Jon's 30th Birthday Garden Party

Yesterday, it was the party to mark Jon's last day in his twenties. K and I walked to Skellingthorpe via The Monson Arms (well, you've got to try them all once). As we walked up Skelly Road, K came to the aid of a little girl who'd fallen off her bike and hurt her shoulder - I've married Florence Nightingale!

The party was in full swing by the time we got there. There was a croquet pitch (court / lawn / green ?) marked out and a barbecue set up for people to throw sausages on whenever they wanted. Jon had a couple of marquees housing the music and the food and everyone was sprawled on the grass drinking and chatting. The other part of the garden was a temporary campsite so, with no travel issues, there was no reason to not indulge!

There were many people in fancy dress so we were graced with Batman, Superman, the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, a sumo wrestler, a couple of WAGS, several gringos, sundry pirates, Robin Hood and a Mexican 007. Typical night out in Skelly then.

As the beer and wine flowed a round of shoe golf was suggested. For those of you unfamiliar with this game - it involves flipping your shoe off the end of your foot towards a nominated post or tree. Martin is the creator of the game and he duly won the Skellingthorpe Open. Although, at the end of the day, shoe golf was the winner. It's a demonstration sport at the Beijing Olympics.

There was time for a few rounds of tequila cruda then the bottle was polished off with some riddlin' action. The tequila was followed by some Pimms riddlin' - how civilised! Once it was properly dark, Jon supervised the ceremonial lighting of the bonfire. It was carefully placed beneath a number of large overhanging trees. Apparently it was the Health and Safety Officer's day off but massed bush fires were avoided so all was well.

Shared a taxi home with a very drunk wag, hulk and iron man. Very funny evening all round. Thanks Jon and happy birthday!

Danwood Quiz VI

Tonight it was Danwood Quiz VI - I've been running quizzes for my work colleagues for 2-3 years and this was the latest installment.

There were 17 teams of four and our venue was the Royal Naval Association Club in Lincoln. It was a good room with all the facilities that we needed and cheap beer so we'll probably use it again.

I did rounds on subjects as diverse as politics, chocolate and WAGS - as well as a picture round and couple of music rounds. Our eventual winners were Simon, Lizzie and Adam from Management Accounts.

K was my glamourous assistant and did all the marking for me. I think everyone enjoyed it so there should be Danwood Quiz VII before the end of the year.

Dinner with Nick & Amy

Last night we were over at Nick & Amy's for dinner. They'd cooked us a superb meal of home-made pate, followed by coq au reisling. We both really enjoyed it.

After dinner we had a go on the Wii - we played baseball (I'm awful), bowling, golf, tennis and then Rayman Raving Rabbids which is a puzzle game featuring buck-toothed rabbits. My arm still aches from trying to fling one as far as I could. Nick was the master of the drumming game - he obviously has natural rhythm.

Dougie Lampkin vs Goodwood House

For all the petrolheads out there.

Best Name Ever

Dogs that are smarter than Jon

In the interests of scientific advancement, it's important that we have a definitive list of which dogs really are smarter than Jon.

Please click here to submit your suggestion(s).

Imps Fixtures

The fixture list is out for 2008/09. Click here to view Lincoln's fixtures.

Big G's Stag

Bristol didn't know what had hit it. Pics can be viewed by clicking here.

Lee Thorpe...

...has broken his arm in stupid accident click here.

Euro 2008 Sweepstake

This is the big draw for the Euro 2008 sweepstake.



We have a £16 kitty which will be split thus:

• £7 for the winner
• £4 for the runner-up
• £2 for each losing semi-finalist
• £1 for the team that lets in most goals in the group stages (if two or more teams concede the same amount then the one that scores fewer or fewest goals is the winner, if it's still a tie then you can fight over it)

More Dogging

We celebrated Nick and Amy's 30th birthdays yesterday with a trip to Nottingham Greyhound Stadium.

