Canada Bob

Nice to drop in and say Hello, good to see that the Betting Forum and the Comp we started 5 or so years ago is still going. As for writing a blog, well, some of the events are so bleedin' strange that few would believe them, I still can't figure out why the hell these things happen to me. Have to say that I've dodged a few bullets in my time, what with the C4 explosive being attached to my car in 1986, then being diagnosed with cancer in 2004 and told I just told I'd 6 months to live, and then managing to have pulled off Abba Road for a breakfast, that saved us from being in the middle of what went on, I'd best not lose that rabbits foot hey... As to the betting, haven't been doing as much as I used to, if you don't watch the horses of the football games yer betting blind and that's a well trod route to the work house. Rather than be wrackin' me brains every week end for a bet, or throwing money at a game just for the excitement and the entertainment {that can be expensive} I've had 2 bets this season and I'm leaving it at that. I have 13k to win 8k that Swansea will be relegated, be nice if they don't get a point out of their first 10 games, {c'mon Wigin, 3 bowt ul do}. Other than that I've backed Peterheed to finish top of the 3rd Division, took me ages to get a couple of grand on. Bookies have no bottle these days. Anyway I threw a bit more into the hat finishing up with just under 5/2 to me 4k stake. That's it for me, tempted to back Chelsea as I think they're still scalded after throwing the Premiership away last season, but maybe I have enough on already to keep me interested. I got the nod about Peterheed from "a man in the know" {Reef knows his stuff in the SL} time will tell... Canada Bob. PS... I near forgot, I'm also "Trading with the Indians" {feathers not dots} with me XL5. I dropped on a bloke called "Red Feather" at a Pow Wow in Halifax about a month ago. He saw me putting XL5 on and how the mosquito's were leaving me alone but swarming everyone else, so he bought 250 of them off me for $5 each, put them on his stall and sold them all in a matter of hours for $20 each, he made $3750 in half a day, I made less than a grand {after costs} looks like the pale face got scalped again hey... But, "all's well that ends well" he now wants upwards of 30,000 units so I should make a few quid off that. Right now Red Feather sells just a couple of things {but he's making good money from them}, he was looking to expand his range and XL5 {to be re-branded} seems to fit the bill. Do a Google for "Redfeather.ca" to see his web site, I can't get the link to work in here. Never did I think when I was a kid watching "Hawkeye and The Last of the Mohicans" that one day {50 years on} I'd be trading with the Natives, odd old world hey, odder still that the avatar I've had for 10 years or more, now seems now to be so prophetic.

