Coffee, Sudoku and Big Lies...

Friday at a Glance!

Day 139 of 2012
227 days to go til 2013
220 days until Christmas
160 days until the 23rd James Bond film ‘Skyfall’ is released
69 days until the Olympics in London 
32 days until the Summer Solstice 
8 days until the Eurovision Song Contest in Azerbaijan

• It’s International Museum Day, Go to work naked day, World AIDS Vaccine Day, National Walk To Work Week, Scouts Bob A Job Week, International Ideas Week, Music is GREAT Week, Adult Learners' Week, British Sandwich Week, British Silver Week, Children's Heart Week, Cleft Lip & Palate Association (Clapa) Awareness Week, National Doughnut Week, Christian Aid Week, Cancer Prevention Week, Action For Brain Injury Week, Arthritis Care Week, Foster Care Fortnight, International Action on Stroke Month, International Better Hearing and Speech Month, Craft and Design Month, Hair Loss Awareness Month, Hughes Syndrome  Awareness Month, Local & Community History Month, National Wine Month, Save a Baby Month, National Share a Story Month and National Asparagus Month. 

• There are 5 days to go until X Factor auditions kick off in Liverpool and ITV need to get a new judge quickly, looks like Danni Minogue’s demands for £5m have been rejected by ITV & they don’t know who to get now! HELLO!! I’LL DO IT FOR A MILLION!! 

• Want to ask someone a question and want to know the truth? Send them a text… A study says that we tell the truth more when asked a question via text – even on very personal subjects! 

• Sad news yesterday...Donna Summer died from lung cancer – she was only 63. The five-time Grammy Award-winner was in Florida when she passed away... 

• Own your own home? Get ready to be whacked. They’re saying sharp increases in the cost of mortgages are on the way. The papers are calling it a’ bitter blow’ for the UKs 11.2million mortgage holders and comes as a direct result of the chaos in the Eurozone. 

• The Facebook split: An Indian woman has filed for divorce after her husband didn’t change his relationship status to ‘married’ She’s approached a court, saying she can’t trust him after he failed to announce their marriage online! 

• Adele, Take That and Gary Kemp were all among the winners at the Ivor Novello Awards. The show celebrates excellence in music writing from composers across all genres. 

• TOP Cat is getting a new lease of his 9 lives in his first movie. The manipulative moggy, who sprang to fame in the 60s is back in New York’s Hoagie’s Alley and cooking up his usual money-making schemes with his gang – Benny, Fancy-Fancy, Spook, The Brain, and Choo Choo. This time Top Cat, falls in love with a corrupt police chief’s moggy called, Trixie. 

• Glee bosses say all the regular cast members will be back for the shows 4th season. Most of the regulars were rumoured to be leaving due to graduations from McKinley High in next week's finale, but most will now stay... As long as the comic genius that is Coach stays I don’t mind... 

• Lady Gaga says she might move to the UK permanently. she says she loves tea – and deep fried battered Mars bars. She says the Scottish "delicacy" is like Christmas in her mouth. 

• Thinking of becoming parents? It costs around; £165,000 bringing up you’re first child a new report is saying. And let’s be honest they’re worth a hundred times more… Raising kids is probably the most worthwhile thing you will ever do. 

• Wall Street invites the world to buy shares in Facebook from lunchtime… Its going to be a $104 billion gamble for some of us and the winner will be Mark Zuckerberg, a hoodie-wearing 28-year-old… 

• It’s Walk To School Week… A fifth of kids, 20 %, don't know where they live because they’ve never walked to school. A survey's found most kids get lifts to school; so they don't have any local knowledge. 

• So who is going to get the gig at Liverpool? Andre Villas Boas has been linked with the Liverpool job. I think he'll be a big success. This time he can’t make the mistake of leaving the good players on the bench... Are there any good players at Liverpool?! 

• Are we now a Nanny state? A new No10 scheme will text and email parents with child-rearing tips from choosing baby names to changing nappies it was announced last night… 

Barnsley Town Hall is set to re-open today. It's been closed for almost 18 months, as part of a multi-million pound project to turn parts of it into a museum. It's the first official event there since its closure and the museum should open in the summer. 

New community controlled gardens and vegetable plots could be created in Barnsley. Its one concept Barnsley Council is looking at, so it can hand over allotments to the public. Residents would then be responsible for them. 

School Test...

