These are awesome ...enjoy...

Frankenthumb pt 1 ...




pt 2...




3...




4...

I am sure there are other musicians on here and there are also people subscribed to this forum who enjoy live music.

I wonder how many of you have heard of Form 696? It is a form that people in 21 London boroughs have to fill in if they want to put on a music event. This form is not for the benefit of the local authority nor for complying with the recently changed and already over-the-top licensing laws. It is an 8-page document required by the Metropolitan Police which "demands that licensees give police a mass of detail, including the names, aliases, private addresses and phone numbers of all musicians and other performers appearing at their venue, and the ethnic background of the likely audience. Failure to comply could mean the loss of a licence or even a fine and imprisonment."

There is a lot of concern among musicians of all kinds that this is yet another step too far into Big Brother territory. There is some concern that this form of further data collection will spread to other police areas. I guess I could be liable to criminal prosecution under these laws, because I frequently operate with community groups and, although I may be leading the music, I don't necessarily have a clue as to the contact details of the performers. Even with my professional musicians I sometimes have to call in deps at short notice. Will promotors be deterred from putting on events because of yet another added burdon of admin? The logical conclusion is that this is another shovel-load of paper with which to bury live music.

As someone in the discussion that follows the report in The Independent said,

"The music industry's live side of business is already having serious problems with having to get a specific licences to host performances even though it's had little financial gain for the smaller venues. This will be the final nail in the coffin for these venues which provide the grass roots to the whole music industry - without which we will only be left with manufactured music as a product not an art.

I am devastated that we live in an age and city which gives billions to wealthy bankers who brought the country to a financial stand still yet our elected representatives see fit to kill off the arts that made the city famous."

I've seen accusations that this expression of concern is a "knee-jerk" reaction to real problems currently facing the police. So, they need to be informed of the ethnic background of the likely audience, eh? Like the record of the Met in dealing fairly with racist incidents leaves us with nothing to worry about! How can having a database of performers help the police locate some knife-wielding or gun-toting lunatic in an audience? It's just barmy. When are we going to have the guts to say, "Stop!"

I don't know how effective the on-line petitions are, but there is one on this subject Petition to: Scrap the unnecessary and draconian usage of the 696 Form from London music events. | Number10.gov.uk

Spread the news, people.

Thanks.

Brits on top in casual sex league | Mail Online

Quote: British men and women are among the most promiscuous in the world , researchers have found.

In an international index measuring one-night stands, total numbers of partners and attitudes to casual sex, Britain comes out ahead of America, Australia, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany.

The result has been linked to the decline of religious scruples, the growth of equal rights for women and a highly sexualised popular culture...

Britain scored 40, placing it 11th overall, behind countries such as Latvia, Croatia and Slovenia - but it was highest among the major western industrial nation...

The country with the highest rating was Finland, with an average of 51. Taiwan came lowest, with 19.

From : Boy George 'handcuffed escort for hacking computer' | Music | guardian.co.uk

Boy George outside Snaresbrook crown court where he is standing trial accused of assaulting and falsely imprisoning a male escort. Photograph: Tim Ireland/PA

The singer Boy George handcuffed a male escort to the wall by his bed after accusing him of breaking into his computer system, a court heard today.
Boy George, 48, whose real name is George O'Dowd, agreed to pay £400 to Audun Carlsen, a Norwegian working as a male escort, in April last year, prosecutors allege.

A jury at Snaresbrook crown court heard O'Dowd used a "heavy" - a burly assistant - to grab Carlsen and handcuff him to a fixture in his bedroom after a pornographic photo shoot.
The two men met after the singer contacted Carlsen in January last year to take the photographs. They took cocaine and O'Dowd performed a sex act on the escort, the court heard.

Carlsen said Boy George had appeared "wired" from taking cocaine and had left with only £300 after becoming uncomfortable. Later, O'Dowd accused Carsen of tampering with his computer.

