Olympics 2012 - 3

 

Well the games have started, all be it before the opening ceremony, GB ladies soccer team beating NZ 1-0 and USA beating France 4-2.

 Of course there are some who already will not be taking part in the games. Greece with all it’s issues have already sent one of their smallest group of athletes ever, and this has been reduced even more by the banning of Triple jumper Voula Papachristou who was expelled from Greece's Olympic team Wednesday for her comments on Twitter mocking African immigrants and expressing support for a far-right party.

It was her attempt at a joke Sunday that went viral. Commenting on the widely reported appearance of Nile-virus-carrying mosquitoes in Athens, Papachristou wrote: ''With so many Africans in Greece, the West Nile mosquitoes will be getting home food!!!''. Her tweet prompted thousands of negative comments that snowballed Wednesday leading to her being banned.

 

She is not the only one however, Moroccan runner Mariem Alaoui Selsouli, one of the medal favorites for the woman’s 1500 meters has been tested positive for the diuretic furosemide at the Paris Diamond League meeting on July 6. 

 

Selsouli became an Olympic medal favorite after clocking 3 minutes 56.15 seconds in the 1,500 meters - more than four seconds below her personal best time at the Paris event…hmm wonder how she managed that?

 

To me perhaps the most worrying is for the French athletes…

 

A convoy of cars carrying French athletes and officials crawled through central London, enmeshed in a fiendish traffic jam.

 

To their right: A specially created and pristine Games Lane set aside for the exclusive use of the so-called "Olympic Family", much to the chagrin of many Londoners.

 

Alas, it appeared no-one had told the Gallic branch of the lineage.

 

So off they went, trundling east in the direction of the Olympic Park at 2mph, perhaps even grousing at the infamous London traffic.

 

One hopes for the sake of the French that their sprint relay tactics are a little more well-honed.

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

My Blogs:

Book Information and Things UK - Across the Pond

Book and a Chat Radio Show Guests - A Book and a Chat

Funny, Weird Or Just Interesting News From Around the World - Laugh I Thought My Trousers Would Never dry

A Real Cold Case

A murder mystery dating back to 1879 has been finally resolved after a skull unearthed in BBC legend David Attenborough's garden was formally recognised as that of a woman murdered by her maid 132 years ago.

Julia Martha Thomas, a wealthy widow aged 55, was killed by her 29-year-old housekeeper Kate Webster very close to Park Road in well-to-do Richmond, but her head was never found.

The case became known as the 'Barnes Mystery', which gripped London at the time.

Webster, a convicted thief and fraudster, chopped up Thomas with an axe, boiled the remains and gave the dripping to local children to eat.

A box containing human flesh was found in the nearby River Thames days after the killing and one of the victim's feet was found on an allotment.

Webster was tried and executed, but the head was never found until it was unearthed in October by workmen building an extension at the home of Attenborough, the face of BBC natural history programmes for more than 50 years.

Thomas lived at almost exactly the same spot as the 85-year-old broadcaster, while the garden where the skull was found used to be the site of a pub said to be a favourite of the killer.

Alison Thompson, the west London coroner formerly identified the recovered skull as that Thomas. She recorded a verdict of unlawful killing and the cause of death as asphyxiation and head injury.

After reviewing records of the murder from the time of her death, along with census records and radiocarbon testing, the investigating officer was able to provide the coroner with compelling evidence that the skull was indeed Thomas's.

"This is a fascinating case and a good example of how good old-fashioned detective work, historical records and technological advances came together to solve the 'Barnes mystery'," said Richmond borough police commander Chief Superintendent Clive Chalk.




Barry Eva (Storyheart)

My Blogs:

Book Information and Things UK - Across the Pond

Book and a Chat Radio Show Guests - A Book and a Chat

Funny, Weird Or Just Interesting News From Around the World - Laugh I Thought My Trousers Would Never dry

A Pub for One

Ever thought have owning your own island complete with a pub, just for yourself? Well a Swiss business man has gone one better than that.

A Swiss businessman is thought to have paid about £2.5m for a small group of islands off the west coast of Scotland.

The deal includes the island of Sanda, which has its own pub but only one resident, as well as the neighboring Sheep Island and Glunimore Insland.

I must admit the "Island of Sanda" sounds very like the location where Thomas the Tank engine and his friends shunt their stuff, which is the "Island of Sodor". Perhaps he's going to turn it into a train theme island??

