A Letter To my NaNoWriMo Characters.

Dear characters of my nanowrimo novel,

argh...Why didn't I think of that sooner?

OK, I did think of it sooner, but I didn't notice it and it was right in front of me. This idea that I wrote in Chapter five is going to be able to sustain the entire story while linking up all the other plot arcs. It was right there.

Jason, Hows the arm? Don't worry, I love you. You are no longer just a side story, You are now a main character, and don’t worry, I’ll make sure you childhood friend stays alive.

Lucan, there is no way in hell that I'm going to break up your relationship with Jason. In fact this book will make your love even stronger. You may have been a side plot, but you are so important you are going into the main story.

Cassy, you were the reason I was basing my head against metaphorical wall, I'm not going to write your plot any-more. Unfortunately you already exist in chapters two through four, so I can't kill you without reason, from now on you are just an extra who need to fill a seat. You were meant to be the Katniss or the Herminone of the story. Instead you are some dumb Texan who keeps getting in my way.

Terrance, I really don't know what to do with you. Maybe your story will come about later on.

William, or Wolfram if you say so. I do feel sorry for you, I may have killed your parents, made you grow up on the streets, ruined your relationship with Tamsyn and turned your best friend into a mindless killer who turned on his own brother but please do remember that I am feeling sorry for you. Wolfy, although you need to move on, I'll let you curl up and cry in your bed for a while, you've been strong for far far too long.

Tamsyn, You are tap dancing on the line between good and evil, you do realise that people who read this are going to hate you and I hate your parents. I am going to have so much fun for you

Sam, erm...sorry mate.

Lewis, How are you keeping? You seem to be in a coma right now. The story is somewhat centred around you, so we kinda need you, so if you could wake up just at the start of act two, that would be great. Also when you do come back, could you stop being so nostalgic, that would be a great help.

I hope you are all having nice evening

Yours with love,

Tom.

My First NaNoWriMo Experience.

As the title suggests, this post is going to be thrown mercilessly at your face.

A few days ago, I made the rather wonderful decision to get of my abnormally large rear-end and meet up other with writers who are doing NaNoWriMo. I am so god-dam glad that I did, what was meant to be a one hour kick-off party turned in to a five hour meshing of minds, memories, travels and intelligence (I brought what little of the mind I had, but you can forget about the other three.)

It was clear that I am the baby of the group.

The writers that I met had so many stories to tell, and far too many to list here, there was someone who studied biology but then went to work for a chain of comic stores and an American archaeologist who travels, stories and world knowledge leave me jealous.

We talked about everything and anything, from our particular fandoms to politics and how politics in America is like a group of four year old's who don't know how to behave.

What surprised me is how far to the left our Conservative party is compared to The Republicans. In fact over in America our conservatives are closer in line to The Democrats. On that bases, our liberals are almost considered radical. 

One thing I did know and what was confirmed is that there is no middle ground in American politics, you are ether a democrat or a republican. I also learned that more and more people are choosing to vote for an independent representative.

I asked if one of our governments could move to an independent model? Sadly in today's world, it would come down to government by Murdoch, only those with the personality (and quite a lot of cash) would be able to get the main votes, it wouldn't even matter what there policies are. 

An example of this is Ancient Greece, imagine only the rich men at the head of the household making all of the decisions. It wouldn't matter who had the ideals to change the world and do good for other people, they don't have the money to pull in the crowds, no one is going to hear them shout.

Personally, I would love to see an election race between two or more independent candidates in which money is not involved, all that matters is the polices, and how they are going to serve the American people. 

Sadly, as a species, it seems like we are not ready for something so advance, we need flashing lights and Neil Patrick Harris type performance.

So it seem that the best we can hope for is that both our governments can work the way they were intended, on compromise. A wonderful example of this is the recent Syrian crises, both Cameron and Obama wanted to charge in there and the bomb the living daylight out of the Syrian people, but it was clear that most of us in America and Britain did not want anyone to go into yet another war.

Both Cameron and Obama knew that if they if they did to to war, they would have a one hell of a time trying to keep us all calm, I think we could all see that if we marched into Syria, Russia and China will go to defend their allies in the region and we could potently have world war three on our hands.

Thus it was put to a vote, over here in Britain we were the first to say no, clearly this pissed off Mitt Romney who later passed a remark saying that France was a better alloy then Britain. I think everyone laughed at that.

America had a vote too and unsurprisingly, they also said no. 

During that situation, our governments actually did their jobs, they represented the wants, needs and wishes of their people. I may hate Cameron and the conservatives but I will respect him for putting the decision forward to vote and possibly in effect persuading Obama to do the same.   

If your interested, in the last election I voted for the liberal democrats, next time around I am very likely to vote for Labour, even if I do think that Ed Miliband is a spineless twat.

You know something, NaNoWriMo is not about the novel (I'm still going to write the bloody thing,) it's about the people you meet, the lesson you learn and the stories you share. It is the people who get together under the common banner of a love writing that help make NaNoWriMo so special.

I sincerely hope I don't mess things up and that friends I make over the next month or so will hang around for a little while afterwards

Let's Talk About Lifts And Bouncing

Last Wednesday, I had to go shopping in Sainsbury's

The contents of what I brought are irrelevant but it was enough for four bags. (I can tell that you're really interested in this post.)

The Sainsbury that I often go to is a relatively new one, it has it's own muti-story car park and there is a cinema right next door. I parked on the top floor which meant that on the way down I could take the leaning travelator down to the shop floor.

I am unaware of how travelator's work in other countries, but over in England, where the sun is always shining, we have a voice that speaks to us when near the end. The voice Sainsbury's have installed is one of a 40-something year old dominatrix who tells us to 'push' our trollies off the walkway.

Unfortunately on the way back up, the return travelator wasn't working, which meant that I was left with two choices; the lift, or the stairs.

Do I look like I want to take the stairs?

When I got into the lift, I made a huge mistake, I held the doors open for a lovely lady, her shopping trolly and  flood of a loud 60-something (I'm being kind) dominatrix who is talking to a younger woman about how she 'bounced' on a trampoline for the first time since she could remember.

For the rest of us in the lift, this conversation, had no context.

We all looked at each other, while this woman kept talking about bouncing'

When the woman and a few other people bounced off the elevator and onto the first floor, I was left in with one other guy. We completed the rest of the journey in a awkward silence.

We did not bounce off the elevator.

NaNoWriMo And Sleep Deprivation

For the more perceptive of you who are reading this post in October or November of 2013, you will notice the giant bad-ass banner that is at the top of this blog.

