The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Don Firth
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 10:06 PM

Fun, Will. Now that's entertainment! I especially like your nose picking--of the uke.

Some people play by note, some play by ear, and some are even more versatile than that!

Don Firth

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: catspaw49
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 10:27 PM

Will Fly......An absolutely wonderful piece. Great old song too! I've had about 8 or 9 people over this weekend and I've shown all of them the video. They're quite used to me doing this btw, and I'm a nutcase myself (ask around here for instance)..........EVERY ONE OF THEM just loved it and figure you are running for "Neatest Grandpa." Makes me wish I had some but sadly, I'm probably about the same age as you are but I'm still raising the first ones!

And Wavyfunkywhiteboyracist.........Your response to WF is totally laughable jackass.....You couldn't have been serious. Just in case you were and IF you were.......Fuckoff numbnuts.

Spaw

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Will Fly
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 03:47 AM

s&r, Don, olddude, Smokey, Little Hawk, Spaw - thanks.

Well, there you have it: 44 years of dedication to my craft and I end up trying to make out with a stuffed bear and being lectured on production values by a stuffed owl. Way to go...

But, if the stuffed owl happens to be reading this, let me explain how this 2 minutes of "silliness" came about.

01. Laid down a hi-hat backing track
02. Laid down fingerstyle guitar track
03. Laid down acoustic bass guitar track
04. Laid down vocal track 1
05. Laid down vocal track 2
06. Laid down vocal track 3
07. Bounced vocal tracks down to 1 track
08. Laid down muted trumpet track
09. Laid down distorted guitar track
10. Mixed down all tracks, excluding hi-hat, and dumped to Mac Book Pro using Audacity
11. Filmed guitar & vocal (shot 1) - lip-synched to playback
12. Filmed whistle shot (shot 2) - mime-synched to playback
13. Filmed uke shot (shot 3) - mime-synched to playback
14. Filmed bear shot (shot 4) - lip-synched to playback
15. Dumped filmed shots to Mac Book using iMovie
16. Created mp3 of audio with Audacity and imported into iMovie
17. Cut and mixed video shots with cross-fades to audio track in iMovie
18. Added credits
19. Mixed down to high-quality Quicktime
20. Uploaded to YouTube and Vimeo

Easy, wasn't it? All that for 2 minutes of fun.

The point, me old stuffed owl, is that you have to spend time learning your trade, making your musical bones, before you pontificate on what should and shouldn't be. All sorts of fish swim in the Mudcat pond. There are whales out there. I'm just a medium-sized shark but you're just the teensiest of tiddlers. You should remember that before you start your lecture tour.

Will

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: GUEST,Ralphie
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 03:47 AM

Hi Will. Have never met you, but your version of Blue Heaven was sublime!
On another thread Joe Offer is asking why people like the "Cat" for some article or other.
I'd point him in the direction of your clip!!
Thanks for posting it. Rest assured that everyone will get the humour with which it was done........Except One!!! (wonder who that could be?)
As for the sound mix. As a professional, it sounded as fine as anything on the Web can. More power to you and your family, Keep on keeping on.
Regards and thanks for brightening my day.
Ralphie.
And Wav. If you didn't get it, there really is no hope for you.

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Will Fly
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 03:53 AM

Thanks Ralphie - glad it was good for a laugh! My years at the Beeb watching colleagues doing sound mixing (many, many years ago) weren't wasted then. I worked in what was the old Information Services Division, but most of my Beeb friends were producers and/or musicians. Glad I don't work there now though...

Regards,

Will

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Stu
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 04:07 AM

Excellent Will!

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: GUEST,Ralphie
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 04:09 AM

Me too!!
Took the early bath 2 years ago after 33 years, and seeing the way The Beeb seems to be going I'm glad I did!.
Luckily working for the Radio Music depts, I came in touch with some of the most wonderful musicians on the planet. Of every genre. What a great way to spend your career. I was truly blessed!
Kind Regards Ralphie.

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 04:12 AM

When it comes to the problem of sound mixing / editing in video, I think this one gets it just about bang on:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=T_221BH9pNE

Otherwise, loved your Blue Heaven, Will & nice to see how it was done too.

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: GUEST,Ralphie
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 04:24 AM

Mr Beard....You are a sad sad man.
Thought I was going to see some audio/visual magic....You Swine!!!

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Gervase
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 04:36 AM

Oh dear; that video should at least come with a warning. Watching it I felt I was drifting into the arena of the unwell.
But on a happier note - some superb videos there Will. Inspirational stuff.

