#over amstel

[dutchjan]

March 13, 2023

[womensworldtour]

Tour de France Femmes begins Monday!

After the long pause from the 2024 Paris Olympics (which has been pretty great, tbh) we finally begin the Tour de France Femmes on Monday, August 12!

We're looking at eight stages, with the riders rolling out from Rotterdam, The Netherlands, where they will spend most of three days on 2.5 stages around Rotterdam. We say 2.5 stages, because Tuesday features two different stages, a short sprint stage and then an evening time trial. We don't know how we feel about these types of stages, but at least it will showcase different riders' talents.

Stage 4 on Wednesday will see the riders cross into Belgium and travel parts of the routes for Amstel Gold Race and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, including the famous hills like the Cauberg and the Cote de la Roche-aux-Faucons. And then finally, on Thursday, the Tour de France actually reaches France, and we will see increasingly mountainous stages that should determine the general classification, including finales on Le Grand-Bornand and the infamous Alp d'Huez.

As for GC, the odds-on favorite has to be defending TdFF champ Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime), who as we have said this year, is the best climber and stage-racer in the world right now. Cycling News has a great run-down for the other challengers, however, which we recommend.

It will be interesting to see how other strong teams like Canyon-SRAM and Lidl-Trek can put SD Worx under pressure. We've seen that in the Tour de Suisse and it can be done, but frankly, Vollering is so dominant right now that she might still win even if she's isolated on half the stages. She is just that good. Keep an eye on riders like Neve Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM) or Evita Muzic (FDJ-Suez) as possible spoilers, and definitely contenders for the podium.

We honestly don't know how the fight for the points jersey will go, and we're excited to see how that plays out across the stages. Defending green jersey wearer Marianne Vos (Visma Lease-a-Bike) will want to repeat, but she'll have some serious competition from Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), who is still the fastest pure sprinter in the world and has shown she can get over the hills remarkably well. We'd love to see Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) back to winning ways after being off the bike due to injury.

We are less optimistic about the competition for the polka-dot jersey, and think it will likely be swept up by the GC winner. But that isn't always the case, like in the Giro this year, and we'd love to see some breakaway action and a non-GC rider try to hold onto that jersey.

We also expect several teams to hunt stages and keep several of the stages entertaining. EF-Oatly-Cannondale has been on a rampage this year, scooping up stages in the Vuelta Feminina and the Giro d'Italia Women, and they have the firepower to do it again with Alison Jackson, Kim Cadzow, Clara Emond, or Kristen Faulkner. Another team to watch is AG Insurance-Soudal, which has options in Tour Down Under champ Sarah Gigante, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, and Giro mountains classification winner Justine Ghekiere.

And finally, we expect to be surprised! We'd love to see a new talent announce herself on the biggest stage of the season, that's part of what we love about bike racing. This year's course is less likely to be an SD Worx show like last year (5 out of 8 stages), particularly with Lotte Kopecky not on the start list, so we are looking forward to some surprise moves and performances that will keep the racing interesting all the way to the top of Alp d'Huez!

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

I’m thinking I might do a Taskmaster rewatch. It’s now about 3 months before I go off the UK for two weeks, which still doesn’t feel like a real thing that’s going to actually happen. But I’ve been thinking about how weird it is that I’m flying across an entire ocean because I happened to come across something on YouTube four years ago.

That’s how it started. Not because of the pandemic. It was early March 2020 when I was at my grandparents’ house out East, upstairs in their guest bedroom at about 9 PM, clicking through YouTube, and came across Taskmaster s01e01. I thought, that’s interesting. I like British comedy, by which I mean the old shows my dad had on DVD boxsets so I watched them over and over as a kid (Yes Minister, Flying Circus, Ripping Yarns, Blackadder, Mr. Bean, Fawlty Towers, a few others), the greatest TV show in the entire world called The Thick of It, a few tapes and CDs that my dad used to play in the car a lot (Billy Connolly, Beyond the Fringe, The Good Show), all of Douglas Adams’ books, a few other scattered TV shows I’d watched over the years because my dad said they were good (Peep Show, The Inbetweeners), and a whole bunch of Radio 4 programs. But I didn’t recognize this. This one of those TV panel shows they have there. Like QI, the show I hate because it took Sandi Toksvig away from The News Quiz. But surely that doesn’t mean all TV panel shows are bad. I wonder what this one is?

I clicked on it, and it had a man I vaguely recognized as the teacher in The Inbetweeners, and six other people I did not recognize at all. They were doing things I did not understand. I couldn’t tell how serious they were about anything whatsoever. I couldn’t figure out why it was funny. What are they doing? Why have they brought in items? Who are these people? I was intrigued.

And then Romesh Ranganathan threw a watermelon on the ground and my life hasn’t been the same since. That’s what it was. That’s the moment it clicked for me, and I instantly understood everything about why Taskmaster is funny. I had to call an apology to where my mother and grandparents were sitting downstairs, because sound travels easily in that house and I could not stop laughing. I couldn’t stifle the sound, I couldn’t get my breath. Romesh Ranganathan throwing a watermelon on the ground was the funniest thing I’d ever seen. I needed to see all of it. I needed to see every episode of this and also every other thing that any of these people have ever done. It’s a total coincidence that the world happened to end about a week later so I had time to actually do that.

