Take a punt

When times get tough, you can bet that gambling will step in to tempt us with better times ahead… if only my horse comes in first or my poker hand’s a winner. In Eire, Paddy Power has overtaken the Bank of Ireland to become the country’s eighth largest company. Gambling in the UK is a growing business, in particular online betting, never mind that it increases people’s isolation. But, whether gambling is done by bankers or punters, it amounts to the same thing. It’s gambling: only the size of the stake differs. For many, though, it ends in tears. Not that it’s always the people who do the betting who do the crying; most often it’s the poor bastard on the street who didn’t even have the pleasure of a flutter. It’s you and me.

BROKE

Feeling broke

'Nough to choke

Feeling blue

Purple hue

In the dumps

Got the hump

Porridge pale

Not in sail

A

Perfect sod

Of a god

Awful time

What's my crime?

Gi's a dime.

Crocodile in Peckham!

Is it safe to leave home? Is it safe to stay home? I’d put good money on there not being another neighbourhood in London where a crocodile could be found inhabiting a bath, although I do recall reading in the local press about a black panther that broke into a flat in Nunhead (a stone’s throw from Peckham). Yes, it can be wild around here, but not usually in a David Attenborough way.

Happy 2011

The money’s run out, capitalism has imploded but hope springs infernal, and I just can’t resist a touch of optimism (like a temporary hair colour on greying hair). Panglossian? Yes, but right now that’s okay. If you can’t toast better times ahead on New Year’s Eve, when can you? Realism can wait. The photo is of a weed eking out a living by the side of Deptford canal.

Father Christmas sits on the fence

It can no longer be ducked. Christmas is imminent. The geese have got fat. Hams are tender. Turkeys big breasted. Chestnuts are roasting. Pies are mincing. Puddings are plumy. Merry Christmas one and all.

Shocking news: more snow has fallen: we're British and we can't cope!

The country has come to a halt. Transport has ceased. Hospitals are filling up with the injured (well, if you will go out, what do you expect?) Flu crisis pending. Politicians sharpening their knives to make more cuts. Shops running out of tinsel. What can one do? Why, make a snowman of course. Put that pent-up energy into making a thing of foolery.

Desmond's: TV star!

Here’s a picture of a sink. Not my sink but one that I photographed in Desmond’s barber shop in Peckham. From the late 80’s to the mid 90’s there was a popular Channel Four TV sitcom called Desmond’s. It was the first sitcom to feature Caribbean people in a work situation. The series was actually filmed in this barbers. The other photo is of Lloyd tending to a client who has been coming to Desmond’s to get his hair cut by Lloyd since he was a boy. Sadly, after 30-plus years Desmond’s recently closed its doors for ever. For the next couple of weeks, the photo of Lloyd is exhibited at the Peckham Space gallery. A memory temporarily on a wall.