A moment of silence, please, for the end of local broadcasting in the English Midlands. On Monday, Central television will be no more. It will be re-branded in the image of its London owner, Carlton Communications, thus ending a proud heritage stretching back to the creation of Independent Television in 1955. What other start to such classics as "Blockbusters" can there be, other than the strange electronic noise that went with the eclipse?

While often remembered for such timeless classics as "Crossroads", "Thunderbirds" and "Let's Have a Friday Night Punch Up With Nicky Campbell", Central - and its former incarnation, ATV - will perhaps best be remembered as the station that took a chance with Jim Henson's bright idea, and under-wrote production of The Muppet Show.

Wixzard Salliwoo
What did everybody do today?
Tuesday being today: got up before 6, went to London, slept most of the way on the train. Started my new job, prepping a CV to sell meself. Found someone had hacked into my hotmail account (more later). Went out for lunch. Almost slept most of the afternoon. Came home. Bought season ticket (another 400 quid to claim back. Not my account:) Phoned mum. Wrote on list.

What were the best parts of your day?
Being reminded that Dr Fox does the mid-afternoon on Capital.

Did anything make it a special day for you?
Yes. 'Most everything.

For the edification of anyone else tempted to breach security on my hotmail account:
1) Don't. You will be traced.
2) MHP is the Meldrum Home Page - it discusses the bits between television programmes that aren't adverts. Station idents, test cards, continuity and such.
3) UK Radio does exactly what it says on the tin.
4) The Telegram is the one from St John's, NF. Get your own copy of their emails. 5) People from amazon don't give credit card numbers on emails confirming an order. And they don't sell Weird Al over here.
6) If you want to see what's going on on this list, why not subscribe?
7) You want dirt? You'll have to gain access to my hard disk at home, a task far harder than Monday's exploit.

For anyone else interested, here's a blow-by-blow comparison. Buffy meets MSCL. (There's a slight spoiler for anyone stuck on the BBC showings, but nothing at all major.)
Buffy, herself, is the all-action fight girl. Think Rayanne with different hangups.
Xander is the resident geek, going all coy around women. Does anyone say Brian?
OZ is obviously Jordan.
Giles, the Katimski figure. They even share an addiction to coffee.
Angel is so camp he has to be Rickie. Or is that Dru? No, it must be the character more camp than a Scout jambouree, Spike.
Cordelia, naturally, is a pain in the butt (see also: Principal Snyder, Mrs Summers and other characters). File with Patty.
Willow, though, is the calm, sensible, everyteen. The viewer's input into the show. Sharon and Angela, rolled into one.

Still not convinced? Who wears the crimson glow, exactly?

Sara
I did see a preview for a buffy show last night that looked REALLY interesting - something about another vampire slayer coming to town or something..I don't know.
Ah, that would be Faith. The new slayer. Nice girl, almost as cute as Willow. Almost. And, of course, there's a George Michael song dedicated to her:

#Coz ya gotta have faith-a-faith-a-faith
#Ya gotta have faith.
[guitar break]
#Little darlin', it's been a long cold lonely winter.#

