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29th July 2001	Front Page\| News/Comment\| Editorial/Opinion\| Plus\| Business\| Sports\|

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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