mike carey

Is  it really seven years? I guess so.

In my higher school certificate I discovered when I sat for the French exam that my teacher had omitted one mandatory text and taught us one that wasn't on the curriculum. I still passed, for what it's worth. That was one school and frankly one slightly ditzy teacher. This instance was at eight schools in Queensland, but even so only eight of many schools state-wide. Not all would have had Ancient History as an option for the final years of school, it's not typically a popular elective subject, but nevertheless this was a significant story for several days after it broke, while the authorities sorted out what had happened.
In Australia, each state runs external examinations as the final chapter in a high school education, and schools are required to teach to the curricula for the various subjects. There is discretion by schools as to which subjects are offered but that is determined by demand for them by students and the specialist teachers they have available to teach, not any sort of oversight committee or community board, at least for state schools. Religious and independent schools have their own processes but their students still take the same exams. Some independent schools also offer the international baccalaureate.
And as so often happens, in the story posted above, it's not the Australian Broadcasting Company. The ABC, like its counterparts in Canada and the UK is the public sector broadcaster, and it's a corporation owned by the commonwealth government but managed at arms length by a board. I believe that in Canada, that type of structure is called a crown corporation. The ABC is independent of the government, often aggressively so, by no means a 'state broadcaster' although I have seen US press outlets refer to it as such.

I'm in!

yes, the song, lyrics and melody, is incredibly haunting.......Native legend, history, characters, and practical Great Lakes shipping all mixed in........
I was just a bit too young to remember when the wreck happened and what the resulting song meant when released soon after......for several years, I didn't know the Lightfoot song was based on a true story.....
though the Youtube channel "Fascinating Horror" has a spooky theme song and morbid name, they produce excellent and even reviews of many worldwide disasters.....here's their take on the Edmund Fitzgerald (10.5 minutes long)......those interested can google many other results......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9jDNEtg8JY
and a quick animation of a theory of how she sank, though a final determination was never made:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDOuLLdqUFA
  

The song still has the power to haunt, in the same way it did when I first heard it almost 50 years ago.

The song still has the power to haunt, in the same way it did when I first heard it almost 50 years ago.

Without Gordon Lightfoot's song, the Edmund Fitzgerald could have faded from memory along with the names of the roughly 6,500 other ships that went down in the Great Lakes before it.
Lightfoot was inspired to write his ode to the Fitzgerald and the 29 men who died on board after reading the first Associated Press story about the wreck and a Nov. 24, 1975, article in Newsweek magazine. The song was released in August 1976, less than a year later.
Lightfoot's mournful storytelling propelled the tragedy into infamy. Affection for the song and interest in the wreck has sustained for half a century, though it wasn't even the deadliest recorded on the Great Lakes. The deadliest wreck on open waters was the Lady Elgin in 1860, which historians estimate killed nearly 400 people.
“The song has made this by far the most famous Great Lakes shipwreck,” said John U. Bacon, author of “The Gales of November,” a recently published book coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the wreck. He said the Edmund Fitzgerald trails only the Titanic and possibly the Lusitania as the most famous shipwreck in the world.
Rick Haynes, 80, played bass on the single and in Lightfoot’s band for 55 years. He said the first recorded take of the song was what they released on the album “Summertime Dream.”
“When you listen to the record Edmund Fitzgerald, it’s like he’s putting you right there, like he was right there,” Haynes said in a telephone interview from his home in Canada. “And that’s pretty hard to do with a tragedy like that, you know?”
Debbie Gomez-Felder was 17 when her father, Oliver “Buck” Champeau, died on the Fitzgerald. She couldn't bear to listen to the song at first.
“I put it on the record player and I thought, ‘Oh no, this music is eerie,’” she said. “I turned it off.”
But she came to love it.
“The part that says ‘All that remains are the faces and the names of the wives and the sons and the daughters,’ I thought there wasn’t a word he missed,” Gomez-Felder said. “There wasn’t anything he didn’t recognize.”
Lightfoot died in 2023. His widow, Kim Lightfoot, said in a statement to The Associated Press that “the Edmund Fitzgerald was always present in Gordon's mind.”
“Just as he eulogized the tragedy in song for the world, he also kept the memory alive in our home; Paintings, models and tributes adorned the walls and followed us from room to room as we went about our daily lives,” Kim Lightfoot said. “If Gordon were with us today, he would have been intent on helping keep the candle of memory lit.”
Lightfoot met regularly with family members and famously changed one of the lyrics at their request, removing a reference to a disproven theory that unsecured hatch covers caused the wreck. The exact cause remains a mystery.
That mystery and the song continue to draw people to the wreck, including a new generation encountering the story through TikTok and social media. Bruce Lynn, executive director of the Great Lake Shipwreck Museum, said children visit the museum wearing costumes of the Fitzgerald.
“There’s something about the Fitzgerald that really draws that attention,” he said.
Haynes estimated that he has played “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” more than two thousand times without tiring of it. Lightfoot’s band still tours and plays it at every concert.
Haynes remembers flying with Lightfoot to Whitefish Point, Michigan, to mark an anniversary of the wreck. They met with victims' families then Haynes took a walk along the shores of Lake Superior, looking out toward where the Fitz sank, about 17 miles away.
“I just sat there for about 15 or 20 minutes reflecting on all this stuff that had passed in connection with the Edmund Fitzgerald,” Haynes said. “And it was very emotional for me. It always has been.”
 

