Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Lydia taking the leap--I'm a Tory now!
Hello Harringay,
A few weeks ago a good friend in the Conservatives asked me to run under their banner in the local elections and I didn't laugh right in his face.
My original excursion into politics was in 2001, when I joined the Conservatives because I was so angry about the Victoria Climbie thing but then I left them in 2005 because:
a) I got fed up of politics and
b) I got fed up of the Conservatives (mind you I was just as fed up of the other lot).
When, a few weeks ago, I was invited back to the treadmill, I wasn't any better disposed to the political life but there is so much sh*t going on in this borough that I decided I couldn't ignore it any more. I don't fit that well into a Party mold but seeing as the Conservatives are the only group really serious about opposition in this borough and seeing as I am an Angry Old Woman, I decided that *someone* has to do something. Don't talk to me about the LibDems. The place for nodding dogs is in the back of the car, not in the Council chamber.
*If you want to follow me on Twitter, the address is <@LoveHarringay>
*If you want to get in touch with me by phone, leave a message with Tottenham Conservatives on 020 8374 6305. I'll get back to you. Or email loveharringay@gmail.com.
*If you want to discuss political theory, ring the LSE.
And from now on, you can be as suspicious as you want about anything I say.
btw:
I and my two running-mates, Sean Rivers and Massimo Rossini (NB--Rivers, Rivlin & Rossini make The Three Rs, which all good Conservatives support) will be putting out a leaflet soon.
The local party have agreed to let us write up our own stuff, so we are actually going to be working hard on it, ourselves. At least take a look when it lands on your doormat.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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Lydia, no wrong end of the stick here! Both BBL and I are dealing with the pronunciation of the letter "Haitch", which you call "Aitch". Our prounciation, "Haitch", is not peculiar to West Ulster only - I believe you'll find it in various regions of Great Britain and in many parts of the Commonwealth. The more narrowly evolved dialects of, say, Yorkshire or the South-East, coupled with the once dominant RP accent, do not of themselves make these the Gold Standard against which all other variants over time or space must be seen as, through some condescending ear trumpet, "rogue", "linguistic tic", "brogue", "dialect" in a pejorative sense of one looking down from a "Standard" which in some strange sense transcends the very concept of "dialect".
As for your mental categorisation of our "Haitch" pronunciation as a "mispronunciation" or as "rude" - well rude and rural and rustic all have their root, rus, near Heaney's hob-nailed boots, while the urban and urbane may have some specious claims "over the fine / Lawns of elocution." But dominant urban tribes have always prided themselves on clever put-downs for the heathens of the heath or the pagans of the pagus. Hideous embarrassment at their dreadful illiteracy is just a short step away.
The rest of my little ramble above was just applying a little pseudo-logic from the names we inherit for letters to the modern words or placenames they appear in. Mad, of course, for why is zed 'zee' across the pond, x 'echis' in Spain, and why can I say 'world-wide-web' three times faster than 'www'? But as Eliza, learning to be snooty, put it: "In ampstead, ighgate and arringay ooligans ardly appen."
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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In case you missed it, OAE, the BBC webpage I linked to (from October 2010) includes a note from their Proe-nun-see-ay-shan Unit. They say that: "use of the pronunciation haytch is also attested as a legitimate variant". But that: "aytch is less likely to attract audience complaints."
Also: "Haytch is a standard pronunciation in Irish English and is increasingly being used by native English-speaking people all across the country, irrespective of geographical provenance or social standing".
So, a modern version of Big-Endians vs Little-Endians with the massed pedants of both sides fighting it out across the BBC Complaints desk.
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Permalink Reply by Lydia R on
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So far we have had OAE doing Joyce, Rich doing the Bible, and Alan doing Swift.
Meanwhile, I have been employing Haristotelian logic to analyse arguments.
What a stupifyingly intellectual lot we are showing ourselves to be. -
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Intellectual? Nah. Playful. With Google as my imaginary friend.
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Sorry, typo about the 10th. I was thinking about how long it has been since my first foray into political work in Harringay--although come to think of it, it might even be 12 years. Anyway, the point is I have had a long involvement.
Things to remember: engage brain before placing fingers on keyboard.
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An illustration of why I am not running as an Independent: this evening I and five others went out delivering leaflets. Between the six of us we got 1200 delivered in three hours or so. On the previous night seven volunteers delivered about 1000 leaflets. There is no way I could have assembled that sort of back up as an independent. In the past two days, therefore, we have delivered to the Ladder from Turnpike Lane (not strictly a rung) to Mattison. Not many more to do. If we have missed anyone who wants a leaflet, please contact.
Wightman is next and then Duckett to Endymion.
While we were out, we passed (LibDem) David Schmitz, also on his delivery rounds, fortunately going in the opposite direction so we didn't have the embarrassment of walking together. We greeted each other as honourable comrade-rivals and crossed on our way. Then, with no leaflets left in our bags, we were forced to resort to the Salisbury for refreshment -- and a later discussion about a book called "Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty" by Acemoglu and Robinson which I am currently reading. I can recommend it.
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Paul, it isn't junk. It might be about as welcome as a gas bill but it is necessary for voters to know who is standing and what the candidates have to say for themselves.
Whatever your political sympathies you should take a look at every one of these leaflets. If you do not, when you go to the polling station you will not be voting, you will just be sleepwalking.
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Permalink Reply by Justin Hinchcliffe on
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Were you the guy messaging us on Twitter and wanting to know who we're standing and when they'd be campaigning, by any chance?
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Well I didn't get the sarcasm there... oops. Can we just agree that leaflets from politicial parties are not junk mail? Is anyone collecting these? in 2010 Hugh did and posted them online.
And if I consider local candidates to have abused their right to "inform the electorate" then I will do what I did in 2010 and stuff some crap in their letter boxes.
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I did want to put my leaflet up on the internet and at present am working on my webpage to do just that. I will then post a link.
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Double check it with a wordle first ;)
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