Graeme

:king: :king: :king: Congratulations, Benji! :king: :king: :king: I'm glad you're here at GA and contributing so well. It really is appreciated, and you're helping to make this the community that it is.

I've also met a number of German's with American accents. My understanding is that they were taught English by American teachers, and picked up the accent in the process. I'm not from Sydney, but yes, Sydney's "gay district" is fairly large (though not huge). It runs along Oxford Street, just outside of the centre of town. There are a number of nightclubs and bars there, though I haven't been in any of them.

From memory, didn't Jerry ask Helen and the Carlisle brother's to do what they could for Lump, because Lump wouldn't have anything to do with Jerry? Helen said they would, but I haven't seen them do anything to help since. It's possible that Jerry has left it in their hands (since they said they'd help Joe Clump overcome his problems), and he doesn't realise that they've dropped the ball on the subject. Actually, from the literature I've read, it's not that uncommon. It's just that having a gay father is a lot less common than having a gay son. I've got no statistics, but the anecdotal evidence I've heard indicates that a reasonable percentage of children (especially adult children) don't accept when one of their parents comes out of the closet. On the subject of Mario, the use of "they" can still be singular -- it's the non-gender specific version of "he" or "she". It may not be good English, but I've heard it many times, and I do it myself sometimes. All we know is that they will be famous. The obvious target is Instinct, but it's possible it'll be someone else. We know that The Scar wants to take over Paraguay -- maybe it'll be the current leader of Paraguay (on a political visit to the USA) that's going to be assassinated? That's the only other possibility I can think of at the moment -- I don't believe Helen, Jerry or even Lump fit the description of "famous" that was used.

The implication being that you've used that special hypnotic goat powers of you to corrupt another Admin into doing your dirty work for you.... :wacko: Shame on you!

Actually, I think everyone does. When you login, there is (I think) an option to say you want to be anonymous. You'll be listed as an anonymous user, without your user name showing. C James and JSmith are both Admins, and if they want to play games with each other's accounts, that their business. Joe (JSmith) actually has more power than C James, because he can also manipulate C James's story site.... C James and Shadowgod are good friends, and this sort of thing is just playful banter between them. I think it's unfair, since C James can play with Shadowgod's account settings, but the reverse is not true, but the start of this thread shows that Shadowgod isn't without recourse...

It's very hard to be a saint -- especially if you belong to a religion that doesn't believe in saints Seriously, you need to make sure you draw a line between prejudice and an unconscious level of stereotyping. I know I do it. While I try to judge people as individuals, I'll have a first reaction based on the perceived group they belong to. For example, because of the stories I've heard about the Southern Baptists, I have a suspicion about the attitude of Baptists to gays. Some of that has been reinforced recently from comments I've heard some people say BUT I also met a Baptist minister who was very gay-friendly (maybe because he'd worked as a high school chaplain for many years). Regardless, I know I'm starting from a position that's based on a stereotype. I don't think I'm prejudiced, but I am pre-judging to a degree.

Weird... the system tells me that I don't have permission to download them. The logical conclusion is that they're fakes....

I'm more along Hylas's viewpoint than Jack's. That's because to me the story is the important thing, not me. I'll be surprised if anyone else has the same picture of where the story is going (though I can be pretty obvious with some of my plot lines), but if someone who is competent does, I wouldn't mind them finishing my story. Hmm... Dom Luka should out live me, so maybe I should be nominating him, now?... Nah. I'd much prefer him to do his own stuff -- it's too good not to want more And that's the biggest problem. Any author good enough that I'd like them to finish something I left is also good enough that they should be writing their own stuff instead.

No bet, because you're absolutely right It was a teenager I was talking about.

G'day, corvus Taking over the world is a great and noble goal. I hope you succeed, because it's been in a bit of a rut lately, with no one in charge. Alas, it doesn't sound like I'll be a your new special friend Oh, well. Maybe next time.... Graeme

I spotted it earlier and thought it was very nice. A great tribute and I think it reflects well on GA that the administration staff are so willing to help CJ's fans show their appreciation. Not all sites would be so helpful So, thank you to the unnamed admin (JSmith) who provided the behind the scenes assistance, and thanks to the anonymous person who provided the graphic (or should that be anonymous beta-reader?), but most of all, congratulations on another award to our most loved goat, C James

Alas, no... I really do have trouble spotting a Kiwi accent. And I thought the NZ accent swapped the 'i' and 'e' sounds (hence why 'six' sounds like 'sex'). On a related note, when I was in the UK, I was told I had the least accent of any of the Australians who had worked at the office. This implies I've got an English accent -- something reinforced when I was asked in the USA one time if I came from England.