There has been some useful and thoughtful commentary in this thread, but as others have alluded to, not all of it is encouraging. People will always see a variety of things in what's presented when asked about an uncomfortable experience. Almost everyone here has been there, reflected on what went well and what did not, and drawn conclusions of their own and the other party's actions. Some of those conclusions can be uncomfortable or even challenging.
When anyone poses the question here, not everyone will see it the same way, but when someone offers a raw or pained description of how they felt I think we owe them understanding and a serious explanation of how that experience could be seen, maybe differently than they did, for better or worse, not simply an endorsement of  the questioner's opinions about it. We certainly don't need to denigrate anyone's opinion of how their session went down, even if we see it in ways they might not agree with. And definitely not to offer them a gratuitous character assessment over what they asked.

note Oliver's latest post in the other thread.........(perhaps there is still some grapefruit in my future!!)....
https://www.companyofmen.org/topic/145739-21st-annual-palm-springs-weekend/page/7/#comment-2531681
 

Totally agree with what Jamie said. I answer calls, but not random unexpected ones. All I ask is for clients to schedule a mutually agreeable time for their call. Then I will pick up.
It’s easy to schedule a call using text to request a time. Or email, or whatever platform they are contacting me on. If they are totally averse to written communication, they can simply leave me a voicemail and I will call them back when I am able. I leave them a voicemail when they can’t take my call right away.
I don’t understand why this is so complicated. I think part of the problem is that some clients expect us to be available at any time they want. We aren’t. 

I’m thinking it’s more about their partner, and so are they! 
Also, people are very quick to say the government is incompetent in most things yet seem absolutely confident that the government has the organisation, coordination and will to listen in to some random guys call with an escort! The government isn’t interested. At least ours isn’t because sex work is legal here. I’m sure they have other more important things to worry about. 
 

And after that, might I suggest placenta reattachment? Can’t imagine what benefits that might bring. 

As PK mentioned, events have been held, or contemplated, in other locations. To me, one of the things that makes this one, and DC to a lesser extent, work is that it's a location that requires a deliberate decision and a commitment to spend at least a night away from home (longer if more than one of the events is attended). It requires earlier commitment than an event in one's home city, and therefore more thought before deciding to cancel.
To me, the weekend is an event, and it's in a city that provides near certainty of weather and won't overwhelm the event with other attractions or commitments for those few days. So yes, an event in the LA basin would be possible, but it I doubt it could be a substitute for the Palm Springs event.

Rue Sainte-Catherine Montréal 1916

 

I certainly would enjoy attending the event.    My largest concern is the timing with conclusion of tax season underway.   Certainly include me as a potential attendee.

I had already booked the Hacienda for April 7-14 so I will be there.

After a hiatus of 7 years, I’m going to be there if we get the necessary number!

No BoyGeorge is european and  longs to sing "Karma Chameleon" under his shower!
 

As PK mentioned, events have been held, or contemplated, in other locations. To me, one of the things that makes this one, and DC to a lesser extent, work is that it's a location that requires a deliberate decision and a commitment to spend at least a night away from home (longer if more than one of the events is attended). It requires earlier commitment than an event in one's home city, and therefore more thought before deciding to cancel.
To me, the weekend is an event, and it's in a city that provides near certainty of weather and won't overwhelm the event with other attractions or commitments for those few days. So yes, an event in the LA basin would be possible, but it I doubt it could be a substitute for the Palm Springs event.

Nate, stop is not a reason to stop tickling. Almost everyone says stop when they are being tickled.  Perhaps a safe word like STOPITASSHOLE would work better.  

As PK mentioned, events have been held, or contemplated, in other locations. To me, one of the things that makes this one, and DC to a lesser extent, work is that it's a location that requires a deliberate decision and a commitment to spend at least a night away from home (longer if more than one of the events is attended). It requires earlier commitment than an event in one's home city, and therefore more thought before deciding to cancel.
To me, the weekend is an event, and it's in a city that provides near certainty of weather and won't overwhelm the event with other attractions or commitments for those few days. So yes, an event in the LA basin would be possible, but it I doubt it could be a substitute for the Palm Springs event.

The guy above is probably a masseur, not a masseuse.  If looking for a masseuse (female), you won't find many recommendations on Company of Men.

As PK mentioned, events have been held, or contemplated, in other locations. To me, one of the things that makes this one, and DC to a lesser extent, work is that it's a location that requires a deliberate decision and a commitment to spend at least a night away from home (longer if more than one of the events is attended). It requires earlier commitment than an event in one's home city, and therefore more thought before deciding to cancel.
To me, the weekend is an event, and it's in a city that provides near certainty of weather and won't overwhelm the event with other attractions or commitments for those few days. So yes, an event in the LA basin would be possible, but it I doubt it could be a substitute for the Palm Springs event.

I plan to be in Palm Springs in April.  I plan to have a reservation that includes the second weekend of the month as that was the weekend of Oliver's pool event last year.

Gathering or no Gathering, I will be in Palm Springs April 7 - 15, 2026.