Gus Mears

First Christmas pudding of the season. Just a personal Co-Op one given it's a school night.

Can I just express my love here for scotch bonnets? What a marvellous pepper. A frequent midweek meal in the Mears house is chicken marinated in mango and scotch bonnet, grilled at the end to get a nice char. Tend to do a very bootleg jollof rice with it adding bonnet to the tomato/pepper/onion base which gives it a brilliant depth of flavour.

Have a few left, so might do some oxtail stew this weekend.

Both chaos and order. There is a system, I can't explain it but there is one.

10 minutes ago, gmoney said:

Jeff Lynne production guaranteed. 

Thank fuck John died.

I'm about another ten miles inland of you, Bacon and it is indeed shit.

A car drove into my house a few weeks back and there's a 5 foot hole patched up with plywood which is useless in these conditions. Shit blowing about the hallway last night like we're doing a tribute to the Enfield  Poltergeist films.

Matthew Kelly requesting a five egg omlette at the local caff. Told they only did a three piece, so he flipped the table over and went off in a huff, saying he'd be back and that "he knew important people like Des Lynam".

I worked in one over the Christmas period which had all sorts of shit - Santa's grotto, ice rink, a manger scene out of Colditz with donkeys who looked suicidal.

I was in the section with all the lights and naff Christmas scenes etc (the one's exclusively bought by pensioners), a sterling place to be based with undiagnosed epilepsy. Had a migraine nonstop and ended up down the doctors because I thought it must be a tumour.

Then the Boxing Day sales came and I lost faith in humanity entirely. People ready to murder one another over light up reindeer at 30% off and one of them dancing Christmas trees that wiggles its arse about. Haven't been back since.

Hope you're going to to the funeral @SuperBacon to pay your respects.

32 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

 I wonder if that four episode learning curve is a little less of a struggle to people not having to get over the fact that they're watching Rodney Trotter/Gary Sparrow in proper American telly. 

It could be four series and I don't think it would compute with me. Frasier is my favourite sitcom ever and I am enjoying the reboot but it's baffling. Every scene he's in my brain's going 'that's fucking Rodney that is!' It doesn't help that Nicholas Lyndhurst looks looks like a tombstone with a bunch of limbs stapled to it, and that he could be wearing a full gimp suit and you'd still know it's him beneath it. The bloke is Rodney down to his marrow, you put him in a brown suit and it's Rodney in a brown suit. He speaks with airs and it's Rodney doing a plummy voice because he's trying to chat up Cassandra.

The Rock. Could never stand the promos. Like the anti Ric Flair, made everyone he came into contact with seem less important and less of a threat than before he grabbed the mic. Matches did very little for me as well with a few exceptions (Hogan and Austin - I'm giving them most of the kudos).

@StattoBritain's Greatest Living Man continues to fight the good fight.

https://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/23846953.orlandos-rogue-restaurant-norwich-continues-operate/

Quote

A controversial Norwich restaurant being run illegally from a suburban home has continued to operate despite being ordered to close.

Orlando's in Earlham Road is continuing to trade, with listings on Deliveroo and Uber Eats, despite Norwich City Council issuing an enforcement notice in July this year telling owner Orlando Williams to cease trading as a restaurant and takeaway by October 10.

But since the deadline neighbours have reported seeing delivery bikes continue to turn up at the home, with cooking odours still floating down the street.

It comes after this newspaper delivered an Orlando's lunch to officials at City Hall after they had failed to stop the shady chef despite large signs above his door advertising the restaurant and a "swarm" of mopeds turning up outside.

Becky Greengrass, who lives next door to the rogue restaurant, says Mr Williams has shown no sign of stopping, even adding a takeaway sign in the porch and placing a sticker in its window claiming the business has a four-star food hygiene rating.

Orlando's scored two stars at its last hygiene inspection for its B&B arm in May, which saw the business warned over food handling law breaches.

Ms Greengrass said: "Nothing has changed, in fact he's put more signs up.

"One thing that has got more discrete though is the collection of food, he's making them pull round the back now so no one can see them.

This is my favourite bit. 'We're not a takeout' when he's got this in his window, like frosted glass is going to make it impossible to see.

I remember the referee asking us to go home 15 seconds into a match at some fete in the Black Country when it started sleeting it down with rain and we were skidding across the ring like Torvill and Dean.