Today’s homework question is on Science... 

What is the term for a positive electrode?  

The answer to yesterday’s question... What do you call a diagram used to represent sets? was A Venn Diagram. 

Rod’s Unsolved Mysteries of the Cosmos #83… Why do people look up when they think? 

Own your own home? Get ready to be whacked. They’re saying sharp increases in the cost of mortgages are on the way, and that comes from the Bank of England. I remember mortgage rates of 15% in 1990, let’s hope it doesn’t get that bad again? The papers are calling it a’ bitter blow’ for the UKs 11.2million mortgage holders and comes as a direct result of the chaos in the eurozone. The crisis over there is driving up the cost of borrowing over here. They’re saying we’ll have to find thousands of pounds extra a year, and some will be pushed ‘over the edge’. And you can bet rates for savers will continue to stay at record lows... Banks eh ...heads they win ....tails you lose...I’d like to know where all the money has actually gone? Answers on a postcard please… 

Thinking of becoming parents? Apparently we’re underestimating the cost of having kids. It costs around, £165,000 bringing up you’re first child a new report is saying. And let’s be honest they’re worth a hundred times more… Raising kids is probably the most worthwhile thing you will ever do. And if you think you can get married on the cheap, think again… The average wedding is likely to cost around £20,000, when most of us have an optimistic estimate of about £8,000… 

Wall Street invites the world to buy shares in Facebook from lunchtime. It’s going to be a $104 billion gamble for some of us and the winner will be Mark Zuckerberg, a hoodie-wearing 28-year-old. It’s no wonder, then, that today’s stock market launch has evoked almost as many shivers of fear in the business world as it has gasps of excitement. The boss of Facebook will ring the opening bell on New York’s NASDAQ exchange later. And by 5 o’clock tonight, he’ll become the world’s 15th richest man with £15 billion in the bank! And also set to become a billionaire, U2’s Bono – who bought 2.3% of Facebook a couple of years ago…That’s going to be worth £940 Million by teatime…Anyone remember My Space? I didn't think so. 

Its Walk To School Week...A fifth of kids, 20 %, don't know where they live because they’ve never walked to school. A survey's found most kids get lifts to school; so they don't have any local knowledge. When I was a kid my granddad would drive me to school, which meant that I didn’t know where I lived…. And he couldn’t remember. More than three quarters of British kids live within two miles of their school. In London, where driving is less common, schoolchildren were the most savvy about their local area. 

We could be shelling out could spend an extra £776million a year on fuel if the motorway speed limit is raised to 80mph a campaign group is saying this morning. Julie Townsend from the road safety charity Brake, is saying "Raising motorway limits is dangerous and costly,” I just hope one day they introduce a law for a minimum speed limit… Doing 50 in the middle lane on a motorway is surely more dangerous…. And why is it that on a hill I always seem to get stuck behind 3 lorries all over taking each other…One doing 50, another doing 51 and the one in the outside lane doing 52??! 

Here's one name you're not likely to find in a list of the year's most popular girls' names. If you’re on Facebook you’ll know the 'thumbs up' feature on the site, which allows you to like a comment without having to make a long reply. So, an Israeli couple, both fans of Facebook, have decided to name their new daughter 'Like'. I suppose we ought to be grateful that they didn't choose to name her 'Poke'. It remains to be seen whether ‘Like’ is going to grow up to enjoy sounding as if she never finishes introducing herself ('Hello, my name's like...'). Her parents reckon: 'It’s important to give the kids names that are not used anywhere else, at least not in Israel.' No chance of that! 

Doctors are thinking of trialling Sudoku as a painkiller instead of morphine…Tests have discovered mental distraction can reduce pain. The University of Hamburg carried out scanning studies which showed how a distracting memory test blocked incoming pain signals...I find it works as a sleep aid as well! 

ZANY Sarah Butler shows off a very BIG collection — of My Little Ponies. The 29-year-old has 1,000 of the 1980s toys crammed in a spare room. She has splurged an incredible £20,000 on them in eight years — and has no plans to stop. Sarah amassed 100 of the plastic ponies as a child — before giving them away in her teens. But she began collecting again aged 21. Married Sarah said: "I’d left college and life felt so serious. I started Googling things from my childhood and seeing the ponies made me smile.” The accounts assistant bought two, then admits going pony "crazy” — often paying more than £30 for them. One limited-edition model cost her £980. Barnsley lass Sarah even painted a mural of a green field in what she calls her "Pony Room”. It has themed furniture and framed pony pictures. Sarah said: "Often I’ll sit in their room and stare at them. In those moments there is no stress, no worries.” Husband Joe — who collects fantasy figurines — said: "I know Sarah’s hobby is unusual but it actually makes me love her more.”...Do you know Sarah? Ask her to call the show on 01226 204040. 

