BS: Bill/Cate's Wedding & ROYAL FAMILY CHAT

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Apr 11 - 10:13 AM

"First fruits and tithes are odious things
And so are bishops, priests, and kings."

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Brian May
Date: 27 Apr 11 - 07:47 AM

Neither are Boring Brown and Tony Bliar . . .

Ha! There is some justice after all.

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 27 Apr 11 - 07:25 AM

No invite for me either so it looks like it's just a hotdog and a bottle of beer for me in the garden at home - I will take a peek at the dress though, probably a girl thing I know it's just curiosity. I am betting she goes for a more medieval look, a completely different look from Diana's unless of course Kate goes for a 'Big Fat' and I can't see that happening somehow.

As far as being bored rigid goes I am bored rigid with everything else going on at the moment including our own little 'Tesco anti-supermarket riot' in Bristol making the news. So I am sure that I can put up with being bored until lunchtime on Friday.

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 27 Apr 11 - 07:01 AM

Diana's family was older and more aristocratic than that of Charles...

The Spencer Family line

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 27 Apr 11 - 06:23 AM

Not only is it a Royal Wedding, but it's the first time a future King has ever married a Commoner, I believe.
Surely that was the Diana and Charles first. I sincerely hope William's choice of wife is far better than his father's (although he did at least get it right second time round). That said it is an historic occasion and as such I will be watching and wish them both happiness.

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 04:45 PM

Okay, DMcG, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on this one... ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 04:14 PM

Despite not getting an invitation, I'm going to be watching it anyway, I've decided.

It's history in the making. Not only is it a Royal Wedding, but it's the first time a future King has ever married a Commoner, I believe. Heck yes, Wills is finally watering down the Monarchy into normal people...and....wouldn't his dear Mum have been SO proud of him!

She brought her kids up to realise they were pretty darn ordinary human beings, born into an extraordinary situation.   I was reading just the other day about one of William's pals saying how Wills is always the first to be up and about making tea for everyone...

They wanted a quiet wedding, and I wish they'd been able to have what they wanted, to be honest, with the money it's all costing going to the country. I guess many folks are going to be making money from it, possibly many others have got jobs because of it, albeit temporary ones...

Either way, I think we should all get behind them and give Wills and Kate our best. He's a nice man, a decent man...and I think he'll make a great King.

'Blue Peter', the hugely long-running children's TV show, did a nice programme on the wedding this afternoon, taking you inside Westminster Abbey, showing you different bridal dresses over the decades, different parts of the Abbey...ALL that history!! Incredible history that so much of the world would give their eye teeth to have.

It's going to bring a lot of happiness to many folks who'll be so excited, going up to London to wave their flags and cheer...seeing those coaches rolled out, all the finery and the livery, the horses polished and shining like gold, their riders equally immaculate....The bearskins and the bare skins...the red coats and the red faces, all equally playing their part in another page of British History.

We make a complete cock up of so many things these days, thanks to the imbeciles called politicians, but by God we can put on The Greatest Show on Earth when it comes to Weddings and Funerals! We do ourselves proud, and we're the envy of the world for it! The Cavalry are amazing! The soldiers, the police, the emergency crews...those who've shined and glossed the Abbey to within an inch of its most ancient stones...The flowers, the coaches, the crowds, the colours, the rich pageantry, the continuation of tradition......

.......and this time all for the son of a woman who touched the very heart of this nation....who changed The Royals forever, who gave her heart out to so many ordinary people, writing thousands of letters to all who wrote to her, who made AIDS sufferers into PEOPLE again, whose compassion flowed over for so many who struggled in life, as she herself had done....

Love her or hate her, Diana, Princess of Wales had the most remarkable effect on the world.

I happen to love her, because I think she was filled with a deep desire to love and be loved and her people turned out in their tens of thousands to bid her farewell....

They'll be there for her son on Friday too....as will she.

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: gnu
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 04:03 PM

Billybob... I feel for ya buddy. I never liked the idea of a big weddin needer. Matter of fact, if I had to do it over again, I wouldn't. An mine was small.

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: DMcG
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 03:46 PM

You don't think being "bored rigid" implies a feeling of superiority to those who enjoy that which bores one, DMcG?
No, I don't. That is, I don't doubt it *can* but at least as far as I'm concerned it doesn't. Oh. I've plenty of faults, but I plead innocent on that one.

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 02:54 PM

I am faced with a social situation. A friend of many years, not seen for quite a few, has finally suggested we get together on her next rip to Montreal. This Friday, she and her sister are coming to town to watch the ROYAL WEDDING with their mother. I can only hope that, "No, I'm going to the country. " will suffice as a reason for not watching this monumental (ly boring) event! And that we can actually spend time talking about our respective lives in the last 20 years, and other important things! HOPE!

