Reply to: It's Great Being a Dwarf!

[darmstadt]

I wonder why they did this rather than the standard ten-pin bowling alley?

That should actually be the other way around as 9 pin bowling has been around since medieval times and then the americans decided to change it

[Doggy Styles]

I was at the Kegelbahn last night which is a German version of bowling, nine skittles, narrow lanes and the balls either have no finger holes or just 2. Its actually a lot more difficult than bowling but quite fun (unless you do it properly then the German's love of rules comes in!)

I wonder why they did this rather than the standard ten-pin bowling alley?

[darmstadt]

I was at the Kegelbahn last night which is a German version of bowling, nine skittles, narrow lanes and the balls either have no finger holes or just 2. Its actually a lot more difficult than bowling but quite fun (unless you do it properly then the German's love of rules comes in!)

[mudskipper]

Indeed, the ladies were allowing him to commit no end of transgressions that would have resulted in a clip round the ear for any non-dwarf

I suspect it's to do with a subconscious perception. For most women a dwarf does not appear as a sexually active being, even though there's no reason why they shouldn't enjoy an active sex life. (Actually isn't there a market for midget porn?). A dwarf also has the advantage, due to a childlike stature, of triggering a maternal, protective response. So if a lady slaps you for squeezing her bazookas, take heart that she probably views you as a virile male. If she doesn't slap you, you're past it.

[Doggy Styles]

There are still pubs with shove ha'penny? Of an evening we used to enjoy a few pints and a few rounds of this until slowly pubs changed and you didn't see it again, along with dominos, table top skittles (I think that was called something like Devil and Tailors), Nine Mens Morris, etc.

There's still a thriving pub dominos league in my part of Buckinghamshire. I've never played in it, but several years ago I played for Edlesborough cricket club in a special challenge match against The Northall Inn (now sadly closed down, so the team moved to the Swan).

As a very infrequent player, I hadn't realised until that night that dominos was not mostly about luck. I was taken to the cleaners by a wizened old chap who just sat and smiled all night.

Another strange thing I noticed was that the pub players called their dominos "cards", and so to this day I count that as the mark of a proper dominos player.

[Archangel]

I visited a bar in Belgium a few years ago that had a single lane bowling alley in it, complete with electric skittle righter and automatic ball return. Must have cost a small fortune.

[wurzel]

plus you get fed. Not bad for a quid!
There's a huge regional variation in the rules.

When I played, the home matches were always on a Sunday evening and they would serve up reheated left over roast potatoes from Sunday lunch (that had been deep fried in rancid chip fat)

There's a huge regional variation in the rules.

I never realised it was played outside of the west. Certainly never seen skittle allies in other parts of the country.

[Malcolm Buggeridge]

There are still pubs with shove ha'penny? Of an evening we used to enjoy a few pints and a few rounds of this until slowly pubs changed and you didn't see it again, along with dominos, table top skittles (I think that was called something like Devil and Tailors), Nine Mens Morris, etc. I do remember once when working in Wellingborough I went out into the country and in the pub they had a one lane skittle alley which was quite short and (my memory fades) was very difficult. The locals allowed me to join in and twas a good evening, doubt that exists now or such an evening would ever occur again.

The big pub game in that neck of the woods is Aunt Sally which seems to involve throwing sticks to knock a skittle like object off a wooden block.

Any Oxfordshire CUKers out there to describe the finer points of the game?

[Advocate]

Re: It's Great Being a Dwarf!

There are still quite a few pubs with skittle alleys round here as there is an active skittles league. They double as dining areas when there's not a match on though so you can't just wander in willy nilly and have a game like you used to be able to.

I'm in my local pub's team; it's mostly an excuse for visiting other pubs and drinking, plus you get fed. Not bad for a quid!

There's a huge regional variation in the rules.

Sent from my tweeting foot massager.

[wurzel]

There are still pubs with shove ha'penny? Of an evening we used to enjoy a few pints and a few rounds of this until slowly pubs changed and you didn't see it again, along with dominos, table top skittles (I think that was called something like Devil and Tailors), Nine Mens Morris, etc. I do remember once when working in Wellingborough I went out into the country and in the pub they had a one lane skittle alley which was quite short and (my memory fades) was very difficult. The locals allowed me to join in and twas a good evening, doubt that exists now or such an evening would ever occur again.

There are still quite a few pubs with skittle alleys round here as there is an active skittles league. They double as dining areas when there's not a match on though so you can't just wander in willy nilly and have a game like you used to be able to.

[darmstadt]

Spring has sprung and my latest pub visit finds me off of my customary West Country stomping ground and in Sunny South Oxfordshire on tour with my local pub's shove ha'penny team where we've just played a tournament at the Leathern Bottle in Lewknor.

There are still pubs with shove ha'penny? Of an evening we used to enjoy a few pints and a few rounds of this until slowly pubs changed and you didn't see it again, along with dominos, table top skittles (I think that was called something like Devil and Tailors), Nine Mens Morris, etc. I do remember once when working in Wellingborough I went out into the country and in the pub they had a one lane skittle alley which was quite short and (my memory fades) was very difficult. The locals allowed me to join in and twas a good evening, doubt that exists now or such an evening would ever occur again.

[minestrone]

That midget off Game of Thrones certainly seems to be having a ball.

He was the south pole elf dude from elf.

[wurzel]

That midget off Game of Thrones certainly seems to be having a ball.

Note to self: Must <cough> acquire Season 3 ep. 1 tonight. First 2 seasons were excellent. Anyone watching?

[Malcolm Buggeridge]

Good stuff.

I always thought it weird that the only engine where the pistons did not go up and down was the Wankel. Not known any dwarfs but have observed that elderly men get away with things that younger ones would be arrested for.

Oooh, perhaps I'll see if I can get away with a bit of "wandering hands" next time I'm out and about then.

[xoggoth]

Good stuff.

I always thought it weird that the only engine where the pistons did not go up and down was the Wankel. Not known any dwarfs but have observed that elderly men get away with things that younger ones would be arrested for.