bleungberg.com

Nose-picking Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is world-famous for being a Holocaust denier.

But is he really? Or is he doing it for publicity?

Bleungberg reckons it’s the latter.

When asked whether the Holocaust took place, he doesn’t actually give an answer. Instead, he yaps on about the Zionists and how they ’stole’ the land from the Palestinians.

He never gives a yes or no answer to that question, and would say anything to avoid answering the question.

He doesn’t even go into great details about the Holocaust, and merely says it is a European conspiracy - BECAUSE HE KNOWS THE HOLOCAUST TOOK PLACE AND THAT HE IS LYING FOR THE SAKE OF LYING IN ORDER TO WHIP UP ANTI-ZIONIST SENTIMENTS FROM HIS OWN FADING FAN BASE.

So, there. He’s not actually a Holocaust denier - but a Holocaust denier AS and WHEN it suits him - preferably on national TV, and at the U.N.

Nose-picking, hypocritical Persian cunt.

                                                            Keith Floyd

Brian Barron

Aside from the low of Hingis’s abysmal peformance, things are looking up for women’s tennis after an atrocious couple of years….capped by Serena’s show-stopping outburst in New York.

Perennial Bleungberg favourite Kim Clijsters stole the show at Flushing Meadows, beating both the Williams sisters en route to lifting the US Open crown as a wild card.

Meanwhile, rumours of a comeback by her long-time rival Justine Henin was confirmed ten days later when she annouced on Belgian TV of her intention to play at the Australian Open, with the ultimate aim of winning the one slam to elude her - Wimbledon.

Spare a thought then for the trio of world number ones - Ana Ivanovic, Dinara Safina and Jelena Jankovic. With just one Grand Slam between them - none was able to capitalise on Henin’s absence from the sport. Ivanovic, in particular, has played so poorly since winning the French Open title in 2008 - three weeks after Henin had walked away from the sport - that the Serb’s even taking a sabbatical from tennis!

So, with Clijsters in full flow, Henin coming back, and Yannia Wickmayer (at last) making waves, Bleungberg reckons Belgian broadcasters who renewed their tennis contracts in the last year got them on the cheap!

Ten years ago, Swiss tennis star Martina Hingis suffered a very public meltdown when she lost the French Open final, having sensationally served underhand to a bemused Steffi Graf in the greatest women’s final of the modern era at Roland Garros. Hingis was subsequently booed off court and had to be coaxed back onto the Philippe Chartrier for the presentation ceremony with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Fast forward to 2009 and long-retired, but it looks like the public still haven’t quite taken to her, as she was booted off Strictly Come Dancing at the very first hurdle, despite being a half-decent dancer - emulating another former tennis great, Monica Seles, who was also voted out in the first round on the American version of the same show.

The only difference is that Seles was genuinely bad at dancing, whilst Hingis wasn’t.

Prior to her departure, a commentator had tipped Hingis as a ‘dark-horse’ as long as she could ‘keep smiling and not let her competitive streak show as it might alienate her from the audience’.

In truth, the former Wimbledon champion barely had time to even sneeze before she was voted off the show, which proves that the public still don’t like her very much.

What must the former ‘Little Miss Madam’ do now to rehabilitate her battered image?

Greetings from Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina, having trundled across Bulgaria, Serbia and Sarajevo from Central Turkey by numerous trains, coaches, and one taxi. The final stop is due to be Budapest at the weekend, and between now and then, some bits of Croatia and a tiny bit of Slovakia must also be negotiated before a neat little seven-hour transit chez Benedict XVI in Rome.

First of all though, may we just take a brief moment to say to those of you currently fasting for Ramadan that you have our full and utmost respect. We have no idea how anyone even managed to fast during the shorter days of winter, let alone 15 hours of daylight at the height of the summer! We arrived first in Konya, and then Bursa in Central Turkey on the eve of Ramdan a couple of weeks ago - two of the most conservative Muslim cities around, and immediately struggled on a full stomach in the blazing sun and intense heat. To think that so many around us survived on absolutely nothing until sunset - not even water - it is a pretty mind blowing experience, especially when watching families breaking fast en masse outside the Blue Mosque in Istanbul at precisely 7.58pm. In fact, we would go as far as to say that Turkey has now become Bleungberg’s favourite country in the world, ahead of Japan and Iran. This was our third time there, and having now visited parts of the east, south, central, Northern Cyprus and, of course, Istanbul, Turkey is simply awesome on so many levels. We still rather dislike Istanbul, however, as it’s expensive, scammy and overrun with tourists. The rest of the country though is brilliant… spectacular scenery, interesting people, wonderful cultural sites, nice beaches and lovely mosques. We also find it quite civilised, safe, cheap, and getting around from city to city is a complete doodle. There is still a question mark hanging over Turkish food - too much lamb and not enough chicken or veggie options but after three tries, we think we might have finally found ways of steering clear of anything out of a sheep.

So, Turkey was outstanding, whilst the police-state of Bulgaria and Serbia served up some wonderful dishes but were largely unexciting (Belgrade is terrific if you go in a group whilst Sofia can be skipped and Veliko Tarnovo is recommended instead). Occasionally however, you come across a nugget of a place which is so profound and leaves quite an impression on you. For us, that place was Sarajevo, just up the road here in B&H. Both Sarajevo and Mostar had been on our wishlist for some time, but not even in our wildest dreams could we have imagined them to be so damn interesting and brilliant. There is simply no other place in Europe quite like Sarajevo - bombed into submission during a brutal four-year siege by the Serbs a little over a decade ago, yet, it soldiered on gamely and resiliently against all the odds. Along with a wealth of history and architectural wonders (Ottoman bazaar, beautiful mosques, Austro-Hungarian buildings, Communist offices and tower blocks), a fantastic nightlife, a wonderful Olympic legacy, a hospitable people and some glorious food, we are quite happy to declare this our favourite city in the whole of Europe.

To those of us who like history - particularly gutwreching ones - Sarajevo is a living museum and monument to the brutality of modern warfare and human suffering: bombed out buildings, bullet holes everywhere, derelict sites, half-hanging houses, swathes of graveyards and literally hills of cemeteries all over the place. Mostar - whose famous bridge was destroyed by those conniving Croats - is similar but on a lesser scale, but no less compelling or powerful. Everywhere you go or look, there are reminders of a very recent, brutal and dreadful war, and it is an odd feeling to be surrounded by people who are cheerfully boozing or just having a good time, yet, not so long ago, were running for their lives or surviving on rations. We had hoped to visit Gallipoli during the same trip, and even Auschwitz at the end of it. Time constraints meant that neither is possible, and we’re glad about that. …three wars in one trip would have been too much…

So, if you can, do give Sarajevo some consideration - you will not be disappointed. If the history side gets too heavy, there is always the cheap booze and cheap skiing to keep you occupied!