Ulf ist Gut

Watched at the BFI preview last night - I thought it was very good, casting was excellent aside from the RIc Flair who was a bit tame in his promo delivery. I didn't spot the wrestler cameos but was pleasantly surprised to see Abi from ER playing Doris. The pacing felt a bit off and rushed in the second half (I wonder whether it would have worked better as a TV series in that respect to let the various tragedies build) but otherwise a thoroughly enjoyable evening, helped by the fact there was a good mix of genders in the screening so the lighter moments got some laughter (Fritz ranking the boys, Kevin's first meeting with Pam) and at the more touching bits (redacted to avoid being too spoilery) getting a similarly nice response rather than just silence.

EDIT: Also agree with what others have said about outside the Sportatorium -  Don't Fear The Reaper was the perfect soundtrack and you felt like you missed out on something amazing as a modern day wrestling fan.

 

55 minutes ago, wordsfromlee said:

I just find it mad that their tenth ever gig was the Shepherds Bush Empire and they only had 8 songs. I find is strange that they could draw enough people for a venue that big with the only way anyone could have ever heard them was if they had gone to one of the previous nine gigs they'd done as they'd never released a single song. Half the people at the gig must have been there purely based on the hype and buzz.

Imagine supporting the Rolling Stones on your 13th ever gig as a band.

I get what you mean - while it's not necessarily a new thing as SuperBacon points out, it seems to be something that's happening more and more nowadays where a band really blows up with minimal actual music or gig experience under their belts. I guess social media culture helps this cycle where people want to jump on something ASAP to say they were there from the beginning like people have done since with being at early Sex Pistols gigs or Spike Island for the Stone Roses or being all over...Dancefloor when the Arctic Monkeys released it but on steroids with people being less fussed about the quality of the music and more about collecting boasts/cred/whatever buzzword the kids are using nowadays.

I don't mind what i've heard of The Last Dinner Party as a whole - Nothing Matters was a decent single, the next one was a bit cack in comparison and then the rest has been middling to fair. It's a nice change from all the post-punk knock offs currently floating about. 

1 hour ago, Lenin said:

Incredible stuff.

 

It's a shame it wasn't Christian Cage who broke him, he could have renamed his finisher the Philswitch

1 hour ago, air_raid said:

Surely that would make him Wartlow?

No amount of topical cream will soothe his rage (or his penis).

Disappointed that Mox made the finals over either Swerve or Jay White - I don't think he or the title really needed it and it seems like an opportunity missed to elevate someone else and in Swerve's case capitalise on his recent momentum (although thankfully he didn't take the pin). I would have preferred either to go up aganist Eddie in the final and make the outcome feel a little less predictable as surely it's Eddie going over now. Wasn't big on the promo after Eddie's match either, it really didn't add anything and was just a bit lame. Everyone knows the history, just have Mox check on Danielson, have a bit of a stare down and then leave and save the chat for the backstage bits to camera that have been so good all tournament. Eddie/Danielson was of course excellent and better described by others so i'll leave it at that. 

The Callus family/Sammy bit was pretty blah, didn't make a huge amount of sense (why did Sammy get so hot at his kid being in the painting?) and felt like a very long way to get where it was going. I'm assuming it sets up another multi-man tag titles match for tonight (i've not looked at the card given i'm an itver and generally behind on it all), which is presumably handy give all the Jericho stuff going on of late. It did make me wonder why Takeshka wasn't in the Continental Classic though - not sure who would have dropped out put him in while keeping him or someone else strong but he feels like he's lost a tonne of momentum over the past few months. It does seem to be becoming a bit of a theme where someone upper mid-card gets something going and then just gets forgotten about WWE style - hopefully the likes of Swerve, Rush, Jay White, Daniel Garcia don't go the same way post tournament.

Skye Blue/Stat was very good. Skye Blue's really come on a lot recently and it looks like she has a lot more confidence in hitting her key office that makes it look a lot crisper - the step up knee and the Code Blue are a lot quicker and smoother and as such look so much better. Probably helps that she's in there with the better/more experienced women rather than Anna Jay and Red Velvet who have better timing and she can trust to be in the right position. There's the basis for a decent women's division there with her, Julia Hart, Stat, Willow, Toni Storm, Shida, Mercedez Martinex and Jamie Hayter to come back.

