forameus

Cool, you'll need to let me know how it goes, think your gig is a couple of days before mine. They usually evolve their show a little as the tour goes on, so hopefully there'll be some differences to when I saw them in Munich.

Manchester? I'll be there. It's going to be fucking epic. Already have the plans of how to get in quickest and get the best spot, and it won't be the front...

Or as an addition to my post above, if there was any interest in playing later in the week (*nudge* Thursday) then I'd be very interested. Sunday/MondayTuesday games are a killer, so would like to play later in the week instead

I usually play 7s on a Monday night up at Toryglen, but play at Townhead on Sundays/Tuesdays fairly regularly. If I'm not playing elsewhere on a Monday night I'll keep this in mind - might be able to make up the numbers if needed.

I can see where you're coming from, but when it comes to basic service, I slightly disagree. I don't think that it can be excused just because it's at the lower end of the culinary spectrum. I've been to expensive restaurants where the service is just as piss poor, and some cheaper ones where it's been fantastic. Agreed though, in the setting they're in, it's probably very difficult to put across any kind of decent customer service when you're asking the same thing over and over again. There will be some staff in there that will go that extra bit though, but it shouldn't be a minority. That said though, like I said, I see what you're getting at. I don't usually go into McDonalds full stop, but if I did I wouldn't be expecting silver service.

I don't think I can pinpoint just one... Best Viva Brazil - only recently opened in Glasgow, but I love the place. The meat is fantastic, and at all you can eat it's fairly reasonable considering the quality. You can go a few doors down and get a small piece of steak for the same price as you get all the meats in VB. Even better if you go for lunch Gourmet Burger Kitchen - a staple when I visit London for work, as there's one near St Pauls, just a 2 minute walk from my hotel. The burgers are always perfectly cooked as you want them, and when you go mental with the sides you can make something very tasty. A bit over-priced though possibly. Wagamama - my fiancee got me into this, and got to say I love it now. The food is always fresh which makes a massive difference. Unfortunately, it is fast food in the way that you feel hungry again very fast a few hours later, and they do cram you together so it seems like you're eating with other people. Apart from that though, it's one of the better chains. On the Fence Wetherspoons - On the fence because it often depends which one, or even which mood it's in at the time. I've had breakfasts that have varied from being piss poor to excellent (the one in Manchester near the Arndale served up an amazing breakfast, but was perhaps made better by being battered after a Rammstein gig) but you can have it varying massively in the one place - the Counting House is usually very bad, but can come up with great food. You can't argue with the prices usually, even though they've hiked up. It was a great student lunch/dinner place if you wanted somewhere cheap. And the drink is close to th e cheapest you get, which always helps. Grill on the Corner - Blackhouse would be the chain (there's a few up and down the country, mostly in London I think) and they do fantastic food fairly regularly, but it's let down by price. A full 3 courses there, considering it's a steak place, gets pretty expensive, and I'm not sure it's entirely worth it. However, January's 50% off offer saves it. Worst McDonalds - No. Just no. I went down for training in London with people from work, and the night we arrived, where did they want to go to get some food? McDonalds. No wanting to try and find a nice restaurant to sit down and have a meal in a new city. McDonalds. Pish food. Pish service. But then that's exactly what is to be expected. Had one in Munich a couple of months ago given that it was the only place open after midnight - marginally better, but still as bad. And still had a few jakeys. Nandos - I don't see what the fuss is about. It's a middle class KFC, and I think people who would usually criticise KFC/BK/McDs go there to feel somehow superior. I've been once, and I can't say I didn't enjoy the food, but for what I got, I'd have looked to pay about half what I did. Doubt I'll be going back. If I want fast food chicken, I'll go to KFC and chance my arm. Pizza Hut - Have had takeaway from them recently, which was the first time I'd eaten there in years. IT was hands down the worst pizza I'd ever ordered. The restuarant side of things have tried to move to a more Nando's level of middle-class-ery, but it's not sitting well. The food doesn't match up.

