Nickname Quandary

James 'J' Watt

I have discovered a PETAWATT. Surely MegaWatt's nickname is in jeopardy. According to Wiki a Petawatt is;

equal to one quadrillion (10¹⁵) watts and can be produced by the current generation of lasers for time-scales on the order of femtoseconds (10⁻¹⁵ s). Based on the average of 1.366 kW/m² of total solar irradiance^[13] the total energy flow of sunlight striking Earth's atmosphere is estimated at 174 PW (cf. Solar Constant).


Try as I might I cannot find a Luckibawbagwatt to replace KillaWatt's moniker.

Poker Table

A Poker Table!!!

With only The Championship Game remaining, I can announce that to qualify for the final 2011 Ranking Table (after the next game) you will be required to have played NINE games. This leaves three regulars teetering on the edge of ignominy as the latest updated table below shows and makes The Damage's chances of qualification rather slim.

Incidentally, a 'watt' is defined as a derived unit of power. Hmmm!!!

                                  P    W    L    Pts    Ave
1. KillaWatt              16    8     2    240  15.000
2. MegaWatt            14    2     0    182  13.000
3. GingaStinga           8     2     3      69    8.625
4. DaBlouse              8     1     0      88   11.000
5. The Raiser            15    1     2    147    9.800
6. The Buoy               8     1     2      70    8.750
7. Bottleneck            14   0     2     121   8.643
8. The Doctor          13   0     2      78    6.000

9. Wee Rambo          3    1    1       22    7.333
10. BeefRazor           1    0     0      10   10.000
=11. The Damage     1    0     0        8    8.000
=11. Nico                  1    0     0        8    8.000
13. The Professor     7    0    2      38    5.429
14. Liam                    1    0    1       0     0.000

Nickname required

One of our Brethren survives without a nickname. Time for a baptism. Due to his sailing predeliction, I've raided a glossary of sailing terms and invite you to pick your favourite. Of course, if you come up with something better, put it forward but there are surely enough to suffice in this lot. Firstly my top 5, then a pile of the cream of watery words with their meanings.

Here are my Top 5:
Keef 'The Buoy' Milruoy
K 'The Gollywobbler' M
K 'The Jiffy Reefer' M
K 'Sea Cock' M
K 'Monkey Deck' M

Baggywrinkle - Clumps of frayed rope that protect the sails from chafing against the lines.
Bilge - A rounding of the hull along the length of the boat where the bottom meets the side.
Binnacle  - A support for the compass, raising it to a convenient position.
Boom - free swinging spar attached to the foot of the sail with forward end pivoting on the mast.
Boomkin (bumpkin)- Short spar extending aft from the transom. Used to anchor the backstay or the sheets from the mizzen on a yawl or ketch.
Boot Top - A painted stripe that indicates the waterline.
Bulkhead - An interior partition commonly used to stiffen the hull. May be watertight.
Bunk - Sleeping Berth
Buoy - An anchored float used for marking a position on the water or a hazard or a shoal and for mooring.
Capsize - To turn over.
Chafing Gear - Tubing or cloth wrapping used to protect a line from chafing on a rough surface.
Charley Noble - Galley stove pipe
Coxswain - Sailor in charge of and steering a small boat
Cuddy - A small shelter cabin in a boat.
Ditty Bag - Small bag used for carrying and stowing small personal items or kits
Dodger - A screen, usually fabric, erected to protect the cockpit from spray and wind.
Gollywobbler - A full, quadrilateral sail used in light air on schooners. It is flown high, between the fore and main mast, and is also known as a fisherman's staysail.
Gooseneck - The fitting that connects the boom to the mast.
Head Knocker - A block with a jam cleat, located on the boom and used to control the main sheet on small boats.
Jiffy reefing - A fast method of reefing. Lines pull down the luff and the leech of the sail, reducing its area.
Lazy Jack - Light lines from the topping lift to the boom, forming a cradle into which the mainsail may be lowered.
Monkey Deck - A false deck built over a permanent deck.
Roller reefing - Reduces the area of a sail by rolling it around a stay, the mast, or the boom.  Most common on headsails.
Sea Cock - A through hull valve, a shut off on a plumbing or drain pipe between the vessel's interior and the sea.

Saturday 3rd December 2011

Venue - Rare Books Arena

Winner - GingaStinga
2nd - Bottleneck
3rd - The Raiser
4th - Megawatt
5th - Killawatt
6th - The Doctor
7th - Wee Rambo
Wooden Spoon - Liam

Apologies: Da Blouse (Still M.I.A.), The Damage (Stateside), The Professor (In the Lab?), Milroy (another hot date?).

Connoisseurs of Texas Hold'em were in a state of shock on Sunday morning when they woke up to the earth shattering news that Poker Behemoth, Killawatt, had trickled out of the game in only 5th place. Whilst his form x luck combo has been something of a cause for disgust amongst his fellow players this year, even He couldn't make a 2-3 suited into a winning hand in a 3-way battle (although he did make 4 cards of a straight flush before the river). Bottleneck (A-7) & The Raiser (K-J) were also in the hunt but the appearance of an A slid the pot in the direction of the host in a hand that effectively also sank The Raiser.

Between the exits of Killawatt & The Raiser, Megawatt took a right rear end invasion when he was raised all in blind by a resurgent GingaStinga who filled a Full Hoose, dumped the poor tripped up Megawatt out of the game and then of course apologised.

Earlier, Liam the Newbie had began well, getting involved and getting uninvolved at precocious moments. But one wrong move in this company can prove fatal and an escalation of pressure at an opportune moment accounted for his chips when The Raiser sniffed a chance.

Wee Rambo, who once upon a time looked like a contender before his form nosedived only just avoided the wooden spoon. It was one of those desperate nights where shi'ite cards took the blame, the Granny was still on when Liam crashed out and when the Granny was finally vanquished, it was via a split pot with a profit of 20 whole chips. Violins featured in the background as hand-after-hand he wailed about the 7-2 he'd folded that would have made a Full Hoose etc, but there is always next time.

6th might not please many people, but for the reigning champion it ranks as a bit of an improvement after recent showings and if The Doctor can finish tucked in behind Killawatt on a more frequent basis he might be able to refind the form that took him all the way to the Championship in 2010.

Last word is saved for Placings 1 & 2. While the Bottleneck still searches for the elusive Endgame, his Beginning and Middle are putting him in the right place more and more. It can only be a matter of time until he gets quite lucky to go with the quite good.

The pocketer of the £40 was the possessor of an impressive game seemingly refound after a few years of suicidal raisings and reraisings. From around half way through the match, his style and chips grew in strength allowing little room for middling play around the table on the way to securing a second victory of the year. Is it a blip, or a sign of things to come???