Undefeated Steak

I love a bit of nature - got a little green book to tick off various species of birds I see across the UK. Finally treated myself to some decent binoculars this year but keep forgetting I have them and so barely use them. Few things better than getting my walking boots on and clearing off into the middle of nowhere for a day.

If it wasn't for Bischoff and WCW, Vince wouldn't have needed to push the WWF along so much in the late 90's and we wouldn't have had the boom period, which is by far the most influential time in wrestling, perhaps ever. Really, nothing much has changed since the turn of the millenium when it comes to the format of the company (and therefore industry as a whole), and the fact that WWE still relies so heavily on performers and inspiration from then demonstrates just how much of an influence those few years had. I say this as a diehard Heyman fan, but there's no way you can say that he had a bigger influence on the industry than Bischoff did. Look at how different the WWF was between 1996 and 1999. It changed more in 3 years than it did in the previous 30. Apart from sticking an extra hour onto Raw and changing the ramps and lighting a bit, not that much has changed since. Heyman has massively influenced the style of wrestling we've seen since then though. He demonstrated there was a need for more realistic characters and for more emphasis on the quality of wrestling for American audiences. You can also argue that Heyman almost spawned a sub-genre of wrestling in the indies scene since then. But Stone Cold, Rocky, all the stuff in the few years up until Wrestlemania 17, none of the would've happened if it wasn't for Bischoff. The product in the late 90's was so good that it's kept a generation of fans hoping for a repeat of it. Bischoff did more to contribute to that than probably anyone else by a big margin.

Haven't followed it too much but this seems like the most likely scenario. I've read that Smackdown lost a million views in a week, and there seems to be a lot of emphasis on SD losing a million viewers. It was the second episode of the show on Fox, and it should be looked at as Smackdown having had a 25% increase in viewership for its debut show on the new channel. More people would have tuned in because of the extra ads and promotion for the show, and to see whether it would be any different. As for Bischoff going as the fall guy, WWE have a history of this so it's nothing new. I don't know what excuses they'll use when the ratings stay stagnant or continue dropping though.

Watched Ad Astra. What a load of shite that was. Don't know why I expected anything else but I've not seen a more paint-by-numbers film in years. Predictable, boring dialogues, some scenes bordering on cringe-worthy. Avoid. Watched El Camino last night. Really enjoyable. As Scorch said, it was more of an extended episode of Breaking Bad but that's not a negative. Definitely worth watching if you're a fan of BB/BCS.

You'd think the sign would've seen you with that jacket on.

Glad to see this on here. Twitter's been a delight today.

Ha, I'm guessing I missed the mark by a bit there then.

I think the sheer diversity of life forms on earth, and the relative extreme conditions under which they can survive gives strong hope that there is other life out there on planets/moons. However, I don't think we're likely to have any contact with it anytime soon (a few hundred years or so). We might detect evidence of an incredibly advanced civilisation if they were to do something on the scale of destroying a star or galaxy or something, but I doubt we're going to see space vehicles that are anything like what we'd imagine. The scale of the universe is just far too big. If we think of Newton's work on gravity as the beginning of modern science, then there has only been a few hundred years of what we consider science. There are still people living now who were alive when we thought there was only one galaxy, and now we know there are trillions of galaxies out there. I think people struggle to understand the actual vastness of the universe when discussing whether we'll contact other life forms. The size of our own solar system is almost impossible to compute logically in our minds, and that is absolutely tiny when compared to just our own galaxy, and what's beyond. The largest galaxy we've found to date is a billion light years away. To put that into perspective, if we had the ability to communicate at light-speed, it would take billions of years to have the most basic of conversations. "Hey, is there anyone there?" - "Yes, where are you?" - "We're in the Solar System" "We're in XYZ galaxy". Obviously a daft example but it would take 4 billion years for that conversation - the entire the age of our planet. And that's just a hypothetical light-speed chat with a random galaxy, the largest we've found, not the furthest away. Having said that, it's one of the primary reasons I don't believe we've seen UFO's or space ships. Space ships and UFO's are okay for relatively short distances, but that means they can only be arriving from nearby, so in a local planetary system. It would take an immense amount of energy and power to get something like a space ship to our planet, so I don't think that any life form would come all this way just to get a closer look. If they have that type of technology, basically things that we use but more advanced (which is what most UFO videos tend to lean towards), then they'd surely have the technology to observe us through an incredibly powerful telescope or observatory system rather than wasting energy and resources and massive lengths of time just to whizz around our skies. If they're coming this distance, they're sure as shit landing and making contact with us. So, if any civilisation is to contact us from far away, it must be done by warping and manipulating the universe itself, through worm holes or teleportation or whatever, which means that they would be so advanced that they're incomprehensible to us as humans - they wouldn't fly a UFO like the ones in YouTube videos through a warping of space-time, and start flying around in front of video cameras. Not a chance. If you're looking at it in terms of odds and probabilities, due to the sheer number of galaxies out there (trillions), the odds are stacked massively in favour of there been life forms on other planets. In fact, I think in a few hundred years people will look back on our current understanding of the universe and think we were insane for ever thinking we might be the only ones. But I don't know whether we'll have direct contact with other life forms. I think there's a far more higher chance that the human race will become extinct long before we get to the point where we can manipulate galaxies, planets, space and time in a way that we're able to travel across the universe.