The world ended, the tournaments I was supposed to get home to coach got canceled, so my trip out East got extended, I watched the rest of Taskmaster. Every episode that had aired as of then, which was up to the end of season 9. I got to the end and couldn’t just be done with all those people, so I Googled my favourites to see what else they’d done. Made a list of what shows came up the most often. Then spent about a year watching every episode of every show on that list, because the world had ended and I had nothing else to do. Would I Lie to You, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Catsdown, Mock the Week, Big Fat Quizzes, QI, The Last Leg. Never Mind the Buzzcocks, though I did start that one from the beginning of the Simon Amstell era, didn’t watch it from the beginning. But I watched every single episode (that had been released as of then) of the others. As I went along, I found new favourite people, and looked up things they’d done, and added those things to my list. Watched/read/listened to those things too. Shorter panel shows, sitcoms, books. The Mash Report and New World Order, of course. I watched every episode of UK Roast Battle and I'm pretty ashamed of it but probably still not as ashamed as I should be. Had a big WILTY phase during which I also re-watched Peep Show, watched everything else Mitchell and Webb have ever done for good measure, watched every episode of Not Going Out and that sketch show Lee Mack did before it, read both Lee Mack and David Mitchell's autobiographies. I watched every single episode of Russell Howard’s Good News and The Russell Howard Hour. There were so many of them. Why did I do that?

Realized it was weird that I loved The Thick of It and Veep and In the Loop so much but had never sought out other Armando Iannucci things (besides that Death of Stalin movie that I saw in the cinema when it came out). Fixed that, went chronologically through all Iannucci's stuff starting with On The Hour/The Day Today. While I was at it, re-watched The Thick of It, also re-watched all those other Britcom shows I'd loved as a kid. Re-watched The Inbetweeners.

Had a phase of being obsessed with Noel Fielding when I watched Buzzcocks. Also watched The IT Crowd, Nathan Barley, Garth Marenghi, The Mighty Boosh, even Luxury Comedy. Learned some more stuff about Noel Fielding, and now regret that phase. But I still think Nathan Barley and Garth Marenghi are masterpieces (the latter didn't even feature Noel Fielding, it just got rolled in with the others due to other crossover people).

At first I excitedly told my friends all about this, but they did not care, and my best friend started getting actively annoyed about it, so I went looking for a place where I could put my Britcom-related thoughts and still have friends when this is all over. I created a Tumblr account in August 2020. It asked me what I wanted my name to be. I thought of a joke Sean Lock made on 8 Out of 10 Cats once, about how people should tell the meerkats that everything’s fine. I went with that.

After the first year, I figured I had a good grounding in long-running TV shows, and could expand my repertoire a bit. I downloaded all 125 hours of the old Russell Howard and Jon Richardson BBC 6 Music radio show, listened to those, confronted some stuff about how shortly before the pandemic I’d had to move out from living with a friend because my OCD-like tendencies (I can’t technically say “my OCD” because I was diagnosed with OCD as a child but then told as a teenager that it was probably a misdiagnosis and those were actually autism symptoms, but it comes to the same thing, it’s just semantics and doesn’t matter) made me so bad at sharing space with other people, watched that documentary he made, drank a bunch of whiskey and had one or two emotions. It was fine. I did Hypothetical next to bring the mood back up. Made a few incoherently furious Tumblr posts when Russell Howard brought on Jordan Peterson and ruined my ability to enjoy any of his work anymore (Russell Howard's work, that is, I didn't enjoy Peterson's work to begin with).

In 2022, the world started to exist again, and I had to do some in-person work placements (as opposed to the last two years, which I’d spent doing my very easy work-from-home editing job that left lots of time for panel shows), and I realized that audio comedy is a lot easier to take with me on a commute than TV comedy. I listened to all 217 hours of the original run of The Bugle. Then took a break for a few months before listening to the reboot, because getting to the end of the original run made me so genuinely sad that I needed some time to get used to the idea that it would become a different thing, before I could actually enjoy that other thing. Which I now enjoy very much. Listened to all of Zaltzman and Oliver's other things, of course. Got into Chris Addison's old Radio 4 stuff off the back of The Department. Found a bunch of other people's Radio 4 stuff in the same spot.

Saw Nish Kumar live twice within a few months, traveling to New York City and then Montreal for it. One time he looked at me and laughed at my reaction to a joke and asked me a question, and I briefly knew how it must have felt to be those people who fainted at Beatles concerts back in the day, due to being overwhelmed by proximity to their hero (though it's not exactly the same situation, hopefully Nish Kumar has beaten fewer women than John Lennon).

