Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[TightEnd]

we could always resurrect the classic daily mail headlines


Massive earthquake in South America, thousands dead. UK house prices expected to fall

and

Three Britons amongst the 23,000 injured in natural disaster...

[boldie]

we could always resurrect the classic daily mail headlines


Massive earthquake in South America, thousands dead. UK house prices expected to fall

and

Three Britons amongst the 23,000 injured in natural disaster...

ah yes...they are classic indeed.

[bobby1]

I found this piece quite amazing, imagine knowing that your loved one was in the World trade centre when it ws attacked but not actually knowing 100% that they had perished. Then finding out that 6 years later they could still find DNA.



A fresh effort to identify victims of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre is under way in New York following the discovery of fragments of human remains in the area around Ground Zero.

So far a handful of people whose remains were not found in the initial trawl through the rubble have been identified. But forensic scientists hope that when DNA identification begins in earnest more victims will be found, scientists at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in Washington DC were told on Saturday.

After the September 11 attacks, 1,597 of the presumed 2,789 victims were identified from the DNA of 19,946 pieces of human remains found in the rubble. In October 2006 a further discovery of remains prompted another forensic operation. "An electrical company was in this dead manhole trying to clean it out for the rebuilding effort," Dr Bradley Adams, of the New York Chief Medical Examiner's Office, told the meeting. "Someone said they had found what might be human remains." His team found 208 bone fragments in the manhole.

A report ordered by the New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg, called for a comprehensive search of Ground Zero and a two-block radius. About 600 manholes and the interiors of five buildings were searched, and a 350-metre stretch of road built to provide access to the Ground Zero construction site was excavated.

The excavated material was mechanically sorted to separate out fine-grained particles, and then 75 anthropologists sorted the rest by hand. In all, they discovered 1,796 pieces of human remains. The sorting operation was wound up in December and DNA work is just beginning.

"We've made numerous links to previously identified victims," said Adams. "We also have new IDs that have come out of this project. Once the DNA testing really comes full circle it will be fascinating to see how many new IDs we get."

[tikay]

...but before I do Volume 2 of Slow-Mo's War & Peace opus, the last week.

dtd last Sunday night, busted out of the £100 early, & played Cash, notably with the cash-game Legend Kim Costa, surely there are few better cash-game companions than Kim. He did me a huge personal favour during the game, for which I thank him.

In bed by 6, up by Noon on Monday, drove down to Luton Days Inn Hotel, a sort of halfway-house for me en route to Feltham, where I had a meeting early On Tuesday, so I thought I'd get a head-start on the drive. Worked all afternoon, did not even go to Luton G in the evening, I was too tired, & I had to be up bright & early on Tuesday for the Feltham Meet. Which then got postponed until Friday......

Went to Feltham Tuesday, did the Show in the Evening, done just after midnight, & was due back in the Studio by 10am on the Wednesday. But I cocked-up my hotel arrangements, & had to drive back up to Luton overnight, & back down for 10am the next morning, like a daft bugger. And of course, on Wednesday morning, the traffic was horrific, & I was late, the first time I've ever been late for a Sky gig. I was not a happy chappie.

We were in the Studio all day, from 11am to 5pm, doing a rehearsal for a brand new Show - we hope, if it get's approved - with Norman Pace, who was most unwell, but he soldiered on. (He's now gone down with bad bronchitis, & let's hope he soon recovers), & I drove home afterwards, but could not resist playing the Luton Tourney (badly) on the way home, getting home eventually at 4am Thursday.

Due to play The Broadway £500 Thursday night, I booked into The Birmingham Marriott Thursday afternoon, but became a little unwell, & although I played the £500, my heart was not in it. In bed by 0230am, & due to leave Birmingham at 8am Friday, for an 11am meet in Feltham, (I booked it early deliberately, so I could get back to The Broadway for Day Two of the £500 - there's optimism for you...) but I could not get out of bed, I just felt terrible, & it was 10am before I left Birmingham via the M40, & I was late again for my Sky meet, twice in 2 days, sheesh.....

The meeting went terrific, we discussed all sorts, including a new role for me at Sky, & I was fired up with enthusiasm & adrenelin after it ended at 4pm. But I can't drive home from Feltham to Derbyshire mid Friday afternoon - M25, M40, A43 & M1 on a Friday afternoon? - no chance! So I decided to stay in the Feltham Office & get some writing done. Then I saw that there was a nice £100-er at Luton at 8.30pm. Well, that would be plain stupid, especially as I planned to go to Blackpool on Saturday, which would entail leaving home at Noon on Saturday. So, Luton was deffo a no-no.