Carlsen told the court that over the next two months he received a number of "bizarre" and accusatory emails, which he began to ignore. Some of the exchanges between the two were read out in court. Carlsen said the singer later apologised saying he'd accused the wrong person and agreed to the second meeting in April.

When they met again at O'Dowd's place, Carlsen was ambushed by the singer and another man, said the prosecutor, Heather Norton.
"Two men grabbed Carlsen and forced him to the floor. O'Dowd produced a set of handcuffs. They placed one end on Carlsen's right wrist and the other end to a hook that was screwed to a fixture near the bed.
"O'Dowd told the unidentified man to leave, which he did, then O'Dowd too left the room, leaving Carlsen alone, chained up. While he was unable to get loose, he managed to wrench the hook free."

The court was told that Carlsen was left "shaking and frightened".
"His fear was increased when O'Dowd returned to the room with a box ... inside were chains and leather straps. O'Dowd said: 'Now you're going to get it.'"

The court was told Carlsen broke free early the next morning and ran to a newsagent dressed in his boxer shorts and the handcuffs.
"O'Dowd tried to grab him and swung a chain at him, which hit him on the back. Carlsen, perhaps younger and fitter, was able to escape," said Norton.

O'Dowd told police he believed Carlsen had tampered with his computer and removed material. "He believed three or four people had accessed his computer and Carlsen was one of them," Norton said.

She said O'Dowd admitted to police that he knew Carlsen was "really scared" and that he had been "angry". Norton said O'Dowd had told police they were some "serious handcuffs" and that "you can't get out of them".
"Indeed, Carlsen had to be cut out by the fire brigade," Norton told the court.

She said O'Dowd had told police: "I will absolutely own up to handcuffing him. I wanted to find out if he was the person (who tampered with the computer)."
Norton said the jury would have to decide whether the singer really meant to hurt Carlsen and why he locked him up. O'Dowd denies a charge of false imprisonment.

Horror as teenager commits suicide live online - Times Online

A 19-year-old man has committed suicide live on the internet encouraged by others who were watching, according to reports.
The teenager, named as Abraham K Biggs, from Broward County, Florida, took an overdose of pills while broadcasting himself on Justin.tv, a live video streaming website.
On a chat forum he told others he was going to commit suicide and posted a suicide note on another forum before taking the pills and turning on his webcam.
The 19-year-old lay on his bed and only after several hours of no movement did others begin to take him seriously. With the video still running, forum members managed to contact the local police who eventually broke down the door, found the body and switched off the camera. Up to 1,500 people were viewing the feed, according to one report.
A video clip posted on the net shows a police officer entering the room, his handgun drawn, as he checks for any sign of life. Local police said they were investigating a suspected suicide and the death was confirmed by the Broward County medical examiner.



Mr Biggs was a member of the bodybuilding.com forum under the name CandyJunkie and was known as Feels Like Ecstasy on justin.tv. He apparently had threatened before to commit suicide.
On Wednesday he went to the bodybuilding.com forum and detailed the amount of drugs he was going to take. The moderators of the forum reportedly did not take him seriously because of his past threats and other forum members encouraged him to carry out his threat.
Mr Biggs then posted his suicide note, where he said he had hurt other people and hated himself for being a failure. "I am an a@#hole. I have let everyone down and I feel as though I will never change or never improve. I am in love with a girl and I know that I am not good enough for her," he wrote,
Mr Biggs then posted his suicide note, where he said he had hurt other people and hated himself for being a failure. As he lay motionless on the bed after taking the pills, many forum members continued to insult him, believing that it was staged.
One forum member pleaded with other forum members to contact the police and tried to e-mail the Miami-Dade police. He borrowed his father's mobile and spoke to police who directed him to the Broward County Sheriff's Department. About an hour later, the authorities arrived at the teenager's house.
Justin.tv is an open network of thousands of live streaming channels.
It is based in San Francisco and is named after Justin Kan, its first star.
"We regret that this has occurred and respect the privacy of the broadcaster and his family during this time. We have policies in place to discourage the distribution of distressing content and our community monitors the site accordingly. This content was flagged by our community, reviewed, and removed according to our terms of service," Justin.tv CEO Michael Seibel said in an e-mail.
The video feed has been taken down but video clips have been posted elsewhere on the net and copies of the suicide note can also be found.
Many of the forum posts have been deleted by those who made them.
There have been growing concerns that internet forums encourage people to take their lives. Last year a British man hung himself witnessed by about 100 internet chatroom users. Kevin Whitrick, 42, from Telford, Shropshire, killed himself after being goaded in an "insult" chatroom at the Paltalk website. One of the users is claimed to have told him:
"F***ing do it. Get on with it."