Got into Kitson in mid-2022. Bought all his stuff on Bandcamp and Vimeo, wanted more, scoured the internet because I was promised that bootlegs existed, couldn’t find them, messaged a guy on a comedy forum to see what he had, got much, much more than I could possibly have hoped for (including, incredibly, a spare room where I’m staying in London this summer). Bought all David O’Doherty’s stuff off Bandcamp. Got a NextUp subscription. Got so into stand-up that panel shows started to seem over-edited and less enjoyable by comparison. Watched all of Stewart Lee’s TV shows and stand-up DVDs within a couple of weeks. Got really really into Josie Long. Spent a fair bit of 2023 meticulously going through a hodge-podge collection of old Kitson recordings, carbon dating them from the tiniest detail so I could accurately record their date and venue on my spreadsheet and in the file name. Developed a deep obsession with a thing called the Chocolate Milk Gang. Got into a Beautiful Mind-style need to unravel all the mysteries of this one video featuring the Chocolate Milk Gang and a cow from Edinburgh 2003. Decided that Stuart Goldsmith is the best interviewer I’ve ever heard. Once accidentally ended up in a brief email correspondence with Stuart Goldsmith and had to take about six months off from listening to his podcast because I was so embarrassed about it. Listened to all Mark Watson's old radio shows and then did all of No More Jockeys, decided Mark Watson is probably the best person in the world, learned a few more things about him, decided he's maybe actually not. Memorized all the Perrier Award winners since 1999, because that seemed worth doing. Saw Grace Petrie live and managed to not cry until the final song. Went to coach the national championships in 2023, felt sad about how disconnected I'd become from the sport that was my whole life for years, ended up spending much of the weekend sitting in an empty hallway listening to Gavin Osborn songs. Accosted Josie Long in the streets of Montreal and made her sign a poster from 2011.

Went back and watched/listened to some earlier stuff. Rounded out my previous journey through the TV shows/movie of Alan Partridge with the specials and audiobooks and podcast. Did all of Lee and Herring in about two weeks. Listened to Do The Right Thing mostly in an empty classroom on breaks at my new autism therapy job, fell briefly in love with Danielle Ward.

Then 2024 arrived and that was mostly John Robins for a few months. Became an XFM/Radio X retro one-r, accidentally got a video of John Robins taken off YouTube and immediately wanted to hide under my bed forever. Booked a trip to London and Edinburgh for summer 2024.

All of this happened because I happened to click on s01e01 of Taskmaster in early March 2020. I’m flying across an ocean. And what I really wanted, to begin with, was more context for Taskmaster. I thought it was the funniest thing I’d ever seen, and I think everything is better in context, so I wanted to see these people do other things, get as much context as I possibly could so I could get all the little in-jokes on Taskmaster.

When I first watched Taskmaster, only nine seasons were out. Across those nine seasons that I watched in the first go, I only saw six people I recognized. Greg Davies, and later, Joe Thomas, from The Inbetweeners. Sally Phillips, from Veep. Jo Brand, whom I knew from some of my dad's old British stand-up comedy tapes. Hugh Dennis, as I’d been listening to The Now Show for years. And Nish Kumar, as I’d been listening to The News Quiz for years. I’d never actually seen Nish before getting to Taskmaster season 5, and was shocked the first time I watched s05e01, because based on hearing him on the radio all those times, I’d assumed Nish Kumar was about 55 years old. Since then I’ve realized that a few of the people I saw in those first nine Taskmaster seasons were actually people I’d heard before on The News Quiz, but I didn’t make those connections at the time. Nish was the only one I’d heard enough times on The News Quiz to immediately realize that this was the same person as the one on the radio. I was shocked by how young he was. And then I was shocked by how very bad at everything he was.

Also, I didn't realize until way too long after I'd finished my initial Taskmaster watch that Sara Pascoe was the radio employee in the Richard Bacon episode of The Thick of It.

Anyway, I have more context now. Quite a bit more context. Arguably too much context. Maybe more context than any one person could ever need. But I'm thinking, before I actually go to the UK on this trip that I still can't believe is going to be real, I might go through Taskmaster again, with context this time.

I've re-watched it before, of course. In those first nine seasons, I've seen every episode at least four times. I re-watched them all along with the podcast when that first came out. I re-watched the first 13 seasons with my then-girlfriend, back when we first got together, in late 2021/early 2022. But I haven't watched them all properly since then. I've re-watched sporadic episodes, but not all of them in order.

I'm thinking I'll do all of them order. With all the context. With too much context. Not on YouTube this time. I can watch it on my laptop's own video player, from the folder in the 5TB hard drive I bought specifically to house my comedy folder (currently about 2TB). That'll be a good use of my limited time on this Earth.

Here, have a video I made in the fall of 2020, putting moments from the nine seasons of Taskmaster that were out at the time to a song that I listened to a lot during early lockdown days.

[thatkidofwarandpeace]

I really don't ever post here but went for Live at the Chapel last night, John Robins was host, and lineup included

Janine Harouni, Sharon Wanjohi, Tim Key, and John Kearns headlined

Unfortunately Ive only heard of the John(s) and Tim but an overall great night of laughs. Anyone whose seen my blog knows my obsession with Tim Key so it was so surreal seeing him in person that he was a real grown man and not a tiny gremlin on my screen. I was working myself into a sheer state of panic when I saw him leave the church and cross the street to the pub but knew if I didn't try and talk to him that I'll beat myself up over it.

