Sportlobster: Wayne Rooney and England Politics

"Despite disappointing at the World Cup, being suspended for most the Euros, and being far from England's best player in his position, Wayne Rooney has been named captain of the England football team.

Liberty Belle: 'I belong in Your Arms' by Chairlift

"This is a track I stumbled across whilst browsing a playlist made be The 1975. Whatever your opinion on the guys who sang ‘Chocolate’, they do have very good taste. Their playlists always contain artists like David Bowie, M83, My Bloody Valentine… The kind of lists that make music critics go weak at the knees, basically.

Sportlobster: Man City Build Up

"Last season, this was a cracker.

Liverpool took the game to the hosts with Suarez, Sterling, and Coutinho wreaking havoc amongst the sky blue defence. After a goal from Coutinho, the linesman denying Sterling, and Glen Johnson missing a sitter, it was as ever Liverpool's defence that cost them. Kompany beat his marker to score from a corner, before Simon Mignolet got his feet in a flap and couldn't prevent Alvaro Negredo from scoring just before the break - having seen his centre backs flap around a pair of forwards themselves.

As much as we'd love to see another game like that, preferably one with a different linesman and a more organised defence, the timing makes it quite unlikely."

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Science Nutshell: CryoSat Measures Bleak Future For Antarctic Ice

"New research undertaken by ESA at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany, has shown the rate at which the ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica are melting to be 500 cubic kilometres of ice per year."

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Liberty Belle: MIC vs TOWIE vs Geordie Shore

"Like it or not, scripted reality TV shows are still going strong. Despite the painfully awkward chat, the horrendous fake tan, and how every episode seems to ends in tears, people are hooked on the escapades of Holly Hagan, Jamie Laing and co.

Liberty Belle: Blessa Feature

"Blessa are a five-piece indie band from Sheffield, who first introduced themselves via debut single ‘Between Times’. The song, typical of their sound, couples dreamy pop music with a stylistic nonchalance that effortlessly sticks in your mind.

Since then the band have released a four track EP titled ‘Love is an Evol Word’, as well as a video for opening track ‘Unfurl’. We spoke to Jake from the band to find out more about, amongst other things, the video, the reaction to their EP, and the future of the band."

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Sportlobster: Why Mario?

Balotelli playing second to Sturridge in a group selected for their mentality and character. Like that's ever going to happen #LFC
— Jamie Doherty (@Jamielikeszelda) August 20, 2014

"One day on from claiming Balotelli to Liverpool was never going to happen in a million years, it turns out I was really wrong. Although we are yet to see pictures of the striker posing next to things at Melwood, the transfer (it seems) is nailed on. But after the hand bags and fireworks of his first spell in the Premier League, why?"

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This is a piece I wrote for Sportlobster in response to overwhelming reports suggesting Mario Balotelli was about to sign for Liverpool FC. Using his goal scoring stats I try to answer, and pose a few questions as to, why Liverpool would want to sign the controversial forward.

Liberty Belle: Y Not Festival Preview

"Set in the depths of Derbyshire, Y Not is one of the UK’s most popular independent festivals. With its relatively small size and annual fancy dress day, it’s garnered a reputation for being fun and friendly. This is a reputation I personally testify to. During my first visit to Y Not, myself and two others, who would have been strangers before the festival started, managed to get a picture with two members of Dog is Dead in the middle of the arena. I’ve been to many other festivals and this kind of friendly atmosphere is uncommon, let alone having bands casually hang out with festivalgoers."

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This is a piece I wrote for Y Not Festival as part of our press pass agreement. The article talks briefly about the festival in general before going through the lineup recommending artists for people to see. As well as the written piece I included a spotify playlist for artists from the line up to provide a soundtrack to the article.

Sportlobster: Preseason is over, the PL is a scary place.

"It started at Old Trafford, continued on at the King Power Stadium, nearly spoiled the day at the Emirates, before finally stopping to make Anfield look a nervous wreck. The optimism from the close season, fuelled by clever signings and games in sunnier climates, completely gone in a flurry of poor marking and lose passing. The realisation that preseason is over, and how the Premier League is a scary place, had definitely set in."

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Liberty Belle: Tramlines Festival Feature

"After three days of live sets, surprisingly good weather, and struggling to decide the best way to Queens Social Club, Tramlines has sadly come to a close. Despite a string of line up clashes and a slight ticket kafuffle, we’ve managed to survive the heat and report back to you on some of the best acts to perform at the festival. There might be a special mention for one of the worst too… Enjoy!"

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After live tweeting throughout the festival, I tried to incorporate this into the piece by embedding some tweets. Sadly, due to the limitations of our web host, the tweets couldn't be physically embedded and so had to be included as screen shots. As you can see, for whatever reason, this led to the tweets appearing blurry and slightly dampening the presentation of the piece. However, I think the tweets still made the review feel more authentic, albeit pixelated as well.

Sportlobster: LFC Season Preview: Lovren replacing Suarez?

"This Sunday Liverpool begin their league campaign at Anfield, ninety-eight days after the surprise title challenge of last season officially came to an end. Despite his departure from the country, the main narrative for Liverpool’s new season still manages to revolve around Luis Suarez. The difference this time however is that, rather than his skill or misdemeanours; the questions for the new season are about how the team can replace him."

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Science Nutshell: Quantum Mechanics Goes Down the Rabbit Hole

"Quantum mechanics already hosts a number of strange quirks and baffling behaviours, wave-particle duality and Schrödinger cats to name just a couple. But the latest phenomenon to be observed is more akin to something from Alice in Wonderland."

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Science Nutshell: Australia’s drying up because of our greenhouse gas emissions

"The southwest of Australia is currently in the midst of a dramatic decline in rainfall. Since 2000, Perth has received less than a quarter of the average water flow into its reservoirs when compared to the annual average between 1911 and 1974. As well as this, there is been a 20% decline in winter rain since the 1960s in the same area, and average annual rainfall is expected to drop 40% compared to the mid-20th century."

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Science Nutshell: NASA launches Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2

"Last week, NASA launched its first dedicated carbon dioxide observing spacecraft. Named The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), the craft is a direct replacement for the original Orbiting Carbon Observatory built in 2009. The original craft had the unfortunate fate of failing to detach from its rocket at launch, crashing into the Indian Ocean after briefly leaving the Earth’s atmosphere."

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