This giant bad-ass banner is there to inform you that I am going to be attempting to do NaNoWriMo this year. I am useless at giant bad-ass things like this, so it is a bit of a surprise that this condemned blog is somehow still floating and by some divine intervention has 5171 pageviews.

Although I suspect that it's just my mum pressing refresh 5171 times, she is my biggest fan. Love ya mum.

NaNoWriMo is a yearly event that is rather simple, write a 50,000 novel in 30 days. I have tried writing before but most of my attempts ended with something that is a akin to a cow throwing up and eating it's own vomit four times in a row.

So to help me stay on track, I've made myself a few rules:

• Write at least 1667 words a day. (some clever person typed 50,000 divided by 30 into their phone.)
• Update this blog everyday with my progress.
• Get my sorry little ass off my bed and out into the big wide world, or failing that, Milton Keynes.
• Get some sleep every night.

It's almost eight in the morning and I've pulled yet another radically boring all-nighter. I need to stop going to sleep in the morning. With the way my body clock is tuned right now, I could move to Hawaii. I hear it's lovely this time of year.

In other news, later on today I have an interview with ASDA.   

I've been a very naughty boy.

I haven't blogged in while, not something I intended to do.

So in the three months I've been away from you sexy people, I've had a couple of mental ooh-la-la's and worked out that I'm in the wrong career. I'm half-way up a mountain that I don't want to climb.

Long story short, the name of this blog (needsmorework) has some meaning now, I'm unemployed.

However it's not all bad, I have noticed that I've matured and I'm pretty cool, I might suit up

There is one thing I have noticed, there are some people among us who believe that those who are unemployed are lesser human beings. You can tell who these people are a mile off. What they seem to forget is that not many people like being unemployed, I for one hate it, so I hit the ground running, in these four or weeks, I've already had three interviews and I have another one on Wednesday (look at me showing off.)

So my message is this, your job doesn't make you who you are. To be completely honest, I don't know what makes us who we are, if I did, I could make a fortune.

Instead I ask for you to do one thing, if you know someone who is a bit down on their luck, pick them up, dust them off, pat them on the shoulder, tell them that they are doing great and stand by them. I'm lucky that i got the long straw and that I have some awesome people around me. Sadly there are those who are not as fortunate as me.

So don't leave comments saying that your sorry for me because I'm fine, I've got a entire pit crew behind me. Instead, leave a comment saying how you made someones day suck less and if you are a bit down and think you're not awesome, you're wrong. I think you're legen -

Wait for it...

...dary         

I'm melting.

The weather in England right down is hotter then all the tombs in the sixth circle of hell combined.

I must apologize for the lack of posts, I got swept away with life once again. It's been a crazy few weeks, last week I was named Chief Correspondent for ShoutoutUK. I allowed myself a small victory dance when I was found out.

But before that I just popped along to a book launch, Feral Youth by Polly Courtney is so far my favorite book of the year, it is so real and so beautiful. When I found out the book was about a girl called Alesha who grew up in a South London estate, I thought that it would just be some silly little attempt by someone pretending to understand a generation that no text book can teach you, I was wrong. In this situation I don't mind being wrong.

The full article is here: http://www.shoutoutuk.org/2013/06/29/feral-youth-by-polly-courtney-what-is-really-going-on-with-young-people/

Also, I found out this morning that lovely people at the Youth Media Agency quoted me: 

http://www.youthmediaagency.org.uk/feralyouth-book-launch/

  

I've also wrote a piece on 16-17 year olds in Scotland getting the vote in the referendum, as a correspondent, I'm going to stay as neutral as possible, but then again this is my blog, I have no rules here.

I am all for lowing the voting age to 16, however this must come along with political eduction in our schools. Citizenship is not enough, it is just a lesson for ticking boxes. We have a duty to teach our children about politics and how our country is run. How can we hold our MP's to account if we don't know what they are doing? 

I also wonder if the voting age is lowered in Scotland, would 16 and 17 year olds in England get the vote as well. This article has found it's home here: http://www.shoutoutuk.org/2013/06/24/should-16-and-17-year-olds-be-given-the-vote-in-scotland/

Also I forgot to add the link from the 'I failed You' post, so here it is: http://www.shoutoutuk.org/2013/06/18/committee-room-2-the-roots-and-progress-of-bite-the-ballot/

The song that I am currently singing is 'I Want To Know What Love Is' from the original broadway cast recording of Rock of Ages.

However as I wrote that, the song changed to 'Friends of the Ood' by  Chameleon Circuit.  

Writing for myself.

I have just finished a long six hour straight article writing session for my job, now it's time to write for myself before I end up punching the screen of the laptop.

I am currently sat on the couch of my living watching The Magnificent Seven, one of the only westerns that I like while drinking coffee from my Thomas the Tank Engine cup. I have now decided that I must learn how to ride a horse.

In some of my previous posts I talked about how I was writing a novel. That has now become a radio play thing, no doubt that this will slowly morph into a film script then into a video series and back around to novel. To save some face, I decided to design one of the star-space ships that would be in the universe-galaxy thing, it is needless to say that I failed art for a reason. This picture below is the view from the front. The idea is that there is one command pod and other pods can be changed around so that the ship can perform different tasks.

However, I appear to have drawn (at least to my immature mind) a cock and balls. What does that say about me? Instead of drawing a ship of incredible speed and wonder, I draw an object of incredible speed and wonder, shame it's not a self portrait.

Today I found a random stick of ram.

Jamie Cullum and my iOS 7 review will have to wait, i'm too tired right now. Apart from that, it's been pretty uneventful.  

Realigning my moral compass

In my last post I had a bit of a moral ooh-la-la. While writing that post, I was watching Star Trek (yes, I know) and it got me thinking, the majority of my moral compass, landscape thing came from the huge collection of videotapes that I used to watch as young teenager because I didn't like going out and I was way too shy,

Couple that with being the most irritating teachers pet and having bucked teeth that are so bad they make Bugs Bunny look like a model, I was clearly not one of the cool socialaties. 

Annoyingly, my lazy eye came in when I was eighteen, where was it when I was 13? I could have dealt with everything together, then I would be sane, right up until the moment I go on a rampage and brutally murder everyone who has ever bullied me. (I wonder if this paragraph will get the CSA's attentions. I assume my next post will be from a hotel room in Hong Kong.)

But I'm going off-track. The reason that I wanted to write this post was to share with you what the characters from the different series have taught me, this is in no particular order, it's just the order that it comes to my brain.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard: It's cool to be patient, not everyone is as awesome as you, it takes time for them to think of the right reaction, and if it all goes wrong, just put your hand on your forehead, lean into it and sigh. 

