Bit of a news round-up today. Here are some of the stories I’ve bookmarked recently:

This article about North Korea is maybe slightly biased? It’s opener of, “In a cold sweat, I was led away by the jackbooted and armed North Korean border guards to a bleak side room” is a fair indication of how the rest of the article goes. Fair and balanced news reporting from The Sun as usual.

For some reason I like this story about a Hypnotist Thief from the BBC.

The Pen Spinning Tournament in Japan. Check out the videos by clicking on the pictures.

Big Business and the NHS from The Guardian. “No minister can now discuss the NHS without mentioning “new providers” or “alternative providers”, which is their code for private companies, or “choice” and “reform”, which means privatisation.”

Also at The Guardian (yes, I do read other papers) is a look on why people hate Heather Mills. I’m a fan of hers which makes me quite unpopular as to most people she’s on par with Myra Hindley.

I have some bad news for any of you who went to Margate on their holidays as a child. The Scenic Railway in Dreamland, Margate, has been burned down. The site lost it’s Big Wheel many years ago and has slowly been stripped back so that almost just the Scenic Railway rollercoater was left. I still think was the scariest rollercoaster in Britain, mainly due to the fact is was all pretty much wooden and saw it’s fair share of fatalities over the years. It was Grade II listed and it was only a matter of time before somebody put a match to it. The property there will be worthy a few quid now, probably. Best keep an eye on who profits out of this.

Live Web Cam of the peregrine falcons at the top of Sussex Heights.

And finally a video. I’m not very good with heights and this walk along an abandonded ridge way defies belief.

It’s traditional here for me to let you know what my Grand National selection is. This year, like my disastrous 2007, I haven’t had time to study form, listen to pundits or get the word on the street. So what you’re left with is plain guesswork.

There’s no horses sticking out for me so it’s gonna be one of those years where most of my bets will be on clapped out old nags that might just finish somewhere in the first 4. I’ve placed each-way bets on:
NAUNTON BROOK 100-1
FUNDAMENTALIST 66-1
L’AMI 40-1

And of course, I had to put some money on one horse to win, and it didn’t take long to pick this one. My 2008 winner of the Grand National will be …..
KING JOHNS CASTLE 16-1

If you can’t make it to the bookies just click on the Ladbrokes link on the right (5th down). Good luck!