Up For Grabs, waar Ripley en ik tickets voor hebben, is gisteren in premiere gegaan!
Hier wat fotootjes en recensies.
Wij zijn er op 11 juli! .

The Times schrijft:

Don't be shocked or morbidly excited when I confirm what some of the pre-publicity for Up for Grabs has pruriently suggested. Yes, the art dealer played by Madonna does delight a billionaire by inserting a nylon dildo into his bottom and does have sex with a dot-com millionairess while her genitally challenged husband looks wistfully on. But, no, we dont see these events, and, far from being sensationalist, they add point and punch to David Williamsons enjoyable comedy. Despite the crowds and cameras outside the theatre last night, and the callow whoops that greeted the actress when the curtain rose, Up for Grabs isnt The Madonna Show. The Aussie dramatists play would still be a lively satire of a debased art market if someone else were in the lead. Indeed, it would probably be livelier, for Madonnas acting, though it strengthens as the evening progresses, is a bit like her neat little trench-coat: pale, wan, lacking in colour.

Shes Loren, a New Yorker so keen to make her name and fortune that she herself guarantees to pay $20 million for a Jackson Pollock worth $18 million in the hope that her auctioning skills will bring her an even greater profit. But different abilities turn out to be necessary. Michael Lerners brash, coarse Manny is a Roy Cohn-like homophobe with taste for buggery. And Megan Doddss Mindy is tiring of men and especially of marriage to Daniel Pinos Kel, whose member has been transformed by enlargement surgery into a blend of potato and bloated cucumber. Even Sian Thomass Dawn, a wintry Englishwoman unhappily acquiring art for some vast corporation, has her personal agenda, though a non-sexual and rather benign one.

Madonnas Loren works to push up the competing bids, but finds herself pushed down in ways she never expected. Her smug psychiatrist husband, Tom Irwins Gerry, is appalled to find their apartment at risk. The intensifying pressures take their toll on Lorens nerves, ethics and self-respect. Its strong stuff, but it would be still stronger if Madonna could express desperation or even fear. She looks terrific, moves sinuously, suggests a certain waywardness and, when her marriage is threatened, generates some emotional heat. But she never forthrightly imposes herself on the role and, especially during a low-key, low-voice opening, could use a mike.

Still, Williamsons blowtorch comedy does succeed in searing off any residual pretensions the art trade might have to taste and integrity.

Buying a Pollock is an investment, a tax write-off, a piece of swank, or (Dawns case) an excuse for revenge. I suppose the objection to this is that not all buyers are as philistine as Lerners Manny or as vulgar as Pinos Kel, a self-proclaimed future person who bops and bounces around his computers with glad cries of Yow! So, yes, some of Laurence Boswells cast exuberantly overstate the case. But since when was satire supposed to be understated, objective, cool?

The Telegraph schrijft:

As celebrity casting goes, this is the big one. Short of hiring the Windsors to star in a revival of Sue Townsend's The Queen and I - and who knows, Her Majesty may have some time on her hands after the Golden Jubilee celebrations - it is hard to imagine how any producer will be able to top the lure of Madonna.

She is probably the most famous woman in the world, and certainly the biggest showbiz icon since Marilyn Monroe, on whom dear old Madge has often seemed intent on modelling herself. What's scary about Madonna is the way she has finessed a real but hardly monumental talent to such an inflated level of stardom. There have always been better singers, better dancers, better lookers and, ahem, better actresses than Madonna, but no one has matched her when it came to steely determination and an eye for the main chance. How appropriate, then, that she should have chosen to make her West End debut as a savvily opportunistic material girl in David Williamson's broad comedy about the contemporary art market in New York.

At the start of the show, I feared it would be impossible to judge this as a play at all, but merely as some bizarre phenomenon of hype and fan-worship. When the curtain rose to reveal Madonna alone on stage, the fashionable first night audience behaved like teenagers at a Britney Spears concert, erupting into applause, cheers and even screams before the star had uttered a word. After that, every line which might have some bearing on the star's own life was greeted with knowing, sycophantic titters - whether it was funny or not. And I must admit it is quite a kick to hear Madonna declaring: "My feelings towards the wealthy are deeply ambivalent. On one hand I hate them with a passion. "They're a constant reminder that I haven't succeeded yet. On the other hand I love them because they are the only ones who can make me wealthy." We might be eavesdropping on the real Madonna's nakedly ambitious private thoughts at the start of her career.

