Family Values...

My little brother, our Nobby, visited this week. I call him little brother but he’s actually not very little any more. In fact he’s quite big and it would be fair to say that he’s ‘filled out a bit’ as people more polite than myself would say.

He’s now aged 30 and is the father of two kids and he got the ‘Nobby’ nickname when he was seven after he visited the birthday party of a girl up the street who had the unfortunate surname of Nobbs. In northern parlance this is the same as being called Fuchs or Bangs (insert christian name for full effect of joke) and it greatly amused me for many years. In fact it still does... Anyway little brother came back late from the party and myself and my older brother ribbed him mercilessly about this until the ‘Nobby’ nickname evolved.

Sadly for our kid this nickname stuck and his closest friends still use it some 23 years later. Even more amusing I have heard past girlfriends and his wife use it when they’re annoyed with him.

Nicknames, of course, are horrible things and I’ve had several stinkers throughout my life but my favourite of these was ‘Ghandi’ which I was christened because I had similar glasses to the famed man of peace. One cousin was also nicknamed ‘Mamba’ because of the length of one part of his anatomy. I often thought ‘Mamba’ was a better nickname than ‘Ghandi’ when I was a teen hoping to impress women but ‘Mamba’ was also quite jealous of my nickname as he was interested in peace studies and wanted to bring about reform by non-violent means then be shot and martyred. That last bit may be a lie...

Nobby was down to play in a big-money poker tournament. He’d won a seat at this prestigious event by winning several internet events and the two grand expenses he’s pocketed to go along with his entrance money seemed like a decent prize should he get hammered by all the big guns present at the main event. In the end he did OK and finished a creditable fourth on a table with two professional players. Who knows, it could even be a new career! Good luck to him.

Sadly he’s got to lose a few pounds before we can call him Amarillo Slim...