MrDuck

37 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

Scott Walker gone. 76. 

Very sad to hear this today. Astonishing singer, love his work.

20 minutes ago, blandy said:

Agreed. They’ve really picked up. Same goes for the Windies. This notion that England are miles ahead of everybody else is very wrong. It’s wide open.

I think on their day, England are still the best, by a distance. But England are inconsistent, and India, Windies, New Zealand and Australia are all well capable of winning this tournament. I think with home advantage as well that England are rightly favourites.

30 minutes ago, sharkyvilla said:

I'd still question whether this Aussie team can score 350+ regularly, which could conceivably be roughly par for the World Cup.  They'd at least need a firing Warner for that, Smith less so.

Well they never scored 350+ regularly with Smith & Warner, so I'm not sure how adding them back in will achieve that. Maxwell & Stoinis are the two players that can really get the strike rate moving. What they have now is a great team spirit and a winning side full of confidence. It it ain't broke...

Ominous signs that after a couple of years of being woeful, the Australian ODI side is now looking rather good, just in time for the World Cup.

5 away wins in a row, including 3 to win the series in India. All the batsmen scoring runs, to the point where people are starting to question if Smith and Warner should be in the team now, once their bans end at the end of March... I certainly think those two should have to wait for their chance, it would be very harsh now to replace any of the current top 5.

17 hours ago, snowychap said:

Nooooooooooo.

Ashes could herald new era for Tests with names and numbers on shirts

 

I've got no problem with this. In fact, I'd go as far as to say it's about time.

10 hours ago, Wainy316 said:

Just googled that.  Looks ace!  That's how to build a new stadium.

Yeah, but the pitch looks a bit rubbish

On 17/03/2019 at 01:17, chrisp65 said:

When Sara Pascoe started out I really didn't think she was very funny at all. Either I've tuned in to her sense of humour, or she's developed and grown in to the roll but I really enjoy her material currently.

 

Pascoe is brilliant. I find her and Katherine Ryan make me laugh more than any other comedians these days.

Because he's such a fantastic dribbler, I sometimes forget what a brilliant passer he is - he's played some sublime through balls lately.

First time I've watched a race in many years.

Definitely still the world's most sleep-inducing sport.

8 hours ago, VILLAMARV said:

 

Having not been to Australia I can't use it as a point of reference I'm afraid, but while we're at it, when did 'not being as bad as Australia' start being used as some sort of barometer of racism? Surely we only have to look as far as the 'irregular migrant processing centres' (Sadly I feel people will get used to that sort of phrase and variants over the coming years) on Nauru and Manus, or at it's historical treatment of the indigenous people to see what Australia thinks of it's fellow man. Perhaps we should set/use a higher standard?

 

Great point, well made!

8 hours ago, VILLAMARV said:

I've been to New Zealand a fair few years ago now, but I found it a rather racist (and sexist) place to be blunt. Not openly. But it's right under the surface.

The Maori had deep rooted issues with the settlers, The white people were often appalling in their treatment/opinions on Asians and Everyone seemed to make a scapegoat of the Bangladeshi's was my opinion on how it appeared when I left.

Not that it isn't also populated by some of the most lovely people I've ever met, but it's not all Sheep Farming and Bungee Jumping.

I've lived and worked in NZ and Australia for the last twenty years, and the countries are like chalk and cheese when it comes to racism. NZ has it's problems with race just like anywhere, but it has a relatively benign media, a progressive outlook on just about everything and a mostly rational government. The Maori have a lot of power which they have fought hard for, and while there are still issues, it's generally a very peaceful harmonious society.

Australia on the other hand - while being full of some lovely people - has a government full of racist dog-whistlers and actual dumb-**** nazis, is still only one step away from genocidal treatment of the indigenous people, and has a media predominantly run by Murdoch and his white-supremacist cronies.Sadly it came as no surprise at all to discover the shooter in Christchurch was an Aussie. Even our PM has been pushing his own anti-muslim agenda very publicly for a while now.

16 minutes ago, Rodders said:

 

from an elected official. Jesus Christ, that is insane

Anning is an absolute piece of shit of the highest order, whose hobbies include appearing at white supremacist Nazi rallies. Even by Australian standards his racism is extraordinary.

6 hours ago, Zatman said:

Ronaldo has always had people against him and in England its definite over 2006 incident with Rooney

Nah, it's cos he's a cockwomble. Astonishing player and athlete, but also a petulant diving diva who is about as likeable as a Tory MP.

3 minutes ago, Chindie said:

I'm not the biggest fan of GOTG2. It has really odd tonal problems, I don't like the change to Quill being powered (and thankfully they bin the idea in the finale), I thought the humour was forced too often, it wastes the Sovereign, baby Groot is one of the most cynical bits of marketing I've ever seen... I like the Yondu stuff and it has some surprisingly touching moments. It's not bad not not my favourite by any means.

Also X-Men are not MCU (yet).

Yeah, I know X-Men are not MCU... I think the standard for the MCU is really high, just making the point that as soon as you step outside to the other Marvel movies the standards seem to vary wildly.

With Guardians 2 I think it helps that I watched it a couple of times with my young daughters - their joy at baby Groot for example is pretty infectious!

Britain has become an international laughing stock over brexit. As an Brit living for many years overseas, its embarrassing and deeply saddening.

I thought GotG2 was brilliant. Totally stupid with gaping plot holes but loads of laughs, some of the comedy between the main cast is fantastic.

I don't think any of the movies fall below a 7/10, and even some of the least liked ones such as IM2, Hulk and Thor I thoroughly enjoyed. Spiderman was probably my least favourite.

Some of the X-men movies however.....

4 hours ago, Jimzk5 said:

There was a show on sky about 3 months ago showing them starting to get ready to turn it into a track

Why does it take 3 months to create it into a race track when other street circuits can do it in a week preceeding the race? 

'Straya mate, we'll do it in our own time when we're good and ready, and when we've finished this slab of VB.

I don't really know to be honest - but aside from the pit lane building (which most of the year is futsal/netball courts), there is literally nothing there but the park. Every single bit of F1 infrastructure has to be brought in and set up from scratch.

2 minutes ago, AJ said:

Because of the way FFP is set up, that is definitely true. As for having a choice though, I disagree. Do we really need to sell our best players just to make ends meet, or do we want to have a successful season on the pitch?

We don't need to sell our best players to make ends meet. We sell our best players because they want to leave, and once the player has made that choice we're basically stuffed.

He's so far ahead of most of the team these days. Basically our Matt LeTissier (but harder working!) - lifts everyone's game around him, and when he doesn't play we're crap.

Almost every club is a selling club now, not just us. We don't really have much of a choice, it's the modern game.

Ronaldo is clearly better, having done it for minnows like Juve and Man Utd. Anyone could do what Messi's done at Barca.

Melbourne Grand Prix is an absolute pain in the arse. For 10 weeks every year they move our futsal games from the Albert Park pitlane to the other side of the city to accommodate the damn race!