Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

At Eastbourne, we had a walk along the pier.

Nice pier, as piers go. Had a chippy, a tea room, 2 amusement arcades, a souvenir shop, usual sort of thing.

Could not help but wonder how much money these piers - lovely as they are - must lose.

This one had been on the market for £5.5 milly last year. No idea if that included the freehold. Can a pier, set in the sea, have a freehold?

Click to see full-size image.

i did post a few pages but got lost, this is right up your alley with piers and trains

http://www.savehythepier.org.uk/hythe-pier-train.asp

Good work roshambo, & my apologies for missing that post & failing to reply. I try to reply to all comments, but I'm busy Next Door right now, with their new Forum, UKOPS, Mini UKOPS, SPT & other stuff. Or, translated, I'm losing the plot.

Love stuff like that (Hythe Pier Train), might have to get myself down to Hythe sometime soon. I never even knew it existed.

It has a Wiki page, here....


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hythe_Pier,_Railway_and_Ferry


Might just be the oddest locomotive I've ever seen.

[tikay]

Talking of trains, you must be loving the series on Channel 5 about Paddington station.

Those things - they have done versions on EasyJet, the East coast Main Line, & London Underground, are dreadfully formulaic, & I can't bear to watch them.

The Paddington Station series is the same, but I've watched them all, as Paddington has tremendous memories for me, both my Dad & Grandad worked main line expresses out of Paddington over a 50 year period.

When they worked an "up" train (on the GWR, "up" trains go to London, "down" trains away from London) to Paddington, the last duty was to take the engine back to Old Oak Common depot, some 3 miles away, & they would proceed tender first (i.e., backwards).

With "security" being non-existent in those days, I'd be allowed up on the footplate for the short trip back to Old Oak Common. That was the best thing ever. I used to get a fair bit of mocking at school due to my stammer, & the fact I was a tad backward, but those train rides on the footplate elevated me to hero status in their eyes.

Old Oak Common was a filthy, dirty, smoky hell hole, but to me, it was the best place on earth, after Paddington.

So yeah, I am loving that series.

Good question, sorry for the rambly reply.

[4KSuited]

So, dtd opened it's doors tonight. Officially, it was "Media night", but Media has a wide range of meanings, & some of the great & good of Poker were there, including current man-of-the-momentThewy, El Blondie, Simon Zach, Womble, Chili, & as good few others besides. The dtd Team were on hand too, Lord Yong, Nick Whiten, Simon Trumper, Chubbs, ActionJack, & Paul Zimbler.

The genuine Media included snoops, Nick "Dino1980" Wright, Catman, Mel Lofthouse, etc. Oh, & me, I suppose!

There was a very moving "ribbon-cutting" ceremony" (watch Poker Week next week to see it) when Rob asked the Guest of Honour to cut the ribbon. And the Guest of Honour was? None other than his Mumness. How lovely!

The Club? Well, you've all seen the pics, & it's that & a bit more. Beautifully fitted out, american hardwood, stainless steel handrails, signature carpet, lovely tables & chairs, good lux levels, a-la carte restaurant, plentiful Valets, da de da de da.

I played the Media Tourney, though not for long enough......then a little Dealers Choice Omaha High, against Simon Zach, ActionJack, Womble etc. I came out all square, not a bad result against that line-up. An oddity - a welcome oddity in my opinion - is that "straddles" are NOT permitted. Hoo-bloody-ray. I wanna play poker, not Bingo, & when the straddles reach absurd levels, as they always do, it's - to me - plain daft.

The Dealers were, in the main, excellent, & Simon Trumper's partner, the beautiful Matilde, had trained them all apparently. The Lady did good. I've not seen her for ages, & she's really gorgeous. French, too.

A nice touch was that Laptops can be obtained from behind the Reg Desk for use in the Club, presumably for when the fixed Internet Terminals - I think there were about 18 - are all in use. It looked odd - never seen it in a British Cardroom before, though it's commonplace in Mainland Europe - to see players lounging around with Laptops. Nicely odd, I hasten to add.

I had a good chat with Rob, (& I interviewed him, Thewy & Simon Trumper for Poker Week), & he seemed a happy chappie, as he should.

I hope folks enjoy the luxury conditions, because it'll be the first & last of it's type & quality. No plc coud justify the spend, not in a month of Sundays. As a seperate entity, it will lose plenty of money, but the Online Cardroom will hopefully make up the defecit.

"A cool place to play poker" is what Rob dreamed of. His dream has come true.

Blast from the Past IV

"The hand played itself"

[Lucky]

Are you at the Next Door Poker Tour venue yet? What's your routine?

Not yet, I plan to arrive there at around 1 or 2pm, ready for the 4pm start.

