus and played our hopefully, win the much coveted title. It may have
Presented by the Rock Society. Come down to see live bands. All donations will be going to Oxfam strategy on the best possible way we know.” been a roller-coaster ride for the Mets, but at the end
of the day, they have proven that the more difficult
Question Time @ London Metropolitan University (Graduate centre, North Campus) Asked about what he thinks of the growing status of path leads to pride and glory.
Want to know what your degree is going to be worth? basketball in the country, he said “The status of the
Is London Met’s reputation going to get better? game is improving especially now that the Olympics
Will tuition fees rise? is coming, so they make an effort of getting a good
With the arrival of the new Vice Chancellor, Professor Malcolm Gillies, this is your chance to ask him directly, your concerns and questions in a lively debate. national team. Also, there are quite a number of
The question panel will include the President of the Students’ Union Yeashir Ahmed, a member from the NUS and various other staff members. young players from the country who goes to college
in the US to learn more about the game. So I think
we’re getting there.”
The last Student Council meeting for the academic year.
VERVE 16 VERVE 17
The Art of Diving
James Canlas
You may think from the title that this article is
about swimming. Guess what; you are wrong. You
may have seen some of the renowned technical
prowess of some of the players during a match. The
incredible fancy footwork of Cristiano Ronaldo, the
jaw dropping acrobatic volley of Wayne Rooney or
perhaps the lethal technique and dribbling skills of
Gianfranco Zola are just few of the long list of the
most amazing legendary football moves ever to grace
the premier league.
Of course, we have the opposite list of the most
disgraceful football cheats when it comes to
technique. You may also have remembered almost
every single way of how players react when they
are accused of diving (i.e. begging with the look of
innocence, gestures of “What? Me?” or perhaps the
use of fingers denying the blatant dive indicating
that the referee got it wrong). Here, we examine
the worst culprits who have mastered the ART OF
DIVING.
What’s Really Wrong with F1? Phililip Labadie
VERVE 18
The Runner Ups:
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) - The “Frog Dive”
The Liverpool ace may be dominating the midfield at
times but he is also the chink in Pat’s armour when it
comes to his underhand tactics of throwing himself
on the pitch making him look like someone who tries
to catch a frog.
Didier Drogba (Chelsea) – The “Roll-On Dive”
Make no mistake for this guy! A force to be reckoned
with when it comes to finding the net. He may be
strong as an ox but he is also as light as a feather.
Either you touch him or not, he will still fall. It
is a shame that a strong, capable player like him
sometimes use shady tactics just to get results.
Rolling on either direction and making sure that
no blood is coming out of him makes it even more
convincing. Sorry Drog, not this time mate!
Christiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) - The “Portuguese
Signature Dive”
Behind those fancy footwork and cheeky grin is an
“expert diving monster”. Cristiano undoubtedly tops
14th of March marked the start of a new Formula 1
season billed to be one of the best in years. It had all
the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster from the all
star cast to the intriguing storyline that is set to play
out over the next eight months.
The offseason activity had caught the attention with
the return of maybe the sports greatest driver in
Michael Schumacher. The newly crowned Champion,
Jenson Button, joined the man he took the title from,
Lewis Hamilton, at McLaren to complete an all British
driver line-up.
With a host of new teams and new technical rules
like no re-fuelling and smaller tyres the racing fan
was promised a thrilling season of motoring action.
Unfortunately the race itself turned out to be just
plain boring. This year’s Hollywood blockbuster went
from Oscar bound to Razzie worthy in the space of
two hours.
So what’s really wrong with F1?
The racing at the Bahrain Grand Prix was nothing
more than a procession, but the F1 fan should be
used to this by now. Gone are the days of drivers
having epic battles for position up and down the
field. This has been replaced by the driver who does
the best job at qualifying being most times the race
winner, unless mechanical faults conspire against
them.
This is down to the FIA’s (International Automobile
Foundation) mission to cut costs and standardise the
sport, but such an action feels like a contradiction of
what the sport stands for.
Formula 1 was always considered the pinnacle of
motor sport that was pushing the boundaries with
the class when it comes to doing the Art. Need I say
more? An “A” for that!
Eduardo da Silva (Arsenal) – The “I am flying Dive”
The most talked- about game of Arsenal and Celtic,
which was won by the former 3-1 on aggregate had,
secure its place on football’s list of diving scandals.
The culprit, Eduardo da Silva allegedly dived in order
to win a penalty.
And the Football Diving Oscar goes to:
Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina) - The “With Arms Wide
Open Dive”
Touted to be the worst dive ever by a footballer in the
history of Champions League and football in general.
With no players around him, he still managed to
throw himself on the pitch hoping to win a penalty.
He probably had thought the goalkeeper was behind
him. Well, getting a yellow card surely proved him
wrong!
innovative and new technology. Now we are treated
to cars that are all fundamentally the same which
should logically have guaranteed exciting driving.
Instead of having to create new electronic wizardry,
engineers have to find ways around frustratingly
confining aerodynamic ruling, ultimately making it a
difficult task to follow another car let alone overtake
it.
So what do the marketing boys do when there’s no
real action? That’s easy, fabricate some. In exchange
for on-track drama one is served with pit lane gossip
and controversy. In team fighting, manufacturers
accusing each other of cheating then rushing to catch
up with each other when the allegations are found to
have no ground.
Little or nothing to do with actual racing and this is
the real problem with the sport today. It has gone
too far away from what is meant to be about. Unless
Formula 1 is given a major technical overhaul, it will
continue to only entertain those who are interested
in being sold a movie and the true F1 fans will proceed
to do what they did at Bahrain, turn off the TV and
ask what’s really wrong with F1?
SIGN UP NOW !!!
