I know I have been very quiet lately, and I make no apologies for that.  I think it always sounds a bit precious when somebody apologises for not updating a blog for a while, and a bit presumptuous; I expect few people even notice and even fewer care if I decide not to write anything for a week or two.  Anyway, there are lotf reasons, and one of the big ones has been the footie.I’m not sure what I am going to do for the next couple of days without a game on the TV.   OK, I do know that one night I’ll be going down to Brighton, but it will still be strange not having a game to see.

After a slow start, the tournament is starting to get interesting now.   Last week I was off sick for a couple of days.  Should have been a great opportunity to see even more football but unfortunately I was actually unwell and slept through Italy’s last game, though I did see the Brazil/Portugal game which I seem to have enjoyed more than most people.

I’m actually kind of glad England lost on Sunday.  The way we have played all the way through it would have been a travesty if we had gone on to the quarter-finals.  I think that the best team won and that is really the problem.  For all the talk of Lampard’s shot going over the line we really didn’t deserve to win.

The Spain and Portugal game tonight was a cracker and the penalties in the Japan/Paraguay game were tense.  We now have the possibility of an all-South American line-up in the semis, but I don’t think that will happen.  Be nice to see Ghana get at least one stage further, and Germany should do well too.

I’m really going to be lost when it is all over.

Inbetween all the footie I squeezed in a visit to London for the comedy evning at the Lyric Hammersmith, hosted by Ruchard Herring.  Stewart Lee was the big draw, but Peter Serafinowicz was also on the bill which sonuded good.  Unfortunately I don;t think he is really suited to stand-up, which is a shame as he is tremendously likeable, a great comic actor, very decent impressionist and funny bloke.  It was more or less his first attempt at stand-up so perhaps he will get better if he sticks to it, he certainly didn’t look at ease with it.  Some good one-liners though, especially the one about Michael Jackson’s autopsy results ((They found high levels of molesterol))

Another act on the bill was called The Freeze.  When they came on I was a bit worried as they seemed very shambolic, but it soon became apparent they were deliberately shambolic in the same way that Tommy Cooper was.  They mixed up some sketches, jokes, comic songs and poems and were like a condensed two-man footlights revue.  I enjoyed them a lot.

Being right at the front, row A, we did get picked on a bit: Frankie for his beard which Richard Herring described as a cross between Peter Sutcliffe and Beppe from Eastenders, the two least fashionable facial hair styles combined in one, and his name, and his t-shirt, and me for my advanced age.  I thought that was a bit rich considering I’m only about 5 years older than Herring!

If I find myself in the front row again I have a cunning plan.  If the comedian picks on me and asks what I do I think I will say I am a critic for the comedy section of a newspaper…  The silver lining is that I lost at the elections last month.  Just imagine having to admit you are an MP at a comedy gig.

Lots of other stuff going on, but I don’t expect to be writing about it until after the World Cup is over.