Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

Google it was then, & very the first article I chanced upon was by none other than the wonderfully erudite Dr Pauly, he of Tao of Poker.

You can see why Jen Mason & Dana were such kindred spirits with Pauly, he writes so excitingly.....

Have a read of this.


http://taopoker.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/psycho-killer-ron-fanelli-mad-yank.html

Pretty incisive stuff I'd say, I'd give my right arm to write half so well.

But that took me somewhere else again.....

[tikay]

...and next up came this, from Miss Coren. You'll know I am a bit one-eyed with Vicky, as I admire her so much, I suppose I may be blinded by my respect for her. Even so, I thought the article was just so damn good.

Go on, have a read......


http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jul/25/ron-fanelli-wanphen-pienjai-poker


Interesting, eh?

Hold on, we are not there yet.

[tikay]

There is even a link to a 16 page thread on blonde, but let's ignore that for now.

The next stop was the highbrow debating school on 2+2.

My oh my, those boys have some hate in them, eh?

120 Posts which swing & swong, this way & that.

And a fixation as to whether Mad Yank cut the body up, or simply - &, it seems, much less seriously - broke the victims arms & legs to enable the body to fit in a suitcase. Like, you know, it's relevant to the debate. The victim was already dead, of course.

But coursing through the posts is the utter lack of respect for gifted people like Vicky.

Now we don't HAVE to like & admire Vicky, of course we don't. But to deny her abilities is a bit dumb, I'd say.

"She is good, but I don't like her" is fine. "She is dumb because I don't like her", not so much.

Have a read. Careful though, it's not gift-wrapped.



Note how it is a thread about a brutal murder, but 90% of the posts are about how poorly Vicky writes.



http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29/news-views-gossip/mad-yank-actually-mad-837776/

[tikay]

Somehow, in all that, I ended up on "The Poker Bastard".

Remember him? Or even her?

The author was widely rumoured to be Camel, but only a complete idiot would think that. Camel would just straight up say it. And give his name, not so so anon.

Something does not sit well with me when people slag off the world & his wife from behind the shield of anonimity. Pretty easy to do, & pretty classless, taking cheap shots but being scared to reveal your identity.

Even so, we F5'd every day, in case we got a mention. As luck would have it, I was not important enough to hit his radar.

Anyway, I'm nearly done now......hooe you did not waste as much time as I did. Interesting stuff, though, or it was to me.

Just one more stop in the journey.....

[tikay]

Eventually, I alighted on an old friend, a piece you've all read many times.

It was by Giles Coren. I've never met Giles, but if I did, I would watch my P's & Q's. He sure bites.

Note his annoyance about finishing an article on a stressed syllable.

I had never heard of a stressed or unstressed syllable, & that's the truth. My ignorance knows no bounds, but the journey of discovery is fun.

Here's an explabation of stressed & unstressed syllables. Just for Tom & I, you understand, we might be the only two who have have never heard of them. 


http://www.writingrhymeandmeter.com/?page_id=1787


And here's the start of that Giles Coren rant, which, even though I've read it a squillion times, still has me in stitches, picturing him sat there, steam coming from his ears. Or nostrils.

I'm not mocking him, by the bye, not at all. For starters, I'd be scared he might write to me......



http://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/jul/23/mediamonkey



Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

Not. A. Word. Ever.

[tikay]

The Times Editor replied, of course.......


http://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/jul/29/sundaytimes.pressandpublishing

[tikay]

...and then Vicky herself, Giles bro, weighed in &, deliciously, at the end of the article, comes the twist, which is part of why I admire Vicky so much.....got to love self-mocking.


http://www.victoriacoren.com/main/blog/archive/my_brothers_in_trouble_again

[Tal]

I seem to recall spending some time on this very thread prattling on about iambs (not the cat food) and iambic pentameter.

Proper stuff, that

[tikay]

More Giles anger......

From: Coren, Giles
Sent: 09 July 2008 23:06

feargus,

I'm emailing to say that your review of osteria emilia, in most ways perfectly fine and good and spot on, pissed me off. i booked, as ever, under a pseudonym, that over made up italian bird did not have a fucking clue who i was (or even who baddiel was, who i ate with because he lives, like me, round the corner). Nor were there any kitchen staff peeking out of any porthole. i appreciate that you have to keep your column as lively as possible - and name dropping david i guess might be exciting for your readers (i'll certainly be doing it in my column) - but in your froth to show how folksy and incognito you are, you did your readers and the restaurant an immense disservice: you suggested that i got some special dispensation in eating a la carte. But if you'd spent a bit more time looking at your lunch menu, and a bit less gawping at me, you'd have noticed that it said, "dishes from the evening a la carte menu are available at lunchtime, with some exceptions".

You said "i didn't have the brass neck to demand anything off the unavailable a la carte". it makes you sound like an utter tit. you are not only a chippy fuck but a lazy journalist. 'brass neck'. learn to write, and take your head out of your arse, you fucking twat.

all the best
giles coren


There was, as I recall, a whole series of e-Mails between Giles & The Times, published at the time, but I can't find it right now. If anyone can, a link would be appreciated.

Bit odd really, bad manners generally upset me, but I guess when they are so articulately presented, rather than the oh-so-unoriginal "what a scumbag/douchebag", I don't seem to mind them. Quite enjoyed reading that actually, though I was hidden behind the sofa, in case Giles started on me.

