Meenzer

Probably not going to have time for beers before Fulham tonight.

Looking around for flights to Hamburg/Berlin in April (as my February trip over got cancelled) and the flights back in particular are proving an absolute cunt (sorry Cath), hardly anything coming in at less than £100 unless I go Ryanair and even then it's £70-ish for the return leg.

Black pudding?

I would. You're the customer, after all... Then again, I quite enjoy the prospect of some Jillian-off-Biggest-Loser-style beatings.

Aye, that's a point, and most of the London unis/colleges think they're Oxbridge so don't go back till a bit later than the rest of the country.

Mind, my lack of dismissiveness (for want of a better term) is probably because I prefer diet drinks anyway. I'm sure many don't!

It's context though Meenz. If you maintain a mostly healthy lifestyle but still have the occasional binge , then fair dos. However, if you're bending light and kid yourself that by having "diet" coke alongside your mountain of saturated fats, you're somehow doing your bit to stay healthy, you should be shot with your own greasy shit. Course. But there's still no harm in cutting out 200 dead calories from your binge that you're only using to wash down the good stuff anyway. No harm, but little point either. I think my disdain for it comes from my sister, she'd have a large Big Mac meal, 9 nuggets, a flurry. However she'd make a point of saying " blah blah blah, but justa diet coke" in the same way as people would say "just a salad". And my whole point is it's daft to apply the same dismissiveness to everyone. We all know your sister's a special case anyway.

St Johns ideally as it's closest, but obviously not all the trains stop there. New Cross otherwise as it's marginally closer than Lewisham (and less of an uphill walk with beer legs). And no you didn't. There's a place down on Brockley Cross like that too, like there's this whole little underworld going on. Gawd bless Lahndan eh?

Oh, is this your place out Lewisham/Blackheath way? Canny. Dead easy for Waterloo on the trains too, takes 15-20 minutes all in.

It's context though Meenz. If you maintain a mostly healthy lifestyle but still have the occasional binge , then fair dos. However, if you're bending light and kid yourself that by having "diet" coke alongside your mountain of saturated fats, you're somehow doing your bit to stay healthy, you should be shot with your own greasy shit. Course. But there's still no harm in cutting out 200 dead calories from your binge that you're only using to wash down the good stuff anyway.

Aye, one of the nights here is "Intermediate/Advanced". Can't say I'm in any great rush to graduate...

Apologies if it's been discussed before etc. (and I'm sure it must have been), but do any of you gym bunnies ever go to spin classes? Any cop? I've been going to my gym for a few years now and never done any of the classes, which is daft since they're in with the price, and something involving cycling seems to make the most sense.

Have to admit I proper hate that argument. "You're already eating a Big Mac meal, why bother with a diet drink?" How's about the small matter of 53 grams of sugar?

Good man. Joking aside, there'll definitely be some of us out for whatever's televised when you're in town, so bring it on. (See, this is what I meant about over-planning. )

The London branch of the Trent Posse will add "Meeting JonTheMag for a beer in August" to its next agenda and vote on the proposed resolution. You will be informed of the outcome in due course.

I suppose you could always split the difference and agree to stay with him at first until you find somewhere for the rest of the month. Either way, good to have some kind of emergency backup plan in the event you can't find anything.

Showing Haagen-Dazs adverts during the American one on Living. Harsh.

Ultimately, if you don't get something lined up before you come over, just get a cheap (well, "London cheap") hotel for a few nights and you'll find something once you're on the ground. The company will probably be able to help out too, I'd have thought, whether formally or informally...

For what it's worth, I think you'd struggle to get from Canterbury to Waterloo in less than 90 minutes on the train. Which might swing it towards living in London, particularly since a monthly ticket on the train would likely cost a bomb. In my experience London accommodation tends to work on a pretty short-term basis, particularly if you're just looking for a room for a while. Even when I've been taking out a year's tenancy on a two-bed flat, say, it's always been a matter of finding somewhere within 4-6 weeks of moving in, no more than that - which is horrible for a compulsive over-planner like me, but the point is it always works out because there's plenty of supply to meet the demand. So I wouldn't sweat it too much at the minute, just start familiarising yourself with Gumtree and sites like that, and be ready to start responding to ads nearer the time. Also, FWIW, Waterloo is brilliantly well-connected train-wise - no need to restrict yourself to the tube map when looking for areas to live, take a look at the overland stations with lines to Waterloo and Waterloo East as well.

faulknmd here.

As for tonight, chicken and roasted butternut squash couscous is on the agenda. Not tried it before and I'm dicking with the recipe, so I'll not put it on here until/unless I know it's turned out edible.

You could use those anchovy-style sprats you get in tins at the IKEA food shop if you want something similar but a bit sweeter/milder. I use them in this Swedish potato casserole/bake thing called Jansson's Temptation (those kerrazy Swedes) and they're lurvely.

I don't know, I'd say there's a good case for people who reply to threads about things they have no interest in.

Loved the subtle foreshadowing with the interview to camera halfway through the episode about how the rest of the team are really close to each other. Hmm, I wonder what might happen later on?

Fucksticks! No, just a random competition on their sports pages, linked from the Fiver. Not a part of the world I'd ever have gone to if it wasn't free, but I'm quite looking forward to seeing how the other half lives (then skulking back to the hotel room because all I can afford to eat is supermarket sandwiches).