jeff leopard

The Golden Egg by Tim Krabbe. A couple set out on a driving/cycling holiday in Europe. On the first day they have an minor argument and stop at a petrol station to make up, she goes into the shop to by some drinks and disappears without a trace. He sets out to discover what happened to her, a journey that takes him years and ends with one of the most genuinely terrifying denouements EVER! Its great stuff, but a translation for its original Dutch text so the language gets a little mangled at times. Its been adapted into two films, both called The Vanishing. The French version is great, whilst the American remake has one of the most hilariously mis-judged bolted-on happy endings in the history of cinema .

Its good fun, not the greatest zoo ever, but still a great way to spend an afternoon. the meercats are brilliant, these guys are cool too, a mixture of hippo and wolf... the worst part is the snow leopard, i've never seen such a bored and depressed animal

Don't touch me you fool, haven't you seen Time Cop…aaaagggggghhhhhhhhh

for all the faults and frailties and perceived hypocrisy of the power sharing agreement, its an all too rare example of a long dispute ending 'peacefully'. a beacon of hope, no less, that resolutions can be found in the darkest situations. the truth is obviously much more complicated, and the wheels can still come off without too much warning. i'd like to think that the comments made, which i've only read, were more a case of someone no longer entrenched in certain beliefs being able to see things from new perspectives. i am a idealistic commie-hugging eco-terrorist at heart though. but there's no denying that the shot of mcguniness and pasley, sitting side by side with huge sh1t-eating grins, was down right odd.

I admit that my opions are based on things i've read, things i've heard second hand from people and seen via the media, as opposed to being based on first hand experience in the forces. You'll probably laugh but I was in the air cadets for years and years, and visited airbases and did this and that and it was great fun. But there was always an under-lying racist attitude, usually relating to a hilarious jim davidson tape someone had. Some of the marching songs were appallingly racist, but as a 13/14 year old I sung along and thought they were funny. But I'm proud to say that I grew out of it. And I've seen what squadies are like when they're out on the razz and I stand by the comment that these are the last people I want representing me abroad. But more generally, by various accounts, the British grunts on the front line aren't as bad as the Americans for over-reacting and cultural ignorance. I have no doubt that every one of them is primarily concerned with getting out alive, and then making sure all their fellow troops also get out in one piece. And as the Iraq War and Israel/Palestine have shown, this approach to occupation leads to high civilian causalities and a lot of bad blood with the locals for generations to come. (And this is partially based on 'Generation Kill', the brilliant warts and all account of the latest Iraq War by the people who did The Wire.) And to suggest that the armed services are behind the rest of society in regards to race, is that really so crazy? Its an enormous institution, rooted in rituals and tradition, after all. that's just crazy shouting a quick google search quickly leads you to... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/69507.stm Which points out that great improvements have been made in regards to race. Fair point. Read between the lines though and it paints a picture of an racist institution being dragged into line with society. And next, from 2007 http://www.24dash.com/news/Central_Government/2007-03-20-UK-armed-forces-accused-of-institutional-racism Labour MP accuses the UK's armed forces of being institutionally racist. He's clearly insane. Something on the radio this morning, a worryingly high percentage of troops from the Common Wealth falling prey to crippling pain induced by damp and cold climates. This is just the another chapter in the conflict between the UK armed forces and coloured troops from Common Wealth nations, who complain that their treatment is based on racial stereotypes and abuse. Playground stuff, basically. So the army is getting its own house in order, but if they treat their fellow troops so badly for not being British, I shudder at the thought of how they inter-act with the locals, in which ever country they have the enormous misfortune to meet.

Are you saying racism in the British army isn't endemic, that Commonwealth soldiers aren't racially abused on a regular basis? Ha! Here's my proof, you freaking clown… three things normal society gave up decades ago, using the term N*gger using the term P*ki laughing at Jim Davidson the only people that cling on to this way of life are white van drivers, the mentally ill, the police, and the armed forces. ithankyou

i don't drive or fly, so there's no blood on these hands I'd have more respect if they did just say that, 'we did it because in a few years time China would have instead, and who would you rather have the oil?' Its just the constant lies and their claiming the moral high ground the whole time that drives people mad. Really? This would make an interesting poll, because I've never bought into the argument of 'never criticise the brave boyz'. I'm sure plenty of proud German parents never would have dreamt that their offspring where capable of committing genocide (not that I'm comparing our troops to Nazi's, (now Israel, that’s a different story)). I'm think there is a small percentage of decent people out there trying to do the right thing, and another small percentage of absolute scum who enjoy abusing the locals, but the army is an institutionally racist institution, and quite frankly, these are the last people I want representing me abroad. submariners excepted

don't forget 'they lied about its legality and then they even lied about discussing its legality' Yes we do know this and its an insult to all of us to see the guilty parties still in power or making millions on the lecture circuit talking about spreading peace. And what about the journalist who was thrown to the wolves for clearly printing the truth about the sexed-up dossier. And what about the families of everyone who has died as a result of an illegal botched war which made the world a much more dangerous place (including those injured and killed in the london bombings). Or we can just let it go until the next illegal, immoral, and frankly farcical war comes along? To their credit, the public won't accept a conclusion of 'yes..mistakes were made but we can't talk about them because it’s a secret and they'll make the world hate us even more than they do already'. Without a transparent enquiry, the public will never trust its ministers or armed forces again, for good reason.

obviously you were there and i wasn't, and taste is a personal thing, but the two acts you're referring to, Neil Young and Pixies, are without a hint of exaggeration, two of the greatest and most influential acts ever to grace the crazy world of rock n roll. I was tempted to go along for just these two acts, but the endless waves of FM friendly dross (I'm looking at you Pendelum&Prodigy) leading up to them would have driven me to mass murder. But hey, one man's Neil Young is another man's Paulo Nuntini.