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Mooh
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 11:12 AM

Will...That was loads of fun, nice goin'...but I can wait for my own grandkids, lol!

David...That was very odd, but maybe silent movies are your forte. I suggest you spend all your time on silent pursuits.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: catspaw49
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 11:39 AM

I've suggested before that Wavyfunkywhiteboyracist's video is hard to understand. I have never seen anyone wallow a recorder around so much and I'm thinking its more probable he's demonstrating fellatio techniques.

Spaw

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: GUEST,Blind DRunk in Blind River
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 12:19 PM

Yeah? Well he could not of flippin' come up with none of them fellashio methuds that you did not, like, have flippin' well masttered yerself a long ways back, eh, Catspoop? You rude flippin' looser boy. You are a flippni' enbarrissmend, man, to yer hole flippin' comyunity, I betcha! I bet there ain't a dog in yer town that don't run fer cover when it sees you flippin' comin' down the street, know'm sayin'? You suck, man. You are the rudest flippin' A-hole flipface boltheaded corkpuller that ever flipped a dead groundhog and you aught to be band from the flippin' Innternet for mortal indesensy.

- Shane

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: olddude
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 12:47 PM

Spaw
you never cease to make me laugh to tears. No one cuts to the chase better then you. God Bless you my friend. I always thought you should do stand up along with being a master musician... I would buy the ticket in a heartbeat

Dan

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Gervase
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 12:52 PM

On this thread he's certainly a master baiter. Shame workshy WAV can't match him, really.

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Master Baiter
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 01:25 PM

Excuse me Gervase, but I am the Master Baiter as you can readily see. Catspaw49 is a pretender as is the pathetic Shane O'Hawkster.

I have it on good authority that Little Hawk, Shane, and Chongo, all were invited to a circle jerk at William Shatner's house trailer.

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Don Firth
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 01:25 PM

There are most definitely times when Silence is Golden. There's the proof.

I was wondering there for a moment if David might not be in danger of getting his tongue caught in his fipple. That might lead to the odd fate of having to spend the rest of his life wandering around with his "English flute" dangling from the tip of his tongue.

Potentially dangerous activity, that.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 01:53 PM

Will: firstly, genuine thanks for that info. (you seem to know your onions) on video making - most of it new to me (as you can probably tell from IB's link!). But, as for "I hope you took in the lessons of the whistle solo...", I shall keep trying to play like I sing, and sing like I play, just the unadulterated unadorned (unlike this sentence!) tune, with tenor-recorder/English flute and, occasionally, keys; and, for what it's worth, on this, Will, WAV will not waver.
Catspsaw - please save such spew for your kitty litter.

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Little Hawk
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 02:03 PM

Master Baiter, I bow to your superior knowledge and experience. ;-)

However, it is untrue that I have been invited to a circle jerk (along with Chongo and Shane) at William Shatner's house trailer. I hope to be honored in that fashion...I hope for it daily...but it has yet to transpire.

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Will Fly
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 03:43 PM

Will: firstly, genuine thanks for that info. (you seem to know your onions) on video making - most of it new to me (as you can probably tell from IB's link!). But, as for "I hope you took in the lessons of the whistle solo...", I shall keep trying to play like I sing, and sing like I play, just the unadulterated unadorned (unlike this sentence!) tune, with tenor-recorder/English flute and, occasionally, keys; and, for what it's worth, on this, Will, WAV will not waver.

David, you've been gracious enough to acknowledge that I know what I'm doing when I make videos, and I'm gracious enough to say "thank you".

Look now - nobody is telling how you how or what to play on your recorder - play what you like and good luck to you. But please don't push half-formed opinions and knowledge about music on others, and beware - really beware of enfolding your literary and musical efforts within a nationalistic and rigid philosophy that most 'Catters genuinely find abhorrent. That's my honest advice to you. And if you look dispassionately through all the posts in this thread, you'll see that that's the case.

Believe what you want to believe. Write what you want to write. Play what you want to play. Just be very careful of foisting it off on this forum, which is stacked with experts in a huge variety of areas of knowledge. That's genuine advice from the heart.

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 04:04 PM

I can't believe you guys are still hanging around over here verbally dueling with an unarmed man.

Doesn't the Geneva Convention say something about this? ;-D

SRS

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Little Hawk
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 04:35 PM

If it doesn't, it certainly ought to.

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: GUEST,Smokey
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 05:35 PM

The Geneva Convention bans crossbows - what more do you want?

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Little Hawk
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 05:46 PM

They ban noogies too, don't they?

