Non straight starters and Jules Verne's revenge

My dear blog,

What a conundrum we find ourselves in; we being Charlton fans that is. Darren Bent is set to start tomorrow against Uruguay which, in fairness, we should be ecstatic about and I am BUT; how much will this put him in the window and, should offers flow in the summer as we believe, how much will the board accept? I know it has been discussed but we could end up in May with an England striker who, by then, has put away 25 goals.

Now I know everyone has there price, I mean you can have me for a few bottles of Greene King Vintage Suffolk Ale and a Melton Mowbray pork pie but I've seen figures such as £8 Million bandied about - eh ??? I know I'm biased and I want whats best for my club and to me, £8 Million doesn't but his left peg, let alone his right and his head. Should the worst come to the worst, Charlton board; I implore you, nothing less than £12 Million will suffice. We need to replace him, shore up the midfield and defence and it won't come cheap.

Dear reader, let us divulge for a moment and think seafood. BBC News today informs us that a 28 foot, (8.62m) giant squid is on show at the Natural History museum - I can't help it, I really can't but I can't help wondering what a fantastic 'Fritto misto' that would make. Yes, a bugger to batter I must admit but you'd have squid rings until 2009.

Anyway, today was (is) Carnivale here in southern Switzerland but the urge to dress up or crossdress has passed me by this year. Maybe because it's so bloody cold this winter but my previous experiences of hiding an hipflask full of tequila in my underwear when entering the carnival just doesn't appeal at the moment. Either it needs to warm up or I need bigger pants........