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Equality Street last won the day on January 21 2018
Equality Street had the most liked content!
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Lerwick
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LGR PATONEXCHANGE reacted to a post in a topic: Lerwick Up Helly Aa
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Kevin reacted to a post in a topic: Lerwick Up Helly Aa
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So then, what about transgenders? Or those who identify as gender fluid? Can they be Lerwick UHA guizers regardless of whether they are CIS-gender females but now identify as FtM or gender fluid or Gender X (Gender X now accepted in more than one country as opposed to F or M)? Careful now with the equal pay scenario - just when did any large employer last consult with its workforce regarding having the following day off work especially if it's a 'private party' folk have attended? See, there just might be some folk who object to the whole isles being subjected to post offices closures, etc.; how does that pan out? Is that at extra day's holiday in addition to other annual leave or is it a day forced upon employees? Either way, the country UHAs don't result in mass closures of establishments for 'private parties'. What a time to be alive! The internet gives you the joy of complaining about a day off people have enjoyed for the best part of a century, and now we're being chastised for not factoring in gender-fluidity into a p1ss up I for one welcome our trans-sexual future. What a glorious day it will be when some wag shouts "grip his surgically accentuated clitoris!" before the torches fly in !
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Teenie3 reacted to a post in a topic: Lerwick Up Helly Aa
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Davie P reacted to a post in a topic: Lerwick Up Helly Aa
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I'm dunno, Mr. Brown. I think it could be argued that Amsterdam has a forward thinking and liberal reputation. They also have some excellent 'coffee' houses...
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EM reacted to a post in a topic: Lerwick Up Helly Aa
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Ghost Town reacted to a post in a topic: Lerwick Up Helly Aa
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Russabell reacted to a post in a topic: Lerwick Up Helly Aa
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Girzie reacted to a post in a topic: Lerwick Up Helly Aa
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Imagine you're organising a stag do. You're the best man and you're all flying to Amsterdam. The groom is a pretty popular guy, but he's only wanting 22 pals to come away with him (for whatever reason). One of the boys drops out so your wife suggests one of her female pals that would like to come along. Does saying 'no' to that idea make you a backward, sexist, misogynistic dinosaur? You can attach all the tradition and gravitas you want to Up Helly Aa, but for most of us it's a p1ss-up comparable to the scenario above, where the best craic is on the bus where you spend most of the night singing, drinking, making crude jokes and talking sh1te. While I know for a fact that there are many women that excel in this pursuit as much as men, I suspect most of us would rather just keep it as it is. To conflate the dynamics of this boozy party with the Equal Pay for Women issue, or even the vile treatment of women by abusive, powerful men from Westminister to Hollywood is disingenuous and ridiculous. In doing so we cast both male and female participants in this fantastic festival as complicit villains or meek, subservient spectators of sex discrimination. There are more men wanting to go out in squads than there are places. There are more lasses wanting to go to halls than there are tickets. A few shrill letters to the Shetland times have not diminished their enthusiasm for the festival. Be 'offended' all you want, but come next Tuesday men and women will be dancing the night away and not giving a flying... torch.
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Equality Street reacted to a post in a topic: Lerwick Up Helly Aa
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Definitely, actually moving to Shetland
Equality Street replied to lupine's topic in Travel / visitors advice
Welcome. I recommend joining some of the many facebook sites devoted to the isles. Shetlink used to be awesome and I still check in from time to time, but a few years back it became clear that a few folk were dominating the forum and their negativity has deterred most folk from getting involved to the extent that they used to. Not intending to put you off, just best to be aware that the forum isn't really a representative sample of the wider Shetland public! Good luck -
So this is the cost of Brexit? Being forced to cozy up to delusional megalomaniacs? Maybe all those 'straight bananas' weren't so bad after all...
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There are videos online, but Scalloway Garage were great when I somehow immobilized my VW Golf a few years back.
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A fair and balanced comparison. Meanwhile, back on Earth...
