Given the reputation of the American Education system (note that this is not a criticism, but a repeating of a global view reinforced by the current Commander-in-Chief), was it a surprise to espy this in the trash?
That's not steam, it's Wall Street CEOs bonuses going up in smoke:
I know that there are a lot of Irish in New York, but GREEN police cars?!
That was an old police car, check out the new ones:
No comment is available on whether these are in service in order to cut costs given the economic downturn (or as one commercial on TV puts it, "the crummy economy"). Now New Yorkers often like to go on about how New York is the city that never sleeps and how everyone in London is in bed by 8, and one of the central things to this to them is the subway, as it runs 24/7. However, at what cost? Picture a London Tube station, with nice shined floors and a general nice appearance (before you get onto a banged up old District Line train... if they haven't all been taken out of service yet). Know how they get the floors so shiny, and stations nice looking? They close at night! Contrast this with the shoddy untidyness of the NYC Subway below:
Next on the list is a bit of truthiness:
Recession? What recession? Someone didn't tell these guys:
Now I am currently living in Freeport, and I was very underwhelmed (as I dare say everyone else was when it happened) to discover that Freeport is a partner with Walldorf, Germany. I've always wondered just what towns get from this partnership/twinning nonsense - is it supposed to impress a visitor that, in Freeport's instance, a random town in Germany has "Freeport, USA" displayed? I was also impressed by the vaguery of the claim that Freeport is the "boating capital of the
East". I suppose they mean the entire East coast of America (I doubt that's true in any case), but the vagueness of just saying the East is ironic given that it is in the Western hemisphere - the East just calls up pictures of coolies in Shanghai for me:
I saw one of these signs on Freeport Town Hall (although this one is from Faneuil Hall, Boston), and thought it vaguely menacing in its offer of safety in the event of nuclear war. Nothing like scaring the populace about what's going to kill it in order to get them to agree with whatever you want to do...
I would find it hilarious to meet someone who has a criminal record for loitering. There must be someone in Boston with this, as this was the scene of this sign:
Obviously, when you move to a new country you expect to find some cultural differences. Being able to buy guns in Walmart, trampling store workers to death when there are sales, cinemas open on Christmas day, having a complete cretin in charge... all new and exciting things for me to discover. Nothing for me though will top the fascination that America has with Macaroni Cheese (or Mac'n'Cheese as they like to say). It's everywhere. The thing that I find most peculiar, coming from a culture that does not see Mac'n'Cheese as a staple diet, is that you can get it as a side dish at places ranging from Boston Market (think of a place that makes takeaway roast dinners) to Burger King and KFC. Now I can't quite imagine tucking into my Whopper or Kentucky Fried pieces of chicken and thinking that the perfect complement to the taste would be some pasta in a cheese sauce, but here is your evidence:
Don't think that I hate America though. It's just fun to make fun!
Presumably the birds and not bored men waiting for the women to come back
(It was a literal filling, being Michael Winner's secret sauce). But on the day of the holiday, I warmed to it a little. Could it have been that it is a rather honest celebration? Possibly, but I think that the fact that we deep fried a fucking turkey in a vat of oil for 45 minutes (you'd be surprised at just how juicy and tender and non-fatty the actual meat is) had a lot to do with it:
Well that and I ended up falling asleep on the bathroom floor...
Now I am currently living in Freeport, and I was very underwhelmed (as I dare say everyone else was when it happened) to discover that Freeport is a partner with Walldorf, Germany. I've always wondered just what towns get from this partnership/twinning nonsense - is it supposed to impress a visitor that, in Freeport's instance, a random town in Germany has "Freeport, USA" displayed? I was also impressed by the vaguery of the claim that Freeport is the "boating capital of the East". I suppose they mean the entire East coast of America (I doubt that's true in any case), but the vagueness of just saying the East is ironic given that it is in the Western hemisphere - the East just calls up pictures of coolies in Shanghai for me:
I saw one of these signs on Freeport Town Hall (although this one is from Faneuil Hall, Boston), and thought it vaguely menacing in its offer of safety in the event of nuclear war. Nothing like scaring the populace about what's going to kill it in order to get them to agree with whatever you want to do...
I would find it hilarious to meet someone who has a criminal record for loitering. There must be someone in Boston with this, as this was the scene of this sign:
Obviously, when you move to a new country you expect to find some cultural differences. Being able to buy guns in Walmart, trampling store workers to death when there are sales, cinemas open on Christmas day, having a complete cretin in charge... all new and exciting things for me to discover. Nothing for me though will top the fascination that America has with Macaroni Cheese (or Mac'n'Cheese as they like to say). It's everywhere. The thing that I find most peculiar, coming from a culture that does not see Mac'n'Cheese as a staple diet, is that you can get it as a side dish at places ranging from Boston Market (think of a place that makes takeaway roast dinners) to Burger King and KFC. Now I can't quite imagine tucking into my Whopper or Kentucky Fried pieces of chicken and thinking that the perfect complement to the taste would be some pasta in a cheese sauce, but here is your evidence:
Don't think that I hate America though. It's just fun to make fun!
Election night was pretty exciting. Most people that I met were thinking the same as the folks back home in England, namely "Please don't let the red-necks fuck up this election too". Luckily it all went to plan (even if it looks slightly less stunning when you look at the popular vote rather than the electoral college votes - The electoral votes were Obama 278, McCain 132 and Toss Ups 128, whilst popular vote was 52% Obama and 46% McCain, still a good margin though). I can't speak for the areas that thought that Sarah Palin was equipped to be second-in-command, but in New York, people were so excited, almost over-the-top in some cases (made me think of the equivalent of England winning the World Cup again). But there is an air of excitement as people look forward to having someone competent back in office.