And that's why I went for the 'crush' option, even though 'crush' is still strong a word for what I was feeling. I agree with what you've said, but Tarin gave an example of how it can happen. When you've spent a lot of quality time with someone, even if they don't realise it, it can be like being on a date. It'll be rare, though. Having said that, I know others have a lot looser definition of 'love' than I do. I know of someone who seemed to fall in love every week... something that's alien to me. It takes time for me to fall in love with someone.

And I've only been a moderator for a week, but I wasn't going to mention that You've got lots of people who agree with you there

Bad decisions will always occur. The goal is to keep them to a minimum. I'm of the opinion that there were too many in that game (and some really bad ones, not marginal decisions that happen to be wrong), and that India bore the brunt of most of them. The only recourse is after the event -- demoting the umpires involved and promoting some more junior umpires to the senior level. As for the third umpire, the cardinal rule has always been if there is any doubt, rule in favour of the batsman. I saw some of the slow motion replays and while I thought it was probable that one of the Australia's was stumped (I can't remember which one it was), the camera angle left some doubt in my mind as to whether he grounded his foot before the bails came off. If the third umpire was the same, then "not out" is the correct decision. I'm disappointed with the standard of umpiring in that match, and I'm hoping that the umpiring board reviews the game carefully. The poor standard has cast a shadow over what was otherwise a good game (and I'm not saying that just because Australia won).

I voted for 'No, I had straight crushes, but I've always been careful to just keep it at crushes'. This isn't exactly the case, but it's the closest. I was attracted to a friend, but it never went any further than looking and daydreaming. I can't say I was in love with them because I never learnt enough about them to say I loved them.

I understand. I didn't even join sites initially. I didn't join GA until I was ready to contribute, which is why there's no gap between when I joined and when I started to post. I had been made aware of GA two or three years earlier, when one of my stories was being discussed, but I was busy at the time just coping with the sites I was already involved with. My, how things have changed... I will point out that NaperVic has the second highest post count of any member who doesn't have some sort of position at GA. All of the higher posters are either Admins, Moderators or a Hosted Author, apart from BeaStKid. I personally prefer "enthusiastic contributer", but I don't mind being called postaholic or a post-whore. I don't consider either term to be completely accurate, so I don't take them to heart. Postaholic implies an addiction (and I'm not addicted to GA -- I just like the place) and post-whore implies a certain mercenary attitude that's also missing.

Utterly undisputed? What evidence do you have that statement? My evidence to the contrary can be found in this thread. The mere fact that so many members have acclaimed C James as the Queen of the Evilest Cliffhangers appears to contradict the assertion that CJ has made.

Good luck, Sharon I hope it all goes well

But I thought it was little things like that that made life interesting

I've been told that some people can spot a difference in accent across the country, but I've never been able to do it. Of course, I also have trouble telling a New Zealand accent, so maybe that's not surprising.... Rather than crude and unsophisticated, I like to think of the Aussie accent as being young and unpretentious. I'm not disagreeing, just putting it in more positive terms

They certainly cut it fine, though. I still can't believe the last three wickets fell so quickly.

I do apologise. I've finally worked it out. Of course the Bastard Queen of the Evilest Cliffhangers wouldn't use mere cliffhangers. Only evilest cliffhangers would be used.... It did, but then I understand the basics of a nuclear weapon, even if I don't know all the details. They need to make sure that the explosion forces the plutonium into a shape that has critical mass, and hence initiates nuclear fission. If they get it wrong, all they do is blow pieces of plutonium everywhere, without that really big bang that seems to make some people happy

I suppose we could promote him to emperor, but I'd be concerned he'd get even more delusions of grandeur....

Same here. I'm the habit of trying to write "properly" (I'm lucky my editors don't visit here regularly, or they'll be rolling on the floor laughing), and if I see a mistake in a post I've made, I just have to fix it....