VERVE 19
 bar. One of them struck up a conversation with me on
the subject of children. He’d just split
up with his long-term girlfriend and was bitching to
me about how he couldn’t have kids as a single man. I
raised the point that he could always try to find some
impartial woman who merely wanted a pregnancy,
ever will, which is the honest truth. At which point
this man became incredibly defensive, accusing me
of diverting from my “essential nature and purpose
in life as a woman”.
This event was by no means a one-off: both men and
If we actively diverge from our so-called “natural
purpose” as reproductive entities, we seem to be
seen as less of a man or woman. In summary, humans
are categorised depending upon their role in the
reproductive process, and ultimately are defined as
‘normal’ by whether or not they have sex.

Models: Almelia and Elle

N
at which point he sort of propositioned me (yeah, I women have accused me of the same. Friends of mine We have seen from homophobia that people can
know, very weird chat-up technique). who are perfectly happy being celibate or childless feel genuinely threatened by the notion of non-
have also experienced similar reactions, which raises heterosexual relations. Are we so defined by sex and

Gender and Sexual Identity

Obviously, I laughed at him, and replied that I’d never to me the following point: reproduction that we actively alienate those who do
had a maternal inkling in my life and that I doubt I not engage in the process? Besides those who opt-
out of heterosexual relations, there are also those

otes on who cannot reproduce, or engage in intercourse.

Photography by Cecile Janvier
Lately, I’ve been thinking about sex a lot. And no, I
don’t mean in the biblical, once-every-six-seconds
sense. No, I’m referring to the categorisation of the
sexes. Simone De Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre’s long-
term companion and the mother of existentialist
feminism, once said that “One is not born, but rather
becomes, a woman”; and I think she may have had a
point.
For what actually defines a person as belonging to
a particular sex? I’ll note that it’s at this point that
you’re probably thinking of obvious anatomical
differences. However, these distinctions aren’t
always as clear-cut as one might think. There is,
in fact, some evidence to suggest that a physical
distinction between the sexes is not, necessarily, a
human universal.
According to American biologist Anne Fausto-
Sterling, it is estimated that the percentage of
The interesting thing is that gender itself has been
widely accepted as fairly subjective. The LGBT
communities are a good example of how a person can
the human population born with hermaphroditic actively adopt or disregard any gender they feel like,
characteristics is around 2% - a fairly significant which seems a much more progressive way of living.
number when regarding an entire species; just over I think we’re beyond the age when we should be
133 million in fact. placing all emphasis upon physicality, and should be
moving towards the more neutral. After all, haven’t
So even though the binary division of the sexes is we all seen from the dissolution in racial tensions that
something of a false dichotomy, why is it that we the real answer is not one of emphasising difference,
continue to see this male/female distinction so but of embracing a society so widely diverse that
heavily permeating society? no one group is majority or minority? Ultimately,
We generally think of ourselves now as progressive, this might serve as the answer to the long struggle
moving beyond the realms of the Victorian, sexual against sexual inequality – a society that is so diverse
inequality. However, we still find women being paid ideas of normality and abnormality simply disappear
an average 17% less than men and, in the case of into the woodwork.
hermaphroditism, doctors continue to assign babies
with ambiguous genitalia to an ‘accepted’ sex; the vast
majority of advertising is aimed at a ‘typically’ male
or female demographic. The so-called “battle of the
sexes” is still very much active. I’ll give an example:
Recently, I was working at a pub in Islington. It got to
last orders and a group of guys were propping up the

VERVE 20 VERVE 21
As Cheap
As Charity
Shopping
The resurrection of the charity shop has begun. Soon
these havens of ‘unique’ will rule supreme in the
plight for affordable fashion.
Not too long ago charity shops were looked upon
as ‘no-go areas’. It is fair to say that they were
stereotyped. The list of phobias (being extreme)
suggest you could turn to stone if you stepped foot
inside one.
The past couple of years have seen more and more
eyes being opened to the genuine potential of
second-hand fashion – mainly due to the growing
vintage craze. This said craze has had fashionistas’
drooling over, with the prospect of incomparable
outfits at dirt cheap prices. Are vintage and charity
shops so different? Not nearly; they could be sisters.
Discovering the possibilities a dab of bleach and
a sewing machine can have on a five-pound-
paraphernalia is as fun as finding the garment
itself. 80’s jumpsuits, tweed jackets, leather shorts
and those 70’s print T-shirts. These time-honored
delacacies never cease to impress. The best thing
about charity shopping is that shop is contrastive.
What untold jewels you will find hanging from the
clothes rail!
My own experience of charity shopping has led to
the discoveries of beauties that even Gok Wan would
do anything to get his grubby mitts on. I bought a
tweed blazer with provoking shoulder pads (£3.60)
from Scope, Seven Sisters road. I then purchased a
handsome Mickey Mouse shirt form the same shop
(£4.70).
Charities have encountered a revolution. Their
old and negative image has been reformed by the
succession of a store owner from a new generation.
VERVE 22
Drew Elery
Dalston’s “http://dalstonoxfamshop.blogspot.com/”
Oxfam store has shown what needs to be done by
bringing charity into the 21st century; hosting gig’s
by artists such as Fatboy Slim in their basement.
Speaking to manager, Kevin, I asked him what his
views were on the matter.
We’ve heard you host gigs here from time to time to
promote charity?
Yeah a couple of bands played; Fat Boy Slim DJ’d at the
Oxjam launch when we first opened a few years ago.
That was downstairs in the basement before we filled
it all with stock. You came at the right time, there’s
another one in two weeks; a talk on climate change
and some environmental projects in Pakistan. There
will be music, craft activities, educational action,
clothes swapping – loads of different things going on.
Do many people donate?
We get thousands of donations a week. In fact this
week the Dalston Superstore donated their lost
property box. So we had lots of dirty old scarf’s that
had been left on the floor all night! Half was good and
half was a little bad.
