Toadfish Monastery

Apparently the archbish isn't a few seraphim short of an heavenly host after all, it's just a case of remarks being taken out of context. The correct context being the Middle Ages, presumably.

He seems to have ruined his own debate before it started.

Were women stoned in medieval britain?

Probably only at Glastonbury.

Here in Scandinavia a common punishment for women caught red-handed with adultery was to be stripped naked, in public, get her head shaved, get a short chain with stones about the size of a badgers head attached to each end of it around her neck.
Then she was chased out of the city, forced to run through the city streets, while any one who wanted to was allowed to hit her with sticks, throw small stones, or just spit on her. 
I couldn't find a proper translation of the word but this punishment is called Gatlopp in Swedish.
I have no idea about how common it was though.

Before celebrity TV shows were invented I suspect our nearest standardised equivalent was the ducking stool. Also good (in a Monty-Pythonish sort of way) for detecting witches.

aka bath on public expenses 
But do not forget British public schools. (mutual) torture there must have been standardized enough to gain a nomenclature of its own* (the key, the ag-ag etc., not to forget the invitation to toast)
(voluntary) torture on TV is probably just around the corner. There are some shows that come pretty close (even if we leave out Japanese sitting-on-a-heated-stove contests)

*if Kipling is a trustworthy source

Ah the ducking upside down in the bog !  Happy schooldays.

But I suspect we are drifting off topic. Let's see what the General Synod think - must catch the news later.

But do not forget British public schools. (mutual) torture there must have been standardized enough to gain a nomenclature of its own* (the key, the ag-ag etc., not to forget the invitation to toast)


*if Kipling is a trustworthy source


Don't know about Kipling, but we did have specific names for the various "games". Well, one guy did, but he was a bit weird. It's just a pity he was older than me. I went to boarding school a year late, so there was a whole year of Fresh Meat below me. He did try, but me chasing him round the boarding house with a golf club seemed to put him off. My younger brother shouting "He'll do it, he beats me up regularly!" helped a bit as well....

Quote from: Swatopluk on February 11, 2008, 09:02:15 AM
aka bath on public expenses 
But do not forget British public schools. (mutual) torture there must have been standardized enough to gain a nomenclature of its own* (the key, the ag-ag etc., not to forget the invitation to toast)
(voluntary) torture on TV is probably just around the corner. There are some shows that come pretty close (even if we leave out Japanese sitting-on-a-heated-stove contests)

*if Kipling is a trustworthy source

We already have Fear Factor, Survivor and Big Brother.
Battle Royal anyone?

I don't watch "reality" tv, and I don't really understand people who cannot wait to rush home and tune in to new episodes. (But then, I don't really like "stupidity" movies or programming, either. It is wearing enough to deal with such people in real life! How can it be fun or relaxing or even cathartic to clot one's leisure hours with focus on more of the same?)

I worked in a company that was downsizing, and frankly, doing it badly. All day long people moaned and whined and raged about the loss of trust, the loss of respect, the loss of civility, and the loss of the implied social contract. Understandable, to a degree. However, after work they rushed home to tune in programs featuring potty-mouthed contestants gleefully planning subterfuge and betrayal, willing to undergo any humiliation or threat for the chance to be on tv and win money. (A perfect dramatization of corporate culture, I think!) Few perceived the hypocrisy of eagerly cheering on weasels on tv, then crying to me about a weasel in their department -- or organizing mutiny when the same said weasels were disciplined for their conduct.

Sometimes it feels as though life were one big Milgram experiment.

-pieces
who is not interested in blind obedience to the man holding the clipboard...

Seriously! I never got into the who reality TV thing, either. But then, I suppose, it's the same thing that drives some to watch soaps. More of the same.
I'd rather watch Pushing Daisies, myself.

Quote from: Darlica on February 11, 2008, 07:09:56 PM

Quote from: Swatopluk on February 11, 2008, 09:02:15 AM
aka bath on public expenses 
But do not forget British public schools. (mutual) torture there must have been standardized enough to gain a nomenclature of its own* (the key, the ag-ag etc., not to forget the invitation to toast)
(voluntary) torture on TV is probably just around the corner. There are some shows that come pretty close (even if we leave out Japanese sitting-on-a-heated-stove contests)

*if Kipling is a trustworthy source

We already have Fear Factor, Survivor and Big Brother.
Battle Royal anyone?

Hey, a real torture show would be without an easy get-out option
Jokes aside, there have been demands to show executions on TV regularly (in the US; Saudi Arabia & Co may already do it).

Quote from: Scriblerus the Philosophe on February 11, 2008, 11:27:47 PM
Seriously! I never got into the who reality TV thing, either. But then, I suppose, it's the same thing that drives some to watch soaps. More of the same.

Not the same - can't stand reality - adore certain soaps which seem to me to be an escape from reality, the plots are so far fetched. I especially like the hospital ones where the patients and their relatives get endless attention from the medics, fires break out every other week, and the medics mistakes are always found out.

Quote from: Griffin NoNameNot the same - can't stand reality - adore certain soaps which seem to me to be an escape from reality, the plots are so far fetched. I especially like the hospital ones where the patients and their relatives get endless attention from the medics, fires break out every other week, and the medics mistakes are always found out.

Have you watched the dvd of 28 Days, just to see the "lost" episodes of the Santa Cruz, the soap they watch? Tiny seizure clusters!

Quote from: pieces o nine on February 13, 2008, 06:05:20 AM

Quote from: Griffin NoNameNot the same - can't stand reality - adore certain soaps which seem to me to be an escape from reality, the plots are so far fetched. I especially like the hospital ones where the patients and their relatives get endless attention from the medics, fires break out every other week, and the medics mistakes are always found out.

Have you watched the dvd of 28 Days, just to see the "lost" episodes of the Santa Cruz, the soap they watch? Tiny seizure clusters!

No I haven't. I could barely cope with 24 hours.