I watched the third, and thought it was pretty good, but much preferred the 2nd to it. It was a good story, and nice and simple this time, but I think the ending, although good, was a strange one. I really hope that Brooker gets involved more in things like this. I do love his Screenwipe series, but I think he's lost that edge that made them so great in the beginning. After all, he mercilessly attacked those TV celebrities in the first few series, and now he pretty much is one. Would be a bit hypocritical really. Newswipe was pretty good and let him do some of the more serious stories, which he does very well, but he is clearly a talented writer, and I look forward to Black Mirror Series 2, or something different.

I didn't manage to catch the first episode, although intending to, and now that I've read reviews I probably won't in a hurry having been spoiled badly on the twist, but will eventually get round to it I'm sure (probably once 4od comes onto the Xbox, but I digress). Watched 15 million merits last night, and got to say, it was one of the better dramas I've seen in a while on TV. Although he's more known for the rants and outbursts on Screenwipe etc, Charlie Brooker is an extremely good writer, and he can definitely do the more serious issues - Newswipe at times was very poignant. I thought the way he handled this story had everything that is good about his writing. I can definitely see the point of some that say it was dull in parts, even though I disagree. It definitely took a long while to get to the point of the matter, when Abi stood in front of the judges on the show, and that could've probably been done in a shorter time. However, I think that was intentional in part, like Banterman says. Their life was monotonous and dull. When it did reach that point, you could see it all quickly unravelling, and I must admit, the final twist I didn't see coming in full - I expected a far more predictable end. I guess the best (or worst) part of it is that although it's supposed to be set in a dystopian future, it was easy to see how that future might not be too far away from what we have today...

Lucky enough to see Rammstein in the Olympiahalle, Munich a couple of weeks ago. Comfortably the greatest live band I've ever seen, and one of the greatest around today. Unbelievable show.

Controversial...although I hope that it's a step up in the way that Liberty City was stepped up between GTAIII and IV. Somewhere slightly bigger than LC (or at least with more varied terrain, like San Andreas had) with as much detail as IV and I'd be happy as a pig in shit.

I always found it fairly easy to get out of anything 3 and below. Even the helicopters massive reach was hilariously not enough for a fairly fast car and a long enough stretch of road. Particularly the stretch in the first area, starting from the big arc de triomphe look-a-like heading down towards Roman's taxi office and beyond. Usually by the time you run out of road, you're well out of the area. The only trouble I ever had was when you had a high wanted level and plenty of cop cars around you. They were pretty good at kettling you in, not letting you drive off, got caught like that a few times. Otherwise it was just bad luck, running into things and then getting your door thrown open and arrested. Having said that, I don't think I ever got a properly high wanted level. Shame, we used to play a GTA3 mini-game where you increased the wanted level to full with cheats and then saw who could last the longest. Endless fun.

I've only watched it once, and on my phone so hardly the best to judge, but all in all looked good. But can't help but feeling that without knowing what is actually going to be in the game, we're ranging from either something similar to GTAIV, or something with sooo much more. Hard to tell at the moment. The chase scenes did look a lot quicker with a lot more energy - hopefully it will be a bit harder to shake the cops - it always seemed so easy in previous games. Grab a fast car, find a straight road and you're gone.

UnitarySauce72 on Xbox Live. Don't ask about the name - Microsoft gave me it initially and I never bothered to change it, thinking I would end up with something unoriginal and pish. I play FIFA12 (badly) and some GTAIV/EFLC. Will be onto BF3 over the weekend too.

I was thinking the other day whether there were any plans for this - great to hear there is. Wonder if we'll get a pretty abstract trailer or something with some gameplay in. I'm imagining the former. From this game, I'd like the best bits of GTAIV and San Andreas - not much there then! I loved GTAIV - I'm only just starting to appreciate it more now I have it on Xbox and can play without horrific stutter (had it on PC previously). It's clear there has been sooo much work put into the game to turn it into a living breathing city. The little touches showed that - the binmen patrolling the city, roadworks, interactions with pedestrians etc. However, once you completed the game, all the fun seemed to dissappear. There was no "I'll just go and potter around in GTA for a while" with this game - once you were done, I doubt many went back unless it was for another playthrough. With SA there was far more to do. I think for GTAV, R* should remember the fun element that served them so well on previous games, but also push forward with the gritty but beautiful city idea they created with the last game. I personally liked the more serious and gritty storyline to the ones from previous games, it just needs....more.

Rammstein at the Olympiahalle, Munich in November. Gonna be awesome...