Do you think the shops popularity is owed to its
location in ‘Trendy-Dalston?’
It’s not just because of that, it’s people in the area
are donating the clothes. We survive on community
donations, so the cycle self perpetuates; cool stuff
comes in cool stuff goes out.
How come everything is quite ‘affordable’ in here?
It’s a time saving measure to be honest. We have
such a high turnover of stock that there’s simply not
enough time to price it all individually. We like to get
it in and sell it as fast as we possibly can.
Check out:
http://dalstonoxfamshop.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/OxfamDalston
http://oxfamdalston.wordpress.com/
http://dalstonoxfamshop.blogspot.com
Top Tips for Charity shopping
1.Scan first. You’re looking for diamonds in the rough,
don’t examine each individual item on the rails. Scan
them for colour stopping at those that stand out to
you.
2. Prepare. Wear clothes that are easy to change from
so you can try things on quicker.
3. Big isn’t always better. Smaller charity shops rather
than big one’s put out everything that has been
donated. This means that they offer a better range
of stock.
THE
RETURN OF
THE
KITTEN
Sarah Leo
This season’s fashion shows have hit us with
unexpected headlines – attention ladies, kitten heels
are back! Kitten heels, usually around two inches
high, are the comfy alternative to their sky-high
rivals. Huge in the 60s, they were worn by young girls
as a training-heel, hence the name “kitten”.
Fifty years later, Marc Jacobs, Chanel & Co are
sending the kitty back out to meet the queen of
felines; the Catwalk. Gone are the days when we
had to endure hours of pain, stumbling through the
dreadful cobblestones of London in our beloved five
inch companions. But do we really want to trade in
style for comfort?
“Definitely!” says student and kitten-heel-lover
Maya Salata. “I think high heels are uncomfortable,
they make my feet hurt. I have to be extra careful
and limit how fast I walk in case I trip if the heel gets
stuck.” Maya doesn’t see the point why girls would
“torture” themselves only to appear more alluring.
“We are just expected to wear them because if you
wear heels you suddenly appear sexy’”, said Maya
sarcastically.
Imagine a night without having to worry about not
bringing your after-hour ballerina pumps. Sounds
appealing, doesn’t it?
But not all of us consider walking more than five
inches above solid ground as a new-age torture
method. Sky-high heels are more than an accessory
to some – they are a statement. Prancing through the
streets, proud women all over the world turn cities
into catwalks, paying the price of pain with delight.
“I think high heels make your legs look a lot better
in dresses and they make me feel more glamorous!”
tells Sharn Rayment, fashion marketing student who
has been fighting fearlessly for the high heel front.
For girls like her, the idea of wearing kitten heels is
as awful as wearing a sandals/sock combination. “I
think they look ugly, like a fat person has squashed
their heels into the ground,” says Sharn, cringing
over the thought that kittens are among this season’s
hottest trends.
Views differ, but no matter which we choose, one
thing is sure; 2010’s collection will tempt us yet again
to sell our souls to the shoe devil, for feet to die for!”
VERVE 23
 M et P er Their
F etish.....
K erris G ibson
“That’s disguising!” I heard a girl talking
to her friends about somebody’s fetish,
and I couldn’t help feel sorry for the
guy they were talking about.
The general definition of a fetish is;
an act or object that can result in an
enthusiastic erotic response.
Personally, I think it’s a good thing that
people are now more open to sex than
they ever have been and enjoy finding
things to explore with each other.
Bringing a fetish into a relationship is
an enhancing element and can cause
better sexual bonds between the two
people. Some people think that certain
fetishes are filthy, but it’s not about
being ‘filthy’, it’s about discovering
new things to enjoy together.
Long gone are the days where all
that matters is the delivery; Britain
is proudly enjoying the passionate
journey. And it’s not just the men;
there is no stopping women exploring
the sheets which are much owed to
organisations like Ann Summers. As
our generation evolves and inevitably
leaves behind a hump-and-dump
sexual era, it’s commonly felt that
the size of the wave isn’t important,
it’s the motion of the ocean. And it’s
nothing to be ashamed of, being open
is a beauty, and I’ll be the first to hold
my hands up and admit; I would love
Illustration by Alexander O’Rourke
to get into something like Kama Sutra.
However, with my lack of fitness it
would probably put me in hospital.
Whether you choose to accept it or
not, a fetish is like the freak in the back
cupboard that you WILL eventually
come to love, in humour or reality.
Everybody has a quirky kink of some
kind; ESPECIALLY here at London
Metropolitan University.
VERVE 24
Speaking to ‘The Porn King’, the man
who supplies you naughty students
of London Met with your dose of in-
demand-fetish-porn, he told me you’re
not as shy as you make out to be.’
“A lot of students are really into
hardcore anal bondage, that’s what
they ask me for,” he reveals. “Customers
are into other things; especially foot
fetishes, water sports, bondage where
women are being mistresses and men
are being slaves. Funnily enough it’s
really the foot fetish that is big right
now, mainly for the men.”
Slightly taken aback at this, I wanted
to know how far students have gone,
I asked ‘The Porn King’ if he had ever
been asked for anything extreme. “Yes.
One student asked me for a video
called Animal Farm. That’s bestiality. I
really don’t like stuff like that, I don’t
supply it and I wouldn’t want to sell it
to anyone, it’s not right.”
‘The Porn King’ then went on to tell me
about how in popular his DVDs were
and that there’s a bigger market out
there for porn-DVD than film-DVD; “I
can guarantee that every man at this
uni goes online onto porn hub or red
tube and so do 75% of the women, if
not more.”
As he seemed to know a lot about this
market for fetishes, I was eager to hear
if he thought that this was a good thing
that people are becoming more open
to sex. “It’s a hard question. In a way
it’s good that people are accepting
each other’s fetishes. But also, people
are getting used to it, what will be the
next taboo?! We don’t want it to go too
far.”
