Among other things stressing me out about that very weird episode were the shots of him building away with only the barefoot running shoes on his feet.

The case was definitely empty!

“Do the drawings” has to be lesson 1 of these projects…

I didn’t find it as harrowing as I thought, maybe because it’s old or maybe because nothing will ever out-harrow The Road for post-apocalyptic nastiness. And as noted above it’s hard to buy into the ‘it could happen here’ thing when innocent people are getting bombed to pieces daily at the moment.

And I knew it were grim oop North but no leaves on the trees in May, even before the nuclear strike?? Tough year for those folks.

Looking forward to watching this (I think). I would have been 9 when it came out but I never saw it then and only learned about it many years later. Though I do remember going to see when the wind blows at the cinema.

Growing up in a basement flat in London I used to lie in bed wondering if the shockwave would go right over the top of us, while also hoping the cat wouldn’t be in the garden when it happened. What a time to be a kid! 🙂

Nobody mention Planters Dry Roasted yet?

Hadn’t thought of a smaller chainring 🙂

The urge to experiment is calling me. I found an old (pre-clutch) SLX rear mech in the spares bin, I wonder if that would work…

nice one, that video is just what I was looking for!

Zenkoji temple was a highlight for us. The Ninja museum was unfortunately closed when we were there. Transport wise it’s super easy, just get the Shinkansen from Tokyo. Takes about an hour. Accommodation wise have a look for a Ryokan with an onsen, or near an onsen!

Honestly most of them are cr@p. Ahsoka felt like an entire series setup for the next series. The Acolyte I watched half of the first episode (Carrie Ann Moss is in it.. oh no she’s not!). Boba Fett was hopeless, Mandalorian is good for a couple of series but gets worse. Andor is the only good one really. And I say that as a big Star Wars fan.

Rogue One is obviously the 2nd best SW movie of all time. Solo is fun in a ‘I’m super hungover on a rainy Saturday afternoon and this just came on the TV which is nice’ kind of way. I’d watch it again.

I thought it was great, would recommend!

I’m pretty keen. I have family there (was actually in LA when the 1984 olympics were on but we never went to see anything) but mostly I just really want to see the park skating event up close and personal.

the car and driver up on the hill is something and someone you might recognise…

I liked it, it’s definitely not as good as Fury Road though. Got going for me when Dementus and Immortan Joe meet for the first time. The last chapter is great.

I’m convinced the snippets of broadcast media overheard at the start are the same ones heard at the start of Mad Max 2. Would be a nice touch if so.

Can’t wait! Loved Fury Road, I’m hyped on these good reviews too.

Thunderdome I used to love (came out when I was 10 – perfect age for it) but once I read Riddley Walker a lot of the shine came off. There’s quite a lot of blatant appropriation from that book, which is a shame.

Looking forward to this! My paternal grandfather was a navigator in a B17 & was shot down over France. Survived and escaped with the help of the local resistance. All at the age of 23!

There is zero base though. Glencoe can fill in fast mind.

Glencoe on a legit powder day is absolutely wicked. They don’t come around all that often but when they do…

Perth is a good shout for a base. But planning a snow trip here is pretty much pointless. I have all my gear ready from about now but I never decide to drive up or not until the evening before, unless the conditions are really excellent, and I’m only 2 hrs from Glenshee and 2.5 from Glencoe. Those two are my favourites.

At the risk of sounding helpful…

I normally stay somewhere on Sheikh Zayed Road or close to it. The end close to the Burj Khalifa is quite convenient and much easier to get to / from the airport. Traffic in Dubai is horrendous though so you might want to base yourself closer to where your daughter is. I stayed in the Emirates Towers a few times which is nice but I’ve not stayed there the last few years. I’m not so familiar with the Marina area.

I had a drink and a meal the other week with a colleague who lives in the City Walk area, lots of good places to eat around there but I’m not sure if there’s hotels.

Wherever you stay, try to get a room as high up as possible. The views are cool. Also do go up the Burj.

Plenty of folk being thrown around by the force in that last episode. Including by someone who isn’t a jedi? what are we to make of this? If 10 year old me had known I could teach myself to feel the force I would have tried much harder.

I’ve got two branches of Screwfix within a 5 minute drive from my house so on that metric at least Edinburgh is winning.

Traffic is and will forever be totally horrific. I’ve lived in Edinburgh for nearly 17 years and I can’t remember one part of that time when some critical part of the city isn’t being dug up, traffic re-routed etc. etc. Nightmare. I grew up in central London and I think Edinburgh is worse.

Lots else going for it but it is DARK in the winter. Much much darker than down south. That gets me much more than the weather.

