Happy New Year!

I'd just like to wish all Bloggers and those who read this blog, all the very best for 2010, and hope that everyone enjoys their New Year celebrations!

See you in the next Decade!!!

Banksy

Merry Christmas from Banksy!

Well we're finally nearing the day itself, so I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has visited the Daily Banksy this year, some of whom became followers, inspiring me to carry on producing the blogs!

Have a fantastic Christmas, and I hope Santa is kind to you, and enjoy yourselves during this festive season!

Banksy

It's a Rage for Christmas Number One

Those of you who follow the charts in the UK will know of the controversy that's gone on in the past week, those in other countries will possibly not know, so let me fill you in...

A long running show called the X Factor, which was created by Simon Cowell (I'm sure you have all heard of him), and usually culminates a couple of weeks prior to Christmas week, and for the past five years, the winner of the X Factor, which is a singing competition, has gone on to be the Christmas Number One, which has aggrevated many.

Now, I'm all for a novelty Christmas song being number one, you know the type, Wizard's 'I wish it could be Christmas everyday' - I think it should be an annual Christmas songs chart rather than a competition winner, or for what has happened this year, a Facebook campaign against the X Factor, which has seen Rage Against the Machine's 'Killing in the Name' song become the chart topper for 2009's Christmas chart.

This was started off by a husband and wife who were so cheesed off by the X Factor grabbing the number one slot each year, that they began a campaign to see the Rage song beat Joe McElderry - the X Factor winner - and over the last few weeks it gathered pace, and last night, it was announced that the Rage song had sold 50,000 more copies than Joe's single.

The controversy is that the song 'Killing in the Name' is full of foul language, and many - including myself - do not believe that it should be where it is for Christmas, any other time of the year fine, and whilst agreeing that a competition winner should not always be the number one slot over the festive period, a better song could have been picked to rival it.

The question is, will the same happen next year, with another campaign to run a song against the X Factor, or will it be the end of the X Factor as we know it?

What are your views on this?

The Best You Tube Video of the Year

Today, I've just been reading how Susan Boyle has been announced as the most popular YouTube video of the year, gaining more than 120 million viewers in 2009.

Susan, from Scotland, was of course a hit in the Britain's Got Talent show, and has major success already before the year is out, with her album that has made number one in both the US & UK.

In second place was the clip of a 7 year old boy who was recovering from dental work, but who was also rather "out of it" shall we say after his work had been done, that believe it or not attracted the attention of 37 million viewers!

The JK Wedding dance was the third most popular with 33 million as they danced their way to the altar, whilst just behind in fourth was the New Moon trailer (31 million), and also the Evian Roller Babies clip which brought in 27 million viewers.

What's your favourite though?

There have been plenty of near misses this year, which showed the man who escaped from a truck crash on a train crossing, and also the esacped bus in the Russia, where the bloke ran across the pedestrian crossing - there are many more I'm sure.

I think for me, I'd have to go with the bloke crossing the road in front of the bus, how that bloke got away with that I'll never know!




Jeez!

Do you believe in UFO's?

They are a big talking point wherever you go or whenever you see something "out of the ordinary", and having just viewed the following video - it got us all talking at work.

UFO story

Anyway, plenty of people have claimed to see UFO's over the years, and I'm a firm believer that there is life on other planets similar to that on Earth - why shouldn't there be?

Life on other planets could be living in sub zero temperatures, and maybe think themselves that there can't be any life on planets other than theirs - who knows, maybe they have their doubters but also the groups who are determind to prove that there is life outside Mars, or whatever planet they may be on!

At the end of the day, that sky is such a big place that anything could be up there - one of things I remember most is that scene at the end of Men in Black, where we are just one ball in a very large bag of balls, being controlled by a mammoth of a thing up there somewhere - so we could just be playing a very small part in the universe!

What's your view?

When contacts go wrong!

Your eyes bloody hurt!!!
Yes, today, it was time to put some new contact lenses in, so off I went, same as usual - I wear the ones where you can sleep in them, and still be fine in the morning - off into the bathroom, you know the way, when you first get up to go for that shave, and you can't even see straight thanks to that bloody alarm clock going off interrupting what was such a good sleep!

Anyway, stumble into the bathroom - hmmm, sounds like a Dolly parton song there - I promise you it's not, so peel back the foil, pull out the new contacts, sensing that my eyes think Christmas has come early, and they are going to have clear vision again for the first time in a month.

So, contact on finger, head back, contact goes in.... AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Pain, immense pain, scream, pain again, singed eyeballs, think oh well, must have got it wrong there, check if it's inside out, nope - have another go...

AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

The old eye is definitely not playing ball today, think I'll give it a minute, so get onto the other one - great, in like a flash, I can see again, so I'm half way there!

Had another go with left eye, which is now resembling the aftermath of a fight with Mike Tyson, nope it's just not having it. Now I'm think laser treatment, I'm gonna get laser treatment - fat chance with those prices.

