Hello chaps... its me again

[pbehn]

Not simple enough! Any game that complicated would never fly here in the States, especially one so drawn out and dependent on delayed gratification. We don't do delayed gratification.
Cheers,
Wes

I had been told that Americans were no good at sex because they will not delay gratification.

Cricket is a game not a sport and is a social event above anything else. The contest is between bat and ball, spectators go to watch the game and admre great performances, the loyalty to any team comes second to any individual performance. I like it but I understand why some don't, some just see it as organised laziness.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Oh snap...

 

[Elmas]

"You are getting more an more English, Antonello.." said to me my friend Tony as we were having a walk along a park in Yorkshire.
"Why??"
"You are starting to understand Cricket rules,,,"

 

[pbehn]

"You are getting more an more English, Antonello.." said to me my friend Tony as we were having a walk along a park in Yorkshire.
"Why??"
"You are starting to understand Cricket rules,,,"

Good heavens Sir, they are Laws,
Laws of Cricket - Wikipedia

 

[Elmas]

It is very simple, even for a layman, to understand if a Cricket toss has been a good one or not. If the toss has been an extremely good one, people clap for the player, but of course without doing any audible noise. If the toss has been a medium one, people nod gravely. If the toss has been a poor one, people rub gently their heads, trying to look elsewere...

 

[XBe02Drvr]

I like it but I understand why some don't, some just see it as organised laziness.

Hell, there's a lot of complaining here about our so-called "national pastime", baseball, because there's so much "wasted time" and the action isn't fast-paced and continuous enough.
Cheers,
Wes

 

[Airframes]

The rules, and the game, are a lot simpler than, for example, American football (tame rugby, with armour !) or Baseball (rounders !), and flows more easily - I am now running away !!

 

[pbehn]

When I was in Japan we calculated that the local baseball team Hiroshima Carp had got more days on their time sheet than we had, every taxi seemed to have baseball on the radio every freakin day.

 

[Readie]

Yes, but if you Englishmen do insist to play Cricket on Sundays afternoons you will certainly get some rain.
I did try to convince my fellow countrymen to play Cricket as the surest metod to get some rain, but at no avail, they did not believe me.

Cricket metaphors add a new dimension to the incomprehensiblity of English

 

[pbehn]

Cricket metaphors add a new dimension to the incomprehensiblity of English

Cricket was invented by the English because, not being a spiritual people, they needed some idea of eternity.

 

[XBe02Drvr]

I had been told that Americans were no good at sex because they will not delay gratification.

Well we started out as children of the mother country, and were good, solid, puritan gratification deniers, but then we slipped up and imported all those Mediterranean and Gaelic folk, who taught us passion, and life has never been the same since.
Cheers,
Wes

 

[pbehn]

Hell, there's a lot of complaining here about our so-called "national pastime", baseball, because there's so much "wasted time" and the action isn't fast-paced and continuous enough.
Cheers,
Wes

That is the strange thing about cricket because it is a social event slow play only annoys those who don't understand it. My wife likes to listen to cricket on the radio, there is a lot of joking, no politics or "issues" she doesn't even mind if it is rained off.

Well we started out as children of the mother country, and were good, solid, puritan gratification deniers, but then we slipped up and imported all those Mediterranean and Gaelic folk, who taught us passion, and life has never been the same since.
Cheers,
Wes

If you go to Italy you will see young men discussing "amore" with young women until 2 AM over a coffee. You do not see that in UK because they are already in bed. The idea that the world speaks English while the British were puritan gratification deniers is counter to logic. It is a historical fact that the British would shag a warm loaf, however they also wrote the history books and don't like to speak ill of their ancestors.

 

[mikewint]

 

[XBe02Drvr]

The idea that the world speaks English while the British were puritan gratification deniers is counter to logic. It is a historical fact that the British would shag a warm loaf, however they also wrote the history books and don't like to speak ill of their ancestors.

