Done once, never again

[Robin.Hood]

On 22/11/2020 at 10:39, Steve_Wilkos said:

Almost had a fight with Jimmy Calderwood in Stonehaven in 2008.

You seem to get yourself into a bit of bother 

[D.A.F.C]

I think because of the amount of American culture we get over here - music, films, documentaries, food etc. - and the fact they speak English, means that people in Britain, even if they haven't been, think they know America quite well.  Two things have stuck out to me every time I've been - how foreign it feels and how poor it is.

If you've got plenty money and don't care then america is better than the uk.
If you're struggling then might as well be third world.

[Highland Capital]

22 minutes ago, D.A.F.C said:

If you've got plenty money and don't care then america is better than the uk.
If you're struggling then might as well be third world.

It might've just been my experience but I found America at night just felt a bit dodgy.  It doesn't help that it's not as well lit as Britain but I could just sense a bit of tension in the air.  The amount of people with obvious mental health problems just wandering around also seems a lot worse over there (not helped by not having an NHS of course).

Edited November 23, 2020 by Highland Capital

[Gus Setsniffer]

4 hours ago, Highland Capital said:

 

I think because of the amount of American culture we get over here - music, films, documentaries, food etc. - and the fact they speak English, means that people in Britain, even if they haven't been, think they know America quite well.  Two things have stuck out to me every time I've been - how foreign it feels and how poor it is.

this was me just before i went and when i arrived, Australia felt far less foreign to me

[Highland Capital]

1 minute ago, Gus Setsniffer said:

this was me just before i went and when i arrived, Australia felt far less foreign to me

Yeah Australia (and I assume New Zealand as well) is a different matter altogether.  The weather might be a lot nicer and of course there are some differences, but the people and the general culture are a lot more like Britain.  When you go to Australia, it feels like a foreign country...but it's not *that* foreign.  America was the complete opposite.

[Melanius Mullarkey]

On 22/11/2020 at 10:39, Steve_Wilkos said:

Almost had a fight with Jimmy Calderwood in Stonehaven in 2008.

Who backed down first?

[Steve_Wilkos]

Who backed down first?

Calderwood and his driver.

[Melanius Mullarkey]

1 hour ago, Steve_Wilkos said:

1 hour ago, Melanius Mullarkey said:

Who backed down first?

Calderwood and his driver.

Standard. Well played Steve.

[velo army]

On 22/11/2020 at 22:05, Trackdaybob said:

I'm in the same boat. I've enjoyed my trips to America but generally, it is a horrific place. Why the UK population seems hell bent on mimicking all their shit confuses me somewhat.

I think it's because most of them have only ever seen it on tv or perhaps a two week holiday and actually think that's what it's like. Stay there for any length of time however, and it soon becomes apparent just how fucked up a country it is.  

Similar boat here. I cycled across it 6 years ago and it was eye opening how fucked up it was. The aforementioned poverty, the ubiquitous flags, the worship of the military, churches everywhere, people being friendly but with a huge chip on their shoulders about the world "hating America". There is more I could list which would be obvious, but man, I was alarmed at how poor it was.

I also quite enjoyed parts of it. Kansas is underrated (when cycling across anyway) and Montana was stunning (weird redneck population though; the most blatantly and frequently racist people). Colorado had the most attractive women by far (visiting Boulder and Denver was like walking through a sports illustrated issue) and the nature there was nice too. It all felt incongruent, like the people and buildings didn't belong (which, of course, they don't).

It all made me pretty grateful to be Scottish tbhqfhwy (to be quite fucking honest with you).

 

[MONKMAN]

The New York subway at night, tells you all you need to know about the mental health crisis in the United States.

[Hedgecutter]

I'm in the same boat. I've enjoyed my trips to America but generally, it is a horrific place. Why the UK population seems hell bent on mimicking all their shit confuses me somewhat. I think it's because most of them have only ever seen it on tv or perhaps a two week holiday and actually think that's what it's like. Stay there for any length of time however, and it soon becomes apparent just how fucked up a country it is.      

I worked in and around Seattle for a summer and discovered that when you get into any working class area away from touristy areas, the place really is a shitehole. I wondered if this was the case everywhere, and random Google Earth streetview drops around other towns/cities seem to back this up. Basically (largely run-down) wooden Hicksville shacks which I'm amazed are connected to any form of grid. Granted they have every landscape there is minus equatorial jungle (which largely makes them overly insular), but their self-declared superiority comes down to the fact that their huge population allows for NASA funding etc which Western countries would undoubtedly match if they had the same population.

 

Anyway... back on topic: sex on the beach. I would imagine that it would be much better if beaches weren't made of the stuff from which sandpaper takes its name.

