Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Ironside]

Or imagine this scenario.

"And here at dtd, this is the Final Table Line Up.

Seat 1 - Ironside
Seat 2 - Steve Reid

Seat 3 - Dave Smith

Seat 4- it's a secret....."

See? - it's not that easy.

Yeah do i get a prize, if i guess whats suspicious about this line up.

Or imagine this scenario.

"And here at dtd, this is the Final Table Line Up.

Seat 1 - Ironside
Seat 2 - Steve Reid

Seat 3 - Dave Smith

Seat 4- it's a secret....."

See? - it's not that easy.

Yeah do i get a prize, if i guess whats suspicious about this line up.

Behave. I don't want Iron throwing a strop, too.

Anyway, he might Final......

............ if less than 10 runners turn up............

ffs last week someone said i should give up poker

now this

i am starting to take offence

i have a good record you know

and i am the current INTERNATIONALirish champion

any joker want to lay me odds on making the final this weekend and or winning?

[LLevan]

The Lady K is this one:

Nah, not that one, that's plastic. Sorry, it was Lady K II, not Lady K.

Lady K II is currently available for private charter for apprx. $270,000  a week.....I'm sure you could do a deal for cash though Tikay.

[tikay]

The Lady K is this one:

Nah, not that one, that's plastic. Sorry, it was Lady K II, not Lady K.

Lady K II is currently available for private charter for apprx. $270,000  a week.....I'm sure you could do a deal for cash though Tikay.

Good grief! $270,000 per week. 4 of us stayed on it for 4 days, twice. I shudder to think what that must have been worth.

[jonah]

Not only broken boats, anything in fact that needs floating onto it. Amazing things.

http://www.thamesshipsociety.org.uk/images/Images2006/Kang-Sheng-Kou-21-May-2006.jpg

Are you a bit of a nautical chap Jonah? (I guess the name should be a clue).

Ferries apart, & the Laddies Cruise 2 years ago, (we sailed in a skyscraper) I've not spent as much time as I'd like on Ships.

But I had the immense good fortune to spend two 3 or 4 day cruises on a yacht a couple of years ago, the "Lady K" as I recall. She was magnificent, a crew of 22, three chefs, it was like being a millionaire for a few days. Ahh, memories. I'll try & find a pic of Lady K - she was a proper yacht, steel-hulled, not a plastic jobbie, & she's based in Athens, but is usually moored in Monte Carlo.

I had the pleasure of doing some time in the RN & Merchant in my youth. Even though I left many years ago the sea & the things that sail on it still fascinate me.

My dream was once i'd completed my time to move to the South of France and work on the "posh boats" for a few years. It was in the late 80's when it was all "my boats bigger than your boat" mentality. I'd done a couple of years aboard HMY Britannia (or the royal yacht) and as such was guaranteed to walk onto any super yacht going purely so the owner could brag about his/her staff having worked for Royalty.

Trouble was I met the missus 6 months before I was due to go which scuppered those plans

Now living in sunny Stoke......aint life great

[Ironside]

i have noticed the Jokers werent willing to lay me odds

i have seen more balls on the women round here

[jakally]

i have noticed the Jokers werent willing to lay me odds

i have seen more balls on the women round here

Give us chance!!
Mind you, having met some of the blonde ladies I can't argue with you!!

You can either have 9 to 1 against you reaching the final, or alternatively a last longer against me - which would be like free money for you.

[Longy]

i have noticed the Jokers werent willing to lay me odds

i have seen more balls on the women round here

You can have 9/1 to final from me as well up to a tenner, cos im a balla.

[Ironside]

i have noticed the Jokers werent willing to lay me odds

i have seen more balls on the women round here

Give us chance!!
Mind you, having met some of the blonde ladies I can't argue with you!!

You can either have 9 to 1 against you reaching the final, or alternatively a last longer against me - which would be like free money for you.

i'll take that last longer

i have noticed the Jokers werent willing to lay me odds

i have seen more balls on the women round here

You can have 9/1 to final from me as well up to a tenner, cos im a balla.

i'll take that tenner

[jakally]

i have noticed the Jokers werent willing to lay me odds

i have seen more balls on the women round here

Give us chance!!
Mind you, having met some of the blonde ladies I can't argue with you!!

