Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[sonour]

Don't talk to me about having to put up with fancy tablecloths.

Click to see full-size image.

Tom, that would drive me crazy. Are they purely for decoration ?
Do you simply take them all off when you get into bed at night and place them on the floor and then replace them all when you make the bed in the morning ?

xx

[RED-DOG]

Don't talk to me about having to put up with fancy tablecloths.

Click to see full-size image.

Tom, that would drive me crazy. Are they purely for decoration ?
Do you simply take them all off when you get into bed at night and place them on the floor and then replace them all when you make the bed in the morning ?

xx

Hi Lisa.

Yes, I'm afraid they are and yes she does.

It's a tradition that started in wagon times when the bed was part of the living room and always visible.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

I'm all behind with replies, sorry, what with the Thanksgiving Day palaver, Paris, & then a busy time at work (more on which later), but I'll try & reply to a few comments & questions I missed. 

But first, have a quick look at the first minute or two of this.

Ugly stuff, & not for the squeamish.

How does the Alpha male stallion know, I wonder?

[tikay]

Dan Lobb got a mention in Mondays Metro newspaper from Andrew Castle in a column he was writing. He was his doubles partner in some sort to tennis charity event.   

I'd plum forgotten all about Dan Lobb until you mentioned him.

We rarely worked together - just 5 or 6 times I think - & we were not really mutually attracted. Dan was very "superior", & self-assured, & there were often behind the scenes flare ups.

He did well for himself though, moving on to Daybreak & other stuff.

I recall you being the phone-in guest one night, too. Happy memories.

[Woodsey]

Pretty standard for many species once a new male takes over the group, the females won't mate with him until they don't have babies to look after.

Are you suggesting they all the look the same, that's racist talk innit? 

[tikay]

On the subject of the TV Show, Richard Orford was last night's Presenter, & he was celebrating 10 years with Sky Poker TV.

That's quite the achievement, especially as he floats a little close to the wind on Sky Sports who are notoriously conservative in such matters.

Richard is one of those guys who under achieves - immensely talented, likeable, quick witted, & very sharp mentally. God knows how many hours he & I have spent together in TV Studios, (well over 1,000), & with him sat next to you, it's always a bit uncomfortable in some ways, as he drifts off-message easily. He's the consummate pro though, & an absolute pleasure to work with.

We have this routine where we diss each other, (last night he referred to me as a legendary coffin-dodger) but I think everyone knows I respect him & love him to bits.   

Congrats Rich, now get your arse in gear & get yourself a Breakfast TV Show, or a job on Top Gear or somesuch. You can do it mate.

No idea where or when this photo was taken, fair to say he's aged very much better than me.

I may be wrong (not for the first time) but that might be a Luton SPT? Total player was going on (and on ) at the time and I think it was the one that Ross Jarvis went on to win. It was my 1st ever live event and met yourself & Richard there doing your double act so well, which you continue to do on screen. Des Duffy was also there and he even joined in some late night Friday £1 turn over omaha games. Fun times. Sky Poker should really consider bringing SPTs back

Good spot, Alan, yes, it was Grosvenor Luton, with those weird spotlights.

I used to be there every night, but I've not been for 5 or 6 years now, & I doubt I'll ever go again. Times move on & all that.

[tikay]

More of all this to follow, I must warn you, with some of the ups & downs I encounter in the little jobs I do for them from day to day. It won't be much fun to read, but it's my Diary & my celebration, so too bad.  

I nerd out on this shit too keep it coming.

Let's face it, anything is better than Robbie Williams.

Apart from Phil Collins possibly, who's omission from that list of Tony's favourite artistes came as something of a surprise.

I enjoyed most of the Genesis stuff, but once Phil went solo, no I never much enjoyed his stuff.

Having said that, I never quite understood why he became such an object of hate by so many - he was said to be the most hated artiste of his time.

If we don't like someone's music, there's plenty of other stuff. Society "hates" so easy these days. I guess the meaning of the word is changing, much as the meaning of "friends", or "Like" has been changed by Facebook.  

[tikay]

What's Dr Tom up to now?

zoologist if i recall?

he was very good on poker night live (as you all were)

believe it was also where Kara Scott and Michelle Orpe had their first poker exposure?  

No idea, Rich.

Tom, or "Dr Tom" as he was (is?) known, was into baboons, of all things. Think he left poker 7 or 8 years ago, & never come across him since. We had a bit of a to do one night on PNL, when he got a bit arsey with me, as I was the NKOTB. Just alpha male stuff really I guess.

Ego, arrogance & alpha males, ugh.    

Both Kara & Michelle debuted on PNL, yes.

Kara was a complete poker newbie, but she's a very bright girl, & picked it up quickly. We remain in touch to this day. She has really done well for her self.

Michelle, along with Kara, came across to Sky Poker later.  

Kara went on to PokerStars & Tilt as I recall, & then, & still now, ESPN.

Michelle is with DTD I think, she seems to be one of their squadron of Tweeters.  

