Valentine Special...Odd Couples by Jane Foster

As the old saying goes, opposites attract. Love can blossom between unlikely individuals. Love can cross boundaries of age, culture, distance..even extreme political ideologies. Let me show you our gallery of some of these couples.. people who have found true, everlasting love, despite cultural and political barriers, despite the prejudices and reactions of others.

Hitler and Saddam. Who would have thought it? Two ruthless, sadistic dictators who nevertheless found a tiny space in their stone cold, brutal hearts..for each other. Like so many modern romances, it all began on the Internet. Hitler was casually surfing through dictatorsreunited.com when he spotted the famous bushy moustachio'd one.. and instantly fell in love with his impressive facial growth.

You may have heard this famous story. The reason why Hitler tortured and gassed so many Jews was that he was suffering from a pathological condition- 'moustache envy'.

A genetic disorder prevented his moustache from spreading beyond his Cupid's bow - to his eternal chagrin. So he took out his anger on the vulnerable. But meeting and falling in love with Saddam meant that his desire could be fulfilled.. at least partly. He may not ever be able to grow a moustache as impressive as Hussein's..but at least he could gaze upon it every day, stroke it whenever he pleased, and take pleasure in being Saddam's personal facial groomer. As soon as Hitler found this one true love, he immediately forgot all his secret fantasies featuring blond Aryan hunks. A big dark hairy 'tache was all he needed to fulfil his erotic desires. And he also stopped gassing the Jews, which was a good thing.

The story of this odd couple has been well documented in the box office hit 'When Addy Met Saddy'. Also, Hitler has destroyed all his past diaries and is rewriting his memoirs of his new gay life: 'Mein Kamp' will be in the bookshops shortly, with Hitler doing guest readings of some of the more steamy passages.

Bush and Blair Well, here's another surprise... One of them as American as apple pie..the other as British as a bowler hat. Bush said 'potayto' and Blair said 'potatto'. Bush said 'tomayto' and Blair said 'tuition fees'.... which kind of spoiled the rhyme. But never mind. Despite Tony's obvious lack of poetic flair, George decided he was the One for him. continued below

Valentine Special...Odd Couples continued by Jane Foster

He could never pin down what it was about Tony ...perhaps it was the endearing, and rather helpful, way that he liked to repeat things three times.. Yes, thanks to Tony, George knows all about Education. He even enrolled for a course on Proofreading and Punctualisation. Which can only be a good thing.

This romance did not always run smooth, however. Once, after one of their lover's tiffs about some silly weapons or something, Tony ran off in a huff and tried to enter several foreign countries - to prove a point. However, this did not end well - he was trying to pass himself off as an asylum seeker, but unfortunately only his nose was brown.

The pair have long since made up, however, and are planning the first ever wedding between two world leaders..Bush is said to be already rehearsing his lines with the help of some flash cards.

Lee Cassanell and Lee Cassanell This is a true love story..with a difference. It may sound unusual.. but Lee Cassanell has finally found the one special person he was looking for all his life - himself. Lee first discovered himself when he joined local writing group the Retro Gay Writers. He said : 'I'd been looking for a partner for a while, but I just couldn't find anyone good looking enough to take my fancy. I was trawling around the local bars looking for talent, but to be honest they were all right dogs. Not that I'm bitching or anything..'

But Lee soon found his one true love. 'I was tidying my bedroom one day when I happened to catch sight of a gorgeous hunk in the mirror. What a surprise I got when I realised it was me!' And so began a long-term love affair with himself. 'They say that love is often found right on your doorstep. Well in my case I don't even have to go that far - I just look in the mirror and I'm there!'

Lee is happy and contented with his new found love. It has solved a lot of issues for him. 'I used to have real trouble staying faithful to someone. But now I've met someone so goddamn gorgeous, how could I possibly want anyone else?'

Lee is currently trying to change legislation which says that a person cannot marry him or herself. 'It's discrimination of the worst kind', he says, 'and I'm determined to get the law changed so that I and I can live happily ever after'. Aww. And so ends my gallery of people who have found true love.

So, whether you're a hardcore dictator, an incompetent world leader, or just your sweet self...you too can find love. All you have to do is..believe.

Aircraft and Airshows - Aircraft Stamps By Tony

By popular request, the ballroom dancer is back! I've been urged by email and phone to give you more aircraft stamps from around the world. So here is a selection of my favourites which I hope will whet your appetites. I'm hoping that other philatelists will come forward and show us what stamps they are collecting. Read more...

Music Reviews - The Landau's - Sweet But True (single/ DAGALOST Records) By Steve Rudd
	Hull's something of a hotbed for cool indie-rock bands, and The Landau's - along with Still Life - are one of the freshest bands forging ahead within such a musical genre. An exclusively laddish quartet, this is the young band's first major release, and has been recorded at the city's famous Fairview Studios. The production qualities are fantastic, Read more...

Music Reviews - Pave - Linnet and Lark 05 February 2004 by Nick Quantrill
	2004 hasn't been the greatest years so far. It kicked off more than adequately in the Old Town Square of Prague but went rapidly down hill from there. Returning home I battled unsuccessfully against tonsillitis for a couple of weeks before slipping on the ice and breaking two fingers! Almost recovered, I decided to unleash myself upon Hull once again. The return of 'The Sesh' at Linnet and Lark seemed as good any place... Read more...

Aircraft and Airshows - The Yorkshire Airshow - Elvington 2003 By Tony

What a pleasure to be here for 2 days (24th - 25th August)! We were fully entertained with a diverse mix of aircraft. Both days of the flying program opened with the superb Red Arrows. Unfortunately, on the first day they had to abort their display for safety reasons when three light aircraft strayed in to the six mile display zone. Without doubt there must be an investigation into this misdemeanour and culprits brought to book. Read more...

Articles - Our Telephone Pole By Mo

	Poking my head out of the window I asked "Can I take some pictures for the website?". "No problem came the reply" from Alan the team leader looking up from the base of the pole. Another story lands in my lap I thought, as I unloaded the battery charger and slipped the first rechargeable into our 150 quid Minolta digital camera. Read more...

Holidays - Ibiza, The World Keeps Gurning By Andi
	Ibiza has long been known as the clubbing capital of the world. However, recent years have seen the development of resorts such as Ayai Nappa in Cyprus and Faliraki in Rhodes. This has lead to a fairly wide-spread belief that Ibiza is dying it's death. Read more...

Holidays - Al's Trip To Croatia By Allen Miles
	£649 is a lot of money in most people's eyes. And to spend that much money on seven days away when you're only earning £130 a week might be in a very real way considered lunacy. However, I decided to go for three reasons; Read more...