Maryj
i didn't mean jus music.....i meant sorta culturally...er somethin... entertainment maybe is better...
OK, entertainment of the 90s. Let me have a look at the Encyclopaedia Galactica entry.
+ The death of mass-appeal television. With multi-channel tv coming to many homes, the major networks all lost audience. Attempts to appeal to a low denominator are bound to fail in the face of increased fragmentation. The worst case of this was Britain's Channel 4; launched as a highbrow station in 1982, it became wall-to-wall soap operas and sport by 1998. At the end of the 90s, television could still unite a population, but this was reserved for a very few event programmes.
+ The fragmentation of popular music that had begun in the late 60s grew to a schism. Clubs became an integral part of the music scene for the first time since the heyday of disco, while grunge endured twelve months in the public eye before returning into its anti-commercial cave. Britain suffered endless retro acts, while the decade's end was marked by an upsurge in bands appealing to 12 year old girls. Female singer-songwriters enjoyed their best time ever, from the melancholy Suzanne Vega to the uber-pop Spice Girls and soul-tinged TLC enjoying major artistic and commercial success throughout the 90s. Many observers saw this as the main contribution of the decade; others suggested that any decade that suffered a Cliff Richard single wasn't worth writing home about.
+ After twenty years as a standby for academicia and the military, inter-computer communication became a fully-fledged entertainment medium. Challenging the hedgemony of traditional gatekeepers - book publishers, record companies, tv stations - the internet delivered what people wanted, when they wanted it. Though the electronic economy didn't kick in until 2005, and it wouldn't become the prime cultural driver for twenty years beyond that, the few companies that understood the massive changes they would need to make to stay alive came off very well.
+ The role of the newspaper changed out of all recognition during the 90s. With the growth in television and internet news, the paper was able to provide a hard copy of events, explaining matters in much more detail, and acting as a coffee-table lifestyle device to impress one's friends with. Improvements in printing technology meant that all papers were able to offer colour by the end of the decade, and print reports filed just minutes before press time.
+ The 1990s saw the beginning of the end for the cinema. Movies turned into merchandising machines, rather than works of art. While technological problems prevented the concept from coming to fruition during this decade, the idea that a movie could be downloaded onto a video disc and played once, for less than the cost of a movie ticket, was firmly established.
+ Radio had turned from mass-appeal to specialised, niche, markets during the 1980s. While planet-wide wireless communications would wait a few years into the 21st century, the spread of "webcasted" stations - distributed via the internet - meant that listeners were no longer hampered by the traditional limits of AM and FM reception.

To obtain your copy of the Encyclopaedia Galactica, deposit C$15 in a bank, and mail the details to head office in Milton Keynes. By the time your letter has arrived, compound interest will have increased the amount to many billions of dollars, allowing the product to be despatched to you by return of post.

Sat [4] 9: The 100 Greatest TV Moments. Hosted by Graham Norton, Ireland's answer to Mark Frost. Includes Portillo's 97 loss, but not his more recent outings.
Sun ONE 950: The Vicar Of Dibley. Alice's sister is even less intelligent than the verger, and Jim tells the least funny joke ever. It's still better than any of mine.
Mon TWO 8: University Challenge. Paxman sneers at Newcastle and Warwick. {PRICK suggests a Newcastle win.}
Tue ITV2 7: European football - Manchester United -v- Croatia Zagreb. The defence starts here. Not available to SKY viewers.
Wed TWO 9: Living With The Enemy. This week: a pro-cannabis collective.
Thu itv 10: The Second World War In Colour: The Americans come in. We knew the post across the Atlantic was slow, but 28 months?
"Cold Feet" returned on Sunday ITV. That's the CARLTON original, not the NBC remake. It stars Helen Baxendorker (Emily off of "Friends", looks nothing like Lisa Bing) and some others. It appears that comedy must cross the Atlantic in the original, not a re-make.
"People Like Us" continues to make Monday revolve around it. One character that only talked in double-entendres, another that suggested the house was south facing in the mornings. Something different again next week, as Roy Mallard takes a steam-train right through the docusoap bubble with the Northampton police. Miss it, miss out.
"EastEnders" gets a same night repeat on BBC CHOICE ENGLAND from next week. Is BBC3 turning into the new ITV2, only with even worse shows?
"Manhunt" looks promising (ITV, Thursday); a two-part documentary about the Yorkshire Ripper who killed thirteen over six years in the late 70s. The local police fskc'd it up, as part one shows.
"Pushing Back The Curtain" starts Radio 4, Thursday. It's ten years since the Berlin Wall fell. Already. Misha Gleny relives those heady, crazy days.

