Donald J Trump

On 1/16/2024 at 9:18 AM, Loki said:

Where are you up to now, @Keith Houchen?  Has Terminator 2 arrived yet?  That's usually the moment people step off the ride.

I never watched X Files, is it an actual T2000 or just Robert Patrick doing his standard agent/authority figure routine? 

I buy the explanation that she didn't listen to it. It doesn't appear to be the "shopping for tractors" crock of shit people people resort to when they know the games up. Based on how the platform works it's entirely plausible, and I have a hard time believing that somebody in her position would think that's acceptable, although it does happen. 

That doesn't mean she's off the hook though. If I'm posting anything on a platform where I'm identifiable, I'll take reasonable steps to make sure I'm willing to stand by the content. If a member of my staff done something like this on the company account, the fact that they didn't check it was appropriate would be pertinent. As for the consequences, there are few things as contentious or as serious as racism. That being said, I think an outcome that doesn't involve her losing her job would be more beneficial to everyone concerned, and race relations more generally. 

My German accent isn't great but I am prepared to play up to offensive stereotypes if you need to verify with a fake phone call. 

2 hours ago, Devon Malcolm said:

There's an alternate timeline where centrist dickshits like JOLYON Maugham don't have to write tweets like this because a Prime Minister gave everyone a place to live.

The infuriating thing is that there's nothing inherently far left about it. It wouldn't need a radical Prime Minister to achieve something like that, it should be something that draws support across the political spectrum, apart from bloodsucking libertarian types from dodgy think tanks. It's a huge mistake on Starmers part that he hasn't taken a strong position on something like this. It's reasonably politically neutral, it wouldn't be toxic to the type of voters he's working flat out to court and it would be something that progressives would welcome. There's absolutely nothing for them just now.

Increasingly as well, homelessness isn't one of those issues that happens to someone else. The number of people who are one paycheck away from serious trouble is terrifying. A big vision on housing would be transformational and very popular, but instead we're getting special, super agents as an alternative to Rwanda. 

I'm enjoying these write ups on RDR2. It would be a bit of a stretch to suggest that it's an intentional feature of the game, but the way a lot of people feel about St Denis is how you have to imagine someone like Arthur would feel when venturing into a big city at a time like that. The only quibble I had is that I think I might have preferred a more generic big city that isn't based on anywhere in particular, but it did have a distinct personality and fit in well with the surrounding area. 

I've been slightly obsessed with the Forza series lately and have gotten back into Forza Horizon 4 in quite a big way. FH5 is great, but being able to drive past places I can see from my house is still mind blowing to me. I wish the Horizon festival would fuck off as the whole thing is full of insufferable irritants, but other than that it's as good as it gets for driving games for me. 

Thanks folks, it hadn't occured to me that I might be unintentionally stinking up the cheery thread with negativity so apologies for that. On a positive note, I'm getting there and kind of begining to get back to some normality. I wouldn't have even thought of getting involved in a thing like a forum 12 months ago, so some progress. Wrestling the "White Noise" award away from the clutches of Keith Houchen has really given me a sense of purpose. 

About 6 months ago I happened across a tweet from a chap I didn't know who shared news with his followers that he only had 6 months to live. I started following because I was more than a bit moved. I lost my own daughter a couple of years ago in similar circumstances but it also appeared as though he was getting a lot of strength and support from sharing what he was going through on twitter. He has just shared news that he's still going strong and feeling good. I don't know this man, and have only ever interacted with him on social media, but it gave me a real lift. 

1 hour ago, Keith Houchen said:

Because I meant to put Dumbarton!

Shame, I was hoping that I'd somehow missed out on what would have been an interesting development. When you've got Barbara Dickson as your prized export, you'll take anything. 

On 5/14/2024 at 4:47 PM, Keith Houchen said:

Happy birthday to Dunfermline's finest. 

 

Genuine question as a Fifer, why do you refer to him as Dunfermlines finest? 

