h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

H, have you gone for good? I hope not - you still used to look in here even if you weren't frequenting WoM or elsewhere. So this is just a tester, maybe you're just waiting to receive a message to reply to.

Lots of love,
Mimi
xxxx
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Yes, Mimi, I’ve had enough and I’ve decided to put my energies to better use in a community where, I hope, discussion doesn’t descend into the kind of pointless squabbling and other nonsense that seems to infect the R4 boards far too frequently. There just doesn’t seem to be the will on the part of the hosts or the R4 community to keep the boards fit for civilised discussion. I’ll probably be posting on R3 during the Proms. Those boards have their fair share of personality clashes but they also have the huge advantage of there being a natural cut-off point when the festival finishes.

If you don’t mind my saying, I was quite surprised a few weeks ago to read your description of JH as ‘one of us’. She wasn’t around when I was a regular on the WH board but I’ve seen enough on my occasional visits there to conclude she has a huge political axe to grind. I was apprehensive when she appeared on WoM and, as I’m sure I mentioned, my heart sank when her WH enemies like Jerri and Sim started appearing there too; but, I reasoned, it’s hardly her fault if people follow her across the boards; and she was always saying what a civilised board WoM was. As is my custom, I was unfailingly polite and even friendly to her – at least I think I was!

The ‘partner’ thread, though, proved, to me at least, that my fears were realistic. Ros Power, it seems, started a perfectly valid thread but with the intention of stirring up trouble. I say ‘it seems’ because, unlike others, I didn’t recognise the poster as Ros Power; nor did I conclude that a thread on the modern use of a common word was a deliberate attempt to start a barney. We then had JH’s pals/RP’s enemies from WH using the WoM board to conduct the same kind of unseemly squabble that scars the Today, QQ, & WH boards on a regular basis. JH’s response to my pointing this out was “I think it's legitimate to answer if one chooses” (message 259). Well, that might be her opinion but it’s not mine. In my opinion if you know someone is out to cause trouble the ‘legitimate’ thing to do is to avoid getting involved and, perhaps, to point out that WoM is the wrong place for such nonsense. That’s what makes the difference between WoM being a civilised board or going the same way as the others. To put it succinctly, if JH is ‘one of us’ then I am not one of you.

must dash now

H

Hello H,

Thanks for that quick reply but you've upset me (just a bit) - I'm feeling ultra-sensitive at the moment ...maybe it's the blue moon that's doing it, Cancerians are strange creatures!

Ok, justification time. I know what you mean about JH and WH but, as I have said before, I don't like the WH board for many reasons and hardly ever look in there (or any board other than WoM these days... and I'm making the effort to limit my visits to WoM as well). Can't seem to break the habit, even when there is dross clogging it up I can usually find something of interest somewhere!! And it's usually a David Crosbie post ... he's still my "guru" and JH is a close second. To me, JH is a different person on WoM to the one on WH, MOST of the time. I agree that she will readily enter the political arena if there's an invasion on WoM of WH 'types' and yes, she can be defensive (but can't we all?). Ever since Kassandra had a go at me, I've felt even more of an affinity with JH. That was why I made the comment about her being 'one of us', which, if my memory serves me correctly, was to MungKe who is relatively new. However, I do of course respect your opinion and you as a person.

You probably noticed that Doreen has been missing for quite a long time so I think she has had enough as well. I really miss her, too, you may be surprised to hear! Sometimes I got a bit irritated by her but what she brought to discussions with her knowledge of Français/Anglais (ooh, get me, I can do unusual characters now - not all the accents tho'!) was interesting - sure, other people know French but there's no one quite like D. I'm sure you'll know exactly what I mean - I thought she would come back and post a message to Michael when he was made Children's Laureate ... perhaps she sent him a letter by escargot-mail.

Can you tell me what kind of online community you have joined now? You don't have to name the forum if you don't want to, just give the general idea - I'm only curious. Have you joined somewhere new or were you already dipping your toes in the water occasionally and now having a splash around?

