Futtocks

I haven't watched it, but the show's popularity seemed to have held steady across all the cast changes, so it seems that they've got something fundamentally right about the programme that allows them to do this.

Even a good crowd (by the championship's standard) would look lost in that stadium. And this isn't a good crowd. A lot of Italian competitors looking like they've peaked* awfully early for an Olympic year. *that's the charitable assumption, anyway.

BBC Northern Ireland showed The Rory Gallagher Story last night, so it's now on the iPlayer. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00206t5 Rory Gallagher was the original Irish guitar hero, whose artistry with a battered ’61 Stratocaster became the stuff of legend. Bob Dylan and Muddy Waters admired him, the Rolling Stones tried to hire him - and his fans worshipped him. Clad in faded denim and a checked shirt, he sold 30 million records and became a charismatic icon of Irish music, inspiring musicians such as Brian May, The Edge, Slash and Johnny Marr. But away from the stage, Rory was an intensely private man. His closest confidante was his brother Dónal, who accompanied Rory on his rise from their childhood Everly Brothers stage performances and the showband scene across the north and south of the Irish border, through to the deafening heart of the ‘70s rock scene in London - and far beyond. From playing bomb-shattered Belfast at the height of the Troubles to touring across America with everyone from Blind Faith to KISS, Dónal was at Rory's side to witness his greatest triumphs and, after all too brief a span of years, his decline into illness and a tragically early death. Now, Dónal has agreed to delve into his formidable archive and, along with insights from Rory’s friends and admirers, this film takes us on a musical journey through the life and career of this shy guitar hero to better understand what made him so great. Featuring rare, never-before-seen archive footage and interviews with Rory’s closest friends and family alongside musical legends including Johnny Marr, Brian May and Bob Geldof, this is the definitive portrait of one of the greatest musicians ever to emerge from Ireland.

If your core constituency are among the country's most-squeezed and least levelled-up of the last decade or more, then raising prices could push many over the edge from saving up for a trip to the final and watching it on TV, even if they agree in principle with the idea of boosting the perceived status of the event.

EXAMPLE 1 The last company I worked with were known for having the best service in the business at a slightly higher price compared to the competition, who'd bulk-buy best-seller titles and not even bother with the rest of the publishers' catalogues. If anyone wanted something out of the ordinary or difficult to source, they'd come to us. We'd be told all the time by so many customers that they appreciated the better service, but that was their words, not their deeds. Their deeds saw them going to the pile 'em high merchants and we survived for a few years on scraps, doing the hard work at low margins. The big operators eventually made enough from this to start buying our suppliers up and becoming exclusive agents, so our company went out of business (at least the supply side did). These were not, on the whole, expensive products (the average multi-item order totalled well under £50) and we weren't in an extended period of economic malaise at the time. Price-cutting won. EXAMPLE 2 The company I currently work for suffered by comparison to similar organisations in that we were much cheaper and were therefore deemed inferior on that criterion alone. The decision to raise prices to somewhere near the industry norm saw the prices nearly triple in one fell swoop, and our subscription sales... went up. This was also pre-economic austerity and the new prices mostly started well into 4 figures. Premium pricing won. So you can't always tell if higher/lower prices work if different circumstances.

Today was the anniversary of the birth of Leone Sextus Denys Oswolf Fraudatifilius Tollemache-Tollemache de Orellana Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache. https://mulberryhall.medium.com/odd-this-day-8203355cb728

Judging by yesterday's figures, it certainly didn't work very well for "the game they play in Heaven".

That's fine. As long as we're clear that this is an opinion versus the official figures, the counting of which have not (as far as we know) been radically changed since previous finals.

Don't forget the people (like me) who watched it on TV and enjoyed it. Not to mention several other subdivisions, including the people who didn't watch it and hated it (hello, Wiggy!).

Under 65,000 is not "almost full" in a 90,000 capacity stadium, though.

Well, where do you get your attendance figures from? Let's establish sources before we go any further.

It isn't fine. When the debate is based on official figures that someone likes are real and official figures that the same person doesn't like are "fake news", then you are basically playing chess with a pigeon.

This is actually happening on stage, not on TV. But TV viewers of a certain vintage will recognise what and who they are watching.

Ice Cold in Alex, but only if I have a bottle of lager in the fridge. If I don't have one, THAT scene is far too frustrating to watch dry. Other than that, pretty much any Mel Brooks or Marx Brothers movie.

That last sentence is redolent of unspoken tragedy. And also applies to the hotel in Brighton where we had this year's staff Summer Social. Thankfully the evening meal was not in the hotel restaurant, but in a good pub round the corner.

It didn't sound that bad on TV. Although a bit muted, you can still tell the difference between a minority of the crowd shouting to entire stands roaring and cheering.

Not a great final, but not an utter stinker*. Compared to the Football equivalent, the FA Cup, the CC Final serves up good and great games far more often than average or poor ones. Football fans don't see this as the end of the world. The state of the nation has an effect too. Times are tough financially, and Rugby League's traditional support base are doing it among the toughest. Travelling to London is not only expensive but grotesquely unreliable (West Coast Main Line worse than East, but neither are adequate). The capital is also painfully expensive for visitors to stay in, so the Final has become a day trip for many instead of a weekend on the town. Fans head home and hope to get there at a civilised hour, so the 1895 Cup final is always going to kick off after a mass exodus. A 6,000 increase on last year's Final is good news. Not as good news as a sell-out, but we have to be realistic. *apart from in the eyes of people living with aggravated nostalgia disorder.

And finally the Brown family has a win at Wembley, following Kevin's four unsuccessful attempts.

But it does add to the pressure.

You could always search: https://abkbeer.com/stores/

Gale try, Jowitt conversion. SHE 06:12 WAK

https://superleagueplus.co.uk/home