How would you spend 5 days in Verona?

[KL70]

In English and in as creative, inventive and eloquent a manner as possible and just in one short sentence (no need for an essay, or a long paragraph) if money was no limitation, how would you spend 5 days in (preferably in present day) Verona, Italy ?

I'm researching the numerous adaptations of Shakespeare in the media for a media studies college course and would be grateful to obtain any replies to a survey I need to do for it on the above question. I would prefer people being creative, poetic, articulate and witty, rather than offer 'I'd do this and go see that' banal replies.

If you want to respond, the criteria for responding is :

A normal, eloquent, poetic, articulate response, using any witty, inventive wordplay, that appeals. Alliteration, use of double or even triple anagrams, etc.

For example, each of the first letters in the word Verona written vertically, can be horizontally matched with words to stand for something, not just once. With extra words added, the last letters of each line, can vertically spell Verona on both the left and right sides of each line.

[Koa]

I'm not sure if it can help at all but i LIVE in Verona...

I've just joined the forum, not sure i'll be very active, and i'm not into Shakespeare, but if by chance you need info about the real place, well, her i am.

[imthefoolonthehill]

*wonders how the homework assignment turned out*

[CelestialBeastie]

:) As a tourist (which is absolutely the worst way to visit a place) I didn't find Verona to be a very interesting (or clean) place. But of course, Koa, you have a much better idea of what it is really like so I won't insult it further.


Answer: I WOULD FIND A NICE ITALIAN BOY TO REENACT THE TRAGEDY OF "ROMEO AND JULIET" WITH (EXCLUDING THE PART WHERE
I DRINK THE POISON"

That is the answer that I would give (although ( :evil: or perhaps because) I am a little sick of Italian boys), although you probably preferred something a bit tamer. How did your assignment go?

[fayefaye]

I'd love to visit Verona. it's so cool u live there, koa. suits a literature forum perfectly. i don't know what i'd do there though.

[Jay]

I'd find a quiet place (if there is any, you know of any Koa?) and would just try to have fun, maybe look for a guy...

Sorry, not very poetic I know.

[fayefaye]

I'd like to meet koa. D though if everyone else is going guy hunting, i guess i'll come too. D

[Blade]

for those of us who are guys, a quiet place where i can draw some natural scenery will suit me just fine 8)

[Jay]

Haha Blade, so lasses can't draw :D?
I know you didn't say that and didn't want to say that (or at least I hope so). So you like to paint? What's your fav object to draw (seeing as you'd look for a scenery I'd guess that, but what kind of scenery? Rivers, medows, mountains...)

[fayefaye]

i like to draw random landscapes.. but i don't actually sit around with a sketchbook in case someone comes along and thinks i'm a real weirdo-or looks at the sketchbook and realises that i have no artistic skill (which is true)

[Blade]

me being from NH mountains are fairly abundant so i've had alot of practice on them so they would probably be my preferance 8)

[fayefaye]

what does the NH stand for? oops

[Blade]

New Hampshire

[Jay]

Are the New Hampshire's mountains nice? Could you describe any of your pictures? (you don't have to if you don't want to, just me being nosey...)

[Blade]

D sure i'll describe one of my drawings...

Its sunrise, i'm about 2 or 2.5 miles away, you can see the forest, and the mountains become visible about halfway up, they're whitecaps, the mountain of the far left of the painting is a bit taller than the rest and you can see the suns first rays of light coming inbetween the other two...i got this scene from the town of Exeter, New Hampshire, thats the town where i was born so i know many spots such as the one i drew

[Jay]

Hmmmmm... seems nice. But then I like everything (well, almost) that has sunrise/sunset, montains and maybe a river in it.
Would you mind a lot going on? :oops: Just got my fantasy started...

[Blade]

no i dont mind at all, actually i prefer a scene that has alot goin on as opposed to a scene that is focused extremly on one thing P

[fayefaye]

me too. but sometimes paintings that are focused on one thing can have a lot of depth and beauty. i love sunrises. i think they beat sunsets by far. (even if it is the same thing in reverse)

[Jay]

I love pictures with big full moon... scary clouds, dark forrests, black trees, mountines...

[fayefaye]

i love the night sky. stars. i wish i owned a telescope. cry

[Blade]

8) up here you get it all sunrises, sunsets, fullmoons everything, the naturality of this place is astounding

[fayefaye]

sounds nice.

[Shea]

NH is a beautiful state! My Husband and I spent a couple of days there on our honeymoon and climbed Mt. Monanauk (I think that's spelled right) It was a gorgeous view from the summit! Later that day, we drove to about the middle of the state, I can't remember exactly where off the top of my head, and we stopped a "The Country Braid House" because of a brochure I saw in the hotel we stayed at. Scince it was also a day or two after my birthday, my husband got me an intsruction book on making braided rugs. I always thought that New England traditions were wonderfully nostalgic!

{Though I have no idea what all this has to do with Verona}

[Koa]

Oh i had totally forgotten about this... Leeet me show off about my place a bit by answering to random stuff... Yes I really think it suits a literature forum ;)

There is plenty of places to draw here, it's not uncommon to see a painter at a corner of a street...

Quiet places...well there aren't many, I love some spots but they're usually quite full of tourists...plus remember Italians are loud and chaotic (*sighs*)

Someone said Verona is dirty...well how can you expect any corner of Italy to be clean??? That's pure utopia!!! (*sighs again*). I think it's incredibly beautiful though, it's the first time I see someone claiming the opposite... But well, tastes are tastes.

Italian boys??? LOL. Why do you think I'm such a depressed lonely girl? If you look like a top-model and like disco you might stand a chance... otherwise, welcome to my loneliness (*keeps sighing*).

[fayefaye]

oh.. that sounds so nice. oh, c'mon koa. at least u have cute boys to look at! here we got nothin'! well, not NOTHING. but not much at all. there's nothing romantic about australia.