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: GUEST,Smokey
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 06:03 PM

It's advisable to be careful where you smoke them.

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Don Firth
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 06:13 PM

How about the wedgie? Particularly the atomic wedgie, where you pull the back of the waistband of the victim's Jockey shorts over the top of his head and hook the label under his nose*?

Don Firth

*Endorsed by the advocates of Zero Population Growth.

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: GUEST,Smokey
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 07:24 PM

Oh please Don - it's bad enough having the mental image of him dribbling over his computer without his pyjamas on without having to contemplate the grizzly prospect of his underpants. If he owns any.

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Don Firth
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 08:17 PM

A grisly prospect, 'tis true, but if an atomic wedgie is administered with sufficient speed and vigor, his testicles come popping out of his ears.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: GUEST,Smokey
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 08:36 PM

Well, it might improve his singing.
Although:
"I shall keep trying to play like I sing, and sing like I play"

WHY??

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Little Hawk
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 11:29 PM

The atomic wedgie has long been banned in what is normally termed "the civilized world". As for noogies, that's when you put someone in a headlock and vigorously rub your knuckles against the hair on their scalp with your free hand...a form of aggravated assault dreaded by pre-schoolers and those in the early grades. Then there's the old nose-tweak, the ear twist and the fingers in the eyes routine, a la the Three Stooges.

Dreadful stuff!

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: GUEST,Smokey
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 12:15 AM

And do you still resent your schooldays Mr. Hawk? ;-)

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Little Hawk
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 12:22 AM

With a passion!

Stalag 17, I'd call it. I made sure not to have any kids of my own, just to save them from possibly going through a similar experience. ;-)

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Don Firth
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 12:39 AM

Then there's always the "face flush," sometimes referred to as a "whirley. . . ."

Don Firth

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Little Hawk
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 01:36 AM

Omigod...

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 01:12 PM

"beware of enfolding your literary and musical efforts within a nationalistic and rigid philosophy that most 'Catters genuinely find abhorrent" (Will)...many Scots have successfully linked Scottish folk with Scottish nationalism, and God's speed to them; in modern England, on the other hand, nationalism has a bad name and the few who lean that way tend to be British, rather than English, nationalists; however, as I've said here, while nationalism with conquest is bad, nationalism with eco-travel and fair-trade is good for humanity.

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 01:32 PM

Sorry, David, you used one of the Forbidden Phrases of Automatic Ignorage.

(Check all that apply)

   "I've only questioned the act of immigration itself"

   "my way is a good way forward for humanity"

   "I do love the world being multicultural"

X "nationalism with eco-travel and fair-trade is good for humanity"

   "Racism is when you say they are all like this or that."

X "as I've said here" [with link to ghastly Web site]

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Will Fly
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 01:52 PM

David - you're merely repeating a mantra that you've repeated over and over and over again, with no facts to back you up. If you can't see that you're anathema to all the 'Catters who've replied to or commented on your idiotic posts - every single one of them - you're an unregenerate fucking idiot. Why don't you realise that you're now a figure of fun, an abject fool whose name is being used as a figure of fun in other threads on this forum?

If there's an award to be given for the most abject, self-opinionated, bigoted, ignorant fucking tosspot in this country - you're the prime candidate, voted for by everyone. Why in hells' name are you posting here?

With that, I leave you to the tender mercies of Spaw - who I hope will deal with you as savagely as possible.

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Little Hawk
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 01:59 PM

Why not just let him post if he wants to, and ignore his thread if you don't find it interesting or agreeable? Why keep coming back to it? What prize do any of you expect to win in this continuing attempt of yours to destroy or drive out the despised heathen who has dared violate the sacred digital soil of this holy realm? ;-)

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Will Fly
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 02:23 PM

Ah but, Little Hawk - we are the Acolytes, the Chosen Ones who are the High Priests of the Sacred Mudcat Church. How can we stand by and let our Sacred Thoughts and Philosophies be polluted by the scions of the unrighteous? Are we to stand by, still and uncaring, while the Holy Altar of Mudcat is pissed in by the heathen, recorder-toting hordes of Babylon? NEVER!

Actually, it's addictive, isn't it? Like shooting fish in a barrel - but a fish with no nerve endings. Keeps popping up like a target in a shooting gallery...

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Stu
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 02:29 PM

I feel a bit sorry for the poor chap. He might be a deluded, insensitive and deaf to advice, but he hasn't half put up with some jip.

