Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
The comment international perception of The Ugly American is met with a challenge based on personal experience.
The first thing I ever heard about Americans was that they all carried guns. Then, when I came across people who’d had direct contact with this ferocious-sounding tribe, I learned that they were actually rather friendly. At university, friends who had traveled in the United States came back with more detailed stories, not just of the friendliness of Americans but also of their hospitality (which, in our quaint English way, was translated into something close to gullibility). When I finally got to America myself, I found that not only were the natives friendly and hospitable, they were also incredibly polite. No one tells you this about Americans, but once you notice it, it becomes one of their defining characteristics, especially when they’re abroad.
This is very strange, or at least it says something strange about the way that perception routinely conforms to the preconceptions it would appear to contradict. The archetypal American abroad is perceived as loud and crass even though actually existing American tourists are distinguished by the way they address bus drivers and bartenders as “sir” and are effusive in their thanks when any small service is rendered. We look on with some confusion at these encounters because, on the one hand, the Americans seem a bit country-bumpkinish, and, on the other, good manners are a form of sophistication.
:
[F]or a week or so after landing, a form of what might be called Ameristalgia makes us conscious of a rudeness in British life — a coarsening in the texture of daily life — that had hitherto seemed quite normal.For example. I pay a considerable sum of money to play indoors at Islington Tennis Centre. Eighty percent of the time, the next people to play indicate that your time is up by unzipping their racket covers and strolling on court, without saying a word, without a smile, without acknowledging your existence except as an impediment. In America that would be not just unacceptable but inconceivable.
What is the relevance of this anecdotal trivia to a serious debate about the status of America in the world?
Most of my American friends were depressed and gloomy about the Bush years. Several said that if Bush were re-elected in 2004, they would leave the country. He was and they didn’t. The bottom line is that given the choice, Americans love it rather than leave it.
Hat tip to Karol, who notes that the letter-writer needs new friends.
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Morgan, did you happen to catch the Simpsons 20th anniversary special that was on TV tonight?
Basically, it was a bunch of celebrity blow-hards going on and on about what the series has meant to people around the world, peppered with a few close-ups on particular characters, and the exploits of a few (mentally ill) die-hard fans.
It was mildly entertaining, but I could have done without Seth McFarlane (creator of Family Guy and two other series) cracks about how clever and amusing it was to make fun of Jesus, or some other libtard ranting about how Barbara Bush called the Simpsons “the stupidest thing on television.” He (I forget who it was) goes on to say, “Hah, Barbara! Did you see the kid you raised?” Uhm……
I mention all this here because the special dealt fairly extensively with how people in various other countries where the show is seen (90 at last count) have come to perceive Americans as a result. Naturally, many of the foreigners interviewed (a curious number of them in Argentina of all places) seem to think we’re all like Homer – fat, stupid, reckless, greedy, lazy, incompetent, apathetic. (I personally take umbrage with the Lisa character, who has come to personify pretty much everything I hate about the American left.)
All I could say was, “Thanks a TON, Matt Groening.” Like there weren’t already enough people looking down their noses at us. It’s funny how these people deride our people and culture even as they drink our sodas, eat at our burger joints, and watch our TV shows and movies, – not even on US soil, mind you – but all while sitting comfortably in their own countries (many of which are defended by American troops, I might add).
- cylarz | 01/10/2010 @ 23:42