[Blade]

i've been to australia once...it was fun but not outstanding...i think its just a bit overrated

but if you're looking for quiet places to draw might i sugest my favorite place on gods green earth...Valencia, Spain...only one word to describe that place...DAM

[fayefaye]

overrated? i didn't know it was rated at all! lol.

[Blade]

haha, yeah it gets alot of hype here in the states

[fayefaye]

seriously? wonder why!

[Blade]

i dunno...i've never been there...but its shows as kind of a resort type place, ya know, beaches wildlife...so people think its some outstanding place

[Shea]

probably because of things like "Crocadile Dundee" and The Outback Steakhouse. You know, all the commercialized things.

[Blade]

yeah thats probably it, i usually try to avoid such things

[Koa]

Yeah Australia is thought to be cool here too... maybe because it's so faraway...and because of the reversed seasons I guess... and of course the beaches etc (like we didn't have beaches here ;))

[Blade]

haha right now...me n 4 of my friends r on a road trip right now...we're sittin here on a beach in cali...life is good

[Shea]

Ha, I grew up in florida where I could practically walk to the beach if I wanted. I've been swimming since I was 6 weeks old.

[Blade]

at the moment we're just leaving San Fran...n my laptop is out o power

[fayefaye]

i LOVE the beach. it 's the best place in the world to be. i think i diss australia too much. it is pretty nice. it's got good beaches. it can just be really boring sometimes, because of it's isolation. i spose for ppl in america that's part of it's charm, but for me it's it's worst part. i used to live in england. great thing about that is it's close to france and the rest of europe (but it's over populated, etc,etc.)

[fayefaye]

btw, most australians really hate that whole stereotype. u know, hats with corks hanging off, idiots with bad accents, etc. that sort of outback stereotype. i've never met anyone who likes steve irwin, and i probably never will.

[Blade]

Originally posted by fayefaye
btw, most australians really hate that whole stereotype. u know, hats with corks hanging off, idiots with bad accents, etc. that sort of outback stereotype. i've never met anyone who likes steve irwin, and i probably never will.

haha well said fayefaye...yeah the beach is nice...but give me a big city ne day... i lived in chicago for a while but the place i really liked was my birthtown...Valencia, Spain...thats the place to go if your looking for a good time

[Shea]

ughh! Get me away from these beaches, put me in a quaint farmhouse, preferably in an area where the seasons actually change and I'll be happy. But I love my husband more and his work stays in cities.

[nicholasburrus]

Shakespere is DEAD

[Jay]

Well, Shea, farmhouse... I could find one around here, take your hubby for a vacation ;), you can stay all year, we do have four seasons ;).

[Jay]

Nicholas, I believe we've all noticed that little thingy... your point? If you don't want to discuss Shakespeare, then don't.

[fayefaye]

farmhouse? i'd love it for a little while.. then the smell of cow poop and isolation would get to me- i'd pack my bags and head for the city. but i spose it'd be really nice for a while- a week or so, out there with nature and sunsets.

[Blade]

yeah, my grandparents live on a farm...its nice to go for a few days but its the routine that always gets to me...i'll take the city

[Jay]

I'd took a ranch... with a lot of horses... anyone in a need of an eager helping hand :p?

[Isagel]

I like the country in theory. Taking it easy.
In reality it drives me mad.
I have trouble with relaxing.

[Blade]

i dont find it hard to relax...i just dont like to ;)

[fayefaye]

i like to relax until i get bored. then i desperately need something to do. if i sit around for too long i get really restless. i'd love to go to a ranch with lots of horses-i've never been horseriding. :( :(

[Blade]

i haven't ridden a horse either, haha i just realized how off the topic of this thread we are

[fayefaye]

LOL. i know! and we've kept it going for so long, too. it's considered pretty rare to have never ridden a horse though. when i tell ppl that it usually has an element of shock value, which i appreciate. like:' u haven't?! u're so deprived!'

[Koa]

Originally posted by fayefaye
i like to relax until i get bored. then i desperately need something to do. if i sit around for too long i get really restless

Same here. I love to relax but after a while it makes me feel guitly and useless.

Never have ridden (?) a horse is rare??? I don't know anyone who did. It's considered a rather posh thing here, horses are associated with rich people. But then I live in the middle of a city, maybe in countryside areas it's a little more common, but still not very popular in Italy I think.

[Blade]

well horse ranches are fairly common where i live, but personally i've never ridden one

[fayefaye]

it's pretty common here. not like ppl roam the streets on them though. :)

[Blade]

yeah, its not unusual to have to stop your car to let horses cross

[nicholasburrus]

If IT is FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[fayefaye]

Originally posted by Blade
yeah, its not unusual to have to stop your car to let horses cross

LOL.

[nicholasburrus]

Why Vorona

[nicholasburrus]

Thanks

[nicholasburrus]

And the airline ticets cause I live in America and airlines are expensive in California even if my dad owns a million dollor company in Bakersfield

[fayefaye]

what the..? Verona because it's the setting of Romeo and Juliet, of course. Not any reference to Verona Beach in California, so i really have no idea what you're talking about.

[Koa]

Is there really a Verona Beach? Or was it a stupid idea for that bloody film? ;) I think there's a 'Verona' in the USA... and many other copies of European cities...sorry but I don't get it, inventing city names must be such fun, why did they have to steal so many?

[Stanislaw]

I think it is because people who create the names of new places are very unimaginative.

[fayefaye]

They should let me name places. I'd come up with great names. That's the problem: all the people who get to name things have no imagination whatsoever. A lot of cities here are after either English people or places in Britain. Oh, and street names are boring too. I want a street named after ME.

[Stanislaw]

That would be pretty funny... turn left on fayefaye blvrd and travel about four blocks on 18th...

That would be great.

They should get art teachers to name places, that would be cool.

