Jenjie

quite obviously could not live without chocolate

The Coldplaying infection is back!!!! Had a miserable trip to work, and was feeling blue. 2 mins in the izod threads and I'm bouncy and excited again :D

What a delightful thread. Makes me really want to be a 'real' fan if that's how nice they all are. If you head into the live thread, you'll see comments from some of those 'idiots'. There's no such thing as a 'real' fan. Everyone's a fan in their own way. And every one can make mistakes.

this from last night's thread

sooooo ladies and gents, the standard has been set :P http://wiki.coldplaying.com/index.ph...d%2C_NJ%2C_USA Have a fab time tonight!! :D

you are all amazing. I can't believe how many reviews there are already :D The wiki page is nearly full!! http://wiki.coldplaying.com/index.php/26_October_2008:_Izod_Center%2C_East_Rutherford%2C_NJ%2C_USA Sooooooooo peeps who are going tonight, the standard has been set :P

Futility Move him into the sun - Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fileds unsown. Always it woke him, even in France, Until this morning and this snow. If anything might rouse him now That kind old sun will know. Think how it wakes the seeds - Woke, once, the clays of a cold star. Are limbs so dear-achieved, are sides Full-nerved, -still warm, - too hard to stir? Was if for this the clay grew tall? - O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth's sleep at all? Wilfred Owen

I wouldn't normally be so cynical, but the camera went off Louis and then came almost straight back to him & the tears had miraculously dried & he was smiling.

think we're about half way. last time I counted we had nearly 80

they haven't finished announcing dates for the tour yet!

Anybody excited then?

bumpity bump bump bump :p

:cry: and I thought you two were my friends no goodies in December for you then :P

I need to keep the thread where I can find it

no, but I'll come downstairs and smack you for such a dreadful pun :P

X Factor outrage after favourite Laura's secret romance with show executive is revealed X Factor favourite Laura White has reportedly irked fellow contestants after it was revealed she is dating an executive on the show. The 21-year-old jazz singer has been quietly seeing Matthew Firsht, 38, for several months after meeting at Britain's Got Talent auditions in March. Firsht's company Applause Store has been providing audiences for the televised live Saturday show's for several years and is regularly seen on set talking to Simon Cowell and the fellow judges. White's father Adrian, who is also her agent, denied last week his daughter was dating anyone. He said: 'She’s decided to stay away from them (men).' However, the singer's relationship was confirmed this week after she was spotted walking arm-in-arm with Firsht near his home in London's Covent Garden. The revelations are said to have 'shocked' and 'angered' some of The X Factor judges and contestants. A source told The Sun: 'Laura has done her best to keep this a secret as she knows it looks a bit suspect. 'But some people have found out and have been bitching about it.' White met Firsht in March when her father asked him if she could entertain the crowd of Britain's Got Talent. An X Factor spokeswoman insisted the couple's relationship would have no bearing in White's progress in the show. They said: 'Laura’s personal relationship with Mathew has no bearing on her place in the competition.' Meanwhile, White has been 3/1 odds of winning this year's contest by PaddyPower, while Diana Vickers has been given 9/4. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1080529/X-Factor-outrage-favourite-Lauras-secret-romance-executive-revealed.html