Amazing scenes at coffee time, as the Fame Panel coated its monitor screens in lukewarm cappuccino. TV Cream digest 844, message 11, Stephen Williams (who he? - snooty Ed) was casually slagging off the NME, Melody Maker and music journalists in general. This is not a bad thing, overall. Suddenly, from out of left field, this happened.
Is Jeremy Thackery (I always suspected Everett True was a made up name) any relation to Jerry Thackery who used to edit Vox magazine. I stopped buying it during Barbara Ellen's interview with Cliff Evans in August 1995, who when he said he liked both Blur and Oasis, was treated as if he'd just said he was the love child of Satan. They seemed to be incapable of comprehending that anyone could like 'two very different bands'. They knew their audience. Bit off topic, that, but while we're slagging off journos... Emma Forrest has a nice sister, though. Sorry.

The Department Of People Who Only Say "Yes, We Could Have Told You That Years Ago" heard the commotion, came running through into the main office, and said in perfect unison:

"Yes, We Could Have Told You That Years Ago"

The Counting Department (head office: 123 Sesame Street) reports that this is the third public declaration of Lisa's general wonderfulness in recent weeks. They've put out this press release: "Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha."

Songs of the right now:
+ It Bites "Calling All The Heroes". Cumbria's biggest export.(1986 single)
+ Ella Fitzgerald "Mack The Knife". In the 1950s, the key change was a sign of joy, not desparation. (Any decent Ella compilation)
+ Tintinout "Eleven To Fly". The return of soaring vocals from a decent singer. Don't let Mariah near this one. (Nowsingle)
+ Cyndi Lauper "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". The '84 original was fine, but the reggae remix from a decade later just screams hot, sunny weather. (Twelve Deadly Cyns ... And Then Some, 1994)
+ "Seven Seas", Echo & The Bunnymen - Push the reverb and echo up to 11 and go. (Songs To Learn And Sing, 1985)
+ "74-75", The Connells - Something that Jordan could have knocked off in between classes; still wonderful. (1995 single)
+ "Duel", Propaganda - The first cut won't hurt at all. The second only makes you wonder (P:Machinery, 1985)
+ "Man! I Feel Like A Woman", Shania Twain - You and McBabe, and Hawkins. (Come On Over, 1998 and Nowsingle)

[4] ran two and a half hours of Television's Greatest Moments, stretching from the Coronation to MUN winning the European Cup. I think a list of my, personal, Top Ten Telly Moments Of The Nineties is in order. Chronological order, from Britain, to be exact:

90.3.31 - "News: Poll Tax Riots" One day before the introduction of a new way of raising local goverment's money, over 200,000 people protest. In a crowd of this size, there will always be a few disruptive elements. But not 50,000 or so running amok in Trafalgar Square. The end point for late 80s hedonism.

92.4.23 - "The Crystal Maze" The worst team in history get to the dome with one crystal and two lock-ins. Richard O'Brien still manages to make this show of complete inability to do the most simple puzzle entertaining.

93.3.18 - "Drop The Dead Donkey, The Awards Ceremony" It's a surprise to Gus Hedges that he's to receive a Royal Television Society award for the excellence of Globelink News. Not least because the outfit has no excellence. It's a pleasure to receive it from the Princess Royal, and even more pleasurable to down a few gallons of wine beforehand.

94.2.8 - "The Day Today, The War Episode" To boost his ratings, news anchorman Christopher Morris single-handedly engineers a war between Australia and Hong Kong live, on air.

95.6.22 - "Newsround" For a couple of weeks before, pressure had been growing on Prime Minister Major over his handling of the European issue. On a warm Thursday afternoon, he calls a press conference in the Downing Street garden, and announces that he's resigning, live and out of the blue.

95.11.15 - "My So Called Life, Betrayal" Rayanne feels the full force of Angela's vitriol, and maybe some guilt. The device - using lines from a play to reflect another situation - is as old as the hills, but is played with such resonance as to transcend the cliche.

