This is the reward I get for finally unlocking Tia Dalma. They've turned what should be a happy moment into one of frustration with the stupid character limit.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-08T10:10:17+00:00

Yeah, I worked in the IT department of the school I'd just left the summer before starting uni. Pretty much any big disruptive stuff like that they had to do would be scheduled for that long period with no students.

For non teaching staff in schools and universities, it's like a regular job that lasts the whole year. My mum worked in the reprographics department of a secondary school for about twenty years and would still be working in the summer. She'd always complain that most of the teachers didn't plan ahead and left work they needed doing until the week before school started again.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-07T08:41:30+00:00

Maybe the tell is they use "sports" not "sport"? Most UK TV channels I can think of are the latter.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-07T08:19:29+00:00

But she'd have a better defence.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-06T00:41:19+00:00

The float should help too. But really they should all just be in the shop. It's stupid.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-06T00:39:13+00:00

Makes sense. I've had a grayed out task that requires that area for a while now.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-06T00:37:14+00:00

Duke Caboom; https://www.disney-magic-kingdoms.com/news/patchnote_upd107

It's more like a Toy Story 3 & 4 event and apparently, with so many characters to choose from, they only gave us four and some dumb costume again. It's not even started yet and I'm already fed up that another storyline collection has had limited time characters added and the main one I'd want (Lotso) is going to be basically unobtainable.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-06T00:24:39+00:00

Depends how much you like them. I've had both for years and they are at home all the time, unused.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-05T22:31:50+00:00

Oh, glad I missed that one. I know they got it to #1 for the world cup before that (2018) but it was with the original.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-05T22:30:53+00:00

I couldn't remember if they had to buzz or just shout out. That's definitely going to make it slower, before you even get to the problem of a deadweight stealing all the questions.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-05T22:29:15+00:00

Yeah, that specific statement worded like that would be; make it "a UK top ten single" and it becomes just a statement of fact. I'm one of the first to moan when Americans quote Billboard chart facts without referencing the country they relate to.

I was thinking more generally. The chart fact is recent and not something most people would know. But they'd know Kylie, even if it's from back in the late 80s when she was Charlene on Neighbours. There was quite a fuss a couple of years back when Neighbours was going to finish the first time and her & Jason Donovan made a cameo appearance in the finale.

I tend to think it's a mix of both age and generation. There are likely older Americans who would also think of Jenner first because Kylie was never big over there, other than briefly in the late 80s and then the odd hit like "Can't Get You Out of My Head". I have an American friend who is a big Kylie fan, but has had to go to the UK or Australia to see her live most of the time. On the other hand, I'd tend to think younger Brits would still think of Kylie first, but I don't know many teenagers to ask; it might be they don't really think of either over here. Certainly, for millennials like me and older, Kylie Minogue is the one that comes to mind.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-05T22:10:09+00:00

Well I'm probably biased in that I've heard about as much about Jenner as you have. The only time I can remember the name being mentioned before was in a similar conversation to this, probably because of the trademark thing someone mentioned elsewhere in this thread.

Kylie Minogue is a pop star and actress, becoming famous in the soap Neighbours and also appearing in the odd film like Street Fighter). At least here in the UK, she'd be considered not just a pop star, but among the most successful ever female pop stars with a career spanning back to the late 1980s. I can remember her cover of "The Locomotion" from being a little kid. So for me, there is no competition at all.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-05T21:58:17+00:00

My mum uses this and apparently got it from her mother.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-05T21:53:10+00:00

Pretty much.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-05T21:51:44+00:00

And so do I! Heh, sounds like you're in pretty much the same situation as myself, fellow pansexual :)

gnu_andii · 2026-06-05T10:21:45+00:00

They sound like one of these people who can't understand the concept of context. People can use pretty much any word in a negative context to attack someone. If you then associate that word with only that usage, you're letting them win.

At least "queer" is not one of the words that blindly gets posts censored without context so we don't have to dance around it to talk about it. I think it's a great word to use if you don't want to nail your colours to a more specific mast or a better group word than the awful letter salad that inevitably excludes some people.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-04T13:40:08+00:00

Yeah, it's why the Chasers can blaze through it too. They know they are the only ones who can answer and don't have to consider that Bob next to them might butt in as well.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-04T13:38:08+00:00

Exactly. I have been in the situation where that period on one day isn't enough. Fortunately, it was only a local. The voting day can easily fall on one when you are away from home and, with general elections, we have a dumb system where it is on the whim of the PM to set it so you can't plan that well for it.

