TMM

Yay! Sorry, I think that about sums up my feelings pretty well. Love anything Whedon write's/produces, so I say that I will see this Goners film without knowing anything about it because Whedon is a fantastic writer.

The Spike-Illyria movie thing sounds like it could be great, but I'd like to know what happened in that alley because we know everyone survived (maybe Gunn didn't) and I'd just like to know how to be honest.

On the plus side, less than two weeks before Serenity is released in the UK!!!

I dunno...I thought the whole thing should have been a lot classier, and felt a lot more timeless, if you get my drift.

I know what ya mean I guess, but to me it felt right; sorta like a throw back to how ITV was before and whatnot, oh well.

To be honest, I don't know. I've never been an avid ITV watcher, but especially in recent years, it seems to be really naff, and I can't think of anyone who really "embodies" ITV, other than Trevor McDonald, who was there anyway. I guess Tarrant was a logical choice, come to think of it.

The only other people I can think of who would or could've been logical choices to host it are:

Trevor McDonald (which would be wrong as it wouldn't work with him as the presenter)

Ant and Dec (they're EVERYWHERE else, so nope)

Cat Deeley (she did the Top 50 ITV Shows the week before)

Bruce Forsyth (I wouldn't have minded this)

Paul O'Grady (he is great, but I can't picture him hosting a show on his own for 3 hours)

Cilla Black (not entertaining enough to do it on her own for 3 hours. Her with O'Grady would've been ok though)

So in the end, Tarrant is the right idea. Would've been nice if they had some other music acts to be honest. Robin Gibb and G4 did sound good together, but I don't care for G4, and Robin Gibb away from the Bee Gees I don't want to see. I love Charlotte Church, but she seemed somewhat out of place. Was it just me or were Status Quo miming? One of my favourite bands, and I honestly couldn't tell.

I still think that, after 50 years, if all ITV could manage was Chris Tarrant, Ken Dodd and Robin Gibb with G4, they don't deserve another 50.

Hmmm, to be honest, I've always liked ITV better than BBC and all the other normal channels, so I might be biased. I have different tastes than some (see: most) people, and I really enjoyed the show and thought they did an excellent job.

Out of curiousity, who would you have liked to be there?

I thought it was great. I love those sort of shows, no matter how silly they may be. And yeah, I laughed at the comparison between Alfred Hitchcock and Ant & Dec as well, but dammit, Ant & Dec are great!

What was this Ant & Dec/Hitchcock comparison? I must have missed it, but I see no possible way to draw comparison between them

Well, there wasn't exactly a comparison, it's more to do with the fact that they're both on it, which is funny in it's self. Nobody made any comparison, it's just funny that you have a legend like Hitchcock, and then you have Ant & Dec as well.

Ah, fair enough. I misinterpreted what people were saying and thought that they had somehow made some tedious link to compare the two to try and justify Ant & Dec being on there.

But...but...Ant & Dec > *

Nah there's something about those guys which I like, I find them funny personally. The whole Avenue of Stars thing is weird, in that it does, as we've said, have great guys like Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Caine, Billy Connolly, and then has Ant & Dec. Wasn't planned overly well I think, but I do like the general idea to be honest.

I thought it was great. I love those sort of shows, no matter how silly they may be. And yeah, I laughed at the comparison between Alfred Hitchcock and Ant & Dec as well, but dammit, Ant & Dec are great!

What was this Ant & Dec/Hitchcock comparison? I must have missed it, but I see no possible way to draw comparison between them

Well, there wasn't exactly a comparison, it's more to do with the fact that they're both on it, which is funny in it's self. Nobody made any comparison, it's just funny that you have a legend like Hitchcock, and then you have Ant & Dec as well.

I thought it was great. I love those sort of shows, no matter how silly they may be. And yeah, I laughed at the comparison between Alfred Hitchcock and Ant & Dec as well, but dammit, Ant & Dec are great!

It does look like a huge improvement over the previous three, and I might actually go to see this one, but it still doesn't scream "come see me, I look awesome". No doubt it's gonna be a hit (especially in the UK) but I don't see where all the "my gawd it looks awesome" comments are coming for, but oh well, to each their own.

Buy your mum a ticket as a present and then you can both go. Once you get there lose her in the crowd and your sorted.

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Ha, not a bad idea...well, other than the fact we've already set up this big party thing and invited half of the country it seems to come.

One-game ban for van Persie

Arsenal striker Robin van Persie will serve a one-match ban in the UEFA Champions League after his sending off against FC Thun.

