brian91

Michael Schumacher open to Formula One return A Ferrari spokesman did not rule out the possibility of Schumacher returning, but stressed it was too early to say anything and added that Massa's health was dominating the Scuderia's thoughts at this time. Massa is recovering in a hospital in Budapest after being hit by a metal spring while travelling at 162mph during qualifying for last weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix. The Brazilian will certainly miss next month's European Grand Prix in Valencia and is expected to sit out for the rest of the year. His career could even be over if it emerges that his vision is impaired by injuries sustained to his left eye. Schumacher, who retired from Formula One at the end of the 2006 season, told the BBC in an interview at the German Grand Prix two weeks ago that he was not interested in returning to the sport in which he won seven titles, five with Ferrari. However, his spokeswoman Sabine Kehm has explained that the German was referring to a permanent return. "Usually, I would say he's not interested because he's fine with his life and he doesn't miss anything but now the situation is so different - it's very hypothetical - and Michael doesn't want to step into that [discussion]," she said. "The whole thing will be considered by Ferrari. If they approach Michael, then he will consider it. But there is no reason for him to step into their discussion." Kehm added that Schumacher was in good shape, although a neck injury sustained in a motorcycle accident in February might pose a problem. "Michael had a motorcycle accident in February when he had a neck problem - and I really can't tell you if his neck would be fine to drive an F1 race," she said. "If Ferrari asked him whether he would consider driving, he would have it checked - and remember he is a 40-year-old man, too." Source: Daily Telegraph What do you think Schumy could do, after a few years away from racing if this happens?

Ofcom has today published the results of our research into fixed-line broadband speeds in the UK. Speed has become more significant as people increasingly use the internet for bandwidth-hungry applications such as downloading video and audio. But there has been a lack of reliable information on the actual speeds delivered by internet service providers (ISPs). Our research, carried out in conjunction with technical partner SamKnows and market research agency GfK, provides independent, robust data on the actual speeds that UK consumers are getting from their broadband providers. Over 60 million readings Over 60 million separate service performance tests were carried out in over 1600 homes between November 2008 and April 2009. The research sample allowed Ofcom to compare the performance of the UK's nine largest ISPs by market share over this period. A consumer perceptions survey conducted alongside the research found that speeds were a key issue for broadband consumers. The majority of consumers were happy with the speeds they received although over a quarter of consumers (26 per cent) said that the speed they received was not what they expected when they signed up to the service. Factors affecting broadband speeds The research found that there were significant differences in the download speeds offered by providers, with speeds depending on the technology used to deliver broadband and the capacity of the provider's network. In April 2009, the latest month for which data was gathered, Ofcom's research showed the following: Nationwide performance * The average broadband speed in the UK in April 2009 was 4.1 megabits per second (Mbit/s). This compares to an average 'up to' headline speed of 7.1 Mbit/s. * The actual speeds received varied widely. Fewer than one in ten (9 per cent) of our sample on 8Mbit/s headline packages received actual average speeds of over 6Mbit/s and around one in five (19 per cent) received, on average, less than 2Mbit/s. * Those living in urban areas received significantly faster speeds than those living in rural areas. The average speed delivered to urban consumers was 4.6Mbit/s, compared to an average of 3.3Mbit/s delivered to rural consumers. * Consumers with all ISPs experienced a slowdown in actual speeds during peak evening hours (8-10pm), with speeds in this period around 20 per cent slower than over a 24-hour period. ISP performance Overall, consumers on 'up to' 8Mbit/s packages whose broadband service is delivered through second-generation DSL technology (ADSL2+) received faster speeds than those who use the more common first-generation ADSL1. (ADSL - or Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line - is a digital technology that allows the use of a standard copper telephone line to provide high speed data communications.) But the results also showed that ISPs using ADSL1 who invest in network capacity are able to deliver speeds as good as ADSL2+ operators. Cable customers received significantly faster speeds than both ADSL technologies. The table below shows the average speeds received by the sample (including margin of error) for each ISP. ISP and package Average speed AOL ('up to' 8Mbit/s) 3.3 to 3.9Mbit/s BT ('up to' 8Mbit/s) 3.8 to 4.2Mbit/s O2 ('up to' 8Mbit/s)* 4.1 to 5.1Mbit/s Orange ('up to' 8Mbit/s) 3.8 to 4.5Mbit/s Plusnet ('up to' 8Mbit/s)* 3.8 to 4.9Mbit/s Sky ('up to' 8Mbit/s) 4.0 to 4.7Mbit/s Talk Talk ('up to' 8Mbit/s) 3.8 to 4.6Mbit/s Tiscali ('up to' 8Mbit/s) 3.2 to 3.7Mbit/s Virgin Media('up to' 10Mbit/s) 8.1 to 8.7Mbit/s Source: SamKnows measurement data for all panel members with 'up to' 8Mbit/s or 'up to' 10Mbit/s connections in April 2009 *Data for O2 and Plusnet should be treated with caution as sampled sizes were smaller than for other ISPs My speed is total crap where I live, Orange contract advertising 2mb but I only get 1.9 at best. Even if I signed up for 8mb, I would only get 2.3mb at best, according to my postcode.

