Paulo contributes
"No, we don't have any problem in the server. Why?"
Or my, "We don't have a network outage at this time. What problem are you experiencing?"

And Johnathan's
Well, knowing what the error message said would help me determine what the problem is.
Or "Well, [name], having the error message will make the fault- finding process more than a little easier."

Cory! The top local Slayer!
Sunday is my 7 months
Already!

and I think we've gotten closer and had a better relationship over the last 3 or 4 of those months.
Mmm, sounds good. Sounds promising. Yay for our resident Laa-Laa of the Desert.

Not that Iain actually bothered to show up for me. No, I seem to remember Ken, Phil Glanville, Lisa Forrest, but no Iain. Hmm.
Said Iain was working out exact details for someone else's wedding, and really couldn't reschedule. Bummer.

I've never had a chocolate hobnob. What am I missing?
Arguably the best biscuit that doesn't involve jam anywhere.

Andrea's mail program
This is a MIME message.
We were hoping to keep this from keyoneohthree. But can't now.

If you are reading this text, you may want to consider changing to a mail reader or gateway that understands how to properly handle MIME multipart messages.
Oh, my mail reader knows how to properly handle MIME messages. The Digital Bit Bin is full to overflowing now.

ob-bnl-plug

To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.
Ohgawdherewegoagain. Be glad I wasn't around for the last Olympics, coz this obsession the Americans had with winners and nothing else got so annoying. But on a pedantic note, only one Olympic event is measured to 0.001s, the Luge. All other events, including everything at the summer games, is accurate to no more than 0.01s.

But enough pedantry already...

Okay, if I see this Vote New Kids post one more time, I'll vote for something decent on the stated date. Like, ooh, "C'est la Vie".

the muse, the student newspaper for mun, co-edited by Manda Laa-Laa-bonté

Paulo
Munich 72 was a joke compared to this.
I so really hope you're referring to the basketball.

Davina on Cape Hatteras
have you read about it, been there, what?
Just heard people talking about it; you're (at least) the second person to cite this place, so there must be something special there.

signal hill and other pictures

I need to put up a picture of this place on my webpage!
That would be good. I'll look forward to seeing it.

more changing spellings

Incidentally, the Canadian Press style book shifted last autumn, to use the British, rather than the American, spellings of many words.

Codsall: rain & 7 * "Valentine's is our busiest night of the year"

telequote: friends, where the ladies have a bonfire that explodes

The Wombat of much cheek
When I speak of western society I include just about any country that has been largely populated by Europeans (that includes us Aussies and the Kiwis, though whether they can count as civilised is debatable :)
They are aware of the rules and laws of cricket, and a decent winning strategy. That makes them a civilised country.

ee-eye-ee-eye-oh-er, and you owe i an "e".

shim
there are quite a few in london (seems like anytime a listie visits london, there's a meeting, which is cool! :)
Absolutely right. We had Cory in June 97, Ali and Sara that August, Sara again in April last year, shim and Amal in July, Eli in August, and Jennifer over new year. Who is next?

any place where people happen to live near each other.
Or happen to be passing through... Which gives me another excuse to plug my upcoming visit to Toronto, March 15-26. See me, anyone? Otherwise I'll be stuck with chocolate hobnobs, choccy buttons and jaffa cakes (:

Janet
I'll be in London in September??!
Excellent! Another date for the diary. Fill us in on more details nearer the time...

favorite visual artist(s): Oooh, Escher
Hey, good call...

Sunshine Shana
If any of you are reading this far down, you've got no life!
No, we're on digests, and we're reading to Post 2. [Whoo-hoo!]

favorite musician(s): basically everything that plays on this one radio station I listen to... hehe :)
Name names, quote call signs, let us know if there's a net feed of their output...

Kris quotes Alyx
TELETUBBIES IN THE VCR! (which sounds more like, wellawubbie in the bcr)
I like her style (:

Laura
What is on your CD player right now?
A Dennis the Menace baseball cap, a talking Animaniacs cube, five blank tapes. Oh, you mean being played. A tape of tonight's "Archers" (clashed with Buffy) in one deck, one of the Hits and Headlines of June 88 in the other. The CD needs cleaning ):

Davina
favorite place(s): Cape Hatteras NC
Okay, call me a stoopid foreigner, but why is that place so special? The view? The sea air? The cute name?

clairedanes.com

Paulo
I live in Madrid, the capital of Spain (no, it's not Barcelona!!)
The capital of Catalonia, right? As opposed to Cardiff, the capital of Catatonia...

23th Feb. marks the 18th anniversary of the attempted military coup that tried to restore a military dictatorship in 1981, in the first years of the spanish democracy...
In spite of the gravity of the situation, and the nascent threat to European democracy, the British media ignored the coup totally, preferring to give gavel-to-gavel coverage to the pair that would become the Trollop and Trollope (dead) of Wales. Even though Maggie Thatcher made her feelings on the crisis known to all and sundry, it was overlooked in favour of a here-today, gone-tomorrow romance.

go on, tell him

Now it appears that President Clintern's past is returning to haunt him once more. If there's a shred of truth in the allegations put forward Wednesday night - and they painted a convincing case - it's past time for him to resign. This is way beyond fair.

Sasha
I'm really holding out for the right millennium cult to come along.
Then let me invite you to the North American Millennium Cult. Centred around the voyage of Leif Erikkson from Greenland in 1000, the NFMC will be having the millennium party to end all millennium parties. St John's Harbour, August 2000. Be there or miss it.

I'm also planning on running the world.
Then the above strategy would be a great career move.

Laura
What is your favorite season of the year?
Early Autumn; late September, October, maybe into November. Not hot, not cold, and with some smell in the air, more than traffic.

Catherine likes
THE FRENCH FOOTBALL TEAM!!!!!
Or, as we call them over here, Arsenal... (:

Kris writes on stay-home mothers
Peg Bundy or PTA
To be fair, and all that, my ma doesn't fit into the slob of Bundy, but didn't get the PTA social action stuff till I was about 10. She was, like, there. And did a reasonable job.

I don't mind the living out of wedlock but NOT A CHANCE IN HELL will I let them have kids.
Interesting. This is, I take it, Thou Shalt Not Have Kids Ever?

they will be raised to know better.
A detailed deconstruction of the rest of this might get a bit rude. So, points well made, and a few [hugs].

Call in Bronwyn,
Bronwyn is alive and well and concentrating on her studies. And constructing a fallout shelter to evade from a visiting weaver in just over two weeks.

Johnathan
(Who still knows nothing about Monday Night Football... teehee)
Invented by BSkyB for the 1991 FA Cup rounds 3-5; became a regular feature when they won the rights for the newly-formed Premier League in 1992. Responsible for inflicting the Sky Strykers on an unsuspecting world, and for prolonging the career of Richard Keys past his sell-by date. Ultimately, football is a weekend thing. It doesn't sit well on Mondays.

