simonworden

1 hour ago, Chest Rockwell said:

I don't think I've ever seen a quad. How often are you eating four toasties in a single sitting?

There's quite a few on Amazon. I was going to post a link but it's not working. 

Been a few years but I used to be able to polish off all 4 in 1 sitting if I tried.

I thought I was bad that for 5vyears I lived in an apartment where the toaster needed to be shelved as the kitchen was tiny. I've sinced move partly due to this bit there really are some people in need of a good sit down and talking to on here. 

That said, being that there is no toasite machine for 1000 miles at least I did try to use the air fryer to make cheese on the other day. Did not work will be using the oven again until thanks to this thread I can buy a proper machine in the UK to bring back.

I always found the single sandwich machines a complete waste of time. If you aren't a lonely old lady you should have at least a double and let's be honest that's only as you can't afford a quad. 

Reminded by the dry up thread and a photo I saw online, Steak restaurants that insist on dividing up what should be all served as one dish into multiple items you have to buy separately. Absolutely no point to that other than a cash grab. If I'm ordering a steak I definitely want at least one carb and some sort of veg with it. Someone said it's so people can have choices and cheaper prices but it's not as the steak is usually still the same price. Give people options but Include them in the price. 

9 hours ago, Your Fight Site said:

Who should indict him? That’s gotta be… that’s gotta be Kane.

Hopefully they force Kane to be the only one in full costume again

From the briefest of times I've spent in Italy. No Italian would understand what that was breakfast wise. Typically it's a quick espresso and off they go. This would offend most!

I was in a beach bar once that offered am Italian breakfast that consisted of a large espresso and two cigarettes. Never found out if anyone actually ordered it. 

4 hours ago, Duke said:

When I'm ordering I always work on the assumption that you have to swap like for like, meat for meat or veg for veg. When I get rid of beans I usually ask for mushrooms or another hash brown (if I'm feeling potato deficiency)

Hash browns for me would be a complete replacement grey area. I'd accept another one or maybe two in place of meats but it feels like an upgrade on beans, tomatoes or mushrooms. Fryup economics are complicated. 

3 hours ago, Accident Prone said:

I love getting a fry-up from local cafes and bars because I get to see the look of horror on the server's face when I ask for the beans to be replaced with literally anything else. No space on my fry-up plate for bland ol' beans taking up valuable real estate.

If that's not enough to get me kicked out on my arse, asking for BBQ sauce instead of brown sauce or ketchup usually seals the deal. Obviously I'll begrudgingly take ketchup if no BBQ sauce is available because brown sauce is over-hyped English mush.

This is something that used to irk me when I worked in hospitality. Should items such as beans be replaced from a meal or the only option simply be to not have it? I'm sure you're more reasonable but I've had customers ask for beans/egg to be replaced with extra bacon and others who simply want to rebuild a menu. All looker shocked when you can't bend over backwards for them. 

Been a long time since I've had a proper fry up now. I do my best which usually involves bacon, sausage (not British) egg, tomatoes. Occasionally I'll get a hash brown but everything else is impossible or sold in such large quantities it's not worth it as the wife doesn't eat it. She's not British and doesn't get the fry up at all to the point if the authorities found out she'd never get another British visa. Crimes include wanting her tomatoes uncooked, needing to have cucumber, cooking her eggs to oblivion and dipping the whole catastrophy in horrific orange colored chilli ketchup. 

Not sure if it's all K-pop as mentioned but BTS seems to have some right militant nutters in their ranks. Don't dare say anything against the band, even that they are "not your cup of tea but others are welcome to enjoy them" and you'll be fucking strung up online if they can find you. 

Athough I think he is a twat, the fans went after James Corden for mentioning how it was "unusual" for the K-pop band to be at a UN summit in such a strong way you'd have thought they were there every week and Corden had no idea. 

In a lesser known story from Vietnam a few years ago a teenage boy got fed up with the fandom from his classmates and set up a BTS trollg group. Harmless stuff by all accounts just calling them talentless shites and the like to get a rise out if people. His classmates among other local diehards apparently petitioned the school to make him stand in an assembly and issue a formal apology. That might also be partly about society here which I'll leave alone but has always struck me as absolutely toxic. 