I did my research and found the top
hidden British Fetishes;
1. Formicophillia; the pleasure of
insects crawling around the body and/
or genitals.
2. Inflatophillia; the attraction to
inflatable’s of any form (even beach
balls!).
3. Technosexualism; the thought of
having sex with a robot (for all you
geeks out there).
4. Spectrophilia; having sex with a
ghost (though how that one plays out is
a mystery to me).
5. Mechanophobillia; being attracted
to cars and wanting to have sex with
them.
6. Nasophillia; being sexually aroused
by noses.
7. Adipophila; the attraction to obese
ladies.
8. Eproctophilia; being aroused by
farts.
I went through the list with The Porn
King to see if any of them raised a
familiar eyebrow and London Met
scored a 1/8!
“There are A LOT of chubby chasers at
this uni!” he confided in me. “I’m not
gonna name or shame or anything but
yeah, there are a lot more than you’d
think. And they are really into that.”
There you have it genitals and lady-
men! Luckily you’re not into farts, but
I have it on good authority that you’re
not as tame as you make out to be.
VERVE 25
 *Joey Cape*
Joey Cape & Tony Sly
Interviewed
They both come from Californian punk bands with a long track record of producing
successful albums. Joey Cape is the singer of Lagwagon, a band which has released
seven studio albums since the beginning of their careers. Tony Sly has rocked out
with the other guys from No use for a name and has eight studio albums under
his belt.
Apart from contributing to the punk scene, another thing they have in common is
their recent turn in style of music- from aggressive electric guitars to soft chords
on an acoustic. Joey Cape has released his second acoustic album, Doesn’t play
well with others, while Tony Sly has just released his first acoustic album, 12 Song
Program.
Recently a wave of artist have gone down the same route of acoustic guitars
and more mellow settings. Joey rejects the idea of acoustic music being trendy.
“There’s nothing trendy in tradition.”
The transition from punk to acoustic might seem drastic, but for both Sly and
Cape the process has been more gradual, rather than waking up one day with a
sudden urge to pick up an acoustic guitar. “I have been playing an acoustic guitar
for 20 years in my bedroom,” Cape explained. “I’ve always written music on an
acoustic guitar.” Writing guitar based music, for both of them, is easier on an
acoustic guitar because it gives you the chance to hear every chord clearly.
They both joke about “let’s get in jail this week” and how it would be for an
American to be stuck in jail in Scotland, but the tour has a different feel to it.
Instead of getting in trouble and ending up in jail, phone calls to their families
back home is the everyday life on tour.
Cape explained “Doing an acoustic tour an album is a natural progression.” Sly
agreed and explained “We needed the guts to do this.” Doing and acoustic tour
and album is a challenge rather than a break from the craziness of punk. “When
you’re playing acoustically you’re not competing for sound. I can sing better and
I have to focus on the voice,” Sly added.
Festival stages with thousands of people in the audience ready to rumble are
replaced with intimate bars and venues where every mistake you make will be
transparent. They both seem comfortable with the new setting they have entered.
Jokes are made on stage, requests taken from the audience and they support
each other on a lot of the material.
The confidence to turn to acoustic music has taken a long time to build. Their
careers in music started at a young age, although the first steps in the world of
VERVE 26
Charlotte Sundberg
*Tony Sly*
music were tiny. Cape came from a home where music was a regular feature and
the family would listen to everything from classical to folk. The first guitar he
remembers having in the house was a 1939 Gibson.
Sly’s experience was a little different. He had an older brother who introduced
him to the ‘bad stuff’ that is rock music. Around the area where he grew up loud
rock music could be heard from the garages around the neighbourhood. A lot of
the boys his age had older brothers who were guitar players while their younger
siblings had to accompany their Camero fixing, guitar playing brothers on the
drums. Sly was one of them although he quickly turned into a guitar player.
From those early days of punk, their music has lead them a long way and across
an ocean. After the new year, they have toured Europe and the UK and in the
upcoming months, Australia will be next.
Win 2 Free Tickets to
Live
Vervezine and BBC introducing are giving you a chance to win two free tickets to
the Beach Break Live festival in Wales.
This year’s line-up includes Ellie Goulding, Plan B, Annie Mac and many more
amazing artists.
All you have to do for a chance to win is to e-mail us the story about your most
embarrassing moment. We will also need your name.
E-mail us on competitions.vervezine@googlemail.com to enter.
For more information about the festival, visit www.beachbreaklive.com
Snuffed it
@ the Gaff
Charlotte Sundberg
Photography by Rihcard Herring
Snuffed it is Holloway’s latest unusual music night.
Held amongst the grim ornamentation of year-old
heavy metal pub The Gaff, the night presents live,
unsigned talent of differing genres.
Though only a month old, Snuffed it has attracted
such acts as If she floats, Foreign Legions, Alvarez
Kings, the Black Tricks, We are tides and the Dead
Signals. The Black Tricks previously played ‘Plug in
baby’ at London Met’s own Rocket bar, while Alvarez
Kings have travelled across the ocean to play the
SXSW festival in Texas.
Dead Signals’ guitarist, Will Specker, enjoyed playing
their set at one of the Snuffed it gigs last month. “It
was quite a fun night, to say the least! The sound
engineer gave one of the better displays of live sound
we’ve had done for us, which is always incredibly
encouraging and makes for a good night. Although
the crowd was somewhat small in numbers, we were
really happy to see how legitimately interested and
enthusiastic everyone seemed”.
The Dead Signals’ music is influenced by bands such
as Interpol, Sonic Youth, Muse, Mew, The Strokes,
Nirvana and The Pixies. Specker describes their
music as “Intrusive Tonal Beauty...We tend to do stuff
that is accessible and melodically pleasing, but with
elements of chaos and noise...making the hairs on
the back of your neck stand up for several different
reasons”.
