Zombie

Well done Jonnie Peacock, winner of the T44 men's paralympics 100m tonight in 10.9 secs!! Nice that Oscar Pistorius embraced him immediately afterwards and was genuinely happy for him

A Girl Like You [1994] A "one hit wonder" by Scottish singer-songwriter Edwyn Collins, this was a huge hit in the 90s and it's since been used in movies and TV. The 60s sound comes from the sampled drum track [Len Barry's 1965 hit "1-2-3"] and the vibraphone is played by the Sex Pistols drummer. Sadly, Edwyn's not been able to play the guitar again since a serious illness in 2005 .

I read this blog and it made me think about my own prejudices http://pinkagendist....mpics/#comments Why would I want to watch guys in wheelchairs playing basketball? But like many, I've been watching the London Paralympics and been engrossed by the events. If you haven't watched the guys in wheelchairs playing basketball you've still got time to catch the Men's semis today US v Australia 19:00 [bST] UK v Canada 21:15 [bST] And the Women's semis tomorrow UK v Mexico Canada v China It is as exciting, competitive and action packed as any able bodied team sport. And that's just one of a whole feast of individual and team events And tonight we also get to see 19 yo Jonnie Peacock run against Oscar Pistorius and the other finalists in the Men's T44 100m race. Go Jonnie, go!!

Some of the movies mentioned get TV airings, like Philadelphia, Maurice, Harvey Milk and so on, but most never do. And that's not 'cos they're all bad I don't know if it's because the audience is seen as too small, or these movies never had the promotion to raise their profile to get them onto "play lists". Edit to add:just looked at the Netflix site again and I see they've added a gay / lesbian category but I don't know how complete their movie list is - can't see a search-by-name feature.

Anything with Christopher Walken in it

Ashi, I humbly suggest the best version is Sinéad O'Connor's from 1990 She looks so vulnerable and those are genuine tears when she starts to cry at around 3:40 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bfh0byDmRX0

Well to be a bizarre fantasy it would have to be unusual, and I'm not sure that's true

Goin' Back by Carole King, sung by Dusty Springfield. Dusty was a major singer in 60s Britain and apparently a gay icon. I've never heard anyone sing this song better Dancin' in the Street by Martha and the Vandelas [1964] Much covered since but this is the original and best I defy you not to want to get up and, well ..... DANCE!

Now that's just nasty Symp

Podga, this is sheer quality - you should be writing your own TV family sitcom Edit to add On second thoughts you probably are

Dallas is back next week in the UK! I loved the original show - perfect trash TV I know you guys in the US saw the new series a few weeks ago - how was it for you? I can't wait to see Jesse Metcalfe losing his shirt again Here he is *gulp* all chained up ...

Hmm, guessing you've got a bigger "picture" here than just the cream You could also have mentioned the irony (pretty dreadful really) that India has not outlawed FGM - which is in sync with what you were saying

Hope the standard can be maintained for the Paralympics, opening tomorrow. The added dimension is the stories of personal triumph over adversity for each athlete, like Jonnie Peacock http://www.telegraph...pic-trials.html

Luckily for him he's currently on your side of the pond while She's on the other - hunting haggis in the Scottish Highlands

Where did I focus on the teacher? Where did I say the teacher was bad person? Where did I say he was a victim? The only issue here is the lack of a process in the education system to identify students like Jack and proactively become involved in developing their exceptional potential instead of just leaving it to chance

Don't get yourself too inflated or you might not fit through the door on your way to the fridge. And no, I've not read your posts. Life's just too short.

He found a solution, but that seems to have been down to him and his resourcefulness not the education system. That's why it was suggested that the education system needs a mechanism to provide for the special needs of exceptional pupils like this, the extra costs bringing future rewards in terms of the contribution he and others like him can make to the knowledge based economy. We know such mechanisms are not in place or, if they do exist, then it is on a piecemeal basis i.e. the luck of the drawer which school you attend / which teacher you have. That is just not acceptable. Does it matter? Exceptional talent tends to be in one area. The trick is to find it and nurture it. Einstein was a dunce - he failed most of his exams. Did it matter? No because he was a genius at maths and physics. Hmm, have to agree

Don't fret, there's plenty of fake pics of Harry on the web to console your fevered thoughts. Most of 'em sporting a buff body and enormous, er .... well you get the idea

Teachers are primarily tasked to deliver a syllabus. The issue here, as Cia pointed out, is that the education system has no mechanism for responding to potential geniuses like Jack*. So the question that needs to be addressed is not apportioning blame, but how best to address the educational needs of those like Jack so that their potentially incredible talent can be maximized for all our benefit. As long as the education system does not put such a mechanism in place then it is letting all of us down - Jack and his kind, and you and me.

