Hamilton Saint

The ambition is shown in what he actually does, not in just what he says. Pardew's ambition is evident with what he has done in developing his team and improving the situation at the club. He is doing a fantastic job. Why do people insist on looking for negativity?

You don't think the players understand the difference between what Pardew says to them in the privacy of the dressing-room, or on the practice pitch, and what he says publicly to the media?

I think it is so refreshing to have a manager who is articulate, thoughtful, honest and forthright. But so many supporters seem to prefer hearing a load of guff, or a bucket of cliches, or smart-aleck jokes. I really appreciate hearing Pardew's opinions. They always make sense to me and they reflect the actual situation at the time they are given - not a load of meaningless drivel that tells you nothing.

You lucky fella! I saw Jackson Browne accompanied by David Lindley at The Riverboat in Toronto in the early 70s (1973?). That was a great concert. Lindley plays on most of the early Browne albums. He's superb in his own right. I have three of his albums: Win This Record, Very Greasy, and El Rayo-X. All are excellent. That should be a superb show!

You lucky fella! I saw Jackson Browne accompanied by David Lindley at The Riverboat in Toronto in the early 70s (1973?). That was a great concert. Lindley plays on most of the early Browne albums. He's superb in his own right. I have three of his albums: Win This Record, Very Greasy, and El Rayo-X. All are excellent. That should be a superb show!

Edge of the Earth? :confused:

A general degree here takes three years; an honours degree takes four. Generally, if you plan to continue your university education beyond the B.A. level, you would do a four-year degree.

No, it doesn't. All map projections distort the layout of the Earth's surface, because they are attempting to fit a curved surface onto a flat sheet. Specifically, the Mercator projection exaggerates the size of countries that are far away from the equator. Greenland, for example, in the Mercator projection, looks like it is as big as Africa - in fact, Africa is about 14 times bigger than Greenland. And so on.

... and putting the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the Word Map, instead of the Pacific Ocean.

You really mean "me", don't you? To have an "us", you need society. To have a society, to have a civilsed society, you need taxes to pay for those services that create a civilised life. Taxes, therefore, are not a "burden"; they are the necessary price for a civilsed life. If you don't believe in society (sound familiar?), you think of tax as a "burden".

Perfect reception for me today!

Davis Otsemobor Fonte Jaidi Harding Puncheon Schneiderlin Hammond Lallana Lambert Barnard

Line up: same team as Saturday. Oxlade-Chamberlain on the bench.

That's clever! :smt041

There was plenty of cheesy music as usual at the Winter Olympic figure skating events - not to mention lots of tacky costumes. So I was pleasantly surprised to see Scott Moir and Tessav Virtue do their free-skate routine in the Ice Dancing event to the Adagietto movement from Mahler's Fifth Symphony. It's gorgeous music - used so effectively in Visconti's film Death In Venice. Moir and Virtue's routine was beautiful - utterly captivating, in fact. So classy, compared to dreck like Phantom of the Opera. I've been listening to the Adagietto off and on now for the last few days.

So, no Richard Thompson this year?

Would you care to elaborate? As I was listening to the game on Saturday (vs Walsall), and experiencing these constant little drop-outs of reception, my friend in Wimbledon (UK) was experiencing the exact same problems. That suggests to me that the problem is not with my ISP, or the settings on my PC.

Saturday's internet broadcast of the Walsall game was very poor. There were constant momentary losses of reception (lasting 2 or 3 seconds) throughout the game - very irritating, especially at moments of high drama. This has been happening quite a lot this season. Where exactly should one direct complaints about this?

Good advice. Would probably be a good idea to remove that Getty image forthwith.

Strolling along the High Street in the old city centre is fun. Check out some of the specialty Scotch shops, if you enjoy single malt whisky. There are also some good pubs along there. A hike up to Arthur's Seat would give you an amazing view of the city. If you're a big fan of Ian Rankin's Rebus books, visiting some of the places mentioned a lot in his books might be of interest.

The Beatles and/or Paul McCartney have never recorded Mrs. Robinson. The Beatles never performed it in a concert (they stopped performing in Live concerts in 1966; The Graduate came out in 1967 and the Mrs. Robinson single and Bookends LP came out in 1968 ). The only possible time they might have jammed with it in the studio would have been during the sessions at Twickenham film studio and the Apple recording studio in Savile Row during the filming of Let It Be. But I have never heard of that either. BTW, Mrs. Robinson is a great single (I love the acoustic guitar work in it - Paul Simon), and Bookends is a great album - their best, IMO. And The Graduate is a superb film! One of the best comedies of the 60s. Brilliant acting from Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. The S&G music works great.

There's a CD collection called Desert Island Selection on the EG label. It is an 11-track compilation of stuff taken from five albums released 1973-1978 (Here Come the Warm Jets, Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy, Another Green World, Before and After Science, and Music For Airports). Probably a good place to start. I have 13 of his albums (some are solo discs, some are duets: e.g., with Robert Fripp, with Harold Budd, with Jon Hassell). If you like quirky, upbeat rock stylings like Roxy Music, then the first two solo albums will be of interest (Here Come The Warm Jets and Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy). If you like laid-back singer-songwriter stylings, you might like Before and After Science. If you like synthesizer noodlings (what he calls "ambient" music - a kind of intellectualised muzak!), you might prefer Discreet Music (which features a whole side of variations on Pachelbel's Canon). If you like ethereal, spacey stuff, you might like Music for Airports, or the work he does with trumpeter Jon Hassell - Possible Musics, or the keyboard work with Harold Budd - Plateaux of Mirror. Lots to choose from. Maybe start with the compilation and take it from there?!

I picked MLT too. Once it narrowed it down to football, it asked if my player played for Manchester, and then Liverpool, and then Arsenal. When I answered that yes, he was a midfielder, and that he was the best, it then paused and selected Lampard! The long list of players it then offered for me to look at in order to identify my choice did not include the Great One.

How judgemental of you. I would prefer to sit and support my team. You have a problem with that? I chose to walk around Oxford; I didn't choose to stand for the entire game - that "choice" was forced on me by those standing in front of me. I don't mind standing for some of the game - especially during moments of high excitement - but not for the entire match. And don't get me started on the bloke to my left who was screaming obscenities and abuse at Pardew. I think he might have been aware that Pardew couldn't hear him from that great distance. So who was he yelling for? Very ugly - but, apparently, another "super" fan.

Well, I noticed about a dozen rows of "woofters" in the section immediately to my left who were happy to sit for the entire game. But, I suppose only people who insist on standing are "real" supporters, etc., etc.