Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

What do you think of the new pylon design TK?

Horrible.

It'll never make the eagerly awaited & highly regarded "Pylon of the Month"


http://www.pylonofthemonth.org/

Meanwhile, the Pylon Appreciation Society are giving out free Membership Packs to new Members. Hurry, stocks won't last.


http://www.pylons.org/news.shtml

[tikay]

Morning from the Oslo Bergen line.  Hydro electric power stations 1, ski jumps 2, but the concrete seems to have disappeared for now; am sure you'd be disappointed if you were here.

How's my man, Jordan, doing?  Hope you got on off thread. 

Jordan? Don't ask. What price did you get? I've no idea how we missed that. Must be said, a delight to watch, that boy has a wise head on those young shoulders.

Do you have any photos from Bergen? I have some lovely tales to tell from 2 trips to Bergen, but I fear everyone will fall asleep. I met, & played with, Johnny Lodden for the first time there. Then the King of Norway (real King, proper King) ruined the poker tournament, which was illegal, as "live" poker is banned in Norway, & we all had to skidadle quickly, grabbing handfuls of chips as we ran away.

I went with Poker 425, & just googled it, as I could not remember Johny Gould's name, ffs. Last I heard, he had become an auctioneer at Charity Fund-Raising things, & was earning £2,000 a pop. MBN. Loved Johny, all raw enthusiasm. He used to present the Baseball (or was it NFL?) On Channel 4 (or was it Ch 5?).

Click to see full-size image.

Anyway, if you have some photos of the trip, I'd love to see them. Did you take the kids? How did that go?




 

[tikay]

When I googled Poker 425, I came across this. Jeez, some blasts from the past on that thread. It was the first time I had ever been sponsored, & I was as proud as punch.


http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=469.15

How did I get on? Thought you'd ask that. 6th. I was always 6, 7th, 8th or 9th.

Some names that bring back memories there, too.

http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=13918

[tikay]

Here's a blast from the past - another of my 'I thought they'd died years ago' people - Viv 'Spend Spend Spend' Nicholson

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/apr/12/spend-spend-spend-football-pools-winner-viv-nicholson-dies-aged-79

Viv was a monster story. She won £150,000, but that was serious money then, really serious, & she became a celeb overnight. It was all downhill after that though, I doubt she was happy for more than 3 months.  Quite sad really.

[tikay]

I watched a brilliant piece today on Kim Philby, what he accomplished and, specifically, how he was unveiled as a Soviet agent, despite being one of the most senior people in MI6.

It was on BBC Four and was the first of a two parter. The second part is on Monday evening, on the same channel.

Click to see full-size image.

Thoroughly recommend catching up on the iPlayer.

I will watch that, Simon.

Hard to believe really, we don't see stories like that these days.

He was in something called The Cambridge Five, who were all spies apparently.

"Spies", ooh how exciting.

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

[tikay]

Such a wonderfully written compassionate article:-

http://ontheotherhoof.co.uk/?p=949

..in other news I have just finished reading Danny Baker -  Going to Sea in a Sieve and just ordered Vol 2 of his autobiography “Going off Alarming”. Thanks again for the recommendation

Oh to be able to write one tenth as well as that - thank you.

I was in Foyles last week, specifically to buy the Danny Baker book, but I got engrossed in another section, purchased 7 books & clean forgot to get the Danny book. Think it'll be one of those I take to Vegas with me this year.

I read more than I should when in Vegas, for some reason it seems more enjoyable there. An hour before bed, but I also take a book to each poker tourney, so I can hide in a corner during breaks, away from the "so I raised, & he called me with....." stuff, & in the queue at Starby's or the Sports Deli. What great companions books are. If I end up in an old peoples home or something, I'll be just fine as long as I have books, & peace & quiet. 

[tikay]

Got a book recommendation for you pops.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/So-Youve-Been-Publicly-Shamed-ebook/dp/B00NLFVN8E/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1429020906&sr=1-1&keywords=jon+ronson+so+you%27ve+been+publicly+shamed

Its a book all about internet outrage, really entertainingly written and shocking at the same time. Based on our previous chinwags on the topic I know you'd enjoy it.

Ooh, "internet outrage".

I've become quite an expert on that subject, Barry. I saw one of the best threads ever last weekend, when 'Stars servers failed or got DDOS'ed. Oh the outrage. I've been at the wrong end of my fair share of internet outrage, too, as you know. Fascinating stuff. 

I'll reply tomorrow, I gotta go cook my tea.

[Geo the Sarge]

I watched a brilliant piece today on Kim Philby, what he accomplished and, specifically, how he was unveiled as a Soviet agent, despite being one of the most senior people in MI6.

It was on BBC Four and was the first of a two parter. The second part is on Monday evening, on the same channel.

