purple_frog

Well, I'd LOVE if my boss told me I could put my head down & have a post-lunch nap - and I certainly wouldn't be humiliated!

I regularly travel from Manchester airport, using either Ryanair or Aer Lingus - trains direct to the airport are hourly (though of course indirect trains via Manchester are more frequent), and it's really no hassle at all. You could also use Leeds, Liverpool, East Midlands (AFAIK), but it's far more straightforward and hassle-free to use Manchester...

Oh come on, be fair! She never led Shree or Marcus on, they're just two idiotic fools who can't stand not getting their own way, and who judge others as they would not like to be judged themselves. In all the episodes Ive watched, never once have I seen Nóirin do anything with Shree or Marcus into which normal blokes would read anything other than friendship - unlike Marcus and Shree, who are both very emotionally abusive. With Siavash, however, she's been unfair - he's such a sweetie!

I'm not normally one to get angsty about this sort of thing. But I've been listening to Radio 4 for ~21 hours a day this week, while glued to my laptop madly writing my thesis, and they've been banging on about it so often, that I've built it up to HUGE proportions in my head! I wouldn't mind so much, but I'm flying back home to my parents' house once my thesis is done, where my dad's terminal cancer has aboud 2 month max left. He's well enough at the moment, but I'm now terrified that I'll pick up the flu on the trip home, and bring it home to him, and that I'll then be responsible for speeding up the whole death thing - and instead of just slipping into a coma in a month or so, he'll spend his last days feeling rotten.... Oh God, I hope not! And I'm fully aware how irrational I'm being

I was having perishables delivered to me once, and and the postie left a note saying the parcel was in the blue bin. Fair enough, I thought, as I went to get it from the bin. But nope, it wasn't in it. I spent weeks puzzling over it, asked all the neighbours to check their bins, and even contacted the local office, who only told me to ring back another time. Anyway, weeks and weeks later, while she was getting something from the coal shed at the end of our garden, my friend found the parcel. Waaaaaay too late - and definitely not in the blue bin! Grrrr!

Damien Lewis, him from Grey's Anatomy, and Paul Bettany are all lovely!

Oh he's such a t!t, it did my head in! And if he believes that Karly asking for her pill to be handed back to her was indicative of something more sinister than the simple request I'm sure it was, he clearly knows very little about how/why women take the pill, shame on him! I'm thrilled he's gone, coz now we no longer have to listen to him pontificating in his stupid voice and annoying accent, woohoo!

Hecate is spot on, in my opinion. I'm guessing your son is no mind-reader, in which case there is no way he could have known your expectations unless you specifically communicated them to him at some point. Regardless, I think your behaviour was childish and rude. If you have a bone to pick with your son (in your eyes, anyway), then so be it - do so in an appropriate, rational and grown-up way. However there was no need to embarrass the poor girl like that, it was just nasty and cruel. She deserves an apology from you.

Lemon Jelly in tent at the Electric Picnic festival in Ireland years ago - I could've die happy that night, twas almost spiritual!

I hate the term 'ginger' - it's so offensive, used as it is over here. Back home, all folk with red hues are simply 'red heads', and what's wrong with that?! Anyhoo, I do find it incredibly attractive, and always do a double-take if some nice red-headed bloke walks past - yum! I used to dream of waking up red headed as a child, and have since resorted to dye - but would love to keep the sadly diminishing gene pool alive by having red headed sprogs - so cute! Not that hair colour has ultimate importance, natch

Erm, they're perfectly entitled to be here - much as you would be if you decided to take your family and move to Germany, Ireland, France or Poland.... Anyway, my experience of Polish folk is that they were a hell of a lot harder than many folk over here.

THey've brilliant exercise 'playgounds' for old people in China, with lots of simple but fun things to get the blood pumping - my favourite were sorta like cross-trainers that you swung on, I loved 'em! Of course, over there you see the old peeps out in the parks socialising and exercising at ridiculous o'clock in the morning, something I doubt you'd find happening over here... Regardless, I doubt I'll ever be too old to enjoy swings, you can never have too many about the place, IMO!