Silly me hasn't got a pair of specs to back things up either, so I had one final go, and in it went, but fair play, my eyes were as red as a San Francisco 49ers top, so off to work I go, blinking about 2 million times on the way, and sit at work so uncomfortable.

Look in drawer, pull out saline solution, great - lens comes out, squirt solution on, back in she goes, check best before date, July 2004 - D'oh!

Okay, still irritation, so executive decision made, lens is coming out, and out the whole day it stayed, so I'm half blind, yep, I really am half blind, shut one eye, and all of sudden the world is a very different place!

That's the way it's been all day, even now, back at home, with one eye just wanting it's early night so it can recover - god help me if the damn thing doesn't go in tomorrow morning!

Contact lenses hey, who'd have 'em!

Me unfortunately.

Rats, oh rats!

Last Friday, the ITV reality Jungle show, "I'm a celebrity, get me out of here" came to it's conclusion, however, the row over a rat in the jungle, which was killed by the contestants appearing in the programme, has made the news.

So, why did they kill it?

Simple answer really, they needed to, as they were starving, and were desperate for some kind of food, so they asked if they could kill the rat, and the producers said yes.

Now, the Australian RSPCA are up in arms about it, as it breaks the code of practice that dictates that live animals should not be killed for live performances.

Something of an over reaction don't you think?

I mean, apparently you can't even kill a spider in the jungle due to them being a protected species - what????

The first thing I'd do if I saw one of those things next to me would be to kill it, or actually, I'd probably run a mile, but why the hell shouldn't you be allowed to kill it, I mean if you were in danger of being bitten by the damn thing, well I'm sorry, but it's life has to go rather than mine!!!

Apparently the Australian Police are bringing charges against the two contestants who killed the rat - what a bloody joke.

There ain't half some stupid laws in this world hey?

Where has time gone???

Do you know, I can't believe the days are flying by so quickly right now, I've been involved in a series of football related matters recently, so haven't been able to update this blog recently, so I'm hoping to jump back into it all now!!

I have to admit I've been living on adrenalin the past few days, as I've taken up a position on a group of people who care about their football club, as it's close to being dragged into oblivion thanks to the owners of the football club, which is Chester City Football Club - please see the Blog that relates to that here.

I was amongst others organising a Legends Night, which included several players who wore the shirts of the club, spanning five decades, starting in the 1960's, and was a real thrill to witness it all taking place last night, with months of planning finally coming to fruition, and 200 people had a great time.

So, it's been pretty manic really, but now that it's finished I can maybe get back to Blogging again, something I also love to do frequently - hell, even the Christmas Countdown has suffered thanks to having absolutely no time whatsoever!!!

Who is your all time hero?

This week at work, my company has been celebrating Heroes, no not the tv programme, but modern day heroes, as in normal people who have gone outside the normal way of life to do something memorable, useful, and most of all, to benefit others rather than themselves.

Who would you class as your greatest hero of all time?

Many would say politicians....

Yeah right!

Only joking there!

Many have people such as Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, or even Mr Blobby (that one's for the Brits amongst us, I'm not sure if he ever made it to the shores of the United States!!!).

Anyway, my hero would have to be the person who dreamed up the idea of Football (soccer to the US boys & girls), that person led to so many people across the globe going through the entire emotions available in a human, from the excitement of scoring a goal or winning a game, to the despair of witnessing your team getting beaten with a last minute goal, or even being relegated, or if you check out my Blog on Chester City, you'll see just what a painful & miserable life our club's fans lead!

So, who would be your hero then?

Feel free to comment below...

Hospital staff - they are just great!

Having had a "not so nice" day shall we say, I felt I had to blog about the hospital staff, although maybe they should be renamed hospitable staff!

Early this morning my mum was whisked off to hospital following illness, and as expected the usual worries come flowing through the head, especially considering that she had to go a 7-way heart bypass just a few years ago.

Allmorning I had all kinds of emotions going through my head, at what my mum was going through, she'd fainted 2 or 3 times this morning, and considering what she'd been through, this was a potentially horrible scenario about to unfold.

Anyway, I managed to get to see her this afternoon, and looking better, which was most pleasing, but I wanted to pay thanks to the staff who made her comfy as can be dfuring the day, but also seem to keep a smile on their face the whole day, and I'm sure they must feel like getting as frustrated with things as normal people would, but fair play to them, they just get on with the job.

I'm sure that's pretty reflective over the world, in their profession, but a BIG thanks to them anyway, and if you know of any Doctors or Nurses, make sure they know they are appreciated in this big bad world!!!

That's all!

Feel free to add your comments in support of the Doctors & Nurses around the world!

It's time to celebrate...World Toilet Day

Yes, this is really true, today is World Toilet Day!!

So, never mind the Blog Roll it's time to talk Bog Roll instead!!

Having just spotted this famous day in the world events calendar (?), I'm actually quite distressed to see that in the UK, we've missed one of the ways of celebrating the day, which is to squat in public for one minute at Noon - yes they really suggested this!

