and consider myself very much of an outsider. After the blast of flak I've just had for what I thought was a fairly innocuous sub I certainly don't want to be an insider. Calling a sub crap or unfunny is one thing but being personally abusive is not right in my book and more suited to the lower end of the youtube scale.
However, apparently jokes about drowned Australians are ok but one about yet another assassination attempt on a U.S. politician isn't, even though she is a supporter of the lax U.S. gun laws and likely to make a full recovery. Perhaps if it had been Sarah Palin it would have gone down better.
I noticed that one of your regulars lives in Brisbane. Anyone show any concern or ask him how he's getting on? Not you lot.
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I've been an irregular visitor to this site for a few months
(19 posts) (14 voices)
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Posted 10 years ago #
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Things are not off limits, as far as I can tell (as I've said, it's not my site).
But when you make a joke about a topical subject that involves a level of tragedy, such as the Arizona shootings, the Bristol murder and yes the Australian floods, then you are on dangerous ground. If it's funny you can get away with it. But if it's not (and, sorry, yours was not) then it can backfire.
I do hope you'll stay and submit more stories. I always try to be fair with my votes and comments, I don't hold grudges.
Posted 10 years ago # -
having had a serious head injury myself I can tell you that you are unlikely to make a full recovery, particularly not in her case. If you are as lucky as I was you just count your blessings that you have not been given the c-word scentence but have a chance to live on. In her case she will have far more serious limitations that I have for sure, particularly with the damage to the frontal lobe were the emotional control is located and the extensive damage to the left hemisphere. She might survive but how she will live on is a different question.
you are correct that probably sometimes the reactions can be a bit harsh. With Palin's extreme gun culture it would still lacked the joke element and been bad taste, so a lot of people might have considered it self inflicted. However the nutcases in America belief it would have been better it a lot more people would have had guns and would have shot the guy or have been more of deterrant. Looks like they still haven't grasped the concept of suicide killings and with 30shots without loading or an explosive belt it won't help.
Regarding the turd thing I appologised alreay elsewhere and that was a more general comment, so don't feel you have to take all the credit for it.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Dear Dickless GV, I have noticed one NB regular sending good thoughts to Australia via Facebook. Others may have done it privately.
4ty2, if you promise not to tar all Americans with the same brush, I promise not to make fun of those who have had head injuries.
Posted 10 years ago # -
When I was younger, I once fell off my bicycle and cut my elbow. It needed stitches. I still have the minor scar on my elbow now, and sadly will have it for the rest of my life. Fortunately it does not inhibit any part of my life, and I can safely say that I have overcome that particular tragedy.
However, when I read submissions on this site that make light of injuries suffered by people that I simply do not know and who live hundreds or thousands of miles away, I am shocked by the crass insensitivity of it all. The sheer horror of my insignficant scar is made real all over again. I have nightmares involving rough horseplay and bicycle motocross.
It leads me to think that we should all devote our time on this site to drafting a collective constitution that absolutely spells out what can and can't be mentioned. Only when this is done can we think about booking our next Saga Coach tour.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Sticks and Stones Greg...
Bonjo has hit the mark...
Except that you should definitely not feel upset or in anyway unwelcome here because of the odd spat like that!
I personally think some of the best humour derives from finding the obscure and perverted harmony particle from within the quantum anti-space that fleetingly exists between causing massive offence and creating righteous indignation.
And as we are mostly all dispraxic yellow belts practicing hamfistedly within this dojo of the martial art that is 'wit' (eeh... 'eckythump'), we can each expect to take the odd winding blow to the metaphysical crotch now and again.
It really is no biggy!
So carry on and stir it up!Posted 10 years ago # -
The best posts here, IMO, are those that spring a few surprises. You laugh because you don’t see what’s coming next. The worst are thuddingly predictable: simple, obvious, fatuous equations that take someone else’s suffering, change the word order and put it back out as ‘comedy’. The missing element - apart from humour - is empathy; it’s easy for ‘edgy’ to be nothing more than ‘crass’.
On the other hand, is it really necessary to be so personally abusive to other contributors (I make an honourable exception of ‘our Gary’, of course)? There may be more expressive ways to say you don’t find a post particularly amusing than just saying “cunt”. And it really shouldn't matter how long someone's been here... which merely gives notice to newcomers that this tiny outpost in ciderspace is some kind of exclusive club.
I’d say we need to be less brutal in our posts (the ‘funny’ is often in the detail, anyway) and to each other. There, I’ve said it. I know, I’m a cunt...
Posted 10 years ago # -
I noticed that one of your regulars lives in Brisbane.
Hey! So do I, how exciting! :-)
Thanks to all the NBers who have messaged - all's soggy but OK here so far, the big flood will be here in 10 hours.
Have been panic-buying alcohol, we should be able to push through.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Rick, at first I couldn't remember what potential tragedy was the genesis of my panic buying at Costco in California, then it hit me: the much-dreaded Millennium Bug rollover to the year 2000. I ran into the people who owned my laundry at the store; they were stocking up on bottled water and other staples, my cart had two cases of Perrier-Jouet. I was worried about only being able to get domestic bubbly if the world ended. We all have our priorities.
Australia! Australia! Australia! Yayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!
Posted 10 years ago # -
Oh I do love a man with his priorities sorted!
BTW, got a couple of bottles of Perrier-Jouet for an absolute bargain £25 each at Christmas, so that was me sorted, everyone else had to just drink the Moet again.Posted 10 years ago # -
Count to 3 and try again, Greg.
Ignore the willy waving, there's actually a few decent comments as how change angle etc.
No-one else's opinion is any more or less valid than your own, so look for any hints where offered, ignore the rest.
Messages from JoF or the editorial team, take note of, others you can rightly ignore, just like mine if you see fit.
I was going to end with a "pick up your teddy now and play nice", but I won't.
Don't take everything on here too seriously though, even attempts at flaming, just ignore and plug away.Posted 10 years ago # -
Golgo! Milpitas? That's a real palate cleanser.
My Costco was and is in Marin. The finer kind of bargain shopper.
The laundry folks were Chinese-American. They own a place in San Francisco called Hansen's Laundry. They thought it ever so funny when I (constantly) asked which one of them was called Hansen.
Posted 10 years ago #
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