Also cause I've followed his work as much as I can from a tiny island a long haul flight away from the UK, so I've read his books, listened to his late night poetry, religiously watched no more jockeys, bought live stream tickets, you get the gist. So, I kinda knew what he would be like on stage, grumpy, demanding, arrogant, all in the best funny ways of course! But seeing it live was so different. He was hilarious and everything I wanted live. it did mean that I was very intimidated to approach him after but he was so lovely and kind.

I didn't know what to expect of John Kearns because I really didn't enjoy him on cats does countdown but he was hilarious. He mentioned Sam Campbell in a gag and I lost my shit. John Robins was an excellent host as well. Writing this post makes me realise that I could never be a comedy reviewer because all I want to say is - I laughed.

Unfortunately I don't really have much to add for Sharon and Janine though both good, solid gags, I fear I was too consumed by Tim key obsession :"(

10/10 now trying to get in waiting list for Bristol comedy garden of day with Simon Amstell, Tim Key, Sam Campbell, Kiri Pritchard-McLean

[moonlitmistyforest]

Aert van der Neer - Moonlit Landscape with a View of the New Amstel River and Castle Kostverloren, 1647 oil on panel,  57.5 × 89.9 cm Getty Museum

A fiery glow charges the sky in Aert van der Neer's view along the New Amstel River. While most Dutch landscape painters in the 1600s used cloud-filled blue skies to endow their work with a powerful presence, Van der Neer mastered the genre of nocturnal landscapes. In this painting, the moon commands attention. Its light is filtered over the scene, emphasizing the river's watery surface and the outlines of trees and reeds. Two small figures at right are also highlighted by the moonlight. Van der Neer usually depicted imaginary places in his landscape paintings. In this rare example, however, he painted an identifiable landmark, the Castle Kostverloren. The evocative river setting, painted inside a studio, is not accurate. During the 1600s, Dutch artists typically composed idealized scenes with imaginary skies while indoors.

[wonderjourneys]

The 11 Best Spots of Amsterdam

Amsterdam is unique. In many ways. Compared to New York (aka New Amsterdam) and Tokyo it is compact and smaller. But it has so much more to offer. The Eleven Best Spots if you Travel to Amsterdam:

1. The Canals: a canal cruise is one of those "must do's" 2. Museum Plein: with Van Gogh and Rembrandt, and the famous instagram house on Weteringschans 3. Brouwersgracht: once voted the most beautiful area 4. Zuiderkerk: with the instagramable church 5. Nine Streets: quaint, small local shops 6. Central Station: the views on the basilica and houses 7. Prinsengracht: the longest canal, with lots of historic spots 8. Begijnhof: a hidden courtyard in the city center 9. Magere Brug: skinny bridge with views over the river Amstel 10. Keizersgracht: the famous corner of bridges 11. Dam Square: as a starting point to walk the center.

Amsterdam - the top 11 spots on your Amsterdam Travel.

Amsterdam is wonderful in all four seasons really.

This is Amsterdam on summer vibes. Amsterdam in a summer vibe. We took an Amsterdam Bike Tour - which was only about 20 euros for 24 hours of renting a bike - and toured and walked the city. There are so many Amsterdam attractions, like an amsterdam canal cruise which a sure recommend. And renting a bike gets you around the entire city very easily. We traveled by train.

First went to an art exhibition at Westergasfabriek, and then took a bike tour of Amsterdam from the beautiful Brouwersgracht over Prinsengracht to Rijksmuseum. Rijksmuseum is located on Museum-Square, and has the famous Rembrandt Night Watch painting. Other museums are: Van Gogh, Moco Museum, Stedelijk Museum. Across the Rijksmuseum is the Instagramable Weterinschans.

The Amsterdam live in summer has that relaxed, lounge, chill lofi feel to it. Boats drift by on the canals with people sipping wine. A Dutch cloud floats over in a big blue sky. Amsterdam is the Old one to New Amsterdam - now known as New York. Back in the Dutch Golden Age the ships sailed the entire world, from the warehouses you see in this video.

Things to do in Amsterdam: rent a bike, do the canal cruise, see the Dutch masters in the museums, shop in the Jordaan & Nine Streets. But overal: just wander and let luck guide your feet. “Meet me in Amsterdam” in this tour of the capital of The Netherlands. Amsterdam 4k

[bag-for-life]

Semi-coherent self indulgent ramble about Edinburgh below, mostly because I forget things if I don’t record them somewhere - feel free to ignore…

- Within 10 minutes of getting off the train we spotted David O’Doherty, the first show we were seeing that night, I too loudly whispered ‘look, David O’Doherty, green bike helmet, oh my god’ and was instantly ashamed at having so little cool about that stuff although he either didn’t hear me or just convincingly acted that way - his show was fantastic, one of my favourites, I will always be excited to hear his ‘beefs’ song - shortly after the show while I was at the bar my friend saw him walk past with Josie Long, I was pretty relieved as I’m sure I would have started crying as I told her how much I loved her book

- Show 2: Frank Skinner, I wasn’t sure about this when we booked it, the audience demographic changed massively and it was a huge shift from lovely DO’D, he definitely flirted with some more ‘old school’ stuff about brexit but then moved away from the obvious jokes, enjoyable but not so much my thing, Russell Howard and David Baddiel were in the audience taking the comedian count up to 4

- Show 3: Simon Amstell was the last show of day 1 - very much a work in progress but enjoyed it, different again from the first 2 shows, we were talking to some people the next day who said they had seen him a few years ago and would never go again as he was so self involved, couldn’t argue with that so I suppose it comes down to if you like him in the first place?

- Day 2, show 1 was Daniel Kitson - just wonderful, he makes its look so easy, hard to talk about without going into the premise but so far removed from the work in progress show earlier in the year and I can’t wait to see it again once it’s ‘complete’

- Show 2: Tarot, another work in progress - I absolutely love them and was cackling like an idiot for the whole thing and can’t wait to see finished show, was accidentally too enthusiastic and got pulled into some very mild audience participation regarding Mr Blobby (and my brain just can’t do audience participation) pretty sure my response was shite but it didn’t even dent how much I loved it

- Show 3: Stuart Goldsmith - bang on the front row (at the side at least) good lord he has VERY twinkly eyes… also I think the first proper ‘themed’ show we saw, good but very strong competition based on earlier shows of the day

- Show 4: Last minute scarper to the next street over to see Stuart Laws, the first show where I hadn’t seen them before either live or on TV, great visual gag fairly early on. Really enjoyed it, more low quality audience participation from myself… decision taken not to sit on the front row again if I could help it

- Show 5: Nish Kumar was brilliant and I could have listened to him screaming about the government all night, also the loudest audience of the weekend and everyone in the room loved him. Ed Gamble was in the crowd and got some stick which was fun, it was billed as a work in progress but I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was unplanned and he just ranted for the whole hour

- Last show was an ‘All Stars’ show at the Udderbelly, booked mainly because we couldn’t get to see Chloe Petts’ main show - she was fantastic obviously - also loved Lara Ricote

- Day 3, show 1: Ed Gamble, brings out the mum vibes in me despite only being 5 years younger, I find myself thinking he’s a lovely young man, and so handsome too etc He was very funny despite the smell in the venue and the actual children in the crowd, have tickets for the tour next year and am hoping to see him walk onstage wearing his camping trousers

- Show 2: The same stinking venue (Hive 1) for Alison Spittle who took the step of spraying air freshener around the room, great segment where she made assumptions about people’s lives based on their favourite soups, the show was a last minute booking but fantastic

-Show 3: Paul Merton’s Impro Pals, we booked this based on our shared childhood love of watching him on Have I Got News For You, the friendly posh lady we sat next to told us she didn’t like it when comedy was political so we decided not mention how much we enjoyed Nish…it was fun but very ‘lite’ and we were ready to get shouted at by an angry Scottish man

- Show 4: Frankie Boyle, lots of shouting and calling people cunts, lots of his psychotic giggle, couple of what appeared to be walk outs but who knows really, he only heckled the blokes leaving the room which was interesting, took the Prince Andrew is a nonce joke count up by about 100 and loads of fun stuff about the royals which I enjoyed

- Show 5: Buffy Revamped - the only non-stand up show we saw but it was great fun, crowd was full of very enthusiastic people and some VERY drunk people but he handled them expertly

- Show 6: Ivo Graham - pretty chaotic and I’m not sure if it was because it started late or if that’s just the show/the man, regardless it was really fun and had a great audience participation angle that would have worked really really well if the show was extended over a couple of hours, still a great last show of the weekend

This was my first trip to Edinburgh and it was amazing, the bad stuff I had prepared for wasn’t as bad as expected (the crowds, the queuing etc) although it was obviously expensive and I doubt I could afford it every year, also it totally fried my brain so I’m spending the next week indoors and not talking to any other humans as much as possible

Disappointed not to have spotted a wild Watto and also guilty we couldn’t fit his show in, but I am going to see Search next month and have his book on pre-order so I hope that balances things out in the long-run (see also John Robins but with Howl later in the year and without the book) and I didn’t give up hope of a no more jockeys show until ludicrously late into the weekend

I think our comedian spotting skills were fairly poor - we also saw Paul Chowdry and Paul Williams (separately) out and about and then Amy Annette walking down the street with Nish and Ed after Nish’s show, but that’s it

Thus ends my ramble - pics of the stages etc on my equally ‘not of much interest to anyone but me’ shows I’ve been to blog @mylifeintickets

[clockworkrobotic]

saw you mention you miss getting asks. can you tell me about your beer mat collection

Yeah !!! This is how they look in my office rn

I have a lot more now so they're gonna spill over into the other shelves. I've never properly collected anything before because I never really understood it, and it was my friend's suggestion, and I think I get it now! I can point to all of these and tell you where they're from, whether that story is boring (went to the pub, see moretti and amstel at the top) or exciting (I went to the guinness brewery in Dublin, middle row far left) or sad (grandpa's funeral, sweater shaped one in the second row).

It's also fun bc beer mats are free, so people will bring me some when they go to cool places :)

Idk why I didn't do it sooner!

