Moos

You make a good point, Sean. The teaching of the Catholic church that the article quotes "homosexuality is not a sin but homosexual acts are" are clearly intended as a get-out clause for discrimination but entirely miss the proven point of sexuality being inborn, as much so as race or fingerprints. One of the worst aspects of teaching like this is that it may stem from gentle academics who would never willingly hurt anyone but it is used as justification of brutality and harmful discrimination. It makes me very sad that we still seem unable to move away from this sort of hidebound thinking.

Me no bubbletious Me smoke heavy tar Me be groovin' slowly where you are Sorry. Please carry on.

I actually went to secretarial college at a very dark time of my life. (Why??!! Why?!) Met some very bizarre people. But although the shorthand has disappeared into whatever gluey part of ones brain thingsiusedtoknow go to, the touch typing has been a godsend ever since. Look behiiiiiiiiind youuuuuuuuu. Oops, there go my bloomers. I saw Ian McKellen in Aladdin at the Old Vic a few years ago. Very funny and definitely not suitable for kids. BTW, does the EDF close for Christmas?

*ARGH!* Oof, thanks for that, Mockers. With all the adrenalin coursing through my system I now have enough energy to go and make myself a cup of coffee. Thanks, you're a lifesaver. Without your intervention, I fear my colleagues would have returned to work on January 5th to find my petrified corpse slumped over the keyboard, fingers still poised on asdf ;lkj

...overcome with pre-Christmas torpor... slowly... falling... asleep... at... desk. Help!

Lucky Jim - fantastic book. PG Wodehouse. Parts of Gerald Durrell's books. Decline and Fall (Waugh, not Gibbons - although for all I know that could be laugh a minute).

Often really funny writing is also quite sad, is it not? Thinking of the excruciating scenes where Malvolio gets humiliated in 12th Night, for example (btw, apparently Derek Jacobi is currently searingly good in the part at the Wyndham's). Besides, when did we excise having a sense of humour or being funny from being part of what it's like to be a person? BN5 just said that a book could be good and funny without being great. It can also be funny and great. Edited for clarity and spellingk.

Yes, definitely. Would be a bit weird (and too serious) if reading were all about the Big Themes, we'd all get fed up pretty quickly. I suppose I was thinking of great books - but this thread is for 'good' books, isn't it? *goes off in search of sense of humour* Ah, that's where I left it!

*throws cushion* Yeah, I know, was kind of a pretentious thing to say - I was just thinking about the book and how amazing it is, and got carried away. I do think that good books should be about what it means to be human, and how we live, and obviously that can be squalid and dull and confusing and terrifying as much as it can be uplifting and inspiring.

One has to get round Big Brotherstrator somehow.

Mine too, good innit - it's 'cos you're doubly wrong, you see.

OK, I ditched that post in the hope that you wouldn't have read it because it was a bit rude and unpleasant. So well done for reading it in the spirit I did mean it in! Bless you, dear heart. However, in re: "It doesn't all have to be about the beauty of the writing and the wonder of the human spirit" YES IT BURBLYFUCKING DOES. Merry Christmas. Mwah.

Aye - but Pthhhhhhhhhhh to you re: Donna Tartt.

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Not for the rest of us, BBW! ;-) You're terrifying me....

Yes, but not just that - really dull and obvious. I know the endless descriptions of clothing, business cards etc. were supposed to be Making A Point, but it was just too much.

That one's a real opinion-divider. I'd put it in the awful, awful, awful camp but know a few people who loved it.

Humph, really didn't mean to start a posting frenzy of nearly naked buxom sword-wielding comic ladies, but I guess I should have thought ahead. Q - Whose was the shortest US Presidency? A - William Henry Harrison, who died of pneumonia in 1841 within a month of his first term. How much would that suck after all the campaigning?! Answer - a lot.

(scornfully) EVryone knows that! What I want to know is why female heroes in comic books always wear huge boots, enormous head-dresses, lots of straps and, erm, a very small furry or PVC bikini. And they all look, erm, a bit cold. *thinks about it for a moment* *light dawns* Oh yeah.. OK. Who won the first Nobel prizes, and in what year? (I reckon you could give a point for any) - Chemistry: Jacobus H. van't Hoff - Physics: Wilhelm C. R?ntgen - Physiology or Medicine: Emil A. von Behring - Literature: Rene F. A. Sully Prudhomme - Peace: Jean H. Dunant and Fr?d?ric Passy In 1901.

I've only read Neil Gaiman's co-authored book with Terry Pratchett (Good Omens) but I thought that was funny. Also dipped into a collection of his short stories, at least one of which was shiveringly thrilling and memorable. My favourite book ever is The Power And The Glory by Graham Greene, and before you all shout 'predictable!' that has everything to do with the beauty of the writing and the wonder of the human spirit. Also love The Moor?s Last Sigh - Salman Rushdie Middlemarch - George Eliot Most of AS Byatt?s books, although she is patchy, especially fond of Possession The Great Gatsby ? Fitzgerald yes to His Dark Materials ? brilliant Cat?s Eye ? Margaret Atwood A Prayer for Owen Meany ? John Irving The Corrections ? Jonathan Franzen The Reader ? Bernhard Schlink Love in a Time of Cholera, Autumn of the Patriarch, 100 Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez?s books Why is it so hard to remember great books when you want to come up with a list?

Agreed, Simon! "Ponciest Price Tag"

I thought DM's post was funny - surely there's room for the passionate fan as well as for some gentle fun-poking, IP? (sorry if that's provoking - I meant it in a friendly way) I think we should have an EDF spin-off with IP and Annaj leading the charge - now THAT I'd watch with great alacrity! :)

Keef Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > That brings back memories, the amount of times > I've sang the bloody hallelujah chorus! Me too, but I still love it. Best saved for the end of a performance so you can really belt it out and not worry about singing well afterwards... ...AND LORD OF LORDS!! Cue lots of red faces and squawking.

Keef Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- Name all 4 ghostbusters. > Peter Venkman, Egon Spengler, Winston Zedmore, Ray > Stanz. You might want to check those, but I think > it's a good question. Name all 4 teenage turtles, > with extra points for colour of mask and weapon > used (this question was in the mag quiz a few > years back). Leonardo blue katana, Raphiel red > sai, Michelangelo orange nunchucks and Donatello > purple bo staff. God I need to get a life! Keef, that is so sweet! I can just see 10-year-old Keef running about being a Ninja Turtle. In order to be helpful and not just wiffling on about Keef, couple of questions off the top of my head: - Who is Apollo's twin sister in Greek mythology (Artemis) - Which country won the most medals in the Paralympics (China (211) with GB 2nd with 102)

I'm off today as usual (yay) but will be back applying the dermis to the granite on Monday... boo hiss