According to one charity which works to prevent suicide, there have been at least 17 deaths in the UK since 2001 which involved chatrooms or sites which give advice on suicide methods. Campaigners want the police to investigate and prosecute those involved in encouraging online suicides.

You all know of Calvin and Hobbes, I presume. This little six-year old lad is bullied at school by a classmate called Moe.

We recently studied one of the strip cartoons by Sam Watterson but this is what one of my Turkish students wrote... I guess he hasn't got full mastery of English yet.

"Calvin and Moe is in the corridor" he writes (actually they are in the locker room for secrecy, I guess)
"Moe has lifting Calvin on the floor and he getting ready to FIST Calvin in the nose or the stomach." (ouch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Naturally I can't actually tell him what's wrong with this sentence :redface: )
"Calvin is looking down because this terriying is threatening to kill him."

Given that they only had to write in a few words and work out what would be meaningful (we've already done all this in class and consigned it to their exercise books), I wonder what can possess a young man to write such atrocious things... lol. I guess someone didn't learn their lesson. :mad:

This thread is NOT about the best gay films we've all seen (there's already a thread about that). I'm interested in discovering gay films that are in one way or another a bit different and are not just your usual run-of-the-mill boy meets boy (or girl meets girl). They don't have to be great films (although obviously that's a bonus).

So I thought I would create a thread and see what happens...

To get the ball rolling I will suggest 'A Man of No Importance', starring Albert Finney. Set in 1960s Dublin, Finney plays a bus conductor with a passion for the plays of Oscar Wilde but is secretly gay (what a surprise!) What I like about the film is the fact that the guy does not get the guy and, ultimately, not much actually happens. Its just a nice observational film about the characters involved.

In the euphoria over yesterday's election has anyone noticed that California has pushed through "Proposition 8", which once more makes it illegal for same-sex couples to marry?

There is something wrong with a system that declares that the will of a bigoted majority can can have such a devastating effect on an effectively disenfranchised minority.

Whether same-sex couples choose to marry or not has no effect whatsoever on the lives of straight people. Since it's nothing to do with them the decision should not be theirs to make. I guess Californian couples will have their marriages annulled ... again! Bad show :frown:

California votes to ban gay marriage - Times Online

Hi All,
Cast your mind back to 1992 did any of you watch that halloween special with whats his name parkinson..? I watched it on dvd last night and i thought it was real and CHRIST DID I SHIT MYSELF when the camera moved to the curtains u saw something and then it moved back and it was gone i was absolutely petrified and couldnt sleep hehe

Kindest regards

zeon x

Hi All,
Has anyone seen the new SAW film in the cinema yet??? I havent seen it and have no intention as i cant handle a horror mild or gorey... My boyfriend saw it online and said his overall review of the film was that despite it going over the past films they made it wasnt one he felt was the most successful.. Just wondering if others agreed or disagreed if you have seen it?

I watched snaps of this one and its not for the faint hearted but me being a big butch gay man i sat there and watched the swinging axe moment whilst eating my dinner and was determined that id not only spent hours cooking it BUT no film was putting me off it and i was gonna not hide my eyes

Kindest regards

zeon x