[Sweet Pete]

Savage Henry, on 26 January 2012 - 15:17, said:

Had my website on the go for a while now. I enjoy writing, but I can only do it when the mood gets me, and there's just no telling when that will be.

It can be found Here

Incidentally, Sweet Pete, what happened to your blog? There was a lot of really good stuff there, I enjoyed that. Still on the go?

I binned it after finding I no longer had time to dedicate to it, man. I've recently gotten back into it to some small degree, contributing articles / columns to a mates website-cum-blog and doing essays and pieces on property advice for my business' site. I'll email you a link once the host gets round to posting up some decent content as it's only recently gone live and is still pretty patchy.

[GordieBoy80]

Barry's article:


At least it may mean a day off work


YESTERDAY MARKED the 60th
anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's
accession to the throne. But not everyone
is celebrating. Dundee writer
Barry Phillips explains why.


HER MAJESTY the Queen
celebrates her diamond jubilee
this year, marking a 60-year
reign over the United Kingdom
and the Commonwealth.
If you're anything like me you'll find this
about as newsworthy as reports that a seagull
has been spotted in Dundee City Square.
Learning that the event was likely to result
in a day off work bolstered my enthusiasm
somewhat, but then I'd acknowledge a
national holiday to commemorate the tragic
loss of the Hilltown multis if it meant getting
to stay in bed until lunchtime.
In my experience, the Queen's not particularly
popular.
Ask the man on the street for his opinion
of her and you may hear derogatory remarks
and terms like "sponger" and "Radio
Ga Ga".
That last guy misunderstood the question,
but it's all too common to hear less-thancomplimentary
terminology when discussing
the Queen and her brood.
Upon asking my grandfather what his
thoughts were, he growled, "Eh wudnae
even let her in the hoose!"
That's quite a statement from a man
whom my granny once found kneeling on
the living room carpet saying prayers with
two Jehovah's Witnesses when she returned
home from the shops.
The fact is, large swathes of the population
grudge the royals their luxurious, taxpayerfunded
lifestyle and the elitist system that
allows a single family to reign over them.
Some individuals have gone beyond feelings
of disdain into outright crazy territory.
Former BBC sports presenter turned writer
and public speaker, David Icke, has declared
with a disturbingly-straight face that the
Queen is – wait for it – a reptilian shapeshifter
from outer space.
Pause to absorb that for a moment.
He really does think the Queen's a space
lizard from the Draco constellation.
The only thing I've heard as remotely
ridiculous was my younger brother's ludicrously
inaccurate assertion that Adolf Hitler
was the first man on the moon.
I'm no royalist. I disapprove of the
concept of a monarchy, hereditary entitlement
and the perceived superiority of those
blessed with a silver spoon in their mouth
from birth.
Yet while I have a healthy disregard for
the Queen, I have nothing against Elizabeth
Windsor.
Strip away the crown, sceptre and robes
and she's an old lady who I'm sure would get
on fine with folk in a bingo hall or a night
out in the clubbie ("drinks on a tray please,
Liz.").
I've been raised to respect my elders, and
that respect just about stretches as far as
Buckingham Palace.
So, in this Jubilee year, I find myself
thinking: Don't hate the player; hate the
game.
Besides, anyone who has survived a long
marriage to a man who puts his foot in it
more often than a blind farmer in a field full
of cows is worthy of at least a modicum of
respect.

The file was too big to upload, I've kept it the same way as the paper as I couldn't be arsed re-formatting.

[Clyde 1877]

GordieBoy80, on 13 February 2012 - 13:08, said:

Barry's article:


At least it may mean a day off work


YESTERDAY MARKED the 60th
anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's
accession to the throne. But not everyone
is celebrating. Dundee writer
Barry Phillips explains why.


