Three years ago, we were in Bilbao for the Challenge Cup final. What a difference a pandemic makes. Also, the sun was shining, at least in Spain.
Regarding the Little Cup, Flair99 says: “To find Montpellier there is quite stunning, they’re fighting to avoid relegation, and they’re certainly not pleasant to watch. How about Leicester?”
Same, Flair, same.
La Rochelle v Toulouse will undoubtedly be a more interesting match. I’m calling it for La Rochelle, because I would like them to win.
Onna telly this week
Friday 21st May
| Leicester v Montpellier | 20:00 | BT Sport 1 |
Saturday 22nd May
| Sharks v Stormers | 12:00 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Lions v Bulls | 14:30 | Premier Sports 2 |
| La Rochelle v Toulouse | 16:45 | BT Sport 2 |
Sunday 23rd May
| Nada |
Ovally Balls 
Thaum – sounds good. I’ll add that to my list. Cheers.
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I would say imagine craigs stuck in bloodborne, but I think part of him already is.
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It’s like a hybrid of Metamorphosis, His Dark Materials, computer-game fandom, sci-fi and a thriller. Works well sitting in the garden with a wee dram, too. Might make you look at the digger in a new way.
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Chimpie – exactly why I thought of Craigs! Have you read it?
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*Music with Uncle No.3*
The Middle One liked this one a lot.
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How many uncles do these kids have?
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I’d assume it’s also a bit like a Carl Hiassen book, but then perhaps he’s moved on.
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They do have three uncles as it happens, but there will still be more songs.
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Carl Hiaasen only wrote one book. It was good, but then he wrote it over and over again.
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CMW – lucky kids. I had five, four of whom remain with us. Plus three aunts, sadly only one of those left.
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All the less reason for Brookmyre to write it too though I enjoyed the ones I read by both of them. I gave all my Hiassen books away recently apart from one which I picked at random as any of them would do just as well. I can’t really remember the differences between the three Brookmyre ones I read either for that matter (and also can’t remember which ones they were which puts me off buying any others a bit).
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Hactually Bloodborne is loosely based around the ‘Hunter’s Dream’ and the ‘Nightmare’ you play in. Only the bosses and other Hunters you kill stay dead. Other enemies respawn or change as you progress.
Near the end you kill the wetnurse of the baby Mergo (who has undergone some weird fuckery) and then the baby dies sometime after (you can hear the cries go silent). The game then says ‘Nightmare Slain’ across the screen and Mergo’s mother thanks you.
I’m not making this shit up either. Perfect game for Cat. If there was ever a game I would get stuck in it would be Bloodborne.
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I should also add that at the very end of the game you can be killed and exit the dream but that’s not the proper ending.
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@Craigs – The Cat will let you be in his dream if he can be in yours.
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Might make you look at the digger in a new way.
At the moment I’ve just added another blast crater to the Kent landscape.
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Craigs – respawning and whether or not characters stay dead are indeed plot features.
CMW – sometimes I remember bits of Brookmyre’s earlier books and wonder if they were in that one or this one, but his later stuff is often quite different. I am catching up on the last few that I haven’t read yet.
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@Thaum – Might have a go at a recent one then, would expect it to be fun at the very least.
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Meanwhile in the South West:
Following an accident over the weekend the below player update has been issued by the Munster Rugby medical department.
Mike Haley, CJ Stander, Damian de Allende and RG Snyman required treatment for superficial burns following a fire pit accident at the weekend.
It is expected that Haley and Stander, who sustained burns to their hands, may return to training this week with availability for Friday night’s game reviewed as the week progresses.
De Allende and Snyman, who sustained more substantial burns to legs, hands and face, will not take part in their respective training and rehabilitation programmes and will meet a specialist again later in the week.
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Read a few Brookmyre over the years – think my favourite was One Fine Day In The Middle of The Night. Not a Jack Parlabane novel, it was centred around a school reunion (on a Disused North Sea Oil Rig).
He’s also written a science-fiction novel which I read a couple of years ago, Places In The Darkness. It was quite good.
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Black Widow is pretty much a standard crime thriller; nothing particularly OTT about it.
