BBC (Bloody Budget Cuts)

For decades now, the BBC has been at the forefront of television and radio broadcasting in the UK, providing us with some of Britains most popular shows such as Doctor Who and Eastenders, and in the past iconic comedy like Only Fools And Horses, Dads Army, Allo Allo, Fawlty Towers and Hi De Hi to name a few. 

At present they offer 10 television channels in UK, numerous national and local radio stations, the majority of which churn out programs 24 hours a day and BBC iplayer, a popular website and downladable app where viewers can catch up on tvand radio shows they may have misssed..

Some of these shows cost a lot of money to produce, be it wage bills or special effects costs and as a result the decision was taken last year to make cuts in budget of up to 20%, with some less popular channels and shows facing the axe, however some people have vented anger at the cuts, including staff at the BBC who have threatened strike action a number of times.

I wont bore you with details of what has been cut and why as i would be here all day, however i do feel money could be saved and earned in better ways, for example, not paying so called celebrities huge sums of money to appear on  shows such as strictly Come Dancing (despite being very popular) or the upcming talent show "the Voice".

However the main way i feel money could be made is for the BBC to scrap the television licence fee (currently we have to pay £145.50 per year) and introduce commercials and program sponsoring on its network, a move that may prove unpopular with some but as the majority of viewers are against the licence fee, it is something i am sure we could learn to live with, the licence fee is outdated and they could make so much more money in advertising and sponsorship revenue. Whether this will ever happen remains to be seen, and untill such time we face the risk of losing our favourite shows and channels.

WWE NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS PREDICTIONS

Ok i'm going to start a monthly preview of WWE PPV's, and give my predictions for each match, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment box, but if you are going to hit me with the "wrestling is fake" crap, don't bother, yes it may be scripted but it's entertainment at the ned of the day.


Right, down to business, tonight see's the annual "Night Of Champions" PPV, where every title is layed on the line (and tonight, a job is also at stake).


Divas Championship- Beth Phoenix v Kelly Kelly(dc):
Despite getting the better of Phoenix at last months Summerslam, i feel Kelly Kelly's reign as champ will come to an abrupt end tonight, Will Natalya play a part in it?, almost certainly, however i also feel we may see a new addition to the Divas of Doom,


Intercontinental championship- Ted Dibiase v Cody Rhodes(dc):
Cody has been pushing Dibiase to the limit recently,even forcing him to wear one of his brown paper bags, and tonight it comes to a head when theu square off for the IC title, a match i feel Dibiase will come out triumphant.


Fatal 4 way US Championship- Dolph Ziggler (dc) v Jack Swagger v John Morrison v Alex Riley:
With Ziggler and Swagger embroiled in a battle for the management services of Vikki Guererro, i feel that will pave the way for Riley or Morrison to reign supreme, Alex Riley has been on the up and up since parting company with Mizz and i predict this will be his night.


Tag Team championship- Kofi Kingstone and Evan Bourne (Dc) v Mizz and R-Truth:
this is a tough one to call as both teams are newly formed and proving their worth together, however i feel that Mizz and R-Truth will hold off the challenge of Air-boom and become new champs, unless the Little Jimmys get to truth of course.


Triple H v CM Punk:
This match has no title up for grabs, however should HHH lose he has stated he will give up his position as WWE COO, an outcome i think will happen with Kevin Nash and John Laurinaitis playing a major part.


World Heavyweight Championship- Mark Henry v Randy Orton(dc):
Henry has been a dominant force recently, especially where Orton is concerned, however i feel Orton will retain his belt albeit through DQ due to what i predict will be outside interference from a returning Kane or Big Show (both injured by Henry)


WWE Championship- Alberto Del Rio(dc) v John Cena:
Akberto Del Rio achieved his destiny last month at summerslam by cashing in his money in the bank against a battered and bruised CM Punk, and despite Cena being involvedin 2 great matches with Punk recently i fancy Del Rio to continue his destiny, whether it will be a fair victory or not remains to be seen.


whatever happens tonight, it has the potential to be a good quality PPV, fingers crossed anyway!

DAILY RECORD, SCOTLAND'S SHIT STIRRER!!

The Daily record, Scotland flagship tabloid newspaper as some would call it has today sunk to a new low. On the eve of the seasons first Old Firm game between bitter Glasgow rivals Rangers and Celtic and at a time when many are trying to ease the hatred between fans of the clubs, they decided to run a feature asking "Who is more hated at Ibrox, is it Lennon or the taxman", a move which has angered fans of both clubs and has seen Celtic release a statement this afternoon stating that they will no longer take part in any interviews with the newspaper.
I myself am a Rangers fan and i find this disgusting, to use the word "hate" is bad enough but directed at Neil Lennon and the day before the 2 clubs face of is nothing less than moronic. Recently we have seen death threats aimed at Lennon, bullets mailed to him and even bombs and for a well established publication such as the Record (owned by Mirror Group) to run this feature is only adding to the problem. Some are asking if they are inciting hatred ahead of tomorrows clash, the simple answer is yes, they are.
Whoever is responsible for letting this feature actually be published needs to take a good hard look at him/her self and think about what they have done, and if they have any sense of dignity, issue an apology to Mr Lennon and Celtic at the earliest opportunity. Lets remember at the end of the day it is only a game of football, and there is no need for any sort of hatred be it sectarian or otherwise, and we especially don't need a newspaper adding fuel to the fire. I can only hope that tomorrows game is not affected by this and that we get to enjoy a good old game of football.

