Halo Stickman

Cheers. I’m sure all parents relaxing with a couple of drinks tonight will be pleased to know they aren’t breaching the hypo ‘scum’ line.

Tomorrow night, parents will go to the pub or the dinner party, leaving their kids with the baby-sitter, spend the evening discussing what a wicked mother PG was, and how irresponsible mothers like her should never be allowed to have children. They will come home, pay-off the baby-sitter, and slump off to their beds. Maybe they won’t be sloshed, maybe they will only have had a couple of drinks, but even that amount will be enough to impair their judgement, to make them sleep more soundly than usual, perhaps soundly enough not to wake up when a sick child calls out for them. Granted it’s not on the same scale of irresponsibility as a mother in charge of her child allegedly overdosing on heroin, but it’s irresponsible nonetheless. Where exactly do you draw the line?

The thing is though, Hypo, PG didn’t murder or molest anyone; she allegedly died from a drugs overdose – deliberately or otherwise. If this turns out to be the case, she will be roundly condemned; only a fool would condone such behaviour. However, how many of those condemners will have, at some time or other, tucked their kids up in bed, then gone down-stairs and got sloshed on a couple of bottles of wine, or have done something similarly irresponsible? Also, anyone who has suffered from addiction, or from mental health issues, or has seen people close to them suffering from these things, will know that these things are never clear-cut. Yes, there’s help available, but sudden relapses can occur, seemingly out of the blue, sometimes with tragic consequences.

Well said, Minty.

I seem to recall celebrations in Southampton on 1st May 1976.

Jeez Bear, this past week must have a hammer blow for you and your family – I feel for you, mate. I assume the medical people will have put you in touch with the Ataxia Society – I guess they’re the best people for advice on gene testing etc. I relate to your mug juggling story – I was about your age when I lost my dad; for ages afterwards I was looking out for similar symptoms, and now that I’m approaching the same age as he was when he died, negative thoughts tend to lurk in the back of my mind. Unfortunately, many diseases have a genetic component, albeit, not usually as pronounced as appears to be the case with your family. Anyway, it’s good to have you back again – this place isn’t the same without your humour and astuteness. Stay positive bro, and stay away from that angry lynch mob gathering on the main board. Respect Yo!

Oh no, has the Pap and Barry Show finished?* Don't know. I tend to switch channels when the religious programs come on. Why don't you look it up on Wiki? *Oh good, in the time it took me to post this, it's started again

Stand by landford, I reckon we’ll all be seeking religion by the time this thread has run its course.

Don’t take me too seriously, pap. To be honest, I’m so confused by Series 18 episode 528 of the Pap and Barry Show, I no longer know whether I’m having a sh1t or a haircut.

Seems like a fool proof strategy to me, Barry. No, actually, delete that. Seems like a good strategy to me, Barry. So, just to make sure I’ve got this right, I write something, post it on Wiki, then post it on here, then if someone says I’m talking b0llocks, I cut and paste the bit I previously posted on Wiki as proof that I’m not talking b0llocks after all. That’s brilliant, why didn’t I think of that. Hat’s off to you, pap.

It’s your lucky day, mums and dads, boys and girls – free cyanide shakes, courtesy of Rev. Jim.

Worse than that, he also listens to Rick Astley

If we examine this issue in the round to include not only nurture but nature as well, then not only do parents provide children with much of their early years learning environment, they are also responsible for their kids' genetic inheritance, which includes the DNA instructions for creating the neural networks in their brains. Perhaps some people’s brains are genetically predisposed to ‘believe’ more than others?

Playing devil’s advocate, is someone more likely to be an atheist if his/her parents are atheists?

Pot

Ironic that you avoid all those things, live longer, only to end up in the greatest cancer risk group of them all: old age

Summers

Ah, but an advocate of Determinism would argue that free will and free choice are illusions, and that the convert’s decision was determined by events beyond his control

Do I detect another man date in the offing?

Charlie, I don’t wander into this sub-section of the forum too often, but, before I find my way out again, I just want to say how much I’ve enjoyed your reviews of Endeavour; I concur with almost everything you’ve said, especially the excellent performances of the three actors you’ve mentioned. The only issue on which we differ is that I actually enjoyed Lewis more than it seems you did. Regarding plot lines, as much as I greatly enjoyed everything about Morse – script, actors, location, music, everything – I found that if I thought too hard about the plot line the next day, then, invariably, I’d be left thinking to myself: ‘nah, that wouldn’t have happened like that’ or ‘she would never have done that’ etc. But this never detracted from my enjoyment of watching every episode.

She may well have noshed his shoulder as well, but I’m pretty sure they apprehended her for noshing something lower down his anatomy. You’re right though – whatever it was, it was almost certainly hard.

I know for a fact that there are school kids in coastal towns such as Torquay that have never been to the beach. This isn’t because they or their parents are allergic to the sun or sand, or can’t afford to buy a plastic bucket or spade, it’s because, as you say, the parents find it much more convenient to simply plonk them in front of a TV. Like Alps says, it’s so depressing to imagine the lives and futures of kids with these type of parents.

It was a dark wintry night when the future Mrs Stickman broke the, frankly, rather horrifying news that she was carrying my child. I did what any self-respecting bloke would do in that situation – headed straight for the pub. As fate would have it, cutting a forlorn picture up at the bar was a chap called Clive – he was the only one of my mates who actually had experience of parenthood. Being careful not to give too much away, I waited for an opportune moment before casually asking him how much being a father had changed his life. He looked up from his beer with the countenance of a madman and replied: ‘Change it? It hasn’t changed it – it’s f*cking well ended it!’

kebab

I couldn’t believe it when I saw that rain had stopped play – been fine all day here in Devon. Going to be difficult to get a positive result from this game now, I guess.