Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Tal]

It is a point of debate as to whether it helped or hindered

I learned earlier today that all the best music comes from drugs so I aint gonna debate  that here

Slight irony coming from someone called Nirvana, but then their best music came from the Pixies (fnah fnah)

My comment was, as ever, tongue in cheek, but the coexistence of drugs and the arts historically is a statement of fact. The worst consequence (deaths aside...so OK the second worst consequence) is giving awful musicians the impression their music is tolerable.

The connection suggested by psychologists is that the pressures of being creative geniuses is what provides the link between creativity and drugs (including alcohol) - they use their preferred drug/s as a coping mechanism.

Although it could be simpler than that - once you get famous, it's just really really easy to get drugs. It might just be that given the opportunity most people would end up with similar problems if the temptation was quite so readily available.

Both of those points are a given, else there would be mercury prize winners in every church archway.

[VBlue]

Pink Floyd - also a late comer to this band. Probably about thirteen or fourteen years ago I really got into them, quite a lot of years after a first listening to Dark Side of the Moon. Do Floyd fans prefer Sid Barret era or post?  I admit I don't have a huge range of their back catalogue but what I do listen to I love.

Australian Pink Floyd have been widely regarded as one of the very best tribute bands ever - they played at Roger Waters 50th birthday and he jammed with them.  High praise.  I think it was John Peel who claimed if you closed your eyes at an Aussie Pink Floyd gig - you would not have known the difference between the two. At the gigs I went to in Manchester over a couple of years, they had the same crew as had been used on the Division Bell tour.  I think there lineup has changed over the years and believe they are even better now.

Beatles v Stones - I'll leave that debate to others as I'm pretty meh about both.  I couldn't give you much of the Stones catalogue to even comment, but like some stuff obv. Paint it Black probably a favourite.  My Mum saw them at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, I think it was, and I'm not even sure they were headline.

I'm more an electronic music devotee, especially late 80s early 90s house, disco, Detroit techno. So, as you can see we are not in my preferred territory for music chat.

I also might give one of my favourite album titles as The Black Album too.

PS - Tikay in a The Cure tribute band? Clearly, pics or it didn't happen. Love The Cure too, but again I don't have an extensive knowledge. Been watching a recent gig of theirs on Sky Arts - little gem of a TV station at times.

[tikay]

Wow, great Diary, well done Barry Crater.

Loving the natter, thanks, will reply & update later today I hope.

Been at SPT London all weekend, two horrendously long & tiring days, but a wonderfully successful Event for the Business, so all happy.

The music debate is wonderful, & I'll put you all right shortly. Some shocking tastes shown by a few of you, but some good stuff too.

Meanwhile, we have got a bit off track here, so here's something to bring us back to the sort of stuff I know you enjoy most. I Upload this photo in the full knowledge that the Diary will explode with replies & interest now. Balance is a prime requisite in a Diary.  

PS - Loads of PM's the weekend, too, but not been Online to reply, will do so today & tomorrow.


 

[VBlue]

Tikay - I was mentioning your love of concrete to a colleague and he confessed that he has a 'favourite motorway concrete bridge, just south of Forton services, nr Lancaster, on the M6.

I asked if he has ever asked anyone else, perhaps at a party, if they also have a favourite motorway concrete bridge - as an icebreaker I thought.  He doesn't go to parties.

[Kev B]

Wow just caught up with this diary and had to check I was on the right one.  

Superb stuff. Reading through it is like strolling through my life musically. Stones for me, saw them in Stafford in 1977 and then again at Main Rd in 1988. The first single I bought was Lola by the Kinks in 1970. Bowie blew our minds in the seventies with Ziggy and Aladdin Sane. When punk arrived it was manically fantastic as a teenager.

Love the Cure. The best concert I've been to was Oasis at Main Road, the line up included Manic Street Preachers and Ocean Colour Scene. My first concert was Mott the Hoople in the early seventies. The last concert I went to was The Killers, took Joo and my two sons, fantastic day.

Agree with Kinboshi, the Leveller are excellent live, seen them several times. Another great band live are Alabama3.

[david3103]

How can this not be everyone's favourite Motorway Bridge



According to http://www.bbc.co.uk/bradford/content/articles/2006/11/29/m62_history_feature.shtml this is

"...the only bridge - the Pennine Way footbridge - built in the third dimension. " whatever that means?

