NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Frank Reed's head appears. was: NavList admin
From: Wolfgang Köberer
Date: 2007 Oct 21, 10:11 +0200
From: Wolfgang Köberer
Date: 2007 Oct 21, 10:11 +0200
Peter,
your last mail shows
again that you are the master of the snide remark ("And now, I too am going to
put my hand on my heart and piously intone:...").
In real life I would
answer to you as William F. Buckley once did to Gore Vidal.
Wolfgang
-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----Wolfgang asks:
Von: NavList@fer3.com [mailto:NavList@fer3.com]Im Auftrag von Peter Fogg
Gesendet: Sonntag, 21. Oktober 2007 04:23
An: NavList@fer3.com
Betreff: [NavList 3448] Re: AW: [NavList 3441] Re: Frank Reed's head appears. was: [NavList 3426] NavList admin
"have I missed something ...?" Yes, apparently.
Wolfgang, as I've already said, its entirely admirable for you to defend George, especially since you tell us you have a personal relationship with the dude, although I'm still not sure why this makes your opinion any more valid than those of others who don't have this privilege. Potentially it may render your opinion less authoritative, since your judgement could then be clouded by matters such as emotion and personal charm. In any case, what you have written is full of errors and half-truths.
For example:
"I will not respond to Peter Fogg's off-list requests in the future."
To the best of my recollection, there was ONE such incident (first error). I appealed ON-list (second) for information and you kindly and generously responded off-list, for which I was and am appropriately grateful.
""faulty logic" and "gallery" being the particular attributes aimed at me."
Well no, certainly not the second. 'Gallery' implies a population and referred, I would have thought fairly evidently, to the entire NavList community (third).
"Peter Fogg is obviously not willing to retract one single word or step."
Since you ask, I think Dan got it about right, and perhaps expresses it better than I have (certainly more calmly and in fewer words!).
For years I've felt like the little boy in the fable, watching the Emperor showing off to us all his gorgeous raiments while the gallery marvels at how exquisitely fashioned they are, of such delectably shimmering colour and style, etc, and thought: am I the only one here to see the bloke is butt-naked?
What seems clear is that George has an excellent library and lots of time to research, then craft consistently impressive pronouncements. Yes, they are often excellent posts, full of good stuff and well focused on the issue of the moment. In other words; yes the gear is gorgeous but, I insist, just so diaphanous that it seems indecent.
If that was it, then I would simply say: the chap is a gem and we are lucky to have him. And to some extent this is still true; George is still a gem and we are still lucky to have him. I also agree with others who are saying: enough of George and me and our flaws and especially these tedious analyses.
Why we will not reach a consensus, I suspect Wolfgang, is that your approach tends to be normative (focusing on what I should not say, the Gentlemanly Club ideal) while in this as in much else I favour a positive, practical approach (stuff happens).
Years ago George announced (to the gallery, as we say): ".. if only to tweak Peter Fogg's tail a little ..".
Well, as Steve Irwin has just shown us all (wasn't that a worldwide phenomena? A Global Village event) if you go around tweaking the tails of creatures exotique for long enough, sooner or later you're gonna get bit. Silly, really, to whinge too much about it afterwoods.
And now, I too am going to put my hand on my heart and piously intone:
"Now I will move on, if everybody else does."
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