Jenjie

I worked it out. The 15th is the day of The Escapist competition. I knew something was on the 15th :laugh3:

2 sleeps

wouldn't fit on the album cover very well :\

even better! may I be stuck on a busy day please? :laugh3:

they've also banned hair straighteners :shocked2: you have to earn tokens to trade in for time with the straighteners. what will the world come to??????? :rolleyes:

wellllllll i do have a squuuuuuuuueeeeeeeeeeee for the myspace stream of the album and a squeeeeee for Virgin which is playing Dire Straits right now

where is Tracsquuuuuuuuuuuueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee? she hasn't been in this thread recently

now you're just being mean offering me steak when you're on the other side of the world. :P What is it about this board tonight? Mark tempts me with marshmallows I don't have & now you've started on the steak :rolleyes: I'm gonna have to go find my cold, leftover pizza in a minute!! :laugh3:

well, he wrote the wrong songs then didn't he? its nice that they aren't generally murdered on karaoke

i'm just about out :shocked2:

now acoustic lost is a completely different ball game. I much prefer that to the album version, although I do see how the album version fits in with the other songs

bump

cool

Aviva, Britain’s largest insurer, will cut up to 1,800 jobs over the next two years in the latest phase of a global restructuring plan announced nine months ago. The group said that it had to simplify the structure of its Norwich Union general insurance business, which provides cover to one in seven motorists, to save money and to provide better customer service. Zurich Financial Services also said it will reduce the headcount of its general insurance business in the UK by between 700 and 900 people. The group’s UK general insurance operation employs 5,400 people. The group said the reduction in staff numbers are part of a programme aimed at achieving a 10 per cent reduction in costs by the end of the year. “The move was prompted by increasingly competitive market conditions in the general insurance business in the United Kingdom,” a spokes-woman for Zurich said. Aviva will create seven “centres of excellence” before 2010 in Norwich, Stretford, Manchester, Leicester, Southend-on-Sea, and Perth and Bishopbriggs in Scotland. However, staff in up to 22 other towns and cities including Glasgow and Sheffield are expected to lose their jobs as Aviva reduces the amount of general insurance work. Officials at Unite, the union, said the cuts were devastating and “made a joke” of the restructuring push unveiled by Aviva last October under the banner: “One Aviva, twice the value”. Analysts said Aviva was facing up to the growing threat posed by internet rivals such as Admiral and Direct Line, which have far lower cost bases. One said: “As more insurance business goes down the internet route, they have to find ways of becoming more efficient to keep pace.” Aviva refused to divulge the expected savings from the job cuts but said they would be in addition to those announced by Andrew Moss, the chief executive, when he launched the restructuring plan. At the time, Mr Moss said he expected to save £300 million over two years. Igal Mayer, chief executive of Norwich Union General Insurance, said the business was still “too complex” despite the amount of integration since Norwich Union merged with CGU in 2000 to create what became Aviva. He said: “What we are announcing represents significant operational change but I am convinced we are on the right course.” Although Aviva insisted that the cuts were not linked to the credit crunch, experts said the move would do little to calm fears of further cost-cutting in the financial services sector. Graham Goddard, general secretary of Unite, said: “The union will now be meeting the management to discuss the implications of this news and ensure that staff are fully supported throughout this distressing process.” Aviva, which announced in April that it intends to drop the Norwich Union name, employs 32,000 across the UK and has 45 million customers worldwide after expanding into emerging markets such as India. Change of policy — The job cuts will see general insurance work withdrawn from offices in Dundee, Glasgow, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Cheadle, Birmingham, Bolton, Southampton, Basildon, Ipswich, Exeter and Worthing. Nine other sites will also be affected — Norwich Union provides insurance cover to one in seven motorists across the UK as well as one in five homeowners — Aviva's general insurance profits fell 39 per cent to £1billion in 2007. Aviva was hit with a £475 million claims bill from the floods last June and July — Andrew Moss, Aviva chief executive, received £2.1million in pay and bonuses in 2007, a 32 per cent rise, after he replaced Richard Harvey last July — Aviva announced in April that it would phase out the 211-year-old Norwich Union brand by 2010 http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article4082626.ece

and its scary. BusyBee has done that to me a few times and the woman sounds like a stalker

I broke!! Once it was legally streamed on myspace I had to go listen, and couldn't wait a day longer :embarassed:

it has peaks & troughs as does the coldplay forum. The Coldplay forum is currently going through a peak, a while back it had a trough where practically all the current posts were about the anatomy of the guys and not much else. the lounge is currently in its new release trough.

definitely worse. as previously mentioned, there was a very visible official forum which took some of the flack. I don't remember having to hang out here for 3/4 evenings in a row none stop last time around either way we have had sterling mods both times who did a cracking job keeping on top of stuff. here's to the mods, both past & present :D

I can only have 2? but those things seat 8 don't they?

definitely not offended. just had one glass of wine to many to coherently deabte the subject with you :D

I really need to do some pre-december concert dancing sessions. think I'm getting to old. just nearly killed myself dancing round the house to viva la vida

noooooooooooooooooooooooo ASARY does nothing for me, but Reign Of Love is my second favourite track on the album.

i'd forgotten about that, it was verry funny

depends on when they were planning to ship them to the stores. I've found that if its a release date in mid-week, albums can still arrive in the previous weekends delivery, meaning you have to be mega careful that it doesn't sneak onto the shelves. a quick mail to the stores advising the release was a couple of days earlier would then be possible.

yup, I had to go downstairs and tell him he'd forgotten a sub-forum :rolleyes: you just can't get the slave-drivers these days :laugh3: