Jenjie

The BBC sports show Grandstand is to come to an end after 48 years. The corporation said the programme will be phased out as part of an overhaul of coverage but sports will still be shown on Saturday afternoons. Grandstand has been presented by the likes of Frank Bough, David Coleman, Des Lynam and Steve Rider. BBC Director General Mark Thompson is expected to announce the changes when he gives details of a review of BBC output on Tuesday. The project is aimed at making sure the BBC's programming and content meets the challenges of the digital, on-demand world. Sports programming on Saturday afternoon originally ran within Grandstand. But in recent years coverage has been broken down into individual programme segments such as Football Focus. This year's coverage of the Winter Olympics and Commonwealth Games were shown without the Grandstand banner. It is thought events currently covered by BBC Sport within Grandstand, such as the Grand National and FA Cup football, will now also be given their own programmes. BBC media correspondent Torin Douglas said: "BBC executives believe that in the new digital on-demand world, in which people consume news, sport and entertainment on computers and mobile phones as well as radio and TV, it is associated with the past rather than the future." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4940490.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4940506.stm

American Dreamz - 5/10. the trailers looked really good, as a spoof pop idol style thingy. the bit the trailers neglected to mention was the sub-plot of the suicide bomber who comes to the US, and is so enthralled by the show that he decides not to blow himself & the president up. some bits of it were funny, but i just didn't understand why the whole suicide bomber bit was in there.

mmmmmmmmmmm Green & Black's new ginger chocolate is very, very nice!!

I've thought alot about suicide, but not in terms of myself. My sister's a psychologist, and she gets cross with me when I talk to her about my feelings on suicide.

Did your mother never teach you to share? :angry: :kiss:

thanks, you're all so sweet. I love my special guests, they're ace!!! Have been to the cinema with one of my best mates, and we followed it up with Pizza Hut. Am now happily full of stuffed crust pizza!! I think its now time to bring on the alcohol!!!! :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Ga-Ga, Goo-Goo Little Foo Foo Fighters star Dave Grohl's wife, Jordyn Blum, gave birth to the couple's first child, Violet Maye, in Los Angeles last week. Violet, named after Grohl's grandmother, weighed in at 6 pounds, 15 ounces. Grohl, 37, is hoping the new arrival will be musical: He has been playing hits, spanning every genre, to the baby since before she was born. "Likes The Beatles. Doesn't really get down to The Beach Boys. Digs Mozart," Grohl said recently. Source: http://www.courant.com

The lead actor in the movie "United 93" will miss the film's premiere Tuesday in New York City because the U.S. Embassy is denying him a visa. British actor Lewis Alsamari plays the main hijacker in the film, which depicts the final hours of the passengers on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Shanksville, Pa., on Sept. 11, 2001. Although Alsamari was granted asylum in the United Kingdom in 1998, American authorities are less keen to welcome him across the Atlantic. "I was born in Iraq but have lived in Britain since 1995 and am about to apply for British citizenship," he told contactmusic.com. Source - http://www.courant.com

There's some really cool titles on there. Quite a few I've had my eye on and wouldn't mind reading

Just found this one, which was also published as a book. Unfortunately, the last entry is from 2004, but it covers from 2002 onwards. http://dear_raed.blogspot.com/

Nope, she started it because she survived the war. She 's using it to re-count her experiences of post-war, occupied life. She doesn't have electricity every day even 3 years on, so I'm not sure what the situation would have been like before that.

I've read the first couple of entries, and its very interesting stuff. Doesn't seem particularly political but is very much about the fear and the way of life the Iraqis are experiencing.

Untold Stories by Alan Bennett (Faber/Profile) The Sale of the Late King's Goods by Jerry Brotton (Pan Macmillan) Bad Faith by Carmen Callil (Jonathan Cape) The Ongoing Moment by Geoff Dyer (Abacus) The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis (Allen Lane) Mozart's Women by Jane Glover (Pan MacMillan) The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs Beeton by Kathryn Hughes (Fourth Estate) The Sailor in the Wardrobe by Hugo Hamilton (Fourth Estate) Post War by Tony Judt (William Heinemann) The Great Wall by Julia Lovell (Atlantic Books) Ancient Americans by Charles C Mann (Granta) Rosebery by Leo McKinstry (John Murray) Ivan's War by Catherine Merridale (Faber) Before the Fall-Out by Diana Preston (Doubleday) The Orientalist by Tom Reiss (Chatto & Windus) Baghdad Burning by Riverbend (Marion Boyars) 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare by James Shapiro (Faber) Witnesses of War by Nicholas Stargadt (Jonathan Cape) After the Victorians by AN Wilson (Hutchinson) The Winner will be announced on 14th June 2006 and the award ceremony will be broadcast live on BBC Four.

If you want to know what life in Iraq has been like for the last 3 years, then this site is worth a read http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/ The woman who writes the blog has just had a book of her blog published in the Uk, and its been long-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction. Its called Baghdad Burning.

Scary Movie 4 - 6/10 the beginnign was quite funny, but it went on a bit too long, and the Tom Cruise spoof at the end was overdone

really?? its not released until tomorrow!! bad peeps who sent it out to you!

Nope, not at all excited. Its 12 years since I last saw them live, and I can't wait til they hit Manchester!!!!

Thread has been edited, as it would be a shame to lose a 22 page discussion. A healthy debate doesn't need anyone to be insulting other board members.

erm that's a really difficult question. I love roast beef with yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes & veg. If I'm having chinese, I love cantonese style fried steak with egg fried rice. Curry-wise, you can't beat a lamb balti with pilau rice and Naan

wasn't taken that way :D

I'm only reporting what the article told me :cry: dumbass reporters who know nothing!!! ;)

I'm getting the impression they preferred proper soil with nutrients, as opposed to the clay bollocks they're planted in at the moment

Now in its 37th year—a grandfatherly age for film festivals, many of which are less than a decade old—the Nashville Film Festival remains the biggest film event of the year in the city, a seven-day orgy of movie love that drew some 15,000 people last year. And yet, despite its growing size and visibility, it’s still a remarkably democratic event. When the 2006 NaFF launches Thursday at Regal’s Green Hills megaplex, on four screens, it will be open to anyone with a few hours of free time, nine bucks, and a schedule. From there, you’re on your own. Thursday 20th April SHORTS PROGRAM 4 (9:25 p.m.; also 5 p.m. Friday) Gwyneth Paltrow makes her directorial debut with “Dealbreaker,” a short comedy about the little things that can kill a relationship. Fran (Arija Barekis) reflects on the many faux pas that ended all her previous relationships, like the dude who admitted to liking the Spin Doctors or the bizarre baby-talker. However, the killer event is the one that snuffs Fran’s current relationship—a Farrelly Brothers-style gross-out involving poor bathroom etiquette. The film’s little more than a Cosmo article come to life, and no wonder: it’s based on real stories from Glamour magazine readers. —M.M. Read the Full Article here

The hoopla around the birth of Tom and Katie's brand new kitten (Suri!) may be the most watched celebrity nativity of our time: Tom's going to eat the placenta! She has to suck a pacifier! But they are hardly the first celebrities to have the birth of their child right smack in the center of the media spotlight. Here then, for some perspective, is a list of 10 other notable celebrity parents and the stories of how they got their buns out of the oven and into the limelight. 1. Alexa Rae Joel January 1, 1986 In a jokey attempt to dodge the merely semi-vicious paparazzi, mom Christie Brinkley and dad Billy Joel donned Groucho Marx glasses as they left the New York Hospital with newborn Alexa. 2. Rene Charles Angelil January 25, 2001 Nothing was simple about young Rene's birth. Celine Dion and her considerably older husband Rene Angelil turned to scientists to help them conceive partially because of Dion's fertility issues, partially because Angelil had been diagnosed with cancer. When the baby did come (three weeks early) Angelil hatched an elaborate escape plan for Dion involving two decoy limos parked at the front entrance and doctor's entrance and a fake Celine dressed in large straw hat and cape carrying a doll. Mom, Dad, and baby made their escape in a black Mercedes parked by the loading dock. 3. Dakota Johnson October 4, 1989 Melanie Griffith — flush from her success in "Working Girl" — gave birth in Austin, Texas where husband Don Johnson was filming the Dennis Hopper-directed film "Hot Spot." Johnson arrived at the hospital in a helicopter, but the couple left by pick-up truck. Officials at Brackenridge Hospital kept tight security, although the Austin American-Statesman reported "fans and well-wishers were nowhere to be seen." 4. Prince Michael Jackson Jr. February 13, 1997 The son of Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe, (formerly a nurse in Jackson's dermatologist's office), Prince Jackson's birth was shrouded in rumors and mystery. Some tabloids reported that moments after the birth Jackson whispered to his wife "don't get too attached." Other claimed Rowe was artificially inseminated and that Jackson paid her between $500,000 and $1.24 million to carry the baby. What appears to be true is that six uniformed guards stood watch in the lobby to keep the media out and that other guards were posted in the maternity unit. 5. Lourdes October 14, 1996 Madonna is the kind of lady who sticks to her guns, but during the birth things did not go to according to plan. She had hoped to have a natural childbirth, huffing and puffing to the soundtrack of Alan Rudolph film "The Moderns." But when hours later she was still in pain and showing no signs of progress, her doctor suggested a cesarean. She reluctantly agreed and soon found herself heavily sedated and being wheeled toward the delivery room. "Goodbye, everyone," she said. "I'm going to get my nose job now." 6. Apple Blythe Alison Martin May 14, 2004 Hippy-dippy Gwyneth Paltrow planned to have baby Apple at home, but was advised against it by her midwife, so she and husband Chris Martin checked into St. John and St. Elizabeth Hospital in London. It was a long labor, but Gwynnie refused to take any medication according to a friend of the couple. Natural childbirth worked out for her. Gwyneth left the hospital the following day, and the couple took a very public well-photographed stroll with baby just two days after the labor. 7. Desi Arnaz Jr. January 19, 1953 When Lucille Ball became pregnant in 1952, women with bulging bellies were still expected to spend most of their time out of the public eye. Not one to sit back quietly, the fiery red head instead made the unprecedented decision to write the pregnancy into "I Love Lucy" — although the scripts had to be reviewed by a priest, a minister, and a rabbi to be sure they were inoffensive. When the Ricardo's TV son Ricky was born, more people watched the episode than watched the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. 8. Hazel Patricia and Phinnaeus Walter November 28, 2004 Twins run in Julia Roberts' family, so it was no surprise to Roberts and her husband of two years, camera operator Danny Moder, when the bump in her belly belied two babies rather than one. Roberts did not experience any of the usual aches and pains of pregnancy — no morning sickness, swollen ankles, leg cramps or complications — except for being on bed rest for six weeks, just before the film Closer was about to be released. She had to do interviews from her home. 9. Sean Tara Ono Lennon October 9, 1975 The baby who turned a rock legend into a house-husband was born on his father's 35th birthday. Coincidence? Some think not. Some fans believe that Lennon's wife Yoko Ono induced the birth a month early. After Sean was born Lennon disappeared for five years to dote on his son while Ono threw herself into real estate. 10. Sean Preston Federline September 14, 2005 Kevin Federline had been through this before, but for wife Britney Spears, her first experience with labor was going to be luxe all the way. In addition to the pop star's fifth floor $3,000/night UCLA Medical Center room (complete with tented balcony — of course), her family and security team took up an additional seven rooms on the floor. Britney also had a private chef in a kitchen adjacent to her hospital suite to make whatever she requested. Deborah Netburn for latimes.com