Anyway, I ended up chopping the Luton Comp, left Luton at 0600, got home at 0800, in bed by 0830, up at Noon, & straight on the road to Blackpool, nearly 3 hours North for me.

Was unwell again, & eventually busted at 1am, & was home in Derbyshire & in bed by 4am this morning.

Left home 1pm today, & I'm in Feltham now, ready for tonight's Show, & I'm gonna find a Hotel & stay over, I'm a bit tired & off-colour, & can't face the drive home tonight. I'll work in the office all day tomorrow (Feltham) & then go home - via Luton, I fancy.....

I also need to pop down to Brighton on business one day this week, so I might do that Tuesday. And it's the dtd 3-2-1 next weekend, that'll be huge fun.

I run so damn good it's unbelievable.

I'd really like to play a bit of golf again, but time is the problem, but I'd love to have a round with Slow-Mo, bookiebasher, Karabiner, with Tom (who does not play Golf I don't think) there as Nature observer. That'd be so lovely. I've added it to my wish-list.

It really is a mystery why you're not feeling so good....

Just seen the trailer for a film called 'bucket' or something similar about two men who are terminally ill and have a list of things they want to do before they kick the bucket. They go off on adventures ticking off everything in their list.

From what I hear you must be ticking off some of those things Tony, but encouraging you are still putting things in. Just make sure you are well enough to enjoy them.

This is a message from your local health advisor. Eat green stuff, expecially asparagus, drink plain water and get enough sleep.    

Thank you Tracey, that's most kind of you.

I am dying, actually. We all are. I'm just a little nearer the end of the road than you & most others, & it's odd how it affects my thinking. I've never been happier, or more fulfilled, but I miss some things, a lot, (humpy-pumpy in particular) & regret a few things, too.

But yes, I do have a wish-list, with little ticks against it, & I'm doing OK with it. I've just added a round of golf with some close pals - Karabiner, bookiebasher, Compo, Slow-Mo, Red, Thewy etc. Scotland remains a priority, (my oft-postponed "tour" of the entire Scottish coastline), I've earmarked 6 months for that, getting me a dog is another.

I don't really have any unticked boxes with regard to playing poker, I've achieved everything I ever wanted to really, (being profitable sums it up, & discovering that bottom-feeding can be more fun than busting a gut in big-buck Comps) but I have a LOT with regard to how poker is managed (= not managed) & run in the UK. It burns me up to see how badly players are treated - & how readily they accept it. And I could - single-handedly, I promise - atttract millions of pounds worth of sponsorship into our game - non-poker sponsors, from real, proper Companies - if we could just get the game propely organised, structured, & managed. It'd be the easiest ask in history, trust me, I could do it, & others could do it better. But not while the game remains totally unorganised & disjointed. Hence my efforts with APAT - they are the only bet on offer, & they will get there. Just imagine, serious added-money for all sanctioned Events, low-buy-in Events being given - shock, horror - good structures, a tiered structure to the whole game, uniform rules, and a proper disciplinary procedure, so we can control those who are destroying our game. Just by sorting out that last item, I bet I could bring a £million of sponsorship cash into poker from "normal" (non-poker) Companies within 12months. I could. Frustrating, 'innit?

But I imagine I'll have moved on by the time these things happen, I have only so much time in poker before I gotta move on & do some other stuff that I just must do.

Eat greens? What? WHAT? You must be joking. Greens are bad for you. Which, I know, is a nonsense, but it's no greater nonsense than "greens are good for you". But it's just possible that "get more sleep" might work. I'm coming round to that rather weird logic myself, actually.

Live bad, eat bad, be bad. It's much more fun.

I really appreciated your kind thoughts, thank you.

[Rod Paradise]

we could always resurrect the classic daily mail headlines


Massive earthquake in South America, thousands dead. UK house prices expected to fall

and

Three Britons amongst the 23,000 injured in natural disaster...

The ultimate parochial headline is supposed to be from the Aberdeen Press & Journal, after the news broke of the sinking of the Titanic, it read:

Aberdeen Man Lost At Sea

[kinboshi]

Ask him why he thinks Dwain Chambers deserves the right to be able to represent the GB athletics team.

Thanks.

Did he not qualify like the other runners?

No, other runners haven't taken drugs and cheated whilst representing GB.  In my opinion, that should forfeit his right to represent GB again.  He certainly won't be running at the Olympics again - once you've been banned as a drug-cheat, you lose any right to compete.