Main event and all the devil was/is similarly blah aside from Joe's turn (if you can call it that). He's been made to look like a bit of a poindexter for the past few weeks so nice to see him look like more of a selfish killer bastard again. The doing business bit did make me wonder whether the Devil might be Don Callus with the masked folk being the family plus someone new (maybe Wardlow). No idea why they'd go to that kind of trouble or bother knocking off BCG a few months back but we're at reverse vampires/Rand corporation eradicating the meal of dinner with it at this point so why not. 

While I’m sure the league/tournament will be a good watch given the quality of the field, I can’t help but think they’ve shot themselves in the foot a bit with the, “Everyone banned from ringside” rule. I get the idea is that it’s a super serious tournament where only the legit best will win it but you’re taking away a really useful plot device to help build a narrative around someone (say Jay White using BCG in every match to get him through or sabotage rivals later on, giving fuel to say he’s cheapening the tournament etc.), protect people when they need to lose (looking at Jay White/Rush from this week – rather than have a weedy ref nearly gets taken out/hoy in the balls bit, you could have had the Gunns or Jay Whie distracting the ref while Juice pops Rush with the diamante ring, hoy in the balls for good measure and then a Blade Runner for the win to keep Rush looking strong and putting more heat on Jay White as a big cheating bastard or the Jay White/Swerve match getting thrown out after a BCG/Mogul Embassy donnybrook breaks out with neither man taking an L) or building matches/feuds spinning off from the tournament for a PPV or one of the many TV shows (Los Ingobernables return the favour later on or stop a BCG assist at some point to cost Jay a match leading to trios matches etc. I only really watch Dynamite each week so this may have already happened elsewhere but you get the idea). It could also help make some people look threatening and make some matches less telegraphed (in a rare non-Jay White example, Jay Lethal having the carney crew with him at least gives the possibility someone might interfere to let him steal a win somewhere or that they continually bungle it for laughs). You could even introduce the rule later in the tournament where Tony Khan’s gotten fed up of all the shenanigoats getting out of hand and ruining the spirit of the whole thing, much to he chagrin of a certain heel who has been getting a helping hand.

Win wise, I’d disagree with those who say it needs to be an established name to cement the rep of the belts. I think the strength of the field and the number of matches everyone needs to fight cements that from the off and it’s what they do with it afterwards that’s going to be the biggest decider of how the belts are regarded going forwards. I’d argue it would be better off giving the rub to someone mid/upper mid and giving them something to work with away from the main belt. One of these three:

Jay While (yes I like Jay White!) – fresh off a loss to MJF so he’s not going to be in the title picture for a while but still looks strong having only lost once in singles and being a former IWGP champ. With BCG he looks like he’ll be hard to get to and knock off and you can weave in various groups from different factions to different feuds.

Swerve Strickland – keeps his momentum going after the Texas Death Match and helps build him as a star while keeping him away from MJF while the devil/Samoa Joe/Wardlow stuff pays off. Similar to White, he’s got the Mogul Embassy around him who are already spread over AEW and ROH to make it easier to keep things going across the different promotions without him needing to be there every week and, when the time is right, you can have him drop the belts to Hangman (maybe at Wembley) to give him the big victory and allow Swerve to move on to the World title picture.

Daniel Garcia – bit left field but he’s also at that kind of level where the tourney win and the titles could help elevate him. He’s not big enough to be missed if he’s spending more time in ROH or on Strong and Excalibur pointed him out as an underdog when looking at the brackets. Could run something with the Don Callus family where he keeps up trying to woo him before giving up and eventually Takeshita and/or Hobbs going after him.   

12 hours ago, BomberPat said:

also doing Sparks tonight, can't wait - saw them at the Roundhouse last year, and that was one of the best gigs I've ever been to, fully expecting tonight to be even better.

Went to Portals on Sunday, not a lot of it was my thing, but in terms of new discoveries for me I loved GGGOLDDD, real third album Portishead vibes from them. The main reason I was there was for Mono, who were incredible as always. 

Caught a bit of Jambinai at the end - heavy post-rock, with traditional South Korean instruments; a recommendation for @Merzbow if not already on his radar - but unfortunately had to leave mid-way through their set to catch a train.

