Heard it all before

[Partridge's Love Child]

So sang Sunshine Anderson, which was probably not a particularly wise thing to have sung seen as the record was derivative of hundreds of records that went before it.  But maybe the joke was on listener, as she was doublethinking her way ahead of us - giving us something that we'd heard before to tell us that we'd heard it before.

Anyway, this is not intended as a philosophical deconstruction of a one-hit wonder, but more an attempt to dredge up a new point of discussion by discussing the fact that we've nothing left to discuss except this discussion - the discussion of the lack of discussion.

I've been coming here now for over a year and a half, and it has peaks and it has troughs, just like the career of Michael Caine.  But as I will with Sir Maurice Micklewhite, I will continue to return and hope for the peaks to be more plentiful than the troughs.  However, I have been wondering for a while if we've possibly exhausted every single subject there is to talk about.  I struggle harder and harder to think up a new topic, and when I do it turns out to be something frivolous and without any legs whatsoever, or perhaps more the type of rambling tee-hee that you'd stumble into down the pub when you've finished complaining about how poor the referree was, or whether Henry was offside or not.  When someone starts a thread about a serious subject, I can never help but think, "we've done this one", and I end up being too lazy to bother repeating what I said nine months ago.

Have we done it all before?  Is there anything left for us?  Should I go and stick my head in a yoghurt?

Before I go and lie down, because I think I ought to, there's a few points that maybe should be made on this.  If we have had a thread on a heated point of discussion before, is it necessarily bad to go over it again?  We've lost all the threads from pre-March 2004 anyway, so it's not as if we can refer back to them.  There's also the fact that people join up here regularly who may have a new slant on something, and perhaps we would be well served in dredging up discussions/stories every few months for the newbies to comment on and enjoy, expand and expound upon.  If so, might it not be a good idea to think of our favourite threads from the old board and start them up again - like TJ did with his Earliest Memories of TV thread?

Strangers In The Night RIP.  Awaiting Strangers In The Night II like a dung beetle slavering at the arse of an elephant....

[smoker]

i loved that sunshine anderson song i did

did we have a thread about her yet? i'm starting one: does sunshine anderson like to have a wank over pictures of jesus corrupting young boys wearing hattesss!!!1111


i only see the same subjects being repeated every now and again, some are similar but like you say, newbs usually have a new take on them. plus people's opinions change over time etc.

plus it's not as though we're ever really going to exhaust things to talk about is it? though friday afternoons do tend to be a bit slow

[gazzyk1ns]

Hehe I thought that "Strangers in the night" thread was cringeworthy, a hundred people saying "I brushed against a girl once and... well, it was really magical, you just had to be there... fantastic...".

Dunno what to say really PLC, we get one of these threads ever 6 months or so, don't we... I've started a couple myself (y'all right there Yearly?). I don't think there's anything anyone can do about it really, though I don't think it's a bad thing at all for everyone to speak their mind about how they're finding the forum.

[fanny splendid]

Strangers in the night was a good thread.

I'm going to see Peaches (as advertised by Mr. Rou-Rou) in about six hours, and was wondering, as I have developed rather a thirst, would it be bad form to arrive at such a gig, half-cut?

Yes, lots of repeat subjects at the moment, or at least it appears so to me.

[jutl]

I started a thread about writing academic abstracts on lesbians, which I'm fairly sure has never been attempted before. Unfortunately it's shit, but that's more a problem with me than with the idea. Everyone on here has their own interests that are peculiar and esoteric, and most people can write entertainingly about them. I want to start a thread about Scandinavian C19th dramatists, and what wankers they all were. If I do it well, it will be a new topic, and might tempt a little discussion out of a few people... So - we will only ever run out of the obvious and easy topics. For me, the best threads are the ones where people show their peculiar enthusiasms, and there's a Borgesian library of them round here.

[Partridge's Love Child]

we get one of these threads ever 6 months or so, don't we... I've started a couple myself (y'all right there Yearly?). I don't think there's anything anyone can do about it really, though I don't think it's a bad thing at all for everyone to speak their mind about how they're finding the forum.

Meh, don't get me wrong, this wasn't a "state of the boards" moan, it was more a case of me wondering around my own head again and wondering if I'd tried on all the dresses in all the wardrobes yet.  I still love all the dresses, especially the low-cut ones that go great with my Sex and the City shoes, I just want to know if I have room for another couple of dresses, nay a few more wardrobes.  Or perhaps a shoe rack and an occasional table.