I've started watching World War II in Colour on Netflix, 3 or 4 episodes in now. It's fascinating. If you're a history buff then I'm sure it's nothing new to you but I feel like it's the perfect introduction if you're like me and know next to nothing about it. I'm amazed at how much footage they actually had of the war. History is a subject I'm really not good on, and I often feel ignorant if some things come up in conversation. I knew nothing of what Europe was like in the lead up to the second war, and it explains the rise of Nazi power and the conflicts between Japan and China, and the Spanish Civil War well. The episode I watched last night covered Germany's attempt to take over the Soviet, and the scale of it is unfathomable. Taking 300,000+ prisoners at a time. Well worth checking out if you're like me and have never flicked the History channel on.

Nice topic idea. I like having a browse around charity shops, especially when you're in an affluent area. They're like bookies in that there's usually a load of them near each other which is good. I spent ages looking for a laptop bag/satchel a couple of years ago but didn't wanna fork out £150 odd for one. Found a really nice one for about a fiver in a Mind shop. Also found a couple of smart Ralph Lauren shirts that I picked up for about £15 for the pair. Got a stack of other clothes from charity shops too. Always good for books as you said, Keith. Found some brilliant books over the years and at £1 a pop you don't mind if they're not any good. I read far too much to be able to spend £20 on new books from Waterstones. The pricing in some of them makes me laugh though. You can find a pair of immaculate Levi's for a fiver in the same shop as they're selling a stained Burton's jacket for £20.

Up there with someone making you watch a totally unfunny YouTube video while they stand next to you. Nothing in life is more awkward than those 90 seconds of torture.

If you're in a bad rut mentally I found it can be quite difficult to get into new hobbies. It's hard to focus on a new hobby like painting or playing an instrument long enough to be able to feel like you're making any tangible progress, and if you're worrying or stressed then your mind can quickly wonder elsewhere and you begin to lose enjoyment. Might be going against the thread a bit here but starting to take good care of yourself can be a hobby in itself. Being in a bad state of mind often leads to low self esteem and a lack of interest in your own long-term personal well-being, which plays off against each other and worsens over time. The worse you feel, the less you care about yourself and your well-being, and so it spirals. Getting into cooking good food has helped me massively. I now enjoy meals at home, trying out new foods and it's great for my physical and mental well-being. I also enjoy finding new, healthy(er) soft drinks (I can't stress how important it is to make sure you're always hydrated - a lot of lethargy and feeling tired comes from being dehydrated). I take more care of my appearance now. I dress differently and I've got face creams and shaving products that I'd never used before. Little things like having a shave each morning, putting some nice aftershave on and making sure you feel comfortable in your clothes goes a long way in boosting your confidence. You obviously like walking. Rather than spending a full day walking aimlessly though, look at joining walking groups and doing a 'challenge' walk for charity. Have you got any neighbours whose dogs need walking? Dogs are awesome for mental well-being. When I got sober I tried all sorts of different hobbies. I found my taste had changed drastically from what I enjoyed ten years ago. I found the music I actually enjoyed listening to was so different from what I'd thought I liked for years. Same went for most things, movies, TV shows, etc. I wouldn't say I'm now 'into' any particular hobby the same way I might have been with something like wrestling, where I was bordering on obsession, but I now have a nice balance of things I enjoy doing which is great for me. Podcasts, Netflix, books, music, walking, cooking etc. None of them are what I revolve my life around, but I enjoy them all enough that it keeps me happy when I'm not working. Sorry I rambled, hope it helps.