For the first 10 minutes or so she seemed seriously nervous; her voice tight, strained and, I suspect, inaudible in the gods. But while she certainly isn't going to give Nicole Kidman or Gwyneth Paltrow any sleepless nights worrying about the competition, her performance is far from the disaster many were predicting and some were maliciously hoping for. As Loren, a pushy art dealer playing three clients off against each other as she attempts to sell a Jackson Pollock - and facing financial ruin herself if she fails to make the reserve of $20 million - Madonna is often funny, and sometimes vulnerable and touching. She looks terrific, comes over as a far more appealing personality than I expected, and is a dab hand at comically kinky sex scenes. For make no mistake, Williamson's play may be about art, but it is certainly not art itself. The jokes are often crude, more reminiscent of a saucy seaside postcard than anything you would find in the Met. To get her price up, Madonna, sorry Loren, finds herself having lesbian sex with a dotcom millionairess while her husband, who has had a bungled penis enlargement operation, looks on. Then she is required to service an obese businessman with a vast black dildo. Chekhov it ain't.

I should add that in Laurence Boswell's slick production, with clever, high-tech designs by Jeremy Herbert, you see only the foreplay, and Madonna remains fully and fashionably clothed throughout.

In the final analysis, Madonna strikes me as being about as good as the play - OK, but hardly sensational. Both the drama and the gags become repetitive and stale in the second half, and Williamson's point that great art is nowadays treated as a commodity is neither original nor profound. Among the supporting cast, there's particularly good work from Sian Thomas as a boozily self-loathing art academic and Michael Lerner as the grotesquely revolting, dildo-fancying businessman.

Needless to say, the whole run is already sold out, but those without tickets needn't repine. Up for Grabs will appeal far more strongly to stargazers than to lovers of first-rate theatre.

De kritieken branden haar dus niet eens tot de grond af.
Dan vind ik het ongetwijfeld magistraal! .

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Op vrijdag 24 mei 2002 14:54 schreef kikkerlikkerfan het volgende:
Dan vind ik het ongetwijfeld magistraal! .

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Op vrijdag 24 mei 2002 15:01 schreef Smike het volgende:
stargazer

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Op vrijdag 24 mei 2002 15:03 schreef kikkerlikkerfan het volgende:
Speciaal voor Smijk; de lesbische kus:

[afbeelding]

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Op vrijdag 24 mei 2002 15:33 schreef Ripley het volgende:
Mijn salaris was er nog steeds niet .

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So, we have a date? .

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Op vrijdag 24 mei 2002 15:40 schreef kikkerlikkerfan het volgende:

[..]

Ik zit ineens te denken (jaja): Ik heb toch vakantiegeld gehad, ik kan het easypeasy voorschieten!

So, we have a date? .

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Niet te vroeg hoor, ik ga vanavond naar Drum Rhythm en naar melkweg/paradiso. .

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Op vrijdag 24 mei 2002 15:42 schreef Ripley het volgende:
. You are a doll!!!

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Ik ben morgen toch in de stad voor mijn Evisu shirt dus bel maar gewoon, dan gaan we daarna boeken!

Whoo-hoo! .

Kijk. Voorprettopic. Leuk. Enzo.

zelf dacht ik meer aan het onderdeel in de zaterdagochtend bbc show : the saterdayshow toen ik de titel zag

Maar iig, ik ben zelf nog nooit naar een Theatervoorstelling geweest... En ga er helemaal niet voor naar London

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Op vrijdag 24 mei 2002 15:59 schreef Neejoh het volgende:
hoi

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Yay, here's my stalker!

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Op vrijdag 24 mei 2002 15:59 schreef kikkerlikkerfan het volgende:

[..]

. . .

Yay, here's my stalker!

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Op vrijdag 24 mei 2002 15:59 schreef Neejoh het volgende:
hoi

Maar iig, ik ben zelf nog nooit naar een Theatervoorstelling geweest... En ga er helemaal niet voor naar London

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Een hele nieuwe!!!!

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Op maandag 03 juni 2002 14:29 schreef paarse_paashaas het volgende:
te veel tekst!

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Op maandag 03 juni 2002 14:31 schreef kikkerlikkerfan het volgende:

[..]

Geeft niks, jij gaat toch niet mee. .

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Op maandag 03 juni 2002 14:32 schreef paarse_paashaas het volgende:
waarheen?

