Monty's Gaming and Wireless Outlook - Issue 103

There's nothing like a lollipop in the eye to bring on a bit of heart trouble. Last month, veteran changeling David Bowie copped the aforesaid confectionery while on stage in Oslo and today he is lying in a German hospital recovering from emergency heart surgery.

Poor old boy lollipop Bowie. The icon who once went through too many changes now resembles a supine cross-breed of Andy Warhol and Nadia from Big Brother. Scurrilous rumours that he is re-releasing 'Rebel, rebel, my heart is a mess' with The Strokes are tasteless and should be ignored.

While Bowie recovers from heart congestion, the heart of London is still recovering from the traffic congestion charge of the Formula 1 roadshow earlier this week. While taxi drivers, shoppers and Soho trade journalists fumed at the inconvenience, car-hating London mayor Ken Livingstone waxed typical about a future London Grand Prix.

This would be a good thing, but it raises the question of whether the Formula 1 teams would have to cough up the large amounts of fivers needed to pay for the congestion charge. The image of Michael Schumacher on the M25 coming into London using his Voda-phone to text 81099 to pay the charge is an interesting one.

This form of micropayment by SMS for the congestion charge has undoubtedly been successful and a blueprint for further revenues for London. If the Grand Prix does come to the best city in the world, watch out for Red Ken (more Ferrari than socialist if you know what I mean) setting up a mobile games company.

He could offer a free downloadable game that replicated the London Grand Prix circuit as a sop to paying the fiver for the congestion charge and everybody would be happy. But don't expect a Bowie track to augment the game.... Fleetwood Mac still rule that particular neck of the pits.