Just mentioning it in case anyone finds it interesting, but most female performers I know hate the term "actress".
A definitive ruling, please, shim.

Eric adds
They failed totally and utterly, therefore letting down the men of the world! They didn't even get O.J. Simpson!!!!!!!!!
Hey, the OJ trial ended after Leicester had duly thrashed Bolton 3-1. Fully three hours after.

hide the sausage? well, er, erm (blush)

Returning to shim
kenickie are (ok, were...don't remind me!) shiny and shimmery and bigtime supporters of the glitter revolution.
Merely because the band has temporarily split, the individual members continue to sparkle and spangle and shine around the world.

Sarah Shutt, hello.
I have a fantasy of being a hot rock star babe, but since my singing voice has been known to break glass and make cats yowl I don't think that's ever going to happen...
Oh, I dunno. Just remember you're singing like Mariah Careless, and dressing like Shania Twain. Not the other way round.

Laura
What the heck is Madonna wearing?
I've not seen the footage (and won't till Sunday):, but I can say that it was clothes. Expensive ones, probably. Ones that make her look odd, I expect.

And what is in those liquid bags of the background dancers?
Don't think I wanna know...

Mightygerl lists her phobias, including
when pple chew w/ their mouths open, pple who make noises when chewing
Not sure I'd class this as a phobia myself. Just a huge annoyance, and something dead gross, and hugely ill-mannered.

Sara
I really want this job. I am going to go in on Saturday, and see what htey say
Luck is (retrospectively) wished.

On "Western Society"
However, you had to look at it from most americans perspective, which is what I was doing :)
Ah, I didn't get that you were talking about United Stateons, rather than people with geography.

I want the flowers, and the dress, and the reception, and well..I want it all. (and I will be having a REAL cake, not that icky wedding cake that they normally have over here)(what is it called..fruitcake?)
Crumbs! To put the icing on the already fruity answer, it's called wedding cake, and bears no resemblance to any sensible form of food at all.

my little 'squabble' with Iain about Ali
From here, that wasn't a squabble. Merely an expression of divergent, deeply held, views.

Lauren, your luck is in. Hurrah! Whoopee!

Shana
you get what you give, imho... so if someone's not nice to me, I'm not nice to them.
Which can only lead to one conclusion. Utterly huge hugs from here.

Simone
I hope here ist lot of fun and news!
Indeed, here ist uberfun. Let me sing the International Friendship Song...
#Oh de schone, Schnitzelbank#
(Deca, shut it)

Jessica
has anyone seen the crap they put on late night Cinemax and Showtime?
Ah, we have a whole channel of very old movies here. Carlton Cinema bought up the entire MGM catalogue, airs 24h, and is (shockingly) the second most watched channel on digital terrestrial television anywhere in the world. (Sky One is the first).

Hugs, then, to you, wherever you are.

Brum: rain & 9 * "and i feel heavy metal"

musiquote: "song 2", blur

Cookie
I'm doing this list of "the worst movies of all time" for a school project and I'd like some opinions from other countries too.
Long-serving listies would expect me to nominate "Titanic". But I won't. It may be a poor movie, but have you ever had to sit through "The Sound of Music"? No? Don't bother. It's the completely implausible plot, and the rotten singing (Julie Andrews excepted), and the fact that the sister had it on permanent loop for about five years.

Jessica
One reason Europe is so involved is because it was majorly involved in the civilization of the west.
Involved? Western civilization was invented in Greece and Rome. It was exported to the Americas and other parts of the world by colonizing Europeans.
(Where's my copy of Encyclomedia? Ah, here)

I don't know, but I dont think Asians came over until the times when everybody was laying the train tracks.
That would be circa 1850? Not particularly: Greece and India intermingled around 250-150BC, and joined with Arabs from 1000, before the Portugese arrived circa 1500. China kept primarily away from European influence until the Portugese turned up in 1514. While Japan received the Portugese in 1543, they adopted a policy that kept Western influence out until after 1850.

Trade links were established, followed by a flow of human capital within a few years.

private eye; there's no site for heat just yet.

Joy, hello.

Cheeky
long division of polynomials... how on earth am I ever going to use this crap?
Cheap an' tacky point. It's not the actual ability to factor (x-1)(x+2)(x+1) from x³+2x²-x-2, but the thought processes and logical training that are the most useful.

And, yes, I did that example in reverse. So check my algebra!

why can't we just have a class to let us talk...? Why isn't there someone to tell us what we're feeling is natural? That everyone goes through this, that you're not wrong
Maybe coz The Older Generation went through life without anything like this, and it never hurt them at all (eh) so why start now?

Sara
someone has been going around the rumbles, proclaiming that they hate me, and that Ross should have been hers.
If this weren't so serious, I'd be falling about with the utter implausibility of it all. I think it's fair to say that Ross is going absolutely nowhere else - in relationships, if not in geography. Besides, if Ross deserves the best, why would he want to have someone with that sort of bizarre crush? Answers on a postcard to the usual address.

She says that we'll figure it out, but neither Ross nor I have any idea, whatsoever.
Now I'm intrigued. It's either someone who has met Ross in person, or knows of him from Sara's work on various lists. I can think of about a dozen people in the former category, but none who would want to make such an ass of themself.

she wanted to hurt me as much as I hurted her
Someone with a grudge against Sara. [looks around like the cast at the end of "Pigs In Space!"] I'm sure that list is 100% male. Though I'm with Chelle on this; the whole "in luuurve with Ross" bit might be an act, playing at a weak spot.

anyone have any suggestions as to what to do with this psycho?
If you get solid evidence, expose them. Otherwise, take it all with a truckload of salt, and forget it totally.

Laura
What is your favorite board game?
Game of Life for a short game; Risk for a longer one; Trivial Pursuit for one we can give up when the going gets drunk.

Do you think Danielle would become a cheerleader?
She'd try out, but flunk, and become some form of "drop-out" that would drive her parents up the wall and make Angela seem an angel. [Knowing nods...]

Do you think Patty was?
Don't think so; a little too snooty, too jealous of her place. Besides, had they invented cheerleaders when she was young?

Angela
i tend to talk/type/write in huge run-on sentences
Hurrah! for run-on sentences. Yay! for made up words. Whoop! for getting the message across in a unique way.

Kris is back. This is excellent news. Another of the missed people.

Well, now that we've got another mother on the list, this might be of interest. A forward of a forward - citing the Electronic Telegraph, but it's not the one I expected it would be ):

Champions of traditional family values were dealt a blow by survey results indicating that one teenage girl in two is prepared to live with her boyfriend and start a family outside wedlock.
Of those teenage girls considering marriage, almost half expect to divorce, according to the survey by Childwise Monitor. Forty per cent of girls, and 31 per cent of boys, said they would consider having children outside marriage.
A successful career appeared to be the priority among 15- and 16-year-old girls, with fewer than a quarter saying that they would put family before career. Teenage boys were less inclined to reject domestic life, with 49 per cent saying that a family was more important than a career.
"These figures show that children are already preparing themselves for the end of family life in the next generation," said Steve Cordingley, of Childwise, a specialist research consultancy which polled 1,243 children aged between five to 17.

