Coming soon to a railway siding near you

My favourite is 'Mikz race kid'.

John Barry Bingo II

Quick post script about last night....

It was amazing. The only minor downer was that I'd convinced myself that Shirley Bassey would make a special guest appearance to sing Goldfinger and sadly that wasn't to be. That aside, it was class. I thought I might actually explode during the Bond medley at the end.

Here's a very ropey pic of John Barry getting a standing ovation:

And now for the bit that you really want to know. The winning Barry Bingo card:

This earned me a free trip to see Die Hard 4 (for getting the most crossed off) AND a free drink when we get there (for being the first to get a line). It was a very tight game - I claimed victory by a single point. I can heartily recommend concert bingo though - we're seeing Jarvis Cocker on Saturday and I'm threatening to create a 'Cocker Lottery' for that.

John Barry Bingo

Tonight I shall be attending this, and I am very excited indeed. I've been a big fan of John Barry's music since being introduced to Bond films as a kid and my interest has grown from there. Those lucky enough to be in attendance at the first (and likely only) Tombola DJ set will, I'm sure, have fond recollections of hearing the Moonraker theme (end title). Not too sure how much involvement Brer Barry had with the discofying of that version but it's on his Moonraker soundtrack so it's good enough for me. Also on that album is the track, 'Bond Smells A Rat', which is one of the best titles in my collection.

As if I couldn't be excited enough already, the adrenaline levels will only be increased further by the involvement of John Barry Bingo.

The draw was made last night. The 21 tracks included on the Themeology collection were put into a big pot and used to draw out two sets of 15.

To add to the atmosphere, Tombolablog pretended to be Graham Kelly for the occasion ("Hello and welcome to the John Barry Bingo draw. The ties will be played on Thursday 21st June, 2007"). CP dressed up as Sir Bert Millichip. I love it when she does that.

Here's what the beautifully crafted bingo cards look like:

CP picked a good collection. I wanted Vendetta and Wednesday's Child so I remain a bit jealous of that. There's recently been much frantic listening to some of the more obscure tracks such as 'The Knack' or 'Walk don't run' so that we can definitely recognise them if they are played.

And here's my gamecard. I was very pleased to get 'The Persuaders theme' as word is that it's very likely to feature tonight (the music is selected by Jarvis Cocker as this is part of his Meltdown curation. 'The Persuaders' is apparently his favourite Barry piece).

We'll need to be pretty discreet with this to avoid irritating those around us. I wonder if I would be thrown out for yelling "HOUSE!" mid-way through 'You only live twice?'

You realise that you're middle class when....

You find yourself having to add "basil" to your mobile phone's dictionary as it doesn't recognise it on predictive text.

I pity the fool that thinks I'm dead

A few months ago I was using a ruler to measure a massive poo on my street. It feels healthier and much more pleasing to be getting my measuring kicks by assessing the growth of my sunflowers. Today the front runner passed the 1m mark. A happy evening in the Tombolablog household, believe me.

But this blog is not about the tall specimens.

This is dedicated to the toughest plant I have ever seen. Even being snapped in two didn't stop it. I was very close to binning it as I didn't want it hindering the growth of the plant it was sharing a pot with, but it has clung to life by a thread and bounced back. It's the Kenny Dobbins (google him) of the horticulture world. It will never win any medals, but it certainly deserves one.

Spot the ball

Yesterday we were walking along the Strand when we noticed a police helicopter, then a police car, and then more and more police motorcyles. Ooh! Could this be the Queen driving past, I wondered excitedly? No. But surely the next best thing! We had the good fortune to have turned up at the exact moment a couple of thousand naked people cycled past. Those of a nervous disposition may wish to avert their eyes...

How does your garden grow?

Have I mentioned that I've been doing a spot of gardening recently?

The sunflowers are now heading towards the magical 1m mark:

Seen as none of my fellow growers have reported their progress recently, I can only assume that the Brixton sunflowers are zooming towards undisputed victory.

The runner beans have been just as successful:

They are now taller than me.