BLOG 39! Fly FM!

Hi everyone,


Just a quick one this morning to let you know about my new Mixcloud page, which I will be using to upload podcasts and the latests highlights from my Fly Fm radio shows.

I will be back with another blog from 6th December, once I have met my first uni deadline. Sorry for the lack of blogs recently.

So for now follow the link below and listen to my latest Fly Fm highlights, certainly worth a listen.

 http://www.mixcloud.com/alexanderblakemore/

cya

Alex :)

Blog 38! 'Education charity shop'!

With Christmas time approaching many retail shops are setting themselves up for one of their busiest times of the year. For many students the thought of charity shops has never been at the forefront of their mind. I decided to investigate the world of charity by visiting two of Nottingham's stores.

The charity shop Mind, on Mansfield Road, Sherwood, is a charity that works with people with mental health problems affecting 1 in 3 people within the UK. They don't just work with the patience themselves, they support family's and give meaningful work to people who would not be able to get paid work for various reasons. This very important charity focuses on an issue that is close to many peoples lives. Assistant manager of the Mansfield store Jackie Chapman spoke to me about the importance of the shop and donations for the charity at christmas time. 

She explained that "It's particularly important at christmas time to support charity shops, because like most stores that's when we get most of our income. When you go into a charity shop to spend money or to make a donation you are automatically supporting people who are less fortunate than yourself." The support you give to mind over this christmas period will help them continue to support patience and their families suffering with mental illness. 

Mind takes a wide range of donations: Small electrical goods, children's clothes, toys and ladies and gents wear, books, DVD's, CD's. This creates a diverse range of products to sell to customers giving a wide variety compared to high street stores. Within the shop nothing is wasted, "If we find an item of clothing that is not suitable for sale we have a rag man who pays us so much per weight of bag. We have a similar system for books via world books, who pay us per box. We are the ultimate recycler, everything is used." The effort put in by the volunteers is a major part of the shops success and without their support the shop would not be able to sort out the best donations. 

You may now be convinced that shops like Mind are vital in the community but why should you shop charity instead of high street? After speaking to Jackie it was evident why charity is often a good decision "You get a wide range of clothes and fashions, if you go to a high street shop you will find the same t-shirt in lots of different sizes. What we do is a size 10 or 12 and you get a different range and lots of different era's. I think this makes the shop more interesting." 

Jackie's message to students was clear "Buy from a charity shop because you'll get a bargain"

Oxfam have a similar message "You should shop charity because you can get all kinds of interesting things that are no longer available in high street stores and for a bargain price. At the same time you will be helping a good cause." This was a tip to students from Patrick Wright the manager of Oxfam Charity shop in Mansfield Road, Sherwood. This shop's mission is to "raise as much money as possible so that it can help people in poverty and suffering around the world." 

The world of charity is something that is rarely published and it's important to acknowledge the work that goes into supporting good causes. But they can't do it alone they rely on people like us to help them out in whatever way we can. There are so many way you can get involved and anything you can do is highly appreciated. With christmas approaching why not head down to your local store and have a look at some of the bargains you could pick up. You could also donate something that you no longer need which could be put to better use by the charities.

Blog 37! Home after a busy but rewarding week!

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all well and you enjoyed halloween and bonfire night.

As you can probably tell from the title of this week blog I've had a good week and I am writing from home in little old Lichfield. After a busy week last week and coming out with a fairly poor story overall, I was determined to put as much if not more effort in this week and find a really good story. Lucky I did and my week was spend producing a great local story about a women who runs her own business in Carlton, Nottingham. I found the rewarding side of journalism from my experience this week, being able to share a genuinely lovely story which deserves to be heard.

I also had my first Fly FM news meeting this week which was exciting, it is due to start broadcasting again soon so keep your eyes peeled for my news slots and be sure to tune in.

The media has officially gone into christmas mode. I was listening to Scott Mills on BBC radio 1 the other day and he played 'All I want for Christmas', in my opinion christmas songs should not be played till at least December.

This weekend is set to be a good one. I am planning on meeting friends and seeing family before heading back off to Nottingham on Sunday for another week of story finding. It is unbelievable to think I have been at University for 8 weeks and I am already thinking about coming back for christmas. Time has flown by, but I feel very settled up in Nottingham, slowly getting to grips with where everything is. I have always been terrible when it comes to remembering where I am going.

Speaking of christmas, I am looking forward to it more than ever this year as I will be nice to be home, get some money behind me and spend time with friends from home. I think being away makes time with family more special and you realise what you take for granted. The main thing I am looking forward to is having my double bed back for a month.

Enough of me, time to see what's in the headlines:

• The playstation 4 system is due for release on the 29th November, which means I only have to wait 21 days until I get my hands on it. (Exiting news for gamers) 
• The chairwomen of Ofsted has said that two year old's should start school in order to improve their chances. Now in my opinion when you're two you should not be worrying about your 'chances', that age is all about having fun and enjoying your very early years. Leave it to the four year old's to go to school. 

That's all from me this week now just time for song of the week! It's monster by Rihanna and Eminem

I'll be back soon 

cya Alex :) 

Blog 36! Podcast 6! Halloween!

Hi everyone,

This is my latest podcast just follow the link below, hope you enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZosiWNBExig&feature=youtu.be


Also here is the link for the Insidious trailer mentioned in the blog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1YbOMDI59k

Hope you all have a great week and I will be back soon

@alexblakemore1

Cya Alex :)

Blog 35! Disappointing afternoon!

Hi all,

It's been a while since I last blogged, but unfortunately I have to write about how my day has been very disappointing. So it's not the most Jolly Blog.

I went home this weekend which on a positive note, was really nice and I was treated to lots of food and drink that I've missed since being a university. I also had a catch up with family and drove my car around the streets of Lichfield. It's strange, when you are away from home you get used to being away, but when you go back you realise the sort of things you miss. So being home was really nice. UNTIL...... I went to watch Aston Villa this afternoon. Sorry non-football fans this blog is going to be focused on the Villa match.

