binman

14 minutes ago, hardtack said:

Wow! That I did not know! I loved that movie…must drag out the disc and watch it again.

I think you missed the gag HT (Bad Bunny was 6 in 2001).

27 minutes ago, old55 said:

Thanks @Demonland

We never seem to be scheduled vs Sandringham at TBO, just a few hundred metres from my house.

The most accessible match for me is vs St.Kilda at RSEA Mmorabbin but that is just before on the same day as MFC vs HFC at the MCG.

None of the fixtures really tempt me, it's a long way to Casey and the viewing is rubbish.

He shouted to them there:
It's a long way to bloody Casey
It's a long way to go.
It's a long way to bloody Casey
To the sweetest dees I know!
Goodbye Sandringham
Farewell Federation Square!
It's a long long way to bloody Casey
But my heart's right there.

11 hours ago, jnrmac said:

The NFL, like the AFL when they chose Snoop Dog, simply want controversy as it attracts more eyeballs. Bad Bunny hates America and has a history of burning the US flag. So the choice suited them perfectly

While most people wouldn't have understood the entirely-in-Spanish lyrics it would get me banned here if I was to print them here as they are disgusting.

Feel free to look them up.

Family entertainment ? To paaphrase John Elliott 'Pig's derriere'

Total load of rot junior- the lot of it. In fact rot doesn't come close.

It's one thing not liking an artist, it's something completely different to make up a pack of lies about them.

And to be honest, i'm shocked. I'm hoping you somehow got your wires crossed, because your post is straight up disinformation, not to mention defamatory.

Bad Bunny has a history of burning the American flag? That's simply not true. I don't recall him burning the American flag once, let alone having a 'history' of doing so.

Bad Bunny hates America? You have to be joking.

One that's absolute rubbish, two did you watch his performance?

It was a total celebration of America for god's sake - he could hardly have been more patriotic.

During "Café Con Ron," near the end of his performance, he spoke his first and only English words of the entire show: "God bless America."

He closed his performance by showing the camera the words the words written on the gridiron ball he carried for most of his performance - "Together We Are America”

And what on earth are you talking about that his lyrics were 'disgusting' and that you would get banned if you were to post them?

A serious question - how did you come to that conclusion?

I'm guessing you are referring to his song Safaera, the recorded version of which has sexual, though certainly not 'disgusting', lyrics.

In any case the version he sung at the superbowl had different lyrics, with all explicit lyrics removed or muted to ensure it complied with the very strict American Federal Communications Commission standards and NFL broadcast rules.

These were the other songs he sang:

• "El Apagón" (The Blackout) - about Puerto Rico's power crisis and government corruption

"I don't want to leave here / Let them leave.

Puerto Rico is incredible / From the tip of the island to Ponce.

Now everyone wants to be Latino / But they lack the seasoning.

Damn blackout / Power goes out every day.

They are staying with what belongs to us / But the street is ours."

• "NUEVAYOL" - about the Puerto Rican diaspora in New York

  "From the sun of the island to the cold of the Bronx / Looking for the dollar that doesn't buy happiness.

  The 'guagua' (bus) takes a long time / The A-train is full of dreams and fatigue.

  I remember the neighborhood while walking through Times Square / Everything is bright but it feels dark.

  Puerto Rico is in the heart / Even if the physical body is in 'Nuevayol'."

• "DtMF" (Debí Tirar Más Fotos) - about cherishing moments before they're gone

"The phone stayed in the pocket / While life passed us by.

Now I look at the gallery and there is nothing / Only the echo of your laughter in my mind.

Time is a thief that doesn't return what it takes / I should have taken more photos.

To see your face when the sun hit you / To remember that we were happy for a second."

• "BAILE INOLVIDABLE" (Unforgettable Dance) - about lost love

"That dance was the beginning of the end / Between the smoke and the reggaeton.

You moved like you knew / That tomorrow you would be a memory.

The club is full but it feels empty / Seeking your silhouette in every corner.

An unforgettable dance / A scar that doesn't want to heal."

• "Café Con Ron" - the closing celebration

"The sun is rising and the party hasn't ended / Bitter coffee and sweet rum.

To forget the sorrows / To celebrate that we are still standing.

If the world ends tomorrow / Let it find us dancing.

From the mountain to the coast / This is the island that never sleeps."

