Cruise Chronicles, Day 5

[Gamblor21]

Very jealous...

Your suc a name dropper tikay!

[tikay]

Now, bear with me, this is convoluted.

Today it's the $10,000 Ladies Freeroll. I was priveleged & surprised to be asked to "help the ladies" last night, in a sort of "poker training/coaching" session, most of the Ladies have never played poker, & need a bit of help before tonight's comp.

So, 30 ladies showed up, split into 3 tables, one table had Roy Brindley as their mentor, another had John Gale, & the third table drew the short straw, me.

We had a GREAT time, I got them all revved up blonde Bash style. Every time a pot went off, they were all high-fiving & whooping & hollering, it was wicked. The other 2 tables broke after an hour, but we carried on for hours, until we got thrown off, they wanted the tables for cash games.

It was SO satisfying.

I was wandering around on deck this morning, & the lady in the pic below, who was one of my "pupils" last night, said "hi" & thanked me for the fun we all had last night.

Now it gets spooky.

She said "I know you, you helped my daughter out a few weeks back"........

Sheesh, beads of sweat appeared, I am thinking, I've been good for ages, what have I done?

She went on "you recorded a TV Programme just before Christmas. 6 newbies get trained by you in "live" poker, & then play a comp. You wrote to one of the contestants afterwards, said how well it had gone, & that person, who'se name was ******* ******, is my daughter-in-law".

What? 'Tis true - the "contestent" in question is blondeite Sn8wQueen, & perhaps on of you at home will send Sn8WQueen a PM, with a link to this thread, she will be THRILLED to see Mum-in-Law's pic.

Not done yet, here's the real spooky bit.

The TV Programme was the Sporting odds Peoples Poker Challenge, it's being aired for the first time TONIGHT on Channel 226. Think it's been re-named "Power Zone" or summat similar. We recorded it just before Christmnas, & I only put the commentary on it last Friday, for which I had to delay my flight to Miami. We are gonna record Episode 2 the week after next, 6 new contestants, & we are recording it in a VERY special, & VERY famous, venue, at least, famous to film buffs. It will be in a Gym in Repton, and the comp will be played in a boxing ring, the very ring featured in Guy Ritchie's Lock Stock & 2 smoking barrels.

So there you go. A chance encounter with a blondeite's mother-in-law in Antigua, & I somehow turn that into a spam for a TV show I made. Is there no end to my vanity?

PS - Connectivity here is awful, can a Mod or someone send a PM to Sn8WQueen please, linked to this - thanks!

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[tikay]

Sorry At-It, it's a rotten job, but it's gotta be done.

You want name-dropping? Here's Mad Marty Wilson - note he is not talking. There's a first. He's not as bad as some peeps make out, not exactly renowned for stimulating conversation or deep thought, but he has great enthusiasm, and it's hard to dislike him. He has blotted his copybook once or twice down the years, but has fell on his feet with Sir Barry Hearn, for whom he works very hard.

No idea how he came to be not speaking when I took the pic.

We shared the opening table in the Main Event, & the bugger moved all-in on me after I made it 300 to go with 8-8. He made it 10,000! AK, obviously & patently. I bottled it. It's hardly subtle, thinking man's poker, but it's difficult to play against, & each to his own. It gave Marty great satisfaction to go running round the cardroom "I went all-in on tikay on the second hand". The players were all laughing too. Not entirely sure whom they were laughing at, mind.....

Bless him.

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[tikay]

Here's another villain of the peace, Roy The Boy Brindley.

He has earned himself a bad name in some quarters, his TV Commentaries in particular are too blunt, some would say rude, for many viewers.

I can only speak as I find. He & I exchange e-mails from time to time, & he's always been very civil to me. Knowing I am alone on the Boat, & seeing as everyone else is with their partners, he & his partner, the really lovely Mags Manton, of The Merrion Club,invited me to dinner the night before last, which was most kind of him. We had soup, & starter, & then they gave us this sort of sorbet mouthwash "palate cleanser" they called it, followed by Pork, then Cherry Jubilee for afters. Lovely. No pie though.

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[tikay]

It's a super-duper ship, & I'm very lucky to be here.

But it's been crossed off the tick list, & I don't believe I would do it again, at least, not unless I had a partner/companion.

I hate queuing, & we have to queue for literally everything. It takes an hour to queue for Brekkie, an hour to get your seat allocation for each comp, & I just can't be doing with queues, never have. And it's very "Corporate".

Take this, as an example, which I find wryly amusing in SO many different ways, though maybe I'm just a weirdo.

In my Cabin, a bottle of water appeared on Day Two."Dannon Natural Spring Water", very nice.

Attached to it, via sellotape, was this note, which I reproduce word for word.......

"To quench your thirst, Celebrity Cruises is pleased to provide this bottle of water.

Please note that for your convenience, we will automatically bill you $2.95 plus 15% gratuity, to your Celebrity Sea Pass Account, should you choose to open and/or consume this.

Thank you.

Celebrity Cruises".

I guess you think I'm ungrateful, but you'd be wrong. I guess you think I'm a cynic. You'd be right. I hate Corporate. The Americans have a trick or two to learn when it comes to PR, & People Skills. That Bottle of Water note has to be the clumsiest piece of Corporate Speak I've seen in many a year, but they think it's wonderful. Bless 'em.

[Robert HM]

PS - Connectivity here is awful, can a Mod or someone send a PM to Sn8WQueen please, linked to this - thanks!

Job Done

[tikay]

I think I love you Robert.

[RED-DOG]

As soon as I realised that everyone in the whole world is always looking for an angle, I stopped being cynical

[Nem]

I think I love you Robert.

Get a cabin...

[Ironside]

I think I love you Robert.

told you greyfox was male

[Trace]

Please Tikay no more scenic shots or I'll be asking someone to scupper your internet connection for the rest of the cruise - you are making me sick with jealousy!!  lmao


It's just not bloody fair!

[LLevan]

Tikay that is scandalous that they placed a bottle of water in your cabin with that message.

[Robert HM]

I'm scared, or scarred, probably both

[Trace]

Tikay's shameless plug:


8pm tonight  Sky channel 226   


oooo that's NOW

[tikay]

Tikay that is scandalous that they placed a bottle of water in your cabin with that message.

Not scandalous, imo, Llevan, but it amuses me in SO many different ways. The more times I read it, the more I laugh. I really have become cynical with age.