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FEBRUARY 2012
TheSPRING HALF-TERM • ISSUE 1
Post
This Edition Features:• Up to date news on the surrounding area• Expert Tech reviews on the latest gadgets
• Insightful music reviews• And much, much, more
Baskin Robbins Hatch End wins Store of the Quarter, 2011, for “Sparkling Store Standards
and Customer Focus”.
Pop in to sample our delicious desserts and enjoy our award-winning service!
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Thousands of pupils are likely to find out that they will face longer commutes now that Hertfordshire county council plans to re-open the Croxley Rail Link are to go ahead.Branching off the current route at Croxley station, the line will follow the route of the closed Watford and Rickmansworth railway into Watford Junction. Although there are still several closed (but fully opera-tional) stations along the route, they will be closed and two new stations built at Ascot Road and Watford gen-eral hospital. The line will then link up with the West Coast main line at Watford High Street and continue into Watford Junction. Plans for re-opening the 3.4 mile railway were originally mooted back in 2005, when Transport for London committed £18m to the project (with total costs reckoned to be £65m), it hoped would be op-erational by 2010. Difficulties then ensued, as fund-ing failed to materialise from the Department for Transport); the result of which meant that the cost of the project spiralled to £115.9m. Finally, however, in December it was announced that the DfT had given its blessing – in the form of £76.24m. Despite all this, there are still several obstacles in the path of the scheme, which may significantly delay or even stop the project in its tracks. A further £33.7m is still required from the county council – and with other large projects such as the Watford health campus still requiring a significant contribution, there is a risk that this will not be supplied. So, how will all of this affect us? If current plans are accepted, the Met will close, likely to be sold off to property developers as it’s in the middle of the Metro developments. Users of the station will be forced to use
either Ascot Road or Watford general hospital stations; both a 15/20 minute walks from the school instead of the usual two or three minutes. Those who benefit will be students from Rickmansworth and Chorleywood, who may get a direct ride into Watford instead of having to change at Moor Park. Despite the council’s plans to rejuvenate the Wat-ford economy and reduce congestion, critics are not convinced the scheme will produce any real benefits. In these straitened times, do we really need a construction project that will cause this much upheaval?
If you feel angered by this, please go to http://bit.ly/SaveWatford and sign the petition.
By Tim Bush
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PUBLICATION INCLUDING SPONSORS HAS NO AFFILIATION WITH WATFORD
GRAMMAR SCHOOL FOR BOYS OR FRIENDS OF THE SCHOOL
3CROXLEY RAIL LINK
LOCAL
Watford Boys have recently been the targets of muggers but now the school is fighting back.Sean Warmington reports...
Who’s Behind You?
Watford Boys have recently been the targets of muggers but now the school is fighting back.Sean Warmington reports...
Who’s Behind You?
FEA-6 Who’s Behind You?
“It’s amazing there haven’t been more,” says a victim, “a few hundred kids passing through Cassio-bury Park twice a day, flashing their expensive iPhones and Blackberrys. I mean, what teacher is going to walk with every student to and from the New Field every day?” The victim is a year 8 student who was mugged walking through Cassiobury Park on a Friday after school. He is one of many students robbed on the way to school, and his mugger was one of the many not charged or convicted. “These people aren’t hardened criminals, just opportunists; the temptation is so high and yet the risks are so low. Who is going to stop them?” he said. Over the past few months, there has been a rise in the amount of hold-ups of students at the Watford Gram-mar schools, according to anecdotal evidence. The muggings have all followed a rough pat-tern. The muggers wait until the school day has fin-ished, and wait on one the paths between the school and the New Field, usually in Cassiobury Park. The
majority take place after four o’clock when most stu-dents have passed through. Of course, by four o’clock, it is dusk or dark. The muggers were described as waiting in twos, until a group arrived. I interviewed a year 9 Watford Boys victim about his experience. “They came from in front of us [the victim and two others], and I told the others to put their phones away. There were two of them, a [big] guy, and a [short] guy; and they told us to stop. The other two ran off, but he grabbed me by the neck and said: ‘Give me all of
Feature
FEA-7Who’s Behind You?