Quite a bizarre thought, but it's actually there to drive home the point "Where would you go" if you had no public toilet to use.

This, and other celebration ideas tickled me, and listen I know the theme is supposed to be serious, but you can't help but laugh at some of the suggestions, I guess this is what they call 'Toilet Humour' (insert groan there please).

Here are some ideas suggested:

School Events

• Playing the Spot the Toilet in a photo game!
• Viewing of The Adventures of Super Toilet!
• Viewing a funny video about urinating in public!
• Demonstration by teachers on proper use and cleaning of toilet!

Wow, they get all the shit jobs don't they?

One of the suggestions is to blog about World Toilet Day, and that's exactly what I'm doing, so I'm going to suggest at 6.00pm GMT, we all go for a pee, then the question is "to flush or not to flush" - I'll leave that one over to you!

I won't ask for photos, unlike the World Toilet Day website itself, I don't think I could cope with all that crap, I spout enough on here everyday!

Incidentally, I love one of the links on the website, which is to a site called Give A Shit, which features an article about a man who went on a quest in 2006, to find the best views from toilets!! Here is one of his pictures!!!

So, let me know your thoughts on World Toilet Day, will it all go down the pan, or will it attract some floaters?

My mind has gone blank!!

Disaster has struck The Daily Banksy today - the day was so so busy that I've been unable to write anything down, and get my thoughts going, so it's a bit of a random blog today!

What do you do when you run out of things to say?

Hopefully tomorrow will prove a better day!!!

Have you seen Simon's Cat?

Well I've only just seen this on the news, but a Cartoonist, who basically downloaded a software application to learn how to do animation, has now had over 45 million hits on You Tube of his work.

So, what's it all about then?

Well it's basically a story about a man & his cat, and the cunning things that his cat gets up to - now I don't have a cat, but I'm sure people on here will relate to what is going on in the cartoons, and probably say "yep, my cat does that too" - how do I know this if I haven't got a cat?

Well I've tried the test with friends that do, and they admit it, so here you go, see what you think, fairdos it is quite funny!

Do you blog when you're drunk?

Okay, I thought I'd try something different tonight, and try blogging when I'm drunk - yep, I;ve had a few, and want to see if it really makes a big difference to what I type, and how you actually come across the following day.

It's not unknown for me to have downed several glasses of wine each night, i do like a good tipple of the wine varieties, even on a school night as they say, but does it really affect the way you blog?

I woiuld hope not, i'm trying to type this, and see if I make any more nistakes that usual, as I am quite a fast typer anyway, but seeing if I can identify my typos along the way, I'm hoping that this comes out with as few spelling mistakes as possible, and I'm being totally honest here, I'm not going to check spelling or anything like that once I've typed up this blog - if I don't believe I've made any typos wheilst going through this, then I will leave all alone until I have actaully published the blog and see how I've got on.

My question to all reading this is have you evenr blogged whilst having necked a few, that maybe put you over the egde but still felt compelled to write a blog.

I have purposefully left the blog til late tonight to try this experiment - I love drinking, I don't often do it in the week. ha ha who am I trying to kid, I love a bit of the old wineage!!!

Anyway I think I've made my point now, it's over to tou to tell me if you've done the same, or if you just wou;ldn't dream of blogging whilst under the influence, incidentally, is that called BUI?

Come one fo;lks, tell me how I've done, oo-er I've just spotted a mistake straight away on this line!!

Ooops, oh well!!

Ha ha, I've just come back, as I typed in blogging whilst drunk into Google, and look what popped up:

http://wikidumper.blogspot.com/2006/11/drunk-blogging.html

How funny!!

Right, I'm off for another drink tomorrow, errr I mean now!

Can't believe I'm also typing this whilst watching "Eight legged Freaks"!!!

Winning millions & empty promises!

Last week in the UK, there were two Euro Lottery winners, each scooping a massive £45m, so they won't have to worry about money ever again, or will they?

There are I'm sure plenty of pressures that come with winning the lottery, the first I imagine would be keeping your identity secret, but we all know that even if you wanted it that way, it just wouldn't stay a secret would it?

It would undoubtedly change your life forever, I don't care what they say on that.

Whilst thinking about the lottery, it brought me round to thinking about that film with Bridget Fonda and some bloke, I forget his name now, where he said if he won the lottery, he would come back and give her half of it, I think she picked some of the numbers.

Have you ever done that?

You know, ask someone random for numbers that would make up your lottery slip, and say to them that you would give them a portion of it, have you ever done that?

As a follow up, have you ever, or would you ever actually follow through with that statement, would you return with half of the money for that person? - Imagine the flak you'd get from your other half, if all of a sudden after winning a million on the lottery, you then said to your other half, "oh by the way, this person in McDonalds chose three of the numbers so I'm giving them half of the money"!

You can imagine that would go down as well as a claim that a young boy was stuck in a UFO shaped balloon hurtling through the sky!