Commander William T. Riker: While I'm never going to have his allure, I have picked up The Riker Maneuver, if I am ever on some kind of date and you do not understand and appreciate it's majesty, we are not meant to be together 

Captain James T. Kirk: Don't worry, it's ok to pause...

Lieutenant Tasha Yar: Kindness and compassion will make you one of the most likeable members of the crew, however this will get you killed off in season two, but you do come back as a kick-ass Romulan.

General Martok: If 'please allow me to hand you your rear end on a plate during which I will be dispensing life advice to Sisko while being loyal, battle savvy, cool, brave with just a touch of humble' had a definition, it would be this warrior. He would never lead his troops into a lost cause. I just wonder what he would have said if he was with me when I was coming of Westminster. Would he have told me to be wise and stay away or would he have lead the charge.

Captain James T. Kirk: ...in the middle...

Guinan: " I picked this up on Mangus three, that was setting number one, would anyone like to see setting number two?"

Jadzia Dax: Excuse me, I’m trying to put Worf in his place. Oh yes Benjamin.

Captain James T. Kirk: ...of sex with 75 more orions then Riker (sorry man, he just has less regulations)

Chief Miles Edward O'Brien: Not only do we share a middle name, but we are also both incredibly awesome. This legend worked his way up from the dangerous path of the red shirt to one of the most loved characters in the whole franchise. This man could shut down as wormhole while repairing the Defiant and somehow keeping DS9 from falling apart.

Commander/Captain Benjamin Sisko: If you are looking for cool, he is your man. He can take a tiny little starship and destroy an entire fleet, while playing baseball, chilling with gods and hopping over the mirror universe so he do stuff to his bridge officers that would normally be against every regulation in Starfleet.

Wesley Crusher: The only reason that 'SHUT UP WESLEY' is on this list is because I used to be just like him, annoying, bright and useless, expect I am control controlled by my puppet masters known as the CSA who will chase me to Hong Kong should I publish this article. Don't get me wrong, Wil Wheaton is awesome, it's just that I'm not as awesome as him.

I'm getting distracted, but I've slept between starting this post and writing this paragraph, and I've realised, there is no point worrying about whether I went to the protest or not, what has happened has happened, I can't change that.

But I can start to be awesome, you watch this space, this time next year I would have had a DNA and found out that I am the estranged love child of Wil Wheaton and Neil Patrick Harris. At which point I would start to embrace the side of me that loves to wear suits while hacking into the mainframe of the FBI.

I just didn’t inherit their good looks

Yesterday, I failed you.

Let me lay down some groundwork, yesterday I took a trip to Parliament, don't worry I'm not arranging an uprising against David Cameron just yet, I'm too busy. I was on an assignment, In Monday I got a text from my editor asking if I was free for a committee meeting in Parliament the next day, as a power hungry little sob, I said yes, after I woke up and four cups of coffee.

I will add the link to article that I wrote here when it is published, but this blog post is about what happened before and after that committee meeting. The first thing I did as soon I walked out of Westminster tube station was turn my phone on. It's an iPhone, I was trying to save to battery life.

A force of habit of mine is to check twitter every 5 minutes, just like everyone else. All those tweets, all those thoughts, all those voices, I don't know about you but I think that the human race might be the Borg.

On twitter I saw that Occupy Parliament SQ replying to one of our Shout Out UK tweets, (it wasn't one of mine, I was in the underground at the time.) Their reply was simply put "breaking?" 

This was my call to action.

This perked my curiosity, I took the weekend off, from doing anything, I hardly went on the Internet, and I spent most of it sleeping or writing my series of stories that I had been working on for about three or four months. I really know how to pick them, with Bilderberg, the protests in turkey and Edward Snowden, I missed quite a lot.

So I made a mental note, the G8 protests were only five or ten minutes away, as soon as I'm done with this committee meeting, I'm going to make my way down there and report on what is happening because it is my job.

Instead as soon as I left Parliament, I checked my phone again, saw that the protests were growing bigger and I turned into a coward. Instead of waking past Westminster tube station and going up to Piccadilly, where according to Twitter, the protest were. I went in the station, put my headphones in and made my way home because I wanted to write my committee article.

It's my job to tell the world what is going on and instead I was selfish and just went home. 

Granted, it was the safe thing to do, it was the sane thing to do, and it's what most normal people who want to stay out of the way do, but it's not what I should have done. 

For me, I have to play by a different set of rules, I have to run in the opposite direction to everyone else, and find out why they are running. It is my job to report on what is happening, it is not my job to run off like a coward, and read it all on Twitter, being tired is no excuse. 

It is because of this that I am no better than the CSA. I committed one of the few acts that I consider evil, I stood by while people were in trouble, while people were being stamped on. I may have only been one drop in the ocean, but I had my phone, I was able to record video. A video that I could have recorded, could have a been used to show police brutality, it could have been used to clear someone's name, it could have been used to show the world and future generation what was happening in London.

Someone like Edward Snowden is a hero, he gave up paradise, to tell the world what had happened, he is now on the run. I turned my back on my fellow man because I failed in my job, I'm now sat at home writing this.

I've wrote on this blog that I wanted some excitement in my life, well there is was. Excitement looked me in the eye and I turned away.

Today I failed not just as a reporter, but as a human.

Jamie Cullum can wait.

I don't think that this post is going to score me many points with Jamie Cullum's p.r company.

To make up for the unfortunate lack of posts on this blog, I was halfway through a mega album review for Jamie Cullum's new album Momentum.

However Facebook got in the way and I started sharing pictures of funny cats, posting slight political rants and killing the next person who sends me a Farmville request. But this morning, my friend shared a demo that my other friend has released with his new band, The Sliver Tongue Bandoilers.(It is also clear from that paragraph that I only have two friends.)

Long story short, I love it. In fact I love it so much that it has just knocked Mozart's House by Clean Bandit out of the slot of what I am listening to right now. Take that, Clean Bandit. It only took them two and a half years to get their song into the mainstream.

Click here to go straight to the Soundcloud page
Click here for their Facebook page
Click here for their Website

This is only a short post, I wanted to get something while I've been extra busy with my new job at M.I.6. Normal service will resume on 6th June with my Momentum album review.

I have eight years

You know what I really need to do. I need to start living life. I have always been a little bit reserved and played it safe, and that has given me a very dull life. Although I have noticed that over the past year or so, I've been a little more willing to go exploring and find out about this strange thing that you humans call life. You could say that I am a alien who is just stepping out of his star-ship for the first time.