Righto, old chap, but we didn't come from that sort of Britain. We came from the Puritan strain, who I believe, eventually prevailed in Britain as well. Now that subculture from south of Mason-Dixon that drawls instead of speaking, they sprang from a colony put forth by the English nobility, who did fit your metaphor. A document signed at Appomattox Courthouse in April, 1865, sort of defines who writes the history books here. (Sorry, Rebs, but that's how it is.)
Cheers,
Wes

 

[Readie]

View attachment 468943

I look forward to watching the US team in the next world cup.....

 

[Readie]

That is the strange thing about cricket because it is a social event slow play only annoys those who don't understand it. My wife likes to listen to cricket on the radio, there is a lot of joking, no politics or "issues" she doesn't even mind if it is rained off.

If you go to Italy you will see young men discussing "amore" with young women until 2 AM over a coffee. You do not see that in UK because they are already in bed. The idea that the world speaks English while the British were puritan gratification deniers is counter to logic. It is a historical fact that the British would shag a warm loaf, however they also wrote the history books and don't like to speak ill of their ancestors.

We'll have none of this continental bollocks of 'amore' thank you.

The Welsh & Scots shag anything with a pulse.... The southern English are much more refined and just the beat the shit out of each other given little or no provocation,

Some say that our brief membership of the poxy EU has taught us to be more understanding and forgiving.... not the case old boy.

 

[Readie]

Cricket was invented by the English because, not being a spiritual people, they needed some idea of eternity.

We have that concept genetically hard wired into us.

 

[pbehn]

Righto, old chap, but we didn't come from that sort of Britain. We came from the Puritan strain, who I believe, eventually prevailed in Britain as well. Now that subculture from south of Mason-Dixon that drawls instead of speaking, they sprang from a colony put forth by the English nobility, who dat id fit your metaphor. A document signed Appomattox Courthouse in April, 1865, sort of defines who writes the history books here. (Sorry, Rebs, but that's how it is.)
Cheers,
Wes

I don't know much about American social history but I have read several books on that of the English and British. Victorian and Puritan are almost synonyms although they are not the same they are perceived to be. However in the Victorian era these are the facts.
The age of consent was thirteen
London had 80,000 prostitutes even though its population was 1 million in 1800 and 6 million in 1900. There were more brothels than schools.
Prostitution was the highest paid job available to most of the female population, highly educated women were still on the game because they could charge even more from their aristocratic clients.
Whatever prudish values the Victorians professed to have they also believed that men should have an outlet for their "urges".
Venereal disease killed as many soldiers as enemy action.
The industrial revolution and health care improvements that led the UKs population to explode and people to collect in cities also led to a moral breakdown. This panicked the government who introduced all sorts of new laws and policies. There was a massive church building programme If you visit the UK you can see many beautiful churches but most built in the Victorian era in cities were big brick monstrosities built in panic to get society "back in the fold". It was the people from UKs overflowing cities and those from Ireland because of the famine who formed the bulk of the people flocking to the New World. A smaller number of business men and aristocrats went with capital to get even richer than they already were.

Since I don't know much about the USA I will just say that every Wild West movie has a saloon with pretty girls and low necklines because prostitution was integral to the development of America and the people who founded states like Utah which allowed polygamy did not have denial of gratification in mind, quite the opposite.

The success of the Victorians in convincing themselves and everyone else that what happened didn't happen can be seen every time "Victorian attitudes" are discussed. I suspect it is similar on your side of the pond.

 

[pbehn]

We'll have none of this continental bollocks of 'amore' thank you.
Some say that our brief membership of the poxy EU has taught us to be more understanding and forgiving.... not the case old boy.

Well I speak Italian German and French and enjoyed working in those and other countries. I don't discuss the EU because that is politics

 

[mikewint]

Eleanor Dumont
Like any true entrepreneur, Eleanor Dumont saw opportunity wherever she went. She opened several successful gaming parlors in California, offering a rarity during the time - a respectable lady dealer. Her parlor, Vingt-et-un, was finely furnished, served Champagne instead of whiskey, and only accepted the patronage of well-dressed gentlemen. It was hugely popular, but men lost interest as Dumont's beauty waned and more women began to fill the camps.
After the gold ran dry and the crowds cleared out, Dumont bought a ranch. During this time, she fell in love with a handsome, silver-tongued man named Jack McKnight. Dumont fell head over heels for the man; unfortunately, McKnight was a con man, and he ended up stealing all of her hard-earned money and selling her ranch, leaving Dumont completely destitute. Not one to take that type of treatment from anyone, she chased down her former lover with a shotgun and killed him.
In need of money, she began to set up gambling tables at mining camps; it's said that she met Calamity Jane at one of these camps and tried to teach the famous frontierswoman how to play poker.

