Christmas Tree

Is this one of your subject changes? Come on then, explain

That wasnt your question now was it

Probably not, but when that woman wrote the piece about Gately the other week, an online petition "organised" a massive number of complaints to the press council which caused a chain of events and got lots of publicity. If people had done nothing online, I guess the number of complaints would have been miniscule in comparison. I cant really see any physical protests happening, but at least this may show the greater world that we are bothered about this name change.

Excellent Lets get it signed by Tony Blair, andt and dec the works. Emailing to the chron and council.

Also add it to each of your own facebook pages and it will spread like wildfire and get momentum rolling.

Passed to me today by one of the members on the NUSC forum. Get signing (if you want) http://www.petitiononline.com/nufc2009/petition.html

A giant shark that could be up to 20ft long has sent shockwaves across Australian beaches after a great white was nearly bitten in half. A stunning picture shows a 10ft predator thrashing about with two massive chunks missing on either side of its body, off the Queensland coast. Experts said its rival may be 20ft (about six metres) long, judging by the size of the huge bites. The great white was savaged after it got snared on a drum line - a baited hook attached to a buoy - near North Stradbroke Island, east of Brisbane. The wounded creature was still alive when a crew hauled it onto a boat, close to Deadman's Beach. "It certainly opened up my eyes. I mean the shark that was caught is a substantial shark in itself," Queensland Fisheries' Jeff Krause told Australia's Daily Telegraph. Swimmers have been warned to stay out of the water near the island. The attack also worried many at a nearby tourist Mecca - Surfers Paradise, south of Brisbane. Surfer Ashton Smith, 19, of the Gold Coast, told the Courier Mail: "I've heard about the big one lurking. Every surfer is always cautious over here." Drum lines and shark nets are used to defend swimmers from sea predators, but they have been criticised for occasionally trapping migrating whales. Fisheries minister Tim Mulherin told the Mail that the capture of the bitten shark - and the indication of a larger one feeding in the area - bolstered the decision to keep defences in place. He added there were no special plans to hunt the attacking shark but contractors had reset the drum lines.

booked, westgate road.

You only reference your father/stepdad indirectly? know some people who had a flying lesson for their birthdays before and they all loved it. Takes some beating I suppose. Also if anyone knows of any good different nights out restaurant wise in the big city. Something different such as greek plate smashing etc etc.

Eh? A. I didnt know B. Not as though im making jokes about the rotary club.....

Nasty

Trying to come up with something special for the wifes birthday. Anyone know of anything really good around the North East. Some sort of helicopter flight / lesson would fit the bill but would like some other ideas.

It is really quite strange the sites you sometimes come across when searching for something. I started looking for information on the IPhone and within a few clicks arrived on a site full of videos explaining how to do all sorts of stuff, including inserting a tampon. Other titles include How to throw a screwdriver like a ninja How to whiten your teeth at home for a £1 How to levitate and How to mentally control a zippo flame lighter. Naturally I am far too busy (unfortunately) to reveiw the full site, but those of you with time-giving jobs (fish) could have a sneaky look and see who can find the most bizzare "How To" of the day. http://www.wonderhowto.com/