I'm staying about 15 miles outside Brighton at a lovely little hotel near Hickstead. They have a fishing lake there, which is patrolled by a beautiful Grey Heron, so I'm hoping to spot him over the weekend.

Click to see full-size image.

SPT weekends are a mixture of excitement & dread for me. It's very hard in some ways, many poker players have rather unusual social skillsets, which have to be coped with for 3 x 14 hour days, & it can be quite wearing. Equally, I'm rather excited to be meeting so many friends & acquaintances again. My bosses will all be there, too, so I want them to see I'm doing a better job than anyone else possibly could.  And I do.

 
The room is all ready, & looking pretty good I think;

Click to see full-size image.

I shall be playing it on Day 1B (tomorrow, Saturday) & I'm looking forward to that. I played the last one (Manchester) & played rather well by my standards, but I ran Queens into Aces & could not find my fold button.

Look forward to seeing you tomorrow. We may even end up sharing tables. There's a bounty on me, too - a very nice prize indeed, if I may say so.   

Good to see you yesterday and to share a table for a short while. Unlucky bust out hand. The table were all impressed with the bounty prize.  I got a double up soon after you left and am back today with 54,000.

[vegaslover]

Here's the "Sheikh", & another photo of his motor.







 

Click to see full-size image.

Hey Tikay
If I knew you would be in the area you could have fed my cat whilst we were away...

Mr Gulzar is pretty controversial, not least because he owns several hotels that are all 'dives'. Usually has hideous lions up outside them.
Well known for ignoring planning laws and then complaining he is victimised when he doesn't get retrospective planning agreed.
Also notorious for parking his car where he shouldn't  i.e double yellows, disabled parking etc.

[vegaslover]

Last weekend Gill & I decided to take the train down to Eastbourne & Hastings, more for the train journey than anything else, & we had the most wonderful day.

It was Friday, the day before (unofficial) Bonfire Night, & when the train stopped at Lewes, there were signs everywhere saying "NO TRAINS WILL STOP AT THIS STATUION ON SATURDAY DUE TO LEWES BONFIRE NIGHT"

Why on earth would trains not stop due to bonfire night?

A little googling soon provided the answer - Lewes Bonfire Night is a traditional thing, said to be the largest bonfire night in the world (not sure that's true), and the town with a population of 15,000 or whatever is invaded by up to 80,000 revellers.  So the local council do everything they can to deter more visitors, & that includes closing the station for the day.

Here's the Lewes Bonfire Night Wiki page;


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewes_Bonfire

It does not just celebrate poor old Guido Fawkes, but also some other historical bollox, Protestant martyrs & Marian Persecutions, whatever they are.

It's all highly organised - there are 7 different "Bonfire Committees" all working independently.

Proper big do it is, too;

Click to see full-size image.

From the train, we spotted the bonfire being prepared. Proper fire that'll make.

Click to see full-size image.

In previous years they have had problems on the trains and overcrowding in general. Tiny town with narrow roads and limited parking.
Whilst Lewes have several bonfire societies, it is attended by societies from all over Sussex.
There are so many bonfire societies in Sussex that they start bonfire events in September and run every weekend, so that other societies can also attend.

[superwomble]

So, dtd opened it's doors tonight. Officially, it was "Media night", but Media has a wide range of meanings, & some of the great & good of Poker were there, including current man-of-the-momentThewy, El Blondie, Simon Zach, Womble, Chili, & as good few others besides. The dtd Team were on hand too, Lord Yong, Nick Whiten, Simon Trumper, Chubbs, ActionJack, & Paul Zimbler.

The genuine Media included snoops, Nick "Dino1980" Wright, Catman, Mel Lofthouse, etc. Oh, & me, I suppose!

There was a very moving "ribbon-cutting" ceremony" (watch Poker Week next week to see it) when Rob asked the Guest of Honour to cut the ribbon. And the Guest of Honour was? None other than his Mumness. How lovely!

The Club? Well, you've all seen the pics, & it's that & a bit more. Beautifully fitted out, american hardwood, stainless steel handrails, signature carpet, lovely tables & chairs, good lux levels, a-la carte restaurant, plentiful Valets, da de da de da.

I played the Media Tourney, though not for long enough......then a little Dealers Choice Omaha High, against Simon Zach, ActionJack, Womble etc. I came out all square, not a bad result against that line-up. An oddity - a welcome oddity in my opinion - is that "straddles" are NOT permitted. Hoo-bloody-ray. I wanna play poker, not Bingo, & when the straddles reach absurd levels, as they always do, it's - to me - plain daft.

The Dealers were, in the main, excellent, & Simon Trumper's partner, the beautiful Matilde, had trained them all apparently. The Lady did good. I've not seen her for ages, & she's really gorgeous. French, too.

