Podcasts about Vish

It's that time of the year once again, ladies and gents. Time to embarrass ourselves once more as we reveal who we think is going to win the Premier League, who's going to finish as top scorer, who's getting relegated - and of course - what notable mad s*** is going to happen this season.Marcus, Jim & Vish glance into the crystal ball and pick out their predictions for the coming season. But will they have enough to dethrone our reigning champion *checks notes* Pete Donaldson?Please fill out Stak's listener survey! It'll help us learn more about the content you love so we can bring you even more - you'll also be entered into a competition to win one of five PlayStation 5's! Click here: https://bit.ly/staksurvey2025**Get 15% off annual subscriptions to the Football Ramble Patreon until the end of August! Don't delay!**Sign up for ad-free shows, bonus content every Wednesday and access to our Discord throughout the Premier League season and the 2026 World Cup for just $51 a year or $5 a month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My giddy aunt, Jack Grealish is off to Everton! Marcus, Jim and Vish are here to celebrate the union of David Moyes and Super Jack. Have Everton got themselves a new piano man?Elsewhere, we wonder whether Nottingham Forest are going to start a vendetta against Crystal Palace. Plus, we agree to relocate to Monaco and launch our own Football Ramble sandwich. Please fill out Stak's listener survey! It'll help us learn more about the content you love so we can bring you even more - you'll also be entered into a competition to win one of five PlayStation 5's! Click here: https://bit.ly/staksurvey2025Get 15% off annual subscriptions to our Patreon until the end of August! Sign up for ad-free shows, bonus content every Wednesday and access to our Discord for $51 a year or $5 a month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The season's nearly here everybody! The Community Chest has been cracked open and we're ready for the return of Mama Premier League. So, who might put the cat among the pigeons this season?Marcus, Jim & Vish take a look at that and – after another marquee signing – discuss whether the Saudi Pro League will ever be taken seriously. Plus, who's the biggest prat of the 2020s?Please fill out Stak's listener survey! It'll help us learn more about the content you love so we can bring you even more - you'll also be entered into a competition to win one of five PlayStation 5's! Click here: https://bit.ly/staksurvey2025**Get 15% off annual subscriptions to the Football Ramble Patreon until the end of August! Don't delay!**Sign up for ad-free shows, bonus content every Wednesday and access to our Discord throughout the Premier League season and the 2026 World Cup for just $51 a year or $5 a month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Crystal Palace are off to Wembley again! Is the promise of a first Community Shield victory for Palace enough to bring a bit of needle to Sunday's curtain-raiser? Marcus, Jim and Vish certainly hope so as we gather for our annual preview of the community chest.Elsewhere, we kick-start our campaign for Scott McTominay to win the Ballon d'Or and Arsenal have already given Jim reason to be depressed. Would anyone like to give him a hug?Please fill out Stak's listener survey! It'll help us learn more about the content you love so we can bring you even more - you'll also be entered into a competition to win one of five PlayStation 5's! Click here: https://bit.ly/staksurvey2025Get 15% off annual subscriptions to our Patreon until the end of August! Sign up for ad-free shows, bonus content every Wednesday and access to our Discord for $51 a year or $5 a month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previously on Saga of the Jewels…The life of seventeen-year-old RYN, bookish son of a wealthy landowner, changes forever when his hometown is destroyed by the EMPIRE and everyone he has ever known is killed. He discovers that the Empire are seeking TWELVE PRIMEVAL JEWELS which grant the power to manipulate different elements, and that his father had been hiding the FIRE RUBY. Ryn sets out to take revenge on the Imperial General who killed his family and retrieve the Fire Ruby, and along the way meets NUTHEA the lightning-slinging princess, SAGAR the swaggering skypirate, ELRANN the tomboy engineer, CID the wizened old healer, and VISH the poppy-seed-addicted bounty hunter. Together the companions decide to find all of the Jewels in order to stop the EMPEROR from finding them first and taking over the world. They have thus far succeeded in retrieving the Fire Ruby, borne by Ryn, and the Lightning Crystal, borne by Nuthea. They have now come to the land of FARR where they intend to compete in a hand-to-hand fighting tournament in order to attempt to win its grand prize, the EARTH EMERALD…EPISODE THIRTY-SEVEN: STRANGE TALES OF TWO STRANGERSOne night before the Tournament.Cid eased himself back into the comfy cushioned chair in the corner of the manse's dining area and sighed in relaxation.“Ahhhh…”He lifted the mug of tea that he had made for himself and inhaled deeply through his nose. Sweet and minty, with a hint of citrus. The Farrians were good at tea.It was too hot to drink quite yet, so he just sat like that for a while with both his hands around the mug, letting it warm them, enjoying its fragrance.Bliss.He had certainly earned a day off. They had all been training hard at the direction of young man Vish–even Cid. Although he was not planning to fight in the tournament–nothing could appeal to him less–he had joined in with the others' training for the sake of the exercise, and because he wanted to show willing and that he was one of the group. Although due to his age he had not been able to keep up to anything like the pace of the whippersnappers, the Shadowfinger had still put him through his own paces, and Cid had ached all over when he had woken up this morning. He had needed the break.He stretched his legs out and drew in another deep breath of steaming tea.It had been a good day off, too. He had spent it wandering the city with his Granddaughter and young man Ryn, looking in the different shops and visiting the different ornamental gardens, chatting about everything and nothing–the Jewels, their prospects in the upcoming tournament which would start tomorrow, where they would go next if they managed to secure the Earth Emerald. It had all been very pleasant.And now, to have an evening to himself, just to sit and rest while everyone else was out, free for a while of their bickering and squabbling and the different attractions that simmered between them…it was as though all the children were out for the night and so he could enjoy himself in peace. No, he corrected himself, it was as though all the grandchildren were out for the night and so he could enjoy himself in peace.“Heh,” he chuckled to himself. “Don't forget just quite how old you are, old man Cid.”He took a sip of the tea, now just about drinkable, and let it slide deliciously down his throat.He tipped his head back in the chair and shut his eyes, allowing himself to be lost in the sweet taste and the comfort of relaxing in this chair, without having to think for a few moments about the quest, or the danger they were all in, or how the fate of Mid rested on their shoulders, or how to keep this band of younglings alive for another day, or the terrible things he knew they would have to do that he didn't want to think about. He might even take a nap in this chair, or fall asleep early for the night...Bliss, he thought again.From across the manse, the sound of the front door bursting open. Commotion. Shouts. The voices of the two boys, arguing.Oh no.Cid opened his eyes and sat up straight.Ryn and Sagar exploded into the dining room.“Cid!” Ryn began at once, running up to him and launching into a manic report. “Nuthea and I went to see a play and there was a Jewel-wielder there possibly two and she told us not to make a scene but then Sagar was really really drunk and came to find us because he and Elrann found some other jewel-related person in a pub but then he went up on the stage and got in a fight so I had to go up too but then we had to give away that we had elemental powers and the lead actor got angry and attacked us and–!”“Woah, woah!” Cid interrupted him, like he was soothing a spooked chocobo that he had lost control of. “Slow down, lad! One thing at a time! Tell me what's happened, slowly.”“Don' lissshen to him!” said Sagar, almost falling over himself as he stumbled over to one of the chairs at the dining table and sat clumsily astride it, putting his arms out to steady himself and then draping himself over the table. “He'sh telling it wrong! There wash a man singing about the Jewelesh, like he knew where they all were, so we went to find the prinshesh and the pup an' tell ‘em, but then there wash thish dragon, an'…”The pirate ran out of steam, and now he did go over, his head lolling forward onto the table and hitting it with a smack, then stopping there.A short pause, and he began to snore loudly.Cid turned back to Ryn.“You try again,” he said. “Slowly.”“Um. Hello,” said a young female voice.Standing in the doorway was a short girl in a pale green ballroom-dress, with deep green hair cut short into a fringe and a bob, and huge, glittering green eyes. Her skin was very pale indeed, and she was wringing her hands. She looked as though she had just been through some sort of trauma.“Oh!” said Cid. “I didn't notice you there. Hello, young lady. Please, come in, have some tea, take a chair!”Cid poured the girl a drink from the stove while Ryn got her a chair to sit on. The girl took the tea gratefully and perched on the edge of the chair. She was trembling, Cid noticed, little ripples forming in the mug of tea, which she clutched tight like she was holding onto the hand of a protecting parent.Definitely trauma, he thought with his Healer's mind.When she was settled, Cid sat down at the table too and bade Ryn do the same.“Now,” he said to the boy over the sound of Sagar's snoring. “Tell me slowly and carefully what has been happening and why you have brought back this poor young lady to the manse.”“Well–” began Ryn.The front door banged open again.