You can either have 9 to 1 against you reaching the final, or alternatively a last longer against me - which would be like free money for you.

i'll take that last longer

Nice 1 Iron. Will see you on Saturday to agree how much I am donating.

[tikay]

So, Jeremy Beadle has died, & before his body is cold, the "hand" jokes have started, by text, & in Foras across the Web.

I never liked his Shows, in fact, I loathed them, making fools of people seems a fashion these days, & Edmonds also exploited that to the full with the stunningly predicatble, dull & entirely unfunny Gotcha's.

But, I gather, he done much for Charity, & ironically, one of his charities was actually for Leukemia Reserch, & he'd been asociated with it for years - only to then fall victim to it himself, quite recently. And it's more likely the loss of his immune system due to Leukemia, rather than Pneumonia, as reported, being the real cause of his death. He had no body defence against Pneumonia because Leukemia, or the treatment of it, had taken it's toll.

But I always had a little place in my heart for the guy, on two grounds.

His Father left his Mother when she got pregnant with Jeremy, & never supported the subsequent Son financially. Jeremy refused to meet the Father in later years, feeling that would be a slight on his Mum.

And, of course, there was his hand, the butt of so many jokes. Who'd be born, or become, disabled or imperfect in some way in this cruel & cynical world, where it's freely accepted that the world & his wife can take the piss out of any defomity/ailment? As a kid, I stuttered terribly, & kids being kids thought that was hilarious, but that's just kids, they don't understand. But adult piss-taking of deformities always seems a bit coarse & unthinking to me. I bet it was never said to his face.

He had something called Poland Syndrome, which, bizarrely, was not named thus until 1962, some 13 years after Jeremy was born with the problem. The illness  had been discovered a century before by Alfred Poland, but never named until it was properly diagnosed in the 60's.

During pregnancy, blood supply to the feotus is briefly interrupted at a crucial stage of development, & hey presto, you have a withered or webbed hand, & a lifetime of being laughed at as a freak ahead of you. And, I might add, missing chest muscles on the right side, which may or may not have been another factor in his inability to combat a regular bout of normally treatable pneomonia. It affects more males than females, & it's usually the right hand, & chest muscles, which are affected.

Would those who mocked his affliction be so cynical if their own children were, God forbid, similarly afflicted? I think not.

His Shows were crap, & he made millions, but I bet those jokes about him still hurt him, light as he tried to make of them.

There's a fashion these days to make humour out of tragedy. When did that suddenly become OK? After those poor cockle-picking "slaves" died in Morecambe Bay I got a spate of "joke" texts, ditto 9/11, ditto an earthquake in Pakistan. I have had three "Beadle hand" jokes sent to me this morning by text. Do me a favour. Don't send me any more. I don't like them. Not even a tinsy-winsy bit

And yes, old people get crusty & tetchy in the morning. .

[Claw75]

I must have been living in some kind of bubble.  I honestly never even knew he had anything wrong with his hand until you posted that. 

[tikay]

I must have been living in some kind of bubble.  I honestly never even knew he had anything wrong with his hand until you posted that. 

You don't LIVE in a Bubble claire. You usually exit in it, though....

I'm feeling kind of bad I Posted that Beadle thing now, but sod it, it's what I feel.

[tikay]

I Posted a few weeks back that whether Capello picked Beckham or not would be the litmus test of his managerial ability, & ruthlessness to succed at the job. Test 1, passed with flying colours. At last, an England Manager with the guts to do his own thing, & to stand up to the media bully boys.

He has a great chance now, & the overpaid Premiershp Prima Donnas have been sent a message. And if they ain't bright enough to receive it loud & clear, they'll be out of the Team.

I hope Capello succeeds. I think he has a chance.

[tikay]

Meanwhile, the Keegan Express continues on track to meet it's destiny, & it's now 1 draw & 2 defeats & no perceptible sign of improvement in performance.

Will he last the Season out? I can't imagine he's much more than 2/1 to survive. And this time, his replacement is lined up. Ready to kick arse. And taxi drivers.

[tikay]

OK, am in my Luton Hotel, & am about to set off for Sky at Feltham, down the M1, round the M25, & a 3pm meeting with Mr Sky Big Suit. I've been summoned. Oops.....Ah well, it's been emotional.

I may be a while.