Anyone who has read previous posts of mine (should be sectioned) will know of my general benevolence toward our colonial cousins (the occupants of the Isle of Yoosa). For those of you who are uninitiated in this subject, I will help to elucidate in this matter.
Whilst I appreciate the enormous difficulty of prizing ones self away from idyllic surroundings (I hear that Detroit is a virtual Mecca for tourists) and foregoing the gastronomic delights of such epicurean doyens as Colonel Sanders, some of the islanders have become aware of "goings on" over the immediate horizon. Obviously, such awareness is frowned upon by the tribal chiefs, who endeavour to instil the "our way or the highway" version of patriotism in their subjects (so successfully endorsed by Kim Jong Il). Some of these islanders have even gone so far as to obtain travel documents (under what ruse is unclear at this time) and have even been granted passage to distant shores (Big silver bird come down from sky.....).
This behaviour isn't particularly extraordinary and has been going on since April 6th 1917 when President Wilson started organising tours to Europe. Tourism of this kind increased in 1941 after a surprise test match saw the Japanese beating the Pacific Fleet on their home pitch and Hawaii was closed for renovations.
But I digress, the point of all this isn't aimed at those who desire to expand their horizons, more at those who seemingly belittle the experience (which I have seemed to do so far).
You, dear reader, have met the obvious "fish out of water" tourist, the Brits who insist on having an English breakfast and reading "The Sun" whilst surrounded by classic Spanish/Greek/Moorish architecture and a massive selection of local food that has absolutely nothing to do with Fish & Chips. The mentality of these types seems to be centred around them wishing to be at home whilst enjoying sunshine (a "cake & eating" conundrum which bewilders even the nominally sane amongst us), or the afore mentioned pseudo patriot with wanderlust (but no true desire to actually immerse themselves in foreign culture), the type who whisk themselves (or have themselves whisked) through entire continents in the same time as it would take a normal person to drink in the exhibits in an art gallery.
I have (as you would probably have guessed by now) been on holiday with such as these, the sort that will enthuse with gusto about "a great little English restaurant" in Germany and even one who, in Thailand, refused to eat the local food (his loss not mine), instead, listing the fast food outlets he had frequented (happily he was the first of our group to succumb to a gastric ailment). ( If I were blessed with a more mature outlook, I would baulk at using the phrase "Ner nerny ner ner" but I haven't, so I don't!).
There, that deals with the individual, now to harp on (or wax lyrical) about what started this particular rant, I (that would be me) am particularly miffed at reading articles that are "America centric". Let me expand on this (oh go on then, if you must. I must! I must!) the assumption that everyone has blistering broadband, all power supplies are 110v, recipes should be expressed in cups and ounces, the world still knows what inches and pounds are, everyone subscribes to living the American dream, and the blisteringly sideways belief that Americans live in a democracy and enjoy more freedom than any other earth occupant, are all views that persist throughout media that manages to sneak itself under my nose. Stop it at once.
I will endeavour to explode these beliefs on a one to one basis (and in no way a "holier than thou" way due to my country of origin being England, I am painfully aware of my homeland's shortcomings (which is why I moved)).
The entire time I have been on the net (Accessing the sapient ether if you like) I have wished for speed, when I first went online I was impressed if my, pure text, emails came in within ten minutes, I have just managed to get something resembling broadband in Thailand installed and it still will not support HD video (and I'm not complaining, it is still an improvement on using my mobile phone as a modem).
110v is limited to North & Central America and Japan (and for reasons unbeknown to man) parts of Africa, the remainder of the planet has seen sense to a degree and lined up with 220v.
As for weights & measures the International System of Units is the official system of measurement for all nations in the world except for Myanmar (Burma), Liberia and the United States (in a phrase that will be familiar to the American continent "go figure"). Incidently, the reason for the Mars landing craft:
"The initial error was made by contractor Lockheed Martin Astronautics in Colorado, which, like the rest of the U.S. launch industry, traditionally uses English measurements. The JPL navigation team, on the other hand, uses metric measurements in the complex business of figuring out a spacecraft's position relative to moving planets and keeping it on course. The contractor, by agreement, is supposed to convert its measurements to metrics."
The American dream (officially been downgraded) (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-truth-about-the-american-dream-2011-6)
Democracy? Nah! (sorry I have lost the will to live reference this one) when someone can rig (or should that be "frigg" ) an election so obviously and get it past 220 million people (sorry Mr Lincoln when it gets this bad I have to question the legitimacy of your "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.") you have mislaid the meaning of the word, democracy.
