tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670426779858438488.post5089053972282882784..comments2023-06-16T16:08:23.446+01:00Comments on Edinburgh Housewife: Spoiled Fruit of the RevolutionMrs McLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18095035617334068201noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670426779858438488.post-40955513359290494722015-11-23T09:23:48.003+00:002015-11-23T09:23:48.003+00:00Alas, not in Perth, but Melbourne! I do have a new...Alas, not in Perth, but Melbourne! I do have a new Irishman acquaintance though. He's, like, reverting to the faith or something.<br /><br />I have one male friend who does competitive ballroom dancing. His favoured style is New Vogue, which is apparently known internationally as 'Australian bush dancing' because no one else takes it seriously.Juliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03992516879346846271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670426779858438488.post-60476870759744135462015-11-21T15:37:56.211+00:002015-11-21T15:37:56.211+00:00Julia, what, you mean the boys getting handcuffed ...Julia, what, you mean the boys getting handcuffed to a taxi to get them to go dancing? I'm pretty sure your mob have got plenty of spare cuffs over that side of the pond, right?<br /><br />As for us, the only dancing a Kiwi fella does is on the footy field, as your boys recently found out :) Actually, that is not far from the truth. Sure, there are guys who dance, but my little bro does dance, and says they are at best 2-1 girls:guys, and often far worse. A friend of mine said something similar, tho she hasn't danced for a bit now.<br /><br />And of course we are worse than Oz - we're the Greece of the South Pacific! (with apologies to the Greeks...). Work the longest average hours for the lowest average pay in the OECD, so no time left for dancing, unless its to avoid the bank manager. Fun times all round. Which is why I'm studying at 4am for a career change - science don't pay. I'd become a dancer, but y'know... <br /><br />Southern Bloke.<br />P.S. Are you in Perth? If so what about all those sweet Irish lads over there rorting your work visa schemes? Gotta be a few Catholic irish dancers there, right? Tho judging by the recent gay marriage vote in Eire, maybe not ;)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670426779858438488.post-61555919299353392442015-11-20T23:55:55.472+00:002015-11-20T23:55:55.472+00:00What the flip is happening over there across the d...What the flip is happening over there across the ditch, Southern Bloke? It might be even worse than in Australia...Juliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03992516879346846271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670426779858438488.post-51130224576355048922015-11-20T23:37:56.163+00:002015-11-20T23:37:56.163+00:00Hmmm. I suppose the only thing to get blokes more ...Hmmm. I suppose the only thing to get blokes more nervous than asking a girl out, is to expect men to dance! Probably due to women dancing a lot more when they were girls, and guys *never* having danced as boys. Though that does seem to be changing a little now, though clearly not enough. <br /><br />Perhaps you should have handcuffed your boys to a taxi and only produced the key once at swing dancing? Cattle prods may also have helped ;)<br /><br />And the beach dress for a wedding - very Antipodean :) I hope your matched couple are very happy, and suitably grateful for their fairy godmother...<br /><br />Southern Bloke.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670426779858438488.post-41052108191511783532015-11-20T17:05:48.832+00:002015-11-20T17:05:48.832+00:00This has been attempted. We shall say no more.
In...This has been attempted. We shall say no more.<br /><br />In happier news, I once introduced a parish lad to a new girl, and they are now married, so I have made a match. I wore an ankle length beach dress to the wedding. I would like a fairy godmother outfit though. <br /><br /><br /><br />Mrs McLeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18095035617334068201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670426779858438488.post-49863474434379120512015-11-20T12:43:27.138+00:002015-11-20T12:43:27.138+00:00Actually, what was I thinking? Seraphic, take your...Actually, what was I thinking? Seraphic, take your likely lads from church to swing dancing! <br /><br />From what you say, there are plenty of lasses for them to dance with (and ask out if things happily proceed that way), the dance gals will love you for bringing them male dance partners (you can even snaffle them for a few dances yourself), you'll diminish the male scarcity and hence, hopefully, the desirability of Balbao Martyn as a lead ;) And if a few dates or even a marriage come out of it, you've answered your own question in the best way, and can legitimately wear a fairy godmother outfit to the wedding :D<br /><br />See, we've got a positive tone thing going already.<br /><br />Your welcome. <br />Southern Bloke (who really, really should be studying...)