So, basically it could be construed as an empty promise, and god knows I've had enough of them in my time, but would anyone be the exception to the rule, and actually give half your winnings away?

I would, well if I won £10 I would!

Segway - the future of inner city travel?

Last weekend, myself & Mrs Blogger spent a couple of days in London, to finally enjoy a Christmas 2008 present, which was a Segway race for two.

A seg-what I hear you cry?

Well, if you've never heard of them before, or not been on one before, you're missing out believe me!

A Segway is a relatively new conception of transport, on two wheels, but perfectly balanced, it's pretty much a stand up scooter, that runs off a battery, and something that is so easy to use.

The talk was that this would be the next mode of transport, something that you'd see people in the big city heading to work on, some day that may still happen, although I would bank on that in maybe the spring & summer months rather than autumn & winter.

Anyway, we were given an introduction on how to get on & off them, and yes, you do need to know how to do this properly, but once on, it's all about balance.

Not as in, if you tip one way you'll fall off, as that's not the case, more though a case of balancing your feet, as your movement if the Segway is dictated by the pressure in the front and heel of your feet.

I must admit, I thought it was a case of push the bar forward, and you move forward, and vice versa to go brake, but no, it's all in the feet.

Once you're on, you put the pressure in to your toes and the front of your feet, and you start to move ahead, and once mastered, you really do build up a bit of speed, and you get more confident as time goes on.

When you want to brake, you simply put the pressure down in your heels, and the Segway brakes, and not so much that you go flying off!

We actually were given the intro then were taken to a slalom where we practiced turning, speeding up, and braking, before we were unleashed onto the course, which was the one in the video below.

As it was a race between 5 people, I really went for it at one stage, and having just come down off a slope, hit the stump of a tree that was sticking out, and went well and truly flying off it, having gone off balance - I flew off straight into a mudpatch, which wasn't the greatest feeling ever, but was a bloody good laugh at the same time!!!

Anyway, I jumped back on, and away I went again, I didn't do too badly, having finished in 3rd place following my George Bush style crash, but it's something I'd definetly recommend, and would advise anyone to have a crack at if they get the chance!!

I must admit though, when I asked how much they would be to buy, I was quite staggered when they told me it would be about £5000+, you can get a decent car for that now - and you get a radio in a car!!!

So, I probably won't get one, but you never know in the future if the prices come down, and they are licenced for the road, they may just become the next best way of going to and from work - it's certainly an eco-friendly way of doing so!

Choices...Choices...Choices!

This time next week in the UK, "I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here" will have started - and for those that don't know, that's a reality programme, where celebrities - if you can call them that - have to spend a fortnight in the jungle, and survive on the basics in life, such as rice & beans, and with very little luxury offered.

They do however, prior to going in to the jungle in Australia, get to choose ONE luxury item to take in with them, sometimes that can be simple things like an Ipod, other times, a pair of hair straighteners, where the hell they think they'll plug that in god only knows!!!

Anyway, let's just imagine you were heading in to the jungle on this experience, and you were given the option to choose just one item to take in with you, other than a basic set of clothes, what would it be?

It's a toughie as you may just fancy taking in a bar of chocolate, but that would be either melted or gone in seconds, so that would be no good, what about insect repellent for all those bugs? Chances are, you'd run out of that in no time at all!!

Mobile phones or any other communications device are not permitted, so don't even think of taking your mobile in there, you can't!

My choice would be a eye mask - I think I'd rather not see what's around me at night in the jungle - admittedly it's not a luxury item, but I think it'd suit me best!!

So, what would yours be?

Capital Cities - The Big Rush

Having just been to the capital of England, London, for the weekend, I returned yesterday with the view that travelling around the capital just takes so much out of your time, and you don't get to see what you wanted to see of the place as you were pretty much caught up in the rush.

So, my question today is, are capital cities all they are cracked up to be?

In fact, whilst I'm asking questions, which is the best capital city in the world that you have visited?

London offers the big City feel, with a Royal twist of course, and has some fantastic views, what with the millenium wheel being the one where you can see most of them from.

Paris, well that of course has the romance attached to it, but if I'm being fair, I didn't really get the romantic appeal, just more of a rush in the centre, and a bit of time spent up the Eiffel Tower.

Berlin, I did enjoy. Despite visiting in the middle of February, with temperatures hitting -11 degrees celsius, and having icicles hanging off my wotsits, I really liked the place. The atmosphere there was pretty good, seeing the great divide that is the Berlin Wall, going up the tower - I've forgotten it's name - and seeing the cathedral that was bombed during the war, although I have to say a favourite of mine, well two actually, no three, was visting the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, and the Olympic Stadium, where the 1934 Olympics were famously held.

I've yet to taste the likes of Madrid, and Lisbon, but look forward to doing those sometime in life, have also come close to Cairo, and Athens, but never made it yet!

As for the other sides of the world, well I've not been to Australia, and have been to the US but only to Vegas & Miami - two fantastic places mind!!!