[Statwatch: Figures accurate +-3%, nineteen times of twenty]

Were I to want to reproduce... but this is half the point, putting other matters (in my case, sanity, and lack of aptitude for the task) ahead of "family". Divorce, though, is never an option for me.

On a technical point: do "family values" go hand-in-hand with the nuclear family? Isn't the most important one love, which needs no paper or certificate to do properly?

More widely: does society value full-time parents (mothers? fathers??) as much as they might? Can money replace time, or does the extra dough reduce tension and make time of higher quality?

To answer my own questions: yes, love, honesty and fairness are vital, and they're not franchised exclusively by people with certificates. On the other points, there's no one-size-fits-all solution. Some people will want to go out and work for their own reasons: others will prefer to spend every minute with their kids.

Comments from those involved, the resolutely single, and those who might have been quizzed are always welcome.

Brum: showers & 5 * "The future was wide open"
"crazy, i'm thinking, just as long as you're around.."

musiquotes: "into the great wide open", tom petty; "crush", dave matthews band

To answer the question, then: I lunch with god on a daily basis, and have grievances daily, but the two are not necessarily linked.

Theology lesson ends.

What is your favorite way to spend a Saturday?
TransWorld Sport over breakfast (Pippi Longstocking if I can be bothered to get up for 7:30) Then into town, look at the books and records. Chips sans fish for lunch, then a good walk laughing at Any Answers. NHL action on (5), read some. Gambo's radio show, last night's NBA game, and mosey on to the pub. Or, in yesterday's case, have a few friends round to watch The Brits Uncut.

those of you with flash browsers head to digital teletext and see a simulation.

OK, I know it's a great gag to have NKOTB across MTV. But do you guys have to post it four times in 24 hours? This is a waste of all our time.

In Ob-Bash-Mariah, EMI records
shot down a widely circulated report that made the supreme diva out to be a supreme ditz.
Which report would that be? The one that doesn't let her give interviews to UK radio at all? The one that doesn't let her give live interviews to anyone, anywhere? The one that sidelines her in Oprah Meets Whitney and Mariah (airing Wok One this Friday)?

Or this, from AJansen (hi)
What about singing the national anthem in a purposefully mangled way?
Oh, sorry, you added purposefully. With, like, some intent.

This just in from Weaver's Spinning News...

Friday, 19 February Too-big-for-their-boots Toronto station Q107 stops playing Alanis Morissette - until she deigns to appear on the Howard Stern Show, the too-big-for-its-boots United Statesite morning show carried by the channel. "This decision has nothing to do with our opinion of Alanis Morissette’s music and everything to do with trying to attract media attention to us. Er, her decision not to appear on our morning show, that is," said program director Pat Cardinal-Synne. Q107's listening figures are now a listening digit.

Chelle quotes
it's the first line from a song by the new radicals... called "get what you give" or something like that.
Ohmygawd, Chelle just quoted the NewRads! How cool is that! They're another of the songs first played in the UK by Gambo, like "This Kiss", "One Week", "...Baby One More Time" and "Lullabye". The album goes under the ubercool moniker "Maybe You've Been Brainwashed, Too"; the track was the 7th Most Added in the UK for week ending 2/14.

byron, you want something from England? Mail me off the list and we'll talk. Maybe that applies more widely...

Liqin, welcome! Another country to colour in on my map...

I think we all owe an apology to the reverend who was widely sniggered at on this list 10 days ago for "outing" Tinky Winky. It turns out that the article appeared unsigned in National Liberty Journal, a magazine he publishes. He claims never to have seen Teletubbies and doesn't know whether Tinky Winky is gay or not. The notion of a prominent evangelist attacking a cartoon character is too appealing to liberal prejudices to be easily abandoned. What's more, this from the Washington Post 1/1/99:

"TINKY WINKY, THE GAY TELETUBBY" in the annual list of what's "in" for the New Year.

in the cartoon closet

Sara (who says no-one writes back)
I then see some Erika girl saying about how someone was using a breast pump in a car, while driving.
For info: that's driving without due care & attention for an English court. There have been cases brought before courts.

doing things over the internet, and how secure it is
More secure than a standard phone line, certainly more secure than using a credit card with carbonated slip. That's assuming that the vendor is using a secure server (https://whatever, or look for the lock on your status bar).

they just write one big message at the top, and then leave the rest of the message at the bottom (grr!) - if someone writes back they leave all the bottom messages. it is VERY annoying.
Too right. And it allows the thread to grow exponentially. Sounds like most people are using Microsoft'$ crappy mail programs.

And some acronyms
AP - the Associated Press. Put together news bulletins and sell stories to the newspapers.
BM - Background Music. What you're listening to, I expect.
EMB - Emily's Morissette Bash. What would happen were FlixGirl ever to throw a party.
LL - Lots of love.
LLL - Lorra lorra laughs. As used by the Cilla Black fan club.
dh - designated hitter. Why Roger Clemens doesn't need to bat.

when someone talks about 'western society', is that supposed to be America? or the western part of America?
D'oh! Western Society is Western Europe (EU + Norway + Switz.), Canada, the USA, Australia, NZ and (sometimes) South Africa. The developed countries that believed in some form of free market during the Cold War.

A word about jobs: Even advertised posts will take at least two weeks to fill: 10 days between application and interview, and a day or two till they contact someone. Unadvertised posts will be looked at when someone has a spare moment. Which might not come till the weekend. If the manager can't make a good case for taking someone on, they wouldn't hire the world's greatest assistant.

Codsall: wet & 6 * "Professor Pat Pending, in his Convertacar"

telequote: wacky races, anyone?

this is, natch, the highest possible score on the show. no-one before had got closer than 333 in 10 years.

Just for a change, we start with the Telequote. And this one's attributed. The 15 to 1 finals board, 4:25 Monday afternoon:

  * 1.  Bill McCaig                 433
    2.  Who cares, quite frankly

I can hear jaws dropping from here.

Before you pick them up, this from the Brit awards ticker ia ... Best British Newcomer: Belle & Sebastian ... Best In

In totally unrelated news, British Telecom are investigating a massive bill run up by someone in the Bath area. If you know of the whereabouts of a Mr B. X. Jones, please call the BT Debt Line on 0897 IOLOTS (Calls charged at GBP2 per minute [C$5, roughly])

Kevin. I am exceedingly jealous. Nuff said.

[jaw position=up]

Demeter
the Simpsons -- is there any situation they don't have an appropriate quote for?
Feeding your third baseman too much grape juice and having him think he's a chicken? No: been there, done that. Being stuck in the middle of nowhere next to a toppling skyscraper? Another one in the book. Giving your son's blood to an aged millionaire and receiving nothing back? So passe. Winning the lottery..?

