Posts by Deborah

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  • Up Front: A Word From the Ministry for…,

    Must be time for loltrek.

    I scared the cat, laughing. So very, very funny.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report

  • Up Front: A Word From the Ministry for…,

    And while we're at it (men with luv-er-ly voices, that is), Jeremy Irons.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report

  • Up Front: A Word From the Ministry for…,

    Oh yes. I could leave home (were I not already quite happy, thank you very much) for a man with a voice like Alan Rickman's.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report

  • Up Front: A Word From the Ministry for…,

    Never could abide Shakespeare - except when someone with a gorgeous voice and impeccable delivery is doing the talking.

    Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan and Helen Mirren.

    They could make the telephone book sound wonderful.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report

  • Up Front: A Word From the Ministry for…,

    Deborah, even if you're not much into sci fi, Use of Weapons is a must. I think its his best book in or out of genre.

    I do read sci-fi, but Iain M Banks doesn't do it for me. Neither does Terry Pratchett, or the Discworld stuff (Larry Niven?). I tried Fearsum Enjin (sp?) but wasn't interested in trying to decipher all the oh-so-clever dialogue, and I thought The Algebraist was boring. And I just don't get the Culture at all. Not to my taste, as we tell our girls to say if they try some new food but don't care for it.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report

  • Southerly: Our Saddest and Most Tragic…,

    so I've placed an order

    Me too. I plan to give it to my father for Christmas. Pre-read, of course, in fine family tradition.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report

  • Busytown: Age cannot wither me,

    I thought and thought and thought about being 40 for my entire 40th year, which meant that by the time I was actually turned 40, sitting under the stars in Whangamomona and drinking champagne, I was just fine about it.

    41 was good too, and so far, 42 is not too bad at all. I feel as if I am coming into my own, as a woman of a certain age.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report

  • Up Front: A Word From the Ministry for…,

    I read The Wasp Factory once. That was enough.

    The photo of him (Iain Banks) on the cover shows an angst-ridden young man, very intense. By the time you get to later books, like Whit, there's a much more relaxed shot of a genial, laughing man.

    I still think his best book is The Crow Road, mostly because the lead character is a dead ringer for my younger brother. Or possibly Dr Tibby.

    And I could never get into Iain M Banks' work.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report

  • Up Front: Just Answer the Question,

    And yet "retards" is perfectly acceptable usage, even here.

    No - I wince at that. But there's only so much energy I have for calling things like that out. I participate enthusiastically in the PAS Women's XV, and I try to call racism and homophobia when I see it, but I don't always (see it, that is), and other stuff as I find the time and energy.

    I chimed in on this thread because sitting in silence when you agree with a possibly difficult point that someone has made is not good enough when it comes to the difficult work of getting people to change the words they use (I'm not going to say 'change their attitudes' because actually, around here, people are reasonably sensitive and thoughtful. But you let one thing slip, and then another gets through, and then maybe some more, and bloody hell, we would end up looking like the comments section at Kiwiblog. That's not a place that I want to end up. But the price of the free exchange of ideas here, without fear of racism and sexism and homophobia, and sheer nastiness about people with mental and physical disabilities, is a on-going assessment and judgement of our own behaviour.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report

  • Up Front: Just Answer the Question,

    Points to Haydn too for his hilarious ironic post-modern anti-Semitism.

    Do excuse me for not joining in the laughter, won't you.

    I'm not seeing the funnies either.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report

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