“Grandfather!” came Nuthea's voice from the entry hall. “Grandfather, are you up? There's some things I've got to tell you!”She ran into the dining room, followed quickly by Elrann, followed by another newcomer: a man in a hooded grey traveller's cloak with a lute-case slung over one shoulder, and the unusual contrast of dark skin and deep blue hair, which hung in thick locks down either side of his face.An Umbarian, Cid thought. The Sapphire-keepers. This one is far from home…“Hi, pops!” said Elrann cheerfully, taking her own seat at the table. “Some stuff's been going down. Oh,” she said when she saw the green-haired girl, “spirit-girl! You made it! Welcome to the party.” She smiled with her eyes shut.When Nuthea also saw the green-haired girl seated at the table, she said, “Ah, you managed to bring her back, Ryn. Well done! Are you okay?” she asked the girl.“I'm f-fine,” stammered the girl. “Um…who are you?”“I am Princess Nuthea Kaleutheanna of the Matriarchy of Manolia,” Nuthea announced proudly. “I identified that you were employing spirit projection in that play and asked my friend here if he could set up a conversation with you.”“You mean the guy asleep over there who jumped onstage and attacked my dragon projection?”Nuthea deflated a bit. “Um, no. That part wasn't planned. I meant my friend Ryn here. The one who, er, attacked your colleague's lion projection.”Cid thought it best to interject here. “Excuse me, young ones, but could one of you please explain to me slowly and plainly what is going on, and why you have invited these two strangers back to our residence?”“Right,” said both Ryn and Nuthea at the same time. They looked at each other. “I'll explain,” they each said again simultaneously.“You go,” said Ryn, ceding the floor at last to Nuthea.“Alright,” she said, accepting without another word, “what's happened is that–”The front door banged again, cutting her off.Who's left? Cid thought. Oh yes. Young man Vish. At least he should have managed to keep himself out of trouble, without poppy seed.There were no shouts or cries this time, just the slow thud of Vish's footfall across the entry hall towards them.But the footsteps were irregular, and heavier than usual. It sounded like he was staggering, like he might be injured.Maybe that was why everyone stayed silent, listening to the erratic noise of the footsteps.Vish appeared in the doorway, a framed black figure.He just stood there for a moment, looking at all of them. He was breathing heavily, his loud, ragged breaths practically matching the volume of Sagar's snoring, as he slumped against the doorjamb.Vish fell forwards onto his front onto the floor, hitting it with a light thwap.That was when Cid noticed the spotted trail of blood behind him, and the blood that was soaking out from him now onto the floor.“He's hurt!” Cid cried, leaping up immediately and rushing over to the fallen Shadowfinger. “Quick, boys, help me get him onto his back!”Ryn and the newcomer Umbarian, whose name Cid didn't even know yet, carefully pulled Vish over onto his back.The Shadowfinger groaned as he went over, not with pain, but what sounded like…pleasure.Oh no, thought Cid, not for the first time that evening, as he knelt next to Vish.“What's happened?” asked Nuthea from somewhere behind him. “Is he going to be alright?”“Quiet,” Cid commanded irritably. “I'll know in a moment.” He didn't like snapping but he needed to concentrate.The first thing he did was take off the Shadowfinger's black gloves, which were slick with blood. There were no cuts or marks on the tan skin at all–it was smooth, delicate even. Just black discolouration at his fingertips—but that came from the poppy addiction. He examined the folds of Vish's tunic. There was no sign of a wound or of blood leaking through it anywhere. He put a hand over Vish's heart. It was beating regularly. Fast, granted. But regularly.Cid looked at the Shadowfinger's face. The man's eyes were closed and the tautness of his cheeks indicated he was smiling underneath his head scarf. The Healer pulled back one of the man's eyelids with a thumb, and his growing suspicions were confirmed. The pupil underneath was huge, dilated so big that it practically filled the whole of his eye with blackness. Vish giggled quietly in whatever state of consciousness he was in.“He's fine,” Cid pronounced, getting to his feet and shaking his head with disappointment. “This is not his blood; it's someone else's. Maybe several people's. He's not hurt. He's just had a poppy hit, that's all. An absolutely massive one, from the looks of things. Possibly several seeds at once.”Shocked silence.He sighed. And I thought that he had been making process.“Um, who is that guy?” said the green-haired girl.Cid turned. She had gotten up from the table and was standing as far away as possible from them all against the wall at the other end of the room, practically cowering.“Oh, please don't be alarmed, young lady,” Cid said. “This man is just an ex-Imperial bountyhunter who we enlisted to help us on our travels.”“He's a what?!” exclaimed the girl, standing up stick-straight and pushing herself even harder back against the wall. She looked as if she was about to run out of the room at any moment.“Don't worry,” Nuthea said, holding out her hands in a calming gesture, “it's quite alright. He's safe. He's on our side. He's saved our lives many times.”The girl stared down at Vish, mouth curling in horror, then looked up at Nuthea. “Who are all of you?” she said. “I only came with him–” she pointed to Ryn–“because he rescued me from Zigfrid's lion and because I can't go back to the troupe now! Unless you explain who you all are and what you're doing I'm getting out of here!”“Yes,” spoke up the Umbarian with the lute. “I would very much like to know who all of you are and why you have invited me here as well.”“Alright,” said Nuthea, “I'll explain to the two of you, then we can explain to grandfather why we've invited you each here. But do come and sit down, please.”Nuthea offered the girl her chair again and with some reluctance she crept back over and took it, reclaiming her tea, but her gaze kept darting back to Vish.“Don't worry about him,” Cid said in an effort to reassure her. “He will be out for a while. And he won't harm any of us. He's clearly used up his energy from the hit to walk back here. He is on our side.”The girl's lopsided grimace indicated she was not reassured in the least, but she stayed where she was for the moment.Cid, Nuthea, Ryn, Elrann and the Umbarian all took seats at the rectangular wooden table too, joining the girl and the snoring Sagar. They left Vish on his back on the floor to sleep off his poppy hit.“So who are you all?” asked the Umbarian. “And what are you doing staying in a government residence in the second-but-topmost level of Shun Pei?”Nuthea began her explanation for the newcomers. “We're a group of friends who are searching for some objects called the Twelve Primeval Jewels. We have two already, and four of us have elemental projection powers from touching different jewels.” Cid wouldn't have led with that, though it sounded as though his travelling companions had practically revealed as much to these two newcomers already. But why?Nuthea proceeded to work her way through the whole party and explain how she had met them and how they had ended up coming along on the search for the Jewels, beginning with her and Ryn meeting in the brig of an Imperial Airship, and ending with VIsh agreeing to work together with them in exchange for being kept in supply of poppy seed. She told them the story of how they had thus far managed to retrieve two Jewels and what they were doing in Farr in pursuit of a third.When she had finished, she looked at the two newcomers as if expecting some sort of response. The Umbarian tapped his lips, looking thoughtful, but the green-haired girl just continued to stare blankly.“Okaaay then…” the girl said eventually. “But what does any of this have to do with me?”“Well, young lady,” said Nuthea, “—what is your name, by the way?”“Riss,” said the green-haired girl.“Well, young Riss, when I saw that dragon appear in the play you were in, so lifelike, I suspected Jewel-magic must be involved.”The girl looked at the floor. “Ah. So you know.”“Yes,” said Nuthea. “You have touched the Spirit Carnelian.”Cid took in a sharp breath, but he tried to mask it.The girl looked up at Nuthea, and she did look very much to Cid like a little girl then–a confused, lost, alone and afraid little girl–despite being a bit older than a child. “Is that what it's called?”“That is what my people call it,” said Nuthea, “and what I believe most peoples who possess knowledge of Jewel-lore call it. How did you come by it?”The girl glanced around at all the members of the party in turn–those of them who were awake at least. She still sat tight-lipped, wide-eyed and pale. “You wouldn't believe me even if I told you…” she said quietly.“Try us,” Cid encouraged her gently. “You have heard some of our stories, and how unbelievable and outlandish those are. I think you will find it hard to surprise us.”Riss drew in a quivering breath. “Well… okay then…” Her green eyes took on a far-away look as she began her story. “I am originally from Suria. My father died of an illness when I was small. My mother raised me by herself, but she struggled. Ever since I was little, I never really fitted in. Rather than joining in with everyone else's games, I liked to go off by myself and play my own games in my imagination. I would go exploring in the woods and hills and valleys and make up my own stories. One day when I was twelve, I was out in the woods, and it was like I heard this voice whispering to me…”Riss paused and came back to the room for a moment, biting her lip and glancing around at her audience. She looked as if she was afraid of saying something foolish.“Go on,” Cid prompted her kindly. He had begun to suspect where this was going.“This voice began whispering to me, just my name at first, and then it started to tell me to follow certain directions. So I followed it. It was like one of my imaginations, one of my stories had come to life. I followed it, and it led me to a particular tree. It was a really big one, an oak I think, with a huge thick trunk and lots of branches that spread into the branches of the other trees. A little way up in the trunk was a small hollowed-out hole, the kind that a squirrel or a bird might nest in. The voice told me to look inside it, so I did, and inside I found a small, smooth, orangey-brown jewel. I took it, and when I touched it I felt a surge of…energy go through me, and from that moment I was able to summon spirits.”Quiet descended, punctuated only by a sleep-snort from Sagar.Cid could see the tension in every line of Nuthea's body, how she held her jaw tight, how she sat rigid on her chair. She must be exerting a huge amount of self-control not to burst out and ask the question that was surely also burning on her lips straight away.