1 hour ago, air_raid said:

Yeah. What aided the cause of the ultimate renegade Steve Austin becoming such a popular antihero was that he would hit the Stunner on anyone that was previously untouchable - JR, Commissioner Laughter, even Vince - because he didn’t give a shit about the consequences. But there were consequences - he had two titles stripped from him, he was suspended, he was carted off by coppers. But he didn’t give a shit.

Today everyone who takes a GM role expects to get beaten up, half the rosters had a pop at Vince, Ortons beaten up Stephanie, even Linda got tombstoned by Kane. You keep nothing sacred and eventually you’ve got nowhere to go.

But then we also get the worst of the opposite where everyone is terrified of Stephanie McMahon for the most minor of infringements.

I just remembered that my secondary school used to have an annual "charity day" which involved no lessons and a day full of various activities and fund raising. Some things were quite decent that you could sign up for like helping out at an old people's home or making cakes for something charity related while others were quite shit and either time killers (Christmas card making comes to mind) or pretty much slave labour.

This includes tidying up the local vicarage garden which was a massive private fucking grounds. I remember the posh wanker dictating that we really had to focus on getting all the leaves and stuff off his private tennis court. Thinking back now it makes me kind of angry how none of us questioned the charity element. 

The main attraction of the day was the talent show which involved a number of dances, band performances and other dreadful things. It was actually considered a big deal but I can't remember many specific performances outside of the time we danced in drag mambo 95. A number of the more geeky kids trying to do the funny walk Monty python sketch and the only thing saving them from a proper booing was that a kid had a fit on the floor. Oh and a band I was friendly with but we're shite deciding to play in the aisle and getting into a fist fight with a chav in the year below.

Now I write about it I'm genuinely surprised it took them until 2002 to can the whole thing.

2 hours ago, air_raid said:

The whole Final Four deal was the match over it. Austin in there with the three guys he illegally eliminated to determine who deserved the Mania title shot. Originally scheduled for Sid winning the belt in Lowell and Taker winning Final Four (potentially Shawn costing Bret, IIRC) leading to Sid vs Taker and Bret vs Shawn at Mania. Hastily rejigged to Bret winning the match and the belt then dropping it the next night to Sid.

Three points of interest - it’s unbelievably weird watching back the Rumble and Raw the next night re : Bret and Austin while reminding yourself that in the plan, this isn’t being blown off at Mania, and that Austin will work Smithers instead. Secondly, I think it’s crazy that if HBK wasn’t injured regardless, Final Four would have been the 3rd PPV in 5 that they ran without him, despite positioning him as the top guy (all three In Your Houses).

Finally…. I always thought “Final Four” was a misnomer, as after Austin winning and Bret being last out, the second to last guy eliminated was Glen Diesel, by Hart. I guess “Four From The Final Five” isn’t much of a name.

……….. if you say so.

Ah I forgot that detail quite honestly. Never watched the TV between rumble and mania in 97 but Final Four is a great little ppv and an easy watch at two hours long. 

9 hours ago, Liam O'Rourke said:

Does Bret/Austin in 97 count?

I guess so. Did they ever have a match over it or was that shitcanned when Shawn lost his smile?

I like to assume that Shawn Michaels still has the only copy of the WWF rulebook since 1999 and hasn't given it back so they just go off the dodgy memory of Vince and pals.

Is the only time they've done a Rumble finish with a legit grievance Rock/Big Show in 2000?

I still get annoyed with Mysterio defending his win against Orton, losing and then Long putting him back into the match straight away. I know a babyface should always take the courageous route but why couldn't Rey have just gone "Nah mate, not doing it". Logically the shit shouldnt have been on the line then Orton wins at No Way Out and pressures Long into being added so there's more heat on the match's only heel. 

The school bus heirachy was always a big tradition in my school. Being from a village 6 miles from school we had private coaches intake the kids in and out. Year 11 always had the right to the back seat and 2 or 3 rows in front followed by year 10 then it got more mixed with only the year 7s cowering at the front. When the gcse's were over the year 11s fucked off and everyone moved up a bit. You then typically had a 2 week period or work experience when year 10 were gone too and the back should belong to year 9. Except when we were that age some year 8s tested their luck and stole the seats. That was until the next day when a fairly unhinged kid gave one a good punch accross the jaw and threatened the rest with a screwdriver. 

