Bullying Neil Gates

Just had a nose around t'other places, and I notice my name is coming up a lot on the Garry Stevens message board. Brilliant. It's when they're not talking about you that you need to worry! I see me ol' mate Peter Moore had to mention me a number of times, and Will the gardener is doing his bit of trying to reveal my real name, etc., etc. Same old same old. I'm used to them crossing the line and getting personal about me.

Of course, the real victim of their collective bullying is Neil Gates. Cor blimey, do they get quite cruel about the fellow or what? It doesn't rest. There's poems about him, there's constant gripes and slagging, rude words, the lot. It just doesn't seem to stop, which is a real shame, because the Garry Stevens board promised so much when it first started. It had a good philosophy, seemed to fill a niche market, and looked like it was going places. It's all very disappointing.

So why is the Garry Stevens board yet another board to degenerate into being a place to just openly bully others? Is that all that old geezas can do? They never seem to know the difference between constructive criticism and cruel bullying.

Neil has put himself forward as the founder of a new offshore radio project. So, if you think he's not got a chance in hell, or his figures are wrong, then for goodness sake just deconstruct them by debate and discussion, don't just get rude and personal about the guy and writing poems about him!

It's sad to see Garry Stevens appear to accept and sanction all this. Come on Garry, tell them to stop it, before you're just another radio board that bites the dust 'cos it scares away the more timid ordinary radio fan posters!
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* Christopher England just said that *

Christopher England <...> said:

Just had a nose around t'other places, and I notice my name is coming up
a lot on the Garry Stevens message board. Brilliant. It's when they're
not talking about you that you need to worry! I see me ol' mate Peter
Moore had to mention me a number of times, and Will the gardener is
doing his bit of trying to reveal my real name, etc., etc. Same old
same old. I'm used to them crossing the line and getting personal about
me.

Of course, the real victim of their collective bullying is Neil Gates.
Cor blimey, do they get quite cruel about the fellow or what? It
doesn't rest. There's poems about him, there's constant gripes and
slagging, rude words, the lot. It just doesn't seem to stop, which is a
real shame, because the Garry Stevens board promised so much when it
first started. It had a good philosophy, seemed to fill a niche market,
and looked like it was going places. It's all very disappointing.

So why is the Garry Stevens board yet another board to degenerate into
being a place to just openly bully others? Is that all that old geezas
can do? They never seem to know the difference between constructive
criticism and cruel bullying.

Neil has put himself forward as the founder of a new offshore radio
project. So, if you think he's not got a chance in hell, or his figures
are wrong, then for goodness sake just deconstruct them by debate and
discussion, don't just get rude and personal about the guy and writing
poems about him!

It's sad to see Garry Stevens appear to accept and sanction all this.
Come on Garry, tell them to stop it, before you're just another radio
board that bites the dust 'cos it scares away the more timid ordinary
radio fan posters!
--
* Christopher England just said that *

It's called desperation Chris. I find it funny and quite sad at the same time they can continue doing it as long as they like it gives me a big laugh.

Peter Moore is spending his whole time running around crying to anyone who is gullable or stupid enough to listen to him becasuse he knows that the return of real free radio will show his sham "Caroline" up for what it really is and will stop his donation gravy train dead in it's tracks.

I see that they are now turning their attention to you...I'm shure that it does not bother you in the least infact I'm shure that it gives you as big a laugh as it gives me....BRING IT ON!!!!

Quoting a previous Neil Gates contribution:-

It's called desperation Chris. I find it funny and quite sad at the same
time they can continue doing it as long as they like it gives me a big
laugh.

Peter Moore is spending his whole time running around crying to anyone
who is gullable or stupid enough to listen to him becasuse he knows that
the return of real free radio will show his sham "Caroline" up for what
it really is and will stop his donation gravy train dead in it's tracks.

I see that they are now turning their attention to you...I'm shure that
it does not bother you in the least infact I'm shure that it gives you
as big a laugh as it gives me....BRING IT ON!!!!

It doesn't bother me as such, man I'm so used to it. Heck, you've even got places designed to take the piss out of me and Anorak Nation, full of the same few people sniping away because I'd dared express opinions that were different to theirs, or worse still, dared to ask questions about their involvement in this or that, especially when what they were saying didn't make any logical sense!

I even remember the glorious days of Peter Moore sending John Patrick after me, hounding me at every opportunity because I'd dared to utter some truth or other. Man, that guy must have sent me ten thousand emails during their campaign, telling me in vivid detail all the stuff he was going to reveal about my private life unless I toed the line and never spoke of Caroline Maidstone in public again.