96.8.6 - "Murder One, Chapter Twenty-Two" After almost half a year building up, two deaths, one imprisonment, and many baffling plot twists, Teddy Hoffman gets a video containing what did go on in Jessica Costello's flat that fateful night. We see Neil Avadon, now serving time for her murder, enter. And leave. Then the lawyers see who did the deed. We see their reactions. And the credits roll.

98.5.16 - "The Eurovision Song Contest" So it's come to this. Votes from Macedonia. Israel and Malta are tied, but Britain could pull off an upset win. Israel get seven. Slovenia eight. Britain ten, overtaking Malta. The twelve goes to Croatia.

99.5.26 - "European Cup Final" Three minutes of injury time, and Man United trail by a goal. Beckham corner, Schmeichal header, tipped in by Solskjaer. 1-1. Kick-off. Beckham corner. Yorke header. Sheringham fires in. Schmeichal turns cartwheels.

99.??.?? - "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" The top prize will go. Conspiracy theorists say it'll be before Christmas Eve. The show will crash afterwards.

Sara
I wanted the list split at the time - I don't anymore. I know that all of you do though, or at least the ones who were around for that year and a half of fighting
Actually, I don't want the list split. And I don't think it has. We've lost one poster to his own domain (still classed as a spam domain by one UK ISP); we've lost Deca by some fairly dodgy means. But that's really the end of it. Everyone else has gone by natural attrition.

There's been no split; the domain has approximately zero posts, and the other list vanished up its creators own anxiety, to be replaced by something almost, but not quite, this community.

Why does leaving have to be so hard?
I've found that leaving is only hard if you've doubts about the step you're taking. If I know that leaving is the only right thing I could possibly do, I'll do it, and find it easy. It's when there are doubts that it's difficult.

Sara
Do you believe in love at first sight? why? why not?
Love at first sight, as in the first time you're aware of a person's existance: no. There can be a physical attraction, but not genuine love. That requires knowing the other's faults, and having them outweighed by the good points.

Love at first sight as in the first time you meet someone you've known before: certainly. Especially if you know their bad bits.

Have you ever been in love? describe :)
Yep. It's an intoxicant when it comes back, knowing that you are making a difference to someone's life, they're making a difference to yours, and you are both aware of this cycle. When that's broken, there is trouble.

have you ever had unrequited love for someone?
Unrequited lust, or just a longing for companionship, or something similar, yes. Love - don't think so. Certainly not that had never been requited.

Vic added
I'm the 20 yr old inexperienced chick who knows nearly nothing about it, but I have all these older, married people telling me I should just find a nice young man and become the great wife they think I'll be.
They used the "s" word, "should". "Should" is bad, mmmkay? It's something that someone doesn't have the guts to do, or didn't think of, but wishes they had.

I feel so young, not ready for all that. I've found myself saying 'I wish you'd just back off' to so many people lately. I see all these decades of life stretching before me, and the thought of being stuck with one person for all that time...anyway, not for me right now.:)
Ooky. For ages, I was just after relatively non-committal relationships. The sort that are fun now, would be fun if they carried on but if they don't, they don't. Then one of those turned around and bit; then I met someone to whom I could commit. With whom I could spend the next sixty years, or however long. She reciprocated these feelings, and, yea, it was good.

After some time of this, she started throwing bricks in. Not the honest sort of "Houston, we have a problem," but the scale of minor lies, then major lies, then total self-deception. This is also bad, mmmkay?

To cut a long story short, she upped and left, depriving me of a half-month's salary, and shacked up with her floozy. That did not play well in Weaverville, and it's only in the last few months, well over a year later, that I've seriously thought about dating again.

On one hand, I'd like any sort of affection; on the other, I know I'm ready to settle down with someone. Preferably someone that's not going to flounce out when she meets someone that can't see through her bad acting, coz I really don't want to go through all that again.

In the meantime...
I get as lonely and sad as other people sometimes, but I enjoy being on my own for the most part.
This has its advantages. I can go to the cinema, or buy theatre tickets, or hit a restaurant, just on my own whim. No need to co-ordinate schedules, or anything else.