At a Banksy exhibition, Yoko was one of he sculptures Why did Paul walk barefoot on the "Abbey Road" cover?

Sexy Sadie

Kirchherr, Astrid

Another Day Only love remains v Press to play

Forget musical innovation, the best way for a band to dominate the charts is to recreate their one good idea over and over again Ask the person on the street who they think is the greatest band in the world and they'll probably say Coldplay or the Killers. If they're a little more daring they might suggest AC/DC or Ramones. But all these bands have something in common: they have one song. Not literally, because they have the decency to give them different names – but they are all essentially reworking the same musical idea over and over again. It's not unfair to say that certain bands have taken the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" maxim to heart and based entire careers on one good idea. Ramones, a band who understood what it meant to be a brand, are masters of this. Such was Johnny Ramone's unerring dedication to their visual and musical identity that he imposed strict codes, and any deviation from their sartorial and musical formula was strictly forbidden (which might explain Dee Dee Ramone's brief spell as tracksuit-wearing rapper Dee Dee King). Fortunately, the Ramones one song – you know, the one that begins "1,2,3,4!" – has no extended guitar solo and clocks in at around two minutes – is a belter. The same goes for AC/DC, whose song about rock/rocking/rocking all night long has been stretched to a 35-year-long metaphor for sex. Just try substituting the word "rock" with "f***" and see what happens. Exactly. Nothing. The song remains exactly the same, but in the best possible way. Because, ultimately, we like familiarity; we want to know what we're getting. It's all about familiar signs and signifiers lighting the way through a world of chaos. Marxist theorist Theodor Adorno summed it up when he observed: "The familiarity of a piece is a surrogate for the quality ascribed to it. To like it is almost the same thing as to recognise it." There's a reason why Coldplay are the biggest band in the world and it has nothing to do with musical innovation or winning personalities. It's because of that song with the piano bit, the surging chorus and the message about you and me and life and stuff. The one you recognise. This familiarity is something Oasis understand and turn to their advantage. When you see them play you are not having your expectations of what constitutes a performance challenged. You are either submitting to entry-level rock thrills or you are in your thirties and reliving your teens. Just like a magician who first makes a hankie, then a rabbit, then a woman disappear, there are lots of other successful b®ands who have recreated the same trick over and over, or at least continually re-presented it in recognisable forms: The Killers, Status Quo, Iron Maiden, the Prodigy, the Fall, Motörhead. The list goes on. In financial terms, it's possibly the best move a band can make, to write one amazing song and run with it. And so long as people keep buying it, or are too blinded by fanatical loyalty to notice otherwise, they won't stop. Blog article from the Guardian He makes some good points about bands basically reworking the same song over and over. They sometimes say that an artist has to progress or re-invent themselves to survive in the music business, but surely some artists do just turn out the same stuff under different titles.