Go on your own! I never feel that I'm standing out like a sore thumb when I go there alone - have a nice relaxed drink beforehand, maybe something to eat, flick through their programme to plan your next month's viewing, flick through the varied books on sale, and then enjoy the show!

Too true!

Only approx 10% of suffers have relatives similarly afflicted - although a friend pointed out a photo of MJ's eldest son, apparently with some patching on his hand, so who knows whether or not he too has it. But yeah, the hats, masks, umbrellas, long clothes and sun glasses all help many vit sufferers live 'normal' lives without excessive sun exposure. The surgery thing hadn't occurred to me, but it makes sense!

But it's not just about the headline acts, is it? Sure, there are heaps of other festies, if big acts are all you're interested in, but I always find that the fewer big-name-time-clashes I have, the more exciting, fun and relaxed my festival experience - more time to experiment (musically!), explore and open one's horizons to new things! My disappointment with the BBC coverage is that it only shows the stages, with little coverage from the rest of the site - I'd much rather feel like I was *there*, rather than just watch acts on stage, knowing full well that the sound never works as well on the telly.

Hmmmm, all sounds rather worrying, doesn't it?! Hope the kid is okay. I can understand why you're keeping your distance, but might it be worth making an anonymous call to social services, just to report a concern, and let them take it from there?-it could be that everything's fine, but...

I think it might just have been the hair...? To be fair, he was waaaaay overweight before, so no harm in shedding a few stones - so long as it was healthily. But Top Gear is a shameful favourite of mine - love to hate, hate to love!

Em, do social services know about this? I would have thought that unsupervised care of a child isn't allowed, if he's got a record?

There are plenty of photos from back in the day that suggest he did have vitiligo, on his face, nack, arms, hands, and who knows where else. For a while it looks like he used heavy-duty make-up to cover it up, resulting in a darker-than-normal skintone. But it seems like he eventually opted for the permanent treatment that many with the severe forms of the condition undergo. It's got little to do with a black man wanting to be white, IMHO, rather with a man, already riddled with other psychological problems, trying to deal with a difficult physical condition as best as he could......

I think a festival like glastonbury, more than many other festivals, allows the punters to get from it exactly what they choose. I've only been once (2007 - muddiest ever) and I tried to get as varied an experience as possible - all the different areas, the green fields, the small independent little tents, the randomness of 5am - and, to be honest, felt there were almost too many options. I LOVED it, but if I go again, I'll deliberately avoid the main stages for at least 2 of the 5 days, and stick to the more creative, hippiesque, unique side of Glasto. It is what you make of it - but no harm in having cashpoints, coz we all need food/drink!

At the moment, I'm most grateful for my lovely daddy, and the rest of my family. I went home recently to relieve my mother by spending some special time with my daddy, who has changed beyond belief over the past 14 months due to brain tumours. But the 'new' person that he is, is still as loving and sentimental as ever, and he reminds us all of how lucky we are to have such a lovely family. And I'm more grateful and thankful to God than I ever could express that he is still alive now, and, touch wood, in no major pain yet. Day by day, life is for living and for loving.

I had mine taken out under GA, and would defo do it that way again. I loved my bruises, and my jaw and cheeks swelled so much that i totally looked like desperate dan, which was kinda fun! And coming around afterwards was equally entertaining - i apparently had deep and meaningful conversations with the nurses, and the woozy out-of-body sensation was similar to coming around after fainting, which i also kinda enjoy! Granted I was sick afterwards, and had to stay in hosp, but given the bruising, there is no way on earth I'd have been able to handle it under local. The noise alone must be horrid, never mind any pain considerations!

So very true. My father is rapidly losing decision-making competence, so my mother has just organised her and my father's power of attorney and reviewed their wills, to ensure all is well and clarified before the inevitable happens - and she's now on a crusade to educate all her friends and family. It's so often overlooked, and can cause no end of stress, and indeed distress. I hope you get it sorted KennyGray, it sounds like it's become very complicated and upsetting...

She (Lisa Hannigan) left him to develop her own career, and things seem to be going better for her than they ever did for him, with glowing SXSW reviews this year and much acclaim recently in the US...