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Moeilijk topic?

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Op maandag 03 juni 2002 14:34 schreef kikkerlikkerfan het volgende:

[..]

Naar het toneelstuk "Up For Grabs" in Londen, waar Madonna in speelt, waar Ripley en ik heen gaan.

Moeilijk topic?

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Op maandag 03 juni 2002 14:29 schreef paarse_paashaas het volgende:
te veel tekst!

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Op maandag 03 juni 2002 14:35 schreef Dave het volgende:
Hopelijk gooit haar zwangerschap geen roet in het eten dan...

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Op vrijdag 24 mei 2002 16:03 schreef Ripley het volgende:

Je weet niet wat je mist.

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Op maandag 03 juni 2002 14:29 schreef paarse_paashaas het volgende:
te veel tekst!

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Op vrijdag 24 mei 2002 14:54 schreef kikkerlikkerfan het volgende:
Up For Grabs, waar Ripley en ik tickets voor hebben, is gisteren in premiere gegaan!
Hier wat fotootjes en recensies.
Wij zijn er op 11 juli! .

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Op maandag 03 juni 2002 14:35 schreef Dave het volgende:
Hopelijk gooit haar zwangerschap geen roet in het eten dan...

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Madonna has repeatedly denied recent rumours she's pregnant. The couple have made no secret about wanting another child. The Sunday People quotes her father as saying: "I don't know if Madonna's child is a boy or a girl yet - we just want the baby to be healthy."

When pressed for further details, he then said: "It's an area I can't really talk about - we just want it to be healthy. Look this is stuff I can't go into. Of course it's an exciting time. We were delighted when we heard, but I can't talk about it."

*** Please note that this report is not confirmed in any way. Several pregancy rumours have been around lately and this is most likely just another one. ***

^{Bron: Sindri's Madonna Page}

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Op dinsdag 04 juni 2002 13:18 schreef Mike het volgende:
Is het wel zeker dat ze meespeelt? Dat je straks geen understudy ofzo krijgt?

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Dat zegt echter nog niks hoor.
It wouldn't be the first time she cancelled. Or the second. Or...

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Op dinsdag 04 juni 2002 13:22 schreef kikkerlikkerfan het volgende:

[..]

This has crossed my mind, once. Or twice. Or... A lot.
Maar er is geen understudy.

Dat zegt echter nog niks hoor.
It wouldn't be the first time she cancelled. Or the second. Or...

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De kans is natuurlijk ook klein dat ze zelf niet mee zou spelen...

Madonna's family needs to start signing non-disclosure forms--her father Tony Ciccone has said that the music icon is pregnant again. Not surprisingly, Madonna (news - web sites)'s publicity machine is denying the story. "It's completely not true," a rep from Liz Rosenberg Public Relations told LAUNCH. However, during an interview with the U.K. tabloid The People, Mr. Ciccone let slip, "We are very excited that she is expecting again. It is always exciting when your children have children."

However, the 70-year-old father of the "Material Mom" also commented, "I don't know if Madonna's child is a boy or a girl yet, we just want it to be healthy." Apparently realizing he'd already said too much, Mr. Ciccone refused to give any more details: "It's an area I can't really talk about, we just want it (to) be healthy. Look, this is stuff I can't go into. Of course it's an exciting time, we were delighted when we heard, but I can't talk about it."

Madonna--who recently made her West End stage debut to some scathing reviews--already has two children: 5-year-old Lourdes (born October 14, 1996), whom the singer had with her former trainer Carlos Leon; and 18-month-old Rocco (born August 11, 2000), her first child with her husband, British filmmaker Guy Ritchie (Snatch). Madonna and Ritchie married on December 22, 2000.

^{Bron: Yahoo}

So how's our girl doing in her West End debut, where she's tackling the starring part in David Williamson's snarky play "Up for Grabs"?

Let's just say she shows improvement.

Compared to her fidgety, rickety Broadway debut 14 years ago, in David Mamet's "Speed-the-Plow," Madonna has grown in confidence, charm and poise. Neither does it hurt that the Australian Williamson made plenty of changes to suit her, transporting her Aussie character to New York and, I bet, increasing the kind of teen-speak and snappy comebacks Madonna can handle with aplomb.

