Well.....

Apologies for not posting for so long. Lots of stuff has happened with all manner of japes and jaunts to report. Look, I’ll simply chuck a few photographs up for now. The headlines read:

1. The Fall at Oxford’s Zodiac.

A fine evening. It was fun to check out a new venue and The Fall were on good form. Luckily, Youtube has come up trumps and it is possible to view a euphoric rendition of Big New Prinz. A bubbly S is to be spotted bopping away at 05.35 with the author of these pages poised just behind him adopting an ironic post-punk pose. The opening number, Reformation, is here but, sadly, there are no crowd scenes to drool over. The idea of the evening was to celebrate S's impending nuptials and we did so in style.

2. S’s Wedding

Hello Magazine wanted this photograph but I won’t be bought by anyone. The last few moments of the young blade’s bachelordom captured on film. It was a smashing day.

3. The Evening ‘Do’

We all went to 5 North Street in Winchcombe for a slap-up meal. This place is only one of two establishments in the county with a Michelin star and the Coles were bowled over by every aspect of the meal. The photograph features the evening cabaret warming up.

A Cautionary Tale

Cor blimey, I nearly came a cropper at the weekend. I have often looked at the intriguing world of spread betting but only on Sunday did I seriously consider having a punt myself. I was checking out the Sporting Index site and specifically examining the options open to someone wishing to gamble on the Biarritz versus Northampton rugby football fixture. There was a projected spread on the French side’s performance where Biarritz were awarded 25 points for winning the fixture, fifteen points for each try they scored and five point for every successful kick. Five points were to be deducted for each missed kick and every yellow card. Well, I reckoned Biarritz would slaughter, slaughter the Midland outfit; they were at home with the sun on their backs, Saints stood bottom of the Premiership with confidence at seemingly an all time low and the class of players such as Yashvili, Betsen and Harinoroquy would surely rack up the points. If they were to win, score four or five tries and pop over a few kicks, I would be quids in. The spread was 88-94 so, if I gambled a pound, and Biarritz’s performance rating was considerably higher than that - and surely that would be the case - I would win a fair bit. If I gambled a fiver, I’d clean up. I’m relieved I didn’t have a bet. With missed kicks, no tries and a loss, the Biarritz performance scored exactly nil. Placing five pounds on them doing well would have lost me 450 pounds. Spread betting is scary and I’m happy to report a lucky, lucky escape.

Flurry with a Fringe (Festival) on Top

In a flurry of activity, the Coles have sorted out summer. In the middle of last week, I booked flights and hotel so that I and the two eldest Cole children (for optimum effect, the last few words should be read in a Robert Robinson Ask the Family voice) can travel to the beautiful city of Amsterdam for a couple of days. We can check out stuff like Ann Frank’s house and the Van Gogh museum and also travel along the canals on some kind of craft. We are all going to Disneyland Paris for a week as well but certainly aim to spend some of the time in your actual Paris too. With Green Man to look forward to as well as, perhaps, WOMAD, it’ll prove a busy holiday but it should be fun. I really need some big events to look forward to and I apologise if that sounds self-centred.

I'm looking forward to next weekend's Bath versus Gloucester fixture but, having seen our West Country rivals destroy Bristol in the European Challenge yesterday, I've decided, as a one-off, to cheer on the blue, black and white shirts for a change next Saturday. After all, we never seem to win at the Recreation Ground.