The first thing that I need to do is take those chances that come along, I'm already doing it to an extent but I need to do it more, for example, last week I had a interview to work at a Apple store. Unfortunately I didn't it, but I am glad that I went along. It also sparked an idea to write a detective mystery series video thing. I've got a few off the characters, I've got an idea of how the events will unfold, and I've got the setting, I just need to put pen to paper, then call my friend and say 'hey, lets shoot this'

Also last month, I auditioned to go on The Chase (ITV game-show that is hosted by Bradley Walsh) and I'm though to the past where we could get called up at any time to go on the show. I don't know how I pulled that one off, clearly, I didn't get through on looks.

If you want this guitar, you are going to have
to prize it off my cold dead hands.

I need to start that band, you know, the one that I've always wanted, the one with my best friend, the drummer who we hardly know but ends up having a brilliant solo career and the one who ends up sleeping with everyone, including his fellow band mates, The maid at the hotel, Her Majesty the Queen, Brain May, Barrack Obama, Jeremy Kyle, David Letterman and whoever is reading this post.

I of course will take care of the main guitar duties, the one who is very serious but has moments of craziness where people turn to each other and say "......................................................................."

I really want to learn how to code, put simply, I want to learn how to make my own programs. No much more that I can add there. Mostly because I haven't got the foggiest idea of where to start.

I really want to travel around the world, I have a few cites in mind, I've got Paris, Berlin, New York and San Francisco.

I need to stop worrying about the things other people say. The people who matter don't mind, and the people who mind, don't matter. (I stole that from Charlie McDonnell, I'm sure he won't mind)

I really want to set up my own publication, no idea what it will about, I just want to do.

Surprisingly, this list ends here. I really expected more when I started wring this.

The eight years thing, Lets make it six.

I wasn't nervous, I was more apprehensive

I wasn't nervous, I was more apprehensive. Today (Friday 26th April) was the first interview that I had conducted in about 5 years. One of the last ones was with a councilor from Boston, England. We talked about waterworks for a report on BBC Radio Lincolnshire, I was 15 at the time and manageress to persuade my headmaster to let me out for lunch to meet the councilor  I owned a Nokia 3310, which had three phone numbers on it, My own, My home number and the number of my school.

The very last interview that I did was with Jake Humphrey, I so wish that I had the original recording.

Fast forward to today, I'm now twenty, and I work for a independent youth newspaper. I'm sat on the train looking over the questions while adjusting to the pressure of the tunnels that come up, all while making my way through the every one of The Who tracks that I have on my iPhone, the one with a hundred contacts from those who I met very briefly during the course of my business, to my best friends some of whom I have known for about eight or nine years.

But back to the train, I'm (was, its now Thursday  on my way to Bite the Ballot HQ to meet with there founder and director, Mike Sani. I met Mike last week at the Why Should We Care? Event in Harrow last weekend and we had a good chat, but of course we both busy men, I mean, he runs a huge organisation, and I write about people.

Mike is a very interesting man, and I really want to delve deeper, but I need to stay on topic, I need to talk about Bite the Ballot, although I can afford my self the luxury of sneaking a few questions about his career at the end of  the interview. Let me put it this way, he studied Business Management and Finance in Southampton, became a banker in America, gave it up, when traveling for a year and then became a teacher and later set up Bite the Ballot.

Of course being the complete idiot that I am, I arrive at Southwark and hour and half early. How did I pull that one off? The journey was meant to take 3 hours, it took 90 minuets. I'm impressed, I felt like I have just outrun The Flash.

With 90 minutes to kill, I did the only sensible thing a person like me could do, I got coffee.

I decided to turn up 20 minutes early, that I feel is a sensible time to turn, early enough to show that I'm professional but not late enough to say 'oh my god, taxi'

The rest is here: http://www.shoutoutuk.org/2013/04/29/bitetheballot

I know, I should have put this post up when the interview go published, but I have been really busy. Please forgive, I have Cookies.

Why should we care?

Those who regularly read my blog will know that for the past few months I have been working with a organisation called Shout Out UK. There purpose is to give give young people a voice who are otherwise ignored by traditional media. 

I have also been working on the 'Why Should We Care?' event (ran by shout out uk) which aims to get politics onto the national curriculum and to show people that it is more then just arguing in parliament, it is about them.

This Saturday (20th april) I got to finally see the launch of the campaign and see a lot of hard work start to pay off. Of course the work has only just started, and this event will be the first of many. I wrote about the event on the Shout Out UK website, which can be viewed here.

The event started off with a simple networking session for everyone to get to know each other, then everyone took there place in the chambers and after a short film were welcomed by Marsha Thompson. The debate then started. Everything about the debate is in the article so I don't need to go into details here, but the main talking points were, the rise in tuition fees, the loss of the EMA, the relationship between media and politics, the cost of travel for young people and the role of the UKYP.

It was clear that everyone was passionate about the days issues, but there was also a great deal of respect between different parties, Of course there were times that I forgot that I was reporting on the debate and I had to join in, but before you give me that look, I did manage to plug Shout Out's twitter.

The debate lasted almost two hours before it brought to a close, and it was clear that we all could have talked all the way into next week.

I got involved with this campaign because I know that the young people of this country are fantastic, and they have the ability to change the world and make it a much better place, they just need a little nudge and the right tools. This campaign will give them those tools to get involved with politics and change the world.

One of the most stupid things that you can say is, 'I don't care' or 'I don't find it interesting  because it will not make you immune to the governments. Politics is not like football or a soap opera, you can't just ignore it. You should know how your country is run, and what the people running it are doing, that way you can hold them to account when they step out of line.

This bit is the blogging equivalent of a YouTube end screen. The bit that is in the background while you choose the next video.

If you want more information about the why should we care campaign you can go to shoutoutuk.org

You can follow Shoutout on twiiter or facebook

If you want to get involved with ShoutoutUK or want to help spread news on issue which affect or interest you, or if you want to launch your own campaign, send a email to editor@shoutoutuk.org 

You can also follow me on twitter

Why Should We Care, event planning so far.

I am on a roll today.

The planning for Why Should We Care? Politics in Schools launch event is going so well, and we are two days away.

But why am I investing my time and energy into this, simple, young people have been ignored by Politicians, demonized by the Media and never really been given a chance to speak up, So I joined Shout Out UK and decided to do something about it. Politics is part of everyone’s life, saying “I don’t find it interesting” won’t make you immune to the government’s laws.

Why Should We Care? is taking place in Harrow Council Chamber, if you can make it, it's free, more details are here. As well as Twitter and Facebook.

The soundtrack of my life...so far.

I thought that I would do something different today, I’m going to post a list of songs, but it’s not my favorite  or the top 100 chart toppers. It’s a list of songs that mean something to me, or that remind of a time, place or person. This list is in no particular order.

Light My Fire – Will Young.