Love
Mimi

Hi Mimi <> I don�t see it that way. For one thing, I couldn�t be the type of person JH is on WH; no argument on an MB is worth lowering myself to the level of squabbling, factionalism and sheer nastiness displayed by some people there. For another, without wishing to be pedantic, I must say she is clearly the same person but I was hoping against hope that she and her friends & enemies would refrain from sniping at each other on the more �civilised� board. JH can certainly bring the WoM board�s remit into play when it suits her. Remember this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/F2766781?thread=4014753 As I observed in an earlier post here, JH is perfectly right to point out that we don�t want comments like Preacher�s on the board. But one has to wonder whether it was the interests of WoM or WH she had in mind � especially as she makes no attempt to address my undoubtedly on-topic question, which one would have thought was right up her street. I couldn�t help but note the absence of a �not for this board� comment on the �partner� thread. Quite the contrary � JH�s message 8 deflects the thread onto a personal tack and away from its linguistic origin in a single sentence. If, as was claimed, Ros was out to cause trouble (and I saw nothing in the wording of message 1 to suggest that (s)he was) then message 8 seems designed to make sure (s)he succeeded. By the time I put in my last message the thread was not only out of control but posters like fanofunfilms � a WH regular who afaik had never contributed to WoM before and hasn�t since � were joining in the fray. For this to happen could be seen as unfortunate but for a WoM regular to respond to my comments on this with �I think it's legitimate to answer if one chooses�, and for other board members to let this pass suggests to me that the days of a �civilised� WoM board are in the past. <> You will know that I have a great deal of respect for DC�s scholarship but I�m afraid that, as a guru, he is somewhat lacking. I can�t be the only person to notice that, for someone so well versed in language he is quite a poor communicator. It�s quite hard work to read his stuff and that�s not entirely down to the complex nature of his subject matter. But far more disturbing is his tendency to present what appear to be assumptions based on his pet theories as objective fact. A classic example of this is in another of my threads. See message 48 here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbradio4/F2766781?thread=4129037&skip=40&show=20#p48493222 I know it�s nonsense, you know it�s nonsense, Douglas, who knows little or nothing about football, knows it�s nonsense. But from the way David presents it, nobody would suspect he had the slightest doubt that he was in the right. This is an extreme example but there have been many other cases where I�ve wondered whether he was really as confident as his posting style suggests or whether he was just winging it. <> Still waiting for my password so I can contribute. I hope it works with a hotmail address because I can�t use my work one. It�s just a Q&A thing that I�ve come across in passing. It deals with word origins and changing usage but in a less conversational manner than WoM. Must dash H

Hi Mimi and H,

I'm sorry to read that WoM is no longer a good place to be. I haven't been there for a long time, even lurking, as I tend to waste time on the new(ish) Radio3ok boards (not BBC) where there's good company and a healthy combination of both serious and frivolous discussions. Plus a private message facility. And you can post photos too, which adds to the fun and the time-wasting!

Shouldn't really be spending time on messageboards at all of course! I've been busy repeatedly preparing our house for viewings as it's been for sale for the last few weeks. I hope to be accepting an offer tomorrow so I won't have to keep tidying! My offer for a house has been accepted so I'm keeping everything crossed as there's plenty of scope for it all to go not according to plan! All very stressful. I'd tell you more but anyone can read this.

Love,
Jane
xx

Hi MJ

I'm registered with those boards too and I've posted a few messages, mainly in the 'Opera House'. I don't have time to explore it too closely but I'm glad to hear it's going strong. I was rather afraid it would fizzle out but, on the contrary, its success seems to have forced the BBC to create the R3 boards everyone was asking for months ago. I must make sure to visit the 'ok' boards as well as the BBC ones during the Proms. It would be a great shame if the BBC stole all the contributors back after a few selfless individuals went to the trouble of providing people with the facilities the BBC had taken away (oh, dear, what a convoluted sentence. I hope you see what I mean!). No doubt I'll run into you on the R3 and/or 'ok' boards in the near future. I listened to Death in Venice this evening and was more impressed than I thought I'd be; but then I like Ian Bostridge's voice very much.

I hope your property sale/purchase goes smoothly. I've only ever been a first-time buyer but I believe it can be very stressful when chains get snarled up. Are you moving far?

bye for now

H

Hello H and MJ,

I think it may be time to close the door on this room. H - sorry it's taken me so long to reply, I really did not know what to say. I can't see you coming back to the R4 boards and this was always the 'chat room' for friends from there, especially as I never used to be able to post direct onto MJ or Achilles' pages. Don't take this the wrong way, please - I still have my friends on WoM, they're just different people to the ones when I first joined. I guess that's the way things evolve on MBs and I am sure you will have found new friends on the boards you are now frequenting.

MJ - GOOD LUCK with your move. I know exactly how stressful it can be, having done some conveyancing during my time in the legal profession. No house sale is ever straightforward, even if there's no chain!! I will keep in touch - I like to compare school notes sometimes, if nothing else.
And I am TRYING not to spend too long on MBs as well.

Love
Mimi