The three islands lie off the tip of the Mull of Kintyre, 13 miles south of Campbeltown.

The sale was confirmed by Dick Gannon, who had owned the three islands for the past 20 years with his wife Meg.

The buyer was named locally as Michi Meier, who is originally from Switzerland but now lives in Sweden.

Mr Gannon, 59, said: "The island is sold, close to the asking price, to a customer sent over by Hamburg-based selling agents Vladi Private islands, but I can't say any more about the sale than that.

"The new owner is taking over at the end of April. It's a bit of a mystery what he is going to do but I am hoping it will go on as it is now, as a business, as a tourist destination."

I think it is a bargain. Sanda is a beautiful island, you can farm there and you have also got six self catering cottages and an award winning pub
Dick Gannon
Previous owner

Sanda had been on sale since August 2008. It was originally priced at £3.2m but dropped to offers around £2.5m.

Mr Gannon said: "I think it is a bargain. Sanda is a beautiful island, you can farm there and you have also got six self catering cottages and an award winning pub."

Mrs Gannon has always lived at the family home in Campbeltown while her husband was the island's only listed resident.

Although they have three sons and a daughter, none of their family was interested in taking over Sanda.

Mr Gannon said: "20 years we have had Sanda and it's been the experience of a lifetime really but it's a bit like hiding away and I now want to visit a few places and do a few things. There is a life outside Sanda."

Mr Meier could not be contacted, but has been speaking to a number of business people in Kintyre about services for the island in recent weeks.

Terry Smith, who owns farm land at Southend, near the Mull of Kintyre - the nearest mainland point to the 314 acre isle of Sanda - said Mr Meier had visited him last week.

Tourism destination

He said it was his understanding the new owner intended to run Sanda for his family's private use.

Kintyre Councillor Donald Kelly said: "I would sincerely hope that Sanda will stay as a tourism venue and that the community will be able to work constructively with the new owner to the benefit of Kintyre."

Sanda was home to only a few derelict buildings when the Gannons bought the three-isle chain for £250,000 in 1990.

Mr Gannon spent years building the island into a unique tourism destination, renovating the buildings into the award winning Byron Darnton tavern and six self catering cottages.

The Gannons, who marketed Sanda as "a piece of paradise", are selling up because of their decision to separate.

The island's 350 breeding ewes are included in the sale, along with chickens which produce free range eggs and enjoy such a good reputation that customers, including Princess Anne, have sailed in specially to buy them.

The other two islands in the chain are uninhabited apart from a flock of 60 Soay sheep on Sheep Island.

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

My Blogs:
Book Information and Things UK - Across the Pond
Book and a Chat Radio Show Guests - A Book and a Chat
Funny, Weird Or Just Interesting News From Around the World - Laugh I Thought My Trousers Would Never dry

A Sign of the Times

A most people know who live in Great Britain there is a railway station in Wales which whose name is the longest word in the British language. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, is a Victorian composition primarily for the benefit of tourists, for the station serving the village of Llanfairpwll on the North Wales Coast Line from London Euston station to Holyhead.

This week however the Welsh language again caused a few issues.

When officials asked for the Welsh translation of a road sign, they thought the reply was what they needed. Unfortunately, the e-mail response to Swansea council said in Welsh: "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated".So that was what went up under the English version which barred lorries from a road near a supermarket.

"When they're proofing signs, they should really use someone who speaks Welsh," said journalist Dylan Iorwerth. Swansea Council became lost in translation when it was looking to halt heavy goods vehicles using a road near an Asda store in the Morriston area

All official road signs in Wales are bilingual, so the local authority e-mailed its in-house translation service for the Welsh version of: "No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only".

The reply duly came back and officials set the wheels in motion to create the large sign in both languages.The notice went up and all seemed well - until Welsh speakers began pointing out the embarrassing error.

This is not ehe only time Welsh has been translated incorrectly or put in the wrong place:

Cyclists between Cardiff and Penarth in 2006 were left confused by a bilingual road sign telling them they had problems with an "inflamed bladder".

• In the same year, a sign for pedestrians in Cardiff reading 'Look Right' in English read 'Look Left' in Welsh.

• In 2006, a shared-faith school in Wrexham removed a sign which translated the Welsh for staff as "wooden stave".