“Riss…” his granddaughter addressed the girl slowly. “Do you still have the jewel?”“No.”Cid felt the disappointment settle on him like a cloak. He saw it settle on Nuthea too.“Where is it?” Nuthea asked the girl.“He has it.”“Who?”“Zigfrid.”“That pompous lead actor from the play?” asked Ryn.The girl nodded.Nuthea didn't quite prevent all of her frustration from leaking into her voice. “How did he come by it?” she asked.The girl pulled her head back and pushed her chair away from the table a little, looking again as if she might run off at any moment. She must have sensed the trio's frustration.“Why does it matter?” she asked suspiciously. “What's it to you?”Cid stepped in again, speaking in as soothing tones as he could manage. “Do not worry, young lady; you are not in trouble–least of all with us. We are not angry with you, only at the situation. As my Granddaughter here has told you, we are searching for the Jewels, but not for our own gain. We are seeking to find them to protect the world from those who might use them for harm. That's why we're interested.”The girl relaxed a little at that, but only a little. “Alright then…” She resumed her story. “Once I started summoning the spirits because of the stone, my village kicked me out. Even… even my own family didn't want anything to do with me. They called me a witch, and a sorceress, and said that if I didn't leave they would have to…” She paused, and bit her lip, not able to say whatever had been going to follow. “That was quite a few years ago,” she went on. “So I left. I set out on my own, and got by by myself living in the woods, calling the spirits to help me. But then one day I came upon a traveling troupe of Manyiro performers that were passing through. I followed them, and hid to watch one of their play rehearsals, and I was spellbound. I suddenly realised: this is what I want to do. These people got to make up stories and pretend to be in them, but they weren't hated or kicked out for it–other people even loved them for it. They were even respected for it. I knew I had to join them. So I found the leader of the troupe and I showed him what I could do–summoning and commanding spirits…” She faltered again.“And how did he respond?” prompted Cid again, though he had an inkling.“He was impressed,” said Riss. “So impressed that he let me join the troupe straight away, seeing how spirit-summoning could make him and his performances even more famous. But he only let me join on one condition.”“You had to tell him how you learned to summon the spirits and show him how to do it too,” guessed Ryn, just as Cid had.The girl nodded. “Exactly. And after he found out about the jewel, he forced me to give it to him. I taught him how to summon spirits with it, and he got very good at it.”“And that's why he still has it,” said Nuthea.“Yes…” said Riss, “but that's not quite the whole of the story. After a while, some of the other actors in the troupe got jealous of my abilities, and wanted to know how I got them. Until tonight Zigfrid had never revealed to anybody else that he could do it too, you see. And he had sworn me to secrecy about the jewel, but when I told the others that I couldn't tell them how I got my powers or show them how they worked, they got angry with me. They ganged up on me–it was like what happened in my village all over again. So I went to Zigfrid and told him that I wanted the jewel back, and to leave the troupe, but he wouldn't give it to me, or let me. He told me that the jewel was his now, and that I had to stay in the troupe and summon the spirits for him so that we could keep up our reputation. I tried to call a spirit to fight him off and get back the jewel, but by that time he had grown too powerful at summoning himself. He summoned his lion and he…he pinned me down, and made me promise that I wouldn't leave the troupe.”The girl stopped her story again. Or maybe it had finished. Her bottom lip started to tremble.Cid couldn't help himself from wincing. What a horrible ordeal the girl had been through.“It's alright,” Nuthea said to her. “You're safe now. Truly, you are among friends here. You can trust us. We won't hurt you, and we won't force you to stay with us like Zigfrid did. But you can stay with us if you like, for as long as you like, if you have nowhere else to go. You'll be safe with us.”“Thank you…” said Riss as she looked at the floor. A tear escaped down her pale cheek.Cid looked away out of respect for the girl.Uncomfortable silence.“Fascinating,” said an unfamiliar, low, slightly musical voice.Cid started. The Umbarian. He had almost forgotten there was a second stranger here with them as well–for a time all of his attention had been focused on Riss.“What is?” asked Ryn.“Your story, young lady,” the Umbarian said to Riss. He had a gentle, deep yet singsong voice. “It is extremely difficult to track down information about the Spirit Carnelian. There are not very many songs or tales about it, and the ones that do exist are very vague. But your story confirms that it is indeed real. I should very much like to see you summon a spirit sometime, if you will permit me a demonstration.”The girl stiffened at that, and did not reply.Cid's hackles rose too.“And who are you?” he asked the man. “Can someone please explain why this gentleman has been invited up here, too?”“I think that's my cue,” said Elrann from her place at the table, “seeing as pirate-man is out for the count.”Sagar grunted in his sleep at Elrann's mention of her nickname for him, murmured irritably for a bit, then went back to snoring peacefully.“Yes,” said Cid, “do please explain, young lady Elrann.”Elrann folded her arms. “Welp, pirate-man and I were out in a tavern having a few drinks when we heard music-man here singing a song while he played his lute. (That's why I'm calling him music-man, you see–it's sort of his defining characteristic and I can't actually remember his name.) He sang a song that mentioned all of the Jewel-thingamies that we're searching for, so when he finished pirate-man and I went up to him to talk to him. It turns out he knows loads about the Jewels. Like loads. So pirate-man thought we better introduce him to the rest of you, in case he can help us. Pirate-man was very drunk at this point, so he just sort of took off to go and find farmboy and princess-girl at their play, and music-man and I just sought of tagged along.”Cid ran his tongue along the back of his teeth. He was instantly wary. Hadn't Elrann and Sagar considered that this man might have purposes contrary to their own, that he might be working for the Empire, or someone else?On the other hand, the Umbarians weren't exactly known for their fealty to the Empire–far from it. In fact they had fought many wars to keep their northern borders secure against Morekemia, and the two nations were always fighting over the little strip of land that fell between them. Cid decided he would give this Umbarian a chance–for now. He could reprimand Elrann and Sagar for their lack of caution later.Nuthea addressed the man. “And how did you come by all your knowledge of the Jewels, um…sorry, I don't know your name either?”The man flashed a toothy grin from underneath the hood of his cloak, which he still hadn't taken off even though they were indoors. “I am called Quel,” he said.“Pleased to meet you, Quel,” said Nuthea.“A pleasure.” The lutisit began his own tale. In contrast to Riss, he seemed extremely comfortable telling it, as if he was used to regaling assembled audiences with stories, which if he was a traveling musician and bard Cid supposed he was. “As you may know, my people possess one of the Primeval Jewels–the Water Sapphire. I myself have the good fortune of being Sapphire-touched.”Everyone sat up straighter at that.Alright then, thought Cid, so he's laying all his cards on the table straight away. That's good.“Woah, cool,” said Elrann. “I didn't even know that!”“May you show us?” said Nuthea.“Of course,” said Quel. He looked around for a moment, then his gaze settled on Cid's mug of tea. He flicked his fingers up in a subtle motion, and the tea rose up out of the mug, staying suspended in the air like a pale-green translucent snake. A few flourishes of his wrist, and the snake danced through a few twisting circular motions, before Quel flicked his fingers back down again and Cid's tea re-deposited itself in the mug.Cid looked down at his drink and frowned. He wasn't sure that he wanted to drink it any more. Although it had probably gone cold long ago anyway.Well, at least we know he's not lying about being Sapphire-touched… Cid thought.“That,” said Elrann. “Was. Awesome! It was like you had an invisible spoon! You're a true spoony bard!” she added, referencing some joke Cid wasn't in on.The boy Ryn fidgeted in his chair, shifting his weight.“Very impressive indeed!” said Nuthea. “So what brings you to Farr, Troubadour Quel?”“My people possess the Water Sapphire, and we use it to hold our own against the Morekemians, who now have, from what I have heard, the Fire Ruby.”Cid deliberately made sure he did not look at Ryn, but he saw Nuthea shoot the boy a glance. Silly girl.“We have long known that the Maker created other Jewels, but since we were safe with the Sapphire and the world was in balance, we had no interest in them.”“Hang on,” said Ryn, “what do you mean ‘the Maker'? Who is the Maker?”“That's what they call the One,” Nuthea informed him.Ryn's youthful face wrinkled up with perplexity. “Are they the same God?”“Some say so,” said Nuthea. “Others disagree. We believe some different things about the One, and the Jewels, but we agree on lots too.”“That is correct.” Quel nodded. “What we agree on is that the Maker created the Jewels, although we disagree on what will happen if they are all gathered together. I believe that Manolians think that tremendous power will be bestowed upon the gatherer, do you not?”“That's right,” said Nuthea.“Whereas we believe that when they are all gathered together by someone with good and pure intentions they will provide the key to rescuing Mid from a great danger and evil.”And you're likely both right, thought Cid, though he didn't say it. But there's more to it than that…“So what do you think will happen if someone with dangerous and evil intentions gathers them all together?” asked Ryn. A pertinent question.“Yeah,” chipped in Elrann, “like, say, the Emperor of Morekemia?”A highly pertinent question.Quel rubbed his upper lip, then patted it. “I am not sure,” he said at length. “Though I would rather we did not have to find out.”