Meenzer

Managed to hold out until lunchtime. Not sure stocking up on Zywiec while surrounded by Lewisham College kids on their lunch break was much better for the ego really, but what the hell.

Aye, pastes are definitely a good middle ground between doing everything yourself and just using a flat-out jar of sauce (which are often hugely sugary/salty when you look at the stats). Gives you room to experiment with ingredients and figure out how it all works.

http://bakercatherine.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/whats-the-opposite-of-irredentism-or-sounds-of-a-different-borderland/ Blog post by an academic friend on the Scotland independence question and what happens to "us lot" (my words - she's from the south) if it becomes a reality. Could have gone in a music/pop culture thread too, I suppose, but the background is fundamentally political. Be kind.

I'm looking forward to it. Got tickets for a few things, including the closing ceremony. I'd probably be sick of the hype if I still lived elsewhere though, you get totally desensitised to the London bias in the media/government/society/etc. after a few years of living here.

Just finished the most evil bastard project for work, it's been hanging over my head all through Christmas/New Year. I know you shouldn't let things like that affect you but now that it's done I'm properly drained. What's the earliest in the day you can legitimately buy beer from the corner shop without garnering sympathetic/worried glances?

Indeed, I was so annoyed at having disengaged from music that I decided to properly dive into 2011. After trawling threads like this, review sites, general recommendations, even the charts , I ended up with no fewer than 320 albums I wanted to listen to. Second week of January and there's, ooh, 140 or so left go to... I know it's ridiculous but there's always some really good stuff in there so I just can't make it stop. Good thing I work from home really

Or get straight to the yolk of the matter with this: (I'm only half-joking actually, the recipes are pretty rudimentary and student-oriented (helped me through the first term or two away from home, mind you!) but there's some decent tips on how to prep veggies, how long things should be cooked for etc. Nothing you can't find on the internet these days I suppose, but it's useful to have it close at hand - referred to it on Sunday just to remind myself of the temperature/timing for Yorkshires for example.)

That was a tough one, incidentally. I had to decide between forum pedantry or the perhaps slightly predictable: ...while contemplating your little things in life?

Having a memory that goes back more than a few weeks. http://www.toontastic.net/board/topic/32064-the-little-things-in-life/

You should tweet your theory to Joey BArton.

In that respect it reminds me of:

For a while, aye. Then the technical problems kicked in and they got the sound back.

When the taxi-driver follows the trawler, eet ees because he theenks leftover pies will be thrown into the sea.

SCANDI AGGRO! HALLÅ! HALLÅ!

Howay.

I'm listening on here. Hospital radio! http://www.radiotyneside.co.uk/

(somewhat belatedly) Christmas telly was generally shite but one thing I really (and unexpected) enjoyed was Ratatouille.

Then he wouldn't be a professional(ly employed) footballer. Next! Obviously that was an exaggeration but you do realise ramadhan aint the only time when they fast throughout the yr. My point is this, if someones religious beliefs are going to affect their work performance to a point where the company is losing thousands, surely youd think there would be some sort of clause in his contract, giving him non paid leave or something. Without being discriminatory. il have a read me that article thanks. You take the highs and lows with every footballer. This one's a known alkie, this one gets a yellow card every time he plays, this one's genius but disrupts the dressing room, this one has Tourette's, whatever. Ba's understandably shaky form during Ramadan has been forgotten in light of his performance since - I don't really see the point in making a big deal of it now.

Then he wouldn't be a professional(ly employed) footballer. Next!

They should have a Biggest Loser-style show for that too, with a weekly "measure-in". "Last week you were 2.3 inches. This week... beep beep beep beep beep beep ...you're 2.2 inches! That's a loss of 0.1 of an inch!" </garraway>

There's some massive contradictions in the quotes there. Some blokes admit to talking to other blokes about their appearance - christ, man the barricades! - and suddenly we need to value being a fat cunt. No thanks - I'm one at the minute and it feels like being crippled. I understand that some people revel in being the way they are, and that's terrific, but equating "being healthy" to "feeling the pressure to conform" is just pitiful.

"Nessun dorma" existed before World Cup 1990? Nar, good choice - I suppose it's obvious to boil the Pavarotti legend down to this one piece, but there's no shame in being remembered for "making it your own", as Idol judges nowadays would have it. "Nessun dorma" will inevitably always be associated in my mind (and not only mine) with that last great summer of out-and-out childhood, when England should have made the final, when Cameroon should have been in the semi-final in the first place, when a tournament widely regarded as awful in hindsight still seemed like the most exciting thing in the world - Schillaci! Skuhravy! His name doesn't start with an 'S' but Roger fucking Milla! - and I'm not afraid to say that, if you catch me on the right/wrong day, Pavarotti effortlessly belting out the final part of the aria will invariably extract a tear or two from my eyes. Tramontate, stelle! All'alba vincerò!

If you're worried about Twitter's 140-character limit stopping you from making your point adequately, don't fucking make your point on Twitter.

Me neither I literally couldn't get to the stage where I could accept our victory till the third went in - an neutral probably had us down for the win 20 minutes before hand. 'Twas ever thus - 2-0 up at half-time in the 5-0 and it still felt like "next goal wins". I suppose it's a compliment of sorts to Man U's resilience/momentum/inherent flukiness, but it makes it doubly satisfying when you wipe the floor with them like on Wednesday.