Schwarzamurray

Has Andy Murray been drinking the blood of the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzanegger? You see Scott Pack at http://www.meandmybigmouth.typepad.com/ and the Dovegreyreader are embroiled in a tennis competition, they have allotted themselves payers at The Australian Open and its pistols at dawn so to speak, or aces at noon I suppose would be more applicable. And so I googled the BBC as you do, http://www.bbc.co.uk/ and found that the boy in man's clothing that was the petulant Murray last year had morphed into some bulking hulk wielding a tennis racket. Apparently he is now the favourite having defeated Federer and Nadal last week in Abu Dhabi . I can't remember seeing Arny at the Inauguration of Barack Obama and thought that quite strange until I viewed Andy Murray smashing tennis balls down under in Melbourne and it got me thinking. Has the Terminator been terminated? I'm going to record Murrays' post match interviews and see if I can hear in his voice any Austrian inflections.

The problem with virtual sports games is that you can't leave them for a day and expect them to prosper. The Bluemoose boat, skippered by Johhny Depp in The Volvo Ocean Race has just run aground in Borneo. It was flying along but then we got carried away, forgot about it and , well, an ex Moose lies in a watery grave. The Duffy household has suffered the loss of a Dyson and a boat in 24 hours. But the great thing about virtual stuff is that Bluemoose 2 has just been launched and is on it's way to Quindong.

I have just finished The Believers by Zoe Heller. Bit disappointed to tell the truth. She writes beautifully and her descriptions of the dysfunctional New York family is wonderful but the story doesn't really get going at all. It got into second gear but then that was it. I loved Notes on a Scandal and perhaps it was the second novel thing. Of course all the critics said it was the best thing since sliced bread. Mmm. Not convinced. Off to Manchester today to see how they're fairing at the Deansgate Waterstones. Will let you know if Gerry's announcements have gone down well with those on the shopfloor.