BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club

Subject: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Big Mick
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 10:44 AM

As a senior member of Mudcat who has been a member from the earliest days, I have witnessed this beloved site as it went through ups and downs, golden eras and dark ages. I have met fascinating characters, saints and sinners. I was the original founder of Lane, Fielding, Patterson and Swan, layabouts at large and for hire. I am a veteran of the earliest Mudcat Pubs where I had my arse handed to me in the legendary lime jello pit wrestling matches by two women, Harpgirl and The Fair One. Now that I have established my bonafides, let me get to the business at hand.

I mostly lurk and moderate these days. In doing so, I have noticed that we have an elite cadre of Mudcat warriors about, who are always ready to march into battle. They are a nasty lot, ready to eviscerate every word of their opponents. They have no regard for sissified rules of intelligent discourse, preferring the manly art of being nasty, disrespectful, and rude. They parse words and ridicule anyone who disagrees with them and their opinions. Surely these marvels of warriordom have had their martial training backed up by strong intellectual training as they have all the answers. It became apparent to me that these are not your run of the mill obstreperous pricks, these were Black Belt Obstreperous Pricks, worthy of special recognition. Hence I am creating the Black Belt Obstreperous Pricks Order of the Mudcat Cafe. It is an invitation only group, of which I will be the sole arbiter of who will be awarded their black belt. I may even have first through tenth dans to recognize those who are the biggest obstreperous pricks among the elite group. I will accept nominations by PM from fellow old timers. If you are selected for this elite club, you will be informed by PM only. The PM will come from me. If you decide to make it public you may do so, in fact you may attach BBOPoMC after your screen name so everyone will know you are a Black Belt Obstreperous Prick. Your Mother will be so proud.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Musket
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 12:22 PM

Hang on, back in a minute. Got to open the door.

I reckon the dog has farted.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: theleveller
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 01:54 PM

I would deem it an honour to be a member.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Noreen
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 02:10 PM

And then can we have a section for the BBOPoMC group members to post to?


And keep the rest of the Café just for the rest of us? :)



old timer Noreen

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Stu
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 02:13 PM

How do you define "old timer"?

I've been a member for well over a decade, so does that make me one?

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Noreen
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 02:23 PM

I'd say so, Stu.
I take it to mean, those who were here in the days when posters were nice to each other and this was a safe, friendly, pleasant place to hang out.

(I met many friends here and arranged visits on the basis of conversations here. Don't know if I'd risk it these days.)

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Ed T
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 02:37 PM

prick, or be pricked 

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Bert
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 03:35 PM

They come and go with monotonous regularity.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Gurney
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 03:41 PM

Ed T, I would suppose that the obvious conclusion to draw is that Big Mick is English, and is using the term prick in the English slang sense.

To call someone a prick is to call him a dick, plonker, willy, penis, etc. The sense implied is an awkward and indeed obstreperous person of the male gender. A similarly inclined female would likely be called a twat.
I don't know if that sense of the term is common elsewhere. It isn't in the link you supplied.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Stu
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 03:46 PM

Big Mick is American.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Big Mick
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 03:53 PM

Yes I am an American, and a thoroughly modern man of the millennium, hence there is no gender bias here. Membership will be awarded to males or females with no discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity or age.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Greg F.
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 04:09 PM

But what would one call a sanctimonious, opinionated, holier-than-thou self-satisfied asshole?

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Bert
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 04:11 PM

That would be a Mudcatter Greg F.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Greg F.
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 04:13 PM

Gotcha, Bert. Thanks for the clarification.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: GUEST,Musket
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 04:17 PM

Asshole?

Some of us are arseholes if you don't mind.

I don't know, you let them have tea without paying for it and next thing they try buggering about with your language.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 04:21 PM

I thought we had to stop the joke at noon, Mick? :-)

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Greg F.
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 04:33 PM

Some of us are arseholes if you don't mind.

Sorry for the oversight- you know how us colonials get.

;>)

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 04:52 PM

No, the Mudcat has never been free from the objectionable. Remember for example but without limitation Clinton Hammond, Gargoyle, and Martin Gibson? Oh, and the erudite but spiky Countess Richard?

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Bert
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 05:20 PM

Right you are Richard. That was in 'the good old days' which we so fondly remember.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Big Mick
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 05:51 PM

But what would one call a sanctimonious, opinionated, holier-than-thou self-satisfied asshole?

Thank you for asking, Greg F. As I contemplate that, it would seem that person would probably classed as a ninth or tenth dan. By the way, you will be pleased to know that you are on the short list for that honor. But I won't reveal if you have attained that honor here.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Greg F.
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 06:14 PM

Thanks Mick, much appreciated. No need to be coy - by all means distribute your "honors"{?} publicly - and be damned.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: bobad
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 06:25 PM

"But what would one call a sanctimonious, opinionated, holier-than-thou self-satisfied asshole?"

