annaj

Not as far as I know, Asset. It was reported that he had spoken to the police and gave evidence at the hearing this morning. This thread is driving me to the limits of my niceness, Mick Mac.

None of the reports I've read have said that the friend was in the bedroom with Gately's partner. It's been widely reported that he was first to find Gately and went and got his partner from the bedroom, but that's all. It's been desribed as a luxury ?1 million apartment, I'm sure there's more than one bedroom FFS! This is exactly the kind of speculation I first objected to. He was gay and so therefore it must have been.....

Now, vince, you really are just making massive and prejudiced assumptions. MrJ and I have occasionally had friends crash at ours after a night out, are you also accusing us of "a certain lifestyle" involving extramarital sex and drugs?

Against my better judgement.... Pulmonary oedema (fluid from within the body filling the airspaces of the lungs) is not the same as aspiration (fluid, such as vomit, being sucked into the lungs) and the pathologist has specifically used the term pulmonary oedema. She has also said that alcohol and drugs were not the cause of death. There are lots of causes of pulmonary oedema and the tests on the pulmonary fluid may yeild moren information. So, your guess might not be as spot on as you think, *Bob*. But why let the facts get in the way of a good gossip. I mean as long as it's about a famous person, because they don't count, do they?

No, but I will try and remember not to wear too tight knickers if flying out of Manchester.

Well, yes, it has become a bit of a mountain out of a molehill, but I stand by my original point. His death may have been drug related, but at this stage there is actually no evidence of that and I found the gossipy speculation unecessary and a bit unpleasant. Of course, in making my point I have allowed myself to be drawn into the speculation along everyone else, which is silly and I'll leave it alone after this. The bottom line though, whether all you knowing types (and I'd be lying if I said the "come on Anna, don't be so naive, it was obviously drugs" tone hasn't annoyed me. Believe me when I say I am far from naive about death, celebrity or otherwise) choose to believe it or not, is that the majority of celebs die of the same things that normal people do. The relatively small number of high profile drug and alcohol deaths are memorable, because of the coverage they recieve, but certainly not the majority. As for the argument that it doesn't matter what we say here, because it's just a little local forum, well, yes, that's true. But in another sense we are more than a little forum. We are part of the wider media and what is said here is in the public domain. The speculation that surrounds the death of anyone in the public eye is painful to those who knew them and I just don't see the need for it, particularly not from people who can be very scathing of local gossips and curtain twitchers when it suits them.

Well, if it's statistics you're after, trauma is the leading cause of death in young adults and many accidents happen in the home. So, actually, the knife in toaster or the slip on the milk are more probable and statistically more likely than drugs, but a lot less gossip-worthy. Which was kind of my point.

ps. I stand corrected on GBL, I knew a decision had been made last month, but it won't be reclassified until the end of the year.

If there's no element of judgement to the speculation why are drugs, and specifically club drugs popular with the gay community, the only possibility anyone is talking about? What about the possiblity that he slipped on spilt milk and gave himself a fatal head injury, or put a knife into the toaster and electrocuted himself, or had an underlying heart condition that no-one knew about, or, well, any number of possibilites that aren't as gossip worthy. Sorry, but Ian and *Bob*'s posts didn't read to me as reasonably trying to piece things together, they read like gossip at the expense of a dead man and I found that a bit distasteful.

As someone who used to work in the closest Emergency Department to Vauxhall I am also extremely familiar with the effects of GHB and GBL (both of which are, by the way, illegal *Bob*) and it's popularity on the clubbing scene, particularly amongst gay men (six consecutive LAS priority calls into the resuscitation room is my record for a Sunday afternoon on-duty) And, yes, when a young man dies unexpectedly drugs are certainly a possiblity. What I find distasteful is the speculation and, hand in hand with that, the implied judgement. A young man is dead, long before his time, that is tragic for his family and friends and is just as tragic however it happened.

Xelena, I have two cats and really quite dislike dogs, so I wouldn't describe my response as a "backlash from dog owners". I was just trying to make the point that, since the majority of dog owners are responsible and the minority are irresponsible, it's more constructive and logical to target the minority that punish the majority.

Well, that depends. If you just want a rug that you like and looks nice, and you don't mind selling out to big chains, then I'd say both Ikea and John Lewis have a nice selection, depending on how much cash you have waiting. If, on the other hand you want some kind of unique, statement-making, floor-based art work that expresses your personality and you can boast about when friends come round and feel cool and hip about, then I've no idea. Helpful?

xelena, that sounds awful, but surely the issue here is this particular dog owner, not all dog owners or all dogs. You said that the woman opened the garden gate and deliberately set the dog on the cat, if you're sure of that, I mean if it was witnessed, then shouldn't it be reported to the police? I'm not that familiar with the dangerous dog laws or animal cruelty laws, but I would've thought deliberately setting a dog on a cat was an offence. And if all the similar attacks have happened in a small area, isn't it likely that a limited number of people are involved? Having a cat killed in such a violent way would be awful for any pet owner, but your campaign seems to rather miss the point that the majority of dog owners are responsible. Imposing tighter controls would affect all the responsible dog owners, but is unlikely to change the behaviour of someone who thinks such a cruel, violent and antisocial act is acceptable.

And a record of all the resulting injuries can probably still be found in my parents' attic. They ran the hospital tent. Anyone who's ever been stiched up, cleaned up or bandaged at Reading that was my mum and dad and their team.

4. The t-shirt was my mum's originally. Interesting thing you never knew about me, I was at every Reading festival from '75 - '92.

I was at Reading in '78 Quids. I've still got a t-shirt somewhere.....

Yes, report using the non-urgent line (non-urgent as in crime not taking place this moment rather than not important) 03001231212 The same thing happened to us a while ago and the police were really helpful and reassuring.

I don't know much about birds, but that does look like a sparrow hawk. What a great picture, thanks for posting it.

I suppose I'd better do.... well... something about it then. So, we'll put this all behind us and buy each other a drink in November then, deal?

Today's things... Baking. And the positive and supportive response to Mark's announcement of the forum shut down for holidays. It's nice when people are nice.

Good idea! Is Christmas really that close?

Ok, now this thread is getting scary.

David Cameron wants to marry you?

What Passnotes said.

Look, as I think most people reaslised, when I said should we glam up I meant - pull your favourite dress out of the back of the wardrobe or put on a pretty top or jewellery (as Moos suggested) or wear something red or sparkly for Christmas. I didn't, of course, mean get your hair done, buy a whole new outfit, go completely nuts. And anyway, as I've said already, it was only a suggestion. But the point of the drinks has always been to be inclusive, so if the idea of dressing up would put anybody off then it's not a good idea.