We started in Revolution in Lincoln at about 2pm. They had reserved a private area and, as well as Nick & Amy, there was Mark & Naomi, Catherine (Amy's sister) and her partner (husband?) Martin, and me. At about four we were joined by Martin H and Jon. At five o'clock we headed to Unity Square to meet the bus that Nick had booked - there we met Will and Dean.

The bus took us to Hykeham first where we were picked up K, Lottie, Helen & Gareth, Phil and Ted & Yvette. So this merry band headed to Nottingham. On the way, I did the draw for the Euro 2008 sweepstake (see separate post to see who got what).

When we got to Nottingham we were met by Mark H who had been at Trent Bridge watching England thump the Kiwis. There was about 50 minutes before the first race of the evening so there was time to stock up on pie and chips and suss out the racecard. We had some novice doggers so I shared what little knowledge I have so that the mass of data started to make sense.

For each race, the on track tipster, known as The Hound, gives his tip on who he thinks will finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd. I decided to follow his tips on every race in a scientific experiment that would determine if there was yet another dog who was smarter than Jon. The Hound started badly with no wins from the first two races but Jon won nothing either so it was all square. On the other hand, Mark H was off to a flyer - his tactic was to bet on the dog with the longest odds. He got it right for the first three races in a row and was about £30 up straight off.

My tactic began to pay off as The Hound's tips began to improve. Overall, he managed to pick just under half of the winners. I was betting on the dog to finish in the top 2 so I wasn't winning much but I was gradually getting ahead and by race 13 I was three quid up. I won't be giving up work just yet but it has proved under scientific conditions that a two-dimensional cartoon dog is smarter than Jon.

In the last race (race 14), I decided to stop the experiment and bet on a dog called Baggie Babe (Baggy being the name of our cat), it was one of the favourites and I put £15 to win with a bookie called MS Racing. I got 5/2 so would have collected about £50 if it had won. It finished fourth. Nuts.

Bus took us home and Martin led the bawdy singing on the bus. We enjoyed many lovely old hymns including "I want to be a Harrows cricketer", "We're the left side of the bus" and "Beastiality's Best". The bus driver kindly did several drops around town so we all got home easily. It was a top day and night out. Thanks Nick and Amy and Happy Birthday.

Bowling mania

I was ten pin bowling tonight with colleagues from work, first time I've been for about three years. I think the layoff must have done me good as I scored 155 in the first game, the practise then started to damage me as the second game was only a 115. I thought a combined score of 270 might be enough to win it but unfortunately I got beat by one point... by a girl. It didn't bother me... much.

Noo Hoose

It's taken two months but I've finally got round to putting some photos on t'internet. That's the good news. The bad news is that the photos are a bit pants! It's not really bright enough, the house is a mess, we haven't finished furnishing it and I'm using my phone camera. Apart from that they are great.

Anyway, click here to have a look.

Predictions League Final Scores

Sorry it's taken so long but I've finally got round to updating the league with the final standings.
Congratulations to Nick who clinches the title just one point ahead of Will and two ahead of Ted.

Down at the bottom it's Pete, Keren and Lou.

JJ, Mark H, me, Des and Ted all scored perfect zeros in the Premier League - Ted also had the only perfect score in the Championship. My four points was the best score in League One and I also had the best in League Two with eight.

Click here for the full tables.

Camping in Cambs

Just got back from a weekend camping with Jo & Tony in Comberton (near Cambridge). Got there late on Friday night (after I'd finished my month end stuff) - had a barbie and a few bevvies.

After a leisurely breakfast on Saturday, we went to Wimpole Hall where, apart from the hall itself, there are some beautiful gardens and a farm featuring many rare breeds. In the evening we adjourned to the local pub for a hearty repast.

On Sunday, after another pork-based breakfast (good work TB), we visited Wicken Fen nature reserve where we did a 3 mile walk despite the threatening weather.

The weekend was a lorra lorra fun. Photos are online, click here.