Eli
Where is Huey indeed???
Huey was last sighted taking a flying visit through weaver.world last Wednesday, and discussing the Newfoundland election results vis a vis the creation of Nunavut.

Combine Plastic surgery And Cher. If she doesn't fall apart at age 50 with all her plastic surgeries, she probably has some special genes, don't you think?
Naah. Two words: Polly Filler. Or plaster of Paris.

Plugging Celtic music
Lorenna Mcmennit , Jethro Tull (Celtic progresive rock),
D'ya have to?!

Lord of the dance & Riverdance soundtracks.
Cool, both. (And where did Riverdance start..?) [/obeurosong]

great big sea here: and their official site.

Other great Celtic musicians, from the North American side, include Natalie MacMaster (fiddling all the way from NB) and Great Big Sea, recently voted the East Coasts Favourite Entertainers for the second year running.

if god created everything [..] who created the wrong?
That god chap again. Created good, and evil. Or, to be exact, gave Creation the choice to work for good or evil. Ever wondered why some things just don't want to happen: the car won't start, or the train won't come. I could swear that something is trying to stop some evil someplace.

if God is good, then he can't create bad.
There, I think we must differ. Eli has that as an axiom; I have my view as a pre-requisite, and it's worth neither of us arguing.

I belive the Eurovision is some kind of a travelling cirrcus between Listee's states and cities. So where it'll be next year? Holland? Germany? NY? ;)
Let's look at the history: 1996: Oslo. Hi, Daruis, Solve... 1997: Dublin. Elaine! Hometown! 1998: Birmingham. My place, and Brem's, and Brother Cheesecake's. 1999: Jerusalem. Eli's area. The German finals are always held in Bremen, whence cometh Deca. Given all that, I'll be awfully worried if we suddenly get an influx of Greek or Estonian listies in three months time.

Though I notice Roman's back with us. This is not a signifier of an Italian victory, as that country has now withdrawn from EuroSong, claiming (ludicrously) that there's no cultural value in the event.

Kristy
I use my email at work and this comes up on all emails we send from here. I can't help it!
Sure, cool, understood.

However, in the heavily unlikely event of my wanting advice on investing in Australia, I know exactly who I won't be calling. Overlong sigs are cited for 4% of the wasted Internet bandwidth by a leading commentator, who claimed that 44% of the rest of the waste is down to excessive quoting. On further challenge, the figures were revealed to be 100% plucked out of thin air.

Laura
List all the presidents you felt you could trust.
Mags, Simon and (especially) Fiona, my Hall Presidents from Uni.
Tony Robinson, President (Hon) of BodSoc.
Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland.
Terry Wogan, President of Eurosongland.
(that's enough Presidents - Ed)

Davina
How early-nineties:) I am reminded of Martika and NKOTB!!!;)
...Cliff Richard, Iron Maiden, the B52s, KLF, Barenaked Ladies (first time around), Michael Bolton, Cher (second time around), Erasure...

whether burning the American Flag is an expression of our freedom of speech or an act of degradation towards our country.
1. Why should it not be both?

2. Ultimately, this is predicated on the Pledge To The Flag. That symbolises the American state as being totally entrenched in an otherwise ordinary piece of cloth. It's seen as one of the few things that unifies all citizens of the USA. Compare and contrast with the EU flag, nicked from the Western European Union without so much as a by-your-leave, the 12 gold stars on blue field are meant to be flown across the continent. Wherever they fly in the UK, they're sniggered at (on a kind day).

indeed, the greatest european cultural unifier is the eurosong contest, where everyone laughs at everyone else.

Full Disclosure: Paulo
The italian Supreme Court (formed entirely by men, natch)
10 of 455 Italian Supreme Court judges are female. The panel in this case was all male.

has declared a man innocent of rape because the victim was wearing jeans;
Other evidence was taken into account, including the fact that the victim returned to take further driving lessons with the accused on later days.

according to the judges, it's of "common knowledge" that jeans are a kind of clothing that cannot be removed from a person's body unless that person actively cooperates.
None of this alters the appearance that the accused was guilty of the crimes; none of this alters the fact that similar reasoning is used in British courts (according to anecdotal evidence).

This is a bit of a minefield: many men are getting away with this scot free, which is wrong; similarly, there's a culture growing up which will believe womyn's accusations in spite of evidence to the contrary.

"Pot" Bernal
considering i rarely read these "posts" i wouldn't know.
Anyone else spot the crap logic here? Someone posts to the list but doesn't read responses. Next: someone punches rugby player in the gob and is surprised when he wakes up in hospital with broken legs.

it is people like you who make the world a sick place.
This is cheap and below the belt. An apology would be in order.

some people are so rude have no common curtsy
A kettle writes: Hello.

just because someone dosen't read till the end doesn't make them a degenerate.
Equally, when a lot of people suggest that it would be advantageous to read to the end, it might be worth a few moments following their advice.

Paulo
In Spain there's a certain TV channel that shows that kind of media regularly on Friday and Saturday nights (though, it's really late at night, and it's a subscription based channel)
It's a fact that Channel 5, the free-to-air terrestrial channel shows very mild forms of those media late on Friday or Saturday night.

This has been a mild controversy in the past few weeks, with the Broadcasting Standards Commission fuming away at (5) based on exactly one complaint. Someone on the panel is reported as saying that "The opinion of the man in the street doesn't count. We're the censors and we decide what's acceptable" (rough quote only)

Pressure is growing on the BSC to reform or die.

Sade and Kati are back. This is good news.

Vacationing from New York Emily
I won the Junior Varsity division!
Hurrah! Party streamers and balloons at her place!

Kat
things that people don't like about MTV.

1. It doesn't show enough videos.
2. They cancelled 120 minutes (the alternative show)
3. The DOG gets very intrusive. Especially when they animate it. A triumph of presentation over content.
4. Singled Out.
5. Foisting Lisa L'anson on an innocent world.
6. [and worst] They're not ondigital.

1. M2
2. m2europe's website
3. Ray Cokes
4. The Real World
5. The next video might be great
6. [and best] Aerosmith's "Crazy"

The Little Grey Hindu Man
Brem is not dead, merely far far away
Do you know where? Please call BT's Bad Debt Line on 0897 IOALOT...

Cory
Great Anthony Stewart Head, before his coffee time, donned the lingeire and spikes of the great Dr. Furter in the original stage version of The Rocky Horror Show.
Right, crush on, ol' chap. Though I'd sooner do Angel, meself...

On that cheery thought, see you soon...

"i had a dream i was your hero"
Brum: cloudy & 7 * "and highway 404 cannot be found this morning"

songquote: damn i wish i was your lover - sophie b hawkins

[Thanks to Nick Gates for inspiration]

Sara
There is a big difference between 'real love' and just 'love'. There really is - and you can feel it.. I know that my true love is Ross, because I can feel it. You know it in your heart.
Ne'er a truer word spoken. An absolute, total, feeling of total and utter knowing there's no-one who could possibly replace them. Ever.

