Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

It's surprisingly easy to compare types of poker player to birds:

- you've just described jackdaws as strutty and bolshy;
- ostriches (although they don't) are associated with burying their heads in the sand;
- magpies take any shiny thing they've come across as their own (so I four-bet-jam cos I'm like so ahead of his three-bet-range it's sick) even when they have no idea what it is;
- chickens flee at the first sign of trouble
- dodos are already out

And don't get me started on dem pigeons...

Well here's the thing.......

See all those swans & geese?

I play this sort of game in my mind, where I liken each individual to poker players I know. The brave ones, the bolshy ones, the bad-tempered snarly types (alpha-male Swan), the mockers & dissers, the giq ones, the sneaky ones, they are all there, in every form of society, man, animal, birds, fish, the lot.

From those photos, I could name 6 prominent blonde character-alikes. But I had better not.

[tikay]

I may still have a bit of work to do on the aircraft photos though, mine all seem to go wrong, I still miss bits, or they appear to be landing on top of a lamp-post or whatever.

I spend hours at Heathrow trying to get it right, in readiness for when BA introduce the magnificent A380, but I've not progressed at all.

I must have taken 700 photos there on Monday, these were the pick of the bunch.


Best described as a work-in-progress I think. Feel free to say they are really good though, I don't mind.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

[MANTIS01]

Well actually Hampton Court is a Thomas Wolsey jobbie, but let's not split hairs as Sir Christopher Wren did do some remedial building work back in the day. Anyway it's difficult to know what style to present trip reports from historical buildings to a poker forum in. Doing one at all is odd I guess.

I thought you lived in the Derby countryside? Can't imagine you like the hustle and bustle of London, especially at Christmas. 

Oh and Mrs Mantis is a very tolerant woman.

No no no, I believe Wolsey LIVED there, he did not build it, he was a King ffs, Kings don't build things. But yes, it was some time later that Wren toddled along & spruced the place up from a  working-mans budget Palace to a proper job.

I do live in Derbyshire, but I've taken a place in London whilst the job lasts, the travelling was getting too much for me, but once that terminates, I'll go back home, never to be seen again. I don't like the hustle & bustle of London, no, but it's handy for the office & TV Studio, & it's a grand part of London. I get to the office before the traffic, around 6am usually, & go home before the afternoon rush hour, so it's OK. 

Oddly, in a piece of bad timing, I now go up to the Leeds office more frequently, which is a bit of a round-trip in a day, but it's not too bad, I sit & poodle along the Motorway musing on the increasing oddities of internet life. I'm up in Leeds on Monday as it happens, on some Client "blind-testing" stuff, which is incredibly interesting.

Christmas? Ugh, it is racing up again. I'll probably escape to North-West Scotland rent a Loch-side cottage again. I spent last Xmas up there, & it was far & away my best holiday ever, the scenery & wildlife up there is beyond words, & the place is totally deserted at Christmas, you can drive for hours on the "main" roads & never see another vehicle. I struggled at first with the total lack of internet or mobile phone signals, but once I'd been there a few days, I got used to it, even comfy with it.

Mrs Mantis is very tolerant? You know what, I had surmised that already. Soul-read, or what?

Sorry for turning this diary into a history fact battle off but when was Cardinal Thomas Wolsey king? He was a Cardinal and Lord Chancellor and built Hampton Court around 1514. I accept he didn't actually lay the bricks himself and would have employed 16th century plebs to do that on his behalf. The king suggests you stick to goose pictures or you will be visiting the tower.

[cdw1111]

Much easier to take pics if it's not moving.

Click to see full-size image.

Got an hour or two spare,only 501 pages in volume 1
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=191&t=466937

[Doobs]

I may still have a bit of work to do on the aircraft photos though, mine all seem to go wrong, I still miss bits, or they appear to be landing on top of a lamp-post or whatever.

I spend hours at Heathrow trying to get it right, in readiness for when BA introduce the magnificent A380, but I've not progressed at all.

I must have taken 700 photos there on Monday, these were the pick of the bunch.


Best described as a work-in-progress I think. Feel free to say they are really good though, I don't mind.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Must take some skill to land one of them beasts on top of a lamppost

[Rod Paradise]

Gull is a black-headed gull in winter plumage.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/b/blackheadedgull/index.aspx

[Big_D]

Well done on the mincashements today Gramps

[Karabiner]

Well done on the mincashements today Gramps

Did they pay 36 places for a 220-runner tourney as a concession?

x

[MrDickie]

This should float your boat TK
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-plane-crash

An international team of scientists, experts and elite pilots deliberately crash land a 170-seat Boeing 727 passenger jet to study the mechanics of a plane crash in real time.
Channel 4
Thu 11 Oct, 9PM

[tikay]

Eric Lomax died yesterday.

Brave? Just a bit. Tortured during WWII, like tens of thousands of others, but he found reconciliation with his torturer.

His book was perhaps the most moving "war book" I have ever read, & I don't have words to describe his his courage, or my admiration & respect for him, & guys like him.

I believe his book is currently being made into a film, which I'll avoid, as I would not want to see his life story dumbed down, or seen as anything other than what it was - just a very courageous & forgiving man doing his thing.

A genuine hero, in the true sense of the word.

RIP Eric, you were an inspiration to so many.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Lomax

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Gull is a black-headed gull in winter plumage.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/b/blackheadedgull/index.aspx

Thanks Rod.

There seem to be so many species of gull, & I don't know the difference.

That "Blackheaded" is fairly small by gull standards, but on, say, the South Coast, some of the gulls are absolutely huge, with a wingspan in excess of a metre. What species are they? Very aggressive, too.

[The Camel]

You should buy the Racing Post for the next 3 days.

Stories of some of the biggest betting coups in history.

Today is Noel Furlong and the Destriero plot.

Well worth a gander.

[tikay]

You should buy the Racing Post for the next 3 days.

Stories of some of the biggest betting coups in history.

Today is Noel Furlong and the Destriero plot.

Well worth a gander.

Ooh, great news. I'll pick one up whilst on the way home for my afternoon exertions.

I know Noel, we have shared many a table, but was not aware he had any betting coup history.

[tikay]

Much easier to take pics if it's not moving.

Click to see full-size image.

Got an hour or two spare,only 501 pages in volume 1
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=191&t=466937

Some of those are breathtaking! Proper porn that, hardcore porn.

Great stuff, thank you.

Do you know when BA take delivery of their first A380? Presumably it will arrive some months before scheduled flights commence?

Is the maintenance hanger ready? They had to extend the existing hangeer, as I recall, by cutting an inverted "V" shape in the roof.

Will BA have their own A380 Flight Simulator, or use someone else's?

Are the BA pilots currently being trained for A380's?

[Rod Paradise]

Gull is a black-headed gull in winter plumage.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/b/blackheadedgull/index.aspx

Thanks Rod.

There seem to be so many species of gull, & I don't know the difference.

That "Blackheaded" is fairly small by gull standards, but on, say, the South Coast, some of the gulls are absolutely huge, with a wingspan in excess of a metre. What species are they? Very aggressive, too.

Top of my head I'd say Herring Gull & Black-Backed Gull. Big, aggressive buggers.