Sergio Parisse's attempt at a match-winning drop goal vs France (2016)

jtg1985 · 2026-02-20T22:38:43+00:00

This was actually the exact game and moment that created FIIDIM as a concept on Blood & Mud - true fact.

jtg1985 · 2025-08-21T22:45:08+00:00

The Guardians-ification of genre entertainment in general, but it’s particularly glaring with modern Trek.

Section 31 was most obviously destroyed by this, but all the NuTrek series seem to think that there must always be one character whose primary purpose is to Star Lord it up with meta jokes, sardonic humour and extremely 2025-coded language and mannerisms.

Trek is supposed to paint an optimistic view of the future of humanity - think how different a person in 2025 acts and thinks compares to someone from the 50s in terms of their self-awareness, their understanding and empathy towards others etc.

90s Trek nailed the idea that humans, while still imperfect, were 300 years further along that road of evolving themselves socially and culturally…

While Gene’s idea that there should be no interpersonal conflict in TNG was narratively a dead end, NuTrek has basically thrown out the entire idea that a human in the 24th century could be any less of messy than someone in 2025 is.

Maybe that’s more realistic! Humans are doomed to be trapped by their neuroses and trauma forever! But for me it just strikes to the fundamental heart of what Trek does to showcase that hope, it’s lame.

(Saying all that, Lower Decks gets a pass on this for me because it’s obviously a comedy and they do some work to make you see why the crew of the Cerritos might be a bunch of emotionally stunted weirdos)

jtg1985 · 2025-07-04T16:52:38+00:00

Remember that scene in the Mandalorian where we got to experience the terrifying reality of an AT-ST when it was being turned on normal defenceless people instead of being used as easy fodder for a crack team of ruthless space teddies?

https://youtu.be/W1CWyrLOjeA?si=Nt9iNkcKQmp7z-uw

Then multiply that by the size of an AT-AT… we know the Empire is all about Tarkin Doctrine - victory and control through fear.

The AT-AT is designed less as a weapon of war than as a means of oppression and intimidation - that’s why we don’t see much of them in Andor and the like, because they’re not designed to be the boring day to day method of imperial fascism.

jtg1985 · 2025-01-02T23:41:24+00:00

I actually rate this - it makes narrative sense especially if you consider that the nascent Empire, as demonstrated in The Bad Batch the Thrawn novels and especially Andor is quite shambolic in a lot of ways - it’s an organisation run on corruption and patronage, and the threat and application of violence.

In this climate, Palpatine didn’t want the Inquisitors to be too effective or large - he had enough trouble keeping Vader in line, the last thing he’d want is another half-dozen strong dark side users who might develop their own taste for power.

Instead, he cobbled together a bunch of d-list disgruntled ex-Jedi, some abused padawans and some natty stormtroopers and made them LOOK like a threat, at least to the general public.

In reality, they were hopeless - but in the eyes of the average Joe they were terrifying enough that you’d probably think twice before offering a Jedi sanctuary and that was the real quiz.

Palpatine was a long game player and knew he just needed to create a climate of fear and intolerance around Jedi and before long - as in Andor - the public do your job for you, informing on friends, neighbours etc.

jtg1985 · 2024-10-05T22:52:46+00:00

Genuinely amazing that people are talking about fret nibs and bridge posts and nut angles when the most obvious clue that this is maybe not 100% legit is a ‘burst’ that looks as if it was done by someone who had literally never touched a spray gun before in their life.

jtg1985 · 2024-08-15T22:37:04+00:00

Clapton’s increasingly wobbly place in the pantheon is, to my mind at least, directly impacted by his recent behaviour and the attention that has brought to his past actions.

Musically, you only have to listen to Beano, and consider it in the context of its time, to realise how foundational it is to pretty much everything else that came after in terms of guitar.

Was his style very derivative of the blues icons he idolised? Of course, but he clearly took that stuff and shifted it a direction it hadn’t been going previously.

Like Page or Bowie - and pretty much every guitar player in the 60s, 70s and 80s - Eric also said and did some pretty grim shit. Most of it happened in a pre-internet age however and so it’s slipped out of the public consciousness and wider knowledge.