If She floats is another band that has shared the
Gaff’s line-up roster and for them playing at the Gaff
was an enjoyable experience. “We had a great time at
Snuffed It. The venue reminds me of where I started
drinking back home and where I first watched gigs.
There’s a reassuring amount of graffiti on the wall in
the toilets and a Guns n Roses pinball machine, so
it’s got everything, really. The crowd was great,” said
band member Alex Bird.
From the band’s own view the music can be described
as rock. “I suppose it’s rock music, because saying
‘indie’ to me brings to mind the jangly guitars of
Britpop and The Smiths, and we like a thicker guitar
sound more reminiscent of grunge or shoegaze,”
explained Alex Bird.
A major reason why they wanted to play the gig was
that Snuffed it does their own promotion, taking some
of the pressure off the bands playing themselves to do
all the heavy lifting. Alex Bird commented “Being the
only promoter in town who didn’t expect the band to
do all the promotion, and charged a reasonable entry
charge, we were really looking forward to the gig. We
try and avoid the promoters who charge the audience
£5-£8 a ticket, as then fans never get a fair deal and
neither do the bands.”
The indie band Foreign Legions, which adds a hint of
reggae sounding drum and bass to their music, also
had a great time playing at the Gaff. Band member,
Samuel Thomas Harris, said “The snuffed it gig was a
good night, at a good venue. We were the first band
to play, so when we did the venue was not at full
capacity, but as it got later into the night the venue
got packed.”
For Foreign Legions, the best part of being in a band
is to get out there, in front of a crowd and play
the music they are working on live. In Harris’ view
“playing live is the most enjoyable thing about being
in a band.”
During the spring, Snuffed it will be expanding, with
live music nights at other venues in London alongside
the regular night at the Gaff.
VERVE 27
Plan B
Plan B’s new album, Defamation of
Stickland Banks, is heavily inspired by
motown and soul, taking a somewhat
different spin than the songs at the
last album. What links the new album
with the previous album, Who Needs
Action When You Got Words, is the
subject matter. Ben Drew, the man also
known as the artist Plan B, explained
“The subject matter is pretty dark,
that’s what ties it together.”
The new album came together when Drew met with
his band to experiment and come up with new jams.
Drew said “The album has a story and the music is
secondary to that.” The album is a concept album
which tells the exciting story of a successful soul
singer who ends up in trouble with the law because
of a woman.
The songs She said and Stay too long are about the soul
singer performing in a club when he meets a woman.
He gets drunk and in a moment of drunkenness he
gets into an argument with her. The next day he finds
out that the treacherous woman has accused him of
a crime. After a court case where she cries her big,
sad tears, the soul singer is sent to jail. In jail he is
afraid to leave his cell. The lyrics of the songs tell the
story of the soul singer, mixed with catchy motown
and soul rhythms.
VERVE 28
Charlotte Sundberg
Ben Drew’s favourite song on his album is Hard Times.
“It’s one of the best vocal tracks I have recorded.” In
addition to Drew’s vocals, the track has soft strings
arrangements. “You know when someone asks you
‘what song do you wish you wrote?’ For me, Hard
Times, is the song I would say ‘I wish I had written
that’ about.”
Four years have gone by since Plan B’s last album
and Ben Drew has been a busy man since then.
Recently he has been working on a feature film, Ill
Manors, a movie where music plays the central role
in the storyline. Drew explains “Story telling has been
a steppin’ stone to film.” The movie features the
exciting concept of being based on music. The story
line is being told by six short stories, each in the form
of a rap song.
In the upcoming months, Plan B will hit the road and
visit cities around the UK before joining the festival
circus over the summer. “It will be a motown show,”
Drew explained. “We want all the live shows to be
an event, want people to get involved in the circus.”
During the live shows Ben and his band will all be
dressed in suits to bring across that real soul feeling.
Plan B’s new album is out 12 April and
will enter the stage at O2 Shepherd’s
Bush Empire on 16 April.
The Red Stripe
The Red Stripe Music Awards is an annual showcase
that spotlight on new and emerging musical
talent. Now into its fourth year, these awards have
established a name for themselves as a platform for
Music Awards
unsigned and upcoming musicians to get themselves
heard.
Hundreds of bands from around the country are
wittled down to four bands who will support ‘The
View’ at the final at Heaven on the 28th of April. The
Vervezine went to the Kentish Town showcase at The
Flowerpot in March.
“It’s definitely about the unsigned bands and
emerging talent, trying to make their way through the
door of the music industry. It’s a platform for them to
be heard, like here down at The Flowerpot. Today we
have one solo artist and two bands; this is a great
opportunity for them to be heard by an audience,”
commented the Red Stripe Music Awards Marketing
Manager.
The dark, candlelit atmosphere of The Flowerpot set
the scene for a night of raw and unregulated talent.
The crowded bar seemed to spring to life once the
bands started to play. The alcohol and conversation
flowed while the audience jammed to the diverse
lyrical sounds of these three talented vocal groups.
The first vocal artist in the line-up was Dan Cook,
a London born singer – song writer and multi-
instrumentalist from Watford. Dan plays and records
all of his instruments in his garden shed.
“I’ve been playing for years, but only started
writing and singing this year. I spent a lot of my
time experimenting with many different genres and
eventually fell in love with soul and blues. I’d say
Drew Ellery
my main influences are artists like Jeff Buckley, Bob
Dylan, Patrick Watson and Nina Simone,” said Cook.
As Dan began his first set of the night he accidently
knocked his guitar over! “That was pretty terrible”
said Dan but un-phased by this little manoeuvre
caused by ‘first nerves’, Dan maintained his vocals
and overall finished his set with hands clapping high.
