Tag: 2022

You Me At Six – Deep Cuts

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Hey music nerds and welcome to my first official post back in the Music n What Not chair! I hope you are ready…

Now is it me or are the bands from our teenage years, yes i’m talking to you 90’s born kiddos, all coming out with new music?! I can’t help but wonder if this is one of few blessings from the pandemic. Whatever the reason is for 2022 being the year of my inner teen screaming with joy I am absolutely here for it!

The first band I wanted to dive into was You Me At Six with their first release in around a year, Deep Cuts. All in all this is a great track and honestly a great first release of what I can only assume is an upcoming album. It also feels like nice grown up version of the bands earlier releases such as Loverboy. So lets dive in more!

With a few nods to earlier releases Deep Cuts starts with an instrumental intro of drums and wavy distorted guitar, that like the end of the track feel like a trailing from a previous track on an album. Other than tease the ears, what this does is emphasises the 3 chord SOMETHING that features throughout the whole track. Its this SOMETHING that I can’t help but feel there is some Red Hot Chilli Pepper (RHCP) influence present for the band. As you listen carefully there is a small resemblance to Can’t Stop by RHCP and the way this is heard throughout in that same bold yet never overpowering way is quite clever and a great feature to the overall track.

Another clever thing about this track is how the instrumental and lyrical aspects bring what could be quite the tough conversation into a slightly uplifting rock song so seamlessly! Stripping back the lyrics we get a sense of a story being told of someone in love with the wrong person. Who that person is, well thats for listener interpretation but it could be anyone even Josh Franceschi to himself.

Please note; cover image created using official artwork of Deep Cuts by You Me At Six, by Music n What Not using Canva. Copyright of single artwork does not belong to me.

Bullying and social media

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Lets cut to the chase shall we…

Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok… A few social medias of many. Which ever one(s) you use you will know its absolutely brutal out there.

I’m quite lucky that the community I’ve been part of a Instagram has been one of those who live by a gluten-free diet or have disabilities or are friends and family. I’ve seen the abuse that influencers, those with a few thousand followers and celebrities receive. I’ve also experienced firsthand bullying throughout my school life and as a young adult. Never did I think that my safe community on Instagram would be tested!

At the beginning of December 2021 I created a reel, following the trend that shows you with your best friend when you first met and what you look like now. Over a period of 2 weeks I received numerous comments about my appearance, my weight and a few comments have been made about my friend. I started off trying to educate those that your opinion might not be wanted by the recipient etc. But im human, theres only so much before you get sassy back through a protective defense. It’s been hard, really hard.

I ended up disabling the comments on the reel, which even resulted in receiving a dm telling me to turn my comments back on and that I was a coward. After this I took some time away from TheUnluckyCoeliac, an instagram page i’ve put a lot of work into. Building my presence in the community, advertising my blogs of the years and even sharing insights into my life. It felt heartbreaking to step away!

I’m so glad I did, it was only a short time away but the feeling I felt when I came back was incredible! TheUnluckyCoeliac is my brand, it is my hard work and dedication, its me putting back into a number of communities that have helped me along the way. I am proud of what I’ve accomplished and I will not be drove away from that again. It gave me a boost of resilience that I wasn’t aware I was lacking. And for that, I will remain an advocate for anti-bullying, disability, new mothers and so much more!

One thing I think everyone needs to remember on social media is; you only see what someone wants you to see, all the hard times are hidden. Therefore be kind. Before posting it ask yourself these questions;

  • If it was you on receipt of what youve typed, how would you feel?
  • If it was your child, niece or nephew receiving comments like yours would you be happy?
  • Is that the character you want to be known for?
  • Is there something that you need help with, which is the reason behind this action?

To those who wrote those nasty comments on my Reel; I hope that whatever it is you’re going through, someone is there for you. I hope you never have to endure the feeling that you made me feel. I forgive you, and hope you can forgive yourself. And finally, please reach out for help if you haven’t. Don’t be afraid to!

with love

The Unlucky Coeliac xo

Costa Coffee – Gluten Update 2022

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The gluten free world has been shaken recently by the update that Costa coffee has swapped to a gluten containing oat milk as well as a soya milk with a may contain warning. Is this the end to a gluten free Costa coffee?

I reached out to Costa due to seeing some mixed messages on instagram and here’s the breakdown!

Firstly when I heard about the commotion I checked the Allergen Matrix available in store and online. It’s a table showcasing all their food and drink items and the 14 allergens, with the below code;

  • YES in white font with a red background = allergen present
  • C in black font with a yellow background = the allergen isn’t in the ingredients but present in the site of manufacturing /supply chain and therefore there is a risk of cross contamination
  • N in black font with a green background = the allergen isn’t an ingredient
  • Yes in black font with a blue background or no in black font with a orange background = suitable for a dietary requirement (vegan or vegetarian) with information from the product manufacturer. Doesn’t take into count in-store cross contamination from management/preparation methods

With that in mind the gluten free safe milks (with no cross contamination warning) are semi-skimmed/skimmed/whole milk and almond milk. The oat milk is a direct gluten containing milk with the soya and coconut being marked as cross contamination due to manufacturing site. So if you are diary and gluten free it would be advised to avoid the soya and coconut, but almond is safe. If you are just gluten free you can also have the cows milk.

Then there has been some talk about the milk steamer and cross contamination. Now I’ve never in the 4 years I’ve been diagnosed been warned about the milk steamer, not even in the session the NHS provides. I have, however, still researched into this and discovered that as long as the outside is cleaned and in between each use it is turned on and off, there are no risks of cross contamination. Costa have confirmed that all Costa shops will have designated milk jugs for each milk and that there are no cross contamination risks from the milk steamer due to the cleaning completed between each use.

All in all this means unless you pick a gluten containing milk (or a cross contamination risk milk) then as a gluten free individual you are safe to drink in Costa!

Thank you to Costa Coffee for the information and official statement in regards to the milk and steamer.

With love

The Unlucky Coeliac xo