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TomP – ouch! WTF were they doing??
BB – that one is very good. My favourite is The Sacred Art of Stealing, which features the greatest bank heist ever. Be My Enemy is also very good, which if memory serves has the same villain as One Fine Day.
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Tomp – shit, I hope they recover.
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*Be My Enemy is about a corporate away-day that goes horribly wrong.
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@thaum, not read but I’ve liked what I’ve read of brookmyre
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Brookmyre would definitely be on my literary Lions team. He’d probably be a scrum-half, the niggly kind.
Going back to Bedlam now….
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De Allende and Snyman, who sustained more substantial burns to legs, hands and face, will not take part in their respective training and rehabilitation programmes and will meet a specialist again later in the week.
Are there really no depths to which the Britishers and Irish won’t descend to keep our star lock out of action? This has been an ongoing conspiracy for a year now.
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“Video Unavailable” – probably the evidence of Gats tossing an empty aerosol canister into the fire.
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https://supersport.com/rugby/springboks/news/210608_Petrol_can_explosion_caused_Bok_duos_burn_injuries
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Dust it for prints! Any self-respecting Saffer knows how to make a proper fire without resorting to that amateur tactic.
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Would have thought people would have stopped competing for the stupidest injury title after Scott Baldwin got bitten by that lion. It’s a worthy effort, but the bar is so high.
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You pointing the finger at Mike Haley then , Deebs ?
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I’d forgotten about Baldwin & the Lion
Bradbury getting drunk and falling over on a pavement was pretty special in it’s sheer banality, coupled with an ill-considered attempted cover up. Not in the same league as Baldwin or even the firestarters though.
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Lembit being Opik
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I’m not suggesting that Haley, er, carries the can for this one, but there’s a hidden hand in it somewhere. Anybody seen Gats and Haley in the same room before?
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Poor Springboks
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Ah, hang on. From the Daily Maverick in South Africa, it appears that fire injuries are a regular Munster thing:
In 2002, Ireland and Munster prop Peter Clohessy suffered burns after a home bonfire exploded out of control and scorched his arm just days after his 54th and last Test appearance, which was against France. “I am lucky to be alive after my horrible experience. I was burning rubbish when there was a loud explosion and the flames burned my arm and the side of my face,” Clohessy told the BBC at the time.
“I rolled around the garden to extinguish the flames but by then they had burned into my skin. I don’t know what exploded in the fire but there may have been an aerosol can in it. But there was an almighty bang and I am lucky to be alive to tell the tale. “My wife Anna told me to go out with a bang before the French match but I don’t think she wanted me to go out this way.”
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Sam Jones getting judoed by an itoje was pretty dumb.
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My comment disappeared into the ether there somewhere? Just as I was saying relax, it’s a regular Munster thing, not a conspiracy to injure our finest, my comment gets obliterated? Hmph! No sweat:
In 2002, Ireland and Munster prop Peter Clohessy suffered burns after a home bonfire exploded out of control and scorched his arm just days after his 54th and last Test appearance, which was against France. “I am lucky to be alive after my horrible experience. I was burning rubbish when there was a loud explosion and the flames burned my arm and the side of my face,” Clohessy told the BBC at the time.
“I rolled around the garden to extinguish the flames but by then they had burned into my skin. I don’t know what exploded in the fire but there may have been an aerosol can in it. But there was an almighty bang and I am lucky to be alive to tell the tale. “My wife Anna told me to go out with a bang before the French match but I don’t think she wanted me to go out this way.”
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Oh. Now it’s there. Well, Clohessy gets dumb entry twice then.
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Deebs – did you want to say something about Peter Clohessy?
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What’s with these Saffas not being able to start a fire without shit loads of petrol? Losing the poiky skillz in this modern world.
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@Craigs
………………….nice photo of teacher’s pet there………
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I bet Snyman finishes his braais in the oven.
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De Allende only cooks burgers on his.
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Need to be a bloody big oven to fit Snyman in it!
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OB not affected by this massive interwebs outage then
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Looks like your avatar ate them all too!
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Deebs – he just sets up a moderately sized braai in an oven before dousing the entire thing in petrol.
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What massive interwebs outage?
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