Simon Cowell hits out at X Factor rival Peter Kay's 'stupid, pathetic' single Simon Cowell has hit out at Peter Kay's spoof single, after it beat X Factor winner Leon Jackson in the charts. Kay's The Winner's Song, taken from his talent show spoof Britain's Got The Pop Factor... and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice beat Jackson's Don't Call This Love last weekend, getting to number two over Jackson's three. The music mogul insisted the comedian will not trounce another one of his X Factor acts in the race for Christmas No.1 when Kay releases his second single as transsexual Geraldine in December. Performing in the character of Geraldine, an overweight, Northern Irish transsexual, his lyrics and performance ape the rags to riches yarns of many of the X Factor contestants. Cowell tells the Daily Mirror: 'I thought the show was clever, but the record was stupid. The single is a pathetic waste of time.' After hearing Kay's character Geraldine will release a second Christmas single, he is unimpressed. Kay was spotted in Manchester directing GMTV presenter Ben Shepherd for the Christmas single's accompanying video last week. Once Upon A Christmas Song, co-written by Take That singer Gary Barlow, will be released in December with proceeds going toward the NSPCC. Cowell adds: 'He is going to bring out a Christmas single? - I mean c’mon. I don't feel threatened by him in the slightest. 'I’ve got something in mind for our Christmas single and I know which one I would put my money on.' http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1080535/Simon-Cowell-hits-X-Factor-rival-Peter-Kays-stupid-pathetic-single.html

The BBC could face prosecution over obscene phone calls that Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand made to 78-year-old Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs. The controversial presenters left a series of lewd messages on Mr Sachs’s answerphone claiming, in shockingly explicit language, that Brand had had sex with his granddaughter, Georgina. Mr Sachs, who played waiter Manuel in the classic sitcom, was left deeply upset by the crude calls – which were also broadcast to about two million listeners to Brand’s Radio 2 show. And Georgina’s distraught mother, Kate, said last night: ‘It’s awful.’ Astonishingly, senior BBC executives cleared the offensive messages for broadcast, even though making abusive phone calls is a criminal offence. Last night, the Corporation faced calls for disciplinary action to be taken against their highly-paid stars, with one Tory MP saying they had ‘overstepped the mark’. Mr Sachs’s agent said his client had been ‘terribly hurt’ by the comments and had made a formal complaint to the BBC. The calls about his granddaughter were made during an episode of Brand’s Saturday night Radio 2 programme, co-hosted by Ross to help publicise his new book. Shortly before they contacted Mr Sachs for a pre-arranged telephone interview, Brand said: ‘In a minute we’re going to be talking to Andrew Sachs, Manuel actor. The elephant in the room is, what Andrew doesn’t know is, I’ve slept with his granddaughter.’ The comedian then rang Mr Sachs. When the veteran actor didn’t answer his telephone, Brand left a message during which Ross shouted ‘He ****** your granddaughter!’, generating raucous laughter from the studio. Ross subsequently speculated that Brand had ‘enjoyed’ Georgina on a swing. The pair then decided to ring Mr Sachs again to apologise. When he repeatedly failed to answer, Ross and Brand left three further messages, making the situation worse. During one message, Brand said: ‘I wore a condom.’ In another, which took the form of an impromptu song, Brand sang: ‘I’d like to apologise for the terrible attacks, Andrew Sachs . . . I said some things I didn’t of oughta, like I had sex with your granddaughter, though it was consensual . . . it was consensual lovely sex. It was full of respect, I sent her a text, I’ve asked her to marry me, Andrew Sachs.’ Ross could be heard singing quietly to himself: ‘Your granddaughter ...she was bent over the couch...’ Later in the programme Brand even joked about the idea that Mr Sachs might consider suicide as a result of their comments. Imagining a news bulletin, he said: ‘The main news again. Manuel Andrew Sachs hung himself today...’ Brand’s show sometimes goes out live, but the offending episode was prerecorded to fit around Brand and Ross’s other commitments. According to the BBC, ‘a senior editorial figure signed off the programme, including its strong language, before it was broadcast’. The show, which aired between 9pm and 11pm on October 18, remained on the BBC’s iPlayer website last week, where listeners could hear it again. Ross, 47, and Brand, 33, are among the BBC’s highest-paid stars. Ross is paid £6million a year for his TV chat show, Radio 2 show and film review programme, while Brand is thought to be paid a six-figure sum for his weekly radio show. The pair, who are close friends, are notorious for their use of swear words and have courted controversy throughout their careers. In 2006 Ross caused a storm by asking Conservative leader David Cameron if he had ever had teenage sexual fantasies about former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ‘in stockings’ and referring to a lewd act. Brand, who once dated Kate Moss, caused outrage in July for making a prank call to Northamptonshire Police, claiming he had spotted a sex attacker. And in 2006, he became embroiled in a public row with Rod Stewart after boasting at an awards ceremony that he had slept with the rocker’s daughter, Kimberly. During the Radio 2 show in which they offended Mr Sachs, both men also discussed what it would be like to have sex with actress Helen Mirren. Ross also appeared to breach the terms of his lucrative BBC contract by indicating his support for Labour. He said: ‘I like him [Gordon Brown]. If I could say where I’m going to vote, I’d vote for them. But I can’t say where I’m voting because I’m forbidden by my BBC contract.’ Mr Sachs, who was born in Germany but emigrated to Britain in 1938 to escape the Nazi persecution of Jews, still works regularly on TV and radio, including Radio 4’s spiritual programme Something Understood. A spokesman for the actor said: ‘Andrew is deeply upset by this and terribly hurt. He can’t understand why it happened and was particularly sorry that they kept leaving messages on his answerphone.’ Last night, Kate said her 23-year-old daughter did not want to comment. A BBC spokesman said: ‘Two complaints were received regarding Russell Brand’s show on October 18.’ But he would not reveal their content, saying that they were for ‘internal use’. He added: ‘We are not aware of any complaint being made by Mr Sachs.’ Anyone found guilty of making malicious or abusive phone calls can be fined or sentenced to up to six months in prison, although a Scotland Yard spokesman said there was no record of Mr Sachs filing a complaint. Tory MP Philip Davies said: ‘I know Jonathan Ross has been handsomely rewarded by the BBC for being rude, inappropriate and as vile as possible, but I would hope that even the BBC would accept he’s overstepped the mark this time. ‘In any other walk of life, anyone who did this type of thing would face serious disciplinary proceedings. I hope the BBC will consider what consequences there may be if they don’t take him to task for this.’ Last night, Brand, clearly worried about the listener backlash against his phone calls, made a sniggering, mealy-mouthed apology on his show. He said: ‘It was quite funny, but sometimes you mustn’t swear on someone’s answerphone, and that’s why I’d like to apologise personally.’ But he then replayed the most offensive of last week’s calls, and said: ‘It might not be popular, with its barbershop style, but on the other hand I did rhyme “consensual” with “menstrual”.’ Brand’s spokesman said they had nothing to add to the BBC’s comments, while Jonathan Ross’s agent did not return calls. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1080621/Russell-Brand-Jonathan-Ross-face-prosecution-obscene-air-phone-calls-Fawlty-Towers-actor-78.html