The young Dutchman was dismissed just before half time of Wednesday's 2-1 win after catching Thun defender Alen Orman in the head with a high challenge.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger had branded the decision harsh but was also aware that van Persie could receive a three-match suspension.

But Uefa have deemed that there was no intent in van Persie's challenge and have decided a one-match ban is sufficient punishment.

Van Persie will now miss Arsenal's next game in the Champions League which is against Ajax in the Amsterdam ArenA on September 27.

Arsenal have no grounds to appeal the decision, meaning Wenger is likely to ask veteran attacker Dennis Bergkamp to make the trip to Holland by ferry due to his depleted options up front.

The 22-year-old is upset to have been hit with a ban for his indiscretion but has taken the sanction on the chin.

"I am disappointed to have received a one-match suspension following the game on Wednesday night," said van Persie in a statement.

"I felt, at worst, the incident was a foul. I don't even think it was a yellow card offence. Of course, I am really sorry that Alen Orman was hurt but it was purely accidental.

"I would never deliberately try to injure another player. Anyone who has seen the incident can see that my only intention was to win the ball.

"My eyes were always on the ball, never on the player, and there was absolutely no malice in my actions whatsoever.

"Personally, I feel I shouldn't have to miss a match because I do not think I should have been sent off in the first place, but of course I have to accept it."

Credit: SkySports.com

Think this belongs here more than the Arsenal thread to be honest.

I think all things considered, it's fair. He shouldn't have been sent off in the first place I think, but he was, and considering the damage van Persie's boot did to the players face, there was no chance the red-card was going to be rescinded (sp?). It's good that we have him back for both the Sparta games, but he'll miss the Ajax game which leaves us with Reyes and Bergkamp up front. Then we'll have Quincy and possibly Lupoli as our only other choices because of Henry's injury, so the game in Holland should be a tough one.

Last band I saw was Status Quo back in December last year at Wembley. I'm seeing them again this year at Fairfield Halls in Croydon in December.

Was suppose to be getting tickets for the Foo Fighters in December as well, but their concert falls on the same day as my mum's 50th birthday party, which is bloody annoying.

Meh, I know what the problem is now. The game was made for Windows 95 or 98, but won't run on anything newer because it's evil. I wanna know if there's anyway ya can play old games on a newer system, but no such luck so far.

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Does the "Run in compatibility mode for..." option in Windows XP not work? I've never used it. (Right click > Properties)

Unfortunetly I don't have Windows XP.

The best cover I've heard of the top of my head would probably be Marilyn Manson's cover of Tainted Love.

The worst covers are easily Limp Bizkit's Behind Blue Eyes and Oasis' My Generation. Actually, add to that McFly's Pinball Wizard. Basically, no butchering any songs by the Who or you'll make me cry, and by gawd did they butcher these songs. Fucking awful.

Going back to USM98, I downloaded it and ran the .exe file, and am now very confused as it won't run. Why won't it run?

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I've had exactly the same problems.

Very frustrating...

Meh, I know what the problem is now. The game was made for Windows 95 or 98, but won't run on anything newer because it's evil. I wanna know if there's anyway ya can play old games on a newer system, but no such luck so far.

Going back to USM98, I downloaded it and ran the .exe file, and am now very confused as it won't run. Why won't it run?

Damn, that is a pretty nice cover actually.

By the way, something I've never quite worked out regarding Marvel and it's Max/Marvel Knights comics, and what they actually are. Would I be right in assuming that the Max comics (like The Punisher) are the equivilent of an 18 rated film? So what exactly are the Marvel Knights range?

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Actually, I believe the Marvel Knights are just comics that are set in a somewhat darker mood, but still fit continuity (yeah, I know, Marvel and continuity aren't the best of friends, but still). At least it's what I've read, I really don't see much of a difference anyway. And from what I've read, your description of the MAX comics fits the bill. Sorry I can't be more informative, though.

Tis funny when you've got Wolverine running around in New Avengers, Astonishing X-Men, his own title and sometimes the other two X-Men titles. It's like, huh? How the hell is he doing all this at once? Then you've got the whole House of M thing which is going on, but all the other comics are still going on and seemingly not taking any notice. Is this suppose to have all happened BEFORE the House of M or AFTER it? Makes my brain hurt...

EDIT: damn double posting...

Damn, that is a pretty nice cover actually.

By the way, something I've never quite worked out regarding Marvel and it's Max/Marvel Knights comics, and what they actually are. Would I be right in assuming that the Max comics (like The Punisher) are the equivilent of an 18 rated film? So what exactly are the Marvel Knights range?

