jester1470

Does anyone here buy any art ? I've recently started off buying the odd affordable piece, just kind of as an investment and cos I like it, but I generally go for fantasy art. So far I've bought some Geoff Taylor, some ink ones from David Eddings books and this one: Also just bought a sketch by Rodney Matthews who is one of my favourites. There's a few artists i'd love to own something by, does anyone else collect artwork, whether prints or original ? Theer's a few artists I'd love to own an original of like Mark Wilkinson, but thatmight come in time hopefully. Cheers Stuart

for anyone interested this is the bid video that Qatar put together: BEAM.TV: Create :: Adapt :: Deliver

I genuinelly think one of the best episodes of any show dealing with death is "The Body", which just captured the whole thing of seath as a disorientating thing and the cionfusion so perfectly. Other great episodes are Hush, Once more with feeling, and the one i can't remember the name of where dawn makes everyone lose their memory.

Sad to see Ingrid Pitt has died

Not sure what the full story is but if you read the comments on his own website with regards to the Maiden stuff he is a very bitter man, it's quite amusing, Derek Riggs Portfolio This link particularly but there's some cracking comments slagging off the band, management etc all the way through. using music as an excuse for selling merchandise? time for me to go I think...

Surprised there hasnt been more comment on this or is everyone too busy playing, i love it, the way you negotiate a contract is so much better than previous games, and you feel genuine satisfaction when you get them for less than they ask for whereas that was much more difficult in previous games,brilliant 3d engine, takes a bit longer to play each match i think, but generally I love it. Anyone else got any other thoughts ? Definitely more difficult than previous versions imo.

Have been playing the full version all weekend now and loving the little touches, the way the press conferences are done seems better to me and the way you can discuss and negotiate with an agent in real time. Really enjoying the 3d graphics and the afct I have 6 leagues running and its still as quick as ever, theyalways manage to make it that much better and have succeeded again

I'm more impressed by which network was 60 years ahead of the game and had the communcations network in place in case someone wanted to make a call from the future...

I have to admit i've never actually managed to get through an Eddings book but she likes the earlier stuff, there was quite a nice piece of artwork i nearly bought but she wouldnt let me because the book was so terrible apparently. I usually prefer stuff like Terry Brooks, but switching back into present buying - I also just bought a Captain Planet animation cell for her, and last year I got her a complete set of Enid Blyton 5 find outer and dog set, amongst other things, so maybe best not to take my example - I'm currently reading The Mystery of the Spitefull Letters from it though

I just bought some Pen and Ink Artwork by Geoff Taylor used in the David Eddings book Belgarath the Sorceror for my other half, is that unusual enough ? and and Willo the Wisp on DVD... more will no doubt come when i think of interesting enough things...

I don't have a problem with that at all, but when you sign a new contract with Sky you usually get new equipment which is under a warranty, otherwise it's a rolling contract and outwith your initial signing time, usually one year during which all your stuff is in warranty so if you have a catastrophically expensive breakdown its covered. At the moment they want me to sign up for a year with equipment that is almost 2 years old with no warranty, I even offerered to pay the 100 for a new box if it would put me in warranty but they wont do that, I'm not expecting them to give me warranty for nothing I'm happy to buy the new equpment they advertise, but they won't let me do it, the only options as far as they are concerned is that I tie myself in for a year without a warranty on old equipment, I could take out private warranty on the equipment, but it's the principle and the madness that for the sake of about a 100 warranty they are happy to lose 750 a year which is what they get out of me, especially when the only reason my girlfriend doesnt want it in her name is because they gave out our details to a third party without informing us anyway when other ISPs chose to fight. It just seems reidiculous, the stupid thing is I'm happy to sign up for another year but if I'm under the same conditions as someone new to Sky I want the same advantages such as a warranty, it's not like I havent offered to pay what they give to new subscribers anyway.

Couldnt agree more, we're having problems with Sky only because we want to change from my gf's name to mine, and they will let us do it but they'll tie us in for another year but won't give us a warranty for that time, it's proving to be a real nightmare, basically we want to change the name because of the ASC Law thing as my gf was freaked out about getting a letter accusing her of dling so i said i don't mind it being in my name, you wouldnt think it'd be so difficult to change the name.

