Jedi Degree, Red Light Gallery and Last of Grange Hill

Want to learn how to be a Jedi? Then sign up to the Belfast University one-day course starting in November. Just remember not to go over to the dark side...

Something like nostalgia came back when I heard that the BBC tv-series Grange Hill has shown its last episode. This is a series that's been going on since I was at primary school. Despite not having watched it for probably 18 years, it's intro music always gets stuck in your head when you think about it. Lets hope whatever they use to replace it is also memorable enough (for good reasons).

Want to see the 'sights' of Amsterdam without actually crossing the channel? Then head down to the national gallery, where an exhibition of the red light district is currently being shown (no, they're not real people in the windows...).

For those broccoli lovers out there (yes, Olga, that's you :) take heart in the fact that research now suggests that eating this vegetable helps your lungs against serious diseases. Put that together with the research from not long ago that broccoli also protects you against diabetes effects on blood vessels. So get some of it on your plate now !

As the world championship of conkers gets underway, a health and safety office has decided to back the event in order to show they don't want to be spoilsports in such fun and games. So get your conkers in the oven, the vinegar out, and thread those strings through.

As the preparations for the tailgating in Ann Arbor get underway, let's see if a miracle can happen, and Michigan can actually win...

Eat your greens...

Importance of Online News Sites, French Big Sister, and More Para-Golds

So nobody really reads news stories online, you say? Well, due to a 6-year-old story about United Airlines appearing on the Google News Site this week, United's share prices fell 75% !!! Obviously someone important was reading that story...

I couldn't believe what I was reading in this article on the Register which tells about a database of French people being created of anyone likely to cause trouble. This list includes politicians, businessmen, trade unionists etc. Apparently it will be converged with the new biometric ID cards in France, in order to have a complete picture of anyone that might at some point become interesting...sounds like the UK version gone awry...

So you're not quite following the Tour de France since Armstrong left it in 2005? Pack you yellow jersey and book your flights, he's coming back out of retirement for the 2009 race. Let's see if the sport gets an image boost through this...

The Olympics might have been a triumph for the UK, but the Paralympics are becoming a dream. Great Britain is currently in second place to China, with a total of 61 medals (29 of them gold). Well done team GB !!

Can't wait for 2012...

Weddings, Drugs and a Lump of Sugar

Yesterday was a special day. Yes, Britta and Johannes got married in Darmstadt (after 10 years of being together) to the delight of many children. The drinks flowed, the sketches were hilarious, and fun was had by all.
In another city in another country, another couple also got married. After nearly as many years together, Alberto (Albakra) and Sofia tied the knot in Valencia.
So to both couples congratulations are sent out, and may they celebrate many happy years more.

The latest sporting drugs scandal has been declared. No, not in cycling, nor in running, but in Sumo wrestling. Yes, no longer can you assume that those hefty sportsmen are so dedicated to their sport, as a number were found to have been taking marijuana. Yep, steroids are not needed for this sport, they obviously need to relax after a sweat-filed game...

Another unbelievable story is that of an elephant in China that was recovered from illegal traders and found to be having withdrawal symptoms. Apparently the traders had been feeding it with heroin-injected bananas. After a spell in rehab, it seems like it has been cured of it's addiction, and now only requests clean bananas hand-picked by girls dressed in hula-hula dresses...

The Czech government has come into controversy after a new PR campaign to let it's inhabitants know about its forthcoming presidency of the EU. It used a saying about making the EU sweeter with a lump of sugar which also means to make it taste it's own medicine apparently. There are no translation problems to blame, those are the two meanings in the Czech language. The questions for the president are flooding in...

And after having made it to forth place in the Beijing Olympics, Great Britain is now leading the board in the Paralympics with 4 gold medals after only one day. Let's wish them all the best for the rest of the Games...

Sixteen years is a long time in politics. Especially when there are no democratic elections.
Well after that amount of time without, Angola has just held it's parliamentary elections which observers say seemed to be fair. Let's hope the African Nation picks up it's pieces after the civil war and manages to make the best use of all its natural resources.

Back to the autumn...