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Such as the local artist who decided to build a 10ft. high model of The Silver Surfer in his front garden!

After 113 starts, Jenson Button finally breaks his duck, and Great Britain has a new grand prix winner.

Button has been one of the most hyped up drivers in the last few years, and having made his debut in one of the top Formula One teams, many thought he would never live up to his promise. His contract dealings have always been controversial, after he was shunted from the Williams team to the less competitive B.A.R. and then when the B.A.R. started to show improvements (and Williams slid backwards) Button pays his way out of a contractual option to return to Williams, and then trying to get away from B.A.R./Honda to go back to a suddenly resurgent Williams team. Button is a driver who clearly wanted to be in the best car of the moment, not unlike MotoGP superstar Valentino Rossi, who tends to sign one-year deals in order to move to the most competitive team.

However, unlike Rossi, Button has never had the success to be able to throw his weight around (Unlike Micheal Schumacher could do).

Button’s win has been a long time coming (only Jarno Trulli and Rubens Barichello have driven more races before their maiden win), but it is well deserved. Hopefully this is the start of things to come, and we see a lot more from the Englishman. The car isn’t the best in the field, so I don’t think we’ll see a replay of Damon Hill, who won 3 in a row following his first win, but with any luck, the Honda will improve to the point where it is regularly challenging for wins.

Well Done JB.

This must be the day for Dead Horse Floggerage…

I found out that Meat Loaf is to release “Bat Out of Hell 3“

The initial Bat album is a classic - described by Q magazine as a guilty pleasure album, Steinmann and Meat’s opus has stood the test of time. In 1993, the followup was released. In a marketing masterstroke, the album marked the re-collaboration of the two men.

So in 2006, they decide to collaborate again. and so we get another Bat album.

The first has hardly dated, each track is a classic, and the title piece is still a fun driving track. However, the second album does not stand up to listening 13 years later. The stand-out tracks “I’d Do Anything for Love”, and “Objects in the Rearview mirror” still shine, but others, such as “Rock n’ Roll Dreams Come Through” and “Everything Louder than Everything Else” are just annoying now (Perhaps due to the amount of times I used to play this album I’m a bit fed up of it?).

My parents used to laugh at how Meat Loaf has apparently built an entire career around one album, and while this isn’t totally true, This is actually the 5th Bat Out Of Hell album I can think of (Bat 1 was remixed and “Dead Ringer For Love” added later, and there is the Orchestral version “Bat Out Hell Live“)

Meat’s last two studio albums have actually been very good, and truthfully I really want Bat 3 to be a hit, but I have my worries…

But you can rest assured that when the inevitable world tour comes, I’m going to be there! Meat Loaf is at his best live, one of the best performers I have ever seen.

Yet another film franchise is being unneccissarily resurrected. Die Hard 4 will follow in the footsteps of Terminator 3, Rocky 6 (Rocky Balboa), Rambo 4 and the rumoured Mad Max 4 in providing one last Hurrah for the washed-up stars.

In fairness, Willis’ more recent work has been pretty good: Sin City, The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable… but do we really need another installment of John McClane having a bad day?

Also, with the exception of Mel Gibson (who I don’t suspect we’ll see doing Mad Max 4 for a few years yet…) has anyone noticed that these are the same people who promoted the struggling Planet Hollywood brand?

Apparently today is Yorkshire day. A day for all Yorkshiremen (and Yorkshirewomen, no doubt) to celebrate their Yorkishness.

Following ‘Secretary’s Day’, ‘Boss’s Day’ and ‘Talk Like A Pirate Day‘ (27th April, 16th October and 16th September respectively), this is a new one on me, and could be contrived as yet another cynical attempt by Hallmark to sell more cards. However, I’ve not seen a single card in the shops. It doesn’t matter, as I don’t know anyone from Yorkshire.

Anyway, Yorkshirefolk are supposed to mark this auspicious occasion by donning flat caps, eating Beef Dripping and engaging in their local dialect.

How come no-one else in the country feels the need to celebrate thier local heritage?

The equally proud Lancastarians don’t seem to be calling out to have their own day, despite winning the Wars of the Roses.

I think we should all follow the lead of Yorkshire though, and instead of being ashamed of our roots, we should celebrate it.

Take my own area, The Black Country. Now perhaps more known for the endless retail opportunities it provides and aging rock stars, it was once one of the industrial hubs of England. My house is built over a coal seam that formed part of one of the many the open cast quarries that made the area one of the most profitable places during the industrial revolution. We Black Country folk are just as proud and just as hard working as any Yorkshireperson, We even have our own language… Just don’t call us brummies!