[blml] Do you remember the 5th friday comps for the SS Finland trophy?

John Probst john at asimere.com
Mon Sep 11 02:30:25 CEST 2006


I was deleting old files and ran across this. I'd forgotten all about it.
Poor hermY, he takes a lot of flak :)  John

Young Chelsea heat of ssf with sound effects

14 1/2 Tables, 12 Round 2-board Mitchell
2 rounds of arrow switch, 30 boards in play
15 NS phantom.  EW Add 20

1)  Dramatis personnae - "the usual suspects"

<namelist deleted>

Act 1, Scene 1,  A smoky basement in Chelsea, London

Enter A noisesome rabble preceded by Mahmoud, the Egyptian

Mahmoud: "Take your places please, 2 board rounds"

there is no reaction from the rabble

Mahmoud: "TAKE YOUR PLACES NOW"

still no action

Mahmoud: "BUMS IN SEATS PLEASE"

the players reluctantly sit down, the boards are distributed,
the game starts five minutes late, the hubbub reaches a crescendo.

Mahmoud: [purple with effort] "QUIET PLEASE"

there is a mild diminution of the riot. Play starts

Act 1, Scene 2,

Board    1    2  Board    3    4  Board    5    6

 1 21    5  -11   2 22   -5  -10   3 23  -45   -5
14 32  -40  -11   1 35   13   14   2 21  -45   -5
13 30    5   10  14 31  -10   14   1 34  -45  -10
12 28   10   15  13 29  -10   14  14 30  -42   11
11 26    5   10  12 27   15   62  13 28    5   17
10 24    5    0  11 25   13   17  12 26  -48   11
 9 22   15  -11  10 23   13  -10  11 24  -48   -5
 8 35  -42    5   9 21   13  -10  10 22  -45   11
 7 33    5  -20   8 34   40   14   9 35  -45   11
31  6   10    5  32  7   18   14  33  8  -48  -10
29  5  -40    5  30  6   11  -10  31  7   45   50

Mahmoud: "Move please"

complete catatonia

Mahmoud: "MOVE PLEASE, EAST-WEST UP ONE, BOARDS DOWN ONE"

sullen compliance, the noise is measured at the earthquake
laboratory in Antwerpen, bending the needle on the machine

Mahmoud: "TABLE 2, stop discussing the hand AND MOVE ...
          ... GO TO TABLE 3, NOT THE BAR. Put the Boards
          on Table 1, not the floor"

Pair 22 shuffle to the next table complaining about terrorism.
The curtain comes down and rises to reveal

Act 1, Scene 3, a smoke churned atmosphere redolent of Beirut
on a better day. [Actually Thursday is a no-smoking day, but I'm
getting into this story]

Board    7    8  Board    9   10  Board   11   12

 4 24   14   10   5 25    9   63   6 26  -65  -46
 3 22  -10   10   4 23    9   63   5 24   10   10
 2 35  -10    5   3 21  -11   14   4 22   30  -43
 1 33   12  -12   2 34   12  -10   3 35  -20  -43
14 29  -10  -11   1 32  -11   66   2 33   45  -14
13 27   62  -11  14 28   11   11   1 31  -65  -43
12 25  -10    5  13 26   28   66  14 27  -48  -43
11 23  -10   11  12 24   10   63  13 25   45  -46
10 21  -20    5  11 22  -11   66  12 23  -65   15
34  9   12  -14  35 10  -11   63  21 11  -65  -43
32  8   63  -14  33  9  -20   14  34 10  -45  -43

Mahmoud: [cowering in the Director's redoubt] "Move please"

The noise increases

Mahmoud: "We have a house rule that Boards dealt today are
          to be played today. [Veins standing out on head]
          MOVE PLEASE"

mass exodus to bar

Mahmoud: [Reasonably] "Please move and play"

Players sit down for round 8

Chorus: "We've played these Boards"

Mahmoud "SKIP A TABLE! Table 7 Put the hands away and SKIP"

Chorus: "Terrorist".

The machine in Antwerpen falls off its stand amputating the right
hand of Eric the Viking.  Wagner's 'Ride of the Valkerie' heard
as background noise on the sub-space aether.

