Incredible summary. 10/10.

High five from the far side of the Atlantic at 1:36am and not entirely sober ✋

Right… Well that’s some insight. Thank you . I heard a rumour that it was down to it being popular during a war where cocoa was in short supply but that makes sense too.

There is. That’s fair, and some of it was decent and that’s not to say that all American chocolate is bad because that would be stupid of course, as you say. And I’m sure there’s top notch American chocolate. Of course there is.

But, the dominant chocolate, the one that foreigners associate with the US, was shite IMO. That’s all.

And tbh I do like an oul’ mackers. I wouldn’t call McDonald’s the Hershey’s of burgers.

This is all subjective and I’m not being a cunt. I just was expecting sparkles in my mouth and I got… Hershey’s.

Try chocolate that wasn’t made in America…

I’m actually very fond of the US but the chocolate is absolute filth, sorry lads. I was so excited to try Hershey’s and holy moly was it an earth shattering disappointment.

Consistent with their more ecumenical views

I… Can’t help myself…

My french friend told me that the dairy farmers once protested by dumping a massive amount of milk on the streets of Paris one time. Apparently the smell was… Well you can imagine.

The French know how to protest.

I have both on my way home from work conveniently, but the Lidl is handier so I use that and not so much the Aldi, but I thought I might be missing some hidden gems. :)

We don’t have either of those here unfortunately.

Oh they do yeah. Lots of varieties and very cheap too. The brown fusili with pesto is a favourite with the kids.

Have you other large discount supermarkets there? Other than Lidl that is.

They both absolutely dominate the discount section in Ireland but thankfully have driven down prices in the other large chains.

You chime in pal. Pure shite. 1/10. Like they put calories in my belly but it was a chore to eat them.

I wonder if yours are different. Hang on I’ll get a pic…

edit:

Yeah their fresh baked section is very good generally. I’ve a 15 year old who is madly in love with their apple turnovers. I can make her day for the low, low price of 99c. :D

They do a really nice brown soda bread in Ireland but if you’re not in early it’s always sold out. Aldi does have a decent fresh baked section too mind you.

Yeah, big time. When I heard he was reading it himself I preordered it and loaded it up on day one.

The first part where he describes the conditions he grew up in was fascinating stuff. How he got into drama in a town that wouldn’t normally stomach it, the folks that supported him, meeting Brian Blessed etc. was really cool. I ate it up. Probably cleaned 50% more than an average week just to keep it rolling. :D

Then we got to the nasty bit. I was fairly shocked while listening to it and it just totally flavoured the rest of the book for me. I just couldn’t get past the “yeah, you’re a prick” feeling.

Like fine if the marriage isn’t working out, it happens. Go and get your divorce then move on, but the way he went about it was filthy. I mostly just wanted to get to the end after it.

I did look up the video where himself and his current partner are having a roll (MDMA) and that was funny to see.

Yeah he was very open about it actually. It’s a “warts and all” book to some extent. Left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth tbh but I did appreciate the honesty of it.

Edit: it’s an easy listen if you’re into audiobooks at all and he reads it himself. Some cool little nuggets in it and it’s interesting to hear how someone dirt poor in the arse end of Yorkshire rises to the level he has.

It’s a while since I listened to his book but as I recall he cheated on his wife at the time with that actress whose name I can’t remember.

Fun fact: Patrick Stewart had an affair with that actress.

They’re gonna be working hard to justify that budget. Things are going to get a whole lot worse for our American friends. :(

Everyone looking at the date counting down going “before what exactly?”

Yeah there was a big hullabaloo after parts from some tiny Irish lawnmower engine manufacturer were found in a Russian drone. Government take the sanctions seriously here. Big investigation and it turned out to be exactly that.