8752 replies to this topic

[Mr. Roboto]

I've been in China for 2 days now and have 9 more to go.  Very, very different than any other country I've been to.

 

Please elaborate further upon your return. 

[PERM BANNED]

Just their commitment to order is fascinating.  Like when I go to the office each day, everyone automatically files into 2 lines and quickly enter the elevator without saying a word.  When I got off the plane, you would have thought a bomb was ready to go off.  None of that lackadaisical, take my time attitude you see in the US.  The cab drivers make American taxis look like a 7 year old on training wheels.  They zig and zag through traffic cutting each other off, but somehow avoid accidents.  If they tried that in America, there'd be a 30 car pile up within minutes.  In that regard it's a lot like India, though China is much cleaner than India.

 

The smog is a nightmare, but they don't have the EPA.  You can certainly see the American/western influence on the younger people though.  Their clothing could be swapped for anything you see people wearing the streets of the US, just like Tokyo.  My hotel has a VPN running through Hong Kong, as the government blocks sites like Google and Facebook for the general public.  Another interesting tidbit is that Chinese people can't own their passports. All of that is held by the goverment, and issued to them once they're going to leave the country.  Then they hand it back over as soon as they return.

 

They try to add english subtitles to every sign at every store/restaurant,  but it's obvious they're using a very poor version of google translate, as their translations don't make much sense and add punctuation in the middle of words.  

 

Being a white person, I stand out like a sore thumb and get all kinds of stares; some good, some bad.  I'm only 5'9, but for once in my life I get to feel tall.  One of my colleagues is a blonde, white Australian and she gets harassed by men all the time.  One dude walked up to her and said hello to each of her breasts.  Another guy propositioned her for marriage.  A lot of cab drivers refuse to take us because we're white/western, so now I know what it's like to be a black person hailing a cab in NYC.  I'm staying in a very nice Marriott, but one of my co-workers keeps getting woken up by prostitutes knocking on his door asking if he wants to have some fun.  I haven't been so lucky yet.

 

I'm going to Hong Kong for the weekend, so I'm hoping that turns out to be a fun experience. 

[Mr. Roboto]

I won 564 bucks on penny slots yesterday, on my second pull! That's the most I've ever won on anything. I should have been working, but went into the local casino, stuffed my face at the buffet and then stuck a 20 in that machine. I also had ice cream. So far...no guilt. 

 

I'm giving it four more years until bankruptcy court. 

[freedom78]

That'll buy you two GNR pit tix.  Live it up!

[Mr. Roboto]

haha

[Mr. Roboto]

Just got back from SoCal...its was on fire. Also raw sewage in the water, so no beach. Bad week for California. 

 

Shit drive...8 hours to do 270 miles. Even out in the middle of absolutely nowhere there is traffic...I don't know how they pull that one off, but they do. 

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Just saw a peacock on my wall. Then I saw him again, in my garage as I was leaving. Then when I came home, that bird was at my back door just walking around! 

 

We had a sign up last week alerting peeps of mountain lion sightings. I found that difficult to believe, but perhaps it was true. I don't know where this thing came from. 

 

 

 

 

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[lynn]

Do peacocks exist in the "wild" where you live?  Or maybe an escapee from a bird sanctuary or a zoo?  Pretty, though.   

[Mr. Roboto]

I honestly don't know. There is an area about a mile away that's named "Lone Mountain." It is mixed use land. Some subdivisions, farm land, and huge compounds. But big acreage (for here) in some areas and hugs up against the beltway. After that it's rather desolate. I saw a peacock walking down the side of the road there once. And if somebody told me they saw a mountain lion there I'd be more apt to believe it. I guess one could saunter over here and live on the golf course. I have seen a coyote in my hood for sure, which makes me nervous for my doggie at night. 

 

According to Las Vegans on reddit, they see 'em all the time in my area but they are not native. Guess I should have called somebody. 

[Mr. Roboto]

Whenever I see a guy on his phone in the restroom, I flush the urinal immediately. Even if I haven't started yet...heh heh

[Timothy]

Speedo drops a locket!!

[Its Cousin]

He's always come back before. I'm betting this GNR tour will bring him out of the woodwork.

I've always been around; I just lurk, now. I couldn't remember the password for my other account, and the email associated with it is lost, too. Apparently, back in the days when I was living in a drunken stupor, I registered this account... don't remember doing it, but I don't recall a lot from then.

So, I'll give you guys an update: finally got the leg to heal (thanks Obama!), and quit drinking. Well, mostly quit- I had a few drinks on my birthday about 6 months ago, but I pretty much quit about 3 years ago. I'm a grandfather, now, too. My grandaughter will be 3 in a few months and is an absolute joy. Most of my time online, these days, is spent on Reddit, usually in the science related subs and ones of local interest... I definetly stay away from the political stuff.

Edit: I haven't really been following the reunion stuff. I thought about going to the show in Cinci, but didn't... had I only known. Oh well.

[freedom78]

Welcome back...

[Timothy]

well I'll be a son of a biscuit!!

[freedom78]

Another reason to build the wall...

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Reports of Creepy Clowns in Woods Spooking Residents of Greenville, S.C.
by Alex Johnson

Multiple reports that menacing clowns are lurking in the woods — sometimes, allegedly, offering kids cash to follow them — have the residents of Greenville, S.C., looking over their shoulders and even brandishing guns.

 

The Greenville County Sheriff's Office said it has boosted patrols around the Fleetwood Manor apartment complex after it learned that men opened fire into woods behind the complex last week. Residents told a deputy that the men were spooked by what an incident report described as "recent clown activity."

 

A purported picture of one of the clowns — which NBC News hasn't been able to verify — was posted Tuesday to Twitter.

 

 

According to the incident report, multiple residents, some of them children, said they saw the clowns — who they said were carrying flashing green laser lights — creeping around on the night of Aug. 21.

 

Some of the kids said the clowns showed them "large amounts of money," according to the investigative report. But when the deputy canvassed the abandoned house the kids said they'd been lured to, nothing suspicious was found.

 

Donna Arnold, a Fleetwood Manor resident, said her son was one of the kids who saw a clown.  "At first, I thought he was telling a fib, and I said, 'Go in the house, and we'll talk about this when I get in,' because I didn't want it all over the place," Arnold told NBC station WYFF.

 

But the next day, "30 kids ... come up to me and said, 'Ms. Donna, Ms. Donna, there's clowns in the woods, there's clowns in the woods.' My child was with me, so I knew they had to see something. There was more than one kid that seen them, so I feel confident that he was telling the truth."

 

Managers of the complex circulated a flier last week asking residents to "ensure your children's safety — keep them in the house during night hours."

"At no time should a child be alone at nights, or walking in the roads or wooded areas at night," the flier said.

 

Odd sightings of clowns causing alarm aren't new.  In September 2013, a clown prowling the streets of Northampton in England led to a police investigation. It later emerged that he was simply a college student on his way to cheer up a dying little girl.

 

And as recently as earlier this month, a gruesome-looking clown carrying black balloons terrorized Green Bay, Wis. Police said that he was harmless and that there was no law against walking around in public in a clown costume.

Commenters on horror movie forums point out that gore movie director Rob Zombie, ex-front man of the band White Zombies, has a new movie, called "31," opening soon.

It's about a gruesome game, "the goal of which is to survive twelve hours against a gang of sadistic clowns," according to its promotional materials — which, in fact, prominently feature clowns.

Sneak previews are Friday. One of the preview theaters is in Greenville.

Saban Films, the movie's distributor, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.