Pic of the Day (above)
Russia’s Vladimir Ladyzhenskiy (L) and Finland’s Timo Kaukonen (R) sit during the men’s final at the Sauna World Championships in Heinola, Finland. The final two competitors had to be removed by force from the sauna, with Ladyzhenskiy tragically dying after both men collapsed and suffered severe burns as the temperature in the sauna rose to over 110 C. Mr. Kaukonen remains in a stable condition. There was no prize on offer for the victor of the competition.
Mood Swingometer
Today JOE has been feeling…football mad.
After yesterday’s fantastic Community Shield beginning to the 10/11 football season, JOE is putting that dreary, vuvuzela-infected World Cup behind us and concentrating on this weekend’s Premier League first-week arrival. With our Fantasy Football competition gathering pace (and FF Insider column to follow), ongoing season preview, daily Transfer Window section and live match-trackers on the way, we’re hoping that you’re feeling just as excited as the rest of us for the unbridled spectacle of overpaid, adulterous egomaniacs kicking a round ball for 90 minutes – game on.
Tonight’s Telly
Pick of the night: Our Drugs War, Channel 4, 8:00pm.
As TV advertisements have constantly reminded us, any drug-taking results in either sudden death or the loss of a child in a car accident, yet any government’s measures to halt or mete out drug use is seemingly always doomed to fail. As part of his enlightening documentary series on America’s war on drugs, Angus Macqueen tonight spends time with a former crack dealer and explores the cost of the US government’s full-scale offensive on drug use.
Movie pick: Tigerland, RTE ONE 11:40pm.
Perhaps paying penance for being known as the man who stuck nipples on the Bat-suit (Batman Forever, Batman and Robin), director Joel Schumacher struck gold in 2000 with his low-budget boot-camp drama Tigerland. Starring Colin Farrell in his breakthrough Hollywood role, this tough watch details the brutality of army training for the Vietnam War. Worth watching for Farrell’s performance alone.
Live Like JOE
Get used to a tough jobs market
In today’s rough Irish economic climate, it’s difficult to know exactly what an Irish worker needs to climb the ladder to full, stable employment. Unlike this writer, who was only required to complete two cartwheels in a row to impress his JOE employers, most would-be workers aren’t sure whether or not good exam results or solid qualifications matter at all to today’s employers, or if they provide an advantage at least. JOE’s Claire Tully tackles the situation with a sobering column on our site today.