• Football fans at a FA Cup tie between Oldham and Chasetown - two English teams - in 2005 were left scratching their heads after a Welsh-language hoarding was put up along the pitch. It should have gone to a match in Merthyr Tydfil.

• People living near an Aberdeenshire (Scotland) building site in 2006 were mystified when a sign apologizing for the inconvenience was written in Welsh as well as English.

Barry Eva (Storyheart)

My Blogs:
Book Information and Things UK - Across the Pond
Book and a Chat Radio Show Guests - A Book and a Chat
Funny, Weird Or Just Interesting News From Around the World - Laugh I Thought My Trousers Would Never dry

Sunday UK Blog - A Schmaltzy Ballad or is Punk Back?

To be the number one single in the UK charts has for Christmas has always been something very special. Christmas number one singles are those that are at the top of the UK Singles Chart on the week before Christmas Day. The official UK Singles Chart began in 1952, after appearing in the New Musical Express. The positions of all songs are based on week end sale totals, from Sunday to Saturday,but pre-1987 they were released on a Tuesday due to the need for manual calculation.

Having the UK Christmas number one is very prestigious and leads to a lot of media coverage. Since people are buying gifts for the Christmas period, single sales are extremely high in the week before Christmas, and since the Christmas number one is the single with the highest sales, record companies can make sizable profit from trying to get their single to Number One. Many members of the public place bets with a bookmaker' on who will be Christmas number one.

This general excitement about being number one over Christmas seems to go back to the early 1970's when when there was a huge battle between "Slades - Merry Xmas Everybody" and "Wizards - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" battled to the number one slot (Slade eventually one the battle).

Two years later Queen was number one over the holiday period with "Bohemian Rhapsody", a record actually released in November with no Christmas theme, yet was number one over Christmas. It became a number all over again in 19991, Also as a matter of interest the first record video to appear on UK TV.

Over the years as well as many now classic records there have been a fair sprinkling of novelty number ones. Songs like "Two Little Boys - Ralph Harris, Ernie the fastest milkman in the west - Bennie Hill, Lilly the Pink - Scaffold, and even "Bob the Builder had a number one Christmas hit with "Can We Fix It".

So what for 2009?

Over the last few years TV "talent" programs such as have affected the TV ratings, with the finals set to lead up to the holiday period and of course the winner bringing out their single in time to make it to number one for the period. This year the favorite for Christmas number one was expected to be X Factor winner Joe McElderry with his single "The Climb".

Suddenly out of the west to battle for the number one spot has come Los Angeles rock band Rage Against The Machine's single "Killing In The Name" Like any good throw back to the punk age, the band has already had their record faded and almost banned on the BBC when band singer Zack de la Rocha swore four times during their live performance of their song. (Shades of Johnny Rotten).

A Facebook group aiming to get Rage Against The Machine to number one has attracted hundreds of thousands of members. The groups guitarist Tom Morello said the internet campaign "tapped into the silent majority of the people in the UK who are tired of being spoon-fed one schmaltzy ballad after another".

So who will be the Christmas number one in the UK this year and join so many classic songs? The "schmaltzy, TV show winner ballad" or some good old fashioned Punk Rock?


SO HOW MANY OF THESE CAN YOU REMEMBER?

