I, Punter

Photo by Metin Ozer on Unsplash Last time I rashly promised “a Christmas Cracker” for my final blog of 2023, but I suspect what I am about to serve up is more like turkey leftovers.  Merry Christmas. On Sunday I put myself on Santa’s naughty list.  We were at White Post Farm for a dog friendly evening which, at this time of the year, meant a lot of it was spent stumbling around pitch black fields with only an inadequate torch for illumination.  It was great fun.  At one point an elf came up to me (I hadn't been drinking) and asked if my daughters would like their photograph taken with Santa, or as it appeared to me a tatty mannequin sat on a bench.  I gave the offer short shrift, rather presumptuously in hindsight, but was instantly overruled by my wife and I wandered off, tail between my legs, to inspect a pair of animatronic reindeer that were much more impressive (they did have real ones as well).  After the photos had been taken, my wife asked me why ...

Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash I’ve added Notts County to Santa’s naughty list.  But more of that in a moment. I was treating myself to a taste of what Christmas might be like, post-apocalypse, by taking a stroll around the Four Seasons Shopping Centre in Mansfield when I chanced across the Canadian singer and songwriter Michael Bublé who was buying this year’s Viz annual in The Works.  He told me, rather predictably, that it was "beginning to look a lot like Christmas", but I said "hardly" as we were in the Four Seasons Shopping Centre in Mansfield.  I saw him later in HMV hiding Jamie Cullum’s Christmas album behind a pair of Skullcandy headphones.  Tragic. Equally tragic was last Saturday’s recommended double, although in the end it was only a single on Notts County as Wrexham’s game against Forest Green Rovers was called off due to a waterlogged pitch.  In fairness to Sky Bet I could have cashed out for my full stake immediately prior to kick off, b...

A shorter than usual blog this week, but it’s Shoot-Out Snooker on Eurosport from Wednesday onwards.  The Shoot-Out is snooker on acid, with each match consisting of one ten minute frame, played against the clock with audience participation encouraged.  It’s not for the purist, but there’s fun to be had if you give it a go.  And you have Eurosport. Last weekend’s recommended double was a winner, with Brentford beating Crystal Palace 3-1 and Everton turning over Nottingham Forest 1-0 at the City Ground.  This pushed my winnings for the season into three-figures and I am now £117.83 in profit on this weekly bet since August.  Not a fortune by any means, but free money nonetheless. Forget the Premier League, if you want excitement League Two is where it’s at with at least six sides currently in contention.  For a time it looked like Notts County (4/7) was going to run away with it, but they have disappointed when playing their promotion-seeking peers resultin...

Photo by David Travis on Unsplash Last weekend’s selections scored eight goals between them and my double still lost.  But more of that later. Last Thursday I went to watch a podcast being recorded at the Nottingham Playhouse.  It was Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre Podcast, or RHLSTP (“RHLSTP!”) as the cool kids apparently call it, which is nearing the end of a national tour.  RHLSTP (“RHLSTP!”) is substantially a chat show and the first guest on was the actor and comedian Lloyd Griffith, who has a recurring role in Ted Lasso. Griffith revealed that he had once been paid £40,000 to appear in an advert for Ladbrokes, which is easily found on YouTube (his character is the “Gut Truster”).  That job must have been money for old rope.  He followed this revelation, in a demonstration of having your cake and eating it, with a mini-tirade about the evils of gambling which was the usual well meant but ill-informed view that no good can come of it. There ar...