I thought me ears were burning, so I thought I'd drop by to see what's going on... As for me, well I'm still alive after battling cancer for quite a while now, still skating along, never sure how thin the ice might be, but still on me feet and enjoying life. As for Africa, yea, still involved with that, more so than ever, mostly in Morocco, Ethiopia, Cameroon & Nigeria, think Port Harcourt, a hell of a place, they don't call it The White Man's Grave for nothing. I may be heading back to Nigeria in a couple of months time, but I'll stay well away from Port Harcourt, I was having me breakfast {with my body guard, yea, really, when all of a sudden a battle broke out. Less than a kilometer down the road that we were on a armed convoy of oil workers {Europeans, Americans, and Koreans etc} were attacked by MEND, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, {think IRA on steroids} they were driving what they call technicals, small 4x4 pick up trucks with Browning anti aircraft machine guns on the back of them, not to mention these guys bristle with AK47's etc etc etc, they are mad enough and bad enough any time of day but when breakfast for them is a bottle of gin and a snort of cocaine it's a dangerous mix. The result of the ambush {that went on for over 30 minutes} was, one of the Police armed guards was killed, several were wounded, 5 ex-pats were grabbed, one of them {a Scottish bloke} made a run for it, {a bad idea, they say if you are captured don't run, you have a better chance of being eventually released than running for it during a gun battle} anyway this guy made it, the other 4 were taken but eventually released unharmed, I guess you never know what you'd do in the middle of a firefight, I reckon I'd just pass out... We {me and the bloke who was my pistol packing minder} were about half way through our bacon and eggs {over hard is the safest bet} when the shots rang out, that got everyone's attention, but it's not just the gunfire you hear, you can hear the zip of bullets as they fly through the air, that's when you know you are too close to the action. The place emptied in seconds, everyone heading back down Abba Road back to the relative safety of their compounds or their hotels, speaking of which. The hotels are pretty decent, mainly well off locals or oil workers, Port Harcourt aint a place for tourism, you don't wander the streets there, not even in broad daylight, in 2009 I think it was 103 "white folks" were kidnapped and held to ransom, most of them released after their employers paid on average $1 Million to get them back, but they don't all get released alive 5 were killed, it's a tough place. Most folks stay in the hotels having a drink, playing cards, watching tv, etc, but there is some other "entertainment". Just down the road there are a couple of Universities, and the girls {looking for fun and money, odd how those two seem inseparable hey}, so they head for the hotels 'for a good time". They are bonny girls too, well dressed and really good looking, I was having a bottle of Guinness at the bar when one of them caught my eye, and she was over in a flash, we got talking, she knew nothing of ICT, anyway wasn't long before she said "you can have a good time with me for $20 US" !!! I was mortified, well, almost, something close to rigor mortise seemed to be setting it, what was I to do in such a situation, $20 US for a "good time" and there I was with nothing but Canadian s FFS... Have to say the women over there know how to tempt you, but all that "Faithful" got out of me was a couple of vodka's, and all that I took home was the memory, you don't need penicillin for that. Aids/HIV and Hepatitis are rampant right across Africa, there's a Million a year dropping off their perch from those diseases alone, no wonder the life expectancy in many countries is 47 !!! Looks like I've digressed, I'm doing different things in different places, on me own bat almost, not working with any major organisation, but going over there and linking up with local Church groups for the most part. Although folks aren't going hungry in Morocco, Cameroon or Nigeria there is a common link between them, the problem they have with mosquito's / malaria. Malaria kills off over 1 Million folks ever year in Africa, I guess you have all seen glimpses of it on TV but it's worse when you are in their midst and you see them bury their children in shallow graves, one after another. The stuff that I formulated, I call it XL5, after Fireball XL5, you might remember Lazoon ? the monkey who had a mission every week, and although he dint know what the hell he was doing he always got the mission completed, well that seemed to have a resonance with me, what did I know about mosquito's and malaria, I never saw either in Wigan, mind you we aren't short of mosquito's here in Nova Scotia or the rest of Canada. I think that Caley D and a couple more of you had samples of the stuff from me a good while back to help combat the midges, not sure how it worked against them, but the "new and improved" XL5 has been tested and shown to be "equal to, if not better than DEET". As concerns mount about DEET folks in the Western World are shying away from it, so there's a nice market there to make a few quid from, I use that to help support the cost of making XL5 in Africa, thankfully you don't need a Lab {or a Lab Technician} to make the stuff, a wooded bowl and a spoon does the job. The latest is that I've been invited back to Nigeria {probably November} to meet with a Government Minister, and chances are that will lead to a meeting with Goodluck Jonathan, he's the Prime Minister of Nigeria, {if you can imagine a cross between George Foreman and J.R. of Dallas you've got the picture}, won't be in Port Harcourt though, either Lagos or Abuja, safer and more civilised there. The reason they want me to go is they want to make XL5 on a commercial scale, for their Military as much as anything, they lose more men to disease than to bullets, even taking into account MEND and the border skirmishes with Cameroon, but they will make XL5 for the rest of the community too. Other than the above, I've been messing about with a little bucket thing to sanitize drinking water, the water may or may not look clean in Africa, but it is more likely be littered with bacteria, virii and or parasites including cryptosporidium {a potential killer that no amount of chlorine can kill off}. Faced with such concerns {for meself as much as anyone, did I mention about it being the white mans grave}, so... By chance having some knowledge of nano particled stuff, and how nano titanium dioxide {being a photo catalyst} will kill bacteria, virus, AND crypto, so I got meself a couple of what had been 5 gallon ice cream buckets, found a way to attach the nano powder to the walls and the base of the {opaque} bucket, poured the water in, put the lid back on, and let the sunshine activate the TI02 releasing hydrogen atoms that combine with the H20 turning {some} of it into H202 {hydrogen peroxide} left in the sun for 12 hours {there's no shortage of sunshine in Africa} the water is as "clean" as any water in the First World. My little bucket is getting a lot of attention now, if I wasn't 63 I'd go for a Patent on it, but being in the final furlong of life now it's no use looking for new shoes to run in is it... Speaking of Patents, the Ultra Shaving Cream {remember it} became a Tattoo Cream, odd how things like that happen, like buying a flat racer to see it run into the first 3 now and again, then put it over hurdles to see if become the Fav for the Champion Hurdle. Have a look at the link below, After Inked is now the fastest selling product in the tattoo aftercare market and is selling all over the place, the royalties come in handy, certainly keeps the wolf from the door. After Inked Locations I've also managed to buy and supply over 300 new footballs for schools etc across Africa, be nice to be able to provide them with shirts, shorts and boots, but all they need for starters is a ball to kick around, so that jobs done, I often wonder if one of the feet that kicks one of the balls that I got them will ever find its way to Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, the Emirates Stadium, Barcelona or the DW Stadium, you never know hey... It's a long way from Wigan aint it... Canada Bob.