[panelshowsource]

HEY NOW...

aw thanks anon!! i did post my gif resources a while ago but i can post an updated one of these soon and include some psds! my gifs really aren't that good tho anon — if i'm being honest, i don't really spend that much time on colouring like i could — so if you can find someone PROPERLY good (usually a film/tv blog, as you can imagine) they may have really expert tips 🤔

as someone who has been at the ugliest end of reddit & discord tv/britcom fans' trolldom (too nice a word, really), and lived through the fucking unending years-long era of that one incel's rule over the panel show subreddit, i understand the reticence to participate in those spaces — even though, these days, they're mostly pleasant enough and subs that supply downloads (tv_bunny is life) are more or less transactional. that said, the purpose of this blog has always been to service the people who can't or don't torrent — who a lot of reddit & discord tv/britcom fans don't have the patience for, but i digress — so it doesn't bother me that a lot of my followers don't know reddit as well as i do. no worries!

omg! recently i watched after life (i love kerry godliman!!!!!!!), dara ó briain's new special, and i've also been doing my biannual re-listen of the entire horne section podcast because it is so fucking impeccable chef's kiss! i was catching up on guessable but it's really, deeply, truly mid, so i kinda gave up for a while and switched over to breeders (martin freeman agenda continues). otherwise non-panel show things, some films like close, return to dust, un beau matin, etc. — but that's for my main hehe i'm someone who wishes i could watch 10000 things in one day T_T

hahaha i do get asked this a lot!!! like you there's just so. many. and i often chicken out of substantially answering this because if i forget anyone i'll kick myself SO hard later

but

back in the day i answered a similar question about some non-comedians i want to see on taskmaster AND I SAID AMELIA DIMOLDENBERG AND IT CAME TRUE

LIKE

MY BRAIN 🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠

SO MAYBE I CAN MANIFEST THINGS LET'S TRY 🔮🔮🔮🔮🔮🔮🔮

this is personal to me, of course, and i'm considering people i really love + who i think would be really fun specifically on taskmaster, so in a somewhat priority order...

robert webb

stephen mangan

robert irwin

martin freeman

catherine tate

jessica hynes

miles jupp

simon amstell (preferably on the same season as jessica hynes because about 15 years ago (literally) i used to watch this clip religiously, and i'm sure that has something very specific to say about why i am the way i am but we don't have time to psychoanalyse me rn)

larry dean

ed byrne

holly walsh

diane morgan

daniel radcliffe

charlie brooker

hugh laurie

susie dent (omg i was CACKLING at susie, who is never on panel shows(!!!), being on the same episode of guessable as nick helm — and now i kinda wanna see her on the same series of tm as nick helm muhahaha)

kayvan novak

limmy

paul foot

bill bailey

lawrence chaney (i also love the vivienne of course! but i think lawrence may be more fit for tm while the vivenne is more fit for something like celeb juice; btw just watched her on guessable with ivo graham, and ivo calling her "viv"...omg...it did something to me...it really did...again, we're not talking about why i am the way i am)

vic reeves

the sexted boys

some other randoms people i'd certainly be happy to see, even if they don't make the priority manifesting roster — ahir shah, adam buxton, danny dyer, jimmy carr, graham norton, matt berry, glenn moore, maggie aderin-pocock, gary delaney, hal cruttenden, rhys james, huge davies, josie long, alasdair beckett-king, gino d'acampo, julian barrett, and tonsss of actors but we'd be here all day

i don't think there are many people i vehemently do not want to see on the show. while there are of course a few comedians i just don't like, and if taskmaster puts another tory politician on the panel again i'll fucking write in with my upset, the disappointment i typically feel if and when i see a new lineup is more along the lines of "meh they're fine but they took the place of someone i'd much rather see". but tm is also so good at introducing us to people we may not have seen much of before — and then we love them, so i trust the producers and alex a lot!

🔮 MANIFESTING MANIFESTING MANIFESTING MANIFESTING MANIFESTING MANIFESTING MANIFESTING 🔮

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[aiqingdemeimiao]

I will say the probable dating pool for a young gay closeted actor in 2009 would’ve been very small compared to 2019 as publicly out (and much more famous) gay celebrity - dating apps and surely much much more potential interested parties- hey I’d have a slutty era too!

exactly!!! now he's got so many more options, not just because of who he is but also because of how much the world has changed while he was married. the dating scene for gay celebs is no longer cloak and dagger, hiding in shadows, running from the press for fear your career will be over. now you get options! try before you buy! back in the day it was either marry mark or end up with simon amstell proposing to you in the rice and pasta aisle of lidl.

[tiptoesims]

She bit the inside of her cheek to stop from laughing more, “Yeah, but, come on! The great Zale Van Amstel, puking when he teleports, & who dad teleported all over the place, can’t handle the trip without potions!”

He flashed her a huge grin, which made her heart squeeze.

[staypuff]

pinned

HIII it's me puff. I'm an artist, writer, game dev. Open for comms for anyone interested, just dm.

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Check out my games!

