Food plays a big part in both Diwali and Eid - and we certainly profit from it here! Tomorrow we're having a staff lunch to celebrate both - non-contributers pay £2.50 and everyone else brings a dish.

Basically I get to gorge myself on home-made curries, samosas, breads, pickles etc in the name of cultural diversity. I don't touch the sweets - Indian sweets are so sweet they melt your teeth just by looking at them.

I took my camera on a walk through Town Hall Square and into the market. It's a bit slow as I haven't found a way to edit it yet and I'm far too impatient to wait until I have.

Better movies will follow I should think.

But bear with it until the market - that's colourful and noisy at least, as well as showing our vibrant ethnic mix.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc4OUq9Ei5M

That was fun, although it looked like a good day to stay inside and drink hot toddies. :guinness:
How did you keep the camera so steady while you were walking?

By not drinking hot toddies :)

Actually it's not cold here at the moment - I was wearing a t-shirt (as it's so damn hot in the office) with just a light poncho over the top.

You must pad about on little cat's feet because there wasn't even any footstep jar to them. I had to chuckle ay the camera looking both ways crossing the street. :D

Nice. Just...nice.

I don't know about anyone else, but watching this video by SG left *me* feeling a little misty. Thousands of miles away, on a chilly, rainy Fall afternoon, people are going about their lives, almost indistinguishably from the way that I go about my own life. Just a few weeks ago, Selene and I were at our City Market here in KC, seeing, smelling, hearing much the same things as SG showed us in the video. Christmas is similarly making an ever earlier appearance here, same as is evidenced in her video. Families move with purpose, children in tow, men and women examine the wares and probably pat themselves on the back for making a better deal on better produce than they could have gotten at the supermarket.

Somewhere else in the world, people are devising ways to kill other people, blow them into tiny bits in some godforsaken shithole; people who probably have had experiences much the same as what we just shared with SG and her Leicester community. People with children in pink coats, clutching balloons and whining that they want to go home.

Why in the name of all that is Holy do we kill each other? Why can we not all live in harmony, and shop for our vegetables in peace?

Why do I think of shit like this just from watching a simple video of daily life?

Because Sundae Girl brings out the best in you, too. :thumb:

I think perhaps it's the season. It's not far off the longest day when the year flips itself over again. There's a good reason why the early Christian church set up Advent as a time of reflection.

When I heard about the killings in Iraq this Sunday (Remembrance Sunday) I cried. It reminded me so much of Enniskillen in 1987 - my Mum and I sat with our arms around eachother crying over that one (Remembrance Day bomb in Northern Ireland - 11 killed, 63 injured)

People killing their own countrymen and women. Makes my throat hurt even now. Any regime that glorifies the death of civilians is morally bankrupt.

Anyway!
Enough of that I guess.

Time to go out stalking the streets for streakers :)

Right - consider this a work in progress

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf2LMiNW1Is

It's my first attempt to film my bus journey to work
I set off late this morning, so I wasn't at the front of the bus, grrrr - don't these people know who I am?

It's 6 minutes and believe me, apart from shaky camera-work and the bus stopping to let people on, it's 6 minutes of nothing.

But I will get a better one and link to it by the end of the week (I hope). And I will learn how to edit! Anyway, I'd be fascinated by other people's journeys to work so I'm simply posting a link for other curious oddities like me :)

I'd video my commute, but I'm sure no one wants to watch 35 minutes of rush hour traffic from inside a rattly ass car.

I admit, I was shocked at the fact the bus only takes 6 minutes. But that doesn't include the wait (average 15 minutes and it's a 20 minute walk!)

You know - although I'd balk at 35 mins as described, I'd love if you took some blue-tak, fixed a camera on your dashboard and filmed a trip in your area. And get Selenerati to commentate too - she has a lovely voice.

I'm more widely travelled than my colleagues, but I wouldn't know Missouri if it dropped its Fruit of the Looms and flashed me!

