Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

Today, I plan to be reflective, so if that's not your thing, too bad.

There is a "what happened to" thread, & Mrs C was mentioned, apparently she just got married. I wish her every happiness.

It got me thinking, our paths crossed in so many ways, so I google-imaged her.

I met her long before blondepoker, & got to know her very well. We worked on Wm Hill's "Poker 425" for several years, & travelled the world filming poker-related stuff. Went to just about every city in Europe, & to Vegas of course. Interesting times.

Just found these two photos. The one with three of us was taken at the MGM Grand in Vegas, where we had hired a luxury suite to do some filming & interviews. The balcony had a hot tub, & for some reason, Rhowena had to be filmed in the hot-tub, & I had to play the role of perv, spying on her.  

The other photo I can't place, but it may have been Grosvenor Walsall.

The short chap is Steve Meehan, "wormster" on here. He was the Producer of Poker 425. These days he Produces horse racing TV & the like. Smashing bloke. The other bloke in the photo - the chubby one - is still around there parts, albeit much more portly these days.

Poker 425 was owned & Produced by Wm Hill TV, & I was given the gig by a chap called Phil Quayle (bobby1 on here) who remains a very close friend to this day, one of my closest friends ever. He has two kids now, Connor & Caitlin, & is happily married to Lois.

Think Phil gave me that Poker 425 job in around 2005, 8 whole years ago. He signed Thewy as a Pro, too, for Wm Hill. No idea what happened to him, either, except winning an EPT, three GUKPT's, & fathering no less than 4 saucepans. He later moved to Pokerstars, & then Next Door, where we still work together. Ain't life grand?

[Karabiner]

Ahhh Compo, I do hope he is well.

[GreekStein]

Ahhh Compo, I do hope he is well.

Can we ask about Compo?

[Claw75]

Ahhh Compo, I do hope he is well.

Me too - always enjoyed chatting with him.

[the sicilian]

Ahhh Compo, I do hope he is well.

Me too - always enjoyed chatting with him.

asked the same on the other thread

[tikay]

Ahhh Compo, I do hope he is well.

Can we ask about Compo?

You can ask.........

I suppose, 5 years on, we ought to be able to talk about it, but it is still a very painful memory.

Quite a story, a bit indelicate for an open Forum, but he got himself in a bit of a money hole - gambling is so addictive - & then decided to try & solve the problem in a somewhat adventurous manner.

There were some incredible twists & turns to the story, too. His family got "a bit cross" with me, because they thought I knew where he was, (which I denied) & was shielding him. And I did, I spoke to him on several occasions. Who did I need to be right by, Compo, my very special bud, or his family, who were desperate to know where he was? Not an easy fence to sit on, that. He did apologise to me for putting me in that spot, to be fair.

I have heard rumours that he is back in England, at home, hopefully reunited with his family. Someone told me he had grown a beard, to disguise himself. I don't honestly know if it is true.

As a TV commentator/pundit on Poker & Horse Racing, he was just incredibly good. 

We had some wonderful fun times together, & I still miss him very much, & always will.

We went to Vegas several times together, & he'd jump off the 'plane & go sit playing poker for 96 hours without a break, lol. I think the kool kids would say "#lovethegame", with their slavish attention to following the kool speak-herd. Addicted, (sadly) would be a better description, but there for the grace of God go many of us. 

Top, top bloke.

[tikay]

A typical 1947 model car. Hopelessly unreliable, but easy to mend.

Heater? You jest. Great starting handle though. Imgine, these days, starting the car with a starting handle.

No electric windows, vacuum operated windscreen wipers which never worked when driving under load, or uphill.

Used to smell wonderful inside though.

The gearstick was about 2' long. Drum brakes all round. Retread or remould tyres.

I paid £45 for my first one, & insurance cost me £12 on top.

I parked it in Wembley they day after I passed my driving test, & when I returned it had disappeared. I reported it to the police, who soon got back to me. I had parked it on a hill, & forgotten to apply the handbrake, & it ran away, & damaged 7 parked cars. Good start Tony.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Most folks could not afford a car in '47, & had bicycles. Dad was posh, & had a "combo", a motorbike & sidecar.

We went all over the place in that. Often up to visit family in Preston. No Motorways, it took 12 hours from London. Middle of winter, no heating, I'd near freeze to death in the sidecar.

The sidecars were made by "Swallow", the same folks who made prams, or perambulators for the posh types. About as sturdy as a pram, too. Death traps they were, one accident & it's all over baby.

Happy times though, trips to the seaside, all sorts. 

[tikay]

TV was one channel, BBC, in monochrome. And folks complain these days about lack of choice......

Mobile phones, internet, Play Stations, Forums, Self-Service petrol stations, supermarkets, affordable air travel, betting shops, Online Gaming, internet poker, MP3's, Walkmans, i-Pads & i-Phones were all at least 40 years in the future.

Holidays were a caravan at Skeggy, great job.


 

[tikay]

Mum - real Mum - & Dad.


 

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Their wedding day.

Click to see full-size image.

First seaside trip for young Master Kendall.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Enter, Stepmother, & life changed forever. Bad at first - VERY bad, you'll never know, but in the end, much for the best. A kid who has a bad childhood gains much benefit from it, becomes strong & resilient to life's inevitable bumps & bruises if made of the right stuff, & not looking to hide behind excuses. Lots of pros & cons, but it turned out smashing, all things considered.

I'll still never forgive here though, & she's been dead 30 odd years. I don't do all this hate nonsense, but there is an exception to every rule.

Click to see full-size image.

Happy times as a kid, despite all. I'm the middle sized one.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

Soon, I was a grown up.

This was taken on my first day at work, recorded for posterity. Pretty cool for a white guy, huh?

The dog was Susie, loved her to bits. she ate my greens, veg, for me, as I'd get a whack if I never ate them, so I covertly fed them to Susie. Never did a dog eat so much so-called "healthy" food. She died at the age of 4........


 

Click to see full-size image.

[horseplayer]

cracking pictures Tikay

[celtic]

cracking pictures Tikay

+1

Where were you brought up?

[tikay]

cracking pictures Tikay

+1

Where were you brought up?

Old Coulsdon, Surrey, from 0 to 5, then when Dad re-married.....

6, The Link,

West Acton,

London W3.