I don't use anything else to love Ross, and know that Ross and I have 'true love'. Thats something that I can feel inside of my heart, and I know that its true.
Interesting... I can say that I love with soul, as well as heart, and express this in words, deeds, and with all my body.

I truly believe that Ross and I will be together forever. Ross and I are meant for each other. and I know that after we die, we'll still be together. We'll be together forever. and this is something that I KNOW.
Much as I hate to simply echo someone else's comments, this is an occasion where one contribution is exactly the same as I would have made.

most people can tell that Ross and I are in love. Not because we try..but because it most probably shows in everything that we do.
Yes. It does.

that station is wbru in virginia (or somewhere)

I just use the corresponding digest number. much easier :)
Ah, copout. I mean, I could have called this post 255-259, but it's not that entertaining, really.

Ariel
On the upside, I saw an Olympic Gold Medalist on the subway home!
Erm, I went to school with a Commonwealth Bronze medallist. Lorna Mainwaring, in the team all-round event at Auckland 90. And a right stuck-up cow she was, thinking she owned the school afterwards.

Bronwyn
anyone so inclined please ship fresh produce to me before i get scurvy.
Weaver is insistent that everyone should eat at least one piece of fresh fruit per day. Preferably two. Apples and pairs, oranges and lemons, tangerines, satsumas and grapes.

sex and a conversation
Falling straight on her feet. Jammy little so'n'so.

yes, the cricket world cup...

byron, what was the url for the listie picture site again?

Kevin
I danced with Claire Danes tonight, and I'm on top of the world.
There is now tea splattered all over weaver.keyboard.

Last time, I wrote
he should not ignore the civil law of trespass. Coz that's what it is. He came into your house without permission of the occupiers, or a valid reason.
Forgetting that Sara and Ross don't actually own that house. Were the actual owners have appointed Alistair as their agent, and he had given the appropriate notice period, he would be entitled to enter.

Still bloody rude, though.

Wombat of much cheek
NO ONE gets TV later than Australia :)
You get Heybores before us. And Home, Away, And Neutral Ground. And Breakup. You're also about two weeks ahead of the BBC's X- Fools series.

Kent informs his large bcc group of an organisation trying to make cartoon characters ungay. (It's a spoof, padre.) Part of the advert that will appear in Southern US newspapers reads
Bugs Bunny frequently dresses in women's clothes, and repeatedly kisses Elmer Fudd, another longtime "bachelor."
What does Mrs Bugs Bunny, who appears in at least one of Bunny's films, make of this assertion? We tried to call her up, but she was unable to take our call, as she really needs her sleep, said Hello Nurse. Then an elderly female squirrel called for some comedy in this passage, took the phone out of Hello Nurse's hand, passed a mallet down the line and hit me over the head.

Johnathan
[Some bloke] was, IMHO, just trying to find something to attack and create controversy over.
Even simpler: he was just trying to increase the media presence of his organisation. However, the buzz over here is that he's facing a lawsuit from Ragdoll if he repeats the claims. It diminishes the value of their trademark, apparently. And it would serve him right.

right wing Christian groups around the country are probably organizing protests as we speak.
Dunno about that, but then I'm not sure this mob are Christians of any description. [posts passim] There are clearly protests by people with some form of intelligence and thought, as mentioned above.

Emily
its the TELETUBBIES!!! do they even HAVE GENDERS??!!!!
Yes: Tinky-Winky and Dipsy are referred to as "he"; Laa-Laa and Po as "she".

And what do our resident Laa-Laas have to say about this?

"Children. What can you do?" "I say we torture them with years of pointless rules and friendless advice" * Codsall: cloud & 7
Dipsy of a #1 place * Wenger: Let Us Re-Play

telequote: "days like these", the uk version of "that 70s show"
footyquote: after scoring an ungentlemanly goal, arsenal manager calls to play it again

Davina, welcome
love was in fact an instituitionalized concept put into our minds so that we would continue to carry on the human race
Would that need to be a societal concept? Might it be a genetic / biological concept? Some form of ensuring that there's a similar genetic make-up for one's offspring, perhaps.

and buy into the "family concept" therefore supporting our economy.
Maybe it works the other way round: advertisers try to sell to a sense of guilt over "the family thing", exploiting a common point to a large part of the population.

Peter
Love's no fun when you can't express it, and the other person doesn't know (or, most likely, want to know).
It's different, it's annoying, but I'm not sure it's totally not fun.

Kelsey Deb
Remove my name
Kelsey, I don't recall actually putting your name anywhere. Did I scrawl it on the side of a train in my sleep? Or put it in a lonely hearts entry in Thursday's Telegram? Or run it along the bottom of the screen on BBC Globelink 24? No, no, no. I can't remove it, coz I've never put it anywhere.

Why is mail being sent to my address? Please remove my address.
Mail is being sent to your address because you signed up for this list. You signed up, you get yourself off. Instructions have been at the foot of every message since last November. And I can't remove your address coz I've never put it anywhere.

Kristy informs us
Burdett Buckeridge Young does not accept liability (other than statutory liability) for any errors or omissions or for loss or damage incurred as a result of a person or entity acting in reliance on this document or any attachments.
But do they take responsibility for forcing their intrusive commercials onto all of us? Answers on a postcard to "The Hell They Do" Contest at the usual address.

Speaking of Hell They Do, there's a bit of a flap at the moment over fake guests on daytime tv talk shows. Investigative journos raised their eyebrows when the same tanned male model popped up on both "My Girlfriend Dumped Me For A Monster" and "It's Not Easy Being Gay". They were further alarmed when the same show appeared six times on three channels in little over a week. But the clincher was the appearance of some smiling, simpering vicar on "Richard & Judy", claiming he was the Prime Minister.

There's now a pall over the whole daytime schedule. It may be replaced by something more intellectually stimulating. Like the Test Card. And some Music.

Sara
Having kids is each persons own choice
And amen to that. Sara chooses to reproduce at this time; I choose not to. Anyone who criticises either way deserves all the bad press they get.

Equally, the actions of someone with (or without) children can be mis-interpreted as representing all those people.

if he wanted someone else, or was in love with someone else, I would do everythign in my power to either a) avoid him and her or b) sabatoge anything related to them.
If I comment on this, I'm cruising for a bruising. No, really.

sheila parr: character from radio 4's like they've never been gone, played by june whitfield.

[Breasts] are the most beautiful thing on either a man or woman's body
Eyes. When did you last hear of someone being captivated by the way someone's breasts glinted in the sunlight. And I'm going to stop right here, else I'll out all the porn stars on the list.

I almost said knickers..I've been in England too long
Knickers to that idea. You can never have Too Much England.