By the time we were in year 11 though we were all mates again and the tradition had been long forgotten as most in the top two years were mates or having gropey relations with someone in the year above/below so it quickly went away. 

On a side note a few colleagues of mine have told me in Korea there's a school tradition of the boys 'testing' a teacher by making a gun sign with their fingers, sneaking up behind the teacher and poking them up their arse.im not sure if this is foreign teacher hazing or a general 'tradition'.

I've been a fan for a few years but I've found with the gaps in the series I'm struggling to work out what's going on and if people are dead or just not in it at the moment. 

13 hours ago, WeeAl said:

Cesaro was in a perfect spot teaming with Sheamus. A pair of tough, hard hitting heavies. The middle ground is completely gone these days though. Years ago we all had mid card favourites that we didn't expect anything more from. These days so many people think that anybody they think is good, is "getting held down if they don't have a run with the belt". No they aren't, they are just a good mid carder, and what's wrong with that? 

It seems to have gone from "who could rise out of the midcard?" To "why haven't they been given something above the midcard?"

Having guys doing 10 to 15 or even 20 year runs all the time probably doesn't help. I feel like some fans want people like Ziggler and Cesaro to have the belt almost like a "long service" award. It used to feel like for most guys if you hadn't risen ona certain level consistently in the first 5 years you weren't going anywhere and would be out on your arse sooner rather than later. 

Cody and Brandi are starting to feel like a prom king/queen who never moved on a year or two after highschool. Back in 2019 they were an important part of the show and cosy especially worked as a focus point. He's had a hand in building the foundations and getting everything going while his early feuds were some of the more captivating stuff. 

Now AEW has a range of establish guys old and new all co fortavly doing their own thing. Even the rest of the founding members have evolved as characters from where things started. However those two can't seem adapt to their new more "grown up" surroundings.

Does their reality show actually draw many viewers? It comes across as a complete vanity piece for them. Surely the only ones watching it are AEW fans who hope to possibly hear some backstage tidbit they didn't know. It's a concept done to death by WWE. 

Main event was fantastic and although a little long was something I enjoyed for being a bit different. The match clearly meant aot to MJF too and you could see him thanking Punk after the cover which was nice to see but perhaps the camera could have waited a few more moments to let that stay between the wrestlers and the thousands in the building. 

Today I managed to pop to the bank and pick up my new debit card 1 day early by chance which cheered me right up as it's a week long public holiday from today and I didn't think they would be arsed to sort it out before. Then heading to work all the traffic lights went green for me and the food court at the university had freshly fried up spring rolls. This has put me in a brilliant mood which my students are sure to break in about 40 minutes.

Generally when I'm feeling really downtrodden a good ride on the motorbike (scooter) out of the city and into the mountains cheers me right up. Having a coffee and a smoke on a mountain side with nobody around is perfection to me. I've managed to convince the wife to let me go off for a couple of days as a mental health break in a weeks time and I can't wait. 

I will admit I own a small amount of crypto and it's the big names. It basically makes up the high risk component of my savings/investment and if it all went away tomorrow I wouldn't really dwell on it. Outside of a mate who I've always discussed investing with I mention it to no one. The whole thing is a bit of a shit show really and seems to be run by teens/ early 20s people who have far too much money for their age group. I see some benefit in the application but it's murky waters right now.

NFT's though are a fucking load of stinky dog piss. It literally seems to be floppy haired millennials and gen z's using the word 'bro' in short videos to talk about them without actually giving any hard evidence. South Park hit it on the head with adult Butters in their recent TV movie. I can't understand why anyone would want to buy works of 'art' in jpeg form which wouldn't compete with anything in a UKFF MS Paint comp and the only way I could see a market for pics of that high value is if celebs were sharing exclusive images of their private parts. 

With both of these things I stand by a rule that someone told me which is when you start seeing other people putting their energy into trying to sell you a product/service they don't own themselves, it probably means you're more likely to get shafted. 

That said I have heard/read about some applications for NFT's as membership tokens, season tickets and other forms of contract that could then be easily traded but none have actually come into fruition yet which also says a lot. 

4 hours ago, patiirc said:

Bit out of the loop, but where does being an independent contractor vs employee fit in here? 

