Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Steveswift]

Ty Tom.

A link to the song though please😁

Here you go Steve.

TY, about a minute was long enough for me, but lasted even less on the Snoop song, well played Tony.

[Skippy]

I always feel bad when I don't reply to posts, & most especially ones like this, as it was a beaut, & reading that BH Annual Letter was an absolute delight, as always. I've had a very challenging 3 months, under it in so many different ways, so my apologies for not replying earlier, but my Diary had to be temporarily abandoned in favour of more pressing & stressing matters. Fingers crossed, but much of it is behind me now, though Sod's Law came into play, & just as I got myself sorted, I got hit by another double whammy which currently sits atop my "to do but I don't know what to do yet" pile. 

Don't be so ridiculous. Firstly we all post Tikayish things here- who cares if the owner is off tending the allotment? Secondly if you have better things to do (or even things that are much worse but more pressing) who cares about internet message boards?

[hhyftrftdr]

Pulp and lyrics go hand in hand.

If fashion is your trade
Then when you're naked
I guess you must be unemployed yeah

Who even thinks to write that?

[Nakor]

A slight change of direction now, & few will be excited or exercised by this, but last night I found myself up in London with half an hour to spare before a function, & so took a little wander around the nearby area, & chanced upon what struck me as, perhaps, the most perfect London street I have ever seen.

Only some 100 to 150 yards in length, but just immaculate, in every way. Beautifully designed & maintained buildings, with perfect scale, a very old church indeed. The road is gated, &, oddly, it has no gully gratings, which struck me as somewhat odd, but the road is on a gentle incline, so rainwater will drain away to the adjacent main roads.

Once I returned home, first job was to consult Mr google, & there I found that this little piece of paradise was called Ely Place, & is, in some way or form, the only privately owned street in (central?) London.

Allegedly, Mr Shakespeare penned his "this sceptre'd Isle" thing as being said in Ely Place.

If you are ever in the Farringdon area, go take a look, it's quite outstanding in every way.


 

Cracking find Tony. What price to live in that gated community?

Circa 4.1 Mily to Buy (not that anyone has sold since 2000) or 3k a month for a 3 bed property.

https://www.checkmystreet.co.uk/information/postcode/EC1N-6TD

Holiday home territory for Granddad.

[vegaslover]

Most is not for repeating here, but a few bits & bobs can be mentioned in general terms. He still has a house in Vegas, purchased some 7 years ago.

I was aware of the startling drop in Vegas property prices, but the extend of the fall surprised me. Yikes.


       

I presume he bought just before the crash. Last time I looked prices were a lot more than say 5 years ago

Yes, he did. As of now, prices have increased by a multiple since they bottomed out, but still not regained their peak by some way.

Ah, thought so. Had a look last year at prices with a view to buying one to rent out but prices, combined with the current exchange rates, were too expensive.

[MANTIS01]

Are we ripping new arseholes this year?

[tikay]

Are we ripping new arseholes this year?

Mr MANTIS, good to see you, & even gooder that you chose my dormant Diary to celebrate your return after 2 months inexcusably AWOL.

Last year you really livened up my staking exercise with all manner of stuff, including, if you recall, Mr Mean & the Superman shirt, & dear beloved Brad. How is Brad, still the best in the business, golf retailing version? How is your little Golf Shop coming along? Are sales catching up with Brad's sales yet?

Most of us are never quite sure how to take you at times, but when it was all over, you wrote this, which I actually really appreciated.....

Hey mate, now that staking is over just wanted to say I really enjoyed following your progress, reports, photos and having some Blonde banter. Losing less than last year was an unexpected bonus as well! Enjoy the rest of your trip xx

I was thinking about that earlier this week, as it happens, as I'm almost at the point of booking this year's trip, & whether I'll be brave enough to do another staking thing. I suppose if I do, the worst that can happen is nobody buys any action, so it won't kill me.  

Not sure about ripping new arseholes, but I definitely plan to be Brad, wearing a cowboy hat, Wrangler jeans, killing rabbits for dinner, & shouting hot dawwwwggg every time I win a pot.

[tikay]

I have been so busy this year, & have been dithering about whether to continue the Diary, but I was much encouraged by a few kind comments made by some guys I never even knew bothered to read it.

Work has taken priority, & I've been pleasantly busy, & The Business is going so well, all divisions are firing on all cylinders. It's nice to be a part - even if only a miniscule part - of a hugely successful operation. Some of the things they do are breathtakingly clever, real Level 5 stuff. It's not all wine & roses, mind, & for me personally, it has been, & is, my most challenging & testing time ever. Whether I'll weather the storm & reach the 10 years service mark, in October, remains to be seen.  It is very testing right now, & I'm grappling with all manner of work-based dilemmas.

Anyway, I'll try & get the Diary going again, & if it falls flat, so be it.   

[tikay]

What better place to start than the Jeremy Kyle Show.

The WHAT?

I turned on the TV yesterday, & it was on the same channel as when I had watched something the previous night I suppose, & there I beheld THE most extraordinary thing.

Have you ever watched that Jeremy Kyle show?

Oh my Lord, it is as horrible as horrible can be, like a reality TV version of American Wrestling. It strikes me that reality TV is the exact opposite of what it says - it is unreality TV. Watching ill-mannered folk shouting at each other - or even just ill-mannered stuff - must be the nut worst entertainment on earth, & I could not bear to watch more than 30 seconds.

