Gene_Clark

"As If" by Blake Morrison, about the Bulger Case. Deep sobering, but seemingly out of step with public opinion, almost 2 decades later

"Stay out of churches son; all they got is the key to the shithouse.." (William S. Burroughs "Place of Dead Roads")

Interestingly, by way of contrast, in the great democracy that is Britain, an innocent, homeless, alcoholic newspaper vendor can be murdered by a policeman, who will not be required to atone for this act. As regards freedom of speech, 99.9% of people assume this means saying things they agree with

Comrades, thank you for your kind words. 48 is no different to 47. After 2 days in the ancestral home town of Cork, today takes us in to Dublin for the All Ireland Hurling semi final between Cork & Galway. Corcaigh Abu!!! This will entail changing from 3.50 a pint Beamish to 4.70 a pint Guinness. Ironically, there is a CAMRA event taking place in The Porterhouse on Nassau Street that I'd fancy attending, but think I'll pass. Thanks again for the kind words for my birthday & the sympathy shown when we had our beloved cat taken from us last week. Enjoy your day

How many more have to die before they realise the insanity of their gun laws? Tragic, absolutely tragic

On Friday, we had our beloved, adored 16 year old cat euthanised after we discovered he had an inoperable tumour on his kidney the day before. We had 24 hours to say goodbye, to talk to him, stroke him & prepare ourselves. The vet & a nurse came to our house, put a catheter in t9 his right front leg, then injected an overdose of painkillers. He slipped peacefully away in a matter of minutes. We carried him to their car & he is away for cremation now. He died at home, with dignity. 3 years ago, my dad died in the Freeman of kidney cancer, after an agonising 3 month battle with it that saw him stripped of dignity & hanging on to life via intravenous drips & morphine, while we sat mute & tearful by his bed, all day, every day. I had never had an opinion on euthanasia until that time; now it is my belief that all humans should have the right to death with dignity. My cat had it; I wish my father had had the same.

no problem at all; a fascinating & heartfelt post. in return, i'll tell you the happiest dream i ever had. a friday night in november 2010; the only dream i've had about my dad, 15 months after his death. he & my mam always said they'd love to visit New England in autumn, to see the colours of the leaves (apparently "the fall" is beautiful there) changing daily. in my dream, i was outside a white, wooden, clapboard house (real US 19th century style), which had a manicured lawn, mature trees etc my dad came round the side of the house smiling & told me how happy he was there & how glad he was to see me, but that i had to go back to look after everyone. i woke early on a miserable, rainy Saturday morning, but felt euphoric as this dream told me he was at peace & i could let him go. i am an atheist of course.

Thanks for the kind words about the cat. He has less than 12 hours left; he's dozing softly in my partner's arms. It's almost as if he knows it's time, as he buries his head gently in the crook of her arm. He's eaten nothing for a few days, no longer washes & can only take sips of water every so often. It's absolutely heartbreaking to see a cat that had lived so long (born the day we beat West Ham 3-0 in March 96 when the late Les Sealey had a stormer) just ebbing away. i have no doubt it is the right thing we're doing; the vet is calling tomorrow after morning surgery, then we'll have him cremated & have his ashes returned in a small casket. The fact is, this just makes me think of my dad's death 3 years ago; if only we'd been able to give him an injection when the prognosis was outlined rather than the dreadful pain of his last 2 months. This may only be the passing of a pet (a beloved, adored one admittedly), but my goodness it gives you a sense of maudlin perspective. Anger is so fruitless an emotion; hatred so pointless and so destructive. Be good to your loved ones, human or otherwise. I am thinking of you all.

Desperately sad; our 16 year old cat has been diagnosed with an inoperable tumour. He will be leaving us tomorrow.

"Ancient & Modern" by The Mekons arrived this morning; not had a chance to listen yet

i saw a bloke wearing a duffle coat in town today; i know it was a bit cooler than the weekend, but that's ridiculous....

i think only those of us who've lost our fathers can really know just how hurtful those messages to Tom Daley are.

indeed; 3 years. i remember hearing it on the news just before i walked up to the Freeman to see my dad; it was my old man's last day on earth & i told him SBR had gone. my dad said "i'll see him soon enough" and at 12.30am on 1st august 2009, the day after Bobby went, so did my dad. visiting the ground covered in scarves on sunday 2nd with the whole family was a cleansing, healing experience & one i'm very glad i had. i miss sir bobby's benign presence around the club, but i miss my dad in a sharper, more elemental way every single day of my life

i just read it last week; what a wonderfully evocative, deeply moral book it is. one interesting thing is just how far Tommy & Second Prize fall in "Trainspotting" from their social position in "Skagboys."

you wouldn't say that if you'd read "skagboys" - ouch!!

the fine line is, of course, a matter of personal opinion; mickey taking to one will be either emotionally wounding or seriously inflammatory to someone else. as i say, my rule of thumb is that is someone acts up towards me (regardless of their motivation), i simply put them on ignore or, in the case of LM, don't read what they say 99.9% of the time, as it was of no interest to me

tonsorial accuracy - who is the bloke in the photo?

perhaps that's true of a tiny minority of trolls, but most of them, in my opinion, are seeking to get a laugh out of someone / anyone - they don't know you; you don't know them & the opportunity for a quip or jibe that gets them some kudos for being a wisecracking comedian will always be taken. don't lose sleep over it.

point taken mate

excellent post; it is applicable to both LM & his coterie in general

i ignored him because i found his relentless droning on about shepherd tedious beyond words; consequently i didn't have to deal with the internet equivalent of the whining of a shithouse door in a gale

ironically, i've met him (totally by chance) in a pub & he was perfectly fine; had a pint & a chat with him - shook hands at the end of it. quite a few years ago now.

sadly many messageboards, including this one, have such trolls who see their function as to roam around, insulting people for no good reason. obviously many of them are simply on a wind up & have no agenda other than mischievously playing to the gallery; this may make them irritating, but ultimately they're harmless - stick them on ignore & they'll stop being an irritant. the danger comes from ones who are out there with a real need for revenge for imagined insults; perhaps LM was like this. my initial opinion of him as a harmless, middle aged, right wing, socially conservative, intolerant bore hasn't changed; however others hint at a deeper malaise.

What an interesting post; I agree with most of it. My advice though is just to put the loony trolls on ignore; it deprives them of the oxygen of publicity that they crave. Since doing just that, I find this place a far more entertaining read.

i see your point & since i'm generally only interested in the General Chat board as a poster, he doesn't affect me. however, there's 1 poster of the 4 i have on ignore (the other 3 are just daft, boring trolls) who i think is a dangerous, unhinged man & a probable cause of people leaving this board - banning him would no doubt increase the flow of traffic. however, you lot run the place; i just drop by to talk about music mainly....