I've just posted on another thread about the "Streisand effect" and I've just realised that her name is Barbara Streisand. I've been calling her Barbara Streisland forever. I've genuinely never noticed until now. 

30 minutes ago, FLips said:

Indigenous artist Vincent Namatjira recently did a painting of Gina Reinhart, Austalia's richest woman and a billionaire heiress to a mining empire that by most accounts everyone thinks is a rancid human being including some of her own kids. She wants the painting taken down and the gallery is refusing to. It's wonderful.

The Striesand effect also contributing to someone being brought down a peg or two is always the icing on the cake. 

Whenever I say anything remotely warm about someone (not on here) there's a never ending stream of bad news almost immediately but most of the stuff I've seen about Mr Beast is stuff like him being "exposed" for only spending 3 days inside an active volcano instead of 5. I'm sure there's some creative license there and he's a showman, but he appears to do more good than harm. 

12 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Speak for yourself.

I'm not a left leaning Labour voter, but yes that is only my opinion on where most current Labour voters who are left leaning will be with this guy. There will of course be plenty of people who either don't fit that description, or who completely disagree. 

It would really suck for Paul Mason if he finally manages to secure a Labour candidacy in a seat Labour have won at every election since the 1930s only to lose. Would be an ideal pick for Labour though. The race in Islington North will be one of the most high profile, heavily scrutinised in the country. You don't want to put a green candidate in there that can't walk and talk at the same time, but it's an outside bet so not every prospective capable candidate will fancy being parachute dropped into North London. He's also somebody left leaning Labour voters wouldnt need to hold their nose to support either. 

4 minutes ago, wandshogun09 said:

I had no idea these two ever crossed paths in the ring.

 

That's absolutely beautiful. I'd be buzzing for that today, in 1983 I think my head would explode. Anyone got any ideas as to where I'd be able to find any of these matches in their entirety? 

I feel like the Snakeskin trousers should have been on this figure - 

45 minutes ago, air_raid said:

Ham hock. We'd call it pork knuckle.

Now we're talking. Ive always been under the impression that Ham Hock and Ham Hough were the same thing, but I'm definitely not going to die on that hill. I think it's always said "Hough" at the butchers. It's either a Scottish thing, or I've been buying something else entirely. This isn't my picture, but I did have some Potted Hough yesterday. 

3 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

I'm not so sure. Back in that time period it was pretty standard practice to throw a monster heel to the top of the card to sink or swim against the top babyfaces. As for the character itself, they were throwing any old mad shit at the walls back then - I don't think an undead zombie stood out particularly as a creative risk.

I agree with much of that but I didn't suggest it wasn't common, or indeed that it doesn't work. As air_raid said that is what happened with Undertaker and it's happened many times before and since. My interest lies in the long stretch between being brought in as convincing foil for Hogan and going on to have the career that he's had. If you're looking at it as being just one in a long line of monsters appearing there's little remarkable about it, or the character. When you look at the entire career of the individual, spanning from the "size of that ham hough" through to being the icing on a very satisfactory cake at Wrestlemania 40, that's where I think it's a bit more than business as usual. 

Supergran actress Gudrun Ure aged 98. She had a good run. 

The Undertaker will tell you that his run as the American Bad Ass allowed him to work differently than he had been able to up to that point. You could see why going from being ostensibly dead to a brawling, arse kicking biker would bring about a change of style, but he'd already lost some of the zombie like rigidity by that point. 