Fannie Porter
Fannie Porter ran one of the more high-end brothels in Texas, one that was said to have "fine glass fixtures, silk sheets and plush carpeting." Special guests, like the members of Butch Cassidy's gang of bandits (known as the Wild Bunch) were given chilled Champagne. Despite being a classy lady, she was no pushover, and was known to chase law enforcers off her property with a broom.
Porter's "boardinghouse" "served as a rest stop, hideout, rendezvous, and headquarters for Butch Cassidy and the rest of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang." It's said that the Sundance Kid met his later girlfriend and partner-in-crime Etta Place while she was working at Fannie's brothel. The last time the Wild Bunch showed up to Fannie's place, intent on going their separate ways, she treated them like real VIPs, throwing them an elaborate going-away party.

Big Nose Kate
Mary Katharine Haroney, or Big Nose Kate, is probably best known for her on-again, off-again relationship with famous gunslinger Doc Holliday. Haroney ran away from her foster home when she was 16 and became a prostitute shortly after. She met Holliday when she moved to Texas and the two started their lengthy and rocky relationship. It is said that Haroney and Holliday would have heated arguments that would become violent whenever Haroney drank too much.
Despite their unhealthy relationship, Haroney once broke Holliday out of jail by starting a fire and pulling a gun on the jail guard. Holliday was so grateful that he promised to give up gambling. Haroney also promised to live a clean life, giving up prostitution. However, both their promises were short-lived and their rocky relationship continued until Holiday's death.

Mollie Johnson
Mollie Johnson owned a brothel on one of the corner streets in Deadwood. Her life appealed to the town's people in the same way the lives of reality show stars appeal to us today. Her antics often made headlines in the Deadwood newspapers. One of her favorite pastimes was renting a carriage and riding it up and down the camp, snubbing any "lesser" women she passed. She also turned heads when she married a black entertainer, Lew Spencer. Johnson served as mentor to three golden-haired female employees (Ida Clark, Ida Cheplan, and Jennie Duchesneau) and was known as "Queen of the Blondes."
One notable event that was reported by the papers was a buggy race between Johnson and some of her girls. After getting drunk at a baseball game, she rented two buggies and raced them. None of the women were hurt, but it is said the buggies were reduced to splinters.

Pearl de Vere
Pearl de Vere's gaming parlor in Cripple Creek, Colorado, catered to the more prosperous gentleman in the area. De Vere's girls fared better than other women in the business - they received regular medical exams, wore fine clothing, and were paid well.
Like Mollie Johnson, de Vere liked to parade around the town in her carriage. She wore a new luxurious outfit each time she went out, seducing men as she made her daily rounds. She built The Old Homestead, an incredibly decadent parlor which featured fine furnishings, a crystal electric chandelier, and a telephone. (The latter two were considered luxuries during the period.) The Old Homestead exclusively catered to rich clientele, asking for $250 a night, which would be around $6500 today.

Ah Toy
Ah Toy was the first Chinese prostitute in San Francisco and the most famous Asian American woman in the Old West. Ah Toy immigrated from China with her husband, but when he died during the ocean crossing, she took up with the captain of the ship. The captain "showered gold upon her," giving her quite a nest egg when she landed in San Francisco.
An Asian woman in the West at the time was something of a curiosity, and she would charge clients an ounce of gold (or $16) for just a peep at her goods. In time, she was able to build her own business and brought women over from China to work at her numerous brothels. Because she ran a lucrative business, people often tried to extort her. However, Ah Toy was a clever woman, and she repeatedly used the San Francisco court system to ensure her and her girls' protection. Unfortunately, in 1854 a law was passed that prohibited Chinese Americans from taking their grievances to court, allowing her to be hassled by both white Americans and rival Chinese business people.