For those who have been to capital cities, did you find it such a rush in these places too, or did you manage to sit back, relax and enjoy the place?

Bonfire Night - Why does it always rain???

Yesterday, prior to noticing that the Cookie Monster was appearing on Google for the day, my blog was set to be about Bonfire Night, and the fact that many thousands of people would be setting off fireworks across the country on the night.

Well even though I was at college last night, I was listening out for, and watching out of the window for, the lots & lots of fireworks, but really it seemed a relatively quiet night, and this was probably due to the absolute rubbish weather that graced our country the last couple of days.

Fields & gardens all over the country must have been flooded, no good that for firework planners obviously, and the rain yesterday afternoon leading into the evening was shocking, which got me thinking, why does it always rain on November 5th??

Is Guy Fawkes really getting us back for having his head shoved on a stick outside the houses of parliament? I wouldn't be too surprised if he was!

There will of course be many opportunites to see more fireworks tomorrow night, as lots of orgainsed fireworks displays take place on Saturday nights now, which is always good to see if like me, you were busy last night, or the weather, as it was, was no good on the night.

Let's just hope for better weather tomorrow night then!

I've taken over Google for the day!

Well I'm delighted to say that Google has finally recognised my bid to take over the world, and has got my picture on the main page today!

This is it, the Cookie Monster known as "Banksy" has taken over for the day, the world is mine, muhaha muhahahaha....

To everyone reading this blog today, I declare the day, National Cookie Day, so go get your cookie, and sit down, relax, and munch away, as you join Banksy in celebrating Google's attempts to recognise me!!

I have a speech...

I'd like to thank all my loyal readers & followers for helping me achieve my aim of featuring on the Google home page, I'd also like to thank manufacturers of cookies, for making the best tasting biscuits in the world, and I'd also like to thank Mummy & Daddy Cookie for bringing me in to the world.

Cookies!!!!

Munch Munch!!!

If I won the lottery, I'd...

...first of all pinch myself to make sure I was actually in receipt of the winning ticket!!!

Can you imagine the panic and fear of getting to the head office though to redeem your ticket, you'd be constantly checking as you made your way there - oh imagine if you somehow lost it on the way!

What a nightmare that would be, scrambling round like a mad man looking for one slip of paper which would change your life forever - and I don't care what anyone sayd, it would change your life forever.

So, what would I spend it on?

Well, first off I'd buy a big holiday for the wife & I, and constantly treat her now that I could afford to do so - right that's the brownie points scored, now for the real world!

I think I would firstly - after getting it in the bank of course - go into work, try to keep as calm as possible, and just keep it a secret as long as possible - mind you if that worked, I wouldn't want to be sitting in my job for another four years whilst I was sitting on this goldmine, so I'd put a limit of a week on it, before I finally revealed all.

I would then leave work, and set up my own business.

One dream I always had was to set up my own radio station, and enjoy doing that, and I'd make sure that they covered my local club Chester City FC as much as possible, in fact I'd probably re-name the station to Chester City FM.

Would I set up Chester City TV?

Yes, probably, I've already made a start on that one - see here - but obviously I'd take it to the next level.

Other things...

Okay, I'd buy a bloody decent motor, I'd quite fancy a Ferrari, or a Lambourghini, boys toys and all that, you'd just have to buy one of those being a male millionaire.

I'd also keep the Vulcan Bomber flying for another few years, if you don't know what that is, check it out here, with one of the best sounds ever to grace the air, and it's the world's last remaining airwothy Vulcan.

What else?

Hmmm, okay, I'd buy Blogger, only joking, I don't think a lottery win could cover that one!!!

I think I'd invite all you Daily Banksy followers round for giant booze up, and that would include a free taxi home, even for those in the US!

I'd also look to buy an island in the Maldives, paradise on earth believe me, and the staff there are on a pittance, so they too would be treated.

Finally, I'd bring about World Peace - oh no hold on, that's a different competition, and I don't think I'll win that one somehow!

So, what would spend your money on?

Now it's good for you to be grumpy!!

Well rather bizarrely after blogging about depression being caused by eating processed foods yesterday, today i see a news report that being grumpy is actually good for you!

I'm sorry but surely that has to be a load of crap!

When has being grumpy led to you feeling great?

Do we all really believe that if everyone on planet earth suddenly became grumpy then the world would be a better place, for you and for me and the entire human race... Oops sorry, slipped into michael jackson mode there for a minute!

But seriously, would it be a better place?

I doubt it somehow, and there's enough miserable people out there already!

What makes you grumpy though? Anything in particular?

I have to say that probably having no money is the one thing that puts me in that kind of mood, but its something i can snap out of pretty quickly and lets face it the wife would tell me anyway!

So that's todays 'what the hell???' blog!

Comfort Eating - what's your choice?

Just reading through a report that eating processed foods leads to Depression, and that surprised me a little as I tend to eat a fair pack of the old processed foods - yes, I know - what a crap diet, but I like it!