Yes, rats are amazing animals. Here are two of my furry house-mates.

Henry isn't the player he was. He looked quite ordinary in the European cup final.

(Rec) The script is incredibly functional, almost to the point that it feels like you're watching somebody playing a video game (search X's apartment and find the key for the re-inforced door in the cellar, avoiding the zombie granny in the hallway/ zombie Y has the keys for the hand-cuffs in his pocket, kill him and use them to release Z before she gets bitten). Stylistically, it uses the same 'point of view' trick as Cloverfield, Blair Witch, Cannibal Hollocaust, as a camera man and female presenter become trapped inside an apartment block rife with zombies and a variety of soon-to-be-zombies. It shouldn't work for a number of reasons, but it's absolutely stonking, gripping you from the first scene right up to its crazy Rubber Johnny-inspired night-vision ending. The acting is very naturalistic and it shocks you in ways you really don't expect to be shocked. When the boss zombie turns up at the end, my girlfriend actually screamed Spainish cinema can do no wrong at the moment, Rec is another great example of how its leaving hollywood trailing in its wake. 8/10

So far I'm 3 wins from 3 with a +17 goal difference and I'm feeling pretty smug. Two of my wins were against bots, but the other was against one of the big three, who I brushed aside without any problems. the other two 'big sides' have both lost a game already, planting me at the top of the league. if they can keep taking points off each other then I'm starting to think I've got a shot at back-to-back promotions, despite having the lowest valued squad in the league and playing sides against strikers that average 5 star ratings. I've focused on general training so far as some of my key players started the season on wretched form, and some of their form has gone from 4 to 7 in just a couple of weeks, taking them from mopey-moo's to happy bunnies. The rest of the season is incredibly open and should be quite exciting. I've got two more games against crap sides before playing the big two twice in a month, that should determine who stays and who goes. I might give the kiddy thing a go.

cheers! hopefully it will sink its little hooks (and riffs) in you.

just having a listen to Friend on spotify, very nice indeed, where have you been hiding them? where does Veckatimest fit in? its not on spotify.

Reason to be very excited! I really want to see 'Up' as well. About two months ago a news story emerged that all the suits from Disney were predicting it was going to be a huge flop because of its limited tie-in potential with toy companies and fast food outlets. And its another massive critical and commercial success! And the suits can go phuq themselves I really really hate Disney. If it hadn't been for Pixar, they would still be raping their back catalogue by issuing 'Jungle Book 7' straight to DVD.

From a long way back but still fresh in my mind.. 'who needs Cantona when we've got Benali' my fave of those quoted... "You're just a s*** Chas & Dave!" Spurs fans to Liam Gallagher about him and Noel during Tottenham-Man City game. well, even a stopped clock gives the right time twice a day.

That youtube smile of Brown's really is one of the most hilarious/heart-breaking things I've ever seen. Well, at the very least, he has made politics interesting again. The story of how he got betrayed by President Blair (Yes Gordon, I'd love to be your wing-man) and made to wait for ten years before finally getting a go at PM, is the stuff of tragi-comedy. And the fact he appears to have hated almost every second since he got the job is just incredible. I voted for labour in 97 but after Iraq I won't touch them with a barge pole. If the tories had said no to Iraq I would have gone back on everything I believe in and voted for them, on that single policy. But no, even in Labour's darkest hour, with their and our world's falling apart, I defy anyone to suggest any of this would have been different under the tories. For all of Gordon's faults, and as we all know he has plenty, he has one thing going in his favour (for me at least)…he's not David 'empty vessel' Cameron. I like many will be throwing my vote away tomorrow, at least it will be on the tree-huggers and not the Neo-Fascists or the euro-sceptic coffin-dodgers.

Ouch! I walked straight into that one.

Call me a big old sour-puss but most of the jokes on sickipeado (or whatever its called) look like they were written to celebrate the introduction of the slave trade 5 year olds with learning difficulties would be too ashamed to repeat most of them. I love sick humour as much as the next man with chronic aids-cancer but well done mods for removing these ""jokes"" - one of which was a friend of humanity saying 'i'm glad the airbus crashed as the french sold weapons to the Argentinians which were then used against British troops'. Ha ha ha. Brilliant. Its not so much a joke page, more a rallying point for people who feel that Jim Davison has sold out and joined the wishy-washy liberal brigade.

SNIP!

Happy thought of the day, apparently the main reason passengers are told to do the 'brace brace' head between the knees thing on crash landing is that it prevents the teeth being shattered on impact, allowing dentals records to be used to identify bodies.

'league one' sounds a bit flat and dull, surely its time for a re-branding. The Best League in the World…Possibly The Wonder-League The World-Series The Galaxy-Series The Mega-League The Uber-League The Star-Chamber Valhalla Babylon

Yes mate, The Wire is utterly sublime and gets better with each series. On a TV/DVD theme, I'm re-watching Aeon Flux, the incredibly weird and wonderful MTV animated series, back when MTV actually played music videos and commissioned young animators to make down-right mind-bending television to show late at night. Endlessly inventive, ludicrously complex, ultra-violent and hilariously funny, its one of the greatest animated series ever. Avoid the live action film AT ALL COST!!!

Sad but true. I think the fans' reputation has nose-dived along with the club's league standing. We used to be a friendly family club, but now we call for our managers to be sacked the same day they're hired. What a joke. Its not just the club that needs to get its house in order.