I wonder if he'd like to join blonde, & engage in the Hachem debate?

[tikay]

I wonder how it was that Giles & Vicky turned out so differently?

Make no mistake though, both seem awesomely gifted, & I'd not want to be the wrong side of either.

[Tal]

I have the most magical fingers.

I've written the Giles email any number of times, but somehow, the email I typed and sent was the Victoria.

Neither of mine are quite as brilliant, sadly.

[Tal]

This was one I can find:

As indicated on the Tips Fred, I turned on the proculvision* this evening to the channel you and his Royal Tightiness were presenting.

On the first such flick, TightEnd uses the word "ceded"

On the second, Tikay is discussing iambic pentameter. This makes me go slightly funny at the knees. Metre is so important in Shakespeare. I had a wonderful conversation with an old college friend about this the other day. Him from a position of incredible knowledge; me from a comparable level of enthusiasm and a fraction of the knowledge.

I could discuss this stuff for months without ever getting bored. An incredibly gifted writer but it is only when you really get into the detail that you appreciate just how good he was.

*television - the name is half Latin and half Greek; I chose the Latin

I have really tried, but I just cannot "get" Shakespeare, it's all a bit above me. I don't doubt, though, that he was extremely gifted.

Been a busy day at work, so been out of action today. There's a fair bit I can say on this, really, if only from an amateur perspective. I appreciate that it is difficult to convince people, including where – as you have suggested – you are happy to assume he was brilliant, but you just don’t get it yourself (I’m the same with Verdi – does nothing for me, but obviously brilliant).

Before that, it might be an idea if I explain that iambic pentameter is a way of writing a single line of a poem. Take a limerick. You say the words in a particular way - “There was an old man from Venus”. You put emphasis: there WAS an old MAN from VEnus. An iamb is a der-DUM and in iambic pentameter you have five of them per line: der-DUM der-DUM der-DUM der-DUM der-DUM. Like a heartbeat. Say:

Unlock the door and bring the dustbin in.

You put emphasis on parts of the words naturally (unLOCK the DOOR and BRING the DUSTbin IN) and that’s exactly what Shakespeare understood brilliantly.

More detail another time. Possibly.

Do you think, had Giles used minced oaths, his email would have been funnier, less effective or something else?

[RED-DOG]

This was one I can find:

As indicated on the Tips Fred, I turned on the proculvision* this evening to the channel you and his Royal Tightiness were presenting.

On the first such flick, TightEnd uses the word "ceded"

On the second, Tikay is discussing iambic pentameter. This makes me go slightly funny at the knees. Metre is so important in Shakespeare. I had a wonderful conversation with an old college friend about this the other day. Him from a position of incredible knowledge; me from a comparable level of enthusiasm and a fraction of the knowledge.

I could discuss this stuff for months without ever getting bored. An incredibly gifted writer but it is only when you really get into the detail that you appreciate just how good he was.

*television - the name is half Latin and half Greek; I chose the Latin

I have really tried, but I just cannot "get" Shakespeare, it's all a bit above me. I don't doubt, though, that he was extremely gifted.

Been a busy day at work, so been out of action today. There's a fair bit I can say on this, really, if only from an amateur perspective. I appreciate that it is difficult to convince people, including where – as you have suggested – you are happy to assume he was brilliant, but you just don’t get it yourself (I’m the same with Verdi – does nothing for me, but obviously brilliant).

Before that, it might be an idea if I explain that iambic pentameter is a way of writing a single line of a poem. Take a limerick. You say the words in a particular way - “There was an old man from Venus”. You put emphasis: there WAS an old MAN from VEnus. An iamb is a der-DUM and in iambic pentameter you have five of them per line: der-DUM der-DUM der-DUM der-DUM der-DUM. Like a heartbeat. Say:

Unlock the door and bring the dustbin in.

You put emphasis on parts of the words naturally (unLOCK the DOOR and BRING the DUSTbin IN) and that’s exactly what Shakespeare understood brilliantly.

More detail another time. Possibly.

Do you think, had Giles used minced oaths, his email would have been funnier, less effective or something else?

Minced oaths are a pain in the fuggin arris.

[Tal]

Fupping brilliant

[The Camel]

Somehow, in all that, I ended up on "The Poker Bastard".

Remember him? Or even her?

The author was widely rumoured to be Camel, but only a complete idiot would think that. Camel would just straight up say it. And give his name, not so so anon.

Something does not sit well with me when people slag off the world & his wife from behind the shield of anonimity. Pretty easy to do, & pretty classless, taking cheap shots but being scared to reveal your identity.

Even so, we F5'd every day, in case we got a mention. As luck would have it, I was not important enough to hit his radar.

Anyway, I'm nearly done now......hooe you did not waste as much time as I did. Interesting stuff, though, or it was to me.

Just one more stop in the journey.....

So many people thought the Poker Bastard was me, it got to be quite boring.

I slagged off enough people on my own in my own name, why would I hide to slag off others?

PB did email me once to offer to publish anything I wanted to say on his blog unedited.

I turned him down.

A miscreant I am familiar with hacked PBs email account a while later (would you believe his password was "bastard"?) and he read our email exchange.

So he at least can confirm I was never the Poker Bastard!