Last year's OECD world education rankings make uncomfortable reading for the bulk of posters here: http://www.guardian....science-reading The only solace for the UK is that we rank above the US, based on our average score over the three subjects . But why are we both so low, and falling? What's going on here? Take at look at who's at the top. Finland??? I mean, no disrespect, but what's so special about Finland? How is it that they appear to be doing things so much better than us? I can't comment on the US education system, but here's a few observations on ours: My sons are 12 and 14. When I started to read their teachers' comments on their homework many years ago, I was shocked to see that whereas they were criticised for poor handwriting, no attempt whatsoever was made to correct their spelling, and rarely their grammar. When I queried this at parents' evening, I was told that they don't do it anymore. Why? Because it would 'discourage the really bad spellers' . Furthermore, on one of the few occasions that their grammar was corrected, the only error I could see was made by the teacher. My elder son is a maths genius. Since Year One, he has been about three years ahead of his classmates' standard. He used to love the subject, but now he hates it. Why? Because his school is unable to give him challenging work. They argue that their budgets have been cut. I argue that it would cost no more if he were given more advanced textbooks to study, instead of him wasting his time doing stuff he knew how to do two years ago. They don't listen - and now it doesn't matter anymore, because he no longer has any interest in the subject. Over the past 30 years, the standards of our O-Levels and A-Levels (taken at 16 & 18 years respectively) have fallen to such an extent that a modern A-Level is hardly more difficult than an O-Level used to be, with the result that everyone is now getting A-grades. So now they've had to introduce tiers of A-grades. And of course, anyone and their dog can get into university these days. Not a proper university, you understand - mostly second-rate establishments that used to be called Polytechnics, like Luton or Liverpool. They were all upgraded to university status awhile back, to cure the social evil of elitism. So nobody leaves school at 16 anymore to work an apprenticeship in the traditional manual trades. Instead, they go to an ex-Poly to do a degree in Media Studies, or Self-Actualisation Through Macrame. Of course, they all end up unemployed, and hey presto - double whammy: we no longer have enough home-grown plumbers or electricians, so we have to import them all from Lithuania. Many graduates go on to become teachers - not, as used to be the case, as a vocation, but because there are no cushy jobs-for-life anywhere else anymore. But guess what? Half of them are barely literate (see above points), so they become substandard teachers, and so.....the cycle starts again, and the self-perpetuating downward spiral continues. Any thoughts?

No, you're probably just DOLE SCUM Last night, against my better judgement, I watched Conspiracy Theory (Mel Gibson & Julia Roberts). It was billed as a thriller. I spent the first 45 mins trying to work out whether it was actually intended as a comedy. When I realised it wasn't, I turned it off. This has to be just about the shittiest movie I've ever seen. Oh, and Mel Gibson sucks. But I don't hate him.

There is a great deal of evil. Interestingly, most of it is to be found inside those masquerading as good.

I fell asleep this afternoon, and missed early Sunday closing at Tesco. This was a bummer, cos we're out of vital ingredients, so I wondered what the hell we'd be eating tonight. From out of nowhere, in under an hour, my wonderful wife has just rustled up a four-dish Chinese meal: Sweet & sour chicken Chicken in black bean sauce Pork stir-fry in red wine Egg fried rice. She is truly amazing - she could make roadkill taste good. In fact, when she lived in Thailand, she used to have to! Funny thing is, I didn't think we had any chicken left. And I haven't seen our cat since I woke up...

'Lectro hates me, 'Lectro hates me 'Lectro hates me, I don't care I am Stairway, super Stairway I am Stairway, from North Wa-els (sung to the tune of 'Sailing', for the benefit of our non-football-hooligan brethren)

Well, Page referes to it in the interview as an 'unusual G chord'

Why? Because as a LZ fan of 37 years' standing, I assessed it as being one of the band's eleven least successful songs - one of many potential candidates from their least successful album by far. What's more, three people agree with me. So my selection has been vindicated, as it is currently in joint 5th place. IMO, it should be in the top (i.e. bottom) two, along with Carouselambra. It's very tempting to be unspeakably cruel about FITR. So here goes: the lameness of the riff, Plant's whining-dog vocals, the ghastly Mexican car-jam interlude, Page's unlistenable and directionless solo, and that fucking whistle. Only Bonzo emerges from the debacle with any credit. But if I had to sum it up, I'd just say it's the kind of thing you'd expect to find on a bad Santana album. And it would probably be the worst track on there, too. But I don't hate it.

