Tuesday, May 23, 2017

A moment for Manchester...

Saffie Rose Roussos: ‘quiet and unassuming with a creative flair’. Photograph: Collect/PAn
Second Manchester bomb victim named as eight-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos

I had intended to post the prize winners for RC2017/04 today, but after last night's attack on a concert in Manchester, England it seems bit out of place to celebrate much of anything today. As a father of three, it is devastating just to imagine finding myself where too many parents in the UK find themselves today.

Fundamentally the RetroChallenge is a silly thing, a bit of fun had mostly by a few old guys reaching back to their days of youth. But what happened last night is deadly serious. Out of sympathy and respect for the dead, the injured, and their friends and families, I will delay the prize announcements until Friday, 26 May 2017. Please check back here thereafter.

3 comments:

  1. Good decision John. As a father of three myself too I couldn't agree more. As to the attack, well, there are no words. Let's put our thoughts, symphaties among those families.

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  2. A concert should be a place of fun and joy, so sad, thoughts and prayers for all who are impacted.

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  3. Choose your timing, change your mind, take your time. I am in no rush. Taking time to think of your loved ones, and of those who have lost loved ones, or who are suffering now, will never be something people can criticise you for.
    Sometimes events far away affect us more than we would ever have thought. I remember crying for a little girl and her mother who were cruelly hunted down during the Port Arthur Massacre, and as I thought of a husband and father left behind to deal with the heinous acts of a deranged individual. I had young children at the time, I couldn't bear to think of them being taunted and hunted as that poor girl was. In the end, empathy and love will triumph over hate (and I say that as an atheist) - as a community, we retro-enthusiasts don't need attention now. Be who you are and have whatever reaction you need.

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