FAQ for newsgroup uk.rec.sheds, version 2&3/7th    2000-02-04 (roughly) 
==============================  Part 1 of 8 : Introductory notes
(You'll want a good old-fashioned fixed-width font for the change bars) 

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This is the initial charter for the newsgroup uk.rec.sheds             
as issued in the newgroup message:                                     
                                                                        
uk.rec.sheds        Sheds: culture, contents, usage                    
                                                                        
Charter:                                                               
     The group is for discussions relating to sheds and their near     
     equivalents (eg properly arranged cellars), their use, their      
     contents, and the culture of shedding.  While shedding has been,  
     in the past, a primarily male pursuit we cannot deny that both    
     sexes manifest aspects of both genders to varying degrees, so     
     everybody is welcome in uk.rec.sheds                              
                                                                        
     No binaries; Advertising of sheds only.                           
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"When?"                                                                 
uk.rec.sheds was created shortly after May 8th 96 (when the vote passed)
It all started some time before that when some threads on the subject of
shedding in soc.culture.british led The Master JD to post a "faquette"  
and, later, myself to post a joke RFD for the newsgroup.  This was      
picked up by The Guardian's Jackdaw column, and that recognition spurred
me (I'm Dave Budd) on to do a real RFD and a subsequent CFV.  Eventually
the vote came in at 60 for, 25 against, and 1 abstention.               
                                                                        
"What?"                                                                 
This newsgroup is about sheds: those usually small and usually wooden   
structures usually found in the garden which usually house a cornucopia 
of usually useless items, and various related structures and spaces.    
It's not about houses for railway engines, pop groups with silly names, 
or slang uses of 'shed' which include a derogatory term for vehicles,   
excessive boozing, and something sexual which we prefer not to enquire  
into.                                                                   
Conversation about sheds themselves is actually quite rare: the         
newsgroup is a meeting place for shedders wherein they may share        
information which will further the art of shedding. As shedding quite   
often appears - to the outsider - to be 'doing nothing much', so too the
exchanges in the newsgroup may appear to make little, if any, sense.    
To the initiate, of course, every character typed simply oozes with     
esoteric significance.  Either that or PISIP.                               |                                                  
                                                                        
"The true secret of happiness was to be busy with unimportant things"
This is a quote from J B Priestley (probably)                           
                                                                        
Here's the rationale that was posted with the proposed charter          
in the CFV:                                                             
                                                                        
     The shed, with its contents and use, is a major archetype within   
     the male psyche; the exigencies of modern life are, however,       
     gradually eroding the typical male's knowledge of the joys of      
     shedding.  This may well be contributing to the breakdown of       
     modern society that we see around us every day.                    
     Heretofore there has been no suitable forum on Usenet where        
     shedders can gather to pursue the furtherance of shedding.         
     This newsgroup provides such a place, and will hopefully attract   
     many of the unshedded into the hobby.  A prototype FAQ already     
     exists (many thanks to Jeff Drabble) and this has been posted on   
     soc.culture.british.  Though sheds appear throughout the English   
     speaking world it is felt that Britain is their cultural home and  
     that the uk hierarchy is therefore correct for this newsgroup.     
     The popularity of the recent shed-threads on s.c.b. have amply     
     demonstrated that sufficient volume exists for a newsgroup.        
                                                                        
"How?"                                                                  
One keyword here is "whimsy" - not Wimsey, who's a character in a book, 
or mimsy, which is a state borogroves get into.  A dash of surrealism   
adds a little je ne sais quoi, and you may also detect a hint of gentle 
nostalgia for the days when brown ale was still widely popular and a    
piece of 2x4 wasn't actually 50x100mm.                                  
                                                                        
"Who?"                                                                  
We are shedizens (combining citizen, denizen, zen, shed); some of us   
rise to the rank of Sheddi Knight (usually by accident).  Thanks to    
Paul Beardow for first coining the term Sheddi Knight: you can find    
his original 'Return of the Sheddi' posts featuring Hamm Sarnie,       
Luke Warmlager, Old Holbun Karbuti, 3BA and WD40 here :-               
http://freespace.virgin.net/p.beardow/spoof.htm                        
Hang around the newsgroup for a while and you'll notice several         
frequent posters, each with their own brand of vaguely roguish charm,   
but especially 'The Master JD', aka Jeff Drabble, who (despite being    
stuck in New Zealand) has an inimitable prose style which set the tone  
for the newsgroup.