I’ve been familiarising myself with the place for the last few weekends. On a hardtail. NY NY and Repeat Offender are totally doable. Wardell Way is really fun, upper and lower. Flat white was good. Underdog was ridiculous and not in a good way :-). But I’d like to give it another go. The ride up is a grind but it’s not really that bad. Just a bit repetitive.

I’m 5′ 9.5″, mine is a medium. Large would definitely be too big for me.

Have a look at Imsouane in Morocco. I was there in February, it was mobbed (200 people in the water every day, loads of surf schools) but the wave is long and insanely fun. Also dry like Taghazout, we picked up a case of beers from the Carrefour on the way down from Marrakech.

I’ve got a zero 9 and I love it. I wanted a nice spec for a reasonable price and not to deal with any rear shocks or linkage bearings. It’s pretty capable and is as fast as my old 26″ full sus. My feet definitely take a bit of a beating but zero (lol) issues with sore back or anything. I do all my riding in the Tweed valley.

After a fun afternoon at the ‘Boss des Bosses’ in Chamonix in 1998 – bit of boardercross followed by on-hill beers and smokes – a friend suggested we skip the gondola queue to get down (it was a terrible snow year and the Grands Montets home run was broken) and cut into the Couloir Philippe instead. Shortly after navigating the avalanche barriers at the top I lost my heel edge and started careening down the couloir on my arse. Jammed my heel edge in hoping to stop myself and I ended up flipping over entirely and landing on my stomach, now going headfirst down the chute. At that point I knew I was dead… but somehow I managed to get my board into the snow and slow down and eventually flip over again and stop. VERY gingerly picked the rest of the way down. Massive ice burn on my face and neck afterwards… and I never ride with anything less than razor sharp edges now!

Pictures of You – the Cure

I Wanna Sex You Up – Color Me Badd

Me So Horny – 2 Live Crew

I used to have a whole list of these. Great topic

Poison – Alice Cooper

is another one that comes to mind.

I was wondering what happened to MVP. I was at the salmon ladder when the crash happened – could hear the crowd in front of the big TV go ‘ooh’ but couldn’t see the screen or hear the commentary.

Great atmosphere at all the spots I was at. Cowbells, vuvuzelas, airhorns, all good!

I was there a few weeks ago. It’s easy, just follow the directions out of the airport and there’s a line. The taxis these days take cards but it’s still worth checking with the driver. First time I went to Japan – less than 10 years ago – it was mostly cash transactions. Tell him to write down the destination on a piece of paper or have google maps open and show that to the driver.

Japan is an amazing place to visit, I love it.

I worry that the bike storage is a scrote magnet!

Possibly a daft question, but for the XC on Saturday, if I park up in Peebles and ride my bike to GT will I be able to keep it with me as I navigate around the spectator area? Or will I have to leave it in some bike storage area?

Also: the BMX park was pretty good up close, Kevin Perraza was flying, actually all the south Americans were on fire. Jude Jones stomping his 2nd run after taking a nasty slam and blowing his front tyre on the first trick of his first run was great. And all the kids that got helmets / shoes / gloves from the riders were STOKED.

I got a Camino (alloy one though) a few weeks back and I’m very happy with it. Mine is tiagra 2x and I upgraded the wheels to the alphas, and swapped out the crap tyres immediately. About £1,600 all in. Great value.

I just finished a TT02R which I bought on a whim in the Tamiya shop in Tokyo last month. Put a GT Tuned motor in it and the Yeah Racing steering upgrade + Tamiya hop-up servo saver and some nice blue alloy wheel hexes. It’s quick! Now I need to source a body…

XC at Glentress and a bunk off work on Monday afternoon for the BMX park finals.

Cordwainer Smith – The Rediscovery of Man

I read Children of Time on a 2 week work trip to Asia, it was the only non-work thing in English I had with me and it was a real grind. Did not like it. Likewise Ancillary Justice. Just did not like that one at all.

Jeff Vandermeer is really patchy, Annihilation is good but the 2nd one in the series is dross. Didn’t bother with the 3rd. The ‘Borne’ stuff is cool though.

I ordered mine (in that sky blue above) on Wednesday. I went for the tiagra 2x because road miles are unavoidable. The handlebars do look pretty wild but easy enough to swap out. Should be here next week!

Love them. I bulk-buy in TK Maxx every spring. Can’t have too many socks!

I had my septum realigned when I was 16. I’m 48 now. I seem to remember blood-soaked bungs up my nostrils while it all healed. Looks ok from the outside but the inside is still v wonky. I could definitely breathe better through my nose afterward.