Fog Over Marshmot: Short, spooky visual novel where a mysterious fog settles over town, meanwhile, Bat Van Amstel wants to quit his job. My Best Friend Simon: A spooky visual novel game demo where Simon Webster has become too far gone and is obsessing over his best friend, Bat. What Marshmot Convention?: A point-and-click game where a tourist has come to Marshmot, excited for a special event in the park, only to be sorely disappointed and unsure of what to do next. Adrian's Night Out: A point-and-click randomized forest exploration, Adrian thought he saw something pass by his cabin window. He searches around for any answers, and sees many odd things...

... And be sure to check out this odd little website.

i tag "blood" or "gore" on my own posts for search reasons but i dont tag reblogged posts. and i might reblog suggestive funnies or topics but nothing wholly explicit.

[johnnyquanart]

Amstel River and Munttoren Amsterdam, Netherlands

Also out of order in my sketchbook of my journey... I pasted a printed copy of this in my cahier (since the original's bigger than can fit, which I posted in my Moleskine instead).

After a trip to Norway (up next!), I rounded back to Amsterdam briefly before heading for the last leg of my journey, and rested on a bench looking over the Amstel, just past Rembrandt's house and Waterlooplein market, and by absolute mere random serendipitous happenstance, was in the next meeting spot of Amsterdam's Urban Sketchers. Thinking to be out briefly, I'd left my sketchbook and instruments, but the group were so lovely to welcome me, and Saskia and Bou Kje lent me their supplies. Afterward, we admired each others work at Amstelhoeck cafe!

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Earlier today, I was struck by a sudden memory: I think Rob Brydon did a really weird in show in 2006 that was in the same sort of fiction-reality blend as his The Trip movies, where most people play ficitonalized versions of themselves (they’re reading a script and not improvising, but also those characters have the same name and jobs and basic persona as the real person), but also some actors play fictional characters, and it’s made by the BBC in reality but also the fictional world is about a show being made by the BBC. And there’s a show within a show, a panel show within a sitcom. Sort of near Amstell’s Grandma’s House levels of fictional. Almost exactly The Trip levels of fictional, which might be why I remembered it today, because I was downloading Alan Partridge things today and remembered that Steve Coogan exists.

Here's what I thought of today without looking it up: It's a sitcom about Rob Brydon hosting a really shit history-based panel show, with Dave Gorman as a team captain, and we see the making of the panel show as well as little clips of the panel show itself, and there are lots and lots of celebrity guests because people keep turning up to play themselves as guests on the panel show. One time, Rob Brydon ends up nearly having a threesome with Eamonn Holmes and his wife, I think? At some point James Corden shows up, playing himself, as is gay with Russell Tovey, even though James Corden and Russell Tovey are the only two people from the entire History Boys movie who did not appear to be gay with each other. Also, there’s a whole long storyline about Rob Brydon falling in love with Russell Tovey. And even though it’s 2007 (in season 2) and this is a satirical comedy show where nothing is real, it’s not treated as a joke. I mean, they make jokes about it, it’s not a romantic drama or anything, but it’s like a genuine romantic subplot and not just a joke about how it would be funny if Rob Brydon were gay.

I remembered that today, and then I thought that’s an interesting fever dream I had a few years ago, I wonder why I came up with that. But no, I took the internet and confirmed that this did happen. That shouldn’t really have required confirmation, since it’s only been a few years since I watched it and that shouldn’t be long enough to forget it exists, but it’s such an odd thing that I did briefly, honestly wonder if I’d made it up.

I downloaded it today, thought I might re-watch some. Because I recall it being pretty funny, but I don’t recall much else about it even though I watched it fairly recently (early 2021, I think, maybe late 2020), probably because most of it would have gone over my head. I know it’s full of self-referential in-jokes about the British TV industry/comedy industry/celebrity world circa 2006-2007 – possibly enough in-jokes about that sort of thing to be annoying to the average discerning viewer. But I am not the average discerning viewer, and I tend to like that sort of in-joke thing even though I know it’s not the exactly the highest form of comedy, and for some reason I also happen to have an obsession with British comedy circa 2006-2007. I’m sure I missed a lot of references when I first watched it that I’d be more likely to get now that I have spent more time obsessively learning about British comedy circa 2006-2007. Also, I have no TV shows to watch at the moment, and I don’t really want to start one I’ve not seen before right now because that would require focus, so this seems like a fun thing to re-watch. Not necessarily in its entirety, but at least skimming it enough to confirm it happened.

Does anyone else remember this? Has anyone else seen it? Are we sure it’s not a fever dream I had? Because what I’m remembering, particularly that business in season 2, was really quite strange.

[jow99]

Last days in Alcalá de Henares

Our time in Alcalá will soon be coming to an end so Mum and I took Saturday morning for a trip into Madrid. We visited the Plaza Mayor, Mercado de San Miguel and one of my favourite places, Puerta del Sol. We also managed to get a bit of shopping in and of course lots of food and at least one glass of bubbles. Not a bad morning!

We cabbed back to Alcalá and met Jose and clan for lunch. We had a lovely afternoon and more food. By the time we got back to the apartment I was fit to burst. Tonight we said goodbye to Maria, Inaky and Nico. They are busy tomorrow and we leave on Monday. It’s lovely they have been able to spend this time with Angela.