But, Garry's an honest what-you-see-is-what-you-get type of geeza, and an old school type of genuine anorak and pirate. The type of guy who should be respected. They should have respected his board. His board came along and had it not just turned into the bitch-fest with only those with agendas and axes to grind posting there, it could have been an ideal niche board for a heck of a lot of the old school anoraks who feel there's nowhere quite right for them to post stuff to. I think that's what Garry wanted it to be. Unfortunately, they've been frightened away by all the bullying stuff. Hopefully it'll calm down and the genuine posters will drift back, but it'll take a while.

But, it is very interesting to read Peter Moore's posts. They are less articulate than when he first joined, but, apart from when he's answering people who are asking Caroline Maidstone specific questions, or declaring their undying love for him, all his 'new' posts have been quite relentlessly about you, Neil, sometimes disguised as about other things, but actually about you. I think he's actually shocked a lot of his supporters with how relentless he's been. He's revealed a side previously hidden from them, which can only be a good thing I guess.

It's confusing trying to work out who each of the other 'characters' posting is, and which ones are actually Peter Moore too.

There's no smoke without fire, so you've definitely rattled his cage over something you've said or something you are doing. He's on your case in mega-bully mode! No doubt he'll enlighten us all in the fullness of time. Exciting times!
—
* Christopher England just said that *

From: "Neil Gates" <...>

Peter Moore is spending his whole time running around crying to anyone
who is gullable or stupid enough to listen to him becasuse he knows that
the return of real free radio will show his sham "Caroline" up for what
it really is and will stop his donation gravy train dead in it's tracks.

To be honest Neil I don't think he has anything to worry about. You aren't going to get an offshore station on the air.
You reckon you can do it for 30K, and you are trying to sell the idea to potential investors, but to be honest 30K is nothing these days. Most people could raise that money from re-mortgaging their home, you say it can make money, so if you are that sure of yourself, why don't you raise the money yourself?
Maybe you aren't that sure, it is far easier blowing someone else's money rather than your own.

I'm not trying to be rude, or bullying, it is just the way it looks to me.

You can't be that serious or it would be on by now.

Or am I missing something blatantly obvious?

From: "Christopher England" <...>

It doesn't bother me as such, man I'm so used to it. Heck, you've even
got places designed to take the piss out of me and Anorak Nation, full
of the same few people sniping away

I even remember the glorious days of Peter Moore sending John Patrick
after me, hounding me at every opportunity because I'd dared to utter
some truth or other.

I had a look around that board and it is quite aggressive.

One of the things PM is accusing you of is being a vanity broadcaster! He reckons you only got on Caroline because you paid for a load of supplies for the Ross!

Steve Martin <...> said:

From: "Neil Gates" <...>

 

Peter Moore is spending his whole time running around crying to anyone
who is gullable or stupid enough to listen to him becasuse he knows that
the return of real free radio will show his sham "Caroline" up for what
it really is and will stop his donation gravy train dead in it's tracks.

To be honest Neil I don't think he has anything to worry about. You aren't
going to get an offshore station on the air.
You reckon you can do it for 30K, and you are trying to sell the idea to
potential investors, but to be honest 30K is nothing these days. Most
people could raise that money from re-mortgaging their home, you say it can
make money, so if you are that sure of yourself, why don't you raise the
money yourself?
Maybe you aren't that sure, it is far easier blowing someone else's money
rather than your own.

I'm not trying to be rude, or bullying, it is just the way it looks to me.

You can't be that serious or it would be on by now.

Or am I missing something blatantly obvious?

He has a lot to be worried about because this project is progressing at an increasing pace with one third of the required finance in place.

I am infact putting the largest amount of cash of any investor into the project (£5000).

The project also has an agreed contract for 24/7 religious programming that will not only cover the stations running costs,all of them,but will also take the project into profit after 4-6 months of broadcasting.

So yes Peter Moore has a lot to be worried about. While he has been running around making hysterical postings on radio message boards I have been working quietly to achieve my aim of putting Cruisin' 531 on air. It is however a long term project and not one that will happen overnight.

Quoting a previous Steve Martin contribution:-

One of the things PM is accusing you of is being a vanity broadcaster! He
reckons you only got on Caroline because you paid for a load of supplies for
the Ross!

Ah, a little of the usual distortion of the truth for comic effect I suspect.