And I hate other people's expectations.
Here, I have the advantage of being able to (honestly) respond, "It's not like I've not tried..."

Sara
do you believe in god? why, why not?
As in a supreme creator of all things? Yes. Why? Er, because. There just seems something not unreasonable about this. It's faith. Live with it!

As in a deity that looks over the minutiae of daily life? Nope. That would be one bored deity. Though it might review case notes every so often, the daily grind is just too time-consuming.

As in a vengeful creator that will only look after its most fervent followers and damn the rest to listen to the Vengaboys for eternity? Not a chance. This is just a myth put about by people who want to scare other people into following them.

what do you think of organized religion? good thing, bad thing? helpful, not helpful?
When organised in broad terms, following some simple tenets, it can be a useful moral framework. When it starts getting very prescriptive or elitist, it turns into a bad thing.

As for helpful, it all depends on where one is coming from. I'm finding plenty of food for thought in the place where judaism meets pagan faiths. Other people prefer other methods of approach. As they're all headed to a similar place, it doesn't really matter.

there is absolutely no proof to say that he/she exists, and I need proof in order to believe.
Oh dear. To quote from the "Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy"

"`I refuse to prove that I exist,' says God, `for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.'

"`But,' says Man, `The Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED.'

"`Oh dear,' says God, `I hadn't thought of that,' and promptly vanished in a puff of logic.

"`Oh, that was easy,' says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.

"Most leading theologians claim that this argument is a load of dingo's kidneys, but that didn't stop Oolon Colluphid making a small fortune when he used it as the central theme of his best- selling book Well That About Wraps It Up For God."

[copyright douglas adams 1978-81]

Nieske, on Natalie Imbroiledincontroversy
Smoke is just so friggin' brilliant... Yesterday I heard it again, for the first time in several weeks... And it struck me again :) It's so damn perfect :)
It's two years this weekend since I first heard "Torn". In those 104 weeks, the single has spent two weeks on top of weaver.chart been played 295 times down my ears, and become one of the anthems of the late 90s. It's still on weaver.charts, at #153, setting a new record for the longest running record. "Torn" has also seen off the three follow-up singles.

- "Big Mistake" (#2) wasn't. "Natalie turns into someone who sounds a little like Alanis Morissette, albeit with a little more tune, and a touch less venom. Going down on one's knees to a former lover is not a good idea."

- "Wishing I Was There" (#11) vanished into the ether. "It's not the soft ballad that was 'Torn', nor is it the Alanis clone of 'Big Mistake'. Instead, it's a gentle rocker, that laments a lost love. Falling between two stools is not clever."

- "Smoke" (#5). "This quiet, understated, track is the best of all, making its point through sublety rather than the banging thump of competitors."

I was worried when Lisa Bing slated the track on pre-release. I was surprised, in a kind of eyebrow-raised way, when the other Top Bastions Of Things Cool, chelle and Vic, slated the track on Thursday. Maybe I'm missing something, but I do still like it. Perhaps one has to hear it early on a foggy morning to love it...

Quotes are taken from the weaver.chart monthly recaps, on my website. And I can recommend the album, too.

chelle ponders
i don't know if she writes all her own music or not, or if she even wrote that song
She gets a writing credit for everything on Left of the Middle except for "Smoke" and "Torn".

Laura (not ~*Laura)
What are your favourite cartoons?
Of children's cartoons; I've a massive spot for classic Warner Bros cartoons. Your Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Road Runner, Elmer Fudd et al. Hanna-Barbera had their moments, the Wacky Races, Penelope Pitstop, the Jetsons; but they seem best remembered for the Flintstones which wasn't really up to much. Disney was always twee and cloying; never liked that. Of modern work, Two Stupid Dogs seems to fit well here, as does Ed, Edd and Eddy. Eek! The Cat and Rude Dog had their moments, and I've a spot for He-Man.

