At this time of the tournament (errr, that’ll be the rugby world cup then) it is customary for us pundits and analysts and those of us who understand the game fully in all its political, socio-economic and global contexts, to say whose gonna win, whose been the best teams/players so far, the chances of progressing – Read More-
I just turned on the tv to see what rugby was playing, decided against the Argentina vs Namibia game on the grounds that I really don’t give a shit and was about to turn off when just a quick channel flick showed me that the Russian Grand Prix was about to start. And I can – Read More-
Today is Wales day. Its official. Not St David’s day. Nor Welsh Independence Day, mainly because they’re not, never have been and never will be able to afford to be independent. But its just plain Wales Day. So first there’s the rugby, Wales playing Australia. The teams who between them ruined the hopes and aspirations – Read More-
Cocaine was introduced to Europe by Sigmund Freud. Not a lot’a people know that. But old Siggy, psychoanalyst and collector of old Vienna, on his travels was given a coca plant somewhere in South America, and told that by making ‘tea’ with its leaves, it would give him a cure for fatigue to enable him – Read More-
Daphne Self (who???) was a model. About 70 years ago. She then came out of retirement at 70 to model some old things. Shrouds. Widow-wear. I don’t know. But she’s a lovely woman, now 87 and I think has a future, even now, playing Dracula’s grandma in the next Bram Stoker offering. But Daphne has – Read More-
Yet more cries from Barak Obama and at least 4 other Americans for some kind of gun control following last week’s latest shoot-em-up tragedy at a college in Oregon. The problem really is with the other 350 million people there who either work for arms companies, represent them in the gun lobby, or just want – Read More-
That’s the job of a striker. He shoots; he scores. Job done. Go home happy. But generally what happens is, he shoots; he misses by a mile. He shoots; he hits a player’s leg. He shoots; he falls over the ball. How hard can it be? Ball; goal; join the dots. Sergio Aguero can do – Read More-
Rugby is a tough, brutal, violent game that very occasionally degenerates into bursts of wonderful athleticism. It moves from ‘tractor’ to ‘Ferrari’ in an instant. The second Australia try last night was just such a moment. A sudden surge of speed, power, perception, ability and the combination of two players at the very apex of – Read More-
We all have nuclear buttons. We have one at home, just next to the freezer. If I go for ice for my (6th) whiskey and miss, Leningrad gets fucking nuked. And that’s the problem. Or one of them. There are two thousand six hundred and ninety-four problems that I’ve counted so far in the whole – Read More-
This is what Fleet Street looked like on Wednesday night. Every taxi in the world was parked there. Two lanes each way, from Blackfriars to Aldwych and up Chancery Lane and anywhere else they could block. You can never find a taxi when you need one, but when you don’t, 2,000 of them land on – Read More-