I absolutely loved both your videos, SG. I really enjoy the whole video thing and will try to talk Els into taping at least part of our morning commute sometime this week. I think that exchanging information through these video shorts really shows each other how we are living.

Thanks so much for sharing with everyone.

1) I thought Brits did away with double decker busses?
2) Was that the driver sitting in front on the top deck?
3) Everyone is driving on the wrong side of the road? :D
4) No commentary...? Sniff...

I am really enjoying your videos, SG. Please send us more!

Those busses are great for filming. Our busses let you see the sides of trucks and street signs.

I commute in the dark so you wouldn't see much. :D

"The Loaded Dog" Please tell me that's a pub.

My local pub is called "The Shouder of Mutton".

Why don't we have cool pub names like this? My local bar is called Harrigan's (always some bloody Irish name and you know damn well the owners are Italian or Norwegian or similar) and nearest tavern is called Norton's. Sigh.

I'd love to live in a town that had street names like Gallowtree Gate...but NOOOOOOOoooooooooo. Such is the disadvantage of living in a new country. We've no history to draw upon. No castles, no fairy hills, no 14th Century haunted graveyards. No catacombs lined with the bones of heretics. It's enough to depress a person.

That really made me chuckle :P especially the catacombs lined with the bones of heretics hehe.

Talking of cool street names:

In Halifax there is a street called Gibbet Street, it's where the Gibbet used to be. Cutting across Gibbet Street.... is Hope Lane.

The Halifax Gibbet is the reason for this medieval proverb: "From Hell, Hull and Halifax, God preserve us."

Darling Dana--what the hell is a Gibbet?

*grins*
Halifax Gibbet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The Halifax Gibbet in the town of Halifax, West Yorkshire, was an early guillotine. The town had held the right to execute criminals since 1280. Although there is early reference to a gibbet, there is no evidence about the method of execution until the sixteenth century, when the town acquired a fixed machine which cut the head off the condemned criminal. Local law required that “If a felon be taken within the liberty of Halifax...either hand-habend (caught with the stolen goods in his hand or in the act of stealing), back-berand (caught carrying stolen goods on his back), or confess and (having confessed to the crime), to the value of thirteen pence half-penny, he shall after three markets...be taken to the Gibbet and there have his head cut off from his body”.

It was believed that the law against theft was much more strictly enforced to protect the cloth industry, which had grown very important.

The reputation of Halifax for strict law enforcement was noted by Daniel Defoe, who gave a detailed description in his Travels, the antiquary William Camden and by the "Water Poet" John Taylor, who penned the Beggar's Litany From Hell, Hull and Halifax, Good Lord deliver us. The reputation seems to have been greater than the facts, as between 1541 and 1650, the official records show that only 53 men and women were executed by the Halifax Gibbet. The Gibbet was taken down in 1650, perhaps in response to the execution of Charles I, but a replica was erected in 1974.

Awesome!

You know, I guess Gettysburg (In Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia) is a pretty haunted place. Lots of civil war soldiers lost their lives there. Supposed to b suffused with the restless energy of them.

If anywhere is going to be haunted (and I have severe misgivings about that as a possibility:P) one would assume Gettysburg to be regular Central Station of restless spirits.

Sorry for the detour SG, I'll get out the way of the bus after this :P

Bri, check out this link. If you really want beautiful and haunted historical locations, Kirkstall Abbey is hard to resist:).

http://www.kirkstall.org.uk/abbey/

I have replaced the old video with a newer (shorter) one from today, where I got pole position. Well, the front seat on the top deck anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBozp_oFjp0

The driver sits downstairs on all buses - so it would just have been a passenger in the other video. I understand that some London Double Deckers have been replaced by articulated buses (much to car drivers' disgust) but the double decker is alive & well in Leicester. What has been phased out totally are the old Routemaster buses, which you accessed via a platform at the back of the bus and bought your ticket from a conducter. Having spent a large part of my childhood in London I mourned their passing - I remember more than one occasion where it felt as if I'd taken off as a parent or Grandparent dragged me by the hand onto a moving bus. Knowing my family it probably wasn't moving very far or very fast, but you don't know that as a 6 year old. It did mean you could get off where & when you fancied though - often a boon in heavy traffic.

