His Royal Dryness, The Duke of Cork

BBC News - German bank 'blown up by robbers in botched raid'

BBC Sport - Football - Goalkeeper David James eyes Portsmouth manager role This is interesting! I'm also still a bit surprised at the keepers we're taking to the world cup. James was relegated with Portsmouth and is still a liability. Hart is promising. He finished fourth in the Actim Stats so is highest-placed of the English keepers. Green is also promising, but like James, played for a team at the bottom end of the table. Robinson would still be my pick of the keepers. He's top half of the Actim Stats and has a point to prove. We shall see...

I recently stayed at the Royal Comfort Hotel in Kettering. I think it is now just called the Royal Hotel. It's easy to see why they dropped the Comfort bit of it. My nickname for it used to be the Royal Discomfort Hotel. This once majestic building really is suffering and I've stayed there a few times, each time with a story to tell. This time I thought I'd document it. My first room had loads of flies buzzing around outside the door. The open fire escape was above a massive skip. Nice. They changed my room without much fuss, putting me in a double instead of a single. It was OK, but several things amused me (apart from the toilet seat). Pictures below tell the story. Hopefully, they will give the hotel the lick of paint it deserves and turn it into a really nice place to stay. It's a fantastic building, with some lovely parts inside (genuine, old, wooden-carved seat benches). I was only here one night. Previously I have stayed here for a week and didn't have ho

BBC Sport - Football - Sheffield Wednesday end Club 9 Sports investment talks Oh dear.

BBC Sport - Football - Wilkinson replaces Strafford as Wednesday chairman : "Wilkinson replaces Strafford as Wednesday chairman" Oh dear!

BBC Sport - Football - Sheffield Wednesday reject Club 9 investment offer : "Sheffield Wednesday have rejected Club 9 Sports' offer to invest in the relegated Championship club."

This is incredible.  Two candidates got 1034 votes each in the election, so they recounted a few times and kept getting 1034 votes each.  They have to decide who wins, so apparently the "rules" state that you can decide the result on the flip of a coin or the drawing of cards. BBC News Page explaining the story The story explains more, but I found it incredible.  Votes tied!  Votes the same!  Win by drawing cards! And, of course, he drew lucky number seven....