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The tour of British racecourses has arrived in Carlisle, a half-decent town in the far north.

They like a drink in Carlisle and, in order to discourage this, the entire pub and brewing industry was nationalised in 1916, and only returned to the private sector in 1971. Along with state ownership, which was expected to reduce sales of beer due to disincentivised salaried managers, the buying of rounds was also outlawed.

None of this has any relevance to the racing, but I think it is an interesting story.

Anyway, Carlisle Racecourse is pretty good. They were holding a family fun day, which is the only way I can get the wunderkind to enjoy a day of turf action. I am becoming something of an expert on horse racing family fun days, and Carlisle gave a good account of themselves with the inclusion, alongside the bog-standard bouncy castle and face painting, of a petting zoo. And free chocolate. Genius.

I couldn't pick a winner in a one horse race, but Sally managed to preserve Verity's inheritance with a tidy win in the last.

We have sponsored an African child through the charity Plan International.

We haven't really sponsored a child, of course, since sponsorship is just a money-raising gimmick, but it is a smart gimmick and we are using it to give Verity an appreciation of those who don't have the same feather-downed gilt-edged fully-loaded childhood that she is experiencing.

So, we have sponsored Kaligueta from Burkina Faso. She is four years old, although in the photo of her and her mum, she is up to her mum's shoulder, which would make her mum a hobbit, or Kaligueta a future WNBA player.

No matter. Kaligueta walks a kilometre to get water and food is not plentiful. It is a tough life and the average life expectancy is just 53 years.

We explained this to Verity. She was puzzled that people might not have enough food. Not enough food, not enough money to buy food, we said. Oh, she said, so they have to eat in restaurants?

Grandad completed his final ascent of Great Gable last week. Above is the photo, below is the route. Shyt weather.

You need to zoom out the map a few times to see it - Google Maps is a little off beam.

View Great Gable in a larger map

Aged 4 years, 3 months

"I've got good news and bad news.

"The bad news is that Michael Jackson is dead.

"The good news is that we can still listen to his music."

[from bbc news]
A Thai man is unconscious after almost being squeezed to death by a four-metre python he was carrying on a motorbike.

Samrauy Phonlerk, a local villager, had volunteered to take the snake to a national park after it was found in Pracinburi town, east of the capital Bangkok.

A friend agreed to drive him there on his motorcycle, but as they were setting off the friend noticed that the snake appeared to have escaped from a bag and to be strangling Samruay.

The friend abandoned the motorcycle at a busy intersection and ran for help.

Emergency workers who came to the scene found the python tightly coiled around its victim.

More than a dozen people beat the snake with sticks for over 20 minutes before it relented.

"Samrauy lost a lot of blood because he was bitten and constricted, but he came out of the intensive care unit this morning, although he is still unconscious," a police spokesman said.

The python was later released into the jungle.

Tomorrow morning I am going to quit my current temporary job and in ten days time I will go to Canada to start a new one.

Initially it is for four weeks, but it could become a permanent gig, in which case wife and child will need to pack their cases and join me.

It will be based in Toronto. I have visited Toronto twice, the first time for one and a half days and the second for three days. Barely enough time to get over five hours of jetlag. Actually, the first time I flew there from Tel Aviv, so it was seven hours of jetlag and I was in such a state I couldn't find my own nipples with a satnav.

This time I can acclimatise and should get a chance to be a tourist as well as a corporate ninja.

Exciting times.

Many a slip 'twixt cup and lip.

The acquisition I am relying on for the gig in Toronto has hit an impasse, with all three parties blaming each other.

I could be back on in the next few days. Or weeks.

Meanwhile I am working in central London and currently enjoying my trip home via one Tube and three trains.

I am in Mississauga, Ontario. City tag line: Leading Today for Tomorrow

It would be difficult to come up with a more vapid slogan, although many cities try on a daily basis.

Arrived Sunday, leaving Friday.