Hello everybody!
What a week that was! Fortunately, we were to have another super fun night on the Friday which I hope sets the end to all unpleasantness within our club. That said, some of you will wonder why I would choose to write the stuff that follows. To those who don't know why I say: - "ask questions."
I would like to place it on record that I will not countenance deep criticisms of ANY {not just The Regnum}, club organisers, and I'll tell you why. Over the years I have come to respect the people whose unstinting weekly support is the glue which binds together any club. They may not always be the most exhilarating performers, yet it is their tenacity that makes sure there's a club there to go to. It's very easy to just pop in with the odd perfect offering, then to disappear again for weeks until another gem has been perfected. Any club needs a hard core of regular support.
There have always been "difficulties" of one sort & another. Performers tend to have enormous egos, which fact steers them around any need to feel nervous when they perform. Once the "look at me" opportunity is presented, it is somewhat important to try & deliver something worthwhile. Most folk recognise genuine endeavour intuitively. Things can, & do, go wrong of course. Once in a while is acceptable & normal. It happens to nearly everyone. Unfortunately, there are some souls who labour under a good deal of delusion, thinking that their audience just can't get enough of them, whatever they do. Since we applaud everything there is little measure of feedback for them to draw on. Just subtle nuances like "Get Orf!" - if Ken is there of course.
These same souls are always at the front of any issue offering their wisdom as a sort of indisputable guidance. They are the same people that would invite themselves to any party and then start to dictate how that party is to be run. Confident is an understatement! And neither is this condition just for the foolish or the ignorant. Unfortunately, our society has spent a lot of its time & money upon lateral thinking schemes that don't work! As a result several words have assumed new definitions, giving rise to confusion.
As far as I'm concerned, and I hope at least some others would agree, I'd like to see us, as a nation if not species, draw back & reconsider what intelligence really is. One thing to question is whether education has any more than a tenuous connection. It's what you do with it that counts. Knowledge & learning by itself, and for its own sake, has little value. For that reason alone, some thought ought to be given to the time & expense spent in acquiring such learning. It works in the same way as the artist who must decide what to do with his various paints. A monkey (sorry to use you mate because that just isn't fair), a monkey or small child can ride a bike over the grease and by chance produce a worthwhile piece of work, - by chance! That is not intelligence at work now is it-eh? So why value it as that? Chance plays a part in informing us, but surely it's our intellect that must recognise it and decide on its value. I have just met too many who seem to think that their education gives them the right to pronounce over everything. It doesn't. One must be prepared to read between the lines as well as the lines themselves. There could be another agenda.
For the sake of peace we sometimes elect to skirt around difficult issues. "I'm sorry that I didn't turn up, the clock stopped." This is what happens in the folk clubs. It may become obvious that there is insufficient time to give everyone a (second) turn. The tendency then is to use "Buggins turn" precisely until the clock runs out. That least offends those that were missed, because the clock can be blamed. There's another popular method that is often used. Everyone gets offered a spot in the first round, but on the second pass, the MC dots around, trying to produce the best available evening of entertainment. This can, & as we have recently seen, put him/her in a very difficult position, if it is one of the very egotistical that is missed out. The backlash can be staggering.
A better, but much more complex idea is to use the nomination scheme. The MC may kick this off. Before he starts his song he nominates who will follow on. In their turn each one does the same thing. Some MC's will say that no-one can be nominated more than once in a round, - until that is, everyone has had another go. The result is that the most popular acts get selected. There's more! A subliminal message is sent to those whose contributions find less favour. There is natural selection at work. Darwin would surely approve. Perhaps you can dream up some alternative schemes. Electronics & computers spring immediately to mind. So too does nausea!
A couple of little whispers in my ear are saying that my light fluffy writing style is difficult to read. It wouldn't be hard to do a better job than me and I'm sure David would welcome any new inputs. If you don't - I may be forced to this more serious style AGAIN next time. So get writing!
For the moment, let Brenda & me wish all the folk a very happy Xmas & New Year. I have some spare tablets if you need them!
Berry
947
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