Talk:Hermanus

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[edit] Minor Changes

Hermanus is definately on the Southern Coast -- the Eastern coast refers to Durban, etc. NOT a place in the Western Cape - though it may be east of Cape Town (only +-100km).

CaptainBeefart please use this page to discuss your concerns, instead of resorting to rude edit summaries.

Chris 13:30, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

I support Chris here. Beefart, witty references to the local mating habits are fun to read in the occasional new page, but once it's approaching a formal article, adding this sort of stuff is basically nonsense, and calling another editor a dickhead is way out of line. In my experience you're a funny chap, knowledgeable, and basically a good sport, so let's not spoil it with a flame war now, OK? Let's let this cool off, and then take out the witty remarks. Zaian 16:46, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Beefart replies: Ambiguity reigns in my mind: (1) On one level: sorry to all. I was not seeking to generate a shitstorm. Don't always take me so seriously dudes! I was born a clown and won't change my spots. I like to take the piss but I NEVER stand in the way of serious work on Wikipedia. If you think it's time for an end to levity, just say so and I'll oblige. I have added dozens of jokes to Wikipedia and have made many people laugh. Is that worth nothing? When the jokes are worn out, they are inevitably removed from the text. I have not complained about that and nobody has ever told me that they don't enjoy laughing.... (2) On another level and in my defense: being a clown myself, I can take a joke but I do NOT suffer pretentious dickheads, fools and arrogant stuffed shirts lightly. To them I react sharply, although more with sarcasm than with overt malice. Do not condemn me for retaliation whilst sparing the one who first raised his hand against me. There must be a quid pro quo here. Therefore, think before you type. Revert one of my pieces in its ENTIRETY simply because you disagree over the words 'east' and 'south' and you will definitely get up my nose. In my books, the high-handed reversion of everything that somebody else has taken the time to write simply because you think east ought to be south is an act of rudeness FAR worse than telling a dickhead he is one...Captainbeefart 13:12, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

I'll leave it up to Chris to decide whether to accept that as an apology... For my part I already did note that I find you a funny guy and basically a good sport and it's fun to read your jokes, and I never said it's time for an end to levity. I've read a lot of your contributions, so I know you're not some high school kid messing around, but it might sound that way to others. Zaian 13:50, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Can some clever person help Beefart with a difficult problem?

Aah, if Durban defines the essense of the "east coast" of South Africa, does that mean that Mosselbaai is on the west coast? :) :) :) Ek weet glad nie, maar ek was van die begin af 'n Weskusklong....Captainbeefart 13:12, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Dunno if there's a formal definition, but my gut feel is that anything West of Agulhas would have a really hard time qualifying as East Coast! Personally I'd say the West coast runs down as far as Cape Town, and then there's a long bit of Southern Cape coast (including Mossel Bay) before I'd think of calling it the East coast. Zaian 13:59, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Beefart says: Zaian, as usual, speaks with wisdom... The problem may all be God's fault, because he made southern Africa with an ambiguous shape. More likely, it is the manifestation of subconscious intellectual imperialism on the part of those, such as myself, who grew up in Cape Town. We were at the Centre of the Universe. That was self-evident. Ipso facto, while we baked in the sun on the beach, anything to our left was on the West Coast and anything to our right was on the East Coast. Ysterfontein was west, even though it was north. Hermanus was east. Even Gordon's Bay was east if one lived in Claremont :) :).... Captainbeefart 15:39, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree. I grew up in Cape Town too and it is true that it is common to regard anything north/west of Cape Point as "west coast" and anything east as "east coast". Of course there is the further complication of whether the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet at Cape Point as is popularly believed, or at Cape Agulhas as the more serious sources say. It is all rather arbitrary. In any case, there is no contradition between saying that Hermanus is on the south coast of South Africa and saying it is on the east coast as it is on the south coast when using three coast classification and on the east coast if using a two coast classification. Both systems are in common use. In the latter the coastline of South Africa would be divided between a west coast from the Orange River to Cape Point and an east coast from Cape Point to the border with Mozambique. Quite where one would divide the south coast from the east coast though I'm not sure, I would guess at Port Elizabeth or somewhere between PE and East London maybe. Booshank 01:02, 30 June 2006 (UTC)