Body odour, tight swimming trunks, body hair on show, and men wearing vests are the top summer turn-offs, according to new research. More than three-fifths of us (61%) want B.O. to be banned, making it top of the list. Do you find since smoking was banned in pubs, instead of the smell of stale smoke there’s the smell of stale people? I don’t know which is worse to be honest…Second place went to tight swimming trunks, with body hair on show voted third. Vest-wearing by men was also unpopular, as was wearing sunglasses inside. Nearly a third of us said being stuck at work when it was hot outside was the worst thing about summer...But 82% of us said we would not consider pulling a summer "sickie" to soak up the sun… 

You know that moment when you offer to buy a round of drinks and wait to find out how much it's going to hit you in the pocket? Well spare a thought for pub landlord Steve Wilson who after filing his tax online got quite a shock when he was faced with a £2.6million bill. When he sent his VAT return in to HMRC, he soon realised he'd put a decimal point in the wrong place. A bill for over £2 Million landed on his mat, and to make matters worse, after being told it was sorted by HMRC, they went and took the £2 Million out of his account!! And to make matters worse, the bank manager let them, leaving him MEGA overdrawn… The Tax helpline say they can’t amend anything and he’ll have to write in to sort it and that could take a couple of weeks…SO now he’s a bit overdrawn and faces the prospect of having to pay bank charges on being a bit in the red! I bet he triple checks next year's tax return! 

We all love a coffee first thing...Last week a survey said if the first thing a woman smells when she wakes up is a cup of coffee then they will be in a good mood all day! We’re being told this morning a cup of coffee cuts blood pressure, boosts brain power and reduces your skin cancer risk...I've just made a cup…It’s only a small cup though… So not enough to prevent memory loss…I’ve got no idea where I put it. In this new research they found those of us who drank two cups daily had the healthiest arteries too! SO if you’re doing your SATS have a stiff coffee before you go in to do the exam 

WHEN it comes to lying, there is one universal truth – men do more of it than women. On average, a man will tell three lies a day, the average woman will fib twice a day. The most frequent lies men and women tell each other, include the classic line: "No, your bum doesn’t look big in that.” Women are more likely to say "It wasn’t that expensive” or "It was in the sale”. The favourite girlie lie is "Nothing’s wrong, I’m fine”. A white lie that always means exactly the opposite... The most used male fib: "I didn’t have that much to drink.” When we’ve had a skinful and can hardly walk…The top 10 lies men tell their other half include "I had no signal”, "I’m on my way”, "I’m stuck in traffic”, "Sorry, I missed your call”, "You’ve lost weight” and "It’s just what I’ve always wanted”. For women, the list includes "I don’t know where it is”, followed by "I haven’t touched it”, then "I’ve got a headache”, "It was in the sale”, "Oh, I’ve had this for ages”, "No, I didn’t throw it away” and, like their men folk, "Oh! It’s just what I’ve always wanted”. Here are the "top 10" lies men and women tell their partners: 

Men 

1.         I didn't have that much to drink

2.         Nothing's wrong, I'm fine

3.         I had no signal

4.         It wasn't that expensive

5.         I'm on my way

6.         I'm stuck in traffic

7.         No, your bum doesn't look big in that

8.         Sorry, I missed your call

9.         You've lost weight

10.       It's just what I've always wanted 

Women 

1.         Nothing's wrong, I'm fine

2.         I don't know where it is, I haven't touched it

3.         It wasn't that expensive

4.         I didn't have that much to drink

5.         I've got a headache

6.         It was in the sale

7.         I'm on my way

8.         Oh, I've had this ages

9.         No, I didn't throw it away

10.       It's just what I've always wanted 

David from Town had a go at our brand new game Look Who’s Talking...he thought 7 year-old Alex from Hemingfield was talking about Gandalf from Lord of the Rings...unfortunately it wasn’t right so the prizes roll on to 8:20 on Monday morning!