The readers' room: What you thought of G2 this week

✒ Is G2 secretly in awe of Alex Reid ? Is our coverage of the cage fighter-cum-actor driven less by his comic potential than by our own sense of inferiority? And is that why you, dear readers, are so ready to mock a man charismatic enough to woo topless model Jordan? One reader suggested as much last Friday, when Lost in Showbiz marvelled at Reid's knack of getting into street brawls just as a photographer is on hand to capture it all for the tabloids. "Panty-wetting, liberal Guardian-readers hate Alex because he's a real man," fumed the interestingly named HumpsBlowdoll . "You would all do better if you stopped whining like a schoolgirl with a skinned knee, and manned-up and went to a gym. Get some muscles and get some self-respect. Then all you lot could be like Alex Reid too!" Was this post at theguardian.com/g2 entirely serious? Processedpea reckoned it was a "piss-take", while Frances56 thought the writer might be Reid himself. But HumpsBlowdoll was in no mood to back down. "You lot are just jealous of Alex Reid because given the chance, your missus would rather be with a real man like Alex than a cry-baby Guardian reader. Alex is a top bloke who does a lot for charity and stuff. While Alex is out every night pulling birds, you lot are all at home fapping off to pictures of [a well-known feminist who wouldn't thank us for repeating her name here]." What, even the gay men and straight women? Something tells us HumpsBlowdoll doesn't worry too much about the finer points of sexuality. "All you Guardian readers with your poncy continental ways, iPhones and Ikea furniture are just jealous of Alex because he got to [er . . . spend some quality time with] Jordan, and you lot would never have a chance with her . . . Men want to be like him, women want to have sex with him. It is only socially-insecure, sushi-eating, bed-wetting Guardian readers who feel inferior when reading about a man who is one of the most loved people in the country." Was that it? Not quite. "You should know that sometimes Alex reads the Guardian . . . Like the Krays, he won't put up with any disrespect." Gulp. Moving swiftly on . . . ✒ What did HumpsBlowdoll make of Monday's article by Lee Hall ? Not enough to comment – but then this wasn't really Humps's scene, given that Hall was complaining about the cancellation of his community opera, and that the row revolved around the central character's right to declare "I'm queer" and "I prefer a lad to a lass". This appears to have been too much for the primary school involved in the project, which withdrew its 300 children just weeks before the opera was due to open. Adding insult to injury, Lee claimed, Opera North, which had commissioned the opera, failed to back him up. As the readers' room went to press, news emerged that the show would go ahead after all. By then, Lee's article had provoked about 1,000 tweets and comments, roughly 99% of them (feel free to count them and come up with the precise figure) supporting him. The decision to withdraw was "misguided and abhorrent", said @lucytakesphotos . "This is as sad as it is disgraceful," agreed @mrchrisaddison . "The message is clear," concluded whatwedoissecret . "Homosexuality is deviant and dangerous to young minds and we don't want children growing up thinking its OK in case that makes them gay." If that's really what the school was worried about, stopwhistling could set its mind at rest: "I was taught pythagorian theorem explicitly at school and I've never used it." But what did the parents of the 300 kids think of the affair? parent2011 was one of the few commenters to back the pull-out. "I'm a parent at the school in question and FULLY back the school," he or she said. "I have a number of friends and family that are gay and have no problem at all with my child seeing this as it is a part of life [but] I send my [five-year-old] child to school to be educated on subjects, not taught about 'ways of life' that they will gain knowledge of through life experience themselves when they are older." leeleeWaines , meanwhile, who described him/herself as the parent of a "very upset and frustrated nine-year-old boy", was "utterly furious. I now have to explain to my son who has spent months practising, gaining confidence and looking forward to his 'big debut production' why his trusted head teacher has decided not to let him take part. What do I tell him? That the school I trust to educate him are complete homophobes? Why were we not consulted about the situation sooner and given the full facts so we, as responsible adults, could opt our children in or out of the production? If you're reading this, Lee, I'd love for my son to take part in a true-to-life production that reflects what my child sees every day and will do for the rest of his life." Now, of course, it looks as if he will. But please, nobody mention the "power of the press". That idea has unpleasant associations right now. ✒ Some