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    The best comparison in the US would be Starbucks. It's obviously selling something different, but the "brand" is about supplying an above-shit, below-high-quality product and service.

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      Starbucks is actually not a bad comparison at all. The closest I could think of in terms of “real” restaurants might be somewhere like Red Lobster or perhaps Melting Pot (which I’ve still never been allowed to go to). But even those are generally in parking lots of strip malls.

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        I don't think I have ever seen a Melting Pot.

        Red Lobster is somewhat famous among sociologists for being a particularly striking example of a place that is perceived as "basic fast casual" by "middle class" diners while also serving as a long-estsblished "special occasion" destination among the less fortunate.

        Starbucks (and Dunkin's) are among that limited category here that exist and thrive in both shopping centre parking lots and the closest we get to "High Streets".

        The only other places I can think of that do that are real franchised "fast food" outlets of the McDonalds genre.
        Last edited by ursus arctos; 22-01-2023, 16:39.

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          I went to a Red Lobster once. It wasn’t bad. Not Applebees or Cracker Barrel or Olive Garden or Sizzler bad. But it's not something I'd choose to repeat. I can't think of any reason to go, now I know what it's like. At least Applebees and Olive Garden - terrible though they are - have cheeziness value, and are sometimes in places which don't have other dining options.

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            If only you lot knew my full client roster...

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              I never knew that Sade were a band rather than a soloist. Alice Cooper were a band named after a singer's stage name and Gillan were from a surname but I'm not sure I know of many bands that took the singer's real first name.

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                Originally posted by Satchmo Distel View Post
                I never knew that Sade were a band rather than a soloist. Alice Cooper were a band named after a singer's stage name and Gillan were from a surname but I'm not sure I know of many bands that took the singer's real first name.
                Nena.

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                  Originally posted by Lymeswold Snork View Post

                  Nena.
                  If Nena had actually taken their singer's real first name, they'd be called Gabriele.

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                    Milton Keynes was planned in a NSEW grid arrangement, but the planners lined up the towns central street so that it aligns with the summer solstice, hence Midsummer Boulevard.

                    Fucking hippies.

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                      Originally posted by 3 Colours Red View Post

                      If Nena had actually taken their singer's real first name, they'd be called Gabriele.
                      The video for 99 Red Balloons was the first real confirmation that most NA teens had of the persistent rumour that German women didn't shave their armpits.

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                        Is that actually what it was called in English?

                        (not a bit, honest)

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                          Yes, but why not? I mean, it needs to scan, and "air balloons" would just sound weird to English speakers.

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                            No real reason

                            As you know, they aren't red in the original, and the song would have landed rather differently if they had been

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                              You mean it would have been perceived as pro-Warsaw Pact propaganda?

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                                I think that it would have confused the antiwar message of the song, especially in the context of the Cold War

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                                  Originally posted by Satchmo Distel View Post
                                  I never knew that Sade were a band rather than a soloist. Alice Cooper were a band named after a singer's stage name and Gillan were from a surname but I'm not sure I know of many bands that took the singer's real first name.
                                  Toyah would be another.

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                                    Ben Folds Five?

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                                      His name is just ‘Ben Folds’ though.

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                                        Originally posted by Snake Plissken View Post
                                        Milton Keynes was planned in a NSEW grid arrangement, but the planners lined up the towns central street so that it aligns with the summer solstice, hence Midsummer Boulevard.

                                        Fucking hippies.
                                        Hi!

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                                          Originally posted by Snake Plissken View Post
                                          Fucking hippies.
                                          Given their/our age most hippies aren't doing much of that anymore.

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                                            In the excellent book Map Addict by Mike Parker, the author describes his experience of visiting Midsummer Boulevard in Milton Keynes at dawn on the summer solstice day to test the story behind it. He gets harrassed by some highly suspicious commercial security guard (or copper, can't remember which) whose suspicion is only increased by his explanation, as if he thinks Parker (with his rucsac) is a member of some Wiccan organisation's paramilitary wing.

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                                              Here's a quiz for you. What are these? (will put the answer up later today if no-one knows - as I wouldn't have until 3 minutes ago)
                                              326766176_3011272639168388_232054364947431836_n.jpg

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                                                I would guess seeds but I don't know. They look very cool.

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                                                  Or possibly beetles. They definitely look organic to me.

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                                                    Currency?

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