..Southern bourgeouis preoccupation with health.. day of road closures and to hell with human rights.. the indoctrination of small schoolchildren.. cycling has become one of the principle pre-occupations of a Perth-centric local government keen to 'civilise' the rural hinterlands and tackle childhood obesity
Pesky southerners coming here with their "sport" and "fitness" trying to stop our kids getting fat.
Brilliant stuff. I'd give it a 9/10 but it was let down by the lack of capital letters.
http://www.highlandperthshirenews.co.uk/general-news-main/la-comedie-d-etape
Whilst I agree the author does seem to be on a bit of a rant and doesn't really come across to well, I think you've taken her quote out of context:
Southern bourgeouis preoccupation with health
is actually:
the spa town of Pitlochry itself would not exist if were not for a Southern bourgeouis preoccupation with health
perhaps alluding to the fact Sir James Clark (the Royal doctor) used to prescribe his patients holidays there on the basis the air was so good (one such patient being Queen Victoria), and as such the town developed as a Victorian "health resort"
She would fit in well on here though 🙂
It's a Perthshire thing - they still love their (no longer legal) keep out signs and carefully block off every possible parking place. Bikes are a threat to them as they are hard to exclude.
Hysterical!
What a LOON!
I read it and was going to construct a sensible, quote laden response to articulate my frustration with her point of view.
Instead I will just say that I think the author needs a firm slap..
Thankfully she is in a very small minority. As anyone who has taken part in the event will testify, the locals are very visible and very vocal in their support of the event. The lady is probably annoyed that all these healthy folk are not buying her over-priced art.
I think you've taken her quote out of context
I don't think the context improves it to be honest. 😀
Hahah true 🙂
Read the article - the author is as mad as a mad March hare.
But the world would be a very boring place if everybody agreed all of time!
I like her mildly xenophobic assumption that it is all outsiders and [i]"city-slickers"[/i] on [i]"'well-earned' forays into the wilderness playground of Scotland"[/i]
Yeah, cos no one in Scotland cycles eh? 🙄
Erm.. except I got this from a mate who lives in Perth and enters every year with another mate who travels [i]down[/i] from Aberdeen.
And somehow I doubt those people who [i]"toil their way on Etape training runs through biting April blizzards"[/i] have travelled up from London for the privilege.
Apparently [url= https://plus.google.com/112078756494941795038/about ]Georgina Farron[/url] read English at the University of St Andrews where she graduated in 1997 with M.A. Honours, but she doesn't know the difference between "there" and "they're" in the following cluster**** of a sentience:
Many of these people, I imagine, will be members of laudable organisations like the John Muir trust, fail to see the complete farce of a national park not owned by the, um, nation and be fully subscribed to the concept of global warming; their self-powered, Shimano lights flickering away diligently as they toil their way on Etape training runs through biting April blizzards.
Or maybe the comma shouldn't be there? Are the cyclists meant to be self powered, or the lights?
D-, must try harder.
It's a Perthshire thing
Plus
Thankfully she is in a very small minority
These types were born to whine,and if it wasn't bikes it would be some other NIMBY protest.
They will whine and moan about things to the grave..
How dare people travel 40 or 50 miles from their homes to enjoy a slightly different part of the country!
How dare people don suitable clothes for their chosen sport?
How dare councils promote healthy, fun, inclusive, sustainable pasttimes?
How dare the occasional road be closed for a sporting event? Would never happen on the Isle Of Man, no sir. Or on the roads leading to any football stadium in the country every second weekend. Uh huh.
How dare middle age men enjoy cycling?
[i]Southern bourgeouis[/i]
Google her, she's Scottish [i]bourgeouis[/i] I bet she's got an AGA and a husband in The City (Edinburgh).
Her Blog:
[i]
I grew up in a fairly remote village in Highland Perthshire. My father, the wildlife artist Roger Lee, worked from the family home and so I was always surrounded by art and the business of art. After a local schooling, I went to University of St Andrews where I read English, graduating in 1997 with M.A. Honours. This was followed by a series of sales and marketing jobs throughout my twenties, in pharmaceuticals, energy, cars and local radio. I returned to settle in Highland Perthshire in 2003 and now live in Blair Atholl with my husband and four children.
Starting a family also inspired me to start painting, through a desire to make lasting records of family life. I was also hoping to make a bit of extra cash around my main duty: bringing up small children! A fascination for characterisation in the course of my previous literary studies led me quite naturally to portraiture as a genre. The process of painting a portrait almost always engages me in collaboration with people, making it less solitary than most other visual art-forms - and this is something I enjoy. Although I now paint landscapes, animals and even the occasional building, my approach is always rooted in portraiture.
Portraits are generally self-explanatory and most people feel far more confident when asked for their opinion on a portrait than, for instance, an abstract work. I subscribe to what I believe is a common consensus on the main criterion for a successful portrait: achieving a good likeness.
It is of the greatest importance to me that my work has the physical integrity to last the course of time; as such, I place utmost priority on quality of materials, craftsmanship and attention to detail. My dearest hope for any of my paintings is that they are treasured by those who come to own them.
[/i]
That article really is something.
Just missed out on cyclist not paying road tax for a 100% bullshit score
[quote=b r ]Southern bourgeouis
Google her, she's Scottish bourgeouis I bet she's got an AGA and a husband in The City (Edinburgh).
Her husband is the assistant manager in a local quarry.
I like how she thinks "coffee and cake" is only a feature of women's rides!
Anyone have the time/energy to construct a suitable retort?
Her husband is the assistant manager in a local quarry.
Potential large scale vandal then 🙂
[i]I hope she is enjoying all the feedback below her article .[/i]
It's just click bait - don't feed the troll.
[quote=grum ]It's just click bait - don't feed the troll.
