Graeme

Happy 18th Birthday! I hope you have a great day! Have lots of fun and all the best for the year ahead.

Hi, Razor, A suggestion only, but maybe if Mitch learn more than one Christian view, he might learn to pick his own way through things. As a start, show him the Religious Tolerance web site. It tries to be balanced, giving multiple interpretations and points of view. He'll see the views he's been taught, and the other views on the same matters. He can then start working out his own opinions, since he'll be given a broader range of inputs. Oh, and the Religious Tolerance site has a very, very good set of essays on homosexuality and the Bible. It does a very good job of explaining the differences between the extreme points of views, and the issues with them. You'll find them just above the essays on the Origins of the Species in the "Hot Topics" section of the menu on the left hand side. Start Mitch with the Origins of the Species essays, and if he likes the site enough, he just might check the entries on homosexuality and gay marriage for himself Good luck!

Thanks, Viv. I know I didn't used to say it much, but I like to think I say it more often now Some people (including myself) think it's more important to show than to say, but both are needed.

Happy 20th Birthday! My condolences on your loss of teenagerhood

Using CJ's definition of a cliffhanger, I feel it qualifies. Using my own definition, I agree it doesn't. However, this is CJ's forum and we should (when it suits us, and causes the maximum amount of mayhem) agree with his definition Yep! A more ominous interpretation would be to have someone checking out ... permanently. Who could it be, if that's the case? I'd hate for it to be any of the major characters, but it could be Gunter. That would leave an opening for a security chief, and Jerry could suggest Dimitri as being a likely candidate. Of course, that would take Dimitri away from supervising the building of the bombs, but would also mean he was in a position to ensure that the bombs were successfully smuggled to whereever they eventually had to go.

Happy Birthday, Jason! 33 is still young....

Happy (belated) Republic Day for the worlds largest republic

And since no one actually answered the question, FrenchCanadian joined three months before The_Silence....

Very nice I loved the way there was no sound. Thanks!

G'day, deshani! If you've got questions, please feel free to PM me or any of the other moderators/admins. Join in where you feel comfortable and just have fun

G'day! Welcome to GA and thanks for sharing the photos.

That's definitely a good idea. From what is public domain knowledge of the Google secret algorithm, the more links to that thread, the high ranking on a search for the word cliffhanger.

Colin, here's the relevant section from chapter 22:

I've just seen a report that a WBC spokesperson has clarified that they will only picket USA memorial services. They don't appear to think this is serious enough to come to Australia.... Thanks for the offers James and Benji, but it doesn't look like it'll be needed.

This is where CJ's evil genius really shines Google doesn't report on forums, it only reports on single pages. Since he's split the feedback into multiple threads, they appear to Google as separate pages, and hence dilutes their weightings. I've never said cliffhangers are wrong. Indeed, I've indicated approval of cliffhangers when used correctly. What I have been objecting to is: 1. C James denying he ever uses cliffhangers, and 2. The ridiculous level to which C James takes his accusations of cliffhanger use by other authors. Graeme :mace:

Correction: CJ sees cliffhangers everywhere (except his own stories) and has a rather loose and weird definition of what is a cliffhanger. We're just using his own definition and applying it to his own stories. His definition: You may not that he's recently tried to wheedle his way out of being accused under his own definition by altering that definition, but I still use his original definition when checking his stories for cliffhangers

Depending on how you write it, I don't see a problem. You've shown with LTMP that you can write very good and very emotionally gripping 3rd person. Don't worry about it. I will admit that I've read one series that was written in 3rd person, and then the author switched to 1st person in the last story. It was very disconcerting at first, but that was mainly because it was also written in a very different style. We had a lot more personal thoughts and comments from the narrator than we'd been allowed to see in the 3rd person books and that took a bit of getting used to. I don't expect you'll have that problem

Sounds like it might be low self-esteem. I know that was always my problem. She may not think she's good enough for these other guys, and is finding excuses why she won't date them because she's afraid she's right.

