America

[leviramsey]

Great post stally, agree wholeheartedly. I imagine your friend that lived in Vermont was in a small town though. In a bigger city I doubt it is any different then Brum. For example store owners in Chicago, unless you are a daily repeat customer, are probably the same miserable twunts that are in London/NYC/LA etc etc.

There is no such thing as a bigger city in Vermont...

Burlington, Vermont: the largest city in the state and 39k population in 16 square miles

Vermont is, well, not representative of America (to the extent that every so often they grouse about wanting to secede and go back to being the Vermont Republic)... a very strange cultural blend of "left" and "right" ideas generally holds sway (e.g. for many years, Vermont's two senators and congressman were, respectively, a Republican, a Democrat, and a Socialist)... or consider that it's a state with a fairly heavily regulated and state-controlled economy, yet also has the most lenient gun laws in the country (which is to say, more or less, none... I suspect that any of you reading this could go to Brattleboro on Monday and buy a machine gun without too much hassle!).

[Dom_Wren]

Charleston, SC. Ever get a chane, GO!

How far is this from Orlando? The parents have been on about going back to Orlando for quite a while and maybe taking a road trip while they're there. I think me and my brother may be going too, so we'll get to see a few of the SE states.

Bout a 5-6 hour drive, 1 hour flight. Stay downtown in the 'old market' area. LOADS, and i mean LOADS of fanny. Real laid back place. Isle of palms beach during the day, the windjammer bar is on the beach, then downtown at night, there loads of histroy around as well, one cool thing is that there are no buildings allowed to be built in downtown bigger than the tallest church spire so its really nice.

Pm me for any other info as ive spent a shed load of time there, been a while for me though!

[The_Rev]

I assume having an English accent aids in the pursuit of fanny?

(Though I'm acutely aware that fanny means something completely different in the USA, and its probably best not to let people know you are looking for fanny, especially if you are in the vicinity of somebody who is good with colours?)

[leviramsey]

Just a point about why Americans dont tend to leave America, they dont really have much reason too when there is so much of America to see. It is a continent sized country, and the differences in climate, terrain and culture across the place are huge.

To put it into perspective, its further from Miami to Seattle than it is from London to New York. Levi is probably as close to Birmingham as he is to Los Angeles.

(from my nearest major airport, though I may be using that term loosely)

BDL - BHX: 3278 miles

BDL - LAX: 2527

(Halifax, Nova Scotia is probably the closest major place to equidistant from BHX and LAX: 2786 miles to Brum and 2974 miles to LA)

I'd add that, until the past decade, Americans didn't need a passport to travel to Canada or Mexico (or a good portion of the Caribbean)... so with nearly a whole decent-sized continent accessible without a passport, few people got passports, which in turn cemented their tendency to not travel outside of the passport-free zone... it might be interesting to see the extent to which Schengen area Europeans in 20-30 years dispense with passports and only holiday in the Schengen area.

[The_Rev]

Ill say San Diego then.

And Ill make all your distances by road rather than air. Then the point stands.

[Dom_Wren]

I assume having an English accent aids in the pursuit of fanny?

(Though I'm acutely aware that fanny means something completely different in the USA, and its probably best not to let people know you are looking for fanny, especially if you are in the vicinity of somebody who is good with colours?)

Well i look like the back end of a dented RUC van and ive had more good looking birds than the pope has shit out fluffy white animals

[leviramsey]

I've been through the desert

On a horse with no name

[kurtsimonw]

Charleston, SC. Ever get a chane, GO!

How far is this from Orlando? The parents have been on about going back to Orlando for quite a while and maybe taking a road trip while they're there. I think me and my brother may be going too, so we'll get to see a few of the SE states.

Bout a 5-6 hour drive, 1 hour flight. Stay downtown in the 'old market' area. LOADS, and i mean LOADS of fanny. Real laid back place. Isle of palms beach during the day, the windjammer bar is on the beach, then downtown at night, there loads of histroy around as well, one cool thing is that there are no buildings allowed to be built in downtown bigger than the tallest church spire so its really nice.

Pm me for any other info as ive spent a shed load of time there, been a while for me though!

Sounds great.

I assume having an English accent aids in the pursuit of fanny?

When I went to NY a few months ago people said an English accent doesn't really mean anything since there's so many English/Irish there anyway. It does seem to get the attention of the girls (when they can understand what you are saying). Unfortunately for me it seemed to be the 30-35 kinda women. Might be nice for some of you, but I'm 21!

I don't see how people can dislike Americans in general. I do find quite a few of them to be slow or annoying, but they mean well and are really polite to you.

I do want to visit all 50 states at some point. My current total is 4, though I can't realy count New Jersey since I've only see the airport!

[leviramsey]

The difference in time between East Coast and West Coast is 3 hours.

Its about half past five in New York at the moment. Half four in Chicago (1 hour) Half three in Denver (2 hours) and Half past two in Seattle (3 hours.)

I never actually knew the US had 4 times zones, I always thought it was -5, -6 and -8 GMT. Well, you learn something new every day.

8-5=3 ...

