Must say I've really enjoyed reading the voluminous response to my open e-mail to Brian "The Paragraph God" Medus. And, with a few honourable exceptions, it looks as if we have finally found a sport that an englishman might actually win (heaven forbid) - 'American Baiting'.
I did toy with the idea of calling the sport 'American Throwing' but when one considers that the average American last saw his feet when he was 15 (stone that is, not years ... although possibly both!) a quick rename was called for! Couldn't do it *too quickly* though as it may have lost some of our American readers.
No really I am joking. A country that gave us Star Trek, Star Wars, Harrison Ford, Kiss and Dido (amongst others) can't be all bad. Of course we'll quickly pass by Mariah Carey, Britney Spears and N-S(t)ync (amongst even more!). Many of my compatriots do worry somewhat about your nation though. For despite being an economic and military superpower without equal in the world - you choose to elect (eventually) a head of state who thinks Paris is in Texas! Moreover events such as the McCarthy trials are still in living memory and that inate and genuine fear of all things foreign and different to your homespun ideals is genuinely disturbing to myself and many others - including some wise and farsighted Americans of course.
Anyway this pbm forum is probably not the best place for such discussions, and I hope all are able to take these comments in the - generally - light hearted way they are intended. One thing that you all should do though, united as we are in our love for Lord of the Rings & all things Tolkien -- come to Birmingham (in the UK Brian!). Here you will see many of the places and buildings that inspired Tolkien to write his masterpiece, and give me a shout when you come, I'll gladly take you to watch a football game - Aston Villa naturally 
Matthew
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Ahhh, you see, paris is in texas, along with london, rome, carthage, naples,
berlin, moscow and many others.
···
----- Original Message -----
From: "Matthew Riley" <matthew@mrassociates.co.uk>
To: <mepbmlist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2001 4:42 PM
Subject: [mepbmlist] American Baiting
Must say I've really enjoyed reading the voluminous response to my open
e-mail to Brian "The Paragraph God" Medus. And, with a few honourable
exceptions, it looks as if we have finally found a sport that an englishman
might actually win (heaven forbid) - 'American Baiting'.
I did toy with the idea of calling the sport 'American Throwing' but when
one considers that the average American last saw his feet when he was 15
(stone that is, not years ... although possibly both!) a quick rename was
called for! Couldn't do it *too quickly* though as it may have lost some of
our American readers.
No really I am joking. A country that gave us Star Trek, Star Wars,
Harrison Ford, Kiss and Dido (amongst others) can't be all bad. Of course
we'll quickly pass by Mariah Carey, Britney Spears and N-S(t)ync (amongst
even more!). Many of my compatriots do worry somewhat about your nation
though. For despite being an economic and military superpower without equal
in the world - you choose to elect (eventually) a head of state who thinks
Paris is in Texas! Moreover events such as the McCarthy trials are still in
living memory and that inate and genuine fear of all things foreign and
different to your homespun ideals is genuinely disturbing to myself and many
others - including some wise and farsighted Americans of course.
Anyway this pbm forum is probably not the best place for such discussions,
and I hope all are able to take these comments in the - generally - light
hearted way they are intended. One thing that you all should do though,
united as we are in our love for Lord of the Rings & all things Tolkien --
come to Birmingham (in the UK Brian!). Here you will see many of the places
and buildings that inspired Tolkien to write his masterpiece, and give me a
shout when you come, I'll gladly take you to watch a football game - Aston
Villa naturally
Matthew
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Middle Earth PBM List - Middle Earth and Harlequin Games
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Aston Villa?! Is that some new UK minivan? For you Americans visiting
the British Isles and vicinity (at least Ireland, Northern Ireland, and
Scotland), you may have trouble spotting their version of a minivan. . .
think of your average go-cart, only rectangular! The comment made about
us Yanks last seeing our feet at 15 brought back memories from trips to
Scotland and the Irelands my past two vacations. After visiting their
pedestrian-thronged locales, you begin to understand why so few of
"them" are overweight compared to us Americans-- they hoof it a whole
lot more! Not too many of us Americans care to walk the half-mile to
the grocery or convenience store, but over yonder you'll see old timers
in their 80's trekking up the local hilly roads with three sacks
groceries in their arms! Of course, gas prices double ours (and more)
may affect their desire to hop in a vehicle and burn their money. . thus
(in my estimation) the relative scarcity of monstrous sport utility
vehicles and soccer/football mom driven minivans! Really, the minivans
are hilarious-- the Mercedes one has to be one of the most hilarious
looking vehicles in the world!
Pat McDougall
Matthew Riley wrote:
···
Must say I've really enjoyed reading the voluminous response to my open e-mail to Brian "The Paragraph God" Medus. And, with a few honourable exceptions, it looks as if we have finally found a sport that an englishman might actually win (heaven forbid) - 'American Baiting'.
I did toy with the idea of calling the sport 'American Throwing' but when one considers that the average American last saw his feet when he was 15 (stone that is, not years ... although possibly both!) a quick rename was called for! Couldn't do it *too quickly* though as it may have lost some of our American readers.
No really I am joking. A country that gave us Star Trek, Star Wars, Harrison Ford, Kiss and Dido (amongst others) can't be all bad. Of course we'll quickly pass by Mariah Carey, Britney Spears and N-S(t)ync (amongst even more!). Many of my compatriots do worry somewhat about your nation though. For despite being an economic and military superpower without equal in the world - you choose to elect (eventually) a head of state who thinks Paris is in Texas! Moreover events such as the McCarthy trials are still in living memory and that inate and genuine fear of all things foreign and different to your homespun ideals is genuinely disturbing to myself and many others - including some wise and farsighted Americans of course.
