BTW Nirv, Who is that in your avatar?

That is a picture of the English 'Oppressed' (English only mentioned to distinguish us from a Welsh band of the same name) - taken in 1978 on the mean back streets of Wootton Bassett. We were the finest punk band to never release a record :-)

Interesting piece, thank you.

10 & 12 resonate particularly strongly with me and I'm sure most people would identify with large parts of what you've written there.

Lovely as I find many of the tales and lore, Red's is a singular and in many ways romanticised perspective.

It is hard for non Gypsies (I cant remember what word Gypsies have for us) to differentiate a Red-Dog type Gypsy - good or bad - versus many other types of travelling communities -  a number of these communities are not particularly nice or desirable and I'm reasonably happy to say that, whilst I might respect their rights and freedoms to an extent, generally, I would rather they didn't park up opposite my house.

Dear Chompy.... a tribute

Meh, whatever

Just watched Inception, had very high expectations because every review I've heard was akin to Sledges enjoyment of Breaking Bad, and pleased to say it was as good as everyone says. Very intelligent for a big budget film, I am sure at times they will have been under pressure to make it less confusing and more matrixy (and maybe thats what we got, who knows) but hats off to them for making a very complex film that requires all your attention to keep up, rather than an all action blockbuster.

I wont give anything away but for anyone who has seen it already, the image at the very end I fully expected, however they did it in a way I didnt expect, which is good - wow thats way to cryptic.

Anyway yeah, good, Leo is actually a great actor, he has starred in two of my fave films in the last five years now (Departed being the other)

Funny how we all like different things, tried watching it last night, 15 mins in decided it was unwatchable, may try again if I live for a very long time.

Rest

Cheers James x

Also, to put current stakers minds at rest, I will play this even if I only sell 4%

Snapping up 1%, just so one day, maybe at a dinner party or summit, i can say... I staked Glenn Henderson you know. It will wow them.

Booked, 18% left and I'm at a family do later so fully expect another 2% to go

So we're sold out - the famous 5 are:

Clawbird                                           1 % -  Paiiiiiid
Clearly clever Titanium Bean                2 % -  £25.00
6 dinners                                          1%  -  £12.50
Turny the slayer                                1%  -  £12.50
Bracelet winner Royal Flush                15%  - £187.50

Thanks all, should be fun

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I am an awesome poker player, especially satellites, and so managed to collect my rightful seat at this weeks Monte Carlo event starting on Friday.

I drink a lot when I play and due to some terrible problems last year (my car being snowbound wrecked my day 2 stack) I expect to stay up in Nottingham throughout, until I hit the final table.

So, I'm looking to share some of my good fortune by making 20% available to the blonde community and in turn I'll use that money for alcohol, food & hotels in Nottingham - basically, I get to freeroll the whole event so that's great.

My main achievements in poker

a) Won an online mmm mob v 1808 gang tourney on the old Tribeca in around 2002/3. The mmm mob was an eclectic mix of accountants, business owners, pilots, writers and Jacko that pwned the tribeca stage for about 13 days back in the day.

b) In April I got by far the best end of the deal in a chop at the £300 deepstack

c) I won a tournament at Luton once

d) At last months deepstack I pwned big bad Ade in a heads up trash talking contest to the extent that he put his headphones on

Based on all these key factors I have decided to sell at a small premium - 1%=£12.50

1% has already gone in exchange for a Lamb Rogon so 19% left.

Hopefully this will be sold out by Wednesday and so I'll file my Monte match report on the eve of the event, next Thursday.

Cheers

Heaters back on full blast for next weekend by the looks of it. No racing until next July, so defo Monte Carlo for me.

http://www.meteociel.com/modeles/ecmwf/run/ECM1-192.GIF?10-0

[   ] I'll take 10% please

Thanks both, couldn't resist a mini brag n all

Gonna have to play one of these satties.  Tonight at 8 yeah?

Thats correct Dan, I won it :-)

Jack Warner blames the media for costing England the World Cup...."Fifa could not have voted for England having been insulted by their media in the worst possible way."

FIFA are entrusted to regulate football and make decisions that are in the best interests of the game. And in this instance it's widely recognised England had the best bid. So what FIFA are actually saying is they will reject good decisions on behalf of football if the free press in a bidding country has the audacity to criticise them. They will choose a lesser option to spite that country simply because that country allows free speech. Such childish words imo and no foundation for correct decision making. Playing football in the park as a kid there was one spoilt brat who owned the ball and he'd pick it up and go home if you gave him too much stick. Hello Jack Warner.

Best schmest, it wasnt the winning bid

Well played to Richard, Paul & Alex - great performances from all 3

Congrats to the lad that won, seemed a nice chap and impressive player imho

Hate the decision to fire Hughton but, tbf, Jol would be a good replacement if its to be him