1 hour ago, The heart beats true said:

45 Million Americans speak Spanish. Bad Bunny is Puerto Rican. All Puerto Rican’s are American.

As someone who used to live in the US it always makes me laugh at the Australian perception of America. It’s an incredibly diverse place. They have a broken electoral college system, but don’t mistake it for total ignorance.

When I think about the US I often think about Yeats’ poem The Second Coming… ‘The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity’.

I think about that line a lot actually. It’s the root problem.

45 million Americans speak Spanish as their first language - another 15 million speak Spanish as a second language. So, minimum 60 million Americans, aprox 20 percent of the population speak Spanish.

And that doesn't include the millions who live in cities and regions that have big Latino communities that have basic grasp of Spanish (i spent a bit of time in New Mexico and heaps of non-Latinos i met could understand, and speak a little, Spanish).

Hell, Bosch speaks Spanish!

18 minutes ago, BDA said:

the reasons above are exactly why billionaires push the woke agenda. It's great cover and distracts from their greed and avarice.

The NFL does not push a woke agenda, that was my point. The idea they do is a result of the how effectively the alt right control narrative, and therefore the framing of discourse.

The closest the NFL had ever got to being woke was their flaccid response to the George Floyd murder. Even then they ran Kapernick out of the game for daring to protest.

There was nothing woke about their decision to engage Roc Nation to produce the half time show, or ticking off Kendrick Lamar or Bad Bunny, two of the biggest artists in the last 20 years. Those decisions were all about the bottom line.

And besides, much to the chagrin of the alt-right chattering class (who desperately wanted to see Bad Bunny come out in a dress and make anti ICE statements) there was nothing woke about Bad Bunny's performance, nor for that matter of Green Days pregame performance. In many ways it was as American as Apple pie. Just not white America.

28 minutes ago, AshMac said:

One minor point - the spectacle at the stadium for the halftime show is atrocious. Bad sound, only shown on one of the digital screens, intricate dance moves etc that are great for tv but absolutely putrid for the audience there. From what I've heard, it was awesome for people watching from home, but as a live spectacle it was utterly woeful. And that's fine because obviously tv audience eclipses live audience by a hell of a lot, but had to pull you up on the notion that the in-stadium spectators got a great show, coz we definitely didn't.

Did you go AshMac?

I didn't obviously, but that's exactly what i thought watching - ie it would have been horrible watching it live. You wouldn't have been able to see anything with all the sugar cane and the rest of the palaver. It's so obviously not for the crowd at the game, but rather for people watching on TV, Youtube etc etc.

By the by, the idea that the NFL is some woke collective is both hilarious and absurd.

Each team, except the Green Bay Packers, is owned by billionaires, many of whom are big GOP donors.

It's the most exclusive club in the world. A club that cares about one thing amd one thing only - making money

The owners control the NFL, an organisation that is notorious for it systematic racism and treatment of its black players.

2 minutes ago, SPC said:

I don’t watch NFL and certainly didn’t see the show, but as a genuine question, how long does the half time show go for?

Assume it is 1 hour plus. What do we expect the players to do during this time, walk up to Russell Street for dumplings to fill in time?

Its about 15 minutes long.

12 minutes ago, layzie said:

I enjoyed it.

I understand and respect that it wasn't everyone's cup of tea and I don't have a problem with anyone disliking it, as a matter of fact half the venue I was at yesterday didn't really enjoy it. However musically, performance wise, use of stage and props and just overall energy I thought it was excellent. The Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin surprises were great additions as well.

It's good to have something different instead of rolling out the same mainstream suspects, something that opens the mind a bit is hardly a bad thing right now especially in the US.

Agree with much of the above.

One quibble - Bad Bunny IS mainstream.

He's not some obscure; niche woke artist that the NFL put on as some sort of statement. As i have noted he is the BIGGEST ARTIST IN THE WORLD.

As RPFC noted the NFL are a massive, massive business. The biggest sporting organization in the world, they generate more than $23 BILLION every year. It is untouchable.

The silly MAGA boycotts and alternative half time shows are water off a duck's back - in fact as i noted the NFL would love all ythe faux outrage because it's free publicity. As they could care less about losing the MAGA crowd, which for all the pathetic snowflake bleating, they won't anyway.

The NFL is aggressively looking to expand into foreign markets and make NFL an international sport. Next season they are playing nine regular season games, for points, internationally, including one at the MCG. Another is in Brazil. They are looking at having a team permanently based in Mexico City.