If you are being mugged, or otherwise dispossessed of your valuables, please call 999 and ask for assistance.
your stuff or we’ll knife you’, and showed me a knife, about six inches long. So I gave him my phone and they looked at it for a second.” He shows me the phone – an inexpensive Samsung, nearing the end of its contract – and continues: “They both looked at it and murmured some-thing, and I took it back. The big guy then goes to the short guy: ‘Go get them’, and points to the other two”. The other two boys were chased and mugged a few minutes later in Shepherd’s Road and lost all their phones, and a total of £20 cash. The number of thefts and muggings in the area has increased greatly over the recent months, with robbery up by 100% in November last year com-pared with two months earlier, according the govern-ment’s crime map website. “Other theft”, including muggings, rose from 87 in September to 97 in No-vember. One of the main problems is the fact that few muggers are arrested or charged, and even fewer convicted. Unless muggers are charged and convict-ed, there is little to deter others. Another problem is the failure by some students to report some cases. Even when the victim knows who the attackers are, they are frightened to name them to the police. “If I name them, they might find me again,” one victim said. Another said: “If you write about it you might be next.” Watford Boys has attempted to make the trip safer for students going to and from the New Field by offering to ferry the students in a so-called “walking bus”. A member of the PE staff and or a member of the senior management walk groups of students to and from the New Field in groups. The problem has resolved itself however, and the school doesn’t think the walking bus is the only factor: “They usually stop after the Christmas period anyway,” Mr Post said, “We had a similar problem six years ago.” Government advice is to walk with someone else or in a group; to stay on busier roads and well lit paths
when walking at night; to avoid taking shortcuts through poorly lit alleys or paths and not doing something most of us guilty of doing, which is listening to music through earphones. Using earphones shows that you have some-thing worth taking (a phone or a MP3) and it also means you are less aware of your surroundings. If you think you are being followed, the Govern-ment advise you to cross the street or go into a shop until you feel safe. Since this was introduced at the beginning of this term, there have been no reports of muggings in the park, but students walking home through Cassiobury Park after school are still at risk. And with muggers carry-ing knives, what’s next?
By Sean Warmington
Feature
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CONTACT US [email protected]
OR CONTACT ZAHEER AT:[email protected]
For all employment related questions, email Julian at:[email protected]
8
CALLING ALL YOUNG ARTISTS!
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EMAIL US A SCAN OR EVEN A PHOTO OF YOUR CHOSEN IMAGE/DESIGN AT [email protected]
PRIZES TO BE WON!!!
LIFE
As a teenager at a school full of boys, you get used to hearing swearing and shouting an awful lot. Now, I am not trying to say I have never sworn. In fact, most people reading this will not deny they have sworn in times of anger, frustration, or just in general – at times they feel it is socially acceptable. I am won-dering if sweari words are over used and perhaps we use certain words too freely, without accepting their connotations and full meanings. I do not believe that swearing is completely and utterly unacceptable, and that those words should not be used under any cir-cumstances. Firstly, because I don’t believe any of you would really listen or care if I expressed that view, and secondly because I think you should have the right to say what you want to say – within reason. The point I am getting at is that they some swear words don’t re-ally mean much anymore; the over use of the phrases and words means that they become commonplace, thus rendering them insignificant. However, if they were used less, they would become more powerful when spoken, and add more effect and feeling to the point you want to get across, for is that not the whole reason these words are used?
