Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[TightEnd]

New Years Eve, as midnight struck UK time last night

Click to see full-size image.

[hector62]

This is my favourite photos of the year collection, not too many guns or bodies but lots of weather and animals. I hope it hasn't already been posted, they are from the wall street journal.

http://graphics.wsj.com/Photos-of-the-Year/2012/#l=en&o=2&q=&x=&y=&p=23

[taximan007]

This is my favourite photos of the year collection, not too many guns or bodies but lots of weather and animals. I hope it hasn't already been posted, they are from the wall street journal.

http://graphics.wsj.com/Photos-of-the-Year/2012/#l=en&o=2&q=&x=&y=&p=23

Great Pics Thank you

[Karabiner]

Wow hector some amazing stuff in there, I've been looking at them for over an hour now.

Expecting to find an example of tikay's oeuvre any moment..

[outragous76]

This is my favourite photos of the year collection, not too many guns or bodies but lots of weather and animals. I hope it hasn't already been posted, they are from the wall street journal.

http://graphics.wsj.com/Photos-of-the-Year/2012/#l=en&o=2&q=&x=&y=&p=23

Wow

Health and Safety warning - do not open unless yo have an hour to spare - amazing shots

[Knottikay]

HNY Tikay! I hope it is a good one for you.

I am going to endeavour to play more live poker this year!........probably just at my local up Stoke and DTD, but also more SPT's this season and I will most defiantly be striving to break my Las Vagas virgin status. Will there be a party going from next door this year? Now I have a flag.....the live scene will be my oyster  

When did you say Newcastle SPT was going to be BTW?  

 

[tikay]

They certainly are, good balance there too, some of everything, though with less accent on the grim stuff. Big thanks to hector for these.

For those who have not had a gander, do try & find time, please. And there are FOUR seperate galleries, graded by deemed quality, but all four galleries are excellent.

Here is the link again......


http://graphics.wsj.com/Photos-of-the-Year/2012/#l=en&o=2&q=&x=&y=&p=23

[tikay]

HNY Tikay! I hope it is a good one for you.

I am going to endeavour to play more live poker this year!........probably just at my local up Stoke and DTD, but also more SPT's this season and I will most defiantly be striving to break my Las Vagas virgin status. Will there be a party going from next door this year? Now I have a flag.....the live scene will be my oyster  

When did you say Newcastle SPT was going to be BTW?  

 

HNY to you too, Alan.

Good luck with the Live Poker, can't beat it for fun. Strongly recommend DTD as the Venue, they are different class, & they have Tourneys to suit all pockets, from £25 up, including the new multi-stake thingie. I know it is a bit of a trot from Stoke (?) across to Nottingham, but it is worth it. 

Will Sky Poker be sending a party to Vegas this year? Yes, I would imagine so.

I don't believe I mentioned any SPT dates......but they will be announced next door first, in due course. Another

There, how about that for wearing several hats simultaneously? I did not get the SOTY award for nothing.

[tikay]

New Years Eve, as midnight struck UK time last night

Click to see full-size image.

Thanks Rich.

Is that supposed to represent all the Firework Displays etc that went off at Midnight?

If so, very impressive.

Guess it also shows the built-up areas that have street lighting & the like. In looking at the British Isles, you can clearly see London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast & Dublin.

I'm certain I saw a similar photo this morning which showed the USA & Africa, too. Did you change/edit/crop the photo?

In the other photo, the Eastern seaboard of the USA ditto, as well as the Pacific coast including San Fran, LA, etc, Iceland, & all of mainland Europe & Scandi-Land are all shown.

The really interesting part is Africa, where SA, and a few West Coast areas are lit up, but 95% of the Continent is in darkness. BIG place, that Africa, & very much "different world".

PS - Who pays for all these firework displays? Must cost a bloody fortune. The millions of starving & malnourished kids in parts of Africa & Asia must wonder wtf is going on.

PPS - Ignore my rant, it's an age thing, & my piles are playing up today.

[rfgqqabc]

New Years Eve, as midnight struck UK time last night

Click to see full-size image.

The really interesting part is Africa, where SA, and a few West Coast areas are lit up, but 95% of the Continent is in darkness. BIG place, that Africa, & very much "different world".

PS - Who pays for all these firework displays? Must cost a bloody fortune. The millions of starving & malnourished kids in parts of Africa & Asia must wonder wtf is going on.

I had that exact thought today. Scary.

added bold.

[Graham C]

New Years Eve, as midnight struck UK time last night

Click to see full-size image.

The really interesting part is Africa, where SA, and a few West Coast areas are lit up, but 95% of the Continent is in darkness. BIG place, that Africa, & very much "different world".

PS - Who pays for all these firework displays? Must cost a bloody fortune. The millions of starving & malnourished kids in parts of Africa & Asia must wonder wtf is going on.

I had that exact thought today. Scary.

Photo 5 in the link provided shows rural dark spots across the world, you can see how little city light there is in Africa

[tikay]

Ahh yes, Tall Bloke (Silo) is correct.

The photo I was thinking of the is 5th one on the "Top Rated" Gallery that hector linked to, here....




http://graphics.wsj.com/Photos-of-the-Year/2012/#l=en&o=2&q=&x=&y=&p=343


Gaze at that photo for a few minutes, & a thousand questions come to mind.

Apologies for confusing the 2 photos, both of which I first saw within 10 minutes of each other this morning.

[simonnatur]

A quick search comes up with a £1.9m budget for London fireworks, though very much doubt that covers the whole policing, clean up, free transport etc.

I went and saw the London fireworks this year and was hugely impressed, not only by the display but also by the whole organisation of the event. The crowds seemed extremely well controlled and we had no problem finding a great spot on the Mall to watch despite getting there around 11.30. The free transport also worked well, though the last train home at 2am wasn't much fun...

Thought it capped-off 2012 rather well and a great advert for our Capital as well as entertainment for it's inhabitants and visitors.

[tikay]

A quick search comes up with a £1.9m budget for London fireworks, though very much doubt that covers the whole policing, clean up, free transport etc.

I went and saw the London fireworks this year and was hugely impressed, not only by the display but also by the whole organisation of the event. The crowds seemed extremely well controlled and we had no problem finding a great spot on the Mall to watch despite getting there around 11.30. The free transport also worked well, though the last train home at 2am wasn't much fun...

Thought it capped-off 2012 rather well and a great advert for our Capital as well as entertainment for it's inhabitants and visitors.

Thanks Simon.

£1.9m for London, let us call it (say) £10m for the UK.

Add in policing costs, lost revenue (free transport) for TfL & clear up costs, I guess it doubles the figure.

It's a balance thing I suppose, & maybe I'm just being a little curmudgeonly today.

I think all those photo-galleries are like a reality-check, & my mind takes odd lines, probably daft idealistic ones.

We live in a really strange world. GOSH are constantly raising money via Charity to open new wards or specialist operating theatres. £1.9m would go a long way towards one or two of those.

Funny old world.

Ignore me.

Balance balance balance, I struggle with it sometimes.

[simonnatur]

I do take your point, though I can think of a lot easier targets in the obscene use of money stakes. The game of football leaps to my mind - though maybe that's because I enjoy it less than fireworks !