This is for those of you who play, or are thinking of playing, on-line Bingo. I’ve played both online bingo and live in Bingo Halls, and my preference is the latter. That may be flying in the face of the current trend- Bingo halls shutting down and on-line Bingo booming, but then I was never a dedicated follower of fashion as the Kinks might say!

The best things about real Bingo are the sights, the sounds, the smells (honestly!), and even the bloopers! Here goes-

The sights and the sounds: Many of the remaining Bingo Halls in the UK are majestic in their faded grandeur, and really do give you a sense of history (well, the 1950′s and 60′s). Many of the people you meet there are “characters”, quirky and with interesting accents and angles on things. You can’t get a slap on the back or give someone a beer on-line. The banter and comedy of the better (usually older) callers can be priceless There’s also a degree of skill needed here. You have to listen carefully for the numbers, and be agile enough to use your marker to quickly stamp the number called on your cards, before the next one is called. You can spot “newbies” losing it big time if they’ve bought too many cards!

The smells; ok, not always good if you’re in with someone unwashed at the next table, but some of these places do have a magic aroma- a mixture of damp plaster, polish, beer and popcorn, that cannot be captured on-line.

Finally the bloopers. I’ve seen them all. The container of balls falling off its pedestal and sending 90 balls skittering all over the floor, a person shouting Bingo and arguing that a certain number was called when everyone else, and the caller, begs to differ, and best of all, an inebriated caller who kept putting the numbers called back into the container to be called again until he was nearly lynched by the crowd, and a punter take over his job for the rest of the evening!

Cheryl Cole – who looks radiant as ever in a new Glamour magazine spread – may be spending a lot of time in Los Angeles, but the Geordie lass misses the comforts of home and insists she doesn’t understand the American obsession with rigorous exercise.

She told Glamour: “I don’t have a regime that I regularly stick to. I honestly don’t have one. But the TV out here is non-stop with adverts for the latest health craze. People give themselves too much of a hard time with stuff like that – just do it if you want to.”

Recent reports that Cheryl wasn’t a favorite of the American television producers behind the new X Factor series were somewhat confirmed by the interview – the “Parachute” singer discussed how the show’s execs thought an American audience wouldn’t be able to understand her accent. They suggested allocution lesions, but Cheryl had other ideas.

“My accent’s going nowhere,” the Girls Aloud star stated firmly. “Absolutely nowhere.”
Simon Cowell is said to have done his best to persuade the bosses of Cheryl’s mass appeal, but the singer’s comments to Glamour seem to suggest that she’s been passed over for the gig.

She said: “I really plan not to plan. I’ve had my life mapped out for the best part of ten years, so for now I just want to enjoy myself and live for the moment.”

Cheryl seems to be finding her stay in Los Angeles a bit lacking anyway. There seems to be a long list of commodities that she longs for: “Ringtons tea from Newcastle is the best. I always ask my family to bring me some when they visit. I also miss British chocolate, American chocolate is awful! It’s like wax. I have to get some Dairy Milk or Galaxy brought out. As for their Kitkats. I don’t know how they can even call them Kitkats.”

Check out this music video Iyaz Replay