If we break down swearing to its basics, the words are just a jumbled mass of letters. Why should we make certain words taboo just because their meaning came from taboo subjects such as genitalia or sex? After all, if a person has Tourette’s, or a similar condition, they often say the words repeatedly. They can’t help it, so nobody with sense is overly offended. I think that it’s not the words themselves that offend, it’s the context they are used in. For example, if someone came up to you and started shouting in an abusive or threatening way, say, during a mugging, they would swear. You would naturally be intimidated. But it’s my theory that it’s not the swearwords that intimidate, but the tone of voice. So should we be offended, and why should we shy away from using them? .
By Jed Gaffin
DO PEOPLE SWEAR TOO MUCH?
Want to promote your business in one of these spaces?
CONTACT US [email protected]
OR CONTACT ZAHEER AT:[email protected]
For all employment related questions, email Julian at:[email protected]
CALLING ALL YOUNG ARTISTS!
WANT TO SEE YOUR WORK ON OUR FRONT COVER?
EMAIL US A SCAN OR EVEN A PHOTO OF YOUR CHOSEN IMAGE/DESIGN AT [email protected]
PRIZES TO BE WON!!!
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A GUIDE TO SECONDARY SCHOOL
Drama training is a great way to gain transferrable skills that are essential for all professions in later life; whether you want to be the next Harry Potter or to give successful business presentations, the skills you will learn at ESTA will stand you in extremely good stead. Confidence, stage presence, improved clarity and diction as well as the ability to captivate your audience are invaluable skills to have, it is also hugely enjoyable and rewarding learning them!
ESTA Croxley is based at Harvey Road School and runs every Satur-day morning in term time. Through three hours each week of sing-ing, dance, drama and sheer fun, young people between the ages of 6-17 are able to explore their potential through performance.
Casting Directors are always coming to ESTA to look for new talent and there is an agency attached to the school. Last year alone, children have appeared at The National Theatre, in the feature films Horrid Henry and War Horse, in shows for Nickelodeon, CBBC, CITV, a musical of Bridget Jones and the latest Bryan Singer movie. Ex pu-pils include Jessie Cave (Lavender Browne in Harry Potter) and Frankie Sandford of The Saturdays.
For more information and an interactive look at what we do please go to www.estatheatreschool.com or to talk about what is involved give us a call on 01923 317 447.
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This small guide is aimed at those people who want some help finding their legs in school without hearing the words “Be yourself and everyone will like you!” It has come quite late in the year for its purpose, so a lot of the younger kids reading it have already doomed themselves to a life of loneliness and ridicule, at least until GCSEs anyway; but for those of you who are not socially inept, or six foot, here it is:
RULE 1: Do not irritate the year 11s. As a general rule of thumb, don’t irritate anyone not in your year. Put simply: Big Boy will hit you if you annoy him.
RULE 2: Don’t lend money to more than four people at a time. Almost every single boy in the school has needed to borrow money. Several of them, will not pay you back. Ever. So to make it easier to keep track of your money: if you lend it, try to lend to the lowest amount of people for the lowest amount of time.
RULE 3: Waterloo Road does not accurately portray your time at secondary school. If you see two people fighting and you tell a member of staff (no comment), you will not be stabbed, or shot or kidnapped or sold to Mexican contortionists.
RULE 4: All are not equal, some are a lot better than others. In the whole school there are about 1200 students, and I have not met one yet that is hated by everybody. I’ve met people who don’t have many friends, but no-one is completely alone. Just be happy with your lot.
RULE 5: You don’t actually have to be yourself. By the time you left primary school, it was pretty set what you were: A comedian, an idiot or whatever; but here, you can make yourself out to be whatever you want. If you’re usually quite quiet, tell jokes; if you don’t like
your form try and make them like you; you’re stuck with them for the next five years and you don’t want to be the outcast.