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Little Hawk
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 02:30 PM

LOL! I love your sense of humor, Will. That's been my point all along (seemingly lost on Don Firth, though...he's soooooooo serious about taking on WAV!)...that the people here who are fighting with WAV day after day have acquired an enjoyable Internet addiction that they just can't shake. ;-)

As for me, I've become addicted to dropping in frequently and seeing how it's all going. It's cheap entertainment, and we can all use a bit of that, right?

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Don Firth
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 03:24 PM

". . . seemingly lost on Don Firth, though...he's soooooooo serious about taking on WAV!"

You're being smug again, Little Hawk. I generally consider you to be a pretty bright guy, so it really disappoints me when you do your Grand Lama on the Mountain Top act.

Here's the way it works with me, Little Hawk. David has developed an interest in folk music. That's good. So I seriously endeavor to give him good advice on how to go about it. He generally comes back with either some snotty remark, or more often, a complete non sequiter, as if he simply doesn't understand plain English (the native language of his "good English culture") or (and this thought has occurred to me from time to time) that he has a reading disability or is generally just a bit "simple."

When he goes totally off the rails with such things as suggesting that Americans should not sing folk songs from the British Isles or even songs and ballads that are traceable to the British Isles, but do the traditional music of America—"Amerindian chanting and drumming"—in my natural predilection for attempting to keep such willfully blind lemmings (Blind Lemming. Isn't that the name of an blues singer from times past?) such as David from running off the edge of the cliff and drowning themselves in the frigid waters of the Sea of Abysmal Ignorance, I make yet another attempt at getting him to shut his big yap and open his ears.

It is obvious, of course, that such attempts are an exercise in utter futility. Nevertheless, my benevolent nature demands that I press on. I may soon give it up, however, because, God knows, I have better things to do than spend my time and energy trying to rehabilitate the terminally stupid.

Pax vobiscum

Don Firth (note the halo!)

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: olddude
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 04:15 PM

Well I come back, mainly for Spaw!
I never know what he will come up with next. Yes it is cheap entertainment but any laugh is better than a good cry ... and if we don't laugh at this , then we have to cry because sadly there are way too many people out there who actually think this way.

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Little Hawk
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 05:07 PM

Well, Don, I follow your argument, but I think that your continual verbal tilting with WAV on this thread is itself excessive and out of proportion to the situation. I think your own ego has gotten caught up in personally humiliating the man for the sheer satisfaction of doing so...certainly not to help or enlighten him. I may be wrong about that, of course, but if I am right then I cannot applaud your efforts because they are driven by a sort of sadistic impulse, I think....and that is what I object to about them. It reminds me of stuff I've seen all my life where it becomes a regular habit for someone to pick on someone else, specially in a public setting, specially when a group of "friends" do it to someone they perceive as outside the group.

I don't think, Don, that any of us are imbued with the personal authority to ultimately judge the worth of another human being. We can offer an opinion on the quality of some piece of work they have done, we can offer an opinion on the veracity of something they have said, but we cannot ultimately judge their worth as a human being. We don't have the right to do that. That's why there are pretty explicit instructions in all the great religious philosophies of the world not to judge others.

Plain and simple: I think you are taking it too far in your personal attacks on WAV. You are able to do so comfortably because you are an insider here at Mudcat, and he is not. Were your roles in that respect reversed, you would not be able to do it comfortably.

Were Spaw not an oldtimer here also and a very beloved one, he would not be able to say the things he does here comfortably either.....although it's clear that he's just screwing around for the hell of it and for the laughs, so I don't take it that seriously.

I am not doing my Grand Lama on the Mountaintop thing. I am observing some of the uglier side of human group behaviour and commenting on it. There's a "swarming" going on here, and WAV is its target.

What I don't get is why he doesn't just leave, given his reception here? I certainly wouldn't stay if I was him. It's puzzling, and it makes me wonder sometimes if he's playing the whole thing for laughs himself? But it's hard to figure that he would have built up that entire website as a joke.

The whole thing is really odd. I think a panel of psychologists would have a field day analying the activities of people on this thread. ;-)

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Don Firth
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 05:09 PM

And olddude has a grasp of the other aspect of it. When some nincompoop or would-be overlord spouts racist and nationalistic ideas—ideas that are aimed at limiting the freedom of people to live how and where they wish, limit their ability to support themselves, and even goes so far as to prescribing what sort of art and music they be allowed, and not be allowed to make or enjoy—then those who recognize the nature of the evil being advocated have an obligation to speak their minds on the matter.