The Loaded Dog is indeed a pub. Not a traditional one sadly, a made up name for a student pub. But that's the one I've mentioned before, that does a curry, chips and a pint of beer for £2.95 (less than a McDonalds meal) so I forgive it.

My favourite traditionally named pub was in Oxford - the Eagle & Child. No idea how the name came about. Very few pubs are known by their full names anyway - the George for the George & Dragon, the Crat for the Aristocrat and the Plant for the Last Plantagenet are some of my locals.

There's a pub in Bolton called "The House without a Name", other wise known as the no name pub. My ex's dad lived near it. Was established around 1820 I think.
Best one in Bolton though is: The Man and Scythe. 1st built 12th Century, rebuilt again in 17th Century and again in the Victorian era. Bits of it are I believe from the original construction. The 7th Earl of Derby was held there and taken out for execution frm there in 1651. There's a skull behind the bar which is traditionally assumed to be Derby's.....But the pub is known to Boltoners usually as "T' Cider 'Ouse".

A pub named the Last Plantagenet? Be still my heart!

See--that is another thing that is wrong with Americans. They do not take the time to think up good bar/tavern names.

You should open one :)

The pub is named for wicked old Richard III, the last of the Platagenets. He's supposed to have consulted a soothsayer in Leicester before the battle of Bosworth Field (didn't do him much good, she predicted his death... and was correct!)

What a brilliant name for a pub.

AND it's a Wetherspoons, so the old men turn up for beer and breakfast about 10.00, and are still there at 17.00 when we pile in for cheap shots and steak & ale pie :)

If you don't mind sticky tables and the couple next to you fighting aover the head of their two year old it's not a bad place to drink.

SG,

I still get the same video as yesterday.....nothing new...do I need to clear my cashe or what?

I think it's cleaner remake of the first one. ;)

Oh dear
I saved the new one to YouTube without checking it - it was, in fact the same video.

This is the new one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7tJ64Hj4Jk

And yes, it is much cleaner than the filthy, filthy first video :)

Am I missing something?

Or is this post modernistic irony?

Probably explains why Mrs sproglet was so keen to move away from Leicester when she graduated from DeMontford.

I don't think you're really missing anything :)
Unless it's the fact that most of the Dwellars live outside the UK.

I am fascinated by the day to day similarities and differences between people's lives. When Slang goes abroad the first thing I ask for is a picture of a local menu, the price of a beer, a picture of a market.

It's not "Check out this cool video, these cool pictures! OMG you'll be so excited!" because they won't excite anybody. It's here to share small slices of life with people who are interested.

I sit in hope of pictures & clips from US & Aus supermarkets. backyards, gardens, commutes... I am Sundae "interesting" Girl.

It would seem you're absolved of the mendacity of life.

Can I suggest that you go out, find somebody mutually attractive and have some sex with them.

Spark it up a little :-)

It is a dream of mine to go to Europe.
Problems. Can't get a straight answer as to the wheelchair accessibility, on average.
Cold and wet=oweeee.
$, of course.
Time, not trying to get sympathy, but true.
Honestly, the first is the the most important.

The grass is always greener.

But hey, we all need dreams.

P.S. we have wheelchairs in Europe, last time I checked.

Someone's been taking his word-a-day desk calendar a little too seriously.

Calendars are for wimps, as is lunch I believe.

However, people from Leicester are made of sterner stuff.

There are wheelchairs in NY too... and almost no accessibility. I cannot get my electric into most restaurants. The Americans with Disabilitys Act is pretty much ignored.
Not an answer. If I want to go to a pub, will there be a ramp?

My friend...If you have money and you want to get pissed, almost any pub in England, Scotland or Wales (not forgetting Ireland) will welcome you with open arms. In fact I'll go so far to say they'll probably knock the door frame out or erect a heated tent in the front garden if you'll share a pint and a story or two with them.

