Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Tal]

I am hardly Stephen Hawking so this stuff goes way above my head, too. The scale of it all is what I find incredible and the concepts of infinity and relativity are things I've read more about in the last year or so.

Black holes were something that really captured my imagination in my last year at uni (while I was supposed to be reading law). The thought that if you were past the point of no return, time would appear slower (so your watch ticks more slowly) than outside it.

However I wouldn't see you because no light can bounce off you and get out of the black hole.

Theoretical physics is one of those topics I essentially don't know anything about but would happily spend an evening chatting to people who do.

In before someone says "like poker" or "like football".

[tikay]

Quite a catch for the day job tikay.....

I know I am tempting spam, but whats the story and strategy behind bringing a "sports" name like Charlotte on board?

Click to see full-size image.

Marketing & Promotion has been turned upside down in recent years, & is quite science these days.

Charlotte brings a great deal to us, in so many ways. She is big on Sky Sports, is known by most of our Clients, & works well for cross-sell, upon which, for a large part, the SB&G Business model depends. A "Bet" Client is worth tons more than a Poker Client.

It is only a minor consideration, too, but deffo part of the equation, she has 220,000 Twitter Followers. It is easy to see how beneficial that sort of thing can be. And Sky Sports have around 1.2 million Twitter Followers, so you can see how all that could be developed to help Sky Poker, & ultimately SB&G.

I first met her in the Make-Up Department, around 18 months or 2 years ago, & she blew me away with her personality, assuredness & sheer presence. Soccer Saturday had just finished, & all the lads - Stelling, LeTissier, Merson etc were having a post Show chat, when Charlotte walked in, & she just dominated the room with an aura & presence.

When we recorded the Promo with Charlotte, about 4 months ago I think (tying up the Legals & Image Rights takes forever) I got to chat with her & get to know her much better, & amazingly, she remembered me from our previous encounter.

Twitter went nice & noisy when the news came out, & there were all the usual Photoshopped stuff. I dare not show you 95% of the photoshopped stuff on Twitter about me, there is tons of it, almost none of it fit for a family audience, but this one tickled me, it was Posted by a lovely chap called "PokerTrev".

I'm expecting a missive from Miss Jackson's Solicitors any time soon.





 

[tikay]

I am hardly Stephen Hawking so this stuff goes way above my head, too. The scale of it all is what I find incredible and the concepts of infinity and relativity are things I've read more about in the last year or so.

Black holes were something that really captured my imagination in my last year at uni (while I was supposed to be reading law). The thought that if you were past the point of no return, time would appear slower (so your watch ticks more slowly) than outside it.

However I wouldn't see you because no light can bounce off you and get out of the black hole.

Theoretical physics is one of those topics I essentially don't know anything about but would happily spend an evening chatting to people who do.

In before someone says "like poker" or "like football".

Me too. You said this in your previous Post, & I still cannot get my head round it......

The nebula is two light years across. If we stood at either end and you waved at me, I wouldn't see you waving for two years.

[Machka]

I am hardly Stephen Hawking so this stuff goes way above my head, too. The scale of it all is what I find incredible and the concepts of infinity and relativity are things I've read more about in the last year or so.

Black holes were something that really captured my imagination in my last year at uni (while I was supposed to be reading law). The thought that if you were past the point of no return, time would appear slower (so your watch ticks more slowly) than outside it.

However I wouldn't see you because no light can bounce off you and get out of the black hole.

Theoretical physics is one of those topics I essentially don't know anything about but would happily spend an evening chatting to people who do.

In before someone says "like poker" or "like football".

Me too. You said this in your previous Post, & I still cannot get my head round it......

The nebula is two light years across. If we stood at either end and you waved at me, I wouldn't see you waving for two years.

When I originally became aware of your diary on here I went back to Page 1 Post 1 and slowly read through every post over a few months.  One of the posts (of many) that caught my attention was to do with space travel, the speed of light and how clocks run slowly when moving at high velocity in space.  I think your response to that was, "yeah, sure, but how do they know?".

I always meant to reply to that post.  But never did.  Perhaps I could blame it on my watch running slow?

There are so many accessible books on science, not just the "A Brief History Of Time" by Stephen Hawking book, which I would imagine 95% of people who have it haven't read it.  And of those who have, couldn't understand it.  Strange how one of the most popular, "pop-science" books is actually a really hard read.

As an avid reader let me know if you're interested in expanding your horizons and I'll find a few books I think you, or anyone, would enjoy.

[Machka]

As part of my savings plan for my future, whenever I have a decent bink/decent month I always put a bit aside into some shares.  Always with fairly blue chip companies that you can class as 'safe'.  This is actually something that has interested me for years, and I bought my first shares in London Clubs International back when I was 14/15.

In the days after 9/11 their shares totally nosedived (from memory there was a worry that their Arab customers would no longer come to London).  I think I bought at 8p and held onto them right up until the Harrahs takeover at 90p I think.  Back then I had no interest in poker/gambling....at all....funny to think that now my life revolves around that same industry.

Anyway I digress.  Reason I thought of you was because I remember you mentioning Tesco when they had a bit of a dip and fell below 300p/share and because of that I invested some more dollar in them.

It's actually something that I don't really take a real active interest in....it's money that I forget about as its not intended to be used for many years.

But imagine my surprise that now they are at 370p.  And ontop of that they have actually INCREASED in the last couple of weeks during all of this horsemeat business?!  How does that work when Sainsburys/Asda/ haven't really been mentioned as much as them in the press.

Do you have any books/websites that you can recommend for investment?  if you don't mind me asking do you have a general strat too?  that goes out to everyone who reads this as I imagine blonde has some sickos when it comes to this field.

I've invested in shares for 10 - 15 years now, usually on the long term basis, always with my own research, with mixed results.

Low point has to be a fairly large Buy of FreeServe shares at its Initial Public Offering (IPO) which I watched double, triple, quadruple and onwards in price.  I was loving life.  Then I was away for a long weekend, Fri - Mon and I was checking share prices on Teletext when I noticed the shares had dipped by 10%.  Quickly checking the news I saw the start of the Tech Bubble bursing.  By the time I had got home Monday evening and could make a trade Tuesday morning it was too late.  Hard to remember but either the shares were frozen or had dropped to so little it wasn't even worth selling them.

Who would have thought an ISP that offered free internet access wouldn't work out in the long term...

High point is a Sell I made of Barclays last Thursday.  

[Mohican]

I am hardly Stephen Hawking so this stuff goes way above my head, too. The scale of it all is what I find incredible and the concepts of infinity and relativity are things I've read more about in the last year or so.

Black holes were something that really captured my imagination in my last year at uni (while I was supposed to be reading law). The thought that if you were past the point of no return, time would appear slower (so your watch ticks more slowly) than outside it.

However I wouldn't see you because no light can bounce off you and get out of the black hole.

Theoretical physics is one of those topics I essentially don't know anything about but would happily spend an evening chatting to people who do.

In before someone says "like poker" or "like football".

This is why i enjoyed the series with Prof Brian Cox. I still don't understand it but at the time it all made sense,especially when he explained how the Big Bang occurred by going through it in reverse.Just made absolute sense.

[Tal]

What I find with Brian Cox is that he explains it in such a way I completely understand it...right until I try to explain it to someone else.

Imagine you're standing at a platform, waiting for the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, when a train coming the other way over on platform 2 whizzes past you, if you could see my watch as I fly past, it would seem to tick ever so slightly more slowly than your own.

This sounds mental.

However, it isn't. The difference would be barely noticeable unless my train were travelling really really quickly (heading towards the speed of light), but a difference there is.

[Mohican]

What I find with Brian Cox is that he explains it in such a way I completely understand it...right until I try to explain it to someone else.

Imagine you're standing at a platform, waiting for the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, when a train coming the other way over on platform 2 whizzes past you, if you could see my watch as I fly past, it would seem to tick ever so slightly more slowly than your own.

This sounds mental.

However, it isn't. The difference would be barely noticeable unless my train were travelling really really quickly (heading towards the speed of light), but a difference there is.

Ditto

[Machka]

What I find with Brian Cox is that he explains it in such a way I completely understand it...right until I try to explain it to someone else.

Imagine you're standing at a platform, waiting for the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, when a train coming the other way over on platform 2 whizzes past you, if you could see my watch as I fly past, it would seem to tick ever so slightly more slowly than your own.

This sounds mental.

However, it isn't. The difference would be barely noticeable unless my train were travelling really really quickly (heading towards the speed of light), but a difference there is.

Just pull out paper and pencil and draw a diagram with diagonal lines, wiggly lines and arrows.  Makes perfect sense then.  Ish.

[Tal]

What I find with Brian Cox is that he explains it in such a way I completely understand it...right until I try to explain it to someone else.

Imagine you're standing at a platform, waiting for the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, when a train coming the other way over on platform 2 whizzes past you, if you could see my watch as I fly past, it would seem to tick ever so slightly more slowly than your own.

This sounds mental.

However, it isn't. The difference would be barely noticeable unless my train were travelling really really quickly (heading towards the speed of light), but a difference there is.

Just pull out paper and pencil and draw a diagram with diagonal lines, wiggly lines and arrows.  Makes perfect sense then.  Ish.

Absolutely. I once explained Pythag to a group of labourers using beermats. It was great fun.

[Machka]

What I find with Brian Cox is that he explains it in such a way I completely understand it...right until I try to explain it to someone else.

Imagine you're standing at a platform, waiting for the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, when a train coming the other way over on platform 2 whizzes past you, if you could see my watch as I fly past, it would seem to tick ever so slightly more slowly than your own.

This sounds mental.

However, it isn't. The difference would be barely noticeable unless my train were travelling really really quickly (heading towards the speed of light), but a difference there is.

Just pull out paper and pencil and draw a diagram with diagonal lines, wiggly lines and arrows.  Makes perfect sense then.  Ish.

Absolutely. I once explained Pythag to a group of labourers using beermats. It was great fun.

Nobody wants wonky corners in their buildings.

[Tal]

What I find with Brian Cox is that he explains it in such a way I completely understand it...right until I try to explain it to someone else.

Imagine you're standing at a platform, waiting for the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, when a train coming the other way over on platform 2 whizzes past you, if you could see my watch as I fly past, it would seem to tick ever so slightly more slowly than your own.

This sounds mental.

However, it isn't. The difference would be barely noticeable unless my train were travelling really really quickly (heading towards the speed of light), but a difference there is.

Just pull out paper and pencil and draw a diagram with diagonal lines, wiggly lines and arrows.  Makes perfect sense then.  Ish.

Absolutely. I once explained Pythag to a group of labourers using beermats. It was great fun.

Nobody wants wonky corners in their buildings.

Exactly. At the end, a brickie said "Ahhh we've got this thing called a 3-4-5 we use for corners!" and so maths was shown to be useful.

[tikay]

I am hardly Stephen Hawking so this stuff goes way above my head, too. The scale of it all is what I find incredible and the concepts of infinity and relativity are things I've read more about in the last year or so.

Black holes were something that really captured my imagination in my last year at uni (while I was supposed to be reading law). The thought that if you were past the point of no return, time would appear slower (so your watch ticks more slowly) than outside it.

However I wouldn't see you because no light can bounce off you and get out of the black hole.

Theoretical physics is one of those topics I essentially don't know anything about but would happily spend an evening chatting to people who do.

In before someone says "like poker" or "like football".

Me too. You said this in your previous Post, & I still cannot get my head round it......

The nebula is two light years across. If we stood at either end and you waved at me, I wouldn't see you waving for two years.

When I originally became aware of your diary on here I went back to Page 1 Post 1 and slowly read through every post over a few months.  One of the posts (of many) that caught my attention was to do with space travel, the speed of light and how clocks run slowly when moving at high velocity in space.  I think your response to that was, "yeah, sure, but how do they know?".

I always meant to reply to that post.  But never did.  Perhaps I could blame it on my watch running slow?

There are so many accessible books on science, not just the "A Brief History Of Time" by Stephen Hawking book, which I would imagine 95% of people who have it haven't read it.  And of those who have, couldn't understand it.  Strange how one of the most popular, "pop-science" books is actually a really hard read.

As an avid reader let me know if you're interested in expanding your horizons and I'll find a few books I think you, or anyone, would enjoy.

Yes please Aaron.

Every day, without fail, I come acrioss people I am not very familiar with, & I go-googling, it is the highlight of my day to "discover" new things & people.

My choice in books is extremely eclectic.

The last 10 books I have read, or re-read, are....

The Battle for the Falklands, Max Hastings & Simon Jenkins, a tremendous read.

The Falklands War, 1982, Martin Middlebrook.

The Art of Legging, Charles Sydney. First published in 1976.

Googled, the end of the world as we know it, Ken Auletta.

Sods I have cut on the turf, published 1961.

The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone, Tom Bower

The Greatest Trade Ever, Gregory Zuckermann. A tremendous read, this.

Life!, Keith Richards autobiography. What a life!

The Real Warren Buffett, James O'Loughlin.

DNA, The Secret of Life, James Watson


I go to Foyles twice a year, & buy a ton of books, & my next Foyles trip is next week, so would be interested if you have anything to suggest. Non-Fiction only, please.

[tikay]

Desert Island Discs this week had Julie Burchill as the Guest.

Wow, what an extraordinary character!

It is hard not to like her & loathe her in equal measure, but I really enjoyed her sheer honesty.

She happily confesses, but not boast, about a life of debauchery, cocaine use, & her thrill at getting deliberately drunk.

She was maried to Tony Parsons at one time, they split up acrimonously, & still to this day lob insults at each other.

Her home in Brighton was sold to developers for £1.5 million, much of which she immediately gave away to pay off the student loans & such like of complete strangers.

She has worked for, & been sacked by, all the serious newspapers, & it weas an eye-opener to see that she was paid £300,000 per year by The Sunday Times. Wowzer, never realised writing for newspapers paid so well.

She has converted to, & then left, 7 or 8 different religions.

Very much her own woman, with a wonderful way of expressing herself. I disagree with much of her vitriol, but could not help enjoy listening to her, & reading about her.

Truly, one of the most amazing Desert Island Discs ever, & that is saying something.

Do try & catch it on i-Player or whatever.

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

[kinboshi]

 

2,1