Just been watching the semi final at Wimbledon, and although he got knocked out by Nada I think Marlon out of Emmerdale did us proud !!!

There wasn't much "thinking" about the South Africa game, as mentioned I said it was a gut feeling, and the only danger was to out think/out talk myself out of the bet. As for the Slovenia game, no more bets for me, I've "Banked' and withdrawn from the fray "money in pockets". The only bet today was the "free" 25 quid bet that Stan James gave me, and that just went up in smoke, but like the Paddy Power Advert, who minds losing somone else's money !!! Canada Bob.

Now now Harry, what's the point of being offensive, one day you'll grow out of that. Couple of points on the betting, I wasn't following the hype, I don't put my money down on hype, but when I can see with my own eyes what was going on in the French Camp who wouldn't consider how that might affect their game. As to the odds being pushed out, there was a pile of money going on South Africa on Betfair and BetDaq, and no doubt the same thing was going on in with the Street Bookies, yet the odds were going up hour by hour rather than down. As to manipulation of the odds, how many times have you seen the odds of a horse drop like a stone say from 16's to 7/2, catches the eye of the mugs in the betting shop and they bang in on it, only to see it finish up down the field and having never been in contention. For most of them that's the last they think about it, but when you look at the reported bets on the race/horse the next day you'll see there was no money for it !!! Bookies have been making False Fav's for generations, are you saying they don't know how to manipulate the odds for their advantage ? As for the mention of the Guinness and the Lobster, maybe your one of them blokes who walks off a match in silence when your team just won 3-0, I'm not, a game with a good bet on it excites me, and like you I'm no short on words. Canada Bob.

To show their support for the England Team, OXO are to launch a new cube, it will be white with a red cross on it, it's going to be call a "Laughing Stock" !!!

So was Harold Shipman...

I'm not saying Crotch can't score Oz, I'm saying his big head can't help getting in the way :011: In the near 50 years that I've watched football I've rarely seen a more ungainly hillock than Crotch. You don't need to scout him to see what he's like, just drop a brick on a spider and watch the result... Wunt matter to me if he scored 3 in every game he payed, like I said I could nod more in stood on the top of a step ladder. I'll take my words back if ever he figures out where his feet are, and puts a few in off his boots. Technically you are right in what you say, he does score, but to me he's the clumsiest r sole that ever laced up a pair of boots Reading between the lines you may guess that he's no my favourite player... Canada Bob.

I'm tempted to take the 7/2 against "Roo Nay" scoring the first goal, if he isn't the first scorer then who the hell will score for England ? surely not that lolloping r sole Crouch, have you ever seen a more ungainly player take to any football field :011: Watching him is like watching a giraffe in full flight, how he makes a living playing top rank football amazes me. His "supporters" say he scores a lot with his head, I should bleedin' well think he does, it's the only piece of bone on the field that's 9ft off the ground, I could nod more in stood on the top of a step ladder than Crouch get It would be worth losing a couple of hundred quid to put the jinx on "Roo Nay" and the England Team, be nice to see them on the same 'plane as the French Team.