1952 Al Martino "Here in My Heart"
1953 Frankie Laine "Answer Me"
1954 Winifred Atwell "Let's Have Another Party"
1955 Dickie Valentine "Christmas Alphabet"
1956 Johnnie Ray "Just Walkin' in the Rain"
1957 Harry Belafonte "Mary's Boy Child"
1958 Conway Twitty "It's Only Make Believe"
1959 Emile Ford & The Checkmates "What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?"
1960 Cliff Richard & The Shadows "I Love You"
1961 Danny Williams "Moon River"
1962 Elvis Presley "Return to Sender"
1963 The Beatles "I Want to Hold Your Hand"
1964 The Beatles "I Feel Fine"
1965 The Beatles "Day Tripper" / "We Can Work It Out"
1966 Tom Jones "Green Green Grass of Home"
1967 The Beatles "Hello, Goodbye"
1968 The Scaffold "Lily the Pink"
1969 Rolf Harris "Two Little Boys"
1970 Dave Edmunds "I Hear You Knocking"
1971 Benny Hill "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)"
1972 Little Jimmy Osmond "Long Haired Lover From Liverpool"
1973 Slade "Merry Xmas Everybody"
1974 Mud "Lonely This Christmas"
1975 Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody"
1976 Johnny Mathis "When A Child Is Born (Soleado)"
1977 Wings "Mull of Kintyre" / "Girls' School"
1978 Boney M "Mary's Boy Child" / "Oh My Lord"
1979 Pink Floyd "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)"
1980 St Winifred's School Choir "There's No-one Quite Like Grandma"
1981 The Human League "Don't You Want Me"
1982 Renée and Renato "Save Your Love"
1983 The Flying Pickets "Only You"
1984 Band Aid "Do They Know It's Christmas?"
1985 Shakin' Stevens "Merry Christmas Everyone"
1986 Jackie Wilson "Reet Petite"
1987 Pet Shop Boys "Always on My Mind"
1988 Cliff Richard "Mistletoe and Wine"
1989 Band Aid II "Do They Know It's Christmas?"
1990 Cliff Richard "Saviour's Day"
1991 Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody""
1992 Whitney Houston "I Will Always Love You"
1993 Mr Blobby "Mr Blobby"
1994 East 17 "Stay Another Day"
1995 Michael Jackson "Earth Song"
1996 Spice Girls "2 Become 1"
1997 Spice Girls "Too Much"
1998 Spice Girls "Goodbye"
1999 Westlife "I Have A Dream" / "Seasons in the Sun"
2000 Bob The Builder "Can We Fix It?"
2001 Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman "Somethin' Stupid"
2002 Girls Aloud "Sound of the Underground"
2003 Michael Andrews & Gary Jules "Mad World"
2004 Band Aid 20 "Do They Know It's Christmas?"
2005 Shayne Ward "That's My Goal"
2006 Leona Lewis "A Moment Like This"
2007 Leon Jackson "When You Believe"
2008 Alexandra Burke "Hallelujah"



Barry Eva (Storyheart)

Sunday UK Blog - The Beautiful Game Not So Beautiful

Around the world Football or Soccer as it's called in America, (don't get me on about how grid iron can be called football when the foot is hardly used) is the most popular team sport. The let's call is Soccer so American's don't get confused, the "Soccer World Cup" is the second most watched sporting event after the "Olympics", with I might add the "Rugby World Cup" third in the list.

The qualifying rounds for the world cup finals which will take place next year in South Africa have been completed, and yes USA qualified, if your interested, managing to beat Honduras on the road, cruising through by virtue of an impressive home record.

However "The Beautiful Game" as it is sometimes called has it's own problems right now.

While I was over in England, Liverpool lost against Sunderland in the Premier League because of a beach ball that had been thrown onto the pitch by a Liverpool fan. The winning goal came when Sunderland striker Darren Bent's shot bounced off the inflatable ball and went in. The Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina was totally confused and tried to catch the beach ball instead of the real ball.

In Africa police quelled a riot in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, where thousands of angry Egyptian fans burned Algerian flags and set cars on fire near the Algerian embassy after Egypt's defeat by Algeria in a World Cup qualifying match which secured Algeria the last African place for next year's finals.

In the week in an the whole of Ireland were up in arms after a deliberate "hand ball" was missed by the officials allowing a goal to be scored by France which knocked Ireland out the the qualify stages. Even though the "culprit" French striker Thierry Henry admitted afterwords what he had done, which was plain for everybody except the referee and linesman to see. The football association refused to replay the game, leaving France to go through and Ireland to wait another four years.

This however was nothing compared to a disclosure this week that about 200 European football games are under investigation in a match-fixing inquiry, or so a German prosecutor reported. At least three of the games were in the Champions League and another 12 were in the Uefa Europa League. It has been called the biggest match-fixing scandal ever to hit Europe.

On Thursday police carried out about 50 raids in Germany, the UK, Switzerland and Austria, making 17 arrests and seizing cash and property. Fifteen of those arrested were in Germany and the other two in Switzerland.

Matches under investigation were played in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Austria.

However all this is put in place with one non "soccer related" item that I read about this week.

'Fat for cosmetics' murder suspects arrested in Peru

Four people have been arrested in Peru on suspicion of killing dozens of people in order to sell their fat and tissue for cosmetic uses in Europe.

The gang allegedly targeted people on remote roads, luring them with fake job offers before killing them and extracting their fat. The liquidized product fetched $15,000 a liter and police suspect it was sold on to companies in Europe.

