Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Tonji]

Bed beckons. I shall try & pull a list of all candidates together tomorrow. Be about 50 items by the look of things.

Dawn might remember this, but Patty Hearst was a terrific tale, with a great, great, twist in the end. I loved that one.

And the geezer who faked all the art paintings - can't recall his name?

And the "Hitler Diaries", where the Sunday Times got well & truly grimmed.

Proper stories, none of this Katie & Andre nonsense.

Tom Keating from Lewisham.

Still a few forgers operating in South London. It became a cottage industry for art students to supplement their grants. Some have made it a career choice.

[celtic]

Sutcliffe was mentioned, but have the Moors Murderers and Harold Shipman appeared on anyone's lists?

Anyone for dennis nilsen?

[Karabiner]

Charlie George's screamer v liverpoo in the 1971 FA cup final at Wembley to win Arsenal's first "double"

[robbiebox]

Top 10 sports moments (in no particular order):
Ben Johnson 1988 Seoul
Mike Tyson biting Hollyfields ear
Maradonas 1986 "hand of God" and his wonder goal
Botham & Willis 1981 Ashes 3rd Test
Cathy Freeman 2000 Sydney Olympics ( you can include the whole games here inc. Redgraves 5th gold)
Bjorg v McEnroe Wimbledon(the real epic 5 setter can't remember the year)
Usain Bolt 2008 Beijing
Michael Thomas goal 1989 Liverpool v Arsenal
Taylor v Davis 1985 Final Frame
Jimmy Glass 1999 On loan keepers last minute goal keeps Carlisle in the football league


I thought about these two too : Nancy Kerrigan and Tanya Harding 1994 Skating scandal and assault and Monica Seles stabbing at the French Open, but they were stories around sport so haven't included them.

[gatso]

sporting list of my lifetime

england's rugby world cup victory
2005 ashes
bolt's olympic gold
torville and dean in sarejevo
armstrong's 7 straight tdf
davis v taylor final
thorburn's 147
navratilova's complete dominance at wimbledon
bubka's weekly world records
death of senna (cheers longy, needed a no. 10)

What about that Columbian footballer who got shot after they got eliminated from the World Cup.

I'd personally put that in the news list rather than sport. suppose I should do the same with senna as well in that case

[byronkincaid]

didn't know about this either

three-day orgy of rape and slaughter that left hundreds, possibly thousands, of innocent civilians dead

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2255902.stm

[Colchester Kev]

Ken Bigley

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

[tikay]

e-Mail from Richard Orford to Sky Poker, as to this week's In-Poker.

"......Sorry to be picky Claire, but I’ve found a glaring error on your call sheet (see highlighted below)

 

 
TALENT

Tony Kendall".....

[the sicilian]

e-Mail from Richard Orford to Sky Poker, as to this week's In-Poker.

"......Sorry to be picky Claire, but I’ve found a glaring error on your call sheet (see highlighted below)

 

 
TALENT

Tony Kendall".....

number..your ...got .... GG WP

[AlexMartin]

What about Scotchland going two down to the Faroe Islands and the Sky panel struggling not to laugh?

lol

[tikay]

Poker in the Park.

I'm not sure why, but despite numerous invites, I had no inclination whatoever to visit Poker in the Park.

The sort of "discounted charity seats" (the what?) nonsense earlier this week did not help, and I struggle a bit with Jamie, to be honest,

He was being hawked round every Poker Site on earth last year - "you can have the Gold Legend for a mill a year, it's a deal, it's a steal, it's the sale of the century", & some of those "advising" him at the time were less than seemly, I felt. No surprise, then, that there was, err, "confusion" over the Prizes.

So, I swerved it.

Last night, in another place, a Wheelchair User went on rant-ville big time.

He reported that he'd come up from Southamption via Train, Tube & Taxi - some effort that, in a Wheelchair - only to find that Poker in the Park had no wheelchair access, no ramps, nothing.