The more Starbucks a country has, the worse its economic crisis. Where lies the link between coffee and greed? Daniel Gross Remember the once-fashionable McDonald’s theory of international relations? The thinking was that if two countries had evolved into mass-consumer societies, with the middle classes able to afford Big Macs, they’d generally be able to find a peaceful way of adjudicating disputes. In other words, they’d sit down over a Happy Meal to resolve their issues rather than use mortars. The recent unpleasantries between Israel and Lebanon, which both have McDonald’s franchises, put paid to that reasoning. Still, the Golden Arches theory of realpolitik was good while it lasted. In the same spirit, I want to propose the Starbucks theory of international economics: the higher the concentration of expensive, faux-Italian Frappuccino joints in a country’s financial capital, the more likely the country is to have suffered catastrophic financial losses. Think about it. The economic crisis has its roots in sub-prime mortgages and a credit crisis. If you could pick one brand name that personifies these twin bubbles, it has to be Starbucks. The Seattle-based coffee chain followed new housing developments into the suburbs and exurbs, where its outlets became pitstops for estate agents and their clients. It also carpet-bombed the business districts of large cities, especially the financial centres, with nearly 200 in Manhattan alone. And frothy Starbucks treats provided the fuel for the boom – the caffeine that enabled the Wall Street and City boys to stay up all hours putting together deals, and helped mortgage brokers work overtime as they processed dubious loans for people who couldn’t really afford them. It’s no accident that Starbucks based many of its outlets on the ground floors of big investment banks. (The one around the corner from the former Bear Stearns HQ has already closed.) Like American financial capitalism, Starbucks took a great idea too far (quality coffee for Starbucks, securitisation for Wall Street) and diluted the experience unnecessarily (sub-prime food such as egg-and-sau-sage sandwiches for Starbucks, sub-prime loans for Wall Street). Like so many sadder-but-wiser building developers, Starbucks operated on a philosophy of “build it and they will come”. Like many of the humiliated Wall Street and City firms, the coffee company let number-crunching get the better of sound judgment: if the waiting time at one Starbucks was more than a certain number of minutes, the company reasoned that an opposite corner could sustain a new outlet. Like the housing market, Starbucks peaked in the spring of 2006 and has since fallen precipitously. America’s financial crisis has gone global in the past month, spreading across Europe and Asia. Why? Because many of the banks feasted on American sub-prime debt and took shoddy risk-management cues from their US cousins. Indeed, the countries whose financial sectors were most connected to the US-dominated global financial system have suffered the most. What does this have to do with the price of coffee? Well, when you start poking around Starbucks’s international store locator, some interesting patterns emerge. At first blush, there’s a pretty close correlation between a country having a significant Starbucks presence, especially in its financial capital, and huge financial cockups. Take the UK, which has had to nationalise the odd bank (698 Starbucks). Or take just London, which in recent years has been the wellspring of many toxic innovations and a hedge-fund haven (256 Starbucks). In Spain – now grappling with the bursting of a speculative coastal real-estate bubble – the financial capital, Madrid, has 48 outlets. In Dubai, 48 Starbucks outlets serve a population of 1.4m. And so on: South Korea, which is bailing out its banks big time, has 253; Paris, the locus of several embarrassing debacles, has 35. But there are many spots on the globe where it’s tough to find a Starbucks. And these are precisely the places where banks are surviving, in large part because they haven’t financially integrated with banks in the Starbucks economies. In the entire continent of Africa, I count just three Starbucks (in Egypt). We haven’t heard much about bailouts in Central America, where Starbucks has no presence. Argentina, a pocket of relative strength, has just one store. Brazil, with a population of nearly 200m, has a mere 14. Italy hasn’t suffered any significant bank failures, in part because its banking sector isn’t very active on the international scene. The number of Starbucks there? Zero. And the small countries of northern Europe, whose banking systems have been largely spared, are largely Starbucks-free (two in Denmark, three in the Netherlands, none in Sweden, Finland or Norway). So, having a significant Starbucks presence is a pretty important indicator of the degree of connectedness to the form of highly caffeinated, free-spending capitalism that got us into this mess. It’s also a sign of a culture’s willingness to abandon traditional norms and ways of doing business in favour of fast-moving American ones. The fact that Starbucks or its local licensee felt there was room for dozens of outlets where consumers would pay for expensive drinks is also a pretty good indicator that excessive financial optimism had entered the bloodstream. This theory isn’t foolproof. Some places with relatively high concentrations of Starbucks – such as Santiago, Chile (27) – have been safe havens. Russia, which has just six, has blown up. But it’s close enough. So if you’re looking for potential trouble spots, forget about the Financial Times or the Bloomberg terminal. Just look at the user-friendly Starbucks store locator. The next potential trouble spot? I’ve just returned from a week in Istanbul, Turkey, a booming financial capital increasingly tied to the fortunes of western Europe. There are so many Starbucks that I gave up counting (in fact, 67 of them). I have no plans to move my money there. Daniel Gross is the Moneybox columnist for Slate.com and business columnist for Newsweek http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article5013892.ece