things are beyond saving, unfortunately. On Thursday Ian Sample looked ahead to the final flight of the space shuttle . "Nasa's great hope for making space travel cheap and commonplace," he reported, "fell famously short of expectations. Estimates put the cost of each launch at an exorbitant $1.5bn. Preparation for a mission took months if not years. And then there is the human cost. In 1986, the shuttle Challenger was destroyed on takeoff when a rocket booster exploded, killing its crew of seven. Then, in 2003, another shuttle was lost high up in the atmosphere; another seven lives lost. But it is worth recalling the achievements too . . ." On the website, there was some querying of the value of manned space flight. "Unmanned robotic vehicles would be cheaper, cleaner, more effective and less dangerous in general," claimed Autonova1 , while HelenWilsonMK thought that without the "huge costly distraction" of human passengers we could "aim for Alpha Centauri and do some real exploration". But the overwhelming mood was sadness. "Like a lot of people my age who were brought up on science fiction and the Apollo missions, I thought I'd get to go to the moon and the planets too," said chockychocky . "I was going on a freighter to the asteroid belt, or to the sands of Mars, where the Old Ones lived once upon a time. But it was just all a dream and we all have our feet very firmly on the ground nowadays, and that's a shame." QueenElizabeth (probably not that one) updated Rutger Hauer's Blade Runner speech: "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate. And the crippling effect of budgetary constraints on the big plan." "Is this it for good," wondered footballdave , "or are we waiting for a better time (ie, when we've got more money to throw at it)? Because to suggest we're done with space exploration is ridiculous. It's like losing your keys and only checking your trouser pockets before giving up. We need to have a right good look down the back of the cosmic settee, as it were. I know it's a pain, taking all the cushions off, but they'll turn up – oh, look – a quid. 'I had the ambition to not only go farther than man had gone before, but to go as far as it was possible to go.' Captain Cook said that, he did." What do you think? Do you want to relocate to Mars? Can opera make you gay? Could you take Alex Reid in a fight? Get commenting. The big question What's the world's fastest fish? That's what reporter Damon Green wishes he had asked Ed Miliband after the Labour leader trotted out the same answer to five different questions about the public sector strikes. Here's how you would have replied: "The Indo-Pacific Sailfish, Istiophorus platypterus. It has been measured in excess of 110km/h (68mph) over short periods. This fish grows to over 3.4m in total length and 100kg in weight" - jockeylad (quoting thetravelalmanac.com) "Assuming you mean over long distances (sailfish are faster over short distances), bluefin tuna are fast but some sharks are faster" - heavyrail "Marlin are so fast that they will actually impale you if they happen to come over the gunwale at an inconvenient moment" - ElliottCB "I don't know what the fastest fish is, but the peregrine falcon is the fastest animal of any kind. They can do over two ton in a dive, or so I believe" - shimrod "I thought the fastest fish was the motorpike" - thea1mighty "Apparently, the milk fish is pasteurise before you notice" - carl31 "Salmon Rushdie" - peterbracken "A turbot" - chucknay "Simple answer to that. The strikes are wrong when negotiations are under way, the government has acted in a reckless and provocative manner and both sides need to set aside the rhetoric and get around the negotiating table to stop this happening again" - CryWolf Putdown of the week "The improper use of the expression 'to beg the question' gives me hives" - Frites "Does it actually give you hives? People saying things that they don't actually mean gives me tuberculosis" - sturubbish Briefly speaking "Were you to encounter a sign that said 'Don't eat your own faeces', you'd probably be found five minutes later with a mucky face whining 'Urgh, I don't like it' " - Qu1ncy2000 takes on the Lost in Showbiz "haters" "As I am now completely deaf from too many heavy metal gigs, I find this whole thread irrelevant" - Gareth100 bails out of the big-headphones-versus-little-headphones debate "It is my opinion that the Hoff did more to end the cold war than Ronald Reagan, simply by being a famous (postwar) German and wearing all of the fancy western clothes that East Germans wanted" - Gravenicholas corrects the history books "Hugh Laurie advertising male cosmetics? That face wouldn't know what eye-liner was if it was parading in front of it with its top off" - Mewl sets L'Oreal straight • If you would like to comment on any of the stories in G2, or just want to join in the debates, go to theguardian.com/g2 to add your comments, tweet us @guardiang2 or email us at [email protected] .