Doug's Personal Blog

A couple of outstanding Ping Pong-related links on the ZX Spectrum Games blog that I've been meaning to post for a while.

The first is an interview that I did with those guys via email. It might not be too interesting and, reading it back, I could have gone on for a lot longer (which won't be surprising to those who know me ) but if I had to pick out the most important bit, it would be this ....

"But I would definitely say my entire career grew out of those Spectrum
experiences and those skills have been remarkably resilient to different
systems, applications and new things I need to take on. I wish there
were a few more games programmers around because the business apps world
might be a lot better!"

I keep meaning to blog about that.

Hopefully the fact that I agreed to the interview and eventually got around to it (sorry, guys!) wasn't the reason for the good review of Ping Pong

We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year!



(Please imagine the singing. It was difficult enough getting a picture that captured both us and our lights, never mind a video!)

Oh, and a very Merry Christmas from the two new Cuddly Toys. We didn't need names for them, because ... look ... it's Mads and Douglas!! (Courtesy of Seawood Designs, via Boneist ... Many thanks to both!)



P.S. A White Christmas! Yippee!! (Although Douglas seemed very grumpy about this morning when he was trying to de-freeze his car ....)

Happy 40th Birthday Mads!



(Not very happy about being moved off our seats, but looking forward to good food and company later)

Not just the results, but the photos. There simply wasn't time to post them yesterday as the sweepstake took quite a long time to organise and I barely had time to get bets on for Mads and I at the local bookies. First we had the draw ....



There was a small mix-up when Frank the Duck somehow picked two selections, but we rectified that when we noticed that Brian the Footballer didn't have one. So, selections made, everyone settled down for the race.





Oh, and the Barack Obama book? One of the Boys Christmas presents. They're *big* fans.

It was an eventful race and State of Play came in fourth, which meant Mads and I at least got our money back, but the first and second places went to ...



Alex/Pierre and Geoffrey. As you can see, prizes were small but Alex and Pierre were generous and shared them around in the evening. By the way, Geoffrey isn't upset because he was only second. He just always looks like that and wasn't pleased about being forced to join in in the first place!

Sad news. The Rabbit picked Hear The Echo (Hear The Echo), who collapsed on the run-in. He kept asking what that meant and we tried to shield him from the sad truth, but the rest of them made a point of explaining the implications to him. He's shattered and it's going to take a while for him to get over it. The Rabbit, that is, but I think Hear The Echo came off worse ....

Forget, if you can for a moment, the sad number of horses who have died in pursuit of an essentially trivial sporting event. Once a year, the Grand National takes over British life for a few hours, leading to people who would never dream of visiting a betting shop stumbling over tiny pens and specialised slips for dummies. Every office has a sweepstake or two on the go.

The Burns household is no different and with the increasing cost of laying bets, we thought we'd try an innovation this year - our own Sweepstake using the BBC's handy print-out Sweepstake kit. The prizes are small, and only for first and second place, but here are the picks, pre-race.

Gordon - Cloudy Lane
Ugly Cat - Chelsea Harbour
Crazy Cats - Snowy Morning
Goldfish - Nowhere
Geoffrey - Comply or Die
Bill - Ollie Magern
Sergeant Blackberry - Stan
Bobby Dan - Black Appalachi
Rabbit - Hear the Echo
Jorge - Persists Leap
Douglas - My Will
Mike - Eurotrek
Mr Tickle - State of Play
Derek Jr. - Big Fella Thanks
Alex/Pierre - Mon Mome
Balikavalata - Silver Birch
Little H - Butlers Cabin
Brian - Offshore Account
The Mod Duck - Parsons Legacy
Gerald - Reveillez
Snowman - Fundamentalist
Horror Ora - Golden Flight
The Dog - L'Ami
Tigree - Battle Cry
Mads - Cornish Sett
Pingu - Fleet Street
Mario - Musica Bella
Moo - Can't Buy Time
Ugly Bear - Darkness
Flatcat - Irish Invader
Frank - Rambling Minster
Bear with no name - Southern Vic
Bradley Bear - Kilbigganblade
Rodney - Brooklyn Brownie
Tigger - Himalayan Trail
Laughing Red Nose - Arteea
Armadillo - Ceriam
Polly Piggy - Idle Talk
Sens Moose - Kalami
The Monkeys - Zabenz

(Typing that was a nightmare and apologies for any incorrect names!!)

Results and photos to follow ...