Well, the US does cover six time zones:

GMT-5 (Eastern), GMT-6 (Central), GMT-7 (Mountain), GMT-8 (Pacific), GMT-9 (Alaska), GMT-10 (Hawaii-Aleutian)

(still more if you count various semi-colonial outposts, mostly acquired from Spain a century or so ago... the most notable of these being Puerto Rico (which is GMT-4 (Atlantic))

The University of Hawaii has capitalized on this to some extent: since college basketball games normally last about 2 hours, that school's home games start after the games on the mainland outside of Alaska have finished. They get a fairly large amount of betting interest from degenerate gamblers making one last roll of the dice trying to get a profitable day of betting.

[The_Rev]

New York doesnt really count anyway. Its an international city, not an American one. Head into the provinces mate, try your luck where every second Joe isnt from overseas!

[leviramsey]

I do want to visit all 50 states at some point. My current total is 4, though I can't realy count New Jersey since I've only see the airport!

You're not missing much with regard to Jersey...

Actually, south of the Raritan New Jersey isn't that bad of a state... partially because they're more apt to be Eagle/Phillie/76er/Flyer fans than Giant/Yankee/Net/Devil fans.

[The_Rev]

You dont give a shit about Alaska, Hawaii or Puerto Rico unless there is an election on though Levi.

Seems odd that Alsaka and Hawaii were such high profile places in the 2008 election though, but even then that was because of that Sarah Palin and Barrack Obama.

[Mark8691]

Beautiful country. But i must admit many Americans drive me crazy! Speak so much shit all the time. Well demonstarted with some of their opinions of their new president..

"He's a Terrorist"

"He's the Antichrist!" wtf!?!

" He's a communist"...because he wants socialized mecidine!

I miss England at times..

[MMFy]

Been three times, would live there given half a chance.

Absolutely the best place I have been in my life. No questions...

[leviramsey]

You dont give a shit about Alaska, Hawaii or Puerto Rico unless there is an election on though Levi.

Puerto Rico can't even vote for president (though they are granted some say in the nomination process... which of course contributes slightly to the "OMG Obama is a Muslim!!!!!" meme).

[rjw63]

I've been through the desert

On a horse with no name

Some of those baba Booey songs had me in stitches and I dont even knowthe ****! :-)

[kurtsimonw]

I do want to visit all 50 states at some point. My current total is 4, though I can't realy count New Jersey since I've only see the airport!

You're not missing much with regard to Jersey...

Actually, south of the Raritan New Jersey isn't that bad of a state... partially because they're more apt to be Eagle/Phillie/76er/Flyer fans than Giant/Yankee/Net/Devil fans.

That doesn't make sense though, why would there being more Phillies/Eagles/6ers/Flyers fans be a good thing? I'd more likely say something out of turn given my US sports teams and end up without a head! Seeing the Nets/Giants would pretty much be my only reason to reutern to New Jersey anyways.

New York is fantastic. Not just the city itself, but I spent alot of time further upstate in Dutchess County or whatever its called and it's brilliant.

Florida is about the best holiday I've ever had. Great weather, incredible girls with.. not much clothing on and Universal Studios!

Connecticutt (or however you spell it) I didn't really see much of. should I bother ever going there again, anything of note?

[leviramsey]

I've been through the desert

On a horse with no name

Some of those baba Booey songs had me in stitches and I dont even knowthe ****! :-)

I've long wanted to do a prank call to 606 where I tout Eboue's younger brother Bob...

[rjw63]

I've been through the desert

On a horse with no name

Some of those baba Booey songs had me in stitches and I dont even knowthe ****! :-)

I've long wanted to do a prank call to 606 where I tout Eboue's younger brother Bob...

Muhahahahahaa :-)

can I get the Stern show over here in any way?

It'd be worth it to hear that Baba Booey guy get the piss ripped outta him

[leviramsey]

Connecticutt (or however you spell it) I didn't really see much of. should I bother ever going there again, anything of note?

Jesus H Christ and the Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse"]

We live in the dullest state

Package stores all close at eight

Malls are full of optometrists

And restaurants we hate

Swimming across Lake Quassapaug

Stealing makeup, catching frogs

Cutting our feet on broken bottles

As we wade in the Shepaug

It’s true for horses, cows and dogs…

Connecticut’s for ****

That’s all there is to do.

I love to listen to classic rock

and have sex with you.

Doing hole shots at the mall

Writing Ozzy on a wall

Watch the corn get tall

There’s nothing else to do at all.

Goin’ where we always go

Doin’ what we always do

Waitin’ to turn into the people

We are bound to turn into.

What else do other people do?

Connecticut’s for ****

It’s the Nutmeg state

If we can’t afford to buy antiques

then we just copulate

Connecticut’s for ****

And Massachusetts too

I want to climb up the sleepy giant

and have sex with you.

Up in Fairfield

In Old Lyme

We’re just **** all the time.

Out in Derby

Down in Kent

We’re all busy getting bent

In the Constitution State.

Connecticut’s for ****

While we’re waiting to

Turn into the people

everyone here turns into.

Connecticut’s for ****.

There’s nothing else to do.

I wanna listen to classic rock and have sex with you.

We all love to **** in Connecticut.

We’re all getting **** in Connecticut.

Let’s ****!

As with New Jersey, Connecticut's public image is somewhat distorted by the portion of the state that's a "Home County" to New York (more or less the 203 area code). The 860 area code is more or less standard New England: dying mill towns, white steepled churches on town greens, mostly Red Sox/Patriot fans, etc.