The Great Gordino Newsletter – May 19th 2014

Hi,
I hope all is well with you.

It was the 133rd FA Cup Final on Saturday. When I was growing up it was THE match of the season. The TV channels put on special shows all day, and it was shown live on two channels, which was quite something when we only had three channels full stop!

"FA Cup"
Of course those days are gone now – the money has taken over, and the FA cup has long since been overtaken by the Premier League and Champion’s League as the tournament to focus on. That’s not true of *everyone* thank goodness, which is why the Cup still has that special place- 737 clubs entered, small and big, and that’s something a sport like the NFL for example, could never have.

Speaking of football, FIFA President Sepp Blatter has admitted it was a mistake to give the World Cup to Qatar as it will be too hot in the summer. Do you think, Sepp?

Unfortunately he says he will stand for another term, and the sorry bit is, he will probably win too such is the political set up within FIFA. Thank God anyone can still just put down a couple of jumpers for goal posts and kick a ball around!

"Gary Barlow tax"
There’s been a huge fuss about the tax affairs of Take That singer Gary Barlow. It seems he has been involved in a tax avoidance scheme which has dubious ethics. People are saying he should be hung drawn and quartered!

Well, avoiding tax through legal means is, well, legal. Evading tax is illegal. Barlow, as far as I can see, has avoided tax, and although the scale is in the tens of millions, the principle is the same as a tax free savings investment, using legal means to avoid tax.

"Dr. Robert Hughes"
A doctor retired during the week. Dr. Robert Hughes retired after 32 years at his Portsmouth practice. So many patients turned up to thank him for his work that they were queuing for 4 hours! Lovely to see such a nice send off for someone who served his community for so long.

It was Mental Health Awareness Week last week. As someone who has suffered from issues in this field, I know the value of help, sometimes just offering an ear to listen. On my face book page I suggested that it would help if people just did something kind, said hello to someone, smiled at someone.

"Stephen Sutton inspiration"
Someone who did bring a lot of smiles and kindness and served the community was Stephen Sutton who died last week aged just 19. When he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he decided to raise money to help other young people in his position. His decision to see out his days doing the fun things he wanted to inspired many, and his fund passed £3.5 million last week, which will provide a legacy of help for a lot of young people thanks to Stephen’s efforts.

On the blogging front, I have just about finished up my free report on turning whatever your passion is into profits online, and I am also sorting out another product to tie in with one of my own passions, back to the football, and making money from the 2014 World Cup! Keep in touch for further details down the line!

Oh, and it’s 40th birthday today for the Rubik’s Cube – 40 years of throwing the sodding thing out of windows!

Ok, that’s it for today, do let me know what you think about any of the subjects, leave a comment below, and feel free to share around social media if you enjoy the newsletter,

‘Til Next Time,
Health & happiness,
Gordon
P.S. Don’t forget to connect with me on your favourite social media, buttons top right of any page – my own favourite is Facebook, I’ll see you there!

Do leave a comment!

Leave a Reply to Lisa Mallis X

6 Comments

  • Such a packed post, but information that will suit everyone. I was very sad to hear about the passing of Stephen. I’d been following his story for some time, and even though I knew it would happen eventually it was still a shock to hear it. I’m glad he managed to complete the majority of his bucket list, though, and raised so much for charity. Thank you for sharing this post.

    • I used to write a weekly newsletter years ago, then lapsed, and when I came back, blogging and social media had taken off, and a newsletter seemed dated! I’m trying to bring it back in line with new business venture, so it has little snippets rather then full articles.
      I sum up Stephen’s inspirational story like this – if you know you’re going to go, there’s no better way than to do it bringing help and motivation to as many as possible. He certainly did that!
      cheers,
      Gordon

  • I enjoyed reading your thoughts on such a variety of topics! From the serious, to the inspirational, to the humorous (40th anniversary of Rubik’s cube!!!) a little of something for everyone (as Alexandria said) or a little bit of something for all parts of me! (Though I must admit – I’m not a big fan of football – both American football and soccer . . . I’m a baseball fan!)

    • Thanks Lisa!
      It’s a revisit of a old adventure for me, I have got so used to writing full articles on one subject at a time, but am quite enjoying going back to a weekly newsletter as well.

      Now, baseball, that’s an interesting one! Here in the UK the coverage is extremely hard to find, which is why it doesn’t have the fanbase that, say, the NFL has. One thing I have always loved about sport is the sheer variety on offer!
      Thanks for stopping by,
      cheers,
      Gordon

    • Barlow’s come in for some real grief from the media – I did see one commentator say ‘never before has so much vitriol come down on someone for *not* breaking the law!’
      Stephen Sutton was an inspiration indeed, and nearly £4 million is one heck of a legacy to leave to help others behind him
      Cheers,
      Gordon