Also in her corner is the sheer sight of this massive star on the snug stage of Wyndham's Theatre glimpsed for just 54 performances (including the one I caught last week) that will end next month. That gives each night more buzz than a swarm of killer bees.

It lends another boost that, even as she approaches her 44th birthday, Madonna has never looked more smashing.

Then again, her looming icon status can't help but prove distracting and disquieting as evidenced by the audience, which cheered every wiggle and dance.

In fact, the specifics of Madonna's life lend a level of irony that the play must struggle mightily to overcome. Madonna's character is a wanna-be art dealer who grossly inflates the price of a Jackson Pollock to help scam her way into the top rung of her profession. Every one of the other characters likewise hypes and exploits.

Ponder the subtext: On some level, Madonna has to be using this appearance in the tony West End as her zillionth attempt to be taken seriously as an actress, just as the producers are cashing in on her fame, which guarantees packed houses.

But if such cynicism lurks beneath the play, there's plenty of legit pleasure on its surface. Though Williamson's work seems lightly satiric, it smartly captures characters who have missed life's emotional connections and try to fill their inner emptiness by buying magical art made by others. The staging is appropriately spare, modern and cold, looking like a showroom from the Conran home-furnishings chain.

The supporting cast offers some enjoyably broad performances, especially Sian Thomas as a frustrated artist who has become a corporate shill and Michael Lerner as a crass mogul with a secret fetish.

Yet next to Lerner's oak of a performance, Madonna can't help but seem like a twig. Her biggest hindrance as an actress remains her speaking voice it's girlish and brittle. That helps explain why she can handle flip banter but not emotional consequence. In the past, she has soared in petulant roles, as in "Desperately Seeking Susan," or when she can sing the part, as in "Evita," where her face and vocals communicated a vulnerability her spoken tones never have.

If Madonna is still hellbent on this acting thing, maybe next time she should go for a Noel Coward comedy something so light, cool and fun that even nonfans won't have to watch through their fingers.

^{Bron: Madonnapower.com}

The theater manager in charge of Madonna's London West End play has quit after reportedly becoming infuriated with the "fuss" surrounding the pop superstar. William Ingrey, who had been in the post at Wyndham's theater for over 27 years, left the job on Saturday after handing in his notice two days previously. He was reportedly "exasperated" and "infuriated" by the many demands made on Madonna's behalf and finally decided he had had enough of catering to the Material Girl while she starred in "Up For Grabs."

According to Britain's Daily Mail newspaper, Madonna's stipulations included: The presence of bouncers on either side of the stage whenever she was performing; a complete refurbishment of her dressing room; large areas of the auditorium being declared off limits to staff during shows; and the raising of the stage by several feet to deter over-eager fans.

Ingrey is unable to comment on the matter himself, but a friend says, "William was exasperated by all the fuss surrounding Madonna. She insisted on having her security hanging around in the wings all the time which made life extremely difficult. He had been pushing for the dressing room area to be redecorated for years, but could not get so much as a lick of paint. Then when Madonna arrived there was a complete revamp to her precise specifications. He was furious and said life there had become intolerable. It is so sad because he has been married to that theater for almost 30 years." At his going-away party, Ingrey diplomatically told colleagues that he was "unable to cope with the constraints put upon him to satisfy the needs of the present production".

Madonna's run at the theater has proved a huge success with fans, who have snapped up tickets, but less of one with critics, who have not been kind about her acting abilities.

_{Bron: Sindri's Madonna Page}

for grabs .

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Op woensdag 26 juni 2002 13:42 schreef Gellarboy het volgende:
Oh ja, de kaarten gaan ondertussen voor ca. 10 keer hun waarde weg op de zwarte markt.
We kunnen ook iets anders gaan doen hoor, Rip. Heel veel anders. .

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Op vrijdag 05 juli 2002 14:18 schreef Gellarboy het volgende:
IK ZEG IS HET GELUKT MET JE PASSPORT RIPLEY??!?!?!?!?!!?!?!

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Op vrijdag 05 juli 2002 14:19 schreef Ripley het volgende:

[..]

Ik had geen tijd. Maandag.

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Op vrijdag 05 juli 2002 14:19 schreef Ripley het volgende:
Ik had geen tijd. Maandag.

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Over een week dan.

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Op maandag 08 juli 2002 09:40 schreef Gellarboy het volgende:
Deze week gaat het dan eindelijk gebeuren! Ripley en ik gaan Madonna zien! .
Nu hebben we haar op zich al eens gezien, maar nu dus d.i.c.h.t.b.i.j. . .

