It has been a busy week, visiting different arms of the family on the annual "Santa run", made especially difficult this year because of the travel problems which have hit us all. So Birmingham, Bristol, Exeter and London have all been on my schedule this week and it is good to get home and relax for a day or two. I hope you will forgive the lack of a Weekly Review this week as it has not been possible for me to spend much time BBing. In its place, I have put in some links to the event of the year in London on Friday, the culmination of many months of planning by Martini, ably assisted by gumdrop, Dead Cat Bounce, Sardine, Bullshare and many others. They all deserve a big round of applause along with the backroom boys at ADVFN and Graham Sadd of Infobank who kindly made a presentation to the gathering after lunch.

The First of the Annual BBer Awards ceremony took place on Friday, with Bullshare presenting prizes to :-

1) Poster of the year 2000 - Kayak for his consistent quality contributions
2) Most constructive poster - TechNet for his US Stocks threads (and many others)
3) Most amusing poster - gausie for his hilarious "conversation" with the wrong BROCKMAN
4) Lurker of the year - Addo - is he there or has he gone...?
5) Ramper(Bull) of the year - Martini for his constant plugging of Tadpole
6) Bear of the year - dodddy for his dedication to pessimism
7) One line quote of the year - Tomj(ADVFN) for his well practised apologies
8) FBB Ramper of the year - Mr Ashley James for his efforts to promote every company which digs something out of the ground

Had there been a "Bravery Award", it would undoubtedly have gone to Martini who came so close to death in a horrific accident earlier this year and who has subsequently gone through a lot of painful surgery (the latest only a couple of weeks ago) but did not allow such "inconveniences" to stop him posting as furiously as ever and organising a very successful Christmas Lunch for us all. I'm sure I speak for the whole BB community when I say thanks for everything Martini! Equally, I'm sure Martini would like to say a big thank you to TonyL who has been such a great help and comfort to him and his family and who was the power behind the wheels on Friday ensuring that Martini got from A to B safely and back to A again without a hitch. Thank you TonyL. Without your help, none of it would have been possible.

It has been a difficult year for us all as investors and traders so it was great to see so much enthusiasm packed aboard the ship on Friday. A lot of us have been friends for a long time now and yet see each other in the flesh only very rarely. I was pleased to meet yet more new friends on Friday and meet for the first time some who I seem to have known for years. I was especially pleased to bump into crocodile, who I seem to have been talking to for a looong time but had never met in person until now. Thank you all for making it a good occasion.

I would also like to give a special mention to Poster of the Year, Kayak who donated an expensive case of champagne to a raffle arranged on the day to raise money for a Multiple Sclerosis charity. ADVFN and an anonymous Italian contributor also added to the prize pool. A fantastic £1,000 was raised in all which is an indication of the generous nature of all BBers - even when things aren't too easy.

To those who later braved Shoeless Joe's, cheers!



Some photographic reminders of the day and evening - a few candidates for caption competitions amongst this lot! (Nice nurse, Martini!)

Entries for the ADVFN Who's Who are always welcome! Thank you to those who promised to add to the list at the bash on Friday. If you aren't yet on the list, drop me a few lines about yourself - (a full editing service is provided!) Take a look at the list so far if you want some ideas for how to put a brief bio together. (ADVFN Who's Who) No e-mail addresses are published unless specifically requested by you. Click here for my mail address -





Good Hunting!