“Haha! Drink is a luxury these days…times are hard”
said Dan. “The worst thing I’ve done when drunk…
well I once played this terrible gig at the Red Stripe
Music Awards where I knocked my guitar over.”
With the lyrical sound of Jamie-T combined with the
soul and rhythm of Paulo Nutini – Dan Cook’s fresh
lyrical presence is not one to be forgotten. As an
artist who only begun singing and song writing for
less than a year ago, Dan seems to be climbing up the
musical ladder faster than we know. Although he still
has a lot to learn and a lot of experience to obtain
Dan Cook is a name I’m sure we’ll be hearing in the
near future.
“My goals for the future are to just keep playing,
keep singing, and hopefully make it big someday,” he
explains.
The next band on the stage is the nu-folk four piece
promise known as The Crowns.
“We’re 50% Cornish, 25% jersey and…we don’t talk
about where Pete’s from! We basically met through
friends and friends of friends and that sort of thing.”
Their lively and up-beat performances on stage really
got the crowd off their feet and jumping around like
mad people. The bands youth and taste in traditional
British and Irish music is a breath of fresh air for the
music scene as not many bands use the essence of
traditional folk in their music and lyrical style.
Dan Cook
The last band to play was This Life Scandal, who are
a four piece that formed in a West London studio in
2008 and now strive to bring venues crashing down
with their towering melodies.
“Basically we got together because Chris was looking,
and we were found. Literally just straight off the
street! He just walked up to us and said ‘here’s some
money, do you want to be in my band?’ No, we’re
only joking.”
With some really catchy tunes and a great onstage
presence that got the whole venue wooing and
clapping after every song, it’s clear to see that This
Life Scandal are a band that are already showing a
lot of potential. The band are soon to be filming the
music video for their single ‘Lightsparks’.
“We’re going to be using lots of lights, cold wintery
vibes, lots of breath, freezing hands, and beautiful
backgrounds. Video will be directed by Christopher
Bratt, and This Life Scandal. We’re very excited to
show you our first real music video.”
Manager of This Life Scandal, Natalie Couzens, added
how much hard work, yet amazingly satisfying being
a manager really is.
‘It’s brilliant to see a band develop and grow, and
knowing you’ve had a hand in that. When something
great happens for the band then you feel an enormous
sense of achievement and pride.’
This Life Scandal are also playing at the PLUGIN Baby
event, at the Rocket Bar, April 29th.
If you’re in an upcoming band who want to stand in
the spotlight, sign up for the 2011 Red Stripe Music
Awards at www.redstripe.net
VERVE 29
FILM SOCIETY Laila Lala
“Our main aim is that members feel encouraged to
NORMAN BATES, PSYCHO (1960) present whatever topic they are most interested in.
This could eventually lead to a nice series of diverse
“We all go a little mad sometimes” and interesting seminars that people WANT to go to,
a social event,” said Abigail Alvarez, former secretary
“It all started on a rainy day in the middle of London...”
of the Society. “Also, we would like to invite people
This could be a fantastic opening scene for a feature
in the Film industry to come and talk, which could be
film about (making) society, but maybe not the best
very exciting and instructive . For the film viewings,
one for an article.
we would propose a monthly genre or style of film
The London Met Film(making) Society started in
and have perhaps 2 or 3 films playing per month
November 2007, so maybe the rainy image is not
followed by informal discussion.”
too bad after all. At both campuses, a more or less
equal idea had developed and thus Anna Koch and
Today, three of the founders have finished their
Simona Lori started a film society at City campus
degree at LMU, but Patxi still helps promoting events
when at the same time Nicholas Avraam and Patxi
outside university. The up side is that new people
Gil Crenier did the same at North Campus. The plan
have joined like Dome Vereczkey, who just recently
was to extend the idea of a Film Club beyond the sole
became secretary. Dome and others have gotten into
observation and critique of film and in February 2008
the society and are trying to set things up. “We are
the societies merged. Together, the society started
just about to arrange a film festival thingy” – are the
its first agenda which intends to fulfill the original
exciting news from Dome. It will be a short film event
spirit from its creation.
around the end of the semester.
UPCOMING MOVIE RELEASES - APRIL/MAY
APRIL
April 1st Festival)
STREET smART (2010) Asylum (2010/II) (London premiere)
Behind-the-Scenes of ‘Thugs Mugs and Violence’:
A Director’s Journey (2010) (V) (London) April 16th
Crying with Laughter (2009)
April 2nd The Ghost Writer (2010)
Double Take (2009) (limited) Cop Out (2010)
Remember Me (2010) Mardi Gras (2010)
Clash of the Titans (2010) Splinter Cell: Conviction (2010) (VG)
The Nephilim (2010) (limited) Bananas! (2009) (limited)
Kakera (2009) (limited) The Heavy (2009) (UK Premiere)
Psycho (1960) (re-release)
Blood Army 2009 (2010) (limited) April 18th
Einaym Pkuhot (2009) (Belfast Film Festival)
April 4th
The Academy (2009) April 19th
April 7th
Whip It (2009)
Neighbor (2009) (Hampshire Film Festival)
April 20th
Ride of the Yoga Valkyries (2009) (Hampshire Film
April 8th Festival)
The Big I Am (2010) Dead Vengeance (2009) (V) (Hampshire Film Festival)
April 9th April 21st
The Losers (2010/I) Date Night (2010)
Psych:9 (2010) It’s a Wonderful Afterlife (2010)
Shelter (2010/II)
The Infidel (2010) (London) April 23rd
When in Rome (2010)
April 13th Centurion (2010)
Tell Him Next Year (2010) (Hampshire Film Festival) Beating the Bomb (2010)
Repo Men (2010)
April 14th Ana Begins (2009) (East End Film Festival)
Cemetery Junction (2010) The Eclipse (2009) (Belfast Film Festival)
April 15th April 24th
Duel Purpose (2010) (London Independent Film Ana Begins (2009) (British Independent Film Festival)
VERVE 30
“Planning is our major activity. Then we fail miserably.