I don't know where the funeral will be held. It could be the USA, since he's lived there for the last few years, or it could be Australia, where his family is located. If it is Australia, Phelps and co will probably be allowed into the country, but I suspect they'll have problems protesting at the funeral. Australia doesn't have a constitutionally protected right to freedom of speech. My best guess is that they would be arrested for creating a public nuisance, and then, probably, charged with resisting arrest The only downside would be that it would generate more publicity for them, if this happened.

I thought that was the way the original short story ended? I remember reading a review that said that that was a very poignant part of the story. I've just heard the the initial autopsy was inconclusive. There was a report in one of the Australian newspapers that it was possible that prescription drugs he had may have interacted with his pneumonia, as well as there being a warning from the Australian federal drug administration body that the drugs in question had behaviour-modifying side-effects in some people. There is still a distinct possibility that this is just a tragic accident.

The show is a daytime soap opera. As such, they have to be careful on sexual matters. They may have taken the sex out of the relatiionship, but they appear to have maintained a strong gay relationship through an extended period of the show. That is a huge positive to me. Even in Australia, the sexual side of gay relationships is rarely covered in much detail. It does happen -- one Australian TV drama (The Secret Life of Us) had a character realise he's gay after a sexual encounter. It was handled sensitively and carefully, but they didn't hide from it. Over ten years ago, the UK show EastEnders did the same with Tony Hills and Simon Raymond (there used to be a video clip of them being caught kissing by Tiffany, Simon's sister and who was at that time Tony's girlfriend....). I also remember the time Tony picked up a guy at a gay bar, but couldn't go through with going back to the guy's place (this was before he started going out with Simon). The Australian medical drama/soap, All Saints had a gay character at one point (also Tony, by some strange coincidence), who had fun flirting with one of the male nurses (who was very uncomfortable with it). But it was that male nurse who was the one who tried to rescue Tony after Tony dropped into a life of drugs and parties (this was after he was diagnosed with Hep C as a result of a needle-stick injury caused by a psycho patient). They were significant story lines in each of these shows, and the writers didn't shy away from tough issues. Sex wasn't shown, naturally, but there was no doubt that there were sex happening in the first two stories, and the last one showed a good straight/gay relationship (in the end).

The question about plots depends on how high a level you look at it. If you look at things generically enough, there is no new plots. All stories can be categorized under a single plot: Someone/Something struggles/challenges against/with Someone/Something. Not particularly useful, at that level, which is why I go for a lower level and say, yes, there are new plots. New challenges, new struggles, new ways of looking at things.

I'm in shock :wacko: I keep hoping it's a mistaken report.... My condolences to his family, and especially his two-year-old daughter.

True, though I wouldn't have listed interests/hobbies in that list you have. That would be true for some people, but I know my wife and I had no interests or hobbies in common when we started going out. Even now we have different interests/hobbies (apart from the boys, which are more a full time job....), but we have learnt enough of the others to be able to relate to what they are saying. There has to be some common ground to form the base of a relationship, but that could be anything. In our case it was that we worked at the same place, and we had similar views on a number of subjects.

I managed to see most of it last night. It was quite interesting. As my wife said, it's a good lesson on what NOT to do in that situation. Darren clearly wanted to be a dad, and while he initially took what he was offered to become a dad, he wanted more. Conversely, Fiona and Kellie realised that they had given Darren more than they really wanted to give -- he was going to have more access to the baby than they were comfortable with. The key scene, to me, was after the birth and Fiona mentioned seeing a counsellor. Unless she wanted to spend years taking her son around to a stranger, she and Kellie would have to become comfortable with Darren. None of the three really understood what they were getting into (which is true of all parents ). They weren't a threesome, but that's what they had to become, for the sake of the baby, and most of the troubles they had was getting to that understanding. There initial expectations were unreasonable -- like when Darren was upset that Fiona and Kellie hadn't come to see him at that stand. Why should they? He was right, in that they were developing (through necessity) a relationship that like a close friendship, but at that time they didn't have it. He may have unconsciously understood that that is what they needed to do, but he didn't go about it very well. But it appears to have ended well I hope they're still going strong and that Marley is growing up happy and loved by both his mums, and his dad.