Fierce_LiNk

Around The World - Chilli Peppers. Anything they've done since Californication hasn't really been on the same level. This was just something else.

In fairness to V, I believe he only referred to the "racists" in question as the pitiful, narrow-minded sheep. Or, at least, that was his intention.

I've always found it interesting reading about the "magic bullet" theory. I'm reading up on the subject know and it was one hell of a shot. It was difficult, but it had some journey getting from the weapon. Most anti-conspiracy theorists believe it was only one bullet fired, but those who are pro-conspiracy say there was more than one. When I was growing up, I was always convinced there was a second person. But, the evidence supports only one. I agree. Most human reaction to the pyramids seems to be "wtf...how could WE do THAT?" Well, it took years and painful labour to get that job done. I wouldn't want to do it. It would make for an interesting story if life were created elsewhere and somehow found its way to Earth. We love stories and that's part of what makes us human. It may be true, but I don't think it is, not from what I know at the moment anyway. About the last part of your post: Do you think we'll never visit an Alien world? Technically, if we landed on Mars, that would be an Alien world, since it's Alien to us. I think with human curiosity and perseverance, it will happen. But, I don't think it will happen for hundreds of years. We definitely won't be around to see it happen, seeing as humans have only got as far as the Moon.

I'm a big fan of the original movies, own the boxset for them (also taped them off the telly yeeeears ago) and watched the tv series. I'm worried yet excited. This is meant to be a new timeline for the series, I've been told. So, if this does well, there should be sequels planned for it. I want to go and see it, but I can't imagine many of my mates being up for it. Lousy Human Bastards.

I like the logo but I don't like what the logo is saying. The 3D land part just doesn't sound right at all. It's a shame that we'll have to refer to it as that for years to come.

I've signed up to this now. Good luck, gentlemen.

I've been neglecting my bass guitar for a very, very long time. Well, I'm coming back to my baby now and have been playing it quite a bit today. I've ordered some new strings for it and a lead to connect it to my amp. I had a lead, but it must be in Newport/n00bport or something. It's nice to get into it, again.

Where is this racist stuff? I'm being blind, unless it's not on the previous two pages? What are you referring to exactly, V?

Could be this season's Hernandez. You should sign Roque Santa Cruz. So Joel can learn from the best. Pfft.

Are you...are you hitting on him?

Haha, 50 grand a week? Crazy. The guy scored no goals at all last season...And he only made 8 appearances. He had one great season in 2007-08 and that's it. 50 grand, my arse.

As a United fan, I hope you don't get him. As I want him. I could see him doing well at Arsenal. Seems like a natural replacement for Nasri, who is surely gone as well now.

It is very tasteless and classless. I'm reminded of that time where several players were putting that Barcelona shirt on him. After the World Cup, I think it was? It's very disrespectful to Arsenal to behave like that. There's a professional way in which you go about a transfer, but Barcelona have been anything but that. About players to go for: What about somebody like Edin Hazard? Just reading up his stats now, he scored 12 goals last season for Lille and has 10 assists. He's an attacking midfielder that can play either central or on the wing. He is also only 20 years old, so is young, but has represented the Belgian International Team. He also won Best Player of the Year in Ligue 1 last season. If you're looking for a midfielder to score and contribute, whilst being young and very energetic, he is your man. The downside, Lille have already given you Gervinho, so I don't really know if they'll let another attacking player go. Also, not sure how much the fee would be.

I loved MK64 to bits. It was an exciting game to play but it also was interesting with the track designs, soundtrack and weapons, etc. It was just fun. I didn't find Super Circuit fun. It just seemed to lack something that Super Mario Kart and MK64 had. I totally agree with this. You had this big world with very little charm within it. Plus, the Pokemon themselves seemed almost desperate, the designs were pretty poor and many just seemed like they were there to get the numbers up. I can't recall a single Pokemon where I thought "Fuck yes, I need you in my squad." It had absolutely nothing on its previous editions. I'll pretend I didn't read that. One thing that pissed me off about the GBA: Wario Ware Twisted. I will never forgive Europe for this one. I remember being in school and talking to my mates about this for months. We were psyched. Then...the bombshell came that it would never come out in Europe. I did the FUUU face and much more. I'm hoping it gets some sort of rejig and re-release on the 3DS. If that happens, I am so there. I much prefer what the DS has done for handheld gaming. Rather than being a console for scaled down versions of SNES games, it became a unique device with its own merits. Nintendo, in my opinon, took the piss with the GBA, in some respects. One instance that springs to mind is the re-releasing of the SNES Super Mario Bros games, repacking them as Super Mario Advance. Poor show, Nintendo. I think they were sold for full price, as well? They were allowed to get away with that as well.