But, here's what really happened: I'm not sure it was ethically sound, but hey, I came up with an idea to fleece some land based pirate anoraks (who could afford it, honest) by getting them to pay the lovely Dave the Fish to operate his tender out to the Ross, (which was, I think, £250 a round trip) in return for them getting to play for a week or so as offshore radio DJs. Ok, it's a bit naughty, but it seemed a good idea at the time, guv. Paranoid they'd not get the air-time, I went out there with them for three or four weeks or so (paid for by them!), as I'd also been asked by Ronan to sort out a mobile phone for the ship and was doing stuff with Peter Chicago out there anyway.

If you measure 'worth' by the amount of time spent at sea, then Neil Gates probably deserves a medal, meanwhile I think I'm right in saying Peter Moore never actually made it out there at all. Had he done a turn out there he may have been more sympathetic to the needs of the crew and a lot of the division that blighted Caroline might never have occurred. If you've never had to live on a ship at sea under the deteriorating conditions at the time then you'll never fully appreciate how scary it can really be for those that were marooned there with limited supplies from time to time and effectively told 'tough'.
—* Christopher England just said that *

Quoting a previous Steve Martin contribution:-

To be honest Neil I don't think he has anything to worry about. You aren't
going to get an offshore station on the air.

I've maintained this position myself, with the same logical argument about the costings, and also my extended argument about the worth (or lack of) that any AM signal has these days. So, I won't repeat it all. However, it is interesting that Peter Moore is gunning for Neil so persistantly. That must mean something. I've not quite fathomed it yet.

Anyway, whilst I really do wish Neil well with the project, and I hope he doesn't get disheartened when I add my voice to the 'no' camp, I do also fear that it will never come to anything.

BUT, I would love for Neil to prove us all wrong. If he can come up with a working offshore radio project, then very good luck to him. I'd love to see it happen. I'd love to see the law actually tested. I'm sure we all would.

I don't think the vast majority of anoraks or free radio enthusiasts are being so bitter and twisted against Neil as the small orchestrated core are, and I really hope Neil is just playing his cards close to his chest and so we on the outside don't have all the real facts and figures.

Most importantly, at least Neil seems to want to keep the dream alive in practical terms. Good on him, I say.

—* Christopher England just said that *

It will not happen, if I wanted to have fun and had a few grand to chuck away it would be a laugh for a couple of weeks. Neil has invited the critics by airing a dream on enthusiasts boards. Like the act of suicide those who don't publicise the act do it. If it was seriously investible you woudn't of heard of it via these means. As much as it would be nice to hear the roar of large Transmitters in a big TX room, backed up by the throbb of big Gennies, it ain't goin' to happen, sorry...

Quoting a previous DAVE RICHARDS 'JACK SPARROW' contribution:-

if I wanted to have fun and had a few grand to chuck
away it would be a laugh for a couple of weeks.

This is maybe something worth looking at. A bit like the way the fellows fund Big L Frinton, with no real interest in it generating an income. Bunches of people with a bit of cash should pool it all together and just do the whole thing for a laugh. A final mad offshore radio fling for all old stylee anoraks before the Alzheimer's kicks in. I'd play. Put me down for £10K plus the video rights. :)

Neil has invited the
critics by airing a dream on enthusiasts boards.

Critics yes, absolutely. But the bullying is uncalled for. Critique doesn't have to be so personal, aggressive and full of venom.

— * Christopher England just said that *

In article <755e7613140ca1ba5ec8e73c16959521@jiglu-wc>, ... (Christopher England) wrote:

This is maybe something worth looking at. A bit like the way the
fellows fund Big L Frinton, with no real interest in it generating
an income. Bunches of people with a bit of cash should pool it all
together and just do the whole thing for a laugh. A final mad
offshore radio fling for all old stylee anoraks before the
Alzheimer's kicks in. I'd play. Put me down for £10K plus the video
rights. :)

Video rights :-) Now let me see how much that would make on C4/C5, you little monkey. Great reality TV though, couldn't ask for a better script.