[Blade]

haha art teachers eh?

[Jay]

yeah, "the shop you're looking for is on the corner of Picasso Lane and Impressionists Av."

[Blade]

i used to live in a neighborhood where all the streets where authors...i lived on 1412 conan doyle rd.

[Stanislaw]

That is cool. The closest that my home city has ever come to that is renaiming main roads after washed up hockey "stars", like Wayne Gretzkey.

[nicholasburrus]

I never been outside of America too expensive

[fayefaye]

ok, nic. relevant as always. (?)


Originally posted by Jay
yeah, "the shop you're looking for is on the corner of Picasso Lane and Impressionists Av."

I would LOVE that. That would be so cool, honestly. Where's everyone's imagination gone with street names? I definately love the streets named after authors thing too.

[Stanislaw]

A little bit of creativity in everbody's life would create smarter people. Now why would we want that?

I think the gov. should stop wasting tax $$$$ on trips and renaim the roads, I would love that.

[fayefaye]

Or fix up society, better yet. Spend more money on health and education. Fix up things a bit. Smart people's creativity is generally quashed by a society that punishes creativity. That is all too true. Sad really.

[Blade]

i love how all presidents and people runing for president (and like offices) constantly say they're all for increasing the quality of public education and health benifits for the less privilaged...but then it never happens

[Stanislaw]

We should be carefull, admin might get us.

Most people lie to get into positions of power, the only thing I can do to stop it is to start a revolution and proclaim myself "leader".

[fayefaye]

Yeah, maybe they get sidetracked with all their perks?

[Koa]

Originally posted by Jay
yeah, "the shop you're looking for is on the corner of Picasso Lane and Impressionists Av."

I don't think it's impossible... here streets are named after people, including authors, or places, sometimes relevant dates of history... and other stuff.

[nicholasburrus]

I'm leaving the country for a week and visit Canada in the Alberta Regon i think

[Blade]

whoah this thread is like as far off topic as it could possibly get

[fayefaye]

lol. Yeah. ain't it great? I've actually gotten used to nic's randomness, too. first time out of the US, nic? have fun. There's a whole big world out there.

but koa, you live in a city where things are all creative and original.In other places it's just not like that at all. :(

[nicholasburrus]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by fayefaye
[B]ok, nic. relevant as always. (?)

What do you mean

[nicholasburrus]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by fayefaye
[B]lol. Yeah. ain't it great? I've actually gotten used to nic's randomness, too. first time out of the US, nic? have fun. There's a whole big world out there.

Thanks

[fayefaye]

Sometimes your posts are random-they have nothing to do with what we are currently discussing in our threads, that's all. it's ok, just strange.

[nicholasburrus]

Thanks

[fayefaye]

you NEVER read what we write, do you?:)

[nicholasburrus]

In the beginning but now kind of no

[nicholasburrus]

OK No i amitted it this is prove

[fayefaye]

lol. I've wanted to say that for a while. maybe I should credit my perspicacity more than I do? [well, no, it really was fairly obvious]

[nicholasburrus]

OOOOO.......................KKKKKK

[fayefaye]

I know right now you'r just trying to get your name on every index.

[Koa]

Originally posted by fayefaye


but koa, you live in a city where things are all creative and original.In other places it's just not like that at all. :(

Well it's not only my city...In the whole Italy streets have that kind of names... And I think in most of Europe too... (no?)

[fayefaye]

*sniff* wish I was there.

[Stanislaw]

Europe is a great place, with the exception of the Netherlands. They have some really odd ideals of what is legal and illegal. I was in europe on a spring break field trip once, it is a great place, beutifle scenery. Germany has great beer.:D

[Blade]

speaking of scenery...yeah, the White Mountain in NH (where i live), we just got 30 inches of snow...i've painted 5 portraits so far, there's just so much potiential!!!

[fayefaye]

Man I love snow. I love the stuff, really. snow-angels and weird-looking snowmen.

[Stanislaw]

The kinda melting "wet" snow is fun. The cold just for the sake of being cold snow sucks.

[Blade]

well i grew up around the stuff so i like it

[Jay]

Stan, WE have some good beer too ;)

[Stanislaw]

Sweet, nothing beats good beer, except maybe good vodka.

[Jay]

ewwww, vodka... ;)

[Stanislaw]

It's not that bad, its good. If it has a high alchohol content, it burns, very cool to see burning liquid in a shotglass... my familly has odd christmass traditions.

[fayefaye]

it's good in those pre-mixed drinks. Tastes just like alcohol soft drinks. me? juvenile? no....

[Isagel]

Stoli to the people! Stoli = very good vodka. A russian friend buys it for me. I don´t really like drinks. I like Giunnes, and Kilkenny.

[Blade]

vodka, beer, doesnt matter, after enough of each they all seem the same =D

[fayefaye]

lol. true.

[Koa]

Yes, they all make me sick :(
But when they don't... yay! :D

Actually I can't stand beer...it makes feel sick after a sip. Vodka is better but it's sneaky... it takes over without I realise... (and, guess what, I might be sick)

Too much information I guess...

[fayefaye]

yeah, I'm not a big fan of beer either.

[Stanislaw]

Warm beer is gross...

Actually warm drinks of anykind except coffee, tea, and coacoa, are gross.

[Koa]

I so much prefer cold drinks...even in the middle of winter! I'm addicted to ice tea and cooold water. And my breakfast consists of cold milk, directly from the fridge.

[Blade]

cold drinks are god...but lets not completly trash the warm stuff...remember at least 80% of the working class american adults start there mornings with WARM coffee ;)

[fayefaye]

urgh. don't even like coffee. tea's ok. Sometimes I'll go into this expensive, classy cafe, order a cappucino, be surrounded by all these phonies trying to look classy and drinking ten different types of coffee that all taste exactly the same, then I'll sip the cream off the top and leave the rest-the looks on the waiters faces is pretty funny.