The NFL choose Bad Bunny solely because it was a very smart business decision - who better to penetrate international markets and drive brand recognition than the world most popular, most streamed musician?

As i predicted yesterday, the Bad Bunny (and Lady Gaga and Ricky martin) half time show had more viewers (140 million views and still climbing) than any previous show - just shading last year's artist that caused such angst among the MAGA snowflakes, Kendrick Lamar. In a world where attention is currency that's very good business.

As for the show being in Spanish? More than 60 million Americans (including Bad Bunny) speak Spanish as either their first or second language - nearly a fifth of the American population.

13 hours ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

In a world where you’ve recently lost Angus Brayshaw and Neal-Bullen and are aware you are also losing Oliver and Petracca soon.

Spot on.

Just look at the key trading decisions King and the club have just made:

Out:

Tracc and Clazz

In:

Steele and Miochek

Out: two players with questionable impact on culture

In: two players widely considered to be solid citizens that positively contribute to culture.

Viney is the very definition of such a player.

9 minutes ago, rpfc said:

Ratings for watching NFL amongst Hispanics is what I meant. It is a growth area and the NFL only cares about market share, future profits, etc

They didn't choose Bad Bunny because they thought it would increase their Hispanic audience. They chose Big Bunny because he is the biggest, most popular artist in the world that has enormous appeal, particularly among young people.

And the Super Bowl half time show has very little, if anything, to do with attracting new fans to the NFL. It's all about the insane advertising revenue (aprox $8 - $10 million for a 30 second slot), which in turns drives the broadcasting rights.

The hilarious thing is MAGA, as was the case with Kendrick Lamar, made Bad Bunny the easiest of easy choices as with all their pathetic bleating and x posts they predictably ensured the decision would get ongoing blanket coverage. And their confected controversy ensured the NFL got millions and millions of dollars of free publicity - and above all, eyeballs tuning into the half time show to see what all the fuss was all about.

In a similar vein, it's also hilarious that Trump slammed the NFL for choosing Bad Bunny and said he would be watching the TPSUA alternative half time show featuring a mid-fifties pervert (poorly) lip syncing to stale old hits rather than Bad Bunny. Yet he comes out today with a Truth Social post slamming the performance, having clearly watched it in its entirety (i 'couldn't understand what he was saying' - yeah dude, it was in Spanish).

Even the haters couldn't turn away.

1 minute ago, Bang Bang Bang said:

I like the NFL, it ties in nicely with the AFL season, meaning there’s football of some kind all year round. Most of the playoffs this year were incredible to watch and I just love how there’s no second chance saloon for any team once January hits.

But, today’s spectacle was an absolute snooze fest. Definitely wouldn’t have won many casual fans over. About as interesting as a 2 hour long Simon Goodwin press conference.

Goody would have loved the Seahawk's defence. Incredible

26 minutes ago, rpfc said:

2 minutes ago, demoncat said:

Nothing like reposting a bunch of MAGA accounts to back up your argument 🙄

Don’t like Bad Bunny’s music? Fine

But he’s the most streamed artist in the world coming off a massive Grammy win, so clearly there are a lot of people who enjoyed it

And for what it’s worth, most of these people hating on him and his performance are doing it for reasons that I won’t elaborate on here (but that anyone not wearing a big red cap can probably figure out)

PS - dread to think what your For You feed looks like with posts like that Dazzle

The only musician that can compete with Bad Bunny for popularity is Taylor Swift.

No one else comes anywhere close to his streaming numbers, record sales and ticket sales.

2 minutes ago, rpfc said:

Anyone listing a random bunch of anonymous X users is starting off on the losing side of any argument.

The HT show was fine. It probably was pretty awesome for the segment of the population that the NFL were targeting in an attempt to boost ratings and profits.

Last year the right in America went absolutely ballistic about Kendrick Lamar's half time show - it was the most watched Super Bowl halftime show ever, with a TV audience of more than 133.5 million viewers.

I'll bet my bottom dollar that is no longer the case (ie: i reckon this year's will now hold the record).

49 minutes ago, Lord Travis said:

It's not a realistic comparison as the budget for both is wildly different, and the local talent pool of artists and celebrities is wildly different, as well as the size of companies advertising during the show.

Superbowl half time budget is about $20 million USD... so roughly $30 million AUD here. That is purely for the show. The artists don't get paid and usually do it for cool factor, exposure, honour, or raise some form of awareness for a cause.