In my article for avillafan.com this morning I mentioned how Villa have had a good run over the last 3 games, and keeping it tight at the back. I also focused on the positives of our recent performances and the sort of tactics we could have played. But now the match is over and we got outplayed by Spurs, losing 2-0 it's time for a slight rant.

For the first half an hour we followed the sort of tactics I expected for today's match, and I think Lambert got it right. We were pressing Spurs and giving them very little time on the ball, resulting in them passing back to the keeper on a regular basis. Neither team had many chances and if it wasn't for a dodgy ball into the box by Townsend, missing all the players in the box and creeping into the net, I think that both teams would have gone in level at the break. In the second half it was fairly one sided until the introduction of Benteke who tried to create chances for the Villa, but as soon as Spurs grabbed their second the game was lost.

Delph impressed me again today, working his socks off for the team and trying to create some chances for Villa. I also thought that the defence looked fairly decent again against a Spurs team who are very good at attacking. Townsend was outstanding again and caused out right back Luna some serious problems.

On the negative side Kozak was poor. He is a waste of money in my opinion, and although he has played a few games recently due to Benteke's injury, he has done little to impress me. Today he didn't get his head on anything and he was unable to hold the ball up on any occasion. He was fighting a losing battle and at times I felt sorry for him. As soon as he left the field we instantly looked like a better side with Benteke getting his head on everything and holding the ball up, allowing the rest of the team to press forward. Unfortunately Spurs got their second and there was no coming back.

I had to write about this because I thought I had to follow up on my article this morning.

Onwards and upwards and let's hope we can pick up the form we were getting from the Villa team before the international break.

I'll be back soon with another blog, and I promise it will be less focused on football and back to the usual Opinion Counts.

Cya Alex :)

Blog 34! Nottingham Trent University!

Hi all,

Just a quick one to update you all on my first few days in Nottingham! As you know I moved into my flat at Gill Street on friday morning and as I was the first in the flat I was able to get the best cupboards and fridge space which was amazing!

All of my flat mates are really nice and I am beginning to really settle in up here. Walking around Nottingham is still strange as I am used to living in little Lichfield so my system is still getting used to the size and complexity of the city. I have to admit I am loving living here and it is a great student city.

I have been out for the last 3 nights and in one word Nottingham is MENTAL! I have never been out on nights like it. The music, people and atmosphere have been incredible. I have had rather too much to drink though, but it's freshers week so who can blame me.

Tonight the flat are having a quiet one and we are going for some food at our local pub. I am missing home but of course this is inevitable, however I am starting to get used to being away.

Today I had my first lecture and it was overwhelming with a lot of information being chucked at me. I have a busy but exciting week ahead and I am looking forward to getting stuck in.

Next week is Kitty's birthday and I am really looking forward to seeing her and celebrating her 19th birthday.

That's all I have time for today but I will be back soon from Nottingham.

Time for some more baked beans and ham (3rd day in a row), good job I enjoy beans!

cya Alex :)

Song of the week!  - Too close by Alex Clare

Blog 33! Change, Uni and the next chapter!

I am currently sitting on a Cross Country train from Leeds to Derby on my way back from spending a lovely couple of days with Kitty at Leeds Metropolitan University! It was great to see her and meet her flat mates. She was very settled up there which was great to see and her room is really nice and surprising clean for a girl who is well known for being very lazy!

Amongst the calm and chilled out atmosphere was a very scary moment of getting stuck in a lift. We paid little attention to the sign notifying us of the maximum weight restriction! With a good 6/7 of us in the lift we were well over the limit. The lift didn't go anywhere and the buttons to open the door would not work! The lift was very cramped and the air was beginning to get very hot! We pressed the help button but it made little difference as we were not rescued. We were stuck in there a good 5 minutes before people began to worry. I was playing it cool of course but inside I could feel my heart rate start to quicken! So I thought I'm going to try and open the doors of the lift! I did think they would be very heavy so I would need some help off the others in the lift, but as I grabbed the side and pulled they swung open! We were all relieved, especially Kitty who pushed me out of the lift instantly to escape the congested lift.

 Aside from that small complication and drama the over night stay was quiet and allowed me to get to know her flat mates and spend some time with Kitty which I have missed lately as until she went to university we saw each other on a regular basis.

Moving on. Tomorrow I am moving into my flat at Nottingham Trent university and it is the beginning of an exciting time for me. I am going to study Broadcast Journalism, a subject you all know I am passionate about. I am also looking forward to the freedom of moving away from home and beginning my life as a city man. I will update you soon to let you all know how I am getting on at university and will most likely have some stories to tell.

So, it's all changed! For months and months you could see the change coming ever nearer but thought little of it whilst we enjoyed our summer antics! For me the change began on results day when I knew I had got the grades to go to university and we were all going our separate ways. I have known most of my friends for a good 7 years and we are all going to lead separate lives from now on. The change hit me most when kitty left for Leeds the other week and for the first time Lichfield felt empty without my friends! I am still coming to terms with the change that has seemed to snap at our lives so quickly and change them, but with time that change will become our normality as we all head into our next adventure.

That's all from me for now and I will be back soon! Hope you all have a great week.

Cya 

Alex 

Blog 32! Just a few things that have brightened up my week!

Hello again everyone,

Yes my second blog of the week, aren't you all extremely lucky!

Just a short one today though to tell you about a couple of things that have made me laugh this week. Of course I know one of the things will be lost on those of you who don't support Aston Villa, but the other is more general. I am sure the immature side of you will find it funny.