Grrr grrr froth froth..................................................
Whilst I appreciate the enormous difficulty of prizing ones self away from idyllic surroundings (I hear that Detroit is a virtual Mecca for tourists) and foregoing the gastronomic delights of such epicurean doyens as Colonel Sanders, some of the islanders have become aware of "goings on" over the immediate horizon. Obviously, such awareness is frowned upon by the tribal chiefs, who endeavour to instil the "our way or the highway" version of patriotism in their subjects (so successfully endorsed by Kim Jong Il). Some of these islanders have even gone so far as to obtain travel documents (under what ruse is unclear at this time) and have even been granted passage to distant shores (Big silver bird come down from sky.....).
This behaviour isn't particularly extraordinary and has been going on since April 6th 1917 when President Wilson started organising tours to Europe. Tourism of this kind increased in 1941 after a surprise test match saw the Japanese beating the Pacific Fleet on their home pitch and Hawaii was closed for renovations.
But I digress, the point of all this isn't aimed at those who desire to expand their horizons, more at those who seemingly belittle the experience (which I have seemed to do so far).
You, dear reader, have met the obvious "fish out of water" tourist, the Brits who insist on having an English breakfast and reading "The Sun" whilst surrounded by classic Spanish/Greek/Moorish architecture and a massive selection of local food that has absolutely nothing to do with Fish & Chips. The mentality of these types seems to be centred around them wishing to be at home whilst enjoying sunshine (a "cake & eating" conundrum which bewilders even the nominally sane amongst us), or the afore mentioned pseudo patriot with wanderlust (but no true desire to actually immerse themselves in foreign culture), the type who whisk themselves (or have themselves whisked) through entire continents in the same time as it would take a normal person to drink in the exhibits in an art gallery.
I have (as you would probably have guessed by now) been on holiday with such as these, the sort that will enthuse with gusto about "a great little English restaurant" in Germany and even one who, in Thailand, refused to eat the local food (his loss not mine), instead, listing the fast food outlets he had frequented (happily he was the first of our group to succumb to a gastric ailment). ( If I were blessed with a more mature outlook, I would baulk at using the phrase "Ner nerny ner ner" but I haven't, so I don't!).
There, that deals with the individual, now to harp on (or wax lyrical) about what started this particular rant, I (that would be me) am particularly miffed at reading articles that are "America centric". Let me expand on this (oh go on then, if you must. I must! I must!) the assumption that everyone has blistering broadband, all power supplies are 110v, recipes should be expressed in cups and ounces, the world still knows what inches and pounds are, everyone subscribes to living the American dream, and the blisteringly sideways belief that Americans live in a democracy and enjoy more freedom than any other earth occupant, are all views that persist throughout media that manages to sneak itself under my nose. Stop it at once.
I will endeavour to explode these beliefs on a one to one basis (and in no way a "holier than thou" way due to my country of origin being England, I am painfully aware of my homeland's shortcomings (which is why I moved)).
The entire time I have been on the net (Accessing the sapient ether if you like) I have wished for speed, when I first went online I was impressed if my, pure text, emails came in within ten minutes, I have just managed to get something resembling broadband in Thailand installed and it still will not support HD video (and I'm not complaining, it is still an improvement on using my mobile phone as a modem).
110v is limited to North & Central America and Japan (and for reasons unbeknown to man) parts of Africa, the remainder of the planet has seen sense to a degree and lined up with 220v.
As for weights & measures the International System of Units is the official system of measurement for all nations in the world except for Myanmar (Burma), Liberia and the United States (in a phrase that will be familiar to the American continent "go figure"). Incidently, the reason for the Mars landing craft:
"The initial error was made by contractor Lockheed Martin Astronautics in Colorado, which, like the rest of the U.S. launch industry, traditionally uses English measurements. The JPL navigation team, on the other hand, uses metric measurements in the complex business of figuring out a spacecraft's position relative to moving planets and keeping it on course. The contractor, by agreement, is supposed to convert its measurements to metrics."
The American dream (officially been downgraded) (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-truth-about-the-american-dream-2011-6)
Democracy? Nah! (sorry I have lost the will to live reference this one) when someone can rig (or should that be "frigg" ) an election so obviously and get it past 220 million people (sorry Mr Lincoln when it gets this bad I have to question the legitimacy of your "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.") you have mislaid the meaning of the word, democracy.
Grrr grrr froth froth..................................................
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