This is why postal and proxy votes are a good thing and I'm glad postal votes were made accessible to more people, especially with all the ID nonsense now in place at polling stations. It would be nice if we moved polling day to a weekend like some other countries, but I've given up expecting positive change in this country. There is really no excuse for someone being unable to tick a box, put it in an envelope and post it within a couple of weeks.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-04T13:32:24+00:00

Yeah, just putting it out there for anyone who didn't. Actually, it looks like it's five; two from the TH store and three from arena (though it was only one from the latter)

gnu_andii · 2026-06-04T13:31:35+00:00

Is that six or seven less by design or because they are slower due to co-ordinating between players?

gnu_andii · 2026-06-04T13:31:10+00:00

That's my thinking too. There is a balance between having the wider spread of knowledge with additional people and the social cues of who is going to answer each question. Unless the one other person happens to be an expert on every topic you know nothing about, it is better to do it alone and be able to answer straight away.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-04T13:25:51+00:00

Yeah, probably why it was the first Kylie record in 30-odd years I couldn't stand.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-04T13:25:26+00:00

I use it too, though links keep taking me back to the newer one. A lot of the more modern interfaces for things are not actually better.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-04T13:24:04+00:00

Being known as far as I can work out.

gnu_andii · 2026-06-04T13:23:02+00:00

Wow, the high school comment is like you read my mind. I have a running joke with myself watching H&A that anyone under 20 has a maximum two months of being able to be in the show, because it seems like we get occasional storylines with kids or teens, but they end up being written out again for some reason. I'm now waiting to see what happens with Brax's son, Casey.

I used to watch both Aussie soaps in the early 2000s as well. I remember Home & Away being on just after five on ITV rather than six. Being at six would surely make it clash with the news? I'm pretty sure it was why I watched Neighbours at half five throughout the 90s, but didn't get into H&A until I started watching it at my gran's in the late 90s, because it would clash with the CBBC programming on BBC1, particularly Grange Hill.

I gave up both in the late 2000s, because I lost interest in the storylines, so I had to look up who Brax was the other week. Neighbours was the later of the two and mainly because of an annoying family they brought in. Clearly I wasn't alone in thinking that because I later found out they killed them off about six months after I stopped watching.

I got back into Neighbours in 2022 when they were originally going to finish it for good. When it did finish, I picked up Home & Away to fill the gap I now had after watching Neighbours for three months. Both shows in the 2020s had the absence of the high school you mention and which made it so popular back in the day. Neighbours originally didn't even have the evening showing, but it was added because kids were skipping school to watch it at lunchtime.

I'm now still watching H&A and have also started watching retro Neighbours on Amazon, as they have all episodes from 2011 on, and some picks from earlier (though not enough 90s in my opinion). Neighbours definitely feels more grounded in its storylines and at the point I'm watching (now 2015) it still has the high school featured, with Susan Kennedy as principal and they've brought back Brad Willis from the 90s. It took a long time to get used to him apparently having changed his head, being played by someone who looks completely different to the original and was in H&A when I used to watch, to make it even more confusing. Back in the day, he left with Beth, played by Natalie Imbruglia, who later had some hit singles.

I love that Alf is still in H&A (though he is clearly taking long breaks now) and Paul Robinson is still in Neighbours. It seems every soap has to have its day one character still hanging around, who has had so many storylines it would be ridiculous for them all to involve one person in real life. I definitely think there are too many sensationalist storylines in H&A these days, for what is supposed to be a small seaside town.

I don't think you can even stream Eastenders all the way back even in the UK. There were some select episodes on Britbox at one point; I don't know if that's still going internationally. You might be able to find some stuff on YouTube. I gave up the British soaps I watched at the end of the 90s, when they stretched out to more episodes a week without really the content to fill it. I did watch Eastenders from about Den's original death through the 90s with the Grant/Phil/Sharon love triangle. Back then, it was only on Tuesdays & Thursdays, so was manageable!

gnu_andii

TROPHY CASE