“Well, we're definitely in agreement about that,” said Nuthea. “Lady Elrann said that you sang of many things regarding the Jewels.”“Yup,” confirmed Elrann. “He sang a song about all of them, even saying where some of them are.”“Tell us,” said Nuthea eagerly. “How did you come to have such knowledge?”The newcomer did not answer straight away, but merely looked at Nuthea, then around at Ryn, Elrann, and Cid himself, passing his fingers back and forth over his lips again, as if he was sizing them up, pondering how much to reveal.Tell us everything, Cid silently implored him.The stranger's gaze came to rest on Riss, the summoner girl, who now sat still, her feet drawn up onto her chair so she could clutch her knees. She had told all, eventually. Or so we hope.The stranger patted his lips, and appeared to reach a decision.“Some years ago,” said Quel, “we began to hear rumours that Morekemia were sending out agents into the world to try to collect information on the whereabouts of the Jewels. It appeared that the Emperor had realised that they were not just an obscure legend, but that they were real. Some such agents came to Umbar, though fortunately we were able to identify them and root them out before they discovered too much. They managed to confirm that we were in possession of the Water Sapphire, which some people knew anyway, but they didn't find out anything about where it was kept. Soon after this begun to happen, the Chief of my tribe sent me out into the world to gather knowledge of the Jewels myself. It had been my ambition to become a wandering bard anyway, and I was soon to embark upon my travels, but this mission gave me an extra purpose to travel for. Over the last ten years I have wandered all over Mid, paying my way by learning and singing songs, and spoken to people, getting to know the local cultures and slowly gathering information about the Jewels. I've been to Morekemia itself. I've been all round Dokan. I've been to the Velt. I've been to Frikia. I've been to Rakali. I even travelled the Waste, for a brief time. And I am nearly due to return to report back to the chief of my people what I have learned.”“So why did you come to Farr?” Nuthea asked him. “Many people know that the Earth Emerald is here already.”Quel dipped his head, flashing his smile again for the clever question. “Yes, princess–or should I call you my ‘cousin' in the faith? That is true. But the Crossroads of the East is a fantastic place to meet travellers from all over Mid. In any case, I have been to many other places, but few are so fruitful for learning rumours and gossip, and for encountering people from other lands, as Shun Pei. I have managed to fill in a few gaps in my knowledge of the Jewels since I came here. It's also a very good place to hitch a ride home. Sooner or later there will be a ship flying for Umbar, or somewhere near it, and I will make my way onto it to return and report back. In fact, I need to get back there as soon as possible.”“Why?” pushed Ryn.“After my stay in Farr I had originally planned to return from here to Dokan. The one Jewel of which knowledge had eluded me throughout my journey for a long time was the Fire Jewel.”Well done, Orvis, thought Cid. You did your job well.“But then a few months ago I heard word that the Empire had found the Fire Jewel and were putting it to use. My mission became more urgent. Now that I have completed my search for as much knowledge of the Jewels as I have been able to gather, with the missing piece filled in, I seek passage home.”“Why are you telling us all this?” said Ryn, the bearer of the Fire Ruby, unbeknownst to the newcomer. Or does he know?“Well,” said Quel, “you say you have two of the Jewels. If you are seeking to protect them from the Empire, we share a goal.” The lutist held out his hands in sincere imploration. “Will you come with me to Umbar, to lend us the use of the Jewels you have, and keep them safe?”The party were quiet.Cid knew what he thought, but he did not want to take charge. He watched his granddaughter and the boy to see how they would respond.“Maybe…” Ryn said after a moment. “I think we had better pay this Umbar a place visit in any case, and speak with your people's rulers, but maybe only after we've got the Earth Emerald and the…Spirit Carnelian. What d'you think, Nuthea?”The princess, who had been staring off at nothing for a moment, came back to herself.“What? Oh. Yes. Completely. We must pay a visit to Umbar as soon as we can. We will be needing to obtain the Water Sapphire, after all.”Quel bristled a little at that, but apparently it did not irk him enough to draw a protest.Unexpectedly, Riss, the new girl, spoke up. “Why do you sing about the Jewels?” she said to Quel. “Isn't that dangerous? Doesn't it attract attention to you, and to them?”The lutist shrugged in his cloak. “Perhaps a little,” he said. “But it's not as though my song gives very much detail away. It's quite cryptic, really. People don't pay too much attention to the words of songs sung in taverns, anyhow. And actually I've found my song has just enough about the Jewels to be a very good way of flushing out other people who know about them, or who are seeking them… as it did tonight.”Quel smiled, and his blue eyes glittered.“Yeah,” said Elrann, “'s'pretty crazy how Sagar and I ended up in the same pub as you, and you chose to play that song, and we heard it and all. This sort of thing keeps on happening…”“It is the Will of the One,” Nuthea said confidently. “The One must have brought us together.”“It is the Will of the One,” Cid agreed, confident of this too.“As the Maker plans it,” said Quel, the Umbarian version of the phrase.Pregnant silence.The party all waited expectantly for the voice of scepticism.It did not come.“Oh yeah,” Ryn said, “that's right, Sagar's asleep. Well, basically, I think you guys can join up with us.” He nodded to Riss and Quel briefly in turn. “Welcome to our team.”“Your…team?” said Quel.“Our team?” said Elrann.“Well, yeah,' said Ryn, rubbing his arm. “We are basically a kind of team, aren't we? We team up in finding the Jewels. That's not so difficult to get your head around, is it?”“We need some kind of team name, then,” said Elrann. “What's our name?”“I'm not sure. I'll work on it.”“So what is your plan of action?” asked Quel. “Our plan of action…” he corrected himself, trying out the alternative pronoun with some hesitation. “I need to return to Umbar as quickly as possible in order to tell my people what I have found out about the Jewels, and you can discuss keeping them safe along with the Water Sapphire with my Chieftain there.”“You need to get the Carnelian first before you do that,” said Riss.“Actually,” said Nuthea, “our first priority is the Earth Emerald, and the tournament.”“The tournament?” asked Quel. “The one that's being held in Tenkachi from tomorrow? The one that everyone's talking about?”“Yes,” said Nuthea. “The Governor of Farr hasn't made this public yet, but the grand prize for the winner of the tournament is going to be the Earth Emerald. We are entering in order to win it. Winning it is our first priority. Then we will worry about finding a way to claim back the Spirit Carnelian from Zigfrid, and visiting Umbar to discuss how best to keep the Water Sapphire safe.”“Alrighty then,” said Elrann. “So all we have to do is beat a load of people who fight as part of their religion in a hand to hand combat tournament, steal a rock from a crazy actor who can make giant lions appear with his mind, and persuade Quel's people who have guarded the Water Sapphire for centuries as their most precious treasure that actually they're better off handing it over to us. Oh, and then find the remaining seven Jewels-thingamies.”“Exactly,” said Nuthea.“This is gonna be a piece of cake,” said Elrann. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sagaofthejewels.substack.com

Previously on Saga of the Jewels…The life of seventeen-year-old RYN, bookish son of a wealthy landowner, changes forever when his hometown is destroyed by the EMPIRE and everyone he has ever known is killed. He discovers that the Empire are seeking TWELVE PRIMEVAL JEWELS which grant the power to manipulate different elements, and that his father had been hiding the FIRE RUBY. Ryn sets out to take revenge on the Imperial General who killed his family and retrieve the Fire Ruby, and along the way meets NUTHEA the lightning-slinging princess, SAGAR the swaggering skypirate, ELRANN the tomboy engineer, CID the wizened old healer, and VISH the poppy-seed-addicted bounty hunter. Together the companions decide to find all of the Jewels in order to stop the EMPEROR from finding them first and taking over the world. They have thus far succeeded in retrieving the Fire Ruby, borne by Ryn, and the Lightning Crystal, borne by Nuthea. They have now come to the land of FARR where they intend to compete in a hand-to-hand fighting tournament in order to attempt to win its prize, the EARTH EMERALD…EPISODE THIRTY-SIX: HUNTING FOR POPPYOne day before the tournament.Vish was pissed off.As he stalked the stone-paved streets of some lower level of this wretched Farrian city, weaving in and out of the milling crowds, their inane chatter filling his ears, the hot noonday sun beating down on him, his limbs ached with longing and his heart was full of craving.Damn the old man, he thought to himself. Damn the boy for having mercy on me and allowing me to live when they defeated me outside Nont. Damn the poppy. I want the poppy. Damn Veln for betraying me. Damn them all to whatever hells may or may not exist.Another wave of craving hit him, right in his guts and loins, and he visualised himself taking a small black poppy seed and placing it into his mouth. Just as he had done a thousand times that day already, he imagined it coming to rest on his tongue, recalled its intense, sweet taste permeating his mouth. He imagined swallowing it, and the torrents of pleasure that would surge through his body as a result.But no true taste, no true pleasure came–only a shadow and an echo of past tastes and pleasures that left him hollow and wanting real poppy and in need of replaying the whole routine in his mind again.He bumped into someone, banging his face right into them.“Hey, watch where you're going!” said the big brutish man with a bush of beard. Probably Dokanese.