Dartoid’s Column

October 1, 1996
Column 22
Congo

To get to where I threw darts last night required a harrowing three-hour flight in a beat up old Cessna — without maps or radar — through stormy African skies. To stay safely (more or less) below the turbulence we cruised just above the canopy of the rainforest and …

October 1, 1996
Column 21
Uganda

About an hour ago, by candle-light, and with a half-dozen wart hogs grunting their approval only yards off the oche, I took out a 109 here in western Uganda at the Mweya Lodge on the Kazinga peninsula in Queen Elizabeth National Park. In consideration of the conditions, I decided …

September 1, 1996
Column 20
Seoul, Korea

The last time I was in Seoul I made the mistake of getting talked off the oche and over to the pool table by a little hustler named Lee Min Kyu. I still haven’t figured out how much I lost!

This time I played it carefully. I stayed …

September 1, 1996
Column 19
Rome, Italy

In my life it’s 3:00 in the morning. I’ve just put down the phone from talking with my darts partner (Chris James of the Cousin’s Cannibals) who has just packed up his darts after winning his ’01 back in Hyannis, Massachusetts. It’s 9:00 in the evening (yesterday) back …

August 1, 1996
Column 18
Tokyo, Japan

Located in central Tokyo is a great little place to throw darts. Getting there takes committment and patience, particularly if your command of the Japanese language, like mine, is limited to “hello, bathroom and beer”. Absolutely mandatory though for a day in Japan is a thick, thick wad …

August 1, 1996
Column 17
Bangkok, Thailand

I couldn’t have been more amused when sometime back I read how horrified the British Darts Organization was when it learned that topless women were throwing darts on the beaches in Australia. “Demeaning to the sport” they hollered, as if such activity isn’t the least bit demeaning to …

July 1, 1996
Column 16
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

It goes without saying that the descent into Ho Chi Minh City is like none other in the world. Eerie. Almost surreal. To think of Vietnam in terms of the present is impossible. For one’s thoughts to be drawn to the tragic, wasted, past is …

July 1, 1996
Column 15
Atlanta, Georgia

It was like Groundhog Day today here at the Groundhog Tavern (just across the road from Hooters) in downtown Atlanta, Georgia (94 Upper Prior Street).

Punxsutawney Phil wasn’t anywhere to be found (but you can buy a cute stuffed version of the little guy and a t-shirt with …

July 1, 1996
Column 14
London, England

When many people think of England images of rolling emerald hills, colorful rhododendrons and red phone boxes tucked along side winding country roads come to mind. Small towns. The quiet life…

For others it’s the history, the culture, the pagentry, the politics. The hustle and bustle of Picadilly …

July 1, 1996
Column 13
Singapore

When Sir Stamford Raffles claimed Singapore for the British East India Company in 1819 it was nothing but a swampy, thickly jungled island populated by a handful of fishermen and sea gypsies. Today this tiny island is a vibrant, modern city-state of almost three million people and, arguably, the …