This was the first ever single that I brought, I loved this song growing up, and I loved Will Young. I was eight or nine years old when Light My Fire was covered.  I brought the CD from our local ASDA (The British version of Wal-Mart) , a week after Will Young had won Pop Idol for around £3 with my pocket money. I have remained a fan ever since.

In case you’re interested, I used to get £5 pocket money a week.

Relight My Fire – Take That. (Feat. Lulu)

Late nineties, I was even younger and convinced that there was a secret box under the floor boards, inside this box, I was convinced that there was a map that would lead to some un-discovered treasure just outside the valley where I lived and that it was my duty to go and find it, with my dog. Tucker was a springer spaniel and the most beautiful and gentle dog in the world. I would do anything to get him back.  

How did this song get into my memory? Simple, my Mother, she played this every single day, I’m pretty sure that my Dad is sick of it.

You've Got A Friend In Me – Randy Newman

I have two words for you: Toy Story.

Sex Bomb- Tom Jones.

Questions are raised as to why an nine year old would be obsessed with song so much that he ends up singing it every day in the school playground, a playground of a strict Roman Catholic school. I am now an atheist.

Anything from Radio 1’s Live Lounge Volume One.

Year eight in school (seventh grade for my American Readers who make up 65% of my audience.) and this was the year of change, firstly I was growing up, very quickly and shall we say that things were changing inside me, and I was starting to feel things that were weird, but what I was feeling seemed different to what the popular sporty kids were feeling or what my group,’ the ones who paid attention and were so bright that we could be the best in class without falling into the geek/dork/nerd stereotype’ were feeling. They were attracted to girls, I wasn't.

RockStar - Nickleback.

I loved this song; I was such a rebel when it came out that I got the censored version on my mp3 player. I used to listen to this song on the bus on the way to school, during that dry period when I didn't have a radio play built in to my mp3 player, so I couldn't listen to The Chris Moyles Show.

Uprising – Muse

Fast forward to college, I was 17 and a budding actor, my whole life revolved around acting, I was partially good at Shakespearean drama's and dark gritty plays. I was not so good at singing. I did not like open my vocal chords in front of hundreds of people. Uprising was the first song that I sang in front of a audience, but it was the song the taught me to just enjoy it. I played a weird werewolf/zombie thing during this song. This was the big opening to our Rock 'n' Horror evening.

We had rehearsed this a hundred times and we got it perfect every time. The plan was that we were to be split into two groups, My group would enter from the door on stage left in a creepy and incredibly evil manner, singing until 'we will never see the truth around.' At which point the other group would come in from the door on stage right, and sing up to the chorus, where both groups become one and we all sing together.

However, Sod's law would have it, that our tutor, who shall not be named, decided to lock the door that the second group would come out from. Our tutor locked this door to stop parents, friends and family from taking the easy way into the hall, forgetting that the second group would be requiring that door in a piece that our tutor choreographed themselves.

It came to the second groups cue, instead of hearing the lyrics, we heard a 'clunk.' We had to think quickly, it was do or die, we sang the words as best we could, while being accompanied by 'IT'S LOCKED' and the very distant singing while the group very quickly made there way into the Studio, to enter the Hall, via the two sets of double doors which lead out to center stage.

They got 20 or so people on stage via three sets of doors in a time that Usain Bolt cannot hope to beat. We got it together by chorus.

Uprising is, and remains my favorite song.

Viva La Vida - Coldplay.

I've nailed this song on my guitar. That is all.

And I love this song.

Mozart's House - Clean Bandit.

I heard this on Radio One last month while driving home and just fell in love with it. It's is my soundtrack for right now. I love that Clean Bandit have been able to stamp there own style on a stable of classical music while being respectful the the source material.

It only two and a half  years for this work of art to be noticed in the mainstream. It is so good, I love it.

Shake it - Metro Station

It was the summer of '09' The best goddamn summer ever, My whole year got to go to Butlin's, (we still had to do lessons though) for a study week in the run up to our GCSE's. The only thing is that I have very little to write about it on this blog, mostly because it involves a tonne of people and some stories that I assume that they (and me) want to stay buried, especially for some in the building on the other side of the courtyard.

The thing is, Metro Station are the complete opposite of my normal tastes, yet the still have made it into my list, and that summer would have been so different with another song, and not as special.

Sweet Child o' Mine - Guns N' Roses.

Sweet Child o' Mine was the first song that I taught myself (with the help of youtube) to play on the guitar and the soundtrack of my rocker stage.(I wear mortal's clothes now.) I was 18 and wanted to be different, I also hanged out with the different kids, but don't worry, I was in the group could hold down a job and kept our heads screwed on.

I also had a brief passing with Paramore, but they didn't stick.

There is one point that I want to make, people in my generation, say that our music is rubbish and does not hold up to the 70's and 80's. I say to them that if they don't like what they've got then they should make their own, no one forces you to listen to what is current, you choose your playlist, not me.

Who know's the next song on this list could be one of yours.

State of the blog.

This post marks the 102nd day that this blog has been live. They say that the first 100 days in office are the most important and the same can be extended to blogs, many fall short and are just left to decay, but not this one. You will never get rid of me, unless I die, which would be quite unfortunate.

I thought that it was time for a state of the blog address, it the same as a state of the union address expect with less money, less politics and you have to imagine me as Bill Clinton, but without the long line of women (old joke, I know.)

At the time of writing this post there have been 1169 views over 22 different posts (this post being the 23rd.) That is amazing, people are actually taking the time out of their day to read what I write on this little corner of the Internet, I have only one question for you, are you high?

The most successful post of mine is "In Summly, I'm Feedly My Current FlipBoard While Checking My Pulse." I think I got the timing right with that one, I posted that about 2 weeks or so before Google announced that they were going to retire Google Reader, because of this, the post gained another batch of views, jumping from about 25 to 121.

Just to cover myself, I didn't actually know that Google was going to retire Reader until, it was announced, I do not have inside connections. Although I really wish I did. It puts me in a tough position, do I sell my soul to Google or Apple?

I also made it into Jibby's top one hundred blogs list, the fact that someone wrote about this blog on there blog (blogception) is not just amazing, but also incredibly humbling . +Sam Bowden thank you so much.

Unfortunately blog everyday in April did not do as well as I hoped, mostly because I was too ill to write anything. If you want to know the details, one end was like the Nigeria Falls, the other was like the Iguazu Falls.

