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even my mum… it’s people like her passing on her bigoted opinions who cause the problems and prejudices our society faces.
also – if you don’t like ketchup, fine… but do you ostracise anyone who does? would you ban it from all public places?
I don’t like monkeys, but I don’t parade around outside Monkey World with banners saying how disgusting it is that people want to look at apes.
My ex used to say that gay men were just wrong and unnatural, although lesbians were good. I just used to treat him as if this opinion of his was faintly absurd, which – let’s face it – it was. I actually found it impossible to believe that he really meant the things he said, they were so ridiculous. He would never accept that people do not choose to be gay – I mean, who would? Who would actively choose to have ignoramuses like you abuse and misunderstand them so badly, and have to live with the knowledge that half the world believes they are unacceptably different. Who would choose that?
My ex used to say that if you dressed a girl up as a boy, the gay man would then fancy her and the problem would be solved. Naturally, when I suggested I take a man and dress him up as a woman, and then Ben (my ex) would want to have him, he was horrified. Same theory, though.
I won that argument, by miles.
Welcome back Simon. Good to see you.
Um… the worst graffiti I have ever seen was in a toilet in Christchurch, Dorset. I’d already perched by the time it caught my eye. It read:
"Shelley Woz Ere – Avin’ Sex – 18/10/04"
Which was nasty enough. Until I realised that the date that day was 18/10/04.
Ew
Love that My Life Story track, KM, and also like Can’t Uneat The Apple off their album.
Yep, I could happily listen to most of these compilations – good stuff.
I’m not voting Labour.
I wasn’t planning to, anyway – but the final straw was last week, when a Labour rep cold called me at home to ask what I thought of the local Labour MP and how he had served the community.
Now, he let me down badly last year when I had arranged to meet him at Westminster for a lobby four months in advance of the lobby date – the day before, his secretary rang me at work and gave no real excuse, simply that he "wasn’t going to be there".
I politely explained this to the man on the phone and that I had felt let down and not particularly happy about it.
What happened next?
He hung up on me.
Yes, that’s actually true – I cannot believe how rude he was. And to top it all, I have sent Jim Knight MP two emails and an answerphone message since that night, and I have been completely ignored despite requesting a reply and an apology for being called up in my own home and then cut off so rudely.
They’re all rotten, right through.
Evanescence – My Immortal (because it evokes a bittersweet memory and breaks my heart)
Smashing Pumpkins – Disarm (simply one of my favourites)
ELO – Mr Blue Sky (cheers me up for some reason)
Radiohead – High and Dry (near the knuckle, makes me cry)
Radiohead – Paranoid Android (because I couldn’t choose just one)
Super Furry Animals – Gathering Moss
Barber – Agnus Dei (Adagio for Strings but the choral version)
Skid Row – In A Darkened Room (Amazing lyrics. Michael Jackson should listen to this one)
Mansun – Wide Open Space (Good pick, Dave Jay. I also like She Makes My Nose Bleed but this one reminds me of weird dreams)
Snow Patrol – Run (break up song)
Bizet – The Pearl Fishers
Manic Street Preachers – Faster (oh so young and angry)
Adam and the Ants – Goody Two Shoes (first record I ever owned)
Dodgy – Grassman (album track, no idea why but I just love it)
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Dosed (This is the way I wanted it to be with you… this is the way I knew that it would be with you…)
Keane – Bed Shaped (gorgeous)
I think I filled an album there….!<br>I want that CD!
Terrible news, I’m very saddened to read this. Please pass on my condolences to his wife and family, they must be in bits.
Elaine
Dear Zome
I appear to have developed an inexplicable crush on Paul Nicholls. Can you help me?
Thanks
Yours helplessly
Elaine
Also recommended is Anthropology by Dan Rhodes. Won’t take long to read – 101 short stories, each with 101 words – tiny little skits of stories, but amazingly loaded with humour and pathos.
Genius.
PS, I have read Pobby and Dingan on recommendation and can confirm that it is well worth finding a copy – a very talented writer and a beautiful story.