Anyway this pbm forum is probably not the best place for such discussions, and I hope all are able to take these comments in the - generally - light hearted way they are intended. One thing that you all should do though, united as we are in our love for Lord of the Rings & all things Tolkien -- come to Birmingham (in the UK Brian!). Here you will see many of the places and buildings that inspired Tolkien to write his masterpiece, and give me a shout when you come, I'll gladly take you to watch a football game - Aston Villa naturally
Matthew
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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Hi Pat
Not sure if I understand you correctly. Can you clarify please:
1) Failing to be overweight is a bad thing?
2) Walking is bad?
3) Small cars are bad?
Matthew <---------- confused of Birmingham
···
----- Original Message -----
From: "Patrick & Stacey McDougall" <psmcdoug@home.com>
To: <mepbmlist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2001 4:13 AM
Subject: Re: [mepbmlist] American Baiting
Aston Villa?! Is that some new UK minivan? For you Americans visiting
the British Isles and vicinity (at least Ireland, Northern Ireland, and
Scotland), you may have trouble spotting their version of a minivan. . .
think of your average go-cart, only rectangular! The comment made about
us Yanks last seeing our feet at 15 brought back memories from trips to
Scotland and the Irelands my past two vacations. After visiting their
pedestrian-thronged locales, you begin to understand why so few of
"them" are overweight compared to us Americans-- they hoof it a whole
lot more! Not too many of us Americans care to walk the half-mile to
the grocery or convenience store, but over yonder you'll see old timers
in their 80's trekking up the local hilly roads with three sacks
groceries in their arms! Of course, gas prices double ours (and more)
may affect their desire to hop in a vehicle and burn their money. . thus
(in my estimation) the relative scarcity of monstrous sport utility
vehicles and soccer/football mom driven minivans! Really, the minivans
are hilarious-- the Mercedes one has to be one of the most hilarious
looking vehicles in the world!
Pat McDougall
Nope- I'm siding with you folks from over the sea on this one. I was
impressed to see so many fewer obese folks when I was over in Scotland,
Ireland, and N.Ireland. Seeing communities with pedestrian-friendly
design also lightened my heart (I'm a Planner for a fairly sizeable
Recreation and Parks department, and am perpetually frustrated by the
way the "old guard" in my area refuses to adequately respond to the
growing need for pedestrian safe/friendly walkways and bikeways.
Typical argument-- Q: "why aren't we providing bike lanes or paths
alongside this new road project so people can bike safely or bike to
work if they choose?" A: "how many people do YOU know that bike to
work?!" (i.e., the old "Catch 22," as we'll never know how many folks
WOULD bike to work if the roadways were actually safe to use by
bicyclist!). I'm thrilled to be living in a "side community" off of
major roadways, which is almost entirely affected by local vehicular
traffic only. There are plentiful sidewalks (though many suddenly end
at ridiculous points), and 1001 different routes to take by skipping
this court, or backtracking through that drive. On a greater scale, I
LOVE the attitude we found in most of Scotland (especially the
highlands) in terms of private property/real estate. Most Americans
would be aghast to find that local farmers in Scotland (and other
European locales, so I'm told) have no problem with hikers/walkers
traversing their properties (just close the gate behind ye!). I know
this is going to hit a nerve of many of my fellow American's, but. .
over here in the land of "what's mine is mine" and rampant NIMBYism (Not
In My Back Yard), people have become so ridiculous about personal
property rights, and would just as soon shoot someone who steps through
their front gate than politely ask them if they needed anything! Of
course, a wee bit of that attitude may derive from fears that if someone
entered your yard and was hit in the head by a falling pine cone you'd
get sued for a trillion bucks, but that's another story. One last note
to end with a bit of humor-- I must say, the smallish cars over in the
UK and vicinity are rather hysterical looking-- 99.9% of Americans
haven't driven something with three wheels since they were hell on
wheels atop their faithful tricycle!!!
Pat
Matthew Riley wrote:
···
Hi Pat
Not sure if I understand you correctly. Can you clarify please:
1) Failing to be overweight is a bad thing?
2) Walking is bad?
3) Small cars are bad?
Matthew <---------- confused of Birmingham
----- Original Message -----
From: "Patrick & Stacey McDougall" <psmcdoug@home.com>
To: <mepbmlist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2001 4:13 AM
Subject: Re: [mepbmlist] American Baiting
> Aston Villa?! Is that some new UK minivan? For you Americans visiting
> the British Isles and vicinity (at least Ireland, Northern Ireland, and
> Scotland), you may have trouble spotting their version of a minivan. . .
> think of your average go-cart, only rectangular! The comment made about
> us Yanks last seeing our feet at 15 brought back memories from trips to
> Scotland and the Irelands my past two vacations. After visiting their
> pedestrian-thronged locales, you begin to understand why so few of
> "them" are overweight compared to us Americans-- they hoof it a whole
> lot more! Not too many of us Americans care to walk the half-mile to
> the grocery or convenience store, but over yonder you'll see old timers
> in their 80's trekking up the local hilly roads with three sacks
> groceries in their arms! Of course, gas prices double ours (and more)
> may affect their desire to hop in a vehicle and burn their money. . thus
> (in my estimation) the relative scarcity of monstrous sport utility
> vehicles and soccer/football mom driven minivans! Really, the minivans
> are hilarious-- the Mercedes one has to be one of the most hilarious
> looking vehicles in the world!
>
> Pat McDougall
>
>
>
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