So let me get the Aston Villa one out of the way. As you may know Gabriel Agbonlahor is a striker for Villa and he played in the charity game for Stiliyan Petrov at Celtic park the other day. In that match Louis Tomlinson from the boy band One Direction played. Gabby made a tackle on Louis which left him on the floor injured and Louis was later sick on the sidelines. This tackle has created a large amount of 'Directioners' to make their way to twitter and give Gabby death threats and abuse, which is totally out of order of course because in football these things happen.
 Anyway getting to the point, due to this happening the Villa fans have come up with a new song to sing at the matches to Gabby. The reason I found this so funny is because I am not a particular fan of One Direction, although my girlfriend and best mate (who is a boy) are crazy about the band. The song goes as follows in the tune of One Directions song 'Live While We're Young'.

Let's go crazy crazy crazy for Agbonlahor.
He snapped that little faggot, left him on the floor.
No one really cares if Gabby got the ball.
Tonight pray Gabby, get's the other four. 

I do think you have to be a Villa fan to fully appreciate this, but for anyone who does not particularly like One Direction it is bound to put a smile on your face. I truly hope that we sing this during the home match at the weekend against Newcastle.


Moving on. The second thing that made me laugh this week was last night at the pub quiz.
Of course choosing your team name is a key part of the pub quiz experience and last night we went for 'We are only here for the alcohol', which I must admit is fairly unoriginal and we got described by the bloke running the quiz as posh which bemused me. Anyway one of the teams taking part were called 'Quiz in my pants' which of course had me in hysterics for at least a round in the quiz. It was the way the quiz master said it in the most dull and uninteresting voice that made it even more funny. You have to admit that it put our name to shame. It has to be by far the greatest quiz name I have ever heard in my life and one I wish I could have come up with myself.

Anyway that is all for now and I will be back soon with another blog.

Cya soon,

Alex :D

Blog 31! I'm all alone with no one here beside me!

Hi all,

So since my last blog a lot has changed for me and it has only been a couple of weeks since my last proper update.

As you know I am going to university at Nottingham Trent on the 20th September, so a lot more is going to change. But on Saturday my girlfriend, Kitty, went to university at Leeds Met which is a long way from Lichfield and a 2 hour train journey from Nottingham. As a result I will be seeing her a lot less and that has really hit me this week. Of course it's an exciting time for us both as we meet new people and have new experiences, but of course I am missing her as I am so used to having her around.
 What makes this worse, is that this week I am alone as my mother has jet off to sunny spain for the week leaving me to survive on my own with nothing to do other than go to the gym and work. I know I have terrible parents! One benefit to Kitty going to university this week is I have only put £10 in my car as I know I won't be using lots of petrol running her around, so at least I will be saving money in my misery.

So as you can probably gather, I am fairly fed up and in need of things to do to make this week pass. I have to admit, I have not been so low in a while and I am dying for things to do to cheer me up. On the bright side once friday comes along I've got a good Saturday as I am going to watch Villa play Newcastle at Villa Park. I am also going out in Lichfield with my friends for the final time before I go up to Nottingham. However Saturday seems a long time away at this moment in time and I am lost for things to do.

Enough of my moaning, last thursday I went to optical express to get my eyes tested. There was me thinking "I have 20/20 vision", only to be told I needed glasses. This was a shock for me and whilst I sit here writing this blog my glasses are resting on my nose giving me an itch. The optician informed me that I should be happy to need glasses because they are seen as a fashion accessory these days. I did not like wearing them for the first couple of days, but over the last few days they have grown on me and I don't mind them. I have to admit I look rather sophisticated when wearing them and I could be mistaken for someone who is clever, although I am far from it.

So that's my big news... I HAVE GLASSES! I know, not exactly the excitement of the century, but with the excitement of summer practically over, I'm afraid this is what I must resort to. I can't really complain, I have had a jam packed summer with a trip to spain with Kitty, a trip to Florida, an overnight stay in Hull and a weekend at V festival; you could almost call me greedy. So really I have little excuse to moan but who doesn't like the odd moan?

I also had my second article published on avillafan.com this week and if you are a Aston Villa fan or a football fan in general I would recommend having a look at the website, especially the forums as they talk about anything football related and we welcome fans of any club (even Birmingham fans, just about) from all over the world.

All in all things are going well for me in the Journalism department and I am still as keen and eager to work in this area as ever.

For any of you reading and going to University this September, drop me a tweet @alexblakemore1 and let me know where you are going, what you are studying and what you are looking forward to most. Of course freshers week is likely to be at the top of most of our lists as it's the most exciting part of going to university, along with meeting new people and of course in most cases living away from home.

So finally I am sitting here asking myself what I could do with a week of loneliness..... The obvious answer would be to be practical, like washing my car, painting the front door again, mow the lawns or clear my wardrobe. But it is likely as with most teenagers that I will spend my week in sweats, starting at a TV and listening to music whilst scratching my balls (A man thing) and drinking excessive amounts of coke and over indulging in food. I am aiming to go to the gym a lot to make the time pass. So overall this week is going to be long and I am going to try to hardest to come up with things to do.

Now it's time for song of the week and this week it has to be You me at six, with there new single, Lived A Lie! It's been my most played song over the last week so here it is.

I hope you have enjoyed my moan on today's blog and I will be back soon.

Cya Alex :)

My new glasses! Don't I look cool 

Song of the week

Blog 30! True teen trailer!

Hi everyone,

Just a quick blog this week to show you a trailer that I created for my A-level media. I have been planning on posting it for a while to show you all but I have been unable to until the results were finalised. I am now free to show it you and I hope you enjoy it.

Click the link below to watch the trailer :)

http://youtu.be/G3m4XT5CJ3g

Also don't forget to log onto www.avillafan.com on sunday to read my second article.

Thanks and I will be back soon

Alex :D

Blog 29! Kick ass 2 movie review!

