Mardi Gras Shrove Tuesday Pancake Day!

Pancake Day is here! Maybe you are chomping through one as you read this. But what is it all about?

Pancake Day is more formally known as Shrove Tuesday, and sometimes referred to as Mardi Gras, and is followed by Ash Wednesday which is the first day of Lent.

The festival derives from the idea of using up all the fattier and richer foods before sacrificing them for 40 days before Easter. Pancakes tick all the boxes, however nowadays the practice has become less about religious beliefs and more about making dinner time more special and exciting for kids.

Over 100 million of these thin, flat, fried delights are scoffed in the UK alone - think of the quantities of milk and eggs needed!

In other countries there are different rituals. For example, Poland celebrates Fat Thursday the week before Ash Wednesday. And forget pancakes, it is all about consuming donuts, endlessly!

How about eating pea soup in Estonia, or salted meat in Iceland?

Do you have any traditions on this day? What do you prefer to eat? And will you be giving anything up for Lent?

Over 50% of UK adults are single?

According to the latest research and statistics, 51% of people over 16 in the United Kingdom are single.

Data from the 2011 census reveals that over half of the adult population in Britain is 'available'. And of the top ten locations with the highest concentration of single people, unsurprisingly 7 are in the capital.

So London's reputation for being a big, lonely city would seemingly ring true.

However, as always, the statistics might not tell 100% of the story.

Unmarried couples who live together and would happily describe themselves as 'taken', actually count as single in these figures.

So maybe after all Valentine's Day wasn't such a damp squib for over half the British population as the numbers would suggest.


For more info follow this link: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-31461595

Fifa World Cup - Superstars, Messi, Ronaldo and last minute wonders

This fascinating World Cup just keeps on giving and giving and giving!

With big upsets, close encounters, heavy thrashings and underdog stories, what more could you ask for?

Recent games have shown two things: the old adage that giving 110% really does make a difference and take you far, however you can't underestimate the value of having a world-beating superstar in your lineup.

Let's look at the Argentina v Iran and USA v Portugal games.

Argentina's glittering side of match winners, millionaires and household names was expected to crush the hardworking but less talented Iran team. The Middle Eastern side fought until the end, but faced with three-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi, they could not stop a final moment of brilliance from him in added time.

Pundits were predicting a more evenly matched tie between the States and Portugal. It's fair to say, though, that few thought that the Americans would be winning with 90 seconds of additional time left on the clock. The USA in this situation did not bargain for last gasp heroics from the world's second most expensive player. Cometh the hour (or rather the 94th minute) cometh the man. An ineffectual and demonstrably unfit Ronaldo stepped up to deliver a wonderful, pinpoint cross which Silvestre Varela duly converted to keep his country alive in the group.

USA gave everything and produced a fabulous display that rightly made manager Jurgen Klinsmann proud, but their immense effort and togetherness was undone at the end by their naivety in possession and inspiration from the genius right boot of Portugal's number 7.

Maybe a superstar is what England lack, despite their strong squad of players, and would have made a difference between 2-1 losses and progressing further in Brazil.