There was a nasty-minded little twerp with a funny postage-stamp moustache who spouted the same kind of ideas over seventy years ago, and not only were there an insufficient number of people who stood up to him, but there were large numbers of people who either ignored him, hoping he would just go away, or actually agreed with him sufficiently that they voted the little weasel into office. Then, the rest of the world had to deal with him, and it wasn't very nice. Lot's of people died before it was all over.

Whenever it rears its head, call if for what it is. Otherwise, you share the blame for what may happen.

Don Firth (note the flaming sword!)

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Little Hawk
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 05:12 PM

Oh, piffle twaddle. You are sounding more and more like Joe McCarthy to me, rooting out the hidden Reds in our midst and saving civilization.

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Don Firth
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 05:29 PM

That's bullshit, Little Hawk. You really are trying to pick a fight with me, aren't you? After all, a number of times you have addressed your comments on this thread specifically to me.

If you agree with the position that David has taken (and I have reason to believe that this might be the case), then have the courage to say so in open forum, and, of course, be willing to take the flak that it will draw your way. I'm sure that David would appreciate the support. Otherwise, all you are doing is sniping from off-side--or rather, from "above it all."

Don Firth

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: Gervase
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 05:33 PM

rooting out the hidden Reds
Weird. I read that as "hidden Reels" on first viewing and started wondering about samizdat folk dancing.
To be honest, I'm beginning to wonder myself about WAV's make-up. No normal person could take the level of criticism that's been levelled at him and still keep coming back with the same old tosh. There must be something truly dysfunctional about him, and I would be intrigued to see him in a social situation to get a real measure of the bloke.
Which leaves one with a dilemma. What is the form for dealing with some who is, shall we say, 'special needs', but who happens to hold views which are unacceptable to others? I could maybe liken it to dealing with someone who has particularly marked Tourette's. Is it best to ignore, to admonish, to encourage? Help!

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: mandotim
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 05:47 PM

Hi LH; you may well have a point about the 'swarming' behaviour; but could it be that such swarming is not necessarily malicious nor ill-intentioned? Reasding a few of Don's posts, among others, I can see a lot of genuine attempts to help WAV to understand the gross illogicalities of his positions and also the reasons why he tends to piss people off. This isn't malice in my book; the guy has no job, and if his on-line persona is anything to go by, some fairly big barriers preventing him getting one. If he were to listen and learn, at least some parts of his life might improve (hopefully including his playing, singing and poetry). If he was engaged in a dangerous activity which threatened his life, would we all still be 'swarming' if all of us exhorted him not to do it?
What seems to draw the indignation and occasional abuse seems to be when WAV (either deliberately or in genuine ignorance) refuses to engage with the substance of what is being offered, instead falling back on tired mantras from his website or obtuse interpretations of ill-researched ideas. When people have taken the time and trouble to try to help, it is infuriating to have their efforts treated with such disdain and sometimes outright rudeness.
I'm with Don on one thing in particular; the neo-Nazi National Front are gaining ground in my country, as in others across Europe. The far-right, racist British National Party are beginning to win seats in local elections. WAV's views are shared by these people, and they tend to trawl the web for anything that supports their twisted ideologies. Don't be surprised to see WAV quoted in their propaganda as a source of support. If we learned anything from the rise of Nazism, surely it was 'nip it in the bud'? It's overstating the case to suggest that WAV is a major player in the advance of neo-Nazi ideologies; but the principle here is to address these ideas in any available forum, and expose them for what they are.
This forum is largely democratic in nature; what we have here is the equivalent of a landslide; individual choice is exercised, and we have one vote for WAV, and virtually all the other votes against. We would accept that as a valid election result, so why not here?
Respectfully
Tim

Subject: RE: The Weekly Walkabout (part 2.)
From: olddude
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 05:55 PM

Serious for a moment, David when I read your poems, When I see the description of the ponds and the swans, the local tavern. it just strikes me that you can write. Why write things that offend so many people and cause this reaction? I think you are capable of writing poetry that people would feel good when they read it, to make life a little better in a world that is troubled. Why write about things that others find so offensive. It just is not productive and just causes more pain. You are capable of good imagery and I bet you could do some beautiful things. But this work is not really worth reading for it only causes others pain and hence a very bad reaction back to you. I wish you would consider what I said. I bet you would find a far different reaction here at Mudcat. People here are the first to support any artist who really trys to make life better and art better. They are the first to stand up for those who cannot defend themselves, hence the writing so far strike such a bitter reaction. Why now use the imagery that you do possess to make life better or more enjoyable to others. I bet you would see the total opposite reaction with people bending over backwards to help you.

Please simply consider it. You are capable of much better than this