Click to see full-size image.

Thoroughly recommend catching up on the iPlayer.

I will watch that, Simon.

Hard to believe really, we don't see stories like that these days.

He was in something called The Cambridge Five, who were all spies apparently.

"Spies", ooh how exciting.

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

I was sat some 10 feet away whilst Her Majesty and Prince Charles on the side of a large hill on the Balmoral Estate in 1979, having lunch during a deer stalking trip and their conversation was around recent disclosures to the public that Anthony Blunt had indeed been a spy and part of the "Cambridge five."

The whole story around Burgess, Mclean, Philby and Blunt as well as the "fifth man" (believed to be John Cairncross - can't trust them Scots you know) is truly fascinating.

Geo

[Tal]

I think we all find espionage fascinating. Is it a British thing? James Bond?

Agents, double agents, microfilm and classified information.

The Master of Pembroke changed in my time there. A diplomat called Sir Roger Tomkys was replaced by Sir Richard Dearlove, who had just retired as head of MI6. For a bunch of supposedly clever folk, there weren't half some daft rumours about the gardeners changing and some new students no one had seen before.

I bet he could tell some stories. I also bet he won't.

[celtic]

When I googled Poker 425, I came across this. Jeez, some blasts from the past on that thread. It was the first time I had ever been sponsored, & I was as proud as punch.


http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=469.15

How did I get on? Thought you'd ask that. 6th. I was always 6, 7th, 8th or 9th.

Some names that bring back memories there, too.

http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=13918

5k chips and a 25 min clock, for £200.

And Tom travelled to it.

Wish they would do comps like that now.

[RED-DOG]

When I googled Poker 425, I came across this. Jeez, some blasts from the past on that thread. It was the first time I had ever been sponsored, & I was as proud as punch.


http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=469.15

How did I get on? Thought you'd ask that. 6th. I was always 6, 7th, 8th or 9th.

Some names that bring back memories there, too.

http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=13918

5k chips and a 25 min clock, for £200.

And Tom travelled to it.

Wish they would do comps like that now.

I only went to complain.

[BigAdz]

A train and motorway related post, something to get excited about!

Have you ever seen a Zipper lane mover or an automatic train track laying machine?

Thanks Aaron.

Never seen or heard of that "lane mover" thing, no.

Am very familiar with track laying machines, though. When I was a train-spotter, & as I had access, via my Dad, to Loco sheds & railway sidings, I was a high roller train spotter, so I became familiar with the early models. In the last 20 years, automatic track laying has moved on, it's very impressive now.  They are generally nocturnal, so we rarely see them in action though. Really, they lay prefabricated sections of track, but it's all jolly clever.

The zipper was actually developed in the late 80s by a aprt of a French company I deal with called TSS, part of Sogea.

[Marky147]

Good luck today!

[tikay]

I watched a brilliant piece today on Kim Philby, what he accomplished and, specifically, how he was unveiled as a Soviet agent, despite being one of the most senior people in MI6.

It was on BBC Four and was the first of a two parter. The second part is on Monday evening, on the same channel.

Click to see full-size image.

Thoroughly recommend catching up on the iPlayer.

I will watch that, Simon.

Hard to believe really, we don't see stories like that these days.

He was in something called The Cambridge Five, who were all spies apparently.

"Spies", ooh how exciting.

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

I was sat some 10 feet away whilst Her Majesty and Prince Charles on the side of a large hill on the Balmoral Estate in 1979, having lunch during a deer stalking trip and their conversation was around recent disclosures to the public that Anthony Blunt had indeed been a spy and part of the "Cambridge five."

The whole story around Burgess, Mclean, Philby and Blunt as well as the "fifth man" (believed to be John Cairncross - can't trust them Scots you know) is truly fascinating.

Geo

Sorry for delayed reply, Geo, been a bit waylaid.

You'll have to tell us more about that please - a deer stalking trip with the Royals?

Also, deer stalking? Can you explain a little more, please? I'm sure this debate is as old as the hills, but we shoot deer for sport?

[tikay]

A train and motorway related post, something to get excited about!

Have you ever seen a Zipper lane mover or an automatic train track laying machine?

Thanks Aaron.

Never seen or heard of that "lane mover" thing, no.

Am very familiar with track laying machines, though. When I was a train-spotter, & as I had access, via my Dad, to Loco sheds & railway sidings, I was a high roller train spotter, so I became familiar with the early models. In the last 20 years, automatic track laying has moved on, it's very impressive now.  They are generally nocturnal, so we rarely see them in action though. Really, they lay prefabricated sections of track, but it's all jolly clever.

The zipper was actually developed in the late 80s by a aprt of a French company I deal with called TSS, part of Sogea.

Are they still in use, Adzy? Never seen one in the UK.