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FAO Neil Channing
Walking through Oxford city centre half an hour ago I spot someone famous. I stare at him for about 20 seconds but can't picture where I know him from. I wrack my brains but can't place him so have to walk on, as it's getting embarrassing standing there like a wally. Ten minutes later on the bus I twig that it's you, as he had your trademark "windswept" hair.
Were you in Oxford today around 12.30? I'd love to know that it was actually you 
Comments
That was me. Had a lovely two day holiday in Oxford. It was great.
You should have said hi. The bloke serving breakfast yesterday asked if I was a stand-up comedian as he thought he knew me from somewhere.
Indeed (teed that one up for you).
I have made that point repeatedly & vigorously to all of the Management Team, including the CEO, for many years now. It's 23-0 to them at the moment.
Ever hopeful & optimistic, another means to air my views on this matter, & the community Software generally, has now presented itself, following discussions with Team Suit at the UKPC, & I'll have further opportunity to discuss it, & my alternative proposals, at a Meeting in Head Office just before Easter.
Its not something that exercises me terribly, nobody will die (perspective), but it's such an easy win for Sky Poker if we could improve the Forum Software generally.
I have a tinsy winsy bit of authority in this matter, as I now look after the Forum, and I intend to pursue this as hard as I'm able. Even so, the decision making wheels on these seemingly easy wins grinds very slowly, & I'd not be surprised if I were an OAP before it gets resolved. Or even an ex OAP.
My girlfriend is a big fan of Andy Warhol and I noticed recently that the Ashmolean had an exhibition of some of his work. We've been to look at his art on several continents so it seemed like an easy one to do being one hour away on the train. It's over two years since we went on a holiday without me playing any poker and I thought it was about time I rectified that, especially as it's her birthday this week. In all the many years we have been together I don't think I've remembered her birthday more than twice and she either tells me it's her birthday half way through the day or doesn't mention it until weeks later when she drops it in while referencing that day or week.
I thought it would be a nice surprise to go to Oxford. The only problem was I had a few things that I needed to do on Monday and Tuesday and on Friday.
We ended up going on a two day and one night holiday.
It was lovely. We went straight to the museum, then checked in to the Malmaison which is a hotel that used to be Oxford Prison. We stayed in A-wing in a room the size of three cells with a little cell door and a view of the exercise yard if you can reach the small windows at the top of the bedroom wall.
If you walk out of the room you are on the landing and you can march up and down the iron stairs and hang out in the association area.
In the morning we had porridge on metal trays and that set us up for an afternoon of hopping on and off tourist busses and going to look at the colleges. A quick shopping trip to Bicester Village followed and we were home after 32 hours.
It was great. I'm planning our next holiday already. Just working through the mountain of post, dealing with the backlog of emails and catching up on phonecalls that build up when you are away.
Oxford is lovely. Do you live there? You are very lucky. Do you ever wander around the colleges and find the architecture awe-inspiring or is it all routine and it just washes over you after a while?
It was Johnny Galecki aka Leonard Hofstadter from The Big Bang theory.
I believe I am not the first to draw the comparison although Mr Ambo cannot see the resemblance.
I can see it. I agree, although I seem to be getting way fatter than him.
Is he ok? Ill? He must be shrinking.
^^^
As it happened, I was with Neil last night Mrs Duck.
This week & next week are perhaps his busiest 2 weeks of the year, prepping for, & during, Cheltenham Week, so you may not hear from him for a while.
Since his mini holiday, he has been attending Cheltenham "Preview" Meetings every night, & last night, he & Joe Beevers, his partner at Betting Emporium, held their own Cheltenham Preview Evening at the rather swanky Bleeding Heart Restaurant in London, opposite Farringdon Place. Charles Dickens was a customer there, so it's been around a while.
He's also written 3 lengthy articles about Cheltenham for B-E, was interviewed by Lee Davy for a lengthy piece on Calvin Ayre, & recorded a Cheltenham video for a bookmaker.
In the coming week, for each of the 4 days of Cheltenham, he will write a 700-1,000 word article for EVERY race, so some 28 articles in all.
On top of all that, he has to organise getting his own bets on. He remains, first & foremost, a professional sports bettor.
So there you go, hope that helps explain why he has not been around much this week, nor will we see much of him in the upcoming week.