At least five other suspects, including two Italian nationals, remain at large. Police said the gang could be behind the disappearances of up to 60 people in Peru's Huanuco and Pasco regions. One of those arrested told police the ringleader had been killing people for their fat for more than three decades.


Barry



BARRY EVA (Storyheart)

Author of Young Adult Romance/Fiction book
"Across the Pond"

Flying the Flag

So how much is history worth?

The only surviving union jack from the Battle of Trafalgar could fetch £15,000 at auction after it was found in a drawer, auctioneers say.

The flag was flown from one of Nelson's warships, HMS Spartiate, in the naval battle off the Spanish coast in 1805. The Spartiate was the last ship in Nelson's column during the momentous battle -- his warships all sailed in a line to engage the French fleet.

It was presented by the 540-strong crew to Fife-born Lieutenant James Clephan after the conflict, a high honour bestowed upon an officer by his men.

The flag is being sold by one of his descendants living in Australia.

Clephan, who later went on to command his own ship, was one of the few men to have risen through the ranks and was greatly admired by his crew.

The flag, measuring 7ft 4in x 11ft 7in, is made of 31 panels sewn together by the crew on board the ship.

It bears a number of "battle scars" - holes caused by shot and shell splinter damage sustained during the conflict.

The union jack will go under the hammer later this month after being put up for sale by one of Clephan's descendants.

"I think it's hard to overstate the historical importance of this flag" stated the flag owner Charles Miller

It was treasured by his family, who kept it in a drawer to preserve it.

Auctioneers expect the flag to fetch £10,000 to £15,000.

Charles Miller, through his own auction house, is selling the piece in London on 21 October, Trafalgar Day.

He said the flag was the only known surviving union jack from the battle.

"I think it's hard to overstate the historical importance of this flag," he said.

"This was the greatest naval action ever fought.

"The great thing about the flag is it's one of the most emblematic items you can get from Trafalgar.

"This is a bit of naval hardware that has actually served in the action."

Clephan, from Scoonie in Fife, spent his early years as an apprentice weaver and went on to join the Merchant Navy.

He retired in 1840 with the rank of captain and lived in Edinburgh for 11 years until his death at the age of 83.

Barry




BARRY EVA (Storyheart)

Author of Young Adult Romance/Fiction book
"Across the Pond"

Storyhearts Sunday UK Blog - Samoan Commuters "Left" Stranded

Several Sundays ago I wrote a blog about why the British drive on the left hand side of the road, and the fact that it was the original side for passing on, even made so by a proclamation by the Vatican. I explained how it was the French during the French Revolution who started driving on the right hand side of the road.

WHY UK DRIVES ON THE LEFT

This week, I came across some news, which wile not really "UK NEWS" does show you refer to what most Americans thinks strange and that is driving on the left hand side of the road.

On the island of Samoa last Monday at 0600 local time (2200 EST) sirens sounded and drivers were told to move from the right side to the left. They are the first country to make this change since 1970's and it has taken place without any accidents being reported since the switch on Monday, despite widespread predictions of road mayhem from opponents.

A two-day holiday was declared to ease traffic as people got used to the new rules. A three-day ban on alcohol sales was also introduced to deter accidents.

The one group of people who did not think about this change are the Samoan Bus Owners.

All but about 18 of the Pacific island nation's buses are banned from driving because their doors now open onto the middle of the road.

The Samoan government introduced the change to end its reliance on expensive, left-hand-drive imports from America. Also to bring Samoa into line with other South Pacific countries.

Barry




Author of Young Adult Romance/Fiction book
Across the Pond
http://acrossthepond-storyheart.blogspot.com/
http://across-t-pond.com

STORYHEART SUNDAY UK BLOG - THE FASTEST KETTLE IN THE WORLD

A kettle, sometimes called teakettle, tea kettle or the pot, is a small kitchen appliance used for boiling water in preparation for making tea or other beverages requiring hot water. Kettles may be electric or for stovetop use. Depending on culture and historical location, the word kettle can also have a variety of other meanings.


However at this moment at Edwards air base, in California's Mojave Desert. The "Fastest Kettle In the World" is trying to break a land speed record. A team from Hampshire, England has begun four days of attempts to break the world steam car record.

The current world steam car record of 127mph (204km/h) was set by American Fred Marriot in 1906 in Florida.