[Stanislaw]

I drink nabob coffee, dark, every morning. I like coffee, but I don't go for these yuppie, mocha expresso latte shke'n'bake dealies.

[fayefaye]

tea for me.

[fayefaye]

Oh-but not just English tea, all the different random types-jasmine, vanilla, peppermint, camomile..... honey citron, even.

[Blade]

whoah it's been a long time since i've been back to this forum, but thats beside the point...personally i like a tall glass of cold water to start my day

[Stanislaw]

No flavour for that water? I need the coffee to start my day without it I get headaches and withdrawl, I love coffee.

[Yeroptok]

You are addicted to coffee more then anything. When you start getting headaches and withdrawl you should really be questioning your habits. I mean it's coffee not heroine why do you get headaches from it.

I agree a nice cool glass of water is a good way to keep me refreshed. Tastes better then coffee imo. What was this topic supposed to be about again?

[Stanislaw]

I drink aallot of coffee.

Anways, I don't think anyone remembers.

[fayefaye]

I can't really stand coffee, except that chocolate mocha stuff.

[Koa]

I don't like coffee either...

Unless it's what I call 'English' coffee, with so much milk in it you wonder why they call it coffee... Italian cofee is drunk in such small amounts cos more of it might kill you I guess... but that's too bitter for me :D

[fayefaye]

Isn't coffee like the 'Italian' thang?

[Stanislaw]

I think so, the expresso.

Have you ever tried a drink called monster, it has such a high caffein level, that if you drink more than four cans you could die, It is really harsh stuff.

[IWilKikU]

Wow! I've never even heard of that!

[Blade]

hahah my bro drinks that stuff all the time

[Stanislaw]

That stuff is like liquid tnt, its so great, I love it.

[fayefaye]

lol, must try that one!

[Isagel]

Pffff.

Espresso beats any little energy drink. I´ve tried to stop drinking so much coffee. I used to drink about 9 mugs a day. Now I stick with three, which makes my doctor happy.

(But I bought this giant mug that holds half a liter - is that cheating? )

[IWilKikU]

I recently cut back to about 2 cups of coffee/shots of esspresso a day, but I firmly agree with you Isagel.

[Isagel]

There was a coffee place here that used to serve lattes in four different "levels" - nice, grumpy, evil and inferno.

I used to take a "double evil". Mmm.

[Stanislaw]

expressos can be good, but monster is nothing to scoff at, a six pack contains enough caffiene to kill a 250 pound adult.

Any how, coffee is great, my doc sais I should cut down, so... I told him i would after I had a quadrupal bypass. He wasn't very amused. Guess he doesn't share my sense of humour.:D

[Blade]

Originally posted by KL70
In English and in as creative, inventive and eloquent a manner as possible and just in one short sentence (no need for an essay, or a long paragraph) if money was no limitation, how would you spend 5 days in (preferably in present day) Verona, Italy ?

I'm researching the numerous adaptations of Shakespeare in the media for a media studies college course and would be grateful to obtain any replies to a survey I need to do for it on the above question. I would prefer people being creative, poetic, articulate and witty, rather than offer 'I'd do this and go see that' banal replies.

If you want to respond, the criteria for responding is :

A normal, eloquent, poetic, articulate response, using any witty, inventive wordplay, that appeals. Alliteration, use of double or even triple anagrams, etc.




whoah its amazing how far off topic we can get, from verona to espresso in 8 pages
For example, each of the first letters in the word Verona written vertically, can be horizontally matched with words to stand for something, not just once. With extra words added, the last letters of each line, can vertically spell Verona on both the left and right sides of each line.

[Isagel]

Sorry, sorry . This discussion went far away from Verona a long time ago. Perhaps we can try and get it back on track.

[fayefaye]

nah, I like the meandering conversation a lot better. i'm sure koa doesn't want to have to sit here and discuss verona.

[Stanislaw]

Is verona a real city, or is it based off of one?

[fayefaye]

Real city. :)

[Stanislaw]

Is it in Italy?

I am ignorant of geography.:(

[Blade]

si

[IWilKikU]

that means "yes" just incase your ignorant in langueges too :D:D:D

[Koa]

Well why not, I'd talk about it forever...

And yes Stan, it is indeed real, and polluted as hell :mad:

[fayefaye]

I'd LOVE to be there koa. I wish I was somewhere like Verona. It even SOUNDS beautiful

[Koa]

Lol does it? Well it's lovely indeed, but there are detestable sides of it... Not many of them were noticeable at Shakespeare's times I guess...

[Stanislaw]

Like cars, and trucks, and nuclear power plants?

I hate how industrialization has poisened man, physically and mentally. Not only are we dieing, but we have lost touch with the important things in life.

[Koa]

There are no nuclear plants in Italy: banned cos dangerous... Shame France has plenty of them so if there's an accident it doesnt really change much :D

Cars and trucks....well, more than I can handle. I'm starting to get hysterical about cars, traffic and that horrible smell of pollution.

[Stanislaw]

It is just stupid, we have created our own doomsday device. All this pollution is not needed. It is a careless waste.

[Blade]

i agree, but some may argue that it's a necessary evil :(

[Koa]

I'm not a nature-obsessed greenpeace kind of person... I feel literally bad when I'm away from a city for more than 2 days. Still, I'd do with less cars, but in this country your social power is measured according to how long you spend driving your car. That's one of the many reasons why I'm a weirdo... I drive onyl when necessary, unlike most people...who think I'm nuts!

[Stanislaw]

We are living a rushed life for no particular reason, except an arbitrary monetary system. We kill ourselves for this and eagerly destroy the next generation in an attempt to become "rich", however we have become morally poor. I think it is time to review our societal standards and look at what is relly important, peacefull and cooperative coexistance. We should all just look at another persons life before making a final decision. If we kept the welfare of everyone else in the back of our mind, we might be able to save our sinking ship, the H.M.S. Humanity.