HER MAJESTY the Queen
celebrates her diamond jubilee
this year, marking a 60-year
reign over the United Kingdom
and the Commonwealth.
If you're anything like me you'll find this
about as newsworthy as reports that a seagull
has been spotted in Dundee City Square.
Learning that the event was likely to result
in a day off work bolstered my enthusiasm
somewhat, but then I'd acknowledge a
national holiday to commemorate the tragic
loss of the Hilltown multis if it meant getting
to stay in bed until lunchtime.
In my experience, the Queen's not particularly
popular.
Ask the man on the street for his opinion
of her and you may hear derogatory remarks
and terms like "sponger" and "Radio
Ga Ga".
That last guy misunderstood the question,
but it's all too common to hear less-thancomplimentary
terminology when discussing
the Queen and her brood.
Upon asking my grandfather what his
thoughts were, he growled, "Eh wudnae
even let her in the hoose!"
That's quite a statement from a man
whom my granny once found kneeling on
the living room carpet saying prayers with
two Jehovah's Witnesses when she returned
home from the shops.
The fact is, large swathes of the population
grudge the royals their luxurious, taxpayerfunded
lifestyle and the elitist system that
allows a single family to reign over them.
Some individuals have gone beyond feelings
of disdain into outright crazy territory.
Former BBC sports presenter turned writer
and public speaker, David Icke, has declared
with a disturbingly-straight face that the
Queen is – wait for it – a reptilian shapeshifter
from outer space.
Pause to absorb that for a moment.
He really does think the Queen's a space
lizard from the Draco constellation.
The only thing I've heard as remotely
ridiculous was my younger brother's ludicrously
inaccurate assertion that Adolf Hitler
was the first man on the moon.
I'm no royalist. I disapprove of the
concept of a monarchy, hereditary entitlement
and the perceived superiority of those
blessed with a silver spoon in their mouth
from birth.
Yet while I have a healthy disregard for
the Queen, I have nothing against Elizabeth
Windsor.
Strip away the crown, sceptre and robes
and she's an old lady who I'm sure would get
on fine with folk in a bingo hall or a night
out in the clubbie ("drinks on a tray please,
Liz.").
I've been raised to respect my elders, and
that respect just about stretches as far as
Buckingham Palace.
So, in this Jubilee year, I find myself
thinking: Don't hate the player; hate the
game.
Besides, anyone who has survived a long
marriage to a man who puts his foot in it
more often than a blind farmer in a field full
of cows is worthy of at least a modicum of
respect.

The file was too big to upload, I've kept it the same way as the paper as I couldn't be arsed re-formatting.

That was a really enjoyable read. A lot of the opinion within it mirrors my own thoughts so the concept is excellent. The bit about the grandad not letting her in the house was hilarious...well funny at least.

[dundeebarry]

Clyde 1877, on 13 February 2012 - 22:46, said:

That was a really enjoyable read. A lot of the opinion within it mirrors my own thoughts so the concept is excellent. The bit about the grandad not letting her in the house was hilarious...well funny at least.

Cheers.

They chopped a few jokes at the sub-editing stage. The Courier has a mixed, but fairly conservative audience that I had to tone it down a lot for. I thought what I wrote was very mild. With a free rein on the topic - which was chosen by my contact at the paper - I would've taken Mr "Utter disgrace"s head clean off.

[Clyde 1877]

Hopefully there is more people in the P&B community who are willing to showcase some writing pieces for the thread.

Here is a link to my blog for those interested: http://dannyksports.blogspot.com/

[ginge123]

That was not only absolutely spot on Barry, but also hilarious. It's about time you were unleashed on the World at large, or at least Tayside.

[ThatBoyRonaldo]

Blog post by a mate on reasons for independence.

Scottish Independence

[SuperCaleyGoBallistic]

This was a piece I wrote nearly two years ago. It's heavily influenced by Cracked articles, as you can probably tell. It's meant to be funny, but it isn't that great. I'm no dundeebarry, that's for sure.

Anyway, here it is:

http://manofwit.blog...0&max-results=1

[Mozzamozza]

Well done Barry. next stop the dizzy heights of the tully?