[Hooly One]

The absence of his bitching buddy, Victor, appears to have brought about a personality change in Jason.

By 10.00 this morning he was up and about and singing in the garden, and chatting with Dan and Stuart.

It took Dan less than a second to start sparring with him. "Bloody hell! Are you feeling alright, darling?" he asked of his uncharacteristic early start.

"Are you still here?" snapped back Jason.

"Do want any help packing next week?" Dan asked.

Jason took it all in decent humour, prompting Dan to comment, "Oh, you're talking to us now your playmate's gone, are you?"

"It's good to be alive. I'm back!" declared Jason, as if he is feeling invigorated by stepping out from behind Victor's shadow.

Dan's got his new sparring buddie


Then Jason started singing "I Will Survive," followed by "The Winner Takes It All," both poignant songs for game players.

Stuart, who'd been comatose during most of Dan and Jason's chat, asked Dan for a beginner's course on Abba, a subject the hairdresser was knowledgeable and enthusiastic about.

Being so young, Stuart was unfamiliar with the Swedish legends' marital troubles and the tears that were allegedly shed in singing "The Winner Takes It All." By the singer, not Dan, that is.

Dan was grateful for a question in his specialist subject after Stuart's opening conversational gambit had left him open-jawed with wonder.

"So, Dan, do you have any good sailing memories?" asked sailor, cowboy, lover and space cadet Stu.

Once Dan had clarified the question - he had heard it right - he said, "I hate being on water."

Dan and Stuart seemed unchanged at least, but Jason?

Sitting out in the sunshine, chatting with people and singing? With his reputation?

Watch this space to see if the new Jason lasts...

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