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 01:11 PM

Fancy 999 mentioning funerals!

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Fred McCormick
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 01:10 PM

"Sir, you may be sure it was writ with little thought of pleasing you." MGM, you have hit the nail on the head far more precisely than you can ever know.

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: GUEST,999
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 12:57 PM

In the words of Yogi Berra (almost): If you don't go to people's funerals, they won't go to yours.

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 12:44 PM

You don't think being "bored rigid" implies a feeling of superiority to those who enjoy that which bores one, DMcG? I do. For instance, I am also bored rigid by all forms of televised sport...I never watch it...and does this make me feel a bit superior in certain respects to those who do?

Well, to be perfectly honest about it...yes! ;-) Not that I feel superior to them in an overall sense. I don't. I know that most of them are better at certain things, for instance, than I am, so none of us is inherently superior in an overall sense to another. But I do feel superior to them in one sense...that I don't spend my time watching televised sports. It's not a big deal, but there is a tiny feeling of superiority in me regarding that, and I know it. ;-) I am aware of that little snickering voice in my head that says, "Look at that idiot glued to his stupid football game..."

Is it justified? No, probably not. It's a nasty thing, in fact. But it's there, and I am aware of it.

My assertion is that we all have that nasty little ego-driven voice whispering (or shouting loudly) in the back of our minds...to some extent. We all play the "superiority" game to some extent. To observe it and catch it doing its little number is to become self-aware, at least to that extent.

This thread is partially just for fun. It's also partially an exercise in the old "I'm superior to those bloody twits" game...and that game is all about ego enhancement through denigrating others.

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: DMcG
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 12:32 PM

Just as long as you don't think that covers everything, LH. I can boycott the wedding without disparaging or feeling superior to anyone, for example, or whinging about having to pay. (That's my normal stance on televised sport for instance. Bores me rigid and you will never find me watching it. But I don't feel superior to those who enjoy it)

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 12:02 PM

Attention! There are 2 neat ways of feeling delightfully superior to those people in this world whom you heartily despise and/or resent...

1. Attend the Royal Wedding.
2. Refuse to pay any (positive) attention at all to the Royal Wedding. Boycott it! Disparage its participants. Refuse to watch it on the telly. Pretend it's not even happening. Express your contempt and disgust regarding all the unnecessary fuss and expenditure that it entails. Complain that YOU are paying for it!

Method 1 (a sense of entitlement) works great if you're a member of the ruling elite.

Method 2 (recreational hostility) works great if you're a member of Mudcat Cafe, the "Great Unwashed", etc.... ;-D

Now pick the method that suits you best and enjoy basking in those ego-enhancing feelings that immediately ensue as you apply the method.

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 10:01 AM

Ms. Rutledge,

We simply don't associate with such noveau riche Johnny-Come-Latelies. Some of their type are marginally acceptable, but most of them...well, the less said the better.

Rapparee

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: RangerSteve
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 09:36 AM

I wasn't invited either, but I have a gig on Saturday night, so I can't take any chances that I might be stranded in England or my plane might be late getting into Newark Airport. I'm not good at choosing gifts. I figure they'll be getting enough silver, jewelry, castles and things like that, but what about practical items, like underwear, socks, fondue pots? I decided on a gift card, but what stores do both the UK and USA share? Are there Walmarts, Targets or Costcos in the UK? And for how much? $50.00 seems pretentious, like I'm bragging about my wealth. $25.00 should do it. I don't want my gift to overshadow whatever Liz and Phil are getting them. I know! I'll just let them know I have a spare bedroom, and they're welcome to stay here anytime they want to get away from it all. I'll put the upstairs bathroom at their disposal and stock the freezer with Stouffer's mircowave meals. Let's see their uppity royal friends beat that.

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 09:29 AM

I will be hiding from the festivities in midst of much better festivities. Rochester Sweeps!

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 09:23 AM

That they seem a good couple does not alter the fact that monarchies are greedy blasphemies - http://walkaboutsverse.webs.com/#225

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: DMcG
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 09:13 AM

I suppose most of you would prefer a President Tony Blair?
Bit of a non sequitur there, John.

I had occasion yesterday to look up this events surrounding the coup d'etat in Greece a few decades back. As Wiki puts it: "In 1964, the Center Union of George Papandreou was elected, and governed until July 1965, when King Constantine II dismissed him, causing a constitutional crisis."