[tikay]

I can't wait to reply to all this stuff, but I'm really very busy on catch-up today, however, I can't resist replying to that one pronto, David.

I may be wrong, but I think that is the highest Motorway Bridge in the UK, as in "above sea level" rather than above whatever it spans.

It is in fact quite close to the most awesome piece of motorway construction in the UK, a place called "Little house on the Prairie", which is really Stott Hall Farm, Calderdale, near Halifax.

The M62 actually has a very fine Wiki page.......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M62_motorway


And here is "Little House on the Prairie"......

Click to see full-size image.

[david3103]

Absolutely right Tikay

from http://www.ciht.org.uk/motorway/m62bounpole.htm

Where the M62 passes from Lancashire into Yorkshire the county boundary is marked by the Pennine Way footpath. The westernmost structure in the West Riding contract is the slender concrete arch that carries the ancient path over the six-lane motorway at a height of 65ft. At this point the M62 is at its highest elevation and deep in the Pennine hills

More about Stott Hall Farm here http://www.bbc.co.uk/bradford/content/articles/2006/11/02/m62_farm_feature.shtml

and there's a link to a BBC report about the place at the bottom of that page. The report lays to rest the myth about why the motorway goes around the farm.

[tikay]

I do think it rather wonderful, & "only in England", that they went to all that time, trouble & expense to build that beautiful bridge just to preserve the Pennine Way walky path thing.

Folks in Yorkshire like to walk, I think. Too tight to pay bus fares, see?

[Magic817]

Good to see you at the weekend Tikay. So after you left having said on the live stream about how bad I was for a while, the girl next to me said, does he really think you are that bad? I laughed then thought and said I hope not!

Was a great weekend, if only that young chap hadn't rivered a higher set I may have gone deeper. Its what you get with these young internet kids (it was Andrew1947!).

Top work from yourself and Tighty for organising such a great tournament

[cambridgealex]

Morning Tony.

Sagrada de familia, Barcelona. Stunning.

Click to see full-size image.

Unfortunately plagued with scaffolding and cranes. Do you know how on earth they get those huge cranes that are half way up there?

I mean it's not that easy to see, but they aren't on the ground, the cranes actually start halfway up.

[tikay]

Boom!

Got him, Posh Boy itt.

[Acidmouse]

Click to see full-size image.

used to walk around here alot, lots of nice reservoirs. I bet it was really cold and hazardous up there this weekend

[celtic]

Thoughts on the Dubai hand from Saturday?

You remember the details? If not, I can post.

[tikay]

Thoughts on the Dubai hand from Saturday?

You remember the details? If not, I can post.

I (think) I remember the detail - & the somewhat bizarre postscript.

Ignore the suits & exact cards, not relevant, & there were no flush draws involved.

"Lambert180", Paul, regular next door, good guy, new Member here, probably playing one of the biggest Tourneys of his life, has the button.

Big Blind is a bloke called Dubai, who has polled up late, & just wants to outlast Flushy. He has not been too busy yet.

Paul raises from the Button, Dubai backraises from the BB, Paul calls.

Flop 

Dubai bets out, Paul calls confidently.

Turn 

So....

 

Dubai bets again, Paul calls again.

River

 

 


Dubai gives Paul the mean eye. He checks.

Paul fires in a pot-sized bet, 15,000, leaving himself very little fold equity. Pot is 40k or so now.

Dubai gives Paul the big stare. Mean. If looks could kill. Thinks. Longgggg think, especially by "oh fu*k it", Dubai's standards.   

Counts out the call.

More moody stares. Picks up his chips, &..........calls.

Paul taps table, "well played, you got me".

Dubai does not move, or release or show his hand.   

Paul pushes his cards forward, face down. Dealer does not pull them in.

Dubai has still not released or shown his hand.

Dealer pulls Paul's cards into the muck.

Dubai turns over, a bit sheepishly, 

So he has called with the nut low king high.

He scoops the pot. Very nice. I'm, like, open-jawed.

Postscript - there was no bad blood, it was all in good heart, & Paul & Dubai meet up at the break to chat through the hand.

Dubai asks Paul what he had. Paul says, you won't believe this, but I mucked because I could not possibly be winning.

Paul's mucked hand was........

Which would have been good.