Usain Bolt set a new world record of 9.58 seconds in the men's 100m at World Championships in Berlin, a speed of 23.3 mph.

Mallard, a Class A4 steam locomotive, set the steam locomotion land speed record - 125.88 mph - on 3 July 1938.

British-built Thrust SSC set the world land speed record in October 1997, reaching 763.035 mph in a desert in the US state of Nevada.

It is hoped this 25ft-long (7.6m) three-tonne car, nicknamed the "fastest kettle in the world" which has reached 137.14 mph in testing, will be able to get to speeds of up to 170 mph in their record attempt.

However the first attempt by the team of British engineers to smash the longest-standing land speed record was dashed when the car's turbine became stuck. Suffering from overheating electrical components,a lot of gas pressure problems, due to the temperature causing the liquid propane to vaporize further up the car than it normally does. They've started using a lot of dry ice to try and keep things cool.

The car which has 12 boilers that turn 40 liters (8.8 gallons) of water per minute into superheated steam at 400C (752F), at 40 times atmospheric pressure, has three more days to break this speed record that has stood for over a hundred years.

So when your making your cup of tea or coffee on the morning, just listen for the news that the "fastest kettle in the world" has broken the steam land speed record.




Author of Young Adult Romance/Fiction book
Across the Pond
http://acrossthepond-storyheart.blogspot.com/
http://across-t-pond.com


OTHER SUNDAY UK BLOGSABOUT

THE GRAND NATIONAL
WHY UK DRIVES ON THE LEFT
MOTHERS DAY ACROSS THE POND
ABOUT THE UNION JACK
ENGLISHMANS VIEW ON BASEBALL
WHAT IS BOXING DAY
BRITISH TV TRANSPLANTS
WHO WAS SAINT GEORGE?
BOBS YOUR UNCLE
SWEET FANNY ADAMS
EUROPE'S GOT TALENT - WELL PERHAPS
GOBSMACKED, BOBBIES AND AN ARM AND A LEG
BIG BEN... OR IS IT?
THE USA NEEDS A CITIZENS CHARTER
FROM CHARIOTS TO NASCAR
WHAT IS FATHERS DAY?

Views, Reviews and Weird News

So what have I got to offer you in this weeks "Views, Reviews and Weird News?

Some fresh reviews at various blogs, a radio appearance or two and history coming back to life



VIEWS and REVIEWS:

GOODREADS ****

I do not typically read books that are geared towards younger readers or young adults, but I am very glad that I decided to try this book. It is very well written and kept me engaged to continue reading and finish it in one sitting. It is a heartwarming story of teenage life, love, and angst, as seen by characters that live in different settings. Yet, it is universal in its story, where anyone that reads it, will be able to relate to it. It did not have the quality of being a book that was "too young" for me to read and I believe it will reach readers on every level. I highly recommend this selection.

LIBRARY THING ****

I do not typically read books that are geared towards younger readers or young adults, but I am very glad that I decided to try this book. It is very well written and kept me engaged to continue reading and finish it in one sitting. It is a heartwarming story of teenage life, love, and angst, as seen by characters that live in different settings. Yet, it is universal in its story, where anyone that reads it, will be able to relate to it. It did not have the quality of being a book that was "too young" for me to read and I believe it will reach readers on every level. I highly recommend this selection.


THE KIDS BOOK CONNECTION

I enjoyed Across the Pond. A strong cast of characters, an interesting plot, some great baseball, and a deep secret all come together for an engaging and fun read.

WEIRD NEWS:

Medieval battle records go online

The detailed service records of 250,000 medieval soldiers - including archers who served with Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt - have gone online.

The database of those who fought in the Hundred Years War reveals salaries, sickness records and who was knighted.

The full profiles of soldiers from 1369 to 1453 will allow researchers to piece together details of their lives.

Thomas, Lord Despenser is the youngest soldier on the database, whose career began when he was aged just 12 in 1385.

Elsewhere, the career of Thomas Gloucestre, who fought at Agincourt, can be traced over 43 years and includes campaigns in Prussia and Jerusalem.

'Remarkable survival'

The website is the product of a research project by Professor Anne Curry of the University of Southampton and Dr Adrian Bell of the University of Reading.

Dr Bell said: "The service records survive because the English exchequer had a very modern obsession with wanting to be sure that the government's money was being spent as intended.