Eric

Neils's board is being populated by mostly pro Malcolm Smith fans and his "pretendy" version of a once great station. I haven't been on Garry's board lately, but it seems that's going the same way. As i've said before we've all got differing opinions about everything, but in this instance it's "free radio", whatever you perceive "free radio" to be. Good luck to Neil and anyone who donates to his project, if he gets it off the ground (or even out to sea)i would contribute, maybe buying merchandise or whatever. I haven't got a lot of spare money, as i'm just a manual worker, but i'd buy a t shirt or whatever is available. I did that when the "real" caroline was on the air. Some of the comments made on other boards vary between fair to absolutely insulting and childlike. The contributers seem to change frequently, probably the same person changing his name on numerous occasions. I'm all for debate or discussion, but Neil's board is a target for the sheep who seem to be all following the same leader. It took 3 years to get Caroline back in the 80s, Rhonan said "it took ten miracles to get caroline back" i don't know about the miracles, but he did it his way. Why not challenge the Radio Bill of 1990, what about article 19 of the declaration of human rights does that not count anymore? I hope neil gets some money and his project comes on air, I would be nice to see it come on in Nov this year, what an 18th anniversary that would be. LA and 73s

Quoting a previous tesug contribution:-

Video rights :-) Now let me see how much that would make on C4/C5, you
little monkey.

Damn it. Sussed. However, I have offered this before via these very pages. A lovely Production House is happy to match GBPound for GBPound any monies raised for such a venture. I seem to recall I ended up having the pee taken out of me for the suggestion. And, nobody came forward to talk about it seriously. Anoraks, eh?

Great reality TV though, couldn't ask for a better
script.

Ah, but the gamble is whether or not it would sell in to the lovely Commissioning Editors. Are anoraks on a ship that interesting? I guess we'd also need to know if it could become a series of monthly visits, or a single package at the end. The dream placement could include 'live' footage from the ship on a nightly basis. Sigh.
—
* Christopher England just said that *

From: "Christopher England" <...>

Ah, but the gamble is whether or not it would sell in to the lovely
Commissioning Editors. Are anoraks on a ship that interesting?

If they are out at sea challenging the might of the British Government, struggling to survive as the money starts running out, then it would make a great human interest story.

Come on talk it up man!

Quoting a previous Steve Martin contribution:-

If they are out at sea challenging the might of the British Government,
struggling to survive as the money starts running out, then it would
make a great human interest story.

Come on talk it up man!

Heh heh. I have a record of only ever losing one commission. Something in my water tells me that that otherwise perfect record (cough) would be quickly blemished. I suppose if I could promise lots of bullying and aggression, starvation on basic rations, and dynamic characters who each think they know best, Channel 5 could run it up against Big Brother.
—
* Christopher England just said that *

From: "Christopher England" <...>

I suppose if I could promise lots of bullying and
aggression, starvation on basic rations, and dynamic characters who each
think they know best, Channel 5 could run it up against Big Brother.

Now I never thought of it from that angle.

A Big Brother type show, with a load of dj's that have never met before, jockeying (no pun honest guv) for position on the ego front.

Throw in the Hells Kitchen angle with them trying to cook magnificent meals for each other in the galley, and of course the Apprentice angle, when the dj with the worst ratings goes into see "Sir" Neal for him to utter those magic words "You're fired"!

Absolute guaranteed ratings winner, well isn't 200 anoraks a massive audience for FIVE?

Quoting a previous Steve Martin contribution:-

A Big Brother type show, with a load of dj's that have never met before,
jockeying (no pun honest guv) for position on the ego front.

Brilliant. Now this would have been far more tele-visual back in the Fab FM type of era with Smashy and Nicey type Deeee Jays, of course.

Would this include some kind of a 'talk-off' for the talking radio guys? Maybe slowly whittling down until its Pete Price versus Christopher England. Last man talking wins? Wins what? Well, maybe wins a gig on a regional talking station nobody's listening to any way.

Throw in the Hells Kitchen angle with them trying to cook magnificent
meals for each other in the galley,

In a Force 9, for comedy value.

Absolute guaranteed ratings winner, well isn't 200 anoraks a massive
audience for FIVE?

200 anybodys is massive!
--
* Christopher England just said that *

Quoting a previous miamigorocks Geoff contribution:-

As i've
said before we've all got differing opinions about everything, but in
this instance it's "free radio", whatever you perceive "free radio" to
be.

(Moving on a bit from commenting on all the bullying stuff)

Free radio. What is free radio? That's a good question. It would be good to find out what everybody thinks 'free radio' actually is.

To me, 'free radio' would be radio free from the petty restrictions that sanitise the content. We do need some form of restrictions or regulations to govern transmission and transmitters and therefore forcing 'good practice', but I don't think we need it when it comes to what is broadcast.

Free radio would be radio that was free to say what it wanted, when it wanted. I especially want radio to be as free as TV to use naughty words. It cannot be right that I can have a TV docudrama broadcast with seven 'fucks' (and their derivatives) and one 'cunt' said in it (first one airing at about 9:10pm), and all it needs is bumper announcements warning of very strong language, yet one 'fuck' on the radio even at 1 in the morning would solicit a sanction from Ofcom. We need to be free from that.