By Julian Manieson
You know those people that are just, urrgh? You know what I mean, the kind of guy that is acquainted with everyone, hated by some and liked by no-one? We all know one and if you don’t... It’s probably you. I’m not talking about the hated individuals, who get pleasure (of all sorts) by making others suffer; and I’m not talking about the goody-goodies, because they can be genuinely interesting and nice people; it’s those people that seem to exist at the rock bottom of the hierarchy that exists in every form. That’s not the worst thing though; the worst thing is that these outcasts are absolutely convinced that they are “the bee’s knees” which is ironically a phrase that you can usually identify your outcast by. In fact “the bee’s knees” is a very good way of visualising these people, those words ring of a ‘Hey Guys! My mum says I’m cool!’ kind of person.
TO BE HONEST...
A GUIDE TO SECONDARY SCHOOL11LIFE
12 TWELVE FOR 2012
MUSIC
MUSIC
Numerous lists have been created to tell you which new and upcoming artist you should keep your eye out for in the charts this year. So we decided we would, instead of creating our own list compro-mising various wispy indie bands, take the best artist from each chart to compile what we believe is the definitive guide to 2012. Yes there will be a few indie bands as there always must be, but the list will also feature a few rappers poised to set the charts alight with a controversial lighter, another pop princess set to try and usurp the newly crowned queen Lady Gaga and a few guitar-strumming solo artists for good measure. 1. Azeliea Banks--All the music maga-zines appear to want to be on her side, and rightly so, as her lyrics could make or break anyone at the moment. And it’s for the lyr-ics that you would have heard of her, with her raw lyrics shocking the newspapers. She was named the coolest person of 2011 by NME and she went on to release her de-but commercial single 212 which displayed her unique talent and clever lyrics. This potty mouthed New Yorker is set to do a lot this year. 2. Howler--Howler are America’s an-swer to The Vaccines. The Minnesota band weren’t, to general surprise, included in the sound of 2012 poll crafted by the BBC but it seems that this really wasn’t a loss. Their de-but album America Give Up might not have caused the same amount of hype as What Did You Expect From The Vaccines, even though it was greeted with critical acclaim. It showcased their unique sound, and Beach-Boys-esque guitar riffs. You’re going to hear a lot more of them in the upcoming months. 3. A$AP Rocky--The second rapper and New Yorker to feature on the list, A$AP Rocky seems to already have amassed a few followers, one of them being Drake, who asked him to come on tour with him. Real name Rakim Mayers started rapping at the-tender age of eight and by 20 joined A$AP crew where he created the stage name
of rapping this guy is one to watch in 2012.
4. Michael Kiwanuka--The winner of the BBC Sound of 2012 music poll has a rather interesting background story. He claims he was inspired after listening to a recording of Otis Redding’s Sitting On the Dock of the Bay. With a soul sound seem-ingly infused with folky melodies and rhythms Kiwanuka is going to do a lot this year.5. Tribes--This London-based rock group are one to watch out for. Even though they were excluded from the BBC sound of 2012 list (for reasons unknown), their debut album Baby which was released earlier this year was received with open arms by every respected music critic. With a unique sound with airy guitar riffs and catchy songs they have been dubbed (like many others) this year’s Arctic Monkeys. Maybe…
6. Skrillex--Many of you have probably al-ready heard of him, and heard him. So I will say only that he’s another dubstep DJ with a unique talent that has just broken into mainstream, or at least mainstream enough for Radio 1. 7. Frank Ocean--This Odd Future member decided to break away from the group (whose members include the one and only Tyler the Creator), this year to start work on his solo career. New Orleans born Christopher Breaux, who legally changed his name to Frank Ocean following the events of Hurricane Katrina, also managed to find himself a very large celebrity backing. He was even asked by Jay-Z and Kanye West to not only feature on but co-write Watch the Throne. His debut mix tape ‘nostalgia, ULTRA’ was named by The Guard-ian “The second best mix tape of the year”. With a
Tribes
TWELVE FOR 2012
MUSIC
13
voice reminiscent of Kanye West trying to sing and an aura of cool that follows him everywhere Frank Ocean is definitely going to feature on your iPod soon. 8. Lana Del Ray--We are not going to talk about her lips. And there’s little I could say that hasn’t already been said by almost every blog published on the internet. The New Yorker re-leased the hypnotic song Video Games which won the heart and minds of music reviewer and audio freak alike with a sound that seems better suited to the golden age of Hollywood then the harsh 21st century and songs that have an infectious quality. By the time of publication she will have released her debut album Born to Die, which is set to become a bestseller (we can tell from the previews it is stunning). Lana Del Rey has her 2012 sorted. 9. Maverick Sabre--This English/Irish singer/rapper who climbed to public recognition shortly after featuring on the Professor Green single Jun-gle, which peaked at number 34 in the UK charts, is quickly becoming tipped as one of the stars of 2012. A grime artist through and through, his de-but album Lonely are the Brave is being released in March and his singles Let me Go and I Need are already out. Maverick Sabre is one to check out.