This blog to me is more then a blog, it's an extension of myself and my inner thoughts, it's a place where I can get things out in the open, clear my mind and get a second opinion. If you haven't already taken up blogging, do it. It is so good for you. I even persuaded one of my friends +Lauren Brabrook to start up. Her blog can be found here: www.onedayiwillflyaway20.blogspot.co.uk

I am also going through a period of professional change. In my career, there are going to be a lot of opportunities for me to climb the ladder (for want of a better phrase.) It has taken a lot of risks on my part, I left a very safe job at River Island to do this, budgeting is now my number one priority, the last thing that I want to do right now is go back into retail, although I've got over a years experience over two different stores in a tonne of different positions, it is not what I want to do with the rest of my life.

I'm also seeing changes in myself, growing up, I was the mature kid, the one who doesn't seem to have a childhood but is rather born as a adult. Growing up, I was a very shy and reserved kid, but I'm getting rid of that shyness that used to stop me from doing what I wanted. I always had to have someone with me when I go to new places or taking to new people, now I can't think of anything better to do.

I was the teachers pet of all teachers pets, but with style, if I didn't like the piece of homework that I was given, I would just do it on the bus. I would simply remember what was told to me taking a mental image of the whiteboard or the slide and recalling it when I needed. I am now reaping the benefits of that, I can recall whole conversions, and remember so many random facts. I could make a whole new post on how my brain works.

Yet, I cannot remember peoples names.

This may seem like a oxymoron (look at me using big words) but I'm maturing while becoming a kid again, I find so many things wonderful now, from aspects of science that I ignored at school because I just wanted to learn about space and not the cells that are in plant, to fiction.

I used to think that fiction was a waste of time, the only stories that I cared about was Harry Potter, there is a whole other story about how I got into Harry Potter, but I'll save that for another post.

You have been invited.

I love being able to do awesome things, with awesome people and on Saturday 20th April 2013, I'm going to be doing just that.

But I want to do it differently, I want to take each and everyone of you with me.

I am helping to organize The Politics in Schools campaign run by ShoutOutUK. As the name suggests, this campaign is going to try and get politics into schools and working for young people. This is our chance,and we should not waste it.

More details are available here, for you lovely people to peruse over.

If you can make it, I would love you forever. If you cannot, you can still support us by following us on Twitter and Facebook

I will also be writing about the event for our website (that is being reconstructed), and blogging a bit on here as well. I know, get me.

p.s. I love the word peruse.


   

Explosive Diarrhoea

I feel really rough today, it's not been a bad day. I just feel rubbish, but fantastic at the same time.

The reasons for me feeling rubbish are simple. My stomach has ordered the contents every dinner I have ever eaten to make a swift departure via the back entrance. The effect that was mistaken for a nuclear explosion was felt as far as Newcastle and measured 7.4 on the richter scale. Local residents describe the event as chilling, disturbing and really rather smelly.

The reason for me feeling fantastic are a secret. I have some really great news that want to tell you, but I'm not allowed.

Heads up, I'm working for the Politics in Schools campaign. We are officially launching on 20th April. I won't just be writing about it, i'm also the events manager for the campaign. It's hard work but a hell of a lot of fun. I will keep you posted.

Here goes nothing

I thought I try something different this month, everyone on YouTube seems to enjoy doing this, so I decided to convert the VEDA format slightly and blog every day in April.

Today I did something that was quite a good exercise for me, I have just applied for the Nico Colchester Journalism Fellowship 2013. The entry criteria was simple, you must be a EU citizen and write an 800 word article on 'What should the European Union do to keep Britain in?'

The aim is to help continental writers better understand Britain and for British writers to better understand Europe, is a three month fellowship at ether The Financial Times or The Economist as well as £5000 to cover accommodation and travel.

I'm not going to know until June when the committee meets to discus the entry's.

Fingers crossed that I get it, but if I don't, there is no need to worry.

Also you are very lucky, this is my second post in 24 hours. I have never done that before, go me *clicks fingers*

This is BEDA #2 because I am counting my last post as BEDA #1. It was wrote in the early hours of the morning and to me it still felt like the day before. So there.

On a more serious note, today I read, one of the most beautiful comments that I have ever seen. Posted by +Lacey Edwards she wrote;

"You are changing to world a little at a time just by sharing your thoughts."

I am in awe at that sentence.

It's four in the morning and I need to sleep.

I have no idea what to write. I'm meant to be writing a article about The European Union and Britain. Instead I'm writing this, yet that article is very important.

I am meant to be a logical and rational person who is capable of being an adult that is responsible. Tapped Out is looking really attractive right now.

I never really had a childhood, because I was too busy trying to be the responsible adult, that kid who is popped out of his mothers womb and then puts on a suit and goes to work. I want to have fun and be crazy for once in my dammed life, yet the responsible voice in my brain says "Thomas, you are a responsible child."

There's my problem, I'm not a child any more.

I know what I want, I want to make a life for myself that fills my heart with content and joy, by that I don't mean having a tonne of money to buy whatever I want, I mean the one where I can have an adventure, go do those things that filled my childhood dreams when lying on the top bunk, (yep, I got it.)

Then responsible me comes in and says

"you must not do that, you have to set an example for the rest of the children"  

Really, this is what some of the children are doing, one is currently touring the globe, going where their heart desires. Another is a part time model, part time student ambassador and here's the killer, this person performed at the closing ceremony at the London 2012 Olympics.

I'm meant to be that successful dude who you met in school, remember for the rest of your life, got pushed around a bit but ends up with a Ferrari by the time he is twenty-five. I don't think I have a lot to show for it

Yes, I know I have awesome job, (I'm not complaining.) But I want to change the world, right now, the question is, How am I going to do that?    

I ran away

In 2010, I ran away.

I got fed up with bullies and being abused for the way that I looked, or the way that I talked. I got fed up with being picked on for my actions or for what I said.

In 2010, I ran away from YouTube.

I regret that descision, I enjoyed it, I liked the process of making and editing a video for someone to watch on the other side of the world. I liked being about to share my thoughts and feelings with the world, and I liked being able to hear the thoughts and feelings other people.

But as you have gathered, I quit. I deleated my account in anger. I just got fed up with the trolls, there were far too many of them. The scary thing is that I think I might have actually known some of them. Stupid schoolchildren.

This is why I have sympathy for Justin Bieber, granted, I'm not his biggest fan, but it so hard to carry on when you have half the world screaming hate at you, because you are successful. He's only 19, he has to deal with millions of fans and haters, I couldn't handle ten trolls.

But don't get me wrong, there were some fantastic people on there, I rembember a youtuber who stuck up for me, and generally liked my videos, in fact she made 2 video responces, one asking why people were being trolls, the other, because she was laughing at the wrapping of one of my christmas presents.

I should never have deleted that account, I sometimes wonder how things would have been if I kept it up.

