Dartoid’s Column

October 1, 1996
Column 25
Chicago, Illinois

I blew into the Windy City the other day, headed straight for what is arguably one of the best darts bars in the States, and got blown right back out… by a computer!

Now, I’ve probably whiled away more hours in more darts bars in more cities in …

October 1, 1996
Column 24
Horley, Surrey, United Kingdom

If ever you fly into England and realize you really don’t want to be there (this is something that happens to me literally every time I land) try stopping in at the Brighton Bell Bar. It’s off the lobby of the Ramada Hotel (Povey Cross Road) …

October 1, 1996
Column 23
Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, United Kingdom

In the heart of one of the most scenic stretches of countryside in England is a quaint little town called Tunbridge Wells. Life began here in 1606 when some guy named Dudley, Lord North sipped a drink from a spring and claimed the water …

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 …