10. Lianne la Havas--Runner up in the BBC sound of 2012 poll, Lianne la Havas is a true breath of fresh air. With a silky smooth and soft voice, paired with soulful and often Afrobeat-inspired melodies she is definitely something different. Even though her music may not appeal to the vast majority of people she has something special that hasn’t been seen for quite some time.
11. Dot Rotten--Dot Rotten (real name Joseph Ellis) is another London=born rapper tipped to
make it big in 2012. The rapper - the fourth or so to feature on our list ¬- started to rap at the tender age of seven under the name Young Dot. He’s managed to start an Oasis-Blue with a fellow rapper, and doesn’t look like toning down - a must for any up and coming artist. He’s already clashed with Wiley on Twitter and featured on a Children In Need charity CD (which is another must for any
British artist). It looks like Dot Rotten is going to have an eventful and successful 2012. 12. Yelawolf--Michael Wayne Atha, better known by his stage name Yelawolf, has managed to gather quite a bit of hype overseas already, but that is to be expected when you’re being backed by none other than Slim Shady himself . He released his debut studio album Radioactive (produced by Eminem) late last year but didn’t manage to even make a ripple in the UK urban markets. However that seems set to change this year, so be expecting to hear a lot more of this Alabama-raised rapper in the coming months.
By Kachi Onyekuru
Lana Del Rey
Lianne la Havas
MUSIC
Beats headphones. Near enough every music video you see and pretty much everywhere you go, you’re going to see a pair. Anyone that owns them gets looked in the ears by teenagers [and muggers] when they walk down the street, and people that don’t have them are searching eBay for a cheap pair which they may never find. Any deal that simply gives the illustri-ous portable sound bangers away is a must buy, right? The iPhone 4S, however, comes from the line of dream phones that Apple have been churning out for a while now. It, unlike the HTC, is something many people have been waiting for. I mean come on; it’s a phone that literally talks to you. I can see the phrase “Siri is a man’s best friend” catching on sooner or later. Setting these magnetisms aside, which of the phones have better specifications and which is the better qualified as a smartphone? To challenge the Apple fans among us, let’s peer under the skin of the so-called “legend-ary” iPhone 4S. Unfortunately, the iPhone 4S has exactly the same design as the iPhone 4; but Apple’s newest offer-ing maintains the low weight standards that previous phones have exhibited. It weighs 140g and the tradi-tional 3.5 inch screen that all the iPhone’s predeces-sors have had seems to have been retained. As far as the phone’s processor goes, it shows off the “all new” dual-core A5 chip (1.2 GHz) making it a very fast phone indeed. It also has 512mb of RAM which is decent, but below the market average of 1GB. It comes with a maximum internal memory of 32GB on the highest model (8GB on the cheapest) which is respectable. The new and improved 8 mega-pixel camera is the best fitted to any Apple product so far; and the same can be said for its new 1080p video recording capabilities. The iPhone 4S boasts a wide variety of software features; although one thing that may put off those contemplating buying an iPhone, is the irritating fact that it does not support Flash. Some of the software on the iPhone includes the previously mentioned Siri: you ask it questions about near enough anything, and it will give you an answer based either on the internet or the software intelligence and also includes the notifications centre, accessed by simply swiping down anywhere, which will update you on the weather, emails and much more - something that has been available on Android for quite a while now. The HTC sensation XL is quite a big phone. With
