Vault for the Varsity Shield.

A grudge match of epic proportions, Varsity sees Wales’ two premier universities clash in over 20 events to find the deserving winner of the Varsity Shield, a symbol of all-round sporting excellence.

Students from both Universities will cheer on their teams at venues across Cardiff until the atmosphere reaches fever pitch at the main event, the fight for the Varsity Cup at the home of Welsh Rugby, the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.

So, get ready for tonight’s intense and ferocious battle as university rivals Cardiff and Swansea go head-to-head in their annual Varsity match, broadcast live on S4C for the first time.

The match, making its debut at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, will be shown live at 7.25pm. Both teams have had their share of the spoils in recent years with Cardiff winning in 2008 and 2009 and Swansea winning back the Cup in their last outing.

History.

The first Welsh Varsity rugby match was played in 1997, right here in the Welsh capital at Cardiff Arms Park. The match saw the two premier Welsh universities battling it out, with all proceeds from the event going to Oxfam.

Over the years that followed, the Varsity match was held alternatively at Cardiff Arms Park and St Helens, the home of Swansea Rugby Club. It has also been held at the neutral ground of the Brewery field in Bridgend. But, of course 2011 is a special year because its is the games 15th anniversary and for the first time, the match will be played at the Cardiffs Millennium Stadium.

Keeping Score?

Since the first match in 1997, Swansea has dominated the event winning 9 out of 14 games. However, in recent years, Cardiff has been turning the tide, winning the matches in both 2008 and 2009. Swansea University regularly enjoyed the ability to select very talented players. The likes of Alun Wynn Jones, Ritchie Pugh and Dwayne Peel were all current Welsh Internationals when they played in their Varsity squads. 2007 saw Swansea field no less than 11 FIRA Internationals at varying ages.

Cardiff has enjoyed success in recent years with the introduction of a Head of Rugby Post at Cardiff University. Martyn Fowler, the current Head of Rugby, was involved in both Cardiff victories. Talented rugby players have always attended Cardiff University but the introduction of the new post and subsequent rugby program ensures the Cardiff students have every development opportunity available to them in preparation for Varsity and their BUSA Premier A league competition.

The battles on! Green vs Reds...COME ON CARDIFF!

-ZB

Come to your Census!

Census organisers are urging 26 million households in England and Wales not to forget to fill in their questionnaires. Forms should be filled in today - Census Day - or as soon as possible afterwards.

Electronic tracking systems are being used to monitor who has filled in the forms online or by post with collectors knocking on doors from April 6 where households have not yet returned their questionnaires. 

The ONS said help and advice would be offered to people having difficulty filling in the form and collectors would also supply replacement questionnaires where forms have been lost or damaged.

Glen Watson, 2011 Census director said: 'Completing the census form promptly and sending it back to us means no one will have to knock on your door to remind you.

'Census statistics enable the authorities in England and Wales to plan properly for the future for school places, housing, roads, emergency services and a host of other local services.'

Householders are being asked a range of questions covering areas such as national identity, ethnic group, educational qualifications, job titles, travel-to-work method and state of health.

The purple census also includes questions for the first time on civil partnerships, second homes and recent migration. People born outside the UK are being asked when they most recently arrived in the country, with those who arrived in the past year asked how long they intend to stay.

There is also a question asking people whether English is their main language and how well they can speak it.There are however no questions on income, sexual orientation or nature of disability.

The ONS insisted that the information it gathers will be confidential for 100 years and not shared with other agencies such as the police or tax authorities.

The 2011 census has used a 'much improved' address register, the ONS also said, compared to 2001 when some local authorities accused it of significantly under-counting their populations.

Cardiff, Wales's largest council area, had an estimated population of around 305,000 in 2001.

Rodney Berman told the BBC Politics Show on Census Day the city may have lost out on £85m funding since 2001.

"We believe there was an undercount of Cardiff's population, we think by about 22,000," said Mr Berman.

"That's had a major impact because the funding we've had since then is less than we think we should have got.

"The funding we get is based on the number of people we have living in the city and we reckon that (undercount) could have cost us £85m pounds in the intervening years when all added together.

"That's quite an impact we have to concern ourselves with".

There it is guys- remember to fill in your purple census & free post or send online before April 6th and avoid a £1000 fine! ONE THOUSAND  POUND- its worth a few minutes, yeah?

-ZB

Yesterday was Thursday,Today is Friday.

Rebecca Black’s Friday video is now one of the most viral songs of all time.

The now infamous ‘Friday Song’ seen as bad and cheesy has proven that within a week's time, Rebecca Black has solidified herself as a huge joke national sensation.

A couple of nights ago on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, the pint-sized pop star spoke about her newfound fame and commented on all the haters. She understands that not everyone's going to like her stuff. Predictably the Twitterati hate her, but her song has been plastered on everyone's lips and Facebook statuses for an entire week now.