[amuse]

"H.M.S. Humanity"

-nice, Stan.

[Koa]

H M S ???:confused:

*the dumb one* :D

[Stanislaw]

Sorry, I was in a poetic mood.;)

[Blade]

her majesty's ship

[Koa]

uh ok...thanks... still don't fully get it, but i hate it when i don't understand acronyms! :D

[Stanislaw]

Its the prefix on all british naval ships, I just thought I would use that because I thought it was widely known, muh bad.

[Koa]

Eheheh...one thing I've realised is that there's nothing 'widely known'... You'll always find someone, I mean even a group of people, that hasnt have a clue of what you're talkign about. (especially on the other side of the world ;))

[Blade]

haha i too have noticed that, tho you cant blame them too much for not knowing a british acromym

[Stanislaw]

Well I am canadian, and I am pretty arogant, so, I tend to use weird sayings, he he.:(

Oh well, I hope sombody understood what i was saying though.

[simon]

Drive on arrogant Canadian.

[Stanislaw]

I am glad I have some support.

[simon]

NP.

[Blade]

in my opinion arrogance is a valued trait

[IWilKikU]

.

[Koa]

Btw, there was nothing wrong in using that, but acronyms tend to rise my curiosity! :)

[Stanislaw]

Cool, I didn't mean to offend.

[Koa]

I didn't see any mean to offend infact...

Guys, do you realise how hopelessly offtopic we are again??? :D:D:D

[Stanislaw]

Uh yeah, oops, Uh what is the topic again?

[Blade]

haha what would you do in verona, but its hopeless to try to talk about it, we'll just end up on some random topic like the cheeseburgers in kenya

[IWilKikU]

I would hop on a train and go to Florence. Sorry Koa. ;)

[simon]

I would go find work on a farm somewhere and stay away from my current continent and parental units as long as possible.

[fayefaye]

ha. hamburgers in kenya. somebody told me if you're rude to the waiters, they'll spit in your food.

[Blade]

i can't say i have knowlege on the matter, but it wouldn't surprise me much

[amuse]

wow, faye. they don't do that in australia? they do in america. :( yuch.

[fayefaye]

well, not that I know of. I try not to be too much of an *** when I order pizza, though. Scary thing is when you know the people who work there. In which case it's not the spit I'm scared of. :D

[Blade]

haha well said, i'm not really into the whole orderout fastfood stuff

[fayefaye]

I look at it and can't help but think. 'I'd rather eat vomit' which is kinda funny, because it's not far off.

[fayefaye]

Originally posted by Stanislaw
I hate how industrialization has poisened man, physically and mentally. Not only are we dieing, but we have lost touch with the important things in life.

today I spent about one-two hours, total at bus stops and train stations. Do you have any idea? It's weird though, sitting at this train station amidst these highways, watching all these people driving home, the pink sunlight streaking across the clouds, and wondering, 'what's the point???'

[IWilKikU]

People arn't wearing enough hats.

[simon]

fayefaye I don't think there is a point, we have created the "point", but in the end it doesn't really matter at all, I'm not sure what does matter.

[Stanislaw]

Faye, I have had similar expieriances, its like you just step back and watch people running around and you know that they do theis every day and they probably don't even think about why they do this, and then your swept up in the current. It is crazy people are doing nothing jobs which really don't contribute anything to anybody and yet everyone feels that their job is important and society can't carry on with out it, Farmers, who are actually doing work are considered not as educated as these people but in the end their isn't really a point to the city people's life. Everything is so fast paced and we are just living off farmers doing nothing really productive, but if we completely stop we don't get payed and then we don't get food for doing nothing, I guess nothing is realative.

Sorry I kinda rambled, in conclusion I relly don't know what the point could possibly be.

[Blade]

and it's kind of scary to think that scientist are on the brink of discovering cloning and stuff like that which will make raising livestock on huge farms obsolete.

[fayefaye]

Not really, seeing as how even clones have to grow, I don't think it'll change farming. Who wants to eat a clone?

People are kinda a lot like ants.

[den]

They're already cloning sheep and cattle and horses (racing etc) ... sure it's not mass market yet but it will be the FDA is pushing it.

http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,60794,00.html?tw=wn_story_related
http://www.agbiotechnet.com/topics/Database/Animal/animal.asp

They're cloning endangered animals as well as trying to scientifically develop MEAT animals. They don't care if the animal has feelings similar to humans or if they can stand up and run around properly as that makes meat tough.

Yes faye, I do despair, the people in our world who are themselves becoming clones and drones scurrying about like beetles day in day out in order to attain the basic nece$$itie$ to live :(

[den]

WOAH!!!

talk about `topic drift' :p :p :p

[Blade]

Originally posted by fayefaye
Not really, seeing as how even clones have to grow, I don't think it'll change farming. Who wants to eat a clone?


i think you'd be surprised by the amount of people who wouls "eat a clone"

[fayefaye]

scary, no? the loss of humanity. :(

[IWilKikU]

Originally posted by den

They're cloning endangered animals as well as trying to scientifically develop MEAT animals. They don't care if the animal has feelings similar to humans or if they can stand up and run around properly as that makes meat tough.



Do you care about meat animals' feelings? Do you feel guilty when you eat a steak or a chicken fajita? Animals are slaughtered by the millions and most of us eat them, myself included. Before meat cloning started, the treatment and butchering of animals was inhumane too. I don't see what the use of complaining about NEW inhumanity when hardly anything was ever said about the OLD inhumanity.

[den]

Actually Kik I am very conscientious about where I buy cruelty-free animal products from. Because yes I do care about how they treat animals.