AFL grand final recently hit $5 million AU, and that's including the artist payment. Different worlds.

Agree you can't compare the two in terms of budget, and for that reason there's no way the AFL half time show could ever be as spectacular.

But there's plenty of things the AFL could learn from the NFL to improve our routinely woeful half time without increasing the current funding envelope.

For a start they could contract an artist to create and produce an actual show (instead of the glorified Rock Eisteddfod Challenge the AFL puts on) - Jay-Z's Roc Nation has produced the Superbowl half time show since 2019 and are contracted for another few years. That means that unlike the AFL's halftime show, each show has a distinct theme - and performances and staging are structured around that theme.

This year's theme was love, unity and an expression of Bad Bunny's pride in Puerto Rico and his heritage (by the by, it is shocking how many Americans appear not to know that Puerto Rico is territory of the United States and Bad Bunny, like all other Puerto Ricans, is an American citizen).

A notable thing about the Super bowl headliners is they are usually homegrown (the exceptions in the last 15 years are The Weeknd, Shakira, Rhianna and Coldplay) whereas our headliners are always B grade artist from overseas that are past their prime.

The other big difference is, as you correctly note, the NFL do not pay their headliners - much, if not all of the $20 million budget goes to the production company (Roc Nation atm). The AFL, on the other hand, spend almost all of its $5 million budget on washed up B graders from overseas, usually America.

We have plenty of uber talented artist/festival organisers/theatre producers etc etc that could produce an awesome show with a $5 million dollar budget, particularly if done in collaboration with the performing artist as Roc nation has done since they started producing the Superbowl half time show in 2019.

With a $5 million dollar budget and a focus on using Australian musicians and performers, a top notch producer collaborating with an artist like Flume, Kevin Parker (ie Tame Impala) or Amy Taylor would put on a killer show.

1 minute ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

For those going, don't expect to see Kozzie or Max in action.

Why?

53 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Ah the VFL fixture.

So we take extra players to Perth who won't get a run and then have a VFL bye the following week.

Such a useful competition.

Not as though it's a new occurrence

At least the games aren't on at the same time!

1 hour ago, Demonland said:

Full fixtures for the 2026 Smithy’s VFL season and 2026 VFLW season will be released in coming weeks.

Love it - Saturday 21 March wil be a banner footy day for me.

Catch the dees v dog at Whitten Oval (when not windy an awesome ground to watch footy at i reckon), a 20 minute drive from my place.

A saturday arvo game at Whitten Oval starting at 2:10pm is just perfect - real old school vibes

Home by 5:30.

Rustle up a quick BBQ dinner and then settle in to watch us knock off Freo in Perth, triggering a discussion about where the dockers are at.

Life doesn't get much better.

On 25/01/2026 at 21:21, deanox said:

@binman the GP line up this year is phenomenal. I am very much looking forward to see what Djrum brings, his releases are phenomenal. And Frost Children are emo kids playing electronica. Plus Ty Segall a latest album is an absolute cracker.

Might see you there!

Yep, awesome, awesome lineup.

It's been a bit hit and miss for the last few years, but they've got it spot on this year.

Djrum won't be everyone's cup of tea, too experimental, but right up my aural alley and is one of the acts I'm most looking forward to seeing.

Assuming we get our normal spot, we'll be on couches under a gum tree on the slope to the left of the mixing desk (not far from the right corner of Eric's bar).

Here's a recent picture of me:

On 27/01/2026 at 12:12, lorn said:

Are people ever going to get Sumner-Pickett's name right?

I can promise you i won't - despite my very best efforts

I will stick with Latrelle

2 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Does Kayo have VFL games? They used to have them but I haven't noticed them in recent years

I thought so, but perhaps I'm imagining it

3 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Math SIM is not a traditional SIM.

1 hour ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Ch 7 have reportedly dropped their VFL coverage.

Hopefully the AFL will permit streaming on the TV from the AFL site.

Why it's not available now I'll never understand. Same with the WatchAFL website. (Dark Ages)

I think its part of the agreement with fox and 7 to protect their investment.

Not that VFL games would be a deal breaker for somone umming and aahimg about getting a Kayo subscription, but if for example you could cast the coverage of vfl games (or the preseason games) you don't need Kayo to watch it on a TV.

Just now, binman said:

See below (crazy to think this song, one of my favourite who tracks) was released 61 years ago in December 1964.