Zombie chihuahua works for me.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Greg F.
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 06:44 PM

You tell 'em, BooBad!!

Now for something getrmaine, what about the "Small Hope For Israel/Palestine" thread ?

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Jeri
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 07:41 PM

I wonder if the pricks ever think about why they're at Mudcat, come up with "I hate the people here and my purpose in life is to bitch-slap them repeatedly" and think that's just fine. I have to look at what I've been feeling about these people and wonder if that's how THEY got to be so nasty. It's not fine, but it's becoming standard around here, and there are fewer and fewer who choose to stand outside the fire.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Greg F.
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 07:55 PM

Keep manning the barricades against the barbarian hordes, Jeri.

By the way, I never got your permission to post. Can you process that a bit more quickly?

Thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Jeri
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 07:59 PM

Why are you here, Greg? Seriously, I don't want you to answer here. I only want you to think about it.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 08:00 PM

not sure this is going to herald a new golden age of us all being nice to each other.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: JennieG
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 08:11 PM

Excellent idea, Mick - I salute you. As a member now of 14 years' standing (by gosh my feet get sore from all that standing sometimes) I recall the Mudcat of yore with great fondness. There was name-calling, but it was good natured and in fun rather than in malice.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Rapparee
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 09:09 PM

Good thinking, Mick. I salute you. It's better than what I all 'em: REMFs.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Bill D
Date: 01 Apr 14 - 11:08 PM

tried to post 2 hours ago, but Mudcat was like molasses.

hmmm...

As a senior member of Mudcat who has been a member from even earlier (Nov.'96) (Bert beat me) than the earliest days, I might have to offer some nominations...

Problem is, there's categories, as well as Dan levels. There are 'sanctimonious crusaders' with have causes who can turn any topic into their inevitable channel... there are 'malevolent trolls' who seem to look for ways to bait the unwary by exaggerated arguments.. there are the 'ethnically humorous' who use (often very) clever wit to play some personal game of debating by creative insult... there are the 'simply contentious' who seldom say anything that is not sarcastic or critical... and there are the Jekyll/Hyde 'hail fellow/good guys' who can become arm-waving threats in response to some perceived fault in the poster's intent....etc.

I do wonder at some of the real problems...like the "Once Famous" Martin Gibson, who seemed at times like he was trying to win a bet about how long he'd be tolerated.

You can probably add to the list.. or even do a better job of expressing mine.... and perhaps you wear one of those categories as a badge of honor.. ☺

(I wonder if there's a category for excessively garrulous explication? Maybe I'd better go check my PMs)

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: michaelr
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 12:03 AM

It's entropy. The inexorable decline of everything. No point in fighting it.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 12:21 AM

Worrabout the [what a poster once defined me as] those whose "pedantry is legendary"? Whence the qualification I add after my signature to posts where appropriate,

~Michael~ OLP ['Official Legendary Pedant'].


In which particular, Greg F: the word you sought above which is synonymous to 'relevant' [even overlooking obtrusive-letter typos] is 'germane'; no relation, in spite of all temptations, to the egregious Miss Greer...

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 12:37 AM

The Dan ranking system.

We've lost a lot of good members because they can't tolerate the shit stirred up by a few trolls in the BS that occasionally bleeds over into the music threads. Personally, I'd rather keep the good ones and toss the bad ones. The stalking that some of those folks practice is frustrating - no one can read every thread and keep track of who is following whom around and pissing on their discussions, so some people leave rather than bring it up to moderators to try to address.

If we ever take it to a vote, I would choose members only in BS, with the possible exception of GUESTS who ALWAYS use the same name (we can confirm that via IP).

My two cents. Mick already knows who I would nominate for the BBOPoMC.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 03:43 AM

Ca we nominate ourselves, or do we have to have a proposer and seconder?

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 03:47 AM

Of course we can't. That would be a Bridge too far!...

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Ed T
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 04:24 AM

"Honour loses its 'u' in many of its variants.
Honorary, honorific, honorarium and honorand all lose it.
Honourable and honoured retain it"

Is that true (except possibly in the USA)?

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 06:37 AM

A REAL pedant would have made use of the alternative structure for clarification purposes.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: IanC
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 06:47 AM

I think someone mentioned above that the statue of limitations on this thread ran out at 12:00 noon on the 1st of April.

Perhaps it's time to say "April Fool!".