Just kidding. We had a few workshops last semester
and of course screenings as well,” said Vereczkey.
However, the film Society has the same problem
that many others have: surprised students at both
campuses when they get told about it. Therefore,
keep your eyes open! An activity like cinematheque
happens every Thursday in TMG-83 at 5.30pm with
screenings of classical films. It was idea of first year
students as they didn’t know there was a society.
There is and they will welcome everyone with open
arms. So bring some popcorn and get going!
Davy Jones (2010) (Belfast Film Festival)
Hoodie (2010) (Belfast Film Festival)
April 26th
Chickenfoot: Get Your Buzz on Live
April 28th
J’ai tué ma mère (2009) (Belfast Film Festival)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
A Boy Called Dad (2009)
Jen (2010) (London)
Unstoppable (2010/II) (London)
Barafundle Bay (2010)
MAY
May 1st
Le Fear (2010) (London)
Release (2010/I) (limited)
May 2nd
Neighbor (2009)
May 7th
Furry Vengeance (2010)
The Special Relationship (2010)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
Dear John (2010/I)
May 8th
Clouds Fly West - Oblatsite letiat na zapad (2010)
Telefone (2010)
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Marta Corato
Män som hatar kvinnor 12.03.2010
Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) is hired not have a previous idea of the development of the
by an industrialist to find out what happened to his events.
niece who disappeared 40 years before. He teams
up with an emotionally unstable hacker, Lisbeth The direction makes the most of the visual power of
Salander (Noomi Rapace), in order to uncover the the Swedish landscape. The great performances of
obscure secrets of the Vanger family. the main actors fill most of the gaps in the screenplay
– a screenplay that is a two hours and a half (or,
The original title, Men Who Hate Women (Män Som originally, six hundred pages) long way to make
Hatar Kvinnor), relates much better with the different Blomkvist and Salander meet and prepare the ground
plotlines which constitute the film – at the very least, for the following episodes.
because the girl of the title is not the protagonist and
because the murder case has much more connections In the end, all the pieces come together and build
with hate crimes than with the dragon tattoo. an enjoyable movie, especially if you like slow
procedural thrillers with touches of explicit violence
Lisbeth Salander is one of the ways in which the plot and gratuitous sex.
goes off the track. The character is built through
sequences that dig up her past and add a lot of
information that has no relevance in the classical
thriller plot.
Director Niels Arden Oplev wanted “all the small
clues and details in Larsson’s book to be there” but,
as other book adaptations, it is not that easy to keep
up with what is happening. If the audience does
Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander
CHLOE
Reina Shimada
Chloe is a luxuriantly dazzling and gothic dark film by
Atom Egoyan―packed with astonishing performances
of stellar casts.
Catherine (Julianne Moore) is a clever, hard-working
The
gynecologist and when she meets a secretive young
prostitute, Chloe (Amanda Seyfried), her emotional
Hurt
journey begins.
Catherine finds that her marriage has a lack of
stimulation―and suspects that her husband David
(Liam Neeson) is cheating on her with his student.
She hires Chloe to observe him and to report back on
every detail of his flirtatious behavior―but she takes
Locker Sarah Leo
a step in the wrong direction.
Watching him trot through the scorching heat of
“The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal
addiction, for war is a drug.” That’s how Kathryn Baghdad, wearing an astronaut-like bomb suit and
From the darkish, glamorous opening scene until the
using not a lot more than pliers to defuse yet another
unbelievably shocking ending, Chloe never fails to Bigelow kicks off her low-budget masterpiece, The
dodgy, home-made bomb, you feel as if you were
turn cinephiles on and you will surely be gripped by Hurt Locker, depicting the Iraq conflict and proving
that a war movie doesn’t necessarily have to be standing right next to him, telling him whether to
this expertly crafted, sexy thriller. The opening scene
cut the red or the black cord. Bigelow sets the whole
of Chloe posing amorously in front of the mirror crammed with patriotism and politics.
focus on the soldiers at the front and their constant
physically provokes sexual tension.
distrust against the Iraqi – never knowing who could
Winning six Oscars and six Baftas, leaving its rival
the next to pull the trigger.
One of the psychologically interesting aspects of Avatar literally in the dust, The Hurt Locker is now
this movie is how the lust can be mixed up with considered to be the best film ever made within its
genre. Director, Kathryn Bigelow, and author, Mark After 365 days and 873 disarmed bombs, Renner is
jealousy―and when you get overdriven by desire
finally sent home to his family, but you can clearly
you start acting abnormally―but you don’t notice Boal, a former journalist who was embedded with
sense that he’ll never be able to let go of his mission.
how ridiculously insane you are until it’s too late. The troops in Iraq, portray the everyday life of a US bomb
Telling his son that there is only one single thing he
film not only has a toxic beauty, but an exceptionally disposal team. A relatively unknown Jeremy Renner
takes the lead and brilliantly impersonates the heroic loves in the world, he returns to Iraq, prepared to risk
conveyed atmosphere that the successful French
and sometimes a little too reckless US soldier, Staff his life for yet another year in the bleak landscape –
film, Nathalie, has shown before..
Sgt. William James. for war is a drug.
VERVE 31
 VerveZine Issue No.002

MUSIC REVIEWS
Best of myspace
The Brassic Anthony Adams
Great Britain once had a great empire, but what
does it take these days to be characterised as
British, apart from using the catchphrase “Yeah...
it’s alright.” The French have their croissants and
fine love making, the USA has its fast food take outs
and weight problems, and the Germans; well they
still have Hitler, what have we got? Oasis died out
a few months ago, our last grasp of British culture,
who do we now turn to considering Churchill is dead?
