sir tom jones...
 

ok just had a healthy rant, thought i'd post it here...

just read on the bbc news website that tom jones just recieved a knighthood by the queen.

now as a maturing adult in the last 5 years i have just gained some kind of nationalistic respect and old fashioned pride and belief in this countries use of the monarchy (dont want to get into some tiresome debate about socialism thank you, please refrain) however knighthoods...

always a debatable issue, in the days of old it was a priveledge given to the brave, courageous and selfless etc.

now people complain about sportsmen etc recieving it, even that i can forgive as they are doing some kind of duty towards "the country" etc winning medals and what not.

but, tom jones!!!??

dont get me wrong, i love tom jones, i enjoy his work etc. but, he hasnt exactly done much in the past few years, and lives in vegas or wherever now anyway!, it almost seems like you are a celebrity and are innofensive, you get to a certain age (tom jones is 65) and you become "sir"

i actually watched the honours list with anticipation this year looking for jamie oliver and j.k rowling, the two of them have done truly important things for the country through goodness and artistry and hard work, even through the veil of celebrity (lets face it the only way to get knighted is to first be a celebrity), yet no...tom jones gets it.

now in this post punk age that wants abolishment of the monarchy, is it just me that is thinking they are going the wrong way to preserve respect, it seems like there is just some kind of advocacy suggesting veteran stars for knighthood, other than the queen actually taking any notice and saying, no, actually i want so & so for his services to the country.

the more i see stufflike that, i start to resent the institution, the monarchy is now almost a regulated intitution, why cant knighthoods be the same?
base it more on real value and less on how many years served in the entertainments industry......damnit!

sorry

LOL, at least you guys on the other side of the pond don't make your aged movie stars into politicians...Regan, Arnold, Clint Eastwood

I'd rather call Arnold sir than governor :(

yeah but you guys are the crazy b*stards that vote them in!

g.w. bush anyone??

you have the power!


i didnt ask tom jones to be my knight!
also, i wouldnt mind if they were forced to walk arounnd in armour, maybe they'd soon start dreading it,

het tom, when you are finished delilah, go fight that dragon! and bring me its head!

p.s. faced with the terminator, wouldnt you just call him "sir" anyway??

I read all that, and am left with just one question. Who the hell is Tom Jones?

HA HA...we'll for the record I voted for Mary Carey, the porn star who was one of the many, many candidates for that election.

I think a suit of armor would work well for Tom. It'd provide some shelter to all those panties flying at him. I'm sure it was a good thing when his fans were young...but old granny panties could knock a brotha out :D

well there you have it liz

.
Ah, those Brits...

I think one of the truly memorable moments in recent British history was when Margaret Torture (Thatcher?) used the the royal "We":

We have just become a grandmother.

Right up there with Dorsey & Crocetti
 

A few people (very few) may know him better as Thomas Woodward of Pontypridd, Wales. Reliable sources say he used to be one helluva vacuum cleaner salesman, really impressing the damsels as he walked door to door. It is not clear, however, if it was on such an occasion that he broke in Elvira...

Thomas is reported to have had an active nighthood all through his singing career as well. According to some tastes, Tom is right up there with the likes of renowned singers such as Arnold George Dorsey, Dino Crocetti, Harry Lillis Crosby and Pierino Como.

Missbeehive -- he only has a cabin in Vegas, mainly residing amidst some hills named after Beverly Somebody. Apparently Beverly wasn’t a real person at all, just a name in a 1906 newspaper article that land-developer Burton E. Green (fitting name for his profession) happened to like.

But I suppose I’m getting off on a tangent...


(Source: Wikipedia, with a twist.)

Bill Gates was knighted for his contributions to technology or some crap like that.

Hey, I for one have gained a lot of respect for Bill Gates after he started using his fortune to do some good. In my opinion he is making a sincere effort.

-- ArcticStones

There are quite a few honors that might have been construed as a knighthood by the pop press. This appears to be the real thing.

Unfortunately, the entry hasn't made it to the Gazette yet.
http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/sea...archIn=Notices

Yes, he does make many humanitarian efforts. Good ones.

but I question whether he has made "great contributions" to the world of tech.

This is the kind of stuff we don't want around here. If you think 52% of Americans who voted in the last election are idiots, create your own blog and post your opinions there.

I agree that we want to avoid political commentary since that usually results in a flamefest. But let's not exaggerate - Bush's percentage of the popular vote in 2004 was 50.7% (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_...#2004_campaign)

Missbeehive,

Yes, I agree that this is uncalled for. Part of what you are saying here is clearly erroneous, while another part is debatable.

First: Most Americans (more than 50.7%) who are of voting age were born to parents who were married. Family values are still very strong, especially amongst those who voted for Dubya.

Second: Rumour, and scattered evidence that is probably unreliable, has it that your latter point has been a grand illusion for quite some time. I venture no opinion – only stating that the issue is debatable. On another forum, of course.

;)

jeepers!
hold on to your hats chaps!

the thread, was a light hearted stab at monarchic desision making and, pointless honours, then it was compared to american democracy,(BY SOMEONE ELSE!) my only point was that, and the mood of the time i was posting was, quick and fun. and i'm sure others at the start of the thread would back that up.

had i just said "but you are the ones that vote them in"

instead of the "crazy b*stards" comment, like i say it was jovial, but obviously a touchy subject. and was in responce to someone complaining about arnie becoming govener after saying that they'd voted a porn star!

If this were a more serious thread about, serious issues etc, my tone would have been different, however it wasnt, and if you have chosen to piggy back eachother and take total offence at anything written in this thread, then to hell with it, its pretty clear how unwelcome i am here, i've read a lot worse, you know?

this is the first time i have actually felt this angry here, and if its the way it has to be, then i shall miss this forum, i log on everyday, enjoy pretty much everyone here.

but man, if we are so scared of feathers, i'm out. i think thats a gross over reaction from (am i allowed to say "you guys"?) which percentage of you was it that reacted that way, actually before i go stepping in ***** again?

Calm down, missbehive; no need to take offense. We just do try to nip these kinds of things in the bud so the forum can be the pleasant place you've come to enjoy visiting. As hayne noted, political comments can and do lead to flamefests, often very quickly.

The nuance here is that no one gets to vote in knights, but electing governors and presidents, etc. is another matter, and as these elections are often very close (closer than I remembered re. 2004) and highly contentious, there's pretty much no way to slam one side without the other being put off. So we decided in the beginning that we'd have no discussions on religion or politics, and we simply remind people of this whenever it looks as though a discussion either has gone or might start to drift in that direction.

I am sorry but in which happy village do you live? Where I am, it's the PC -and not the MaC- that has 95% something and that has changed everything in the world of tech., business, study, the planet.

If you do not believe Windows was a contribution to the world of tech please let's start another flaming thread against it, I can't wait, there will be so much I haven't heard before.

As superior as the MaC is, it is Windows that has touched the lives of people and contributed to the development of personal computing in a manner that is not even comparable. Do I like Windows? Not much at all. Would I have knighted Gates or Jobs? Even discounting the Gates Foundation -which is a stellar example of how a charity should be run- I would have had no doubts. Jobs is cool, but contribute? Nah I don't think so.

Actually there were studies that showed that the divorce rate was lower in the States who did not vote for the current President. I think it's because we're less concerned in New England that gay marriage will destroy the family, since women voting and rock-n-roll actually didn't (the same argument was used in both cases), and so we argue less with our spouses.

so what the hell has an aged Welsh crooner got to do with the text above?.... and Clavarez.... I agree 100%

Another one bites the dust! Not like this topic is one too many will miss.

It's not unusual to see me cry. whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh