hogso

No comment.

Great recommendation! I watched his Squaresoft PS1 retrospective video today, good stuff. It did make me pine all over again for Racing Lagoon...

A serious, albeit based on second hand info, answer - the bloke who used to do the Hercules job was woeful at keeping time and would regularly not turn up on match days, so they had Bella go out on her own (Chip got the cut after the Lerner years iirc). Bella does a great job by all accounts, and with the Hercules suit needing some work, they decided not to bother with it at all and stick with Bella. For what it's worth, I quite like the idea of seeing the three mascots back together again, Lion, Lioness, and Cub - really pushes the 'Pride' aspect and I can't think of any other clubs anything similar. Downside, those bespoke suits are expensive, need regular maintenance which isn't easy, and there's not a massive impact on the majority of the fanbase if they're there or not. Source - work with as chap who has worked for Villa for many years as a compere, MC, tour guide, pre match flag waver and so on...and has occasionally donned the Bella suit, and recently he did some goalkeeping recently for a half time competition?

I had plenty licking the rim jokes whilst 'bartending' last night, and one request for a spicy rim

I've tried margaritas with a simple syrup, I know it's a staple for some...but I really don't like it in a marg! I want it strong with a nice thick rim of kosher salt. Main reason I asked was to see what others opinions were, there seems to be no concensus at all. I made a 3-2-1 measure yesterday for 5 or 6 people, I was in the minority for liking it strong so probably should have gone 2-1-1. Then again, I do love tequila. Currently looking at decent anejo's as a new years treat.

Cocktail makers - blanco or reposado tequila in a margarita, and 3-2-1 or 2-1-1 tequila, triple sec, lime?

I'm hoping Dragon's Dogma 2 makes it in to many GOTY lists for 2024.

I've jumped back in to the world of Kiseki, with probably my favourite game of the series, Trails from Zero - but the PS4 version.

I got the lovely boxset remaster with the documentary, shirt, and what not of Spiderland some years ago - but ordered just too late to get the signed version. Damn.

2023 became a year where Saetia, Pagenintynine, City of Caterpillar, Jerome's Dream and Orchid all played shows during the year or announced shows for 2024. That's a statement not many genre fans would have believed at the start of the year, with Saetia even playing a couple of shows in England (please Orchid do the same!!). It's for that reason that for the first time in about 15 years I've been more invested in skramz and emo - and adjacent sounds - than any other genre of music (the other highlight being Kristin Hayter's final performance as Lingua Ignota taking place in London which despite some technical issues was great). Fortunate then that there were 3 really great releases to coincide with the resurfacing of those bands who to many felt lost to the annals of history, gaining an almost mythic status, which shows that perhaps the genre has some legs in it yet. Loma Prieta - Last Portrayal of Guilt - Devil Music Home Is Where - The Whaler Loma Prieta and Portrayal of Guilt just make great music that I always would have enjoyed, but it's The Whaler that took me back to that time I thought long gone the most. It's classic mid west emo with The Pine and The Hated influence thrown in, and it's really great - it's also a concept album around the events of 9/11 which bearing in mind that the height of these genres in America was the late 90s and very early 00s only serves to make it feel even more poignant.

Kinda. Saying anymore than that would be spoilers. If you played Nioh, it's gameplay is similar, but more streamlined and accessible in order to appeal to typical FF fans.

16 yo keeper, we bought him from Posh for a reported 100k when he was 13 Source

Ha ha beat you

Inching closer to plat. Death March run completed yesterday - any semblance of difficulty for more or less the entire game is depleted to nil in NG+ if you have a good build around Euphoria. As long as you carry over sufficient items and a levelled Aerondight, you're laughing. The only slight caveat is the sections playing as Ciri, but even they aren't that hard. The toughest being the Crones fight, but once you deal with the camera and arena size, that's not so bad. And I say that as someone who generally isn't very good at video games. Just a couple of miscellaneous trophies left - Overkill (bleed, poison and fire inflicting upon 10 enemies simultaneously) and Master Marksman (50 enemies killed via headshot with a crossbow). And that'll be that. My current total playtime according to the PS5 clock for a playthrough doing EVERYTHING (OK maybe not everything but as much as possible, I think) plus this Death March run is 160 hours. I think I bought the game in a sale for like a tenner.

Yeah it's far too easy. I appreciate the accessory things from an accessibility point of view, but even without them, it's not exactly going to cause you any issues.