[TheScarf]

34 minutes ago, Hedgecutter said:

I worked in and around Seattle for a summer and discovered that when you get into any working class area away from touristy areas, the place really is a shitehole. I wondered if this was the case everywhere, and random Google Earth streetview drops around other towns/cities seem to back this up.

Basically (largely run-down) wooden Hicksville shacks which I'm amazed are connected to any form of grid. Granted they have every landscape there is minus equatorial jungle (which largely makes them overly insular), but their self-declared superiority comes down to the fact that their huge population allows for NASA funding etc which Western countries would undoubtedly match if they had the same population.

Anyway... back on topic: sex on the beach. I would imagine that it would be would be much better if beaches weren't made of the stuff from which sandpaper takes its name.

Aye I've noticed that too.  If you go to a random suburban street in sat Chicago or Detroit, the streets are filled with wooden clad shack looking dwellings that genuinely look like Jonestown.  

If you go across the border into Canada, it's totally different.  Actual houses made out of bricks and mortar.  Streets look clean and presentable etc.

[Hedgecutter]

It's the spiders web of shonky power lines that always strike me as jarring in wee American towns.

There's a fascinating story associated with a massive forest fire in California:

https://apnews.com/article/3d35a822b32a447b665281d0bb2e8fd2

They had 100 year old infrastructure, knew it needed maintenance, did f**k all, it all fell down and set the forest on fire. You ken this is going to be a recurring theme.

 

Annoys me too. I just did a random streetview drop (on a small town in TN) and got this.

 

 

Point beautifully illustrated. Makes for a handy film cliche when a tree falls down in the wind as soon as the plot requires a power cut though.

[Honest_Man#1]

4 hours ago, MONKMAN said:

The New York subway at night, tells you all you need to know about the mental health crisis in the United States.

I’m sure I’ve posted the story before in here but getting the subway from Brooklyn back to Manhattan at 2/3am was fucking wild. Woman kicking f**k out of her partner a few feet away, and eventually turning on me and my fiancée just because we were in the vicinity. Genuine feeling of ‘I might get shot here’.

Next stop couldn’t come fast enough to get out, walk a few carriages up and re-board.

[Newbornbairn]

Was about 18 years ago but the wife and I spent 6 weeks in the US starting off spending time in New York State before doing a road trip down to Key West and back. The thing that struck me about NY was the amount of almost totally abandoned little towns along the Hudson River. There used to be loads of mills there and when they went out of business, people just moved on. That was a theme we saw again and again - rather than re-use or renovate, the answer was "fukkit, move on, get a new one". The wife's cousin was a Pastor to a dwindling community and the people who were left had pretty much given up on life.  Places like Schenectady were grim as hell in the bits we got lost in, same with Albany. But then there were places like Alplaus which was the all-American small town dream. White picket fences, flags, neighbours who looked out for each other, a real community spirit. 

[welshbairn]

4 minutes ago, NewBornBairn said:

The wife's cousin was a Pastor to a dwindling community and the people who were left had pretty much given up on life. 

Makes you understand the opioid epidemic a bit, combined with epic overprescribing. 

Edited November 24, 2020 by welshbairn

[mathematics]

On 23/11/2020 at 14:08, Busta Nut said:

It has Willem Dafoe in it. That interests me.

 

@Dons_1988 @Bert Raccoon

Convince me not to look it up.

It’s a great film. Must better than Serbian Film.

Edited November 30, 2020 by mathematics

[Arch Stanton]

On 24/11/2020 at 09:17, TheScarf said:

If you go across the border into Canada, it's totally different.  Actual houses made out of bricks and mortar.  Streets look clean and presentable etc.

Can't remember who posted the YT documentary about Point Roberts (it's a type of US enclave below the 49th parallel and its only land border is with Canada...it's a fascinating watch and kudos to whoever posted it) and the border is a road. On the USA side the houses are valued in the $200k's, on the Canadian side they're $900k and upwards.

 

[maicoman]

On 23/11/2020 at 17:23, D.A.F.C said:

If you've got plenty money and don't care then america is better than the uk.
If you're struggling then might as well be third world.

My brother was over there working as a long distance lorry driver He said a lot of it was like a third world country

[sophia]

On 16/11/2020 at 14:01, BillyAnchor said:

Drink Raki, somehow woke up having blacked out with sick down my back. Either an exorcist moment or some other fecker puked on me but the blackout stopped me knowing. 

 

On 16/11/2020 at 14:40, gannonball said:

You think thats bad I woke up after night out once and somebody shat in my boxers. 

there's got to be a joke in there somewhere