Does pop music matter now, or has it turned into pap? I find myself increasingly asking this question, and fear that I'm becoming an archetypal anti-youth, middle-aged specimen myopically revisiting a mythical golden era. But am I? It was 30 years ago when my family moved from the countryside to the town and I plunged headlong into the pop realm. It was the same year Smash Hits and the Sony Walkman were launched. I was eight years old and religiously taped the top 40 every Sunday. Though I didn't realise it then, there was a revolution happening in pop, usurping the tired old guard. A cursory glance of 1979's top 10s shows that sandwiched between Elton John's Your Song and Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond's horrendous duet You Don't Bring Me Flowers, was Ian Dury and the Blockheads' Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick at No 6. We didn't understand the song's playful connotations then, but the line "I like to be a lunatic" was appealing. Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2), an unlikely Christmas No 1, became a playground chant for us nascent rebels: "We don't need no education, we don't need no thought control." In our Victorian primary school, we deliberately kicked our feet so we didn't have to eat spotted dick with pink custard. And as for the frequent corporal punishment, at least we had Roger Waters to stick up for us. By November 1979, the mod revival was in full flow with the Jam's Eton Rifles. At the same time 2 Tone fully reared its head, with the Specials, Selecter and Madness all appearing on the same Top of the Pops show, and new wave reached critical mass with Squeeze, Elvis Costello, Gary Numan and the Pretenders filling Smash Hits' pages. The Skids and XTC flexidisc given away with the first issue underlined the mass appeal of the new pop aesthetic. Pop and minimalist nihilism became bedfellows with M's Pop Muzik and the Flying Lizards' Money, while Tubeway Army's Are "Friends" Electric? and the Buggles' Video Killed the Radio Star both marvelled and feared a future shock. Pop was, as the Police's No 1 suggested, like Walking On the Moon. While 1979's pop revolution negated the tacky glam-pop formula, the counter-revolution of Stock, Aitken and Waterman in the mid 80s turned pop back to meaningless manufactured mush. Never before had so many outlandish ideas as those of 1979 been so mass-consumed, and at a time when single sales were at a peak. The pop world that my eight-year-old daughter now inhabits is sadly bereft of Smash Hits and Top of the Pops, and instead is suffocated by the utter schmaltz of X Factor and High School Musical, with only the occasional, rather faux-radical, rehash of 1979-style music (yes, you, the Enemy) hitting a largely irrelevant hit parade. Given that the 1979 pop revolution coincided with the reign of Margaret Thatcher – new-funk escapism and anthems of tangible anger – our only hope now is that David Cameron's assent to PM spurs on a new dawn of hard-biting pop gems as the Tories proceed to wreck the nation. Blog article from the Guardian Not sure if 1979 was the last great year as 1980 & 1981 were good too, but he has a good point.

These are the ones I can listen to 03.(2) Harold Faltermeyer - Axel F 04.(NE) Madonna - Into The Groove 06.(5) Madonna - Crazy For You 14.(13) Simply Red - Money's Too Tight To Mention 16.(9) Fine Young Cannibals - Johnny Come Home 18.(34) Billy Idol - White Wedding 24.(14) Tears For Fears - Head Over Heels 28.(21) Marillion - Kayleigh 29.(17) Mai Tai - History 34.(33) Duran Duran - A View To A Kill 48.(36) Paul Hardcastle - 19 56.(35) Animotion - Obsession 63.(41) Scritti Politti - The Word Girl 67.(RE) David Bowie - Loving The Alien 70.(56) The Smiths - That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore 74.(54) China Crisis - King In A Catholic Style (Wake Up) 78.(RE) The Cars - Drive 80.(74) Prefab Sprout - Faron Young 81.(89) Simple Minds - Don't You (Forget About Me) 94.(RE) Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule The World

Terrible unlucky accident for Massa, hope he recovers quickly. Did anyone else see the drivers trying to work out who was on pole at the end when all the times disappeared. Thought it was funny of Alonso going round every one asking what time did you do, and him saying I did 1.25 or something :) .