I also did Portals over the weekend - really excellent, well organised festival. I knew a couple of bands beforehand (Human Pyramid, AA Williams and Svalbard) but came away having been impressed with pretty much everyone I saw - in addition to those three, AK/DK, Mono (who I'd heard bits of but not a full album/set, who I agree were outstanding), Bo Ningen. Venue was great, good sound in all the rooms and never felt overly full at any point and really good selection of beer over (Signature, Verdent and Drop Project). My knees were absolutely screaming by Sunday night from all the walking and standing mind but that's probably more to do with me getting old and doing both days (well, from about five) on top of going to gigs the Wednesday and Thursday before as well.

3 minutes ago, ReturnOfTheMack said:

Off to London on thursday for a couple of days to celebrate the wife's birthday. Can any London folk recommend any decent pubs with a good selection of beers, preferably with food available?

Also had a can of this at the weekend. Bloody cracking beer! 

 

If you're into Belgian beer, The Dovetail in Clerkenwell does very good food and has an amazing selection of Belgian beer. Fairly central as well, about 5-10 minutes from Farringdon station.

For something a bit further out, the Hackney Church Brewery next to Hackney Central do really good food and decent enough beer.  It's also next door The Experiment, which is a shared brewery tap between Verdant and Pressure Drop (at least I think Pressure Drop are still involved, the Verdant beers are generally better anyway) which is worth a visit if you can get approval from the missus. 

13 minutes ago, SpursRiot2012 said:

Holy crap, is this *the* Ulf ist Gut?! How's it going!

Thanks for the advice. I happen to know that lecturers at my uni aren't allowed to give informal extensions (I've asked once before) and we have 'Mitigating Circumstances' forms that we can submit after submitting a piece of work to explain why it might not have been up to a certain standard or to ask for the opportunity to resubmit - forms they've made really dense and complex, bastards. I am on medication and what have you, so could probably get a doctors note stating that I suffer with this stuff, but honestly don't know how much help it would be.

I'll maybe give my uni a call tomorrow and chat with the disability team for some advice, and e-mail my final year project supervisor (who I have seen literally once all year and who cancelled the last meeting I'd had arranged with him and hasn't replied to an e-mail I sent with a question about a month ago). I actually am fairly sure I can complete the 2,000 and 3,000 word essays without too much hassle. For example, a couple of months ago, I wrote another 3,000 essay for Media Law about six hours before it was due and got a decent grade of 78 - God knows what I'd be getting if I started things earlier.

It's the final year project that is sending me into a spiral of dispair and binge watching TV shows when I should actually be working.

None other! I'm pretty, pretty good - I don't really have the time nowadays to post regularly or keep up with topics and just lurk in the shadows but given i'm a uni admininstrator it only seemed right give my two penneth.

I'd definitely see what you can do about the main project if that's what's causing the issues. it sounds like the support you're getting isn't great, which probably isn't helping so definitely get on them for some help, even if it's just to bounce some ideas off and help come up with an acton plan.

Re: The Mitigating/Extenuating Circumstances thing  - never be embarressed or compare what you're putting in for with anyone else. If something's affecting your performance then you've every right to apply for help. Usually as long as you've got evidence to submit with it and your requst isn't massively unreasonable it'll get accepted.

 

2 hours ago, SpursRiot2012 said:

I've fucked myself. I have well and truly fucked myself. I have a 2,000-word report to do by Friday which I haven't started yet. Usually not a problem - I've developed a terrible habit over my time in uni where I do my essays the day they're due or within a few days of the due date. Except I've just realised that, instead of my 3,000-word media law essay being due on April 22nd, it's actually due on April 2nd. OK. Not a problem. It'll be long, but I can do that. Except, like a prick, I've left even really *starting* my final year project (an entire website, including content like articles, images and video, aimed at 11-16-year-olds), which is due May 1st, until...well, right now. Oh, and that has to have a 4,000 critical practice essay accompanying it. I also have to work 2-3 days a week as a BDM.

I know that having let this all pile up is a byproduct - not exactly a symptom - of my depression and anxiety. But here we are, the end is right in front of me, and I could very easily have fucked myself down from a potential First to a 2:2 or worse by just not doing what I'm supposed to do.

I don't know what to do.

Well, I do. I should fucking start writing. Fuck. I just can't motivate myself. The fuck is wrong with me?

EDIT: Here, look. I made solid progress. I made a list. This is definitely not procrastination.

