Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Snowy back garden
It started about 7am where we live (which probably tells you more about my life with kids than my weather forecasting skills).

At first, I assumed it would be one of those pitiful attempts at snow, which vanished within minutes.

But no! By the time the above photo was taken an hour later (just after 8am), it had begun to settle big time.

It really does look very Christmas card-like and I almost dug out the Rat Pack At Christmas album, but then realised I couldn’t face the references to figgy pudding, holly and Rudolph!

Now, there will inevitably be choruses up and down the land of: ‘Goodness, how unusual for it to snow at this time of year,’ and these people would actually be wrong.

How do I know this (not being related to Ian McCaskill or Michael Fish)? Well, tomorrow is C’s birthday and she can remember loads of occasions when it seemed like winter at this time of year.

Memories of winter tend to stick around your birthday, don’t they?

Anyway, let’s enjoy it while it lasts and hope for a little bit of sun this summer, as well!

You bet!

Grand NationalIt was a good day for Ladbrokes and William Hill today, as the Grand National took place at Aintree this afternoon.

Now I’m not a betting man, generally. I have a flutter every so often but The Grand National seems to be just that little bit different.

Maybe it’s the potential for an upset and a 100-1 rank outsider passing the post first, but when you head to your local betting shop on Grand National Day, it’s chock-full.

Rather than the usual collection of slightly nervous, pasty-looking, unshaven men poring over copies of The Racing Post, there were all sorts in there working out which horse to put their 50p each-way bets on.

Betting shops are very different to my first experiences of them 15-odd years ago.

For starters, there’s no smoking any more. Now they’re bright, friendly and full of TV screens showing greyhound races, horse races and Premiership football.

And watching everything happening, it’s really easy to see how people can get hooked on betting.

Omid Djalili – just not funny!

Omid DjaliliWe had our company awards bash last night and the compere was none other than Omid Djalili – a man who I generally find very funny.

Sadly, last night he fell flatter than an apartment block in South London and just wasn’t funny.

Awards gigs are a tough job. Sure the comic can go on and do some of their normal routine, but the audience also hopes that the funnyman will make some hilarious references to your job and where you work.

For some unknown reason, Mr Djalili didn’t make any effort to do that at all.

In fact, he seemed even more desperate than normal to play his ‘race’ card. All his jokes were about what it’s like to be an Iranian… jokes that I’ve heard him tell on numerous other occasions, when he’s appeared on TV or radio.

Sure, as journalists we’re probably slightly more cynical than many audiences, but fundamentally we just want to laugh and we’d had enough wine to get us in the mood for a good giggle.

And I’ve seen enough other comedians bring the house down at events such as last night, so it’s not an impossible job.

I can’t believe that this is Omid Djalili’s first big corporate gig, so let’s just say many of us were slightly disappointed!