"Therefore we have the remarkable survival of indentures for service detailing the forces to be raised, muster rolls showing this service and naming every soldier from duke to archer."

He said accounts from captains showing how funds were spent and entries detailing when the exchequer requested the payments can be found.

The free-to-use website, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, also shows which soldiers rode the furthest.




Author of Young Adult Romance/Fiction book
"Across the Pond"

Storyhearts Sunday UK Blog - Europe's Got Talent... Well Perhaps

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

There are several events on television that growing up, as a family we always had to watch. Sporting events like the Boat Race, The Grand Nantional, FA Cup final and of course any thing where Great Britain took part in like Olympics. But there were also certain other TV shows that we had to see each year.

The Royal Tournament where we'd cheer on the teams in the filed gun race... Something you really should see because to describe it would take a long time. Believe me it is well worth watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSVrXQqHL44

Then there were the years where the whole house rocked with laughter to the humor of "It's a Knock Out" or it's European equivalent "Jeux sans Frontieres" I'd love to share the fun with my children (BBC Please bring out a best of DVD!)

Check these and see what I mean

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_X8EhnwM9g&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVLuGb2NCtU&feature=related

However one event we all followed was "THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST"

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

It started in 1956 and has been broadcast every year since then. Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition. The Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition.

Over the years the size and number of entries has grown so now they actually have to have heats with countries who finish bottom actually being relegated. One of the really interesting things, if you could call it that over the years has been seeing the "political voting" that has gone one, i.e Greece votes for Cyprus, Cyprus for Greece etc.. Many different formats have been attempted to try and make the voting more neutral from panels of judges in each country to dial in votes, but of course it never quite fixes the politics of it all.

The host of the show, is normally the country who has won the event the previous year, though there has been a few refusals due to the cost of putting the event on. That is why this years event (which took place yesterday (Saturday May 16th) was held in Russia after Dima Bilan won in 2008

Since Lys Assia, became first Eurovision winner (1956) there have been some notable entries and winners, many notable because of how terrible they were many along the way receiving the dreaded "null point" (no points). There have however been some notable songs/acts along the way.

It was in 1974 that ABBA launched their career when they won the Eurovision Song contest with "Waterloo". Céline Dion, who won the Contest for Switzerland in 1988 with the song "Ne Partez. Yes people can sing for other countries not just their own.

Other artists who have achieved varying degrees of success after winning the Contest include France Gall ("Poupée de cire, poupée de son", Luxembourg 1965), Dana ("All Kinds of Everything", Ireland 1970), Vicky Leandros ("Après toi", Luxembourg 1972), Brotherhood of Man ("Save Your Kisses for Me", United Kingdom 1976), Marie Myriam ("L'oiseau et l'enfant", France 1977), Johnny Logan (who won twice for Ireland; with "What's Another Year?" in 1980, and "Hold Me Now" in 1987), Bucks Fizz ("Making Your Mind Up", United Kingdom 1981), Nicole ("Ein Bißchen Frieden", Germany 1982) and Herreys ("Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley", Sweden 1984). Many other winners include well-known artists who won the Contest mid-career, after they had already established themselves as successful.

Ireland holds the record for the most number of wins, having won the Contest seven times—including three times in a row in 1992, 1993 and 1994. In second place with five wins each are the United Kingdom, Luxembourg and France. Spain was the first country to win on two consecutive occasions (in 1968 and 1969), followed by Luxembourg (in 1972 and 1973) and Israel (in 1978 and 1979). Ireland and the United Kingdom both have an average of 72 points per year which is higher than any other country.

So what happened this year?

Norway has emerged as the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, held in the Russian capital, Moscow.

Singer and violinist Alexander Rybak, 23, smashed the record for the most points awarded during the competition.

Iceland came second in the vote, followed by Azerbaijan which took the third place.

The UK's Jade Ewen, singing an Andrew Lloyd Webber song, ended in fifth position - a marked improvement on last year's finish at the foot of the table.

For the first time, voting in the final was split between televoting and panels of musical experts, which was supposed to reduce the incidence of predictable and neighbourly votes.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8052636.stm

So while It's a Knock Out and the Royal Tournament are much loved memories at least the Eurovison Song Contest still goes on.



Author of Young Adult Romance/Fiction book
Across the Pond
http://acrossthepond-storyheart.blogspot.com/
http://across-t-pond.com


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