“I apologise,” said Vish, holding up his hands, not meaning it at all but wanting to move this latest irritant along as quickly as possible. “My mind was elsewhere.” That much was true at least.The man's fat face softened, but only a little. “Well, be more careful next time, Aibarian.” Apparently the man was well-travelled enough to judge Vish's nationality just from the small strip of skin visible from within his head covering. Perhaps by his style of dress too. The man walked off, leaving the Shadowfinger to his flashbacks and his poppy cravings.He walked on, and another craving-wave rolled through him.Actually, Vish reflected, he knew that at least one hell did exist. He knew it existed because he was experiencing it now.For some stupid reason he had agreed with the old man to space out his poppy hits, which meant that he couldn't have one today.In an effort to focus on something other than his imagining taking poppy again, he tried to recall the conversation he had with him earlier that day.“Now master Vish,” the old man Cid had said to him at his door when the Shadowfinger had gone to see him to request some more poppy earlier that morning, “you know we agreed that you would start spacing out your hits and wait a bit longer until the next one.”“I've changed my mind,” Vish said. “I want one now.”“But you agreed to this.”Why had he agreed to it? He couldn't even remember any more.“Maybe I did,” he said “but I've changed my mind. Give it to me now.”“Vish, you can't just go back on your agreement like that so easily. You know, some poppyheads give up poppy all in one go, just stopping ‘cold chocobo', and never go back. If the physical withdrawal symptoms can be managed safely, that is actually the best way to do it.”“What?!” Now the old man wasn't just talking about spacing out the hits; now he was talking about stopping them altogether! “There is no way that I would ever do that.”“It might be the better way for you to do it. Ask the One. Ask the One to help you, to relieve you. He will.”“I don't believe in your ‘One', old man.”“Just try it. He believes in you.”That had really pissed Vish off. “Don't give me that poodoo! Just give me my poppy, old man! I don't believe in your ‘One'! He's not real! What has he ever done for me? Where was he when my mother threw me out on the streets of Saudran to fend for myself? Where was he when I was begging and stealing and fighting among the street rats? Where was he when I was doing all the terrible things that I've done just to stay alive, and then to get my next poppy hit?”The old man, to his credit, had at least gone quiet for a moment at that, and bowed his head slightly in sympathy.“I do not have an easy answer for you,” Cid said. “All I can offer you is that I believe he saw those things happen, and that he felt them with you, that they grieved him, and that he has given you a way out of that life, now.”Vish considered the old man's words for a moment. There was a certain…appeal to them. But they just seemed unreal to him. They seemed like an invented fantasy. Reality was much crueller.“I want my poppy, old man. Give it to me. Now.”Cid sighed. “No. You may be able to make your own choices, but so am I, and the poppy belongs to me. I am choosing not to give it to you now, and I'm sorry, but that's the end of the matter. You need to begin to learn that you can survive, and even begin to experience some peace and enjoyment, without it. One week. That is my concession. You can have some more poppy seed in one week.”The old man closed the door in Vish's face.Vish seethed, fury filling fibre of his body, along with the longing for the poppy, in fact only another expression of it. For a moment he considered bashing down the door, overpowering the old man, slitting his throat, and then stealing his whole poppy supply and running away from the group.And he had almost done it.But he hadn't.Why didn't I do it? he thought now as he traipsed the cobbled streets of Shun Pei. He should have just done it!But he hadn't done it, he discovered, because somewhere, in a miniscule corner of his darkened mind, a tiny little shred of hope had appeared. The smallest sliver of a ray of hope had formed; hope that he might actually be able to come off the poppy one day and be freed of his all-consuming constant desperate craving for it.Damn the old man for planting that hope! And damn me for not being able to completely let go of it!Part of him, somewhere, remembered what it was like not to know the poppy, not to be consumed by the longing for the poppy. Part of him, somewhere, remembered what it was like to experience the joys of life unadulterated by craving and poppy. The memories of happiness were few and far between, but they were there: The play of warm sunlight on the back of his uncovered neck. The gentle morning breeze tickling his skin. Laughter, the company of friends. The touch and kiss of Eflana, his consort when he has been working for Veln. Maybe he could get his enjoyment of all of those things back?Vish stopped in his tracks.Instinctively, his feet had led him to a shopfront.More of a stall, really. The doors of a battered wooden shed opened right onto the dusty street of this level of the city. In the opening they created stood a rickety table with all different sorts of herbs, roots, and plants arrayed on it, which hung from the doors as well. Crushed up powders in jars. Different coloured liquids in stoppered-up bottles. The pale purple flowers of some exotic plant, plucked and laid out in little earthenware bowls.Behind the table hunched a withered old crone with a hump-back and a crooked nose, dressed in the brown robes that seemed to be worn by most of the Farrians on this level.“Medicines!” the woman screeched when she saw Vish had stopped, to clarify what exactly it was that was arrayed before him. “Get your medicines!”When Vish approached her she said “Looking for something in particular, good sir? There a specific ailment that's troubling you?”Vish chose his words carefully. As far as he knew, poppy was outlawed in almost every single nation of Mid, including Farr, because of how it tended to make people addicted to it and ruin their lives, not to mention the side effects of making one particularly strong and agile during a hit.“Do you have anything for a…headache?” he said slowly.“Headache?!” said the woman. “Why, you need crushed minofin root, of course! You run out? Only one gold piece for a jar! Eat a spoonful every hour till you feel better, which will be soon!”Vish eyed the small jar of yellow powder that the woman held up to him and shook so that it danced around in a cloud. He was not impressed. He was not convinced that the powder would have any kind of effect on anyone, let alone on him.“That's not what I'm looking for,” he said. “Do you have anything…… stronger?” He pulled down the front of his face-scarf down a little, just enough to expose some of his blackened mouth.The woman narrowed her eyes at him as she regarded him over her crooked nose.“I am sure I have no idea what you mean,” she said quietly.Damn, Vish thought and tugged the scarf back upHe turned away from the stall and almost walked into a large Farrian man almost as rotund as he was tall. Again.The man he had bumped into earlier.“I know just what you mean,” said the man in a gruff voice. His dark hair was thick on top and he had an untidy beard which covered his mouth, both of which were unusual for Farrians. Were it not for his narrow eyes it would have been hard to place him as Farrian at all.“Oh?” said Vish, his curiosity piqued. The man had followed him for some reason. Perhaps he had known him for a poppyhead somehow.“Yeah,” said the man. “Come with me. But keep your distance.”The man ambled off and Vish waited for a few breaths, starting to tremble slightly at the expectation of possibly being about to get his hands on some poppy. Then he took one last look at the crone in the shopfront, who scowled at him, and followed after the man.He kept about ten paces behind the man as he made his way past other citizens of Shun Pei, past other stalls, before finally turning off the main thoroughfare and slipping down an alleyway between two particularly large earthen buildings.It was secluded in the alleyway, and dim, the buildings on either side blocking out lots of light. The perfect place for a poppy transaction.Vish strode into the alley calmly.Sure enough, when he got about half way down it, the big Farrian stopped and turned round, and when Vish reached him he said, “So you want to buy some poppy?”“Yes!” Eagerness made the words trip quickly off Vish's tongue behind his face scarf. “How much?”“How much you willing to pay?” said the man.Foolish, Vish scolded himself. I should have just offered a price. “How much poppy do you have?”The man held up a hand, a little dark ball pinched between his thumb and forefinger visible even in the dimness of the alley, and Vish's mouth began to water.“One seed. For you…” The man hesitated, licking his lips. “...fifty gold pieces.”“Fine.” Vish was pretty sure he was being ripped off, despite not normally having to buy poppy, but he didn't care. It wasn't like it was his money anyway. He just wanted to get his hands on the poppy as quickly as possible.He reached into the folds of his black tunic and drew out the common purse of the traveling party, which he had stolen before he had come out on this walk after some fool had left it out in the dining area of the manse.When the man took the coins and saw how many more Vish had in the purse, his eyes bulged.Ah, Vish thought.“Actually, friend,” said the man, “you know what? I'm thinking that maybe you don't need the poppy after all. Maybe we keep the poppy, and we also take that gold off your hands.”“‘We'?” said Vish.The big man's pupils reached beyond the Shadowfinger.Vish turned. On cue, two more men made their way down the alleyway towards him, each of them with drawn straight swords, in the Farrian style. No doubt that first man behind Vish had a weapon stashed somewhere as well.“I am thinking you will hand over that money now, friend,” said the first man from behind him, and a point pricked Vish's back, “and we may think about letting you live. Or you can put up a struggle and we can kill you and take it anyway. I would not recommend it though. You are outnumbered, three to one, and you have nowhere to run.”Vish sighed. He had wondered earlier if something like this was going to happen today.He reached for his own sword on his back. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sagaofthejewels.substack.com

Actor/Comedian Lewis Dix Jr. joins The Anchormen to talk Fatherhood and Keeping your Daughter off the Pole; Couples Therapy and the FBI level investigative skills of modern women; the current state of Comedy and Vish's Hinge account.Weekly drops you won't want to miss—subscribe now on Youtube or Spotify.Use promo code "MATTG" for 15% your first order at Meriwetherfarms.com.