Hi guys,

It's movie review time. Youtube were being very irritating with their rules about third party content so instead of a nice trailer of Kick ass 2 whilst I am talking, you have a really boring load of pictures. I hope the speaking and information in the review makes up for it.

I hope you enjoy it and give me some feedback @alexblakemore1 on twitter.

follow the link below to watch the review:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7Q5KloMKNU&feature=youtu.be

One final thing to tell you about, I am writing my first article on www.avillafan.com on sunday so give it a read even if you are not a Aston Villa F.C to support me.

Thanks guys,

cya all soon

Alex :D

Blog 28! Video blog 4!

Hi guys,

A new video blog for you, ready to be viewed. Hope you enjoy it and I will be back soon.

Just follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_NIr587OjI&feature=youtu.be

Cya Alex :)

Blog 27! Just a quick one!

Hi everyone,

I have not blogged for a while as my schedule has been fairly busy, but I have to write a quick good luck to everyone receiving their A-Level results tomorrow.

I hope you all do well and you are able to move onto the next step in your lives.
Even if you don't get the results you are hoping for, don't panic we have youth on our side and we still have time to do something about it. I will be as nervous as every teenager tomorrow but I am sure that whatever happens everything will be okay in the long run.

Best of luck

 I will be back soon

 Adios

Alex :D

Blog 26! The lows of ageing!

Hi guys,

I am writing from exactly 34000 feet above sea level on a Virgin Atlantic flight from Manchester Airport to Orlando Airport in the USA! Yes I am greedy with holidays this year, having only got back from Spain a week and 2 days ago. This time the journey is a little longer; I am currently 4 hours and 35 minutes away from landing in Orlando so I thought I would update you with a blog!

 The main thing I want to talk to you about today is how someone changes through ageing. You might be thinking, Alex? Everyone ages so that’s a random topic to be speaking about. But if you had lived with my Dad over the last few weeks you would agree it was a worthy topic to be talking about.

My father is to say the least getting older, I won’t go into much detail about his age, as I know he will probably read this and kill me if I wrote his age. So to protect myself from a holiday with a grumpy father I will sway from breaking his age over the Internet. Let’s just say that he is getting to the stage in his life (Nearly 50) when physically you change, with wrinkles and the odd grey hair. However my dad has not changed much physically over the last couple of weeks, but his mind is starting to change.

There was once a time when my dad had a lifestyle where he managed to stay up past 9pm at night, without falling asleep on the sofa. Now I can live with this, as I understand he has a busy day during the week and as a result he is bound to be tired. But lately my dad has made some purchases in the fashion department that are very out of character. I would be the first to admit that my dad had good fashion sense up until these last few weeks, but I would be the last to agree with that statement now. He has always been one to buy designer brands such as Paul Smith, Ted Baker, Ralph Lauren etc. But although this has not changed the quality of purchases have. It all started with a pair of denim shorts purchased off the Internet.

 As a family we take a keen interest in each other’s appearance and we do not lie when asked if something looks good. When my dad asked my mum whether his new ‘trendy’ denim shorts looked good my mum replied “no”. So before I got home these new denim shorts had been rejected from the Blakemore household and were on their way back to the supplier. Of course my mum was the first to tell me about them and we had our fun giggling about how ridiculous he looked in them.

  After rejection of one item of clothing, I did not question his fashion sense, as we all make a mistake once in a while but when a delivery arrived earlier this week it was clear that something had to be done.

 Within the package there was a pair of Ralph Lauren, Bright orange (The exact shade used in orange highlighter pens) shorts with little rips in like a pair of jeans a 14-year-old girl would wear. Now of course being the honest family we are, he was informed of how silly they looked, but instead of listening to us he decided to keep them. For the rest of the week he has worn them every evening after work and they are now on the flight with us to Orlando. On the bright side (No pun intended) nobody in America knows who we are so we can avoid the utter most embarrassment of his shorts.

That is not all. He has also purchased a hat to use whilst we are on the boat in America. It is a large hat and makes him look like he should be wrestling crocodiles in Australia. All it is missing is a few wine corks attached via string to be the complete package.

Due to him not allowing me to take a picture of these items of clothing I have tried to describe them the best I can, and I hope you have been able to appreciate the true horror of his decline in fashion sense. The main culprit for this change is age in my opinion and that is why I had to talk to you about the changes in someone via age.

That’s all for now, and I will be back soon with another blog from Orlando America. Have a great few days and I’ll speak to you soon.

 Thanks for reading

Cya,

Alex J

Blog 25! Podcast 6! Holiday blues!

Hi guys,

 My first podcast in a while, Blogger has stopped allowing podcasts to be published onto the site, so it is on youtube, just follow the link below and it will take you straight to it. Hope you enjoy and ill speak to you all soon.

http://youtu.be/NgSMACunVg8

cya Alex

Blog 24! Who needs roast dinners when you can have kebabs!

Hi all! 

Hope you are all well, I am still in sunny Spain enjoying the weather, food and drink. I've finally managed to get my hands on mint leaves so I can make cocktails and as a result I think I may have to have a day off alcohol soon as I've been over indulging. 

 Yesterday I played mini golf in the centre of town and although the sun was making it difficult to play, I still managed to beat kitty due to her making a poor 28 shots on hole 8. We have also been playing pool in the bars down at the Cala d'or marina and I am currently winning 3-0 in the holiday championships. In all fairness kitty has never played before and she is improving each time we play. 

 We ate out at a restaurant overlooking the Marina yesterday which was very posh and romantic, I had onion soup with cheesy toast on top for starter and a mixed kebab with vegetables and 5 chips (A small serving that really seemed pointless on the plate) for main. It was lovely to eat out and enjoy the sea views, as the large boats were making their way back into the marina after a day at sea. 

