# Winning Losing

Las Vegas may have been built by winners, but it was paid for by losers. Covid lockdowns have reduced casino patronage to zero in many places. Online gambling has become the go-to place for regular gamblers, and many more who have been enticed by ads or word-of-mouth. I have a friend who was given a ‘free $200 starter pack of gambling chips’ to draw him into an online game. Fortunately, he didn’t have enough money for the ‘sign-up’ fee. These…

“Tiptoe through the Tulips” is the 1968 signature song of Tiny Tim. The long-haired, 6’1″ (185 cm), ukulele strumming singer with the shrilling falsetto was a sight to behold. He also loved Ice Hockey but couldn’t skate. He was thrilled to go onto the ice with his favourite team, The Toronto Maple Leafs, before a charity event in 1969. Reacting well to his obvious inability to skate on his own, he said, “I was always athletic spiritually, not physically.”I was…

Lance Armstrong was hailed as a true sporting campion. The seven-time winner of the Tour de France and cancer survivor was a mentor to millions. He wrote two books and was a popular motivational speaker. When he was found to have used performance enhancing drugs, he was stripped of all has Tour de France titles and banned from professional sports. Someone joked: “I saw my librarian take his books out the Non-fiction Section and put them among the Fiction books.…

Mick Jagger, the singer for The Rolling Stones, was a minor when he joined the band. Thus, he needed his parent’s consent to do business or go to certain places. When the band’s manager phoned Mick’s mother the conversation (so the story goes), went like this:Manager: “Hello, Mrs Jagger, we would like to request your permission for your son to be the lead singer of The Rolling Stones.”Mick’s mother: “I am sorry, but you must have the wrong Mrs Jagger.…

Back in the day when computers were not common, a dentist was given an apple by a policeman. The policeman said that the apple was believed to have been discarded by a gunman wanted for a murder. The apple was totally intact, except for teeth marks left behind when being discarded. On the policeman’s return the dentist presented him with a model of the suspects teeth. He told the policeman that the person they were looking for was ‘a man…

He’d cut off his nose to spite his face.”I had not heard that expression before hearing it said by the good mother of her preteen son. As I got to know the son I understood that his mother was not referring to a one-off case of stubbornness. Her boy had a persistence case of bullheadedness. He would rather suffer hurt than see reason.Everyone has their convictions. A list of non-negotiables, that they will defend.Of course, your convictions are not correct…