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29th July 2001
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Fancy a date with Noel?

Are you what the Hear'Say heart-throb is looking for?

You arrive at a party and spot a girl across the room. How could she grab your full attention?

I'd judge her on her fashion sense, ha-ha! Nah, I'd look at her face first and then clothes. If someone looked nice but was wearing awful clothes, I'd know I could help them change their dress sense. I'd go for a good smile, too. It gives away a lot about a person. 

How can you tell if someone fancies you?

The major giveaway is when someone looks at you, keeps looking away, then looks at you again. It's the eye contact that you can't sustain. You can look really shifty if you do that, ha-ha!

Do you prefer to make the first move?

It depends how much I fancy the person. If I fancy someone, I'll just go for it! But it's nice for other people to make the first move 'cos then you don't make a fool of yourself, or risk rejection when you're standing there waiting for their reaction. 

How long does it take you to spruce yourself up for a big date?

About an hour, I suppose. I have a very long shower and a shave, then I do my hair, iron my clothes and get dressed. 

Any big pre-date rituals?

I don't have any rituals, but I always wear the new DKNY fragrance - the one in the long bottle. Oh, and I always go back to the mirror for a final check just before I go out - no tooth paste round my mouth - and a final little twist of the hair. 

Where would you go for an ideal date?

I reckon food's always the best one. If you don't like each other, you can just eat and then go. A bar's always a good one as well, cos there are lots of other people you can hide behind if it's all going wrong. You can even ring up your friends for help. A mate rescued me once, turning up to fetch me saying that it was my auntie's birthday! I looked at my date and was like, 'Oh, sorry, I forgot all about it. We'll meet up another time'. But I don't think we ever did!

Would you pay for everything?

Yeah, but because I'm Noel, not because I'm Noel Hear'Say. Even if I was skint, I'd still scrape the bill together. The sort of person I'd like would probably go, 'Oh no, don't be silly, let's go halves', so that's a little test to see how generous they are! If they just sit there and let me pay, then that's not good. 

What's the most important quality that your date should possess? 

Honesty. I'm quite an honest person and I like to know where I stand with people. If something's upsetting me, I can't just bottle it up. I have to say something. Honesty definitely makes me trust someone more and if you haven't got the trust thing, then it just won't work. We've all had people we thought we could trust and they've dumped all over us. That's not a nice position to be in. 

Who would be your perfect celebrity date?

When we went to the Capital Awards, I sat between Rachel and Tina from S Club and they were both really cool. I'd like to go on a date with both of them. We would have loads to talk about and I like to compare stories. 

Are you a big flirt? 

Sometimes, but not all the time. It's more the way I smile and laugh and look cheeky. I think that's it. I can do that eyebrow thing. You know, raising just one. 

How do you make your romantic intentions known?

I'd tell her! I'm a really 'touchy' person when I'm speaking to people as well. I think it breaks down barriers. The best place to get to know someone is on the dance floor 'cos you can get close, have a laugh and then you've got an excuse to say, "Do you want a drink?", so you can go off and chat. I can't be doing that with people with who've got no rhythm!

What's the worst date you've ever been on?

I remember one time, I was having a drink with someone at one of my mates' college-bar parties. I went to the toilet and as I was coming back down the stairs I dislocated my knee! They didn't even know I'd done it. I had to get straight in a taxi, go home and leave them there. I've dislocated my knee four times now so I'm having physio on it. I have to get it strong for the tour' cos it aches all the time. And my back's bad. I'm falling to bits!

Have you ever been on a blind date?

No. No. No. Not ever. 

Would you see her home?

Erm, yeah. I'm definitely a gentleman. I wouldn't give her bus fare home as I jumped into a taxi or said, 'Oh, my driver's here. Bye!'

What's the worst turn off?

Basically, it's people who don't have great personal hygiene. Bad breath and stuff - I just don't like it. Annoying voices, whiny ones, get on my nerves too. Something romantic being said in a really whiny voice just doesn't have the same effect, does it?

How many days after the date do you wait before phoning her?

Two. The next day just sounds a bit overly keen, but if I really liked you and you called me the next day, I'd be really chuffed. 

What sort of boyfriend do you make?

Mmm, a good one! I'm kind, generous, caring. I can be funny, I suppose, although I can be quite jealous as well. 