The rest of the night was pretty quiet, we were all tired and full.

Today was another two breakfast morning. Our main meals have been around 2pm, then we have a few nibbles around 8:30pm and so we’re ready for breakfast by 8-8:30am. Rosi arrived around 10am and we headed to Indalo, which has become our local. They have the nicest croissants there 😋

Mum and I then set off for more sightseeing. First stop was the Archbishops palace, the place where Catherine of Aragon was born and Isabel had her first meeting with Christopher Columbus. You can’t go inside but it was still pretty amazing knowing what had taken place inside those walls.

Next stop was Casa de Hippolytus which had been a college for youths in the Romans time here. It was beautifully maintained and well worth the visit. Then we went to some other Roman ruins that had been partly built over, I think immediately post the reign of the Moors and had been rediscovered during some renovations. We had been spoilt by the college and poor Mum was getting quite tired having bumped her way across cobbles and gravel paths (that were really stony). We can’t decide whether she’ll have arms like Arnie or two twigs by the time she goes home 🤣

We then all met up for lunch in Alcalá. It was a beautiful day and being a Sunday, everyone was out and about. On the stroll home we stopped for ice cream. A nice way to finish our lunch.

This afternoon Jose and I watched Amstel Gold while I also did a few adminy things. Jose’s cousin on his father’s side (Toni and family) were due to drop by this afternoon. They arrived at 7pm - very long days here.

Not surprisingly Mum bailed on yet another stroll, but the rest of us went out to have a little look at Alcalá and a drink. At 9pm I headed back to check on Mum and see if she wanted anything to eat. Meanwhile Jose and Angela went for coffee with the family. We finally had a dinner of sorts around 9:45pm. It’s been lovely but I won’t mind getting back into a semi normal routine when we return to L’Escala.

[nickgerlich]

Beer’s To Ya

Truth really is stranger than fiction. The funny thing is, I am reminded of this truth at least once every week. It’s just that there’s always somebody different hammering home this little gem. Kind of like the guy who just introduced Conservative Dad’s Ultra Right Beer.

Say it with me. “Oh noooooo.”

To be fair up front, I would say the same thing if someone on the hard left did it too. I am an equal opportunity critic. It’s just that this fellow is gliding in on the aftermath of the Bud Light beer can incident that featured trans-woman star Dylan Mulvaney. The new beer can says in small print, “100% Woke-Free American Beer.”

Well, somebody hand me a flag so I can wave it.

Right now, he is mailing the beer to customers starting in early May, which clocks in at $19.99 a six-pack plus more than $14 for shipping. That’s about as much as five or six craft beers at a brewery. Shipping is limited to just 42 states because of some arcane laws still on the books. But with that price, I’m betting not a whole lot of Joe Six Packs will be slamming these down at home, especially once the novelty wears off.

The 49-year beer can collector in me also says I want one of these. I’ll make sure I get one, somehow. But I am reminded of other novelty beers from the 1970s, like Billy Beer (named for President Carter’s beer-swilling brother), as well as JR Beer (based on the hit TV show Dallas), and 4077th M*A*S*H Beer (another TV show knock-off). None of these cans are worth more than a quarter on a good day, because millions were saved by collectors.

Furthermore, this guy is going to have a hard time getting distribution. I doubt many retailers would want to carry a politically divisive product like this. Sure, Bud Light has kind of become that, but that was never the intent. And, worse yet, as someone I know at an Amarillo liquor store told me yesterday, the people coming in the store asking for a Bud Light alternative have absolutely no clue all the brands that AB InBev owns or distributes. Say goodbye to your Amstel, Modelo, Karbach, Hoegaarden, Rolling Rock, Goose Island, Kona, and many others.

Good luck with this folks. Oh, and don’t forget that the folks who make Coors Light have also long been a supporter of gay rights. Don’t swap one brewery for another without knowing your beers.

But now comes the really insane part. It’s not just my students who do the learning and changing during a semester. Sometimes it’s the professor as well, and you can count me among those who are now beginning to see that some companies may be willingly playing the controversy card, knowing that any damage inflicted on social media will be short-lived. 



And here’s the other part, which is actually a sobering reality for me: It is the acknowledgement that some companies simply no longer care all that much about old people like me. It’s good for business. They happily rattle people’s cages, because they are pandering to younger consumers, people with a lot more open minds on a lot of these hot-button ideas. We old timers have the majority of our consuming years behind us. I sure as hell don’t drink as much beer as I once did. I’m too old for that. I don’t eat M&Ms, and my preferred shoes for hiking and walking are Merrells.

Now as in all controversial things we have discussed this term, I respect what each of you believe to be right. You don’t have to agree with me, nor I with you. But from a purely marketing perspective, this new beer is a lot like the bottle rockets people will be sending off on the 4th of July. The show will be over in seconds.

Maybe I better try to grab one of those while I am still able to. This one may go away faster than all those 70s brewing mistakes.

Dr “Foam On The Range“ Gerlich

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