TMM United (marvel at my team naming skills)

Cech,

Terry ©, Nesta, Samuel, Ashley Cole,

Demichelis, Xabi Alonso, Riise, De Jong,

Gilardino, Henry,

Subs:

De Sanctis, Heitinga, Diarra, De Ridder

Of course, Henry is out injured, so I've swapped him with De Ridder. Come on my team...¬_¬

My Predictions:

PSV 2-1 Schalke

Milan 2-0 Fenerbahçe

Lyon 1-2 Real Madrid

Olympiacos 2-0 Rosenborg

Betis 2-2 Liverpool

Chelsea 2-0 Anderlecht

Artmedia 0-4 Internazionale

Rangers 1-3 Porto

Club Brugge 1-3 Juventus

Rapid 0-3 Bayern

Arsenal 4-0 Thun

Sparta 0-1 Ajax

Bremen 1-3 Barcelona

Udinese 2-1 Panathinaikos

Benfica 2-1 Lille

Villarreal 2-2 Man. United

So... did anyone read the Ultimate Spidey Annual? Or the Ultimate X-Men Annual? What did you think of the plot twists at the end? I really wasn't expecting

Spidey to start dating Kitty Pryde or Gambit being killed and Rogue absorbing his powers

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Also, did anyone read the first issue of the new Ghost Rider mini-series by Garth Ennis? Beautiful art, and from the first issue, looks like a great story to boot. Can't wait for the next one to come in.

Ghost Rider mini-series!?! Written by Garth Ennis!?! Ok, I know jack about Ghost Rider, but the fact Ennis is writing it has it sold on me already. How many issues is it do you know?

And it was Ultimate Soccer Manager and the bribes and bungs were great (so was the visual pitch).

Premier Manager had the cool advertising hoardings you could sell advertising on.

Original Championship Managers you could offer your players a bonus to win.

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USM was shit hot. I still have USM2 somewhere. I FUCKING LOVED IT. It was like my favourite football management game for years. I miss the series

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USM98 was amazing. I fired all the players for Yeovil and replaced them all with youth players and eventually got the Premiership and then became the best team in the world with 5 or 6 players from my youth team squad staying there. Ok, so I used the uber-money cheat but that's not the point...

Any of the Lord of the Rings soundtrack or any of the Star Wars soundtracks as they are all awesome.

Just a general question, are Graphic Novels basically comics in book-form? Or are they more, like..novels with illustrations?

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Hmmm...uh...dunno how to answer that to be honest. I've alwas thought of graphic novels as being big comics essentially. They'll usually group together a 5-issue story into one book, and I call those graphic novels. I'm probably wrong, but that's what I call them.

Oh yeah, Young Avengers is awesome. As is New Avengers. And the Punisher. Garth Ennis is a legend among men.

Well, thought I'd leave replying until today because if I posted last night I'd have slated pretty much every player on the pitch. Mind you, I'm gonna do that now anyway, so...

Yeah, David Beckham was easily the best player on the pitch but fuck me that's really not hard when Sven's gone out and thought "hmm, let's make a formation just for you David!" It's clear that Sven wants to build the team around David Beckham (and to some extent Michael Owen), and I could pretty much guarantee that bar serious injury or suspension, Beckham will play every single England game for the rest of Sven's reign. Whether it's just that Sven has a hard-on for Beckham or it's because of the merchandise his name alone will sell, who knows, but he needs to be dropped or at least stripped of the captaincy.

I think it's clear to see to almost anyone that Beckham is not as good as he was. Hell, he was never amazing in my opinion. Yeah he's still committed to the cause, but is it just me or does he look bored on the pitch most of the time? He can't defend, and he is not a central midfielder, and the sooner he and Sven realise this the better. If he insists on continuing to play him, stick him on the right-wing or nowhere at all. Central midfield should be between any two of Lampard, Gerrard or Carrick. Nobody else should play there in a competitive match. Beckham's strength's are his passion and his crossing, so play to them and play him on the right. That said, he's not fast enough or it seems skillful enough to get past even the average player anymore.

One thing that Beckham said after the game last night that really pissed me off was the "we've got a great team". No, no we don't; we have a great SQUAD that Sven doesn't know how to use. We have got the best crop of players that we've had for years, but somehow Sven still manages to fuck it up.

Ok, in the Tupac song Changes, the piano at the beginning and throughout the song is from another song. Someone please tell me what, I heard it today, and now it's driving me mad.

Thanks,

Basha.

EDIT: a friend of mine figured it out for me, THe way it is - Bruce Hornby.

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Also, the majority (all of?) the chorus is from that song.