Have a chat with your lecturers in the first instance and see if they can give you an informal extension to any of it to try and take some of the pressure off – they want you to do well at the end of the day and it’s far better to let them know what’s going on in advance so they can advise/help rather than waiting for the deadline to pass and turning in something you’re not happy with.

If that’s not possible, you can probably apply for an extension through your uni’s Extenuating Circumstances process (basically an application to say that unexpected events out of your control have affected your ability to complete your work on time) if it’s health related and you’ve got evidence to back it up like a doctor’s note. Check with your department exam regulations/website or chat to your departmental administrators/lecturers and find out the process and go from there.

Might be a bit late in the day for this but I’d also try contacting your Disability Support office to see if you can get some Special Exam Arrangements in place  - this could also include extensions to deadlines rather than just extra time in sit down exams so again probably worth checking out to try and ease the pressure.  

Talking to someone at the uni would probably be a good idea from the sound of it. The Programme Lead would probably be the best bet in the first instance even if you've made up your mind to leave (about which i'd echo everyone else in saying it would probably be a bit premature this early on)  - they can either try and help allay your fears about the course, maybe give you an extension to the deadline/help with some contacts or ideas of their own  or possibly give you some pointers as to how to move forward if you do decide to leave.

 

Another option could be having a chat to someone in the uni Careers Service to help you work out whether it's worth sticking around or helping with an exit plan if you are determined to go. They may not have all the answers but they'll be someone away from the course to bounce some ideas off of and might help give you some direction.

Memory serves correctly, the other mod/admin was EdMac who I think was one of the co-founders or something. CTX was deputised in about 2003/4 along with JLM when it was decided we needed some mods who posted regularly.

I forget whether this is the right thread for these (probably not as it isn't a question), but i'm getting a malware warning on page 205 of the Misc football thread.

Such as meeting Captain Jack. Who just HAS to be back soon, doesn't he? Unless something happened to him in Torchwood (which I haven't been watching).

 

Nothing happened in Torchwood. At all.

I may be wrong but wasn't Rita the same doctor from the Welsh camp in Torchwood Gwen had a barney with?

No idea if this'll actually work (or if I have the colour schemes right)

 

Or the expectant mother equivilant of an ambulance chaser

New episode's just finished and I have to say it was fucking cool. Teasing heel Doctor a the end was all kinds of awesome and the way he was tormented with his concience all through the episode was genius. Properly looking forward to the Christmas episodes now.

:laugh:

 

The stuff about Leprechans and dragons is going to keep me smiling for hours, particularly

I thought of another one but admittedly it is a bit cumbersome - Mr. SeveyLynnMark

JLeven?

Can't say i'm disappointed with the decision. I think i'm about the only person who watched and enjoyed Party Animals and he's got that mix of youthfulness and geekyness that i find works well in sci-fi.

I've got a secret to tell you all...

 

I'm the new doctor!!!!!

 

Dr. Koo?

I saw the Fry in America thing and, while I enjoyed it I can't help but feel they've hacked a 26-part series down to three or four episodes. He seemed to whizz through half-a-dozen states in an hour and it all felt a bit rushed and perfunctory.

While I agree there were times when it felt really rushed, at the other end of the spectrum it's debateable whether there's really that much that is either culturally interesting or, perhaps more importantly, recognisible to the average viewer about each one. Most of the New England states are incredibly small and don't really carry the same romanticism that you have with the Deep South, Mid-west or West Coast regions thus by condensing them into little snippits it stops the show dragging too much. It's a difficult balancing act trying to feature enough without it starting to drag, although to be honest I think three or four is a bit short. A six or seven would have been my personal preference but i'm still really looking forward to the next one.I'm currently also enjoying the other series about America that's airing in Fridays. I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head but I enjoyed last weeks on water and the mid-west. It compliments the more light hearted Fry series perfectly for me. Takes me back to my uni course. Memories...Pretty much the only other new thing I watch regularly is Buzzcocks. I didn't think Mark Ronson was as bad as everyone claims he was. Granted he wasn't as good as Stephen Fry the new week but then his team didn't exactly help him in that department.

This is the song off the UKTV Watch ads with Richard and Judy on and is by a band called A Silent Film. For those who haven't heard it, it's worth a listen if only for the awesome piano part.

 

A Silent Film - You Will Leave A Mark