Have you heard the Clangers Opera it is really good Clangers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and I am sad/cool enough to own the Clangers and the Bagpuss soundtrack CD And for any Raccoons fans: HotUKDeals - The Raccoons -Complete Season 1 DVD 8.85 Delivered @ TheHut

As many know I'm a huge Postgate/Firmin fan and love I got the complete Noggin boxset which was a huge set with books and the DVDs a few years ago, I'm also lucky to have a hand drawbn sketch and autograph of Noggin from Peter Firmin, if ever theres someone who whould write a Noggin concept album it's you Alan

My favourites, I'll list the ones I've bought on DVD first and are still just as good Duck Tales Mysterious cities of Gold Dogtanian Around the World with Willy Fogg Dungeons and dragons Ulysess 31 Defenders of the Earth Droids Ewoks And now ones i loved at the time - minus things like Bagpuss as Stop motion isnt cartoon to me, I'll do that list in a minute Godzilla (and godzoooooooooooky) Pole Position The Space Sentinels Battle of the Planets The real Ghostbusters He-man and the Masters of the Universe Pigeon Street - was well impressed to see a pigeon Street picture for sale in Plan 9, if only I had room for it, Mr Benn King Rollo Bod The Mr Men Stop Motions Classics: Chorlton and the Wheelies Paddington Bear The Wombles Bagpuss Clangers Tottie the Flumps

For anyone interested Zavvi currently have his first 7 albums ion a boxset for preorder at only 12.95 Bruce Springsteen - Bruce Springsteen - The Collection 1973-84 CD | Zavvi.com

It wasn't Chubby Chasers we were accused of We were one of the milder ends of porn

I have had a letter from ACS Law and yet don't appear on the list despite being a Sky Customer, Interestingly we were in the middle of a week in Staffordshire when the alleged downloading took place. I send a letter of denial, said that we were not even in the same country at the time and I looked forward to repeating that in court, and strangely never heard of anything else, allegedly they reckon as much as 50% may be wrong information, but by doing it with such things as gay porn and granny porn they try to embarass people into paying up lest it become public knowledge - or become known to partners etc. It's basically legalised blackmail, and i'm glad that its happened to them, and he did bring it on himself by publically stating that the attacks on other sites were worthless and didnt matter. The best thing is that no crime has taken place, they left the mails up on their server for anyone to get as they tried to fix the website so oops on all levels. He was already in the middle of an SRU investigation - i complained tothem when i had my letter so was being kept abreast of it, and he may well have been shut down - but would have been allowed to keep the money made until now, a 500k fine should eat up a fair bit of that.

You could also argue that the sound engineers are more talented than many of the bands going about and they get paid for putting up with and dealing with bands, not to mention the sound engineer will generally be working for longer than the individual bands too. Its an apples and oranges situaion, yes the sound engineers may get paid more at this level but they're doing a different job, a pilot gets paid more than a taxi driver. You couldn't pay me enough to sit and listen to some of the bands that play in Aberdeen and as such that's part of what people get paid to do, as a band you're playing something you like or you wouldnt be playing it, as a sound engineer you amy well be working with something you hate, just a thought.

