The KnowledgeFootballPlus: Are pre-season friendlies really meaningless?; bizarre pre-season trophies; and why no one won the Scottish Cup in 1909. Send your questions and answers to knowledge@theguardian.com and follow on TwitterAs the World Cup final plays out before my very eyes, I’m reminded of a question that has nagged at me all tournament,” begins Jonathan Wilson (not that one). “Namely, what happens to all the Brazuca balls used throughout the tournament? Read More...
Science and nature booksReviewWe are becoming slaves to consumerism ... the UK’s favourite shepherd returns with a paean to a more life-enhancing approach to farming
At 20, James Rebanks ran away from his family farm in the Lake District to visit Australia. The vast scale of farming there both impressed and depressed him. He was homesick for the crooked fields, ancient hedges and dry stone walls of home. And he revered the traditions his grandfather had taught him. Read More...
RankedJason StathamWe rate the action man’s bone-crunching output from Guy Ritchie’s cockney geezer to the Fast & Furious movies
39. In The Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2007)From German shlockmeister Uwe Boll, this tepid fantasy yarn tasks Jason Statham’s sturdy yeoman with slapping down evil sorcerer Ray Liotta. The undisputed low point.
38. Turn It Up (2000)In his little-seen US debut, Statham convincingly plays raspy heavy Mr B in a tale of Brooklyn rapping and drug-dealing gone awry, endangering Ja Rule’s face with a deli-slicing machine. Read More...