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Damn, would have won the lottery last night if only I was already 56. And my wife was 44. And my daughter was 41. And my son was 35. And I’d been born on the 31st December. So close. I blame my family and my parents. I could have been a millionaire. Bastards.
I started the day with a nice,
cheeky stone clear before driving my daughter to another Hertfordshire town for a Saturday morning football match. Her team probably should have nicked it in a tight game, outplaying the other side for three quarters, but then tiring a bit after all their efforts. In the end it was a 3-3 draw and everyone was happy.
My tooth remained pain free, though I ordered some temporary filling online just in case, but I don’t think there’s any point in putting it in unless I get into trouble. It will make the dentist’s job trickier when I finally do get to see them.
I followed the fortunes of York City for the final day of the season, fairly confident that they wouldn’t stuff things up so badly as to lose and overturn their +14 goal difference over Torquay, but still not totally sure. Could Torquay beat Wrexham? It looked like they might. And with Maidenhead losing 3-0 Torquay only need three more goals to go in for them or Gateshead (Maidenhead’s opponents) to pull off an incredible and unlikely great escape. It didn’t happen for them as Wrexham pulled level and Maidenhead only conceded one more. But it was weird at the end of the afternoon to feel sorrier for battling Torquay than I did for disappointing York (who at least managed a draw against the league’s other superteam, Notts County - as dispirited as they must have been to have gained the second highest points total ever in this division and still not have got automatic promotion).
We survive for another season. Unless we go bankrupt. But bad luck Torquay. You deserved it.
I really enjoyed
this clip of Spike Milligan from the BBC archive which not only saw him at the height of his powers and in control of his emotions, but also summed up what is great about being a comedian. The interviewer is a little abrasive, given the circumstances (he seems to be actually crashing a theatrical performance, though how much of this is a surprise to Milligan may be open to question, but there is a paying audience there) but Milligan calmly bats him off, in a way that he wouldn’t always do. Clearly also from the quotes about other interviews he was capable of being negative and more aggressive at that time, but on stage, with his audience, he is bulletproof and naturally funny, charming and nicely cutting when needs be.
Also interesting that he saw himself as a successful failure, when he had almost single-handedly changed the face of British comedy and was clearly still flying high. But that’s the mindset of the comedian too.