I am about to write something I never imagined I'd ever write: After 25 years, I have decided to leave Dream Theater....the band I founded, led and truly loved for a quarter of a century. To many people this will come as a complete shock, and will also likely be misunderstood by some, but please believe me that it is not a hasty decision...it is something I have struggled with for the last year or so.... After having had such amazing experiences playing with Hail, Transatlantic and Avenged Sevenfold this past year, I have sadly come to the conclusion that I have recently had more fun and better personal relations with these other projects than I have for a while now in Dream Theater... Please don't misinterpret me, I love the DT guys dearly and have a long history, friendship and bond that runs incredibly deep with them...it's just that I think we are in serious need of a little break... Dream Theater was always my baby...and I nurtured that baby every single day and waking moment of my life since 1985...24/7, 365...never taking time off from DT's never-ending responsibilites (even when the band was "off" between cycles)...working overtime and way beyond the call of duty that most sane people ever would do for a band... But I've come to the conclusion that the DT machine was starting to burn me out...and I really needed a break from the band in order to save my relationship with the other members and keep my DT spirit hungry and inspired. We have been on an endless write/record/tour cycle for almost 20 years now (of which I have overseen EVERY aspect without a break) and while a few months apart from each other here & there over the years has been much needed and helpful, I honestly hoped the band could simply agree with me to taking a bit of a "hiatus" to recharge our batteries and "save me from ourselves"... Sadly, in discussing this with the guys, they determined they do not share my feelings and have decided to continue without me rather than take a breather...I even offered to do some occasional work throughout 2011 against my initial wishes, but it was not to be... While it truly hurts for me to even think of a Dream Theater without Mike Portnoy (hell, my father named the band!!), I do not want to stand in their way...so I have decided to sacrifice myself and simply leave the band so as to not hold them back against their wishes.... Strangely enough, I just read an interview that I recently did that asked me about the future of DT and I talked about "always following your heart and being true to yourself"...sadly I must say that at this particular moment, my heart is not with Dream Theater...and I would simply be "going through the motions", and would honestly NOT be true to myself if I stayed for the sake of obligation without taking the break I felt I needed. I wish the guys the best and hope the music and legacy we created together is enjoyed by fans for decades to come...I am proud of every album we made, every song we wrote and every show we played.... I'm sorry to all the disappointed DT fans around the world...I really tried to salvage the situation and make it work...I honestly just wanted a break (not a split)...but happiness cannot be forced, it needs to come from within.... You DT fans are the greatest fans in the world and as you all know, I have always busted my ass for you guys and I hope that you will stay with me on my future musical journey, wherever it may lead me....(and as you all know my work ethic, there will surely be no shortage of future MP projects!) Sadly... Your fearless ex-leader and drummer, MP -------------------------------------------------------------------------- That's Mike's comment, i've been lucky enough to meet him a few times, primarily through his work with Transatlantic but he always seemed a nice guy and passionate about dream theater and I imagine he hasn't left lightlly.

It genuinelly is as good as it looks on the adverts in fact I'd say the screen is better than advertised, the only problem we've had is the battery but amazon are shipping a new one to us tomorrow so that should be a good thing as our battery is definitely dud - charged overnight last night, only used to demonstrate it etc at work today and the battery is less than half full.

Has anyone else picked up one of these yet ? We got ours on Saturday and its a very nice piece of kit, very clear screen, room for 3500 books, a bit fiddly to put lots of books on at once, ie I wanted to put in about 700 books and it took most of the day to sort them into sub categories. Only quibble is the battery life which is meant to last for days but in our case lasts about 4 hours, but give amazon their due they're sending a new one out and we should have it tomorrow, just hope I dont have to go through putting all 700 books in categories again. All in all very impressed with what I think is a nice piece of kit. Anyone else got one and has any comments ?

Top 10 tracks - in no particular order: Plague of Ghosts - Fish Ghost of Tom Joad - Bruce Springsteen The Ballad of Mott - Mott the Hoople Fugazi - Marillion White Flag - Dido Isobel (live) - Dido Brighton Rock - Queen Hotel California - The Eagles Journey of the Sorceror - The Eagles Not even going to try - David Devant and his spirit Wife Book: Seeing Things by Oliver Postgate Luxury - Is it cheating to say a fully stocked kindle with 3g

See this is the bit I don't get, if someone is making money, and they would be, why would anyone be expected to do their job for less or free ? If these gigs were to happen it should happen with the people working at it getting paid the same as they would any other gig, that's the only fair way to do it, and hence why it's so difficult.

Not long now apparently, end of October, looks very good: * Contract Negotiations - making its debut in Football Manager 2011 is a new live contract negotiation system, with a host of new contract clauses. Learn to deal with different types of agents as you try to secure your next big signing. * Re-vamped training system - including more basic training schedules and individual training focus where players can be in trained in 14 different skill areas. Plus, a new match preparation area, where you can get your team to concentrate on special focus areas, and train in specific tactics, in the lead up to a match. * Improved Interaction - new board request and backroom advice options as well as a new player interaction module allowing you to have private conversations with your players, including lots of options never seen before, taking interaction to a whole new level. * News subscription service - expanded to make the way that news and mail is distributed even more user friendly and immersive. Dozens of additional news items and a new module written to add more intelligence in the news items themselves. * Match View - play under the glare of the floodlights for the first time with night matches and over 100 new animations including player models, stadiums, goal celebrations and much, much more. Not forgetting improvements to what was already the best match simulation on the market. * Dynamic League Reputation - a new feature meaning as teams get stronger and perform better on a continental level, the league they play in will also get stronger, attracting more players to want to play in the league and a more accurate modelling of the changing face of world football. Got mine preordered from Zavvi - cheapest price so far at 24.95