It was 40 years ago (almost) today that the Beatles took the short jaunt, hastily captured on film, that spawned one of the most famous and celebrated record covers of all time. More than 12 million album sales later, Abbey Road's famous cover picture (and indeed some of its songs) has – as you can see here – spawned dozens of imitations around the world. Beatles fans are preparing to celebrate the album, with thousands expected to make a pilgrimage to the zebra crossing that John, Paul, George and Ringo bestrode outside the Abbey Road recording studios on 8 August 1969. It's hardly a long and winding road: more a few yards of black and white tarmac in a nondescript north London high street. Photographer Ian Macmillan, who died in 2006, recalled that he had spent only 10 minutes up a stepladder snatching a handful of pictures of the band. But it was a 22-year-old Londoner, John Kosh, Abbey Road's creative director, who made the final decision to use the particular image that has since become famous around the world. Speaking from his home in Los Angeles yesterday, he said: "It was a bit of a panic actually: EMI needed an album cover on Wednesday and it was Monday. "My main claim to fame was insisting that we didn't need to write 'the Beatles' on the front cover – because they were the most famous band in the world. The record label were totally devastated. They said: 'We'll never sell any albums if you don't tell us who the band is.' But I got away with it." see the 40 album covers here: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertai...ns-1761487.html Some interesting ones here, and some funny ones, most I have never seen before.

Animal from the muppets. Why did Paul play guitar with his left hand?

Images of a Woman

Get On The Right Thing Hi Hi Hi v C Moon

Only a northern song

Slapstick

Jesus Christ Superstar. What was their famous hairstyle called?

Gone Troppo

Old Siam Sir Spirits of ancient Egypt v Medicine Jar

Medicine Jar

Race : Hungary 1 Webber 2 Hamilton 3 Vettel 4 Barrichello 5 Rosberg 6 Button 7 Kovaleinen 8 Raikkonen Pole Webber Fastest Lap Hamilton

Excellent period for music, lots of variation 1 Chris Farlowe - Out Of Time....I like this one :) 2 Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames - Get Away...not bad 3 The Kinks - Sunny Afternoon....superb :cheer: 4 Los Bravos - Black Is Black...ok 5 Troggs - With A Girl Like You....love this one 6 Ike & Tina Turner - River Deep, Mountain High :) 7 Petula Clark - I Couldn't Live Without Your Love 8 Gene Pitney - Nobody Needs Your Love 9 Elvis Presley - Love Letters :) 10 Chris Montez - The More I See You :) 11 The Hollies - Bus Stop....can't go wrong with them :cheer: 12 Dusty Springfield - Going Back 13 Frank Sinatra - Strangers In The Night 14 Dave Berry - Mama 15 The Beatles - Paperback Writer :cheer: 16 Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich - Hideaway 17 The Walker Brothers - (Baby) You Don't Have To Tell Me 18 Roy Orbison - Lana 19 Cilla Black - Don't Answer Me 20 The Lovin' Spoonful - Summer In The City....great track :yahoo: 21 Percy Sledge - When A Man Loves A Woman 22 Cliff Richard - Visions 23 The Shadows - A Place In The Sun 24 The Mamas & The Papas - Monday Monday :) 25 Twice As Much - Sittin' On A Fence 26 Simon & Garfunkel - I Am A Rock :) 27 Bob Dylan - I Want You 28 Alan Price Set - Hi-Lili Hi-Lo 29 James Brown - It's A Man's Man's Man's World :) 30 Herman's Hermits - This Door Swings Both Ways 31 The Bachelors - Can I Trust You 32 David & Jonathan - Lovers Of The World Unite 33 Ken Dodd - Promises 34 Paul & Barry Ryan - I Love How You Love Me :) 35 The Beach Boys - Sloop John B :) 36 The Yardbirds - Over Under Sideways Down :) 37 Manfred Mann - You Gave Me Somebody To Love 38 Otis Redding - My Lover's Prayer 39 The Temptations - Ain't Too Proud To Beg 40 The Four Tops - Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever

Heroes - David Bowie Wish you were here - Pink Floyd

Tricycle

There were 2 actually, Edwin Starr and Freddie Starr and the programme was called Being a star :) What was the rumour that went around in the late '60's about Paul?