You must have real issues whenever somebody talks about Curb Your Enthusiasm, then?

Why not just get these criminals out onto the streets and help clean up the shit that they caused? Seems pretty obvious to me. They made a mess, they clean it up. The moral of the story: Don't make a mess. Unless you want to clean it up.

*braces for impact* This is the one Nintendo console/handheld I could easily live without. I'll give it it's dues, it did give us two kickass Metroid games. I love Fusion. Played that again recently and cried at how good it was. But, as far as I know, that's it. There may have been some good games here and there, but there were some abominations. Plenty of those. Mario Kart Super Circuit was awful. I don't mean bad. It was soul destroying. The other game which I remember not too fondly of was Pokemon Ruby. After adoring Red and Yellow, I thought I'd give Ruby a try. Whilst Red was a complete joy to play, Ruby was dull, lifeless and a chore. The only redeeming games I can think of for the system are probably Golden Sun, the Advance Wars games and Fire Emblem. Everything else was just...done much better on the SNES. It was a portable SNES without the charm. Maybe my opinion would be different had I got the SP, but the original GBA just destroyed any possible enjoyment I might have had with the games. When the DS was released, it was...just vastly superior to the majority of what the GBA had accomplished. Completely blew it out of the water. But, it gave me Fusion. So, for that, I'm grateful. But, even then, the last time I played that game, I used my DS instead of the GBA.

He hasn't always been as consistent as he could be, but in fairness to Walcott it is often forgotten how young he really is. It feels like he has been around for a lot longer than his age suggests. Wenger is pretty good in the transfer market for buying young players and perhaps selling them on for a tidy profit. The one I remember most is Anelka, going for 23 million after coming to Arsenal for half a million, or something. He's a good accountant in that respect, but whilst it's great selling players for a nice profit, is that really what the fans want? Arsenal are a huge club with a great history and they should be right up there competing with the best in the World. It seems that these days in order to compete with the rest, you have to spend big. You can have an excellent youth system...but even Barcelona are splashing out ridiculous amounts of money on players like David Villa (40million last season) and this season Alexis Sanchez (26million). If they get Fabregas, that's at least 30 million there, so that's 50million+...for a team that already won the Champions League. Not saying for one second that every team should spend this amount of money, but just pointing out that the gaps appear to be growing in football between the teams that can spend big, the teams that can't, and the teams in the middle who dwell on that line. I think Arsenal are in the middle. Wenger has a good philosophy but these days it will only get him so far. From what I know of this current Arsenal team and the players coming through, I don't see enough there to make it into the top four this season. Players are getting more and more expensive and football is becoming increasingly money driven. I just don't see who they have lined up in the transfer market as a replacement for Fabregas, and to a lesser extent Nasri. Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey are both young and I am sure that they will perform very well for Arsenal. But it's going to be a teething period if Wenger decides to stick with these players and not pick up some more for midfield. If Wenger sticks with these two (and the likes of Song) then the fans will have to set their expectations really low for the coming season and maybe beyond that. It's just not fair on current players like that. Scoring goals is great and very welcome. But he's there to keep the goals out. Just had a quick look, Arsenal actually conceded four more goals in the season where he signed in comparison to the previous one before and lost 3 more games. Although that doesn't tell the whole story, of course. Just something to keep in mind. Arsenal did finish 3rd in his first season, compared to 4th in the one before. Edit: *looks at post* All this Arsenal talk makes me sick.

It is, but it's also inevitable. It's also almost unrepeatable what Nintendo managed to do with Wii and DS system sales.