The weather here today is beautiful so we have made the most of it sunbathing and relaxing, with a trip to the marina this afternoon. We are having a BBQ tonight which will be nice, and for once I will feel like a true man cooking meat on the BBQ whilst kitty does all the hard parts like the potatoes and salad to go with it. The drinks will be flowing I am sure tonight but you need to over indulge whilst your on holiday, I am sure you'll agree.

 I have heard the weather in England is terrible so it makes being out here all the more enjoyable. I am off now to sit in the sun again and listen to some music. I hope you are all enjoying your afternoons this Wednesday and ill be back soon with another opinion counts blog! There is no song of the week this week as I am away, so if you have a song which is standing out and sticking with you this week feel free to share it with me either via the comment box or tweet @alexblakemore1

Thanks again for reading and I hope you enjoyed! 

Cya Alex 

Blog 23! Sun, drink, food and abnormal tanning!

Hi all,

Opinion counts is coming to you from sunny Mallorca! I am sitting here on my brothers iPad which he allowed me to borrow (thank you) in order for me to blog whilst I was away. I have been here for less than 24 hours with Kitty (my boring girlfriend) and I must start with this very annoying occurrence.

 We decided as it was our first day away we would spend it in the sun, so as you do we have sat on a sun lounger in the basking heat for little over 3 hours so far. Kitty has an annoying habit of tanning very easy, (I think it is down to her bright fluorescent orange bikini) and as a result she is extremely brown head to shin from as little as 3 hours of sunbathing! Of course I have not heard the end of this with her boasting "I can't believe how brown I am". On the other hand I have brown arms but apart from that I'm as white as snow. You may be thinking my description of kitty's tan is peculiar as she is only tanned to her shins. He legs below the shin do not seem to be playing along with the rest of her body and therefore she does look slightly silly. However I am sure this is an issue a few days of sunbathing will sort out. This evening we are down to the marina for a meal and a few drinks before going exploring tomorrow when we have rested up a bit. 

Our journey here was kitty's first plane journey ever, and she was nervous but she survived, even though I was certain on making her think before the flight we were likely to crash. I will leave you with a little story of our trip to the supermarket today. In order to make cocktails whilst we are here I tried to get some mint leaves. We could not find them so tried to use my little Spanish and hand gestures I knew to ask. This did not go down well and the man had no idea what I was on about. I resulted in getting a toothpaste bottle with a picture of mint leaves on and pointing to them. Still it had little effect so our quest goes on to find them. 

Finally because I am here with kitty I am allowing her to have a short paragraph in my blog, to say a little something to you guys whilst she is away. She's very appreciative of this staring role and I have high expectations. Sorry if she is boring! Here she goes! 

Kitty - unlike Alex I won't bore you with too much of what I've done today. The best part of today has to be my amazing tan!! Alex is very jealous but has too much of an ego to admit it. My first plane journey ever wasn't as scary as I had thought, luckily for me :). Short and sweet and I know you'll all be thinking its far better than Alex could ever have written :p. 

That's all for now be back soon and I hope your enjoying being at home! 

Cya Alex :) 

Blog 22! Man of steel video review!

I have been waiting to see this movie for a while, and I finally saw it the other day! Here is my review, just click the link below. I hope you are all well and you enjoy it.

 Cya soon

 Alex

http://youtu.be/3Kck1HabGvQ 

Blog 21! SUMMER!

IM BACK!

Yes the much anticipated return of opinion counts is finally here, after many weeks of absence due to A-level examinations. Now, I know you are all sitting here reading this with a similar feeling to when your favourite series on television has just returned... sheer excitement and pleasure. This is just like a new series, with a similar concept but new content. HURRAY I hear you scream, Blogs, Podcasts and Live shows are all back! Along with In other news, Picture of the week, Song of the week and much more. So without further a due lets get started with the unbelievably anticipated (slight exaggeration) OPINION COUNTS - SERIES 2. 

 As you are all aware I have just finished my A-level examinations, and to get the boring exam talk out of the way I thought I'd start with this. You will be pleased to hear that my examinations went well in the most part with only a few moments of mind numbing, head scratching blankness. I am making sure that I keep my mind distanced from the results of my exams in order not to worry and just enjoy my summer. For any of you that took your A-level examinations or any other examinations during the last month or so, I hope they went well for you and you get the results you all hope for.

Anyway to more interesting news, since my examinations have finished I've been enjoying the relaxing side of life, having lie in's every day, listening to music, watching films, going to the gym and going to work (If you can call that relaxing..). A particular highlight has been the option to see my friends whenever I want. On the evening I finished, 6 of us went to the pub for a meal and a catch up which was nice due to the fact we had seen little of each other for the last month or so. Yesterday (Saturday), I got the train into Birmingham with my Girlfriend to go holiday shopping. We are going on holiday together on Saturday to Mallorca for 12 days, I can't wait for the lovely weather and beaches and booze. It will be a test though as I've never had to put up with her for any longer than a few days, so 12 days could be a struggle! I'll let you know how I'm getting on whilst I'm over there via Opinion counts abroad! WHAT..... your mouths wide open with shock, YES opinion counts is coming to you from sunny Spain.  

Back to the topic in hand of shopping in Birmingham. As men we know, shopping with Women can be a nightmare, however Kitty has a very Male way of shopping that goes as follows:

• Walk into a shop.
• Keep a consistant pace whilst looking at the items and only stop when something takes your fancy. 
• Pick the things you want and leave. 
• If there is nothing of interest keep the constant pace and leave within the shortest amount of time possible. 

Now I may be being stereotypical but from my experience with shopping with other women mostly my mum shopping usually goes as follows:

• Walk into a shop
• Stop at almost every item in store and comment on it "Why would anyone wear that it looks like a bin bag", "I used to have one of those back in the 80's" , "I like this but it just isn't me".
• Grab around 15 items and try them on, even though they are only buying a few things.
• Man finds the nearest seat.
• Women comes out of changing room "What do you think, does it make my ass look big"
• Man replies "You look lovely" of course 90% of the time this is a lie. 
• Women comes out of shop empty handed. 