Rebecca’s YouTube video of “Friday” has 36.5 million views, but a lot of the attention to her song has been negative and plenty of people have been making their own parodies of her video. “I think they can either be really hilarious and make me laugh like ’til I cry, but others are really lame,” Rebecca told Jay Leno of the parodies.

But its not just parodies of Blacks Friday number hitting our monitors, now Paramore and the Jonas Brothers have done cover versions.

Paramore has got a "Black Plague." After Nick Jonas surprised concertgoers at Concert for Hope on Sunday, March 20 with his live rendition of Rebecca Black's "Friday", now the Hayley Williams-fronted band have added the  hit 20 to their song playlist.

Hayley and Jeremy Davis streamed live footage of themselves hanging out together playing "tic tac toe" as the auto-tuned voice of the 13-year-old girl was faintly heard on the background. "She's really cute. I saw her on Jay Leno'," she said. 

The teen sensation has been supported by further celebdom.  Lady GaGa and Simon Cowell called her a "genius." The 'born this way' singer said, "anyone that's telling her she's cheesy is full of s**t." Meanwhile, the media mogul shared his interest to meet her in person. 

Rebecca has also revealed that  she’s donating the money she’s making from all the attention her song has received to Japan and her school. (awwwww!)

So there you have it guys- Rebecca Black is inviting you to get down..because its FRIDAY FRIDAY. 

(Well why not, a bit of cheese never hurt anyone.)

-ZB

Osbornes little red box.

George Osborne, following in the footsteps of bushy-browed Alistair Darling, delivered the Budget 2011 yesterday in a speech to the House of commons. His speech, said to have concluded around 1:30pm yesterday contained all the vitals of our fuel, tax and economy.

What were the key points?

Well- Inflation rise in fuel duty planned for next week is to be delayed until 2012. And the Fuel duty escalator that adds 1p to fuel duty on top of inflation each year has been cancelled for the rest of this Parliament.


Tobacco duty rates, however, are to be increased by 2% above inflation, as previously announced. Tobacco duty regime reformed to narrow differential between lower-cost brands and the others.

Osborne confirmed no additional changes to alcohol duty rates but 2% above inflation rise in excise duties for wine, spirits and beer is to go ahead.


The Personal tax allowance is set to rise from £630 to a staggering £8,105 in April 2012 - a real increase of £48 a year or £126 in cash terms. And there are no personal tax increases!


There will be a pay rise of £250 for armed forces, prison, NHS, teachers and civil servants earning under £21,000.


There will be an investment of £200 million in regional railways. (ed-HURRAH- read my last bog)


The government is to consult on a long-term plan for merging the operation of National Insurance and Income Tax.




What Osborne said?

Mr Osborne said "today's measures are fiscally neutral across the period neither raising taxes nor offering give aways".He told the commons he does not need to ask the public for more taxes or more spending cuts.


He continued:"today's Budget was about reforming the nation's economy, so that we have enduring growth and jobs in the future".


Chancellor George Osborne said he would watch fuel prices "like a hawk" to make sure the oil tax was not passed on to drivers.

He said it was "economically smart" to redistribute the money from the oil companies as they saw profits rise as a result of soaring oil prices "into the hands of families".

Defending his Budget - which also saw economic growth forecasts downgraded - in a round of interviews on Thursday morning, Mr Osborne said he would have liked growth to be stronger but Britain was "coming out of the deepest recession in your lifetime, or mine... the biggest banking crisis in our history" and he had created stability and an "entrepreneurial boost" to get Britain back to prosperity.

We wait anxiously to see if Chancellor George Osborne's little box of tricks comes up trumps!

For more key points on this story go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12829433

And for a different look (a musical number): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg-8HtrwXJ8

-ZB

Arriva Trains Wales are off the rails.

Passengers were left stranded this morning after a power surge brought the South Wales rail network to its knees.

No trains were running after the surge at Cardiff Central signal box at 7.08am – which saw many trains stopped on the tracks whilst travelling in Cardiff, Bridgend and the Valleys.

The problem was "fixed" by engineers from energy giant Western Power Distribution (WPD) at around 9am, but the service was not up and running before 10.30am. The delays on the rail services continued to be delayed from and to Cardiff Central until approximately 12.30pm.

Network Rail blamed a blown fuse for knocking out signalling in Cardiff just after 0700 GMT, halting some 30 Arriva Trains Wales trains between stations.

This is a map of reports of people stuck on railways around 2pm this afternoon.

First Great Western services from London were turned around at Newport. The power surge halted all trains in the south Wales network and also left level crossings in the position they were in when the power went down. There were also reports of severe road congestion as a knock-on effect. And boy were the streets of Cardiff jam-packed with an abundance of cars that could only be an effect of Arriva's poor show.

A Network Rail spokesman said a blown fuse was found in the power supply and they were still working with Western Power to investigate the cause. She said:

"Trains are now on the move, however there are still some slight delays as we ease into normal time-table by this evening's rush hour," said a spokeswoman at 14.20 GMT. "We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused and we advise passengers to check before they travel into and out of Cardiff today."