A police horse suffered burns after being struck by a firework during violent clashes between rival football fans, which saw 29 arrests by police. The horse was injured after being hit before the match between Sunderland and Newcastle. A police officer suffered a broken wrist separating rival fans. Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton had missiles thrown at him and fans invaded the pitch during and after the match. Police are studying CCTV footage to try to identify troublemakers. Ch Supt Neil Mackay, head of Northumbria Police's Operations Unit, said: "The vast majority of fans behaved well. "Twenty-nine arrests out of a capacity crowd is still low and I would like to thank all the stewards involved for their assistance." Many of those arrested were held for going on to the pitch at Sunderland's Stadium of Light. Some fans ran on to the playing surface during the game with Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given being subject to verbal abuse. Meanwhile, missiles were thrown from the crowd at Joey Barton as he warmed-up on the touchline. Police asked him to continue his exercises in the technical area to prevent further trouble. At the end of the game a large group of fans raced from the stands and more fighting broke out. Ch Supt Mackay said: "There will be a post-match inquiry to identify and arrest those who committed offences and I would particularly appeal for the public to identify the people responsible for throwing fireworks. "It is difficult to comprehend the mentality of this. It is only through good fortune that the rider and horse and those nearby did not suffer serious injury." The female rider of the horse was saved from injury by her helmet, a police spokesperson added. The match ended in a 2-1 victory for Sunderland, their first victory over Newcastle at the Stadium of Light. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7691447.stm

