Life Begins at 40...

...Super Bowls and dollars that is (on which, more later) and not in any way a reference to The Rolling Stones or their performance yesterday. To wit: a classic, a new one off the recent album no one bought and another classic. Mick and the "boys" played in a giant tongue, threw some shapes and one can only hope they take Jerome Bettis's lead and retire forthwith.

To Westchester, then, for the biggest day of the American year: Super Bowl. And biggest in the sense of most food consumed in a single seating by all this fine country's residents. According to research by the US Calorie Control Council, gridiron fans ate their way through 11 million pounds of crisps, 8m lbs of tortilla chips, 4m lbs of pretzels and 2.5m lbs of nuts. The average armchair quarterback consumed 1,200 calories, and 50 grams of fat, in a three-hour scoffing binge. This, people, is about more than sport.

So no wonder it was Super Bowl XL: finally, Extra Large could live up to the name. The game itself was a let down (a shame seeing as I was excited for my first Super Bowl in the USA, having regularly been given special permission to stay up late in the UK as a child due to the 5-8 hour time difference). The Steelers beat the Seahawks 21-10 but please pay special attention to the final digit in each team: we had the 1 and the 0 on our box pool (any Brit reading this should ask or email me to explain further) resulting in our taking a juicy $40 pot all the way back to the East Village. As fate would deliciously have it, that will pay for tonight's cab fare to JFK so, once again (I seemingly am in their debt every week), a huge thanks to Helen and Gary for the invite. I gave the above slightly more thought on the car ride home (a car ride, it should be pointed out, which resonated to exclusively British bands on Susan's Sirius Satellite 'First Wave' radio station...The Cure, Joy Division etc. etc. all selected by a DJ with the single greatest name in radio history - Frankie Snakeskin) and worked out this crazy stat: added to my poker winnings in Westchester, I'm rather ashamed to say that this fine house, after the BBC and Craig's List, has been my third highest source of income this year! One thing's for sure: when Helen and Gary visit London, we'll be showing them one hell of a good time. The aim will be that they CAN'T say they got no satisfaction...