[fayefaye]

People are pathetically narrow minded in how they don't care about things. I mean, most people won't care if it doesn't affect them. I think that's pretty pathetic, and kik has a point. The reason people didn't care-most people- is because the inhumanity wasn't that well known, and already so widely accepted in society that few would dare to question it.

[den]

Ok this is my last hijack post here :p

Yes it makes me very sad that indeed, some people are totally oblivious to how we _use_ animals to our own selfish ends. For instance a lot of women I know have no idea how (some) of the birth control pills they take are actually acquired, and from what. Pregnant (horse) mare's urine. There are huge farms feeding this industry, keeping mare's constantly pregnant and having babies. And guess what happens to the foals? It's not a pretty picture :(

[IWilKikU]

I'm not saying that its ok or acceptable to use cloning in a cruel way to make our food taste better. I was just pointing out that its not any worse than whats going on now.

So good ol' Verona huh? Yeah. Five days is a long time.

[Avalive]

Originally posted by KL70
In English and in as creative, inventive and eloquent a manner as possible and just in one short sentence (no need for an essay, or a long paragraph) if money was no limitation, how would you spend 5 days in (preferably in present day) Verona, Italy ?

I'm researching the numerous adaptations of Shakespeare in the media for a media studies college course and would be grateful to obtain any replies to a survey I need to do for it on the above question. I would prefer people being creative, poetic, articulate and witty, rather than offer 'I'd do this and go see that' banal replies.

If you want to respond, the criteria for responding is :

A normal, eloquent, poetic, articulate response, using any witty, inventive wordplay, that appeals. Alliteration, use of double or even triple anagrams, etc.

For example, each of the first letters in the word Verona written vertically, can be horizontally matched with words to stand for something, not just once. With extra words added, the last letters of each line, can vertically spell Verona on both the left and right sides of each line.


In this way, u would press the repliers' passion. Why can't u let them say whatever they want, can't you select what u want urself? This post sounds rude. There is no manager boss around anybody here. Here is a forum.

[amuse]

how does it sound rude? - just wondering. btw, that post is 14 months old, KL70 has only posted twice, and (s)he might not heed your reply.

[Avalive]

"If you want to respond, the criteria for responding is : "

NOthing much actually,just this(I quoted above) sounds like,if u cannot meet these criteria, u can't join."

Forget about it. I didn't notice its 14 months old. Im new myself

[Blade]

most things here are subliminally restricted anyway

[IWilKikU]

Well, none of us actually gave him/her a usable answer according to his/her criteria, so I wouldn't worry about it.

[amuse]

true. btw, avalive, welcome aboard :) we were all new once or twice.

[fayefaye]

Originally posted by den
Ok this is my last hijack post here :p

Yes it makes me very sad that indeed, some people are totally oblivious to how we _use_ animals to our own selfish ends. For instance a lot of women I know have no idea how (some) of the birth control pills they take are actually acquired, and from what. Pregnant (horse) mare's urine. There are huge farms feeding this industry, keeping mare's constantly pregnant and having babies. And guess what happens to the foals? It's not a pretty picture :(

I've never heard that before either. What does horse urine have to do with birth control? Sick thing is, there are girls who've been on the pill since EIGHTH grade. And the downward spiral continues.....

Honestly, the worst thing is, that feeling that nothing will change, the world will go on, cruelty will go on, inequality will go on, in perpetuum..... If that sense of helplessness as to what happens in the world wasn't drilled into everybody from childhood, people might actually give a crap enough to do something. It FEELS futile. That's what sucks.

[den]

Ok faye, you've dragged me back and I'll continue :p ... I feel very strongly about this and I think it's important people are more aware about what they put into their bodies... but yes when I first learned of all this years ago I couldn't believe it either.... for all you squeamish out there hit the back button now.

I've worked with horses off and on all my life in various capacities, mostly training them for dressage. `Premarin' is one of many pharmaceuticals used for Estrogen and Hormone replacement therapies. ERT/HRT. Most of you know I'm sure that birth control pills come under this umbrella. Lots of women at various stages of their life use ERT/HRT for various issues... birth control, osteoporosis, depression, mood disorders, menopause etc...

So basically, years ago, based on the whole `animals used for science industry', someone discovered that some animal hormones are similar/exactly like or mimic human hormones. Using a mare (female horse's) urine, they can extract estrogen from it and use this estrogen to make these types of pills with. But she has to be pregnant in order for her to be producing the right type of estrogen needed. (There are many types of estrogens)

Guess what happens to hundreds if not thousands of these foals every year? They're unwanted and I won't go into their demise but I worked in Northern Ontario helping to `rescue' a lot of these unwanted foals/offspring from Pregnant Mare's Urine (PMU) farms and other places... some farms are run very humanely, and some actually cause the mare to terminate before a viable pregnancy occurs, but those are the respectible farms.

`Natural' pig thyroid is another way to derive a much needed thyroid hormone that's used for a very common disease in people.

Not all ERT/HRT's use `naturally' derived hormones, a lot of them use `synthetically' derived hormones. There are many pills that are offered that don't use animals in their manufacture.

A lot of soy products are now being used in some sort of ERT/HRT capacity as there are many `natural' hormones occuring in nature. That's a whole other debate though... young kids/babies, being exposed to high amounts of estrogens and this causing accelerated development etc.

So I guess this will explain to you what horse urine has to do with birth control... you'd be surprised at how much animals are `used' for our benefit.

You can check out this site http://www.premarin.org/ for more info if you're interested. Or do a google on `pmu farm' or ...

[fayefaye]

Will look into it later. ;)

[simon]

That is disgusting.

[fayefaye]

that they do it or that i would research into how they treat animals? I think it's important to be aware of these things, I was thinking of contacting some pharmaceutical companies, I know some people who work for major pharmaceutical companies, and weren't aware that this was going on.

and yes, it is disgusting that they would do that to horses

[Stanislaw]

Humans have always abused animals, in the name of science, what is even worse now is that we are starting to abuse our unborn children in the name of science. Is it really necessary to kill another life form so people can have sex whenever they want? I think this is an unmoralistic abuse of animals.