(:

he has a key to this house, and he used it. Seriously. He just used the key, walked in, opened our door (it was when we were holed up into two rooms - but he didn't know that before he came) and walked in. I was so outraged. I told him that he shouldn't just walk into people's houses if he's not wanted, and he said back, 'well you shoudln't ignore someone that has a key.'
And he should not ignore the civil law of trespass. Coz that's what it is. He came into your house without permission of the occupiers, or a valid reason. That he has a key makes no odds.

On Spamela Hammingitup
supposedly she is going to have her own little show, where she is some kind of security guard.
Thank goodness it's not some kind of actor.. (: But, yes, it airs on Wok 1 Saturdays at 7. Straight after Xena.

Sasha thinks it's a misprint.
Judi Dench's defected to Denmark? ;)
Yes, Dane Judi "Freakin!" Dench is, like Sandi Toksvig, a Dane. From Denmark. She's been given this great honour by the Queen; men would have to put up with being told to Sit, as in Sit, Elton John.

I normally never do silly typo gags
This is not a silly typo gag. This is serious. This is freakin' well Judi "Freakin!" Dench.

Paulo
Reverend Cheep Publisity-Stuntt accuses Tinky Winky, from "Teletubbies", of being a gay character.
The Dipsy of the list writes:
Noooooooo.... Manny wid collar dead dead silly!
[Voiceoverman] The Teletubbies love each other very much. And they love each other equally.
[The Noo-Noo] Suck Suck Slurp Sloo
[The Sarcastic Flowers] Oh, dear. There's going to be trouble over that one. Big trouble. And there will probably be a visit from Little Lawyer Peep, looking for her briefs, wagging red tape behind them. See if there isn't!
However, there is the way that Dipsy thrusts his hips forward a little more than might be necessary, and that big straight thing growing out the top of his head...

Nichole
it only took from Feb. 5th to the 9th to get here.
Wow. That's good! Friday the 5th to Tuesday the 9th! Great work! Even UK internal post isn't much better than that. From memory, my record posting time was Tuesday morning to Friday midday, central London to East St John's.

england lost the second match by a mile

Incidentally, I understand that the Australian government is looking to sell off the ABC's website. They're looking for A$250 million. The only way the Poms could follow that example would be by selling off channel4.com. I'll open the bidding at C$2.50. Ninety-nine new pence.

Emily, welcome to the world of Mariah-bashing
sometimes (when shes not squealing or whining at the top of her lungs) she can have a pretty voice
However, as every time she opens her mouth she squeals or whines in this way, the jury is still out on that claim.

Deca
"Cause nobody loves me, it's true... not like you do..."
You might at least make them a little difficult, dear.

Oh Scully, frisk me, please frisk me!!! Anytime, anywhere...
Naah, if some tv fictional character has to frisk me, make it Becky Grange Hill. And isn't this series turning into a corker. Girl power, repentance, and Mrs Holmes showing humanity. Amazing!

Ariel
i have already forgotten when the Oscars are
March 21...

and how long you will be in town!
Arriving March 15, departing on the 25th. Write me offlist for more deets.

Brum: rain & 6 * "The Hooded Claw! What're you a'doin' here?"

telequote: the perils of penelope pitstop

the nf provincial elections

Deca worries me for a bit.
My brain immediately starts flipping through the file of "people whose faces you know but somehow can't place": *ding* BREM!
As in Brem X Jones, music critic and Stafford lad par excellence?!

The same hair! The same clothes! The same underwear!
Are you trying to tell us something here?

The same voice! He likes Strongbow! He speaks German! And then he talks about Kula Shaker in a positive way
It's an imposter. String him up and tie piles of unsold Kenickie albums to his dangly bits.

Sara on hobnobs
am I missing some kinda like english slang word or something?
Yes, you are. It's a west midlands term for (er) a part of the anatomy.

who actually has breats on tv?
Two words. Spamela Hamderson. Actually, add Xena to that. Though I've never heard them called breats before. Kinda fits, though (:O

People keep talking about 'what guys like' in regards to body shape.
And what Guy X (the guy in the chip shop down the road), Guy Y (a 72 year old grandfather), Guy Z (who our researcher met down the club), Guy Smiley (America's favourite gameshow host) and Guy I (me) like are five distinct categories. It's like saying that "All Americans like Big Macs" - many do, but there are a lot that don't.

[Big Mac is a registered garbage mark of the McDougals Corp. of America. All rights reserved, including the one to spew]

anthony head was in a long running series of ads for a coffee brand

I'm kinda cute. It's so weird.
It's also true. [hugs] [/dipsy]

keyoneohthree
let's turn off this html encoding (or whatever causes this funky crap in the e-mail i recieve). not all of the people here have state of the art e-mail software.
Funky crap? Shome mishtake shurely... But, yes, please: plain text messages, with short sigs, and quality content. You all have control over all three parts of that. And if it's not in plain, 7-bit ASCII, I may just have to ignore it.

Jessica writes on
Tv boobs
Now, to me, that says Richard Whitely And The Ferret! Or introducing a tape of the Pope but cutting to one of a goat. Or the young girl talking about the motor race and referring to "Grand Pricks". Or anything on BBC News 24.

Laura
Are you in love right now?
Yes. Next question: why has Lippi resigned as Juve manager?

Do you think sex and love are compatible?
Yes, but only in certain circumstances.

Ariel
i'm just wondering if it has been slow
It has. A month ago, we were at 8 digests a day. Recently, it's been nearer 3.

On "Can't Help Falling in Love", Deca
Irish jig sounds good to me. :)
It is. It's the best version of the song I've ever heard. And I've been waiting to hear it for about 13 years ):

I just wanted to distinguish between Luka's version and most of the other rather kitschy versions of said song.
"Rather" kitschy? They're dull. Insipid. Boring. Like cutting from a Road Runner to a Tweety Pie.

But enough Cartoon Network...

Bashing itself becomes boring quite fast. :)
So, any takers? Wittiest line wins a pat on the back. :)
Bashing Mariah Cantsing. Well, there's the being unable to hear on the same frequencies as bats line... And the way she only got her contract by getting inside the pants of some music exec. Or the way her decent songs are covers - the Jacksons one, the Nillson one, the Motown one. But, ultimately, we come back to one basic fact, something that can be said about no other artiste with a contract. She makes Tinky-Winky sound tuneful.

No one, I repeat, NO ONE knows the Cheery Poppin' Daddies.
Well, I do. So does weaver.sister.

Brum: sunny & 3 * "And the Belgians are playing their Joker!"

telequote: jeux sans frontieres, a pan-european fest of water and over-grown costumes

Mae
I'm not even a nature freak, but I get on these moods where it's just so peaceful to watch nature.
Indeed, this is true. For those of you with ondigital boxes, look at SDN-2 on channel 800 sometime. It's a rolling video of Cornwall, with atmospheric music and no annoying voices.

Okay, the bits about The Way People Look start here. If you want to skip, scroll down for 31 lines, to this symbol: [##]

Sarah
most guys don't like women who are waif-like sticks.
It's been kinda windy in these parts for the past few days. And jolly cold, too. I'm not that impressed by people who would be blown away by this light, 40kph, breeze.

