Downtime .. would be nice

I am trying to get into the habit of reserving Feb/March, as months where my general workload decreases, and, I allow myself some time to think about things.

To help this endeavour, I signed-up for a 4 day painting course (landscapes and shit), not, interior.

I haven't painted for a seriously long time .. and, the overall quality of my colleagues work, was in a different league to mine. Here is the result of 3 days work .. (I got bored, and decided to play golf, on Day 4).

To give some balance .. here is the top picture over 3 days .. painted by a 65 yr old granny .. and a picture from the teacher .. produced in 90 mins.

At times, it wasn't easy to concentrate.

There is a lot of bad news re greyhounds tracks closing .. it seems Wimbledon has weeks left, and Hall Green, potentially, a few months.

These closures, will leave big gaps, and its not hard to envision many more flapping (unlicensed) tracks, than the potentially .. 16 or so, regional stadia, in 5 yrs or so.

There are many to blame for this sad state of affairs .. but, a sad fact is, that new supporters are hard to recruit .. given, the margins a typical on-course bookie works to .. (as he cant take money/balance his book).

Its a vicious circle .. and I don't really see a way out.

The trouble is .. the same can largely be said of horse-racing .. thou, I would be happy, to see maybe 10 of the existing 59 tracks in the UK, close.

There is too much racing, and the product has been diluted // bookies have come to rely on other products. If racing regained some quality, it would give everyone a chance to regroup .. which, is maybe what the industry needs.

Juggling the Planets

Its been an odd period of time.

Over the last 2 weeks, I have never been so out of kilter, with the market. I dont understand. They are wrong, I am right .. but, no-one understands.

Really fucking weird .. maybe its me, but, my results say otherwise .. hey-ho.

This weekend is Superbowl 50, and listening to many of the NFL podcasts, there are some sports books with a menu of up to 400 prop bets.

The Westgate casino/Sportsbook, went up with 200 or so props, last Thursday. the line of 30 punters, were allowed 2 bets each, before, going to the back of the line .. (the odds for there picks, normally shortened).

Historically, props are great business for the books. The squares, take the over on everything .. wanting to see action, and the sharps take the under, laying the heavy juice, knowing they have the best of it.

In the last 49 superbowls, the game has not gone to overtime. This time, its priced at 1.08 or so. Not a great price .. maybe, but, for bridge-jumpers, good enough.

I miss the US at superbowl time .. even thou, watching in Vegas, would be madness.

Carolina Panthers are 5.5 points fav, and about 1.47, on the moneyline. They were 40/1 at the start of the season .. some people have some nice ante-post wagers. I am with them, but, not at fancy prices.