Arriva Trains Wales have advised passengers wishing to claim compensation for their disrupted journeys to write to Customer Relations Team, Arriva Trains Wales, Freeport RLTR-HBCR-LLTH, St Mary’s House, 47 Penarth Road, Cardiff, CF10 5DJ.

To coincide with this train travesty I've conducted a bit of research into the most ridiculous train delay excuses, they are as follows:

1. Announcing the cancellation of the 8.16 to Bedford. “This is due to slippery rain.”

2. Heard on an April morning. The train is delayed because of "dew on the tracks".

3. On the train from St Pancras to Derby. “We apologise for the late running of this service. This was due to excessive heat on the tracks between Bedford and Luton.” (It was the first sunny day of the year.)

5. Announcement at Bournemouth station: "The train now arriving on platform one is on fire. Passengers are advised not to board this train."

6. On the line from Cardiff to London. Delays have been caused by "a giant clown on the line". (This related to an inflatable Ronald McDonald which had blown from the roof of a restaurant onto the South Wales main line.)

7. At Wembley Central, a delay was announced due to “illegal immigrants on the line”. (The police were chasing them up the track and requested all power be turned off.)

8. To a platform of passengers waiting for the train from Woking to Waterloo. Delays were caused because somebody had climbed on to the signals near Weybridge and was taking pot shots at passing trains.

9. On a packed train, with many standing for the full journey from Newcastle to London, the conductor apologised that the overcrowding was caused by “too many passengers”.

10. Heard at a London Underground station: "We apologise for the delay to customers on platform one. This is due to a delay in the actual service."

Yes readers- Trains are really becoming a nuisance! They never seem to be on the right track; they are late, delayed, cancelled or on protest. All aboard the hate-trains express!

-ZB

A sequel heavy summer?

With the sun poking through the beautifully blue sky this afternoon I thought I'd give give you sneak peek into some of the movies that will be hitting our gigantic cinema held screens this summer.


Set to sail this summer is Pirates of the Caribbean 4:On Stranger Tides starring heart-throb Johnny Depp as the iconic Captain Jack Sparrow. Once again the swashbuckling Disney series is planning on enchanting its audience. 


You will be pleased to see the wonders of Captain Jack and the bad man that is Blackbeard. Beautiful Spanish-favourite Penelope Cruz also joins the cast as Blackbeard’s daughter, and for those who are determined to miss the intricate complexities of Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley’s romance, there’s a new blossoming romance that will include a mysterious mermaid.


The film is said to capture the fun, adventure and humor that ignited the hit franchise— but this time in Disney Digital 3D. Take a quick look at Disneys newest plee for us to join the pirates on a voyage to find the fabled fountain of youth:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 - the finale of the blockbuster film franchise draws to a close this July. The magical adventures of our favourite witches and wizards will conclude in this final spell of duals, dragons, deaths and the uplifting enchantments of 3 young friends.

Part 2 sees Harry, Hermione and Ron facing their biggest challenge ever as they go head-to-head with the dark lord Voldemort and his death-eating followers.

Will they fight or fall? Will we see a happy ending for our favourite wizard? Here's a sneaky peek at what's coming up for the finale to end all finales this July.

The only Hangover guaranteed to be welcomed this summer is the sequel to the lads stag; Hangover 2. The original film was a pleasant surprise that helped bolster Warner Bros' summer takings back in 2008, raking in over $200m in the US alone. The first was a sleeper hit, but this sequel is imperative to the studio's line-up for summer 2011.

All of the key players are returning in front of the camera, and Todd Phillips is back on directing duties too. And even appreciating that comedy sequels rarely capture the fun of the original - expectations will be high for The Hangover 2.

Yes- the wolfpack is back but this time they set to create havoc in Bangkok for Stu's wedding and I for one will be taking my seat for this non-misser. 

Just take a look at this preview:

Transformers 3 will be morphing onto our screens this summer. In this epic adventure the Autobots learn of a Cybertronian spacecraft hidden on the Moon, and race against the Decepticons to reach it and learn its secrets, which could turn the tide in the Transformers' final battle.

But this love to love robot movie is ousting one of its best cast members. The foxy leading lady (who may have decided to call it quits with the franchise) wont be appearing in this sequel! Transformers 3 and no Megan Fox? How is that going to work!?

And-after some confusion when it had been suggested that the Cars sequel was being knocked back six months, it turned out that wasn't the case at all, and that Pixar's second consecutive sequel is revving up on the grid for June 2011.

It's an interesting one, this. Cars is generally regarded, with some justification, as Pixar's weakest film. Yet, in terms of the amount of toy sales it generates, with revenues heading into the billions, a sequel became inevitable. This time, Lightning McQueen is heading off to race around the world, with Mater in tow.

The third of DreamWorks' animated hits to be franchised, following in the footsteps of Shrek and Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda 2 has Jack Black returning to voice Po, with Angelina Jolie and Dustin Hoffman also on voicing duties. If it hits, expect Kung Fu Panda 3 to follow in the summer of 2014...

Sequels a-plenty this summer!

-ZB