It’s inspired books, films, claimed teeth and bruised butts, it’s about time the dangerous sport roller derby got included in the Olympics and 2020 might just be the year. Alongside baseball, softball, wakeboarding, squash, sport climbing, rollersports, karate, and the martial art wushu it’s under consideration for inclusion as an Olympic sport.

The fast paced contact sport on wheels has been on the rise since it was revived in the early 2000s. The activity differs from other current Olympic sports with its punk ethic and DIY attitude. Just the kind of thing that would have interested the teenage me in sports and the kind of thing cross country running does not provide. 

Coffee, red wine and chocolate. They’re good for you, they’re not good for you, they’re good for you, they’re not good for you. Some things I can wait for science to make its mind up on. Coffee is not one of them. I need a definitive source to ignore regarding whether my 4 heaped spoonfuls of instant cup a day is either greatly improving or just heart palpitationly bad for me.

The latest on coffee is that it’s good for you. Or bad for you, depending on your oestrogen levels and ethnicity. 

We already know man flu is a fallacy and that it is painful for women when men try to joke about suffering from it. Man flu discussions usually lead to conversations concerning women’s endurance of pain in comparison to men. The thought being women cope with higher levels and therefore might feel less pain.

However, a study published in the wonderfully named Journal of Pain (even more wonderful than their emo teen diary title is their rapper website jpain.org) found on average women scored their pain levels 1 point higher than men.

Disappointingly the study was not comprised of poking 100 volunteers with sticks and asking them to rate the pain.

Ever wonder why your perfectly intelligent girlfriends transform into giggly little (metaphorical) jellyfish in mixed company? Do you feel that a meeting is slowly sapping you of brain power? At parties does your sparkling wit cruelly leave you?

Turns out it is not you, it’s science!

According to scientists at Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute group situations lower your intelligence and women are more susceptible.

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scientists at Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute examined how the brain processes information about social status in small groups and how these perceptions could influence expressions of cognitive capacity.

Whatever your thoughts on cosmetic (to stress cosmetic, not plastic) surgery it is probably safe to say you could be won round in an argument regarding cosmetic surgeries advertising 2 for 1 offers and vouchers for surgery.

 The argument being, you can’t offer such things with prescription drugs (or I wouldn’t recommend taking out a full page magazine ad anyway) so it’s perhaps unwise that major surgery should be advertised in such a manner.

Even more peculiar are the adverts with women declaring it’s their smile people are noticing, rather than their new and expensive heaving bosom. If I spend over £1000 on anything you all better be noticing! 

Until the branch of Waterstone’s near me drops the apostrophe from its shop front I shall continue to use it. When googling for more information on this story it asked me if I "meant Waterstone’s". Oh Google. Yes I did.

However, let us not mourn the apostrophe in Waterstone’s. Instead, after the disappointment of the Baftas Rising Star shortlist, and the disastrous BBC Sports Personality of the year, we can celebrate one shortlist that women are dominating, the Waterstone’s 11.

The Waterstone’s 11 list celebrates the debut authors expected to dominate the literary world with their debut novels. The select few will have their books promoted in all branches of Waterstone’s. 

A school in Leeds is under fire for offering make up lessons to its year 10 pupils. The tutorials cover how to make-up for a night out and what is appropriate for an interview.

The idea behind this pilot scheme is led by The Model Education and aims to boost self-confidence and help students give a good first impression.

Staff at Mount St Mary’s Catholic High School, where the classes are taking place are quick to point out the positive. Deputy Head Sue Carluccio told the Mirror: “I’m a maths teacher and wouldn’t expect a child to be able to solve an algebraic equation without being taught first how to do it. Why is it any different with this?”

Now he has a daughter Jay-Z has got all poetical and has announced thanks to his new muse he will be dropping the B word, and we are not talking Beyonce. 

In fact he doesn’t want anybody to use to word bitch. At least not in reference to his 10 day old daughter. The man who released the track 99 Problems, relieving us of any worry Beyoncé might be kind of a pill to be with, with the lyrics “I got 99 problems but my bitch ain’t one”.

I would have hoped meeting his wife might have put a stop to the use of the word bitch.

Now this poem to his daughter tells her why he won’t use the word any longer. 

When on occasion I am called upon the defend women only awards, such as The Orange Prize, I shall cite the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2011 Awards and now the Bafta's Rising Star 2012 shortlist.

Both are open to men and women and both have recently had men only shortlists. The Bafta Rising Star long list comprised of the following actors;

Adam Deacon (Kidulthood and Adulthood), Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids), Eddie Redmayne (My Week With Marilyn), Tom Hiddleston (War Horse) and Chris Hemsworth (Thor).

We all know the rhyme, ‘Whisky makes you frisky, brandy makes you randy and gin makes you sit on the stairs crying’ (you might know another version that scans). And we all know what people mean when they mention ‘wife beater beer’ and it seems Stella Artois and international lobbying company Portland Communications is trying to change this.

Just as no one knows what exactly is in whisky, brandy or gin that provokes such reactions, the vague bar-based utterance regarding Stella Artois’s epithet, ‘oh, there’s some chemical in it that makes you violent’ is not totally founded on science. I think we’re all agreed the ‘some chemical’ in it that potentially causes violence is alcohol.