You get caught cheating at poker in a casino, they'll ban you for life.  Would you want to play against someone who cheats, and have them take a place in a team event (poker doesn't work too well here really) that could, and should have gone to someone more deserving?

[Royal Flush]

You get caught cheating at poker in a casino, they'll ban you for life. 

Wanna bet?


Well i think you should be complaining to the rule makers rather than claiming he doesn't have the right, because the rules clearly state he does.....

[Royal Flush]

For the record i think all drug cheats should be banned for life, but whilst that is not the case i wish him good luck in future races.

[kinboshi]

You get caught cheating at poker in a casino, they'll ban you for life. 

Wanna bet?

OK - they should be.  I fortunately haven't had any experience of it.

Well i think you should be complaining to the rule makers rather than claiming he doesn't have the right, because the rules clearly state he does.....

Of course.  The rules need to be changed, and I think they will.  UK Athletics could have omitted him from the team this time.  It's in their powers to do that.

[tikay]

Just met tonight's two Guests, both athletic chappies. One of them is John Regis - that's John Regis MBE - wow, he's HUGE.

Nice bloke though. I said I could guess his profession by his physique. "Go on then" he says". "Watchmender" I say. Not sure he was best amused. "Librarian?". "Accountant?".

Should be good craic on the Show, what a top bloke he is. Was his brother the guy who did Gladiators, played for QPR &/or Wimbledon? Don't worry, I'll ask him.

You have got a bit confused here Sir - I suspect you are thinking of John Fashanu.

[Simon Galloway]

The 1st hole being it's signature hole, an absolute beauty which would grace any Championship Course. No matter where you placed your drive, the 2nd shot is to an island green, with water to the left.

Was that an oxymoron slipped in there?

[tikay]

The 1st hole being it's signature hole, an absolute beauty which would grace any Championship Course. No matter where you placed your drive, the 2nd shot is to an island green, with water to the left.

Was that an oxymoron slipped in there?

Good Spot you.

Not quite, more a case of poor grammatical construction by me.

The Green - & just the green, nothing else - sits atop a mound, which falls away on 3 sides into woodland. There is no place to land the ball except directly onto the green, or putting surface. Hence, my poor description, "island green", meaning to convey that you had to "hit" the green, which sits above the surrounding land. On the 4th side - to the left - is a lake.

[slowmo]

In some vain hope of keeping a semblance of accuracy in the ramblings of the old blonde fella , Tikay was Captain of OFGC in 2002. Rob Hunt in 2001 and myself in 2000. Tikay's vice Captain and ,therefore , captain in 2003 was Adrian Shepperson who is a great mate of mine and straighter than the proverbial arrow.
I'm sure its all coming back to Tikay now.   Adrian was Tikay's dogsbody and trusty aide . The Vice Captain's responsibilities are to support the Captain in any  manner of ways , reading out prizewinners names ,buying prizes for open events , standing in at functions if Capt unavailable and the worst part for poor old Adrian was having to play a serious amount of golf with Tony.
To call me slow , Mr Kendall seems to disregard his own tardy snail-like pace of play -  primarily the time spent looking for HIS golf balls.
 Actually OFGC has a Past Captain society which is incredibly good fun as it seems that unlike many golf clubs, OFGC  seemed to elect Captains who were 'ordinary ' nice guys. Tony is not a participant in this society because he has other calls on his time , the events are lessened by your absence mate .

BTW Red Simon is partly right in the Slow -mo epithet . The name was given by Ralph from Gala Notts as I agonized over a decision in one of the comps there. I am prone to a dwell up from time to time as I really dont like getting my money in when in bad shape. So if you are ever at my table and I call quickly , the chances are you are behind !

Tikay , as good mates do , introduced it to the golf club crowd to great hilarity and it stuck from there.

[snoopy1239]

Crumbs, Simon. We wait seven months for your next post, then they all come at once. You're like buses, certainly live up the nickname. Good to hear you're alive and kicking though.

[slowmo]

Furthermore, on dietary choices, when Tikay chose the menus for the past captains events, there was an astounding choice and variety . You could have anything you wanted as long as it was TRADITIONAL ENGLISH food.

Roast chicken, Roast lamb, Roast beef.    Roast , Roast Roast.

Plus potatoes , potatoes , POTATOES.    Boiled , ROAST or mashed, but never any foreign stuff, like garlic mash or potatoes ' au gratin'.

God forbid anyone mentioning Lasagne , curry or worst of all to Tikay's ears-  FRENCH CUISINE.

I have not dined with you for a while buddy, but I would guess , even wager , that your globe-trotting has not widened  your culinary preferences.