In fact, bollocks, you can come round my house and we'll get pissed in my back garden together whilst thumbing our noses at the stair building bastards of the world.

Well, that certainly *would* make the videos a whole different ballgame, anyway.

Note: Edited to add that, when I first read sproglet's comment, I thought it was intended as humor. Now that I've read his infantile rant about Jinx' auto accident, I've decided that the shit that was said here on his part was fucking pompous and irritating as well, so I want to add that sproglet should continue to either fuck himself, as LJ has suggested, or continue to consume feces and expire, as I have encouraged him to do.

Sproglet's the one who needs the sex, I think. Obviously a serious case of SRS...

You're a good person, SG. You know how I can tell?

You thanked the bus driver.

Well, if you go to England, don't go to Leicester....it's not safe there, the birds are viscous. :haha:

I noticed that too. It was nice. I really like her videos. I need a new digital camera that will take videos too. Then I could bore you all with riding metro trains through dark tunnels.

If it's personal attacks you're into, you've picked the wrong person I'm afraid, I don't give a flying fat rat's arse. If you've got a valid argument that might change my opinion on something then you'll earn my respect.

Having said that, I'm married with kids, so you're probably right, I do need some good sex for a change.

As for the infantile poo eating remark, I'll try anything once, you first though...

A bit of sex - although a welcome diversion - wouldn't make me lose my interest in other people's lives. But suggestions are always welcome of course.

Anyway.

Yes, I did thank the bus driver, but that's pretty standard here. I noticed when I was waitressing in London that Americans don't say please and thank you as much as we do. But once I realised it was just a cultural thing and nothing to do with manners it didn't bother me - after all the tips were so much better!

If I get bad service in a bar my main protest is not to say Thank You. But it's so ingrained it pops out anyway. Grrrrrrrr.

Thanks for the kind comments - as I'm only providing links I assume I'm not taking up bandwidth (does that make sense?) so I'll keep posting them. I'll include commentary on the next one.

Why does no one just answer the question?

Thank you for your kindness, btw.

You're doing fine and it's much appreciated, thank you. :D

btw, the picture of the birds was from the Washington post.

I forgot about your picture in my excitement at being told to go & have sex!

:smack: Don't tell them about the birds! We market ourselves on not having dangerous spiders, snakes, mosquitos... we don't like to talk about the feathered peck monsters.

I'm afraid the cat's out.....er bird's out of the bag, after making the Washington post's day in pictures section. Now the whole world knows your dirty little secret. Well, one of your dirty little secrets. :D

Meh...you're an ass.

I don't care what your opinions are, and I wouldn't waste my time trying to change them. What bugs me is your judgemental fucking attitude, as though you know what's best and everyone else sucks. Piss on that.

rkzenrage, the situation re: wheelchair access is mixed. Some places are very very good and conscientious and some places aren't. Mostly the places that aren't are very old (usually listed) buildings which would be difficult or expensive to adapt. Most pubs and large shops are fine. Some of the smaller places aren't.

Thanks. I appreciate that, as well as the PM from SG.
At least I know there would be some ramps.

The problem, I think, is that some of these people are killing each other in the name of all that is Holy to them.

And others in the name of what is sacrosacnt to them......and in the name of whatever might most benefit their country.

Another stroll through the city centre, with commentary.

Quite random again I'm afraid, without even nearly falling over for your delight. One of these days I'll plan it properly in advance and show you something of real interest and make intelligent observations. In the mean time it's just me wandering about in my lunch hour and trying not to get annoyed with the other pedestrians. Can't they see I'm doing my programme?!

Genuine apologies for the sound quality. It is poorer than it should be as I didn't account for the wind (Leicester is the windiest place I have ever lived). I'll keep my mouth closer to the mike on top of the camera if I do another one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOyC-5urvbA

I like these strolls. Looks like a nice place to live. Lots of hubub, but pedestrian friendly.

I haven't tampered with this (as you can tell from the reflection of the lights!). Spectacular sunset tonight - the colours are true as far as I could tell.

View from the office: