It's been a good week for … Blessed birth
Actor Brian Blessed has proved he rocks at life on countless occasions. Like when he sparred with the Dalai Lama in a boxing ring. Attempted to climb Mount Everest not once, but three times. And on an expedition, which saw him become the oldest man to reach the Magnetic North Pole on foot, punched a polar bear "straight in the face."
Despite knowing all of this, the nation's jaws dropped in shock and awe as the star of Flash Gordon and Z-Cars revealed last week he once delivered a baby girl in a park, biting through the umbilical cord and licking her face clean.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Blessed told how he discovered a woman in labour at London's Richmond Park "about 1963". He described the scene in eye-watering detail – right down to disposing of the afterbirth. "Then I just called for help and eventually an ambulance came," he added.
It's a cracking tale but a pertinent question lingers: did Blessed telephone for medical assistance or simply shout loudly in his famed booming baritone until a team of paramedics come squealing to the rescue?
Apparently, his next ambition is to explore the planets and stars. A fully trained cosmonaut, Blessed has completed 800 hours training which reportedly makes him the number one civilian reserve for the International Space Station. We must clone this man.
It's been a bad week for … e-reader sales
Just as video killed the radio star, e-books were thought to have sounded the death knell for traditional print formats.
But in heart-warming news for traditionalists everywhere, it has emerged that Britain's biggest high street book chain is to stop selling the Kindle e-reader in most of its 280 stores as sales of hardbacks and paperbacks enjoy a resurgence.
Waterstones managing director James Daunt said Kindles were being removed because they were "getting virtually no sales".
Sales of physical books in Britain rose 3% in the first half of 2015 – the first increase for three years. A recent study found that 75% of children favour physical books and 35% refuse to read digital titles.
It's rare that analogue strikes a victory over digital in this modern age never mind such a delicious phoenix from the ashes moment. Let's savour it. Mmmm. Doesn't revenge taste good?
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