A nice touch was that Laptops can be obtained from behind the Reg Desk for use in the Club, presumably for when the fixed Internet Terminals - I think there were about 18 - are all in use. It looked odd - never seen it in a British Cardroom before, though it's commonplace in Mainland Europe - to see players lounging around with Laptops. Nicely odd, I hasten to add.

I had a good chat with Rob, (& I interviewed him, Thewy & Simon Trumper for Poker Week), & he seemed a happy chappie, as he should.

I hope folks enjoy the luxury conditions, because it'll be the first & last of it's type & quality. No plc coud justify the spend, not in a month of Sundays. As a seperate entity, it will lose plenty of money, but the Online Cardroom will hopefully make up the defecit.

"A cool place to play poker" is what Rob dreamed of. His dream has come true.

Blast from the Past IV

"The hand played itself"

i don't remember playing there... I guess there is another poker Womble!

[Karabiner]

^^^^^^

Steve Walmsley, Northern based and played the circuit for many years.

[superwomble]

Ah yes, that rang a bell so I looked back:

Just popped on here and wondered why there was a thread about my webcam...!

Who is Womble?

Ah i assume he is Steve Walmsley?

Anyone know why he's called Womble? Mine is because I support Wimbledon!

He is called womble cos he is fat, grey, has a big nose and collects rubbish from the streets ..... thats how he found Ariston

Blast from the past there!

[Nakor]

So many trains.

https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-future-uncertain-1968-online

Anyone not seen Britain on film before, you're welcome, hours of fun.

[tikay]

Been AWOL over a week, due to tiredness from the Sky Poker Tour in Brighton, & a general sense of dithery cba-ness.

I'm really never sure whether to start at the bottom or the top of the pile, i.e., reply to comments & feedback first, or put new stuff up. So I dither between the 2 & do neither. Lose lose, that, well done me.

Before I reply to the various comments & feedback from others - thank you - a story or two that caught my eye.   

[tikay]

Here's a really weird story which caught my eye, it's a feel-good story with a twist I suppose.  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42031729


Cliffs if you CBA to read that;


  

A "military dog", serving with the Royal Boat Squadron in Afghanistan, displayed "extreme bravery" by doing his work under fire from guns & grenades when the Military were storming an enemy stronghold.

He was badly injured 3 times - chest, leg, ears/mouth - but continued his work until the job was done.

As a result, he was awarded a Gallantry Medal, the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross, which is a pretty big deal.


Well that's rather nice, well done Dog.


I'm actually having a little difficulty convincing myself that a dog can be "brave" whilst on duty for the Army. It seems to me that it's all rather instinctive rather than
the dog saying to himself - "bugger this, I'm outa here", or "a dog's gotta do what a dog's gotta do".

But let's not argue too much. We (mostly) all love dogs, & this is a real feel-good story.

No complaints then.

Click to see full-size image.

 






But wait.......

[tikay]

The Medal he won was called the PDSA Dickin Medal.


It's named after Maria Dickin, who founded the PDSA, & was originally awarded for acts of gallantry by animals in World War II.

Bravo Maria, & bravo those animals.

It gets a bit awkward now though. A peruse of recipients of the Dickin Medal includes over 30 pigeons - PIGEONS - & one cat.

Huh?


How does a pigeon earn a Medal for gallantry?

Typically, it seems;



Delivered a message that led to the rescue of a ditched aircrew in October 1943. She flew 9 hours in bad visibility and heavy weather with strong headwinds.


Although injured, delivered a message from a raiding party in France, June 1944



Which is jolly nice, of course, well done them. But surely it's pure instinct?


It gets better though;

It was once awarded to a cat. Why?


HMS Amethyst's ship's cat, awarded for "gallantry under fire" and for the disposal of many rats despite shrapnel injuries during the Yangtze Incident in 1949



All rather odd really.

I'm delighted for all those brave dogs, horses, pigeons & (solitary) cat, of course I am. And feel-good stories beat those dreadful "girl scarred for life in acid attack" stuff we see every day.  

But awards for bravery for pigeons & cats?

I'm struggling a bit with that.


Oh, & in case you think I'm making all this up, here you go, look for yourself;


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickin_Medal

[tikay]

On the theme of "feel-good" stories......

Twitter can be a pretty depressing place to read, with all the trolls strutting their stuff.

I saw a nice "thread" though, where folks were talking about being reminded of relatives, typically parents & grandparents who had long passed away.

They were all rather lovely, but this topped the lot for me;

My Nan still exists in packets of Jelly Babies, she would always eat the feet first - "it seems kinder".   

Click to see full-size image.

[SuuPRlim]

I get ya, it's kind of wonderful, whilst at the same time slightly ridiculous.

It's feel good though, for sure, and brought a smile to my face!