Development of the Last of Us Online game has been ended by Naughty Dog in favour of focusing their teams on the development of single player narrative games. Wheeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Hopefully the beginning of the end of Sony's live service plans.

I love long form analysis videos on YouTube. And I do mean long. The master of the format is probably Tim Rogers who will do 6+ hour reviews, but my favourite are the guys from Resonant Arc. Normally I watch video game related reviews, but they do some film ones too. Here's their Jurassic Park review which really emphasised to me what an incredible movie it is (with the only real down side being some utterly daft continuity errors which I can remember even as an 8 year old not making any sense and really annoying me). If you have a spare 4 hours and like that movie too, but perhaps wonder if it actually is good or whether the greatness you associate with it is down to nostalgia...this answered that question for me. I haven't watched it for years, but have a hankering to now.

Glad you're enjoying it. It's very much an ACTION rpg, which for a lot of long standing FF fans was the biggest criticism as there was not enough RPG. The second biggest criticism was the difficulty - even on the NG+ mode. Apparently the DLC which just came out does a lot to address that though.

The transported to Australia bit sounds OK, not sure about the rest. Has the actual cause of your infections been identified? One GP suggested to me it was bad luck which seemed...rather anti climactic? I did get the impression that a couple of the GPs expected me to fess up to some unusual sexual habit which may increase my risks, but no. Yeah, we've had a proper thermometer since the height of Covid. It's quite handy actually. My temp at it's worst was around 38, so not anything that concerning. Yet!

7 weeks ago I was really ill, quite suddenly, over the weekend. Symptoms of a fever, hot and cold spells, high temperature. I put it down to Covid initially. Shortly after that I had a lot of trouble urinating, and when I did it was really smelly and cloudy. GP diagnosed me with a Urinary Tract Infection following urine test showing positive for infection, 1 week of antibiotics. 2-3 days after that course, symptoms came back. GP gives me the same prescription for another week, but this time sends me for bloods. Bloods are done, everything checked comes back as within normal levels. During this time I've started to have pain in my back, sides (kidneys), testicles, thighs, although the UTI symptoms themselves have lessened. The worst thing really is having to get up during the night 2-3 times to urinate which is ruining my nights, bear in mind I also have a 3 year old. 2-3 days after the next course ends, symptoms return. This time the GP diagnoses me with epididymitis aka. poorly bollock tube. Different antibiotics, and this time, 2 week course. These antibiotics have almost no effect on symptoms it seems, and once the course is finished, my back pain in particular has gotten notably worse. Fourth GP does a prostate exam and explains one side is enlarged, refers me for the Prostate Serum Antigen blood test, as well as getting me an urgent referral to Urology at the hospital. PSA test comes back as slightly raised which may be down the infection I have (or have had) but below levels for concern. Consultant at urology does a prostate exam and says he's not concerned about cancer with that alongside the PSA result. However, he is concerned about the recurring infection which he suggests should be impossible for a male of my age. So I now have lined up, or will have lined up...an MRI scan, urine flow test, bladder retention test, camera up the wazoo to check my urinary tract test, semen culture test, oh and for me and missus to have STI tests too. I've never had a hospital admission, broke a bone, and I've been to the GP more times in the last 7 weeks than in the last 20+ years, so it all seems a bit mad. Unfortunately symptoms of prostatitis and a benign enlarged prostate or prostate cancer are all very similar, although the former appears to be the most likely explanation at the moment...although that's an issue far more common in 60+ years olds (I'm 37). Plus, I've already had 2 weeks of the most likely antibiotics to treat that with little improvement. So, it probably isn't cancer, but could be, but probably isn't. Dunno. I note that @drat01 advises the chaps to go and get checked out, the prostate exam isn't really that bad. I was geared up for having to have one, but I was sick and tired of feeling...well, sick and tired by that point, so was and remain more than happy to do whatever the heck they want to figure out what's going on. Name the Final Fantasy thread after me x

That's Juninho Bacuna, Leo's older brother Mate

Eh, he's OK. No JP though is he? I really wish at kick off he'd say '3, 2, 1...ACTIVATE' OH yeah, great result last night. Special shout out to Carlos' long ball distribution.

For God's sake do not seek it out to find out how truly awful it is, but there's a BBC one with Alan Carr where they show pictures, and the contestants have to say what it is. Say, a Toblerone, with the name blurred out. That's it. Think it's called Alan Carr's What's Dis