 

Surely Ali can go tell WWE to fuck off xx 

That always baffles me as well. I assumed it was either that you CAN leave but not wrestle for the time period or even simply can't work. Perhaps it's a out people's financial situation as well. If he needs money coming in he might be less inclined to leave than say Pac who may have had a bit saved up or conned his way into getting a giro once he got back to the UK. 

8 hours ago, Fatty Facesitter said:

Recalling some memories with a friend today of past shows we've attended. We both attended WWE's first UK-based Raw taping in 2004 at the MEN. The opening dark match pitted Maven against the one and only Robbie Brookside. Presumably Regal got him his foot in the door for that - not sure if was some sort of tryout match for him or if he was just filling a slot for the evening. I don't remember much about it other than it was fairly short. 

 

Didn't know about that one. I know he was used on Raw in 2007 which I assume was through Regal. 

Reminded me of Raw/Smackdown in London in 2012. Can't remember which taping (Smackers I think) but in non televised matches we had Dean Ambrose pre shield who cut a pre match promo too and Cesaro. It was the same show he debuted in a segment but the match didn't air. 

A weird a disappoining TNA one from a few months prior in Wembley was after the taping the dark macth brawl had a 25 second Kurt Angle appearance. I think he did one move and fucked off backstage again didn't even pose for the crowd. 

12 hours ago, Fatty Facesitter said:

There’s nothing preventing it from a logistical perspective. He’s even been on a Main Event taping while these vignettes have been on. I’m guessing it’s Vince and his constant, nonsensical rewrites that keep preventing his actual re-debut. 

He’ll be released in the next wave of cuts post-Wrestlemania. If he makes it any further past that, good on him. 

Surely he's going to burst out at some point to Ernest Miller's theme and grace us with a dance routine. This has all the hallmarks of being the "Funkasaurus 2 - Bollywood Edition"

22 hours ago, air_raid said:

I’d say it’s far more likely to add some spice to the Rumble. Give Charlotte someone popular to throw out before she’s dumped by her eventual challenger.

I wouldn’t rule out Lynch entering and winning to set up champion vs champion.

If the do end up going Roman/Brock title Vs title I could see them wanting the symmetry for the women's match as well

45 minutes ago, air_raid said:

Or it could have been any match at all really?

Sounds like a dream rather than a memory. Savage defended the belt against Shawn in Sheffield in 1992 as per the UK Rampage tape and he and Flair never appeared on the same show in the city.

Getting back to things that actually happened….

10th Feb 2009 SmackDown in Fresno. Makes sense for him as he was working California indies that week and it’s another payday. How it works for them, who reached out to who, if there was a view to future dates, I’d love to know. Maybe it was just one of those “added value” deals for the fans that came. I’m not sure the company ever got away from wanting that feeling of “Anything can happen in the WWF/E!”

 

I don’t know if that holds up considering they gave Boss Man another run. He’d been an even bigger part of the late 80s/early 90s WWF and been treated as glorified job fodder by WCW in 96-98 far more recent to his rehire than Tenta, but they gave him a new look and storyline reason to be involved, and he was a featured act, still called “Big Boss Man” without an attempt to hide he was a star from a bygone era.

They’d used Earthquake in “The New Generation” without batting an eye, I’m not sure it’s much of a stretch to bring him back in 1998. The reinvention is straightforward. You give him new gear, still call him Earthquake to invoke any of that dread factor that’s still there for long term fans, and bring him up to date for the times. Have him cut out references to literal earthquakes in his promos and the theatrics before his finish and have him make it clear he’s a paid heavy here to take out Austin. The question used to be asked “What would we do if it was Hulk” and the answer was often “a new monster” so I think they could have done this with Stone Cold to give him a one month break from Undertaker and Kane or even just something else to worry about on Raw episodes.

Although to play devils advocate, the exact same story could have been done with “paid off super heavyweight terrorizes Austin” in 1998 with Vader who had far more upside and was already on the payroll, and they didn’t. So if they couldn’t see a point in Austin vs Vader maybe Austin vs Earthquake would be too much of a stretch.

I wouldn't say Bossman was in a true prominent position feuding against any real top stars though even with a repackage. He was definately A lower mid carder/ lackey for the most part. Quake could have fit in with that, perhaps coming in a few months before the corporation caused him to miss the chance to be an extra heavy against DX/Austin. 

This does make me reflect on how few big opponents Austin actually had in his 98-99 run.