Having never written a blog of any sort before, I am somewhat hesitant given the shiny new grey and yellowness of the frest blonde site to fill it with my own wittering. Then again, if snoopy can do it, so can I. I have to start by thanking him for taking control for the most part of the words and their new homes - while swanning around Europe and the UK live updating it is he who held the fort. Congratulations to everyone who has put so much time and effort into blondepoker - and the people who make the community something unusual and good.
Personally, I spent these last few days updating the Vic Main Event with Ben (Sunday8pm) rather than overloaded snoopy, and I have to say that the reaction from the viewers was fantastic, from the expected support for El Blondie (richly deserved) and John Kabbaj, to the enthusiastic pack of Germans who were online to cheer on Jan Heitmann, and tell everyone what a big party they were going to have when he got back. One of the most entertaining things about updating round Europe is the warm support that shows for players from all over the place. I still have vivid memories of the Norwegians nearly crashing old blonde with their cheers for Sverre Sundbo at the Vic last year.
It's been a whirlwind couple of months for me, and it's great to have such a team of people who can easily do what I do when I am lucky enough to play in the odd event myself - just look at Monte Carlo: snoops, Flushy, tikay and Jon Raab are all old hands now. I'm looking forward to another year of following the action and occasionally getting myself into it. There's nothing like being on the road one way or another, and I'm proud to wear my (somewhat restrictive yet aesthetically pleasing) blonde-logoed hoody almost all the time.