I enjoyed "The Rules" article this month with the comedy-sketch writers Jason Hazeley & Joel Morris. I am not prying into how much people like those guys get paid, but the mechanics of payment intrigues me. Are they paid a flat fee to present ideas regardless of whether any are used? Or is it pay-per-joke? Do they receive fees for repeats? And do they have copyright so if it is nicked by others they can claim a royalty?

With the current reminders in all our media about the UK's first female Prime Minister, I believe we have also seen our first black PM.

If the party has any sense, Chuka Umunna won't be leader until post-2015 when Labour will have seen Ed Milliband lead them to defeat and will also have given Umunna time to gain experience, momentum and status. PM in 2020.

He has the combination that Ed can only dream about: charisma, intellect, calm and 'the likeability factor'.

Apparently:

If the Euro fails, European banks will go bust; the UK banks are all over-exposed in Europe so they will also go bust leaving cashpoints not working. Presumably no debit card transactions will work either. No-one will be able to buy food from supermarkets unless with cash.

And when the army has contained the anarchy and a new normality exists, UK interest rates will sky-rocket. So any equity you have in your homes will vanish.

The "best case" I heard this morning is that Germany will leave the Euro to give itself a chance, leaving the new Eurozone in total collapse. (They are already printing Deutschmarks - Google it)

Anyone talking cash out of their banks yet? Stockpiling tins?

Top Six
1
2
3
4
5
6

Bottom Three
18
19
20

And in-between if you want. And FA Cup, Carling Cup, Champions League, Scotland, anything...

In our celebrity-obsessed Britain, it's good to see someone going in the opposite direction. Good on him - must be making an helluva financial sacrifice too.

Jonny swaps Radio 2 for the classroom

Radio 2 breakfast sports news presenter Jonny Saunders is to leave the show to take up a career in teaching instead.
He’ll be replaced on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show by Vassos Alexander, who joins from 5 Live Breakfast.
36-year-old Johnny said: “I come from a teaching family so it’s always been something I’ve wanted to do.”
He added that he wanted to teach English at secondary level and hoped to keep his hand in with his other passion – radio – by possibly continuing his work as a weekend sports commentator and presenter at BBC Radio Berkshire.
This is the first change to the on-air team for Evans’ breakfast show since it started last January. Chris, who previously worked with Jonny on Drivetime, said: “Five and a half years Jonny has had to put up with me. No one should have to go through that. I don’t know what crime he committed, but I’m glad he’s finally served his sentence. Now, whoever gets him next, in whatever he chooses to do, will be getting a helluva guy. As long as it doesn’t involve driving that is. My mum – on her mobility scooter – has an average speed twice that of any journey Jonny has been behind the wheel for.”
Jonny’s spent the last five years as a sports presenter at Radio 2, before that he mainly worked at 5 Live after joining the BBC Radio Sport team in 1999. Previously he worked as a sports reporter at Capital Radio.
Lewis Carnie, Head of Programming for Radio 2, said: “Jonny has established himself as a firm favourite amongst the Radio 2 listeners and will be sorely missed by them and everyone on the show, and we wish him the very best of luck.”

...who had his eye poked out with a short stick.

It's that season where all you see is ISA ads. I signed up for one a few years ago which I knew was for a small amount (I think I got wine vouchers for setting it up IIRC). So I called them up yesterday to see what was in there, and found that I had put £90 in in 2005 and its value today is....£88. Explanation: I had selected at FTSE tracker and the stock market had done very badly in that period. Total BS! It did have a shock in 2008 but has recovered pretty well since. People put their life savings with companies like this!

I also had an ISA for larger amounts with a major bank and hadn't checked its interest rate until last year, only to find it was something like 0.01%. Maybe I am unlike most people who monitor these things closely and are forever moving money around, but I doubt it.

Buyers beware!

I liked the track on a recent Word CD by John Watts, wondered who he was and found that he was in Fischer Z. How did I miss this fantastic song when it came out 32 years ago?

Bit Sparks, bit Split Enz, bit Stiff Records.

Causing a stir or two.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/feb/07/ashley-cole-england

[For those who can't open it - Ashley Cole wins fans' poll for England Player of The Year.]

I am an occasional eBay browser & buyer (never sold anything yet) and I am frequently outbid at the very last few seconds. I presume there are applications and tricks that enable this, so am I naive to just bid and hope?

This (Driver 8) is one of my favourite REM songs and I gather it was written by Bill Berry, their drummer. He also wrote the excellent, if overplayed and overcovered, Everybody Hurts.

Any other good songs written by the guy at the back who hangs around with musicians?

Watching David Tennant's character on Single Father sit down in an Indian restaurant and put a pint of lager to his lips while he read the menu and reached for a poppadom, made me think what an evocative taste moment that is. That first sip and crunch is right up there in taste sensations, even if the rest of the meal might be quite ordinary.

Other top taste moments?

Has Stan Collymore got a point?

Stan Collymore has launched a ferocious attack on Match of the Day, calling for Gary Lineker to be replaced as anchorman and pundits Alan Shearer and Alan Hansen to go.
Collymore branded the BBC's flagship football show 'stale, cliched and smug pap' and accused 'lazy' pundits of failing to do their homework.
He unleashed his thoughts on his Twitter site during MOTD2 on Sunday after being infuriated by what he had seen on two shows over the weekend.