Margins

Thank you for all your interesting ideas on "Margins". The theme for August is "Breaking". Please send in your contributions before August 18, Madhubhashini Ratnayake, C/o The Sunday Times, P.O. Box 1136 Colombo 
  • Black Margins
  • The Choice
  • Book of Margins
  • Margin of life and death
  • Marginal thoughts
  • Margins
  • Cross the line
  • Fermat's last theorem
  • Wonderful margins
  • Margins 

  • Black Margins

    My soul is trapped
    Within black margins
    The more I try to
    Break free
    The more and more
    Black margins appear
    The more my independent spirit
    Tries to soar away
    Into the blue sky
    The more the black margins
    Close in 
    Margins within margins 
    Forever curb
    And suppress
    My soul. 

    - Subba Ranaweera


    The Choice

    High up from her vantage point on the cliff, her eyes traced the jagged margin of the coastline. The timeless tussle between land and sea, mirrored her thoughts as she teetered on the brink of suicide. Despair at her lover's death had driven the girl to this spot where she now trembled, a heartbeat away from a fatal fall.

    However, in the nick of time, her courage failed. She stepped away from the invisible margin separating sanity and madness, and crumpled onto the cliff edge; sobbing with grief for her beloved - yet clinging onto the precious gift of her life.

    -Reema Muhsin


    Book of Margins

    The margins are as follows
    Caste, race, religion and social status!
    Sometimes even the horoscope

    The Bride has to be -
    Pretty, educated and employed or dowried,
    good in household work 
    and well mannered.

    The Groom should be -
    Educated, propertied,
    a professional or a businessman. 
    He has to be a teetotaller as well 
    as handsome, tall and fair!

    With margins like these 
    is there space for writing?

    -Navin J. Karunatilaka.


    Margin of life and death

    Wearing a smile
    She rides the high wire 
    The margin of life and death. 
    No safety net beneath.
    The spectators applaud 
    After a few whistles and encores 
    They go out looking for
    Another source of fun. 
    She too gets down 
    To go up again tomorrow 
    Riding the margin of life and death 
    Just for a living.

    -Bhanura Keshawa


    Marginal thoughts

    The toad sat under the stone, stone-coloured. His back, olive drab, wet and soft, like a mud-pie. He sat, inflating and dilating; one of life's mysteries. His small front legs ended in little claws; his rubbery back legs were tight folded. His underbelly, dirty grey, covered in warts, running up to his trapdoor mouth. 

    A fly roamed restlessly across his eye, which sat unwinking amid the warts. The toad did not move. But the fly went too far, exploring the margins of his world. One quick snap and the frog went on dreaming, under his stone-coloured stone. 

    Faith Ratnayake


    Margins

    "Don't scribble on the margins, child" 
    "Leave a margin on both sides"
    Much heard instructions 
    In my school days 
    Yet the rebel in me 
    Kept on the habit 
    Jotting down ideas 
    Spontaneous inspirations 
    My margins were never clean 
    Utilized for a bigger purpose 
    For they were to me 
    The breeding grounds of creativity.

    Jeevani Rodrigo


    Cross the line

    These days are numbered,
    For lovers and losers.
    And time scarce,
    Giving privilege, only for choosers.
    In fear of failure,
    They step back from the line;
    A margin that keeps glory out,
    And dampens the shine.
    So let loose the players on to the field,
    With no tomorrow, but only here and now.
    When this life's over, let the crowd applaud, 
    And the players take a victory bow.

    -Sonali Fernando


    Fermat's last theorem

    Is there a positive integer, n, greater than 2, for which we can find positive integers x, y, z such that Xn + Yn = Zn? So asked the textbook in Pierre Fermat's library. And on the side was written in Fermat's hand, "This margin is too small for me to prove it".

    It took four centuries and countless false attempts and a number of partial proofs, for Andrew Wiles to prove him right. In a document spanning over 200 pages! Call it the margin of error!

    -Prianthi Wickramasuriya


    Wonderful margins

    Square peg in a round hole 
    Self inflicted margins 
    Clearly laid. 
    Margins of principles 
    Margins of virtues 
    ln a world of mergehs 
    With blurred margins 
    Imprisoned within the margers 
    Nothing ventured 
    Nothing gained. 
    Silly little margins? 
    Wretched little margins? 
    Wonderful little margins!

    -Thushara Chathuranga


    Margins

    From the kindergarten days
    We teach the toddlers
    To paint within the margins,
    To write within the margins
    Even to march keeping a margin.
    When they become
    Young adults of the world.
    We expect them to be
    Rembrandts, Picassos
    Even Einsteins. 

    -Jeevaka Mahesh

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