But wouldn’t a central "charity pot" raise moral questions for some individuals? For example, the Marie Curie cancer charity – as do many others, I am sure – test on animals. Some people may be morally against this, and would be resistant to donating money from their wage packets to causes they do not agree with, or actively rebel against.
Maybe there should be an obligation to donate, but more choice over where that money goes.
But then, charities which are not as high profile as, say, the NSPCC or Cancer Research may suffer more.
Who decides which cause is most worthy? There’s no right answer.
Oh, incidentally, one of the charities I support is the National Endometriosis Society. This is purely through personal experience, and before I was diagnosed I hadn’t really heard of the charity. It’s certainly a worthy cause though, it just doesn’t get any publicity (the charity can’t afford it, for a start). It’s only through personal experience that I became aware of this charity and the necessity for research into this currently incurable and debilitating illness. People choosing to support charities dealing with illnesses and conditions they have experienced on a personal level is normal, as awareness of the issue is raised through their experiences. This is particularly the case for low profile charities such as the NES.
I am not sure that makes much sense, but I am a bit knackered at the moment!
Simon, I agree that there is a lot of money being spent on "charitable causes" that raise eyebrows. I seem to remember the Lottery getting lots of stick for funding the Royal Ballet, which isn’t really important in the grand scheme of things. I’m not suggesting that such causes are more important than giving assistance to developing countries. But, as Jane says, there are lots of genuinely good causes in this country that rely on public money, that are now suffering because of the almost complete concentration on the aftermath of the tsunami.
Ian – the trouble with adding money to income tax would be that it removes the element of choice. I myself support a small number of charities that I have chosen for personal reasons and don’t like the idea of contributing to some central "charity fund" and not knowing where the money ends up or how it is used.
Thanks for the info on Twist and Turn… it’s difficult to keep track of horses once they have gone abroad.
Oh, one more that I wonder about is the winner of the 1998 Galway Plate, Amlah, who was almost put down when striking into himself badly in the race the next year.  He was rumoured to have made a full recovery and was meant to go back into training with Philip Hobbs in late 2000, but never reappeared on the course.  Wonder what happened?
It does seem like there is a gap in the RP coverage here, it would be nice to have some way of knowing where a horse went off to at the end of their career…
(Edited by robertylea at 9:57 pm on Feb. 19, 2005)
For a start, I boycott all products by Nestle.
Nestle manufactures baby formula, which they ruthlessly market in the developing world. They give out free samples to new mothers, until the mothers’ breast milk dries up, but by then they are no longer free and are instead extremely expensive to buy. By then, of course, the mothers have no choice but to buy the formula, as they are no longer producing milk.
In addition, many babies die because this formula needs to be mixed with water before it is fed to the infant, and the quality of water in these countries is poor and many babies contract infections from the water which their little bodies cannot cope with, and it kills them.
Nestle are a hideous company, and their products will not pass my lips.
A good idea, Zoz… I hope this gets read, as there are plenty of horses I would like to find out about.  I asked only the other day about Roberty Lea, and Sal told me that sadly he died in 1999, so that came to a sorry end.
Others I would like to know about are:
Twist and Turn (Flat horse, trained by Henry Cecil, his 2yo season would have been 1991)
Sir Jest (trained by Arthur Stephenson, his last race was in 1990, prolific winner in ordinary handicap chases)
Joint Sovereignty (Mackeson Gold Cup winner 1989)
New Halen (surprise winner of the Mildmay at Cheltenham, 1990)
Kildimo (Sue Smith’s horse, broke down in his last race in 1993 which I did not see, I’d like to know what happened to him as he was a gorgeous horse)
Chatam (Hennessy winner, 1991, trained by Martin Pipe)
David’s Duky (won the Eider Chase, 1992)
Howe Street (lovely looking grey, last seen when pulling up lame in the Comet Chase at Ascot in 1995, I missed this race so don’t know what happened to him)
Fredcoteri (won Lanzarote Hurdle in 1988)
I think that will do, though I know there are many others, good and bad.
Oh, by the way, sorry I don’t know about any in your list, Zoz… I do remember Greenhil Tare Away fondly, though!
(Edited by robertylea at 8:36 pm on Feb. 19, 2005)
