Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Karabiner]

Sounds like the name UB40 is quiet apt.

It was apt as they were all on the dole when they started the band.

Correct.

So when those 8 working class lads from Balsall Heath & Small Heath, Birmingham, which is not exactly Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield, had made it big time & were all minted, they released this album, to signify their progress.



 

I had always thought "Signing Off" was their debut album - it was certainly the first one that I bought.

[tikay]

In Ralph's prime, of course, billiards was all the vogue.

Walter Lindrum set a world record in 1929 with a break of 3,262. Games were often "first to 24,000", with the likes of Joe Davis & Walter Lindrum giving opponents a 7,000 start.

The games would often take several days to complete.

In the photo below, this was a typical billiards situation at the time, with the 3 balls closely clustered, & the player would just tip-tap cannons for hours on end. 

Must have been hugely exciting to watch, & it's hard to imagine why the game so fell out of favour.




 

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Sounds like the name UB40 is quiet apt.

It was apt as they were all on the dole when they started the band.

Correct.

So when those 8 working class lads from Balsall Heath & Small Heath, Birmingham, which is not exactly Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield, had made it big time & were all minted, they released this album, to signify their progress.



 

I had always thought "Signing Off" was their debut album - it was certainly the first one that I bought.

You are correct, Methuselah, according to wiki. I thought it came later.

[Karabiner]

Sounds like the name UB40 is quiet apt.

It was apt as they were all on the dole when they started the band.

Correct.

So when those 8 working class lads from Balsall Heath & Small Heath, Birmingham, which is not exactly Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield, had made it big time & were all minted, they released this album, to signify their progress.



 

I had always thought "Signing Off" was their debut album - it was certainly the first one that I bought.

You are correct, Methuselah, according to wiki. I thought it came later.

Signing off the rock and roll just means that you have found employment - it was a very cleverly named album as well as being an absolute belter.

[tikay]

Meanwhile, the sad news has just come though that Roger Bannister has passed away, aged 88.

What excitement there was when he got under 4 minutes for the mile, & it prompted this very famous photograph.

He was a real hero to all us young boys at the time.

RIP Roger.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

How is this even possible?


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-43174862


Cliffs - Geezer allegedly caught in possession of drugs swallows them, so the police sit alongside him 24/7, adjacent to a toilet, so they can be present when he, err, passes the drugs.

Last I heard, he had not had a pony for 37 days.

Not sure I'd fancy being the copper with the sieve when the moment eventually arrives.

Could you manage without a turnout for over 5 weeks?

[Karabiner]

Herbert Holt's establishment was a sizeable basement premesis below the corner of Shaftsbury Avenue and Great Windmill St. with around twenty snooker tables and a lovely enclosed match-room with windows looking into the main room. The resident professional was Canadian emigree Con Stanbury.

Herbert Holt's was a "club" rather than a "hall" and although I don't recall there actually being being a membership fee it just meant that they could be selective as to whom they allowed to play there. I never had any trouble getting in and often used to play with my pal Brummie Billy in the enclosed match-room for half-a-crown or a dollar a game - I can't exactly remember how much because as soon as we closed the door and set the balls up Billy used to roll up an enormous spliff - nobody ever disturbed us or gave us a hard time afterwards. Good value for the extra shilling or so per hour.

Herbert Holt's was not the "action room" though. Fifty yards or so up Great Windmill St. almost directly opposite The Windmill Theatre between a sex shop and The Nosh Bar was a stone stairway leading up to a snooker hall on the first floor with a dozen tables in two rows which much like the theatre across the road was open 24/7 and was far more a den of iniquity. It was not a member's club and all were welcome. There were all sorts of dodgy West End characters and local villains who used to hang out there and some very good snooker players too - Patsy Houlahan and Patsy Fagan to name a couple. I don't think the hall had a name but there was a boxing gymnasium on the floor above so you can imagine the mixture of passing trade popping in to see who was around.

That was the action room where most gambling took place, amongst other things.

[tikay]

That's a great picture you paint, Ralph.

I well recall Patsy Fagan, who, iirc, was a multiple amateur champion, though I don't recall if he cut much ice as a pro.

[Karabiner]

That's a great picture you paint, Ralph.

I well recall Patsy Fagan, who, iirc, was a multiple amateur champion, though I don't recall if he cut much ice as a pro.

He had just won The Irish Youth's title when he arrived in London aged 17/18 with nothing much more than his cue which was in a soft green canvas case.

He won The UK Championship as a pro which is now a major but shortly after developed the yips with the rest which severely hindered his career.

I've just done a little googling and discovered that the boxing gym above the snooker hall was none other than Jack Solomon's famous establishment.

[Chompy]

Saw the Ali version at Tring fest a summer or two ago. Deece to accompany alcohol and a warm summer evening

You went to a pop festival?

At your age?

Good grief.

Not sure The Chomps would ever be so down with the kids.

Saw the Duncan Campbell bunch at Newmarket a couple of summers ago. See they played Chelmsford City last year after an AW card. Probably about a dozen there plus two bookies. Poor old UB40.

Those Friday night July Course concerts are the nuts, but this year's schedule sucks.

http://newmarket.thejockeyclub.co.uk/newmarket-nights

Maybe Nile Rodgers at a push, but there's no Busted or Mcfly in this line up. And certainly no Backstreet Boys!

Favourite Backstreet Boys track?

[Woodsey]

How is this even possible?


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-43174862


Cliffs - Geezer allegedly caught in possession of drugs swallows them, so the police sit alongside him 24/7, adjacent to a toilet, so they can be present when he, err, passes the drugs.

Last I heard, he had not had a pony for 37 days.

Not sure I'd fancy being the copper with the sieve when the moment eventually arrives.

Could you manage without a turnout for over 5 weeks?

I remember at school there was a bloke who only ever had a dump 2 or 3 times a month, been that way his entire life, how the fk is that even possible? 

[tikay]

This 50cc Honda Z50A - or "Monkey Bike" as we used to call them - belonged to John Lennon, & he used it to ride around his estate at Tittenhurst Park, near Ascot.  

It was sold at Auction yesterday for.....£56,250.

Blimey.


Tom's lovely old lawn-mower - the one he got rid of - could be worth thousands now.  

Click to see full-size image.

[RED-DOG]

Read this Tone, the figures are astounding.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Super_Cub

[Rod Paradise]

David Ogden Stiers has died.

Would never have recognised the name, but he played Major Charles Emerson Winchester in M*A*S*H.



He played the most aggravatingly smug, snobbish buffoon possible in the show, but managed to make him human, and at times vulnerable.

Alan Alda (Hawkeye) tweeted a description of him that is completely at odds with his screen character:

Alan Alda @alanalda

David Ogden Stiers. I remember how you skateboarded to work every day down busy LA streets. How, once you glided into Stage 9, you were Winchester to your core. How gentle you were, how kind, except when devising the most vicious practical jokes. We love you, David. Goodbye.

Nice epitaph, for what sounds like a nice guy.

I still regularly watch the repeats, it was a fantastic show.

[TightEnd]

Erik Seidel
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Woke up to the sad news that backgammon legend Paul Magriel (X-22) has passed away. He changed the game w his book, was a generous & enthusiastic teacher, he changed my life & the lives of many others