Mary Ellen Pleasant
Mary Ellen Pleasant, who was also known as Mistress Pleasant and was called the Mother of Civil Rights in California, was a busy woman. Perhaps a former slave (though her early past is not entirely known), she was heavily involved in the abolitionist movement. Along with her husband James Smith, Pleasant helped free slaves via the Underground Railroad.
When suspicions arose about her involvement with John Brown and Harpy's Ferry, she escaped the East Coast and moved to San Francisco where she was able to pass as white (despite being African American or perhaps of mixed race) and secure herself a position as an adviser to Thomas Bell, a Bank of California director.
It is said that at one point she was one of the richest black women in America. She made her money in a number of ways. Some reports say she owned and ran a number of lucrative bordellos where she would set up her girls with rich white men. Others say she would groom and train the girls to marry these men. On the abolitionist front, she gave $30,000 to help fund John Bell's slave rebellions and won a court case against a company when she was refused a seat in one of their streetcars.

Julia Bulette Was the Original Hooker with a Heart of Gold
It is said when Julia Bulette arrived in Virginia City, Nevada in 1859, she was the only single woman in town. She was described as being a beautiful and witty woman who was sought by many of the miners in town. Soon after arriving in Virginia City, Bulette decided to become a self-employed prostitute. Bulette was said to have a heart of gold, donating large sums of money to the town, nursing sick miners, and raising money for the Union during the Civil War. She was made an honorary firefighter because of her numerous charitable contributions to the townspeople.
In 1867, Bulette was brutally murdered in her bed by a French drifter. She was found in her bedroom strangled and bludgeoned to death. Thousands attended her funeral, and many businesses in town closed shop out of respect.

Dora Dufran
Dufran started off as a dance hall girl and at the age of 15, quickly promoted herself to madam. Dufran had several prostitution houses in Deadwood, the most popular of which was called Diddlin' Dora's. The brothel promised its patrons "The Three D's - Dining, Drinking, and Dancing" and called itself "a place where you can bring your mother."
During her time in Deadwood, she befriended Calamity Jane and the two women remained friends well into their 40s. They reconnected later in life when Jane, suffering from the effects of alcoholism, came to Dufran looking for work. She gave Jane a job at her brothel as a cook and laundry woman. Jane died shortly after.

Squirrel Tooth Alice
Mary Elizabeth "Libby" Haley Thompson (or Squirrel Tooth Alice, as she was more commonly known because of a gap in her teeth and her love of prairie dogs) had a traumatic youth. She was kidnapped by Comanche when she was 10 years old and remained with the tribe for three years. Though her family paid the ransom fee and had her returned, she was shunned by society thereafter, with the exception of an older man who took an interest in her. He wanted to marry Thompson, but her father did not like the match so he shot and killed the suitor.
After that incident, Thompson ran away from home and worked at several establishments as a dance hall girl and a prostitute. She eventually opened her own place when she and her husband settled down in Sweetwater, Texas.

Mother Damnable's
Mary Ann Conklin (or Mother Damnable, as she was more commonly known, on account of her temper and constant swearing) managed a hotel and brothel in Seattle. She could curse like a sailor in English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, and Chinese. It is said that she was always surrounded by wild dogs and that she carried stones in her apron which she would throw at people who incurred her wrath.
Conklin died in 1873 and was buried in Seattle Cemetery. Years later, the bodies in the cemetery were moved to make room for a park. According to legend, when Conklin's body was dug up, it was incredibly heavy. Curious, the workers opened the coffin and found that her body had completely turned to stone.

Josephine Hensley
Known as Chicago Joe by her customers, Josephine Hensley left Chicago and set up shop in a mining town in Montana. She opened her first brothel in a log cabin in Helena, Montana, employing a full orchestra to entertain the guests when she and her girls were busy entertaining the other guests. Her brothel was so popular that she eventually had to move her business to a larger building. She started to invest in real estate, and, with her husband, opened a dance hall and The Red Light Saloon. She became the largest landowner in the district and was so prosperous that she was dubbed "Queen of the Red Light District."