Beats headphones. Near enough every music video you see and pretty much everywhere you go, you’re going to see a pair. Anyone that owns them gets looked in the ears by teenagers [and muggers] when they walk down the street, and people that don’t have them are searching eBay for a cheap pair which they may never find. Any deal that simply gives the illustri-ous portable sound bangers away is a must buy, right? The iPhone 4S, however, comes from the line of dream phones that Apple have been churning out for a while now. It, unlike the HTC, is something many people have been waiting for. I mean come on; it’s a phone that literally talks to you. I can see the phrase “Siri is a man’s best friend” catching on sooner or later. Setting these magnetisms aside, which of the phones have better specifications and which is the better qualified as a smartphone? To challenge the Apple fans among us, let’s peer under the skin of the so-called “legend-ary” iPhone 4S. Unfortunately, the iPhone 4S has exactly the same design as the iPhone 4; but Apple’s newest offer-ing maintains the low weight standards that previous phones have exhibited. It weighs 140g and the tradi-tional 3.5 inch screen that all the iPhone’s predeces-sors have had seems to have been retained. As far as the phone’s processor goes, it shows off the “all new” dual-core A5 chip (1.2 GHz) making it a very fast phone indeed. It also has 512mb of RAM which is decent, but below the market average of 1GB. It comes with a maximum internal memory of 32GB on the highest model (8GB on the cheapest) which is respectable. The new and improved 8 mega-pixel camera is the best fitted to any Apple product so far; and the same can be said for its new 1080p video recording capabilities. The iPhone 4S boasts a wide variety of software features; although one thing that may put off those contemplating buying an iPhone, is the irritating fact that it does not support Flash. Some of the software on the iPhone includes the previously mentioned Siri: you ask it questions about near enough anything, and it will give you an answer based either on the internet or the software intelligence and also includes the notifications centre, accessed by simply swiping down anywhere, which will update you on the weather, emails and much more - something that has been available on Android for quite a while now. The HTC sensation XL is quite a big phone. With
a weight of 162.5g and a 4.7 inch screen it is bigger than the iPhone 4S (physically at least) in every way. It has a similar design to the Samsung Galaxy S II, making it just small enough to fit in a regularly sized pocket. The phone has a 1.5GHz processor (single core), which com-pared with the iPhone 4S and almost the entire mar-ket is fantastic; but it has 768MB of ram, which is quite an odd amount. Usually flagship phones have 1GB. In that aspect it beats the iPhone by quite a large margin. Memory wise, the HTC comes with 4GB internal memory, plus an 8GB microSD card in the lowest model. This means that if you buy the cheapest option for both the iPhone and the HTC, the HTC has 4GB more memory. The camera is near enough the same as that of the iPhone 4S as it also has an 8-mega-pixel camera and 720p video recording, but has dual-LED flash (however this doesn’t make too much of a difference). The range of software is nowhere near as vast as on the iPhone, but it does support flash as it has a Java MIDP emulator. The HTC also provides voice commands as most phones do, but it is not as prominent as Siri on the iPhone; and isn’t that different to that you would find on any other smartphone. As far as audio is concerned, this phone beats the iPhone by a mile. That is all due to the proprietary Beats audio system, which makes the MP3 player worth listening to. The HTC also comes with the plus of some free Beats; the Dr.Dre ones, not the pansy Beibers. In terms of phone power and audio, the HTC wins hands down; but if you want a phone that is famous for its awesome software advantages and famous app store, then you would be more than happy with the iPhone 4S.
By Nathaniel Oshunniyi
IPHONE 4S V HTC SENSATION IPHONE 4S VS HTC SENSATION XL15TECH
