Tinie's in town...

The UK has recently been treated to a new rap-star superstar: Tinie Tempah.

The Ray-Ban wearing rapper from South London has hit the ground running with his 'debut' single 'Pass Out', sitting proudly on the top of the charts for two weeks in succession. The newcomer has currently sold over 92,000 copies of the new smash hit, leaving Rhianna and Jason Derulo trailing behind.

Tinie is no rookie when it comes to success however; his first music video for his promotional single 'Wifey' became an underground smash hit holding the Channel U urban chart top spot for an impressive 10 weeks.

'Pass Out' is arguably the best British track since Dizzee Rascal’s 'Bonkers’, and leaves the nation wondering what he will do next. If Dizzee's career is anything to go by, Tinie looks to have a bright future ahead of him...


Listen to Tinie's new single "Pass Out" here...

Life after Beckham..

David Beckham's hopes of playing in his fourth World Cup look to be over. To the dismay of countless England fans, Beckham tore his left Achilles tendon in AC Milan’s victory over Chievo, ending his dreams of a place in Capello’s final twenty three. More frustrating for the England star, the injury was unprovoked; unchallenged; he hobbled off, before being carried away by a stretcher.

After hearing the news, England manager Capello seemed resigned to be being without Beckham for the finals in June. In a statement he said: "We have to wait for the results of the scan but it looks like he is out of the World Cup” Not everyone shared Capello’s hope however, and ex England and Spurs star, Gary Lineker, believes Beckham’s loss is not “the end of the world”. "It's sad David is going out this way, but it's not the biggest loss to Fabio Capello," Lineker told the BBC. It’s no doubt that Beckhams’ experience would of proved vital for England’s chances, leading to rumours that Beckham will still join the squad at South Africa for support and guidance.

Beckham was a near certainty to become the first England player to appear in four World Cups, however Capello will now be forced to choose an alternative. He does have a good shortlist to choose from however, with Lennon, Walcott and Wright-Phillips all hopefully available. Although this could be the end for Beckham and the World Cup, many are behind him on making a full return to the game and the AC Milan squad.


See the moment Beckham's injury hit:

There's more to life than Football... Well kind of!

Like many children across the globe, Maidstone lad Jay Stubberfield, spent his formative years dreaming of one day becoming a professional footballer. At the tender age of fourteen, he was already representing his local side at County level, and by fifteen saw himself join Gravesend and Northfleet. Things were looking great for Jay, and he was enjoying his football more than ever. After a trip back to his local club Maidstone United, trials for professional clubs including Gillingham and Southend United soon come his way. After everything had looked so promising, Jay broke his ankle. Determined not to give up his passion all together, he turned to coaching. It was here he found his injury didn’t mean the end. We met after a coaching session, and I spoke to him about his decision to turn to coaching and how others could get into it..

BW- So what made you stop playing football and take up coaching instead?

JS- Well I could no longer play due to my ankle injury, but I still desperately wanted to be a part of football, and I found coaching was a way to do this.

BW- And how did you get into it?

JS- I went to the FA learning website where they offer different courses. I did the level one course at Cobdown in Maidstone over a period of 5 days. Once I completed the course I sent my CV into soccer Elite FA which is a local company based in my area and went for a trial, which was thankfully successfully enough to get me a job offer.


BW- What advice would you give to youngsters who would like to get into football at a higher level or in fact coaching?

JS- Believe in themselves. When they get knock backs, believe in their own ability that they can make it. They have got to remember it’s important to keep up a good education as a fall back option if football doesn’t work out. Coaching can be a very good fall back option for players too. Work hard, dedicate, believe in themselves but more important than all, have fun playing the game they obviously love

COD takes over

I'm not referring to the traditional British takeaway favourite, or the track made by AC/DC. For those less gifted with technology acquaintance, I am talking about the first and third person shooter game. The game that has taken over the lives of many of today's teenagers (and many adults too!)- Call of Duty. Does the countless hours spent on these games, and the violence they contain, really affect us that much?

So many studies have gone out to prove this, but is it that bad? Jo Frost is the recent explorer of this worrying situation. She demonstrates the frightful effects it has on children on her new show, Extreme Parental Guidance. She splits a group of young people, one side playing a violent video game, and the others playing one without it. The experiment showed those playing the violent game were unwilling to respond to and help someone (in this case someone who had dropped a pot of pens-set up by Jo), but those playing the other game were more than willing to be of aid. Knowing that so many children play this game, it is worrying to see that children were desensitised from happenings around them. Talking to a parent outside a local Secondary School in Maidstone, they seemed to agree with this assessment. Alison McKay said: "I'm lucky to get three words out of my son when he's on that game, his attitude and willingness to help me definitely changes too". Should parents take more of a responsibility with their children and the games?

Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine say that 'brain scans of kids who played a violent video game showed an increase in emotional arousal – and a corresponding decrease of activity in brain areas involved in self-control, inhibition and attention.' This simply backs Jo Frost's experiment findings, and proves that children can be desensitised by violence.

It seems this is an issue with a cause for concern, and only with stronger age certificates or parents constant guidance will people possibly see a change. Even then its not sure to stop, as parent Alison McKay also added: "My husband is just as bad, he plays it too and always ends up in a foul mood".

Hello Blogger's!

Welcome, this blog is a result of my Multimedia Journalism class. Here I will post (hopefully) several blogs per week! This will include both a range of writing, including news stories and comment pieces. Any comments or suggestions are more than welcome. I hope my blogs are enough to get some kind of response at-least!

Bye for now!