HOCKEY FOR DUMMIES

For reasons I can't really explain, I think that (ice) hockey means much more to Canadians than soccer (or football if you'd prefer) does to Brits. It might be because there are so many more options open to youngsters than soccer: rugby and cricket to name but two. But it also might be because Britian is much more divided than Canada, and I'm thinking particularly of class. Hockey is an experience shared by almost everyone here and there's a healthy, some might say frantic, extra-curricular tradition of hockey for children of both sexes and almost all ages, where mothers transport their children vast distances, bake huge quantities of cookies and raise enormous sums of money for hockey tournaments.

Anyway, don't take my word for it, have a look at this commercial for Tim Hortons, the popular chain of coffee shops which features the (not exactly world) famous Sidney Crosby.

CANADA FOR DUMMIES

So we may not be doing so well in the Olympics, but it's still not a bad place to live.

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Not since Lara Croft or Samus Aran has there been a cooler female character to play than Bayonetta, the gun-toting, demon summoning, wickedly wicked witch from the game of the same name. Calm, cool and collected at all times as her, you don't feel guilty at all about chugging and clobbering through Heaven's militia as there seems to be very little separating them from their rivals down South. Bayonetta is all about that grey region between love and hate, good and evil, PC and Macintosh.

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