Of children's cartoons with bits for adults: Rugrats is cool, so are the Powerpuff Girls. As were the Cosgrove Hall productions Dangermouse and Count Duckula, and Willy Fogg's trip round the world.

Adult cartoons that are officially aimed at children: Animaniacs. Tiny Toons, Ren & Stimpy. According to Yahoo!, the furmation Roland Rat fits into cartoons, but he's very much a real creature, like the Muppets.

Genuine adult cartoons is still an under-represented genre. The Simpsons seems to be going off the boil, handing the baton of cool to Dilbert and Futurama. Daria is incisive, while South Park is - well - gross.

First single bought for me: "Wombling Merry Christmas". I was 13 months old.
First single bought: "Do They Know It's Christmas".
First album: "Now 4"
First track taped off of the radio: "Freedom", Wham!
First twelve-incher: "Sweet Child O'Mine", the 89 re-release.
First and only ten-incher: "Steppin' Down the Glory Road", Runrig.
First cassette single: "Book of Days", Enya.
Last vinyl single: "Dancing Queen", the 92 reissue.
First CD: The one that came free with Q in March 93.
First purchased CD: "Go West", Pet Shop Boys.
First CD album: "Morning Dove White", One Dove.
Last cassette single: "Why Me?", A-House.
Last cassette album: "Fun With The Teletubbies". Also the only one that comes as a blue cassette.
Most recent CD at full UK price: "Hits and B-sides 80-89", U2.
Most recent purchases: Reduced-price copies of Spiceworld, My Life Story, TOTP 98, Radio 1 in Leeds 96; singles by Madness, Alanis, Sixpence NTR and the Offspring; import albums from Weird Al, the New Radicals, and the No Boundaries collection.

Dates? Wombles were 12.74; Wham!, Now 4 and Band Aid 12.84; Runrig 10.90; Enya 7.92; PSB, One Dove 9.93; A-House 5.94; Teletubbies 10.97; U2 10.98.

Sara
its not actually reduced, but it'll be less
Is there some meaning of "reduced" I'm not aware of, coz I thought that it always meant the same as less. Still, it's the sort of oxymoron that Whitney Houston could sing about:

#It's not reduced
#But it is less
#I'm not gonna pay it
#Like ya guessed#

"Now She Knows She's Wrong", by Jellyfish, from their "Spilt Milk" (1991) album.

press gang
Another one that would be good for reruns on CHOICE. Especially as it should be available outside Central's contract by now.

i love the concept of room 101. room 101 is this imaginary place where you can send something that everyone (especially you) hates, and then it's just banished there forever and never exists anymore.
Ob-weaver-showing-he's-way-too-bookish: Room 101 was originally devised by George Orwell for "1984", and is the place where Winston ends up, to confront his worst nightmare in a way for The Party to demoralise and control him. "Room 101", the radio series, was hosted by Nick Hancock on The Old Radio Five, transferring to television in 1993. Nick was replaced by Paul Merton for series 5 in 1999.

what do you hate so much that you want it to go away forever? what would you put into room 101? and why?
First item into Room 101, Nick, is the pushchair. Let me [cue two grown men wrestling to erect a pushchair, and eventually put it on the conveyor belt.] The small chair, with wheels, that mothers strap their baby into and push along the pavement. It's a wonderful idea, you're right.

The first problem is that the pushchair is so wide. It swallows up the entire width of the pavement. If you see one coming at you, it's like a tank rumbling over the horizon. You have to step into the gutter to let it pass. Even on a wide pavement, the pushchair will hog the clean part of the path, and you have to step in piles of sticky dog mess or face having your foot crushed by a misplaced wheel.

What's more, it's such a slow vehicle. Anyone pushing a pushchair seems to have to slow down to a snail's pace. Why is that? Are they not designed to go at more than one mile per hour? Do they spontaneously combust if pushed at a sensible walking pace?