They say that no publicity is bad publicity and the proprietors of the Highlands and Perthshire news might be looking at their web stats glad of a few clicks. However, if I was a local tourism business advertising in it, I'd be wondering what sort of message that is sending out about the type of welcome visitors to the area are likely to receive.
Oddly [url= http://www.highlandperthshirenews.co.uk/ ]their front page[/url] has that story.. and scarcely two inches below it is this nice positive video about [i]"a week long cycling festival, Highland Perthshire Cycling hosts the BIG Day event in Victoria Park, Aberfeldy to promote cycling within the community."[/i]
Most unfortunately, one of these gents failed to disengage his pedal from shoe when halting and in marvellous slow-motion, while emitting a strange high-pitched squeak, he cowped onto the grass verge in spectacular comic style. His companions expressed great consternation.
None of my companions ever show any consternation when it happens to me or maybe they do but it's hard to tell with all the laughter!
However, if I was a local tourism business advertising in it, I'd be wondering what sort of message that is sending out about the type of welcome visitors to the area are likely to receive.
A typical highland welcome?
Agreed with Grum..
The biggest bullshit is the hijacking of social media – the effort to encourage interaction whether or not it has any meaning.
Has the web become ratings driven? Focused by SEO and analytics, and aimed at the lowest-common-denominator rather than thoughtful discourse mechanism? Has the money motive and the demands of advertising on a free-for-the-user media distorted the freedom of web content providers so much that now there is no sense to it all, other than the logic of search engine algorithms?
http://www.bikemag.com/blog/news-of-the-tweet-doom-gloom-and-absurdity-as-tincture/
and
Well, now the anger has a vent and the internet has become, to use Mike Ferrentino’s theory, the gall bladder for mankind. A sort of digital-biological valve and storage container into which bile is safely secreted before it builds up to dangerous levels and poisons the body of the individual. Trolling doesn’t mean much if ignored. Like the gall bladder we can forget it even exists and just let it keep spitting out venom that hurts only those that peer into the horrible, stinking abyss where trolls swim.
http://www.bikemag.com/blog/news-of-the-tweet-what%E2%80%99s-up-doc/
I like bikemag's take on all that sort of media BS. News and people becoming heard because it gets attention, not because it's actually worthwhile.
Her husband loves cycling .
Just like to say for balance...
I live in Perthshire. Have done for a year now. I've lived in the South East, North Wales and South Wales too, and by far Perthshire is the most friendly place for motorists when cycling.
They leave loads of room, don't overtake on blind corners, don't throw food at you, or call you names as they lurch past in their lowered Nova.
Plus, the people are incredibly friendly.
Those with bad attitudes toward cyclists are definitely the minority in all those I've experienced in the past year.
Also, having just done the Etape, those that turned out to support (I'm assuming many of them were local residents) were very well received by the riders.
Especially the cow bells at the top of Scheihallion and what seemed like the whole of the village of Strathtay.
Southern bourgeouis preoccupation with health
I'm English, but travelled south from Aberdeen. What does that make me?
I'm English, but travelled south from Aberdeen. What does that make me?
Lost!
Daft as Pitlochry and the outlying area make a mint for the day and the days before and after with all the Southerners spending their cash !
One day for road closures. I thin it's the only closed road race in Scotland.
yeah, you don't want that perth council subsidising stuff for kids and the like. except maybe if it's your own kids....
http://www.perthshireadvertiser.co.uk/perthshire-news/local-news-perthshire/2012/01/17/council-should-support-transport-to-gaelic-school-says-mum-73103-30134695/
So this, and that other thread about the two blokes bickering about building DH tracks in a ski resort.
I'm thinking I'm gonna cross scotland off my "places I'd like to cycle in" list.
Just because you can't spell 'bourgeois', doesn't mean you don't belong to it. She certainly fits the 'petty' part of the equation.
I had her down as a mid-60s busybody from the rather smug and wordy writing style. Can't believe she's in her 30s.
[i]yeah, you don't want that perth council subsidising stuff for kids and the like. except maybe if it's your own kids....
You gotta laugh. Who in their right mind who had benefitted from all that the UK education system had to offer (including a good free Uni education) would want to RESTRICT their childrens' education by pushing them down a dying language path.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Gaelic
Yep. She's a nutter.
You gotta laugh. Who in their right mind who had benefitted from all that the UK education system had to offer (including a good free Uni education) would want to RESTRICT their childrens' education by pushing them down a dying language path.
[cynic-mode] I know someone who sends their child to Gaelic school and it has nothing to do with a desire for their child to be multilingual, or save Gaelic etc - it is quite simply because they think it is a better school, with smaller class sizes and a friendlier ethos [/cynic-mode]
I doubt it does them any harm.
I thought McMoonter owned Perthshire - can't he evict her ?
mcmoonter owns fife...
Agree with other comments above but I feel she has a point about the litter problem and not just around the etape. One of my local road routes (yes in perthshire) is, on a Sunday, strewn with discarded gel warppers and empty water bottles. Water bottles, ffs, you are not on the tour de france!
I feel she has a point about the litter problem and not just around the etape
?
If she has a point about litter then she doesn't mention it in her article.
Shame, because that [i]might[/i] have added some (much needed) valid criticism to her rant.
Shame, because that might have added some (much needed) valid criticism to her rant.
Can't let valid points spoil a rant, even outwith STW...
nickc - MemberSo this, and that other thread about the two blokes bickering about building DH tracks in a ski resort.
I'm thinking I'm gonna cross scotland off my "places I'd like to cycle in" list.
As funny as the original article, good work.
If she has a point about litter then she doesn't mention it in her article.
I should have been clearer, I was referring to one of the comments underneath, not the original rant.
Ah fair enough.
It's a sad state of affairs when the Comments section has more sense in it than the published article 😀