Sorry, where was I?...

[hoverdonkey]

You just need a break PLC. A couple of weeks (or more) away from the board can do wonders

[smoker]

he's only been back 5 minutes the little tyke

jutl your thread is very interesting and i'm sure many like me would love to reply but won't on account of not having the first idea what to say, for fear of wrecking it like we did your osama one

[fanny splendid]

I started a thread about writing academic abstracts on lesbians, which I'm fairly sure has never been attempted before. Unfortunately it's shit.

No, I don't think it was shit. I just couldn't reply in kind without mocking.

And I'm feeling lazy.

And I need a drink.

Two fish swim into a concrete wall. 'Damn!' says the fish.
Two aerials get married, the wedding was good, but the reception was excellent.

[jutl]

Thanks for praise - still - a thread that no-one can contribute to is a shit thread, and I do have a bad history of making that kind of thread. I think my most contributed-to thread was the Tom Paulin Hatred thread, for obvious reasons.

Anyway, I thought that would happen - it's like the Futurist Manifesto thread from ages ago - I had high hopes for it, but in the end it was just too up itself to be easily played with... Nevertheless I still maintain that there are a million more topics out there. For example - I'd like to hear about being an actor from PLC... I'd like to know about Korea (?) from Fanny... maybe what we need is a thread request thread ;O)

thread








thread

[Des Nilsen]

We could always try combining thread ideas, but it gets tangential anyway. I do wonder what on earth I could post that would be genuinely interesting and more often than not I just don't.
There has been a lot that's been done before, but I'm willing to let current affairs and 'wot's on telleh' give reason to chat until someone has a eureka moment with a post idea.
There's always something else to ramble about. I'm sure of that.

My best effort was a concept album thread - I'd not seen one done before, so that's my proud moment of originality on these boards. I fudged the title of the thing (sort of) because the subject lines weren't as long as they are now.
I could have called it 'Mentalist Posse's really heavy concept album thread' - as a Neil from The Young Ones reference. That would have been good. But I'm splitting hairs.

Recently I had a bit of an Alan Partidge idea for Stereo Excusions - 'John Du Jour'. It would be songs by people called John that you were listening to that day.

It was a baaaaaad idea.

-

[hoverdonkey]

Agree smoker. Some of the most (potentially) interesting threads have the least response because it's difficult to know what to say if you are not up to speed on a particular issue etc.

[Partridge's Love Child]

Jutl, please don't allow anything to stop you from starting your threads.  Without wanting to dribble praise all over you like an ambitious slave over his master, your threads are pretty much without peer and, as I've said before, you're the only poster on here whom I consider to beyond any criticism.  I have to confess that often they are so thoughtful and well-considered that I skim through them, rather than reading them with the concentration they deserve.  I don't want to say something that is based on skim reading and fails to make a point, so I wisely say nothing.  I'll return to the thread and read it properly later on, but by the time I've thought of a good response it's time to go home.

Anyway, that's enough of that cock-suckery.  I'll have to call you a cunt now just to maintain equalibrium.  Nothing personal, you understand, you big cunt.

I could have called it 'Mentalist Posse's really heavy concept album thread'

I didn't know you were Mentalist Posse.  See, I've been educated by the thread already.

[fanny splendid]

I'd like to know about Korea (?) from Fanny... maybe what we need is a thread request thread ;O)

I'm happy to bore you with my Korean tales, but a request thread?

That sounds like a bad idea. Almost Yearly might get me to spill the beans about my interest in UFOs...

I would like to hear about PLC's acting, and Gaz's music, although that wasn't a request...

[jutl]

I'd like to know about Korea (?) from Fanny... maybe what we need is a thread request thread ;O)

I'm happy to bore you with my Korean tales, but a request thread?

That sounds like a bad idea. Almost Yearly might get me to spill the beans about my interest in UFOs...

I would like to hear about PLC's acting, and Gaz's music, although that wasn't a request...

I think people are extremely indulgent of me going on and on, and I'd like some more people to do it too - that's all.

[Neville Chamberlain]

Jutl: What's happened to your web site? If I were you, I'd have used your web site as a kind of archive of all your threads. As it is, your threads unfortunately end up going the same way as every other thread on here, rotting away amongst all those "Was Jesus a Paedo?" threads, which is a fate they really don't deserve. You need to look after your threads, and make sure they are easily accessible for ever more on some dedicated web site or other or something. I for one would have it bookmarked! C'mon, that's not a bad idea, is it?