Speaking of sanctions, I'd agree with my current hero Zak de Luxe that Ofcom shouldn't even bother responding to malicious complainers. These are the mad people who sit through the bumper warnings about strong language, watch the programme, and then complain about strong language. Ofcom should round these people up and have them killed for daring to try to mute freedom of speech.

The other thing that pisses me off is this need for 'balance'. Now, the 'right of reply' is one thing, but not being allowed to broadcast an extreme opinion about something without pro-actively seeking out some way of expressing an equal and opposite viewpoint, is pure madness. Strangely, the only subject not forced to present the opposing argument is religion. Religious loonies can broadcast their propaganda without the need to also present the alternative views of opposing religions or the views of free thinkers and atheists.

Have I missed anything?
Anything else that should be 'free' to help create real 'free radio'?

Why not challenge the
Radio Bill of 1990, what about article 19 of the declaration of human
rights does that not count anymore? I hope neil gets some money and his
project comes on air, I would be nice to see it come on in Nov this
year, what an 18th anniversary that would be.

As Neil's voice was the very last one ever on European offshore radio, it would be kind of cool if it was the first on any new station.
—
* Christopher England just said that *

Christopher England wrote:
:
: Free radio. What is free radio? That's a good question. It would be
: good to find out what everybody thinks 'free radio' actually is.
:
: To me, 'free radio' would be radio free from the petty restrictions
: that sanitise the content. We do need some form of restrictions or
: regulations to govern transmission and transmitters and therefore
: forcing 'good practice',

Do you mean those restrictions that don't currently work if a listener wants some diversity and result in legal stations playing the same 300 pop songs over and over?
A "Free Radio" station is one that is without suchlike. I do realise not all pirate operators are as responsible as some and I agree that they should be taken off if they are causing interference – PROVEN interference, not just the usual Ofcom BS.

: but I don't think we need it when it comes to
: what is broadcast.

I'm with you on that. If Channel 4 can say the C**t word on TV why can't it be said on radio? Not that I'd want to of course. However as you point out, it is an obvious disparity of regulation.
:
: : Why not challenge the
: : Radio Bill of 1990, what about article 19 of the declaration of
: : human rights does that not count anymore? I hope neil gets some
: : money and his project comes on air, I would be nice to see it come
: : on in Nov this year, what an 18th anniversary that would be.
:
: As Neil's voice was the very last one ever on European offshore radio,
: it would be kind of cool if it was the first on any new station.

Agreed, and I sincerely wish Neil all the best. I have already volunteered to be aboard.

: —
: * Christopher England just said that *

Steve Leyland

http://mar.exilenet.org:9042/listen.pls

You know, it's at times like this when I'm trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was young! "Why, what did she tell you?" I don't know, I didn't listen!
– Douglas Adams

In article <...>, ... (Christopher England) wrote:

Damn it. Sussed. However, I have offered this before via these very
pages. A lovely Production House is happy to match GBPound for
GBPound any monies raised for such a venture. I seem to recall I
ended up having the pee taken out of me for the suggestion. And,
nobody came forward to talk about it seriously. Anoraks, eh?

Actually, I recall a similar idea being muted on LBC one night when I was working with Steve Allen and the lubly Mandy.
A lot of listeners thought it was a great idea, not sure about seeing me in the morning.
Trouble is, to some degree, radio is already reality TV. On yes.
Most stations have live video streams now – if I walk in the studio 10:1 someone will write hello to me via the chatroom.
Argh, yes the good old days when all DJs were perfect weight/height all looked fantastic and nobody ever saw them expect for the publicity shots
:-)

Ah, but the gamble is whether or not it would sell in to the lovely
Commissioning Editors. Are anoraks on a ship that interesting? I
guess we'd also need to know if it could become a series of monthly
visits, or a single package at the end. The dream placement could
include 'live' footage from the ship on a nightly basis. Sigh.

Tis how you talk it up, as has been mentioned.
Reality TV, in one form or another, still has massive appeal.

Now you knew this was coming :-) You could even make a show about people from over here now doing XYZ over there – especially as the focus could be a radio station. Yes people would watch just to see how ex-pats make out. Oh yeah that idea is copyright Eric.

Let's face it we have all the right bits, pretty girls, ugle blokes, and an amazing backdrop for cut-aways

Regards
Eric