russt68

I'm not a fan of A4E or Emma Harrison - but..... as someone who works in a training centre that sees these people day in day out, are you telling me that 9% into work is a POOR achievement? I think you need to wake up and stop talking from your ivory tower. We're in RECESSION. We have an unprecedented FORTY, yes FORTY per cent of people coming through our doors who CANNOT read and write. So to get even one of these people into ANY type of work is a massive achievement. We deal with an alarming number of people who have absolutely NOTHING to put on a CV... that's NO training, NO work, NO college, NO qualifications. The ONLY way to ensure these people eventually get into some sort of work is through running through what most of us would consider incredibly basic sets of training - and yes, some of that training DOES include work experience. And thank God it does - it eases people into work, through a side door if you like, and very often the company who take the person on a work experience scheme do actually take them on..... if the person bothers to attend. For the record, over half the people who undertake work experience simply don't turn up - regardless of whether there is a job at the end of that work experience (which is often just 2 or 4 weeks - often standard when doing a work trial anyway). Jobseekers Allowance isn't a given right. It's not something the state simply 'owes' jobseekers. When you sign on, you're signing a contract agreeing to do whatever it takes to find work or whatever it takes to get you trained up to become employable and work ready. And are you trying to tell me teaching people to read and write, placing them in environments where they may be working for the first time in their lives (often in their 40s and 50s) and trying to break the hideous cycle of 'claiming' (often 3rd and 4th generations of a family where usually NOBODY has ever worked) is a BAD thing? Wake up, Scott.

Bar True Blue, I reckon you're doing a stellar job so far :cheer:

I hope they put on a better show than they did tonight at the Brits... Christ, they were abysmal?!

Just a glorious pop song..... exciting, joyous and just...perfect.

10 E 9 F 8 D 7 C 6 H 5 I 4 B 3 A

I'm 50/50 on these... I bought Alpinisms... but it's 30% ok, 70% seriously not ok at all. Yes, they're very Ccoteau Twins.... but without the mystery, grandeur...and stunning vocals.

Yep, Mikey, definitely the normal hues one... lovely.

Have you changed this, Mikey? Sure I saw one without the hues changed earlier? Think I preferred the first one..... one of your best in ages.

Interesting, it's quite a topic to choose though!

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm76/blissfulignorance_2008/azarireckless.jpg

The last album was decidedly patchy (gorgeous artwork, though), Future This...well, people have slagged it off on here but..... if you like MGMT's debut then you can't really fail to like the new Big Pink album.... yes, it's commercial, yes, it's anthemic...but...so what? It's a seriously great album.

I like Emeli Sande, even bought tickets to see her soon, but Next To Me is a seriously duffer of a single.... MOR-tastic..... and from what I've heard of the album, after 2 plays through it, it's more of the same. Perhaps she gave the strongest songs she had to other people because, bar Heaven (which, let's be honest, is a remake of Massive Attack's classic Unfinished Sympathy), she really doesn't have that many great tracks of her own, on her album, at all. Deeply disappointing.

My Love Is Your Love is the only single of hers I'd ever want. The rest.... sorry.... schmaltz.

They were always Britain;s naffest, most clueless and utterly awful girlband, anyway - so why make a comeback? Pointless. Next?

10 F 9 J 8 G 7 H 6 E 5 C 4 D 3 I 2 A

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm76/blissfulignorance_2008/psbformat.jpg

...just YouTube the songtitles - they're all on there if you want to hear.

That's one helluva strong top 2..... I'm in the presence of greatness :) And, kind of off topic but... the 2 Bears album..... it's FABULOUS. :heart:

This performance pretty much sums up why Madonna is still, let's face it, the Queen of f***ing Everything. Yes, GaGa can carbon copy her, Britney can do her best to follow her tracks (ie...badly), and there'll always be hundreds of wannabes who, however talented, just can't outshine her. Sometimes it just isn't about the best singers, dancers, hairstyles etc... there's just ....something. That elusive star quality. Madonna has it oozing out of her like ectoplasm. There's several things wrong with this performance, let's be honest (LMFAO... oh why?) and Madonna can't ever be forgiven for releasing her worst single of in 25 years last Friday, but hey ho, the album's gonna be incredible. Choreography - perfect.... stage - perfect. OK, it'll never top her MTV 1990 Vogue performance... but... what will? Incredible.

10 A 9 H 8 I 7 K 6 D 5 G 4 L 3 B 2 J 1 C

She sounds a bit like Siouxsie Sioux on Million Dollar Man. I'm loving this album a lot..... a deserved number one, for once, believe the hype.

http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm76/blissfulignorance_2008/lanadelreybtd.jpg

well, 21 IS a great album... but best of 2011? Naaaa.

I know, most real Garbage fans think the complete opposite. I liked them... but never really loved them.

Mikey, I prefer the first cover, but I'd change the colour of the font for her name......?