 So as you can probably tell I'm quite lucky to have a girlfriend that shops like man, making my shopping experience much more enjoyable. 

 I also went into Hollister to buy a few things. They had a sale on which made me whip out my card and spend more than I anticipated. Whilst I was in there I realised that everybody who worked there was attractive. I came to the conclusion that Hollister's Job description was as follows:

"We are looking for a hard working, good looking individual who can work in a team of other good looking individuals. They must also be able to fit into all Hollister clothes and be sociable and helpful to customers and other employees alike. Finally it is essential that they like Carrots in order to work in almost pitch black conditions. Ear plugs are given out to successful applicants to insure they do not get damage to their ears due to the extremely and unnecessarily loud music"

I don't think I'd be able to get a job there, as I don't like carrots ;)

 Moving on, Tonight (Sunday) I am off to see Man of Steel, which I have been excited to see for a while and tomorrow I am in work. I have my leavers prom on Tuesday night, which should be good as it will be the last time we are all together before we go to university. Apart from this my week will consist of chilling and going to the gym before I jet off to Mallorca on Saturday. 

Now you know what I've been up to lets move on to 'IN OTHER NEWS'

1. Andrea Begley won the Voice UK last night. Many people believed that it was a sympathy vote because she is partially sighted, but I do believe that she had the best voice in the competition. The show aims to focus truly on the voice of contestants and as a result although she may not have the 'pop star' attributes, she was a worthy winner. Read the story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23017112

      2. Wimbledon starts tomorrow, which means that my eyes will be glued to the T.V. Andy Murray the British number one, aims to keep his cool during the competition. He is well known for his tantrums during matches, hitting rackets and talking to himself. Lets hope he can keep his cool and win the tournament this year. I'll be cheering him on from Lichfield. Read the story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/23011187

     That's all for 'In other news' this week. That's all from me for now, I'll leave you with Song of the week, which is by Imagine Dragons and it's called radioactive. I have not been able to get it out of my head for the last couple of weeks so I am sure you will all love it. 

  Opinion counts will be back soon, so until then have a fantastic week and I hope you enjoyed blog 21. 

  Thanks for reading

  Alex :)   

Opinions/comments: @alexblakemore1 on twitter!

      SONG OF THE WEEK

Opinion counts trailer

Hey all,

 I've made a little trailer for the return of opinion counts at the end of this month. It took a break whilst I was doing my A-level exams but it's coming back strong! So have a watch of the trailer and get excited for it's return.

 Thank you all for your support

 Alex Blakemore :)

http://youtu.be/H69rSML4hFU

Blog 20! Lichfield Mercury!

Hi all,

Just a quick blog to let you know that this week, I have had my first ever article published in the Lichfield Mercury (Local paper). I am extremely proud of this article.

 If you do not live in the area and you would like to have a read, the online edition is at this address, just click the link below! enjoy!

http://www.lichfieldpeople.co.uk/Lichfield-ndash-seen-teenager-s-point-view/story-18609146-detail/story.html

Thanks, cya all soon!

Alex

Blog 19! Announcement!

Hi all,


 I hope you are all well, and you have had a lovely easter.

 Just a quick one today to let you know something that is starting this week.....

Opinion counts has gone from written blogs, to podcasts, to video blogs and it is now going 100%................ LIVE.

Yes that's right, I will be streaming live to you this Wednesday (3rd April) from the link below, all you need to do is follow the link and it will take you straight to the live stream. I will begin the show at 9pm and I hope that you all have the time to tune in. I will also be looking at my twitter page for comments off you guys, some of which I will hopefully read out during the show.

I am looking forward to this, and of course I am nervous as it's very new to me and I want to create a good show for you guys to listen to and watch.

I hope to see you all there watching my first ever opinion counts live blog.

See you all wednesday!

That's all for now Alex :D

Link:  http://www.livestream.com/opinioncounts

Blog 18! Video 2!

Hi guys, my second video blog ..... hope you enjoy! Ill be back soon!

Opinion/comments: alexblakemore1

Click the link below to view:

http://youtu.be/hGdSLVRwvJw

Blog 17! Video 1!

HI GUYS,

It's what you've all been waiting for.... a video at last! Sorry if my face scares you off! It's not the best as I am trying to find my feet in front of the camera. Hope you enjoy!

Click the link below to view my video :) :

  http://youtu.be/5Zl-wpW_uts

Blog 16! Podcast 5! Mothers day!

Hi guys, New podcast up for you, hope you enjoy. Ill be back soon cya Alex

Blog 15! Busy old week.

Hi all,

Sorry I have not been blogging much over the last couple of weeks, my life has been very busy.

Most teenagers have a busy life, although many of our parents don't agree... "Do the washing up, I've been in work all day"... well I went to school, gym and have done 2 hours of homework, so I have not been sitting on my arse all day. I feel some parents, especially mine (I'm dead if they are reading this), believe that we all just sit on our arse watching, Come Dine With Me and Sky Sports News all day.

Last week I made my way up to Nottingham Trent University and I was suprised at how good the Journalism course was there, for anybody looking to apply to university next year to study Journalism I would strongly recommend looking at Nottingham Trent. It is in the top 10 courses in the UK for Journalism and the interview process was lots of fun. It involved creating a news bulletin for a radio station which is right down my street, as you know from my podcasts. The uni itself was right in the city centre which would suit me perfectly, due to a buzzing fast paced life style and great transport links.

I am back at sixth form this morning and it's a sad feeling to walk back into a school environment when you have seen what you could be experiencing at university in september. On the way to first lesson I was walking behind some year 8's pushing and shoving each other and I thought.. for god sake can you just walk in a straight line without causing havoc. Yes, I am turning into an old man at the young age of 17, but after 7 years of walking the same corridors and seeing the same immature children, I think I am entitled to a little moan.

