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trained-pianist
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« Reply #120 on: 22:52:08, 05-09-2008 » |
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But Mr Reiner,
You do understand what a foreign passport worth compare to a Russian one. Have you tried to travel with one?
I am told that majority or people want to leave the country.
(I think I said too much).
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increpatio
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« Reply #121 on: 01:51:12, 06-09-2008 » |
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Here's one a friend just posted elsewhere in the internet when the topic of tipping came up
'ah tipping... haven't had to worry about that for quite a while - it's just not done in japan, which makes life quite simple.
in haneda airport my mum left a three hundred yen tip on the table at a restaurant and after leaving, the waitress chased her down to give her the money she "forgot"'.
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Ruby2
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« Reply #122 on: 12:37:37, 08-09-2008 » |
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And with that in mind - How To Get a seat on the Eastcoast mainline service to London at peak time
# don't buy tickets - instead pretend to be asleep when the conductor comes around
# an "entry ticket" (a true Cultural Difference) entitles you to enter a train in which every seat may in fact be sold, and try to find anything you can get. Alternatively you perch on your own suitcase.
# slip the barman £2 to provide you with a bottle of water and a plastic cup. To these you add the Armenian cognac you've wisely brought yourself. However, the smoked salmon sandwiches are a bargain at 5000p each.
# hover near empty-looking seats - individual solo ones are the best bet.
# seat yourself in comfort until Peterborough, when at least 30% of the population try to get on, most of whom claim to have reserved your seat.
# don't rush to leave after the end, as the entire audience of 2600 is required to enter the tube by one single doorway
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« Last Edit: 12:39:12, 08-09-2008 by Ruby2 »
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"Two wrongs don't make a right. But three rights do make a left." - Rohan Candappa
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Mary Chambers
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« Reply #123 on: 14:13:21, 08-09-2008 » |
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The American race for The White House (or whatever the current expression is) seems to show up a good few cultural differences betwen the UK and the US. The overt sentimental patriotism, the appointment by a major party of Sarah Palin to (apparently) so little protest, both strike me as "things that couldn't happen here". I may be wrong, but I hope I'm not.
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« Last Edit: 14:52:20, 08-09-2008 by Mary Chambers »
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Don Basilio
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« Reply #124 on: 14:15:13, 08-09-2008 » |
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And of course the compulsory religiosity.
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To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh: a time to mourn, and a time to dance
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increpatio
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« Reply #125 on: 14:20:19, 08-09-2008 » |
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The overt sentimental patriotism, I find it can be a little OTT in ireland, though generally patriotism seems to eminate from sentimentalism, rather than the other way around. It seems to be a way for politicians to show how sincere they are over here. Not sure how it is in the UK. In the US it seems rather more enmeshed in everything for it to be a simple tool. the appointment by a major party of Sarah Payne to (apparently) so little protest,
Eh? |
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perfect wagnerite
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« Reply #126 on: 14:27:49, 08-09-2008 » |
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The overt sentimental patriotism
I'm not so sure about this one - it seems to me to be getting worse - not just with politicians getting worked up about concepts of "Britishness" (usually in a completely incoherent way) but in the way in which some political parties on the non-Democratic right (to use a circumlocution for that group we don't name here) and some of the tabloid press use nostalgic images of the good old days. And then there's all that nonsense about putting the flag of St George on cars and houses during football competitions - something that's only started in quite recent years. My impression is that there's a lot more flag-waving here than there used to be - and IMO that can only be a bad thing. |
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At every one of these [classical] concerts in England you will find rows of weary people who are there, not because they really like classical music, but because they think they ought to like it. (Shaw, Don Juan in Hell)
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Mary Chambers
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« Reply #127 on: 14:36:56, 08-09-2008 » |
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the appointment by a major party of Sarah Payne to (apparently) so little protest,
Eh? No-one seems to have stopped her being appointed. That's all I meant. It means her views are officially acceptable, I'd have thought, and I find that astonishing. |
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richard barrett
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« Reply #128 on: 14:44:51, 08-09-2008 » |
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the appointment by a major party of Sarah Payne to (apparently) so little protest,
Eh? No-one seems to have stopped her being appointed. That's all I meant. It means her views are officially acceptable, I'd have thought, and I find that astonishing. You mean Sarah Palin though, I presume. |
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increpatio
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« Reply #129 on: 14:56:50, 08-09-2008 » |
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You mean Sarah Palin though, I presume.
AH. That makes more sense. What views of hers do you find so astonishingly officially accepted? (I spent several moments trying to construct the above sentence in a flowing manner. I do not think I fully succeeded). |
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Mary Chambers
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« Reply #130 on: 14:59:06, 08-09-2008 » |
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the appointment by a major party of Sarah Payne to (apparently) so little protest,
Eh? No-one seems to have stopped her being appointed. That's all I meant. It means her views are officially acceptable, I'd have thought, and I find that astonishing. You mean Sarah Palin though, I presume. I didn't even notice I'd got it wrong when I read increpatio's comment. Why on earth......? I know her name perfectly well. Perhaps I should be on the Senior Moments thread. I've corrected it now. [Very, very embarrassed emoticon] (Emoticon, what kind of a word is that?) |
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trained-pianist
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« Reply #131 on: 15:04:11, 08-09-2008 » |
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Is it possible to say that in America a lot of what is said at the moment is just political posturing before election. I don't know if it is that important, but I am not very political. I usually repeat what other people say.
Too much of waving of any flags makes me usually frightened. There is nothing wrong with waving flags and feeling patriotic. I am only frightened when the national feelings are brought to a very high pitch.
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Mary Chambers
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« Reply #132 on: 15:06:37, 08-09-2008 » |
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You mean Sarah Palin though, I presume.
AH. That makes more sense. What views of hers do you find so astonishingly officially accepted? Being anti*-abortion even in cases of rape or incest is the one that shocks me most, if it's true that she is. All her views appal me, but that's one I would have thought few people would condone. A belief in creationism is also very worrying. * Edited for obvious reasonsI'm also having trouble with sentence construction today. |
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« Last Edit: 15:28:10, 08-09-2008 by Mary Chambers »
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Morticia
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« Reply #133 on: 15:09:28, 08-09-2008 » |
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I thought she was anti-abortion, even in cases of rape or incest? Unless I've got the wrong end of the stick. Always a possibility.
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Ted Ryder
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« Reply #134 on: 15:13:22, 08-09-2008 » |
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I'll have some of what Mary is having  . |
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I've got to get down to Sidcup.
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