Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[celtic]

Was chatting to Ian Bradley last night, and we both agreed that you should have a crack at the 10k Omaha.

That's all for now.

[tikay]

Think that you'll enjoy this

http://www.damninteresting.com/the-ruins-of-fordlandia/

What an amazing story, thanks Ryan. Who'd have thought?

I read a similarly curious story yesterday about Schroders, the Investment Bank & wealth management company.

According to the book I was reading, back in the 19th century, farmers yields per acre in the USA were falling dramatically, by as much as 80%, as the soil grew "stale", as fertilisers had yet to be invented. It was suspected that phospates & nitrogen were needed, but nobody quite knew how, why, or in what quantities.

Then some bright spark discovered that guana (bird droppings) were being used as fertiliser in Peru, with startling results. Schroders cottoned on pretty quick, cornered the world market in guana, (it became Peru's biggest export), & it was the answer to the American farmer's problems, as yields immediately shot up to 4 times their original level. And so Schroders made a pretty penny, that shitty acorn eventually growing into a very large oak tree indeed.  

All because of bird droppings.

I read all that in Bryson's astoundingly good book "At Home, a short history of Family Life", which I heartily recommend. It is sort of anecdotal & rambly, but splendidly written & a very good read indeed.  

Unfortunately, a search of both Wiki & google this morning failed to substastiate the story, so it was probably all bollox. Shame, really.

It's guano, not guana - so that helps with the search.

1869

    Schroders' strong connections with Latin America lead to the firm being appointed as the British agent for the sale of Peruvian guano – an important fertiliser at the time. A specialist department is established to handle the guano business and for the next decade it makes a significant contribution to the firm's profits.

Since the USA had already enacted the Guano Islands Act in 1856 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guano_Islands_Act and Schoeders got the UK agency in 1869 I'd say the story was bits of truth and a wrong conclusion. Also the main driver for guano was as a nitrates source for gunpowder, with fertiliser being a secondary market AFAIK.

Reading their (very brief) timeline on their site it seems likely their initial wealth came from the triangle trade. They mention the tobacco, cotton and sugar markets, but there's no mention of the slavery part of it (much like the 'Tobacco Barons' of Glasgow who built fortunes and some grand architecture from the same trade).

http://www.schroders.com/global/no-chrome/timeline?w=960&h=400&rel=lightbox

Great work Rod, thank you.

Guano. Guano. Guano. I got ticked off for that already, elsewhere, groan.

Yes, that all adds up, & Bryson noted that it was a constituent of Gunpowder, too.

He also added that guano was used in dyes, using something called uric acid which was extracted from the guano.

So popular was the guano, that (supposedly) one island off the African coast was stripped bare of the stuff - 200,000 tons of it - inside ONE year, after it must have taken, presumably, many centuries to accumulate.

Now I'm off to research the Glasgow Tobacco Barons you mentioned, of which I've never heard. Sounds very gangstery.

[tikay]

Wow, crafty buggers.


Prior to 1740, Glasgow merchants were responsible for the import of less than 10% of America's tobacco crop, but by the 1750s Glasgow handled more of the trade than the rest of Britain's ports combined. Heavily capitalised, and taking great personal risks, these men made immense fortunes from the "Clockwork Operation" of fast ships coupled with ruthless dealmaking and the manipulation of credit. Maryland and Virginia planters were offered easy credit by the Glaswegian merchants, enabling them to buy European consumer goods and other luxuries before harvest time gave them the ready cash to do so. But, when the time came to sell the crop, the indebted growers found themselves forced by the canny traders to accept low prices for their harvest simply in order to stave off bankruptcy


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

[Rod Paradise]

Wow, crafty buggers.


Prior to 1740, Glasgow merchants were responsible for the import of less than 10% of America's tobacco crop, but by the 1750s Glasgow handled more of the trade than the rest of Britain's ports combined. Heavily capitalised, and taking great personal risks, these men made immense fortunes from the "Clockwork Operation" of fast ships coupled with ruthless dealmaking and the manipulation of credit. Maryland and Virginia planters were offered easy credit by the Glaswegian merchants, enabling them to buy European consumer goods and other luxuries before harvest time gave them the ready cash to do so. But, when the time came to sell the crop, the indebted growers found themselves forced by the canny traders to accept low prices for their harvest simply in order to stave off bankruptcy


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

THe bit in that wiki blaming English merchants for the slavery part of the triangle trade is disingenuous - the Glasgow Barons were in it up to their necks.

[redsimon]

Would be interested in a % of you in Vegas as long as you're not playing that daft NLHE game. PLO8 ftw

[tikay]

Prompted by something seen elsewhere on blonde........


honorificabilitudinitatibus


We shall now await, with baited breath, chapter & verse from Mr Posh Bloke.

[tikay]

Would be interested in a % of you in Vegas as long as you're not playing that daft NLHE game. PLO8 ftw

Thanks Simon.

The only promise I can make as to Vegas this year is that I will NOT be playing even a single hand of NLHE.

4 cards, minimum, all the way.

[Tal]

Prompted by something seen elsewhere on blonde........


honorificabilitudinitatibus


We shall now await, with baited breath, chapter & verse from Mr Posh Bloke.

Thou art easier swallowed than a flap-dragon!

[tikay]

Prompted by something seen elsewhere on blonde........


honorificabilitudinitatibus


We shall now await, with baited breath, chapter & verse from Mr Posh Bloke.

Thou art easier swallowed than a flap-dragon!

Praise be for Wiki.


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

[Tal]

Fred just got talking (with barely any input from yours truly) about alternating consonants and vowels. Your OP has just posted the longest word fitting that criterion. It's not exactly English (it's Latin) but there we are. English examples:

Paracetamol
Monopolises
Banana
Esoteric
Poker

You get the idea.

[mulhuzz]

Arguably it's an English word loaned from Latin (although whether you'd find it in the OED I don't know....)

However, Fred would appreciate that Liverpool are not as Honorificabilitudinitatibus as they were earlier (being layers....) but more pleasing to me is that I've learned of the original googlewhack:

Hapax legomenon:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hapax_legomenon

[david3103]

Fred just got talking (with barely any input from yours truly) about alternating consonants and vowels. Your OP has just posted the longest word fitting that criterion. It's not exactly English (it's Latin) but there we are. English examples:

Paracetamol
Monopolises
Banana
Esoteric
Poker

You get the idea.

Alternating consonants and vowels was the connection in one of the first round questions of the pulchritudinous two time EPT winner's quiz last week.
They didn't spot it.

[AlunB]

One of the most popular forumites shows what a bloody clever so and so he is.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01x412l

See also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrcoFn3s7KM

[WotRTheChances]

Just a mini-spam to let everyone know the latest RSQ is up expecting plenty of entrants, it's my first one!

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=63669.0

[Jac]

Starbucks vending machines
Saw one for the first time today. Obviously had to try one. More expensive than Costa express but tasted pretty much identical to the shop stuff. Far better options as well. Didn't realise that they'd been around for a couple of years. First one I've seen and I drink a lot of service station coffee!

Can they compete with Costa in this market? Think it will be difficult to catch up.