OK, I'm interested.
If a professional gets paid, and an amateur doesn't, what the hell is a pre-amateur?
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Fri 9 Dec 2011, 14:32, 2 replies, latest was 14 years ago)

Damn.
I should have gone for the pre-amateur ejaculation joke, rather than the genuine question.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Fri 9 Dec 2011, 14:33, Reply)

Well, basically, it terms of categories it goes like this
Professional (obviously)
Amateur (usualy of comparable quality to the professionals, but haven't taken the exams which would qualify them as such for various financial reasons)
Pre-Amateur
Intermediate
Novice
Beginner

The bottom four rankings are what you would find in terms of categories at the competitions we usually go to. Once you're effectively too good for pre-am, you stop going to the little comps and go to more of the big ones like this weekend in Paris.

Holy shit I've just realised that I singularly failed to make even one "Last Tango in Paris" joke all weekend. What the hell is happening to me?
(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Fri 9 Dec 2011, 14:37, Reply)

Run out of butter?

( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Fri 9 Dec 2011, 14:38, Reply)

Nah there was masses of it at breakfast, which was unsurpsingly brilliant...
OH I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE
(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Fri 9 Dec 2011, 14:41, Reply)