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Outpourings / Re: Bayeux ballyhoo
« Last post by Mince on September 21, 2026, 12:06:30 PM »
It's certainly a remarkable piece of history and, as you say, it's amazing how the fabric has survived so well. I once heard it described as "A bit long but one of the best comic strips I've ever seen."

That's high praise indeed, though I suspect it would have been improved considerably if you'd been allowed to write the speech bubbles.
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Outpourings / Re: Inspirational Speeches of Star Trek
« Last post by Mince on September 21, 2026, 11:57:11 AM »
It's true, Diane. I've met him in person. I've never felt so humbled and inferior.

Tarks, I am so burdened with greatness that even my humility can be intimidating: at school, my coming last invariably looked suspiciously like an achievement. Next time we meet, I'll try to slouch more to put you at ease.
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Outpourings / Re: Inspirational Speeches of Star Trek
« Last post by Tarquin Thunderthighs lll on September 20, 2026, 08:37:57 PM »
I had something similar, and I did not want my genius, incredible athletic ability, and all-round Adonis presence to make others feel inferior, hence the deliberate wish to be chosen last and the deliberate refusal to compete. I do hope schools have improved since then.

It's true, Diane. I've met him in person. I've never felt so humbled and inferior.
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Outpourings / Re: Inspirational Speeches of Star Trek
« Last post by Mince on September 20, 2026, 10:48:41 AM »
School was so competitive back then in every subject - you were told your place on the report cards X/XX students and how you did at age 11 decided you future.

I had something similar, and I did not want my genius, incredible athletic ability, and all-round Adonis presence to make others feel inferior, hence the deliberate wish to be chosen last and the deliberate refusal to compete. I do hope schools have improved since then.
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Outpourings / Re: Inspirational Speeches of Star Trek
« Last post by Tarquin Thunderthighs lll on September 19, 2026, 12:02:46 PM »
To my mind, the only shame in the whole thing was the decision to put children through that humiliating process of choosing in the first place, and the only correct thing to do is to reject it and rage against it.

I totally agree. I was never comfortable with that. I really hope it's a thing of the past.
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Outpourings / Re: Inspirational Speeches of Star Trek
« Last post by Diane CBPFC on September 19, 2026, 02:07:37 AM »
School was so competitive back then in every subject - you were told your place on the report cards X/XX students and how you did at age 11 decided you future. I was at a disadvantage because I was part of an experimental teaching method in England (The Initial Teaching Alphabet) then moved so a normal school in Wales so never got it corrected other than figuring things out myself.

Sports was just one thing of many.



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Outpourings / Re: Bayeux ballyhoo
« Last post by Diane CBPFC on September 19, 2026, 01:59:03 AM »
lol

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Outpourings / Re: Inspirational Speeches of Star Trek
« Last post by Mince on September 18, 2026, 10:40:02 AM »
Thankfully I was always second to last thanks to the kid with the club foot.

I know you are being humorous, but there you have it in a nutshell. Rather than, like me, rejecting the whole stupid hierarchy and pointless choosing, you accept it and end up being grateful that there was someone even more disadvantaged than you to take the bottom place and alleviate your own embarrassment. To my mind, the only shame in the whole thing was the decision to put children through that humiliating process of choosing in the first place, and the only correct thing to do is to reject it and rage against it.
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Outpourings / Re: Inspirational Speeches of Star Trek
« Last post by Mince on September 18, 2026, 10:26:09 AM »
When it came to team sports as a child when two sporty kids got to pick teams one by one, were where you positioned in the line up Mince?

I was usually deliberately at the back, or better still, badly fielding in cricket (never having the time or desire to get my hands out of my pockets to catch the ball) and constantly wandering off. My and my friends' strategy was to "play" so appallingly at all times (take too much time, knock things over, create a mess, look bewildered even when things were explained to us ten times) that we were eventually ignored and allowed to do our own thing.


There is no shame in coming in last.

The supposed shame of coming last only exists because you've accepted the premise that the competition matters.
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Outpourings / Re: Bayeux ballyhoo
« Last post by Roger Kettle on September 18, 2026, 10:18:31 AM »
It's certainly a remarkable piece of history and, as you say, it's amazing how the fabric has survived so well. I once heard it described as "A bit long but one of the best comic strips I've ever seen."
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