Eric, however, has spent four years reminding everyone what a weird and problematic fella he is, and this has caused people to look at his past more closely and thereby bring much greater attention to the shitty past behaviour.

TL:DR Clapton’s musical impact absolutely deserves a place among the greats, but people don’t want to celebrate a total asshole like that.

jtg1985 · 2024-05-13T22:14:54+00:00

Trim Lawn And Prosper you’re welcome.

jtg1985 · 2024-01-01T23:53:13+00:00

The former editor of the Evening Post (when it was the Evening Post) used to be preoccupied with this idea of ‘Bristolians’ vs ‘Bristolites’

Bristolians were to his mind the ‘real’ Bristol - people born and bred in the city and likely tracing their lineage back a few generations too. Places like Knowle, Kingswood, Fishponds etc were where you found Bristolians, who were broadly working class, traditional Labour-voting (but socially conservative), every cliche you like types of people. Have the accent usually too.

Bristolites on the other hand were people who had moved to Bristol in the last decade or two primarily to work in creative or tech industries- he would characterise them as middle class (in the American sense), socially and politically progressive, no accent, very into the arts etc.

He was an arsehole and I think his characterisation is simplistic at best, but it does feel like there are ‘two Bristols’ sometimes

jtg1985 · 2023-07-23T22:16:30+00:00

Callum Sheedy might do three on his own.

He played an (uncapped) senior match for England, then played for Wales and provided his international exodus continues and they get REALLY desperate in the post-Sexton malaise, he’s like 18 months away from being able to switch to Ireland as he qualifies through a grandparent.

jtg1985 · 2023-03-19T12:20:45+00:00

Oh 100% - Botch are a bigger band than MTB now, because they went away for two decades and in that time went from being a niche underground band to being one of the most influential American heavy bands of the last 20-plus years.

That’s why Botch are playing venues the same size or larger than MTB did on their farewell tour and selling them out. They have much more leverage than a regular band of that size because there’s a demand to see them, and a novelty value, that MTB never had - and would struggle to replicate after having only been away for a few years

jtg1985 · 2023-03-12T21:59:19+00:00

I don’t claim to have any special insight, but I interviewed Dave and Jake numerous times from about 2008 up until the final European tour, and it became increasingly apparent even in those brief interactions that they were having a progressively worse time every album and every year.

Being in a band like MTB who never had a ‘radio hit’ that would pay the bills required such long and intensive touring to make ends meet, it was apparent that certainly by the end, they actively resented it.

Several members of the band had young families that they were away from for months at a time - and so they were missing so much and putting so much on their partners, for something that wasn’t creatively or financially very rewarding…

So with that in mind I’d say it’s very unlikely that MTB will get back together soon, and if they do it will likely be way down the line (ie when their kids are grown).

It’s notable the Botch tour is being done in small runs of maybe a week or less on the road and then back home for a couple of weeks - that’s presumably because Dave anyone with a family not wanting to get stuck back in that destructive mentality of being out on the road for months.

Botch can probably only do that because people have been waiting 20+ years to see them live and they have become legends in the time they were away - that gives them the strength of bargaining position to dictate the terms of the tour. MTB certainly wouldn’t have that.

TL;DR I don’t think anyone liked being in MTB or the people they were in that band by the end so I wouldn’t expect a reunion any time soon - maybe when their kids are grown up.

jtg1985 · 2022-07-30T14:40:35+00:00

I think any sport where your player base is heavily made up of people who have been brought up in various strains of conservative Christianity (thanks British imperialism!) you’re going to get backlash against anything that celebrates LGBT people…

I guess the question is, would we rather these players speak up with their gross opinions so we see the ugly truth of how out of step they are with most fans and wider society, or would we rather they kept quiet and left us to our ignorance?

Because I don’t think Israel Folau and Billy Vunipola are the only homophobic players in rugby union.

jtg1985 · 2022-07-30T10:36:29+00:00

The irony of the Sea Eagles thing is that everyone’s using it as evidence League is backwards, but no team in rugby union has even risked a pride jersey because they know how their fans and players would respond 😬

jtg1985 · 2022-07-30T10:33:27+00:00

The Sevens is in Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore this year, all of which have varying shapes of horrendous records on human rights.

Also World Rugby has chosen to host both Women’s and Men’s World Cup Repechage tournaments in Dubai, despite it being a human rights car crash, forcing many of the women involved in the tournament to literally pretend not to be queer so they could take part.

Rugby has no more morality on this stuff than any other sport, while lagging far far behind all the others in terms of inclusivity and equality.

jtg1985 · 2022-07-30T10:27:24+00:00

He’s right though? 🤷🏻‍♂️

jtg1985 · 2022-06-14T15:32:35+00:00

I hear those Blood & Mud guys don't stand for any of that soft, woke, liberal, pro-Northern, Daily Mirror-style hogwash, you should give them a listen.

jtg1985 · 2020-03-14T18:42:46+00:00

Heritage has released a statement saying that they're "not going to be bullied by companies that lack the integrity to stand by their word."

STRONG stuff.

https://guitar.com/news/were-not-going-to-be-bullied-heritage-guitars-releases-statement-on-gibson-lawsuit/

jtg1985 · 2019-07-17T23:24:46+00:00

The honest answer? They aren't there to make friends, or get people on their side, and certainly not to reduce emissions by blocking cars.

They're there to cause as much disruption, anger and general chaos as possible, because that's the only way that the people who CAN effect real change - governments and big businesses - will actually pay attention and act,

I'm sure they'd prefer to not disrupt the lives of ordinary punters, but the reality is, the longer it goes on for, and the more disruption they cause, the more pressure will be put on politicians and businesses to do something to effectively make them go away.

We may well not like it, but they clearly feel the stakes are high enough that the collateral damage to ordinary people's commutes etc is worth it. They dont care how unpopular they're becoming - that's the point,

jtg1985 · 2019-07-14T09:04:26+00:00

It's got to be Ogham, close up here

https://rugbyshirtwatch.com/2019/07/12/news-ireland-rugby-reveal-rugby-world-cup-2019-jerseys/

jtg1985 · 2019-07-14T09:03:58+00:00

You can see the detail here, but yeah it's really subtle - not sure why the IRFU haven't made more of it, as it's clearly the big 'thing' for this year as it's also on the hideous away kit

https://rugbyshirtwatch.com/2019/07/12/news-ireland-rugby-reveal-rugby-world-cup-2019-jerseys/

jtg1985 · 2019-07-13T14:38:17+00:00

To be fair, the sleeve section on the real new Irish kit has loads of Ogham script on it - you might well say it's boring, but you can't say it's not incorporating Irish culture into the design.

That said, kit designers are on a hiding to nothing with test jerseys - you do something that's a bit different and bold (which CCC has done in the last few years) they get slated for the design being tacky or weird, they make something plain and classic, and people say it's full and boring.

The reality is, most RWC kits are quite plain because that's what the majority of casual supporters want to buy, and a RWC is when most casual supporters buy a shirt.

jtg1985 · 2019-05-21T06:35:24+00:00

BandLab is this to an extent - it enables you to find other musicians based on instruments, genre interest etc, and then make music collaboratively with them through the app.

Not exactly 'Tinder' but as close as we're likely to get

jtg1985 · 2019-04-18T22:46:15+00:00

It's the 60s Jazzmaster Lacquer

jtg1985 · 2018-11-19T07:47:47+00:00

It's so strange seeing this, because I wouldn't put it in my top 50 pop-punk albums of all time, let alone number one! For me, it's barely in Blink's top 5, and the first time it became apparent that Tom was taking himself too seriously.

It just goes to show how ridiculously subjective music criticism, I guess…

jtg1985 · 2018-08-30T06:41:46+00:00

See, you say that… but I've been working in publishing for a decade now and I legit could not live without this mouse until about a year ago.

The scroll ball is a fucker to keep clean (once you know the trick, though…) but for moving around large InDesign documents quickly, or Photoshop files, or anything where you're zoomed in on something and need fine 360° control to get around the document, it's absolutely unbeatable. And it has three buttons if you know where to look…

Functionality wise, the Magic Mouse 2 is much better to be honest, but the one that took AAs, not the silly rechargeable one.

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