Bruin Fisher

Okay, blowing my own trumpet here. I wrote this story, Ben's Cabin, for an anthology at The Authors' Haunt on the theme of 'Mountain'. It's a bit of an experiment - there's no dialogue, at all. I was going for a fairytale flavour, a la Hans Anderson or Brothers Grimm. I want to know if you guys think it works. Or does it just come across as detached, uninvolving? Opinions, please! Thanks, folks.

Gay Penguins adopt a chick - BBC News

Having just spent a weekend in a tent I have an opinion on that.... Great poem, Camy, vitriolic, violent and ultimately charming - a difficult combination to pull off, but entirely successful. Lovely. Okay, guys, you may proceed with your hijack...

I'm confused (my natural state these days). I don't know where to post my contribution to this discussion. So I've posted it in Pecman's thread in the forums here

The ones to blame for the suicide are the bullies, and them alone. We could criticise the parent or the schools for not seeing what was going on, but we don't know that even if they did see it and did what they could to counteract it, the boys would still be alive. However we do know that if the bullies had reformed, the boys would still have their lives ahead of them. It might be that the school could be blamed for not controlling its bullies, maybe the parents of the bullies for a home environment which caused the bullies to think of it as an acceptable behaviour. The parents of the victims, though, are suffering enough without being asked to shoulder a part of the blame for their sons' deaths. They may not have been great parents, but their parenting deficiencies would never have resulted in their sons' suicide - it was the bullying that did that. There's a difference between criticism and blame. Likely a number of parties deserve criticism over this, but the blame lies firmly between the eyes of the bullies. Childhood suicide as a result of bullying is a subject that has always been close to my heart for personal reasons. When I discover it continues into the twenty-first century I despair. The current generation of children I'm involved with seem to be having a much better time of it than previous generations, there seems to be more acceptance of diversity in the local schools. Perhaps my town is a beacon of hope in a dark world, but at least in this one corner things are, I think, looking up.

I read this story a while ago, and to my surprise I find I haven't posted a comment. So, belatedly, here it is. It's a lovely story and gently told. Heartwarming, bittersweet, right up my street. I loved it. Thanks for writing!

A lovely flash and great fun to read. Beautifully written, it put a smile on my face that lasted some time after I finished reading. Great!

There is, I suspect, a shortage of truly exceptional teachers, and maybe it takes a very special teacher to be able to train young artists without squashing their creativity. A poor or mediocre teacher can still teach mathematics adequately, or geography, perhaps, given a support structure which monitors him and prevents the worst effects of his mediocrity. But a teacher without a spark of inspirational genius attempting to teach art is going to kill the artist in his students. As well as calling for better arts teaching, we need to be calling for better teachers! Unfortunately teaching is not adequately respected in western society, or adequately rewarded, to attract the really inspirational teachers our kids deserve. My grandkids have benefitted from some pretty good teachers because they happen to have excelled in the same areas as the teachers have excelled. Not everyone is so lucky.

Utterly spellbinding lecture, and entertaining too. I have reason often to contrast the education my grandchildren are receiving with what my father paid a fortune for me to receive. And I'm happy to report that things are looking up - the grandkids are getting a far better, more balanced education for free than the pitiful drivel that was served up to me. Even their creativity is being nurtured.

It doestn't take much to put a spring in my step, to cheer me up for a whole day. A Des blog entry will do it every time. Brilliant, sparkling with wit and diamante trimmings, you put a smile on my face which lasts and lasts. Thanks!

I love this. A vignette I can read and smile over, or, by filling in the blanks, I can participate in. Excellent. Thanks Kapitano! :)

Brit18uk's post reminded me that I saw this, from the Wikipedia article on the NSPCC, recently: "The first child cruelty case in Britain was brought by the RSPCA; the court charge list described the affected child as "a small animal", because at the time there were no laws in Britain to protect children from mistreatment. This case was successful." In other words there was a charity for protecting animals, with royal patronage, but no charity at all for the protection of children, and when the first child protection case was brought to court the child had to be defined as a 'small animal' in order to qualify for the protection the law provided. I love animals, but not more than people...

You're a funny shaped Orangutan!?! Now, 32 is a good waist size, I think. I'm a 36 and even then some of my trousers are too tight. I really, really, want to lose weight but everything's against me. My doctor says I need to lose two stone.

I share the outrage about the perpetration of such crime. The long-term effect on young minds of abuse of this kind is, in my view, deeper and more damaging than is even now generally understood. I venture to suggest that there are more victims of these crimes around than we can possibly know, because so many of them have never spoken out. Some such victims will be known to us, maybe there are members of the AD community who suffered this way in the past. I sincerely hope none of us are suffering this way in the present, if so please speak out, in any way you can, and get it stopped. Actually, I know for a fact that the AD community includes people who have been damaged this way. And I know that AD has provided, and continues to provide invaluable therapy, helping such ones to discover themselves, possibly for the first time, in a safe, supportive, non-abusive environment. So three cheers for AD, for all the wonderful supportive folks that make up the community here, and for the wonderful Dude, and Des the forum admin, who make it all possible. Thank you thank you thank you.

Wow that's a powerful piece. For obvious reasons not everyone has the equipment to write such a poem and I suspect that many of those who do wouldn't dream of plucking up the courage to write it. But you have done, and enriched the rest of us by doing so. I'm reading it as uplifting and positive, hopeful for the future and empowering. I hope you are able to realise your laudable goals; I think you have the potential to be a great force for good in society. May you go from strength to strength!

Hi Dragonfire. Pleased to meet you

Wow. Wibby must be really impressed! Such fulsome praise!

My Diary This story is great fun - fly-on-the-wall observational, with a twist! Another beautifully written tale from Cole Parker, living up to his reputation for diverse writing!

Most times I don't know any endings and the characters are left stranded on their precipice until I can think of a way to rescue them.

That's easy-peasy. Much more useful would be if it knew how I can end the story I'm working on. But I asked, and it didn't.

Of the three adverts that the YouTube medley I linked to show, the middle one, that focuses on the delivery boy struggling up the steep hill, has been voted best advert ever. I can't remember who by, possibly the Women's Institute or the Brighton Gay Men's Chorus for all I know. But someone thinks it's good!

That's the NEW Hovis ad which is good, but the classic ad series is with the iconic brass band theme.

This report from the BBC News website describes a Human Rights protest demonstration by gay activists in Moscow being broken up by police after it was banned. Did anyone else note the irony that the policemen in their military-style fatigues had the English word 'HOMO' printed backwards in large yellow letters across their backs? I have no idea what the letters stand for in Russian, perhaps 'Official Macho Organisation for Homophobia'?

No, there's no-one else reading it. No-one at all.

Lovely, Maddy - it reads very real. - from a fellow bound-footed one