Back from the local, knocked back a couple of pints of Guinness and was quite pleased with meself, picked up a brace of lobster on the way home, hard to leave them in the tank when they are going for just ore 3 quid a lb right now, gawd knows what they are going for over there. Anyway, Harry, back to your first comments, much of which I agree with, {France being the better team and all that}, but the thing is, when you see a team in disarray like France seemed to be {how many times do you see that in a life time, and you get a gut feeling that this might be a bet you just can't miss, especially the 11/2 ht/ft thing, then the worst thing to do is "start thinking about it" I don't want to even think about the number of times I've talked meself out of a bet when me instinct had told me to load up on it, many a time I've thought myself out/talked myself out of a winner by doing that, it's deadly thinking too much, way better to follow yer gut feeling, especially if the odds look "favourable", and what I mena by that is... Take the ht/ft thing on this game being offered at 11/2 all over the place, how comfortable would you or I feel if someone asked us to lay them a grand on at that price ??? If you wouldn't lay them 11/2, what would you comfortable lay them, on this game I might have considered laying them 2/1, yet you could get 9/4 against South Africa winning the game. Fact of the matter is, knowing what was going on in the French Camp, knowing the attitude, and knowing they were almost certainly out of the Comp anyway, then add to that the thought that they could have gone on the field and let Banana Banana run up a cricket score, well no way would I have laid any odds against South Africa, surely the Bookies must have been thinking the same ? How come the odds didn't drop then, they were 9/4 against winning the match on Monday, and then amidst all of what was going on, non of it looking good for the French Team, South Africa eased to 5/2 FFS :011: To my way of thinking by pushing the odds out the Bookies saved themselves a small fortune, maybe a large fortune. Put it this way, if the morning paper headlines the TV and the buzz around town had been... "Massive Gamble on South African Team, Millions poured on, Bookies cut odd from 9/4 to Evens" don't you think the ragged assed punters would have followed the lead, maybe only in tenners, scores and the like, but if a million mugs with 20 quid each in their hand jump onto the band wagon then the bookies would be facing up to 50 Million quid {on 90 minute bets alone} and maybe a few Million in losses on the ht/ft thing. Both bets looked WAY over the odds to me, I'd have though South Africa had to be Fav's for the game, never 9/4 under the circumstances, but the 11/2 against them doing the ht/ft thing was a knocking bet. That's me finished for the Comp now, my chips are cashed in, and they are staying in, I set myself a target of when I'd quid betting, and I reached the win limit and in fact over ran it by 4 grand, with one bet still running, a grand on Spain at 4/1 before the Comp started, so that'll do for me the now. Canada Bob. PS... this was me first post in a while, I don't "knock on yer door bowt having something to say"

Hissed it !!! never a doubt off to the Bookies the now, hope I'm no on me own :011:

B*llocks, I'm sweating it now at 2-1 :huh: with 15 minutes on the clock, where's me rosary beads

With the game standing at 2-0 at half time and with the Frogs down to 10 men that 11/2 bet is now down to 1/11 or in Betfair terms 1.09 so it is looking like "Money in the Bank" not only from the monkey I had on the ht/ft bet but a massive bet I had with Stan James at 9/4 against South Africa winning the game. The writing looked "on the wall" to me on Sunday, I couldn't get me money on quick enough, only to see the odds go out past 5/2 this morning, but I dint put any more on, I was already up past me neck on the game. Fingers crossed the now, and I hope that Uruguay get another, I'd like to see Banana Banana go through, after all I'm a Fan of theirs :huh: Looking for at least one more for the home team in the second half, and maybe another sending off for France I hope one or two of you followed me ??? Canada Bob.

Although I think the 11/2 on the ht/ft result is ore the odds, my main bet is that Les Bleus gerrin beat. I hope they slip up against Banana Banana, and that the South Africans make monkeys out of them, and a few monkeys for my back pocket too, time will tell, but if nowt else the odds of 9/4 against South Africa {playing at home, National pride, knowing they'll most likely go out of it anyway, but wanting to go out on a high note} that should be enough. I feel like I'm jinxing meslef the now going to post like this, but... If you were on the French Team wouldn't you {being hissed off and all that} wouldn't you have a soft spot for the home team ? What's it to France ? what's the cost to them to chuck the game!