FROM SHARKS TO SHOCK!- MY 9/11 MEMORIES

Tuesday September 11th 2001, a day none of us will ever forget. I was at home at my flat in my home town of Troon with a friend who had ironically only just returned from spending the summer working in the States, we had chatted for a while and decided to put the movie "Deep Blue Sea" on which i had recorded the previous night.
The end credits rolled and i switched off the video recorder, and the tv went straight to the last channel i had been watching, Sky News and the image that awaited us was nothing less than shocking, they were reporting that a passenger plane had crashed into one of the twin towers in New York, a tragic accident, or so we thought, untill about 10 minutes later we saw what millions around the world saw, a 2nd plane crashing into the other tower, and it went from tragic accident to obvious act of terrorism. At this point my friend understandably wanted to be with her family and went home.
I stayed in front of the tv watching the tragic events unfold as the 2 buildings burned my thought with those poor souls inside. Perhaps one of the most heartbreaking images of that day was the sight of people jumping from the towers to their death rather than being burned alive, i could never even go close to imagining what they must have been thinking. Then came the real tragedy, while no doubt countless numbers of people would have been attempting to evacuate and members of the New York Fire Department were attempting rescues, the first tower collapsed, i remember feeling numb with shock at what i had just seen, i could only imagine how anybody with family and friends in those buildings felt. Then not long after, the 2nd tower came down and with it the chance of survivors reduced dramatically. 
News had also came in about a 3rd plane crashing into The Pentagon building in Washington, and a 4th coming down in a field in Pennsylvania, this was later revealed to be a failed attempt by the terrorists after they were overcome by heroic passengers who gave their lives to save those on the ground.
I remained glued to my tv screen for the rest of the day and into the early hours, wondering why this had happened. Of course we now know who was responsible and what became of him, however the threat of further attacks around the world remains and no doubt will do for a long time yet.






This post is dedicated to the memory of those lost in the attacks 10 years ago today and to the brave members of the New York Fire Department, lets never forget them!!!

WORLD IN UNION- RUGBY WORLD CUP 2011

This Friday sees the 7th quadrennial (every 4 years) Rugby World cup begin in New Zealand. Now it may not have the glamour and popularity as it's football counterpart, however it can be just as, if not more exciting to watch, you just have to watch the 2003 final where a Johnny Wilkinson drop goal in the dying seconds won the cup for England in a hard fought match against Australia to see evidence of this. I also experienced the thrill of a world cup match first hand when i attended Scotland v Zimbabwe at Murrayfield in 1991, what an an amazing atmosphere it was inside the ground.
Whereas in football, the likes of Brazil Germany and Spain are dominant forces, in rugby, the big guns are New Zealand,Australia and current champions South Africa, and with the event taking place in New Zealand one would have to place them as odds on favourites to win on home soil, but the other countries wont just lie down and hand them the cup.
There are some great matches to look forward to in the group stages, the main one for me will be my country Scotland take on our bitter rivals England in pool B,with both teams expected to make the knockout stages, this should be a battle for top spot, however with the ever improving Argentina in the group and potential shock troops Georgia and Romania also there, anything could happen.
Whatever happens during the tournament, and whoever is playing in the final on October 23rd, one thing is for sure, you will not regret tuning in to watch.

NOT PROVEN! BUT WE ALL SAW IT!

With all the transfer deadline day activities yesterday, one story passed me by untill i read it in todays newspapers, Hearts fan John Wilson was CLEARED of assaulting Celtic manager, Neil Lennon during a match at tynecastle on 11th May this year, despite millions of tv viewers seeing the action unfold live on tv. Wilson was also cleared of sectarian crimes despite a match steward hearing him call Lennon a "Fenian Bastard".
Despite being a Rangers fan i found the actions of this moron disgusting when i saw it unfold on tv, but my thoughts at the time were that it had been caught on tv cameras so convicting him would be a no brainer, that was untill yesterday when the jury at his trial came to a verdict of not proven, i mean seriously, the proof was there to be seen, i saw it, the guy down the street saw it, hell Stevie Wonder even saw it, so what the hell were the jury thinking?.
It makes a mockery of the Scottish justice system considering he even at one point admitted he lunged at Lennon. At a time when sectarionism is rife in Scottish football, this has to be one of the worst things that could have happened, it will make every moronic bigot think they can get away with the same thing, my only hope is that the justice system takes a long hard look at itself and learns from this.