Bex taught me all about sex..a slug's more experienced in bed than I

EVICTED Big Brother geek Luke Marsden said he can't wait to go on a date with Rebecca - but warned: "A slug's got more sexual experience than me!"

He said: "Bex and I did more in the house than I did with her in two months."He said: "I was expecting to hate her. I met her during the audition stages and despised her.Jimmy John Liautaud, chief executive and founder of the Champaign, Ill.-based Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches chain, told a panel that he has "six meetings with each of you banker dudes ... and I'll offer full disclosure, anything you want to know." That was the pervasive sentiment among operators in Las Vegas: Franchisors must play nice with lenders today and be open to creative solutions as both operator and lender navigate this new terrain of reduced liquidity and sector underperformance."But then I got in the house and I don't know what happened. Maybe opposites attract.""One of the major benefits of franchising is not funding the growth, and this sort of defeats that purpose," said Robert Bielinski, managing director in the commercial and industrial unit at CIT Group."We really want to do this [growth], and we have to come up with a different plan to help these people," Stolz said.Before the stock market tanked and the credit markets froze as even Small Business Administration loans became scarce, smaller growth outfits like Trufoods LLC and pizza chain franchisor Straw Hat Cooperative Corp. and chains such as Cold Stone Creamery sought profits as usual by signing up franchisees. But the economic climate has made that far tougher, forcing franchisors to rethink their growth strategies and how to pay for them."I tried to explain politics to Rebecca but she wasn't interested. I'm not a virgin. I've slept with one person."Franchisors need to take a step back and sit down with lenders and make it happen," Brown said. "Where there is a will, there is a way.... It's about a new mind-set."DAVISStraw Hat's president and chief executive, Jonathan Fornaci, believes a pizzeria where a family of four can eat for $20 fits the zeitgeist. He plans to add 42 eateries to the 58-unit chain, which is based in San Ramon, Calif."When she got evicted I was upset and I lied on the bed all week. Then I pictured myself in Jumping Jacks bar, one of Rebecca's favourite haunts in Coventry, dragged around the dancefloor and trod on by her friends."THE STARRY PLOUGH "Berzerkeley Poetry Slam"(8 p.m. Wed; $7 entry fee) says it all. But here's more: pizza, beer, and cash prizes. $;3101 Shattuck Ave.; starryploughpub.comRHYTHM'S MUSIC CAFE A Poetry-friendly espresso bar and all-ages live-music venue in the arty heart of the Sierra Foothills. Its stone walls have nested many a writing salon. 114 W. Main St.; rhythms musiccafe.com"My husband and I always wanted to have our own business," said Dana Wolsten. "This made it easier for us.""She educated me about sex," he said.

adrian.butler@sundaymirror.co.uk

Author: ADRIAN BUTLER