I think the Undertaker as a character is more of a risky proposition creatively than some people allow. Obviously his positioning helped but I don't think immediately catapulting a big guy to the top of the promotion and presenting him as impervious to most attacks is necessarily a guaranteed home run. Audiences were more easily manipulated back then, but you can't brainwash people, they'll either like it or they don't. When you look at how much effort the guy put into "protecting his gimmick" over the years, it speaks to a guy who's a little bit more than just lucky, and I've never had any reason to doubt his professionalism. There's also an element of that intangible, indescribable magic that brought the act to life and gave it legs over the years. Juxtapose how seriously the guy approached his work, then look at Paul Bearers face during some of the promos. This was some out-there hokey shit at times and I don't think you can easily manufacture something like that. I even find meaning in how it ended, in that father time caught up with the Undertaker before audiences got fed up with him. Sure, there were voices to the contrary, but for me it was more a case of "I wonder if Undertakers got one more Wrestlemania in him" than "give it up, Mark". 

When he first took that call from Vince he was in a better position than most are at that stage of their career, but there were no guarantees. 

I've no idea why, but I've always had a preference for straightforward acronyms that make the promotion seem like a psuedo governing body for an actual sport. WCW,  NJPW, WWF, NWA - this is what I want to see. 

41 minutes ago, MB1975 said:

notwithstanding the lack of financial knowledge here of course, (and inability to divulge financial details):

Do you mean lack of financial knowledge on your end or among users of the forum? 

Eurovision hasn't been a completely safe bet for puritanical family friendly fun for years. Thats not to say that I think they've ever crossed a line, but anyone watching in 2024 must be aware that there might be a touch of gaudy, titillating eurotrash, whether it be Dita Von Teese doing burlesque or enthusiastic Polish milkmaids. It's always existed in a bit of a vacuum, in that aside from the occasional song troubling the charts it is for the most part culturally irrelevant. Once the nights over, it's pretty much all forgotten about. 

The Israel situation is likely a combination of two things. They are extremely effective at getting their message out. If the county you lived in suddenly became independent and adopted a made up language, any Israeli spokesperson appearing on local TV would almost certainly be speaking that made up language, and they may even have a local accent. The other factor is that it's easy to underestimate how much support there actually is for Israel. It's not a silent majority, but it's big enough to not be insignificant. 

Edit - Adding the most underrated entry in the history of the competition. For reference. 

I'm adding this here under the "whatever else" banner. I'm a fairly recent convert to AEW. For various reasons, I just didn't have the time or energy to get on board with it when it started but having checked it out it's much better than some of the analysis and sentiment from some quarters would suggest. I still don't have heaps of time, but I want to keep up with the current product and catch up on some of the stuff I've missed as I gather there have been some real highlights, especially on PPV. I'd greatly appreciate answers to a couple of questions -

What TV is must see in terms of making sure I don't miss any exceptional matches? Are there any shows i can afford to skip? What should be the priority? 

Is there much value in watching TV from the past? Is there a run of shows that made for exceptional television, or any great matches that weren't on PPV. There's a lot I'm not going to see of course, but if there's anything that stands out, that would be great.

Finally, are there any PPVs that stand out? Any world class matches on an otherwise unassuming card? Are there any turkeys that are so bad there's no value in watching them? Watching them all isn't out of the question, and just now I'm leaning towards watching them in chronological order, but if a case can be made for an alternative I'd happy to hear it. 

One more thing actually, is the streaming service worth paying for? I think I'm right in saying that Dynamite is on ITV, with current Collision and Rampage shown on Triller. I think as well that you get older PPVS on the service? I don't mind paying for Wrestling even if there's an alternative, especially when a promotion could use any revenue it gets. Are there any alternatives to Triller?

Apologies for the "hatched out an egg yesterday, who's your favourite Wrestler" stuff but any steer on where to start and where to focus would be very much appreciated.

1 minute ago, Devon Malcolm said:

@Big Benny HG's coverage of the shows he goes to are a constant Twitter highlight. Great fun to read.

I'm definely making sure I keep track of this from now on. That video was tremendous. It managed to capture the vibe and spirit of what the show was actually like in a way that others just dont. I could vividly imagine being there. Brilliant work Benny. 

I like that someone papered over the window on the red door. It helped add to the anticipation of who was about to walk through it.