Jessica has problems finding clothes that fit. This is not only a female problem. For someone with long arms, like I have, shirts are either baggy, or don't come all the way to my watch. Never b****y fit. Growl. Laura, I so know where you're at.

D-anon, on clothes pictures
If women stop wanting to be thin, the pictures will change.
Shurely, "if advertisers figured that they're losing more sales than they're picking up, the pictures will change." Now, I can't find a retailer that doesn't use these pictures. But when I do, they will get so much custom...

Jill muses over her distinctly flat chest. I recall a lass from uni who had the exact opposite problem. Huge breasts. She has had about a dozen sensible conversations with men for some years. Most times, she's talking to the bloke, but he's not talking to her brain...

In conclusion, then, it appears that we're all insecure about our bodies. The way people think about us. And, well, we know that we're all fine upstanding people, who might even be kinda attractive. On the balance of logic, that would include me...

[##]

Laura
List all the people you've hurt that you'd like to unhurt.
Carl, Vicky, Fiona, Ali, Andrej's aunt Leah, me.

yes, the reo speedwagon us #1 from 1985.

Deca, on this topic
"Can't help falling in love", but ONLY the version by Luka Bloom.
What's wrong with Lick the Tins' Irish jig version, eh?

Sarah
What is Mr. Cherski's first name anyway? Reminder anyone?
Andy! Andy!

Paulo gives me a chance to indulge in one of my favourite sports
anybody remembers the quote attributed to Mariah Carey about the kids starving in Africa?
No, coz I can't hear at the same frequencies as bats (:

[Mariah-bashing is the growth sport of the 90s. Already hugely popular wherever music critics gather, the sport has now become so widespread that there are lucrative television deals with ESPN3 and Eurosport GB, and Olympic recognition isn't too far round the corner, surely.]

merriom-webster? who they?

what? you americans still use "gotten"? 'nuff said

cf ambrose bierce's "devil's dictionary", every preface to the oxford works...

None of us have the power to say that a certain word, or use of words, is unacceptable. We can point out that they don't convey a message, or put across something that wasn't intended by the author. But to attempt to prohibit a word that says something clear - even if it's not the most fashionable phrasing at the moment - is a sine quae non that might lead to a declaration of persona non grata.

And, as Ms Emily Morgandorfer so astutely summarised,
we all kenw EXACTLY what he meant by "inexistance" so what does it matter??
Professor Grammar could not put it better himself.

On the "Bad Times" spoof, Paulo
I'd like to ask people to read a bit more carefully these kind of warnings before forwarding them.
Had this been any other virus, you would all have received a message from weaver.false.virus.alert, followed by one from another Spoof Warning Warning company. (What one does with a fake one of these, a spoof spoof warning warning, I'm not sure - forward it to a spoof spoof spoof warning warning warning system, probably...)

Anyway, the effects claimed for "Bad Times" are clearly not going to happen. Not even from some 7-bit code, like an email. Next thing, you'll be telling me that people actually choose to use Internet Deplorer over more modern browsers, like Lynx...

At 21:53:44 EST, Emily-in-new-york
where is everybody? get to pike, now!
That's @162, and I'm fast asleep at the time. Until one comes up with a modem that will allow my dream process to interface with the #pikestreet channel, you won't see me there.

CDS: sun & 4 * "Now for the rest of the news, here's Zeinab Badawi"
4 for OG Solskjaer in NTF 1 MUN 8 - he comes on at 67'

telequote: john snow, channel 4 news, since 1990
sportquote celebrates Øle Gunnar Solskjaer coming on for Manchester United in the 67th minute of their match at Notts Forest and scoring four goals before the end.

Eli, happy birthday.

On my top 10 of 98
>7) "Dis Oui" - Melanie Kohl. Belgium's entry into Eurovision, the recipient of my vote.
And I thought that would be "Viva victoria"
Not quite. I was heavily split between that pair and the Maltese entry, with another half-dozen tracks coming into the reckoning.

This year's Eurosong is on May 29. If you can't be there, watch it. If you can't watch it, move.

I have a girlfriend.
It's alright for some... but if you can't be good, be careful.

I haven't said a word about Joey.
Could this be connected with the fact I just drew attention to?

Sara
A lot of people act like England = America, when it doesn't. Tey are two different countries.
Too right they are!

some things taht I can consider to be 'american classics'... Mary Poppins
Another one of ours. Though kept popular by Disney's re- writing, which varies from the original so much it's almost a new work.

Interesting to note that this week's episodes of "Grange Hill" were entirely shot on film (or video processed to look like film). With a lot of steadi-cams, in long, sweeping shots. Reminded me a lot of the style of Great American Dramas - BTVS, ER, MSCL... And the most amazing story, which I'm not giving away.

luna: central tv production, 1983-4, about a moon colony, with patsy kensit in the title role

Okay, this whole dieting thing. Allow me to put out a polite harrumph, on behalf of all the listies having issues vis a vis their appearance, size and other sundry matters. This is making me uneasy, and I wouldn't put myself in that category.

In New York, Emily is about to receive some sizy hugs.
I'm really not this nice, good person, I'm annoying,
This is an Untrue Statement, and it can't stand unchecked.

shim
the element 'la' and the element 'po'are on the same line.
Oh! Lanthanium (#57) and Polonium (#84 with a bullet).

i looked and looked for anything which could symbolize tinky-winky or dipsy, but to no avail
Well, Nitrogen and Oxygen are back-to-back at 7 and 8; four parts oxygen to two parts nitrogen will let you clean up. There's Ti (Titanium, 22) and V (Vanadium, 23), for the German version, Tinky-Vinky. And you could always make a cocktail of Dysprosium (66), Phosphorous (15) and Silicon (14) to make Dy-P-Si, capped with four units of #85, Astatine (At At At At)

All this, of course, makes Po the keeper of At.

Sasha
Naked Dexter? Of course I like the film!
Mmm, but I'd prefer A Little Temptation From The Editor.

Sara on "Friends"
Jennifer/Rachel I can stand - that Emily girl I can't.
We may have to agree to differ on this. Rachel is completely, like, annoying. All she ever seems to do is prat around and talk a whole load of guff. She annoys me immensely. The whole Ross/Rachel thing has been going on way too long. It's become a soap opera, not a comedy.

I can't imagine ever forgiving someone for saying the wrong name on your wedding day though..i mean, what a nightmare!
It would be enough to annul any resulting marriage. As if it had never happened.

we have the choice to have an abortion, but does that make it right? (personally, I think it does..bt thats MO).
I don't dissent from that one little bit. If something makes god so upset, then god really needs to get a grip and take responsibility for her own creation.

