Comments on: Democracy inaction

By: Alan Dale

Alan Dale — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:31:32 +0000

That does help.

By: Mushtimushta

Mushtimushta — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 08:52:06 +0000

Alan — to lose a loved-one to a sociology teacher (whatever the gender) is indeed a stab in the back. If it helps, I once “went out” (??) with someone who dumped me and then became a Catholic priest! So, whilst you drove Emma into the arms of a woman, I appear to have turned someone off sex altogether (if the hype is to be believed!). Now THAT hurt! I’m over it now.

By: Alan Dale

Alan Dale — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:34:24 +0000

I’m sure you can tell from Dagmar’s regular spelling corrections that I am not an English teacher. Furthermore it was Peter who enlightened me to the use of the editorial ‘we’.

I guess I’m just bitter because Emma left me for her sociology teacher from night school. Put loads of radical marxist-feminist nonsense in her head then swept her off to Lesbos.

GC is doing a really good job. But no one is perfect.. I’m sure ‘they’ can take it. If not then ignoring me is a pretty good tactic. Works for Peter..

By: dman

dman — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:00:48 +0000

lolz. I wuz gonna ask r u a copy editor? They the type that gets uptight about english usage (technically you have a point, mind).

The thing i dont get is the “gay friendly” ranking. wots that based on?

By: Dagmar

Dagmar — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:15:10 +0000

Mush, there are no gay people up north. It’s Grimsby up north. Down south it’s all soft. You know. Down south.

By: Mushtimushta

Mushtimushta — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:49:49 +0000

Alan - your posting above is very friendly in tone, but please give GC a break. The people concerned (who I don't know, by the way) are trying to get the website and an active local gay community spirit going. From the reports of Pink November, they've achieved some of that already in many ways. The use of "we" is a way of expressing that spirit of community, I think. In their shoes, I'm not sure I'd be too keen to enter into a debate about whether my relationship conformed or bucked the trend of a stereotype that you've encountered at some stage in the past.I think you're being a bit too literal. Are you an English teacher? It's just that I've generally found English teachers to be a bit tight-assed........

By: dman

dman — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:20:44 +0000

Boilers – can’t live without them. Ours went one winter. Had to replace it. Hard to find a good boiler engineer.

I stopped and talked to the guy in Camberwell with a wind turbine the other day. He says they are not worth the hassle and you’re better off with photovoltaic roof panels to generate electricity.

To heat your house, the best bet is to get a wood burner and fuel it with the mountains of free timber people leave lying about the place. Kindly locals have started leaving wood in his front yard.

I’d guess it wouldn’t scale well, however. You need a house, not a flat. And we’d all be out scavenging for wood.

By: Dagmar

Dagmar — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:00:20 +0000

Innate, innit. Alan, the old boiler fellow you recommended didn’t ring back but thanks anyway, his reputation is good. The chap we had round was excellent in the end, worked 13 hours nonstop for a previously agreed price, was genuine i.e. had grown up on the Aylesbury and in Peckham though now lives in north Kent. I would recommend him to anyone needing gas boiler work, he is excellent. We no longer live inuit, init.

By: Alan Dale

Alan Dale — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:52:37 +0000

So that would imply that the editor is the voice of a body of opinion.

I suppose the reason it jars is that some of the opinions expressed are clearly personal:

http://www.gaycamberwell.com/jjcaterers.html

Have all the GC review team really tasted the same things in India for example? Furthermore the ‘we’ expressing collective opinion of JJ’s is a subset of the bigger ‘we all’ who ‘left feeling satisfied…’

To that end I am still drawing the inference that GayCamberwell is headed up by a couple who fit the stereotypical assertive/submissive lesbian partner roles.

Inate ignorance bordering on homophobia or genuinely something in the text? You decide.

All very interesting but more importantly thanks again GC. You might not be feeling it but I really appreciate the renaissance in Camberwell culinary culture which I attribute to your world wide web work..

By: Peter

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:32:10 +0000

It’s the ‘editorial we’; we rarely use it here.