Saturday, December 08, 2018

People still love getting their picture taken in front of Fascbook(tm).

7 comments:

  1. Capital of Texas RefugeeSunday, December 09, 2018 4:26:00 PM

    It's a stupid tourist thing ...

    If you go to the infamous Abbey Road cross-walk (a.k.a., "zebra crossing") in London, you will see lots and lots of groups of four people trying to do their rendition of the infamous Beatles album cover.

    It's just what they do.

    Watch the Abbey Road zebra crossing camera for yourself.

    However, most people don't do this at night.

    The Beatles are pretty much gone, the Abbey Road Studios are on hard times, and yet people still do this.

    Facebook can go bankrupt tomorrow (and I'd see this as a Great Good Thing, actually), but if this thumbs-up thing still exists in thirty years, there will still be people doing what they're doing in front of it today.

    Tourists will always be tourists.

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  2. Capital of Texas RefugeeMonday, December 10, 2018 7:36:00 PM

    "Where's the former Fascistbook HQ?"

    "It used to be at the intersection of Hitler Way and Reichstag Fire Boulevard ... but all that's left of it is a small pile of charred rubble surrounded by a parking lot, and all that's left of Fascistbook is this sign."

    *snicker*

    JUST GIVE IT THIRTY YEARS :-)

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  3. A little extreme but funny. They haven't killed anyone yet. Right?

    Texas Refugee - I don't even understand ho that is a tourist thing. It's not even like it surrounded by interesting things. Like if you going to something anyway - might as well hit the thumbs up sign. but holy hell.

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  4. I'll admit it ... I've been to that spot on Abbey Road.

    I did not, however, take a photo of myself in the zebra crossing.

    When I was there also predates that webcam (and mobile phones with cameras, and the Internet as we know it, etc.), so there's that.

    I brought it up because it's like the Facebook Thumb -- there's really nothing around the Abbey Road zebra crossing itself.

    You could get an OK cup of tea at the St. John's Wood Tube station back in the day, and maybe there's still a little tea kiosk there, but once you leave the Tube station, there's really not much to look at other than some nice and safe looking houses and condos.

    And yes, Facebook actually has led to some people being killed, enough that the topic is in fact a click-bait category ...

    Try searching for "Facebook streams a murder" just for the inevitable horror.

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  5. It's funny you say that. I guess you get used to things you'd think were in the middle of nowhere being right next to the freeway like Stonehenge. Or the pyramids being right next door to a Mcdonalds.

    It's a good point though. And I'd forgotten about the streaming stuff on facebook. But I think Syria wore me out. It's doubtful that any mundane suicide is even worth a look after that.

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  6. Iraq was what did it for me -- when I have nightmares of really shitty security situations, I wake up and find I'm not in Iraq, which is always a relief.

    When I smell old beater cars burning lots of oil, I sometimes have a flashback to burning oil wells.

    But also, it's a KFC (at Giza), not a McDonald's (which is at Luxor), and it's a really welcome bit of air conditioning (when it works).

    Be sure to stop at the camel rentals nearby so you can get a smelly beast to drag your slowly dessicating hide across the not-quite-as-bleached-out desert. They generally don't let tourists take motor vehicles into the sites and riding a bicycle there just makes things worse for you.

    Also, do you like your KFC and McDonald's completely Halal? :-)

    For what it's worth, the cola products taste better because they don't come from the USA, or maybe it's just the heat. *shrug*

    Stonehenge is next to the A303, which isn't so much a freeway as much as it is the only road with any capacity through that part of England.

    It has traffic circles (*ahem* roundabouts) instead of exits, which should be a big clue.

    They're multi-lane traffic circles you have to slow down for.

    This is essentially the highway form of Pure Evil.

    If you'd like a starter course on roundabouts, there's a very "magical" roundabout in Swindon where you can get your bearings. *snicker*

    But do you know what else is very close to the A303 that you'd love to visit?

    The RAF Fleet Arm Museum! Oh, wait, there's this other thing ...

    The Haynes International Auto Museum north of Yeovil! :-)

    Haynes auto manuals were started by a bunch of tinkerers in Yeovil, which sorta makes sense if you consider the number of RAF mechanics in the area who probably worked on vehicles as well.

    Definitely go for the scenic route: fly into Bristol, pick up a rental, and then drive down from not-really-or-actually-Bristol to the A38 so you can see the countryside on the way down.

    If you do it right, you can hit the town of Cheddar and the Cheddar Gorge that afternoon, stay in Wells and tour it and Glastonbury the next day, and then the day after you can hit the two museums and Stonehenge. (If you think that's bullshit and take the M5 instead so you can get the "real British freeway feel", you'll get to see "scenic" Sedgemoor Services and be put miles out of the way, making that considerably less likely.)

    So there's another vacation you can plan for ... :-)

    Also, back in Washington State, do you know about the auto museum in Tacoma?

    It's definitely worth a visit.

    BTW, yes, I am one of these obnoxious people who's been nearly everywhere.

    DEAL WITH IT :-)

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  7. Thankfully I don't dream. I haven't been to war, but I have a lot of images in my head I wish weren't there. But I'm not one to shield myself from reality. I'm just saying it would have to be pretty crazy for me to search it out. Not because I'm squeamish, but because the stuff I have in there is pretty crazy shit. Every time I thinkI've seen the worst of humanity - I find out I am wrong.

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