;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 07:13 AM

Hmm. The irony is that many - not all - of the people who this thread's complainants have in mind (but lack the the balls to name, of course -'twas ever thus) are some of the most thoughtful and fair-minded and free-thinking people here. Unfortunately, these latter have one fault: they will not not suffer quietly religious bigots, creationists, evolution-deniers, atheist-demonisers, thread-starting tarts, serial misrepresenters, far-right backwoodsmen, homophobes, misogynists, liars, racists, apologists for countries who deal in repression of minority ethnic groups and defenders of child-abusing anti-education perpetrated by organised religion. They call a spade a spade and a wanker a wanker - and will always say why. Contrast that with the pusillanimous and disingenuous yearners for a golden age that never existed who make unsupported claims about why people stop posting on forums (I've stopped posting on forums, or on individual threads, myself on many occasions, nearly always because I was getting bored). Many of the below-line discussions that turn controversial endure an abysmal level of debate. I'd like to suggest that that's a major reason why people are often tempted to stop posting. However (and I've said it, and others have said it, so many times it's beginning to sound banal): if you don't care for what you're reading, don't read it. It really is as simple as that. I hate the Daily Mail so I don't bloody read the Daily Mail (I get to see a copy about once every two months when I'm waiting to get my hair cut, just sufficient to refresh my disdain for the thing). The above-line discussions seem to thrive well enough to me, so just don't come down here if you don't like it. We can fester very nicely here below thank you without your coming to whinge about how much we're offending you (and it really isn't that bad compared with a hell of a lot of online offerings). If you continuously click on threads that you know are probably going to offend you, well you may need to question your own sanity!

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 07:13 AM

Only a prick would try to fool innocent mudcatters. ;)

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Stu
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 07:38 AM

I think there is a cultural difference between the British and Americans when it comes to robust debate, as Stephen Fry commented on it with his usual insight here: http://www.stephenfry.com/2007/11/19/getting-overheated/3/

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Ed T
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 08:04 AM

And, then there is the stereotype Canadian approach to debate, where everyone seems to be trying to be "nice" to everyone involved:)

As to cultural differences, when British people use an insult, the choice of terms seems somwhat "funny" to many Canadians I know. Especially those exlosed to Monty Python. It's difficult to take the terms seriously, as they do not seem to be genuine "cussing" terms.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Musket
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 08:32 AM

Separated by a common language, not to mention approach...

I recall the creator of The Simpsons in an interview on the radio when he was over here saying that the script writers try to write at as many levels as they can, including what he felt was British humour. (As opposed to American humor..)

He said that his test was that it was funny in The UK as well as North America. For that, there had to be understatement, letting a comment hang from time to time with no punchline and sophisticated sarcasm.

I don't try to analyse so much. That Monty Python and Mr Bean are popular the other side of the pond could be that those performing fit a stereotype people would be familiar with, whereas Last of The Summer Wine didn't sell in the same way, despite huge popularity in many other countries. (When there was American backing to film Wallace & Grommit, Wererabbit, I often wondered if jokes such as Eyup magazine, SMUG refrigerator or Grommit nursing his marrow prior to the veg competition would cross the pond...)

Comedy and humour aside, Steve is right. There are some people who use the oxygen of an audience for their hatred and obscene take on life, and here, some people are too nice to tell them to fuck off. Which only goes to encourage them.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 08:37 AM

Hear, hear! Mr Shaw.

And there I am trying to stay out of this after the ruthless extermination of what was shaping up to be a very nice thread as well. What I find deeply offensive around here is the predominating pastoral paternalism from the Mods. I come to Mudcat for the low-life rough and tumble, not to hob-nob with the glitterati, much less the elite 'Old Timers', whoever the fuck they might be.

People leave Mudcat not because of the rites & riots, rather because of the prissy policing policies. Why they come is surely more important - or the fact they are here at all... Me, I come here for the general Crack (note spelling, folksy theme pub habitues) which is more than canny most of the time, though I'm aware the nuances will be mostly lost on such literalists that make a career of taking personal offense where none is ever intended, or else passing a more serious judgement (I suspect this thread has nothing to do with April 1st - I so hope I'm wrong, you chaps!) than you'll find in the most - er - spirited tête-à-tête, such as provoked The Inquisition to slash the Creationism thread.

For shame! I cry. For mercy too, and for pity's sake, give it a break!

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Ed T
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 08:44 AM

Even within a country, differences exist as to humour and insults. Canada is an example, where many English speaking francophone Canadians are puzzled by British humour, as anglo Canadians are puzzled and "underwhelmed" by Quebec swear words, that are mainly based on religion.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Musket
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 08:49 AM

Absolutely Ed. Mrs Musket comes from down south and is proud that I can get a northern audience laughing their heads off with a quick joke between songs, but be buggered if she gets some of them.

(Not funny when you explain them either, which then begs the question.....)

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 09:30 AM

No-one corrected me for typing "continuously" when I should have typed "continually". I am utterly, mortally offended by this and I'm going to just keep clicking on this thread and threads like it so that I can keep on being mortally offended and end up calling people twats. I wonder whether The Daily Mash will have me.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Musket
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 09:34 AM

I had sausage & mash last night, if it helps.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 09:42 AM

Oooooooh, Sausage, Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink, Oo-er Missus. Now you've done it...

D.

Subject: RE: BS: Black Belt Obstreperous Prick Club
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Apr 14 - 10:09 AM

This sausage I just bought in Mrs Miggins' pie shop looks suspiciously like a horse's willy to me...