Flex Mentallo

That's a nice cover! I've never seen this. [applause] It has some outstanding stories

I love that one too!

I believe this one is for my benefit....... Posting this book is grounds for abuse in my eyes. Solipsism in its purest form!

I have a soft spot for Ajax Farrel as well...

Thanks Roger. It's vastly therapeutic for me. As long as I can convince myself that others are getting something out of it I wont feel that it is overly self indulgent.

Incidentally, at the end of Miss Sarajevo, Bono says O lěpa, o draga, o slatka slobodo This is a line from Dubravka, a famous play by Ivan Gundulić, the greatest Croatian Baroque poet. Here is the English translation: Fair liberty, beloved liberty, liberty sweetly avowed, thou are the treasured gift that God to us endowed, all our glory is thy true creation, to our Home thou are all the decoration, no silver nor gold, not life itself could replace the reward of thy pure and sublime grace.

Next: Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden & the Serious Road Trip

In addition to the "Pavarotti and Friends" performance, the song was played once on U2's 1997 PopMart Tour in Sarajevo with Brian Eno. U2 was the first band able to host a concert in the city since the end of the war, and the band was very pleased to be present there at the time. As per the Sarajevans' request, the show was not a benefit concert, and the band performed just as they did in any other city on the tour. Inela Nogic, was present at that show, and was escorted to the concert with the band themselves. Bono lost his voice during the concert, and unfortunately messed up during the performance of "Miss Sarajevo," and said afterwards, "Sarajevo, this song was written for you. I hope you like it, because we can't f****ing play it." In reference to the performance, Larry Mullen Jr. said, "That was an experience I will never forget for the rest of my life. And if I had to spend 20 years in the band just to play that show, and have done that, I think it would have been worthwhile."

"Miss Sarajevo" was first performed 12 September 1995 at the annual Pavarotti And Friends concert in Modena, Italy. Bono, The Edge and Brian Eno joined Pavarotti on stage, with a complete orchestra, to premier the new Original Soundtracks 1 future single. All three dressed in black suits and white shirts and this was one of very few occasions where The Edge performed without his famous headgear, perhaps a symbol of respect for not only the great tenor but also for the song. Miss Sarajevo:

Bill Carter travelled to Sarajevo in the winter of 1993 to offer humanitarian aid and quickly found himself in the heart of the conflict. He lived for six months in a burnt-out office building, subsisting on baby food and whatever water he could find in the rivers and sewers and delivering food and medicine to those in need. Carter originally contacted U2 while they were on their Zoo TV Tour to show audiences the real people involved, feeling that the western media were ignoring the human aspect of the war. The band arranged for several satellite link-ups where Carter gave the locals—who had been cut off from communication with the rest of Europe for about a year and a half at this point—an opportunity to be heard before stadiums of thousands. The link-ups were brief and unedited. "The idea was simple, instead of doing what the news does, which is entertain you, I wanted to do something that the news rarely does, make a person care about the issue...I wanted young people in Europe to see the people in the war, I didn't want them to see politicians or religious leaders or military spokesmen." Bill Carter

Bono posing with U.S. Army Sgt. John Kohne during a visit to an U.S. anti-artillery radar installation overlooking the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in 1995.

Is there a time for keeping your distance A time to turn your eyes away Is there a time for keeping your head down For getting on with your day Is there a time for kohl and lipstick A time for curling hair Is there a time for high street shopping To find the right dress to wear Here she comes Heads turn around Here she comes To take her crown Is there a time to run for cover A time for kiss and tell Is there a time for different colours Different names you find it hard to spell Is there a time for first communion A time for East Seventeen Is there a time to turn to Mecca Is there time to be a beauty queen Here she comes Beauty plays the clown Here she comes Surreal in her crown You say that the river finds the way to the sea and like the river you will come to me beyond the borders and the dry lands You say that like a river like a river... the love will come the love... And I don't know how to pray anymore and in love I don't know how to hope anymore and for that love I don't know how to wait anymore Is there a time for tying ribbons A time for Christmas trees Is there a time for laying tables And the night is set to freeze

Miss Sarajevo 1993 They told me that they had helped to organise a beauty contest, “Miss Sarajevo, 1993”. Miss Sarajevo is a documentary about the beauty pageant. The winner was a 17-year-old blonde named Inela Nogić. Bono later wrote a song about it, which you are probably familiar with.

We went into the university, hung out with the students. They showed us a sculpture they had suspended over the river at the height of the shelling, under intense sniper fire. By some miracle no one was killed on that occasion.

Bizarrely, the British Ambassador was in there with a film crew, making a documentary to launch an appeal to restore it. This has now been achieved, though I believe the funds came from Turkey, not the UK.