Do I support ANY system which puts the power to dismiss the government in the hands of any non-elected person apart from the government itself? No. Even though the UK Royals are incredibly unlikely to exercise this power, constitionally they still have it, hence all the hoo-hah at election time with the PM asking for permission to dissolve the existing govenrment or being asked to form a new one. I agree it is flim-flam rather than substance, but it still sits oddly in the modern world.

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: SINSULL
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 09:01 AM

I am sick to tears of the royal wedding. Plan to keep the TV off during the entire fiasco.

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: GUEST,John MacKenzie
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 07:59 AM

Bravo Michael.
I hold no brief for the Royals, to me they are irrelevant, but it's a bit like shooting fish in a barrel, castigating them like this.
The will not, cannot, and are better educated than to try to, respond to, or take notice of, this mewling and puking.
I suppose most of you would prefer a President Tony Blair?

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 07:33 AM

Fred ~~ seriously, let's for a moment forget our ongoing flyting, and let me make the point ~~

Dr Johnson once remarked to a man who had spoken slightingly of something written by one of his friends, "Sir, you may be sure it was writ with little thought of pleasing you."

Does it not occur to you that these young people are getting married, and that many others {&, I repeat, not me particularly} are interested in the fact and the ceremony, without any deliberate or specific intention, or even the sole purpose as you appear sometimes to think, of annoying you?

I simply ask.

~Michael~

PS. I can think of lots of things I am required to pay for that I had rather not; but isn't that just one of the things living in society involves?...

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Fred McCormick
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 05:38 AM

Strangely enough you won't see me there either. Totally snubbed and ignored, but still expected to pay for it.

Not that all the wild horses in western Europe coud have persuaded me to go of course. I was hoping to go to Connemara on the west coast of Ireland instead, because that's about the remotest place I can think of, and one where they definitely won't be showing it on pub tv screens. But, oh my hard fortune, the dog's not very well at the moment and it wouldn't be be fair to risk leaving him in kennels.

We're going to hide, the two of us. Under the stairs is probably the best place.

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Pistachio
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 04:30 AM

But my friend and I have been invited .........


-



to a festival starting on the same day and lasting for longer than 6 hours with nearly as many happy smiling faces to be seen
-
not watching out for the first glimpse of a white/ivory/silk satin outfit or for that matter an abundance of interesting headwear... footwear... cheerful ties.... in eye catching colours - tho' I'm sure there will be plenty to be seen

but promising a good few hours of music and song in a beautiful setting with friends old and new. Not on the BBC or other channels I'm sure, but very important to many who will, as we speak, be putting the finishing touches together with as much enthusiasm as others further down the M1.
Good luck to all, hope the weather holds and I'll see you there, wherever there is!
Hazel   
..........

..........

Upton upon Severn, see you soon!

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Janie
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 01:08 AM

There's an upcoming wedding?    Who?

Am I to be invited?

Let me know soon, as I shall need to go shopping for clothes if I am to attend.

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 01:05 AM

About twenty lears ago my daughter visited London and The Queen didn't even invite her to tea. A few years later The Queen visited Nova Scotia and I returned the the snub by not inviting her to tea either. We have not been on speaking terms ever since, so I was not surprised to receive no wedding invitation. To be truthful when my daughter got married she did not invite The Queen either so I guess this fued is ongoing.

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: GUEST,Ms Penelope Rutledge
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 11:59 PM

You make an impressive case, Rapparee, but one fact remains: you have not received an invitation. Correct? I think that speaks for itself.

* PR

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 11:35 PM

Saulgoldie & all you others who complain of its taking up space in the blats ~~ why not just turn the page over unread instead of moaning about it; the way I do with the Financial pages & the horse-racing & the politics of far-away lands...

... which I don't grudge the space of to those who happen to be interested in those, to me, such tedious matters?

~M~

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 10:01 PM

Let's see: Liz croaks, Chucky dies of a heart attack upon hearing the news, and the rest of the family is so shocked by Chucky kicking the bucket that they go into permanent comas (as far as anyone can tell). This COULD open the door to my ascension to the throne of England, which, being an American, I could not accept would graciously pass on to my great-nephew Andrew, who looks like Ron Weasley in the movies. His older brother, Xavier, would of course begin an immediate insurrection until his mother sent him off to the "time out" corner. And being, at the moment, four years old, King Andrew could reign for a very long time.

Yes, yes, that would work....

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Leadfingers
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 08:39 PM

Heard on Auntie (BBC) today that some shopkeepers from Ms Middleton's local village HAVE been invited !

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Bobert
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 08:31 PM

Well, I got my invite but no airplane tickets so reckon I'll just stick the invite on ebay, 'er somethin'... Might bring $40... Use the dough to buy a couple three cases of Iron City, kickback, get drunk and watch it on the tube...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 07:59 PM

...people are underawed by the wedding itself.