It was half term last week so I decided I would try and focus a bit more on Journalism activities (excluding my blog, apologies), so at the beginning of the week I approached my Local paper (The Lichfield Mercury) about the possibility of writing an article for them in the coming weeks. I proposed the idea of writing an article from a teenagers point of view, as many teenagers lack a voice in the media. After chasing the proposal up, a few days later I managed to secure the article. Over the week I have been planning it and I will be out on the streets of Lichfield reporting this Saturday.

Today following two interviews for Salford University and Nottingham Trent University, I have been offered places at both university's to study Journalism. I now have the difficult decision of choosing my first and second choice as both university's offer great opportunities. I'll let you know my decision when I come to one.

Of course my half term was not all full of interviews and work, I managed to travel over to see my Grandparents in Derby. It was lovely to see them as it had been a while. Some of the stories my Nan and Grandad tell me are hilarious. I was sitting there drinking coke, whilst my Grandparents were recounting stories about their old dog Trudy. She was a Labrador who had the mind and attitude of a mischievous child. One of the tales they told me, made me have a right giggle, so I thought I would share it with you.

Every Christmas my Grandparents put chocolate onto the Christmas tree as decoration. One year they went out for the day and when they came back the Christmas tree was bare. All the Chocolate was gone, but there were no wrappers. Surely the dog couldn't of ate all of that Chocolate and the wrappers?
The disappearance of the chocolate was a mystery for a few days, however my Grandad started to see Trudy munching on pieces of chocolate from time to time. Every couple of days he would see the dog eating chocolate on the rug and it suddenly clicked that she had the chocolate off the tree. However they still could not understand how she had got all the treats and saved them. The whole family searched the house and in the strangest places found these wrappers and bits of chocolate. Whilst they had been out, Trudy had collected all the treats of the tree and hid them around the house, to save for when she fancied like giving herself a treat. A true thief in my opinion.


Anyway enough of my blabbing and we will move on to What's in the news.

England's public health minister wants to ban smoking in cars with children.
Smoking is always a popular topic in the media spotlight. England's public health minister has spoken out today about the need for the ban of smoking in cars carrying children. Now although I agree that smoking is a terrible habit that we should urge everybody to stop, in my opinion there is a clear fault with this story. The government are looking at the story from a health viewpoint. However it is clear to me that smoking whilst driving is of a similar danger to talking on the phone whilst driving, which was banned a few years back. Smoking whilst driving in the car is certainly likely to affect children's health, but if you think about it, smoking whilst driving can cause an added danger to not only children but many travellers. If the government is going to look at banning smoking whilst driving at all, it is obvious in my opinion that they should ban it full stop whilst driving. Doing half a job is not going to solve anything. 
Say a driver has a child in their car and therefore they are not smoking. A driver in another car is smoking as they have no children in their car, suddenly they drop the cigarette and go to pick it up, taking their eye of the road. They crash into the car with the child, and the child is injured. Stopping the driver with the child in toe from smoking has made no difference at all. 

 The over riding conclusion to this story is the proposed ban is fundamentally flawed and in my opinion in order for this to be a success, smoking whilst driving or as a passenger in a car needs to be banned full stop. 

Song of the week 

Thrift shop by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

That's all from me this week, hope you have enjoyed the read. Ill be back soon with a podcast or blog soon, let me know in the comments below or on twitter which you would prefer to see from me. 

Thanks again for reading :)

Cya Alex

Opinions / Comments: @alexblakemore1    #opinioncounts

Blog 14! Inspired!

Hi all,

As you probably know I want to be a journalist when I am older, well yesterday I travelled to Salford for an interview at Salford University for the Journalism course. I arrived at Media City UK and for the whole day I just had one thought in my head "I don't want to leave". The thought of going back to Sixth Form on Tuesday, instead of waking up and jumping out of bed at UNI studying Journalism is a heart dropping thought.
 However the trip to Salford reminded me of my passion, desire and drive to become a Journalist. Of course this is a good thing as it will make me focused with my A-levels to achieve my grades and it will also give me the drive to do whatever I can to make my dream happen. Opposite to this is the gutting feeling of having to wait until September before I can posssibly start a Journalism course and reach for my dream career. Just walking around Media City UK is overwhelming, to be so close to the ITV and BBC (I even saw the Tardis!), for someone who is so passionate about Print and Broadcast areas of the media it becomes a dream world.

This week has flown by (not such a bad thing) and with half term fast approaching I am looking forward to the break. I have around 12 weeks left at school before I break up on study leave and although this is a daunting prospect, I feel I am now ready to leave my comfort zone and find new experiences outside my Lichfield bubble. I have started up a six a side football team with a few of my mates, our first 2 games have not gone to plan with 2-0 losses on both occasions, but I like to be positive and think about my team Aston Villa and then I don't feel so bad about ours.
 In the coming week I have plenty to keep myself occupied. A trip to Nottingham Trent on Wednesday for another university interview and then a busy week of photo shoots and recording, in order to make the finishing touches to my Teenager Representations website and advert.
 Its already February 9th, which gives me the feeling that this year is going to disappear just like 2012, and I have no worries about this, as 2013 is a very exciting year for me and all 17-18 year olds around the globe. Its the year that we move away from the norm and venture into the big wide world.

 As you can tell, I've had a very thought provoking week and I feel like the future looks bright, feel free to be jealous of my amazing life.

In other news

What are the odds?

Horse meat has been found in another food product sold in supermarkets. A lasagne that claimed to be 100% Beef had 100% Horse meat, a figure that made many consumers full into a coma, however don't be alarmed they are said to be in a stable condition. (Could not help myself) 

 This shocking discovering has joined the Horse meat found in other food produce, leaving Aldi, Tesco and Burger King under scrutiny. "Tougher testing of beef products will have to be carried out by retailers due to the widespread contamination" announced the Environment secretary, Own Paterson.

