Snippets #16

• Ah Christmas! Don’t you just love it? Grandad bemoans the fact that Christmas isn’t as it used be. At least it is still the season of robberies and road deaths. That’ll never change.

• Although the latest campaign by the Road Safety Authority might make a difference. In an innovative move they will be running TV ads - gory ones as you’d expect - but this time they’ll be factual accounts voiced-over by the those affected or their bereaved families. Two things are bugging me: Firstly, this is not innovative. The Ray D’Arcy Show did this on radio a couple of years back. The station aired them for free, Cawley Nea Advertising produced them for free and the RSA, well they said that’s all very lovely lads, but didn’t help at all. Secondly, on the launch day the ads were shown during Coronation Street and Fair City. Com’on lads! Is that your target audience? Auld ones who watch crappy soaps?

• Maybe the €15m collected in speeding fines this year will pay for the campaign. You know the ones I’m on about - the €80 a pop fines the Gardaí dish out on the carriageways and motorways where fewest accidents happen. Not the ones they hand out on the minor roads where most fatalities occur. Hold on a minute. What am I saying? They don’t police those roads. Silly me. Checkpoints on those roads wouldn’t pay. Maybe in lives saved it would but not financially and that’s what matters isn’t it.

• Which brings us on very nicely to robbery. The local bookies was robbed at Stanley-knife point at 17:40 Monday last. The local rag reports the man was wearing a hoodie (standard issue for robbers as I understand), 5th 8in tall (yes robbers still come in imperial sizes), around 20 years and spoke with a “local accent”. The last bit required some detective work on the part of the three brave unarmed uniforms that arrived at the scene 20minutes later and stood around outside until the three brave, presumably armed, plain-clothes arrived - apparently the two young female staff consider a Dublin accent to be the local one.

• Fekin ejit of a robber anyway. He must be an apprentice. Who’d bother holding up a bookies at that time of the day in winter when the racing is long over and the takings in the floor safe. He’ll never make the big time like this guy, and will never be as good as this guy.

• On a totally different note, I just now discovered a young lady called Laura Marling. I know, I know, I’m slow. Anyway, back to notes - Ms Marling has has them in abundance. Check out the video for New Romantic. It is the best I’ve seen in a long time. In fact, the best ever - I can say that - it’s my blog.