Jenjie

it could go either way. the 27th October IZOD show isn't on Coldplay.com but tickets have been sold for it!!

Nigerian Mohammed Bello Abubakar, 84, has advised other men not to follow his example and marry 86 women. The former teacher and Muslim preacher, who lives in Niger State with his wives and at least 170 children, says he is able to cope only with the help of God. "A man with 10 wives would collapse and die, but my own power is given by Allah. That is why I have been able to control 86 of them," he told the BBC. He says his wives have sought him out because of his reputation as a healer. "I don't go looking for them, they come to me. I will consider the fact that God has asked me to do it and I will just marry them." But such claims have alienated the Islamic authorities in Nigeria, who have branded his family a cult. Most Muslim scholars agree that a man is allowed to have four wives, as long as he can treat them equally. But Mr Bello Abubakar says there is no punishment stated in the Koran for having more than four wives. "To my understanding the Koran does not place a limit and it is up to what your own power, your own endowment and ability allows," he says. "God did not say what the punishment should be for a man who has more than four wives, but he was specific about the punishment for fornication and adultery." As Mr Bello Abubakar emerged from his compound to speak to the BBC, his wives and children broke out into a praise song. Most of his wives are less than a quarter of his age - and many are younger than some of his own children. The wives the BBC spoke to say they met Mr Bello Abubakar when they went to him to seek help for various illnesses, which they say he cured. "As soon as I met him the headache was gone," says Sharifat Bello Abubakar, who was 25 at the time and Mr Bello Abubakar 74. "God told me it was time to be his wife. Praise be to God I am his wife now." Ganiat Mohammed Bello has been married to the man everyone calls "Baba" for 20 years. When she was in secondary school her mother took her for a consultation with Mr Bello Abubakar and he proposed afterwards. "I said I couldn't marry an older man, but he said it was directly an order from God," she says. She married another man but they divorced and she returned to Mr Bello Abubakar. "I am now the happiest woman on earth. When you marry a man with 86 wives you know he knows how to look after them," she said. No work Mr Bello Abubakar and his wives do not work and he has no visible means of supporting such a large family. He refuses to say how he makes enough money to pay for the huge cost of feeding and clothing so many people. Every mealtime they cook three 12kg bags of rice which all adds up to $915 (£457) every day. "It's all from God," he says. Other residents of Bida, the village where he lives in the northern Nigerian state, say they do not know how he supports the family. According to one of his wives, Mr Bello Abubakar sometimes asks his children to go and beg for 200 naira ($1.69, £0.87), which if they all did so would bring in about $290 (£149). Most of his wives live in a squalid, unfinished house in Bida; others live in his house in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital. He refuses to allow any of his family or other devotees to take medicine and says he does not believe that malaria exists. "As you sit here if you have any illness I can see it and just remove it," he says. But not everyone can be cured and one of his wives, Hafsat Bello Mohammed, says two of her children have died. "They were sick and we told God and God said their time has come." She says that most of the wives see Mr Bello Abubakar as next in line from the Prophet Muhammad. Indeed, he claims the Prophet Muhammad speaks to him personally and gives detailed descriptions of his experiences. It is a serious claim for a Muslim to make. "This is heresy, he is a heretic," says Ustaz Abubakar Siddique, an imam of Abuja's Central Mosque. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7547148.stm

21:22 Browsing Coldplaying in between calls at work

awwwwww what a cute little kitten

I'm guessing no one had a call yet then?

coooooooooool :D

it has to be the one and only :D

its the same as at bus stops. I hate having to stand there whilst someone else's smoke is blown in my face by the wind. and if her station is anything like Manchester Piccadilly, there's no room to move away from the smoke when its busy.

I work in a call centre, so no mobile phones allowed on the floor. we're allowed on the internet in between calls

they've snuck a few piccies into the blog, :) http://www.oxfamblogs.org/coldplay/ and a new entry :D What’s that I hear? .. (silence) The quiet hum of a computer. The muffled bleep of a printer. The distant mingled voices of the office. Grey clouds outside and the smell of freshly brewed tea. It’s all very different sights, sounds and smells to life on the road. No radios, no lines of cables on the floor, no waiting crowds filling arenas.. Most of the crew, myself included, have returned home after the first leg of the tour. Only a select few crew members have travelled on with Coldplay to Japan, for the two dates at Summer Sonic Festival. If you happen to be at the festival, why not check out Oxfam Japan, after catching the headline set.. It’s time to re-charge batteries (and not just those belonging to the radio sets). I’m exhausted. My eyes feel like crutons. It’s past home-time in the office, but it feels like lunch-time. From what I hear, we are all going to need our rest. Europe is going to be intense. From Spain to Germany, Coldplay are popular, wherever they go. Oxfam will be there all the way. The tour left North America screaming for an encore, with two final shows in Washington and Boston. My views of which were a walk around the block, peering through the bus window, and of course, inside the organs of two more huge sports arenas. Boston TD Banknorth Garden, the home of Boston Celtics, and of their first NBA Championship triumph since 1986. Oxfam/Coldplay volunteer and outgoing intern with Oxfam America, Jack, was fairly pleased that Coldplay were playing at the home of the Celtics, on his last day, across the road from the Oxfam office! Not a bad way to go out. One fan signed up at the Oxfam table with the Make Trade Fair = symbol on his hands, and said to me “I heard about Oxfam from Coldplay, I wan’t to get involved with your work, how can I help?” It’s so powerful to hear people saying these things time and again at the concerts. So many people have been inspired by Coldplay’s support for Oxfam. Chris Martin himself once said, whilst visiting Ghana.. “Everybody coming together to make one loud voice, is the only way that things get changed”. When you hear the volume of that voice singing the chorus of ‘Yellow’ each night there is a Coldplay show, wherever they are around the world, it makes you realise the noise we can all make with Oxfam too. There is no point in us all sitting behind our quietly humming computers and just thinking about it. Add your voice now. I am looking forward to a rest, to walking a few streets I know and catching up with myself and those i’ve missed. There is a part of me already looking forward to getting out there again. Touring the world and hearing that loud voice get louder. http://www.oxfamblogs.org/coldplay/?p=40

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/events/coldplay/ so there could be more than 90 people contacted. they approach the first 90 people, and if they decline or they can't get hold of them after a few tries, they can move to the reserves. in the same way that employers will contact a successful applicant first, and can then approach the runners-up if the first declines.

nooooo coz they said they would ring for the outdoor gig & but still sent tickets out anyway. So I will not give up hope until I have no tickets on fri 29th aug :D

he posted that 2 days ago!! :cry:

yup 14:30- 22:00 shift so get half hour lunch break anywhere between 16:30 & 18:00

i haven't been able to check my phone for the last 3.5 hours. 20 mins til lunch time so I can check. why isn't there a nailbiting emoticon on this darned board :angry:

we have the official site already its http://www.coldplay.com. i think the Oracle is saying that the lyrics will be a future addition to the site.

Its in the COldplay section I think. And no phone call yet. Although O2 did ring & tie up the line wanting to discuss why I like the phone provider I'm with

I'm still deciding. i'm far too indecisive

The Oracle and Roadie #42 are The Stig? what an amazing idea :D

First Post updated with all the vids in one easy to view place :D

First post now updated. All the vids in one easy-viewing location :D

First post updated. All the vids now in one place for easy viewing :D

dunno but i have to have it switched off in work tomorrow afternoon :( so if they don't leave a message I'm dooooooommmmmmeeeddddd :angry:

the daily mail has a 58 year old woman with a picture of her, but still includes the pregnant lady quote at the end of the article :confused:

not according to ian's article above :D