An English Folk Awards..?

Subject: RE: An English Folk Awards..?
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 14 Jun 08 - 07:42 AM

On a good stone one can grind many axes.

Subject: RE: An English Folk Awards..?
From: GUEST,What'sthepoint
Date: 14 Jun 08 - 07:41 AM

English Folk Awards - Results

Best traditional song sung in a funny voice - Martin Carthy

Best traditional guitar style invented by Martin Carthy - M. Carthy

Best Traditional Group - Any with Martin Carthy in it.

Lifetime Achievement Award - Martin Carthy

Best Female Performer - Anyone who can say, "My name is Carthy," Carthy

The Martin Carthy Award For Being Martin Carthy - No surprise here - Yes, it's our very own Martin Carthy.

And so on.............

Subject: RE: An English Folk Awards..?
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 14 Jun 08 - 07:16 AM

Sorry - extra "neither" above; but I cook a mean souvlaki.

Subject: RE: An English Folk Awards..?
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 14 Jun 08 - 07:12 AM

OK, Dave, in the best "'Allo, 'Allo" tradition, "I will say zis only vunce":

It is not the existence of any English Folk Awards that would hurt me, but your persistence in certain directions, which only serves to disillusion me. You see, when we first came across each other here and on mySpace, I thought innocently that there were some touch-points between us. Because in my 19 years on this island, and with the help of the English rose that shared 35 years with me and the many friends I made here, I learned more than the language; I got to understand the culture(s) here, the good and the bad, and they are second nature to me now (plagiarising Prof Higgins here).

My own existence in two cultures made me question early on where do I stand myself, what am I. The answer I came up with is "in both places", in other words I love, and am proud of, both my inherited and my adopted cultures. I would neither abandon my Greekness, neither would I shun my learned "Englishness". And from that I made the logical step that one ought to remain proud of their own culture, even while they recognise their less savoury aspects and try to correct them.

So, some of your early statements of belief found ready-ploughed ground in me. But not long afterwards I realised that you were prepared to go much further than I was, in order to recognise, celebrate and preserve what you profess to hold dear. And also that the English culture you refer to contains a number of "romantic" (perhaps mythical) elements, which I, of course, coming into it as an 18 year old, did not inherit or adopt. We may both use the words "Englishness", "preserve" etc, but our perspectives are different. Furthermore, you have proved very insistent (a-la-Roger Gall) both in trying to persuade others of your views, and amazingly impervious to the arguments of others (I am referring to the less scatological ones here, though I do actually like catspaw and frequently smirk when he calls a spade a shovel).

Extremism is often not a matter of beliefs, but of degree. And I find that the degrees to which you seem to be prepared to go, or at least that you advocate, truly foreign to me. Furthermore, I fear that extremist ideas, as they polarise the world around them, effectively muzzle reasonableness.

It is therefore the danger to reason that I mourn. And also my mistaken initial belief that we shared a common understanding on the subject of English culture and what to do (and what NOT to do) in its interest.

Subject: RE: An English Folk Awards..?
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 14 Jun 08 - 07:06 AM

Read some of those threads, WAV, as I suggested, if you want to understand what George meant. Don't expect me to summarise or explain them for you. Off you go, now.

'Awards' are a marketing exercise, and pretty meaningless in the end, whatever the category.

Subject: RE: An English Folk Awards..?
From: Banjiman
Date: 14 Jun 08 - 07:06 AM

Here we go again WAV...........take your abhorrent ideas elsewhere.

As always an innocent enough thread title (nothing wrong with English Folk Awards) but how long before you start to peddle your foul, racist crap?

Why do you persist? Most Mudcatters have you sussed......and I for one don't want to read your drivel any longer, do you understand (or care about)the damage that you are doing to the "folk" movement by posting your rubbish on open an open forum like this?

Subject: RE: An English Folk Awards..?
From: GUEST,Voteno
Date: 14 Jun 08 - 06:49 AM

Why? The usual suspects would win all of the awards in a mutual slap on the back ritual. Besides, the Carthy clan must have run out of mantelpiece space by now. So, NO!

Subject: RE: An English Folk Awards..?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 14 Jun 08 - 06:48 AM

Was, RG, too, trooping English folk music, MD?

Subject: RE: An English Folk Awards..?
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 14 Jun 08 - 06:31 AM

There is a great deal that you don't understand, WAV, as your previous marathon threads here have made all too clear. Go away and read some of Roger's marathon threads (you can find them via the search engine, under his appropriate pseudonym of 'The Shambles') and then come back; if you still have the will after the months it will require.

My main worry is that you won't see why there was ever a problem.

Subject: RE: An English Folk Awards..?
From: greg stephens
Date: 14 Jun 08 - 06:29 AM

And an English award for going on....and on.....and on.....and on.

Subject: RE: An English Folk Awards..?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 14 Jun 08 - 06:20 AM

Frankly, I don't know of Roger Gall, George..?..and I don't understand how an English junior and senior folk awards - to match what they already have in Scotland - would "hurt" you..?

Subject: RE: An English Folk Awards..?
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 14 Jun 08 - 06:08 AM

Ah, Dave, why do you hurt me so?
Shades of Roger Gall here...

Subject: An English Folk Awards..?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 14 Jun 08 - 04:48 AM

Listening to an enjoyable Travelling Folk (BBC Radio Scotland) last
Saturday night, I was reminded of this Message from my website:
"On the B.B.C., I've heard, and appreciated, two lots of Scottish but
no English or Welsh folk awards"...?