The Ultimate Warrior's shock confession!

Jim Hellwig - the artist formerly known as The Ultimate Warrior - was pretty much my biggest hero growing up in the 80s and 90s (next to David Hasselhoff of course). The former WWF (I know it's called WWE these days...) superstar was a ticking time bomb of tassels and muscles inside the ring, and would go on to beat Hulk Hogan in the main event at Wrestlemania 6 in 1990. He was the ultimate showman, the ultimate fighter, and the ultimate alpha male...

Which is why it came as a little surprise to find this confession from him on YouTube recently. I know the man went off the rails a bit, but jeez I never saw this one coming...!

Wax On, Wax Off - Whatever happened to the Karate Kid?

One of the greatest films of my childhood was The Karate Kid. I can remember the excitement of being picked up from school when I was around six or seven and my dad breaking the news to me that he had rented the film from the local video shop.

This was way before the days of digital downloads, DVDs, and even Blockbuster video stores! Our video shop back then doubled up as an Off Licence and only stocked one copy of every film in their shop, so for dad to manage to get hold of a copy of the newly released Hollywood hit was a huge achievement.

Things were never the same for me after watching that film; it changed my life forever. That film gave me the strength to take up karate and helped me stand up to my own bullies in the playground.

Unfortunately I also started hanging out with an old Chinese guy, which didn't really work out. The police and the courts got involved and things were said that neither party meant, and eventually it all got really messy, and it's a part of my life I'd rather not revisit...

Anyhow... I'd always wondered what happened to the film's star Ralph Macchio. I know after he'd crane-kicked the hell out of Johnny he turned up in a couple of sequels, but apart from that and My Cousin Vinny, where the hell did Daniel Larusso go?

Finally after a bit of digging around on the internet, I finally found some answers...

Lad Lit Book Reviews: Be Careful What You Wish For by Simon Jordan

If you have gone and watched your football team play against Crystal Palace in the last decade, chances are you would have chanted “Simon Jordan is a w*nker” alongside 10,000 or so of your fellow fans at the top of your lungs.

Perhaps this is not the best endorsement for Simon Jordan and his book, but how many other football chairman can you think of that was more controversial, more outspoken, and more blonde than the former Eagles owner?

Palace fans loved him, opposition fans loved to taunt him. The perma-tanned self-made millionaire made his fortune in the mobile phone business and by the age of 32 he was the youngest owner of a football club. Ten years and £35m later he had lost it all, but what a decade he had left in his wake.

You might not think that Jordan has much more to say in this book that he hasn’t already aired publicly such was his inability to keep his mouth shut in front of reporters or a TV camera, but that certainly isn’t the case.

What is refreshing about this book compared to other football autobiographies is that we get a different perspective on the crazy world of top-flight football. Never one to be a shrinking violet, Jordan is unrelenting with his attacks on players, managers, agents, and other chairman (he once said: “If I see another David Gold interview on the poor East End Jewish boy done good I'll impale myself on one of his dildos).

I applaud his tenaciousness to try and turn his beloved Crystal Palace into a top flight contender, but at the same time I can’t help but shake my head at his insistence to continue to throw millions of pounds at something without considering the consequences. It is a bit like lending cash to your best mate who you know is rubbish with money; you know you’ll never get the money back but you keep trying to help out. Another classic case of an accomplished businessman leaving his business acumen at the turnstiles.

Jordan is certainly lives up to the hype of a big-time Charlie as he talks about his Spanish villas and private jets, but so what? He earned the right to live that lifestyle, and how many more football chairman do you know who dated supermodels? Whatever your opinion of him, his time in football certainly made things interesting.

He battled relentless against the system, creating enemies in every corner of the football family from senior members of the FA to Millwall and Birmingham fans and to fellow chairman (former Charlton chairman Richard Murray challenged him to a fight) and the managers he hired and fired (eight managers would come and go during his tenure). That is not to say that Jordan did not have his supporters and friends in football, but he wasn't afraid of who upset along the way.

In amongst all the bravado and the self-gratification is a very insightful look at the parts of football we as fans don’t normally get exposed to, and after reading this book I truly believe Jordan wanted to make a difference in football and fought a good fight. Unfortunately for him it wasn’t good enough and not only did he lose a fortune, but football in general is probably a lot poorer for the loss of another great character.

As a football fan, I found this a really enjoyable read. Football is a bit like a pantomime or a soap opera and the roles of those characters are played out beautifully in this book. We have the implosion of ITV Digital, the Iain Dowie court case for fraudulent misrepresentation (when Jordan issued Dowie a writ during his press conference as he was being unveiled as the new Charlton manager), and of course the bitter downfall that nearly dragged Palace into the football graveyard of obscurity. Unfortunately for Jordan it was his lone tombstone that was consigned to football folklore.

Funny books about relationships for men - check out The Drought!

Happy Valentines Day everyone! As today is the official day of love, I thought what better than to give a little plug for The Drought! Over the last couple of months, The Drought has been picking up some great reviews and I just wanted to say t big thank you to everyone who has read it and posted their positive feedback.

And for those of you who have not read it, then why not check it out today? It is only 99p/99c at eBook version or if you want to splash the cash out for a loved one, it is also available in paperback.If you want to find out a bit more about the book then check out this link.

Download The Drought for FREE until March 15!

Hi guys and gals, I am pleased to announce that I have another offer running on Smashwords where you can download The Drought for FREE if you have an eReader!

Click this link and type in the promotional code 'WF86L' prior to completing the check-out. Feel free to pass the promotional code on anyone you might know! Offer ends on March 15, 2013.

And if you like the book, then please write a review somewhere online like at Goodreads, Amazon, Smashwords, or on your blog!