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Lech on draught is fantastical but it's awful out of a bottle. Tyskie and Zwiec are great in those big 2 pint tankards they give you in Polska. Pivo!

Yeah, I really don't know what they're doing during the bottling process to make them so dreadful compared to the draught versions.

The latest thing tried here was a thing called Ginger's Beer, which..well..needs no further introducing. Tasted of nothing but ginger beer from a can, except it's 4.1% and ridiculously drinkable.

I also tried the 'British' style beer, Dog in the Fog....it's nothing special. Tasted of just a bland real ale from a chain pub, and not worth trying again. There was another bottle, but I've forgotten the name, but it was remarkably non-descript.

One irritating thing here - the beer selection is actually quite crap. Most pubs won't do much in the way of variety - it's usually one beer like Zywiec/Lech/Tyskie, a strong beer, and something like Becks/Heineken.

good disco in Peterhead tho, DJs, similiar vibe.

You really are having a laugh, aren't you?

So yup, that sounds like a thinly veiled demand for more cash.

And no bus company apart from Stagecoach have little/any chance of winning any tender for a subsidised night route, so they're absolutely laughing their way to the bank.

First Bus in Aberdeen is subsidised partially by council tax. Appauling isn't it? The prices have now risen to 2 for a single for more than 5 stages (Which appears to be anything greater than the length of Union Street these days' date=' an all day peak ticket is now 4. I think it's 3.80 for off-peak but don't quote me on that). Complete shite. Its also up to 58 for a monthly pass. I can't see how it can be any cheaper than just driving to work. Surely your petrol wouldn't come to 4 a day for a run from the city centre to Altens?[/quote']

It's an absolutely dreadful state of affairs - how can it do anyone any good to have the dominant transport operator running the subsidised routes as well as the unsubsidised ones? I know it's a free market and so on - but I think a move to the London style system, where you're told how to run almost every aspect of the operation makes a lot more sense.

In relation to the cost of Citylink fares - a return to Berlin from Poznań (about 150 miles, so similar to Aberdeen-Glasgow), walkup, is about 30 euro. It's even cheaper if you take the slow trains in each country - which sometimes aren't even much slower.

In my opinion, it would be nice if the running of night services was linked to the approval to run bus routes - ie, if you want to run Stonehaven-Aberdeen, then you run night services too. It'll never happen, though

i mean' date=' really?? dont you have anything better to do? [/quote']

Cheer up Ewan, you can't go through your entire life being dull

No Tyskie? Shame on you!

It's better than the horrid beer that is Zywiec...which is okay out of a bottle, but dreadful from a can/tap. Tyskie is pretty my beer of choice here, even though the Lech brewery is visible from my flat...

The university blew it when they got rid of the building. It was all a big fuck up that shouldn't have happened.

I'll try and get the info from my boss. He was telling me all about it (but was a bit buckled at the time).

The history is a bit clouded to me nowadays, but wasn't it sold to pay off the huge debt that AUSA had accumulated? I seem to recall figures of a 2 million debt being mentioned, and the building being sold for not much over that.

and I presume these are the standard 3.5 inch ones, none of the DD or HD ones which went up to about 200MB i think?

SD was 360k, DD was 720k and HD was 1.44MB.

Getting forgetful in your old age, Les?

They've stopped the Porthlethen buses??!

Are Stagecoach doing this, knowing fine well that Aberdeenshire Council will end up having to offer a subsidy in which they make a killing off, seeing as the late night buses were always quite busy out that way?

True, in comparison the UK's public transport system is terrible. However, there is less chance of me waking up in a bath full of ice with both my kidneys missing here than there is in Poland. Thank heavens for small mercies

Some guy shouted at me today, because I was with a friend and we kept laughing at his impressively-large nose. And he smelled of rotten fish heads

But it does seem to be a particularly-UK thing to have dreadfully expensive/useless public transport - but that's what happens when it's not funded in any way, I guess.

The public transport service here is a dream compared to Aberdeen - 20 pounds a month buys you unlimited access to buses and trams, along with night buses that go anywhere where you might possibly need to go at night. There's often quite a bit of duplication too - for instance, from my osiedle (estate), there's three tram services going to the centre of the city, along with a bus service and some other bus services that don't go into the centre, but nearby. Trams and buses run every 20 minutes at the most, and during the day, you'll never wait longer than 3 minutes for a tram.

