Little Things That Make You Smile 7: The Joy Department

[QualityChimp]

I've had a pretty amazing weekend!

So, the wife and kids went to Folkestone for the week to make use of the summer hols and I planned to drive down at the weekend to spend it with them, but remembered I'd pre-arranged visiting another friend on Saturday, which we'd been sorting for months and everyone coming sorted their diaries so didn't want to bail, but was initially disappointed I wouldn't get to spend a few days chilling on the beach with them.

However, on the Friday, I was driving home from work and my sister messaged to say her husband wasn't back from a work training week and would I like to take his place watching the Commonwealth Games athletics.
I've been jealously looking at friends' Facebook feeds as they've been attending all the various events with great atmospheres, so I jumped at the chance.

It was such a brilliant night and we got to see a load of events like the decathlon, triple-jump, steeplechase, wheelchair 1500m, shotput, javelin, 400m and so on. It was such a brilliant atmosphere and I was 3 rows from the front, right next to the triple-jump sandpit.

Then on Saturday I visited my friend and there were 5 of us in Shrewsbury. We went to an amazing Japanese restaurant, then toured around the town (which is picturesque like York or something), then back to their house and we played a bunch of boardgames.

The next day, I went to see another friend nearby, whom I rarely see since they moved. I got a message from another friend, saying they had a spare ticket for the beach volleyball final, so I agreed to that and jetted back home, then headed to Brum.
Again, it was a great event and it was ace to see the (Super) Bello bros. getting Bronze, our first medal in the event, then a really close match between Australia and Canada. (Bonus points for getting on the telly).
Had a drink with my friends and ambled up to see the Mechanibull and general goings on in Centenary Square, just soaking up the vibes.

So a top, spontaneous weekend!

I also want to say how amazing the Commonwealth Games have been, though.
Such a brilliant team effort.
Both events I attended were presented really professionally by the organising team, but also the army of volunteers.

At the athletics, you go through a tunnel as you go to your seats and the whole of Alexander Stadium just opens out before you and it was crammed with people just really excited to be there, cheering every competitor on, be they at the front or back of each race.
All the branding was on-point and professionally done with Perry the Bull being a great mascot.
Every event was brilliantly commented on, being clear and informative, so you always knew what was going on.
I thought there'd be some downtime between events, but it was non-stop. I remember clapping the decathlon running one way, then the triple-jump going the other way, then the shotputters doing a lap of honour the other way again!

I was proper screaming in the steeplechase, it was really tense by the end!

The beach volleyball was a totally different vibe - still buzzing but more of a party with beats between serves and dancers between sets. I can't imagine being encouraged to slowclap a setpoint at Wimbledon, but the whole crowd was roaring when it came down to that last attempt to win the set.

Around the city, there were loads of people in the late afternoon sun taking snaps of the Mechanibull or watching the diving on a big screen from deckchairs and listening to music from local musicians. The whole town was heaving with a real buzz to it.
I've been really proud of Birmingham and what an achievement the games have been.

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[prinnysquad]

I’ve just had an experience that rivals that one, [MENTION=10111]QualityChimp[/MENTION]

All day I’ve been baking a brute of a cake. The temperature outside is near-Apocalyptic, and I genuinely feared that when I dropped the kids off at the pool, it would be one of those horrid sticky ones that clag up your ring good and proper. You know the type - like a 750g bar of Dairy Milk that’s been left on the dashboard during a blazing afternoon.

Rumblings indicated that said log was reaching critical mass, so I tentatively made my way to the porcelain throne, checking that there was an abundance of toilet paper on standby. Thank god for the pandemic. What happened is something similar to this extract from The Case of the Clean Break by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:

“Ta-da!”
Holmes burst from the bathroom and afforded his audience a little bow. Watson, sat at the bureau curating the details of a recently-completed case, raised an eyebrow.
“I say, Holmes. Have you had a Eureka moment about the Farringdon case?”
“No, Watson, my dear fellow. As usual, you see, but you do not observe.”
“I don’t follow, old chap.”
“What was the last thing I said to you before I entered our facility?”
“That you hoped it wouldn’t be a rotter of a clagger.”
“Precisely! And from the nature of my reentrance, what can you conclude?”
“By Jove! You’ve had a clean break! Bravo, old chap!”
Holmes smirked. “Exactly. It was a one-wiper. As clean as a whistle.”
“You dirty bastard,” muttered Mrs Hudson, arranging the china on a silver tea tray.

[wakka]

Outstanding level of creativity in dump reportage.

[Anpanman]

I've had a pretty amazing weekend!

Great, we like watching live sport, we've been lucky enough to have been to a couple of the Grand Slams, we would like to get to the Paris Olympics if possible.

On another note, saw the Postcode Lottery advert with Jason Donovan, absolutely superb.

[QualityChimp]

All day I’ve been baking a brute of a cake.

I'm not liking that post, you degenerate!

[QualityChimp]

Fist of the North Star: The Musical

Whut?

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[QualityChimp]

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[Nu-Eclipse]

Fist of the North Star: The Musical

Whut?

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You WA Shock'd by this??

[Hirst]

One of the GAME shops I see regularly is doing a closing down sale, that's not really a grin as I'm mostly indifferent to it as a franchise - I think the corporate side is badly run and shows no understanding of the target market, it kind of deserves to go to the wall.

But amongst all the Pokemon pencil cases and inexplicable Baby Alive dolls I managed to grab a couple of bargains - a lot of stuff was 50% off (and I suspect it shouldn't be, but I'm not going to grass).

Picked up their only A500 Mini for 50% off at £59.99 (missus wanted one) and one of those quarter-scale Numskull arcade cabinets - Galaxian - for 50% off again, £54.99. It's been sat on the top shelf in the corner facing the wrong way ever since they got it, top was covered in dust. Probably just tinker around with it for a bit and sell it on to be honest, but it's good fun for that price! Very happy.

[cutmymilk]

I went into a sports direct out of curisoity to see the Game section. It was very odd to see what is now a toy shop tucked into the upstairs corner of the shop, right by the till. There were two teenage SD workers having a chat whilst two Game guys processed pre owned games.

[Blobcat]

Not seen it in my local SD (I go in there maybe 2 times a year) but during the mad rush to get more Animal Crossing Amiibo cards I heard on many trading groups online that people got some cards from the Game section of SD which I was surprised about.

I have 3 cards left to get (from the newest series)

[briareos_kerensky]

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[randombs]

quarter-scale Numskull arcade cabinets - Galaxian - for 50% off again, £54.99. It's been sat on the top shelf in the corner facing the wrong way ever since they got it, top was covered in dust.

I love the idea of a naughty arcade cab sent to the corner

[Anpanman]

one of those quarter-scale Numskull arcade cabinets - Galaxian

Fantastic!

What's your high score.

[Colin]

When you buy a game from eBay and you see that there's a bit of bubble wrap in the case to stop the disc moving, giving you that little smile that the person you've bought it from actually gives a ****.