[tikay]

Did anyone see the TV programme this week about the World Memory Championships?

It was stunning.

One of the tests was to memorise binary numbers - thousands of them. There were 20 lines per A4 page of binary numbers, & they had 30 minutes to memorize them all in the correct sequence.  Many contestants scored 95% or more, & one chap got the chuffing lot.

[Doobs]

More of all this to follow, I must warn you, with some of the ups & downs I encounter in the little jobs I do for them from day to day. It won't be much fun to read, but it's my Diary & my celebration, so too bad.   

I nerd out on this shit too keep it coming.

Let's face it, anything is better than Robbie Williams.

Apart from Phil Collins possibly, who's omission from that list of Tony's favourite artistes came as something of a surprise.

I enjoyed most of the genesis stuff, but once Phil went solo, no I never much enjoyed his stuff.

Having said that, I never quite understood why he became such an object of hate by so many - he was said to be the most hated artiste of his time.

If we don't like someone's music, there's plenty of other stuff. Society "hates" so easy these days. I guess the meaning of the word is changing, much as the meaning of "friends", or "Like" has been changed by Facebook. 

Assuming this isn't a rhetorical question, Collins made no secret of his liking of Thatcher.  He also promised to leave the Country if Labour got to power and think he did.  Add to that his music was pretty much dirge.

I don't do much hate either, but can see why he gets a lot of it.

[tikay]

Ignore the first 30 seconds of waffle, but here's the Binary thing;

[tikay]

One of the disciplines is to memorize the order of a shuffled deck of cards.

This chap shows how to do it in 29 seconds - but the current world record is 19 seconds.

[tikay]

you are the man to ask

the Chapacoense tragedy in the way into medellin airport

what are the aircraft forums saying on possible causes?

Click to see full-size image.

At the minute there are a couple of theories, 1 is that the aircraft ran out of fuel, this has come from an apparent quote of one of the surviving flight attendants coupled with the fact there appears to be no fire at the crash site.  Part of this theory is that this is quite a small aircraft and the route it was taking is at the edge of its limit in terms of fuel needed.

Second one is that the plane apparently reported an electrical problem/failure which could have caused the incident.  Or, there was an electrical problem which the crew were busy trying to rectify and then lost track of their fuel/fuel management which caused it to crash.

http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/587574-colombian-jet-72-board-goes-down-its-way-medellin.html

Civil Aviation is remarkably well policed, & air crashes are very rare indeed.

However, this was just criminal.

In brief, the electrical problem the pilot reported was because he was out of fuel - the electrical generators are powered by fuel, no fuel, no electrical power.

The aircraft had a maximum duration of 4 mins 22 seconds. The flight plan he filed was for.....4 minutes, 22 seconds.  

There had been a mid-flight stop planned, to pick up extra fuel, but the airport was closed as it was late night & it had no runway lights. So the Pilot decided to chance his arm & fly non-stop.

In a macabre coincidence, another aircraft was in trouble & issued a Mayday, giving it precedence, so the aircraft went into hold. From that moment, it was doomed.

The pilots flight plan was rejected by the ATC, but he just ignored them.

The General Manager of the airline is the son of a Director of the Civil Aviation Authority.

The football team used that airline because it was cheapest (by some distance) & FIFA recommended it. Yup, that FIFA.  

The airline had 4 aircraft, but the other 3 had all been leased out or mothballed.

The pilot of the aircraft was the owner of the airline.

The whole thing was completely avoidable.

[tikay]

When we were in Paris, I felt dreadful, gasping for breath & really struggling to walk all day.

So that moment arrived when I knew I had to do something.

So the hard diet started on Sunday, (again....) since when I've not eaten any shite food at all, no lattes, nothing. For liquids, just tea, or iced water.

Started the daily walk again, too, 2 miles every weekday, 4 miles yesterday & today.

Amazingly, I felt better within days, & I've managed to lose 6lbs this week. Am still a disgraceful 14st 1lbs though. Ugh. Think I was 12-4 when I headed off to Vegas in June of this year.

I have 4 sets of clothes, which fit me at different stages of my weight fluctuation.

Pleasantly plump. (The smallest sze).

Fat bastard. (The medium set).

Hhyftr. (Currently wearing these).  

Red-Dog size. Hope I never get that bad.

[tikay]

It was watching YOU, and others, on the Sky poker TV channel on and off for several years that stoked my interest in the game and finally got me to take the plunge and take part back in 2013. I had watched the WPT and WSOP on other channels, but can honestly say that, watching the interaction between you and the other hosts, and the obvious fun and enjoyment you got from each other and the game itself, was the main reason why I joined the site next door. It remains,to this day, the only site I play my poker on, and in my opinion, Is very lucky to have you and would be shooting itself in the foot if it did not keep you on board for the foreseeable future.
I look forward to playing some PLO8 tonight and getting your input on all things CHRISTMAS.

Thanks Nick, but let's quit with the Christmas trolling, ffs.

PS - I know you are going through a bad time at the tables mate, but hang in there mate, it'll turn soon enough.