Graeme

Happy Birthday!

Excuses, excuses. Everyone has excuses. The fact that they are all reasonable, and understandable means NOTHING! Seriously, I was just surprised, that's all. It was the quietest I had seen the forum for some time.

In my humble opinion, the way you did the lyrics was correct. Not only using just the relevant part of a song, but putting the lyrics in context of what was going on. Too often I'll read a long set of lyrics and that's it. You've included what Brandon was doing while he was singing those lyrics, and, by implication, what he was thinking. It wasn't a dry recitation of the song -- it was the song in the context of not only a stage performance, but also a love affair.

I mowed the lawn. Apart from that, I let the boys play. They had a lot of fun digging out one of their old hot wheels tracks and trying to remember how it was put together. What, exactly, is a reformed pirate? Is that someone who steals software who has been twisted into a new shape?

While CJ was away, we worked really hard to keep posting in this forum, and managed to post well over 500 posts in the month he was away (one thread by itself had 500 posts). Now that he's back, it's been 11 hours since the last post in this forum (and I was the one who made that post). I'm sorry, people, but you are not allowed to slack off. Yes, I know it's the Thanksgiving weekend, but that only gives a partial excuse for the USA members. The non-USA members should still be posting until it's clear that CJ has returned to his normal posting rate Okay. Now that I've said that, I expect the next post to be well inside 11 hours from the time of this post.... Please don't disappoint me. Disappointed echidna's are not pretty. :mace:

Let me know if you need an electronic shoulder to cry on. My deepest condolences.

I honestly can't think of anything else to say

In case you've missed it (it's buried somewhere in another thread), thanks for the partial update in the middle of your trip away. Of course, you left us all wondering about your unscheduled trip to the Balkans, but leaving us hanging is something we expect from you Take your time to settle back in, if that's what you need. Feel free, of course, to resume your normal lurking rate of 8+ posts a day, too

I think it's settled. With 87.5% of voters agreeing that C James is :king: :king: The Queen of the Evilest Cliffhangers :king: :king: and Google and Yahoo! both agreeing, it seems a fiat accompli ALL HAIL C JAMES, Queen of the Evilest Cliffhangers!

Okay, since we're on the subject, here's a partial list of Australian out "celebrities" that aren't in the entertainment industry (assuming you don't consider politics to be entertaining) Justice Michael Kirby -- High Court Judge (Australia's equivalent of the Supreme Court of the United States) Senator Bob Brown -- Leader of the Greens political party Kerryn Phelps -- former president of the Australian Medical Association Brian Greig -- former senator and one-time interim leader of the Australian Democrats Cr Gary Singer -- Deputy Lord Mayor of Melbourne That's the list I came up with without searching -- just from memory. I am NOT part of the "out" community in Australia, so all of these have been identified through the mainstream media -- and I can't recall a single news report where their sexual orientation was been disparaged. Most of the time, news reports on these people don't mention their sexuality unless it's relevant to the story.

Thanks, CJ All I can say is that you shouldn't accept everything you read as being true... Thanks, Conner Possibly If it's the person I think it is, he's some old coot that needs to get a life

And he still misinterpreted them. Most employees are ignored after they've been terminated, but Dimitri looked after the guy. Must be a special clause in the severance agreement....

:king: :king: Welcome back, CJ :king: :king: As for the job with Dimitri -- I can assure anyone who hates snow that there is NO snow in Queensland at the moment. In fact, I could say that all year round, if it wasn't for those pesky people who import it because they think it'll be amusing

I have to partially disagree, Shadowgod After all, it was C James who left us wondering what kind of mayhem would occur, so any cliffhanger blame has to go back to him So, it's another CJ cliffhanger, not a Shadowgod cliffhanger, but it's still a cliffhanger... Me, too

Hear, hear! By the way, Kevin -- any hints on what I'm getting for Christmas?

Are you trying for an entire royal family? :wacko: I'm not sure I like that idea

I think Shadowgod got it ... But I think that's appropriate, so I'll just take the 500th reply EDIT: Damn! I was too slow even for that! Oh, well....

Thanks, Steve and frenchcanadian! In case it wasn't obvious, the class is doing a traditional nativity play and my son is playing Joseph. He's got the most lines of anyone, though he does to get to repeat the same line three times as he speaks to each of the innkeepers frenchcanadian, it's quiet because a good percentage of members are from the USA and will be off celebrating Thanksgiving. Someone told me once that Thanksgiving is a bigger family holiday than Christmas, so I'm not surprised that most of the USA members are not online.

I'm posting this here because I can and because we need to increase the number of posts and because it's too good not to share Andrew, my six-year-old son, has given me an invitation to attend the play his class is putting on. It's a work day, but I'm going to take the day off. It seems that he has a major part in the story. The story, from what I could gather, is not what you would expect prep (kinder) kids to be putting on. It's full of adult and complex themes. Andrew plays the part of a newly-wed who learns that his wife was pregnant before they got married. Despite this, he tells her he still loves her and they marry. All is not well, though. The government has ordered them to travel and when they get to their destination, they learn that failing to book their accommodation ahead of time wasn't smart. Instead of cheap last minute deals, all the hotels are full. They eventually find a place to stay, but it has only a single star rating. While there, Andrew's wife gives birth and they find themselves in the centre of a media storm, with sightseers coming from far and near. It ends well, though. Andrew wasn't that impressed with some parts of the story. He didn't think they were very fair to his character, Joseph. "Mary gets to ride on the donkey, and I have to walk!"

Happy Thanksgiving for my American friends It's Friday here... Doesn't Canada celebrate Thanksgiving, too, but on a different day?

I suppose Richard Hatch qualifies as a celebrity, but I would have preferred it if he wasn't on the list. Just a personal opinion. He's a reality-TV show "celebrity" that was out from as soon as the show started. Thinking about it, maybe it's good that he's in the list -- it shows more of the spectrum that encompasses the gay community. Not surprisingly, most of the people shown are in the entertainment business, though there were a few athletes. What I noticed was that there were no gay businessmen listed. Admittedly, not many businessmen qualify for 'celebrity' status, but if they are a known name (and possibly better known than some listed), I would have liked to have seen them. The same goes for politicians.

But I'm sure we can do it After all, we've managed to get this far with only one post from CJ.... On that basis, I think we should go for 501 posts before he gets back -- that will make a 500-1 ratio It's Friday here, which is good, but tomorrow is Saturday 24th November, which is bad. The reason it's bad is that we have to elect a new federal government in Australia. However, since politics is a taboo subject, I'll just say that I'll be voting (I have to -- it's compulsory for most people. There is an exemption if voting is against your religion, but it's not for me) and I'm glad that the election campaign is finally over....

I agree -- snow is good in the right place and time -- like at a ski resort when you're on vacation

There's not much more I can add Congratulations, Colin and Doug! May your life together be long, happy, healthy and prosperous.

Congratulations, Jan! Thank you, also, for all the work you do in the Editor's Corner and elsewhere at GA. Your input and posts have helped a lot of people