1ngram

I've been playing lots of old vinyl over Xmas, very little of it jazz. Tonight its Stone the Crows LP "Teenage Licks". Maggie Bell had such a voice!

But the Maria Muldaur of 40 odd years ago was even cuter! (In fact the up to date one has aged pretty well too)

Dealing with the same area, and much better that Koestler in my opinion, is "The Case of Comrade Tulayev" by Victor Serge, one of the very great novels of the Twentieth Century.

What an excellent night's football last night! Despite having one of the best squads England played abysmally and were deservedly beaten by Northern Ireland. Alan Hansen blamed it on them not playing 4-4-2 and questioned the manager's wisdom in persisting with a formation that relegates Rooney to the wing but players of that class should have been able to do better than they did. But the real treat of the evening was Scotland's decisive thrashing of Norway. The latter were played off the park, at times even toyed with and the consolation goal the Norwegians got at the end can't hide the fact that Scotland look a totally different team to the vapid nonentities of a year ago. What a difference a new manager makes! Alas, it is probably still too late for us to qualify as we need not only to win our two remaining games but hope that others lose.

And Scotland got a draw against Italy! Simply amazing!

Its amazing the amount of people who get these things wrong. This is my pet hate, using amount for number and sometimes vice versa.

I'm not afraid of them - I just don't trust them with my money. I used to play on Pokerroom and a lot of us moved to Truepoker a couple of years ago because there were guys playing there who were openly declaring that they had hacked into the program and I have to admit that some of their plays were more than a little fortuitous. Now they may merely have been bragging - guys playing in the same university computer room for instance (which happens a lot, I know for a fact) and collating hand info so as to maximise their winning hands but even that is unwelcome. When I can't see the opposition or the people running the site then I am (I think justifiably) unwilling to give them my credit card details. Just imagine if one day the guy(s) who run the site decide to take off after liberating a few hundred dollars from every credit card they have on record. So real cash games on the net are just not for me. Live is a different matter. As to a suitable time anytime weekedish is fine except sat from 12.00noon to 4.30pm I'm confused, you are on TruePoker (one of the newest sites out) but are afraid of poker sites. A free-roll is fine by me. Poker without money isn't really poker but its still a fun card game. I bet if we get the West Coast US guys up a little early and you stay up a little late we can work it out. How does a Saturday morning freeroll sound to everyone? Bill ←

I'd be willing to play for $0. I'm not keen on letting any online organisation esp a poker site get my credit card details- who knows who might getb that info if the site closes down. I'm on Truepoker but I'm in the UK so my awake times may make it difficult if not impossible to participate.

Saw "The Organ Trio" last thursday with a guitarist who used only his thumb - never seen that before. This coming week its Georgie Fame and the week after Tommy Smith Sextet on the Monday followed the next night by The Scottish Youth Jazz Orchestra. The latter two gigs are part of the International Youth Festival here - so its a no alcohol at the Blue Lamp on the Monday - so no G&Ts for me! After a desert of a summer Jazz is finally back in the North East of Scotland.

I suppose I would be kidding myself if I thought this book was ever going to come out in english buts its one I would love to read. I guess I will have to get my french friends to get it for me and try to struggle through it. Its a period and milieu that fascinates me. I was recently reading a book with tales of Austrian emigres in France during the war, how they survived and outwitted the police and Gestapo. Just amazing.

Densmore come across as a complete pain in the arse. Sound like he wanted his cut but without actually performing so zip to the other two. As if we would notice who the drummer was!

Just watched the end of the third round. Colin Montgomerie seems set to give Tiger a run for his money tomorrow. Did you see his put on the 18th? Wonderful!

"Oor Wullie" or "The Broons" - in fact anything drawn by Dudley D Watkins, simply the best strip cartoonist I've ever seen. If you've never heard of him check him out on the net.

Sunday papers here had a photo of the tables at the tourney. The players were packed in like sardines in a can. You are cheek by jowl with thousands of other people. It must be the most unpleasant playing experience I can imagine - whatever the prize money. I speak as someone who lost £7.00 playing on saturday to some of the most outrageous hands. I had aces and tens in one hand of 7-card stud and got beat by aces and jacks and then later lost to the same person with an ace jack flush when she had an ace queen flush. Somebody up there definitely wasn't looking my way that night.

They had lots of hits - in Uk anyway. ery very good band with very sharp lyrics. Autumn Alamanac epitomised the spirit of the 60s and Deadend Street was just marvellous but then so was Lola and Aperman. I could go on and on. Kinks and Small Faces! BTW did you see the Who at Live8 concert. To my mind they just blew everyone else away.