Is Betting and Cheating the way to go in Sport?

Over the past few weeks I've been keeping up to date with the news about the betting within cricket and the shame it has brought upon the sport as a whole.


I'm not really a big cricket fan so I guess I haven't felt the impact as some die hard fans would. What impact does it have on watching a game or even trusting the scoreline. The constant allegations and huge syndicates that exist behind the sport....


But its deeper than that. 
Cricket has been exposed and its been going on for a while, but what other sports really now cannot be looked at with a lingering eye?


Football was thrown under the spotlight a few years ago, but what if the ref was on the books? or a striker having a bad patch, or a goalie who starts missing everythig? 
- all of a sudden questions can arise.


what about Rugby?? - Bloodgate for instance ?
Tennis - well that would be easy to throw a game, point or set here and there.
Snooker -already had a run in recently 


So what is to be trusted of our modern sports these days ? - don't get me wrong when I watch Spurs play the suggestion never enters my mind, but these days you never know what is going to turn up in the Sunday papers.

Songs not to play on hospital radio

When I was around 16 I worked for a local hospital radio station for a couple of years with a good friend of mine, presenting the From me to you show, with the Beatles as our backing track. We were never given the joy of being a producer (that came later) and had to sit in a room with a old microphone carved into the middle of a round table.

It was pure cheese back then, even walking around the wards you couldn't help but feel a little like smashy and nicey.

Some of the wards were for the very elderly and were full of charm and long battles with life, health and happiness- some grumbled, some moaned and some had nothing but a cheer in their heart. 

Maternity was always a strange place, very tense in some areas and very relaxed in others as each mother went through the stages of pregnancy but each sparkly in their own way. We saw 2 women twice through our time there, both laughing that we were still there doing our thing.

I digress slightly, 
While sitting there, presenting our "request show" there were always songs that you could not play, even if they were requested, and I thought you may have a a few as well to add to this list. 
I try to comically look at this, sometimes thinking about it we were so tempted when one of the older crew used to ask specifically for some great things.

Strangely "My Way" by Frank Sinatra was allowed. We worked on the basis that the guy that ran the station only ever looked at the titles and not the meanings of a song  i think it may have been one of the most requested nationally at the time but don't quote me on that

I can remember 3 songs that were on the "blacklist"

Stairway to Heaven
The first cut is the deepest 
Every Breath you take

Feel free to add some more 

The Slush Puppie effect?

A phenomenon I first encountered at the age of 7, which makes me think my Brain has always been a little different from the rest. I may of course be wrong on this but here we go;

I always used to think about the never ending, is it possible?
On the front of a slush puppie when I was a mere lad I noticed the picture





If you notice Mr Slush P is holding a drink which has the same picture, which means that that picture has the same picture and the picture after that, after that and so on and so on


What is the science behind this madness – and can you beat the thoughts of a 7 year old me and beat this strange paradox…..

Since when did Monopoly go all chip and pin?

Do you remember the game. When I was younger I always had to be the dog and I always had to win. The game, for the hours of pleasure it gave also gave us some of the best family "fights" we ever had.

Usually it was down to someone's attempted robbery of cold hard cash when no one was looking from the bank or the constant bad luck of one of my siblings which usually sent houses and hotels all over the place.

Well time has moved on - instead of colourful notes we spent the evening charging up our credit cards. Yes Monopoly even has its own chip and pin unit.
for me the fun was sucked out of it there and then - I want a stack of pink 500's not a card which I have to keep charging up every time I pass go.

I am now half expecting to receive my first "monopoly" card statement through the post to be reminded of that night I spent in a Mayfair hotel without the wife!

Not even the pieces are the same. The humble dog a character whom without I used to refused to play has been replaced, now you can be a burger or a mobile phone for instead.

A burger for a dog ? this is an alternative reality, it must be!