Matt Dickinson, Chief Sports Correspondent --- The Times Every time a tale of Paul Gascoigne’s disintegration hits the newspapers, the point is made that the game could, and should, have done more to help him. So the story of how Newcastle United brought Gazza into their academy this year deserves to be told, if only to make it clear that this unfolding tragedy is far more complex than could be halted simply by getting him to pull on his boots and keeping him busy. Residing in the North East, Gazza was invited back to his old club this year by Peter Beardsley. A team-mate of Gazza for club and country, Beardsley now runs the club’s youth system. This could have been an arrangement that worked well for everyone — a purpose for Gazza, perhaps the world’s most restless individual, a man for whom sitting still is agony, with the added fulfilment of seeing kids’ eyes light up every time he walked on to a training pitch. He has talked often enough of getting back into the game, and here was an opportunity to do so among friends, while close to his roots. The signs were promising as Gascoigne took up the invitation to turn up ad hoc. “It was the first good news we’d heard about him in years,” one former England team-mate said. There was talk that these might become more formal, regular visits. What an uplifting story that would have been to write, and to read, with Gascoigne finding some stability in his life for the first time in years. But then I probed further. This unexpected burst of sunshine turned out to be all too fleeting. It transpires that Gascoigne has not been back to take up Beardsley’s offer since the end of last season. The door remains open but no one at Newcastle knows if, or when, Gazza might walk back in. What is certain is that they have given up expecting him. “He’s in a bad place,” is as much as a friend would say. How bad, only Gascoigne himself can know but his mother’s battle with cancer is said to be a great strain. Sir Bobby Robson’s death caused more deep upset. Gascoigne attended the memorial service at Durham Cathedral last month, but was the first to disappear from the reception afterwards. He would have been the centre of attention and, these days, that is not a role he seeks. Gascoigne was due to be the main speaker at a charity night at the Hedworth Hall, South Shields, next month but has already cancelled. The organisers were told that he is in “no fit shape” to go through with it. Chris Evans, his old drinking partner, spoke to Gazza last month. “He had just bought a parrot and it was flying around the room and he was trying to catch it,” Evans revealed to a newspaper in the North East before adding: “Let’s hope there was a parrot there.” No doubt it was said good-naturedly but, at heart, it was a joke about a man’s mental illness. An illness that has caused him to be sectioned, that has made him suicidal, that almost certainly has its roots in childhood and not the fame, fortune and indulgence of later years. At the weekend, we had to endure the latest revelations about Gascoigne from Sheryl, his ex-wife, who is publishing a book Stronger: My Life Surviving Gazza. In it, she claims that he used to demand sex ten times a day and would not take no for an answer, and alleges that he was relentlessly bullying. Gascoigne is said to be consulting lawyers, although it is debatable whether he can afford them given that he is close to skint. With Sheryl promoting the book — life as Mrs G has been terribly distressing, but not without compensations — Gascoigne’s personality defects will be pored over minutely. Already it is being asked how this might affect his fragile state, not that anyone can know — just as it is far too simplistic to think that football could have stopped it coming to this. In his interview, Evans talked about Gazza being “mismanaged” and speculated that he “would have been a different person” under the stern Sir Alex Ferguson. But that assumes Gazza was capable of responding to discipline. Paul McGrath was not, and was sold by United — trying to commit suicide within weeks of leaving Old Trafford for Aston Villa. A troubled Ferguson once asked Tony Adams if he could have done any more to help McGrath. “No,” was the answer. Ferguson was a football manager, not a counsellor for those with chronically low self-esteem. Gascoigne has not always surrounded himself with people who could help him but he has also come across many, such as Beardsley, who have done all that they could. Now some well-intentioned friends are wondering whether to put on a fundraising game to help Gascoigne out of his financial pickle. No doubt they would get a crowd because there is a lot of goodwill out there even after his ex-wife’s revelations. However much of a brute it is claimed he has been, many still choose to see the brilliant, vulnerable hero of Italia ’90. There are probably enough souls who would turn up and not ask questions about whether their £20 was going straight on a bottle of whisky. It might resolve one short-term headache for Gascoigne but it is not the sort of help that he needs most urgently. But then as Beardsley would sadly acknowledge, no one in football can truly know what is.

well i've asked a few questions tonight , anyone else?

;)

Just asked a question and my internet crashed

The youth of today

aNd wouldn't you think a member of the committee would have advertised the phone in here :-)

Doesnt seem to be any link to listen????? I have listened before so if someone else knows the link, please post. This would be an ideal opportunity for you to rise to fame CT. My boy, there are those that load the bullets and those that fire the gun. I would like to listen though if I could find the piggin link.

Coming to the Arena next year. Saw at the NEC in Birmingham about a decade ago and she was fantastic. If your looking for that extra special stocking filler for the woman or man in your life.....This is it. Tickets on sale Friday priced at £50, £75 and £100 Ouch! http://www.metroradioarena.co.uk/events/vi...itney%2bhouston

Doesnt seem to be any link to listen????? I have listened before so if someone else knows the link, please post.

that's a fair opinion. However we always seem to be making excuses why it's never the right time to protest. Last October wasn't right because we needed to back joe December wast any good because mike was going to be a good owner then we had not to upset the lads as we fought relegation the we had al-together now now we don't want protest while we are doing ok in the league. So the question is Chrissy, are we saying that we should never protest?