Bang on the money Cia. For those that didn't click the link and watch the vid here's what it said "Fifteen-year-old high school student Jack Andraka likes to kayak and watch the US television show Glee. And when time permits, he also likes to do advanced research in one of the most respected cancer laboratories in the world. Jack Andraka has created a pancreatic cancer test that is 168 times faster and considerably cheaper than the gold standard in the field. He has applied for a patent for his test and is now carrying out further research at Johns Hopkins University in the US city of Baltimore. And he did it by using Google. The Maryland native, who won $75,000 at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in May for his creation, cites search engines and free online science papers as the tools that allowed him to create the test." Jack's clearly highly intelligent and self-motivated to learn all by himself. He's now pursuing original research that could be of huge benefit to mankind. Has he done anything wrong? Absolutely not. Should he be applauded for what he's done? Absolutely yes. The fault is not with Jack, nor with his teacher. The fault is with an education system that has no process in place to spot potential geniuses like Jack and pluck them out of their class if necessary and provide bespoke education tailored to their needs and talents. Education is not just and only about passing exams [remember Einstein failed his entrance exam] it is about spotting the potential in every child - whatever that is - and nurturing and developing exceptional talent. The challenge is how to deliver such a process. But won't this cost more? Of course it will. So who will benefit? We all will - by having brilliant people like Jack being enabled to maximise their talent and to drive forward our knowledge-based economy.

I doubt it'll bother him. His grandma won't be very amused though

Guys, just been catching up with the thread. Big mistake. It's 1.10 am here ... and I'm now supposed to turn out the lights and go to sleep???

When I was in my early 20s I commuted to work by car using various routes. One of these included a section through rural countryside and past an old tumbledown house. It always caught my eye. The house was very old, isolated in a rural setting, in a bad state of disrepair and the gardens very overgrown. I used to fantasize about buying it one day, doing it up, and what it would be like to live there. I had never seen anyone around and it looked like no-one had lived in the house for a long time. One day I needed to stop [i can't remember why] and where I pulled over was just past the old house. I had got out of the car and was looking back when I saw, in what must once have been a lovely garden, an old woman. She was just standing there and as I looked at her she stared back at me. It was probably no more than several seconds, although it seemed much longer. Even so, several seconds is quite a long time to stare at someone when they are looking directly at you. So, I had a good look at her and it unnerved me. Then I got back in the car and drove away. Nothing unusual so far. It was only later when I "played back" in my mind what had happened that I realized there was something not quite right. Normally I would give a friendly greeting, but I'd said nothing. Then I thought back to her appearance. She looked so old, but it was the way she looked old. Her face looked worn and weathered. No evidence that any cosmetics had ever been used. Her hair was unkempt, grey and hanging untidily - no evidence of a hair brush ever being used either. Most striking, though, were her "clothes". They were nothing like clothes I had ever seen worn. There was no "cut", it was just one long garment roughly made from what seemed to be a coarse sacking material. The colour was dull brown. It must have been very harsh on the skin. I've often thought about her, and wondered did I dream it? Was she real? I know I didn't dream it - I still have her image in my mind. But was she real? Funny thing is that was the last time I drove that route for many years because soon after I changed work location. Strange how you can travel the same route for years and one day will be the last time but you don't realize it. And when I did drive that route again many years later the house was unrecognizable - it had obviously been bought and renovated by new owners. Sooo, what strange experiences have you had?

"He builds up this massive epic tale in a clear way, with excellent writing, that will draw you in and keep you hooked, even through his many cliffhangers and shock revelations." Well said Trebs

Noisy heels. CLACK! CLACK! CLACK! CLACK! CLACK! CLACKETY *that's a stumble * CLACK! **WARNING WARNING - SEXISM ALERT!!** And it's always females *hides* And they're never smiling and usually in a get-outa-my-way hurry. I'm no sidewalk slouch but these critters will catch up with anything as they power walk like a pair of windscreen wipers on max speed ....