Have they left Pete behind in Ohio? He's gone very quiet

there is????? :stunned: why would you need a record of who's bought a vibrator? :confused:

they used to use poppy juice/opium as a painkiller in the 1700's

I'm just posting the news.

1. In 1883 Joseph Mortimer Granville, a British doctor, patented the first electromechanical vibrator. It was sold as a cure for “hysteria”, a condition with familiar symptoms, such as rapid heart rate, sexual fantasies, pelvic heaviness, vaginal lubrication, impulse purchasing, etc. 2. When portable “massagers” began starring in Thirties porn films, vibrators were branded immoral. They didn't reappear until the Sixties, long after the announcement by the American Medical Association in 1952 that “hysteria” was not a clinical diagnosis but a female orgasm. 3. In 1998 the Rabbit vibrator made an appearance on Sex and The City and subsequently became, and still is, the world's bestselling sex toy. 4. In 1999 the sex shop chain Ann Summers launched online and sold one million vibrators in the UK in the first year. 5. For obvious reasons you can't try “before you buy”, but you can watch product demos on http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/sex-toys-tv , and read user reviews at http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/ orgasmarmy . 6. Because they are classed as “novelty” items, the plastics used in sex toys are largely unregulated. A study in 2000 by Hans Ulrich Krieg, a German chemist, identified ten dangerous chemicals leaching out of European sex toys made of jelly and rubber. Phthalates that are used to soften plastic in vibrators may be linked to cancer and infertility, but reputable retailers and manufacturers voluntarily inform customers about phthalate-free sex toys. 7. If you are concerned about phthalates, have sensitive skin, or are prone to yeast infections, choose elastomer, silicone, or glass toys, or use polyurethane condoms over jelly/rubber sex toys. 8. Women over 40 need more powerful vibrators, according to the psychotherapist Julia Cole, who designed the Emotional Bliss (http://www.emotionalbliss.co.uk) range. With 6,000 vibrations a minute, the Hitachi Magic Wand (http://www.loveshackuk.com, £44.95) won't disappoint. Check the intensity of the leading brand vibrators at http://www.mybodyvibes.com/ guidance/vibrator_intensity.html. 9. Buy the lockable Adult Toybox Sex Toy Case, £24.99, from http://www.lovehoney.co.uk to keep your vibrator away from prying eyes. 10. Two million sex toys are sold in the UK every year. That's a lot of landfill, so join the Rabbit Amnesty at http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/rabbit- amnesty. Send them your old Rabbit and they will recycle it, give you a new one half price, and donate £1 to The World Land Trust. Yes! SUZI GODSON http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/relationships/article5006316.ece