Anyway, it got me thinking about the fact that people do tend to get their munhcing going when they are depressed or feeling unwell, but does everyone turn to processed food, or do they have a choice of what to eat should they be wanting to binge-eat???

I have to say, my favourite is chocolate, I just love the stuff, and it always makes me feel better, for me you can't beat a big bar of Dairy Milk to make you feel that little better about things!

In fact last night, the wife was kind enough to make some profiteroles, and the Dairy Milk was in full flow, as we melted it, and used it as a dip for the little puds - yum yum!!!

It was almost like having a chocolate fountain - only there was no fountain, just that delightful hot Dairy Milk chocolate sauce, christ, I'm just getting my taste buds going now, just talking about the stuff.

So, what's your choice of comfort food?

Crisps?
Pizza?
McDonalds?
Ice Cream?

There must be quite a range out there, so what's yours?

Orange lights in the sky!

Well there was some funny goings on over our city the other night...

There I was tucking into my tea, when the wife - who was on the phone at the time by the patio door, called me and pointed to the sky - so I looked up and saw a massive looking orange light, with a flame trailing behind it!

I didn't know what to feel at the time - excited, concerned, anxious, I just wasn't sure.

All things crossed my mind in that split second, from the glaringly obvious, it may be just a small plane, to the blindingly ridiculous in that it could be ET on the way back from wherever he came from!

Anyway, I started to rule them out one by one... although one of the possibles included a plane on fire, and falling slowly, that freaked me out, and started thinking back to things like the first episode of Lost, and things like a repeat of Lockerbie, as it was difficult to tell where this thing was going to end up.

Thankfully it seemed to go smaller, then slow down, and go in a different direction, so I ruled out the crashing plane scenario thankfully - but the fact remained that I didn't have a clue what the hell it was!

Anyway, it drifted off into somewhere as the light finally disappeared, could I really have just seen a UFO, I sort of hoped I had, as the wife saw it too, but then thinking ahead, we'd need to see if anyone else had seen it!

So, onto the forums I went, and lo and behold someone had seen it, and broke the trains of thought going through my head that I may be the next David Icke, when they told me what it was...

Chinese Lanterns.

Yep, chinese lanters, I hadn't even heard of these things, and rather bizarrely, I went to the supermarket half an hour later and amazingly they had some of these things in their halloween corner, and loads of people were buying them having just seen this in the sky.

So, my hopes/worries of seeing aliens coming to earth was over!

Now though, I'm a proud owner of 2 chinese lanterns, and will be having some fun with those over halloween, and maybe too on Bonfire Night!

When is a robot not a robot?

The answer to the above question is when you see this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8329860.stm

I started watching that and couldn't believe my eyes, I'm used to seeing things like C3PO or R2-D2 in the movies, but this is something else, in fact it's nearly human!

Just look at the way the little robot nods his head to the instruction received, as though he's human - incredible!!

Watching that makes me realise just how the future could look with plenty of these things taking over the world, Terminator style!

Imagine your own little family robot that would sort out the washing up (for those of us who don't have dishwashers), or even getting them to wash the car, cook the dinner, and bring a can of beer in from the fridge for you - oh that last one has just sold me, they got any on ebay yet????

I can just see it now, ten years time, the top selling Christmas present is this little fella - he is a little dude isn't he?

Come to think of it, it may not even take that long to arrive in the shops!!!

Finally today, just a quick thanks to everyone for following my Daily Banksy blog - I've made it to the half century mark, and to celebrate, I'd like to offer everyone a vitual drink on the house, so choose your drink, away you go, and enjoy!


As promised the other day, whoever would be the 50th follower will get a special gift, and that is a link to your blog form the top right of the Blog throughout the whole of November - so thanks for joining Sabulous!!!

Feeling guilty over keeping up with Followers

I had a bit of a guilt trip earlier, as I've committed to following a lot of blogs as I found them all really good to read, but lately, my time has been taken up with other things going on, so I've felt a bit guilty of late of not keeping up with those other Blogs.

Having read a few just now, I have to say I'm seriously considering just having one day a week reading other blogs, there is so much quality out there - lots of them should be money making they are that funny - what are your thoughts, do you ever spend too much time blogging, and not enough reading, or is it the other way round?

Just a short one today, as my lunch hour has over extended a little whilst reading & commenting on other blogs!

A two hour lunch break for all please!

Lunch hours – one hour is never enough!


That’s it – I think I’m going to start a new campaign to have a 2 hour lunch!!!

Why?

Well, today I planned a rare journey into my City on the bus, the one provided by work, however, thanks to some roadworks that were taking place nearby, the bus ended up sitting static in traffic, and taking twenty five minutes to get into the heart of my City, which is normally a five minute journey.

The return journey would then leave just twenty minutes later from the point of drop off, so it left me with twenty minutes to do what I needed to do, which by the way was call in at the bank. What I didn’t budget for was a king sized queue of people to get through, and constant checks of the watch were the order of the day!

