A, erm, not very big moment

Yes, this is it ladies and gents. After much graft and devotion, my fifth post. It may not match OG's 201 posts (no, wait, 202...nope, 203....no, hang on...), but what I lack in quantity I like to think I make up for in content*.

In a departure from most blogs, todays dose of drivel is about something that's about to happen, rather than something that's already happened. I'm talking of this weekend (natch), with a crazy night out with the boy Manikai planned tomorrow, and a chance for me to supplement my meagre salary at the expense of everyone else with a big poker night on Saturday.

Clay heads back to SA in the near future, and with any luck tomorrow's send-off will have rich doses of the randomness and hilarity through which he's made his reputation over the years. If I (or RL) remember to take a camera tomorrow, pictures should surely follow.

Then with our heads still thumping from the Friday, it's off to MJD's pad (read: Manor House occupying half the landmass of Stalybridge - at least that's how he describes it) for a good ol' road game. With two of the game's pillars off in the Apple, the Don also absent, and the three of them replaced by fresh fish (Gaz: "Damn. All I've got is four of these 'ones'". Everyone else: "Fold!". Lunt "Zzzzzz"), it should be a fine event. For the record, I predict:

Me to pick up about £20 (from a £40 buy-in), thus hemorrhaging money once again.
Bradbury to nail the first game, then get nowt in the rest, but spend the whole evening banging on about how he's off to KPMG.
Gaz to snaffle the £90 jackpot in game 2, despite not knowing what's going on, but being a jammy twunt.
Mullock to spend 95% of the evening staring at people, asking for chip counts, putting people on cards, and asking how the betting has gone so far, 4% of the time drinking and 1% ACTUALLY PLAYING POKER.
Lunt to auto-fold half of the second game and all of the third, by virtue of being unconscious.

Tune in next week to see if I'm the next Nostradamus!

Mike, Mark, no intention here to make you feel like you're missing out - I'd love to be over in Noo Yoyk an all.
OG, every intention to make you jealous. Ha.

*not a guarantee

No-one will have noticed, so I'll mention that from now on, the 'Defiance' pic will change links each time I update my blog, with whatever's caught my eye. Today: A past from the (fairly recent) past, just because it makes me smile. Especially the ginger one.

Schmucks!

**Warning - political content below. I'll try not to do this very often, but it's fair got my back up. Just skip to the end for more TV banter**

You've probably seen this already, but the Yanks have gone and buggered something else up. Off the back of a number of high-profile arrests of executives of leading internet gambling companies, the House of Reprehensibles has passed a bill (and I jest you not) to "ban internet gambling"

Idiots and cretins.

But why does this bother me? I hear you cry (or maybe just mention matter-of-factly). Well, I'll tell you why:

1. Removing one of the biggest markets means less activity - so less profits, so less cash to give away as incentives/promos and maybe even higher rakes for the rest of us.

2. Why would you kick one of the fastest growing (and revenue-generating) industries in the nuts - especially if you've let tobacco and fast-food industries merrily kill your citizens for many a decade? Unless of course the deciding factor is that a lot of these companies (with no 'real' assets to house anywhere) are overseas?

3. Who the hell decided it was the Government's job to say what is and what isn't morally acceptable for it's citizens to do? Gambling's going to send all the kids straight to hell, is it? I'd've thought sitting on your SuperSize arses watching the unutterable sh!7e served up by the American networks every day, moving only to pick up the phone and order another gaudy trinket from BuyTV, would have sent you to hell quicker. But who am I to argue.

Phew. Right, enough of that. Back to more pressing matters - I have no idea whether you're on BBC1 or BBC3-time for Spooks, but either way both of the last two episodes were top-notch. Without giving too much away, they were the summit one, and the prison one. Although the Mace character (JIC chairman) is a total twunt, I can't help but like the man. For the TV anoraks out there, the guy who plays him (Tim McInnerny) also played Percy in the Blackadder series. Knowledge!

Finally (if there's still anyone left out there), I recall Lunt asking for photos to liven up this page. Well, here's a hark back to an earlier post:

What a beast. Mildly funny story - was going up to the shed the other night, after it had been raining. Stepped on the area where Amber now resides - cue me sinking to my ankle, and shiteing it that I'd go all the way down and have a Pet Sematary moment. Fortunately I just ended up with a muddy sock - which isn't quite a bone-chilling story. Hey ho.