It featured 2 dysfunctional families from Hartlepool, or somewhere equally dreadful.

The Mum & Dad were in the studio, telling everyone how awful the Stepson & his parents were. Meanwhile, behind the set, but with a full cameras set up, was the stepson & his blood parents.

Every 30 seconds, the original Mum, Dad or the stepson would rush onto the set & accuse the featured Mum & Dad of being bleep bleeping liars, & be restrained by security guards.

Then the Stepson was invited in, & he promptly threw away his Step-Mums crutches, saying she was a faker, & had been seen cutting moves on some dance floor. 

My 30 second max became 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes......

Not because I enjoyed it, quite the opposite, it was thoroughly dreadful.

I was just, wtf, is this REALLY happening, & is it really on TV, & do folk really watch this tosh?

I eventually concluded that it was not real, it was an American Wrestling style set up. It cant possibly be real.

But here's the thing. It costs good money to stage a Show like that. Jeremy won't come cheap, the travel & hotel for the 6 guests has to be paid for, plus, one assumes, an appearance fee, maybe £250 per head or whatever. The TV crew would number 10 or 12. It comes to decent money, so the Channel must get the ratings to justify it.

It's all a mystery, especially to someone who just wants to live a peaceful & well-mannered existence. Manners are SO bad in some quarters these days, read the Betting Board if you don't believe me, it's sometimes nigh on impossible to have a civil convo. Fortunately, they remain in a minority.

What strange times we live in.

[tikay]

I had a meeting in London on Wednesday, at Kings Cross Station of all places, so took the opportunity to pop across to Charing Cross Road & visit Foyles.  

Dunno about others, but visiting book shops is like a special treat to me, I adore being in them. They are a bit olde world, a bit yesterday, as these days so many people either don't bother reading books - need time to watch Jeremy Kyle I suppose - or they have these Kindly things.  

But I more often than not come away empty-handed, or with just one "I suppose this will do" type selection.

I struck gold on Wednesday though, & ended up buying a bagful of new books, so that's me sorted for a month.

And the pick of the bunch?

God bless him, it was Bryson again.

It's not heavy, or deep, but every single page has a few lines which are so funny, & so subtly so, that I go back & re-read them 3 or 4 times.

Honestly, if I could write one tenth as well as he, I'd quit work today & take up writing for a living, I'm insanely jealous. His use of adjectives is the key, he uses such an original & eclectic range of them, but they all seem to hit the spot & jump off the page & we can picture exactly what he means.

The book is just an anecdotal thing, a tour of Great Britain, & it is his second version of the same thing, many years ago he penned Notes from a Small Island, & this is much the same thing. This one goes by the cheezy title of The Road to Little Dribbling, but really, it's not cheezy, & that cover picture has a real meaning. (It is reproduced with the permission of the Skegness Tourist Board of al things).

It begins by challenging the old (& mythical?) assumption that the furthest distance in a straight line in Mainland UK is from Lands End to John O'Groats.

He gets round that by saying it crosses saltwater to do so, (Irish Sea, Bristol Channel etc), & the real longest straight line would be Cape Wrath to Bognor, hence it begins with Bugger Bognor, & he then heads north.

Very highly recommended, please read it if you get the chance. It's not exactly heavy or deep, I'll grant you, but in a stressful world, read that for half an hour before bed every night & you'll sleep happier. You will.

[tikay]

Here's the rest of this week's bag of books. Can't comment on them yet, as I've not read them - Mr Bryson got first dibs.

[Jon MW]

...  & that cover picture has a real meaning. (It is reproduced with the permission of the Skegness Tourist Board of al things).
...

Except - it wasn't, they (publisher and author) thought it was public domain. They got a bit mad at him for using the picture without permission or payment; but I think they ended up sorting it out amiably enough.

[Marky147]

Saw Mantis' post last night, as I knew it would kick things off in here again.

Like most of the diaries, I always read, but don't often have anything to contribute, unfortunately.

I'd go steady talking about Hartlepool like that, especially if you're working in the vicinity of Jeff Stelling

You better be going to Vegas, as I've just bought shares in the GN starbucks!

[tikay]

...  & that cover picture has a real meaning. (It is reproduced with the permission of the Skegness Tourist Board of al things).
...

Except - it wasn't, they (publisher and author) thought it was public domain. They got a bit mad at him for using the picture without permission or payment; but I think they ended up sorting it out amiably enough.

Well it says quite clearly on the back cover......

Image of The Jolly Fisherman reproduced by kind permission of Skegness Town Council

I'd assume that to mean they have permission.

Not that it really matters, to be honest.

[Jon MW]

...  & that cover picture has a real meaning. (It is reproduced with the permission of the Skegness Tourist Board of al things).
...

Except - it wasn't, they (publisher and author) thought it was public domain. They got a bit mad at him for using the picture without permission or payment; but I think they ended up sorting it out amiably enough.

Well it says quite clearly on the back cover......

Image of The Jolly Fisherman reproduced by kind permission of Skegness Town Council

I'd assume that to mean they have permission.

Not that it really matters, to be honest.

I'm assuming that was part of the amiable solution.

EDIT: had a quick google
Bill Bryson publishers allowed to keep Jolly Fisherman cover image