Anyway, with about five minutes before the bus was due to collect people to take them back to work, I finally got to the counter, and service provided, and then out, but before I went I got asked if I wanted insurance, you know that type of stuff, where they try to reel you in, just before you go out the door!

I openly said I’ve a bus to catch, but the questions still kept on coming, worse still, they still had hold of my card before I could leave promptly, so that probably added another 30 seconds to my time in the bank.

From there, it was a hot footed run to catch the bus, which I’d just seen going round the corner up ahead of me, but despite some valiant efforts that Usain Bolt would be proud of, the bus pulled away before I got the chance to flag it down.

So, I’d missed the bus back to work, I certainly wasn’t going to get a taxi that’s for sure, and so I had to wait for the next one an hour later – meaning I’d had a two hour lunch – I’d have to work that hour back – and it was all thanks to that lady in the bank asking me those extra questions that delayed me – the only good thing was that her delaying tactics now meant that I’d have to get a McDonalds, complete with a large Strawberry milkshake!!

But I do think we should all have a two hour lunch still!!

James Bond veteran dies... Goodbye Dr No.

Just reading some sad news that the actor, Joseph Wiseman, who played the very first James Bond baddie, Dr No, has died at the age of 91.

It was in 1962 that the first Bond film was released, and began an amazing sequence of films for the 007 character, played by Sean Connery in the first film, and then a succession of different actors followed, including the legendary Roger Moore.

I do love the Bond films though, it's something I grew up with, and really enjoyed as a kid, always wanting the Lotus that used to go underwater, I did have the toy (ah bless), and also a James Bond watch that played the Bond theme tune when the alarm went off - classic hey?

My favourite Bond films have to be:

No 1 - Live & Let Die

No 2 - Goldeneye

No 3 - A View to a Kill

The characters in all of the Bond films are just pure classic, the likes of Jaws, Blofeld, the one played by Grace Jones, and the fantastically named Pussy Galore!

The theme tune to Live & Let Die has also got to be amongst the best ever too, with Duran Duran's A View to a Kill coming a close second!

Everyone has their choice of best Bond actor, but as I grew up watching Roger Moore in the character, I'd have to go for that one!

Anyone else like the Bond films?

You're more likely to die getting hit by a bus...In Russia it's almost true!

Fresh from a couple of news stories recently, where a young boy was allegedly (at the time) in a balloon flying across the skies of the US, and the story from Australia the other day where a baby survived a near death experience after toppling onto a rail way track and being dragged 35 metres by an incoming train, well this time, it's Russia's turn for a miracle story...

Some of you may have seen this footage already, but for those who haven't (and I suppose for those who have), it's simply staggering how the man going across the pedestrian crossing survives what should have been instant death, but somehow his quick reactions meant he was inches away from being bulldozed by a runaway bus, that smashed into the back of an unsuspecting car at the traffic lights.



Imagine what was going through the various people's minds at the time:

Firstly, the Driver of the bus - Shiiiiii.... or whatever they swear in Russian - the driver must have been thinking his time was up when he found that his brakes were not working whilst going at 40mph and heading towards a red light, but worse still with a car in front of him that he was about to smash.

Secondly, the Driver of the Car about to be wrecked - I doubt that the person driving this truck would have seen the speed of the bus behind him via the rear view mirror in the car, and would surely not have had enough time to get out of the car when they did eventually see it.

Thirdly, the bloke walking over the crossing - at the time just a normal crossing to conquer but with the lights in his favour, then all of a sudden, half way across he'll have seen the bus travelling at speed, then knowing the thing wasn't going to slow down, so he just did his Usain Bolt impression and legged it, somehow missing the car that had been smashed forward, and in turn missed being pummelled by the front of the bus that had changed its angle closer to the bloke!

One of the most dramatic videos, and the second part shows the next stage, where it had gone through the lights, and then mounted a kerb, and through a wall, coming to a halt. Amazingly, 19 cars were smashed up by the out of control bus on it's way to its final destination!

It's a miracle that no-one was killed in this incident, you'd have been looking around for Keanu Reeves after all that happened that's for sure!

Unfortunately it also leave a slight dent in the hopes of the leaders of the world aiming to get people to use public transport, heh, I've tried that already for a day and look where that got me!

So, message to all bus drivers, check your brakes before you leave the bus depot!

Unbelievable!!!

Supersize my TV! (but lose that remote control!)

Just read through a news report that California is cracking down on big flat screen tv's because of energy usage, which raised the question from the BBC has the super-size TV set become an object of vulgarity?

I can remember the day when we had a medium sized tv in the front room, and shockingly you had to get up to turn the tv volume up or down, and the same to change the channel - I dread to think what the reaction would be if you had to do that today, mind you I think it could catch on...

"World Get Up Off Your Arse To Turn The TV Over Day"

Yes, I can see it now, people all over the globe risking life and limb to get up off their plush leather sofas and have to brave the old way once again, you know, it may just be the only exercise some people get, remember this video?



