Lose/loose

[Heather]

Hate is such a strong word. I don't really hate anything or anyone but I do dislike olives, anchovies, sea sickness and certain human traits. That leaves a whole lot else to like though doesn't it?

[Heather]

No, I've changed my mind (I'm a woman, i'm allowed to do that). I really do hate sea sickness - a whole lot.

[Heather]

At the risk of talking to myself, I thought I'd share this. I was watching QI the other night and they showed a tin of pickled rotten herring. Apparently it smells so bad that the Swedes open the tins under water so they can't smell it. It literally is rotten fermented fish. Olives are sounding pretty good now.

[warooa]

Mmm . . . I actually really enjoyed pickled herring in my time in the far northern hemisphere, especially the ones in Madiera sauce (Madiera is a Portugese wine) or just the simple rollmops - yum.

[Bob Pacey]

Yep I'm with You matt.

"I love the quickly tapped out reply, retort, rebuttal...and the thumb nail dipped in tar nature of some of em only adds to their deliciousness."

I really think the style of some of the replies adds to the mix and flavour of the site as well, Don't we all tend to judge things it is one of human natures unfortunate traits and we are never going to change that.

Oh Heather it really must be cold down there


Cheers Robert.

[Heather]

Marty they weren't pickled, they were fermented rotten, putrid herring (well, fish of some sort). Apparently it's a Sweedish delicacy and, a bit like Vegemite and Australians, you have to be Swedish to appreciate it. It originated because a bunch of sneaky Swedes in years gone by, had some really awful rotten fish in barrels that they had forgotten, and wondered what they could do with it. So they passed it off to some unsuspecting Fins while selling them other fishy stuff - sneaky Swedes. But, the next time the Swedes passed by, the Fins asked if they had any more of that yummy (albeit yukky smelling fish).

[Neville Briggs]

So you are a closet QI watcher. Next you will be quoting Stephen Fry to us about wobbly spinners that only spin one way.

A hate intolerance.

[Dave Smith]

Oh dear, Neville do you mean some of the stuff on QI is not the whole truth, Oh dear, Oh dear life can be soo cruel;
Tsk Tsk

TTFN

[David Campbell]

To expand my point, I wasn’t just talking about spelling even though that’s what kicked off this thread. Experience writing for newspapers has taught me the value of setting something aside (maybe only for an hour or so) and then returning to it with fresh eyes. Invariably it can be revised and improved, not only from a grammatical point of view, but also in terms of clarity. Does it say exactly what I intended in the clearest possible manner? Will its content be respected, even if there is disagreement with the views expressed? Will people even bother reading beyond the opening paragraph?

I spend some time in non-rhyming verse company, and the comments about bush poetry aren’t flattering. That’s not really news, as we’ve discussed it before. They’re the flip side of the sweeping derogatory comments about free verse that crop up here quite regularly, usually on the basis of limited evidence. When non-rhyming verse is condemned out of hand as the spawn of Satan it doesn’t do us any credit. So I’m very sensitive to equally derisive generalisations about bush poetry, and the impression that any casual visitor to this site might get.

The problem was really hammered home in one particularly telling example that I heard about recently from another poet. I won’t repeat it, but it was something said by a bookshop owner that was highly offensive to bush poets and bush poetry.

It’s the sort of extreme viewpoint we’re fighting to turn around and, as Maureen says, this site is a window into what we do. It has a far greater potential reach than the magazine or festivals. If you enter “bush poetry” into Google this site is third on the list. Without even registering, you can check out both poetry threads and also “Recurring Threads”, which tracks some of the longer discussions we’ve had. What impression do visitors get? Is it the best impression we can give? Does it encourage them to register and take part?

So far this year there have only been five registrations. One of those was Will Moody re-registering for a couple of comments, and the only one of the other four to post regularly is Allan. Apart from being available to any casual online visitor, the site is advertised in the magazine and publicised at festivals…yet we pick up only one new active contributor in six months? Last year there were twelve registrations. Five haven’t posted at all and, of the remainder, only Shelley (in particular) and Rod have made regular contributions.

So instead of a statement of intent, I’ll make it a question: are we presenting ourselves in the best possible light?

David

[Terry]

G/day David

You’re obviously a lot more passionate about poetry in general than I shall ever be.
I’ve always had an interest since my school days; despite that it’s remains very much an enjoyable hobby to me.
Like most on this forum I have tried to improve my writing over the years hoping to make my poems more readable to anyone who takes the time read them.
I’m not worried about the type of poetry that different people write be it Bush or Free Verse, you write what gives you the most pleasure (well at least I do).
I suppose I think more of the ordinary person in the street that has little or no interest in the finer points of writing poetry; rather than say the academics, and my attempts are probably sub - consciously aimed at them.

Cheers Terry