Curtain falls: Pandemonium in the aisles. It rises to reveal

Act 2, Scene 1.  Mahmoud armed with a cattle-prod, strong smell
of sulphur, Mephistopheles offering him a glowing tablet.

Board   13   14  Board   15   16  Board   17   18

 7 27   11  -11   8 28   66   13   9 29    5  -45
 6 25   50   -5   7 26  -20  -11   8 27   10  -48
 5 23   14   -8   6 24   66   80   7 25   15  -17
 4 21   14  -14   5 22   63   30   6 23   10  -42
 3 34   20   -8   4 35   66   20   5 21    5  -42
 2 32   30  -14   3 33   66   20   4 34  -14  -48
 1 30  -20  -11   2 31  -10   20   3 32  -14  -51
14 26   20  -17   1 29   66   43   2 30    5  -17
13 24   10  -11  14 25  -30   20   1 28   15  -42
22 12   10  -14  23 13   63   10  24 14  -20  -42
35 11  -20   20  21 12   50   10  22 13    5  -51

Mahmoud: "2 rounds to go, please arrow-switch"

Chorus: "Terrorist"

Mahmoud: [waving cattle prod] "MOVING PAIRS PLAY N/S"

Aftershocks cause building damage in Antwerpen, HdW hit
on head by collapsing tables at "The Squeeze". [Possibility
of legal rulings in Belgium - watch this space]. Chorus of
Niebelungen singing "We shall overcome" on sub-space aether.

Mahmoud: "It's more interesting watching paint dry. MOVE!"

ss Finland inundated by tidal wave, shock epicentre in
West London. Mahmoud sprouting horns in forehead. The Acol
Bridge Club reduced to rubble

Act 2, Scene 2.  A strange eerie silence

Board   19   20  Board   21   22  Board   23   24

10 30   -5   11  11 31   71   10  12 32   15   10
 9 28   20   11  10 29  -14   20  11 30  -10   -5
 8 26   -5    9   9 27  -40   40  10 28   15   -5
 7 24   42  -13   8 25  -42   80   9 26   12    5
 6 22   14    9   7 23   60  -50   8 24   11  -10
 5 35   10   18   6 21   13  -30   7 22    9   10
 4 33   -5  -14   5 34   10   40   6 35   12  -10
 3 31   42  -11   4 32  -17  -15   5 33   15  -10
 2 29   -5  -10   3 30  -17  -30   4 31   18   -5
 1 27   17    9  28  2  -30  110   3 29   18   -5
23 14   10    9  26  1    5   -5  27  2   12   -5
                                  25  1   15  -15

Group of players sitting in sylvan glade under bright sunlight
Stream splashing in background, pan-pipes heard chanting

Mahmoud: [sporting full set of antlers] "Scores will be out in
         5 minutes"

Chorus: "Pint of warm flat sour beer please, Wendy"

Board   25   26  Board   27   28  Board   29   30

13 33   15   65  14 34   42   **  14 33  -65   80   ** unplayed
12 31   -5   68  13 32   46  -18  13 31  -65   -5   scores factored
11 29   40   63  12 30   40   11  12 29  -65   10
10 27   11   62  11 28   18  -10  11 27  -20   40
 9 25   -5   62  10 26   46  -12  10 25  -62   15
 8 23   40   66   9 24   46  -12   9 23  -62   -5
 7 21   15   66   8 22   40  -15   8 21  -65   40
 6 34   15   65   7 35   43    5   7 34  -62   18
 5 32   40   63   6 33   40   10   6 32  -65  -15
 4 30   -5   65   5 31   40  -12  30  5  -62   -5
28  3   -5   65  29  4   42  -12  28  4  -65    5
26  2   -5   65  27  3   17    5

The curtain falls at the end of Act 2.  The bar is heaving.
Gallons of warm flat sour beer being consumed.
Mahmoud is breathing incantations over the 286 in the corner.
A scrap of smoking parchment appears on the bar notice board.
Handel's "Judas Maccabaeus" 'See how the conquering hero ...'
Order is restored from chaos, just another night down at the YC.

 1 Tim Kitely       Jeffrey Mervis   344  65.25%
 2 Niklas Sandqvist Janet de Botton  315  59.73%
 :





More information about the blml mailing list