The organisers blamed Westminster City Council, they blamed the Marquee Contractors, who in turn blamed the orgsnisers. Meanwhile, the geezer in the chair feels he's been shafted by Poker in the Park.

Who cam blame him? There are Laws to prevent this sort of discrimination, & those who flout these laws should be sorted out. It's unbelieveable in this day & age that wheelchair users remain a discriminated group.

My man may have got the story a bit twisted, I don't know. But if he's right, I really hope the organisers are all Prosecuted.

[titaniumbean]

I was at PIP Tikay and thinking about it there was a step into all the marquees and no sign of any access. Seems weird that they can afford to have 8 women doing free massages all afternoon but not one person walking round with a portable ramp?!!?!?

Agree with the sentiments about the event and the nature of the advertising however I felt JG came off quite well considering just how much I mentally hated him when I went to the event! His voice, his actions at the wsop, the fact he had the cheek to have such a big luckbox in such a big event, so many things wound me up but hearing him talk and being pretty honest/sincere  I can see why he came across as he did on camera. Dont get me wrong i'm always making light call downs and being wrong as you know but unless I made a massive 'mis-read'  he just seemed a naturally annoying somewhat good natured rich little lucky git!!

Sorry didn't mean to get off the point. Will say that I don't think I can read the whole of this diary like I did with Toms. 900 is so daunting!

[gatso]

I was at PIP Tikay and thinking about it there was a step into all the marquees and no sign of any access.

I may be wrong but isn't it just a single step about the size of your average kerb (i.e. what most wheelchair users comfortably deal with daily) while the rest is on flat concrete?

[titaniumbean]

The marquees were on the grass but tbh I wasn't looking specifically for access when I was there am just thinking about it in my mind now and that's as much as I can remember.

[Dingdell]

Being in a wheelchair isn't just about steps. I haven't seen the guys complaints but as a general rule - If it's been raining and the grass is soft it's difficult to wheel about so it's always good if there is some coverings on the grass. Remember that these guys use their hands to push the wheels (there are rime inside the wheels to use) but if it's muddy then the mud from the wheels can transfer onto your sleeves/hands,clothes in general and it's not nice. Also a smooth surface is nice because you have to carry your drink. Think about it - you have to wheel your way through using both hands so how do you carry your drink once you have it? You put it between your legs to try and keep it steady. Go over some bumpy areas and you've spilt it and you've got a wet crotch - gg organisers.

Going to the loo isn't easy and there must be a wheelchair acessible toilet which there must have been.

Access in general can be limited. Imagine a lage marquee with lots of tables and people struggling to walk through the middle to their tables, pushing people further into their tables as they try to get past. Put yourself in a wheelchair and its impossible to navigate. This means wheelchair users are limited to the putside of an event - almost like 'looking in' from the perimiter, added in as a last minute thought, and it's almost always the case. very few venues think about the logisitics once they've provided a loo.

Add in ridic table heights which mean the wheelchair user is sitting at a lower/different level to the other players and all of a sudden you're feeling very insignificant and hard done by. 

And remember this isn't a one off, getting in and out of your car is an everyday struggle. You sit in the drivers seat, lifting you wheelchair piece by piece from the back of the car across you and onto the pavement and putting it together one handed as you try and stay in your seat. Then you have to get the chair in the right place and with a leap of faith haul yourself out of the car using just your arms into the wheeelchair without tipping it over - those things can tip really easily.

Every event imo should be organised by someone who, before it starts, trys navigating it in a wheelchair. There are some places who are great - the grosvenor hotel in London for example always puts enough space between tables to allow wheelchair access. It makes such a difference to make a dignified entrance and just wheel to your allotted place without having to get three tables of people to all move to allow you through. If they know you are a wheelchair usewr ahead of time they will alos have removed the chair so you can just get to your place.

If any event is not wheelchair friendly shame on them, I have always been impressed with blondes insistence of any BB being at least acessible.