That's because the average Brit has determined that Queen Elizabeth is never going to die. Why get excited about a royal wedding when you'll probably never get to see the wedding participants sit on the throne as King and Queen?

Also, William and Kate are both good-looking young people. It's natural that they should be attracted to one another and choose to marry. That stands in stark contrast to the last royal wedding when everyone was wondering why such a sweet and lovely young thing would want to marry Old Horseface.

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: alanabit
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 07:48 PM

So I am not the only Mudcatter, who is picky about the company he keeps?

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 07:12 PM

Ms. Rutledge, my ancestry includes three "von und zu" as well as such luminaries as Ludwig Windhorst. Until that Austrian Corporal rose to power my family received some nice annuities from the "old family lands" near Hanover. Our roots can and have been traced to A.D. 800 on my maternal side and 1210 on the paternal. I am quite certain that any of them would have (and possibly did) assist your ancestors on their climb out of Whitechapel and similar environs. After all, I believe the present "Royal" family can only determine its lineage to about 950 (for their Hanoverian link) and only a few years earlier for its other oldest link. Of course, I realize that one's ancestry, especially amongst those of "better" English blood, can become quite ephemeral if one goes back more than two or three generations...all that carousing and inbreeding, you know.

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: GUEST,mark-s (on the road)
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 06:47 PM

I'm going, but my invitation is a bit confusing.
Just where is "Blackpool" anyway?

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: saulgoldie
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 06:41 PM

I don't know about others in the US. Perhaps there is more interest in it here than I know. But I couldn't give a fat rat's patootie about it, and I wish it wasn't all over the news. There are IMPORTANT things happening that deserve coverage. Fortunately, it has not come up in "office chat."

Saul

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: GUEST,Ms Penelope Rutledge
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 06:23 PM

The system, Don, is the maintenance of an historic tradition which ensures the continuance of rule by those few who have been trained from birth for that very purpose. Yes, the intrusion of Rapparee into the process would definitely mess up the system rather badly, and that is why it's not going to happen.

* PR

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Don Firth
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 06:12 PM

Packing heat? Well, I dunno. I do happen to know that Rap owns a sword, and he might just go around tapping all kinds of inappropriate people on the shoulder with it, conferring Knighthood upon them. That could really mess up the system.

(Whatever the system is. . . .)

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 06:01 PM

I haven't had an invite. When is it? And who's Bill?

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: olddude
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 05:19 PM

They are all afraid that Rap will be packing heat

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: GUEST,Big Norman Voice
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 05:19 PM

Not how she spells it though, is it Garry

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: GUEST,Ms Penelope Rutledge
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 05:15 PM

You have only yourself to blame, Rapparee, for the fact that you have not risen high enough in society to merit an official invitation to the Royal Wedding.

Well, no, let's be fair...it also has something to do with your familial origins, doesn't it? And that's hardly your fault. Still, it does present a significant impediment, doesn't it?

Why not just accept your admittedly humble station in life and do as the rest of your class do: watch it on the telly. If you storm off in a petulant huff over this supposed "rejection", I predict that you will one day look back and regret your having missed even a remote viewing of such a notable and grand occasion.

* PR

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: gnu
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 05:14 PM

I never called you an asshole, 999. What you got against us little people?

Say HI to Cate for me eh. And, make sure ya tell Chuck I am still waitin on my 20 bucks. Fuckin guy... "I'm good for it."... yeah, right!

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: DMcG
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 05:09 PM

Sorry, doesn't look like the link will go straight to the article. Broadly it say support for monarchy as an instition seems to have increased but not people are underawed by the wedding itself. "Only 37% agree that they are genuinely interested in the wedding, while 46% say they are not. Women are much more likely to be interested than men, and only 18% of all people questioned say they are strongly interested in the event."

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 05:08 PM

Well, I certainly shan't go after the way they have insulted me!

How did they insult you?, I hear you ask.

Why, they didn't invite me!

~m~

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: GUEST,999
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 05:03 PM

I shall be attending, cleverly disguised as a reprobate. The little people may still call me 999 or arsehole after I return. T'will be a welcome change from asshole.

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: DMcG
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 05:01 PM

From the reports we are getting here in the UK, people in the US and the rest of the world are more interested than we are. But maybe that's what everyone is told.

article on UK support

Subject: RE: BS: I'm Not Going To Bill & Cate's Wedding
From: olddude
Date: 25 Apr 11 - 05:00 PM

Me either Rap, but I hear tell the Hillybilly Bobster got one ...
he is a snob ya know ... And he said he is bringing his own shine cause the Royal one ain't good enough for him ... the snob ... what can we do with the guy huh