IntroWhat happens when a song sits at the strange intersection of post-hardcore drumming, Gord's ghostly poetry, and full-on studio alchemy? This week, I'm joined by Vish from Edmonton—longtime Hip-head, writer, broadcaster, and host of Kreative Kontrol—to wrestle with what makes this entry in the Top Forty so haunting and so essential.Episode OverviewWe dig into the power of The Hip's studio experimentation, Vish's personal memories of the band, and why this song stands out even among the weirdest, most ambitious corners of Phantom Power.About the GuestVish Khanna is a staple in Canadian music media. He's a writer, interviewer, and the voice behind the Kreative Kontrol podcast. But beyond the mic, he's a lifelong Hip fan who's seen it all—from the Kumbaya Festival broadcast live on MuchMusic to the raw power of Another Roadside Attraction at 15 years old.Vish shares deeply personal stories of meeting Gord Downie in tiny clubs, trading emails, and even jamming on stage with members of the Country of Miracles at Hillside. This isn't just fandom—it's a lifelong relationship with the music, the people, and the community they built.ClosingHuge thanks to Vish for his time, his honesty, and his endless Hip-lore. If this track hits you in the gut like it does for us, share your own Hipstory. Leave us a voice memo, send an email, or come argue your rankings in the Facebook group.We'll be back next Monday with Song 13 on the countdown—don't miss it.So there's that.Connect with Us

This week, we have another presentation from the Medicine in the Mediterranean conference, held in January 2025. CoROM faculty member Vish Rajan delves into the intricacies of hyperbaric medicine, exploring its history, types of chambers, notable accidents, and the human factors that contribute to safety and efficacy in treatment. TakeawaysHyperbaric medicine has a rich history dating back centuries.Regulations in hyperbarics often arise from tragic accidents.Different types of hyperbaric chambers serve various medical purposes.Key accidents highlight the importance of safety protocols.Human factors play a significant role in hyperbaric treatment outcomes.Training and proper maintenance are crucial for chamber safety.Case studies reveal systemic issues in hyperbaric practices.Communication failures can lead to catastrophic results in emergencies.Recommendations for improving safety include regular training and audits.Understanding the risks associated with hyperbaric treatment is essential for practitioners.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Hyperbarics and Accidents02:07 History and Development of Hyperbaric Medicine04:48 Approved Indications and Misuse of Hyperbaric Therapy06:28 Types of Hyperbaric Chambers07:06 Key Accidents in Hyperbaric History12:28 Case Study: Apollo 1 Incident18:50 Case Study: Hanover Chamber Incident25:25 Case Study: Malta Diving Incident30:00 Analysis of Human Factors in Hyperbaric Accidents33:02 Recommendations for Safe Hyperbaric Practices

That's a wrap on the group stages for the Club World Cup! Sadly, we're saying goodbye to the mighty Mamelodi Sundowns and River Plate, who oh so nearly gave us a proper brawl against Inter. Shame.Marcus, Luke, Vish and Andy (fresh back from LA!) discuss that and just how f**cked Juventus players Weston McKennie and Timothy Weah are after slagging off Italian food. Plus, in the time it's taken you to read this, Cristiano Ronaldo has probably made a £1m and been served a diamond encrusted steak by 15 different members of staff thanks to his new Al Nassr deal. Join us!And remember: what's the most famous arse you've ever seen? Can you beat Denis Irwin? Email us show@footballramble.com.Please fill out Stak's listener survey! It'll help us learn more about the content you love so we can bring you even more - you'll also be entered into a competition to win one of five PlayStation 5's! Click here: https://bit.ly/staksurvey2025Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows, extended Wednesday episodes, access to our Discord and early access to tickets and merch for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back for matchday two of Luke's Game! Defending champion Luke takes on Jack's Encyclopaedia champion Vish with the belt on the line.Today's players are all World Cup Icons. But who will leave the studio a Luke's Game icon? Only one way to find out!Please fill out Stak's listener survey! It'll help us learn more about the content you love so we can bring you even more - you'll also be entered into a competition to win one of five PlayStation 5's! Click here: https://bit.ly/staksurvey2025Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AJ Philippakis and Vish Talreja are the co-founders of Kord, an electric vehicle insight product designed to share essential EV data with shoppers on vehicle details pages. Kord works with dealers and groups like Kia North Shore, Volvo Cars Richmond and the Dilawri Automotive Group to help educate shoppers about EVs and facilitate confident EV ownership. AJ and Vish join Auto Remarketing senior editor Joe Overby to talk about Kord's mission to help dealers educate consumers and ultimately sell more EVs.

With increasing scrutiny placed on the likes of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and even the United States, we wonder which countries could viably host a World Cup without any of the political or social controversies that have marred recent editions. Is that even possible? Marcus, Jim and Vish also return to our ‘defining figures of the decade' discourse, turning our attentions to managers this time. Plus: our favourite commentary teams, goalkeepers playing outfield and Premier League managers joining the Ramble!Please fill out Stak's listener survey! It'll help us learn more about the content you love so we can bring you even more - you'll also be entered into a competition to win one of five PlayStation 5's! Click here: https://bit.ly/staksurvey2025Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows, extended Wednesday episodes, access to our Discord and early access to tickets and merch for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Never mind freed from desire, can we be freed from... this?The Club World Cup is underway and Marcus, Jim and Vish are here to give it the serious, sage analysis it deserves. Like, did iShowSpeed really tell Sergio Agüero how to do a crossbar challenge?The conditions have obviously already us worried about England next summer, but the goals (and the Can Can music) were flowing for Bayern Munich against unfortunate underdogs Auckland City. Plus, in chaotic developments that we can definitely get behind, Gennaro Gattuso is the new manager of Italy! But will it be rarely good, mostly s**t?Please fill out Stak's listener survey! It'll help us learn more about the content you love so we can bring you even more - you'll also be entered into a competition to win one of five PlayStation 5's! Click here: https://bit.ly/staksurvey2025Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows, extended Wednesday episodes, access to our Discord and early access to tickets and merch for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are just 364 days until the World Cup kicks off in the Azteca Stadium. It's a good job there's nothing else overshadowing it this time...Marcus, Jim & Vish look at the runners and riders for the competition in one year's time, and take a look at how England are shaping up twelve months from the tournament.Please fill out Stak's listener survey! It'll help us learn more about the content you love so we can bring you even more - you'll also be entered into a competition to win one of five PlayStation 5's! Click here: https://bit.ly/staksurvey2025Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is brought to you by Thriva. Today, we are joined by Dr. Vish, who is a GP, here to tell us all about blood tests, and why they are the best way to find out what is actually going on in your body.    Joe overcomes his needle phobia, and undergoes a live blood test in the studio. He's on a new health journey, to identify any changes he might need to make to his lifestyle. Plus, we learn some mind blowing facts about blood, why feeling faint is actually quite helpful, and how Thriva can help uncover any underlying health issues.   Thriva are on a mission to help you live better, for longer. They are offering Things People Do listeners 20% off your first blood test. Just go to thriva.co to sign up, fill out a very quick questionnaire and use the code THINGSPEOPLEDO f you would like to be a guest on the show, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To watch the show on YouTube, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠watch here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To grow the show on socials, look for @thingspeoplepod on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok If you'd like to enquire about commercial partnerships with our podcast, email Ryan Bailey ryanb@crowdnetwork.co.uk Music courtesy of BMG Production Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Turns out Thomas Tuchel is the bravest boy of all. A 4-4-2 tribute act, even when it doesn't suit this team or opposition? RULE BRITANNIA!Seriously though, what on Earth was that? Marcus, Jim and Vish try to work out what Tuchel's plan is after a humbling defeat to an excellent Senegal side, as several England players did themselves no favours. Plus, Crystal Palace and Lyon play out the final scene from Reservoir Dogs, there's transfers aplenty in Manchester and we somehow find ourselves in the pocket of Big Tuna.Please fill out Stak's listener survey! It'll help us learn more about the content you love so we can bring you even more - you'll also be entered into a competition to win one of five PlayStation 5's! Click here: https://bit.ly/staksurvey2025Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Color services are fundimental to any salon business, but color is also ridldled with opportunites for loss. Are your stylists mixing too much color and ending up with waste and the end of a foil? Are you struggling to recall the formula your client loved the last time they were in your chair? Are you ever unsure what to quote a guest for a service, or make sure the front desk bills them appropriately? Are you overwhelmed by inventory? Vish's color management software takes the guesswork out of color and integrates with your salon's point-of-sale system, so you can focus on creating an incredible guest experience every time.  This episode, Vish co-founder Tim Howard steps into the host chair with Vish VP of product Les McFadden; and Luke Huffstutter, owner of three salons and a Summit Salon Academy in Portland, Oregon.You'll learn about new innovations Vish has developed in partnership with salon companies and color manufacturers and distributors, like their new inventory module. Plus upcoming features like a service engagement tool that provides insight into how stylists are interacting with Vish's signature scale and measuring software, plus a service that improves record keeping and quotes during consultations. Learn more and book a discovery call at getvish.com. And please let Vish know you heard about them on SUMM IT UP!  Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon. SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlockedFind host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com. Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.