Just imagine, you're walking down a busy shopping street, wanting to get home before it starts raining. When - oh no! - you see a pushchair come out of a shop just in front of you. It's going to take five, ten minutes to walk twenty yards to the chemist's, because the pushchair is going to gather cobwebs before it gets there. And you'll have to walk in a puddle to get round it, and probably step in something undesirable. It's even worse if whoever's pushing the pushchair stops and chatters. "Oh, hello, Dora." "Hello, Pat. How are the ickle ones" Dora bends over, and gets thwacked in the behind by someone who didn't expect her to stick her ass out in the middle of the pavement.

[continued page 101]

Brendan
Tabloid newspapers too... they've been sickening me recently. Anyone want to discuss the media? Ireland's most popular broadsheet paper today carried the headline "Wedding guests take the plunge." The story was about the deaths of 2 wedding guests when a balcony they were standing on collapsed into the sea.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha rip. I laughed until my sides split. If they must pun, how about "THE SADDEST DAY OF THEIR LIVES".

the line between tabloid and broadsheet journalism seems to be blurring.
This may not be a totally bad thing. I've often found broadsheets too stuffy to be read, and use complex language to obscure the point. Anyone ever read the Globe and Mail? You'll get my problem at once. A dose of tabloid clarity - writing short items, explaining the story concisely, but still having space to run in-depth reports - is not that bad.

The use of photos to tell a story? Words and pictures should go together, and the reluctance of broadsheets to use decent photos until the last decade or so was partly snobbery; and partly due to the advancements in printing technology over the last years.

Changing the news agenda? A story may not be relevant to the paper's readers directly, but it might impact on someone they know, and reporting it would help the reader make better sense of the world. On the other hand, there's no excuse for reporting things that are not news, merely gossip. If it involves the British royals, or Downing Street Sources, I turn to the next item.

Mark
Who is Angela Chase in love with? Not who does she think she's in love with, but who is she really in love with.
Jordan, or Brian. Or both. Or neither. Actually, my vote's with neither. She's in love with - herself. From Angela's POV, MSCL is predicated on her attempts to find an independent identity for herself. She's ripped through the parents, had a dabble with being an out-and-out shock merchant, and by the close of the series has figured she's not going to be an exact clone of every major character (with the possible exception of Danielle). All that's left is for Angela to identify with herself, and maybe see which bits of other players in her life she can fashion herself after.

It would make an interesting exercise to figure out when Angela tries to be each of the other characters, and/or figures she's not them. Some are easy. Some are difficult. Many are only addressed as tangents.

But, to return to Mark's analysis.
if we look at the evidence, look at all the things which caused Angela to be with Jordan at the end of the series, they are all connected with Brian's intellect and Brian's feelings for Angela...
So, Brian is manipulating Jordan to get to Angela. Brian knows he's doing it. I reckon Jordan knows what's going on. Does Brian know that Jordan knows? Not sure.

One has to wonder then, why she goes with Jordan in the end. It appears that Angela finally realises that Brian loves her....
Has she seen right through Brian's plan in an instant, though? Is there some gut feeling that might suggest this is all in Brian's master plan?

why then does she not realise that she loves Brian...??
Does Angela identify closely with Brian? It may be a closer fit than with Jordan, (evidence: the dance in "Life Of Brian") or it may not (evidence: "Weekend")

Reading this post is less dangerous than frisking Diana Ross. Or attempting to travel by London Underground this morning, as eight (count 'em!) stations on one line are shut for fire brigade safety checks. To lose one might be regarded as a misfortune; to lose eight in a row shows that someone, somewhere, has been grossly incompetent and ought to be sacked. Though it did provide me with a good, quiet, snigger, listening to the chaos south of the river while zooming past Wembley.

It's also less dangerous that living at the UCL Student Palace just by my office. Just before nine, everyone was pouring out of the doors, and fire engines were shooting towards the place at all of six mph. That's fast for London. Why were all the students leaving? The fire bell was ringing. Why was that? Someone, somewhere, has burned the toast. Would the person responsible please make themselves known to the authorities now, please.