By the way, Jutl, who are you? What do you do? Where do you live?

Right, may I join PLC in calling you a cunt, just to redress the balance, like?

[fanny splendid]

Actually, I was just thinking the other day that it had been a while since your last thread. I don't think that people are indulging you. People are genuinely interested. I do agree that more people should have a go, though.

Threads like Frinky's story about the history of Jimmy Page's Les Paul guitar.

[Partridge's Love Child]

By the way, Jutl, who are you? What do you do? Where do you live?

I know the city, the rest is some sort of internet mystery.  Perhaps at the end of the mystery we'll pull the mask off one of the drag kings and it'll be Jutl underneath.  In between that me and Almost will do a lot of running past repetative scenery, shouting "zoiks", eating hot dogs and dressing a chefs to confuse him.

[gazzyk1ns]

Yeah I'd like to know more about PLC's acting too. Also, don't you have some other job? Or did you sack that off recently?

[Nearly Annually]

The truth of jutl's existence? (600k)

^That's a re-post. As is everything I ever post nowadays. Yes, as usual, I'm right in synch with PLC here (*sigh* the sex would be so good...) I've told all my stories and hopes and dreams and ignorances, I've showed y'all my music, drawings and chest. I've annoyed and entertained. I don't seem to be able to just sit back and read without either waxing lyrical or going Wyyyeeeeooooow, and for this I apologise, and have ...um... apologised before. I was extremely knocked back by the loss of the last board, and now when someone starts a thread that's been done before within my period of tenure as board wanker, I think oh bloody hell I can't be arsed to type all that out again.

And Neil's feeling much the same, in his own way, it seems. I mean, the Comedy Reich must be pretty bored with going over the BES again. At least I would hope so. Perhaps we all need to go away (and get pissed) and see new horizons and have new things happen to us so we can come back in a month's time and do a show and tell. PLC's going to tell us what happened when he went and stuck his head in a yoghurt, for example. Will he shrug off that nasty oral thrush for once and all?

There have been many great threads. Some think they were the ones about donkeys and sheds; some think they were the ones about 80s childrens programmes.

There's a fine line between keeping in touch with your inner child, which is essential, and just being childish. This much is true. Anyway, I've just said "Cocoa shunner" and "Shoot you in the hair" which were both pretty funny, comedy fans.

Have a good weekend, whether playing with your Playstation or going for nice walks. Try and experience something and then tell me about it and I'll try and shut up and listen.

Love, Matt.

[blue jammer]

What we need is another fish problem thread (where's horsegun got to?)

[glitch]

Anyway, I thought that would happen - it's like the Futurist Manifesto thread from ages ago - I had high hopes for it, but in the end it was just too up itself to be easily played with...

oooh, this sounds interesting. I missed it, what was it? Discussion about Dadaism or something else?

[Silver SurferGhost]

Oh, quit your whinging you bunch of big girl's blouses, and give me a chance.

I'm also finding it more and more difficult to think of anything new to say meself, especially in CC,
where I'm now scared to even read a thread in case I find out everything about a show before I even see it.
And then by the time I'm ready to venture an incisive critique, I find someone else has done it three pages earlier.

No names no offence* like, but the great post/not-so-great post divide is much more pronounced here in GD,
which is fine as that's more or less it's purpose.
You can pretty much type any old bollocks in here and have it stand next to something important and thought-provoking.
Some of us are appalled by that mix of the banal and the profound, but I always thought it's one of GD's greatest strengths.
You never quite know what you're getting.
There's a line of course, without mentioning the T word, but mostly it works.
Lately though it seems harder to find a middle ground, the threads are mostly ones I don't feel able to add anything to,
good or bad, or ones I simply can't be arsed to contribute to or repeat myself in.

All told, I'm most comfortable in SE these days...
Say what you will about *list threads*, they're useful for keeping your hand in when you feel you've nowt much to say.

I too was a bit knocked for twelve by the loss of the old boards and all my precious blatherings,
but there was also a lot of personal weirdery going on in the real world for me then,
so who knows which came first, the chagrin or the ennui.

It was worse than this a few months ago though, it were bad vibes all round then, so chill ahhht, it'll pick up.

* No, I don't mean him


EDIT: Hehe, I would write that before I had a look in Webby Whines, wouldn't I ?
.

[no_offenc]

* No, I don't mean him

What now?

[Ambient Sheep]

EDIT: Hehe, I would write that before I had a look in Webby Whines, wouldn't I ?

Yeah, looks like the bad times are here again.