[GapingStarling]

Just to kick in my two cents on the birth control/hormone theme, I was reading this article that discusses the impact of these chemicals on ecosystems. Apparently, because so many people are ingesting these hormones, and then flushing them through the wastewater/sewer system, it's starting to have a big impact on wildlife. They're beginning to see crazy stuff like hermaphroditic fish because of the excess estrogen in the water...

[verybaddmom]

ahhh, i guess this thread is so totally off topic that it should be renamed....but let me add my two cents worth:
the hormones that are causing problems are not so much due to birth contol and such, but more due to pesticide use, from what i understand. it seems that the widespread use of Glyphosate (Roundup) by farmers is contributing more than all other sources of hormone abuse (including meat and milk production...BST is another discussion).
The way glyphosate works, to the best of my knowledge, is that it raises the phytoestrogen to levels that the plant cannot handle. IOW, the plant is forced to grow so fast that it burns out and dies. that is why it takes a week or so to see the results from the spraying of roundup.
One of the biggest problems right now is the development introduced to agriculture by Monsanto (grrrr....bad), "roundup ready corn". this is the stuff that the farmer can plant his crops with, and when the corn seedlings have sprouted, he can spray the WHOLE works with roundup and the corn is not affected, only the weeds. so while the weeds are dying from hormone abuse, the corn is just absorbing it and not dying. it stays in the plant, lurking in the cells...
this product is not approved for human consumption anywhere; however, they have no compunction feeding it to cattle and of course, where do the cattle go? duh, into humans. tell me there is no residual homone? you can't.
the effects of this can be seen not only in nature: wildlife and plantlife, but just in the steadily declining age of sexual maturation of young women. there are many other examples of how this excess hormone level manifests itself in humanity, such as the likelihood that many cancers are caused by this extra hormone presence.
There are also a million other problems with this roundup ready corn, such as genetic drift and genetic pollution and the uncontrollable-ness of the pollen.
oh well.
that's about the end of my current rant. im sure i'll continue it later...i really really dislike Monsanto.

[amuse]

did a paper on rBST. hate that stuff. yeah it really does have a horrid effect on the bovine and human population.

[verybaddmom]

yeah, me too...but i lengthened my paper to include the whole arsenal of Monsanto, more of a paper on their nastiness. (agent orange, dioxins, PCB's, BST, aspartame, etc.....and of course their 'interesting' contributions to politics) ahem...

[amuse]

i should clarify. :) yours was so much more comprehensive than mine. i wrote about why we shouldn't drink [non-organic/cow] milk, and discussed stuff like the condition of cows and their subsequent veal babies on dairy farms that feed into the whole thing, different cultures, how too much calcium in the diet actually inhibits absorption, and touched on rBGH, rBST, also how Monsanto bought Fox television out of spilling the beans. *Grrr

[Stanislaw]

mom has a point however in Canada there are cases of testicular-reminization in the fish poulation in the St. lawrence river as well as one of the great lakes, primarily due to excess female hormones in sewage wastes, these have been linked to common birth control treatments, and in the near future could become a large problem.

[amuse]

*i was by no means refuting our lovely mom.

our planet's a problem. and, speaking of agriculture, do you know how long some pesticides stay in your system? a lifetime.

[Stanislaw]

I am not disagreing, I am just stating that all these pills are to blame too.

[fayefaye]

I'm posting just to keep the thread alive.

[den]

Faye, you're aevyl ! :lol:

Haven't had a good cry lately anyone? Read the book Our Stolen Future by Theo Colborn. There's a lot of information about studies, Stan, about the `feminisation' of species, mostly due to animals exposure to chemicals, DDT, steroids, etc., they build up in the food chain because the liver can't process them, and they can `mimic' hormones and such and cause sterilisation and other myriad endocrinal problems.

There's a lot of doom and gloom in the book, and I've yet to finish it `cause I cry reading it then I get tired. Tired of reading all the same crap that we've done so much damage a lot of it is irreversible ...

[emily655321]

What would I do in Verona...first, find a hotel. Can't check in till afternoon, and then I'd probably want a long nap. . .

Okay, enough sarcasm. Whenever I go anywhere I like to do three things:
1) locate the oldest cemetery/ies and spend a few hours just wandering, maybe have a picnic, take photographs.
2) Go to Mass at the oldest cathedral I can find. I try to go to Mass wherever I visit, because I get a feel for the local and cultural traditions, and yet at the same time feel a sense of familiarity and bondedness (real word?) with the other people there. Kind of a view of the real place, not just touristy things. I hope my heretical church-going doesn't offend anyone here. . . . And I also just love old cathedrals.
3) Walk and keep walking until I find the artists' district. Find a little café or park and ask advice on some non-touristy places to go. Where's the best cheap food away from the crowds; which art I should definitely see; which tourist traps are just not worth wasting my time on; what do they most highly recommend I see while I'm there; public transit; etc.

Whatever answers I get to #3 is what I'd do for the remaining days.

[den]

You're very smart emily! You've got a great perspective on travelling and getting the most out it.

One of the things I do is, when deciding to travel, I tend to go where I will know someone, a `local' so to speak, so they can show me the real places to go. Even if they're a friend of a friend of a brother's relative who's some crazy artist guy, like a guy I met in Prague, but he was delighted to meet me and show me his local haunts. My experience is that europeans are much more open to `entertaining' visitors, and they're happy to host someone or at least give them lots of advice on what to see.

Cemetaries are a big draw for me too. For instance I've been to Pere LaChaise in Paris and The Old Jewish Cemetary in Prague near where Franz Kafka grew up. Also a few in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada where a lot of the Titanic people are buried. It's quite fascinating what you can learn from the history of a cemetary, who is buried there, and of course admire all the gorgeous statuary, monuments and crypts.