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670426779858438488.post-79557145287728557262015-11-20T00:03:20.653+00:002015-11-20T00:03:20.653+00:00Oh, okay aroseamidthorns, sorry if I misunderstood...Oh, okay aroseamidthorns, sorry if I misunderstood. I thought Seraphic was quite explicit she was talking about really devout Catholic guys. To be fair to the girls, I suspect the guys are not doing a lot of asking, partly due to lack of good chances to talk to church girls; partly due to hyper-competitiveness of male culture. <br /><br />Guys tend to mock other guys mercilessly if they 'fail' when asking a girl out (its like a kind of sport to some, but is harsh for the recipient of the mocking), which means most guys prefer to talk to girls away from the group, which is a situation hard to obtain now. I recall trying repeatedly to talk to a girl I was keen on at church, and being interrupted constantly by others oblivious to my efforts to have 1-1 conversations with the object of my affection. I got so desperate at the interruptions, at one point I considered hanging a sandwich board on my back saying 'do not disturb, romantic efforts underway'.<br /><br />On the plus side, we have God :)<br /><br />One positive thing we could do is coerce the parish into publishing basic stats annually. I'm a big believer that if even simple numbers of baptisms, confirmations, marriages, etc for each of the last 5 or 10 years are published, the community will be aware of whether there is a problem trend. We have priests focused on baptising babies and children as fast as they can, but ignoring the far lower confirmations and near absence of marriages - a sure sign of a problem (dropout from church in late teens). Get the parish talking about the great number of baptisms, but lack of marriages, what they think the causes are, and how they can be addressed. At the moment, few people talk about these issues, so it gets swept under the carpet... A little thing only, but perhaps a start.<br /><br />Oh, and Seraphic, if you can, keep swing dancing! Ignore Balbao Martyn; at least you'll be company for Kindly Advanced Dancer girl. Maybe you should start poking the dance guys in the ribs, and whispering 'dance with KAD girl' :) And take KAD girl to church to meet PPS - she can convert!<br /><br />Sorry about comment length - can you tell I'm avoiding exam study?<br /><br />Southern Bloke.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670426779858438488.post-62009529435303858742015-11-19T17:51:25.088+00:002015-11-19T17:51:25.088+00:00Southern Bloke - by "quite eligible" I s...Southern Bloke - by "quite eligible" I simply mean young Catholic men serious about and committed to their faith. Although from what you've said, it doesn't sound like you have many girls in your area. Maybe if the world inter-mingled more, we'd solve the problem ;) Unless it's just my TLM parish that has mostly young women, since so many people seem to have so many young men at theirs. Hmm.... Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670426779858438488.post-6357294006405500492015-11-19T12:23:16.278+00:002015-11-19T12:23:16.278+00:00aroseamidthorns - "the quite eligible ones ar...aroseamidthorns - "the quite eligible ones are few and far between". Ouch! I'm not in Edinburgh, but Seraphic's description indicated a substantial proportion of her parish lads were 'eligible'.<br /><br />And Seraphic, you neglected to mention whether forming a rock band brought any female attention to the intrepid artists - I suspect not! Do those guys you know have opportunities to even speak to any girl in the church? Can't ask if you don't get a chance to talk to her. There are so few opportunities for young adult Catholics to mix and talk - that needs serious thought. Far too many scoot out of Mass too fast for even the priest to intercept them. No chance of interaction then, let alone romance (with each other, not the priest ;) ).<br /><br />Julia - all my local parishes have more single guys than girls. Low numbers of both, but very few single girls, sadly.<br /><br />At least you're thinking about these issues. Now we just have to get our bishops thinking it IS an issue! hehe<br /><br />Southern Bloke.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670426779858438488.post-58463227129401649312015-11-18T23:14:07.932+00:002015-11-18T23:14:07.932+00:00Well, I dunno. Do these Catholic guys you know act...Well, I dunno. Do these Catholic guys you know actually ask girls out? Are there any girls in the parish? TLM parishes can tend to be male-heavy.Juliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03992516879346846271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-670426779858438488.post-88582219361510868082015-11-18T21:15:20.058+00:002015-11-18T21:15:20.058+00:00"It's such a waste of twenty-something Ca..."It's such a waste of twenty-something Catholic bachelor that it makes me cross" <br />Hear hear! Although, is it entirely the fault of the young twenty-something girls? Perhaps single Catholic males in Edinburgh are different then single Catholic males in Canada. IF there are any (the quite eligible ones are few and far between) they do not seem much interested in females for the sake of marriage and family. Perhaps it's something in the air over here, I'm not sure. Or it's just a result of the past 5-7 decades of pulling men down from their "mannishness" and pushing women towards it. All this aside, I, for one, would rather see a solid Catholic young man single and "going to waste" then see him sadly entangled in a relationship with a young and pretty twenty-something who doesn't deserve him. This also happens too often. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com