No, no, no. Of course I'm not talking about the presidential election. That was over ages ago. I refer to the poll causing unprecedented excitement in the sailing blogosphere, "What should Tillerman write about?"
That poll over there >>>>>>>>>
The early favorite was Sailing. But with only 4 days left to vote, Sailing is trailing in second place in the global poll with support from only 47% of the voters. Perhaps the electorate is tired of this candidate? After almost 4 years with Sailing as the lead subject on Proper Course it seems that its former supporters are deserting Sailing in droves and demanding change.
The independent candidates Yacht Club Politics, Sailing Product Reviews, Maps on Monday and Fish on Fridays are faring even worse, all hovering at around 20%. (Electors are allowed to vote for multiple candidates.) And it seems that the historical discrimination against minority water sports is still a factor with Body Surfing only capturing 6% of the voters. Will this group ever elect a body surfer as commodore?
But the real surprise of the election is the staggering success of Whatever The Hell He Wants with support from an overwhelming 71% of the electorate. This seems to be a strong voice for change. And more than that, if this result holds at the end of polling, it is a mandate for the unpredictable and quixotic author of Proper Course to actually write about "whatever the hell he wants."
But can the world deal with such a dramatic change? What might Proper Course look like if Tillerman writes about "whatever the hell he wants"? An off-the-record interview with a very senior source inside the campaign indicated that if Whatever The Hell He Wants wins the election, Tillerman has promised in the first 100 hours to write about...
- My Big Toe
- Arguing for the Sake of Arguing
- The Mensa Guide to Solving Sudoku
- I Love the Smell of Styrene in the Morning
- Strumming my Six-String on my Front Porch Swing
11 comments:
We are but mere puppets laying at your feet, oh mighty El Presidente! Do with us as you will! lolol.
Cyalayta
Mal :)
Oi! Tillerman! GO SAILING!!!!!!
And write about it! Post pictures of it. Get a Vid cam -film it and post them!
If you examine the results of past elections you begin to get some context, the bigger picture if you like.
Going back to 1952 it was clear that the club needed stability following some tough times and alot of young sailors returning from overseas events such as the Normandy regatta and a number of fine events in the Mediterranean, not to mention some fiercely competitive sailing in the Pacific.
By 1964 it was all about new technology and the bright future offered by the baby boomers and their groovy gizmos. In short, stability was out the window, who cared what our parents did as long as we could trapeze our way around that course in a force 6 we didn't need to worry about tomorrow.
By 1976 we had grown up, hadn't died before we began to start getting old and had almost run out of gaff tape and glassfibre resin. We were also sick of the corruption of certain race officals , a certain Commodore even had to resign whilst admitting that there had been "no whitewash at the clubhouse".
At this point we could have gone either way, Could have stuck with the austere, make do and mend of the Smiling Commodore or ego with the aggressive yet gung ho new guy with the shiny hair. we went with the hair and the loud msic and big partying regattas of the 80's. Ah, fond memories.
The fond memories fell apart and, despite a recent attempt to recapture the spirit of that age it looks as if we have perhaps grown up in that last few years and made a measured, dare I say it sensible choice. The choice for 'Write what ever the hell you want' is merely the latest swing in the pendulum which has swung back and oh so gently forth since the club first began in the far off mists of time.
I beg your indulgence.
Tim. Don't just SHOUT!!!!!! Go vote. Vote early. Vote often. The world will get the Proper Course it deserves.
Dear Mr Attorney General, Senator, Vice-President, Ambassador Mondale, thank you for that excellent historical perspective. I have always been an admirer of yours. Especially of your astounding ability to be perceived as too "young" (at the age of 56) in the 1984 election for Commodore. How the world has changed.
A blog called 'Proper Course' should still be mainly about sailing, I would think.
You aren't going to rename it the 'Tillerman SuperBlog', are you?
Proper Course could mean anything. Proper course for a marathon. Proper course to take at college. Proper course for the main course between clam chowder and chocolate pudding. The possibilities are endless.
Hey Tillerman, actually "whatever the hell he wants" is no change at all. We trust that "whatever the hell he wants" is about sailing with a few somewhat related diversions thrown in. Keep dishin' out "whatever the hell he wants" and we'll keep reading it. That's why we're reading it now. It's that simple.
I think I'm with David. I assumed you'd always been writing whatever the hell you wanted. That's why I read your blog. Andrew
Hmm, oddly, I had assumed that all of these adventures and the quixotic analysis, were that way because you were writing about whatever the hell *I* want.
I agree with Andrew: "I assumed you'd always been writing whatever the hell you wanted"... that's why I'm reading! Just talking about sailing on a laser... board (hm, don't hit me!!!) gets tedious. How's your cat?
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