Wimbledon Weatherman

Another observation... why is that Cockcroft bloke always making his weather forecasts live from Wimbledon? Nice little perk isn't it? Get paid (a lot no doubt) to watch tennis all day and then occasionally read out the weather. Bet the camera men love it too!

Rant over.

Pitching to buyers on The Apprentice

It makes me laugh watching The Apprentice. Not because of the incompetence of most of the contestants but because of the arrogance of the w*nkers they pitch to. Last nights episode showed some hardfaced bitch looking deliberately unimpressed at team Venture's (or was it Logic's) efforts of selling to her. It's so obvious they want to impress their employers whilst on the telly. The fact that in reality they haven't got a f*cking clue what they're doing or normally they would be receiving a backhander is besides the point.

Rant over.

Bridesmaids

It was N's turn to pick a film to see at the cinema this weekend... so we went and saw an excellent comedy movie called Bridesmaids. This is not quite the usual chickflick fare and does have some very funny scenes in it. Namely the sequence where the women all leg it to the toilet after having a dodgy dinner the night before at a Brazilian restaurant (you need to see it to appreciate it).

The scene aboard the flight to Las Vegas similarly has some very funny moments. The only thing that disappointed me with the film was the fact it had to finish with the usual - everything works out well in the end type conclusion.

Well worth a watch.

Rating: 7/10

First photo from The Hobbit

Feeling the nostalgia effect now... can't wait for the two forthcoming Hobbit films!

10% increase for teachers' union chief

"A militant union boss bidding to cripple Britain's schools next week has quietly pocketed a 10 per cent pay rise.



Christine Blower, the leader of the National Union of Teachers, was accused of 'breathtaking insensitivity' for taking the inflation-busting rise while tens of thousands of her own members brace themselves for a pay freeze.

Miss Blower's basic pay rose by almost £9,000 to £103,000, while her package of pay and benefits increased by more than £13,000 to £140,000 – up 10.4 per cent.



The increase is more than double the rate of inflation and four times the 2.3 per cent received by classroom teachers last year.


The NUT's accounts also reveal that union members funded a 16 per cent increase in contributions to Miss Blower's gold-plated pension last year. The union paid £26,000 into her pension pot – 25 per cent of her salary, and four times the typical level in the private sector." -- Daily Mail

And this is why the Government will get away with their plans, rightly or wrongly... because the representatives of people who have been treated like sh*t have got their heads in the f*cking trough as well. How on earth does the greedy bitch pictured above think it is right that she should receive such a payrise and added bonus' in the current climate (or any climate for that matter!)

Of course those of us who work in the private sector who have been treated even worse are going to have absolutely zero sympathy for any of it!

Rant over.

Line your pockets Peter Jones

I see it is being reported that the arrogant Peter Jones of Dragons Den fame has been criticised for the overspending of his publicly funded foundation for young would be entrepreneurs.

Criticisms include the fact that Jones' companies have been kitting out the facilities and have charged the charity over £600,000 for services rendered. Members of Jones' family are on the board of trustees and apparently taxpayers money has been used to pay for his HQ. Corruption everywhere you look...

Zombie attack in Leicester

A couple of weeks back Leicester City Council admitted they didn't have contingency plans in the event of a zombie apocolapyse. Then guess what happens? The council offices were attacked by 120 shambling undead... serves them right for cutting corners!

"Listen up people..."

What's all that about? And it's always being said by some US military tw*t in an action film of some sort. But it doesn't make sense. And they all say it. Do Yanks think when they want to address a group it is the convention to bark "Listen up people...?"

Rant over.

X-Men: First Class



I liked the original X-Men film and loved X2 even more... then came The Last Stand which received so many bad reviews I didn't bother going to see it at the cinema - and when I did finally see it - it was indeed SH*TE. I did see the Wolverine prequel, which is reviewed somewhere on this blog and it was pretty average. Now there is First Class... and this one is great.

It is great because there are some fabulous performances from James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender who portray Charles Xavier (Professor X) and Erik Lensherr (Magneto) respectively. These two actors hold the film together and their contrasting motivations along with their friendship really make the film work. The scenes are cut together quickly and everyone of them forwards the story. The action takes place all over the world and culminates with the fledgling X-Men having to take on the energy absorbing Sebastian Shaw played by an evil Kevin Bacon and his cohorts the Hellfire Club as they try to trigger nuclear armageddon during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Excellent entertainment.

Rating: 8/10

Handball

And I'm not talking about the infringement in football... I'm talking about the unknown popular sport in Europe... is the event to go for at London 2012 - or so they said on the evening news as watched by umpteen million people. So now of course everyone will apply for it and it won't be the event to go for... anymore.

Rant over.

Olympic Tickets...

... or lack there of! Like a million or so other people we had applied for tickets for various events at London 2012 only to find we had been completely unsuccessful. So a once in a lifetime chance to see an Olympic Games in our home country has been thwarted by a computer. What narks me even more are the stories circulating of applicants who have scooped multiple events... and what p*sses me off intensely will be the f*ckers who will be going on a freebie corporate hospitality junket. Watch out for the TV cameras picking out the "celebrities" next year!

Rant over.

The Lake District (Part 3)

Not much more to say about our weekend away... another full English followed by about 38 visits to the bog and we were at last on our way home - and guess what? Torrential rain for the entire journey.

Mind you... what really gets my goat was the fact that even though it was a bank holiday... the b*st*rds still managed to charge us the full weekday rate of £5.30 to use the M6 Toll Midland Expressway.

Tom Skelton aka Tom Fool

Muncaster Castle