Today I decided to stop wondering and start doing something about it, I'm going to start making videos again, there just one problem.

I don't know what to say?

It's the end of the world

I could use this space in the void of the Internet to make a point, I could stand up for the rights of the oppressed, I could hold a huge organisation to account for corruption or I could use this as a platform for someone who needs to get a serious point across.

Instead I'm going to talk about the snow, also known as that white stuff which can crush an economy, bring a country to its knees and give our news program's something to talk about. It's is snowing in Britain, near the end of march. That is not meant to happen.

I promised myself that I would start to take care of my body, I would get fitter and eat heather, how am I meant to go jogging when I running in fear of sheet ice and flying reindeer? 

I wanted to try tennis. Mind you it's good news for Phillip Schofield, there are so many Dancing on Ice spin-offs that the sexy silver fox could host. For example 'Tennis on Ice,' 'Jeremy Kyle on Ice' or my personal favorite, 'OAP's falling over on ice.'

My car was mistaken for a moving ice rink, I had polar bear cubs making their home on my roof.

My mum is one of those people who freezes milk, so I think that she should turn the freezer off and put all of the food in the garden, not only will she save some money on her electricity bill, but the neighbors will also be able to see what we are going to have for dinner.

So I don't really know what I'm meant to do, and Sunday morning tv is rubbish.


I have also developed a voice which sounds like a cross between Bubbles DeVere and Professor Snape, I read this post to my brothers in that voice. 

They laughed.

My short thoughts on YouTube.

At this moment, I’m meant to be writing another article for my job, because that is a thing I do now. But its twenty to two in the morning and I really need to sleep.

As a result of my insomnia, which is a clear indication that I'm a timelord, I've found my way onto youtube. Of course, I've gone through an insane amount of cat videos, along with puppy videos, funny baby videos, fail video, win videos, knife song videos, squirrel videos, Harlem Shake videos, Gangnam Style video and more cat videos. But there is something that, I personally, am finding less off, and thats the endangered species of the vlogger.

By this, I don’t mean vlogger as in the big players, the ones who just make a "ten things I've noticed video", or a "challenge" video to get as many likes and view as possible, I mean, the ones who just talk about life, and talk about what they are thinking, or their random idiosyncrasies that make them interesting and genuinely awesome people.

This thought process started when I stumbled across ImagineJohanna, and I realized that she reminds us why most people started vlogging in the first, to talk about life and to share stories from her past. She doesn't have an agenda, she doesn't want to try to sell you merchandise or make a ton of money, she just wants to tell her story.

At this point I should go on a bit of a rant about how there are no ‘old skool’ vloggers left, but really, we just need to look. Everyone has got a story to tell, but some are just louder than others, it is up to you who you choose to listen to, just make sure you choose wisely.

Have a nice life

I'm feeling good

As I write this post, I am taking a quick break from building up my new WordPress site. Follows of this blog may recall that I am moving (quite swiftly) into journalism and one of the things that I'm doing is building a more professional online profile. I will post the link to that site in the next few weeks.

Don't get me wrong, I love this blog, and I going to keep it just the way it is, I need a place to store all of my random thoughts, funny stories and passive-aggressive rants. I also see this blog as way of keeping my feet on the ground, I know that if things go well, I will become a very busy man, and I might be swept up trying to make a name for myself.

This blog will of course still be updated on a silly semi-regular timetable that only exists when I'm procreating.

In other news, yesterday this blog past 500 page views, that is mind-boggling. to think that 500 people have taken the time out of there day to read what I write, is incredibly humbling, I thank each and everyone of you.

This title has no meaning.

I've neglected this blog for too long, my bad, I wanted to do a short post every day and a big post on Sundays, of course, life has found a way to blow up your world, I shan't go into details here.

But I have good news, I've just finished a article on the Russian Asteroid that exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk, I go into some detail about where Asteroids come from, and what caused it to come our way. I finish off by asking why no one saw it coming. I realize that this summary makes it sound really boring, I really hope it isn't. It was really good fun to write.

Also in April I am going to be working in the politics in schools campaign run by ShoutoutUK. This is a cause that I honestly believe in. The current voter registration in the United Kingdom is below 50% and I believe that this is due to a lack of political education in our schools. I am so looking forward this, I can't wait.

Today is also my un-birthday, so happy un-birthday to me.

I was in a hotel last week, I was given the choice between firm and soft pillows, I took a long time to come to a decision. Clearly a first world problem that shows that I need sort my priories out.

I really need to get working on my alien protocol article. That's going to be fun to write as well. The weird thing is that if you had told me a year ago that I would love writing things, I would have most likely unleashed my secret superpower on you. Spider-man eat your heart out. Now it's opening up all of these opportunities for me that I am incredibly grateful for.

I'm thinking about setting up a WordPress site. I'm thinking I need somewhere to put articles that I write and have something professional to show any future employers. I of course will still keep this blog going, in fact I will use it for what a blog is for, I will blog my life. If you have used WordPress before; What tips do you have? How did you use it? And would you recommend it?

When I was your age.

From 2009 through to 2010 I had a YouTube channel, I have since deleated that channel. Long story short, I got fed up with the trolls, below is a script that I never filmed.

Why is it that people like me who can't cook always end up hungry? Think about It, as soon has the cook of the house has finnished for the day, I end up turning into a confused caveman who thinks that a oven is as interesting as 14 episodes of the antiques roadshow with added commentary about the piece of junk that which is as useful as a baboon in the shower.

But in the 21st century that is not the case, because today we has this extronary, fantastic, technology thing known as YouTube. On this little known site people can upload videos ragieng from a university lecture on quantum mechanics, to a dog barking at the television.

This brings me nicely on to part 3 (yeah I got a script this time) and the media, In the last ten years media has changed dramsily, in 1995, It was really hard to stay In contact with some one thousands of miles away, but nowadays we have socal networking sites like Facebook and Twitter which puts us into contact with those people within seconds. Now lookng at how far technology has advanced in the last ten years, who knows what we could be doing in 2020 and for those Internet trolls who are going to say that the world is going to end 2012 then all I've got to say to you is that you are a bunch if stupid old lowlifes.

So this video (blog post) is for my generaton who can say when I was your age we didn't have Facebook, we had pen-pals. We didn't have xbox 360s we had N64's. We can say when I was your age our phones didn't have Internet, they had snake and when I was your age freddos were only 10p.

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You know how life has a way of putting off what you actually want to do, that. The Alien post is going to be delayed again, sorry about that.

Random Event One: Scratching My Balls With G4S

I am one of those people who can be very professional. I can scrub up well, do my homework and in general be a good amabassor for whatever company that would care to employ me. However, if you put me in a quiet room, the slightest thing can make me howl with laughter.