Hate is a very strong word, for sure. I'd say it's used predominantly by children, who have yet to develop a sophistication of either vocabulary or spirit. It's also used quite frequently by agitated women during altercations with their loved ones. In either case, it is usually used lazily or insincerely. As Electrophile is not a child, I think we must assume that she genuinely hates the song. Either that, or she is locked into an endless inner maelstrom of conflicting emotions concerning STH. Perhaps she genuinely likes the song, but is troubled by the backwards messages. Maybe the 'little tool-shed' bit holds a deep and dark resonance for her. Who knows. In any event, she is almost certainly unique amongst LZ fans in hating STH, if in fact she truly does.

No, it's not from the article. I too have 'Vol 1', and the 3533 just sounds wrong. I checked this first, then went online to some tabs page. As for 3233, this sounds closer than 3533, but I think the 2 adds too much dissonance compared with 3x33. Maybe when JP launches his website, we can ask him?

Having googled her, I have to say no, actually, I don't. Far too butch. Looks like the singer in Def Leppard. But I do like the picture you posted. I guess it's just the pose....buns up & kneelin' does it for me, every time

Hey, she's pretty hot, S&S. Who is she?

Reminds me of a school buddy. After one xmas break, he came back and told us he'd done something really rad on xmas day. In a gesture of teenage rebellion, when the meal was being served, he said to his mum 'No turkey, please' He thought that was really cool. I just thought he was an idiot.

See 'Musician's Corner' at the bottom of the front page. I think the chord is: A: 3 D: mute G: 3 B: 3 No idea what it's called.

I agree entirely with both your posts, grecko. And you're right - 'Mighty Zep' is the greatest, and will remain so among proper rock fans. Not that I'm gloating about it - it's a tragedy that there have been no seismic new bands since the 90s - but I firmly believe that we have seen the last of the truly great rock bands. And there is no chance IMO that anything will happen to change that, as long as new bands are obsessed with churning out insipid Americana or endlessly rehashing punk in a watered-down form.

w00t Who's iggerant now, l337? Didn't they learn you nuthin' at the Little School On The Prairie?

True Zep fans are not blind to their occasional lapses. Only Fanboys claim to love everything they ever did. Peace

You don't have to choose three. You don't have to choose any. And please don't flame me for the 11 choices - I really like about half of them, and only included them because they are often grumbled about. Oh, and feel free to state your absolute least favourite. Mine's Carouselambra.

I really don't think this is a horticultural reference. Anyway, that would be 'OUT for a quick garden', wouldn't it? Unless you were tending your hydroponics. More likely a sexual reference, albeit more applicable to the 70s, given today's higher standards of feminine tonsorial elegance

I was working in my hometown yesterday which has a discount record shop (Fopp). So I wanted to get the new mega-package reissues of probably the finest first two albums any band has ever released. The first music I'll have paid for in, oh, maybe 3 years? (The last Muse album was the last thing I bought.) I knew I could get them on Amazon for about £10 each, but I thought Fopp would be cheaper. Wrong....£15 each. I tried to haggle, asked if they'd do a price-match - no deal. Oh well, that's up to them, and this is why high street music retail is dying.

They closed down the motorway today, and there were no diversion signs, so I got lost and took an extra 2 hrs to get home. Which meant I could listen to another Zep boot, and avoided 2 hrs of hell at home with my tormentor. Win-win!

As you probably now know, the rumours were true. SF Cow Palace. Fortunately, it was only the encores. I have it on DVD; the kid (Scott Halpern, I believe) did a creditable job. Imagine that... You're right, the Quad songs didn't flow - they had problems synching with the backing tapes. That's why they'd already dropped several of them before they hit Cali. To make matters worse, Pete felt the need to explain/'translate' the plotline between songs for the US crowds. I'd still love to hear a full early-tour show, even with the problems...

The Who died with Moon, IMO. Thank god LZ didn't carry on & tarnish their reputation like that. I'm hoping he'll put a full live show in from 73, warts and all. The only good recordings from 73 that I've found are from after they dropped a load of the Quad songs. Anyone know any different?

Sounds like bullshit to me Not a big seller in the US:

I found it very disappointing, a missed opportunity. Fascinating coverage of the early days, but after the early 70s, the style & content became increasingly tedious, IMO. Just like the music, in fact. For anyone who's interested, someone's upping the complete known recordings including all boots, year by year, over at d*m*n*id - '50 Years of Dirty Work'. He's up to '75 so far - 90gb and counting...I plan to stop after '76, for obvious reasons.

Charmane Star Sabrine Maui Yuka Haneda Vien Lynn Unknown Filipina