South East London band, the Brassic, a band which
has only been together a few months, but have made
a name for themselves quickly playing venues such
a Dirty South on a number of occasions, along with
a string of London shows. When you have a song
like ‘Robber and The Supermodel’ as the first one
you wrote together as a band under your belt, you
better sit back and watch people take notice, with it’s
Libertines style introduction and school-boy manor
vocals, the Brassic show us the true meaning of
Britishness, dirty and gritty but with washed hands.
The long line of shows to be played by this band and
with strong songs to back them up is sure to make us
see more of them within the music world pages.
The Dead Signals
THE OPERA
Anthony Adams
I wouldn’t be surprised if The Dead Signals grew to
be famous in the next few months, and not only in
London.
The band has been together for a relatively short
time, and has already managed to write and record
a self produced EP, and has started playing around
London to promote their music.
They define their genre as a “truly original brand of
borderline psychedelic/post electro English grunge”,
and yes, you can find all of this in The Opera.
To be honest, I don’t think that this EP is that easy
to like: I listened all of the five songs more and more
times before starting to enjoy what I was hearing, and
also started to recognize the sources of inspiration for
the four members of the band – Sonic Youth, Muse,
Interpol, possibly some Radiohead here and there.
The gem in The Opera, instead it is “Psychoactive
Nightshade Honey”, a powerful and hypnotic song
with a strong resemblance to Muse.
The Dead Signals are “occasionally terrifying, but
always entertaining”, as they say on their myspace
(http://www.myspace.com/deadsignals).
LMU StudentsTeam
Writing Staff Letters
Editor The Vervezine is nothing without its readers. We
Charlotte Ostby Sundberg write because we want to entertain and inform you
and that means we want to know about what works
editor.vervezine@googlemail.com
for you. We want you to talk, to tell us what you
like or dislike about the magazine or just about what
bothers you today.
Sub-Editor
Mark A. Oxley Email your praise, corrections and criticisms to:
subeditor.vervezine@googlemail.com letters.vervezine@googlemail.com
Feature Editor
Christian Eriksson Leads
feature.vervezine@googlemail.com London Met is a big university; a lot goes on without
being known or challenged by students and staff,
Lifestyle Editor even when it affects them directly. But we can't find
Kerris Gibson things out unless someone talks to us. As such we
lifestyle.vervezine@googlemail.com offer journalistic protection to those willing to talk
about serious issues in the university, student union
Entertainment Editor and student body
Cover illustration
Anthony Adams
by Alexander O’Rourke Like all journalists, we protect our sources by not
entertainment.vervezine@googlemail.com revealing their identity. We can treat our sources
as anonymous (we will not name yo in our articles)
Sports Editor if the issue is of importance. Matters of serious

PUB REVIEWS
Art Director James Canlas importance can be taken off the record, meaning
Mehmet Mulla sports.vervezine@googlemail.com that we will not use what you say, instead using the
Ryan Millar information to search independently for information.
Designers Writers

The Alwyne
83 Saint Paul's Road, London
The Rising Sun
38 Cloth Fair, London
Mehmet Mulla
Nick Hill
Angela Yussuff
Daisy Grimshaw
If you have something important to say, email us
on editor.vervezine@googlemail.com or subeditor.
vervezine@googlemail.com and state if you need to
Nash Harahwa Drew Elery speak anonymously or off the record.
Smithfield doesn’t lack for characterful drinking Emma Abboh
The Alwyne overlooks the intersection of Ball's Pond
establishments. But across from the church of St Illustrators Katie Cross
Road with Highbury Grove. This is not an atmospheric
location. But, Even though the beer garden is just a Bartholomew the Great, on narrow Cloth Fair, sits a Alexander O’Rourke Kristian Jasper
parking lot with picnic tables, at least there is plenty pub with a little something extra; ghosts. Josh Novelli Laila Lala
of outside space. However, once inside, The Alwyne Lottie Bowater
whisks you away from traffic and exhaust into a pitch- In Victorian times, cadaver hunters used The Rising Marta Corato
Sun as headquarters for body-snatching expeditions. Photographers
perfect rendition of 'ideal pub for the 25-39 set'. Phillip Labadie
They would then sell the bodies to the hospital Kwame Mensah
Reina Shimada
There are plenty of beers on tap, including a rotating behind the church. According to numerous reports, Cecile Janvier
the spirits of these macabre salesmen and their Ryan Millar
selection of guest ales. That’s key point one taken
victims still haunt the pub. I’m not saying this to scare Sarah Leo Communications
care of. Plus there are leather couches, heavy-
hewn tables, colourful canvases by a local artist, you; I'm saying this pub is so good even the undead Steven Robinson & Campaigns Officer 09/10
bright windows, mismatched chandeliers, classy drink here. Tom Knock Rishi Pancholi
modern loos and inoffensively edgy music – every Victor Delvecchio communications.su@londonmet.ac.uk
'atmosphere' box was ticked. The only sour note was The Rising Sun is tiny and friendly. There’s cheap and www.londonmetsu.org.uk
the menu; ‘Beef, mascarpone and Chianti lasagne’ is tasteful Samuel Smith’s on tap (under £2 a pint). And Poets
trying too hard. a broad selection of well-priced pub grub. There's
Mona
also an upstairs area, but everybody seems to prefer
getting bunched into the downstairs area. It might be Elisabeth
It's hard to shake the impression that every detail of
because they're scared of ghosts, but I suspect they Maya
The Alwyne has been focus-grouped to death. But at
least the focus group had good taste. prefer the boisterous bonhomie, and being close to
the bar.
VERVE 32 VERVE 33
VERVE 26