While I've only inadvertently attended mass as that was the only time I could get to one, I also go to cathedrals, they also have such rich history of their surroundings and are so peaceful to be in after hours of wandering. I love architecture so also take (too many) pictures of them. I think St. Stephensdom in Vienna is the most impressive one I've been to yet, a close second St. Vitus cathedral in Prague. A lot of older cathedrals have classical musical recitals as well, touristy yah, but an excuse to go sit there alone and take it all in.

I've found, in most european cities anyway, a great place to meet people and get taste of local stuff is at internet cafes. A lot of younger student types who are also travelling are usually there, and often they're a combination of cafe/bar nightclub too.

I have horror stories of using public transit in some cities, but like Amsterdam for instance, it's really easy to go rent a cheap bike and travel that way.

[amuse]

that's interesting...i keep thinking i've never been to/checked out a cemetary, but in my bf's college town, there's a little memorial park that has, in addition to usual park paraphanelia, graves dating as far back as the Revolutionary War.
i've visited it a couple times, and am always humbled, awed, and thankful for that means of connecting with history. thanks for reminding me.

[emily655321]

You're very smart emily! You've got a great perspective on travelling and getting the most out it.

Thanks. :) I can't take the intellectual credit for that, though. ;) My parents have passed on their travel habits to me. When they were my age -- actually a couple years younger -- they backpacked through Europe as broke hippies, staying in youth hostels. My father's thing is cemeteries and the architecture of old villages, and my mother has to spend a day in at least one museum. Their number one rule is ignore tourist traps and find the hidden local spots.

I love the death's-head carvings on old gravestones especially. The old cemetery in my town dates from the late 1600's til about 1870. I like hanging out there and reading the poems on the stones. People had weird names. :D

[fayefaye]

Cemetaries really creep me out. .....

[Stanislaw]

Some cemetaries can be creepy, but some can be very peacefull, It's just a gut feeling you get when you walk throught the gate.

[emily655321]

I don't think I generally distinguish between the two. In cemeteries at least; I like the quiet, haunted feeling buzzing in the air, even though I know its just my imagination. The stones are so atmospheric -- it's like a park and old ruins at once.

[fayefaye]

OR you could just visit a park and then some historic ruins ....

[emily655321]

Too many people ;)


(that's a joke. get it? bah, nevermind...:p)

[Koa]

Hey this topic is back!!!

The cemetery thing is so cool, I'll start doing that too! i've seen a few cemeteries anyway, there's a little one in Salzburg that is lovely! And I've seen the Hebrew one in Prague too, that's quite impressive. I love gothic-style cemeteries, like the normal ones in England...in Italy they're all so squared, the only English-gothic-style one I've seen was in Florence, Im still wondering why.

I wish I wasn't so shy :( I just can't go to people and ask them for advice, it's always so hard for me to talk to someone I don't know.
But I do love to see places 'from inside' as I say, ie trying to find the perspective of someone who lives there, when possible. In most of my journeys alone I've been hosted, no hotel...(shame this didnt happen in Prague, we were just 3 ignorant tourists at a hostel).I like to see how people live. And more than once I've taken people around my city (hey this is on topic LOL) for a day, I like to be the unofficial guide.

[emily655321]

Koa, I'm shy too. Painfully so, but I can usually act my way around it. Anyway, I almost always travel with my mother, so I just let her do the talking. She loves what I would consider "scary" people situations. ;)

(For instance, when we were in Naples my dad was standing in line at a shop. He's like me: everything orderly, just do your thing and expect that everyone else will follow the rules too. Very German. Well, that's definitely not the way it worked in Naples. :D He waited in line for about 15 minutes and went from the 3rd in line to the very back, because people kept jostling in front of him. Finally he just turned to my mom, and she took his place in line and had no problems. :p)

[Koa]

Ehehe dear, that's the way queues are in Italy (you don't have to tell me ;)). The well-known Italian line...which is nothing like a line. It seems a joke but it's true... And Naples is of course the place where all the Italian features reach their top :D
(btw I've never been to Naples...well I've never stopped there. But I'd be too scared of the volcano anyway :D)

[fayefaye]

I'm pretty shy.... I got pretty pissed off at some random guy who started telling people I'm a snob... but I guess that's another story. *rolls eyes at self* I have good reason to look down my nose at him... he has a B.O problem. :D :P :) [SERIOUSLY!!!]

lol, well, I don't mind striking up conversations with strangers, depending on who they are [if that makes sense].

I love that queue thing...... just sort of barge in front of everyone, but that's VERY un-English.

Have you ever noticed the word 'queue' looks weird if you look at it too long? :p

[Koa]

Most words do so, faye. Or if you repeat them to yourself for a while, they lose every sense. It's even spooky.

And what's B.O.?

[amuse]

body odor. (or, in the common vernacular: phew!)

[emily655321]

Have you ever noticed the word 'queue' looks weird if you look at it too long?

It's always looked weird to me. :D I didn't even know it existed until I got to Heathrow when I was 12, and a sign directed me to the "queue." I thought, what on earth is that?? :p

[Koa]

:eek: how could you not know? never queued at the supermarket with your mum? ;) even i knew that, even in the country without queues (well, with screwed ones ;))

The Italian word for queue is CODA, which also means "tail" (the animals' thing, never sure of the spelling...) ...in the dialect of my area it's 'coa', which of course sounds like Koa and was looots of fun for my classmates when they started calling me that (in a good way ;))

[emily655321]

Hehehe. :D

I "stood in line" at the supermarket, but never "queued." ;) It's a British word, so I never heard it till I got to Britain.

[Koa]

REALLY??? I didn't know it was British! Cool!

[fayefaye]

lol..... hehe England....

[Stanislaw]

"lol..... hehe England....".

I second that. rather odd place