Vermaelen had a great first season, but it's a tiny bit disrespectful to say that he was "that much" better than both Ivanovic and Evra, who were both outstanding that season. Sooner or later, one of your defenders will get injured which is why you need a strong squad. If we relied on Vidic and Ferdinand all season, we'd be fucked. Which is why you need players like Smalling, or Evans, and recently Jones. Sometimes even that's not enough. We've had Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher play centre back! Anything can happen. Having two good defenders and one possibly ok one is not enough these days. Considering Arsenal will be competing in more than one competition. He knows the problems yet he has done very little to solve these problems. That is what people who are looking from the outside in are seeing. There is still time, but if the window closes and there's no significant improvement, then I really don't see how you can improve on last season. You've got Gervinho and Chamerberlain now and it's only recently that Walcott has started to show what he can do. But, we've had Valencia for two years now. Why weren't Arsenal looking at players such as him then? That's the point I'm getting at. The likes of him and others such as Lukaku seem like they'd fit in well with Arsenal, so why aren't we seeing them being linked? Are Arsenal being linked with Sneijder? Even somebody like Van Der Vaart or even Arjen Robben could have done something special. Arsenal are a big club, no denying that. You'd expect to see them looking at these big players. At the moment you don't hear many names claiming that they want to move to the club. Surely that's a worry?

Suarez is a pretty big name. The rest may not be World Class stars, but they have the potential to be. Except Downing. From an outsider, a non-Arsenal fan, I'm not really all that surprised. You've needed a new goalkeeper for years now, you have Vermaelen in defence who can do well but I think you need another defender. And, up front, your main goal threat has been Van Persie who is very injury prone. They're not new faults, but they're faults that have been around for years and have failed to be addressed by Wenger. Clearly there are players out there who can fill these gaps. Hernandez, for example is somebody who could easily have gone to Arsenal and been a success. Now, it's your midfield that needs addressing. So, what you're looking at is a big rebuilding process. This isn't good because many already see Arsenal to be in a stage of transition, when the truth is you've been in that stage for a good few years now. I think the longer it goes on, the harder it will be for Arsenal to attract new players. It's pretty dire already, because if you do go after a big named player, will you have the money to pay inflated wage packets? That's where a club such as City will seem appealing to players. They'll follow the money. It's pretty sad to see. I'd feel very frustrated if I were in your position because there are players on the market who can solve problems for Arsenal, but they're not being looked at. Antonio Valencia has been a big hit for United since he signed, but why weren't Arsenal looking at him? He's exactly what you needed, somebody strong, quick, consistent and somebody who can assist as well as score. What about defenders such as Hangeland? Were Arsenal in the market for Lukaku? They're not putting themselves out there as much as they should be, which is the worrying thing.

Although they shouldn't expect it, they will. Undoubtedly. The bar has been set so high now by Nintendo that it is no surprise that the 3DS is being seen as a failure. It'll be the same with the Wii-U. Unless that flies off the shelves right from the first minute, then it'll get deemed the same as the 3DS.

I know I'm about ten years late, but I've finally watched American History X. There's only one word to describe my body at the end of that film: Stunned. *Insert Madonna* It's just grim beyond belief, but so compelling to watch. I thought Edward Furlong stole the show. He was the child who witnessed his brother slowly deteriorating into a vile racist (that dinner table scene where his Father talked about Norton's black teacher being wrong was so powerful) and he was the child who ultimately paid the price for his brother's faults. The ending was gut wrenching. Felt so wrong, but at the same time you knew it was coming. How is it possible that both Furlong and Norton haven't really gone on to even greater things in film? I know Norton had Fight Club, but aside from that...How is that possible? They're clearly both great actors.

Liverpool are in the market for Scott Dann. So are Arsenal, from what I hear. Agger is probably the best defender they have at the club, I rate him highly. But, don't forget that they also have youngsters like Martin Kelly coming through. I rate him. I'd expect Liverpool to get a centre-back, but not sure it will be as high profile as some of the other signings they've made. They're throwing money around, which is the difference I guess between Arsenal and teams like Liverpool and City right now. Even United, who are spending big money on De Gea, Smalling and Young, and are still looking at players like Sneijder. I think last season (or maybe this one) was/will be the one test Wenger's philosophy. Whilst other teams are paying big money for big names, he hasn't. Clichy is gone, and I don't think he's been replaced. Naturally, you'd expect Gibbs to take over his role. But, Nasri and Fabregas will be big misses since these are the big engines in midfield. Arshavin and Rosicky never turn up, so this will put the emphasis on players such as Wilshere and Ramsey. Quality players, but they won't both stay fit for the entire season. So, you need cover. Also, you need an experienced player there to help these guys out. When Nasri and Fabregas go (they surely will, I think that's unquestionable right now), who will Wenger bring in?

Kenny's pretty much made you a new team since January. You've got two new strikers (Suarez and Carrol), a new midfield (Henderson, Adam, Downing) and one new defender (Enrique). I don't think I've missed anyone out. That's insane. Four of those are English players. Young English players, which the fans will love to see.