For example, today, I'm with a very skilled and experienced journalist on an assignment, (I won't bore you with details.) I want to make the most of my time with him, I can learn a lot from him. He has been in the business for 45 years, however today I think that I might have showed him up. While he was in one of the rooms interviewing another person, (I wasn't allowed in) A man who works in the building was using a cordless phone. Clearly it was his first time using one of these phones because all I could here as he was coming down the stairs was;

"I am on the Phone, I'm going down the stairs, can you still hear me? Good. I'm in the waiting room, can you hear me now? That's great. I'm opening the door to another room, can you still hear me? Fannnnnntastic."

If it was not bad enough that the gentleman was loud, one of the G4S guards descided to take the mick out him, with a protine bottle, his recreation of events when as follows;

"Ooh yeah, I'm in going in the room, yeah great, can you hear me? Great, yeah I'm just scratching my balls, oooooohhhhh yeahhhhhhhhhhhh."

This made me howl with laughter, but what made it more awkward was that the waiting room was empty. After about 39 seconds, the professional journalist came in, to the sight of me and the G4S guard crying with laughter. He looked at us blankly. He had no idea what we were on.

Good thing I'm working with him again tomorrow.

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The article that I'm writing about the possibility of contacting alien life will probably have to wait until Sunday. I want to make the most of these next few days, but I promise the make it extra special.

My Brother Has A Hero.

I'm going to start this post off by apologizing, I wanted to post more often, my plan was to post on Tuesdays and Thursdays but my body decided that it wanted to become really ill, to the point of quite nasty pain and me wondering if those cluster headaches were coming back. This, and I don't think you need me too tell you, is a rather unpleasant thought.

I'm still not totally over it, but now I have the power my Phone, the Internet and my Bed. You can make your own jokes. But don't feel sorry for me, because that gets none of us nowhere and you just end up wasting your energy.

Unlike myself, my little brother likes mornings. He wake up in the morning and floats out of bed, ready to take on the day. I get out of bed like something from a deranged Disney movie that went horribly wrong after the animators got high on acid, and died. When I stomped into the living room he was on the sofa, with one of my books, (Wonders Of The Universe by Professor Brian Cox.) I saw something wonderful, the universe invited him in, and in way said welcome to your new playground, in just the same way that it did for me when I read a book* about space which came with a CD-Rom and in the 90’s this was considered top of the line technology and awesome when you where 5 

The book that inspired my little brother. Thanks Professor Cox.

I’m sure that myself and my brother are not the first two people to be inspired by space, but for me, it puts into perspective because the universe doesn't really care who you are, it accepts and invites you in, you just need to open your eyes. 

There is a reason for this, we are the universe, and we are all connected. The atoms in your body are traceable to stars that went supernova and gave the dark void of space the building blocks of life, we are children of the universe, a fact which sadly some people are yet to comprehend.

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*I can not remember the name of the book that first inspired me 15 years ago, but I do remember some details, and I really want to find it again. It was A4 size and about 50 pages, the front cover had a astronaut with a silver circle behind him, surrounded by The Space Shuttle, The ISS and a view other things here and there. However the thing that really stands out for me, is somewhere in the middle where the book where there is a two page spread about the end of the suns life, on that page was an image of what the sun would look like when it expands, and it is being viewed from earth by a boy and golden retriever in middle of a field. I would love to find this book again to show my brother.               

In Summly, I'm Feedly My Current FlipBoard While Checking My Pulse

For today's blog post, I thought that I would do something a little bit different. So I am going to review some apps. I've decided that I am going to review feeders. It made sense, I am moving into journalism and I want to be able to access the latest news from as many different organisations as possible.

Google Currents

The first app I tried was Google Currents. Straight away I logged in to my Google account (the dark overlord that tracks our porn) and the blogs that I was subscribed to were there, also quite a few suggestions for other feeds, I very easily add what felt like a million feeds.
The design is very clean and professional, it feels like an app that I can use in the office and the boss won't be over my shoulder every five minutes, however (and this is a personal choice) I don't like that I have to swipe while I am reading the article to read more, not a lot of info is put onto the page.
All said and done, it does do what it says on the tin, it's not a bad app

Feedly

Imagine if you will, the new guy in the office who is young and talented but in a few months time his soul will be crushed by the corporate snakes and he will lose faith in humanity. Feedly is like that new guy, before the soul crushing. Feedly has a much better layout and design then currents and it is quite easy to find what you are looking for.
Under the bonnet there are a few good options to customize the app to your liking. Feedly follows the rule of content is king, the colorful designs are there, but they are hidden in the menus, to allow for more space for the feeds that you want to read. I also like the fact that YouTube videos are embedded into the app, although I would like to be able to sign in to my YouTube account to view my subscription.

FlipBoard 

I like things that are flippy, FlipBoard satisfies that need. The child in me spent about 10 minutes messing with the animation. They have clearly thought about the design although personally I don't like drawstring used to access the search menu. 
I like that I can connect to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, however I do wish that I could update my accounts from the app, also the Facebook annoying only shows ten updates at a time and takes a good minute or so to download more and one of my friends post takes up a whole screen, there is miles of space that the app wastes. However the bigger design suits twitter and makes it more visually pleasing, however it is not practical for what twitter was designed for. I do wish that i could update my timeline or twitter feed from the app.

Pulse

Pulse could have been really good, it has been let down by it design, the main page looks as if it has been copied from the BBC News app, the only difference is that it has been painted black instead of red. The rest feels soulless and devoid of life and passion. However it does load that content quickly.
But then we get to Facebook integration, it not automatically there, (I signed in with my Facebook account) you have to search for the feed and then add it to your contents, but once you've done that, it will only let you view posts that have links on them, which to me devoid the point of the whole feed.

Summly

Let's start with the good points, visually it is the design equivalent of the best XXX rated app porn, you can also search for content by keywords, so you can find news on certain subject or in a certain area of the world. But it takes forever to update and I think that there are far to many swipe commands. 
It also crashed three times during the first start up and twice again during my testing. I really want Summly to be good, I used to have it, before the October update, and I really hoped that it was improved. Sadly it wasn't.

For me it's between Currents and Feedly, they are designed and easy to use, although Feedly is slightly deeper than Currents. The both follow the rule of content is king and don't distract the reading experience with bells and whistles. I think Feedly swings the balance into its favor, but I would love to see social interaction in the form of Facebook, Twitter and other social networks like LinkedIn and Google+.

How did I do on my first app review? Do you agree with my verdict? Did I miss any good apps? Should I do another post like this? If so, how can I make it better?

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