We all remember Jesse Marsch looking a little out of his depth while guiding Leeds United towards Premier League relegation. Well, it seems you can't keep a good man down. Now manager of Canada, he's made some extraordinary suggestions about a potential poisoning of his players.But before that, Marcus, Jim, Pete & Vish discuss Spurs' sacking of Ange Postecoglou with Thomas Frank set to replace him. Poor Alfie Whiteman's had to hand over his big screen. Plus, an England vs Senegal preview!Please fill out Stak's listener survey! It'll help us learn more about the content you love so we can bring you even more - you'll also be entered into a competition to win one of five PlayStation 5's! Click here: https://bit.ly/staksurvey2025Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Portugal have lifted the Nations League once more! Bobby Martínez's boys edged it on penalties in a fighting performance that well and truly puts them in the mix for next summer.Marcus, Vish, Pete and Jim react to that – and England's definitely convincing not at all worrying 1-0 win over Andorra. Elsewhere, it was Slicker by name, not by nature, for Scotland in their 3-1 defeat to Iceland – but on the upside, at least they haven't got David Raya between the sticks. Plus, Jim reveals what he really thinks about Robbie Williams and Pete really wants to visit a poisonous garden. Please fill out Stak's listener survey! It'll help us learn more about the content you love so we can bring you even more - you'll also be entered into a competition to win one of five PlayStation 5's! Click here: https://bit.ly/staksurvey2025Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows, extended Wednesday episodes, access to our Discord and early access to tickets and merch for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Not everyone can be a headline grabber. While the usual suspects have lapped up the plaudits, some have been quietly brilliant in the background – so how about we put them in the Ramble sun?Marcus, Andy & Vish offer up their unsung heroes! Plus, could Chelsea emerge as the 'little horse' for the Premier League title next season? And if we could switch any result in football history, what would we pick? A bit of extra time in this year's Europa League final anyone? Nope, thought not...Please fill out Stak's listener survey! It'll help us learn more about the content you love so we can bring you even more - you'll also be entered into a competition to win one of five PlayStation 5's! Click here: https://bit.ly/staksurvey2025Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vindication – at last – for Marcus Speller and the Nations League! Spain and France had a nine-goal punch-up last night and what can only be described as an incredibly post-season number of shots (40).Marcus, Jim, Andy and Vish discuss the game and turn their eyes to England's meeting with Andorra tomorrow, who – incidentally – are perhaps the only team in world football who might miss out on qualifying for next summer's 6-week long World Cup (more on that). We also hear about Gianni Infantino using himself as a number nine and narrow down the exact definition of Russell Martin's 'gothball'.Please fill out Stak's listener survey! It'll help us learn more about the content you love so we can bring you even more - you'll also be entered into a competition to win one of five PlayStation 5's! Click here: https://bit.ly/staksurvey2025Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows, extended Wednesday episodes, access to our Discord and early access to tickets and merch for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

**SPOILERS: If you haven't yet listened to yesterday's Jack's Encyclopaedia title decider, go check it out! The start of this episode contains spoilers and rumboggery...**Marcus, Vish, Pete and INTERPOL's most-wanted Jim Campbell discuss Crystal Palace's UEFA dilemma which might require them to just start an entirely new European trophy.Meanwhile, Manchester City might have just signed the next İlkay Gündoğan as their retail therapy continues – but there's also huge news for their red neighbours. Plus, the Nations League returns tonight! We're all excited for that, aren't we? AREN'T WE?!Please fill out Stak's listener survey! It'll help us learn more about the content you love so we can bring you even more - you'll also be entered into a competition to win one of five PlayStation 5's! Click here: https://bit.ly/staksurvey2025Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows, extended Wednesday episodes, access to our Discord and early access to tickets and merch for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's all come down to this, ladies and gents. The grand finale of the greatest quiz in football podcasting!It's an opportunity for Marcus, Luke or Vish to write themselves into Football Ramble folklore. To become a legend. To prove their worth. To take home the coveted Jack's Encyclopaedia trophy. It's all on the line.Let's be having you!Please fill out Stak's listener survey! It'll help us learn more about the content you love so we can bring you even more - you'll also be entered into a competition to win one of five PlayStation 5's! Click here: https://bit.ly/staksurvey2025Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's that time of the season again, ladies and gents! The one where we dig out the predictions we made back in August and find out just how little actually played out the way we thought it would.Marcus, Luke, Pete & Vish are here to look back at the 2024/25 Premier League season through the lens of optimism, gut instinct, and the very occasional spot-on call.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Goodbye 2024/25 Premier League, it was real. Hello Manchester United post-season tour in Malaysia!Marcus, Luke, Pete and Vish look back on the final day, which had lots of permutations but - for Aston Villa - ended up being decided by two quite simple things: Emi Martinez losing his mind and the referee losing his, too.Elsewhere, Nuno Espirito Santo will face the wrath of Marinakis as Nottingham Forest miss out on the Champions League and there's an emotional farewell for Trent Alexander-Arnold at Anfield after Jürgen Klopp spanks the boo boys. Plus, Spurs' confusing season has a fittingly confusing end! But you can shut it, alright mate?Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows, extended Wednesday episodes, access to our Discord and early access to tickets and merch for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Vedic astrologer Vish Chatterji and host Michael Sandler as they decode the secrets of your birth chart, karma, and soul's path. Discover how Saturn's lessons, your rising sign, and planetary remedies can transform your life—plus the shocking difference between Vedic and Western astrology. Whether you're a skeptic or a seeker, this conversation will illuminate your destiny!   Find more from Vish Chatterji - https://www.vishchatterji.com/   To find out more visit: https://amzn.to/3qULECz - Order Michael Sandler's book, "AWE, the Automatic Writing Experience" www.automaticwriting.com  - Automatic Writing Experience Course www.inspirenationuniversity.com - Michael Sandler's School of Mystics Join Our YouTube Membership for behind-the-scenes access - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVoOM-cCEPbJ1vzlQAFQu1A/join  https://inspirenationshow.com/ https://www.dailywoohoo.com/ - Sign up for my FREE daily newsletter for high-vibration content. ……. Follow Michael and Jessica's exciting journey and get even more great tools, tips, and behind-the-scenes access. Go to https://www.patreon.com/inspirenation   For free meditations, weekly tips, stories, and similar shows visit: https://inspirenationshow.com/   We've got Merch! - https://teespring.com/stores/inspire-nation-store   Follow Inspire Nation, and the lives of Michael and Jessica, on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/InspireNationLive/   Find us on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@inspirenationshow

Football football football dum dum dum. Now you go, Harry!Marcus, Pete and Vish review Harry Kane's sped-up rendition of Sweet Caroline at Bayern's trophy parade. It went about as well as you'd expect.Elsewhere, there's the small matter of Arsenal securing Champions League football. But how do they avoid second place again next season? Vish thinks there's only one answer. Plus, after José Mourinho gets an almighty mugging off in Turkey, Marcus hatches a revenge plan involving one Jamie Richard Vardy...Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My giddy aunt. Oli Glasner and his boys have bloomin' well done it, even if they do have the referee to thank. Never a red, eh?Marcus, Vish & Pete break down what was an astonishing FA Cup final, and give credit to a tiny magician for sprinkling that magic on the Wembley turf.We're going on tour! Get your tickets now: https://footballramblelive.com.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fresh off a Football Ramble tour, the lads recap a monster journey back from Glasgow, including a five-hour delay, a detour through Edinburgh, and a run-in with a wildly unpredictable couple who produced not one but two cats mid-journey. Pete and Vish witnessed it all, while Luke, blissfully unaware, sat back with noise-cancelling headphones and a Nazi documentary.Elsewhere, the lads get stuck into Glastonbury chat, Luke's actively praying for a washout, and then take a deep dive into what really makes someone a nepo baby. Does Matty Healy owe it all to his soap-star parents? And if Pete's daughter ends up in the spotlight, does having two radio DJ parents automatically seal her fate? The lads investigate.Email us at hello@lukeandpeteshow.com or you can get in touch on X, Threads or Instagram if character-restricted messaging takes your fancy.***Please take the time to rate and review us on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tell you what, there's nothing quite like playoff limbs™ - even if Sunderland's Dan Ballard struggled to get his shirt off after netting a 120th minute-winner. Marcus, Jim, Luke and Vish check in with the latest after another dramatic night in the Championship!We also celebrate the best collab we've seen in modern football: Brazil x Carlo Ancelotti - but why now? And will he be a success? Plus, Jose Mourinho's reign of terror continues, Wayne Lineker pushes Arne Slot's classy demeanour to breaking point and don't worry, Man United fans: Sir Jim's having a BBQ! We're still on tour! Get your tickets now: https://footballramblelive.com.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did somebody call for a Tuesday treat? European finalists Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United continued to provide us with performances worthy of a European trophy as they fell to home defeats against Crystal Palace and - checks notes - West Ham United - respectively.Marcus, Jim, Pete & Vish dig into that and celebrate Fulham finally opening their swimming pool! Marcus is still waiting for his invite...We're going on tour! Get your tickets now: https://footballramblelive.com.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're in Glasgow! Marcus, Jim, Vish and Pete retreat to their man cave to discuss one of the busiest football weekends we've had in quite a while - but not before we rate some of Newcastle's legendary nightlife spots from our weekend jolly.It turns out we weren't the only show in town this weekend after Newcastle pushed Chelsea aside, and Arsenal were spurred on by Trent Alexander-Arnold getting booed at Anfield. Turns out you can indeed walk alone.Plus, we get through an array of bicycle kicks, from the heights of MLS to a listener concussing himself and breaking a few ribs in his back garden.Our live tour is happening THIS WEEK! Get your tickets now before it's too late: https://footballramblelive.com.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well, would you look at that - Gareth Southgate's version of Manchester United made it to the Europa League final, where they'll face Ange's boys after their own unusually composed performance.Marcus, Vish, Jim and Pete pick through that confusing conclusion and look ahead to some spicy weekend action on today's blockbuster Preview Show! We wonder if Newcastle can get the job done against Chelsea, welcome in the Championship play-offs and plot the rest of Kevin De Bruyne's career as he transitions from silky Brentford midfielder to setting up a bakery.Our live tour is happening THIS WEEK! Get your tickets now before it's too late: https://footballramblelive.com.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My giddy aunt, that was quite the spectacle last night. A thirteen-goal thriller across the two legs?! That's what football do to ya.Marcus, Luke, Andy & Vish are here to ponder on what might be the greatest two-legged game in football history. Plus, Luke explains why it's okay for Trent Alexander-Arnold to want a move to a bigger rat ball, Andy offers a 90s reference that even catches Marcus out, and we look ahead to Arsenal's date with destiny.Our tour starts THIS WEEK! Get your tickets now before it's too late: https://footballramblelive.com.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some people love data! But let's be honest and say that for most hairdressers, studying the numbers in their business is not their favourite pastime.  My Guest today is a returning Guest, Tom Bentley-Taylor, who, amongst other things, originally got the Salon Software brand Short Cuts established in the UK and is currently Managing Director at Vish in the UK. Tom is unashamedly a numbers guy. He loves data, but more importantly, he loves what data tells you about what's working and what isn't working in the business.In today's podcast, we will discuss:The importance of using data in businessWhat is the most important data to track in the salon business?How data creates clarity for business owners and fairness for their team. And lots more!IN THIS EPISODE:[1:30] Welcoming Tom Bentley-Taylor and his background in salon software[3:05] The evolution from Shortcuts to Vish and why colour management matters[6:55] Are salons undercharging for colour? The problem with guesswork[8:40] How technology reveals the true cost of delivering services[11:10] Why data creates clarity for owners and fairness for teams[13:15] Empowering vs restricting: how stylists respond to numbers[18:06] Mistakes owners make when introducing change[22:45] Pricing, margin, and why protecting profit isn't optional[25:20] “Creative freedom” vs business responsibility[28:10] The difference data makes to accountability[32:40] How Vish works with existing systems[34:02] The data that helps drive decision-making[36:40] The mindset of high-performing salon owners[38:55] Final advice from Tom: stop guessing and start trackingWant MORE to help you GROW?