Quality!

So, I urge everyone to dump your remotes for the day, get a bit of "Get up & Go" in to your life, and feel the need to change the channel with your bare hands, not with the remote control!!

As for the original question, I have to say I quite like the modern design, I think they look rather cool, I don't necessarily think they are too big, but maybe some do take it too far!

I have a 37 incher in our front room, calm down, I'm talking about the TV, and nothing else - I wish!!

That size is adequate enough for me, although it's a bit on the thin side!

Miracle baby survives after train hits pram

On today’s blog I’m going to talk about the miracle baby that somehow avoided instant death when the pram the baby was in, rolled off the platform on to the track, in Melbourne, Australia.

As you will see from the footage, it’s absolutely incredible that the six month old baby survived, after what appears to be an instant fatality, and the worst possible timing, with the oncoming train arriving.

You can see the lady pulling her trousers up and lets go of the pram for one second, and that was enough for it to suddenly make its way to the edge of the platform, and fly off the edge throwing the baby in front of the train.

The baby actually got dragged 35 metres, and yet somehow, miraculously only sustained a cut on his forehead, but it was also perhaps fortunate that the lady appears to slip when she suddenly realizes what’s happening, as if she hadn’t it’s entirely possible that she would have jumped in front of the train to rescue the baby, but the slip possibly prevented that from happening.

You have to feel sorry for the train driver, who will quite possibly be the worst one affected by this incident, as he will undoubtedly get flashbacks whenever he is pulling in by a platform.

The mother will obviously never ever let go of that pram whilst she has it, mind you the manufacturers will probably end up selling loads of them based on the baby’s survival thanks to the fact that the strap probably saved the little one’s life.
One of the most amazing stories of survival that one.

Boy & the Balloon

Well that was one hell of a story that was being made yesterday, when the world was led to believe that there was a possibility that a 6 year old boy was stuck in an out of control air balloon racing through the skies.

The question of course, after the frantic worry, and genuine worldwide concern for the youngster, is was it all a hoax?

Considering in the interview after the 6 year old was found in the attic, the young boy was quoted as saying "we did this for a show", it all seems as though it was a hoax, I guess there will be no way of finding out, but the parents should be well and truly ashamed if it was a way of getting the news onto them, having been on Wife Swap, maybe they enjoyed the attention that much they thought this would go down well too.

Being in the UK, I've not seen the Wife Swap programme that featured the couple, so I can only guess as to what the people are actually like, but if I was to play Devils advocate for a moment, then maybe the parents should be left alone whilst they deal with their rollercoaster ride emotions.

Of course, leaving the Devil behind, it does seem as though it's a hoax, and if they cared that much surely they would have kept him away from answering any questions - he's a 6 year old for ****'s sake and should be given more privacy than that!

So, what should happen now with the parents?

There will be calls for the couple to be charged for the full scale police operation, added to the emergency services being ready for any subsequent death or injury that may have prevailed, but how can it be proved that this was a hoax?

It's a difficult one this, but I really can't see how it can be proved...

Coming from a different angle now, imagine seeing that in the skies fom a distance, you'd think that was clearly a UFO, how many balloons do you see like that???

I'd have been on the phone to the UFO police straight away!!!

The world's ugliest...building

Just been reading a bit of news about a hotel in North Korea, that has been dubbed "the worst building in the history of mankind", and also labelled as "The Hotel of Doom" and "The Phantom Hotel".

What's the reason behind the name?

Well, apparently work started on the hotel in 1987, yes, that's right, 22 years ago, and it is still not open to the public to stay in, after North Korea's economy nosedived, and the hotel, situated in the capital Pyongyang, was a victim of cut backs, and work ceased on the project.

Looking from afar, it is a massive construction, with a pyramind shape to it, and at the summit of athe hotel, where you can currently see the crane, will be a revolving restaurant!

The Ryugyong Hotel, it's official title, is possibly scheduled to be opened in 2012, just 25 years then after work started on it, as a 100 year anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, who was North Korea's "Eternal president" and father of the current president, and resided in power for 46 years before his death in 1994.

So, work has re-started then on what will be an ugly but fascinating landmark, which begs the question what other landmarks, would you describe as ugly?

There are a few in the UK, the most notable I can think of is the Angel of the North, which is based just south of Newcastle, in North East England, the idea was great, but the actual production, not so great, as you'll see from the picture.

Another ugly one is the O2 Arena, in London, which was originally built as the Millenium Dome, to house an education facility, but that went horribly wrong, and all of a sudden £800m had been spent on a pink elephant it seemed. But then along came O2 to liven the place up and turn it into a concert venue.

Just up the road is the Gherkin building which houses financial companies, looks just like a see through rocket, but doesn't half stand out, it has won awards since it was constructed, but whether it looks right in amongst London's historic venues is open to debate.

If you are reading this please feel free to list some pictures in your comments of some ugly buildings near you, or in your country!