..and stop knocking teachers holidays-we need it coping with other peoples grotty kids....

OK so I though an Undertones t-shirt and lobster in Austria would be a first but looks like a third... Great to hear the latest two gigs went so well.

Hurrah! I will be going to Dublin too, nice to meet you lot out there and just started checking flights from Amsterdam, 130 quid the cheapest but that was the frist I tried

I have been absent for a while as I spent a holiday in the Black Forest (sorry, no Lobster pictures). It was a great and relaxing holiday although Jurre got ill again and spent 3 days in a German hospital: for Dutch terms it was amazing to note there were 3 nurses for 5 patients, you don't get that in Holland anymore after all the budget cuts and won't be seen too in NHS-land in Britain. Saw a great gig by a Punkband called Die Artze, they are f... big in Germany and played in front of 80,000 people who all seem to know all the lyrics. After the gig they did an interview and they came out as SLF and Ramones-fans and kept on telling about a riot at a SLF-gig back in 1980. Amazing band. Sure there were some Undertones-influences too. Sorry I did miss Lee and Vinny on their respective trips to Holland, had loved to meet you, but maybe in Dublin??

Read back 19 pages!!!! Amazing production for 2 weeks and it seem to have been quit weeks too! Spot-on remarks about U2 by Arthur and Rick: the first 2 albums are the best. Here in Holland U2 is surely the most popular band around but all the U2 fans I know, only know them from the 3rd album on!!! The Strokes album has received amazing good review on BBC Ceefax, they must be the new Gods or so. I also read other reviews on them which describe them as " the best from NY since the ramones" "the best thing since Oasis"

Busy checking flights and Easyjet is offering Amsterdam-Belfast return for 50 quid! Does anyone know whether Dublin-Belfast V.V. is easy & cheap & fast to travel by train or so???

Marty (or can we call you Mad) get the person who types your messages for you to read the instructions at the top of the page to prevent sending the same message twice. Wasn't "Simply the Best" recorded by one of those "niggers" you despise so much? Maybe the reason why some people are absent from the site is that they are particular about the company they keep. I despair sometimes, I really do.

At least on TOTP2 last night we got the chance to say how New Order have aged (badly) from their Joy Division days. I can remember the first time I saw Joy Division on TV and was convinced the singer was having a fit. His face was white and he looked as though he was on a totally different planet. All those Jam fans on the site would also have been pleased to hear 'News of the World' At the moment I seem to enjoy TOTP2 more than TOTP even if it does have the odd mishap such as Christopher Cross. Hope you can make it to Dublin Julius. The more the merrier, particularly if nod and a wink is right.

The Strokes album is indeed excellent, but 'innovative new sound' & 'the future of rock'n'roll' it aint. Reminiscent of The Fall, Velvet Underground, Brilliant Corners, Television, Joy Division (in their lighter moments!) etc. The White Stripes album 'White Blood Cells' is better IMO, raw, bluesy and at one point, pure Buzzcocks.

If the Undertones do chuck in the towel after the December shows it will come as no surprise but still very disappointing. Just hope I can make it to Ireland.