Chez Wombat

Well it was destiny we'd get another group stage draw! Just wasn't the team we expected it to be x Ghana played exactly the right strategy and England just couldn't break through, a contrast to last week really where both teams went on the attack, I'm sure Panama will be a bit easier, but a bit of a reality check to remind us some things don't change!

A perfect strategy from Ghana so far tbf, shame it's so boring to watch x Let's hope Tuchel has another firm word with them!

Just saw it, I think it was pretty entertaining and very well made as per usual for Spielberg, Emily Blunt in particular was fantastic and the score was typically beautiful. Definitely dragged a bit in places and I think the powers the main duo had were very woolly and the plot quite jumbled and overstuffed. The ending is definitely has that typical Spielberg wow factor and incredibly shot for the recorded footage in particular, but I'm not sure it actually says that much, especially about Extra Terrestrial life. He was clearly going for a Close Encounters... vibe but it felt like everything it was trying to say, has already been done.

I do think Starmer was ultimately fine and in no way deserved to have that short a tenure, he was boring and charisma-free but did at least want to get on with the job and made some positive differences that were sadly just not made clear enough and don't make a good headline (Renters Rights, Train Nationalisation etc.), but a boring centrist in this divided landscape thirsty for drama in politics is never going to last, his PR and doom and gloom message was just terrible, and as well documented, constantly trying to pander to people that will never vote for him was frustrating and I'd have really struggled to support him at an election. It is certainly speaking for the divided and volatile nature of politics that it's been a decade since the PM served their full term (Cameron's first one anyway), it just seems like we want a circus and soundbites rather than people that can just get on with it cos it doesn't sell papers. I would hope Burnham can use his popularity with Labour and with the public to turn public opinion away from Reform, but either way, it's a big gamble for Labour which in the immediate sense, just makes them look like the chopping and changing that the last government did.

I'd have Boris Gardiner and Nick Berry below the two novelty ones, being boring is far more of a crime than being a tacky novelty song for me, I do quite like the piano in the latter but the former I am struggling to remember literally anything about.

I'm still not convinced the press won't just do exactly the same with Burnham as they did with Starmer and he'll be in 'crisis' one year from now, but realistically Starmer's been a dead man walking for a long time now and we would've been walking into a Reform majority, so a leader that's actually popular with the public can't be a bad thing.

Changed The Way You Kiss Me is my favourite to drop out so far and would be a lot closer to my top 10, there were a lot of repetitive sounds in the 'club banger' era, but this electro house-rap mix up did sound refreshingly different to that bog standard pop-dance sound that most of the chart toppers had. I have quite a bit of time for Example's first few years, though he did fall off a bit after this and he is very much of that time. My personal favourite is the underrated Watch the Sun Come Up which introduced me to him. Loca People is a charming quirk of the time, completely dated now and I'd imagine got there purely based on the novelty factor of someone swearing, but a fun one to revisit. Can't say there's much else I care for so far, Glad You Came is OK, but it never was a favourite, Lose My Mind and Gold Forever (which does feel quite poignant after Tom's death) are much better.

I am not used to seeing England play that interestingly, if this is what Tuchel's got in store, then I'm a bit more hopeful! Croatia were always going to be a hard one, and they played really well and certainly got the better of England a few times in that first half, but England definitely came back more dominant in the second half, let's keep that up lads! Also, this is the first match I've seen, hydration breaks? Bloody American TV and their need for commercials x

I have an idea of what your number 1 will be, and if so, it would be the same for me so let's see x The late 80s number 1s were a bit patchy, but I do agree 1986 still had quite a good variety. I can't hate The Chicken Song as it is, perhaps by design, infuriatingly catchy and is such a uniquely British novelty with iconic lyrics, even though it has become the very thing it mocks. There's a certainly few here I'd place below it.

Mine's FriendlyOwl 🦉 I mainly watch any new releases that interest me but I will watch random assorted classics as well, maybe some day I'll try and rate every film I've ever seen before I got letterboxd but it may take a while!

This is enough money to eradicate poverty in some parts of the world and go a good distance towards closing the wealth gap at least temporarily, and he instead chooses to champion far right groups, incite violence and reposting stills from a Batman movie and framing it as immigrants causing riots. Scumbag, it is a sad picture of the world we live in that this is what gets you rich.

I think working with teenagers day to day, I do feel more supportive of this than most in here, I see in action every day that social media can be extremely harmful to crucial general development and mental health. When you are below 16, you haven't yet fully developed social and critical thinking skills and these can be exploited heavily by the algorithm and make you particularly vulnerable to misinformation and being led down the wrong paths, as well as just a general disengagement with the world around you. I've seen the worst of it in action and it genuinely can ruin family lives. Having said that, I do agree that it is just a policy that's designed to look good and generate headlines while not actually challenging the big tech firms to actually regulate their platforms, putting it in action effectively in a way that makes a positive difference for children is another thing entirely and one I'm not convinced this government has the ability to deliver.

Roland Rat Superstar! - Rat Rapping (Brilliant Isn't It)* Dennis Waterman And George Cole - What Are We Gonna Get 'Er Indoors* Frank Kelly - Christmas Countdown Jingle Belles - Christmas Spectre* Santa Claus And The Christmas Trees - Singalong-A-Santa Again* But I guess these ones are also kinda good x Michael Jackson - Thriller Thompson Twins - Hold Me Now The Smiths - This Charming Man The Flying Pickets - Only You The Pretenders - 2000 Miles xx Yes - Owner of a Lonely Heart

7-1 repeats again but a country on the other side of the world this time, oh my x Poor Curaçao, good on them that they managed one in and briefly were equalising!

I'm a few episodes behind (as I am with everything lol) but I agree, this is an excellent show, I really like the expanding of the mythos and the different directions it goes in with each episode, leaving a lot of mystery but also credit to the actors for not making it take itself too seriously.