Remember happy days spent in the music section of HMV? Well, not any more.

My mum decided to surprise me with a gift of a DVD and a CD, purchased at her friendly HMV store in Leeds, England. After paying about 35 quid for the privilege she began to wonder whether she could have got a better deal online. Sure enough, she found the same two items for $30 on Amazon with free shipping to me in New York to boot.

Unfortunately, when she took said CD and DVD back to HMV, they would not give her money back. She was told that it was store policy to give credit but not refunds. When she pointed out that surely a store the size of HMV could afford to give people their money back, she was told that it was because people were buying CDs and burning them.

“But this CD and DVD are still in their wrappers,” says my little ‘ol mum. “I haven’t even opened them.”

“Well,” came the reply. “It’s people like them that are ruining it for people like you.”

Would this be the same “thriving” HMV that recently announced a share buy-back programme and 30 per cent dividend rise after achieving a 23.3 per cent rise in interim profits and strong Christmas trading?

Actually, HMV, it’s stores like you that are ruining it for all of us. And you now have two fewer customers than you had before.

Someone brought this news story about a mohel suspected of giving three baby boys herpes to my attention at the weekend.

Under Jewish law, a mohel — someone who performs circumcisions — draws blood from the circumcision wound. Most mohels do it by hand, but Fischer uses a rare practice where he uses his mouth.

I really cannot believe that parents would allow someone to do this to their child. We spend so much time shaking our heads in disgust/disbelief at other cultures, and then find out that similarly grotesque practices are taking place in our own back yard.

According to the Journal News:

Twelve researchers, including seven from Israel, also considered the religious and cultural traditions behind the practice. They noted that the Babylonian Talmud, completed in the fifth century, required oral suctioning in order to remove health risks to the infant.

My feeling — and this is just a hunch, so bear with me — is that the Babylonian Talmud is slightly out of sync with 21st century health and child protection laws. If Rastafarians are not allowed to smoke marijuana, why are mohels allowed to apply their mouths to 8-day-old boys penises? And how did the good rabbi contract herpes in the first place?

This is the most embarassing confession to make, but a certain Mac geek friend of mine sent me this link to a football tunnel altercation and I had only a 50-50 idea of who the two players were. Can someone tell me who, why, where, and when? (In my defence, if it happened in the tunnel after a rugby league game I would know. But then again, rugby league players save their tantrums for on the field, not off it.)

Problem: A growing number of ready-to-roll stories with no home.
Solution: Citizen journalism and Wiki News.

If the choice is between not publishing, and publishing for free to an international audience, that’s no choice at all. The only problem is how to pay the bills.

Look out for a reporter/writer serving coffee in a Park Slope tea shop near you.

Leeds Rhinos 39 Canterbury Bulldogs 32 — World Club Championship

Leeds are the world club Rugby League champions but as the great Duke of Wellington said about his victory at Waterloo ‘it was a damn close run thing’.

Leeds dominated the first half and the try by Danny Maguire could yet become the try of the season by an individual player. On the other hand it is possible that the final try of the half, finished off by Rob Burrow, could be voted the try of the season involving team-work. The ball went through nine pair of hands in one long sweeping movement to score the try. Leeds built up a twenty six point lead. Then in the second half Canterbury came back with brilliant sustained attacking play. By the end of the game Leeds were desperately defending a seven-point lead, but they held out to take the cup.

Why was there such a difference between the two halves of the game? We can only guess. Canterbury can point to the long journey over here, the cold conditions, playing on an away ground and the presence of so many youngsters who in the first half found the sound of the huge crowd unnerving. Leeds can claim that they were so self-confident after their first half domination that they came out for the second half in too relaxed a mood. They certainly began dropping passes and missing tackles. Of course really, no one will ever know. But then what is important is that it was a magnificent game and for those of us who are Rhino fans it was a great win.

And having won the match the Rhino fans will, like all rugby league fans, be turning their attention to the new season which starts on Friday. And guess who will be featuring on Sky sports on Friday night with an eight-o-clock kick-off? Why none other than Leeds Rhinos who will be visiting their old rivals Hull at the Kingston Stadium. Who will win that game? Leeds will be favourites to win. They are world champions and on paper they have the stronger team. But it is no forgone conclusion. Twice Bradford Bulls won the world championship and then went on to lose in the next league or cup game and we know that playing at home the strong Hull side can beat any side on the day. Anyway let’s wait for 9.45 GMT on Friday evening, then we will all know.