The Postbag

Cod Almighty | Postbag

Postbag: swearing so you don't have to

2 September 2005

Good day to you, fine readers of letters. It's Friday, it's 9:38am, it's time for a letters page. And so here it is. We're still getting letters from corporate shit-bags, but hey ho, if they will be so stupid - they'll learn the hard way.You know the routine: just email postbag@codalmighty.com and we'll print your letter here. If you're some kind of corporate money making machine then we reserve the right to swear excessively at you. Thank you.

Rush

Tony Butcher suggests that I missed Paul Groves' connection with the Roger Waters rock opera Ca Ira. This is not entirely true - Grovesie contacted me and asked me to leave this out, as he is embarrassed to be so closely associated with Pink Floyd. As I say - this is not entirly true.

PS Despite being a big fan of Rush, I am under no illusions that if it had been written by Neil Peart, the drumming would have been great and the lyrics toe-curling.

from Miles

Gush

Tony Butcher wrote: "Now, if it had been written by Neil Peart, he'd have probably noticed." So, was the original article a little "Rush-ed" then? Geddit? Yeah? Yeah? Oh. Time for me to "Geddy" a "Life(son)" thenÂ…

Anyway, sorry about that. Was the letter about copyright and fixtures for real? I'm amazed and saddened. How can they copyright something like that? Maybe they'll protect match content so we don't have to go and watch it any more.

from Rich Mills

Letters Ed responds: I'm afraid it was all too real Rich. Very sad isn't it?

Hush

That letter from a company protecting the rights to the Football League's online licences (fixtures inc.) was interesting. I went to their website to see what they get up to, and it looks like 'money for manky old rope'. I bet it is run by a schoolboy entrepreneur who discovered he could get people to pay him to write e-mails to third parties, to squeeze money from them for what is effectively public domain information. Staff of one?

I have some questions that you might like to ask them. What constitutes the 'licenced list'? Do they class that as the date and the opponent, in the correct order? A useful alternative list would be the matchday dates along with H or A, and then an added 'nickname'. Using this method, you would have used a licenced list from elsewhere (provided the BBC are compliant) to extract 'some information' but then used your own initiative to provide your own readers with an indiction of who the opponents might be? The Pirates, The Rams etc. What about plugging the date and opponent of the next three fixtures ahead, not necessarily in a list? Are you infringing rights by using small percentage of the list? Have they actually thought out what they are protecting? Probably not, because the lad running the company has A* GCSE's but they are not as good as 'O' LevelsÂ…

PS. I protect my right to have come up with the above ideas. Please send me my cheque!

from Ian Jackson

Letters Ed responds: I'm sure the money grubbing buggers have got all of the above already covered.

Lush

Just a quick note to say that somebody stuck a link to your report on our (Barnet) message board. Great report, bit harsh on the cricket though. I have to question the sanity of Tony Butcher. Love it!

from Tim Telcs

Mush

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from Wagerweb Affiliates

Letters Ed responds: Do we look like the kind of website that has this type of fucking shit plastered all over it? Just fucking think for a second, won't you? We're an independent fanzine. We don't want all this fucking bollocks and shite cluttering up decent fucking writing. We're not one of these identikit, shit-eating, fuckjobs of websites that claim to offer information for football fans, but only serve to profiteer for the boring, business-retarded, fist-fuck cuntoids who run them. I tell yo

Bush

One the 15th March the Diary wrote that "the foremost requirement of a fashionable club that's going places these days is a player called Jermaine". Do you think Spurs are a bigger enough and trendy enough club to handle two since they signed Jenas to go with their Defoe? And, more to the point, do you think Cleethorpes is cutting edge enough to cope with three on the pitch at one time should Palmer, having returned from his loan at Scarborough, line up opposite his Tottenham namesakes?

from Kick Lactovic

Letters Ed responds: I think BP may suffer a Jermaine overload which could possibly damage the fabric of the space- time continuum.