Terminator Vidic, Drogba’s Pichs and Steve Bull – a quick study of the football player website

Fulham and Nigeria midfielder Dickson Etuhu has become the latest footballer to launch his own website.
Not a player of the greatest stature, so it’ll probably only appeal to fans of said teams – but it is rather flashy. You can check it out at www.dicksonetuhu.com.
Etuhu is by no means the first footballer to get in [...]

By Simon Rice | Sport | Friday, 23 July 2010 at 12:29 pm

Mavericks, Klaxons and art lovers

The best of the web

By Gillian Orr | Digital Digest, Notebook | Friday, 23 July 2010 at 11:42 am

GDP figures are good but don’t get too excited

Let’s not get too excited about those admittedly very encouraging GDP growth figures. First, there was always going to be an element of bounceback. Bounceback from the bad weather in the first part of the year, and, more significantly a bounceback in firms building up their much-depleted stocks, what economist call the “inventory cycle”, which [...]

By Sean O'Grady | Eagle Eye, Econoblog | Friday, 23 July 2010 at 11:37 am

Must watch: Flying donkey *Final update*

Okay, this is my last word on donkeygate. The Sun splashes today with the news we’ve all been hoping for (even someone as heartless as me): The airborne ass is safe! Okay, that’s done.

Earlier post:
Wow, this donkey thing’s really taken off. I first saw the video of the Russian animal on Tuesday morning when, in [...]

By Simon Usborne | Digital Digest, Notebook | Friday, 23 July 2010 at 11:35 am

London Cycle Hire road-test (plus street pervs)

Two bikey things in today’s paper:
- Has Boris Started a Cycling Revolution?
Three fearless journalists (including me looking like a massive dork, left) road-test the new hire bikes about to be unleashed on the capital. Read my earlier post to find out more about the scheme’s teething problems.
- Hassled just because I ride a bike
Cycling convert [...]

By Simon Usborne | Notebook | Friday, 23 July 2010 at 11:27 am

England’s Sex Problem

A fifth of girls have been pregnant at least once by the age of 18, the press association announced yesterday, and today research collated by Ofsted reveals that teachers are embarrassed by sex lessons. Coincidence? (certainly not) Old news? (of course). Whatever it is, the figures are quite startling despite the widespread acceptance that in [...]

By Ilona Burton | Notebook | Friday, 23 July 2010 at 11:24 am

Le Vendredi Playlist: Songs of love and Serge

I’m normally quite anti biopics, especially formulaic ones about musicians, but I am quite excited to see the Joann Sfar’s Serge Gainsbourg film which comes out next week. To mark the release, this week’s Friday playlist is themed around the French master.
I’ve put in some of my favourite songs by Serge, though his back catalogue [...]

By Larry Ryan | Arts | Friday, 23 July 2010 at 9:30 am

So, why did Brangelina really go after the News of the Screws?

What persuaded did Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie to sue the News of the World for making-up stories about the demise of their marriage, as opposed to any one of the hundreds of gossip magazines, show-business websites, and tabloids which for years have been doing exactly the same thing?

By Guy Adams | The Foreign Desk | Friday, 23 July 2010 at 6:42 am

G20 death: Where error is irreparable, repentance is useless

Reading of the Director of Public Prosecution’s decision over the death of Ian Tomlinson at last years G20 protest, I’m reminded of Edward Gibbon’s memorable phrase: “Where error is irreparable, repentance is useless”. I pray that this does not become the leitmotif of this tragedy.
The announcement by CPS that they will not be bringing criminal [...]

By Samuel Muston | Eagle Eye | Thursday, 22 July 2010 at 6:29 pm

In praise of Verbier Festival – classical music’s Davos

‘First it rained, then it poured,’ says Martin Engstroem, of the time when the festival he’d created ran into such daunting financial problems that its future suddenly looked in doubt. But he might also have been talking about this year’s opening night.
As Charles Dutoit raised his baton to give the down-beat for Yuja Wang and [...]

By Michael Church | Arts | Thursday, 22 July 2010 at 5:07 pm