Stafford loses patients!

Stafford Hospital has also been in the media spotlight again this week, the NHS chief declared that he "Understands the anger over Stafford Hospital", however he is still not willing to step down which has caused anger throughout the country. The NHS has been driven to meet targets rather than focusing on patients at the centre of it's services. The hospital itself has seen a 67% drop in patients opting to be treated at Stafford as a result of the Scandal. 

   Song of the week

Thats all from me this week, Ill be back soon. Hope you enjoyed and have a fantastic week. 

Cya Alex :) 

 Opinions / Comments: @alexblakemore1 

Blog 13! BUZZ RADIO!

Hi guys, Hope you are all well, no podcast or blog this week, just a little something me and my mate made for media. We were exploring the representation of Teenagers in the media. It's a jokey radio station, however all of the information is factual and relevant. Hope you have a great week and I will be back next week with another Blog! Enjoy BUZZ RADIO ;) HAVE A BUZZING DAY ALEX :D

Blog 12! Podcast 4! Snow Snow.. Wait.. MORE SNOW!

Hi Guys, Got another podcast here for you, hope you enjoy it and you have a fabulous week. Hope you have all had fun and games in the snow and it has not caused you to many problems. Cya next week, Alex :D

Blog 11! Podcast 3! Exams!

Hi all, This is podcast 3 I hope you enjoy! Ill be back next week have a good week :) Cya Alex

Blog 10! New year!

Hi all,

  This is my first blog of 2013 so I hope it is a good one. For my last two blogs I have published podcasts, I am having so much fun creating these and I can see from my view counts that you all seem to be enjoying them. If there is anything you would like me to put in my blogs then make some suggesting by writing to me on twitter.  Of course I will be creating more of these over the coming months, but I still want to make sure that I am blogging as well in order to keep my passion for writing at the forefront of my blog.

I hope you all had a fabulous new year and you didn't get too drunk. My new year consisted of working in the morning and then going to a friends house in the evening to see in the new year. The evening was a really good laugh and I managed to catch up with a few people I have not seen in a long time, which as you will all agree makes the night that little more special. Now we are truly into the new year, the relaxation has come to a halt and I find myself back to my routine of working hard at school trying to get the best A-levels I can. January is a busy month for me, this coming tuesday I am sitting my BS3 Business Studies exam and the week after I am sitting my BS2 re-sit exam for Business. As a result I am currently in full revision mode, having done 3 hours already today with more to come later. However as I began to her my brain sizzle from the amount of knowledge overloading it, I decided it was truly fried and I should take a break and update you guys. To break up the boring revision and Business studies focused life I am currently leading, I have starting to film and edit my advert for the 'Representation of teenagers in the media' linked product I am creating for my Media Studies A-level. This has been great fun to film (Although filming in the pouring rain in a tank top, holding a litter picker in the middle of a park, was not a highlight of my week) and I can not wait to get the finished product and be able to show you all when I am able to publish it in the summer after it has all been marked.

 Next Friday I have my first interview for University. I am making my way up to Salford University with my Father to participate in a one to one interview and watch a powerpoint presentation. The day finishes with a short test which will be news related (as Journalism is the course I have applied for) and therefore I spend my evenings reading the newspaper to brush up on my general news knowledge.

One thing this week that has come to my attention is why Apple have stopped putting iWeb onto Macbook's. OK, it may not be a program that everyone uses but it was a key thing that I liked to use to create websites for my Media Studies coursework. I am also sure that many other people find it a useful program to have on their computers. In order to get my hands on the program I am having to invest in iLife 09 which comes with programs such as iMovie, Garageband etc... Although this is a great program for people to buy if they have older versions of these programs, my Mac came with the latest versions of all of these. So therefore I am spending £32 in order to use iWeb when all the other applications are lesser versions to the ones I already have. To me this seems like a way to make more money, and if they were to think about the consumers, Apple would either pre-install iWeb on Macbook's or sell iWeb as a separate product for download for a reasonable price.

IN OTHER NEWS

• Aston Villa lost 3-1 to Bradford City last night in the Capital One cup semi-final. As a Villa fan myself I could rant about this all day but as I bored you with my problems with Villa last week, I have decided I would keep this one short. 
• I read in the 'i' Newspaper today, within the opinions matrix the story that Piers Morgan is getting lots of abuse off Americans as he is campaigning for a gun law to be introduced to ban firearms in America. The point they are making is that within the American constitution, the first amendment states that every American is allowed to have a firearm if they wish. They believe that as Piers Moran is going against this amendment then he should be deported. The irony of this is that the second amendment of the American constitution states that everyone should be allowed freedom of speech. So surly he should be allowed to campaign for this law? Of course I agree with him supporting the law as firearms should not be given to people who do not know how to use them for the right reasons and are putting other people in danger because of this. However I do find it quite amusing that he is getting so much abuse of Americans as I find him to be irritating and only wanting fame. To conclude my opinion on Piers Morgan he is represented as complete arse and therefore Americans keep at your ranting. 
• HOT OFF THE PRESS - Jessops has gone into administration today putting 2000 jobs at risk. This is not surprising as the economic climate is making it difficult for many companies to survive. Firms like Jessops, who in my opinion concentrate on selling products that are now easier to access online such as Buying cameras etc are more at risk. Also who develops pictures these days don't we mostly publish them on Facebook. 

   PICTURE OF THE WEEK

Picture of the week makes a return this week and its a good one to start off 2013.

SONG OF THE WEEK 

This song has been in my head all week, and has been the song most played on my iTunes all week. 

That is all for this week, I hope that you enjoyed this blog and I will be back next week. Have a great week and don't forget to keep your eyes peeled for my next blog. 

  Cya,

       Alex :D

   Opinions / Comments: @alexblakemore1