The Off Topic Topic

[KRonn]

Lady Gaga's meat dress and other weird stunts phase ended what, 5-8 years ago? To be surprised at this point about how she looks for real is puzzling.

She seems to look different every time I see a pic of her so I'm not sure I could identify that it's her when I see a pic. And yes, she seems to have mellowed out a bit, at least by her standards.

She did a good job at the Super Bowl half time show three years ago, that was a show I could watch. (Pats won in with a stunning come back from way behind win.)  I didn't bother with this year's SB show.

[Valmy]

I didn't bother with this year's SB show.

It was godawful. I heard Maroon 5 was going to do it and the only thing I could remember about them was that I hated their music but I couldn't remember any of their songs or why I disliked them. Boy it took a very short time after that show started to remember why.

[Syt]

Austria is a bit weird when it comes to whether or not Good Friday is a public holiday. In general it isn't, but if you are a protestant, then it is.

Someone took this to the European Courts which concluded that this is unfair - in many cases protestants just work on Friday, but are entitled to special bonuses for working on a public holiday, while their non-protestant colleagues get nothing.

The government has now found a compromise: "Good Friday is half a Public Holiday. Regular work ceases at 2 pm."

There's a few issues with that, like:
- A lot of companies do that every Friday, anyways (est. 1.5 million employees)
- How many working hours are required? It makes a difference if someone's contractual hours start at 7 am or 9 am.

Additionally, the chamber of commerce (which has all but written most new business/employment legislation the new government has forced through, often bypassing parliamentary review) has already said that this is an unacceptable additional burden for entrepreneurs and companies and expect the federal government to cover the extra expenses that incurs them.

Following protests from all sides, the government has sided with their employers (chamber of commerce and association of industrialists) and will abolish the holiday entirely.

Problem is, a lot of collective bargaining agreements have specific rules about Good Friday - it's unclear if the government is able to override those as these agreements have very strong protections from outside interference.

Additionally, employees are permitted to take one "personal holiday" once a year. It must be announced to the employer, in writing, three months in advance, and must be granted by the employer. This is not an extra day off, but will come out of the normal vacation allowance.

[Savonarola]

I didn't bother with this year's SB show.

It was godawful. I heard Maroon 5 was going to do it and the only thing I could remember about them was that I hated their music but I couldn't remember any of their songs or why I disliked them. Boy it took a very short time after that show started to remember why.

I find their music boring (except the falsettos, which are just awful), but that was fitting for this past Superbowl.  At least it was good to see Big Boi perform.

[Savonarola]

And this remains one of my favorite pictures of Lady Gaga:

[celedhring]

I was going to post something but I really can't compete with that Lady Gaga pic.

[dps]

Lady Gaga's meat dress and other weird stunts phase ended what, 5-8 years ago? To be surprised at this point about how she looks for real is puzzling.

She seems to look different every time I see a pic of her so I'm not sure I could identify that it's her when I see a pic.

Her music doesn't fit in in any of the genres that I typically listen to, so to me she was just another performer getting attention weird costuming and stunts, so why should I or anyone else who wasn't into her music have any idea what she looks like without the weird costumes?

[Grey Fox]

Marshall looks like he has seen this before & knows nothing good is going to come out of it.

[derspiess]

Her music doesn't fit in in any of the genres that I typically listen to, so to me she was just another performer getting attention weird costuming and stunts, so why should I or anyone else who wasn't into her music have any idea what she looks like without the weird costumes?

The Official West Virginian answer is that OMG her mom is from WV so we should know everything about her!  Oh and Jennifer Garner Jennifer Garner Jennifer Garner!!1

[crazy canuck]

Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck watched my son's little league game back in the day.   She was very easy to pick out in the bleachers despite her efforts to go incognito. 

[Barrister]

Since Trump and Kim Jong-Un are having their little summit in Vietnam, I saw  reference to the Hanoi Hilton, the infamous POW camp during the Vietnam War.

I got to wondering... would Hilton Hotels ever actually put up a Hilton in Hanoi?

Yup - two in fact.

[celedhring]

Question for the brits: what are the most reputable medical schools in the UK? It's for a script I'm working on. Preferably not Oxbridge.

[The Larch]

Question for the brits: what are the most reputable medical schools in the UK? It's for a script I'm working on. Preferably not Oxbridge.

According to wiki Dr. Watson studied at St. Bartholomew's Hospital and got his degree from the University of London.

Nowadays it is known as Barts London School of Medicine and is part of the Queen Mary University of London, which is part of the University of London (jesus Brits, your university system is a mess to understand for foreigners). From their wiki page:

Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, commonly known as Barts, is a medical and dental school in London, England.[1] The school was formed in 1995 by the merger of the London Hospital Medical College (the first school to be granted an official charter for medical teaching in 1785) and St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College (the oldest remaining hospital in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1123, with medical teaching beginning from that date).

The school exists on two main sites, having a presence at the site of both of the former colleges at and near their respective hospitals, St Bartholomew's Hospital (in Smithfield in the City of London and nearby in Charterhouse Square), and the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel with an additional site at Queen Mary's main (Mile End) campus.[2] A new building (Blizard Building), named after the founder of The London Hospital Medical College, Sir William Blizard, was completed in 2005 at the Royal London site, and houses research laboratories and is the main site for medical undergraduate teaching.

The school is part of Queen Mary University of London, a constituent college of the federal University of London, and a member of the United Hospitals.[3]

The medical school was ranked 2nd in the United Kingdom by The Guardian in 2017,[4] second to Cambridge and is globally ranked 9th by the QS World University Rankings (51-100), placing higher than several American Ivy League universities, including Princeton, Cornell and Penn. In 2018 it was ranked the 3rd best medical school behind Oxford and Cambridge by The Guardian[5]

I'd say that ranks as pretty illustrious and definitely not Oxbridge. 

[Valmy]

I would think Medicine would be too vocational for the ivory towers of Oxbridge.

[HVC]

What's this about Britain banning porn sites? First brexit now this? What's wrong with you people lol