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Op maandag 08 juli 2002 10:02 schreef schatje het volgende:
Madonna Says "NO" To "Sex" Book Re-Issue
Madonna's publicist, Liz Rosenberg has responded to rumors that the "Sex" book would be re-issued for it's 10th anniversary.
Now that she's the mother of two, she's firmly opposed to reissuing the manual of her hard-core fantasies. Warner Books editors are said to be talking about a 10th-anniversary edition complete with previously unseen photos. Madonna's rep tells us she's heard of no reissue plans, "but I wouldn't be surprised if she passed on it. She's leading a different life now."
bron

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Zijn er nog kaartjes voor "Up For Grabs" of is het echt helemaal uitverkocht??

[Dit bericht is gewijzigd door Gellarboy op 09-07-2002 10:32]

(en dus Neill Street . -red.)

The hotel has 405 elegantly appointed, air conditioned bedrooms and suites each with remote control T.V. and in-room movies, direct dial telephone, hairdryer, trouser press, tea/coffee making facilities and mini-bar.
The delightful restaurant offers a superb choice of daily à la carte menus, whilst the cocktailbar and lounge provide light refreshments throughout the day. Meeting facilities can accommdate up to 240 delegates and for your relaxation our excellent Health and Leisure Club offers swimming pool, sauna, steam room, solarium, whirlpool, fitness area, squash court and Har and Beauty Salon.

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Mag dit topic trouwens naar Uitgaan, of Cultuur, of Travel, of General Chat, of iets anders dan dit? .

En i wil naar Paul Smith want die hebbebn fluoriscerende schoenen. En dus hoop ik dat ze ook de kylie-armbanden hebben

HET IS VEEL TE KORT, MAN!

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Op woensdag 10 juli 2002 11:22 schreef schatje het volgende:
Ik ben jaloers!!
Maar heel veel plezier in ieder geval.

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Oh, boot en trein voorpret:

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Op woensdag 10 juli 2002 11:25 schreef Gellarboy het volgende:

[..]

Dank u! .

Oh, boot en trein voorpret:

[afbeelding]

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Op woensdag 10 juli 2002 11:28 schreef Ripley het volgende:
Gaan we op de boot naar de bioscoop?

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Figures. .

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Op woensdag 10 juli 2002 11:30 schreef Gellarboy het volgende:
Ik ben benieuwd welke films ze aan boord van de boot afspelen!
Zijn dat recente bioscoopfilms, Rip?

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Op woensdag 10 juli 2002 11:32 schreef Gellarboy het volgende:
Wat mij betreft wel dus!
Ziet dat er gewoon uit als een bioscoopzaal?
Ze noemen het "Video Lounge" .

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Op woensdag 10 juli 2002 11:24 schreef Gellarboy het volgende:
En Paul Smith it is! .
Ik wil graag naar de platenza(a)k(en) op Picadilly Circus en naar het Diesel Warenhuis *squirt* op Neill Street!

HET IS VEEL TE KORT, MAN!

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Verder Old/New Bondstreet met Chanel enzo.Ik heb de grond gekust voordat ik die tempel binnenging.Je valt zowat flauw van al die leuke hebbedingentjes.

Virgin Megastore is de grootste platenzaak in Londen, OxfordStreet.

Helemaal hip is Camden Town(Noorden)en High Street Kensington.Daar zitten alle trendy kleding zaken.

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Op woensdag 10 juli 2002 12:14 schreef schatje het volgende:
Virgin Megastore is de grootste platenzaak in Londen, OxfordStreet.

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Op woensdag 10 juli 2002 15:57 schreef Gellarboy het volgende:
Moet ik voor vanavond nog iets leuks meenemen, Rip?
http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollection.asp?alias=Gellarboy
^{Ik krijg de erotiek er niet uitgefiltered, sorry.}

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Veel plezier trouwens

^{(Ripley, kick jij z'n ass even in Admin?)} .

[Dit bericht is gewijzigd door Gumtree op 10-07-2002 18:57]

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Op woensdag 10 juli 2002 18:43 schreef Gumtree het volgende:
Ik snap de relatie die dit topic met travel heeft niet helemaal... goed je moet reizen om in London te komen maar de rest hoort volgens mij meer thuis in Uitgaan of kunst en literatuur.

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