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Equality Street reacted to a post in a topic: Lerwick Up Helly Aa
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Oh merciful Ghostrider, thank you for restraining your mighty wisdom for the good of the festive throng! We know that, at any time, you could unleash your powers and "nothing about UHA will ever be the same again." Praise be to Ghostrider! Your place in Valhalla is surely assured.
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I suspect the wider society doesn't really give a flying torch as to how a boozy spree on a small island in the middle of the North Sea is conducted. Spectators may have their axes to grind (or not!), but it's the men and women involved (including guests) that choose, through their continued endorsement of the event, how it is run. While tickets to the halls are in high demand and the limited places in squads are always filled, those keen to impose their own preferences and opinions on attendees, who are perfectly happy with the status quo, will have some way to go before the change they sanctimoniously espouse is effected.
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That's rather the point...
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It does absolutely matter how many. If the those involved, men and women alike, are happy with the current setup why should it change to suit one person, or a small minority? As I said, if enough women wanted to join it would happen.
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Fascinating reading the 'debate' on Facebook. Never ceases to amaze me how the professionally shrill and the habitually offended get so outraged online, but in real life contribute nothing to the fun of Up Helly Aa. It's not a great leap to suggest that, in some cases, being highly vocal about 'exclusion' is symptomatic of a reluctance to actually embrace the festival due to their own misanthropy, but that's just a personal observation. Perhaps one of the perils of the gentrification of Up Helly Aa (an absolute spree and p1ss up that's been elevated to the status of High Culture by some commentators), is that the modern world must impose it's morals upon it. Maybe we should also castigate those at Hayfield for allowing a festival that tacitly supports alcoholism to leech into our schools? Christ, the Jarl is even promoting cider - the favoured drink of the adolescent in the park . Could he be any more of a corrupting influence on our little darlings? More seriously, , having been in the company of 2 stewardesses as this debate unfolded, I can assure you that the overwhelming irk is not their exclusion from squads. Their gripe is from the utterly patronizing tirades coming from the usual suspects as if the women and girls involved in Lerwick Up Helly Aa were so co-towed and mouthless that it had never occurred to them to rise up and protest, until shown the way by the enlightened few. If there is sufficient appetite for women to join the ranks it will happen, but most of us actually involved in the festival - guizers and guests alike are quite happy the way it is.
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Equality Street reacted to a post in a topic: Vikings in Edinburgh?
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Do you go out drinking in Shetland? / Lerwick pubs
Equality Street replied to Equality Street's topic in Food & Drink
People seem to be drinking less. Folk at work that go out at the weekends are the exception rather than the norm these days. Our healthcare professionals will assure us that this is a good thing - people are caring more about their bodies and are worried about the harm alcohol can do mentally and physically, which is all very commendable. But, in my uninformed and highly unscientific opinion, it does folk good to cut loose once in a while. More people seem depressed than I can ever remember. I'm sure the endless anti-depressant prescriptions being issued by our doctors are all well and good (and I'm certainly not suggesting booze should take the place of perscribed medication!), but I find that a good pi$$-up is the best antidote to the 9-5 routine most of us find ourselves in. Sure, it's not for everyone - I know from experience that there are some people who absolutely should not drink. Happily I'm not one of them, and despite the increasing magnitude of the hangovers as I get older, a life completely free of booze is a grim scenario which I have no wish to entertain. -
Equality Street reacted to a post in a topic: Do you go out drinking in Shetland? / Lerwick pubs
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I know someone who was assualted at the start of the New Year and the cameras were unable to identify the perpatrator because of the poor quality of the image. However, with very high quality digital video cameras available at a fraction of the cost these days it makes absolute sense to me to upgrade the exisiting system. About a month back there was a big fight outside the Thule during the day following an Auld Firm match. The police arrived too late and the thugs involved got away with it. High Def footage, admisable in court, would have insured these kind of people were identified and sentenced accordingly.
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As someone who routinely criticises the Town Hall mob, do you really think an elected body in Shetland would be effective? Sod that.