Putting the neeeiigh in Neighbours

Went to the horses with R, came out a mere 4 quid down, after operating a strict £6 per race betting maximum. R at least won a couple of times, which is good, as I was slightly worried she would never come to the races agian if she didn't. The last race was a bit of a fiasco for the poor bookies due to 5 non-runners, which meant queueing to get your winnings at the end was a long process - we discovered this after queueing for ten minutes to pick up R's £1.62 prize.

We tried a number of betting 'systems'.

1. Just pick a name you like.
2. Study the form in the racecard.
3. Go out to the paddock and see if your horse looks like it has 'good legs' (the words of a horsey type next to us).
4. Go out to the paddock and see if your horse looks at you. If it looks into your eyes then go for it, if it winks at you, or even waves its hoof in your direction, buy the damn thing and take it on a world tour.

Obviously the being £4 down at the end of the day speaks for itself - these betting 'systems' have varying, and not guaranteed success.

We ended the day back at our eating smoked salmon(smoked it myslef in a biscuit tin - see http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fish-recipes/smoked-salmon-with-chilli-salsa!) and watching a DVD of 'classic' Neighbours episodes. R was in hysterics, mainly at the hilarious death scenes (Todd! Jim!) the ridiculous silent wedding (Scott and Charlene - though classic track by Angry Anderson, 'Suddenly', saves the scene) and just the sheer enjoyment of reliving 1988-1991.

The worst scene was Libby and Drew's wedding when Drew sings some sort of Hihland Laddie Tartan Jockstrap number to Libby (who bawls). The bad Sottish accents are up their with Anthony LaPaglia (Frasier) and Don Cheadle's (Ocean's 11) English accents as the Worst Attempts at a Foreign Accent by a Professional Actor of all Time.

In the words of that long haired boke of the Friday Night Project *- 'Good Times'.

*R now wants him to do a 'Bring Back...Neighbours' episode now (if you haven't seen it, he does a program where he attempts to reunite the cast of a film or TV show by just generally stalking them.)