I'm bored to tears of them but the sustained success of the Astros is incredible. What is this? 6/7 consecutive ALCS appearances? Considering I would argue they have consistently had 'worse' teams than the Dodgers in the period they have both been brilliant it's a hell of a record, even more so now the playoff format encourages upsets more than in the past you could argue.

All the same, come on 'dem Cowboys. I think a Phillies vs Rangers World Series would be my preferred option now.

I'd imagine earning several times as much in the exhibition as they would at the NI Open will take the sting out of whatever WST fines them to be honest, assuming fines would even be legal. Wouldn't be surprised if they go the public warning route for that reason.

The organisation in general has been a clown show recently. We're 2 months into the season and they haven't been able to get digital scoreboards to work and are holding events in China 12 hours after events in London and wondering why players are opting against playing in them.

41 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

With Bloom gone as well I fear for my boy Chris Sale. Come back home to the Southside, Chris. Just use all of the bubble wrap in the packaging 

I would be ecstatic if he moved back given the money owed to him next year even if we have to eat half of it as is likely. It makes absolutely no sense and thus is something the White Sox absolutely could end up doing. At his best, our greatest pitcher since Pedro but just an atrocious contract - never give 200+ million to a bloke who is hitting 30, throws 96 and is built like a pipe cleaner.

Feeling properly disengaged with this World Cup. Not sure if it's the lack of crowds or just one day cricket becoming a bit old hat, but has felt really underwhelming thus far.

Niche and fuck all to do with the playoffs, but the Red Sox have fired Dave Bush and Carlos Febles, respectively pitching coach and third base coach. I'm delighted, they've both been atrocious for years. There's been so many pitchers who have been useless under Bush's tutelage who have moved and immediately become all star calibre - Springs, Martin Perez, Ryan bloody Brasier of all people - as big a move for me as getting a new GM.

Thoroughly enjoying the Dodgers series. You can set your watch to them folding in the postseason.

3 hours ago, herbie747 said:

Why does Gauntley even want to be a promoter? He's shit at it and it's ruined his life. I'd understand if he was trying to go back and relive past successes but he was never a success at it. He lost everything the first time around. 

The guy had a successful business with 1UP Games before he started 1PW and since then it's just been a nightmare. Why go back 15 years to that stage of your life just to repeat it all again? The lies, the non-payments, the excuses, avoiding people, the "payment plans" to pay wrestlers, the tax issues, company director issues & these recurring transfers of ownerships, the bankruptcy, solicitor fees, personal insolvency, embarrassing yourself publically, people laughing at you, not to mention the constant stress it must be on him - that can't be healthy.

The wrestling industry has changed drastically since he was last involved in 2006/2007 - and he wasn't even good at it back then. Just knock it on the head, man. 

Herbie striking at the heart of the Tragedy of Gauntley here. The opening sentence made me cackle.

I would second Scrivener. I got back into writing a couple of years ago and have finished a couple of novels using it since then. Think it was about £50 for a lifetime subscription and I've found it really useful for plotting and a place to keep scattered thoughts.

11 minutes ago, Tommy! said:

Woah,  let's stop here a minute.

Was this a works creche type deal for staff or just coincidence?

Mum worked there for a time, but I ended up staying even after she had a new job so it wasn't a creche, more 'Nursey, sponsored by Bowyers pies and sausages' - mostly for factory workers but for outsiders too. It was shite. My main memories (besides holding pencils like a fanny) were getting a stomach bug and shitting myself terribly during naptime and the constant smell of gravy when we were told to play outside (less nice than you'd think after a while). Whole site got bought out and shut down years back and last I saw, the nursery building had a new lease on life as a choice place for people to shoot up.

+1 for writing like a spanner. I went to a nursery attached to a pie factory and the quality of education was about as good as you would expect. Was taught to hold a pen like a moron and have never been able to fix it, so have enjoyed decades of illegible writing and ink smudges all over my hands.

Final yesterday was good shit. Few things improve a Sunday more than the snooker going late, it's like reverse Heartbeat.

Found Anne's stall at the antiques market yesterday.

Proper community centre wrestling vibes there. 'Local favourite' Jack Lisowski and 'Asia's greatest player' Ding Junhui. Hopefully the poster has SNOOKER plastered at the top in big letters.

Remarkable how much time 'they' have dedicated to taking down a has been comedian. You'd think there would be more effective paths to world domination.