It's All Lies!!!

The art of telling fibs is alive and well and Nottingham unveils the biggest liar in the world.


Plenty of tall tales have been told at Nottingham’s Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem pub over the centuries. In 2004 it's become the venue for a fresh bunch of dirty liars. And no, it wasn’t a group of lads on the pull – nine of Nottinghamshire’s finest storytellers were battling it out for the dubious title of ‘World’s Greatest Liar.’


The event was organised by 55-year-old Pete Davis, better known as Pete the Fireman (because he is a fireman – and that’s the truth.) Pete runs the Storytellers of Nottingham, a club that meets in Ye Olde Trip every month to lie to each other (or tell stories, as they like to put it).
This year, the competition had an extra unbelievable twist: Pete won, with a big fat lie about his vampiric parents. "I’ve been running this for six years," he said after thanking himself, "And this is the first time I’ve won."

So, as the organiser – did you expect to win?
"No I didn’t! I’ve been storytelling for eight years…it’s a strange thing to want to be called the world’s greatest liar. Bill Kirkham, whose won the competition for the last three years, he’s an ex-Chief Superintendent of Police. Worrying, isn’t it?"

What does your wife think of your talent for lying?
"She’s my wife. She’s used to it!"

And what do your colleagues in the Fire Brigade think of your storytelling?
"They thought it was silly at first, but now they’re quite taken with it. They really think it’s fantastic. They are incredible storytellers, firemen."

Given that you are now the World’s Greatest Liar, any advice for our politicians?
"Basically, pack it in. Unless you’re doing it for fun. You’re upsetting lot of people by lying, so behave. Tony Blair wouldn’t know the truth if it bit him in the arse! Tell the truth – save the lies for our competition next year."

Can you give us an example of how you use your talent in everyday life?
"At work we get people from the Nottingham Evening Post ringing us for stories and one morning I told a guy a meteor had hit the jewel tower. I said we’d found the meteorite while we were drilling. He asked how I knew it was a meteorite, I said, ‘I’m a trained geologist… It’s really rare.’ He asked if he could come to the station and take a picture, so I told him to come back at 9, when the station officer was in. That was when we went off duty. But he phoned at quarter to nine and the station manager tannoys over, he says, ‘Blue Watch – which whatsit told the Post about the meteorite?’ That was a true one. Well, a true cheat anyway."

With Christmas coming up, what do you make of the whole Father Christmas myth?
"I like it. I’m a grandfather – it’s nice for the kiddies. It’s not a Christian thing, is it, Father Christmas? I’m a pagan anyway, but I’ll celebrate anything that involves eating pies and boozing!"


The Storytellers of Nottingham meet on the last Thursday of every month and anyone is welcome. Just remember to take everything they say with a pinch of salt.

Mukesh Ambani India's 1st trillionaire

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani has won the rare distinction of being the only trillionaire in the country with over Rs 1,00,000 crore of wealth in his companies’ shareholdings.Younger brother Anil is also trailing behind closely with close to Rs 90,000 crore of wealth in the stock market through his holdings in various group companies.Early this year, Mukesh Ambani was ranked 14th by the Forbes 2007 list of world's billionaires. Being a shrewd businessman, Mukesh is seen in the corporate circles as someone who has that rare mix of passion and clever insight. Unlike Anil, Mukesh is level headed, does not runs into quotes easily and balances his words articulately even while discussing the most simple matters.Since splitting with younger brother Anil in 2005 and taking control of $20 billion (revenues) Reliance Industries, founded by his father Dhirubhai Ambani, Mukesh's fortune has soared by $11 billion. He has ventured $5.5 billion on retail ventures including Reliance Fresh, a chain of food stores out of which 60 are now open. His megaplans include $10 billion investment to develop special economic zones across India.The total investors' wealth in the four Anil Ambani Group firms—Reliance Communications (RCOM), Reliance Capital (RCL), Reliance Energy (REL) and Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) has reached 1,42,384 crore, while total promoter holding is estimated at about Rs 87,000 crore.The combined market capitalisation of the four Mukesh Ambani Group companies—RIL, Reliance Petroleum (RPL), IPCL and Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Ltd (RIIL) has crossed the Rs 2,50,000 crore mark. The total promoter holding in these companies is worth over half at about Rs 1,30,000 crore.While Anil Ambani holds control of most of these shareholdings, his stakes in some other listed companies such as Adlabs Films takes his total wealth in capital market to around Rs 90,000 crore.Mukesh Ambani, based on his direct and indirect holdings in various group companies, is estimated to have control of about Rs 1,11,000 crore worth shares.While RIL has witnessed a jump of about Rs 1,08,000 crore in its market value in the past one year, that of RCOM has gained by about Rs 70,500 crore in the same period.Reliance Capital has also gained about Rs 14,000 crore in one year, while the gain for RPL is around Rs 12,250 crore. RNRL and REL have gained close to Rs 1,500 crore each, while IPCL has added close to Rs 4,500 crore to its market cap in the past 12 months, although that of RIIL has dropped by about Rs 300 crore.