Now, in biblical Hebrew the words "good" and "evil" do not necessarily signify what the West thinks of as moral good or moral evil (like, sin). These words can be rendered (and some times are) as "fortune" and "misfortune", "prosperity" and "disaster." Good and evil circumstances. This reading is perfectly consistent with the bog-standard Judeo-Christian teaching that all times and circumstances come from God, who should be worshipped and praised in bad times as well as good.

That [vengeful deity is] actually what a lot of people make God out to be.
Then I suggest that they're imposing their values on their god, rather than accept the officially stated message of love and hope. It all depends on a non-literal reading of the bible, looking for meanings that re-inforce your own prejudices. Not reading it with an open mind.

if you look in the bible, it does say about repenting. In fact, I remember one story in the bible, where Jesus witholsd his forgiveness until the person repented.
Yet how does one square that with the all-loving god of the Torah? The one that made all the miracles to get his friends out of Egypt? Moses and Aaron had their moments, but their god did not let them down.

Other religious thinkers? And agnostics of all flavours? What are your takes?

where is York in comparison to me, in Essex?
About 250 miles North, and a little way East.

Sara quotes -- herself?!
>Ali and Iain?
oops...gosh, now I am embarassed.
About what, exactly? It is an element of fact that I've been involved in an online relationship. That I'm keeping schtum on this topic right now has more to do with the fact that every time I talk about it, it makes me feel rotten. It's something of A Loaded Topic, and everytime I go near it, it blows up in my face.

Sidebar to Gopher
it's London! And can be really cool at times.
This is, indubitably, true.

Sara
London does have its coolness factors. (can we say..pizza hut??? :)
You can if you like, but I'll just spew if you do. No, try some other things...

A Borders bookstore. Tower records. Silver Moon. Film premieres in Leicester Square. Thameslink through the City. Lisa Bing. David Gopher. The heritage. Guards on horses passing down Hyde Park. Xfm. Newsdirect. The DLR.

"hobnob": west midlands slang for the male organ

Oh, you mean Hobnob, as in oatmeal and honey biscuit. Right...

Nichole of the Nichole & Bruce
Nichole an' Bruce? She's datin' a Dutchman, cobber. Not an Aussie.

Laura
List how you try to be ecologically sound.
I don't drive. I take public transport. Recycle a lot. Don't eat meat. Wash clothes in water sans soap. Use 15W light bulbs.

sian walsh: laurie from "grange hill", 96-98.

Brum: blowy & 6 * "Penry, the mild-mannered janitor? Could be!"
posts to work to * posts to relax to * posts you love to read

telequote: "hong kong phooey", hanna-barbera 1974

keyoneohthree's exquisite contributions continue
Y2K related problems have already begun to happen to people as early as november, 1998.
I hear your Nov 98 and raise it. March 98, when UK PM Toy Blah opens his mouth and predicts all the computers in the country will fail. Or the endless prattlings of Robin Guernier, whose Chicken Little scaremongering has doubled the salaries of his friends the computer consultants. That is my main Y2K problem. The sky won't fall in. Computers won't explode. Traffic lights might fail, but that will just show how useless they are in the first place.

juel is HIGHLY (like majorly) OVERRATTED!
Interesting statement. Care to expand? Oh, you just did.

jewel seems a tad on the unreal side....
Sort of magically appearing, fully formed, in some dive caff in California. The man has a point...

her music is good....it just isn't THAT good. it's more adult contemporary radio friendly unit shifter material.
Interesting. For my view, many of the album tracks are difficult to get into. They take many listens to get a grip on. On first hearing, they're folksy, pretty songs; the substance is some way beneath the surface.

a book of jewel's poetry published 10.98 plugged with an insert in "spirit"; she's also guested on some tv specials. she's never promoted or toured in the uk, and shows no signs of so doing.

(much like courtney love shouldn't have become an actress, but that's another story)
Let's not go there... Just keep her on MM.

she seems to have this aura of fake "honesty" about her.....
I'm not sure what you do mean by this. Fake honesty?

it seems like she's a neo-folk music studio project.
Very interesting statement. I would really like to see Jewel live; given her history of not promoting her work in the UK at all, I'm not saving at a fast rate |:

Sara, on the topic of Emily-as-Lisa
Lisa is cute - pretty. That Emily girl is ugly.
Well, there is a passing resemblence. (Someone remind me to get my photos developed, so's I can post pics of Lisa, Eli and others.) But I wouldn't call Emily ugly. Just not as pretty as Bing.

Plus, she is annoying
No more annoying than Jennifer Anastasia.

as is her accent. which happens to not sound anything like any of hte people that I had met.
I'm with you on this one. Emily is meant to come from Shropshire. My neck of the woods. No-one round here talks anything like that. If anything, she sounds like a posh bimbette from some expensive London suburb.

even though (AFAIK) the Emily girl, in real life, IS english.
Oh, yes, Helen Baxendale is as English as Yorkshire pudding.

Sara's ma
although God gave the choice, that doesn't mean following that path is right.
Whoa! Hang on one cotton-pickin' minute! God is perfection, incapable of mistake, right? So if god creates something, it cannot (by definition) be wrong. And if god gives someone an option, it cannot be a sinful option.

The approach put forward here suggests that she knows more about sin than her own deity. It suggests that her god is a vengeful, immature one. Not the sort of deity that loves everyone, no matter what they do.

God gave us the choice whether to sin or not - but is sinning okay? No, of course not.
This is predicated on the lazy assumption that being homosexual is an intrinsic sin. From the evidence put forward, this is not the case.

God does not forgive until the person repents.
Still petty. Still vengeful. Still in dissonance from the rest of Biblical Christian teaching.

So..if you repented being gay, and turned back to the straight way of life, God would then forgive you, and you could be part of the christian church again.
Ah! Ah!!!!! "Part of the christian church". Church here being a collection of people. Humans. With their flaws and errors. A group that defines itself by its religion, but a group of humans. Homosexuals are denied access to a clique of people. Like, wow. That that clique claims to know a deity inside out is something of a dishonour on that god.

she is not alone in the world with these thoughts.
As true as it is sad. [topic continues]

she doesn't actaully think Monica is our president does she? the british PM? te-he :)
I rest my case.

Cheeky
I rather wish washed up, over the hill journalists would remember this every now and then...
One knows when one's getting old when columnists in the papers start getting younger than you. I can think of two, both writers in the Grauniad. Decca Aitkinhead is the worthy recipient of many awards; Emma Forrest is (IMO) even more readable.

And neither sound like parents. Very Generation Gappy.

Can you believe we get less than 2 months for summer holiday?
Pah! English get between 5 and 6 weeks; though some kids will soon be in a 4 week summer break.

Emily
JANE AUSTeN'S EMMA IS AN AMERICAN CLASSIC
In which case I'll take "Little Women", baseball, and slushies, and claim them all as British. Fair? Oh, hang on, baseball is ours...

brum: sun & 9 * speak like leann rimes coz i'm all about value
posts to work to * posts to relax to * posts you love to read

musiquote: "one week", barenaked ladies (stunt, 1998)