Duff was on the smack as well.
I love how people paint Axl as a primadonna because he travelled seperately, as if sharing a tour bus with a bunch of drunken smackheads is something anyone should cherish

Duff also said this recently:

"My band, Guns N' Roses, was in shambles, and suddenly the dynamic had changed. Not too long after I got out of the hospital, Axl came up to Seattle to visit me. The challenge was how we were going to make a new record and what direction we were going to go musically. We couldn't very well do anything at the time because Slash was out doing a Snakepit tour and battling his own addiction. In previous years, there had seemed to be a fail-proof alliance and understanding within our band; we knew that at the end of the day we only had each other to rely on. Now I was doing sober things with Axl, like riding mountain bikes and eating healthy food and talking on the phone about a productive musical direction. That sense of family and trust had recently been tainted by management dealings and other wedges that did everything possible to vanquish our bonds.

Looking back now, it is all so fucking clear. But then and there in the moment, I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that outside forces could be so selfish and money-grubbing. These were the hard lessons I would finally learn to live with, although never by."

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2 … g_over.php

His relationship with Axl wasnt as fractured as people like to believe, sounds like at the end him and Axl were still quite tight. When you are trying to get clean of your addictions you need friends to help you get back into normal day to day routines away from the old temptations, and Axl was there for Duff.
I dont blame him for quitting though, all those guys relationships were burned out and they all needed long, even permenant, breaks from each other.

Seems more likely that they agreed not to play any other festivals, rather than not playing any kind of other shows whatsoever.

Hmmm what to do what to do.....?

Leeds is closer but the Sunday night will more likely have more drunken pricks looking to provoke Axl. Reading is quite a trek but its on the Friday and should have a good atmosphere with people not as intoxicated and excited about the weekend ahead.

So GNR will play Reading on Friday and Leeds on Sunday, but how does that mean no arena tour?

Terry wasnt an author when he started out, he was a journalist, and his writing style in his early books differs greatly to later ones. Things like structure, plots etc all improve as the early books progress, he really hits top form in the middle of the discworld series imo. The first few books in the series are a bit hard to follow sometimes, there are a couple I dont really go back to cause I dont really remember particuarly enjoying them. I keep meaning to give them another try, but the memory of them being a struggle is still fresh in the memory.

I dont read e-books because looking at computer screens bursts my head and hurts my eyes after prolonged use, even the thought of reading a book on my pc or phone makes me feel queezy.

I love book shops and librarys, the ambience and the smell of those places I find very special. Something about e-books creeps me out and makes me worry for the future of public librarys and small book shops.