Only bad thing is that the trams are mostly completely rotten - but they run on time and they do the job.

But i'm sure he is asking about cash in hand to avoid paying tax.....which probably isn't the best thing to ask about on a public forum in the first place....

Ah, I doubt there's anyone malicious enough to report him to the taxman for it.

Fixed

You complete and utter fucking bastard

For crying out loud, you bastard...I feel somewhere between sick and amused now

Thats the one. Its fucking hard. Everytime I've played I've lasted 2 minutes maximum.

Me too, I'd be surprised if I even managed to last as long as 2 minutes on it.

Strangely addictive too though, despite how hard it is....

Rampage...was that the game where you were a gorilla and went destroying buildings?

Really? I always thought that in taking on a second job, you get totally raped by the tax man on the earnings from it...

What tends to happen is that you get stuck on the BR tax code as the new employer won't chase up the taxman to issue the right tax code - so the tax paid is all messed up. If you do get a job that's on the books, make sure the code is right

The tax rate for a second job is just the same as a first job - ie, 20% from 5k ish up to around 35kish (not sure of the exact figure...) along with the national insurance contributions.

Free UK PAYE Income Tax Calculator 2008. Updated for 2008 / 2009 budget and September changes to allowance rates. is a brilliant tax calculator for this.

Amazon.com: Logitech G25 Racing Wheel: Electronics

Speaking of USB things...I want to get my hands on this, I tried one out earlier in this electronics superstore here and it's....beyond good.

Back on topic: My best memory of being a manager was berating Charlie Allen who was refereeing my team's league match. He was absolutely awful, so I made sure I let him know about it; useless reporter, his weight and his lack of football knowledge were all added to the abuse.

Fucking hell, I know they were/are desperate for refs in Aberdeen (heck, they passed me....), but Charlie Allen as a ref?!

Robotron is indeed amazing.

I think Peteowar was the only person to ever get on the tops core board on The Moorings machine.

Is Robotron the one that used both sticks to control?

that whole post kinda sums up your ignorance when it comes to stuff of this nature. Until you are in the situation of booking tours and knowing what its like when you are looking for dates / trying to fill cancellations / dealing with awkward people and venues etc I don't think you have anything valid to contribute

I have played some brilliant gigs with unexperienced promoters, fair do's you might not get some food or you might get your set cut short, but its hardly the end of the world

Brilliant gigs don't fill your stomach or the van though if you don't get paid/fed, do they?

Ineptitude/lying on the part of promoters does fuck all for anyone. The sooner bad promoters are kicked to the kerb, the better...in my humble opinion.

Mogwai?

I guess it does depend on the lineup too - if it's just a random local bill, promoted for the sake of promoting, then there would be no harm in taking a punt on the band without hearing them.

But of course, it would be suicidal/ridiculous to do it if you were promoting some decent out of town act - like you've been doing?

Just depends on time and circumstances really - I actually think it's interesting to have the arrogance to say 'contact us'.

I really want to hear them now

What balls you speak at times. You can't judge how good a band are by how confident they are. I've heard so many little gromits boast about how their band are great and are going to be the next big thing, and they almost invariably suck on an epic scale.

But come on, look at the tone of the post. It's not bragging, it's not in your face - but it is ridiculously assured.

There's a mature, grown up tone about the inital post. I don't know what it is - but it sounds like they know what they're doing and aren't afraid to say so.

Most of the time I would imagine promoters are really young and dont realise what they are getting into when booking gigs with guarentees.

Idiots. I wouldn't dare screw someone on their guarantee - who knows if they have a gorilla for a friend that'll happily beat you senseless if you don't pay up?

Then again, I question the sanity of any serious band that agrees to play a show for someone young/inexperienced anyway.

As for the guy being 45...he should've just been shot, simple

As an aside, look at the tone of this guy's post. He knows what he's talking about - the whole inital post oozes supreme confidence in their ability, and for that alone, they're worth a shot. How many bands can be so articulate and yet straight to the point in a no nonsense manner?

To the OP - chuck a post in the Fudge forum. They're bound to take a shot on you, particularly if you can promise to get the job done with the minimum of fuss.

I truthfully cannot wait to see Chris T-T again.

Probably the only thing that you and me will ever agree on

(sadly, not much hope in seeing him here)