Doh!

I must have eaten something odd. Or had my hair turned blond for the day? I don't know, but the erratum last time referred to me suddenly thinking that Nick's comment after the Jingle Bells report was written by Adrian Wilkinson, who had just contacted me. I didn't think to check anything, so corrected what was actually right in the first place. Sorry, Nick, Adrian and anyone else (Spanker, in advance, perhaps, for next time I have cause to apologise?).
Anyway, on to the last hash. What a splendid one it was, too, around the dunes and woodland of Furadouro, thanks to Spanker and Tongue Fu, rain-free and lengthy. Measured by GPS at seventeen kilometres, it was a fair distance, and run at a reasonable clip, without even any hashing moaning - what is happening to PH3? It would have been different if Snorter had not been taken out with an overnight bug - he knows how to hash-grumble all right. I think, though, all agreed that it was a cracker, made all the better by the port and home-baked biscuits beside the marina two-thirds of the way through. The bash - ultra-cheap rodizio served by men in cowboy hats for some reason - was equally good, if unusually sober (perhaps reflecting the lack of Snorter again - just a thought!).
So, this weekend we have our first away weekend of the year. I'm excited already, waiting for the Friday afternoon bell to go and it's only Monday. We should be able to give Miguel Pais Clemente his virgin's induction this time, after he was forced to retire early last time out, heading back when he realised we were turning away from the cars again and he would be likely to be late for work (on a Sunday afternoon!). The arrangements appear impressive and I know that Mrs Slocombe and Boozy-Woozy are hoping for snow, if only for sadistic reasons. I will report in due course, complete with photos, hopefully.
On, on!
Plunger/Mark

erratum

Well done everyone who noticed the minor error in the last post. All is suitably amended.
On, on!

Happy, Creaky New Year!

Happy New Year, hashers. I trust everyone had a suitably unhealthy break.
Fifteen of us managed to haul our festively full carcasses out on Sunday, for Hard Drive and Walkie-Talkie's cobweb-blower round Lavra. Given the amount of torrential rain I believe Portugal was blessed with over the Christmas period, we did pretty well to get a clear and even occasionally sunny day. Naturally, the beach featured, for which we were, of course, hugely grateful. It was possibly the first time a hasher has made his virgin appearance after being a co-hare, although Mrs Slocombe and Boozy Woozy rasied eyebrows at Anthony's description of himself in that way. It was good to welcome a visiting hasher, Tom (Sperm-something or other - sorry, I can't remember the full hash name) all the way from Beijing. He made the mistake of telling us what beer monsters the Beijing hashers are, thus bringing on a double down-down.
It was good to hear from one of the first GMs, Creamy (see the comment attached to the previous post), known to many of you in civilian life as Adrian Wilkinson. He makes a very valid point about our new superman, Mark Macedo! Perhaps we need to think of extra ways to help him get rid of all the excess energy he appears to have.
Don't forget to reply quickly to Sanath about the weekend away at the end of this month. It should be an ideal warm-up for the 350th.
In the meantime, I am looking into the possibility of an away hash in the Netherlands, courtesy of Ryanair. If it works, perhaps we can look at other ways to make use of some of the cheap flights we can get from here these days.
Hope to see loads of you for the next one.
On, on,
Plunger/Mark