Arne Slot and his merry men got the title over the line, but how does his (and his pal Jürgen Klopp's) Liverpool rank among the Premier League title-winning sides of old? That's the nice, uncontentious topic Marcus, Pete & Vish are discussing today. Gulp...Plus, after Jonás Gutiérrez was spotted busking in Newcastle city centre, who makes our garage band of rock-and-roll footballers?Our tour starts NEXT WEEK! Get your tickets now before it's too late: https://footballramblelive.com.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Enjoy your chilled wine and nice food, but leave the football to us lads.The words of Vithushan Ehantharajah, who can - AT LAST - bask in his smugness this season after another impressive Man United performance in Europe. Marcus, Pete and Andy join Vish to hail Harry Maguire's transformation into prime Cafu.Elsewhere, Spurs win but Andy explains why the Bodø/Glimt upset is very much alive. Plus, Cole Palmer's heavy breathing blows his cover and Pete Donaldson promises to print all of you a Europa Conference League winners medal. If you come to Football Ramble: Time Tunnel, of course.Our tour starts NEXT WEEK! Get your tickets now before it's too late: https://footballramblelive.com.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did you see that first 20 minutes from PSG last night? Bloody Nora. Marcus, Luke, Vish and Jim - fresh from the Emirates - react to PSG's dominant display against Arsenal and their tiny but somehow unstoppable midfield. Can Arsenal turn things around? Not with tifos like that, they can't...Elsewhere, Brazil press their big Carlo Ancelotti button who's primed and ready to join Fizzer in his Speedos on the Copacabana.We also set fire to our reputation in Glasgow... but at least we'll have our new line of artisan Pope smoke bacon to keep us going. See you on May 12th, Glaswegian Ramblers!We're going on tour! Get your tickets now: https://footballramblelive.com.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AI tools are transforming how developers write code, and although it's difficult to pinpoint how much code is now AI-generated code, estimates suggest it's between 20% and 40%, and this figure is poised to grow in the coming years. This evolution has given rise to a new coding paradigm in which developers act as directors, The post Vibe Coding at Heroku with Vish Abrams appeared first on Software Engineering Daily.

Hold your horses Liverpool fans, this title fight is still on! You've got to go back to Anfield and get something. And I tell you what, they only need a point against Spurs...Jean-Philippe Mateta's late equaliser wasn't quite enough to secure the Reds the title today, but Vish tells Pete why he thinks it'll give them great confidence heading into their FA Cup semi at the weekend.Elsewhere, Vish explains why Raheem Sterling needs a move to Syria and Pete starts thinking about Lee Dixon's penis.We're going on tour! Get your tickets now: https://footballramblelive.com.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The pressure was on for Nuno's men. They'd lost their last two games. They were down in seventh. Nuno himself (probably) had a crafty cig outside the stadium before kick-off. And yet they picked up a HUGE win at Spurs to return to third in the Premier League!Marcus and Vish react to a big night in Nottingham Forest's unlikely hunt for Europe and Tottenham Hotspur's equally unlikely hunt for 17th place. The lads mark a special anniversary and there's also some love for Leeds and Burnley, who were officially promoted back to the Premier League today! Burnley also won a Serie A title and aroused Fabio Capello, but keep listening for more on that...We're going on tour! Get your tickets now: https://footballramblelive.com.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was the full range of emotions in the Premier League this weekend: Leicester City fans reflected on their relegation, while Vish was able to savour Man United's survival.He joins Marcus and Jim to marvel at a crushing Aston Villa display which keeps the race for the Champions League spots very interesting, while Fulham politely let Chelsea stay involved too.Plus, Trent Alexander-Arnold did a classic shirt whip-off but we're sad there wasn't a Real Madrid tattoo in sight.And can Phil Neville make America great again? Come join us to find out!We're going on tour! Get your tickets now: https://footballramblelive.com.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Despite a William Saliba mid-game software update and a Bukayo Saka penalty malfunction… Arsenal have bloody done it!Luke and Vish react to a comfortable night for Mikel Arteta's men at the Bernabeu and explain why this is already his greatest achievement as a manager to date.Plus, Declan Rice gets compared to a cricketer (and not by Vish, actually) and we wonder just how Real Madrid flopped so hard. For once, the house didn't win…We're going on tour! Get your tickets now: https://footballramblelive.com.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ohhh, Villa! Marcus, Luke, Jim and Vish recap one of the craziest European games you'll ever see, as Unai Emery almost Europa League'd his way past PSG and into the Champions League semi-finals. But, the biggest shock of the night? Barcelona's shorts. No wonder they lost comprehensively at Dortmund (still went through, tho).Elsewhere, FIFA's latest Ponzi scheme crumbles at the slightest inspection and we check on Jim ahead of one of the biggest games in Arsenal's history.We're going on tour! Get your tickets now: https://footballramblelive.com.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Somewhere in Wolverhampton, Vitor Pereira is down at the Dog and Duck listening to Slipknot with a lovely pint of bitter on a coffin in front of him. A man after our own heart.Marcus, Luke, Pete and Vish pick through another devastating weekend for Manchester United and Spurs. Will Ruben Amorim put another fence between him and his Man United players for training?Plus, Javier Tebas is hunting for your IP address and Leicester City scored a bloody goal! Their first since Luke served in the Great War...We're going on tour! Get your tickets now: https://footballramblelive.com.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We hope you enjoyed the latest TNT Sports podcast. Darren Fletcher, Rio Ferdinand and Ally McCoist used up every word in the book...Lucky for you, Pete and Vish are here to add to the word vomit. They dish out praise for PSG's strangely likeable team and ask: should Ange Postecoglou be England's collective dad?We're going on tour! Get your tickets now: https://footballramblelive.com.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vish has had enough! Today, he tells Marcus and Andy that Man United should just fold the club after they lost to Nottingham Forest last night.Elsewhere, beautiful Bukayo Saka returned for Arsenal and Andy explains why the Gunners could really hurt Real Madrid in the Champions League next week, defensive injuries aside. Plus, Marcus starts a campaign against Tofu…We're going on tour! Get your tickets now: https://footballramblelive.com.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Farewell international football, welcome back domestic football. We've not even kicked a ball yet and you lot are already asking about sackings!But with a couple of managers under pressure, is it a surprise that none of them got the boot in the international break?Marcus, Luke & Vish are here to debate just that! Plus, what's the best interview meltdown in football history?We're going on tour! Get your tickets now: https://footballramblelive.com.Find us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time for the FA Cup quarter-finals! Jean-Philippe Mateta has returned just in time, and Marcus, Luke and Vish are wondering if he's got a new superpower to use to his advantage.Elsewhere, Cristiano Ronaldo has entered the virtual world and Gary Caldwell blames his Scottish accent for him getting sent off last week. Yeah, it was the accent Gary...We're going on tour! Get your tickets now: https://footballramblelive.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VamKx7RL7UVMdlfanN0QFind us on Bluesky, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and email us here: show@footballramble.com.Sign up to the Football Ramble Patreon for ad-free shows for just $5 per month: https://www.patreon.com/footballramble.***Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!*** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.